Atlas Dynamic Vs Ursario Dynamic

And here it is, the latest chapter for volume 7! This time we have one Guest review to answer: Just keep reading and you'll find out. Speaking of which, onto the chapter!

The Skies Above Abandoned Atlas Mine

Numerous low hanging clouds passed them by as a group of four airships descended towards a more mountainous part of the snowy landscape. No aerial Grimm had been sighted as of yet, but that wasn't reason enough for Wayne to relax as he did some final checks on his newly upgraded weapons. He'd of course been given every assurance that they'd been properly tested and approved for use in the field but if there's one thing his parents had been sure to teach him it was that the unexpected happens a lot more often in the field than in testing. Speaking of whom, the elder Ursario glanced to see that his father, Tobias Ursario, was engaged in similar testing with his own revolver-like weapons.

"So this Ace Ops group," Aegis spoke up from his position in the airship, "are they really all they're cracked up to be?"

"The most elite of elite military huntsman in all of Remnant," said their mother, Jen Ursario, as she adjusted her steel dust crystal gloves, "at least on paper. But Atlas has always had a high opinion of its military. Which if you'll recall, is part of the reason we were able to make it up here in the first place." Oh they remembered alright.

Flashback: A Few Days Ago

"I see your Mother has found the both of you," said their Father as Wayne and Aegis struggled to their feet, still twitching a bit from the paralysis paw.

"Hey Dad," said Wayne between groans, "it's great to see you and Mom again but I gotta ask-."

"How in the world did you get up here," Aegis finished the question for him, "they were only letting Atlas ships in and out. Come to think of it, how'd you know we'd even be here?"

"Ran into an old classmate," explained their Father, "you gave her one nasty burn by the way Wayne, but we'll talk about that later. As for how we got up here."

"Called in a couple of favors," their Mother continued as she examined her claw-like nails, "One of our only friends from Atlas, a commander I won't name, flew us in and we dropped off in the middle of the city. Still took forever to finally get an appointment with the General."

"I'm just glad he remembered we're more or less old friends," said Tobias Ursario as his eyes caught sight of Qrow approaching, "and speaking of old friends, how've ya been Qrow!"

"Tobi," said the surprised huntsman as the two clasped hands and gave each other a quick hug. Jen followed after with a hug of her own. "And you're here too Jen. It's been forever since I last saw you two outside of Vale."

"Well you weren't the only one keeping track of or tracking down kids," said Jen, "though it looks like you had a bigger handful than us."

"You have no idea," said Qrow as the two huntsman and huntress started their own little conversation while the huntsman-in-training stood to the side.

"I think that's the first time I've ever seen your Mother that angry," said Weiss as she brushed down Wayne's currently static-charged hair.

"It just shows how much she cares," said Wayne, "even if we have been sending letters and messages, we have been worrying them both sick since we left without permission. You should've seen what they made us do after we stupidly wandered into a Grimm-filled cave years ago."

"But I think I finally know what you mean when you said Yang reminds you of your mother Aegis," quipped Jaune.

"He just said I hit as hard as her," Yang reminded him as she crossed her arms, "but I guess she is an awesome Mother. Two parents trekking across continents to find their kids, it's got great story written all over it."

"I could say the same about all of you," said Tobias as he stepped away from his own conversation for a moment, "why don't we walk and talk for a bit. I'm sure we've got a lot to tell each other." And it all proved to be quite entertaining as the group swapped stories, banter and other remarks with the adults into the late hours of the night. The group found out the next morning that they would be on standby for the next couple of days afterwards as the huntsman in training all submitted their weapons for upgrading.

It was also during this time that most of the group decided to do a little wardrobe and appearance upgrade as well, with Wayne getting his hair cut back to a normal length and styled in a less messy version of its usual part. He also swapped out his damaged blue coat for a blue and white Atlesian military-style coat that still possessed a furred collar and sleeves. Their mother made a few of the scientist a little uncomfortable when she sewed the earth dust into the coat herself, even despite her assurances that it was on old family recipe. His helmet was also repainted to be closer to its original white to better blend in with the white landscape around the kingdom.

As for Aegis, he'd gotten used to having a wolf's tail and wound up compromising with their father and mother to get it trimmed only a little. He now let his hair hang freely as it was too short to tie and look good but still long enough to reach past his cheek bones. He also adopted an old Atlesian general's coat with the same color as his armor to update his usual look, mostly as a way to keep himself warmer. Friendly welcome or not, he still had a few things he disliked about the kingdom.

