Here we are at Chapter 54. Let's see how Megatron and his alliea handle the cold tundra known as Solitas. I do not own RWBY or Transformers. They belong to their respective owners. Here's chapter 54. Enjoy.
Chapter 54: Mine over Matter
After finishing up their preparations, the group depart for their first mission in Atlas. They all head out in a few airships, each one carrying a different group as part of their plan. Once they reach the mission area, the airship side doors open up, giving them all a chance to see the abandoned mine from up high.
"Lady Weiss once told me about her initiation test at Beacon. She said the first step involved getting launcher into a Grimm infested forest and that the new students had to figure out their own landing strategy. It would appear we will need to do the same here,"
"That will hardly be an issue," Megatron replies.
A second later, they get a call from Clover, "Alright, everyone, we've reached the drop-off point for the mission area. We need to move in, take out the target, and secure the area for the rest of the operation. Let's make it happen, people,"
Marrow steps up behind them, "So, think you kids can handle a little skydiving?" he jokes.
Megatron narrows his eyes, "Just stay out of our way," and he's the first to jump out.
Megatron uses his semblance to create his jet-board and safely flies down to the mining facility. Predaking follows after him and uses his semblance to create the burning version of his Predacon from around his body to fly down behind him. Laserbeak flies off Soundwave's shoulder and follows after them. Soundwave and Dreadwing fall down with them with their own ideas.
"Brother, I require your assistance," Dreadwing mutters.
His semblance brings out the spiritual form of his twin, Skyquake, "I am always ready to aid you, my brother,"
As they get close to the ground, Skyquake grabs Dreadwing and throws him up, taking away his falling momentum before Skyquake crashes onto the ground, and then Dreadwing lands on his feet in front of him. Luckily, being that Skyquake is in a spiritual version of his original form, he lands on his feet without any damage. Meanwhile, Soundwave sends out his tentacles as he gets close to some of the pipes and buildings and grabs onto them, swinging around like a monkey with vines as he comes in and lands next to his allies. When they regroup, Dreadwing nods to his twin, who nods back before dissipating. They all look up to see the others making their way down to meet them. Ruby uses the recoil from her scythe to safely come down almost like she's bouncing in the air, Weiss uses her semblance to slide through the air on a summons' sword, Blake does the same thing as Soundwave with her chain-scythe, and Yang fires off her gauntlets as he nears the ground to bounce herself up and then lands on her feet with a confidant smirk.
"And here, I was a little worried about what you guys might do about your landing strategies," Ruby notes as the two teams group up.
"This is hardly something to be concerned about," Predaking notes.
They look up to see Jaune, Ren, and Nora along with Elm and Vine making their way down to the mine, though they take a different entrance to the mine as part of the plan. Meanwhile, Qrow and Clover take another route and Harriet and Marrow join the two teams on the ground in front of the main entrance to the mine.
Just then, Megatron pulls out his scroll as they all get a call, "This is Alpha. LZ's clear. We're proceeding on foot now. You've all got upgraded scrolls now, so make sure you use them. Keep an eye on your aura levels and those of your teammates, and remember to keep in contact with one another. I want any updates if you encounter the target or other interference. Alpha out" Clover contacts them before heading inside with Qrow.
With that said, the group heads towards the mine entrance. As they do, Soundwave and Laserbeak scan the area around them for any signs of danger.
"Anything, Soundwave?" Megatron asks, to which Soundwave simply shakes his head. "Then it seems the other huntsman Clover mentioned are at least keeping other Grimm out of the way, though it may be a different story for whatever lurks inside this mine,"
"We must also be wary of any Dust left behind after the accident here. The slightest shot off target may set the whole place off," Dreadwing adds.
As they walk, Yang takes another glance at Blake's new haircut, "So, new haircut, huh?"
Blake looks a little embarrassed, "Is it bad?"
Yang waves it off, "No, it looks good... You trying something new for a certain fire-breathing dragon we all know?" she whispers teasingly, making Blake blush.
"Shut up, shut up!" she mutters back, trying to hide her blush while Yang giggles before backing off.
