Chapter 24: Mark Temple Part 3
Remnant, Kingdom of Atlas
POV: Weiss Schnee
Premise: With Jacques on the Council, the Reds and Blues are forced to take several steps back before he causes chaos…
3 Days Later…
A Manta-class dropship flew over Solitas towards the City of Atlas, the ship then landed just outside of the Schnee Manor. Weiss stepped out of the ship with a glum look on her face, holding a suitcase, and flanked by two Atlas soldiers. After her father got on the Council, he made arrangements for her to be brought back to Atlas under his authority. This was, and not limited too, harassment, closing of bank accounts, and blackmailing.
Weiss then noticed her father and Whitely standing at the entrance of the Manor. Jacques displayed a sickly smirk on his face, while Whitley's was more polite.
"Thank you gentlemen." Jacques said to the soldiers, "That'll be all."
The soldiers nodded before walking away, while Jacques escorted Weiss inside to her room. As they approached the door, they noticed Klein, the family butler, standing nearby, holding a tray with a mug on it.
"Hot coffee Ms. Schnee?" he asked Weiss
Weiss was going to say something, only for Jacques to intervene.
"She's fine Klein." Jacques said to him, "Leave us at once."
"Oh, uh, of course sir." Klein muttered, "Off you go."
Jacques muttered a 'hmph' before he and Weiss entered the latter's room. Weiss stopped just past the door frame as it shut, while Jacques grabbed her suitcase and continued inside.
"I will make this as crystal clear as possible." he said to her while placing the suitcase on her bed before turning around, "You will not be leaving this manor at all, do you understand? I will have the staff personally make sure that you don't do anything funny."
"So I'm just your prisoner?" Weiss bitterly questioned, "Just like Mom?"
"You're a child." Jacques continued, "One that I can control. You belong here in Atlas, where we can come to...an agreement about your future. Those colourful bastards won't be here to protect you now."
"Say what you want about the Reds and Blues, Jacques." Weiss retorted, "But don't talk about my friends like that ever. But most of all, don't underestimate them."
"Hmph, this attitude of yours is extremely unacceptable." Jacques hissed, "Almost as if…"
He turned around back to Weiss' briefcase, curiously. He walked over and opened it. Sure enough, inside was a white and blue suit of armor.
"Hahahaha." Jacques chuckled ominously as he turned back to face Weiss, "Of course, they recruited you into their ranks. That will be the biggest mistake in their pathetic lives."
Weiss remained neutral, and stared at him.
"I will be holding onto this…" he said before leaving the room, but not before taking Myrtenaster with him as well.
POV Change: Beacon Academy
"Argh!" O'Malley shouted as he put his fist into a nearby wall, "That ugly bastard!"
"Yeah what he said." Doc added
The Reds and Blues were all standing in Ozpin's office. Thinking about when Jacques won the election. With him now on the Council, things took a turn for the unknown. Weiss was forced back to Atlas, even Ironwood and the Atlas forces in Vale as well. They also lost all contact with Ace-Ops, Robyn, and the Happy Huntresses.
"Can everybody just calm down so we can think?" Wash asked everyone, "Doc, please control your ego."
"...Right." Ozpin muttered from behind his desk talking on his scroll, "Of course...I understand...no no Leo, it's not your fault. Ok, I shall notify Theodore and Rumpole at once."
Ozpin ended the call before sighing heavily, "That was Professor Lionheart from Haven...Mistral is holding a referendum, whether or not to leave the Coalition."
"Great." Grif muttered, "Just fuckin' great."
"Our alliance is crumbling apart." Simmons added, "Soon, we will be completely divided. The only thing we have left is our reserves from Chorus."
"This isn't right…" Jaune muttered
"Indeed." Glynda added, "Jacques Schnee is a bad person, with him at the helm. It's going to cause chaos."
"No." Jaune repeated, catching everyone's attention, "I mean this isn't right. Jacques never had the influence to win an election."
"What do you mean?" Blake questioned
"The other day, at the rally." Jaune began, "We were backstage, Tucker Sarge and Wash with Robyn. I saw the board, Robyn was at 60%, Jacques was at 49. Right before we left, Robyn was at 96%, while Jacques was 80%. By the time we were up in the air, there was no way a huge sum of voters could turn the tide in Jacques' favor."
"What are you trying to say?" Tucker asked him
"I think Jacques rigged the election." Jaune explained
Simmons looked at him, "Huh? You know...he's not off on that."
"How so?" Ozpin asked
"I've studied Atlas tech and it's extremely vulnerable to malware and hackers." Simmons explained, "Anyone could corrupt it."
"Alright then, Simmons do a scan of the polls from the elections." Wash replied, "Carolina and I will assess what resources we have left, along with talking to Kimball about sending more troops to assist us if our theory on Jacques isn't true. The rest of us can take it easy, we've been through a lot these past few weeks."
"Done and done." Grif replied
"I'll stay here and inform Shade Academy, along with any other of my contacts." Ozpin added
Wash nodded in response, and everyone proceeded to leave Ozpin's office. As they went to the elevator, Palomo came running out of it and stood in front of Wash and Tucker.
"Agent Washington, Captain Tucker." he said, "A message from Earth has been sent to us."
The two looked at one another before looking back at Palomo.
