(A/N) Hey all, the new chapter is here, now for some quick Q&A.
Dragon0905- On the Binding, think of it like Alucard from Hellsing. She will still have all her powers; she just won't have access to them. Her level will remain the same, this bind only affects her stats, so while she now has a level 1 binding on her stats, restraining them by 25%, this will continue to remain in effect until Ruby gives her the go ahead.
So while her power is limited for those around hers safety, she will continue to grow. At level 50, 50% will be restrained; meaning that she's still a badass, but is fighting with a handicap.
Another way of seeing this is that when she hit level 25, 25% of her current stats were locked away, this doesn't mean that as more stats come more get added to the lock, it just means that 25% of her stats at level 25 are lock away, like an escrow system I think its called. Say 20 points are what she is losing contact with due to the binding, no more points will join that 20 until the second binding, when the 20 get an additional increase from the 50% at the next binding.
This will change at Level 50 when the lock eats another 50%, and then at 75 when it eats 75%.
It's my hope that this will keep her grounded to the same power level as her peers. Be aware that this is also very risky, if she and Ruby were to be separated, Luna could in effect be killed off, never know.
I agree with the godlike power behind level 0, I plan on limiting the effectiveness of using this, making it a form of burst power, lasting only a couple of minuets, and the risk over overusing it will begin to tax on her life span, its very much a double edged sword, but always an option.
As the story progresses, Luna will be encountering more and more powerful Grimm, amongst other things.
I hope this clears up some confusion, if not always willing to consider another persons view ^^ thanks for brining it to my attention.
On to the chapter!
Chapter 11: Project Rose
Yang, her dad and uncle were becoming very worried. Ruby and Luna had been shut in for days now, the pair giving the only sign of life, manic laughter as they did whatever it was they were doing in their workshop.
The pair had also been on a lot of Contracts recently, Ruby's increase in skill warranting many better paid jobs; this gave the adults and Yang pause… What could two 14 year olds need with all that money?
The answer came not a week later, the horn of an Atlas cruiser erupting above their house, Qrow and Tai thinking it was an old friend, turns out they were wrong, it was a delivery for the Twin Roses.
Using some shady contacts and a massive portion of their earning, the pair just had to buy an Atlas cruiser.
At first, Qrow laughed so hard he popped a blood vessel, Yang joining him, while Tai could only stare in open mouthed shock, never having expected anything close to this.
What followed was the pair landing it, and then… 'Upgrading' the damn thing, uploading Hestia into the core, adding Shielding and Luna's new laser weapons, enhancing the engines, making the damn monstrosity more silent.
The warship wasn't the only thing they got, onboard were damn near 30 Atlesian Knights, the small Mechs being uploaded with Formational training programs, their software being upgraded, being given Luna's wrist mounted shields and Blaster Lancers.
The two girls were in a constant state of hyperactive, neither coming down for near another week, the rest of the family beginning to worry about why they needed or…wanted all this firepower.
Blake had turned up as well, only to have her own jaw drop moment, much to Yang's delight.
When they felt it was as ready as it was going to be, the pair put the ship into Lockdown, the advanced internal sensors and firewalls all being monitored by Hesita.
As the pair stumbled into the house, massive grins still on their faces, they took in their families expectant faces, before promptly falling asleep standing, much to the shock of everyone there. It was very much a comical moment, the two girls being supported by each other. "I don't think even Summer would have expected the two tykes to do something this… funny?" Qrow muttered, his face too tired from laughing so hard.
With the two out for the count, Tai and Qrow began trying to camouflage the entire 24meter long Ship, its 13meters girth making the job that much harder.
The ship had four decks, two crew decks, the command deck and the engineering deck. The second Crew Deck held the Mech Storage as well, this being where 25Mechs remained on standby. Five more were placed on the Command Deck awaiting activation by Hestia.
Tai wouldn't stop muttering about how his beard was going grey from their damn antics.
