Sienna Khan trailed behind Ghira after they'd left the Starlight Tower. It was around three in the afternoon now, and after almost six solid hours of discussion and debate, she needed food, coffee, and a nap. Preferably in that order.

It was as their little group drifted to the facility's canteen that she went over her thoughts on the current members of the Atlesian Ruling Council.

Headmistress Absinthe Campbell. She had looked in dire need of a stiff drink for most of the meeting. Sienna honestly wondered why she was still in her job, given how she had started it. Someone had shot her over her appointment, after all. But in the years that had followed her appointment, she had earned a reputation for fairness and strictness in equal measure.

General Albus Hawthorn. A good man, all things considered. He had continued the 'no racist bullshit' policy of the Atlesian Military, and now even had a full quarter of his officers be Faunus. None were amongst the Captaincy yet, but Sienna was not one to complain about progress when it happened.

Councilor Jet Nuncio. The Representative of Mantle. He'd been a bit too relaxed for Sienna's liking and spent most of the meeting quite literally lounging in his chair, but he still enjoyed the support of the Atlesian Faunus, so he must be doing something right.

Councilor Lethe Oracion. The Representative of the 'Familial Estates', and a member of one of the wealthier families of Atlas, although not part of the uppermost bracket. She had been polite in tone, but seemed a little too…attached to the word 'Uplift', and the idea of 'Uplifting' Menagerie.

Councilor Perry Cauldwin. The most recent addition to the Council and the Representative of Atlas proper. He had been the most critical of any proposals brought forward during the meeting, but afterwards had quietly pulled her aside during an earlier break to explain that someone had to be the negative and-or critical viewpoint, and unfortunately he had drawn the short straw. And to be fair to the man, his reasoning was more along pragmatic lines than the typical Atlesian rhetoric of "It's Menagerie, why would we help?". Menagerie was simply too far away and too underdeveloped to justify the billions of Lien it would take to bring them up to the standard of the other nations of Remnant.

Which, in his defense, was true. If anything, it was grossly underestimating the cost of 'uplifting' Menagerie to the international standard. The building and outfitting of a CCT Tower alone would cost at least ten golden lien cards, if not more, and they simply didn't have that much money in their coffers to spare. Hell, they barely had that much money full stop. And as he pointed out, Ko Kuana might be the capital of the Chiefdom, but even some of the more 'temporary' settlements of the great Mistralli and Valean wildernesses were more advanced than it.

But he had said that if the motion to back Menagerie's elevation to Kingdom status was brought up during his tenure on the Council, he would back it without hesitation. And so, for the first time in its history, all members of the ARC actually supported Menagerie's existence, even if one of them could not do so publicly.

All in all, the Atlesian Ruling Council, to her surprise, had actually appeared genuine in their negotiations. Four of the five seat council seemed eager to actually negotiate with them, in a vast change to their usual stances.

There was talk of Embassies, greater trade and the loosening of restrictions, even CCT integration. It was practically everything shy of Kingdom status. It was beyond generous. It was too good to be true.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

So naturally, both she and Ghira were suspicious. Suspicious, but hopeful.

But that was now in the past, at least until tomorrow. She had engaged Taji Shen in quiet conversation on their way back from the Starlight Tower. The hooded member of NYYT had proven to be a polite, if hesitant conversationalist. It had quite quickly become evident that they did not like talking, so she had soon stopped, thus allowing her to hear her friend and boss conversing with Specialist Hughes ahead of her. They'd been discussing security and the following day's timetable, along with restaurant recommendations of all things.

It had almost been a relief when they'd arrived at their destination. The canteen was frankly, vast, with more people than she could count currently enjoying a break. It once again hammered home how utterly huge the Atlesian Military was.

The Yesta twins had gone to get them all food and drinks, and the rest of their group went off to find a table. Hughes clearly picked it deliberately, as the Specialist all but waltzed up to a particular person and sat down next to him. The woman waved them over, and the dark haired man already at the table glanced up at them and greeted them with a nod.

"Archivist Schwartz." The man introduced himself with a salute. "A pleasure to meet you, Ambassador Belladonna."

"Representative." Ghira corrected, not unkindly. "Ambassadors are from Kingdoms, which Menagerie is not."

"Geez." Schwartz answered with a sheepish smile. "We were really that petty, huh?"

"I believe it was Mistral that insisted on that, actually." Ghira shrugged. "But it is my wife that is the historian, so I am not entirely certain."

"Fair enough…Let me start over then." Schwartz cleared his throat. "A pleasure to meet you, Representative Belladonna."

"Likewise, Archivist Schwartz." Ghira gestured towards her. "This is my colleague Sienna Khan. She is here representing our Outreach Group."

She merely gave the Atlesian a nod, and remained silent. Schwartz's smile didn't even falter, he merely returned the nod.

Specialist Hughes piped up again now. "Bit late for lunch Casper, don't you think?"

"I'm just grabbing a quick coffee." He replied with an easy smile, lifting his mug up in a mock salute. "Gotta go pick Cinder up from school soon and want to be a functioning adult when I do so."

Ghira snorted. "I am much the same. I love my Blake dearly, but she is exhausting."

"I think that's the general purpose of daughters at their age, my friend." The Archivist proceeded to take out his scroll, and promptly brought up a picture of a positively adorable child, presumably the aforementioned 'Cinder', dressed in her school uniform and smiling cheerfully. If she was honest, Sienna thought the girl looked a lot like Blake, albeit without her ears. "But I'm sure you'll agree, it's worth it."

"On that, Archivist, I must agree." Ghira took out his own scroll, producing a picture of Blake. Kali's favorite one, of Blake playing on the beach with her friends. And soon enough, any hesitation her friend had about the Atlesian man was clearly gone. They were just two dads gushing about their daughters.

Her attention was drawn to Taji, who quite suddenly, become alert. Given how at ease they'd been for the duration of the meeting and traveling around the facility, it was somewhat concerning that their demeanor had changed so dramatically. When she shot him a questioning look, they merely responded with a succinct: "Trouble."

Before she could ask him to elaborate, elaboration arrived…

..In the form of one of their ship navigators.

"Ma'am!" He all but shrieked. "The Audumla's gone! "