"Fate is like a strange, unpopular restaurant
filled with odd little waiters who bring you
things you never asked for and don't always like."
-Lemony Snicket
A Sudden Reflection
Chapter 1: Alert Level Black
Level Black alerts were a United Nations Defense Force state of emergency reserved for the imminent and/or ongoing threat of a significant Grimm incursion into human occupied areas. For the last forty years, Level Black alerts were synonymous with a breach in the walls that the UNDF constructed to court off regions deemed either lost to the Grimm, or too desolate from the initial war to bother attempting to reclaim.
The Ural Wall was part of the largest of these regions, dubbed The Scar, due to its size and jagged border. A wound that ran the length of Russia, into Kazakhstan. The last official time an alert of Black level had been called along the Ural Wall was during the construction of the wall itself. Since then, it had held fast against the Grimm. Until now.
'Be advised Saber Team, LZ is on approach. Looks nice and quiet.'
Dmitry shouldered his T-40g assault rifle as the tilt-rotor descended toward the Cliffside. A sturdy, worn, bullpup rifle, under-slung smart-grenade launcher, digital-camo plates adapting to the drab grays and faded greens of the Northern Urals. He was the first out of the craft, followed by the rest of his team.
Captain Korva, leader of Saber Team, was the next off. She nodded to him as she hit the ground, reassuring the most novice of their group behind her face mask and visor. Crimson hair that would have been waving in the winds were it not tied into a bun was the only color in her otherwise washed-out attire. Dmitry felt rather boring in that instance, his own bland, brown shade making him seem quite dull.
"Make way, D," warned a voice from behind that he recognized as Jay's.
The mountain of a woman came thundering down, landing with a heavy thump. Unlike the Captain, her hair was buzzed short. One could mistake the jet fuzz atop her head for a shadow against her already dark skin. Jay was foreign to Russia –American, and acted like it. It was an increasingly common thing amongst the Rangers since merging with the UNDF.
She, however, was not the only stranger to Russia in Saber.
"Pilot can't wait forever, Malik," Jay called over her shoulder.
Behind her, a short man –and not just compared to the six foot and change, Jay- hopped down, un-holstering a compact SMG. Dmitry had never met someone as technically smart as Malik. He was a small, composed man, hailing from Syria originally, but apparently moved to the UK at some point before eventually making his way to the Rangers. He acted as the mind of Saber. The tuft of hair that comprised his pony-tail waggled in the Ural winds, reminding Dmitry of an over-excited lap-dog.
"Chilly," he commented, adjusting his brown long-coat, one that was identically worn by the rest of Saber.
The coats were a Ranger tradition from long before Dmitry had even been born. It reminded them of their roots in the wilds after the Grimm appeared, their battles on the front, and in the untamed no-mans-land, hunting the creatures of darkness where no military was willing or able to follow. All the more important after officially deferring to the command of the UNDF two decades prior. The coats kept them true; they worked with the UNDF by they were not them, they were Rangers. Before anything else, they were Rangers.
The coat reflected the Ranger. Dmitry's was slightly frayed on the sleeves and shoulders, but was mostly pristine, and was only decorated with a few tally marks down his right sleeve. This was in stark contrast to the Captains coat, which was torn, ripped, and riddled with marks and imperfections. There were many patches along her upper sleeves, and a pair of drawn on wings adorning the backs of each shoulder.
Jay had a large bulls-eye painted onto her back, which Dmitry had found interesting, and a little morbidly funny. A New York Giants patch was sewn into her right shoulder, bearing the number fourteen. Malik had the Syrian, British, and Russian flags patched onto his left sleeve, and the name 'Inaya' down his right. Dmitry would be lying if he said he was not curious about his teammate's choices, but in his opinion one didn't just ask those sorts of things.
The decorations were sacred additions. They told the story of the Ranger, told who they were. Rangers took extreme care in choosing how to adorn their coats, and cherished every new tear and mar as a trophy of survival. A Ranger wasn't truly a Ranger until their coats were torn, that was the old belief anyway. Since the UNDF came into the picture, they had politely asked Rangers to not purposefully throw themselves at more danger than necessary, but when battle was on, few listened. Dmitry had been a Ranger for little over half a year, still awaiting his first tear. Still waiting to prove himself.
"Stay focused, Saber," said Korva, sternly but not harshly.
She turned to Dmitry.
"Take point, Lieutenant."
Dmitry nodded, jogging forward, already analyzing the mountain path, searching for the best route down.
Saber's objected in the Ural was still yet off in the distance, and a few hundred feet down in his visor's way-point was accurate. Intel from high altitude fly-by's indicated the Grimm had already penetrated this deeply past the wall, and were in high density around the communications facility. The facility's function under normal circumstances, was to track a two-hundred fifty kilometer section of the wall, monitor its structural integrity, its power consumption, and other factors. It should have alerted UNDCOM and the nearest UNDF garrison of the breach in the wall as soon as it had occurred, and called a Black alert.
It did not.
Instead, the Black alert was called several hours later, when the Grimm began pouring into Kotova, one of the cities that sprang up during the construction of the Ural wall. The UNDF responded appropriately, but that wasn't Saber's concern at the moment. Their objective was to investigate what had caused the comm. failure, and more importantly, how the Grimm had breached the wall. The aerial scouting had noted heavy structural damage to the facility, lots of thermal and radiological readings, and several casualties. Other than that, however, they'd need eyes on the inside to learn more.
Dmitry eased down another slope, coming to a shattered section of the path he'd been following. There was enough room left to sidle by on, though it would be precarious. Dmitry decided to give it a shot, and let his rifle hang by its strap as he used both his arms to balance himself as he slowly edged his way across. Nerve-wracking, but doable, he leapt that last foot or so over, and sat tight, waiting for the rest of Saber.
The Captain was the first he saw, closely followed by Jay and Malik.
"Well ain't that peachy," grunted Jay, looking at the lack of path.
Dmitry nodded toward the small outcropping of rock he'd used to cross. The team looked skeptical, but Captain Korva gave him the benefit of the doubt and followed his advice. The other two followed suit.
About halfway, Dmitry heard a blood-chilling caw, and dropped to a kneeling position, shouldering his rifle again, scanning for threats. The call echoed across the mountains.
"Hold," hissed Korva.
Not a second later, a Blackbird soared over them, crashing down upon the rock face, talons rending the mountain stone above them. The shock nearly sent the three of them tumbling over, but Korva and Jay caught their balance. Malik, though, lost his footing.
Jay's hand was there in an instant, grasping his. His weight added to hers, she knew she would never maintain her balance. Instead, she beat gravity to the punch and slid off on her own, catching herself with her free hand on the outcrop, her great strength holding both her and Malik over the otherwise very long way down.
After that, the three went still as statues, praying the Blackbird hadn't heard their commotion. Dmitry shuffled closer to the edge of the cliff, trying to catch a glimpse.
The massive Grimm sat perched over the edge directly above, but made no indication it knew they were there. His gaze constantly shifting between the beast above and his team, he motioned for them to try and continue across. He kept his rifle trained on the bird, despite knowing logically it would do nothing. Blackbirds were impervious to most conventional small-arms fire. If it found them, they would be near helpless out in the open.