Line Break
When the two girls awoke two days later, it was much to the rest of the family's shock, their own shock that it had all been real. Yang found the whole thing funny again, their awe written faces at seeing their new baby was too much.
When asked much later why they needed one, the two turned very serious. "You know I've been having all the bad visions for awhile now, well in the last ones, I saw Yang lose an arm, Ruby had silver light shooting out of her eyes, eyes full of so much pain and misery, and I saw Vale die…" she finished, her eyes misty as she remembered the taste of ash and blood in her mouth, the screams of the dying.
Before they could reply, a fire sparked in her silver eyes "Me and Ruby made a vow not to let that happen, so we saved a lot of money, and while she was gone, off training with the drunk, I was busy earning money, or tinkering with my plans, I admit, would have been faster with Ruby, she's still way better at this stuff then me" She said, giving her now blushing sister a big smile.
"The ship is insurance I guess; a bit of backup should we need it. With all the Verse-Tech we poured into it, the damn thing better be…"Ruby finished off, the pair looking forward to getting back to it.
Seeing the reason behind their latest stunt, Tai couldn't really tell them off for it, it was always sound advice to prepare for the worst, and hope for the best.
Sighing, Taiyang said "Alright, you can keep it, but be responsible… Ok?" he said, Qrow gaining a sweat drop at the stupidity of this family, watching as both girls nodded really fast, getting dizzy.
Line Break
As this was going on, the upper echelons of Atlas's military were in a state of panic, a prised prototype warship, vetted for underwater combat as well as being outfitted with the best tech Atlas had, was missing. The fact that it took the people in charge three days to find out was enraging.
General James Ironwood looked at the empty berth, seething. "How could this happen!" he roared, the lead scientist quivering in his boots.
"We don't know, sir. It was there when we left for the night, and after returning on Monday morning, it was gone, CCTV was useless, security systems were useless, and the fact that we have no living guards meant that a hacker must have had a fare here." The man paused, regaining his breath
"This is why I stated many times, Atlas focusing on only Mechs is foolish!" he said, his eyes alight with fury.
James looked a little taken aback, his own planning coming back to beat him once again.
"You are right, is the GPS on the ship working?" he asked, false hope rising, only to fall rapidly at the shaken heads.
"Damn!" he cursed.
"General Ironwood, Sir!" called an out of breath soldier, his panting making the man more irritable. "Speak up soldier! And work out more!" he ranted.
"Sir! As per you orders, we have just finished a census of the rest of this facilities recourses, we discovered that alongside the cruiser, the thief took 200 Knight Mechs, alongside 10 of our prototype Paladin Mechs, Sir!" the man called out, his fear there for all to see.
"Damn!" The General cursed again, the simple yet honest word causing his aid, Winter Schnee to sweat drop.
Line Break
With the now named, Hestia's Flame, sitting very inconspicuously in the back yard, Qrow began to head out, trying to find a better place to berth the massive ship. Thankfully he discovered it could operate in the water as well, this alone raised suspicions that the ship was a prototype, one he would soon find to be stolen from Ironwoods R&D hangers.
While he was trying to cover up his nieces fuck ups, the two monsters were out there, building safe houses in the wilds. Complete with their personally upgraded Mechs, Hoplite Mechs.
They planned to seed as many of these secret bases as they could, ensuring the family all had clearance to enter them, this was a good idea, one he wished he thought of, considering his main line of work. Yang was helping her dad hide the ship some more, the red finish the girls had placed on the hull making the job harder.
So far, they wanted two in the Kingdom of Vale, one in Atlas, one in Menagerie another in Mistral and the last one in Vacuo. Each safe house would house 30 Hoplite Mechs, while the last twenty would remain on Patch, awaiting commands from Taiyang or Qrow, they were housed in the families basement/workshop.
While this was going on, Qrow was currently scouting out the northern coasts of Patch, the islands worst waters, choppy as hell, no beaches and no people.
