Disclaimer: RWBY is the genius of Monty Oum, and ownership belongs to him and Rooster Teeth. I claim nothing except my own wild imaginings.
"I was supposed to be on vacation, Ozpin. There had better be a damn good reason for this."
"The 3rd Fleet is gone, Councilman."
"... What happened?"
"We don't know. They were transmitting fine just a few days ago, and then the entire fleet suddenly went dark. We sent a reconnaissance force to check in on them. They're report arrived this morning. Every last ship has been destroyed."
"... Was it Atlas? Vacuo?"
"Unlikely. While they are a threat to Vale, all evidence suggests the fleet's ships weren't destroyed by conventional ship to ship armaments."
"Ozpin, you know something. Don't leave me hanging."
"... The bodies of the dead seem to have been... partially consumed. It indicates only one possible attacker."
"The GRIMM? Are you insane? The only sightings of Grimm we have are on the outer colonies, and those are small detachments, practically nothing more than raids, and easily discouraged."
"Perhaps. But it is the only logical explanation. Humans wouldn't consume the dead and dying."
"... Ozpin. I'll take this to the President. I'll do what I can. But, you know how much the others believe the Grimm are a threat of the past. I can't promise they'll take action. If you are right, if the Grimm are coming back... I'm afraid humanity has already lost."
"Never give up hope. We defeated the Grimm once before."
"We had Hunters then, those machines were specifically designed to destroy Grimm. They just proved capable at destroying human ships as well. That was the reason they were all destroyed at the end of the Grimm War. All those relics of the past have long since been lost."
"Have they, Councilman?"
"Ozpin... What did you find?"
"Let us just say that not ALL of those relics were lost."
Unnamed Asteroid Belt in the Frontier...
On the very edge of human controlled space, a single vessel flickered into existence just outside an asteroid field, warp-engines shutting down. The machine was about the size of a large truck, normal for an interceptor-class fighter, but was bulky and hard-angled, which was not. It had the standard armaments for its class, a single high-speed rotary gun designed for dogfights, a pair of missile pods for taking out those particularly evasive targets and a single chaff dispenser, for countering the missiles of others. For many just glancing at the vessel, that would have been the end of their inspection, perhaps only pausing a moment more to frown at the gaudy and obnoxious yellow and gold paint scheme. For the pilot inside, that lack of interest suited her just fine. She set her sensors to active scan, then sent out a radio ping, intentionally drawing attention to herself. She was here for a very specific reason, and everyone she'd talked to had pointed this asteroid field out as the likely hiding spot of her target. The young woman paused as she glanced at her targets picture before her attention was caught by a return ping, confirming at least that someone was out there. A moment later, and she received a hail over the normal frequencies. The digital readout opened up and showed her the bearded face of her prey, and she let a grin spread across her face in anticipation.
"Aren't you a little young to be venturing out this far into space, Blondie?"
"Aren't you a little old to have a name like Junior?"
"So... you know who I am. You got a name."
"Several. Before we start talking though, you mind if you came out of that asteroid field. It's not fair you can see me, but I can't see you."
"I don't play games with unknowns."
"Oh, come ooooooon! It's not like me and my little ship here can really do anything to big bad you, right?"
Junior grimaced in uncertainty, then shouted orders. A minute passed in silence, then Junior's ship came into view as it exited the asteroids. The female pilot whistled in faux appreciation, all the while confirming the reports she'd already read on her opponent. A heavy-cruiser, a chassis favored by pirates and criminals for serving as a command post during raids. It was on the smaller end for a capital ship, certainly small compared to a dreadnought or even a destroyer. A nice set up as well, gauss cannons for the main batteries, anti-fighter emplacements placed in strategic locations, even a few missile pods here and there. It was a bit under-loaded, actually, but then again, it's not like it was meant to go toe to toe with a proper capital-ship. The lack of any more armaments meant... yup, there they were, fighters were already slipping out of the capital-ship's belly. The fighters quickly circled her, keeping a relatively respectful distance, while the capital ship halted even farther away. The onboard computer chirped a warning at her, and the young bounty hunter took that as a sign to start talking again.
