A new dawn in Remnant: Volume 7

Ace Operatives

A strong wind blew snow across the cloudy sky while three Mantas flew together.

Clover: All right, gather 'round. Our mission today is to secure the launch site for the Amity Communications Tower.

Sometime prior to flying in the Mantas, Clover stood in front of the central table in Ironwood's office, looking at a hologram screen that displayed mission details with Qrow, Ruby, Byleth and Jaune.

Clover: The designated area is an abandoned Dust mine. Since its closure, the Grimm have moved in. The good news is all that untouched Dust is still down there, too. Science team says they'll need it for the first phase of their launch.

In a laboratory...

Pietro: Apologies for the mess and for holding onto your weapons for so long.

Pietro entered a laboratory, followed by Teams RWBY, AMB and JNR.

Pietro: The upgrades you requested were, uh... well, they were more than I anticipated. *laughs*

Ironwood's office...

Clover: Atlas military Huntsmen are already hard at work clearing out the surrounding tundra. But recon has identified a powerful Geist that's managed to evade destruction and take several lives. After we increased our numbers, the Geist was smart enough to retreat into the mine itself, meaning it's old and extremely dangerous.

Clover withdrew a compact Scroll and pressed a button, causing the photograph of a Geist to Qrow and the three team leaders.

Clover: This is our target.

Back in the laboratory...

Pietro: 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.

Teams RWBY, AMB and JNR stood in front of a series of narrow shelves, each of which had cases on them. Nora shifted eagerly on her feet, letting out an excited giggle as she snatched up her case. Everyone else calmly picked up their cases.

Pietro: There's some additional enhancements I'd like to suggest. Oh, but for now, these should serve you well enough.

Ruby opened her case and smiled. Nora opened her case and looked amazed, pupils dilating and eyes shimmering from her excitement. Jaune opened his case, and his eyes widened.

In Ironwood's office...

The hologram screens above Ironwood's table had been replaced with a 3D hologram map displaying the SDC mine.

Clover: 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.

In the dorms...

Jaune sat on a bed, looking at his open case before sadly looking down at a scrap of red fabric in his hands. He caressed the fabric with his thumb and sighed. As he hanged his head, a few locks of hair moved in front of his eye, and he brushed them away with a frown. In another dorm room, Byleth looked before a mirror in the bathroom and had a scissor in his hand. Azura came behind him and offered to cut him his hair. On their beds them were their new outfits.

Clover: General Ironwood says you've seen your fair share of combat.

Yang put on her upgraded and repaired prosthetic arm and made a fist, grinning confidently, while Blake looked before a mirror and ran her hand through her hair.