This is the final chapter in this story.
Umber Raddock was currently in Mistral seeing his family and was feeling on top of the world. They had just had a family lunch celebrating his promotion to the main board of the SDC and were relaxing together. His mother had cooked lunch and she had smiled when he complimented on the succulence of the roast lamb and the taste of the garlic and harissa roast potatoes that they had just eaten. Earlier today his father had taken him into his den, told him how proud he was of Umber and hugged him.
It was pleasant being the successful and respected son and brother now and being able to repay the tolerance and love they had shown him when he had been growing up. He had spent his adolescence and early adulthood being the one who belonged to a bad set who got into trouble and was the family disappointment. He had left Mistral fifteen years ago to make a fresh start with Bruce and Arnold and it had been hard work until he figured out his semblance and its limitations.
Today he had transferred his brother the money needed to pay off his mortgage and fund a year's tuition for his niece at university. It had only used about ¼ of his last bonus payment, but it made a huge difference to his brother. One good effect of his semblance was that he had been able to nudge his brother towards thinking that Umber was being generous rather than condescending and meant it when he said that his brother would have done the same for him.
He would be flying back to Atlas this afternoon to be formally confirmed as a main board member of the SDC by Jacques Schnee in the morning. He was glad to be leaving Vacuo. While he had got used to the desert, he had never loved it. He was mystified by those who went on safaris or raved about the mountains and the wildlife. The weather was too hot, and the sand got everywhere. A large company flat in Atlas and being able to use his apartment in Argus at the weekends would be a better lifestyle for him. He had only gone to Vacuo because there was no extradition treaty, so it was safe for Bruce if anyone worked out that he was responsible for a murder. It was also less disapproving of Arnold's interest in Faunus girls. In retrospect, he was mystified that his younger self had been able to ignore the fact that Bruce was psychotic and had found it funny to encourage his love of mayhem. Similarly, he had found it amusing to encourage Arnold to chase after Faunus girls and to work out ways to break the spirit of rules while adhering to the letter of them. He was also amazed that it had taken him until reaching Vacuo to realise that the fact that his friends enthusiastically followed his more outrageous suggestions was because of his semblance.
The downside of his promotion was having to have security guards constantly travelling with him. This meant that he had not been able to visit his old haunts in Mistral. While he recognised the need for the security guards and it was understood that they were discrete, he felt that it would be bad form to take the security guards to the nightclubs of his youth. If nothing else, having Jacques Schnee knowing any more of his dirty little secrets was not a reassuring thought. Besides which Jacques had been explicit about the dos and don'ts and the advantages of plausible deniability. He liked to tell the story of an old chairman of Atlas Gold who had sacked a young executive for immoral conduct. The young man had protested that he only did in public what the rest of the board did behind closed doors. The crushing retort had been that that was what closed doors were for. Umber would have to be very stupid to take the risk.
Jacques had been particularly clear about Raddock's use of his semblance and using it on Jacques and other board members was forbidden unless Jacques specifically gave his permission. It was permissible if Jacques and other board members was not the target, and he was simply using it to persuade other people in the room agree with something which Jacques wanted to happen. He could use it on other board members to make them fall behind a decision of Jacques. Still, he was fine with that. He knew that there was no way that he could hope to succeed Jacques Schnee and plotting to do so would risk losing everything. Raddock wanted to enjoy the trappings of wealth and Jacques never seemed to have time to sit back and relax. It also helped that the role he wanted him to pursue involved incrementally influencing council members to gradually roll back the restraints on the multi-kingdoms. Fundamentally all members of the Atlesian elite believe that the business of Atlas was business and instinctively believed that restrictions on it were bad.
His head of security during his stay in Mistral knocked on the door of the sitting room. He beckoned to Umber who came over to the door to speak to him, "I just had a call from Atlas military intelligence. There is a rumour that the White Fang are planning something in Mistral. They will be sending a car and an armed escort to take us to the airport in thirty minutes. A Lieutenant Arbuthnot from the Embassy security detail will be leading the squad."
