Disclaimer: I own neither RWBY nor Super Robot Wars.
Silence reigned for a time as everyone was, in some way or another, stunned from shock, or quietly observing the situation.
Many of them had not expected the newcomer to proclaim themselves Bian's daughter.
Ruby had not expected her to proclaim a desire for revenge. After all, from what she had understood, Ryune Zoldark had known the full ramifications of her father's plans, and accepting that he might perish kept out of the conflict entirely.
Of course, much of her knowledge on the matter came from Bian himself, and seeing as he was a highly doting father, there was always the chance that he didn't properly understand the emotions within her.
Still, some of it had been provided by others. Elzam, that weird little man named Eric, Filio and even Shu had each provided small bits of insight as well, from an outside perspective.
Then could it be that…?
Ruby never got around to finishing her train of thought, a worryingly enough increasingly common pattern lately, as Kyousuke spoke up.
"Revenge eh? Is that why you joined up with the DC?" He asked.
"Huh?" She responded, seeming slightly confused and even a bit annoyed at the question. "I'm not with those people!"
"Then who are they?" Blake said, bringing attention to the DC Remnant forces approaching behind the Valsione.
"Lady Ryune, you are back from Jupiter! Have you finally decided to come to join us realise your father's will?" A for about half those present familiar voice said.
"Siebel! You're still alive?" Tasuku said, the sentiment mirrored by all who had served upon the Hiryu during the last conflict.
Indeed, it seemed the commander of this force was the Hiryu's dastardly old foe Siebel.
"You know him?" Yang asked.
"Let's just say he's the worst kind of scum…" Excellen quipped.
In response a dangerous glint entered the yellow Huntresses' eyes.
"Right, now that I think about it I believe Weiss mentioned a Siebel." She said, causing her teammates to decide it would probably be best that Siebel and Yang never meet face to face. After all, the people around here did not have Aura, and Yang was most certainly going to punch Siebel if she got the opportunity.
"Like hell I am! People like you don't even understand father's ideals to begin with!" The daughter of Bian exclaimed. "Heck, I'll prove I'm not with the DC!"
With those words the Valsione sped towards the DC formation, plunging right into the middle of a group of fighters.
"Here I go! Psycho Blaster!" Ryune shouted as the Valsione spun around, causing a maelstrom of energy to surge forth in an outward spiral, tearing the fighters to shreds.
"Is it just me, or is that kinda similar to the way Cyflash works?" Ruby wondered aloud.
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure it is." Masaki added.
"Well, apparently dad was really impressed when he saw the Cyflash, so he decided to replicate it."
The young Huntress really wanted to be astonished, but after all she had seen, if Bian and Shu put their minds together, something like that was probably quite within reach. Heck, if what Masaki said was true, then Shu came from the same world that Cybuster did, so the overly handsome purple-haired genius might even be familiar with the tech behind it.
"Wha-?!" Siebel exclaimed, probably a bit shocked at the way the situation was developing. "So you're betraying us?!"
"Betraying you? Ha! I was never with the DC in the first place!" She replied. "Okay, I'll wait with our showdown until we've taken care of these guys!" She then continued, this time addressing the Hagane's and Hiryu's people as she drew back towards them.
"Damn it! Ryune Zoldark! You will regret this!" Siebel screeched. "All units! Attack! If we can sink the Hiryu and Hagane here my glory will be assured!"
It was apparent to that Siebel hadn't learned anything as his motley forces advanced. Both the units from the Hagane and the units from the Hiryu had faced larger, and better equipped forces, and while this force consisted of at least somewhat veteran units, they were hardly elite.
Which made sense considering these guys were probably remnants of the UCC, which had lost the vast majority of its elite units.
But in the midst of this there was one unit that stood out. A Guarlion that moved with speed, agility and grace that was distressingly familiar to Ruby.
There was quite probably only one person left in the UCC that would be capable of such manoeuvres, seeing as Elzam had left.
It was something that could only belong to the last surviving member of the Treue squad, Leona Garstein…
Ruby prepared to call out, mentally steeling herself, but before she could even open her mouth she was pre-empted… by Rai.
"Leona! What are you doing!?" He said, and while there was reproach in his voice, there was also a hidden hint of concern.
"Raidiese… I don't know… My fidelity, it's… I have none left to give it… My purpose…" It was indeed Leona, and she seemed… broken. "Without that, what is left…?! I couldn't die with them! I couldn't die fulfilling my duty!" There was a strong quiver in her voice now. "Therefore… Therefore I will die here!"
"Leona…" The red Huntress said softly. It didn't feel like she could talk Leona out of this… "Rai!"
She wasn't entirely sure the man understood what she intended, but he grunted in confirmation, and they both started moving towards Leona's Guarlion.
At the same time, it seemed Leona had decided that fighting Rai was a good way to go, or at least that was what it seemed like as she charged towards the R-2.
As the distance closed Ruby and Rai opened fire, aiming to reduce the Guarlion's performance through damage. And while Leona's skills remained mostly intact, Ruby was a capable sniper, while Rai was a downright genius, and while she managed to minimise the damage, it had still been inflicted, and her return fire hadn't managed much, and it had mostly been directed at the R-2.
Ruby fired off a few more shots, more as distractions than anything else, then accelerated with a burst of speed, moving in an arc above her target, appearing behind her in a matter of moments.
She swung her scythe, aiming to cripple, but Leona reacted, spinning around and drawing her blade with the left hand, blocking the swing.
