Super Fighting Robot
Chapter 1: "Mission: Start!"
The descending ball of green flame drew little attention as it plummeted towards the ground, its bright glow penetrating the smoke-filled sky. Between the continuous flashes of gunfire and the occasional explosions of light occurring all throughout the crumbling city, this was one of the few circumstances in which the incoming projectile was just a part of the scenery.
It was a hastily abandoned car that suffered from the impact, the entire vehicle disintegrating in a blast of green energy as the object struck it. The street it had been parked on taking a scourged black color, cracking out in multiple directions, smoke rising up from the asphalt around the site of contact.
"Ow..."
And where the car had been, an orange-haired girl now sat, her eyes closed tightly as she reached a hand down to rub her sore bottom. First mission, and she had screwed up her landing.
"Penny, status report."
Her green eyes opened with a quiet whirr, and she glanced around at the empty street. Crumpled buildings, cars scattered wildly on the road; only a spare few of either seemed to be completely intact. More distressing, however, were the bodies, both human and machine, though the organic corpses definitely outnumbered the metal. The entire area was quiet and still, the sounds of the battle that had been observed from above carrying off further into the city.
"I am fully operational, ma'am!" The girl's voice was cheery, despite the situation. She quickly leapt to her feet, green lines lighting up along her clothes as the Dust core within her chest began to hum. "No damage sustained during landing!"
"Is the landing zone secure?"
"Yes ma'am!" Penny did one more scan, but nothing had started to move. "All hostiles in the area seem to have already been destroyed, and I'm not picking up any other signs of life."
"What about civilians?"
Penny paused, tracing her eyes over the nearest corpse: a woman in a tan jacket who must have been gunned down as she exited her car. Oddly, the car itself seemed to be in good condition.
"... I'm not picking up any other signs of life." Her voice was quieter this time. She couldn't help it, but she knew Ciel would still hear her.
"Understood. Standby for objectives."
The voice in her head didn't waver at her report. Penny knew she was supposed to be calm like Ciel, but...
"It's just sad." She whimpered, the smile finally falling from her face.
"You are programmed to protect humans: sadness is natural to feel at the sight of human casualties." Of course, Ciel heard her. Ciel always heard her. Quickly, the smile snapped back. Ciel continued. "You are to head to the Beacon Robotics Academy and rendezvous with Doctor Ozpin. All Pawns encountered on the way are to be terminated. Do you understand your orders, Penny?"
"Understood, ma'am!" Penny saluted into the empty air. It was a habitual response at this point, but Ciel would know it was for her.
"Mission: Start!" Excitement: it was the first sign of emotion her 'partner' had displayed so far. The small 'backpack' Penny wore slid open, and four blades levitated out and began to circle the robotic girl. The ginger watched them for a second, before reaching up and grabbing one of the short-swords. Its hilt glowed green in her hand, and the other three soon matched it, falling into formation behind her, each producing a melodious hum. In the bottom right corner of Penny's field of view, two little circles appeared; one green, the other yellow.
AURA: 100%
DUST: 100%
Penny grinned.
"I'm combat ready!"
The city square had been overrun, and the machines were using it as a staging point for their assault. New squadrons were being deployed from the now-barren park to replace the few that the defending humans had managed to defeat, as well as reinforce the offensive lines that were deemed to be operating at a suboptimal level. To illustrate this, two grey transport ships descended from the sky, their cargo bays opening to allow even more of the "Knight" class robots that made up the brunt of the invasion of Vale to descend onto the damaged concrete.
"You are such a nerd…"
"Hey, you asked what was going on!"
"And I regret it!"
"… The term is 'intellectual,' by the way." Neptune, a blue-haired youth who was clad in a very dusty, yet still oddly conspicuous, red jacket huffed as he turned his attention back onto the courtyard below. The buildings that had surrounded the plaza were surprisingly undamaged; the machines must have determined them to be more valuable as cover for their landings than as rubble to be stepped over. What they hadn't considered was that a resistance force, like his own, might just use those very buildings to launch a surprise attack to disrupt the supply lines of the mechanical menace!