Umber nodded and then heard an explosion in the distance. His head of security moved to cover Umber from a shot through the windows and asked his men for a status report.
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Major Magenta was sitting behind his desk. He was now commanding officer in Vacuo and was enjoying being in charge. He had enjoyed working with Colonel White, but having his own command was the pinnacle of his career. While he was subject to oversight from General Ironwood, his standing orders were based on the recommendations he had made to the General and he had an excellent working relationship with the Ambassador. For the foreseeable future the multi-kingdoms would not be able to appeal to Atlas to restrain him from following the rules It helped that the new local CEOs were clearly more house trained than their predecessors and had been sent out there to clean house. No doubt after a year or two, they would start to grumble, but he had a breathing opportunity to reset the basic minimum standard of behaviour.
The inspectorate was now integrated into the military. They also had had their remuneration improved to partly make up for the ending of payment from the multi-kingdoms. Entertaining was still permitted, but there were greater safeguards. However, Mistral not a large city, the expatriate community was small and spent a lot of time in each other's company. There were also some good reasons for having social contacts between the military and the multi-kingdoms.
He also had to oversee a building program and was forcing himself to delegate properly. He had been too used to doing almost everything himself. The new officers seemed enthusiastic. The Major who would have come with Noir had been reassigned. There had been no hard feelings, but both had felt that it was for the best for him to be transferred to Argus to work with Colonel Cordovin. The three lieutenants Noir had asked for had been retained and Beamish and Amin had done their best to make them feel welcome. They took the view that what had happened to the Colonel was his own fault. It helped in that regard that Lieutenant Corkran had left Vacuo. It was not unusual for mustang officers to serve in different units to the ones in which they had served before becoming officers. There were also rumours that he had resigned his commission or had been assigned to the remotest base in Atlas. There was even a story about an unidentified Lynx Faunus drowning in Vale after a drunken binge. The reality was different, and Colonel Magenta was glad that he did not know the details of the Faunus's new mission.
Specialist Ebi had spent a month in Vacuo stress testing the new security protocols for weak spots. The raid on the Rising Sun had taken advantage of weaknesses which had previously been unappreciated. The trick was not only to work out the risks, but also to work out what precautions were appropriate. There was no point implementing protocols which would be ignored as being too costly or time consuming. Still having all multi-kingdom bullheads fitted with tracking devices which could only be switched off by an Atlas officer, installing alarm buttons in the main offices at each supply base and mine and requiring that during every landing by a bullhead there would be one person in the office ready to sound the alarm had been accepted by the multi-kingdoms. The safari guides had grudgingly accepted that they could no longer buy additional supplies or top up on water at mines and supply bases. They seemed to have blamed the guide who had taken Arnold beige for his trip. The man was missing, presume dead.
Theodore and Rumpole had recommended various hunters to function as a core of the auxiliary troops and had helped identify volunteers who had a potentially criminal past. That was not necessarily a disqualifying factor, but there was a difference between recruiting bouncers and recruiting sadists or thieves. As part of a hearts and minds policy Atlas had been providing technology to Haven Academy. For example, they had sent a prototype upgrade to the Ada program for a blind young Vacuoan who had the makings of a useful huntsman to use.
Lieutenant Beamish had been appointed to liaise with the inspectorate on the pricing policies for the company stores. He relished the task and Magenta hoped that he could either persuade him to stay on at the end of his two years or move him into the logistics career path.