"From who?" Tucker asked
"Dylan Andrews sir." said Palomo, "Shall I tell it is a bad time"
"No, I'll talk to her." Tucker replied, "I'll be right down."
Meanwhile, Ruby made her way to the elevator and noticed Caboose standing nearby. As she was about to enter the door. Caboose stopped her.
"You mind if we talked?" he asked her
POV Change: Jacques Schnee
Jacques stood in his office, smirking at Weiss' armor that was now on full display within a hidden section of the room. At long last, he got what he wanted. Now he could keep his family under his influence and thumb at all times. With a seat on Council and being the head of the SDC, he was definitely getting cocky.
And it was all thanks to an offer…
"Are you going to keep admiring that piece of junk all day?" Mark Temple asked him from across the room
Jacques turned to face his ally, "This piece of junk is a symbol of my victory over those bastards."
"It would be better if you had the entire set." Temple added, "That is, if we still have a deal…"
Jacques glared at him, "You first."
Temple took out a holo device, and turned it on. Several pictures of BvR Sim-Troopers appeared along with Space Pirates.
"Your shadow company as I offered." Temple said to him, "Quality over quantity if you know what I mean. Not even the Atlas Military could detect them with the tech they have."
"Good." Jaques replied, "And as promised…"
Jacques took out a flash drive and handed it to Temple, who took it with questioning.
"Those are their last known locations." he said to him, "I'm sure you'll find something."
"A deal is a deal." Temple replied, "What will you do with your half of the deal?"
Jacques smirked, "I'll do what I must. Remove pesky little Ironwood from power, take back my daughter that he stole from me, and anyone who gets in my way."
"Hmm, not bad." Temple replied before heading for the door
"What about you?" Jacques asked
"Same as you." Temple replied, "Removing someone who could get in my way. Also snuff out another threat of mine."
Temple then headed out the door, "Enjoy your new toys Jacques."
Temple walked through the dark halls of the Schnee Manor before heading to the roof of all places. As he approached the ledge, a Pelican de-cloaked itself in front of him and he boarded the craft before it took off.
Temple proceeded to get on comms, "Salem, Jacques has the package and has continued to agree with our deal. He has no idea what he's in for."
"And he gave you the files?" Salem asked
"Everything we need." Temple replied, "I'll have Gene start going through them so we can find our prey."
POV Change: Lavernius Tucker
"They're what!?"
Tucker stood within the Coalition's command room staring at a computer screen.
"They're dead." Dylan explained, "The entire ship, destroyed."
Tucker sighed as he rubbed his forehead, "Well...I guess the bastards got what they deserved."
"Don't say that." Dylan replied, "Temple, all of the Blues and Reds were hurt. Just like you guys. Part of me wants to-"
Dylan suddenly stopped talking, which Tucker took notice of.
"Uh Dylan?" he muttered, "Earth to Dylan?"
"Sorry." Dylan stuttered, "We just got some additional information. A screenshot from a marine's helmet."
"Well, what does it show?" Tucker asked her
Dylan then showed her the picture. It showed a man from his eyes, as some blurred object running past him. From what Tucker could see, the blurred area appeared to have a tail.
"What the fuck is that?" Tucker muttered
"We don't know." Dyland replied, "But the UNSC and authorities are working round the clock to find out who or what that thing is. I'll call you back once we find any more evidence."
"Good, thanks Dylan."
POV Change: Beacon Academy
Caboose took Ruby to a balcony just outside the ballroom. He told her everything.
"You saw what?" Ruby questioned, almost surprised
"You…" Caboose replied glumly, "Weiss, Blake, pretty much everyone dead."
"At the hands of Cinder…" Ruby added
"Pretty much." said Caboose, "Look I'm sorry, I just- we just-well...We were right."
Ruby chuckled, "Yeah you guys were. Look I appreciate that you all want to...save us and all, but you could've at least told us."
"You're right." Caboose replied, "And I'm sorry for that."
"We all are."
The duo turned to see Tucker standing nearby.
"We found it." Tucker said to them, "Jacques' little gimmick...Come on, We'll explain on the way."
POV Change: The Prowler
Within a matter of seconds, the Prowler was already up in the air, flanked by four Pelicans, loaded with several Coalition troops, and carried two jeeps, and two tanks.
"Jacques knew deep down he couldn't win the election against Robyn." Simmons said to everyone on the ship, "So he decided to play dirty. He rigged the election in his favor, with some outside help."
"How'd he do that?" Blake asked
"We don't know." Wash continued, "And that's bad. After getting on the Council, Jacques took advantage of his newfound power. Stopped all of Mantle's trade, security, transportation, etc. Then he deployed troops into the city as a way of declaring martial law."
"He Atlas military personnel into Mantle?" Nora questioned, "How does the Council not know?"
"Because they're inside Schnee Manor with Jacques himself." Carolina continued, "And the troops in Mantle. They're not even Atlas, they're some sort of shadow company."
"Well, if it's a shadow, why don't we turn a light on?" said Caboose, "Then they will disappear."
Sarge then spoke up, ignoring Caboose's comment, "Someone gave him these soldiers. We think that guys had to have fiddled with the election."
"Half of us will go to Mantle and remove the troops stationed there." Tucker explained, "The rest will move on to Schnee Manor and bring that bastard down."
"Sounds like fun." Yang smirked while pumping her fists
"Then we can get Weiss back." Ruby added
"Good, this ends today."