Rwby x Azur Lane

by vRetroKarma

A portal was opened in the middle of a base in the Pacific ocean bringing hell with it, mysteriously killing off all the staff placed there. What's more strange is that black creatures and robots were reported to be the invaders just before the base fell. Thus, two fleets are tasked to find the rift and hold it down. Though, they never expected to spot what's over the horizon.

10. Chapter 8

Hey, remember when I said I'll start outputting these at a faster rate?

Yeah, that was a fucking joke I guess.

Sorry about the wait but I really wanted this to be better than my other Chapters but still do mind some mistakes. There was also another underlying issue I had, but you're reading this far too long, so I will explain it Post-Chapter. Anyways...

Onwards!

---

Roman - 3rd Person

One more day.

Just one more day before he pulls off, what could be considered, one of the most blunderous moments for the SDC. But in the time it's taking to get to such a date, he was currently, mildly, stressing out as he took long drags from his cigar and blew out the excess smoke slowly with purpose, if that was possible. He clenched his teeth and shook his head while rubbing his temple in frustration. Currently, it was day and the Sun was at its peak while he paced back and forth in the Warehouse filled with Bullheads, ones that he'll be taking to grab the dust, using the same stolen dust to fill the same stolen Warehouse he stands in, using it for whatever purpose he would need it for.

Though he considers the word, stolen, to be too harsh for his own good. More like, he's only borrowing it for the time being.

He stopped in place and looked to his side and at the crew of Faunus that were going to do most of the dirty work for him. He did an about-face and scoffed as they shuffled in place awkwardly, talking amongst each other in hushed voices.

He noticed that all of them had something in common, one thing that could tip the favor in the opposing hands if he wasn't careful about it.

They were all young, undisciplined, naive, and more importantly, weak willed. He doesn't like weak, by god, he despised the weak. He wanted more capable Faunus, ones capable of heading straight into battle without a second glance...but apparently, they're all too busy and are all focused on Mt. Glenn, and for some strange reason, he can't get through Adam's thick skull into convincing that this raid isn't for children!

He scoffed again and stomped the floor with a foot, taking a long drag from his cigar before blowing out. He looked at the ceiling with narrowed eyes Is that group more important than what's going to happen!? He shouted in his mind with frustration It's not like they're going to stop it or anything!

He looked at his assets once more with a huff.

7 Bullheads and a crew of 40 odd White-Fang with a dont-die message straight from Cinder before she left. Neo was not here due to her being sent to Mt. Glenn as well, only departing this morning with Cinder by her strict order. Speaking of Cinder and Neo, he did want the latter not go with Cinder...but she was not very happy this morning and adamant in taking Neo, no matter what he said, even if it meant killing him for her.

He looked to the side in thought, gaining a combined look of frustration, annoyance, and interest. What caused Cinder to be much more angrier this morning, to the point where she attacked him? He shuddered slightly involuntarily, his hand coming up and grazing his cheek, where it took a blow for him, all thanks to his aura protecting him against a firebell narrowing being smashed into his face. Even Cinder wouldn't resort to straight up violence on the spot, unless he had already provoked her prior to that moment.

With the hushed whispers around the warehouses and the kind and friendly interrogations he conducted on some of the White-Fang, there may have been some sort of explanation to why she suddenly decided to depart to Mt. Glenn but not explaining her mood. She hardly showed any care for the White-Fang, hardly showing any sympathy for that small army of White-Fang that died in the city. But did she finally get tired of them dying so frequently? He shook his head. It mustn't be, there's gotta be a good reasoning or something.

From what little scraps of information he gathered, there was a sort of group operating in Mt. Glenn, deadly and ruthless, they killed anybody in cold blood, almost like in the same fashion another certain group operated. And in even more hushed voices, it's said that whoever sees a person from this group, are said to die only mere moments later. Such a myth has yet to be confirmed, though. This would explain why he had not gotten the people he wanted for the operation, but that still didn't explain Cinders mood.

That was, until he managed to hear two White-Fang members talk to each other.

"Hey...did you hear what happened to those two humans that walked into Mt. Glenn like, a couple days ago?"

"Yeah man, apparently it looked brutal. Apparently they didn't even get out of the city before they got caught up. "

"Shit...I'd imagine. Those people are fucking crazy…whole head was cut off…"

"Yeah…yeah."

Something dawned on him as he looked up at the ceiling with widening eyes. He hasn't seen Mercury neither Emerald for the past couple days, when they would regularly check up on him. He snapped his head at Faunus' whispering to each other and he was instantly upon them in an instant, grabbing them both by the shoulders. The others leaned over to look to see what's happening as he looked at both with a wide smile.

Note: 'They/Their/whateverthefuck' in this part, is just one person. Easier for me and you.

"Say...do you care sharing what you two are talking about?" he said calmly with restrained curiosity, but a small laugh escaped his mouth. The two looked at each other before one nodded "I...well shit...it's better if I show you, ain't it?" Roman cocked his head to the side as They reached into their pocket before pulling out their scroll. They opened it and pulled up a video and passed it to him.

Before pressing play, Roman looked up as They kept explaining "You already know about those rumors that some sort of deadly group is operating in Mt. Glenn, right? The one that are said to kill anybody, without discrimination, in their sight within minutes and only leave nothing but death in their wake, or something like that?" he nodded with narrowed eyes "It's said that these people are actually…" They stopped before leaning in with a hushed voice "...Azur Lane." ...You serious? Roman questioned in his mind with a confused scoff and expression, not getting how they, the White-Fang in general, jumped to that conclusion.

Before Roman could question them about it, They leaned back and went on "Well, two or three nights ago, we've finally got confirmation of their existence. The rumors are true!...well, sort of, as we still don't full evidence but we all agreed that Azur Lane is operating in Mt. Glenn!" the others nodded in agreement as he went on "Anyways. Just two days, a video was shared to all of those fighting for the White-Fang in Vale. To give some context, two Humans were seen walking through the city without any sort of backup, stupid if you ask me." They pulled back their scroll and pulled up a photo before showing it to Roman, much to his chagrin of just wanting to see the video.

But his curiosity still made his eyes widen slightly at the two familiar pains in his ass, walking down a lone desolate street with bored expressions.

Mercury and Emerald, 'the hell are you doing there? Taking the surprise as acknowledgement, They swiped back to another video "The whole day, our Elders reported in saying that all they did was walk around the city the whole day, almost as if they were looking for something. I personally think they were looking for the group but who knows." They shrugged.

Roman nodded "Do you know what happened to them?" They nodded and pressed play on the video "This will explain it better than I can." they admitted. The once quiet and still warehouse was now filled with the sounds of distant gunfire and explosions, all coming from a little device, the taker of the video taking cover inside a destroyed building and only pointed the camera to the road, apparently too scared to look past the window and in the sky.

They filled in the empty space of context for Roman.

"Later that day, and during the late hours, our Elders reported in that they were being attacked by flying war machines that shot at them and dropped bombs on them. They explained that these machines appeared to look like Bullheads, but appeared to be on fire all the time! This went for a couple minutes before they said the noise of the machines moved over to one part of the city and stayed there for the remainder of the night before suddenly...it just went quiet like it used to be. Crazy right?" the other White-Fang members nodded as they were all intently listening to them.

"Just get to it!" Roman hurried. They slowly nodded before swiping to a new video and hovering a finger over the play button "But...there was one that ventured the whole way out to find out what was happening...he managed to get this video and got it to his comrades before he went silent, never to be heard from ever again..." They looked away, a lonely cough emanating through the now silent warehouse.

Roman couldn't give one.

All he wanted to know was what happened to those two.

Shortly after, the video began and right off the bat, Roman widened his eyes and his cigar fell from his mouth at the sight of Mercury's head being lobbed off in an old execution style. It was a sudden and terrifying sight to behold but not unfamiliar. Right after, he heard someone shriek like a banshee, the cameraman panning over to the side and revealing the scream to be emanating from Emerald "What...the" he muttered as laying on the road, was the once cocky pickpocket, but now severely wounded and with an outstretched arm pointed at the executed Mercury, as tears rolled down her cheeks.

Camera guy zoomed out and it actually seemed like he was hiding far away in some building. But once he zoomed out a little, he revealed there to more than one person in the area and showed a small group consisting of, but not limited, to 3 figures standing around Mercury's body, one grabbing his disembodied head before throwing in front of Emerald, making her scream and shuffle back before being kicked forward by a 4th figure, one with large bushy tails. Just as she was about to get up, a much taller and bulkier 5th figure, walked to her downed form and began to beat her mercilessly.

Even though he didn't necessarily like the two, he still felt sympathy for Emerald as she cried loudly, begging for her torturer to stop. But whoever they were, knew no mercy, and continued to beat her.

Even though it was dark, even with the moon shining down, he could just make out the figures, confirming them all to be Female. One wore tons of red but ruined clothes, seemingly being attacked but still surviving, this being the one who executed Mercury with a long saber. One had big bushy tails and wore a sort of large coat that glowed a soft tinder red. Two others appeared to be sisters and wore matching coats, those similar to the last person just described. Though the one beating Emerald was insanely tall, the way she was built and her imposing stature reminded him of someone. But without a proper visual, he couldn't confirm his suspicion. Though an underlying thought in his head was telling him that it was that person but he disagreed-denied it was her.

A seconds later of grueling punches and kicks, Emerald was soon lifted into, and began a process of being strangled. Just mere seconds later, he heard a sick crack echoed through the street and watched as Emeralds head went limp and dropped to the side without a sign of life. Even from the recorders spot, the crack was still heard as clear as water, almost like a lone firework in the silent sky.

Roman finally realized why Cinder was such in a bad mood. She most likely saw the video as well and watched her own underlings, who she trained to be well-equipped fighters once paired up together, be murdered swiftly without any sort of mercy. To an extent, he didn't know what they did to be rewarded with such a death and in particular, Emerald seemed to get the worst death of the two as the 5th figure seemed to have released all her anger on Emerald.

Then again, if this group really was Azur Lane, then it would make some sense, as they are notorious for leaving their kills behind in rather questioning appearances. And he wouldn't blame Cinder either, if Neo died then he would be rightfully mad. But, there's still no sufficient evidence leading to the conclusion that this group is indeed Azur Lane. For all they know, it could be a rogue team of Huntresses looking for blood.

Continuing on with the video, Emerald was sure to be dead at this point, but the figure lifted her body farther up in the sky and finally, once the moon shined against her face, Roman finally got a good view and he subconsciously took a step back, taken aback at the sight of someone who he thought was dead. It was the same woman from that dust shop! But what is she doing?! Gah, why can't I remember her name!?

He saw a grin formed on her face as her free hand snaked down to her waist for unknown reasons. But soon, his confusion sky-rocketed even further and through the roof when he saw a support beam with a turret on the top of it, appear from nowhere, jutting out from her clothes or skin in general. The metal of it's armor glinted slightly under the moonlight before it autonomously rotated around before it's barrels aimed at Emerald. The barrels stared at their target before being followed by a deafening boom that made even the recorder step back before speedily recovering and getting the camera back on frame. Though it was already done and Emerald was nowhere to be seen, a small sea of blood covering her executors face.

The group of people along with- Hood! That's her name! He suddenly remembered. But as I was saying, the group along with Hood, had suddenly started walking in the opposite direction while the whole time, the camera guy kept recording their every move, moving from building from building to keep them under his watchful eye.

Hood looked back at her followers, making the recorder freeze in place, as she uttered something that made the group visibly react. She then resumed walking forth and the others followed quickly after. In the end, it seemed that's all they were doing, just walking away, prompting one thought from the criminal mastermind: How did he not report back to Bas- before he could finish his thought, the woman with large bushy tails snapped her head back at the recorder, Roman actually flinching back at seeing two red orbs, burning with ill-intent, stare right into his soul, almost making him think that he had been caught red-handed when all along, it was the recorder.