Once all of the alterations to their looks and the modifications to their weapons were complete, it was time to begin their first mission: securing a landing site for the Amity Arena. According to the briefing from the Ace Ops leader, who they'd come to learn was named Clover, the main problem was one or more old Geists flying around the mine along with a fair accompaniment of Grimm who'd moved in ever since the site had been abandoned. For obvious reasons, the Ursario family wanted to stick together. Surprisingly, Oscar decided to stay behind and watch over the relic as Ruby had decided it might not be the best idea to keep toting it around Grimm-infested territory. Though it was obvious they still needed to discuss their decision to keep the truth about Salem from Ironwood once they got back.

Above Abandoned Atlesian Mine: Now

"We're approaching the target," said the pilot upfront, prompting the team and family to stand at the ready by the side door. "Drop zone ahead, opening bay doors now." A blast of cold air met them as the family looked out over the frozen landscape, quickly spotting several small buildings and large machinery used for refining dust buried beneath the snow. "Begin drop in three, two, one!"

"I love this part!" exclaimed Aegis as the four Ursarios leapt from the airship and sailed towards a large outcropping near the facility. Tobias quickly loaded his tomahawk revolvers with wind dust as he and Jen fired off several strong air blasts at the ground, creating a miniature tornado while Aegis formed several small glass platforms for him and Wayne to leap off of. Then as one, the family all landed on the ground, sending a mass of snow blowing away as their impact dispersed the wind dust present.

"This is Alpha squad," said Clover over their radio earpieces, "the LZ appears to be clear up here, so we can proceed in on foot. Remember to use those fancy new scrolls we gave you and stay in contact. I'll want an update when you encounter the enemy so keep your eyes and ears open."

"Fancy is right," said Wayne as he held up the small rectangular device which generated a full, holographic screen the size of what his last scroll would've been, "and I thought the last ones were compact."

"I just hope they're sturdy," said Jen as she put hers away, "I don't need another lecture from the techs about breaking expensive equipment."

"It's not your fault a woolly goliath happened to appear on the last mission," said Tobias as the group approached one of the cave entrances to the mine, "although the proceeding avalanche is a different story."

"That does remind me," Said Wayne, "You've been helping clear out the area around this place. Has Ironwood told you what he plans to do?"

"Same thing he told you kids," replied Jen as they entered the cave and proceeded down the tunnel, "he plans to use the site as a launch area for Amity Arena. Then he'll broadcast the truth about Salem."

"So you both know then," said Aegis, "I guess it figures given you're close friends with Qrow and Raven."

"Qrow didn't used to be as good at keeping secrets as he is now," said Tobias, "then again he also used to travel with more people. I personally think he's making a bigger deal out of that bad luck thing then he sh-." His sentence was interrupted as a portion of the ground burst open in front of them and a centipede-like Grimm came spinning up before turning and snarling at them. Hardly a split second passed before its head was blown off by a combination of revolver and SMG fire from the Father and elder Ursario brother.

"Centinels," said Jen as several more began popping out of the ground. Aegis was quick to decapitate one with a flaming ax blade while his Mother obliterated the still living head with a midair punch. Wayne leapt over the pair as Tobias slid forward, both unloading their weapons on several more of the insect Grimm before landing and switching them to sickle and tomahawk form. Another pair of Centinels popped up behind them, only to be slammed together and crushed by a combination kick, then double punch from Jen and Aegis.

Three emerged further down the passageway, charging at them in a type of swirling pattern in midair. Wayne and Aegis took the lead next as he hooked his left weapon to his sleeve wire and tossed it to his brother. The siblings both stretched out the wire as they ran up opposite walls and passed each other on the ceiling, wrapping up their enemies and stopping the Grimm's movement. The two then ran their respective semblances through the wire and pulled, bisecting the shrieking insect monsters.

"Not bad," said Tobias, "your teamwork has definitely come a long way."

"It helps that we were on the same routine more or less for a few months," admitted Aegis as he tossed Wayne's weapon back to him before hearing his earpiece buzz.

"This is Bravo," said the Ace Ops member, Harriet, "we made contact with the target but it fled deeper into the mine. We're currently pursuing while engaging Centinels."

"I guess that means we'd better pick up the pace," said Jen as they all started running, "I knew we shouldn't have agreed to enter in the very top of the mine's ice tunnels."

