The Way of the Maiden

by The Court of Talons

The world of Remnant is notable for warriors such as Huntsmen and Huntresses. It is also notable for the Mandalorians, groups of mysterious and nomadic warriors just as ruthless as the Grimm. This is the story of one particular Mandalorian, and how a chance encounter with a child leads to the adventure of a lifetime.

63. Chapter 63

Chapter 63: The Invitation

Despite the appearance that they weren't doing too much today, Professor Ozpin and General Ironwood were hard at work. They each had a mission of high importance below the city of Atlas that needed high observation. For Ozpin, it was a mission Cinder volunteered to join with SCAR Squadron in the hopes of acquiring a weapon that could help fight back against Salem. And for Ironwood, it was a mission to find the true culprits behind a series of murders in Mantle.

Both missions had made incredible progress. SCAR Squadron was close to opening Gideon's vault while Ironwood was told of a potential lead on the whereabouts of the murderers. Ozpin had to help Cinder and Winter fend off a group Grimm with strategies that he used in the past, but that was the only major thing that was reported.

So, while they were waiting for more reports to come through the radio or their Scrolls, Ironwood and Ozpin decided to take a literal walk down memory lane. Instead of an office, the two Headmasters were on a carved stone bridge lit by torches. The end of the bridge rested in front of a large golden door, which was on the other side of a large chasm down below. Multiple pieces of stone, that almost looked like stairs, were floating in place around the bridge and door.

There were obviously many differences between Mistral and Atlas, and this place was certainly one of them. For this was the Vault built under Atlas Academy, where the Relic of Creation was resting behind the golden door.

"It's been a long time since I've been here," said Ozpin, who broke the silence within the Vault. "It's remarkable how nothing has changed about it."

"I hoped bringing you down here might jog some memories," said Ironwood, who also wished to remember different times. "After all, it was your idea to use the Staff to lift Atlas off the ground."

"Yes, I remember." Ozpin recalled the day he made such a plan, a while after the Great War had ended. "It was easy for me to know the possibilities of the Staff. Having a constant, seemingly limitless energy source in my hands was... powerful." Ozpin looked down at the cane in his hands, which made him remember what it felt like to hold the Staff of Creation. "And tempting. Too tempting."

Despite seeing it for himself, Ironwood never had the honor of holding the Staff of Creation for himself. However, he understood the temptation power could bring to an individual; Gideon had taught him that.

"It was definitely the right decision to bring an object of such power here," said Ironwood. "And a unique one to use it as a way to lift the city off the ground."

Ozpin chuckled to himself as he recalled that choice. "To this day, I still think it could have gone higher," he speculated. "But being high enough out of the Grimm's reach is perfectly satisfying."

"Indeed, indeed. But to tell you the truth, that served as the inspiration for the Amity Project. Get a communication tower up in the sky, higher than the Grimm can survive so we never lose contact with each other again."

"A pity the Staff can only perform one job at a time. But we can make do with the old fashioned way."

"..."

Ironwood agreed with this sentiment, which led other sentiments to be invoked. Ironwood had expected Amity to be up sooner, since things were making progress a while back. But recent events, mainly with Robyn and the Happy Huntresses, had led to a debacle. The supplies they had stolen may have been returned to Atlas, but progress had been halted nonetheless.

And knowing that the people responsible were free, working with the people Ozpin had brought with him, just wasn't sitting right with Ironwood. He wanted the choice to feel right, but it didn't. He felt that a different call should have been made, but Ozpin disagreed. He was aware that the Happy Huntresses were trying to help find the real murderers, but Ironwood just didn't trust them.

And for the life of him, he didn't understand why Ozpin and everyone else did.

"We... haven't always see eye to eye," Ironwood began. "But... I'd like to ask what you think of all of this."

When Ozpin turned to his friend, he realized that they hadn't really talked about recent events. At first, Ozpin followed James' plan for Amity after Ironwood laid down the law on working with him in Atlas. However, the situation evolved to the point where one man couldn't make all the decisions without deliberation and convincing counterarguments. That was all the talk everyone had in Atlas, but nothing as personal as what Ironwood was requesting.

This was perhaps the first time Ozpin had been asked for an opinion ever since he arrived at Atlas. And now, he was more than willing to give one.

"James... I wouldn't dare to question the ingenuity and strategy behind your plan with Amity," Ozpin began strongly. "With the Mandalorian Civil War at an end, we're more than ready to reunite the world. And Amity is definitely a step in the right direction. I commend... I salute you for this project."

Ironwood was very pleased to hear this kind of praise. However, Ozpin was known to balance praise and criticism without focusing on one side or the other. Where there was praise to be had, there was also bound to be criticism. Ozpin had spent his whole life, multiple lives, to know the line that existed between the two.

As well as how to navigate it with care and precision.

"However... the ends don't always justify the means," Ozpin continued. "I've seen the path you've elected to follow, James. Where you're the only one with the answers, where you do the thing you think is right no matter the cost. This path is why I decided to dissolve the monarchies of each Kingdom, why I embraced the value of a democratic government."

"..."

Rather than immediately walk away or turn down the criticism, Ironwood took a moment to think of what Ozpin had said. He could see where his friend was coming from in terms of running a government. However, in his mind, fighting and winning a war did not equate to the value a democratic government held.

A select few in the army not only knew of Ironwood's opinion, but had similar ideas as well. These ideas and beliefs were never carried out, but Ironwood had good reason to start now.

"...Do you really believe that, Oz?" Ironwood asked. "The Council doesn't have the big picture like you or I do. They could understand why we have to stop Salem... but they don't understand that nothing else matters more."

Now it was Ozpin who could see where Ironwood was coming from. Keeping Salem a secret from the rest of the world, especially the governments of it, was a very difficult choice to make. But for better or worse, that choice was going to change now; Amity would make everyone understand.

Ironically, the one man who didn't understand that was the very man who made Amity.

Ozpin knew his mission from the God of Light was to unite the world, and he had tried many times to make this a reality. There were many failures along the way, and the status of the world prior to the war was perhaps the closest thing to unity Ozpin ever had.

But that didn't mean he didn't learn from his failures. One important lesson that Ozpin had learned was that humanity had to be united under ideals and beliefs, not united under one banner or person.

However, Ironwood obviously disagreed with this notion. And it was up to Ozpin to teach him the error in this thinking.

"They will understand, James," Ozpin promised. "When Amity goes up, the world will understand what we're fighting. And why Salem has to be stopped."

"..."

"But there is something that they do understand. Even if they don't know it yet... everyone understands that there are some things that matter more."

"..."

"Cinder reminded me of this when she helped us end the war. She reminded us that keeping our humanity is essential to survival. It's also what makes us different from Salem."

"..."

Ironwood began to walk towards an elevator that took him and Ozpin to the Vault. He wasn't trying to be rude or ignore Ozpin's ideas, but he was just ready to leave. Ironwood had been listening to Ozpin, and he expressed this understanding with another idea.

"Sometimes I worry that's her greatest advantage," Ironwood began. "Without humanity, does she still feel fear? Does she ever hesitate?"

"..."

Ozpin once asked himself the same thing, and came to the conclusion that Salem had abandoned her humanity a long time ago. And now, Ironwood understood this as well.

Along with other things.

"When Salem hit Beacon, even with all my ships, all of my soldiers... I was no match for her. I've never felt so helpless."

"..."

Ironwood was indeed helpless the night Beacon fell. He was taken out of commission the second he had been shot, and he spent the majority of the battle getting his cybernetics fixed. On that table, he could see the losses of soldiers, robots, and civilians that Salem let the Grimm and Mandalorians inflict on the world.

He felt and saw so much that it stayed with him. The experience, the fear, the disbelief... they found ways to make Ironwood return to that night. To make him forget where he was, and forget that he still had a chance.

*BEEP*

The central panel Ironwood had pressed made a noise to bring the man back to reality. He immediately looked up to see a small elevator lowering down and preparing to take him and Ozpin back to the main academy.

Ozpin also remembered the night Beacon fell, and he took the loss quite personally. But unlike Ironwood, the loss didn't change how Ozpin felt about the rest of the world. And it didn't change how he thought about the words that he said next.

"It's okay to be afraid, James," he insisted. "You just can't let that fear control you."

"..."

Ironwood suddenly remembered what happened the last time a man's fear took control over him. That day, Haven Academy had lost a Headmaster. As for Ozpin, he had lost a great ally.

But Ironwood was going to make sure none of that happened again.

"I am not going to end up like Lionheart," he promised before he turned to Ozpin. "Do you believe in me?"

Ozpin took a moment to think of an answer before he finally joined Ironwood at the elevator. "I do believe in you, but not only you," he replied. "I think the best thing you could do is sit down and talk with the people you're most afraid to."

The first thought that came to Ironwood's mind was how he missed Ozpin's advice and ideas. After all, such a statement was typical for Ozpin to say.

The second thing was mild curiosity. Namely, as to who Ozpin referred to when he said "the people you're most afraid of." However, Ironwood didn't have a chance to ask this question, given that he heard a voice in his ear.

"James, this is Obi-Wan," the voice said. "We need immediate assistance in Mantle."

---

After a successful mission, the airship carrying SCAR Squadron and their Huntresses in-training was on a straight course back to Atlas Academy. With them, they carried two robotic partners, ashes of decayed Grimm across their bodies, and a small metal case.

The case wasn't much to look at first glance, but its contents were as important as they were dangerous. Perhaps for the first time in his life, Gideon hadn't lied to Cinder or her friends about something. Just as he said, the former Major had a vault in the outskirts of Atlas. There, SCAR Squadron had found a great many things, ranging from prototypes to blueprints for weaponry and military equipment.

They had taken pictures and recordings of everything they saw, but SCAR Squadron only brought one thing back to Atlas: an unfinished virus.

The name of the project was "Blue Shadow." And its purpose was to spread an incurable virus to anyone who was unfortunate enough to breathe in the contents. It was meant to be Gideon's masterpiece, a way to make the entire Atlas military grovel at his feet. Fortunately, Gideon was unable to finish the virus before his arrest. He mainly had Arthur Watts work on it in his spare time, if he wasn't experimenting on Dark Troopers or Cinder's blood. However, Watts was only one man; to finish a project of this scale would require a whole team of scientists.

Furthermore, Watts uncovered a few bumps in the road. The virus was meant to be programmed to a specific target with specific DNA, to spread through the air and affect one individual or a whole army based on genetic similarities. The programming was the easy part, but the artificial virus degraded rather quickly. And it was only prominent when in water, as opposed to the air.

Gideon was aware of this problem, but he was confident that a team of scientists could remedy this. And now, after five years, it was time to see if his theory was right.

As soon as Ozpin and Ironwood realized that the Creatures of Grimm, Salem's greatest asset, could be vulnerable to this bioweapon, they deemed it necessary to retrieve it. And so, SCAR Squadron did that successfully while Cinder and Winter defended the vault from the Grimm.

Needless to say, everyone was happy to see a metal case containing a secret weapon that now belonged in the safe hands of Atlas. The vault had been resealed once everyone had left, while its location and contents were made known to Admiral Thrawn. Thrawn had to take temporary command of the elite team while Ozpin helped Cinder and Winter deal with a group of Manticores. Nobody questioned the order of sending Thrawn a wealth of secrets and knowledge, just as long as they were able to give Ironwood the virus personally.

And judging by their destination, nothing was going to stop everyone now.

When the airship landed, everyone on board could see that General Ironwood and Ozpin were waiting for them. Clover took the lead and handed the case to Ironwood, who took it without a word.

"We did it!" Cinder said with enthusiasm. "This is it, Ozpin! We finally have what we need to... hurt... Salem..."

"..."

Cinder was too excited to notice it at first, but now she could see that Ozpin and Ironwood were very unhappy. They didn't look angry or disappointed, but the saddened expressions on their faces told Cinder that something was wrong. At first, the Maiden believed that it had something to do with her mission; that she had made a mistake with her powers or that she said something that made Ironwood upset again.

These ideas, however, were denied when Ozpin said four simple words.

"Cinder... it's your father."

"..."

Cinder practically flew to the medical wing of Atlas Academy when Ozpin told her that Djarin was there. She didn't wait to hear what had happened to him, just that he was being treated for wounds. She didn't even bother to ask if his mission was a success like hers was.

But when she slammed a door in the medical wing open, Cinder knew the answer to that question.

"Oh, my Gods."

"..."

Cinder was greeted by the sight of multiple hospital beds filled with friends and acquaintances from Mantle. Each one of them were covered in bloody bandaging, multiple bruises, and numerous wounds that would have proved fatal on any ordinary citizen.

Qrow had a bandage around his head while his torso had been riddled with scars and bruising. Both of his legs were on ice, but nothing appeared to be broken.

The Happy Huntresses were the ones who were quite the worse for wear. Fiona's left arm was completely covered in bandages, and her leg was in a cast. Also, it looked like one of her ears had been clipped or cut by something.

May was no longer wearing her usual attire, but her torso was completely covered in casting. It almost looked like most of, if not all her ribs had been broken. Her face had also been injured, but the damage to her ribs was quite extensive.

Joanna had both of her arms in casts and bandages covering the entire left side of her face. She didn't seem to care about her own injuries, however, since her attention was on an empty bed next to her. It had been previously used, but its occupant was currently missing.

Cinder noticed that the bed was empty as well, but she was more concerned about another bed that was currently occupied.

"Dad?" Cinder said when she saw a familiar helmet on one patient's head. "No! Dad!"

Djarin's bed had two medics close to it, who were carefully examining the Mandalorian's body. Like the others, he had a series of injuries that his Aura couldn't heal. Djarin's Aura had been strengthened from Cinder's lessons in opening chakras, but it was useless now. All he had to help him was the field of medicine.

The medics were almost done with Djarin, but they didn't want their work interrupted by a horrified teenager who was rushing to the man's side.

"Wait, you can't be in here!" a brunette woman said as she stood in Cinder's path. Her partner also stood in Cinder's way, but the young girl was persistent.

"No, no, that's my dad!" Cinder insisted. "Please, let me see him!"

*COUGH*

*COUGH*

Two coughs escaped the Mandalorian's throat before he spoke. "It's... okay," he choked out before he lifted his hand, beckoning for his child to join him. The medics heard and saw this, and acquiesced to Djarin's request. As soon as they moved out of the way, Cinder rushed to her father's side and grabbed his hand.

"Dad, are you okay?" the Maiden asked as she moved close to her father. "What happened?"

Djarin had to resist the urge to cough once more, which led him to answering Cinder's question. "We... underestimated... him."

---

Earlier

"Well... this should be interesting."

That was what Merri said when she found herself in the company of two Mandalorians, a Huntsman, and four Huntresses. Not only was she surprised that she and her sister Fauna had been discovered in their base, but also that Robyn Hill was here.

Just moments ago, she and Fauna were talking about killing Mantle's Hometown Hero. And now, they had the chance to do it.