Whoever was recording began to breathe harder and moved back as the woman grinned widely, narrowed her eyes, and moved her arms around in an almost wild but purposeful and graceful nature. She finally settled on a single hand and brought forth it forth in an open palm in his direction, before closing it. Suddenly, a low rumble now grew in their ears. The recorder cursed, got up from his spot, and began to run away...quickly. Although he theoretically would have made a pretty huge gap in between himself and the group by now, the low rumble, how much more deafening, made the recorder gasp as he upturned the Scroll just in time to get a couple frames of an object, burning brightly with flames exhausting out from behind it, dive at him before the front of the 'Wings' flashed...before the video cut off abruptly and basking the warehouse in silence once more.

The Faunus holding the Scroll reeled it back and put it to their chest, closing their eyes and dipping their head "We can only assume that our Elder managed to send the video out just as he was being attacked from those things...god bless him for his courageous soul." they concluded with a somber tone, the other White-Fang dipping their heads in a moment of silence.

Roman couldn't care about their elders as he now stared at the ground with narrowed and calculative eyes, biting his lip all the while. All he cared about was if this group posed a serious threat to the operation that comes after stealing the dust shipments, knowing their next step took place in that cursed place. He sighed and looked away in thought. A group assumed to be Azur Lane, hiding in Mt. Glenn of all places, killing every single person they found. While that does sound like Azur's way of getting their messages across, it could be, as he said earlier, a group of rouge huntresses that follow the same premise as them. Then, that provoked another thought.

Hood was there, standing and breathing like as if nothing happened! What happened to her, even the people around her, to go on such a bloodthirsty rampage against anyone they fought? He scratched the back of his neck, remembering the grin he last saw with boastering without any sort of restraint, before throwing the dust crystal to make his escape. She had survived and looked like it hadn't affected her in the long run.

But it was a big no-brainer to Roman, this group operating under their noses was a threat to his operations and needed to be stopped immediately. But how could he do that? He was nothing more than a pawn on a chessboard, even he knew that he was a disposable asset, knowing in time, he would be disposed of and never given a second glance. Even more, the White-Fang are currently struggling to take care of them. If that didn't say something about the groups power, then he had no other example.

He dipped his head before shaking his head. He decided he shouldn't do anything, he's not obligated to fix problems that are entirely in the White-Fangs hands. Even so, he never wanted to be a part of this whole scheme of Cinders, but no, he was dragged into this without his say! He clenched his teeth in anger, how would he ever convince either of the two? This group consisted of, what he's seen so far, 5 completely grown women, albeit with strange clothes, but nonetheless looked and acted with deadly intent! Moreso, Hood appeared to have a weapon of mass destruction, something that hasn't been publicly noticed by anyone. Goddamn, did she steal that from Atlas or something?...

He nodded but then shook his head. By now, both of them, Cinder and Adam, must've seen the video.

Then, he widened his eyes, suddenly remembering something- no, someone. "Neo…" he whispered slightly and frantically dug into his pocket and fished out his scroll, turning around and walking away, giving his back to the line of White-Fang and dialed Neo's number.

It rang.

And it rang..

And it rang…

And as hope looks to be lost, he started to tremble slightly, Roman sighed out in relief as the call finally went through, Neo picking up. He coughed slightly and chuckled to himself, never expecting himself to get so worked for someone than wasn't himself.

"Hey, Neo? Pass me Cinder right quick." he ordered and there some sounds of shuffling afterwards. After a pause, there was silence. He shook his head, knowing Cinder wouldn't be one to talk first, and spoke himself. "Cinder, what the hell are you doing going into that city? Excuse me If I underestimate you and piss you off but you're going to die without more help!" there was a humph right after and he could only imagine Cinder putting a hand on her hip in response.

"Roman, you are underestimating my strength." she started with a small laugh "I've been searching this city high and low for these past couple hours and we haven't seen anything. You could even say that video must've been faked but it wasn't…" she paused, almost as if contemplating something before resuming, starting off again, but slowly "I...found where Mercury and Emerald were killed...While it was a shame for them to go, it was also a way of exposing this mysterious group and shining a much stronger spotlight on them and for this, I greatly thank them." Roman rubbed his face with a sigh.

"Yeah that's cool and all but did you see how they looked? They looked like Huntresses!" he shouted in slight distress, getting the attention of the White-Fang behind him as they looked at each other with faces of confusion. There was a small pause after which Cinder responded.

"Tch. Roman, do you take me as a fool!? You think as if didn't take that into account!?" She shouted back with equal, if not, more force making him reel the scroll away from his ear slightly "I know when someone is stronger than me and I hate that feeling. That feeling of being powerless and being unable to do that of what you truly desire. That's why I wanted came to only roam the city and remember it's layout when I eventually fight them. That comes after, once I do have the power to do something…" she said something else by the end, but was said in a hushed manner. Even so, there was one thing that still bothered him, the rumors if they saw then your good as dea- "So that's why I took Neo as she has the ability to drop an illusion, allowing us to flee within seconds." She spoke, cutting off his worries, making him slowly nod his head.

"A-ah, I see…" he stuttered and mumbled, scratching the back of his head and kicking the ground slightly. What else should he say? He sighed and nodded "Alright then...I'll see ya I guess" he said before Cinder huffed before mumbling something before ending the call.

He moved his Scroll in front of him and looked at the screen with a thousand yard stare. Something about her excuse sounded...fishy but he had nothing to back it up so so all he could do is accept it, knowing that if he did illogically accuse her of more stuff, shouting wouldn't be his only punishment…

He sighed again, pocketed his Scroll, and walked back to the White-Fang, tapping his cane loudly against the floor and gathering the attention of White-Fang "'lright, get everything in position for tomorrow! Clean those Bullheads better than yourselves in the shower!" he ordered and lit another cigar, watching as they scrambled to get the Bullheads in proper conditions. Putting the cigar in his mouth and took a long drag from it, he grabbed a nearby chair and sat in it, leaning back his head and relaxing his eyes.

He chuckled and grinned, shaking his head as it turned into a hearty cackle. Thankfully for him, these recruits didn't see him as a threat and naively believed him to be their next hero of sorts.

As if.

---

Akagi - 3rd Person

But at the same time Roman was laughing to himself, there was another, more relaxed and collected carrier, keeping a close eye on the city she was inadvertently given the job to take care of. Indeed, she was not blind to 2 more strangers with appearances unlike the White-Fang walk into this death trap of a city. Interested but still wary of the 2 nights before-hand, she informed the Cranes of this new find and they agreed to keep an extra amount of eyes on them and report their find to Hood immediately.

Reporting to Hood elicited a rather strange response and instead of responding to her directly, she instead responded with an open transmission to which she recalls Hood saying, 'Every Patrol, retreat back to Base immediately. I repeat. Every Patrol, retreat back to Base immediately!' The order was strange and illogical, an order coming Hood herself, someone not scared to kill someone on the spot no matter how much of a nuisance they displayed. That is, if they have something that Hood does not. And in this case, it would seem Hood has everything she desires at the moment...for now that is.

Though every Ship did retreat back to base, once presented with the question of why they retreated, Hood merely stated they had to make preparations for tomorrow's attack. Even then, she and the Cranes were still tasked to keep an eye on their sectors of the city, a much more strict order to keep an eye on the two strangers walking all over the city as if looking for something but not at the same time. Such patterns could be linked to those she saw with the boy and girl she spotted. Could it be they are looking for their deaths?~ Akagi giggled in her mind as she receded back into her more relaxed and cocky state.

She had gotten the best of visual of them, even fearless of the idea of flying her planes ridiculously lower than usual once they got into her sectors. One was ridiculously short, disputing with the Cranes to see if she was shorter than San Diego, and even had pink and brown hair color, something she hasn't seen yet in this wild world so far. The other was much taller than her but was still average and wore a red dress with yellow designs, such apparel reminded her of clothes having a sort of Asian culture style to them.

"Why don't we just attack them now?" the question Zuikaku mumbled out was that of what Akagi was thinking, just why didn't they attack them now instead of later? Another question had presented itself once more, do they seek an audience with them? They don't look like White-Fang but neither did the two they killed either. She hummed and stopped pacing around the roof of their Base. With a distant sigh, she sat next to Zuikaku before laying down and looking up at the orange sky. Perhaps that could be it. Could it be that they are here to find those two? Even try to find us as well? She theorized in her head. It was a possibility, afterall.

They had gained a reputation in the City, even if no-one outside the City knew of their existence, those inside knew them for what they did to their numbers. As they killed more and more White-Fang, the more they increased in numbers and the armor and weapons they possessed, became superior than those of their predecessors. Then an idea struck Akagi, making her go slightly laugh. Are they trying to bring out their best fighters in a desperate attempt to quell us? Were those two from that night just a test of what our limits were? She looked at the Cranes as they appeared to be zoned out, in a drug-induced state, when in reality, they were too busy controlling their Scouts. She shook her head in the end. Just what are they trying to do then?

She said nothing before turning her attention somewhere else and spectated the two newcomers slowly walking down a street, a street which they've already walked down for the 12th time that day. She stretched her limbs with a drawn out moan. But mid stretch, she cocked her head to the side, her mouth shut, as they suddenly stopped walking, even having to circle her plane back due to unexpected abrupt stop. She sat up suddenly while gaining the attention of her two successors.

To her surprise, the one leading, that being the lady with a much taller stature, abruptly looked up and locked her eyes onto her plane, surprising Akagi before pulling up quickly with a curse, forgetting that she had directed the Pilot to fly lower than usual and not setting him back to fly higher. Cursing again, she diverted her plane behind a thick cloud before giving up controls to the Pilot once more. But she showed her surprise too vividly and the closest one to her, Zuikaku, leaned over and looked at her with concerned eyes "Akagi-Senpai, is something the matter?" her voice cut into Akagi's attention and she looked to the side, away from Zuikaku and using another plane, she watched the two suddenly turned around again and begin walking away.

Remembering someone asked her something, she quickly looked at Zuikaku, noticing Shoukaku's gaze as well, before shaking her head "It's nothing, do not worry about me." she muttered and Zuikaku slowly nodded before sitting back once more. Shoukaku's gaze lingered for a second longer before she mirrored her sisters movement. Akagi bit her lip slightly, taking control of the plane that was witnessed and flew much higher this time around. Quickly spotting them again, she shadowed them from a much safer distance away.

Watching them walk quickly bored her so she instead began to reflect on her...predicament. She realized her own ignorance caused this, forgetting to inform the Pilot to revert back to his normal cruising altitude. But in her mind, even at such a height, no-one should have been able to detect the noise her Scout made, that is, without a radar system. She scowled with thoughts running hot, That would be impossible! A radar able to detect such a small object would take this world another decade to make! She grinded her teeth slightly.

What caused them to suddenly look up? Her hands clenched into fists by her legs. What motivated them to just...stop, then look up!? She scowled even deeper and could do nothing but spectate as they eventually left the cities borders and into the plains/forests, watching as they disappeared, not knowing when and if they would return.

Her scout stopped before the borders and stayed doing circles in the air before automatically turning back and heading deeper into the city. She knew in her mind and gut, that something about that woman dressed in red was not normal and needed more attention. It made her want to know who she is and why she was here along with her accomplice.

It's...whatever. In the end, she deemed it as nothing more than a small, insignificant, discrepancy in her mind and went back to survey the city but her mind still lingered on that topic. When that woman looked up at her plane, it was without displaying some sort of emotion. Before pulling up, Akagi noticed a smile that formed on her face almost instantly. It wasn't one filled with malice yet, neither was it filled with joy. It was hollow, empty, almost without emotion...except one. Instead, to fill such a void, it was coated in...Was that envy? Hooo, it seems I may have a rival~. Akagi relaxed slightly and took a deep and audible breath at her assumption.

She knew a fake smile when she saw one, why, she always faked smiled in front of countless Ships trying to seduce her once true love, defending him with all her might. Though, ones hiding jealousy and envy were her best ones.

