Here we are at Chapter 57. Another little filler focusing on a few other members of the group. I do not own RWBY or Transformers. They belong to their respective owners. Here's chapter 57. Enjoy.
Chapter 57: Working Together
It's another day in Atlas as the gang all continue with the steady course of getting Amity Tower up and running for the global broadcasting system meant to reunite the world. Progress was slow from the beginning, but as Megatron's group continue to help, that progress has picked up. Ironwood at one point mentioned that at the rate they're going, they may be able to complete the mission ahead of their original schedule. Then again, his original schedule didn't include Ruby and everyone else chipping in, whether it's for the tower or for things down in Mantle. Speaking of chipping in, one such pair is doing just that.
"So, there's been reports of a large Sabre racing through the streets of Mantle, and has been using some underground tunnels to retreat whenever the military finds it," Weiss goes over the mission reports.
Vine nods, "Indeed. This Sabre appeared to be the leader of a pack of them that were part of the earlier attack on Mantle. The rest of the pack has already been exterminated, but this one managed to evade our forces, and has continued to do so up until this point in time,"
Dreadwing looks over his scroll, "Seems like a similar situation with the Geist. This Sabre must be older than the others, and more intelligent. However, since it seems to be alone, that should make this mission less difficult,"
"This report says that it's been moving through the pipes and tunnels beneath the city. If that's the case, then maybe if we can trap it in those tunnels, then maybe we can finish it off before it has a chance to escape again," Weiss suggests.
"The General was under the same opinion, and so he provided us with blueprints of the underground pipes and tunnels in Mantle. This way, once we have located the target, we can lure it into a more favorable position for the operation. Normally, we'd have more members of our team help out with such an issue like this, but with the tower, the city defense, and other priorities, it'll have to just be the four of us," Elm adds, checking her hammer.
"That won't be a problem. We'll move in groups of two, box the Grimm in, and then go in for the final strike," Dreadwing says.
"Just be careful. The General informed us about your experience with explosive devices. However, we can't use those while underground. If any explosions occur underground and cause damaged to the underground pipe system, it could cause us more problems down the road than it solves," Vine says.
"I'm aware of the dangers of explosives. Just as you said, I'm quite experienced with them. I'll be sure to manage myself," Dreadwing retorts, cocking his cannon.
With that being said, the airship they're in flies down to their drop-off point in Mantle, close to the Grimm's last location that it was spotted in. They disembark and split it into pairs, with the Ace-Ops going one way, and Weiss and Dreadwing going another.
…
Meanwhile, Megatron and surprisingly Ruby are off on another mission at the launch site, running security for the day to prevent the Grimm from messing up the place. And of course, the Grimm are already there.
"Incoming!" Ruby flies through the air with her semblance to land behind a Beowolf and then slices through it with her scythe. "How's it looking on your end?!"
"I'm getting bored here," Megatron notes dryly while holding a Beowolf by its throat. He sees a second one charging at him, and throws the first right into its ally. When they hit the ground, Megatron fires off his arm cannon a few times to finish them off. "Honestly, I was hoping for something a little more challenging. At this rate, my skills will begin to get rusty,"
Ruby holsters her scythe, "I mean, is it really that bad? The less Grimm that approach the launch site, the less issues we'll have when it comes to getting Amity tower up into the air. That's good, right?"
Megatron sighs, "I am well aware. It's just my gladiator instincts. The thrill of the fight. The challenge of a worthy opponent. While it has been many stellar-cycles since I've fought in the Pits of Kaon, the thrill that comes from that kind of competition, that fight, it still lingers within my spark," he begins walking back to the mine's main entrance.
Ruby realizes something, "You know, Dreadwing mentioned once how you fought against Soundwave in those gladiator pits of yours back on your world, and that aside from you, he was the best around. It almost reminds me of the Vytal festival tournament," she walks up next to him.
