Save the world? Fuck that, I want to make money! (RWBY SI) ch 22 (Patreon)

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Tobias Frick had been an engineer for Royal and Imperial for a good ten years. Yet despite his time working there, the Waylands never ceased to amaze him with every item they would forge. There was a reason why only Mantle wielded guns during the Great War, its invention made possible because of Mantle's last Emperor requesting a weapon that would allow them to engage the enemy at a distance. 

The Wayland bloodline had to be blessed for the semblance they had, to pull miracles out of their asses. Tobias once thought that such a semblance cheapened the dignity of his profession. Sure, they could make a technological miracle or a unparalleled master crafted item out of their soul but they still needed people to understand it for mass production. And they did pay him well. 

Clang! Clang! Clang!

He leaned against the railing as Alexander Wayland, coat off and bare-chested, hammered away at the air. A look of intense concentration was on his face as he went at it with practiced blows. His skin was glistening as sweat ran down his body, muscle straining as he laboured. From an outsider's point of view, it surely would have looked like he was putting on the most convincing mimicry of a blacksmith forging a sword but it was real work, as shown by the glow around his hands and the energy focusing into his tools. Sparks began to flow from each strike as something slowly began to take shape. 

Next to him, gasps left lips. He glanced to the side and watched the newer employees gawk and look at the labouring Wayland. 

They had been getting a lot of people interested in working for them. He had heard rumours that Royal and Imperial was expanding and expanding meant new hires. It wasn't officially announced yet but HR taking in said applicants did not squash the rumors of expansion. The new employees however, he noted, had very visible features. Faunus, their animal traits proudly displayed without shame. One particular faunus was rather distinctive, with short ram's horns on her head.

Apparently, with his rather open rescue of the 33, many faunus had come under the belief that Royal and Imperial was a safe place to be hired, where they could be faunus without fear of discrimination. It started as a trickle, then a flood of applicants. Apparently, a Silver Shield guard was asked if it was alright if they would let their ears out and the guard shrugged and made a non-committal comment about them not needing to hide it. It cascaded into a culture of ease, a breath of relief for them. While he was sure that those applicants were here for the employment benefits, he was also quite sure some had come with other ideas in mind.

He would also note the dreamy look on the sheep faunus's eyes and in the eyes of the other women there. Frick's lips thinned, aware of the absurdity of the employees openly gawking at their boss and next to be owner of the company. They were here on a factory tour to familiarize the new hires and a tour they had to continue. And thus, he cleared his throat. "Anyway, here we are on the Observational Deck. Officially, this is where we go and observe the Waylands work, take notes and the like. As juniors, you will be assigned to a senior partner who will explain your duties to you. They mostly pour over the products made from the Waylands forging, stripping it down to the very molecular level, then make adjustments to make it possible for mass-production."

"When do we get to have a chat with him?" someone asked, raising their hand. Giggles were shared through the group. 

His lips quivered. For the love of the brother-gods. 

"Right now, the Waylands are rather pre-occupied. As far as I remember, Mister Wayland is out in the city. His son and heir is right below us, working." He replied. But his explanation fell on deaf ears, the crowd content on ogling the boss's son. 

"His eyes are so expressive..." The goat faunus whispered. 

"I want him to focus on me like how he's focused on that..." Someone murmured, to the shared nods of many.

"He's still single, y'know?" Another one added, wagging her eyebrows, earning a conspiratorial giggle among them. 

He sighed. He admittedly did not care for women nor did he have any interest with pursuing sex with them. Why go for women when there existed feminine men? 

In another part of Solitas, a man screamed.

"Show me your war face! Come on! AGGHHHHH!" The Silver Shield trainer yelled at a recruit, a faunus whose eyes blinked in confusion as the human in front of her screamed into her face. 

​"Agh?" she tried weakly. It clearly wasn't enough as the Silver Shield trainer walked up.

"PATHETIC! SHOW ME YOUR REAL WAR FACE! ARRRRRGGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGH!" He roared as a demon from the darkest pits of Hell would summinong up a hellstorm of sin and wrath. The recruit's face went pink with humiliation and exertion as she cried out,

"AGGGGGGGHHHHHHGHGHGHG!" she shrieked with all her might. Any longer, she would have broken down crying. Her fellow recruits clearly thought it was hilarious as they started chuckling at the poor girl's misery. From where she stood at the back, Robyn Hill was not laughing. She was however furious that the others would laugh at the poor thing. She had thought that the trainer would do nothing about it but his retribution was swift.

"AND WHO DO YOU THINK YOU LITTLE SHITS ARE CHUCKLING LIKE THAT? IS SHE SOME KINDA COMEDIAN FOR YOU TO LAUGH AT?" he roared yet again. The recruits quickly stopped laughing, fear present in their eyes. He huffed, steam leaving his nose, as he strode up their line. "THERE WILL BE NO DISCRIMINATION IN THIS UNIT. PER THE BOSS'S ORDERS, THE COMPANY DOES NOT CARE IF YOU ARE ATLESIAN, MISTRALIAN, VALEAN, OR FROM VACUO. HE DOES NOT CARE THAT YOU ARE AN APE, A RHINO, OR EVEN A FUCKING PHEONIX, YOU ARE ALL WORTHLESS MEAT, PUNY AND WEAK. I WILL MAKE YOU STRONG. ARE YOU DOTARDS READY FOR THAT?" 

