Enjoy.
xXx
( Mother of Invention - Training Room )
Three days have passed since the reveal of Jaune Arc being the General of the Freelancer private military and Ruby is still having trouble actually believing it. Ever since that awkward dinner in his office, Ruby hasn't seen any sign of Jaune and not without a lack of trying on her part. Unfortunately, she has been trapped in the infirmary until today where she has been given permission to finally walk on her own two legs. While her body is still sore in some places, Dr. Grey explained to her that walking around will help strengthen her legs again.
What Ruby can't understand is how Jaune of all people has become an actual General of a military. She knows that it takes a lot of brains and strength to gain such a title with Ironwood being a perfect example of what a General should be. While Ruby doesn't like to talk bad about anyone, Jaune wasn't exactly the most competent Hunter-in-training so for him to be an actual General is actually mind boggling.
When Jaune was expelled and his transcripts were revealed to be fake all those years ago, he's lack of skill suddenly made a lot of sense to Ruby.
Unlike Weiss and Yang who didn't want anything to do with Jaune after his expulsion, Ruby would've liked to have kept in touch with Jaune. It doesn't matter to her if he tried to cheat into Beacon, he's still the very first friend she made in Beacon. Sadly, Jaune disappeared off the face of Remnant and other than his Scroll which never answered, she didn't have any way to contact him. For a while, she believed him to be dead.
Instead, she finds out he's running a private military that's in the possession of advanced technology and weaponry she has never seen before. She has so many questions to ask him, but seeing as she's not allowed anywhere without an escort, especially to meet with Jaune who's apparently very busy, she instead finds herself in the spectator room for the airship's training room.
Other than a firing range and a gym, Ruby has never seen an actual training room inside a military airship. Yet, the Freelancers have their very own training room, fitted with advanced tech that Ruby wishes Beacon would have for their own training rooms.
From the spectator room above the arena, Ruby watches as stone pillars rise up from the floor of the large arena, standing nearly nine feet tall. On each side of the arena are two separate teams of four Freelancers, each one suited up in their personal Mjolnir armour and loading up their respective pistols.
"They're not going to... hurt each other, are they?" Ruby asked the Freelancer beside her. Yet again, she's under the watch of another Freelancer, but thankfully, he's a lot nicer than Felix and a lot more emotional than Locus.
Although his twin sister is a bit of a bitch.
North chuckles as he crosses his arms across his chest, wearing his own Mjolnir armour, except for the helmet which he has left on a nearby bench, revealing his short blonde hair and warm smile. "Nah, they don't use live rounds during training, just paint."
( North Dakota - Red Vs Blue )
"Paint?" repeated Ruby.
"Yep. Locks up the armour when hit and is a pain in the ass to clean out afterwards" nodded North, watching as the eight Freelancers get ready to begin their training exercise in a four vs four match-up. While watching the training session begin, he can't help but remember what happened to Maine and Wyoming after they snuck live rounds and grenades into a training session while battling with her and causing an accident which cost York an eye.
North feels a chill crawl down his spine upon remembering what the General did to those two once he found out what happened. A lot of work had to be put into place to fix the dents in both the Freelancers armour and even then, they were left in the infirmary for over a month to heal their injuries after their beat down.
Ironically, they were both set up beside York in the Medical Bay.
"Also stings like a bitch when you get hit by it" pointed out a fully armoured Felix, walking past his fellow Freelancer and the Huntress. Ruby won't admit it to the already arrogant Freelancer, but she does find Felix's armour to be pretty cool.
"That too" chuckled North. "Look, they're about to start."
Ruby turns back to watch the arena and as North said, the two teams are shooting each other with paint while using the pillars as cover. Ruby watches in fascination as one of the Freelancers gets hit in the arm, causing a big blob of pink paint to latch onto the armour, as well as stick the unfortunate Freelancer to the nearby pillar. Ruby pegs him as a loss, if not for him throwing his pistol up in the air and catching it with his free arm before gunning down the Freelancer who shot him. Once he runs out of ammo, another enemy Freelancer unloads his entire clip into the trapped Freelancer, covering him completely in pink paint.
"Whoa" muttered Ruby, looking quite impressed with the smart play. He didn't think twice before enacting a plan that not only surprised his opponent, but actually took them down. He still got taken down, but at least he evens the playing field for his teammates.
After another ten minutes of watching, one team is left victorious with one person left standing, although she does have some paint stuck to her right leg.
"Enjoying the show?" asked North, turning towards the Huntress.
"They were good, especially that guy in the green armour" answered Ruby, referring to the Freelancer who did the trick to switch hands with his weapon.
"I'm sure Georgia will be delighted to hear all about that" chuckled North.
Ruby watches as the pillars sink back down to the floor and the paralyzed Freelancers are taken out of the training room. "What's next?" she asked, wondering what other training the Freelancers do when they're not on missions.
North looks to his right and reads the holographic screen that's beside him. "Next up is Pugil stick training. Illinois Vs... shit."
"What is it?" asked Ruby, turning a pair of worried silver eyes towards the Freelancer.
North turns away form the holographic screen and smiles, although it's obviously forced. "Oh, nothing. Just wondering what Illinois did to piss off South" he said, sending his prayers for the poor schmuck.
Ruby feels a chill as she remembers North's twin sister, South. Where North is warm and friendly to everyone, South seems to have a grudge against anyone who so much as looks at her. "I hope she and Yang never meet" she thought, hating the idea of Yang meeting South. Having one hot-tempered sister is one thing, but another? Ruby doesn't want to take her chances.
