Chapter 6 - Meeting new people

Still rubbing her wrists, the signs of the handcuffs lingering even after being taken off, Ruby walked towards the exit of this "Precinct-Fortress", which she had learned was the name of this facility, following the lead of Zahra.

General Kastriot and Commissar Merneith had left soon after their meeting, in order to go discuss the plan of action in the upcoming conflict, with the rest of this planet's leaders.

She and Zahra, on the other hand, were directed to a place called "Manufactorum Primus" which, from what she understood, was the greatest industrial complex of this city and, consequently, of all Kanrilia. There, they were going to meet a certain Restion, an "enginseer", as Kastriot had called it, in order to retrieve Crescent Rose and her Scroll, which where in his possession at the moment. Then they will move back to the Arbanian encampment, at the edges of the city - the one she saw when entering the city walls -, awaiting the general's return for further instructions.

She was still trying to put a meaning to the various new terms she was hearing. Kastriot and his two aides had promised her that they would try to explain every unfamiliar concept or habit she stumbled across, whenever they could. Naturally, she understood that these days were quite critical, so she doubted that they would have the time to sit down and calmly answer any question she had.
So, for the moment, she would have to learn what was possible through direct experience and deduction.

While on their way, Ruby was presented with the spectacle of Zahra awkwardly stuttering and faltering, in the seemingly impossible task of starting a conversation with her. Despite being older than the huntress, the Imperial psyker was clearly not used to interacting with other people, and her social skill left to be desired. She was reminded of her own problems in that regard, and hoped she hadn't appeared as bad as this woman to the ones that met her for the first time.
Having no desire to leave Zahra walking on coals, she decided to be the one to lead the conversation, which the psyker seemed to appreciate.

The main topic of their discussion inevitably turned out to be their powers.
On one hand, the huntress gave more details about Aura and its abilities, and Zahra, after listening to her words with great interest, seemed to be of the opinion that Ruby and Aura practitioners were mainly biomancers, which would explain the increased physical abilities and healing they all evidently shared; on the other, by hearing about Zahra's experience, she learned how the Imperium went around collecting people with their kind of powers and trained the ones who showed greater power and strength of character, in order to be sent to various different organizations in the service of the Imperium.

Their talk also had plenty of room for surprise and puzzlement, alongside the mutual learning: the mention of the ability to unlock the Aura of other beings, to "awaken" their souls, was an eye-opener that left Zahra speechless, while the Imperial's words about the Immaterium, the "Sea of Souls", and of what it represents, were met only with ignorance and disconcertment from Ruby.
Her unawareness in regard to the Warp was arguably the most surprising aspect for Zahra, who found the notion of Remnant's people reaching that degree of psychic skill without knowing of the Empyrean quite baffling.

Before the two could inquire further on their respective doubts, however, they realized that they had reached their destination.

Meeting them at the fortress' courtyard there were two people, whose distinctive uniform quickly made their affiliation to the Arbanian regiment pretty clear: one was a woman, who was leaning on a car with their regiment's insignia on its doors, while the other was a man, sitting in the driver's seat.

When noticing the two approaching, the female soldier stood to attention.

"Lady Zahra, Miss Rose, we were expecting you. We are ready to depart post-haste."

Following his companion's words, the man stepped out of the car. Only in that moment, Ruby had the chance to look it up closely. He has huge, a mountain of muscle and brawn. His size reminded her of Yatsuhashi, though the uniform and flak armour made him appear even more imposing. His squinting eyes accentuated the frown in his face, which suggested it belonged to a distrustful person.

"So, you are Ruby Rose, huh?" he murmured, his voice sounding like a low growl, as he narrowed his eyes and furrowed his bows further.

"Yes?" the girl answered, her voice coming out a bit shaky. She wasn't afraid, considering she had faced far scarier things with greater determination and resolve, but concern regarding the reason of this man's attitude towards her still transpired from her wobbly reply.

