The Greatest Kingdom.

Manta airships patrol the skies around the City of Atlas, keeping in communication with each other over radio.

As Maria pilots the group's stolen Manta toward the city, they receive radio contact "Manta 5-1. Welcome home. Please continue your approach to Atlas docking bay Omega-12. A security team will meet you there. Over".

Ruby and the others aboard Manta 5-1 look around at the large military air fleet surrounding the kingdom's capital "I don't understand. What's happening here?".

"I don't know" Qrow said, looking very suspicious.

"But we are here. We got the lamp to Atlas, so I guess we land and get some answers" Jaune said.

"I'm not so sure. 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. They might even take me and Bernadetta back to our fathers" Weiss said.

"I do not want to see him again" Bernadetta said.

Blake gains a saddened look, while Ruby and Yang look at each other, uncertain of what to do.

"So…" Blake began.

"Now what do we do?" Severa asked as Weiss, having gotten an idea, suddenly looks up.

"Winter!" Weiss brings out her Scroll "Put some distance between us and the fleet".

"You don't have to tell me twice" As Weiss walks to the back of the ship, Maria steers the ship toward Mantle.

As people wander the streets of Mantle, the group looks over the city through the Manta's windows. They fly past a giant screen on the side of a skyscraper. Ironwood's voice comes from the screen, catching Ruby and Yang's attention "Cannot express our appreciation enough. 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".

Ruby and Yang look saddened as the older sister spoke "General Ironwood. He looks…".

"Tired" Ruby finished.

"Try exhausted. When was the last time he slept?" Lucina wondered.

"James, what have you been doing?" Qrow wondered.

Four Atlesian Knight-200s are seen walking down a street in Mantle, while civilians around them complain about their presence. A small drone floats along a sidewalk, while a pair of small children hide in an alley. One of the children picks up a rock and throws it at the drone, which spins around to look, prompting the children to hide against the wall. Weiss sadly stares out of Manta 5-1's window with her Scroll in her palm. Her Scroll is set to call Winter, who does not answer.

"Maybe I'm just being paranoid... But am I the only one who thinks this looks less like protection... and more like occupation?" Lyre asked.

"This isn't right. None of this is right" Weiss said.

Once again, the stolen Manta receives contact over the radio "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 said.

"We need to ditch the ship" Yang said.

"Agreed. Get lost in Mantle and buy ourselves some time" Qrow said.

"And maybe find out why everything looks like crap" Severa said.

Weiss shook her head "I'm telling you, my sister can take us to Ironwood".

Blake, who has been staring out of a window, looks over her shoulder and speaks up "Uh, Weiss?".

Weiss walks over to Blake's side and looks out the window with her as they see Winter on a giant screen "A reminder. Failure to cooperate with Atlas military personnel is a punishable offense. If your sector is under lockdown…".

Weiss looked shocked "Winter?".

"No offense, Weiss. I'm not sure that's a good idea anymore" Qrow said.

Weiss tenses her shoulders and turns to Qrow, fists clenched "There's obviously something very wrong. If we can just talk to her, then we-".

"Look, I'm not even sure we should be talking to Ironwood until we know exactly what's going on with Mantle" Qrow interrupted sharply.

Weiss looked desperate "But-".

"Everyone, calm down" Maria said before she sighs "I know someone who can help with both"..

The Air Traffic woman contacted them again, sounding angry "Manta 5-1, you are to make your-".

Maria shuts off the radio, annoyed "Geez, lady, take a hint!".

After landing the stolen Manta in Mantle, Maria cautiously exits an alley by slowly shuffling along with her cane. When she sees the coast is clear, she picks up her cane and walks normally, and everyone else exits the alley with her. In the distance, a small group of Atlas soldiers run down a street in the direction that Maria and the others came from.

The group begins walking through Mantle together. Trucks drive past, and Atlesian Knight-200s stand on various sidewalks. A small child places a poster of a white-haired woman on a street lamp. There is a hologram board displaying news articles with the following headlines:

"Missing Journalist Found Slain"

"Election Imminent
Mantle Hometown Hero vs Atlesian Tycoon"

"Embargo: The Right Call?
Pressure and Criticism Continues to Mount on Council"

"Outer Wall Damaged
Resources Stalled"

The group walks past a garage with graffiti art reading "Show Your Teeth".

