S2 Week 3 (Part 1)
- Location
- Houston
Another Voice: With our recent expansion this is more necessary than ever. Plus it will allow me to choose who to elevate rather than someone forming a bloc with Sienna's Loyalists. (6)
Trapping the Spider: Torchwick has come up with a plan that will cripple Spider and by giving Sienna a heads up, hopefully they'll become a non-issue. All I have to do is arrange things between the relevant parties and decide how involved to be in all this. (6)
Expansion assistance: The plans to expand in Vacuo are still in their infancy, but assigning a few more resources to it couldn't hurt. It may even give us a picture of what to expect in the area. (6)
Rising Wave: I can have some of my men look into Wave and their activities. There's no need to confront them just yet, but any info we get will be useful to the VPD. (5)
Long-term planning: I have plenty of plans that need to be done and less of a need for flexibility. I can shift those resources over to handle those matters for a short time. (+ with a medium-term focus. This takes up 1 short-term focus action until it is resolved.) (4)
+Counter-Espionage (4)
Counter-espionage: There is a very real risk of infiltrators within the Union and rooting them out is more of a consistent effort than a one time deal. I can assign some men to look into this and deal with the problem.
Trapping the Spider: Torchwick has come up with a plan that will cripple Spider and by giving Sienna a heads up, hopefully they'll become a non-issue. All I have to do is arrange things between the relevant parties and decide how involved to be in all this. (6)
Expansion assistance: The plans to expand in Vacuo are still in their infancy, but assigning a few more resources to it couldn't hurt. It may even give us a picture of what to expect in the area. (6)
Rising Wave: I can have some of my men look into Wave and their activities. There's no need to confront them just yet, but any info we get will be useful to the VPD. (5)
Long-term planning: I have plenty of plans that need to be done and less of a need for flexibility. I can shift those resources over to handle those matters for a short time. (+ with a medium-term focus. This takes up 1 short-term focus action until it is resolved.) (4)
+Counter-Espionage (4)
Counter-espionage: There is a very real risk of infiltrators within the Union and rooting them out is more of a consistent effort than a one time deal. I can assign some men to look into this and deal with the problem.
Blake (QM)
VPD: Alabaster: My nominal superior and current enigma. Kind of full of himself, but I'm forced to spend some time with him. (6)
Weiss: It wouldn't be the worst thing to hang out with my girlfriend and I know she'd appreciate the attention. (4)
Marina: She's been spending a bit of time on her scroll and around Penny lately. I could see what that's about or just talk with her. (4)
Winter (4)
VPD: Alabaster: My nominal superior and current enigma. Kind of full of himself, but I'm forced to spend some time with him. (6)
Weiss: It wouldn't be the worst thing to hang out with my girlfriend and I know she'd appreciate the attention. (4)
Marina: She's been spending a bit of time on her scroll and around Penny lately. I could see what that's about or just talk with her. (4)
Winter (4)
Combat (4)
With the news fully out of the bag and myself forced to return to class I have to deal with more than a few stares. Not all of them are kind, but none of those people are willing to actually do anything about it. Either they don't want to ruin their chances for the Vytal Tournament or they heard how I demolished Cardin in the ring for his behavior and don't want to test my patience. Just as well because not having to deal with them is to my benefit.
Unfortunately such recalcitrance is not displayed by everyone and I have to come to the grave realization that I have fans, that people look up to me, and that some people can take things way too far. I haven't had to deal with any of the latter in person, but I've read some things on the CCT that I would really rather forget. I can see why Pyrrha wants to avoid this attention at all costs.
Speaking of the girl, she looks at me with pitying eyes when I sit down at our table for lunch. I wave her concern off; I knew what I was getting into when I started walking down this path much less when I committed to that interview.
Weiss is concerned for me in her own way. Rather than pity she alternates between two broad states. Either glaring at someone for a disparaging comment they made or preening whenever I end up being complimented as if she was the one on the receiving end.
I find it more than a little cute that she's so gung-ho about my reputation so I don't say anything, but a knowing look that I share with the rest of her team informs me that she's being just as obvious to them as she is to me. I know she'll be mortified to find out that she got caught acting this way, but I can't bring myself to care about that too much. It'll be cute when she finally realizes and I don't think she'd be able to help herself anyway.
As much as I would like to focus on my girlfriend, that's not the topic that's floating around the table. Neither is my reveal as head of the Union. No one wants to make a big deal about it and Blake gets moody whenever anything close to the subject comes up. Despite her predilection for stealth she isn't that great at controlling her facial expressions and it's only gotten worse with how expressive she is with her ears. I don't think she's aware of how much of a tell they are either. With those topics discarded by the table that leaves the next obvious, discussing the Vytal tournament and more specifically the people involved.
"I'm telling you Yang he's a jerk. I mean who just walks up to someone and asks if they're too young to be attending Beacon," Ruby whines.
"Weren't you the one to approach him? I'm pretty sure that's how it went the first time you told me about this," Yang fires back with a grin, evidently taking this as something to tease her sister over.
"Well, yeah, but I was going to grab Ochre so it's completely different. C'mon back me up here." Ruby turns to me with expectant eyes and her sister lazily drags her gaze towards me as well. I know Yang is hoping to pull out some more juicy gossip from me, but unfortunately I have to disappoint both sisters.
"Yang is correct, Ruby approached the two of us after we struck up a conversation. Turns out he's the little brother of a guy who helped me out in Vacuo." Yang, predictably, pouts at that, not getting what she wanted. Ruby meanwhile crosses her arms and grumbles something about how he should be nice like his brother which is enough to get Yang to ruffle her hair much to her consternation.
In an attempt to keep the conversation from stalling Ren says, "I think I've spotted one or two classmates from our time at Asylum."
Before he can elaborate, not that I think he was going to, Nora interjects, "Oh, oh, do you think Petal is here? Do you think she'd be down for another prank war?" Nora is practically vibrating at the prospect, but if I recall correctly that would have been around the time of her first prank war. Before all of the ground rules that made dealing with her insanity in any way tolerable. If anything the poor girl is probably traumatized by the experience, though from my read of the situation it was more like they were bullying Nora so I don't feel too bad for her.
"How about you Pyrrha? Notice any old classmates?" The comment comes from Yang, but has Pyrrha locking up, unable to say anything. If I had to guess she didn't really interact with her classmates, what with them putting her up on a pedestal. She probably didn't pick up anything meaningful about them, but she's unwilling to outright admit that.
Fortunately, Blake notices her predicament and throws out a comment of her own. "I might not have gone to school with any of them, but that one guy, the stowaway from the docks, he's been bugging me. Asking me if I want to show him around Vale and stuff like that."
"Awww, Blake," Yang crows while wrapping her arm around her partner. "I think he just likes you. Might want to give him a chance or shoot him down before he gets his hopes up." That comment for some reason has Blake looking to the side with a blush, something that only draws Yang's attention further.
"If we're going to speak of that, that blue-haired partner of his is little better. I've seen him try a series of pick-up lines on three girls one after the other. Although he was smart enough not to try it on me." That comes from Weiss, her tone is haughty, though I can detect the faintest hint of disappointment in it. I'm sure that won't last when we get around to hanging out later this week, but I silently file away that information for later.
That seems to be the end of what anyone has to say on the other students, at least personally speaking. My team is unable to contribute much due to our circumstances. Marina and I, naturally, don't have much to contribute here. The twins, along with Yang, can't talk much about their own former classmates as we've dealt with them for the past semester and they don't look like they'll qualify for the tournament either.
