Crescent Rose bent over, the servos hissing as they pneumatically actuated, the mech bending down to pick up the heavy crate, containing the majority of the high-caliber ammo that the store had in stock, ordered especially for the mech pilot-in-training.
A sudden loud noise, the clunking of heavy metal in staccato, rang out from behind her, and Ruby dropped the crate in surprise. She hadn't expected any other mechs, especially at this time. An unknown communication popped up on her feed, beamed directly from the other mech.
Curious, Ruby accepted the communique, and the video feed of a man in a black suit, red tie and red glasses appeared on her internal display.
"Can I help you?" Ruby asked, a little confused.
"Step out of the mech, and you won't be harmed," The man responded, confusing Ruby even more.
"Are you mugging me?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at the man.
"Yes!" The man exclaimed, and as Ruby turned to get a view of the hostile mech, she noted the rather large plasma blade sparking a glowing red, the blade itself emitting in almost a machete shape.
"Ohh…" Ruby responded in understanding.
The next moment happened in a flash, the man not even having time to react as his entire mech was sent flying backwards, crashing through a series of empty containers.
Ruby fired up her full combat suite, quickly and efficiently running through the diagnostics and tests that she needed to when activating it. As her radar booted up, and the first ping was leased, she noted two approaching targets.
She knew they were hostile, how could they not be?, and quickly shot forwards, her mech responding to her input like a third arm, or an eleventh finger. Ruby wasn't sure if she had ten fingers, as she wasn't one hundred percent that thumbs counted as fingers, but she decided to table that self-internalized discussion for a situation that didn't require her full attention.
The first of the two mechs rounded the corner and was quickly dispatched as Ruby kicked it in the head, its control mechanisms irreparably damaged as the auto-eject function kicked in, the control pod ejecting and quickly inflating the shock absorption pods, rolling to a rest next to a crate of 20mm dust rounds.
The second mech acted suitably surprised, and Ruby quickly drew her weapon, the small rifle unfolding and firing within a few moments, the 152mm round tearing the second mech's arm into its component parts, albeit warped and shattered.
The gunfire had drawn the attention of the rest of the mechs, but Ruby wasn't going to engage them inside, especially considering the place lacked something Ruby favoured, and that was open space to maneuver. It was also full of highly explosive materials, which contributed a not-so insignificant amount to the decision.
Regardless, her choice was made for her as the third mech rounded the corner, and Ruby instinctively drop-kicked it, the mech and her sailing through the sheet metal wall of the From Dust Till Dawn storage warehouse.
She stood up as the ejection of the third mech occurred, and her weapon came up. She had the space, and she was feeling a little showy.
The haft unfolded, the extensions sprung loose, the rifle shifted.
The blade lit up, an eerily glowing silver, dripping loose plasma.
The scythe lit up the otherwise dark metal of the red and black themed mech, and Ruby turned, balancing the scythe on the shoulders of Crescent Rose, both arms holding to steady it.
The uniform mechs that flowed out of the hole in the warehouse were broken up by the radiant-by-comparison mech that stepped out, the white and red mech, complete with orange highlights for the head, leaning against a long metal rod, curved at the handle. It was oddly reminiscent of a cane, but for a mech to need a cane for anything but a fashion statement was rather unique.
A wide-beam communication opened up, the voice booming through the mechs speakers.
"Well, get her!"
At this, the black mechs all rushed forwards, weapons glinting their red hue, plasma flecks flying through the air as they closed in on Crescent Rose.
It was apparent that these criminals had no honour, as they attempted to not only sway the typical stereotype of attacking one by one and opted for the gang tactic of swarming the opponent.
Unfortunately, Ruby was already on the move, the haft of her scythe lowered as she began to spin, the blade flicking up and cutting through hasty blocks and mistimed guards, severing servos, puncturing pistons and annihilating actuators as her blade nicked crucial components of the amateurish mechs, hastily assembled by inferior mechanics.
"You were worth every Lien, truly you were," The voice said, as the significantly more impressive mech stepped forwards.
"Well, Red, I think we can all say it's been an eventful evening, and as much as I'd like to stick around, I'm afraid this," he said, lifting his cane, the end popping open, "is where we part ways."
The hidden trigger mechanism in the cane was depressed, and whilst the machine wasn't suicidal in any means, the dust-based explosive that fired out the end certainly spelt death for anyone unfortunate enough to not block in time.
