Colonel Valerie Casey was a mix of horrified and proud. She was mostly horrified over how the world and especially the GDF had decided to treat her godsons, because honestly, it was terrible. A little part of her was horrified over Scott's reaction.
She was mostly proud though.
Three weeks after International Rescue went offline due to a bad illness infecting two of their members, fourteen countries threatened to sue the organization for not saving them from natural disasters. The GDF thought that was the perfect opportunity to seize control of the crafts that had outperformed their own, and had issued a warning that IR had two days to either go back to work or hand over their machines.
Casey had warned Scott ahead of time, the moment she'd heard what was being planned.
Scott Tracy had decided to address the entirety of the world in a press conference from their island. Everyone was tuned in. No one wanted to miss what he had to say to these threats.
Scott had shave and dressed in one of his expensive suits and was standing in front of the camera with a frown. He looked impeccably handsome, and incredibly displeased. Lounging behind him, seated in an orange armchair in front of a massive bookcase, sat John, also dressed in an expensive suit and frowning at the camera. No one else could be seen.
Casey recognized the location as the Library Round House, up the side of the volcano that made up Tracy Island. Hardly anyone else would know that, though. She sat back in her own chair, crossing her legs and steepling her fingers beneath her chin. Beside her, Captain Wayne Rigby frowned at the screen, and a few others under her command milled about behind them.
"International Rescue has been running for the past seven years," Scott spoke solemnly. "And in that time, we've had less than six months of down time. Total." His head tilted just slightly, one eyebrow raising. "We've saved millions of lives for no other reason than us wanting to do so. We just wanted to help. And yet, the moment we shut down to help ourselves and to protect the rest of the world from what's proving to be a rather nasty illness, everyone seems to complain."
Scott didn't shift, he didn't do anything other than frown at the camera, and yet, Casey could see people wilt from that disappointed stare. She'd taught him that, but he'd taken it and run with it.
"We don't get paid to run International Rescue," Scott pointed out. "In fact, most of the funding comes from our own pockets." Which, honestly, was a little terrifying. Because these boys were all multi-billionaires in their own rights and if they weren't spending so much on saving the world, think of how rich they could be.
"We honestly have no reason to keep this organization going except our own want to help as many people as we can," Scott said. Behind him, John kept his turquoise-green gaze locked on the camera, his face impassive and cold. "So you would think that the least we could get was some time off to recover without the world railing against us."
He paused, letting everyone think about that. Because he was right; in the seven years since they'd started the operation, International Rescue had had very few breaks. Even when Gordon had been fighting for his life in the hospital, Thunderbirds One and Two had been active. Thunderbird Five had been active since day one, with Three following soon after. Four came around once Gordon had recovered enough to pilot her.
And this was while grieving for their father, recovering from a multitude of problems and running Tracy Industries.
It was a sobering thought.
"As it is, fourteen countries have threatened to sue us for not responding to their emergencies, many of which could be and were handled properly by their own emergency services." Scott's frown deepened. "And the GDF has threatened to take our personal property away from us, simply because we are taking a break."
Scott took a deep breath, shaking his head. "We are not your servants," he said, his tone lowering. "We are not machines. And we don't take kindly to threats." Chills went down the backs of nearly everyone watching, because that was not kindly said, and the fury was clear.
Scott straightened, his eyes falling to be half-lidded as he practically sneered at the camera. "Due to the threats against us, Tracy Industries is officially pulling out of all fourteen countries that officially spoke against us. We feel our people are no longer safe in your boundaries and will therefore take care to remove any ability to bring harm to our employees. The fact that your countryman will no longer be employed by Tracy Industries is no longer our concern; your governments brought this upon yourselves. The list of those countries can be found on our main website, and as of this moment, any employees of Tracy Industry factories or complexes in those countries are being informed of their eventual termination."
Casey knew that in at least four of those countries, Tracy Industries was the main employer. Without them, the entire economy of those countries was bound to fall into ruin. Hundreds of thousands of people were going to lose their jobs because some government officials didn't want to do their own.
And that's really what it came down to in the end. These governments were salty over the fact that they'd had to spend money to rescue people when they'd usually rely on International Rescue to do it for free. There'd been no major natural disasters in the past three weeks; all rescues that had happened were due to human error.
Scott let that sink in for a long moment before continuing. "Due to these threats, all Tracy Industry charities and relief workers will also be removed from said countries. They will no longer receive aid from any charity that is run through our company until such a time as we feel there is no longer any danger to our people from those governments or people."
Casey swallowed heavily. She was proud of Scott and John and the others for taking this stand, but it was a harsh one. Tracy Industries employed tens of millions of people across the globe, and their charities made up more than half of the reputable ones working around the world. Not to mention International Rescue itself.
"As for when International Rescue is back online," Scott added, head tilting just a little. "We will deem what emergencies are essential for us to report to in those countries and continue to save all we can, as we always have." They were too good for this word, Casey thought. Because she, personally, would have left those countries to rot. The Tracy brothers, though, weren't going to let the innocents suffer for what those in charge decided.
His blue eyes turned icy again and his sneer returned. John smirked in the background, the faintest upturn of lips, cold, harsh humor in his gaze. "As for the GDF," Scott said, voice like ice. "You have no right to our equipment, as you well know." There was so much paperwork backing them up on that. Casey had warned the GDF that their plans wouldn't go over well. They hadn't listened.
They were listening now.
"This isn't the first time you've tried to illegally seize our property," Scott said. "We wrote it off last time as a misunderstanding." No, they hadn't; they'd just recognized outside forces working within the GDF and let it slide. "No more. Tracy Industries is officially pulling all funding from the GDF, as is the Tracy family. We will no longer be funding any global or governmental institution."
There were murmurs behind her. Even the basic members of the GDF knew that Tracy Industries funded a vast majority of the GDF. It was why they'd worked closely with International Rescue all these years, after all.
Without Tracy Industries, or the Tracy family in general, the GDF was destined to fall into ruin.
Scott wasn't done, however. "You gave us two days," he said, slowly crossing his arms over his chest. His shirt and jacket were perfectly tailored enough to show off the lean muscles of his form, showcasing his strength. "I'd like to think we're kinder than that."
He shrugged, just a little. "Our decisions are not yet final," he said. "To all fourteen countries and the GDF, you have fourteen days to convince us to change our minds. Two weeks. Good luck."
The conference ended, the screen going black.
"What was that?" Captain Rigby murmured at her side.
Once upon a time, Colonel Valerie Casey had joked to Scott that he and his brothers could rule the world with very little effort. He'd merely smiled at her and said they already did.
She could see now that he wasn't lying.
"That, Captain Rigby?" Casey said, sitting back in her chair. "That was Atlas shrugging."