Remnant Unleashed

by CT7567Rules

Instead of dying on the Death Star, Galen Marek is sent to the world of Remnant. Here he will encounter new dangers, deadly threats, dangerous enemies and a few war heroes. Will he be able to help the people of the world defeat the evil that is coming both from and beyond this new world? Will he be able to find his redemption and what does a Silver Eyed girl have to do with it?

111. Runaway Train

The official trailer for Star Wars: The Bad Batch Season 2 has been dropped and it looks awesome. From what I can gather, it appears that Commander Cody might be having doubts about the Empire. Maybe it means that he might reconcile with Obi-Wan if he ever made it Tatooine. I am hoping that we see Ahsoka in the series, but it is unlikely that we will, but I wonder what role Bail plays in the season?

It won't, however, affect my Bad Batch story in the future, which I am still trying to figure out on how to write it. I do have some ideas, but nothing is concrete at the moment.

Also, I am considering on writing an Azur Lane story, involving one of my favorite maids from the Royal Navy and an OC, but I am debating on whether they should be a navy pilot flying or F14 enthusiast, so it's up for debate at the moment. Did I also mention I'm even considering on doing an Azur Lane story where Starscream from Armada finds redemption?

For those of you who have gotten the newest Modern Warfare, let me tell you that DMZ is challenging when you don't have squad mates who properly communicate and when you can't use the weapons you've already unlocked. I can't tell you how many times I've lost some good loot when I'm killed by the AI or other players. I really wish Infinity Ward would add a PVE mode like the one that was in Tom Clancy's The Division.

Anyways, before I begin, I'm going to clarify a few things. The SD140's I mentioned in a previous chapter are the Remnant version of the EMD SD70 Diesel Electric Locomotives used by companies like the Union Pacific, Canadian Pacific, CSX, and Norfolk Southern Railroad companies. The steam engine I've been talking about, is based on the largest known Steam Locomotive ever built in the United States and a star in an anime I really like. The Canadian MLW M-420 diesel electric locomotive will be appearing in this chapter as well identified as the M-840. I figured I'd give you all some idea as to what the locomotives look like for this chapter.

As for the chapter itself, it's one I've been dying to write for some time, so expect a long chapter. For those of you who have watched the films Unstoppable and Atomic Train, I think you'll understand the general plot of the chapter.

Now, onto the reviews.

BlindFaunusGirl: Trust me when I say things are going to be extremely different from the volume 7 canon since Adam is still alive and we have someone like the Fox helping the people. Glad you liked the fight between Galen and Salem.

Luffy L Deathwalker: Having the Fox be force sensitive, that was part of your original plan when creating that character? Interesting, but I think using his fencing skills with a Lightsaber would be better.

Monster King: Thanks.

Spartan-626: Thank you and I do agree that Atlas could have found out about these settlements but considering that most of the people really don't care about anything or anyone but themselves, I think keeping them hidden was a good move. Glad you liked the fight between Galen and Salem.

Jack Smith1: You're not getting updates when I post a new chapter? I've had that happen to me before and let me tell you, it is very annoying.

Now, onto the songs for this chapter.

Songs are 'Burning Battlefield' from Pokemon, 'Chase Through Coruscant' from Attack of the Clones, 'Meteor' by T.M Revolution and from the Gundam Seed series, 'Ginga Tetsudo wa Harukanari' the opening theme for the first season of Galaxy Railways, the instrumental opening to the History Channel show 'Extreme Trains' and 'Contact' from Ace Combat: Zero. Even though I didn't list, but if you are all fans of the classic Thomas the Tank Engine series, go ahead and think of the runaway theme from the series of you wish.

Anything written like this… will indicate a scene change as well as commlink/scroll chatter.

Now, que the intro.

(Start Rise, Tv version by Madkid)

(The camera moves fast over the frozen tundra of Solitas before it shots up to the floating city of Atlas and the city of Mantle below it. As fighter jets fly past, the title card is revealed with two lightsaber blades surrounding it.)

Remnant Unleashed

In this empty void, I found the way to light. Can't find my way in this lingering world. Searching fo the answer- the one that I can trust in. I'm just wandering around.

(The title card vanishes as a shot of Ironwood addressing his followers is shown, standing in full military gear. Among them is Galen and his team, Jaune, Nora, Ren, Lop, Faye, Kara and Zett, the students wearing new combat clothing. Behind them in the corner with their helmets off are Rex and his brothers who eye the general with suspicion.)

Yeah, still stuck in the shadow ey, But I never follow that. This pain at last soon will pass. Turn into my own unbeatable strength. This guy or that guy -dead or alive by hiding alone, can't survive. I don't want to lie to myself.

(Behind Ironwood are his Ace Ops and Winter who then dissipate into mist before being replaced by Jacque who has a devious grin on his face, while Whitley and Serra stand behind him looking at each other with worry. The scene then changes to Mantle where Boba, Robyn, Ahsoka, the Fox, Maria, Grogu, Pietro, Penny, Artoria and the Happy Huntresses look up towards Atlas, Robyn crossing her arms before looking at a picture of her, Ray, Neo, and Amber.)

Keep on the fight, get right I'll never lose and cry. Keep run up day and night. Time to rewrite. No matter what anyone say's I find my way. Never go away.

(The Grimm charge towards from the tundra as Galen, Ruby, Jaune and their teams ready for their weapons for battle only for Ruby, Jaune and their teammates to vanish into mist while soldiers appear behind Galen and his team aiming their weapons at them. Galen's eyes are shown and then narrow as he ignites his lightsabers.)

Now, nobody can stop me no way. I will make sure not to forget those precious things. Yeah, I'll take a stand, get back all that I've lost. Rise suddenly in this word. (I don't look back yeah.)

(Galen and his team then charge in, now fighting a top a speeding train in the tundra against the Ace Ops while droids attack both groups. Galen slashes a droid and counters an attack from Harriet, Rose dodges Elm's massive hammer, Arthur clashes blades with his cousin, March trades fists with Marrow who looks unsure of his choices as Vine's giant hands try to swat away two human shaped machines flying alongside the train, with Clover trading blows Rex at the front of the train.)

This repetition will repeat 'till the end. And the regret that's still lingering in my head. Time to get it all back, now turn over. Rise suddenly in this world.

(The scene changes once again as Teams RWBY, JNR, Domino Squad, the Bad Batch, Fordo, Alpha, Cody, Waxer, Boil, Kara, Faye, and Able fight against the Grimm which then change into Imperial troopers as the shadows of Vader, Palpatine, Barriss, Jacque, Watts, Maul, Salem, Emerald, Mercury, and a mysterious robotic figure loom over them. Ruby's face turns to fear before her eyes shine and a silver light engulfs the screen before the title card returns.)

(Song ends)

Disclaimers are the same as always.

Chapter 111: Runaway Train

Kingdom of Atlas,

Mantle, Industrial Sector, Abandoned Warehouse

9:00 PM

A squadron of small drones flew past the warehouse as Watt's rerouted their flight path to another sector of the city while the cyborg Tyrian paced around impatiently behind him. "Doctor, tell me I won't have to wait much longer. I have more people to kill for her grace and all this waiting around is very boring. My blades hunger for the screams of victims." Tyrian complained.

"I told you, Tyrian. I have a plan that I think her grace will like very much, so I wish to tell her about our progress with my plan, so please, do try to control your thirst for blood. The last thing we want is for that brute of a general Ironwood discovers our location." Watts told his compatriot who growled in annoyance.

A few seconds later, the holoprojector Watts had placed in the warehouse came to life and standing before him and Tyrian was Salem, who still displayed some scars from her fight with Galen two weeks ago. "Watts, Tyrian." Salem began as the two bowed before their leader. "What do you have to report, Watts?"

"I have good news, your grace." Watts said eagerly. "That fool, Jacques has not only given me his credentials, allowing me complete access to the systems of both Atlas and Mantle, but he's also asked me for his assistance in getting rid of a weapon that's been collecting dust for many years." The doctor began, pulling out his scroll and displayed the schematics for said weapon. "This is one of Atlas's Red Dawn bombs. Although they are small, they are very powerful since they carry a payload of multiple types of Dust, such as fire, lighting, and gravity, along with plasma and electricity. When detonated, they generate an electro magnetic pulse wave that renders all electronics completely useless and are extremely dangerous. They were built forty-years ago and more recently, the Schnee Dust Company has begun to dismantle the bombs, rending them unusable in the event the White Fang would ever get their hands on one." Watts explained.

"A bomb like that would certainly prove to the humans that we Faunus mean business. Do you plan on detonating one in the city and leaving it vulnerable to attack?" Adam asked as he appeared in the hologram with Maul by his side.

"No, nothing as trivial as that. Only one bomb has yet to be disarmed and is currently siting in a warehouse in Rosamond, which is the largest port city on the continent and the only means of supplies being shipped to the main kingdom. An important freight train bound for the capital is due to leave Rosamond in two days and from what I've seen on the manifest, I believe it can be of use to us." Watt's clarified, glaring at Adam who also casted a glare at the doctor.

"Am I correct to assume that you plan on sneaking this bomb aboard the regular cargo and send the train towards the Kingdom?" Maul surmised.

"I do. With my access to all of Mantle and Atlas's systems, I can take control of the newest additions to the Atlas railways locomotive fleet and send the train hurtling towards the kingdom. Even if derails in the mountains, the detonation will still create panic and chaos that will bring the Grimm towards the kingdom and leave it vulnerable to attack. However, I believe it would be prudent for us to have some Grimm and droid fighters on standby incase someone decides to try and destroy the train before it reaches its final destination." Watts explained.

"See that it's done, Watts. But I want to know what Ironwood is keeping hidden. I've got the strangest feeling that the good general has something planned that he's keeping secret from everyone except his own inner circle. I want to know what he has planned." Salem ordered before the projector shutdown leaving, Watt's and Tyrian alone before they left several minutes later.

Atlas Academy

Computer Lab

10:00 PM

Analyzing the data gathered from the war factories mainframe confirmed what Neo said weeks ago. The programming of the Atlesian Knight prototypes and that of the virus removed from Vale's CCT tower matched the style of the deceased Arthur Watts. "This is not good." Tech said, his eyes scanning the programming confirming he wasn't seeing things. "Hunter and the others are going to want to see this." He said, transmitting the data onto his personal data-pad and raced out of the lab, heading for the firing range where his squad, Rex, Domino Squad, Hardcase, Jesse and Kix were partaking in a little friendly competition.

He ran past the students and soldiers before he reached the firing range. "Tech, are you alright? Why'd you come in here running?" Hunter asked.

"I've found out who hacked into the systems of Mantle. It's Arthur Watts. The supposedly deceased Atlas scientist. He's the one who framed Galen for murder and is most likely the same one who helped Jacques Schnee win the council election." Tech explained.

"Are you serious?" Rex questioned. "How can a dead man rig the election?"

"Because he isn't dead." Tech explained. "I'm surprised I didn't consider it sooner. After being passed over for the position of Atlas's head scientist, Watt's faked his death in what became known as the 'Paladin Accident' and somehow managed to learn of Salem's existence. He practically invented the network in Mantle, the environmental Dust control, and many other systems in Mantle, which haven't been updated even before the Fall of Beacon. The coding in the virus pulled from the CCT matches the coding recovered from the factory. Therefore, it is a logical conclusion that Watt's is indeed alive and working with Salem."

"Sounds like a theory, is what Harriet would say." Clover said as he and Marrow walked into the firing range. "But, considering we're not Harriet, I think your theory does have some merit. If Watt's faked his death and joined up with Salem, it would explain how Tyrian has been able to avoid detection, how Jacques won the election and how Galen was the one seen killing those civilians instead of Tyrian. I'm surprised we didn't consider it sooner."

"Did we ever consider it?" Marrow asked. "Because I don't think anyone considered it."

"Obviously, you didn't. Ironwood didn't expect a supposedly dead scientist still being alive and working with the most dangerous person on Remnant." Hunter answered. "With the systems in Mantle out of date, Ironwood didn't expect a cyber-attack. If we hadn't pulled the virus from the CCT, Cinder could have easily manipulated the matches to suit her plan and give her complete control of communications and Ironwoods army."

"That's the risk of using a machine army." Crosshair said, flicking a toothpick away. "They can be hacked and reprogramed."

"I say we go find this Watt's and kick his ass!" Wrecker shouted with a pump of his fist.

"That would be an illogical move, Wrecker. We have no idea where Watts could be hiding or what his next plan might be. We would be running blind into the unknown and would more than likely get ourselves killed." Tech told the muscular clone, who shrugged in dismay. "However, I do have some good news. While I haven't been able to pinpoint Watts location, I believe I might have found a way to track his movements and block his access to the systems in Mantle."

"How are we supposed to do that?" Hardcase asked.

"Simple, I've been working with Trigger's A.I. and together, the both of us have developed a computer program that will track unauthorized usage of the systems. Railroads, environmental, communications, security footage, everything that's connected in Mantle. If Watt's makes a move, we'll be able to track him down and revoke his access. However, we are still working on completing the program, or counter-virus as it's called."

"Wouldn't using a tracking program alert Watt's to our efforts?" Jesse asked.

"I've got to side with Jesse on this one. If Watt's is hacking the systems in Mantle, won't he detect the program and delete it?" Kix said in agreement.

"Normally, that would be the case, but I'm one hundred percent certain that Watt's has not had much time to study the cyber-warfare of the Republic, Separatists or even the Empire. While it's advanced, the technology of Remnant is still primitive compared to the systems of a Venator-Class cruiser. Even if he discovers the program, he won't be able to decrypt it before we revoke his access to the systems." Tech explained. "Once we pinpoint his location, we can take him down."

"Wouldn't it be better if we arrest him?" Marrow asked.

"Too risky." Clover stated. "If we arrested Watts and brought him to Atlas, we'd probably try to force him to help us, and he would use that as a chance to render Atlas more vulnerable to Salem's attacks. We have to kill him."

"I'm with Clover, if that guy gets within several feet of a computer, who knows what he'll do. He might even have been the one to hack those drones that attacked Mobius One, Galen and Ruby all those weeks ago." Fives agreed.

"If he resists, I'll blow a hole in that head of his." Hevy said with a grin.

"We still need to complete the program and track down his location." Rex pointed out. "But that's for you and Amber to finish, Tech. Me and the boys in blue are heading out to the tundra to find Galen and his team. This isn't Ironwood's orders, it's something we're doing on our own." He then turned to Clover and Marrow. "Don't log this into the systems, Watt's might have the systems in the academy bugged."

"Understood, captain." Clover answered, giving Rex a nod with his head. "You just bring them back alive, safely." Rex nodded back and in a short while, a gunship lifted off from the landing pads outside the academy headed towards the tundra.

Kara's dream

Kara stood in total blackness as she looked around for any signs of her master and friends. All she saw, was the creatures of Grimm who moved close to her. She reached for her lightsaber, only to find it was on her person, the same with her rifle.

As the Grimm drew closer to her, she watched as someone appeared behind them. That someone was her, but wearing a tight PVC latex catsuit, and silver combat armor along with a black robe. "You are Salem's maiden. Your destiny is to serve her and bring about the end of the world with her." The dark version of Kara said as their yellow eyes shined through blackness before the Grimm lunged at her.

Kara braced herself for the impending attack, but then a sharp whistle echoed around her as the Grimm and the dark version of herself vanish in a puff of smoke and in their place was a large object and a bright light covered by mist. Kara couldn't make out the object, but she spotted a glimpse of something on it. A name plate saying 'VR 8001' before her dream came to an end.

