Chapter 59: Atlas
'There's no need to worry, darling.' Lisa Lavender, the reporter with the staggering two-month experience in the VNN under her belt, Vale's main and only fully government-owned news company, tried to reassure herself.
'You're just going to interview the most powerful personalities in the world in the middle of an actual war zone! Nothing to worry about! You're just going to interview them about the biggest political and diplomatic crisis that has plagued Remnant since the Faunus Rebellion because your boss blew a bet with a colleague – that's all! What will they do to you if you screw up? They surely would not kill you or something, right!?'
Lisa wished she could look in the mirror and chuckle, letting it be known to everyone and herself that her fears were nothing more than utter nonsense. But instead, all she managed to get out of herself was to squeeze out a sardonic smile of a chronically constipated person.
If she fucked up here, and somehow make the crisis even worse, she would definitely get disappeared. Fuck her life.
Today, the twenty-first of December in the year one thousand seven hundred and forty-one, a Sunday ten days before the celebration of Remnant's biggest international holiday, the coming of the New Year. It was supposed to be the beginning of celebration and merriment, and here she is, walking to the gallows, putting the noose around her neck, hoping that the floor won't drop under her.
In the surrounding atmosphere of Vale, where she had boarded her ship, and in Atlas, where she had arrived, there was a sense of the holiday's merriment. Though the holiday was still ten days away, many people looked as if the holiday was due today, and everyone had a last few minutes to work before they went home to their loved ones.
One could even say that there was a festive atmosphere in the air, waiting for the coming miracle.
"Oh yes, I could definitely use a miracle right now." Tucking her hat and scarf tightly over her ears, Lisa took a quick pull on her coat and glanced at Dorian, her cameraman, who gave her the okay, so she took the first step out of the door.
Fate did indeed have a peculiar sense of humor…
What journalism student, whom Lisa was less than six months ago, hasn't dreamed of working for VNN?
Oh yes, for many of Lisa's fellow students, working in VNN would be a dream come true. The largest television station in Vale, the company offers a solid salary and decent growth opportunities. The idea that Lisa herself could appear on television every day, becoming a face known to most of Vale's population, was a pleasing thought to her ego.
If someone didn't want to sit in a cozy studio, that wasn't a problem either. VNN only – within Vale, at least - had influence and enough money to send their own reporters outside Vale, to other settlements and even to other kingdoms.
In contrast, getting a job at some local TV station, all a reporter, even the most eager ones could count on, was investigating which shopkeepers were using illegal imports – if even that.
No, for any Vale journalist, VNN was a dream come true.
A good salary or investigative journalism was all there within their grasp should they be employed by VNN.
Needless to say, Lisa was beyond ecstatic when she received a positive reply from VNN after sending her CV without expecting much in return. And just a month after she had received her diploma! Lisa thought for a second that all the stars of Remnant had aligned to grant her wish…
Well, in a sense they had. She was hired by pure chance, by a lost bet rather, of her new boss, who just happened to have a 'hire first random person whose resume you see' as a penalty.
And by luck, and the fact that her new boss didn't know that lobster blood was indeed blue, Lisa Lavender found herself hired in her new position.
Upon learning this, of course, for a few days Lisa was offended. Few people wanted to hear that they had been hired into their position because their boss didn't know some interesting facts about the biology of marine organisms, rather than for their professional qualities. But, after a week, and the first paycheck, Lisa not only accepted this fact but was even happy about it.
After all, if her new boss was such an inveterate, and an unsuccessful one at that – gambler, who knows how high Lisa could get playing on his love of arguments and bets! If she could return to the past, she would like to choke the Lisa of the past that got herself in this mess.
Through office gossip, Lisa had learned that VNN had landed the story of the century and her boss had the responsibility to choose who to report it. So of course, Lisa wanted that job.
And so, after just ten minutes and scrolling her scroll and finding out that babies really are born without kneecaps – Lisa Lavender knew that the spot as the 'star reporter' was already in the bag.
Dragging her boss into one of his many arguments was child's play.
That's where her problem started. You see, Lisa in her genius only cared that the story was juicy enough to make her career, not what the story actually was. Until of course she landed the job of reporting it, and had no way to back out.
It wasn't her fault really, well partly, the story was so juicy that even if she had asked beforehand, VNN would likely deny her the chance until she's on the Bullhead. Less chance of a leak that way.
Well, whatever the reason, the story was indeed juicy enough to make her career, and might even put her name in the history books – in the worst way possible. And Lisa had put her name in the ring.
