Save the world? Fuck that, I want to make money! (RWBY SI) ch 64

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As I left the theater and settled onto the car, pleased that I was finally getting somewhere, my scroll rang. I took it out then frowned. 

"Land, what is it?" I asked, the car moving forward as the driver pushed it. 

"Sir, we lost contact with one of our towns in the frontier," Land informed me, his voice grim. In the background, a mountain of activity rolled off behind him. He took a step inside a barn, looking over his shoulder and frowning at the blood splattered against the walls and turned back to me.

My lips went thin. Even if Royal and Imperial pushed to the very edges of innovation, losses were expected to happen. Defeats were few and far between but it was not uncommon. A convoy of troops get surrounded in the wilds and massacred. A town with little heavy support gets overwhelmed by a larger enemy. "What town was this?" I asked, my voice level. 

"Some no name village, Gevaudan," Land sniffed. "It's a small hamlet that got a platoon of Shields watching them. Well, there was a platoon of Shields watching them." 

"Is their equipment accounted for?" I asked carefully. Equipment that could still be recovered would be taken back. It was a waste to simply let it rot when it can be re-used again. 

"Well, the guns are good," Land said, looking over his shoulder. "Their armour's been smashed to bits though." 

I narrowed my eyes as I settled on Land's sudden silence. "Is there a problem, Land?" 

"Yes, there's a problem," Land snarked. "Valean Army sent guys here. They got bagged by the Grimm except for one." 

"Pity for them," I remarked, snorting. At the start, Vale was touching its toes back into having a military again and it wasn't uncommon where they had to call us for support. But as the years went and they became more sophisticated, they relied on us less and less. I paused as I raised an eyebrow. "And the problem?" 

We've not had shooting incidents with each other before. Most issues stemmed from jurisdiction fights over who got to hold who. Eventually, it was settled on a first come basis per our contractors who generally preferred the Shields mostly. A sense of Vale forgetting about them existing was a real feeling across the Kingdom and having heavily armed men and women from the city donning a flag only the oldest of people remembered was not a welcome sight in the woods and valleys that was Vale's country.

"The girl we fished out of the town well is a inane rambling mess, blabbering about some newer and badder Grimm never seen before," Land recounted. "Said it's what slaughtered our Shields and her unit." 

​"Where is she?" I asked. 

"She's getting treated in one of our transports, boss," Land said gruffly. "Not only that, she said she has other things to say. Only to you though." 

I paused to consider the information presented to me. Grimm did evolve into bigger and badder versions of themselves but that took time. A whole lot of time. Grimm mostly never got to reach that level of growth as huntsmen and troops from the Kingdoms would generally cull their populations. The few that managed to wise up enough were dangerous, cunning, and capable of downing even the most experienced of huntsmen. 

"She's well enough to talk, I assume? Not strapped to a machine?" I asked. 

Land shook his head. "No, boss. Asides from some bruises and a cold, she's alright." 

"Get me talking to her, please." I requested. I looked over my scroll and to the driver. "Max, be a champ and drive around please. This is going to be a long ride." 

My driver nodded, swerving into another street. 

Land found himself under a looming shadow. Said shadow being the ugliest air craft he had ever seen in his long years of service to Royal and Imperial. The Gharial was the latest generation troop transport fielded by the company. It was heavily armoured and two of them could land a company of men anywhere at a moment's notice. It certainly would not win any favours in a beauty contest, he snorted. It had an extended snout that was its cockpit hence its Gharial name. Once it landed, it could lower ramps which were its storage and emptied. With a few modifications, it could be used as a makeshift base or whatever practical purposes a commanding shield wanted. 

There and on a chair sat a young woman, a thick blanket covering her wet tan uniform. She looked around, in awe, at the sheer amount of activity present around her. Standing next to her was a single minder, bored out of his mind. He stood straighter as Land approached

"You! Private Hitch was it?" Land called out to her. She squeaked as Land's drill sergeant like voice echoed around. 

"Y-yes, sir!" she cried, standing at attention, her blanket falling down into the floor. 

"My boss wants to have a talk with you. Follow me into the transport, you will have a nice conversation, understood?" 

"Y-yes!" 

