"Alright, gather round." Clover began.

"Our mission today is to secure the launch site for the Amity Communications Tower. The designated area is an abandoned dust mine. Since it's closure, the Grimm have moved in." Clover began.

"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 launch." Clover continued.

"Atlas Military Huntsmen are already hard at work clearing out the surrounding tundra. The recon has identified a powerful Geist that's managed to evade destruction, and take several lives." Clover said, before pointing at Seth.

"That's where you come in, but, you knew that." He joked.

"After we increased our numbers, the Geist was smart enough to retreat into the mine itself. Meaning it's old, and extremely dangerous, thus, why we'll leave that to you. Otherwise..." he trailed off.

"The amount of Grimm swarming the cave, is reaching to be to difficult for Atlas personnel, and thus we'll tackle that today. The mine is a labyrinth... with all sorts of tunnels and caverns for them to crawl around. Basically, we'll split up, down the paths, take out the Grimm along the way, and assist Seth into cornering it." Clover summarized.

•

Seth hopped out of a bullhead with Ruby at his side, the two soaring down towards the mine in tandem.

She spun around with her shrouded form, and Seth coiled around her with his wings glowing brightly.

Weiss leapt from glyph to glyph, summoning a Knight's claymore to slide down in stride.

Blake flew down with her sword drawn, reeling it back before throwing it at an enclosing pipe, swinging up and to another in proximity.

Yang dove down and got as close to the ground as possible, before firing her gauntlets down, and flipping into a slide as the other four landed, rising to a stand in their new attire.

Seth wore a simple blue shirt under an Atlas jacket with a black stripe across the chest, two across the ends of sleeves, and dust embedded into the space between the two lines on the sleeve, making it glow bluish lavender.

Ruby's hair is spikier and choppier with her bangs swept to the side, and has a new outfit comprised of a black 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.

Blake had cut her hair to a shoulder-length bob, and changed her attire to a purple sleeveless catsuit with attached boots that has light purple soles and trim.

Weiss' hair is now braided, and she has grown out her bangs and styled them to frame her face more closely. She now 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.

Yang wears 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.

"You just... can't not look plain, huh?" Yang said with a disappointed sigh.

Seth glanced at himself, and the landing, much more professional Ace Ops, then back at Team RWBY.

"Now you're not getting compliments..." Seth said in annoyance.

"I think we just aren't used to not seeing his Sage form. Give him a break." Weiss smiled.

"Are you implying my face is boring?" Seth asked with a gasp.

"What?! No! I'm just saying the scarier version of you is more... dynamic?" Weiss shrugged.

"...So I'm boring?" Seth said with a hand on his hip.

"I think she just means we've grown to appreciate your Sage form." Ruby said patting his back.

"I can change back, you know... if my face is so boring." Seth said with an unamused stare.

"Ugh! You look fine! Focus!" Marrow shouted, he and Harriet teamed with the five.

"Hey! You don't get input! I haven't had a face for a year! Don't get mad because you aren't getting compliments either!" Seth shouted back, annoyed at the facade.

Marrow groaned and face palmed, making Harriet smirk.

•

Seth used his wings to blow away the snow surrounding the their entrance to the mines, and it was revealed to be a Schnee Dust Mine.

Weiss rolled her eyes, and nudged Seth on.

Ruby shivered by with her arms crossed, and Seth rose an eyebrow.

"Without heating or a projected Aura, the cold of Solitas can kill you." Weiss informed.

"But I don't have Aura." Seth reminded.

"You're not human, Seth." Yang smirked.

"Touché..."

•

"The mines are... clear. A welcome surprise at the moment, but something's wrong." Vine informed through comms.

"Well, we've hit a bit of a snag." Harriet informed.

Seth and Team RWBY were standing in front of a semi-natural stone wall, which seemed to be exactly where production stopped.

"Seems like a cave-in at the main entrance. Not sure if it's recent or was caused by the original accident." She continued. "Either way, we'll have to do a little problem solving."

"I have a solution!" Seth said with a smile.

"Well... lay it on us." Harriet shrugged

Seth reeled back his fist, before it deformed into his usual black arm with the souls crawling down it, and he sent an enlarged fist crashing through the 30 foot wall.

A large harmonic screech rang through the cave and towards the group, and they winced as several, large centipede-like Grim began crawling and spiraling out the ground.

"Oh. That's nasty." Seth hummed, before rushing forward with the others.

The extermination of the bugs were slow and tedious, but effective. Seth clawed through what got close, speeding around to clear out those crowding around the others. Everyone's spree was ended when Seth fluttered his wings, causing a razor wind that sliced through the remaining bugs.

Suddenly, Seth was clawed at by the Geist, but he flipped back and flung his own claw at it.

It weaved out of the way, swerving past everyone and further into the mine.

"We've found the target, but it fled deeper into the mine!" Harriet said taking off down the mine, the others following after the ghastly figure, but it was faster than meets the eye.

Seth was jogging beside the others and they ran through the tunnels, and Harriet was using was seemed to be super speed to dash around and take out whatever couldn't react in time.

"We've made contact! All squads, to our position!" Clover shouted, Qrow firing shots beside him at the Geist, that grew closer to its haunted body.

