XxX-XxX-XxX Official Supporters:
Fanatical Fucking Reader, ScrubLord Yoda
Obsessive Reader, the Lizard
Compulsive Reader, The Impossible Muffin
Adeptus Militaris, Wilger
Commissioner, Gib, Espa Cole, Death Daddy If you want to be on the Supporter list, PM me for details or join our private server for details. Hope you enjoy reading my stories, please leave me a comment to let me know if you did, or where I can improve. Link here, where able to be seen :
Second link here, remove ( and ) and it SHOULD work : D(i) (slash)kfhkfUb
I have a kofi account now, too, under this name for those interested.
Beta(s) :
XxX-XxX-XxX
Last chapter was the end of my Ironwood discourse. I won't be responding to it anymore in this story, at least directly.
Have a good one~
XxX-XxX-XxX
"So you merely… Asked your friend for a kiss?"
"Um, yes?" Ruby murmured shyly, unsurely adjusting herself on the General's desk while he sat on the stool she'd brought in for him. Shrugging, she leaned back down to work at the internal mechanism in his stump and asked, "Is that, um weird?"
"A bit-Ah!"
"S-Sorry!" She flushed as he rubbed at the end of his arm to work out the strange tingle she'd sent running up to his shoulder. He huffed and returned it to her and, sheepishly, she returned to her task. "You, uh, do think it's weird?"
"Ruby, you break yourself apart at the molecular level to move yourself from location to location, and eradicate Grimm with 'the desire to protect'."
"Uh." Ruby paused in her work and turned to look up at him, one eyebrow arching curiously over a bright, silver orb. "Is that a yes, or…?"
"It's an 'it does not matter', Ruby." He chuckled, shaking his head and changing the subject. "You are you. She is herself. Neither of you are normal, and neither of you ought try to be."
"Aww, thanks, big guy." She shuffled over enough to hug his arm gently and then turned back to her work. "I just… Lost her once, you know?"
"And so you knew not to hesitate." He nodded, "Very wise."
"Thank you, Thel." Ruby looked up and smiled, "That means a lot to me."
"Of course, Ruby, for such was only the truth." He nodded, and then turned as the door chimed and slid open. The General paid him a curt nod as he entered, flanked by the wayward Spartan, Jorge, and Ruby's new, apparent, paramore.
"Hello, Ruby!" The android chirped brightly, blasting over to them with her thrusters and wrapping her arms around the surprised mechanic. When Penny pressed a kiss to her lips, Ruby's eyes widened. Then, she slid around to sit beside the surprised woman and turned to him, "Thel. How are you feeling?"
"U-Um…"
"I am feeling well, all things considered." He answered, chuckling at the flustered, wide-eyed Ruby's blinking surprise and raising his arm. "Soon, I shall be better, I hope."
"My father is stress-testing components and finalizing production. It will be completed in approximately forty minutes." Penny reported amicably, turning to steal another kiss from Ruby just as she recovered and then hopping off of the desk. Ruby blinked rapidly as Penny bounced away and explained, "I am required to deploy, however. I simply came to see my girlfriend."
"Happy hunting." Thel nodded, nudging Ruby's leg when she didn't say anything.
"Guh!" Ruby blinked and then waved weakly, "H-Happy hunting."
Penny's smile widened and her eyes seemed to glint brightly before she shot into the air and rocketed away, out to the battle no doubt awaiting her.
"Arbiter." The General sighed as he and the Spartan finally joined them. Thel nodded and the man turned his attention on Ruby, arms crossed over his chest. "And Miss Rose. I do trust you're aware that Penny is, technically, under-age?"
"W-What?"
"And that the Atlas military has a statute against same-sex relationships amongst its officers?"
"W-What?!"
"Surely you jest."
"No. I never jest." The General rumbled, allowing the smallest of smiles to break out at the corners of his lips. "Rest assured, I've rectified both. The latter required a few favors and a, well, let's just call it a firm hand. It was enough I wished to, as Qrow would put it, take the piss."
"Ugh!" Ruby squawked, shaking her head and setting back to work. "Jerk."