"Missile lock already? And here I was thinking we could have a pleasant conversation."
"You never answered my question, Blondie."
"Yeah, I know. But see, if I had answered your question, you wouldn't have come out into the open like this."
"What do you mea-"
"System Switched to Combat Mode"
The cold, robotic voice was all the warning Junior got before the blonde pilot cut the call and sent her ship into a stationary tumble, the onboard computer auto-targeting a number of enemy fighters surrounding her before she hit the trigger, her missile pods firing their ordinance. Few reacted fast enough to even begin moving, and within moments the enemy was reduced to a few meager remnants. There were two, however, that were far more skilled, one painted white, the other red, and the two fighter came in fast and hard, their own missiles firing off. The yellow steadied itself instantly and the engine ignited again, sending the ship hurtling forward at combat speed and forcing the girl back into her chair at the sudden acceleration. The blonde only grinned wider, however. A challenge. She hadn't had a good one in awhile. The incoming missiles were easily dodged, the yellow fighter dodged to the side at the last moment and forcing the missiles to have to attempt the long journey to turn around, something they weren't going to be able to make. The two enemy fighters settled in behind the yellow, rotary guns already spinning up, and the blonde huffed slightly in annoyance before starting her own gun spinning and flipping her ship around to face her opponents, secondary engines on the front of the vessel firing up to keep her moving. All three ships opened fire at once, metal slugs filling the empty void between them, and then all three began a deadly dance, exchanging gunfire all the while. The ships moved in three dimensions, "boosting" in circular motions to avoid as much of the deadly fire as possible. Unfortunately for the two enemies, while they had the numbers, the sheer skill of their opponent eventually started to become apparent. The blonde pilot guided her ships through another seemingly impossible maneuver to bring herself in behind the two opposing ships, then focused fire on the red one, rounds punching holes in the enemy ship and dooming it to destruction. Moments before the fighter exploded, its pilot ejected, a small capsule containing and shielding her body from the resulting blast and the vacuum of space after.
"It's not over yet!"
The sudden shout over the open channels caught the blonde by surprise, her longstanding grin replaced with a look of shock, and her ship was hit with gunfire, which forced her into evasive maneuvers. Apparently, the white wasn't willing to just give up, and the bounty hunter didn't have much more time. Junior's ship was already starting to pull back into the asteroid field, and while he had the advantage of simply blowing up rocks in his path, she didn't want to contend with the natural obstacle. The blonde hissed in annoyance, she hadn't planned on using this yet, then tightened her grip on the twin control sticks. The computer inside detected the desire of its pilot, and without the woman doing anything else, began the change. The bulky sides of the fighter detached and pivoted at the front connection point, becoming a pair of arms and revealing the gauss cannons they'd hid within themselves, the fighter standard armament disappearing within the new "body". The secondary engines folded downwards, connecting with the bottom to become legs and provided propulsion from the bottom of the feet. Primary engines slotted into the back, still providing their primary role of propulsion, but also powering up a second internal machine when necessary. As the transformation ended, the pilot's confident grin returned and grew even wider as her ship confirmed what she already knew.
"System Switched to Hunter Mode."
The white ship and its pilot had no time to react, the change in her enemy having occurred within seconds, before the blonde pilot's new arm lashed out, slamming into the underside of the white fighter and simultaneously firing the gauss cannon attached, ripping straight through the engines. The ship went critical, and the pilot ejected quickly as the fighter exploded in the yellow bipeds face. The white girl cheered within the capsule, only to have her elation dry up as the crazy machine emerged completely unscathed, a glowing force field engulfing the biped within its embrace before is dissipated. There was a moment of silence, then Melanie huffed in annoyance.
"That is sooo UNFAIR!"
