Chapter 42

Greatest Kingdom

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

Flashback

"Scroll Communications / Tv"

Location / Date / Time Change

Ruby and her friends stared out of the front window in shock. "I don't... understand." The scythe user mumbled.

"James has been like this for months." Ragyo explained. "His positioned the entire Atlesian military in a defensive position. It's like he's expecting something."

"He's afraid." Qrow said, shocking the entire ship.

"So... do we go to him?" Ryuko asked as she stepped forward.

"We do." Ragyo said as the pilot flew past the wall of ships. "But I must warn you, he's a bit... eccentric these days."

"I don't like being this close to the military." Maria said, looking out of the window.

"Guys... look at this." Aerith whispered in shock as she looked out the window. The city of Mantle was a slum compared to Atlas. It was overcrowded, poorly designed, and absolutely under-protected. Atlesian robots patrolled the streets and camera drones floated down the road, scaring the people.

A giant video of the General said that the kingdom would remain strong and safe. "Who's he trying to convince: the people or himself?" Vergil asked.

"Is that many soldiers normal in Mantle?" Blake asked the two natives.

"No." Weiss answered. "At least, I've don't think it is."

"James, what have you been doing?" Qrow asked himself.

"How can the council just let him do this?" Ryuko asked her mother. "I thought they were supposed to keep him in check."

"We are, but ever since the fall of Beacon, he's been rough shooting the others." Ragyo said. "I've tried to keep his more extreme ideas at bay, but his damn Semblance is making it hard. Honestly, I'm not sure he turns it off even when he sleeps."

The ship docked at the Academy and the crew stepped out. "So... who knows the way to his office?" Yang asked as she carried Natsu out. The blonde shared one final glance at the guards as they lead Adam away.

"I... do..." Natsu groaned in nausea.

"I need to return to the company, so I'm afraid I will be leaving you for a while." Ragyo said as she hugged her daughter. "But don't worry, I'll be back soon. Ironwood has commissioned me to make some more... climate appropriate outfits." She said with a smirk as she glance at Blake, making her cover up.

"See ya soon, mom." Her daughter smiled before the ship took off.

"Natsu, are you good to go?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah... yeah, I'm good." The Faunus said as he stood up. "Follow me." The guards at the door stood at attention and let them pass into the building. "Ironwood brought me here at least a hundred times when I came of age for the Academy. I have no idea why, but this place always gave me the creeps."

He opened the door and lead them all in. "Cafeteria is down there. Training room, dorm rooms other way. And this..." He stopped in front of the elevator and pressed the button on the side. "Will take us to his office." The door open and the group walked in before Natsu pressed the button to the floor. "So... what do we do when we see him?" Natsu asked Ruby.

"I don't know." The girl confessed. "But, we should be careful about what we say."

"We'll follow your lead, Ruby." Blake reassured, making Ruby smile. They walked out of the elevator and stepped forward into a hall. They reached a cross section with a hole in the ceiling for the starlight, only to find the General and Winter walking by them. The male was talking to the specialist, totally ignoring them.

Natsu coughed and caught their attention, making the two turn around. "Hello, there."

"...Winter..." Weiss said as she pushed herself forward. The two sisters stared at each other before Weiss stepped forward and hugged her. "It's good to see you again."

"Please, follow me." The general said as the two left each others side. The group followed the military pair into his office as he turned to them. "It is so good to see you all again."

"I'm amazed that Qrow actually managed to get you here without doing something unsavory." Winter said, glaring at her rival.

"Actually, thank them." He confessed. "They were the ones who helped saved Argus. I was just in charge of helping people evacuate."

"You were-" Vergil started before Natsu elbowed him. "Right... helping evacuees."

"Anyway, we have some important information." The Faunus explained to the general. "Something that's ONLY for you."

"Is it about the Maidens? Or maybe the Relics?" Winter asked, stunning everyone.

"...You told HER!?" Natsu asked in anger, earning a smirk from Winter. "Why!? Why of all people her!?"

"To be fair, you are carrying the Lamp on your hip." The general said, pointing to Ruby. "After the Fall of Beacon and Ozpin's death, I needed my own team of people I could trust. So I told Winter everything, and my Ace Ops as well. Which is why I'm so glad you're here, with the Lamp. Until now, I believe it was impossible to ever turn the tide against Salem. Oz would push her back, keep victory out of her claws, but she always keeps returning, stronger and stronger... until we destroy her."

Ruby hid her face for a second before turning back to the General. "But, what about the Atlas Relic?"

"The Staff of Creation?" Ironwood asked back. "Safely locked in the Vault."

"And the Winter Maiden?" Qrow asked.

