Winter Schnee was finalising her handover notes and tidying her office. She was being seconded to Vacuo for a year to gain more experience in fighting Grimm and to understand other kingdoms better. She was being told that it was an opportunity, but a careful perusal of the careers of the one hundred and twenty secondees over the last ten years suggested that it was more likely to be a poisoned chalice. A third of them had left the service, the careers of another third had flatlined and 10% had died there. Admittedly the other 24% had been promoted quickly, but it was clear that Vacuo was a real test of merit. While she was confident that General Ironwood valued her, he did not tolerate failure.

The Vacuoan outposts according to her briefing notes were designed to lend aid to Atlesian businesses there who paid around 25% of the cost of the outposts directly, partially to train soldiers in fighting Grimm where mistakes would not result in the deaths of Atlas citizens and partly to assist the Vacuoan government deal with outbreaks of Grimm. Unofficially the main reason for the outposts were to discourage the Vacuoan government from establishing a proper military and a secondary reason was to dissuade them from over-regulating Atlesian businesses operating in Vacuo. Certainly, the Vacuoan mines were the most profitable for the SDC and her father had told her that Umber Raddock was likely to become a main board member next year. He had a meteoritic rise from seven years ago been the manager of a single mine to now overseeing the entire Vacuoan operation. One of her father's favourite rants was that bureaucracy was ruining Atlas. Eight years ago, when a bare bones regulatory system was set up for Atlas businesses which operated aboard and accepted assistance from the military, he had fumed about it over dinner for months. However, after 6 months of it being in place, he stopped complaining about it and said grudgingly that in practice it was not causing a problem.

There was a knock on the door. She said "Come in."

Clover Ebi entered from the ace ops team. "Sir, I just wanted to wish you all the best in Vacuo. I know that it has been a graveyard for many careers, but from what my uncle has said, it won't be for yours."

Winter sat down, "Clover, I would like to know why you are so confident."

Clover shut the door, "My uncle is the RSM at the main barracks there. He has said in the past that the people who fail are those who think they can wing it, those who think that it is a chance to sow their wild oats, those who expect Vacuo to be the same as Atlas and those who think family and wealth will forgive all. I do not think any of these apply to you."

Winter replied, "Thank you, Clover. I hope your promotion comes through later this year."

On his way out the door, he turned and said, "Major Magenta is said to be a good man. The NCOs are first rate, but pragmatic and sceptical. They will assume you are the latest entitled Rupert to be dumped on them. You will have to convince by example."

The conversation had mostly been reassuring. Thinking about it she could see which camps some of those who had failed in Vacuo came into. The warning that it was necessary to prove herself a god officer was not unexpected. Clearly preparation was important, and she promised herself to read the briefing papers in detail.

Thirty minutes later there was a tentative knock on the door. She said, "Come in Lieutenant Amin."

The dog Faunus came in. Winter said to him, "Congratulations on graduating in the top five in your year. I have prevailed on General Ironwood to allow you two weeks leave before you join me in Vacuo. This is not entirely an unselfish move on my behalf. If you arrived at the same time as me, you would be seen as being my pet project, in all senses of the phrase. I do want to understand our Vacuoan outpost including how it treats Faunus officers. It will not be a surprise if I am grovelled to in public and kept in the dark as to what is really going on. I am afraid that some people will hope you fail and others will hope you succeed for reasons which are nothing to do with your abilities and personality. I would like to make it clear that I and Clover Ebi expect you to succeed."

"Sir, I do understand that, and I am grateful for the opportunity."

Unfortunately, he was speaking the truth. He had been placed on a team of no-hopers and had managed single handily to take them to the second round of the Vytal festival on the two occasions available to him. This had been one of the factors which had led to James Ironwood acting as headmaster of the academy in fact as well as in name.

She said, "For your information, Joseph Beamish is arriving at the same time as me. I expect he will distract attention from you."

Marrow did his best not to express any emotion, but Joseph was the archetypal upper-class second rater. Far from devoid of talent, but too complacent to develop it properly. Brave and well meaning, but unimaginative.

Winter said, "You have permission to speak freely. Is there anything you think I should know about Vacuo before I arrive?" Second-lieutenant Amin's family had originated in Vacuo and he still had relatives there.

