"All right, gather 'round." Clover said as each of us walked over to the center table jn Ironwoods office, looking at a hologram screen that displays the mission details. "Our mission today is to secure the launch site for the Amity Communications Tower." He said as he looked at Qrow. "The designated area is an abandoned Dust mine. Since its closure, the Grimm have moved in." He informed as he looked back at the screen. It now displayed a photograph of Huntsmen battling a Geist, a menu, a map of an area in the Kingdom of Atlas, a list of Active Huntsmen and a list of Ace Operatives.
"Reports of a Petra Gigas near Huntsman Post North." I said as I looked at Clover. "Huntsmen have secured the area but were unable to eliminate the Petra Gigas. The Grimm was seen retreating to abandoned SDC Mines No. 2 located in Zone 3. No casualties were reported, three Huntsmen suffered minor injuries." I said as I looked back at the screen.
"Recommended Course of Action: Send in ACE Operatives to clear SDC mine No. 2." Qrow said as he crossed his arms.
The map displays that "Zone 1", in the very south of the map, is cleared. "Zone 2" is in the southwestern portion of the map, with "Huntsman Post West" located in its northeastern area. "Zone 3" is the northern section of the map. "Huntsman Post North" is located slightly southeast from "SDC Mines 2", and to the northeast of the mines is "Aurora Pass".
"The good news is all that untouched Dust is still down there, too." Clover said with a smile. "Science team says they'll need it for the first phase of their launch." He informed, making me sigh as well.
"That's also bad news, because if it fets ahold of any unprocessed Dust, and we hit it or it hits something-"
"-It can all go up in flames." Qrow finished what I was going to say, with Clover nodding his head.
"Atlas military Huntsmen are already hard at work clearing out the surrounding tundra." Clover informed, with me nodding as fhat would also mean that nothing would fet us from behind. "After we increased our numbers, the Geist was smart enough to retreat into the mine itself, meaning it's old and extremely dangerous." He said, with me narrowing my eyes as it most likely knew about unprocessed dust being highly explosive. Clover then withdraws a compact Scroll and presses a button, causing the photograph of Huntsmen battling the Petra Gigas to take up the entirety of each screen. "This is our target, for any who have yet to see a Petra Gigas." He informed, with it being my third time seeing one.
My first one was with Glynda on our way to Vale after my family's massacre. It possessed stone which made it harder to hit. The second was with Team FEDM, though it posessed trees and made it easier to deal with. Buring it and the surrounding area was effective.
The hologram screens above Ironwood's table have been replaced with a 3D hologram map displaying the SDC mine. "The mine was a labyrinth back in the day. There's all sorts of tunnels and chambers the Geist can move between, so if we're gonna kill this thing, we'll have to split up and corner it." Clover informed, with me looking at Jaune.
"I will go with Jaune's party, to balance things out." I said, with everyone nodding their heads.
"Us?" Jaune asked, pointing at himself.
"Your group is made up of three people, we will have to balance out the parties involved." Clover said as he looked at Jaune. "General Ironwood says you've seen your fair share of combat." He said as he looked at each of us. "I trust that man with my life, so tomorrow, I'll be trusting you all, too." He said with a nod. "Let's make it happen, people." He said as we walked away from the table to get ready for the mission.
"First up, we have to meet up with Pietro, he has our new gear ready." Jaune said, with me looking at his hair.
"New cut?" I asked, with he grabbing his hair. "Its more suitable for combat, and looks good on you." I said as I lead the way.
Later
"Apologies for the mess and for holding onto your weapons for so long." Pietro said as he lead us into his laboratory. "The upgrades you requested were, uh… well, they were more than I anticipated." He said with a laugh. "Your new weapons and armor should be as requested, but I also took the liberty of reviewing your combat footage from the Vytal Festival Tournament." He said as he looked at me. "Unfortunately, you weren't present, but from what I can see, you're more than prepared." He said as he looked at my second saber. "I do, however, have a set of traditional robes for you, much like you family wore." He said, with me nodding.