His massive arms began closing on her, in a plain obvious attempt to grab her. Her muscle tensed on instinct, as his frame enveloped her own, and…

Huh.

He was hugging her.

"You saved the sergeant's life. Thank the Emperor for your providential intervention. Words cannot express my overflowing gratitude for what you did."

Ruby heard those words as she found herself lifted up and caught in a big, warm-hearted bear hug. That impression of suspect she previously thought seeing in his face completely disappeared when she looked at him again and even his voice, while still deep and hoarse, conveyed no trace of hostility.
While gasping for air, she heard Zahra giggling, the psyker clearly expecting this to happen and amused by the result.
Meanwhile, from the corner of her eyes, she glanced the other woman pinching the bridge of her nose, in plain frustration of his companion's behaviour.

"Qemal, for the love of the Emperor, put the girl down. She didn't survive and remain unharmed fighting orks, only to be crushed to death by an overfriendly muscle head."

"Uhm... oh, sorry" the soldier named Qemal answered to his friend, while putting Ruby back on the ground.

"It's fine." the young huntress said with a groan, still regaining her breath and equilibrium from that sudden display of affection.
She couldn't however hide a small, pleased smile: she was glad that even in this bleak situation, on an alien world far from home, she could still find people who seemed nice and amiable.
Zahra put her hand on the girl's shoulder.

"Allow me to introduce you trooper Delmina." the psyker presented, pointing to the woman in front of them. "The other one is Qemal, as you probably heard."

"I apologize for the actions of this guy, who apparently has no idea what personal space means." Delmina interjected, all while his friends's answer to that remark was a good-natured grin.

"Fair warning:" she then continued, facing directly Ruby "after what you did for Ismail, he has already admitted you amidst the ranks of his friends. From personal experience, you cannot object and it is a duty for life. I'm sorry."

Her words elicited more smiles and laughs from the ones presented.

"And while I'm not as easy when it comes to calling others friends, you have my thanks for saving our sergeant's life." she added, extending a hand to the silver-eyed huntress, her smile turned from teasing to grateful.

Ruby shook her hand, reciprocating the gesture. "There's no need to thank me. It's my duty to do whatever I can, wherever I can, to help. I... I only wish I could more."

Nobody answered to that, save from a nod of Delmina, acknowledging her ideals, though respect and understanding from the ones present could easily be felt.

"Well then, shall we go? I believe Restion is waiting for us." Qemal chipped in, pointing to the ground car.
The rest of the group nodded and everyone got inside the vehicle, Qemal sitting on the driver's seat, with Delmina on his side, while Ruby and Zahra took the back seats. When all were on board, the car departed, leaving the courtyard of the precinct, directed into the inner districts of Epidamnus.

"Miss Rose, Ismail mentioned you are a huntress. Is that right?" Qemal asked at one point. "Some sort of mercenary? Headquarters seemed to imply that you are going to be temporarily attached to our regiment as a separate auxiliary force."

Ruby exchanged a glance with Zahra and confirmed the soldier's statement, remembering well what the general had asked her earlier...

⁓

"Miss Rose, while I appreciate you telling us the truth in regard to your provenance and current situation, I would ask you to refrain from telling it to anybody else, at least until the crisis we are facing has passed."

After she offered her help, Zahra and Commissar Merneith had come back, accompanied by the servo-skull, and, with everyone present, Kastriot had made the aforementioned demand. Sensing the girl's confusion, the general elaborated further."A case like yours needs to be handled carefully, with the assistance of the right people. Spreading your secret around, without care, would only lead to unnecessary disputes and distractions, which right now is the last thing we need.
When... if we overcome the current emergency, we will see how to proceed. Right now, it's better that only the ones present in this room know the truth about you.
For the moment, if someone asks, we will confirm Ismail's assumption, in that you are an Imperial mercenary hired prior to our arrival. We will help you corroborate this side of the story."Ruby pondered on his words for a moment and she found his reasoning sound."You obviously know the mindset of your people better than me. If you believe that is the right course of action, General, I will follow your instruction."