He tried to avoid dwelling too much on the fate of Colonel Noir. The fact that between them General Ironwood and Corkran had destroyed a man's career and good name simply to place an undercover agent in the White Fang indicate that they were more ruthless than he could be himself. He consoled himself that General Ironwood had said that it was important that the reforms to the multi-kingdom's operations in Vacuo were implemented properly and the man had been requested by the multi-kingdoms with a view to sabotaging and delaying them. Winter had pointed out that the man had did it all to himself and that there was no excuse for hitting a junior officer in public. She suggested that all had been aimed for was to induce Campion and Theodore to demand the man not be posted to Vacuo. Indeed, it would have been better if the man had not been forced to resign and had merely abused Corkran and not otherwise being punished for it. He supposed that was true, but he was still unhappy. On the other hand, they had not sat down with the man afterwards and watch him crying with shame and anger. He had suspected that he had been played for a sucker and no military man can enjoy the feeling that the enemy had totally defeated him before you even knew that there was a battle going on.
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Winter was following General Ironwood off his airship at Beacon Academy. Glynda Goodwitch was there to greet them. She was apprehensive in the light of the General's insistence that this visit would be life changing.
Winter was conscious that she was being asked to fulfill a role in relation to Ironwood akin to that Glynda played to Ozpin and was determined to learn from the headmistress. She was conscious that the woman generated a sense of irritation against the world and was very tense. They travelled up in the lift to Ozpin's office.
She was slightly surprised to find that besides Ozpin, Qrow Branwen was there. "Hello Jimmy, hello Ice Queen."
She could have done without Parsifal Campion regaling people with his description of the ambush and the code name which had been improvised by Corkran. She supposed that he had had to do something to ease the tension after the incident at the reception, but she still wished that Qrow had not been there to hear it. She suspected that as far as he was concerned the joke would never get old.
Ozpin said, "Welcome, James. Dr. Oobleck wished me to convey his congratulations on your recent maneuverings. I think he was only joking when he asked me to advise you against seeking to be appointed supreme leader."
He then turned to Winter, "Major Schnee. Your promotion was well deserved and your good service in Vacuo was much appreciated."
"Professor Ozpin. Thank you for those kind words."
Glynda directed them to a table, and they sat around it
"Would you like some coffee or some water? I am afraid that this will take some time. Do at least take a biscuit."
Winter declined gracefully.
Ozpin said "James has recommended that you be told what told him shortly after he finally persuaded the council to appoint him as headmaster of Atlas Academy. This is a burden not a blessing and will change your view of the world. Fundamental things which you have been told about the world are lies for children to allow them to sleep at night. Some fairy stories which you stopped believing when you were aged five are truer than most history books."
She listened for the next few hours as Ozpin told her about Salem and about her ability to control Grimm. He explained that he was endlessly reincarnated. At that point Glynda confirmed that she had been told by a previous headmaster at Atlas when she was initiated into the secret that he had handed the cane over to Professor Ozpin as a fourteen-year-old boy. Ozpin also handed over for her perusal some old documents and photographs which substantiated the unbelievable story.
She was shocked to find that the myths about relics and maidens were actually true. It also explained why General Ironwood was so frustrated by petty politics and the posturing of the multi-kingdoms and aristocrats of Atlas.
Towards the end of the meeting, Ironwood said, "Major Schnee. There is a particular reason I want you to know all this. The current Winter Maiden is old, and her mind is starting to wander. Fria has served Atlas well and has protected us against the Grimm on many occasions. We need to make certain that when she dies the powers pass on to someone known to us and chosen by her. I would like you to befriend her with a view to becoming the next Winter Maiden."
Ozpin said, "There is no need to make the decision today. I would like you to read a short book written by a previous maiden about becoming a maiden and the effect on the individual girl. I am told that although memories of the past are retained, the personality of the maiden is fundamentally that of the pre-transformation maiden."
Winter asked, "Who else knows about this?"
"Besides us, Professors Theodore, Lionheart and Rumpole and you can talk to any of them freely except about the Winter maiden. They do not know about Fria. One other person has been told but refuses to be involved. She considered fighting an endless battle which you cannot win, but merely avoid losing was not for her. I do not altogether blame her. We do not know how many people she has told. I doubt any as it is rather difficult to believe."