Marrow blinked and said "Politeness is important, but it means something different there. Because Grimm are ever present, society norms are designed to prevent resentments festering. There is a level of low-level banter which is normally genuinely meant as teasing or to let someone know when they are starting to be irritating rather than to humiliate. Fist fights are common, but knife and gun fights are taboo. It is easy for Atlesians to come over as stuffed shirts and the locals enjoy winding us up. Sir, it is important to be seen either as a good sport or a straight bat. I suspect the latter is probably better suited to you."

Winter said, "What do you mean by a straight bat?"

"Basically, tell the truth as you see it and do not coat it in honey. They prefer it if you tell them they fracked up rather than say you are a little disappointed."

"I do not think that will be a problem for me."

"One large change from Atlas is that everyone is so busy fighting off Grimm and dealing with the natural environment that the differences between Faunus and humans are considered irrelevant. Humans and Faunus go to the same bars as matter of course."

He paused, "I should add that your grandfather is well regarded in Vacuo."

"Thank you Marrow. See you in fifteen days."

Winter sat back in her chair. Clearly there was a real problem about her father's reputation in Vacuo and Marrow had gone as far as could reasonably be expected in warning her.

She had just finished her hand over notes and had briefed Elm when Ironwood came by. "I just wanted to thank you for your hard work for me over the last two years before you left for Vacuo. Please keep me informed as to what you make of the base there."

"Thank you, sir. It has been an honour. Is there anything you think I should concentrate on?"

"I know that you have been have doing some research in advance. There are a few things which are deliberately not in the files which I felt that I should tell you in person."

Winter looked up. This was clearly going the most important message that she would get.

"Colonel White is retiring at the end of the year when he qualifies for a full pension. He has recommended that Major Magenta replace him. Some interested parties are lobbying against Magenta. Some of the permanent senior officers there are wealthier than they should be including Colonel White. Major Magenta does not appear to be amongst them. I would be grateful for your observations on all aspects of our Vacuoan operations. I am concerned that something is not quite right there. I have instructed Clover not to speak to his uncle about you as I want them to be puzzled by you. For similar reasons, I have also kept my comments on your abilities complimentary and factually correct, but I have deliberately refrained from being gushing or making unofficial calls in advance extolling your virtues.."

"Understood, sir."

They saluted each other and Ironwood left her office.

On her way to the Schnee Mansion she thought about what she had read and what people had told her today. This posting was clearly a test of character and to pass it she not merely had to avoid being incompetent or corrupt, but to positively identify the problems. Thinking about it, the senior officers in Vacuo had been very regular guests at the Mansion.

She reached the Mansion just before dinner. Klein took her coat and said, "I am afraid that your mother sends her apologies, but she is feeling unwell and will not be joining you for dinner. Your father would like to speak to you before dinner."

Winter was disappointed, but not surprised that her mother would not be there. She expected that she knew what her father would say to her.

She went to her father's study and knocked.

"Winter. Do come in. Can I offer you a glass of sherry?"

She took it and said, "You wanted to see me, father."

"We have discussed this previously, but now you are going to Vacuo there is something I will need to do for appearance's sake. I will have to declare that your sister is now the designated heir. This protects you from accusations of a conflict of interest while you are in Vacuo and the company from accusation that we are merely a limb of the military. This is a decision which I can always reverse if you decide to leave the military and I have explained this to Weiss. However, I expect to be running the business for another twenty years at least so do not see this as an ultimatum to choose."

"I understand, father. While we cannot know what the future has in store, I would recommend that you teach Weiss all the things you taught me at her age. If I return to the SDC, a loyal second in command is an invaluable asset. If I do not the more knowledge she has the better."

While she would prefer to make a career in the military, there was no point in burning her bridges with father.

Her father continued, "You will of course come into close contact with Raddock and the other local multi-kingdom representatives. The Atlas military presence there is primarily designed to protect the business interests of Atlas. "

They had a civilised dinner with Winter doing her best to make Weiss and Whitley feel valued. She still wondered why father had waited until Winter had left to train at Atlas Academy before making his contempt for mother clear.