Ruby looks down at the arena to see two Freelancers walk towards the centre with a pugil stick in their hands. It isn't difficult for Ruby to figure out which one is South, since she's the only one in the arena with purple Mjolnir armour that's designed almost exactly like her brother's. The only differences are that she has coloured her armour in a different shade of purple than her brother's and it's slightly less bulky, showing just enough curves for everyone to know she's a female.
( South Dakota - Red Vs Blue )
South's opponent is wearing a set of blue Mjolnir armour with no noteworthy traits except for the wide visor on his helmet. Unlike Maine who's visor covers most of his helmet, Illinois's just covers most of his face. Ruby also notes that unlike South who's walking with a confident swagger, Illinois looks nervous from how slow his steps are.
( Illinois - Red Vs Blue )
"Who's Illinois?" asked Ruby, knowing nothing about that Freelancer.
"Explosive Expert. Alright with a rifle, but he prefers anything that goes boom. Also one hell of a drinker, but sometimes it gets him in trouble." North sighs as he waves a hand towards the scene infront of them. "Case in point."
"Beginning Pugil stick training. Illinois Vs South. Round One begins in five, four, three, two, one. Round begin" spoke an automatic female voice, bringing Ruby attention back to the arena.
Ruby watches as the pair of Freelancers charge at one another and attack each other with their pugil sticks. Unlike what she expected, Illinois doesn't get destroyed and actually manages to go blow-for-blow with South. For the next five minutes, the pair attack, dodge or parry each other with neither actually managing to land a blow.
That is until South performs a low spin kick that throws Illinois off his feet, but before he can land, South performs a second spin and swings her pugil stick into Illinois's side, launching the unfortunate Freelancer away.
Ruby jumps when she sees the pugil stick give off an electric shock once it makes contact with Illinois's armour. "Was that an electric shock!?"
North waves off the Huntress's concerns. "Don't worry about it. With our Aura and Mjolnir armour, that kind of shock is more of a sting than anything else, although I don't recommend getting pumeled by it."
For another five minutes, Ruby watches as South give off blow after blow onto Illinois who can only defend himself for so long from the angry female Freelancer. Ruby notices how the Freelancers move and fight more like Hunters than actual soldiers.
The match finally comes to an end when South thrusts her pugil stick into Illinois's stomach, making him lean forward before spinning and uppercutting him in the chin with her weapon, throwing Illinois in the air for a few seconds until he eventually lands on his back in pain.
"Poor Illinois" sighed North, shaking his head in sympathy.
As Ruby watches South leave the arena and the medics looks over Illinois, she can't help but wonder how Jaune has managed to bring so many odd characters into the Freelancers without the military getting out of control. She knows General Ironwood wouldn't stand for such characters in the Atlesian military.
Ruby's shaken out of her thoughts when she sees North press a finger to the earpiece in his right ear. She can't hear what the voice is saying to the Freelancer, but she can see North nod his head with a serious look on his face.
"Yes sir, I'm on my way" spoke North before disconnecting the call from his earpiece. Without so much as a glance in Ruby's direction, North picks up his helmet and puts it on. It's only when the helmet is securely locked on does he look back at the curious Huntress. "Sorry to cut this short, but I've got work to do. Would ya mind heading back to the medical bay for me?"
Ruby opens her mouth to answer, but North has already ran off down the hallway. Blinking, she turns towards the opposite direction to where the Medical Bay is located and looks back towards the direction North ran off to. Seeing nobody around, Ruby gains a determined glint in her eyes and she runs after the Freelancer.
"I never did say I would."
xXx
In one of the many labs of the Mother of Invention, Jaune Arc can be found, studying the latest research on a ScrollTablet from one of his best scientists. "And you actually completed the formula?" he asked, looking away from the ScrollTablet to the scientist who's working on a console in front of him.
Many people might believe in the stereotypes that scientists are cliche nerds who wear white lab coats, thick round glasses and have balding heads. Sometimes, those cliches prove to be correct.
However, Alexander Nox is not one of those stereotypes.
Standing over six feet tall, Alexander is a giant of a man who is built with strong muscle. His long brown hair is brushed back so it stays out of his face or rather, keeps it away from his gas mask which he is always seen wearing. Every Freelancer knows not to mess with Alexander since he is just as dangerous as he is brilliant.
Once hailing from Mistral, Alexander was a brilliant and well respected scientist who worked in the Research and Development branch for the Mistral Council. Now, he's on Mistral's most wanted list, due to his experiments becoming more gruesome, especially after using them on Human and Faunus subjects. After his experiments were discovered, Alexander left Mistral after killing the head of the research lab and burning said lab down to the ground.
After escaping the authorities, Jaune found and offered the scientist a role in the Freelancer's own R&D branch. While Alexander is clearly a very dangerous man, Jaune can't ignore the man's brilliance, although the scientist prefers to go by the name, Caustic now.
( Caustic - Apex Legends )
Caustic's brilliance is being proven right now in front of Jaune as he looks through the one-way mirror to see a Grimm in a large glass container in a secured room. The container lies in the very centre of the room with four tubes connected to the roof of the Grimm's prison. It's always such a pain to capture Grimm alive, especially an Alpha Ursa of all things.
Said Grimm let's out a battle cry as it throws its entire body into the side of the glass container. However, the Grimm bounces back, having failed to even scratch the wall. That is likely because the Grimm's prison is made up of blast-proof glass. Even though the Grimm is an Alpha Ursa which is one of the physically stronger Grimm out there, the container's material can survive explosions from missiles. It would take a hundred Alpha Ursa or one S-Rank Grimm to break through the glass.
Blast-proof glass is strong, but S-Rank Grimm like a Leviathan are a lot stronger.
