Chapter 13: The Climax

General Ironwood received an invitation from Jacques Schnee. He was hosting a dinner party at his mansion, but the main reason for it would be for General Ironwood to defend his actions with Amity and Mantle before the Atlas council. Feeling much better, Oscar decided to join them. However, the council also wanted to discuss the Mandalorian's actions in Mantle. So Neo and the Child went with him.

After everyone arrived at Schnee Manor, Ironwood rang the doorbell. The door opened to a young boy with white hair.

'Good evening, everyone." he welcomed them all.

"Where's Klein?" Weiss asked.

"What an interesting way to say 'Hello, dear brother, how have you been?' I'm afraid you won't find him here. He was let go. I can't imagine why." He turned to everyone behind Ironwood. "General, exactly how large do you think our dining room table is?"

"I happen to know it's enormous." Ironwood replied. "But most of my guests will be on standby in case the council requests additional eye witnesses. Until then I'm sure they'll be happily celebrating your father's victory."

The boy chuckled with a sarcastic grin. "For those of you joining us in the dining room, please follow me."

"General Ironwood. Please, have a seat."

Jacques Schnee was standing at the end of a large dining room table with a older man and woman at opposite sides. Next to Jacques was a computer.

"Councilman Sleet, Councilwoman Camilla." Ironwood greeted the council as he sat down. Neo, Clover, Winter, and Penny sat down as well. The Mandalorian sat next to Neo.

"Councilwoman Hill would have had a nice ring to it." a voice came from the computer. Turning it to the table, Jacques showed a live video of Robyn in the hospital. "Though...I suppose I should be grateful I got invited."

Jacques laughed at this. "Miss Hill, that vigor of yours is precisely why we're grateful to have you with us tonight."

Ironwood glared at Jacques. "What is she doing here?"

"What we're all doing here, James." Jacques answered. "Addressing the concerns of our Kingdom, which means we have much to discuss."

"Indeed. I was hoping we could start by-"

"Are we safe with them here, by the way?" Jacques pointed to Penny and the Mandalorian.

"As the official report stated, that footage was doctored. Penny is completely under my control." Ironwood replied. "The same can be said for him." Djarin looked over to Ironwood, not liking what he heard.

"Which is concerning, I think." Jacques said.

"Concerning?"

"Let's talk about exactly what it is you control. Starting with you." Jacques looked to the Mandalorian.

Djarin looked over to Jacques. "What do you-"

"You know, it's considered rude not showing your face to people addressing you." Jacques said.

Djarin was annoyed by this, but stood his ground. "Interrupting people is also considered rude." he retorted.

Jacques shifted his position. "I think you know why we called you here, Mr..."

"My actions in Mantle." Djarin replied.

Councilman Sleet spoke up. "Your public beating of a licensed Huntress caused two riots in Mantle. It was completely unnecessary!"

"My actions got out of hand, yes. But Robyn had something that didn't belong to her." Djarin replied.

"He can have that armor back for all I care." Robyn said from the computer. "It's not like I'll be needing it again." she said sadly.

Councilwoman Camilla spoke next. "You put Robyn in the hospital over a suit of armor?"

"I'm a Mandalorian." he replied. "That armor is a part of my religion. And as you saw, she didn't deserve to wear it." Winter and Ironwood looked surprised hearing this.

Jacques looked at him. "I'm sorry...you're a what?"

"A Mandalorian." Djarin replied slowly. "If you must know, I'm not from your world."

Waiters and waitresses came in with food for everyone.

Jacques laughed at this. "Do you really expect me to believe that you're an alien?"

Looking at Djarin, Neo moved her head to the floating metal crib Djarin brought with him. After he nodded, Neo opened it and showed everyone the Child. The Council gasped seeing him.

"What...what is that?" Jacques demanded.

"Believe me now?" Djarin asked. Neo saw the Child reaching for her plate, so she cut pieces of meat and began to feed him.

"If...if what you said is true, what are you doing here?" Sleet asked.

"General Ironwood is helping me with something that doesn't concern you." Djarin replied. "In return, I'm helping him with Amity."

"Well...on that topic," Jacques continued. "I asked our fellow councilmen here to shed some light on your Amity Colosseum project and, as it turns out, they know about as much as I do."

"Even you don't know?" Robyn asked.

"That's because you're not ready to know." Djarin said. "Let's just say Amity's going to help protect Remnant from things that have more power and can do much worse than an old man in a clip-on tie."

