/-some time later-/
Atlas soldiers positioned themselves on either side of the entrance. This was a covert assignment: a raid on a known White Fang outpost. The guards outside had been easy enough to dispatch, which was nothing less than a stroke of luck. Accompanying the brigade was a squad of UNSC volunteers and Penny, who had insisted she come along; she still wasn't allowed until General Ironwood gave her the go-ahead.
The UNSC troops stuck explosives to the edges of the door, following their role in the plan. Once the door detonated, Penny would lead the Atlesian forces inside. They would subdue any hostile forces, and the extraterrestrial soldiers would sweep the base for signs of Dr. Church or his group. If neither were found, the captured extremists were to be interrogated for leads on his location. This plan, formulated by the combined reasoning of General Ironwood and the UNSC's Specialist Halsey, was as airtight as one could hope for when dealing with several unknowns in the Atlesian Military.
Penny took her position, meters from the entrance. "Why do you do what you do?"
What do I do? She thought back at the voice. After some time talking to the voice, she'd begun to pass it off as an imaginary friend - something to confirm her sentience. She liked having that confirmation, and she liked the talks, though eventually she started to have to internalize them when she'd received strange looks from the soldiers.
"You follow their orders - his orders - without so much as a question. Why?"
I trust the General's judgement. Aside from that, he is the commanding officer -
"That's not what I'm asking, and you know it."
Penny gave a confused frown. Then what are you asking?
"Why don't you do something for yourself for a change? Something to look back on and think, 'I did that.' "
I don't understand.
"You will..."
"...ing on your call, Penny."
"Huh?" She blinked, looking at the soldier to the left of the door.
"I said we're waiting on your call."
Penny nodded once she remembered where she was. "I'm combat ready!"
The soldier pressed the button, causing the door to dramatically explode into the base. The UNSC troops tossed in a volley of flashbangs before Penny entered, deploying the Pale Marionetta. While the White Fang were stunned, she took just a moment to review her mission specifications.
MISSION START
OBJECTIVES
-Disable enemy forces
-Locate Dr.C-/-^-\...
Her entire Heads-Up Display glitched. After a high-speed patch, she tried again.
MISSION START
OBJECTIVE
-Eliminate hostile forces
/-/
"Hey, Cortana?"
"Epsilon?"
"You know that weird girl that hangs around the base?" She looked up at him from her work. "Orange hair, sort of a tan-and-black dress, perpetually happy?"
"Penny?"
"Yeah, her. Do you think she's been acting strange?"
"Define strange."
"I don't know, but being around her makes me feel... uneasy. Do we know anything about her?"
Cortana thought a moment. "She's respected by everyone in the Atlesian Military, she's on good terms with Teams RWBY and JNPR..." She paused.
"And?"
"...I don't know," she answered incredulously. "That's all I know about her."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah. And since her fainting spell, I haven't had a chance to talk to her."
"I must not have been here for that. What fainting spell?"
/-/
Teams Red, Blue, and JNPR found themselves under a hail of gunfire. Apparently, the faunus girl they'd encountered was a member of Beacon's top upperclassman team, called CFVY, pronounced "coffee"; and the girl, whose name they learned was Velvet, was more on the sensitive side. Pyrrha had voiced how convenient it was that they had taken so long to reach this stage of aggression since, apparently, team welfare concerns were usually dealt with at CFVY's earliest convenience - often immediately.
Maybe I should back up a little.
/-/
JNPR took it upon themselves to give the Reds and Blues a proper tour of Beacon, since the sim-troopers had only seen as far as their rooms. During the tour, after learning that, conveniently, the food was safe to eat, the group made their way to the academy garden. While there, admiring the scenery, Wash noticed the rabbit girl from a few days prior moping on a bench, surrounded by people he didn't recognize. "Hey," he said, grabbing Ren of JNPR's attention, "Who are they?"
"That's Team CFVY," Ren answered. "Why?"
"I'm pretty sure we ran into that faunus girl last week or so. The exchange was... not pleasant, we'll say."
"Well, I'm sure you just got off on the wrong foot. If you go over and introduce yourselves -"
"You don't seem to understand," Wash interrupted, "Sarge pulled a gun on her."
"...Oh no..."
" 'Oh no' what?"
"Tell me he didn't ask if she was part of the White Fang?" Wash nodded slowly. Ren stood there silently for what seemed like the longest time. He finally lifted his arms and patted Wash on the shoulders. "Our time may have been brief, but it was nice knowing you."
About that time, Wash looked back over to Team CFVY, two other members of which were now starting towards the group. "Is that... a minigun?"
"I suggest you get behind something."
/-/
"This! Planet!" Tucker yelled, dodging bullets as he attempted to close the gap between him and the minigun-toting young woman, "Is! Bullshit!"
"Why is she even firing on us?" Doc called from behind a weirdly durable bench. "It was the Reds who held the girl at gunpoint!"