And so, the news of exactly what she was getting into, stuck her like a dump truck at full speed.
One really should be careful what they wish for…
She wanted popularity, reporting something that would put her name in the forefront of people's mind, and Vale was not the most interesting place in the world. Protected by an army perhaps only second to Atlas, impassable natural barriers and great Hunters, it was a small island of stability in an unstable world. It's also a really boring place to live in.
Without miraculous heroes capable of wiping hordes off the face of the earth with a snap of their fingers. Without a dubious history of slave trade or terrorism, without a history of recent Grimm attacks or an undeclared civil war in full swing. Which is why Lisa was so interested in what kind of news of the century VNN had gotten hold of. Lisa Lavender had come to VNN, had become a journalist even, in order to get more exposure on TV and get good money for it.
Not to expose drug cartels and become a symbol of journalism around the world – then noted in the obituary column a couple of years later. She wanted popularity, not to get a target stuck on her back.
She had thought that the 'news of the century' was some kind of political scandal happening in Vale. Something like a councilman found with contraband, or even that Headmaster Ozpin had a secret baby or something like that. She really underestimated the scale of what she was getting herself into, she got an inkling of it when she had to travel to Atlas, however.
At first, she wasn't too worried, after all, VNN maintained a large staff of reporters not only in Vale itself, but all over Remnant – even, more recently, in Menagerie. So maybe it was some kind of scandal with the Schnee? That was definitely a story.
Really, the bastards of VNN had some balls, they waited until the bullhead had lifted off before they told her what she would be reporting on.
A World Leaders' Summit in Atlas, of all places… one that is almost assured would erupt into some kind of conflict, in a city that is all but tinders not long till it lights up.
Oh yes, where was Lisa to begin her unstoppable stream of complaints…
As Lisa contemplated where she had gone wrong in life, a small and inconspicuous car finally appeared on the slightly snow-covered roadway of Atlas, its headlights glaring in the still early morning sky. Lisa turned to Dorian to see if that was the car they were waiting for, or if she should start running. Thankfully for her heart, Dorian nodded back, it seemed that their ride had arrived.
The car, after a short distance past them, stopped in a suitable parking spot. Gathering her courage, Lisa walked towards the car and had to suppress her reaction when the driver got out of the car. "And you're?"
"Clover, Specialist." The short-cut brown-haired man with turquoise eyes nodded briefly, "Miss Lavender and Mr. Grey, I presume?"
With a short nod and a look, Lisa opened the passenger side door, and after knocking her boots on the threshold of the car a couple of times to shake off the sparse snow, got into the car. Closing the door behind her, Lisa exhaled and then stretched out her seatbelt, buckling it in place before sinking back into her thoughts.
Oh, where should she start…
Right, Atlas and Mantle. Ever since she was a child, the now twenty-two-year-old graduate of Vale Academy of Journalism, Lisa Lavender, had known that Atlas and Mantle didn't like each other. Mantle was always pissed off at the luxury Atlas seemed to be content showing off, and blamed it for all his troubles. Atlas, on the other hand, constantly demanded obedience from Mantle and took a huge portion of their resources.
In other words, conflict between the two halves of what was collectively called the Kingdom of Atlas had always existed more or less. But old conflicts existed in this world, one way or another, between all states and societies, the continuing history of the entire Remnant population, whether human or fauna, was predisposed to that. So it was nothing special – until the last decade.
Nine years ago, when the Kingdom of Glenn arose, this conflict seriously escalated. Lisa had been going through the events in a recent history course and had done several papers on these events herself, especially the events of the momentous months of power struggle between General Ironwood and the Council of Atlas.
The situation in Atlas and Mantle turned from its previous Cold War, into a hot one – the power struggle and the conflict stirred up by the geopolitical whirlwind not helping things.
And then… And then things got worse.
General Ironwood's attempts to pacify the people of Mantle from rebelling floundered. And then, apparently aware of his inability to pacify the people of Mantle, especially after the destruction of the Schnee Company, he escalated the conflict. He sent armed troops into Mantle itself and announced a 'war on terror'. Effectively, martial law.
Needless to say, such actions created a huge wave of outrage among Mantle, bringing about more the opposite of what the General hoped for. Now, for every 'terrorist' group the general's army disbanded or arrested, two would arise.
And then it got even worse.
Lisa's gaze slid over the wall of one of the buildings closest to the port – a small neat building, it was probably for some industrial purpose, maybe even residential, or for maintenance staff and pilots. Lisa did not want to guess about it, but more interesting than the purpose of the building itself, she was more interested in the inscription emblazoned on it.
