As the sun begins setting over the mountains around the abandoned Dust mine, four trucks drive up the road to the mine entrance, and Amity Colosseum floats toward the mine. Two people are lying with binoculars somewhere in the area. They both gaze up at the colosseum, before the one on the right resumes looking through his binoculars. Soon after the trucks arrive at the mine entrance, Team RWBY, Team JNR, Team JRHD, Qrow, Winter, the four Maidens, and the Ace Operatives walk outside. Smiling, Marrow looks at Clover and then attempts to put on a more serious demeanor. Ruby, Jaune and Nora come together to gaze in dramatic admiration of the Ace-Ops, while the rest watch the three with wide eyes.
Jaune rushes over to Clover's side "You guys were incredible!" He switches to being in front of Clover and begins energetically gesturing as he talks "Oh, the way you took down that Geist without needing to plan your tactics out, you just knew exactly what to do!".
Clover smiled "Well, Ace-Ops are hand-picked to perfectly complement one another. So we can focus on our assets and leave our liabilities behind".
Marrow walks over with a confident smile "Some of us are all asset, zero liability" He poses with a salute and a grin, looking at Jaune. Elm scoffs, catching Marrow's attention. He moves over to her, leaning in to confront her "Wha- Yeah? Think I've got some liabilities, Elm?".
"Your brains, for one" Elm answered as she along with Clover and Harriet laugh, and Marrow groans and pouts. The former three walk away.
"You did ask" Vine said as he walks away, and Nora approaches Elm with wide eyes and a smile. Elm looks at her.
"Hi. Do you need a new best friend? Our pair name can be…" Nora then shouts, her voice echoing dramatically "THUNDER THIGHS!".
Harriet watches this with a sigh, and Ruby runs over to her "Perfect complementary teamwork. Oh, yeah, I want to have my friends' backs just like that".
Harriet raised an eyebrow "Friends?".
Elm laughs "This isn't the schoolyard, kid".
"Thunder Thighs…" Nora said huskily as Ren walks over, lifts the currently stiff Nora under his arm, and walks away.
"But, I mean, when you go through so much with someone, it kind of changes things, doesn't it?" Yang asked.
"We get along well enough, sure. I count on them to keep me alive. They do the same. But that's the job. We don't confuse the two" Harriet said.
Elm chuckles "Says you."
Harriet rolled her eyes, "Okay, I make one exception to this, and you can probably already guess who."
"Me, of course!" said a voice behind them as Katrina zipped up, having arrived with Ironwood and wearing a new military outfit. She leans her elbow on Harriet's shoulder "Me and Harriet were inseparable back in the day."
Harriet shrugs off Katrina's elbow, but she grins as well "Yeah, we were."
"Speaking of the job…" Clover suddenly spoke as further down the way, Ironwood is talking on a communicator, the Maidens standing with him. He gives a brief order to a soldier, who walks away "Duty ever beckons. You all hang back a second".
The Ace-Ops and Winter walk over to Ironwood. Ruby watches with a sad sigh, then looks away, thinking. She then gets an idea, smiles and hurries over to her teammates "What do you guys want to do when we get back to Atlas? Sightseeing? Oh, what should we visit first?".
Blake yawns "How about our beds?".
"I'd be down for some sightseeing, to be honest" Julius says, making Ruby squeal in excitement.
As Blake walks away Ruby turns around to look at her "Oh, come on, guys! This is a great time to go exploring! We haven't done that in so long!".
"Ruby, we just explored a whole continent on foot before flying to this one" Weiss said as she walks away.
"Well, yeah, but... it was only the boring parts" Ruby said.
Yang crossed her arms "We almost died".
Julius elbowed Yang playfully "C'mon, it was still fun."
Ruby waves her hands at Yang with an awkward chuckle, and Yang walks away. Ruby then frowns and sighs sadly.
"Hey. Heads up" Qrow points his thumb over at Ironwood, who is talking to Clover while the other Ace-Ops walk away.
