Beacon Academy, Present Day…
"That… is a big fucking ship." Arlene muttered to Serana as the former wrapped her arm around the latter's waist.
The two vampires stood in the balcony of one of Beacon Academy's several towers as they watched the fleet of Atlas airships fill the skies over Vale. The scene above the city reminded Arlene of the great crimson fleet the Empire created once she put Tullius on the throne. It was both a potent weapon of war, and a display of power meant to scare other provinces into submission. And with the level of technology displayed by Remnant, she wondered how easily the Atlas airships could actually bludgeon another city into submission.
"Perhaps their commander is compensating for something." Serana commented offhandedly, unimpressed by the show.
Arlene rolled her eyes. It was difficult to impress Serana with anything. "My love, where you see waste and exorbitance, I see opportunity." Arlene then pulled Serana closer as she extended her hand towards the airships. "You should know, any man who would give a show of power like this, is an aggressive, confident man. And one more than worth talking to."
"You mean getting under your thumb." Serana sighed and shook her head. "This is Tullius all over again."
"Tell me subverting Tullius wasn't a good idea." Arlene argued back. Before Serana could even say anything, Arlene said, "You can't, because it was an amazing idea. Just like subverting the commander here will be."
Serana scowled at Arlene. "You don't even know who this commander is."
"He has power, that's all I need to know." Arlene grinned as she watched a smaller, wasp-like gunship fly out of the lead airship and move right for Ozpin's tower. She let go of Serana and moved to the balcony's ledge, mounting it in preparation to jump.
"Are you going to sleep with him?" Serana asked, her voice flat and emotionless.
That question froze Arlene in her spot. She turned back, looking at Serana with genuine concern. "Do you not want me to?"
Sex wasn't something that was sacred to Arlene. It was both something for fun, and a tool of controlling others. It was easy to manipulate the emotions and thoughts of men and women when you had them by their naughty bits.
But Serana's opinion was something that was sacred to Arlene. If her love asked her to never sleep with anyone else, Arlene would immediately comply.
Serana sighed. "Do what you need to do. Just… don't have too much fun."
Arlene returned a wide grin. "Keeping it professional. Understood." She then jumped off the balcony and vanished from sight.
It was a trivial task for Arlene to infiltrate Ozpin's tower. She had scouted out the entirety of the campus multiple times, memorizing its layout and hunting down any secret passages and unknown access vents she could find. She had done that with Ozpin's tower the most as she knew she'd often be taking enthusiastic and highly restricted walks in and out.
Using Mehrunes Razor to quietly undo the screws in an air duct vent, a sacrilegious usage of the artefact that made Arlene smile, Arlene crawled her way through the tower's vents until she made it to the main elevator shaft. When she opened the elevator-side grate, she peered down the inky blackness of the shaft. The shadows were nothing before Arlene's vampiric sight, and she could easily see the rising elevator approaching from underneath her.
Smiling as life presented her with a shortcut, Arlene said a quick thanks to Nocturnal as she jumped into the elevator shaft and cast Feather Fall. Her own weight reduced to near nothing, Arlene harmlessly floated down the elevator shaft before the soles of her feet impacted the top of the elevator. The speed of the elevator was nowhere near enough to actually hurt her, and the constant Muffle spell on her feet by the Nightingale Armor's enchantments meant that anyone in the elevator was completely unaware of Arlene's presence. From there, it was a simple matter of waiting until the elevator reached the top of Ozpin's tower.
When the elevator dinged and came to a stop, Arlene swiftly scrambled to a nearby vent and made her way closer to Ozpin's office.
"Ozpin!" She heard a voice from inside yell with cordial excitement.
"Hello General." Arlene heard Ozpin cooly reply.
The sound she made still magically dampened, Arlene slowly inched her way forward to the grate, until she could see the people conversing. When she could see inside the office, she was able to catch sight of Glynda leaving while a stranger spoke with Ozpin. He was tall, as tall as any Nord Arlene knew. And just as muscular as well. The masculinity exuded by his chiseled body was only further amplified by the man's strong, clean shaven jaw and well kept hair. Even without Ozpin mentioning his rank, Arlene could tell he was military, through and through.
It wasn't hard for Arlene to put a name to the face she was looking at. She had made sure to familiarize herself with those in power in every kingdom, and it was no understatement to say that General James Ironwood was Atlas .
"The fleet outside my office has me concerned, James" Arlene caught the tail end of Ozpin's sentence.