Just then, Ruby feels a cold breeze blow by, "It sure is cold out here," she rubs her arms.
"The weather is definitely different from that of Anima," Laserbeak notes.
"From what I gathered, Solitas is like this all year round. Without aura or proper heating systems, anyone would freeze to death in a matter of hours out here," Dreadwing explains.
"Well, while that's not exactly comforting, it at least makes me feel better about leaving Oscar behind back in Atlas," Blake notes.
"Yeah," Yang then sighs, "Can we talk about that again?"
The two groups watch as the Ace Ops move on ahead before talking again, "What about it?" Ruby asks.
"Is it really okay not to tell Ironwood about what we learned about Jinn? Or about Ozpin and Salem?" Yang wonders.
"For now, I think it would be best to hold off on needlessly telling Ironwood everything we know. I admit, my keeping secrets in the past led to many mistakes. Some greater than others-," Megatron begins.
"Mistake doesn't even begin to describe what you did to me and my brethren," Predaking barks off.
Megatron sighs, "-But, we can't be careless. We told everything we knew about Lionheart when we met him, and he in turn told Salem, and betrayed us. Now, I don't think Ironwood will turn traitor, but from what you've told me about him in the past, and given our past experiences, it would be best to play it safe until we can be sure we can trust him with everything we know. And that's besides telling him about OUR origins. I don't think he'll be happy to learn about that,"
Yang sighs again, "I can't say I really like this idea, but I do trust you, Megatron. And you, Ruby,"
"I agree with Ruby and Megatron. We need to be careful for right now. We've only just arrived after all. Besides, we all saw how things are in Mantle, and what the General's done since Beacon. We can't be too hasty or careless," Weiss shows her agreement with the idea.
"...Trust... Ruby Rose..." Soundwave's visor goes off.
While there are a few that aren't so keen on the idea, they go along with the others in the plan to keep things close to the chest from Ironwood for now. At least until they get a better hand. With that out of the way, they move on into the mine with Marrow and Harriet. As they move through the mine entrance, they can see all the equipment left behind by the people that worked here, and signs of something bad that happened here as well. Blake is the first to show her discomfort with this place.
"Blake..." she looks back as Predaking joins her. "Something appears to be troubling you. Are you alright?"
Blake takes a breath and nods, "I'm okay, Predaking. I just... I remember this mine. It was closed off after an explosion and... a lot of people didn't make it out alive," Blake holds her arms, while Predaking wraps a supportive arm around her shoulders.
"You're not the only one that remembers this place and what happens here," Weiss gets their attention. "Or rather, I remember how angry my father was because of it... I wish I could take back all those years of pain and suffering my family caused for the Faunus. And my complacency in all of it," Weiss says.
Blake holds a hand on her shoulder, "That wasn't your fault, Weiss. And I know for a fact that you are not your father. And I'm glad to see that you've proved me right time and time again," she smiles to help cheer up her friend.
"Milady, your heart and your kindness for others is unlike any other. You may not have been able to do anything for those who lost their lives here, or others, in the past, but you can do something to help those in the present now. In fact, you are already doing it now," Dreadwing says, making Weiss smile.
"Hey, if you kids are done, we've got work to do," Marrow calls out from deeper in.
With that said, the group move on ahead to rejoin the others. As they move in, they find their path blocked by some rubble. However, they do find a small hole within the rubble, big enough for one person to slide through to move on ahead.
"I suppose we'll just have to break through here to move on ahead," Predaking cracks his knuckles.
"Are you nuts? This is a Dust mine, remember. There may have been some Dust left behind and it could be right behind this rubble. If we do something stupid, it could set off a chain reaction and send us all the way back to Atlas in pieces. We'll need someone to scout ahead first to make sure the coast is clear before we can proceed," Harriet says.
"Soundwave, you scout ahead and look for any Dust that may have been left behind here. Your visor is capable of using night vision, correct?" Megatron suggests.
Soundwave nods and moves on ahead, while Laserbeak perches himself on Ruby's arm, who happily pets him on the head.. Soundwave manages to squeeze through the opening and uses his visor to scope out the area. He looks around and luckily, he doesn't find any Dust in the area that could pose a threat. Only old mining carts and some more abandoned equipment.
