The REDS of war

Volume Seven Chapter Three

A strong wind blows snow across the cloudy sky while three Mantas fly together.

"All right, gather 'round." Rei says gathering the attention of team RWBY. "Our mission today is to secure the launch site for the Amity Communications Tower." Sometime prior to flying in the Mantas, Rei stands in front of the central table in James Ironwood's office, looking at a hologram screen that displays mission details. "The designated area is an abandoned Dust mine. Since its closure, the Grimm have moved in."

The screen displays a mission overview, 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. The mission overview says:

"Reported Petra Gigas near Huntsman Post North. Huntsmen secured area but were unable to eliminate 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.

Recommended Course of Action: Send in ACE Operatives to clear SDC mine No. 2."

The menu options are "Open Case Reports", "Mission Board", "Personnel Files", "Zoning Details", "Ace Operatives" and "Atlas Huntsmen".

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 Active Huntsmen listed are the members of Team RWBY and Team JNR.

Two more copies of this screen are hovering above the table, being viewed by Qrow Branwen, Ruby Rose and Jaune Arc.

"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." Clover says standing next to Rei.

"Apologies for the mess and for holding onto your weapons for so long." Pietro enters a laboratory, followed by Teams RWBY and JNR. "The upgrades you requested were, uh... well, they were more than I anticipated." He laughs. "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."

Uniformed Huntsmen are seen gunning down Grimm while the three Mantas fly past overhead.

"After we increased our numbers, the Geist was smart enough to retreat into the mine itself, meaning it's old and extremely dangerous." Rei says.

Clover 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."

"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 and JNR stand in front of a series of narrow shelves, each of which have cases on them. Nora Valkyrie shifts eagerly on her feet, letting out an excited giggle as she snatches up her case. Everyone else calmly picks up their cases.

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

Ruby opens her case and smiles. Nora opens her case and looks amazed, pupils dilating and eyes shimmering from her excitement. Jaune opens his case, and his eyes widen. 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." Clover says. "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."