Third chapter, whoo! *crosses off Cole Train reference off list* Finally, this is the second part to initiation where there is some interaction with RWBY and JNPR, a fight with the brumak, the leader you might not have expected, and even Aeron's face.
We even get to see the Ebon Hawk for the first time.
Enjoy
"I see the temple!" Tiviah shouted from the top of her ursa to the rest of her group.
"Great," Rexan groaned from the top of his ursa. "Do you see anything?"
"There's a cliff and… oh no."
"What?" Scott asked holding onto the ursa spike.
"Rexan, you know those girls you didn't like yesterday from the airship."
"Yeah. What about them?" Rexan asked contemplating having HK-47 send the Ebon Hawk.
"They're up at the temple."
"Come on!" Rexan groaned earning himself some strange looks from the other two members of the party. "Look, let's just get to the temple, deal with the artifacts, and then worry about getting eaten alive by the brumak."
"Are you sure it's a brumak?" Scott asked him trying to get a better look at the tree line, only to see nothing. "Where did it go?"
"Underground," Rexan replied, "Brumaks are a subterranean grimm that are capable of commanding smaller grimm, typically creeps. They tend to travel in hordes. We have a good ten minutes or less before it surfaces again."
"So, here's the plan," Scott started as the ursai start slowing down approaching the temple, "We hop off these grimm, Tiviah sends the two more useless zombies back to hopefully distract the brumak. While that is happening we will grab the artifacts and run up to the cliff. The two remaining ursai will be our getaway/support in case of a creep horde attack. Any questions?"
"What do we do if we have to fight the brumak?" Tiviah asked as the ursai stopped near the temple for the group to get off.
"Die, probably," Rexan said hopping off of his ursa.
"Did you guys just ride here on a pack of ursai?" a person asked from behind the ursa major. Looking around the grimm the group saw the black clad bow girl next to the yellow one who was currently facepalming.
"Something like that," Scott said walking over to the pack of multi-colored people gathered at the temple. "Anyway, big, bad grimm coming. We should probably go."
"I'm not going to argue," the blonde guy said adjusting his sword on his belt.
"There's no sense in dilly dallying," the platinum blonde said looking at the chess pieces in the temple. "Our objective is right in front of us."
"She's right," the girl in the red cloak responded, "Our mission is to grab an artifact and make it back to the cliffs. There's no point in fighting these things."
"Run and live, that is an idea I can get behind," the blonde guy said then the groups walking into the temple and grabbed some chess pieces.
"So, who are you guys?" Scott asked as he grabbed a pawn piece and put it into his belt pouch.
"My name is Lie Ren," the guy in green said then started pointing to other people in the temple as he said their names, "Those people are Jaune Arc, Pyrrha Nikos, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, Yang Xiao Long, and Ruby Rose."
"What about the one in pink?"
"That's my partner-"
"Nora!" the pink girl exclaimed as she appeared behind Ren.
"Oh."
"And who are you guys?" Ren asked looking over to Aeron who placed the other pawn piece into a side pouch.
"The knight is Aeron Andraste, the necromancer is Tiviah Nyte, I am Scott Alasdair, and the monk-"
"Not a monk!"
"-is Rexan Ando," Scott explained then looked to everyone to see they were ready to leave.
"Time we left," Ren said then everyone started to follow Ruby towards the cliff, except for Aeron and Rexan.
"What are you doing?" Scott asked approaching the two as Aeron stabbed a longsword into the middle of a small fire.
"Aeron says it's important," Rexan replied then a loud crack was heard from a ways behind.
"What are you guys waiting for?" Tiviah asked running back down the hill to the temple. Just as she entered the temple there was a loud roar as a deathstalker ran past the temple towards the group of eight people running towards the cliff.
"Well, there goes that plan," Rexan said as he watched a nevermore fly over the temple towards the cliff. "So, should we die at the cliff or die by the brumak?"