"Honey, we talked it over with Ironwood," Said Tobias, "You know that he knows how destructive our fighting potential is and that we're going to a mine filled with active dust. Plus, it was the only way he'd agree to us doing this as a family and without supervision from one or two Ace Ops members."

"I guess it is better than having to put up with babysitting some of his soldiers," admitted Jen.

"I'm honestly just excited we're finally doing something together as a family after so long," said Wayne as he and Tobias sliced through a few more Centinels.

"Speaking of which," said Aegis as he glanced at his Mother, "can we do the Ursario fast ball?"

"Since you're asking," replied his Mother as she activated her wind dust. Aegis also took this moment to form a four-pointed, jagged glass spear with serrated edges as another group of Grimm approached. "And launching!"

The half bear Faunus leapt forward as his Mother threw a wind-powered punch. The air pressure accelerated his forward momentum tremendously as he shot towards the Centinels like a rocket. As he flew, Aegis took this moment to activate his weapon's upgrade which began spinning the spear tip on his weapon like a high speed drill as he rammed into his target. The Grimm were no match for the raw force of the impact as the spinning glass spear tore through one after the other before Aegis finally landed on the other side and slid to a halt.

"That was awesome! Just like back home!" He cheered as he held his weapon above his head. His celebration was cut short, unfortunately, as a rather large Creep Grimm dropped from a hole in the tunnel ceiling and tried to bite down on the half Faunus. Aegis reacted quickly enough to form an earth dust infused shield to stop its jaws as Wayne and Tobias rushed from both sides, crossing paths long enough for the Father to cover his son's weapon in blue flames before readying their next attack.

As they approached, Aegis managed to yank his shield out of the Grimm's mouth, causing it to stagger slightly from the sudden motion as Wayne activated the new wind dust compartments in his currently burning weapon and threw it at the Creep's leg. The wind dust made it spin much faster as it became a whirling blade of flame that cut off the Grimm's foot at the same time as Tobias's blue flaming tomahawk. Jen leapt in with the final blow as she slammed two, flaming tornado fists into the monster's face, causing it to go flying and slam into a blocked off area, dead.

"Well that was eventful," said Jen as she observed the newly opened path, "but at least we have a way into the mine now." Everyone nodded in agreement before a sudden noise from their earpieces alerted them to a new communication.

"This is Alpha to all squads," said Clover, "we're engaging the target, converge on our position!"

"Blast it," said Wayne as they began running down the mine tunnel, "it figures the Geist would be on the lower levels of the mine." No sooner had he said that than another communication came in, saying that the Grimm had escaped and was currently heading East.

"That's the center of the mine," said Tobias, "if I remember the layout from the briefing correctly, the main dust deposit will be there and be highly active."

"Which means we actually have to be careful what we smash," said an annoyed Aegis, "wonderful." It was more than a little frustrating for all of them. As mentioned, each of their semblances or fighting styles carried a fair degree of destructive ability, much of which they couldn't unleash in a highly explosive area. But they'd made plans for such a possibility on the way to the mission area and with the help of the other teams they had plenty of options to deal with the current situation. It made for a slightly more optimistic atmosphere as the family advanced down the winding tunnels, carving a path through more Creeps and Centinels along the way.

But as they neared the central mine shaft, something caught Jen's eye which brought her to a halt. "What is it?" Asked Tobias as he and his two sons also stopped to examine what she was looking at.

"There's something strange about this passageway here," said the bear Faunus as she indicated a collapsed tunnel, "It smells like pure Centinel and the rock has been dug out more recently."

"But what's strange about Centinel's digging holes," asked Aegis, "that's literally what they do. Sure this one is a bit bigger than the others but why is that weir-." He stopped midsentence as he realized what the actual problem might be.

"Oh shit," said Wayne and Tobias at the same time as a sudden shifting in the mine caused it to rumble.

A Few Minutes Later: Central Mine Shaft

"I gotta admit," said Qrow as he looked over the currently victorious scene of teams RWBY, JNR and the other Ace Ops celebrating, "your unit works pretty well together."

"You and the others didn't do so bad yourself," said Clover, "though I am curious what happened to the Ursario family. If everything you and Ironwood told me about them is true, then just the parents should've been able to arrive here in a similar time."

"It's possible they encountered more resistance than anticipated," offered Qrow, "you did drop them all off at the very top of the mine entrance. Even if we didn't encounter any Grimm, they'd still be the last ones here just by walking distance."

