Chapter 76

'You're joking right? You want to fight this thing!' Weiss's voice toed the line of hysteria as she attempted to give the smol girl a glare through the window of the airship before realizing they were going by too fast for Ruby to see or care. She settled instead for glaring incredulously at the dashboard, grimacing to herself as she realized it didn't quite have the same effect or satisfaction.

'We've fought giant monsters before. This is just one tiny old lady.' Ruby attempted to rationalize. 'With one very big robot.'

'You realize that last line effectively negates the "tiny old lady" bit and just leaves us with very big robot, right?' Jaye said, dusting his hands off as he dropped the last of the Atlas special forces onto the ground beneath him. He started for the exit in the far corner, noting that the mountain face didn't seem to be closing back up in spite of the giant robot being clear of the doors. Cordovin's voice rang out over the speakers, reverberating through the entire mountain, and Jaye was certain the speakers were somehow compelled to reach volumes previously unheard of simply because she was speaking into them.

'You little spider-roaches thought you could creep your way to Atlas?' She was well past hysteria at this point, and there was no question she was positively unhinged. 'Well, let's see how your resolve holds out against the might of the Atlesian Military!'

'Who on earth approved giving this crazy old lady a giant robot?' Jaye grumbled, climbing out of the mountain face. The girls turned their attention back to the crazy lady as the robot raised its cannon. Out from the top of its arm, a slot opened to expose a missile silo built into the appendage, and she fired one off at the retreating airship. Jaye raised an eyebrow at the missile, swearing that if he ever got the chance, he'd ban this crazy lady from coming close to firearms or explosives ever again. It came dangerously close to touching the ship, but Ruby cocked her sniper rifle, tagging its explosive payload with a well-placed shot. Cordovin screamed in rage, turning the robot around to face the small group.

'SO BE IT!' She raised the cannon, a canister of ice dust whirling into place with a loud metallic click. Jaye revved his bike into gear, taking off towards the group, but knew with stark horror there was no way he would get there in time.

'Dive!' Weiss commanded, unstrapping her seat belt. Maria pulled the airship to a stop behind the teams, and Weiss hopped out the door as she clicked Myrtenaster shut. She raised her sword with a yell, a wall of earth rising in front of the seemingly stunned teammates just in time, and the blast of ice dust crashed into it with a loud hiss. Shooting upwards of the stone, the ice crystallized into razor-sharp pillars against the rock, ironically serving to block Cordovin's view of them.

'That was close.' Oscar managed to peep out, rubbing his arms as a blast of cold air whistled past his collar. Ruby turned to the group.

'We need to figure out how to stop Cordovin and protect the airship until we do.' She said.

'Let's give her more targets to focus on.' Jaune said, and Nora's face fell.

'You mean us, don't you?' She said, and Jaune waved his hand at the robot.

'Look at that thing! It's not designed for small enemies.' He said, pacing forwards to peek around the wall of ice and stone. 'It's probably meant for giant Grimm that come in from deeper waters. We can turn our size into an advantage; we just have to be smart.'

Ruby nodded to the boy. 'Maria can you keep the ship out of harm's way?'

'They can take my driver's license, but I won't let them take this ship!' The old lady declared, and Ren shook his head in response.

'Very reassuring.' He said, and Oscar gestured at the airship.

'I'll be more useful if I go with her; from up high I can try to spot a weakness.'

Qrow scoffed. 'Well he's not the only one who can grab a bird's eye view.'

Artemis and Apollo glanced across each other, pulling their bows off their backs.

'We can drop explosive charges on any part of that thing without leaving an obvious trail like a grenade launcher would.' The cat girl clicked a few buttons on her bow, the mechanical quiver whirling into place, before pulling out the arrow. She held up the explosive head for them to see. 'Raw dust; explodes on contact. Crude, but effective.'

'Our semblances are simple; perfect aim.' Apollo added. 'We don't miss, so you can rely on us for pinpoint precision.'

'Nora can distract her with the launcher since it's obvious, so you two can take shots at the joints and other weak spots Oscar finds.' Jaune said, touching his finger to his ear. 'Jaye what's your eta?'

'Couple of minutes!' He yelled over the radio, swearing as he shot by a random car. 'I was able to get down to the base fast because I jumped the cliff, but now I gotta take the hill to get back up! You lot don't die before I get there! Mina, any word from Blake?'

'Nah man, nothing yet.' Kamina said, glancing at the still unconscious guards in the corner. 'I think stealth is out the door at this point, so I'm heading to the tower to find your girl and the hello kitty. Let you know what I find.' He squinted at the screen above him, raising an eyebrow as a figure appeared in the bushes and clearly moved towards him. 'Hold up, I got company.'

Hitting a button on the console, Kamina stepped out from the security doors, raising an eyebrow at the white clad figure across from him. It was a woman; decked out from head to toe in a clearly Atlesian military uniform, but he could tell from the design that she was no ordinary soldier. He cleared his throat, putting on a wry smile and raising a genteel hand in greeting.

