AN: So I am conducting a little bit of an experiment. This is the first of three one-shots I am releasing together with a different plot to see which one gets the most interest. Whichever one receives the most views and favorites after an undetermined amount of time (basically whenever I decide I am bored of life to write something new) will be the main focus of my next big story. For those of you who came her from my other stories, 14 Hunters will still be updated regularly (whenever I finally get the chapter finished and published) and will most likely be mostly finished before I start on the next one.
This is number one of three one-shots that I have had going through my head and finally put down and on this site. The other two are named Cinders on the Meadow and Color of Life. Each will have a completely independent plot, although I may have recurring characters between the three that are of my own creation. So if you would please check out the other two as well, I would love to hear/see which one intrigues people most.
TALLY HO!
Blood on the Freeway
"Well this sucks!" Yang shouted over her headset to her fellow operatives. She hunched over her bike with a silver briefcase strapped to her back. Behind her was a black technical with her partners firing upon their pursuers. Ruby sat in the passenger seat with her rifle resting on the bar behind her head firing at the trailing vehicles. Yatsuhashi stood in the bed of the vehicle with the machine gun spewing bullets into the pack, causing most of them to crash into one another or flip over the barriers of the freeway.
A few minutes before
The mission had been simple enough to understand. Yang would follow a white car onto the freeway and alert her sister and partners as to when it was getting close to their position. Ruby, Yatsuhashi, and Coco were positioned on an overpass that was still under construction with their technical nearby. Ruby, lay prone with her beloved weapon scanning back and forth across the freeway below, looking for the target.
"Coming up on the rendezvous, sis. Take out the driver and I will grab the briefcase." Yang held her hand to the side of her helmet as she noticed the overpass in the distance. "Center lane, about 15 seconds out." Yang merged into the lane to her left and put a few yards of distance between the target and herself.
"Alright girls, remember what Ozpin said. Single shot to the driver, no other civilian casualties from this car. Yang you grab the briefcase but leave the others. It's bad enough we have to kill the driver." Coco spoke into her headset, approaching the technical and climbing in, Yatsuhashi strapping his boots to the rotating machine gun mount. "On your mark Ruby."
"Three…two…one…" Ruby held her breath as she squeezed the trigger of her sniper. The entire gun jumped sharply back into her shoulder as the hypervelocity shot blew through the windshield of the car and through the chauffeur's head. "All right sis. All you." Collapsing her weapon, she ran to the waiting technical, the Puma, and jumped into the passenger seat as Coco jumped off the overpass into the traffic below.
Yang braked as hard as she could, watching the car spin out of control and slam into the barrier separating the traffic lanes from the oncoming traffic. Jumping off her bike, Yang ran to the rear door and yanked the crumpled door from the car. Inside she found the silver briefcase between two women, one unconscious and the other holding her head but recovering quickly. Grabbing the briefcase, she felt a hand grasp her arm. Looking up, she saw the younger woman looking fixedly into her eyes as she held tight to her wrist.
"Don't do it. You can't. Not with these. Please stop." The young girl had pure white hair hair and icy blue eyes. She looked genuinely scared as she tried to figure out the identity of her mysterious assailant, but she could only see a decorated helmet, reflective visor, and a few strands of golden yellow hair.
"Sorry princess. But I am just following orders. If you have a problem, take it up with my boss." Yang wrenched her arm free of the young sister's grip and retreats to her bike. Sirens echoed in the distance as emergency services and military alike raced through traffic to the crash scene. Yang strapped the case to her back and revved her bike as she sped away from the crash. "Why the hell didn't Ozpin tell us that we were attacking the Schnees?!" Yang fumed as she began weaving through the traffic to catch up with the protection. Coco glanced over her shoulder at Yatsuhashi who shared her look of concern.
"Yatsuhashi and I were told that the Schnees wouldn't be in the car." Coco faced the road again and slowed slightly to match speed with the rest of the traffic. Ruby looked uncomfortable with the recent revelations and shifted in her seat. "This means there are going to be even more backlash than we were expecting. Ruby, get your sweetheart ready, Yatsu spin the barrel and watch our six. Yang, hurry your ass up we need to get to the evac."
"On your six." Yang pulled up right behind the Puma and glanced over her shoulder to find the nearing sirens. "Coming up on the right." Yang pulled up along the right and held a free hand out to her sister who squeezed her hand in return. "Take care of yourself. If this gets hairy, just get to me."
