Volume II: Episode 7: Motivated Adolescents Raid Starscream
"Ruby, what's going on?" asked Weiss as they entered the locker room with the rest of Team RRANNWW.
Ruby Rose was in her combat outfit, her back straight as a steel girder and a strange look in her eye. The rest of the group was looking at her. They had checked; they were the only ones there.
"Team Rainbow, the information secured by Ren shows that the enemy has developed a translation cipher and is likely keeping it in a remote location that is rarely used. This provides us with a unique opportunity to secure the data we need and, in so doing, expose the Decepticons' whole rotten operation. We will be able to crack this nut open in one fell swoop. No more slave factories, no more dancing in the dark with devils, no more sleepless nights wondering how many people are starving while you're in your bed.
"This might be a one Huntsman job, but every person who joins up could be useful. However, it's entirely possible that we will be forced to confront Starscream at his lab, which means that anyone who goes out on this mission could easily die, or worse… there is the chance that they might be identified, and that retribution will fall upon their friends and family. Because of that, I've elected not to inform Headmaster Ozpin - or any of those in his confidence - save by time-delayed message. It is also because of that that I'm only asking for volunteers on this mission.
"There's no shame in refusing. Just leave the room and prepare yourself. If I and those who choose to go with me fail, then the burden will fall to those who remain. If we all die… well, someone else will pick up the torch."
No one moved. Ruby shared a look with each and every one of them. Their expressions were all different, but their resolve was the same. They wouldn't flinch, not now.
Weiss stepped forward. "We don't need a speech, Ruby. We just need transport."
"Something I would happy to provide," confirmed Pyrrha.
Ruby smiled morosely. "Well, I suppose we're all in this together. Let's move, team."
And then she grew a bit cheerier. "But first!" she rushed off into her locker and brought out a box. "We got new body cameras and head lamps! No more scrolls on the forehead for us!"
"Another one of those Iron Grenadier patrols," muttered Arcee as a pair of VAMP - ahem, Stinger - scout vehicles came rolling by.
Arcee wasn't clear on the difference, but according to Hound, lawyers were involved. If she needed any more proof beyond the Grimm that this world wasn't a paradise, it was that.
She was transformed into a blue motorcycle at that moment, with a holographic rider clad in black and light purple completing the illusion. Behind her rumbled the armored truck form of Bulkhead, the demolitions expert assigned to this operation by Optimus Prime. The two of them had been brought out of stasis, given their briefing, and then air-dropped into Anima by the Aerialbots. Just another day on the job.
Bulkhead's reply came over the short range radio, though it sounded like he was trying to be quiet too. "That's the third one we've seen today. We must be getting close to wherever their center of operations is."
"Maybe. Be easy to find out if the Aerialbots hadn't found that 'Con convoy, but… ah, well, ground level recon was always more my speed anyway," allowed Arcee as they continued to drive along.
It might have just been another day at the office, but Arcee wasn't blind to just how weird this whole situation was. It wasn't just the energon shortage; that had been expected. It wasn't just the fear-seeking magical demon monsters from beyond the grave, though Bulkhead had been rather freaked out by those. It wasn't just the fact that they were having to hide themselves from the general populace; she was a stealth specialist after all. It was the fact that they had apparently formed an alliance with these White Fang goons that really got to her, though she really hoped that she was just missing context.
Just what on Cybertron was Optimus thinking? Arcee didn't care what praises Bumblebee sung about them, Jazz was right. They were a bunch of proto-Decepticons led by a mini-Megatron.
Granted, she hadn't met them herself, but just from the information she had been provided, the parallels seemed blindingly obvious. Though she probably shouldn't go out on another mini-rant while trying to stay on the road. Better to focus on the mission.
The mission. Now, that was another oddity. So, some human woman named Cinder Fall had taken over the White Fang by killing a bunch of them; the very fact that she was even structurally able to do that continued to drive home the comparisons between the White Fang and the Decepticons to Arcee. Though, of course, she and Bulkhead hadn't been dropped into hostile territory - because on Remnant, all territory was hostile territory, even the places the civilians were crazy enough to call safe - just because of that. No, they had been flown to another continent because this scary lady who freaked out everyone except Optimus Prime had a bomb, and that bomb was being stored in her room at Beacon Academy like it was just another piece of luggage. Adam Taurus had supplied microfilm he had taken of the inside of that explosive suitcase, and some of the few symbols displayed matched those used by the Mistralian Arms Research Syndicate, better known as MARS.
MARS was - as the name suggested - a weapons manufacturer, founded a decade or so ago by the latest in a long line of arms dealers with a reputation for impartiality and neutrality. They were the leading arms supplier for Menagerie and were well on their way to pushing out the SDC from the Mistralian market. They had even made some in-roads into Vale and even Atlas, and Vacuo was... Vacuo? Which apparently explained everything.
A bit of digging proved that MARS had data security far beyond most organizations they had encountered on the world so far, which meant they had to commit to a direct investigation. That direct investigation so far had involved a trek across the wilds of Anima, and along the way, they had run into many a patrol by MARS's military wing, the Iron Grenadiers. Interesting folks, the IG. If the war ever ended and she needed work, she might hit them up. For the moment, at least, their interactions had revolved around mere eavesdropping.
From that eavesdropping, they had discovered that they were apparently searching for bandits who might have stolen a prototype. They had commed the Aerialbots about that, and they had in turn promised to relay it to the Ark. Before they left, though, they raised the possibility that MARS had in fact supplied the bomb to Cinder and were just sending the IG out because they wanted to have some way to cover their tracks while improving their public image by clearing out bandit nests.
It made some sense, but it also raised by its very nature a question that had been plaguing just about everyone from what she had heard: why? No one, not a spark, had found out anything on why Cinder was doing any of the strange and terrible acts she was committing and ordering. Some in the White Fang had apparently overheard her and her closest confidants talking about a 'dark mistress,' but all that did was bump the question of "why?" up one level while raising a whole host of new questions.
It was another bout of speculation that would solve precisely zero problems, so she focused on what she could fix. That, luckily, had a very simple answer. All they had to do was find one of the mobile command centers the IG were using, knock out their guards, and then use their connection to the MARS headquarters to pull some classic hacking maneuvers that Cliffjumper had taught her back in the day.
Cliffjumper, now that was a name she had been hoping to hear when got out of stasis. Unfortunately, the context left a lot to be desired. She didn't know what her old partner was up to, but deserting the mission in the middle of Vacuo - she didn't know why, but this was spoken as if it was an especially awful place - was certainly not okay.
"Heads up," reported Bulkhead, breaking her thoughts. "We've got Grimm."
It wasn't much, just a pack of Beowolves, but they still shouldn't have been there, no on a major road. At least, according to the briefing, they shouldn't be there. Maybe they did things differently in Anima? Maybe there were fewer Huntsmen? That would be strange, though. Shouldn't a larger territory have a larger pool of recruits?
The battle took them into the woods, and they decided to continue on there for a time. It turned out to be the right move. When it was getting close to dark, they saw it: a MARS mobile command vehicle, in a clearing close enough to a town to have overlapping protection, but far enough away that they wouldn't easily come into conflict.