"Well either way we're clear for the moment," said Clover as he put his hand to his ear, "Atlas Control, this is Clover. Mission is accomplished but we're gonna need to organize a search party for-." Another line broke in through his communicator as the voice of Tobias Ursario came on, sounding like he was in more than a bit of a rush.

"This is Gamma squad!" He said, "All teams need to move out of the mines now! We've encountered a high class hostile and it's moving towards the surface!" His point was made even clearer as a sudden rumbling shook the walls of the mine around them.

"What's going on?!" Asked a frantic Ruby as she dropped from the shoulder of the tallest Ace Ops member, Elm.

"It must be a large scale burrowing Grimm," surmised the monk Ace Op, Vine. "Recon never went deep into the mine, so we wouldn't have known about it."

"Either way we need to get out of here now and find the Ursarios," said Qrow as all the gathered teams followed their respective leaders back up the main tunnel. 'Please be okay Wayne,' thought Weiss as numerous possibilities raced through her head about what was happening.

'You better not die on me Aegis,' Yang almost said aloud, 'after everything we've been through it better not end with you getting buried in a snowy abandoned mine!' Similar thoughts plagued the Beacon students and Veteran huntsman as small tremors came at irregular intervals, as if something was moving through the walls of the mine itself.

"Remind me again," said the dog Faunus member of the Ace Ops, Marrow, "which subterranean Grimm is able to shake up the underground this much?"

"An Alpha Centinel," Harriet reminded him, "ya know, the 'GIANT' version of the things we've been fighting all the way here."

"Pardon me for assuming it might've been a Grimm mole or something," Marrow shot back as they continued up through the tunnels. After what seemed like forever to the group, the light of the main entrance finally greeted them.

"Alright," said Clover, "weapons out and eyes open. We don't know what the current situation is-." The sound of a massive hole blasting out of the ground in the distance drowned out his voice as the collective group of operatives and students did as ordered. Distant explosions also reached their ears as a loud, high-pitched shriek alerted them to the possible location of the large Grimm.

"Wait, stop!" Ordered Qrow as a sudden mass of snowy debris rained down near the front entrance right as the team exited the tunnel. The source was up near the top of the mine where the Ursario family had been sent, and currently it was being reshaped by a Centinel that was easily twenty times the size of the ones they'd fought in the mine. This was an Alpha Centinel, and an older one by the looks of it.

"Oh I am so getting onto recon for missing something this big," said an annoyed Elm as she readied her hammer.

"We need to get up there now to make sure-," Blake started to say before another explosion erupted on the side of the Alpha Grimm's neck, causing it to shriek in pain as it recoiled from the shock. A figure landed several yards away from it on the snowy ground.

"That's Jen right there," said Ruby as she spied the huntress through her rifle scope, "so the others are probably up there too, let's go!" Teams RWBY and JNR rushed off towards the battle, despite the protests of Clover and Qrow, running through more falling debris along the way. As they looked up again, the Alpha Centinel was moving its large head towards Jen with it's mouth dripping green slime.

"Scattering Moonlight! Azure Ignition!" Called Wayne and Tobias as the Father and Son duo leapt from opposite sides, crossing paths halfway while raining down a combination of blue energy orbs and sapphire flamed bullets. The resulting impacts created a blast which caused the Alpha Grimm to shriek in pain again as blue flames blinded its vision. Jen quickly moved to the side as the monster veered off course and slammed its head into the nearby mountainside.

"Aegis," Jen called behind her as the half bear Faunus came rushing in with a spiked stone hammer.

"Eat this!" yelled Aegis as he slammed the hammer into the folds between the Centinels armor. Jen followed up by hitting the hammer with her signature wind/fire dust punch, driving the hammer even deeper into the Grimm and slamming the rest of its body into the mountain. It didn't stay down long, however, as the beast rose up to tower over them again, this time swinging its entire body at the family.

Aegis reacted quickly and formed a large platform for them to jump on before leaping again, avoiding the Grimm's large frame. Executing another maneuver, Jen grabbed both of her sons in midair and began spinning before actually throwing them at the Alpha Centinel one at a time. Aegis hit first as he jammed a glass spear in between the folds of the Grimm's armor once again before Wayne landed on top of his weapon, running his semblance through his foot and down into the spear point. The resulting blast sent them both rocketing to safety as Jen rushed in and slammed both fists into the now cracked armor plating, shattering what remained of it before Tobias dropped down with a powerful slash of his tomahawks, igniting the wound with blue fire.