"Yang told me about that once back in Patch. The four schools of Remnant gather their best teams to fight against one another in matches for honor and for glory for their school and their kingdom. Your team made it to the finals before Cinder Fall and her cohorts scrapped the whole tournament with their schemes, and got your team wrongly disqualified as a result," Megatron remembers.
Ruby looks down a little sadly, "Yeah. It was supposed to be the best time of our lives at Beacon, besides graduation... But, then Salem came and destroyed everything,"
"I am... sorry that happened to you all. It was a tough subject for Yang to speak about when we first met. Perhaps, once we've united Remnant against Salem and have dealt with her, then maybe we can bring back this Vytal Festival tournament of yours and you can have your shot at glory again," Megatron says.
"But... wouldn't people still be angry about what they thought Yang did. We know that it was Emerald and Mercury and Cinder that set that up, but they don't," Ruby worries.
"Well, once they learn that you and your friends helped protect them and the world from Salem's darkness, then maybe they'll change their minds. However, there's no need to worry about something down the road like that right now. For now, let's just focus on our current objective," Megatron looks up and activates his arm blade as he notices a few Manticores flying in from the skies.
Ruby takes out her scythe, "That works for me," and the pair move ahead to another fight.
…
Back in Mantle, Dreadwing and Weiss continue their search for the Sabre lurking within the city limits.
Weiss gets a call on her scroll, "Alpha here. No sign of the target in our vicinity. Have you found it yet?" Elm calls out.
"Nothing so far. We're moving further in our direction from the landing zone. We'll continue to-," but just then, the Sabre pounces on the pair and they barely managed to dodge out of the way. "Correction... We've found the target."
The Sabre turns to them, and Weiss and Dreadwing can see the armor on its body is spikier than a normal Sabre's. It had spines along its back, and marks across its body, showing its experience in battle.
"Yep, that definitely looks like the Sabre," Dreadwing notes before firing off his cannon.
The Sabre jumps off the building walls to evade his shots and charges at them. Weiss creates a black glyph to stop its charge before pushing it back. The Sabre lands on its feet and roars before retreating down an alleyway.
"It's retreating. We're in pursuit, now!" Weiss calls out on her scroll before the pair give chase.
"Roger that, we're on our way to your coordinates," Elm replies.
Weiss uses her semblance to summon out her Queen Lancer summon and she and Dreadwing hitch a ride to follow the Grimm. With the summon's speed, they keep pace with the Sabre, the pair taking shots at it in the hopes of nailing it. However, the Sabre shows its intelligence by dodging their attacks and making a tight turn around one corner. They turn after it, only to see it jump off the side of the street. They follow it, seeing it running along an old river path built into the city in the case of flooding. The Grimm turns again and heads into one underground tunnel, losing them.
"Scrap. I was hoping we'd have been able to kill it before it got the chance to use the tunnels," Dreadwing notes.
Weiss releases her summon at the entrance since it will be useless in such a tight space. A moment later, Elm and Vine link up with them.
"Where's the target?" Vine asks, and Weiss nods her head at the tunnel entrance. "This Grimm may be smarter than we first realized. Let us proceed with caution,"
They head into the tunnels. Weiss and Elm use their scrolls for lighting, but Dreadwing's helmet comes equipped with night vision. A pair of lences fold down over his eyes, allowing him to see in the tunnel's darkness.
"Best to let me take point on this one," Dreadwing walks ahead with his cannon out while the others follow.
They search through the tunnels, the eerie quiet around them making them a little tense. Almost everywhere they look, there's another tunnel path to take, meaning that Grimm could've gone anywhere. They could split up to cover more ground, but that would be too risky in this situation, but staying grouped up like this will deter the Grimm from showing itself. They'll have to become bait and hope the Grimm will take it. At one point, they come to a dead end that leads with two dissecting paths in the tunnels. The group nods and split up into pairs once again, only this time they switch it up with Dreadwing and Vine going on one direction and Weiss and Elm going in the opposite. As they leave, Dreadwing glances back at Weiss as she leaves with Elm.