Jay, with only her one arm, managed to lift Malik to where he could grasp the outcropping on his own. Once she knew they were secure, Korva continued, leaping over much the same as Dmitry had done. She turned back to help Jay up over the edge, and Dmitry did the same for Malik. The four sat under the bird, watching their breaths and making a concerted effort to make no noise.
The Blackbird fluttered its feathers a few times, before emitting another ear-splitting caw and lifting off once more, flying out of sight.
Saber sighed in relief as it left.
"Good thing you're such a pipsqueak," jabbed Jay. "Man, fuckin Blackbirds. I can't believe they got this deep. When's the last time any Grimm's got this far into UNDF turf?"
"Never," replied Malik. "At least, not since the walls. We've never had a comms failure like this."
Jay re-adjusted her support rifle, a long, log-like piece of weaponry with twin drum ammo canisters, containing the heaviest armor-piercing firepower that could be fit into the chambers. The rocket-launcher strapped to her back rustled against her coat, and Dmitry passingly envied her endurance, wondered how she was able to carry so much gear.
"Think the Grimm figured out what they do? Found a way to get around them?"
"We won't find out sitting here," said Captain Korva. "We can theorize after we dust-off. Right now, we get our jobs done."
Saber nodded.
"Dmitry," she said. "Continue."
As the leader of Team RWBY, Ruby consciously knew she had to keep a clear head in the field. She knew this, but knowing that didn't stop the worry and confusion for piling up in her mind. There were too many unanswered questions to be had in her situation, and Ruby hated to not know things. What's more, she had neither Blake, nor Yang since waking in the strange building she was, for now, calling a base of operations, not that there had been much operating. She, thankfully, had Weiss with her, but she was just as lost as Ruby, though she loathed to admit it.
They woke with a pounding in their heads, finding themselves laying in a crater that had decimated what had once looked like a sort of cafeteria. Whatever had happened to them, it had thrown them right through a large satellite dish, and two floors of reinforced concrete. They were unsure as to how they'd survived such an impact, or even what it was that had brought them there. Everything was such a blur; they remembered Beacon and their friends just fine, but the circumstances which led them away from them were mysteriously absent from both of their memories.
The building itself had been full of Grimm, once Ruby had managed to break down the sealed door on the first floor. There were human bodies messily strewn across the halls and rooms, along with a few Grimm corpses, but many more live ones. A battle had taken place right on top of them, and the defenders had clearly lost. The two Huntresses, not forgetting their duty, exterminated the infestation, driving off the pack of Beowolves that had besieged the facility. A Nevermore had screeched over as well, but left them be, which Ruby was thankful for. She did not feel like having to deal with the beast at the moment.
The young team leader stood in what she guessed as some sort of observation room. It had what would have probably been a nice view of the bridge outside, and the chasm it traversed, had it not been for the remains splattered across the scene. Ruby, not unaccustomed to death, had still never seen so many dead bodies in one place. It made her nauseous; it appeared that no-one had made it into the room she currently occupied, so she was alone, with only the few Beowolves she'd killed near the doorway to keep her company.
Weiss had insisted on investigating the rooms, to find a clue as to their whereabouts, she said. Ruby wasn't sure it would do any good, the entire building seemed without power.
When they'd first awoken, she'd assumed they were in one of the districts of Vale, but the presence of Grimm made that seem unlikely. Now, staring out into the vast mountain range which they had found themselves in, Ruby had to face the fact that she had no idea where they were. Remnant had many mountain ranges, only one of which she'd ever seen with her own eyes, and she was fairly certain this was not Mountain Glenn, so their location was up in the air. Her scroll could not find a signal, so she was unable to call for help, though she did activate her Global Dust Positioner, hoping the signal would be picked up by someone. She also had no idea what this facility was even for, though Weiss guessed from the large dish that it might be some sort of communications station. It was as good a guess as any.
Frankly, Ruby figured they had two options. One was to hold up in the facility –they'd found some stored food and water, so they could make it for a couple of days if they were smart about it. Rescue could come, but that was a maybe, not a certainty. The other was to stock up and head out, to try and figure out how far from Vale and Beacon they were, and how they could get back. That also presented issues, considering they, again, had absolutely no idea where they were, or how to determine that. There was, of course, also the Grimm to consider.
Personally, Ruby wanted to leave and try to link back up with Blake and Yang. Something told her they were out there somewhere too. Practically though, staying put was the safer option, even if she didn't like it. The facility, if nothing else, was a defensible position and a landmark, and if there was rescue coming, they would be easier to find if they stayed put.
The crimson Huntress sighed, setting Crescent Rose down on a nearby table, and leaned over the ledge next to the windows. The mountains were a captivating view an hour ago when she first saw them, but their stagnant nature and dull colors were growing old quickly.
Which made it all the easier to spot movement in the distance.
It had to make out at first, only gray and brown blotches against an otherwise unremarkable ridge, but soon she saw them moving down the cliff-side. Rappelling down it. People, actual humans, had arrived, and as they closed in from across the bridge, she saw they were armed. Military.
She thought maybe Atlesian soldiers at first, but no. They lacked the signature white that all Atlesian troops bore. They were browns and faded greens, with some gray mixed in. Long coats flapped in the wind, and black masks of plastic and metal obscured their faces, green-tinted visors covering their eyes. Their weapons were rustic and utilitarian, lacking any grace. She did not recognize them at all. They looked very intimidating upon closer inspection, and Ruby dropped low to avoid detection as she headed back through the disgusting hall to find Weiss.
"Weiss," she hissed. "Weiss!"
"I'm in here," she called, her voice echoing out from a room to Ruby's right.
The room labelled "Dish Control" was a mess of spilled papers and overturned chairs. Weiss was flipping through some of the folders lying on the desks, illuminating her search with a flashlight (thank you, pocketed combat skirts!). Her half-silhouetted face turned to her leader for a moment before returning to her investigation.
"What is it?"
"People," she said. "Soldiers, I think, I'm not sure. They don't look like any I've ever seen. They're heading here, fast too."
Weiss stood up from her desk.
"Drat," she muttered. "Well, we don't know why they're here. They might be friendly, they may be hostile. Let's stay out of sight for now, and we'll figure out what to do once we have a better idea of who they are."
Ruby nodded. "Sounds like a plan. We can probably hide on those lights up there."
She motioned to the inoperable lights above them. Weiss inspected them with her flashlight; they were thin, narrow things, but were supported by metal beams. They hung low enough that if they crouched, they could fit comfortably enough.
"They look like they could support one of us each," Ruby continued. "Nobody ever looks up."
"Not a bad idea," Weiss agreed.
Ruby basked in pride of her cleverness for all but a split-second before it was ruined by one embarrassing oversight.
"Oh no, I forgot Crescent Rose in the lounge," she whined. "I have to go get her!"
"Ruby, wai- ugh."
She was already gone.
Ruby hopped over her slain foes that impeded her progress through the lounge door, seeing her mechanical companion resting where she'd left it, on the table. She rushed to it, hugging it tightly.
"I'm so sorry, baby. I'll never leave you again," she cooed.
Slipping it back behind her waist, she jogged back to the door, hearing the soft murmur of voices down the hall. She stopped short of the doorframe and poked her head out. The masked invaders were on the second floor already! Two of them strode down the hall, one turning into the room Weiss was hiding in, the other coming straight for her.
