Chapter 4: Heart Vs Head
Ti'ana cursed as she unscrewed a warped component on her Phaeton, the wrench almost warping under the strain. Finally, she managed to pry it off, handing it over to Light to decompile and reformat into a working part. She was very thankful that that was one of his many functions. She doubted Beacon had parts designed for space-faring crafts, especially ones from another world. While he was doing that, she looked over the rest of the underside, her HUD scanning it for damaged parts. Noticing that a fuel intake line was practically shredded, she closed off that part of the line and ripped it out, oil splattering over her arm. When she got the Phaeton inside the hanger, she thought it would be a good time to give it a look over after their trip through the wormhole. Just in case anything got damaged from their attempt to escape its grasp. A good thing she did, too. According to Light, some of these parts would've caused catastrophic problems if not treated. A nudging against her shoulder told her that Light was done. She swapped the component, some kind of sensor, for the hose, and started screwing it back on. Now that it was repaired, it was so much easier to turn. While she did that, Light recreated the tubing directly back into the system. When they were both done, she closed the hatch and jumped down. And if it weren't for all the people in the hanger, she'd have Light get all the oil and grease off her. As it was, she was just going to have to wait for later.
"Ok. So we're finished with the under-carriage and the engines." She said, her voice only heard in her helmet. "Any other areas needing a check-up, Light?"
"The main cannons are still reading signs of overheating. And the radar dish was hit by debris during the flight."
"Hmm. I think I'll work on the radar dish first. Having weapons won't do us much good if we can't see enemies coming."
"You do that. I'll go down below and see why the weapons aren't working." She placed her hand against the cannons, letting Light flow into the casing, before using a nearby lift to hop on top. She hissed when she saw the dish. Yeah, the caved in side did look pretty bad. She just hoped she could open it up on her own. She started typing away at the pad next to it, they hydraulics hissing and groaning as the lid lifted off. Her HUD highlighted a big red portion right when the dent was, but everything else seemed fine. First thing she had to do was rip the whole thing out so she and Light could start over on that part. Bangs and shrieks filled the air as she pulled things apart, hitting them with her wrench when they refused to yield to sheer brute force. She only stopped when she heard a loud coughing next to her.
"When Holiday said to rip out damaged components, I don't think she meant to literally rip them out with your hands." Light scolded her. "It's far easier to fix parts when they're in better condition instead of mangled and dead."
"Funny. You don't seem to have any trouble fixing me when I'm mangled and dead." She retorted, pulling out the last broken piece. Light scanned all of them, dismantling and reassembling on the go as he did so.
"True. But more often than not you're not torn limb from limb when you die. Then things get a bit harder." She shuddered, remembering the time her armour and shields failed her and the Hive Thralls cracked her helmet open and started chewing on her face. That was not one of her more pleasant deaths. "Well, despite your heavy handedness, most of these parts are still in one piece, aside from the damage already inflicted on them. I'll get to work repairing them."
"So what am I supposed to do now? I can't exactly not do anything. People might find it weird if I'm just lazing about." Light floated towards her and created a mallet, dropping it into her hand.
"See if you can buff out some of the dings in the dish. I'll smooth it over when you're done." Ti'ana shrugged. It was better than nothing. She crouched down next to the lid and gave a few taps in some of the more dented areas. Rips and tears formed in the metal where she struck too hard, but for the most part it was starting to round out again. It was actually kinda relaxing, though if she had to do it alone she'd probably get frustrated with it.
"Miss Aqua!" Ruby Rose's voice sounded. "Miss Aqua, where are you?" She heard a tapping sound from the underside of her ship. "Miss Aqua, you in there?"
"Why would this lady be in my ship?" Ti'ana asked in confusion. Light looked at her for a second before shaking his eye.
"That's you, remember. Aqua is the last name you chose for yourself."
"Oh. Right. Sorry." She stood up and walked to the edge of the ship, spying Ruby walking around below. Maybe she was looking for an entrance. "Hey, Ruby. Up here." The girl looked up, obviously surprised to see her there. "Hey. How was your class? I mean, you were part of the class Bianca and Katie were helping. No problems?"
Ruby shrugged. "Not much. We came across this really big Ursa though. We needed to all work together to kill it. But it was so awesome. And Miss Gaea and Steel were so cool, rushing around the battle going 'bang, bang' and 'boom' and 'crackle, crackle. And then, Miss Gaea's pistol glowed like the sun, and she blew its whole arm off with just three strikes. It-It was like a… like a…"
"A dance of war." She said. That was how regular people described seeing a Guardian in battle. Always moving from one target to the next. Two or more was like flowing water.
Ruby nodded, before looking at her quizzically. "So, uh… What are you doing up there anyway?"
"Fixing some damage." She replied, waving vaguely at the parts beside her that Ruby couldn't see. "The Phaeton took a few dings on the way here. There's not much else for me to do, so I thought I should make sure everything's fixed before I need to use it again."
"Ooh. Can I help with anything?"
"Not unless you know how to put a radar dish back together." She crouched down, making it look like she was doing something. Little Light was about to lift another part when a shower of rose petals appeared around them and Ruby was now standing next to her. "Whoa! Hey! Hey, hey, hey. Watch the petals." She started brushing them all away. "You're gonna get them in everything."
"Sorry." Ruby apologised quickly, brushing the roses away hastily. "Sorry. Sorry. I just wanted to see if there was anything I could do up here. Maybe pass you some parts…"
"No." Ti'ana said, wincing as Ruby started. "I mean, no thank you. I get that you want to help, but this is really complicated work."
"But… But I could…" She looked around before picking up a part. "I could pass you stuff. You know, when you need it."
"See if she can pass you an oscillating tri-metric analyser." Light said in her head. Ti'ana sighed before looking at Ruby again.
"…Do you know what an oscillating tri-metric analyser is?"
"Uh… Um… Do you know what it is?"
"…Not a clue. But unlike you…" She reached out and grabbed the red highlighted part her HUD pointed out. "I've got an onboard system to help me out." She plopped it down in its assigned spot, screwing it back in. "Look, I'm honestly grateful for the offer. Really. But is there any particular reason you wanted to see me?"
"Well it's just… It's just…" Ruby started fidgeting, obviously nervous now. Ti'ana guessed that her outburst before affected the kid more than she expected. "…I really want to learn about Guardians. A-About how you guys live. How you fight. You guys were so amazing before. It's like this stuff doesn't faze you. In fact…" She seemed to be plucking up the courage to say something. "I… I want to be a Guardian too."
Ti'ana nearly dropped the part she was lifting she was so surprised. She put it back down and gave Ruby her full attention. The girl started squirming again under her gaze. Having a giant faceless helmet watching you isn't good for your nerves. "You… you guys have really cool abilities. And the way you talked before, about how Titans and Hunters and Warlocks only have two classes… I know that you said that they're born with it, but to me it sounds like you earn your Semblances."
"Ruby…It's… It's not that simple. Guardians need to go through… a lot of training before they're sent out. They have to be… well, we call it reforging. It's a difficult process, and not everyone can become a Guardian. I mean, do you really think we'd have just one city if we could make more people into Guardians? Anyway, I thought you wanted to become a Huntress."
"I did. I mean, I do. But… But I figured that I could learn the same sort of things as a Guardian." She seemed to steel herself. "Miss Aqua, I know I can handle whatever training I need to go through. Just give me a chance. Please."
Ti'ana sighed. "It's not up to me. It's up to the Traveller. And he… He doesn't talk much these days." She got back to her work, eager to avoid this touchy subject. What Ruby was asking for was impossible. Especially now. She pointed at a part her HUD highlighted. "Hand me that piece there."
"Who's the Traveller?" Ruby asked as she handed the right piece over. "Is he someone special? Like a leader?"
"The Traveller was special. He just showed up in our lands ages ago. Came along with impossible ideas and amazing abilities. With his help, we managed to practically dominate our lands. We pushed the Grim as far out as we could, built amazing works of art, and even pushed technology to the brink of what it's truly capable of. Our scientists then theorised that if we kept going, we could break or even change the laws of physics with our tech."
"He sounds amazing. But… If he helped you guys with so much, how come you've only got one city?"