⁓

Whenever the two guardsmen asked her a question about what she did and where she came from, Ruby tried to keep it vague, trying to tell the truth whenever she could but without giving away details of those elements which, reminiscent of her previous interview, she knew would raise suspicions.

In between a question and a chat, the girl had a chance, now that it was finally day, to have a better look at the city of Epidamnus.

Aside from giving her further confirmation that this metropolis was way bigger and densely populated than Vale, the peculiar aesthetics of its buildings was the element that left the most lasting impression. Many of them reminded her of the older, gaudier structures in the upper-class district of Vale, the ones which were older than the Great War.
From a vast interstellar civilization, which the Imperium seemed to be, she expected a more "futuristic" style, for a lack of a better term, and she wondered if she had been spoiled by the comic-books she had read. The most important buildings were all clearly built with the same design in mind: pointed arches, ribbed vaults, flying buttresses, huge stained-glass windows, a great focus on verticality and scale, that maked the onlooker feel small and insignificant.

And none exemplified those elements better than the massive cathedral in the central square of the city.

When they passed nearby it, she found impossible to miss the massive crowd surrounding the edifice, likely bolstered by the sudden influx of refugees from the towns and villages pillaged by the orks. All praying and singing hymns to the "God-Emperor", asking for his protection in these trying times.

So, this Emperor wasn't just the leader of Imperium, but he was deified as well, like some ancient rulers of Remnant's kingdoms had been in the far past.
Like Salem had once been…
She wasn't sure how comfortable she felt about that: it sounded very arrogant for a man, no matter how powerful, to consider himself a deity and to force his subjects to worship him. Yet, when she looked closely at the faces of some of the people gathered, she didn't feel like their veneration was born out of obligation or fear, but genuine belief.
She decided to keep her thoughts for herself: she knew how religion could be quite a divisive topic and she didn't have the time nor the expertise to handle that kind of debate.

Before long, they finally reached their destination. The car entered, after Qemal showed some identifications to the guards, inside a vast industrial district, easily rivalling the one of Atlas in size, housing countless factories, filled to the brim with thousands of workers. For the vast majority of them, the distinctive smell was enough to tell their main purpose, that being the processing, preparation and conservation of the seafood brought in by the city's numerous fishing ships.
There were a few, however, that clearly manufactured other goods, and she could see, coming out from a couple of them, transports that carried weapons.

At last, they stopped in front of the biggest complex of the area, which she guessed was this so called "Manufactorum Primus".
Unlike the other important buildings of Epidamnus, which all shared those ostentatious decorations, this one was the perfect embodiment of minimalism.
It resembled a huge box, its walls and surface devoid of any architectural feature, save from two symbols, above the main entrance: one was the alleged Imperial Aquila, which Ruby learned being the name of the two-headed eagle she saw everywhere; the other was a human skull, half covered in cybernetic, in front of a mechanical cog. Seeing her look lingering on the symbol, Zahra leaned closer to the huntress and whispered to her ear that the emblem was the Cog Mechanicum, which represented the Adeptus Mechanicus. The psyker didn't have time to explain, only stating that it was the organisation responsible with the preservation and production of the Imperium's technology.

The group exited their vehicle and, after being identified, they gained access to the factory. The sight and, especially, the loud noise of complex machineries, vast production lines and unnumbered workers greeted them.

The greatest example of manufacturing capability on this planet. Yet, only a miniscule cog in the colossal system that was the Imperium's industrial power.

Overseeing the entire process, there were a group of people surrounding what looked like a collection of metallic limbs.
Only after a closer look, Ruby realized that those appendages were attached to someone.

