Times were dark. Yang would even say... Grimm. Salem's minions had blindsided everyone, and now they had brought all four relics to their dark queen. Heaven only knows how much more time they had before she summoned the Gods of Creation and Destruction and provoked their wrath once more.

Over the past week, Ruby and her friends had scattered all throughout the world, recruiting as many allies as they could for one final, desperate assault on Salem's territory. Weiss had brought together what remained of the Atlas Military. Blake had brought in the new Faunus organization she and her father had put together. Yang and Qrow had convinced Raven to bring together her tribe and whatever other criminals and bandits they were on good terms with.

And now here they all were, three armies combined into one massive one, all with a common enemy, a common purpose, at the foot of Salem's land.

Ruby sat in her tent, staring at herself in the mirror app on her scroll. This journey had taken so much out of her. It was hard to believe the woman staring back at her now was the same girl who walked down the tiled path to Beacon. That felt so long ago now.

She lifted her hand to her mechanical eye, exactly like Maria's. Back in Atlas, Neo had stabbed Ruby in her left eye. It was fortunate the blade had not gone through her skull. Ruby was lucky to be alive now. But now her Silver Eye power was only half as strong as it once was.

Despite how determined she was to continue her journey, her friends and family had gotten her to Maria's doctor, who had installed a new mechanical eye into her. Ruby was grateful for the second eye now in hindsight. Not having proper vision would have thrown her off balance too much during a fight.

"Ruby?" Blake's voice snapped Ruby out of her thoughts. She put the scroll away and stood and turned to face her team.

"I think it's time to go," Blake said.

"Yeah," Ruby nodded. "I guess so."

"Before a big, historic battle like this," Weiss said, "The great leader should inspire everyone with a speech."

Ruby's eyes widened in horror. "Me? A speech?" She squeaked. "In front of everyone out there?"

"She's got a point," Yang nodded. "You should totally give a speech, Ruby!"

"You mean you don't have a speech ready?" Weiss gasped. "You weren't planning on saying anything to them? Do you just expect them to follow you out there as soon as you start charging?"

"Just tell them there will be a ton of loot!" Yang giggled.

"I'm not going to tell them that," Ruby sighed, rolling her one eye.

"Don't worry too much, Ruby," Blake said warmly. "Just remind them what they're fighting for, why they're all here."

Ruby nodded, still not sure what she was going to say, already brainstorming ideas in her head. But she knew she had to get out there. They had to attack Salem's territory, and they had to go soon.

"Okay," Ruby sighed. "Here goes." She left her tent, her team following behind her. She headed up on top of a rock so that everyone in the camp could see her.

Behind her, Yang fired off a shot from ember celica. The gunshot echoed throughout the camp. Everyone went silent and turned to Ruby, waiting for her to say something.

"Hi," Ruby began. "Uh... thank you all of you for coming!"

"Oh boy," Weiss groaned, resting her forehead in her hand.

Ruby took a deep breath. "You are all very brave and very strong to come here," she continued. "You may be standing beside someone you don't know, or even despise, and that's okay. That doesn't matter. We are not here to make peace or to absolve the wounds of the past. We are here because if we do not stand and fight together right now, we will loose everything we love! Our friends, our families, our homes!"

"Many of you probably grew up hearing, or told your kids stories of heroes who stood strong in the darkest of times. Today, we will be those heroes! And some day, if we are lucky, parents will tell their children our story, of how we stood against the darkness on this day!

"Many of you may not understand or know what is going on here, and that's okay. Just know that our enemy is here, and she will take this world from us today unless we stop her, now!"

"I once believed I could take on an army of Grimm all on my own. But I know now I was wrong. Nobody can. I never could have made it as far as I have without my team." She looked behind her at Weiss, Blake, and Yang. "I wouldn't be standing here today without them. Each of them is very strong in their own way, but they had taught me that strong people are even stronger when they stand with others!"

"This will not be the day that the Grimm wipe us out. This will not be the day the darkness snuffs out the light!" She raised Cresent Rose above her head.

"Today, we fight! Today, we shine!"

The crowd erupted int applause. Hundreds of proud huntsmen, soldiers, and militia roared with vigor, all eager to sink their weapons into Grimm.

Ruby looked back at her team once again, all eager to charge into battle behind her.

The army eagerly awaited Ruby to give the final command to charge.