Chapter One: The Greatest Kingdom
Atlesian Airspace, Kingdom of Atlas
Like glittering fragments of light itself, the broken moon shone down on the world of Remnant, wreathed in stars and haloed by a beautiful light green aurora borealis. Though the night was cloudy, the satellite could be seen in all its majestic beauty as a backdrop for a gemstone in the sky.
The Kingdom of Atlas's capital was a massive island that hovered in the air over Remnant, a gleaming jewel covered in glass towers and skyscrapers that looked for all the world like paradise. But for the fortified fleet of military airships surrounding it in a sternly protective embrace, one might mistake it for a surreal mirage, another part of borealis in the arctic sky. Dominating the fleet were the large cruisers, outfitted with heavy weaponry and all poised outward, searching for any sign of attack. Under the larger airships hawklike watch, Bullheads and transports buzzed like hornets as they went to and fro for their routine missions, assignments, and checkups. Radios chattered from ship to ship relaying orders, to be followed to the absolute precision that was a staple of the Kingdom of Atlas.
Amid the flurry of military activity, Manta 5-1 didn't look an iota out of place, merely appearing as another transport taking its soldiers to their mission. In a manner of speaking, that was correct, though the soldiers on board were hardly Atlesian, and their mission a far cry from standard military procedure.
"Manta 5-1, welcome home," crackled a woman's voice over the ship's comms channel. "Please continue your approach to Atlas docking bay Omega 12. A security team will meet you there, over." A staticky krrch indicated that the operator had finished with her instructions and would wait for the crew to comply.
From her place behind her uncle, Ruby Rose squinted out at the fleet in confused uncertainty. "I don't understand. What's happening here?"
"I don't know," Qrow murmured, seeming as set on edge as everyone else by the display of military might.
Behind them, Jaune stepped forward. "But, we are here. We got the lamp to Atlas, so I guess we land and get some answers." The words were unsure, hesitant.
"I'm not so sure," Weiss replied. The others all looked at her, but her worried gaze was still fixed on the fleet. "I've never seen our forces deployed so aggressively before. If we land in a stolen ship, there's no way the security team will let us anywhere near Ironwood." She paused, a hint of uncertainty slipping onto her face. "They might even take me back to my father."
Everyone winced sympathetically. Although none of them had yet met the man, Weiss had gone into great detail with them about Jacques Schnee, ruthless head of the Schnee Dust Company and her father, who had done everything in his power to keep her under his thumb and dancing to his tune before and after Beacon until she had run away to Mistral.
Regardless, no one had yet come up with a plan. "So…" Blake ventured toward Weiss.
The heiress's face brightened slightly. "Winter," she said, pulling out her Scroll. The signal increased the closer the ship got to Atlas, and she began scrolling through her contacts to find her sister's number. To Maria, she said, "Put some distance between us and the fleet."
"You don't have to tell me twice," the wizened old woman replied ruefully. Instead of proceeding to the docking bay as instructed, Maria began steering them downward toward Mantle, located beneath the floating city of Atlas.
As the ship dipped close to the city, the friends began peering out the windows and taking in the sights, though they weren't exactly pleasant. If Atlas was a sparkling diamond in the sky, Mantle was the lump of coal it had been birthed from. The settlement was about as large as Atlas, built into the crater the floating landmass had once occupied. Staring out through the glass, Ruby couldn't help but compare Mantle to the other Kingdoms she'd seen in her lifetime. Vale was a large, if quiet, city with a healthy mixture of residential buildings and businesses that gave the capital a quaint atmosphere that was homely without being stifling; Mistral was an oriental masterpiece, a work of art in the form of architecture, with cascading waterfalls and the signature bridge of Haven Academy over the two mountains, like a jade sculpture with its serenity and beauty.
In Mantle, there was neither quaintness nor regality. The buildings seemed packed in an almost cramped way, as if every piece of real estate was fighting with the others around it. A hazy layer of smog hung like a blanket above the rooftops, tinted orange by a city that never slept but desperately wanted to. With the backdrop of the condensed urban environment, even the menial sounds of pedestrian life—honking horns and other general city din—seemed forlorn. Everywhere she looked seemed like an abstract amalgam of depressed humanity.
