I want to come forth and say this now. I did not agree with Rooster Teeth's handling of Ironwood's character. I was ok with him doing questionable things if it meant that the people survived, but Ironwood did a complete 180 from his original self in Volume 8. This story is not out to vilify Ironwood nor is it going to excuse him. I want the readers to make their own judgement of a flawed man who has made many mistakes in the pursuit of what he believed was right. Without further delay, here's the fourth chapter.

Present Day:

The sound of muffled blows and grunts could be heard echoing in the gym. Harriet Bree was unloading on a punching bag. She wore black shorts, a white t-shirt that was adorned with the symbol of the Kingdom of Atlas, and her hands were wrapped in athletic tape. Judging by the amount of sweat that covered her face as well as the bits of sand that leaked from the bag, it was evident that she'd been at this for a while.

"I can't say I'm surprised to see you still at it."

Harriet had just thrown a left jab before she glanced over her shoulder and spotted Clover, dressed in athletic attire, leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face.

"Is there something you need?" She threw a straight right before throwing a right hook.

"Actually yes," he replied, walking over to her, stopping on the other side of the bag, "just wanted to check in and see if you were doing okay."

"I'm fine Clover," she said with mild annoyance, "I don't need you checking in on me."

Clover's smirk faded. "I don't intend to come off as overbearing Harriet, but you haven't been your usual self since we got back from our last mission. For the last few days, you've been far more reserved. You've barely talked to anyone and you've been training by yourself more."

She rolled her eyes. "I hadn't noticed, and I'd hardly call it our mission since those machines, or whatever they were, made sure to make it theirs."

She had a point there. Unit 117 had originally been assigned to perform reconnaissance for the Ace Ops. For whatever reason, however, they ended up annihilating the entire base. The mission was a complete success, but the way in which it was accomplished was far beyond anything Clover would have considered normal. Not even in the same realm.

"Is that why you've been tearing this bag apart for hours? Because they finished the mission without us?"

She immediately ceased striking the bag, glaring at him. It was clear that Clover had struck a nerve.

"We're the Ace Operatives, Clover, and that means we're the best that Atlas, and by extension the world, has to offer. I didn't spend years training to just let a bunch of freaks waltz in and take what's mine."

Clover sighed. "Harriet…I think you're letting this get to you. Why not take a break?"

"Is that an order?" She asked.

"No," he replied, "just a friendly suggestion. I'll leave you alone, but you know I'm always available if you need to talk. We all are."

"I'll keep that in mind, but I think I'm good," she resumed striking the bag.

Clover nodded before he left Harriet alone to continue her workout. As Clover walked down one of the many hallways of the Atlas Academy fitness center, he thought on Harriet. He'd come to know her well after years of working together, but her behavior in the last few days wasn't quite like anything he'd seen from her before. Harriet was always competitive, always training so that she could be the best of the best. It was that attitude that earned her a spot on the Ace Ops. Whenever she felt like she was underperforming she would train for hours, but when he saw her earlier, he noticed a wave of certain anger that he hadn't seen in her before. It was clear that she was angrier than she let on, and he hoped that she could burn it off. Harriet did not perform well when she was angry, and he needed every one of his teammates to be at their best. Just up ahead from him were Vine and Elm, waiting for him. Clover stopped walking once he was no more than a few feet from them. The two, like Harriet and himself, were dressed in workout attire.

"How'd it go?" Asked Elm.

Clover shrugged. "About as good as it could."

"I take it she was not very receptive?" Asked Vine.

"You know Harriet," Clover replied, "she told me she was good when it was clear she was still angry."

"I'm a bit concerned for her," said Elm, "she's been avoiding us for the past few days."

"You and everyone else," Clover sighed, "but we just need to be there to support her if she needs us."

"I believe that is the only course of action at the moment," said Vine.

Clover smiled. "Were you two just about to go on a run?"

Elm nodded. "Care to join us?"

"Definitely!"

