Sent To Protect and Serve Humanity

Chapter 54: Dinner Disputes

3rd POV

To say the group in the shared dorm was surprised was saying the least.

Weiss held out an invitation to the banquet hall at Schnee Manor, a look of disgust on her face. "Only my father would turn a hostile takeover into a fluffy PR movie."

At his girlfriend's side on their bed, Onwards buried his face in his palms. The rest of the room shared the boy's sentiment, specifically the other faunus in the room. Ruby watched from their bed, Blake and Courageous sat in chairs opposite of the bunk, Oscar leaned against the wall separating the bunks, and Yang sat on the ground beside the cats. At the desks on the other side of the room, Perth and Valorous both looked stressed at the laptop they were going through.

"On the news, he said he just wanted to break bread and hash things out. Maybe it won't be so bad? We do want the General to start opening up to these people, right?" Ruby questioned, a bit frustrated.

"Yeah, but on his terms. Ironwood's going to be locked in a room at his rival's own dinner party. I know Jacques says he's happy to moderate, but all that really means is he'll be the one controlling the conversation." Oscar said, uncomfortably shifting.

Courageous sighed and leaned back in her chair. "Not hard to imagine how that's gonna play out." She balanced the chair on its back legs, earning a frown from her partner. "What?"

"I still can't believe he won. Robyn was supposed to be the people's champion, wasn't she?" Weiss sighed and rested her head on her partner's tense shoulder. "There's just too many coincidences-"

"Found it!" Valorous eagerly exclaimed, throwing his arms up in celebration before slightly wincing. "Ow." He rubbed his nearly recovered chest.

Perth chuckled with relief, patting the boy on the back. "You always were the smarter twin."

Blake rolled her eyes at the jab at her partner. "What is it?"

The two boys grabbed the laptop and hurried over to the group. They presented a screen full of repeating lines of code and text, making it hard to discern anything.

"Right here!" Valorous pointed at the screen. "There was a stream of data that interfered with the polls!"

"Great! We have proof!" Yang smiled, standing up.

"Well..." Perth closed the laptop and handed it to the frigate. "We need more evidence. Whoever rigged the election knew how to hide their tracks. Really well, too." He sighed.

Courageous watched her brother retrieve a chip from the laptop and insert it into his head. "Well, what's the plan?"

Ruby jumped down from her bunk and began to formulate one such idea. "We need more evidence, right?" She turned to the snowy couple. "Weiss, no one knows your dad better than you, and out of everyone going tonight, I'd say you're the only one who could snoop around the house and not be questioned."

Weiss pondered the idea for a moment before shaking her head. "I wouldn't be able to sneak Onwards around with me. He'd get questioned for his looks alone." She frowned.

Onwards set a hand on her shoulder with a reassuring look. "Darling, we need you to do this."

The Schnee would respond with a cold stare. "I'm not leaving your side." She leaned in and whispered. "Till death do us part."

While this happened, Courageous felt a devious grin form on her face. "Onnie, catch!" She tossed an object at him with a chuckle. "Velvet told me to destroy it, but I figured I'd hold onto it. Just in case~" She winked at him.

While Weiss' eyes lit up with joy and determination, Onwards' expression sunk, just like his now drooping ears.

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