Destiny No More

Chapter 94

General Ironwood stepped off of his airship with a scowl permanently affixed to his face.

The grounds of Beacon had never been his home, despite the fact that he had seen them countless times, and yet he still was able to navigate the school with a practiced ease that demanded only a fraction of his thought. The rest of his mind was focused on analyzing the horrendous turn of events that he hadn't ever predicted truly coming to pass.

The day that Ozpin of all people stood by and allowed Vale to begin military rearmament, even in a limited fashion, was a day that Ironwood had long once hoped for when the two had worked together. Now, it signified the end of an unprecedented era of peace.

General Ironwood knew, intellectually, that the meeting had been an olive branch. They had called it a peace summit, despite the fact that no media had been invited. The Council of Vale, the group responsible for the whole affair, had gone to great lengths to disguise the entire thing as a meeting about security for the upcoming festival right up to the point the doors finally closed. They had even mandated that people keep their scrolls out of the meeting hall, in a rare instance of self-awareness on their part. The Council knew that they could not let word get out about what was really being discussed.

To call the Council's decision a request would have been the polite way of putting things. It was a demand in all but name, although between the politics of the matter and the fact that Atlas had the largest military on the planet, with much of it within Vale's own boarders, necessitated that they tried to be as diplomatic as possible. Vale had called in Mistral to represent a united front, even if the fledgling military would have offered little resistance in the grand scheme of things. Atlas had at it's fingertips the ability to wipe out the other three kingdoms if it truly came to that, but the idea didn't bring him pride. That hadn't even been the biggest shock of the day.

Winter had resigned her commission, finally stepping out of the Atlesian military. Her rather dramatic actions on the ship had been followed by a formal request sent through the proper channels. The request hadn't yet been approved, but there was no legal grounds for him to interfere and if he stepped in to force her it was unclear what her next action would be. Forcing someone to fight was not easy, especially when they no longer believed in the cause... or when they no longer believed in their leader.

Her words had stuck with him, though they had perhaps failed to reach him in the way she no doubt wished.

In truth, the General hadn't felt much of anything in weeks. There hadn't been time to allow for personal distractions with their enemy closing in on them. They were running out of time, every moment spent eating or sleeping was a moment that he could have been using to bulk up their supply lines or stage their troops in a more advantageous position. He still ate of course, but only what his body needed to function. Sleep was even easier to push back, given how little the human body truly required, especially given just how much of his was now artificial.

There was a distant feeling of anger, even through the ironclad lock on his emotions that was his Semblance. Oddly enough, the anger didn't feel directed at any one individual on the council, and it was for that reason that he had not immediately called on his latest asset to have such an individual removed. That, and the publicity that it would bring. The Council of Vale knew he had some hand in Councilmen Greenwood's death, though they had not made any public allegations. It was obvious though, in the way they talked and acted. He had been too inactive on the investigation, and that had likely given away his hand. Pulling Specialist Schnee from the task force had been a mistake, at least she had made some noticeable enough progress that the Council had stayed away from the truth. Now, with Atlas dragging their feet, the distraction was over and they were done pretending.