"Concern is what brought them here," General Ironwood said as he poured himself a drink from his flask.
Ozpin shook his head and sighed. "James, we are in a time of peace. A show of force like this gives off the wrong impression."
Arlene saw the General's stern face frown almost imperceptibly. The man was good at hiding his emotions, but couldn't control all of them.
"Qrow did not send his warning for no reason. If what he said is true..." The General fired back.
"If what he said is true, then we must handle it tactfully." Ozpin interrupted. "The Vytal Festival is a celebration of unity and peace, something which transporting hundreds of soldiers across an ocean does not do."
Ironwood held back from retorting, but Arlene could tell the man was not enjoying the verbal dressing down he was getting from Ozpin. "I'm just being cautious," Ironwood finally said, his voice drenched in professionalism.
"As am I. Which is why we need to focus on training the best Huntsmen and Huntresses we can." Ozpin continued to push.
"Believe me, I am." Ironwood responded, probably affronted that Ozpin would suggest he was doing anything but. Ironwood turned around and made his way for the exit. Before he left however, he looked back at Ozpin and said, "But ask yourself this: Do you honestly believe your children can win a war?"
As the General left, Ozpin quietly responded. "I hope they never have to."
And with that, Arlene had all she needed. Silently cackling to herself, Arlene pulled her way back out of the vent, and leapt onto Ironwood's descending elevator. This was good. Too good. It was almost so good that Arlene had to wonder if it was actually a trap.
Proud and headstrong. Well intentioned, but so willing to do what he thinks is right that he would act without permission from Ozpin. Combine that with the obvious rift and tension between the two, Arlene couldn't have made General Ironwood a more manipulatable target if she authored his life from birth. It was like he was born to be a fool.
Knowing she needed to capitalize on this sooner rather than later, Arlene continued to stalk the General from the shadows. While she considered talking to the General at that very moment, she thought it would be better to let him stew in the rebuking he got from Ozpin.
As the General and his entourage made their way towards the airdocks, Arlene was doing her best to recall everything she knew about his public career and history. A top graduate of his year from Atlas Academy, James Ironwood was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Atlas Army after graduation and had exemplary service in operations against the Grimm and local bandit population. He was eventually made a part of the Ace Ops, Atlas's premiere special forces unit, and eventually gained control of that unit as well.
From there, after his predecessor retired, he became general of the Atlesian Army, and one of the most powerful men in Atlas. However, his power only grew as he became Headmaster of Atlas Academy upon recommendation by the former Atlas headmaster and Headmaster Ozpin himself. This made Ironwood unique in that he had two seats on the Atlas council, rather than just one. Some have accused him of consolidating power, and perhaps even moving uncomfortably close to facism, but the General has always said that he only has the best in mind for Atlas and would never attempt to seize power.
Combined with what she saw earlier in Ozpin's office, that fell in line with the profile she was building on the General. Well intentioned, but bull headed and perhaps unlikely to think through the long term consequences of his actions. Arlene had previously tried to dig into the general's more recent history, but unsurprisingly found that much of it was hidden away as classified intelligence.
Something that was public however, was the fact that General Ironwood was a huge supporter for the advancement of science and technology within Atlas. He helped fund dozens of projects, from the Knight and Paladin armored infantry and walkers, to advanced research to Dust based laser weaponry, to modernizing the cybersecurity grid and CCT network of Atlas.
When it came to the defense of his nation, no cost was too great. Just perfect.
It was at this point that the General reached the airdocks and made his way to her personal bullhead. Arlene considered rushing out to meet him there, but there were quite a lot of Atlas soldiers, visiting students, and local Beacon students crowding the area that she felt like she wouldn't get a good conversation out of him. She needed him alone.
So Arlene decided to wait until the General took back off and some of the traffic cleared out. It had been at most 10 minutes of extra waiting, which would've been enough time for Ironwood to stew in his anger but not enough time for him to calm down and think about Ozpin's decision rationally.
Exiting her hiding spot, Arlene then approached an Atlesian Manta gunship that was currently dropping off its load of soldiers and Atlesian Knights.
Arlene approached two pilots, a pair of helmeted Atlas soldiers who had light blue and turquoise fatigues under their white armor. As Arlene approached, the one in turquoise looked at her and whistled.
"Damn girl, what's a fine thing like you doing walking around here by yourself and not with me?" The turquoise armored soldier catcalled.
