Hello all Storm here with a new chapter! Here we'll see Neo going on a heist, then spending some quality time with Ruby. Also since Neo didn't appear until partway through Volume 2 she'll be doing her own thing for the moment. So, without further ado.
Edit: AN at the bottom.
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Neo sat on board a Bullhead with her arms crossed and a bored look on her face. While around her members of the White Fang grumbled angrily at having to work with a human.
Currently Neo and a team of White Fang grunts were on there way to Atlas on orders from Cinder. Their goal was to find out any plans for new weapons being developed or already completed, shipping manifestos for the SDC, along with programs Watts needs for his virus. The latter objective given to Neo personally, as she'd be the only one going aware of it.
Roman sent Neo along to, as he put it "make sure the animals to mess it up", his words not hers. While Neo was fine with going on a heist, anything to get away from Cinder and her brats, she could do without the White Fang complaining about her presence. She ignored their words though, they were only grunts, with the only note worthy member wearing a custom mask with chameleon horns and wearing a black stealth suit.
Neo only caught her name once, Ilia she believed, before they were sent on the mission.
"We'll be coming up on Atlas soon." Said the pilot
'Showtime.' Neo thought standing up and going to the cockpit to see Atlas come into view
'This never gets old.' Thought Neo still in awe whenever she sees Atlas floating in the sky
They had to fly low to stay off the military's radar, but they managed to land on the outskirts of the city. Once they landed they exited the Bullhead and the pilot flew off saying they'll be back when they get the signal.
"Alright remember, stick to the plan and stay together. We can't risk alerting the humans we're here." Ilia said taking command
"And what if any humans get in our way?" One asked
"Then deal with them." Stated Ilia the meaning behind her words making the Faunus grip their weapons eagerly
Neo rolled her eyes at them, they could try and be a little less obvious in their desire to kill people. This is why she prefers working alone or with Roman, as then she didn't have to deal with idiots that will likely get them caught or intentionally mess things up just to start a fight.
'If they screw up, I'm not gonna let them drag me down with them.' Neo thought
The group began moving unseen towards the Atlesian military base, making sure avoid being spotted. Remaining hidden got more difficult when they reached the base and Neo had to use her stretch her Semblance to its limit keeping them hidden under disguises of Atlesian soldiers.
When they got inside and out of view Neo sighed in relief a she dropped the illusions.
"Hmph, I guess you are useful for something human." One of the grunts sneered
'Tsk, next time I'll just let you idiots get caught, save me the trouble of having to deal with you ever again.' Neo thought
She may not hate Faunus, but she wasn't about to let them walk over her.
Continue on there way, Neo made sure to put the illusions back up whenever there was a camera or when any guards came by. Thankfully the place was mostly empty, due to the employees having gone to bed already with only patrolling guards remaining. They soon arrived to the labs and Neo examined the corridor leading to the labs, before spotting something she recognized.
Stopping one of the grunts about to step forward with her umbrella, Neo pulled them back.
"What do you think-"
Neo smacked the Faunus with her umbrella before pulling out a vial of Ice Dust. Popping it open Neo poured some into her palm, holding her hand up Neo blew the Dust down the corridor. The Dust revealed hidden lasers standing between them and the entrance to the labs. The lasers went in every direction, vertical, horizontal, diagonal, in a complex pattern that'd be impossible to move through without tripping at least one.
Looking to the grunts and Ilia, Neo had a smug look. Dropping her umbrella on the ground Neo slid it under the lasers before taking several steps back. Turning to the lasers Neo motioned them to move and immediately ran towards the lasers and jumped above them, landing on her hands Neo leaned to side cartwheeling between two lasers. Backflipping she slid under a row of lasers, finally she twirled around before jumping through several diagonal lasers. Landing on her feet with a hand on her hip Neo kicked her umbrella up into her hand and rested it on her shoulder, giving the White Fang members a smug smirk.