Ruby, however, was no novice, and she quickly spun her scythe, the solid construction of the weapon taking the majority of the explosion, driving the girl and her mech back a step. The shrapnel and smoke it threw up, however, distorted her screens, and for a second she lost track of the mech.
She quickly turned around, scanning her surroundings, and lo and behold, down the road was a sprinting mech, hurrying away from her. Ruby quickly pursued, the advantage of Crescent Rose being made of lighter materials, and the fact that it was smaller, proving to be apt at catching up.
Ruby rounded the corner she had seen the mech go round, and noticed the mech standing in the center of an empty clearing, the mech lanes as empty as the vehicle lanes.
She didn't hear the muttered "persistent" that the pilot of the hostile mech offered, but she did hear the telltale whine of a Bullhead's engines, as it plummeted from the sky, one of its mech bay doors opening quickly.
"End of the line, Red!" The mech shouted as it clambered aboard the transport, tossing a large cube at Ruby.
She was aware enough to make the connection between the glowing red veins on the cube and the incoming projectile the mech had sent after it, but she lacked the time to react, and she watched her impending defeat, and possibly doom, approach.
A burst of purple energy stopped it, however, and when the dust and smoke cleared, there stood a mech unlike any she had seen before, and most definitely not hostile.
Black and white, with a long purple and black cape, the mech stood mostly unarmoured, what looked to be a riding crop in its hand. It almost had a glowing purple aura about it, and Ruby stared in amazement.
The giant purple glowing sigil that floated in the air between the Bullhead and the new mech was certainly something to stare at, too.
It burst, firing out a series of glowing purple needles, trailing energy as they struck the Bullhead, the engines whining harder in an attempt to stabilize and not just tip and plunge into the ground below.
She watched as the hostile mech stumbled about, almost losing its footing as it set about deactivating.
A moment passed, and Ruby's danger sense tingled, as a new mech stepped to the edge of the bullhead.
The light made it almost impossible to see, and the details were remarkably difficult to make out at the distance it was at already, but even as it reached the edge of the Bullhead, the air transport was already peeling away, about to make a getaway.
The new friendly mech wasn't about to let that slide, however, and quickly waved the riding crop, another purple glyph appearing in the air. A burst of energy occurred, and a storm of various swirls of dark clouds and crackles of ambient lightning halting the progress of the Bullhead as a sudden hailfire of, well, hail, struck the vehicle.
Ruby watched as the plating of the bullhead took a beating, and even the cockpit didn't survive unscathed, as a large shard of ice penetrated the supposedly bulletproof glass.
The new hostile mech quickly set about returning fire, a bolt of fire exiting the side of the Bullhead and heading straight towards the friendly mech.
It was deflected, of course, another purple glyph, but the flecks of fiery plasma that littered the ground from the aftermath of the attack quickly coalesced, a wide symbol almost like an eye appearing beneath the mech.
A beat passed before the symbol erupted, the mech deftly cartwheeling backwards as the ground exploded, shards of road and other rubble being sent into the air like large chunks of earthen shrapnel.
The friendly mech made use of this, quickly latching that glowing purple aura to them and flinging them like a massive spear at the Bullhead with a wave of the riding crop, but another bolt of flame split it apart, again and a third time, but it was to no avail as the reformed into less of a spear and more of a tendril.
The Bullhead quickly swerved, the tendril skimming off the top and splitting into three smaller, thinner tendrils, which proceeded to wrap around the Bullhead with the intent of ensnaring it.
A massive red circular glyph appeared around the hostile mech, and the friendly mech's telekinetic capture attempt was defeated as the glyph spread outwards in a burst of fiery energy, shredding the connection the friendly mech was maintaining and liquefying the rubble.
Ruby, not wanting to just sit back and become a spectator, quickly folded her scythe back down to it's sniper rifle form, Crescent Rose aiming and pulling the trigger at the behest of its pilot.
The massive caliber of the bullets didn't seem to faze the hostile mech, however, as it simply held up its hand, each bullet becoming molten slag as it neared impact.
The retaliatory attack was similar to the eye-glyph on the ground, except this time it was five smaller ones, staggered around where both Crescent Rose and the other mech were standing.
A moment passed as the friendly mech looked at Ruby, and quickly waved the riding crop, before cartwheeling forwards.
Ruby felt the telekinetic pull on her mech, and stumbled forwards, losing her balance and collapsing to her knees.
By the time both mechs had righted themselves, the Bullhead was already flying off, bay doors sliding closed.
Ruby watched it fly off, before opening a communication to the other mech.