From there the conversation devolves into analyzing how the competition stacks up in the sparring ring. As much as we're nominal competition with one another, everyone would prefer if one of us won rather than a complete stranger so there's a strange sense of camaraderie as we break down other people's fighting ability and tactics.
When classes end that day Blake locks eyes with me and makes a motion with her head towards the outside. I have no problem saying my goodbyes to everyone else and following after her to see what she wants to talk about. We do have to stray pretty close to the Emerald Forest, however, in order to ensure we have some modicum of privacy. I figure the privacy she wants is people not listening in on us rather than anything actually clandestine as we make no move to hide our trek out here. Not that I think we would have been very successful; I simply have too many eyes on me to move about unnoticed, at least around Beacon.
As we stop I take the time to take in her expression and general mood. I would have guessed that she'd be upset or frustrated at me for what I did, but that's not the case here. Instead she's more confused, almost lost. Like she doesn't entirely know how to feel about everything either.
"So what did you want to talk about," I question, not seeing the need to delay from the topic any longer. She doesn't answer immediately, but neither does it look like she's thinking over what she wants to say. If I had to guess I'd say that she doesn't know what she wanted to talk about either, just that she felt she had to do something.
"I told them. About my parents, who they are," she says eventually, the words coming out sporadically, half-thought out and delivered as soon as they are conceived. That tells me next to nothing of what's going on, though I know that was something that Blake was holding back on. Considering how soon it happened after sending the letters I figure she didn't want to deal with the scrutiny of not having contacted her parents when she admitted it to her team and probably thought it would be an entire ordeal like the last secret she kept from them.
"Let me guess, they didn't care," I state with certainty and a nod confirms my suspicion. "Is that a problem?" She can't help herself and a shake of the head comes soon after followed by her ears folding down.
"No," she says shakily after a moment and takes a breath before continuing on more confidently. "I guess I thought they would make a bigger deal of it is all. Not everyday that you find out your teammate's parents effectively run a Kingdom. Then again we've dealt with Weiss all year, so I don't know what I was expecting. I just thought something would change, like last time."
Her words trail off there and I think I can pick up on the sentiment. She built up the whole encounter in her head and having it resolve so anticlimactically has her somewhat lost. She probably feels like she should be feeling a certain way and given how she's acting she doesn't which is only making things worse for her. I also don't miss how she hasn't brought up my decision and how that forced things for her or put her parents in potential danger. I'm not idealistic enough to think that she's let that go entirely, but I have to think of another way to prod at this issue.
"Do you want to talk about them?" I leave it open ended on whether she wants to discuss her team or her parents. Either is fine by me and should point me in the direction of where her issues lie.
She nods quickly enough that I think it hurts her neck, but her enthusiasm quickly patches over any discomfort she might feel. "I'm worried about them. I spent so long running away that I thought they'd never accept me back. Not after I turned my back on everything they stood for. I just wish I could hop on that boat and meet them in person. Tell them I'm sorry. I think that was always an option in the back of my mind. That there's a possibility that I never get the chance to tell them that it- I-" She can't get the words out and she stares at me, but there's no accusation in her eyes.
That almost makes it worse, that she trusts me enough that she's not willing to get mad over it or think that I've erred in some way. I guess I've built up a level of trust with her with how I've run things and helped her with her problems in the past. That and the fact my own dad is at risk as well has likely played a factor in that as well.
I take a deep breath winding myself up to share what I can to put her mind at ease. "My info might be a month or so out of date, but they're doing fine. Turns out your mom and my dad have tea about once a month and Ghira is still the chief." That is essentially all I can tell her as the subject of the Belladonnas isn't a huge topic in any of the letters my dad and I have written.
He does have a spare scroll that I sent him at Blake's request in case her parents didn't have one of their own, but knowing him he's waiting on my confirmation before he hands it off, just like he's been stonewalling Kali whenever she stops by to ask about me. At least that's what he writes in his letters; I'm not a big enough fool to think he can get by without talking about me to someone interested.
Despite this lackluster reassurance, Blake is hanging off of my every word and even seems reassured by it. I'm not sure why she thought things might have changed so much since the last time I told her about her folks, but I can recognize this isn't an entirely rational subject for her. Still, I figure I should follow up on it with something before I lose this momentum.
Parents: Invite her to talk about them. There still seems to be some unresolved issues there and letting her reminisce seems to be just what she needs right now. (5)
Decision: She might be fine with what I decided, but maybe it would be worth actually talking it over with her. This kind of faith in me just rubs me the wrong way. (4)
Adam: I don't know if this is the best topic to bring up, but we'll be dealing with him pretty soon. She doesn't have to help out with that, but is she ready for that to happen? (2)
Team: While I stated that her team didn't care earlier I doubt that's actually the case. I could refocus her attention on that and maybe lift her spirits a little. (0)
Decision: She might be fine with what I decided, but maybe it would be worth actually talking it over with her. This kind of faith in me just rubs me the wrong way. (4)
Adam: I don't know if this is the best topic to bring up, but we'll be dealing with him pretty soon. She doesn't have to help out with that, but is she ready for that to happen? (2)
Team: While I stated that her team didn't care earlier I doubt that's actually the case. I could refocus her attention on that and maybe lift her spirits a little. (0)
Union: She's changed a lot since she first arrived at Beacon, her work with the Union only being one facet of that. I could focus her attention on the good she's done and pick her brain for what she wants to do in the future. (0)
"You know, I grew up in Menagerie. Don't think I ever got the chance to meet the Chief in person, though. Think you can fill me in on what he's like," I ask with a smile on my face. My transition is obvious, but Blake doesn't care.
"He was big, and soft," she starts, as if recalling a distinct memory and returning my smile. "Not just on the outside, but the inside as well. He treated the rest of the Fang like an extended family, no complaint from within was too small for him to at least hear out. He used to put me on the top of his shoulders and run around camp as fast as he could.
He didn't care if the others saw him or what they thought of him acting like that. They knew he'd do the same for their kids if they ever wanted him to." She pauses for a moment, wanting to add something else on for a bit before thinking better of it with a small tilt of her head.
"We used to travel around a lot and normally I think that's pretty bad for kids, but for me it was like my whole family was moving around to where we were needed most. It was nothing like how it is now, people weren't afraid to bring their family with them, so I had plenty of kids to play with. As I grew up, Adam joined as well." She has a bit of a stumble when she brings up Adam; her voice falters and her tone turns complicated. It isn't too hard to guess that she still carries some sympathy for him or at least what she remembers of him.
"Then Ilia and a few others. We were finally getting old enough that we could help out. You know, do more than just look cute holding up picket signs," she says and her tone begins to turn somber. I know where this story is going, but I can't help fixating on that name. Now it's entirely possible that she's referring to a different Ilia, but I get the feeling that isn't the case here. Though I can guess that she's a little closer to the chameleon girl than I am.
"I still remember some of the arguments. How Sienna would call my dad scared, too scared to make the calls that the Fang needed him to make. At first I didn't want to believe it but then things kept not changing and bit by bit I accepted that as the truth. And he was, but not for the reasons she thought. He was afraid that things would turn out like how they did with Adam. That we'd take things too far and cause the humans to hate us. That we'd cause another war with them. I think more than anything he was afraid of that coming true, but I couldn't see it."
