(A/N) Edited for clarity and/or minor fixes 4/8/19


Chapter Seven – Hyper Lethal Vector


/-\ Yang Xiao Long; The Bunker /-\


"It's time I told you what I really am."

There was a pregnant pause. "Well, that's not ominous at all…" My partner remarked.

Ruby facepalmed. "Goddamnit Blake, I was trying to be dramatic." She sighed. "Anyways, I've kept you in the dark long enough. But let me make one thing clear:" She said, her voice turning stern. "none of what I'm about to tell you leaves this room. Got it?" We all nodded. She smirked. "Good. But first, I brought snacks for everyone." She went over to her armor and retrieved a few snacks out of the many pockets she had. "Let's see… cauliflower and hummus for Weiss." Her partner smiled and nodded in approval. "Barbecue flavored chips for Yang." I smiled and eagerly shoved a handful into my mouth. "Aaand Tuna for Blake."

She eagerly accepted it for all of a second… then her face, along with both me and Weiss's, adorned a look extreme confusion. "Uhh- umm… H- How'd you know? I haven't had any tuna since I got here."

My sister shot her a grin and ran her fingers through her hair. "Oh, I've read all of your files." Blake paled for a second before my sister elaborated. "She's from a small village in the mountains of eastern Mistral, tuna is a delicacy there."

She blinked. "Actually, I'm-"

"Right, Blake."

A look of comprehension dawned on her face. "…Oh, actually, yes… I'm from uhh… Xi-ang? Yeah, Xiang village!" She said with a smile a little too wide.

Both Weiss and I shared a look before we both shrugged. "Okay… kinda weird about the tuna thing, but uhh... you do you."

She breathed a sigh of relief and then turned her attention to the tuna… …and devouring it in two seconds flat. She looked expectantly at my sister. "D- Do you have any more?"

Ruby had just barely sat down when she waved off my partner. "Yeah, but later." Blake made a noise of disapproval. "Oh relax, we have things to get to." My partner rolled her eyes. "Anyways, so… there really isn't a way to sugarcoat it. I'm not really Human anymore."

I choked on one of my chips for a second. "W- What?!" I yelled. "But you're my sister!"

"Yeah, and I still am. But about… eh… nine? ten? Years ago, I went through the augmentation process and officially became a Spartan Three commando."

"What do you mean by 'augmentation process'?" Weiss asked, eyebrow raised.

"I mean that they pumped a metric fuckton of drugs into me." Ruby bluntly stated. "Ever wonder why I'm so strong? How about my speed? Or my freakish height?"

"So you mean you're on steroids?!" I yelled.

"HA! Nope, not only was it a one-time dose, buuuuut they make steroids look like eating donuts."

"Uhh… that wouldn't do anything…" I remarked.

"Yeah, that's the point." She said, dryly

"Well… what's different about you?" Her partner asked, intrigued.

"Okay… so for starters, my bones are basically unbreakable. My vision is a lot better both in the dark and in the light, not to the level of Faunus night vision, though. My muscles are denser, meaning I could probably bench an Ursa Major if I wanted to. Plus the neural interface, but that's not really unique to Spartans. And… uhh… well, I might be tall for a normal girl - hell, even a guy - buuuuut I'm actually short for a Spartan. The average in Beta Company was a little under seven feet tall… and I'm six-foot-four. Also, my reaction time is a lot better than a normal Human's."

I took a second to process this information before I had an idea. I grabbed a pencil out of my pocket and threw it directly at her face… …only for her to catch it between her fingers…

"Heh, thought you'd wanna test me out, sis." She threw the pencil back at me and I yelped as it embedded itself in the crate I was sitting on… …right below my crotch. She sighed. "But I'm not done… those were the ones that were intended for me." She strode over to an empty crate and sat down. "You see, Remnan biology is different from our Terran counterparts… but no one knew I was a Remnan, nor did they even know we existed. So, naturally, some things went… differently than the others…" She paused. "For starters, you know why I collapsed back at initiation?" That piqued my interest. "Turns out that I get all the benefits of standard Spartan stimulants crunched into about… fifteen seconds… hehe and afterwards, I crash… hard."

"Huh, I do remember you mumbling something about 'stims'… guess you really were fine."