"Well, it turned out that he had an enemy. We called it the Darkness. We're not actually sure what it was. And no one's really around to tell us. All we know is that it just showed up, and nearly destroyed us. The Traveller practically gave his life to stop The Darkness and the Grim. But the damage had already been done. We took whatever resource we could scrounge up and built The City. Many died before we got the walls put up. Plenty of Guardians too. As the saying goes, 'We spent years building the City. Now we're counting down the hours until it falls.'" With the last component installed, she ran her hand along the dented curve of the lid. Little Light created a thin layer on her hand that smoothed out the curve until it was like new. When she closed it, the whole thing was snug again. "Every Guardian lost is a heavy blow to the City. That's why they choose us carefully."
"…I…I'm sorry." Ruby practically whispered. She looked so forlorn. "I didn't mean to… to…"
"I know you meant well Ruby. But when you become a Guardian, you have the whole City's expectations pressing down on you. Everyone expects you to fix their problems." She cursed to herself as she watched the sad teen. Dammit, this was getting too heavy. "I can answer some questions for you. If you want."
"…No, it's fine. Really. Sorry for troubling you and all." Ruby smiled pleasantly at her, but there was a touch of sadness to it. "Hey, there's nothing wrong with being a Huntress and all. It's still cool." There was an awkward pause. "So… I'll leave you to your work then." She jumped off the top of the ship, leaving Ti'ana feeling like an ass for crushing her new dream.
"Smooth." Advice drawled sarcastically.
"Oh shut up."
Ruby sighed as she flopped down on Weiss's bed, crestfallen by the rejection. She knew that Miss Aqua meant well, but it still hurt for her to refuse to talk to this 'Traveller' about it.
"Wow. That bad, huh?" Yang asked in pity, looking up from the magazine she was reading. "What, did she trample on your dreams while she was at it?"
"She didn't mean to…" Ruby defended her. "But yeah. She said that Guardians had to go through rigorous training to get where they are. And they are only chosen by some guy on life support."
"Sounds fishy to me." Blake said suspiciously. "How much harder could being a Guardian be than being a Hunter? I think she was lying to you, Ruby."
"And why would she do that? We don't know anything about Guardians, or wherever they came from. For all we know, they could have skills they just haven't shown yet." Weiss was saying. "And even if it's like what we're going through as Huntresses, that doesn't change the fact that we're just schoolkids and Guardians look like they might all be adults. Besides, aren't we all a bit busy dealing with the White Fang right now? We can't exactly put it aside to investigate some people who are trying to help us."
"Yeah, but something still feels unusual about them. It's like they're hiding something."
"It could just be because they've been isolated all this time. It sounds a little as though they've never encountered the kingdoms before." Ruby and Yang tuned out their arguing, Yang sidling up to her sister.
"It's ok Ruby." Yang said to her. "So you're not going to become a Guardian. You're still an awesome Huntress."
"I know. But they seem so much more badass. Like in the fight with the Ursa. They didn't even start panicking. They just took one look and went in guns blazing, organising us to work together before blowing it apart. It was so cool."
Yang thought things over. "Well, what if we do something to impress her? Maybe once she sees how tough you are, she'll call this Traveller and get him to make you a Guardian."
"But how? Miss Aqua already praised me on my fight with Torchwick's goons. What else can I do to impress her?"
"Oh. Uh…" She snapped her fingers. "What if we managed to capture a whole big group of White Fang members? That would be impressive enough."
"I'm sorry, what are you two talking about?" Weiss asked, evidently having heard that last part.
"We capture a White Fang base, or group or something, and then the Guardians will have to make Ruby one of them."
"That's insane." Blake shot down the idea. "Even if we found the White Fang base in the Vale, there'd be too many members for us to take it out by ourselves."
"Hey, we're badasses. We could totally kick their asses. Those mooks never caused problems for us before."
"It's not just the rank and file we'll be fighting. There will be others, stronger and tougher. Plenty of them are likely to Hunter material too. They'll be way out of our league."
"I agree with her. God knows how many bounty hunters my father's hired to take out bases like that, and who kept failing." Weiss added.
"But I just know…" Yang started saying, until Ruby placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Yang. It's alright. I'm fine. We don't need to fight something way too tough for us just for me. If we do find that base, we let Headmaster Ozpin know about it straight away. Then he could get the Vale army to rush in or something."
"I'll just… find some other way to try and impress her."
"She wants to be what?" Bianca asked in shock when Ti'ana returned to her room. She had just finished telling them about her conversation with Ruby. "Holy crap, I was not expecting anything like that. Please tell me you said no."
"She did. Harshly." Little Light replied. She glared at him before sighing.
"It wasn't that harsh." She said. "I just… implied that Guardians have to go through a dangerous rite to be chosen, that's all."
"Well technically, you're right. Most Guardians were deceased when they were found by their Ghosts." Katie replied. "So how did she take it?"
"…I think I crushed her."
"Ouch."
"There's nothing else you could've done, Ti'ana." Bianca consoled her. "There's no way for you to have made her into a Guardian. And she's too young even if we could. As painful as it is, you were right to shut her dream down before she got herself killed. Now, we need to talk about what happened today."
"You mean with that Super Ursa Ruby mentioned." Bianca nodded and had Tyrion bring up an image of it. There was no doubt now. It was clearly fused with Ogre parts. "How is that possible? Do you think there's Hive on Remnant?"
"Maybe. But I kinda doubt it. As far as their records show, the Grim are the only outside threats they've had to deal with. If the Hive really were here, then they would've shown themselves by now. After all, they were certainly happy enough to take the Moon when they arrived back home."
"Well then what's your explanation?" Katie asked.
"…We know that the Hive have worked for The Darkness for eons, thanks to finding the World's Grave. What if he borrowed some enhancements from them and seeded them into the Grim?" They all mused it over, pondering the possibility.
"It's… It could happen." Katie admitted. "While we haven't seen the Forces of Darkness combining their tech before, it could just be because they're all at war with each other now. Out here on Remnant, where the Grim are the only Forces around, it could be possible."
"Right then. Ti'ana, make sure that you keep an eye out for any other signs of Hive tech. Once we have a general idea of what's being used, we can make plans to counter it." Ti'ana was silent, staring at her boots. "Ti'ana. Ti'ana."
"Huh? Oh, right. Yeah, I'll keep an eye out." But she still seemed distracted.
"Look, stop worrying about Ruby Rose. You did what you had to. There was no other way around it. Besides, we're only here long enough to find our ships and a way back home." She and Katie started talking again, their Ghosts creating maps of the area, but Ti'ana stopped listening.
All she could think about was the crushed expression on Ruby's face.
Ruby groaned as she rested her head on the library table. She had only paid attention to half of what Professor Oobleck had said, and now she was paying the price. Reading up on everything she missed on top of doing the homework. At least that was the last class for today. She had the whole afternoon to herself. And to her homework.
She was with the Guardians, tearing through an army of Grim like they were nothing but paper… They moved like water, flowing into each other's moves until they were a never ending storm of death…
She shook the thought from her head. Forget it, Ruby. It wasn't happening. Miss Aqua made that clear. Still, she couldn't forget the strength they wielded, how easily they killed that Ursa. She could honestly see them living in the wild; killing anything that got close and surviving off the land; leaving paths of dead behind them. Only returning to civilisation to bring in signs of their work and find more targets to slaughter… She closed her book with a loud thump. It was pretty clear that she wasn't going to get any work done today. Not while her head was filled with ideas of Guardians. She stormed out of the library, not thinking of where she was going. Just one chance. Just one chance to prove herself. She could be a Guardian…
"Ow." She yelped as she ran headlong into something sturdy, bouncing off while her head rang. A grunt told her that whatever she had hit was alive. Rubbing her sore head, she looked up to see Miss Aqua stumbling away, something in her hands. "Oh, Miss Aqua. Sorry about that. I totally should've watched where I was going. You're not hurt, are you?"
"Forget about me. What about you? That was a pretty loud ring you made with your head." She holstered her item behind her, her hands free to check Ruby's head. She sighed in relief. "Looks like that Aura of yours saved your skull. Thank the Traveller for that." There was an awkward silence between them now.
"Well… I… I guess I should be going." Ruby said. "I've got a lot of studying to do for class and stuff." She walked away, but stopped when Miss Aqua called her name. She turned back to see her fidgeting, obviously nervous.