"Alrighty then, just a few of these, and we'll be in the clear," said Arcee as she pulled out of the back of Bulkhead's alt-mode a series of large metal cylinders marked with crossed out industrial logos and some hastily scrawled Iaconian identifying them as knock-out gas grenades calibrated for humans.
"You sure we should be doing this, Arcee?" asked Bulkhead as he transformed into his robot mode.
"Positive," replied the blue Autobot to her green counterpart. "We don't know their motives, and we can't risk exposing ourselves. That leaves us with this."
"Yeah, but if they take it the wrong way, and we end up making an enemy out of people who could have been an ally?"
Arcee thought about it for a long moment before replying, "Then we'll just have to cross that bridge when we come to it."
"Hmpf, hard to believe you were Cliffjumper's partner," was Bulkhead's sarcastic response.
Night had well and truly fallen by the time they made their move. A few quick lobs, and the repurposed industrial drums were among them, just as someone opened the door to the vehicle's interior. The gas was odorless, tasteless, dispersed fast, and acted even faster. Arcee didn't have a clue what it was, but she was mighty glad to have it as she stepped over the now-sleeping bodies of the guards.
She crouched down next to the open door of the command vehicle and extended a tendril that snaked its way through the entrance and into a port on one of the still-active computers. She leaned in slightly to give the tendril more slack, and smiled as she did so. They were in.
A holographic display came up above her left arm, and she talked as her right servo moved across it. "Come on, where's the search engine? Bulkhead, do you think they filed this thing under 'prototype' or 'explosive'?"
Bulkhead turned around and looked over her shoulder. "Well, if it was me, I…"
There was the sound of loading weapons, and they both froze in place.
"Turn around, slowly. Hands in the air," ordered an accented and cultured voice.
"Scrap," cursed Arcee as she disconnected the tendril to comply.
"Three seconds, just three seconds," mumbled Bulkhead as they turned around.
They found themselves staring down the gun barrels of at least thirty men in gas masks and about five armored vehicles. Taking center stage was a human with what looked like a metal head. He seemed remarkably impassive for the situation, ignoring as some of his men rushed forward to check on their unconscious compatriots.
"So I guess you people have cloaking devices on this planet too, huh?" quipped Bulkhead with an easy tone.
"Indeed," replied the man with the metal head.
"And I don't suppose you'll tell us exactly how you knew we were coming and how you set up this little trap, will you?" asked the green Autobot casually.
"I'm afraid not. Though I'm sure you'll figure it out if you think hard enough about it," the man answered.
Bulkhead glanced at Arcee and shrugged. "Ah, well, can't blame a bot for trying."
The man chuckled softly. "I had heard rumors about 'giant alien robots' roaming the world, but had mostly dismissed them until now. Tell me, do you two have names?"
"Arcee and Bulkhead," replied the blue Autobot with a wave of her still raised servo at herself and her comrade. "Fair's fair. Who are we dealing with?"
"James McCullen Destro the Twenty-Fourth, Laird of Castle Destro and founder and CEO of the Mistralian Arms Research Syndicate," replied the man in metal with a well-practiced tone. "Now, why are you assaulting my men and trying to hack into our computers?"
Arcee and Bulkhead shared a look, the sort of look only possible from having fought on the same side for millions of years.
It was Arcee that turned and spoke to Destro first. "Does the name 'Cinder Fall' mean anything to you?"
"No," said Destro simply. "Should it?"
"It should," replied Arcee. "After all, she's the one who has your bomb."
That got Destro's attention, though he kept his voice level. "Does she now?"
"Yeah, we were sent in to find out how to disarm it," explained Bulkhead. "One of our agents snapped a picture of the inside of this thing. It was stored in a suitcase and didn't have many markings, but it did have your company's logo on it."
"Where was the logo located?" asked Destro with the utmost seriousness.
Bulkhead glanced up, trying to recall. "Uh, right beneath the keypad, I think. Arcee?"
"That tracks," she replied.
There was a sharp intake of breath from Destro. "I want that bomb back. It was was stolen from us weeks ago."
"How?" inquired Arcee. "Not saying it didn't happen, but how exactly does a big company like yours lose something like that when you've got all these armed guards?"
Destro elaborated. "The prototype was en route to a site we had cleared for a test detonation when the transport and its escorts were attacked. There were no survivors, but flight recorders recovered afterwards indicated that they were attacked by a number of unusually strong Grimm. While we were searching the crash sites, we discovered that only a single item had been taken: the prototype."
"That would fit the briefing of her MO," mused Arcee. "Not sure how she got the Grimm to dance to her number, but then again, she may not have had to."
Destro narrowed his eyes slightly, and then made a gesture with his hand. In response, one of the Iron Grenadiers rushed over and opened the door of one of the vehicles. He came back with a book emblazoned with the MARS logo and stood beside his employer.
"We'll hand over the instructions on how to disable the bomb, but in return, we want details on the woman who stole it," offered Destro. "You obviously know a fair bit about her."
Bulkhead and Arcee shared another look, and then dropped their servos.
"Well, it ain't exactly violating our orders. In fact, we're out here right now to make her life difficult," pointed out Bulkhead.
"Right," agreed Arcee, and then she focused on Destro. "Cinder Fall is allegedly a human first-year Haven student. She's taken over the Vale branch of the White Fang through mass murder and extortion and ordered a large-scale series of dust thefts."
"Interesting," Destro mused. "And these dust thefts continue still?"
Arcee shook her head. "No. Which means she thinks she has enough for whatever she's planning. Cinder's been overheard referring to a 'dark mistress,' identity unknown, but we believe she has connections to our own enemies, the Decepticons. There are several Decepticons that can change into a 'beast mode,' and we've confirmed a group of them called the Predacons are on-planet. It's possible they could have reformatted themselves to look like Grimm and staged the attack. They're allied with the SDC, so they could have used their contacts there to find out about the bomb test."
Everyone seemed rather stunned at that. Someone cursed the name of the SDC aloud. No one saw who, but none disagreed with the sentiment.
"Unlikely," Destro said, shaking his head. "MARS keeps its distance from the SDC - professional rivalry, you understand - so I suspect this 'Cinder' has another source, perhaps in her guise as a Huntress-in-training. Still, you have been very forthright."
"Not really," admitted Arcee. "It's not like I actually told you where the bomb is, but if we do our job right, then it won't matter. I'll try to get our leader to send it back to you, though. With luck, it won't be long till this whole incident is wrapped up in a neat little bow."
Destro gestured again, and the man with the book walked forward with it held out in offering, allowing Bulkhead to kneel down and grab it.
"Not with luck," said Destro. "With that. It should contain all the necessary information on how to disarm the weapon in one easy-to-read package. And if that somehow doesn't work, I'd at least appreciate it if you could toss it at a Leviathan or other suitably impressive Grimm and tell us what happened."
Bulkhead began to carefully flip through it. "Wow, this is really high-quality stuff. Very finely produced. It's even got… uh oh."
"'Uh oh'? What do you mean 'uh oh'?" asked Arcee.
