Qrow is sitting in a prison cell made of Hard-Light Dust, a solemn look on his face.

Robyn was pacing around inside her own cell sighs "This is your fault. You realize that, don't you? All I wanted was to bring people together, to give them a chance at a better life. But you…".

She angrily glares to the individual in the next cell over who turns out to be Jacques "Me? I am a victim!" Robyn scoffs upon hearing this "I'll admit I was duped. Used! And although my hands may not be clean, at least I am not a murderer!".

Qrow looks up upon hearing that. Robyn gives him a sympathetic look "He didn't kill anybody… And I'm not gonna stand here and be lectured by some snake with a mustache who helped that man tear us all apart!".

Qrow and Jacques look over to another adjacent cell, where said man is revealed as Watts, shown contently lying down on his bench with his hands propped behind his head.

Watts raised his hand "Yes, well… I suppose we're all stuck in it together now".

Jacques smiles "Speak for yourself, I know the right people. I'm sure Whitley has reached out to my legal team and will have me out of here before you can say-".

"SHUT UP!" Robyn punches the Hard-Light Dust wall, startling Jacques.

Suddenly, a buzzer sound is heard, getting the prisoners' attention. Qrow hides Clover's pin as a squad of Atlesian military soldiers enter the room and disable the hard-light Dust for Watts' cell and enter.

"You do realize you already caught me?" Watts asked.

One of the soldiers uses his gun to bash Watts' head, knocking him out and startling Jacques. The prisoners watch on as the soldiers drag Watts away and out of the room.

Robyn sighs "I hate not being able to do anything…"

"We can do something…" Qrow lifts his head up with a dark look in his eyes "We can kill the man who put us here...".

Robyn looked at Qrow with mild surprise, but then got an idea when her hand felt s small bulge in her pocket.

She smirked. "There still might be a chance we can protect them."

Confused, Qrow looked to see her produce a small device from a hidden pocket.

Robyn chuckled. "Of course those soldiers wouldn't notice this."

"What is it?" Qrow asked.

Robyn looked back at Qrow with renewed determination. "A call for backup."

She then hit the button, and a symbol that looked suspiciously like the Schnee symbol appeared. Jacques took notice of this.

"How on earth are you connected to the Schnee household?" he demanded.

"I'm only connected with one" Robyn replied, "And he commands the army we need right now."

Jacques was utterly surprised. "Army? You can't possibly mean…?"

"So you DO know." Robyn said, "You're not as dense as I thought."

"What army?" Qrow asked.

Meanwhile, all over both Atlas and Mantle, multiple different people, human and faunus alike, got a message with the same symbol on their scrolls, and they knew what it meant, and all looked at the symbol with a mixture of determination and heated anger that they had kept for so long. Now, the Champions of Atlas could rise again.

…

A news report is playing, showing a picture of James Ironwood with the symbol of Atlas behind him. The news network Atlas Eye has the subtitle "DEVELOPING STORY: GENERAL IRONWOOD HALTS MANTLE EVACUATIONS" displayed on the bottom of the screen.

"With still no word from General Ironwood, Mantle citizens are frightened and perplexed by the sudden withdrawal of military personnel, especially given the massive Grimm horde outside the kingdom. I've… never seen anything quite like this" The Reporter said as civilians are evacuating in the streets. Joanna is seen looking over it before turning around to notice the news team "It truly feels like the end of days, but the Atlas Eye is committed to updating the public, until our dying-" Suddenly, Joanna grabs the microphone from the reporter "Wha-? Hey, wait!".

Joanna stabs her weapon in the ground and glares at the reporter, startling him. She then looks to the camera and starts speaking "Citizens of Mantle, General Ironwood has abandoned you, but we have not! If you can hear this, gather any food and supplies you need to stay warm, then head to the Mantle crater. The Grimm are starting to make their way back into the city, but we can hold the line if we all come together. If we don't, well… you've all seen what's waiting for us out in the storm. It's time to show your teeth, Mantle".

…

In the tundra outside the city, a blue portal opens up as Julius drives his motorcycle out of it, heading towards the cavern system where the gateway was hidden. However, despite being his plan to get there, the gateway was not on his mind. Rather, he thought back to his conversation with Jaune moments before he left.

Earlier…

Julius was tuning up his bike when Jaune approached him warily.

"Hey, uh, you got a sec?" he asked.

Julius stood and looked at Jaune. "What's up?"

"You wouldn't happen to know anything about…ghosts, would you?"

Much to Jaune's surprise, Julius chuckled as he sat on his bike. "Let me guess, you saw her."

Jaune gasped. "Wait, you KNEW!?"

"It kinda happens when you have one hitchhiking on you too."

Summer appeared next to him, waving at Jaune. Just then, Pyrrha appeared next to Jaune and waved back. All Jaune could do was frantically look back and forth between the two spirits.

"They're Spirit Guardians" Julius explained, "Spirits of fallen warriors who are pure of heart and deemed worthy to become a sort of helper to one who was close to them in life."

"So…I'm not hallucinating?" Jaune warily asked.

Julius shook his head. "Nope, they're there. I first noticed Pyrrha back in Argus, when we were at her memorial."

Then, he turned to Pyrrha. "I'm sure you heard what I had said."

Pyrrha warmly smiled. "I don't blame you for anything; you tried everything you could to protect me."

Summer patted Julius on the shoulder with pride. "He's quite the protector, isn't he."

Pyrrha simply chuckled.

"Don't worry" Julius said, "I think you'll find Pyrrha to be a lot more helpful than you realize."