"…Here." Miss Aqua said, pulling the box from behind her back again. "I got you something." Ruby walked back and grabbed the box, which was badly wrapped up. She pulled the wrapping paper free to find that it was… a box of chocolates. "I… wasn't sure what girls your age like, so I thought I'd play it safe with some chocolates. Everyone likes chocolates, right?"
"Thanks. But… why?"
"…It's an apology. For yesterday. I could tell that you had your heart set on becoming one of us. I… I probably should've let you down more easily." She slapped her helmet, aware that she probably said the wrong thing.
"So, it's really is up to the Traveller then." Ruby mumbled more to herself. "Can't you give him a call and ask politely?"
"I'm afraid not. We're not actually connected to the rest of the world. And… Well, it's actually agents of his called Ghosts who choose Guardians."
"And there's never been times where someone became a Guardian without their approval."
"A few." Miss Aqua admitted. "But they're considered foolhardy and crazy. They have to take more risks and do more work just to get the same result. I've only heard of two people like that, and have only met one. As she had some advanced tech of her own to help her." She looked away, as though pondering something. "Look. I can't exactly change anything. But… if… if I see a Ghost… I'll give them a recommendation. And right now, if you want something I'll try my best to get it for you."
"…Then… Can I see you in action? And have a look at your weapons?"
Miss Aqua watched her for several seconds, before nodding. "Sure. I did promise after all." Ruby nearly squealed in delight as they headed back to the training hall. Ruby tapped away at the control panel, selecting many options for the no doubt epic fight. The back gates were opened, squads of robots marching through and taking up position. Miss Aqua stood in the middle, rolling her shoulders as she prepared for this.
One beep… Two beeps… Three beeps…
A horn sounded, the robots opened fire.
Miss Aqua dodged to the right, rolling behind some cover that had sprung out of the ground. As the robots blasted the side she rolled behind, she looked past the other end and started blasting heads off. The headless machines fell, their processors destroyed. But even as they fell, the others turned their sights on her again. She ducked behind cover, a grenade flying overhead to land between them. When it exploded, Ruby had to blink some spots from her eyes as her hearing whined a bit. When she could see properly again, Miss Aqua was already in the open again, a red shotgun in her hands. She shoulder charged a robot hard enough to crumple it, before punching another and causing it to disintegrate. Then she started blasting with her shotgun, tearing through several before reloading. By then, the effects of the grenade had worn off, and the robots started attacking her again. Ruby looked up at the board keeping track of her Aura in worry, watching as it crept to the red rapidly. She looked down again to see her disintegrating another droid with her punch, before sliding under their fire. She looked back at the board again to see that her Aura was back in the green. She looked down to see Miss Aqua turning her shotgun into a shield, prongs folding out of the sides to project the barrier as a metal base appeared out of thin air. As she slammed a robot aside with her shield, she grabbed her rifle from her back and unfolded it, turning it into an axe. With her two weapons in hand, she started charging through the robots and cleaving them in two. But then for some reason, once they started bunching up she holstered them both. What is she planning? Her fists sparked with electricity as she charged for them, before jumping into the air and slamming her fists into the ground. A wave of energy erupted from around her, destroying all the droids within range with ease. A line exploded from before her, sending the remaining flying as they were disintegrated as well. Another horn sounded, marking the end of the fight.
"Ohhh… That was so cool!" Ruby squealed. Miss Aqua rubbed the back of her helmet bashfully, as though she was embarrassed. Or maybe she was worried that this would make Ruby become more determined to become a Guardian. "It was amazing! Especially when you used both your weapons together. It was like watching a knight in shining armour."
"And me without a damsel." She replied. "Alright, that's part one of my promise." She held out her rifle. "Here you go. Have a look. It's unloaded now, since I used up all the rounds in the battle."
"Thanks." Ruby said grabbing the gun. It was bigger than most rifles, and a bit heavier than she was expecting. She held the stock against her chest, looking down the sights. "So, what kind of calibre rounds does it use?"
"Don't know. We made most of our rounds into classes. Scout rifles, like the one you've got in your hands, can only use Scout rounds. Auto rifles use a different type."
"Uh, scout rifle? Auto? Is that how you classify weapons?"
"Pretty much. I guess you want to know more?"
"Please."
"Alright. Our weapons are classified into three groups to begin with. Primary, Special, and Heavy. Primary is pretty much what it says; the guns we use the most. An auto rifle is all about quantity over quality, spraying loads of bullets and overwhelming the enemy defences through sheer firepower. It's mostly preferred by those who fight up close or in the Crucible, since you can just unload without aiming." She raised a hand to stop Ruby's question. "The Crucible is an arena between Guardians to see who is most skilled. After the auto rifle is the pulse rifle. They fire in three-burst shots, and are mostly used at mid-range. Because the recoil of the gun pushes it upwards, Guardians favour shooting the chest area and letting the rounds push to the head. Then we get into weapons that are all about the quality of the shots." She grabbed the scout rifle off of Ruby, and pushed a button behind the trigger. A curved area, right by the stock dropped into her hand, and she reached behind her and pulled out another one. She expertly slotted it into place, before pulling on a deadbolt along the side. "They're not the fastest weapons out there, but with a good sight you can get headshots easier than other weapons. And it's got enough ammo per mag to give you some leeway if you miss. Finally, at the other end of the scale is the hand cannon."
"That's what Miss Gaea uses, right?"
"Yeah. Those are all about quality. They don't have that many rounds, and they're not as good over long distances, but trust me when I say that you will feel it when it hits you."
"Ok." She nodded. "So that's the primary weapons. What are special weapons?"
"They're specialised guns, meant for certain roles. We put sniper rifles and shotguns into that class." She now handed over her own shotgun, letting Ruby marvel at it for a bit before speaking again. "Ammo's a bit harder to come by for those, but they're incredibly powerful in the right situations."
Ruby nodded again. "Sniper rifles for range, and shotguns for up close." She paused. "Yesterday, I saw Miss Steel using this weird gun. It had to spend time charging, but it fired out, like, a dozen little energy things. What's that?"
"Ah. That's… a bit of experimental weaponry we call a fusion rifle. It uh, I think it uses dust or something for elemental effects. It fills a more general role for a Guardian. Or so Katie tells me."
"Oh, ok." She was hiding something, that much was clear. But maybe she was just worried people might want to take it. She'd lie about something if she thought her team might come under threat because of it. She decided to steer away for now, see what else Miss Aqua would tell her. "So, heavy I'm guessing is powerful."
"Right. We only really carry it when we believe that we're fighting something tough." Miss Aqua seemed relieved to be talking about something else. "There are only two kinds really. Machine guns, and rocket launchers. There are different versions of each, but they work pretty much the same way."
"'Dakka, dakka, dakka'; and 'kaboom'." Ruby guessed, waving her hands around to simulated explosions. Miss Aqua started chuckling.
"I wouldn't exactly word it like that. But yeah. I always prefer machine guns. You don't suffer as much if you end up missing your shot."
"So, all your ammo fits into those different weapon classes. And you can't use ammo for a scout rifle in a sniper rifle, or pulse ammo for an auto rifle."
"Pretty much." She paused, before shaking her head. "Actually, it's not as bad as you think."
"Why not? What if you pack for a sniper rifle and you find yourself needing a shotgun?"
"We can… We have a device onboard our ships that can alter the ammo from one form to another. And we try to make sure that we have at least one of each type to compensate for each other's shortcomings." She grabbed the shotgun back and holstered it, standing up and stretching. "Ok then. So, feel better?"
"Yeah."
"Great. Just… Focus on being a Huntress, ok? There's no shame in that." And with that, Miss Aqua headed off, probably to do cool things.
Sure, there's nothing wrong with being just a Huntress. But being a Guardian is still cooler.
That did not go the way I wanted it to. Ti'ana thought ruefully as she walked away from the training arena. All she had really planned on doing was apologise to Ruby and hand over the chocolates. She hadn't planned on showing Ruby her moves (not that she was complaining) and she definitely didn't plan on answering questions. Still, she felt that it all came off better in the end.
Sadly, she seemed to be the only one.
"Unbelievable." She nearly jumped as she heard Bianca's voice. She turned slightly to see her walking alongside her. Damn Hunter, sneaking up on her like that. "Un. Be. Lievable. What the hell was that?"