Kara's room

Atlas Academy

1:30 AM

Kara awoke from her dream with a jolt as she panted from her dream. "That dream again. Why do I keep having that dream? Am I afraid of the Grimm because I know Salem's after the powers of the Fall Maiden? And what's that object that let out that whistle, what does it mean?" Kara asked herself before she laid back down in her bed and went back to sleep, unaware that Faye had heard her wake up and sensed her padawans concerns.

When morning came, Kara sat in the cafeteria but hadn't even touched her breakfast. Her dream was still bothering her, and she couldn't understand what it meant. "That whistle, what did it mean? It couldn't be like those steam engines back in Anima, but that number, what does it mean?" she asked herself before she finally started to eat her breakfast. Faye noticed this and decided to act, but before she could, Mordred beat her to it.

"What's got you looking so glum, kid?" she asked, picking up one of her waffles and ate it with one hand. "You look like you had a nightmare or something."

"You're not completely wrong." Kara said.

"Shit, you had a nightmare. I didn't think Jedi ever get nightmares." Mordred said after swallowing the food in her mouth.

"Everyone is susceptible to nightmares." Faye said as she sat down with her padawan and Artoria's younger sister. "Jedi are no different. But a nightmare can be just as dangerous as the dark side of the Force. Kara, what was your nightmare about?"

"I found myself surrounded by darkness, then the Grimm surrounded me, and I was completely unarmed. Then the Grimm made way and I saw… I saw myself, dressed like a Sith Lord and I said to myself, that I am Salem's new maiden, and it was my destiny. But before the Grimm could attack me, I heard a whistle and they just disappeared, but I saw something, a plate that said, 'VR 8001'. I don't know what it means, but I'm afraid. Could I really become Salem's new maiden?" Kara asked.

"Kara, you are nothing like Cinder. You don't desire power and while you still have much to learn about your powers, you use them for the people, not yourself. If anything, you are more deserving of the Fall Maiden powers than Cinder ever was. You shouldn't be afraid of your powers but embrace them as you've been learning to control them." Faye told her padawan.

"But I…" Kara began before Mordred interrupted her.

"Kid, let me give you some advice. Don't let yourself be controlled by a dream. You're in control of your own life and no one else. If that Salem bitch wants to try and make you her new weapon, well I say she can go to hell." Mordred told Kara, who smiled at Mordred.

"Thank you, both of you." Kara said and finally started to eat her breakfast. "But still, what does the VR 8001 plate mean?" she asked.

Robyn's Safe House

850 miles from Rosamond

Solitas

10:00 AM

"You want to do what!?" Rose exclaimed at Galen.

"You heard me, I want to go back to the kingdom and turn myself in." Galen said. "I know I'm not guilty and that I didn't kill those people. But running away and living out here, it's not going to help prove my innocence. I have to go back." Galen said.

His teammates looked at him, as did Grogu as he threw a log onto the fire. It had almost been two weeks since the fight at Corinth and although they helped repair much of the damage caused by Salem's assault, Galen was beginning to have second thoughts about going into hiding. Even in his absences, he and his team were still being framed for murder despite no one seeing them in the kingdom at all.

At the head of these accusations was councilmen Jacques Schnee who was pushing for more effort to find and 'apprehend these so-called huntsmen and huntress and lock them away before they could harm the great kingdom of Atlas'. A load of bull if there ever was one, but the accusations were causing the people of Mantle to prepare for war with Atlas who they believed rigged the election for their sake. Despite all her efforts, Robyn couldn't hold back the rioters with her words for much longer, even with her own name being dragged through the mud with her and her huntresses being accused of theft from more of Ironwoods convoys.

Worst of all, the increase in negative emotions generated by the kingdom had brought the Grimm closer and closer to the kingdom, stretching the defenses of Mantle thin, according to information given to them by Trigger, which was one of the reasons that Galen wanted to return to Atlas. "Now I know what you guys mean when you used to call me insane, but seriously Galen, this is insane. The moment you get within a few miles of the kingdom, you'll be shot on sight by the SDC security guards. They don't care if your innocent or guilty, all they care about is getting their hands on the reward mustache face put on your head." March protested.

"My mind is made up. I have to do this. You can stay here if you want, but I'm going back to the kingdom. I won't force you all to follow me if you don't want to." Galen explained. "I've already made arrangements for Wally and Whitman to pick me up tomorrow on their freight train to Atlas."

"It's too risky. Who knows what will happen before then. We should stay here and do what we can for the people that Atlas has abandoned." Rose protested.

"I can't keep running from this. I'm going back and that's final." Galen stated determinedly.

"If that is what you think is best, then I'm going as well." Arthur said after he was silent for a long time. "Running from this problem won't help our situation. The more we stay out here in the tundra, the more time Jacques has to slander our names and make him look like the 'savior' of the kingdom. Not to mention it could also give Salem another means of attacking the kingdom. Ironwood's intentions are honorable, but he refuses to see the bigger picture and has done nothing to help clear our names. Going back is the right choice."

"Seriously? You're on board with this as well, Arthur? I thought you of all people were smarter than that?" March asked, flabbergasted by Arthur's statement.

"One must let their actions speak for themselves, not just their words. Proving our innocence through actions will help prove our innocence more than just our words." Arthur answered. "And I believe that it's three votes to two who agree with our decision." He added, noticing that Grogu had leapt onto the Galen's shoulder and smiled.

"Seriously Grogu!?" March groaned. "Augh! I guess the little guy made up his mind before we even talked about this! Fine, so we start packing up everything into the Sharks and then take it to station along the line? The one with the crane?"

"That's right. Wally and Whitman will be stopping there before they continue onto to the kingdom. We're going along for the ride, and I've already transferred the funds to their accounts. They've done a lot for us, so I think it's only fair that I compensate them for everything." Galen answered. "Plus, a trip as long as what they have for tomorrow, they could use some extra provisions."

"Well, I guess that means we better start loading up the supplies into the vehicles." Rose said reluctantly. "Honestly, I'm going to miss this place when we go back. Kind of felt like I was back at home with my ma."

The team agreed and started to pack up, but while Galen tended to the fire, he felt a disturbance in the Force. "I've got a bad feeling about tomorrow." He said as he tossed another log onto the fire.

Airfield

10 miles from Mantle

12:00 PM

The sky was clear as the Galm Team, Alice, Shamrock and Mickey came in for a landing. Their landing gear was out as the control tower guided them in for landing. The first to land was the Galm Team, followed by Alice a few minutes later, then Shamrock and finally Mickey. Taxing their planes into one of the hangers owned by Robyn and her huntresses, they found Mantle's hometown hero loading the cannon of her new F4 with the basic two-tone grey air superiority.

With the funds she received from several jobs she and her huntresses took on after the Fall of Beacon, she purchased four of these aircraft for her girls, having them modified to her specifications for extra ammo for the gun and for only one pilot. A fifth F4 was located in another hanger, the F4 that belonged to Mobius One that was given to Ruby. Clone Engineers were discretely transported to the airfield to modify Ruby's aircraft and remove the systems normally used by the radar intercept and weapon system officers.

Ruby's new astromech droid was an R2 series designated RIC-22 with a paint job similar to the color of Ruby's outfits. Though Ruby had yet to meet the astromech, RIC-22 was eager to please the friend he had yet to meet and assist her in battle. "Alright, Rickey. How's the pipsqueaks F4 looking?" Robyn asked as she wiped the grease from her hands. The droid beeped in response, which Robyn believed to be an 'it's looking good' response. "Good work, take a break. Don't want those joints of yours getting frozen."

"Seems like you're starting to understand the binary language spoken by the droids." Larry said as he and the others walked over to Robyn. "Guess having a Mandalorian Jedi for a nephew has it's perks." He chuckled.

"What can I say? I pick up on things pretty fast." Robyn chuckled back. "Nice to see you, Pixy. You too, Cipher. I recognize most of you, but I don't know two of you. Care to introduce the new faces?" she asked as

"Marcus Lambert. Callsign, Shamrock and Strike Dagger pilot for the Vale Air Force. It's a real honor to meet Mantle's hometown hero." Marcus introduced, holding out his hand for Robyn. "I've read about the plans you had if you got onto the council, but I just want you to know that I believe that you should have won the election instead of Jacques Schnee."

"Thanks for that." Robyn answered, shaking Marcus's hand before he turned to Alice. "What about you, young lady?"

"Alice Evergreen. Sister to March Evergreen, member of Team GARM. Is it true that March has become a wanted criminal by the newest council member? There's no way March is a criminal!" she protested.

"Calm down, Alice. Your brother isn't a criminal. He's been labeled a criminal by Jacque after he and the other members of Team GARM attacked Jacques forces when Galen made his escape from the kingdom. He hasn't killed any innocent people, that credit belongs to Tyrian Callows." Robyn assured.

"Back up, Tyrian Callows? You mean that serial killer from Anima who disappeared years ago? I thought he was dead?" Alice asked.

"Apparently not. Seems that someone saved his life and then turned him into a cyborg like that General Grievous character that I heard about from Rex. Seems like Salem had some tech she used to do it." Robyn answered.

"Who's this Salem?" Cipher asked.

"You guys aren't going to believe this, but apparently the Grimm are being led by some woman named Salem who's the real mastermind behind the attack on Vale. Not Cinder Fall like everyone believes. Salem's lived for thousands of years and is trying to divide humanity and make us fight each other, that's probably one of the reasons she's got the White Fang helping her out and she's after something beneath the academies." Robyn explained.

"If she's lived for thousands of years, does that means she's immortal? How's anyone supposed to defeat someone who's immortal?" Alice asked.

"I'll tell you about it later, right now, I want to check on Neo and Ray. They should be back from their test flight of their new battle armors." Robyn answered before she started walking towards the hanger where Ray and Neo's Strike Daggers were stored.

Standing in front of their planes were to customized versions of the armor worn by Clone Blaze troopers during the battle of Vale but was far less bulky than the standard version and more on the lines of streamlined. The power output of the thrusters mounted on the back was increased to twice that of the standard output. The mortar and pulse laser were replaced with a handheld plasma rifle with the same transformation feature as Galen's weapon in one hand and shoulder mounted micro missile launchers along with holsters for their lightsabers. The armor's color matched that of their custom-made armor and the armors visor was the traditional T-shaped worn by Mandalorian's. "Damn." Pixy whistled when he saw the armors. "Talk about serious firepower. Looks like something out of one of those TV shows that kids watch these days."

"Fast, heavily armed and sporting the visor of a fearsome warrior. I can definitely picture the enemy quivering with fear when they see these suits." Cipher added, equally impressed.

"They were constructed as a means to engage aerial threats such as Yellowjackets, Hoppers and other creatures of Grimm. The original weapons have swapped out and replaced with experimental Atlas and Imperial weapons recovered from the White Fang and liberated from Imperial convoys." Amber explained as she appeared before the pilots from the holoprojector on the table. "Due to the advanced systems of the armor, it's imperative that I remain connected to the armor systems to prevent any hacking or rewriting of the targeting systems."

"If that virus is anything to go on, then our enemy knows computers better than we do. It makes you wonder if they are from Atlas or someone just good as those bigwigs." Neo said as she wiped the grease off her hands. "Lucky for us, the systems are too advanced to be hacked and even if they did manage to hack into the systems, we would be alerted to their presence the moment they started hacking." She added.

"Only if someone discovers our new weapons, which they won't considering we haven't left any electronic notes about them." Ray said, whipping the grease on his overalls. "Good thing these battle armors can also use the shielding our armor uses when we interface with them, we focus on the fighting and Amber focuses on keeping our brains from becoming fried." He joked.

"First you had your armor modified to be exactly like the armor for Combat Evolved, then you operated massive walking tanks with enough firepower to level a city and now you have some mean looking battle armor to take to the skies. You two are a quiet a couple of jacks of all trades." Marcus said impressed. "I'd be happy flying my Strike Dagger as long as I can protect my family." he added.

"If you've got a reason to fly and fight, then you already are more of a warrior than those who fight only for themselves." Neo said, referring to a certain councilmember who she didn't trust in the slightest. "Something just doesn't sit right with me. Robyn clearly had the lead in the polls and then just before the election ended, everyone just voted for Jacques in about ten seconds. There's no way that he could have won considering her popularity with the people, not unless he had help."

"How Jacque won the election is anyone's question." Robyn said, looking towards the distant city where a Bullhead toting yet another victory banner for Jacque's fly overhead. "What does matter is not giving him what he wants. If he wants to make me out to be a criminal, then I'll disappoint him by not being the criminal that he makes me out to be. I'm a hero, not a vigilante or criminal. My focus is on improving the condition of Mantle, not my reputation or public image. Unlike him, he cares only for himself and not the people. Whatever methods he used to win the election; they won't stay hidden for long."

Hearing Jacques name, Onyx let out a small growl before he laid his head back down on his bed, whimpering in depression. "What's with the pooch? I thought you said the dog was playful, that doesn't look like a playful dog." Mickey said.

"He's been like that ever since Grogu left with Galen. Those two grew to like each other. I still remember the first day he woke up without the little guy sleeping with him. He went looking all over the house but never found the little guy. Guess he consider him a friend." Robyn answered.

"I have a feeling that he'll be seeing the little guy again, sooner than he thinks." Ray said, gazing at the distant mountains. "Why is it whenever I stare at the mountains, I hear a whistle?" he thought to himself.

Freight Yard

Rosamond

3:00PM

Men worked about the railyard as forklifts carefully loaded crates of flammable cargo into boxcars as two SD-140's backed down onto a line of eighty freight cars. The couplings of the two diesel engines signaled the connecting between the engines and the cars as Whitman walked along the train with a click board in his hands. "Ok, Wally. That's a lock. Ease of the throttle a bit." Whitman said into his radio.

"Don't want to raise any alarms. But the controls are a little touchy, even after the tune up we gave this girl." Wally said from the cab of the front unit. "What are we looking at?"

"We got several gondolas full of chemicals, boxcars with biomedical chemicals, missiles, cannon rounds and medical supplies. A couple of tankers full of molten phenol, that stuffs dangerous. Few dozen grain cars from those ranches on the Vale/Vacuo border. Some more boxcars, these ones are full of the supplies that Robyn purchased from Vale to repair wall, couple of hoppers full of coal for heating and some more boxcars with military equipment." Whitman reported as he looked over the manifest. "Looks like about eighty cars, plus the caboose."

"Heh, we're a regular mixed freight train." Wally chuckled. "Hey, I'm looking at the gauges and I'm seeing a loss in brake pressure. I think we got a leak." Wally informed.

Whitman looked down between two of the gondolas and checked. Sure enough, one of the brake pipes was leaking. "Looks like the air brakes weren't tied on tightly. Wally, get Stan down here and help us secure the brake pipes. Last thing we want is to lose our brakes going down the mountains." Whitman ordered.

"What about that empty flatbed we got? You know, for our 'special passengers'? Is that coupled up?" Wally asked.

"Yeah, it's coupled up. Once we're out of Rosamond we'll make that stop and get them onboard." Whitman answered as he bent down and tightened the brake pipes between two of the boxcars. As he did, Stan Jackson, a young faunus with bat ears, dark skin, and black hair of about twenty-four years old arrived. "Jackson, I…" Whitman began.

"Easy, boss. I heard everything." Stan answered, pointing to his bat ears on his head. "I'll go tighten the air brakes on the rear of the train and meet you in the middle."

"Heh, I forgot all about that kid. It's like I taught you, every part on a train is important and if one part is out of place, then it'll effect the whole train." Whitman laughed. "At least one of you youngsters listened to what I taught you."