She opened her hand and brought it in front of her face, letting a small string of flames weave in between her fingers. The string finished it's last loop before landing on her palm and coiling up before merging into one glob of flames. Then, it morphed into a person, to be more specific, into the woman she bears interest in. She wants to know why they just waltzed into the city, walked around for hours on end, before just leaving. Even when she shoved it aside as nothing, there was that deep underlying thought that made Akagi twitch slightly in place in warmth. She memorized their patterns to the point where she could predict which street they'd go down next, even cutting into Shoukaku's and Zuikaku sectors to 'survey' them even more, despite and ignoring the complaints she received from the sisters. You could say she was a huge stalker.

She clenched her hand into a fist, dissipating the flame figure into nothingness. It's no matter, should they arrive another day, I, personally, would see to it that these individuals are dealt with. Like fire, it would be quick, silent, and deadly. She promised in her mind.

Ordering her Scouts to return for refueling, they managed to pick up Atago's signal along the back, most likely with Penny just arriving back from their trip to Beacon. She sighed when she remembered about the Androids existence. Why she was even allowed to go Beacon in the first place was still a mystery to her, knowing that place was highly secured. Even with Atago by her side, it would cause a bloody scene just to get out, that is if they're caught. She looked at the Cranes and they looked back at her, knowing that they must've picked up the same signal "Atago and Penny have successfully returned safely. My Scouts are running low on fuel, for obvious reasons, so I leave it you two to provide them air-cover until they've arrived back to Base. After which, you can turn in for the day." They nodded in agreement and kept overwatch while she looked at the setting sun.

Standing up, she admired the view a little longer before heading head back inside her abode. Sitting on the roof of the base can be tiring, after all.

To think tomorrow, everything considered normal, would change. Hahahahaha~

---

"Hood, mind telling me why exactly we extracted that thing and the Human. You already know that you, I, and the others weren't very fond of the idea of helping the enemy."

"But you were very fond of the idea of attacking an entire base, killing everyone inside, then blowing it to pieces, was that latter part not your idea,?"

"It only worked because of me! I take great pride in arming a bomb just for that! Now, can you answer the question or what?"

"How did you even- Prinz...you and I already know the answer to your question. To see such innocence in a machine like Penny, to see her believe in Humanity so quickly, makes me feel guilt and sorrow, knowing how she would be exploited and used just like us. But...to keep her pure for so long would only be another sin to add the already huge pile-"

"Soo, what? Are you going to throw her in the middle of a town and have her cause a massacre or something?"

"Aha, no, that would be too...unbecoming, even for me. You'll see in due time, just be patient, and you'll see the results."

"Tch, and you don't consider-...whatever. I'll go raid a base near here..."

Step Step Step SLAM

"...Sigh, just what did you see in her?"

---

Hood - 1st Person

The Next Day

All around me were the soft sounds of the ocean. The water was smooth as silk and calm as the night sky, the water softly colliding against my boots, and the refreshing air made it all feel so surreal yet relaxing my senses. Strange, is it not? To think I am in a new world and to wage such a war against it so quickly. It should be a gift that we'd be able go into a new world, not followed by our nightmares. We could have started anew, even try to see if we can build our own little nation and get recognized by those around us. It could've been a new age for us...But instead, we came into this world, ready to retrieve the heads of those guilty and innocent. Such a genocide is againsts our ideologies. But those ideologies were of Azur Lane. They are nothing but a testament of what we were. We lost a close friend to this war, and god forbid I lose another.

I took a deep breath.

I look up instead, to try to steer my emotions away from those memories I held dear. Above us was the night sky, clear, void of any clouds. As such, the Moon and it's missing fragments shined brilliantly down at us while the more distant stars twinkled distantly. Such a sight would be rare back on Earth on the mainland. I breathe in slowly and close my eyes, taking in the hardly polluted air, much cleaner than Earth's before letting my breath out. I bent over, cupped some water, and let it waterfall off my gloved palm, It's estranged but still familiar presence comforting me through the fabric. If I had a choice, I would have lived on the water forever, isolated from those I held considered my foe.

I finally settled my sightline forward, locking my eyes on the docks far ahead. This night shall be a victory for us, no matter what they do. This was just an attack, one prior leading up to the climax, the most important part of the story but not due for quite some time. It seemed so close yet so far. You could reach for it, run for it, but it would stay out of your reach indefinitely despite all your desperate attempts. Time would become your new enemy. Patience is a virtue. And if I want to make it count, I can not rush such things. Rushed ideas can be reflected in its end-product, one not likable and desired to be changed when it can not be. I've waited long enough for this day to happen, I need to make a good first impression.

Narrowing my eyes, I clenched my hand and the remaining water was jetted out, splashing and happily rejoining with the sea. I look around myself to see those who've joined me for tonight's show. Those that I handpicked and not randomly chose. To my left was Akagi and to my right was Atago and Penny, hitching a ride on the formers back, still not having the necessary equipment to float on water like us.

In front of us, at least 7 to 8 miles out, were the docks that were currently filled with Dust Containers and two moored cargo ships, still loaded with the remaining Container. In the docks was the sharp Z23 and loyal Cleveland as they relayed information of the area and its current status. While they are not as useful on land as they are water, they are still useful for their own characteristics. At the same time, Akagi had her, should I say, Carrier, entirely occupied with Bombers as it floated next to her shoulder, the flames the Bombers usually boastered brightly, now dimmed to give us better concealability despite no-one thinking of looking out this far. I could not help but humor Penny's look of amazement as she kept staring at Akagi's important piece of survival.

It was silent, that was until we received the last report, "Everything looks clear for now. No sign of life so far." Z23 reported in "Radar's also clear so far, save for distant Aircraft. But they aren't close enough to be really considered threats." Cleveland said right after. I nod in appreciation, this was good, no-one to raise the alarm or to interfere. I look to my left and nod to the Wolf and Android. Atago looked over her own shoulder and at Penny, who was holding onto her for dear life. Atago chuckled slightly and whispered something to Penny before she hummed happily in agreement.

"Shit!" Cleveland suddenly cursed in alarm "Incoming multiple unidentified Aircraft!" the report made me sigh before we all turned back to see a group of Bullheads swoop in from the side and over the docks, their spotlights turning on before finding a landing spot suitable for them before touch-landing. "Permission to fire upon them, Hood?" Cleveland's voice cut into my thoughts but I instantly shot a hand to my side "Denied. We must preserve the element of surprise!" With that response, she stayed quiet. In any other scenario, I would've given her the go-ahead, but not tonight.

Though the aircraft's nose was pointed at us at the moment of landing, the distinct and undeniable uniforms of the White-Fang unloading out the aircraft, caused me to clench my teeth at their sudden appearance, knowing they must've flown in recklessly low to not be picked on radar. Looks like another change of plans is due I say with a grumble in my head.

"Alright. Penny..." I say while everybody else was staring at the docks in genuine surprise, surprise that the White-Fang would still have the power to pull off such a heist despite us tearing through their numbers in the City. Penny turned to me with a questioning gaze before I pointed at the docks for clarification.

Narrowing my eyes, I clenched my fist "Show them hell. Show them, despite not being Human, you will still fight for what you think is right!" she smiled and nodded with a small salute "You can count on me, Ms. Hood!" for a moment, coupled with her innocent expression and response, the image of a pure girl re-entered my mind once again. Yet, beyond the unseeable, behind that pure and oh-so innocent image, lied a weapon of mass destruction. As the saying goes, she's the perfect example of a 'Wolf in Sheep's clothing'.

I nodded with now a small smile before Atago shortly pulled off. Akagi and I looked to the sides as we spotted the silhouettes of more aircraft pulling in, slightly frustrating me even more. Akagi sailed up next to me while still looking at them before laying a hand on my shoulder. She looked at me with a wide smile "Shall I shoot them down?" She asked with her eyes holding a small fire in them. To think you.... I take a deep breath to calm my thoughts and slowly shake my head "As I said, Akagi, we must keep our presence a secret. What's the point of shooting them down now and having them run away while escape is still an option?" I explained, causing her to nod and back up, not giving an argument. Even then, I still felt the heated gaze she gave the back of my head. Be it out of interest or something else, I did not know.

It was currently 2140 hours. In just less than 20 minutes, our introduction to this world shall be displayed in a colorful display.

What's the plan, you may ask? Well, it was a rather simple one. The plan was for that Z23 and Cleveland are to make as much noise as possible, either by destroying a crate of Dust or by shooting their main armaments then retreating back to our position. By the time they left, all sorts of emergency responders may have most likely arrived on the scene. What was to follow next? Well a bloody massacre that's what! Broadcasted to the whole world, all by the hands of Penny Polendina herself!

Aha.

Of course, that plan was not made by me and was conceived of by another Ship. But knowing the Human and his persona, Angelus would've never allowed that to happen! Although if we did it, he wouldn't care, just as long as his Daughter wasn't seen as a genocidal maniac. No, the plan was actually as follows, a new plan quickly conceived of after Penny was successfully completed before the expected date.

Penny, along with Atago, is to board the docks and rile up all the Containers of Dust as fast as robotically possible before escaping the blast that's to ensue, that is if the data that Angelus gave me on Dust reactions are correct. This goes both ways. One is to see what Penny's capabilities are and what her weaponry currently consists of, and the other to use the shock-and-awe style type of attack to assert immediate dominance, using the explosion as a way to introduce ourselves, gathering a crowd of curious passersbys.

Due to their volatile states in their current states, be it Crystal or Powder form, it wouldn't take long before the Dust creates a mass chain reaction of explosions. I predict with such a tragedy never happening, excluding the Dust Shop incident, that the majority, if not all, of Vales emergency services would be on the scene.

Once everything was said and done, we would step in and do the rest of the work.

Surely amongst a crowd of expedectly dozens of Humans, a nest of News Reporters would've formed to report in on the accident since in 20 minutes, the News channels typically would've began broadcasting on local T.V. And by then, we should've already been on the docks. While I am by no means an expert in Reporting or managing a News station, I still believe that's how it works.

Note: I actually have no clue how that works.

From there…I would've taken advantage of the world wide broadcast and used it to finally and formally introduce our existence in this world!

With that said, this is where Akagi comes in and waits for the cue. Launching her squadrons of Bombers with escorts of Fighters, she is to target and cripple Vale of it's emergency services. Such as Police Departments, Fire Departments, and Hospitals…but not Beacon. It's not like we're going to destroy all of them, after all, it's just to give them a taste, a lick, of our power as bringing the Cranes would have been pure overkill.

Why hold back our full power?

That's...not for me to say.

Although, now that the White-Fang has showed up, it may have, dare I say, complicated a couple steps but it's no worry. It's just another simple bump in our plan to flatten out but now that they're here, it made me think of another nuisance we have to get rid of. Following this attack, we are no longer going to be seen in the background, not as a spoken title, but as a fully fledged recognized group. As such, we now need to actively eliminate all of our enemies, one of them being the White-Fang that dared step in our way, the first ever group we ever actually waged battles against in the dark, excluding any military forces. I look at the sky and breathe out slowly as my next set of words would mark the end of their terror and we would take their place, basked in a sea of flames and blood.

"Belfast." I said through an open channel.

"Yes, Lady Hood?" She responds almost immediately.

"Begin Operation Zarin" there was a silent, almost awkward, pause, Akagi sailing forward once more and leaning in to look at me with an expression of...whatever she displays most of the time.

"...Affirmative, Lady Hood. I shall round up the Ships needed to rid the pests from the City-...Pardon me, permission to use every Ship?"

"Granted, use any means to speed up the process. Godspeed, Belfast."

I ended the transmission before looking back at the Docks with another distant sigh as an equally distant explosion erupted in the middle, but it's magnitude yielding much smaller than anything else meaning something was not right. Yet, something told me that the White-Fangs plans weren't going as they expected but so weren't ours. So, in a way, is this the force of karma that Humans believe in, enacting itself on the White-Fang? If so...ha, in their face.

---

Atago - 1st Person.

She's ordered it right now...dear god. I say in my head with disbelief, glancing back before shaking my head, and focusing on what we had to accomplish.

Penny and I eventually made it to the docks but as we boarded it, there was already a scuffle in the middle of the docks. With Containers on either side of the fighters, it almost appeared they were fighting in an arena.