In huge black letters, most likely spray-painted black, ran across the façade, even the windows, now only partially transparent in places where the hand of an unknown vandal had not reached.
MANTLE WILL BE FREE.
Seeing the chant of the Mantle 'terrorist' group, here in the heart of Atlas, only made her anxiety rose. At least Lisa could be relieved that it was rare? In Mantle, they were very common, usually on police stations or places of official administration of Atlas and Mantle. Of course, the condition of the buildings in mantle were less taken care of, and if only broken windows or rubbish scattered on the steps were added to these letters, it could be considered a blessing – from the employees' perspective. Still, it doesn't speak well of her safety.
Lisa, even in her short time in Mantle, had seen more than one building defaced similarly but worse, left only as a gutted shell with punctured walls, bullet holes, altogether left only a charred hulk.
Atlas and Mantle, ha ha…
Not that Lisa Lavender was any kind of politician with high security clearance to the secrets of the powers that be in this world. But she had, as her academy was supposed to do, taken a full course in political science, with live examples from the modern world, most tellingly.
And the situation in Atlas and Mantle was more than illustrative, and its leader, almost dictator, James Ironwood's perilous position. So, while the General remains, in fact, the sole ruler of the state – but the problem is that most of your population hates you. Ironwood still has great influence with a powerful army, which he had just used, quite unsuccessfully, to quell a brewing revolution, instead provoking an even worse reaction among the already disgruntled citizens. A personage that has also been accused of trying to stifle democracy and the Council itself by becoming a dictator – some go so far as to use you as a living example of the unsustainability of the Council system. Being cited as an example by saying 'look at what the Council produces at the end of its rule'.
So, what should you NOT do in this situation, as a hated figure of a militarized state?
Foremost, if you are already hated by Mantle, you should also NOT turn Atlas against you by quietly arresting a still powerful but clearly washed-up rich man, but still part of the upper layer of the ruling class in Atlas. Especially, DO NOT charge him with plotting a coup – after his arrest.
Secondly, it is NOT a good idea to organize a costly operation to save an entire Kingdom – especially when that Kingdom has already been saved by others in the end. You shouldn't be making any great waves in general, especially when the result is not yet set in stone. But then again, Lisa can't really blame the General much for this point. Inaction, after all, especially if Vacuo falls, would result in the same condemnation if not worse.
Third, you should NOT attempt to arrest those same saviors, especially right after they have saved that other kingdom, on foreign soil nonetheless.
But even if you have taken all these steps – the situation can still be reversed.
It doesn't take much, for starters, to NOT announce a full-scale operation to 'cleanse Mantle of anti-government and terrorist criminal gangs'. A barely disguised purge does not make a good picture, especially with the army already shaken in its beliefs in your ability to lead an army.
Then do NOT announce the postponement of Council elections and the temporary suspension of your own misuse of power trial until the 'pacification operation' is over.
And of course, do NOT announce the entry of troops into Atlas territory – to protect the people of Atlas from the actions of anti-government cells within Atlas itself.
The reasons why this should NOT be done have been graciously demonstrated by General Ironwood.
The General's reputation was seriously tarnished by the mere fact of the highly unsuccessful Vacuo rescue operation, his highly questionable decision to secretly arrest Jacques Schnee, and his highly inappropriate behavior in Vacuo - including the attempted arrest of Raven Branwen.
But at least as Lisa herself saw it, he could still try to fix it, not that Lisa herself saw many options as to how he could have done it, but at least Lisa could imagine that those options existed.
The car's slowing speed distracted Lisa from her thoughts, forcing her to focus again, but the car had not yet arrived at the hotel. Instead, Lisa saw several Knights in white Atlas military colors and a couple of middle-aged men in army officer uniforms blocking the road.
An Atlas roadblock… things are really getting out of hand.
Pulling her papers out of her pocket, Lisa handed them to Clover, who had stopped the car, before distracting herself again by looking out the window at another building – this time with its glass broken. Judging by the remnants of black paint, smeared rather than erased by the unfortunate caretaker's efforts, but still entirely legible.
"DEATH TO ATLAS!"…
So, General Ironwood must have realized by now that the situation was going downhill fast. He must know that at best in weeks, perhaps even days, and he would lose his position. But it seems, he was not eager to simply accept his defeat and quietly step down from his post, even after the condemnation he received after returning from Vacuo.