"Secured... and in stable condition." Winter reported.

"Stable condition?" Yang asked. "What do you mean-"

"She's not exactly a spring chicken, Yang." Her uncle replied.

"I know how this all looks." The general replied. "Recalling my military, the Dust embargo. I probably don't seem the most companionate right now."

"Then why continue it?" Aerith asked. "The people of Mantle are clearly suffering. And their defenses should be much better than what they have."

"I needed to ensure that Salem couldn't infiltrate my kingdom." He replied. "And I wanted my military here to protect my people."

"But it's not protecting them. It's making them hate you." Yang replied.

The general let out a sigh and turned to the blonde. "That is a price I am willing to pay." He replied before pressing a button, closing his shudders. "Just as you have been entrusted with Salem's existence, I need you all to trust me." The floor under Ruby and Oscar started rising, making the two step off as a projector rose up.

"Ozpin believed that the best way to fight Salem was from the shadows." Ironwood said as he walked over. "Wether or not that was the right call is not for me to say. But right now, we need a new approach."

"And what's this plan of yours?" Qrow asked.

Ironwood pressed a button and a projection of Amity Coliseum appeared. "When Beacon fell and we lost communications, I knew the CCT were no longer viable. Amity was built to bring the world together, and once we make a few modifications, it will." He pressed another button and a tower was suddenly added to it.

"We're going to launch the tower high into the atmosphere." Winter explained. "Our scientists believe it will turn it into some kind of 'satellite'. That will keep it out of the reach of the Grimm and leave it capable of global communications even if we lose another tower."

"But... you don't need the whole military for this." Natsu said, turning to the General. "If you only had half, it would be more than enough."

"You're right, but I'll need it for the next step." He replied. "When I finally tell the world about Salem."

The entire team stared in shock of the plan as Qrow and Natsu went wide eyed. "So that's why you withdrew your troops: to handle the panic in Atlas." The scythe user surmised.

"The panic is unavoidable." Ironwood agreed. "And panic will bring the Grimm. But I am confident we are ready for it. Once the panic has died down, I'll spread the message to the rest of Remnant."

"And then when everything is falling apart, you'll have the salvation everyone needs, right?" Vergil asked in disgust. "Quite magnanimous of you."

"You might think of me as a heartless person, but I believe this is best course of action for all of Remnant." Ironwood replied. "Trying to hide the truth will only destroy us all." He stopped the projection and the room returned to normal.

"...Ozpin spent his lives trying to hide this from world." Qrow stated.

"I know." The general replied. "But after Beacon, everything changed. Without him here to guide us, all I can do is trust my judgement." Everyone stayed in silence, catching his attention. "What is it?"

"He's not completely gone." Oscar confessed.

"Oscar here is the next Ozpin." Qrow explained.

Ironwood went wide eyed as a smile crossed his face. "Oz?" He quickly rushed the boy and knelt down. "I'm so glad you're here. I thought that-"

"He's not exactly here..." Oscar confessed, confusing the general. "He's kinda... gone."

"How did that-"

"We don't know." Ruby interrupted, shocking the others. "We were in a train crash, Oscar hit his head, and ever since then we haven't heard from him."

"That's the worst news yet." The general sighed as he stood up. "Did you learn anything about the Relics before-"

"He tood us the Lamp can answer three questions, but they've all been used up." Ruby replied, making the others glance around.

"Ozpin told us the same thing." Ironwood said as he walked over to the window, staring out into the city. "But I'm happy you're all here. And we can work on a way to bring Ozpin back."

"Thank you, sir. Er-general." The farm boy said.

The general chuckled as he walked over to Ruby. "For the time being, the Relic will stay with the people who brought it." He declared, putting his hands on Ruby's shoulders. Off to the side, Natsu stuck his tongue out at Winter, much to her annoyance. "We must work together if we're to win against Salem."

"Tell us how we can help." Ruby requested.

"Amity Tower." The general explained. "Getting it ready to launch won't be easy. But first, let's get you're gear up to Atlas standard. Winter, take them to the lab. And try no to fight with Natsu along the way."

"...Yes general." She replied, leading them out of the room. "Remember, this is Atlas. While assisting us, you will be provided with the very best the kingdom has to offer."

"Qrow." Ironwood called out and the older man turned around. "I meant it when I said it was good to see you."

"Yeah... you too." He replied before James suddenly hugged him.

The group walked down the hall before coming into a large lab. "You'll find your elderly companion in here." Winter said before walking away.