"Told you." She said, humming. "Let's see… oh yeah! Whatever you do. Do. Not. Put on my armor." I blinked, surprised at her possessiveness. "This isn't even about me not wanting anyone to touch it either, it'll actually kill you if you put it on. And it certainly won't be quick or painless."

I blinked again. "Uhh, okay…"

"Oh, and also I apparently age slower than everyone else. I don't know if its just cosmetic or if it actually affects my lifespan, but I look fifteen when I should look twenty-two."

Weiss spoke up next. "Okay, that is interesting. But I have another question, earlier, you said you were a commando. If I may ask, what exactly did you do?"

Her smirk dropped. "I really wasn't looking forward to that question…" She sighed. "It's… easier if I show you…"


I stared at my sister in… well, one word isn't really enough to describe what I'm feeling at the moment.

Awe. The skill she demonstrated was beyond anything I'd ever seen.

Despair. I had left her to that fate.

Admiration. She had saved an extreme amount of people.

Fear. She had killed... so many aliens.

And many other things, but those were the biggest three. She stared back at us, her expression unreadable even without her helmet. We had asked questions during the session, she only showed us her tour on Reach. From their discovery of the Covenant at Visegrád to Ruby's last stand in Asźod, the fighting only lasted a month. Obviously long enough to where we had to be shown the highlight reel, but it was fairly short for something hyped up to be 'The Human Fortress World' as she called it.

However, there was one thing on all of our minds. "W- What happens if they find Remnant? Can we defend ourselves?" I asked.

She sighed. "Depends on what they send. The fleet that destroyed Reach was the strongest we've seen, well, ever… Though something like their fleet at the first battle of Sigma Octanus IV, I'd say we have a decent chance of winning… provided we can get to their ships, that is."

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "And how many would that be?"

She hummed. "Two frigates, one destroyer, and one assault carrier."

She scoffed. "They would send four ships to destroy an entire world?"

"Yep, wouldda won, too. We only had a single destroyer protecting the planet, but its captain was a tactical genius and managed to cripple the destroyer while killing the frigates, forcing the carrier to withdraw."

"I'm guessing that's unusual." Her partner observed.

"Yea, usually, we need three or more times their ships to win in space. We're better at the ground game, but it still never hurts to have more troops." She burst into rose petals and reformed into her armor. "Now, while I would love to stay and chat," She popped on her helmet. "we need to get ready for class."

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "What are you on about? We're done for classes today."

"Heh, ya might wanna check the time, Ice Queen."

We all did so… …and simultaneously paled. "WHAT?! We were up all night?! Why didn't you say anything?!"

She shrugged. "I did. You guys just wouldn't listen." She started to climb the ladder. "Welp, let's get goin'."


/-\ Blake Belladonna; Beacon Academy /-\


We walked the hallways as a team after we got done with our classes. Ruby was the only one not exhausted, even so, I had something I needed to talk to her about. "Hey, guys?"

They all turned to me. "Yeah, Blake?" Ruby answered.

"Can… you guys go on ahead? I need to speak to Ruby in private."

Our partners shrugged and entered the room. "So, how private are we talkin'? Secluded spot private or bunker private?"

"Bunker private." I answered immediately. She nodded and headed into the room. "Why are you going in there?"

"To get my armor." I raised an eyebrow. "I know I make it look easy, but that car really is heavy, and the armor makes it easier to move."

I shrugged and let her change.


She descended the ladder and popped off her helmet. "So, what's up?"

"How long have you known?" I asked in a low tone.

She shrugged. "Since the first day of classes for sure, though I had suspicions during initiation when your bow constantly twitched."

My eyes widened. "It still does that?!" I yelled as I reached up to feel my bow which, to my surprise, was flattened. I sighed when I realized she was laughing. "How did you find out?"

She smirked. "Like I said, I read everyone's files."

"How, though? There aren't any physical copies kept anywhere, and you'd need direct access to the CCT to actually get anywhere."

She waved me off. "Oh please, cybersecurity on this planet is literally centuries behind what I'm used to."

My eyes widened again. "…H- How much do you know?"