Now, on his return, the general was faced with a whole host of other problems. His influence in the army had been severely shaken; the revolutionary groups in Mantle seem to have had a second wind, gradually becoming more and more insolent. Picket lines began to turn into skirmishes, then attacks on officers, and after a while? Attacks on police stations, convoys of prisoners and even army depots.
Given that voices of dissent were now beginning to appear in the army, Lisa was certain that some soldiers had clearly defected to Mantle's side after the General's repeated failures.
After Vacuo, the number and intensity of attacks began to rise dramatically.
The council of Atlas, who had hitherto kept aloof, also began to see the turn of the tide. And so, the General's control of the situation, already very tenuous to begin with, began to slip out of his hands. The secret arrest of Jacques Schnee – though an idiot, still a privileged wealthy Atlas man, did not help the Council's confidence in the General.
And just a few days later a public petition – this time not just promoted by the tycoons, but even with the support of the public, for General Ironwood to give an accounting of his actions, reached the Council. And more importantly, if he should still hold the position of General.
It was at a time when there were only two people left on the Council – the completely unimpressive Foreign Relations Councillor, Kaiser Quartz, considered a political corpse. And General Ironwood, who held two seats at once, at a time when two Councillors still needed to be elected. The fact that with that lopsided Council, the public still tried to get the General fired, spoke plenty of how discontent the people of Atlas had become.
The General had a choice between two evils – either accept political suicide and be removed from his seat, forgetting forever about any power and remaining the 'worst General in Atlas' – or to double down.
And the General didn't choose the first option, leading to Atlas being put into effective Martial Law…
Finally, after examining Lisa's papers thoroughly, the Atlas officer nodded, then returned them to Clover, their driver from the 'diplomatic squad of special importance', the Ace Ops. Lisa has no illusion as to what Ironwood's own special attack dogs' roles are. If Lisa were to be judged to be having any 'revolutionary' thoughts, she has no chance of escape, papers or not.
However, this was only the first of the roadblocks in Lisa's path – there were at least two more waiting for her ahead.
So, first, General Ironwood announced a full-scale confrontation with the 'anti-government groups' in Mantle, and in Atlas, or at least he insinuated as much.
Atlas' Army had been in Mantle before, assisting the police, their presence having a serious and unpleasant effect on the locals, but no military hardware had entered Mantle until that day.
That's right, until that day.
People don't really like it when you ride a tank past their windows.
Also, as it turned out a little later, tanks within the city limits don't particularly help support the narrative of fighting petty organized crime.
Oh yes, the so-called 'Mantle Liberation Front', which already had huge support among the Mantle population, gained the loyalty of the Mantle population without much action on their part, simply through the Mantle population's reaction to Atlas' actions.
And given what a severe blow this dealt to the morale and loyalties of Atlas's army?
The Mantle Liberation Front got its first tank very quickly.
And what usually happens when outraged government protesters get their guns, military robots and the motherfucking TANKS?!
Outrage becomes very audible, tank shells exploding audible.
In the midst of such a mess, with Mantle and Atlas on the brink of a veritable civil war, General Ironwood decided to take desperate measures. Maybe he thought that only he could sort out the problem that he himself created, or maybe he decided that he was now facing the death penalty anyway, and therefore he could not make his situation much worse.
General Ironwood imposed Martial Law fully, rather than the implied one before.
That meant no elections and no removal from the highest offices of State Councillors until the current crisis was resolved, and the Martial Law lifted. And with two Councillor seats vacant, and the General himself also being a Headmaster of Atlas Academy, controlled two seats on the Council, having two votes – it effectively meant that Atlas became General Ironwood's personal fiefdom in one fell swoop.
To make Mantle's outrage even worse by this point, of course, was no longer possible – so little changed on Mantle's part. But Atlas, who could still before then rely on, at least in part, on the General's sanity, was faced overnight with the General's sole dictatorship. A General with a very spotty record.
In other words – Lisa Lavender, a grown-up woman, did not know an appropriate swear word to describe how bad the situation at Atlas and Mantle was.
If Atlas and Mantle had simply stood on the brink of civil war, the situation would already have been disastrous. But if Atlas and Mantle, instead of standing against each other – and instead both stood against General Ironwood…
Oh yes, civil war wasn't the worst option.
And if you add to this situation the fact that the protesters on one side were powerful tycoons and politicians who wanted to keep their warm seat – and on the other side fanatics with captured tanks.
Right now, Atlas and Mantle were in a state of civil war – in fact.
The state, the Kingdom of Atlas, was teetering on the brink of anarchy and all-out war against each other. It is standing over the precipice on a tightrope on the toe of one foot, trying to juggle ten chainsaws.