"That's one way to put it, Blondie," said Robyn, who was pointing her weapon right at Merri. She may had been discovered, but she wasn't going down without a fight. "But I think things have been a little too interesting. So why don't you and your sister drop whatever weapons you have and surrender?"

"Oh, you want us?" Fauna asked. "You'll have to get through him first." Fauna pointed to the large man in armor behind her, who was staring intently at the group of four before him.

Mainly, at the people in Mandalorian armor.

"Sic 'em."

*THOOM*

*THOOM*

*THOOM*

Durge rushed at the warriors with heavy steps and prepared for a fight. Qrow and Robyn ducked out of the way just in time while Boba took to the air with his jetpack. Djarin, on the other hand, used his Semblance to teleport out of the man's path, causing him to run into a wall.

*CRASH*

Rather than groan in pain or take time to recover, Durge turned around and prepared to charge again. He did this just in time to see that Djarin had teleported behind him, where he was ready to strike with his staff again.

But Durge simply caught the staff and pulled Djarin closer to him. Djarin didn't have enough time to use his Semblance, so Durge was able to land a heavy blow to the Mandalorian's chest.

*BAM*

Djarin fell to the ground, which led to Durge kicking the Mandalorian and then pressing his foot on his head. Djarin's helmet and Aura protected him, but the pressure was intensifying very greatly.

*BANG*

*BANG*

*BANG*

Boba fired multiple blasts from his rifle at Durge, which only succeeded in getting the assassin's attention. Rather than move his foot off Djarin's head or charge again, Durge did something... unexpected.

Durge extended his arm in a fist and threw it in Boba's direction, despite the fact that the two were at a considerable distance. However, Durge's entire arm extended with the punch, at a length that was physically impossible.

And it collided right into Boba.

*BAM*

"Ugh!" Boba groaned as he felt the fist. His back flew against the wall and caused his jetpack to break, but Boba was more concerned with the fact that Durge's fist was still on his chest.

His entire arm had grown just to throw that punch.

*SWISH*

Qrow had swung Harbinger hard enough not to cut Durge's arm, but break the grasp it had on Boba. Now, the mercenary got off Djarin and began shooting at the Huntsman.

*BANG*

*BANG*

*BANG*

Qrow was able to dodge each of the blasts with Boba while Djarin finally got to his feet. And together, the three warriors took their fight to Durge.

While the assassin was preoccupied, Robyn helped each of her fellow Huntresses stand back up. Once they were all on their feet, they each pointed their weapons at the Blairs.

"Alright, ladies!" Robyn said as she readied her crossbow. "Let 'em have it!"

*WHOOSH*

*WHOOSH*

*WHOOSH*

Multiple arrows were released from the weapons of the Happy Huntresses, and they all flew towards the Blairs. Robyn had justified this action by giving the girls the chance to surrender, but now she understood that her enemies had chosen the hard way.

But there was just one problem with that course of action: all of the metal arrows had flown through the bodies of the girls, leaving them completely unharmed.

When the Huntresses stopped shooting, Fauna picked up one of the projectiles and laughed. "Are you done?" she asked with a sadistic grin.

Robyn and her friends looked at their weapons in confusion, wondering if they had somehow done something wrong. They couldn't make sense of why their weapons had failed, which gave Merri an opportunity to give her sister an order.

"Alright, Fauna," she said in a mocking tone. "Let 'em have it."

Qrow was still busy handling Durge, but being pushed back allowed him to see what the Blairs were doing. Once he saw multiple insects crawling off their backs, Qrow yelled as loud as he could to the Happy Huntresses. "Look out for the Botflies!" he said.

Unfortunately, none of the Huntresses knew what Qrow meant.

"Bot-what?" Joanna asked.

*BUZZ*

*BUZZ*

Before anyone had time to react, Merri and Fauna completely transformed into a large swarm of Botflies. And they formed a great circle around the Happy Huntresses, one that prevented any kind of escape.

As the flies came closer and closer to the shocked Huntresses, they began to bite and tear at their flesh. They all tried to move the flies away by swinging their weapons, but the Grimm continued to bite at Robyn and her friends. They even took partial form to swing their sickles at them, which led to deep cuts and gashes forming. May even had a sickle in her side, which moved violently against her ribs.

When Boba saw what was happening, he could hardly believe his eyes. He had been momentarily diverted from the fight when Durge struck him with unimaginable strength, but Boba could only focus on the fact that his friends were in trouble.

"Robyn!" Boba called out as he readied his rifle. He planned on shooting the storm of insects, but Boba suddenly realized that he might hit Robyn and the other Huntresses. So, despite the fact that they were fighting Durge, Boba called back to his allies. "How do we stop those things?!"

Djarin and Qrow had managed to block Durge's arms with their staff and sword, which allowed them to turn and see the storm of Botflies behind them. "Go!" Qrow said to the Mandalorian. "I'll cover you!"

Djarin teleported away from Durge and next to Boba. "Use your flamethrower!" he said as he pointed his arm to the Grimm. "They hate fire!"

*WHOOSH*

*WHOOSH*

The cyclone of Botflies immediately felt the heat, which caused them all to shriek and howl in pain. As the Grimm began to die and back away from the fire, they could see that the Happy Huntresses were badly hurt. They had tried to use their Auras and Semblances to fend off the flies, but they still managed to gravely wound them.

Djarin and Boba didn't have much time to process this, however. After Durge took Qrow out of the fight by grabbing his legs and throwing him against multiple walls, Durge moved to put out the fire by breaking a pipe and letting water flow through the area.

*BAM*

*FWOOSH*

The high pressure of the water caused both Boba and Djarin to be pushed back and flow with the current. Given that Durge destroyed a rather large pipe, the current was strong enough to move both of the warriors.

Except for Boba, who had been caught by Durge and given a whole new experience of pain.

*BAM*

*BAM*

*CRACK*

*BAM*

*CRUNCH*

Whether it was out of instinct or his orders, Durge unleashed his rage and fury upon the man in Mandalorian armor. Fists, feet, and a chain around Boba's neck did nothing but make the man focus on the pain as he tried to fend off Durge. But all of his armor's weapons were useless against the assassin. Dark blood managed to seep out of spots in the armor, but Durge appeared unconcerned with this.

His only real concern was making Boba suffer.

*BAM*

*BAM*

*BAM*

*BAM*

After receiving more ferocious strikes, some of which that caused the Beskar armor to break, Boba fell limply to the ground in defeat. Satisfied, Durge moved to Djarin with a growl and connected his foot to the Mandalorian's neck. Boba's defeat was very fast, but Durge would make sure Djarin would die more slowly.

Djarin was on his last reserve of Aura, which was the only thing protecting his neck from being snapped like a twig. He could see that nobody in the sewer would be coming to his aid, that they had lost the fight. The Botflies were nowhere to be seen, but Durge was alive and well.

And he wasn't going to let Djarin get up.

Fortunately, despite the pain and desperation, the Mandalorian remembered that he wasn't exactly alone. Before he and his allies ventured into the sewers, Obi-Wan and Revan had promised to wait above the sewer nexus in case they needed help. And so, Djarin raised his hand to his helmet and turned on his radio.

"Back... Backup..." the Mandalorian choked out. "Back... up."

"..."

The boot on his neck only increased pressure after Djarin finished talking, which served as the only answer he got for his cry for help. Whether or not his friends heard him was unclear, but all Djarin knew was that Durge and the Blairs had bested him and everyone else.

But this victory didn't last long.

*CRASH*

Durge looked up to see that the ceiling of the sewers had been demolished to form a large hole that was big enough for a person to fit through. He then saw two robed figures jump through the hole and land on the ground.

One of them was Revan, who used the Force to push Durge off of Djarin and prevent the Mandalorian's death. And the other was Obi-Wan, who lunged at the assassin with his lightsaber and stuck it in his chest.

"..."

"..."

Not a word was spoken as the duo remained perfectly still. Obi-Wan knew that he had struck a vital part of the human body, and that Durge did not use his Aura to block the strike. At any moment, Obi-Wan expected to hear the man's body fall limply to the ground.

But what he heard next was something completely different.

"Hmm... ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!"

The Jedi looked up to see that his foe wasn't dead at all. Instead, he was mocking the attack as well as the man who commenced the attack.

How could he still be alive?

*BAM*

*BAM*

*BAM*

*BAM*

*BAM*

*BAM*

*BAM*

*BAM*

Durge didn't let Obi-Wan try to attempt that question; instead, he threw multiple punches at the man and his friend. Both Revan and Obi-Wan were knocked back by the attack, and both of them fell to the ground and began to catch their breaths.

But Durge wasn't going to allow that. Instead, he raised his right fist and let multiple bullets escape his gauntlet.

*BANG*

*BANG*

*BANG*

*BANG*

*BANG*

*BANG*

Obi-Wan saw the bullets just in time and used the Force to protect himself. Instead of the bullets hitting him or Revan, the projectiles flew until they hit the walls.

Durge paid no attention to this failure and settled on using a flamethrower he had in his armor. The Blairs were gone, so there was no danger in using fire as a weapon.

*WHOOSH*

This time, it was Revan who caught the projectile with the Force. And when he had the chance, Revan closed his fist to crush the weapon.

*CRUNCH*

With two failed weapons, Durge resorted to using his chain and mace to kill the Jedi. He swung it in the air towards the duo, but Obi-Wan simply retrieved his lightsaber from the man's chest and cut the chain.

*SWISH*

Durge quickly pulled out his two blasters, but a purple blade cut the weapons in two.

*SWISH*

*SWISH*

Now armed with his own lightsaber, Revan turned to Obi-Wan and nodded. When Obi-Wan nodded back, the duo rushed towards Durge with the intent to finish him off once and for all.

Now desperate to fend off the Jedi, Durge activated two Hard-Light shields on his arms and blocked every strike Obi-Wan and Revan sent his way. He was forced to walk backwards as he found himself on the defensive, hoping that his enemies would somehow make a mistake and allow him to regain the upper hand.

Unfortunately for him, Durge found his right arm and torso at the receiving ends of a blue blade.

*SWISH*

*SWISH*

Durge fell limply to the ground without an arm or legs. Once he did, the Jedi immediately understood why Durge had not activated his Aura.

Simply put... he couldn't.

Black blood that almost looked like tar and black flesh were all that remained within the armor. All this time, it had been acting as a shell for a Grimm. And like the Blairs, this kind of Grimm had traces of humanity within it.

Whether he liked it or not, Durge had been one of Salem's experiments with Grimm.

After spending enough time looking at what remained of the assassin, Obi-Wan and Revan looked around the sewers for the Blairs. However, they were the only ones in the sewer nexus.

"They're gone," said Obi-Wan. "They must have fled while we handled Durge."

"Then let us pursue them!" Revan insisted as he readied his lightsaber. "They can't have gone far!"

"No. They need our help." Obi-Wan pointed to everyone who was injured. "We have to get them out of here. I need your help to do so."

"..."

Revan knew letting the Blairs get away would be dangerous, but chances were they would be less dangerous without Durge. And so, Revan and Obi-Wan used the Force to lift everyone carefully up to the hole where they came from. Once everyone was on the surface, the Jedi joined them and called for help.

All while failing to notice Durge's arm moving slowly towards his torso; almost as if it had a mind of its own.

---

Present

Djarin couldn't explain everything that happened to him, given his current state. But he was able to say enough for Cinder to understand. After he coughed once more, Cinder decided to stop him from talking anymore and straining himself.

"Just hang tight, Dad," she said as she rubbed the helmet Djarin was wearing. Cinder then turned to the medics, who were standing over her and Djarin. "How is he?"

"He didn't break anything," the first medic reported. "That armor of his took most of the damage."

"But he has some bruises and bad sprains," the second medic reported. "Mainly on his neck and chest. That's why he's coughing so much."

"He's been denying it, but we think he might have a concussion too. We would look for ourselves, but he told us not to move the helmet."

Cinder understood the situation perfectly; this wasn't the first time Djarin refused to remove his helmet, and she knew it wouldn't be the last. To this day, Cinder was the only person who had the honor of seeing her father without his helmet. And today wasn't going to be much different.

"I can look for you," Cinder said as she moved to the left. Right against the wall, there was a curtain she could pull to block everyone's view of the person on the bed. Each bed had one if the patient needed privacy, so Cinder pulled on it so her father would be left alone.

The medics were confused by this action, but a nod from Ironwood allowed them to look over the other patients they had.

When Cinder gently removed her father's helmet, she sadly looked upon a bloodied and bruised face. Nevertheless, Cinder used her Maiden powers to cool her hands and stop the swelling on Djarin's face.

"Is it too cold?" Cinder calmly asked.

"No," Djarin denied. "That feels... better."

Cinder turned to a table next to Djarin's bed and saw rubbing alcohol next to a rag. She used both to clean the blood of Djarin's face, after she cooled down the bruises.

"I'm sorry, Dad," Cinder apologized as she rubbed the rag against the blood.

"It's... It's okay," the Mandalorian replied. "A few stings... never killed anybody." The alcohol made Djarin wince in mild pain, but he didn't fight Cinder's attempts to help him.

"I mean about Mantle," Cinder corrected him. "I should have been there with you. If I hadn't gone to Essen, I would have-"

"You would have been... on a bed... right next to me," Djarin cut off. "Fett was right. Durge... hated Mandalorians. He didn't... hold back at all."

This was true; compared to the Happy Huntresses and Qrow, Djarin and Boba got the worst attacks from Durge. And given his... abilities, the mercenary was even stronger than the stories said.

Cinder still felt guilty for not being there for her father, but she understood what he meant. And so, rather than dwell on the past, Cinder continued to clean Djarin's face while tending to the bruises.

"So... he's dead, then?" she asked.

"He's dead," Djarin replied. "I heard... that Obi-Wan... cut him up."

Cinder accepted the explanation, but was confused as to why she didn't see Obi-Wan or Revan in the infirmary. "Where are they?"

"They're not hurt... like us. Just needed... patching up."

"And Robyn?"

"With Fett... at the intensive care."

"..."

---

Robyn Hill was currently suffering from a broken hand, stab-wounds on her torso, and multiple bites on her face that were covered in bandages. Her face hurt the most of all, given that there were strands of flesh torn off it that the bandages and gauze were now covering.

However, she wasn't the one who needed intensive care.

Boba had been unconscious ever since his departure from the sewer. Like Djarin, Durge unleashed all his fury out on the man wearing Mandalorian armor. And this fury was enough to place Boba in critical condition. Robyn didn't remember everything, but she knew that her best friend was close to dying.

And now, despite her best efforts, she couldn't see him.

Robyn was outside the main operating room, right next to a window. She had to use a wheelchair to get to the room, where she saw the doctors remove Boba's dented and bloodied armor.

But after a doctor closed the curtains in the room, Robyn couldn't see anything.