At least, that was the intention. The 'strategist' wasn't confident in his own plan's success. Obviously, neither were his allies.
"So, once we start shooting these things… what do we do?" asked a young man crouched at another window. Neptune vaguely recognized him as a fellow classmate from back at the Sky Knight Academy. In fact, most of the little resistance force was composed of cadets and rookies from that same academy. He couldn't help but wonder if the school was still standing…
Neptune glanced back at the courtyard: a hub of machines and large metal cubes. In all honesty, he had no long-term plan… He just needed to do something. They had already managed to raid a weapons transport, after all. "Once we open fire, keep moving from window to window!" He grinned, reaching up a hand to adjust goggles that were no longer on his head. "They may have the numbers, but we're members… well, future members of Vale's Sky Knights! It is our duty to-"
Neptune was cut off by the sound of gunfire from the other side of the building. His head whirled, and he watched in shock as a short-haired, bulky cadet simply held down the trigger on his energy rifle, the flashes of red light illuminating his wild eyes.
Down in the courtyard, every single one of the "Knights," humanoid machines covered completely in white armor, let out a series of beeps, and turned towards the building Neptune's team had taken cover in. Their glass faceplates began to glow red, as their own pulse rifles squealed to life.
"Open fire! Open fire!" Neptune yelled, as the group scattered to different windows. For a moment in time, they held their own, their wide-range of energy bolts walls of the office building did nothing to halt the rounds. Neptune was struck in the shoulder, and the next thing he knew, he was on the floor, writhing in pain as the ability to feel his arm quickly faded from him. But the barrage didn't stop, the machines ripping the walls to shreds to ensure the destruction of the threat.
Then suddenly, the counter-attack ceased. A few seconds passed before Neptune dared to raise his head, only to see one of the white cubes opening. A large, grey machine, akin to a bipedal tank, emerged. Neptune couldn't believe his eyes: The Atlas Paladin was only a theoretical machine, there hadn't been any announcement of it being in development… much less ready for actual combat. And yet, here it was, its laser sensors all locking on to the building as two missile pods opened on its back. Neptune looked down, to see one of the lasers was centered directly on him. For a moment, he tried to recall what had led up to this. He supposed it was the Vytal Fesitval… before that, he had been studying to be an engineer for Vale's Robotic Air Force.
He still didn't know what had transpired to make everything go so wrong. Though that didn't really matter now…
The Paladin fired: its missiles clearing the courtyard in a second. In a blaze of explosive energy, the building was reduced to rubble.
"The Pawns are using the highways to get around the city. You should do the same."
"Roger that!" Penny gave another salute, retrieving her fourth sword from the Knight unit at her feet. She stood in an abandoned energy station, which the Pawns had been using to refuel their transports. It had been Ciel's idea to try and seize such a transport to help speed up their trip to the robotics lab.
"… Ciel? These units are different than the simulations we ran."
"Yes, their combat performance ranking is much lower than the data we were provided."
Penny ran her eyes over the defeated Knights. A dozen of them had been in the transport that now sat idling a few feet away, and they had all attacked her on sight before she was even in their effective range. Yet, their only tactic had been to bombard her with pulse rounds, which were easy enough for her to dodge or block. Even as her swords and energy blasts ripped them apart, they never changed tactic, or even tried to retreat. Such programming was far too… simplistic for Atlas machines.
"Penny, correcting this discrepancy is not in our mission parameters. We are to rendezvous with Doctor Ozpin as soon as possible."
"Right. I'm sorry." Penny shook her head, and headed over to the transport. It could best be described as two large metal boxes fused together. The cab was slightly smaller, with two anti-gravity propulsion 'wheels.' The carrier was larger, with three 'wheels' on each side. It hovered in place, no longer having any troops to transport. It rocked back and forth as Penny hopped on top of the cab, taking one of her swords in hand and lifting it into the air.