"Well I'm waiting." Neo said with her sign
"Ilia how do we get through?" One of the grunts asked as none of them would be able to get passed the lasers without tripping at least one of them
"Find another way around and locate the shipping manifestos if you can. The human and I will find out the plans for any new weapons." Ilia ordered backing up and running towards the lasers and flipping through them the same as Neo
Turning to the other Faunus, Ilia nodded and they left to complete their orders.
"Copycat." Said Neo, Ilia glaring at her behind her mask
"Shut it human, let's just go." Said Ilia
Both girls proceeded through the door and saw a long corridor with several doors and windows along the walls and branching hallways.
"Come one lets try and find the server room." Ilia ordered, Neo rolling her eyes at her thinking she could her order her around
But she followed none the less, while taking the time to pull out her scroll and take pictures of the inside of the labs, never know when they could come in handy.
Soon though they found the server room, but it was magnetically locked. Ilia managed to short-circuit it though with her whip and opened the door.
"Alright this is it. Keep watch while I get the plans." Said Ilia going to one of the computers and connected her scroll to begin the download
'Yeah, I'll get right on that.' Neo thought going over to another computer while Ilia was distracted to get the programs Watts needed
Getting them was rather simple, as she was given several codes to help breakthrough any firewalls or protected files, but Neo also took the time to download several other files that she thought might be useful, to her, useful to her. Mostly anything she could use to improve her weapon or anything that could help really.
Once she had everything Neo pocketed her scroll and went back to the door.
"How did you know they there? The lasers?" Ilia asked suddenly looking over
"Hm? Oh I've encountered similar traps before and just know what to look for." Neo replied having encountered all kinds of traps during previous heists
"Tsk, and I guess these other encounters involved stealing from others. Typical humans only knowing how look out for themselves and stepping on anyone that gets in there way." Spat Ilia, Neo glaring at her for that
"At least I'm not honest about who I am, rather than pretending to be a bunch of noble fools." Neo retorted
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Demanded Ilia
"Just what I said, you and the rest of the White Fang are fools." Neo said, this made Ilia move from the computer and got in Neo's face
"How dare you! You don't get to talk about me or the White Fang, you don't understand the hardships Faunus have to go through every day! Being looked down on as nothing but animals, being forced to work on Dust mines, my own parents died in one of those mines and humans like you had the nerve to laugh about it! The White Fang is working to give Faunus the freedom and equal rights they deserve. And we will get them after showing humanity just what we're capable of!" Ilia shouted her skin, eyes, and hair turning red in anger
"Maybe, but it won't last." Neo said, Ilia confused by that
"What're you talking about?" Said Ilia still glaring at her
"It won't last. Sure maybe one day the Faunus will get equal right and freedom to humans, but for how long? Right now the White Fang are united against their hatred and fear against a common enemy, humans. But what happens when its over and that unity dissolves away, how long until another group comes along believing they're better than everyone else? What happens when say Mammal Faunus or Predator Faunus believe they should be in charge and then you're back to square one, suffering under discrimination and oppression. Only this time it'll be Faunus against Faunus." Neo explained her belief
It was only natural that if Faunus got equal rights through violence what'll stop certain Faunus from believing they're better than the rest, then it'll just start the cycle all over again. It was a pretty dark view of things, but Neo was a pretty dark person.
"Please, like the Faunus would ever turn against each other." Ilia scoffed turning back to the computer though not before Neo showed one more message
"Believe what you want. But here's some free advice, chameleons have plenty of predators mostly snakes and birds, so watch your back. Never know when a bigger animal will come along and you devour you." Neo said before dismissing her sign
Ilia scoffed at the 'advice' and went back to her task. While ignoring the small part of her that couldn't help but think, maybe her words might be true.
*Later-Vale*
"Yeah to go Neo. Did the mutts give you any trouble?" Roman asked as Neo transferred the Watts programs to his scroll to pass on to Cinder
"No, they were surprisingly well behaved." Said Neo genuinely surprised none of the White Fang started a fight with any Atlas soldiers
But she wasn't willingly to look a gift horse in the mouth and quickly left once they had what they needed.
