Save the world? Fuck that, I want to make money! (RWBY SI) ch 28 (Patreon)

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General Ironwood sat down. This was the time that all of Atlas had been waiting for, the vote to shatter the SDC. Arguments had been made in sessions for and against it. Lawyers of the SDC saying that if they would do so, the economy of Atlas would be in ruins trying to organize such a thing. They had promised that if the Council would spare the SDC, they would remove the rot that the SDC had cultivated. They had used such things and with complex words that economists would understand to frighten the people and the ruling establishment. However, Ironwood wasn't interested in such things when the establishment itself had allowed the rot to set in. Only the military could be trusted to keep to its loyalty and honor.

However…

He stole a glance at Yeaman nervously trying to make himself look small as the pro-SDC camp glared at him. He had risked much to place Jacques behind bars and his former patrons wouldn't forget such betrayal. If anything, Yeaman was proof that there still existed nobility in Atlas if only they could find their courage.

"Momentous day, eh?" A bright and soldierly voice spoke up next to him, occupying the seat which had once been Florianne Geyer's. In his brown colors, a walrus mustache and round spectacles, Theo Rider was a striking contrast. Large yet gentle, a rough but sophisticated. In one moment, he spoke with a fluid grace one could expect from a man who spent time with books, in another he could be loud and boisterous. The Bund had chosen their replacement for Geyer at the last minute, picking a hitherto unknown candidate that lead their ranch union.

"Momentous day," Ironwood agreed with a nod. The Bund representative sat like he owned the seat, unbothered by the looks sent his way.

"Have you decided how to vote?" Theo asked, turning to the General.

"Have you?"

Theo grinned. "Let's gut the bastards!" He said with sheer apparent joy. "The SDC have made a mockery of Atlas with their corporatism. I am partial to the free market, a man ought to earn after all. But if a man has a pie and sells it for a hundred lien, keeping ninety for himself and ten for the baker, then that ain't a square deal."

He gave General Conrad and Councillor Ferdinand a look. "Let's give Atlas what it deserves."

"This will mean a lot for the Faunus. You are not bothered by that?" Ironwood asked.

"Atlesian citizens, you mean," Theo smirked. "A square deal for them will mean a square deal for all."

Now he understood why the Bund sent Theo Rider. The Grimm may have taken Florianne Geyer. But Theo was basically a replacement.

The punching of a gavel against wood silenced all murmurs in the Council Chambers. "The voting to shatter the SDC begins today! Ladies and Gentlemen of the Council, take your seats and prepare!"

The murmurs all died down as the Councillors plainly took their seats. The Clerk of the Council cleared his throat before speaking. "The rules of the Council are thus: the majority rules. We shall now begin by calling upon Councillor Conrad Cadorna. How do you vote?"

The old general stood up, clad in a resplendent uniform and with the medals of his long service. A quiet statement of protest against him, Ironwood felt. "I vote, no!" He declared as a massive red holographic NO formed above his head. Immediately, the White Fang and their supporters stood up from their seats to express their displeasure with hooting and hollering. Conrad sat back down, pleased with himself.

"Councillor Theo Rider! How do you vote?"

"Aye!" the Bund representative roared to the cheers of the crowd and the jeers of the pro-SDC camp. He gave Conrad a brief look of displeasure before sitting down. Rider turned to Ironwood, grinning.

"I think Geyer would be pleased," he said.

"She would be," Ironwood replied watching as the next two Councillors were called.

"No!" Ferdinand yelled out. "Gods no!"

He did not wince as a ocean of displeasure went his way. He sat back down and glared at Yeaman. He stood up slowly, face white as snow and sweat rolling down his face. "Y..." he gulped as he took in a breath. "Yes!"

Four votes. Two Yeses, Two No's. All eyes and attention was affixed on Ironwood who closed his eyes, feeling the weight of the world on him. His vote was the one that would decide Atlas's future. If he voted yes then finally, the SDC would be reminded that it served the Kingdom and not the other way around. If he voted no...then the one opportunity they had to make things right was gone. He stole a glance at Conrad and Ferdinand all looking at him expectantly. He did not know how much the others knew about his disagreement with Yeaman but it was public about his stance about the SDC. To observers, he would either vote no or abstain. Both of which were good for the SDC. But Ironwood had given it thought.

This was an opportunity too golden to toss away. He...he still did not trust the businessmen. They would always prioritize money over the Kingdom, such was their bottomline. But Yeaman and Wayland both showed to him that there still those of that class that would do the right thing, prioritizing the greater good of the kingdom than their own profits. If they could do that then so could he.

