_ Vytal Island _ Principality of Esturopea _ Strossbourgandy Capital _ Central Square _
_ Nation Detection Status: Known Only To Councils _
_ 9:15 A.M. _ January 9, 81 A.G.W. _
It was just another beautiful day for Esturopea. The birds are singing, the flowers are blooming, it's a wonderful day for relaxing. And that is what Jaune Arc is gonna do!
"Good Morning Esturopea!" Jaune greeted as he walked by Central Square's Park, the largest park in all of Remnant, with a basket on one hand and a guitar case on another. He wore his usual wear but abstained from wearing the tailcoat as the weather is too warm for such a coat while having his compass rose brooch on his collar's left side and a black tie as a new addition to his wardrobe.
"Good Morning Director Arc!" The people around him smiled with many of the young women swooning. Ah, the joys of popularity. When he was appointed as the Director of The Esturopean Sky and Space Directorate and CEO of The Alsace-Lothringen Star Corporation two months ago, he immediately pushed for reforms that would accelerate the ESSD's progress for a moon colony from completion in ten years to completion by the end of January. There was so much bureaucratic corruption in both the ESSD and the A-LSCorp that was carefully hidden from Princess Charlotte that when he reported it and asked for an investigation, he was pretty much the only clean senior employee in both organizations. A few actions from Her Royal Highness and BAM! Instant promotion as CEO, appointment as Director, and a date with the princess. His corporate policies for employee and customer satisfaction, bureaucratic transparency, and philanthropy made him a celebrity in an egalitarian society in a span of just a few weeks while making him a favoured man in the eyes of Her Royal Highness.
'Such a lovely day for a picnic.' He thought as he prepared a mat on the soft grass. Just as was about to sit down, he saw a familiar face.
"Charlotte!" Jaune called as he waved his hand and began approaching her.
"Jaune!" The princess exclaimed as she glomped on him, forcing both to land on the mat.
"My OTP." A bystander smiled.
"I ship it." Another one gleefully murmured.
"Ah, young love..." An elderly couple chuckled.
With basically every Esturopean being a hopeless romantic, they swooned, sighed, squealed, and cooed at the sight with people posting images of the two on the ESNS, or the Esturopean Social Network System.
"I thought our date would be at the evening at-" Jaune began speaking but was cut off.
"Jaune." Charlotte interrupted.
"Yes?" The Director asked.
"I find a simple picnic in the morning to be more fun, unlike those stuffy restaurants, which is why I cancelled our plans and invited you here. Don't you agree?" She asked.
Jaune thought for a moment. "I do." He said with a smile.
_ Sanus Continent _ Kingdom of Vale _ Vale Capital _ Beacon Academy _
_ Nation Detection Status: Known By All Kingdoms _
_ 10:00 A.M. _ January 9, 81 A.G.W. _
Ah yes, Beacon Academy. The grand institution where prospective students become Remnant's future defence forces against the waves of Gri-
"OZPIN!" Glynda Goodwitch hollered for Ozpin who was right by the cafeteria.
We now cut to the Academy's cougar of a Headmistress striking her prey, the grey wizard.
"Yes, Glyndaaaa-" Glynda started shaking him back and forth with the students shaking in fear.
Tearing him piece by piece for answers.
"THE VYTAL FESTIVAL WAS SUPPOSED TO BE LAST OCTOBER! WHEN WILL WE FU-" She questioned just like a witch possessed only to be cut off as she was shaking him. While the students spectate in sudden interest.
"Come to think of it, why didn't we celebrate the Vytal Festival yet?" Pyrrha asked.
"I have no clue." Ruby answered. Teams RWBY and PRN did not know either.
Only to stop once she finally found them.
"AT-JAN-UA-RY-TWELVE-IN-VY-TAL-IS-LAND!" At that, Glynda finally let him go.
'Wait, at Vytal? Nobody even knows what the place looks like!' Was the thoughts of every student present.
"Glynda, with so much suspicious activity in Vale, we need to host the festival somewhere else. Somewhere safe." Ozpin continued to explain.
"Do all of the Councils know of this?"
"It was their idea."
That shocked everybody present. The Councils are doing something competent for once?!
"We gave Esturopea a few months to prepare-" Ozpin began explaining only to be cut off again.
"Esturopea?" Glynda questioned.
"The name of the principality that resides there. Their social network website should be readily available in a few hours and the four kingdoms' citizens have been made aware of the change of venue."
A sudden beeping from Ozpin's scroll caught his attention.
"Hmm. They already released the ESNS? They must be having some good servers to accommodate 1 billion people." He murmured, scanning through the multiple popular pages and groups. Rather than an irritating light blue background, it was of a black one instead with orange highlights that were pleasing to the eyes. He focused on a rather interesting government page.
"The Esturopean Sky and Space Directorate?" He questioned. He switched to the television installed at the cafeteria's ceiling to give Glynda a better view. The students suddenly perked up in interest.
"A space agency? Please, everyone knows Dust doesn't work on space." Weiss scoffed.
"They don't use Dust..." Blake noted from the page. "Deuterium reactors, solar panels, hydroelectricity... Atlas didn't even know these technologies exist. How on Remnant do they have those?"