"Thank you, I will take them with pride." I said as I walked over to the Locker that had a lightsaber design on it. The robes were mostly brown. They often had gold ornaments showing the my family crest. The chest and legs of the tunic was white, with it having a black sash, boots and gloves.
Later
Walking out in my new combat suit, I felt a little weird with the cloak. Still, I would have to get used to it. Approaching Oscar, he looked at me as I walked towards him. "Come with me." I said as I continued to Ruby's dressing room.
Once there, I knocked on the door, with Ruby opening it. She has a new outfit, comprised of a black and red lined lace-up corset with four buckles hanging loose over a mesh sleeveless top over a white low cut long-sleeved blouse, as well as a black choker around her neck. She wears a red pleated skirt that is split at the side with a small brown belted strap across the gap, and bright red shorts under it. On her arms, she wears black bracers with large brown buckled straps around the wrist as well as black fingerless gloves.
Around her waist, she now has a brown belt with several bullets with a buckle of her emblem on it alongside a pouch on the right side with a dog based emblem and she wears black, thigh-high steel-toe boots with red soles and heels, a single buckled strap, rear seam and a large brown buckled strap with attached pouches near the top, over a pair of brown mesh tights. In addition, her torn cape is replaced with a new cape and hood
"New look... looks good." I said as I grabbed the relic on my hip.
"Oh... thanks?" She asked as she looked me up and down. "You're not what I expected... I'm just used to seeing straps, wraps and armor, so this is different for me." Ruby said as she looked at the relic.
"I want to talk to gou about something." I said as I walked into her room as she stepped out, wirh Oscar following me. "About Oscar holding onto the Relic for now." I said as I turned to face her.
"Er, probably shouldn't keep running around with an ancient Relic on a keychain… you know?" Ruby said as she looked at the relic. She takes the relic, looking it over as if not fully on board with me. After a moment, she hands the Relic to Oscar, who looks at it and then at Ruby, then me.
"But-"
"I know you'll keep it safe in Atlas." Ruby said with a smile.
"I know its hard to believe, when we came all the way here, but until we can fully trust Ironwood, we're behind enemy lines." I said as I looked at him. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend, but you also have to remember to keep your friends close, and your enemies closer." I said as I walked over to the door. "Trust the force, it will help guide you." I said as I left the room.
Later
Walking outside to the airships, I saw the others were already here. Weiss, Blake and Yang were next to Harriet and Marrow. Jaune, Nora and Red were next to Elm and Vine. Qrow and Clover weren't that far from them. Each of them were different from earlier.
Weiss' hair is now braided, and she has grown out her bangs and styled them to frame her face more closely. She wears a pale blue sleeveless dress with deep red lining, bow detail fixture, and two diamond-shaped pieces hanging from the corners of the hem, over a white diagonal hemmed strapless dress. Above which she wears a vivid blue shrug with a raised collar, puffy sleeves and the Schnee emblem on the left sleeve, fastened by a blue, silver outlined strap. On her arms are a pair of long navy blue gloves with silver top trim surrounding a red gem at the top.
Over her dress, she wears a light blue, corset styled belt. Around her waist are three white belts with a medium-sized pouch attached to the lowest belt and another pouch attached to the middle belt. The lowest belt crosses over the middle belt. She wears long, pale blue wedge-heel boots with white frill detailing at the top at the front, alongside grayish blue coloring on the toes and navy blue wedged heels. In addition, she wears a pair of ruby earrings that match her icicle-shaped tiara with a diamond-shaped ruby in the center.
Blake had cut her hair to a shoulder-length bob. She changed her attire to a purple sleeveless leather catsuit with attached boots that has light purple soles and trim. The catsuit has a high neck with a single short silver zipper alongside matching zippers that run from her thighs to her ankles on the front of the legs. A pair of knee pads, matching the color to the catsuit with silver studs on them attached to the knees of the catsuit.
Her long, white tailcoat has desaturated purple detailing on the chest, sleeves, sides and collar alongside a dark purple detailing on the back. It has a narrow belt around the collar and a wide white belt loosely secured around her waist through the coat's belt loops. The belt has two pouches attached to the back. The coattails end in a point and the inside lining is vivid purple. The front zipper of the coat is upside down and extends to the very bottom of the coat, and there are additional zippers along the lower half of the sleeves with a single purple line running between the zipper and her shoulders. Around each wrist is a dark purple belted wristband and has a desaturated purple magnetic backpack on her back.