"Yeah, well I think you might be taking those words back. I overheard old Horace talking on the phone with the newest councilmen. Seems he wants us to use two of the newer SD-140's on our train tomorrow. Says he wants to show the general public and the rest of the world what the newest SDC locomotives are capable of." Stan said.

"Figures. There's always someone who wants to cut out the middleman and replace them with the latest technology. Running trains by computers is dangerous, considering that the software can be hacked." Whitman scoffed in annoyance. Horace, the liaison for the Schnee Dust Company and the railroad had been pressuring the head of the railroad to begin using the new SD 140's on their trains.

The head of the company, Robert Gresely, great grandson of Stephen Gresely the man who proposed the idea of connecting the settlements in Solitas by rail had his doubts about the new and improved SD 140's, considering the fact that they had yet to be cleared for use on his railroad. He also held the firm belief that trains should be operated by people, not machines or computers that can be programmed to do anything anyone wanted. He even frequently visited the yards on his railroad across the kingdom, personally helping his workers in operating their trains if someone took ill and held no ill will to those who were Faunus. In fact, some of his employees were former White Fang members who became disillusioned by the ideals of several of their former 'comrades', all of which hadn't committed any sort of crime.

Gresely also had another reason for visiting his yards. He heard stories of the locomotive that was brought to Solitas from Vale and disappeared several years after diesels began to replace steam locomotives from his father and was determined to find, restore, and return the locomotive back to the Kingdom of Vale, even gaining the support of the Vega family who shared his goal.

But despite his beliefs, the board of directors went behind his back and approved running the new locomotives on a trial run, further convincing Gresely that it was probably time to end their contract with the SDC. "I appreciate that Mr. Gresely looks out for his workers and helps them out, but the board of directors, I hear that many of them have some connections with the SDC and care more about making a profit rather than running a railroad. All they care about is money this and money that. I even heard they plan on forcing some of you older men into earlier retirement and replace you with younger, less inexperienced operators." Stan said as Whitman finished tying on the breaks.

"Well, if there's one thing, we old folks know, is that those air brakes won't tie themselves off if you just stand there." Whitman joked, getting Stan to move to the back of the train and began to check the brake pipes of the entire train.

It took two hours before all the air brakes were tied on properly and Jackson, John, and Wally walked along the length of the train. "After this I'll be sleeping in my own bed." Wally said.

"I keep forgetting that you live in Mantle, Wally." Stan remarked.

"Yeah, I got two grandkids there to prove it." Wally said with a smile.

"Two already? I guess time does fly when you're working on the railroad." Stan joked.

Wally laughed before John spoke. "Hey, Stan. We'll need you to stay in the yard for the night. We can't risk having the Grimm or some youngsters sneak in and unintentionally separate the brake pipes. I know you're supposed to be going home, but…" John began.

"It's cool, Whitman. I get it. Your health's acting up, so you'd rather not get stressed out by anything. I'll be glad to cover for you. You just get some sleep, besides." Stan brushed off, pulling out a handgun from his holster that he had on his hip. "I'll take care of anything that comes our way. I'd do a better job of it than Dewey did. Guy really messed up, leaving the cab of his locomotive to throw the trailing point switch. He's lucky the catch points stopped his train before it could leave the yard."

"Just make sure you don't make that same mistake. Last thing we want is to be late. Mantle needs these supplies and we'll be delivering them." Wally reminded as they passed one of the boxcars that was marked flammable. "I hope nobody's a smoker, last thing I want is for this train to fire me up." He joked, before he and John headed into town to get some sleep.

Hours later, the yard was completely deserted of all personal except for Stan who left the cab of the 825 locomotive, an old M-840 diesel locomotive that had been long since regulated to pull short freight trains and shunt cars in the yard. The 825, was Whitman's pride and joy as it was the first locomotive that John ever operated and one that he vowed to keep from the cutters torch. "That John loves this old locomotive." He chuckled as he began his patrol.

As he patrolled the yard, he didn't know that at the very moment, Watt's, Tyrian, and half-a dozen commando droids had just entered the yard and were making their way towards the train. Watts used the light from his Scroll to check the cars of the train while one of the commando droids operated a forklift that was carrying the bomb Watt's had told Salem about while the other droids and Tyrian went along the length of the train making 'adjustments' to the train's brakes. "This is the one, open it up." Watts ordered as he came to a stop in front of the car marked flammable.

One of the droids opened the door, allowing the one operating the forklift to gently place the crate inside the boxcar. "You two." He pointed to two of the commando droids. "I want you two to set up a sniper position. I don't want anyone climbing aboard this train before it picks up enough speed." He ordered.

The two droids nodded and moved towards a warehouse far from the yard while Watts made his way into one of the offices and turned on a computer. Cracking his knuckles, he placed his scroll down on and uploaded the virus into the railroad systems. "Now then, let's see which units are being assigned to that train." He said to himself, typing away as he inputted several codes that uploaded his virus into the locomotives numbered #6666 and #4444, the new locomotives. "That should do it." Watts said proudly, turning off the computer and joined up with Tyrian and the other droids. "Is it done?"

"It's all taken care of, doctor." Tyrian affirmed. "They won't be able to stop this train or the 'caviar' you slipped aboard. Oh, I can't wait to see the looks on the faces of those who will die in a glorious explosion." Tyrian said with a devious smile.

"They won't learn about the bomb until it's too late." Watt's affirmed, leaving with Tyrian and the other droids. Neither of them knew that Stan had only just gotten within earshot and heard most of the conversation with his extra set of ears and bolted for the cab of the 825 where he hid there, fearing for his life.

Atlas Academy

Team RWBY's dorm room

8:00 AM

Stretching her arms and yawning, Ruby Rose awoke rested and refreshed after another day of clearing the Grimm out of Mantle. The number of Grimm entering the city at an alarming rate was starting to cause a great deal of fatigue to her team, Jaune, Ren, Nora, Zett, Faye, Kara and Lop as the size of the hordes continued to increase each day.

Though they worked alongside Robyn, Ray, Neo and Robyn's huntresses, the Grimm were still making their way into Mantle, causing further casualties amongst the population of Mantle. A call was made to the Atlas military for assistance, but Jacque was somehow able to overturn the council's decision to send troops to Mantle, claiming that it was better to leave the security of the lower city in the hands of his security forces, which was proving to be disastrous.

His troops were causing more harm then good, arresting innocent people, and relocating them to 'internment camps' at the claims of them being terrorists, separating parents from their children and going so far as to demolish their homes, leaving them homeless and exposed to the cold.

Thankfully, Diego Vega, the man that Winter met at Jacques party had arrived and set up an aid camp that provided the people who lost their homes everything they needed, using an old warehouse he and his family fixed up for just such an occasion. Even better, the Fox had been trying in stopping Jacques forces from destroying these homes, claiming the action as injustice. Of course, that made Ironwood demand that they bring in the Fox for questioning.

The situation didn't sit well with Ruby, who was starting to feel that Ironwood would soon make a mistake and go too far in his plans to unite the world against Salem, even possibly go so far as abandon Mantle and take Atlas far into the sky, out of Salem's reach and leave the rest of the people to die. 'Would Ironwood really abandon the people of Mantle, just to save Atlas?' she thought as she looked at herself in the bathroom mirror. 'Ironwood wants to unite the entire world against Salem, and he's already told Sleet and Camilla about her, but if he told Weiss father, he would probably exploit it and create a panic or cause something far worse. The general was already blaming Galen and the others for the Empire's arrival, but even if they didn't arrive, the Empire probably would have made their way to Remnant at some point in their conquest of the galaxy." she thought.

It was then at that moment; Ruby looked into the mirror and saw both Galen and her mother standing behind her with a hand on her shoulder. "Galen. Mom. They wouldn't me to give up and I certainly won't give up no matter what the odds. I'm not just a Huntress, I'm also a Jedi and I know how to fly a fighter. I'm also the one who can defeat Salem and I won't let any doubt stop me." She said with determination.

"What doubts are you talking about?" Yang yawned as she and the rest of her team woke up.

"Oh, nothing." Ruby quickly said, zipping past her teammates, grabbed her clothes and re-entered the bathroom before Weiss could walk in.

"Did she have coffee?" Blake asked.

"I think it's something else." Weiss surmised.

At that moment, Clover and Ahsoka walked into their dorm room. "Looks like you four have woken up. Once you get yourselves some breakfast, head down into the city with Commander Tano. SDC security forces were at it again during the night, so you girls are working with Thire and his boys to quell the riots." Clover said as Ruby exited the bathroom. "Remember, don't engage the security forces unless you have no other choice and keep your eyes open for the Fox. General Ironwood want's him brought in alive." He then looked around as two Atlas students walked past. "If you see him, don't bother going after him. He's not a threat." He whispered.

Blake was taken aback by Clover's whisper before the Ace Ops leader left the dorm room. She looked at Ahsoka who just shrugged her shoulders, not knowing why Clover issued a counter order to Ironwoods own order. "Is it just me, or did Clover actually tell us to not to go after the Fox?" she asked.

"Guess some of Ironwood's elite actually see him as a hero than a criminal." Yang answered, before she headed for the bathroom. "I'll be out in a few."

Once they were changed and had their breakfast, Team RWBY boarded a bullhead that took them to the lower city where they met up with Thire, Jek, Stone, Rhys, and Thorn before they began their mission. Little did they know, something big was about to happen.

Rosamond

Freight Yard

9:00 AM

The new SDC 140's backed down onto the train on their own while the shunters fastened the couplings and tied on the air brakes as Wally and Whitman sat in the office, drinking a cup of hot chocolate. "No one's seen Stan since yesterday. Kids never missed a day of work. I'm getting a bit worried about him." Wally admitted.

"I agree. Kid should have been here by now. Somethings not right. No one saw him leave before we started work. It's not like him." Whitman agreed.

"What the hell are you two old men doing?" an angry voice said from behind. Both men turned to see Horace Cornell, one of the new railroad board of directors with reddish hair, black eyes, and pale skin, dressed in a smart business suit approach them. "Why the hell are you two not doing your job!?"

"Would you relax, Cornell. We're not scheduled to leave for another hour. Besides, we're missing our brakeman, we won't work without him." Whitman said calmly.

"Oh, you think so, huh? Well, I got news for you, Whitman. You two are to move out now. Get your train onto the main line and headed for the Kingdom now. I want the rest of the board to see that I can manage this crappy place better than Cupper could, then they'll have to take me seriously." Horace said proudly.

"This coming from the man who suggested we gut all the funds to purchase new equipment for clearing the tracks of snow." Wally said under his breath.

"Watch it! You old timers are keeping us from our true potential. Now, I'll repeat what I said. Get your train moving now!" he snarled.

Wally and John growled as he walked away, reluctantly going to move their train. As the snow crunched beneath their boots, Wally noticed the lead two locomotives. "Oh, hell no. I am not operating those pieces of computer junk. I'll get them uncoupled and move them…" he began before Horace called him over the radio.

"Disconnect those engines and I'll fire you! Get that train moving now!" He yelled.

"Bastard." Wally said as he begrudgingly climbed onboard the lead unit, #6666 and powered it up. In a flash, all the systems in the locomotive and the rear #4444 came to life. "Alright, John, I'm going to start her up."

"Hold it, Wally!" John exclaimed. "We've got a problem here. Air brakes aren't tied on. I could have sworn we tied them on yesterday. Guess something must have knocked them loose."

"Yeah, and that's not the half of it. Looks like the trailing point isn't set properly. We won't be going anywhere. I'll shut her down and throw the switch. That should…" Wally started to say before Horace once again yelled at the two through the radio. Both engineers ignored him and went about their work.

As Wally exited the cab, Jackson came up running to Whitman. "John! John!" he shouted frantically.

"Stan? Where the hell have you been? Don't tell me you disconnected the air brakes and fell asleep in the 825?" Whitman asked.

"No time for that! Don't move this train!" Stan exclaimed.

Just then, Wally threw the switch and that's when it happened. Far from the yard, Watt's activated the virus and took control of the train. Wally saw this and was quick to climb back aboard. Just as he was about to enter the cab, the commando droids fired.

A blaster bolt slammed into his leg, causing him to scream as the unmanned train started to pick up speed. A few nearby yardmen saw this. "Hey! That looks like Wally's train!" One shouted.

"What the hell is going on?" another shouted just as Wally fell over the side and onto the snow.

"Get the paramedics quickly!" Whitman shouted as he and Jackson ran after the train, but their legs couldn't keep up with the speed of the train as it exited the yard and headed onto the main line, by passing the catching points which didn't activate. "Damn it! That's all we needed. Now we got a damn runaway and she's picking up speed." Whitman cursed.

"And she's got hazardous materials and chemicals onboard." Stan remined just as a truck pulled up and out stepped Edward Cupper, a man of fifty years old with greying hair, dark skin and black eyes and the yard master of the freight yard. "Mr. Cupper!" Jackson said.

"What happened to Wally?" Edward asked.

"I don't know! He stepped out of the cab of #6666 when he realized the trailing point wasn't aligned. He shut down the locomotives to flip it but then the train started up again. He tried to climb back on, but then he fell over the side like he'd been shot." One of the yardmen explained.

"So, you're telling me that not only one of my engineers was shot, but that we also have an unmanned train rolling into opposing traffic? Is that what you're telling me?" Edward asked.

"It gets worse." John began. "Right before our guest from the head office ordered us to move the train, we noticed that the air brakes weren't tied on. We tied them on yesterday before we left and now, they aren't tied on. I was tying them on when it started up, I'm just glad I'm didn't loose a hand."

"No air brakes?" Edward gasped before he pulled out his scroll and checked out the schedule. "Your train wasn't supposed to leave for another hour. You two and young Jackson over here never once ever tried to arrive early at your destinations because of the risk of running into opposing traffic, so why did you decide to leave an hour early?"

"It's because of the suit inside, he ordered us to get the train moving without so much as even waiting for Jackson." Whitman explained.

"I'll have a worn with that man." Edward snarled. "In the meantime, I want Wally patched up and you three to chase after that train and get me the manifest. I want to know exactly what you two were hauling to the Kingdom, aside from a certain pair of passengers that I assume are going to be waiting for you. I'll have to inform Mr. Gresely about this." He sighed.

Robyn's safe house

9:30 AM

"Alright, we got the last of the supplies loaded onto our rides. Let's get moving, we got a half-hour before the train arrives and they won't stop unless they see us." Rose said, loading the last container of food onto the Shark before she climbed into the driver's seat, finding March already in the passenger seat. "Let's hope those boys have worked up an appetite. They'll certainly love my chili."

"Just better make sure they have plenty of water. That's some hot chili." March laughed.

"Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up would yeah, Archie. I'll have you know my chili is a meal that the hands back on the ranch enjoy. It's an acquired taste and let me tell you, it was a lot of trial and error before I got recipe down. Besides, hot food is always good on a cold day, better than tea." Rose teased.

"Let's get a move on. We need to be at the tracks in thirty minutes." Arthur reminded his teammates as he climbed into Galen's shark, which the Jedi then powered up as Grogu sat in his lap. Pulling out of the garage, the two off-road vehicles drove towards the pickup point.

As they drove towards the stop, a freight train heading towards Rosamond passed by hauling empty gondola and boxcars completely unaware of the danger that laid ahead. As it rolled along the line, it soon came to a stop at a red signal five miles up the line. The engineer, confused by the sudden stop was quick to contact Edward. "Rosamond Yard, this is eastbound twelve, why have you stopped us?" the engineer demanded.

