One Year Ago
"Aww man this is gonna be freaking AWESOME!" Ruby yelled as the four entered their dorm. An equally excited Yang followed her in and jumped (flopped) onto Blake's bed.
"Yeah! Flight school. I can't wait." she said punching the air above her.
"As much as I enjoy your enthusiasm," Weiss stated sarcastically, "This… changes basically everything."
"Oh relax Ice Queen, we'll still be Huntresses, It's just, we're gonna be pilots too." Yang said from the bed.
"Well, two of us will be pilots, the others will be RWCOs." Blake said, coming into the room. She glared at Yang as she saw the blonde on her bed.
"RW who-da-what?" the brawler asked, confused.
"Remote Weapons Control Officer," Ruby piped up "Basically, they control any turrets on the aircraft, along with helping the pilot target missiles and bombs and stuff."
"Well, who is going to do what?" Weiss asked.
"I think they are going to assign us after some testing." Blake spoke up.
6 Months Ago
"The test results have come in, RWBY squadron, Ruby Rose: Pilot, Squadron lead, Yang Xiao-Long: Pilot, Wingman, Blake Belladonna: Weapons Officer, Lead aircraft, Weiss Schnee: Weapons Officer, Trailing aircraft."
"Yes! Pilot!" Ruby yelled, jumping up and down.
"Now we just need to start training." Blake said with a small smile.
Present Day
Ruby walked slowly toward the sleek fighter aircraft. It was a far cry from the modified Bullhead transports that they had flown up until this point. She, along with Blake, had put hours of work into the fighter, from painting it, to making tiny adjustments to the control surfaces. Blake had even replaced the 4 10 millimeter turret guns with 14.5 millimeter kinetic dust cannons. The two had come together and given the ship a fitting name, Black Rose. But today… today was the first time they would be able to fly without an instructor.
Ruby paused as she stepped up to the cockpit. She turned to Blake, who nodded. The two climbed up into the fighter, settling into their respective seats. Both started to flip switches and press buttons, slowly bringing the ship online. The voice of the ship's AI filled the cockpit.
"Auxiliary Power online, Heads Up Display online, engaging turbines." The sound of the turbines spinning filled the air. "Turbines online, Re-routing power to VTOL thrusters." A puff of flames burst out from the VTOL thrusters on the tips of the wings and the horizontal stabilizers. Ruby checked the control panels and displays, making sure that all of the systems were online and ready.
"You ready back there Blake?" She asked, pulling a helmet on to her head.
"All set." Her voice came over the helmet's intercom.
"Alright," Ruby said. She keyed the radio to the ATC tower, "Tower, this is RWBY One-One requesting takeoff clearance from pad Alpha-Seven, Over."
"Copy that RWBY One-One, you are cleared for takeoff from pad Alpha-Seven. Proceed into clockwise traffic pattern before breaking on bearing Two-Seven-Zero at angels three, how copy?"
"RWBY One-One copies all, clockwise traffic pattern, break bearing Two-Seven-Zero angels three, out." Ruby pushed the throttle forward, and the craft lifted slowly into the air. The underwing engines kicked in, and the fighter accelerated away from the landing pad. They circled the base once, before breaking on the indicated bearing and climbing to three thousand feet. It wasn't long before the radio crackled again.
"RWBY One-One, tower. What's your status, over." Ruby calmly looked at her Heads Up Display before keying the radio.
"Tower, RWBY One-One. Proceeding to point X-Ray, speed: Four-Zero-Zero Knots, at Angels Three, ETA: Three Mikes, over.
"Copy that, One-One. Proceed to point X-Ray, then turn to bearing Zero-Niner-Zero, at Angels Five. How copy?"
"Solid copy tower, turn Zero-Niner-Zero, Angels five at point X-Ray, Out." With that, Ruby looked over her shoulder at Blake and nodded. The raven haired girl smiled, nodding back. Suddenly, the silence was interrupted by the crackle of the radio and a panicked voice.
"RWBY One-One, you need to get out of there now, we have two fighters closing on your position at bearing One-One-Five, Angels Four! Fighters have been scrambled and are enroute to your position, but you need to RTB now, how copy?!"
"RWBY copies all, we are RTB at full burn," Ruby said, her voice raising. "Blake, boot up the RWR and scan for targets. Go boresight on the radar guides." The young pilot commanded, turning the aircraft around. Blake did as ordered and prepared for a fight.
"Radar Warning Receiver online, radar guided missiles locked on boresight." Blake called to Ruby, mentally checking off the list as she flipped switches. "Contact, eleven o'clock high, 5 miles out, closing fast." she yelled as she caught sight of an aircraft. "They're locking us… missile inbound." Ruby cursed, mashing the countermeasure button and flares fired from the tail of the fighter. The craft rolled and dove under the missile, responding elegantly to the movements Ruby put on the stick and rudder pedals. They rolled back upright and nosed toward the second enemy fighter. A beeping tone filled the cockpit, telling Ruby that a missile had locked onto its target.