"Can I get the team leaders over here? There's something I'd like to discuss with you. You too, Qrow" Ironwood called out. Julius, Ruby, Jaune and Qrow walk over to him to see what it is as he speaks to Clover "I need you on the ground, but be subtle. If people see too many Huntsmen milling around, they'll get nervous" Clover salutes, nods and begins walking away "And Clover?" Clover stops and looks back. In the background, Marrow is in front of an open airship, talking to a military Huntsman, while miming punching imaginary targets and waving his arms "Don't take Marrow".
Clover looks over at Marrow, then looks at Ironwood, smiling and chuckling with a nod. Marrow recreates his pose from when he froze a pair of Centinels and then turns around and mimes shooting something. Clover heads in Marrow's direction, and Ironwood turns to Qrow, Jaune and Ruby.
Julius shakes his head and chuckles at Marrow's amusing display.
"New problems in Mantle?" Qrow asked.
Ironwood sighs "More of the same, unfortunately" He withdraws and deploys his Scroll, using it to generate a hologram screen in the air in front of him. The left side of the screen displays an Atlas Military Police mugshot of the man the teams met on the transport when they were caught, while the right side displays a photograph of his corpse in an alleyway somewhere in midtown Mantle "Someone in Mantle is taking out public leaders who speak out against Atlas. Specifically, people who speak out against me. It didn't look like a pattern at first. But this is the third murder of its kind in the last week".
Jaune steps forward "Wait a minute. That's the guy that rode with us after we were arrested".
Ruby looked upset "He died?".
"Weird" Julius said.
"Your opposition in Mantle dropping dead isn't exactly a good look for you, huh?" Qrow asked.
Ironwood deactivates the hologram screen and puts his Scroll away "Not really worried about my public image, but it is causing unrest. I think someone's trying to frame me and, by extension, Atlas. And it's working".
"Salem's work, no doubt" Julius said.
Ironwood nods "I think you're right. This could very well be Salem's attempt on pitting us against each other, so she can do as she please without any obstacles".
"Well, if it wasn't for the embargo making everybody so mad, people probably wouldn't be so quick to blame you for everything else" Jaune pointed out. Ironwood frowns and looks at Jaune, who awkwardly clears his throat and stands at attention "S-sir".
Ironwood rubbed the bridge of his nose with his fingers "No. No, you're right. Things in Mantle have been... hard to manage lately. I'm not blind to its issues. In fact, that's what I want to talk to you about" He turns and looks up at Amity Colosseum "With the launch of this mobile communications tower and tensions down in Mantle, I think there's a lot of good your teams can do here. Plus, it looks like the Slayer himself has sent four of his finest warriors to help us." He gestures to the Maidens, who all wave in greeting.
"You will get to know them more as you work with them, and I'm sure…" Then his communicator beeps, and he puts his fingers to it, listening "What? Already? Here? No, it's fine. Let him land. I'll deal with him myself".
Qrow and Ruby look each other, and then at Ironwood with the former speaking "More Mantle problems?".
Ironwood watches an airship fly by on its way to the landing pad "No. This one's an Atlas problem".
Julius looks at the logo on the side of the ship and groans; he had a pretty good idea who was coming, and he wasn't ready to meet this guy for the first time.
The ship descends onto a landing pad, where Ironwood and Team RWBY and JRHD are already waiting, with Team JNR and Qrow standing further back. A ramp extends from in front of the ship's double door, which opens to reveal an angry Jacques Schnee. As soon as the doors begin to open, he starts talking and makes his way down the ramp.
"So let me get this straight, James. In addition to this nonsensical embargo of yours crippling my business, you've also decided you have the authority to commandeer private property?" He stops in front of Ironwood, who calmly stares at him, arms folded behind his back "When the Council hears about this, you will never-".
"Actually, I've already informed them. As this is now the site of a classified military operation, it didn't even require a vote" Ironwood interrupted calmly.
"Didn't require a vote?!" Jacques demanded.
"You might want to brush up on Council law before you lose this upcoming election, Jacques. Now. I've allowed you to land here once as a courtesy. The next time, it won't be a friendly reception" Ironwood said.