"Eastbound twelve, this is Edward Cupper, yardmaster for Rosamond yard. We didn't authorize a stop." Edward replied.

"Then why the hell am I stopped out in the middle of nowhere?" the engineer asked.

"There isn't time to explain. Listen, there's a runway coming towards you on the main line. It's picking up speed and no one's at the controls." Edward said frantically. "Get yourself off the mainline and into a siding, hurry!"

"Oh lord." The engineer said and quickly started back up, making his way down the line towards the siding. It was slow going at first, with the train moving at a snail pace, but it allowed the conductor of the train to jump out, run through the snow and throw the switch for the train to pull onto the siding.

Unbeknownst to them or anyone else, Watts had increased the engine output of the two lead units over the maximum speed and the unmanned train soon appeared in the distance. The eastbound twelve was a relatively short train, but the moment the last car was about to clear the points the runway slammed into it, turning it to smithereens and splinters. Thankfully, no one was injured, but the runaway's speed was increasing every second.

"Rosamond Yard, the runaway just passed by us! It's going faster than expected. I say again, it's going faster than we thought!" the engineer shouted urgently.

Atlas Railway Control

Atlas

9:35 AM

The day started off like any other for Robert Gresely, the head of the Atlas Railroad. At thirty-eight years old with darkish skin, red eyes, and blonde hair, dressed in a green suit, he was still relatively young for the head of the railroad. After graduating high school, he made the choice to work on the railroad rather than becoming a huntsman, starting off as a shunter, then a hostler before he became the head of the company. Though he was used to the office work, he longed for the day to be out on the tracks once more, rolling down the line and watching as the various people living in the settlements stood alongside the tracks and waved at him.

Today, however was anything but normal. "Excuse me, Mr. Gresely. We have a problem." One of his secretaries said as they came into his office. "I think you're going to want to take a look at this."

Gresely didn't waste any time and hurried into the control center where the dispatchers monitored all the trains on the line. "Freight train out of Rosamond cleared her block twenty-five minutes ahead of schedule and slammed into the last car of the eastbound twelve. Details are sketchy, so we're contacting Rosamond Yard now for the details." One of the dispatchers informed.

"Don't tell me Horace had another train leave ahead of schedule. That man needs to learn that we have timetables to keep things like this from happening." Robert sighed, annoyed by Horace's actions. "Which train is it?"

"It's #6666 and #4444. The new units delivered by the SDC." The dispatcher informed.

"Just great. Alright, inform Mr. Schnee about this, hell knows he's going to have a field day with this and turn it into something he can use for pr. Get me the location of the train, I want to know where it is." He sighed again.

Tundra

9:45 AM

Galen and his team parked their vehicles by the crane as they waited for Wally and Whitman. Their wait wasn't long before Rose saw the train approaching in the distance. "Fifteen minutes ahead of schedule? That doesn't sound like Whitman or Wally. Somethings wrong." She mused.

"Hey, I might not know a whole lot about trains, but shouldn't they be slowing down when they approach a station?" Galen asked as the train came closer and closer before it sped past them at tremendous speeds. "Why aren't they stopping?"

(Coruscant Chase starts)

No one had the answer as the train sped past the stop, but by using her semblance Rose was able to get a clear picture of the situation. "Guys, that train's unmanned and the air brakes aren't tied on! It's a runaway!" she shouted as the train flew past them and into the distance.

"You're telling me that things a runaway? How the hell could Whitman and Wally lose an entire train?" March asked

"I don't know, but that thing's moving faster than the devil himself and unless that thing's stopped, there's no telling how many people are going to die. If we don't stop it before it crests the mountains, it's going to crash right into the kingdom." Arthur exclaimed, still in the passenger seat of Galen's vehicle.

Galen didn't waste any time and jumped back into the Shark and sped after the train. The rest of his team followed after him and gave chase.

From a security camera on the train, Watts saw that Galen and his team were chasing after the train and smirked. "This will certainly be better than I thought." He said before he contacted Jacque with the 'news'. "Hello, Jacque, I have some new information I'm sending you right now about your runaway train." He said.

Snow and dirt were kicked up as the two vehicles gave chase after the mile long freight train. Even at top speed, they could barely catch up with the train even with their boosters. "Damn that, things got a head start. We need to find someway to get onboard the damn thing." Rose shouted into her scroll.

"Well, it's not like we got any…." March began before he spotted something in the distance behind them. "WE GOT INCOMING!" he shouted, readying his pistols only to lower them the moment he saw it was an LAAT belonging to the 501st. "False alarm! It's Rex!" he shouted.

Galen casted a brief glance back at the gunship and was also relieved that it was a friendly gunship and not any imperial forces. He quickly grabbed his commlink and activated it. "Rex! We got a situation!" he shouted.

"We heard. We're trying to match the speed of the train but's got a head start on us as well. You can't catch it if you follow the main line. There's a small canyon a few clicks ahead. It follows the main line; you should be able to jump onto the train the moment it passes by a cliff." Rex called out through the commlink as he exited the gunship, wearing a jetpack that he used to fly down and grab onto the frame of Rose's shark. "We only have one chance at this! Hawk and the others will keep an eye on the train from the sky."

"Copy that!" Galen exclaimed and continued to follow the train until he spotted the canyon Rex spoke about and swerved off the line and sped into the canyon. Rose, March, and Rex followed after him, but what Rex didn't count on was that the canyon was teaming with Grimm. "Open up with your machine guns! Don't let the Grimm stop you! We have to catch that train!" he shouted into the commlink, pulling the trigger, firing hundreds of rounds at the Grimm that charged towards them.

The Grimm were ripped to shreds as the two off-road vehicles rounded a tight bend in the canyon, kicking up snow that flew into the Grimm's face as they continued onward. "Captain! The train's going to enter a tunnel in about five miles. There's an empty flatbed at the back of the train before the last car. That's your best chance of getting on the train!" Hawk said over the commlink.

"Copy that." Rex replied and relayed the information to Galen and his team, hitting the boosters to increase their speed, allowing them to jump a small gap in the canyon path.

As the two vehicles made their way through the canyon, they came upon an overlook and saw that the train had just plowed through a sand burb intended to slow the runaway but failed and was now a third of the way into the tunnel "Hit it!" Galen shouted to his teammates. The four boosters on the vehicles roared to life as the off-road vehicles flew through the air at top speed. Rose's vehicle landed on the last flatbed, but Galen's vehicle missed the flatbed. "Blast it!" he cursed.

He spotted another hill and gunned his engines, reaching the top of the hill before he flew through the air again and landed on the flatbed, missing the top of the tunnel by just a few inches. "Well, that was a near thing." He sighed.

(End song)

"Commlinks aren't getting through the tunnel, neither are the scrolls. We're on our own for now." Rex said.

"We need to move fast. We need to connect the air brakes on this train or else we'll fly right off the tracks." Rose reminded. Everyone nodded in agreement and started to reattach the air brakes.

Atlas Railroad control

10:15 AM

"Slowing from the sand is negligible." Robert sighed. "Never thought I would have to say this, but I'll have to derail the train." He added. Despite knowing what the cargo of the train was, he knew he couldn't risk the lives of the people living in the kingdom. He brought up a map of the rail network and scanned it for the ideal place to contain a derailment. "The Old Divide Gorge. That's the best place to contain a derailment, it's nestled deep within the mountains and there aren't any settlements nearby. That will limit the collateral damage." He said.

"Out of the question! I won't have you derail one of my trains!" Jacque protested from the video call he made with Robert.

"Unless you know how to run a railroad efficiently and not risk the lives of millions of people just for the sake of profit, then I suggest you go back and count your damn money. I won't risk the lives of my workers just to save you a couple million lien! And for your information, you don't own the Railroad!" Robert exclaimed, ending the call before he contacted the workers who had made it the Old Divide Gorge ahead of the runaway and were putting the derailer on the tracks.

Outside, in the city panic had spread. News of the runaway and its deadly cargo had reached the kingdom, causing riots amongst the people of Mantle who began breaking into buildings and stealing anything they could get their hands on. As expected, the chaos and panic attracted the Grimm, which began to pour in through the openings in the wall.

An Ursa swung it's claws and swatted several Atlas soldiers before it was cleaved in half by Ruby's trusty scythe. Embedding her weapon into the ground, she took aim and fired at several dozen Beowolfs charging towards her, gunning them down before she pulled her weapon out of the ground. She then caught sight of an announcement made by Jacques. "… the runaway was caused by the Demon Lord, Galen Marek, and his team, killing several railroad workers in the process to send this threat directly towards our kingdom. I vow to personally bring Galen Marek and his conspirators to justice and see that they face the full extent of Atlas's law."

"Ugh! Why is he targeting Galen? What did he do to deserve this?" She growled as the rest of her team arrived.

"Whatever my fathers' reasons are, we can worry about them later. We got more Grimm in sector seven. We have to move." Weiss said.

"I have a feeling Salem is behind all this." Blake theorized.

"If she is, then Weiss's old man is playing right into her hands." Yang scowled, only to be informed on her Scroll that the Ace Ops were being sent to stop the runaway. "Oh great, looks like Harriet is going to be fighting Galen again. The Ace Ops are going after the train!"

"Damn it, James! What are you thinking!?" A nearby Qrow growled as he cleaved through an Ursa that was missed. "Come on! We got to move!"

Tundra

150 miles behind the runaway

10:30 AM

Back out in the tundra, Whitman, Stan, and Wally were pursuing the train with the 825 and 642 when they got the call about the derailment plan. "Mr. Gresely, with all due respect, we can't derail that train!" Whitman protested.

"It's out of my hands, John. We can't risk that cargo coming anywhere closer to Atlas or else the entire kingdom will be destroyed. General Ironwood's men are already doing everything they can to hold back the Grimm, but if we let this train get any closer, we risk our friends and family. I won't sacrifice the lives of the people for the sake of money. I'm sorry." Robert said over the radio.

"No, no, no! You can't derail the train or else it will detonate!" Stan protested.

"What will detonate?" Wally asked.

"What's going on?" Gresely asked.

"Last night, when I was making my rounds, I saw some people in the yard. They loaded something onto the train. I didn't get a good look at them, but I heard part of their conversation." Stan started to say. "I think they loaded a bomb onto the train."

"Are you serious?" John asked.

"Yes! The boxcar marked flammable contains Atlas made WMD. I think it's one of those Red Dawn bombs!" Stan exclaimed.

There was dead silence as the chase train sped down the tracks. "Look, Mr. Gresely, I haven't been with the company long, but I would never joke about something like this. There's a bomb on that train and if it crashes there's a chance it will detonate."

"I can tell you're not lying. I'll radio the ground crews and have them take off the derailer. You three need to catch up with that train fast!" Robert instructed, terminating the call.

"A bomb? Who the hell put a bomb on our train?" Wally asked in shock.

"Someone who wants to destroy the kingdom." Whitman stated. "Hang onto to your britches, I'm putting her to full speed." A push of the throttle and the chase train increased speed down the line.

Ahead of them, at the Old Divide Gorge, the ground crew had just finished attaching the derailer when they got the call to take the derailer off. As fast as they could, they unscrewed the derailer from the tracks just as the headlights from the train came into view from the tunnel. The crew was barely just in time to avoid the train as it hurtled past them, sending the derailing flying into the air before it logged itself into the rock wall.

"I think things have gotten worse!" March exclaimed as the train sped past the ground crew. "We I think we should pick it up a bit." He added.

"No kidding." Galen said as he attached another set of air brakes together. "We got to move."

Atlas Council Chambers

10:35 AM

News of the bomb spread across the city as Sleet, Camilla and Jacque waited in the council chambers for Ironwood to arrive. "It seems that Ironwood should have done a better job at choosing who he should grant a huntsmen license to. Trusting a man like Galen Marek with the task of protecting the people was a mistake." Jacque gloated to Sleet and Camilla.

"This coming from a man who gave his security forces full authority to do whatever they want to keep the peace. It's amazing that the Grimm haven't destroyed the kingdom by now." Camilla snarled back.

"Then I would say that my men are their job." Jacque stated proudly.

"Gentleman, lady." Ironwood said as he and Winter entered the council chamber. "If it would be possible for us to save the argument for later, then perhaps we can focus on the current situation."

"General, at the present course the train is now seven hundred miles from the kingdom and is set to derail here, at a place called Jones bend." Winter began as she brought up a map of the rail-network. "The engineering team is already on its way there now, but it we have about two hours before the train crests the summit of the mountain and derails."

"How many people are on the train?" Sleet asked.

"None. It's an unmanned train. The crew wasn't able to stop it in time before it left the yard, one of them was shot, but should make a full recovery, in fact he's onboard the chase train." Winter explained.

"Are we in contact with Atlas Railway control?" Camilla asked.

"Not yet. Artoria's sister Mordred is already on her way there now. We should be hearing from her shortly." Winter answered.

"Can you tell us what we do know?" Jacques asked impatiently. Winter rolled her eyes before she explained the facts, only to be interrupted by her father who explained his own 'fact's. "Well, it seems your information is a bit lacking. I've confirmed reports that Team GARM and their murderous leader are the ones who caused the runaway and are threating our kingdom. Any further proof of his criminal actions is pointless, he's a criminal and his team are just as guilty as he is. I knew it was a matter of time before he slipped up and showed us his true colors."

"Actually, Jacques." Sleet began. "I've met with Galen Marek personally, as has Camilla. If he was truly a murderer like you say, then why is it that the murders continued after Galen and his team left the kingdom? I find it rather odd that you managed to procure evidence of his 'crime's' and have yet to see any valid proof to your claims. He's done nothing but protect our kingdom from those that threaten it, which is more than you have done in your life. Unless you're willing to come clean on how you got this information, then I'd rather let Mr. Marek's actions speak for him."

Jacque scoffed at Sleet's claims before Ironwood spoke up. "Arguing amongst ourselves is pointless. Right now, we need to stop that train before it derails, and the bomb detonates." Ironwood sighed.

"How are you certain that the bomb will detonate in the event of a derailment?" Jacque asked.

"We can't be certain. The Red Dawn is very old bomb and all of them have been dismantled and destroyed, how this one managed to get on the train is anyone's guess. But the chemicals and munitions onboard are enough to cause a chain reaction that could trigger the bomb." Winter explained, casting a glance at her father.

"Don't go blaming me about this. I didn't know anything about the bomb until you all did." Jacques said in his defense. "Right now, I don't have time for this. I have a meeting with SDC board of directors on a plan to stop this runaway." Jacque declared, standing up and then left the council chambers.

"That man is going to make things worse." Camilla said silently. "James is there anything we can do from here?" she asked.

"I've already dispatched the Ace Ops to board the train and try and stop it. Until they arrived, I suggest we dispatch Mobius One to keep tabs on the train before it reaches the Dark Territory. Once its in that section of track, we won't be able to communicate with the Ace Ops or stop the train." Ironwood said.

Sleet and Camilla weren't a hundred percent onboard to send a fighter up into the that could destroy the train with one missile, but they did agree that Ironwood made a valid point about keeping tabs on train.

It didn't take long for Dante to take to the sky with his Longsword loaded with a full payload of QAAM missiles. "Mobius One to command, I'm airborne and am heading towards the east now. I'm going supersonic and I'll be over the target in forty-five minutes." Dante radioed as his jet roared through the air.