Winter didn't know what to think of the catatonic mess of a lizard faunus, whose name was Sage Lacertilia, who sat across from her. She'd been grilling him with questions for the past few hours and yet he remained silent, his eyes nearly glossed over. Her eyes briefly glanced over to Marrow who sat next to her. She had called for him to assist in the interrogation after she realized that her normal methods weren't working. She'd been willing to bet that having Marrow, a fellow faunus, ask Sage some questions would yield results, but here they were still trying to get him to say anything at all.

"My patience is wearing thin Mr. Lacertilia." Winter shot the faunus a menacing glare "For the last time, what do you know about the increased White Fang activity in Vale?"

Silence.

That was the last straw for her. She stood up from her seat and grabbed the faunus by his collar before throwing him against the wall of the interrogation room.

"Talk!"

Sage remained silent, not even so much as letting a painful grunt be heard. His thousand-yard stare persisted much to the annoyance of Specialist Schnee. She raised her fist, ready to strike but a hand came to a rest on her arm. She looked over and saw Marrow there. His gaze silently spoke to her, telling her to not lose control. She nodded before dropping the faunus, who fell to the floor in a heap.

"Just so you know, we aren't done," she said with venom in her voice.

Without a word Winter and Marrow exited the interrogation room, leaving Sage to stare absentmindedly at the wall.

The two Specialists stood in silence, watching Sage from the other side of the two-way mirror. Winter's hands were balled into fists, evidence that she was still angry at the lack of progress.

"I don't understand it," she said, "nothing I've tried is working."

"If it's worth anything," Marrow said with a playful smile, "you're insanely hot when you're angry."

Winter rolled her eyes, placing a hand to her head. "Marrow, I am about two seconds away from taking this anger out on you. So, unless you've got something useful to say I don't want to hear it."

"Hey," he said with his arms raised defensively, "I'm just stating the truth, Snow Angel."

Winter had to force herself to not let a smile slip out. She'd be kidding herself if she were to say she didn't like that name. Despite Marrow's on and off immaturity, he was quite the gentleman. The two had met at Atlas Academy when Marrow was a freshman and Winter was a sophomore. Winter didn't think much of Marrow back then except that he was brash and would never shut up. He'd irritate her to no end, but he was never rude. In fact, he was different from most faunus she'd met. Many faunus at Atlas Academy hated Winter because of her family history, but not Marrow. Granted, she didn't care what people thought of her. Part of her reason for joining the military was because she wanted to be free from her father and the name he'd tainted. She couldn't help but find Marrow interesting, however. Despite the discrimination that faunus faced in Atlas, Marrow seemed completely unaffected by it. He didn't let the name-calling or the insults get to him and he didn't think negatively of her for being the former heiress to the Schnee Dust Company. By the time Winter was a junior and when Marrow was a sophomore, the two had become good friends. She still found him to be an annoying moron of course, but she grew to tolerate it and actually like it at times. It didn't take long before she grew to have feelings for him. Marrow, however, was a different story. He'd fallen head over heels for her the second he saw her. She was angelically beautiful, fiercely intelligent, and the most skilled Huntress he'd met at the Academy. The only thing she had working against her was her haughtiness that dissuaded some suitors while her terrifying rage scared off the others. Marrow, however, didn't let that deter him. He asked her to be his date to Atlas Academy's annual end of the year dance during his sophomore year. She agreed, thinking he asked her as a friend, but at the dance Marrow made his move, and boy was it successful. It wasn't terribly uncommon for students to date between class years; it just made things a bit awkward after one of them graduated. His last year at the Academy was torturous because Winter was on active duty which made him work harder to make sure he graduated on time. It was only slightly awkward at first to be around Winter when they were both in uniform because she outranked him, but Marrow honestly found the fact that he had to call Winter ma'am and salute her whenever she walked by pretty arousing.

Winter playfully punched him in the arm, smirking as she did so.

