It was a frightened man who was staring at him. His eyes weren't those of a soldier ready to fight to the death, they were more like those of a boy who wanted to wake up from his nightmare. This bothered him. He hated being afraid. He was a powerful man, an army man, he was the General, everyone relied on him, everyone depended on him ... the whole world depended on him. Too much weight. A single man's shoulders were too brittle and weak to bear this responsibility.

But he was no longer a man.

He had let himself be devoured by his Semblance with the sole purpose of becoming the perfect war machine and defeating Salem. Giving away one's humanity to save the world was a fair trade. The right price to pay for doing what Ozpin had failed to accomplish.

Yet Ironwood was afraid.

The more he looked into his eyes in the reflection of the glass, the more he realized that he wasn't brave but scared. He couldn't tolerate it.

He turned to his desk and sat down to think about what to do. At that moment Harriet Bree, Vine Zeki, Elm Ederne and Marrow Amin entered his office.

"General," said Harriet, "have you summoned us?"

"Yes, I needed to talk to you for a moment," he replied, inviting the Ace Operatives to enter.

"What is it about?" Elm asked.

"I haven't had a chance to speak to you about what happened with Qrow yet. I know that you're not happy with my choice to keep him alive, I realize that you want to avenge your leader but- "

"It's not about revenge," Harriet said. The girl looked up at General Ironwood, "For me it's a personal matter. We trusted those people, those strangers who entered our kingdom and have brought nothing but trouble since they arrived. In addition, they also dared to betray us ... I'm not fighting only for Clover ... but also for our pride."

Marrow was the only one of the four to have an uncertain look and when Ironwood noticed him he asked him:

"Is something troubling you?"

"I …"

"Don't be afraid to express your opinion. You're my best soldiers, I trust you."

"I believe it's wrong to fight against these people. They're not the bad guys, they're good people like us ... they just don't understand what they are doing- "

"Shut up, Marrow," Harriet muttered, unnerved by those words.

"I'm just saying what no one here has the courage to say."

"That is, you are sympathizing with traitors?"

"Harriet, you know it's not like that."

"Then tell me why you are saying these things."

"Because I believe that fighting each other is a mistake. Ruby, Jaune and all the others are not our enemies. They are just… disoriented. Perhaps, by talking to them, we can make them think."

"It would be useless," Vine added. "They are driven only by anger now. They have no intention of listening to us."

"We can't know until-"

"Do you want to give them other chances to talk?" Harriet asked, turning to Marrow. "Do you want to continue to hesitate? Do you want to continue to be a burden on the team? Do whatever you like! If you don't have a minimum of pride, then you can also walk away! But don't try to convince us that those brats aren't our enemies. They are. End of discussion."

"Marrow," Ironwood said, "I know you're confused at the moment and you're not the only one, even I stopped understanding when I found out that Qrow, who was once my friend, had murdered Clover. I didn't want to fight them ... they're the ones who have left us no other choice."

"Just a question …"

"Ask, Harriet."

"Why, then, don't we kill that man?"

"Because I want to force him to confess what he did. I want Atlas to know what he did. I want his allies to realize they've sided with a killer. And in the end ... what has to happen will happen."

Watts had just been thrown back into his prison. As soon as the soldiers left he got up and polished off his suit.

"They really are barbarians… well, all soldiers are barbarians. So, we haven't had a chance to speak yet. I am Arthur Watts your… er… enemy, I guess."

"You're the one who worked with my dad to freeze Mantle," Weiss said.

"Perceptive-"

"This man deceived me!"

"Come on, Jacques, don't be so mean to me, you and I are very good friends, after all."

"Shut up! Don't lie! I barely know you!"

"As you like, it wasn't my intention to get you upset."

"What do you want?" Ruby asked with an angry look.

"Why are you looking at me like that? I'm here with you, after all, justice has already triumphed over me. The bad guy is in prison, you can celebrate. " With a mischievous grin he added, "But it's a shame that you are here with me too. Then this makes you criminals, or am I wrong?"

"Get to the point!"

"The point is-"

The door opened and the soldiers were leading Nora to the prison. Once inside the men left.

"Nora, how are you?" Ruby asked, worried.

"I've been better ... eh, eh ... at least the doctors here know how to do their job."

"Did they hurt you?"

"No, don't worry, in fact, I'm surprised I haven't met either General Ironwood or Winter, who knows what the hell they're up to. But it doesn't matter now, does it? We lost."

"No, we can still find a way out."

"Impossible, these prisons reduce our aura ... constantly weaken us so we can't escape," Qrow explained as he sat on the bed.

"Uncle Qrow, we can't give up on escaping. There must be some way to escape from this place."

"Maybe this is the right time to ask for my help," Watts said.

The girls looked at him skeptical.

