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-CHAPTER START-

Realm R38Y

City of Mantle

The city was in chaos. Citizens ran screaming through the streets, pursued by Beowolves, Sabyrs, Teryxes, and Nevermores. Atlesian and UNSC soldiers were engaging the Grimm and covering the civilians as best they could; a Beowolf tackled an Atlas soldier, breaking the man's neck, and was promptly put down by a UNSC marine's shotgun. And all the while, a herd of gigantic Megoliaths poured in through a massive gaping hole they'd torn in the city's wall.

Across the besieged city, our heroes did the best they could. Nora smashed a Sabyr that had been stalking a Faunus woman & child, with Weiss directing the civilians toward a shelter. Elsewhere, Blake was being chased by a Megoliath and three Ursai, though she used elemental clones and her blade to quickly dispatch two of the bear Grimm, with her Liepard Sucker-Punching the third. She rounded a corner, the giant mammoth-Grimm in hot pursuit, leading it right into an ambush by Elm, who rooted herself to the ground and caught the charging Grimm. She used the monster's own momentum to lift it into the air, allowing Yang to dash in and plant multiple explosive charges on its underside. Elm then hurled the giant Grimm into the air, and the charges detonated all at once, tearing the Grimm open and killing it.

As Blake sent another group of hiding civilians off to a shelter, Yang made a worried frown. "The shelters are gonna fill up soon…"

"They're all we've got" Elm replied. "We just have to hold off the Grimm."

Elsewhere, on a rooftop, Qrow was trying to shoot down Teryxes (and/or lure them close for Absol to gut with any of her various slicing attacks), while Clover talked on his comm.

"Okay. Yes, sir. Understood. Over & out."

"New orders?" Qrow asked.

"Let's go."

In an area near Mantle's outer wall, as Marrow and Weiss finished off a few 'lesser' Grimm, Nora stood guard over a group of civilians. Unfortunately, the terrified civvies were getting restless and belligerent, scared and upset over why they hadn't been evacced to Atlas yet.

"Please, everyone!" Nora called out. "We're doing our best! We'll get you to safety; just give us a little more time!"

Suddenly, there was a loud 'ping' and a cyan glow. Everyone looked up at the nearby wall, where a giant hologram screen had appeared, showing a live close-up of Robyn Hill

"Atlas, Mantle… I know you're scared. I'm here with General Ironwood, and we have a message for you."

The camera zoomed out, revealing that she was holding Ironwood's left hand, her & his hands glowing with the green shimmer of her lie-detecting Semblance.

"What he has to say may sound unbelievable… but it is all true."

Across Mantle and Atlas, the frightened people watched and listened.

Ironwood began to speak. "An ancient and terrible evil lies outside of our Kingdom. It was responsible for the destruction of Beacon, the attack on Haven, and for the recent attacks on Mantle. This powerful force goes by the name of Salem, and she is the queen of the Grimm – a former human who, centuries ago, was 'Grimmified' and promptly took over the previously-leaderless Grimm. Salem seeks only to divide us. To turn us against each other. If she can incite hatred in us, then we will lure in the Grimm and destroy ourselves."

"Salem does not work alone" Robyn continued. "In addition to allies from other Realms known to the Dimensional Defense Force, she has underlings native to Remnant. Two of those minions have invaded our very city: Arthur Watts and Tyrian Callows."

"These men are the ones responsible for the recent murders in Mantle," Ironwood explained, "and for sabotaging the heating grid. But we cannot let ourselves give in to fear and panic. That is what she wants! Instead, we must unite, and fight back, together. Every single one of us!"

As Ironwood spoke, our heroes continued working to slaughter Grimm and guide civilians to safety, from Ruby's Scyther tearing through a Sabyr pack to Jaune leading a group of civilians using the same trick he'd picked up escorting little kids to & from school.