"Preparing override." Ciel's voice rang through her head, as Penny's eyes filled with a blue light. The green glow on her clothes shifted as well, the energy crawling through her body and into the sword she held. The core in the hilt of the weapon flashed blue, and Penny drove it down into the transport. The blade easily sliced through the armored vehicle, which began to spark and crackle with blue energy, before the engine roared to life, and it lifted further into the air.
"Override successful, engaging transport. I suggest you hold on tight, Penny,"
The ginger android couldn't hold back her giggle of excitement as the craft sped off, Ciel guiding it at the optimal speed to the optimal route to their destination. The desolate city of Vale zoomed past Penny on both sides, as she calmly climbed up onto the carrier potion of the transport, and settled herself on the edge, her feet dangling over the cab. With nothing else to do while Ciel drove her to the highway, she took in the wreckage around her.
"… Ciel? All these machines have gone rouge, right?"
"Correct. All intel indicates they were infected by an unknown virus that forcefully reprogrammed them."
"That's why they're attacking humans?"
"Correct."
Penny watched the wreckage of a bookstore pass them by, all the tomes it once held still ablaze beneath the rubble.
"Then… why are they destroying the city as well?"
"Unknown. There do not seem to be any parameters to their actions. They are acting in a manner humans would refer to as 'Mindless Rage.'"
"But… Military machines don't have emotions."
"Correct."
"… This doesn't make any sense." Penny sighed, crossing her arms as the transport hit the incline to merge onto the highway. These elevated roads ran all across the city of Vale, lined with magnetic barriers to prevent vehicles from careening off the edges.
"These haven't been damaged…" Penny mused, looking at one of the higher roads as they passed under it.
"The machines are using them to easily mobilize throughout the city. With remnants of the Atlesian Air Fleet still active, they cannot yet employ the ships that are under their control."
The overpass faded into the distance behind them, the transport deftly avoiding the abandoned cars that dotted the road. Penny frowned, pulling her legs up to her chest. Something didn't sound right about this… she just wasn't sure what it was. Further thought could not be pursued, however, as the road in front of the transport suddenly exploded.
The carrier reared up, engulfed in shimmering plasma and fracturing concrete. Deafening shockwaves blasted out in all directions, the magnetic barriers on both sides of the road flickering. The next second, it was over, and the transport burst through the cloud of smoke and debris, its hover allowing it to pass over the crumbling road. Penny was standing, a shocked look on her face as the green barrier around her faded. There was only a second to rest, before two more blasts erupted in the transport's path. Ciel maneuvered around these, any shards that came close to Penny disintegrating once they struck her defensive aura.
"Two hostile vehicles above us, Penny. You are authorized to engage."
Penny whirled, her eyes immediately locking on to the indicated foes. On the overpass, two hover tanks had moved into position, their red cannons shining as they prepared to fire again. She and Ciel had run many simulations involving these automated weapons, but not involving this specific situation. This was going to be fun!
There were two bright flashes from the bridge, and a red light came on in the corner of Penny's vision. She turned quickly and dropped down to the cabin of the transport. With a single motion, she yanked out the sword imbedded in the roof, and leapt from her temporary ride. A second later, both plasma blasts struck the metal transport, green flames engulfing everything around Penny as she staggered backwards.
"Warning: Aura Level at sixty-eight percent." Ciel's calm voice informed her, her volume uninhibited by the sounds of destruction.
The plasma dissipated, leaving Penny standing before yet another crater on the increasingly damaged highway. She shook her head, and her swords fell in line behind her. Her eyes flashed bright green, glowing as four targeting reticles appeared in her vision.
A wave of her hand, and her weapons turned to follow her target. There was a beat of calm, then each Dust core within the swords fired off a beam of green energy through the blades. Cheerful 'dings' went off in Penny's head, confirming three successful hits as her blasts struck the Atlas tanks. The last beam had hit the overpass, searing off a large section of concrete.
