disclaimer I do not own RvB in any way, all credit goes to Roosterteeth.


The steady humming of the ship, that's what Sixteen always woke up to. Whether it be the hum of electricity or the hum of the energy going to the engines, something was always humming. Today wasn't a normal training and exercise day. No, today was the beginning of the Naming Day. Ever since they were created, Sixteen and twenty-nine other operatives were only numbers to their creators, trainers, and superiors. The numbers dwindled down to twenty after bodies gave out under the intense stress they were forced to endure. Even if you survived the training that didn't mean you would survive the tests to make your name. This fact, however, didn't phase Sixteen. She wasn't stupid enough to let her excitement and hopes make her careless. She did let herself know, though, that she was going to survive the tests. Her creators saw to that.

In Sixteen's early life was pretty much like the other operatives lives. They were created in test-tubes by scientists playing god and experimenting DNA enhancements. Not enhancements like the famous Master Chief she had read about, but enhancements coming from animal DNA. The scientists had mixer sections of her human DNA with that of a wolf and tiger and against all odds she had survived. She wasn't the first DNA mixed success, but she was the first double DNA success. Others before her only having a single DNA success, where they were only mixed with one animal's DNA. The scientists tried to make more double DNA mixes, but none of them turned out normal and died within a couple of days. They soon gave up and just continued mixing only one animal's DNA with a human's. Twenty, including her, were made. The twenty consisting of fourteen males and six females.

Sixteen's enhancements didn't affect her physical appearance very much. The only things that physically changed was her eye color and hair color, but her senses were greatly stimulated. She could smell and hear things at the same ratio a wolf could. Her voice was also affected, so she could make a wide variety of different tones of voice. Her tiger DNA made her physically stronger, but not much else. She had all this while maintaining the ability to see in color and having a human body.

Getting down from her bunk, Sixteen padded over to her bunk-make ,Twelve, who was brushing her short hair.

Both women were similar in physical stature. Both being 5'6 and sharing the bond of wolf DNA. Their eyes, both the amber eyes of a wolf, didn't miss many details and their stares being more than stunning. The only physical difference between then was their hair color. Sixteen's was black and a little long, a striking contrast to Twelve's sort blond hair.

"Big day today." Twelve stated, handing the brush to Sixteen. Sixteen grunted in agreement, accepting the plush and pushing it smoothly through her hair. "Thought much about your name?"

"Probably more than necessary." Sixteen answered.

"Hmm, thought so. You're too creative to copy your name from a book or a movie."

"Others are doing that?"

"Yeah, I heard Six,One,Thirteen, and Nineteen talking about it. Sixteen grunted in response. Both women pull on their Academy armor and walked out of the dorm.
Breakfast was not served on this day, so Sixteen and Twelve instinctively headed to the training room floor. Once there, all Subjects formed a uniform line, in order of subject number.

"All right maggots! You all know that over the course of these three days are the days where you do or die! If you do, you get yourselves a name. If you die, you get carted out of here in a body bag. Do I make myself clear?!"

"Sir, yes,Sir! Twenty voices yelled in unison.

"Alright then, let's get to the Board."

The Drill Sargent turned around and a big monitor came down. Subject numbers came up in order.

"This is the Rank Board! The Subjects with the highest score will be on top and all low ranking Subjects will be on the bottom, The Subjects with the highest ranks will be given the honor of being given their assignment first. And you all know what the mission is?!"

"Death to all Freelancers, Sir!" Twenty voices yelled at once.

"Very good. Now then, let's go to the first test."

A table flipped up in the middle of the training room floor.

"GO!"

All twenty operatives sprinted over to the table, some slower than others because of their late reaction time. Sixteen was the third to get there and twelve was the sixth.

On the table, there were weapons. No guns, strictly hand-held blades and similar weapons. Not even scanning the rest of the table, Sixteen instantly grabbed for a pair of collapsible hand axes. Another pair of hands landed nest to hers on the axes, but Sixteen didn't flinch. She simply gave a swift left hook to the unfortunate owner of the hands. Her fist made contact with a visor and the hands let go. Strapping each of the axes to her thigh, Sixteen casually walked back to her position. Sixteen looked to her right and saw Twelve, who was carrying a knife. The knife had a six-inch blade that was smooth on one side and serrated on the other. Others had similar weapons.
Nineteen, a twenty-seven year old male who was 5'9 with ginger hair, had a long sword strapped to his hip. Thirteen and Fourteen, female twins who were twenty-two both having brown hair under their helmets, each had an identical short sword. They most likely were part of a pair. Even the youngest member of Project Alpha-Pack Twenty, who was a twenty years old male who had light brown hair, was armed with a kukri machete.

"All right, you have completed the first part of the first test- 'Get a Weapon' Now is the second part. The second part is to see if you know how to wield the weapon you are holding!" The Drill Sargent yelled. He led them to another room where pig carcasses hung from the ceiling, equal spaces apart.

The Drill Sargent gestured to the pigs, and a medical crew standing over on the sidelines. "These pigs are going to show us if you know how to use the weapon you have. Not only are we looking for damage, we are looking for form and technique. One, you're up first."

