General Ironwood was accompanied by the village survivors, his soldiers, and the remains of his crew. When they entered the strange portal-like entity, he was surprised to find a band of soldiers clad in black armor standing before him. Two heavily-armed squads on their flanks before two doors slide open with a band of soldiers walking behind what appeared to be their commanding officer. "Greetings, I am General James Ironwood of the Atlesian Military. I'm sure you have heard of us."

The suspected commander stepped forward to shake hands with the general. "My name is Colonel Sviatoslav Konstantinovich Mel'nikov, but you can call me Colonel Miller for short. Now I know you might take offense to this, but I haven't heard of your military."

James' specialist took a step forward. "You have to be living under a rock not to know about the number one military power in the world."

"Who are you exactly?" He asked.

She was quick to answer. "I am Specialist Schnee."

"Ah, the woman Artyom rescued from the crash." Apparently, he knew who that soldier was. "Well, the reason for our ignorance is that while we may be living in a military bunker-complex underneath a major capital city, none of us have ever heard of a place called Atlas or seen a shattered moon before."

A general surprise came from everyone throughout the room. "You haven't seen a shattered moon before? It has been there ever since Remnant was created."

"Remnant." He seemed interested in that name. "That's a strange name for a world when we call ours, Earth. I guess Artyom didn't lose his mind after that small disappearance."

"That can't be. Surely you have evidence to prove this."

Miller nodded his head. "I do, but we can show you after we settle your people in until rescue arrives." He glanced at the civilians behind the general. "If the civilians start leaving this room, there will be an American who will help you to your quarters until we finally get some all-clear signal from the Atlesian military."

There was some relief from the civilians as they started walking past the armed soldiers with everything that they brought with them. Some tried to converse with strangers, but couldn't establish a proper conversation while children annoyed them and provoked smiles from the silent soldiers. "Thank you for allowing these civilians inside. I'm sure they would appreciate it."

"We're Polis Rangers, it's our duty to protect people. If not us, then who."

"Before we hold a proper conversation with any further matters, I want to establish that I am sorry for interrogating one of your men when we brought him into our ship." General Ironwood stated. "I hope your people won't hold that against us."

"Since you are being so honest to the Order, I definitely won't. What did Artyom say to you?"

"Something about a machine that brought him here and your people." He answered.

"You believed him?"

"In my line of work, you need to discern those who make emergency calls to be comfortable and those who have genuine emergencies worth millions."

The colonel smiled. "Honesty is one of his better qualities."

"By my standards, he would make a terrible soldier if he was willing to compromise important information so easily."

"That's because I just recruited him not long after he spent the past eight days fighting monsters, bandits, and had escaped execution from the Nazis. To simply state that he is exhausted would be an understatement for the poor kid. Once I break him into the ranks, he should better with informational security than he is right now."

"Where is he now?" Specialist Schnee wondered.

"He's currently sleeping, but Artyom certainly needs that after what he's been through. His rest takes more precedence and we need to check whether his mind is alright."

James raised an eyebrow upon the subject. What did the stranger undergo long before they met?

News of a crashed Atlesian warship had reached Professor Ozpin in his tower. General Ironwood - one of his companions - was on that very ship when it crashed. Thankfully, the Vale Council and the Atlesian Military were working with one another to search for survivors in the wild. In a way, Ozpin was worried James as he played an essential role for the future to come and that he commanded one of the most powerful militaries throughout all of Remnant. However, he had every reason to be worried. The reason why he was there was the reports of strange lights appearing in the wildlands of Vale and the possibility of a great enemy taking out an important man out of the headmaster's equations.

Without the general's presence, there was so much he could do with the Atlesian military to deal with the greatest threat to Remnant since the beginning of time. So many secrets he had told that man and he had the resources to assist him in his endeavors. Though bringing small military expeditions to Vale was problematic in its own right. Faunus rights activist relations with Atlesian personnel tended to be poor compared to the other kingdoms. Hopefully, the recovery mission by the council will go well.

Behind the quiet man was the sound of an elevator opening as a pair of footsteps came forward to accompany him at the window. A woman spoke her mind as she earned his full attention. "Our recruiters to the combat schools are beginning to show promise with several students worth inducting into the academy. Might make up for the latest developments of licensed huntsmen and huntresses gone missing."

He stole a quick glance from her, reminded of a time when things were different. "Professor Goodwitch, I have received news that James' airship was shot down in the wildlands of Vale."

