A/N: Oh hey, I'm getting this one out sooner than two months since the last one!
... By less than a week, but we'll ignore that detail.
Arthur Watts had to admit, he really did love his work.
After all, who could honestly say that they worked for an employer that not only appreciated one's talents, but also had the resources to allow that talent to flourish to its fullest extent? And then out of those people, who could honestly say they worked for an employer that not only had no qualms about one's… criminal tendencies, but actually encouraged them?
'But Arthur,' someone might say, 'she's trying to topple entire kingdoms!'
'Of course,' Watts imagined himself answering, 'and what better place for me to be than behind the steering wheel of something that will most assuredly go down in the history books?'
Remnant would still turn. Millions might die, sure, but was that really Watts's fault? Or was it the fault of the kingdoms growing soft? If he could find his way into their systems to wreak havoc, that sounded more like a failing of the people who were paid good money to protect those systems than anything on Watts's part.
Oh, the robot hack during the Vytal festivities was absolutely marvelous. He appreciated his employer nudging him in the right direction, but after years of living in Atlas and working with its tech? He still would have been able to develop that virus with plenty of time to spare before the big day.
That whole affair was truly his magnum opus, if Watts was being honest.
Turning the entirety of Atlas's robotic forces against their lazy, arrogant masters? A work of art. It was a shame that XCOM had to intervene and not only stave off some of the robotic assaults, but eventually sever Watts's connection to his toys altogether.
XCOM… now there was a group with which he had a bone to pick. Not only did they spoil his fun during the Vytal affair, but then they gave him a bit of a black eye during his second operation in Vale. Sure, the kidnapping of XCOM's little caped Captain went off easily enough, but the Lisa Lavender job? Even though Watts was given a fair amount of time to acclimate himself to Vale's infrastructure and do his work, he didn't expect to be outmaneuvered by a couple of grunts.
They'd managed to keep their preparations and navigational tools concealed from both Valean security and surveillance, which meant that Watts never even knew they were mucking about in his new territory. Sure, he'd kept an eye on Junior's people (they were hard to miss), but even though that gang had been expanding its presence and reach? Those thugs were hardly worth worrying about.
And yet somehow, XCOM had managed to tail Miss Lavender and come to her aid when Watts had guided his two henchmen to her like horses to water.
The result, while somewhat effective, was certainly less elegant than what Watts's standards allowed to be classified as "successful." Cinder was less than pleased that VNN was giving her the same no-air treatment that they were applying to XCOM, but Salem was happy that XCOM had lost their only mouthpiece. After all, ADVENT had a large enough global presence that press conferences were still covered by all the major networks, as well as the good graces of Atlas.
Or… at least it had those good graces before Cinder had cocked that up as well. Those riots in Mantle were so obviously bait that it was almost painful for Watts to watch Cinder fall for it. While he never failed to enjoy watching that woman's arrogance blow up in her face, Watts's ability to do his work in Atlas was at risk of becoming collateral damage in this particular faux pas.
So now that ADVENT's Atlas-shaped golden goose was at risk, of course Salem had asked the adult in the room to come in and take care of the mess that Baby Cinder had made. He had even decided to be the better person and offered to help her with the whole trial business, but she had angrily snapped at him that she had it covered and that he should be focusing on what their mistress had told him to do.
Of course, what Salem had instructed tied in pretty damn closely with Cinder's case, but of course she wouldn't admit that to Watts's face. So he was left to return to his work trying to dig up anything he possibly could about XCOM from anywhere across Remnant's public networks, media, or private security files.
His biggest lead was the Grimm attack on Kuo Kuana, since that was not only the biggest action the group had taken part in, but one where they had very intentionally filmed and broadcasted their efforts. For "morale" purposes. Well, they were going to regret that…
Watts decided that the apple he was chewing on had to be the best one in weeks, and he took another bite while he returned his attention to the work arrayed in front of him. A (somewhat) wanted man in Atlas, Watts couldn't afford to waltz into the CCT, take a seat at one of their mainframe consoles, and use the power of Atlas's central computer to crunch data for him.
So the solution, of course, was to have one of ADVENT's officers waltz into the CCT, take a seat at one of their mainframe consoles (which had been graciously provided to ADVENT for cooperative purposes), slip a bridge into the system, and allow Watts to use Atlas's central computer to crunch data for him. The benefit was that Watts could now do his work while sitting in the comfort and safety of an apartment in the residential district.
While he certainly enjoyed working in peace and quiet without having any bumbling fools barging in to ask him inane questions, the arrangement was not without its drawbacks. The bridge trick meant that Watts needed to be a little more careful in how he moved about within Atlas's system so as to avoid any detection from the CCT's anti-virus systems. He would have liked to have had more freedom to sniff around, but alas.
As it was, even though Watts didn't have access to everything he would have liked, he did have access to everything he needed. After that Schnee gala, Cinder had set some of ADVENT's personnel on a research mission to uncover dirt on XCOM. She probably wanted to show Watts how easy it was to do his job and to prove to Salem that his support wasn't necessary. Well, predictably, her goons had gotten nowhere with their assignment. And Cinder had probably gotten bored and told them to work on something "more important" after their lack of progress.
They did, however, pull plenty of data for Watts to come in and work with.
The silence in the clean apartment was broken by another crunch of apple, and Watts smiled while his algorithms flashed and flickered on his screen. As good as XCOM may have been with their covert actions, they weren't perfect. With his own little corner of Atlas's incredible computing power sectioned off and hidden from prying eyes, Watts watched the processors chug as he dumped files upon files into his algorithms and demanded the computer try to detect matches with all the previous files it had processed.
Watts made little tweaks here and there to the software as it worked, little adjustments based on how well it seemed to be working under his observant eye. It wasn't perfect, but… he was still getting connections. Watts could work with connections.
Something that Cinder seemed to currently be struggling with, actually.
With the algorithms looking stable for the moment, Watts tabbed over to the other screen he had up. The one that allowed him to watch his colleague make an utter fool of herself.
"Stop patronizing me, Watts," she had said. "This will be easy to handle. XCOM was there, and it'll be easy to sway the council to my side. They trust ADVENT."
"With what evidence?" Watts had been tempted to ask, but… well, maybe humiliation would be a good teacher for her where literally everything else had failed, and since he was the one who had been tasked with preparing the (actually functioning) backup plan?
"And there she goes," Watts muttered in amusement as he watched Cinder storm out of the courtroom.
He had to admit that Bradford's evidence against Merlot was pretty incontrovertible. There was no way that ADVENT could defend that guy, so his death actually made things easier. Cinder would have had to cut him loose, act like ADVENT had no idea about all the 'corrupt' and 'terrible' research Merlot was conducting, and vow to do better in the future. So the only angle they had now was to prove that XCOM incited the riots that caused massive unrest, property destruction, and death.
The scroll on his table buzzed, and Watts smiled when he saw that it was Cinder calling.
"Ah," he said, making sure to keep his attention on the computer and not the scroll, "Lady Fall. To what do I owe the pleasure of your call?"
"Watts…"
"Come to report the good news of your victory in court?"
"Watts-"
"Because this was to be a slam-dunk case, if I recall."
"Watts!"
"Surely the Fall Maiden would have the Atlesian council wrapped around her finger and dancing to her tune by now."