"At this rate, the brumak is going to-" Scott said before the ground in the large clearing started breaking up. "And here it is." Suddenly a large white spike shot up from the ground and the ground was thrown up releasing several creeps from the ground starting their charge towards the temple.
"Well, Scott, got any more brilliant plans?" Tiviah asked him.
"Well, do we have any assets on our side?" Scott asked the group.
"I have a motorcycle that can be sent here in a couple minutes," Rexan said, "And we still have Tiviah's ursai."
Scott sat there for a moment formulating a plan before he spoke. "Alright, here's what we do: Rexan, you get the bike here and distract the brumak. As you're doing that Aeron and I will engage the creeps and Tiviah will bring the dead ones back to fight on our side. Then we take the fight to the brumak. Hopefully that plan can work well enough that we don't die a horrible death. Any questions?"
None of the members of the group said anything. Aeron turned around drawing the greatsword from its holster. Tiviah waved her hands at the two ursai Scott killed earlier causing them to drop. Rexan pulled out his scroll and said something into it before pulling out his blaster. Scott himself pulled out his machine gun and readied for the oncoming horde.
Said oncoming horde consisted of 30 creeps and one large brumak. As the brumak climbed from the ground the team saw the large armored body with one large white spike sticking out forward from the grimm's back over the armored head of the grimm. Then they saw the long arms of the brumak as it climbed out of the ground observing the long white spikes protruding from its forearms.
"So, I have to deal with that," Rexan said then turned to the group. "Does anyone want to switch roles with me?"
"Don't count on it," Tiviah said pointing her staff to the horde making the two remaining zombie ursai charge forward to the horde of creeps.
"When is that bike getting here?" Scott asked firing his machine gun killing two creeps.
"Right about," Rexan said listening to the wind for a second before jumping in the air and a moment later he disappeared.
"Where the hell did he go?!" Scott shouted looking around where Rexan was last.
"Now!" Rexan shouted from above them all. Looking up Scott saw Rexan riding what could only be described as a blue and black motorcycle without any wheels hovering above the temple. "Did you really think it was a normal motorcycle?" he asked before speeding forward towards the brumak.
"What the hell?" Scott asked as he watched Rexan fly through the horde of grimm weaving between groups of creeps reaching the brumak.
"Hey, Scott!" Tiviah shouted getting his attention as she stabbed the bottom part of her staff into a creep's head killing it. "We're going to need some help here."
Revving up his chainsaw he charged forward and slammed the blade into the closest grimm's head brutally cutting into the grimm's head killing it. Pulling the (A/N: Ok, you know what? I tried, I really did. I'm calling Scott's weapons by their names. Lancer=chainsaw/machine gun. Gnasher=shotgun. I seriously tried to avoid using the weapons' names but it gets dull writing 'machine gun this' and 'shotgun that.' So, Lancer and gnasher from now on.) lancer from the creep's head Scott turned to his left and unloaded part of his clip into the next closest grimm, then turned to the right and unloaded the rest of his clip into the next creep. Popping the clip out he started the chainsaw while running into the horde.
Slamming the blades into the creep's maw he reached to his back pouch and pulled out a spare ammo clip just as the blade finished cutting through the creep's cranium. Throwing the clip in the air he pulled out his gnasher and fired it off into the next closest creep as he swung his lancer so that the magazine landed back into the lancer.
Flipping the gnasher using the lever action he reloaded another shell before pulling the trigger without looking killing another creep. Holstering his lancer on his back he pulled out his snub pistol and fired six shots dropping another creep.
"So, is this helping out?" Scott asked Tiviah while firing another gnasher slug into another creep's head.
"Show off," Tiviah said as she started tapping the dead creeps using her semblance bringing them back. "I'm going to need you two to protect me. Using my semblance on a large number of grimm causes me to get exhausted making me an easier target."
"Alright, Aeron, you're on guard duty," Scott said to the knight who nodded then ran over to Tiviah drawing the greatsword from its holster. Holstering his gnasher and snub pistol, Scott pulled out his lancer and revved the engine.