Wearing his iconic gas mask, Caustic nods while still pressing buttons on his console. "Indeed. Now it's time to see if Grimm can survive death itself" answered the scientist before pressing a large green button.
The hatches in the container's ceilings open, allowing green gas to pour into the Grimm's container. For the first few seconds, the Alpha Ursa doesn't seem to notice the gas pouring into its prison, but once it does, the effects are nearly immediate. In a cry of anguish, the Grimm starts banging itself against the wall, but this time, it's out of desperation than rage.
Jaune ignores how Caustic is chuckling beside him and continues to watch as the Alpha Ursa seems to slow down before finally collapsing to the floor. A second later, the Grimm's body starts to disperse into smoke, signifying its death. "It worked."
"In the end, death always win" spoke Caustic with a chuckle.
Jaune doesn't need to see Caustic's face to know he's quite pleased with himself and the results of his Nox Gas. Not that he can blame him since his Nox Gas has just been proven to be effective against Grimm. The Kingdoms made attempts of their own to beat Grimm with poisonous gas and other biological weaponry, but to no effect. However, Caustic has made his own poisonous gas that has proven to be fatal to the Grimm and Jaune is looking forward to see its effects in the near future.
Nox Gas can hopefully be used to clear out dozens, if not hundreds of Grimm all at once in a widespread area. It'll not only save on the cost of ammo, but the possible lives of men and women who have to use them.
Before Jaune can speak, he hears his Scroll buzz in his jacket. Pulling out the device, he answers it. "Yes?"
"Sir, Bloodhound has just contacted us. The targets have settled and made camp" spoke Adam from the other end of the call.
That's the best news Jaune has heard all day and that includes Caustic's gas being poisonous to Grimm. "Good. Have the teams assembled?"
"Waiting for your orders, sir."
"Good, I'm on my way to the Bridge" told Jaune before disconnecting the call and placing his Scroll back into his pocket.
"No time to rest for the weary" said Caustic who is still messing around with the console in front of him.
Jaune smirks at the scientist. "There'll be plenty of rest after we change the world" he answered before walking out of Caustic's laboratory. Having left in a hurry, Jaune doesn't hear Caustic's reply.
"Or when we're all dead."
( Mother of Invention - Bridge )
Ruby peeks around the corner where she sees North meet up with two other Freelancers who are equipped in their own suits of Mjolnir armour. However, Ruby recognizes only one of the two who is North's sister, South. The other Freelancer she doesn't recognize, but she can tell by the slender physique from under the cyan-coloured armour that they must be female. What has Ruby really curious is how each one seems to be equipped with weaponry, meaning they are likely going to be needing to use them soon.
From her cover, Ruby watches the three Freelancers walk through a pair of sliding doors which closes right behind them. Seeing nobody else in the surrounding vicinity, Ruby tip toes towards the doors, making sure to stay out of range of the doors automatic sensors. It would be very awkward for the doors to open and show everyone that she was spying on them.
Hugging her back to the wall, Ruby strains her hearing to find out what the Freelancers are doing. While she can only hear mumbling, she does recognize the voice of Jaune from inside the room. "Jaune!"
So distracted in her snooping, Ruby doesn't see the giant of a man behind her until she hears... growling?
( Mother of Invention - Bridge )
"Does everyone understand their orders?" asked Jaune, looking over the Freelancers he has chosen for the important mission. All of the Freelancers and Jaune himself are standing around a holographic table that's in the centre of the Bridge while it depicts a holographic image of a makeshift camp of sorts. With the help of Bloodhound who is waiting for them nearby the enemy's camp, they are able to get a bird's eye view of the enemy camp, showing them the structure of the camp and the number of enemies, giving them an even bigger advantage.
The mission will be dangerous, much more so than any previous ones they've undergone. It'll only be even more dangerous if she were to return during the time of attack.
That is why he has picked the best Freelancers he has on hand at the momentinto undergo the mission.
Team A will consist of Carolina, Washington, York and the missing Maine.
Team B will consist of North, South, Wyoming, and C.T.
All the attending Freelancers either nod or offer their vocal agreement, although one of them is looking around the Bridge, noticing a specific Freelancer missing.
"Sir, what about Maine? Isn't he coming along?" asked North, having noticed the muscle of the Freelancers missing. While Maine is usually as silent as a ghost, his pure white armour and intimidating presence makes it hard to ignore him.
Jaune looks around the Freelancers in the Bridge, although he has already noticed Maine's absence before briefing everyone of their mission. "Maine isn't usually someone to miss out on briefing. Something must be holding him up" he answered, wondering what could distract the Faunus.
Jaune soon gets his answer when the sounds of a tiny shriek and struggling can be heard just outside the doorway. After a moment, the doors slide open, revealing Maine in all his armoured and intimidating glory. He makes his presence known to everyone on the Bridge by hissing loudly, making a few nearby scientists who are working on the consoles uncomfortable. Walking into the Bridge with a red hood in his right hand, everyone takes note of the struggling cargo Maine is dragging behind him before he stops in front of the holographic table and lifts up said cargo, showing it off to everyone like a prize.
"Hey! Let me go you big meanie!" cried Ruby, struggling in the air while kicking her arms and feet. For a professional Huntress, Ruby doesn't appear to act like one.
South's shaking shoulders shows that she's finding Ruby's situation amusing and is trying her best to hold herself back from laughing.
North is holding a hand to the face of his helmet while shaking his head, blaming himself for what's happening right now.
Carolina shakes her head as well, although it's because she's disappointed with what she's seeing.
( Carolina - Red Vs Blue )
Jaune looks to be easily amused by the smile on his face. "You can out her down now, Maine."