Jacques looked down at his tie, getting angry. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

"I spoke to Winter and Weiss before coming here. It seems they had good reasons for leaving this place."

"I don't know who you think you are, but Winter didn't leave." his voice rising. "Ironwood stole her." Winter was getting angry as well.

"After you stole her grandfather's name and company."

Now Jacques was pissed. "They're both mine! I didn't steal anything!"

Djarin however, was able to keep his cool. "Whatever you say...Councilman Gelé." Winter and Weiss also told him about his former last name.

Jacques slammed his fist on the table, standing up. "GET OUT!" he yelled.

"Jacques, sit down!" Sleet yelled at him.

The Mandalorian stood up and walked to the door, Neo following him with the Child.

"Impressive work, Mando." Neo said, taking her plate.

As they were standing outside the dining room, Neo was still feeding the Child.

"Nice job." Djarin and Neo turned to see Winter facing them. "I can't remember the last time he got angry like that in public."

"I guess I have a way with people." Djarin replied.

"Mando...thank you for saying all of that." Winter continued. "I was about to lose control in there. Also, I can't...really remember the last time someone stood up for me against my father."

Neo spoke up. "Not even your mother?"

Winter shook her head. "My father...had an effect on everyone here. And this place holds a lot of memories for me."

"Trust me, I understand." Djarin replied.

"Same with your parents?" Winter asked.

"...Not exactly. My parents...were killed in an droid attack on my settlement."

"Oh." Winter quickly said. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked." Winter started to walk away.

"It never goes away, does it?"

Winter turned around. "I'm sorry?"

Djarin continued. "I was only a child when they died. I was helpless to do anything."

Winter suddenly connected with this. "So was I." she said.

"What you said, about you almost losing control...I feel like that sometimes. Like I'm about to snap."

"...I thought I could control it too, but I could feel myself losing it." Winter said. "I guess you're right. All the pain and memories. It never goes away."

"I'm sorry, Winter."

"Me too." She walked back in.

Neo looked up to the Mandalorian. "You know what's funny? It's talk like this that makes me miss my family."

Djarin looked to her. "You lost your parents too?"

"No, I left home. I was never really happy with how my life was going, so I guess you could say I left to 'find myself'."

"...You ever regret it?"

"Sometimes." Neo looked at the Child. "But other times, I think it payed off."

Weiss suddenly ran past them and into the dining room. A few minutes later, Ruby and everyone else rushed in. Joining them, Djarin and Neo walked in to see everyone standing over Jacques.

"I knew you'd stoop low to get what you wanted, Jacques." Ironwood said. "But this?"

"What's going on?" Neo whispered to Weiss.

"My father rigged the election." Weiss whispered back. "He's been working with someone named 'Arthur Watts'."

"That's right." Ironwood said, hearing Weiss. "Now that I know he's alive, working with a madman like Tyrian Callows, it would be easy for someone like him to coordinate an unthinkably heinous act like the one in that warehouse. Watts designed Mantle's entire security network. He used that access to hack the surveillance system and frame someone else for the job. All while stealing an election." He looked back at Jacques. "And once you became a Councilman, your newly granted clearance gave him a backdoor into Atlas' secure network. But you probably hadn't even considered that, had you?"

"You're responsible for everyone who died that night." the Mandalorian said.

"Jacques Schnee must be tried, not only for treason, but as an accessory to murder." Sleet said.

"These are outrageous accusations!" Jacques yelled. "I only intended to win the election, I had nothing to do-"

"ONLY?!" Robyn yelled from the computer. Everyone fell silent.

"...What else will he be able to do with the access Jacques' given him?" Camilla asked.

"With enough time," Ironwood said. "whatever he wants."

Suddenly, multiple Scrolls started to vibrate. Sleet took his and put it to his ear. 'Wait. Wait what? What do you mean the heat has gone off?" Everyone was shocked to hear this. The heating grid in Mantle had been deactivated. And Jacques couldn't get back into the system, it had been blocked off.

"Without heat down there, people are going to die." Sleet told everyone.

"General Ironwood?" Ruby asked. "How bad is it?"

"He's using Jacques' credentials." Ironwood replied, pulling out his Scroll. "We can follow that activity on the network. If he's found his way into the Amity system…no, the secret is safe. For now. But if he learns about Amity, she learns about Amity."

"Can you block his access?"

