As the ship began to rumble, Team RWBY watched as the screen above showed the ship taking to the skies and above the clouds. Hearing the sound of the main door sliding open, Team RWBY turned around to see the Ace Ops enter the room.

"How's Evan? Is he alright?" Ruby asked worriedly.

"Don't worry, Evan's nice and snug in one of those healing pod things. Now as to when he'll be fixed up, that's not something I can really say." Elm kindly replied back as Marrow stepped forward with a look of astonishment on his face.

"Look at that!" Marrow exclaimed as he pointed at the screen.

On the monitor, it showed a wide view of the ground far below and the reaches of space high above. In between the dozens of cotton like clouds, all the way down to the ground, the group watched as the roots from the Tree of Might began to slowly crack and turn to dust as they collapsed in on themselves.

"Good riddance." Weiss scoffed as the ship continued its course.

"Oh! Hey, Penny? You think you could stop the ship by Argus?" Ruby questioned.

"What for?" Harriet asked curiously.

"We left some of our friends in Argus when we decided to head to the Tree of Might…Also, one of the relics is with them." Ruby explained with a slight amount of embarrassment on her face.

"You should've led with that first." Marrow pointed out to Ruby as he walked up next to Penny.

"Is there, like, some kind of stealth mode on this thing? After everything that those civilians have been through today, I don't think they can take even the idea that they could be getting invaded by aliens." Marrow proposed as he looked at the various machines surrounding Penny.

"I believe so. There seems to be an option of some sort over on this console that fits your idea." Penny added as she quickly activated a program on the console to her left, causing a quiet hum to sound throughout the ship.

"I don't think that'll be necessary." Harriet said as she gestured back to the screen above them.

In between the clouds, as the city of Argus came into view, the group saw multiple massive Atlesian ships and soldiers escorting groups of people inside the very same vehicles, some of which were already taking off and heading north.

"I didn't think the General would be so quick to act." Blake stated, surprised at the show of kindness.

"Why do you think we decided to be his top operatives?" Elm replied.

"Yeah. The man himself may seem all tough and emotionless on the outside, but he cares more about the people than you can imagine." Clover affirmed.

"Don't worry, when we return, we'll escort them up to Atlas Academy personally as soon as they land. The faster that the relic is safe and secured, the better. Who exactly should they be looking out for?" Vine explained.

"Oh, that's easy." Ruby explained as she started listing off all of their friends' and companions' names.

Before long, the spaceship had not only crossed the ocean, but had already reached the city of Mantle and the floating city of Atlas.

"Hey Penny. Head toward the southwestern edge of Atlas." Clover instructed.

"Of course, Mister Ebi!" Penny replied with a cheerful smile as she adjusted the ship's course.

"You don't have to keep calling me that, Clover's fine with me." Clover added.

As the ship moved closer and closer toward Atlas, Ruby took notice of the large amount of farmland on both the west and east sides of the large floating landmass. The main city of Atlas was a straight and narrow strip starting from the island's south side that got wider and more expansive the further you reached toward the north side of the landmass. Near the north end of the island was a large plateau that held the huntsman school of Atlas Academy.

"I didn't think they would be any farms and stuff all the way up here." Ruby muttered out with a surprised look on her face.

"Well, with Atlas being at the top of the world, both literally and metaphorically…" Harriet explained with pride in her voice.

"Atlas and Mantle need to be at least partially self-sustaining in case any trade routes get swarmed with Grimm. Thanks to Atlas's tech, we've managed to grow food even in the most inhospitable place on the globe." Harriet continued as the ship lowered itself down toward a large field of grain.

"Regardless, why are we landing here? We passed the landing docks a ways back." Yang inquired.

"Just give me a second." Clover quickly replied as he pulled out his scroll and started up a call.

"Hey. Yeah, it's me. Listen, I got something that we need to put away. Could you open the western secondary hatch on the top level? Trust me, you guys are going to have a field day with this thing. Thanks, you have a good one." Clover said aloud as the rest of Team RWBY listened in on the leader's side of the conversation.