The blonde teacher showed great concern about the general. "Do you know what happened?"

"I do not know of the specifics, but this is not a coincidence based on Qrow's reports. It appears our enemy wants a friend to disappear or has an interest in the general vicinity where the general went missing." Ozpin answered.

"Did you tell Qrow about it? I'm sure he would love to have an opportunity to rescue him from the crash. Their relationship hasn't been the best as of late."

"You are going to meet up with Qrow at the exact coordinates I've sent to your scroll and find out what happened to General Ironwood. Perhaps we might have something against our enemy and her pieces."

"I've heard rumors of strange lights appearing there. What's that talk all about? Is there a White Fang operation going on around that area?"

"That's why you and Qrow are going - one task to find Ironwood and one task to know what's going on there." The headmaster answered. "I hope this answers your question."

"Well, things are going to be interesting, to say the least."

Artyom entered the armory after a six-hour rest in his new home. It was relieving to finally get his reward as he slowly loaded his dirty rounds into his assault rifle magazines. Apparently, the strangers in the white uniforms didn't have any knowledge about the state of his world and were curious just how different it was from their own. Not that he complained. After all, he was just as curious about their world as well, but why did they want to wake him up for something so trivial? Couldn't they choose Uhlman or someone else to introduce them to the Metro and the Dead City?

The Atlesian soldiers entered the room as they were greeted by quartermasters; however, he also recognized the woman who he rescued from the crash. She was an interesting person in her own right as he had never seen white hair on a woman with an exception to the elders. The fact she also carried a sword had interested him from the beginning as he loaded his makeshift combat shotgun with the shells.

When he was done, he joined the other Rangers conversing with the newcomers. There was a Polis Ranger in the room who turned out to be an American from before the war. "Okay people, time to establish some things here. The surface is going to be hostile and there are several things you might need." He presented a gas mask and an air filter in hand. "This is the only thing between living another day and choking to death. So I recommend that you keep this in good condition up there. While it's going to be for a short while, you'd be surprised how many new guys get themselves killed cracking the glass."

The white-haired soldier spoke her mind. "Samuel, do we also need to wear those heavy uniforms? Those seem like they would weigh us down."

"Yes, Specialist Schnee, you do have to wear those suits." He answered. "There is more to the surface than toxic air full of chemicals. There is an energy called radiation and a high dosage can get you poisoned - any longer and you're dead. That lead suit is literally the only defense from watching your hair fall out."

Several of the Atlesian soldiers were taken aback by his casual nature.

Samuel wasn't done with his briefing as he presented a small device to the group. "This is a Geiger counter if you hear this ticking that means that radiation is in the air. The more it ticks, the more you should get the hell out. Do I make myself clear?"

"That seems much for going on the surface for five minutes." She commented.

Artyom approached the American and whispered into his ear. "When do we begin?"

"Now." He replied. "Everyone, get your gas masks and your equipment in gear. We're going up top in ten minutes. Stock up on air filters and stay close with Artyom and I. We're at the bottom of the food chain up there."

When the foreigners had begun fitting into their lead suits and gas masks, the duo watched from the sidelines as they held a conversation with each other. "Even though we burned the biomass from the reactor, I'm still not inclined to be up there. It just feels wrong to be at the Kremlin."

Samuel chuckled. "I don't blame you, kid. We've all told each other that the red star above the Kremlin has some strange power to it. I'd hope that it still doesn't have that effect despite the fact that we killed it. Didn't you have that issue when the colonel brought you to the State Library?"

"Yes. I was at a window before we were attacked by a demon. Should have known better than to simply look." Artyom answered as he wore his helmet after putting on his gas mask. "One of the few times, I was left to fend for myself."

"Shit, you killed a librarian. That is something to be proud of."

"I was lucky. My body still aches from the pain."

"Do you need painkillers?"

Artyom shook his head. "No, not at all. If I'm going to be in the Order, my body has to get used to this."

The American patted him on the back. "Don't push yourself too hard. You'll do more than hurt yourself."

One of the Atlesian soldiers stepped forward with their gas mask strapped on. "When do we go?" She asked.

"Soon."

