"What are you people doing?" Caroline demanded from the communications.
"Giving you a hand," Qrow responded.
As far as any one of these soldiers knew, Qrow was the only one who was doing all the flight controls, and he was doing an excellent job of that.
"Nonsense!" Caroline's reply was enough that everyone there was thankful for the lack of headsets; they could all hear her just fine. "You people have a more important task if you're under authority of Atlas. Leave us here to our business! We can handle it ourselves!"
Qrow and Rider exchanged looks. Rider nodded.
"Look," Qrow explained. "Atlas military is great and all—"
"The best in Remnant!" Caroline had to add.
Qrow kept going. "But the point is that Atlas' tech is meant for Grimm. The least we could do is ease up the burden."
"No," Caroline insisted. "And I will show you why."
The line went dead. Qrow looked to Rider for spoilers.
"The Colossus," Rider said. "She's going to bring that old thing out."
"Gods," Qrow replied. "I remember hearing about those."
"Why?" Ruby asked. "What's a Colossus?"
"A product of a bygone era. Old Atlas tech."
"Will it work, uncle Qrow?"
Qrow shook his head. "Against a Leviathan? Yeah, I can see it. Against those toys? Not really. The Colossus is meant for big things, not small fry."
"Don't mean to add other problems," Lancer said. "But we still got god of light. And as far as I can tell, them Colossus isn't going to get through the immortality question."
"Here it comes," Rider said. His finger raised. "Look."
Concealed within Argus' military base, the layers of ice had begun to break apart with some melting off as the massive Colossus was awakened. The systems had begun to activate and the whirs of its systems came online.
The Colossus stood on its feet. Pyrrha had been in Argus for much of her life before Beacon. Sanctum Academy was there in Argus and she trained under Chiron here. Yet, she never once bore witness nor had she heard of this massive machinery from, apparently, old Atlas. Atlas never did a showcase of it. By the looks of it, Pyrrha didn't need to think why. The fuel that it would consume must be massive.
As if responding to it, the Leviathan was moving towards the Colossus. However, it paid more attention to the nearby toys that were still swarming over it, swatting them away like annoying flies. It roared like an animal asserting its dominance in the territory. The Colossus made response, not one that could be thought in the same way.
The airspace was becoming chaotic as toys, Grimm, and Bullheads were having their own skirmishes. Atlas was the only one that had some modicum of order with their formations and maneuvers. Avian Grimm were similar enough as they swarmed their enemies.
Toys were, at best, a nuisance. However, what concerned Pyrrha and the rest were the unnatural clouds that continued to grow larger. Lightning began to flash with some of its bolts aiming for the Grimm. The god of light had yet to appear from those clouds and if she were to give it her judgement, he was lazy about it.
"So uh," Ruby asked. "Not that I'm having second thoughts about this, but what exactly is the plan here? Because I got nothing."
"We'll leave the Grimm to Atlas," Rider said. "Our goal is to get god of light to follow us." He adjusted the ship to keep himself away from the chaotic dogfight.
He looked to Lancer.
"I'm not sure how much better that's going to be," Lancer said. "God of light is controlling but I'm not so sure about vengeful."
Caroline called them once more from the communications. "What on Remnant are you people still doing in there? You're obstructing Atlas military operation!"
Qrow picked up the mic. "We're here under orders of Haven Academy. That is among our orders, operative." It was the best imitation of the military discipline that he could muster.
Rider emphasized Qrow's point by flying closer to the unnatural cloud formation. Unnaturally colored lights continued to flash. Once they got closer, those in the cockpit could see most of those toys falling from it.
"We have reason to believe that the cloud formation forming above Argus' waters are our objectives," Qrow added.
Toys and Grimm continued to ignore them whenever the other was closer. Rider made sure to keep his flight away from it all. If not, shots were fired from the Bullhead.
"Operative?" Qrow asked when Caroline did not answer.
The Colossus continued to move and it moved towards the Leviathan. Caroline never gave an answer.
"She's too focused," Rider said after turning off the mic. "Let's just draw the god of light to us."
From what Pyrrha could see however, Rider didn't look like he had a plan. He was mumbling to himself.
"Hear that, Master?" Lancer exclaimed, feigning maddening excitement. "Get ready to meet your maker!"