Ruby was shaken from the desolate city by a voice that she hadn't heard in a long time. She and Yang both looked to their right to see a giant video screen. Projected onto the screen was a recording of General James Ironwood, sporting a full, black beard and his military dress. Squinting, Ruby could make out faint worry lines on the general's forehead.
"...cannot express our appreciation enough," Ironwood was saying. "Many describe these as uncertain times, and while that may be the case for the rest of the world, I can tell you what is certain. The Kingdom of Atlas will remain strong, and it will remain safe. That is my promise."
"General Ironwood," Yang murmured. "He looks…"
"Tired," Ruby finished.
Qrow shook his head. "James, what've you been doing?"
Below, evidence of the general's protective measures glared out from the streets. People shied away from squads of Atlesian Knight-200s, uncomfortable with the droids' presence. As Weiss watched, a pair of children picked up a small rock and threw it at a hovering camera drone patrolling the streets, only to duck fearfully into an alleyway when the drone turned at the provocation. "This isn't right," she muttered. "None of this is right."
The radio crackled on again, a new edge in the operator's voice. "Manta 5-1, we've noticed a detour in your route. You are to make your way to docking bay Omega 12 immediately, do you copy, over?"
"We're kind of running out of time here, kids," Maria pointed out from the pilot's seat.
"We need to ditch the ship," Yang suggested.
Her uncle concurred. "Agreed. Get lost in Mantle and buy ourselves some time."
Weiss remained steadfast with her plan. "I'm telling you, my sister can take us to Ironwood."
"Uh… Weiss?" Yang replied, staring out the window at another large video screen. Weiss moved to stand beside her friend, her eyes widening in surprise at the sight.
"A reminder," said a recorded Winter Schnee, looking pristine with smart military attire creased to perfection. "Failure to cooperate with Atlas military personnel is a punishable offense. If your sector is under lockdown…"
"Winter?" Weiss murmured to herself, shocked that her sister was going along with the government lockdown and surveillance. Then again, Winter had always been fiercely loyal to Ironwood; it was part of the reason Jacques had had no luck bringing her back to the SDC after she graduated from Atlas Academy.
"No offense, Weiss," Qrow said as they passed by the sign and Winter's words began to fade, "I'm not sure that's a good idea anymore."
Weiss turned to him, eyes narrowed. "There's obviously something very wrong. If we can just talk to her, then we—"
"Look," the older Huntsman cut her off, "I'm not even sure we should be talking to Ironwood until we know exactly what's going on with Mantle."
"But—"
"Everyone, calm down," Maria jumped in, diffusing the argument. She sighed. "I know someone who can help with both."
Krrch. "Manta 5-1," came the operator, sounding angrier and angrier with every word, "you are to make your—"
Maria flipped a switch, and the irate woman's warning was cut off with a click. If she had proper eyes, the Grimm Reaper would have rolled them. "Jeez, lady, take a hint." With that, she began steering the ship downward into Mantle.
Once the Bullhead had been landed in a deserted alleyway, the team of young warriors disembarked and cautiously emerged into the streets, Maria leading the pack as a scout to make sure the coast was clear before the others followed behind her. At the distant sound of running feet and a soldier calling, "It landed over there, let's go!" the group discreetly picked up their pace to put as much distance between themselves and the ship as possible.
The city didn't seem much better up close than it had in the air. The general uneasiness of the public was palpable in the way that people cautiously looked over their shoulders at passing patrols of Atlesian Knights. Every block or so, bulletin boards glowed blue with announcements and news. Ruby took the time to read some of the headlines as they passed one: Embargo: The Right Call?; Election Imminent: Mantle Hometown Hero vs. Atlas Tycoon; Missing Journalist Found Slain… The news seemed to suit the town, not that it gave Ruby any comfort.
