RWBY is property of Roosterteeth, I only own my characters.
Chapter 6
Alex ran towards the marked point on the map, followed closely by Sergeant Carbon and his squad, as well as a handful of Altesian droids. As they turned a corner, he spotted Dimitri running along an elevated walkway with Sergeant Firo on his heels. Alex neared the marked location, which was littered with cars. He approached one, finding a horrible sight within, the mangled bodies of the vehicle's occupants.
A resounding blast shook the streets, and Alex spotted a single mech underneath the highway, engaged in combat with four small figures. He signaled Carbon and the others to move on the mech.
They tried to remain silent, picking their way closer to the battle. Upon stopping behind another fallen car, Alex was able to make out the familiar appearances of the figures, team RWBY.
Are you kidding me? What the hell do they think they're doing? "Open fire! Take it down!"
The soldiers unleashed their weapons at the mech, the bullets denting, but not penetrating, the think metal. The machine turned towards the incoming fire, and a voice spoke from within the chassis.
"Are these more of your friends, Red? Well you might wanna say 'good bye'," The mech's arm flipped into a cannon emitting a blue glow. Alex reacted quickly.
"Scatter!"
Everyone moved at once, splitting up in multiple directions.
"Oh, I get to choose? How about...you." The mech fired a burning sphere of blue plasma at one of the Altesian soldiers. The man gave a short yell, and was consumed by the projectile, leaving nothing but a scorch mark. Alex heard Luna give a small squeak, she was crouched behind another wrecked car. Sergeant Firo lay on their side behind a concrete barricade. As much as he hated to involve the kids, Alex would have to ask them for help.
"Ruby! You and your team go for its legs! We'll keep the pressure on!" He saw her return a quick nod, then she began issuing instructions to her team.
Not bad. She isn't rushing in this time. "D, you have any explosives left?"
"Negative, Firo and I blew them all on the last one of these things." Came the reply over the radio. That left Alex with the handful of grenades strapped to his belt, and the explosives held by the remaining soldiers.
"Carbon, have the droids draw fire, the rest of us will flank."
"Copy that." The Atlesian droids moved from cover, spitting shots at the mech. Alex motioned for the squad to move around to the right. One. Two. Three. Where was Luna? She was still behind the car, now curled up and shaking.
Guess this is more than a bit intense for someone's first mission. Alex ran over to her, since the mech's attention was still split between the droids and RWBY. He reached out and touched her arm.
"Luna?" She looked at him, her eyes devoid of anything except panic. "Come on, I need you to get up. I've got a plan, but I need you to come with me." No response. He looked her right in the eyes. "It will be alright. Trust me, okay?" She blinked a few times, returning to her senses.
"A-alright. I-I'm up."
Alex held his hand out to her, helping her onto her feet. The two joined the rest of the flanking team. Alex took out the grenades on his belt, holding them out to Luna.
"Here's the plan. I'm going to get the thing's attention and try to get it to hold still. When you see an opening, run over and give Luna a boost. Luna, your job will be to stick the grenades wherever they'll do the most damage. Everyone give her your grenades."
There was a nod, and Luna found herself holding around twenty explosives.
"Everyone ready?" Alex asked, checking to make sure the mech's attention was still elsewhere.
Luna gave a hesitant nod.
"Go!"
Alex darted out from his cover, firing controlled bursts at the mech. He had swapped his ammunition from home for bullets laced with Ice Dust, leaving splats of frozen water across the mech's canopy. The machine stood still, trying to wipe the ice from its windshield. Alex saw Carbon's squad make their move.
"Not bad, kids! But you'll have to do better than-" Boom! The mech was thrown forward as its right arm was blown off by the grenades. The machine fell with an ear-shattering crash. Team RWBY jumped on the opportunity, viciously slashing and blasting the downed mech, successfully extracting its operator from the cockpit. He was a tacky-looking man with bright orange hair, wearing a white suit and bowler cap. He took a draw off a cigar in his hand.
"Well, ladies and gentlemen, it's been fun, but I'm afraid have work to do. Neo!" The man called. A young woman with multi-colored hair and eyes dropped out of nowhere, knocking back Ruby and her friends. She stood next to the orange-haired man, and the two of them seemed to stop. Yang rushed forward in order to stop them, throwing a punch at the girl, but was surprised when the two figures shattered like glass. The roar of a Bullhead's engines screeched overhead, and the transport flew off into the night, carrying with their target.
"What the hell were you all thinking?" Alex yelled. The teens flinched. The adults were arrayed before them.
"We were just-" Ruby began.
"No! You could have died! Other people could have died! People did die!" Ruby looked like she was about to burst into tears, Yang and Weiss appeared indignant, and Blake seemed indifferent. Alex noticed Ruby. He took a deep breath and sighed.
"Look. I know you girls want to help, but this isn't a game-" Blake suddenly lost her temper.
"We know this isn't a game, but no one will listen to what we have to say! What other choice do we have?"
Alex crossed his arms, "I'm listening."
Blake stopped and looked at him, "huh?"
"I said: 'I'm listening'. What's going on?"
The girls exchanged looks and huddled together. After they split apart, Ruby took a deep breath and broke into an explanation. She rapidly informed them about the string of robberies in Vale, and how team RWBY, along with a few of their friends, had tied the thefts to the White Fang. They had continued their investigation, finding that the Faunus had gotten their hands on classified military-grade hardware, courtesy of a Roman Torchwick, the orange-haired man they had fought before.
"Alright, I'll help," Alex said, causing Ruby's jaw to noticeably drop. "I can't speak for the others, but-"
"I'm in," Dimitri interjected.
"Sounds fun," Carbon added nonchalantly, followed by a rapid nod from Luna and an idle "hmph" sound from Firo. The other two members of Carbon's squad also nodded their agreement. One of them raised his hand.
"Um, Sir? How would you like us to proceed?"
Alex gave it a few moments of thought, "just keep your eyes open for now, we'll let you know if we need to make a move."
"Yes, sir. I'll-" the Atlesian corporal was cut off as a bullet pierced through his throat from behind, spattering Alex and Luna. The latter let out a shriek of shock.
"Everyone! Cover! Now!" Alex barked out urgently. The others followed the order without hesitation, even the teens. The other member of Carbon's squad, who Alex did not know, found himself lifted into the air. A black armored figure stepped out of the shadows beneath the highway, flanked by two large, black wolves. He stopped next to the floating soldier, and called out.
"I wasn't sure it was you at first, Greene. But, using tactics that reckless? I was sure after that." The black armored man looked to the suspended man, who clutched wildly at his throat. "It seems your friend here is running out of air. Let me fix that." He clenched his fist, and the soldier was crushed by an invisible force. Alex made a motion for all of them to remain silent behind the cover they had taken. The man continued to call for him. "Come out, Greene. You and I have some unfinished business..."
A/N: The Paladin has fallen, but an even bigger threat has arrived! Please leave a review if you have the time! Thanks very much! Also, thanks to Dimas15 and Skaana for leaving the very first reviews, I'm glad you like it, and I hope to continue to please. And, Skaana, that question will be answered very soon.
A/N 2: Minor fixes have been made to grammar and format as of 5/12/16.