"What? So I showed her some moves. It's not the end of the world. Hell, we've got enough Glimmer to synthesise some more ammo."
"It's not the training I'm complaining about. It's the questions you answered. What the hell made you decide to tell her stuff like that?"
"You… You were spying on us?" She probably had Tyrion relay everything to her. That was… creepy. And it hurt that she obviously didn't trust her alone. She waved a hand before her helmet. "Whatever. I figured that if I told her some stuff, she'd stop being so curious about us."
"You figured that an impressionable little girl like her would be ok being a Huntress after seeing the moves you pulled? Yeah, great plan Ti'ana. That'll work like a charm. She's probably ditching her 'I want to be a Guardian diary' right now."
"Oh get off my case, Bianca." She snapped back. "I was trying to make her feel better. I didn't make her any promises."
"Oh, but you did." They stopped walking now, glaring at each other behind metal and plastic. "After all, didn't you 'promise' her that you'd recommend her to the first Ghost you find?"
"I said if I saw a Ghost. There's a difference."
"Not to her. You practically guaranteed that she'd become a Guardian. This is why you need to think before you act. She's probably going to search everywhere for our 'home' and try and get her hands on a Ghost. All because of you."
"What the hell is your problem? I was just trying to cheer her up. She's our responsibility, remember?"
"My problem? My problem is that you…" She stopped, looking around at the crowd gathering in the halls. "My problem is that you seem to forgotten that we aren't supposed to be here. My problem is that you are going to blow our cover. My problem is that you seem to have forgotten that Earth needs us back." She hissed, having switched over to internal comms.
"What cover?" Ti'ana replied, also having switched to comms. "Our story is pathetic. A highly advanced city that's been cut off from everyone else? We're barely scraping by on that front. And it's going to get worse the longer we stay here for. I wouldn't be surprised if Ozpin only hired us to keep an eye on us."
"Well I didn't see you complaining when we first made it all up." She looked away, probably glancing at the clock in her HUD. "I've got a class to help out soon. But when I get, we are going to have a serious talk. Until then, keep away from Ruby Rose. You're just going to hurt her by keeping her hopes up." She turned and walked away, leaving Ti'ana clenching her fists. She turned and yelled, punching the wall beside her. The hydraulics in her gauntlets and the Light in her veins allowed her to create a sizable crater in it, cracks spreading everywhere. She then stomped off, hands itching to grab her rifle and shoot Bianca in the back.
But she couldn't. Because right now, for all intents and purposes she could only ever do it once.
"Slowly. Gently." Katie was whispering, watching as Dinklebot zapped away at a glowing red crystal. He was currently attempting to scan it, seeing if it could be converted into a useable form for them. "That's it. Just a little bit more…"
At which point, as is custom for Murphy's Law, Ti'ana barged in loudly, banging the door against the wall and startling Katie and Dinklebot. The dust crystal exploded, giving them both similar soot-stained expressions of surprise.
"Argh!" Ti'ana growled, waving her hands dramatically. "That stupid, stuck-up cow! Where the hell does she get off on lecturing me about trying to make the kid happy? What kind of mother was she back when she was alive? She doesn't know anything." She slammed the door shut again, hard enough to wrench the hinges, before flopping onto her bed in a huff. She grabbed her helmet and tossed it at the wall, before sulking again.
"Well… It sounds like Bianca's attempt to keep an eye on you didn't go down too well." Katie snarked, standing still as Dinklebot removed the soot from her face.
"You knew about that? And you didn't…" She stopped, looking at Katie in confusion. "…What the hell happened to you?"
"Me? Oh, nothing much. Dinklebot and I were simply studying one of these dust crystals in hopes of finding a use for it with our pre-existing powers, until someone came in here all in a strop and startled us, causing us to drop the crystal and have it explode in our faces. Nothing to worry about, really."
"Sorry." Ti'ana apologised, her cheeks turning purple as she blushed in embarrassment. "But I still stand by what I said about Bianca."
"So seriously, spill. What the hell happened to get you two in a fight? If I remember correctly, she used to idolise you after you saved her ass from the Hive. Did she object to you giving Ruby those chocolates?" Katie asked as she pulled another crystal from a sack by her feet. Dinklebot started scanning it again.
"No. She just scolded me because I showed Ruby my moves and answered some questions for her, which apparently are a threat to the mission."
Katie sighed. "I thought you said you were going to make her less interested in becoming a Guardian. Not more."
"What is that supposed to mean? I answered some of her questions. She's less likely to start digging now that her curiosity's been sated, or whatever you call it."
"No, it hasn't. One of the first things you learn as a Warlock is that there are always questions. Any answers you find are just going to make more questions. Why did the Traveller turn Mercury into a garden world? Why did the Vex turn it into a machine? What were they looking for on Venus? She's going to want answers, and she could very well end up jeopardising our mission in the process."
"What is with you guys and the damn mission?! We've got a teen girl who's had her dreams crushed by me. Am I the only one who considers her feelings first?"
They sat there, glaring at each other for a while. "…What's going on with you, Ti'ana? You're never this laissez faire about the mission. Hell, even when Bianca wanted to put aside the mission for her one woman Vex crusade, you found a way to get her to complete both. But you've never put one person over the mission completely."
"…I… It's just…"
"Oh no you don't. You don't get to try and brush this off. What is going on?"
"…She… She reminds me of… me. When I was younger." Katie raised her eyebrow filaments in surprise.
"I thought you said you couldn't remember, and that you didn't even care."
"I couldn't. And I didn't. But…" Ti'ana sighed. "Look. When I was about her age, I was obsessed with Guardians. I'd get my hands on any contraband related to them, tune my radio to City broadcasts, I even looked up everything the Reef had on Guardians. Which, as you can imagine, wasn't a lot. People thought I was weird."
"What? They really thought you were weird because you were interested in the City instead of the Reef?"
"Look, the Reef expects all Awoken to be loyal to the Reef and the Reef alone. You should've heard the sort of things they called the Earthborn. And they had even worse things to say about Zavala. We weren't meant to even talk about them anymore. So yeah, I was seen as a weirdo."
"Little Light found you in France, right? So that meant that you had to have been banished at some point."
"I think so. I've always had trouble remembering that. I think I said that I was done with a species who would rather cower in holes and let their fellow Humans die out than help them."
"Really? I'm impressed."
"Yeah. Except I'm pretty sure I didn't say it so eloquently. Or as politely, since I remember chains being involved. And I think I burst into the Queen's quarters to shout it at her."
Katie started laughing. "Oh Traveller. I'm amazed you even were allowed to leave with your head after that."
"Me too. Mind you, I didn't care that they'd rather kick me out rather than listen to me. I headed to the City and started doing more research. And I trained too. Being a Guardian was my life's goal. I'd do anything to become one. Hell, I'd even go without a Ghost if I had to."
"Pretty impressive. Though I'm still intrigued by how you learnt all this in the first place. You said that your memory was shot."
"It… was." Katie looked at her carefully, before finally understanding. She gasped.
"Ti'ana. You didn't go to the Thanatonauts, did you?"
"No." She sounded shocked that Katie would even ask. "Traveller no. I just… I think I died one too many times out on the field." Katie sighed in relief. Even amongst Warlocks, the Thanatonauts were considered creepy and crazy. "Look. All I'm trying to say is that I know exactly how Ruby feels. We're both of the same minds."
"Then you'd realise that a few questions being answered isn't going to be enough. She's determined to become a Guardian, and as far as we know that's impossible here."
Ti'ana groaned and covered her face with her hands. "I know. I know. I should've said something else. But… Katie, could you honestly look at her and not answer her questions?"
"I think it's a moot point anyway. If she really is like you were, then she was probably determined to become a Guardian the moment she saw us fight. We'll just have to try and do damage control."
Ti'ana peeked past her fingers, a smile on her face. "Katie-8. Are you playing the middle lady for us?"
"Both of you have good points. Bianca's right about you propping Ruby up for nothing and jeopardising our mission. You are right that we can't just break a girl's heart and dreams for the mission. All I'm saying is that this might be one of those times where there is no right answer."
"Well, hopefully she's not planning on doing anything stupid."