"This, my friends, is why I was forced to divert resources from Mantle: for the Amity Communication Tower." The camera zoomed in on him, obscuring his & Robyn's hands for the moment. "Amity Tower is now completed and ready to launch. It will re-establish all global communication-"

"The Colosseum remodeling was for a high-altitude communications tower?" Watts scowled. "How did James get this past me?"

"Because the safety of every citizen is imperative, the council and I have decided to evacuate everyone in Mantle to Atlas. I am withdrawing all defenses from Amity in order to assist with repelling the Grimm in Mantle."

"We must put aside our differences and band together to defeat this threat" Robyn proclaimed. "I fully support General Ironwood's plan."

In the villains' little hideout, Tyrian punched a wall hard enough to almost punch through it. "The Grimm should have destroyed our enemies, not made them friends!" he seethed.

"Wait" Watts calmed him down. "Our tin soldier's heart has cost him his mind. We need to keep their attention on Mantle for as long as possible."

Tyrian gave a crooked grin. "You want more chaos than a Grimm invasion?"

"If anyone on Remnant could deliver that, wouldn't it be you?"

"If you've made it to your local shelter," Robyn spoke on the broadcast, "stay put. Help is on the way. And for those of you in Sector 17, I'll be seeing you personally."

Tyrian grinned, tenting his fingers. "Come to think of it, I do have an idea…"

-X-

Cinder paced, fuming. "I still can't believe those idiots beat us here. Vacuo was supposed to be the next target." She took a deep breath, turning to face Neo. "The timeline has changed. You said the farm boy has the Lamp? Find him; take it."

Getting to her feet, Neo frowned and briefly summoned a holographic disguise of Ruby.

"No!" Cinder snapped. "First, we get what we need! Then we get what we want!" As Neo pouted, Cinder strolled over to her with her usual smirk. "Ironwood's been hiding the Winter Maiden for years. Tonight, I'm going to find her. The general is as predictable as his androids. Threaten what he has, and he'll flock to protect it…"

-X-

Evacuations had commenced, Atlesian Mantas and UNSC Pelicans starting to pick civilians up and ferry them to Atlas. At one section of the city, Ruby and Harriet were looking after a group of civvies.

"Alright," Ruby said, "we just need to get everyone to the closest airpad."

Harriet spoke up. "The closest LZ is-"

She pointed down the street, but suddenly the ground began to rumble with a slow, menacing rhythm – footsteps, shaking the earth. An entire car came tumbling across the intersection.

"…that way."

From around the corner came an especially huge Megoliath with additional bone armor compared to the standard specimens. With a trumpeting roar, it began to charge down the street. However, Penny flew in from overhead, a sweep of her laser cutting across the street in from of the Alpha Megoliath and nicking one of its tusks, making the beast skid to a stop. As the civilians fled, Penny landed beside Ruby & Harriet while Ruby's Scyther took position as well; taking a look at the giant before them, the Bug-type Pokémon started casting Swords Dances, ethereal blades briefly visible fluttering around him.

Penny and Harriet rushed in to engage the monster, while Ruby hung back, trying to call upon her Silver Eyes. However, the noise and chaos of the situation was too much for her to reach the mindset needed for her power. She instead resorted to Semblance-ing her way up to a nearby rooftop and taking ineffectual shots from her scythe-rifle at the giant Grimm. Penny used her floating swords like a buzzsaw, slashing at the Alpha Megoliath's bone-masked face, and then stabbed the blades into the side of its head. Trumpeting in enraged pain, the mammoth Grimm tried to turn its head away, only for the wire 'threads' of Penny's swords to make this difficult. Noticing the resistance, the old Alpha looked at Penny, then jerked its head to the side hard, yanking the robot girl toward it. Slamming into one of its massive tusks, she was sent flying over the buildings to crash into a neighboring street. Ruby 'flew' over to her, finding Penny in a small crater of shattered asphalt.

"Penny, are you okay?!"

After a moment, Penny's lights came back on, and she sat up. "Ow!" she said cheerfully. "Those tusks sure are dangerous!"

