Chapter 5: Menagerie
"Menagerie Control, this is Lieutenant Commander Jaune Arc of the Inter-Kingdom Unity Task Force. I've got seven Mecha ready and waiting for an approach vector." Jaune forced his breathing to be even. The last thing he needed now was for his nerves to overcome his motion sickness pills.
An image of a ram Faunus with one horn missing popped up on his HUD. "We see you Crocea Mors. Things are a bit chaotic at the moment, as we've been performing operational tests on our new Seeker-type Mecha. We're clearing berths for you now.
"Thanks, Menagerie Control. Any chance we could take a look at your new Mecha when we land?"
The ram Faunus scoffed, "I'm told that's the first thing on your agenda. You guys have laid more cards on the table than anyone who's tried to negotiate with us before, so we're responding in kind. Last-minute homework incoming."
Jaune's Omni-Scroll beeped as it received the data that was beamed to his Mecha. "Thanks, I appreciate it."
The ram Faunus grunted and cut off communication.
"Not very chatty, are they?" Nora said.
Ren shook his head. "No. It would seem not."
Jaune spared Menagerie a quick glance as he pulled up the schematics on the White Fang's new Mecha, it was an old Empress class space station with three struts connecting the habitation ring to the central disk, which sat above the terminus of the struts. Jaune knew from his preparation that all critical functions happened in that disk, be it command and control, or engineering.
He opened the first of the Seeker Schematics, for the Starscream type. Jaune's eyes went wide as he realized that it was exactly the type of Mecha that had nearly scattered Ruby across space. The armaments, Heat Machete, shoulder mounted Anti-Materiel Rifle, and Machine gun were all the same. Hell, even the paint was the same color, a bright eye-catching red.
He quickly checked the others, the high-speed Skywarp type and heavily armed and armored Thundercracker type, and they were the other Mecha that had been present at the ambush. The thing that had stuck in his head was that according to the Flight Controller, these Mecha were new. So new that they hadn't been fully tested yet.
It also seemed like the White Fang frigate that had blindsided them didn't exist either. It seemed like Menagerie's patrol fleet was made up of old freighters with Autocannons and missile launchers bolted on. No purpose built warships. Either the White Fang was pulling the gutsiest con on them, or the Jaune's guesses about what the Atlesian Revitalists had been up to were right.
"Okay, these are definitely the same Mecha that almost ruined my day at Mountain Glenn. Are we sure that we're not walking into a trap?" Ruby asked.
Pyrrha hummed, "It does seem rather damming."
Yang shrugged, "If it is a trap, we'll just have to shoot our way out of it."
Jaune was about to retort, but was interrupted by the Menagerie flight controller. "Crocea Mors, you and your formation are clear for landing. Auto-dock is active if you choose to use it."
"Thank you Menagerie Control," Jaune said, "Beginning landing sequence." Here goes everything.
As Weiss climbed out of Myrtenaster's cockpit and removed her helmet, she expected the stares and muttering from the ground crews. At least the mole Faunus that had taken her helmet from her had been cordial. As she descended the gantry, she caught the muttering from a pair of workers doing some maintenance on the lighting.
"A Schnee in Menagerie? Never thought I'd see the day."
Weiss smiled, despite herself. She had never thought that she would live to see that day either. Or that she would be the Schnee to do it. She shook her head indulgently at Ruby as her partner waved enthusiastically at her from where the others were congregating. "Ruby, we're here on official business. Please try to be a little more composed."
"Aw come on, Ice Queen, don't be li-"
"Don't call her that." Ruby snapped.
Yang raised an eyebrow, that was new. Some shenanigans with their mental link, maybe? "Alright, Rubes. All you had to do was ask."
Ren spoke up, "Heads up."
Walking towards them was a group of Faunus, all of whom Weiss recognized. At the head of the group was the Belladonna family. Ghira and Kali had seen the Faunus through the fire of the Faunus Rights Revolution, and had founded the White Fang and Menagerie out of the ashes of that war. To this day, even some of the most vehement racists that Weiss had met had once found themselves in the damn awkward position of having to agree with Ghira or Kali on some point of rhetoric. It always had brought a smile to her face. Next to them, in a violet and black flight suit was their daughter, Blake Belladonna. While she didn't particularly subscribe to her parents' ideology of pacifism, which was all the more apparent given her skill as a Mecha pilot, out of the membership of the White Fang she tended more towards diplomacy than the others. To their left stood Sienna Khan, the current leader of the White Fang. More than a few times, her shrewd tenacity and knack for knowing how to dig up an opponent's weaknesses had led to deals for spare parts brokered with Atlesian freighters. Last, and most certainly not least, there was Adam Taurus. He was a man that Weiss needed no introduction to, as he was infamous in Atlas for breaking out of a SDC work camp and liberating all of the political prisoners in one fell swoop.
Sienna spread her hands wide, "Friends, welcome to Menagerie. I hope that your visit here is productive in bringing harmony between our races."
Jaune stepped forward, and offered his hand to Sienna. "I hope so too... ah..."