Between the fight in the sewers, the nature of her enemies, and the current status of herself and her friends, Robyn felt utterly defeated. Her spirits and confidence had been risen after a meaningful discussion with Boba, but now defeat had come for Robyn once more.

This time, however, Robyn felt angry instead of depressed. And this time, her feelings were directed at others instead of herself.

Robyn was angry that she had been tricked once again by the Blairs. She didn't remember much of the fight's aftermath, but Robyn knew that she had seen the Blairs' bodies turn into flies. And she knew those flies ate at the flesh on her face and the flesh of her friends. It was impossible to deny, just like how Durge had other-worldly abilities.

However, there was something that Djarin and Qrow had said while they were in the sewers. Something about the Blairs not liking fire, and that the flies were known as "Botflies." Robyn was well aware that they were trying to help, but this would have been useful information to know prior to a fight.

There was more than meets the eye to the Blairs, and Robyn had been kept in the dark.

Despite everything that happened prior to the mission, Robyn knew that Ironwood had been keeping secrets from her. From all of Mantle. Robyn had tried to uncover those secrets, but her misplaced blame on Ironwood for the string of murders pushed this objective aside. Robyn was willing to look at Ironwood in a different light now, but now she understood that Ironwood had prior knowledge about the nature of the Blairs.

If Robyn and her friends knew about that earlier, they could have proceeded with more caution. In fact, they could have avoided being hurt like they all currently were. But because of these numerous secrets, they couldn't avoid anything.

All in all, Robyn learned a few things about her experience. She learned that Ironwood was willing to protect the Kingdom of Atlas, through and through. But he also believed keeping secrets from the people working with him was necessary to do this.

But Robyn disagreed. If she was going to help protect the Kingdom, specifically Mantle, Robyn would have to learn everything Ironwood was hiding.

"Ms. Hill."

Robyn turned her wheelchair to see two robed men walking towards her. One was a man with brown hair and a brown beard, who was wearing a brown robe over a tan tunic. The other man had his face completely covered by a mask, who was completely wearing black.

Their presence was unexpected, but not unfamiliar to Robyn.

"Oh," she said as she turned her wheelchair. "It's you. From the sewers." Robyn recalled seeing the Jedi at Gideon's cell, but she hadn't talked to them before until now.

"Yes," said Obi-Wan, who gestured to his partner. "This is Revan. I'm Obi-Wan Kenobi."

"Kenobi? Aren't you Haven's Headmaster?"

"I was. I abdicated the position in order to come here."

Robyn immediately understood what that meant. "So you're working for Ironwood, then."

Obi-Wan sensed Robyn's bitter attitude, so he continued to remain civil. "We've elected to help him, yes. That's why we were waiting above the sewers, until we got your call for help."

Robyn began to calm down when she remembered how the duo helped her. "Right. Thanks for the backup."

Revan took over for Obi-Wan as his friend nodded, accepting the gratitude. "We wished to see how you and our other friends are recuperating," he said. "Though I sense you're not worried about yourself at the moment."

Robyn looked back at the window, which was still closed. "Yeah?" she asked. "What gave that away?"

Obi-Wan sensed the same thing as Revan, and knew just how upset Robyn was. "Nobody is to blame for this, Ms. Hill," he said. "Not even I expected Durge to be so... resilient."

Robyn didn't expect this as well, along with what she saw with the Blairs. "What about those girls? Were you expecting that?"

"..."

Robyn turned to Revan next. "And you?"

"..."

Obi-Wan had been told about the true nature of the Blairs, he couldn't deny that. Revan had also been told, so he knew about the hybrids. However, neither Jedi could deny that they hadn't revealed this truth to anyone outside their circle.

And Robyn was still angry about that.

"So that's it," she said while turning her chair. "Keep us all in the dark while we're fighting your battles. Yeah, great plan."

"..."

If Ozpin were here, he would have been affected by that statement just as much as Obi-Wan and Revan did. They understood the consequences and failures of keeping a secret like this, as well as a secret like Salem's existence.

Neither of the Jedi could divulge these secrets yet, but they could at least try and make peace with Robyn.

"Ms. Hill, we're not trying to be cruel," said Obi-Wan. "Or say that we distrust you."

"But the truth is... complicated," said Revan. "Not even we understand everything about it." He had no idea that Salem had created a monster like Durge, so this claim was true.

Unfortunately, this didn't help Robyn. Despite the fact that Ironwood wasn't responsible for the deaths of innocent people, the lack of warning and information had reignited Robyn's criticisms of the General.

"Is that what you really think?" Robyn asked. "Or did General Ironwood just tell you that? Are you all just letting him think for you?"

"James isn't involved with that," Obi-Wan insisted.

"But he's still involved with everything else! I don't know who or what those things were in Mantle, but they're after him too! Just like they'll be after me! If he really wants to win, he wouldn't be hiding things!" Robyn reached to her face and tore off her bandages, displaying multiple stitches and scarring. "Or this happens!"

"..."

Robyn's wounds would heal with time, given the work the medics put in, but her message was clear. She knew, without a doubt, that more information about her enemy could have prevented all this.

Even worse, Obi-Wan and Revan couldn't disagree with her.

"You tell him that," Robyn said as she began to roll away in her wheelchair. "I don't care what he does with me anymore. But you tell him that."

"..."

Obi-Wan wanted to talk more with Robyn, to let her know that he sympathized with her. But Revan stopped him, seeing that much damage had already been done.

There was no sense in causing some more.

"Let her go," he said to Obi-Wan. "She needs to heal."

"You're right..." Obi-Wan said with a sigh. "We can't expedite that healing."

"Not with talk, no." Revan began to walk down the halls with Obi-Wan. "It seems we must be silent. Robyn and her friends will tell us what she needs if we simply listen."

Obi-Wan stopped walking when he turned around, towards the closed window. "Perhaps she already told us." Obi-Wan pointed towards the operating room. "If Fett is healed with Atlesian help, Robyn may be willing to talk again."

"Or we could help with that."

Obi-Wan turned back to Revan. "Meaning?"

"I had a lot of time on my hands prior to our reunion. Some of that time was spent practicing abilities that could prove essential."

"Such as?"

"...Force Healing."

Obi-Wan couldn't help but flinch at Revan's words. He was familiar with the concept of Force Healing, but only the concept. According to the archives of the Jedi, Force Healing was an ability that could be used for medical treatment. Wounds from small cuts to large holes in the body could supposedly be healed with the Force, working much faster and more efficient than Aura could work. It could even be used to clear the mind of an individual, as well as poison.

And while Aura had limits, the Force did not.

It was true that Force Healing was one of the greatest abilities, but it was also one of the most dangerous. For while a recipient of the miracle could be healed, it would usually come at the cost of the user's own essence. Only the most skilled and experienced Jedi were known to survive the use of the ability, but it wasn't very common.

Whoever used Force Healing was always putting their life on the line.

Revan was aware that Obi-Wan knew of the concept, as well as its drawbacks. Rather than wait for him to ask why he would risk his life like that, Revan answered Obi-Wan's question right away.

"I practiced it for the boy," he explained. "The one who was left in my care. If anything happened to him, I needed to be prepared."

"..."

At that moment, Obi-Wan needed no explanation. He didn't need to talk about anything else to justify Revan's actions. The boy Revan was referring to was of upmost importance, someone that mattered more than the two of them combined.

Which was why both Jedi hated the fact that he was alone now. And which was why they were determined to finish this fight once and for all, in the name of protecting that child.

---

As day began to turn to night, and as everyone recovered from the two missions, Ironwood took a step back to reflect on everything.

On the bright side, the virus had been safely delivered to Atlas' elite team of scientists. And just as Gideon had predicted, the team was confident that they could use the notes and previous experiments to get a working strain in just a few more days. In the meantime, construction on Amity would proceed as planned.

That was the only good news for Ironwood. Because he had declared the mission in Mantle a complete failure.

He was well aware that Durge was declared dead, but the Blairs had managed to escape and disappear. None of Ironwood's soldiers had spotted any sign of them, so they were still a threat.

In his mind, Ironwood believed the situation could have been handled better. In his mind, Huntsmen and Huntresses were ill equipped to handle this threat. Given the success of SCAR Squadron, Ironwood believed they could have eliminated Durge while capturing the Blairs as well. The success and failure were enough for Ironwood to believe a stronger emphasis on his military and the power they held was necessary for the Kingdom to survive. And he was willing to do whatever was necessary to make the military stronger and produce the results he needed.

However, there was one problem to this plan: the Council.

After the virus had been safely delivered to the scientists, General Ironwood received a letter addressed to him. When he opened it, he saw that it was from Willow Schnee. She was requesting his presence at her house, where she would be meeting with the Atlas Council.

In the days since his election, Bail Organa had been a very busy man. Besides his grander ambitions, Councilman Organa was working with his fellow Council-members to undo the damage the military had done to society. They heard about the problems Willow described with the military having a constant presence in businesses and private work, so Bail was working to remove the soldiers from these places.

Ironwood had been so busy with Amity and capturing Durge that he didn't have enough time to fight these decisions. Otherwise, he would have fought them tooth and nail. However, without the official declaration of martial law, Ironwood had been outvoted and forced to allow a lighter leash on military presence in the city of Atlas. He was, however, able to keep a closed lid on Amity while declaring the military presence in Mantle as an ongoing investigation of the murders in the warehouse.

But the stalling had finally come to an end.

The invitation Ironwood received was more of a demand. He was to meet with the Council-members, as well as Willow, to defend his seat on the Council. If he failed, he would not only be removed, but the borders would be reopened and the truth about Amity would be revealed prematurely.

This was to be Bail Organa's first official act as Councilman. And Ironwood had to attend.

Fortunately, Ironwood wouldn't be going alone. The invitation had been extended to Ozpin, Djarin and Cinder. Along with them, multiple witnesses would be joining Ironwood to back up his story.

Winter was among them, who was just as unhappy as Ironwood.

"Mother... what are you doing?"

Winter was with Cinder, who had also received word of Ironwood's invitation to the Schnee mansion. She had good memories there, mainly playing with Winter and getting to know her family.

But this dinner, however, probably wasn't going to be a good memory. Nevertheless, Cinder tried to be optimistic.

"On the news, she said she just wanted to break bread and hash things out," she said. "Maybe it won't be so bad?"

"..."

Cinder turned to Professor Ozpin, who was also with Cinder and Winter. "You said the General should start opening up to these people, right?"

"I did," said Ozpin. "But James will be locked in a room at his rival's own dinner party. That's not exactly the situation I would expect James to be open to. And while Willow says she can moderate-"

"All that really means is she'll be the one controlling the conversation," Winter finished. "As if she wasn't causing us enough trouble already."

"..."

Cinder and Ozpin shared Winter's sentiments that General Ironwood wasn't going to like the meeting, but they didn't share an opinion on Willow. Ever since the mine, Cinder and Ozpin believed that Willow had a right to be upset. And she wasn't trying to cause any harm to the Kingdom through her efforts, she was simply doing what she thought was right. One of those things was simply helping a progressive Councilman be elected, but Winter didn't think so.

Cinder had talked about Willow to Winter before, but Winter didn't say too much. Winter had stated that her place was at Atlas Academy, but Willow didn't agree. And it was this disagreement that was driving a wedge between the two.

Cinder would normally advise Winter to open up to her mother more or maybe talk to her before this dinner party, but a part of her was telling her that her idea wouldn't be a good one. Besides, it was a family matter between the two; something that Cinder didn't have a right to be involved in.

So, she turned to Ozpin for a new plan.

"Did you say that you'll be with the Council that night?" she asked. "With General Ironwood?"

"I will," said Ozpin. "I've had plenty of experience with the Vale Council before. I believe I may be able to ease their minds without revealing too much." Ozpin had to do this numerous times with keeping Salem's existence a secret, which was something he wasn't proud of. Nevertheless, if Ironwood still planned to keep Amity a secret, Ozpin had little choice but to follow this lead.

"Any chance you might be able to defuse the situation?" Cinder asked.

"I'll do my best," Ozpin promised. "I'll do whatever I can to make James more comfortable to opening up to everyone." Ozpin suddenly had an idea. "James said he would be letting some of his soldiers serve as witnesses. Perhaps you can join them, along with your father. The more people we have on our side, the greater our chances."

Cinder found the argument to be quite logical, and she suddenly saw an opportunity before her. "Sure, I can go in with you," she said. "Dad's feeling a little better, I'll see if he's up for coming." Cinder turned to Winter. "What about you, Winter?"

"I'll be coming too," said Winter. "I don't suppose I have much of a choice. I have to defend the General. And watch Penny, of course."

"Penny's coming too?"

"General Ironwood needs her help to assure the Council of her innocence. He thinks her presence, as well as the doctored footage, will do that."

Cinder agreed with Winter's sentiment; maybe it was time for Penny to be around people again. After all, Penny once confessed to Cinder that she sometimes felt trapped in Atlas. She deserved a chance to be free again, and Cinder was willing to help make this happen.

After talking with Winter, Cinder and Ozpin went back to the medical ward to talk to their injured allies. Qrow was willing to go when he was back on his feet, and so was Djarin. Their Auras were working to pick up where the medics left off with healing their bodies, and they had enough time before the night of the dinner party.

Djarin believed serving as a witness would help Ironwood's case, as did Qrow. The Mandalorian was a little unsure as to why Cinder wanted to join them at the table as well, but Cinder explained this quickly.

"Remember when we met the Mistral Council after the war ended?" Cinder asked her father. "I was completely unprepared for that conversation, and I didn't get a chance to say everything I wanted." Cinder smiled as she made her final point. "Maybe meeting the Atlas Council could be a second chance. Maybe I can earn their trust as the new Mand'alor."

"..."

The idea was very easy to follow. Djarin indeed recalled the conversation he and Cinder had with the Mistral Council. There were numerous questions that day, and Cinder couldn't exactly answer all of them. The situation was rather uncomfortable, but Cinder did the best she could. However, she was somewhat disappointed that Obi-Wan had to take over and do the rest himself. So it was easy for Cinder to believe that this meeting could be a second chance; to help both Ironwood and the Mandalorians.

And there was one more thing she could do to prove herself.

"There's actually something I want to show them," she said as she reached for her belt. "Something I want to show you too."

Djarin was able to move a little easier since the fight in the sewers, so he was able to shift in order to get a look at the object in Cinder's hand. It was a small piece of metal, one that Cinder had retrieved from Pietro's lab. She had just been there to check in on Penny, something she hadn't done in a while.

But also to pick up an object Cinder asked Pietro to make after he made the upgrades to her armor.

"What's that?" Djarin asked as he looked at the object.

"It's a brand," Cinder replied. "Dr. Polendina made it with something his team was working on before Amity. He called it a '3-D printer.'"

Djarin carefully examined the small material in Cinder's hand, as did Qrow and Ozpin. Qrow had agreed to go to the meeting as soon as he was feeling better, but now he was curious about what Cinder was holding.

"A brand?" Djarin asked. "What does it brand?"