"HK, I'm going to need you to scan that brumak to look for any weak points in its armor," Rexan said to the AI as he dived with the Ebon Hawk to avoid being impaled. Pulling up and to the right on the handlebars he avoided crashing into the ground and the brumak's leg
'You do realize how pointless this is, right, master?' HK-47 asked him as it started the scan from the Ebon Hawk's built in scanner. 'It has been known that lone brumaks are an S-Class grimm that are only advisable to engage with a group of fully trained huntsmen.'
"Thanks for the support," Rexan grunted as he pulled on the handlebars causing the speeder to fly straight up. "Just do the scan and tell me where the weak points are." Pulling out his blaster he fired three lasers into the brumak's armored face getting its attention.
Then the brumak swung with its right arm who pushed down on the handlebars diving under the claws before pulling back up firing several more shots into the brumak's face. Banking to the left he landed on the brumak's back and drove off of the main spike firing several lasers into the grimm's face only managing to annoy it.
Diving straight down Rexan waited until he nearly crashed into the ground before pulling back up. Using his semblance, he grabbed the brumak's main spike and flew above the grimm's head before pulling the spike backwards causing the grimm to fall.
'I finished the scan,' HK-47 said, 'The brumak appears to be heavily armored everywhere except for three places: under the overlapping grimm plates, the mouth, and on the back of the neck below where the grimm's back spike begins to stick out.'
"Thanks HK, now to get the area exposed."
"Is he shooting lasers?" Tiviah asked as she glanced over to Rexan as he flew past the grimm's face shooting it in the face. Then Rexan flew off of the grimm's spike and pulled the grimm backwards.
"How did he do that?" Scott asked killing the last of the creeps near the knight and necromancer.
Then Rexan flew away from the brumak towards the group of three stopping in front of them. "Guys, I have a plan," Rexan said hopping off of the speeder.
"Well?" Scott asked walking to him.
"How it is going to go down is this: I will take Scott on the back of my speeder to the grimm's back. Both Tiviah and Aeron along with the zombie creeps will distract the brumak as both Scott and I cut off the brumak's main spike. When the back of the brumak's neck is exposed I will use my semblance to throw it to the ground. And when the brumak is on the ground everyone attack the soft spot," Rexan explained as the brumak was starting to get back on its feet.
"Everyone, get ready," Scott said jogging over to the speeder with Rexan following behind.
After hopping onto the Ebon Hawk with Scott, Rexan flew towards the brumak.
"How are we going to cut through the grimm spike? Grimm armor is one of the hardest materials on Remnant. We can't cut through it with our current weapons," Scott said as Rexan avoided a strike from the brumak's left spike. Rexan then reached to his belt and pulled off the metal cylinder with a purple ring on the bottom and handed it to Scott.
"When I give the signal I want you to press the red button and swing for the base of the spike," Rexan explained as he pulled the blue ring cylinder off of his belt and twisted off the top. "We're going to do something stupid, hold on." Pulling on the handlebars the speeder flew straight up. Taking his hands off of the handlebars Rexan pulled a blue crystal from the cylinder and reached for his side pouch to pull out a red crystal.
"Why are we doing this?" Scott shouted as Rexan placed the red crystal into the cylinder and closed it.
"Get ready to jump," Rexan told him pressing the autopilot on the speeder.
"What?"
"Jump!" Rexan shouted jumping off of the speeder followed closely by Scott.
"This is completely stupid!" Scott shouted as Rexan outstretched his left hand changing the duo's trajectory using his semblance.
"Press the button now!" Rexan shouted as he turned on his beam saber sending out a four foot red laser from the hilt. Then he placed both hands on the hilt and raised it above his head. Repeating the action a purple laser shot out from Scott's hilt and he raised it above his head. "Don't worry about landing, when we land I will use my semblance to cushion our fall."
"I really don't know if this will work."
"Trust me, this will work," Rexan said just as the two were nearing the brumak.