She needed to hide. The lounge was not as convenient a place for stealth as the Dish Control room. Smaller, more light, and in her desperation she jumped up into the corner of the ceiling next to the door, and held herself in place with the help of her aura. With any luck, he would pass her by, and she could sneak out undetected.
Ruby held her breath as the newcomer stepped inside.
The communications facility's bridge, reaching across the large chasm between the security gate and the sole road leading up from below the base of the mountain, was thankfully still intact. Saber team was now only maybe two hundred feet up, and directly above the road across from the bridge, and overlooked the stretch of open land that they would have to cross. Because of their approach, they knew at least one Blackbird was flying about, and if it circled back, they'd be spotted in no time flat.
Dmitry could see from their vantage point on a ridge just over the road that there were several dead Grimm along the bridge and in the facility's court proper. There were just as many slain security personnel and maintenance workers, some still inside demolished vehicles. The damage to the communications array was also clearly visible. There was a gaping hole blown right through it, still smoldering. From the smoke rising, it appeared that whatever had hit it, had also pierced the facility. All in all, it had been quite a battle from the looks of it, but the stillness of the scene gave the impression that there was no life left to be found.
"I don't get it," said Jay. "Just two hours ago this place was crawling, now nothing. They couldn't have killed them all."
None of Saber replied. Dmitry kept on surveying the bridge, while Malik and the Captain focused on a small device that Malik had inserted in his wrist-mounted mini-computer. Not much larger than a smart-phone but with the computing power of a high-end desktop, it even had multiple USB and SD ports for system interfacing and data retrieval.
Currently, he was examining a motion tracker, trying to determine if it was safe to make the run.
"Anything?" asked Korva.
Malik shook his head.
"Nothing moving with significant mass. At least, not within a click of here; of course, these facilities are usually resistant to this kind of tech, so who knows what might actually be in there. As for the approach, I'd say we're as clear as we're going to be," he concluded.
"Alright, Malik, you and I will rappel down first. Jay, Dmitry, you both will cover us. When we reach the bottom, follow us down, we'll return the favor."
"Got it," replied Jay. Dmitry nodded.
Korva and Malik secured their hooks and attached their lines before rhythmically dropping down the cliff-side. While they descended, Jay took watch of the sky, while Dmitry kept on scanning the bridge.
"Weird how quiet it is," commended Jay. "Think this could be a trap? Grimm can get pretty crafty."
Dmitry shrugged, causing her to sigh.
"D, you have got to stop with the silent protagonist bullshit sooner or later, it's super creepy."
He looked over from his intense surveying for a fraction of a second. Two beeps came over the short-range comms.
"Thanks our cue," Jay said.
The two Rangers hooked themselves in, Dmitry fighting the urge to look down. The day seemed to be reveling in taking him out of his comfort zone. He shook his head, cleared his mind. Just focus on the mission, he told himself.
He hit the ground with a reassuring crunch, black-top and gravel beneath his feet as he contacted the first man-made surface since exiting the tilt-rotor. Sweet, solid ground.
"Dmitry," said the Captain. "Front and center. Malik, we watch the flanks for that Blackbird, Jay has our six. We make for the collapse in the forward wall."
They wordlessly came together in formation, Dmitry leading the advance. There was a nice, Gimm-sized piece of the wall near the main entrance missing that would afford them easy access.
There were roars in the distance, echoing up to the bridge, but no movement in their vicinity. The tracker had been honest, thus far. Dmitry pushed non-imminent threats out of his mind; his concern was in front of him. However, his mind did wander to the damage to the array. It was a peculiar piece of damage, not anything he'd ever seen a Grimm do, and it had been there even during the fly-bys. Whatever it was, it had happened either before, or right as the breach occurred. The convenience of the timing and location didn't sit well with him, and he felt the rest of Saber come to similar conclusions, even if none of them voiced it, though Jay seemed like she wanted to.
Rangers didn't believe in coincidences, though this was one time where Dmitry hoped the Rangers were wrong. The alternative implications were not pleasant topics of speculation.
The four scurried quickly through the remains of the battle. The lack of Grimm was both suspicious and concerning, and the prospect of facing them in close quarters was unappealing, but Dmitry still couldn't shake the shiver of the stillness around him. He felt as though they were being watched, and while he didn't feel a sense of danger, it did feel scrutinizing.
Upon reaching the collapsed wall, Dmitry and Malik took to inspecting the interior, cautiously moving through the rubble, weapons raised. The power seemed to be out, even the emergency lighting was inoperable. Dmitry quickly tapped his visor, sending it into IR mode. The Captain and Jay did as well, as they followed in.
They made a quick sweep, checked if anyone had survived –they hadn't— and moved on. The collapse had led them into a security checkpoint, nothing more than a greeting area. The only other door had been smashed open, leading to a hallway. Several more corpses from both sides littered the walkway, forcing the team to take pains to step around them.
The first floor was nothing particularly important, Dmitry noted, as he read off the door labels in his head. Just a lounge, some equipment lockers, a maintenance room. Only the security room was of any note, though the Captain guessed what they were really after was on the second floor. Stairs lay at the end of the hallway.
A few more Grimm impeded their progress up the flight, and a make-shift barricade blocked off the top, manned by two more fallen guards. It was easy enough to hop over. The door at the top was also smashed off its hinges.
The second floor's hallways was much the same as the first, but held more of what they were after. The Operations Room, Dish Control, and the server room all comprised the second story, with a small observation room at the end of the hall, overlooking the bridge and courtyard.
The doors to the server room were locked, like the door to the mess. Also like the mess door, the server room doors were also warped outward, like they had sustained a mighty blow. Glancing through the window, Malik informed them that the impact of whatever had hit the Dish had crashed straight through the servers, and down into the lounge.
They were picking up residual radiological readings, like the ones the scout drone had picked up, only faded. Malik said it was unreal, that the radiation they had observed shouldn't have dissipated so quickly. It was just more unexplained strangeness to an already confusing scene.
There was no getting into the server room, not that it would have done them much good in its state. Instead, they focused on the rooms they could get to. Malik took Ops, to try and interface with their systems and get to their data logs, hoping they had readings on the wall when the breach occurred. The Captain would inspect dish-control, perhaps to get a better idea of what had damaged it. Jay headed back downstairs to try and recover any relevant security footage she could find. Dmitry would sweep through the observation lounge, just to make sure the whole building was clear, and keep lookout for any Grimm, their Blackbird friend in particular.
Each with their own jobs, the four split up. Dmitry trekked down the long hallways, stepping around Grimm and human carcasses, boots crunching against shell-casings. The Ranger was thankful for the built-in air-filters his mask afforded him; he was sure without them, the air would smell smoky and uncomfortably damp. From what little of his skin that was exposed, he could feel that it was hot, though that was probably due just as much to the mysteriously fading radiation as the residual gunfire and cooling bodies.
The lounge door was loose on its hinges, but open. Sunlight poured in from the many wide windows, giving the room enough natural lighting that the IR filter on his visor was not needed. A quick tap returned him to the familiar spectrum of visible light.
