For clarification, this chapter happens right after chapter 12, and the White Fang are not targeting civilians. They target dust and cargo freighters, which is not much of an upgrade but still, they haven't tried to kill humans for the sake of it yet. The Schnee aircraft was misidentified and had strayed too close to the White Fang base.
Chapter 14 will be Professor Polendina's logs. They will explain Ruby's artificial body, including its strengths and weaknesses
Chapter 4: The Not so Grand Stroll
WF Hideout, Mantle
The man swore as the announcement was made, going to the back and untying Weiss and Yang's bonds. He got to the front of the truck and gunned for the exit, ignoring the angry shouts of others behind him. The truck came out of the base at maximum speed, leaving its pursuers behind. Yang and Weiss, now free of their ropes, bounced around the back of the truck with what appeared to be pumpkins. A group of vehicles came around the corner, chasing the van as the eagle Faunus told them to brace themselves.
Ruby watched as she saw a vehicle rush out of the base, followed by a few others in their attempt to get at the vehicle, which had left them in the dust. Ruby saw that the people who had stayed at the entrance to guard the entrance had left to chase the van, which gave her the perfect opportunity to run out. Ruby however, did not expect the men to return so soon, and hid in a vehicle before she would be seen, cloaking was no longer an option due to the drain on her power reserves. She clambered in one of the other white vans, hoping nobody would open the back of this particular one.
They did not open the back, much to Ruby's relief, which was short lived when one of them clambered into the front seat and started driving out, shouting orders for his men to follow him. Now she was hiding right behind his seat, listening in frightened silence has he yelled into his walkie talkie, orders flying from his mouth.
"Do not let that van get away, the security of our base and the White Fang depend on this chase mission."
"TO YOUR LEFT, TO YOUR LEFT!"
"Do not rear end me Griff or-" a large splat on the window drew his attention away.
A pumpkin had somehow hit the windshield, orange pulp and juices staining the window and obstructing vision for the driver, who curses loudly in front of the 6 year old behind him and yells into the walkie talkie again.
"Goddamnit, take the lead Griff, a pumpkin got my windshield. Don't be an idiot and mess this shit up." He opened the door and began to wipe off the pumpkin. Now Ruby wasn't dumb, nor was she reckless, okay she was kind of reckless, but she knew that Weiss and Yang where in that car, judging from the scent she picked up in the vehicle bay earlier, and she knew that she had to catch up to protect them, even if it meant stealing this man's car. She remembered her father's wise words as she slowly crept up to the wheel.
"It is up to you to make the hard decisions when I'm not here, but remember to always protect your family."
Ruby hopped on the still revving truck as she pondered her move, the man outside noticing her as he finishes wiping the majority of the pumpkin pulp off. A button on her left side caught her attention, one that she flicked immediately with impunity, the Child Safety Lock. The man must have heard, because the moment she did so the man immediately ran to the left car door, yanking it with no success. She looked around and saw two pedals on the bottom of the car, which she was just able to reach with her foot while awkwardly sitting down on the seat. The pressed the one on the left, the movement throwing Ruby's head against the wheel, sounding the car horn. The man was now heading to the side of the road to grab a tree branch, hopefully to smash open a window. Ruby now pressed the right pedal, expecting the vehicle to move forwards. The vehicle lurched forwards, throwing Ruby's back against bottom of the seat. She whooped as she moved forwards, vehicle swaying from left to right as she got used to the wheel, maybe driving wasn't so hard after all.
WHUMP!
The car went off the road and hit a tree, airbag hitting Ruby in the face as the vehicle came to a sudden halt.
The Walkie Talkie crackled, and a voice spoke, causing Ruby to jump in surprise.
"Boss, we got em cornered, what do we do? Boss?"
She peered into the distance and saw a clump of cars, circled around a small dot in the distance. Ruby opened the door, opting for running on her two feet to save her friends.
Qrow surveyed the given area as a crow, looking down and getting a bird's eye view of the base. To a human's eyes it would be almost impossible to detect the base, seeing as a massive amount of plants were planted over the base. His crow form however, was able to detect movement from the openings, like how a human would see an anthill under them. He saw a lone truck heading from the base, a white van from the looks of it. He chuckled as it came off the road and planted itself into a tree, definitely out of commission.
His eyes narrowed when he saw a speck running on its own on the path, he flew closer to the speck, realizing that only one living person in the world had those ears and hair. He looked past where Ruby ran and saw a group of white vans pared in a clump. He connected the dots and dove down, ready to protect the ones he held dear.