"Yeah, they are…" Ruby pondered. "I think I have a plan."

Back on the other street, Scyther was swatted away by a massive trunk after trying to Night Slash his way through the Alpha Megoliath's leg armor. Harriet sped around the monster's feet, but it predicted her movement and landed a kick, knocking her to the ground. It then tried to crush her with its foot, but she caught the stomp. Her weapon started to overheat from strain, sparking, but she finally managed to push the giant foot back before it could blow, sending her tumbling, her Aura barrier flickering.

Another sweep of Penny's laser stopped the Alpha Grimm from charging, just like before. Turning to face the girl as she stood in the middle of the street, the giant mammoth began to charge. Penny charged and fired her massive laser, and the Alpha Megoliath tilted its head down, catching the beam with its thickly-armored forehead, and started struggling to walk forward, pushing against Penny's attack. With the giant Grimm distracted, Ruby's Scyther rushed in to fulfill his role on the plan (directed by the hiding & waiting Ruby). Maxed out on Swords Dances and with Laser Focus active on top, he swung his mightiest Technician-boosted Aerial Ace slice at the base of the Megoliath's right front tusk, cutting about halfway through it.

Then, Penny abruptly cut off her laser, allowing the Megoliath's momentum to carry it forward in a charge. Ruby flew in, hooked her war-scythe through the deep cut in the tusk, and fired her weapon, allowing the blade to cut the rest of the way through and sever the tusk. As the Alpha Megoliath reared up, Penny caught the severed tusk and slammed it base-first into the road below. Ruby then landed by the giant Grimm's back foot, hooked her scythe around its ankle and fired, cutting deep into the monster's not-flesh. Losing its balance, the Alpha Megoliath topped forward onto the tusk, which pierced deep into its chest, dealing a fatal blow. With a thud, it fell to the street and rapidly disintegrated into black smoke. As the smoke drifted away on the cold wind, the civilians came out of hiding, gathering around Penny, thanking and cheering her.

"Just sent the ship up" Yang reported over the radio. "Heading to the next LZ."

-X-

"It should be safe to begin evacuations now." Penny reported.

"Great work, Penny" Robyn replied. "Over & out." She turned to Joanna. "Make sure you get these people to safety. I'm gonna check for any stragglers."

As Joanna ran off with the citizens, Robyn headed alone down a nearby alley. Seconds later, Tyrian dropped in behind her, and she quickly spun around, crossbow drawn and pointed at his center-mass.

"Robyn Hill… For such a little bird, you have quite the impact around here!"

Robyn fired, but Tyrian tilted to the right, dodging the bolt, and started walking toward her.

"Bringing hope and a smile wherever you go!" He caught her next bolt between two fingers. "I find it… upsetting."

Bending the bolt like a paperclip between his fingers, he tossed it aside and deployed his wrist-blades. He began to charge, deflecting two more shots, but right before he reached her a bladed fishhook flew in from somewhere, forcing him to stop and deflect, hopping back. Qrow and Clover then jumped down, landing beside Robyn.

"Sorry, Callows" Robyn remarked. "I really wanted to pummel you on my own, but the General insisted I share."

"I'd give you the usual 'under arrest' spiel, Callows," Clover said, "but I'm assuming you don't intend to come quietly."

-X-

Having piloted a Manta up Amity Colosseum, Watts strolled through dimly-lit hallways, passing by supplies, ladders, and a few loose cables, along with posters warning of volatile Dust on-site. Reaching the arena, he looked around at the mid-construction scenery.

"Hmm… This will certainly do the trick. Although I wouldn't exactly call it finished."

Suddenly, thick metal doors slammed down over all the exits.

"Arthur Watts…"

As Ironwood's angry voice rang out over the stadium loudspeakers, the lights came on, revealing the General in the commentators' booth, microphone in hand.

"Welcome…"

"It wasn't finished…" Watts realized. "It was bait."

