章 1924: 154
"Sir, reports from Mantle, as you requested. I…" Winter paused as she handed her datapad over to the General, chewing her lip as she looked to the side. "May I speak freely, General?"
"Of course, Specialist. You're always free to talk with me- we're both in on this hellhole of a ride that Oz put us on, no sense in acting like the chain of command still matters," Ironwood answered, sighing heavily as he leaned back in his chair and rubbed the short scrub of his beard- with how many hours he was working now to keep Atlas stable now, after the scare with the Winter Maiden and just… everything that had gone on there, plus the rising unrest among the populace of Mantle and the amount of resources he was devoting to the plans to fortify Atlas itself were taking away precious hours to actually shave . Really, growing it out had been the only option at that point- Specialist Schnee and the Ace Ops had all agreed that it made him look a bit more personable with a well groomed beard, so he'd kept it after finding that he really couldn't be bothered to shave after a while. "What is it?"
"Well it's just… with the Amity Colosseum moving back to Vale soon, plus the rising amount of Dust we need to even power the systems within and keep the city working… I can't help but wonder if it wouldn't just be better to… not… try to raise Atlas into the upper atmosphere? The improvements to the shield generators that keep the majority of the weather out are going well, but the power draw is unfeasible to keep going long term- we'd have to land or return to Mantle, and the city might not survive something like that multiple times… the ascension will already strain the life support, doing it multiple times might shatter the systems entirely," Winter mentioned, wincing as she drew back ever so slightly, already regretting the words the moment she said them, but plowing on anyway because, really, she'd been having doubts ever since Cinder's tirade at them during the incident some while ago. Were they really doing the right thing? Who was to say? It still didn't feel right, though, that the General's plan didn't call for a supervised evacuation of Mantle- too many resources at the moment, he said, they'd plan for it later, he said… but… did he really? If there really were too many White Fang sympathizers among the faunus population, wouldn't them getting left behind only breed more resentment? She shook her head, then continued speaking. "Plus… with the amount of civil unrest already caused by the Mantle curfews, I don't know if trying to raise Atlas will be at all worth it. There's not enough room for food production up here- not on a scale where we can actually maintain the majority of Atlas' current population, plus the energy production and the materials cost… Mantle is strained as it is trying to keep up with our demands, the people are angry- not just faunus but humans too, and locking down the local CCT Network to prevent public naysayers from speaking out is just going to make them more angry-"
"Schnee. That's enough." Ironwood cut her off with a raised hand and a slightly raised voice, glowering ever so slightly in a way that Winter didn't like. "Yes. I'm aware of those problems. Needless to say, I have all of Atlas' top men and women working on solutions to them as we speak. There are drones we can repurpose for the use of mining surface deposits, plus shuttles and dropships we can still use to keep Mantle reinforced from afar. If there's not enough space for food production, we can just consolidate more of the population here into a smaller area and use the freed up land and buildings for hydroponics. We just need the time to implement those solutions and we'll be back to normal, and Mantle won't have to worry about a thing."
"But sir- the cable chutes, what about those? There's no way to properly disconnect them from Atlas without crushing entire portions of Mantle and there's no way to leave them hanging from Atlas without them becoming a wind hazard… And the grimm, even if they don't attack Atlas itself, without the fast response time we have now, Mantle doesn't stand a chance! Not unless we permanently station the entire military down below- and even then, with how angry the people are-" Winter sighed, then shook her head again as Ironwood gave her another harsh look, one that promised angry words should she keep trying to poke holes in the plan that they were currently following.
"Every single concern you have has been brought up already, Specialist. There's no need to worry- we'll handle it. The scientists in the R&D labs are working on it and once we have everyone safe there won't be any need to worry about it anymore. It'll work out- you'll see," Ironwood tried to comfort Winter, but… it almost sounded like he was only concerned about the technological and logistical problems that Atlas would have- the engineering challenges that they'd face trying to make sure the city itself would survive a trip to the upper atmosphere. Would that they could live so easily, without needing to fear for the logistics of things… it was cold comfort, really, when he hadn't mentioned anything to quell the people's fears- not in Mantle, where the poor and downtrodden and segregated of the city continued to live in continuously deteriorating conditions with increasingly harsh working conditions and mandatory quotas that they were forced to meet. The military presence down there was drawing harsh criticism, there were more and more soldiers wondering if they were doing the right thing- there were more and more soldiers reacting to the hostility with yet more hostility. The city was a powder keg ready to blow, and if Salem attacked now, with none of the Maidens to help, without the trump card that was Penny, without the trump card that was Ruby Rose …. They might actually be lost. The city would fall, the people would die. It'd be for nothing.
It'd all be for nothing. Remnant would be destabilized entirely, the CCT Network would go down, so much proprietary technology would stop working… she could almost see it like a vision of the future- Atlas in flames, falling from the sky. Mantle, in open combat against the soldiers that were supposed to be there to protect them but only wound up becoming a tool of fear and oppression. Greedy men and women, consolidating as much of their wealth as they could even when they were minutes from death. Grimm everywhere, tearing man, woman, and children to shreds alike and leaving the streets running red with blood- and at the end of it all, the city falling from the sky, crushing the people below as the lifted island crashed back into the crater it came from and leaving no survivors- falling in such a way that it smashed through the wall separating the city from the ocean, flooding the ruins of both cities until nothing was left but a lake full of the dead.
Winter didn't want that.
Winter-
Winter didn't know what she wanted. She had her duty to the military, and the military's stated duty was to protect the people of Atlas- wasn't it?
"I… of course, General," Winter murmured, acquiescing at Ironwood's tone and backing down from her concerns. It was clear that she wouldn't get anywhere further, and that everything she'd said would likely not matter in the end.
It hurt that, even after so many years, the General wouldn't take her concerns into consideration when the city was on the verge of collapsing as it was- metaphorically, if not physically. There was nothing she could do at this stage, except maybe try to help where she could. Even if it meant going against orders… but… wouldn't that make her a criminal? A deserter? Someone who didn't belong anywhere…
She shook her head, then, at Ironwood's dismissal, left.
Her mind raced as she strode through the seemingly endless hallways, taking a random path through the secure checkpoints as she left the central headquarters where Ironwood's office was and found herself in more public areas towards the center of the city- lower down, with more people and fewer checkpoints. How long had it been since she'd actually been one of the people? It felt like she'd never been one of them- born to the richest family on Remnant, growing up wanting for nothing but her parents' love, joining the military, throwing herself into her duties…
She really wasn't one of the people, and yet she still wanted to… wanted to help them. Because she hadn't been able to protect or help the people she already found herself walking among- fellow Huntsmen and Huntresses in Team CMNE and JNPR and Professor Goodwitch.
And then, as she stormed along…
"Hey. You look like you're having a bit of a crisis. Something bit you real bad about this whole situation, huh?"
The voice of a woman broke through her confusion, making Winter stop and look to the side.
And there she was- Robyn Hill. Mantle's favorite politician and hometown hero, candidate to join the Atlesian council in the upcoming election.
"Come with me, I got a feeling I've got just what you need."
"And… what is that?"
"A friend."
Notes:
Robyn Hill is based and I wish she got to do more stuff in V8
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