Ending the call, Clover picketed the small device as the screen above them showed a section of the field begin to shift and vibrate as two parts of the field were raised up vertically before sliding away in separate directions, revealing a large expansive square hole.

"Ok Penny, I'll need you to take it down easy. Just be gentle with it." Clover instructed.

"Understood!" Penny said with a friendly salute as she carefully navigated the ship deeper and deeper into the hole.

On the screen, the group saw that the interior of the room that they were lowered into consisted mainly of gray metal walls with bright, fluorescent, white lights. The room was massive, easily being able to accompany at least three more of the same spaceship they were piloting. In the given space were various sizable machines that were actively being worked on by numerous scientists.

With a soft thud, the ship came to a stop as Penny turned around to face Team RWBY and the Ace Ops.

"Welcome to Atlas! Oh, this is so exciting! I can't wait to show you around!" Penny exclaimed happily as Clover's scroll went off.

Pulling it out, Clover quickly read the message that was sent to his device.

"Sorry, to disappoint, but it seems like the General wants to speak to you four right away." Clover said to the four huntresses in training.

"Did he say why?" Yang questioned.

"Since I informed the General that you four are already aware of who Salem is…" Clover explained as he gestured to his scroll.

"Along with how the fact that you four helped stopped the incident at Haven Academy. The General thinks there's some things that you should be made aware of. He's also pretty curious as to what exactly you learned from the relic." Clover continued as he walked toward Ruby and placed something in her hand.

Inspecting the object, Ruby saw that it was a plastic silver card with Atlas Academy's symbols etched onto it. Looking back up, she saw the Ace Ops begin to walk out of the room with Marrow gesturing to them to follow.

"Come on Penny!" Ruby exclaimed as the rest of her team followed after the Ace Ops.

"Just give me one second. I need to shut off all of the ship's systems." Penny replied as she started typing away at the nearby consoles.

/-/

Exiting the spaceship, Team RWBY looked around the large room, noticing how Turles's ship was flashing rapidly in and out of being invisible before completely becoming visible after a few seconds had passed.

"I guess that was the cloaking system that Penny was referring to earlier." Ruby thought to herself.

"What is this place?" Blake muttered out in bewilderment, her voice echoing through the room.

"This is a secret floor that only people that Ironwood absolutely trusts get access to. It's where he keeps his most important projects. To even reach and leave this floor, you need a special card like the one I gave you." Clover elaborated.

Across the room, Team RWBY could notice an elevator along with a massive sealed door on the wall next to it.

"What's in there?" Weiss asked curiously.

"Like I said earlier, General Ironwood will catch you up to speed." Clover replied as they reached the elevator.

Swiping a nearby card reader with her own silver card, Elm watched as the card reader flashed green, causing the elevator door to open.

As the Ace Ops piled in, Clover looked toward Penny and Team RWBY.

"Penny will bring you to Ironwood and get you all situated once the meeting is over. Also, before we show the ropes with Ki training, do take some time to relax. Sometimes you don't realize how wound up you are until you just snap. I want you all to be at the top of your game before we have to throw you through the wringer." Clover instructed as the doors closed.

Swiping Clover's card into the card reader, Ruby and the others entered the elevator. As Penny tapped one of the top floor buttons, the group felt the elevator silently shoot upwards. Exiting out of the elevator, the group found themselves in a long hallway leading to a large set of doors.

"General Ironwood's office is just ahead!" Penny explained.

"Hey Penny, could you just give us a second?" Blake questioned nervously as Penny turned around with a concerned look.

"There's something I wanted to discuss with my team first before we talk to Ironwood." Blake explained as Penny perked back up.

"I understand. I'll head inside and tell him you're here!" Penny replied as she practically skipped her way over to the massive doors.

As the group huddled together, everyone looked toward Blake.

"What's up?" Ruby inquired.

"It's just…Do you think we should trust Ironwood?" Blake asked in a hushed tone as the rest of the group looked at her in confusion.