"Hmph." Ironwood chuckled and then laid a hand on the woman's shoulders. She stiffened and looked to the hand and then its owner, and the General said, "War is a dark place, Ruby. I know that better than many. I wanted you to know that I was happy for you. Finding light in the dark is…"
"The way forward." Thel rumbled understandingly, "Wise words, General. Even a moment's warmth can sustain one through the darkest winters."
"Indeed…" The General took a breath, shook the moment off and turned away. "Specialist Adel, Arbiter, I require you. Miss Rose, are you-"
"Done!" She nodded, bouncing to her feet and asking, "Time for me to go?"
"Your new equipment is waiting." The general nodded simply, "Your team's missing half arrived fifteen minutes ago, and your team as a whole is preparing as we speak. Get dressed and get to work."
"Gotcha!" And she was gone, a flurry of petals trailing in her wake.
Thel stood in her wake and, wordless, followed the two Humans to the holo-display as it rose from the floor and the door closed. Heavy, armored shutters closed to darken the room and, in a moment, blue filled it. Atlas and Mantle were laid out in a wide display that swallowed most of the room, bathing them all in cool blue light. A press of a button on the General's Scroll shifted the display, bathing the outer perimeter districts of Mantle in a deep scarlet. At its heart, a core of dozens of green districts were ringed by a thin border of yellow. Above and behind it, Atlas floated, its fleet lurking behind its shield as a bulwark.
"Red sectors are those already lost to the Grimm." Ironwood explained simply, "Green, secure. And yellow are the border zones, where forces are entrenching."
"Your forces?"
"Among others." He nodded, "But approximately one quarter of Mantle had already fallen before I completed reorganization of my forces and deployed them."
"I see." Thel rumbled, opting, most likely wisely, not to point out why he'd needed to reorganize and redeploy them in the first case. Instead, he asked, "What need of me have you?"
"Advice." He answered, stopping directly across from the two of them and clasping his hands behind his waist. "From both of you. Wars, I've fought. Campaigns against the mindless Grimm? More times than I have spent years on this world. But this…"
"This is annihilation." Jorge intoned quietly, understandingly. His heavy armor shifted loudly, silver and white glinting in hues of yellow, red and blue as he surveyed the map. "Organized, directed- Intelligent."
"Exactly." Ironwood nodded, "And I want to ask each of you a different question. First, Jorge, how would the UNSC defend in a battle such as this?"
"Orbital bombardment."
"We don't have that…"
"Actually, we do." Jorge pointed out dryly, "My broth- John has a ship in orbit, if you recall. It's capable of orbital fire."
"It's limited." Ironwood countered, "It has light plasma cannons, but only two MAC rounds remaining. Further, if we start employing it, we can't bring it down to remove its Slipspace drive. For now, orbital bombardment is off the table bar a grave situation such as the Fall of Atlas itself."
"Understood, Sir." The man rumbled, tapping his fingers on the helmet he held, propped between a hip and a forearm. Finally, he stepped forward and pointed out a dozen small circles on the map along the yellow border. "These plazas, parking lots and stores. They might seem a viable point for entrenchment, but they shouldn't be used for combat."
"No?"
"No, Sir." The Spartan shook his head, "We should direct a spearhead maneuver to expand away from it, and use it to shelter wounded and civilians. Their open areas would make suitable forward bases and landing pads."
"I see." Ironwood nodded, "Arbiter?"
"A tactic employed by the UNSC many times." He nodded, "Simple, but effective. However, I would abandon these and instead utilize those further into the green-zone."
"Some of these locations don't have similar for blocks…"
"I'm aware." Thel nodded gravely, "Even so."
"But we have to evacuate Mantle."
"No," Ironwood cut in, "We do not. Our goal is to evacuate as needed, but to win Mantle. To survive a war of extermination, and come out with our Kingdom intact, if bloodied. To that end… Arbiter."
"General?"
"How would the Destroyer prosecute this attack on my city?" Ironwood demanded lowly, "And how would you stop him?"
"Hmmm…" Thel rumbled, eyes flicking and roaming over the map in a way both new and tragically old. "A war against myself. Annihilation, preservation..."