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Sienna Khan prowled around the stronghold. Today marked the next step in the White Fang's escalation of its campaign. She had not t met the person who was responsible for the operation, and she was nervous that it was a trap. On the other hand, he seemed to have thought the mission through and she had decided it was a risk worth taking. This would be the first major operation since the Rising Sun and would be taken against a target who was guarded against attack.
The war cabinet had decided that the attack on the Rising Sun had been a success. The rank and file had been inspired by it. It had shown that the White Fang could undertake a major operation outside Mistral. Donations to Mistral Aid were up 75% and there had been a surge in volunteers in Mistral, Menagerie and Atlas. In Vale the reaction had been more ambivalent. The civilian deaths had not gone down well with neutrals or so-called moderates although most grudgingly accepted that they were acceptable collateral damage and blamed the troops for opening fire.
Adam and the more militant members of the Cabinet was still not happy about how the White Fang had played along with the Atlas version of events. However, she was not ready to rerun the Faunus Wars, and neither was most of the War Cabinet when the choice was bluntly put to them. As it was there had been an outbreak of lynchings in Mistral where they had quickly worked out that very few of the dead actually came from Atlas. The Atlas elites prided themselves are being as vulgar as the Mistralians. She had found it encouraging that Atlas had used its Vacuoan Ambassador to signal to her via the Belladonnas that they would keep the rhetoric lowkey provided the White Fang did as well
Anyway, there was a two-tier strategy now. Adam was leading the campaign to mess up the dust supply chains in Mistral. There were some medium terms issues with this as inevitably it would lead to the SDC and others moving their non-Atlas centre of distribution operations to Vale and increasing the internal pressures on her to authorise limited military operations in Vale as well as civil disobedience and strikes.
The Atlas strategy would be more indirect and would depend on the results of today's operation. It was intended to sap the will of the elites without inciting the humans in Mantle to take it out on Faunus. It had been decided to leave the multi-kingdom's operation in Vacuo alone for a time. If Atlas was now serious at enforcing the rules governing the multi-kingdoms then they should be given a chance to demonstrate that they were doing so. Besides which the replacement of Mistralians with Atlas citizens at the helm of the Vacuo operations may play into a strategy of splitting Mistral from Atlas.
She sighed. She still felt that her strategy was a mixture of hard choices, wishful thinking and hoping that something would turn up. It was on balance the best game in town and one she could sound more confident about than she actually felt/
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Five minutes after the explosion, three black limousines pulled up outside the Raddock family home. The chief bodyguard walked down the drive and an Atlesian officer got out of the middle car. They two men discussed matters and then walked up to the door of the house. The officer was in a well pressed uniform, was wearing gloves and clearly had been told to show the utmost deference to the VIP from the SDC. The dark sunglasses he was wearing looked expensive.
The officer presented an identity card to him identifying him as a lieutenant in the Atlas Intelligence Agency. "Lieutenant Arbuthnot of Atlas Military Intelligence. Sorry for the intrusion, sir. The explosion you all heard a few minutes ago was the local CCT relay station being destroyed and so the whole valley is now out of contact with Mistral. I have t' assume that this is as the result of sabotage rather than an accident. If so, as I am responsible for ensuring that you reach your destination safely I would recommend that you leave with me and men in the next five minutes. It may be that I am being paranoid but as I said t' your man here, better safe than sorry. We have three armed men in each of the lead and trail cars and the middle car is armour plated. We have a private jet available to take you t' Atlas and we can have you on board in twenty minutes."
The man paused and said, "I gather this is your family home and that besides your parents, your brother and family is here today."
Umber said, "Yes, that's right."
"Until last month I would not have worried about this, but there is a chance that the White Fang will target this house. In the light of the lack of mercy shown at the Rising Sun mine recently, there must be a risk that your family will be harmed or taken prisoner if the White Fang arrives here and finds you gone. Your man tells me that his team would not have joined you on the flight to Atlas but are on the payroll for the rest of the day. He agrees that his job description includes looking after the family of his ward."
