Ruby's mech slid through the ruined cityscape, sensors tuned to maximum sensitivity, drinking in the moonless night. This was supposed to be a simple recon mission, get in, get the info, and get the info out, one way or another. Ruby might only be fourteen years old, but she hadn't been born yesterday, and there was no way she was dumb enough to believe that this job was as simple as her briefing had made it out to be.
There, ahead of her, a fading thermal signature. That patch of concrete was notably warmer than its surroundings. Something had rested there for a while, maybe an enemy mech on patrol. She needed a different perspective on things.
A nearby parking structure would serve nicely. Ruby fired her grapplers upward, hoping the crumbling structure would hold her weight. Moments later, she was lying down on the roof, sensors sweeping the Stygian darkness for signs of her whatever was hunting her.
Fleeting motion caught her eye, and she focused her sensors there. A pack of Beowolves, with a mech of a type she didn't recognize apparently leading them. Not surprising that she didn't recognize the mech; Salem's forces were always coming up with something new, and this thing's limbs looked… odd. As the enemy mech crossed a roadway, Ruby's breath froze in her throat. If she didn't know better, she would have sworn the thing's limbs were made of Grim. Which was totally impossible while at the same time being kinda creepy-cool. Like zombies. Or cyborg zombies. Yeah, those would be kinda cool.
Focus, Ruby. Remember the mission. Slowly, so as not to draw attention, Ruby aimed her rifle at the enemy mech. She'd only get one shot at taking it out undetected. Once she did, the Beowolves would be on her in a heartbeat, but they couldn't call for help.
"I'm surprised she hasn't quit out of boredom," Taiyang remarked as the technician handed another cup of coffee. "Thanks," he said, sipping the still-steaming beverage carefully.
The tech laughed. "That's because you're sitting here, watching your daughter lie down on a table, and us doing incomprehensible things to even more incomprehensible equipment. Let's see what she's seeing." She tapped at the console, and the big monitor sprang to life, showing a devastated city. A highlighted mech stood on top of a building, firing burst after burst as a wave of Beowolves swarmed closer. "A fully-featured military-grade virtual environment. It's to keep her entertained and awake while we see how well she can be interfaced, and for how long."
"Holy crap," Tai whispered, shaking his head. "And they want me to send my little girl off to fight that kind of crap? No fucking way."
"Mister Xiao Long." The doctor closed the door behind him, looking first at Ruby to make sure she was alright, then at the medical monitors to confirm it before looking at the testing logs. "I can appreciate your reluctance, especially given Ruby's age, but trust me, we don't ask these things lightly. Salem's forces are relentless, and we need every capable mind in a mech fighting them."
Tai couldn't help but nod glumly. "Yeah, but… children? As young as Ruby? I'm a schoolteacher, doc. Putting kids in danger like this..." If he'd known what they meant when he got the call asking him to take Ruby back to the testing center for 'extended testing' he'd have told them to fuck off. Repeatedly.
"Most candidates start training at seventeen, already having their implants installed and passed at least the first phase of training. Given your daughter's age, she would be re-tested in a year and the decision made about proceeding further then. So there's still time." The doctor bent over, talking quietly to the technician.
Tai nodded again, his eyes were fixed on the screen as Ruby finished off the Beowolves and made her way down the ruined parking structure and further into the city. "So I don't have to sign her away today, then. There's still time to get out of this."
"Actually, Mister Xiao Long, you can back out up until the first day she enrolls at a pilot's academy, even after she's got her implants in." A tall, thin man with a cane strolled in, holding his hand out to Taiyang. "I'm Professor Ozpin, headmaster of Beacon Academy. And, well, I'm sorry to say once word of how phenomenal your daughter has performed today gets out, every academy on Remnant will be beating on your door, making all sorts of promises if your daughter agrees to attend their academy.
"So I'm going to be up-front about what I'm offering, and I'll put it in writing. A full-ride scholarship to Beacon, implants included. You'd be free to walk away at any time. And, of course, while she's waiting to officially enroll at Beacon, I'll see to her admission to Signal Academy. The headmaster is a friend of mine." Ozpin smiled at Taiyang and took a sip of his coffee.
Tai blinked in bewilderment. Where did the coffee cup Ozpin was holding come from? "I've got two daughters, Mister Ozpin. What about Yang? What do I tell her when she finds out what's being handed to Ruby on a silver platter, hers for the taking?"
Ozpin shrugged. "I checked on your other daughter's test results, and her scores are good enough to ensure she would be accepted at Beacon Academy, assuming she's interested. I think I can even extend her a scholarship as well if not one quite as generous as Ruby's."
So his daughters' futures were assured, just because of what was between Ruby's ears. Maybe he should just bow to the inevitable. "Let's see what Ruby and Yang have to say about this. It's their lives, after all." With that, Taiyang turned back to the monitor, wincing as Ruby's avatar suplexed a Goliath that could have menaced a small tank.