"What makes you say that?" Yang asked the black haired faunus.

"Don't you remember Leo Lionheart back at Haven? That guy was an Academy Headmaster, just like Ironwood, and he was working with Cinder and Salem! What if Ironwood's the same?" Blake replied back.

"Clover mentioned that the General wants to know what we learned from the relic. If Ironwood is working for her, the last thing we should tell him is the whole deal with Salem's immortality." Blake worriedly continued whispering.

"I spent most of my life growing up in Atlas, and if there's anyone that we should trust, I'd argue it's Ironwood. I can attest that his character is upstanding compared to other Atlesian elites." Weiss asserted.

"Yeah! If it wasn't for him, the Tree of Might could have destroyed the whole planet." Ruby argued as Blake's nervous posture relaxed slightly.

"You might be right…Sorry if I'm being so paranoid. Maybe Clover's right that we need some time to unwind after all." Blake said apologetically.

"Hey, don't sweat it. We've all been through a lot these last few days. What's important is that we look out for each other and stick together!" Ruby affirmed.

"You think you're ready now?" Yang questioned as she looked toward Blake who gave a silent nod back at her.

"Awesome! Then what we waiting for?! Let's go team!" Ruby declared as she raised a fist in the air.

/-/

Entering Ironwood's office, the group saw Penny standing to the side of Ironwood's desk, her expression brightening as she watched the four of them enter.

With the afternoon sun to his back, Ironwood got out of his seat and approached the four teens.

"H-Hello, General. Sorry for taking so long. I imagine your schedule's probably pretty packed and all." Ruby awkwardly said aloud.

"It's quite alright." Ironwood replied with a pleasant look on his face.

"I must admit, after I heard the news of what you all did at Haven Academy, the last place I expected to encounter you four was at that horrific tree." Ironwood continued.

"Well, if there's trouble somewhere, it's not our M.O. to just sit back and let it happen." Yang argued in an almost joking manner.

"True enough. I'm just glad that you all managed to make it out of that situation unharmed." Ironwood said with an empathetic expression.

"What about the people of Argus?" Blake inquired.

"Currently, the people are alive albeit shocked by the massive event. From the reports I've received, the whole city's populace was thankfully evacuated before the roots from the Tree of Might tore their way through the city. Rebuilding will take time, and until Argus's walls are reconstructed, its people will reside in Mantle for the time being." Ironwood explained.

"Specialist Ebi filled me in on what happened to Evan. It's a miracle that he fought Turles and his men for as long as he did." Ironwood elaborated with concern in his voice as he briefly lowered his head out of respect.

"But there's still so much to do, so we can't dawdle for long. From what I've heard, you managed to use the Relic of Knowledge to learn about Salem?" Ironwood asked the four huntresses.

"Pretty much. However, someone already managed to use the Lamp before we got our hands on it. So I guess that means the relic only has one question left before it's got to recharge for a century." Yang replied.

"That's a shame. Was there anything in particular that you learned that you wish to share? Anything at all?" Ironwood inquired politely with a small twinge of hope in his voice.

"Yeah, the spirit of the Lamp, Jinn, mentioned that although Salem's immortal and can regenerate from any injury, she does have a weakness." Ruby answered, causing a look of utter shock to cross the General's face.

Collecting himself, Ironwood leaned forward, now completely invested for whatever Ruby was about to say next.

"If someone like me uses the power of the silver eyes on Salem, her immortality will be temporarily removed.

And if another individual who is powerful enough to eradicate Salem attacks her in that instance…" Ruby

"She can be killed?" Ironwood muttered out, a look of astonishment now clear on his face.

"Yes." Weiss affirmed.

"This…this is excellent news! Outstanding even! I-I can hardly believe it!" Ironwood continued with a growing smile on his face.

"If you and Evan were to work together…" Ironwood said as he started to think out loud.

"There is one other thing, General." Blake announced, cutting off the General.

"We heard from Qrow that you were in Ozpin's inner circle. I assume that you knew what happened when Ozpin died?" Blake questioned.

