So, I've officially decided to say screw it and skip over the rest of volume 6. I'll just tell you what would have happened. Picking up where the last chapter ended, Phoenix nearly attacks Oscar, mistaking him for an intruder. After finding out it was him, he texts the rest of the group that he found him. Oscar thanks Phoenix for standing up for him but assumes that the main reason Phoenix did it is because Oscar is Ozpin's vessel. Phoenix assures him that this isn't the case. He tells him that he wanted his dad back, but not at the cost of someone who he has come to see as a younger brother. He's only willing to call Ozpin his dad because he thinks Ozpin not responding to anything means he isn't listening.
When the group is planning how to get to Atlas, Phoenix comes up with his own plan. Weiss will travel to Atlas with Qrow in his bird form with the condition that she can meet with Ironwood and/or her sister before returning to her father to "tell them about the service that Cordovin did for her." She will use this as an opportunity to tell them about the situation and convince Ironwood to let her stay there with the help of Qrow. If Cordovin betrays her and she is sent back to her father before she can meet them, then Qrow will break her out. However, he knows that the others won't agree to split the group, so he doesn't mention this plan to them. He is very reluctant to go with the plan that the others propose due to it involving Maria flying them, but he is eventually persuaded.
Nothing major changes in the fight between Cordovin and Grimmzilla.
Chapter Forty-Nine: Cold Welcome
"Manta 5-1, welcome home," they heard a woman say over the radio. "Please continue your approach to docking bay Omega-12. A security team will meet you there. Over."
"What's going on here?" Ruby asked, looking at the massive fleet guarding Atlas.
"I don't know," Qrow responded.
"But we are here," Jaune pointed out. "We got the lamp to Atlas, so I guess we land and get some answers."
"I'm not so sure," Weiss told them. "I've never seen our forces deployed so aggressively before. If we land in a stolen ship, there's no way they'll let us anywhere near Ironwood. They might even take me back to my father." After taking a moment to consider their options she came up with an idea. "Winter! Put some distance between us and the fleet," Weiss told Maria.
"Don't have to tell me twice," Maria replied.
As the group flew over Mantle, they saw how tight security in the city had become. Ironwood was projected on buildings, giving a speech about how Atlas would remain safe despite the turmoil in the rest of the world. "This isn't right. None of this is right," Weiss said.
The woman on the radio demanded to know why they weren't following orders, reminding everyone that they had to move quickly.
"If we ditch the ship, we can blend in with the crowd in Mantle until we figure out our next move," Phoenix suggested.
"I'm telling you, my sister can take us to Ironwood," Weiss after saying this, the projections on the buildings switched from Ironwood to Winter.
"A reminder: failure to cooperate with Atlas military personnel is a punishable offense," she informed everyone coldly.
"I'm not sure that's a good idea anymore," Qrow told Weiss in response.
"There's obviously something very wrong. If we can just talk to her, then we-"
Weiss was cut off by Phoenix. "Weiss, this place is screaming cliche dystopia. All that's missing are a few giant statues of Ironwood."
"Listen," Maria said before an argument could start, "I know someone who can give us somewhere to hide and get us info on what's been going on in Mantle."
"Manta 5-1, you are to make your approach to docking bay Omega-12 immediately!" the woman on the radio ordered.
Phoenix, deciding to try and buy them a bit more time to find somewhere to ditch the ship, went and grabbed the radio. "Everything's under control. Situation normal. Over," he said.
"Manta 5-1, explain why you have not been responding and have deviated from the ordered flight path. Over."
"We've got some slight malfunctions and are going to need to make an emergency landing, but we're fine. We're all fine here now, thank you. How are you? Over." The rest of the group was staring at Phoenix like he was insane.
"We'll send a couple of ships over to escort you. Over."
"Uh, negative, negative. Engine has become unstable and could explode. Give us some time to fix it after we land. Could damage the escort if it goes off. Very dangerous. Over."
"What's your operating number?" the woman demanded to know.