Robyn Hill crept low, her eyes running over the lines of assembled recruits, all being inspected and yelled at by blue-clad sergeants. The training ground that the Silver Shields had set up wasn't exactly subtle. Flags of the company and their parent company flew from poles or from the outside gate. Plus, the noise of a military school wasn't exactly subtle either. 

The rescue of the 33 was not an event to miss. Even in Mantle, the former home of the Empire, people had watched with bated breath as the rescue took place amidst the cries of Grimm and nature. They cheered when the miners were found and partied some more when the miners were returned home. But after that, things slowly began to return to normal, relatively speaking. For Atlas, the Council was deadlocked with the issue of the SDC. The importance was apparent for it decided the fate of the Kingdom's economy. For Mantle, it was once again an existence of getting ignored while the Atlesians bickered in their floating spire in the sky. 

Mantle had once been great, the shining metropolis of Solitas until the Great War ended and Atlas was elevated, figuratively and literally, to take its place. The nobility of Mantle joined the Atlesians, leaving behind their city to rot. The Imperial family too, destitute and penniless. Robyn sighed, letting such thoughts go past. She needed to think of Mantle now and its future. 

The Silver Shields had opened up recruitment offices in Mantle, promising generous pay and other benefits in exchange for military service. If it was any other time, such things would be ignored but with the high of the 33 rescue, the Silver Shields being displayed prominently, people were quick to jump at the chance for employment. 

The Silver Shields were very generous, too generous, with their pay. 

She needed to know if these SS men were true to their word. If not, Mantle would be warned about their lies. Hence why she and the Happy Huntresses kept watch from the rooftop of a nearby building.

"It looks to me like a normal boot camp, Robyn," Joanna Greenleaf muttered, cocoa brown coat fluttering against the cold wind. She was a tall woman, muscled and buff. Even despite kneeling on one leg, her height was still considerable. Behind her, May Marigold nodded. 

"Same misery, same yelling," commented May, similarly coated like Joanna but with a lighter brown coat. Her hair was blue, eyes glittering like gold. 

"Do we have anyone inside there?" Robyn asked, noting with interest as bullheads arrived and hovered on a landing pad. She took out a binocular and zoomed in close to the doors. It opened and out came men clad in the Silver Shield uniform, pushing forward boxes. 

"Do...Do we really have to monitor them, Robyn?" squeaked a softer voice. Eyes turned to Fiona Thyme, the only faunus of their little group. Again, she was coated to warm herself from the Solitan frost albeit sleeveless. Robyn had hesitated to bring Fiona along for obvious reasons. After all, the SS and its employers had gone out of their way to rescue the 33. Fiona was obviously sympathetic to them, but not too sympathetic as to leave the Huntresses behind. 

"Sadly, yes," Robyn sighed as she turned back to the SS compound. "Atlesian companies have lied to our people for far too long. We need to make sure that our people aren't just going to be signing up only to be used as cannon fodder or to be abused." Her comment sparked some anger from Joanna and May, disliking the idea of Mantlese citizens dying for foreign adventures. 

"I think they know that already, Robyn," Fiona muttered, looking down at the compound. 

Mantle didn't have much opportunities to begin with, most of the good work was in Atlas. Robyn had to bite back a sigh. Factories in Mantle were closing, once productive centers laying ruined and occupied by drug users and the homeless. Ever single day, stores were closing down and the brain drain of Mantle's finest was making sure that the city was running out of talent. 

It was clear that Mantle had to be revitalized. But how?

​As she glanced down at the SS and their men, an idea came ahead. 

"We should meet the Waylands, convince them to return to Mantle with factories," Robyn suggested. Fiona's eyes widened in surprise then she shook her head in approval. Joanna and May however, frowned. 

"And why would they do that, Robyn? Most of the good stuff is in Atlas," Joanna reminded her. "What would we offer them?"

"Plus, the Waylands abandoned Mantle, alongside the rest of the nobility. They abandoned the city which gave them their titles and honors, Robyn. They abandoned you-" May tried to speak but Robyn stood up, cutting her off. 

"We all know that the Waylands are expanding. It's all up in the news that they are hiring en masse. Mantle is teeming with talented men and women, energetic and driven. They will have a massive pool of employees to hire," Robyn proposed. She turned away from the SS camp and to the distance where buildings lay in disrepair. "They could purchase land here for lesser costs. Do you all remember the Steyr Plant, in the south side of the city?"

"You mean the old foundry?" Fiona surmised. Robyn smirked, clicking her fingers. 

"Yes! Steyr was built to fuel old Mantle's armies. It will suit their expansion well, I feel," she nodded. 

"Alright..." May muttered sceptically. "Assuming we do this, how can we even contact them? It's not as if we can go and walk up to their factory and request a meeting." 