​Despite myself, I couldn't help but snort. Fucking Land. "Land, stop trying to intimidate her." 

"What do you mean, I am not intimidating," Land snorted as he looked over his shoulder. "I'm not intimidating, right, soldier?" 

"No sir!" Hitch cried, utterly terrified. 

I shook my head.

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Hitch found herself lead into a spacious interior. It was wide, with multiple seats on each side and a single door that lead into a cockpit. One red light provided illumination inside, the glass windows having been polarised at first glance. The colorfully dressed Huntsman for what else could that Land was took a step forward and planted a metal disc on the floor. Not a second later, a hologram came to life depicting a uniformed man in a dark blue trench coat with gold buttons and a visor cap. His face was handsome, with volcano red eyes and a quick easy smile. He had a kindly look to him despite the fact he was the man responsible for the world's arms distribution. 

"Mister Wayland, s-sir," Private Hitch whispered in awe. What else could she do when faced with the richest man on the planet? 

"Private Hitch, right?" Alexander Wayland greeted her. His voice was kind, comforting. Hitch felt at ease quickly, the anxiety in her heart calming. 

"Y-yessir," she stammered. Brothers above, she was a mess. She felt damp all over and her hair was frazzled. She cursed, her true accent reverting out of her mouth. 

"Calm down, trooper. This isn't a tribunal where you are on trial. You are safe, I promise you," he vowed. "Now, how are your injuries? Have you been treated well?" 

She nodded, hesitantly. With his words in mind, she found the courage to speak. "They'z..." she breathed. "They gave me a hot drink and patched up my injuries. I...fell into the well when the Grimm...the Grimm..." 

She shivered. Tan did not even get a chance to react when the massive Grimm rushed through the open wall as if it was nothing and tore chunks out of them with its jaws. Sonne and Luna reacted fast, unloading everything their Clarions had into the Grimm but it...it...

"The Grimm...they killed everyone!" Hitch began to shiver. "Tan! Sonne! Luna! We shot at it with our rifles but it did not die! We gave everything we have into the mean sunnva bitch but it just could not die!" 

As the trooper's body threatened to hyperventilate, Land moved forward, a strong hand placed on her shoulder. "Slow down your breathing, slow it!" Land said calmly but firmly. 

"Breathe. Gentle. All gentle now. Breathe." Land continued. Hitch did as ordered. Her heart still pounded in her chest, the icy fear inside of her body continued but she did as commanded. Her eyes wide and open, her mouth agape slightly. She still was afraid, afraid for her life, but she was not going to die. Not anytime soon. 

"I'm sorry," she swallowed. Tears swelled in her vision as she glanced at the floor. "I'm sorry..." 

Land sighed, pulling her into a embrace she did not resist. He glanced at me, sharing an awkward look. I held back my tongue, letting the panicked girl play out her emotions as Land held her tight. A minute later, she sat by one of the empty seats as Land loomed over. She sat awkwardly, a canteen nearby she had taken sips from. 

"S-sorry, Mister Wayland. I-"

I waved her off. "Don't worry, trooper. I understand." I smiled.

"I can talk now. I promise." Hitch nodded. 

"Then let's hear it," I said, turning to Land who walked off to stand by the doorway that led down the Gharial. 

"It was a Grimm unlike anything I've seen before, sir." Hitch swallowed. "The Grimm that got my squad, it was 2 meters tall. It l-looked like a beowolf, I think. But it had more plates, spines even." 

I nodded, listening carefully. Hitch continued, her gloved fingers scrunched on the hem of her pants. "...There were others. I just could not see them. They were slaughtering my unit. I...I jumped into a well and hid there." 

"How did you escape when Grimm are attracted to fear?" I asked, tilting my head. 

"I p-passed out," Hitch admitted, her cheeks reddening. 

Ah. 

"When I came to...I thought that the worse had passed. But..." Hitch paused, looking up at me. Hesitation was clear in her eyes. 

​"But...?" 

"I swear I am not crazy, sir. But I heard someone up there. A voice. it sounded like...like someone putting on airs being all hoighty toighty like," Hitch swore, not even bothering to hide her country twang. "And she was commanding the Grimm! The fucking Grimm!" 