A ripple of laughter echoed throughout the various Faunus present. "There's no proper term of address. Ghira did away with that when he retired from the White Fang." Sienna explained, "High Leader sounded a touch too authoritarian."
"You think?" Nora interjected.
"Nora, no!" Ren and Pyrrha said in unison.
Kali put up her hands in a calming gesture, "It's quite alright. Your friend's reaction was exactly why we changed it."
"Indeed." Ghira chuckled, "Now, I'll have to admit to some curiosity. Why did you feel the need to come in person?"
"Because I'm not sure I even trust our own encryption at the moment." Jaune said, "I'll be blunt. Over the past month or so, we have had two instances of violent conflict with enemy forces with White Fang IFFs. Over the course of our investigations into the matter, I have come to the conclusion that neither of the battles were with your forces, but with Atlesian agitators set on ruining the White Fang's, and by extension, Menagerie's reputation."
Sienna whistled, "Well, I'll be damned. Adam, show him what you've found."
Adam activated his Omni-Scroll, and projected images of various articles and newscasts from Atlas. "These are all from one particular news outlet, the Atlas Eye, which so happens to be owned by the leader of the Atlesian Revitalists, one Jacques Schnee. They tell of violent attacks on SDC facilities and personnel allegedly perpetrated by us, they blame mine accidents that could have easily been prevented with proper safety measures as sabotage by us, and they go to great trouble to justify the rationale of keeping Faunus at the bottom of Atlesian society. No other news station in Atlas, no matter how biased against the Faunus, has reported likewise. However, Atlas Eye covers for that by saying that it's an exclusive story."
"Have you tried legal recourse?" Pyrrha asked.
Blake shook her head, "We've tried. But we always seem to get judges that lean to the Revitalist side of Atlesian politics, and demand that we have a Faunus lawyer to represent our case, right before banning Faunus from the courtroom. Out of fear of a White Fang attack."
Weiss stepped forward and tapped on one of the floating images. An article on her failed assassination. "Wait a second. If the White Fang hasn't engaged in violent activity that wasn't self defense, and the Revitalists have been perpetrating false attacks all this time..."
"It kicked off within the last five years. Specifically, it started after I made my grand escape." Adam said.
Weiss's eyes went wide, "But that would mean..." She turned back to the others, "That would mean that my father ordered my assassination, and to make it look like the White Fang did it."
"Shit, that's heavy." Yang said.
"On top of that, I refuse to believe that the car crash my brother died in was an accident."
"Wait a second!" Ruby said, "Since we're all in agreement that this is a thing, we've got a big problem! The Revitalists have Cardin!"
"Take a breath, kids." Sienna said, "If you panic, you won't see the forest for the trees. Let's start from the top. Would your man have defected if they gave him the option?"
Jaune ground his teeth, he knew the answer, and he didn't like it. "Between his disdain for me, and his blatant racism, he would. In fact..."
"What is it, Jaune?" Ren asked.
"Honestly, this is the final piece of the puzzle. What if someone approached him while Ironwood was onboard the Gladius? It's the only thing that makes sense, especially knowing what we know now."
"Yeah, that tracks." Nora said, "It also means that we've brought just about everyone who knows that the Revitalists are up to no good to one place."
Everyone stared at her. "What? Why're you all staring at me like that for? Do I have something in my teeth?"
Sienna turned to Adam, "Put the defense grid on high alert, Kali, are the Seekers ready to go?"
Kali wiped at her face, only spreading the grease stain around. "Theoretically, yes. We haven't had time to do proper stress testing, though."
Jaune waved her off. "If they're anything like what the Revitalists fielded against us at the Mountain Glenn ruins, then they're ready."
Blake's Omni-Scroll beeped. She brought it up and answered the call. "What is it, Ilia?"
The woman who answered had dark spots on her skin that denoted her as a Chameleon Faunus. "Two ships just dropped out of FTL! One's transmitting a mercenary IFF, the other ship is Atlesian, but it's not like any Atlesian ship I've seen before!"
Weiss moved to see more clearly. "Show me."
The image changed from Ilia to a scan of a ship that was very much Atlesian. It consisted of a solid wedge of metal bristling with weaponry, with a spine of sorts running down the middle. "That's... that's not possible..."
Ruby cocked her head, "Weiss, what-"
The Grand Chariot.
Weiss launched into a quick explanation. "Long story short, that is the Grand Chariot, an assault cruiser designed specifically as a test bed for its main weapon, the Nova Cannon. Both were decommissioned and slated for recycling, due to General Ironwood deeming the project too costly for mass production."
Adam was already moving by the time that Weiss had finished, "All hands, battle stations! All pilots, to your Mecha!" He turned back to Weiss, "What's the game plan here, Schnee?"
Weiss narrowed her eyes, "The bad news is that the Nova Cannon can crack this place like an egg. The good news is that they won't be able to fire it for fifteen minutes. It takes an obscene amount of power to fire it, so much so that there's an extended period where firing it after dropping from FTL would overload their reactor."
Nora smacked her knuckles together, "What are we waiting for? Let's blow that thing to hell!"
"Mind if I fly with you all?" Blake asked, "Assuming our talks came to a positive conclusion, I was going to ask to join your task force anyways."