We only heard the explosion that started it as we rushed behind the cover of Containers, peeking through the gaps in between them, watching two figures fight, one of which I could recognize as Blake, her opponent being Roman Torchwick and currently losing against him and may I say, badly. She got kicked back hard in the stomach and was launched back but without skipping a beat, her absence was soon filled by a boy with blonde hair as he quickly erased what footing the wanted Criminal had gained with what appeared to be a Bo Staff, yet still retained a distinctive look.

My companion looked at me with her bright green eyes as we stopped by a crevice in between a container "Do we fight?" she asked with a worried expression as Roman shot at a container suspended in the air, causing it to crash down. I shook my head, moving her along "No, leave them be. Blake should be fine if she has that boy by her side." I explained and she looked at the 3 fighting in contemplation. A moment passed before she nodded Okay".

We moved on and ran behind a warehouse before jumping to the roof to get a better vantage point, where I was to think of our next move.

But instead of expecting an empty roof, Penny gasped as were shortly taken aback as Ruby, the girl we met just some time ago, walked away from us and towards the ledge of the roof and the area of where the fighting was going on while deploying a large scythe-like weapon. Surprise now gone but still wondering how she got up here in the first place, I hummed silently, inspecting the structure of her rather...unique weapon. Is she going to fight? I pondered in my head, knowing that it would be the case if she wanted to help her friend.

I used my hand and looked at Penny, gently lowering it down in an open palm. Penny, understanding the silent order, nodded back and crouched down as we crept forward without a sound "Hey!" Ruby shouted down below and gathered the attention of the participants. Penny looked at me with a pleading gaze and I sighed. I nodded curtly followed by Penny saying: "Ruby?" said individual whirled around with wide eyes and stiffened up posture, before relaxing upon recognizing us as we stood up straight.

"Penny? Ms. Atago?" I nod in confirmation but she did the opposite before looking back and forth between Penny and I with a worried expression, throwing her hands about. "Ms. Atago you can probably hold your own but I don't know about Penny, she shouldn't be here because these people are really-" as she was trying to coax us to leave, my eyes darted behind her and watched as Roman aimed his cane, a flare barreling out of its end and traveling to Ruby, although mildly slowly for today's standards.

I quickly jumped forward and grabbed Ruby before jumping to the side, the flare harmlessly flying past in our wake before blowing up in the air, the bright light shining down at us. Losing balance on purpose, I fell on my side while basically hugging Ruby from behind "Gah!" she cried out as the sudden change in position threw her off slightly. Her weapon flew to the side and stabbed into the roof. Penny, meanwhile, backed away with wide eyes.

My hands wrapped tighter around Ruby's chest as she was still recovering before I found and shouted to Penny "Go!" And watched as she fixed her surprised look to one of determination. She recovered her lost space by walking forward and breathed in and out, as if anxious to get the fight going. Now, regaining her bearings and seeing this, Ruby tried to get up "Hey, Penny! Don-" mid sentence, my arms tightened around her chest even more, making her slightly weaze as her air was pushed out by shear pressure.

She wrestled and whined, even going as far as to kick me to let her go but her pitiful attempts were in vain as my hold held true. She craned her head back and tried to lock eyes with me, shouting: "Ms. Atago!? Let me go, please!?" But I shook my head in denial and seeing as she wasn't getting through to me, she instead turned to Penny, watching as she walked past us and stopped before the ledge, glaring down at the cackling cane wielding man "No, Penny, don't!" she desperately warned again, managing to wiggle one hand out of my grip and shooting it out towards her. Instead, Penny turned her head back at Ruby with the same determined look.

"Ruby-" she saluted slightly with a bright smile "I already told you that I'm combat ready!" her expression quickly turned into one of guilt as she grabbed the edges of her skirt "So...please, when you say we shouldn't be here, it should be you and Blake that shouldn't be here. Me and Ms. Atago were tasked to deal with this in a jiffy. So, run away as far as possible as fast as possible because..." her voice became hushed as Ruby stayed silent with awaiting eyes "...because I can't guarantee your survival after we're done." Her eyes screwed shut as over a dozen blades hovered out from behind her, thin wires connecting to her hands and body. I smiled at her merciful warning.

Opening her eyes, she chuckled quietly at the face of complete surprise on Ruby's face and before she could protest, Penny turned and suddenly jumped off the building, landing down below with a thump. I sat up but still kept my hold on the surprised Ruby as she still tried to free herself. Ignoring her, I watched Penny land gracefully right in the middle of a group of White-Fang, all ready to kill her. Yet, her hands came up while her fingers stretched and contracted, her blades spinning around her as a direct result before pointing at their respective targets. Now, the White-Fang aimed their guns with unease.

Penny's hand clenched into a fist and her blades flew.

Beginning her fight with them and hearing the corresponding sounds of grunts, shouts of pain, gunshots, and noises of blades meeting their marks, I alleviated my hold on Ruby and slowly stood up, letting Ruby shuffle and crawl over to the ledge and watch Penny mercilessly handle the White-Fang. But instead of killing them outright like implied, Penny only went for non-lethal blows, going for incapitacations for what I believed were for arresting purposes. While I give her credit for showing mercy, it would go to waste with the events that are to happen soon. Though, my mind raced as I imagined and pictured the countless possibilities of how Penny can kill someone, the endless amount of combinations she has at her disposal, with her current and future arsenal.

Sighing and ridding those thoughts, I watched as Ruby grabbed the edges of the roof and leaned her body slightly forward, almost on the verge of falling off. As I walked to her, I crossed my arms and observed her from behind. No, not in that way. I heard Ruby 'ohhh' in fascination, muttering words of disbelief, her eyes giving off the same shine when she first saw my sword.

Though now my concern was not Penny, knowing she could handle herself well enough. My main concern was now the one who shouldn't be here anymore.

My head slowly craned down and I bent over, grabbing Ruby by her hoodie, and forcing her to stand up. "H-huh?" she made a noise of confusion as I grabbed both of her shoulders and forced her to face me. Almost immediately, her eyes darted away to avoid my gaze. Be it that she was more interested in Penny or not, I still exhaled, annoyed. To make her look back, she yelped as I clamped down harder on her shoulders, making her aura faintly come out to alleviate the pain.

She intently met my eyes as I looked at her with narrowed ones "Ms. A-Atago? Sh-Shouldn't you be helping P-Penny?" she stuttered with a quivering tone, almost grunting but not mentioning her discomfort. She glanced around herself and the looks of it, I could tell she was looking for her weapon, her gaze ending up on it as it rested just mere feet away from us. My mouth opened and I was about to tell her off, but I looked around, feeling an odd sense of being stared at. Call it a 6th sense, or a gut feeling, someone is watching me. Finally, my eyes narrowed as I zeroed in on Blake hiding behind some Containers, with that boy I saw yesterday as well, the one being chased by the cops. They looked at me with faces of cautiousness. They must have retreated after that scuffle, then. I presumed.

Blake glared at me but did nothing, despite seeing me with Ruby in such a manner that looked like I was going to hurt her. I looked away with a small scoff. My opponent was now decided.

I turned back to Ruby and shook her back and forth softly...for now "Listen to me, Ruby, and listen well. In less than 10 minutes, these docks are going to be nothing more than a burning field of rubble and like Penny advised, you have to escape while you still can!" I shouted with a more commanding tone than what she heard two days ago, and because of that, she gained an expression of confusion. All my ears twitched and before she could question what I meant, the loud high pitched noises of 3 more bullheads flying in to help the ground units, distracted us. Flying over us and away, they did a U-Turn in the air and flew down low as their autocannons whirled up, beginning a gun-run on Penny as she was just finishing up the last White-Fang in her sight. Ruby gasped and jerked away in my grip to warn her but I clenched her shoulders even harder, forcing her aura to fully manifest to alleviate the pain and causing her to voice her pain in a loud yelp. She hissed and looked at me with a now hostile expression but cut her off before she could vocalize her hostility.

"Ruby!" I shouted again as Penny soon shredded the aircraft to pieces with a giant laser beam she made from her blades. The pieces of the aircraft flew over our heads without protest and crashed in the water surrounding us with muffled explosions, high waves being kicked up as a result.

Such a weapon could compare that of a Sirens but on a much much more scaled down version.

Ruby once more tried to escape my grip and I shook with restrained anger, trying my best to not crush her shoulders and instead, I let a deep growl escape the depths of my throat, getting tired at her childish behavior "Leave now or die!" I declared before throwing her to the ground without a care in the world.

Looking around for a moment, I found her scythe and plucked it out of the roof as it soon joined her, throwing it her way the same amount of care given to its owner. Grunting as she hit the floor, she quickly stood back up while rubbing one of her arms "B-but I don't understand, what do you mean these docks aren't going to exist soon!?...Ms. Atago? Ms. Atago!?" she shouted my name causing me to look away and down to the ground, more interested in that than Ruby as she shouted for me.

Two more bullheads swooped in with another round of high-pitched noises. I laughed as the White-Fang appeared to be retreating as they scattered to them. Our victory was destined from the beginning.

One of them was to solely retrieve Roman, the other acting as another transport for any surviving White-Fang, which were already few in numbers, some battered and bruised. Although there was a third Bullhead using the moment to leave with a container of Dust, I looked at Penny and pointed at the two aircraft acting as pick-ups instead. As they started to fly away, I nodded to Penny and she nodded back before she outstretched her arms in front of her and opened her palms, a dozen or so blades began flying in a clockwise motion in front of her, a ball of green crackling energy forming from thin-air in the gap they made.

Her outstretched palms turned into fists followed by her punching the pent up energy at the two escaping Bullheads. Though, since they were already up in the sky, some distance away, and not entirely used to her weaponry, Penny could not hit with designed accuracy and only managed to slice one of the Bullheads engines in half, leaving it with one operating engine left. But nonetheless, it hit the one aircraft with Roman inside of it, causing it sputter and barrel-roll with growing flames into the ocean where soon after, it exploded a minute later, a wave of water being kicked up into the air.

The whole time, Penny grinned widely as she shook. Be it that she was laughing through her teeth or not, I still nodded my head in approval. After this, the Docks were now basked in silence as the air became eerily still. Though, the sirens in the distance confirmed that officials were arriving. Minus that, the only noise anywhere closer was that of a small metallic whine…that of a weapon being retrieved.

I slowly turned around and snapped my eyes onto Ruby, still standing there and not doing as I had told her to. I started the unsheathing of my sword and circled around her "Ruby, I am tired of you just standing there, have you no discipline? If you do not leave now then I will be forced to take drastic measures." No longer was I shouting, my tone was now even and condescending but still held an edge of disappointment. Stopping, I held my sword in front of me and took a lower stance. Ruby moved back and created a bigger gap in between us.

Still, the young leader was unmoved by such a threat and seemed to be ready to fight, her scythe now in a readied position and apparently seeing me as the true enemy all along as she pulled back the slider on her sniper bit, chambering a new round. She shook her head, "A Huntress must maintain peace and order no matter the cost, that is my discipline! I'm not leaving until you explain to me what's happening and why you refuse to let me go forward and do my duty!" her words made me nod at seeing her determination and valor. Though, she was still naive " 'Maintain peace'? Hmph, I came with Penny and she took out a whole group of White-Fang for you. Do you still consider me 'Not good' for that!? No matter, you will see what 'Not good' really looks like." I say in a sarcastic tone before bringing my sword up higher as she planted the blade bit into the floor behind her and putting her finger on the trigger. Smart, I'd say, but predictable. I readied myself for this fight, already knowing its outcome.

I am sorry, Hood, but it seems your desire to keep this Human alive is rather...difficult. Instead, I shall end this nuisance once and for all-

Hearing the fast pitter patter noises of footsteps approaching, I sighed, relaxed my stance, and lowered my sword. Fortunately for me, it seems another solution has arrived. As Ruby was about to pull the trigger, she froze up as Penny jumped up to the roof and rushed to stand in between us, her head turning to both of us in quick succession. Though, seeing as she was here, Ruby pointed a hand out to me with an expression full of worry and panic "Penny, something is wrong with Ms. Atago! She doesn't want me to help you!" she shouted, trying to mark me as the villian, causing Penny to look at me in surprise.