/-/

Early the next morning she was on the airship to Vacuo with second lieutenant Beamish. He was sleeping, clearly having been up all night celebrating his first posting after qualification. Winter was reading through the files about the team she would be commanding. There was a captain whom she was replacing, four second lieutenants two of whom Amin and Beamish were replacing, eight NCOs and 160 troops. There were also some Vacuoan support personnel. She would be reporting to the colonel who was stationed at the main barracks thirty miles outside Vacuo. There was a smaller barracks just outside Vacuo, primarily designed as a base for R & R and a small office in the embassy. She would split her time between accompany some of the squads on missions, the main barracks, and the embassy. She knew there must be a trap for the unwary hidden in the information pack.

The lieutenants were all people she knew of and the NCOs seemed to be what one would expect. She then moved to the support personnel dossiers. She was reading through the third one when a phrase caught her attention and she studied it more carefully. The local guide was a Lynx Faunus aged 20. He was paid well for a guide, but this was explained on the basis that he had a strong aura and was rated first class as a fighter. She checked the footnotes and saw that he was said to have a "surprisingly good Atlesian accent" and that the troops "were accustomed to act on his instructions". She then noted that there had been three disciplinary charges in the last year, all of which had been dismissed.

She refreshed her memory as to what the duties of a guide were. These included identifying quicksand, spotting and advising on local Grimm and wildlife, warning of imminent sandstorms, avoiding sink holes and liaising with nomadic tribes. She realised that he was probably the most essential non officer in her team. She would keep an eye on him as he may be worth recommending for training under the mustang scheme next year.

She looked at Beamish and decided that she should at least give him a chance. She woke him and suggested that he familiarise himself with the team he was joining and his duties. He showed willing in relation to the officers and NCOs but only skimmed the descriptions of the support staff. She decided that he would best learn the lesson by messing up and did not prompt him further.

They arrived in Vacuo and were then driven to the Atlesian embassy where she had a designated office. Her predecessor had left hand over notes, but as he was one of those who was leaving the military for a role as head of security at one of the Atlas multi-kingdoms she was not holding her breath for useful insights. She found that she had a lot of invitations from the local heads of the main Atlas companies. She replied courteously saying that she would be too busy for the next few weeks settling into her new role to meet them, but instead inviting them all to formal drinks in three weeks at the embassy. She also sent this response to Umber Raddock. She decided that it would look bad if she could be accused of favouring the SDC and giving that as an excuse for not meeting him earlier was not something he could reasonably object to. She would of course have to meet them all privately at some point, but she would prefer to be better prepared. She did ask that if they had any observations or suggestions they wished to make or discuss they could write to her in advance of that meeting.

RSM Ebi appeared after an hour and started to brief her on the missions which she should expect to be carrying out and the situation in Vacuo. After thirty minutes a secretary put her head round the door and said that there was a call from the Major's office at Camp Asturias. She pressed the speaker button and a languid voice drawled in an aristocratic Atlesian accent," Captain Schnee, Lieutenant Beamish, RSM Ebi, Corkran reporting. Delighted t' make your acquaintance."

Beamish made the expected error and said "Sir."

Winter said "Mr. Corkran, I have read a lot about you. What do you have to report?"

The voice continued, seemingly without being disconcerted, "Sir, Major Magenta apologises for his absence, but he is dealing with a reported Grimm incursion near the De Lagers mine. He will be in Vacuo city early tomorrow morning and looks forward t' making your acquaintance then and accompanying you both t' the base. Other than that, there is nothing unusual t' report. Lieutenant Grimes should be with you in 30 minutes time t' brief Lieutenant Beamish and introduce him to Vacuo."

A slight pause, "Sir, for future reference would you prefer t' be addressed as sir or ma'am. Neither I nor the officers here wish t' give unintentional offence."

"Sir will be fine, Mr. Corkran. If you could pass it on to the forces that will be under my command that would be appreciated. I look forward to making your acquaintance."

"Thank you sir."

The call then ended. Winter said, "Lieutenant Beamish, I suggest that you read through Lieutenant Grimes provisional report before your meeting. By the way, the background report on Mr. Corkran repays careful reading. He is clearly a useful, if rather eccentric, asset. I would recommend that you do not make a complaint about him. The call was merely said to be from the Major's office, he gave his name and at no point did he pretend to be an officer. In addition, his question to me was one which was reasonable and the reason for asking was acceptable. The briefing notes did tell us that he has a surprisingly good Atlesian accent."