Between his paranoia of those not of the military and his love of Atlas, he loved Atlas more.

"General Ironwood? How do you vote?" the Clerk asked.

He made his vote.

"General?"

His eyes hardened as he stood up, looking directly into the cameras. "I vote aye, Mister Clerk. AYE!"

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The drawing room of Royal and Imperial was what one would expect from a factory. In one corner was a board where numerous schematics lay from the simple crisscross of the Defender rifle to the more advanced and complicated Crocodile Assault Craft. But schematics wasn't what was there. A great holographic table stood at the center, glowing brightly as small figurines were displayed. Winter stood on one side, arms crossed, as she watched Alexander deploy a humanoid mech that stood at twenty five feet. They had returned from the field, Winter seeing the results of Alexander's tinkering. The more she saw him work, the more she thought that Atlas ought to put a tight leash on his madness lest he make terrifying world ending weapons.

"These mechs are called Titans and as you can see, they are meant to be a mobile weapon's platform and provide instant and overpowering fire support. With these, it is guaranteed that you can vaporize whatever Grimm the pilot sees. The outer exoskeleton is made out of dust infused titanium with a little bit more armour at weak points such as the joints. Grimm may be soulless creatures of the night but even they know how to tear a man apart," Alexander described with a neutral tone, as if he wasn't just describing how horrific the Grimm were. "As for weapons, well, our existing stock of autocannons, howtizers, and a bigger minigun serve as reliable primary weapons. The Titans will also be customizable for the pilots to add in a little extra firepower; missile-pods, dust grenades, mortars, so much more."

Alexander then pressed a bit more buttons and five more soldiers appeared. All clad in light powered suits with backpacks and not just backpacks but a miniature minigun on the shoulder, missile pods, and even a autocannon. "However, the Titan will need support. This is where the power armored troops will come in to protect the Titan. With a thruster, they can be mobile infantry, if you will," Alexander said with a giggle, a joke only he knew. Clearing his throat, he continued.

"They will be armed with a new primary weapon, the Lancer rifle," he declared. Winter's eyes was beheld to a weapon she was pretty sure could only come from a child. It was big, bulky, and had a chainsaw attached. "It will fire the same round that the Deuce shoots to make logistics easier and also because the round itself has been a guaranteed Grimm killer. The Lancer will not just be the only weapon available but shotguns, machine guns, and so much more."

Another click. "To deploy them, I intend to have them fielded by the Navy since they pretty much are the ones with the capacity to transport them."

Winter could visualize it now, an Atlesian position under threat of being overrun then suddenly, an Atlesian airship sweeps in to let the titanfall alongside the Mobile Infanry. Yes...that would work. General Ironwood would no longer be complaining about the lack of firepower anytime soon. "The General will be pleased," Winter commented.

"Of course he will. He will have with him a force more potent than what anyone else here can field, barring the Grimm or an army of Huntsmen," Alexander shivered, saying Huntsmen with a particular shiver.

"You say Huntsmen with derision, Alexander."

"Of course I do. Huntsmen are walking overpowered heroes with magical abilities," Alexander scoffed.

"We are not magical," Winter insisted. "Semblances are not magic. I thought you learned this at the Academy."

Alexander gave her a long look. "Winter, I can make weapons out of my soul and you can use ice glyphs. If I was someone from a world without magic, we might as well be magical." He then shrugged his shoulders. "I am not going to ponder on that though. With these weapons, the average Johann could become as good as a huntsman and have more of them."

Winter could nod with that at least. There was a reason why Atlas still kept its military unlike the others who chose to disband them. Not every Huntsman could be deployed to every single town or village. Winter could not help but voice it out. "It is something interesting to ponder how Atlas, the defeated Kingdom, retained its army while Vale the victorious power disbanded theirs. There had been numerous reasons touted: the cost of having an army near bankrupted the Valean kingdom so they had to be let go. I am more partial to Professor Gooderian's theory that since the other kingdoms had no functional military, Vale had no threat to its supremacy and thu-"

Winter paused, realizing that Alexander had been staring at her with a particular smile. Her cheeks flushed. She coughed into a closed fist. "Ignore that."

"No no, by all means, continue," Alexander laughed. "I have been talking and talking for awhile, it's only fair that I listen to you."

"I'm not particularly interesting!" Winter insisted.

