Hullo everyone, I am back from a pretty damn long hiatus. So uni has been a struggle for me so far, and I haven't really been keeping up with anything that's happening. I just finished watching volume 8 after a long long time, and though there were a few moments that made me go "seriously? You don't remember what you wrote?" (coughs Penny explaining Ruby's powers scene coughs), I think on the overall this was a pretty good season and I'm interested to know what happens after. I'll be putting out chapters as much as I can so no fixed upload schedule, I'll just write and write and write.

Here's to a good season. We're starting off after escaping from Atlas!

The cold wind blew frostily across the boy's neck, making him shiver. Oscar rubbed his arms, grateful for the fire, and glanced at the door that opened. And old faunus man, badger claws for hands, thrust a bowl of hot water at him. Oscar took a grateful sip, thanking the man, and he nodded to the boy gruffly.

'Heads up.' Ozpin's voice sounded in his head, and Oscar cast his eyes up to the sound of the Atlesian ship passing overhead. The refugees sitting with him around the fire scattered immediately, and the boy drew his cane as he got to his feet. He squinted at the cockpit, recognising the mop of dark hair inside it, and the door hissed open to reveal a grinning girl clad in red. Ruby waved at the boy, the smile lighting up her face.

'Need a lift?' She called, and the boy heaved a gentle sigh of relief as the ship lowered itself to jumping height. He clambered aboard, greeting the people inside as they slowly took off, and Jaye nodded to him from the front seat.

'Glad we finally found you. You will not believe the number of runs we've made.' The raven-haired boy said, leaning back in his seat and fingering his swords quietly. 'You injured?'

'No.'

'Good. Means you can fight.' The boy said, smiling grimly at the young unwilling reincarnation. 'And we need people who can fight right now.'

They passed over the remains of Mantle relatively peacefully, the brunt of the initial assault mostly passed, and the boy despondently looked out over the ruined city. A few straggling grimm paced menacingly through the hole in the wall, noses sniffing the air as they searched for their prey. Seemingly catching onto a scent, they took off into the depths of the city, rounding a corner and vanishing from sight. Oscar heaved a dejected sigh.

'I was stupid to think the General would listen.' He lamented, clutching his hands into fists. 'Every choice I've made was the wrong one, and now…'

The ship passed over several more refugees surrounding a burning barrel for warmth, gathered in the middle of the street where they could see friend from foe, and they gave the ship scorned looks as they flew past. Ruby placed a hand on the boy's shoulder.

'We all did what we thought was best.' She said, giving him the best smile she could muster. 'I'm just glad you're alright.'

'That corner.' Jaye muttered, pointing at the bend of a building where a member of the Happy Huntresses was waving at them, and Maria pulled the ship to a park nearby. They hurried across the street, slipping into the alleyway Joanna gestured them into. She her crossbow staff off her back, shooting a nearby surveillance drone with contempt, before stepping inside.

'I know, sector 3 needs the most help. I'm sending backup your way right now. Fiona, do you copy? We need transport from sector 3 to the crater.'

The sounds of bustling admin could be heard from the corridor they were pacing through, and Jaye heaved another sigh as they rounded the corner into the main coordination room. They finally alighted into their communal resting space, where the others were waiting. Oscar cast his gaze around the room, glad to see the familiar faces, and Nora got up as he approached. The boy held out his arms, bracing himself for a tackle, and made a sound of relief as the pink-clad girl wrapped her arms around him normally for once. Jaye settled himself down beside Yang, placing his swords on the table they were sitting on.

'When we heard you went off after Ironwood on your own, we…' Blake trailed off, her words hanging in the air as they all acknowledged what the General had become. The abhorrent sacrifices he was so willing to make had revealed to the group more than anything else the kind of person he was, and what could have once been a reliable and strong leader was turning into nothing more than a murderous tyrant as his fears got the better of him.

'How did you end up in the slums?' Weiss asked, and Oscar shook his head.

'It's a… long story. But I get the feeling there's going to a be a few of those tonight.' The boy turned to the holographic screen with their names and face plastered over it. Ozpin's voice rang out in his head.

'You're not going to tell them?'

'You and I aren't done talking yet.' The boy answered back. He glanced around the room. 'Where's Qrow? The twins, and Kamina?'

The room went silent again, and Ruby finally heaved a long sigh.

'Kamina and the twins are on a supply run. As for my uncle… we don't know. The last we heard he was with Robyn, but…'

Their conversation was cut short as the door creaked open. Joanna shuffled into the room, her weapon lobbed over her shoulder, and she paced around to face the group.