"I don't need your attitude right now, Watts!"
Watts allowed himself to feign a look of slight surprise as he glanced down at the scroll. Cinder's failures were undoubtedly going to make his life more difficult, so the least he could do was savor this moment and milk it for all it was worth.
"Why… Cinder…" he said slowly, confusion leaking into his voice. "It… it almost sounds like you're worried about something. Surely-"
"Have you or have you not been successful with the work you've been assigned by our benefactor?"
Watts rolled his eyes. Of course she would deflect and try to focus on the possibility of Watts's incompetence. No chance of a, "You were right, Watts," or a, "Watts, I need your help." Of course not. That would mean acknowledging that Cinder had made a mistake.
"I am a professional, Lady Fall," Watts said, making a point of addressing Cinder by her preferred title. He knew that, coming from him, the honorific would drive her mad. "Of course I've been successful."
"Good. Send the data to me."
"Whatever for, Lady Fall?" Watts asked.
There was absolutely zero chance that he would be giving her anything until she acknowledged that she needed his help.
"Because I said so."
Oh, that was the wrong answer.
"I'm terribly sorry, Cinder," Watts said, dropping his patronizing voice, "but you cannot expect me to hand over my work that our mistress asked for just so you can take the credit. Especially after your simpletons so completely and utterly failed at the task before I took over. We both have work to do, and we better get to it. Good luck with your trial."
Click.
"Give it a moment…" he muttered to himself. "Five… four… three…"
Riiiiiiiing…. Riiiiiiiiing…..
Interesting. Watts honestly thought her pride would last a few seconds longer.
"I know that my voice can be aesthetically pleasing, Cinder," he drawled, "but I thought I made myself clear when I said we both had-"
"I need your help."
There it was.
But Watts wasn't willing to let her off that easily.
"I'm sorry, but I think that the encryption device I set up to protect our calls had a glitch just now," he said. "Would you mind repeating that?"
Cinder was fuming on the screen, and it was all Watts could do to not crack a smile.
"I said this is more difficult than I had anticipated, and I need your data to make this work."
"That didn't quite sound like what I thought I heard the first time," Watts said with a disappointed sigh.
"Watts."
"Alright, alright," he answered, rolling his eyes while he pulled up the data collected by his algorithms. "That bad, hmm?"
"I know you've been watching."
Watts put an offended hand to his chest and stared at Cinder. "Me? Wasting time watching you flounder when I have important work to do? Perish the thought."
"Are you going to give me the data or not?"
"Maybe if you give me the time I need to actually compile it in between bouts of you trying to boss me around," Watts said, rolling his eyes and returning his attention to the screen. "Just do be a dear and make sure not to forget that you owe me after this."
"That depends on whether or not your data is useful."
Watts shot her a look. "Let's be honest here: anything I give you is sure to be more useful than your efforts to flash a pretty face and a 'woe is me' attitude to try and win the council over."
"You said you weren't watching!"
"I wasn't," Watts lied. "You're just that predictable."
He could have easily had the file packaged and sent over almost as soon as Cinder made the ask, but this was far more entertaining. Besides, the girl needed to sweat a little.
"Remember that we're working together, Watts. If your information doesn't do anything for us in the courtroom, it's going to affect you as much as it will affect me."
"Believe me, Cinder, I know," Watts sighed. "Or perhaps it hasn't occurred to you that your own buffoonery in the courtroom is already affecting me, and the only reason why I'm making a bloody effort to help you is because I now have to play damage control to minimize how difficult you're making my life?"
Really, what did she expect him to say to that? With that kind of intellectual foresight (or lack thereof), was it any wonder that she was bungling the court case this badly?
The entertainment value of heckling Cinder was starting to lose its charm, so Watts went ahead and pushed the data package to his Scroll, then transmitted it to his associate over their encrypted connection.
"Data sent," he said with a sigh. "With a few helpful notations and addendums because I think we both know I can't trust you to properly present my work to the council."
"Watts…"
"Hush now, dear Cinder," Watts said. "You needn't thank me for going above and beyond to help. We're on the same side after all, as you said. I'm just doing my job of making sure you don't screw up yours. It's what friends are for."
"Watts-!"
"You really should be getting back to your work, you know," Watts interrupted. "Maybe review what I gave you first so that you don't look like a child in grade school who is presenting the work of her partner in front of the class and only seeing it for the first time? I mean, I know that's what's actually happening here, but still…"
"Dammit Watts-"
"Good luck!"
Click.
Watts picked up his apple again and took another bite, savoring the satisfying crunch.
"I knew I kept her around for a reason," he said to himself.
The somber air hanging over the courtroom had dissipated slightly after the Council had requested a brief recess. It didn't escape Bradford's notice that Cinder was all-too-happy to make use of the break to storm out of the room and try to dig up whatever advantage she hoped to find in the following fifteen minutes.
Well, it seemed that she had found something, judging by the way she carried herself back into the courthouse.
Yeah, she definitely thinks she has some kind of ace up her sleeve, Annette confirmed.
Given the undoubtedly vast resources at Cinder's disposal, Bradford wasn't sure if Cinder's trap would involve fabricated evidence or something that someone somewhere found and photographed. It would obviously be about the Warsaw riot, since there was no way Cinder could nail XCOM for anything related to Merlot after the video Bradford had just presented.
If it was fabricated, Odei and her team would be getting to work immediately on how to push back against the falsehood. If it was legitimate footage, though? Well, that would be a problem for Bradford to handle once it came up.
For now, the courtroom was still reeling from XCOM's evidence regarding Merlot.
Hell, the world was still reeling from it.
Bradford had no idea why Cinder thought it would be a good idea to try and push to make the hearing public, especially after the embarrassing performance that she put on earlier. Maybe she thought she could just bluster her way through the hearing and use her clout as the Fall Maiden to win over the court of public opinion. Or maybe she truly thought that XCOM was incompetent, and that it would be easy to shut them down without having to take any preparatory measures.
Or maybe Councilwoman Camilla was Cinder's preparatory measure.
Either way, Bradford wasn't about to stop Cinder from helping him get the raid footage out to the whole world, and so he was perfectly happy to agree to the request when it was presented to him on the Council's behalf by Candent the day before.
And now?
Bradford's scroll was blowing up with messages from his teams sending him news reports in the wake of the footage, as well as interview requests from networks passed along via Odei. Not that she intended to have him agree to any of those requests, but the fact that there were so many was worth noting.
The Council was not wasting Cinder's request for a break, either. Bradford noted that they had been locked in conversation since the recess began, with Candent being called over more than once to answer a question or two before returning to his seat.
With Cinder's return signaling that the court was back in session, the members of the Council returned to their seats and prepared to resume questioning. The audience once more fell silent along with the rest of the world, watching intently as the second round of the trial began.
Frias was the first to speak.
"How much footage do you have from the raid?" he asked.
"Hours and hours," Bradford answered, suppressing a smile, "and from every team that was involved."
"How much of that footage are you willing to share?"
Bradford didn't so much as blink before immediately answering, "All of it."
Cinder, much to Bradford's disappointment, knew better than to try questioning the veracity of XCOM's evidence again.