Not having a good answer, Phoenix crushed the radio in his hand. "Boring conversation anyway. Maria, get this thing landed now. We're gonna have company."
The group managed to ditch the ship just in time. They could see a couple more ships fly towards where they had left it from the alleyway they were currently in. Phoenix started laying out a plan to try and reach Maria's associate without being detected. "Alright, the streets are swarming with Atlas forces, so they're out. Traveling by rooftop is also out because of all of the ships flying around. That leaves traveling primarily through alleys. It'll probably take a bit longer, but avoiding the military will be worth it. Any objections?" he asked, only to realize that he had been so focused on planning, he hadn't noticed the others had already left. "Or our very conspicuous group that includes a Schnee could just take a casual stroll in Mantle. That works too," he said sarcastically, jogging to catch up with the others. He caught up just in time to see Yang kick a camera drone into a moving truck. Shortly after that, Weiss launched a drunk into a dumpster because he insulted the Faunus. "Am I the only one here who knows how to keep a low profile," he grumbled as they ran to avoid the forces that came to investigate the commotion.
They managed to make it to Maria's friend without attracting too much more attention, much to Phoenix's surprise. "It's good to see you again, old friend," Maria cheerfully greeted the man. The man, however, didn't seem to recognize her.
"Well, this is off to a fantastic start," Ren said sarcastically.
After a bit of prompting, Maria was able to remind him of who she was. When he came out from behind his desk, it was revealed that he used something similar to a wheelchair, except it had legs instead of wheels. The design of the chair reminded Phoenix of something, but he couldn't put his finger on what.
Qrow cleared his throat and asked, "And this is?"
"So impatient," Maria grumbled, "I didn't think I'd need to introduce one of Atlas's finest minds."
"Working at a place like this?" Yang asked. As if on cue, part of the ceiling fell to the floor.
"He likes to keep a low profile," Maria explained, "Something I've come to realize none of you know anything about." Phoenix mentally agreed with her statement.
"You can call me Pietro," the man introduced himself.
"Finest heart too," Maria added to her explanation, "This is just the pharmacy where he volunteers when he's not building the future of Atlas alongside Ironwood, up in the clouds."
"Oh, it's stuffy up there," Pietro said, "Down here I get to help the locals and have a little fun. I'm currently working on shoes that make you dance. You wanna try 'em on?" Though nobody else seemed interested, Nora was very excited to try them.
"As interesting as that sounds," Phoenix interrupted, hoping to keep them from getting sidetracked, "Maria's optics aren't the only reason we came here. We were hoping to talk to Ironwood, but, uh…" he struggled to figure out a way to explain their current hesitance to talk to Ironwood to a man who worked for him.
Blake spoke up, saving him. "What exactly has been happening here?"
Pietro explained that Ironwood had become paranoid after everything that had happened at the fall of Beacon and suspected that the person who had hacked Atlas' robots was someone in the military.
"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.
"How does the council feel about this?" Weiss asked Pietro. "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…" he started to explain before taking a closer look at who had asked him the questions. "Wait, you're Weiss Schee!" he realized. Everyone tensed at his realization.
"Wait, what were you trying to say about Mantle?" Yang tried to divert his attention away from Wiess.
Ignoring her question, Pietro focused on her arm. "You painted it."
Though Yang seemed confused by what he meant, Phoenix figured it out right away. "He must be the one who made the arm," he thought. "That explains why I recognized the design of his chair. No… that's not all. There's something else familiar about it."
The recognition of Yang's arm allowed Pietro to figure out that Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang were Team RWBY.
"You know us?!" Ruby exclaimed in shock.
"Oh, my girl I do. I most certainly do," he answered, "and I feel like such a dunce for not recognizing you sooner. My daughter's told me so much about you." Ruby seemed confused by this, but a Grimm alarm started blaring before she could ask what he meant. The group ran outside, weapons drawn.
"I guess the city defenses aren't doing much," Oscar pointed out.