There were only the fast fading bodies of Grimm in the lounge, no humans. Other than the slain monstrosities, it would have been a fairly normal lounge. Couches and tables, though mostly overturned, seemed in good condition, and there was a lack of structural damage that had been so consistent in the rest of the facility.
It was as if the battle had ceased just a few feet beyond the door.
Dmitry walked further into the room, listening carefully for any sign of movement. The whole lounge was permeated with the same calm but eerie stillness as everywhere else, like he was walking inside some carefully constructed model. Everything seemed motionless and empty, the lounge included, but still he felt as though there were prying eyes upon him. Closer than before. He tried to play it off as nerves, glancing out the windows, down at the bridge.
Nothing, except the wind.
No Grimm in sight was usually a cause for celebration, but it only served to put Dmitry on edge. Something was not right. There was something critical they were missing.
In that moment, Dmitry became aware of a rustling behind him. It sounded like fabric. He turned, rifle half-raised, only to find empty air. Looking side to side, he still found nothing of note. His imagination?
He turned back around to the windows, feeling as though he'd just missed something pass him by as he did so. He looked around again, but still nothing. Dmitry scratched the back of his head, and in looking down to do so, glimpsed something that had not been there before.
The Ranger knelt down and pinched the sudden source of color between his fingers. A flower petal? Red, like a rose, but no roses grew in the region, and the lounge was without floral decor.
Which meant there was someone, or something, with him.
As soon as the long-coated stranger came to a half in front of the windows, Ruby dropped down as quietly as possible. Apparently, it wasn't quietly enough, or the soldier just had incredibly good ears, because he twitched as she descended.
Thinking quickly, she activated her semblance, whizzing behind him as he turned around. His weapon was nearly at the ready, though she could hardly blame him. This place was spooky, and mysterious noises would put her on edge too. He took a few looks around before decided it was nothing. Ruby realized he was preparing to turn back around, so she repeated her previous tactic, and whirled around him, just out of his view.
She came to a stop behind him, back near the door, avoiding nearly tripping over the Beowolf corpses. Ruby steadied herself and sighed a silent sigh of relief, looking back at the soldier to make sure she hadn't been seen or heard.
While she herself had been undetected, she had been careless with her semblance, and left behind one of the tiny aura petals that was so common a byproduct of its use. The stranger had knelt over and was inspecting it curiously, and for a moment she was convinced she was busted, and cringed.
Her cringing was intensified by a sudden ear-rending bird-like screech. Both she and the soldier's heads swiveled to the window. Ruby couldn't see anything, but knew the call.
The soldier suddenly dove to the side, and she put two-and-two together, realizing what must have been coming next. Her heroic instincts took over, not willing to put stealth over well-being of another human being, and kicked her semblance back in, moving across the room in a split-second, dragging the man far-clear of the volley.
As they tumbled over to the far wall, she was glad she'd done so. The feathers had punched right through the glass and ceiling; the poor guy would have been a pin-cushion.
Once they'd rolled to a stop, Ruby looked up, coming face to mask with her fellow-in-distress. All she could really think to do, was look on, and thought to herself, 'Weiss probably won't like this.'
Dmitry looked up from his inspection of the red petal at the sound of a familiar screech, only to be greeted by a fast approaching flurry of piercing feathers. He threw himself into a roll, but inwardly cursed, knowing it probably wouldn't be enough to get clear. The feathers could easily penetrate the thin metal and concrete of the building, to say nothing of the glass.
Suddenly Dmitry jerked further than his understanding of physics should have allowed, given the force and direction he'd put into his leap. That being said, he wasn't complaining. Whatever had happened had knocked him clear of the feathers, which impaled his former general vicinity not a second later.
Quick to regain his bearings, Dmitry looked up to find a young girl slumped clumsily over him. She was a small, pale thing, right down to her eyes, but she was colorfully decked in a frilly, red trimmed black dress and corset. Her hair matched her scheme. She looked up at him shyly with a hint of apology, but mostly concern.
Dmitry, who was too dumbfounded for words, even if he'd wanted to speak any, just gave a thumbs up to indicate he was in one piece. She replied with a smile, before rolling off him and un-holstering maybe the largest, most unwieldy rifle Dmitry had ever seen. It gave Jay's LMG a run for its money, and it only looked more massive when put against the perspective of such a tiny looking girl.
She rushed to the edge of the windows, propping it up for balance, and began firing with impressive speed for a bolt-action weapon. Dmitry could see, getting to his feet, that the Blackbird seemed more affected by her ammunition than any Saber had on hand, perhaps the exception, again, being Jay's armament. He passingly wondered how much recoil such a weapon had, and how such a frail looking thing could bear it. These thoughts were banished, as his Ranger thought process took control once more.
He pressed into his ear-piece three times in rapid succession, sending the shrill noises over the team-wide channel, warning them of the danger. The signal sent, he rushed over to tap the girl's shoulder, gaining her attention and motioning for her to follow him further into the facility. She gave the Blackbird one last glance, and then bolted behind him.
Captain Korva and Malik exited into the hallway as they did. The Captain's eyes went straight to the mystery girl, almost raising her rifle before noticing her subordinate's unguarded demeanor, and gave Dmitry a questioning look instead. Malik joined them a few seconds later, doing much the same.
"Dmitry, who…," he trailed off. "What?"
Dmitry looked at Ruby, then shrugged.
"Dmitry…who is this?" asked the Captain, unsure of just what she was seeing. Why was there a girl in a damn tutu running around a UNDF communications facility in the middle of a Level Black alert?
"Ruby Rose," the girl spoke for the first time.
The Captain and Malik both turned to her simultaneously, suddenly giving her the feeling of intense judgment.
"Uh…my name. It's Ruby Rose."
"Ruby Rose," repeated Korva. "And just what are you doing here, Ruby Rose?"
"Would you take 'I don't know' as an answer?"
Their silence gave her the impression that they would not. At least, it wasn't the one they wanted to hear.
"I don't even know where here is," she insisted. "Honest!"
They still didn't seem to believe her, but Korva's next words seemed to indicate she'd leave it alone for the moment, and turn to more important matters.
"Dmitry, what did you spot?"
"Nevermore," spoke up Ruby again.
"A what?" asked Malik.
"A Nevermore?" she repeated incredulously. "You know, giant Grimm, flies around? It's making a lot of noise out there, I think it might be calling for more."
The Captain cursed under her breath. "Blackbird."
"Alright," said Malik. "Well you have fun with your schoolgirl, Dmitry. I'm going to get back to Ops and get things done so we can leave and not die."
The short Ranger sped off back down the hallway, leaving Ruby with only Dmitry and Captain Korva. The superior officer was giving him a hard look under her mask, he could feel it.
"Are you alone, Ruby Rose?" she asked, turning to look at the small girl.
Ruby hesitated. Weiss was right in the next room, but should she say anything? She was still unsure of who these people were, or why they were here, or where they were from. Still, looking up to Dmitry, she got the sense that he was a decent person. Quiet, but decent. They also seemed to be at least partially concerned for her safety, though clearly not happy that she was there.
For now they had a common enemy; they wanted the Grimm gone and so did she. Maybe if she and Weiss helped, they'd be inclined to help them in return; to help them find their way out of the mountains, or better yet, to help them find Blake and Yang. It seemed the best option to cooperate with them.