He wasn't the only one flying towards the east. Outside the walls of Mantle, the planes of Robyn and her girls, the Galm Team, Mickey, Shamrock and PJ taxied onto the runway before throttling down the tarmac and then lifted into the air, heading out towards the tundra in the direction of the runaway. The first to launcher were the F4's of the Happy Huntresses, followed by Alice's MG-29. Following them was Mickey's F14 and Shamrocks Strike Dagger. The last to launch were the three Daggers of the Galm Team with Cipher and Pixy, the two former merc pilots each having something hanging from the bottom of their fuselage.

Back in the council chambers, Ironwood, Sleet and Camilla were looking over the runaway's manifest, hoping to find something that could lead them to determine if the warning of a bomb was indeed a hoax. They didn't find anything indicating a bomb, but the rest of the cargo was more than enough to be concerned. Molten Phenol, the aromatic organic compound used to make paints, dyes and glue was a danger if it got airborne and contacted the skin, the eyes and also very harmful if ingested.

The other major concern was the metallic sodium which if it came into contact with water would spontaneously ignite was another issue. If the sodium exploded, it would destroy not only the train and the cargo, but also cause the bomb to detonate and would leave the railroad shut down for weeks until the line could be cleared, especially considering it was the only means for supplies to reach the kingdom. "There's no record of a bomb being transported on this train, James. It appears we are dealing with contraband." Sleet said, tossing his copy of the manifest onto the table.

"It costs a lot of money to transport a bomb across the kingdom for disarming. I think that someone decided to slip it aboard the regular cargo to save money." Camilla added, looking to Winter. "I wouldn't be surprised if your father was the one who smuggled the bomb aboard in an attempt save what money he still has since the Dust Embargo was placed."

"I hope you aren't blaming me, Camilla." Ironwood said with a sigh. "But if Salem's allies get anymore Dust, who knows what they'll do with it." he said in defense.

"Uh, James. I think you'll want to take a look at the news." Sleet said as the camera drone that was sent out into the tundra was now showing Galen, his team and Rex jumping from car to car and lowering one of them in between the cars. "It looks like our so called 'murderer' is actually trying to stop the train. I don't know much about railroads, but if the air brakes are tied on, then one can't stop a train properly."

Ironwood stood up from his seat and looked at the monitor. "Is that possible?" he asked.

"Remotely possible. But likely." Winter answered.

"Then that's our first plan of attack. We're going to give Team GARM and Captain Rex a chance to stop that train before we have to shoot it." Ironwood said.

Tundra

100 hundred miles behind the runaway

650 miles away from Kingdom

10:45 AM

Back out in the tundra, Whitman, Stan, and Wally continued to give chase after the runaway. Under normal circumstances they would be restricted to the set speed limit of eighty-miles per hour, but without the extra weight from any freight cars, they were flying down the main line with the two M-840's acceding the maximum speed limit. "We're going to shake apart if we keep this up." Stan shouted in concern.

"Gauge's ain't hitting red yet. I've modified these girls over the years with Mr. Gresely and anyone else who didn't want to see these old girls scrapped, they can go faster than sixty-seven miles per hour, we haven't even reached ninety miles yet and we still got a ways to go." Whitman assured the young railroader.

"What happens if we rear end the caboose? Won't that make it worse?" Stan asked.

"Not likely kid." Wally assured from the cab of the 642. "I'm tracking the runaway now and it's still several dozen miles ahead of us. It's a good thing that Mr. Gresely created that app for us railroaders to keep track of our trains incase they become runaways, like ours." He said. "Hey, John. Why did you have me power up the 642?"

"A train going that fast and that size will vaporize anything in front of it. The only way to stop that kind of power is to grab it by the tail and gun it in the opposite direction." John explained. "Trying to slow it down from the front, you'll lose control, and we can't rely on those computers to stop the train. Portable derails won't work either. Gresely knows that and so do we."

"And what happens when we catch up to it? Jump on and reattach the air brakes?" Stan asked.

"Precisely, assuming that our extra passengers haven't already attached the air brakes." John joked.

At the same moment, on the runaway train Arthur attached the air brake pipes between the thirteenth and fourteenth cars while Rose and March held him by the legs to keep him from falling in between the cars. "We won't be able to connect all the air brakes at this rate. If it were forty cars, we might have a chance but eighty cars, that's not possible." Rose shouted as she and March pulled Arthur back up.

"Not possible isn't in my vocabulary." Rex said. "We're going to stop this train no matter what."

"He's right. We…" Galen agreed before he was interrupted by the buzzing of his Scroll. The caller id confirmed it was Ironwood and Galen reluctantly answered it. "General, if you're asking me to turn myself in, now isn't the best time. I'm dealing with a situation right now."

"We're aware about the runaway Galen, but that's not why I called you. We have confirmed reports of a bomb being placed on that train. It's in a boxcar labeled flammable chemicals, located near the center of the train. I need you to confirm the bomb is onboard." Ironwood explained.

"A bomb!? Well, that's just great!" Galen said with sarcasm as he turned to his team. "March, you, and Arthur focus on tying those air brakes on. Rose, Rex, and I will confirm the existence of this bomb and get back to you as soon as possible." He instructed.

"Better idea. I'll run down the train. My semblance makes me faster than anyone else on this train. I'll need a crowbar to get the car open." March suggested.

"I should have thought of that myself." Galen mused. "Alright, find that car and confirm the presence of a bomb. We'll focus on reconnecting the air brakes."

"You got it boss." March replied before he zipped away down the train with a crowbar Rex picked up from the caboose.

"I've got a feeling we're in for a fight soon." Galen theorized.

"What makes you say that?" Rose asked.

"Because I'm sensing a familiar presence that's coming our way." He answered.

As the train rounded a bend, March stopped in the middle of the train on top one of the boxcars and leaned over the edge and spotted the symbol for flammable cargo on the side of car. "Bingo." He smirked and climbed down the ladder on the side of the car with the crowbar in his hand as he clambered down and smacked the lock on the door off, allowing him to open the car door. "Guys, I'm in the car. Lot's crates in here, military ones but I'm not seeing…" he said into his scroll before he stopped and looked at one of the crates in front of him, marked with the insignia of the Schnee Dust Company. "Wait, I think I got something." He said.

Taking the crowbar, he opened the crate and found that it was indeed the one carrying the bomb. "I've got it. It's in a crate with SDC logo on it. It's marked as a weapons crate. I can't believe no one bothered to check the crates contents!" He shouted.

"Alright, March. You're in the middle of the train now. Start making your way towards us and reconnect those air brakes. We'll work from our end and meet you as soon as we can." Rose said through her scroll.

"You got, Rosy. I'll get right on it." March teased, closing the lid on the crate, then the door of the car before he clambered onto the roof. Before he could begin, he saw something around another bend. "Oh, hell no! Guys! We got another pair of SDC 140's ahead of us on a siding several miles ahead. I think they're going to try and slow us down from the front." He shouted.

Ten miles ahead of them, a pair of SDC 140's were waiting on the siding as the runaway neared the siding. Jacque's plan was to lash up two locomotives in front of the runaway which he would connect to the train, which would then allow the engineer of the locomotives slowing the runaway down to a steady speed before the systems of all four SDC locomotives were brought under the control of the engineer.

Atlas Council Chambers

10:55 AM

"This is Jacque's strategy!?" Ironwood exclaimed in surprise.

Winter on the other hand, knew that her father was trying to play the good guy and come out as the savior of the kingdom like he was already claiming to be. "Father, you're going to make things worse." She muttered.

In the city, The Fox glared at Jacques attempt to save money and improve his public image. "You fool! You can't stop a runaway train from the front like that! You're going to get people killed." He shouted.

Tundra

11:00 AM

As the runway approached the siding, the two SDC locomotives slowly made their way out onto the main line as the Bullhead carrying the Ace Ops came close to the runaway. Keeping at a steady pace of fifty-five miles per hour, the runaway slammed into the locomotives which the engineer and Jacque hoped would couple together and allow the systems to connect.

"That's not going to work!" Rose shouted from further back down on the runaway. "They won't stop a train this long this way. They got too much train!"

"Just focus on reconnecting the air brakes!" Arthur shouted as Rex pulled him up. The train shuddered and shook as it slammed into the units ahead of them, almost causing Grogu to fall off the train, but was quickly caught by Arthur. "Careful, little one." Arthur told the child.

Eventually, the two locomotives ahead of the runaway managed to connect to the train and was slowly starting to take control of the situation. Galen, Rex, and the others thought otherwise as they continued to reattach the air brakes, battling against the snow and wind. "We're slowing down!" Rex shouted.

Schnee Mansion

Jacque on the other hand, was sitting in his study with a smug look on his face as the train began to slow down. "I think I better prepare a press conference about my success." He gloated to no one, pouring himself a glass of whiskey.

Tundra

Unfortunately, Jacques victory never came when the train suddenly increased speed and forced the two units recently attached to decouple from the runaway, then switched onto a siding going to fast which then resulted in the units jumping the switch and derail, resulting in an explosion that killed the engineer. "Damn!" Rex cursed.

Atlas Council Chambers

11:05 AM

Everyone in the kingdom witnessed the horrific sight as the two locomotives that tried to slow the runaway down exploded and the engineer. "Oh, my lord!" Camilla exclaimed.

"Father, you asshole!" Winter shouted in anger.

In his study, Jacques was flabbergasted and angry that his plan had failed, but he knew who to pin the blame on.

Tundra

Watts on the other hand, smirked from outside the city. "Sorry, Jacque, but your victory won't be that easy." Watt's smirked, before he played with some commands on his scroll. "Now, let's see if we can cause a little more excitement for the kingdom."

As the runaway continued to thunder down the mainline, March reconnected his sixth set of air brakes. Pulling himself up from between the cars, he watched as a bullhead came into view. "Oh, this isn't good." He muttered.

He was correct as a pair of arms latched onto the train, holding the Bullhead in place for the Ace Ops and Artoria to leap out and land on the train. "I knew you would be trouble the moment you arrived in the kingdom." Harriet said as she glared at Galen who along with the rest of his team, Rex and Grogu came to a sudden stop.

"Oh great, Ironwood sent his best squad to play trains with us." Rose sighed with annoyance. "Look, we've got the situation under control, so the least you guys can do is help us out."

"Sorry, kids. But we're taking you all in." Harriet said, readying her weapons.

"Harriet, we're not here to fight. We're here to stop the train from destroying the kingdom." Clover reminded the competitive Ace Operative. "Our orders aren't to fight Team GARM."

"With all due respect, sir. They caused the runaway and killed those railroad workers, who's to say that they climbed onto the train to keep it going at top speed, so it crashes. They already killed those people in the city, now they want to add more to their body count. We're taking them in." Harriet countered.

"Stand down, Bree. My cousin and his team are not criminals. They didn't kill those civilians in Mantle, that was the work of Tyrian Callows who somehow managed to come back from the dead." Artoria said in defense of her cousin. "I know him better than you and your competitiveness is going to come back to haunt you."

"Hey, uh, maybe we should focus on stopping the train?" Marrow suggested. "We're getting too close to dark territory and if we just stand around arguing, we're not going to stop the train."

"Oh, we'll stop the train alright, after we take them down." Harriet said and then sprinted towards Team GARM. Her sprint was cut short when she heard something approaching the train. "Oh great, more reinforcements?" she sighed.

"Worse." Rex said before he pulled out his pistols. "Droid Gunships Inbound!" he shouted. Multiple droid gunships were indeed flying towards the train along with dozens of Super Battle Droids equipped with jetpacks. "Rocket droids, incoming!"

(Burning Battlefield starts)

The droids landed on the train and began to engage the Ace Ops, Team GARM and Rex. "Ace Ops, take out the droids! Don't let them stop you from completing the objective!" Clover shouted, moving to the side before a blaster bolt could slam into his chest. Reeling his fishing rod back, he wrapped the line around the carbine stowed on Rex's back and once it was in his hands, quickly opened fire on the droids.

Several droids were knocked out of the sky and crashed into the ground around the train, but some of them landed on the train. "Check your fire! If you hit one of the munitions on the train, you'll blow us all to hell!" Rex shouted.

"Tell us something we don't know!" Elm shouted, swinging her hammer and bashed several droids off the train. "These things aren't so tough. I can do this with one hand tied behind my back." Elm said with ease, hefting her massive hammer and eagerly waiting for the droids to charge at her.

Some droids did charge at her but were gunned down by Rose from atop one of the boxcars with her rifle. "Nothing personal, kid. But you got to come with me." Elm said after she leapt up onto the roof of the car.

"Sorry, but I'm not going to take the fall for something me and my team didn't do. Either you help us stop this train or I'll have to stop you." Rose answered defensively. Elm sighed and swung her hammer round, forcing Rose to dodge each of her swings. "You're not putting a lot of effort into your swings, what you trying to take it easy on me?" she teased.

"Just want to give a good show for the cameras." Elm answered, gesturing to the camera drone that was keeping pace with the train. "Got to make it look like we're trying to arrest you when all we want to do is stop this train."

"Well, better give them a good show." Rose smirked, drawing her pistols and fired several rounds at Elm, which missed her but actually hit the droids behind her. "Do me a favor and send me flying forward a few cars, I've got more air brakes to tie on."

Elm was more than happy to oblige and managed to score a good hit on Rose, sending her flying down several cars while making it look like she was actually trying to eliminate Rose. "I better give chase." She said, charging down the train while swinging her hammer at any droids that got in her way.

Arthur and Artoria clashed blades with each other several times while also taking the chance to attack the droids behind one another. "I believe the tactic of our mechanical foe is to keep us fighting each other and make us forget about the air brakes." Artoria said to her cousin, slashing the blaster arm off a droid with her sword.

"It appears so. Perhaps our fight should be called off and our attention focused onto droids and the train?" Arthur suggested, flicking his wrist and fired a salvo of whistling birds at the droids.

"Agreed. Compared to Harriet, the rest of the Ace Ops have more common sense." Artoria told her cousin, both of them drawing their lightsabers and slashed at the droids behind one another.

Further up the train, March had finished connecting another set of air brakes and was about to move onto another set when he suddenly heard Marrow shout and then his whole body stopped. "Oh, come on man! I'm trying to help here. I'm the type of guy who enjoys killing people for kicks." March protested.

"You think I don't know that? Clover explained this to us the entire trip here, but as usual, Harriet jumped the gun and decided to take matters into her own hands. I know you and your leader our innocent, I was at Robyn's party in Mantle." Marrow explained.

"Then at least help me stop this damn…. Look out!" March shouted, but a blaster bolt slammed into Marrow's back, causing him to lose focus on March as the blaster bolt caused his aura to drop. March was quick to draw his pistols and fired at the droid who shot Marrow, gunning it down just as Rose came to a stop. "Care to trade dance partners?" he asked Rose.

"Sure, go and take on Elm." Rose shrugged, allowing March to zip past Marrow back down the train, leaving Rose and Marrow alone. "Come on, Marrow. Give me your best shot." She said with a wink. Marrow then understood what Rose wanted, drew his weapon in it's blade mode and clashed with Rose.

Behind them, Vine used his semblance to swat away at the droids flying along side the train, but there were too many of them for him to knock out of the sky. One droid managed to hit him in the side and another was about to shot at him, but Rex was able to down the droid. Before Vine could thank him, another droid landed behind Rex, grabbed him, and then threw him off the side of the train. "Captain!" Vine shouted, using his semblance to pummel the droid.

Ahead, Galen slashed apart two droids before he looked back and saw Rex fall off the train. "REX!" he shouted only to be hit in the stomach by a strong punch from Harriet who managed to catch up with him. "Damn it, Harriet! How many times do I have to tell you that I'm not a criminal! I didn't kill those people and I didn't cause this runaway! What do I have to do prove that I'm innocent!" Galen shouted.