"Soundwave, anything?" Megatron calls out over the comms.
"...Dust... Negative," Soundwave replies.
"Then it sounds like the cost is clear," Marrow notes.
Just then, the Geist appears in front of Soundwave, who fires off his gauntlets at the ghostly Grimm and forces it to retreat. The rest of the group hear the shots fired and Harriet and Predaking use their weapons to smash their way through the rubble, finding Soundwave alone.
"What happened?" Harriet asks.
Soundwave points ahead, "...Target located... Deeper inside," his visor replies.
"Then let's go for it!" Yang runs ahead. However, a Centinel suddenly pops out of the ground right in front of her. Yang gasps, but has the sense to punch her gauntlet in its face, but this only succeeds in making it spit green goo out of its mouth. "That's seriously gross," she notes as several more Centinels pop out of the ground, the walls, and the ceiling in front of them.
"Let's move," Megatron charges forth, followed by the others.
Activating both of his arm blades, Megatron slices through one Centinel and follows it up by stabbing his blades through a second and ripping it in half before he blasts away a third with his arm cannon. Two Centinels pop out of the ceiling and go for Soundwave, only for his tentacles to grab them and shock them to death. Laserbeak flies in and slices the head off of one Centinel with his wings. Meanwhile, Predaking tears through a group of Grimm with his claws. He holds back from using his semblance in case there's any Dust lingering in the area and it blows them all sky-high. Meanwhile, Dreadwing takes out his sword and makes a few swings to turn one Centinel into several pieces, followed by impaling another with his sword before slamming it on the ground and then stomping his foot on its head for good measure. Two more come in for Yang, but she jumps over them and hits their bodies multiple times, leaving timed charges on them. She jumps back and cocks her gauntlets, making them blow up and kill the Grimm. Weiss creates a few glyphs to fire off some ice shards to skewer a few more, while Ruby uses her semblance to fly into the middle of three of them, and twirls her sniper-scythe around to behead all of them. Marrow throws his boomerang to kill one while Blake twirls in the air as she slices through two more from the ceiling with both of her blades before she lands on the ground. Finally, Harriet races past all of them to smash her fists down on one last Centinel.
"This is Bravo. We've located the target, but it fled deeper into the mine. We are in pursuit, but are engaging Centinels along the way that are slowing our progress. Over," Harriet calls out over the comms.
They race ahead, eventually finding that the path splits in two. Harriet nods at Marrow, who nods back, and the group splits in two as planned, with Marrow and the transformers going right while Harriet and Team RWBY go left to pursue the Geist.
"It's probably heading deeper into the mine. If everyone sticks to the plan, we'll have it surrounded at the center," Marrows notes.
Just then, more Centinels pop out from the walls and the ground. Megatron activates his semblance to create a pair of large hammers and jumps up to smash them down on two Centinels. Soundwave runs past him and slices through two more with his arm blades. Just then, more pop out in front of them.
"I'll handle this," Dreadwing steps up in front of everyone and changes his cannon into its gatling form. He fires away, shredding through the Centinels with his wall of bullets, clearing the way ahead of them. "I see why my twin preferred this version of our weapon's design,"
With that being said, the group move on ahead. They encounter less resistance along the way, and soon enough, they get a call from Clover.
"This is Alpha. Target was spotted, but it escaped and fled deeper into the mine. All squads, head to the mine's center to cut it off. Qrow and I will meet you there. Over," Clover calls out.
They continue on and eventually reach the center of the mine, a large open space; one still containing unmined Dust crystals all over the place.
"Almost reminds me of an Energon mine," Megatron notes.
They look and see that everyone except foe Qrow and Clover have entered the area through other routes.
"Everyone, stay vigilant. This room is filled with highly volatile Dust crystals, and the energy that emits from them. Triggering it could jeopardize the launch site," Vine calls out over the comms.
"And blow us all the way back to Vale! Why do you never take that into account first?!" Marrow yells from across the area.
"But, where's the Geist?" Ruby wonders.
