"Penny... please." Ruby said as she faded into unconsciousness, due to her aura being completely depleted as well as the damage her body sustained being too much for the young huntress.
Everything about this hurt Penny. She didn't want to do this, she regretted being a part of this. She couldn't believe everything that lead up to this. She knew that when she was made, she was made to be combat ready. But she was never meant to be used as a weapon... As the Vytal Festival went on, a woman after the power of the Fall Maiden, was secretly pulling the strings from behind the scenes. The seeds of her plan was actually planted well in advance and the marionette, Cinder Fall, was enjoying the sight of all who would oppose her being dealt with. The four girls, known as "Team RWBY," who momentarily derailed her plans were now all captured and detained. And Ozpin's inner circle (along with Winter Schnee) were already dealt with, thanks to her mole: James Ironwood. Had she not thought the girls could all prove to be useful, Cinder would have had each member of Team RWBY -with the exception of the fanus- killed.
With her target: her friend... incapacitated, Penny had to do one last thing before her mission can be completed: bring Ruby to Cinder. Penny's very minimal interactions with Cinder taught her something very important. Not only can she like humans, like Ruby, but she can also hate them. Penny and Cinder both knew that without her Crescent Rose: Ruby was helpless. Which is why Penny felt disgusted that Cinder would make her attack Ruby at such a disadvantaged state, after she had already narrowly evaded capture from Mercury. Even when she warned Ruby that she wasn't in control of her body, the red hooded girl refused to even try and fight back against her robotic friend. Having no choice, Penny quietly lifted the limp Ruby and placed her friend over her shoulder. The humane robot knew that Cinder had some, most likely, malicious things in store for the poor girl. Penny hated that she couldn't resist Cinder's control overriding commands. She hated that she was, quite literally, giving away her friend to someone as vile and deceptive as the woman who's been secretly instructing Ironwood. The same Ironwood that gave Cinder's commands priority over even her own. Because of this she has to do whatever Cinder says, there's no way around that for her. But Penny did have, very minimal, control over how she followed said orders. Because of this, Penny was able to subdue Ruby without using a single one of her blades. And now she was making the trip to Cinder's base be as slow as she possibly could. During this time, with Ruby on her shoulder, Penny was forced to take in many things she'd rather have gone unseen. The streets of Vale were crawling with White Fang and Atlesian Knight-200s corralling citizens into the back of several trucks and bullheads, the buildings all looked as if they were being ransacked, and there were many bodies on the ground, though Penny's optical scanners found their status as alive or deceased to be... inconclusive. Her scanners also noticed that a charcoal like material was present in Vale's atmosphere, though it was on no level harmful to any living organisms. This change in atmosphere did however make Vale look dreary and have an obnoxious smelling odor. Her next sight, which was also her destination, didn't need any scanners to tell her what was wrong. She was horrified by the sight of what was once called Beacon Academy. The school was now serving as a base made to destroy the very peace in the world that it was meant to help defend, with it's once green beacon now a villainous shade of red. Other than the altered beacon the school looked the same, saved for the lack of lively students running around and crowding the campus. The only ones who were outside the school now were more White Fang and the ever treacherous Emerald, who had a rude looking grin on her face.
"How goes the mission?" Emerald sarcastically asked.
"Nearing completion." Penny agitatedly replied, harboring ill thoughts towards her.
"The brat dead?" Emerald asked, now peering at Penny with an overly confident smile.
"No, I rendered her unconscious." Penny despondently said.
After the robot girl gave her an answer, Emerald decided to give Ruby a brief... examination. Emerald lifted the red hooded girl's head and felt the side of her neck to see if Ruby was still breathing. She already knew that the robot wouldn't have killed her dear friend, but she also knew that she outranked her. So Emerald was deliberately stalling the automaton just to remind it that it's her understudy. The part Emerald enjoyed most of this situation was that not only was she frustrating Penny, she also got to see a lack of the usual peppy/upbeat smile Ruby'd always seemed to have on her face. She did want to stall them further but knew that if she did, Cinder might get angry. With that thought in mind, Emerald retracted her hand and signaled for Penny to move on. Penny slowly walked down once student filled hallways, seeing a few familiar faces -namely Roman Torchwick- as she did so. But not long after was Penny inside the very area that was once being used in a desperate attempt to protect the former Fall Maiden, brought down by the elevator. The entire area below the school now served as Cinder's throne room, where she'd give orders and pass judgment. Though most of her figure was covered by shadows, Penny could see the glow emitting from Cinder's scroll. The same scroll that now acted like a remote for Penny, as well as allowed Cinder to watch what she's doing through Penny's robotic eyes.
"I've brought her as ordered." Penny gloomily said, raising her voice so as to be heard by the False Maiden.
"Excellent." Cinder softly said aloud.
Author's Notes
I started/finished writing this on the 13th, before watching (I think) episode 8. So if anything in episode 8 or 9 contradicts anything in my story, I don't really care and neither should you. I do genuinely think Ironwood's a mole though. I mean the moment he plugged his scroll into Ozpin's desk/computer, Cinder was in full control of the "random" tournament brackets and uncovered the files on Penny that only a member of the Atlesian Military would likely have. And as a coup de grâce, in season/volume 2 Roman had that huge mech suit that Ironwood went on to reveal it to the public. Plus he's constantly been undermining Ozpin's thoughts and procedures, what's a better way to out play Atlas, Vale, and Ozpin than by having someone with power that's supposedly on their side helping to bring them down?