I'm almost afraid that she's spiraling into a pit of self-depreciation again. However, instead of any kind of dark or brooding look I'd expect to find on her face I only find relief. Like she had to work all of that out on her own and is having a moment of catharsis as things slot into place for her.
She's in a bit of a stunned silence as she realizes that herself. I get the feeling that all of this is coming rather off the cuff. She hasn't allowed herself to think of her parents like this before. Obviously there have been some thoughts of them, but she likely stopped herself from taking them to their logical conclusion because of her guilt.
Now, there are a few ways I could take this. I could get her to keep talking about the descent of the Fang and her sticking with Sienna, that's an interesting topic in its own right. Or I could reciprocate and talk about my dad. However, neither of those options are really appealing to me and I think I can do her a little more good by continuing this train of thought in a slightly different direction. "And what of your mom? What's she like?"
"Strong," is what immediately comes out of her mouth and she scrambles for a way to explain that to me and herself. "Not physically I mean, but mentally. Maybe more emotionally?" She doesn't know how exactly to phrase it and watching her fumble about is endearing in its own right, but it's better for her to not get stuck on this point.
"I think I know what you're getting at, but you think you can explain it to me? Like how was she like that? And I don't think that's the only thing she was either," I finish my statement with a teasing lilt, poking fun at her a little. She glares at me, but there's no heat in it and I'd almost consider it playful if I didn't know Blake as well as I do.
"It might just be because I was too young to really pick up on it, but I don't ever remember her getting angry or upset with anyone. At the same time if someone would press her or the grimm threatened us she didn't hesitate defending herself. Not to the point of really hurting anyone, of course, but I think that took a strength of its own as well.
Not only that, but she was kind and considerate as well…maybe the slightest bit manipulative," she says with a slight giggle and holding her thumb and forefinger slightly apart. "Her and my dad worked well together whenever we traveled. He'd always play up being stoic when he needed to, you know, being the rock that everyone else could rely on. He'd listen to complaints and sometimes change, but whenever he made a decision, really put his foot down, he'd never budge.
My mom on the other hand made herself much more approachable, the more reasonable option in other people's eyes. Thinking back on it, I think it was intentional. I can't tell you how many times she sat down for tea or a meal with someone and they'd talk to her about their problems and by the end of it they'd be agreeing with her like they never had a complaint in the first place. Some of them would even ask how they could help out more." She finishes that with a look at me and a slow blink before hastily continuing.
"Sometimes I like to imagine how things would be if we actually got equality during the Revolution. No need for the White Fang, no need for us to leave Menagerie. Sure, I might not be a Huntress then or have met Ruby, Weiss, Yang," she pauses for a moment, "or the others. Still, it's not like I didn't leave friends in Menagerie and I like to think that we would have been friends." She finishes her statement by clasping her hands behind her back and leaning towards me.
"You would have been the first," I let loose sardonically. She nods at that, not really taking in what I said at first and I almost breathe a sigh of relief. Then she turns towards me, her eyes narrowed and ears pointed towards me.
"What do you mean by that?"
"It's nothing, don't worry about it," I try and fail to divert her attention away from my slip of the tongue. I know my response only makes things worse here, but I couldn't think of anything I could say that wasn't the truth or didn't exacerbate this issue.
"Ochre," she bites out, her tone threatening and her hackles raised. Knowing that I'm defeated I put my hands up and she calms down while I order my thoughts.
"I know I puffed it up a little during the interview, but Menagerie wasn't kind to me and my dad. Not after mom passed away. Funnily enough things only started turning around for us after I joined up with the White Fang."
"That doesn't make any sense if my father knew about that he-"
"Wasn't there," I say, cutting her off before forcing myself to relax. "Your dad wasn't always the Chief, Blake, and even if he was, what was he supposed to do? Demand that the other kids not pick on me? That my mom's old friends should continue hanging out with my dad? I don't blame him or anyone else, it was just a shitty situation overall and I did what I thought was best at the time."
She's silent for a moment before saying, "I'm sorry." I'm about to wave off her apology again because it's not her fault when she elaborates. "I don't know if you remember, but last semester when you told me that your dad was human and you joined up with the Fang anyway, I didn't understand. I, well, maybe it's not a big deal to you, but it is to me. So, I'm sorry for that."
Maybe it's because of the other topic that I wanted to bring up, but I can't bring myself to accept her apology in the spirit that it's given. Not that I think she's being insincere or that she doesn't have to apologize for that. Rather the thought of doing so is distasteful to me.
Preferring not to dwell on that I rush off to the next subject without trying to work out a fancy preamble that segues into it. "I think we should talk about what I decided with Sienna and you know…" I trail off partly because the subject matter should be obvious and partly because I feel uncomfortable returning her sincerity with this serious topic.
Blake is as confused as I'd expect her to be, not expecting the sudden non-sequitur, especially not after apologizing. She recovers admirably, only taking a second or two to filter what I said in a way that makes sense to her. When she has her bearing she slowly says, "Okay…I'm not sure what we have to talk about. You had your reasons and I trust you."
"Do you even know what those reasons were," I reply back heatedly; not quite enough to be snapping at her, but there is an intensity to my words that can't be ignored.
She recoils back at that, struggles for an answer, and provides the best one she can, "Obviously you thought it would be best for us, the best thing you could for the Union." Despite trying to force as much confidence as she could into that statement I can tell that it's at best a guess and at worst something she came up on the spot hoping it was true.
"This is what I'm talking about Blake. You could have done anything. You could have asked why I did what I did. You could have been upset that I did that without consulting anyone. You could have been angry that I put your parents in danger, or that I forced you to contact-"
"Why are you trying to make me hate you," she interrupts with a cry of anguish, her ears flitting about wildly as she tries to process everything. That brings me to a stop for a moment. That wasn't what I was trying to do, or at least I don't think that's the case. My intention is to get her to actually think about the issue.
"That's not what I'm trying to do Blake," I respond and force my voice to be more gentle. I can recognize that I made a hasty decision there and didn't keep as strong of a hold on my emotions as I should have. My skills there have gotten rusty with how little I've had to keep myself guarded and after the reveal of my status as the leader of the Union I guess I got too comfortable.
Regardless of my inner affirmation, Blake doesn't look entirely convinced so I elaborate. "I told you before that you're my second in command. That we could have our disagreements as long as we didn't allow that to form a rift between us. This is the opposite side of that coin. I can't have you following along with everything I say just because you trust me. I want, I need you to be able to disagree with me, bring up an alternate point of view, something. We'd still need to present a united front, but I can't have you following after me blindly, not like before."
That last part is overly harsh on my part, but I need her to understand the issue here. It's nothing personal like she's thinking, just that while I believe I know what's best I'm not foolish enough to think I'm infallible or that letting her ignore her feelings on these matters out of blind trust would lead to anything except disaster. In that sense a minor reference to her behavior with Adam is a small price to pay. She'll get over her anger with time and I can deal with an angry Blake, but I can't risk dealing with a subpar subordinate, not now.
She grabs onto the front of my uniform with both hands like she's going to hoist me up, but I think it's more to provide herself a platform of support. "You're supposed to be my friend, Ochre," she says, punctuating the end of her sentence with my name. I fight back any reaction at my remark getting the response I want. "You can't-You're not allowed to do that okay?"
Her voice is pleading and I have to rethink my previous stance. It appears that she's taking things the wrong way still. I stop a sigh from escaping me. All I can hope for is that the heart of what I'm trying to say gets through to her eventually and failing that, that we can readdress this at a later date.