"This," Cinder said as she moved the material.

"..."

On the other side of the piece, which was previously hidden by Cinder's palm, was a symbol Djarin and his friends had seen before. It was a small image of the memorial Obi-Wan had gifted to Mistral prior to his departure; it was the symbol of a rising phoenix, or as Cinder put it, a starbird.

And it was also the sign of a promise.

"That Cordovin lady at Argus pointed out what I said at Haven," Cinder continued. "That I made a promise about the Mandalorians being fighters for peace. And this..."

*SSSSS*

The symbol on the brand began to glow orange, courtesy of Cinder's Semblance. Unlocking her chakras had helped strengthen Cinder's Aura, so she was able to heat up the material faster than she could previously use her Semblance. The material didn't melt in the face of the heat, but the symbol of the starbird burned bright enough to capture everyone's attention.

"This is what I promised the world," Cinder stated. "Starting with me."

Moving her hand, careful not to drop the brand or burn herself, Cinder lifted the metal to her shoulder, which was covered by one of her pauldrons. Cinder didn't bring her entire suit of armor to the medical wing, but instead wore a single pauldron on her should like she used to as a child. Back then, she wore the pauldron that had the Rinocer symbol on it. Now, she had her other pauldron, which was about to be marked by something else.

*SSSSS*

After a few seconds, Cinder removed the piece of metal and showed her pauldron to her friends. They could see that the image of a starbird had been burned onto the metal, for everyone to see. The design wasn't as perfect or detailed as the Rinocer, given that the Armorer carved around the metal to create the image, but the marking was still there.

Just as Cinder promised, a symbol of hope and peace proudly being displayed on her armor. And soon, she hoped, that symbol would be worn by every Mandalorian that came across her path.

"So... what do you think?" Cinder asked as she showed the symbol to everyone.

Qrow and Ozpin liked what they saw, and found it rather appropriate. Not just because of Cinder's promise, but also because of the way she made the symbol. Cinder was always one to embrace and utilize fire as a Maiden, so seeing a scorched symbol on her armor seemed very appropriate.

Djarin agreed, and he had one more sentiment he had to share.

"I think I'm next," he said as he moved his bare pauldron to Cinder.

---

After what felt like an eternity for General Ironwood, the night of Willow's dinner party had arrived.

The Schnee manor was the center of attention tonight, with dozens of socialites and cameras flooding the area. Tonight wasn't just the meeting of the Council, but it was also a party meant to celebrate the election of Bail Organa. He didn't have much of a party to begin with, given that he got straight to work with addressing the problems of Atlas. That was how he and the Council came together tonight, to discuss what they perceived to be the biggest problem of all.

General Ironwood and his current policies.

The General and all of his allies, from Atlas and abroad alike, had arrived at the Schnee manor in limousines that utilized Gravity Dust instead of wheels. Ironwood and Winter had rode together with Penny, and they exited the car to see numerous people and numerous cameras.

"Suppose we should smile for the cameras?" Ironwood asked as he stared at the mansion.

"Sir, with all due respect, you'd have to pay me," Winter replied after she joined his side. The General smirked at the comment, given that he agreed with Winter's sentiments, before he moved to the door.

Clover and the rest of his men came in their armor while Ozpin, Qrow, Obi-Wan, and Revan remained in their current attire. Djarin was considering using his Magic disguise to blend in with everyone else, but he dropped the idea when Cinder showed him what she would be wearing.

Given her status as Mand'alor and desire to have a better meeting with a Kingdom's Council, Cinder decided it best to wear her Mandalorian armor to display her heritage and status. When asked about it, Cinder planned to share what she and her father shared with the Mistral Council before they left Anima.

Cinder decided against wearing her helmet, though. Instead, she carried it at her side as she walked to the front door with everyone else. Ironwood rang the doorbell, which led to the front door opening and revealing a small man with blue eyes and a smile on his face.

"Good evening, everyone," said Klein, the butler of the house. He had been in the service of the Schnee family for many years, looking after the house and attending to the children when Willow Schnee was temporarily preoccupied. This was how the man recognized Winter Schnee, and how his smile grew even wider. "Ah, Ms. Schnee! Welcome home, my dear."

Winter didn't take too kindly to being back at the manor, but it was rather good to see Klein once again. "Hello, Klein," she replied politely. "It's good to see you too."

Klein chuckled before he looked at the number of guests General Ironwood had brought. "General, will... all of you be joining Mrs. Schnee in the dining room?"

"Not all of us," Ironwood confirmed, even though he was sure the large dining room table could fit everyone he brought. "Most of my guests will be on standby in case the council requests additional eye witnesses. Until then I'm sure they'll be happily celebrating Bail Organa's victory."

"Very good. The dining room isn't quite ready yet, but Mrs. Schnee will let us know when it is." Klein stepped aside to let everyone inside. "Until then, please enjoy yourselves."

Everyone stepped inside to see a lavish party of socialites in the main hall. People were wining and dining from left to right, enjoying the company and music coming from a piano to the right.

Everyone soon began to separate from the group. After refusing a glass of wine from a waiter, Qrow announced that he would be patrolling the perimeter. Revan and SCAR Squadron joined him as they felt out of place among the socialites. Djarin also felt out of place, until he was greeted by Willow Schnee herself. Out of everyone she had invited, Willow was glad to see Djarin the most.

This was because she never apologized to the Mandalorian about her behavior at her Dust mine.

Djarin had been told that Willow was remorseful by Cinder, so it was easy for him to forgive the incident. He too was glad to see Willow, and decided to talk to her privately for a moment. After finding a less crowded space, Willow and Djarin spoke about the Dust they smuggled from Atlas together. Djarin explained that he had to drop some of it, but he and Lando escaped without any more trouble. And Willow explained that she was able to work things out on her end to keep work at her mines going.

Though the loss of her latest mine was a hinderance she sought to resolve. Nevertheless, Willow thanked Djarin for his risky work and the two friends discussed what the meeting with the Council would be like.

Cinder decided to seek some privacy herself, away from Ironwood, Ozpin, and Obi-Wan. Between the suits and dresses everyone was wearing, Cinder was starting to feel out of place and doubtful of her choice of attire. She could feel eyes staring at her and catching glimpses at her armor, which made her a little uncomfortable. So Cinder moved to a more secluded area and took a glass of water to relax.

As she drank the cool liquid, Cinder prepared what she would say, if anything, to the Council when she would meet them. She expected the need to assert her peaceful intentions with Atlas as a new ruler, and her promise to spread her peaceful ways across all Mandalorians. She was confident that the new brand on her armor would help, but the skeptical glares she got from people made her a little nervous.

But an unexpected encounter soon boosted Cinder's confidence.

"Hi."

Cinder turned around when she heard a small voice call out to her. There wasn't anybody else with her, so she was sure the voice was talking to her. Cinder discovered that she was right when she laid her eyes upon a little girl no older than ten, one with tied brown hair and a purple tunic over a long sleeved shirt.

The last thing Cinder expected to see at this party was a little girl, but she responded as best as she could. "Um... hello," she said.

The girl didn't pay attention to Cinder's confusion, since her attention was captured by something else. "I like your suit," she said as she pointed to Cinder's armor. "It has pretty colors."

Cinder looked to her armor and smiled at the compliment. The last thing she expected to hear was "pretty," but she was glad the armor didn't scare her. "Thank you," she said. "You're not scared of it?"

"No, I think those are a little scary," the girl said as she pointed to a large staircase. There were two statues of a knight's armor with a sword in their hands, which did give off an intimidating factor. Cinder had the same idea when she first saw those statues, so she agreed with the girl.

And she was glad that she didn't give off the same factor.

Cinder's joy faded, however, when she wondered what a little girl was doing at a party like this. She was somewhat dressed for the occasion, but that was mostly due to the colored tunic over her white clothes. If Cinder didn't know any better, she would say those white clothes were similar to the clothes she was forced to wear at the Glass Unicorn.

This scared Cinder greatly, until another voice made a new presence known.

"Ah, there you are!"

Cinder and the girl looked to see that a man was approaching them, one who was apparently familiar to the both of them. "Councilman Organa," Cinder greeted the man politely when the two made eye contact.

"Cinder, welcome," Bail replied in a friendly manner before he turned to the little girl. "I see you've met my daughter."

Cinder immediately forgot about her past life at the Glass Unicorn when Bail said what he said. "Oh, this is your daughter!" She soon began to feel foolish for thinking that the past was repeating itself at the Schnee manor.

"Yes, she and my wife came to celebrate along with everyone else here," Bail explained. "Leia, this is Cinder. The lady from the video I showed you."

The girl, now known as "Leia," turned to Cinder and smiled once again. "Hello, Cinder," she said politely.

"Hello," Cinder replied, feeling much more comfortable about the girl's presence. "I'm sorry, I just saw her alone, I didn't know she was with you."

"Yes, Leia has a curious mind," Bail confirmed without breaking contact with his daughter. "One that causes her to wander off. Especially when she's told otherwise."

Leia knew Bail was referring to the fact that she was told to stay with her mother. But in her mind, she wandered for a good reason. "I didn't wander far, Father," she insisted. "I just wanted to meet someone who stood out among everyone else."

Bail turned to get a better look at Cinder and her armor, which indeed stood out from the rest of the crowd. Where people were wearing dresses and suits, Cinder elected to wear something that she deemed appropriate. Bail was curious as to why she decided to wear it, but he didn't want to be rude. So instead, he simply addressed the fact that Cinder was wearing it.

"Yes, it is a fine suit of armor, isn't it?" he said politely. Cinder smiled gratefully at the new Councilman before he looked back to his daughter. "You'd better go back to your mother now, Leia. I'll be meeting with the rest of the Council soon."

"Yes, Father," Leia obediently replied before she turned to Cinder. "It was nice meeting you."

"You too," Cinder replied before she watched the child leave. "You have a lovely daughter, sir."

"Thank you," said Bail. "I'm sorry about the 'standing out' phrase, though. Children Leia's age always like to say the first thing on their minds.

"No, that's okay." Cinder looked down at her armor and once again noticed how she stood out. "I know it's not the dress code I'm seeing, but I have this on for a reason."

"I'm sure. May I be correct to assume it's because you're not only here for the party?"

Cinder expected someone to draw this conclusion based on the stares they were giving her, so there wasn't a point in denying it. "Yes, sir. I'm glad you won the election, but I'll be with my father and General Ironwood at the table tonight."

"I thought so. But let me assure you that tonight won't be as bad as the General may think. My only wish is to address the concerns of our Kingdom peacefully. I hope tonight will be the right chance to do so."

Cinder nodded in understanding. "Me too."

While the duo talked some more as they walked, little Leia found her mother as she was instructed. Breha Organa was currently talking to one of the socialites, but she took note of her daughter's returned presence. She didn't, however, notice Leia looking around at all the people around her.

Like she did with Cinder, Leia looked for anyone else who stood out among the socialites. The conversations of the adults bored her, and she hoped that a new friend would be within reach.

This search led Leia to locking eyes with someone else who stood out: Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Obi-Wan was previously with Ozpin and Ironwood, but he temporarily left their side when he felt a small disturbance in the Force. It wasn't a sign of danger, but one of familiarity. He was confused at first, which led him to searching for the source.

His search and questions ended the second he saw Leia, someone he was all too familiar with.

Leia waved to the man after staring him for a few seconds, which led to Obi-Wan waving back. Despite meeting years ago, Leia didn't seem to remember Obi-Wan. The Jedi preferred it this way, and decided to vanish before any semblance of memory or familiarity arose.

But Obi-Wan also took solace that Bail Organa and his wife were protecting the child.

---

While the reception continued, Cinder found the chance to introduce Bail Organa to Djarin. He had followed the man's campaign and heard what Cinder had to say about him, so the Mandalorian made the Councilman's acquaintance quickly. They didn't have much time to talk, however, since it was announced that the meeting would soon commence.

Qrow, Revan, and SCAR Squadron were still patrolling the perimeter of the Schnee manor, so they weren't at the table. And so, General Ironwood was joined in Willow's dining room by Djarin, Cinder, Ozpin, Obi-Wan Winter, and Penny.

Willow was at the head of the table, as was the rest of the Council. She looked to Winter with a small smile, but it disappeared when Winter refused to look at her. With that, Willow decided to start the meeting.

"General Ironwood," the hostess said as she gestured to her large dining room table. "Please, have a seat."

"..."

After Ironwood turned to his allies and nodded, everyone took their seats on their end of the dining room table. Ironwood was the last to sit down, after he took note of the appearance of the Council-members.

"Councilman Sleet," Ironwood said to an older man in a suit before he turned to an older woman in a red jacket over a black shirt and black pants. "Councilwoman Camilla."

The two Council-members remained silent, but acknowledged Ironwood with a simple nod. The silence was broken, however, when another person made her presence known.

"Councilwoman Hill would have had a nice ring to it."

Everyone turned towards the windows in the room to see that Robyn Hill had joined them. Rather than join the party, Robyn stayed in the dining room until everyone else was ready. Now that they were, she walked to the table and sat down.

"Though I suppose I should just be grateful I got invited to the table," she said as she sat between Ironwood and the Council.

Sleet and Camilla remained silent once again, but it was Bail Organa who addressed her presence. "And we're grateful to have you, Ms. Hill," he said. "Though you're sadly not a member, the Atlas Council will aid you in your future endeavors."

"..."

Ironwood quickly became uncomfortable with Robyn's presence. She wasn't as hurt as she was before, most likely due to her Aura healing most of her injuries. She still had a few bandages on her face and arms, but Robyn wasn't bound to a wheelchair like she was earlier. Her health was still intact, and it allowed her to join the meeting tonight.

And it was clear that she was against Ironwood once again.

"What is she doing here?" Ironwood asked everyone. His allies were also curious as to why Robyn found herself at the manor.

"What we're all doing here, James," said Willow. "Addressing the concerns of our Kingdom, which means we have much to discuss." Willow had the support of the Council tonight, and just as she promised, she would be moderating the conversation.

Which led to Ironwood with little choice but to accept the fact that his defense started now.

"Indeed," he said. I was hoping we could start by-"

"Actually, General Ironwood," said Willow, who cut him off with reason. "The Council elected to start our talks with Ms. Hill."

"Yes," said Bail. "She says she has information on election night's massacre, which she wished to share tonight." Bail turned to Robyn. "Isn't that right, Ms. Hill?"

"Yes, sir," said Robyn. "It sure is."

Ironwood not only knew that Robyn wanted to talk about Durge and the sewers, but also that he had some authority he could practice over the matter. "If you're talking about the mission she and her team of Huntresses participated in, I can speak on her behalf," he said. "Since it was part of a military operation, the details of which are currently classified, Robyn isn't at liberty to divulge those details."

Despite the feelings of the Council, Ironwood was quite aware of Atlesian law. He was well aware that military operations, carried out by soldiers or Huntsmen and Huntresses, could only be discussed if he allowed it. However, Robyn didn't seem deterred by this idea.