"The energy blasts are ineffective. The armor is too thick." Ciel reported, the smallest hint of annoyance in her voice. "Penny, I recommended closing the distance, and engaging with physical strikes."
"Roger!" Penny gave a salute, taking off in a sprint back down the road, her swords circling her. There was another flash from above, and Penny ducked just as two more rounds from the tanks passed over her. She felt the plasma lap at her shields, the roar of the highway behind shattering drowning out everything but Ciel's damage reports.
"Up!" She cheered, lifting her leg a little higher for the next step, allowing one of her swords to move under her foot. It shook as she put her weight down on it, balancing entirely on one leg as she stretched out her other foot as far as she could. Another blade fell into position just as gravity was taking hold, and upon her third step, the next sword was already there to lift her up a little higher. Step after step, her face threatening to split from her grin, Penny ran through the air on her swords, Ciel quickly catching on and assisting with lining up the 'steps' correctly.
Halfway to the overpass, the tanks fired again, forcing Penny to jump. Tucking her knees into her chest, the robot girl rolled in the air as the searing heat of weaponized plasma passed under her. By the time she extended her legs back out, Ciel had moved two blades to catch her.
"Penny, this is not a situation that warrants giggling."
"Oh, I'm sorry. I couldn't help it." Penny was still smiling as she fell right back into her run, closing the gap to the tanks in a few more quick steps. Their cannons were already glowing bright from heat, steam pouring out of the exhaust vents on their chassis. Raising her hands, Penny's two free swords found their way into her grip, and as she took one last step, she leapt back into the air. As expected, the turrets followed her movement.
"Trajectory calculated. Try not to miss."
Her carrot-colored hair tickled her face as she spun in mid-air, closing her eyes and allowing Ciel to guide her hands. One full rotation and….
Penny flung the swords from her grasp, each one spinning in unison as they plummeted down and plunged into the charging plasma cannons of the war machines. Penny landed back on her improvised platforms, each buckling somewhat before stabilizing again.
"Warning: Dust Levels at thirty-three percent!"
"I know! Don't worry!" Penny rolled her eyes, and snapped her fingers. Both imbedded blades unleased a charged beam into the center of the hover tanks just as they attempted to launch another volley. Penny hadn't retreated far enough. The shockwave knocked her from her swords, and she spun wildly in the air a few times as she fell, watching as the overpass was blown apart. For a moment, she was mesmerized by the literal explosion of color, before a loud beeping in her head alerted her that she was about to hit the highway below her very, very hard.
"Um, Ciel?"
"I have you, don't worry."
Just as Penny turned to see the concrete practically in her face, one of her swords found her hand, stopping her at the last second. Her metal shoes skidded on the ground as she was pulled back into the air, before 'floating' gently down. As shrapnel from the tanks landed around her, all four swords found their way into a defensive circle around the girl.
"Victory!" She cheered happily, hopping on the spot, only to be interrupted by her handler.
"Penny. Now is not the time to celebrate. More hostile forces are likely on-route to our position. I suggest we make haste to the rendezvous point."
"You're no fun, Ciel." Penny smiled, stretching for a moment before breaking into a run. She wasn't sure what the stretching accomplished, but she always saw the human soldiers doing it.
"I'm not programmed for fun, Penny. And if I may, I'm not sure why they felt the need to give you the capability to indulge in pointless distractions." There was an unusually strong hint of annoyance in Ciel's voice, and it slowed Penny. "You are inefficient in combat because of your need to… show off."
"Father made me this way. He must have had a reason." Penny frowned, as she slowed further to a walk. There was silence for a moment, as she started to follow this new line of thought. She wasn't the only robot with the capability to feel emotions, but she was fairly certain she was the only battle android with such extensive personality programming. That was part of the reason Ciel was with her: to ensure she actually stayed focused on the mission.