She gave me a deadpan expression. "Everything." She sat down on a crate. "I know you're actually from Menagerie, but you traveled around with your parents during their time with the White Fang." My breath hitched. "I know you stayed with the organization after Sienna Khan turned it into a group of wannabe revolutionaries, though you disagreed with her methods." I winced at the mention of her name. "And lastly, I know you left your former partner, Adam Taurus, behind during a raid on a Schnee Company train… less than an hour before I landed." She stood up and leaned against the ladder. "So, Blake Belladonna, why'd you become a huntress?"

I sat still, stunned by her observations… all of them correct. Eventually, I opened my mouth to speak. "I… I don't know…" I sighed. "I guess I wanted to make up for what I did…" I took a deep breath. "You told us your story… why?"

She shrugged. "You're my team, you deserve to know."

"But why do you trust us?" I blurted out before remembering the first time I asked that question. "Do you even trust us?"

She sighed. "Short answer: Yes; long answer: Its complicated."

"Well, I'm not going anywhere." I commented, dryly.

"Heh, I suppose so." She sighed. "Trust isn't as simple as 'yes and no' for me. Especially when the majority of the very few people to earn it are dead. You saw the fall of Noble Team at Reach… Aside from them, the only other one was… well… she was the only friend I had growing up." She took out a tag not unlike the ones I found in her armor. "Lisette-B276." She gave a sad smile. "We were inseparable. We ate together for every meal, did PT together, helped each other whenever we could. Hell, when one of us was sick, the other would fake just so we could be there for the other." She put it away and sighed. "I'll… spare you the details… but when she died… I didn't take it well…"

My eyes softened. "Ruby, I'm sorry."

She sighed. "It's… alright, I guess… The point is… everyone around me just… dies…" I opened my mouth to speak, but Ruby cut me off as her face turned steely. "So, you wanna know why I told everyone about them? Its because I want you to be ready. You want me to stop killing people? Only when people stop killing my friends. Is the training too hard? Too bad. It's how I can make sure Team RWBY doesn't end up as Noble Team two-point-oh!" She stared at me for a few moments before her composure broke and she slumped back against the ladder. "…Sorry about that… I-"

I interrupted her with a hug. "I think you need a friend."

After a moment of hesitation, she returned the embrace. "Thanks…" We stood there for a few minutes before she broke contact. "I think we got off on the wrong foot." She extended her hand. "Wanna start over as friends?"

I nodded and took her hand. "Friends."


/-\ Weiss Schnee; Beacon Academy Grounds /-\


I walked the school grounds, looking for my partner. 'Its not like she's easy to miss… easily being one of the tallest people here…' I idly thought as I patrolled the perimeter. Suddenly, the bushes rustled and a figure in partial white armor emerged.

I tried to move on quickly, but he spotted me. "Heya Weiss!" He called and I inwardly sighed. 'Just ignore him, he'll go away eventually…' "Umm, I was wondering if you'd like to umm go see a movie? Oh! And how's about afterwards we grab a bite at… uhh… Donaldo Mikkie's?"

"No." I replied, simply.

He was slightly taken aback as he was shadowing me. "Oh, umm… okay…" He whistled awkwardly. "So uhh… what're you doing here?"

I sighed. "If you must know, I am searching for my partner."

"Ah! Well, that's good… uhh… gooder than why I'm out here at least… wait, is gooder even a word?"

"No." I sighed.

"Ah shucks. Anyways, my uhh… my rocket locker kinda broke… with me in it…"

I smirked at an idea I just had. "Care to go back?"

"Uhh, wha- OH GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooodddddddsssssss~!" He said as I launched him away with a repulsion glyph.

My smirk turned into a full-on smile. "Good riddance."

"And that's why she calls you the Ice Queen." A feminine voice said behind me.

I quickly turned to face her… …only to see both Blake and Ruby staring at me. Ruby adorned a smirk, her helmet at her hip, whereas Blake was her usual, neutral, self. "There you are!" I shouted as I walked up to my partner. "I've been looking all over for you!"

She raised her eyebrow. "Aaaand you couldn't've called me?" I opened my mouth to retort, but no words came out. "Heh, thought so. Anyways, whaddaya need?"

"Yang and I have decided that a team meeting is in order."

Her eyebrow raised again. "How private?"