"Not anymore, General," she said as she pulled out a piece of paper. Without hesitation, Robyn slid the paper across the table to Ironwood. When he picked it up, he saw that the paper was his worst nightmare.

"What in-?" Ironwood looked at Bail Organa in shock and disbelief. "You gave Robyn Hill immunity?"

"Yes," said Councilman Organa. "I'm afraid my fellow Council-members and I have reached our limit of the ever-growing list of classified information you seem to be keeping. If granting Ms. Hill legal immunity is the only way for us to hear the truth, then so be it."

What Bail had done wasn't illegal, and his fellow Council-members supported the action and idea behind it. Once they heard that Robyn had information of her own to share, they decided to grant her the immunity she needed to speak freely.

Which was exactly what she was about to do.

"If there are no further objections," Willow began as she turned to Robyn. "Ms. Hill, the floor is yours."

"Thank you, ma'am," said Robyn, who immediately took the opportunity to speak. "You might be wondering why I have these bandages on. And how Penny here was made to look like she was responsible for the deaths in that warehouse."

"..."

Penny looked down at the table, still saddened by the events of that night. Fortunately, it seemed that Robyn was prepared to clear her name.

"A few days ago, after Din Djarin and his daughter helped Mantle fix its outer wall," Robyn began while gesturing to the two Mandalorians. "After that, they told us that Penny wasn't responsible for what happened in the warehouse. And after receiving proof shown to General Ironwood, as well as myself, we found the true culprits. They were the same people who helped the Mandalorians attack Beacon Academy, and they had help from a mercenary who everyone thought was dead."

Willow and the Council looked at each other with mild surprise when they heard this. While they believed that Robyn wasn't lying about Penny's innocence, they couldn't believe that the people who attacked Beacon were also in Atlas.

Such a thing was supposed to be prevented with the closing of borders.

"Once we found out about it, I worked with General Ironwood and some of his allies to track down and find the real murders." Robyn pointed to the bandages on her face and arms. "That's how I got these. And worse."

"..."

As she spoke and reflected on the events in the sewers, Robyn slowly began to realize that she would have to tread rather carefully. Her incident with stealing supplies and believing Ironwood was out to get Mantle had taught her not to be rash or hasty, that she needed to avoid mistakes like that again. She knew Ironwood wasn't a villain, but all she wanted was to show how keeping secrets had led to the present situation.

Along with that, Robyn had no idea how to explain what she saw in the sewers. It defied all logic itself, and it was a situation that demanded answers. However, Robyn knew she would have to choose her words carefully before the Council dismissed her as a lunatic.

"It's true we discovered the identities of the real murderers," Robyn continued. "But we were unable to capture them. They were... better than I was led to believe."

"..."

Robyn took this chance to close her argument by pointing to Ironwood. "Because General Ironwood didn't tell me or my friends anything about the suspects, even after we knew who they were. Secrets like those are the reason why I failed. And why we're all here tonight."

"..."

Everyone in General Ironwood's side were aware of the situation they were in. Robyn's speech, as well as the invitation, made it clear that everyone was expecting answers and the truth for General Ironwood's actions.

This made Ozpin feel the most for Ironwood, given his own experiences with secrets and withholding the truth. He now knew it was a mistake to do so, which was why he supported Ironwood's plan for Amity. However, Atlas and the Council weren't going to be waiting for much longer. If anything, their patience was wearing thin.

But despite these odds, Ozpin was ready to defend his friend. And so was everyone else joining him.

"Is this true, General?" Willow asked Ironwood.

Ironwood knew that he couldn't hide anything about the Blairs or Durge anymore, so it was best to admit the truth about them.

"...It is," he finally replied.

Ozpin didn't mean to be rude, but he decided to speak before Willow or the Council could reply. "If I may," he said to get everyone's attention. "Their presence is actually why we all arrived in Atlas to begin with."

"That's true," said Djarin. "We have experience with the same people who have been killing people across Mantle. As Robyn said, they were at Beacon."

"And Haven," Obi-Wan included. "They instigated attacks aimed at tearing down all of the Huntsmen Academies."

Cinder decided to speak next, and provide a much more detailed explanation. "I have the most... familiarity with them," she said. "They convinced me that they were just regular students before they tried to murder me. But before that, they turned my people against each of the Kingdoms and Huntsmen Academies."

"Your people," Bail repeated. "You mean the Mandalorians."

"Yes, sir." Cinder looked at the entire Council, with Sleet and Camilla still remaining silent. "I was able to stop the Mandalorians from doing any more damage by becoming their leader. Under my watch, they're doing no harm to the Kingdoms or Huntsmen Acadmies. Merri and Fauna Blair, however, found a new ally to help them in their mission." Cinder gestured to all of the friends that came with her to Atlas. "And that's why we're here; to stop them from doing it again."

After Cinder was done speaking, Willow decided to be honest with the Council. "Council-members, I've had the pleasure of knowing Professor Ozpin, Djarin, and Cinder for years," she said. "If they say they came to help, I believe them."

"As do I," said Bail. "Ms. Hill's story does seem to line up with theirs." As Bail spoke to his fellow Council-members, Ironwood nodded at all of the people who defended him.

However, the moment of victory was brief.

"I am concerned, however, that we were not told of such a threat," Bail continued. "Mind you, I was in the process of being elected at the time, but I don't recall hearing anything about terrorists in our Kingdom's borders." Bail looked back to the table. "Whose idea was it to keep this information from the Council?"

"..."

All eyes fell onto Ironwood, which brought everyone back to the point Robyn had made.

The speech Robyn gave was not only enough for Ironwood and his allies to see where this meeting was going, but it also gave Councilman Sleet and Councilwoman Camilla a chance to voice their own concerns. They, like Bail and Willow, believed Robyn's story and decided to pick up where she left off.

"The fact of the matter is, you've operated with a fair amount of autonomy for the past few years, James," said Sleet. "But we need now is for you to work with us."

Djarin, Cinder, Ozpin, and Obi-Wan all remained calm under the pressure being brought on themselves. Penny was still nervous, as was the General. However, Winter was the only one who felt angry with everything. She did her best to contain her anger, but a tapping on the table displayed her wearing patience.

Ironwood noticed this, but he focused on the matter at hand.

"Sir, I have-"

"It's obvious that no other threat is present beyond Atlas," said Councilwoman Camilla. "The Mandalorian war has been over for weeks now, and no Kingdom has expressed hostilities towards us." Camilla turned to Ozpin and Obi-Wan. "Unless I'm mistaken? I heard that our air fleet was involved with the destruction of Beacon Academy."

"That... is true," Ozpin replied regretfully. "I am aware, however, that the numerous Grimm at Beacon called for action." Ozpin didn't want to mention the Mandalorians, given that Cinder was now their ruler. "The Council of Vale was angry, but we were able to retake the cliff and partially repair the school. As far as I know, the Council hasn't announced any hostility towards Atlas." Ozpin hoped this information would ease the Council's minds, as well as Ironwood's.

"And nor has the Council of Mistral," said Obi-Wan. "I spoke with them prior to my departure from the Kingdom. Their only concern is rebuilding what was destroyed from the war. As well as... As well as electing a new member, given the passing of Councilwoman Kryze."

Camilla, like everyone else at the table, was satisfied with these answers. "In that case, why not help them?" she asked. "At this point, the closure of Atlas borders is only serving to hurt our relations with the rest of the world."

Ironwood was ready to defend himself once again, without revealing anything about Salem. "I-"

"The rest of the world?" Robyn asked. "It's hurting us. The people of Atlas are suffering." She quickly turned to Ironwood. "And they want to know why."

"..."

"Quite right, Ms. Hill."

All eyes fell to Willow, who spoke as the moderator of the conversation. Winter tapped her finger even more against the table, but she didn't turn to look at her mother.

"The terrorists are one thing, as I have noticed," Willow said. "But their actions aren't the only ones who are doing harm to the citizens of Atlas. When I was financing Councilman Organa's campaign, he had quite the list of complaints and issues against you, James."

"I did, indeed," said Bail. "While your military experience is most impressive, General, its influence in your political work is... troubling." Bail turned to Sleet and Camilla. "Which is why I would like to propose a new amendment to our Kingdom's Constitution: the separation of military and state."

"..."

Ironwood didn't believe what he was hearing.

If there was one thing he took pride in with the Kingdom of Atlas, it was its military. Even since before he was born, the military of Atlas had embedded itself into the Kingdom's society. While the patrols of soldiers in Mantle and the air fleet above Atlas were new, the military had been an essential piece of the Atlesian state for decades.

To separate the two, according to Ironwood, sounded like utter lunacy.

"That's nonsense," said Ironwood, who had lost patience for diplomacy. "Atlas has been dependent on its military since before we were even born. To have one without the other is impossible."

"No one seeks to dissolve one or the other," said Sleet. "But rather, we wish to have them function without any further merging. Councilman Organa believes it's possible, and we agree."

"Current events have done nothing but show that combining state matters with the military have become burdensome," said Camilla. "And dangerous."

"With all due respect, you're forgetting everything that it's done," Ironwood countered. "What it can do."

"Such as?" Willow asked, waiting to hear an example from Ironwood. "Perhaps you're referring to your work with Amity Colosseum?"

"..."

Ironwood recognized that he had inadvertently stepped into a trap, and he defended himself with silence. But Willow wasn't finished.

"When I heard one of my mines was serving as a base for Amity, I asked the Council here to shed some light on your project," Willow continued. "And, as it turns out, they know about as much as I do."

"Even you don't know?" Robyn asked, unable to believe that the Council was just as clueless as she was. Robyn now understood that stealing from Ironwood was a mistake, but she still wanted to know about Amity.

"The Amity Project will help with all of the issues you've presented," Ironwood promised, hoping to win back the support he had prior to this meeting. "But you have to understand that discretion is a top priority at this time."

Willow spoke once again, and started with a brief but strong opening. "For the last time... no, it's not."

"..."

Winter began to tap faster on the table as her mother spoke, but she restrained herself as best as she could. Unfortunately, this grip was breaking with every word that escaped Willow's mouth.

"Your idea of discretion is what brought us all here tonight," said Willow. "And according to Ms. Hill, your idea of discretion led to her injuries. How on Remnant do you expect us to follow your lead when you have given us nothing in return? Do you believe we'll work with you if you won't let us know what's going on? Do you believe we'll trust you?"

*BAM*

Everyone turned to Winter when she slammed her fist on the table and shot a deadly glare at her mother. "We're not asking anything from you!" she said. "All we want is to be left alone! Did you ever consider that?! Did you?!"

"..."

Winter may have directly said "we," but it was clear that there was only one person she was talking to. Her eyes weren't gazing at the entire Council like Ironwood's eyes were, but they were locked on with her mother instead. The shouting and rhetorical question were all directed at Willow, and it all stemmed from the woman's attempts at reaching out to her daughter. Cinder had heard that Willow was attempting to do so, to be closer with Winter once more. But now, all that work had amounted to nothing.

Which made Willow speechless.

"I'm afraid that's out of the question."

Bail had noticed the disbelief Willow was processing, so he decided to speak for her in an attempt to lower the tensions that rose from Winter's outburst.

"If there's one thing I've learned tonight, we all want to protect our Kingdom," the new Councilman continued. "However, it's clear that we do not currently agree on how to do so." Winter softly gasped when she saw that her outburst was turning things around on Ironwood, even though she left an impact on her mother. "I, for one, would like to reach an agreement tonight."

"As would I," said Sleet.

"As would I," Camilla repeated.

When Winter found her voice again, she tried to undo what she had done. "That's not what I-"

"Winter."

The young cadet turned to her superior officer, who wasn't very pleased at the moment. "That's enough," Ironwood ordered.

"..."

After taking a look at the table, and everyone sitting at it, Winter decided to take her leave.

---

It didn't take long for Cinder and Penny to find Winter. She was standing outside of the dining room in a hallway, far from the party and anyone else. Cinder knew she didn't have a right to be involved in Winter's private issues, but the outburst and was hard to ignore.

While the adults handled the situation in the dining room, the teenagers decided to see how they could help their friend.

"Winter?" Cinder called out. "Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine," Winter insisted when she turned to her friends. "I just let my emotions get the better of me."

"What do you mean?" Penny asked.

Winter wanted to be left alone, so she decided to cut the conversation short. "You wouldn't understand."

"Oh... right."

"..."

Penny placed her hands on her skirt as she sadly looked down, believing that Winter's concept was a human one as opposed to a robotic one. Perhaps her father would be able to understand an idea, but Penny's nature prevented her from doing so.

When Winter realized what she had said, she decided to stop being withdrawn and fix her mistake. "No, no," she began. "What I mean is... this place holds a lot of memories for me, specifically. I thought I was in control, but... you heard me. I sounded like a petulant child."

"..."

Cinder remained silent and chose to simply listen to her friend. The idea of memories was strange at first, given that Cinder had memories of playing with Winter at the house when they were children. However, Cinder remembered that Winter lived here with her father for ten years. And it seemed his presence, while gone, was still felt through the place.

Cinder believed that Willow's presence, as well as the presence of her younger siblings, would help Winter. But it seemed the solution wasn't perfect.

"I thought you sounded fine," said Penny, who didn't see a problem with Winter's outburst. "You were just speaking from your heart." As she placed her hands on her chest, Penny reflected that she didn't usually express emotions like Cinder or Winter did. What they did was natural, something Penny wished she had at times. So in her mind, saying how one truly felt was a blessing.

But not for Winter.

"And that is precisely the problem," Winter argued. "I should have just stayed in line."

"..."

Penny tried her best to see why Winter felt this way, but nothing came to mind. "I guess you're right," she relented. "I don't understand."

"..."

Penny decided to leave her friends and return to the dining room, since there wasn't anything else she could do. Cinder, however, remained behind in the hopes that she could get through to Winter.

But Winter decided to rebuild the wall she wished to make between herself and the world, and she started with Cinder.

"I was right," she said as she turned around. "You wouldn't understand."

"..."

Cinder could see where Penny was coming from, that she didn't understand how Winter was feeling. But she understood it rather well, and found herself relating Winter's situation to an incident from her past. It was a story that Cinder believed Winter should hear.

"Do you know what the biggest lie the Blairs told me to make me trust them was?" Cinder asked Winter, despite the fact that Winter was still looking the other way. "That they found my real mom. And that my real dad was killed by Mandalorians."

"..."

Winter didn't show it, but she was surprised that the Blairs had done such a thing. And she grew even more surprised when Cinder continued to talk.

"It was all a trick, to make me vulnerable," Cinder continued. "The lady they found was actually a con-artist, someone who nearly killed Qrow and my dad. It turns out my real family is somewhere in Mistral. Close to Argus, I think."