XxX-XxX-XxX
Ruby was thrown to the side as something heavy bounced off their bullhead, and would have struck the bulkhead headfirst if Yang hadn't stepped in to catch her. The blonde bounced off it instead, but didn't complain beyond a grunt. She smiled and set Ruby back on her feet, even ruffling her hair when Ruby started to thank her.
"I'm your big sis." She shrugged it off once Ruby had swatted the offending hand away, "S'my job. Also, I'm, like, the tank of the group. So it's my double job."
"I guess, yeah."
"She's good for little else." Weiss prodded from the other side of the Bullhead, looking smug where she stood, ever the picture of poise. "Just like you are best suited for flailing and falling about the cabin, you klutz."
"Says the woman using her Semblance to stay on her feet." Blake chuckled, tapping her foot on the spinning black star and running her fingers through her short hair. Ruby caught Yang's eyes lingering just as Blake did and smiled when the Faunus stammered, "W-What?"
"Just, uh, lookin'."
"Why?" She asked worriedly, "Is the short hair bad? Should I grow it back out?"
"N-No, it's fine!" Yang reassured her quickly, "Great! Looks, uh, kinda like your mom's."
"Is that… Good?"
"Y-Yes!"
"Gods, you two." Weiss sighed loudly, "It's bad enough Penny has had Ruby a stammering mess every time she enters a room today. Now you two can't contain your exuberant, well, gayness for a few hours while we face down, you know, the apocalypse?"
"Wait…"
"Ruby and Penny?"
Amber and lilac eyes rounded on Ruby suddenly and Ruby backed away, towards the cockpit, and tried the smartest thing she could come up with one the spot, "It's not my fault she makes me all dizzy!"
That, as it turned out, was not the thing to say-
But, luckily, the apocalypse chose to make itself known again by way of their pilot, "Hey, collective gays-"
"Hey!" Weiss complained loudly.
"-we're landing in two minutes, if the Grimm are clear enough." The pilot actually laughed, even if the sound was tense and exhausted. She went on quickly, though, and Ruby didn't dwell on it, "If not, you'll need to combat drop. Ten feet up, open-air, low cover. How copy?"
"Clear." Ruby answered sharply, leaning into the lessons she'd been rushed through on Atlas military speak. "Do we, um, do we have friendly ground pounders?"
"Not near." She said, "You're on vanguard. Omega-Sixteen, Alpha-One and Mu-Zero will be waiting for secondary action. If you can, secure the site and push north. Less than a block. They'll deploy behind, entrench, and fire a flare for you to withdraw."
"Got it." She nodded, turning thinking quickly, "Weiss, Blake, I want you to run flanking. Weiss, I need a summon if you see any large Grimm. We need to move fast."
"Understood."
"Yang-"
"Smash?"
"Smash." Ruby nodded, drawing Crescent Rose in rifle format and rolling her shoulders. "I'll linger in the back, look for small ones. If I can, I'll come up on one of the flanks. Back up Weiss or Blake."
"Weiss." Blake corrected, lifting Gambol Shroud and grinning. "I can handle myself, thank you."
"And I can't?"
"Don't worry, Princess." Ruby smiled, "I'll protect you."
"Call me one more pet name and I will tell Penny you've been flirting with me."
"W-What?" Ruby blanched, "That's not fair, Weiss!"
All she got in response was five people laughing at her, between the two pilots and her own team. But it was cut off by a sudden, heavy slam and the scream of claws scraping along, and through, armor. Ruby hit her knees to avoid falling again, and Yang did the same while Weiss turned to support Blake, using her glyphs on the both of them. The pilots snarled to each other, but Ruby couldn't make out what they said over the alarm chiming across the inside of the cabin.
Suddenly, the doors on the sides of the cabin whooshed open, letting in the sounds of screaming engines and Grimm. Over it, Ruby could just make out one of the pilots screaming, "Go, now, jump!"