One pulled a mace from his hip. Stepping toward the carcass, One hefted the mace in one hand and started bombarding the pig with hefty blows. When the Drill Sargent blew his whistle after two minutes, the pig was shredded and holes gapped where ribs had collapsed on impact.

This was nothing new to Sixteen, they had all trained with guns before, this part of the test was basically stating what if you don;t have your gun and you only have your mêlée weapon. The weapons most of them had chosen was their favorite weapon. Not only were they favorites, the weapon in the right persons hand could be wielded with devastating results.

Numbers went by and the hacking of the carcass got less and less interesting. Twelve, however, did a phenomenal job with her knife. When the Drill Sargent had blown his whistle for the time, the pig was all but shredded, she had given her pig what for. Thirteen and Fourteen hacked at their pigs, sending large chunks flying. While their pigs didn't look as impressive as Twelves, they were still a force to be recognized. Fifteen also did a number on his pig using only an energy whip.

It was finally Sixteen's turn. She gave a sigh of relieved boredom. Instead of walking up to the pig, Sixteen immediately pressed the release button and the axes snapped open with a 'sssssnap'. She threw one at the pig and the head buried itself deep within the pigs breast. Sixteen sprinted toward her target and chopped off a foreleg and hind leg in two easy motions before ripping out the axe that was still imbedded in the pigs chest. She dual wielded the axes with frightening results. The pig was almost just a heap of shredded meat and bones on the floor. The pig was in shreds before the Drill Sargent could blow his whistle for time. After her turn the numbers quickened their pace, but the skill shown decreased. Sixteen noticed that Seventeen, Eighteen, and Twenty didn't have a clue how to hold their weapons. They ended up just trying to hit the pig. ,much less cut it. Sixteen scoffed at the lack of skill, it isn't that hard to swing a machete, but apparently it was difficult for Twenty. The only one out of those four that had shown skill was Nineteen, wielding his long sword with practiced ease.

Once all the Subjects finished the test, examiners and medics looked at each of the pig bodies. Noting how lot looked, sticking their fingers into lacerations , or examining bones that had snapped or been crushed. Some pigs made them nod their heads in approval, others made them shake their heads in disappointment. The results were soon in, however, and the ranks were determined then and there.

The list went from top to bottom rank
Nineteen
Ten
Sixteen
Fourteen
Twelve
Thirteen
Fifteen
Seven
Three
Eight
Five
One
Four
Eleven
Six
Nine
Two
Eighteen
Twenty
Seventeen

There were some hisses of disappointment, but those at the top didn't cheer. Sixteen and the others knew that if you were at the top then you were a target for a knife in your back. Others would do that, if they were desperate to get to the top.

"Alright, now that you all know your ranks and you have your weapons, you are all dismissed."

Everyone snapped a quick salute and left the training room. Sixteen and Twelve walked side-by-side to their dorm.

"What do you think the rest of the tests are going to be?" Twelve asked.

"Not sure, there's a lot they can test us on. There is a good chance, though, that they will make us fight each other. I just don't know." Sixteen answered.

They walked in silence the rest of the way. Once they got to their dorm, they both took off their academy armor (they have under clothes on) and flopped down onto Twelve's bunk.

"You know what this reminds me of?" Twelve said breaking the silence.

"Hmm?"

A book...what was it called... oh, The Hunger Games."

Sixteen sat up, "How so?"

"Well, we have to show off what we know then, like you said, we have to fight each other."

I said 'there is a good chance' not we will."

"Still."

Sixteen lay back down and pondered what Twelve had said. She was right...in certain ways. This was probably why the Command never let the operatives have books in the first place. The operatives almost never got books, other than the ones that had been smuggled in my teachers in their early years. Sixteen and most of the other operatives had probably only read about four books and seen only two movies. It was also very rare that the movies and books were fantasy. Twelve was fortunate to have gotten a book like The Hunger Games. Sixteen was fortunate to have Twelve as a roommate. They often shared books with each other. When they both finished a book they would trade. This was resourceful as it was dangerous. If they were caught with an unauthorized book they would be punished. Normally with a brutal amount of push-ups and pull-ups and sit-ups. This punishment would be intensified, however, if the book were to be a work of fiction. Reading books, though, was a favored past time of bot Twelve and Sixteen.

"I'm going to hit the sack until lunch or training, whichever one they decide to do first. Can you wake me when they decide?" Sixteen asked.

"Sure. I'm going to read." Twelve replied lifting up her mattress to reveal a square cut that held all their precious books.

"What is it tonight?"

"Oh, I don't know... I'm thinking The Sight by David Clement-Davies.

"Okay, be careful." Sixteen said, jumping up to the top bunk, bypassing the ladder completely.

"Will do."

Sixteen didn't bother to pull a blanket over herself, she just curled up and nodded off.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Something was blaring...what was it? Suddenly she was being shaken.

"Sixteen, Sixteen, wake up!"

Sixteen jolted awake and rubbed her eyes to see Twelve dressed out in her armor and the emergency sirens blaring. Not waiting for an explanation, Sixteen jumped down and quickly out on her armor and grabbed her weapons and ran out the door with Twelve at her side.


Hope you guys like it, this is my first RvB fanfiction and my first third person POV.