The mask settled down on a massive chunk of solid ice and steel, swirling around even more frigid steel, rock, and stone, forming the golem that terrorized the mines before.

Clover flung his grappling pole's hook at the materials swirling around the Geist, but Qrow noticed a steel beam being lurched over by a revolving piece of ice.

"Wait! Stop!" He shouted pulling Clover back as it fell.

Kicking up a shroud of dust and dirt, the Geist escaped, making Clover click his tongue. After it settled, it revealed to have descended down a massive hole it made in the ground.

"The target escaped. Last seen heading East." Clover informed urgently.

•

Team JNR, Vine, and Elm, slid to a stop a few floors above the bottom the center of the mine, opposite to Team RWBY, Seth, Harriet, and Marrow, who were at the very bottom.

"Everyone use caution. This room is highly active with dust energy. Triggering it could ruin the launch site." Vine warned.

"And vaporize us! How is that always second with you...?" Marrow added with sass.

"I though the target was supposed to be in here?" Nora asked in confusion.

"What a nice chandelier..." Seth said with sarcasm, making everyone look up.

Up above, the Geist dropped its humongous rocky body, that was now lined with Gravity dust, intimidating the teens of the group.

"How are we supposed to—"

Harriet rushed forward, alongside the flying Seth, who was too excited to even hesitate.

Vine extended a projected Aura arm, wrapping it around the Geist's right leg, wrapping the other around a support beam.

Elm ran up to the constricted leg and wrapped her arms around it, using her semblance to ingrain herself and it to the ground.

Vine let go and used his elongated arms to flip over the entire Geist and land on a bridge of mine-cart tracks. He then grabbed the Geist's left arm and pulled with all his might, leaving Marrow to turn his assault rifle into a boomerang, chucking it at the now vulnerable Geist arm within the stone.

It sliced the ligament clean off and it crashed to the ground for Marrow to smile in triumph.

Noticing the debris falling, including highly reactive dust, Harriet crouched down and took off with a golden glint in her eye, racing around and jumping up the falling stone to catch two chunks of Gravity dust.

Seth flew up and uppercut the torso of the Geist, hopping over the lash of its arm, Harriet swerving around the stomping feet of it stumble.

Seth and Vine leapt up and reeled their arms back, before slamming them into the Geist again, making it stumble into the railing of the upper floors.

Harriet whistled, grabbing it's attention so it could slam its arm down, just too slow to hit her. Elm crashed her hammer down on the arm, weakening its structure, enough for Marrow to slide through it and make it stumble again, now armless.

Clover jumped up and reeled back his grappling pole, flicking his four-clover medallion, just as he wrapped the hook around the Geist's mask. He gave a cry and yanked it out of the stone body, and Seth descended from the air with Burden slashed at his side.

The crumbling of the dust rained down, but faded before it could touch the ground, signaling the eradication of the Grimm.

Even more so, at his feet were the broken chunks of Gravity dust, from the fight, making Seth smirk as he spun his sword, tossing it aside and into nothingness.

"Ha... I'm back." He said with a grin.

"There he goes again..." Weiss said with a smirk, crossing her arms.

"Showing off?"                    "Being hot?"

Ruby, Yang, and Weiss stared at Blake, and she blushed.

"Am I not allowed to speak my mind?" Blake asked with a pout.

"Woah! What a team player, little guy! You fit right in!" Elm said throwing Seth on her shoulder as JNR celebrated, RWBY joining them.

"Little guy?!" Seth yelled in shock.

"Atlas Control. This is Clover. Mission accomplished." Clover related.

~•~

"How was your first mission?" Maia asked, seated on her king-sized bed, hands sat on her silk, white sheets.

"It went well. I'm told I stole the show, but then again, when don't I guess..." Seth said with a smile.

"As of late, it seems that's about all you do. I admire your growth." Maia said with a smile. "I remember that same spark of potential when you first blocked my semblance. I was certainly impressed by the plain boy that day." Maia continued.

"You all never cease to insult me." Seth said crossing his arms.

"It's not an insult if I like that about you." Maia said with a sigh, annoyed by his misinterpretation.

"Aww, never thought I'd hear you like something about me." Seth said with a chuckle. "I always thought I was your least favorite."

"You were." Maia responded.

"HEY! I was joking!" Seth said in shock.

"So am I. I loved you all equally..." Maia said with a solemn smile. She rubbed her arm and looked down, and Seth did the same.

"I... still can't believe it..." Maia said with a sigh. "Me neither... I wasn't even there. I should've been there." Seth said with a frown.

"Neither of us were. But we can't blame ourselves. After all, we didn't take their lives... and one that did has died. One down." Maia said with a huff.

"Unfortunately, not by my hand." Seth shrugged.

"Don't you have somewhere to be? You finished the mission like five minutes ago." Maia asked standing up.

"Well, I'm not getting my license, so I could care less... I'm like a weapon that needs authorization." Seth said walking to the door.

"So I've been told. That won't stop you, though." Maia smirked.

"I'm beyond a Hunstman now... maybe that's why I'm not getting the license." Seth shrugged. "See you later!" Seth said taking his leave.

Maia could only stare at his fleeting figure with a calm happiness.