"I'm sorry." Ciel interrupted her thoughts, and Penny startled, her swords spinning in alarm. "I shouldn't bring up such unnecessary questions during deployment. Let us proceed-"
"To the rendezvous point! Yes ma'am!" Penny saluted, her smile returning as she returned to her sprint. Hopefully, there was enough time for her cores to recharge before she had to fight again.
It was an odd dance they were doing, but it was the best way to cover all sides. Her fist, gleaming with golden metal, sang beautifully as it smashed through the chest piece of a grey, sword-wielding robot. There was a click, and the machine was flung back as she fired a scattershot into its crumpling body. Her shot was answered from behind, her partner blasting the head off an identical looking Knight unit. While her arms shined with gold, the man fighting at her back's legs were what gave off a silver sheen.
Ironic, really, that the only humans that were managing to fight back against these kill-crazy robots were the ones who had been augmented with robotic body parts.
"Seventy-five!" Yang Xiao Long, blonde-haired Guardian-in-training, yelled to be heard over the din of battle. Her purple eyes shone with determination and excitement, as she fired several more shotgun-like bursts of energy from her metal arms.
"Liar." Mercury Black hissed, clearly jealous that his kill-count was nowhere near hers. His rugged face displayed only mild interest in the situation, even as he delivered a kick to the nearest robot so strong that he shattered the metallic vertebrae holding it together. Though, that wasn't as impressive when you considered the hydraulics in his own mechanical legs.
The two of the stood back-to-back at the main gate to the Beacon Robotics Lab and Guardian Academy. The large, multi-towered building was separated from the now-ruined city of Vale, as it had been constructed on the other side of a large man-made lake and was encircled by a mountain. The only way to reach it was to cross a very long bridge from the mainland, and then through the large security gate and, more importantly to the two fighters, the dome shield. Ever since the outbreak, machines had been assaulting the compound, trying to break through the shield. Even now, hover tanks and Paladin mechs were positioned on the bridge several yards away, their constant bombardment drowning out anything below a loud yell. They were joined by a veritable legion of the brand-new Knight V2 units, which had encircled Beacon and were ceaselessly firing their pulse rounds into the transparent dome. And yet, the seemingly-simple defense was holding. Any units that tried to walk through the shield were met with punches, kicks, and gunfire. So, the machines had regulated that part of their assault to their weaker Knight V1 models… which they seemed to have an infinite amount of.
"Hey, doc…" Yang called into her earpiece as she caught a sword mid-swing and snapped it off the bot's arm. "How much longer until this 'ARKOS' thing is ready?! I'm getting bored here!"
"We're doing our best, Ms. Xiao Long. Please, just hold out a little longer!"
"I just hope it works!" Mercury growled, wincing as one of the Knight's managed to drive its blade into his leg. A quick shot from the built-in energy blaster paid back any simulated pain in full, but Yang still felt the need to help steady him.
"You alright?"
"No. I think I'm bleeding…"
"Good. Maybe this will stop your whining."
"Oh, ha ha."
They swapped sides, Merc delivering several quick kicks to the encroaching grey bots while Yang's scattershots cleared some breathing space. Still, though they were joking around… Yang was starting to get tired. Her arms still used up her body's natural energy, and the constant thunder of noise was beginning to wear her down.
A beam of white light shot past from Beacon's tallest tower, crackling through the air and causing Yang's hair to stand on end. She watched it strike one of the Atlas hover tanks, piercing straight through the assault vehicle, which promptly exploded in a ball of plasma. She smiled, and returned to smashing in the faces of robots.
"Nice shot, sis."
"Fall back!" The order came suddenly, and both Yang and Mercury were confused.
"Doc?!"
"The ARKOS system has been compromised! You need to-"
There was a wave. A visible ripple of black energy, radiating out from Beacon Tower. As soon as it hit them, pain racked Yang's body, and she was thrown to the ground. Metal screeched as the same happened to all the machines, and the gate was practically flattened. Mercury writhed next to her, trying to stand, before a second pulse washed over them, even stronger than the first.
Yang remained conscious long enough to see the dome shield shut down, before she fell still on the ground.