"Coming up fast. Handful of Pumas, got a couple Krakens as well." Yatsu's deep calming voice spoke over the commlinks. Spinning the barrel of his machine gun, he began firing upon the leading technicals approaching quickly. Yang shifted her bike into a higher gear and sped ahead of the others. Coco put her foot flat on the vehicle floor and shifted lanes trying to put additional traffic between them and the pursuers.
"Puma calling Nevermore. Come in Nevermore." Coco shouted over the sound of the gunfire erupting around her. "Nevermore do you read me? Need immediate evac." Swerving in front of another line of cars, bullets trailed their path, striking the freeway and glancing off the driver's side. "These fuckers just scratched the paint. Yatsu, give em hell!"
"Calm down sweetheart." The sweet seductive voice of Cinder came over the comms, answering their distress call. "We are headed your way now. Mind giving me the juicy details? What happened?" Cinder's calm voice did nothing to calm the nerves of anyone on the freeway.
"We can tell you the story when you get here. Headed toward the evac point, will most likely run into more opposition." Coco grabbed the pistol holstered under the dash and leaned out the side of the vehicle to fire at the tail.
"Coco, we've got a new problem!" Yang's voice echoed in the ears of the team. "Slowing up to let you guys catch up because we have Hawks in the air." Yang had her left arm pointed to the sky shooting rounds from her Ember Celica at the advancing airships. "Nevermore! Watch for air traffic coming your way."
"Don't worry honey. I've got talons of my own." Cinder smiled darkly as she pushed her custom Bullhead along the freeway toward the distant rolling battle. Turning in her seat, she called back down the ship to the cargo bay, "Alright boys, roll up the sleeves and grab the guns." Three Huntsmen began connecting the belts of ammunition to the mounted guns.
Back on the road, Coco looked up to see the various VTOLs advancing with front mounted guns spinning up. "Ruby! Take out the pilots!" Ruby spun in her seat and braced her sniper against the post above the windshield. Fitting the scope to her eye, she focused her crosshairs on one of the pilots and fired. With a sharp crack the round shattered the aircraft's window and the pilot's body slumped forward on the controls causing the craft to enter a steep dive for the freeway. "Yang left! Avoid the impact." Coco yelled as she swerved right around the craft as it crashed into the road creating a large explosion. "Ruby take out the other two, Yatsu keep them off us."
"Easier said then done Coco. We've got more Hawks back here too." Yatsu focused his gun on one of the approaching strike ships and began firing. The Dust-infused rounds ripped through the armor of the aircraft and killed the pilots and mounted gunners. As the craft plummeted, two Atlas soldiers jumped from the ship and took to the air, one by means of a jetpack and the other with his Faunus wings. Other soldiers jumped from ships as well and flew toward the technical and bike. "Yang we've got some soldiers coming up fast, I can't take them all down. Might want to toss the briefcase over."
"Cinder you better hurry up! All forward Hawks are down but we are getting even more from the city." Yang pulled along next to Coco and held the briefcase out to Yatsu. Yatsu grabbed the case and secured it to the bed of the vehicle with straps. "Come on Yatsu!" Yang jumped from her bike and onto the bed of a nearby cargo truck as several soldiers landed with her and prepared weapons. "Bring it bitches!"
Yatsu fired at the ditched bike skipping along the ground hitting the Dust chamber and creating a large explosion engulfing several nearby technicals. Wrenching himself free of his straps and grabbing his sword from his back, he leapt to the truck to help Yang. Standing back to back with the brawler, he held his sword in front of him as Yang cocked her weapons. A sniper rifle report sounded behind Yatsu and he stumbled forward as the round bounced off his shoulder, deflected by his Aura. Screaming is rage, Yang threw three quick jabs into the nearest soldier's chest piece, denting his armor before delivering a massive right hook to the jaw that shattered his helmet and knocked him unconscious and off the truck. Yatsu regained his stability and swung his sword down in front of him leaving a deep gash in the chest of the nearest soldier and causing her to scream in pain.
"Ruby! Take out the flight crews!" Coco shouted as she glanced over her shoulder and saw a dozen more airborne soldiers closing distance. Ruby nodded and stood up in her seat fully extending Crescent Rose and hooking the blade on the machine gun mount for stability. Hands flying along the rifle, she twisted her gun side to side and worked the bolt as fast as she could while putting rounds in the soldiers, taking down half of the swarm quickly. "Atta girl! I'll help Yatsu and Yang!" Pulling the pistol back out, she used her left arm to brace her shots as she began firing at the Atlas soldiers on the truck bed.