Yang obtains an entirely new outfit primarily consisting of khaki overalls, the gold zipper of which is unzipped just below the breast to reveal a white low-cut cropped tube top. Around the thighs of the overalls is a gold zipper and buckled strap that allows for the pants leg to be detached. The right leg is unzipped but still strapped to the overalls but the lower part is partially folded over. Over top of the coveralls, she wears a baggy, dark brown crop aviator styled jacket with fur trim around the neck and black-and-orange straps along the sleeves.
Around her waist is a black-and-orange belt with black-and-yellow folded fabric on the sides, which runs behind her with a pouch attached to it and a golden buckle of her emblem. She wears dark brown knee-high boots with black laces and top trim. For accessories, she has resumed wearing her orange scarf around her neck and her purple scarf around her right leg. She also has a black/brown strap with golden trim and a pouch wrapped around her left thigh. Yang wears yellow and black socks with her emblem with a pair of orange sunglasses.
Jaune had also cut his hair short and styles it to be upswept and somewhat spiky in a quiff-like style. He also gains a new outfit. He wears a high collar black shirt under a re-modified pure white chest plate that covers a bit more of his upper abdomen and similarly colored bracers. Both the chest plate and the bracers are trimmed with gold, and he once again wears two shoulder pads. He retains his gloves and sash except he now wears dark navy jeans and dark brown boots.
Nora cut her hair as well, though it wasnt much shorter, and she gained a new outfit. She wears a long, pink and white sleeveless coat with light blue lapels and white-collar belted closed by a black belt with a pouch on the left side, over a black short dress. The front of the coat has two heart shape cutouts near to the bottom. On the upper back of her coat is a small pair of decorative metal wings with a magnet in the middle that she can attach Magnhild to. She also has long detached white sleeves with black fingerless gloves, white stockings light blue socks and black boots with silver heels, sole and toe plates. In addition, she wears matching metal bands on her upper arms with her emblem on them alongside silver metal bands around her thighs.
Ren braided his hair and gained a new outfit. He now wears a sleeveless turtleneck dark green top, white long sleeves underneath, black half of a jacket/arm guard combination on his right arm with his father's dagger attached it, a single detached long black fingerless glove on his left arm, and black leather boots.
Qrow retains his torn cape and black wristband, except he loses his necklace and old rings and now wears a new outfit. He wears a dark gray collar shirt with a black vest that has cross-shaped buttons, and a white v-neck shirt underneath, dark gray dress pants and black dress shoes. His old rings are replaced with black ones worn in the same place as his previous rings were.
"Looks like everyone changed in to something new." I said as I approached Jaune's team. "Mostly you, Jaune." I said with a smile as he ran his hand through his hair.
"Uh... thanks?" He said, looking at my hip. "Where's the relic?" He asked, drawing everyone's attention towards me.
"Oscar has it, and will hold onto it for a while." I answered as I looked at the others. "It's safest that way." I said as I looked over at Ruby as she was walking over to her team.
"Are you sure?" Jaune asked, with me nodding as we got into our airship and prepared for lift off.
Later
Our airship soars overhead toward the mountain. Inside the ship, Elm Ederne and Vine Zeki look at us and prepared to jump. "This is my favorite part!" Elm said as Vine steps out of the ship, while Elm leaps backwards. Ren hops out, followed by a laughing Nora. Jaune takes a deep breath, gets a small running start and leaps out. Following after them, I step out and held my arms out as I fell.
Jaune dives for a moment, then deploys his shield while activating its new Hard-Light Dust upgrade. The shield begins acting as a hang glider, with the sudden slow in momentum causing Jaune to yelp. He then drifts over to the cliff, before turning his shield downward and using another Dust upgrade to create an outward burst that cushions his landing. Standing alongside Nora and Ren, Jaune draws his sword as I land next to them with a soft step as I used the force to bring me down.