'Why hello there! Sorry for the mess; we had a bit of a scuffle but we're fine now!' He said, grinning as the woman scowled at him. 'Nothing to see anymore, so you can go back to your post.'

'I don't think so, assassin.' The woman said, and Kamina raised an eyebrow at her. 'Yes, I know who you are; Kamina Vermilion.'

'Now that is a surprise!' Kamina laughed, the grin spreading even wider across his face. 'Who'd you hear that from?'

'I'm not obliged to tell you anything.'

'Awww, pretty please? I promise to be good.'

'Will you now? I suppose you won't resist when we cuff you then.'

'Damn girl, at least let me buy you dinner first.' Kamina smoothed out his hair, tipping his fedora at her. 'Or would you prefer a more… intimate setting?'

'Oh, it'll be plenty intimate. We'll have dinner– well I will, you won't –through your cell door, right after I torture all the information I need out of you.' The woman drew a machine gun from her back, sliding it over her forearm as it unfurled into a kite shield. Separating at the bottom, the fox boy noted the sharpened edges of the shield and surmised that it was just as much a weapon as it was a defensive tool. She raised the weapon/shield to the ready, and Kamina made a face at her.

'Well now, I'm hurt. And here I was thinking I'd get to take a beautiful lady out to a nice dinner by the sea.' He laughed, extending his claws and eyeing the guards on either side of her. They raised their rifles at him cautiously, and he wiggled his fingers in greeting to them. 'Well, pleasantries aside, let's get this started shall we? I need to go save my best friend's girlfriend and his girlfriend's girlfriend.'

In the mech

Cordovin squinted at the pillar of ice and stone before her. The super-cooled air finally clearing away from the area, she growled as the group continued to stay hidden behind the wall. She prepared to move forwards to clear it, making a sound of surprise as the sudden movement caught her off-guard. Shooting out in three different directions, the members of the group split up on either side of the cliff, and she was distracted by a swirl of red shooting straight up towards the sky. Ruby unfurled herself from the petals, raising her rifle and loosing a shot towards the woman. Cordovin flinched as it cracked into the glass; the high caliber round sending a spiderweb crack across her field of view. She growled in rage, firing off several missiles at the smol girl.

Ruby engaged her semblance, whirling in a burst of rose petals as she darted between the missiles. They flew harmlessly past her, shooting straight over the town and into the water behind, and Ruby made a sound of glee as she freefell down towards the water. A sheet of ice erupted over the liquid's surface, and Weiss spun Myrtenaster expertly as she generated ice pathways for the two girls to approach.

'Hey over here!' Jaune yelled, and Nora cackled with glee as her bright pink grenades crashed into the arm of the robot. The three teammates ran across the length of the cliff as they sought out cover, Nora continuing to cackle at the top of her lungs.

'And you said it wasn't beach season!' She squealed, ducking behind a snowy rock as they approached. Peeking her barrel around the side, she launched a few more shots at the crazed woman. The robot raised its arm, the missiles stopping short of its armor plating as a shield of light appeared before its palm. Cordovin laughed over the loudspeakers.

'Surely you knew Atlas was the father of hard light dust, or do lesser kingdoms simply lack proper education!' She raised the cannon, a flurry of earthy dust swirling in its mouth, and the three dived out of the way as she fired bursts of earth dust into the ground. They spiraled up in spiky pillars, and Jaune groaned as he was launched off his feet, his shield spiraling away across the ground.

'Cordo just activated shields!' He informed, and Oscar touched a finger to his ear.

'I saw that.' The boy said. 'We need to find whatever's generating it!'

'You know in video games, the weak spot's usually on the back of the giant boss!' Ruby yelled over the radio, and Weiss made a sound of annoyance at her.

'Ruby this isn't a game!'

'I'm just trying to–look out!' Ruby and Weiss flung themselves out of the way as the robot stomped down on their previous position.

'YOU ARE ANTS!' Cordovin screamed. 'YOU ARE LOWER THAN ANTS!' A resounding crash shook her mech, and she lurched forwards in her seat. 'What was that!'

'Until the shields are down, we gotta get up close and personal with this thing.' Qrow said, ripping his scythe out of the armor plating. He aimed his gun barrels into the hole he'd made, firing off a few rounds before noticing the giant hand coming down on top of him. Cordovin grabbed at nothing, staring at the giant empty palm in anguish.

'Weiss and I are on it!' Ruby called, staring up at the mech as Cordovin stepped forwards. 'Twins! Back of the knee!'

Weiss drove her sword into the water, casting a line of ice dust forward and slamming into the back of the leg. The robot, already moving forward, was thrown off balance as the ice shattered against the armor. Turning around, Cordovin stared angrily down at the two girls.