"It's too late. He's already starting to lock us out."

"Can we trace him somehow? Find out where he's hiding?"

"He's going to be mobile. We need his access point. We need to get him out in the open."

"Okay let me get this straight." Everyone turned to Robyn on the computer. "...Sorry, but I don't understand. How do a disgraced scientist and disappeared serial killer find each other, General? Why would they target you? And why are you working so hard to hide the Amity Communications Tower from them?"

"You know?" Ironwood asked. Neo and Djarin turned towards Blake and Yang, who looked at each other.

"Yes. I also know that...I was in the wrong." Robyn continued. "I used to think...you were hiding something to protect yourself. But, between your concern and the Mandalorian's beating, I can tell there's something much bigger going on here. Now...I think it's to protect something else. Us, Atlas, maybe even all of Remnant. And you're afraid of what might happen if you tell the truth." She looked down. "And...I may have ruined all of it."

The doors to the dining room burst open.

"General, the Grimm are all over Mantle." Clover said. "The air fleet's doing everything they can, but they can't easily target Grimm in the city without risking casualties."

"This..." Ironwood said. "this is what I was afraid would happen."

"Sir we need ground support now."

"What we need is to start evacuating Mantle." Robyn said. "If it's completely overrun, it's not going to be safe anywhere. Use the fleet to get-"

"If I move the fleet, then Atlas is vulnerable. I… I tried to keep the kingdom safe. And now we're losing everything."

"General?" Oscar asked. "Earlier, you asked for my advice.

"I wanted Ozpin's advice." Ironwood replied.

"And his advice probably would've been to keep your secrets. When we first got here, you already knew that wasn't the right course. You had a new plan."

"It's time to give up on that plan. It's all falling apart."

"The panic you were worried about? It's already happening. The secrets you're keeping? They're about to be in the open anyway. It's time. Tell the truth."

"You're not alone." Ruby included, holding Oscar's hand. "We can do this together."

"Thank you Oscar." Ironwood said smiling. "I think it's time you get back to the Academy."

"I can take him." the Mandalorian said. "There's something I need to do." He looked down to the Child. "And I'm gonna need your help, kid."

While Oscar was taken to back to Atlas Academy, Djarin went to the hospital room where Robyn was staying. Neo and the Child were with him. When they walked in, Robyn had a look of shock on her face.

"So...it's true?" she asked. "The Grimm, Salem...all of it?"

"Yes." Djarin replied.

"I almost ruined everything." Robyn looked down. "If it weren't for you, Amity would do nothing."

"Robyn." the Mandalorian said. "You may have caused problems, but it's not too late to redeem yourself." He took the Child and placed him near Robyn's head. "You know what to do, kid."

The Child closed his eyes, and put his hand on Robyn's head. Slowly, Robyn's wounds started to heal. Her head, her arms, her body, they were all healing. With that, Robyn stood up.

"You were a source of hope for Mantle." Djarin continued. "That's what the people need right now."

"What can I do?" Robyn asked.

"Tell the people about Salem with Ironwood." Neo said. "Help unite Atlas and Mantle."

"...I'll do that, but I can't be involved with the evacuation of Mantle." Robyn said. "Talga was right about me." she said under her breath.

Djarin dropped the green Mandalorian armor at Robyn's feet. "I don't know who 'Talga' is, but I'm sure he gave this armor for a reason." he said. "Time to live up to his expectations."

Suddenly, Robyn remembered what Talga told her. She was reckless, but she shouldn't stop what she was doing for Mantle. With that, she picked up the armor and put it on. Before she walked out the door, Djarin stopped her.

"I want that back." he said.

'I'll try not to dent it too much then."

Djarin joined the efforts in Mantle. He was flying the Razor Crest killing every Grimm he saw while Ruby and her friends saved as many people as they could. And to top it off, Ironwood and Robyn went on every TV in Mantle and Atlas and told the truth about Salem. How standing together was the only way to stop her. About a half hour later, everyone got reports that Tyrian had been captured. Robyn, Qrow, and Clover were able to ambush and capture him.

However, in the middle of the evacuation, Ironwood called back Team RWBY, Team JNPR, the Ace-Ops, and the Mandalorian. JNPR went to go find Neo and Oscar while RWBY, the Ace-Ops, and Djarin went to see what Ironwood needed. When they arrived in his office, he was sitting in his chair facing the window.

"General Ironwood?" Harriet asked.