"Don't you trust me?"

"Why should we?" Ruby asked.

"Because now we have a common enemy and we both have matters to resolve outside of this prison. We can work together and once we are out we could be enemies as before."

"You can't ask me to collaborate with someone like you."

"So you prefer to stay here? All right. I bet you have no allies outside of Atlas who need your help."

Then Ruby thought of her sister Yang. She hadn't heard from her for some time and was worrying about her. Collaborating with a Salem ally was out of the question, but at the same time she couldn't sit in prison waiting for the end of the world. She had to fight, she had to save people and in order to do this she had to first run away from Atlas.

"Okay, tell me what you have in mind."

"Ruby!" Blake exclaimed, shocked. "What are you doing? He's-"

"Our only hope of saving the people in Mantle and Yang too… I know it sounds absurd but you have to trust me. So," she turned to the man "what's your plan?"

"I can hack the system that keeps the prisons running without getting noticed and letting you out, however in return I want that girl … Nora, to use her Semblance to overload this floor's generator to cause a blackout. Do me this favor and we'd all be out in no time."

"Very well," she turned to the other prisoners, "let's put his choice to the vote. I'll follow him. Who's coming with me?"

Nora raised her hand first.

"Nora, are you sure?"

"Well, Ruby ... I also have someone I want to meet, so I'll go with you."

Jacques raised his hand, Arthur commented:

"So you want to escape?"

"I'm not going to let that crazy General keep me in prison. I'll take back what rightfully belongs to me."

Weiss raised her hand and said, addressing his father:

"Then I'll keep an eye on you."

Qrow raised his hand and Robyn asked, confused:

"Do you realize that this way you will agree with General Ironwood?"

"I don't care. I will not run away. I will find him and kill him."

"You've lost your mind too, apparently-" when she turned she was shocked to learn that May Marigold had raised her hand too.

"Forgive me, Robyn."

"Why are you doing this?"

"And why aren't you raising your hand?"

"Because that man is the one who wanted to make all Mantle die in the cold! He's a monster! I'm not going to make a deal with the devil!"

"But we have to save Mantle… it's the top priority. What happens to General Ironwood or Atlas doesn't matter."

"Whitley and I are not going to join this suicidal enterprise," Willow said.

"Are you sure, mom?"

"I'm sorry, Weiss, but I'm not going to rely on you. You have already caused too many problems in this family."

"Well," Ruby said, "we're all with him then-"

"Not all," Blake asserted, stepping aside.

The girls, shocked, hadn't even noticed that Blake Belladonna hadn't raised her hand.

"Can I know why? What drives you to stay here?"

"Ruby… running left and right like stray dogs won't solve this situation. You don't even have a plan to stop Salem."

"Yes I do, we can use Amity to communicate with the rest of the world and-"

"And do what? Do you really believe that the whole world will unanimously decide to save Atlas just because it was a little girl who told them to do so? Who assures you that you'll not get the opposite effect? What makes you think the world will blindly trust you? You have no authority, no title and above all you have no strategy. You're acting only following the heart but not the head."

"Blake, I know things look terrible to you now but together we can-"

"Together? What does it mean? Do as your Uncle Qrow? Going around killing the military authorities thinking there will be no consequences? Your uncle is planning to assassinate the supreme commander of the most powerful army in the world."

"So?"

"None of you here have ever been part of an army. I was. The White Fang had its own precise hierarchy and when a leader is missing the organization falls apart, splits, and civil wars break out. If Ironwood dies, the army will not accept it. I know Ironwood is not sane at the moment, but taking him out is a mistake that could make our situation worse because his army is the only advantage we have against the Grimm."

"So you think we should be standing here doing nothing? Don't you worry about Yang?"

"Are you asking me to endanger the world for just one person?"

"My sister. Yang is my sister. "

"It doesn't change anything. I killed a man who wanted me to give up my ideology just to be with him. I won't make the same mistake twice. If you want to go, I will not stop you, but I will stop your uncle from killing General Ironwood."

"She's right," Robyn Hill interjected, "Blake is right. When I shook hands with Ironwood he never lied. He has always told the truth. He sincerely cared about the world and everyone's safety… something has changed and maybe we can put things right."

"Then you'll have to get to him before I do," Qrow said.

"Are you really going to kill him?"

"I will kill him."

"Well then-"

At that moment Winter Schnee entered with two soldiers. She walked to Nora's cell and asked her:

"I'm here to make sure you're okay."

"Yes, yes… I'm fine. There's no need to pretend that you're worried about me."

Winter sighed and headed for the exit.

"Wait up!" Robyn suddenly exclaimed.

All the other prisoners, or at least those who wanted to escape, feared that the woman would blurt everything out.

"What do you want?"

"I want you to go to General Ironwood and to tell him … that I accept."