When he found the cave that lead to an underwater cove, connected to the sea, he felt like someone was just handing it all to his girls, this was getting stupid now…
Not a week later, the girl's father and uncle had the ship housed in the cove, ten of the Hoplite Mechs from home guarding the land approach as another Mech housing Hestia began setting up surveillance tech, defence systems and other such things, the plan to make the Cove a base of operations already underway.
Qrow sighed; his family were really odd…
Line Break
Luna and Ruby glared at each other, their faces set in a firm frown of focus. Both their silver eyes shot to the big blue box that appeared above their heads.
Duel will begin in…
5!
4!
3!
Yang was looking on from the ring, her father and uncle beside her, all eager to watch the coming battle, Artemis and Zwei nearby chilling out and watching as well.
2!
Popcorn in hand, the spectators braced for what was to come…
1!
START!
In a flash of motion, Ruby and Luna disappeared into what could only be called hyperspeed. Rose petels and sparks began weaving here and there, shocking those watching at the sheer speed of this battle, bangs and burning hisses echoing up to them.
As quickly as the first bout started, it ended, Ruby crashing into the ground a few meters from the group, a few charred lines steaming in her clothing. Luna reappeared not a second later, her Aura Lance pointed directly at her sisters face, a glow building up from the emitter, there was a pause as everyone held their breaths, before she let loose the built up blast.
Ruby yelped before rolling to the side, the impact demolishing the ground where she lay not two seconds before.
Seeing that her sister was taking this seriously, the Reaper got ready to take it up a notch.
Luna cast observe on her sister, finding herself impressed at how far she came from her training with Qrow.
Name: Ruby Rose
Race: Human (Enhanced)
Level: 24
Title: Red Reaper
HP: 560/600
AP: 1122/1300
Attributes:
STR: 43
DEX: 67
VIT: 34
INT: 49
WIS: 22
LUK: 33
There it was again, the Enhanced next to Ruby's race… 'Is that why her eyes glow in the vision?'
Comparing her stats to her sisters, she knew she needed to continue training.
Status:
LVL: 25
EXP: 250/1900
Name: Luna Rose
Race: Wolf Faunus
Class: Aura Warrior
Title: Huntress in Training
HP: 500 (+10 per level up)
AP: 1735 (+10 per level up) (+1000 [Spirit Ring] +200 [Aura Warrior])
Attributes: All Stats are under 25% bind {85.5}
STR: 65 {48.7} (x10 [Super Faunus Strength]) (With Perk = 485 STR)
DEX: 60 {45}
VIT: 60 {45}
INT: 55 {41.25}
WIS: 50 {37.5}
LUK: 50 {37.5}
Free Points: 57
Seeing the effect the bind held over her, Luna couldn't help but notice her strength was still very high, high enough that she needed to be aware of it, or she would kill her sister.
In another flash of motion, Luna ignited both of her Aura blades, their warm white glow washing the arena in the light of her soul. "Shall we dance, Ruby!" with that she charged at her sister, her steps sure as she moved into her Ataru Form.
With that the two girls erupted into a fierce melee, Ruby's Scythe a blur of motion as she tried to keep up with her sister's rapid strikes. Not for the first time was she singed by her sisters blades, thankful that she had them on a training setting, not powerful enough to cut, just lightly singe.
The biggest issue most would face with her sisters weapons, is their ability to cut through Aura like it isn't there at all.
Due to her Scythe blade being made of their Aura conductive alloy, she was able to defend with her weapon, but as the melee continued, Luna continued to grow faster and more aggressive, attacks becoming harder to fend off.
In the stands, the adults and Yang were shocked, they knew the two had gotten good, but not this good, and Luna, by the Gods the girl was on fire, her rapid strikes nearly downing Ruby, she was just able to defend with her Crescent Rose, but as the melee continued, Luna continued to grow faster and more aggressive, her attacks becoming harder to fend off.
In the stands, the adults and Yang were shocked, they knew the two had gotten good, but not this good, and Luna, by the Gods the girl was on fire, rapid strikes nearly ending the fight there and then.