That night, few people were aware of a secret meeting happening in Ozpin's office inside the clock tower. Ozpin himself was sitting at his desk, reviewing files showing alien scripts and mangled tool. Glynda was standing next to him, viewing them with interest.
And then there was their mystery guest. Headmaster Ironwood, here with his students from Atlas. He was a military man first, and right now he was agitated.
"So, let me make sure I'm getting this all right." He said, pacing the room in frustration. "We find tablets referring to the dangers of a group known as 'Guardians', who seemingly are agents or assassins of a leader known as 'The Traveller'. Then, after almost 15 years, three of them arrive in Vale, and promptly assault the CCT, likely to access vital information. Then they arrive at your academy – a place where the future generation of Hunters reside – and play themselves off as a long lost city in the middle of nowhere." At this, he turned to face Ozpin. "And you just let them in, just like that?"
There was silence in the room, now that his outburst had ended. Glynda leaned in to look at a blurry picture of a man.
"Funny. I didn't think you were in any position to complain, James. Not since you both have apparently been keeping the existence of aliens from the rest of us." She said sharply, giving them both a glare.
"That is completely different, Glynda. We kept that secret because they made it very clear that they were hostile. If people learnt about these things, there would've been panic in the streets. And you know as well as we do that Grim are drawn to panic and fear."
"What's done is done." Ozpin interrupted. "As for my choices, all we have on their potential threat is the word of, as you called them, 'hostile aliens'. While I want to protect Remnant from invaders, I am not going to alienate any possible allies because I shoot first and ask questions later."
"If I appear to be too quick to attack, it's because I refuse to sacrifice civilians in an attempt to obtain meagre information. If we could capture them and interrogate them, we could learn more than we might just 'observing' them."
"Or we could force them to be aggressive. So far, they have done nothing untoward to our charges. In fact, recently two of their number helped protect a class of ours from a highly dangerous and heavily modifiedUrsa." He brought up another screen, showing Professor Port's sketch of the beast. "Perhaps it might calm your mind if we inform you of everything we've observed about them."
"Perhaps. But please, proceed."
"Thank you." He brought up a bigger screen, split it into three, and had each showing one of the Guardians. "We can at least ascertain that Miss Gaea is actually a human, based on her lack of worry in showing her face to us. These markings might be in reference to some custom from their world, perhaps."
"But you still haven't determined what manner of being the others are yet." Ironwood noted. "I can think of a way."
"We are not putting cameras into their quarters." Glynda said firmly. "Or the showers. We can certainly at least give them some privacy."
"I agree. But at least we can determine that they're humanoid in shape. That's a start."
"Anything else?"
"We had a technician covertly study their ship, and watch Miss Aqua fixing it." Glynda said. Another screen, this one showing the ship they had in the hanger. "He couldn't get too much or access the interior, but from what he discovered this vessel is capable of interplanetary travel. He believes that it could cross the solar system within an hour, maybe even less."
"But no further? That means that there has to be a mothership out there, watching us."
"Obviously if there is a mothership, it is beyond the range of our telescopes. We'll focus on the here and now, for now." Ozpin said. "Miss Glynda, what else did our man observe?"
"The ship suffered some damage, most likely from some form of impact. But he had a look after Miss Aqua was done repairing it, and it was in perfect condition again. I would just like to point out that this was after she literally ripped everything out. In addition, during the work he observed her handing the parts to something. He wasn't able to get a look at it without blowing his cover, but whatever it was was able to take the damaged part and rebuild good as new."
"Some kind of repair system, perhaps?" Ironwood mused.
"Then why wasn't it automatically activated?" Glynda asked him in return.
"Maybe it's a personal unit, meant more for repairing small items instead of bigger things. See if it's possible for someone to get their hands on it. Now, about the weapons."
"We haven't been able to get our hands on them yet. The Guardians take them everywhere, and they seem to vanish at other times. All we have to work with is the scans from the training arena." The screen with the ship vanished, replaced by another screen showing different scenes. The largest one was of the three of them fighting a horde of Grim, from the first day they arrived. Ironwood walked closer to take a better look at them.
"They're rather… large for personal weapons, aren't they?" He noted.
"Perhaps they require the extra stopping power. At the very least, they're strong enough to put down a Grim from a reasonable pace." Ozpin theorised. The video started playing, showing the three of them in action. Grim started falling like flies, parts missing from their heads. They watched them in action until the last Grim was dead, and then brought the video back to the beginning.
"Anyone notice anything odd with their fight?" Ozpin asked.
"The third Guardian. Miss Steel." Ironwood said immediately. "She never actually reloaded. Her companions, they reloaded during the fight. Miss Gaea more often than Miss Aqua. But Steel never reloaded once. And what was with that smoke her gun was giving off? Why did she decorate it with bones?"
"We're not too sure. Without actually holding the weapon, anything we have is pure speculation."
"I noticed how they seemed to pull their ammo out of nowhere." Glynda remarked. "One moment they're reaching down to their belts; the next, their hands are holding onto a magazine."
"It could be another function of that repair unit of theirs. Only instead of fixing damaged parts, it's replacing empty mags." Ironwood guessed. They moved the video forward, until they found the part where the Grim moved into melee range. It stopped when Miss Aqua punched a Beowolf, turning it into lightning. "Now this is interesting. I only ever heard of a few people having the strength to punch a Beowolf out like that. And they usually had a gauntlet weapon to aid their punch. Yet she killed it with that punch alone."
"I'd imagine that her amour helped her. Perhaps a stored charge or something similar." Ozpin replied. "But I find the next part more interesting." The video played again, showing her flipping her gun over and turning it into an axe." Let's watch that again. But slower." It rewound, before playing at a quarter of the speed. It showed her flipping it over to grab the handle, the outer plating sliding down to give it more length. What was really interesting though, was how the blade itself just appeared in a lattice of light. Like a hologram. Yet it was clearly real, given the damage she caused with it. It fast-forwarded until it showed Gaea, pulling a knife from her belt. Her pistol's handle vanished into another hologram frame, yet she still held onto it somehow. As a new, straighter handle appeared, a frame formed around the barrel to create a blade. And when it showed Steel, her gun lost several bits that stuck out, before the body folded out straight into a staff. The bone reformed at the head while the leather strips wrapped around the handle. Ozpin stopped the video at the point where they all had melee weapons in hand. Ironwood looked at them in interest.
"Incredible." He said after a while. "They somehow dismantled their weapons and rebuilt them in a different form. And all in mere seconds."
"My thoughts exactly. Though I don't think that it's natural for them. Their technique isn't as good as our students." Glynda said.
"Likely an attempt to fit in." Ozpin offered. "Still, it was effective enough. The students seemed very taken by them."
"Bring up the next video." Ironwood ordered. Glynda tapped at her scroll, the battle changing to a one-on-one fight between Aqua and a school student. The two danced around each other, blocking blows and striking at weak points. The three of them, however, were watching the board showing their Aura.
"Doesn't seem very strong." Ironwood noted, watching as it took a big dip at the student's first strike. But then the meter rose again, before dropping and rising again. It kept doing this over and over, until the girl's own Aura took a big hit and the match was ended. "How do you suppose she did that?"
"I have a theory." Ozpin replied. "My guess is that they have a personal shield instead of Aura, much like the 'Fallen' we engaged. Do you remember how quickly it regenerated when we stopped laying suppressing fire?"
"I remember." Ironwood said darkly. They lost a few friends because of that trick. "So if we do attack them, we have to keep them in sight at all times to stop their shields."
"Agreed." They played the video again. It stopped, showing Aqua tapping away at a holographic panel.
Ironwood frowned. "What is she doing there? And how did she bring that up?"
"We're still not too sure." Glynda said. "We've looked at it over and over, and our best guess is that it's tied to her armour again. As for what she's doing, we believe that she was engaging some feature of her shield." It played again, showing her charging straight for the student. A shield formed before her, blocking the shots fired at her until she was within range." The video continued, showing the final strike that ended that match. Aqua holstered her weapon before checking on the student.
"Again, impressive." Ozpin said. "But it's the final footage that I'm interested in the most."
"Really? What makes it so different?"