He had the shape of man, though the only trace of flesh he had left was a small part of his face around his left eye. Everything else, from his arms and legs, to his torso and the rest of his head, were either covered by metal plates, or entirely replaced by bionic components. From his back five mechadendrites unfurled, revealing circular saws, rotating claws and other instruments the girl couldn't recognize. The other people talking to him also sported various cybernetic enhancements, though none to his degree.
Ruby was no stranger to mechanical implants, having experience with Yang's arm, or even Penny, so her shock wasn't that severe. Still, she was certainly taken aback by the sight of the cyborg in front of her, and she needed a few moments to adjust and regain her presence of mind.

As they got closer to that gathering of metal and flesh, Ruby began hearing a monotonal, electronic voice coming from the cyborg, issuing orders to his listeners.

"-and the output of sector Gamma-Quintus needs an increase of 300% in the next two days. Sector Epsilon-Secundus and Rho-Octavius have to be repurposed into promethium refining and fuze production respectively."

The man stopped for an instant as he noticed the arrival of Ruby and the Arbanian accompanying her.

"You have your directives. I have other matters to attend to. We will reconvene in 6.5 standard Terran hours."

The adepts left without uttering a word, spreading in all directions both in and out the facility.

Only when they were alone, he walked towards Ruby and the others, until he stood right in front of her, his mechadendrites unfolding around him like the tail of a peacock.

"Greetings. I am High Enginseer Restion-Xi-5. It is a pleasure to meet you, even though this isn't the first time we encounter."

Ruby raised her eyebrows, perplexed: she was fairly certain she would remember meeting such "unique" individual. Before she could ask to clarify, the enginseer turned his attention to Qemal and Delmina.

"You two can wait in the car. We are just going to quickly get her belongings and then we can all go to the base."

The two guardsmen looked at each other for a moment, before nodding and heading outside.

"Miss Rose, Zahra, follow me to my assigned workshop."

As they followed him, Restion began speaking to Ruby with great enthusiasm.

"Examining your possessions, even if, unfortunately, only for a brief time, has truly been a refreshing and stimulating diversion from the dull, yet necessary, task of reorganizing this world's assets, in preparation for the upcoming conflict.
Any minor disinclination I might have for dealing with these non-conforming technologies was put to rest upon learning your provenance from a non-Imperial world. While the sniper rifle is clearly custom-made, the thing you call Scroll, despite not deriving from a Standard Template Construct, shares similar internal configurations and processes with the typical Imperial data-slate. Hopefully, with the help of the Omnissiah, a reshape of the power source, alongside some other minor adjustments, will awaken its dormant Machine-Spirit, and provide more evidence to support your story."

All those new terms, as well as the possibility to learn a bit more of any technological differences between the Imperium and Remnant – especially in regards to weapons, as her nerd side demanded to know - piqued the girl's interest, though a more pressing matter needed to be addressed first.

"You know about the fact I'm not part of the Imperium. And you said you met me before. How?"

"I took part in your interrogation, of course."

That wasn't possible. The only one present were general Kastriot, Commissar Merneith and Zah…

"The skull…" Ruby murmured, astonished.

"His name is Alpha-5672. Or Anaximander, to his friends.
My cerebral cortex is always linked to him, making me experience everything he does. That's how I know about you, just like I know what is happening in the war council at this moment, as I'm attending through him. General Kastriot had wisely thought of making me participate this way, so that I could continue my tasks unhindered, while at the same time implement on the spot any new directive issued in the meeting, so that our limited time is not wasted more than necessary.
Ah, here we are."

His last words came as they found themselves in front of a metal door. A code in binary uttered by him opened it, revealing the chamber beyond.
The room was quite austere and mostly devoid of furniture, except for several workbenches, each with an object surrounded by several mechanical tools and with what looked like a computer.
In the nearest one, an exquisite, well-crafted axe drew her attention, the cog mechanicum clearly visible in its head. As she came closer, trying to examine its power generator, she heard the enginseer addressing her, his delight still detectable.

"I am pleased that Tetricus caught your attention. While I normally wouldn't mind showing it to you, I am afraid now it's not the time. I am going to retrieve the Scroll, so we can continue working on it at the base. Your weapon is over there." He said, while pointing to one of the tables.