"Welcome aboard." Jaune said, "Ruby, you just got a field promotion to Lieutenant! Weiss, Blake, and Yang are with you, I'll fly with Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora!"
"You heard the man!" Yang crowed, "Let's roll!"
As the newly minted RWBY and JNPR Lances scampered off towards their Mecha, Adam began to walk to his. If Atlas wanted a fight, he'd give it to them.
A bloodthirsty grin split his face. Vengeance would be sweet.
Onboard the Gladius, Glynda was already moving the crew to action. "Sensors, keep scanning that thing for a weakness, Jaune and the others are going to need that information! Helm, keep us just outside of weapons range, that thing will crush us if we let it. Tactical, what are we dealing with here?"
Vermillion spoke up, "Beam cannons, dedicated Ion cannons, rapid reload missile launchers, and according to Sensors... there's a giant cannon of some sort that runs the length of the ship. Easily capable of wiping out Menagerie. That's not even mentioning the absurd amount of Mecha I'm detecting."
Glynda very nearly swore. "What about the mercenary ship?"
"Much more manageable. About the armaments you'd expect. Autocannons, CIWS turrets, standard missile launchers. Only... two Mecha it seems... hold on... It seems to match the profile of the ship that ambushed us at Mountain Glenn."
"What's it doing?" Commander Peach asked.
Vermillion shrugged at the pink-haired woman. "Nothing, it's just sitting there."
"Ma'am, incoming transmission from the Atlesian ship!"
Glynda hauled herself to her feet. "Onscreen."
The commscreen activated, and an image of Cordovin resolved. "Ah, Captain Goodwitch. We meet again."
Glynda didn't let her surprise taint her expression. Wasn't Cordovin supposed to be under Captain Calavera? "Just what the hell do you think you're doing here, Cordovin?"
Cordovin smiled in a way that was more akin to a fanatic cult member than a career soldier. "Cleansing the Cluster of the filth that's too strong willed to know its place. Stand aside, and you will not be harmed."
Glynda gritted her teeth. This was going to be messy. "You know that I can't do that, Cordovin. Your insane xenophobia stops now."
"A pity." Cordovin replied, "You will die along with them." Her image winked out, and Glynda Goodwitch made the choice she had made when she had first enlisted in Vale's armed forces. To stand between the defenseless and those that would do them harm.
"All hands, battle stations!"
Jaune's eyes nearly bugged out of his head when he saw how many Mecha were launching from the Grand Chariot. They were all the basic Atlesian model, but as his HUD began to light up with target data for the forces arrayed against them and the White Fang, every single blip made their situation seem more and more hopeless.
There had to be at least a hundred of them, all armed to the teeth with Beam Sabers and Rifles. He glanced down at his radar to see that the White Fang had taken the field, and that there were about fifty of them, plus Adam and Sienna. Not to mention the freighters turned warships, which numbered about ten.
Not great odds.
"Pilots of the White Fang!" Adam crowed, "These Atlesian dogs think that they can take our home from us! They think they can snuff out the hope for a better life for Faunus everywhere! We must not let them! Attack!"
Jaune opened a comm channel to both of his Lances. "Alright, our primary objective is disabling the Nova Cannon. Our enemy might have more advanced technology than us, but that doesn't change the fact that we have to stop them from committing genocide."
Jaune cranked his throttle to full, deployed his Heat Swords, and dove into the melee. Almost immediately, an Atlesian machine opened fire on him. He juked out of the way of the offending beam, and returned fire with his Autocannon, but only scored a glancing hit. The Atlesian came for him again, only to violently explode as Ruby ran her new Beam Scythe through it. "No you don't!"
Jaune winced as two more Atlesian Mecha bore down on him. Am I going to have to use it already? Can I do this?
"You heard Fearless Leader! Get out of our way, you sons of bitches!" Nora screamed. Hatches on the shoulders, legs, and chest of Maghnild opened to reveal a plethora of missile launchers. "TAKE THIS! MAGHNILD HATCH, FULL OPEN!"
In a flash of memory backlit by Nora's missile barrage going off, Jaune remembered Professor Port's words to him at his Academy graduation. Your problem is that you think too much, worry too much. Don't think, just dive in and rely on your reflexes to win the day.
Jaune threw Crocea Mors into the weave, ducking through the fire. He fired at the first Mecha, getting a perfect center mass shot. It began to explode in an angry, silent ball of blue fire, but Jaune had already moved on. The enemy attempted to swipe at him with their Beam Saber, but Jaune snuck his blade into the arc of their swing, severing the hand holding the Beam Saber. He followed it up by burying his other sword in the Atlesian Mecha's chest.
Pyrrha was eliminating those that approached her with her usual efficiency, but something was off. It the times that she had faced off against pirates and the like, usually she would immediately be challenged to a duel, or at least engaged in some trash talk. As the machine guns that gave her Shot Lancer half of its name ripped through another Mecha, she called the Gladius. "Jeanne?"
In an instant, the face of Jaune's sister appeared in her HUD. "What do you need, Pyrrha?"
"Scan the enemy Mecha, look for life signs. I think we're fighting drones."