RSM Ebi continued his briefing and Winter noted that he was now predicting the questions she would ask. She had clearly passed some form of test.

/-/

It had been an interesting first two weeks. After two days Major Magenta had sent her on a week-long mission with an experienced NCO and twenty troops and Corkran acting as guide. That trip had brought home how different Vacuo was. The NCO and the guide had between them kept her from making any serious mistakes and explained the reasons why things were done in the way they were. They had dealt with a Blind Worm which had been spotted approaching a mine which had been a challenge. The approach had been to divert its course rather than kill it. The explanation that there was a risk of causing multiple blind worms to arise unless one was certain that one had destroyed it totally made sense. They had also encountered a Ziraph and some Jackelopes which they had disposed of. She had noted that the NCO referred to the Faunus guide as Mr. Corkran while the squaddies referred to him as Corky in camp and sir on patrol and in battle.

She had asked Major Magenta about this during her debriefing, "I am puzzled about Mr. Corkran fits in to the chain of command and his file is fairly sparse on his background."

The Major had replied, "He is a bit of an anomaly. In relation to the local Grimm and dealing with the desert, he is treated as an unofficial officer. The accent is real and when we took references two of them said that he had had it as a child. It does have the advantage that when he tells any of the men to do something they automatically obey. In Vacuo heeding the warnings of the local guides really does save lives. The injury and death tolls on patrols which he accompanies are 20% less than the average and the men and NCOs know that. His mother died when he was young, and he claims not to know who his father is. I have not discouraged the rumours that he is the love child of an Atlesian aristocrat or oligarch, but I have no idea whether they are true or not."

The Major waited for a response.

"I understand sir. That is consistent with my observations during the patrol. I should add that both he and Sergeant Ochre were professional and supportive on the patrol."

"Good, I expected no less of them." He paused and then clearly came to a decision, "Captain, someone is playing games in relation to your assignment here. I had originally assumed that it was directed at the Colonel and myself, but I now believe that it is more likely that you are the target."

"Sir?"

"Each year four captains and eight lieutenants are assigned to us on one-year assignments. To be blunt some officers are sent here to fail. Lieutenant Hill is an example of one of those who will return to Atlas and find that his career is going nowhere. Others are sent to prove themselves as Vacuo is a posting where combat with Grimm is a regular occurrence. Lieutenant Grimes is an example of those who proved themselves and it would not surprise me if in three years-time he is assigned here as one of the two long term captains. Others use it as an opportunity to be recruited by one of the Atlesian multi-kingdoms as head of security. One captain and one lieutenant a year on average are reported to be highflyers about whom there are lingering doubts and are sent here to resolve those doubts."

He paused, "You are out of the ordinary. You are a Vytal festival winner and have worked with General Ironwood for three years. You are also a member of one of the richest families in Atlas whose family company has the largest interest in Vacuo. Bluntly you should not have been sent here as there is a huge conflict of interest and I still feel uneasy about sending you on many mine inspections. However, there were other factors which were disturbing. We were warned that you were a glory hound who relied on their semblance and fighting skills to get them out of the trouble and therefore skimped on reading your briefings. We were also told that you had the reputation of leaving subordinates in the manure and that your real mission was to find reasons for me and the colonel to be replaced by officers who did not share our belief that the short-term interest of the multi-kingdoms was not necessarily the same as the long-term interests of Atlas."

He paused, "Again to be blunt, we tested you on the first day. RSM Ebi was impressed by the questions you asked and the fact that you had obviously read your briefing papers. When you warned Beamish about reporting Corkran with reference to those papers he began to suspect that someone had been lying to us. In addition, the fact that your calendar was not immediately filled with private meetings in the evening suggested that you were not meeting the local managers of the multi-kingdoms. After I met with you, I decided that I could combine your training with giving us more time to work out what was going on and sent you out on a mission with the best team available. I then called in a lot of favours to get a proper briefing about you. For your information, you are universally respected if not exactly anyone's choice for a heart-to-heart conversation. You also favourably impressed the sergeant during the mission and the enlisted men will be happy to patrol with you anytime."

He paused and said, "I have therefore concluded that someone was trying to set you up for failure and that I was meant to make certain that you did. I resent being used in such a manner and thought it only fair to warn you."