The blonde pilot within the Hunter wouldn't have paid the defeated girl any attention, even if she could have heard her. Now her attention was focused on the capital ship, and she smiled. This job was practically a cake walk now, not that it hadn't been before. Then again, ever since the woman had found almost literally dropped into the Ember Celica, her job had been almost too easy. The bipedal machine's main engines launched her through the empty void and towards her target. Missiles were launched in an attempt to take out the machine, and the anti-fighter turrets fired a screen of metal, but the yellow machine zipped passed and through the defenses with ease, firing cannon shots from its arms into the capital ship all the while. She was hardly making a dent in the armor, however, and certainly wasn't opening up any holes large enough to break Ember Celica into the ship. This called for the trump card. A button on the left control stick was pushed, and the tell-tale hum of the generators supplying power to internal machine placed just behind her chair got her blood pumping. She saw the information displays in the cockpit start flashing, then the confirmation came in that cold robotic voice, the same as it always did.
"Semblance Core Activated."
The blonde pilot pulled both cannon triggers at once, and the resulting explosion of force threw Ember Celica backwards, tumbling end over end. The pilot inside muttered a curse, she'd forgotten to activate the main engines to prevent the recoil from throwing her around, but the next second her attention was focused on the world outside. The two cannon slugs slammed home into the side of the heavy cruiser, and the resulting explosion ripped a massive hole in the ship, venting oxygen, materials and people into the void beyond before the emergency systems sealed the breach. The bounty hunter grimaced, she didn't like killing people, but sometimes, things just happened. The heavy cruiser kept firing, trying desperately to fight her off, but the yellow Hunter just danced around the capital-ship and unloaded cannon fire into it, ripping more holes in the thing. Eventually, a hail came through, and the blonde backed off to a safe distance opening up channel with a smug grin.
"Alright! I get it! What do you want, Yang Xiao Long?"
"Oh, hey Junior! You figured it out!"
"Of course I did! Who else would ride around it a ship with at that gaudy of a-"
BOOM!
"- beautiful of a paint job."
"Damn straight. I'm here to collect you Junior, the local colony apparently doesn't like it when you take their stuff. So unless you want me to continue dismantling your ship piece by piece, I suggest you get your ass on one of the transport shuttles and surrender yourself to me."
"... There's no room for negotiations?"
"Hell no! What would it look like on my résumé if I started breaking deals off just because someone else paid me-"
Yang's onboard computer chirped at her, this time letting her know another call was waiting, and the blonde frowned, confused as to who would be calling her all the way out here. The only one she knew was her family, and they never called her when she was out on a job. It made it more curious that it was voice only. Who did that these days?
"... Hold that thought, Junior. I got another call- Hello?"
"Hello. Is this the bounty hunter Yang Xiao Long?"
"That would be me. Who are you?"
"Admiral Ozpin, of the Vale Navy."
Yang's face went white as a sheet. She'd done her homework, after all, and she'd found out what it was she was currently piloting. Hunter's were lost technology, something people didn't think still existed, but if it did, most thought the government was hiding it somewhere. If someone from the government, any government, was calling her up, then...
"It wasn't me, I didn't do it, you can't prove it."
"Calm down, Miss Xiao Long. I'm not calling you to arrest you or take your Hunter."
"Ah... really?"
"Yes. Actually, I'm calling you to offer a more... permanent job opportunity."
Yang's face started to regain it's color as her mouth formed another grin. Well now, wasn't that interesting? It would make paying her expenses a little easier if she had a more regular cash flow. And whatever it is they needed her for, it was most likely because of Ember Celica, and not specifically her. Probably just wanted to keep track of her and make her do what they wanted. She might even get some fame and recognition for being the first person to pilot a Hunter in who knows how long. Bonus points for making Ruby jealous beyond belief. All things considered, how bad could it be to work for the government for awhile. It's not like the Grimm were coming back, right?
"Just let me finish up my business here, and I'm in. Where do you need me to be?"