Play the victim to make someone your ally...annoying.

I shrug my shoulders as Ruby kept trying to give Penny the wrong picture "She's trying to make me run away when I can figh-" before she could finish, the blades that once idly floated around Penny's body, all simultaneously pointed at Ruby, making her take a step back and reel back her outstretched arm over her chest with wide eyes. Smiling, I outstretched my hand to Penny "Come, Penny." I beckoned over.

Her morale took a blow when Penny looked at Ruby before turning my way and walking towards me and taking my hand. Penny stood by my side, and it surprised Ruby. It made me chuckle, Ruby's dumbfounded expression and whine. Honestly, how could naive is she to think that an Android, sworn to our kind, would be converted so easily? It can't be helped, I suppose. In this day and age, they take Androids listening to their orders, granted for. Though she does not know Penny is not human. There is a fine line between Human and Robots on the front cover.

"Penny?" she whispered in shock, seeing her take a step behind me to avoid being looked at and muttering an apology. I rolled my eyes before using the hand holding Penny's to pull her out from behind me. She slowly looked at me with a shake of her head and a small frown but I silently tilted my head towards Ruby "There's no other way." I whisper, making her look at Ruby. She reluctantly agreed with a sigh.

Letting go of my hand, she stepped out from behind me and walked forward with hands clasped in a pleading motion "Ruby, I told you leave at first, Ms. Atago was just making sure you left...I...I just don't want to see my friends get h-hurt and possibly die." She paused for a moment before going on "At least not in front of me."

Hiccup

Penny begged but instead of going back, Ruby only stepped forward "W-What? Are you...are you really not my friend, then?" I widen my eyes slightly but say nothing, knowing this was no longer my battle.

Penny dipped her head, once again grabbing the edges of her skirt. She nodded in affirmation "I am-" Ruby jumped forward all the sudden and clamped down her hands on Penny's shoulders, mirroring the action I did with her including the shaking "Then why do side wit-"

"I want you to leave." Penny announced in a straight flat tone, looking back up at her "Ruby, you're my only friend, other than those I already know, that I've met outside of my personal life." she whispered, her hands coming up and prying off Ruby's hands with ease but not letting them go just yet. "So for the last time, please. If I have to hear that my first friend died to events I can't control, I can't blame anyone but myself for not giving you a fair chance to run." If Ruby could speak questions as fast as she could run, then Ruby could give Penny a run for her money.

But to see her struggle to comprehend what was she was told was something else. Her lips twitched as if she wanted to talk, empty croaks escaping the depths of her throat as she failed to form proper words, and her dilating pupils...it all felt oddly satisfying to me. Heart skipping a beat, I put a hand on my chest, the other covering my mouth and hiding a wide smile. Dear me, I may be giving into my old self once more...

And in the end, she said nothing and looked away, her bangs covering her face. Penny, using her arms she unclamped, brought Ruby in for a hug "Promise me you wont die, okay?" Penny whispered into her ear before letting go and taking a step back, watching as Ruby stood there stock still.

Although hardly knowing Penny for a short time, this was the motivation that was thankfully needed. Ruby nodded silently in defeat before running off, compacting her sytche into a more boxier version. She turned into a blur as she rocketed away with tremendous speeds.

I let a sigh out I never knew I was holding and Penny turned to me, fully showing me her face as she breathed in and out, chuckling as she pulled off something on her own accord.

She dropped her arms to her sides with relief as she managed to drive off her friend in a non-lethal way. Though, could they still be considered 'friends' after helping, what Ruby thought, was the enemy? Who knows, I suppose. Penny walked in front of me and smiled at me, a smile filled with triumph, and I did the same. We stayed like this for a good minute before I patted her head as she shivered slightly at the touch, closing her eyes and humming. To see her react in such a manner, made me finally realize something and pause as I looked at my glove, the hand used to rub her head. So this is what he saw when he did this to my sisters and I, is it not? My hand trembled slightly before dropping it by my side with a small exhale.

I turned around and dragged my sword against the roof and walked to the edge before pointing at all the Containers, moved or unmoved from the raid, they all still mattered. Penny took my side and copied my gaze.

"Penny. Shall we destroy us some Dust?" I look at her with a small laugh as she nodded.

"Let's do it!" Penny shouted with new-found vigor as we both jumped off the roof and mere minutes later, a sufficient amount of Dust had caused a violent, but minute reaction compared to what we were looking for. Another minute passed before I gasped, a small shockwave hitting me as I struck a sweet spot in a group of Containers, causing them to sizzle and hiss with imminent explosive reactions as their steel housings began to change in color, changing to white hot steel and gaining an unearthly shine. Sheathing my sword in a quick fashion, I turned on the spot and ran as quick as I could as the temperature in the area began to rise. Finding Penny about to begin destroying another container, I grabbed her in the middle of my run and kept running before eventually making it to the edges of the docks and jumping onto the water where I sailed as fast I could away, feeling the temperature in the area now reaching uncomfortable levels.

Just a minute or two later, I spun around as a sudden wall of light cast itself upon my back and knew instantly that a much violent reaction took place. Now reversing and turned around, Penny and I both craned our heads into the air just in time to see a fireball erupt from the Docks and race into the sky, almost like it was in a competition. I sucked in some breath as I saw the distinctive wave of pressure racing to us in greater speeds and I promptly brought Penny in front of me and curled over slightly, covering her body with mine as the shockwave soon reached us in a mere second.

ka-BOOM

We yelped collectively, while I bent forward slightly before righting myself correctly. I tossed Penny over my shoulders and I held her legs up as she rode piggy-back style but soon her grip on my chest tightened tenfold as a cloud of smoke enveloped us, rendering us entirely blind for the moment, before dispersing into a thinner much more see-through cloud. Penny calmed down slightly as a result. I made note that her grip actually arose low pain but despite that, it wasn't much more than the equivalent of a bee-sting on Human flesh.

Again, we looked up and at the fireball as it loomed over us, slowly occupying the air, greedily eating up the space. Pieces of debris now began to rain on us, pelting our bodies and faces every now as a horrid stench of burnt dust plagued my nose.

"...Wow." muttered Penny in amazement as she looked at it with wide eyes "We did that?" she asked me in disbelief. I nodded while rubbing my nose before sneezing with a curse. I sniffled before answering "A-Ah, yeah, we did. Just shows you how violently Dust can react. Now let us get out of here." I confirmed with a hum. I turned around pulled off to Hood's position, Penny craning her head back to keep staring.

The distant sirens now grew closer, much greater in volume, strength, and speed as a new tragedy struck Vale. Though, it couldn't be called so until we finally step in.

I let out a tired sigh, knowing we weren't done just yet.

.

.

.

.

.

Note: Once again, I realize that only a certain type of Dust could react as violently as what transpired, as the others would only give off varying reactions.

---

Hood - 1st Person

Although it wasn't necessary to shoot down Romans escape vehicle, it certainly wasn't unwelcomed by me, seeing Penny using such a weapon could prove useful in future conflict as she still has many upgrades and reworks Dr. Angelus has planned for her. Though, seeing the aircraft blow up under the water, a small thought crossed the back of my head. Knowing Man's steel determination to live, Roman would've most likely survived the initial crash and swam out before it blew. But it was no matter, he would die like the rest in due time.

As now, my eyes reflected the brightly lit mushroom cloud as it grew from the base of Docks and into the sky, it's base shining brighter and stronger than what the Human eye can handle and lighting sky for a couple seconds as if it was daytime. The fireball grew to at least a couple miles into the air before stopping and mushrooming as streaks of flaming bits shot out it. It gave off a glow, mystical and almost pulsing. Surely, it must've been an effect due to the Dust, another source of fuel to keep it growing and burning. Eventually, a couple seconds later, the shockwave made it to us. I brought a hand up and squinted my eyes as our clothes fluttered calmly in the winds. I could only wonder what would've happened if Akagi had launched her planes beforehand. As it passed, we heard it echo off in the distance as it kept traveling. At last, the smell of crudely burnt dust reached our noses. I waited a minute before anything could be done.

No longer will we be seen in the background.

Now with that step out of the way, came the crucial and most controversially last step, well second to last step but you get what I mean.

I look to Akagi to give her the say "Aka-" but then her name gets caught in my throat, my open mouth closing, and releasing a sigh through my nose and tilting my head to the side in mild annoyance. Akagi, to no surprise, was grinning widely with wide eyes while looking at the fireball, or its general direction as her eyes kept dilating left and right, up and down, infatuated by its fiery site that she believed held a right to be marveled. Knowing her, she must've been anticipating this moment and the feeling she's going through, almost being drugged by it in a strange sense. I shake my head at her tendency to find pleasure in strange things, talking to her once about it back on Earth. Though, it was ironic, being infatuated by the element that doomed most Ships. She coughed all the sudden and her hand shot up and covered one of her eyes, my arms twitching as they felt compelled to see if she was okay. Yet, she still laughed lowly even though it looked like she was in pain. Noticing that she was being stared at, she turned to me and removed her hand. She spoke slowly, in an almost whisper-like tone "I remember such a scene like this by the hands of me and my Sakura Empire sisters, Kaga, Hiyruu, Souryuu, Shoukaku, Zuikaku...but in a different life. All that's missing are the corpses of two Battleships and the hollow cries of Humans as they drowned~. Although I originally did not do such a thing, I still remember the joy Akagi felt that morning like as if it was just yesterday...Praise be the Era of Carriers hahaha." she cheered before giving the air in front of her another hollow laugh. I said nothing In return and instead I gave her a cold and hard look. She nodded again, knowing what needed to be done and understand what she said. And without another word from her, her Bombers started to launch themselves off her flight-deck and into the air as she stared at them with a blank stare and smile.

I pulled forward, only going 25 knots while Akagi lagged at 22 but for good reasons. We sailed at a steady speed as all of her planes rushed off her deck with low-pitched but hearty hums, while she threw her own batch of Fighters in cutout form. When the runway would be cleared, a new set of Bombers would spawn and join in the fray. Once off the runway, or her hands, the planes flew low to the water-surface, the faint red glow of their dimmed flames waiting to explode into their full display as they flew in loose formations, but blanketing a small portion of the sea in front of us.

At the same time, there were still explosions going off ahead of us, the remnants of Dust still burning, not looking forward to calming down anytime soon. Their small, less intense, explosions sent debris flying here and there as the flames lashed out and essentially devoured anything too unfortunate to escape the preliminary explosion. Though, such reactions elicited no reactions from us as we've seen explosions much greater in power, why, Prinz suffered even worse. Undeterred and with a goal to complete, we pressed on and eventually came across Atago and Penny, the former sailing to our position before Z23 and Cleveland came across us as well. I thanked all 4 of them for their work so far, but told them we weren't done just yet. Despite this, they were still up for it. We shortly formed an arrowhead formation with me at the front. Though the 4 of them appeared to be a little shaken up, most likely by being near such an explosion, they said nothing about it. Akagi had finished deploying the necessary aircraft and they circled around in the air behind us, still awaiting their orders to engage the city of Vale.

We were just a couple hundred meters from the flames before we came to a dead-stop and inspected the damage from one side of the wall of fires, conveniently blocking us off from the public eye, minus those Bullheads flying over us that were apart of medical or rescue teams. Though it was obvious from earlier, the docks that once held the dust and moored ships, were no more. The heat was nothing compared to what we all felt at some point, but it was something we all considered to be still a threat. Trauma and all.

Akagi giggled all the sudden as she kept looking forward, though looking at me just after "You were correct with your prediction, Hood. All sorts of first responders are arriving on the scene. Most importantly, multiple groups of 'popular' news stations or channels are here too~." She giggled again as she relayed information to me, letting me know that they were soon barricading the scene off with, of course, barricades meanwhile the fire brigade rolled in but did nothing to sooth the flames, a much wiser choice seen in my eyes in a way to let the reactions occur and calm down before adding resolvent. Paramedics were currently checking up on those who fought against the White-Fang and any stragglers left behind that were lucky enough to escape the blast radius while Policemen were on high alert for any suspicious individuals, already arresting some White-Fang that managed to not flee the scene quick enough.