Winter wondered how to react to this. Clearly the Major was politically astute and had decided that this was the safest line for him to take. After all she could hardly object to being warned about a possible plot against her and obliquely telling her that she was alleged to be corrupt was a good way of warning her off. Still the Major had been vouched for by Clover.

She decided that the proper reply was "Thank you sir. I would like to confirm that I agree that the long-term interests of Atlas outweigh both the short and the long-term interests of the SDC and the other Atlesian multi-nationals."

The Major nodded, "While I am glad that you did not rush to arrange meetings with the representative of the multi-kingdoms, I would recommend that you arrange to meet them in groups of three or four at restaurants in Vacuo. After all, our major role here is protecting the mines and factories here and understanding their concerns is part of the job. Assuming you can afford it, it will probably be best for appearances sake if you pay your share of the bill. I anticipate that when you meet with Mr. Raddock, you will find that his fellow attendees will cancel at the last minute. His semblance is presumed to be a psychological one of making people trust what he says."

/-/

Winter was waiting in the Atlesian Embassy for Marrow. She, Lieutenant Hill, and Mr. Corkran had driven in from the main base today. Lieutenant Hill was returning to Atlas tomorrow and was expected to brief Lieutenant Amin today. Winter would be dealing with the normal disciplinary issues arising after a week's R & R and would be briefing Lieutenant Amin.

Lieutenant Hill had explained Mr Corkran's presence in the car to Captain Schnee on the basis that "Sir, I thought I should bring Corky along as he knows the dives Faunus frequent." She had nodded without comment. It was not appropriate to correct him in front of Mr. Corkran. If Lieutenant Hill desire to try and offend Mr. Corkran meant that he was prepared to implicitly insult a fellow officer he had not met in front of a senior officer then it merely confirmed to her that Major Magenta's assessment of him was correct. She had already gathered that two of the dismissed disciplinary actions against Mr. Corkran had been instigated by Lieutenant Hill

She was told that Lieutenant Amin was waiting for her in reception. She told Lieutenant Hill to wait in a meeting room and for Mr. Corkran to collect Lieutenant Marrow from reception and escort him to her office. He was then at liberty for an hour and a half.

After Marrow had arrived in her office and the door had been shut she said "Lieutenant Hill is under instructions to brief you and then show you the places in Vacuo which it is considered are appropriate and safe for an Atlesian officer to frequent. You will be accompanied by Mr. Corkran who is the local guide."

Lieutenant Amin said, "The Lynx Faunus with the surprisingly good accent?"

"Correct, although that is a masterpiece of understatement. I would be interested in your observations on both tomorrow."

The next morning a slightly bedraggled Marrow reported to her in her office in the embassy.

"I see you had a good evening."

He blushed and his tail drooped. Winter took pity on him and said, "The fact you are on time, in uniform, looking smart and awake is better than 90% of the subalterns after their first night in Vacuo."

She then asked, "How was last night?"

"Lieutenant Hill left after an hour and said that Corky could show me the dives which Faunus frequented. Lieutenant Hill hardly said a word to me during that hour and spent most of the time patronising Mr. Corkran. Mr. Corkran pretended that nothing was amiss."

This did not surprise Winter.

"What happened next?"

"Mr Corkran explained that in Vacuo humans and Faunus went to the same places, but that he would not take me to the brothels, so he did not think that there was any risk of embarrassing Lieutenant Hill by meeting him later."

"Did he say it that directly?"

"Strictly, no. He first said that he would take me to the places were appropriate for Atlesian officers. He said that Faunus were welcome at all of them, but that he would not take me to the places of negotiable affection. He then paused and said that he was certain that we would not see Lieutenant Hill again that evening."

"Lieutenant Amin, the first time I spoke to Mr Corkran he said that he did not wish to give offence unintentionally."

Marrow smiled and said "If I shut my eyes and just listened to his voice, I would think he was an Atlesian aristocrat from the old films. By the way, the accent seems to be for real. He did not drop it the entire evening and he was drinking more than I was. He was also speaking to people with accents I could hardly understand myself."

"What do you make of him?"