Cinder had been told this by Djarin, not long after she awoke from her coma. Djarin didn't want to keep any secrets from his daughter, and despite everything, Cinder deserved to know where she came from. But Cinder didn't dive deeper into the idea, since she believed she had everything she needed already.

"That lie, everything that I believed... it made me feel alienated from my dad," Cinder continued. "I had a hard time looking at him and talking to him. For a while, I didn't think I could. That I might have been better off without him."

"..."

The final idea was something Winter had admitted earlier. It was something she had felt since she decided to stay with Ironwood at Atlas Academy. Namely, that she didn't feel like she needed her mother. Hearing that idea was what made Winter finally turn around, to finally look at Cinder and listen carefully to the rest of her wisdom.

"I didn't realize it until it was too late, but that's exactly how the Blairs wanted me to feel. How Salem wanted me to feel. She wanted me to turn my friends into enemies and my enemies into friends." Cinder put a hand on Winter's shoulder as she closed her argument. "If we do that to the people who love us the most, we'll always be alone. Trust me, I know."

"..."

Winter pitied Cinder for being manipulated and hurt in such a way. She didn't deserve to be lied to or driven away from the people she loved. But the lesson Cinder learned from it was very wise and a little inspiring. Winter related to the idea that she felt better off without her mother, but she felt that her reasoning made sense.

And fortunately for Cinder, Winter was willing to share this reasoning.

"Father never loved me," Winter admitted. "All he wanted was for me to pick up where he left off. He wanted me to stay here and only leave when I had to. And ever since I came back from Beacon, Mother's... been trying to do the same thing." Winter sighed before she continued. "She's done nothing but try to make me come back here to stay, and she doesn't understand that I don't want that."

"..."

"I just... don't want a repeat of what happened with my father."

"..."

Winter couldn't recall the last time she was ever this vulnerable, just like she couldn't remember that she had done this with Cinder. The friends were children at the time, and Cinder gave Winter reassurance that she could be vulnerable; she showed Winter that she could trust her.

And now, Cinder was doing it again.

"Your dad was greedy," Cinder replied. "He only cared about himself. But your mom is different. The meeting, the arguments with Ironwood... I think it's safe to say that she's scared. And she thinks having you back here will help with that."

Winter let out a sigh of annoyance when she heard this. "But that's not true," she argued.

"...Maybe it's time she heard that for herself."

"..."

---

Back in the dining room, things weren't getting much better for the General. The Council was still pointing out the flaws in his work, but decided to focus on a more political approach rather than discuss his work in the military.

"General, since the day you were appointed Headmaster, there have been Atlesians who are skeptical of one man holding two Council seats," said Councilwoman Camilla.

"Yes, which is exactly why we have checks and balances," Ironwood countered, using his knowledge and experience with Atlesian law.

"We're supposed to," Councilman Sleet replied. "But lately you've been running roughshod all over them, making unilateral decisions without us."

"Even before my election, you've been taking more authority away from us and giving it to your army," said Councilman Organa. "The people of Atlas chose all of us to help them, not just you."

Ironwood could see that he wouldn't win the argument that way. "Councilmen, I never intended to-"

"What people intend and what they do aren't always the same, General," Sleet insisted.

"..."

Willow agreed with everything that was being said, but that wasn't exactly the reason for her silence.

After Winter's outburst, Willow was disappointed. She had hoped pointing out the flaws in Ironwood's management would be enough for her daughter to see that following him wasn't the best idea. Her efforts, however, only pushed Winter away even further.

And it taught Willow something new about her daughter.

She knew that Winter was loyal to Ironwood, that was never a question. And Willow knew that there was something her daughter knew that she didn't want to share. Willow intended to find out what it was and help Winter get away while she could, but she had failed.

She failed because there was something else about Winter that Willow didn't see until now. The outburst, the emotion... Winter was angry with Willow. She had been holding that anger for a while, probably before Winter even went to Atlas Academy.

There was something that Winter resented about Willow. And for the life of her, she didn't know what it was.

Which was why Willow was feeling hurt and distracted. Ironwood's actions were unimportant now, Willow just wanted to know what it was that made Winter feel this way. She wanted to know why she apparently failed her daughter.

Unfortunately, she didn't have the time to ponder this question.

"Excuse me."

Willow turned to her left when she saw a member of the house staff beside her. It wasn't Klein, but a rabbit-eared Faunus who was a more recent addition to the staff team.

And he apparently had something to say.

"Yes?" Willow asked in a whisper, not wanting to interrupt the rest of the Council.

The Faunus understood the need for silence, so he whispered into his employer's ear about something very important.

"What?" Willow asked when the man stopped whispering. "For how long?" The man whispered into her ear again, which made Willow even more surprised about what she heard. "After what happened?"

"They just called," the man replied without whispering. "They said they would only talk to you."

Willow forgot all about her meeting with the Council as she decided what to do next. "Did the call come to my study?"

"Yes, ma'am. I took the liberty of answering it and came straight to you."

Willow nodded, but she wasn't satisfied at all. "I'll be right there. See back to our guests, please." The man left without a word, missing the cold sweat look of unease on Willow's face.

Bail was the only one who noticed that Willow had an unexpected visitor, and the only one who noticed that she was left uneasy. "Willow?" he asked, loud enough for everyone to hear. This was enough to make Willow's focus return to the table, where she made an announcement.

"Um, I'm sorry, ladies and gentlemen," she said as she stood up. "It seems I have a... pressing matter to attend to." She then turned to Bail. "Councilman Organa, would you mind taking over for me?"

"Oh! Um... of course I can," said Bail. However, the departure Willow was making only raised more questions for everyone. The rest of the Council and everyone at the table were confused, but Bail was more concerned if anything else. So he leaned over and whispered a single question. "Is everything alright?"

"I need to find out," Willow said quickly as she moved to the door. "I'm sorry."

After Willow left, Robyn decided to take the opportunity before her and speak again. "I think the Council's made its point," said Robyn. "And based on what I saw when I was at the academy, I have an idea what's going on; you're afraid of something, General. Aren't you?"

"I think that's pretty obvious, Miss Hill," Ironwood replied. "I'm trying to prevent Atlas from becoming another Beacon, another Haven."

"Yet, you don't trust your own Council to help you? Operating in secret? Keeping secrets from the people who choose to help you? These are the actions of somebody who's hiding something."

This was true, but Ironwood felt that he couldn't share that fact. "I'm not hiding anything," he denied.

"Let's put it to the test, then," Robyn decided as she stood up. She began to approach Ironwood while talking to the Council. "You're all aware of my Semblance. Let's settle it here and now, General Ironwood." When Robyn stopped next to the General, she extended her hand and waited for him to take it. "Here and now."

"..."

Ironwood had been expecting this. He had tried his best to delay this moment, but there was nothing he could do about it now. Now, everyone was demanding that Ironwood share everything he was hiding. Nobody was going to let him leave the room until they were satisfied.

"Wait."

Everyone turned to Ozpin, who stood up and offered his hand to Robyn. "If you wish to hear the truth in this manner... I believe I should be the one to tell you," he offered.

The Council was confused by this move, but everyone else knew what Ozpin was thinking. Still, they had their own reservations about this kind of move. And given that Ironwood wasn't ready to divulge anything just yet, he was ready to tell Ozpin to back off.

"Oz-"

"General Ironwood's decision to stay quiet stemmed from me," Ozpin declared. "And so, I am responsible for that choice, as well as the consequences that followed." Ozpin extended his hand further. "Let me make it up to you, Ms. Hill."

Robyn didn't take long to make a choice. While she was mildly curious about how Ozpin had a role to play in this, she didn't take the offer he was making.

"With all due respect, Professor," said Robyn. "You weren't here when General Ironwood closed the Kingdom's borders. Or when he put an embargo on Dust." Robyn looked back to Ironwood. "If I'm going to hear the truth, it has to be from him."

"..."

Ironwood's allies had been expecting this moment too. They were all trying to think of ways to delay it, and Cinder was still hoping that she could talk to the Council instead. But now, all they could do was watch as Robyn prepared to make Ironwood share the truth about everything.

Nothing short of a miracle would stop this moment now.

*BUZZ*

*BUZZ*

Robyn couldn't help but look towards her pocket when she saw it vibrate and glow. "Huh?" she mumbled as she took out her Scroll. She didn't recognize the number, so she declined the call and put it back in her pocket. "Sorry, everyone." She then moved her hand out again. "Well, General?"

"..."

*BUZZ*

*BUZZ*

Robyn's Scroll was vibrating again, which began to frustrate Robyn. When she took it out of her pocket, she could see that it was the same number.

"Ms. Hill?" Councilman Sleet asked, albeit a little impatiently.

The call was starting to annoy Robyn, but she couldn't help but let her curiosity grow. "Um, I'm sorry, Councilman," she said. "I'll wrap this up." She then answered the call and put her Scroll to her ear. "Look, whoever this is, now's not a good-"

"Robyn!" a familiar voice called out on the other end. "Robyn, we need your help!"

"Fiona?"

Robyn remembered that her fellow Huntresses were still recuperating at Atlas Academy, along with Boba. They didn't have their Scrolls, so Fiona had to use a phone at Atlas Academy to get in touch with her leader.

And she had a good reason for doing so.

"Robyn, we need to go to Mantle!" Fiona said. "Something's wrong down there, we have to go now!"

"Whoa, whoa, calm down, Fi," Robyn gently said to her friend. "I'm still at the Schnee manor, with the Council."

"Wait, you mean you didn't see the news?"

"The news? No, why?"

Everyone in the room was growing curious about Robyn's call. Ironwood was somewhat grateful for this impedance to Robyn's plan, but he had the feeling that something was wrong.

The rest of the Council had the same feeling, and they all got a sinister clue.

*BUZZ*

*BUZZ*

*BUZZ*

*BUZZ*

The Scrolls of every Council-member, including Ironwood, all began to vibrate and display a red message that said "Emergency Alert!" on them. It was Councilman Sleet who put his Scroll to his ear, where he received an alarming message.

"Wait... Wait, what?" he asked on the other end. "What do you mean the heat has gone off?"

---

Earlier

Things were dire for businesses in Atlas. Companies that were known to do work beyond the borders were struggling to stay afloat, especially the Schnee Dust Company. However, there were some kinds of work that the border closures hadn't affected.

The largest one, perhaps, was the heating grid.

The heating grid was one of the first creations of the Kingdom of Mantle, in order for its people to survive in the freezing cold weather. A separate one had been built in Atlas prior to its ascension off the ground, but they both worked in unison with the SDC. After all, both places were essential for Atlas to survive.

The heating grid in Mantle worked by having multiple systems run through the city, like the sewers did. Only instead of transporting sewage and waste, the heating grid sent thermal energy throughout the city via heaters found in every house and on every street.

A mixture of Fire Dust and artificial heat comprised of this energy. And it was the job of the grid's employees to make sure the engines, Dust processors, and pipes were all in working order.

That was how a single engineer found himself roaming the halls and examining every machine he could find.

"Isaac, are you there?" a woman's voice said through a device in the man's left ear.

"Yeah, I'm here, Kendra," the man said as he pressed a finger to his ear. "Just finished Sector B. You were right, that fluctuation was just a hiccup." The man looked at another door and opened it. "I'm gonna check out Sector C and call it a night."

"Sounds like a plan. I'm about to clock out too."

"I thought Hammond wanted you to work overtime?"

"So? He's not my boss."

Isaac laughed to himself as he looked at the multiple pipes in the area. "Yeah, that's true. Give me a few minutes in here and we'll clock out together."

"You got it. I'll keep my eye on you until then."

Isaac turned to a security camera in the room, where his friend was on the other side. Kendra was a computer analyst for the heating grid, where she would look at monitors and cameras in case anything was out of order. Isaac was simply an engineer, one who had to either fix broken machinery or install new equipment.

On nights like these, he would have to inspect the current machinery for any abnormalities. Sectors A and B were fine, though there was a small fluctuation with a pipe in B. However, Isaac was able to fix it on the spot, without having to request new parts. Sector C seemed to be in a similar state as the other two, with Isaac's only worry being the heat in the rooms he had passed through. But excess heat was normal in the heating grid, especially for the engineers.

Isaac had learned to live with it, even though he would prefer a different place of work. But between the border closures, and the fact that his girlfriend worked as a field medic for workplace injuries, Isaac knew he was going to stay right where he was.

Sector C wasn't too much work for Isaac. Given that it was the only sector that was fully automated by computers, Isaac just had to look at the screens and have faith that Kendra was seeing the same things he was. And given the fact that she was silent on the other end, Isaac was confident that his last rounds were successful. And so, he prepared to end his work for the night.

Until something behind him caught his attention.

*REEE*

*RATTLE*

*RATTLE*

The sounds of shaking pipes and escaping heat, similar to what people would hear from a tea kettle, caught the engineer's ear. He turned around fast to see that one of the pipes was indeed shaking and letting out steam, which was far from normal.

"What the-?" Isaac asked as he rushed over to the pipe. "What's going on?" Isaac looked across the exterior of the pipe, as well as where it was connected to the top and bottom. He couldn't see any cracks or anything broken, so he looked at the screen to see what was going on.

And to his surprise, the heat was rising.

"What the hell?" Isaac said out loud. "I just checked this one. How is it-?"

*BEEP*

*BEEP*

*BEEP*

The readings on the screen indicated that the heat was rising. Not just rising, but rising to a point where the pipe couldn't contain it for long.

"Oh, crap," Isaac said as he began to press the buttons on the screen. It was his intention to turn off the machine, but none of his methods worked.

In fact, it seemed that the computer was locking him out.

Isaac was starting to panic, but he didn't give in to his fears. Instead, he pressed his ear again to talk to his friend. "Kendra, I got a pipe here that's out of control!" he said. "I need you to shut it down!"

"..."

"Kendra? Kendra, are you there?!"

The lack of answer from his friend made Isaac even more worried. But what finally made him give in to full panic was the multitude of sounds around him.

*REEE*

*RATTLE*

*RATTLE*

*REEE*

*RATTLE*

*RATTLE*

*REEE*

*RATTLE*

*RATTLE*

One by one, more and more pipes began to rattle and let out excess heat. Isaac once again tried to contact the computer specialist for help, but there was still no answer. Isaac began to run around the room looking for a manual override, one that would shut down all the pipes in the area in the event of an emergency. However, the constant shaking and the alarming readings on the computers made Isaac realize that he wouldn't find one in time.

So instead of a shutdown, Isaac settled for turning on an alarm before running out of the room.

*BOOM*

Isaac wasn't caught in the blast from the room, but the blast had propelled him forward and left him breathing in a puff of smoke. Blood began to pour from a cut on his head and he began to cough, but it was much better than being burned to death.

And fortunately, Isaac had help.

When the alarm was sounded, multiple armed guards under the SDC's command came to see what the situation was. One of them was the commander, Zachary Hammond, who immediately requested a report while two of his security guards helped Isaac off the ground.

"Isaac, are you okay?!" Zachary asked. "What just happened?!"