"How skilled is Elm in combat? I've seen her fight at the launch site, but that's only one battle. It's not enough to get a good read on her abilities," Dreadwing asks Vine.
"Elm possesses greater physical strength than any of the other Ace Ops, and her semblance, mixed with that strength, practically makes her a sturdy wall. She can handle herself. You need not be concerned for her," Vine replies.
"It's not Elm that I'm concerned about. My primary mission is to protect Lady Weiss. I just want to make sure that Elm will be able to have her back when the time comes," Dreadwing corrects him.
"Why do you address her as 'Lady Weiss'?" Vine raises an eyebrow.
"Because I am her knight. I have sworn an oath of loyalty to her. She is the reason I am here now. If not for her, I never would've returned to this wretched kingdom," Dreadwing growls at the last comment.
"Are you sure you should be letting your emotions fuel your actions? It might be best to think more logically on this," Vine notes.
"Believe me, I am not letting my emotions controlling my every action... But, if not for Milady, I would be one with the Allspark right now, and my brother's spark would be forever imprisoned in never ending torment. She is the reason I now have a chance to save my brother and bring him peace. So, believe me, Vine, my mind is firmly on the task at hand. I just focus on a slightly different task than you," Dreadwing retorts.
"And what task would that be?" Vine asks.
"Maybe if you didn't spend so much time with machines, or up in Atlas instead of Mantle, then maybe you'd understand," Dreadwing replies. "Though, since technically, I was a cybertronian in my past life for thousands of stellar-cycles, so I don't think I am one to talk in that regard."
Meanwhile, Weiss and Elm continue searching their quadrant of the tunnels. However, they hear a low growling coming from another pathway and halt their advance. Looking to their left, Elm and Weiss nod before slowly moving up, hoping to catch the Grimm by surprise. They jump into the pathway, only to find it empty and the growling gone. They look around confused, but then suddenly the Sabre jumps on top of Weiss from behind. It tries to bite her head off, but Elm swings her hammer and knocks the Grimm off of Weiss. The Sabre gets back on its feet and roars at them before charging at them. Weiss sends out some ice shards at the Grimm. While one or two managed to nail the target, it evades the rest. Elm uses her semblance to hold her feet to the ground and swings her hammer. The Sabre jumps and clamps its claws and jaws onto the hammer, halting her attack.
"This thing's annoying!" Elm pushes the Grimm back.
The Sabre gets ready to high-tail it out of there, only for a shot to ring out and hit its leg. They all look to see Dreadwing and Vine down the pathway from them, essentially boxing the Grimm inside. Vine sends out his semblance arms to grab it, but the Grimm jumps back. However, Weiss creates another black glyph under where it lands, pinning it in place. Dreadwing takes this chance and fires off a few more shots. The shots hit true and finish the Sabre off. With the mission complete, the group breathe a sigh of relief.
"That thing was tougher than we thought. Guess it lived longer than a lot of the other Grimm here un Solitas," Vine notes.
"If there were a lot more Grimm that smart roaming around Mantle or even Atlas, then we'd have more problems to deal with. It's just like with that Geist back at the launch site," Weiss notes.
"Be that as it may, we dealt with the threat and completed the mission. It's no longer our problem," Dreadwing holsters his cannon.
"Yeah. Let's head back and report to Ironwood. We'll handle that part; you kids go rest up. There'll be plenty more work to do tomorrow, after all," Elm notes.
With that being said, the group leave the dark confines of the tunnels and return to Atlas.
…
Back at the launch site, Megatron tackles the last Manticore in the area and then throws it into the side of a building. As the Grimm tries to get back up, Ruby twirls her scythe around to decapitate the beast. The pair look around and find the area clear of Grimm.