'Alright, your friend is back now. You ready to work?' She said, earning nothing but silence from the group, and she heaved a sigh of her own. 'The largest Grimm hoard ever seen is hovering over the tundra, and out there is a city full of people with no heat, and from what you told us, no more military protection.' She started riffling through the supplies they had on hand, seemingly taking stock but more like she just needed something to distract herself from the situation at hand. 'While we're more than happy to give you guys a place to lie low for a while… it's time to get those people some help.'

'How? Ironwood is stopping all evacuations to Atlas.' Ren said. 'And we can't get them out of the city with Salem's forces surrounding us.'

'The crater. Beneath Atlas.' Joanna explained. 'It's not safe bit it's warm, and with everyone in one place we can do a better job of protecting them.' She paced towards the group. 'May can send you where you're needed most. We've got to get everyone down into that crater before nightfall. In the slums, we might have a chance.'

Joanna turned towards the door, and Weiss heaved a dejected sigh.

'We're never going to sleep again; I just know it.' She sighed, and the burly woman stopped in the doorframe.

'Either you're helping… or you're baggage.' She spat, letting the door swing shut behind her. Yang got off the table, pacing into the centre of the room.

'We need to get out there and do what we can for Mantle.' She said, and Ruby shook her head.

'We need to do what we can for everyone. What about Amity? And telling the world about Salem? We can't do this alone; we need help.' The girl said. Yang, however, seemed to remain unconvinced. Blake stepped forward.

'Ruby's right. The Happy Huntresses are handling the evacuation better than we can, and there's a bigger picture.' She said, but Yang cut her off.

'But Amity isn't even finished. It was still under construction.' She pointed out, and Ruby turned to Pietro.

'Doctor, what would you need to launch Amity now?' She asked, and Pietro unconsciously stepped forwards in his mechanical wheelchair.

'Uh, we've made decent progress on construction and fuel collection, all potentially manageable, but Amity was designed so that it couldn't launch itself without first being granted clearance from General Ironwood's terminal.' He explained. Yang turned to her sister.

'Ruby, there is no way Ironwood is going to cooperate with us.'

'But he doesn't have to; we just need the green light from his terminal, right?'

'You want to go back to the Academy?'

'Actually, there is more than one terminal.' Pietro said. 'One in his office and…'

Jaye cut in.

'There's another in the main Atlesian Military Compound. The one at the base of the city.' Jaye said, getting up from his spot on the table. 'We'd have to get inside the compound operations room and hack the terminal.'

Oscar raised a hand. 'Just to clarify, this is the easy option?'

'What you're saying is it can't be done.' Yang interrupted. 'It's pointless. And even if you got the message out, there's no guarantee help will come.'

Ruby whirled on her sister. 'It's not pointless! Atlas is only Salem's current target; she's not hiding anymore and once she's done; she'll just move on to the rest of Remnant! We need to warn them!'

Yang watched her sister quietly, something seeming on the tip of her tongue, and she finally seemed to make up her mind and say it.

'Ruby… when we first came here we said we'd follow your lead… but things haven't exactly worked out.'

The red-clad girl took a step back, taken aback by the statement, and the rest of the group glanced across each other as if unsure of what to say or do. Ren stepped forward.

'There are people here who need us right now.' He said. 'That's something we can actually do.'

Nora got up from her seat, stepping to the front of the conflict currently happening in the middle of the room.

'But this isn't just about Atlas. It's about all of Remnant.' She said. 'They need to know in Vacuo, in Mistral, in Vale, what's coming. So they can prepare.'

Jaune stepped between the two factions clearly dividing themselves in the centre of the room.

'Okay okay, then let's go for both. Get Amity up and running and evacuate Mantle.' Jaune said, and Ruby took a tentative step forward.

'But that's how Salem got this far; by dividing us! We have to stick together!' The girl said, her underlying fear of being left behind starting to show through despite her seeming maturity. Oscar shook his head.

'No. What Salem wants is to turn us against each other. Just like this. Jaune has a point; we can work separately and still be united.'

'Finally you got the point.' Jaye grumbled, getting up from the table. 'How long was I supposed to wait before you figured it out? Joint operations are a thing, but didn't they teach you divide and conquer in school?'

'Or maybe…' A small voice came from the corner of the room, and its inhabitants turned to face the robot girl. 'Let me take the relic to Salem, and maybe she will call off her attack on the Kingdom.'

'Yeah no.' Jaye said, crossing his arms. 'I trust Salem about as far as I can kick her, and considering I have no idea how far I can kick her owing to the fact that I've not had the chance to try, safe to say I don't trust anything about her at all.'