Jacques glares at him "Lately, you seem to forget who your friends really are. I'm going to get that Council seat, James, and maybe then, you'll-" He becomes distracted, his eyes widening when he realizes Weiss and Winter are present. They stare at each other for a moment "You..." He walks past Ironwood, glancing at him as he does so "You roped my daughters into these schemes of yours, too? It was bad enough with just Winter but now…" He turns back around to look at Ironwood angrily "How long has Weiss been back in Atlas?"
Weiss becomes annoyed and steps forward to Jacques "It was my decision to come here. Just like it was my decision to leave. Or have you forgotten all about that?".
Jacques looked at her "If you think I'm one to forget anything, girl, then you've misjudged the man your father is".
"Believe me, I know exactly the kind of man you are" Weiss said with attitude.
"As do I" said the blue Maiden, stepping forward, "If your ancestors saw the man you are today, they would turn away in disgust; you disrespect your legacy."
Jacques looked at her angrily "How dare you speak to me that way!? I have half a mind to-".
"Half a mind to what, Jacques?" Ironwood asked in a calm yet deadly tone. Making it very clear what would happen if he didn't think carefully of what he said next.
Jacques narrows his eyes, then adjusts his cuff link, sighing and turning back to Weiss "You know... your mother was devastated when you left" Weiss' face fell at that "Didn't leave her room for days. You know how… she gets... when she's upset" Jacques acts sad while he speaks, taking a moment to peek at Weiss' reaction. Her eyes glimmer with sadness, and she looks down, frowning. Ruby looks upset, and Blake and Yang glare at Jacques, Blake glaring far more intensely than Yang.
Julius looked plenty angry as well, while the others had half a mind to do some plenty unpleasant things to Jacques as well. Even the Maidens seemed shocked by his words.
"That prick…" the yellow one muttered to herself.
Jacques smirks as he turns to face Ironwood again "I knew one day you would overextend your reach. I didn't come here to beg for an abandoned mine. I came here to thank you…" Weiss looks around, noticing that her teammates have come to her side. Blake holds her hand and gives a comforting nod " ...for personally handing me the noose to hang you" Blake and Yang glare at Jacques, while Ruby looks at Weiss with a smile "You'll regret this" Jacques turns to look back at Weiss "So these are the little friends you threw everything away for?".
Weiss shakes her head "Not friends" Ruby looks at Weiss, frowning a little, and then looks at Jacques "Family".
Ruby smiles wide, and Yang smirks. Julius smiled as well "She's right; we've done more for her in these past few years than you've probably done in your whole life. By the way, that song she sang at your little party; you can thank me for helping make that. And if you're going to become a good councilman, I suggest you become a better person first. Not likely considering you probably don't have much room in that thick head past your ego."
The rest of JRHD reeled back, trying not to laugh, while the green Maiden, Spring, busted out in laughter, with the yellow and orange maidens also stifling their own laughs. The blue one remained stoic.
Jacques glared at Julius "Don't think for one second that I didn't see the message behind that song, boy. Once I am on the council, I will personally assure you're time here is a living hell."
Julius smirks; he'd already experienced a living hell "I'd like to see you try."
Jacques said nothing and returns to his airship and begins to take off. Ruby, Blake and Yang look at Weiss with concern, while she exhales and drops her strong and confident facade. The ship flies away, and a truck arrives on the platform. Once the truck comes to a stop, Hayden opens the passenger side door and peeks out at the ship. Another passenger, a young woman with brown hair in a ponytail and light skin, exits from one of the back doors and walks next to Hayden.
"Let me guess" Hayden said, "Jacques?"
Winter nods "Who else?"
Roman scoffed "And they called ME a criminal…"
Novus looked at the woman "I haven't seen you before."
"Oh, sorry" the woman said with a small wave, "I'm Dr. Elena Richardson. I'm with Hayden's research division. He wants me to be at the forefront of this project."
Novus nods, "Gotcha."
Just then, from the sky, Penny comes crashing down, landing on one knee. The force from her landing sends Team RWBY flying with a small scream, while Winter steadies herself against the shockwave. Penny straightens up and throws her hands into the air, the word "CONGRATULATIONS!" appearing above her head as a green hologram, with bright green hologram confetti spawning from it with a party horn sound.
"Surprise!" She looks around with a giant grin as the hologram flickers. When she notices Team RWBY on the ground, her grin and the hologram both fade "Uh, did we not start yet?".
