Sandstorm over Remnant

Poison

"The area where the bomb fell is still under quarantine, the scans show that the energy readings from radiation have not gone down but rather settled. RobCo has dispatched multiple machines that have begun to remove the very soil but how far down the radiation has reached we do not know" one of the many scientists that General Ironwood employed commented as he put down the small paper he had brought with him.

There was a pause as the next person prepared his presentation, the general let out a sigh as he passed a hand through his chin enjoying the way that his newly developing beard felt. It had been a long time since he had one and now that time was so scarce for him it felt appropriate for it to be this way, he turned to look at the guest he had invited and he could feel how tense she was, Glynda thank the heavens had survived and she was now more or less the sole person in power that the council saw fit to help Vale recover a semblance of normality even if the pushback from the populace was massive.

"Not safe"-"It will happen again" was one of the many comments he had heard about first hand, something she must have heard about a dozen times over. "As for the rebuilding of the damaged areas some of them have turned out to be beyond saving, Atlas would have wanted to help but we simply don't have the manpower to do so at the moment, sadly I think some areas near the forest are lost to us" an engineer said as he showed with drone pictures the state of the outskirts of the city.

It resembled a wasteland out of a sci fi novel, in the pictures Ironwood spotted a lone bot walking around and not of theirs, one of the machines that Six did not saw fit to share with them. A securi-tron Winter had called it with something on its hand that they could not make out what it was "Then what can be done, the frontier of vale was the most affected. Is there really nothing Atlas can do, the other kingdoms?" Glynda asked as the representatives of each kingdom looked the other way.

"The city is standing, once it stabilizes it would be able to help the region around it" Glynda frowned at that "And what of the people, how do we tell them to wait?" silence was her answer as she could only shake her head in disappointment, Ironwood said nothing as he watched on the screen how Beacon had lit a giant light into the sky "I see, then I am afraid that we have nothing else to discuss, if you excuse me I need to stabilize the area as you put it"

The witch left, her heels softly echoing in the room "Meeting adjourned, please everyone but Pietro leave" the chairs emptied as Doctor Pietro Polendina moved himself closer to the general "Something you needed from me general?"

Ironwood simply shook his head "How are you doing doctor? Is she…"- "Stable, I won't let anything like this happen again. She must be kept close General especially with these new machines walking around! Who knows what they are capable of! Maybe they can infect her system or worse"

He meant RobCo, the new player in their delicate game of balance. That courier with the help of the mysterious Mr. House had sneaked in to their world schematics and raw material and they had built a battalion of machines right underneath their noses but regardless of their intentions they had saved lives that day and Six had not resisted to a through search of their facilities, he even said that he understood if he needed to be jailed.

It was something he briefly considered but the firepower that the machines under RobCo's control provided had helped to stabilize the region and calm the fears of the populace the last thing they needed was another Grimm wave to attack the city of Vale, the new company on the block already gaining good will from the populace by selling or giving away some of the Mr. Handy units to help clean debris and restore the city. It was a genius PR movement and it deeply worried Ironwood but he could also not cross out the possibility that the man from another world was just genuinely trying to help and get goodwill of Remnant to aid his dying world.

It was all too grey, but it was the color that men like him had to deal every day, so for now Six was being watched and until he overstepped his boundaries he will be promptly put down and sent back to his world, and if he refused…. "How goes the construction of the second portal?"

"Almost finished, the data that was given to us by the Soldier sped up the process and we had no need to ask the Courier for any data, I have routed personnel and power from our other failed projects to avoid any suspicion"-"And our anchor to the other world?"

There was a pause as the doctor typed some things in his scroll "Faint but there, I have here that is called… ermm Boston, more specifically Sanctuary. He chose the names that would show up on our screen you see" Ironwood nodded "Indeed, please doctor if you have need for anything just let me know. I must prepare for another meeting, so if you would excuse me" the general waited for the door to close to let his frown deepen as his shoulders sagged under the pressure, he missed Ozpin.

For all his secrets and obtuse ways of doing things the man had not only earned his respect, but also his admiration and he wanted to do their vision right, but it was complicated to know how to do so, after all Ozpin was always planning, always thinking on how to win this gran chess game against the dark and those plans had layers that no mortal man could begin to decipher, sometimes it even brought up the genuine worry that maybe he had not idea on how to win at all.

"No… he would not have done all that he did if he had no way to win" Ironwood said as he shook his head, he just needed to stay in course for now.

Vale has fallen.

Those words haunted Glynda, even now as she walked on the city streets and she saw people walking, shopping, living she could not help but worry that this was all a dream and that she would wake up in a Bullhead with the city in smoke but no, they have been saved "Move along, please" the bulky machine said as it patrolled the area, the protectron as she had learned they were called had become a common sight on the plazas and villas. Patrolling and helping to remove any criminal from the streets with laser accuracy, one of the gifts from RobCo to the police force of Vale.

From her apartment she could see the tall tower of Beacon now illuminated by red and yellow lights, she tightened her first a bit but it could not be helped that giant dragon thing would never let them use that facility again for a place of learning, so she would not fight the decision to hand over the facility to a group of warriors that did not tire and could stand duty all day every day. The leader of the company had reached out and requested a meeting for a business proposition, she had accepted and invited him to her home so that they could discuss this, so here she was waiting for the man to show up while she read what felt like hundreds of documents and things that needed her attention.