"Yes, he reincarnat…Did you actually manage to find him?" Ironwood speculated as surprise filled his face.

"Yes. Well, it was more that he found us while we were heading to Haven Academy a while back." Yang explained.

"So wher…who is he now?" Ironwood asked the blonde teen.

"He's sharing a body with one of the individuals the Ace Ops are escorting up to the Academy, a boy named Oscar Pine." Yang continued as the expression on Ironwood's face changed to one of relief.

"Thank you all so much for coming forward with this information. Things have been…chaotic since the Fall of Beacon Academy. Maybe with Oz's help, we could finally finish the chapter on this dark part of Remnant's history." Ironwood stated as he pulled out a small remote from a pocket on his large military jacket.

"You four have told me much today, so why don't I do the same?" Ironwood asked as he pressed a button on the remote.

In the middle of the room, a large rotating platform slowly rose up from the floor. At the same time, large metallic blinds covered up the window in the back of the office, obscuring everything in darkness for a short moment.

Immediately afterwards, a bright hologram emerged above the platform, causing Team RWBY to shield their eyes for a second as they adjusted to the bright holographic image. The hologram showed off what looked to be an updated version of Amity Colosseum with a massive antenna constructed on top of it.

"With Vale's CCT Tower still inoperable after Beacon Academy was ravaged by the Grimm and Salem's forces, communications between countries are still incredibly difficult to get out, if not downright impossible." Ironwood explained as he gestured to the antenna atop the structure

"That's why I am deciding to modify Amity Colosseum. By turning the arena into a massive satellite, and sending it into orbit, the world will have access to global communications once more. Not only that, but with it in the outermost atmospheres of our planet, a place no Grimm will be able to reach, it will allow the world to stay permanently connected." Ironwood elaborated with an optimistic tone in his voice.

"Amazing..." Ruby mumbled out in awe.

"Indeed. However, once its construction is complete and sent off into the skies, I plan on sharing something to the people that will prove to be difficult to bear. Something…that Ozpin thought should best remain secret." Ironwood stated.

"The truth about Salem." The General declared.

"What?" Yang replied in a surprised tone before shifting to one of concern.

"If you do that, the public's going to be panicked out of their minds!" Yang shouted out.

"And panic does attract Grimm. But don't worry, the General has a great plan!" Penny explained with a smile.

"Penny's right. At first, I plan to only share the news with the cities of Atlas and Mantle first. With Evan, Penny, Winter, and the Ace Ops all trained in the art of wielding Ki, any Grimm that do emerge will be easily dealt with. From there, I'll send my fleet out along with Evan and the others and we'll repeat the process in the various other Kingdoms of the world." Ironwood continued.

"With all of Remnant's citizens safe from any immediate threats of the Grimm, we will work together to finally defeat Salem!" Ironwood exclaimed.

"And with the knowledge that you've shared with me, I'm more than confident that the task can truly be done!" Ironwood finished.

"This plan seems pretty sound." Weiss said confidently as she looked toward Ruby.

"We already were planning on getting some Ki training from the Ace Ops. If you plan on going through with this, then we'll try to help however we can." Ruby asserted.

"I'm glad to hear it, but there is one more thing that I wished to share with you." Ironwood explained.

"When I had become one of Ozpin's trusted allies, I learned that Salem had remained in the shadows for centuries, simply letting her Grimm torment the citizens of Remnant. It's only been in the last two decades or so that she has been actively at work, concocting her schemes. Whatever the reason that has caused Salem to become bolder in her tactics, I fear that a conflict is on the horizon for both Mantle and Atlas. And if she is undoubtedly aware of Atlas's military might, then she won't come unprepared. That is why I had one of my top scientists work on a new weapon. A great machine that can easily wipe out any legion of Grimm that could dare threaten Atlas." Ironwood elaborated.

"I call it, Project Gjallarhorn." Ironwood stated as he pressed another button on the remote.

As the hologram changed, the sight left Team RWBY speechless.