"Ha ha! Perhaps you kids won't get yourselves killed after all!" Elm said as she enters a tunnel, while Jaune looks disappointed and Nora pouts.
"She meant that as a compliment." Vine said as the both of us followed after her, with JNR following behind.
"This is Alpha squad. LZ's clear. Proceeding on foot." Clover said over the new scrolls we got. "You've all got fancy new Scrolls, so don't forget to use 'em. Keep your eyes and ears open. I want an update if you encounter the target. Alpha out." Clover said as we made our way down.
As we did, we quickly went from rock to ice, which has metal arches supporting it. "This is so exciting! It feels like we're an actual Huntsman team!" Nora said with a smile, before she fidgets with her hands a little, then looks at Ren with her hands clasped beside her face. "I, um… like what you did with your outfit, Ren." Nora said as she wanted his attention.
"We should probably stay focused on the mission." Ren said as he walked past her, frowning even as Nota stops, losing her smile.
"Oh. Okay." Nora said as Jaune stops next to her, smiling cluelessly at her.
"I like your outfit, too." Jaune said, with me grabbing his armor and dragging him with me.
"Read the room." I said as I let him go.
"Bravo checking in. Hit a bit of a snag." Harriet said as we started approaching a slope of ice. "There's been a cave-in in the main entrance. Not sure if it's recent or was caused by the original accident." She informed as we looked down the slope. "Either way, we'll have to do a little problem solving." She informes as we looked down the other path and saw that it was blocked off.
"Understood. Let us know if you need anything." Clover said as we walked over to the dead end and started examining if, finding that it had happened a while ago and wasn't recent.
"This is Bravo! We found the target, but it fled deeper into the mine. Engaging Centinels!" Harriet informed as we made our way back to the slope and looked at eachother.
"Let's pick up the pace!" Elm said as we started sliding along the ice. Nora smacks Ren, sending him down the decline with a small shout, and then follows, laughing. Below, the ice tunnel gives way to the Dust mine, and three Centinels begin burrowing out of the rock.
"Contact!" Vine informed as he deploys his Semblance to grab onto the walls of the ice tunnel, stopping himself. Elm stomps on the ice, deploying her own Semblance to root herself to the spot.
"We got this!" I said as I slid past them with Jaune, Nora and Ren, Nora laughing with her hands in the air.
As we approach the bottom, Jaune deploys his shield's Hard-Light barrier and stabs the ice with his sword to slow himself. He then slams his shield down, using Dust to send out a blast that knocks the Centinels back, with me moving past him and cutting it down as another comes up behind him, which he cuts down. Catching up to us, Ren leaps into the air and activates his weapons' upgrade - his guns fire their blades at one of the Centinels, with wires keeping the blades tethered to the guns. He pulls himself to the Centinel and slams his feet into it to knock it down and fires his guns at it. Another Centinel rises up behind him, only for Nora to slam Magnhild down on its head. The hammer emits a blast, allowing her to swing it backwards onto the remaining Centinel's head. With all of the Centinels dead, Vine and Elm slide down the ice to meet up with us.
"A very… head-first approach." Elm said as they begin walking past us.
"Yeah, well, that's just kind of our style." Jaune said as he tried to act confident, with me walking with the others. I could hear them all relax their shoulders and sigh with relief, making me smile at them.
"This is Alpha! We've engaged the target!" Clover called out through the acroll, with me looking back at the others. "Target escaped, last seen headed east." He informed as we changed our direction once more. "Charlie, Bravo, you should be able to cut off the target at the heart of the mine. Qrow and I won't be far behind." He informed, with us exiting our tunnel and onto a raised walkway in a giant mine chamber filled with Dust veins and huge Dust crystals.
Raised minecart rails, walkways and stone arches span across and around the edges of the chamber. As Ren comes to a stop, his foot slides across the ground, and the dust particles he kicks up drift slowly into the air. A bead of sweat drips from Jaune's forehead and evaporates upon hitting the ground. Team RWBY, Harriet and Marrow arrive in the same chamber at the bottom level.
Ruby looks up toward us. "Guys!" She said with a wave.