"We are also willing to provide the other evidence that I mentioned previously," Bradford continued. "Much of it is information that the Council could acquire on its own, but it would no doubt be beneficial for your technicians to receive our files and cross-check the data against what they are able to come up with themselves."
"And the rescued soldiers?" Ironwood asked.
"We will cooperate with whatever the Council requests regarding the soldiers," Bradford said. "Several are still under the care of our medical staff onboard the Avenger, but we have no intention of using their lives or freedom as a bargaining chip in any way, shape, or form. I am just glad that we were able to pull them safely out of the monster's den, so to speak."
Oh, she's fuming.
"Your cooperation is appreciated," Ironwood said. He turned to his peers and asked, "Are there any further questions regarding this matter?"
"I have one," Cinder interjected.
Here it comes.
Ironwood raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.
"Why," Cinder asked, turning towards Bradford's table, "did you lie about XCOM's involvement in the deadly riots that took place in the slums of Mantle?"
"I'm sorry," Bradford answered, "but which statement did I make that you are now claiming is a lie?"
"You denied XCOM's involvement," Cinder pressed.
"I did no such thing," Bradford pushed back. "I said that the accusation has no relevance to the matter at hand, which was XCOM's destruction of Merlot's lab."
"So you admit to XCOM's involvement, then!"
"Do you not understand the fundamental concepts of logic, Miss Fall?" Vahlen asked testily.
That earned a small chuckle from the audience, Bradford put a gentle hand on Vahlen's shoulder to wordlessly ask that he handle this.
"We admit to not seeing a need to answer to every single accusation thrown at us by you like you are throwing darts at a wall," Bradford said. He looked to Candent and added, "or are the rules different in Atlas?"
"I'm not sure what you are getting at," the lawyer admitted.
Bradford shrugged and stood up from his seat. "What I'm getting at is that Cinder wants XCOM to answer an accusation when no supporting evidence has been provided. If we are expected to answer that claim, then perhaps I should throw out an accusation myself and demand that Cinder answers it."
He made a show of looking around and humming in thought for a moment. "Maybe I'd like to lay down an accusation that, say, Cinder isn't actually the head of ADVENT, and that she instead answers to an ageless entity that has lived in the shadows of Remnant for untold thousands of years, biding its time while it tries to shape this world's history through the use of Grimm in an effort to subjugate the kingdoms and bend the people to its eldritch will for reasons that are, quite simply, unfathomable."
He looked up at the Council, whose members had various expressions of confusion, shock, and annoyance on their faces.
"Do I get to expect a truthful answer from Cinder?" Bradford asked, "Or would that rightfully be considered ridiculous?"
The room sat in confused silence. Bradford glanced back at Candent, who was looking at him as though he'd grown a second head.
"That is… oddly specific," Ironwood said.
"And yet I have no evidence to show that I'm not simply making things up," Bradford answered.
I know you wanted to say 'talking out your ass,' Bradford.
"Of these two accusations," Cinder answered, her voice terse, "one is a ridiculous fantasy while the other is a charge that was formally levied against XCOM by the Council, regardless of your claim to its irrelevance."
"Lady Fall is correct," Camilla said. "Please don't continue making a fool out of yourself, Bradford, with wild claims that do not pertain to the matter at hand. Was XCOM involved in the riots or not?"
"Mr. Candent can correct me if I'm wrong," Bradford said, casting a second glance back at the lawyer, "but I don't believe it is my job to do Cinder's job for her. Or do you have reason to believe that we were involved?"
"I am so glad you asked that, actually," Cinder answered. Bradford didn't need Annette to tell him that she was radiating smug energy at this point. "Because as a matter of fact, I do."
Bradford sighed. "Then let's see it."
Cinder smirked as she walked past Bradford's table on her way up to the Council's bench with Candent.
"Not even going to try and contest it?" Cinder asked softly. "I don't blame you."
Cinder watched as Candent delivered her scroll to the Council (specifically, Camilla). Once again, the screens in the courtroom flickered to life. Instead of video footage (or damaged static), several still images were being presented.
"As part of our efforts to maintain the security of Mantle," Cinder began, "We conducted regular surveillance of the routes our patrol teams would take."
"Because of course they did," Vahlen whispered to Bradford.
"After the violent and deadly riots that took place, our technicians wasted no time in poring over our collected data to see if we could find anything that might explain how such a catastrophe could have occurred."
Well in that case, maybe the technicians found footage of ADVENT goons hauling off citizens without reason. There must have been plenty of footage showing that.
Cinder glanced back at Bradford before finishing, "What we found is a very clear link between XCOM and the combatants who forcefully and repeatedly opened fire on ADVENT forces."
The still images slowly cycled so that the viewers had enough time to review the images on both the left and right sides of the screen before the next pair of images was presented. In each pair, the left image was clearly taken during the riots while the right image was not. Every image on the right, however, was either some kind of image XCOM had made publicly available showing one or several of its operatives or an image where the subject was obviously wearing XCOM's colors.
Clever girl.
"I'd be careful giving Cinder credit for this," Vahlen muttered quietly enough for only Bradford and Annette to hear. "After her bumbling performance earlier, I don't know if I believe she's capable of putting this together herself."
Either way, Bradford was impressed with whoever had put this together. There were a lot of images of XCOM operatives that had made their way onto Remnant's internet, either released by XCOM itself for PR purposes or taken by others who had encountered the organization. Between the Vytal Festival, the post-disaster reconstruction, Patch, Kuo Kuana, and now XCOM's time in Atlas, there were a lot of images to sift through. And someone had painstakingly found facial matches between all of those images and the ones ADVENT had taken in the slums.
The slide show continued on and on, showing face-matched people speaking to residents of the slums, helping them move boxes, looking out from windows or sitting on rooftops…
A slight murmur rippled through the crowd when a particular pair of images appeared on the screens that showed Bolin and Nadir, the two huntsmen who were at the epicenter of the riots, were linked to XCOM.
Damn.
"It appears that your people were quite busy in the slums, Bradford," Cinder drawled. "Would you, perhaps, like to educate us as to why? After all, you did say that you would need evidence of XCOM's involvement before you would cooperate, and so… well…"
She gestured at the screen with a sinister smile.
"Let's see some cooperation."
All eyes from the Council were now on Bradford, who suppressed a sigh as he carefully chose his next words.
"As I have said before, XCOM is a reconnaissance unit. When we arrived in Atlas and made it our objective to better understand who Merlot was and whether he was a threat to Atlas and Remnant, we were thorough in the ground we covered to try and achieve our aim."
He glanced at Sleet. The supposed 'man of the people' on the Council, according to Ironwood, who was particularly distressed by the riots.
"It would have been uncharacteristically foolish of us to not extend our fact-finding efforts to the slums of Mantle, and it would have been downright absurd if we had not learned of the plight of the slum residents once we were there."
Whether or not Sleet took that as a dig at the Council's own failure to recognize the powder keg sitting below their floating city, Bradford didn't much care.
"So you used them," Cinder interjected. "Riled them up for your own disgusting means and then tossed them aside once they served their purpose."
Bradford narrowed his eyes. "Have we? If you go down into the slums right now, and ask anyone—anyone—what they think of XCOM, how confident are you that the answer will be that they feel used by my people?"