"This thing contains radiological warnings," explained Bulkhead. "That could mean a lot of things, and not a lot of them are good. Especially not when combined with these gravity anomaly warnings."
Arcee glanced at Destro, and he gave her a flat look. "Trade secret."
"Fair enough. We'll have the thing moved into the middle of nowhere before fiddling with the untested superbomb then," allowed Arcee before looking over to Bulkhead. "Come on, Bulk. Let's get out of here."
The crowd parted to allow them to walk past, but as they did, Destro spoke up. "Oh, two more things."
Arcee paused and turned. "Yes?"
"My last report on the Vale White Fang says that Adam Taurus was in command. Tell me, is he still alive?" he asked curiously.
"Last we heard," she replied.
"Good," Destro said, clearly pleased by the news. "Then tell him I don't hold him accountable for what his mistress tried four years ago."
Arcee nodded. "I'll... pass that along. And the second?"
Destro reached into his coat pocket and brought out a shining rectangle. "My card."
Arcee delicately accepted the card, arching one optic. Destro shrugged. "I'm always looking to expand the business, and I suspect you could use access to some of our resources."
"I'll be sure to pass that on, though I suspect, if you want our business, we'll need your silence." There was always the risk of exposure, and the Decepticons already knew the Autobots were active on Remnant, but if they could limit the spread...
"I'm insulted," Destro said, though his voice didn't reflect the claim. "Customer confidentiality is paramount in our line of business."
"I'm glad to hear that," Arcee said honestly.
They were many miles away when they finally called for their comrades.
"This is Arcee. Mission accomplished. Heading back."
"-and I've attached the footage Ren acquired, along with the surveillance data that led us to this facility, to this message," the recording of Ruby Rose informed the group gathered in Ozpin's office. "This is too good an opportunity to pass up. If- if this goes wrong, tell Dad and Yang I love them. Wish us luck."
Ozpin, Glynda, and James sat in silence for a long moment after the video ended.
"They keep surprising me," Ozpin observed. "Is this what it felt like before I brought you two in on our own shadow war?"
"Hardly," James replied with snort. "I'm just glad they're keeping us in the loop, and I can't fault their decision to go in on their own."
"Really, James?" Glynda questioned. "Would you really go off alone like that if you were in their shoes? When we have your task force hovering over Vale?"
James shook his head. "Most of the Decepticons I've met seem to have trouble telling people apart, but Starscream's obsessions mean he would recognize me or my troops instantly. The mission would have to go off perfectly to avoid exposing us, and relying on perfection would obviate the need for backup."
Glynda blew out a disgruntled breath, but she couldn't argue the point.
"Let's take a look at that footage," Ozpin suggested, bringing up the other video file.
Both James and Glynda's expressions tightened as Starscream emerged through the titanic doorway.
"That bird..." Glynda murmured, then squinted through her glasses and shook her head. "No, its eyes are black."
"Has he made a mistake?" Ozpin asked. "Or is he genuinely talking to a random bird?"
"He's talking to a rubber ducky." Both Ozpin and Glynda turned to stare at the Atlesian general. He blinked at them, then elaborated, "It's a trick Mainframe mentioned to me when I had him reworking Atlas and Mantle's software. When he has a problem he can't figure out, he explains it to a rubber ducky he keeps on his desk. It forces him to break it down to the simplest elements, letting him figure out what he's overlooking." His expression darkened. "It's how he figured out a backdoor someone had hidden away in the base coding."
Consternation crossed Ozpin's face. "Is this something we need to worry about?"
James shook his head. "No. The man behind it is most assuredly dead, and even if he passed that information on to someone else before he died, I had Mainframe rebuild the base coding from the ground up, no backdoor this time." He gave a tight smile. "Though we do have a surprise waiting for anyone who tries to exploit it. We've also publicly released a security patch; it's not perfect, but it should trip up anyone trying to use it on any systems we haven't rebuilt from scratch."
"Good." Ozpin gave a relieved nod. "So, given this, any suggestions on our next course of action?"
"I think all we can do is trust Team Rainbow," James admitted reluctantly, "and do what Miss Rose has asked of us and wish them luck."
Glynda's gaze swept over to the frozen image of Starscream. "Good luck, Ruby," she said quietly.
She had a feeling the young prodigy would need it.
The forest was silent when Team RRANNWW came upon the bunker Ren had discovered.
"Should we... scout it out or something?" Jaune asked hesitantly.
Ruby shook her head. Instead, she pointed at the door and declared, "Pyrrha, that door is in our way. Fix that, please."
The Mistralian redhead nodded. "Right."
There was a terrible rending and grinding noise as she placed her hands on the door and tore at it with her semblance. The rest were all on watch. They had to be with how unsubtle they were being.
"I don't like this," mused Ren from further into the forest. "The Grimm will be able to hear us easily."
"Everyone will be able to hear us easily," replied Jaune uneasily, the only person close enough to Ren at that point to hear him over the noise.
With a final, terrific screech, the door came hurtling out and flew over their heads to smash into the trees, sending splinters flying in every direction.
"I'm sorry!" called out Pyrrha.
"It's okay!" replied Ruby, looking around. "We're okay. We're okay?" Everyone nodded. "We're okay!"
The group gathered up and began to make their way into the bunker, head lamps and body cams active. In this way, they were able to see the interior of the facility, but there wasn't much to observe. It seemed to be a giant foyer with yet another door just beyond it. Among what they could see, though, was a blinking red light on a box attached to the doorway that Pyrrha had torn open.
A booming crack washed over them from the outside.
"Guys, we need to hurry it up," implored Ruby. "Jaune, stay or go?"
The blond turned to her. "I think we should…"
There was a roar of engines and the unmistakable sound of a transformer living up to the name of its species. A heavy thud, and they knew they had lost the chance to decide. Starscream had arrived, and he did not look happy.
"Oh, what do we have here?" he asked menacingly as the group rushed out to surround him. "Are you part of Barricade's little conspiracy theory? No, that's impossible; I would have known about it. Who are you?"
He pointed those big guns mounted on his shoulders at them, but they chose to strike first.
"Frozen Heart!" barked Ruby.
At that command, Weiss twirled her rapier in the air, sending out a pattern of cold from the chambered ice dust cartridge that coalesced into a long spear of ice in mid-air, poised near Starscream's chest. Nora leaped up to the frozen lance with Magnhild raised overhead, bringing the hammer crashing into the end of the ice spike, driving the sharpened tip toward Starscream. The Decepticon raised his arm, deflecting the blow with his forearm as the frozen spar shattered on impact with his shoulder.
"That hurt, you insolent meat bags!" Starscream bellowed, but otherwise seemed none the worse for wear as he stepped back. "You won't get the drop on me with numbers!"
With that declaration, Starscream brought out a remote and hit one of the big buttons on it. Instantly, there was a terrible buzzing noise from inside the foyer, and far door slid open, revealing row upon row of identical-looking Decepticons, purple and black with wheels on their shoulders and lower legs that suggested they transformed into cars.
"Behold, my Vehicon legion!" Starscream announced before breaking into cackles as his reinforcements charged.