Rider had the airship's doors opened. Grimm and toys may be prioritizing each other right now but they were still flying too close. Nora and Ren already went ahead and begun to shoot down those that came too close.
"Keep them company!" Ruby readied her weapon.
"Rider!" Pyrrha said. But she paused. "Don't… let's not do anything to hasty."
Rider nodded. But he didn't appear focused.
She drew her weapon. As she shot down the first of the toys, she too was trying to figure something out. She was staring at those clouds.
/-/
As soon as his Master had left, the doors closed.
"You have to," Lancer added to Pyrrha's words. "We're all here on the same airship now."
Qrow never looked more remorseful. He was shaking his head. "You really should have just materialized. I don't think any of your sisters would have seen you."
"I could take over for now," Rider said. "Cordovin has yet to answer. I think she's too focused on the Leviathan."
On the other side of the windows, the Leviathan and the Colossus were getting close to one another. The Colossus was readying its cannon-arm. The Grimm and toy swarm were swatted away like flies by the other. Bolts of lightning fell from the clouds.
"Go," Rider said. "Lancer and I will take it in here."
Qrow nodded and left, weapon drawn. It didn't take long for his shots to be heard among the cacophony of sounds.
"So, what do we got here?" Lancer took the co-pilot's seat. "Weather report didn't mention a rain of unused toys. Look at those things, they're brand new."
The Bullhead's movements were becoming less straight and more chaotic. Toys and Grimm were congesting closer, making Rider's avoidance of them difficult should he ever try to get close. The clouds continued to loom over them all. Lancer didn't appear bothered by it; the god of light wasn't looking at their direction.
"He isn't paying attention to us," Rider said, shaking his head.
"Not yet," Lancer replied. She braced as Rider made a hard turn left. "How are you even keeping them away from us like this?"
To answer her point, a Paper Pleaser appeared by Lancer's side.
"It's subtle," Rider commented. "Just enough to keep them away from all of us. I'd make a spectacle out of this but even Atlas is shooting the Papers down. They can't tell the difference. They have no reason to."
Then, it was as though the air itself had shook. The Leviathan and the Colossus had clashed for the first time in melee. Their movements slow but the power contained in them was massive. Communications came everywhere as airships hurriedly talked with one another. Caroline's voice was among them but she was incomprehensible.
"Light is too focused on the Grimm!" Qrow's muffled shout still managed to reach them. "We can't get them to pay attention to us!"
Neither Rider nor Lancer needed to be told that. They could see it for themselves. The airships were in a chaotic airspace against the Grimm and toys. Light must be thinking of them as being among Atlas' airships. Yet, not one lightning bolt came for them.
"I could get them with my Noble Phantasm," said Lancer. "It'll clear out the Grimm. Can't promise on the toys."
"But you're putting the rest of Atlas personnel in danger."
Lancer cursed. She hadn't thought of it. On the other end, it was the reason he hadn't went all in with the Paper Pleasers. Atlas have been shooting them down.
The airship resumed its chaotic turn. Despite not communicating with the rest of Atlas' airships, Rider managed to stay out of the general combat zone and even coordinated well enough with the rest when he would. Bullheads flew in formation and he could definitely make out them chastising him for being away.
Sorry guys, he thought. But we really need to get his attention somehow. But how?
Rider fired on the toys and had the Paper Pleasers cut down the Grimm. He was keeping silent as his senses and mind were all focused on keeping the Pleasers on the Grimm and the ammunition on the toys.
"Hey," Lancer demanded. "Why aren't you sending the Pleasers out on those toys? Light could target us that way."
Rider made a hard turn to the side, getting out of the chaos. "Too close," Rider said. He made a harder turn to the other as everyone else was suddenly blinded by a flash of light. His thoughts were somewhat jumbled outside of his piloting. "We'll get struck by lightning. I can't outride that with this Bullhead."
"Your mount is more capable than this bloody airship!" Lancer protested.
"My point exactly! Juniper could do it but I can't exactly bring her out unless you take over the airship. I don't mean to brag, Lancer. But I am a Rider for a reason! Trust me, just because I can ride good mounts doesn't mean I can suddenly make them do what they're not designed to do. I can only push it so far."
Lancer tapped furiously on the sides of her seat. "Screw it. Let Caroline see me."
She stood up and left.