He returned his gaze to Sleet and added, "And how many of them will say they felt —and still feel— relieved that finally someone listened to their cries for help, and worked in earnest to make them feel like they weren't being abandoned?"
Perhaps it was unwise to insult the people who held the fate of his freedom in their hands, but it was an ugly truth that they needed to hear.
"Did our presence embolden the people of the slums to the point where they felt they could fight back against ADVENT's thuggery? Perhaps. That isn't for me to say. But what I will remind you of, and what is easily validated by any of the numerous videos that spread like wildfire across Remnant in the wake of the riots, is that the people of Mantle did not fire first. ADVENT picked that fight, and it was the last straw for the honest citizens of the slums."
"Your huntsmen provoked that ADVENT patrol," Cinder sneered. "You can yell as much as you want about how the guards fired first, but they were clearly goaded into it. Because you wanted a distraction for your little raid. The blood of these honest citizens is on your hands purely for the sake of convenience."
"If the officers of your organization are incapable of keeping their fingers off of the trigger when faced with a few mean words, then I'm not sure Remnant should be placing its trust in ADVENT to keep the peace," Bradford shot back. "And besides, we had no control over when our raid against Merlot's lab began."
Ironwood raised an eyebrow. "I find that hard to believe, Bradford. How was the raid that you started out of your control?"
Time to use our ace?
It was time.
"Believe me, General, we had every intention of commencing our raid when we thought we were ready," Bradford said.
"... Were you not?"
Bradford shook his head.
"We had to bump the schedule up when we saw an airship enter Merlot's hangar," Bradford explained.
"New subjects?" Ironwood guessed.
I just contacted Weiss. She's ready if Ironwood calls on her. She's hoping Ironwood calls on her.
"Of a sort," Bradford answered. "They were easily recognizable, however, and their arrival changed everything."
"Spit it out, Bradford," Camilla said, annoyed.
Gladly.
"We saw that Winter and Weiss Schnee had arrived at Merlot's lab," Bradford said, "and we saw armed guards leading them inside."
"How can anyone watch this and think that XCOM is the bad guy here?"
"A lot of people haven't had the chance to work with XCOM. They don't get to see what we see every day."
"I guess. But still. It's crazy how much Cinder is hamming it up for pity points. She can't even remember if she's supposed to be limping or not!"
Sienna Khan listened as her guards mingled with Misha's kids while they watched the video screen. This trial was going to have far-reaching political ramifications on Remnant as a whole, so of course she was intent on watching it unfold. Additionally, Sienna figured that it would be nice to give the XCOM operatives a chance to watch their boss represent them on the world stage, given that they'd been stuck here away from their brethren for so long.
Misha, Rogers, and the others deserved to watch Bradford beat down Cinder on air. This was definitely for their benefit.
"Maybe Bradford should reach out to more groups and people, so that more of Remnant knows what XCOM is about?"
"They're trying, I imagine. It's a big world out there, though, and only so much XCOM can cover at a time."
"Especially when they're stuck in Atlas."
"Maybe they don't need to be present to get the word out? What if XCOM is able to out-badass ADVENT with achievements?"
"We could make some up to help. Talk about how they fight harder than fifty Canis and how they can endure just as many Cockatrices."
"Don't even need to make up the bit about being sturdy. Misha was telling me that he knows about an operative who really is that strong."
"Bullshit. How?"
"I dunno. Misha said he was built different."
"Built different?"
"You know. Constructed alternatively."
"What."
"Assembled divergently!" Misha helpfully supplied from the other end of the room.
It amused Sienna how quickly her allies and subordinates in the Fang turned on ADVENT once they caught word of the attempted assassination by the Albains on behalf of Cinder. It impressed her how carefully and quietly that word had spread among the trustworthy so that Cinder's lackeys remained unaware of Sienna's strengthened allegiance with XCOM.
She wasn't sure, but Sienna also suspected that her adjustment in leadership style to be more aligned with Bradford's methods also had an effect. Even though many of the people under her had never met Bradford personally, they were familiar with the operatives he had left behind. Leading her Fang through mutual respect rather than purely through fear and awe likely made the rank and file connect more with XCOM's methods than ADVENT's.
"For real, though. Why does ADVENT get to take all the credit for everything when XCOM is putting in actual work?"
"Because ADVENT is larger, more well-funded, better connected, and is more established around the world?"
"Well yeah. Besides all that."
"What else are you expecting for an answer?"
"I dunno. Something about them cheating and using intimidation tactics to get better coverage?"
Sienna decided to step in before things got out of hand.
"Remember, we cannot let our disdain for ADVENT show," she said. "Even if we're all in agreement, being loose with our words in private will make it harder for us to remain professional in public."
Even if ADVENT's assistance was largely symbolic, enough of it was genuinely helpful that Menagerie simply could not afford to burn their (superficial) ally.
The fight down at the docks during the terror attack was proof enough of that.
"That's… a good point. Sorry."
"Hey, man. No harm, no foul."
"Sienna?"
Sienna Khan looked away from the video screen at the sound of her name to see one of Misha's kids looking back at her.
"Just let us know when it's time to really tango with ADVENT," the young boar faunus said. "I get the whole 'we gotta play nice' thing, and we'll keep our lips zipped for as long as you need us to, but honestly? Those bastards deserve what's coming to them. Especially for using us like a prop in the way that Cinder is accusing XCOM of doing."
A smile cracked on Sienna's face. The girl had a point.
"You have my word that you, Misha, Rogers, and the rest of you… you'll be the first to know when the time is right."
The faunus returned Sienna's smile with a toothy grin. "I'm looking forward to it, Boss."
… Boss?
Sienna leaned back into her seat and resumed watching the trial while she chewed on the new title. Misha and Rogers had clearly rubbed off on the members of their little gang, as Sienna had definitely heard several operatives address Bradford in the same manner. It was relaxed and informal while still acknowledging the chain of command. So that meant it was respectful while still casual… right?
Boss.
Hmm.
She could get used to that.
Silence pervaded the room at Bradford's claim.
Nobody would have batted an eye if it was just Winter. She's a soldier of Atlas after all, and upgrading Atlas's soldiers was what the kingdom was paying Merlot to do.
But Weiss?
The heir of the Schnee empire? The little princess, who had rebelled by dabbling in the huntsman craft for a year or two, but who always returned home to put her pitch-perfect singing voice on display for all who reveled in her dulcet tones? That Weiss?
Why was she at Merlot's lab?
"You moved up your schedule," Ironwood repeated, "out of concern for Weiss Schnee."
Bradford gave an affirmative nod.
The Council didn't need to know that XCOM was made aware of Weiss's planned arrival a day in advance. Even if Cinder (or her hypothetical, technologically adept friend) managed to, by some insane miracle, produce XCOM's communications that showed Bradford knew, they would not be able to argue that XCOM knew exactly when Weiss would show up with her sister.
Three quarters of the Council looked surprised and concerned by this revelation.
Camilla looked furious.
"What proof do you have that the circumstances surrounding Miss Schnee's arrival are what you are implying?" she demanded.
"You mean besides all the footage that we've promised to provide?" Bradford asked. "Including footage that shows our team of operatives fighting through Merlot's defenses to rescue Weiss?"
He turned around in his chair, located Weiss up in the audience (seated next to her father, of all people), and jerked a thumb in her direction.