"Sugar Rush!" Ruby called out before activating her semblance. She dropped out of her Petal Burst just long enough to pick up a prepared Nora before she reactivated it, rushing toward the "Vehicons" in a blindingly fast countercharge.
At the end, Nora flew through the air, and Jaune saw an opportunity. "Weiss, Lightning Rod!"
"Right!" acknowledged the Atlesian fencer. The cylinder on Myrtenaster spun and clicked into place as she jumped and twirled into the air. She extended the blade and fired the now-chambered dust round, sending a lightning bolt into Nora's back as she descended on the Vehicon horde, Magnhild first, her mad cackle drowning out Starscream's.
With her semblance enhancing her strength, the orphan girl batted the first wave of Vehicons aside with contemptuous ease.
Ruby fired Crescent Rose at the ground, buying herself some distance in order to line her baby up and fire at the Vehicon targeting her. Behind her, Weiss was flinging freezing blasts like they were going out of style. Jaune and Pyrrha were fighting back to back, while Ren seemed to have linked up with Sun as they scampered up their opponents' own bodies to deliver point-blank shots to their faces.
"Geez," Nora complained, hefting Magnhild over her shoulder as she landed, "that was too easy. I was expecting giant alien robots to be tougher than that."
"Well, what do you expect from made-to-order cannon fodder?" Starscream retorted. "Especially under these conditions. Still, plenty more where those came from."
And Nora found herself dogpiled.
Weiss stepped back, breathing hard. "There's so many of them!"
"And now you see the beauty of my plan," Starscream declared casually. "Even one so mighty as Megatron can be crushed by weight of numbers. I just needed to find a suitable local substitute for sparks."
There was a sharp intake of breath from Ruby as she heard those words.
"According to James, the Decepticons translate their word for soul as 'spark,' which doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me," confided Glynda.
That garnered a nod from Ruby. "Yeah, I mean, why not just use the word that everyone else uses?"
"What have you done?" asked Ruby with a voice like steel.
The Decepticon air commander looked at her in confusion. "Why, isn't it obvious? Their structural integrity fields might be rather pathetic, but they still have them. Okay, yes, the lack of a spark extractor means the integration is quite crude, but wiring a few dozen locals no one would miss into my little army wasn't that hard, even though I'm still having trouble with the aerial models."
Ruby felt her blood run cold as she processed what Starscream had said. "There are people in those things!" she warned, then vanished in a cloud of petals, charging at the Decepticon. "Get them out! I've got Starscream!"
She rushed up the Decepticon's side, then grasped a handhold and leveled Crescent Rose.
"Not so fast, vermin!" Starscream shrieked, twisting and flicking her off before she could take the shot. To Ruby's surprise, the protruding nub she had a grip on came free with her, and she tumbled to the ground at his feet.
On instinct, she jumped back while pocketing what she had taken off Starscream; it might be useful later. The back corner of her mind noted the Vehicons departing the area, the rest of her team in tow. As soon as she was on the ground, she was off again, bouncing from perch to perch, sometimes using her semblance, sometimes not. While on the bounce, she fired off shot after shot from Crescent Rose, each of the .324 Rose bullets whipping out to strike the Decepticon with remarkably pinpoint accuracy. It wasn't enough, though; she somehow knew it wasn't enough, even as she saw her rounds impacting and could sense his incredibly strong aura fluctuating with every hit.
She blinked and hauled Crescent Rose off-target when she saw Sun leaping at the Decepticon, spoiling her shot, his shotgunchaku whirling and firing at Starscream in a blur that had to have taken constant practice to perfect.
"What are you still doing here?!" Ruby demanded as he fell back to regroup with her.
"Hey," he said, "technically, you don't outrank me, remember?"
Before she could reply, the two had to break apart again, as a return shot from Starscream scorched the ground between them where they'd just been standing. The Huntsman and Huntress moved with silent but imperfect coordination, trading off between each other as they kept Starscream frustrated, slowly whittling down his aura.
Eventually though, the Decepticon got lucky and fired a snapshot from his arm-mounted cannon that grazed her and collapsed her aura.
Ruby looked up, her body crumpled and shaking as her aura desperately tried to reassert itself. The Decepticon air commander was above her now, pointing the gun down at her such that the open barrel was almost consuming her version. That face, that terrible smiling face, took up the rest of it.
Starscream couldn't help but laugh sadistically. "Now, you annoying little squishy, you will… squish!"
The world, red with the blood of heroes, tore asunder.
"There are people in those things! Get them out! I've got Starscream!"
As soon as the order was heard, Pyrrha leapt into action. She didn't think, she didn't hesitate, she didn't wonder what to do. She just reached out with her semblance and tried to grab hold of one of the Vehicons with the magnetic forces at her command.
It did not like that. No sooner had she began to tear apart the chest of one of the Vehicons than did it turn to her and transform before her eyes into a speeding car. She jumped just enough to avoid being run over, and instead found herself sliding over the hood and just barely managing to catch hold of the spoiler on its rear, her fingers hooking around it. She felt her fingers begin to slip, and in a panic, she surged her semblance through her hand.
Huh, she thought as she realized she'd managed to magnetically attach her hand to the Vehicon. That's useful.
She glanced behind her, and saw more vehicles following them through the forest, some of them with members of her team attached. She got back to looking ahead, and saw a clearing coming up through the snapping bushes and twigs. Even as she was moving to get a better grip, though, her handhold began to give way.
The Vehicon was shifting and transforming once more into its humanoid form, and Pyrrha found herself having to move at speeds she hadn't thought were possible in order to avoid being crushed in some part of it. She succeeded, though, and soon she was hanging onto its back. It seemed to be twisting and trying to get her off, but she wasn't about to oblige it.
Reaching out with her semblance again, she desperately yanked, and to her surprise, the Vehicon's head tore clean off its shoulders, and she blinked, watching the head tumble away. It was then that she saw her teammates had arrived and were watching her, wide-eyed.
Quick! she thought in a brief panic, her eyes locked onto Jaune's sapphire orbs. Say something cool!
"Well, that's one way to get ahead in life," she quipped.
Success! she thought cheerily on seeing Jaune's illuminating smile.
The Vehicon started to move under her, and as it did so, she looked down its neck in surprise. She wondered if she had missed anything. It turned out she had, and she found herself looking down past inumerable wires and tubes and… pink bleeding blood vessels, at a large container that seemed just big enough to hold a human.
It wasn't much to go on, but it was something, and so she reached out with her semblance once more to tear the chest of the thing apart. To her surprise, she found it easy, as if it had been designed to open but was desperately trying to stay locked. Well, no matter how tightly sealed a door was, it was still meant to be far more passable than a wall.
So it was that with one mighty effort, she tore asunder the chest of the Vehicon, revealing the innards. Among the all-too-biological looking components was a single large orb. She wasted no time yanking it out with incredible magnetic force, and with that removed, the Decepticon abomination froze, then collapsed to the ground, like a puppet with its strings severed.
She landed beside the orb and found a small window. When she looked inside it, she found it was filled with a glowing fluid… and a human - a woman - curled into a fetal position with tubes running into her. Pyrrha's breath caught at the terrible sight. Just what had happened to them?