"Radar is picking up multiple aircraft, presumed emergency-based, in the area or are currently heading this way." Cleveland says.

I nodded, already presuming those aircraft to be medical units. Ignoring that, this is what we needed. I point forward and nod, before we all collectively pulled forward and into the flames.

Things...do look like they need to speed up I decide. And decide I shall do.

"Hey, isn't 4th of July today?" Cleveland suddenly remembered and spoke, making us all look at her. I looked away and closed my eyes, feeling bad for her.

"You're late by a couple days, unfortunately." And it was ultimately Z23 who broke the harsh news, making Cleveland visibly deflate.

Akagi then broke out in a fit of cackles.

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Note: For the love of me and all that's holy, I could not write this whole next portion of the story any better than it is. It honestly pisses me off that my ability to write just caps out here for some stupid reason. Hopefully you guys can just accept it for what it is...

3rd Person

The city of Vale was shaken awake by a tremendous explosion as it's low-toned shockwave echoed eerily through the city and woke many families in vigorous speeds, thinking that an invasion of grimm was occurring and they were soon to fall victim to the beasts if they didn't act soon. Although that was not the case, they would still be surprised, or frightened in many cases, to see what did cause the ruckus. People walked out their houses, workplaces, or even academies to witness a fireball growing over the horizon, it's flames lighting the area around it in a hellish red hue and reflecting off the water like the sun, ashes and debris raining down around the area like hail. Many watched it from afar with mindsets of pure confusion as to what and why it happened. Though, much, much closer, were the ones responsible for such explosion.

The Ships had initially underestimated the potency of Dust and how strong the explosion was going to be until they watched it themselves and felt the power behind such explosion, Hood only getting a general sense of how strong it was going to be by calculations done by Angelus and Z23, both collaborating some days before to get the results much quicker. In the process they had made a mutual relationship, how nice. Now, the Ships began to board the area not affected by the blast, the only piece of the docks that remained structurally intact, even.

Those who were close enough to feel its effects from a safe distance away, crowded around the now barricaded off area as they sought answers to why an explosion of such magnitude would occur as some knew the shipment was SDC affiliated, even if the stuff raining on them could've been hazardous. Not even the police could tell them to back off as they were too busy looking for survivors and neither could they provide a straight answer. Only a group of girls, may, have held have the key to their locked away answer. One certain leader had a huge suspicion on who created the explosion but bit her tongue instead, deciding to stay quiet in favor of not wanting to be a part of something bigger than what she could handle at the time and instead, she focused on what's around her first.

Just a couple minutes earlier, Team RWBY reunited as the B and W in her team made up for their little fight and got along despite their differences. She was happy, Ruby finally seeing Weiss assure Blake that their differences didn't matter. Relieved but tired from restlessly trying to find Blake, she wanted to go back to Beacon and finally relax in her bed and go to sleep peacefully.

But this was mere moments before the explosion occurred but taking advice from Penny to get as far away as possible, Ruby led her team away a safe distance, or what she thought was a safe enough distance away, only doubling the distance of where she would've been standing with the rest of her team, telling them that it was a better decision to stand away farther from the scene to avoid being questioned by police.

Even so, she was still in the outer radius of the blast zone. Now, Ruby was sat down with a paramedic checking over her, her clothes in tatters and signs of burning evident mostly in her cape. All around her, sitting down as well, was her team but instead of chatting, they were all shocked into silence, their clothes burnt in some areas as well. The silence...was strange to Ruby, seeing her usual chatty members, minus Blake, not converse amongst each other. Strang, since she was a usually chatty person herself. Strange since she's never seen such an event happen before. The silence prolonged for another while, that was, until someone broke the ice "What...What happened?" Ruby turned her head and looked at Weiss as she stared at the dispersing mushroom cloud wide eyes and mouth slightly ajar.

"I-I…" Ruby failed to make a good enough response and instead stayed quiet, her mind racing. Yang and Blank looked at Weiss as well.

"This doesn't make sense…" the Heiress continued in whispers as it even seemed her whole pride took a blow "...those Containers are made from top-of-the-line housing that are specifically made to avoid these types of situations. They can't just...blow up like that…how?...what?" her confusion kept growing to the point where it eventually became contagious, spreading to Blake and Yang, asking themselves questions they had no answer to, Ruby being the only who stayed out the conversation as she looked at the ground, only asking herself in thought but even she fell into that abyss.

Did Penny and Ms. Atago do this? She asked in her head and drew a tired sigh "Is this what she meant, that the docks weren't going exist in just a couple moments?" she muttered with killer curiosity. The whole time, the Paramedic analyzing them said nothing before suddenly patting Ruby's shoulder as she finished up. Ruby looked up at her. The Paramedic gave a thumbs-up with one hand and tipped her hat with the other while standing up "Alright kid, from what I got, you and your friends, or team-mates, only got out of that alive because your aura basically took the whole blow for you all, hehehe!~" Yang glanced at the Paramedic before shaking her head. Ruby smiled crookedly before nodding her head in appreciation "But that means you have little-to-no aura anymore, so watch yourselves on the way back to wherever y'all need to go~." she nodded again and watched as the Paramedic walked away to attend to more important needs before disappearing in a sea of people who were surprisingly wounded.

And once again, the 4 of them were quiet for a while.

"So...what now?" Yang asked out loud, leaning back on her arms and whistling slightly as she finally took in the scene in a much more detailed manner "Besides the infinite amount of questions we have and even though that was pretty damn scary, for you guys at least, you can't say it looked cool, right? Now we got bragging rights to show off to people that we survived a bigass explosion!" They all, well, Ruby and Blake, deadpanned at her misplaced content.

"To answer your question, I...don't know, really. I think it's just better if we go back to Beacon and forget this all happened. You could say we weren't even needed..." Blake answered with Ruby and Yang nodding in agreement but still wondering how they'll explain their wounds and ruined clothing. Weiss stayed silent, neither agreeing or disagreeing but getting up slowly with a dead serious expression on her face, a glare pointed at the smoke. Her teammates looked at each other while glancing at Weiss, not sure of what to take of her current mood, before following her example and gathering all their stuff again. Ruby turned to Blake as they were about done "Hey, where did that one guy you fought with, go to?" she shrugged in response, "I didn't see him after the explosion, must have ran off I guess." her simple answer was all Ruby needed to drop the subject.

Now, as she was about to ask if anybody saw where Penny went, someone within the crowd of onlookers pointed into the docks and shouted "Look! Someone is coming out!" their voice stood out over all the others and everybody collectively turned their heads to where they pointed while emergency responders prepared to evacuate and attend to another survivor, albeit confused that someone is still alive after the amount of time that has currently passed. Ruby and her team looked back, taking interest as well.

And true to their word, someone did come out from the fire but it wasn't just one person, it was a group of people. And to the Crowd's confusion, it had appeared that the fire didn't even bother them as they all sauntered forward slowly, flames even grabbing onto their clothes and hitching a ride but not giving any visible harm or effect to them. Along with the smoke, flames, and some of their militaristic garbs, they passively gave off a non-friendly vibe for no justifiable reason. The chatter emanating from the Crowd had died to mutters and whispers, even the officials shouting orders turned their heads to see why everybody had gone silent.

"Hey, what's going on?" asked Ruby as she noticed the abrupt silence take place and turning to her friends, only to receive shrugs for answers. Yang, sensing Ruby's curiousness' rising dangerously quick, reached out to grab Ruby's arm but in vain, as she was already walking away. Yang quickly followed after while Blake and Weiss stayed in place, the latter shivering slightly "I...something bad is going to happen…not good." she whispered emptily.

Blake blinked.

At the very front of the group of the newcomers was a tall woman with light blond hair and a hat that hung at an odd angle, this of who we know as Hood. To her side was multiple other woman with varying articles of clothing as they glared at the crowd in front of them.

One thing the Crowd instantly noticed was that two of them possessed animal traits and as such, the thought of the White-Fang came to mind for some instantly, but it was contradicted by the presence of what appeared to be Humans. Another thing was that two children, one looking much older than the other, were also with them but still possessed clothing that you wouldn't see on a normal child.

Nobody did anything. Everybody hesitated. Even though the Ships were moving through a no-man's-land, they appeared more relaxed than ever, leading some to question whether what they were seeing was reality or a lie.

Because of this, they couldn't identify whether they were friendly or foe. Eventually, the group of Ships stopped just 50 meters shy from the barricades and simply stood there. Neither party said nothing as they stared each other down. Ruby made her way to the front of the crowd, wanting to see what made everyone shut up with sister lagging behind her, Yang yelling at her in a hushed tone to wait up as they made their way through lines of people. Ignoring her sister and better judgment, she squeezed past the last line of people and grabbed onto the barricade but losing her sister in the process. Her eyes widened slightly as she scanned the line of people, gasping upon recognizing Atago and Penny within the small group, the latter standing behind Atago but still peeking one eye out from behind her side. Penny noticed Ruby at the same time, widened her eyes, and instantly ducked her head behind Atago, the latter fixing a disappointed glare towards Ruby. Ruby backed up slightly as Hood made a move, but bumped into someone and being forced to stay in place. But then she stopped, as a sudden feeling of knowing Hood came to her mind, and compelled her to stay a bit longer. Her hands twitched as she knew, but didn't know, the face of Hood. Where have I seen her before?...Don't I know her?

Hood walked forward a couple paces while her followers stayed back before bowing and lifting the edges of her skit slightly with a small smile. Her closer proximity with the Humans made some back away while some more daring couple stayed in place, Hood speaking to them as if they were a coop of children, raising her arms and pointing at the fires behind and around her "Quite a spectacle, is it not? To see Dust react in such a way is both beautiful yet so dangerous to the environment, but it's what keeping you all alive, so what can you do? No matter. As for me, I am Hood of the Royal Navy." she introduced herself but received no answer in return. Not bothered by it, she continued "Seeing as you are all wary of who we are, I will just get straight to the point! As you can see, this explosion was no mere accident! It was caused by us in order to round up as much bodies! And to boldly state this: We're Azur Lane!" soon after, a line of Alestian Knights forced their way through the Crowd and took aim behind the barricades, aiming their rifles at Hood through the openings but not firing immediately. Her cheery expression turned neutral as she fixed her hat and stayed in place despite having over a dozen barrels pointed at her "That's a rather immediate response, isn't it? Here I thought military intervention wasn't going to happen for another while." she whispered to herself before raising her voice once more "Well, that's we were called. Anyways! We are here to announce a very important message!" the AK's were soon backed up by another line, taking knees, as the crowd of on-watchers all slowly started to back up, Yang finding the dazed Ruby and taking/ducking away somewhere else.

Though the nests of News reporters and cameramen stayed in place and kept broadcasting everything, despite the danger the unknown person and group may have possessed. Hood turned her body to them slightly but still directed her small speech to the crowd that was already thinning out by the second. "No matter what sort of lies you've been told as a kid, in school, or life in general, you are never safe! This whole time the White-Fang have been working under your noses and what do you do? Nothing! Though, some of you live knowing this lie and for what!? So you can blame the higher-ups once something tragic happens!? Stupid and ignorant! Ignoring the problem will only add fuel to the flames, believe me when I say this! This-" she spread her arms into the air and pointed at the fires and destroyed infrastructure "-was not only caused by us, this was also caused by the very hands of creation made by Atlas! Your own race is making technology so advanced, that not even they know what their limits are! Consider this a reality check!" the Crowd started to murmur amongst themselves, not believing what she said while those who did partially believe her, could not help but agree in silence.

"Put your hands up where we can see them and get on your knees, terrorist scum!" shouted an Alestian Soldier as he aimed his rifle at Hood. Hood directed a glare and scowl to the offending soldier, genuinely getting annoyed "Terrorist scum? To think I would be called such a barbaric thing!" her condescending tone and the act of singling him out made the soldier lower his rifle from the sheer pressure. She sighed and regained a more professional tone. Although she wanted to use Penny as some sort of propaganda, she realized that she needn't expose a secret weapon to the world just yet.