Ironwood leapt down to the arena floor. "Tyrian's being dealt with as we speak" he said. "Once I've taken you in or taken you down, Hazel will be all that Salem has left."

At that, Watts started chuckling. "Well, I suppose I could let you in on a little something: Cinder's still alive."

Ironwood's eyes widened in shock.

"However," the not-so-good Doctor continued, "after the magnitude of her blunder at Haven, she's been cut off from all support until she can 'redeem herself' in Lady Salem's eyes. That means I have no idea where she is or what she's up to. She could still be in Mistral, healing; she could be here, still stalking little Rose; she could be in Vale, robbing an ice cream shop! I haven't the foggiest idea! And as long as she doesn't get in my way, I don't particularly care."

He looked around at the interior of the colosseum. "You know, James, this place has always been a technological marvel." He tossed his bag free of the arena as he and Ironwood walked toward each other. "Truly. Even before you went and, uh, did all this." They began circling each other. "The different types of Dust, the biome system… and of course, everything that goes into controlling them."

He held up his right hand, wiggling his fingers, and the rings on them chimed and began to glow. He slammed his hand to the floor, and the arena's systems audibly pinged. Four biome randomizer panels appeared, scrolling through options, while the four panels lacking screens started to recede. Ironwood fired his heavy pistol as Watts stood up, but the lean men blocked the shot with a hardlight shield projected from his rings.

"You always were a pain in the ass…" Ironwood scowled, taking aim.

The biome randomizers stopped spinning, all of them displaying purple floating platform icons. Watts took off running, dodging gunfire from Ironwood, leaping off the floor panel into the biome below. Gravity biomes began rising up, with Watts standing atop a levitating platform that emerged from one of them.

"At the risk of sounding cliché, James…" he readied his own pistol. "I won't be going down without a fight."

Accentuated by geysers of flame and ice shooting up from the lowered biomes that surrounded the gravity platforms, the duel began in earnest. Bullets streaked through the air, bouncing off hardlight shields and wearing away at Aura barriers, as the two men pursued each other across the floating platforms, Watts keeping precise count of his revolver's remaining shots. Watts got across gaps by forming little hardlight barriers that dispelled a second after he jumped off them, while Ironwood took a page from Ruby's book and fired Gravity Dust rounds to launch himself.

Watts continued messing with the floating artificial-gravity platforms, trying to throw Ironwood off, but no matter what he tried, the General kept adapting quickly enough to the changing gravity to keep up the chase. In fact, Ironwood was slowly but steadily gaining on him. After firing another revolver round that narrowly missed Ironwood's ear, Watts pulled out a surprise. Pointing his free arm back at the General, the arm lit up with orange holograms around the hand, wrist, & forearm, and fired a high-speed ball of explosive plasma at Ironwood, who widened his eyes in shock and rolled at the last second to just barely dodge.

'An Omnitool?!' he thought, shocked. 'Where the hell did he get that?!'

Ironwood resumed the chase, firing rounds to further wear down Watts' barrier. Watts fired an Ice-Dust round from his pistol to freeze Ironwood's leg to the floor, but this only bought him a few seconds of reprieve. Ending up on two parallel floating platforms, one man on the ground and the other on the 'ceiling' of the one above, the two men leapt at each other and grabbed each other's wrists, the two conflicting gravity fields making them spin through the air. Ironwood socked Watts in the jaw, only to get headbutted in return. As Watts brought them both back down onto a platform, he then tried to gravity-leap away, only for Ironwood to catch him by the ankle and slam him to the floor hard enough to finally break his Aura Barrier.

As Watts got to his feet, Ironwood tackled him, sending both men falling out of the gravity arena and onto the arena's central platform, the landing breaking Ironwood's Aura Barrier. The two men got back up, with Watts triggering the platform to start rising.

"You never appreciated my genius, James" Watts glared at the General. "You just stood atop it and called yourself a giant!"

