"This is her!?" Weiss exclaimed in disbelief as she poured over a folder.
"Yup, it is definitely her. No one else in the Valean Air Force paints a rose on their airframe. Who you are looking at right now is the one that shot down your operation two days ago." Blake looked over the paperwork for the repairs of Weiss' fighter plane.
"But she's just a child! She's barely my age and she is in an airwing like that!?" Wiess pounded the table in frustration. The small photo of Ruby was smiling at her, in her Valean Air Force uniform and looking excited for the future.
"Makes you wonder how she is your equal." Blake commented with a small smirk.
Weiss glared at her. "She is not my equal, she is an inferior pilot with an insane luck streak." She spat with venom not at Blake, but at the folder in front of her.
"Luck can only get you so far. Are you going to request a better fighter plane?" She looked up from her clipboard and studied Weiss intently.
She matched then Faunus' gaze with a rare fire. "No. If I am to prove my superiority, I must defeat her in the same plane I was in when we first exchanged bullets." She leafed through the folder again and sputtered in indignation. "Where did she come from anyways!? I have never heard of her before this incident but according to this report she's already had 25 confirmed air victories!"
"Atlas doesn't like posting news about Valean Aces as it may demoralise the troops. You know how it goes, half of the war is won by bullets and the other half won by hearts." She reached down and cleaned out the rest of the report before filing it away. "And I wouldn't be too disturbed by how easily she matched you for you have had little challenge with these amateur pilots."
Weiss nodded emphatically. "Yes, with the appalling performance from the Valean Air Force I have fallen into a lazy trap. I must hone my skills again." Weiss stood up and walked out of the tent, taking her coat with her.
'However, what if she was a secret project and they released her with only one escort fighter to see if she was capable? Is Vale training super pilots, somehow? But Atlas has the most advanced training facilities in Remnant… How is she trained?' The thought of Vale having better training facilities made Weiss shudder at the prospect.
"Awwww come on sis! Let me fly her again!" Ruby squeaked in defiance as her big, blonde sister held the keys out of her reach.
"And let you put holes in her again? No thank you. She is one of the few oldies we've got left, so you're assigned to a Meteor for the time being." Yang huffed as she placed the keys in her bra before turning around and placing her tools back on the shelf.
"A METEOR!? You know I hate those new things on the block! There was a reason why I chose Crescent Rose over those piles of junk!" Ruby wailed on her elder sisters back fruitlessly.
Yang couldn't help but giggle at her little sister's antics. "Come now Ruby, those are brand new fighters that the research team developed. They are the best we can offer."
"But they're not piston pounders like Crescent Rose, they aren't reliable like her." Ruby mumbled morosely before being engulfed by her sister.
"I know, I know how you feel. She is an amazing plane but she's an older generation. She will be phased out eventually. It's just the way we do things."
Ruby started to pick at Yang's overalls before a thought struck her. "It's strange how I haven't seen any fighter jets from Atlas yet."
"It's only cause our jets have had a breakthrough that we're able to field them so early. They still have some problems with them that need ironing out but they're overall safe." Yang hummed happily as she rolled up Crescent Rose's blueprints.
"Armaments?" Ruby enquired, begrudgingly intrigued.
"Four 20 millimetre cannons coupled with two 50 calibre machine guns per cannon." Yang shook out her hair before letting out a sigh of relief, today day was a long day.
Ruby's eyes widened immensely. "Wow, that's a lot of firepower, so much more than Crescent Rose."
"Yeah well we can't really change her airframe to include more powerful guns, so they kinda have to be built from the ground up to include the weapons." Yang then tied her hair in a ponytail before looking at her little sister. "Now you, Missy, must leave while I try to get Crescent Rose in the garage. Command doesn't want you anywhere near her until you can fly smart." Yang began to exit the small garage.
"Fly smart? What do they mean fly smart?" Ruby followed her.
Yang waited until she's out before locking up. "That's for me to know and for you to find out. Maybe a visit to No Man's Land can give you a new perspective." She walked off while stretching.
Ruby pondered for a moment before heading off absentmindedly to the Intelligence Tent.
She entered the tent and was greeted with the sight of a blonde woman who looked rather serious as she rifled through stacks of papers. "H-hello Glynda."