"What are you recommending?"
"That he and his men escort your family t' your brother's house or if you prefer a hotel and protect them there until it becomes clear that the threat is over. My men are sufficient t' ensure your protection and it will ensure you that your family are safe."
He lowered his voice and said, "You must know that in light of the wilder rumours coming out of Vacuo that you are a top target for the White Fang and that they will not care about the collateral damage."
Raddock swallowed and nodded. He did not want his family to suffer because he had had to do dreadful things to survive and flourish in this world. He called his chief bodyguard over, "Mr. Turquoise. Could you and your men take my family to my brother's house in Mistral City hotel and protect them. I can rely on the military to look after me and I will be happier knowing that my family is safe"
Turquoise frowned and said, "I am happy to divert my men, but I was ordered to see you safely on to the plane."!
"No offence to your men, but you are their leader and will respond best to any threat. I will make it clear that I ordered you to accompany them. It is not as though you are leaving me unguarded." He pressed with his semblance and the man nodded.
It took five minutes to persuade his family to go with the security team. The fact that the Atlas military and the SDC protection squad took the threat that seriously showed him important Umber was and his protestation that their safety was his greatest concern persuaded them to humour him. The officer asked him to take off his jacket and to put on a heavy bullet proof jacket to protect his body against sniper bullets
The driver of the middle car of the convoy got out and opened the passenger door. Umber noticed that the driver was a short man wearing horn rimmed glasses and approved of the fact that the man bowed his head to him as Umber entered the car. The officer entered the passenger door on the other side of the car. He kept his hat on in the car, but this was another sign of respect. The officer said, "Sergeant Perry, put your foot down and take us t' Mr Raddock's jet."
They reached the small local airport and Raddock saw that there was a jet waiting just off the runway. The cars screeched to a halt close to the plane and the men emptied out of the cars with guns drawn. The two other cars placed themselves so that they protected Umber's car from any fire. The men then moved so that they were just outside the car door.
The officer said, "My men will give you cover toe ensure that you can get on the plane safely, Mr Raddock." As he emerged from the car he heard the sound of machine gun fire. The men in black suits and dark glasses huddled around him and they all raced on to the jet and one of the men headed to the pilot's cabin together with the officer. In the distance Raddock could hear sirens and the sounds of machine gunfire while he heard the officer bully flight control into allowing an immediate take off. Raddock was called to the cockpit to confirm the order. Permission was then given, and the jet took off. The two bodyguards breathed sighs of relief and moved to put their guns away. Raddock closed his eyes and tried to relax. That had been scary. He then felt a pain in his arm. He opened his eyes and stared at the needle which had just been placed in his arm by the officer.
The officer turned to him and took his cap off to reveal two animal ears. "Welcome t' Fang Air. Jacques Schnee decided that you were too much of a liability t' keep around after the Rising Sun and leaked us your flight plans. We did wonder whether it was a trap, but apparently not. Pleasant dreams."
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An hour later at Schnee Mansion Weiss Schnee was having lunch. For a change Jacques was eating with the family when Klein walked in and said, "Sir, there is an urgent call from the Mistral office. They say they need to speak to you immediately."
Jacques took the call "Schnee here. What is so urgent?"
He listened and said, "Are you certain?" He grasped the stem of a wine glass hard as he listened to the response.
"Is he alive or dead?" A further pause.
"Let me know when we receive the ransom demand."
He put the phone down and threw the glass at the wall. "Damn the White Fang."
Willow Schnee said "Is there a problem, dear." Weiss wondered if her mother was deliberately winding up her father.
"Oh no dear. One of my board members has just disappeared and presumably has been kidnapped by the White Fang. It is all a bit of a jape."
Weiss could tell that this was going to a difficult lunch and tried to make herself invisible. She knew better than to ask whether this meant that she and Whitley would be allowed to go to a film this afternoon. They would be confined to the mansion for their own safety.
