A/N

Welp, it's been a year and I've made far less progress than I had hoped. This isn't because I've been procrastinating, I have written and rewritten this story more times than I can count; I have scrapped entire chapters and arcs; I have scrapped characters and concepts; I have re-written swathes of existing chapters so that I can graft in new ideas.

Hell, I intended to upload these chapters three weeks ago before I had an epiphany and decided to rewrite several chapters. All of this was complicated by my school and work schedules, which is just more strain that I need to deal with.

I think I'm going crazy...

But anyways, that's enough about me. Nobody in my real life knows that I write this stuff, so the only place I can really vent is... here...

There is no planned upload schedule for Team MARS Part 3. Instead, I'll be uploading chapters in "batches". By doing this, I hope to avoid being tempted by the need to make more revisions or changes.

I could probably ramble on for another few pages about all of the changes I've made, but that would kind of defeat the purpose, now wouldn't it?

Prologue - Chapter 1...

"Before you give me your answer… I want you four to understand the importance of the information I am offering you," Ironwood warned. "This information is classified and a well-kept secret… I will not tolerate you repeating what you said to anyone outside this room without my permission."

Winter returned from making sure the elevator was locked, tucking her access key into the pocket of her military coat.

"Furthermore," Ironwood continued. "This information is… simply incredible, your entire view of Remnant, and everything you know about your lives will be fundamentally changed. If you four choose to follow me down this rabbit hole… there is no coming back out…"

Mauve sat silently, her eyes glassy as she bit and gently chewed her lower lip. She was carefully considering Ironwood's warning in her head, and while her common sense screamed at her to remain ignorant… curiosity was a powerful thing…

So Mauve did what she usually did… she looked to her team…

Asher had a cautious look on his face and was nervously drumming his fingers on his right thigh. He turned his head and caught her eyes, giving her a slow nod that told her everything she needed to know.

Sage had a cool and impassive look on his face, which was a little unlike him. Out of all of them Mauve knew that Sage was the most deserving… given that he had been put through the bulk of the hardship.

Rust looked intrigued, leaning forwards in his seat to rest his elbows on his legs and prop up his head. The large boy had an eager look on his brown eyes… Mauve instantly knew where he sat on the issue…

What about her though? Of course she wanted to know more… and Ironwood's cryptic warning had certainly peaked her interest.

But was it the right choice to make? Was a lifetime spent in ignorance a better choice for the four of them? But then again… they couldn't live their lives ignorant anymore now that they knew there was more to Remnant than they initially thought…

Mauve steeled herself and prepared to give Ironwood her answer, she would once again speak for the four teammates she didn't feel she deserved. She briefly turned her gaze towards her teammates to gauge their reactions; Mauve was quietly elated to find them all nodding at her, handing her the reins and letting her make the choice.

"General Ironwood," Mauve cleared her throat. The lynx girl felt her heart begin to hammer against her ribcage. "We-"

The word felt frozen in Mauve's throat. She had a dry taste in her mouth, as if she had swallowed sand and let the particles cling to her tongue.

"I don't think that's the best idea…" Mauve frowned and looked towards her feet. She heard several sharp intakes of breath and the sounds of chairs sliding against the floor. "The answer is no…"

"You…" Ironwood trailed off, a surprised look in his eyes. "You don't want to know? About the crown? About Verdant's ultimate goal?," Ironwood frowned, only for that frown to deepen into a grimace. "This is an offer I won't give you four again… this information is a well guarded secret…"

"That's why I have to say no," Mauve squeezed her eyes shut and curled her fingers into the sides of her chair. "You said it yourself, it's a well guarded secret, sir… I don't know if the four of us should know any more than we need to."

"Mauve?" Asher mumbled, getting his partner's attention. Mauve turned her gaze up to stare into his dark eyes. "After all we've been through… are you sure that you don't want to know more? You don't want us to know more?"

"It's tempting," Rust nodded in support of Asher. His brown eyes glimmered with a bright sheen of curiosity.

"I think that you two are forgetting that it was curiosity that got us wrapped up in this gigantic mess," Mauve licked her chapped lips and looked away. "We all looked into Penny's box, I kept pushing Sage-"

"Mauve," the faunus boy interjected. He had a cool look in his eyes, Mauve couldn't help but be reminded of his uncle. "We put that past us… right?"

"We did," Mauve nodded. "But it doesn't change the situation here… it all started with us looking into Penny's box… and then it just snowballed from there…"

"I had always intended to bring Sage into this," Ironwood reminded the teammates of his presence. The imposingly tall General set down the hard case he was holding with a gentle "tap". "Either way, Mauve… your team was going to get involved."

"But I made our involvement messy-"

"Mauve," Rust interrupted his leader. "We all made the decision to go…"

"But it was my idea in the first place," Mauve couldn't meet Rust's eyes. "I need to take responsibility for my actions… for my short sightedness…"

Ironwood exhaled loudly out his nose and crossed his arms. "We all make mistakes, Ms. Tempesta… I did not become General without a few missteps along the way. Coincidentally, Verdant was one of them…"

"You used to serve with him," Sage piped up, answering the question his teammates had yet to ask. "You were his leader…"

"And his friend," Ironwood's face was now etched into a deep frown. "He always had a dark seed in him…"

"I… think that we're getting off topic here…" Asher leaned back into his chair and held up his hands. "Your original offer… free tuition, training, and bringing Team Violet up here… that all still stands, right?"