"Somehow that doesn't surprise me," Nora responded.
Before they could continue, a broken Atlesian Knight was sent flying into a lampost. The cause of this was revealed when a pack of Sabyrs charged at them.
Running towards a group of them, Phoenix used the hooks of his swords on the teeth of one of the Sabyrs to pull it towards him, straight into his knee. The force of this blow broke off its teeth and dazed it. He tossed his swords into the air and grabbed the teeth before they could disintegrate, throwing them into the Sabyrs lunging at him from the left and right and killing them. He caught his swords as they fell and shot the Sayber with broken teeth in the face with both of them just as it recovered.
Before he was able to take out any more, laser blasts started coming from the sky and wiping out the rest of the Grimm and causing the alarm to shut off. When Phoenix saw the source of the blasts his eyes widened in surprise. "No bloody way," he muttered as he saw a flying Penny Polendina land in front of them.
When Pietro pointed out that her friends were here, a massive smile appeared on her face. "SALUTATIONS!" she greeted ecstatically as she literally flew towards Ruby, hugging her.
When Ruby started to question how Penny had survived Pietro explained what everyone else was wondering. "We were able to recover her core from Amity Arena once it had made its way back from Atlas. It took some time but…"
"I'm as good as new!" Penny finished his sentence. "Better even! And now I'm the official protector of the city.
"That's my girl," Pietro said encouragingly. "We're not going to let a little ripping to shreds stop us, are we?"
The revelation of Penny's creator told Phoenix where else he had seen Pietro's handiwork: Penny's weapons. "If only Pyrha were alive to see that she didn't actually kill anyone," he thought sadly. Penny clearly wanted to talk with Ruby and find out what she and the others had been up to, but an alarm in the distance told her that she was needed elsewhere. She flew off saying that she would talk to them later.
"I can't tell if I completely understand what's going on, or have like, a million questions!" Nora said after she left.
"And thankfully, I have about a thousand answers," Pietro replied as his chair took him back to his clinic, "but let's get out of this weather first."
"I have absolutely no idea who that child was," Maria stated as she followed him. "Is she important somehow?"
"Never a dull moment," Ren said as they left.
"But I wouldn't say unwelcome,'' Qrow responded. "I was honestly expecting things to go a lot rougher." Just after saying this, everyone was wrapped up in bolas. Qrow, Ren, and Phoenix were able to avoid the first wave sent at them but were caught by the second. Their attackers revealed themselves, showing that they were wearing modified Atlas military uniforms.
"Good work team," the group's apparent leader said to them.
"Hey! What's going on?!" Oscar cried out.
"Hey pal," Qrow glared at the leader who was spinning a horseshoe on his finger, "I'm a licensed huntsman. Just helped save everyone?" The man ignored him and picked up his sword. Atlesian Knights and held the weapons that the team members had taken from them. Phoenix was about to try and discreetly cut the bola holding him with a knife up his sleeve, but a woman with armored arms stepped on his hand as soon as he drew the knife.
"Hey boss, this one's got a few hidden tricks," she called out.
"You and Elm search him. Let's get them loaded on the next transport." When Pietro tried to intervene on their behalf, the leader of the attackers, apparently called the Ace-Ops, explained that they were here to investigate the stolen ship. "Now let's move out!"
The transport had arrived by the time Ace-Ops who had been searching Phoenix decided that they had found all of the weapons that he had and were able to personally oversee everyone being loaded into the transport. Phoenix had taken the opportunity to bite the one named Elm during the search. He counted it as a win despite the punch to the face he received from the other Ace-Op in response. Another thing he counted as a win was the fact that they had missed one of his knives.
"Now this… This is much closer to what I was expecting," Qrow said as he and Phoenix were thrown into the back of the transport with the others.
This definitely should not have taken as long as it did. Hell, I skipped over some stuff for this. I was hoping to have this out before the end of the year, but things kept coming up whenever I felt like writing. Hopefully the next chapter won't take as long. Thanks for reading!