In the meantime, Jacques was trying to contact General Ironwood and was furious to hear that he had gone to Beacon and would not be back for two days. In the end he settled for screaming at Clover Ebi.
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Winter was preparing for dinner and trying to take in what she had been told today. She had quickly decided that she would knuckle down and face adversity in the eye. Her respect for General Ironwood had grown. He was prepared to make the tough decisions and do his duty unlike some others. He saw that the fact he prioritised building up the Atlas military and unifying the government under him was done with the aim of ensuring Atlas was strong and could protect the rest of Remnant.
Theodore and Rumpole had clearly decided to focus on Vacuo and not bother about the outside world at all. Lionheart seemed only more ineffective than ever. Qrow coped by drinking to excess and cynicism. Ironwood had told her that at least the man kept going and was interested in the world beyond Vale, but she found it hard to look beyond the lack of self-respect.
She supposed that she could understand why Ozpin lacked a sense of urgency because he had been dealing with things so long. He had admitted that he had gone through entire lifetimes without engaging with the wider world. He said that he justified it to himself that there were times when Salem went quiet and tried to make do with things as they were. This was reflected in some of the weirder fairy tales and some of the more outlandish fashion styles. It also seemed that there were dangers in Ozpin doing things to bring the world together as it gave her something to enjoy destroying. The cycle of civilisations developing and then self-destructing reflected their struggle. She also found his advice to them to not become too fixated on dealing with Salem and to remember to lead a normal life as well infuriating. It was her duty to dedicate her life so that others could lead lives with as little fear as possible.
She would talk to Glynda about how she dealt with things. The woman seemed business like and regarded Ozpin in the way which a nanny regarded an intelligent, but lazy, child. The General obviously respected her, but their relationship did not seem an easy one. Winter thought it a mistake that Glynda was not involve din the government of Vale rather than simply being the organiser of beacon.
There was a knock on the door. She said, "Who is it?"
"General Ironwood."
"Just a moment." She buttoned up her tunic and opened the door.
"News from Atlas. The desert cat has made his move. Umber Raddock was abducted today in a private jet which headed for bandit country. He was due to fly to Atlas today to formally join the SDC main board. The White Fang faked an attack on the local CCT relay tower and posed as Atlas intelligence operative to bluff his bodyguards into letting him go with them" Winter found the codename a little whimsical for her taste, but apparently it came from a film popular in Vacuo about the Great War.
"Any news on what has happened to Raddock?"
"There has been no ransom demand received. The plan was to present him to Sienna Khan and Adam Taurus. I doubt that he will be seen alive again."
"I cannot say I grieve for Raddock, but we do want to be able to claim Corkran back at the end of this."
"He merely kidnapped a murderer and delivered him to summary justice. The council has authorised me to take extraordinary measures to deal with the threat from the White Fang. Killing one scoundrel is worth infiltrating the White Fang. In addition, you know how dangerous Raddock's semblance was. The last thing we needed was someone who could reinforce the Atlesian belief that generating an extra profit justifies any action even if it weakens the Kingdom as a whole. No one else was harmed during the operation and he has set it up so that as few as people in the White Fang will know his real name. The death of a petty criminal in Mantle was a price worth paying."
"What else have you authorised him to do?"
"In general, his instructions are to encourage the White Fang to target economic targets and the more outrageously anti-Faunus members of the Atlas Elite. Targeted violence rather than indiscriminate violence. Enough to encourage national unity and to build up our defences, but not so much as to lead to rioting. I have spoken to Ozpin, and I have been to Oobleck's history lessons. We have had eighty years of peace between the kingdoms, the Faunus wars have been over for a long time and despite the White Fang's activities do not look like restarting. I think she is planning something. There are reports of new Grimm and they are becoming more aggressive. Mountain Glenn and Kuroyuri are not the only settlements overrun by the Grimm in the last ten years.. We need to develop robots to fight them without risking human lives."