Ruby took off as soon as she registered the woman's words, leaping out into icy cold blackness and turning with her sense of gravity to fall towards Remnant. Yang shot by a second later, propelled along by blasts from her gauntlet, and Blake followed, body straight and arms pressed to her sides like a missile. Ruby turned as she fell and watched, past Weiss, as the Bullhead banked away, a winged Beringel clinging to its back and ripping it apart.
Then, suddenly, it exploded in a flash of red and orange, its carcass moving in an arc along its inertia and crashing through an apartment a block up the road.
Ruby scowled and turned, Crescent Rose spinning and stretching as she wheeled. She planted her feet on the blade and leaned against the handle, using its heavy shots to slow her descent as she neared the ground. A flicker of motion yanked her sight to the side and her eyes widened as another Beringel came in, arms and wings spread wide.
A blur of bright white took it away in a flash, and she watched the Queen Lancer careen into a building to kill the beast as Weiss came up beside her, dainty arms wrapping around Ruby's midriff. They exchanged a look, then a nod, and Myrtenaster flicked, a black glyph spinning to life to slow them.
Ruby hit the ground, rolled and came up on a knee, Crescent rose whistling overhead and burying itself in the ground through the skull of a Sabyr. As it died, her rifle cracked twice, sending two of its kin along with it into hell. She turned at a snarl and watched a fourth come for her, maw wide, until a great white blade slammed flat-first into it and batted it away, trailing smoke as the Arma Gigas rose.
"I owe you one!"
"More than one." Weiss smirked, strutting off with the Arma Gigas beside her and walking through the Grimm as the summon wreaked its toll.
Ruby flicked a look to her other side and watched Blake step back and bend at the waist to dodge a Beringel's swinging paw. Her foot clipped its jaw and as its head snapped up, Blake flipped, pistol snapping up as she wheeled on one hand and planting three shots in its throat. It fell as Blake rose and the Faunus smirked, turning to pay her a nod.
Last was Yang, ahead of them all and beating a Beringel to death with a smoking Sabyr. Both finally came apart and she stepped through their smoke, fist snapping out and down to cave in the skull of another Sabyr while her prosthetic came up, launching a flare that buried in another Beringel's throat and burned white-hot.
Someone should have warned the Grimm…
Team RWBY was back in action.
XxX-XxX-XxX
Robyn turned on a heel and sank to a knee as the winged Beringel landed on the edge of her base's roof. Its fist whooshed over her head and, unflinching, Robyn took the opening to plant a bolt through its eye and into whatever passed for its brain. It sagged back and to the side, heavy body thudding onto the edge of the roof and Robyn rose and paced forward, booting it off as its corpse dissolved. Taking her moment, she looked down to survey the street and frowned.
As the Grimm came, Atlas had pulled out, leaving the citizens to flee desperately into the city. But that hadn't left the Kingdom undefended.
SWAT, police, Hunters and White Fang had all risen up as the Grimm came in. Even the gangs had joined in - though with a lot less unity. A number of the former had fallen under her command, and a barricade of cars, furniture, trash bins, and destroyed Atlas mechs Robyn didn't want to know the source of had been thrown up. Dozens of fighters thronged it, using stolen Atlas rifles, mainly, to fire at the incoming Grimm while Hunters fought in front of the impromptu wall, their Aura letting them use melee to distract the Grimm while the riflemen killed them all.
It'd been holding surprisingly well…
Until the flying fucking Beringels had shown up.
Since when had they been able to fly? That felt like something she should have learned in Atlas Academy!
A dreadfully familiar, trumpeting bellow drew Robyn's attention up the road, and her eyes widened as the Megoliath rounded a corner a half-dozen blocks up. It took up the entire road, its heavy tusks ripping into the buildings to either side as it shook itself. Its great, white skull was pockmarked and burned by rifle fire, explosions and plenty else, she was sure. But nothing had hit it that could punch through that armored plating…
And nothing they had would, either.
Still, she raised her voice to bellow, "Megoliath! Aim for its knees!"
It wouldn't work, the Atlesian burst rifles weren't armor-piercing, but it made the fighters below focus. Gave them hope. And it was better to die filled with hope and holding the line rather than running, screaming from a horde they couldn't possibly get away from. She'd seen plenty of both, but they only told stories about one of those.