"Great. I'll get these to Cinder, wouldn't want to keep her highness waiting." Roman said sarcastically before walking off
With that done Neo sat down on a nearby crate and opened her scroll to all the other files she took and began scrolling through them to see if any catch her fancy. Neo stopped on one and opened it up seeing it was a strange looking body harness.
Looking it over Neo saw it was called 'omni-directional mobility gear', it was a prototype battle harness that could be used to help the wearer fight in a 3D space rather than a 2D space, it was developed to help take down giant Grimm and for maneuvering through cities.
The components were the winch that resides in a housing on the users lower back, and holds spools of wire, hand controllers that doubled sword hilts with two triggers to launch and retract the hooks while a lateral switch is used to aim the hooks, and a break to stop the winch from paying out anymore wire than needed. Tubes of wind Dust used to launch and retract the grapples. There were also the option of having large sheathes on the sides of the users thighs that contain multiple blades in case the ones in use break or stab them into the Grimm's body. Finally the turbine that the wind Dust is blown into to power the winch and launch the cables.
This was definitely something Neo will have to look into making, not only would it be useful to fight in a 3D space, it also looked fun as hell.
Though she'll have to also train needing great physical strength, particularly in the legs, spatial recognition and being able to stay focused in the heat of battle.
'Well I'm nothing if not determined.' Neo thought saving the file
She'll have to get the parts before she can even think about using this.
*Timeskip-Three Days*
Neo happily skipped down the streets of Vale to her favorite ice cream parlor.
Three days have passed since the successful heist and her acquisition of the 'omni-directional mobility gear' blueprints. She's already gotten most of the material needed to make the equipment, along with some extra parts since she plans to build the control for the grapples into her umbrella thus needed the parts to customize her weapon and to fit the controller in. She also set up a training area in one of the abandoned buildings at Mountain Glenn so that when she finished building it she'll already have the training needed to use it properly. Neo couldn't wait to use the gear to fly through the air.
But at the moment Neo was taking a break and on her way to get some Neapolitan ice cream.
Though suddenly she felt someone crash into her, nearly sending her on her back bu thankfully used her umbrella to steady herself. Now annoyed at almost being knocked down Neo looked to person who crashed into her and prepared to give them a piece of her fist.
"I'm so sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going, I just got here to get some ammo for my weapon, see I'm- you!" Said a familiar voice
Seeing who it was Neo smirked seeing it was the cutie, Ruby, that bumped into her and was now pointing at her.
"Well hello cutie. Now what was that you were here for me." Neo said creating her sign
"Wha?! No, I was picking up ammo for Crescent Rose then you showed up." Ruby said reaching for her weapon only for Neo to stop her
"You really wanna do that? Have you already forgotten how it went down last time?" Neo asked, making Ruby pause remembering there last encounter and promptly blush when she looked at Neo's lips that had now stretched into a mischievous smirk
"Unless you wanted another kiss, I'm more than happy to oblige~" Purred Neo stepping towards Ruby, making the younger girl jump back and begin sputtering out denials
"Ahahahaha! Relax cutie I'm only teasing, I'm not gonna kiss you." Neo assured
"You're, you're not?" Asked Ruby unsure if she should be relieved or not
"Oh, is that disappointment or relief I feel? By the way since you're here wanna get some ice cream with me?" Asked Neo, this only confused Ruby further
"But you're a criminal." Ruby stated
"So? Does that mean we can't hang out with each other?" Neo questioned, Ruby pausing in thought before speaking again
"Well, I guess not-"
"Great! Let's go." Neo said cutting her off before grabbing Ruby's hand and pulling her along
"Wha!? But I didn't to this!" Said Ruby flailing as she was dragged against her will
"Maybe. But like I told you before, I'm a girl that goes after what she wants and I want you cutie." Said Neo, Ruby blushing again at this
"I have a name you know. Ruby Rose." Said Ruby
"I know. And my names Neopolitan but can call me Neo." Neo said
"O…kay Neo." Ruby said slowly allowing herself to walk alongside Neo
Maybe this won't be so bad.