Of course, in that moment Rai attacked, the Beam Chakram shearing away the right arm before Leona could react.
The elite tried to disengage from her opponent in front, but was caught off guard when the returning Chakram, instead off tearing into her Guarlion again, entangled its leg, throwing off her movements, giving Ruby the opening she needed.
Using a movement she had practised many a time on many a Beowulf, Ruby decapitated the Guarlion, halting its functions and securing Leona in one fell stroke.
While this was happening the bulk of the two sides had clashed, and Siebel's troops had rapidly started dwindling. It wasn't long before the Peregrines that made up the rear came under attack by Kyousuke, Masaki and Ryusei, who unsurprisingly had broken straight on through, and Yang, Katina and Irm weren't far behind, having similar breakthrough tendencies, but lacking the speed of the aforementioned.
It was a foregone conclusion, and Siebel's forces soon withdrew as their ships were sunk or suffered critical damage. Soon, all that was left was the Hagane and Hiryu with their units, and the Valsione.
"So, are you ready?" Ryune said, moving into position to battle her original targets.
"Are you serious? You're still going to fight us?" Ryusei asked.
"Drop it Ryusei. She's determined." Surprisingly this was uttered by Masaki, who moved forward. "I'll take her on. I did deliver the finishing blow after all."
"Uhm…" Yang seemed like she wanted to say something, but Blake put a hand on her shoulder.
"What do you say Major?" She instead queried.
"If Masaki wants to take her on, and none of you want to interfere, then so be it." Ingram said, as cold hearted as ever.
No one said anything.
"Still, I must say, I never expected someone like Bian would have such a cute daughter." Masaki then suddenly said.
"Wha- C-cute…?!" This flustered Ryune and sent her sputtering with a heavy blush, and causing Yang and Excellen to grin a little. "What are you saying so nonchalantly!?"
"Huh? I was just speaking my mind." The oblivious youth responded. "Heh, looks like no one is raising any complaints. Let's do this."
The cocky remark from her opponent caused Ryune to recover, and she fixed her gaze upon her foe.
"The Cybuster eh? As an opponent it is not wanting!" The daughter of Bian exclaimed, brandishing the Valsione's blade.
No further words were spoken as the two machines rushed forward, clashing forcefully.
Of course, their clash made one thing clear. The Valsione most certainly lacked the pure force of its 'brother', and as such the Cybuster overpowered it.
Fortunately, it wasn't nearly as lumbering either. No, as a matter of fact, it was incredibly agile, and Ryune danced away from Masaki's swings.
Suddenly the Cybuster's High Familiars appeared, opening fire, distracting her and allowing a clear swing from Masaki.
Yet it struck nothing as the Valsione moved out of the way with such speed and intensity that it left afterimages of itself.
"What-?" The green-haired youth uttered before the Valsione landed a clean hit.
"Hah! How's th-"
Yet the Cybuster didn't take a lot of damage, and she was cut off as a counter swing grazed the Valsione's armouring and pushed it back.
Ryune responded to this development by taking distance, firing a salvo with her rifle to prevent pursuit.
"Then how's this?!" She then shouted as a ring of energy formed above the Valsione before rapidly going down it, causing a burst of energy that gathered between its palms into a familiar ball of energy. "Cross Smasher!"
A familiar phrase followed by a familiar beam of energy.
While the Valsione carried none of the Valsion's physical power, its Cross Smasher was no weaker.
Something Masaki learned first-hand as the beam smashed right into the Cybuster.
"Phew, that was- What!?" Ryune started, before giving out a startled cry as the Cybuster was revealed, battered, but functional.
"Damn, that's some power… Cyfis, lend me a bit of strength…" Masaki said lowly.
Ruby felt how something stirred slightly within the Cybuster before power engulfed it.
Then the Cybuster was gone, reappearing right next to the Valsione.
To Ryune's credit she evaded the first slash. Too bad it was only the first of many, as the Cybuster unleashed a series of slashes with immense speed, moving so fast even the Huntresses had trouble keeping up.
All Ryune could do was desperately try to avoid as much of it as possible without actually making things worse.
"This is the end! 乱舞の太刀! (RanBu no TaChi!) (Blade of the Boisterous Dance!)" Masaki exclaimed as he delivered his final slash, leaving the Valsione completely immobilised from the severe damage.
Unfortunately, it seemed this move left the Cybuster unable to move, eliciting an unhappy sound from Masaki. "Damn, seems like it's still too early…" There was even a hint of pain in his voice. "I'm okay." He then quickly added, pre-empting any concerned questions.
Ryune seemed to be at a loss for words, silently staring at the one that had defeated her single-handedly. And that was after having taken her strongest attack head-on.
"Wow… I wasn't expecting to be defeated by only one of you. No wonder you beat dad." She then said, following it with a sigh. "Yeah, I've confirmed your will and power. It wasn't just a fluke that you guys beat him. Do you mind if I join you?"
Author's notes: Oh dear, why? Sorry it took this long. I had originally not planned for it to take this long but... well. I'm not going to waste everyone's time with that. So... How was the chapter? It took a bit of a different turn than expected but, I don't dislike it. And yes, Blade of the Boisterous Dance. I couldn't think of a better translation so... I suppose I could have gone with Dancing Blade but... meh. If you have opinions, feel free to share. If you think I made any mistakes, feel free to point them out.
I hope you enjoyed, and that you have a nice day.