In Rider's view, occasionally, Lancer's kamas would fly across only to return to where they had come. Rider cursed whenever he had to turn; those kamas could damage the Bullhead they were in. Rider could hear Caroline's voice among them but he couldn't make out what was being said.
Below, the Colossus and the Leviathan clashed. Claws swiped and left noticeable marks on the Colossus' metal. Meanwhile, the Colossus had its arm turn into a drill. But the Leviathan managed to move aside. The drill still drew a lot of Grimm blood and its rapid spins left a burning mark on the Leviathan.
The Leviathan bit on the Colossus' drill arm. With its own claws, it held the Colossus in place as it sought to rip that metal arm off. The Colossus had the cannon aimed directly for it.
Rider managed to hear Caroline's voice with clarity. "Got you!"
The cannon prepared its charge. The Leviathan, unaware of the other danger or too focused on the drill, failed to notice when the cannon had its full charge.
Then, the cannon let loose its beam. The hole in the Leviathan was massive. The force behind it took out many of the nearby Grimm and toys.
While the Grimm disintegrated, the toys fell into the depths below.
The communications were filled with applause and praise. Meanwhile, Rider had his full attention on the clouds above them. The god of light was silent. No new toys rained down with the remainders being killed off by whatever Grimm or airship still remained.
Soon, things turned to some kind of normalcy as Atlesian Bullheads clashed with the avian Grimm.
Meanwhile, Rider's Bullhead remained hovering in the air. The clouds still loomed above them as the other airships were returning home.
Lancer returned to the cockpit. "She didn't notice!" She sounded relieved. "Old coot is losing her memories if she couldn't notice these renewed robes!" She showed off her hooded cloak.
Rider was too focused on the cloud formation above them. Caroline Cordovin had yet to call them back, nor did she tell them to leave Argus' airspace.
Everyone else on the airship seemed to sound relieved at least. Then, Pyrrha entered the cockpit too.
"Rider?" she asked. She must have noticed the look on his face. "Is anything wrong?"
"Light isn't moving." Rider shook his head. He couldn't think of an idea in time, not one that put the bullhead at risk. How does a god even think? "He's not even paying attention to us at all, I think."
"Just shoot the damn worm!" Lancer insisted. "Get us some distance and take a few shots at it!"
Rider gulped as he did as was suggested. Pyrrha didn't give him any orders though she did remain by his side. She shook her head when he looked to her; she had no answers.
After getting that distance away, Rider fired a few shots into the clouds. Rider may not have the eyesight of an Archer-class, but he'd swear that he saw the two bullets pass through the clouds. Lightning continued to flash and the god of light never once made any moves in response. It still remained there.
"I think he's watching," Rider said.
"Nah." Lancer shook her head. Whatever remained of her spunk was gone, replaced by seriousness. "He's thinking. Contemplating."
"Is…" Pyrrha asked. "Is that a good thing?"
"Guys?" Nora peeked into the cockpit. "Why aren't we moving?"
On the other side of the door, Ruby, Ren, and Qrow were restocking their ammunitions. Ruby especially was shaking her head and mumbling something to herself.
"We can't exactly get to Atlas," Rider said. "Not without guaranteeing that light will follow."
"He stopped moving," Lancer concluded. "Those clouds were always headed for Atlas. But he isn't moving anymore."
"He can't be thinking that we're an actual threat now, does he?" Rider asked.
"I'll take it from here," Qrow said as he entered the cockpit. "You guys figure something out, but we can't stay airborne forever. We will be headed to Atlas."
Qrow was insistent on it that Rider had to give over the controls. As the Bullhead resumed its journey, Rider stood up there on top of the Bullhead. He made sure to call out to the god of light with the Paper Pleasers.
"Nothing?" he thought out loud. "Not even with my influence on Voyager is doing it?"
Rider took his risk and had the Paper Pleasers throw themselves at the clouds; they passed through the clouds. But Rider could see that the god of light was there. There were traces of the golden coat that made his physical return evident. Yet, he was still refusing to move.
He returned back to the inside of the Bullhead and took over Qrow's piloting. The flight to Atlas was quiet and Rider couldn't help but be worried that the god of light would simply not follow them at all. His fingers were tapping furiously.
Mistral hasn't had its own Black Cannon tower! He cursed. Rider didn't slow down with their limited fuel reserves. Their burning of the fuels was wasted as they had joined in the chaos of that aerial combat. All of it for nothing.