"Really Tucker?" His light blue companion said, exasperated. "Now? Of all times. While we're in a different kingdom, on a mission."
"Hey man," Tucker indignantly responded. "The heart wants what the heart wants. Regardless of the time or place."
"Right indeed!" Arlene cheerfully said as she approached, draping an arm around the so-called Tucker's shoulders. "And while I would very much so enjoy spending my evening with a fine soldier like yourself, I do have places I must go." Tucker seemed to deflate a little bit at Arlene's words, so she continued. "But… if you could help me get to my destination, perhaps I could be convinced to spend a bit of my time with you."
"Oh!?" Tucker squeaked as his voice cracked a bit. He cleared his throat as he then spoke in a voice about two octaves lower. "Well honey, where do you need to go?"
Arlene put on her most seductive smile as she leaned in close. "I need to go speak with your General."
"Whoa there lady." The light blue soldier said as he separated Arlene from Tucker. "I'm calling bullshit on you right there because, one, no one wants to spend an evening with Tucker. And two, who the Hell are you to want to speak with the General?"
Arlene frowned at the interrupting soldier, but it was Tucker who said something first. "Dude, Church, don't you dare fucking cockblock me."
She then opened her mouth to say something in support of Tucker, but the scowling Church snapped at his partner first.
"I'm not cockblocking you, you fucking moron. She obviously doesn't want to sleep with you. She wants to use you to get to the General."
"Yeah and?" Tucker shrugged back. "I'm willing to take that risk."
Arlene sighed. "And now I'm regretting ever talking to you two."
"Aww man, already?" Tucker whined. "Chicks usually take like, five more minutes before they get sick of me."
Annoyed at how much attention these two were drawing, Arlene decided to take matters into her own hands. With a wave of her fingers, Arlene's eyes danced with magick as she charmed both of the soldiers. Not full enthrallment. No, that was a little too permanent for what she needed. Just a simple Calm spell combined with a secondary cast of Friends to make them like her.
"Now then, you boys will take me to your leader." Arlene commanded, her voice sickeningly sweet.
"Will you go on a date with me after?" Tucker was able to squeak out despite the enchantment.
The smile fell off Arlene's face. "No."
Tucker deflated a little. "Oh okay. Well let's start up the manta, Church."
Church shook his head. "Don't know why we're doing this, but let's get this over with."
The two idiot soldiers then moved towards the airship with Arlene in tow. Arlene took a seat in the cargo hold as the manta took off and flew towards Ironwood's flagship. When they docked, Church and Tucker then formed a small guard in front of Arlene as they escorted her through the ship and to Ironwood's office.
In front of his door, Arlene gave an assertive knock before standing back and waiting for Ironwood to respond. While she waited, she glanced at the two troopers who were still waiting behind her.
"You can go now," she said, her voice polite but authoritative.
Tucker perked up a bit. "Are you sure you don't-"
"No," Arlene immediately said.
"But-"
"No."
"Come on Tucker." Church said as he put his hand on his friend's shoulder. "I'm sure we can find someone with literally no standards for you somewhere in Vale." He then pulled him away as the two walked back to the hanger.
Arlene let out a sigh of relief as the two blue buffoons left her alone. There, she stood in solitude for a few seconds before she heard a voice from inside.
"Who is it?" She heard Ironwood call from inside. "I thought I said I did not want to be disturbed."
"It is a guest." Arlene called out happily. "One who has yet to be given any tea or a place to sit yet." Quickly, Arlene cast Friends on herself once more. While she believed she was more than adept at charming the General the old fashion way, a little insurance never hurt.
Arlene could imagine the confused look on Ironwood's face as she heard the shuffling of furniture and footsteps from inside. A moment later, the door to the office slid open, revealing the General standing in his perfect, stick up his ass posture as he looked at Arlene with a stern look that hid his confusion well.
His eyes flicked over Arlene's petite frame for the briefest of moments before he said, "I'm sorry. I wasn't expecting any guests. Nor do I believe we've been introduced. Who are you?" Despite the mostly polite greeting, Arlene could hear the edge of suspicion in his voice. Though to be fair, it was a reasonable amount of paranoia given that Arlene appeared out of nowhere.
Giving a polite smile and a small curtsy Arlene said, "Hello , we haven't met, but you may have heard of me. I am Arlene Volkihar."