The eagle Faunus, apparently called Mitch, yelled at the kids to dump the pumpkins at them. Yang and Weiss unsteadily made their way to the back, hesitant of opening the doors that kept them inside the vehicle. They opened the lock for the back door of the van, holding onto the side of the van. The doors swung open, leaving them to cling on for dear life as all of the pumpkins fell out of the van, cascading onto the road.
Pumpkins rolled down on the dirt path, getting under wheels and coloring the road orange. The leading vehicle took a direct hit, getting to the side of the road as a pumpkin hit its windshield. Several other vehicles were also taken out of the chase, but at least 7 vehicles remained, determined to catch them.
Mitch growled as he realized just how absurd this was. Members of the White Fang chasing one of their own, who was defending a Schnee and her friend, while using pumpkins as their last resort to shake off their pursuers. There was a sudden lurch in the vehicle, and Mitch cursed under his breath as he realized one of his van's tires gave out. The pursuers were now gaining on them, despite their best efforts to escape. Another van slammed into theirs, and they went tumbling, right into a grassy clearing. Mitch and the others in the van let out shouts as their vehicle rolled over and came to a stop on its side, the occupants dizzy from the impact.
Footsteps were heard around them, as well as angry voices telling them to step out of the car. Mitch did not know if they had brought equipment to break the windows, but he sure as hell didn't want to find out. His heart dropped when the doors where yanked open by a crowbar, and he braced himself for the beating that would follow. A hand reached out and grabbed Weiss, but to their surprise, lifting her from the van.
Weiss was thrown into the middle of the circle, a few men and women jeering at her, pelting her with insults and dirt. She looked around in fear, seeing how some of them were armed with sticks and the occasional crowbar. Yang cried her name and tried to reach her, but the Faunus shut her and Mitch inside, barring it shut.
"Wait your turn, human. Mitch you're not safe either, you two are next, so let us have our fun."
He swung his hand back with his stick, and would've hit Weiss with it, if it hadn't been for Qrow slamming into him, sword drawn. Qrow hit the man in the cheek with the flat of his blade, sending him and a few of his cheeks flying. The White Fang Grunts were only able to cry out in surprise before the man was in front of them, his giant weapon Harbinger swinging out and taking out the enemy.
Ruby had finally reached the trucks, going around the vehicles to see how she could salvage the situation. She did not need to, as she saw Uncle Qrow swing out his weapon, in scythe form, tossing White Fang left and right as Weiss lay down on the ground beside him, an awe inspiring sight for the little girl. The last enemy fell, and he pressed a button near his ear, talking in his gruff and scratchy voice.
"Found the kids, converge on my location, we got work to do."
"Damn Qrow, you work fast, are all of them accounted for?"
"Yes, Ruby Weiss and Yang, with a bonus young man." He waved to Mitch, who hesitantly waved back, the massive scythe resting on his shoulders making him nervous and words he intended to say got jammed in his throat. He decided the best course of action was to stay silent.
Later, two jeeps pulled up beside them, colored a sandy color to avoid detection. A team of Atlas Specialists got out, shaking hands with Qrow, complimenting on his success. Mitch was requested to direct them to the base, and they set off in one of the jeeps. Weiss Yang and Ruby got into the Jeep that remained, Qrow at the wheel, ready to take them home. The girls all fell asleep as the ride got closer to Mantle, the chaos of the past few days finally overtaking them. They slept fitfully under the dying sun.
They were enveloped in hugs by their parents when they got out of the vehicle nest to the hospital, all of them crying in various ways. Weiss and Yang were brought to the doctors for a basic examination, and Ruby had to get some of her batteries swapped, ones that Polendina claimed to be more efficient than the previous ones. It was quite the ordeal for them, but life was not quite done with them yet.
WF Hideout, Mantle Outskirts
The base was up in flames, rubble and ash all that remained of the top secret complex. Directed by Mitch and other intelligence gathered, he specialists had successfully infiltrated the compound, rescuing the prisoners and setting explosives at various outside areas. The first explosions had rendered the defensive turrets incapable of combat, and it left the base vulnerable to Ironwood's Battlecruisers, each one firing heavy cannons at the base. It was over for the Faunus trapped inside, all of them screaming as the wave of fire rolled over them, some of them cried out, fearing death, while others of rage, and some simply regretted that they would be dying. Now the base was a crater in the green forest, smoking caldera of a mighty base. But one of the blocks trembled as a hand shot out between the pits, covered in smoke and battered, but alive. Adam slowly crawled out of the debris, cursing all the way.