Blake, meanwhile, storms off to the side pacing back and forth right in front of me. Evidently having to bleed off an excess of energy, or maybe fighting with her tendency to run away. While she's doing this she says something that I'm only able to catch thanks to my upper ears, "Why are you like this?" I wait for her to get herself under control, not wanting to press her while she's volatile like this.
It takes a few more passes with her looking my way on more than one occasion before she decides to commit to a certain course of action. That being to launch herself at me and wrap her arms around me in her attempt of a hug. There is a certain awkwardness that belies this is something she's not used to doing and is uncomfortable with. "I don't want to hate you," she says softly and I'm not sure if I can come up with anything to say in response to that.
A part of me wants to bring the conversation back on the topic at hand, but another part of me recognizes that it's not the best time to do so. A third part is considering some thoughts brought about by her earlier comment, but I push those aside for now. Regardless I can recognize that it's probably best to let this matter lie for now, especially with how I lost control earlier.
Blake seems to think so as well as she breaks off pretty quickly after her outburst and stands quietly in the field with me. Likely waiting for some sort of resolution, but it never comes. Eventually the silence stretches between us, a silent acknowledgement not to deal with it now. I spot a measure of disappointment on her features because of this as we walk back to our dorms, but I don't begrudge her that. I'm faring little better even if I've gotten myself back under control.
I can't afford to dwell on the matter with Blake for too long. I just have to trust that she'll be able to handle her job and any fallout from our conversation I'll have to deal with at a later date. Much more important is making sure that I keep up with the affairs of the Union, especially in regards to our recent expansion.
I know if I don't address the issue in some way that the remnants of the loyalists will form their own power bloc and force me to deal with whoever ends up as their leader. To that end I need to elevate someone that can either split up their base of support or suborn it completely. I have a few new options for that as well as a couple of older ones that were passed over in favor of recruiting Terra.
The first of which is the least helpful in this regard, Helios. He's still more logistically focused and ideologically aligned with me than the other options. Unfortunately that doesn't lend itself well to splitting the base of Sienna's loyalists. However, assuming I can deal with them or appease them in some way he does provide some benefits for our long-term projects.
It would certainly be nice to have someone else that can think of the big picture when organizing things. Terra and Tukson do a decent enough job, but they aren't used to the scale of our operations. Terra is getting there more quickly than Tukson, but her attention is also taken up by her charities meaning another person who can focus solely on our objectives wouldn't be remiss.
One of the reasons why I passed Helios over last time was not knowing his motivation, but the months since I last had to address this issue has provided further insight. Now it isn't a guarantee, but from what I can find he's in this for his own benefit. Sure, there's some commitment to the cause, but it largely looks like he's after the position to better his circumstances.
Even being turned down last time hasn't really stopped him. He caught wind that we might be looking to make a bid during the council elections next year and has been trying to build up a support base for that. Something to keep in mind; Helios is the ambitious sort and passing him over again isn't going to stop him from pursuing his own self-interest.
The next on the list is another familiar face, Maple. It takes some work to figure out what she was up to during the months that I last read her dossier, but it isn't anything too hard for my agents to uncover. During Adam's rash attack all over Vale she tried her best to keep her men out of trouble and their heads down, after which her groups slowly dispersed, no longer being supported by Adam's branch and due to internal disagreements. Around half of them joined up with the loyalists with a smaller percentage leaving Vale altogether. From the look of things she's looking to join up with those going overseas, probably Mistral where she thinks her skills are needed.
Needless to say if I don't recruit her now I assume she'll be a part of Sienna's branch. Not actually something that works against my interests, but it is something to keep in mind. Aside from that she still brings all the same skills to the table that she did last time, though with a bit less support on her side. She's an experienced leg-breaker and organizer of the more violent members, something that the Union is sorely lacking. If not for the business with Spider we might not need too many of that sort, but with the skirmishes it's probably for the best.
She's also, still, the most extreme of the candidates though not extreme enough to follow Adam's beliefs. There is a certain benefit to that, as it would draw in a good portion of the loyalists to her cause while pushing the rest to a more moderate position. There is an argument to be made that her position and the Union's aren't exactly reconcilable and that she might radicalize some of our members. That might be a risk worth taking as it would neatly array those that could prove problematic to the Union in the future under one banner of easy surveillance, but I can't ignore that it may cause internal friction.
With Maple's extremism making her a dubious pick I move on to a more moderate one. Ultimately this leads me to a member from Sienna's loyalists, Sepia. While there are other people in the Union that have the skills to take up this position and views that would be palatable they lack a certain level of influence or claim to fame that would ensure they'd suborn or split the group before they can cause any issues for me. Sepia, in this case, is my next best option.
She's one of the leaders vying for influence amongst the loyalists before Sienna placed me as leader of the Vale branch and has her own following; elevating her would only cement her position. She also has a background in dealing with the criminal underbelly of Vale before I flipped that entire scene upside down and had some experience leading men in small scale skirmishes whenever a gang grew too aggressive.
Unfortunately she doesn't have as much experience with it as Maple does, or to as broad of a scale, but she's a compromise pick in that regard anyway. She isn't as extreme as Maple and her views fall in the mid-point of those shared by Sienna's loyalists, making her somewhat extreme by the Union's standard. This makes her good for broad appeal with them, though I have to keep in mind that her loyalties will likely be split between Sienna and myself, though that may make her pick a good olive branch to Sienna.
Lastly is a pick that I'm hesitant to consider. It's a man by the name of Primm and despite having been a part of the Union for some months now he's still an enigma. Part of this is due to him being one of our infiltrators of Adam's group and not having too much contact with the Union outside of reports. However, that's a position he can no longer fulfill.
In the lead up to Adam's burglary of Vale, Primm took it upon himself to identify and weed out those committed to Adam's cause and recruit the rest into the Union. Most of those weeded out ended up in a jail cell. However, there's one man that's only reported as missing. According to Primm's report on the matter he convinced that man to run away from Vale and didn't turn him in because of a personal connection. That may be true, but I can't discount the possibility that something else occurred and we haven't been able to discover the truth of the matter.
Overall the sequence of events is rather insignificant in the grand scheme of things, but it showed a degree of independence that Primm previously didn't display. It also shows off his investigative ability in addition to his ability to infiltrate and reflect whatever sentiment was expected of him. Unfortunately I can't rule out that he isn't doing something similar here with the Union as it's clear he's a talented manipulator.
The only reason why I'm considering him is because of my thoughts about the Albain brothers and possible infiltrators within the Union. Right now I'm the only one I can trust to head that project and I have to admit it would be nice to be able to pass off that responsibility onto someone else. There is a niggling feeling in the back of my mind that he could be an agent of the brothers, but I'm pretty sure that's just my mind jumping at shadows.
Other than those concerns Primm has shown himself to be willing to follow whatever orders have been given to him from up the chain which works well enough for dealing with the Loyalists. He'd be willing and able to take up and present any point of view that I'd like in order to gather them under him. There might be some concerns about what he truly believes, but that's a risk I might have to take. He was willing to join up with the Union, which under a good faith interpretation means he agrees with our cause.
Thinking about Primm has my thoughts drifting to someone who's views I'm more certain of. I briefly toy around with the idea of recruiting Coral for this, but have to put away that childish fantasy. She wouldn't appeal to the loyalists and she doesn't have any skills that would be useful in that position. Unlike Blake I don't have the time or ability to show her the ropes and it would be blatant nepotism to anyone looking into the matter. Maybe if things were calmer or we didn't have a surge of people I could consider it, but there's hardly a need for Coral to be involved at the higher levels of the Union.