Frontier World Osiris 4, Schnee Dust Company Automated Mining Facility...
She was silent as she floated there in orbit above the desert planet. Below her, somewhere, was a Schnee Dust Company mining facility, built here years ago to strip the planet bare of the precious resource that powered the technology of humanity. While it was supposedly automated, and for the most part it was, there were still people required to be present, in case the facility needed maintenance or some other disaster occurred. The woman couldn't stop herself from thinking of what was to come, what was expected of her. She'd done it before, but the guilt had slowly built up in her heart, and she couldn't honestly say that she felt right, fighting like this. In some ways, she felt like nothing more than a pirate, preying on those too weak or unfortunate to defend themselves. What justice was there in this? What could possibly change from simple fear tactics? Could she keep doing this with a clear conscious?
She didn't have any more time to debate the topic, however, as a familiar chirp rang in her ears and the face of her long time partner came into view.
"Blake, it's time."
"... Ok."
The faunas girl settled herself more comfortably into her seat and set Gambol Shroud to start powering up to full capacity. Her display flickered to life, the system running through its customary checks. The Hunter vessel had been recovered, along with Adam's, from an abandoned colony back in Menagerie. The White Fang had quickly put it to use, and she'd inherited it from her predecessor, who had died in an ambush on one of their camps. Gambol Shroud was a sleek ship, of average size for it's class, and had black color scheme, designed as such to make it difficult to focus on the vessel against the inky blackness of space. It had the customary weapons for an interceptor-class fighter, although it dropped the missile pods for another chaff dispenser, useful for sending out clouds of computer confusing signals. Then, of course, there was Gambol Shroud's Semblance Core...
The flash of an engine flare caught Blake's attention, Adam's ship Blush beginning it's descent towards the planet's surface, and Blake set off after him. Both quickly entered the atmosphere, reentry setting their ships aflame before both vessels detected the change in environment and automatically adjusted engine output to match. Soon enough, they were hurtling through the skies, heading straight for their target, and as they entered sensor range the facility sent out the alert and automated defenses started up, scout-class fighter drones taking off from storage hangers and opening fire as they came within range. Blush and Gambol Shroud parted, each going in two different directions as they switched over to combat mode and began engaging the enemy. Explosions filled the air within moments, Blake and Adam tearing through the enemy defenses with ease, and minutes later they were through. Adam pulled up just above the facility and set up an active scan. The seconds ticked by, and then the bull-faunas got his confirmation.
"Perfect. You move on to the next building. I'll take care of this one."
"What about the workers?"
"What about em?"
Blake felt that painful tugging in her chest, guilt overriding her resolve. This was wrong. Very wrong. They shouldn't be attacking people just to get what they wanted. They should be trying to come up with a peaceful solution. Before she could voice her thoughts, however, a warning was issued by Gambol Shroud, and the pulled back just in time to avoid the ball of energy aimed at her. She spun her ship to face the enemy, and breathed out heavily upon spotting it. An automated defense frigate. Not terribly difficult, if you had a weapon that could punch through capital ship armor. Adam's ship came up next to her own, the pilot inside eying the thing, before opened fire again, and both took evasive maneuvers. Adam kept his distance, but Blake pushed forward, intent on closing the distance and hoping it might have only light armor. Before she could get close enough, however, the thing managed to clip her with one of its attacks, sending Gambol Shroud crashing into the ground, the computer reporting only minimal damage. Sensors warned of another attack incoming mere moments later, and Blake braced for the impact only to feel the sudden jerk of acceleration. She opened her eyes to find Adam's Blush switched into Hunter mode, nicknamed Wilt, bipedal form carrying a small cannon on one arm and a close-range blade in the other. He released her ship as they rose above the frigate, and Adam fired a few shots at the enemy, mostly out of frustration, before he formulated his plan.
"Buy me some time!"
"Are you sure?"
"Do it!"
