I'll do more of this; I had fun rewriting this Alternate Ending. I'm calling this branch:
Plan G.
~~

Ironwood is sitting behind his desk with his back turned to them. You were standing in the middle of the room, "James."

Ironwood turns his chair to face you, "We have made a critical error." He places a queen chess piece made of black glass on his desk, "The Black Queen was the symbol Salem showed us before we lost everything. Her way of telling us she was inside. That it was too late, we stopped Watts. We stopped Callows, but someone was here. They put this in my office to tell me that-"

A look of realization crosses his face, "What if Mantle was just a distraction? What if it was just to draw us away from the academy to, to-"
"James. I-it’s going to be okay. We’ve got Mantle on our side now, and-"
"How do we know that wasn’t part of their plan?"
"We don't, but all it matters is that we help those in need and protect the one who needs protecting." He brings his hand down on his desk and stands up, he locks eyes with you, seeing the concern in your eyes.

He sighs, "I should have kept you here and not out on the field."
"James, you know it's my job. You know that I'm needed down there."
"I needed you here too!-"
The doors open, revealing Team RWBY along with the Ace-Ops excluding Clover.

Ruby and Weiss look at him with concern, while Blake and Yang look at him intensely then turn to you, "What happened?"

You show the glass chess piece, "We had a visitor."
"Salem has been one step ahead of us this entire time!" He angrily slams his fist down on his desk, denting it. The impact bounces Watts’ bag and the chess piece, and the latter falls over and rolls across the desk, emitting the characteristic noises of glass. Ruby steps forward, staring at the chess piece, "It’s… glass."

Vine, Marrow, Elm, and Harriet look at her, uncertain of what she means, "Black glass. This was Cinder."
"She’s alive? And she’s here?!"
"If Cinder’s here, then, for all we know, Hazel’s here, too!"

"I highly doubt she would be with Hazel." You say, as everyone turns to face you, "What do you mean?"
"Back at Haven, she was supposed to get the lamp, but she didn't. Emerald was crying when Yang was the one who came back to the surface. Cinder failed Salem more likely due to the fact she was power-hungry, Salem wouldn't want anyone who would put their needs over her own."

"You seem to know a lot about Salem."
"Salem and I have known each other for a while now.

Blake walks forward a few steps, "Sir, this isn’t over yet. We’re with you." She places her hand to her chest and gives him an encouraging look. He looks at her and straightens up, his voice gaining an ominously serious tone, "Are you with me?"

Blake’s cat ears fold over, and Ironwood walks around to stand next to his desk where Watts’ bag is, while Vine and Marrow look confused, "Sir?" Blake backs up to stand in line with her teammates again, her ears still folded over.

"How did Robyn know about the Global Communications Project?" The Ace Operatives look at Team RWBY. Blake and Yang look nervous. Yang looks to the side in thought for a moment, then looks at Ironwood, "We told her."

Ironwood narrows his eyes at her.

"The night of the ambush."
"You did what?!"
"We were trying to help."
"By going behind our backs?"

"That's enough, what matters now is trying to figure out our next move." You walk between the two teams.

Harriet walks over to Yang, glaring at her. Blake’s cat ears are standing up again, alert, "Wait. Does that mean you let her escape?"
"Robyn is on our side!" Watching the confrontation in front of her, Blake’s cat ears fold down again.

You speak up again; however, no one listens, "Let's not do this, now!"

"She always has been."
"We didn’t know that for sure." Weiss grips her head, "None of this matters right now!"
"Loyalty always matters!"

"I said enough!" You shout as the glass windows behind Ironwood cracks grabbing everyone's attention. Suddenly, red tentacles spring forth beside Ironwood, who draws and aims his white revolver at the Seer that has emerged from Watts’ bag. Everyone else in the room steps backward with widened eyes. Ruby gasps, Yang brings her fists up, and Blake’s cat ears prick straight up in alarm. You didn't move; however, as the Seer rises up high in front of the desk, and Salem’s voice comes from it, "General Ironwood."

The Seer’s tentacles tense and curl up, and it trembles, emitting a high-pitched screech as its head cracks. Ironwood watches in fear, backing up against a wall with his gun still aimed at the Grimm. The Seer withdraws its tentacles against itself, turns over, and drops to the floor, the red smoke inside of its head fading away. It bounces down the steps, stopping in front of you, and black smoke pours from the crack, swirling into the air and forming an apparition of Salem. You fall on your knees, "Salem?"

"The brave Huntsmen and Huntresses bested Arthur Watts. Congratulations. Our Saint should never fall in front of others." She extends her arm to you as if she was trying to help you up. However, you reject her help standing on your own.

Weiss, Blake, and Yang stare at her in fear. Blake’s cat ears are flat against her head. Ruby speaks up, showing no fear, "We stopped Tyrian, too. And we’ll stop Cinder, and anyone else you try to send here."

Ruby steps forward as she speaks, and Blake’s cat ears stand back up again, "Dear girl, their goal was never victory. It was merely to set the stage."
"For what?"

Salem turns her head to look at Ironwood and smiles, "For me. And if you had forgotten, Saint is the key to the Gods and the blessed mother of the Relics."

The Salem apparition drifts over to Ironwood, "Time isn’t on your side, James. It’s always been on mine."

Ironwood watches her with wide, terrified eyes, "The people of Atlas have suffered enough. Surrender the Staff, the Lamp, and Saint to me, and they needn’t suffer any further."

Ironwood lowers his gun, "That’s… not going to happen."