No event but a true miracle could save them – the situation no longer required diplomacy or political foresight, but an act of god, from a fairy tale of some sort.
And, to Atlas' great good fortune, such a miracle could exist in Remnant.
The only problem was that the only man with a reputation for performing miracles was almost arrested by the General himself.
That's right, the situation had reached such a frenzy that in the next few days, Mantle and Atlas were likely to explode into a veritable killing frenzy. The burned military bases and corpses of Mantle officials appointed by Atlas, well Lisa had not seen them personally, but had seen pictures, would have seemed like child's play after. Especially when the determined Mantle protesters started outright fielding the military implements they have got in a full-blown war.
The only chance of any peaceful resolution of the conflict in this case was mediation and a huge council assembled with the participation of outsiders.
That's right, the biggest international geopolitical event in the world since the international conference after the Faunus Rebellion. With General Ironwood as Atlas' representative, the only Atlas Council member besides Kaiser Quartz.
Mistral's official delegation – Aifal Kinos, representative of International Relations, and Leonardo Lionheart, representative of the Hunter Academy as a neutral – potentially speaking, party.
Representatives from Vacuo are Theodore Shade and Amrita Leal.
From Vale, Professor Ozpin – amusingly, Lisa Lavender could never find out his last name – and Anna Verdua.
And then there are the representatives of the FUCKING WHITE FANG – yes, yes, in the heart of Atlas' political platform! Ghira Belladonna and Sienna Khan.
Without their presence, the head of the 'Atlas Liberation Front', Robyn Hill, along with her attaché, Fiona Thymes, refused to attend.
And of course the whole thing could not begin without the chief negotiator, whose presence was also announced and promised to Robyn Hill – and the man most of those present hoped for a peaceful resolution could be figured out.
The miracle worker, hero, and king - Osmond Vale the Third, aka Jonathan Goodman.
Oh yes, if anything could save Atlas and Mantle in the current situation, it was a miracle, and only one man in all Remnant knew how to supply miracles regularly and as needed, King Jonathan Goodman himself.
As far as Lisa Lavender herself was aware – originally he too was not due to arrive alone, but after the events in Vacuo… Well, even if he's capable of miracles, it would still not fix the shitshow that would happen if he brought Raven Branwen along.
Although, he was still to be accompanied by some guards, this time by a team of Hunters, freshmen, however, from his own Hunters' academy, and with his two adopted daughters in tow.
It was a very, very strong statement – my Hunter Academy is not just real, it is so much better than all the others that even the freshmen of my academy are equal to the highest political elites of other nations.
Though perhaps it was her inner fanatic that spoke for Lisa – Jonathan's reputation was no less legendary than General Ironwood's, if diametrically opposed.
Where, looking at General Ironwood, the mind automatically began to look for weakness and negative consequences of his actions, already tarnished by the previous result of his actions. With Jonathan, the situation was reversed. The mind began to look for some buried grit of genius, seduced by his more than outstanding reputation and status as something in between a legendary hero and a living deity.
So, the top political leadership of each of the states, including one that is considered a terroristic one by Atlas, in the form of Robyn Hill, Ghira Belladonna and Jonathan Goodman at once, the biggest political event of the century. Also, the biggest geopolitical crisis of the century…
And VNN got the right to broadcast from the scene of the meeting! Live on air!
Oh yes, Lisa Lavender more than saw why this was to be the story of the century, one that would put her career to rise to the stratosphere.
There was only one problem…
This is not what Lisa wanted!
She went to VNN to get good money and glimpses on TV, not to get into the most incredible and dangerous events of this world!
She had fought for this position in order to leapfrog her promotions in one swift jump – to get ahead not by seniority, after five or ten years, but immediately, by doing some high-profile reporting and establishing herself.
It didn't mean that she wanted to go to a war zone!
Oh yes, the realization that if anything goes wrong during the conference, the sides would start a real war, with the first shots probably going on in the conference! The fact that Lisa was not at all guaranteed a personal bodyguard and survival only made it worse! It did not add to that joy at all.
'Well, let's reckon, if you survive – you'll have an incredible line on your CV!' Lisa tried to smile to herself in the rearview mirror.
'And if you don't…' Lisa's smile twisted into a pained grimace. 'Then at least you'll get to rub shoulders with the most powerful men in the world beforehand…'
Silently, snow continued to fall on the roof of the car, slowly moving towards the next roadblock – one of four on the way from the bullhead's arrival point to the hotel allocated to the press.
The fateful conference was one day – and eight hours - away.
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