Pyrrha raised her gaze to the remaining Vehicons, her expression cold and determined. What Starscream had done to them… the fact that it probably wasn't even the worst of his crimes gave her no comfort. She would free these people, even if she had to destroy her own body and soul to do it.
"Do you know why I haven't killed you?" asked Raven as she circled her tribe's latest captives.
They were two men of clean cut disposition and had been extremely well-equipped with the latest in technology. In fact, they had been walking around with experimental gear, a testament to their skill and the wealth of the Mistralian Arms Research Syndicate. Yet, despite all their resources, they had still been captured by the warriors of the Branwen Tribe and were now held captive in cages.
"Presumably because you wish to ransom us," observed the younger of the two Iron Grenadiers.
"No," Raven answered simply. "It's because I don't want to start a war with MARS." She paused and looked at them intently. "So why does MARS want a war with me?"
"We believe you have something we want," the Grenadier replied evenly. "Something Laird Destro wants, and what Laird Destro wants, Laird Destro gets." He gave a thin smile. "It's what we get paid the big bucks for, after all."
"And what, exactly, is it you think we have?" Raven purred.
"A prototype stolen from MARS," the first Grenadier replied, unblinking. "Advanced technology."
"And what makes you think we have it?" Raven demanded. Assuming he was telling the truth, that is. She wouldn't put it past the Iron Grenadiers to go after any advanced tech they'd heard rumors of, and if it truly was one of MARS's own products, why not just build another?
The two Grenadiers exchanged a look, one that communicated volumes, before looking back at her.
"A reputable source in the Huntsman community," the spokesman said.
There was something there, something niggling at the back of Raven's mind, but she couldn't quite grasp it.
"'The Huntsman community'?" she echoed. "Is that why we've had so many Huntsmen attacking us recently? If so, your boss really shouldn't be so stingy with his Huntsman contracts."
The recent increase in Huntsmen hunting the Branwen Tribe had been more annoying than threatening. They were young and green, still so full of confidence and ideals that even Raven hadn't had the heart to simply execute the ones they'd captured alive... even setting aside the poor precedent executing prisoners sent; people tended not to surrender when you did that, and that was just more work and risk. And contrary to the Iron Grenadier's assumption, ransom was usually too much trouble. Instead, the captured Huntsmen had just been stripped of their valuables and released near a village. Maybe the humiliation would save their lives some day. Assuming they weren't stupid enough to get eaten by a Grimm before they reached civilization.
The older Iron Grenadier snorted derisively, finally breaking his silence. "Destro's frugal, not stingy. He wouldn't trust something like this to contract Huntsmen. Maybe you should see who you've pissed off at Haven... if you can bother sorting through the list."
Raven resisted the urge to decapitate the insolent prisoner. She truly didn't want a war with Anima's largest up and coming arms dealer, after all. This information was new; she'd have to look into the matter later.
For now, though... well, if MARS thought the tribe had some advanced tech they wanted, then maybe she would give it to them... and she knew exactly where to find some.
Ahh, Starscream... She knew planting his own aura link beacon on him would come in handy someday.
She walked off to a secluded part of the camp and slashed her sword through the air, tearing open a swirling vortex of red and black, then paused to speak to her lieutenant. "If an attack happens before I get back, inform them of our hostages. If they persist? Kill those two and run for the hills."
"Yes, ma'am," was Vernal's simple reply.
Raven stepped through.
"What is this?!" boggled Starscream as he turned around.
In the air hung a portal, red and black, that pulsed and heaved.
"No," muttered Starscream, his face falling.
Out from that swirling portal stepped a sight that Ruby had only seen once before outside photos. Strong and powerful and brave beyond measure, her stepmother stood there clad in crimson and sable, her mask glinting with the day's light. Raven Branwen had arrived.
Raven Branwen had arrived, and with her entrance, Ruby felt her battered heart soar. Her Kindred Link, her semblance, had torn open a portal to her family. That, beyond all doubt, beyond all words, beyond all else she could imagine, proved to Ruby that she had a place in the fallen Huntress's heart.
She did briefly consider that the fight was doing something to her head though, since there were serious downsides to all that, and she still had no idea why any of it was happening in the first place.
"Oh, no, not her!" yelled Starscream, shaking his head furiously.
Raven looked up at him and spoke with heroic confidence. "Hello, Starscream. Miss me?"
"No, no, no, nononono!" Starscream answered while scrambling away, his feet just barely missing Ruby in the process.
There was a supersonic crack like a gunshot, and then Starscream was stumbling. Bouncing off his lower back was Raven. She had moved so quickly that she could barely be seen.
Seizing the opportunity, Sun leapt forward and picked Ruby up to carry her to safety. She was unfocused, seemingly locked in a trance as watched the terrifying woman who walked through that hell portal beat the stuffing out of Starscream. Had she said that they had known each other?
She… no. There was no way, but… but it had to be. She was the woman from the docks. Her fighting style was a little different, and the sword was a different model, but that mask and that way of carrying herself were unmistakable. Why? Why was she here?
"Who is she?" asked Sun, somehow knowing that the girl in his arms would hold the answers.
"She's Raven Branwen," she answered, her voice out of it. "My stepmother."
Sun's eyes widened as he looked upon the terrifying blighted warrior with vision renewed. He took in the pitch black hair, the gory color scheme, and the ridiculously overdesigned sword with a rotary magazine for a scabbard. That last part cinched it beyond a shadow of a doubt.
She was knocked toward them and came flying backwards to dig her heels into the ground in a pair of small trenches ending near them.
"I won't give up," declared Raven with wicked optimism. "Not to you, Starscream."
"Holy smokes, you really are Ruby's mom!" blurted out Sun.
Raven froze in place, her hand still on the handle of her sheathed sword, and rotated her head around to look at them with evil slowness.
"What did you just call me?" she asked, her voice dripping with the promise of vengeance.
Sun froze himself, his throat tightening. "'Ruby's mom'?" he managed to choke out.
"Stepmom," corrected Ruby herself, seeming to regain some of her heroic resolve.
"No, that- that's not how that works," said the demonic woman in… confusion?
"Indeed, she is quite obviously the small one's biological mother, not merely a primitive legal formality," observed Starscream, drawing Raven's attention back to him. The Decepticon shrugged. "What? I know enough about organic biology to understand that similar-looking individuals are related. I have two functioning optics, after all."
"Not for long," growled Raven menacingly before leaping after him with another ear-splitting crack.
Their battle was joined again, and as they fought, Sun turned to Ruby. "Hey, is it just me, or does she look a lot like that scary woman who saved you at the docks?"
Ruby shook her head. "No, it's not just you. Can you please-?"
"Play it close to the chest?" interrupted Sun. "Sure, but the others have eyes too. They can probably put two and two together, especially Ren and Nora. And, you know, we are wearing body cameras."
"I know. It's just that... it's a really thorny family matter, and I don't really know anything right now, so I don't want to make a big deal of it," explained Ruby.
"Got ya," replied Sun with an affirmative hand gesture. "Help her out or sneak into the base?"