The two men rushed at each other, wielding their pistols by the muzzles and using the butts as clubs. A quick exchange ensued atop the rising platform, both men lending a few solid hits.

"I gave you everything you could've wanted!" Ironwood angrily protested.

"You chose that fat imbecile over me!"

The clash continued, both fighters landing blows on each other as the platform neared its top level. Ironwood pinned Watts against a metal beam, and when he went for a follow-up blow Watts caught his arm, pointing his revolver to Ironwood's temple even as Ironwood grabbed him in turn.

Watts chuckled. "I suppose in this instance, my brains and your brawn are evenly matched."

"You're smart," Ironwood glanced briefly at the chamber of Watts' revolver, "but you're not the only one who can count."

After a moment, the two let go of each other, arms slowly lowering.

"Oh, I know…" Watts said in a dangerous tone.

Watts dropped his revolver, and the moment Ironwood's eyes instinctively followed it down, he grabbed the General's left arm and swung them both around, swapping positions. Shoving Ironwood's arm through a gap in the metal beam, Watts then threw himself back & away, four of his rings inside the gap, projecting a hardlight barrier that held Ironwood's left arm firmly in place. Ironwood tried to pull free, only to shout in pain as the barrier simultaneously burned and tore at his skin.

"That was a little too close for my liking, James" Watts brushed himself off, flexing his fingers. "Rebuilding those rings is going to be such a pain…"

He began walking away. Behind him, Ironwood groaned in pain, starting to slowly pull his arm through the hardlight field.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you" Watts called back to him. "I mean, unless you're hoping to add more metal to that body of yours."

Seeing Ironwood stop and apparently give up, Watts turned his attention elsewhere, his remaining rings highlighting portions of the tower's machinery.

"All right now, where did they put them?"

Suddenly, there was a short cry and a thud behind him. Startled, Watts turned around to see Ironwood getting to his feet, panting in exertion & pain, his left hand & forearm stripped of flesh and charred. Watts barely had time to gasp out a "What?!" before Ironwood was on him, grabbing him by his coat collar and slamming him to the floor. Ironwood dragged Watts forward, grinding his face into the floor, before lifting him up to dangle over the edge of the platform, Fire Dust burning far below.

"You of all people…" Ironwood panted out "should know how far… I'm willing to push myself…"

Watts spat blood at Ironwood's face, the General tilting his head to dodge it without breaking his glare.

"I'll keep it in mind…" the not-so-good Doctor groaned. "But how far can your spirit and Semblance take you before your body gives up on you?" He chuckled. "I look forward to learning the answer…"

-Break-

The chase/fight between Tyrian and the three heroes filled the alleyway with bullets, bolts, and sparks from clashing blades. Qrow and Tyrian were evenly matched, so the former receiving assistance from Clover & Robyn meant that Salem's assassin was distinctly on the backfoot. He wasn't going down easy, though, making them work for every bit of gained ground. He was, of course, having the time of his life.

Eventually, though, Tyrian's luck ran out. As Robyn started shooting crossbow bolts at him, he caught them in his teeth and threw them back. Then she fired an exploding bolt, which blew up in his mouth before he could toss it aside. His Aura protected him from shattered teeth, but was broken in the process, allowing Robyn to finally knock him out cold with a kick to the face.

"This is Ace-Operative Ebi calling for a prisoner transport to my location" Clover radioed.

-X-

General Ironwood emerged from a medbay room, his left hand & forearm wrapped in medigel-laced bandages, while his right hand carried Watts' bag. He activated a comm channel, connecting to Winter, Penny, RWBY, JNPPR, and "Team Kick-Tyrian's-Ass" (Ruby & Nora's name).

"This is the General to all teams" he reported. "Watts is in custody, but there's been a few troubling developments."

"General?" Clover replied. "I was just about to contact you. We have Callows; we're aboard a prison transport, about to head back."

"What's gone wrong now, Jimmy?" Qrow asked.

"Watts blabbed during our fight. Cinder is still alive."