"Everyone use caution. This room is highly active with Dust energy. Triggering it could ruin the launch site." Vine informed as I knelt down and picked some up and rubbed my fingers together.
"And vaporize us. How is that always second with you?" Marrow questioned out a fear.
"I thought the target was supposed to be in here." Nora asked as she looked at Elm and Vine.
"He is." I said as I looked up just as we heard a low rumbling noise from above, which causes everyone to look up. The Petra Gigas Geist is clinging to a chunk of ice on the ceiling. It turns to look down at everyone, showing purple Dust crystals embedded in its body. It jumps down from the ceiling, crashing through a stone arch on its way to the ground in front of Team RWBY. " It added Dust to its body!" I called out as I put my saber away as to not cause an explosion.
"How are we supposed to-"
Harriet speeds past Ruby, and Marrow follows suit. Elm jumps down from the cliff and runs toward the Petra Gigas, as well.
"Elm!" Vine ordered as he reaches out with his Semblance, wrapping an Aura arm around one of the Petra Gigas' legs. With his other Aura arm, he reaches behind him, grabs onto a support beam and pulls.
Elm runs over to the leg, stomps to root herself in place with her Semblance and grabs onto the leg.
"Vine!" Elm called out as Vine lets go, leaps off the cliff and uses his Semblance to swing onto a minecart bridge. He then uses his Semblance to grab onto one of the Petra Gigas' arms and pull.
"Marrow!" Vine called out, where Marrow throws his boomerang at the exposed Geist arm between pieces of ice and rubble, severing it. A Dust crystal flies out from the released rubble, and Marrow's eyes widen.
Seeing this, I pulled the crystal my way and caught it. "I got it!" I called out as I set it aside and sat it down next to me. Marrow cuts off the Geist's other arm, sending another Dust crystal flying through the air. The crystal was caught by Clover, who just arrived with Qrow.
"What would you guys do without me?" Clover asked while chuckling. He tosses the crystal to Qrow, who looks at him with an eyebrow raised. Clover salutes to Qrow and jumps backward off the cliff. Harriet speeds around the Petra Gigas' feet, while Vine swings himself around and punches the Petra Gigas in the chest. Harriet speeds to the middle of the room, whistles and waves at the Petra Gigas, then speeds away when it tries to hit her. Elm takes this opportunity to slam her hammer onto the rock composing part of the Petra Gigas' arm. The rock becomes stuck, and as the Petra Gigas struggles to pull it up, Marrow severs its arm once again.
Clover lands on the ground, deploys his fishing rod, and runs over to the Petra Gigas. He jumps off its leg, launching himself into the air. He bumps his clover pin with his thumb, swings his pole and pulls on the fishing line, directing it to wrap around the Geist's mask and hook onto it. Our eyes widen in amazement, and Clover pulls, forcing the Geist out of the ice block. Harriet runs into position and uses her Semblance to launch straight up into the air, punching the Geist with her weapon, killing it. As purple Dust crystals begin raining down, I held my hands out and catch everything before it could fall.
"Grab the dust!" Clover ordered as everyone starred doing so. Harriet used her Semblance to speed across the room, but she had to maneuver around the falling ice and rocks. The crystals comes close to touching the ground, and with Harriet mere feet away. Suddenly, a red blur flies past, taking the last crystal with it. Surprised, Harriet tumbles and stops. Ruby deactivates her Semblance and falls to the ground in a sitting position, hugging the large crystal tight. She opens her eyes and laughs. Harriet walks over and pulls her to her feet.
"Thought you said your Semblance was like mine." Harriet said as she crossed her arms as I set all the ice and rocks down.
"It... is?" Ruby said, confused as to why she would say that.
"I've seen other speed Semblances before, but that was different. I think there's more going on than you think." Harriet said with a skirk.
"So... we weren't really needed, were we?" Jaune said as he looked at me.
"Appears so." I said as I crossed my arms as I looked down at the others, where Nora and Ren had joined them. Ruby and Nora begin celebrating on the other side of the chamber, with Elm holding Ruby up on her shoulder.
"Atlas Control, this is Clover. Mission accomplished." Clover said, with me looking around at the dust.