"Come on, now, hurry!" Maria urged from the front with a waved hand. "It shouldn't be much of a walk."
The group walked passed a grafitied wall that read Show Your Teeth! as Jaune remarked, "Is this many soldiers… normal?"
"No," Weiss replied. "At least, I didn't think so."
At the rear of the group, Yang paused as one of the camera drones patrolling the streets hovered next to her, observing her. With a slight shudder, the blonde shrugged it off and kept walking. However, the drone was persistent and followed alongside her until she looked at it again, only to be met by a bright flash and a small clicking sound as the drone took her picture. Annoyed, Yang reared back and gave the machine a hefty kick, launching it into the street. To its credit, the drone had stayed in one piece, but before it could hover back over to her, a truck slammed into it and smashed it to bits.
"Ooh," Yang winced. She turned and noticed the others staring at her and blushed, realizing that her actions hadn't been very low profile. With a sheepish hand held to her head, she suggested, "Maybe we should pick up the pace."
As they continued walking, Maria began talking about their surroundings and the past. "You have to remember," the old woman began, "the Kingdom had just lost the Great War. The people of Mantle needed a sign of a brighter future, and that sign was Atlas. After all, a home in the clouds is about as bright as it gets." Another video screen displaying Winter hung from a building up ahead across the street. As the group watched, a truck rattled by with its bed full of dirtied Faunus, wearing the overalls and yellow hard hats of mine workers. Faunus employees of the Schnee Dust Company, heading home after a day of backbreaking labor.
Nora crossed her arms and stared after the truck, musing, "Unless you're the one having to look up at it."
Blake agreed. "This whole city, it just seems awful."
"Yeah?" came a slurred voice from behind them. The group turned to see a man with sloppy hair and glasses stagger off of the porch steps he'd been seated on. In his hand, he clutched a flask, and his voice broadcasted his inebriated state with every word as he berated them, "You don't like it here? There'sss plen'y've ssspace out'n th'tundra."
Blake sighed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to—"
The drunk interrupted her. "Atlas is the greatest Kingdom inna world, alright?"
"Hey!" Ruby began, meaning to defend her friend, before Blake stepped forward and gently grabbed her shoulder.
"We can't cause a scene," the older girl implored her leader.
Another man, the drunk's apparent drinking buddy by the sound of his own slur, was still sitting on the steps in a gray jacket and purple beanie. Neither of them smelled especially clean. "The embargo… the embargo's got us in a rough patch, but it'll blow over, you'll see."
He at least sounded more polite than his comrade, who still glared at Blake and raised a fist. "We try'n help the other Kingdoms, and this is what happens? I say let'em rot!"
Perturbed but still trying to be polite, Blake's ears curled toward the distasteful man as she again said, "I apologize. I didn't mean to insult you"
The drunk was not pacified, taking a moment to spit disdainfully to the side before he went on, "Ssstupid Faunus like you wouldn't under—" He looked down to unscrew his flask for another swig, only for his eyes to widen at the sight of a black glyph spinning beneath his feet. The next thing he knew, the unfortunate man found himself launched up into the air with a frightened yelp before he crashed into a nearby dumpster, startling away a homeless man who'd been sleeping against the bin.
Yang, Nora, Ruby, and Blake all stared at the man in shock, before they all turned to Weiss, who's eyes were narrowed and hand still clutched Myrtenaster should the drunken nuisance continue his rant. Glancing at Blake with a small shrug and a smile, she simply said, "It was worth it."
However, the group quickly rushed around the corner as a squad of AK-200s arrived to investigate the disturbance, leaving Purple Beanie gaping at his friend in their wake. In the man's drunken mind, something seemed to click, and he began to go after them with a cry of, "Hey wait! You're—that was—" before he tripped and fell with a cry to the pavement.
After the girls had caught up with the others, Maria had finally seemed to reach their destination. A couple of posters dotted the walls, displaying the face of a blond-haired woman with a serious expression. The caption read Protect Mantle. Squinting, Ruby recognized her as the same woman who had been running against an Atlesian businessman from the news board.