Harriet glared at Galen before she grabbed him by the collar of his robes. "This world has no place for criminals like you!" Harriet said and threw Galen off the train with Grogu still on his back.

(End song)

"Galen/Boss!" Rose and Marrow shouted after they looked back and saw Galen fall of the train with Grogu on his back, tumbling down the hill. Rose and March soon followed after him when the train suddenly jolted forward, sending them both over the side.

"That's another headache we don't need to worry about." Harriet smirked before she ran back along the train to the rest of her squad.

Atlas Railway Control

11:10 AM

"God damn it, Harriet! What the fuck were you thinking?! Galen and the others aren't criminals and didn't cause the runaway. Why the fuck did you just flat out attack them you fucking idiot!" Mordred cursed as she watched the news footage of the fight between the Ace Ops, Team GARM and Rex. "Sorry about that, Mr. Gresely." She apologized, remembering where she was, having arrived several minutes earlier.

"It's fine, Ms. Penwolf." Robert assured. "I sometimes think the Ace Ops have a few loose cannons amongst the ranks. Anyway, do you know much about trains?"

"Only that they run on tracks and that's on the good days." Mordred answered with a bit of humor. "Yeah, not the right time for jokes, got it. How much longer until they reach dark territory?"

"Another thirty minutes and they'll cross into dark territory. After that it's about fifty miles of track with no way to communicate with them. At least the points haven't been switched to that old line. It splits off from the main line and passes by a few old mines. Tracks are still in good condition, but the whole area is crawling with Grimm. Only an idiot would take a train down that line." Robert said with worry.

"Ok, I know that look anywhere when someone's worried. Why would anyone be an idiot to send a train down that line if the tracks are in good order?" Mordred asked.

"For one thing, it's the bridge that's ten miles before the first mine. I don't think it can take the weight of a train that long and that size." Robert answered before he punched in some commands on the terminal and brought up the old line. Once that train crests the summit, it's all down hill and a straight shot to the Kingdom. The only problem is the bend here, a hundred miles after it rejoins the main line, it's a tight curve and the cargo it's carrying, it will fly right off the tracks."

"And switching it off the main line at that speed is too risky. We all saw that." Mordred spoke, remembering the explosion from the two locomotives that tried to stop the runaway. It was at that moment Mordred noticed something. "Hey! The points have been switched. It's going to travel along that old line now!" she exclaimed.

"That's not possible, I didn't order anyone to switch the points. Someone must have hacked the systems!" Robert exclaimed in shock.

Watt's Safe House

Mantle

11:15 AM

Watt's smirked as he viewed the train switching off the mainline and onto the old line through the lens of one of camera drones before he transmitted a set of orders into the railway's mainframe for portable derailers to be set up three hundred miles from the kingdom, followed by a set of departure orders for another train to travel down the mainline for a head-on collision with the runaway.

At least, that was his plan, but before he could even begin to transmit the orders, all the Scrolls he used to frame Galen suddenly short-circuited and his access to the systems of Mantle and Atlas was revoked. "What?" Watt's exclaimed, trying to use the high-level clearance Jacques received as a councilman, but found the clearance had been revoked. He threw his scroll down to the ground in anger, furious that someone had outsmarted him in the field of cyber-warfare. "Whoever did this will rue the day that they made a fool out of me." The disgraced scientist vowed.

Out in the city, laying down covering fire for people who were taking hiding from the attacking Grimm, Tech's personal data-pad beeped, indicating that the program he used had worked and revoked Watts clearance. "That's what happens when you face an enhanced clone." Tech smirked before he lobbed a grenade towards the horde, killing several of them when it exploded.

Fixer followed Tech's lead and lobbed a few grenades of his own before he opened up with blaster rifle. "Keep up the pressure on the right! The men on that flank are weakening, we can't let them reach the citizens!" Fixer shouted.

"We know that Fixer." Scorch answered, firing his anti-armor attachment, blowing an Ursa to bits while Wrecker charged in, guns blazing with his shotgun and blaster turning the Grimm into mincemeat, which Wrecker enjoyed. "Sometimes I wish I was given the same modifications that Wrecker got." Scorch muttered.

From a top one of the nearby buildings, Sev and Crosshair fired their sniper rifles at the Grimm, landing headshot after headshot on the Grimm. The sniper of the Bad Batch shifted his sights onto a canister of Dust the SDC forces left behind before they launched a full-frontal assault on the Grimm. The SDC forces suffered heavy casualties, leaving gaps in the defenses of Mantle that were exploited by the Grimm. Squeezing the trigger, Crosshair fired his shot that slammed into the canister, which exploded and left a sizeable hole in the street but blew several Grimm to bits.

"Nice shot." Sev complimented, loading a new pack into his blaster, and then resumed sniping.

Down below them, Boss and Hunter stood in the center of the street operating a pair of heavy machine guns that were also left behind by the SDC forces. Large caliber fire-dust infused bullets ripped the Grimm to shreds as the two commando unit leaders unleashed a storm of lead on the Grimm. "I wish we had these things during the war. Droids wouldn't have stood a chance against this weapon." Boss said, admiring the craftsmanship of the weapon like he did with the Wookie Bowcaster.

"Dust wouldn't work off world, but I do agree, I like the damage this thing can do." Hunter agreed, firing another burst from his turret before he replaced the empty ammo box and with a new one before resuming his onslaught of Salem's creatures.

The Atlas soldiers defending the right flank were getting torn to pieces as many of the new recruits were frightened by appearance of the Grimm and flat-out ran back to the Bullheads while most of the veteran soldiers held their ground, but the fear from the new recruits drew in more Grimm as their numbers fell rapidly. One soldier was about to meet the business end of a Beowolfs claws but was gunned down by a concentrated barrage of blaster fire from Waxer, Boil, Able, and Cody while Jaune, Nora and Ren ran in, slashing, bashing, and shooting at the Grimm.

The left flank was also taking a beating, despite the assistance of Howzer and his men, the troopers from the Coruscant Guard, Fordo and Alpha as Team RWBY, Qrow, Lop, Ocho, Faye, Zett and Kara arrived. The four Jedi used the force to send several Grimm flying back as Boba opened up with his carbine while he was airborne just The Fox and Bella arrived.

Faye slashed several Grimm across the chest with her blade while Kara launched a flaming arrow that pierced through the chests of a Megoliath that had just crushed one of the warriors the name for the basic Arachnid based Grimm, sending it crashing onto several more Grimm.

The Fox slashed several Grimm across the chest, paring their deadly claws as they attacked, smirking as he eliminated them while Bella used her newly modified weapon to pick the Grimm off from a distance. The two looked back at each other as they continued to defend the people from the Grimm.

Lop and Ocho slashed multiple creatures with their blades before Ocho pulled out a pistol and fired off several shots from her weapon as Lop threw her saber at an Alpha version of a Megoliath, slicing its trunk off as Penny launched her swords at dozens of Grimm. All the while another broadcast from Jacques was playing on a monitor, once again blaming Galen and his team for the situation, which soon came to a stop when Fordo fired several shots at the monitor destroying it and sending it falling to the street below where it crushed several Grimm. "I'm really hating that man's voice." The Arc Captain snarled as fighter jets flew overhead to engage the incoming Yellowjackets while fighter-bombers were launched to attack the horde out in the tundra. "Come on, kid. You've got to stop this thing."

Tundra Airspace

11:25 AM

Dante lost sight of the train as it entered tunnel, turning off the mainline. Since he was in dark territory, he couldn't maintain communication with Ironwood, but short-ranged communications allowed him to maintain communication with the pilots that followed him. He watched as the objects hanging from the bottom of the Galm Team's Daggers dropped down and rocketed into the tunnel after the train. "Mobius One to all craft, R8 is tracking the packages dropped by the Galm Team, they'll keep an eye on the train, we'll stay over the mainline and take out any hostiles targeting the tracks." He said into the commlink.

"Talisman here, my girls and I read you. If you want we can…" Robyn began before she stopped and then cursed. "Damn it! Talisman to all pilots. I've got multiple craft on radar. Bearing is 710 and they're coming from out in the tundra. I think we already know what they are."

"I hear you, ma'am." Marcus called out over the radio. "Confirming ADFX-01s, ADFX-02, Falkens and Raven drone fighters approaching at top speed. Someone must have shot down an airship carrying these drones or launched them remotely from the kingdom without anyone even knowing about it."

"So, these are the infamous drones? Funny, I don't see what's so intimidating about a bunch of pilotless planes." Alice said, unimpressed with Q7 agreeing with her.

"Intimidating or not, they're moving into attack position. Looks like we're in for a dogfight." PJ observed as the drones began to increase their speed towards the fighters.

"Galm One to all craft, engage those fighters. Show them what us real pilots can do." Cipher called out, banking hard left and turned to face the enemy forces. The other pilots followed suit and formed up on his wing. "Remember, once you get a hit on the enemy, stick to them like glue and don't let them out of your sights. Take them down but don't let your guard down."

"Copy that, buddy." Pixy replied as the pilots armed their weapons.

"All aircraft, engage the enemy!" Cipher called out and the dogfight began.

(Contact Starts)

The swarm of drones soon broke formation and scattered across the skies as the eleven pilots picked out a target. Dante gave chase after a Falken and closed the distance between him and the drone. His headset crackled as he got missile tone and fired. Two missiles streaked towards the Falken, but the drone deployed its flares, breaking the targeting systems of his missiles which sped into the distance. Not wanting to lose another pair of missiles, he switched from missiles to guns and unloaded a barrage of lead on the drone, clipping one of its wings which then went into a death spiral. "Splash one drone!" he called out, but before he suddenly felt his aircraft shudder.

Glancing back, he spotted that a pair of Ravens were directly on his tail, firing their laser cannons at him. "I got two on my tail, I can't shake them! I need support!" he called out over the radio. R8 whined in alarm as cannon fire zipped past them before Dante took his plane into a dive straight to the ground below. The Raven's followed him, firing missiles of their own at the Ribbon Fighter, but this time he used his own flares to deter the missiles which slammed into the ground just inches from the rails. "Any help would be good right about now!"

"Mobius One! Pull up now!" PJ shouted as he sped after the drones, lined up his gunsight on one and fired the moment Dante pulled up. A stream of 20mm cannon rounds tore through the airframe of one of the Ravens which then exploded in mid-air before Galm 3 pulled up from his own dive, leveling out before he went after the second Raven which he downed with a single missile. "Galm 3! Splash two drones. Mobius One is still…" he started to say before alarms rang out on his side of the radio as two streaks flew past him.

"Damn it! I got drones on my tail!" he cursed as he looked back and saw multiple AFDX-01's had targeting him. Another drone fired a missile at him, which he managed to shake off, but the other drones opened up with their cannons. 20mm shells zipped past his canopy, but some of the shells managed to hit his aircraft. "I'm hit. Instruments are ok, but I can't shake these guys!"

"Hang on, Patrick. We're on our way." Larry called out as he and Cipher chased after the drones going after their wingman. "Ironwood is stupid to think that machines can replace real pilots and soldiers. Let's show him that he's damn wrong."

"Copy that, Pixy, form up on my wing and let's give them hell." Cipher acknowledged as the two Daggers chased after a group of drones. The Galm Team soon unleashed a volley of XMAA's at their targets, splashing four of the six targets, but the last four went into the vertical climb, but the two pilots didn't give chase as arriving on the scene was the Millennium Falcon, Luke, Biggs, and Wedge who picked up a call from R4 a few hours ago. "Cipher to Rogue Leader, where's the rest of Rogue Squadron?"

"The Rogue boys are dealing with a situation back in Anima. We're all we could spare." Han answered as the Falcon's quad cannons opened up and took out the two fighters that the Galm Team didn't shot down. "Nice shooting, your highness. Guess it pays to have someone like you in the rebellion." Han said over the commlink.

"Not now, Han!" Leia shouted as the Falcon launched a salvo of concussion missiles, downing multiple drones.

The Rogue fighters formed up and downed several ADFX-01's with their cannons, sending the fighters spiraling down into the tundra. As they scanned for targets, Wedge noticed that Ray and Neo were nowhere to be seen. "Rogue Two to Galm One, where's Trigger and Countess?"

"They went after train. Rocket Droids were crawling all over it as it left the mainline. They're going to try out their new weapons." Cipher answered, gunning down an AFDX-02 with his cannon. "Heard it's a real beast."

"Trust me, my niece and nephew know how to kick ass and take names whether it's on land or in the sky." Robyn smirked, firing a missile from her F4 that hit a Falken dead center. Diving down to avoid the wreckage, Robyn spotted several Ravens chasing after Johanna. Firing their weapons forced Johanna on the defensive and if she made a mistake, she would be killed. Pushing her planes afterburners to full power, Robyn dived after the drones and turned a full one-hundred and eighty degrees getting behind the drones. "Talisman, Fox 3!" she shouted, pulling the trigger, and sending four XMAA's at the drones who didn't register her as a threat in time, turning the four drones to scrap metal. "Splash four." She announced.

Having been saved by their leader, Johanna formed up with May and Fiona, launching a salvo of missiles of their own as that eliminated multiple hostiles. "It feels good to be flying again and with new planes, these things are faster than our F20's and have more than one gun, but these F4's carry more ordinance." May praised as she fired a volley of cannon fire at a Raven that turned right into one of the missiles launched by Johanna.

Fiona fired the last of her XMAA's, downing four more hostile fighters but soon took a critical hit to her plane. "Robyn, I'm hit! Controls are still responding, but some of them aren't. I've got no choice; I've got to head back to Mantle." She called urgently.

"Not alone you won't. May, Johanna, give her an escort back to airfield. You three have done enough out here. Get back to Mantle and give Ironwood and his men some air support." Robyn ordered.

Her three huntresses turned in the direction of Mantle and proceeded to exit the combat airspace, but several ADFX-01's and ADFX-02's were in hot pursuit. Alice saw them and dived after them, getting into firing position. "Q7, are those concussion missiles linked to the firing systems?" She asked. Her droid beeped in confirming her question. "Alright, let's do it. Fox 3!" she shouted as the concussion missiles on her plane separated and zoomed towards the drones. The missiles slammed into the drones before they could even get a target lock on the four pilots.

Another ADFX-01 flew past Alice who then riddled it with 30mm shells, hitting it in the left engine which started to trail smoke before it rolled over and plummeted to the ground, exploding in a massive fireball. "Hope you saw that, little brother."

As more drones fell to the ground, Mickey pulled the trigger and spat out several hundred rounds from his cannon riddling a Falken full of holes which sent it spiraling into the path of another Falken, destroying both of them as laser fire from a few Ravens flew past his cockpit. Slamming on his brakes, Mickey allowed the drones to overshoot him and fly right into his sights. "Fox 3!" he called out as two XLAA's flew from his plane and slammed into the two drones.

Forming up on his wing were the Millennium Falcon, the three Rogue pilots and much to his surprise, Ahsoka in her Jedi Interceptor who had left Ruby, her team and Thire to contend with the Grimm attack the moment she heard about the runaway from R7. "Good to be flying with you again, Luke. I wish it was under better circumstances, but it's good to see that you're not dead." She said, pulling the trigger and opened up with her fighters' cannons that blasted two drones that flew directly into her path.

"Thanks, commander. I heard about Galen and his so-called crimes and all of us know for certain that he's innocent. He would never commit those murders and if he was such a criminal, he wouldn't have saved Biggs over Yavin." Luke responded over the commlink.