"Very. It would be best if we return to that… basement…"

She sighed. "…Goddamnit, I was just there…" She did an about face and started walking away. "Call Yang and tell her to meet us there."


Ruby descended the ladder. "It really seems like we're having a lot of meetings lately." We all nodded in agreement. "Wait, shouldn't you guys be dead tired?"

"It's a good thing coffee exists, then." I said. "I'm guessing you're not because of your… augmentations? I believe you called them."

"Got it in one." She crossed her arms and leaned against a wall. "So, what's this meeting about?"

I looked to my partner's sister, who nodded her head. "We… were wondering something…"

"Uh-huh."

"If the Covenant do find Remnant, what do we do?"

She sighed. "Depends on how many bodies they bring." She chuckled darkly. "A couple of ships? Atlas can probably take 'em with their airfleet. A handful? The air game would end in a draw and we'd fight them on the ground. A dozen? A kingdom might fall. Several dozen? We evacuate as many as we can."

"Atlas currently has fifty-seven capital-weight airships in its fleet, why do you think they'd be so ineffective?"

"Because those airships were designed to fight Grimm. They're unshielded, have light armament, and are tiny. Heh, tell me, Weiss, how large is a Sovereign-Class battlecarrier?"

"It is approximately four-hundred-thirty meters from bow to stern, why?" I answered with a raised eyebrow.

"Heh, and how's about the armament of an Aurora-Class Dreadnought?" She said with a deadpan look on her face.

"Its primary armament is one spinal mounted high-yield pulse laser, though it has five medium-yield dual pulse laser turrets on each broadside. For long-range engagements, it has a battery of four Phalanx anti-ship missile launchers." I recited from memory.

She grinned. "Alright, now… let me tell you of the Charon-Class Light Frigate." She paused. "Its just under four-hundred-ninety meters-"

"WHAT?!" I exclaimed. "That's a frigate?!"

"Yeah, and a light one at that." She gave a dark chuckle. "Anyways, it comes equipped with a Mark-II spinal mounted MAC, Magnetic Accelerator Cannon, that has a potential yield of over ten times that high-yield beam laser on the dreadnought."

She sighed. "Now, it also has fifty Archer missile pods, thirty missiles each, plus four twin-linked 50mm point-defense guns and three Hyperion nuclear missile silos." I stood there, speechless, as she continued. "And a single one of these are basically useless on their own. In fact, their primary role is to deploy ground troops."

"…So, your saying that… that if they find us…"

She nodded grimly. "For what it's worth… I'm sorry…"

After well over a minute, I finally managed to steel myself. "…What do we do in the second scenario? The one where Atlas can take down a significant number of them."

"Same as scenario three. We deploy to whatever kingdom is under attack, Likely either Vale or Atlas to start with."

At this point, her sister chimed in. "But they can just glass everything from orbit! What do we do then?!"

"Then we fight on our terms." At our confused expressions, she elaborated. "They have orbit-capable transport and we have aura. They'd need well over a dozen-to-one odds to win any ground battle against huntsmen, provided said huntsmen don't stand around like idiots. I'd say that we go board a ship or two and take 'em out from the inside."

"Okay, we have a… somewhat solid plan…" I said. "Now, how likely is it that they would find us?"

"While it could happen, Remnant has better odds than any UEG world ever did. The CCT doesn't extend beyond the atmosphere, meaning there's no outbound signals to trace. No one knows about this place, meaning no civilian traffic to follow. That only leaves two options: Either a UNSC or UEG ship stumbles upon us fleeing from the covvies, or they randomly find us… To be honest, I'm not sure which I'd prefer."

"…"

"…"

"…Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why would they do this?" Blake asked.

She sighed. "We asked them the same question… only response we ever got was a message that said, 'Your destruction is the will of the gods, and we are their instrument.'"

We all stood in silence before I spoke up. "Why would they think that religion of all things is a valid reason to exterminate an entire species?"

"…It's really not a reason…" She said dejectedly. "Well, is there anything else?"

Yang sighed. "We… we want you to train us to fight them."

Ruby blinked. "Uhh… okay… was not expecting that of all things… But, sure, I can train you. Heh, a Spartan trained me, after all…"

I raised an eyebrow. "I thought the Spartan program was relatively new."