However, before she could dwell on the poster further, a door ahead of them opened. A Faunus girl walked out, a pair of lion ears and a full smile on her face as she waved at whoever was inside the door with a prosthetic arm much like Yang's. From within, a man's warm voice called out, "And no more heavy lifting, you hear?" The girl nodded and walked away, marvelling over her new arm, as the large troop of travellers walked into the building after Maria.
"Ah, it's good to see you again, old friend!" Maria greeted the stranger warmly as the others followed her inside. As soon as they walked in, they saw a man bent over behind a desk, head wreathed in gray hair and covered by a simple, dark green cap. He seemed to pause as Maria cleared her throat, and rose from beneath the desk to look at her.
"Ah, yes, yes," the man chuckled with a smile, fixing small glasses that had gone askew from his foraging beneath the desk. The gray hair continued down his face into a full beard and mustache, set against skin the color of milk chocolate mixed with caramel. Like the hat, his clothing was simple, consisting of a cream shirt beneath a red vest and a small, pink bow tied delicately at his neck. Smiling at Maria, the man said, "Have we met?"
"Well this is off to a fantastic start," Ren remarked.
Maria pointed to her goggles. "Cybernetic optical implants? You adjust them? Every ten years or so?"
The man squinted at her for a moment, before his face lit up in recognition. "Maria! Yes, with the cybernetic optical implants!" he greeted, moving around the desk in his chair. The chair seemed specialized to accommodate him, with four robotic legs moving to walk at his behest. He took her hand in a brief greeting. "I adjust them every ten years or so."
He laughed and led her over to what looked like an operating table. "Oh, wow, has it been that long already?"
Maria grinned with him. "Ah, I know. I age like a fine wine. Would've been here sooner if I hadn't run into these jokers," she said, nodding towards the others. She stepped up to the operating table from a stool with the man's assistance and went on, "At the time, I thought they might need my guidance while fighting a little old Sphinx."
"Oh, did they?" the man asked curiously.
"No, no," Maria reassured him with a smile as she hopped onto the table. "They had much more complicated issues."
Qrow cleared his throat, getting both of the old friends' attention. "And this is?" he asked, gesturing to the man.
Maria made short sound too brief to be a true sigh. "So impatient. I didn't think I'd need to introduce one of Atlas's finest minds."
"Working in a place like this?" Yang said dubiously. She and the others looked to the side as a creak in the ceiling sent one of the panels down to the ground with a thud. Despite the slight decrepity, the building itself wasn't quite in disrepair, but simply was more quaint than one would expect of an Atlesian scientist. Where they might have thought there would be a laboratory with glowing charts and high tech equipment, there was instead a humble study and workdesk. Full bookshelves lined the walls, and behind the man's desk, a sculpture of a whale appeared prominently between the volumes. The only hint to his profession was the area where Maria sat, which housed x-rays of human skeletons and a diagram of an artificial arm on the wall.
Maria waved off Yang's concern. "He likes to keep a low profile. Something I've come to realize none of you know anything about."
"You can call me Pietro," he finally introduced, a hand held humbly to his chest.
Maria smiled fondly. "Finest heart, too. This pharmacy is just where he volunteers when he's not building the future of Atlas alongside Ironwood up in the clouds."
Pietro waved a hand, a smirk hiding beneath his beard. "Oh, it's stuffy up there. Down here I get to help the locals and have a little fun." He did a little jig in his seat. "I'm currently working on shoes that make you dance. Wanna try 'em on?"
"YES!" Nora gasped eagerly.
"Before we get to that," Yang cut in, "we were wondering if you could help us?" Nora crossed her arms disappointedly at her fun being spoiled. "We came to Atlas hoping to talk to General Ironwood, but, umm…"
"What exactly has been happening here?" Blake asked.