I shake my head to dismiss that tangent. Regardless of what I choose I'm certain I'll be able to gather enough support to make the process appear fair and prevent any hard feelings. For the more extreme options I'm certain Tukson will be in my favor as he's not naive enough to believe that we can get by without anyone to rein in the more unruly sorts. The only one that I might have difficulty presenting as a valid option is Primm, but then all I have to do is make it seem like the other options are worse in this scenario which isn't too hard to do.
Maple: We're in dire need of a leg-breaker or someone who can organize our forces with the situation involving Spider. Even outside of that having a trained combatant to assist with operations outside of the Kingdoms wouldn't go amiss. (2)
Sepia: A bit of a compromise pick. She's not as extreme as Maple and has a bigger base of support, but her loyalties will likely be split between Sienna and I. (1)
Helios: He's more of a long-term thinker and has his ambitions that he's pursuing through the Union. He won't assist much with controlling the group of newcomers, but it might be beneficial to recruit him now. (0)
Primm: A pick I'm still uncertain of. As long as he's loyal he'd be useful in manipulating the Loyalists and dealing with infiltrators. Although some of my other lieutenants may take issue with his way of doing things. (0)
Sepia: A bit of a compromise pick. She's not as extreme as Maple and has a bigger base of support, but her loyalties will likely be split between Sienna and I. (1)
Helios: He's more of a long-term thinker and has his ambitions that he's pursuing through the Union. He won't assist much with controlling the group of newcomers, but it might be beneficial to recruit him now. (0)
Primm: A pick I'm still uncertain of. As long as he's loyal he'd be useful in manipulating the Loyalists and dealing with infiltrators. Although some of my other lieutenants may take issue with his way of doing things. (0)
I have a meeting with my lieutenants: Blake, Terra, and Tukson. Ostensibly to debate who to elevate to a position similar to their own. Realistically it goes just how I expected it to, with Tukson supporting me while Blake and Terra remain opposed. What ensues is a few minutes of arguing my case with Tukson providing some support, but it's unsuccessful in convincing either of them. Not like I was expecting them to change their minds.
All the while Blake shoots me an occasional look, both questioning and accusing at once. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that she's connecting my choice here with our earlier talk. In that lens it could be assumed her opposition here is an act of petty rebellion against what I said. However, I know that she would have opposed the choice of Maple even without that discussion.
She may have fallen into her previous habits with Adam, but she also made the conscious decision to break away from that due to her morals. Presenting her an option that she considers morally dubious is a good way to get her arguing against it, but that wasn't the heart of my criticism anyway.
Eventually we agree that we're in a deadlock and I naturally settle the tie in my own favor. There is no outward complaint at that, but Terra's face is tighter than usual. Not exactly trying to display her displeasure, but being unable to hide it away completely. Blake meanwhile has a small frown and stares intently at me before shaking her head and moving on with her day.
Terra leaves the room soon after and that leaves me alone with Tukson. That works well enough as I have to bring up the matter of spies and infiltrators within the Union up with him. Blake and Terra are a bit too idealistic to make them a good candidate for this discussion. Although Tukson isn't that much better of a choice either. He's not too well-versed in this kind of skulduggery and it's clear investigating our own people rubs him the wrong way. Probably hits a little too close to home for him if I had to guess.
Still he understands the need to do so after the sudden expansion we've gone through. However, in the future I think I'll have to deal with this issue on my own. That is unless I can find someone else I can trust to manage all of these reports. This kind of job requires a certain skill set, temperament, and most of all trust so I can't leave it up to just anyone. The jury is still out on Primm, but until I resolve that I'll have to accept that it will require more of my attention than other projects within the Union.
Either way our efforts start off slow and methodically. We have a lot of members to look over and we're rather limited in how we can investigate them. It's not like we can surveil or monitor all of the new members, we simply don't have the resources and it would send the wrong message both to the outside and to our members. It's a delicate balance of being intrusive enough to find the truth while remaining subtle and above board enough to not cause any outrage.
Despite these restrictions we find a few members with divided loyalties during our first pass. Most of these are rather low-level and are obvious enough that I imagine those that interact with them regularly are aware of their situation. There isn't much that can be done about them other than ensuring they aren't allowed near anything sensitive and keeping a loose eye on them. Thankfully with Terra's projects well-established we have an easy place to put them where they can still assist with our efforts without compromising any of our more important operations.
It isn't much to start off with, but it is a sign that our organization isn't impenetrable. Not that I was ever under the impression that it was. Our anonymity served us well as a shield, but our openness makes infiltration an inevitability. All that can be done is to watch out for signs of duplicity and deal with them when they come up as best as we can.
In regards to that we find a number of other individuals who have behaved suspiciously, though not as obvious as the others we've singled out. It will take a bit more effort to find something concrete, so for now I mark them for further investigation. It makes me thankful that I decided to devote as much resources and attention towards this as I did.
Naturally, the time I spend with Tukson is not enough to get through everything and we part ways after a division of responsibilities. I end up taking the lion's share of those as he has his attention already divided and because I know the more he has to deal with this matter the more uncomfortable he'll be. Fortunately I can make some progress on the airship back, between classes, and with the occasional use of my semblance. The sooner I deal with this matter the less it'll be able to get in the way of our endeavors, though my focus doesn't go by unnoticed.
My team and my friends understand that it's something that I have to do with Ruby explaining to JNPR what I'm up to and why. She shoots me a sad smile afterwards as if to say she understands, but wishes it wasn't the case. Realistically she only explained things for Jaune and Pyrrha as Ren already picked up on why I'm busy and Nora likely hadn't thought too hard about it. Although, it's probably for the best that she explains it to Jaune and Pyrrha rather than myself.
Even Weiss understands my predicament, offering to spend our time together in what she refers to as a 'work date.' A combination of words that has her almost spitting them out in distaste. I would know something is up just by that alone, not including her usual aversion to any such thing and that's further confirmed when our date starts in the library. Sure she attempts to keep to her tasks for the first few minutes, but then her ulterior motives come out just as I'm getting deep into my work.
It starts with her setting her scroll down and scooching her chair closer to mine before humming a tune right next to my ears. She keeps it quiet, both for my benefit and because we are in the library, and she slowly reaches her hands out to rub at my arms, shoulders, and head. She does her best to remain unobtrusive in her ministrations, but it is a little distracting. I don't have the heart to tell her to stop as I know she's trying. Plus I can admit that it makes dealing with the sometimes dry or irritating reports a bit more bearable.
"You didn't have to do this," I eventually say, turning my head backwards to catch a glimpse of my girlfriend who's ended up behind me.
She stills at that for a moment, probably hoping that I'd just accept this gesture of hers. "I know," she responds with one hand going towards her arm. "You'd make the time, but I can't keep asking you to make sacrifices on my behalf. The work you're doing is important to you and with how busy you've been I- I just wanted to do what I could to help."
There are any number of ways that I could respond to that frank admission, but there's only one that feels distinctly appropriate to the situation at hand. "And you say I worry too much." My tone is teasing and I grab her hand to plant a kiss on it. "I assume that the similarity to how we were before we started dating has nothing to do with it."
That has her stuttering out a denial with a red face. Either that's exactly what she's doing or she had not thought about it at all. Whichever it is doesn't really matter to me, her reaction being worth it alone. I'm also appreciative of her efforts to step outside of her comfort zone, especially in the aftermath of forcing me to do so.