The Alpha Centinel writhed in pain as it slammed its side into the snow repeatedly, trying in vain to extinguish the blaze burning away at its exposed flesh. "That armor is pretty thick," noted Tobias as the family regrouped, "we'll be out here for a while just trying to wear it all down."

"A clear shot at the underbelly would be the best strategy," said Jen, "the problem is getting in underneath it without getting crushed."

"What about the brain then," suggested Wayne, "we destroy the head and it's game over."

"Or maybe, we can do all of that at once," suggested Tobias as he suddenly ignited the flowing parts of his outfit with blue flame.

"Oh, are we really gonna do it?" Questioned Aegis excitedly, "Just like how we took down that King Taijitu?"

"Try to keep calm Aegis," said Wayne, "but seriously, are we gonna use that maneuver?"

"That's exactly what we're gonna do," grinned Tobias as he held out his now flaming weapons. The two siblings and their Mother reached out and ignited their own weapons just as the Alpha Centinel was bearing down on them again.

"Let's rip it up!" exclaimed Jen as the three weapon wielding Ursario's charged forward and leapt onto three different sections of the Grimm's body. None of them slowed down as Wayne jabbed his weapon, now in double-bladed staff form, into the creature's underbelly and began dragging it along, leaving blue flames and his on destructive semblance in its wake. His father and brother mirrored the action as the three of them circled their way down the centipede monster's body, creating a spiraling flame trail.

Jen was next as she summoned every bit of wind dust in her gloves before blasting the ground beneath her and jetting into the air like a bullet. She put both fists forward and spun, creating a spiral of cerulean fire around herself as she entered her target, the mouth of the Alpha Centinel. The Grimm let out one last roar as its head exploded, creating a domino effect of explosions running the length of its body before Jen finally exited out of the backside. "Cerulean Spiral!" declared the family as they all landed together in fighting positions.

The corpse of the Alpha Grimm landed in the snow with a thunderous crash behind them, releasing ashes still covered in blue fire as it dissolved. Tobias let out a quick exhale as he waved his hand and caused the remaining flames to go out like candles. "Wayne, Aegis!" called the collective teams as they all approached.

"Hey guys," said Wayne as he and his family relaxed their postures, "we got a bit sidetracked out here. Did you happen to get the Geist?"

"I mean yeah the Geist is gone," said Nora, "but that, what just happened now, was awesome!"

"Not really," said Tobias, "we woke up an alpha Grimm and didn't even make it to the center of the mine. If you all hadn't been here the mission would've failed."

"Our mission was to clear the landing site," said Clover as the Ace Ops caught up with the rest of them, "had intel known about that Alpha Centinel, it would've been the priority target before the Geist."

"I guess that means we did an okay job after all," said Jen as she put her hands behind her head before noticing that Yang was doing something similar. The blonde quickly took a different posture while waving sheepishly at the bear Faunus woman.

"Okay, OKAY?!" said Marrow, "you guys took down a Grimm who's usually reserved for Ace Ops squads to handle! I mean yeah we could've taken it down too-."

"But not that quickly," said Vine as he held his hands in a meditative pose, "Our squad is versatile but even I must admit we lack the necessary force to tear apart an armor plated Grimm of that size without first finding a weak point. The way you all fought, setting up explosive strikes and throwing each other around, is also much more unorthodox a way of fighting than we would usually employ. We also wouldn't have jumped down its throat."

"You should try it some time," said Aegis jokingly, "blowing a Grimm apart from the inside out is quite an experience."

"Yeah, pass," said Harriet as she turned to Clover, "so is this still mission accomplished then?"

"I believe so," said the Ace Ops leader as he radioed for the airships. 'And a good thing too,' he thought as he watched the Ursario family joking and interacting with their friends. Vine's assessment had pretty much confirmed what Ironwood had said about the family. Every one of them contained a surprising amount of destructive potential just by themselves, yet they somehow operated without fear of hurting each other. 'Ironwood did say they were powerhouses, but I didn't take his words too seriously until now. Let's hope they don't blow up anything important while they're here.'

Suffice it to say, even Clover's good fortune semblance could not prevent such an outcome.

Beware the power of the Ursario family! Hello everyone and Merry Christmas, I hope you're all enjoying the holidays and this most recent chapter. As always, feel free to leave a comment or review about what you liked/disliked or if you've got any neat ideas for future chapters. Be sure to stop in next time as our heroes graduate to the next level! 'Til then.