"You're a Huntress…" Ruby began as the communication was accepted. The stern blond woman with glasses stared at her through the screen.
"Can I have your autograph?"
Ruby didn't get her autograph.
She did, however, get whisked away to the nearest police station, for a statement, and to speak privately with the Huntress that had helped her.
The interrogation room was a little chilly, the air conditioning turned just a little too high to make the interrogee uncomfortable, despite Ruby being innocent of any crimes. That she was aware of, at least.
The Huntress from earlier paced about in front of Ruby, her blonde hair and glasses giving off a very teacher-ish vibe, and a strict one at that. The riding crop certainly didn't do anything to dissuade that notion, but the tattered black and purple cape did do something to throw off the image.
"I hope you realise that your actions tonight will not be taken lightly young lady! You put yourself and others in great danger." The blonde woman said, pacing back and forth around the room.
"They started it!" Ruby replied with some heat.
"If it were up to me you'd be sent home with a pat on the back," The huntress began, causing Ruby to perk up with a small smile, "And a slap on the wrist!"
The riding crop came down fast, its end smacking against the table with an audible thwap, causing Ruby to eep backwards, recoiling in her seat.
"But, there is someone here who would like to meet you."
A new figure entered the room from the dark door on the far side. His grey hair hung messily on his head, and his glasses sat precariously balanced on his nose. It was accompanied by an outfit in shades of dark green, a mug of coffee, and, most importantly, a plate of cookies.
"Ruby Rose," The figure stated matter-of-factly. He leaned in closer to the red-hooded girl that sat in the chair. "You… have silver eyes."
It wasn't the first time she'd heard it, of course, but it was the first time anyone had decided that it was the go-to for greetings.
"U-um," Ruby muttered eloquently.
"So, where did you learn to do this?" The man asked, gesturing to the tablet the female Huntress held in her hands, playing CCTV footage of the fight she'd had earlier.
"S-Signal Academy?" Ruby ventured nervously.
"They taught you to use one of the most dangerous Mobile Hunter Platforms ever designed?" The man queried.
"Well, one teacher in particular," Ribu replied.
"I see." The man placed the plate of cookies in front of Ruby.
The poor, poor cookies lasted only moments before they were completely and utterly devoured.
"It's just that I've only seen one pilot of that skill before, a dusty old crow," The man pondered.
"Mmm-thas ma uncluw," Ruby replied, as eloquent as ever.
The man raised an eyebrow at her, and she swallowed the final bit of cookie.
"Sorry. That's my uncle Qrow. He's a teacher at Signal. I was complete garbage before he took me under his wing, and now I'm all like H-wah, Wah-cha, H-yah!" Ruby answered, accompanying her last few sounds with vague notions of karate.
"So I've noticed," The man replied goodnaturedly. The mug of coffee, still steaming, was placed on the table as he leaned against it.
"And what is an adorable girl such as yourself doing at a school designed to train combat pilots?" He asked.
"Well…" Ruby began, thinking. "I want to be a Huntress."
"You want to slay monsters?" The man asked, as he took a seat, hands clasped together.
"Yeah. I only have two more years of training left at Signal, and then I'm going to apply at Beacon. See, my sister's starting there this year, and she's trying to become a Huntress, and I'm trying to become a Huntress, 'cause I wanna help people, and our parents always taught us to help others, so I may as well make a career out of it, I mean, the police are alright, but Huntsmen and Huntresses are just so much more romantic and exciting and cool and just hyaah you know!"
The blonde woman just stared at Ruby with a concerned look on her face.
"Do you know who I am?" The man asked.
"You're Professor Ozpin. You're the Headmaster at Beacon," Ruby answered.
"Hmm. Hello."
"Nice to meet you."
"You want to come to my school?" The man asked.
"More than anything," Ruby replied.
A glance at the woman beside him, who rolled her eyes, Professor Ozpin looked back at Ruby with a small smile.
"Well okay."
Well, been a long time since a chapter for this, but hey, I still like where it's headed. I have a minor plan, although it will follow along the plot with minor canon divergence for a little while at least, but certain events will be changed to fit mechs, much like the Dust Till Dawn fight early in the chapter. I'm still pretty hectic with University, and the next chapter I release won't be for a little while, partly because I should've been writing another damn essay, but it will be coming, you can count on it. Consider this a birthday present from me, despite the fact that it's my birthday not yours, but eh.
Also... just wait until you see the Grimm. I'm looking forward to them.
And, as always, see you next chapter
~AFatFlyingWhale