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Blake was watching Adam Taurus was training with Bruno when a messenger came into the room and asked him to report to Sienna Khan in one of the conference rooms. Adam motioned to her to join him
They arrived to find Sienna and an unknown Lynx Faunus waiting for him in an Atlas uniform.
"Adam, Blake I would like to meet our new recruit. He has elected to change his identity on joining us to protect his friends and contacts from retaliation. He is to be known as Alexander Arbuthnot and his codename will be Sandman."
"Bit silly I know, old chap, but never underestimate the power of a memorable pseudonym. Also, there is – was – a real Alexander Arbuthnot who was a conman in Mantle preying on his fellow Faunus. For some reason he decided t' try his luck in Vacuo last month. I also faked my own death in Vale. Clothes on the beach and made certain that I was seen drinking heavily beforehand." She felt Adam tense at the voice, she knew he hated the clipped voices of Atlesian aristocrats on old films and to hear it in the mouth of a Faunus was disconcerting. The Faunus further added to the unreality by placing a monocle in his right eye.
"Despite the voice our friend is from Vacuo and as you can hear has certain advantages in missions involving Atlas. He also has some military experience. He met Ilia and Julie during your recent holiday there."
Blake remembered her two friends talking about him. He had not sounded like an obvious recruitment candidate and wondered why Sienna had taken the risk. Adam
"I can quite understand your doubts, old man." drawled the lynx Faunus. "Obviously, you need proof of my commitment t' the cause. For that reason, I brought a mutual friend with me. He is dying t' meet you."
Sienna said, "Check your scroll, Adam. This photograph was taken five minutes ago."
Adam picked up the scroll and stared in disbelief, "You have him here?" Blake looked over his shoulder and recognised Umber Raddock both from Adam's description and photographs.
Sienna said, "Yes. He is in the cells."
Adam asked, "How did you manage it?"
"Just bluffed him into coming with us and persuaded him t' order his security guards to look after his family. No one got a full view of my face or any of the team and the Mistral reluctance t' install security cameras other than in government buildings played into our hands. We were out of range of interception by the time we knew we had caught him."
Blake asked, "Did we have any losses?"
"Not yet. A local technician had t' burn his cover to take down the CCTV tower, but he is reported to have safely escaped. Another colleague let off an explosion outside the facility to delay them fixing the problem is already on a boat t' Menagerie. We used Mr. Beige's "voluntary" contribution from his Argus bank account t' the cause t' hire the jet and the cars. Me and seven comrades who posed as Atlas Intelligence operatives all got out on the jet. We landed 100 miles away and drove the rest of the way here. Your men insisted on blindfolding me, although they did apologise for it. The jet has been passed on to your bandit neighbour to fence it back to the company which hired it to us. Even after she takes her cut, we will probably make a profit on the operation."
Sienna said to Adam, "I would suggest you think about you want to reintroduce yourself to him. He is going to die, but not today. I was thinking next Thursday after a show trial. We can finally use those brands you ordered for your holiday."
The Lynx Faunus said, "FYI comrade Taurus, I have already started the softening up process. He was due t' fly to Atlas today t' join the main board of the SDC. I told him before the sedative took effect that Jacques Schnee had thrown him overboard and he is not a happy boy at the moment. Total lie of course, but just plausible enough t' be believable."
Blake knew that Adam would have preferred to capture the man himself, but this was a close second best. She also worried about how he would respond to someone new in the organisation who had implemented such an operation. What she most worried about was what it would do to Adam to have the person responsible for his scar at his mercy. She knew he had a capacity for anger and violence which frightened her. She sometimes had to remind herself of the warm and caring boy who had played with her and talked to her about things which mattered when he had been assigned to the security team guarding her parents.
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Raddock was still feeling rather groggy, but now accepted that he was not having a nightmare. Raddock's legs was chained to the floor, and he was tied to the chair with his hands tied behind his back. He was still in a state of shock at what had happened today. He was trying to convince himself that the Lynx Faunus had lied, and that Jacques Schnee would pay a large ransom.
