Chapter 11: Creativity is Logical

Mountain Glenn

Velvet yawned a bit, her eyelids feeling droopy. Her shift for watch was almost over. In ten minutes, she would go and wake up her fellow teammates and her professor. They had a lot of work ahead of them. They had made considerable headway yesterday in their mission. Despite encountering some reasonable Grimm resistance, they were well-stocked, so ammunition and other supplies weren't lacking. Still, it would do them good to use only what they needed.

But logistics aside, it was an interesting mission to say the least. Usually, Team CFVY opted to stick to missions that were within the City of Vale. Coco, on more than one occasion, had expressed dislike going farther away from her resident clothing and accessory shops. Missions that took place within the city were conveniently located for her, and it would be unusual if their missions didn't occasionally end up with a few detours. To see her willing take this kind of mission was a welcome change of pace, although quite a surprising one. Sure, the reward was quite handsome, but the rabbit Faunus got the feeling that there was a bit more to it than what the team was getting out of this.

The sun had already risen, but wasn't fully in the sky yet. The orange that it cast across the landscape was remarkable. It seemed able to cast a sort of beauty to everything that it touched, even to the ravaged and abandoned Mountain Glenn settlement. The shapes and shadows that she could see with her eyes were plentiful. It was a sight that she never got tired of seeing. In a world full of monsters and creatures that sought to kill Humans and Faunus, beauty was a hard thing to find and keep, and though this might not be the ideal version of beauty, it still was something worth trying to treasure.

She straightened herself up from her sitting position at the table she was sitting at. She then reached across the table and grabbed her coffee, which was no doubt cold at this point, but she drank it anyway. The feeling of a cold drink would wake her up in addition to the caffeine that her systems would take in. After taking a swig, she swirled the contents of the cup in a small circle, watching the liquid make a mini tornado at the center. Once it had settled, she did it again, this time trying to see how fast she could make the eye in the center and how fast she could make it go. She did this for another minute until she checked her scroll again. She was still a few minutes away from waking everyone up.

"Good morning, Miss Scarlatina." Professor Shockwave's voice spoke softly, but still in his even tone.

"G-good morning, Professor Watson." Velvet barely kept herself from squeaking in surprise. "I was about to wake everyone up."

"Let them rest while there still is time." He answered her. "I actually have something I wish to ask you."

"O-oh." Velvet wasn't expecting this, but still complied. "Of course, sir. What do you want to talk about?"

"As an individual of science, I am always searching for any sort of research that is both intriguing and revolutionary." Her senior looked at her pointedly. "All the other professors speak highly of you, particularly a certain project you have been working on."

"Oh, you mean my weapon." Velvet realized what he was getting at. "It's only in the developmental stages, nothing that I can demonstrate personally right now."

"Regardless, I wished to hear about it from your perspective." He regarded her. "I wish to know more, if you are willing."

Well, this wasn't the conversation she was expecting, but she wasn't one to turn a person down, especially one that might be able to help her with her project. It was selfish, she knew, but from what little she could make of her professor, he was a clever one. His little black hole demonstration yesterday had proven that much. He might just be a genius, and if that was the case, then she could use a bit of that brainpower to give her input. She liked to think that she was good at what she did, but she was far from an expert.

"Of course." Velvet answered after a moment. "I'd be glad to get feedback if possible."

"Then could you begin with how you intend to construct this device. From what teachers have told me, it is shaping up to be perhaps one of the most ambitious weapon projects in years at Beacon Academy."

Velvet collected her thoughts to try and articulate her work. There weren't many that could really keep up with the level of work that went into her chosen weapon. Thankfully, Coco was able to keep up, albeit with some difficulty, seeing as her weapon was the closest to being complex in nature.

"I plan to use all the primary dust crystals available and combine them into a formula that will allow me construction of almost all weapons." Velvet recalled every shred of information for her project. "Not all dust crystals will be used at once. Different combinations will be used, all of them calling upon a focusing lense that will shape and solidify into the form of the weapon meant to be replicated.