As soon as she heard that, the girl headed straight to it. She was relieved to see, upon closer inspection, that Crescent Rose was exactly as she had left it, which suggested that either Restion didn't have any time to make anything more than a superficial reading, or that he had been so skilled to reassemble it exactly as she would have done.
The second possibility didn't sit too well with her, as she didn't like anyone tampering with her little baby – with the upgrade made by Penny's father being the sole exception-, but he seemed quite skilled, and he didn't make any modifications, so she would let it slide if that was the case.

She was suddenly pulled out of her thoughts by the sound of a gasp coming from behind her.

"What's wrong, Zahra? Is everything okay?" Ruby asked, worry quickly taking hold when she looked at the psyker's face.

The woman seemed to be caught in a strange mix of wonder and dread, as she slowly pointed towards the table and asked, her voice feeble.

"Is...is that th-the Dust, you mentioned earlier?"

Looking back at the bench, she noticed only in that moment that from one of the ten magazines she had left – the one with electric ammunitions - a single round had been extracted and carefully disassembled in its various components: the cartridge case, the rim and, of course, the bullet made of electric Dust and the vial with the powdered Dust propellant.

"Y-yeah. Why?"

"H-How are you handling and using them so casually?! The raw etheric energies, condensed in such a way..." Zahra then drifted off, her mind caught up in the implications.

Ruby wasn't sure how to respond to that.

"I...I don't know what to say, honestly. I mean, it's true that in battle you need a certain level of discipline to avoid losing control of it, but that is another thing we Huntsmen are trained for."
The "incident" with Weiss during her first day at Beacon resurfaced in her head, and she quickly chased it away: no need to make herself look like a fool by mentioning that.

"Dust has been instrumental to humanity on Remnant, for its usage in technology and especially in the fight against the Grimm. Without it, mankind on my world would have almost certainly perished."

Zahra's eyes widened, clearly astounded with Ruby's words and, especially, the ramifications of what they meant. For an instant, her hand moved, with the clear intent of touching the material. Then, almost by instinct, she retracted it, her fear perfectly balancing her curiosity.

"I might lose control..." she murmured to herself, her voice so low that Ruby didn't hear it, thanks also to Restion sudden intrusion.

"Fascinating." he exclaimed; his interest impossible to go unnoticed. "I knew there was something interesting about them when my sensors picked up those high values of psycho-conductivity.
I didn't continue their examination, as this wasn't the right environment for this sort of tests, but the few parameters I collected are quite unique, even compared to the ones of the lorelei, the psychically active crystals of Kalidar IV.
If we survive the upcoming greenskin attack, I would like you to give me one of these crystals, for further studies.
I know a Magos, specialized in this field of study, working for a superior prelate of the Cult, who would be quite interested in it."

Ruby nodded, not minding giving her help. That conversation made her, however, realize something: judging from the reactions the two gave, the Imperium didn't seem to know what Dust was, let alone have it at its disposal.

Which could become a problem, if the search for her home took too long.

She didn't have an infinite number of ammunitions. Sure, if she acted carefully, fighting in a way that avoided waste, they could last for a bit. But, no matter what she did, it will come the time when they will end.
And then what?
She could still fight in close combat, but her hunting mentality still demanded some options for long-range attacks.
She needed to think of a solution to this problem, eventually.

"Uhm... it appears the meeting is proceeding quite swiftly. It won't be too long until the general comes back to base." Restion said, his mind picking up what Anaximander recorded.

"I believe it's time for us to go."

⁓

Roughly two hours had passed since they arrived at the base of the Arbanians. Qemal and Delmina had brought Ruby to her designated quarters, a tent not too far from the ones of the command staff. It was an austere place, yet more spacious than she had expected. She guessed that, considering her particular situation, they tried to give her at least a slight bit of comfort. They had told her that she will be informed of the general's arrival.

