Ironwood sat at his desk in his office, his head in his hands in a show of his exhaustion. Coiled a few feet away from him sat Ekaj. Forbidden from leaving the office, Ironwood could only watch the security feed of what was going on down in Mantle as well as inside Atlas itself; and he had seen the Ace Ops defect from his side.

"First Watts escapes" Ironwood sighed, "And then my own team turns on me. What's next?"

Ekaj sneered. "God...that Semblance of yours really is annoying."

"That Semblance" the General snapped, "Has given me the drive I need to save this city. The only thing stopping me as of right now is you and Robyn."

"Perhaps you fail to see the bigger picture" Ekaj began when the door suddenly opened as a handcuffed Robyn Hill, flanked by two Atlesian guards and followed by Qrow, also in cuffs.

Ekaj simply smiled. "Speaking of Robyn..."

Robyn looked in mind surprise at the serpent. "Ekaj? I wasn't expecting to see you here. It has been a while, old friend."

Ekaj bowed his head. "It certainly has, my lady. Now, let me catch you up to speed."

"Not until I'm released." Robyn interrupted, giving Ironwood a pointed look. After a few moments, the General relented and the guards undid Robyn and Qrow's cuffs. Qrow rubbed his hands as the cuffs came off, a very unamused expression on his face.

After a few minutes of explaining what had transpired since Robyn was imprisoned, it was clear that Robyn herself was very angry.

She gave Ironwood a dirty look. "You SHOT a Maiden?! What do you have to say for yourself?!"

Ironwood said nothing, but simply gazed out the window.

Qrow huffed. "Well, I see why the Slayer sent you then, Ekaj."

Ekaj's only response was, "Justice needed to be done."

"And I did what needed to be done!" Ironwood shot back, "If we can send Atlas away from Salem, then we'll have more time to figure out a new plan of attack! Your delays have only led Salem right to our doorstep!"

"Even if you did get Atlas away" Robyn argued, "It wouldn't be for long. Salem is powerful, but the one she works with is ten times that. Trust me, Davoth won't let you off the hook so easily."

"But the Slayer can just kill him too, right? Isn't that what's going to happen?" Qrow asked, hoping to find some silver lining.

Robyn simply put on a look of dread. "That's the one thing that scares me. Kaa's prophecy says the Slayer will destroy Salem...but he says nothing about Davoth."

There were a few moments of silence as that news sunk in. Qrow was the one to break the silence. "Look, let's not worry about that right now. James is right about one thing: Salem is practically here and is our current threat. We need to figure out a solution to fight back."

"Fight back?!" Ironwood demanded, "With the demons out there, the army won't last long."

"True" Robyn agreed, "But we just need to hold out long enough for my husband to show up. Once the Night Sentinels arrive, Salem is good as gone."

Ironwood was silent, his face solemn as Robyn leaned towards him, resting her hands on his desk.

"I should just leave you to the Sentinels after what you've done." Robyn said, a bit more calm, "But I'm willing to let you stay on our side and fight alongside us."

The general looked to Robyn as she continued. "We have a common enemy and a common goal. You want to save Atlas, then stop being so adamant in one plan. Trust me; I'm older than I look, and I've been in war long enough to know that plans need to be flexible in order for them to work. Please, if you still have a heart at all..."

She held out her hand. "Well, what do you say, General?"

Ironwood was silent, his face unchanging as he thought over what Robyn had told him. Then, looking Robyn in the eyes, he reached out and shook her hand.

"Perhaps" he admitted, "I may have been a little too narrow minded."

Qrow and Ekaj both breathed a sigh of relief before Qrow decided to ask Robyn, "So, how old are you?"

Ekaj hissed. "Don't you know not to ask a woman about her age?!"

Robyn chuckled. "125, to be exact."

Qrow damn near fainted from the shock.

Even Ironwood found himself chuckling at Qrow's reaction before looking to Robyn, "So, what's our next move?"

Just then, an explosion could be heard from far away. Ekaj went to the window and looked out to see a large explosion coming form the distance.

"That came from the old tomb system!" he announced.

Ironwood realized what was going on. "It's Hayden. He's launching Amity."

"Then they're going to broadcast the message." Qrow concluded.

"Let them" Robyn said, "If that message works, then our chances will get far better. We have other work to do."

That's when Ironwood remembered about Winter...

...