Marrow paused and said, "I am inclined to trust him. After we had chatted for a bit, he offered me useful tips on how to deal with the squaddies and how to ensure that the NCOs helped rather than hindered me. He also seems to know everybody in Vacuo and be well liked, but people are careful around him. We were out until late and there were quite a lot of drunks around, but people moved out of his way when we went to the bar and made room at tables for us. I asked him how he should be addressed, and he said that while the squaddies were welcome to call him Corky or even Elsie off duty, it was more appropriate for the NCOs and officers to call him Mr. Corkran when he was on duty and either that or Leslie socially."

Lieutenant Amin then said, "We had a meal after Lieutenant Hill left and then we went to various bars. He said that all of them were normally safe for Atlesians provided one was polite and did not expect preferential service. At around 10.30 he took me to a place called Rick's when he spotted a group of humans with unusual haircuts. They greeted him enthusiastically and the oldest one said to me any friend of Leslie was a friend of theirs. Apparently they belong to one of the nomadic tribes called the Mohawks and provide security services to the Atlesian multi-kingdom enterprises in Vacuo. They said that they were off today to their next five month assignment at the De Lagers Dust Mine."

He paused and then continued, "As part of our role is to accompany the inspectors around the mines, I said that perhaps I would see them there later this year. For some reason, everyone went quiet for a moment. An older man called Brian Thrush there asked if on his next leave he could speak to me about members of his tribe working as scouts for the Atlas military. They apparently knew my uncle and his family, and we basically swapped Vacuoan stories until 11.30 when Mr. Corkran escorted me to the local barracks."

"Thank you, Lieutenant. We will be travelling to the main barracks after lunch."

Winter thought about the conversation. On the positive side, Marrow arriving after her had had the desired effect of Lieutenant Hill treating him naturally. She decided that she would send in a supplementary report on Lieutenant Hill to General Ironwood.

She recalled that the Mohawk tribe had been providing security and escort services to the SDC since her grandfather had first started business in Vacuo. She could see that the flamboyant haircuts would not appeal to the Atlas military, but her family had always found them good value for money and loyal. She decided that she would allow Marrow to have a preliminary meeting with Mr. Thrush in five months.

She then started to accept the invitations from the multi-kingdoms. Some had written to her raising concerns and making suggestions.

/-/

Jacques Schnee sat in his study at home. In some ways he was pleased that Winter had avoided falling into the obvious traps, but he still hoped that she would realise that a career in the Atlas military was unlikely to be a successful one. Jacques had been tempted to suspend dividend and trust fund payments to Winter at the same time as announcing that she had ceased to be heiress, but in the end had worked out that she had enough money saved from previous years to make that an ineffective threat and would only increase the risk of obstinacy.

He wondered whether the secondary goal of ensuring Major Magenta was not promoted when Colonel White retired could be achieved. The man was just a little bit too independent for his own good and had refused to be placed on the payroll when the cover up had been put in place. While his excuse that he was comfortably off and did not need to be paid extra to do his duty was unobjectionable, Jacques did not trust or understand anyone who did not want to be wealthier. The perfect result would have been for Winter's career to have been derailed and Magenta to have been seen by General Ironwood as the person responsible.

While Weiss was intelligent and hard-working, she admired her sister and grandfather too much for comfort. He would be happier with Winter reinstated as heiress, at least unless and until Whitley showed himself to be worthy of the title. In retrospect, perhaps he should have tried to keep up the pretence that he and Willow were happily married for a few years longer. Weiss was desperate for affection which he did not have time to supply, and Willow did not have the inclination to after four in the afternoon. Whitley was a lot too fawning for comfort. Perhaps Whitley reminded him too much of the least admirable aspects of himself and he was now beginning to understand why Nicholas had treated him in the way that he did.

He would be interested to see whether Umber Raddock would succeed in romancing Winter. He rather doubted it, but had given him permission to try. There were worse sons in law he could imagine and at least Jacques had leverage on him. In any event he would become a main board member next year although Jacques intended that he would still spend seventy per cent of his time in Vacuo for the first few years. There would be an understanding that any skeletons would be deeply buried before he moved to Atlas full time although he would have the exclusive use of a company flat.

This is intended to be a novella length story which deals with part of the backstory for the Schnees, the White Fang, Russel Thrush and an OC character in my longer ongoing story "learning to lead, learning to follow" My intention is that it will be standalone as the events will be taking place three years or so before Ruby and Weiss arrive at Beacon