"The pipes... built up pressure... and exploded," Isaac replied with a cough. "I... I couldn't shut it down."

The commander turned to see the aftermath of the explosion and was incredibly distraught. He knew an accident like this was one in a million, one that would set the heating grid back a while. But rather than focus on what was definitely lost, Zachary focused on the possibilities first.

"Put that fire out before it spreads!" he ordered his men. Two grabbed fire extinguishers off the wall and ran off before Zachary turned back to the injured engineer. "Isaac, was anyone else in there?"

"No," Isaac replied. "It... It was just me."

Zachary accepted the answer in relief and noticed what sector had just exploded. "Isn't this place fully automated? Why didn't Kendra do anything?"

"I tried to tell her. But... But she didn't answer."

The commander immediately came to the conclusion that Kendra was somewhat responsible for the accident. Had she responded, she would have turned off the pipes immediately. And so, Zachary sought out answers with Isaac and one of his fellow guards in tow.

The trio found themselves outside the computer core of the heating grid, where they expected to see Kendra inside. Zachary was prepared to swing the door open and find Kendra, but this plan was put on hold when the door refused to move.

"It's locked," he said to his companions.

"What?" Isaac asked. "That door doesn't have a lock." Isaac had visited his friend multiple times in that room, he knew every detail about it.

Zachary didn't care for details, however. He simply hit his hand on the door and called out for the person inside. "Kendra!" he shouted. "Kendra, open the door!"

"..."

"Kendra, are you in there?!"

"..."

Zachary stopped hitting the door and groaned in frustration. "Dammit, where the hell is she?!"

"She might be trapped in there!" Isaac suggested. "We gotta get inside!"

Zachary agreed with the engineer and turned to his fellow guard. "Chen, help me shoot this door open!"

"Yes, sir!" the guard said as he raised the weapon he had. Zachary did the same with his weapon and fired upon the knob and hinges.

*BANG*

*BANG*

*BANG*

*BANG*

Between the injury on his head and the fact that he wasn't used to gunfire, Isaac covered his ears to block out the noise. But the efforts proved to be a success, since the door fell to the ground with a loud echo.

*THUD*

Inside, everyone saw a large console with multiple screens that showed numbers and moving images. They also saw a woman lying on top of the console, completely motionless.

"Kendra?" Isaac called out. He recognized the long hair of his friend, but he didn't understand why she was apparently asleep.

Zachary was also unable to understand this, but he was more mad than anything else.

"Kendra, what are you doing?!" he said as he marched towards the woman. "Don't you know that we just had a major accident because you didn't-?!"

Zachary had grabbed Kendra's shoulder to prop her upright in an effort to wake her up. But when he did, Zachary could see two wide open eyes and an excessive amount of blood on Kendra's neck.

She wasn't sleeping; she was dead.

Zachary dropped Kendra with a small yell of surprise, and inadvertently dropped her to the ground. Isaac and Chen looked on in horror and also yelled out of fear. Despite the appearance, Isaac wanted to do whatever he could to help.

"Chen, get Nicole!" he said to the guard by his side. "She's a medic, she can help!"

Zachary didn't stop Chen from running out of the room, but he knew he had to help Isaac see the grim reality of the situation. After he placed two fingers on the side of Kendra's neck, the commander finally revealed the truth. "She's... She's gone, Isaac," he sadly reported.

Isaac walked into the room and stared at the lifeless shell before him. He never would have expected something like this to happen, especially to a close friend like Kendra.

And in a safe place like the heating grid.

After he wiped a tear from his eye, Isaac tried to assess what had actually happened. "Wh-What happened?" he asked. "What happened to her? Was it part of the accident?"

Zachary looked at the blood on Kendra's neck, where he saw a deep cut. "No," he said. "This cut is too perfect. It wasn't an accident." Zachary looked up to Isaac as he explained himself. "She was murdered."

Isaac couldn't help but gasp when he heard that word. Workplace accidents were common at the heating grid, but murder was something else entirely.

It didn't make sense.

"Who would do this?" he asked. "Why?"

*ZAP*

*ZAP*

Zachary looked to his left when he heard electric sparks. And when he did, he could see the situation became much worse. "Whoever did that," he replied. "Look."

Isaac did what he was told and realized why Zachary was distressed. The console Kendra's body was resting on wasn't only covered in her blood, but it was shooting sparks from broken pieces and loose wiring.

Someone had sabotaged the heating grid's controls.

*WOOO*

*WOOO*

Another alarm sounded throughout the area, and the screens gave an indication as to why. Just like in Sector C, Isaac could see massive buildups of pressure and heat levels rising past normal and safe boundaries. All around him, and all throughout the building, the heating grid was out of control.

"Oh, Gods!" Isaac yelled as he rushed over to the terminal. "Everything's going critical! The pressure's building up everywhere!"

Zachary didn't need to be told how serious this was. "We have to shut it down!" he said. "Isaac, shut it all down!"

The engineer pressed all the buttons he could see, including the main shutdown. But every time he pressed a button, nothing happened. "It's not working!" he said. "The console's fried!"

Zachary knew exactly what to do next.

"RUN!"

---

Present

The staff and security guards of Mantle's heating grid had managed to save themselves. But sadly, they couldn't save the heating grid.

That was the story Isaac and Zachary had told Willow Schnee, after she had left her dining room. The story was so horrifying and tragic that she needed to sit down in order to fully process it. After she did, Willow did her best to try and assess the situation. She understood that a massive explosion had engulfed the heating grid, and that emergency response teams were working to put out the fire.

But as far as anyone was concerned, the heating grid was completely gone.

It didn't take long for snow to begin engulfing the streets of Mantle, and it didn't take long for its citizens to seek shelter. Rumors spread about Atlas turning off the heat, but the story of the explosion had somehow reached the media.

And when it reached the media, it reached the Atlas Council.

Everyone in the dining room knew they needed answers as to why the Council had been informed of an emergency like this. Ironwood and Bail had the idea to seek out Willow, to see if she could shed some light on the situation.

By the time they found her in her study, Willow had just ended the call with her employees. Because of this impeccable timing, Willow was able to give her guests an explanation.

"They said it was a pressure buildup in the pipes," she said. "It was one sector at first, but then it spread all over. The heating grid... it's gone."

Everyone was surprised to hear this, but they tried their best to find a solution and more answers. "Is there any way to fix it?" Bail asked hopefully.

"It's gone, Bail," Willow sadly reported. "All of it. It's completely destroyed."

"Has the damage spread to Atlas?" Councilwoman Camilla asked.

"No, ma'am. Whoever did this, they isolated Mantle from Atlas. The systems up here are running normal."

"What do you mean 'whoever did this?'" Councilman Sleet asked.

"My men said that this wasn't an accident." Willow turned to Ironwood. "Someone sabotaged the grid's control systems. Destroyed them to create the pressure buildup that caused the explosion."

Willow wasn't looking at Ironwood to accuse him of anything. However, she remembered Robyn's story and came to believe it was connected to this new crime. Everyone else believed it too, and it was Cinder who confirmed the truth.

"The Blairs," she said. "They did this."

"This is just like the warehouse," said Djarin. "And they said they were going to finish Mantle. But... I never imagined..."

Robyn grabbed her head in frustration and began to pace. "This isn't happening," she said to herself. "This isn't happening."

"Without heat down there, people are going to die," said Sleet.

"If the grid can't be fixed, we have to start evacuations immediately," said Bail.

Everyone was discussing plans on how to save Mantle, but Ironwood was silent. He knew that the Blairs and Durge were still at large, but he could have never predicted something of this scale. Sabotaging and destroying the heating grid, one of Atlas' most essential operations, sent shivers down his spine.

If they could destroy that... what else could they destroy?

"General?"

Ironwood looked to Cinder, who had easily noticed the look of disbelief and concern on his face. "How bad is it?" she asked.

Ironwood took out his Scroll and examined the damage of the heating grid. "The entire station has been destroyed," he said. "If they're trying to do the same thing to Amity..." Ironwood examine the present security at Amity, both inside and outside. "No, the secret is safe. For now. But if they learn about Amity, she learns about Amity."

"..."

At first, Robyn thought Ironwood was referring to her when he said "she." But something seemed off with his fear at the moment. When Ironwood was in the dining room, he remained calm when Robyn challenged him to take her hand. But now, he was on the verge of panicking.

So Robyn concluded that there was someone else Ironwood didn't want learning about Amity. But who?

*THUMP*

*THUMP*

*THUMP*

Everyone looked down the hall to see multiple men in white running towards them. Qrow and Revan were with SCAR Squadron, and they had terrible news.

"General, the Grimm are all over Mantle," said Clover. "The air fleet's doing everything they can, but they can't easily target Grimm in the city without risking casualties."

Everyone gasped and looked at each other when they heard more bad news. However, Cinder was the only one who couldn't believe that such a thing was possible. "Wait, the Grimm can't be in Mantle!" she said. "The wall's been sealed!"

Clover turned to Mic with a regretful sigh. "Show her, Mic," he said sadly.

The soldier pressed a few buttons on his gauntlet as he spoke. "This is drone surveillance from the wall," he said. "The drone is gone, but its footage was sent to the academy."

Everyone moved closer to Mic to see what he was showing them. On a holographic screen, they could see the part of the wall that Cinder had fixed with her Maiden powers. There were two young women in black who were talking to themselves.

Nobody could hear what they were saying, but they could see what happened next.

*BOOM*

*BOOM*

The natural wall began to crumble at the feet of the girls, who were greeted by the sight of numerous Grimm running through the wall and onto the streets. Though they seized the opportunity that came to them, it wasn't the Grimm that destroyed the wall.

It was the large man in armor, carrying a rocket launcher at his side and joining the two girls.

The last thing everyone saw was the large man taking out a pistol and shooting at the camera, which caused the screen to display static. They didn't need to see anything else, though.

They had seen enough.

"Durge?" Djarin whispered in shock. "Alive?"

"That's impossible!" said Obi-Wan. "Nobody could have survived what happened to him!"

"He broke the wall?" Cinder asked. Her heart began to break when she saw that her work had become undone. "But... I worked so hard to fix it." Djarin put a hand on his daughter's shoulder to comfort her while everyone else talked.

"This..." Ironwood said as he put a hand to his jaw and walked away. "This is what I was afraid would happen.

"Sir, we need ground support now," said Clover.

"What we need is to start evacuating Mantle," Robyn insisted. She too was sad to see the wall had been breached, but she remained as calm and focused as she could. "If it's completely overrun, it's not going to be safe anywhere. Use the fleet to get-"

"If I move the fleet, then Atlas is vulnerable!"

"..."

When silence fell upon the area, Ironwood found himself leaning against the wall in frustration. Nothing had gone according to plan tonight, and it was only getting worse. All of his plans and work were coming apart, and he had nothing left to work with.

"I… I tried to keep the Kingdom safe. And now we're losing everything."

"..."

After months of work and planning, General Ironwood had reached his breaking point. He had tried everything to get Amity ready and protect Atlas, but everything was coming undone.

It was all for nothing.

"James."

Ironwood looked to see Ozpin had joined his side. "Earlier, you asked for my advice," he said calmly. "Back at the academy."

"You already gave it to me," said Ironwood.

"Yes, I did. But now I see there was something I should have said earlier." Ozpin put a hand on Ironwood's shoulder. "You had everything planned out perfectly. Your work has made all the progress it could. But there was one thing you didn't have too much of. Something that the Blairs and Durge are taking away."

"..."

Obi-Wan sensed where Ozpin was going with his advice, so he joined his friend and finished the thought. "Time," he said.

"..."

Despite the Council, Robyn, and Willow being unsure about all the details, they were certain it had something to do with the Amity project. They could see that Ironwood had been trying to use whatever time he had to finish it, but the terrorists in their borders were determined to take it away.

And now Ironwood was starting to understand the same thing.

"She never gave me the time I needed for my plans and ideas," Ozpin continued, picking up where Obi-Wan left off. "She never gave it to anyone."

"The destruction of Coruscant took away the time we needed with my Padawan," Obi-Wan continued. "Just like the Fall of Beacon did."

"Yes. And now the same thing is happening here. They won't give you the time to make your plan work perfectly. But it can still work."

Ironwood immediately disagreed. "It's time to give up on that plan," he said as he stood up straight. "It's all coming apart."

"Not entirely," said Obi-Wan. "That's what we're supposed to believe, what we let her make us believe. But sometimes... sometimes we can work around it. We can do something unexpected." Obi-Wan reflected on his time with the Jedi when he had this idea, specifically Anakin. Despite his training and the rules the Council gave, there was one thing Anakin excelled in.

Ozpin understood it well, and he relayed this idea to Ironwood.

"Improvise."

"..."

When they saw Ironwood begin to consider the idea, the clan of two suggested how they could improvise together. "I'll go to Mantle again," said Cinder. "Fix the wall the same way I fixed it before. While all of us, together, fight Durge again." Cinder gestured towards Winter, Penny, and SCAR Squadron as well as Djarin, Qrow, and the two Jedi. If they had a bigger force before them, the Blairs would be more vulnerable while Durge was distracted.

"And we can't wait until Amity is up?" Djarin asked rhetorically. "Fine." He gestured towards Willow and the Council. "Some of the people you want to tell everything to are here now. Why prolong the inevitable?"

Slowly but surely, Ironwood was agreeing with this course of action. If Salem was so determined to destroy his plans, then perhaps improvising was the right way to go.

And Djarin had the right idea with the Council. There wasn't going to be any waiting for Amity to go up. It was now or never.

"And we don't have to use the fleet."

Everyone turned to look at Winter, who had just given a strange option. The Council was surprised to hear such an idea, given that the air fleet was above them for a reason. Surely, defending a city from Grimm by evacuating it would call for the use of an air fleet.

Willow was the most surprised. Despite everything, Willow still didn't understand why her daughter was so loyal to Ironwood. And to agree with not using the fleet just didn't sit right with her. This, after all the other times Winter chose to drift away from her, made Willow think she had lost her daughter for good.

Until the young cadet finished her thoughts.

"We have other airships we can use for evacuation while the air fleet defends Mantle," said Winter. "Or rather... you do, Mother."

This was the first time Winter had addressed her mother that wasn't in a hostile manner or a closed ended answer. Not only was Willow happy to hear that, but she also found herself feeling hope when she knew what Winter was talking about.

"That's right!" Willow said with a small gasp. "I have rows and rows of cargo ships just sitting in hangars because of the embargo!" Willow rushed into her study and towards her computer. "And I have all those drones in the Snow Shoe Shipping." Willow looked back to her guests. "I can order as many as we need to pilot our ships down to Mantle while the air fleet handles the Grimm!"

This was the first piece of good news anyone had heard since the declaration of an emergency. That, along with Ironwood finally being ready to tell them the truth, was everything they could have asked for.

"I'll need the coordinates," Willow said. "To tell my ships where to go."