She was just trying to help with what she perceived as an issue so I can't fault her too much. Even then, I've taken to trying to be more exposed, showing off my spots and ears, whenever the two of us hang out. Something that she's obviously noticed and trying to repay that favor back if her behavior is any indication. It is perfectly like her to feel like she has to pay me back in some way, but I can't criticize her too much; I'm perfectly aware of the hypocrisy that would entail.
Instead I ply my fingers across her hand as she tries to regain her composure. Now is as good of a time as any to discuss certain matters. There isn't much of a mood to ruin nor is there anything pressing that either of us have to deal with. Privacy isn't an issue with my semblance, though I have to decide what to talk about.
The immediate thought that comes to mind is the secrets that I've been keeping. There are only really two in this instance. The first being my theft of the CCT Relay plans, and honestly at this point I can't imagine that she'd hold that one against me. She might end up talking with her sister about it, but that's as far as my concern extends.
The second is in regards to the second world-spanning conspiracy I've stumbled on. She's already caught up on my progress with the first one, though she doesn't know about Cinder attending Beacon. At least I don't think she does. I know Ozpin would rather I keep things under wraps, but I also don't want to keep secrets from her. Plus I can admit to a small amount of bitterness towards Ozpin for keeping his own secrets. That and if I'm going to be involving myself in that conspiracy she probably deserves to know.
Of course I don't necessarily have to tell her about either of those. I have time before my promise would force me to and there is a certain appeal to not burdening her with any of my problems. Plus it would allow me to focus more of my attention on other topics.
Full Monty: I think I've kept enough secrets from Weiss. I admit there is a certain appeal in not having to hold back on anything or dance around my words when I'm with her. (4)
Relay: I promised to tell her about the theft of the relay plans before the end of the Vytal Festival. Now might be the best time to do so. (2)
Silence: I have some time before I have to tell her anything. It's probably for the best that I don't give her anything new to worry about. (0)
Relay: I promised to tell her about the theft of the relay plans before the end of the Vytal Festival. Now might be the best time to do so. (2)
Silence: I have some time before I have to tell her anything. It's probably for the best that I don't give her anything new to worry about. (0)
Work: This is ostensibly a work date, whatever that actually entails. I could bring attention back to that, figure out her plans, and maybe deal with why exactly this is an issue for her. (4)
Menagerie: It might be a slight tangent, but I could get around to telling her about the Dust deposits around Menagerie. Though with everything that's going on I'm unsure if she'll be able to make use of it. (2)
Family: It's touching on the issue we talked about last time, but I could see how she's feeling about it. Maybe even toss in the idea I've had of recruiting Winter to help. (1)
Comfort: This work date may have been her idea, but that doesn't mean I have to go along with it. Call it to a close and spend more time with her in a way that doesn't press on her issues. (0)
Menagerie: It might be a slight tangent, but I could get around to telling her about the Dust deposits around Menagerie. Though with everything that's going on I'm unsure if she'll be able to make use of it. (2)
Family: It's touching on the issue we talked about last time, but I could see how she's feeling about it. Maybe even toss in the idea I've had of recruiting Winter to help. (1)
Comfort: This work date may have been her idea, but that doesn't mean I have to go along with it. Call it to a close and spend more time with her in a way that doesn't press on her issues. (0)
After a few moments of deliberation I tap the back of Weiss' hand twice and gently lead her back to her seat next to me. I'm still working through what exactly I want to tell her, but it's easy enough to decide to fulfill my promise to her a little early. I'm a bit more hesitant on following through with the spirit of that promise. I can't imagine Ozpin or anyone else in his cabal would like me spreading this info, but I could pass it off as me having kept Weiss too informed for her not to put the pieces together.
It's close enough to the truth that I don't imagine anyone other than Ozpin would catch me in that lie and even then he'd have no proof. In the end I decide that my relationship with Weiss is more important to me than staying on his good side. Maybe he'd understand, but I'm not going to bank on it.
When she sits down and gets comfortable I activate my semblance, thankful not only for the privacy it provides but the time as well. This is going to take enough time as it is that the extra time is appreciated. Weiss remains silent, waiting for me to speak, knowing that if I'm the one to initiate this here and now that I must have something important to talk about. Her expression is serious and she looks at me with blue eyes that are simultaneously soft and filled with intensity.
There is no need to draw this out, it only serves to worry her and make my subsequent reveal all the worse, but I still struggle to find the right thing to say or the right way to phrase it. So I spend a moment searching, despite a part of me knowing that no such thing exists. It takes me painfully long to realize that and I have to force myself to move on.
I don't think she'll have too much of an issue with this secret in particular, but I've kept it for so long that it's still hard to let go. I take a breath, collecting my thoughts and resolve. There is no need for pretenses, no need to keep up this appearance, and no need to pretty it up. It feels wrong to make that determination, but it's the only one that feels appropriate for the moment. I can at least console myself with the fact that this moment of vulnerability and weakness comes after Weiss' own. There's an idea of exchange there that's a little comforting even if it isn't what's motivating me here.
Even with my resolve I still feel it's best to ease her into the topic at least a little bit. "It's about that secret I said I'd tell you about. Well, I figured now would be the best time," I say, pitching my voice low and secretive despite the lack of people around to overhear us.
Weiss' face scrunches up and her eyes drift upwards, likely trying to recall what exactly she remembers of that promise. "It was about how you stole something, right," she ventures cautiously. I nod and she feels the need to continue, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. Seriously if that's what you wanted to bring up-"
She tries to keep her voice haughty, almost dismissive; likely in an attempt at convincing me to drop the matter and relax. However, I know she's all too eager to find out the truth and is happy that I'm willing to tell her. It's the little things, like the upwards lilt in her voice or the slight widening of her eyes and how they focus back on me.
"I know," I say, cutting her off before she can assure me that everything is fine and we can go back to relaxing. "I want to tell you." That has her composure breaking into something much more expressive and genuine with her no longer trying to fight back what she's actually feeling. I'm a little bit more conflicted, but I've committed this much that I'm not willing to back down now.
My voice purposefully lacks inflection when I start again, "The thing I stole. It was plans and technical documents for a CCTS Relay." I don't have to say anything further, Weiss is more than smart enough to know what exactly that statement implies. I could have done more to spin things in my favor or pitch it to her in a way that's more palatable. Maybe that would have been the better play, but I can't bring myself to do it this time.
Weiss stares at me, like she's waiting for what I said to be a lie or a trick or something of that sort. It doesn't last too long as she processes that I am serious and her happy demeanor is replaced by a more neutral expression. Truthfully, I was fearful for a more negative reaction, but she's not quite done as she brings a hand up to her lips and tilts her head forward in thought.
A moment later she says, "You were worried that I would tell Winter." Her tone is sharp and definitive. Not quite accusing, but the implication is there.
Seeing no reason to lie I bow my head a little, as much of an apology as I'm willing to offer and still be sincere. "Yes." My response is equally as direct and there is a tension in the air as Weiss locks eyes with me. It doesn't escape my notice that her issue seems to be with my trust in her rather than the fact that I stole something from Atlas in the first place.
Not that I think it's an insurmountable issue for her as she wraps me in a hug. "Did you really think that I was going to hold that against you," she whispers directly into my ear. Something about my behavior tips her off, or maybe she's jumping to her own conclusion, because she follows that up with, "Dummy." Then she breaks away with a cheeky grin on her face, as if daring me to call her out on it.