"I imagine you could just ask her yourself, no?"
All eyes in the room turned towards where Bradford was pointing. Surely some of the attendees had noticed Weiss and her father sitting in on the trial, but the idea that she would be dragged down to the courtroom floor to testify?
Ooohhhh, you should see the look on Daddy's face, Brad. It's like he's suddenly developed a crippling case of claustrophobia, and he needs to be literally anywhere else but here.
That obvious?
Nah. His poker face isn't that bad, but remember who you're talking to.
"How can we trust a word out of her mouth?" Cinder asked, quickly trying to head off the possibility of Weiss testifying in front of the Council. "She's with XCOM!"
"She killed two of my operatives in cold blood after Jacques hauled them into his mansion for questioning and execution, following the speech you made announcing your presence to the world," Bradford answered coldly.
"A small sacrifice in order to maintain her-!"
"Would the council like a refresher on how I reacted to the loss of five operatives during the terror attack on Kuo Kuana?" Bradford asked, cutting off Cinder and addressing the council. He gestured to Vahlen and added, "I am sure my associate here can pull up the interview with VNN's Lisa Lavender in the time it takes for Cinder to make her next excuse as to why Weiss shouldn't testify."
Ironwood held up a hand to stop Bradford and Cinder.
"I am going to need you to back up, Bradford," he said, "and revisit the part where you say that Jacques Schnee and his daughter engaged in extrajudicial killings instead of turning your operatives over to my authority."
His voice was quiet, but the silence in the room allowed it to carry with no trouble at all.
"Perhaps it would be best if Weiss answered that herself," Bradford said.
He's trying to slip out.
"And maybe her father should remain present, given the implications of what Miss Schnee is about to present," he added.
Bradford remained staring straight ahead while Ironwood looked past him into the audience. He made a nod to what Bradford could only assume was security, and the low whispers around the room seemed to more or less confirm his suspicions.
"Miss Schnee," Ironwood said. "Would you be willing to come down and speak to the Council?"
"Gladly," Weiss answered, her voice easily carrying across the room.
Small discussions in hushed voices erupted all over the hall while the onlookers waited for Weiss to approach the Council's bench. She didn't take her sweet time, but she didn't rush down to the front as fast as she could, either. Fast enough to not be wasting everyone's patience, but not so fast that she appeared desperate to rat out her father.
Eventually, though, Weiss found herself standing between Bradford's table and Cinder's, with Mr. Candent standing next to her.
"Please state your name and title," Ironwood began. "For the record."
It would be absurd for anyone watching to be ignorant of who Weiss Schnee was, but rules and formalities existed for a reason.
For a split second, Weiss started to shift her position so that she was standing at ease. She caught herself and shifted to a more civilian posture, but the moment didn't escape Bradford's notice.
"Weiss Schnee, heiress-"
She paused, considered for a moment, and then corrected, "Likely soon-to-be ex-heiress to the Schnee Dust Company."
And Eight-Two, Master Sergeant Assault of XCOM.
Someone needed to say it.
Silence ensued while Weiss waited for Ironwood to once again speak. Not a single word was spoken among the members of the audience.
"Miss Schnee, please clarify what was meant when Central Officer Bradford claimed that you and your father executed two of his operatives at the Schnee Manor," Ironwood asked.
Weiss's body language was relaxed. Confident, but comfortable. Her voice was calm and clear as she answered, "It is exactly as he said, General. After Cinder claimed that XCOM was responsible for the sabotage of Amity Colosseum, my father ordered a detachment of his security detail —one that was evidently following my every move upon my return to Atlas— to forcefully bring two of XCOM's operatives back to our manor. The operatives had been helping me as I attempted to conduct my own investigation into anything that may have yielded answers regarding what had happened during the Vytal Festival. My father viewed them as a threat to my safety, and quickly demanded that they be executed."
Silence. Then…
"And what was your involvement, Miss Schnee?"
"I demanded that I be the one to execute them."
Ironwood definitely knows the significance of Weiss's demand.
Of course he would.
"And why did you demand that?"
Weiss glanced over at Bradford.
"Because she wanted to give them the dignity of dying at the hands of somebody they respected," he answered.
"Why would they care about that?" Cinder asked loudly. "Why would you care about that? At the end of the day, supposed 'dignity' or not, she killed those operatives. Why, then, did it matter to you what Merlot wanted with her? The idea that the timing of your raid was 'forced' because of her is ridiculous."
"Does this woman not understand the courtroom concept of not asking any question you don't already know the answer to?" Vahlen whispered under her breath.
"Any fool on Remnant could tell you that disobeying a direct order from Jacques Schnee is a dangerous prospect," Bradford answered. "And if that person is his own daughter? Who lives in his own house?"
Bradford locked eyes with Weiss. He didn't have any psionic powers or supernatural semblance to speak of, but he did his best to speak directly to the young woman's soul as he said, "I don't blame Weiss Schnee whatsoever for the deaths of my operatives. She was presented with an impossible prospect by her father, and she did the only thing she could to bring them peace in their final moments."
The emotions washing across Weiss's face spoke volumes, even as her tongue remained still.
"If anything, she has my undying gratitude for her actions," Bradford said, returning his attention to the Council. "If there is anyone who I consider to be at fault for their deaths, it is Jacques Schnee."
Frias, his hands steepled in front of him, looked curiously at Weiss.
"You and Bradford keep going on about giving these operatives 'peace' and 'dignity' in their final moments. Why does that matter so much?"
Weiss hesitated for a moment, and her shoulders stiffened ever-so-slightly.
She shouldn't be afraid to let the Councilman know the truth.
I've told her.
Indeed, Weiss let out a breath, her arms relaxed, and Bradford watched as she looked back up at Frias.
"Because," she answered quietly as a pair of glyphs appeared on her left and right, "it is in passing that we achieve immortality."
A soft light flashed in the courtroom, and two apparitions stood at ease at Weiss's four and eight o'clock.
As if a spell had been broken, the people in the courtroom had once again found their voices. Whispers in the audience broke out, Cinder had once again resumed her angry yelling, and the members of the Council were talking amongst themselves in the wake of Weiss's act.
She is worried that she made a mistake.
She absolutely did no such thing. Perhaps it would help if Weiss could find a little Solace in the stillness of Annette's emotions.
On it.
"What is the meaning of this?!" Cinder practically screamed, trying to make sure she was far and away the loudest voice in the room. "If this isn't proof that Weiss was coordinating with XCOM, then what is?! How can she just stand there and-!"
Ironwood raised his hand, and the room quickly fell silent with that simple gesture. He waited until Cinder angrily returned to her seat before he spoke in a calm but authoritative voice.
"It is proof that Miss Schnee is telling the truth about killing those men," he said. "It is also proof that she held them in high regard."
"Because she's in bed with XCOM!"
"Because they were helping me try to make sense out of whatever the hell happened at the Vytal Festival!" Weiss spat, glaring at Cinder.
"They were not deceptive in telling me who they were. Surely you have photos of me fighting alongside their brothers and sisters at the festival's fairgrounds when the Grimm were running amok, killing people left and right and leaving everyone scattered and terrified."
Weiss's fists were clenched so tight, Bradford could see her knuckles turning white. It must have taken all of her willpower to not march over to Cinder's table and strangle the woman.