So, she had waited there, putting in order her few possessions, including a couple of new clothes they had left for her, but for the most part she was lost in thoughts, pondering about the new things she was experiencing and what her course of action should be.

It was during one of these moments of contemplation that she heard the sound of marching and shouts, sharper and more frequent than the typical background noise of an army base, one she was beginning to get used to.

She exited the tent and saw a lot of soldiers moving, all seemingly in the same direction. The majority didn't even notice her, but a couple turned to her, though without stopping, their face mostly showing curiosity. It appears that some rumours about her and what she did were already starting to circulate.

It was then that she saw Delmina coming towards her.

"Hey Ruby. I was just about to come to inform you. The general has returned and he is assembling the men in the main square. He wants to say a few words."

Ruby nodded and began following the woman. It wasn't long till they reached the rendezvous point.
Thousands of men and women were standing to attention, in a formation that no doubt had some name, but that Ruby, lacking knowledge in military protocols, didn't know.

Delmina nodded to her, before going to join the rest of the troops. Ruby, suspecting that she shouldn't join the rest of them on the lines, as she was no part of this regiment, went instead to the edge of the platform positioned in front of the assembling troops, where she saw Commissar Merneith, Zahra and Restion, alongside other officers she hadn't met before.
When she reached them, they didn't say anything, though those she knew gave her nods and signs of greetings, acknowledging her rightful presence there.

A few minutes later, right after most of the guardsmen who were able to attend had arrived and fallen in the formation, General Kastriot made his appearance and marched towards the stage, his bearing and tread radiating martial spirit and authority.

When passing nearby Ruby and the Command Staff, he gave them a cursory glance and nod, before moving on, stopping in the centre of the platform, right in front of his men.

From that moment, no sound could be heard in the square.

He looked at them for a few moments, his features stoic, yet with a hint of proudness for the men and women before him.
Then he began his speech, his voice booming without the need of vox-amplifiers.

"Sons and daughters of Arbanon and the Imperium.

I do not wish to keep you away from your duties, nor to waste your time. Your superiors are going to provide you with further details and instructions, so I will keep this brief:
in four days, a vast greenskin horde will come to attack this city, and the only thing standing, alongside the local PDF, against the loss of Epidamnus, of Kanrilia, is you.

The last Arbanian Janissaries."

Ruby looked at the faces of the soldiers present, but she could find no trace of fear in them. Only stern and indomitable resolve.

"I won't waste time making a speech on how this is a weak enemy, that has no chance of winning against us.
You are all consummate veterans, experienced with fighting the worst this galaxy could generate, so the last thing you deserve is a lie: there is a high chance that we are all going to die in this battle."

Again, Ruby was amazed by their lack of fear when learning of their highly possible and imminent demise.

"Nor I will waste time reminding you of your duty, with words that exhorts you to fight and die for the Emperor, for the Imperium and for humanity.
That's because I know you will, as surely as I know my own name.
I have seen it with my own eyes, in countless campaigns, over the course of the years.

I am proud to fight alongside you, just as I am proud to call myself your brother.

The Emperor is proud of you.

Mankind is proud of you."

Ruby felt the atmosphere change, the air almost become electric, as Kastriot's words galvanized all the men and women present.

"It won't matter what the outcome of this battle will be.

If we win, it will be because of your valour and courage, proving once again to everyone your indomitable spirit and strength.

If we die, you can go in front of the Golden Throne and say to the Emperor, with justified pride, that you died like a true soldier, fighting to the last breath in defence of His people.

So, you see, this is a battle you cannot lose, because you have already won.

I will ask you only one thing: make this battle your legacy, carved into the hearts of these vile xenos. Hurt them so badly that you become their worst nightmare.

WILL YOU DO THIS?"

A chorus of "YES" exploded as an answer, an undeniable testament to their resolution and determination.

They had a sole purpose.

A purpose Ruby shared completely.