Winter puts her fingertips to her forehead in exasperation "Apparently, we haven't".
The others laugh at the little situation, while Ruby stands up with a look of confusion "Start what?".
After the sun finishes setting, RWBY, JNR, JRHD, Qrow, Winter, Penny, Hayden and Ironwood gather in the center of Amity Colosseum's arena. JRHD, RWBY and JNR stand lined up, with Ironwood, Hayden, Winter and Penny standing across from them and Qrow standing off to the side. The arena lights are on and pointing at the center of the stage where everyone is standing.
"It goes without saying that this arena holds a significance to all of us. It's only fitting that we should be able to reconvene here. Now. When the world needs to be brought together more than ever. The road you traveled from our first meeting hasn't been easy" While he talks, Ironwood begins walking along in front of the Teams. Penny, who is holding a tablet-sized Scroll, excitedly bounces up and down next to Winter, who places a hand on Penny's shoulder to hold her still "You fought for your school and your friends at Beacon. You fought for the world and the innocent at Haven Academy and beyond. You faced down terrors people can't even fathom. That's not the behavior of students. It's the behavior… of Huntsmen and Huntresses".
He looks over at Penny, who happily begins humming and walking past the teams, stopping in front of each person to tap on her Scroll. With each tap, her Scroll emits a beep and someone else's Scroll buzzes. As they check their scrolls, it shows that they have gone from students... to Huntsmen and Huntresses. Even Roman found that
"Wait... what is this?" Ren asked surprised.
"You are being granted your Huntsman licenses, today" Winter said.
Penny finishes using her Scroll to grant everyone their licenses and walks away with a big grin. Her Scroll displays the Atlas Huntsman License Registry.
"I know this is coming a little ahead of schedule, but all of us here know you deserve it. I only regret that I couldn't do something a little more ceremonious for the occasion" Ironwood said.
Ruby stares in awe at her license "I... We… we're honored, General Ironwood. But you really don't have to do th-".
Ironwood interrupts her "Please. With the threat of Salem still out there and tensions rising in our kingdom, I certainly could use more trustworthy fighters by my side, though the appearance of the four Maidens at the temple is certainly welcome" As Ironwood walks away from them, Team RWBY look at each other. Yang and Weiss' faint smiles fade, and Blake's cat ears droop "I should be so lucky to have all of you" He stops for a moment, then looks at Team RWBY and smiles "It's okay. It's a big moment. And what better way than to celebrate here? When this tower is ready and communications are back up and running, we'll tell the world about Salem and face down whatever comes at us after that, together".
Julius had tears in his eyes; he had never though this day would happen so soon.
Summer squealed for joy in his head I'm so proud of you!
Hector saluted "I'll do my best to live up to this, General."
Ironwood smiled "You already have. That's… just about all the pomp I have in me" He awkwardly adjusts his tie "If you'll excuse me, I have to get back to running this operation. Um… Well, then. Enjoy the cake".
Ironwood walks away, with Winter following. Penny pops up with a hand raised in the air "Your speech outros are improving, sir!".
"After everything we've been through, I almost forgot this is what I wanted in the first place" Yang said.
"When Beacon fell, I didn't think this would even be possible" Blake said.
"It almost feels trivial now" Weiss said.
"Well, it could be worse" Roman said, "I mean, c'mon; being able to go out and do things without the risk of being arrested? I can get used to this."
"He's right guys, lighten up a little. Enjoy yourselves for a change. You've earned it" Qrow said.
"Finally! Someone said it. Let's kill some cake, huh?" Nora moves forward, throwing a fist in the air "Because I can eat two slices before Ren even eats one. Who says I can't? Who says it, huh!?".
"Nora, nobody is arguing with you about this" Ren said, causing Nora to pout.
Julius chuckled "Knowing you, Nora, you'd probably eat the whole cake before any of us even got a slice."