Hissing out a response, Maine let's go of the red cloak, having Ruby land on the floor with her rear. "Jerk" she muttered, standing up and patting her rear to get rid of the invisible dust.
"What should we do with our little stowaway?" asked Carolina, looking at Ruby who seems to realize the position she's in.
"You think she's a spy?" C.T. asked Wyoming who's standing beside her.
( C.T. - Red Vs Blue )
"If she is, this is gonna be amusing" answered Wyoming, folding his arms in front of his chest.
( Wyoming - Red Vs Blue )
"Let's not get irrational. There could be a very could explanation for her spying" said Washington, although even he isn't confident with his statement.
( Washington - Red Vs Blue )
"I apologize, sir. I should've made sure she returned to the medical bay first" apologized North, but Jaune waves off his Freelancer's apology.
"No need to apologize, North. We all make mistakes and we learn from them. It's how we grow as Humans and Faunus" stated Jaune, not once dropping his smile. He turns from North to look at Ruby who is looking at everything but his eyes. "Now then, what should we do with you?"
"I say we throw her overboard. Let the Grimm deal with her" said South, glaring into Ruby's frightened silver eyes.
"South" said North in a warning tone that only older siblings can make. Ruby would know since Yang has been known to use that exact same tone whenever she stole from the cookie jar.
"What? Don't pretend like this isn't your fault when it clearly is" laughed South.
Jaune shakes his head over his Freelancers antics, ignoring Wyoming who tries to tell another one of his knock knock jokes. "Let's get back on track. Maine, your team will brief you on the mission during transport to the enemy location."
Maine nods while hissing, making Ruby take a step away from the intimidating Faunus.
Jaune places his hands in the holographic table and leans down on it, making sure to stare deep into each Freelancer's eyes so he can get his message across. "I don't need to remind you all that this mission is of vital importance. During transport, I want each and every one of you to remember what they did to our people. Not just to the civilians under our protection, but to your fellow Freelancers who lost their lives protecting them. I want you to show them what true fear looks like. I want you to show them what happens to those who mess with our family. Am I understood?"
Ruby looks around the Bridge, seeing each one of the Freelancers standing up straight and saluting by placing their fists to where their hearts are. It isn't just the Freelancers who are saluting, but also the scientists who were working on the consoles.
"YES SIR!" declared everyone in the room, except for Ruby and Jaune.
Jaune nods, looking more serious than Ruby has ever seen him. "Good. You are dismissed. Give them hell."
Ruby watches as each of the Freelancers exit the Bridge, leaving the scientists by the console and Ruby with Jaune who has turned around and is staring out of the window, looking over the forestry of Mistral.
Swallowing some saliva that gets caught in the back of her throat, Ruby walks over to Jaune until she's only one step away from him. "I'm sorry."
"Honestly, I don't blame you. After being trapped here for so long, I'd be snooping for some entertainment as well" replied Jaune with his voice full of joyful amusement. When he turns around, that joyful amusement vanishes as he glares down at Ruby, making the proud and strong Huntress feel small. "But if you think you can roam around my ship without any supervision, then I might as well throw you out right now."
Ruby can't stop the cold hand from wrapping around her heart as she looks into the cold eyes of her former friend. "H-He really means it" she thought, wondering what happened to the sweet, but goofy boy she use to know in Beacon. "I-I won't. I promise!"
Staring at the Huntress for a few more seconds, Jaune closes his eyes and sighs before turning to face the window again. "Very well. You may stay until Dr. Grey gives the go ahead to drop you off in Vale."
Ruby nods in gratitude, even though Jaune can't see it since she's standing behind him. "Thank you. I'll return to the medical bay then" she said, turning to walk out the door.
"Stay."
Ruby stops when she hears Jaune and looks to see him looking at her from over his left shoulder. "You wanted to find out more about the Freelancers, didn't you? Then how about a demonstration to show you what we Freelancers can really do?"
Ruby blinks, wondering what he means by that before she sees a large screen appear in the glass window in front of Jaune. It shows a bird's eye view of what looks to be a large camp, likely bandits from what Ruby can tell. "It's a holographic window" she thought in awe, watching as eight more screens appear with video footage from the eight Freelancers helmet cameras. Each screen appears by either the left or right of the large screen in the middle, dividing them into the two teams they were assigned in.
"A year back, one of the towns we were protecting was attacked by bandits" spoke Jaune, having Ruby's full attention. "There was no warning. They just showed up in the middle of town and slaughtered anyone they saw. The team of Freelancers stationed there tried their best to protect the civilians, but they stood no chance against her" he said, spitting out the word like it's venom. "The team was killed without mercy. Those bandits didn't stop until everyone was either butchered, raped or pillaged. By the time reinforcements arrived, they were long gone and the Grimm were feasting on the corpses of the civilians."
Ruby can now understand why Jaune is so angry. Not only did he lose a team of his Freelancers, but the civilians he was entrusted to protect were slaughtered. She isn't the same naive girl she was when first entering Beacon. She has seen the bad things done to good people, caused by bad Humans and Faunus.
"I have been searching for them ever since and finally, we've found them..." Ruby can't help but take a step back when she sees him clench his fists and she can't help but pity the bandits who made Jaune angry. Ruby isn't one to promote death and murder, but she knows that she's on thin ice as it is with Jaune. The last thing she wants is to be thrown into a Grimm infested forest while still injured so she keeps her mouth shut.
"...we found the Branwen tribe."
