The Beginning of the End
"All that remains is the remnants of Remnant"
-(source unknown)
It has been 2 years after Salem's attack destroyed Atlas and Mantle, and humanity's fight for survival continues.
Vale and Mistral had eagerly awaited the embargo would end as they relied on Atlas and its factories for much of their civilian resources, as well as their military hardware. It is for this reason that when Atlas fell, most of Remnant went with it. As the once ever-productive factories were destroyed, so were the supply chains that relied on them and entire villages were abandoned or destroyed as a result. little was helped by the leader of (now missing) Team RWBY's message which spread panic and chaos into the ranks of those who heard it. Only Vacuo was unaffected by 'The Fall' as it was called, but they fared little better than their Mistralean and Valean counterparts.
Shade Academy barely stands; the white sand of its once seemingly calm desert now black and red with the blood of Grimm and humans as each side fought bitterly for every square inch of the academy and the city around it. It was here that Salem attempted to snuff out any hope of reunification between the three remaining factions of humans and claim the terrible weapon inside for herself. However, the forces of Shade Academy had had time to prepare and knowledge of the Witch's abilities which helped them prepare for the onslaught. Using the Summer and Winter maidens, as well as the Atlesian refugees, the Shades defenders dug in. It wasn't nearly enough to face the on coming hordes that were coming, let alone the ones who lead them.
The Huntsmen of Vale were eradicated. Not in some glorious last stand or even a siege. But through their suicidal attempts to save the rapidly falling villages on the outskirts of their territory, spending resources they didn't know they couldn't afford to waste in such a fruitless attempt. Beacon and the City of Vale still stand, but the time of their pretentious moral superiority is long gone. "The White Queen" now rules with an iron fist from here seat at Beacon Academy and Vale returned to its once feudal ways. Noble lines such as the Arc and the Winchester lineages were reestablished to be the Queens's generals to manage the outer territories and expand when they rare opportunities presented themselves. Even though almost anything even remotely remotely close to a Huntsman had vanished the term refused to die the honorable death those that held the title did. A "Huntsman" could be anyone so long as they held the appearance of "maintaining the peace". This clashed spectacularly with the goals of the new cold hearted Beacon graduates who now specialized in a variety of fields in the new "Grimm Wars".
Mistral fared little better. As a result of the coward Lionheart's meddling, there weren't enough huntsman to reasonably protect the few towns around Mistral's capital. So left to their own devices, the criminal gangs and bandits of Mistral, in an ironic twist, became its protectors. As established crime families and gangs became the de facto government, violence between the regions escalated to levels not seen since the failed Vale invasion during the Great War. However, despite all the misery and suffering these wars caused, the Grimm presence was almost non-existent in most of Mistral. The exception being Mistral proper which was seized by the Branwen Tribe where increasingly stealthy Grimm and assassins attempt to kill the woman they think is inside.
Mistral Gangs weren't the only ones who decided to carve out their own territory. The SDC lost their illusion of cohesion once Atlas fell. Each high ranking commander fought and killed each other to gain the resources the other had. Once the dust settled, The Dust Barons emerged and quickly sought to solidify their territory seizing nearby villages with force or coercing them into the mines with promises of peace (a luxury in modern Remnant) and by using their resources to ensure that local conflicts always ended in their favor through supporting their favored side or direct intervention. Their myriad stories could contain an entire library, as could their lists of crimes against humanity and Faunus.
Menagerie became a war zone as all the factions in Mistral and the Dust Barons quickly sought new land safe from Grimm to create colonies as farm. The unprepared Menagerie forces were beaten down and broken and quickly subjugated by the invaders, but the invaders quickly forgot the lessons of the Faunus Rights Revolution. While they shifted their efforts and resources to other, more needy, fronts, the Faunus struck back in terrorist attacks across the continent and in the invaders own territories sometimes even successfully repulsing them from the content. The White Fang was reborn, this time free from any institution that could conceivably counter it. Even though they didn't have the manpower or the resources to participate in conventional warfare, word of there attacks on communications, supply lines, and the outposts of their foes quickly spread to the dying humans and Faunus civilians. Needless to say, the anti-Faunus and anti-human sentiment rose during this time, amongst a never ending cycle of terrorist attacks and war crimes.
Atlas's military is a topic of much debate amongst those who have the time to wonder. Some say they died along with their city and starved when they weren't resupplied. Others say they went to reinforce the sides from above offering their service to Vale and Vacuo. But one thing no one could deny was that Atlas Bullheads were still in use, but they were expensive and rare. Usually, the side that afford to man and use these long gone wonders of Atlas won whatever battle they were fighting. Strangely, however, these mysterious suppliers only make themselves known to those who have a large quantities of supplies to back them, such as dust barons and no two sides of a war will ever have their support at the same time. No one knows where they come from and almost no one cares.
The Grimm presence on once human-controlled continents is worse than ever before. However, in the Grimmlands they have seemingly vanished, nut no one ever ventured there anymore. The few who have come back from those foolish expeditions screamed madly about talking Grimm and "The ancient ones". In this matter, Humanity decided to leave well enough alone as the Grimm in their own territory became stronger and stronger due to the negative emotions and conflicts seeping into the black pools producing greater horrors than ever before.
The Age of Fairytales and hope is over, and The Age of Endings has begun. An age that none of us can escape.
Authors note: Thanks for reading. For you few who actually read this feel free to comment what aspect of this new age you would like to explore, but be warned. This is an age of madness and cruelty so you may not like what you find (note the M rating). With that in mind, I'll see you next upload.