Hector shuddered "Don't give her ideas"
A short while later, all of the teens except Ruby and Julius gather around a cake. Ruby instead sits nearby in the bleachers, Julius next to her. Penny uses six of her swords to cut the cake into even slices. Weiss and Ren stand together, eating their personal slices, and Nora moves over to them with a stack of six slices. Ren and Weiss stare in surprise as Nora eats an entire slice in one bite. Nora then looks next to her in shock as Hector appears with three slices impaled on one of his arm blades, causing Weiss to chuckle a bit.
Yang shows off her prosthetic arm to Penny, who looks at it in awe. Yang then offers to shake Penny's hand with the prosthetic arm, a sneaky grin on her face. Penny happily takes her hand, only for the arm to detach, causing Penny to gasp in surprise. Yang and Nora laugh, and after a moment, Penny laughs, too.
Blake stands alone, eating her cake in calm silence. Suddenly, Yang swiftly moves up beside Blake, putting her arm around her and holding up her Scroll with the camera function on. Blake looks at Yang with wide eyes and a confused smile, and when the Scroll's camera begins rapidly clicking, she turns her head and grins at it with a small, awkward laugh. Suddenly, Hector appears in between the two, photobombing with a mischievous grin and giving a thumbs up.
Ruby and Julius were talking to Qrow during the celebrations. As time went on Yang called her sister down. Ruby zooms over to the group, who are staring at something.
Ruby gasps "Oh my gosh, is that a mission board? It's an app now!?" She zooms over to the mission board, pointing at different missions "Can we ride a Megoliath? Stop an underground crime ring? Do I get to go…" She turns away, puts on her hood, and turns back to Penny, doing a dramatic expression "...Undercover?
Ruby flares her cloak out, knocking the hood off her head, and begins shaking Penny up and down "Maaaybeee!".
Marrow's voice comes from nearby, and Ruby stops shaking Penny "Hey, do you guys smell that?" He walks in with Elm and Vine, dramatically sniffing the air "Smells like… fresh meat".
Vine sniffs "That's odd. I don't smell meat".
Ren sniffs too "Neither do I".
"He's talking about us" Hector said with an unamused expression; accustomed to military veteran talk.
"Thank you! Glad someone gets it!" Marrow said.
"Let me get this straight. You've only been official for an hour now and you're already looking for Huntsman work?" Elm asked.
Weiss: holds up a finger "To be fair, we've been official for a whole…" Weiss withdraws her Scroll and checks the time, then looks disappointed "Fifty-seven minutes".
Nora playfully rolls her eyes at Weiss.
"I'd like to remind you all that the real mission here is ensuring the successful launch of the communications tower" Vine said.
"True, but we can also keep training and improving by helping where we can" Ren said.
"Yeah, so whose ass are we kicking next?!" Hector said, deploying his blades and crossing them in front inf him in a dramatic position.
Elm happily sighs and does a fist pump "The enthusiasm of youths!".
"Well, it's hard to argue with that. Okay, let me show you how it works" Marrow walks over to the mission board, scrolls up on it and selects an Escort mission "Ooh, here's an important one. Who wants to volunteer?".
He turns to look, and RWBY and JNR all raise their hands, calling out "Yes!" and "Alright!".
"We need someone to escort children to pre-primary school down in Mantle. There's not actually any danger, but the parents fret, and that attracts Grimm" Marrow said. Everyone but Jaune drops their hands down "Perfect! Thanks… Juan… Jwan… Jim?".
"Close enough, I guess" Jaune said with an awkward chuckle "Wow, my first Huntsman mission".
Elm slides over and knocks Marrow aside with her palm, causing him to scream "Next!" She quickly swipes down on the mission board, causing the missions to scroll by rapidly. She slaps one of the missions, bringing up a Search and Destroy mission with an image depicting a rotating 3D model of a Sabyr "A massive Sabyr is loose in the Mantle sewers! We need two brave warriors to flush it out!".
Everyone but Jaune raises their hands, gasping excitedly, and Jaune looks around, bewildered "Wha- But- Why didn't I get a choice for that one?".
Jaune shrunk down, and everyone laughed.
Julius scoffed "Only two? Pfft! Please, I could have that thing down right now."
Novus cocked his shotgun "So, could I, pal."
Elm grin got more intense "I like your spirit!"
"Hey, you!" called a voice, and everyone turned to see the four Maidens approach.