Reaching the spike the beam sabers started burning straight through. Halfway through the spike the duo landed and followed through on their swing cutting straight through the spike. Using his semblance Rexan pushed the spike forward impaling the ground, then quickly grabbing the brumak's head he pushed downward throwing the grimm into the ground.
"NOW!" Scott shouted then Aeron jumped at the brumak's head and thrusted the greatsword into the soft spot opening a wound.
"Aeron, hold on," Rexan said thrusting his hand forward throwing Aeron and the greatsword off of the grimm tearing a large hole through the creature's neck.
Scott then pulled out his lancer and started the chainsaw as he jumped to the side of the brumak's neck. Connecting flesh and metal Scott pushed further cutting through the brumak's jugular covering him in blood.
Stabbing his beam saber into the other side of the wound, Rexan pushed backwards cutting through the brumak's neck severing the other jugular vein. Pulling his hand back he focused his semblance and threw it into the brumak's head snapping the grimm's neck killing it.
"So," Rexan said turning off his beam saber then catching the one from Scott, "that was a thing."
"Come on, I barely got to do anything," Tiviah complained waving her staff in front of her horde of creeps decomposing them instantly. "I mean, did we even use the creeps?"
"Well, we didn't really need the creeps per se," Rexan said holstering his beam sabers. "I mean, it was mostly Scott and I killing the brumak. If anything, we just needed the creeps dead and you didn't exactly have a usable weapon for taking down larger creatures."
"Really? I don't have any weapons for taking down large creatures?" Tiviah asked approaching the group while sliding the dust selector on her staff to red. "Then how about I show you what I can do." Flashing him a simple smile she tipped the end of her staff to the brumak's neck and tapped the wound. "I suggest you run, Rexan."
"Uhh, HK, can you send the Ebon Hawk here now," Rexan shakily told the scroll as he backed away from the rising brumak.
"Who's HK?" Scott asked Aeron as they watched what was unfolding. Aeron quickly made some hand movements that Scott didn't understand before Aeron just shrugged.
"HK WHERE IS MY DAMN SPEEDER?!" Rexan shouted to his scroll as he jumped to the right avoiding a strike from the brumak's spike.
"Aeron Andraste, Tiviah Nyte, Rexan Ando, and Scott Alasdair," Ozpin said at the stage in the auditorium after the initiation as their images appeared on the hologram screen. "You four retrieved the white pawn pieces. From this day forward you will work together as team STAR, led by… Scott Alasdair."
"Is that really a wise decision?" Rexan quietly asked himself only to be jabbed in the ribs by the bottom of Tiviah's staff making him cringe.
"You might want to get those ribs checked out," Ozpin told Rexan who simply groaned while walking away holding his side.
"So, how are the ribs?" Tiviah asked Rexan as he walked into the room after his quick trip to the medical wing.
"Well, they aren't broken," Rexan replied walking chair near the corner of the room next to the bathroom. "The medical staff said that if I had been hit one more time from an average grimm they would be broken."
"Well, at least they aren't broken," Scott said taking off his armor and placing it into the bottom of the wardrobe. "Maybe if some psycho didn't try and kill him with a brumak, it would be better."
"I was perfectly justified," Tiviah replied taking off her robe and satchel, and hanged them in the wardrobe above Scott's armor.
"No, I don't think you were," Rexan said placing his beam saber hilts on the desk. "I had to jump off the cliff and hope HK sent my speeder. So, where is Aeron."
"The guy went into the bathroom to clean up writing something about dirt and blood being able to come into the helmet and not coming out," Scott replied then a loud audible groan came from the bathroom.
"Come on! Why the hell didn't dad improve on this stupid helmet's design!" the voice from the bathroom shouted causing everyone else in the room to look surprised. Not by the sudden noise level, but by the pitch. "Fuck it! We're not wearing the helmet for a while!" The door opened and what came out was not what the newly formed team was expecting.