That drew several gasps and cries of disbelief.

"Apparently, she screwed up so badly at Haven that she's been cut off from all support until she can 'redeem herself'. Sounds like nobody on the villains' side, maybe not even Salem, knows where Cinder is or what she's up to."

There was a moment of silence, and then a sigh. "She's totally here, isn't she?" Yang said in a weary deadpan. "Still hunting Ruby…"

"Or the Winter Maiden" Weiss suggested.

"Or both" Blake added.

"Was there anything else, sir?" Jaune asked.

"I'm afraid so. This next bit isn't as alarming by itself, but the implications are disturbing. Somehow, Watts has an Omnitool."

"What?!" "How?!" "But only the DDF have those!"

"He didn't say how he got it. Maybe Maleficent or Dyspear went to Realm ME-N7 and stole it for him. Or maybe Shepard missed a villain…"

By now, Ironwood arrived at his office, opening the door… and freezing at what he saw.

"General?" Clover asked. "You still there?"

"…There is a chess piece sitting on my desk… made of black glass…"

There was silence as everyone processed what this meant.

"…Somebody gonna pick up that Scroll?" Yang remarked. "Cuz I called it."

"Capture Team, stay with the prisoner transport, don't take your eyes off Tyrian. Winter, get to Fria, now. Penny, be ready to support Capture Team or Winter at a moment's notice. JNPPR, find Oscar, keep him safe. The rest of you, to my office, ASAP, and nobody leaves Ruby by herself until we know where Cinder is."

-X-

Soon, Team RWBY and the Ace Ops (minus Clover) were gathered in Ironwood's office.

"Have we heard from Winter or JNPPR yet?" Weiss asked.

Ironwood shook his head. "They're still en route to their objectives. Bit of good news, though; according to Penny, Xion, & Rattrap, reports of Grimm attack from down in Mantle are starting to dry up. The Grimm are running out of bodies to throw at us, it seems."

"The problem is Cinder" Blake sighed. "She could be here for Ruby, or she could be here for the Winter Maiden."

"The Winter Maiden, Fria, is a terminally ill old woman" Ironwood explained. "She's probably not exactly able to defend herself from someone on the level of Salem's agents, especially a rogue Maiden. Granted, Rose, you aren't exactly on that level either, but with your insane speed you'd do better than she would, and you'd be better able to flee. Stick with your teammates and you should be fine. I'll be sending these four" he gestured to the Ace Ops "to back up Winter in defending Fria as soon as we're done here, and Penny's on standby as well."

"How can we be sure Watts didn't leave any more 'surprises' in our network?" Vine asked.

Ironwood sighed. "Unfortunately, we can't. Best we can do is hope."

"Don't worry" Ruby said. "I'm sure that things are going to end up oka-"

Suddenly, Watts' bag started rattling, a muffled growling sound coming from inside. With a rattling shriek, a Seer burst up from the bag, the jellyfish Grimm brandishing its bone-bladed crimson tentacles. Everyone backed up, drawing weapons.

"General Ironwood…"

As Salem's voice echoed from the Seer, the creature let out a screech as its crystal-ball head cracked. Withdrawing its tentacles toward itself, it dropped to the floor with a thud, black smoke pouring from the cracks in its body. The smoke swirled and solidified, forming into an apparition of the Grimm Queen herself.

"The brave Hunters bested Arthur Watts. Congratulations…"

Frowning, Ruby stepped forward. "We stopped Tyrian, too. And we'll stop Cinder, and anyone else you try to send here."

"Dear girl, their goal was never victory. It was merely to set the stage."

"For what?" Ironwood asked.

Turning to look at him, Salem's projection grinned. "For me. You know the old saying: If you want something done right… do it yourself."

The heroes went pale once they realized what this meant: the Grimm Queen was about to take to the field of battle personally. She was coming.

"Time isn't on your side, James. It's always been on mine. The people of Atlas have suffered enough. Surrender the Staff and the Lamp to me, and they needn't suffer any further."