Soundwave scans the room and detects something above them. He looks up, prompting Megatron and the others to do so. In the center of the ceiling, they see the Geist hanging on an ice stalactite. It moves its head and falls to the ground, now wearing a large body made of ice, rock, and worst of all, Dust crystals.
"That thing incorporated Dust crystals into its solid body. We can't use ranged weapons on that thing. We so much as scratch a single one of those, and this whole place goes up, with us along with it," Dreadwing notes.
The Ace Ops members move forth, leaving the others behind. Megatron takes a moment to watch them work.
"Elm!" Vine calls out and uses his semblance to wrap around the Grimm's left leg.
Elm uses her semblance to keep her feet in place when she gets close and latches onto the same leg.
"Vine!" Elm yells.
Vine jumps over the Geist, landing on a mine car railway, and uses his semblance to grab and pull the Grimm's right arm.
"Marrow!" Vine yells.
Marrow comes in, and throws his boomerang, going at the exposed Grimm arm between the debris, and slices it off, taking out one of its arms. However, Marrow notices a Dust crystal in the air and begins falling, while he catches his boomerang. He's about to say something when Laserbeak suddenly flies in and catches the Dust crystal in its claws, careful not to break it or set it off. He flies around and drops the Dust crystal in Soundwave's outstretched hand. Soundwave nods to Megatron.
Megatron nods back, "Right, we're done simply watching," and then jumps into the fray along with the others.
As they do, Clover and Qrow arrive and Clover smirks at the scene before him. Megatron runs at the Geist's legs and creating a whip with his semblance, he wraps it around its left leg and pulls hard as he races by, bringing it down onto one knee. The Geist swings its remaining arm around at them, but Predaking catches it and holds his ground while keeping the arm outstretched. Dreadwing comes in and pulls out his sword, swinging it down to slice the Grimm arm off from underneath.
"Skyquake!" he calls on his brother's spirit.
The twin arrives and the pair work together to catch a few Dust crystals that were in the other arm. Meanwhile, Laserbeak flies in and distracts the Geist, giving Soundwave the chance to run up close and then grab the sides of the Geist's face with his tentacles, he jumps over the Geist and pulls hard on his tentacles, pulling the Grimm out of its rock body. With the Geist vulnerable, Predaking jumps up and slices through the Geist with his claws. Though the Geist is dead, it's rock body remains and begins to fall apart, and the Dust crystals that were in its body start flying everywhere. Both Megatron's group and the Ace Ops move to grab them all before even a single one hits the floor. Laserbeak grabs one in the air, Soundwave catches two with his tentacles and then a third in his arms. Dreadwing and his twin catch one each. Vine uses his semblance to catch two, while Elm catches one and rolls on the ground before it hits, and Marrow and Harriet catch one each in mid-air. Clover swings around on his fishing hook to catch another, and Megatron catches one more in his hands. Megatron looks and sees one more about to hit the ground, as does Clover.
"Harriet!" Clover calls out.
Harriet uses her speed semblance to race through the falling debris towards the last Dyst crystal. The Dust crystal is just about to hit the ground before she can reach it, only for Ruby to fly by with her semblance and safely catch it as she slides across the mine floor, breathing a huger sigh of relief. Soundwave walks over and helps Ruby up, which she shows her thanks with a smile.
Harriet walks up to them, "I thought you said once that you had a speed semblance,"
"I... do?" Ruby replies, confused.
"I've seen a few other speed-type semblances before. That was something entirely different. I think there's more going on than you think," Harriet smirks.
"A conversation for another time. At the very least, we've accomplished our mission here and secured the launch site. We can only move forward from here," Megatron joins them.
Clover and Qrow watch over the groups celebrating, "Heh, a lucky catch, huh," Qrow notes.
Clover smirks, "No, I'd chalk that one up to talent. Those kids have a lot of potential, and I can tell that at this rate, they're gonna go far," he then contacts mission command. "Atlas control, this is Clover. Mission accomplished. Over and out,"
And that's the chapter. Megatron and his allies secure the launch site and take down the Geist. Things are moving along with this new operation of theirs, but will everything else go according to plan? Until then, please Read and Review.