"We're almost completely certain that Aqua was showing her full capabilities." Glynda replied. The screen now showed Aqua in the arena again, this time surrounded by outdated Atlesian Knights. When the fight started, this time Aqua seemed more cautious. She hid behind cover and took potshots. But she was accurate enough to disable several knights before she had to hide again. They saw her pull out a grenade – again, from nowhere – and toss it overhead. It acted very much like a flashbang, but the camera still saw her grabbing a shotgun from her back. She charged into a knight with her shoulder, sending it flying in pieces before attacking with her shotgun. There was a purple effect to the pellets, for some reason. By now, the others had regained the use of their sensors, and engaged her. Her shield dropped rapidly, until she punched and disintegrated a nearby knight. That somehow caused her shields to refill. Her shotgun transformed into a shield, allowing her to block attacks while she cleaved into them. Then, she holstered both weapons and jumped towards the remaining knights, her hands sparking. When they slammed against the ground, an explosion of force erupted from her, destroying the surviving knights. The video stopped, the fight over.
"…And just what do you think that last attack was? Some form of 'desperation attack'?"
"We don't know." Ozpin admitted. "But whatever it is, she seems to be able to only use it sparingly." He gave Ironwood a smile. "I don't know about you, but I personally believe that this was worth letting them run free for now."
Begrudgingly, Ironwood nodded. "What about the attack with the modified Ursa? Do you have that on hand?"
"I'm afraid we don't. No one was really in any position to record that fight. But I have a plan."
"Really? Does it have something to do with the two hikers disappearing in the forest?"
"I see you know about that already. We've had people looking into that, but so far they've found nothing. I see this as a good chance to test our students and get more footage of what the Guardians are capable of."
"…Alright then. I'll trust you for a bit longer. But if I believe them to be a danger to us all, if I find proof: then I will bring them in for a proper interrogation." He turned to leave. "We're going to find out what they're here for. One way, or another."
The next day, Tyrion was having a day of exploring.
It was a perfectly normal mission goal. There were still a lot of things they didn't know about, and a routine scouting mission would hopefully help them learn more. And a small Ghost like him would find it far easier to slip into places than the Guardians.
He told himself all that, but mainly it was to get away from the tension in the team.
Bianca and Titan Ti'ana were still not speaking to each other over the Ruby Rose incident. Warlock Katie was trying to play peacemaker, but so far she was lucky to get anything from them both. While he knew that Titan Ti'ana had acted rashly, her compassion for the child was one of the reasons The Traveller chose Humanity. As such, he was staying out of the whole thing.
He was musing over whether to investigate Headmaster Ozpin's office when he spotted two boys climbing a tree. That alone would've been suspicious, but his internal map told him that they were climbing up towards Team RWBY's quarters. It never bodes well when boys try to get into an all-girls room. He floated up behind them, thinking over how to report this. Scare them? Have Bianca report them to another teacher? Maybe have a few words with them herself? For now, he would settle for taking footage of it. He could work from there. He activated his internal camera when his receptors overheard Team RWBY talking.
"…Remembers their roles?" A voice, acknowledged as Ruby Rose, asked.
"You and I will head to the CCT and check the Schnee records for any other Dust robberies or inconsistencies." He recognised Weiss Schnee's voice. "Seeing as I'm in the family, it shouldn't be a problem."
"The White Fang has regular faction meetings to hand out orders and recruit new members." Blake Belladonna said. "If I can get in, I can hopefully learn what they're planning."
The White Fang. A known Pro-Faunus terrorist organisation. It seemed that Headmaster Ozpin was right. They were getting into trouble again. He quickly linked up to Bianca, even as he listened in some more.
"I have an old friend on the shady side of town that typically knows everything going on in Vale. Getting information out of him shouldn't be too hard." Yang Xiao Long said.
"Great." Even as Ruby Rose cheered, Tyrion noticed the boys standing on the ledge by their window. One of them, a monkey Faunus, has hanging by his tail from the window itself. Clearly, he meant to surprise them. "We'll meet up tonight near Yang to go over what we found. Let's do this."
"Yeah." The monkey Faunus cheered along with her. Tyrion heard shuffled steps. Evidently, this Faunus surprised them.
"Sun!" He heard Blake Belladonna call out in surprise.
"How did you get up there?" Yang Xiao Long asked him.
"Ah, it's easy; I do it all the time." Sun responded. Weiss Schnee evidently took offence to that. Sun flipped himself into the room. "So, are we finally getting back at that Torchwick guy?"
"We are going to investigate the situation... as a team." Blake Belladonna said firmly.
"Sorry, Sun." Ruby Rose apologised. "We don't want to get friends involved if we don't have to."
Sun scoffed. "That's dumb! We should always get friends involved! That's why I brought Neptune!" The girls looked out the window, seeing the blue-haired boy holding on tightly to the wall.
"'Sup?" The boy said, trying to appear calm. Ruby looked at him suspiciously. "How did you even get up here?"
"I have my ways." Neptune said, trying to wave it off. He glanced down at the very thin ledge he was standing on. "Seriously, though, can I come in? We're like, really high up right now." Ruby Rose rolled her eyes, but she had Yang Xiao Long grab him and pull him in.
"Alright, I'll go with Weiss; Sun, you can go with Blake. And Neptune, you can go with Yang since she doesn't have a partner. Everyone good?"
Tyrion floated away, back towards their quarters. "Did you guys get all that?" He asked?
"Yeah. Sounds exactly like what Ozpin asked us to look out for." Bianca replied. "We're going to split into three. One for each group. After a bit or arguing, we decided that I'll follow Blake and this 'Sun'. Our stealth field should allow us to sneak into the meeting. Ti'ana's going to follow Ruby and Weiss, since she shouldn't stand out too much pretending to be a Huntress; and Katie will follow Yang and 'Neptune', since she sticks out less than Ti'ana in a shady place."
"Understood. I'll meet you at the hanger."
Ti'ana jumped off the roof of the building, lifting herself so that she hovered over to the next building. Without breaking stride, she jumped again to the building after that. She kept doing this, always one building behind Ruby and Weiss, until she ran out of roof to run on. She crouched down, watching the two of them heading towards the CCT.
"Are we sure that no one will recognise me here?" She said into her comms. "I don't want to get arrested over that night. Not while everyone's watching at least."
"You should be safe." Katie consoled her. "We were wearing heavy cloaks last time. The possibility of someone recognising you is minor at best." There was a pause. "Well, not if you hop off the roof. That looks a bit suspicious."
"Right." She jumped off, lowering herself gently before walking calmly after them. A few people were surprised to see her, but no one looked like they were calling the police or anything. "How's it going at your end? Anything happening right now?"
"Not really. I'm still following Yang around. I think Blue boy's copping a feel. And I'm pretty sure she likes it."
"I found out why Belladonna seemed to appear out of thin air." Bianca's voice sounded on the comms. "She's a cat Faunus. Probably was a part of White Fang, given how much she knows about them."
"White Fang. Those guys hate the Schnee family, right?" Katie asked, bringing up the question Ti'ana wanted to ask, but wasn't going to. Despite the fact they were on a mission now, she still wasn't talking to Bianca.
"I guess Blake doesn't feel the same way. That, or she's hiding any intentions. We should probably keep a closer eye on them both. And see if we can find anything on Belladonna."
"Right." Katie replied. "What about you, Ti'ana? How are the two lovebirds?"
"Still walking. Ruby's pretty excited about the CCT though. I think she's just naturally energetic about everything." She sat down at a bench, trying not to look interested as they stopped to banter. Ruby dropped her scroll, and it was picked up by someone familiar.
"Shit." She cursed. "Robot girl's here."
"Dammit. She must be keeping an eye out in case we strike again." Bianca said. "Ti'ana, don't… Katie, tell Ti'ana to not get into a fight with her. She's on recon only. If she gets spotted, pull out. If they figure out that we attacked the CCT, our cover is blown."
"Sure. Ti'ana, you got all that?"
"…Yes, mother. I'll behave." She looked back up to see Robot girl walking away quickly, with Ruby following her. "Ruby and Weiss have split up. Ruby's going after Robot Girl. Who should I follow?"
"Dammit." Bianca cursed louder.
"Katie here. Have Little Light follow Weiss. According to schematics, you need a registered scroll to get inside. Something you don't have without him."
"Once again, do not get spotted." Bianca added. Ti'ana flipped her comms off and let Light fly away, following Ruby as he left. She kept a bigger distance from them this time, not willing to start a fight. From the sound of their conversation, Ruby was trying to get 'Penny' to tell her what happened to her. Where she disappeared to.