"XCOM was there, doing everything they could to save as many people as they could. So yes, when Eshragi and Conrad approached me in Atlas and said that they wanted to help, you're absolutely right that I agreed without a second thought. And they worked tirelessly to help me find what I was after, even if I didn't know what I was looking for. They saw in me the potential to do something that mattered, something for the good of Remnant, and they tried their utmost to make sure that potential was nurtured in ways that I never, not once got from my own father.
"So yes, I killed them with my own hand," she said. The quiet rage in Weiss's voice did not translate into any shaking of her petite frame, and Bradford suspected that was Annette's doing. "Even as I stood there, terrified of what I was about to do, they gave me the strength to make sure I could do as my father demanded. For their sake, and for my own."
Cinder rolled her eyes. "If you're finished-"
"If she's finished," Ironwood interrupted, "I have another question for her."
Weiss cast one last glare at Cinder before turning to look back at Ironwood.
"Miss Schnee, would you please confirm whether or not you were at Merlot's lab at the time of XCOM's raid?"
"I was," Weiss answered. "It was at my father's request."
She let the word linger in the air so that the Council understood that the request was anything but. A quick glance over at Jaques's seat told Bradford that the man was nearly drowning in a puddle of his own sweat.
Ironwood nodded. "In that case, is there anything you would like to share about your presence at the lab?"
"As you will no doubt conclude after reviewing XCOM's video evidence, Merlot went to great lengths to hold me in the lab against my will. What the evidence won't be able to show, however, is the fact that he intended to surgically alter me once I was subdued. If you require evidence to support that claim, I am sure my sister would be perfectly willing to confirm its accuracy.
"Merlot also made it clear that my father was aware of his intentions to operate on me against my will, and that Merlot in fact had my father's blessing to do so."
Ironwood's eyes widened at Weiss's words. Sleet put a hand over his mouth while Frias's expression hardened.
"Once again, my sister can confirm this," Weiss added.
"Is there anything else?" Ironwood asked quietly.
"One more thing," Weiss said. "The alterations that he had made to my sister, Winter. The alterations that she had willingly undergone for the safety of Atlas, allowed Merlot to seize control of her with nothing more than a command word."
Cinder is not happy about this.
Of course she wasn't. It would be fair to say that Weiss was helping XCOM's case in ways that Bradford couldn't hope to achieve with his own video evidence.
"My sister —an esteemed Specialist of the Atlesian military, one of your most trusted and accomplished operatives, General— was reduced to little more than a guard dog who abandoned me in Merlot's deadly, labyrinthine maze the moment he called her to heel.
"And she was powerless to stop it," Weiss finished, her voice barely above a whisper.
Silence. Not even Cinder was idiotic enough to try and slip in a snide remark after that. Camilla seemed unaware that her jaw had dropped.
"This, General, is the man that Atlas was putting its trust in for the good of the kingdom," Bradford noted.
Without looking back, Weiss asked, "Do you mean Merlot? Or my father?"
It took Bradford a moment to realize that he didn't actually know.
"That… is horrifying."
"We have the Karakurt —The Black Crawler— out here in the desert."
"A monster so insidious, some of our brothers fear speaking its name."
"And Merlot sought to replicate that evil for his own purpose?"
Desperado couldn't blame the nomads for their reaction. Anybody would be disgusted by what Merlot had done to Winter, but Vacuans? Vacuans prided themselves on their independence. And as Citrine had pointed out, the Nomads in particular were quite acquainted with a particularly evil strain of Grimm that robbed their brothers and sisters of that independence.
Desperado and Kosal were already well-aware of the dangers of the Karakurt, but some of the children and civilians that the Nomads had rescued from overrun settlements were not.
"This Merlot…" one of the older boys said, confusion in his voice. "He is the one that ADVENT was working with?"
"It is possible that ADVENT didn't know he was doing this," Desperado said, earning a glare from Kosal.
Sure, he was giving ADVENT the benefit of the doubt when he really shouldn't be, but Desperado felt it was more important to not totally break this poor kid's brain all at once. He was still just a boy, after all.
"Regardless of ADVENT's involvement, XCOM's is clear: they put an end to Merlot's evil, once and for all."
"Y-yeah…" the kid said. "Yeah, that's right."
"Hey, kid. Turq needs some help tuning up one of the sail rigs. Why don't you take a break from listening to the news box to go help him out?"
"Yeah…"
Good save. Not only was the boy obviously growing more fragile by the minute, but repair work on the growing vehicle fleet was something that he could focus on that benefited them all. Each settlement that they evacuated added more technically-adept survivors to Desperado's group, as well as the odd vehicle or two that they were able to escape with before the Grimm overran everything.
It was up to these technicians, as well as their increasing number of child apprentices, to ensure that the transportation capabilities of the group kept up with the population.
"It's a good thing that XCOM killed the madman."
"Yeah, but what about the riots?"
"What about them?"
"Cinder can't be trusted, but the photo evidence is pretty clear that XCOM helped start that. A lot of people died in those riots."
"They died fighting for their freedom. ADVENT was oppressing the rioters, and apparently dragging them off for Merlot to use in his experiments. If anything, XCOM gave them the courage and expertise they needed to earn their independence from the tyrants forced upon them by an uncaring government."
"Be nice if our government was willing to do the same."
"It's shameful. Now everyone has good reason to believe that the stereotype of lazy Vacuans outweighs our desire for independence."
"Not all of us."
"Obviously not. But now ADVENT has the resources and legitimacy of Vacuo. And if the ones in Vacuo are as evil as the ones in Atlas, we have a real problem on our hands."
"It's a shame that so many people were willing to take the easy way out in the name of 'safety' from the roving Grimm."
"I'd honestly bet that ADVENT is somehow able to draw the Grimm towards the settlements to scare people into retreating to the city."
"You think maybe they have someone who can attract Grimm with a semblance?"
"I hope not."
"Not something we can rule out, though."
Desperado and Kosal listened to the Nomads and rescuees chatter while they gave each other a knowing look.
Bradford's (and Weiss's) performance at the trial was doing favors for XCOM in Atlas, surely. However, it was also proving to be very helpful for XCOM abroad.
Hopefully the Central Officer could keep the momentum going.
If the atmosphere in the courtroom felt charged after Bradford's video evidence, then it had become outright electrifying after Weiss's testimony.
Weiss had already been escorted out of the courtroom, alongside her father, by an entourage of Atlesian officers for questioning. The younger Schnee looked perfectly calm as she left while Jacques's emotions looked like they couldn't choose between terrified and furious. For someone who was such a shrewd and successful businessman, Bradford noted that his poker face was terrible as the officers marched him outside. Perhaps he'd never been blindsided to this degree before?
"We'll have a 'Birds eye view' keeping watch over Weiss to make sure she's safe."
Good. While Bradford anticipated the possibility of calling Weiss in during the trial, he certainly hadn't expected her testimony to be as explosive as it was. He never thought to confer with Qrow beforehand to ask for his assistance. It appeared that Annette had taken care of that.
Once the commotion surrounding the Schnees had died down, Ironwood stood up to indicate that the hearing would now resume. With the courtroom observers now silent, the general returned to his seat and looked between Cinder and Bradford.
"Does either party have further evidence to present at this time?" he asked.