Jeanne raised a skeptical eyebrow, "Why do you think that?"
Pyrrha grunted as she danced around another enemy before running it through with her lance. "Because none of them have challenged me to a duel yet!"
Upon hearing Pyrrha's reasoning, Weiss gasped. "Of course! Mobile Dolls! That's the whole reason they can afford to field such a large force!"
"Well, that explains why they're so susceptible to my Ion Knuckledusters." Yang said as she blasted apart another Mecha with her Scatter Cannons.
"Don't get careless," Ren said, "Even if they're drones, underestimate them at your peril." Ren activated his optical camouflage, effectively making him disappear from enemy sensors, only to pop up behind an enemy. He shoved one of his SMGs in the armpit of it and pulled the trigger, ripping it to shreds.
Yang whistled as she saw Blake deploy a Heat Rod from her shield and swing it through an entire enemy formation. She was interrupted by Adam contacting them. "Some of my men got to the Grand Chariot, but they reported that the shields are too strong for them to get through. Any bright ideas?"
Jaune thought for a moment, mentally leafing through the capabilities of his compatriots' Mecha until... until... "Ruby! How big of an Ion charge would we need to overload that shield?"
"Bigger than anything we're packing, that's for sure." Ruby said.
Nora cut in. "I can do it."
Jaune drew a breath in as a plan began to take shape in his head. "Jeanne?"
An exasperated Jeanne showed up on his HUD, "I was about to call you. The Mecha you're fighting are in fact drones."
Jaune blinked, coming dangerously close to a mental derailment. "Uh... thanks. Can you mark the Ion Cannons and shield generator on the Grand Chariot for us?"
Twelve red diamonds and one orange triangle appeared on his targeting data. "There you go, Bot Jockey."
Jaune rolled his shoulders. "Thanks, Gearhead." After his sister's image winked out, he began to explain his idea.
After he had finished, Adam stared at him slack jawed. "Where the hell do you come up with this crazy bullshit?"
"I was admitted to Vale's Mecha Academy because I'm good at video games." Jaune deadpanned. He was proud of this plan since he hadn't used the PCM to come up with it, and wasn't about to let anyone else sass him about it.
Adam blinked. "You what?"
"Adam, focus." Blake said, "We need to get into position."
"Right." He opened up his commlink to all of the defenders. "Assume defensive formation Mother Bear."
Meanwhile, on the bridge of the Grand Chariot, Commander Cordovin was having the time of her life. Finally, the terrorists of the White Fang would be wiped from existence, and the Faunus still in Atlas would be reminded what trying to rise above their station got them. Everything was going smoothly, despite the losses to the Mobile Doll platoon. Those didn't matter though, as she had a whole other platoon ready to go. She hummed. "How long until the Nova Cannon is ready to fire?"
"Still ten minutes out, ma'am." A crewman replied.
The tactical officer spoke up, "The White Fang Mecha are falling back into a defensive formation. Recommend we pursue to keep the pressure on."
Cordovin waved him off, "Why? They cannot harm this ship, and their desperate struggle to protect their little sanctuary from us will keep them here. Pull the Dolls back, and prepare to open fire on those eyesores they call warships. Ion weapons only, I want them helpless as they watch their home burn."
"What of the Valean ship?"
Cordovin shrugged, "We can finish them at our leisure after we destroy Menagerie."
"Message from the Ashbringer, ma'am." The Comm officer said, "They're having a difficult time holding their pilots back."
"If the White Fang tries anything, then they have permission to launch." Cordovin said, "But I don't think that will be necessary."
The tactical officer let out a panicked yelp, "Nine Mecha just broke away from the White Fang formation! I've identified Adam Taurus and Blake Belladonna, and the rest... there's no way that they're White Fang regulars."
Cordovin steepled her fingers. "Blow them out of the sky. Beam and Ion Cannons."
Jaune had been hoping that Cordovin would just send the Mobile Dolls after them when they made their attack run. He hadn't anticipated that she would go for bombardment. "Stay loose, everyone! No one dies today!"
They weaved in-between the blue fire that the Grand Chariot belched at them, moving ever closer to the intimidating ship. After a few more seconds, Nora spoke. "Uh, I've got a problem here!"
Jaune winced as he narrowly avoided a blast, "What's wrong, Nora?"
"I can't tell which of these shots are from Ion Cannons or the normal crap!" Nora said, panic seeping into her voice, "And if I don't get charged up by the time we get to that thing..."
"Don't worry, Nora. You will get the Ion charge you need." Jaune said, "Just do exactly what I tell you, okay?"
"What are you-"
Jaune took a deep breath. It was now or never. "PCM, activate!" As every tactical option unfolded before him, Jaune's eyes darted around his display to find the golden path to victory. "Pull up, NOW!"
Nora sharply rose, only for a blast from one of the Grand Chariot's forward Ion Cannons to collide with her. "Got it!" Nora yelled, "Give me another, Fearless Leader!"
"Break right!"
Maghnild swerved to the right, flying straight through another Ion discharge. "Oh, Ion Capacitor, my best buddy..."
