Neo had prepared a lot for her interview, taking an extensive amount of time to ensure all of her fake paperwork would hold up to as much scrutiny as possible. She had even planned ahead by checking on suitable targets to impersonate if she failed to land the job.
All of that was for naught though, as she got hired the instant she set foot in the mansion.
As she soon learned, the Schnee manor sorely lacked female staff for their regular social gatherings, as very understandably there weren't a lot of women willing to put up with the small but significant amount of people who believed their riches and/or fame entitled them to treat the female staff as part of the free for all buffet.
Thanksfully for Neo, she was an experienced fighter, and although she sadly couldn't knock the creepy guests dead, she was more than skilled enough to make it impossible for them to touch her without humiliating themselves in front of the entire party.
All in all, this was a rather sweet deal for her. Human Resources were willing to pay her extra if she worked at every social gathering, and business meetings happened regularly enough alongside more high end parties so she could earn more than enough while working very little time, which was the best she could ever hope for as it greatly reduced the amount of Dust she needed to expend to avoid her real appearance being seen.
Now, all she had to do was wait, wait for Ruby to get to Atlas so she could pit her against Cinder in a setting favorable to an untimely demise. Cinder's of course.
The woman wasn't even bothering to leave the apartment right now.
Cinder was so frustrated.
She was stuck, stuck inside a luxurious apartment, yes, but still stuck.
Contrary to Neo, she had no semblance to hide herself once outside, so she couldn't go out and risk being spotted. If that happened, she would have to flee out of the city or risk facing the entirety of Atlas' army, knowing the General.
Stuck inside, with her scroll for sole company. At least the local network had years worth of content she could go through, although she was starting to get annoyed by seeing Ironwood everywhere she went.
Another annoyance was Neo's choice for a job. Sure, she understood that Neo was only there to kill Ruby, so it made sense that she'd go spy at the snobby heiress' mansion, but that wasn't where she wanted her to go.
No, she needed information on where the Winter maiden and the Relic was. If she could get the Winter's maiden powers, then she would be able to go back to Mistral and find that damn bird to kill her and get her powers. Then, by getting the Relic under Haven, she would finally be able to get back into Salem's good graces.
With a second maiden's powers, she would almost be certain to win against Ruby and her bunch of misfits too, even with Qrow in the mix. Neo would have to deal with Ruby herself, because of those annoying silver eyes, but then she'd make sure to place in that final hit to get her sweet sweet revenge.
Nobody was allowed to threaten her power and get away with it. Nobody.
Ironwood had a new problem on his hands, yet this one he wasn't sure how to deal with.
Following the lack of troops sent to Mantle, along with the rationing he had to put in place due to their trading routes being cut off, a group had started forming down below, one that focused on protecting the people there and helped redirect food and basic necessities to those more in need.
Well, redirect was a kind way to put it. Steal would be more correct.
Now, usually, Ironwood would have cracked down on such a group within instants after their formation, but this one was more tricky.
Robyn Hill and her Happy Huntresses, as they called themselves, were comprised of former officers he had laid off because they refused to follow orders. They were fairly popular, between their current deeds and the ones they achieved during their time in the army, and most importantly, they had never found any definite proof to any crime, despite knowing for certain they had done them.
It was hard to prove they had stolen goods when you couldn't find how they were transported.
Another troubling issue was Robyn Hill's vocal attempts at getting elected as the next Council member. Getting rid of a popular politician was far more complicated than random journalists when you wanted to keep a population that already had very little faith in you from outright rebelling.
He already had enough issues trying to stop Salem alone, he really didn't need a rebellion on top of it. For the first time, Ironwood was truly understanding what Ozpin meant when he said humanity needed to be united.
He needed help, help for when the elections will come and he will inevitably be forced to lift his blocade, leaving Salem's minions free to enter his Kingdom. He had the chance of getting a majority for his blocade last time, when people were all afraid the other Kingdoms would attack them, but now the other council members were planning on removing it.
Thankfully, one of them had resigned over the first vote a while back, and Ironwood has been able to delay the elections for a while, but it was coming to a close. Within less than a year, the missing seat on the council would be elected, and both candidates were against him in some shape or form.
Ironwood needed more support, he needed more manpower to protect his people, he needed the people to work with him and understand what he did was for their own good, for their security.
Then came an idea, one that Ozpin would have never accepted, but Ozpin was gone for now. He had failed and Ironwood needed to pick up the slack.
He was going to make inter-Kingdom communications work again, and he will tell everyone the truth. It would cause chaos, fear, but he was sure that people will end up agreeing with his decisions, and gather together to all fight Salem.
He would lead humanity to victory, and through a united army he will rid this world of Salem. Once and for all.
"What do I owe the pleasure of your visit, General ?" asked Pietro Polendina as Ironwood walked inside his home in Mantle.
"I hope I'm not bothering you." replied Ironwood, "I just came in to ask a few questions."
