Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY. I wish I did. All characters, terms, and settings are property of Rooster Teeth. This is just a Fan creation. No profits are had. So enjoy this detour into my odd fascination with irrational Ships.

Chapter 13

"Although rioting in Mantle is finally under control, how does it feel to know that the majority of those involved were your supporters?"

"I don't condone rioting, especially when our city is being denied aid for the hardships we've already had to go through, but Jacques Schnee's latest stunt is holding the city hostage for his own political gain." Robyn said sounding doleful. "So I understand their anger, but ask that they show it not in the streets but at the polls today."

A few sound bites later and the reporter was thanking Robyn for her time and heading out.

As soon as the door closed Robyn sighed and collapsed her shoulders. The strength of appearance needed to run for office was exhausting. "I hate reporters." She said garnering smirks from her Huntresses, as well as Blake and Yang, whom had worked with Robyn and her "Happy Huntresses" all night quelling the riots and reducing the outrage.

Jaune stood outside General Ironwood's office waiting. He was the first to arrive but was eventually joined by Qrow, Clover, and Ruby. There was a tension in the room that no one them enjoyed. Jaune was about to break the silence when a nearby elevator chimed and Winter exited. Jaune felt, awkward and just ever so slightly ashamed of himself for how he had last spoken to Weiss, he didn't make eye contact with her. They all simply stood there, just outside of Ironwood's office waiting.

The few minutes it actually was felt like hours. The election, Jacques Schnee's ploy, the shut down of SDC essential businesses, and the riots had them all on edge. When the doors opened and Ironwood and Oscar stepped out a slight weight seemed to lift off of Jaune's shoulders. They needed to do something, anything to help the people in Mantle, and the first step was talking about it and convincing Ironwood that the situation in Mantle was worth it.

"Thank you Oscar. Even without Oz you're proving to be wise council. Take those reports to Councilman Sleet and Councilwoman Camilla. Tell them that I'm scheduling a meeting to discuss some classified military operations with them. Their offices will reach out to me for the details." Ironwood said with a gently smile. "After that, see to some R&R. You've earned it."

Oscar returned Ironwood's smile and ran off but not before giving everyone else a smile and wave.

"Please come in. We have much to discuss."

"So James, what exactly is the kid telling Sleet and Camilla?" Qrow asked once the doors were closed. "Are you informing the Council of the Amity Communications Tower?" It was the question on everyone's mind. When could they tell people about it. The operation was top level secrets, but there were dozens of technicians and protective details in the know, to some degree or another. Many had concerns and questioned why Ironwood hadn't informed the rest of the council, though never aloud.

Ironwood sat down at his desk and hung his head, letting out a heavy sigh. "Yes. I do indeed plan on telling them about Amity. Most of the hard work is done. The Communication aspect of the retrofits is complete. The rest of the work going forward is structural and propulsion." Ironwood tapped his scroll and brought up a holographic of the refurbished Amity. "We still can't raise Amity into orbit, but some of the techs working with Doctor Polendina think that in the event of an emergency we can tow Amity to an operational height and broadcast from there." The holo depicted 8 Atlesian cruisers raising Amity into a green zone and the tower started to ping. "Barring an invasion, or an attack on Amity, we'll be just fine."

Everyone in the room breathed a sigh of relief. "So with Amity so close to finish, have you given any thought to your announcement?" Ruby asked sounding concerned. "Telling the world about Salem without causing panic, or people to lose hope. It needs to be something special."

Ironwood nodded. "Aside from the harsh reality and cold hard facts, I haven't given it much thought." He said looking her in the eyes. "But you're right. It needs to be finely worded. I supposed I can give something a test run with Sleet and Camilla. There's not much reason to keep the rest of the council in the dark now. We're past the hard part." Ironwood said sounding less stressed then he had been for a while. "That's not why I called this meeting though. With Jacques Schnee announcement last night Mantle is more volatile then ever. What ever election brings, we'll be waking up to a new Atlas tomorrow. I had planned on ordering some R&R but I think a different tact is in order."

There was a confused silence. "With reports from Qrow, Xiao-Long and Belladonna, I feel confident in bandying my support to Robyn Hill. Though as a member of the council its not that simple." Ironwood said before rotating his chair and looking out the windows onto the view of Atlas. "I'm ordering Beacon Squad to head down to Mantle and hand out supplies as needed. I can't be seen supporting Robyn right now, but Atlas is fully within its jurisdiction to offer humanitarian aid where needed. As licensed Huntsmen and Huntresses, these are missions that won't arouse suspicion, or at least won't cause any blow back."

Jaune thumbed his chin. "This makes you and Robyn look like the heroes, but vilifies Jacques. But most importantly, this helps the people of Mantle." Jaune said stepping forward, mood elevated significantly. "How soon do we move?" The room chuckled at Jaune's enthusiasm.

A few hours later all of what Ironwood had repeatedly referred to as Beacon Squad arrived in the streets of Mantle handing out Atlas goods to the locals. They were instructed that if anyone asked about the Ironwood-Atlas connection, to insist that they were from Beacon, and this mission was a simple humanitarian one. They were to allow the locals to reach their own conclusions, if this was a mission, then it came from an Atlas Mission board.

Jaune was asked to meet with Robyn Hill and to be the face of this operation. Robyn was already the hometown hero and Jaune was a rising star of Mantle. Together they were all anyone could talk about. Even Penny, the protector of Mantle, couldn't tear the press away from Jaune and Robyn as they handed out food to the locals.

"Daily Mantle, could you tell us who you are and why your here?" Asked a reporter stabbing a microphone at Jaune between crates of food.

Jaune froze. He had grown comfortable with a lot of things, but public speaking, still wasn't one of them. "Oh, uhm, well. My name is Jaune Arc. I'm a Huntsman from Beacon." Jaune said before receiving a nudge from one of the Happy Huntresses. He looked back to the reporter, putting on his 'work face'. "You want this interview then walk and talk." Jaune quickly got back to moving boxes of supplies.

"I'm here because helping Mantle was the right thing to do, so when this came up on the mission board there wasn't a second thought. What Jacques Schnee has done is criminal and I'm here supporting Robyn Hill in actually helping people, not just lording power over the people of Mantle." Jaune said walking with a stack of boxes. He and his friends had been given the suggestion by Clover to make the mission look as impressive as possible. So with an ample boost to his strength with Aura, he carried more then he'd be able to otherwise.

"So are you endorsing Robyn Hill for the Atlas Council?"

Jaune placed the boxes down with a resounding thud. "My name is Jaune Arc, Huntsman, survivor of the Fall of Beacon, and Robyn Hill has my full support." Jaune said looking directly at the camera. Swiftly placing a hand on his shoulder Nora and Ren stood on either side of him.

"Nora Valkyrie, Huntress, survivor of the Fall of Beacon, and I support Robyn Hill."

"Lie Ren, Huntsman, survivor of the Fall of Beacon, and I support Robyn Hill."

Before long Team RWBY had joined them in the endorsement. When all the supplies from Atlas had been distributed every news outlet had corralled them into a group photo with Robyn and her Happy Huntresses.

"This does not bode well for us." Watts said as he watched the news on one of his numerous scrolls. He leaned against a steel beam from within an abandoned warehouse on the other side of town. "Jacques chances were bad enough as it was, but this. It seems we'll have to try something a little more direct, don't you think?"

Slinking out of the shadows, the mechanical tail of Tyrian followed by the man himself. "Oh, goody."

A/N: What's this? Villains? Since when were they here? Time for some undesirable substance to hit the fan! As always, Like, Comment, Subscribe. You all keep me going for the most part, the more interaction I get, the quicker these come out... probably.