"Alright kids, I'm coming up on you guys right now." Cinder's sweet voice came as a relief as the team glanced up to see the Bullhead spinning overhead to head in the proper direction. Doors opened on either side and a ramp extended from the back as a rear door slid open. Emerging from the dark interior came three gun mounts, one from the rear and one on each side. The telltale whir of the barrels spinning up sounded over the freeway as a Dust infused wall of rounds ripped through the Hawks and various technicals on the freeway. "Coming up on a tunnel and the doors are closing so you have to get in fast." Cinder called as she brought the bullhead closer to the road.
"FUCK OFF!" Yang screamed as she noticed the soldier who carried the sniper rifle that had shot Yatsu land on the truck in front of her, only to meet an erupting volcano with blood red eyes. "FUCKING ATLAS ASSHOLES!" Yang grabbed SMG the soldier pulled from his back and ripped it from his hands. Throwing her armored fist, she backhanded the soldier, throwing his balance off and almost knocking him from the truck. "I'll take this thank you." Yang ripped the jetpack from his back and threw it to the side off the truck and out of reach. Reaching in front of her, she clenched her fist in the cloth of his shoulder and brought the gun to bear. Squeezing the trigger, she unloaded the entire clip into the unarmored chest of the sniper killing him outright. Throwing the gun to the ground, she used her other hand to hoist the corpse up before throwing him from the truck to be brutally run over by his comrades vehicles.
"Let's go sweethearts. Time's wasting and I will have to leave you behind if you aren't on." Cinder spoke calmly but had a slight edge of anxiousness to it. "Teddy bear, jump back to the technical and get Goldilocks on the way." Yatsu nodded and wrapped his massive arms around Yang's stomach and jumped back to the technical. "Alright now make sure the package is safe and roll on in." The rear gun mount shifted to the right making an opening for the technical to pull in.
Yang regained her composure and unhooked the straps that held the briefcase to the truck bed, but before she managed to secure it to her back, a rocket exploded in front of the technical rocking the entire vehicle and causing her grip to loosen. Before the technical managed to drive up the waiting ramp, another explosion knocked the briefcase from Yang's grasp and onto the freeway ahead.
"The case! I lost it!" Yang screamed at the rest of her team, anger clearly present in her voice.
"No time! Get int now!" Cinder's quiet suddenly furious voice entered their ears and Coco began driving up the ramp. "Yang when we get back, you get to explain to Ozpin why we don't have the package. Now hold on, we are getting some air underneath us and getting away from this place."
"I'm going back! Meet me at the other side of the tunnel." Ruby called over the comms as she vanished in a cloud of rose petals. Sprinting down the ramp, she saw the case sliding along the ground a hundred yards away. Ignoring the screams from her teammates, she unhooked and extended her scythe and fired behind her creating a burst of speed to take her to the briefcase. Seeing it come to a stop under a wrecked technical, she used her scythe to scoop it from under the burning wreckage into her arms. Securing it to her back, she turned and sprinted toward the tunnel.
"Fuck Ruby! Goddamn overexcitedness is going to get you killed." Cinder swore over the comms as she pulled up and over the freeway tunnel. "You better hurry to the other side of the tunnel kid, otherwise we are out of here, package or not. You have two minutes." Leveling out, Cinder followed the line of the freeway as it cut through the mountain below.
"You're on board with this?!" Yang stomped into the cockpit and screamed at Cinder. "We need to make sure everyone gets back." A sudden lurch caused the entire Bullhead to come to a stop, hovering over the tunnels exit, and Yang on the floor of the cockpit at the feet of a furious Cinder.
"Don't let your emotions cloud your judgement. We wouldn't be in this predicament if you hadn't lost the fucking package in the first place." Cinder's eyes burned with a hot flame as she grabbed Yang's hair pulling her face up to hers. "You had better shut the fuck up before I leave you here to find her and make your own way back to Beacon." Cinder's rage was evident in her voice even though her voice didn't raise above her normal volume. Yang's red eyes changed quickly back to lilac as she tried to pull away from the dangerous woman in front of her. Cinder released Yang and returned to her seat before spinning the Bullhead and opening the appropriate door. One of her gunman, Fiore, primed his gun back down the tunnel, waiting for the young girl to appear.