Jaune looked at Pyrrha for a moment before turning back to Julius with a smirk. "Yeah, I guess so. Should I tell the others though?"

Julius shrugged. "Not if you don't want to. I get that it's kind of a big deal to learn about it at first."

Just then, Richardson's voice came over Julius's com. "Alright, get ready. I'm opening the portal."

Julius nodded and started his bike. "We'll talk later if you want, Jaune."

"That would be great." Jaune admitted.

Pyrrha waved. "Good luck!"

Julius saluted with a finger as the blue portal opened in front of him and he drove through.

…

Back in Sentinel Prime, Oscar finished filling the Slayer in on all that had happened since their arrival to Atlas, while Novus, who was now standing up, filled in any details Oscar missed, as well as adding his account of the fight against the Kahn Makyr..

Once they had finished, Slayer clenched a fist and slammed it into his hand. "So THAT'S what the tracker was for."

"Tracker?" Oscar asked.

"One of the Maiden Sisters placed a tracker on a target for one of my hunters. If I had to guess, that target is Ironwood."

"More than likely" Novus agreed, "He needs to pay for his treason."

"You're not going anywhere near there in that armor, Damian" the Slayer said, "If Atlas upgraded it, than you can bet the suit has a tracker of its own. Besides, the armorers had already making another one for you based on some recent developments."

Novus lifted his eyebrows in excitement. "Really?"

The Slayer nodded. "I'll see to it you are suited up; you deserve it for facing the Kahn Makyr like you did. Oscar, you can come to; I'm sure we can find you something useful."

Minutes later, the Slayer was leading Novus and Oscar through multiple halls, where any guard that they passed immediately saluted them as they walked by.

"You really are respected around here" Oscar marveled.

"Well what do you expect?" Novus said, "My father's the only one who has actually left lasting damage on Salem; you saw what happened in Jinn's vision."

Oscar remembered the blow from the blood punch Salem took to her side. "Wait, it never healed?"

"Not fully. Whatever magic gives the Slayer his strength is somehow able to punch through Salem's immortality…sometimes literally."

"Did you inherit that?"

"I'm not sure, to be honest. I am strong, but its divine magic that counters Salem, and for the life of me, I'm not quite sure how it works."

"We're here." The Slayer announced, and he opened the doors to what looked like a large laboratory; armor pieces and weapons were everywhere, whether it was on tables or hanging on racks. The Armorer himself, a man in Sentinel armor, but with goggles instead of a helmet, stood at the center of the room with another that caught Oscar by complete surprise; he was outfitting a giant snake-like creature.

It reminded Oscar of Kaa, except glowing blue and decorated in armor. The tip of the tail, however, was what made Oscar uneasy, instead of a rattle, there was a multi-barreled chaingun.

"Ekaj" the Slayer called, "I see you're already suiting up."

Ekaj noticed their approach and chuckled, speaking in a western accent, "Well, I've been dying for a good hunt."

"Uh, who is that?" Oscar whispered to Novus.

"Ekaj. He's one of our hunters; Kaa's brother."

Oscar silently accepted it.

Ekaj slithered over to Novus and Oscar, looking them over.

"Well, well" he hissed, "This certainly is interesting. You've certainly haven't aged a day, Oz. In fact, I'd say you've gone backwards!"

Oscar had to regain his composure before answering. "I'm not actually Oz. My name's Oscar, Ozpin is just hidden somewhere in my head."

"Hm, all the same to me."

"Damian" the Slayer called. Novus walked over as Slayer showed him to a new suit of armor, much like the Slayer's only obsidian black and with green lights instead of red. Two shoulder cannons could be seen and a meathook attachment was on the right gauntlet while a blade was on the left.

Novus nodded and smiled. "Hell yeah."

The Armorer felt a twinge of pride. "I designed this armor for you alone. I call it the Argent Paladin."

"Badass" Novus marveled, "I will try to wear this armor with pride."

The Slayer patted him on the shoulder, "I know you will."

Novus smiled back at his father, then a different thought came to his mind. "Oh God…Penny! I have to get back to her."

Slayer nodded, "Suit up. Once the Armorer give you your new arsenal, you can head back to Atlas with Ekaj."

Ekaj hissed in anticipation. "I can't wait to turn that tin man into swiss cheese."

"All in good time" the Slayer said.

A few minutes later, Novus stepped out of the armory, decked in the Argent Paladin armor, Oscar followed behind, now sporting armored shoulder pads and gauntlets with his outfit.

"One last thing, Damian" the Slayer said, "I've been meaning to give you this."

He then held out a black hilt to Novus, who widened his eyes in surprise.

"Is that what I think it is?" he asked.

The Slayer nodded, "Similar to mine, but I think you'll like the color scheme."

Novus gingerly took the hilt and activated the crucible's blade, which shone with a deep green light. Novus swung it around to test it out, then looked to his father. "Thank you, Dad."

The Slayer nodded, "What you've done on Remnant has made me proud. Now, with that sword, you are officially and Elite Sentinel."

Novus's heart filled with pride hearing those words as his father continued, "Now, you should get to Atlas quickly, I'm sure your girl is waiting."

"Plus" Ekaj said, "We've got a score to settle."

Novus got back into his serious mindset and nodded, holstering his sword and bringing out his new Combat Shotgun, cocking it like a badass.

"Let's rock."

Ekaj is based off of a different movie character... if you pay close attention (if you don't know, I'll reveal it in the next chapter so don't worry too much). The Argent Paladin suit is an original suit I have made, if you were wondering. Other than that, let me know what you think so far!