"That's right," General Ironwood nodded and uncrossed his arms. "Consider it a reward for all that you four have been through. My original offer still stands…"

"Then I say we just stick with the original offer," Asher finished and slumped down in his seat. "I think that Mauve has a point… about curiosity and all that…"

"We should be finishing up our schooling as Huntsmen and Huntresses," Mauve muttered. "General Ironwood… I don't want to live the rest of my life with a target on my back…"

"Nor do I…" Asher quietly agreed. "Rust, Sage?"

"I-" Rust began but caught himself. It was hard to miss the disappointed look in his eyes. "I… guess that Mauve is right. Sage?"

"I want to know more," Sage outright admitted. He crossed his arms across his chest and blinked his eyes for a moment. "But… yeah, maybe Mauve is right. Seeing as how the last few weeks went… all this blood and sweat spilled over an object… yeah, Mauve is right."

Ironwood slowly nodded and took in a slow breath of air.

"Alright," Ironwood mumbled as he reached down to grab the handle of the case again. "Specialist Schnee? Would you come here please?"

Winter Schnee broke away from her position. The woman had been completely silent so far and she upheld this silence as she approached Ironwood.

"Take the crown to storage, make sure that the proper procedures are put in place," Ironwood requested as he handed the case over to Winter.

Winter snapped a quick salute before breaking off towards the elevator. She slipped the key into the elevator's lock before calling the carriage to take her downstairs.

"Well…" Ironwood turned on his heel and ascended the steps to his desk. "You four should rest for a while… none of you are in fighting shape. I'll see to it that you four are enrolled as students in the academy, but there is some other business we will need to attend to."

"Which is?" Mauve turned her head, catching the confused looks of her teammates.

"We cut the head off of the snake, but its body is still flailing," Ironwood sighed and planted his brawny hands on either side of his desk. "Verdant has been detained and his empire left leaderless. There will be some internal conflict for a while before a new leader rises… we need to take advantage of this chaos…"

"Oh…?" Asher lifted an eyebrow. The fair haired boy leaned back into his chair and crossed his arms across his chest. "I see… you want us to be your clean up crew? There's always a catch, isn't there?"

"I know that my request is… inappropriate… given everything that has transpired," Ironwood slowly nodded his head in solemn agreement. "But I can't just march Atlas military police into Mantle… it would be an abuse of my power and I need Mantle to trust Atlas. You four are the only ones I can trust to get this done-"

"Uh…" Rust interrupted, his eyes flicking down to look at the floor. "Eight… actually…"

"Eight?" Ironwood cocked his head in confusion. He quietly observed as Mauve and Asher joined Rust in looking sheepish. Sage seemed to be the only one just as confused as Ironwood.

Suddenly… the General realized who they were referring to…

"Oh…" Ironwood straightened his back and bit his lower lip. "I forgot about them…"

"We did… kind of get Crimson Fiamma's team wrapped up in this," Asher tentatively admitted. Sage, now realizing who his teammates and Ironwood were referring to, nodded in understanding.

"Team One Hundred and Twenty-Six," Ironwood pushed his nose to the side in thought. "Liz Verdigris… she was the one who played the part of the informant, yes?"

"She gave me the keycard for the door," Sage added. "Although I'm not sure how much you guys told her about what was going on…"

"Not much…" Asher leaned back in his chair. "But she and her teammates aren't exactly out of the loop… not completely…"

"Then we have no choice but to bring them into the fold," Ironwood scratched his scalp with his gloved hand. "They aren't going to know any more than they actually need to know…"

"I don't think that's going to work," Mauve shook her head. "They demanded to know more when we approached them for help… they're curious…"

"So I have no choice but to bring them up to speed," Ironwood frowned. "I'll make them a deal so that they stay complacent… I can offer them something. I suppose that having a few extra hands onboard couldn't hurt…"

"Good," Rust nodded. "Glad that's all cleared up…"

Ironwood raised a hand up to gesture to the elevator. "How about you four go on and get some rest… we can continue this conversation at a later time. Once you four are ready, we'll get started on the cleanup…"

The four members of MARS got up from their seats and made their way to the closed elevator.

"One last thing," Sage muttered, turning in his spot to fix Ironwood an unreadable look.

"Yes?"

"Team Violet," Sage frowned. "How long will it take to get them up here?"

"As of right now… communication with my team is rudimentary. Communicating through Verdant's relay system is like having two cans tied together by a string," Ironwood frowned and sat down at his desk. "But I assure you… those four will be offered the same deal that I offered to all of you."

"I'm going to hold you to that…" Sage nodded and turned away.

The faunus boy joined his team in the elevator and the doors closed.