/-/

As Nevermores, Griffons, and Sphinxes flew overhead, a collection of individuals left the confines of a black stone castle and approached a large stone landing platform containing a single small airship.

"Finally, we get to leave! After that fiasco at Haven, I really hope I get to see some real action in Mantle." Mercury bragged.

"Yeah, because nothing screams action like the middle of the frozen tundra. I thought you hated the cold?" Emerald questioned.

"Hey, anything's better than this place. I can't explain why, but something about this place has never sat right with me." Mercury argued as he looked up at the massive Nevermores flying high above them.

"I know that Salem said the Grimm won't hurt us specifically, but it doesn't help that the monsters here still look at me as if I'm a five course meal." Mercury said as he shook his head fiercely.

"The sooner we're gone, the better, that's all I'll say." Mercury concluded as they continued walking toward

"I thought you'd be more irritated by the fact that Salem's making us bring that Hound along." Emerald stated as she pointed toward the beast walking behind them.

The monster in question was a black and white four legged Grimm. It resembled a skinny Beowolf with much larger limbs and various bone-like spikes jutting out from its back.

"Hey Hazel, you really sure that this thing won't lash out and bite the nearest civilian's head off once we get to that safe house in Mantle?" Mercury questioned as he looked up at the tall man in front of them.

"If Salem says that it won't, then I believe her." Hazel simply explained before going silent once more.

"Fine…So long as I don't get blamed for whatever Fido ends up doing, then that's fine with me." Mercury replied as they continued forward.

However, right as they approached the solitary vehicle on the platform, the trio of humans saw an object rapidly flying through the air.

"What is that?" Emerald asked as she squinted her eyes.

As the object got closer, they saw that it was an airship of similar size to the one they were about to pilot.

"An airship? I thought Watts and Tyrian were already in Mantle. So who the hell is that? And why aren't the Grimm attacking them?" Mercury pondered.

As the small airship landed, two figures exited the vehicle. One was a young female adult with white, pink, and brown hair. Wielding a pink and white umbrella, the lady carefully adjusted the black top hat she was wearing before stepping out.

The other was an older female figure with a green and brown attire that covered most of her features, including both of her arms and face. Pulling the hood away, the trio immediately realized the identity of the woman.

"Cinder?" Hazel said in a surprised tone.

"You're alive!" Emerald cried happily.

"Yeah, greeaaatt…" Mercury added with an immense amount of sarcasm in his voice.

"Where have you been?! I've been so worried!" Emerald inquired with an immense amount of concern in her voice.

"After Raven, that treacherous bandit leader, severely wounded me, I thought that I was done for. But there was one thing that kept me going…" Cinder explained as she pulled away her left sleeve to reveal a black, twitching, skeletal, Grimm arm.

"My desire to get revenge on that miserable, little brat, Ruby Rose!" Cinder declared as the wind bellowed, showing off how her left eye was completely gone.

"Whatever Salem did to heal me after Ruby's damn Silver eyes blasted me at Beacon…" Cinder explained as she gestured to her missing eye and the Grimm arm.

"It managed to keep alive, but just barely. For a while, I went into hiding as I slowly regained my strength." Cinder continued.

"During my time in Mistral, I encountered our old acquaintance Neo, Torchwick's loyal ally." Cinder announced as she gestured to the bitter looking young lady.

"It seems during our attack on Beacon, Torchwick tragically met his end, and Neo believes Ruby is to blame. So, I decided to recruit her to our great Queen's cause." Cinder elaborated.

"It seems even in my absence, Salem has continued her plans. Whatever it may be, I'll happily tag along for the ride. Where is it that you're heading?" Cinder questioned Emerald.

"We're traveling to Mantle." Emerald stated in a pleased tone.

"Oh? Is that so? And what is the first thing on our agenda?" Cinder inquired.

"We're going to go kill that Skyward sucker, Evan Anderson." Mercury replied with an evil smirk.

/-/

Hey everyone! I hope you're enjoying the story so far! Leave a review to let me know your thoughts. I should have the next chapter out within two weeks or so.

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