"You got that right." Marcus exclaimed, diving after another Raven and riddled it with bullets, his fifth kill of the day. "I just hope he wasn't knocked off the train. He's the only one who can stop it."

(End Song)

Below them, a hundred miles behind the runaway, Galen emerged from the snow and looked around. "Oh great, Harriet punched me off the train. Does she ever listen? Why would I be trying to derail the damn train if I was working on reconnecting the air brakes?" Galen cursed.

"That's Harriet for you in a nutshell. She'll do whatever it takes to complete the mission and she's always had it in for you after you broke her arm in that fight you had a couple of weeks back." Marrow answered as he emerged from the snow as well. "I told her that you were innocent, but no one ever listens to the rookie."

"Be glad she's not like Krell." Rex said, brushing the snow off his armor. "That four-armed bastard did everything he could to force the Republic to retreat from Umbara and placed the blame on me and my brothers, not even listening to the protests of Fives and myself." He then looked around and noticed that they weren't anywhere near the mainline. "Where are we?"

"An old maintenance yard by the looks of it." Rose said, looking out to the rotten buildings and rusted equipment that laid about. "Looks like this place was used to make repairs to the engines if it was deemed necessary. Heard about places like this from one of my cousins who found a few of them during their travels in Atlas. We're not in dark territory yet, but unless we can find some wheels, we won't be able to catch up with that train."

"Well, we…" Marrow began before he noticed they were one person short. "Hey, where's the little guy?"

"Where's…" Galen said before he noticed that Grogu wasn't with them. "Oh great. Grogu! Grogu where are you?" he called out only for the ground beneath all four of them to give way. "Guess that wasn't a cliff we were standing on." He groaned.

"At least we didn't land in a trash compactor like you and the others did on the Death Star." Rex remarked. "Well, it's true."

"Yeah, but I landed on something hard." Marrow said as he stood up. "My back is in a bit of pain." He then noticed Rose shinning her Scroll on the ground below them. "What are you doing? I landed on a rock."

"No, you landed on some train tracks." Rose clarified, brushing some of the dust off the rail. "I thought so, we must have fallen into shed they stored one of the locomotives in." she surmised. "Now the question is where's Grogu?"

As they looked around, they heard Grogu cooing from the wall, his rag caught on something. "There he is. He must have fallen into this shed before the rest of us." Marrow surmised.

Grogu cooed again before whatever he was caught on suddenly fell down. The child was caught on a light switch which turned the lights on and revealed to the five what was being stored in the shed. Right in front of Rose was a large black and grey steam locomotive with a 4-8-8-4-wheel configuration. The locomotive measured a total of one hundred and thirty-two feet, including the tender and the auxiliary tender coupled behind it and a cowcatcher attached to the front of the engine. "I don't believe it." Rose said in awe.

"Am I missing something here, because all I'm seeing is an old relic." Marrow asked.

"We found it. We found Big One." Rose answered.

"Big One?" Galen asked.

"It's the nickname for the 'VR 8001' the largest steam locomotive ever built in the world." Rose explained. "Twenty-five of these locomotives were built to haul freight trains from Vale to Vacuo because of the long distance between the kingdoms and the mountains that separated the two. The two sets of driving wheels were installed to support the large firebox which helped them haul some of the longest freight trains across the continent. Out of the twenty-five built, only one of them was preserved by the Vale Railroad before it vanished after coming to Atlas twenty-five years ago."

"You called it 'Big One'. Is that the name of the locomotive?" Rex asked.

"Nope. That's the nickname railroaders gave it because of its strength. This thing could haul a hundred freight cars over a mountain on one piston." Rose answered.

"Then what's it doing here?" Galen questioned.

"If I had to guess, the SDC brought it here so they could dismantle it and scrap it, make an excellent profit when they take it to the scrapyard. Must've had an accident in one of their mines and couldn't afford to purchase new supplies, so they had to make money and decided to try and do away with this old girl." Rose surmised. "Snowstorm hit and cut off the yard from the rest of the world, then the Grimm came and probably killed the people who were going to cut her up and the ones who didn't agree with the decision."

"Something tells me it's not a wood burning locomotive like the one Boba, the Bad Batch and I found underneath Mountain Glenn." Galen surmised.

"No, this thing used burn dust to heat up the water in the boiler, a version of fire dust used for steam locomotives. It heated up the water faster rather than using wood or other sources of fire." Rose answered as she climbed into the cab. "Looks like this girl has a full tender of burn dust and water. The Auxiliary tender is also fully fueled up as well. Looks like someone was planning on helping this old girl escape the cutters torch. Perfect."

"How is it perfect? We're miles behind the runaway and our teams. The air brakes aren't tied on and Harriet has probably made things worse more than she already has. So, I ask again, how is this perfect?" Marrow asked.

"Because we're going to use Big One here to stop the runaway." Rose answered.

"They already tried that, and they failed." Rex pointed out.

"Yeah, but from the front." Rose said as she picked up a shovel. "If I'm right, Whitman, Wally and whoever else is with them are going to couple up to the runaway and gun their engines in the opposite direction. They'll have more control from the rear rather than the front. It might be enough to slow it down, but once they crest over the summit, it's a straight shot to the kingdom. We're going to help slow it down the moment they get control."

"I get it. We'll make a breaking chain that will slow the train down long enough for the runaway to come to a complete stop, provided the air brakes are tied on." Galen realized.

"Well don't just stand around then. Get your buts in here and help me out. I can't run this thing on my own." Rose quipped.

(Start Extreme Trains intro)

Climbing aboard the massive locomotive, Marrow helped Rose stoke the fire while Rex and Galen opened the shed doors revealing the engine to the elements and switched the points to the tunnel that led towards the main line.

Once the engine had a good head of steam, Rex, Galen and Grogu climbed aboard as Rose pulled the regulator, starting the massive giant. The wheels slipped on the icy rails before it finally got a good grip and chugged down the line and through the tunnel, back into action once more.

(End song)

Ahead of them, things were looking so well for Wally, Whitman, and Stan. Seconds after they exited the first tunnel on the old line and crossed an old cast-iron bridge that was able to hold both the weight of the runaway and their engines, only to find that they had caught up with the rocket droids that were still chasing the runaway.

With Stan being the only one armed, the young railroad worker exited the cab and started to fire back at the droids, downing several of them with his handgun before the droids turned their attention towards the locomotives. Watts had given the droids strict orders, eliminate anyone trying to stop the train or anyone chasing the train. The deaths would cause further chaos and negative emotions that would draw the Grimm closer to the kingdom.

Speaking of the Grimm, the noise of the trains awoke Salem's creatures from their slumber and charged towards the source of the noise. As the two M-840's sped down the line past another old mine, the rocket droids and Grimm continued to give chase as they continued onwards. "There's too many of them, Stan! Get back inside!" Wally shouted.

"I can't do that! They'll kill us if we don't stop them, and we can't die yet!" Stan shouted back as he loaded a fresh magazine into his handgun before he resumed firing. Another droid fell from the sky, followed by another, then another and another before Stan's handgun was empty. As he was about to reload, one of the rocket droids shot him in the leg, forcing him to crawl back into the cab of the rear unit. "Damn it!"

With Stan out of the way, one of the droids hovered directly beside the 825 and aimed its wrist blasters at Whitman who gritted his teeth. Just as the droid was about to fire, it was suddenly destroyed by a blur of green that zoomed past quickly.

The droids attacking Wally and Stan were cut down by a blur of silver. "What in the hell was that?" Wally asked as he wrapped a bandage around Stan's leg.

"Look!" Stan shouted as their saviors came into view

(Start Meteor)

Hovering beside the cabs of the two locomotives, the custom battle armors of Ray and Neo holstered their plasma rifles before giving the engineers a two-finger salute. "Amber, arm missiles and acquire target lock." Ray ordered.

"Affirmative." Amber said as she activated the missile launchers of the two battle armors as the two pilots gained a higher altitude putting them directly above the train as the armors targeting systems locked onto both droid and Grimm alike. "Targets have been acquired."

"FIRE!" Both siblings shouted as they fired a swarm of micro missiles that killed dozens of Grimm. Each of the small missiles powerful enough to be consider an anti-tank missile but acted more on the lines of an anti-personal weapon. The launchers contained a total of sixteen missiles in each launcher, giving them a total of thirty-two missiles launched in salvos of four.

"Damn these things pack some punch." Neo praised over the commlink. "I wish we had these back at Beacon."

"Twenty-four missiles remain. I recommend saving them for the hostiles attacking the runaway. You have only forty-five minutes before the runaway crests the summit and collides with the kingdom. Watts has been blocked out of the systems and is now unable to control anything in the kingdom, yet I recommend extreme caution nonetheless." Amber reported.

"Copy that. Neo, keep Whitman and his crew alive. I'll catch up with the runaway and give them some support." Ray instructed his sister. "I think it's time I show up Brea." He smirked underneath his helmet as he pushed his battle armors thrusters to the max in order to catch up to the runaway.

"Show her what you can do!" Neo called out as she took aim with her plasma rifle and let lose a volley of plasma rounds that slammed into her targets. Green plasma rounds melted away at the rocket droids' armor while the Grimm dissipated into mist like usual. "Multi-purpose plasma rifle that can change into a sniper rifle, automatic plasma rifle and plasma shotgun, this way better than stealing Dust with Roman or doing work for Cinder and Salem." Neo said to herself as she fired another volley from her rifle, downing the hostiles surrounding the train before she had Amber activate her missile launchers.

Another barrage of missiles flew towards the enemy, killing them with devastating results as the number of enemies on the ground dwindled. Attaching her rifle to her arm to the back of her armor, she drew the dark saber and zoomed towards several airborne enemies and slashed at them with the blade of her ancestor. One droid was sliced down the middle while one of the remaining ground based Grimm leapt into the air to try and knock her out of the sky, only to be slashed across the chest by Neo's blade. The Grimm soon started to back off while the remaining droids turned their attention towards the runaway as Neo landed on the chase train. "Get these engines moving! We need to catch that runaway!"

Ahead of them, Ray flew through the second tunnel on the line, slicing multiple droids that were flying through the tunnel with his own sabers as he flew down the tracks. Exiting the tunnel, he spotted the caboose of the runaway and dropped a tracking device on it which transmitted its location to Neo who in turn gave the location to Whitman and the others so they wouldn't slam into the train and force it to go faster. "Time for the old slice and dice maneuver!" he smirked and rocketed towards the train.

The droids soon spotted Ray approaching them and focused their efforts on the unknown contact, only to be reduced to scrap metal as Ray flew through the air like a bird, diving down and flew just inches above the train cars, holstering his sabers before drawing his plasma rifle which he configured into rifle mode and fired at the droids. "Hey Scrapheads! Get melted!" he shouted, firing his plasma weapon at the droids. One of droids was able to hit Ray's armor, but the blast didn't do any damage to the armor before it joined the rest of its comrades. "How do you like that?" he smirked.

Below him, Arthur, Artoria, Elm and Vine watched Ray made quick work of the droids before he was joined by Neo. More droids soon surrounded the two but were quickly destroyed by plasma fire when the two battle armors pulled a three-hundred and sixty degrees turn while they stood back-to-back. "Such impressive firepower." Artoria said in awe.

"There's no way that's anything built by Atlas." Vine observed.

"Why is it all the other huntsmen get the better toys?" Elm complained.

"Those are not toys, but symbols of hope." Arthur noted as he watched the two battle armors turn their attention to a flight of rocket droids that were making a final approach on the train. Both Garuda pilots acquired a lock on the droids with their remaining missiles and fired them all at the droids, destroying them in mid-air before they flew towards the front of the train. "I believe that Three Strikes has saved our lives."

(End song)

Up ahead, from the cab of Wally's engine, Clover watched as the two battle armors flew alongside the train before Clover's radio crackled. "Ace Ops leader, this is Garuda One. Hostile forces have been eliminated and the chase train should be coupling up now. You need to detach #6666 and #4444 from the train, they are the source of the runaway. Once you detach them, we'll handled the rest." Ray said through Clover's radio.

"What are you planning Trigger?" Clover asked.

"First off, I want to tell that idiot Harriet that Galen is completely innocent. The real culprit behind the murders is Tyrian Callows who was taking orders from someone else. The doctored footage has been cleared up, so Galen is no longer a wanted criminal and those railroad employees he 'killed' are still alive." Ray began as Neo flew ahead of them. "Secondly, there's a set of points up ahead leading into a siding. Once the switch is thrown, those locomotives will derail and fall into the fall into the canyon below. Right now, you need to turn on the brakes of Wally's engine. The summit's coming up and the moment you cross it, it's a rollercoaster to hell."

"Just who does he think…" Harriet started to say before Clover casted her a nasty glare.

"Copy that, Garuda One. I'll take of it." Clover replied before he turned to March. "March, get those brakes online and fast. I'll deal with the units ahead of us."

"You got it." March replied as he continued to power up Wally's engine.

By now, the rest of the air brakes were almost tied on as Clover stood at the front of Wally's engine, aimed Rex's carbine, and fired. His semblance activated and with a single hit disconnected the two locomotives from the train which sped down the line before they were out of sight after the next bend.

The hacked units continued down the line for another few miles before they were diverted onto the siding, then flew off the tracks and fell into the canyon that the final bridge crossed. The units then exploded in a massive fireball after they hit the ground and Neo threw the points, preventing the runaway from derailing, but it soon started to pick up speed as it began it's decent down the mountain. "If you got those breaks tied on, you better slow down fast!" she shouted as the train sped past her the moment she took to the skies.

Unfortunately, the air brakes still weren't tied on as the train began to pick up speed while Whitman, Wally and Stan tried to slow down the train. "We're not slowing down fast enough! We need more power!" Stan shouted.

"If we use anymore power, we'll lose our brakes! We can't risk it!" Wally countered as they crested the summit.

Atlas Railway Control

12:00 PM

Robert and Mordred watched with horror as the runaway flew past signal after signal at alarming speeds. "There's no stopping it now. It's going to take a miracle to stop it." Robert said.

"I think I'm already seeing a miracle. Somethings on the mainline and it's overtaking the runaway." Mordred pointed out as the monitor showed that something was indeed on the mainline and overtaking the runaway. "What the hell could go that fast in such a short time?"

"I can think of one thing. A train without any cars." Robert replied.

Tundra

12:05 PM

600 miles from the Kingdom

The train soon began to speed down the mountain as Harriet once again placed the blame on Galen and his team. "Good going, kid. Now the one kingdom that had a chance of stopping Salem is about to be destroyed. Your parents must be very proud that their son has now become a mass murderer." Harriet told March.

"Harriet, that's enough." Clover scolded. "We know full well that Galen, March, Arthur, and Rose aren't the ones who killed those people in Mantle or caused this train to become a runaway. I've put up with your competitiveness and stubbornness for enough. Not everything is a competition and your dedication to the mission has blinded you to the truth. Galen and his team are not our enemy and have done nothing but help us in our mission and because of you, we lost comrades who could have helped us tie on the brakes. You've been against Galen ever since you lost that fight the two of you had and that's part of the reason you've been blinded to the truth."

"My duty is to Atlas and the kingdom. If Mantle gets destroyed then so what, it's been a burden on the rest of the kingdom for years, so I don't see the problem in letting it get blown up." She defended.

"Really? You would sacrifice innocent lives just to protect a kingdom full of bigwigs and money-grubbing people who care only about themselves just to stop Salem? Just how cold are you? And if you ever bring up my parents again, I'll personally make sure you regret it." March snarled.

Harriet glared at March, ready for a fight just as the rest of the Ace Ops and Team GARM, along with Artoria entered the cab. "We just ran over a pair of derailers, they didn't work. We're running out of ideas." Elm said.