"Soo… Does she have her arms back now?" Katie asked.
"Yeah. I can't even tell they were ripped off." Ti'ana smirked.
"I didn't rip them off. I sliced them off. There's a difference." Bianca retorted.
"Hold on. It sounds like Penny wants to meet Ruby elsewhere. And she wants her to get there separately."
"Where? If we know, you can get Light before following." Bianca asked.
"Give me a minute, ok? She wants to meet her in front of… Chupathingy."
"Chupathingy, Chupathingy…" That was Katie, having Dinklebot search the map for it. "I got it. It's a Mexican restaurant in town. About a couple of blocks from where you are right now."
"Wait for Light. If you hurry, you should be able to find them again in time. Bianca, out." Ti'ana sat back down on a bench, leaning back and catching sunlight off her armour.
There was nothing to do but wait.
It was practically dark by the time Yang pulled into her contact's place. Katie had been following them as stealthily as a flame-deco Sparrow. From the look of the place, it was some kind of nightclub.
She tried to remember the last time she had been to a normal nightclub. It felt like before the Collapse had been the last time. But hey, maybe civilians go to nightclubs all the time in The City.
She crept up to the wall, using her glide to reach ladders and fire escapes. Thanks to that, she managed to get a bird's eye view of the club. Just in time to see two goons running inside in a panic. They slid the doors shut, but were knocked aside as Yang blasted her way in.
"Huh. Guess Yang and her contact aren't too friendly. His goons just pulled out a dozen pistols on her." She said into her comms. "Wait, hold on. The leader guy just told them all to stand down. And he's inviting her for a drink. I'll listen in, but this is actually pretty boring. How much fun are you guys having?"
"A little bit." Ti'ana admitted. "Penny just outed herself to Ruby. Turns out that she's some kind of… I don't know, proto-Exo."
"It's amazing." Little Light said. "She's a machine able to produce her own Aura. This world's first built Exo."
"Apart from that, not much going on over here. Ruby's just finished boarding up the dumpster she was thrown into."
"Wait. Why was she thrown in a dumpster?"
"Apparently Atlas don't want anyone to find out about her. Penny threw her in to hide her from the guards."
"Bianca here." Bianca's voice crackled through. "Blake and Sun are entering the warehouse. I am sneaking in from above. Katie, status report."
"Hold on, just listening in." Katie sent Dinklebot down to listen in, but it was becoming pretty clear how useful this was. "Nothing. Her contact hasn't heard a thing about Torchwick since he hired some goons off him."
"The same goons Ruby kicked around like chickens? Ti'ana giggled.
"The same, from the looks of them. No wonder Torchwick dumped these guys." She got up, brushing down her robe as she walked away. "Well, this was a bust. What's next?"
"Keep following her." Bianca replied. "This was never about answers. It was just about keeping an eye on them and making sure they didn't do anything dangerous."
"Right. Understood." Katie replied. Bianca sneaked through the warehouse and past the guard, aware of the drain her invisibility was forcing on her power. As long as she didn't do too much, it should last her a while.
At least Blake and Sun were easy enough to spot. Even in this crowd there was something about them that made them stand out. They were staring at the stage, obviously interested in whatever was under the giant tarpaulin.
"Thank you all for coming." A sleeveless Faunus greeted everyone. "For those of you who are joining us for the first time tonight, allow me to introduce a very special comrade of ours! I can assure you, he is the key to obtaining what we have fought for for so long!" People started clapping until their 'comrade' walked onto the stage. It was a human, wearing a white suit and a bowler hat over orange hair.
"Just spotted Torchwick." Bianca whispered into her Comm. "Apparently he's the White Fang's key to obtaining whatever it is they're interested in."
"Faunus equality, apparently." Tyrion replied. "Though it shows signs of becoming Faunus superiority." Bianca kept watching as another human stepped out from behind the tarpaulin. A shorter girl, wearing a feminized suit and with multi-coloured hair.
"What's he talking about?" Katie asked.
"He's going on about how the government is behind Faunus suffering, and that they need to tear it down before they can obtain their freedom. Guess we know what Torchwick gets out of this."
"I always thought it was a zealot army willing to do his dirty work." Ti'ana added, evidently forgetting about their code of silence from the fight. Bianca stopped paying attention as the tarpaulin was brought down.
"Whoa." She said. "Guys. White Fang got their hands on some big-as robot. I'm sending you both a picture."
"I… I recognise that." Ti'ana said after a moment of silence. "It's Atlas' new battle robot thing. The Atlesian Paladin. But they said this wasn't coming out until the end of the year. How did they get their hands on one?"
"Corruption." Katie answered. "I bet you that Atlas has a few Faunus in high places, and they're working for White Fang. And Atlas couldn't get rid of them without being accused of discrimination. Sneaky bastards."
"We need to take it down. Something that tough is a danger to everyone." Bianca said.
"What about our 'cover'? I thought that was what was important?" Ti'ana scoffed.
"Shut up. I'm being serious here." She saw Torchwick watching Blake and Sun carefully. "Dammit. He's spotted them. I'll have to make a distraction."
"That electrical panel Blake Belladonna's eying is the main fuse box for the lights in this building. Destroying it should cause some confusion." Tyrion answered her.
"Nice." She pulled out her hand cannon and blasted it, the fuse box practically exploding. All the lights went out, and she ran straight for the windows. As she ran, she could hear hydraulics starting up for some reason. She jumped through the window at the same time as Blake and Sun, her shield protecting her from the glass.
And behind them, the wall exploded as the Paladin charged after them.
"Nice shot, Blake." Sun shouted as they ran away, shaking the glass off of them. "That fuse box was a great idea."
"But… But I didn't shoot it." Blake replied. Was there someone else there? Someone else spying on the White Fang? All those people, the ones who didn't want to join and only wanted to see… Her thoughts were interrupted as a loud crash filled the air. She turned to see the Paladin charging after them. And beside them was…
"Whelp. Never thought I'd have to run from a crazed robot ever again." Miss Gaea said calmly.
"Miss Gaea? What are you…? How did you…?" Realisation came to her. "Were you following us?" The three of them jumped onto a car nearby before jumping onto the building before them, Miss Gaea somehow creating pockets of air underneath her.
"Yep." She admitted. "And a good thing too, considering that first thing you do is get this asshole after you."
"Hey, I enjoy a reunion and all, but shouldn't we be calling for help?" Sun shouted.
"On it." Blake and Miss Gaea shouted at the same time. Blake looked at her in surprise before bringing out her scroll. She dialled the rest of the team, hoping that they were close by.
"Everyone!" She shouted into her Scroll. "If you can hear me, we need back up…"
"Help!" Sun shouted beside her. "Big robot! And it's big! Really big! That Torchwick guy is in it! But not, like, it didn't eat him; he's, like, controlling it or something."
"Where are you guys?" Yang responded. As they ran past another street, Blake saw Yang standing not far from them. As she watched, Miss Steel jumped down off the roof, a flame-decal hovering bike appearing underneath her.
"Come on! We'll head this way!" Miss Gaea shouted, tugging on Blake's arm. They moved away from the road, heading toward the roofs near the highway. They jumped up onto them, before using them to get onto the highway itself. Rolling as they landed, they jumped just in time to land on a couple of cars. "Well, that should keep him busy. It'll take him a bit before he can get up…" She was interrupted as Torchwick jumped onto the highway after them, knocking aside cars as he landed. "Shit. I hate it when I'm wrong."
"What do we do?" Sun shouted.
"Stop it, duh." Miss Gaea shouted back, pulling her sniper rifle out and crouching on the car. She blasted the Paladin several times, the sway of his running causing them to impact against his chest. She stopped for a moment, waiting. And then, her next round slammed into his shoulder. The arm sparked a bit, but held on. "You know, I wasn't meaning to do this alone. You're Hunters, aren't you? This should be a cakewalk."
"I don't think our weapons are built to take on something like that." Blake responded.
"Just think of it as that Ursa we fought. It can't be any harder than that." She kept sniping at it, her shots exploding against it.
Where were the others?
"Geez this guy is dangerous." Ti'ana muttered, following the trail of destruction he left. They were keeping pace with Yang now, the Paladin rampaging ahead. "Katie, get that thing's attention."