Pietro hunched over for a minute with a cough, then cleared his throat. When he looked back up, his face was a bit more somber than before. "Well, the Fall of Beacon took a toll on all of us. James was no different. I couldn't tell you exactly what it was he saw there, but it changed him. He's…"
"He's scared," Qrow murmured understandingly. Who wouldn't have been, in James's position? To be one of a handful of people on the planet who knew what was happening and why, but to be powerless to stop it at the same time. No wonder the General had pulled back his forces so aggressively.
"Paranoid, would be the more appropriate term," Pietro replied, holding out his hand. "You have to understand, it wasn't just the Grimm. Someone completely dismantled Atlas security code, made it their play-thing, and made us look like traitors to some and buffoons to everyone else." He lifted his cap to run a hand over his bald head. "Whoever managed to do that is either a genius or one of our own. I fear the answer may be both, and so does the general."
The group appeared disheartened at the news. "Maybe Atlas isn't as safe as we thought," Ren mused.
"After we came all this way, we can't just leave, can we?" Oscar asked uncertainly.
"How does the council feel about all of this?" Weiss ventured, stepping forward. "Or Winter Schnee? Do you know anything about her?"
Pietro folded his hands over his stomach. "Well, the council's so scared, they'll agree to whatever he wants. Though, some representatives from Mantle…" He trailed off as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. With a start, he squinted harder at her, and his face lit up in recognition. "Wait! You're… You're Weiss Schnee!"
Weiss faltered, taken off guard by suddenly being recognized. Yang tried to take the initiative, keeping his attention away from Weiss. She stepped forward and gestured with her metal arm. "Wait, what was it that you were trying to say about Mantle?"
Pietro's gaze flickered to her, but if anything, the look of recognition strengthened. His eyes fixated on her metal arm, looking at each digit of her fingers. "You painted it!" he exclaimed in a voice slightly above a whisper.
"What?" Yang said, understandably confused.
"Is everything okay?" Ruby asked. She and Blake both stepped forward next to their other two teammates.
Pietro took in a sweeping glance of all four of them, and the light dawned completely on his features. "You're Team RWBY!"
Ruby and the girls looked amongst themselves in shock. The reaper practically jumped in the air as she looked back to the old man. "You know us?!" she exclaimed.
Now, a fond smile found its way onto Pietro's lips. "Oh, my girl, I do. I most certainly do. And I… feel like such a dunce for not recognizing you sooner. My daughter's told me so much about you."
"Your… daughter?" Ruby repeated. However, before she could ask anything else, an alarm started blaring outside, loud enough for the group to know that whatever was happening was serious. They turned to the door to see civilians running away with frightened cries, the streetlights having turned a warning red.
"Ah, trouble!" Jaune said, turning to the door and dashing out. The others followed close behind him.
"Wait!" Pietro cried, holding out an arm, but they were already out the door.
In the street, the straggling denizens of Mantle were making their final escapes into doorways and alcoves as Ruby and her friends came to the center of the street. They couldn't see the threat yet, but based on the empty road ahead of them, it seemed to be coming straight for them. Everyone whipped out their weapons. Blake drew Gambol Shroud's katana, but upon seeing the blade still shattered from her fight with Adam earlier that day, she configured it into pistol form and took a combat stance with the others.
"I guess the city defenses aren't doing too much," Oscar observed.
Nora deadpanned. "Somehow that doesn't surprise me."
Ahead of them, a ferocious growling suddenly reached their ears. As the watched, a pair of AK-200s were tossed bodily down the street, sparking and lifeless. Another trio of the unfortunate droids were backing slowly away, firing their rifles. However, a Grimm leaped from the sidestreet and demolished one with a single, crushing lunge before turning to the other two.
Ruby turned to the others. "Well we didn't come this far to fail now!" Thumbing a switch, she transfigured Crescent Rose into its scythe configuration and planted the blade in the ground, awaiting the Grimm's attack. Down the street, the remaining Atlesian Knights had been quickly dismantled. Ruby recognized the Grimm from lessons in Professor Port's class, what seemed like a lifetime ago. Known as Sabyrs, the beasts were native only to Solitas and had the bodies of big cats and long, sabertoothed jaws that could crush a person between them. Hints of ice from the tundra coated their body white armor, and their soulless red eyes stared forward with hungry rage as they swarmed toward the students.