"Can you blame me," is the only thing that comes off my lips, absent of my usual eloquence.
Weiss deliberately brings her finger up to her lips, playing up the act of thinking on it and trying to lighten the mood. Evidently she thinks better of it after a moment and a shake of her head, her voice leveling out in seriousness. "No. I probably would have told Winter something, or hinted at it at the very least. I can admit that I wouldn't have taken that information very well."
I almost want to ask her what changed, but I already know or at least suspect. Even discounting how much she's changed just by being with her team we've also grown closer. Plus the recent circumstances with her sister probably disinclines her from thinking about going to her sister in the first place.
A beat passes between us and Weiss takes the initiative. She leans against my shoulder before snaking an arm around my back and nuzzling up against me. Then she looks up to me with a slight tilt of the head and a pleased note in her voice, "So was that it or do you have any more secrets for me?" By the tone of her voice I know she's joking, so it's with a little mirth that I break that illusion.
"Just one or two more," is my blithe reply. Weiss sends me a half-hearted glare and thumps me on the chest before I send her a serious look to get her to stop. That has her widening her eyes, evidently she thought I was just joking as well, and she nods her head as a slight apology. "It's about Cinder." Weiss just looks at me to continue so I do, "The Cinder that I've been investigating is here at Beacon."
"Yes, she's in our combat class. Are you going somewhere with this," Weiss says, keeping her tone light, but unable to keep her impatience out of it fully.
"Wait," I say, my mind grinding to a halt. "How do you know about that?"
She actually scoffs at that and looks at me like she's expecting me to be joking and when she notices my confusion she takes a breath to center herself. "You sent me her picture, remember?" Did I? Now that I think about it, that does sound familiar, I think it happened before we started dating. Particularly after I dragged Ruby down to the station to provide a sketch of Cinder's face. "Plus with how you were acting and trying not to look at her during the first week back I knew something had to be up."
"Why didn't you say anything," I question, unable to stop myself from seeking an answer. That has her shuffling in her seat.
"I didn't think I had to. You were clearly aware of her."
"And I'm sure the extra attention that I was giving you had nothing to do with it." My tone is layered with unsaid accusation and has her ducking her head as if that would help her avoid the embarrassment.
"Yes, well, then everything else happened and I, I just didn't think it was worth bringing up." I get the feeling that there's something remaining unsaid there, but I don't feel the need to press her on it. It was a stressful couple of weeks so I can't blame her entirely and I still have the rest of the conspiracy to get to.
"Well, there's that and it's what I talked with Ozpin about." I let out a sigh, not entirely voluntarily. "Apparently the whole thing extends a layer that I wasn't aware of." She looks at me expectantly and I don't disappoint. "First things first, the guy believes in magic." Her expression turns to one of confusion and disbelief that I have a small chuckle at. "Yeah, I'm not too convinced either, but he's really adamant about it. Even talked about the four maidens and how they're real."
Weiss scoffs once again, clearly wanting to find some sort of fault in what I'm saying, but recognizing the seriousness with which I'm saying it. "Let's pretend that I believe that, what does that have to do with anything?"
I could go into how Cinder apparently stole the Fall maiden's power, somehow, but that should hopefully be resolved before too long. Plus, I am admittedly trying to present this to her in a way that has her most at ease; keeping my voice calm and giving her reassuring touches. It helps that I've made good headway against Cinder's, and subsequently Salem's, plans. Knowing that they're fallible is reassuring even if one of them is an apparently unaging grimm leader of sorts.
"According to Ozpin the grimm have a leader and her name is Salem. Apparently she's been a problem for sometime and isn't going away any time soon." There isn't much more I can say about her as I have frighteningly little information aside from assumptions. Plus I can tell that Weiss is growing more and more skeptical of what I'm claiming so I hurriedly add on, "From what I can tell the other headmasters are in on this as well, including Ironwood." That is a bit of a supposition on my part. Ozpin mentioned Ironwood and Lionheart so I don't see why Theodore would be an odd man out in regards to the headmasters.
"Let me get this straight," she says firmly, separating herself from me, but keeping her arm behind me. "The grimm have a leader right? So if we got rid of this 'Salem' the grimm would just, what? Stop entirely? Cease to exist or something?"
I don't miss how she focuses on the existential threat of the grimm rather than focusing on the more concrete issue of the headmasters colluding with one another and keeping this a secret. Then again, she might just be used to the prospect of headmasters keeping secrets and knowing each other. Her sister has to have dealt with her own fair share of classified material and that's likely informing her reaction here. Still, her question is an interesting one. One brought about by the degradation of information from Ozpin to me to her, but interesting nonetheless.
"I don't think so. Not every grimm gets orders from her, they're still grimm after all," I explain. Grimm are pretty dumb most of the time so the idea that an intelligent actor is at play all the time is immediately discarded. "It's more like she has the ability to control them, but obviously that's limited in some way. She can't just control a grimm on another continent from what I can tell, though I don't know what her exact limitations are."
"Great," she groans out, clearly not liking the lack of information. Despite her reaction I can tell that my words reassure her a little. Knowing that there are limits at work makes the problem more manageable in her mind. A part of me feels like part of the reason why this reveal is going as well as it is is because of the lack of information that I can really provide about Salem and the greater conspiracy at play. Something that Weiss has picked up on by how I worded my answer to her.
Due to that she doesn't have any further questions and instead stares at me with wide blue eyes while worrying at her bottom lip. That moment of hesitation makes me think she wants to discourage me from investigating this further. Even if it's clear that she's not convinced about the existence of Salem, or magic, she can tell that I'm at least entertaining it as a serious possibility. Fortunately she doesn't do anything of the sort. I'm pretty sure I know what I'd say if she did, but the fact that I don't have to explicitly make that choice is a good one.
Instead she eventually starts with more confidence than I think she's feeling at the moment and says, "Let me know if there's anything I can do to help. And stay safe, Ochre." She finishes the last bit with a soft voice and a kiss before resting at my side again, evidently thinking that's enough of that topic for one day.
I can tell that most of her skepticism comes from my own doubts towards Ozpin's claims and this being third-hand information for her. If she heard this from Ozpin himself I'm sure she'd have a different reaction. Plus I haven't presented anything in a way that implies there's any urgency to the situation and as far as I'm aware there isn't any. Sure things are a bit up in the air right now, but I've done a lot to foil the plans of Cinder and I trust that we'll have her dealt with before too long.
I'm also reminded that I haven't fully explained everything to Weiss and I'll have to get her caught up with my notes at a later date. She may trust me with handling this so far, but I see no reason not to keep her as informed as I am now that I've taken the plunge. For now I take the moment just to relax and let the tension ease out of me. It was a lot to get off of my chest at once and there's more that I want to get to, but having Weiss at my side makes those issues seem more distant for the moment.
We spend another few minutes like that, nuzzled up against one another. I know she'd have no problem just lazing around like this together, especially after the talk that we had. Nonetheless, I force myself to disturb her peaceful rest.
At first it starts with an abrupt shift of my shoulder causing her to readjust herself and give me less space to maneuver while also not fully disrupting her. I respond with a series of quick paced movements as if to shake her off entirely despite that not being possible. It is enough to disturb her rest enough for her to grouse at me and lift her head with a narrow-eyed glare thrown in my direction.
"What," she says with a level of finality and coldness. As if demanding that I better have a really good reason for what I did. It is almost amazing how grumpy she is for having her rest disturbed considering how our conversation ended a few minutes prior. It almost makes me want to poke fun at her for it, but I decide it would be best if I refrained.