"While I appreciate your sweet-talking, it's not helping this interrogation," she brought a hand to her head and sighed. "I have no idea what to do with Sage. It's like his mind is gone."

Marrow nodded. "Yeah, it's strange that he's like this now. He spoke when we got him."

"Really?" Her eyes widened a bit. "What did he say?"

"He said something about not being able to believe that the 'Harvesters' were real and that he thought they were only a nightmare story or something."

She looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"The Harvesters?"

Marrow shrugged. "I don't know what it means exactly, but I think it could have something to do with those Bad Batch guys or something, considering how they left that camp looking like the set of a horror movie."

Winter brought a hand to her chin as she pondered his words. Marrow looked at her questioningly.

"What're you thinking Winter?"

"I think," she replied, "that I have an idea. Let's go."

Sage was still staring absentmindedly at the wall when the door to the interrogation room opened, revealing Specialists Schnee and Marrow. Marrow stood in front of the door while Winter calmly walked towards the White Fang leader with her arms clasped behind her back.

"Mr. Lacertilia," she said with authority, "it's become clear that you do not want to speak to either of us. So I will bring in a few people you would perhaps want to speak with." She let a dark smirk come to her lips. "The three 'Harvesters' you mentioned would be more than willing to speak with you."

The White Fang leader's pupils dilated. Whatever catatonic state he was in was no longer present once she mentioned the Harvesters. Sage's breathing grew erratic as he began to sweat profusely. From the guesses of the two specialists, it would appear that Sage had suffered a severe case of post-traumatic stress disorder from the raid on his camp.

"I'll call them now," she said.

"NO!"

The two specialists looked at the faunus with mild surprise.

"So you can talk after all? That's great to hear," Marrow was leaning up against the door with his arms crossed.

Winter glanced at Sage with slight disinterest.

"No?" She asked. "You didn't want to talk to either of us and when I offer to bring in the three men who you so clearly want to talk to you say no."

"Men?!" Sage's voice was filled with fear. "Those aren't men. They're demons."

Winter narrowed her eyes. "I don't care what they are. Either you'll talk to me or you'll talk to them."

"I…I'll tell you whatever you want to know…just keep those monsters as far away from me as possible."

Winter and Marrow shared a smile.

"Good," said Winter as she took a seat at the table, "let's begin, shall we?"

General Ironwood sat at his desk as he read through the report that Winter gave him a few hours ago. He just now had the time to read through it. He read the report once and then twice and then finally a third time before he let a tired exhale escape. James' hands were clasped together on the desk as he mentally digested the information. Lacertilia claimed that Adam Taurus had led a failed heist of an SDC train carrying Dust. The Dust was the only thing in Sanus that they wanted, and they had planned to return to Anima, to Mistral, once they got the Dust. The night before the failed heist, they were approached by three humans, who consisted of two females and one male. According to Lacertilia, the male and one of the females appeared to be teenagers while their leader, a young woman, was a bit older than them. The faunus claimed that she came seeking their assistance for what the woman claimed was a revolution in the making in Vale with an associate of hers, but Taurus wanted nothing to do with a human cause and made them leave. A few days later the trio returned and once again demanded their help, but not before the woman singlehandedly defeated over twenty White Fang soldiers. She made it clear that she could have killed them all and that she was no longer asking for Taurus' help, but instead, she was now demanding it. Once she demonstrated the mysterious ability to summon fire and wind at will, Taurus relented. She and her followers spoke with Taurus alone and they left as soon as they finished their discussion. Lacertilia had been given direct orders from Taurus to lead the men while Taurus and a small group returned to Anima to bring in reinforcements. Part of his orders entailed expanding recruitment in the Vale area and stealing SDC Dust shipments. That's where Lacertilia's useful information ceased. He swore he did not know the specifics; nor did he know Taurus' exact location. The description of the three humans aligned with what Qrow remembered from when he arrived to prevent Amber's powers from being completely stolen by one of Salem's pawns. Qrow said all he remembered was seeing two teenagers and a woman. Qrow's encounter with Salem's pawns occurred two days after the SDC reported an attack on one of its cargo trains near Vale; that meant that whoever stole Amber's powers was that very woman.