Ruby wipes a little sweat off her brow, "Whew, that took a little longer than expected,"
"The launch site should remain secure, for a time at least. It seems the military forces here are stretched thinner than I first thought; if this many Grimm could get near the launch site,"
"Well, General Ironwood is keeping most of his military at Atlas in that blockade, and has some watching over Mantle, and the tower itself. So, yeah, there might be a few blind spots," Ruby notes while holstering her scythe.
"And it's precisely those blind spots that our enemies may try to exploit. Just because one has an army at their disposal does not mean that they are invincible. I know this all too well," Megatron glances away, thinking of the past.
Ruby walks up in front of him, "How so? If you don't mind me asking,"
Megatron sighs, "During my conflict with Optimus Prime and the Autobots on the planet Earth, I commanded an army of Decepticons from a mighty warship, while he had only a few soldiers at his side to defend Earth. And yet, my army proved inefficient to winning the battles there, and the war. Another one of my failings as a leader. I do not wish for Ironwood to make the same mistakes as I, for that will only lead to his own destruction... as it once did to me," Megatron walks by Ruby and makes his way to the airship arriving for their departure.
Ruby walks up beside him, "Well, that's why we're here. To help, right? Besides, this is just my opinion, but I think you found something better than some army on a warship. I mean, look at everything you and Yang went through just to find me," Ruby's words stop Megatron in his tracks.
He watches Ruby enter the airship and then turns and beckons him to hop in. Megatron grunts with a slight smile before he joins her and they make their way back to Atlas.
"Can I ask you something, Megatron?" Ruby asks.
"What is it?" Megatron replies.
Ruby plays with her fingers, looking a little embarrassed, "Um... was there any, I don't know, girl robots from back on your world that Soundwave... l-l-l-liked a lot?"
Megatron raises an eyebrow, "I'm afraid I don't quite understand your meaning,"
"I mean, was there anyone back home that Soundwave really liked? I mean, what were couples like on your world?" Ruby asks.
"If you are referring to the kind of pairings that humans partake in, and the ones that end up having an offspring, then no. There was never anything like that back on Cybertron. Though, as I recollect, there was one female Autobot that was close with Prime. Alita One, I believe her name was. Perhaps that might be more of what you're asking about. But, no, there wasn't anyone like that with Soundwave back on Cybertron. Many things happened back then that... prevented such things," Megatron explains.
"So... maybe, there might be a chance," Ruby thinks with a tinge of red on her cheeks.
…
Back at Atlas, Megatron and Ruby return to Team RWBY's room to find Yang and Blake there, hanging out.
"Hey guys, we're back. Who missed me?" Ruby has a big smile.
"No one," Blake jokes.
"Hey! That wasn't cool!" Ruby pouts, making Blake and Yang laugh.
"So, how did the mission go?" Yang asks as she walks up and wraps her sister in a one-arm hug.
"It was completed without any issues. I trust you two found some way to occupy your time instead of just sitting around, doing nothing," Megatron replies.
"Hey, I did some work-," Yang retorts.
"Listening to music while in the training room may not exactly count as work. A workout, yes. A job, I can't say for certain. We're in the training room with Predaking and Soundwave. The two of them are still there right now with Clover and Qrow. I believe Weiss and Dreadwing should be coming back from their mission with Elm and Vine in Mantle," Blake says, ignoring the subtle glare that Yang is giving her.
"Well, when Weiss and Dreadwing get back, let's celebrate another day of success," Ruby cheers.
"Awesome idea! And I know just how to start us off," Yang starts giving Ruby a noogie.
"Ow! Hey, Yang! Stop doing that!" Ruby struggles to get out of her grip.
Megatron watches the siblings with their antics, his eyes more focused on Yang than on Ruby. Seeing the sisters having fun, it makes him wonder what could have been if he had done things different, if he had been more like Optimus Prime. However, right now, this all feels... pretty nice.
And that's the chapter. I wanted to have Megatron and Ruby spend a little time together as allies since they don't talk a whole lot with each other, and all that other stuff in this chapter. Things keep moving along, but who knows what will happen next? Until then, please Read and Review.