The teens walked into the lab where they could see a figure buried behind some papers. Maria coughed and the man looked over, revealing it to be an elderly man with dark skin and short, balding white hair wearing a green cap with oval-shaped glasses. He donned a red vest over a cream shirt with a large pink bowtie and dark mustard pants and leather boots match with his cap and red-brown belt.

"Sorry about that." He said, his white and green chair suddenly moving around with four legs. "But talking to an old friend can be a bit distraction. I hope you'll forgive me."

"Who is this?" Qrow asked as he walked in after them.

"So impatient." Maria said back. "I didn't think I needed to introduce one of Atlas' finest minds. Normally he doesn't like working in a place like this, but higher powers demand it."

"Call me Pietro." The man said.

"He also volunteers at a pharmacy in Mantle." The former Grimm Reaper added. "When he's not building the future of Atlas alongside Ironwood."

"I find it too stuffy up here." Pietro added. "There I get to help regular people, and have a little fun. Now, the General told me that..." He suddenly froze when Natsu entered his view. "Is-is that you, Natsu?"

"Uh..."

"Natsu, do you know this guy?" Yang asked.

"Not that I can think of." He replied.

"You painted it..." Pietro mumbled, looking at the blondes mechanical arm. He then quickly looked around and smiled. "You're team's RWBY and NVAR."

The eight team members glanced at each other, a bit stunned that they were famous. "Wait, you know us?" Ruby asked.

"I most certainly do." The scientist chuckled. "I feel like a dunce for not recognizing you sooner. My daughter's told me all about you."

"Your daughter?" Ruby asked as the door to the lab door opened again.

"Dad, I need help with my flight program." Everyone turned to see a green eyed girl walk into the lab.

Ruby turned and instantly recognized the girl, dispite the massive change in clothing. Her hair is significantly longer and curled inwards at the tips and she wears a black fabric bow under a pink metal bow that has a golden outlined green orb. The ahoge remains and is more prominent. The girl wears an olive green dress with a black hem that is striped with emerald green. The abdominal region is black with four golden buttons with matching buckles on her shoulder straps.

She also wears an off white blouse with puffy shoulders, frilled flared cuffs and vertical black lining down the front collar piece does away with the green accents and is instead finished with a black ribbon, another power button at its center that switches on and off when Penny is inactive or active. Penny wears black metal legs pieces that run-up to her thighs, there's a green stripe that runs down the sides, with a large green circle at the top and a small one at the bottom, both outlined with gold and capable of lighting up too.

The knee piece of her legwear is heavily defined to look sperate from the leg pieces. She also wears a pair of black low heeled metal boots with the tops hidden by the lower part of her leg pieces. She also wears a pair of black lacy cuffed gloves with golden stud detailing on the knuckles.

"Penny... Penny!" Ruby shouted, launching forward. The green themed girl quickly jumped to the side, making Ruby hit the wall.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" The girl asked as Ruby pulled herself out of the stone.

"Is she joking?" Yang asked.

"I don't think she is..." Weiss replied.

"Penny, these are your friends from Beacon." Her father explained as he helped Ruby up. "When we recovered her core, it was damaged. We were still able to rebuild her, but she has a few... bugs now."

"Mainly memory problems." Penny explained sadly. "So, it looks like we'll have to become friends all over again."

"I guess so..." Ruby chuckled.

"So, what are you working on up here?" Natsu asked as he picked up a canister.

"Wait, don't touch that!" Pietro cried out, only for the device to glow and zap Natsu with electricity. The voltage sent him flying into the storage lockers, where a bucket of Dust crystals fell onto him.

"Way to go, flame brain."

Natsu perked up and turned his head to the door, anger filling his eyes. "Oh, goddamn it! Not you!" He growled as a boy with spiky black hair and dark blue eyes. A scar sits on his forehead above his left eye that is partially covered by his hair. Around his neck was a sword with a stone in it necklace and a metal bracelet. A white and red jacket showed off his bare chest as blue pants and black boots finished the outfit. "Why the hell are you here?"

"I'm here to get my gear back." The teen declared, walking over. "Now move over. I don't want you breaking it."

"Hey, back off." Yang declared, getting into the boys face. "I don't know who the hell you think you are, but my boyfriend did nothing wrong."

The man glanced up and down at the blonde, then leaned over to look at Natsu. "So she lost bet, did she?"

"What's that supposed to mean!?" Natsu growled, instantly in the boys face.

"It means you couldn't get a girl if your life depended on it!" The shirtless man replied.

The entire group stared in shock as they glanced at the fight. "Should... should we stop them?" Ruby asked.

"No need." Pietro chuckled as the door opened again. "Help has arrived."