Ruby, sprinted along the dark tunnel empty of any traffic. The tunnel cut through the extended arms of the massive mountain Atlas's capital, Rand, was built on. Aside from the mountain providing a natural barrier on one side to any threat, it was also rich in minerals that Atlas used in commerce and production. While the freeways were usually packed with commuters from the capital to surrounding military bases, factories, or mines within the mountain, their rolling battle had stopped all flow of traffic from the great city. Panting slightly, Ruby fired again, giving her another massive burst of speed as she hurried through the tunnel. Over her headset she could hear Cinder and Yang arguing and Cinder become even more angry. As the tunnel curved again, she was able to see daylight fast approaching and saw Fiore stationed on his mount. Slowing down as she approached, she jumped into the air and used her scythe to swing into open door.
"Alright Cinder, she's in let's get out of here." Fiore's voice echoed through the Bullhead as he pulled his gun back into the cargo bay and close the door. Smiling down at the young girl he took the package off her back and walked toward the cockpit. Yang, sobbing, ran over to her and wrapped her in a tight hug.
"Thank Dust you are back. I'm so sorry for messing up." Yang released Ruby as Coco and Yatsu came over to congratulate her.
"Damn girl, you must be out of breathe." Yatsu placed a massive hand on her shoulder and smiled, Coco let out a long sigh of relief at the finish of the mission.
"Wheels up. Ruby come on up here." Cinder spoke over the comms, usual calm demeanor firmly reinstated in her voice and face. Gesturing the young girl into the co-pilot seat, she began flying south, back to the Valian ship waiting off the coast for their aircraft. "I've got Ozpin on the line and he wants to talk to you." Cinder cooed to the young girl as their front window darkened and a screen appeared on it.
"Congratulations. You are certainly an asset to our cause. I want to personally thank you for your sacrifice for the mission, but I want to remind you that the lives of my Hunters are more important than the missions they are on. You did unnecessarily risk your life and the lives of the rest of the crew in remaining long enough for you to retrieve the documents." Ozpin took a long drink from his mug as he searched Ruby's face, now downcast from his chastising. "Do not fool yourself however, this is much less than you would have received from Miss Glynda had she been the one to get ahold of you first." The cockpit door was flung open suddenly by Coco and Fiore, both holding official Atlas documents with grave looks on their faces.
"Professor, we have a huge problem." Fiore approached Ruby's seat and held up some of the documents he was holding, which appeared to blueprints and various designs for new weapons. "The information we had was correct concerning Atlas's recent developments. However, now that we have seen these docu—," However Coco cut him off.
"They are trying to engineer Dust to create an immensely powerful Dust bomb. By analyzing the Dust, they have found instabilities that they are trying to exploit to create a bomb capable of destroying an entire city." Coco held up one of her documents which contained many equations and theories scribbled across it. "If they can actually create this, Vale and Beacon are not safe. That's to assume they only make one and we are the targets. If they pick Vacuo, or Mistral there is no way to stop them." Ozpin's face turned very grave.
"It appears Ironwood is trying to push the rest of the Kingdoms out of power by any means necessary, with no regard to the lives of Human or Faunus. Please hurry back and we can discuss. I must go, safe journey." Ozpin turned off his camera and left the team to their own concern and confusion. Quietly, Coco and Fiore left the room to return the documents to the safety of the briefcase. Ruby sat quietly staring at her feet, trying not to imagine what would happen should that technology be created. Cinder stared calmly ahead, face expressionless as she contemplated the next moves they would need to play in order to stay ahead of the enemies.
Weiss finally awoke with a sharp gasp as her sister and father rushed anxiously to her side. Looking about her she noticed she was leaned against the freeway barrier with her white car a smoking wreck a few yards away. A paramedic was kneeling next to her trying to take her pulse which she brushed off impatiently. Trying to stand, her head swam and she collapsed back on the ground, the paramedic ordering her to remain seated for now.
"Weiss! Weiss are you okay?!" Winter, Weiss's younger sister of three years dropped to her knees and hugged her. In face and stature, one might have thought the two sisters were twins not three years apart. Even at 14, Winter had reached Weiss's height and stood like a proper princess. However, in fashion choice, they could not have been more different. While Weiss choose to wear skirts and jackets befitting an heiress to the largest private company on Remnant, Winter choose skin tight jeans and a white leather cropped jacket. Her hair was cut in a boyish pixie cut that she usually wore in a faux hawk but was now disheveled and slightly bloody.
"I'm fine sis. What happened to you?! Where did the blood come from?" Weiss began running her hands through her sisters hair, finding a small open gash above her left temple.