He heard the door open behind him and saw a large Faunus dressed in red and black and wearing a hood with a cape as well as the usual White Fang mask.
"Good afternoon, Mr Raddock. I will be your jailer for your hopefully short stay with us."
Raddock relaxed, they were going to ransom him. He started sobbing and thanking the gods for mercy.
"No need to thank me. Sienna Khan has determined your fate."
Again, a feeling of relief. Sienna Khan was not known to be a sadist despite what was printed in the press. She was a foolish woman who thought that humans could be persuaded to share the cake more equally if you banged the table hard enough. "Please pass on my thanks to her."
The Faunus said nothing for what seemed like an eternity and then said, "We have met before you know."
"Really. Forgive me, but I do not recognise you with that mask on."
Raddock then realised that had been a stupid thing to say. The circumstances in which he could have met a member of the White Fang were unlikely to be ones which would leave the Faunus well disposed towards him. He could only hope that he had merely served him in a restaurant during one of his visits to Mistral.
"It was a few years back, but I think that you will recall our meeting when you see my face."
The man turned his back and took off his mask. He continued by saying, "Your friend Bruce did most of the talking if I recall."
The man turned round and removed the cape. Umber looked at the face and began to scream. He had been trying to pretend to himself that this would not happen,
"How appropriate. I remember Bruce saying to me the louder I screamed, the more fun it was for him. I begin to see his point."
The door opened again and the Lynx Faunus, who Raddock had never knowingly met, but realised he had seen in Vacuo, entered. "Hello, old bean. You left this behind."
On the table in front of him appeared something with a wooden handle out of which metal protruded. He refocused and saw that at the end of the metal where the initials WF.
At that point he passed out.
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In Vacuo Marrow was watching the news. Unlike Atlas, the Mistralians disliked surveillance equipment and so there was no CCTV footage showing the kidnap. The Mistral authorities announce that the suspect was someone called Alexander Arbuthnot who was said to be a new arrival in Mistral and was believed to be from Atlas. Apparently the name belonged to a petty criminal from Atlas who was known as Sandy to his friends.
The Atlas authorities had confirmed that they were aware of a conman who went by that name and that they had recently lost sight of him. The kidnap was presumed to be the work of the White Fang although the Raddock family and the SDC security guards had seen nothing to suggest that either the fake officer or the driver were Faunus and no one at the airfield had got a good look at the perpetrators. However, a Faunus technician at the CCT relay station had vanished from view and there had been explosions near the relay station.
Marrow thought about it and went to see Colonel Magenta. The colonel looked at him and said, "I do not know, and it is best if we do not speculate. I will not mourn for Umber Raddock. He is, shall we say, acceptable collateral damage"
Marrow nodded, "I understand. It does sound a little like the assassination attempt on the Ambassador in that Raddock and the SDC security team were duped into doing the wrong thing."
He wondered whether he would ever see his friend again and how long he would last. He knew that the life expectancy of infiltrators in the White Fang was not long. He also wondered whether he was really an infiltrator or had simply used Atlas to achieve his own ends. Leslie had promised that he would make the people responsible for the death of his friends suffer and taking out Umber Raddock certainly achieved that result. He shuddered at the thought of the White Fang announcing that Atlas had colluded in the kidnap and murder of an executive of the SDC who was a Mistralian citizen.
I would like to thank Merendinoemiliano and Pirate King Ray for their comments during this story. I never expected this to be a breakout popular story, but a sense that the people who were reading it were enjoying it did encourage me through the attacks of writer's block or the times when I felt that I had written myself into a corner.
This certainly got darker than I had originally intended as the good guys indulged in morally ambiguous behaviour to say the least. Certainly I had not originally intended for Ironwood to play such a large part in the story.
I will return to What Ho Cardin, but I think I could do with writing a shorter and more light-hearted and less cynical story next involving Jaune, his family and Pyrrha next.