A young woman with wavy rose pink hair and pale aqua eyes walked into the room. Seeing the fight, she walked over and pulled on the dark haired boys ear. "Stop it, Gray." She demanded, showing everyone her outfit. A white jacket with an ankle-length red cape attached to the left side of her back and a light burgundy leather detachable pocket on her left leg. A blue pauldron sat over her left shoulder as a red battle skirt stopped just over her ankles.

Her boots were black with blue laces as she carried her weapon in a black case that hangs off her belt and had a necklace with a lightning bolt pendant. "You know who much the General hates cleaning up your messes."

"He started it." Gray replied.

"Would you stop with that same lie?" Another woman walked in with dark, chin-length hair on both sides of her face and she has a fringe that reaches her eyebrows. She has many scars across her body, the most prominent being the one across her nose. She also always has a necklace with a red gem on it. Like Neo, she has heterochromia, rendering her left eye red while her right eye is bluish-green.

She wore an off-white leather short jacket with a white long sleeved blouse which shows off her midriff and was accessorized with gray and black rider goggles and a blue buckled belt which is connected to her jacket, black shorts with matching leg warmers which is connected to her shorts that resembles leggings. She had black boots and a red skirt as a pair of googles hung around her neck. She also wears black fingerless gloves and black/gray nail polish. "Every time Natsu shows up, you pick the fight."

"Uh... who are they, Uncle Qrow?" Ruby asked.

"Don't ask me, never seen them before in my life." He replied as the door opened again.

"Pietro, how does our gear look?" This time two men walked in. The first was a young Faunus, as evident by the light grey dog tail sticking out of his shirt. He had long greenish-black hair and blue eyes. uniform that consists of a white double-breasted coat with silver buttons, dark blue accents, collar, shoulder flaps with matching cuffs that have two silver buttons. The coat's tail splits, allowing his tail to move freely.

He has a dark blue belt with a silver buckle around his waist with a dark blue pouch on the right side. He has a red ascot tied around his neck. He had a red shirt under his coat and wore dark blue trousers tucked into his black knee-high boots.

The next to enter was a man with short brown hair and teal-green eyes. He wore a uniform that consisted of a white sleeveless double breasted coat with red and blue accents with ornate detailing shaped to the form of wishbones, broad tail with red lining and a four-leaf clover pin on the lapel. His belt has a rabbit's foot keychain hanging off it. He also had white pants and covered his hands with brown fingerless gloves. On his leg were blue calf high boots with four dark blue straps and silver steel toe plating.

The man glanced to the side and saw the group. "Look alive, we have guests." The man said, catching the other four's attention. "So you must be the guests the general mentioned. Team RWBY and NVAR."

"Uh, yeah..." The scythe girl chuckled. "And you are?"

"Allow me to introduce them." Pietro said, his chair stepping forward. "Here we have Lightning Farron, Gray Fulbuster, Marrow Amin, Mary Ann Arkham, Clover Ebi. These are the Ace-Ops."

"Ace-Ops?" Ruby repeated.

"Because we're the best of the best." Gray declared.

"Maybe in your head." Natsu declared, pushing past him. "They're Ironwood's personal squad of Huntsmen and Huntresses. The quote unquote 'best in the kingdom'."

Gray glared at him before Clover pulled him back. "We'll leave you to get situated. In a few days, we start preparing for our first mission on Amity Tower. We'll need your help dealing with Salem."

The quintet left the room with Gray bumping into Natsu on the way out. The two glared at each other as the door closed behind him. "I can't stand that prick."

"We need to work with him, Natsu." Aerith pointed out.

"He's still a prick." The pinkette replied, making Yang chuckle.

"Well, now that that's out of the way, you can all leave your weapons here." Pietro said. "Leave some ideas for what you want with your Scroll, come back in a few days, and you'll find them better than ever."

The group placed their weapons on the table in front of him, except for Vergil. "These are fine as they are." He declared.

"If you say so." Pietro chuckled. "Now you all should get some rest. You'll need it to help us with the plan for Amity."

With a smile at Penny, Ruby lead the group out of the lab and back towards their rooms. With a relieved sigh, Ruby walked in plopped down on her bed before realizing that the entire group was looking at her. "What?"

"Ruby, are we gonna talk about you lying to the general about the Lamp?" Natsu asked. "What was that about?"

"I thought we were going to do things different from Ozpin." Oscar added.

"W-we are..." Ruby replied. "It's just... You saw how bad Mantle was, how focused on Amity the General was... I'm just worried that if we tell him this stuff, it might not be the best thing at the time... I just, I wanna do this carefully."