The airship made it past the waters that were between Solitas and Anima. Their vision was literally clouded before they took sight of the floating city of Atlas. But Rider was sure that they've failed here.
/-/
The great drake of the light remained on his cloudy throne. His new subjects, having been felled by those that had come before them, were as lifeless as they were before. Light was a creator. Light was a maker. It was his brother that was the destroyer. It was his brother that tore things down.
Everything that he had ever been made were always being destroyed by his brother. Even now, humanity, as a creation of both his and his brothers, were just as capable of destruction that the Grimm could do.
These machines of theirs, light shook his head. This was a product of darkness, a product of his brother. His creations should have only created. Yet, humanity itself made these weapons of mass destruction. Humanity have created these massive weapons.
Are they really defending themselves? Humanity have their walls. Humanity have had to deal with the creatures of Grimm for many centuries. Yet, they have amassed armies and battled each other, destroyed each other.
Humanity had been given a choice: to choose between the essence of creation or destruction. Though they worshiped him and not his brother, their actions then and now, said otherwise.
Then, there was the Grail War. Heroic Spirits, entities of great renown, rebelling against their fated ends by merely existing beyond it. What do they do? They bring with them destruction, more of his brother's influence. More of the darkness that light always kept away from his creations.
"Remnant's humanity," he declared. "Are no longer mine. This experiment is a failure. Humanity has chosen wrong."
Its draconic eyes then turned towards the other flying machine. It was small now at this distance, already gone from the arbitrary borders that divided these four kingdoms.
Unity. The condition once the Relics were gathered had been that humanity be united. Yet, there were kingdoms. There were borders. There were many walls that split these people from each other. They fight in sport in the name of peace and cooperation, a contradiction.
He turned to the other direction. There, in that place that they call a haven of all things, was one of these trespassers, these invaders, that are now ruling over more people. Teaching them these ways that would only lead to further destruction, further into the darkness.
They have chosen their path, he thought. Humanity only tapped into my gifts to create more weapons capable of destruction.
The great drake moved about in his cloudy domain. Lightning flashed and thunder roared though there was none that could hear except for the airships that pass by him, ignorant of their own creators.
In the many years since I had left, humanity has forgotten me. They remembered my brother. They remembered the destruction that he caused and made. Ignorance? No. Ozma was entrusted to unite humanity. He would have kept our names alive and well-remembered.
Light flew in another direction, towards Vale where Ozma's incarnations were. Then, he paused. Incarnations? Why had he felt two? Why were there two Ozmas?
Even you, child? He asked. No. You have done much worse; you have accepted this throne as your new home and purpose. You have abandoned that task which I have set out for you. You embraced the darkness, embraced my brother.
The light continued its flight towards Vale, away from Atlas. Those heroic spirits there have already done enough damage. He will come for them in time. They will, all of them, will pay the consequences for leaving his designs.
Free will was a mistake, he concluded with certainty. Humanity is inclined towards darkness and his destruction. I am but a tool for them to use for their own means. Division exists because they choose willingly, and they choose destruction. They choose my brother.
Always the brother. Always to him when light says no. How many others had gone to darkness when light denied them their selfish wish? Who else were there before Salem?
His throne of clouds whisked away by the winds of his flight. A new pillar of dark clouds formed a tunnel and path for his destination. Lightning flashed as he neared the continent of Sanus in his draconic form. He had kept himself hidden from Remnant's eyes for long enough.
Light was approaching Vale. There, with Ozma and Salem coming closer, he would make his return. Humanity had not gone where he had deigned them to go. They had not gone the path that he wished for them to take.
Remnant will be wiped clean. The world will be as white as a blank canvas. But first those that had come before them must pay for their crimes.
/-/
"What do you mean the god of light isn't following us?" asked Nora.
"Exactly what I mean, kids," Qrow replied. "Seems like we weren't just eye-catching enough for him."
"Why don't we go back?" Ruby asked. "Follow god of light so he could follow us?"
"Afraid we don't have an answer nor the fuel, Master," replied Lancer. "All we know is that Atlas is our best bet to deal with the god of light and he isn't about to play ball, either."
"But we can't let him get away!" Ruby insisted. "We don't know what he's going to do when he gets to other places."