Qrow was the first to address them "So, from what Ironwood tells me, you four are the original four Maidens."
The blue one nodded and retracted her helmet, revealing a strikingly beautiful face with pale skin, light blue eyes, and white hair that fell loosely at her shoulders.
"My name is Khione, the eldest" she said, "These are my sisters, Autumn, Summer, and Spring."
The other three waved and removed their own helmets: Spring had light green hair done in braids, a fair complexion, and brown eyes. Summer's skin was tanner than the others, and had golden hair that was tied back in a ponytail. Autumn had strawberry blonde hair, toffee colored eyes, and a face of freckles.
Ruby smiled and waved "It's nice to meet you guys!"
"Likewise" Summer replied, "We've kept tabs on your progress and I must say, what you all have done at your age is impressive to say the least."
Spring it up in a smile "We all think so. Even the Slayer…" this was stopped short when Summer clamped a hand down on the back of her neck.
"Sorry" Summer said, "Spring tends to say whatever comes into her mind."
Hector nods "Yup been there" as everyone looks over to Nora, who still has a mouthful of cake.
"What?" she asked.
Everyone shared a brief chuckle before Autumn spoke "Now, we hear that one of you wields magic while another has silver eyes."
Ruby raises her hand "That would be me with the silver eyes. Julius uses magic."
Julius simply shrugged "Yeah, but not very well."
"I don't know" Summer said, "You seemed pretty good holding that Leviathan back."
"Yeah, and I passed out after a few minutes."
Khione gave a comforting smile "Not to worry. I believe we can help you two improve your skills. We've lived alongside warriors who use both, so we know a thing or two about magic and Sentinel power."
Julius nodded "I mean, if you can help, than I see no problem with that."
Ruby nervously chuckled "Yeah, I could probably use some help too."
Khione nodded "It's settled then. I will speak with Ironwood to see if me and my sisters can mentor you in your powers. You'll need to master those skills to face what's coming."
"Thank you" Julius said.
"I got dibs on the cute guy!" Spring shouted.
Julius folded his arms "Sorry, I already have a girlfriend."
Spring looked surprised, then gave a small pout, mush to the amusement of the other three Maidens.
"Well" Khione said, "We shouldn't keep you here and longer. You may go to your rooms and rest. You'll need it for tomorrow."
Later that night, everyone was doing just that and getting ready for some sleep. Tomorrow would be their first mission, so they needed the rest. Hector however, stood on the balcony of his room, his scroll dialing a number he had been meaning to call for a while now. After a few minutes, someone picked up on the other end.
"Hector?" Coco asked on the other end.
"Yeah, Coco. It's me." Hector replied, "Sorry I didn't call you sooner; getting to Atlas was a bitch. The good news is, we're here now."
"Yeah, well, I'm just glad you're alright. Velvet give you that note?"
"She did. I haven't had the time to open it yet. Sorry."
"Don't be. I saw what happened to the Argus Limited on the news. You guys definitely had a hell of a time getting to Atlas."
Hector chuckled "Yeah, we did. Velvet and DRMS make it back to Vacuo."
"Mhm. They're doing just fine. Not sure what happened to Velvet though; she's been acting more confident lately."
"Well, she did smack the leader of the White Fang into next week at Haven. Stuff like that tends to boost self-confidence."
"True."
"Yeah. I just wanted to call to say hi; It's been a long time since we last saw each other."
"Too long. I won't admit this openly to others, but I miss you; you really are something else."
"I could say the same for you. You're probably one of the most kickass people I've met aside from my team."
"Aww, that's sweet. Well hey, thanks for calling. And open that letter when you get the chance, otherwise I'm gonna come over there and stomp on you."
Hector chuckled nervously; he knew Coco well enough to know she was probably serious "I will, don't worry. But right now, I gotta get some rest; it's night here and Atlas has a bit of a curfew going on."
"Understandable. Well, goodnight, Hector. I love you."
Hector smirked to himself "I love you too, Coco. Goodnight."
Then, the line went dead, and Hector walked back into the room, crashing on the only open bed and promptly fell asleep; relieved that he was able to speak with Coco again after what felt like forever.