"Not to me," he laughed again. He was doing that again, teasing her. It wasn't particularly something that bothered Winter. She already knew Alexander and they've shared an amiable relationship since the mine rescue. If anything, Winter realized how much she really needed to go and find friends. Alexander already was the start. A good one if she thought so herself. Kind, gentlemanly when he had to be and casual in ways that Winter was comfortable with. And so, Winter allowed herself to relax some more as she thought about how best to talk about her interests.

"Do you feel that Atlas's military guarantees global peace or is it a threat to it?" Winter asked.

Alexander hummed, turning off the holo-table to ponder her question. "How about you speak for the military while I speak against it?"

She snorted. "My answer would be rather biased, don't you think?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "That's true," he said as he rubbed his chin. "Well, I feel that Atlas having  a military does guarantee world stability as like you said, there isn't a huntsman available for every village and town out there."

"In a demilitarized world, there have been arguments that Atlas having an army dirties Remnant and could be used to enforce Atlesian supremacy over other Kingdoms," Winter said, recalling certain rags she had read before. While she didn't believe Atlas would do that, she could understand where it came from.

"From the perspective of others, yeah I can understand that," Alexander nodded. "But we aren't exactly doing that and only the most insane and nostalgic fossil in the Old Guard would want to go on a grand Imperialist conquest spree. History has shown that the other kingdoms won't go down without a fight."

Winter nodded at that, aware of how ferocious the Valeans were in defending their homeland and how zealously Vacuo fought to repel the invading armies of Mantle and Mistral. "The Atlesian military exists only to protect our people and our kingdom, we would never be conquering marauders like old Mantle was," Winter said proudly. She had expected Alexander to agree with her, proud Atlesian he was but he only shook his head.

"What's wrong?" Winter asked.

"We certainly can't go mustering armies and invade other kingdoms like it's a Hearts of Iron game. So we do it through technology," Alexander said, voice cynical. "The Great War ended and ruined the world. Our armies were lost but we did have one thing going for us, our technology. Say Vale does something that displeases us and we decide to permanently shut off the CCT at Beacon, we could isolate the kingdom from the rest of the world."

"We would never!" Winter said, horrified and repulsed at the idea.

"That's right, we won't. And I hope we won't," Alexander said, shaking his head to Winter's relief.

"I'm surprised. I thought you would enjoy that, wars would create demand," Winter could not help but comment.

"Oh please," Alexander scoffed. "I may want money and I would certainly push the very edge of my semblance to shatter Remnant's skies but I will not start a war if it could be helped. Why the hell should we wage wars against the other kingdoms or Menagerie when the Grimm still exist?"

That was true. Wars wouldn't do good for any kingdom on Remnant. Atlas itself wasn't populous compared to Vale or Mistral. Blasted, sunny Vacuo had more people compared to Atlas. If a war happened, it would devastate the kingdom. "Little wonder then that the Council authorized research on the Atlesian Knight. If things come to pass, we never would have to risk Atlesians on the front lines ever again."

"Why on earth are you going to threaten your job like that?" Alexander asked, face quizzical. "Robots will have their place surely but nothing will ever beat an organic army. Mankind rules, flesh can go drool."

"But Atlesian Knights can do things normal soldiers can't, Alexander," Winter retorted. "They do not feel fear, they do not need to eat, and with our low population, they can supplement our short population."

"Then people ought to make more babies!" the Wayland heir declared. "Fuck like their lives depended on it!"

Winter gasped at the blatant and unashamed swearing. With cheeks red from embarrassment and scandal, she strode up to him. "Alexander Wayland! Have you no shame!? Why, if Weiss or Whitley said that, I'd be cleaning their tongues with soap!"

"I'm an adult, I can swear as much as I like," Alexander replied. "And besides, you must admit that Atlas doesn't have stellar birth rates. If this keeps up, we'd have a demographic crisis on our hands."

Despite his crude way of putting it, he did have a point. Shaking her head, Winter pulled back whilst crossing her arms. "And what would your solutions be, oh Captain of State?" she asked sarcastically.

"Grant parents tax breaks to produce children, mothers and fathers the time to get off work to attend to their families, increase wages to allow them to support themselves. And we co-"

It was then the doors opened and in came a group of women all wearing Silver Shield uniforms. "Mantle! You cannot forget Mantle!" their leader cried aloud, eyes wide and a sheen of sweat running down her forehead. Her skin was tanned slightly and her hair a light blonde. Accompanying her was a faunus girl with olive eyes, a taller recruit with a darker tan, and one final recruit with a lighter shade and with blue hair. All were clad in the Wayland Blue Uniform. 