"No, there's one other person. She's hiding, but I can get her."
Ruby, once again, got the sense that it was not the answer the Captain wanted to hear, as she sighed heavily. She didn't seem outright angry, and was overall tolerating the unexpected developments, and that was a good sign in Ruby's book.
Finally, the Captain spoke again. "Dmitry, do you think you can handle this teenage girl while I round up Jay, and we figure out what to do about all this?"
Dmitry simply put a hand on the girl's shoulder, gave a thumbs up, and then jabbed it lightly towards himself.
"Good," she said tiredly. "Get her squared away, then go meet Malik in Ops."
The Captain turned and sprinted down the hall, towards the stairs. Dmitry turned back to Ruby, who grabbed him by the sleeve of his coat and pulled him along into the dish-control room. The Ranger followed, not wanting to lose track of her.
"Weiss," she called into the room. "You can come out, they're okay."
There was a faint echo of a huff, and suddenly a girl in a white dress, similar to little red's, but more angular, and complimented by an equally white jacket, leapt down from the ceiling lights, which were relatively low hanging, long sockets, held by pairs of thin beams. They did make for effective hiding-spots, he noted.
Her long, also snow-white hair, whipped in the motion. It hung loosely in an elaborate pony-tail, tied to the right side. The asymmetry of it had its own sort of grace that Dmitry felt hard-pressed to describe, even to himself. She seemed to exude the very essence of ice, right down to a pale complexion, even more so than Ruby's. Her pale-blue eyes seemed the only color she would permit, and even it gave the cold, rigid sensation of winter.
She was definitely older than Ruby, though younger than him, but not by much. Two years, three perhaps?
"Ruby, we agreed that we'd stay out of sight, not socialize."
"I know, but a Nevermore showed up, and it was kind of my fault Dmitry almost got hurt. Plus, he seems nice," she explained, and looked up at him. "Right, Dmitry?"
Dmitry shrugged, and waved his hand in a so-so gesture. Little red, no, Ruby –he made a mental note, Ruby and Weiss were their names- snickered.
"If you're quite done," she chided.
"If it's calling for more Grimm, we should deal with it. I'd rather not attract even more unwanted attention today," she said, narrowing her gaze at Dmitry.
Dmitry tapped Ruby's rifle, then pointed to Weiss questioningly.
"If you're concerned as to whether I'm armed," she said, drawing a rapier of all things. "I'm perfectly capable of defending myself. As Huntresses, killing Grimm is something of a regularity for us."
Dmitry would have argued that no-one hunted Grimm for sport, nor had he ever seen anyone go out hunting in frilly dresses, but those were arguments for another time, and for someone more vocally inclined. Now, he needed to join Saber. Ruby seemed at least somewhat well equipped to tackle the threat, having a powerful fire-arm. Weiss' choice of weapon was concerning, as well as confusing, but she seemed totally confident, and if they'd killed Grimm, he supposed they could look after themselves at least.
The Ranger shrugged again, and nodded toward the door. The two girls followed him out into the hall and down to the opposite end, into Ops. Malik was seated at a command station near the front of the room, back turned to them, frantically working against the soft glow of a computer monitor. He had a micro-fusion cell hooked up to the terminal, providing limited power to the surrounding equipment.
He looked over his shoulder, then did a double take as they approached.
"It's been like two minutes," he exclaimed. "You found another one?"
"Another what?" asked Jay from the hall.
Dmitry turned to see her and the Captain rounding through the threshold. Jay stopped and gave Ruby and Weiss an odd look.
"Can someone explain the cheerleaders?" interjected Jay.
Weiss folded her hands and scoffed.
"Excuse me, we are not cheerleaders. We're huntresses, and we expect to be treated as such," she said in a huff.
"Sure sound like cheerleaders," she muttered to herself.
"Enough," said Korva sternly, drawing everyone's attention to her. "Malik, situation."
"I've got a compiler running," he explained. "Finding the data wasn't hard, we're just nabbing the last twenty-four hours of it to be sure. Problem is, lots of it's scrambled to hell and I'm trying to piece it all together as I go. I'm guessing it was a system-wide power-surge. Should take a couple more minutes still."
Korva turned to Jay, indicating it was her turn to share. She shook her head.
"Security system was out. I'd have suggested bringing the fusion cell down there to try and nab some of the footage if we had time, but I don't think we have the luxury anymore."
Their leader nodded. "And we already know what Dmitry has contributed to the mission. Now the problem remains: what to do about the Blackbird? We can't hole up in here forever, and it's only a matter of time before more Grimm converge on us."
Jay gestured to the rocket-launcher strapped to her back.
"I got three shells for this puppy, plus my LM-19's packin' AP rounds, but we'll be fresh outta ordinance taking that sucker down, and that's if they all connect. Those bastards are fast."
"Ruby," spoke up Weiss. "Didn't you outfit Crescent Rose with some higher-impact rounds before we got caught up in all this?"
"Excuse me?" interrupted the Captain.
Ruby drew her monstrous red rifle. A scope, grip and stock ping out from the mechanical beast, and she shouldered the weapon like a trained sniper.
"Yup," she said sweetly. Jay gave a whistle as she eyed the weapon.
"Red Riding-hood sure came expecting the wolf," she laughed. "Can you even use that thing?"
Dmitry came to her defense, patting the rifle in her hands and giving Jay the OK signal. He then imitated the Blackbird with his hands and pantomimed Ruby firing her rifle, with a little 'pow' sound effect. It was the first sound any of them had ever heard him make, and it would have been funny had the situation not been so dire.
"A ringing endorsement if I've ever heard one," joked Jay."
Weiss was seething at her mocking. "This place was swarming with Grimm not two hours ago. I didn't see any of you around to clean up the mess. It fell to us."
"You killed them," questioned Malik, breaking from his work at the terminal to shoot them a glance.
"Most of them," she replied.
Jay scoffed and muttered, "Yeah, right."
The Captain shut her down. "They're no older than many who chose the path of the Ranger, and they are armed. Strange as all this is, if there's one thing we know better than any, it's that age is no determinate factor."
It was the truth, and they all knew it. The only real requirement to apply to the Rangers was to be sixteen years of age, and to be sound of body and mind. Everything else was sorted out later during initiation, which had some…higher standards. Regardless, it was not unheard of, or uncommon, for teenagers to be accepted for Ranger training. The old order had been built on the young, and in many ways it still was. The only thing that mattered was your ability to survive; race, sex, gender, creed, and age were all irrelevant.
Ruby and Weiss weren't Rangers, but if they wanted to live, they were going to have to be.
"I can kill it," said Ruby.
"I appreciate the enthusiasm, but don't get ahead of yourself," warned the Captain.
Ruby shook her head.
"No, I mean I know I can. I've killed a Nevermore before."
"It's true," chimed in Weiss. "I was there. Also I would appreciate some of the credit, seeing as I helped."
"How did you kill it?" Korva asked.
Ruby twisted Crescent Rose in her hands, and the mechanism folded out further, transforming in an instant into a massive scythe, twice her size. She slammed the blade to the floor, supporting the shaft against her shoulders.
Malik nearly fell out of his chair, cursing in Arabic.
"Sweet baby Jesus," murmured Jay.