"The final solid weapon would have to be strong enough to be used as a weapon, but still be able to be held by me. I am currently working on a means to keep the dust active yet still able to be held. The field I am working with currently needs to be adjusted before the idea can even be called viable.

"I also need to consider energy output and usage. While in theory any weapon can be copied, each weapon will require a different output. That will become problematic if I am in a fight where more powerful weapons will be used frequently. Also, once a weapon has been used, I will need to record the weapon again to have access to it."

That was the basic rundown. She didn't want to bore her teacher by telling him things that he probably already knew, so she gave what she hoped was a detailed-enough explanation so that he could get the information that he needed and nothing more. His expression did not change nor did his eyes give off any indicator as to what he was thinking about. The only thing she could do was wait nervously.

"The weapon itself is quite novel." He began after only a few moments. "That being said, your entire premise revolves around mimicry itself. Am I to assume that your semblance is related somehow?"

"Yes, sir." Velvet answered quickly. "My semblance allows me to replicate the physical movements of others, but I can't copy semblances or abilities related to semblances."

"That would explain your fighting style. You rely upon martial arts, and you will continue to do so even after your weapon is finished construction, am I correct?"

"Yes professor."

He was getting to a point, she could feel it, but she wasn't sure what he was leading up to; she felt more anxious than before. The anticipation was building quite a bit, and knowing that she had absolutely no idea what was going on only made all the more excited, yet the fear inside her didn't leave.

"Although I cannot provide you with a weapon upgrade as this mission dictates, I can provide you will ideas relating to your weapon and your aura. Does my proposition sound like something you wish to incorporate?"

"Certainly." Velvet nodded her head eagerly.

"Then listen closely." Professor Watson pulled out a holographic projector and began his explanation. "As you know, aura is the physical manifestation of the soul, and all souls have differences in them. Morality, experiences, memories, genetic composition and makeup, personality, all of these things ultimately make up our souls. Are you following?"

"Perfectly." She nodded.

"Then consider this: how you perceive a weapon with your soul may actually end up affecting its overall performance. A scythe is considered one of the most dangerous weapons in the world when in the hands of a proper wielder, but that may not be so if the wielder is not in tune with their weapon. By reversing our logic, perception can be used to enhance the weapon that we hold."

"I've… never thought of it that way." Velvet paused as she processed. "Such a simple way of looking at combat, yet it's never crossed my mind."

"Your weapon is built for adaptability, the same mentality that you practice in combat." Her senior proceeded pull up a schematic. "Having knowledge in all forms is useful, but mastery of a few or even one discipline can be more dangerous than being skilled in many different disciplines. By adjusting your way of wielding, you can put your own unique methods into combat."

"But how would I go about incorporating this into my design?"

"I will need a detailed explanation of your semblance to give you the proper advice."

"My semblance…"

RWBY - - - Transformers

By the time that the rest of Team CFVY had awoken, Shockwave had made considerable headway in discussing with Velvet how to improve not only her own weapon but her own fighting capabilities. She would have to test them out in live combat in order to ascertain their effectiveness, but as his own thought process dictated, everything he had told her thus far was completely logical.

The morning routine was pretty typical one for anyone. They ate, showered, and checked and rechecked their ammunition and supplies.

"Before we leave, there is something that we must take from this place." Shockwave informed his charges. "There is a server room not too far from here. It contains software as well as the location of various useful technologies that we will need to salvage."

"Does all this speed up the mission?" Coco inquired while adjusting her purse.

"We will be able to accelerate our time table by obtaining these components." The scientist used his scroll to show a detailed map. "With this in mind, we will need to split up and hunt individually. Are there any objections?"

"None here, teach." Coco shook her head.

"No, professor." Yatsuhashi replied.

"Negative." Fox said.

"We can do it." Velvet confidently proclaimed.

"Then each of you will choose a location and device to secure." Shockwave highlighted locations where they would need to be. "Be advised, these locations are spread out enough that in the event of Grimm overrunning any location, help will take time to arrive."

"We'll need to maintain constant contact then." Coco entered into the conversation with a thought. "How about a report-in every ten minutes or so?"