Yang and Ren both launched themselves in first, Nora following close behind by firing herself off of Jaune's shield and into the fray. Yang tackled one of the monsters and began blasting away, while Nora and Ren tag teamed a second. The third of the leading pack bypassed Jaune as it ran for the others, but another lunged at the boy. Jaune quickly sidestepped and neatly cleaved the creature in half with Crocea Mors, then lifted his shield in defense as another scrabbled against the metal and snapped at his head. Jaune put it down with a simple stab to its chest and watched it fall and dissolve into ash.
Qrow was also putting in work, easily ducking a lunge from one Grimm and running his sword up and through its stomach before slashing another through the skull. A third overran him and swivelled to attack, but the Huntsman quickly transferred his sword into its scythe form and stabbed through its torso before tossing it to the side. He planted the blade in the ground and punched another beast directly in the snout, then ran it through and finished the last of his opponents with a sideward slash.
One of the beasts took heed of Qrow's impressive display and looked for an easier target. Its eyes locked onto Oscar Pine and it snarled as it charged the young farmboy. Once, the Grimm might have terrified him, but the past several months of training and revelations had hardened the once timid lad. With a cry of his own, he leaped forward and thrust down hard with his cane on where the creature's spine was, using the momentum to flip himself over the beast. He landed as it skittered past him, turning to watch its legs give out and its body disintegrate before his eyes with a self-satisfied smile.
The grin was short lived as he heard another roar behind him, whirling around to see a mass of black fur looming over him. Instinctively, Oscar raised his hands in feeble defense, too late to stop the leaping Grimm, but before it could crush him, a shot tore through the Sabyr's head and put it down. Oscar turned to see Ruby give him a nod and a grin before cocking her weapon and transforming it back into scythe mode.
Dashing forward, Ruby sliced through the midsection of another Sabyr as she passed Oscar, then used her Semblance to split into three separate clusters of rose petals and go around a second beast. She dug Crescent Rose's blade into the ground and spun on the weapon with her momentum, then fired upward to send it spinning through another creature's body before leaping off another Grimm's back. With a battle cry, she caught her weapon and spun down to the ground, letting out a wave of projected Aura that tossed another group of Grimm aside.
The others were busy as well. Weiss had just finished off one of the catlike monsters when another four started bounding down the street toward her. With a smirk and some help from Myrtenaster's Dust, she summoned up a series of black gravity glyphs beneath the Sabyrs and lifted them into the air with a gesture. Taking quick advantage of her move, Ren sprinted past her and leaped from beast to beast, delivering a deadly series of slices with Storm Flower's twin blades. By the time he'd landed on the ground, the Grimm had dissolved to ash.
Yang had buried her fist in a Grimm's skull before a shot rang out another Sabyr slid by her, already disintegrating. She turned to see Blake give her a smile and a nod, Gambol Shroud in hand. Yang returned the smile, but her grin dropped as she saw another Sabyr lunge for her friend from behind. Blake whirled quickly and brought her pistol up to bear, but before she could shoot or the beast could make contact, a plume of green light whizzed out from the sky and sliced cleanly through the Sabyr's torso.
As the beast smoked out of existence, Blake looked to the sky in astonishment at her sudden save. The others paused at the sound of the laser as well, even as more of the green beams of energy began falling from the sky to cut down the remaining Grimm. In a matter of seconds, the last of the creatures was dead, and the warning lights ceased flashing red and reverted to their normal colors as the klaxons faded away. As one, the baffled fighters watched as a figure flew through the air, propelled from green jets that seemed to come from its feet.
The figure gave a stylish pirouette, silhouetted against the moon, and then slowly floated to the ground. By this time, Maria and Pietro had followed the others outside, and they had joined the rear of the group as the person, now revealed to be a girl, finally touched down, the jets in her boots extinguishing as she landed.