There was a flash of recognition in the General's eyes. "Ah yes. Beacon's newest professor. Ozpin gave me a dossier on you, though I will admit I have yet found the time to read it through." The recognition then shifted back into suspicion. "But what are you doing here? And how did you get onto my ship?"
"A woman has her secrets," Arlene said slyly. "May I come in?"
"That's not a particularly insightful nor satisfactory answer," Ironwood said through a frown. "But, since you're here, please enter and have a seat. I don't have any tea for you, but I do have some coffee."
"It'll do just fine." Arlene gracefully moved into the office and sat down in front of Ironwood's desk.
She expected that the General liked to keep his office spartan, but was actually surprised when she saw how decorated it was. The gunmetal gray interior was tastefully accented by the Atlas standard snow white, and both the ground and ceiling were decorated with a motif of stars. The general liked astronomy. That was cute.
"So, Professor Vokihar, what can I do for you today?" General Ironwood asked as he retrieved a small pot of coffee and poured Arlene a mug.
Arlene gingerly took it from his grasp. "Mostly I wished to just speak with you. I wanted to gauge how you plan on using this magnificent fleet of yours to help bolster Vale's defenses. After all, I have grown rather fond of this world, and would like to see it kept safe." She took a sip of coffee.
The general, who was in the middle of moving to his own chair, paused to look at Arlene. "This world?" He asked slowly as he sat.
"Indeed. My sister and I, her name's Serana by the way, are in fact magical travelers from a different world, thrown into this one by unfortunate circumstances." Arlene honestly answered.
Ironwood was silent for a moment. "A fanciful story," he finally said.
Arlene resisted the urge to sigh. "And one that is true." She then summoned a small fireball between her hands and began throwing it between her palms like a ball. "It's probably in that dossier Ozpin gave you. Or maybe it isn't." Arlene shrugged. "In my time since arriving here I've learned that Ozpin is a rather secretive fellow. Even to his allies."
His eyes tracking the fireballs movements with unerring focus, Arlene could see the thoughts and calculations crunching within the general's iron skull. "I will admit, Ozpin's… paranoia, could get grating sometimes." Ironwood finally said. "But that doesn't prove anything that you say is true."
This time Arlene did sigh and roll her eyes. She then shifted the ball of fire into one of lightning, then of frost. "I can assure you this is real magick, not a Semblance. Furthermore, if I wasn't a magic user from another world, then that means I'm a Maiden, which is someone I'm sure you wouldn't not want to turn away."
Ironwood's eyes went wide at Arlene's casual mention of his group's biggest secret. Less than a second later however, he recomposed himself. "Assuming you are telling the truth, you are rather bluntly honest about you and your origins."
While her face was impassive on the outside, Arlene was grinning ear to ear on the inside. She had Ironwood's interest. "Honesty is the best thing I have to earn people's trust here. Save for my magick powers." She shrugged with a half-smirk. "I've been plenty honest with Ozpin and Glynda, but I feel like Ozpin still barely trusts me and Glyda looks like she wants to throw me across the room every time we lock eyes." Arlene crossed her arms and huffed with faux-exasperation.
At her words, Ironwood gave her a look of genuine sympathy borne out of shared strife. "Like I said, Ozpin can be somewhat paranoid. Meanwhile I wouldn't worry too much about Glynda, she's like that to everyone." Ironwood chuckled to himself, probably recalling some memories shared between the two of them. "But they do have the best interest of Remnant in mind."
Slowly, Arlene took a sip of her coffee, putting on her best forlorn look. "Still doesn't make it suck any less."
Ironwood gave Arlene a small, sad smile as he reached over the desk and put his hand on her shoulder. "I sympathize with you, I really do. Sometimes it feels like Ozpin doesn't even trust me, and I've known him for years."
Arlene gave a mirthless laugh. "Does he second guess every action you do as well, even though you know you're doing the right thing?" Arlene made sure to punctuate the last part of her sentence, making it seem like she was referencing a singular event which caused her frustrations.
The smile fell off Ironwood's face as he no doubt recalled this morning's meeting. "Indeed he has. Despite everything, despite all his secrets and machinations, Ozpin is also an idealist. And sometimes… I don't think he has the stomach to do the necessary things to protect Remnant."
"Where I come from, idealists tend to make for poor generals." Arlene commented under her breath.
"The same is true here." Ironwood agreed before he turned his frown towards Arlene. "But you shouldn't speak about your Headmaster that way. If you want Ozpin to trust you, you need to learn to trust Ozpin."