She sighed deeply, seeing her audience be blocked from her view by a wall of metal. Instead, she turned her body to a nearby camera and directed it instead, noticing that the reporter was actually Lisa Lavender, some sort of well known Reporter.

She approached them calmly, ignoring all the barrels moving to compensate for her movement. The Reporter and camera guy started to look at her with nervousness and fear but she made a calming motion with a hand, only directing speaking to the camera and snatching the mic out of Lisa's hands before backing up "But that is not the main reason why I came here you see, this explosion and I talking was not only why I arrived here in person! My final message will be delivered followed by an attack, never seen on this world yet! Then, you won't see me for another full moon!" though the meaning was lost on them due to them not having a complete moon anymore, that didn't stop them from having another lines AK's to form up behind the already small army before being given the go-ahead to start slowly pushing ahead but Hood gave them only half a glance, even when they pushed over the barricades.

She looked back at her allies and nodded, speaking to them only through radio "Deploy your equipment" they looked at her with surprise and confusion as this step was never mentioned the day before, but they still complied and including herself, tapped their waists in rapid motions before their complete riggings appeared, their main batteries aiming at the wall of Alestian Knights. Hood politely gave the mic back to the startled Reporte and thanked her before stepping back as well, rejoining with her allies as noises of succession emanated from their armaments as they quickly loaded in new batches of ammunition before they were given the green-light that everything was running just as expected.

Those soldiers that were along with the AK's, and other Human beings, instantly knew that the Ships, presumed normal Humans, weren't what they expected as a much newer mix of apprehension and fear set in the area quickly, now knowing the once visibly unarmed people, were now heavily armed. Hood narrowed her eyes and shot her hand out in front of herself with the palm pointing forward, her other hand forming a fist and striking it against her chest, striking a small pose "After today, we're no longer restricting ourselves to mere conventional means of mercy! Since our end-goal has changed, we're now known as the Crimson Axis and I, Hood, Leader of the Crimson Axis, with multiple Nations sailing under our flag, hereby officially announce that this attack is our declaration of war on Humanity and Faunus! Only your so-called Gods can help you now!" she shouted with ferocity.

"O-OPEN FIRE AT THE TERRO-" the Commander of the Alestian Knights tried to bark out but he widened his eyes as he soon dropped to the floor, dead, as screams followed suit. Before he could even say his order, out from behind the walls of fire came it's harbingers. Dozens of Fighters swooped down behind the Ships, the wind they kicked up making their clothes flutter, before opening fire at the AK's and instantly shredding through their armor and into any unlucky Human standing in the way, before they pulled up, not even giving the Robots a chance to fight back as they all crumpled to the ground in wasted metal. The Commander could be given the most gruesome death so far as he was instantly filled with dozens of high caliber rounds with a bomb even dropped on him for good measure.

Hood's outstretched hand turned into a fist while she grinned, seeing Humanity's first most official attempt to fight back the Crimson Axis, fail horrendously. Now, she would show what they had in store for Humanity.

"All Ships, OPEN FIRE!" she shouted and in a display of power much greater than the Alestian Knights, over a dozen explosions erupted from their turrets, fresh shells slicing through the air, flashing the entire area in white as their red-hot shells flew over the people and into the city, explosions tearing through the city and shaking the ground beneath them for a second.

Everyone trying to get a look of what happened in the area just mere moments ago, were all but dispersed at this point, running and screaming for their lives, covering their heads as now bombs and bullets rained down from the sky. Those AK's that survived the initial wave fired at the Ships but they were instantly destroyed as a flurry of AA guns were used on them

A Medical Bullhead attempted to flee but was shot down as a swarm of Fighters fired at its engines, causing it stall and crash back down on top of any poor soul and crushing them, before blowing up. Meanwhile some others were gunned down or bombed in cold blood.

A second wave of Fighters came in to take out the stragglers taking footage of everything but Hood put a hand out in front of Akagi, the Fox looking at her curiously "Don't, let them keep recording. Such videos would only help cause fear spread throughout their fellow numbers." she nodded and pulled back the second wave in favor to keep those lucky few alive and ordered them to push deeper into the city, escorting the Bombers en route.

Those recording could only stare in fear as those planes that killed so many already, swoop down at them but pull away at the last second. Those spared of their deaths looked at Hood as she smiled at them with a tilt of her hat as she fired another salvo.

"M-Ms Atago?" Penny squeaked out as they fired. "Yes?" Atago answered back but not looking back her way as she surveyed the area in front of them. "Y-You're...not a Faunus, neither Human, are you?" The question made Atago pause for a second before she released a small chuckle and turned to Penny, watching the Android look at her batteries with an array of emotions.

Rubbing the top of her head, she shook her head with a small smile "No...We're machines created for war, fed lies to fight for Humanity...just like you. Instead, we simply refuse to be used like that." Penny gasped silently before looking away as Atago resumed firing but her mind being filled with that question Penny asked her "Penny." said individual looked at Atago once more.

"What did you think we were? I thought Akagi having her runway out was a good hint at what we were." Penny hummed as she took a bit to answer, looking at Akagi "I just...assumed that was her Semblance...and you all sailing on the sea was just advanced technology." she admitted, causing Atago to nod "Hm...okay...strange" she whispered in confusion, assuming Penny knew of what they are.

Akagi looked at the sky in what appeared to be a daze, but how Cranes were like this earlier, she was simply too busy ordering and maintaining her planes. She ordered those not escorting any Bombers to pull into the city and fly down through streets, gunning down anyone in their sights, only to return in the case of needing a resupply or repairs while those with Bombers were ordered to simply stick to their designated squadrons to intercept any aircraft daring to get close.

She hummed in interest as one of her low-altitude squadrons were relaying information to her that they were being attacked by a flurry of flak-like explosions coming from an unusual source, actually threatening to take down them down if they didn't pull away or target the source. Looking through her Bombers perspectives, she watched as a blonde haired girl stood on the roof of a building, punching the air aggressively in quick jabs with multicolored flares firing out from said jabs and racing up into the air, blowing up just short. Though one of the flares did land home and took down an unfortunate Fighter, it's flames that it produced naturally, now being overcome by flames caused by an outside source. Akagi whined silently in disappointment, surprised the flares managed to one-shot one of her Fighters when a literal army of robots couldn't. She shrugged it off either way.

Strange, but unique. I like it Akagi deemed in her head. She wanted to deal with the threat as she actually posed a problem but Akagi decided to pull away that quadrant to another to save their payload for better use.

Stomping the roof and cursing loudly, Yang could only watch as the flying vehicles she attempted to shoot down, pull away from her fire, ignoring her for more favorable targets "I only got one!? Goddammit!" she whisper shouted to herself while reloading Ember Celica before jumping off the roof and regrouping with Ruby.

Meanwhile, Weiss cleaned Myrtenaster with shaky hands, herself trembling as well from witnessing a massacre "They…They caused all of this?" she whispered with wide eyes, looking out from behind her cover and dragging her eyes across the floor where she counted the death count "29...30…" and so on. Blake nodded with narrowed eyes, scanning the overwhelming amount of dead people littered across the concrete floor as explosions went off in the distance "Of course they did." she whispered back indifferently. Weiss nodded, spinning the cylinder and selecting an ice cartridge "W-We have to do something then-…" "Guys, over here!" they looked back as Yang waved them over, Ruby by her side but shaking slightly, before they soon moved from their spots to join the rest of their team. As they were closing the small gap, the two students couldn't help but see the distant explosions erupting in their city, a sense of dread just setting in.

Pockets of Vale erupted in small mushroom clouds as specific buildings were bombed one after another. If the explosion from the docks wasn't enough to wake someone up, then the alarm signalling an attack on the city certainly did as its much louder, lowtoned cry echoed repeatedly throughout the city, the fragments of the military in the surrounding areas beginning to make their to Vale and those farther out were soon to arrive after to provide reinforcements.

"Fire!" Hood shouted as another volley of shells erupted from their barrels.

Hood, already wreaking havoc on Vale's already small military, made this attack much more viable, forcing the military to spread their units thinly across the continent to make up for attacks against the Grimm. Atlas, while still posing a threat even after countless attacks on them, would still take time to get here to really pose a problem. Akagi, while mentioning that one of her squadrons were under fire, put it aside as nothing more than a nuisance, so there was that.

"Fire!" she shouted again, targeting another part of the city, watching as their shells blanketed the portion they were targeting with explosions. She shot her hand out to the side "Stop for now. Let us take the battle to them now." She said, the others nodding.

Hood began to walk forward and across those she ordered their death, stepping over or on the people they just massacred, wanting to expand their range further into the city as she was already limiting her range to that of a Destroyer.

Stepping over a body, a bloodied hand suddenly gripped Hoods ankle causing her to stop mid-step and look down with disgust. A woman, with horrible burns and shrapnel in her face, breathed in and out hard as she stared up at Hood "W-W-Why?" was all she asked, making Hood sigh.

She jerked back her foot, ripping off the grip of the woman before answering with a scowl "If I told you why, then you simply would not understand. We were made for these types of situations and with our reasoning and weaponry, we can fulfill our end goal. It's that simple." The woman looked at her blankly as the light in her eyes dimmed away, form going limp.

Hood set her eyes straight and took another step forward before noticing out of the corner of her eyes, out from behind a piece of a broken wall, came out a small group of girls. They blatantly walked out in the open and blocked Hoods path. If they wanted to stop Hood in her tracks, then they did so successfully, even if it was just for this moment. Her allies quickly took notice of the new obstacle and collectively aimed their weapons at the girls.

The group of young Huntresses stood steady, unwavering, even with over a dozen barrels pointed at them. But that is without saying that they were indeed scared, the flames behind the Ships casting shadows on their faces, with corpses by their feet, along with weaponry that rivaled anything they carried in raw strength, it was certainly an image you'd only find in a game and coincidentally, in a fictional book. But Ruby and her team still did not back down.

Penny looked away while rubbing her arm, embarrassed as she seemed to be on the wrong side, with a set of morals her image did not agree with. But she sided with the Ships either way, swearing an oath to their cause, even if what they did was morally wrong. She can only thank them for such freedom, now knowing their secret up close and personal.

Hood examined each girl before her gaze ended up on the leader of the team and smiled, watching as Ruby's face of determination turned into one of complete surprise as she too recognized Hood "Y-You're...You're the one from the dust shop! Hood, right!? I thought I recognized that name from somewhere!" She shouted, pointing at Hood in recognition as those memories, covered by a thick fog, were blown away.

Hood nodded in confirmation as she fixed the gloves on her hands "I did say we would fight and soon, am I not correct?" As such, that night to Ruby was now clear as day.

Ruby shook her head, looking more appalled as she took in the surroundings once more while waving her hand around "But why did you k-kill all these people!? We never did anything to you! Who are you people!?" The young Rose tried to reason and question but Hood shook her head with a chuckle, confusing Ruby as her teammates looked at each other with faces of equal confusion.

"What is your name, child?" she asked calmly, making Ruby look away in contemplation before looking back "I am Ruby Rose, Huntress in Training!" she shouted confidently. Hood nodded "Well, Ruby, what drives you?"

"...What?"

"I'll rephrase that. What drives you into becoming a Huntress?"

"What does that have to do with what's happening right now?! You killed all these people for no apparent reason!"

No apparent reason, you say?

Completely confused by the question, Ruby failed to see it's meaning and instead chambered a new round in her now deployed scythe and took a battle stance, swinging it around to have the barrel pointing behind her. Her teammates all soon took battle stances as well, following their leaders example.

Hood nodded a couple times with a sigh "Then so be it Ruby Rose, I shall be your opponent for tonight. The rest of you, choose your target and fight them without the help of your equipment, let's teach them that such naivety will simply get them kill in the future. Penny, stay back and wait on my call." she ordered and they nodded, tapping their waists and retreating their riggings, Hood doing the same right after before looking forward.