Turning around, Ironwood's left arm was wrapped up in bandages and in a sling. He had a morbid look on his face.

"We have made a critical error." Ironwood said. He placed a chess piece, a Black Queen, on his desk, next to a medical bag. "The Black Queen was the symbol Salem showed us before we lost everything. Her way of telling us she was inside. That it was too late. We stopped Watts. We stopped Callows, but someone was here. They put this in my office to tell me that...What if Mantle was just a distraction?" he started to panic. "What if it was just to draw us away from the academy to, to-"

Weiss attempted to calm him down. "Sir. I-it's going to be okay. We've got Mantle on our side now, and-"

"How do we know that wasn't part of their plan? How do we know they didn't want us to bring people into Atlas by the thousands?"

"In trying to save everyone, we left ourselves most vulnerable." Vine said.

"Salem has been one step ahead of us THIS ENTIRE TIME!" Ironwood punched his desk, leaving a huge dent and causing the Black Queen to roll on the desk.

"It's...glass." Ruby observed. "Black glass. This was Cinder."

Hearing this, the Mandalorian walked out of the room with the Child and called Neo using his helmet. "Mando?" she replied.

"Neo, are you and Oscar okay?"

"Huh? Yeah, we're both fine." Neo replied. "Jaune and his team came and said Ironwood called you guys back. What's going on?"

"Cinder's here, in Atlas."

"WHAT?! Are you sure?"

"Yes. Stay with Oscar and Jaune. She'll be coming after you."

"No, she won't." Neo disagreed. "After what she did to Raven, she'll be going after the Winter Maiden. We need to stop her."

Djarin realized she was right. "Be careful, with the power of two maidens, she'll be harder to kill."

"Ask General Ironwood where the Winter Maiden is, we're going over there."

Before he could reply, Djarin heard a loud screech in Ironwood's office. Rushing inside, he saw everyone staring at a floating Grimm.

"General Ironwood." a woman's voice came from the Grimm. Letting out another screech and contorting its tentacles, the Grimm's "head" started to crack. It fell to the ground as a black smoke seeped from it. At the top of the smoke was the head of a pale woman with veins on her face and a crystal on her forehead. At long last, team RWBY had met their enemy. Salem.

"The brave Huntsmen and Huntresses bested Arthur Watts. Congratulations." The Child cried seeing her and turned his head into Djarin's chest. Djarin held the baby and made sure he couldn't see Salem.

"We stopped Tyrian too." Ruby said. "And we'll stop Cinder, and anyone else you try to send here."

Salem smiled at this. "Dear girl, their goal was never victory. It was merely to set the stage."

"For what?" Ironwood asked.

"For me." Salem said as she turned to Ironwood. "Time isn't on your side, James. It's always been on mine." she moved closer to him. "The people of Atlas have suffered enough. Surrender the Staff and the Lamp to me, and they needn't suffer any further."

"That's..." Ironwood said. "not going to happen."

Salem leaned closer to him, smiling a a false motherly way. "Simply accept the futility of your situation. And this can all be over."

"We've seen what you're capable of." Ruby said. "The Lamp showed us." Salem's smile disappeared.

"It showed us everything." Salem turned to Ruby. "We've seen you can't be killed. But we've also seen you fail. We don't have to kill you stop you. And we will stop you."

Salem moved closer to Ruby and stopped. "Your mother said those words to me."

Ruby's jaw dropped hearing this. "My...mother?"

"She was wrong too." Hearing this made Ruby panic. She started to cry. Her eyes suddenly flashed a white light for a split second, and she fell to the floor. Yang rushed to her side. Salem smiled triumphantly, but before she could disappear, another voice filled the room. "She won't be this time." Salem looked at the Mandalorian.

"Against me, you have nothing." Salem responded to him. "No weapons, no defenses, no plan. And you still choose to fight."

"...This is the Way." With that, Salem disappeared.

"That's Salem?!" Marrow yelled. "That's who we're up against?!"

"And she's apparently on her way." Harriet said.

"But we'd be alerted if any forces had approached the Kingdom." Elm pointed out. "We have long range proximity alerts all along the coast, and-"

"They're offline." Vine interrupted, looking at his Scroll. "With all of the chaos, we didn't notice."

"Watts must have shut them down!" Marrow reasoned.

"Or they've already been destroyed." Ironwood said, looking out the window.

'What?" Elm asked. "All of them?"