"Glass from the windows. I was awake for the whole thing, you were knocked out when the first car we hit." Winter gingerly touched a goose egg above Weiss's left eye that was a brilliant black and blue standing out from her snow white features. While the two assessed each other's battle scars, Weiss's father approached them and crouched down, balancing on the balls of his feet.
"You okay honey?" The concern is his deep gravely voice cut Weiss. While he dealt with troublesome business partners on a daily basis, this was the first time in many years his facade had slipped. "Ironwood is on his way. He is furious but I will do my best to keep him occupied."
"Damn right I'm pissed." Ironwood's voice cut through the noise like a knife. Mr. Schnee jumped to his feet and faced Ironwood, placing himself between the general and his daughters. "Is it true? The documents were stolen?"
"Yes sir, it is true. The driver was shot in the head and the documents were recovered after the crash by an unknown woman." Mr. Schnee had reestablished his business manner and spoke professionally to Ironwood. "My daughter Winter saw the woman rip the door off her side and grab the briefcase. The only thing she can say is that the woman had a decorative bike helmet with reflective visor and blonde hair." Ironwood stared down the young Schnee and she nervously shook her head.
"Fuck. How did they know about this?!" Ironwood began pacing, shattered glass crunching beneath his boots. "We have a mole. We need to sniff them out." Ironwood shouted at his lieutenant who hurriedly approached him holding a scroll. Speaking directly into the scroll, Ironwood relayed information to his other generals, "I want to speak with each of our spies in the other Kingdoms. We have had a massive security breach and sensitive documents are currently in the hands of an enemy. I also want reports on any special forces currently known to our intelligence office on females with blonde hair and a possible affinity for motorcycles. May not be much but we need to start." Ironwood dismissed the officer and turned back to the Schnees present. "Thank you for your information. I want to let you know that I will do what I can to help if there are any lasting injuries. Winter, I thank you for your help. Weiss, I do apologize for getting you caught up in this, and I do not expect you on the job for several days until you are well." Ironwood turned on his heel and walked back to his vehicle which quickly drove away once the door shut.
"Come on Winter, Weiss we will be in the ambulance. You need to see a doctor and Winter needs more exams so we can be sure." Mr. Schnee gently escorted his daughter to the waiting ambulance, followed by Weiss who was being carried by two paramedics. The doors closed and the ambulance began down the road to the nearest hospital.
Unknown to the Atlas military, a black shadow watched from the rooftop of a nearby hotel as the military tried to clear the crash site. Standing up, the Faunus stretched her arms and retreated into the stairwell and down to her room. Walking into the room, and closing and securing the blinds, Blake opened a video channel to her White Fang commanders. Adam's rust red hair and Grimm mask appeared on the screen.
"There was some kind of special force hit here in Atlas today. A team killed a driver for the Schnee girls who were evidently carrying sensitive military documents. Another grabbed the briefcase and the team managed to escape in a Bullhead evac ship. That's all I can tell you except the team is remarkably skilled and managed to leave a lot of military dead on the freeway." Blake's amber eyes remained foxed on the mouth below the mask, trying to detect any emotion Adam may betray. However, Adam merely nodded and spoke briefly.
"Thanks for your report Blake. I guess our lead was correct to a point. I'll pass on your information. Leave tomorrow morning, a Bullhead will be prepared for you outside the limits at the designated rendezvous point. Good day." Adam signed off and the screen went blank. Blake nodded briefly before untying her bow and twitching her ears. Retreating to her bed, she curled up beneath the covers and decided to take a nap.
AN: Hey! You made it to the end! *clap* That was me high-fiving myself.
This one draws inspiration from the Freelancers of Red vs. Blue which I have been rewatching parts of in preparation of the new season. The majority of the inspiration of this story comes from other AU fics I have read with a character or two going absolutely insane, or just pitting the characters against each other in some amazing fights. This scene may or may not make it into the actual story, however all the characters in this will be present in various roles in the actual story, and a couple of the scenes will draw inspiration from different fights either in video games or movies, be it purposefully or not.
So yeah! As I said in the beginning, this is a little social experiment/some way to sort out which of my ideas are most interesting and popular. If you want to see this before either of my others (which you will find either on my page or by searching the names from the beginning of the story) hit favorite (follow is you wish as well), leave a review or hit me with a PM. There are no real weightings on one versus another but I will be counting how many different people show interest. Thanks again for reading!