"Yeah," replied Ruby sheepishly. "I went a little nuts designing it, but Crescent Rose here helped me kill the first Nevermore. I sliced its head off."
Jay shook her head in disbelief. "You know what? Fuck it, I have to see this. Captain, permission to help the cheerleader decapitate the giant monster?"
Malik rolled back around in his seat. "Okay, well since we've clearly dipped into the Twilight Zone, and nothing makes sense anymore, I might as well throw my own insane idea onto the table."
The Captain stepped over to the terminal, peeking past Malik's shoulder.
"This station has a compliment of surveillance drones it uses to monitor the wall," he explained. "This terminal has remote-access to them; I can get a few of them running and get the Blackbird's attention, maybe get it chasing them."
Weiss popped back into the conversation. "Could you lead it somewhere specific?"
"Sure, I guess. Was there somewhere in particular you want it to go?"
"The bridge," replied Weiss. "Get it low over the bridge, and we'll take it from there."
Malik hesitantly looked to the Captain for some kind of approval, who looked at the two girls standing before her. She suddenly walked toward Ruby, never taking the blank green visors that seemed to be boring into her soul off of her. The short Huntress swallowed hard under the unblinking gaze.
"Say the words again, Ruby Rose," she said. "Say them to me. Can you kill that Blackbird?"
"Yes."
"Yes, what?" she insisted.
"Yes, I can kill it."
She turned her head to Weiss.
"Yes, I can kill it," she repeated.
Her gaze broke instantly, turning back to the seated Ranger.
"Malik," she said, the weight of her authority carried in the name alone.
There was no reply, only an acknowledgement of her command, and he set to work at the terminal. Korva marched past the others, waving them alone to follow her. The two remaining Rangers and the two Huntresses filed out, and headed down the stairs.
"I'm guessing you have a plan?" asked Ruby.
"It's simple," replied Weiss. "The Nevermore gets low as it approaches the bridge, I use one of my glyphs to launch you, you use those new rounds of yours and keep your momentum, and you should have sufficient velocity to clip its wing off. Gravity will do the rest of our work for us. The fall down will be more than enough to kill it."
"Uh-huh, and what about the part where I go flying off the edge?"
"As if I didn't think of that," she scoffed. "I'll have another glyph ready to catch you as you decelerate, don't worry. You can re-bound back to the bridge."
"Okay then," Ruby nodded. "Sounds good enough."
'Drones are coming online now,' said Malik over the radio.
"The drones are ready," informed the Captain to the Huntresses. "Be prepared for anything once we get out there."
The group was approaching the collapsed wall in the front that they had entered through. The five stopped, and the Rangers crept forward to survey the area. The courtyard and bridge, which had been quiet as a graveyard when they arrived, was now teeming with Direwolves and a few Grizzlies. They seemed, as of yet, unaware of their approach.
"Well shit," Jay cursed. "Guess the giant, evil chicken was calling for help."
The Captain came onto the radio. "Get the drones into the sky, Malik. We have some more company out here, we'll be clearing a path to the bridge. Keep the Blackbird occupied until I give the order."
'Copy that.'
Captain Korva turned to Ruby and Weiss. "Stay behind us, we'll cut through the Grimm for you and keep you covered while you deal with the Blackbird. I'll order Malik to begin his run when we get to the middle of the bridge."
The two girls nodded, and Korva nodded back.
"Jay," she said. "If you would."
"It would be my pleasure," she replied, hefting her LMG.
The thundering of the weapon shattered the quiet of the mountains. Jay steadily advanced forward, letting her rifle shred all that stepped to face her. Two Direwolves fell before the rest of the pack even realized they were under attack. Dmitry and Captain Korva followed her through the breach, Ruby and Weiss tagging behind a few feet away.
The Blackbird soared overhead at the sudden commotion, screeching its awful cry. A series of buzzes followed, and the two Huntresses looked up to see the drones, a half-dozen of them, scream by and begin to zoom around the Blackbird's head, causing it to break off from the ground engagement.
The skies above safe for a moment, the two girls returned their attention to the imminent threats ahead. Jay fired away with near reckless abandon, though there were no shortage of targets. Her LMG cut a blood swath onto the bridge –the sheer force and ferocity of her assault was too overwhelming to deny.
To her right flank, Captain Korva fired in controlled bursts of varying intensity, slaying her enemies with an instinctual intuition as to how to hit them, where, and how much. It was like watching an experience seamstress weave cloth, or an expert guitarist tune their instrument; she seemed to just feel the flow of battle, and act accordingly. Ruby swore none of the Grimm came within twenty feet of her.
On the other side, was Dmitry. Unlike the Captain, who was flowing and fluid in her movements, Dmitry was like a machine. No movement was wasted, no time set aside; he fired three rounds rapid, always hitting his opponents in their eye-sockets, or their exposed necks, or one-burst to a leg to disable, then another to the head to kill. He reloaded so quickly it was like he never stopped firing, and no round was spend on a shot that would not result, or at least contribute, to the death of his prey. Much like Ruby appreciated Korva's grace, Weiss had an appreciation for Dmitry's sterile and efficient approach to combat. There was no passion in it, only an acknowledgment of what had to be done.
The Direwolves, of which nearly twenty lay dead, began to back off from the Rangers, realizing their assault was for naught. Instead, the Grizzlies made their advance. Jay had little trouble slaying the first, though she found herself out of ammo afterwards, leaving her helpless to the next in the charge.
A loud crack exploded from behind her. Jay whipped around to see tiny Ruby, shouldering her Crescent Rose in rifle form, the barrel still smoking. The support gunner looked back at the Grimm, its boney head-plate was cracked open, chunks of whatever were inside Grimm heads painting the ground. Jay paid her a quick nod of thanks, as she scrambled to reload her weapon with a new drum.
Meanwhile, Dmitry made use of his secondary weapon, the thump of his launcher, and the hiss of the smart-grenades as they directed themselves toward the tagged Grizzlies sounding off in rhythm as his mechanical dexterity began replacing the spent explosive as soon as it was fired. He changed targets as soon as the projectile was free to pursue the last, knowing in full confidence that it was strike home.
By the time the five had reached the center of the bridge, the Rangers had a nice barricade of Grimm corpses from which to establish a line of defense.
"Malik, we're in position!" the Captain shouted over the comms.
'Roger that, I've got this thing eating out of the palm of my hand. Just make sure the cheerleaders are ready,' he replied.
The buzzing drones whipped overhead, followed faithfully by the screeching bird.
"Malik is starting his run," Korva shouted. "Whatever you two have planned, get ready! Saber, keep the bridge!"
"Right!" acknowledged Weiss. "Ruby!"
"Already on it!" she replied over the roar of gunfire.
The red Huntress swing Crescent Rose around, barrel-end facing behind her, crouching low in anticipation of quick action. Weiss held forth Myrtenaster, feeling the familiar chill of her semblance rising forth. The Nevermore, or Blackbird as the Rangers insisted on calling it, was screaming toward them, the drones keeping pace ahead. They would be sweeping just over their heads, but this Malik seemed to have the presence of mind to keep the drones separated enough to not interfere with whatever plan they were going to enact.