"Well, the Spartan-III program is… my mentor was a Spartan-II. Lieutenant Commander Kurt-051." She let out a giggle. "But you didn't hear he was a Spartan from me… ONI might have my head." She made a cutting motion over her neck with her fingers.

I crossed my arms. "Can you tell us what the difference between each… kind of Spartan are?"

"Yeah, long story short, Spartan-I's were a project that pre-dated the Insurrection, mostly a failure, though I heard some were still active after all these years. Spartan-II's were made to fight the Insurrection, though they proved extremely effective against the Covenant when they showed up. All of 'em were given a set of MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor." She pounded on her armored chest. "Kinda like this one, though they got to test the old Mark-IV's… kinda bulkier than this one and they squished the lady bits if ya had 'em."

"The Spartan-III's were a bit different than our predecessors in that we were divided into companies. I'm from Beta company, hence the 'B' at the beginning of my service tag." She sighed. "We were meant to be disposable." She leaned back against her wall. "Alpha company got sent to destroy a covvie shipyard. Though they succeeded, everyone sent there died." She sighed again. "Then there was Beta. Those of us that Kurt couldn't justify saving got sent on Operation TORPEDO, they wanted us to blow up a fuel refinery." She paused. "I was one of the unlucky bastards that got to go… I… would really rather not get into it…" She said. "Then there's Gamma company, they graduate in a few months… Hear they're planning on one more company, Delta, I think they're called."

"Okay, I suppose that makes things a little clearer."

"No problem, Ice Queen."

"Hey, uhh, sis?"

"Yeah?"

"Earlier you said that you got… uhh… augmented like ten years ago. So I was wondering… how long have you been doing this?" Yang asked.

"Eh, ever since I arrived, actually." She responded nonchalantly.

Her eyes widened. "W- What?! But you were five!"

She shrugged as our eyes widened as well. "Yeah, that's the standard age for Spartan training."

"Hold on." I interjected. "You're telling me that your army uses child soldiers?!"

She sighed. "A wise man once said: 'When extinction is on the line, every alternative is preferable'. Besides, all Spartan-III's, including me, were volunteers."

I crossed my arms. "Oh? And what of the other two types of Spartans? The first and second generations?"

"Spartan-I's were augmented after years of service in the Marine Corps and/or Orbital Drop Shock Troopers." She said, dodging my question.

I frowned. "And what about the second generation?"

She stared at me for a moment. "That's classified."

I frowned in understanding. "They were unwilling children, weren't they?"

"I can neither confirm nor deny that statement." She paused for a moment. "Remember what I said earlier about extinction." She sighed. "Anyways, let's all get some rest… Its been a tough couple days…"

It appeared Blake couldn't agree more, as she slumped over and was asleep within seconds.

Ruby giggled. "…Yang, can you grab your partner?"


"Remind me again why we went to the city in such… drab clothing?" It had already been a day or so since we watched the fall of Reach. Ruby had insisted that we wear what she called 'exercise gear' for this… outing, I guess it could be called. Our attire consisted of running shoes, baggy grey sweatpants, an equally baggy tank top (each one colored to be appropriate for the wearer), and black fingerless gloves.

"Because we're gonna be movin'!"

I raised an eyebrow. "And what, exactly, can we do in a city that could not be accomplished within the campus forest?"

"Well, Miss trips-on-roots," She began while I let out an indignant 'Hey!'. "I wanna make sure you all know the most efficient way to move in a city."

I sighed in exasperation. "And what would that be…?"

She grinned and quickly ducked into an alleyway. We turned to follow her… …only to be met with an empty space. We all stared blankly into the alley before Blake spoke up. "I don't see any rose petals… so she's still here…" She strode in. "Ruby, you can come out now."

Her sister joined her partner. "Rub-"

"Magic, huh?"

"GAH!" We all yelped at the sudden appearance of our leader behind us. We swiftly recovered and collectively glared at our smirking leader.

"I'm a bit rusty, but I think I've still got it." She said as a single rose petal floated down past her head. She clapped her hands together. "So, today we're gonna do a bit of free running… or 'Urban Mobility' if you've got a stick up your ass." She said, throwing up a pair of air quotes.