Nora wasn't wrong. Maghnild's Ion Capacitor was the whole reason this crazy attack was even working in the first place. Thanks to it, Ion attacks didn't immobilize her Mecha, but empowered it. Her Boost Hammer was even specifically designed to channel all of the Ion energy that she absorbed into a single strike.
"Here come the Dolls!" Adam roared. After a moment, eight missiles launched from his Mecha, wiping eight of the Mobile Dolls from existence.
Jaune grinned, now everything was going according to plan. "Ruby, Weiss, GO!"
Crescent Rose and Myrtenaster darted ahead of the formation, and began to rip through the automated Mecha. If they didn't fall to Ruby's Beam Scythe and Rail Cannons, it was to Weiss's Beam Saber and Rifle. As they paved the way for their comrades, the barrier between who was piloting which Mecha began to blur. As they fought, they began to slip into a state of mind where they each acted on pure instinct. They knew what they had to do, so why slow down their reaction time with silly things like thinking before acting? What gunnery attacks did come from the Grand Chariot were dodged effortlessly, what chance did the Atlesian gunners have against Ruby Rose and Weiss Schnee, who made their Mecha dance across the battlefield at the speed of thought?
Nora cackled, it was time for her favorite part. She holstered her machine guns in their backpack arms, and drew her Boost Hammer from its magnetic holster on Maghnild's lower back. "Time for a Crazy Thursday!" She sent her Mecha end over end, with the hammer extended and sparking with all of the Ion energy. Just before she made contact with the shield, she triggered the boosters that gave the hammer its name, and slammed it home. Ion energy sparked across the shield protecting the Grand Chariot in a bright blue spiderweb, as the discharge reached the shield generator, the shield flickered and failed.
"Heh. Maybe there's something to you lot after all." Adam said, "You have my respect, Arc." Wilt blasted ahead, urged on by its pilot's single minded determination to obliterate all threats to his home. He drew his blade, and it began to glow an angry red.
Pyrrha's jaw was on the floor, "Is that... is that the Pankratos Sword?"
Adam couldn't help a smug grin, as Pyrrha's surprise was understandable. Once doomed for Atlas's recycling smelters, out of fear that mass production of it would destabilize the balance of power in the Remnant Cluster, the only working copy of the Pankratos Sword had been smuggled out of Atlas by White Fang sympathizers and delivered to Menagerie. It achieved a cutting power far above Beam Sabers by vibrating at such a high frequency that it destabilized the molecular bonds of what it cut.
And Adam's intended target was the Nova Cannon.
"Rage, Wilt!" Adam screamed as his blade descended on the Atlesian superweapon, "MOONSLICE!"
The bridge of the Grand Chariot had been thrown into chaos. The main gunnery console had exploded, sending the officers attending to it across the bridge. The main lighting had gone out, leaving the emergency lighting and the blinking red alert warnings. "Damage report!" Cordovin screamed.
"Shields are down, some sort of massive Ion discharge!" The operations officer reported, "Oh no."
Cordovin turned around to face the hapless officer, "Give me the rest of your report, or you'll be sorry."
The officer gulped. "The Nova Cannon has been disabled."
"We still have our complement of missiles." The tactical officer said, "We can still cripple Menagerie."
"How did they disable the Nova Cannon?" Cordovin barked.
"It was Taurus, he... he has the Pankratos Sword!"
It was clear that there was only one way to salvage this mess. "Launch all missiles and Mobile Dolls! And Give Ashbringer's pilots the go ahead to launch!"
"Just give me a second to re-route Guns to my console..." The tactical officer muttered, "Done. Firing all missiles. Mecha deployment orders sent."
A new alarm blared from the Operations consoles. "The control relay for the Mobile Dolls is shorted out." The officer reported, "We can't launch them."
Cordovin groaned, this day was just going from bad to worse, wasn't it?
For a brief moment, things had been looking up. The shields of the Grand Chariot were disabled, and the Nova Cannon had been rendered into junk. Pyrrha had been in the process of skewering on the the Beam Cannon turrets with her Shot Lancer when the warning from the Gladius came through.
"The mercenary ship has launched their Mecha!" Jeanne said, "Also, the Grand Chariot has launched missiles at Menagerie!"
Jaune barely needed a second to decide on a plan of action. "Ruby, take your Lance and stop those missiles! Ren, Nora, go with them! Pyrrha and I will deal with the mercs!"
"We're on it, Jaune!" Ruby said.
Jeanne appeared on Jaune's HUD once more, "Jaune, wait I don't think you should-"
"What are you talking about Je-"
Then, a voice that Jaune knew all too well came across on an open channel. "Of course you're here, Gamer Boy. Friggin' bleeding heart, protecting the animals."
Jaune hissed. He should have expected this. "Cardin's mine."
Before Pyrrha could suggest that it might be a terrible idea for Jaune to fight Cardin, her own comm circuit clicked, and a female voice started talking. "Oh, it seems like the Eternal Champion has deigned to descend from the heavens to challenge me." Pyrrha's face twisted in anger as she dodged a barrage of shots from the offending Mecha's Autocannons. Shots that came much too quickly to be from normal ones.