*Later*
"And then Weiss launched me towards the cliff and created these Glyphs for me to run on as I pulled the Nevermore with me before cutting its head off and at the top! It was so awesome!" Ruby said making gestures as she told Neo about her Initiation test in Beacon
At first she had still been hesitant and wary to be with Neo but after they got their ice cream, Neo getting her Neapolitan and Ruby getting a kind that tastes like cookies, she started relaxing more and even started telling her about her friends and team at Beacon.
Neo meanwhile mostly just smiled and nodded along, occasionally telling Ruby some things about herself, nothing personal just basic things her likes, dislikes, hobbies. She was also pleased when Ruby stopped being guarded and relaxed around her.
After leaving the parlor they went to a weapons shop where Ruby bought some Dust and parts for her baby, and Neo got more parts for her gear. It had been adorable to Neo watching Ruby geek out over the different weapons on display, and she could have sworn Ruby turned into a miniature version of herself for a moment before going back to normal.
Now they were on their way to the airship docks so Ruby can return to Beacon.
"It sounds like you've had quite the time at Beacon." Neo stated, Ruby nodding excitedly
"I know! It's been more awesome than I realized, spending time with my friends, teammates, sister, oh and fighting Grimm! And me being leader of my team was really surprising, I mean mom was the leader of her team, so I try to do my best to lead my team but sometimes it can difficult-" Ruby stopped in her ranting when Neo leaned and kissed her cheek
"Has anyone told you, you're cute when rambling? Cause you really are." Said Neo
"I-I thought you said you weren't going to kiss me again." Ruby said
"Not on the lips, but I never said no kissing anywhere else. The next time we really kiss it'll be because you wanted to." Neo said smiling at her
"And what if I don't want to kiss you?" Asked Ruby
"I can wait. See ya next time Ruby." Neo said before her form vanished into pink lights
"Bye Neo." Ruby said with a small smile before noticing the airship about to take off
"AH! I'm gonna be late!" Said Ruby speeding off in a blur of rose petals to get on the ship
'She really is cute.' Neo thought from on top of a nearby building watching Ruby speed off
It had been nice spending time with Ruby along with learning about her team and friends team, teams RWBY and JNPR. While Neo was sure she could use that information for Cinder's grand plan, she prefers not mixing business with her personal life. Plus both Pyrrha and her uncle Jaune, her mom Saphron's younger brother, were part of team JNPR, that had been surprising learning he was attending Beacon.
'Hope he knows what he's doing.' Neo thought
Pushing those thoughts aside at the moment Neo left to go home, though suddenly her scroll started beeping signaling she got a message. This confused Neo as she was sure she'd turned it off at the ice cream parlor so as to not be disturbed during her time with Ruby. It also worried Neo as if she did turn off then that means someone remotely turned it back on and there weren't many people who could hack her scroll, given the number of encryptions and firewalls she put on it.
Pulling it out Neo opened the message and stood stalk still at what it said.
Come to these coordinates, details will be given upon your arrival.
With the message were a set of coordinates, that Neo quickly memorized just as the message suddenly deleted itself. Neo gulped as there was one last thing she saw before the message deleted itself.
A black capital 'R' as the signature.
So, what did you think, good. The omni directional gear is in fact from Attack on Titan, amazing anime, and I thought it'd be interesting for Neo to use it. So we've seen Neo work with the White Fang to infiltrate Atlas, sorry if that part didn't seem good since we've only seen what Atlas looks like I kind of just rushed through it, and Neo went on a date with little Ruby, who is seeing Neo isn't as bad as she may seem, or is she? Also who is the mystery person that messaged Neo leaving only an 'H' as a signature, I won't say much other than it's not a RWBY character or an OC, it's a character from a different franchise. So, review if you liked go away if you didn't.
Edit: So after much thought I decided to change the character Neo will be meeting in the next chapter to one I think it would fit better in the "RWBY" world.
Storm out