The general frowned. There was no mistaking it now. For whatever reason, Salem's pawns enlisted the help of the White Fang. He was unsure what exactly the woman meant by a 'revolution in Vale,' but if Salem was pulling the strings, then that meant that Beacon Academy was going to be part of those plans. James quickly went to work and began to compile a report of his own. He needed to alert Ozpin about this so that they could plan accordingly and anticipate Salem's next move.

"My gods…" a young female wolf faunus covered her mouth in shock as tears began to stream from her eyes. The young faunus was currently kneeling before the remains of another wolf faunus, this one male. "My sweet Lykos…who did this to you?"

She, along with several other members of the White Fang, surveyed what remained of the camp. The dirt was stained red with blood, the tents and the storage facilities were torched, and the mangled remains of faunus of every kind littered the ground. A large and muscular male lion faunus couldn't contain his internal disgust and proceeded to vomit his entire lunch out.

"Who the hell did this?" Asked a male rabbit faunus.

The sound of approaching footsteps alerted the group. The White Fang soldiers turned to see their black-clad, red-haired leader approach. Bull horns sprouted from his head and he wore a Grimm mask that obscured the top half of his face.

"Who did this Adam? I want to know who slaughtered my brothers and sisters so I can skin them alive!"

Adam examined the young rabbit faunus for a moment before he sighed. Adam placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"I'm afraid it's a matter of what rather than who," he replied.

The rabbit faunus glared angrily. "Fine! What did this?!"

"The Harvesters," Adam said coldly.

A tangible fear was present among the group. Adam couldn't blame them. They had many names within the White Fang, but for whatever reason the name 'Harvester' was the most prevalent. The Harvesters, those monsters, had a calling card, and it was simply leaving a White Fang camp in flames and brutally slaughtering the faunus inside. He didn't know what sort of deal Atlas had made with the devil, but they managed to set hellhounds after him and his brothers and sisters. Ever since he kidnapped a certain heiress to a company built on the blood of faunus, the Harvesters went on a rampage against the White Fang. They'd forced Sienna to tone down their operations to make it harder for them to find their camps. While there were no living witnesses to the Harvesters, there was a photo that an unlucky soul managed to take before being slaughtered. The picture was of low quality, but it showed the silhouette of a towering figure, with blood dripping from its hands, standing amid the smoking remains of a camp in Anima. That photo was plastered on the wall of every White Fang base around the world, and it served as a reminder to the White Fang that it had another enemy on top of the humans and the Grimm. Some didn't think they were actually real. They just thought they were a legend, but Adam knew better. He wondered just what they were exactly. There was no way they were human or Grimm. They were far too monstrous to be humans and far too intelligent to be Grimm. The distress call he received from Sage a few days ago proved that there was more than one of them and that they weren't human. The fear in his voice still resonated in Adam's mind. The way in which Sage described the carnage and the feats of strength and speed was beyond anything any human or faunus was capable of. Adam found himself gripping the hilt of his sword. It was clear that the Harvesters were after him most of all. He had been incredibly lucky to leave a camp just hours before they arrived to butcher his brothers and sisters. The idealist within him wanted to seek those monsters out and avenge his brethren, but the realist within him knew that would be suicide. Those monsters were unstoppable and even he knew how to choose his battles. The lion faunus broke the silence among the group.

"What do we do sir?"

Adam glanced at him. "There's nothing we can do. Grab your gear, we're leaving."

The bull faunus turned and walked away from the remains of the camp.

Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I greatly appreciate reviews and feedback so please don't be shy. Let me know if I missed anything in these last chapters with regards to grammar and spelling. I don't have a beta reader, but if anyone is willing that'd be huge. See you next time.