The girl appeared no older than any of the students, with long, flowing ginger hair that came down to her shoulder blades. A pair of glowing green stripes traced up her black stockings, and a flowery skirt waved slightly from the last bit of wind kicked up by her landing. Her top was a billowy, long-sleeved silver dress covered by a pair of green and black suspenders, and an angular bow rested atop her head. In the middle of the bow, and at a small black ribbon on her neck, a green power button icon glowed. The girl smiled in satisfaction at a job well done, green eyes sparkling above freckled cheeks.
Ruby gasped in shocked surprise. The ginger hair, longer than it had been at Beacon; the green suspenders and pink bow; and that kind, freckled smile… "Penny!" she breathed.
Behind her, Pietro smiled gently at the android girl. "Darling, why don't you say hello to your friends?"
At her father's voice, Penny turned to the group. Upon seeing Ruby, she too gasped joyfully, her eyes shining like a child's on her birthday. Ruby took her friend's exuberant expression and felt her own lips begin to smile as she folded Crescent Rose away behind her back. In that moment, everything that had happened for the past week seemed to fade away: Salem, Jinn, Blake and Yang, Cordovin, Ironwood, all of it took a back seat to the girl standing down the street that Ruby had never thought she would see again.
Penny herself merely grinned. "Sal…"
Ruby's smile dropped in confusion. "Huh?"
Penny dropped to one knee. A low whine filled the air. "U…"
Ruby flinched, already knowing what was coming but too late to stop it.
"...tations!" Penny cried as she took off running toward her best friend in the whole wide world. With a jump, she kicked in her boot thrusters and zoomed past Qrow and the other kids. Ruby cried out fearfully, waving her arms in an attempt to deter the rapidly approaching girl, to little effect. If anything, Penny seemed to speed up as she tackled Ruby into the ground in a heartfelt, if rough, embrace.
Ruby groaned, reminded by the weight pressing down on her of Penny's metallic structure beneath her synthetic skin before the bright-eyed ginger hopped to her feet. "It is such a pleasure to see you all again!" she exclaimed happily, bouncing up on her heels. The others drew near to them and put their own weapons away as Ruby clambered to her feet as well, albeit slowly.
The reaper managed to straighten and looked to her friend earnestly. A thousand thoughts were whizzing through the young leader's mind. "Penny… I…" Tears came to Ruby's eyes as she recalled Amity Arena over a year ago, the sight of Penny's tattered body in shreds thanks to the manipulations of Emerald and Mercury, her eyes blank and lifeless. "I-I thought you—"
"Died?" Pietro finished, moving his walking chair to rest next to his daughter. That tender smile still adorned his face. "I guess in a manner of speaking, she did. But we were able to recover her core from Amity Arena once it had made its way back to Atlas. It took some time, but—"
"I'm as good as new!" Penny finished chipperly. "Better, even! And now I'm the official protector of the city!" She gave a cute little salute, one curl of hair on top of her head bobbing from the motion.
"That my girl," Pietro said. "We're not going to let a little ripping to shreds stop us, are we?" He chuckled, trailing off in a short cough.
"No sir!" Penny replied. She knocked her knuckles against her head for effect with a clanking sound.
The other members of Team RWBY watched the reunion from the side. "This is…" Weiss began.
"Strangely wholesome," Blake finished.
"Sounds like Penny to me," Yang agreed. All three of the girls were smiling at the heartwarming scene.
Eagerly, Penny grabbed Ruby by the shoulders. "We have so many things to catch up about! I cannot wait!" In the distance, another alarm blared, apparently from another Grimm attack judging by the faint cries that followed. Her smile never wavered. "It seems we will have to wait." Without missing a beat, Penny backed away and began charging up her jets as she hurriedly said, "Let's talk more later I can't wait to hear more about your adventures I'm very excited for the whole experience!" With that, she took off, her last words fading away as she did.
The kids and adults were left staring after her departure. Nora shook her head, hands spread. "I can't tell if I completely understand what's going on, or have like, a million questions!"