"Come on now, hurry! It shouldn't be much of a walk" Maria said.

"Is this many soldiers normal?" Jaune asked.

"No. At least, I didn't think so" Weiss answered.

"I wouldn't know. I was rarely outside my house before I left for Beacon" Bernadetta said.

At the back of the group, Yang notices a whirring sound and stops to take a look "Huh?".

There is a small drone hovering to her right. The camera part of the drone lifts up, focused on her. When Yang shrugs it off and resumes walking, the drone follows her. She stops again and looks at it in surprise and confusion. As she leans in to take a closer look, the drone takes a photograph of her face with a bright flash, which Yang recoils from. In response, Yang kicks the drone, knocking it out of the air and causing it to tumble into the street, where it is struck by a car.

Yang cringes at the drone's destruction "Ooh…" She turns to see everyone else in the group staring at her. She awkwardly shifts her posture with a sheepish smile "Maybe we should pick up the pace".

"You don't say, Dumbass" Severa growled.

Everyone resumes walking.

"You have to remember, 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 as bright as it gets" Maria explained.

They look up at the City of Atlas, while the earlier broadcast from Winter plays once again nearby. A pair of trucks drive by with miners, covered in black material, sitting in the beds. Posters depicting a white-haired woman are plastered across one of the buildings that the trucks pass, with the text "PROTECT MANTLE" printed on them.

"We are here for your safety. Thank you for your cooperation" Winter said.

Lucina, Blake and Nora watch the second truck as it drives by.

Nora crosses her arms and looking away "Unless you're the one having to look up at it".

"Easy to feel high and mighty when the dangers can't even reach you" Lucina said.

Blake looks down "This whole city, it just seems awful".

"No kidding, this looks worse than Mistral" Lyre agreed.

A drunken voice calls out from nearby "Yeah? A drunk man comes stumbling down from a porch "You don't like it here? There's plenty of space out in the tundra".

Blake sighs "Sorry, I didn't mean to-"

The Drunk Mann interrupted her "Atlas is the greatest Kingdom in the world, alright?!".

Ruby steps forward to confront him "Hey!".

Blake steps forward ahead of Ruby, speaking quietly to her "We can't cause a scene".

The drunk man's equally drunk buddy speaks up "The embargo... The embargo's got us in a rough patch. But it'll blow over, you'll see".

The first Drunk Mann spoke loudly "We try and help the other Kingdoms, and this is what happens? I say let 'em rot!".

"Hey! We're sorry if we offended you alright. As you can see, we are new here" Lyre said.

The drunk man spits on the ground, glaring at Lyre "Stupid Faunus like you wouldn't unders-".

He looks down to unscrew his flask and pauses when he sees a black glyph beneath his feet. His glasses hover off his face as his eyes widen in surprise. The glyph flings him into the air, and he falls into a dumpster in the nearby alley, his glasses and flask accompanying him soon after. Everyone stare at the dumpster, then turn to see Weiss pointing Myrtenaster where the man had been standing.

"It was worth it" Weiss said with a shrug and a smiles. There was a lot she was prepared to put up with, racial attacks on her girlfriend was not one of them.

Lyre smiled at her "My hero".

The group flees while a pair of Atlesian Knight-200s investigate. The man's drinking buddy hurries down from the porch and looks around in thought, before reaching out toward the girls "Hey, wait! You're- That was-".

The drinking buddy trips and collapses to the sidewalk. Winter's broadcast is heard playing once again "We are here for your safety. Thank you for your cooperation".

The group approaches a building with a glowing green plus symbol above its front door. The side door opens, and a Faunus with a prosthetic arm exits, waving cheerfully to the man who speaks to her from inside "And no more heavy-lifting, yah hear?".

"Ah, it's good to see you again, old friend" Maria said as she and the group walked inside.

An older man is sitting behind the desk, shuffling things around in a drawer. Maria clears her throat, startling him, and he lifts his head to look at her, shutting the drawer. Maria smiles at him.

"Ah, yes, yes" He pushes a stack of papers aside "Have we met?".

"Well, this is off to a fantastic start" Ren said.

"Cybernetic optical implants" Maria points to her eyes "You adjust them. Every ten years or so?".