"Can do." Katie replied, pulling her rocket launcher out of her Ghost. Thankfully, hers was fitted with a lock-on system. Which was really good, since apparently Torchwick had noticed them. He shoulder charged a line of cars, sending them all flying towards them.
"Hold your rocket!" Ti'ana shouted as she swerved around the flying cars. If she was still driving her old sparrow, she wouldn't been able to survive the mayhem.
Which wasn't too bad for them. But it was hard to keep cover when you're 'dead'.
"Have we got enough boost?" Katie asked her. She looked down at the dash to see the Boost bar almost empty.
"Not quite. Hold on, and prepare to do a trick." She gunned the boost, heading straight towards a car on its roof. The sparrow flew over it, flying high. Ti'ana spun the Sparrow around, while Katie held on with just her hands on her shoulders. When they landed, the inertia of the trick topped up the boost. "Ok. Now, blast it."
"Right." She pulled out her rocket launcher again, firing the rocket right at him. Torchwick tried to dodge, but the rocket followed him like a death cry from a Shrieker. The rocket slammed into his back, arc sparking all over him. The Paladin stumbled, obviously damaged. She slotted in another rocket, her armour interfacing with the mods of the Triple 0 to help her. In only a second, she was ready to blast again. The only reason she paused was because Sun and Neptune had both jumped on. And then they were both sent flying, having found it difficult to hold on. With them in the clear, she fired again. Her second rocket slammed into his side, knocking him down. He skidded along before trying to get back up, just when Weiss appeared before him. She created a line of ice, and he slid along it until he fell through the barrier and down to the ground below.
"Are we gonna take part?" Katie asked. Ti'ana headed straight for the gap. "Just checking." They drove off both hopping off the Sparrow as it crashed and exploded on top of the paladin. They both landed next to the students, Blake, Sun, Yang, Neptune and Bianca already there.
"Freezer burn." Ruby shouted, blasting herself back. Blake followed her while Weiss made another patch of ice. Yang was jumping above, before shooting her gauntlet right into the ice. Mist filled the area they were in, nearly blinding them.
"I've marked the Paladin's last known location on your HUD." Light said. "I'll keep you updated everytime we see him."
"Right. Let's get moving team." Ti'ana called out. "Katie. You and I will target his sensors. He can't fight us if he can't see us. Bianca, hit him with a Golden Gun."
"Right." They all moved, Ti'ana starting the assault from the front. She dodged as he blasted at her, allowing Katie to attack a sensor. Distracted by her, he left himself wide open for her real attack. And as they kept him busy, Team RWBY charged in with their own attacks. Weiss and Blake charged in too, driving the points of their blades into other sensors. Obviously frustrated, Torchwick opened fire with a volley of missiles. Just like dealing with a Cabal Colossus. They scattered, Ti'ana and Bianca throwing their grenades at the missile racks. They exploded, setting things on fire and causing arc to spark everywhere.
"Now Bianca." She called out. Bianca started up her Golden Gun, aiming carefully for his shoulder. One round caused it to burst into flames. Two rounds caused it to hang loose. And three blew the whole thing off. Ti'ana yelled loudly as she charged in, her personal barrier weathering the attack from his remaining arm. She unleashed her fist of havoc, slamming it down against the ground before it. Parts of it started exploding as it was forced back, and it fell to one knee. She climbed up it until she was on the top, pointing her shotgun right at the other arm. She blasted it again and again, sparks flying as it became mangled. He stood back up, shaking her off with ease. But she smiled. Little Light estimated that it didn't have much further to go.
And besides, he forgot about Team RWBY
"Ladybug." Ruby called out, her and Blake charging in. They both slashed at his legs from either side, leaving another groove in the metal with each pass. As he tried to stomp them, white circles appeared beneath them and pulled them away. "Ice Flower." She and Weiss took up position, Weiss creating another circle before Ruby as she pointed Crescent Rose at him. Frost streamed after the bullet, ice forming on his Paladin.
"Nice job Ruby. Girls, time to finish this with a Sunsinger combo." Katie nodded, suddenly glowing with solar energy. Ti'ana and Bianca could feel her empowering them, and from the looks of it, it was spreading to the others too. The three of them charged in guns blazing, tossing grenades and knives and punches as quickly as they could. The paladin wilted under their assault, melting from the flames of their grenades.
And Ti'ana had picked up enough orbs of Light for another pass.
"Arrgh!" She yelled, charging her fists again. But this time, instead of smashing the ground, she slammed her fists into the cockpit of the Paladin. It shattered apart under her blow, Torchwick flying away from the force. He skidded along the ground before coming to a halt, all of them with their guns trained on him.
"I just got this thing cleaned." Torchwick moaned, more concerned with his suit than the lot of them surrounding him. "Well, it's been fun meeting you all tonight. But I've got an important meeting coming up, and I'd hate to miss it in prison."
"Then I guess you're in for some disappointment." Katie remarked. "Because there's seven of us, and one of you." Torchwick smirked at her as she said that.
"Two, actually." A girl in a suit jumped down, holding onto an umbrella for some reason. She smiled sweetly at them before bowing.
"Something's not right." Bianca said more to herself. "No way he thinks we'll just let him go…" Her musing was interrupted by Yang charged straight for them, gauntlet at the ready. "Wait! It's some kind of trick!" Too late, she punched them. Or rather, she shattered them. It was some kind of illusion. The real Torchwick was flying away in a copter. Katie tried to blast him out of the air, but the girl fired a shot back and made it explode in mid-air.
"Aw. He got away again." Ruby groaned. Ti'ana holstered her guns just in time for Yang to get in her face.
"What are you three doing here? Did you follow us or something?" She asked. Evidently, she didn't like being followed by faculty.
"Yeah, well… Bianca was worried that… Ruby would do something crazy in hopes that it would get a Ghost to notice her. Or something like that."
"Wait. What?" Bianca asked. Ti'ana waved her down.
"You really think that my little sister would go after a dangerous criminal simply to get noticed by your guys?"
"Well, yeah. I mean, it's what I would've done when I was her age."
"Did it work?" Ruby asked excitedly. "I mean, not that it's why we did it. But do you think a Ghost noticed?"
"Well, considering we're pretty sure there aren't any Ghosts in Vale… No."
"Well, how about you guys? Did it impress you?"
"Not really." Bianca said. "I get that you guys are reasonably skilled and all that. But there's a reason the police handle terrorist groups and not Huntresses in training." Ruby sagged, obviously disappointed and a bit guilty. "Come on. We'll all head back to Beacon and no one has to learn about this little vigilante business. Agreed?"
"Yes ma'am." They chorused.
And so, the busy day finally came to a close.
There we go. You know, this chapter was going to be a lot shorter originally. After the scene with Ti'ana and Katie talking, it was going to go right into Tyrion finding out about RWBY going into town. But I felt that we should see what Ironwood feels about the Guardians.
Yes, he knows about them. He was with Ozpin when they first met the Fallen. Oh, of course they met them. How else did they discover that alien text about the Guardians and the Traveller?
The whole scene with Ruby wanting to become a Guardian just popped into my head and seemed like a cool bit of possibility. It might happen, it might not. We'll just have to see what happens after this.
Thanks to the House of Wolves, we learn a bit more about what the Reef is like. I used that in order to make Ti'ana's backstory. She was originally just going to be an Earthborn found in France, but I thought about why she'd be so interested in Ruby. The idea that they were very much alike seemed perfect. And Guardian interest would probably keep people interested during the Dark Ages.
And the way I see it, Ti'ana and Bianca both have good points. In fact, if this was any other story or if there were Ghosts in Remnant, then Ti'ana would be right. But there aren't. So Bianca is the right one.
Oh, and for those thinking I'm demonising Ironwood, or flanderising him… He's always been concerned about public safety. If there is a threat to people, his idea is to blow it to hell. So of course he wouldn't like Guardians when he knows nothing about them. He will become very plot relevant in the future. I guarantee it.
But next time, we finally get to find out what happened to our little explorers.
It. Will. Not. Be. Pretty.
The Hive never are.
P.S. For those of you wondering, the Thantonauts are Warlocks who kill themselves over and over for research. Even Guardians think they're weird, and some of them disarm mines by stepping on them and dying.