The Salem apparition leans down to look him in the eyes, "Simply accept the futility of your situation… And this can all be over."

She shows him a soft and gentle-looking smile, "Besides, wouldn't you want to protect Saint?" Ironwood looks down for a moment, hesitant, but he looked back up and glared at Salem.

"We’ve seen what you’re capable of. The lamp showed us." Salem’s feigned smile disappears, and she straightens up. Ruby is staring confidently at her, "It showed us everything."

Salem turns her head to look at Ruby, and then the rest of her body turns as well, "We’ve seen that you can’t be killed. But we’ve also seen you fail."

Salem stares at Ruby with narrowed eyes. She drifts across the floor to hover in front of Ruby, "We don’t have to kill you to stop you. And we will stop you."

"Your mother said those words to me." Ruby loses her confident expression, "My… mother?"

In the image in Ruby’s mind, Summer appears somewhat farther away and closes her eyes, her hands clasped together, "She was wrong, too." Ruby begins crying and quickly lowers her head and presses her hands to her eyes. In the image in her mind, Summer is standing even farther away, turning her back to Ruby, with the wind blowing harder. Ruby frantically wipes her tears away. Her silver eyes flicker a couple of times, and then she yelps as her eyes emit a brief flash. She whimpers, gripping her head and swaying.

Salem watches as Ruby drops to her knees, sobbing and whimpering with her head in her hands. Yang hurries to Ruby’s side and drops to her knees beside her, and Ruby leans over to rest her head on Yang’s lap.

Salem faces you once more, "Saint, you have to remember that you and I are so much alike-"
You cut her off, "We are not alike."
"Saint, someone took away someone very dear to you, and you can have that chance again, to remember what it was like to be happy."
"If I wanted my son back, I would have done so since the moment I met The God of Darkness, unlike you, I moved on."

"Saint take notice that my behavior towards you differs from others, Two immortal beings stuck on this world that together would-"
"My immortality is a gift as they gave you a curse. If anything you just want me as your ticket to freedom."

Salem smiles at you, "You still have the tone of a Queen. However, much cruel than I." You glared at her as you step on the seer, crushing the Grimm. The smokey apparition fades away, "We will see, Saint. "

Yang rests her hands on Ruby, looking distraught, and Blake kneels down beside her with the tips of her cat ears folded, while Weiss watches with wide eyes, "That’s Salem?! That’s who we’re up against?!"
"And she’s apparently on her way."

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

Vine brings out his Scroll and checks something, "They’re offline. With all of the chaos, we didn’t notice."
"Watts must have shut them down!"

Ironwood’s voice catches their attention. His tone is very serious and lacking in emotion, "Or they’ve already been destroyed." Ironwood walks over to the window and stares outside.

"What? All of them?" He does not answer.
"You said in your speech that Amity Tower was ready to launch. Was that true?" He continues staring out the broken window with no response. Blake and Weiss look at each other, uncertain about the silence, you stepped forward, "You just said that... to lure out Watts."

Yang sits up and looks at Ironwood. He continues silently, staring out the broken window with no emotion in his eyes, "James?"

There is silence for a moment, "I sent Winter to claim the power of the Winter Maiden."

Weiss gasps, and her eyes widen, "What?"
"When I realized we’d been compromised, I knew we couldn’t wait any longer. The Staff and the Lamp have to be locked away."

He slightly tightens his grip on his revolver. Ruby sits up, wiping her eye, "I thought… you said we could keep it."

Anger slowly returning to Ironwood's voice, "Well, that was before you lied to me about the Lamp. Before you lied to us about Robyn, before Salem was right on our doorstep."

As he speaks, he turns around to face them. He then starts walking forward to stand next to his desk again, "Before Mantle was nearly destroyed, and myself and my army were left exhausted."

He lashes out, hitting Watts’ bag off of his desk, you stepped forward, "Did you think it was going be so easy to tell you? For as long as I have known you even I was scared to tell you."

He takes a moment to calm down and sets his gun on the desk, "The timeline has changed. And so we must change accordingly."

You pick up the queen chess piece. "You're right. But we were not thinking the same."
Ironwood faces you, as you stare through the Queen chess piece, "You are going to take the plan for Amity Tower and apply it to the city of Atlas, aren't you?" You toss the chess piece to Ironwood, who catches it.

He crushes the chess piece in his hand, and Ruby jumps to her feet, "What?!"

"It was Oz’s plan in a former life. But he didn’t take it far enough, because of a particular someone." Ironwood didn't take his eyes off you, "You’d be leaving Mantle to die."

Ironwood responds with far less emotion, "Yes… I would. We can’t allow Salem to capture the Relics. This is our best chance at getting the Staff, the Lamp, and the Maiden as far away from her as possible."

"What’s the council going to say?" Weiss asks.
"Nothing. Once I declare Martial Law."
"No!"
"You can't do that!"

"No." You spoke up causing for everyone to stay quiet once again, "James, you told me once that I was your heart." Ironwood stared down at you, "I'm sorry that we didn't tell you before, and if anything, it's my fault that all of this is happening. I can get the Grimm out of Mantle and Atlas, with that you can protect the relics and the Winter Maiden. I... I claim my position back, I will follow through Plan G."

~~~
End of Plan G Part 1
Hello again!
Sorry I haven't been touching this book, I'm planning side chapters, and I wasn't liking how any of them were going, but now I'm back on the ball!

My updating days are not set yet.

Michaelis~