I sighed. "Let's just get on with… whatever you have planned."

She shrugged. "Okay, so the idea is to use whatever is available to scale buildings." She ran over to a wall, ran up it without her semblance and secured a hand-hold before catapulting herself up to the next one, eventually reaching the top. "Like so." She folded her arms. "So, who's first?"

Blake shrugged and tried to imitate the Spartan, though she was significantly slower. Her blonde partner was next, and she did a… passable job. She was no where near as acrobatic as either of the two that had gone before, and she almost lost her grip on multiple occasions. After about two minutes, she hauled herself up onto the roof.

Everyone looked at me expectantly, but I smirked and summoned a propulsion glyph before-

"No."

I blinked. "…Excuse me?"

"No semblances for this one." I was about to retort, but she silenced me with a wave. "Using your semblance drains your aura, and you might not be able to afford that in a fight." She gave me an encouraging grin. "Plus, this'll improve your reaction time and dexterity… both of which, you use all the time."

I dismissed the glyph with a mere thought. "Fine." I charged towards the wall and leaped up to catch myself… …only to miss and fall flat on my face… I silenced their laughter with a glare before I took note of what I had available to me. A smirk crawled its way onto my face as I finalized my plan and leaped onto my first target. I quickly secured myself before continuing onto my next target, and then the next, and the next, before finally leaping onto the roof with the rest of my team.

My leader gave me a smirk. "Not bad for a first-timer." I raised an eyebrow. "Blake's obviously done this before, this is almost the exact opposite of Yang's, well, everything… but I think you'll do well here."

"Hey, uhh, sis? Why'd you never use these moves on Reach?"

"Oh, because MJOLNIR is too heavy to use 'em with."

I raised an eyebrow. "You literally punched a Hunter midair when it was dismounting a dropship." I deadpanned.

"Ah, no, I meant that it tends to break the things I'm swinging from."

"Oh, I suppose that makes sense." I said, giving a slight nod.

"Yeah, now for lesson number two." She took off, albeit without her semblance, and jumped off the building… …only to land on the opposite one. "C'mon, daylight's-a-burnin'!"

Determined not to be the laughing stock of the team this time around, I immediately took off. I leaped from the building and managed to land on my feet at my destination.

Ruby nodded. "Good. Work on the landing, but everything else is good." I scarcely noticed the other two landing, for an authority figure was actually pleased with my abilities. This… was a new feeling for me. Then I remembered something she said. 'Work on the landing.' I nodded to myself and took off. I vaguely heard one of my teammates shouting at me, but I ignored them.

I ran across the city, leaping from rooftop to rooftop and improving with each landing. Ahead, I saw a building with a slightly wider gap in between it and the next one. My heart was already pumping vigorously, but I had to make this one, last, jump. I leaped up with all my, admittedly meager, strength and I reached out for the ledge… …only for my fingers to painfully skid across the wall and allow me to plummet groundward.

I impacted with an audible thud, though my aura held. I groaned as I laid there, my limbs almost unwilling to move. After several seconds, I clawed my way onto my feet and observed my surroundings. I was in another alleyway, this one darker than the last. I started towards the exit before I stopped dead in my tracks. Why? Because I had heard something. Two distinct voices, both male, with one begging to be let go and the other gloating over his misfortune.

Someone was in trouble, and I was in a position to help.

I immediately reached for Myrtenaster… …only to find it absent. The begging turned into whimpering, and I decided I would help regardless of my armament. I rounded the corner and saw two brutish looking men standing over a raggedly dressed but lithe man.

The prone man let out a bloodcurdling scream and a third man stood up, bloody knife in hand. My eyes widened, but I felt my face twist into a snarl. "Leave this area immediately, ruffians!"

All three turned their attention to me, and the biggest one stepped forward. "Oh, well lookie what we got 'ere? A li'le girl playin' 'ero." A grin crawled its way onto his face. "Listen 'ere, girly. Ya don't wanna stick up fer them, do ya?"

I stood my ground. "I will not warn you again. Leave."

He cackled. "Suit cherself. Russel, go teach the lady a lesson."

One of the other brutes sported a grin. "With pleasure, boss." He said, shortly before charging me.