At least, the kinds of stories one wanted to be in...
Rifle fire poured out, some focusing on the Megoliath as it trundled along and some working at the Sabyrs weaving around its legs. The lesser Grimm fell, along with a fistful of Beringels that swooped by the advancing pachyderm, but nothing slowed the monolithic monsters. So, she took a breath, sank to a knee, and leveled her crossbow, red-tipped shot glinting in the light as it cycled in.
The Megoliath was halfway to the barricade when she fired, and the bolt arced true. It dug into its cheek-bone and detonated in a flash of bright white. Smoke billowed, from her explosion and dying Grimm both, and, for a moment, she hoped her shot had killed the monster. The bolt was the last of a dozen of its kind - loaded with a potent, expensive mix of Gravity, Fire and Ice Dust that went off with enough force to level a small building.
A heartbeat passed…
Then a bellow echoed and the Grimmemerged, face blackened, burned, and missing a chunk of its plating, but still alive. It shook its head as it stepped through the smoke and into the silence her shot had left behind and turned, red eyes roaming along the barricade. And, finally, up to her, standing on the roof and cycling back to her standard ammunition cylinders.
"Yeah." She murmured, "Come on, then."
As if it heard her, the monstrosity bellowed and charged, thundering towards her and shaking its head to and fro. Even if she ran, she'd either have to jump to the street, where it would see her, or the alleys to either side of the building. And neither would be safe if it charged through her warehouse like it looked to. So she snarled, raised her crossbow, and fired away, planting steel bolts along its head.
It was almost on them when a pair of rockets streamed through the air and into the buildings ahead of it. Concrete and steel exploded in a shower of shrapnel that ripped into the beast's sides as it passed. As the buildings fell, smoke billowing high, the Megoliath followed, topping with a titanic tremor that rocked through Robyn's bones like the wrathe of an angry god.
She turned, expecting the sleek white of Atlesian air power…
Instead, a dull green gunship came to a stop behind their barricade and lowered, its nosegun turning and barking short bursts of weapons fire that ripped apart concrete and Grimm alike. Its ramp lowered and, of all people, Fiona dropped out, stumbling on the landing as always and rubbing the back of her neck as she turned. Branwen came after, sinking to a knee on the landing and rising in one fluid motion as three more dropped out behind him.
Each was covered in armor, and they landed in such a perfect triangle formation that Robyn almost suspected they were droids. They were too perfect, too in sync, to be fully natural. But as they rose, the one in the lead turned and Robyn recognized him. She'd met him hours ago...
The Master Chief made a simple gesture with his hands and took off, trailed by one of the armored figures while the other turned and moved for the door of a tall building. As they reached the barricade they leapt over it and advanced, weapons barking fire as they joined the Hunters in the fray.
Stepping off the roof, Robyn dropped a story, hooked a hand around a pole to break her momentum, and dropped the second to land in the street. Rising, she shouted, "Fiona fucking Thyme!"
"Robyn!" Fiona smiled, spriting to her and throwing her small arms around Robyn's waist. After a moment she pulled awya, beaming, and explained, "I made some friends."
"So I see…" Robyn muttered, looking up as the gunship drifted back, another pair of missiles ripping through the air and punching down two blocks away in a shower of fire and shrapnel that killed a dozen Grimm each. Quietly, she asked, "So, uh, who are they?"
"Uh, that's complicated?"
"Fiona…"
"They're super soldiers with dakka." Qrow grunted hotly, turning for the barricade while the gunship maneuvered back and lowered, disgorging half a dozen blue and white uniformed Faunus. Qrow dragged her attention back to him with a clap on her shoulder, "What say we join 'em? Grimm won't kill themselves."
For once in her life, Robyn Hill didn't feel a need to argue.
XxX-XxX-XxX
Roland had to walk the Atlesian engineers through the de-housing of the Shaw-Fujikawa drive a dozen times before he was confident they understood it all. But, to be fair, he had a sneaking suspicion the number of times any of them had so much as read about fold-space technical theory, or seen a Slipspace drive, could be counted on a Huragok's fingers.