Ironwood trusted her and she could not let Ozpin down, this made her stop writing as she remembered the leader they had lost and she wondered how they were going to pull this off without him, but before she could go down this dark path of thinking her doorbell rang and she was forced to push the making of plan b's to the side "Hello again Headmistress nice place you got"

It was interesting to see how this man never changed style. Always wearing a form of armor, even if light she could see that he was armed to the teeth underneath that large coat of his "Always a pleasure, forgive me for scheduling this meeting so late. I had to catch a bullhead to the city after speaking with… the people from Atlas"

"Nah no worries, I don't sleep all that much" Six said as he followed her to the small table she had in the middle of her apartment "Hell of a view" Six commented as he looked towards at Beacon "Used to be much more comforting sight I have to say, to look at the place where new hunters where being trained, now the most prestigious academy lays in ruin."

Six nodded "Right, forgive me for the comment. But I am glad that I brought this up because I was wondering… well I couldn't help but see the announcement that Beacon as an academy was planning on opening again, was wondering if you needed the installations again"

"No… we do not, I appreciate the gesture but I don't think we could ever go back to that place, too many lives lost, too much pain and that thing atop of the building would never let us be at peace" Glynda said with a sigh, Six simply nodded as he looked at the building "I wont lie, that thing attracts the Grimm like a beaco… ahem a moth to a flame, but because I am the only human inside there I think they are confused as to what is killing them" the courier said as he typed away "I see, not planning on using anymore of that power that has part of the city quarantined"

Six barely flinched at the comment "Not really, the mini nuke was something that I had to do out of necessity, I don't want to use the same thing that destroyed my world. Is venom, once its inside a system it will not let go" not that everything that could be done with radiation and nuclear power was bad, but Six did not want to let the people of remnant know that. Best if they did not experiment on it until much MUCH later in their timeline "That is a relief to hear, not to pressure you or anything but what type of business venture did you want to talk to me about? I need to get some things sorted out after this"

She was blunt, to the point. Glynda was no negotiator like Ozpin, she wondered if this was the right approach to take with a man like this but to her surprise Six simply smiled "Not at all, I also have some things to take care of so I will go straight to the point. I want to help out with the construction and financially with this New Beacon that you are planning. We have recently secured a great business deal and it felt only right to give back to this kingdom that has given us so much, if you don't mind that is."

Glynda blinked as she slowly nodded at him "Y-yes, I wouldn't mind. We have yet to secure a location but if you are willing to help then we accept it… but you are not doing this out of the goodness of your own heart are you?"

"I saw something that day atop the tower, things that defy any logic. This is not a war against beasts, there is something out there isn't it? Something making these things and acting from the shadows"

This made the witch narrow her eyes "And if there is something out there Mr. Six?"
The courier's red eye met her gaze and she could see how serious he was "Then it must be eradicated, humanity needs to live on"

"Then… we might have some things we can discuss Mr. Six"

Cinder had been brainwashed, lobotomized and stripped of her free will, but no amount of brain scrubbing would ever be able to remove the things she enjoyed, fancy wine, red dresses and the suffering of others.

She was enjoying two of those things as she sipped wine and watched someone die.

"I must say these facilities are something else" Cinder muttered to herself as the process of someone being chopped into pieces and then put back together into many different shapes and forms as RoboBrains and lobotomites where being made in the house of horrors that was the Big MT, but now she could not feel fear from it, nor sadness that she was no longer the master of her own will she was the right hand woman and she had everything.

Or something like that, leaning back she placed a hand on her PipBoy and smiled "Oh, this is interesting"

Little Sarah was on the Big MT, Six's adopted little sister. Walking out of the facility she was in she took a small stroll towards the Sink and waved with a smile that made the small giver shiver a little "Now this is a surprise, we where not expecting anyone from Vegas to use the teleporter to here. What can we help you with?"

Sarah did not like this woman, at all she was cold and she did not understand why Six had decided that she was going to be his second in command. She had trust in him sure, but it would not be the first time that Six acted like a dumbass and almost died because of it "I brought the toy, the one that belonged to that kid from Freeside. Why on earth do you guys want a toy?" Sarah hesitated to hand over the space looking gun over to the woman but she did so in the end, Cinder looked at the thing up and down and nodded to herself "Good, one more piece to the puzzle"

"You don't know what this is for?" Sarah asked as Cinder leaned against the wall, Sarah looked away to not blush. The dress and the legs are a bit too distracting for her poor eyes "I have an idea, but I do not have the full picture. My little trip to Helios was enlightening" Sarah snorted at the pun "But why he needs this toy thing I don't know, but you know him better than me. Do you have an idea why the sudden interest in toys?"

Sarah shook her head "No, I don't. He is being weird" Cinder simply chuckled as she twirled the weapon on her hand and noticed the logo on it, now that was familiar, she had seen it back at Helios but why the toy connected to the solar panel facility she did not know. Their plan had not changed, they needed to earn the people's trust to make it seem like they were the good guys and once that hope and goodwill had been built face two could kick in, Cinder waved as Sarah left and she was left alone.

"The power to kill a god" she murmured as she thought about face two.

The brief discussion of their plan echoed in her butchered brain as she remembered how he had described it, a slow poisoning of the mind of the populace with propaganda and displays of power to change fear into patriotism and bravado, all this to anger the Witch and draw the creatures out of hiding and once the throat was exposed… "Bang" Cinder said to no one in particular as she pointed at nothing with the toy gun.

A/N: What is worse to poison the ground or to poison the mind? Six has begun to weasel his way inside the delicate balance of power and helping Vale rebuild, how that New Vale will look is something that only time can tell. On another note I really like the character of Glynda, I wanted to write a story for her but I did not know with what franchise do a crossover with (Killzone and Genshin being the two that I am most into nowadays) but that would be all for now. Thank you for reading, I really appreciate the support, please let me know what you think, see you around!