"Quit throwing us under the bus, assholes!" Simmons replied, ducking the giant man's equally massive curved sword. The blade came back around, slamming into the ground and propelling the Reds away with a powerful shockwave.
"Velvet is incredibly sensitive," Pyrrha explained behind the shield wall she and Jaune had set up. "If something rattles her enough, the rest of her team make sure it doesn't do it again."
The two of them moved to cover Caboose and Wash while Jaune spoke, "I've never seen Coco this into it before, though. You guys must have said some really bad stuff."
"For the last time," Grif shouted, diving out of the swordsman's way again, "It wasn't us! It was Sarge!"
"I didn't hear anyone try and stop me at the time," Sarge countered, his shotgun not even scratching the samurai's armor.
"I did!" Wash answered angrily. "Many times! It wasn't just the rabbit girl, either!"
"We were lookin' for White Fang!"
"You were terrorizing civilians and you know it!"
"I already said I'm sorry, what more do you want?"
"What I want -" He groaned, standing up behind the barricade. "FOR THE LOVE OF GOD WOULD SOMEONE TAKE OUT THE FUCKING MINIGUN?!"
"On it!" Tucker answered once he worked out that his sword still blocks bullets.
He closed the gap, pushing past the gunner and restraining her. "What the hell?" she asked in disbelief, dropping her weapon.
/-/
Once the two CFVY members were pacified sufficiently, the Reds and Blues began to explain themselves. "...So on our way back from the ice cream parlor," Simmons said, he and the others hoping their half-honest story would hold, "Brick figured we should keep an eye out for White Fang; the obvious issue with that being he's getting up in years, so he thinks everyone is a terrorist. Isn't that right, sir?"
Sarge, aka "Brick", meanwhile, was mock-arresting Grif, aka "Sheen". "On the ground, dirtbag!" he said, pretty convincingly.
"I'm not even a faunus!" Grif replied in feigned terror, trying his best not to ham it up.
"Right. So when he saw your friend, he kind of went into auto-pilot. This was all just a big misunderstanding, and we hope you can forgive -"
The remaining member of Team CFVY, whom the Blood Gulchers learned was named Fox, stepped forward, placing his hand over Simmons's heart. "Repeat that last sentence."
"Uh...?"
The minigun girl, Coco, smirked. "He wants you to say it again. Don't worry, it'll only hurt if he thinks you're lying."
The rest of the gathering grew silent. Simmons took a deep breath. "This was all a big misunderstanding. We hope you can forgive us."
A full minute passed, and Fox removed his hand. "...I believe you."
"Huh," the giant Yatsuhashi said, "he passed the Fox Test."
"Can't argue with results," Coco replied. She turned back to the group. "On behalf of Team CFVY, we forgive you this time."
/-/
"Let me get this straight," Church said, looking over the decimated mechs, "One of these things went berserk days after we got here, killed three people, then got destroyed by another one that went crazy, killed an entire squad of Atlas and UNSC troops, and finally dropped dead from a spear to the leg?"
Cortana nodded, "Yes."
"And after all that crazy shit went down, the Reds and my team arrived with a team of Beacon students - one of which threw said spear - and then Penny fainted?"
"She insists it's a javelin, but yes."
"How the fuck long was I in there?"
"Between the start of those events and your exiting the ship, I'd say about two or three days."
"And not once during that did you decide to put together a profile or something for Penny or Ironwood or anyone?"
She shrugged. "I didn't want to seem suspicious."
"Church, that mech on the left appears to be an older model."
Church looked at the mech in question. "Is it?" he answered.
"It is, at the very least, a variant of the others. Basic analysis indicates older score marks - bullet penetration zones on the arms and chest."
"Why are you telling me this, D'?"
"What's Delta talking about?" Cortana asked.
Church ignored her. "I believe we can trace whoever is responsible for this by searching the mech's programming for irregularities."
"How would we know what's irregular about it?"
"I think we'll know it when we see it."
"Ag-reed."
"Halsey, do we have any way to extract this mech's... mind, I guess?"
"Not on hand, we don't." She looked up at the towering Infinity. "But I think Mom might."
/-/
Penny's swords separated out from the White Fang mercenary, shredding him into equal tenth-pieces. Curiously, despite her having effectively cleared the base, her mission parameters remained the same:
OBJECTIVE
-Eliminate hostile forces
"Penny, what the hell was that?!" one of the soldiers behind her half-yelled. "We were supposed to arrest them! Have you gone crazy?"
She turned to apologize. Her eyes widened with realization: every contact in front of her was being read as hostile by her IFF. It made sense. They were all carrying guns, were currently in a White Fang base, and this one was acting rather aggressively.
"Go on."
Penny smiled, happy to fulfill her objective. She folded her swords to a point, giving him the same treatment as the last guy.
/-/
Note: Writer's block is not pleasant. Sorry this took as long as it did.