Coming out of the door was a girl roughly Rexan's height with blonde hair that was kept in a bun on the back of her head which she was currently undoing as she exited the bathroom. She was wearing a pair of blue womens sports shorts and a white tank top. One of the most noticeable things they took note of was her eyes. They were a really dark brown that if you looked at them in the right light they appeared black.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked her team in sight confusion.
"You're a girl?" Scott was the first to ask.
"Wow, A+. Surprised you could tell the difference between the two genders," she mocked him then turned to Rexan and pointed. "Spill it."
"Why didn't you tell us?" Rexan asked her.
"I tried," she groaned, "but every time I tried you guys would just ignore me." She then turned to Tiviah and pointed. "Your turn."
"Nothing," Tiviah replied breathing a sigh of relief. "I'm just thankful that I'm not the only girl on the team."
"This is a bit unexpected," Scott said to Rexan causing Aeron to shoot them a lethal glare.
"I'm not part of this," Rexan told Aeron as he grabbed onto the bed on the far side of the room with his semblance. With one swift pull the chair zoomed across the room as he pulled out his scroll. "Now, if you guys don't mind, I'm claiming this bed."
"Be my guest," Tiviah replied laying down on the bed next to his to avoid the duo currently in a staredown.
'Well, this is a very interesting group of meatbags,' HK-47 remarked turning on the scroll's camera as Rexan propped the scroll on his nightstand. 'Not your usual group, but I don't have any complaints.'
"Speaking of the usual group, has the briefcase labeled '#66' been unloaded yet?" Rexan silently asked the AI.
'I had sent the workers and order to place the briefcase into the Ebon Hawk's storage compartment.'
"Thanks, HK. Send the guys a message saying I'll probably be in Vale in a couple days."
'And which of the 'guys' should I send this to?'
"Try the ones who aren't trying to kill me, we'll start there," Rexan replied before closing the scroll just as Scott was thrown through the air into the wall next to his bed.
"How are you that freakishly strong?" Scott asked surprised getting up.
"I carry around a greatsword and wear a full suit of armor, and I can do that casually. You do the math," Aeron replied walking over to the middle of the room carrying what appeared to be a rusted longsword.
"Aeron, I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything by that," Scott hastily apologized. "And where did you even get that sword?"
She simply glared at him as she stabbed the rusty sword into the floor causing everyone to jump. Then she pulled on her brown glove and sprinkled some fire dust around the blade creating a small fire around the blade that roared for a second before turning into what appeared to be red flyers that curled around the blade producing no heat.
"Aeron, I don't think we're allowed to do that," Tiviah said looking at the sword.
"There's no fire, and anyway, it's important," Aeron waved her off as she pulled her hair into a simple ponytail. Then she walked over to the desk Rexan was at last and picked up the beam saber hilts. "So, what are these?"
Rexan raised his hand and the hilts flew through the air over to him which he threw them into the nightstand drawer. "Beam sabers, very deadly, especially deadly depending on what type of crystal is used a s focusing crystal. Regular crystals create a stun blade and dust crystals are generally more dangerous. So when you see the blue blade it is safe to be hit by that. Purple is able to cut through most things and aura quickly. And Red, I probably won't use that during sparring, but avoid that blade at all costs."
"And is it really safe for a monk to be using something like that?" Tiviah asked with a small smirk forming on her face.
"If you ever find yourself against me in a sparring match, just try asking that question again," Rexan replied then pulled his blanket over himself to let that statement linger.
So, how was that? I really wanted to more things with Aeron in the fight with the creeps, but it is really hard to write a flowing scene with repeating Aeron over and over and over again.
Now, with the Ebon Hawk, it was a bit vague how I explained it so here's a bit better description of it. The ebon Hawk looks like the cross between Yang's bike bumblebee and a star wars speeder. For a better visual in your head imagine bumblebee without wheels, is black with blue accents that Rexan can change colors using HK-47, is more blocky near the back with a small thruster on the back. I will explain how it hovers in later chapters but I'm pretty sure you're tired of reading about a speeder that not many people cared about.
So anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this.
Have a good night,
-J. Van A