Ruby's thoughts of pity for the bandits come to a halt when she hears the name of the bandit tribe that has wronged the Freelancer military. "What?" she muttered in disbelief, looking at the holographic screens to see if she heard Jaune right. Her fears come true when she sees the Freelancers footage show each team standing in the forestry on the outskirts of the bandit camp. Like most bandit camps, they have set up walls made up of logs with the edges cut into spikes so to prevent Grimm from climbing over them. On the walls is a symbol that has been painted on to show who the bandits are and much to Ruby's horror, she recognizes the symbol belonging to the Branwen tribe.
The tribe that is ruled by Yang's mother, Raven.
"The Branwen tribe? You're declaring war on the Branwen tribe?" asked Ruby in shock. She knows that the tribe is strong as most of the members are known to have their Auras unlocked. They've been a pain in the ass for all the four Kingdoms to deal with, but they can't do anything since every Hunter team that was sent after them has never returned. Some like General Ironwood would like nothing more than to send an army to annihilate the tribe, but by the time someone finds out their location, they pack up and disappear back into the Grimmlands, leaving no clues on their whereabouts.
Jaune turns to face Ruby and cocks his head to the side. "War? Ruby, I think you're mistaken. We're not declaring war on the Branwen tribe."
Ruby doesn't stop the look of confusion on her face. "You're not?"
Jaune shakes his head. "Of course not. We're going to slaughter the Branwen tribe."
Ruby widens her eyes over Jaune's declaration, as well as the bloodlust emitting from his eyes. Before she can voice her concerns, she hears the voice of Carolina speak from the screen. "General, we're in position. Shall we proceed?"
"Proceed, Carolina. Eliminate all hostiles" ordered Jaune, turning to face the screens that show the eight Freelancers closing in on the walls of the bandit camp.
"What about Raven? She'll slaughter them all" said Ruby, trying to stop Jaune from sending his Freelancers into the camp. While she admits that they're impressive, there is a reason nobody has come back alive after encountering the Branwen tribe. That reasons name is Raven Branwen who's on a league above most Hunters. She's also worried about what an attack on the tribe could do for Yang's search for her mother.
"Raven Branwen has been reported by my scout to have left the tribe early this morning. Without her, I'm confident my Freelancers can handle a tribe of savages. After all..."
Jaune looks over at Ruby, his lone organic eye shining a white light that has Ruby freeze on the spot.
"... the weak die and the strong live. I think it's about time Raven understood the true meaning of her own words."
xXx
On one side of the bandit camp is Team A with Carolina, Maine, Washington and York hiding within the forestry. There's three hundred feet of empty grasslands that separate the forestry and the wooden walls of the bandit tribe encampment. This is done to give the scouts that are standing on top of the camp's surroundings walls ample time to warn the rest of the tribe of an attack.
Carolina nods towards her teammates. "You heard the General, let's get to work. Maine, you know what to do" she said, nodding towards the heavy hitter.
Maine growls in recognition. Using the magnets in the back of his armour, Maine sticks his iconic Brute Shot to his back before picking up the heavy piece of weaponry beside him.
( Brute Shot - Halo Series )
Watching Maine step out of cover of the trees and into the sight of the bandit scouts that are watching from atop their wooden walls, Carolina connects her armour's comm-link to Team B who are positioned on the opposite end of the bandit camp. "Maine's in position. How's it going on your end?"
"Just swell. Wyoming is in position and ready to deliver the payload" answered North from the opposite end of the bandit camp. He doesn't miss the bandits who spot the white armoured Wyoming and they have likely took notice of Maine as well. "Our hosts don't look too keen on seeing us though"
"Well then, I guess we'll have to give them their presents" chuckled Carolina before turning towards Maine. "Light them up, Maine!"
Hissing, Maine drops down to his knee and slams his heavy weapon to the ground, making sure the weapon's head is pointing upwards. The weapon in his hands so happens to be a powerful support weapon that goes by the simple name, Mortar. Like all mortars, it's a long ranged weapon that fires an explosive shell, but unlike regular mortars, the Mortar fires a special type of shell. As shown when Maine fires the explosive shell into the air and is soon followed by Wyoming's own shell which he fires a second later.
( Mortar - Gears of War Series )
The bandit scouts can do nothing but watch as the two shells fly over their heads before falling to the middle of their camp. Just as the shells hit the twenty meter distance before hitting the floor, they explode and scatter explosive bomblets, causing more widespread destruction.
Team A and B don't need to be inside the camp to know the shells are causing mass destruction and death for the Branwen tribe. They can see the flames from the explosions and the screams of surprise and pain from the bandits.
Carolina nods before turning towards Maine. "Again."
Maine doesn't reply, having already loaded another shell before firing it once more. Wyoming is closely following Maine's lead, dropping another shell on the stunned bandit tribe, making another explosion which likely kills a few more of the bandits.
Nodding in satisfaction, Carolina steps out from the tree she's using as cover and aims her M395 Designated Marksman Rifle at one of the two scouts on the wall before shooting a hole in his head.
( M395 Designated Marksman Rifle - Halo Series )
The second scout beside him doesn't last much longer, having lost her own head after York shoots her with his Battle Rifle.
( BR85 Heavy Barrel Service Rifle/Battle Rifle - Halo Series )
"Maine, want to lead the way?" asked York, referring to the wall made up of logs.
Maine throws aside the Mortar and hisses. Cracking his neck, Maine takes a running stance before he charges towards the wall of wood. Trees may be tough, but Maine is tougher. With a tackle, Maine breaks through the wall of logs with minimal effort, having also thrown aside a bandit who is unfortunate enough to be standing at the wrong place at the wrong time. Ignoring how the bandit lands with the sound of his bones snapping, Maine growls and pulls out his Brute Shot from his back. Waiting for nobody, Maine starts firing at the confused and injured bandits, taking no survivors as his explosive grenades explode upon impact.