"Dad, these two do realise that they are meant to be kids… right?" Yang asked, in awe of how powerful her sisters were.
Qrow hearing this, snorted. "Those two are less kids, and more Huntresses then anyone realises, I saw the fire kindle when Summer died, and I don't think the two will be easing off for awhile yet, they have far too much passion for what Summer meant as a Huntress to give up" he said, enjoying a swig from his flask.
Back in the arena, Ruby, desperate for some room, discharged a round at her sister's feet, the effect giving her a few moments of respite as Luna back flipped out of the way.
Both girls were panting, but grinning at the same time. "My turn!" Ruby called out.
Luna having expecting this rapidly switched to her Soresu Form, with a smattering of her Shien Form to bolster it. Just in the nick of time it seems, Ruby having used her Semblance to break the distance in under a second, her blade coming down hard on Luna's defences, making the girl grunt at the force being used.
With a step, Luna was behind her sister, the rear of her Aura blades igniting as she thrust her arms backwards. Ruby gave a cry as the two blades impacted on her back, hopping away once again to give her sister a wide birth, firing her weapons Dust rounds at her.
In a twirl of white blades and focus, Luna managed to intercept all but one round, the last impacting on her stomach, the air leaving her in a gasp as the Lightning in the dust began to electrocute her.
Warning!
HP:470/500
AP: 991/1735
Gasping at as she tried to rise, she looked up to see Ruby's worried silver eyes. "Don't worry that just hurt a lot" she said, a toothy grin splitting her face.
With that said, the two engaged once more, throwing some nasty attacks at each other. Luna finely growing tired, began using underhanded tactics, Telekinesis was a real beast. As she began focusing on the surrounding rocks, she realised how her connection was a little strained, mostly due to the Bind, sighing, she began to hurl rocks at her sister, her Aura weapons reverting to their ranged mode, adding to the barrage she was launching.
Ruby Rose
HP: 218/600
AP: 39/1300
Her sisters Aura was taking a pounding from all the rocks and her Aura blasts were beginning to wear her down.
When her Aura was depleted she ended both her attacks, panting heavily.
Winner! Luna Rose
Both sisters gasped as they fell to their butts, eager for the air. Ruby was wiped, she could hold her weapon anymore, Luna holstered her own before crawling to her sister's side. "You ok Rubes?" she asked, her voice trembling at how tired she was.
Getting a groan from her sister, she smiled before stating "I won, that means I get the first pick of the Strawberries!" At this Ruby whined as Luna cackled like a madwoman.
As the two sat there, Luna reached over to the small wicker basket, full of freshly picked Strawberries, miraculously untouched while the rest of the makeshift arena was a complete mess. As she plucked up the biggest one, she poked her sister's side making her groan and look at the biggest Strawberry she ever saw, as her sister dangled it above her mouth.
With one giant bite, she tore it in half, her sister swiftly eating the other half, both giggling at the absurdity of it all. In no time at all the spectators witnessed the biggest massacre of Strawberries in history, those poor, poor red fruits, may they rest in peace…
(A/N) A Nice taster of how badass the pair are shaping up to being, gonna give Ruby a power soon I think, Yang got Flash step, What to give Ruby… hmmm….
For those interested in the Combat Suit Luna was working on, it will be similar to the Commander Shepard N7 Armour, with thigh holstered Aura Lances, Luna's black cloak attached to the back with its Silver flames along the rims, her Rifle attached in the same way as Ruby's Sniper Scythe.
If you want me to come up with names for Luna's weapons, shoot, because I really suck at naming things, the above ship being a good example… Oh yea! And now they have a Gods damn Warship! Muahahaha! This factors in later on, it's mostly paranoia guiding the two girls at the moment, The visions being something the two don't want to happen.
To give you some idea of time frame, Episode Ruby Rose begins three months from the end of this chapter, the next featuring their fifteenth birthdays.
Any thing you feel I should add let me know, I am literally writing while the fire is hot here, as you must have noticed by the sudden, oh my… Six Chapters in three days?