"No further evidence, per se," Cinder answered. "However, I can't help but notice that the defense completely evaded the issue of XCOM instigating the riots by using Miss Schnee like a circus sideshow. The mountain of evidence I compiled and already presented provides a very clear picture of XCOM's involvement in Mantle before the riot, if you recall. It would be criminally negligent if XCOM is allowed to continue operating within Atlas, freely roaming as they prepare for their next nefarious act, while the esteemed Council reviews my evidence and comes to the same conclusion that I did about XCOM's guilt."
Frias narrowed his eyes at Cinder while Ironwood said, "I believe it is not up to you to determine what is or isn't criminally negligent, Lady Fall."
Ironwood turned to Bradford, who shook his head to confirm that he did not have any further evidence to present.
And even if he did, how could it possibly top Weiss's testimony?
"Very well, then," Ironwood said, standing up once again. "In the absence of additional information for us to consider, the Council shall briefly deliberate to determine a course of action. We request that both the prosecution and defense wait for us to return before leaving the courtroom."
Fine by Bradford.
"Is the Council choosing to deny us the opportunity to provide closing statements?" Cinder asked.
Vahlen growled under her breath, "Because of course."
"The Council intends to evaluate actual evidence," Frias answered, "rather than emotional comments with no value."
Cinder didn't have anything to say to that.
With no more comments from either party, the members of the Council excused themselves to speak in private while chatter broke out once more in the courtroom.
"Cinder's evidence is going to be a problem," Annette noted. "It definitely helps us that her goons shot first, but… having all those photos of our guys in the Downside is not a good look for us."
"I don't believe for a second that Cinder herself came up with all that evidence," Vahlen said. "Somebody was responsible for building a virus that allowed them to shut down the Amity Colosseum, and that somebody is almost certainly the one who designed and ran the facial recognition software that handed Cinder her ace."
Bradford cast an amused glance over at his Chief Scientist. "What's that I hear in your voice, Doctor? Could it be… professional jealousy?"
Vahlen snorted.
"You don't seem concerned about Cinder's game of Photo Match, boss," Annette said.
"All we need is a verdict that doesn't keep us in Atlas under house arrest," Bradford answered. "It'll still be a win for us even if we get kicked out."
Blanche is still in the slums, Annette said, switching to her silent means of communication to avoid saying the name out loud. She can work to keep the peace in our absence.
And remain hidden, Bradford noted, thanks to the Archon's gift.
What about Atlas proper, though? If Polendina was staying behind, he could have been our inside guy. But since he's not, then who is?
Ironwood, obviously.
Bradford had full confidence that the general was sympathetic to XCOM, especially after the organization was able to successfully rescue Winter. While he obviously couldn't provide vocal support, he had already proven capable of getting a message to XCOM when necessary. Perhaps Bradford should ask Odei to put Ironwood in contact with Blanche, though. That would be easier than teaching him another cipher.
By the way, I just received word that the SDC is planning to oust Jacques in light of Weiss's public statement. Even if he manages to avoid legal punishment, it would be a catastrophic hit to the company's image if Jacques stays at the helm. He's toxic now, and the company cannot afford to keep him on.
Good. That was faster than Bradford was expecting, but… good.
Who would be replacing him, though?
Current bets seem to be favoring either Willow or Whitley. The board of directors wants to give Jacques the boot, but they don't want to rock the boat too much. So the plan is to replace a Schnee with a Schnee.
Why not both?
Like a sort of stewardship? That's a pretty interesting idea. I'll ask Odei to check if the board has already considered that option.
The conversations in the crowd shifted tone when the members of the Council walked back in. Their deliberations were faster than Bradford expected, which he hoped meant good news.
Once the four members took their seats, the audience fell silent without any need for Ironwood to prompt them. This was the moment everyone was waiting for, and nobody wanted to wait longer than necessary for the Council's decision.
Bradford took a moment to try and gauge their faces for a hint —any hint— as to the nature of their private discussion. Ironwood's poker face, perfected over years of service as a leader of both Atlas's governing and military bodies, was firmly in place.
Sleet looked disturbed. Given all the information he'd been presented during this hearing, and given his reputation as the more emotionally-sensitive member of the Council, that reaction was hardly surprising to Bradford. Frias, by contrast, looked almost as impassive as Ironwood. Annoyed might have been a reasonable descriptor for the councilman's expression. Whether it was because this whole debacle shouldn't have happened in the first place or because he wasn't happy with the outcome, Bradford couldn't say.
Camilla looked stormy, and that was enough for Bradford to have some hope that things would turn out at least somewhat favorably for XCOM.
Ironwood looked to his colleagues on his left and right, then began to speak.
"Thank you all for your patience. There is obviously a great deal of information and evidence that needs to be reviewed before this Council can come to a full, informed conclusion. However, there is a need to address the situation immediately, and so we have reached an agreement on several details that we believe will not be affected by new information that comes to light in the following days and weeks."
Silence. Everyone was waiting with bated breath for Ironwood to get to the good stuff.
The general was perfectly willing to oblige. "We will begin by acknowledging that, from the evidence presented thus far, it is clear that XCOM did this kingdom a service by eliminating Merlot.
"While we may not agree with the method," Ironwood continued, casting a sharp look at Cinder who seemed ready to speak, "the fact remains that Merlot hid a significant amount of information from us regarding his practices and ethics, and the idea of continuing to work with him in a way that would have allowed him to conduct himself as we had seen today is… a difficult thought to stomach."
Wait for it…
"That being said-"
There it is.
"... the evidence presented by both Central Officer Bradford of XCOM and Lady Fall of ADVENT indicate that both organizations have engaged in highly questionable conduct, especially in the slums of Mantle."
Oh, Cindy was not expecting that.
Thankfully, it seemed that Cinder was sometimes aware of the concept of "Time and Place" and that she was willing to exercise its practice in this instance. A brief pause in Ironwood's words seemed to indicate that he was expecting an outburst from Cinder, though his expression remained unsurprised when none came.
"In the interest of ensuring that neither faction is given preferential treatment while the situation and evidence is evaluated," the General continued, "the Council has reached an agreement that the best course of action is that XCOM and ADVENT are both to cease operating within Atlesian borders, effective in three days."
Cinder had no concern for proper decorum after that statement, and neither did the rest of the courtroom. Noise erupted all around Bradford, with Cinder on her feet and yelling at the Council while expressions of shock (positive and negative) coming from just about every man and woman in the audience.
The only people remaining calm were Bradford's trio, the Council, and Candent. If he hadn't kept his focus on the four people sitting on the bench, Bradford might have missed Camilla casting a sidelong glare at Ironwood. He could practically hear her "I told you so," even without Annette's help.
"This is an outrage!" Cinder nearly screamed. "Do you have any idea how much work ADVENT has done for the good of Atlas? How much we have had to sacrifice for her people?!"
To Camilla's credit, she said nothing. Even if it was obvious that she disagreed with the decision to shut out ADVENT, she clearly valued the importance of a unified front more than her personal opinion on the matter.
Well this is fun to watch.
Indeed. While getting out of Atlas was the only thing that Bradford really cared about, seeing this hit to both ADVENT's standing and Cinder's ego was a solid addition to XCOM's victory. Every voice in the audience, every exclamation from a new channel field reporter, was a reminder to Cinder that she had failed after strutting in here thinking she could breeze through this.