"We don't even know where he's headed," Lancer replied. "Light covered himself in those clouds. Could be anywhere really. Further south of Mistral, Vale, Vacuo. Heck, maybe he is headed towards Atlas but wants to take the scenic route. But I'm not putting my lien on it."
Ruby was pacing back and forth. Rider and Pyrrha were not there on account of being in the cockpit though Ruby could hear muffled conversations coming from there. Ruby wasn't the only one who was thinking of going back, though she wasn't sure which of those two shared in her sentiments.
"We're going to meet with this Companion Servant of Atlas and Mantle," suggested Qrow.
"Best course that we could take," Lancer agreed.
Ren nodded. Out of everyone there, Ren was in a meditative pose, attempting to calm himself. "Perhaps the Companion Servants have better knowledge of what we're supposed to do. They have been preparing for the brother gods to return at some point. If I may, I think that's where miss Raven Branwen comes in. She would allow us to transport ourselves back and forth to wherever we would go."
"Vale and Mistral," Qrow specified. "I guess that means I'm the anchor for Atlas. Huh, makes sense."
"But how are we supposed to contact Chiron once we get there?" asked Nora. "Aren't communications still down?"
"We'll find out once we get there," Lancer said.
Ruby wasn't comforted by that thought. Her furious tapping of her feet was proof of that. She wasn't feeling well; the nerves were getting to her. She was the Master, one of the many targets and direct enemies of the god of light. Yet, she wasn't being targeted. Would the god of light be targeting innocents?
Then, she had a horrible thought. "What about dad and Yang? If uncle Qrow's going to be our anchor to Atlas, wouldn't that make dad and Yang our anchor to Vale?"
"Yep." Lancer nodded. "Ah. I see what you mean kid."
"Would they be alright?" Ruby got up from her seat. She almost barged into the cockpit before Lancer stopped her. "Can we go faster so we can check?"
"We'll get things going as soon as we are able." Lancer was holding onto Ruby's cape. Lancer made sure that Ruby was looking at her in the eye. "Trust me kid, they got three Servants on their side, as far as we know. Saber and Archer can keep each other in check but I'd trust Astolfo to keep a look out for them."
Ruby nodded but she didn't calm down. She went back to her seat and put her seatbelt on but she didn't lax into it.
Nora was forcing out her joyous demeanor. Ren was in that meditative state of his. Only Qrow and Lancer showed off any calmness at it.
"How are you two so calm?" Ruby asked.
"We're better at hiding it, kid," Qrow replied with a chuckle. "Tell you a secret about being out there in the field: you can't show civilians that you're worried. It makes them worried, and if they're worried, Grimm are going to find you sooner. You've got to put a tough face just to reassure them."
"We're not civilians." Ruby's voice was weak. "You don't have to put on a tough face for us."
"But you are kids," Lancer answered. "Lacking in experience, you're wearing your emotions on your sleeves. Yeah, even the Buddha over there."
"The what?" Ren asked.
"Kid, quick question. You meditate a lot when you're on your nerves, huh?"
"I do," Ren admitted. "It helps me calm down."
"There see?" Lancer addressed Ruby again. "Kid's too obvious about it with that pose of his as well."
"It's what I'm supposed to do," Ren emphasized.
"Yeah," Qrow replied. "Thing is: I know people who used to do that. Believe me, they figured how to do it without the need to sit like you do."
Ren switched his position to something else. He looked like was trying to change his meditation practice.
"Don't worry about it, kid," Qrow said. "We know things aren't looking well right now. But hey, we're still alive and that counts for something."
"Have faith in me, Master." Lancer got closer to Ruby. "Rider too. Even without them Companions, we'd still kick butt no matter what would happen."
"Can you kill a god?"
"On my own? Nope." Lancer shook her head, confidently. Ruby wished that Lancer didn't wear her mask right now. "But will I think of something? Yep. Will it work? Probably not. Will I still do it if I thought it had a shot? Absolutely."
"Besides," Qrow said. "We could always try our hand at putting them in the Ever After?"
"The Ever After's real?" Nora asked.
"I mean, with Rider around, I feel like that should be a given." Qrow shrugged. "We got gods, people from the dead, immortal witches and wizards, we already have proof of other worlds, what's one more going to do?"
"And how are we supposed to do that?" Ren asked.
Qrow shrugged again. "We'll figure something out."