Blake spoke next. "You said in your speech that Amity Tower was ready to launch. Was that true?" Ironwood said nothing.

"No." Yang said. "You just said that...to lure out Watts."

Ironwood still said nothing, continuing to look out the window.

"General Ironwood?" Weiss called out.

"...I sent your sister to claim the power of the Winter Maiden." Ironwood finally replied.

Weiss gasped. "What?"

"When I realized we'd been compromised, I knew we couldn't wait any longer. The Staff needs to be protected. And the Lamp..." Ironwood walked to his desk and took out the Relic of Knowledge. Walking over to the Mandalorian, he continued "needs to leave Remnant."

"What?" Djarin asked, taking the Lamp.

"And we need to leave to. We are going to take our plan for Amity Tower and apply it to the city of Atlas."

Ruby jumped off the floor. "WHAT?!"

"It was Oz's plan, in a former life. But he didn't take it far enough. If we harness the power of the Staff, and raise ourselves high into the atmosphere, the city's artificial climate will keep citizens and food supplies unharmed. Always out of reach of whatever Salem may try to send our way." he turned to the Mandalorian. "And without the Lamp, Salem won't be able to complete whatever she has planned for the rest of Remnant."

"But we're nowhere near finished evacuating everyone!" Blake said. "You'd be leaving Mantle to die."

"Yes...I would." Ironwood said.

Everyone's voices started to fade out as the Mandalorian stared at the Relic of Knowledge. Ironwood was right. If he asked Jinn the final question and left Remnant with the Lamp, Salem wouldn't be able to retrieve it or use its power. And with the Staff out of her reach, her plans wouldn't be complete. It may be enough to stop her.

And his quest would finally be over. The sacrifice of his fellow Mandalorians wouldn't be in vain. His duty to the Armorer would finally be fulfilled. And the Child could be back with his own kind, to live in peace.

He made up his mind. Looking up to see Team RWBY arguing with the Ace-Ops and Ironwood, he walked up to Ironwood.

And tossed the Lamp back on his desk.

"I'm not leaving." he said.

"What?" Ironwood asked.

"I'm. Not. Leaving." he looked at Ruby. "I told you I would help you defeat Salem. And I will." Ruby smiled hearing this.

"Mando, we don't have time." Ironwood said. "That plan you made? It's over."

"Not all of it." the Mandalorian replied. "We may not be able to reunite Remnant now, but we can still fight."

"We ran ourselves ragged trying to save Mantle tonight." Harriet said. "We try that again against an even larger force...we can't win, Mando."

"I know." he said. "I have an idea."

A man was sitting alone in his office, looking at a report he received earlier. He suddenly heard an electric bell ring.

"Enter." he said. A woman in a gray uniform walked into the room.

"Pardon the intrusion, sir, but we found something you may want to see." The woman showed her superior a screen with a recording of a snowy tundra with a large tower in the sky.

"I don't see anything important, Lieutenant." the man said.

"Neither did we at first, but then we zoomed in on a ship that landed." the lieutenant zoomed in on the ship, and they both saw the Mandalorian walk out with the Child.

"Where did you get this?" he asked.

"One of our ships received this transmission from a planet not far from Tatooine. It came with this recording." the Lieutenant played a recording of three women.

"Whoever receives this message, we know you're looking for this Mandalorian. We have the coordinates to the planet he's on. You want him? He's all yours."

"...You have the coordinates, Lieutenant?"

"Yes sir." she replied.

"Send everyone to that planet." he started to walk out.

"Um...everyone here?" the lieutenant asked.

"No, Lieutenant." the man answered. "Send everyone to that planet. Now."

The lieutenant shifted. "Y-yes, Moff Gideon."

Author's notes: it seems the worst has come to pass. The Kingdom of Atlas is in chaos. Salem is on her way to finish the fight. And now Moff Gideon has entered the fray, with the might of the Imperial military. How will all this end? The answers...

Will have to wait a while. Sorry everyone, but I'm going to be starting my finals soon. So, I won't be able to update Mandalorian Remnants as quickly as I have. But I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I'm glad you enjoyed the one before that (I updated it and the notes). I can't talk to any of you right now, but thank you for all the kind words and thoughts you've said. It's what actually made me write this chapter before I had to start finals.

Anyways, please be patient. I know you all must be excited to see how this goes down, but I promise I will get back to work ASAP. Thanks again for all the reviews! Hope you like this chapter!