Weiss eyeballed their approach, and counted down in her head for the right time. Just as the Nevermore was sweeping the lowest on it downward arc, Weiss twisted Myrtenaster, forming a white, snowflake shaped glyph in front of her, angled just slightly upward to give Ruby an angle to gain altitude.
"Now!" she cried.
Ruby leapt up and back, using her aura to reach the aerial glyph, felt the soles of her boots hit the deceptively solid arcane barrier, and no sooner did she make contact, did Weiss thrust Myrtenaster, rocketing the younger girl into the air. Crescent Rose's muzzle barked twice, increasing Ruby's velocity to speeds comparable to her own semblance, though she neglected to use it to further expedite her flight, in favor of maneuverability.
Right before impacting the Nevermore's right wing, she twisted in the air, pointing Crescent Rose to fire into her momentum, sending her into a wild spin. The girl was suddenly transformed into a crimson bladed blur, a human ban-saw. She felt the snap of bone under her scythe, and the red splatter of warm blood exploded in every direction as she fired Crescent Rose again to further the devastation of the blade's impact. The Nevermore cried out in pain, and began to dip, skimming right over the bridge, unable to do anything but flail as gravity's cruel will was done.
Ruby flipped Crescent Rose again, firing against her spin to re-orient herself. Weiss, true to her word, caught her partner with a second glyph as soon as she saw the girl's descent was under control. The scythe-wielder slammed into the platform with an echoing thud as her aura cushioned the landing to nothing more than if she'd leapt off her bunk-bed.
The burst of speed her semblance was more than enough to catapult her back toward the bridge, and for a handful of seconds, she had a nice view of the scene. Their new Ranger friends were holding the Grimm off well. In between bursts of fire, she could see Jay was, for lack of a better term, losing her goddamn mind over what she'd just witnessed, unable to contain her excitement. It was nice being appreciated, so the Huntress didn't see much harm in showing off a little more.
Her landing was complimented by Crescent Rose's blade slamming through the head of an Ursa Minor, killing the beast instantly. Ruby hefted the weapon free, sent herself flying with another shot from Crescent Rose, twirling the weapon above her, decapitating two pouncing Beowolves before bringing it to a stop through the gut of a third at the end of the swing.
Another Ursa Minor leapt in front of her as she freed her scythe, but it soon went limp as a streak of silver entered and exited the right eye of the beast in a fraction of a second. Ruby looked over to find Weiss at her side, the two now back-to-back, working in tandem, slaughtering any Grimm to get relatively near them.
The Rangers sat back, not even firing their weapons anymore, partially because they'd run dry on much of their ammunition, but mostly because there was not much point. The two teenagers had become a vortex of pure evisceration, and the Grimm seemed to have no chance. Dmitry had honestly never seen anyone fight so elegantly, so extravagantly, in his life.
Ruby's scythe never seemed to ever stop moving, always rotating in her hands or around her arms, shoulders, even her neck. It was brutal, but there was a poetry to the heavy, dismembering blows she delivered.
Weiss, on the flip-side of their coin, struck with the precision and speed of lightning, but always with a graceful, almost ethereal calmness. Her kills were quick, almost painless-looking in their rapidity. In a mass of shadow and blood, she was a beacon of white light, unmarred. Sharp, deadly, but strangely beautiful in her lethality and coldness.
Like snow, he thought. Like winter.
Suddenly, the two leapt away from their mound of unworthy dead, Ruby falling back to the Rangers, and Weiss keeping a few feet ahead. The white Huntress held forth her rapier once more, this time her colored chambers spinning within the sword's guard. It landed on red, and the blade of the rapier responded to the color in question, glowing with a scorching heat.
The remaining Grimm charged toward the quintet with unbridled ferocity despite their losses. Weiss, unafraid, thrust the sword into the bridge blade-first. In an instant, the ground in front of her was littered with blazing red glyphs. Pillars of flame erupted from below, searing the Grimm of their fur and flesh, stripping them of their muscles and bones, leaving nothing of the offending darkness. They were purged by her light.
It only lasted a scant few seconds, so intense were the flames. As they faded, the chasm fell quickly back into the natural quiet that had so gripped it when the Rangers had arrived. For a while no-one moved. The Rangers struggled to process everything they'd seen, Ruby was unsure as to whether to break the silence, and Weiss steadied herself against Myrtenaster, breathing heavily.
Jay was, unsurprisingly, the first one to speak.
"Captain, request someone punch me in the face so I know I'm not tripping balls, because that was the sickest shit I've ever seen in my life."
Ruby shyly grinned. No matter how much praise she received, she was always slightly humbled when accepting it. Dmitry gave her two thumbs up, nodding at her enthusiastically, which made her laugh sincerely. His silence so far had been funny and reassuringly confident at the same time, and strangely put her at ease.
The young Ranger noticed that Weiss had yet to move, and was still leaning against her sword. Wondering if perhaps she'd been wounded after all, he decided to check on her. He was no medic, but all Rangers were at least competent at field-care. All part of the training.
Dmitry tapped her shoulder lightly, announcing his presence. The girl flinched in surprise, but was too tired to do much else. She looked over her shoulder, and despite the mask obscuring his entire face, Weiss could sense concern.
"I'm okay," she replied curtly. "Using so many glyphs is a little draining, that's all. I'll be fine in a few minutes."
He nodded slowly in understanding. The two stood without talking for a moment until Dmitry stepped in front of her and pointed at her rapier, then gestured out at the now scorched bridge, his arms sweeping widely and grandly. He turned back to her and clapped his gloved hands together once, then pumped his fists excitedly.
Weiss fought against a grin. Dmitry seemed so strange; a coldly efficient warrior one minute, and now animated and exuberant, even in his blank silence.
"Good to know seeing a true Huntress in action was a satisfying experience."
He gave a quicker nod this time.
"Dmitry," called the Captain. Dmitry perked up at the mention of his name.
"Malik popped the beacon, he has the data. Dust-off in five. The cheer…," the Captain stopped herself and looked to Ruby, then to Weiss. "The Huntresses are coming along."
She moved to turn away, before looking back at him for a moment.
"Be a gentleman and help the lady along, would you? She looks exhausted," she suggested, heading back to the facility to meet with Malik.
"You don't ha-," Weiss was cut off as Dmitry, dutifully following his orders, plucked Weiss up without a break in his stride. For a girl strong enough to pierce a Grizzly skull with a rapier, she was shockingly light.
She hit him against the chest.
"Put me down, you moron!" she demanded.
He stopped and did so, allowing her to slide back onto her feet, which promptly wavered and caused her to fall backwards into Dmitry. He steadied her, but remained still.
She sighed in defeat, appreciating a lack of a 'see?' or an 'I told you so'.
"Fine."
Just as wordlessly as Dmitry approaching everything and everyone else, he lifted her back up, carrying her back towards the communications facility.
Dmitry still held her minutes later when the Chimera VTOL came thumping down. They had waited outside in the courtyard with Jay and Ruby, both of whom she was relatively sure were snickering together. Dmitry seemed unfazed by it, and while Weiss wanted to give them a tongue-lashing, she decided it could wait. She was feeling better, but the Ranger wasn't complaining, and she wasn't going to say no to not having to stand around.