But, eventually, they were confident they had it well in hand. And, under his watchful gaze, they demounted it. It went on a dolley and was loaded up onto an Atlesian transport that lifted away gently, backed out, and turned for Atlas without so much as a degree of drift to either side, even as it descended towards the Kingdom far below.
'His best pilot' Ironwood had promised, and apparently delivered.
He opened a comm-line to the General and waited for approximately four seconds before the man spoke, voice just barely laced by static from the roughness of data transmitting from Remnant tech to UNSC tech, "Roland."
"One Shaw-Fujikawa drive unlimbered, loaded up, and on its way." He reported cheerily, "You'll need to figure your own delivery method, though."
"The Pelican is your only way from ground to orbit." Ironwood grunted, "As you can't risk the Black Sun. I know."
"Happy to hear it." He responded, engaging the engines, "I'm returning to low orbit."
"You'll remain our last resort."
"Understood." He nodded, even if it was only a gesture in his head - or at least, on the digital model of his head. "Good luck, General."
"We'll need it." The Atlesian sighed, "Operation : Uppercut is underway."
Roland waited until the man ended the feed to sigh and murmur, "Here's hoping it god better than the last one…"
XxX-XxX-XxX
XxX-XxX-XxX
Dasgun :
.
Dandaman :
True!
Guest Boi :
Nope! I have all dis planned out, no worries. Also, pssh, imagining Irondaddy would get the heroic self-sacrifice instead of - in order - Thel, Ruby, Oscar, Jorge, or Qrow. Thel and Qrow PARTICULARLY lean into the whole 'redemption through action' schtick of this story, and Jorge could too, to an extent.
This isn't Irondaddy discourse btw - it just wouldn't… Mesh, with him.
G1119 :
I agree with you wholesale, but as I said, avoiding direct Irondaddy discourse going forward.
Also - I can have a lil' Nuts 'n Dolts as a treat! XD
Joe Cola :
One : Yeah, once I had that concepted in my head, I required it. XD
Two : Lol.
Three : This is why I had Robyn send her along - to facilitate the actual defence of Mantle.
Four : Hue hue hue~ Almost like I had a planned reason for Jorge to be there BEYOND tension with Arby's arrival~
Nantono :
Ruby isn't bi, that was her in-character failing to explain herself due to nerves. She's a demiromantic asexual. You can look up the terms and get better explanations than I can easily offer here~
Space Commander :
I am oki!
COBRS DARKNESS :
It's more Thel's self-sacrificial nature. He views losing Ruby in the first place as a failure and, in different terms, all suffering on him as karma. Further, he made a choice on the battlefield. Why would he blame Irondaddy, who only supported and enabled the mission THEL wanted?
Also, I can haz a lil Nuts 'n Dolts as a treeeeat~!
Sebine :
Because he's a parapalegic in charge of a science wing in the (formerly) safest Kingdom on Remnnant? XD
Cliffy Silver :
I just wanted to do le cute ship as a treat to myself~ I know there wil be plot stuff too, tho, no worries.
KPMH 2001 :
The prosthetic segue actually happened accidentally, but I went with it. As for the ship, I actually set it up in the prior chapters. From Penny's drive to save Ruby to Ruby's reaction on seeing Penny after all was said and done, a romantic reading was intended.
I am, however, ace so romance kinda… Flails, sometimes. XD
Simply Christian :
I'm avoiding direct Irondaddy discourse, BUT-
I feel his Semblance is meant to tie into his fascistic tendencies. Fascism requires a clinical, focused, no care for casualties mindset. His Semblance enables that but, like fascism, is only a PART of him. Some fal to it, some don't, but we all have that in ourselves.
Also, I put Ironwood competing with them. Apologies if I didn't clarify that. XD
True, the irony of Jorge helping get an Elite back into shape is there… It's hilarious, now I consider it.
Love Crazy Hedgehog :
As stated elsewhere, that was set up in prior chapters. A lot, actually. And I just wanted it, as a treat~