The aforementioned blonde looked up with a small smile. "Ah, Miss Rose. It is good to see you are safe. What can I do for you?"
"U-ummm. Do you have any documents or reports or sightings about an Atlesian fighter that has a snowflake symbol on the airframe?"
Glynda pursed her lips before flicking through a rather thick folder before pulling out a sheaf of paper. "Snowflake on the airframe, sounds like Myrtenaster for sure. Flown by one Weiss Schnee of the Schnee Family, big players in the Dust game. Unfortunately we don't have much else on her." She handed the papers to Ruby before turning back to her work.
"Thanks Glynda!" Ruby beamed at her before jaunting out of the tent and started towards her own tent, closing the flap and lighting a lamp to look over the file.
"Hmm, Weiss Schnee. Atlesian Ace for over two years and over 50 confirmed air victories. Prefers to do missions solo but is known to do small bombing runs." She read over the rest of the file silently.
Little did she know, that Yang was watching her with worry. 'I hope Ruby isn't developing a vengeance about this girl, I can't stand the thought of her getting hurt.' She sighed silently before leaving her little sister to her own devices.
It was well over an hour before Ruby moved. She got up suddenly and dashed out of the tent, grabbing her long coat as she did so and hurried to her assigned Meteor. As per orders, it had been serviced and maintained and fuelled up for immediate departure. No one questioned her when she slid into the cockpit and started the plane.
Ruby could only grimace as she heard the wailing of the twin jet engines on each side of the airframe. It had no beat, no rhythm, completely smooth and undecipherable. Ruby much preferred the pounding of the pistons, she could feel each explosion through her feet.
She sighed with an eye roll before letting off the brake and move down onto the runway. She increased the throttle and the airframe began to rocket down the pavement before it gave a shudder as it gained altitude.
Needless to say, Ruby was quite impressed, they did manage to get out most of the problems and the plane itself was a genuine pleasure to fly. She had to remind herself that this wasn't Crescent Rose so she needed to slow down earlier and not bank as hard.
She oriented her plane towards No Man's Land, a flying citadel situated above Vacuo where people from all countries can come to relax without the fear of being gunned down. For there was one golden rule that was held to the strictest certainty: No killing is to be committed in No Man's Land.
Ruby decreased the throttle as soon as the big floating structure loomed in the distance. "Citadel Air Control, I am Ruby Rose requested a landing spot."
A young female voice came over the speakers. "Welcome back Miss Rose, may I request the meaning of your visit?"
"Just to unwind and have fun Jackie, no biggie." Ruby smiled as she circled in the designated waiting area.
"Of course, you have lot 563 cleared and awaiting your landing. We are glad to have you back Miss Rose and as always, obey the Golden Rule."
"Wouldn't dream of breaking it." She switched off the comms and headed towards her landing spot. She nearly forgot to deploy her landing gear as she landed somewhat roughly on the patch of soil and suddenly slowed down by the Gravity Dust crystals that lined the ground.
She exited with a flourish and chucked her helmet onto her seat before shutting the cockpit and walking straight to the elevator.
"Nice kicks Rose! Where'd you steal this from?" A friendly face of a fellow aviator waved at her.
"Nothing major, just Vale's garage!" Ruby smiled and waved at them as the elevator's doors closed on her.
She shot up, each ding representing a floor passed until she reached the restaurant. She smiled as heart thumping music filled her ears, she glided across the floor and sit at her regular table absentmindedly shaking her body to the music.
"What can I get you, Miss Rose?" A very clean waiter paused in front of her with a friendly smile.
"Just a non alcoholic Strawberry Sunrise, with a little umbrella." Ruby fluttered her eyelashes at him in a sort of friendly way. "I heard that you make the best."
"Well I do, only when I'm bartending, Andre is tending tonight."
"Oh really? I thought he quit?"
"He did, but then he found out that the regular life just isn't for him. He loves the restaurant life." The waiter whisked away with her order, leaving Ruby to ponder.
"Ah! Miss Schnee! A delight to have you!" The world narrowed down to that sentence as she cast her gaze wide and sure enough, there was the white haired Heiress in her Ace uniform, a golden falcon resting above a banner shining brightly on her lapel.