She whirled around to face her attacker, a Mecha painted charcoal grey with orange stripes that made it seem to glow like a hot coal. Lachesis's sensors picked out its weapon systems easily enough, dual triple barrel Autocannons on the shoulders and twin Beam Sabers. There was also something mounted on the chest of the Mecha that the sensors couldn't parse. Then the IFF data came through. Atropos. Piloted by Cinder Fall.
Pyrrha opened up with her Shot Lancer, but Cinder danced around her shots just as well as Pyrrha danced around hers. This couldn't be all she had, could it? No, there was definitely...
Pyrrha gasped as a pink energy blast was discharged from the Atropos's chest. The only thing that could possibly be was a Plasma Accelerator, but weren't those only used on capital ships? Caught up in identifying the weapon, Pyrrha didn't quite make it out of the way, and the blast hit her left arm.
The explosion sent her reeling, but she quickly regained control. Warnings blared across her HUD, her left arm was practically scrap, and... a heat warning? It suddenly dawned on Pyrrha what Cinder's strategy was. Put an enemy on the defensive with a barrage of projectile attacks, setting them up perfectly for a shot from the PA, which would cause catastrophic damage if it hit dead on, not to mention that it would make the target start to overheat.
However, now that Pyrrha's left arm was busted, she had an advantage. Hits to her left shoulder or the surrounding area didn't matter as much. Almost on cue, A spectre of Cinder appeared in her HUD to taunt her. "Not so invincible after all, are you?"
Pyrrha glanced at her heat gauge. She needed to cool down a couple more degrees to be able to do the maneuver that she wanted to do. She could always override the safeties, but that carried the risk of overloading the reactor. Just have to keep her talking... "You haven't beaten me yet." Pyrrha flashed a winning smile as she instructed her sensors to scan for weapons-grade plasma signatures. With any luck, she'd be able to pinpoint where the plasma tanks were and cripple Cinder's Mecha with one strike. "Now, I've had people challenge me to duels on the battlefield before, but you've put up the most fight out of any of them. So, why? Why so obsessed with fighting me?"
Cinder's eyes narrowed, and Pyrrha canted her head to the side in mild amusement. Her father's eyes crinkled the same way when he squinted. "Just the arrogance I expected from you, Nikos. All of those trophies and cheering fans have gone to your head."
"Hardly. You're the one who has me up on a pedestal, after all. Making a big deal about how I descended from the heavens and all that. It's your own fault for buying into what all of them called me. I'm no Goddess of Victory, I'm just a normal person." Pyrrha slammed the throttle to full, and closed the short distance to Cinder with her Shot Lancer outstretched. Her blow rammed home, spearing through the Atropos's midsection. She violently tore the weapon out and backed off, allowing herself no small satisfaction at the series of pink explosions that were peppering her enemy. "A normal person who happens to be very good at piloting her Mecha."
"Damn you!" The hand of Cinder's Mecha twitched towards the handle of one of her Beam Sabers, but stopped as soon as the heat warning alarms started going off. "This isn't over, Nikos! Bit by bit, I will tear your life away, until your ivory tower crumbles around you and you beg me to end your miserable existence!" Her ultimatum delivered, Cinder shot off towards the mercenary ship and severed her comm link with Pyrrha.
Pyrrha sighed. "It's always the crazy ones."
"Cardin's mine."
Jaune glared at the Executioner. The Revitalists had seen to some major upgrades to it, as was apparent from its new weapons. A backpack featuring twin Beam Cannons, a Bazooka of some sort in the right hand, and a triangular shield that ended in two cannons in the left.
Cardin's smug grin soon adorned Jaune's HUD, "Y'know, Jauney-boy, if you keep flying in formation with me for much longer then the animals might get confused and think you've switched sides! Man, wouldn't that be a hoot!"
Jaune replied with his Autocannon, firing as fast as the weapon's action would allow. Cardin accelerated out of his line of fire, and returned fire with his bazooka. "You call that a cannon, Arc? This is a cannon!"
Jaune raised one of his shields to block the projectile. However, he didn't expect how much of an impact the round would have. When it hit, the kinetic force from the impact spun him like a top, so much so that for a brief moment Crocea Mors's Inertial Dampeners were overwhelmed and he was bodily thrown from the control platform.
"You're a sitting duck, Arc! You should've stayed in the arcade!" Cardin opened fire with his shield cannons, blowing off one of Crocea Mors's legs at the knee.
With his only other option being blown to smithereens, he scrambled back into the platform. "Trace Link, reinitialize!" Jaune felt the familiar charge in his suit that meant that he had control of his Mecha. "Alright, Winchester. No more Mister Nice Guy." He wheeled around and charged. It seemed like Cardin's new Executioner didn't have any sort of melee capability, so closing to melee range was his best option.
At least until Jaune saw the Beam Cannons start to charge.
Ah, hell. I'm really going to have a headache if I make it through this alive. "PCM, activate! Show me the way!"
"Your pet cheat sheet won't save you, Arc! NOW BURN!"