The man stares at her for a few moments before throwing his hands cheerfully into the air "Maria!" The robotic chair he is sitting in begins walking out from behind the desk "Yes, with the cybernetic optical implants! I adjust them every ten years or so" He offers his hand to her and leads her to an examination table "Oh wow, has it been that long already?".

"Ah, I know. I age like a fine wine. Would've been here sooner if I hadn't run into these jokers. At the time, I thought they might need my guidance while fighting a little old Sphinx" Maria said as she sits next to him.

"Oh, did they?" The man asked.

"No, no. They had much more complicated issues" Maria answered.

Qrow clears his throat "And this is?".

"So impatient. I didn't think I'd need to introduce one of Atlas' finest minds" Maria said.

"Working in a place like this?" Yang asked as The building creaks, and a ceiling tile falls to the floor.

"He likes to keep a low profile. Something I've come to realize none of you know anything about" Maria said.

The Man smiled "You can call me Pietro".

"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" Maria said.

Pietro waves his hand dismissively "Oh, it's stuffy up there. Down here, I get to help the locals and have a little fun. I'm currently working on shoes that make you dance. Wanna try 'em on?".

Nora looked up excitedly "YES!".

Yang steps in "Before we get to that, we were wondering if you could help us. We came to Atlas hoping to talk to General Ironwood, but um…".

"What exactly has been happening here?" Blake asked.

Pietro coughs "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 realized.

Pietro got a serious look "Paranoid would be the more appropriate term. 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. 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".

"That's how they brought down Beacon... By turning the army meant to protect us... in to our destroyers" Lucina said, and she knew exactly who was responsible.

"Maybe Atlas isn't as safe as we thought" Ren said.

"After we came all this way, we can't just leave, can we?" Oscar asked.

"Would really suck if we came all this way for nothing... Especially after nearly dying several times" Severa said.

Weiss steps forward "How does the council feel about all of this? Or Winter Schnee? Do you know anything about her?".

"Well, the council's so scared, they'll agree to whatever he wants. Though, some representatives from Mantle… Wait, you're… You're Weiss Schnee!" Pietro suddenly realized.

Weiss gasps and steps back, with her friends looking nervous.

Yang steps forward with her prosthetic arm outstretched "Wait, what was it that you were trying to say about Mantle?".

Pietro looks at the prosthetic "You painted it".

Yang withdraws her arm, confused "What?".

"Is everything okay?" Ruby asked.

"You're Team RWBY and Team LSBL!" Pietro said.

The Team girls look at each other in confusion.

"You know us?!" Ruby asked.

"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" Pietro said.

"Your… daughter?" Ruby asked.

Their conversation is interrupted by the sound of an alarm and people screaming. Outside, civilians are running, and the lights from the street lamps have turned red.

"Ah, trouble" Jaune said.

The group runs outside and Pietro reaches out to them "Wait!".

Everyone in the group draws their weapons. Upon drawing her katana, Blake looks at the broken blade, exhaling sharply before folding the blade down to wield it as a gun.

"We really need to get that fixed" Severa said.

"I guess the city defenses aren't doing much" Oscar said.

Nora glances at Ren "Somehow, that doesn't surprise me".

Down the road from them, growling is heard, and an Atlesian Knight is thrown against a lamp post. Another robot is thrown, and three more back up into view, shooting at Sabyrs, which tackle and destroy them one by one.

"Well, we didn't come this far to fail now!" Ruby changes Crescent Rose into scythe form and aims the sniper barrel toward the Sabyrs, which finish destroying the Atlesian Knights and charge toward her and her friends.

Everyone readies their weapons. Yang charges forth using recoil from her gauntlet, followed by Ren launching himself forward.

Nora gasps "Hey!".

Getting an idea, Nora looks at Jaune, who looks startled. She uses Magnhild to pole vault toward Jaune, who puts up his shield in response, allowing her to land on it. She then kicks off from his shield, launching herself. After Yang uppercuts a Sabyr, Ren lands on another one's back, stabbing his guns' blades into it, and it leaps into the air to knock him off, only for Nora to slam it to the ground with her hammer. Jaune beheads a Sabyr, and when a second one leaps at him, he blocks with his shield and stabs it just above its collarbone.