"We'll give them to you while we clear out Mantle," said Clover. "As soon as we get there."

Ironwood, while reluctant, understood that time had never been on his side. If he was going to act, if he was going to save Atlas and Mantle, he was going to have to do everything now.

"In that case," he said as he looked at everyone before him. "Miss Hill, Councilman Sleet, Councilwoman Camilla, there are some things you need to know about. Let's figure out how we can help Mantle… together."

---

The party had ended rather prematurely, given the circumstances. All of the guests had left, and the staff were sent home in case a similar emergency arose in the city of Atlas. But the Council decided to establish themselves in the Schnee manor, since they were already together.

Though they insisted on staying, Bail told his wife and daughter to return home for their safety.

Robyn and Winter were going to join the rest of their allies in Mantle, but not just yet. After what had been advised to do, Ironwood decided to tell everything he had been hiding from the Council and Robyn.

Everything.

While Ironwood was doing that, Winter made the decision to do the same thing with her mother. She asked Ironwood for permission first, but he allowed it. So, behind closed doors in her study, Winter told Willow what they were truly up against.

And everything she knew about it.

When Winter finished, Willow was staring at her desk in total disbelief. Words failed her, as did her intelligence. It was hard to comprehend the idea of the Grimm being controlled by someone who was once human, someone who hated the world with a dark and zealous passion.

However, Willow knew Winter wasn't lying. She had heard Ironwood saying similar things outside her door, but Willow knew it wasn't like Winter to make up a story of this caliber.

Especially the final part.

"She... can't be killed?" Willow asked her daughter. "Cinder told you this?"

"She saw it for herself at Haven Academy," Winter explained. "As for Salem herself, I was told by General Ironwood. Who was told by Professor Ozpin."

"So... they know. All of them."

"Yes, they do."

Willow took a deep breath to relax before she asked her next question. "Is this... Is this why you haven't been talking to me?" she asked. "You didn't want me to find out?"

That sounded a little too harsh, even for Winter. Remembering Cinder's advice, and knowing that she needed to patch things up with her mother, Winter did what Penny would have done.

She spoke from her heart.

"Mother... it's true that I didn't want you to find out just yet," Winter began. "General Ironwood believed we could tell everyone when Amity went up, and I agreed. But as Mr. Djarin said, I had to tell you now or never."

Willow nodded. "I understand," she began. "But that doesn't answer my question."

"I know. It's just..." Winter took a moment to collect her thoughts on what to say next. It didn't take long, however. "Mother, I know how much you want me to come back here. And I know you still don't completely agree with the General. After all..." Winter pointed to the prosthetic eye she had. "You still blame him for this happening to me." After Willow nodded once again, Winter made her point clear. "But the thing is... I don't."

"..."

"I don't blame him for this. And I don't see him the way you do. And... I don't want to stay away from the conflict at hand. I... I don't want to stay here."

"..."

Winter had tried to let her mother down gently, but the statement hit Willow like a ton of bricks. Not because Winter wanted to keep fighting, but because of something she believed back in the dining room.

"Was it... Was it something I said?" Willow asked. "Something I did?"

Winter immediately shook her head. "No, it's not nothing like that," she insisted. "I mean, being here sometimes made me think of Father and everything he did, but it's not like that." Winter put a hand on top of her mother's. "It's not you, Mother. I know you did the best you could for me, between being a single parent and running the company. The truth is... it's me."

"..."

"I'm ready, Mother. I know I'm only fifteen, but I'm ready for this. Salem may be immortal, but we have a plan to get around that. And I'm ready to be a part of it. I'm ready for what I decided to do with my life."

"..."

When Willow finished listening, she realized that this day had been coming ever since Winter was born. That one day she would realize that she was ready to live her own life, however she saw fit. Every mother knew that this day would come for their children, but Willow had a hard time believing it had come so soon.

Nonetheless, Willow was prepared to respect this decision; after just one more question.

"Are you sure?" Willow asked calmly.

Winter nodded slowly. "I'm sure," she replied.

"..."

"..."

"In that case... it seems all I can do is wish you luck." Willow stood up and extended her arms, sending her daughter off with one final hug. Winter accepted the embrace, as well as the kiss her mother planted on her forehead. "Good luck, darling."

"Thank you, Mother," Winter replied with a smile. "Thank you."

When she left her mother's study, Winter found General Ironwood and Robyn Hill waiting for her outside the manor. They had an airship ready to take them away from the house, where they would be taken back to Atlas Academy. They would make a plan there, since Robyn was still processing everything she heard.

She was still processing it after the ship took to the air.

"Are you okay, Ms. Hill?" Winter asked.

"Huh?" Robyn asked when she looked up. "Oh, uh... yeah. Yeah, I'm good." Robyn had to shake her head briefly in order to focus on the present, but she was focused now.

"I'm sure it was a lot to take in," Winter continued. "If you have any questions-"

"No, that's fine. I got the picture." Robyn's cheeks grew red when she thought of something else. "I, uh... I guess you really needed those supplies from Mantle, huh?" This was the second time that Robyn felt that she made a fatal error in judgment, even though the secrecy Ironwood was using led her to making her recent choices.

Winter understood that Robyn felt foolish, but it wasn't as bad as it sounded. "If it's any consolation, our scientists and engineers actually worked at a faster rate when they got the supplies back. We should expect Amity up sooner than we thought."

"Oh, yeah? Well, that's good."

Winter nodded as she moved to the cockpit of the ship. Ironwood was talking to someone on the radio, but he paused when he saw Winter approach. "Winter," he said as he lowered his hand from his ear. "I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to talk to you before we left. How did it go with Willow?"

"Rather well, actually," said Winter, who reflected on her conversation with her mother. Opening up to her and leaving on good terms was much better than she expected. "Permission to speak freely, sir?"

"Granted," Ironwood replied.

"It actually... felt good. Getting it all out in the open. Salem, the Maidens, all of it." Winter formed a small smile as she remembered it all. "It felt good to be able to tell the truth to people who needed to hear it."

"...Yes," Ironwood replied, albeit neutrally. "I suppose so."

"..."

If Winter didn't know any better, she would say that the General sounded half-hearted in his response. It almost made her think that she had spoken out of turn. But when she saw Ironwood talk on his radio once again, Winter brushed aside the comment as her superior needing to focus.

"Is the fleet still in formation, Admiral?" Ironwood asked.

"Yes, General," Admiral Thrawn said over the radio. "Our Mantas are working in the tundra while Tarkin has his ground forces across Mantle."

"Tell him to expect Task Force 99 soon. And I want any Mantas you can spare to be sent to Amity immediately. We need the Colosseum secure."

"If I may, General, I have prepared a... different strategy for Amity."

Ironwood was used to Thrawn always having something up his sleeve, even though Ironwood never knew what it was. But the Admiral hadn't steered him wrong yet, so Ironwood decided to listen.

"What did you have in mind?" Ironwood asked.

"If these saboteurs plan to do to Amity what they did to the heating grid, there may be a way to find them faster than we have before," Thrawn replied.

"And that would be?"

"Giving them what they want."

"..."

---

"Whoa."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I tested him myself. Whatever this... thing is, it's real."

"My Gods."

"..."

General Ironwood and Robyn had arrived at Atlas Academy, where the Happy Huntresses were waiting for them. They weren't entirely better, but their injuries had healed enough for another fight. They would just have to be more careful than usual.

Ironwood was in the process of making a plan of defense with his soldiers and requested Robyn's assistance prior to her departure for Mantle. And given everything she had seen and heard, Robyn was in no position to turn down Ironwood's offer.

But first, she needed to tell her friends what they were all up against.

"Let me get this straight," said May. "The Blairs and Durge are actually Grimm?"

"And they were sent here by someone who can control Grimm?" Joanna asked.

"That's why they attacked Beacon and Haven?" Fiona asked. "To leave the world defenseless?"

"Pretty much," said Robyn. "There's also something about the academies hiding something the Grimm want, but I don't understand everything about that."

The Huntresses decided to ignore the idea about the Relics for the moment and focus on what was in front of them. "And now they're doing the same thing in Atlas," said Fiona.

"How do we stop them?" May asked.

"By stopping the Grimm," said Robyn. "And protecting Amity."

"Right, that," said Joanna. "Okay, I get we're supposed to protect it, but why didn't Ironwood just say Amity was a new communications tower?"

"Because he didn't want to see it blow up like the heating grid did."

"Oh..."

With everyone now in full understanding, Robyn decided to focus on the reason she told her friends everything. "Look, everyone... I think it's safe to say that the situation for us has totally changed," she said. "This fight isn't just about Mantle anymore. It's about all of Remnant. And it's a lot bigger than the four of us."

"..."

"Between me feeling better after that fight in the sewers, and everything I did and didn't do with Mantle, I'm in it for the long run. Whatever Ozpin and Ironwood need from me, I'm there. But if you don't feel the same way, I understand. I won't stop you if you want to leave."

"Come on, Robyn," Joanna said sarcastically. "You know us better than that. Why would we leave?"

"Because..." Robyn took a breath before she fully replied. "Because there's no guarantee we're actually gonna win this. Once we're in... I can't promise that we'll come out."

"..."

This was enough to make the Happy Huntresses stop and think for a moment. They were still loyal to Robyn and Mantle, but hearing an uncertainty such as this was enough to make them pause. They were still trying to believe everything they heard, which told them that this fight would be long and arduous.

And not without sacrifice.

On the other hand, this wouldn't be the first time the Happy Huntresses had risked their lives for people. Whether it was Grimm or a war, nothing was going to stop them from defending Mantle or the Kingdom of Atlas. And so, with resolute glares, each of the Happy Huntresses put their hands together to show Robyn that they were with her.

"Let's do this," said Fiona, who was waiting for her leader to put her hand on next. And when she did so, Robyn felt more united with her friends than before.

"Let's do this," she said with a smile.

But before she could leave the academy, General Ironwood told Robyn that he was preparing a message for the Kingdom of Atlas; one that he needed her help with. So Robyn would stay a little longer to help deliver this message.

But first, she decided to visit someone who wasn't with her or the Happy Huntresses.

Boba Fett was still at the medical center of Atlas Academy, and he was still recovering from the fight in the sewers. The medics had performed successful surgery on him, and his Aura was working, but there wasn't anything else they could do to get Boba off the hospital bed. It would take several weeks before he could fight again.

But the worst part was that Boba didn't know about the true fight at hand.

Robyn wanted to tell Boba everything, but he was resting when she visited him. So while she didn't believe she could tell him the truth, Robyn decided to tell Boba what was going to happen.

"Hey, Shamrock," she said, using the nickname she gave him after seeing Boba's green armor. "You're not dying on me yet, are you?"

"..."

Boba was silent, but the machines he was attached to told Robyn that he was still alive. And so, Robyn decided to continue her talk in a more serious manner.

"Look, about what happened in the sewers... I found out that the fight is a lot bigger than we thought. It's... It's something people have been fighting before. For centuries."

"..."

"Believe it or not, Ironwood's been fighting it too. Keeping secrets didn't help that much, but he's been trying to fight the good fight. And I'm gonna fight it too."

"..."

"The only problem is... I don't know if I'm gonna make it back. If any of us are."

"..."

"Like I said, this fight's been going on for centuries. A lot of people were involved. And it's not over."

"..."

"I'm not sure if I'm gonna make it back. And I'm not sure if we'll win anytime soon. But I just want you know that I'll be joining.

"..."

"And in case I don't make it back... Well, there's a hell of a lot of stuff I can say to you." Robyn chuckled to herself as she thought of what to say. "Like how proud I am to be your friend. Even before my parents took you in, you were always my best friend. I'm just... sorry we drifted apart for a little while."

"..."

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna give you a lecture about choosing the right side or what-not. You made your choice, I respect that. All I'm saying is I'm sorry we won't be fighting together right now. Or... maybe ever again."

"..."

"I'm sorry, Boba. Goodbye."

"..."

It wasn't much, but it was the best Robyn could think of at the moment. She didn't know when, or if, she would see Boba again, so it was best to say whatever came to mind. As a soldier in this war against Salem, the risks would be even higher than before. But Robyn understood that, and told herself that with each step she took to the door.

Boba had often helped Robyn out of a bind when she needed it. And now Robyn knew she would have to fight for people like him now.

"Don't count me out just yet, Robyn."

The sound of a familiar voice caused Robyn to turn around as fast as she could. As soon as she did, Robyn immediately believed her eyes were playing tricks on her.

There was a man in the room, wearing a set of green Mandalorian armor. And he was ready for a fight.

"Boba?" Robyn asked as she turned to the bed. At first, she saw that her friend was still resting on the bed. But when she saw a green color glow across his body, Robyn knew something was going on.

*WHOOSH*

Another man wearing green Mandalorian armor appeared before Robyn and spoke in the same voice. "Or me," he said as he gripped a rifle he was carrying.

*WHOOSH*

"Or me," said a third man.

*WHOOSH*

"Or me."

*WHOOSH*

"Or me."

Five copies of Boba wearing Mandalorian armor were standing in front of Robyn. The real Boba wasn't using his Aura to heal himself, but rather focus on the Semblance that could create clones. Robyn was somewhat jealous of this ability, since her friend could create a small army for himself. But now, a small army like this was exactly what she needed.

And while she was concerned about Boba's health, Robyn knew it would be pointless to try and change his mind. He may not have been aware of the fight like Robyn was, but Boba was involved now more than ever.

"Well..." Robyn said as she examined the clone force before her. "Alright, then."

---

Author's notes: hey, everyone. Hope you're all doing good. Sorry about the time I needed to publish this chapter, I'm just swamped with a lot of things right now. But I'll do my best to keep updates consistent.

I noticed that there weren't that many comments on the last chapter, I hope that's not because you didn't like it. But if there was something you didn't like (or don't like), feel free to write a comment. I'm always happy to hear what's on your mind, as well as what can be improved in this story.

To nandipanzee12, sorry nobody died in this chapter. But I promise next chapter will have a lot of action that will leave you satisfied. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

To Servos New Head, glad you liked everything here. Thrawn is going to be more involved next chapter, as well as the rest of the arc, you'll see. As for Boba, even though he's hospitalized, he's got something going on too. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

To CT7567Rules, Obi-Wan came close to killing Durge, but no cigar. You'll see what happens next chapter, with Durge as well as the Happy Huntresses. I hope you're happy they're not dead, but they certainty got more than they could handle. And yes, you did see Tarkin. I have plans with him as well. And Robyn's VA wants to be a Decepticon, huh? I could see her as a good Blackarachnia, or maybe even Slipstream (we don't see too much of her). Thanks for the arsenal ideas and fic recommendation, I'll have to check it out. And thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

That's all I have for now. Sorry this chapter took so long and seems a bit slow, but things will definitely pick up next chapter. Don't forget to leave a comment before you go, hearing from you is always a treat.

The Court of Talons is adjourned. See you next time!