Sure enough, Hayden had detonated the explosives underneath Amity Coliseum, just as Pietro, accompanied by Neo, Roman, Ruby, Katrina, Penny, and Maria inside Amity itself ignited the thrusters. Slowly, Amity began making its ascent into the air.

"Ten minutes until we reach broadcasting height." Hayden announced.

"Keep us posted, we'll be ready." Pietro responded over the coms.

Katrina anxiously twiddled her thumbs.

"You good?" Roman asked her.

"I'm just super nervous" the cat faunus responded, "What if this doesn't work?"

Maria simply laughed. "Think positive, kiddo! Besides, what could possibly go wrong at this point?"

As if on cue, a red portal appeared on the arena grounds, depositing an incredibly fat demon with blasters for arms: a Mancubus. An Arachnotron appeared after it before the portal closed.

Roman sighed in frustration. "You just HAD to say something."

Penny readied her swords. "We can't let then destroy the tower!"

Roman raised his cane and fired a shot directly at the two monsters. The round exploded, but it seemed to barely do any damage as the two creatures remained standing, though they now glared at the Huntsmen group, who readied their own weapons. The monsters then noticed Ruby and growled in rising anger as they sensed her silver eyes.

"Protect Amity!" Ruby shouted. With that, the team charged forward to meet their newest foes, unaware that another presence had sensed the demons and was closing in very quickly...

...

Back down in Amity, the monsters were beginning to retreat as the alliance of Huntresses, White Fang, and Champions pressed forward. Julius, Adam, and, surprisingly, Jaune, led the charge, now emboldened by the sight of the fleeing Grimm.

Julius fired another round into the back of a Sabyr's head before raising his sword in a rallying pose. "Keep the pressure going! We almost got 'em out!"

"Music to my ears!" Yang shouted, firing off another round. Suddenly, a deep bellow was heard as a Megoliath appeared from around a corner, ready to charge into the army. Novus brought out his rocket launcher and fired a shot into the air, using the mod he had used on the Hunter (he decided to call it Hellfire). The larger rocket split into smaller ones, each one ramming into he Grimm at different parts of its body. As they watched, the Grimm lurched forward and fell over just as a flash of white appeared underneath it, causing the Grimm to bellow in pain before disintegrating, revealing the killing blow to have come from a large icicle that sprouted from an all to familiar glyph. Julius and the others were temporarily confused before a pure white Manticore landed, Winter on its back.

Julius chuckled as Winter dismounted. "I was wondering when you would show up!"

"Well" Winter replied, "You did seem to have everything under control."

"Fair point."

Just then, Leonidas shouted from his dragon mount. "They're felling Mantle!"

The rest of the army cheered and hugged each other in joy. Meanwhile, Winter received a call from Ironwood on her scroll to abort her objective, much to her surprise and relief.

"So, what's going on with Ironwood?" Novus asked.

"To be honest" Winter simply replied, "I'm not sure now."

Meanwhile, Julius was speaking with Leonidas. "I wish I could have met Commander Schnee."

"He would have loved to see this" Leonidas admitted, "but trust me, if he's not here, he's got good reason to be."

Just then, Yang pointed out a lone Grimm in the distance. "Looks like we missed one."

"I got it!" Julius said, teleporting over, only to get smacked to the ground by the Hound once he got there. Novus was the first to respond and dashed over, blasting the Grimm with his super shotgun. Though force to let go of Julius, the Grimm turned on Novus, grabbing his head and slamming it into the ground repeatedly and stunning him, though not knocking him out.

Julius recovered his sense fast enough to see the Hound pick Novus and and prepare to leave with him. Seeiing this, Julisu whipped out his revolvers and fired into the creature's back with a cry of "Let him go!"

The Hound simply looked to Julius before growling. "Nooo. I'll..be...back...for...you...boy..."

Julius stopped firing and gasped in shock; he had seen this Grimm before; it had taken his eye years ago. Taking the opportunity, the Hound swatted Julius into a wall before sprouting a pair of wings and flying off just as other Huntsmen and Champions surged forward to attack. The Hound however, held Novus behind it, using him as a human shield as it flew away with Novus's stunned form. Yang immediately ran over to Julius and helped him up as he regained his senses. Julius, however, only looked out to the Grimm and clenched his teeth in rising anger.

Salem was going to pay dearly for this...

Let me know what you think so far!