Bradford hid a smirk as he thought about what Roman had discussed with him. While the caged criminal didn't have anything to offer to help with the trial specifically, he did urge the Central Officer to find a way to hit Cinder's ego. While there was the risk that Cinder would now stop at nothing to exact revenge, it came with the benefit that she wouldn't be thinking clearly while she went about it.
That, and it made it more difficult for her to gain and maintain the trust of the people of Remnant. Hearts and minds, and all that.
The Council waited patiently for the noise in the room to die down, and for Cinder to grow tired of making a fool of herself.
"So that's it, then?" Cinder asked, still desperate to appeal the Council's decision.
"Yes, Lady Fall," Frias said. "That is, in fact, it."
"Well if you don't trust XCOM, then their airship should be confiscated then, no? It is rightfully Atlesian property, and there's no telling what they will do with it if you let them fly it out of Atlas."
Ironwood didn't like the implication of Cinder's words whatsoever.
"You have no idea what you are talking about with respect to the airship, first of all," he said, allowing a tinge of acid into his voice. "Second of all, it will be comforting for the people of Atlas to know that I plan to ensure the kingdom's safety by assigning one of my top operatives to remain aboard XCOM's ship."
"We already know that Winter is biased in XCOM's favor," Cinder countered. "They 'saved' her from Merlot, after all. How can we trust that-"
"Your trust in Specialist Schnee's loyalties is of no concern to Atlas," Frias cooly interrupted. "Regardless, she is not who General Ironwood was referring to with his comment."
This was news to Bradford. Did Qrow know Ironwood was planning to assign someone to the Avenger? Or did the General cook this up privately?
"And before you ask," Sleet said, "the identity of our operative is likewise not your business."
Do you want me to ask?
No point. If Ironwood was going to be bringing somebody new aboard, he'd be talking with Bradford about it soon enough either way.
"At this point, there is nothing further to discuss," Ironwood said, cutting off any further possibility of Cinder trying to complain about the resolution of the hearing. "The court is now adjourned."
"What an absolute shitshow."
"No kidding. Good thing we've got an ocean between us and all that Merlot bullshit."
"You don't think any of his test subjects made their way out to Vale, do you?"
"Nah. Looks like those XCOM guys were able to get rid of that psycho before he could branch out."
"Yeah. And besides, Junior's got our backs." The patron looked over his shoulder towards the man in question and asked, "Right, Junior?"
Hei Xiong said nothing, but raised his cocktail glass in acknowledgement of the man's question. Satisfied, the patron turned back to the conversation with a, "See? I told you."
As Junior listened to the other conversations in the bar, they all carried a similar central thread: Sucks to be Atlas, glad it's not us, and thank the Brothers for Junior.
When the news spread that the hearing would be televised, Junior made sure to use his word-of-mouth network to inform the locals that his bar would be hosting a "watch party." In addition to the easy excuse for a single-day spike in business (and a chance to see how XCOM was faring in their tussle with ADVENT), Junior planned to use the event as an opportunity to boost confidence in the people who looked to him for protection.
And while Hei Xiong would never say it out loud, the bar did feel a little lonelier after his star huntresses had gone off with Omerta, Ochoa, and Taiyang to connect with XCOM in Atlas. Given Ironwood's latest announcement, though, it sounded like they might need to hustle to reach the Avenger before it fucked off to Wherever Land.
His (non-absent) henchmen had adjusted the bar's aesthetic to reach a broader audience for the event. Welcoming, but also classy. He had an image to maintain, after all.
It was easy to get live music for the event. The musicians offered a reduced rate, but Junior turned that down. If word got around that Junior was trying to haggle down on his own costs, then what was stopping people from trying to haggle down on their costs when the bill for his protection came due?
Either way, the music, the warm lighting, the comfortable seating around the dance floor, and the large video screen projected above the bar in the back all came together for, in Hei's opinion, a very successful operation.
"Those supersoldiers that Atlas was bragging about seemed too good to be true, anyway."
"Yeah. Everyone knows that those pompous asses have the strongest military Remnant has ever seen —not like they're shy about flaunting it— but even for them, what they were saying about these new soldiers…?"
"Won't see me complaining about that getting shut down. The kingdoms may all be friendly now, but I wouldn't bet on that lasting forever. And if those mutated soldiers were ever pointed in our direction? Yikes."
"You can say that again."
A quiet figure took a seat next to Junior at the bar. Hei recognized him immediately, though neither man bothered to speak at first. When his old associate felt like speaking, he'd speak. For now, Junior busied himself with the usual drink.
"Gonna be a power vacuum in Atlas," the man finally said.
Junior slid the finished cocktail over and answered, "Not like here it won't. Atlas's government is still intact. They're just telling ADVENT to go kick rocks."
"True," the man agreed. "However, ADVENT was pretty well-entrenched in Atlas's security structure, from what I hear. Little Cindy worked real hard to cozy up to Remnant's largest military power."
"In the name of "world stability" or something equally stupid," Junior said with a derisive laugh.
The man shrugged. He raised the cocktail in one hand, hesitated, then put it back down.
"Doesn't really matter, at the end of the day. With the whole Merlot shitshow putting ADVENT's integrity in question? People are gonna be nervous. Scared. And just like in Vale, people who are scared are going to want to seek protection from somewhere."
An interesting point. And yet…
"You'd be stupid to think that there aren't any criminal enterprises already established in Atlas that aren't thinking the same thing," Junior said. He took a drink from his own glass and added, "And I know you're not stupid."
"And you'd be right. On both counts."
"Which means you've got something else to say."
The man cracked a small grin. "Make that three counts. Where do you think I've been since we last had a chat?"
There was a pause as Junior took a moment to chew on his associate's words before answering.
"How very convenient," he said.
"Not saying that I have my own, full-blown operation going on over there," the man said, considering his drink for a second time, "but I've made a few friends who I know wouldn't say no to a little help. They're eager to strike while the iron's hot, after all."
Junior mulled over the offer for a minute. Business was booming out here in Vale, obviously, and there was still plenty of room for his influence to grow on the home front. But if there was an opportunity to get a foot in the door in Atlas…?
"Your friends," he said. "They up in Atlas proper? Or down in the slums where all the rioting shit happened?"
"Slums."
Probably the better answer, honestly. With the kingdom's government focused on the uptown districts, it would be harder to find a void up there that was ripe for a protection racket. Down in the slums, though? Especially after everything had just been shot up by the turf war between XCOM and ADVENT?
"I'll think about it."
"If you could get me an answer by tomorrow, that would make my job significantly easier."
Hei rolled his eyes. "And we know how much I value making your job easier. What name are you going by these days, anyway?"
The man smiled. "Just look for Mox. Pratal Mox."
"... The hell kinda color is that?"
"You tell me, 'Junior.'"
His associate got up, knocked on the counter, and left with a polite, "Thanks for the drink."
Junior sighed before sliding the untouched cocktail back over to sit next to the one he'd slowly been working through.
There'd be time to give the man's offer more thought. For now, though, he had a party that needed running, and conversations that needed listening to.
Just like Bradford, he could wait until tomorrow to deal with tomorrow.