Ruby looked at the battle taking place, then towards the entrance to the lab. The doorway was alone and unprotected. Raven, it appeared, had her little battle well in hand.
"Stick to the edges, stay out of sight, and let's get in," she ordered.
"Got it, Reckless Leader," replied Sun.
Valiantly resisting the urge to groan, Ruby moved out. With soft quick steps, the pair ran in a crouch through the remaining brush. The air was thick with the sound of clashing metal, and twice, they glanced to the side to see how the battle was progressing.
To Ruby's eyes, it was inspiring. Raven was dancing about the fiendish Starscream, slashing with quick strikes with Omen, her sword with replaceable dust blades held in a scabbard that doubled as a rotary magazine. With her weathered red armor and long feathery black hair so like the majestic bird she was named after, she looked like a hero of legend come to life, strong and beautiful in equal measure.
To Sun's eyes, it was terrifying. Starscream and Raven were both ripping the forest apart in their destructive struggle, like two ravenous Beowolves fighting over the same human they wished to disembowel. Raven, in particular, with her Grimm mask and dark color scheme, looked like a demon sent from the Underworld to haunt the land of the living. She was, just as she was back at the docks, a woman with an innately frightful aura.
In due time though, they came upon the bunker door and moved to go inside. To their shock, they found the inner door still open. Visible then was a wealth of secrets just beyond the threshold. They couldn't believe their luck!
They were right to disbelieve.
"No!" cried out Starscream as he took notice of where they were. "No! I won't let you steal my work!"
With those words, the Decepticon air commander let loose a fusillade of missiles from hidden compartments, streaking out in a great swarm. Ruby and Sun just barely had enough time to dodge to the side as the projectiles shot into the doorway. There was a deafening boom, and then many others joined it. Within the span of a second, a gigantic gout of flame came rushing out of the bunker, even as more blasts could be heard. The mountain itself seemed to be deflating, even as wisps of smoke rose out of innumerable microfissures.
"Ah HAHAHAHA!" laughed the transformer maniacally. "Fools! Whatever plan you had has now been foiled by me, Air Commander Starscream of the Decepticon Seeker Corps! I win, you lose."
"Starscream, you idiot!" shouted Raven over the din of the roaring fire. "You blew up your own lab!"
The words registered with the Decepticon, and his face fell, immediately to be followed by placing his palms against the side of his head and screaming. "Ahhh! My lab! You filthy organics destroyed my lab! Oh, all my precious data and experiments, lost! You've destroyed it all!"
With that, Starscream transformed into his aircraft alternate mode, and hovered for a brief moment before flying off, still talking the whole way. "Curse you, Raven Branwen! Curse you and your whole tribe! I will have my revenge! Vehicons, follow me!"
As he streaked off into the sky, Raven watched him leave with clear disdain. "As if that's a threat."
With their objective destroyed, Ruby and Sun were left to despair. They couldn't do that though, not in a combat area. They needed to do something else, and for the young girl of the two, that meant homing in on the nearest personal objective. Such it was that they began running towards Raven Branwen.
"Hey, Ruby's stepmom, wait up!" called out Sun, even as Ruby typed out a quick update on her scroll to send to Jaune.
Raven whirled on him, somehow managing to glare through her mask. "I am not her stepmother."
As Sun backed up, Ruby put her scroll in her pocket and her fists on her hips. "Well, what else am I supposed to call you? Aunt?"
The bandit queen tilted her head towards her. "I am not your aunt, Little Summer. I am… What are you even doing here, Ruby Rose? Is Yang here with you?"
"She isn't, and she won't be. Because you're not going to tell her anything about this," replied Ruby sternly. "You've crossed a lot of lines in your life. Don't. Cross. This one."
Raven seemed to freeze a little at that, but her voice was as sharp as her blade. "Are you threatening me?"
"About this? Yes," answered Ruby with such conviction that none doubted her.
The bandit queen hummed appreciatively. "Hmm. I like you, kid, but seriously, why are you here? Who sent you?"
The smaller crimson Huntress crossed her arms, considering the question and recalling what her father had told her back on Patch. "I know you don't like Ozpin, but this is our mission, not his."
"I'm sure you think that," the elder sneered.
"I know that. We locked him out completely for this mission. He didn't even get the information that led us here until…" - Ruby paused to look down at her scroll - "...twenty minutes ago, and that was only as a backup in case we all died here."
Raven seemed to be taken slightly aback at that. "Really now?" She shook her head. "Just because you didn't tell him doesn't mean he didn't plan it. You should be careful, brat. More people have been killed because they trusted Ozpin than have been killed by my sword. Do they even realize they have a traitor in their midst?"
Ruby looked at her strangely, sadly. "If you're talking about Winter Schnee, we already know."
"I'm not," she replied simply. "Who I'm talking about is in a far more dangerous place than Ironwood's little attack dog, a place where one could do... a lot of damage. Think on that for a bit. It might save your life."
She had no sooner finished those words than did she bring out her sword and slash through the air, leaving a swirling vortex of red and black.
She paused. "You know, your mother died because she didn't know what - who - she was dealing with. Don't make the same mistake."
Ruby's eyes shot open, and she started running. "Wait! I wanted to thank you for…"
She was too late. With a final dramatic dive, she leapt towards Raven, but the black-maned woman had already stepped through the portal. She only landed flat on her face as the portal collapsed.
"...saving my life at the docks," mumbled Ruby into the ground.
Now that the scary lady had left, Sun walked over to her and crouched down. "Need any help up?".
"No, no, I can get it myself," she replied as she, true to her word, got up on her own with an expression of discontent. "I wish she had stayed just a few seconds more."
Sun thought back to that conversation he and Taiyang had had on the doorway to the Xiao Long household around a month ago and decided to relay it to Ruby. "You know, your dad gave me some advice about how to deal with Blake, but I think he was talking about Raven. The trick, as he put it, is to be aggressive but not too aggressive. A girl like that armors her heart, but if you crack that shell open too hard, she'll lash out or run away. Heck, she'll probably try to run away at some point anyway, like she did just now, but the key is how hard she makes it for you to follow her."
Ruby looked back to the empty spot where the portal was. "I'd say that she's making it pretty hard for me to follow her right now."
The blond followed her gaze. "So I guess the real question is... will she come back?"
"Ruby! Sun!" came the call of Jaune's voice over the sound of the burning lab.
The two turned, and saw Jaune and Weiss coming into view, with Ren and Nora trailing behind them. Pyrrha was between the former two, her arms around their shoulders, and she looked exhausted. She looked like she could barely stand, but somehow she did, even if she needed help. Her head though… her head was hung in shame and defeat.
The crimson-themed huntress rushed over as quickly as she could without using her semblance and was soon standing before them. "What happened? Were you able to save any of the civilians?"
"Not enough," Pyrrha wept. "Not enough."
The debriefing had finished, Team RRANNWW had been sent away, Ozpin and his associates had reviewed the footage, and then Ruby had been called back in after a dinner that sat heavy in her stomach. As she walked into the office and found the headmasters and Glynda standing around the desk, she knew what would happen. She would get drummed out, or benched, or told to take an indefinite vacation, or something else that would mean she was off the case. After such a spectacular failure, she wouldn't blame them, and on some deep, dark level, she would actually welcome it.