'That has to be the longest "yeah I don't trust her" speech of all time. You need to work on your speech skills.' Kamina said, and the group acknowledged the fox boy who had entered the room without them knowing. The twins trailed in behind, spotting Oscar and going to hug the once more newly found boy. 'And if I'm remembering your explanation of that staff correctly, the moment she uses it to create something else, Atlas is gonna make nice fresh Mantle squash.'

'Nobody's turning you over to anybody.' Yang declared solidly. 'I think that's the one thing we can all agree on.'

'Then I guess we're going to Atlas then.' Ruby said, turning to Pietro. 'Doctor, can you help us get to that terminal?'

'I… suppose someone needs to help you bypass security.' He said, but Penny interrupted her father.

'I'll go.' She said, her eyes turning a blaze of green. Yang heaved a sigh.

'Do what you gotta do.' She said, turning to the door. 'I'm going out there to see what I can do.'

Blake watched her partner go, and Yang refused to meet anyone's eye as she trailed to the exit. She paused at the door, meeting Jaye's eye.

'Are you coming with?' She asked, and Jaye stared at her for a long moment. 'I see.' She pushed the door open angrily. 'See you.'

The jingle of keys stopped her in her tracks, and she snatched them out of the air. Pietro smiled at the girl.

'Yang, go by the pharmacy. I was developing some new tools for you all before… this happened. You're gonna need them.'

A Short Distance Away From The Pharmacy

The group bade their goodbyes to each other, and Jaune, Ren and Yang turned to the pharmacy to pick up their gear. The girls banded together on the rooftop nearby, while Jaye leant muted against the wall. Kamina and the twins kicked him, and he gave them a look that said "piss off".

'Stay safe brother.' Kamina said, patting the boy on the back. The twins hugged him in turn, and the raven-haired boy shooed them away.

'Get out of here. Hold the fort while I'm gone.' He said, and Kamina gave him a mock salute. 'I swear I'll kick your ass if you call me General.'

'Aye aye captain.' Kamina's grin grew even wider. 'Your orders are absolute.'

Ruby heaved a heavy sigh as the group dropped down towards the medical building, and Blake placed a hand on her shoulder.

'Hey, we're still united.' Blake tried to reassure the girl, and Ruby sighed again.

'I hope so.' She said, interrupted by the crackling of the radio in their ears. Maria's voice came on over the staticky channel.

'I can get Pietro up to Amity to prepare, but that doesn't answer how we're getting all of you up to Atlas.' The old woman said, and Weiss began a reply, before she was cut off by the chime of her scroll. She pulled it out of her pocket, glancing at it sceptically as everyone's scrolls started to ring too, and their most recently made enemy's face appeared on their screens. All eyes turned to Penny, as she hovered over the answer button, and Jaye promptly rejected the call on his own device. Penny slowly touched her finger to the answer button, flinching as the General's voice came over the speakers.

'Hello Penny.' Ironwood said, his voice calm and level, but his seeming concern wasn't really fooling anyone. 'I'm worried for your safety. Tell me where you are, and I'll have you picked up right away. Atlas needs you Penny; Salem is here.'

Ruby gently took the scroll out of the android's hand.

'She's not going anywhere until you change your mind about Mantle.' She said, and the newly coronated dictator scoffed over the line.

'Mantle? You're still worried about Mantle?! Remnant is doomed Ruby! Unless we leave, Salem will destroy Atlas, and with it, any hope humanity has left! We need to think about the future; if she makes it through out defences, everything that follows will be on your hands.'

'That's alright Jimbo.' Jaye snorted, taking the device out of the girl's hands. Ruby hugged Penny gently, trying to reassure the hesitant girl as the conflict continued inside her. 'I've already got about three hundred and seventy-one counts of murder on my ledger, what's a couple thousand more? Or do you still want to divide that into murder and manslaughter? Dead is dead doesn't matter to me.'

'And the criminal speaks. I thought Penny would know better than to listen to the words of a mass murderer.'

'You're about five steps away from becoming the number one mass murderer in the history of Remnant. Except maybe that one dude that wiped out all of humanity back then.' Jaye snorted. 'So why then, would Penny listen to you?'

'You little-!' Jaye hit the red button, ending the call and tossed the scroll back to the orange-haired girl. Weiss gave him a knowing smile, and the boy shrugged nonchalantly.

'Well Schnee, you said you had an idea. Lead the way.'

Thank you for reading, and I hope you have a great day!