A sandstorm was passing through the Dunes of Vacuo. The sand, being as rough, coarse and irritating as it always had been, was getting everywhere, blocking everything and everyone's sight as The Hunstmen stranded in the middle of the desert struggled to keep the exiled people of Atlas safe from the incoming hordes of Grimm that were attacking them.

Team RWBY was fighting to take down any Grimm who came too close to floor level, while Penny Polendina, once the protector of Mantle, was fighting to alleviate the charge of those on the ground

Ruby had to constantly fire round after round of Crescent Rose in order to be able to swing her weapon in the air so she could catch one of the many winged beasts flying around while preventing the wind from blowing her weapon back to her

"Ah. It won't work" said Ruby, seeing how her actions did close to nothing against the hordes coming for them. She then had an idea and switched Crescent Rose back to sniper mode. She then called out for anyone nearby, as she wasn't able to really see anybody other than the occasional afraid Atlas person or a Grimm, and didn't want to shoot anyone by accident

"Here!" called out Weiss

"Who is that?!" asked Ruby, while Weiss approached

"It's Weiss. What is it?!" she replied

"Weiss, I need some help, I have an idea"

"Be quick, I'm handling a difficult situation right now"

"Do you still have Gravity Dust on you?!"

"I do...why?!"

"I'm wondering if we can use it to push part of the sand towards the Grimm"

"Are you serious?!"

"Well, we don't know when the storm may end so it may be worth a try!"

Weiss sighs then hands Ruby some of her Gravity Dust crystals then heads off

"Alright. Breathe in..."

Ruby cycles the bolt back then loads the first bullet after infusing it with Gravity Dust. She lines up the sight

"Breathe out"

She pulls the trigger. The bullet comes out and, surprisingly, pushes some of the sand towards the incoming Grimm, making for extra firepower

"It worked...WEISS! WEISS! IT WORKED!" she said, calling out

Weiss then began focusing on using Gravity glyphs, pushing the sand towards the Grimm

Penny saw from the sky as one barrage of sand quickly pushed away some of the flying beasts then went and hyper-heated the sand making use of the Maiden powers, which turned one barrage of sand into a rain of glass that quickly chopped any Grimm in its path to pieces

It all went well...until Weiss ran out of Gravity Dust. and what they had resorted to as a weapon against the Grimm turned into one rain of death. But the plan worked for its initially intended purpose. The Grimm had been defeated...but the cost of it was that everyone present had several serious cuts and bruises...if they hadn't been pierced to death by the many glass pieces raining from the sky

Ruby panted heavily, breathing irregularly from the exhaustion. Yang went for her and handed her a canteen with water

"Here. Last bit left of water" said Yang as she helped Ruby walk

Ruby drank with difficulty, as she had inhaled some of the sand in the air

"Thanks Yang..."

She handed the canteen back to Yang. But Yang then changed her expression

"So...Ruby..." said Yang, continuing to carry her

"Yeah...I know...the whole...thing with the Arena was my idea...not the best now that I think about it" she replied, looking back at the people, but then she saw it fully as the sandstorm began to clear

The people of Atlas were wandering aimlessly in the desert. Panicked. Wounded. Some where even carrying their dead neighbors, friends, children or parents

Ruby covers her mouth

Yang forces Ruby to turn back to her, as she begins panicking

"Ruby, look at me. It wasn't your fault"

"It was my fault, Yang"

"You did what you thought was best in the moment, don't blame yourself"

"THEN WHO IS TO BLAME?!"

Yang stopped

"I am still the leader of this team...I still took all of us out to the middle of nowhere and now, because of me, people that we were trying to save have died, Yang. Of course it is my fault"

Weiss then walks in

"Yeah. But because of you, everyone else isn't Grimm food..."

Ruby turns to look at Weiss

"So...Now that we don't have the problem of the sandstorm...Maybe we have signal on the Scrolls"

"We do..." says Blake, looking at hers with panic

"But things look...bad. Look on the news"

Yang pulled out her scroll and shared with Ruby. An emergency broadcast was coming from Mistral. It was being invaded by...Atlesian ships

"Ironwood has lost it. Is he seriously going to step on Mistral just to get to us?" said Yang

"Those...aren't Atlesian ships. Look at them closely" said Weiss

In fact, these ships were completely built differently. They were a mix between all of the Kingdoms, but had some unique features. It brandished a mysterious ensign. The symbol: A caped skeleton with a great scythe and a label in a language they didn't know

"Who...are these people?" she asked, with concern and doubt

It wouldn't take long before the transmission to abruptly cut to a woman, speaking from Ironwood's office. Behind her, 2 figures brandishing masks and black capes

"To all the people in Remnant. Good morning. Good Afternoon. Good Evening..." she said, brandishing a smooth voice with a very marked accent

"Long ago, you ancestors shunned us. Unfairly punished us and doomed us to oblivion. They thought we would die easily. But we only began harnessing our strength. And now, at last...We are here. And we will get revenge for what you did. Surrender now...or fall in meaningless resistance"

The transmission then cuts abruptly