"Rifle 1!" She yelled as she squeezed the release trigger. A long, thin missile jumped off of the underwing rail, and sped toward the target, leaving a white vapor trail behind it. The targeted fighter dumped chaff and broke away from the missile, causing it to miss. Both pilots closed in, daring each other to flinch. The closing enemy fighter did first, pulling up over Black Rose. As they passed, time seemed to slow as both Blake and Ruby looked upon their adversary. The fighter was bulky, yet quick, showing less care for looks than performance. The massive craft was armed to the teeth with 2 cannons and 8 missile rails, each with a shiny missile hanging beneath it. It was a fighter to be feared, and held a name that reflected the fact; Ursa Majora. The Ursa class fighters were forces to be feared stock, but this heavily customized fighter seemed to be upgraded for speed and maneuverability. However, Black Rose was of the Huntsman class of fighters, designed specifically to destroy Grimm type craft. The ship was pure black, much like it's namesake. Emblazoned on the tail, in stark contrast to the black paint, stood the symbol of the White Fang.
"Damn, its the White Fang," Ruby yelled as the Ursa passed, "We need to get out of here." Blake nodded as she fired the turret guns. The roar of gunfire and the clatter of casings filled the air as the fighter sped away from the fight. Soon, four black dots stood out on the horizon.
"Blake, twelve o'clock, identify!" Ruby commanded
"Positive IFF tone back. They're friendly!" Blake responded.
"Thank dust." the young girl sighed. The dots grew closer and soon the fighters streaked past Black Rose to intercept the White Fang fighters. Ruby kept the throttle to the firewall, bursting past the sound barrier and accelerating to mach 2. Occasionally, the radio would crackle as the fighters called for help, or reported hits on the enemy. Soon, a radio call reported both Ursa fighters destroyed.
The rest of the flight was uneventful. It took four minutes to arrive over the base, and two to land. As the craft settled onto its landing gear, Yang and Weiss ran toward them from the cover of the building. Ruby expertly shut the aircraft down, flipping switches to their home positions, before pushing the canopy forward and climbing out. Blake followed her lead, stepping over the side of the cockpit, and jumping to the ground below. The raven haired girl landed expertly, crouching to the ground to mitigate the force of the fall. Ruby however, landed awkwardly, falling to one side, only to be steadied by Blake.
"Are you guys okay?" Yang asked when she reached the pair. She looked over her sister, trying to see if anything was wrong with the girl.
"Yeah, we're fine." Ruby said excitedly, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "They attacked us and, we dodged, and I went toward one, and I shot a missile, but it missed, so we closed, and he broke first, and when we passed, we saw it was the White Fang, and then Blake shot at him, and then we flew away at afterburner, and then some reinforcements showed up, and they fought them, and won, and it was really, really, really cool!"
"She seems excited." Weiss said, leaning in toward Blake. "Well, more excited than usual." she amended.
"That's just adrenaline. She's gonna crash in a few minutes." The faunus responded.
"Five minutes." Weiss wagered. Blake shrugged at that.
"Three." Sure enough, exactly three minutes later, Ruby leaned on her sister for support as they watched the ground crew refit Black Rose. Blake looked pointedly at Weiss, who rolled her eyes and passed her 5 lien.
"Well, with that, we should probably get to Ozpin for a debrief." Blake spoke up.
"Yeah, probably." Ruby said tiredly. The four turned and entered the building. As they walked down the hallway, Ruby continued to lean on Yang, her eyes closed, relying on the blonde to guide her. Soon they reached their dorm, and the group stopped.
"We'll be here when you get back, we still have a few hours before our flight, if we still can." Weiss said , breaking the silence.
"Alright," Blake said, grabbing Ruby by the shoulders, "We need to go Ruby, Ozpin is waiting."
"Okay." She responded. The two continued down the hall, Ruby leaning on Blake, toward Ozpin's office. Soon they reached a door at the end of the hallway. It seemed insignificant, painted the same color as the rest, but on the door, stenciled in black, was the name of its occupant.
Ozpin
Headmaster
Director of Combat Flight Operations
Bracing herself, Blake pushed open the door and strode into the room, bringing Ruby with her.
Two hours later, the two headed back down the hallway toward their dorm, Blake practically carrying an exhausted Ruby.
"You know, this is why I told you to get some sleep last night." Blake told her, pushing her way into the dorm room.
"Yeah, but it was so exciting. Come on, our first solo. You can't say you weren't excited too." Ruby responded sleepily.
"I was excited, but I had the common sense to get some rest so I wasn't tired." Blake shot back.
"Eh, too late." Ruby replied, attempting to walk toward her bunk. She took a step, wobbled, and started to fall back toward Blake.
"Woah Ruby, watch out!" the raven haired girl said, attempting to brace the younger pilot. As Ruby fell, she reached out, searching for support, and wrapped her arms around Blake. The force behind her fall surprised the faunus, who collapsed along with her. As they hit the ground, their heads smacked together. Blinding pain filled Blake's head, and she succumbed to the black that rose to cover her vision.