Blake began her descent, even as Gambol Shroud began shifting into its bipedal form. By the time she'd drawn close to the frigate, her ship had finished, this forms weapons being a hard-mounted blade on one arm and a loose blade on the other, attached to the machine with a "shroud"-like whip and mounted with a rapid-fire machine gun. She charged the enemy capital-ship, even as she saw it charge up it's energy cannons for another barrage of attacks, but before it could lock onto the faunas, she activated her Semblance core. Gambol Shroud began vibrating slightly, its particular special trait breaking into saw truly awe-inspiring science. For a moment she simply hung there, her machine prepping for what it was about to do in insult to the laws of physics, then the vessel seem to multiply, Gambol Shroud breaking apart and becoming five. Each darted in a different direction, and frigate's targeting system went crazy trying to keep up with the sudden increase in targets. The barrage of fire it let loose went everywhere, and caught only one of the illusions, the Gambol Shroud dissipating into dust. The other illusions quickly followed suit, the Hunter only capable of holding the trick for a few seconds at best, but it provided the opening Blake needed. She dropped onto the top of the frigate and began slicing through anything and everything she could get within her reach, and what she could just stab, she threw her loose blade, the gun mounted to it providing propulsion as she began to almost dance across the surface of the enemy ship. Anti-fighter emplacements, what few the ship had, fired uselessly at the Hunter before being cut to pieces, but eventually Blake found she could do no more damage, and the automated frigate wasn't focused on her anymore anyway. Wilt had placed itself in front of the frigate, and the ship was charging its main cannon in an attempt to take out the smaller enemy. Adam braced himself for the impact even as his Semblance core reached its peak.
"MOVE!"
Gambol Shroud took to the sky, vanishing into the clouds above to avoid what came next. The main cannon fired, and Wilt parried the energy with its blade, Semblance activating and absorbing the rush of energy that threatened to overwhelm the smaller ship. Finished absorbing, Adam smirked in sadistic glee and then swung the blade, that same wave of energy that had threatened to destroy him unleashed back upon its sender. The frigate took the attack head on, and even almost looked like its armor might hold, only to finally give under the onslaught and explode in a mass of metal and fire. Adam straighten his machine into a standing position, only to hear a metallic clang and the chirp of Wilt telling him he was under attack. For a moment, it didn't register, and then his machine was rocked as he was stuck again and again and again with gunfire, while simultaneously getting dragged back out of the atmosphere and the planet's gravitational field. Then he felt himself start free-floating, Wilt informing him that the ship had severe damage and would need emergency repairs, even as he watched Gambol Shroud, and its pilot, disappear in the flash of a warp jump. The last thing he heard her say was a simple "Bye".
Three months later, and Blake Belladonna was seated in an interrogation room within a Frontier Colony Station, waiting for someone to come talk to her. She'd come to the station trying to avoid the notice of both the White Fang and the government, and hopefully live out her life peacefully. While she had encountered neither during her stay here, and had in fact been welcomed with open arms by the inhabitants of the station, despite her odd looking ship, she was still wary. Her luck, it seems, had run out, as a small task force of Vale Navy vessels had come calling, and more specifically, they'd come calling for her. She'd been waiting for hours, silently thinking up the worst possible outcomes while also looking for possible ways to escape, when the door opened and she was greeted not by some over-serious looking military official but by another faunas girl, dressed in the clean blue uniform of the Vale Navy, openly displaying her long, brown rabbit ears. She stepped in nervously, eyes scanning about as if expecting a White Fang ambush or something, before stepping further into the room and taking a seat opposite Blake. She fumbled with the folder she had with her a moment before setting it down gently and opening it up, making a show of scanning it before finally, lamely closing it again and glancing up at Blake.
"Um... hi. I'm Lieutenant Velvet Scarlatina. It's a pleasure to meet you."