"Now come! Show me that you all are worthy of becoming a 'Huntress!'" Hood bellowed out.

Ruby screamed as she fired her sniper, launching her forward.

---

Sitting at his table with his hands folded under his chin was Opzin, looking at the Siren sat down in front of him, looking more cheerful than ever as she glanced at the broadcast on his table every so often. He began with a sigh "Purifier, tell me, just what are the Crimson Axis?" she hummed in response, leaning back on her back-rest and looking at the ceiling.

"What do ya' want to know?" He stopped the broadcast right when it panned right onto Hood and Co. He pointed mostly at Hood and her weaponry.

"What are they?" Purifier giggled and breathed in deeply, reaching into the deepest parts of her mind to give him the best answer. Not wanting to give him simply a summarized answer, Purifier went for a full detailed description.

"This...is going to be a looooong night, Ozpin. So you might wanna grab another cup of Coffee or something like that." Ozpin nodded before getting up from his desk and disappearing somewhere where Purifier couldn't see but hearing the elevator ding, hearing the doors open, before closing. Once he was out of her sight and presumed ear-shot she dipped her head and cackled And here I was itching to get rid of this facade, I don't think I would've lasted any longer~...But this is necessary to change things up this time around, I didn't even think they would attack so soon either.

She resumed the broadcast and watched with utmost attention, watching as the Ships beat the hell out of a young group of girls. They really do have a deathwish ahahahaha~. And here I was, caring for your boo boo's hehehe. But I don't want your poor Headmaster to see this, soooo-. She then shut off the broadcast and sat in silence, in her own chaotic thoughts, thinking of what else to do after this chaotic night.

A couple minutes later, Ozpin came back with not only another mug of coffee, but the actual Coffee Machine itself. She raised her brows slightly and chuckled. Ozpin said nothing as he sat back down, placing the machine on his table.

She leaned back on her seat and took a deep breath, rubbing her cheek idly at the same time.

"So let's see, where should I start...Oh, I know! let's start from the veeery beginning...the day when Azur Lane came to be...and their eventual fall..."

---

Watching as Ruby tiredly got back into a position to use her semblance once more, Hood opened her hand as Ruby launched herself and went to hit Hood on her ribs. Hood couldn't dodge her side-slash and rather, she took the whole blow, making Ruby go wide eyed before gagging horribly as she felt a hand wrap around her throat, feeling her airway become tight, a searing heat shooting through her throat. Hood blinked, feeling a blade dig into her side but not affecting her too gravely. Bringing Ruby up closer to her own face, Hood smiled before raising her into the air slightly, before quickly slamming her down into the concrete before letting go of her throat. Hood pulled the scythe out of her side and let it fall next to Ruby as she writhed.

Having no more Aura to sustain her, Ruby grunted and cried out as she felt pain like no other. She twitched slightly as she failed to form words, only small gasps and croaks escaping her mouth before finally giving out. After only 5 minutes of a pure one-sided fight, she passed out, hiccuping as her eyes soon drifted a close. Not fighting it any longer, mainly because she couldn't, Ruby was officially knocked out of the fight, her teammates soon to follow. Hood nodded with a calculating gaze. She looked around herself and noticed her allies were finishing their opponents as well, be it quickly...or painfully.

Cackling as she did so, Akagi spun around and got behind Yang before wrapping her arms around her waist, tightening them to get a good grip, before bending back. Yang, too tired at this point, could only curse silently as she watched her world turned upside down before the top of head collided with the pavement. Pain, pain like no other...then blackness was all Yang felt and saw. The Fox giggled and shivered, taking pleasure as the small fight managed to trigger her, unique, fetish. She let go Yang, letting the rest of her body flop flat on her stomach. Not done just yet, Akagi moved on top of Yang's back before placing her hand just above the back of her head as she grinned more widely, wanting to do this for a while but not getting the chance, opportunity or live-subject, until now. Pulling back a sleeve, her arm glowed before it ignited into wild and unkempt inferno that burned all over her arm.

She narrowed her eyes as the flames died down to more, concentrated thin, rivers of flames that traveled down and through her arm. When the streams would reach her hand, they would concentrate even more and finally reach her palm as a blowtorch-like flame. Akagi looked at her work in pride before bringing it closer to the back of Yang's head.

Blake fell to one knee, using her blade as a support before gasping as the point of a sword was put up to her throat, Atago glaring down at her and frowning as she did, like a disappointed senior. Blake grunted as she looked up into those mirror like eyes before scowling "I thought you were on our side! You're a Faunus, a race they're working to kill, how could you join them!?" she shouted in anguish. Atago cocked her head to the side before shrugging "Just become I'm a 'Faunus' doesn't mean anything, girl. I have my reasons to be apart of the Crimson Axis, reasons you mere beings wouldn't understa-" "What reasons!?" Atago widened her eyes slightly, not expecting Blake to question her so quickly. Instead of answering directly, she sighed "Reasons you shouldn't know…" she whispered in response, not responding when Blake questioned her even further.

Weiss yelped as she was finally thrown off balance by Z23, constantly weaving through her attacks, and throwing a purposely missed jab that missed her face by a mere inch. Falling backwards, she gasped as she looked to the and could do nothing but close her eyes as she was dropped kicked by Cleveland who came in at her blind spot, effectively launching her to the side and almost impaling her on a random piece of sharp steel. Every attack Weiss attempted came up as a failure the two Ships were a much more formidable opponent than what Weiss anticipated, considering they looked much younger than what she is but nonetheless, they dodged her attacks and attacked back in unison without talking to each other, never giving Weiss a hint of when they were to attack or not, surprising the Schnee as she was bested in record speeds. As she tried to get up, a sudden kick to her ribs sent her flying to the side, her grip slipping on her weapon and clattering as it fell just next to her open hand. Going for it, Weiss hissed as her hand was stepped on with one foot, Myrtenaster being kicked away with the other "No!" her scream was filled with defeat and sorrow as she attempted to look up at her opponent with a scowl full of hatred.

But then she moaned as a jagged and sharp pain erupted in her back, boot soles pinning her down and disrupting any concentration she tried to bear to spawn a glyph. She painfully craned her head up again as Cleveland stepped off her hand and stood in front of her, bending over slightly to get a better look at the bested Schnee "Want a taste of freedom?" "Wha-" And in a flash, a boot kicked the side of her face with a small crack, Weiss' world going hazy and staticy as the edges of her vision went dark. But she was not out just yet.

Z23 got off the dazed Heiress with a scoff directed at a certain Eagle "Was that really necessary?" she asked, Cleveland shrugging in response with a sheepish chuckle "I always wanted to do that, hehehe." Z23 shook her head with crossed arms as they awaited their next orders. Weiss made a noise of confusion as she fought with all her will to stay awake, managing to roll on her side to see the rest of her teammates. Then she really did want to go to sleep, seeing the rest of her team be put down in their own ways.

All in all, Team RWBY was heavily outmatched and were taken down in the span of less than 5 minutes. Big surprise.

"So, what shall we do these Humans?" asked Akagi, adding more pressure to Yangs skull causing her to twitch and squirm in her unconscious state as the torch merely added more pain, not enough to kill her outright, but enough to give Yang a bad time. Hood hummed as she looked at Ruby. Penny, meanwhile, looked at Ruby with a shake of her head "I told you to run…I told you, Ruby." she whispered, turning her gaze to the ground.

"Let them live to see another day" answered Atago in Hood's stead, causing them to look at the Wolf in question as she pressed the blade a centimeter deeper into Blakes neck, drawing some blood and making her wince "Let them learn from this day that they're indeed not safe, like you said Hood, and should prepare for a much greater terror in the future." she said while looking at Blake.

She sighed and looked at them all, turning left and right to look at them before looking into the sky, pointing a finger at a certain aircraft "Their Cavalry has about arrived." They followed her example and looked up "And If im right about it, the others are too busy doing that to provide us assistance." speaking out loud, it caused Blake to look around, only using her eyes and not moving her head. True to her word, 2 Alestian Airships were slowly entering Vales' airspace and heading their way to them, even more Fighters flying ahead.

Hood nodded "Agreed. We shall fall back and in a future point, we shall attack another time. While I regrettably overestimated these girls, that doesn't mean we still achieved our end-goal. Though, now, Humanity is sure to build up their armies. Good or bad...this shall test their limits and perhaps give us something to look forward to fight in the future." she said before pausing.

And thus, the Ships designated to their opponents all slowly backed away from. Z23 and Cleveland simply walked away without a second glance, not bothering to check if Weiss was alive or not. Akagi, knowing that her victim was well alive and doing just dandy, walked away fully satisfied, a wide smile still plastered on her face.

Atago slowly reeled back her sword making Blake sigh before knocked out in lightspeeds, hitting the side of her head with the hilt of her sword. Thinking she may have hit a bit too hard, and thinking she killed the poor student in that one strike, she watched Blake's body fall to the ground with intentful eyes before breathing slightly out in relief as she noticed the soft rise and fall of her chest.

And Hood, still looking down at Ruby's form, bent over and picked up her scythe. She held it up in the sky before her grip ten folded, causing the handle to creak and gain cracks along it, groaning in protest. Before finally…

It snapped in two.

Hood saw Ruby's weapon as nothing more than cane, nothing more than a support to lean against, and seeing how she fought with it, Ruby depended on it with her life.

She walked near the blade and stomped on it.

Once unarmed, she was nothing more than a small fly waiting to be swatted away.

Blade now destroyed, she moved to the handle/shaft of the weapon, repeating the process.

She would show it that it will take more than simple weapons and machinery to defeat them. They would have to adapt. They would have to evolve. Although they tried to work as a team, they were eventually separated from each other and taken down one by one, a tactic she would like to use in the future. Now, the weapon Ruby held so dear, was nothing more but smashed bits of metal and mangled plastic.

She turned around and her allies shortly fell in line. Akagi held her flight-deck out in the air and let her aircraft land as the other Ships started walking away.

At the same time, Weiss slowly put a hand below her chest and on the ground, slowly pushing herself up with grunts and whimpers "I...I have...to." she whispered to herself before looking around herself and finding her weapon. Grabbing it, she cried as she collapsed back down to the floor.

She looked up and watched as the Ships all turned away and began walking to the sea. Weiss shook and screw her eyes shut, a small tear running down her cheek as this day was just a mockery for her. She would soon join her friends in their states. Her eyes slowly started drifted shut but before she could fall asleep entirely, she uttered one last sentence, a wish of sorts.

"...I wish...I had the power...to be stronger." Then she was out like a light.

Akagi hummed as she counted up her aircraft but then stopped. She frowned, noticing her count had fallen a bit short of the expected total. Of the planes she used, about 8 had not made it back to her. She shrugged, knowing that she had more in reserve either way and that what she lost this night, could not compare to what fun she had. Once she made sure she had every Plane of her back in place, she took one last look at the fleet in the air. She envied the advanced they had, but it didn't her bother her too much, knowing her own Planes were just as reliable, if not more. She turned away and quickly caught up with her fleet.

As they sailed farther and farther away, Hood looked back at the docks as they slowly became smaller, taking a much longer route back to Mt. Glenn to avoid conflict. Along the way, Hood couldn't help let out another sigh at the smoke rising from the city and docks, Airships finally making their trip to the Docks and hovering above them, spotlights scanning the area.

"Well, I guess we did it"

"But at what cost?"

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Everything.

Anyways, ending it off here for now.

I...don't know, man. I feel like I rushed it to this bit of the story and that's where that underlying issue came into play and why I kinda took so damn long to make this chapter, in an attempt to make this more bearable. In total, there are 2 whole other variations that took drastically different routes, completely finished chapters mind you, but I just chose this one in the end, and ironically enough, I was still struggling to make the chapter.

But to think I made it this far, so far.

100k words, my first ever fic to make it past that number.

I am thinking of making another Fic just solely on Azur Lane, but mainly about the Sirens. But that kinda wont work for a multitude of reasons.

But with that said, I shall see you in the next chapter, whenever that is…might be a WHILE.