Lucina slashed clean through a Sabyr as Severa rushed in and smashed another with her blade. When another Sabyr leaps towards her, she turns her blade in to it's shield from and uses it to block and tosses the grimm towards Lucina who finished it off by cutting it half. Meanwhile, Bernadetta shot and arrow at a charging Sabyr, but she missed as it keeps running at her. Bernadetta quickly grabs another arrow before dodging the Sabyr's charge and in swift motion she stabs the arrow in to the grimm's eye, killing it.

She sighs in relief but gasped as another Sabyr leaps at her. Luckily Lyre tackles it down, her claws entering it's throat before she ripped it open, killing the grimm. She turns to Bernadetta and gave her a thumbs up, to which Bernadetta smiles in gratitude.

Qrow slices two Sabyrs in half, leans back to dodge a third as it attempts to tackle him. He transforms Harbinger into scythe mode and uses it to hook the Grimm as it makes another attempt to tackle him. As he finishes spinning his scythe, he plants its blade into the ground and punches another Sabyr in the head, then uppercuts it into the air. He then kicks Harbinger upward, catches it, straightens the blade, impales the Sabyr, and slices another one that leaps at him from behind the deceased Sabyr's smoke.

While Qrow shoots at more Sabyrs, another one turns its attention to Oscar. It charges him, and he leaps into the air and stabs at its skull with Ozpin's cane. While he watches it die, another one leaps at him from behind, only to be sniped by Ruby, who smiles and nods to Oscar.

Ruby transforms her rifle back into scythe mode and runs forward. As a Sabyr leaps at her, she does a flip and slices it in half. She continues running, fires Crescent Rose, and begins using her Semblance to speed down the street, before appearing to split into three blurs of red that go around a Sabyr, which splits apart with a roar. The blurs converge and transform back into Ruby, who stabs the tip of her scythe into the asphalt, swinging forward on it and landing on the ground. She fires Crescent Rose and lets go of it, sending it spinning through a Sabyr and into the air. She leaps onto and kicks off of another Sabyr, spinning and catching her scythe. She fires Crescent Rose to keep up momentum and slams the blade into the ground, sending out a shockwave that takes out two more Sabyrs.

After Weiss slices through a Sabyr, four more come running toward her from another street. She casts four black glyphs, using them to levitate the Grimm. As they flail helplessly in the air, Ren leaps from Sabyr to Sabyr, cutting each of them in half. Meanwhile, another Sabyr attempts to run up behind Yang while she finishes one off, only to be shot by Blake, who smiles and nods to Yang.

Suddenly, another Sabyr leaps into the air behind Blake, who gasps and turns to face it. Before she can fight back, a green laser fires from the sky, cutting the Grimm in half. More lasers shoot from above, striking down the remaining Grimm. The alarms throughout the city stop, and the street lamps change back to their normal color. Everyone watches as a figure with long hair flies into view, with green jets coming from her feet. She twirls in the air and slowly descends. Pietro and Maria walk outside to join the group.

Ruby stares at the girl before gasping and gaining a look of recognition "Penny!".

Pietro smiles "Darling, why don't you say hello to your friends?".

Penny turns to look in the direction her father's voice came from. Upon seeing Ruby, she gasps and her eyes shine with joy. Ruby smiles and puts her weapon away.

Penny leans forward a little "Sal…"-

Ruby looked confused "Huh?".

Penny lowers to one knee as a high-pitched charging noise is heard "U...".

Now Ruby was nervous "Uh…?".

Penny begins gleefully sprinting toward Ruby at high speed "Tations!".

Penny leaps and activates her jets, rocketing forward and tackling Ruby, who flails her hands around in front of her and screams, eyes wide. Upon crashing to the ground, Ruby groans in pain. Everyone else puts their weapons away and approaches the pair.

Penny pops back up onto her feet, while Ruby slowly rises with her hand on her head "It is such a pleasure to see you all again!".

Ruby looked at her tearfully "Penny, I… I-I thought you…".

"Died?" Pietro guessed as he was riding his chair over to Penny's side "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 me some time, but…".

"I'm as good as new! Better, even! And now I'm the official protector of the city!" Penny said.

"That's my girl. We're not going to let a little ripping to shreds stop us, are we?" Pietro asked as he laughs, then coughs.

"No sir!" Penny said knocking on her head with a clanking sound.

"This is…" Weiss began.