Seeing she pushed too far, Arlene put up both hands in fake surrender. "Apologies. I was merely… venting my frustrations."
Ironwood put up his hand to stop her. "There's no need for apologies. And like I said, I understand. It's better to let these concerns known to a superior rather than letting such thoughts fester. Next time I see Ozpin, I'll let him know you're feeling underappreciated."
Arlene smiled sweetly at him and bowed her head. "My thanks, General."
"Please, call me James," James said with a pleasant smile as well. "But now that we got all of that out of the way, what was it that you wanted to speak to me about?"
"Then you can call me Arlene. And mostly I just wanted to know how you plan to schedule the patrols of your troops and robots throughout Vale and Beacon. I go out in the city every now and then to hunt, and would like to be able to coordinate with your forces."
James snorted. "You know Arlene, despite the fact that we're called huntsmen and huntresses, we don't normally call any mission that's not against Grimm, a hunt."
Arlene frowned. "Well that's just a misleading naming convention, isn't it? Why not just go for something broader like Guardians, or Knights?"
James' laughter became more pronounced. "Well it has to do with tradition. Regardless, here I can send you a list of this week's patrols that I have set up. We were going to share them with Beacon's staff in the next few days anyway. We're planning on integrating the latest models of our Atlesian Knights into these patrols as well, so I hope you'll be able to see them in action," James said with an honest smile as she pulled out his scroll and transferred the files to Arlene.
Boys and their toys, Arlene thought to herself as the General preened over his robots. "I'll be sure to keep an eye out for them." Arlene smiled back as she pulled out her own scroll. "And thank you for your trust, James. I only hope Ozpin will come to trust me as much in time."
James placed his hand on Arlene's shoulder once more. "Give him time. So long as you're honest with your intentions, Ozpin will come around. At the very least, we in Atlas are always more than happy to welcome more fighters on our side. Doubly so with your magic."
Arlene laid her hand on top of the General's. "Thank you for your words, James. Truly." She let her hand linger for a second to show affection before she pulled it off and pulled away from his grip. "But regardless, I didn't want this visit to just be about business. If we're going to be working together, I'd like to get to know the great Iron Man of Atlas better. And I'm sure you have questions for me as well."
James coughed into his hand as he recomposed himself. "Yes well, as you are the first person I have ever met from a different world, I find myself having many questions. How about a question for a question?"
"My favorite game." Arlene grinned as she sat forward. "This is your ship, so why don't you ask first."
Bringing his hand to his chin, James pondered his question for a few seconds before he asked, "Well, how about we start with your professional background? You have proven yourself to be competent enough to become a Huntsman professor at Beacon, an impressive feat even with your magic. What did you do before you came here?"
Arlene's eyes lit up as she saw another opportunity. "Oh I did many things. Scout, adventurer. But I think you'd be most interested in my own military career."
James' eyes widened as well. "You were part of your world's military? What rank did you achieve?"
"Legate. Which is not a rank you have here, but I believe would equate to something similar to colonel. I served directly under General Tullius Aurelius, who in turn was both the Imperial governor of Skyrim and the leader of the Legion's forces." Arlene explained. "I joined the Imperial Legion to help stop a local rebellion that threatened to divide our Empire in half."
"Very impressive." James said as he nodded his head in respect before sipping on his own coffee. "Any battles you would like to share?"
"A few." Arlene smiled. "But that's quite a few questions from you and none from me thus far."
Ironwood blinked, only now realizing he had asked three questions in a row. He coughed into his hand to clear away his embarrassment. "Of course, my apologies. What would you like to know about me?"
Arlene took a moment to look like she was pondering her own question when she finally said, "Well, I am curious as to how you took both the position of general and headmaster. You must be quite the driven man."
"Well, you know what they say. Not everyone who works hard succeeds. But everyone who succeeds," James said as he metaphorically patted himself on the back. "But that is a bit of a long story."
"I don't mind." Arlene politely replied. "I want to get to know all about you, James." After all, this was a gold mine of an opportunity. The two of them were going to have a long talk today, and by the end of it, Arlene was sure they were going to be the best of friends.
A/N, 6/11/22: And another one done! After some more feedback, I've decided to cut out the Skyrim-era parts from these chapters. They were fun to write, and gave a lot of context as to how old Arlene became the new Arlene, but it didn't add much to the actual story. I was only really writing it to stay consistent with the previous chapters. Anyway, I hope you all liked the chapter, and I'll see you in the next one!