Jaune had been right. They should have scouted it out first. No, they had all been right, every single person save Blake who had heard about what she did at the docks. She'd rushed in - again - and nearly gotten killed - again - and worse, other people had died for her haste. Even Raven had cracked her impassive shell enough to offer her a quick lecture on the subject before she left.
"Miss Rose - Ruby - how are you?" Ozpin spoke softly as she approached, but before she could reply, he continued. "A silly question, and one asked out of habit. Forgive me. You naturally feel absolutely wretched right now. You've suffered a grave defeat with few mitigating successes, and you're wondering if you should even be allowed to go on."
Ruby shook her head. "More than that, Professor. I screwed up. And I know how I screwed up."
General Ironwood leaned forward intently. "Do you, Miss Rose?" he asked, his voice curious rather than accusatory. "And how, exactly, did you screw up?"
"I rushed in," she said. "Instead of taking the time to gather information, scope the place out, I rushed in. We might have been able to detect and disarm the alarm that alerted Starscream if we - I - had taken the time to check. We could have tracked Starscream's movement patterns, monitored how he himself disarmed the alarm, any number of things." She lowered her head. "Instead, I got all those people killed because I couldn't wait."
"'What if' is the bane of any Huntsman," Glynda interjected. "Maybe you made a mistake, Ruby, and maybe that mistake cost lives. But no Huntsman is perfect. We all make mistakes, and in our line of business, those mistakes cost lives."
"You are very talented, Miss Rose," Ironwood said, "but talent can only take you so far. For all the responsibilities you've shouldered, you are still young, still a student, and still have much to learn. So learn from this, but by the same token, don't let this scare you from decisive action. Under other circumstances, rushing in is the right call, but it's only through experience - through mistakes and, unless you're supremely lucky, spent lives - that you'll learn how to judge them accurately."
"It's perhaps the hardest part of the job: continuing on after being knocked down," Ozpin said, his voice and face reflecting long, hard-won experience. "It is, however, part of the job. The Grimm won't allow it to be anything else."
Ruby nodded, resolving to take their words to heart. She hated herself for the fact that it took people dying before those lectures about rushing in had sunk in. It wasn't just that she'd made a mistake; it was that she should have known better.
"That said," Ironwood continued, straightening up, "I feel I should point out your approach to information security was well-considered."
Glynda glared at him, then looked back at Ruby. "While I can mostly agree with James, next time you have a mission like this, I can make myself available."
"Glynda, you're recognizable too," pointed out Ironwood.
"I'm more than willing to be cashiered or pulled through the mud posthumously if that's what it takes," the blonde teacher replied with green eyes as hard as emeralds even through her glasses.
"But Starscream saw us," Ruby reminded them. "He knows who we are."
"I don't think he does," Ironwood disagreed, shaking his head. "From his parting words, it appears he places the blame fully on the Branwen Tribe. Any retaliation will likely be aimed at them, rather than Beacon or Atlas."
Ruby closed her eyes and shook her head, then glared at Ironwood. "That doesn't make it right. The Branwen Tribe may be a bunch of killers and thieves, but no one should suffer for someone else's actions."
"Not right, no," Ironwood agreed, "but still convenient for us. And it would appear Raven herself considers the threat negligible."
"Considering Starscream's reaction to her arrival, even he seems to agree that she can handle him," Glynda indicated dryly. "Whatever history they have together, it seems to have given them the measure of each other."
Ozpin held up a hand to stall further digression. "That's enough for now. After all, we called Ruby here to talk about the mission's successes."
"The people we rescued," stated Ruby.
"Partly," admitted Ironwood. "The four people you rescued are being looked over by some of my best men: Lifeline, Hi-Tech, and Spirit."
"Compartmentalized information?" deadpanned Ruby.
"Compartmentalized information," confirmed Ironwood. "That said, we were able to trace their history."
Ozpin nodded. "Three of the four are originally from Vale. They moved to the village of Darius some years back. The last survivor is a native of Darius." He bowed his head. "Darius was reported destroyed by the Grimm about twenty months ago, no survivors, the whole village leveled." He paused, then added, "According to the investigating Huntsman's report, it was 'like a great hand had swept the place clean.'"
"Starscream's hand," Ruby said, her voice hard.
"So it would seem," Glynda agreed.
"This proves that the Decepticons have been active on Remnant far longer than they've admitted to the Atlesian Council," Ironwood pointed out as he began pacing thoughtfully. "The timing is suspicious as well. A few months before that, the area around Solitas's inland sea was subject to a massive surge in Grimm activity, traveling toward the coast. Several villages and outposts were wiped out." He stopped and looked at them. "The Decepticons have souls, they have emotions... this might be the first clue we have as to where they are based."
"The inland sea is quite a large area," Ozpin noted, "but it's a place to start and certainly much smaller than the whole world. And what of the device Miss Rose recovered?"
"I have my best people looking at it," Ironwood assured them. "It'll likely take some time to figure out what its purpose is and how it works."
"Good," Ozpin said. "Finally... back to the matter of Raven Branwen. The encounter you and Mister Wukong had with her confirms that she has anchored her semblance to you and that we may at least count her as another enemy of the Decepticons, if not a possible ally against them. Still, what she told you is concerning."
"Agreed," Glynda said, nodding. "A well-placed traitor in our midst is deeply concerning... if she's telling the truth."
"Yes, 'if,'" Ironwood agreed. "I'm disinclined to trust just about anyone, at this point." His gaze dropped, and his voice lowered. "Especially after learning about Specialist Schnee." He shook his head. "This could be an attempt to sow division within our ranks. Or if there is a traitor, maybe she intends to enjoy the show while we run around looking for him."
"Or she doesn't yet know who the traitor is for certain or wishes to avoid accusations without evidence," Ozpin suggested. "A position, I think, we can all sympathize with." His eyes drifted to Ruby. "Or perhaps she does know everything involving this traitor but wants someone else to follow the same threads she did and come to those conclusions on their own."
Ruby boggled.
"Me?!" she protested. "Why would Raven want me to figure out who the traitor is?"
"To disillusion you, of course," replied Ozpin.
"What?" Ruby blinked. "What sense does that make?"
Ozpin sighed heavily. "Raven and I never saw eye-to-eye on everything; it was why I originally brought her into my confidence, in fact. I fear that with the death of your mother, she blames me and this organization for that. The two of them were close, like sisters out of some fairy tale, and it is entirely possible that she sees in you enough of her that she wants to protect you from us. However, she must know that you wouldn't take her word for it, so perhaps she is trying to get you to uncover our secrets on your own, so that you will leave by your own choice." He looked away. "She wasn't wrong when she said more people have died trusting me than have been slain by her blade."
"Perhaps, but that is incredibly uncharitable," Glynda argued frostily.
Ruby shook her head. "I'm not going to leave over some secrets. I know just how important secrets can be."
"Maybe, but a secret that isn't shared is hardly any use to anyone, and it can be harmful if not revealed to the right person at the right time," reasoned Ozpin. "Which is why we're going to start reading you and your team in on some of the secrets we've been keeping, just as you've read us in on yours."