Robyn rubbed her chin, thinking about how to contact such a man. They didn't exactly have contacts that would let them waltz up to Waylands and they weren't swimming in lien to get them up towards the city either...

"We could join the SS and punch our way up the ranks to meet him?" Fiona suggested. 

Robyn paused, turning to Fiona. Joanna and May glanced back at her, faces scrunched in apprehension at the idea of wearing a military uniform. A bead of sweat ran down Fiona's face as she felt the pressure of being stared at. "Think about it!" she insisted. "We graduated at the top of our class! We are Huntresses too! It would be a quick promotion to the very top if we just give it our all!"

Robyn thought of it some more. 

They did graduate with full honors at the Academy, they simply just chose not to continue in the military. They were taught the same things that Atlesian officers new. That would count surely. Plus, she was interested to see if her fellow Mantlese were getting abused or lied to. What better way to know the truth than to dive into the maw itself?

​She nodded. "I agree with Fiona. We should join up." 

Fiona grinned, clearly pleased at the idea of joining the SS, perhaps looking forward to meeting her hero. Joanna and May however, hesitated. After much time, Joanna sighed.

"At least we aren't swearing ourselves to Atlas. I am in," she said. Their eyes turned to May who flushed at the attention. Feeling the pressure, she grit her teeth and nodded. 

​"If your lover is ugly, just take it and think of Mantle," she murmured. She glanced up. "For Mantle."

​Her cry was shared. With one voice, they repeated it with determination. "For Mantle."

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It was heat unlike anything she had ever experienced. Oh, she was familiar with heat, it was her element and soul after all. But Vacuo and its port was a different thing entirely. The sun seemed to burn through her bones and the air was humid and made breathing difficult. The dress that she was forced to wear made it much harder to stomach. The corset was tight around her midsection and made her feel like a hand was crushing her spine. Her dress reached down to her legs and her blouse covered much of her chest. Her greatest asset was her looks and body and now, she was forced to go without it?

Her displeasure was not missed, her travel partner glancing down at her with a critical eye. 

"You cannot always rely on your appeal, Miss Fall. One day, you might have to rely on other things to achieve your goals," the man advised. Cinder Fall snarled at his tone but then, she whimpered as a electric shock coursed through her body. Not enough to electrocute her but enough to make her feel pain. The guests on the ship stole a glance at them, concerned eyebrows raising but her travel partner turned to face them, face apologetic. 

"My daughter is still getting used to the heat. I am sorry to disturb you," he apologized for her. He sounded sincere, trustworthy. His appearance added to it, what with his suit and thick glasses. He looked nothing more than a travelling business-man and a daughter who hated moving around. The guests gave them one more look before shrugging and turning away. The man turned back, his trustworthy smile vanishing to that of apathy. 

"Why am I here anyway? Shouldn't I be on the hunt for..." Cinder paused, aware of their surroundings. She continued, finding her tongue. "Shouldn't I be focusing on our target market, father?"

She hated referring the man in front of her as such. She only had two such men that deserved that and both of them were dead. But appearances had to be kept, so said her 'father'

"Our benefactor has decided that you need to be trained further in the field. What better place to learn my trade other than here?" The man replied, glancing out into the docks. Vacuo was an old city, the oldest in Remnant in fact, as it was founded by the legendary Malik the Sunderer thousands of years ago. If there was some philosophical point to this exercise, Cinder missed it. 

She frowned, crossing her legs on her chair. "I fail to see the importance of a ruined Kingdom, a backwater sty." A few guests must have overheard her, judging the way they snapped at her but Cinder ignored them. They were chaff after all. But before she could bask in her thoughts, she hissed as another electric shock coursed through her. Gritting her teeth, she glared at her 'father'

"Can you stop that?" she all but growled. Her fury increased as apathetic eyes met her. 

"Our benefactor asked me to educate you. And I shall. The shocks will continue until the lessons are hammered," he replied blandly. "Your issue, dear daughter, is you feel that you are far too superior than your own good, not realizing that even the strongest and peerless warrior can be brought down by an arrow to the knee."

Cinder moved to reply but her travel partner cut her off. "I have been in this business for our benefactor for a long time, far longer than you. You will be quiet, you will learn from observing me. Do you understand me?" 

​He spoke with quiet authority, the first time he was vocally forceful. He had been pleasant with others but apathetic to her. Cinder hated him. She wanted to burn his face off. But...Salem had sent her here for a reason and if she wanted power, she had to do as she was asked. 

"Fine," she sighed, her shoulders sagging. 

"Good," smiled the man. "Still, we are on a important mission, Miss Fall. Our benefactor has other plans in motion, such plans are undergoing now in Atlas as we speak. I must say, I was rather impressed at the level of cooperation seen during the rescue. Humanity surprises me." 

He shook his head. "Anyway, my admiration for that event aside, we must discuss our affairs here. I am your father, you are my daughter. You are not a Fall but...?"

​She sighed. "Your daughter, Cinder Strangelove." 

Henry Strangelove smiled. 

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A/N: Who do you think is more evil, Cinder or Henry Kissinger?

This is also a younger Cinder btw.