Ruby sighed. She eventually nodded along. "Yeah, I suppose there really is nothing else that we could do."
"That's the spirit, kid." Lancer patted Ruby's shoulder.
Then, Rider's voice was heard through the speakers. "We're headed into Atlas' airspace. And we still have no sign of the god of light. Qrow, you're in the lead on this one. Seems like the general himself is there to meet us."
"Welp." Qrow proceeded to walk towards the cockpit. "Hope you kids like the cold. You think northern Mistral is cold? Well, you haven't felt anything yet when it comes to Atlas."
"Especially this time of year," added Lancer.
The view outside the window panes were that of clouds. Ruby and the others already knew of Atlas being a floating city but none of them had been there before. Thusly, when the first signs of Atlas' floating city came into view, it came to no surprised that they were mesmerized. In those short minutes, they had forgotten about the god of light.
The dotted skies revealed themselves to be other airships of multiple sizes. Had anyone been any closer to the cockpit, they would have heard Rider conversing with someone from the communications tower for Atlas. Rider was being guided towards their docking bay.
Ruby and the others were peeking from their window panes. Qrow and Lancer did the same but towards a different window.
Lancer whistled. "So much for subtlety."
Qrow shook his head. "James was never one for that. He always liked to take things head on. If anything, this is as subtle as he could get."
Once they got closer, Ruby got a better view of what it was that Qrow and Lancer were talking about. There were soldiers among them; she could tell by the uniforms. All of them were wearing white.
And I thought that was just Weiss, she thought.
As they got even closer, Ruby would have broken through the window panes the moment she caught sight of that white hair. But then she slumped as they got even closer; it wasn't Weiss. She looked like Weiss but that woman was more mature looking than Weiss did. Not that Weiss wasn't mature, far from it.
It was Qrow who whistled this time. "What's with that new attire, ice queen? That isn't her."
"What?" Lancer teased. "Jealous? I see the other guy. He doesn't look much but that jacket fits him than it does her."
Qrow scoffed at the thought and mimicked someone else's speech pattern; it reminded Ruby of Weiss. "Perish the thought." He returned to his usual tone after. "If anything, I feel bad for the man she snagged."
"Why don't we ask them when we land, eh? How 'bout a bet?"
The bullhead was making its final descent. Seconds past before the doors were opened.
Counting the general, Weiss' sister, and that guy that Qrow and Lancer were talking about, they were greeted by eight people in total. One of them was a dog faunus since Ruby caught the wagging of that tail. Out of everyone there, there was this one guy who didn't belong since his colors weren't the same as the others.
Ruby could see Atlas' skies from where they were. It was clear and there was no sign of the god of light following them. On one hand, that was good since that meant that they were still safe. On the other, it was bad since they needed god of light to get here.
She instead looked towards the Atlas soldiers. Most of them took a neutral expression though the civilian-looking fellow looked to them with a familiar warmth. Ruby was sure that she never met the guy before.
"Damn, Jimmy," Qrow said, adopting a laxer demeanor. "We VIPs or something?"
"You used the code of the Companion Servant," said the new guy. "Code: HJ-7; Henry Jekyll, 7th Companion Servant. Berserker of Atlas and Mantle."
Only Lancer and Rider reacted to the information. It was Rider who spoke. "Wait, Henry Jekyll? Henry Jekyll and Edward Hyde?"
Ruby, Nora, Ren, Pyrrha, and even Qrow looked to this Henry Jekyll. Or was it Edward Hyde? Why does he have two names? He didn't look much, especially when compared to the other Servants that they've met so far.
The man stepped forward, raised one hand and adjusted his glasses with the other. "Fitting for Atlas and Mantle, don't you think? A pleasure to meet with you all. If it isn't too much to ask, how are Mulberry, Greene, and Peach doing?"
AN: If I'm being honest, I feel that this is my weakest chapter. Not meeting the win condition for this fight always felt like there was something I could do better, even after letting it stay and come back, didn't work. I just know that there's something I could do better.
I will say this though, if I haven't already: Jekyll and Hyde for Atlas and Mantle wasn't allegorically planned. It was just that Atlas played a lot of important parts for this Huntsman of Beacon Academy (Follow up to New Staff is out in case you don't know), and I just think it would be neat if it relfected that. JnH conveniently working as a sorta allegory (if that's the right term) for Atlas and Mantle was just a bonus.