"You don't have to do this, Professor," Ruby insisted, on some level genuinely hoping that she wouldn't have her mind burdened by anything more than it already was.
"Magic is real," stated Ozpin, cutting to the chase.
Ruby considered that for a moment, cocking her head to the side. "Is that all?"
Ozpin's eyes widened slightly at that, and then looked at his two equally-stunned compatriots before looking back at Ruby. "Usually, people have more of a reaction than that."
The silver-eyed girl shrugged. "I mean, it's cool, I guess, but compared to the giant robot aliens and the conspiracy shadow war, it feels a little underwhelming."
"It shouldn't," stated Glynda. "After all, it involves a second shadow war that's spanned thousands of years across the entire world."
At that, Ruby groaned and put her head in her hands. "Of course it does. Can you please just explain the parts that affect me right now?"
"You can shoot Grimm-melting laser beams out of your eyes without having to worry about collateral damage," explained Ironwood.
With those words, Ruby perked right back up. "Really?!"
"Really," said Ironwood with an encouraging smile, and then he glanced at his fellows with a 'you have to give the people what they want' expression. "You are part of a long line of silver-eyed warriors that are able to do much the same. Your mother, Summer Rose, was one of the greatest ever."
"That's… Did anyone else in my family have magical abilities?" asked Ruby.
"Your mother had a bit more magic in her than that, but that is a story tied in to another revelation. Your father, I'm sure, will want to explain his own story," answered Ozpin. "As for Raven Branwen and her brother Qrow, they have the ability to turn into black corvids with red eyes."
Ruby's interest promptly turned into confusion. "Wait, so Raven and Qrow can... turn into a raven and a crow?"
Ozpin smiled. "It's a little hard to tell the difference, I admit, but yes. You might want to keep an eye out for them in the future. Raven in particular, with her semblance, can get herself into all sorts of situations."
"I'll be sure to keep one eye on the sky at all times," assured Ruby. "After all, it only makes sense to look out for those looking out for you."
The clicking of heels could just barely be heard as Wishbone walked up to her destination, a high-rise apartment in one of Vale's nicer neighborhoods. Not the nicest, but what many considered a decent enough place to raise a family without having to move to some out of the way backwater like Patch. Which was, of course, why her sister and her husband moved there and why she was there that night.
She pressed the doorbell and waited. Wishbone didn't have to wait long. Within a minute, she was greeted by her identical twin sister... identical, that is, except for the length of their hair, with Wishbone's cut short while her sister liked it long. Cala Ferny Brown was smiling as brightly as a fluorescent light array.
"Calliope!" greeted Cala as she wrapped her into a hug. Unbidden, the impulse to take her knife and drive it into her gut came. Wishbone ignored it. She'd long since learned to suppress those urges, especially when they were directed at the people she... "loved" wasn't the right word. And Cala was at the top of that very short list.
She wasn't sure what she'd feel if something happened to her sister. Guilt, regret, loss? They were just words, but words with a deeper meaning, and she was terrified of learning what they meant first-hand.
Not that that made it easy to suppress those urges. They were visceral, primal, ruthless. But so was she.
"It's been too long," said Cala, and she backed up and to the side. "Come in, come in. Chris was just getting the food ready. You arrived just in time."
"So I have," replied Wishbone easily as she stepped over the threshold.
The apartment was a shrine of sorts, crafted to honor its goddess. That goddess, small and vulnerable, sat in a high chair in the kitchen. Milk chocolate hair, thin with youth, didn't even try to hide her hazel eyes or the two dog-like secondary ears poking out of her skull.
She still didn't understand why they had decided to name their firstborn daughter after her. It just didn't make any sense, not at all like just reaching down around her little neck and ending the drain on resources with a simple twist. She quashed that thought, as Mr. Schnee had given her a mission, and in this case, iconoclasm would work against it.
"Hello, Calliope!" greeted Christopher Brown, their idol reacting as well, the human's widow's peak hair and sharp bones framing his face to give him the appearance of being much older than he actually was. A broken nose and sliced lips would fix that.
"Hello, Christopher, how has work been?" asked Wishbone with a practiced corporate calm.
"Surprisingly, not as bad as previous years," replied Christopher, carrying some food over to the table. "I don't know what it is, but it's like there's a few dozen more Huntsmen running around killing Grimm."
"I'll take your word for it," said Wishbone before turning to Cala, who was occupied fussing over her goddess. "How about you, Cala? How has work been for you?"
Her identical twin rolled her eyes. "We work for the same company, sis. Though to answer your question, it's been tough. Can you believe there's a rumor going around that the SDC is responsible for all the dust robberies lately? Either people are believing that, or they want assurances we can't offer that they're not going to get robbed for buying from us. Good customers are all too valuable these days."
"How about you, Miss Big Strong Big Wig?" asked Christopher. "Can you tell us what the big guy in charge has you doing in Vale?"
"Not precisely," replied Wishbone. "I can tell you, though, that if everything goes right, you won't have to worry about theft problems any more."
Her thoughts drifted back to the picture on her scroll, the one of the girl she was supposed to apologize to soon. She was a bit more than that, though, and Wishbone would take the time to put the screws on her when the opportunity arose. After all, Ruby Rose might be a thorny subject, but she needed to find out more about her masters.
And if the young Huntress student wouldn't give her those answers… well, there was a reason she was called Wishbone.
Author's Note 1 (Cyclone):
Props to Cody. He pretty much wrote the entire chapter, with only minor contribution from me, as work beat me down and my muse wandered off to another project.
Also, it's kind of weird how this story is developing, especially in terms of who is secret keeper for what. I never expected Sun especially to be privy to so many secrets, for example. And actually keeping them!
And Ruby... oh, Ruby. Sweet Summer's child. You're in for an interesting time.
I disclaim any and all responsibility for the creation of Wishbone. She's all Cody's brainchild. Every last disturbing neuron of her.
Author's Note 2 (Cody MacArthur Fett):
Props to Cyclone for much of the editing. There were quite a few scenes that needed to be added to significantly or reworked in someway after we got the chapter done. Once more I'm glad we're holding to that "sleep on it, edit tomorrow, sleep on it, readthrough the day after tomorrow" rule. That allowed us to catch those many issues (though I'm sure some still remain, somehow) and correct them before any of you saw them, thus preventing the necessity of a rewrite.
Debated having the scene with Raven cover her perspective too, but decided against it to let readers fill in the blanks themselves. Though long time fans will probably recognize that there's a stark difference between what is meant, what is said, and what is heard. No character in our line-up suffers from this more than the poor lady drunk bird.
Speaking of the Raven scene though… I'm so glad that we found a way to minimize the fight scenes while still making them work, because those are the biggest drain on our time. Seriously, I don't know if you notice, but it usually takes twice as long to finish a chapter with a large number of fight scenes than it does to finish a normal chapter. They are just downright painful to us.
A weird thing happened while doing the readthrough when we came to Calliope's scene. I actually had difficulty speaking her narration because her thought process is just so alien compared to what I actually find natural. That's . . . never happened before. Is that good or bad?