Carolina, York and Washington watch from the hole Maine just made in the wall as he destroys and kills everything in sight.
"We don't need to join in, do we?" asked Washington, turning towards Carolina.
"I'm with Wash. Why not kick back and let Maine do all the work?" said York, agreeing with Washington.
Carolina shakes her head and jogs through the hole. "Boys" she muttered, but both of her teammates hear her.
Wash and York turn to each other. "What did we do?" asked Washington in confusion.
York sighs and follows after his team leader. "Hell if I know."
On the other side of the bandit camp, Team B runs towards the wall, but instead of breaking through it like Maine did, they jump straight over the wall, having no need to use their afterburners to help them as their Aura and armour's physical enhancements are plenty enough for them to use to get over the high wall.
While in midair, the four members of Team B fire their weapons down at any nearby bandits before landing with North landing on top of a bandit who falls on his back with the heavy Freelancer on him. Having Aura to absorb most of the impact, the bandit slowly opens his eyes and the last thing he sees is the barrel of North's Sniper Rifle before a bullet turns his head into mush.
"I always do enjoy our outings together" chuckled Wyoming, firing his Battle Rifle at nearby bandits who scatter when they realize they're being attacked on both sides.
"Please tell me that's not a start up for another knock knock joke" groaned North while firing his Sniper Rifle through the skull of a bandit sniper who was aiming at South.
( SRS99-S5 AM Sniper Rifle - Halo Series )
While firing, South sees an incoming bandit with a sword who's too close for her to shoot at. Instead, she sidesteps the bandit after he thrusts a sword at her and even leans her head back to avoid his follow up swing aimed for her neck. Grabbing his outwards arm, she spins her body and swings him over her head, dropping the bandit on his back. The bandit cries out pain so to shut him up, South pulls out her combat knife and jams it into his throat. She feels resistance from his Aura, but with the combination of her Aura and her armour-enhanced strength, she pushes through his Aura's defenses and stabs the knife straight through his throat.
Ignoring the blood gushing out of the dying bandit's neck, South pulls out her knife and throws it at a bandit who is aiming a rocket launcher at her brother. While the blade doesn't pierce the man's hand, it does chase him to involuntarily let go of his weapon, just as he pulls the trigger. The result is an explosion that kills him, as well as his fellow bandits beside him.
C.T. fires her Battle Rifle at a group of bandits from behind a pile of boxes, but jumps out of the way when the pile of boxes beside her explodes outwards to reveal a large and muscular Faunus with horns on his head, holding a large battle axe which he drops down on C.T. who rolls to the side.
C.T. widens her eyes when she sees the ground explode from the impact with the bandit's axe. "He's strong" she thought, looking at his snarling visage.
"Time to fucking die!" roared the muscular Faunus as he swings at the Freelancer. He grins as he sees his battle axe cut straight through the armoured woman's torso, only to widen his eyes when he sees her vanish in thin air, courtesy of the Holographic Projection Armour Enhancement that is installed in her suit of Mjolnir armour.
"You're right."
The bandit soon finds out where his opponent disappeared to once he feels her elbow hit the left side side of his jaw. Dropping down to one knee and grabbing his jaw in pain, the muscular bandit barely manages to cross his arms in front of his face to block the Freelancer's knee, but the strength in the blow is enough to throw the large Faunus onto his back. Before he can get back up, the Faunus coughs up the air in his lungs after C.T. drops a boot in his chest.
"It's time to die, but not for me" stated C.T. before noticing three bandits aiming at her in the distance. Thinking fast, she grabs the muscular Faunus by the collar of his shirt and lifts his large body in front of her. The bandit doesn't get much time to think about what's happening when he feels gunfire hit him in the back. Within seconds, the constant gunfire shatters the Faunus's Aura and the bandit's body is soon riddled with bullets. However, those bullets eventually do stop when the bandits weapons run out of ammo.
The moment C.T. hears the clicking of the bandits empty guns, she let's go of the bloody corpse she was using as a shield and with the button already pressed, she throws a fragmentation grenade at the three reloading bandits. The bandits widen their eyes in horror when they see the incoming grenade and they move to get of the blast range of the explosive. Their attempts prove to be worthless once C.T. pulls out her M6G Magnum from her hip and shoots at the flying grenade with excellent precision, causing it to prematurely detonate and release its shrapnel payload in the faces of the bandits.
( Fragmentation Grenade - Halo Series )
Maine can be found in the centre of the bandit camp, being surrounded by nearly two dozen bandits with most of them dead.
As he diverts an axe from a Rabbit Faunus and stick the blade part of his Brute Shot into her stomach, Maine notices another bandit in the distance who pulls aside a tarp to reveal a mounted and loaded minigun. The bandit opens fire at the Freelancers, causing all those who noticed the minigun to take cover while York pulls Washington into cover.
"York, take out the gunner!" yelled Carolina from over the deafening sound of the minigun.
"I don't think so. I'd rather not get shot today, thank you very much" told York before shooting a bandit in the stomach after they tried to flank him.
Carolina glances around the corner of her cover and notices the bandits are starting to move in on their position. "They're regrouping!"
Growling, Maine decides to deal with the problem himself since nobody else is obviously going to do it. Peeking over his cover to make sure he has the minigun's position correct, Maine runs out of cover and into the open field. Of course, the bandit on the minigun sees the bulky Freelancer and turns his weapon towards him. As the bandit follows the running Maine with his minigun, this gives Carolina and the rest of her team the opening they need.