"What is the meaning of this?" the Atlesian Specialist cried out, her sword appearing in her hand. In a place that was only for authorized persons, she could not help but be alarmed at the sudden intrusion. It wasn't just her too, Alexander had joined in with his own sword, eyes narrowed and ready to fight. 

"Wait! Wait! We aren't here to fight!" the faunus girl cried out, raising her hands. 

"Who're you?" Alexander asked, eyeing the apparent Silver Shields. The women all lined up, saluting him. "New recruits, Mister Wayland," the blonde introduced for them. "Private Robyn Hill!" 

"F-Fiona Thyme," the faunus girl introduced herself, still shaking from the glare Winter sent her way.

"Joanna Greenleaf," the taller woman said, seeing Winter glare at her friend and frowning. 

"May Marigold," the blue-haired girl said at last, narrowing her eyes at Winter. 

Winter's memories tugged at the familiar names. Looking back, she had recalled a minor scandal that had happened the year previously where some talented graduates had spurned General Ironwood during the graduation ceremony, crying out about the rights of Mantle. The General was humiliated as the four declared they would never serve Atlas and declared their lives for Mantle instead. "You were the ones that humiliated General Ironwood," she hissed. 

"Damn right we did," May sneered. "And we had fun doing it too. What are you going to do about it, puppy?" 

Winter could only see red. "How dare yo-" she seethed as she took a step forward ready to beat the cowards within an inch of their lives but Alexander held out his hand, stopping her. She turned to him, glaring. "Take back your hand, Wayland! I will beat these....these....these faithless cowards black and blue!" 

"Oh yeah? If you can, puppy!" cackled May as Joanna cracked her fists. Steam left Winter's nose as the bastards successfully baited her but Alexander made his presence known as he cried out, "Enough!" His voice was like thunder, enough to reduce Winter to snap out of it and stand at attention. 

"Enough, you barbarians," Alexander hissed. "Calm." 

"If they explain themselves first," Winter insisted, staring at the women who dared spurn General Ironwood and Atlas. Alexander nodded, turning back to Robyn. 

"You idiots are lucky Land isn't here or he would have sorted the lot of you," Alexander said. "Drop your weapons on the floor and explain yourselves," he said, his tone firm and not tolerating dissent. 

"Robyn?" the three women asked, turning to their leader. Robyn sighed. "We did sneak into here..." She looked up. "Drop them, Fiona."

​The sheep faunus stammered then sighed. Not a second later, the office brightened up as their weapons fell on the floor. Alexander looked at it first, interested. He blinked in confusion as he saw nothing more but a staff and a crossbow. 

"That's it?" He asked in obvious disappointment. "I was expecting something with a bit more...panache." 

Fiona stammered. "Uhm..." Shaking slightly, the sheep faunus sighed again and soon, a stash of weapons appeared on the floor. Defender rifles, Deuces, Buzzsaws, and so much more. Alexander's disappointment turned into horror. ''What the fuck?"

Winter wouldn't even begrudge him for swearing. Fiona tried to make herself look small as the Wayland heir turned to look at her.

"Fiona's semblance allows her to put things into a pocket dimension," Robyn explained. 

"And have you all been stealing things from my factory?" Alexander would have yelled if not for his own personal control of his emotions. 

"S-sorry!" Fiona cried.

"Less stealing, more like borrowing without permission," Joanna added unhelpfully. 

"That's being a thief!" Winter yelled for Alexander. She turned to Alexander. "Requesting your permission to once again beat them black and blue, Wayland!"

"Please! We aren't her to start a fight!" Robyn Hill desperately added. "Please! We have given our weapons down. You promised to hear me out!" 

"Make it quick," Alexander said, his mood clearly foul. 

Robyn grimaced. "....We sneaked in here to find you. I wanted to convince you to return Royal and Imperial back to Mantle and open your newer factory there."

"How did you sneak past the other Silver Shields?" Winter couldn't help but ask. 

"Invisibility, newbie. My semblance turns things invisible," May informed them. Winter gave her a dirty look. If that was it then there was little wonder they sneaked in. 

"You say that you are here to speak with me," Alexander hissed. "But you have enough guns here to arm a platoon of men with plenty more to spare."

"That can be explained!" Robyn quickly explained. "We....we...."

"I will hear your damn reasons when I don't feel like throwing you idiots from a bullhead," Alexander seethed. "You lot surrender quietly and now or I will have Winter here beat you within an inch of your damn life."

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A/N: Sorry for the sluggish pace. I have had uni for the past days and its kept me away.