"Strangely wholesome" Blake finished with a smile.

Yang smiled as well "Sounds like Penny to me".

"Good to see something hasn't changed" Lucina said.

Penny excitedly grabs Ruby's shoulders "We have so many things to catch up about. I cannot wait!" Just as she finishes her sentence with a grin, the city's alarms begin blaring again "It seems we will have to wait" She bounces backward and salutes. As she charges her jets and then rockets off into the sky, she continues speaking quickly to Ruby even as she takes off "Let's talk more later! I can't wait to hear about all of your adventures and tell you how I have been and I am just very excited about the whole experience!".

"I can't tell if I completely understand what's going on or have, like, a million questions" Nora said.

Pietro was on his way back to the pharmacy "And thankfully, I have about a thousand answers. But let's get out of this weather first".

Maria follows him "I have absolutely no idea who that child was. Is she important somehow?".

"That was unexpected" Jaune said.

"Never a dull moment" Ren said.

Qrow smiled "But I wouldn't say unwelcome. I was honestly expecting things to go a lot rougher".

"Don't jinx it old man" Severa said with a playful punch to her father's arm.

However, they heard armored footsteps. They looked and saw a young woman, who looked to be roughly the same age as Winter. She had snow white hair, silver armor and a red cape, similar to Ruby's. She had a hard look and it was easy to tell she was a Huntress. The large battle ax she was carrying was also a good clue.

"So, you are the ones all this fuss is about. There are more of you than I expected" The woman said.

"Who are you?" Ruby asked.

Weiss had wide eyes "Wait... I know who she is. That's Edelgard von Hresvelg. She comes from one of the most powerful families in all of Atlas and she graduated from Atlas Academy with the highest score in every subject. She is a genius".

"I shouldn't be surprised that you know of me, Weiss Schnee. Heard you weren't half bad yourself. Then again, you are Winter's sister" Edelgard said.

"Speaking of Winter, we need to talk to her" Weiss said, still holding on to hope that her sister could help them.

"We don't want any trouble" Lucina said, having a feeling that if Edelgard is even half as skilled as Weiss said she is, then a fight with her would not end well.

"Then I'm afraid you should've thought twice before sneaking in to our kingdom with a stolen ship. I'm sorry, but before we do anything else, you are all under arrest" Edelgard said.

Before anyone can react, several bolases wrap around them, the spheres at the ends of the ropes locking into place with Gravity Dust. As Ruby lands, the Relic of Knowledge comes unhooked from her belt and clatters to the ground. Qrow draws his sword and looks for their unseen enemy, before being captured himself. Five uniform-clad people come out of hiding and surround the group.

"Good work, team" A man who looked to be the leader said.

"Hey! What's going on?!" Oscar asked.

Qrow glares at them "Hey, pal! I'm a licensed Huntsman! Just helped save everyone?".

The Man looks down at Qrow, twirling a horseshoe on his finger. He puts the horseshoe away and picks up Qrow's weapon. The other uniformed operatives begin gathering everyone else's weapons, while Atlesian Knights approach, and the operatives hand the confiscated weapons to the robots.

"Hey! Give me back my sword!" Lucina demanded as her family heirloom was taken away from her. If she lost it, she would've lost one of her family's greates treasures.

The Man then approaches Ruby, picks up the Relic, and looks at it "Hm. Let's get them loaded into the next transport".

"Please! We were just trying to help!" Ruby pleaded.

"What is the meaning of this?" Pietro demands as he coughs "What are the Ace-Ops even doing down here in Mantle?".

"Ace-Ops?" Ruby asked.

The Man smiled at him "Doctor, good to see you. Well, we heard a report of an unauthorized ship making an unauthorized landing, followed by an unauthorized use of weapons by unlicensed Huntsmen".

Maria turns and walks away as Pietro spoke "If we could just talk this out-".

The Man tosses the Relic from one hand to the other "They'll be able to talk this out once they get to Atlas. Let's move out!".

The Ace-Ops split up and leave the area. The teams, Oscar and Qrow are forced into the back of a secure van with their wrists bound.

"Now, this… This is much closer to what I was expecting" Qrow said.

"And you had to Jinx it..." Severa said in a tired tone.

The back doors of the van are slammed shut.

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Here we go, Volume 7.

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Tell me what you think.