"Just figured I'd check in with you," I throw my head towards her scroll in order to clarify my statement which has her scowling. "Seeing if there's anything I can help you with or if we could coordinate anything. Weiss grumbles at that, not wanting to admit that I have a point, but eventually she accedes to my demands and disentangles herself so we can have a proper discussion. She's at least able to recognize the benefit in doing so, especially since we haven't done this in some time. More important to me is her reluctance, hopefully I can bring that up a bit later.
Weiss spends a few moments readjusting herself, pulling back her hair, and generally making sure that she's presentable and orderly. If I had to guess, she's doing so in a way to force herself into a business mindset which partially explains why she didn't want to in the first place.
When she's done with that she turns to me with her hands at her sides and says, "There isn't that much to talk about. At least as far as Vale is concerned. I've had a few problems with Father making my role here official, but nothing I couldn't handle." I get the feeling that there's more she isn't saying here. I could press her on that, but if it was something truly important she'd let me know.
She lets out a breath at that, evidently thankful that she doesn't have to bring up whatever it is she's avoiding and continues on as if she didn't miss a beat in her explanation. "Aside from that most of my effort has gone into streamlining my operations. With the White fang no longer a threat," she throws me a knowing smile at that, "we've been able to reduce our security on some of our transports and free up that labor for more useful ventures. Unfortunately we've had to re-route most of them to our warehouses in Vale after some break-ins."
Her voice remains level, but there's something about her expression that makes me think she's asking if there's anything I can do to help. Which, fair, I did offer. It might be possible, depending on the perpetrators, so I give her a hesitant nod. It can't hurt to take a look into the matter and see what can be done, but with how stretched resources are at the moment I'm not holding out much hope.
"And how about Vacuo, how's that going?"
She huffs at that, the endeavor obviously not going as smoothly as she hoped it would. "I've contacted our representative there and my father wasn't lying. We really did tap out most of the easily accessible deposits in that Kingdom. We have a couple mines that are running at a loss to keep a presence there in case another find pops up. I've dispatched a team to survey the area, but things have been difficult. The locals have been uncooperative and it's been troublesome getting proper security for them to go out and do their jobs. I don't suppose that you have a solution to either of those."
I give it a thought for a moment, but have to shake my head. Our expansion efforts into Vacuo are barely under way so I can't provide too much help there. Weiss' problems do offer up an avenue for our efforts in the region as providing some experienced fighters who have to be in the area for our expansion efforts is a nice way to solve two problems at once, but I'll have to see if that's something I want to commit to before offering Weiss any hope.
She doesn't seem too disappointed by my lack of help here. Likely assuming that there wasn't much I could do in any case. I also get the feeling that she's understanding why her father was so willing to give up on Vacuo now, but is stubbornly trying to salvage something. I can't help but notice her thoughts are trending towards maximizing her operations instead of her influence.
With her father running operations in Atlas and her brother those in Mistral she might not feel like she has any other choice. That isn't too far from the truth, but it is forcing her to play by her father's rules which is aggravating to the both of us. Well, it's a good thing that we aren't completely out of options there.
"You know, Menagerie has deposits," I say simply and let the implication hang in the air until it hits her. To her credit it takes Weiss only a moment to catch on to what I'm actually saying and she fights with herself to not appear too eager to jump on the opportunity. It's a battle that she eventually loses, but not in a way that I was expecting.
"What do you need," she asks suddenly. If not for how laser-focused she became I'd assume that she's messing with me in some way. With that I know something deeper is at play here than her simply being excited for an opportunity to show up Jacques. Her hand even darts towards her scroll, before she stops herself. Realizing that while we're in my mirror world that doing so would have no real effect.
Her excitement and lack of questions does give me pause. I would have expected her to have at least sounded out that this prospect was worth her while. Then again we did discuss this hypothetical once before so I can't imagine she hasn't thought about this at all. Was she just waiting for me to bring it up? That's the most charitable interpretation I can think of, so it likely isn't the case here, no matter how much I want to believe it.
The whole situation runs a little too close to my discussion with Blake, but there are some differences. Our relationship first off, though I'm still not wholly comfortable. That's only ameliorated by the fact that I don't know her reasoning for this yet and knowing my girlfriend she does have one beyond blind trust.
"Why," I ask, not seeing the need to continue puzzling over this when I could simply ask her. Fortunately, she knows me well enough by now that all she does is nod before explaining herself.
"I haven't paid you back for all the help you've given me." I open my mouth and she shuts me up with a raised hand and continues talking as if nothing happened. "I know I've given you information and bought equipment for your men, but I haven't paid everything back, not yet." She traces a hand along my arm, evidently sliding out of business mode and into something more personal.
"That and I have to do something nice for Blake as well. If it really bothers you, think of it as a present to her as well. Plus it's not like I'm not going to do my best to benefit from this. A real win for everyone don't you think?" I nod along, her reasons making sense, but something about how she's presenting all this twigs my sensibilities.
"I see what you're doing," I respond with playfully narrowed eyes. She's definitely trying to mimic my mannerisms and how I'd present some of my decisions.
"I don't know what you're talking about," she says while turning aside and sticking her nose up in the air. The illusion is slightly ruined when she cracks open an eye to spy on my reaction a half second later, but I allow her to have her fun. She lives it up for a moment, sticking her chest out until she returns to taking the matter seriously. "Now answer the question. What do you need?"
The rest of our conversation segues into what exactly Menagerie needs in order to exploit the deposits that we have. That being, equipment, expertise, and defense primarily. The first two are easy enough for Weiss to provide while the latter is more tricky.
Even if I could assure her the Belladonnas would accept the presence of SDC defense forces or Atlesian Knights on Menagerie the same can't be said for the general population, much less the White Fang there. It's a risk neither of us are willing to take so the only thing we can do is add materials to construct fortifications to the list as well.
The overall plan follows the hypothetical response she gave me back in the first semester. Mainly providing Menagerie with tools and expertise required to exploit the deposits on the continent. Something that she's deciding to just send right away before negotiations have been conducted. I would consider it foolish if she wasn't a part of Blake's team. That alone provides her a lot of leeway with the Belladonnas and I make sure that she's going to use that fact to her advantage. I'm not comfortable with this being charity despite it helping out my homeland.
This whole operation is unlikely to give much returns any time soon. The big up-front cost and the time involved in transit to and from Menagerie only worsens that. There is some worry that the brothers would do something to ruin all this or that the general instability would affect things. However, since everything would be done by Menagerie citizens there is little risk to Weiss' assets in the SDC minus what she sends to my home. It's not perfect, but hopefully Ghira will have a good enough handle on things that it won't cause too many issues.
Weiss' plan also involves sending a well-protected SDC ship to Menagerie which provides Blake and I a more secure way of getting our messages to our parents. With any luck they'll still arrive before the brothers are able to do anything, but another layer of precaution doesn't hurt. I almost want to bring our conversation in another direction after our talk of logistics, but I get lost in helping Weiss draft a letter of introduction to the Belladonnas. I might not have met them, but I know enough about them to help her with that.
Afterwards she breaks off to take care of something on her own. It isn't hard to assume that she's penning a similar letter for my dad. I've already told him about Weiss so it shouldn't be a surprise, but evidently she wants to take the time making an introduction herself. A bit weird considering she wanted to be there when she introduced me to her family, but then again she isn't exactly harboring a secret like I was.