Pietro turned in his walking chair, heading back for his shop. "And thankfully, I have about a thousand answers. But let's get out of this weather first."
He passed by Maria, who had watched the whole encounter with ambivalence. Turning to follow the scientist, she muttered, "I have absolutely no idea who that child was. Is she important somehow?"
Jaune shrugged, still staring after Penny. "That was unexpected."
"Never a dull moment," Ren concurred.
"But I wouldn't say unwelcome," Qrow added. He looked to the two boys. "I was honestly expecting things to go a lot rougher." The group turned and began following after Maria and Pietro so the old man could begin giving them the answers he'd mentioned.
Ren sensed it a moment before it happened. Suddenly, Dust bolos seemed to fling out from nowhere, snaring Nora, Ren, Oscar, and Jaune. The surprised group fell to the ground, grunting without their hands to break their fall. Team RWBY soon followed, the ropes holding fast against their bodies as the gravity Dust in the ends connected, locking them in. The Relic of Knowledge fell from its place clipped to Ruby's belt as she fell, clattering to the ground a few feet away.
The last man standing, Qrow whipped out his sword and searched for the attacker, but moments later, he too was felled by a bolo, the sword falling from his grasp. From alleyways and rooftops, five men and women emerged, dressed in Atlesian military uniform. At the head of the group was a man with brown hair and handsome features who twirled a horseshoe on his finger. "Good work, team," he addressed to the other four.
"Hey!" Oscar cried, squirming in his bonds. "What's going on?"
Qrow growled at the leader's feet. "Hey, pal! I'm a licensed Hunstman! Just helped save everyone?"
The man merely looked down at him with a smirk, then reached down to confiscate Qrow's fallen weapon. His compatriots disarmed the other captured students and loaded their weapons into the arms of a troop of AK-200s that had arrived on the scene. The leader of the soldiers walked over to Ruby, bent down, and grabbed the Relic of Knowledge as well, not catching the panic in Ruby's eyes. He turned to the droids and ordered, "Let's get them loaded into the next transport."
"Please!" Ruby pleaded, also struggling against the ropes. "We were just trying to help!"
Pietro and Maria had heard the commotion and doubled back, looking on in dismay. "What is the meaning of this?!" Pietro demanded before another coughing fit took him. Once it passed, he continued to the handsome man, "What are the Ace Ops even doing down here in Mantle?"
"Ace… Ops?" Ruby repeated into the street.
The leader seemed to recognize Pietro. "Doctor, good to see you." In answer to the question, he continued, "Well, we heard a report of an unauthorized ship making an unauthorized landing followed by an unauthorized use of weapons by non-licensed Hunstmen."
Maria sighed and turned, already able to tell by his demeanor there would be no bargaining with the soldier. Pietro tried anyway. "If we could just talk this out—"
"They'll be able to talk this out once they get to Atlas," the man reassured him, tossing the Relic from one hand to another. To his team, he called, "Alright, let's move out!" before using his weapon, something reminiscent of a fishing pole, to swing away into the rooftops of Mantle, followed shortly by the other four.
Ten minutes later, a squad transport arrived, and the Atlesian Knights cuffed the students and loaded them into the back along with another man. Qrow grunted as he was shoved inside to sit beside Jaune. He looked around at the kids, whose demeanors had shifted so quickly from upbeat and cheery at their reunion with Penny to nervous and depressed at their arrest. "Now this…" he sighed. "This is much closer to what I was expecting." With that, the doors swung shut and locked, and the transport hummed into the air and began the flight to deliver its prisoners to the sparkling city of Atlas overhead.
Author's Note: So, it's been a little bit since this story got updated, huh? But at long last, here we are, RWBY Volume 7! I'm enjoying this Volume so much so far. It feels almost like V3 all over again, but this time, our heroes know the stakes! The question is, will knowing make a difference this time around in the outcome? I don't know when the next chapter will come, but hopefully I'll have it written in the next two weeks. Until then, enjoy, comment, review, and share with your friends. Love you guys! - Jek