"Then I say we jump ship and let it crash." Harriet suggested.

"Not going to happen." Artoria countered as the train made it to flat ground and exited dark territory. It was then they heard a sharp and loud whistle coming from the mainline. "What was that?"

"Guys, look!" March shouted and pointed as in the distance clouds of steam billowed into the air and moving fast. "What is that?"

(Ginga Tetsudo wa Harukanari starts)

Mantle

12:15 PM

The last of the Grimm were eliminated as the whistle echoed through out both cities. Everyone, whether they were clone, Faunus, Lepti, Human or Clone looked to the monitors as appearing on the screen was Big One, thundering down the line at full speed in an effort to catch the runaway. Even Jacques was surprised at the locomotive he ordered to be scrapped was once more running down the tracks, further angering him.

"I knew it! I knew that dream meant something. I knew there was hope whenever I dreamt of that train!" Kara exclaimed as she the mighty locomotive chugged down the line. "I just can't believe it actually existed."

She wasn't the only who was surprised to see the engine. Bella was also shocked beyond words as this was the locomotive her father drove a few times before it disappeared. "Dad, are you watching this?" she asked herself while the Fox looked at the locomotive with interest.

Even the council, Winter, Artoria and Robert were surprised to see one of the most famous locomotives ever built was now running down the mainline and chasing the runaway.

Watts on the other hand, scoffed at such a sight. "If they think an old antique can stop that train, then they are wrong." He said with a smug look, still furious that his access to the systems of the kingdom had been revoked.

Tundra

550 miles from the kingdom

Inside the cab of the might locomotive, Marrow and Rex shoveled the burn dust furiously as Rose kept her hands on the throttle and one hand hovering over the breaks. She moved her hand from the break and pulled the whistle cord, blowing the mighty whistle once more. "I've always wanted to do that!" she chuckled while Galen stood on the auxiliary tender with Grogu on his shoulder.

"Whitman! Clover! This is Galen! We're preparing to couple up to the runaway. Whitman, on my signal begin to apply the breaks slow this thing down. We'll help with the breaking as well." Galen shouted into his Scroll as the runaway came into view.

"Roger that! Wally and Stan are waiting to apply the brakes, by the way, where did you find that old locomotive?" Whitman asked.

"Tell you later. Let's stop this train before we get any closer to the kingdom." Galen shouted as he waited, opening the coupler of the auxiliary tender ready for the runaway.

On the runaway, Clover spotted Big One on the mainline as it came into view. He smirked at Galen's plan as they came nearer and nearer to the old locomotive, the distance to the kingdom decreasing every second. "Brace yourselves, people. This is going to be a rough one." He ordered.

As Big One started to slow down, the runaway slammed into it and coupled onto the runaway. "Whitman! Begin breaking!" Galen shouted as he secured the coupler.

"Beginning breaking chain now!" Whitman shouted as the breaks of 825 and 642 came on, as did the breaks of the runaway units. The screeching brakes echoed everywhere as camera drones recorded everything, as Rose began to ease off the throttle as the speed of the train began to drop drastically from well over a hundred miles per hour. The brakes of Big One had yet to be applied and she couldn't risk applying the breaks until she was certain that they were in the clear.

Helping to break the train, Ray and Neo used their battle armors thrusters to help gradually slow the train down by pushing against Big One, but the brakes on the engines behind it soon burnt out in a matter of seconds. "We're losing brakes, we're still going and sixty-miles per hour!" Whitman shouted as the runaway was now halfway from the kingdom!

"Rose!" Galen shouted.

"Got it! Hang onto to your britches!" she shouted back and applied the brakes on Big One which screeched as the speed continued to drop rapidly. Every second the brakes screeched, the slower the train went as the kingdom came into view. "Come on girl, don't quit on me now. You've only just been found, and I won't let you die that easy." She said to the engine.

All across the kingdom, whether it was in the capital or in the off-grid communities watched as the sparks flew from the runways brakes as it came closer and closer to the kingdom. Those who knew the reputation of the Demon Lord and his allies all prayed to the gods that he could stop runaway before anyone else died.

"We just lost our brakes!" Stan shouted over the radio.

"Come on girl, give it everything you got! There's a lot of people counting on us to stop this monster. Show them why you're a legend!" Rose said again to the engine as the train continued down the tracks

As if the engine heard her, Big One's breaks continued to screech before at long last the train soon came to a crawl before it finally came to a stop, just a little over three hundred miles from the kingdom. "We did it! We stopped it!" Rose shouted, letting go of the brakes.

Everyone let out a sigh of relief while that the ordeal was finally over.

(End song)

Or so they thought. The moment Galen leapt down from the tender, a certain Ace Operative was waiting for him. "Time, we finish what we started back on the mountains. I'm so going to enjoy this." Harriet said, readying her weapons and was about to charge at Galen but before she could even move, a pair of gravity Dust bolas were wrapped around her, knocking her to the ground before her weapons were removed. The thrower of the bolas was Marrow. "What the hell are you doing, Marrow? I was about to take down the man responsible for this shitstorm!" she snarled.

"HE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!" Marrow shouted as the rest of the Ace Ops jumped down from the train. "Galen didn't kill those people at Robyn's party, he didn't kill those people in Mantle, he didn't smuggle that bomb on the train, he didn't disconnect the air brakes and he didn't cause the runaway! The same goes for his team! They helped stop the runaway while you knocked him, Rose, Grogu, Rex and me off the train!" Marrow ranted.

"You're just a rookie, you don't know what I would do for the kingdom!" Harriet snarled.

"Enough!" Clover shouted. "Marrow, I'm glad to see you and all the others are still alive and I'm kind of surprised that you found this old engine out in the tundra. I'm certain that someone isn't going to be too thrilled knowing that something they tried to hide is out in the public eye." He then turned to Harriet. "You've gone too far, Harriet. Galen and his team stopped the train before it got any closer. We wouldn't have had to fight them if you stopped and listened. You need some time to cool off, as of now, you're confined to your quarters at the academy until further notice."

"WHAT!?" Harriet shouted. She couldn't believe what she just heard, her commander was confining her to her quarters when she was doing her duty for her kingdom and was siding with the one responsible for the situation. "You can't be serious! You're taking his side over me? He's a criminal!"

"No, he's not." Rex said. "Galen and his team have been cleared of all charges. Tech was able to restore the footage of what really happened at the yard and down in Mantle. It was Tyrian and some droids that loaded the bomb onto the train, and it was Tyrian who killed those people. He's innocent." The captain of the 501st said, narrowing his eyes at Harriet.

"Sorry, Bree, I got to side with Clover. We could have had this train stopped by now if you didn't just attack him. It took longer to reconnect the brakes. It would have taken less time if you didn't attack him the moment we landed." Elm said.

"You didn't have a clear head when we left the kingdom. Clover's actions are sound." Vine said in agreement.

Harriet was about to say something when she was hit by a stun blast from Clover who still had Rex's carbine. "Get her on the train. We need to get this cargo into the kingdom and there are plenty of stops that were missed because of this fiasco." Clover said before he turned to Wally, Whitman, and Stan. "Think you three can operate this old clunker?"

"What are you kidding?" Wally asked in amusement. "Course we can operate this old girl. I've operated a few steam engines back in Vale when I took my grand kids there on vacation. Railroad was shorthanded after a recent layoff they asked me to help out for a few days."

"Then let's stop talking about other locomotives and get this one moving. Brakes on the four diesels have burnt out and all that negativity probably drew the Grimm towards us." Whitman said as he climbed into the cab of Big One. Wally and Stan followed him while the others boarded the car with the bomb before the train lurched forward and headed down the line towards Mantle.

It took three hours before the strange train finally arrived in Mantle where a crowd of people greeted the train and cheered when they saw Galen and his team. Every single one of them owed Galen and debt of gratitude for risking his life to save a kingdom that had labeled him a wanted criminal. At the lead of the crowd was Robyn herself, who was more than happy to not only thank Galen but also claimed that once again, she believed in Galen's innocence. The reception was a welcome one to Galen and his team who finally had a chance to catch their breaths.

As for Ironwood, he wasn't too pleased about Harriet starting an unnecessary fight when the entire kingdom was at state and agreed with Clover's decision to confine her to her quarters until she cooled off. Rex explained the situation to General and even recommended that Harriet be taken off the Ace Ops and replaced with the more levelheaded Artoria.

Robert Gresely thanked Galen the most, for not only stopping the runaway but also finding the lost engine he heard stories about when he was a boy. He made a vow to the people of Mantle that he would do everything to restore Big One to its former glory. Needless to say, Jacques wasn't too pleased at the idea and tried to claim the engine as SDC property, but it wasn't until he was reminded about his failure to stop the runaway and how his actions cost the life of a seasoned railroad employee that he backed down, if only temporarily.

Of course, Robert needed help to restore the train and he happened to know a certain someone who was more than willing to assist him.

Weeks passed after the runaway and the restoration of the locomotive was underway. At the head of the restoration, was Diego Vega, Robert Gresely, a group of volunteers and engineers who worked tirelessly to restore the engine as a means of helping with the increased workload on the railroad and a plan that Diego had. "You're doing a great job guys, we should have this train restored and running soon." Diego, dressed in overalls praised the workers as they worked to replace the pistons of the locomotive.

"Pardon me sir, but we have company." One of the workers said.

"Let me guess, Ironwood?" Diego asked.

"Yes sir." The worker replied.

Diego sighed in annoyance before he reluctantly allowed the General in with Winter and Artoria in tow. "I want to know who's…" Ironwood began before he cast a glance at Diego. "You?"

"You want to know who's restoring this train? He's right here, General." Diego announced.

Ironwood, for the lack of better words was shocked to see that one of his old students was still alive and kicking while Winter was happy to see that her hero was the one assisting in restoring this mighty machine. "Diego Vega, I'm surprised to see you again, my old student." The general said, shaking Diego's hand which was covered in grease.

"Well, you know I figured maybe being a huntsman wasn't worth my time, so I decided to find various projects to do and help the people of Mantle and Atlas, mostly my own independent ventures." Diego explained, relinquishing Ironwoods hand before he turned to Winter and kissed her hand. "Apologize for the grease but restoring this locomotive to working order is dirty job. I plan on returning this train to Vale the moment it's restored and the workload on Mr. Gresely's railroad. It does belong to the kingdom of Vale after all, why it wasn't returned after all these years, I'll never know." He added.

"I'll have some men transport it the port once the workload is lightened." Ironwood said.

"Permission to speak with Diego, sir, in private?" Winter asked.

"For what reason?" Ironwood asked.

"For old time's sake. It won't take long." Winter answered.

Ironwood looked at his watch and nodded, allowing the two of them to talk behind the auxiliary and out of earshot from Ironwood. "You're not going to return the train to Vale, are you?" she asked bluntly.

"Actually, that part is true. But I'll be returning it through a different means of transport. I won't be using a ship that can targeted by your father's personal air force." Diego answered.

"Air Force?" Winter asked.

Diego looked around and leaned in close to Winters ear. "He's managed to procure several MG-31's, MG-35's, S33's and S35's for his forces. He claims that 'they are to assist in the protection of the kingdom from those who threaten the security of the greatest kingdom.' In truth, he's most likely planning a coup to overthrow Ironwood and the rest of the council." He whispered. "As to how I plan to return the locomotive to Vale, let's just say that a new overseas route has been under construction for some time, construction of which has gone smoothly with the assistance of the miners your father laid off. They'll be ready for when the time comes."

"What are you implying?" Winter asked.

"Salem is on her way here, we have less time than I thought we did, but thanks to the clone troopers, we might just have a chance to save more lives than I originally thought." Diego answered.

"How long do we have?" Winter asked.

"Days, hours, minutes. I don't know, but when she does, Atlas and Mantle will fall, even I can't stop it. And before you say that the General can help, don't. I confirmed it when I returned his handshake, his plan will fail and the path he's going down will make him a threat to all, enemy and ally alike. You must be careful, Winter." Diego warned.

"Should I tell him about your plan?" Winter asked.

"No, don't tell him about my plan. He'll only get in the way. I won't allow him to jeopardize the safety of the people by making things worse." Diego warned. "I have a feeling that your father will be arrested when evidence of his corruption and rigging of the election will be revealed soon. Soon, everyone will know what he did, but I can't say for certain about his private army. Be on your guard and I recommend you acquire a gun for yourself."

"I've never been one for firearms. So uncivilized, but I'll take your word for it, my love." Winter said. Diego then approached her and gave her a hug before he moved in and kissed her briefly.

"You better go, before the General gets suspicious. Perhaps, when this is all over, we could try and rekindle the relationship we once had?" He suggested.

"I think that can be arranged." Winter said with a smile before they moved from behind the auxiliary tender and returned into view of the General and the rest of the workers before they left. As they did, Winter noticed the look on Ironwoods face as they left.

Once they left, Diego's scroll beeped and he pulled it out, revealing his father, Alexander Vega, a man in his mid-to-late fifties with grey hair and grey beard, wearing grey pants, a gray coat with a red vest and white shirt underneath the coat, black shoes, and a red belt around his waist. "Keep working on the engine, I'll be back." He told the workers while he headed outside to answer his scroll. "Father, what's wrong?"

"It appears, my son that you were right about certain events, because this just popped up on my Scrolls inbox." Alexander answered, showing what he just received. "It appears that Jacque Schnee has invited us to his manor to officially bring him into the council, in two weeks."

"I'll be on my home then, father." Diego said, shutting off his Scroll before he turned to Robert who stepped outside for a breath of fresh air. "How soon until this engine is ready?"

"Not much longer. Just have give the inside of the boiler a good cleaning and it should be ready to run by tomorrow." Robert answered.

"I'll leave you to it then." Diego answered before he left the shed and headed for his home. The runaway might have been stopped, but something more dangerous was approaching.

And Chapter is done. Damn, now this is the longest one I've written. But at least I got finished before Christmas day.

F-Bomb count is now seven.

Now for those who couldn't tell, I used the plots from the TV-Movie Atomic Train from 1999 and Unstoppable, the last movie directed by Tony Scott, the man who gave us Top Gun. A brief explanation on those movies.

Atomic Train focuses on a runaway freight train heading towards Denver, carrying a dangerous cargo including a Russian made nuclear bomb that was smuggled onboard by the son of the owner of a disposal company in an attempt to save a couple million dollars. Unstoppable, focuses on an unmanned freight train also carrying dangerous cargo, based on the CSX 8888 incident of 2001. Of course, I added my own twists and used a bit of material from the 1985 movie, Runaway Train.

And as many of you expected, Harriet made things worse and finally she's getting reprimanded for her actions. Will this have an effect on her character in the future or will she still be the same jackass as she was in canon? Only time will tell, but at least the rest of the Ace Ops are calling her out on her stubbornness.

Now, as for the VR 8001, it's essentially the Union Pacific Big Boy 4014 locomotive. One of my favorite Steam Locomotives ever, along with the UP 844 and various others. Thank you, Galaxy Railways.

Neo and Ray's Battle Armors are a combination of a Mobile Suit, War Machine's armor and the weapons are based on the Plasma weapons from Fallout 4 with transformation tech like the Morph Gun.

Anyway, this will probably be my last chapter of 2022 and I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a happy new year. For those who celebrated Hanukkah, a late Happy Hanukkah. Until next time, please read and review and I'll see you all next year. I've got a trifle and pizza's to make now.

Oh, and before I forget, we got ten days until the Bad Batch Season 2 is released and I can't wait!