Specialist Schnee was surprised that she and her team were going through several doors to get to the surface. Yet, the greatest challenge was the toxicity of the air. The moment Sam had alerted her people about it, there was a level of discomfort hidden underneath her mask as she followed the locals through their home. Any damage to her gas mask or a poorly sealed position might get her killed and it was a scary thought to consider that no one with an aura was able to withstand this problem.

After climbing a ladder, her eyes noted the light shining through the building. The ceiling was in complete disrepair with rubble at the center of the room. She looked down to find Artyom and Sam scanning the room as they turned on their flashlights. As her fellow soldiers were getting off the ladder, the specialist recognized that every part of the room was filled with skeletons and corpses - some were trying to reach over for the ladder while the freshly deteriorating bodies were laid upon the walls.

Artyom immediately approached one of the bodies and dug his hand through the pockets. Winter couldn't feel anything, but disgust at how calm he was at looting a corpse and the efficiency of removing the valuables off of the dead. In the meantime, Sam walked past him and slipped the barrel of his weapon through a crack in the door before slowly swinging it open.

Howling winds breezed through the doorway before the specialist heard her Geiger counter tick for a few seconds. "Don't worry that usually happens when the weather is like this." Then he continued on with his boots cracking down on the bones of the fallen.

One of the Atlesian soldiers made a comment on the sheer amount of dead within the building. "I've been to many places on Remnant, but it's so surreal to find this many dead people in one place? Where are we - a tomb?"

"Kremlin," Artyom replied as he rose from the looted body.

"Pardon my Russian's lack of English, but this place used to be a government building before the war." Answered Sam.

"Shit." Another Atlesian soldier replied.

While they moved out of the single room and moved to find an entrance outside of the building, Specialist Schnee could see an occasional desk or partially burnt pictures of foreign soldiers fighting in faraway lands. Broken windows revealed the night sky with only the moonlight to pour in. Their exploration ended as their guides proceeded through a broken wall, only to stand in the open with their weapons down. Both of them talked in their native tongue, but Sam's accent didn't appear to match with Artyom for some odd reason.

Once she approached them, Sam turned around and pointed his finger in the sky. "Artyom tells me your moon is broken. You could now take a look at how our moon is."

She would have found such a statement to be insightful, but Winter took the opportunity to look up at the sky to be dumbfounded by what she had found. It was the most mind-blowing moment to be in, but the specialist couldn't understand just how confused she was at this moment. On Remnant, there had always been a shattered moon looking down on those during those dark hours, but the obvious detail was contradicting her preconceptions. "The moon… it's intact?"

"Take as many pictures as you need, I'm sure you're people are going to need them."

Specialist Schnee pulled out her scroll and started taking pictures of the moon above. However, she also had taken parts of the building's architecture as well. Surely, General Ironwood would need to know about the situation of this place. Yet, she paused her thoughts about her superior and looked around to see the surroundings.

The only comparable place to her current location was Mount Glenn, but even that place was far more 'cleaner' like a fallen city. What she had found was far worse than she imagined. The roads were misshapen by fissures in the ground, vegetation growth was far more prevalent, and the crumbling apartments and buildings left a haunting image in her mind as her eyes scanned every detail. "What had happened here?"

Sam stood beside her with his hands resting upon his weapon. "We can talk about that when we get back inside. Do your people have enough evidence to go around?"

"Depends, we might need to capture more."

"Then tell your people to hurry up, the quicker we get down with this, the better." Came his reply.

"Why are you so impatient on going back?" She asked.

"Remember what I said earlier, we're on the bottom of the food chain around these parts. Mutants and monsters love meals that are in the open."

A screeching cry echoed from above.

"Fuck…" He brought up his rifle before turning his at the skies.

Artyom cried out from behind his gas mask. "Demons! Get down!"

Winter noticed his head scanning at the skies as well, only to follow their actions to see several winged creatures circling around the the group of armed soldiers. Then they swooped down towards their positions, but before she could react, her body was dragged down to the ground as Sam fired upon the beasts. She looked around to see her soldiers drop to the ground as Artyom was lying beside her with his firearm pointing up at the sky. "What do we do?"

"Inside, now!" He answered before pointing back at the building they had just exited.

Taking a quick glance at the sky, one of the monsters was closing in for the kill, right on top of her. One moment later, she drew her sword as small circular glyphs appeared in place for her. "Sam, get the others inside. I'll distract them."

"You heard the lady, let's move!"