'Maybe if I go looking around here, I can gather information about this Ruby Rose.' Weiss pondered as she strutted from her replacement fighter. She entered an elevator and addressed all of the occupants. "Do any of you know someone named Ruby Rose?"
"Yeah, Valean fighter Ace and a nice kid. What else?" A random pilot answered, he looked like a nobody to her.
"Is she competent?" Weiss inquired.
"Better than most of the air jockey's you see on this base, she does have an extraordinary talent." The pilot walked out as soon as the elevator opened.
Weiss thought over what he said as the doors slid shut. 'If she's got some reputation on this floating rock then she must be halfway competent."
A ding signified that she had arrived at the restaurant. Strutted out and waved out a greetings towards the bartender who waved back. "Ah! Miss Schnee! A delight to have you!"
Weiss smiled as she approached the bar. "Hello Andre, how is the family? Also the regular for me please."
"Sure, and the family is doing great, just moved onto a new flat in Menagerie. Real nice place." He popped the top open on a beer and slid it towards the white headed heiress before scooting off to serve other customers.
"Here you are Miss Rose, a non alcoholic Strawberry Sunrise with the little umbrella, just as you asked."
Weiss' body went as taut as a bowstring as she heard that name. Ruby Rose… The little girl that destroyed her bombing sortie.
Ruby almost thrashed the waiter for being so loud, but could only merely offer a graceful smile as she accepted her drink. "Thank you very much, that will be all for now."
She saw Weiss stand up and made her way towards the little redhead and took a seat opposite to her.
It took all of Ruby's willpower to not throttle her. "What a surprise to see you here, never knew that Atlas would allow their pilots to drink."
Weiss took a sip before tapping her bottle. "Atlas realises that every pilot needs their vice when they take to the skies, mine just happens to be drinking." She crossed her arms before gazing at the smaller girl.
"Not a surprise, with such a large stick up your behind, I'd do anything to get rid of it." Ruby smirked behind her glass as she took a sip.
"Must you always act the child? I honestly find it hard to believe that you were the one who shot down my sortie. You completely do not fit the ideal fighter Ace." Weiss regarded her haughtily.
"Your ideal fighter Ace is one who whips their subordinates into line while taking all of the glory. I keep my wingman safe by taking the shots that were meant for them." She took a larger sip with a sneer.
She smiled and tilted her head. "Taking the shots huh?" She reached into her coat and pulled out a toggle locked pistol, laying it on the table facing Ruby. "What about this one?"
If Ruby was afraid, she did not show it. Her eyes fell on the pistol in front of her as she took another sip from her glass. "You are aware of the Golden Rule, are you not?"
"Oh I am well aware, I have been here for quite a while. But the opportunity to be rid of a painful thorn in my backside and in Atlas' backside does not present it very often. So the dilemma is rather fraught with benefits and side effects." She lifted the pistol and pointed it at her. "And so far, to me. The benefits are outweighing the side effects."
Ruby looked down at the barrel before looking at her. "You honestly think you'd make it out? When people realise what you've done, it won't be long before you are grounded and reprimanded by the fullest extent of No Man's Land's law."
The air was thick with tension as the seconds crawled on. None of the patrons seemed to mind as they were sure no such thing would be carried out while in No Man's Land. Weiss just took her finger off the trigger before sliding it back into its holster. "Of course, my superiors would be extremely displeased if I have been detained."
"Yeah, and I'm pretty sure you'd be angry that you wouldn't be able to have any kids." Ruby smirked.
Confused, Weiss looked down and saw the tiny glint of a revolver barrel aimed straight at her lower area. Her eyes widened as she came to realise what was going on. 'How did she even draw that without me noticing!?' She looked back up at Ruby with a red tint of embarrassment on her face and a fire in her eyes.
Ruby nonchalantly holstered her revolver before finishing her drink and standing up. "Thanks Andre, send the bill to my office and I'll have it paid in full. Gotta dash real quick." She hurried to the elevator and rode it down.
Once she reached the hangar she wasted no time in jumping in her jet and taking off, keen to get out of there as quick as she could.
Weiss was lightly fuming as she saw the retreating figure of Ruby. She huffed annoyingly as she grabbed her drink and looked out the window as the redhead backed out of her spot and took off back to Vale.
"One day Ruby Rose. One day, I swear."