"Sure, do you want some tea ?" offered Pietro as he moved his wheelchair towards the kitchen.
"I won't be long." politely refused Ironwood, "I want to know if it's possible to put the Cross Continental Transmit System back online, and how."
"Get it back online ?" asked Pietro, "For that we would only have to repair Vale's CCT tower."
"That is not an option, the place is overrun by the grimm." said Ironwood.
"Then we could build another tower in Vale." offered Pietro, "It would be another big investment, but it would essentially do the same job as the old one."
"The last CCT towers took over a decade to be built." objected Ironwood, "We don't have that kind of time."
"I'm not sure if there is any other option." pointed out Pietro, "Vale's tower was essential to the CCT System, its central position is what allowed for the System to work in the first place, every single communication between Kingdoms went through it. Without a tower there, the System cannot work."
"Can't you use an existing tower or building in Vale ?" he asked, "Would that be good enough ?"
"It would have to be tall enough to get in range of the other three towers." said Pietro, "The existing tower was already at the minimum height to achieve this as our politicians didn't want their tower to be taller than ours."
Ironwood paced back and forth. Was there really no way for this to work ?
"I'm sorry to have used your time then Professor." said Ironwood, "I'll take my leave."
"Wait." said Pietro as he rubbed his chin, "Maybe there is a way for this to work."
"What is it !" shouted Ironwood, before realizing he might be looking aggressive, "I'm sorry."
"Don't be, don't be." chuckled Pietro before explaining his idea, "If we get a tower high enough, we should theoretically be able to get all communications through it, regardless of their position on Remnant."
"How high ?" asked Ironwood.
"We should probably go high enough that we leave Remnant's atmosphere." said Pietro, much to Ironwood's dismay.
"How can you think we could ever build a tower that high ?" he asked.
"It's easy, we simply don't connect it to the ground." answered Pietro.
"What do you mean we don't connect it to the ground ?" asked Ironwood, "How can a tower not be connected to the ground ?"
"Just like the city above our heads." said Pietro, pointing at the floating city of Atlas, "We just have to get the tower to float up to space instead of a few kilometers high."
"The problem is that Atlas only floats thanks to the power of the Relic." pointed out Ironwood, "If we use it to make such a tower float, then we would need Atlas to crash down."
"Yes, yes, IF we used the Relic." said Pietro.
"What do you mean ?" asked Ironwood.
"You have given an explanation to the people about why Atlas floats, right ?" pointed out Pietro, "It might not be the truth, but it is theoretically possible."
"You mean about how it supposedly floats thanks to Dust ?" said Ironwood.
"Exactly." nodded Pietro, "With enough Dust, we should be able to launch a building like such a tower to space, and get it in an orbit that would allow us to maintain global communications worldwide."
"That's perfect !" said Ironwood, "How much Dust do you need ?"
"That would depend on the weight of the tower." answered Pietro, "And if we want this to work long-term we should make sure to have enough room and oxygen to allow for a crew to maintain the tower regularly."
"Would any existing building we have on hand work for this ?" asked Ironwood, "I need this done as soon as possible."
"I'm not sure." said Pietro, "I guess the building requiring the least amount of modifications to work would be the Amity Colosseum, but..."
"But ?" asked Ironwood.
"The amount of Dust needed to launch it all the way to space would be colossal." said Pietro, "I'm not sure we have the capabilities to gather than much Dust in a short amount of time."
"If that's the only problem, then it's fine." said Ironwood, "Leave the gathering of Dust to me, I'll grant you full access to Amity Colosseum and make sure you have enough Dust for launch by the time you are finished with the modifications."
"Are you sure ?" asked Pietro, unconvinced.
"Yes. This is our best plan." stated Ironwood, "No, our only plan."
Now, can anyone guess what Ironwood's backup plan in the show would actually do with the science I put here ?
To be continued on September 25th
Name : Neo Politan
Age : 17
Level : 18 (80%)
Class : Illusionist [You add both your Intelligence and Dexterity modifiers to your AC and to Dexterity or Intelligence based attacks as long as you can still cast illusions]
Path : Me, myself and I [You live for yourself first and foremost, no matter what pain you might cause others]
Title : The Gamer
HP : 10/10
AP : 95/95
STR : 11
CON : 10
DEX : 19
INT : 22
WIS : 12
CHA : 16
Semblance : The Gamer
Status effects :
Gamer's body [Your body follows game-like mechanics. You can restore 1/4th of your total HP (rounded down) by resting 15 minutes. You can only die if your HP reach 0 and you fail your last breath]
Child of Remnant [You are from Remnant and follow different rules than other worlds. Your HP is always equal to your constitution and any bonuses that would normally improve it are transferred to your aura]
Words that shouldn't be said [Your last words almost caused you to lose your life. You cannot talk until you overcome your trauma]
Defenses :
AC : 27(31)
For : 20
Ref : 26
Will : 24