She lunged forward as her steps accelerated her up into the skies to be on the same level as the unknown species. These beasts were quick to dive upon her before she jumped into the air and avoided the collision course with one creature. However, she found herself descending upon another thanks to gravity. Winter plunged her sword through its spine before it let out an agonizing cry.

Taking a quick glance at the foreigners and the Atlesian troops, she saw a few break off and descend upon them instead. Clearly, they were intelligent enough to go after the undefended, but she hadn't exhausted much of their options. She jumped off the corpse and elegantly landed her heels upon the broken square as her blade was planted into the stone. Winter's semblance had begun with a circle surrounding her position - revealing her power in the form of doves flying into the demons. Despite their large muscular forms, it was enough to interfere with their chance at attacking her fellow humans. Then she noticed one of the foreign soldiers aiming his weapon at her.

In a single moment, the specialist saw a streak of light approach her - shocked at being fired upon. Yet, the weapon was nothing like the firearms she was familiar with as she heard an electrical discharge instead of a gunfire. As the shot flew past her, Winter felt a stream of intense heat within this frozen wasteland.

A bestial grunt from behind was all that was needed to understand why this foreign soldier did that. Turning her head, a demon had taken the opportunity to pounce upon her and this very soldier had the gall to take the chance of accidentally hitting her. The shot revealed itself on the monster as the headshot appeared to have burned into its body. This was an impressive feat of accuracy and precision she had witnessed.

The soldier shouted towards her in his foreign tongue, hand gestures to accompany him. Winter didn't lose time acknowledging him as she ran towards him in quick succession. He fired away, covering her retreat from the open ground.

The duo retreated back into the building. Her time on the surface was quite an experience and vastly different from being in the wilderness of Remnant. Upon the corner of her eye, she saw three light flashes flickering in the distance, but the time for sight-seeing was over.

The accommodations by the Russians left quite an impression on General Ironwood. This recently-discovered facility could provide useful knowledge about this place if this different world truly existed or simply this place kept more mysterious information about an underground system that hadn't been affected by the Grimm. Loud footsteps clicked outside of the room as Specialist Schnee arrived at the doorway with her scroll in hand. "We've acquired enough information about this place, sir."

He reached his hand out. "May I see?"

She handed her scroll over, revealing pictures taken. His fingers swiped from one picture to another, but this gave a disconcerting implication of previous claims mentioned earlier. "The moon… it's intact."

"I was just as surprised as you were," The specialist replied. "One of our local guides was quite informative enough to tell me that this was a result of some global war. I don't know what kind of weapons they used here, but the city feels empty. This is something one might expect from Mountain Glenn."

The James nodded his head, taking in this new knowledge. "Once our rescue arrives, I have to bring this up with the Council. Everything that has happened here has changed and whatever diplomatic discussion needs to be kept secret."

Winter raised her eyebrows. "Why would you want to keep operation silence?"

"Did you notice who most of these people are? They're all human. If the faunus, rights activists, and the White Fang find out that we've discovered another world where there is only humans and no faunus, they might not view these people in a good light." He explained in great detail.

"So we're doing it for their sake? Understood, general. I suppose their lack of quality quarters and meals would make them at the mercy of terrorists."

Perhaps it was time to change to a different subject. "What did you find out there other than broken buildings and an intact moon? I heard a commotion that you and your guides were attacked."

"The locals refer to them as mutants. Apparently, they used to be animals, but some strange energy called radiation changed them into the monsters they are right now. Based on their reaction, it seemed like they were very difficult to kill on their end. Though, one of the Rangers seemed good enough to watch my back while I distracted them."

"They're nothing like the Grimm?"

She shook her head. "No, the Grimm don't bleed. Why do you ask?"

His hand was placed on his chin. "Colonel Miller told me something that seemed too dangerous to tell to most people. He said that Artyom fought these creatures called the Dark Ones. I don't know what they are and certainly don't know if they are Grimm or not."

"Do you want me to ask questions about the matter?"

"No, not now. Let's not ask too many questions while our hosts permit our company."

Author's Note: Alas, another chapter has been completed. Hopefully, the improvement is better than the previous chapter.

miraimp: The previous iteration of the story just seemed weak for me as I was relying on the stations of canon from the Metro 2033 just to excuse interaction between Artyom and Winter. Aside from the fact that I found it boring to be using the stations of canon into the story, everything else in the previous story just seemed like filler with few actual meaningful chapters between characters save for the shock value near the end.