"Maine's giving us an opening. Open fire!" ordered Carolina before she fires at the bandit on the minigun with York and Washington following her a second later. While the bandit may have Aura, a few well placed shots in the face and chest from their rifles is plenty enough to shatter his Aura and leave him with a few holes in his body.
With the minigun out of commission, Maine takes a ninety degree turn and runs straight at the regrouped pile of bandits who open fire on him. Holding out his Brute Shot to use as a makeshift shield, Maine rolls forward and lands on his knees with the Brute Shot aimed at the group of bandits. With a snarl, he pulls the trigger and fires the entire belt of six grenades at the group of bandits. The bandits all cry out as the six grenades explode in series, throwing aside the bandits with Aura while the unlucky ones with no Aura are left in pieces.
Standing up, Maine walks up to the lone bandit who is the only one lucky enough to survive the onslaught of grenades, although his Aura has shattered after the fifth explosion and his legs are currently missing. The bandit tries to crawl away while groaning in pain, but is stopped when Maine stomps his boot on the leg-less bandit's back, pinning him in place. The Faunus Freelancer gives the bandit mercy by stabbing his Brute Shot into the bandit's shull, killing him instantly.
After pulling out his weapon from the back of the man's skull, Maine looks around for his next victim, only for a beam of energy to hit him in the chest. The energy beam launches the Freelancer backwards as he slides through the ground, making a trench with his body until the energy beam fades, leaving Maine lying on a small crater at the end of the trench.
"Maine!" cried out Carolina before she notices an energy beam moving towards the rest of her team. "Look out!" she yelled before jumping over the energy beam. Following their team leader's warning, both Washington and York avoid the energy beam by either ducking or jumping over it.
Once the energy beam fades away, Carolina follows the direction it came from and sees the source of it to be coming from a young woman with short brown hair and wielding two crescent shaped blades with gun barrels. By the clothing and bloodthirsty grin on her face, Carolina can make an educated guess that she's a member of the tribe, although better than the cannon fodder. Said cannon fodder seem to be trying to organize themselves behind the female bandit.
Vernal smirks, having enjoyed taking down the armoured soldier by herself. From what she can tell by the armour, she guesses that they're soldiers from Atlas. "You're not so fucking tough now, are you?" she stated, smirking in arrogance, even after half the tribe has been killed by the attackers. Behind Vernal, the gathering bandits bellow out a rally cry, aiming their weapons at Carolina and her team while North's team deal with the bandits on the other side of the camp.
Vernal's arrogant smirk dies when Carolina starts chuckling in obvious amusement. "What's so fucking funny?!"
"Just the thought of Maine actually kicking the bucket after just one blow."
Just as Carolina finishes speaking, Vernal sees the bulky armoured soldier push himself back to his feet, brushing a hand on the burn marks where Vernal hit him with a concentrated blast of Lightning Dust. Maine growls at the shocked Vernal and cracks his neck before loading a new belt of grenades into the Brute Shot.
Vernal sighs. "Motherfuc-"
She doesn't get to finish once Maine fires a live grenade at her. The explosion scatters the group of bandits in all directions, some either dead or injured, but most having enough Aura to survive through the explosion. Vernal is the only one who doesn't fall to her feet, having stood her ground by crossing her weapons in front of herself to protect against most of the explosion. That doesn't mean she isn't effected, having been forced twenty feet back if the two skid marks in front of her are any indication.
As the Freelancers and bandits continue to battle one another, Carolina charges at Vernal while firing her DMR. Vernal either avoids or blocks the gunfire as she runs at Carolina as well. The moment she's within range, Vernal swings her left blade upwards and cuts through Carolina's rifle after she tries to use it to block the incoming blade.
Taking a step back and having managed to dodge the bandit's crescent-shaped blade by a millimeter or two, Carolina looks at the two pieces of what use to be her weapon. Shaking her head, Carolina drops the two pieces and reaches behind her, pulling out her Humbler Stun Baton.
( Humbler Stun Device - Red Vs Blue )
The baton extends outward and once it reaches its maximum length, lightning sparks from the tip of the baton, courtesy of the highly concentrated Lightning Dust crystal she has embedded in it. Spinning the stun baton in her left hand, Carolina takes a fighting stance. "Bring it."
Vernal smirks at the challenge and charges at the Freelancer. Once she's ten feet away from the Freelancer, she jumps into the air with both of her blades over her head and ready to drop onto her opponent.
Having seen the attack coming, Carolina rolls ahead as Vernal drops on the spot she was standing a second ago. Spinning on her feet, Carolina swings at Vernal who turns around as well, only to get hit in the side of the face with Carolina's stun baton.
As Vernal's face is thrown to the side, the bandit uses the sudden momentum to her advantage by spinning her body in a complete circle before kicking the side of Carolina's face, causing the Freelancer's own head to jerk to the side.
Taking a step back to steady herself, Carolina barely manages to tilt her head to the side to avoid the bandit's swing. Carolina grabs the extended bandit's arm with her free arm and swings her stun baton across Vernal's torso twice before spinning and flipping the bandit over her shoulder. Just as Vernal is about to land on her back, she manages to plant both of her feet flat on the ground to stop herself and with a strong jump up, she kicks a foot into Carolina's face, causing the Freelancer to let go of her arm.
Quickly kicking herself back up to her feet, Vernal spins around and aims her weapons at the Freelancer, but before she can fire at her, Carolina swings her stun baton upwards, managing to nick Vernal's chin. While the physical blow didn't hurt the bandit, the powerful jolt of lightning from the stun baton is plenty enough to stagger the bandit. This gives Carolina plenty of time to perform a combo of swings with her stun baton, forcing Vernal to take a step back for each blow she's forced to take.