"The Council might be blocking their R&D Division for more Dust fuelled products for more profit. It says they will complete a moon colony a the end of the month." Ren said with surprise. "Many of their ships are controlled by AI for harvesting resources on asteroid fields."
"Yang look! LOOK AT THAT AIRSHIP!" Ruby said as she started to dash towards the screen using her semblance. She started drooling as she admired the huge v-shaped aircraft's weaponry.
"The Aerial Arsenal Ship or Arsenal Birds. Carries 80 MQ-101 Drones on dorsal wing compartments, 12 pulse laser turrets on the ventral wing surfaces and 16 Anti-Air missile batteries on the dorsal wing surfaces, equipped with a tactical laser system mounted on the nose, limited self-repair system and an advanced protection system that creates a large force field to shield itself from attacks. There are 8 Arsenal Birds stationed in The Principality of Estorupea. HHS Unity, HHS Liberty, HHS Destiny, HHS Royalty, HHS Equality, HHS Odyssey, HHS Arc D'Gaulle, and HHS Fleur D'Elysium. With HHS Arc D'Gaulle and HHS Fleur D'Elysium being named after important modern political figures. They all protect Esturopea and The Alsace-Lothringen Star Tower, a space elevator with a spaceport on the top which is managed by the Alsace-Lothringen Star Corporation, a government-owned entity and the only corporation with means to travel from planet to space." Ruby narrated with interest. The room's mood soured when Arc is mentioned. "You think Jaune had a relative work there?"
"He did have 8 sisters." Nora shrugged.
"Headmaster, is there anything on Fleur D'Elysium?" Weiss asked. An important political figure on her side would be a great boon to her as the SDC Heiress.
Ozpin began searching for the name and finally found her public account. Everybody gawked at the young princess.
She was in her usual attire but with a longer dress, a silver tiara with diamonds, a regal orange cape lined with white fur edges and a smallsword on her hip. White petals rained from the crowd as she walked down the cathedral's stairs. The photo was taken at her coronation.
"She's beautiful."
"Such amazing clothes."
"She looks better than Weiss-cream." Yang said, not looking away from the blond maiden.
"Yea-hey!"
"Princess Edelweiss Charlotte Fleur D'Elysium. Born on September 30, 63 A.G.W., making her 18 as of now. A rather popular person with her policies for self-sustainment, nationalism, charity, and equality giving her the name 'Iron Maiden of Esturopea'. The fact that she appointed a rather popular and incredible person for the ESSD only made her even more popular. She often goes around Strossbougandy Capital like a regular citizen when her administration can handle matters. From sports to concerts to regular picnics, she enjoys the simpler things in life." Ozpin said as he and Glynda began respecting her.
"Anything about, I can't believe I'm about to say this, Arc D'Gaulle?" Weiss asked with a frown. The rest of the students frowned or cursed his name as well. Team RWBY and PRN were not faring that much either. As his ex-friends, they should have at least told them about it. Ozpin can only sigh in his thoughts.
'Hypocrites. The lot of them. Ms Xiao Long destroyed a bar and Ms Belladonna was ex-White Fang. The actions against Torchwick wasn't legal either, Ms Rose. Ms Valkyrie and Mr Ren aren't that innocent either, with their orphan youth filled with pickpocketing and scams. Not to mention Ms Nikos' works having some discrepancies yet still scoring perfectly. I wonder what Ms Schnee will think about them...' He eventually managed to find Director Arc's page.
He was wearing his usual attire but with a diamond-handle walking cane while walking with the princess.
"Director Jaune Altis Arc D'Gaulle. Born on February 29, 64 A.G.W. Like Princess D'Elysium, his corporate policies and close relationship with Her Royal Highness made him a celebrity equal to the princess to the point his expulsion from Beacon does not matter."
"What?!"
"How?!"
"Impossible! There's no way Arc is the Director!"
The students were outraged, how on Oum's name is he in such a high position? They only quiet down when Glynda began glaring at them all.
Ozpin cleared his throat. "His appointment as Director of The Esturopean Sky and Space Directorate AND CEO of The Alsace-Lothringen Star Corporation was of quite an interesting tale of the Domino effect. By reporting an act of corruption and after a lengthy and thorough investigation, he was the only clean senior employee in the A-LSC. Using his newfound power as the corporation's CEO, he proceeded to execute a long list of reforms and began ruthlessly and mercilessly purging all who opposed the crown economically through subtle blockades and propaganda. He used his image as 'The Visionary of The Maiden' to turn the population against his opponents and bought hostile mining and refining companies at a cheap price through pressure from their consumers. Through this, he owns Remnant's monopoly of untapped space resources without letting the world know about it and the princess is happy to let Arc lead it by appointing him as the ESSD's Director and granting him more political, economic, and military power..." The wizard was impressed while his Headmistress and students were starting to get a bit terrified.
"There is no way for Remnant to counter him... He owns the space mining monopoly, he has the support of the crown and the people... To him and Esturopea, Dust is an outdated resource... Oh my Oum..." Glynda suddenly felt shivers down her spine.
The students, all of whom who crossed him, did as well.
AN: Well well well. Looks like Jaune went the Jacques route if Jacques wasn't an ass.
See you, readers, next time!