When he had closed the distance half-way, he started winding up for a punch… …one that I sidestepped easily. I spied a small paint can off to the side and a grin formed on my face as an idea formed in my head. I stood between him and the can, my arms crossed. "You are leaving much to be desired." I goaded.

He grunted and charged me, once again winding up a monster punch. I sidestepped and triggered the glyph I had formed under the paint can, sending it flying into his forehead. He slumped to the ground, unconscious.

"Ah, li'le girly's got a bi'e! I like-" He was cut off by a propulsion glyph slamming his head against his partner's.

"I tire of this conversation." I remarked, silently thanking Ruby for her idea during training. Remembering why I fought them in the first place, I rushed to the side of the injured man. I quickly called the emergency services, remembering the bloody knife I saw.

"119, what's your emergency?" The device said.

"I am currently in an alleyway; a man has been stabbed and the perpetrators are unconscious."

"EMS and Police are on the way, we have your location from your scroll. You may hang up now."

"Where are you hurt?" I asked the man.

"M- M- My tail…" He stammered out. "Th- They took it…" He started sobbing uncontrollably. I looked around and saw a wolf's tail a few feet away.

I froze. 'He's a Faunus?!' I thought to myself, surprised. 'He could be part of the White Fang.' I slowly backed away, looking him over for anything that might give me an answer. 'Yes, he is definitely part of the White Fang.' My face twisted into a snarl. 'I already called the authorities, they'll deal with him.' Without another word, I walked away.


(A/N) So, faunus racism... Just to confirm, the thugs were not team CRDL, I just thought Russel was a good name for a goon, lol. Weiss obviously has to move past the whole 'All faunus are secretly White Fang members' mentality, though imo she did so far too quickly in the show. Its okay if she never questioned it before, but a person as stubborn as her would at least try to defend her own position... for better or worse...

Earlier in the chapter, Ruby mentions that Spartans can't have children. When I was originally writing this, I thought that too, but upon review, that's actually not true. So I'm just gonna say that ONI told them at some point that Spartans cant have kids... for what ever reason.

I also shed some light on how I view the Atlesian Navy. Some of you might've noticed that they had a 'Dreadnought', a ship designation that is almost a hundred years out of date by our standards, and their use of a 'Battlecarrier'. This is to demonstrate that the RAN (Royal Atlesian Navy) has no idea what they're actually doing and is hopelessly outgunned by even a small-ish Covenant flotilla. Also, keep in mind that Weiss said Capital weight warships... meaning that cruisers, destroyers, and frigates are lumped into that sum. One more thing on the subject of Navies, the other kingdoms all have their own airfleets... they're just tiny in comparison. For example, Vale has one heavy cruiser and three destroyers.

With Ruby's hacking, she's not as good as, say, Kat. But then again, she doesn't need to be. Also, she doesn't know everything, seeing as she doesn't have time to comb through everything that everyone has to hide. For instance, she doesn't know about Penny yet.

Reviews!

Guest 001 - Yea, I think its safe to say that their issue with her methods has kinda gotten put on the backburner with the threat of the Covenant. Yea, I hadn't addressed it fully yet, but in chapter one I said that she was almost a full head taller than Blake, who is 5'6". I made her 'short' for a reason... and that would be that she's short in the show. I know that Lucy B-091 is stated to be 5'3", but the wiki says that her height was recorded at age 12, which leads me to believe that this is her pre-augmentation height.

Dragon lord Syed 101 - She hasn't gotten into any specifics about how the war is going, but Weiss, being the inquisitive type, can probably infer that its not going well if 'Humanity's fortress world' is gone.

Roboman - To be honest, I just didn't think of it, lol.

Guest 002 - To be honest, Weiss has kinda forgotten about that incident... Also, Ruby didn't want to scar her teammates for life by showing them a Brute ripping a person limb from limb.

seraphimnight - Yea, sorry to disappoint, lol. I'm certainly not opposed to writing a short reaction fic of _WBY watching Ruby during Reach, though I'd pretty much pause my writing with this one to get to that.

psp reader - Yep, loads of those in this chapter as well.

Guest 003 - Thanks! Glad you're enjoying it.

lowrex - Thanks! Hope you liked this one as well.

And that's it for this week's chapter. 'Rotenwald' is next!