Twin emerald blasts lit up the darkness as they streaked towards Crocea Mors, but it was all for naught. Jaune slipped in between the blasts and continued on his way. "Mark target, Bazooka." A red symbol appeared over it, designating it as a target. Jaune triggered his Autocannon, and the shot struck true. The Bazooka exploded, its remaining ammunition cooking off from the attack. A quick scan revealed that he had been successful in not only destroying the Bazooka, but the right arm of Cardin's Mecha and his right side Beam Cannon.
"You'll pay for that, Arc!" Cardin opened fire with his shield cannons once more, but his aim was thrown off by Jaune's charge. He tried to block the incoming sword swipes with his shield, but was unable to stop Jaune from amputating his other Beam Cannon. Arc's super tactics bullshit only lasts a few seconds, and I haven't shown off my main weapon yet. He's as good as dead.
A yellow beam emanated from the chest of Cardin's Mecha... and didn't do anything. Puzzled, Jaune turned his sensors on the source and...
"Oh, crapbaskets."
Jaune threw Crocea Mors to the side in a wild attempt to dodge, but with his right leg -and the maneuvering thrusters it contained- gone, he couldn't quite get out of the way in time. A scarlet beam screamed across space, blowing away most of the right half of Crocea Mors. Warnings filled Jaune's vision before he dismissed them. Autocannon gone. Right arm gone. Reactor exposed. Main drive down to sixty percent and falling. Cockpit pressure failure.
The mask on Jaune's helmet folded out and enclosed his face, ensuring he wouldn't suffocate for the next hour. Pyrrha contacted him in a panic, "I'm coming, Jaune! Just hold on!"
She wasn't going to make it in time. Cardin was already charging up another blast. He had two options. Do nothing and die, or do something and maybe live. But what could he do? He was down to one weapon, no maneuverability save for forward thrust. Damn it, this will be my first time hitting my soft limit on the PCM. If I live, this is going to suck. "PCM, activate!"
There was only one option.
Jaune took it without hesitation. He gunned his throttle to full, and closed the distance to Cardin and the Executioner as fast as his mangled Mecha could manage. With a battle cry that sounded like it had been ripped from his throat, he shoved his final weapon -his left hand Heat Sword~ through the aperture of the Executioner's chest mounted Beam Cannon. "NO!" Cardin roared, "Have to... have to kill you! That's what the Voice said, I gotta-"
Jaune cut off Cardin's insane ravings, then spoke the codephrase to activate the head's escape pod mode. "Crocea Mors, Evac Mode!" The head unit detached, and the thrusters propelled him away from the impending explosion. "Gladius, come in, Crocea Mors is in Evac Mode."
"I'll yell at you later for nearly giving me a heart attack, Jaune." Jeanne chastised, "Lachesis, you're close to him, can you do a pick up?"
"Copy that, Control. I would have needed to head back anyways, I've sustained damage to my Mecha's left arm and cooling system." Pyrrha replied.
Jaune ground his teeth. He had done everything he could, it was all up to the others now.
Adam was livid.
The Atlesian warship that had dared to menace his home was being allowed to limp away while they all played Catch The Missiles. It was absurd! They needed to send a message, a message that the Faunus would not be frightened back into servitude, that they would not allow Atlas to trample over their hard-won freedoms! "Enough of this! I am going to rip that Atlesian hunk of junk from my sky! WHO IS WITH ME?" Adam rocketed off towards the Grand Chariot, and he was followed by nearly all of the other White Fang Mecha and ships.
"Adam, no!" Blake said, "We need to defend Menagerie! If just one of those missiles hits the engineering sect-"
Adam viciously cut her off, "If we take out the source, then the missiles won't be a problem! You're thinking like a diplomat when you should be thinking like a solider! It was always going to come to this, Blake! Always."
"Damn it, Adam." Blake hissed. She dove back into the fray alongside her new comrades, frantically trying to prevent the constant barrage of missiles from the Grand Chariot from hitting Menagerie. Before it would've been a simple war of attrition, but now that all of the White Fang Mecha had left to follow Adam on an attack run on the Grand Chariot it was a disaster waiting to happen.
Weiss slashed through another missile, how many was that? Ten? Twenty? Thirty? She moved to attack another, but as she did, her Beam Saber's ice blue blade began to flicker. Switching to her Beam Rifle, she shot at it, only knocking a tail fin off. She fired again, finally destroying it. "I'm running out of weapon power!"
"Yeah, don't remind me!" Nora hissed as she dismissed a warning that she was running critically low on ammunition. Ren had already run dry, and had switched from his SMGs to his knives.
Yang tried to lock on to the missiles so she could fight fire with fire, but was unsuccessful. "Missiles are no good, these things have some kind of electronic countermeasures!" She proceeded to blast it apart with her Scatter Cannons, but the precious seconds that had been wasted proved problematic as a missile soared past their defensive screen. "Damn it, one got past me!"
Blake whirled around, and her eyes widened in horror, "It's headed for the engineering section! If that hits, the entire station is done for!"
No.