After a moment, Ironwood's expression hardened. "That's not going to happen. Now that I know what will happen if all four are brought together."

Salem's eyebrows rose in surprise.

"We've seen what you're capable of" Ruby spoke. "We asked the Lamp what Ozpin was hiding from us… and it showed us everything."

"Those two arrogant, compassionless gods and the damage they've caused," Yang picked up, "your curse of immortality, the genocide the brothers committed, how your last attempt to destroy yourself ended up Grimmifying you instead, the cursed existence the Light Brother has trapped Ozma in… We saw it all."

"We've seen that you can't be killed. But we've also seen you fail. We don't have to kill you to stop you. And we will stop you."

Frowning at Ruby, Salem's eyes widened slightly in recognition, and then she made a small smirk.

"Your mother said those words to me, little Rose. …She was wrong, too."

Ruby's expression changed to stunned horror, her eyes briefly flickering silver as she fell to her knees. The apparition then dissolved into smoke and faded away, leaving a cracked-open dead Seer behind.

"That's Salem?" Marrow asked, still trembling. "That's what we're up against?!"

"And she's on her way…" Harriet said grimly.

Elm spoke up. "But we'd be alerted if any forces had approached the Kingdom. We have long-range proximity alarms all along the coast, and-"

Vine pulled out his Scroll, checking status.

"They're offline. With all the chaos, we didn't notice…"

"Watts must have shut them down!" Marrow exclaimed.

"Or they've already been destroyed" Ironwood suggested.

"All of them?" Elm said, incredulous.

Blake turned to the General. "You said in your speech that Amity Tower was ready to launch. Was that true?"

Ironwood squeezed his eyes shut and lowered his head.

"No" Yang realized. "You just said that… to lure out Watts."

Recovering partially from the earlier shock, Ruby got to her feet and pulled out her Scroll. "Uncle Qrow!"

"Pipsqueak? What's wrong?"

"Salem's joining the fight personally! She's coming here!"

There were muffled horrified curses from the trio aboard the transport.

"I'm suspending evacuations of Mantle's people to Atlas" Ironwood finally spoke up. "If she's going to hit Atlas, bringing more people up here will mean more people in her crosshairs. …But we don't know if she plans to focus the bulk of her attack on Mantle first, so we can't send the people we already have up here back down. As soon as she shows up and commits to assault one of the two cities, we'll start evacuating people to the other."

"And if she hits both at once?" Clover asked.

"Then we're screwed" Robyn replied.

"Get back her as quick as you can, you three. And keep a close eye on Callows, no matter how thoroughly you've got him restrained. Ironwood out."

Ruby closed the comm channel, and everyone turned to look at the General.

"Ace Ops," he said, "get armed for bear and go back up Winter. Team RWBY, for the moment I want you down in Mantle; link up with Xion and Dr. Polendina's group, be ready for anything. I'm sending construction drones and workers up to Amity with orders to get it up & running as quickly as possible, and I'm reinforcing security at the brig to make sure Jacques and Watts stay put. Team JNPPR will-"

Ruby's Scroll chimed, and she pulled it out to reveal Jaune's face.

"Jaune?"

"Ruby! We can't find Oscar! There are scorch marks and a couple of trashed Atlas soldier-droids, but no sign of him!"

"Is Cinder going after the Lamp first?" Blake wondered, worried.

"JNPPR, find Oscar and the Lamp – no matter what" Ironwood ordered. "RWBY are going down to Mantle, and Winter, Penny, & the Ace Ops are heading to protect the Winter Maiden. Give us a yell if you need backup."

He sighed, flopping down into his command chair. He looked down at his bandaged arm.

"Get to it, everyone. Time to batten down the hatches and brace for the storm."

-X-

As the prison transport soared over the streets of Mantle's outskirts, a red figure watched it pass, chuckling and moving to follow.

-CHAPTER END-