'RUBY MOVE!' Oscar yelled, and the twins launched their arrows straight into the back of the robot's knee. Exploding in a burst of multi-colored dust, the force of the impact was just strong enough for the robot's leg to buckle, throwing off her aim as the missiles shot out from their silos. With time now to react, the girls flew out from under the tidal wave of water, seated atop a giant Queen Lancer summon. Ruby cheered as Weiss directed the makeshift mount, leaping off its back and drawing her scythe. Spinning down with a yell, she buried the blade deep into the armor of the mech, dragging a jagged line down to the reinforced glass. Cordovin growled in anger as the robot fell backwards and onto the cliff face with a resounding crash. The sheer weight of the robot caused the city to tremor, and Jaye could feel it from the highway where he ran a red light and promptly got horned by several disgruntled drivers. Cordovin screamed in rage as she tried to force the robot to its feet; the sheer size of the mech slowing it down as it rose to its feet. Ren leapt atop the arm of the robot, slamming the blades of his guns down into the metal to hang on as Cordovin pushed herself off the mountain of stone. Ruby slipped down on her scythe, making a meek sound of fear as she dropped for a second, waving sheepishly at the woman on the other side of the glass.

'GET OFF OF ME!' Cordo yelled, pulling the metal arm around to swat at the girl. Screaming in terror, Ruby pushed herself off the metal surface, dislodging her blade and hurtling down with her semblance. Shooting by with her summon, Weiss was fighting for her spot as MVP as she snatched the girl out of the air. She gave the red-clad girl a death glare.

'What if I hadn't caught you!'

'I knew you would!' Ruby grinned, a sparkle twinkling across her teeth, and Weiss rolled her eyes at the girl. Ren descended the back of the mech, grunting in effort as he worked his way down. His ears perked up as a gently hum came from beside him, and he glanced at the seemingly detachable panel it was coming from. Wedging his blade into the gap, he pried off the hunk of metal, gasping as he was shaken loose from the force of Cordovin's step. Qrow seized the boy by the arm, stopping him from falling to the water below.

'Gotcha.' He said, pulling the boy up. 'What'd you find?'

They stared at the very clearly labelled shield generator humming away beneath them, exchanging a skeptical glance.

'Well, alright then.' Qrow said, whipping his weapon off his back. They promptly wrecked the generator, shielding themselves against the minor explosion they caused as the generator erupted in a burst of electricity. The shields very visibly dissipated with a shattering sound like glass, and Cordo stumbled in her seat as Nora's grenades slammed into the armor plating once more.

'YOU GET BACK HERE WITH MY MAN!' Nora screamed, firing grenades like a madwoman at the massive target in front of her. The twins loosed several more arrows into the knees and elbows of the machine, serving only to anger the woman once more. Her barrage faltering, Nora reloading her grenade launcher as fast as she could, but the metal arm was already swerving towards her.

'I've had enough of you ingrates!' She screamed, and Jaune immediately ran for the girl. Diving towards her, he placed his shield between them and the metal palm, activating his semblance and boosting their shields as well. In spite of this, the sheer force between the massive metal arm sent them crashing through the stone walls scattered from her cannon fire, finally rebounding off a boulder and onto the floor. Having taken most of the damage, Jaune gasped in pain as he tried to push himself off the floor, the strength leaving his arms completely as he fell back down. Raising the cannon, Cordovin fired a quick blast at the four sitting atop the Queen Lancer, evaporating the summon and sending them hurtling down towards the cliff. Ruby screamed as she activated her semblance, somehow separated from the pack as they crashed down onto solid ground, reaching desperately for the edge of the cliff. She screamed again as she fell short, yanking the scythe off her back and burying it into the side of the stone to halt her descent. She flinched as the robot stomped its way over to her, and she hugged herself tightly to the shaft of her weapon in a desperate bid to stop herself from falling.

'This is what happens when you think you know better than those rightfully in charge!' She raised the cannon at the girl still hanging off her scythe, the dust charging within the firing chamber with a deafening crackly. Ruby stared helplessly at the massive weapon pointed straight at her.

'We have to do something!' Oscar yelled, and Maria turned the airship around to face the giant robot. Opening the missile silos, she pulled the trigger as she swept around, sending a rocket hurtling towards the vulnerable glass shielding the woman inside from harm. In an uncharacteristic fit of reaction time, the robotic hand closed around the missile, stopping it in its tracks as she turned to glare at the airship darting around.

'Calavera!' Cordovin hissed, the name dripping from her voice like venom, and she thrust the control stick forward. Locking on to the airship, the robot targeted the much more easily traceable ship with its weapon system, sending the rocket hurtling back at them with pinpoint accuracy. It exploded on contact, rocking the airship and sending them spinning through the air. Ruby gasped as the airship hurtled towards the ground, crashing through the trees and vanishing from sight.

'OSCAR!'

End of chapter 76.