Vernal grits her teeth and fighting the growing numbness in her body, she let's out a battle cry and pulls her tight arm back to swing her blade through the Freelancer's neck. Unfortunately, her body has become too slow and sluggish after being hit so much with Carolina's stun baton and so, Carolina easily sees the move coming and answers by thrusting her baton into Vernal's stomach.
Vernal cries out in pain as lightning engulf her body. While Aura can protect the body from physical attacks, elemental attacks is a different story entirely. That's why when Carolina pulls her stun baton back, Vernal falls to her knees before collapsing on her stomach, unconscious.
( Mother of Invention - Bridge )
Ruby watches in a mixture of both awe and horror as the Freelancers slowly take apart what is known to be the largest and strongest bandit tribe in all of Remnant.
The bandits outnumbered the two teams of Freelancers 10:1 and yet, the bandits of the Branwen tribe are the ones losing the fight. Before the fight even began, the Freelancers lowered the number of enemies by using two separate mortar strikes. "Incredible! Their teamwork is so on point and not one of their moves are wasted" she thought, growing further amazed by the Freelancers. "They don't move like they're wearing heavy armour at all!"
Ruby watches as North and South fight a group bandits in close quarters with their weapons. Of all the Freelancers fighting, she notices that they work together better than any of the others. During their fight together, the pair are shown to throw each other their weaponry without even having to look at one another. "They don't even glance at each other when fighting and yet, their teamwork is perfect. How do they do that?"
As if reading her mind, Jaune answers her. "It's their Semblance. Both North and South have the Semblance known as Mind's Eye. It allows them to see through each other's eyes. Useless when used alone, but when they fight together, it becomes very formidable."
"Wow" muttered Ruby, watching as the pair continue to take down more bandits.
While the bandits do have numbers in their side, as well as home field advantage, the Freelancers are quickly overpowering them with their better training, better equipment and even better teamwork. It's almost unfair how one sided the fight really is.
Soon enough, the Branwen tribe goes from a number of over eighty strong to barely a dozen, not including the missing Raven. After suffering so many losses, the smarter members of the Branwen tribe surrender to the Freelancers, especially after they witness Carolina defeats Vernal in their fight. The Freelancers quickly round up the remaining bandits and have them all lined up beside one another. They are all forced onto their knees with their hands placed on their head, including a bruised and pissed off looking Vernal.
"I can't believe it" muttered Ruby in awe. "You actually defeated the Branwen tribe." She actually can't believe that two teams of Freelancers has managed to accomplish what the four Kingdoms have failed to do for years.
Being so focused on the screen, Ruby doesn't see the glint in his eyes. "Not yet."
Ruby turns to look up at Jaune, confusion etched onto her face. "What do you mean?"
"General, we've gathered what remains of the tribe. What shall we do with them?" asked Carolina through the comm-link connection between her helmet and the Bridge.
Jaune ignores the Huntress beside him and responds to his Freelancer. "Remember your orders, Carolina. Avenge the fallen."
Carolina nods. "Yes sir."
Ruby widens her eyes in horror when she realizes what is about to happen. "Wait!"
Carolina ignores Ruby's cry and turns towards Washington, York, South and Wyoming who are standing behind the captured bandits. "You heard the General. No survivors."
The four Freelancers don't reply, but they do aim their weapons at the backs of the bandits heads. Each bandit looks up at Carolina with faces etched in horror when they realize that they are now going to die.
Vernal decides to speak her last words. "You little shi-!"
Ruby jumps back as she watches the Freelancers gun down the bandits without mercy. One bandit did try to make a run for it, but she didn't make it far. Some others tried to use the remnants of their Aura to protect themselves from the bullets, but the Freelancers didn't stop shooting until their weapons are out of ammo. By then, their Auras would have shattered and their brains would be sprayed across the floor in front of them.
Nodding in satisfaction, Jaune disconnects the signal to the Freelancers Mjolnir armour, turning the screen back into a regular window. "Comments?" he asked, glancing towards the horrified Huntress.
"B-But... w-wha..." muttered Ruby while still trying to overcome her shock of what she has just seen.
"Were you impressed?"
Ruby whips her head to the side so fast that Jaune is actually surprised she isn't suffering from neck pain. "Impressed? I'm horrified! They surrendered! There was no reason to kill them all!"
Jaune raises a curious brow. "And? You just wanted me to let a group of murderers and rapists get away so they can continue to do what they do best?"
"No!" denied Ruby. "But you could have taken them prisoner and given them over to one of the Kingdoms for imprisonment."
Jaune shakes his head. "While that was definitely an option, I wouldn't want to waste time and resources feeding the prisoners, or to waste manpower transporting them. Besides, with their deaths, my fallen children can finally rest in peace, knowing that their killers have been given justice" he said before turning around and walking towards the door.
"And what gives you the right to play judge, jury and executioner!" yelled Ruby, turning around and glaring at the back of the General. Whatever fear of being kicked out of the airship disappears as the Huntress glares at Jaune who has stopped halfway towards the door.
Jaune remains silent for a moment, even as the nearby scientists turn to see what the commotion is about. After a moment of silence, Jaune slowly turns around and looks at Ruby with no hint of anger or annoyance in his eyes. He simply stares at Ruby with the blankest expression she has ever seen on someone's face. "In the Grimmlands, we are all the judge, jury and executionor. You should be smart enough to remember that, Ms. Rose. It might just save your life."
After a staring contest between Jaune's blank blue eyes and Ruby's glaring silver ones, Jaune turns around and walks out of the sliding doors. Before they close behind him, he looks over his shoulder.
"Please return to the medical bay, Ms. Rose. You are still injured."
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