The others stared at her before her uncle let out a content sigh. "We'll trust you, kiddo." He said before walking to the door. "Now let's get some sleep." NVAR, Oscar and Qrow left the room, leaving the four girl team alone.

One Week Later

"Gather around, everyone." Clover ordered the group as they stood around a projection. "Today's mission is to secure the launch site for Amity Tower. Location is an abandoned Dust mine. After it closed down, the Grimm took over. The good news is that all that untouched Dust is still down there, and our scientists say they'll need it. Regular military is already in the scene clearing out the surrounding tundra.

"But the bad news is that a power Geist has moved in. Despite our best efforts, it has avoided destruction and taken more lives than we can accept. After an increase in numbers, it got smart and fled further into the mines. Meaning two things: It's old and it's dangerous." The leader pressed a button and a picture came onto screen.

"Back in the day, the mine was a complex maze of tunnels. The Geist has plenty of room to move around in, so if we wanna kill this thing, we need to split up and corner it. I know you all have seen your fair share of combat. I trust that man with my life, so tomorrow I'll be trusting you all as well. Go to Pietro, pick up your gear and we'll head out."

The projection ended and group split up. Natsu and his team went to meet Ryuko's mother, Qrow went to check the airship, and Yang, Blake and Weiss went to the armory. Ruby went to join them before Oscar stepped suddenly up. "Ruby... are you sure you wanna keep the Lamp with you?"

"Oh, right... Guess we can't exactly have something like this in the wild." She chuckled as she handed it over. Their hands touched and the two blushed a bit before Ruby quickly left in embarrassment.

Air Over Solitas

Team NVAR glanced out the window at the tundra as Natsu held his stomach. "Wimp." Gray chuckled as the bay door opened. "Try to keep up." He teased before he and Lightning jumped out of the air ship.

"Prick." Natsu groaned out before his team followed after them. Vergil and Ryuko carried Natsu over and threw him out the door as his wings opened up. His body recovered, Natsu spread his wings opened and flew through the air as his team followed his lead.

Vergil clasped his hands together and summoned his aura bike, reving the engine. He pulled back and the rear tire hit the ground, driving him forward. Aerith pointed her staff at some old pipes and the end fired off, a cable shooting out. The wire tightened and pulled her in, sending her flipping around.

Ryuko flipped her left blade into the scythe position and threw it at the ground. She bounced off it and placed her second blade under her feet, creating drag on the snow. Vergil came up from behind and tossed her the second half as Natsu and Aertih landed next to them, showing off their new outfits.

Natsu now donned a pair of black and gold arm sleeves, his scarf wrapped around his neck as always. He wore a white tank top and white pants underneath a black, gold-trimmed coat with holes for his wings and tail and black combat boots. On the inside of the coat were various pockets filled with dust. His hair was left wild and untamed, flowing down the back of his neck.

Vergil's coat is now black and the serpentine patterns and designs are neon blue and the three separated coattails now has tattered at the edge. Vergil is no longer wearing an ascot tie as he was seen wearing a black sleeveless zippered-turtleneck beneath his midnight blue formal vest. He now wears charcoal gray fingerless gloves, black pants and dark boots covered by teal gaiters with several straps. He let his hair fall to the side, no longer spiking it up.

Aerith was covered by a red long sleeved jacket/dress combo, keeping her warm against the harsh cold. Elegant pink flower and heart designs covered her black thermal leggings. Her boots were changed to snow heels with fur lining the inside. She changed her hair into short twin braids and her staff rested on the back of her dress.

Ryuko now wore a black, long sleeved top with red lines around the wrist, matching her now frosted hair. The zipper was golden, as was the lightning bolt on her black chocker. A black, sleeveless dress was under the top and opened at her thighs. Two high heeled boots went up her legs, topped by two little cat faces. Twin tassels went out the back of her and the whole outfit was covered by red studded spikes.

"Let's get started." Natsu said with a smirk.

And the Atlas campaign has started and goddamn is it going to be fun. For the record, this is the LAST time you will ever see Adam. He'll be in a Tai Lung level of maximum security for the rest of his life. As for the Ace Ops, figured I used them to make this story more of a crossover. One character from every franchise in it, except for Kill La Kill.

Given that their company is in Atlas, I figured they would get a pass. And if you're confused by Mary Ann Arkham, that is Lady's REAL name. Yeah, I'm surprised by that too.

A bit of explanation is required: Honestly, I was fine with them bringing back Penny back. She's a robot, she can be rebuilt as many times as needed. My problem with it that when they brought her back, it was like nothing happened to her. She was torn apart, graphically. There needs to be some trauma after that. So here, she has serious memory problems.

See ya next time, everyone.

Beta read by TheExcadrillComics