"NO!" Weiss screamed as she dived after the missile, stretching the considerable abilities of Myrtenaster to their absolute limit, "I won't let them do this! Not now, and not ever again!" The Beam Rifle wasn't an option, there was too much of a risk that she would hit Menagerie. Neither was the Saber, it was too low on power to be an effective weapon, it would recharge over time, sure. But far too late to act. There was only one tool left to her that could destroy the missile before it reached its target.
The GLYPH Field.
Which meant getting uncomfortably close to the missile while careening towards Menagerie.
"Weiss, move!" Ruby said, "I can make the shot!"
Weiss shook her head, "No, there's too much of a risk to Menagerie if you miss! Besides, I'm the only one who can get there in time!"
Ruby sharply drew a breath in as she saw in her mind's eye what Weiss intended to do. "Weiss, don't-"
She terminated the connection. It wouldn't help Ruby to hear what happened if she failed. Feeling it over their Link would be bad enough. Pushing those thoughts out of her mind, Weiss focused on the task at hand. As Menagerie filled her vision, she checked the ranges. She would make it in time, but just barely.
She shot past the missile before making a sharp turn, the feet of her Mecha skimming across the surface of the station as she did so. She glared up at the missile, and flung Myrtenaster at it. "Atlas will not bring any more pain to the Faunus, not as long as I am here to stand in the way! GLYPH FIELD, ACTIVATE!"
The pale blue forcefield sprang into existence, and the missile hit dead on... and didn't explode. Weiss's eyes widened as she finally looked at her sensors to see what kind of missile it was. It was a Bunker Buster. It short, it would penetrate the target, then explode. In this case, that meant as soon as it got through the GLYPH Field.
Weiss glanced at the heat gauge. If the missile didn't penetrate in the next five seconds, the GLYPH Field would shut off on its own due to Myrtenaster's safeties. She checked the pressure seal on her suit, just in case the explosion breached the cockpit, then waited.
Those five seconds felt like an eternity.
Then the GLYPH Field shattered, and the missile exploded, savaging Myrtenaster with heat and shrapnel. The explosion overcame the IDF and Weiss was hurled from the control platform. With a dull thunk, she hit her head on the side of the cockpit.
Then darkness took her.
Glynda continued drumming a tattoo into the armrest of the her captain's chair. The Gladius hadn't been able to participate in the battle, due the presence of the Grand Chariot. Without Beam weapons of their own, they would've been ripped apart.
"Ma'am, The Grand Chariot and the mercenary ship have gone to FTL."
Glynda sighed, so Cordovin would live to fight another day. "Begin recovery procedures. Jeanne, what's the status of... what did they call their Lances?"
"RWBY and JNPR, Captain." Jeanne replied, "Pyrrha sustained damage to her left arm, and withdrew from battle after picking up Jaune, who had to eject before Crocea Mors blew up along with Cardin's Mecha. After Weiss used her GLYPH Field to block a missile from hitting Menagerie, the missile detonated, and Myrtenaster sustained heavy damage. Weiss is unconscious, and has sustained a head injury. Yang is bringing her back as we speak."
"Captain, I think I found something."
Glynda turned her attention to her Comm Officer, Ensign Aero, "What is it?"
"During the battle, while the mercenary's Mecha were on the field, there was this constant transmission between them. The nearest analogue I have would be subliminals used in hypnosis."
Glynda raised an eyebrow.
"Please don't ask how I know that." Aero said sheepishly.
"Is that even possible?" Peach asked, "To make Cardin betray us by brainwashing him?"
Aero nodded, "It depends on a lot of factors, but if whoever whammied him exploited his known hatred of the Faunus..."
Glynda turned back around, content to let the poor woman be embarrassed that her superior knew about her recreational activities in peace. "Where one mystery ends, another begins."
A/N: I wish I could say that I wrote this chapter in two days, but I can't. Originally, this chapter and the last were going to be one big chapter, but I decided to split them.
When I was first brainstorming for this initial opening arc, I was kind of surprised that I had never seen anyone have Atlas (as a whole, or a faction, as seen here) run a false flag op against the White Fang.
Jacques Schnee is even more of a bastard in this fic. To the point of ordering the assassinations of Weiss and Whitley because they didn't march in lockstep with him. Allegedly, in Whitley's case. Insert maniacal laughter here.
The Grand Chariot and Nova Cannon hail from the Gundam Wing side story G-Unit. The ship itself lends itself perfectly to the overwhelming power that I feel that Atlas, especially the Revitalists, would tend towards.
And there's Cinder. I know what she's up to, and why she hates Pyrrha so much. I'm curious to see if anyone can figure it out before I drop the bomb. If you do figure it out, feel free to PM me. Don't ruin it for anyone else. I'll give you a hint: The answer lies in the names of Pyrrha and Cinder's Mecha.
And Crocea Mors goes down. It be like that sometimes. Luckily, Ruby's got ideas for a new version of Crocea Mors. The question is if Jaune will approve of them or not.
Is Weiss being irrational here? Yes. Yes, she is. Clearly she has some issues regarding how she benefited from the suffering of the Faunus in Atlas during her time at Schnee Manor. Issues that will be talked about next chapter.
Also, I'm finally starting to embrace the cheesiness of Gundam dialogue. I did promise that after all.
Until next time!