The faunas Lieutenant stuck her hand out, looking for a handshake, but Blake eyed it, and the girl opposite her, strangely. A Lieutenant? The girl opposite her couldn't be older than she was, and she was already in the military, not to mention an officer? That didn't make much sense. Blake let the silence hang, not willing to simply trust the other girl at the drop of a hat, and Velvet slowly retracted her hand, laughing nervously.
"Right... Uh... you're Blake Belladonna, former member of the, um... White Fang terrorist organization... um... you are.. uh... a little difficult to find."
"I try. Is there a reason you're here?"
"Oh! Yes. Um... I'm here to offer you a job. With the military."
"A... job?"
"Yes. You see, you have a... uh, Hunter. The Admiral is looking for people with Hunters right now, although he hasn't told any of us why."
"So... you're not here to arrest me?"
"No. And if you refuse, we'll simply walk away."
"Just like that?"
"Just like that. I'm... um, I'm supposed to tell you that we'll wipe your records clean and give you a steady paycheck, if you do say yes."
"My records? I was never caught and processed when I was with the White Fang."
"Yes, but... well... that isn't to say that we haven't... uh... didn't know about you... already..."
"I see. So I join the military... and you just make it so that I was never a terrorist?"
"Something like that. You wouldn't be part of the military, per say. More like a contractor, I guess?"
Blake settled back in her chair, confusion rattling around in her brain. The military just randomly shows up(or perhaps not so randomly) and decides to offer her a job, just like that. There was no way that was true. This Velvet didn't seem to have any idea either, but then again, she WAS part of the military. It was possible she wasn't high enough in the chain to warrant getting told what was going on. Still, all things considered, if her supposed records were wiped clean, then she'd be free of worrying about the government trying to hunt her down. Not to mention, the money involved would likely be able to set her up rather nicely somewhere quiet and safe. But whatever it was they wanted her for, it was probably not going to be a simple task. They wouldn't have gone looking for Hunters if it was. The silence that followed stretched on, and Velvet started fidgeting uncomfortably, uncertain as to what was going through her opposites head. Then, with a nod of finality, Blake stood and extended her hand out for a handshake.
"I'm in."
Velvet blinked, then took the hand offered and shook it, all while breathing a mental sigh of relief. It had been her first task as a recently commissioned Lieutenant, and she'd been worried sick that she'd screw it up. It only added to her burden that she was only one of a few faunas officers, and she was frequently assigned menial tasks of little importance. Only her relatively recent transfer to the command of Rear Admiral Ozpin had made her lot in life, and she hoped it would continue that way.
"Um..."
Velvet suddenly blinked away her thoughts and realized she was still holding onto Blake's hand. She let go quickly and stood, facing turning red with embarrassment, and then she ordered herself and relaxed again. Now that she had gotten Blake to come with them, they needed to get back to the Fleet. The Rear Admiral had said time was of the essence, so they needed to get going as soon as possible.
"Um... Miss Belladona?"
"Blake is fine. We're probably the same age after all."
"Oh... right... Um... Blake, then. Where's your... uh..."
"I'll got get Gambol Shroud now. Do you have docking space for her in all those ships of your's?"
"Yes. Aboard the VRS Signal."
"Alright then. I'll go get the docking done, and then we can go."
"I need to get the ships ready to depart as well. I'll see you aboard the Signal, Blake."
The cat faunas watched the rabbit officer leave the room before heading out herself, headed for the docks of the station. She'd made her choice now, and hopefully whatever she was going to be doing, it would do some good. Still, she couldn't help but smile a little. To think, she'd gone from being a terrorist to a government contractor. At the very least, the universe seemed determined to make her life interesting. All she could hope was that it intended to keep her alive while it was at it.
Author's Note- Here we go again. I had this idea pop into my head. And thought I'd give it a whirl. It helps that I couldn't focus on writing my other story at all while this one kept rattling around. Anyway, I'm not going to say too much, and simply let it stand on its own.
As always, Reviews are much appreciated, and until next time, keep dreaming.