Oracle was at her workshop in Zhongcheng, working on drones. She had spent quite some time away on assignments and just now she had a break.
Dongnan was more technologically advanced than any of the other kingdoms. Pretty much a cyberpunk dystopia product of the war they endured against Volvangar.
While Volvangar was a more hostile militaristic state, Dongnan was more of a surveillance state, where instead of soldiers patrolling the states, it was brigades of cybersecurity experts watching everything and everyone from countless bunkers and safehouses
Oracle spent most of her time at Zhongcheng because of her surveillance tasking. But off-duty, she preferred to work on drones. She found them more fascinating than just watching other people without their consent
But she didn't work alone. She worked on making the adequate code for her drones while Psyche helped with the blueprint design. Cipher, on the other hand, helped them with the whole process of assembling the drones and crafting them, so he was out gathering metals and copper fiber
"So...Nerdy girl, what are you scheming now?"
"Hey, how about you go doodle yourself a better mask painting?"
The alarm on Oracle's system rings
"Possible Flirting signs detected. Please confirm"
Oracle sighs then just dismisses the system alert, and both of them keep working on their thing
"Hmm. Rotors are too heavy, but making them any lighter will make them likelier to melt from overheating" said Oracle then continued
"Maybe if we changed them into silicon ones...wait. What did you do for the shell around it?"
Psyche answered
"A basic armor shell? Should make for what we're looking for"
"You seriously put an armor shell? Use aramid fiber!"
Both of them get into a little discussion until Cipher comes in
"How can 2 nerds do so much noise?!"
He says...then one of the metal bars he was carrying falls loudly to the floor. They all laugh
"What were you doing outside, Cipher?" asked Oracle
"Getting some more metal and copper fiber. Also crossed paths with Medea, she looked kind of busy"
"Well. She said she needed some time after our last mission because of her family. Did you happen to find Numerian?"
"Yep. Usual place"
"Alright. So that should be everyone...I'm assuming Balisong is out on another mission"
"Not quite. They're at the medical ward"
"Wait what? What happened?"
"Well, from the sounds of it, his team goofed up. Minerva took one for him"
"I see...Well, we should pay him a visit"
"Maybe not. Some hours later...HE freaked out"
"Oh. Then I guess we can just...umm"
Psyche intervenes
"We can keep on working in this. Because clearly you forgot how to properly treat servo motors"
Oracle turns frantically to the monitor. The code was fine. Psyche was just messing with her again
They both giggle a bit
The system alarm goes off again
"Possible Flirting signs detected. Please confirm"
Oracle dismissed the alarm then returned to work
Cipher goes to his workstation. He lays down the metal bars but puts one into a proper laser cutter
"So...You guys got the plans ready so I can get cutting?" called out Psyche
"Not yet. This douchebag still needs to figure out how to trim down the weight of the drones. Why did you go for an armor shell instead of aramid fiber again?"
"Because this is for combat..."
Both of them stare silently at each other for a second
Psyche continues
"Duh..."
"Ah...Fine. But what about the rotors?" replies Oracle
"I suggest we make them smaller. Trims weight and cuts down noise"
"Hmm. Alright. I think that should do it. We got the plans ready..."
Oculus and Traianus engaged with the Atlesian dispatch as they covered the prisoners in their escape attempt. Traianus engaged in close combat while Oculus provided ranged support
"Two to your right, do you see them?" said Oculus to Traianus
"Yep. Can you take one for yourself, this one is giving me trouble"
"Trouble to you in hand-to-hand combat?"
"Gotta give it to him, he's got quite the resolve. He's been going at it for 15 minutes"
Oculus shoots the unknown Atlesian soldier's partner dead. He kept on fighting Traianus. Punch, dodge. Dash. Kick. He tried and tried until he finally kicked both of Trainanus' weapons away
"Ah...Fine, you tough bastard lets do this!"
Traianus went and charged ahead to tackle the soldier, but said soldier then threw a critical hit at them then a kick at the stomach
"Ohhh...Okay...You're good at this, I will recognize"
Oculus calls from the radio
"Hey. Stop messing around, we have to go, we're done here"
"Just give me a minute, okay?"
"I'm going there now. You have until I arrive"
Oculus headed to the building Trainanus was on.
When he arrived, Traianus had immobilized the soldier, but had a knife on his right shoulder
"Ah...Let me get bandages"
"It's fine...It only scratched me. It is stuck on the armor plate. Mind helping me pull it out?"
Oculus went to help Traianus, while the captured Atlesian struggled to break free
"You...sellouts aren't getting away...with this. No one attacks Atlas unpunished" said the captured Atlesian
"Hmm. He still has fight in him. Not your average snowflake" says Oculus
Oculus pulls out the knife from Traianus' armor, stumbling back a bit from the force
"Alright. I'm a bit bored. Mind releasing him for a quick spar?"
"What? Dude..."
"Don't dude me, just do it"
The Atlesian shook as Traianus got close
"What are you going to do? I won't say anything, you're wasting your time"
"We're not interrogating you. Calm down. It's just going to be a simple spar"
Traianus frees the soldier, who immediately jumps at Oculus. Oculus then quickly discombobulates the soldier, flips them around after knocking them off their balance with one well placed kick then impales the knife he pulled out of Traianus just an inch shy of the soldier's face
"There. Just a quick spar. You can leave now"
Oculus got back up and headed out. Traianus followed after recovering his armament. By the time the soldier recovered their aura properly and got up, they both were already gone. The soldier reached for the radio inside of one of his fallen comrades' pockets
"Command...This is Lance Corporal Ironwood...Argus 5-8 has been decimated by enemy forces. I'm withdrawing to base. Our combat effectiveness has been reduced completely...We have heavy casualties...over"
The soldier dropped the radio. All of the men he used to lead or looked up to were surrounding him, dead. They stood no chance against just 2 caped fighters who weren't even taking the fight seriously and just used him and his men as punching bags
He clenched his fist in anger. Then left the place in frustration but with a regained determination to never fail his people again. He then found another soldier
"Hey..."
"Oh...It's weird to see a familiar face that isn't dead or dying. Who are you?"
"Lance Corporal Ironwood. Argus 5-8"
"Sergeant Cordovin. Argus 5-6. Did you...also encounter those people?"
"You mean..."
"Yeah. Capes. They fight like no other...Whatever drives them...its not human...All of my crew was wiped too"
Both soldiers walk together, slowly joined by more and more and the Atlesian troops retreated to the bay, while the Faunus forces advanced through the city at a steady pace