Malik and the Captain exited the facility as the vehicle can down onto the bridge, Malik looking to Dmitry and quickly looking away. By the shaking of his shoulders, Weiss was certain he was laughing too. Again, Dmitry remained either unaware, or stoically immune to the jibe.
The Captain waved them along. The rotors of the VTOL sliced apart the mountain winds, drowning out all other sounds until they passed into the rear canopy of the craft. It was a spacious enough transport to move around ten people, so the addition of Weiss and Ruby was of no concern. Dmitry set the Huntress down in a seat near the middle of the bay, then took the seat across from her.
Captain Korva was the last one on-board, and hit the cockpit door twice before taking her seat, signaling they were ready for take-off. As they rose into the air, the Rangers began removing their masks, wanting to wipe the sweat from their brows and breathe the air freely, without an apparatus.
Ruby noted that while the age on Captain Korva's face was apparent, wrinkles forming under her eyes and the creases around her mouth deep, she swore that she was simply looking at an older Pyrrha Nikos. If the hair were just undone, and if the three facial scars, running parallel to one another up from the left of her chin, across her lips, and just barely around her eye, had not been there, she'd have been a dead-ringer for an aged Mistral Tournament Champion.
Next to her, Malik scratched at the black stubble forming around his chin and cheeks, muttering something about his beard and weeds. His hair fell over his forehead in short, curly bunches, though most of it was held back in a pony-tail. His complexion was darker than the Captain's, and his nose sharper and longer than hers, though not as wide. He was significantly younger, but quite clearly her and Weiss' elder.
"That's why I just lop all mine off," said Jay, responding to the comment of Malik's that Ruby had missed.
Jay's head was mostly devoid of hair, and her complexion was even darker than Malik's, reminding her of Blake in that regard. Her face was hard and defined, a strong jaw with angular features and high cheekbones. Combined with her height, and obvious physical strength, she looked to be carved right out of the mountains they'd fought on. Ruby guessed she was about the same age as Malik, though these were just that, guesses.
Meanwhile, Weiss unconsciously stared straight ahead as the mask fell from Dmitry's face. He took a deep breath as the straps binding it to his face came undone, opening his blue eyes wide. The Ranger was easily the youngest of the four, Weiss swearing he was barely older than her. His face was soft, with a round-tipped nose, prominent dimples, and a light, pale complexion; hardly the face she imagined would be attached to the soldier methodically swatting aside Grimm only minutes before, though as she remembered his silent antics before and after, suddenly it seemed to suit him. His hair was short, and a drab brown color, messily falling in wild strands around his head, which he swiped a hand through, hoping perhaps to sweep it back, but it refused and fell back into its disordered formation.
He questioningly raised his eyebrows at her, and for the first time realized she was staring straight at him. She averted her eyes immediately.
"Your hair is a mess," she commented.
Dmitry put another hand through it to no avail, to which he shrugged apologetically.
"It's not the end of the world, moron. Don't worry about it," she said, not battling against the faint grin this time.
"Where are we headed exactly?" asked Ruby, directed at Captain Korva.
"To Kotova, Field Master Zhukov is there, as well as Major General Duff," she replied. "We're to report our findings at the communications facility to them, which includes the data and you two. I'm sure they'll want to hear about how you came to be there, and your…whatever it was you did to that Blackbird. Before you ask, no, you're not being taken prisoner. I doubt we'd be able to hold you even if you were. We just want to figure out what happened there."
Ruby nodded slowly. "We'll help, but we need help too. I'd like to figure out what's going on too, and there are two more of my team, I think they're here. I need to find them, and something tells me we're pretty far from home."
The Captain smiled, a smile Dmitry had never seen from her before. It was almost motherly.
"I don't know what I can promise, but I'll do all I can."
Ruby nodded. Under the circumstances it could have been worse.
"Thank you."
From Frontier Soldiers (2074), by Laura Hiroyuki
There is historical debate over when exactly the Rangers formed, as there are multiple stages of the organization's history in which the argument could be made that what we now know today as the Rangers came to be. The Rangers of the modern post-war era are known as a Special Mission Unit prioritized with anti-Grimm activity, both reconnaissance and direct-action, beyond the walls, which semi-autonomously operates under the United Nations Special Army Service (UNSAS), itself under the authority of the United Nations Special Operations Command (UNSOCOM). This, however, is a far-cry from their original incarnation.
The origins of the Rangers are mostly shrouded in mystery, as there is debate among even the organization itself as to when and where it truly began, and with whom. All that is known for sure is that they first appeared in central Russia sometime early after the Grimm incursion of 2018, and supposedly rallied behind an almost mythical figure, a woman only called Shashka. This woman was reportedly the first Field Master of the Rangers, or the prototypical equivalent. She has been elevated to a folk-hero status, and while the Rangers of Site 5 claim to possess her original sword (a Shashka, for which she was named) with her blood still staining it, as her true name and identity have never reliably been proven, the evidence is suspect, and since their merger with the UNDF, with many new Rangers being former regular army, belief in this old figure has waned to all but the oldest Rangers and their followers.
The Rangers definitively began as a scattering of ex-military personnel, survivors of early Grimm attacks, and those generally who lacked faith in the Russian national military's ability to stem the Grimm advance –as this was where much of the most intense fighting of the war took place– and wanted to take matters into their own hands.
The Rangers fought on the frontier and beyond the front lines of the Grimm infestation, rescuing those left behind in military evacuations, tracking Grimm movements, securing abandoned or lost supplies, even defending small towns from the Grimm in the absence of government soldiers, and later providing eyes-on-the-ground reconnaissance and pathfinding for the newly formed UNDF. It was not uncommon, and indeed quite usually the case, for individuals as young as fifteen or sixteen to be accepted into the ranks of the Rangers. There was no uniform training in their early days of operation, and so young Rangers would shadow older, more experienced comrades, and learn as sorts of apprentices.
It wasn't until after the war ended that they began to mass-coordinate and centralize, but it wasn't until 2058, when the Rangers formally joined with the UNDF, taking advantage of the international military's funds and logistical support, and making some operational concessions, that they took on their current formation. While they were allowed to maintain their internal command structure, wider acceptance standards, and unorthodox regime of an intense initiation, their apprenticeship was replaced by a detailed four-year long training process, during which modern Rangers learn a wide variety of skills, the dispersal being widely at their discretion. Anything; linguistic skills, demolitions and EOD, aerial and aquatic insertion, Grimm physiology and studies, defensive driving, scouting, sharpshooting, armor certification, medical training, piloting, engineering, computer science, CQC and various martial arts, anything to make them the most versatile and adaptable soldiers on the battlefield, adhering almost religiously to the idea of being jacks of all trades, and masters of none.
History has thus far proven it is indeed better than a master of one.
I try to avoid Author's Notes, so I'll make this short. I'd like this story to be the best it can be, provided people find it interesting. I heavily encourage anyone who has read this to notify me of any errors, inconsistencies, or general shortcomings you find, or feel you've found.
If you have any questions or comments that you feel don't belong on the Review page, feel free to message me.
I have no upload schedule, so if you particularly enjoyed this, then I would suggest following it, or me. This is very much a project I've started for fun, so it will be put on the back-burner in the event that "life" happens, but at the moment I foresee no problems.
Thank you for reading.