I took her information in stride. Hoighty toighty like. I can only think of two people in Salem's court fitting that description. Cinder or Watts. Both certainly had the chops to act like their shit smelt different than ours. Hitch mentioned a she though so it was likely Cinder.

​"I can't...I can't give a description. I was stuck inside a well but I promise you, sah, that woman was there. And she was talking about how the test was going well, and...a-and..." 

"Calm donw, trooper. Slow down. Breathe." I reminded her, my voice gentle. She nodded, steeling her breaths as she took another trusty sip from her canteen. 

"What else did she talk about?" I asked again after some time. 

"...She was coming back to the city to prepare for the next phase. After that, she and her Grimm left." Hitch swallowed, slumped, and dejected. "I...I was rescued later when your men arrived. They heard me crying and screaming for help. That...that's all, sir."

​So Cinder was coming back to Vale now. Neat. As if the fucked up pile of treachery that was Vale now wasn't already a shit-fist. 

"Thank you for your time and your info, Private Hitch. I will keep your words in mind. In the meantime, we'll get you nice and comfortable, alright?" I said. 

Hitch blinked. "B-but I have to return to duty, Mister Wayland. Will you contact my superiors?" she asked as she stood up. 

I smiled. "Arrangements for you shall be made," I assured her. She breathed a sigh of relief. Not a second later, Land returned with her minder from earlier. She left, smiling and assured that she would be returned back to her kingdom. I kept up my smile, even as she left my sight. Land remained however, face tight and frowning.

"Are we actually going to expatriate her back to her people?" Land asked, glancing over to my hologram. 

​I massaged my temples, feeling the headache coming up. "Yes, Land. We are." I groused. 

"You do realize if we send her back, she will babble about what she has seen and our enemies will know that there are survivors from their little test." Land barked. Land knew everything, of course. Well, not the whole fact that I was a shameless insert but the shadow war with Salem. He was my second in the Shields and if I wanted to be effective in this, my lieutenants should be as well.

He reacted to it by demanding to be launched into the Grimmlands with a shit ton of men and materiel.

"And if we keep her here, it will cause a shit fest because we are detaining a soldier of a foreign power. We're sending her back." I decided firmly. "But keep an eye out over this trooper. If the enemy will send assassins to her, we must stop them." 

In the original timeline, Roman was fucking around with the Paladins while Cinder schemed. Then there was that breach Adam did and next, the Vytal Festival where everything unravelled. With my arrival, things were a bit different now. There were no Paladins for Roman to steal and no virulent White Fang to manipulate. There was Sienna's Confederacy however and members of her nation were now the nameless grunts for them to bully. I knew for certain Mount Glenn was inhabited by someone but I did not send troops to smash them to bits yet. Not yet. 

​There were complications. 

Cinder was no nameless seductress that prowled the nights threatening Roman. She was the Queen-Consort to the King of Vacuo and mother to two children. One simply does not go and march off to arrest her or risk starting a diplomatic incident. Sienna too had a whole nation at her beck and call. Humans and faunus who were devoted to her for freeing them from Mistral and bandits. Dropping bombs on them simply would not work. 

​Culling Mount Glenn seemed to best option for me to take until further opportunities presented themselves as well as denying Salem and by extension her floozies their lieutenants. 

"What do we do, then?" Land asked. 

"Councillor Arcenciel is willing to play ball if we do the same. We will help him gain influence in the city. Continue preparing for Mount Glenn. I want you to set aside a small strike force though." 

"For what?" Land asked. 

"I'm entering the field," I declared. "The hammer isn't needed now but a scalpel. And these bastards need some clean removing." 

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A/N: Up next, the Willow lewds. Then the next chapter, then the Emerald lewds. 

As 2024 falls, I would like to thank every single one of you generous mother truckers for being here since the start. Without your support, my family would not have stuff to eat and I wouldn't have had extra money in and I am not kidding: paying for my uni, buying meds for my mother, and emergency funds for my bitch of a cat. 

Amazing what the dollar does in a country with a busted a currency. 

You are all fucking peak giga chads and I am proud to have written for you. There is plenty more to come, so much to explore. And I hope you all will still stay for the ride. 

Live on, you glorious fucking animals.