"Agreed." Velvet chimed in.

"Smart." Fox was next.

"A good course of action." Yatsuhashi shared.

Shockwave was satisfied for now. "Then choose your locations and the technology that pertains to them. Once your destination has been chosen, I will need all of you to assist in setting up a designated loading zone. We will create a perimeter with turrets where the bullhead can land and this is will become our own self-made safe zone."

While obtaining these components would be critical in building to their ultimate objective, there was also another reason to do this. Unknown to all of Team CFVY, he would be tracking them via concealed mobile cameras. They would follow the students, tracking every iota of information, however trivial. Plus, he would also have all of their vitals and lifesigns on his scroll. Professor Ozpin did say that any mission he went on with students gave him free reign to assess and grade accordingly. Although not for their grade per say, how each of them performed would ultimately make the resulting rewards all the more better or worse.

With the details of their plan finalized, everyone took off, confirming scroll synchronization and testing their coms. With no problems on anyone's end, everyone set out to secure their objective. They would be spending all day doing this, and each objective would take anywhere from half an hour to a full hour, and this was accounting for terrain, predicted Grimm activity, and the nature of each objective.

Shockwave himself was tasked with retrieving the data from the computers in the government sector, then destroying the data once he had his own copy. He had deduced that this place being online in any capacity couldn't have been mere coincidence or simply leftover technology that hadn't been properly deactivated. Someone had to have been here, someone with prior knowledge of this place and its inner workings.

After returning to the computer server room, he began to work at the terminal. He tapped away at the keyboard, not really giving too much thought to his work. Eons of working in a lab had given him an instinct for working with tech with such efficiency that few were able to rival let alone surpass. The first thing he did was go through an access log of the data in the room. If he could find the latest date of access, then he would have an idea of how outdated the tech was in comparison to modern tech. Both hardware and software would be taken into account; it would be essential to the next step of his part.

When he first accessed the log, he went through a rather long list of login dates and times, which dated back to the formation of Mountain Glenn. This was to be expected, as was the frequent logins by the same people. That had been roughly two decades ago by all accounts, and it was nothing surprising.

Shockwave continued to peruse through the log, finding something that was an anomaly. Normally, the logins should have had a cutoff date, a day that all access simply ceased. Mountain Glenn was abandoned, so common logic told him that there should have been no other time that a person used this place. What he found was that there were still signs of a login and signs of usage. It wasn't unheard of for tech to still have power after years of abandonment, especially in regards to highly-durable-tech, but this…

Someone has been here. There could be no doubt about it in the scientist's mind. But who would need or want this?

This certainty proved to be problematic; if there was indeed someone who could interfere in this mission, even if only peripherally, the results could be off from the intended path. While perfection wasn't expected for this mission, getting as close to perfection as possible would be more logical than not.

Shockwave would have continued to work had his motion sensor not pinged, informing him of incoming hostiles. The only thing that would makes sense were Grimm seeing that this place was devoid of life, but it was strange to see Grimm, if that's what they were, acting in a way that was more befitting of a strategizing human or faunus, but there was an even more pressing question: why attack him now?

The Cybertronian-Faunus transformed his prosthetic arm into his HyperFlux cannon and moved through the hallways to confront the threat. The first attacker that came his way was Beowolf, but not one that he had ever seen before. Unlike standard Beowolves, this one had some new additions to it, giving it an alien-green glow. Grimm weren't natural to begin with, but this was clearly the product of experimentation, but who would be able to pull something like this off? Certainly no ordinary scientist would even consider this, not when such experimentation would be considered illegal or immoral to most.

Shockwave fired a suppressed shot from his cannon, a taste to see if his weapon was working. The blast hit its mark, but the Beowolf appeared to be trying to get past the pain and tried to hit him. Using his cannon arm, he met the strength of the Grimm before smashing it with an aura-powered first, then a direct shot in the mouth with more power, enough to have its head explode into chunks.

He then deftly fired and killed another lone normal Beowolf. His own motion sensor detected movement behind him and he was instantly upon the next target. The new larger-than-average Beowolf snapped its jaws at him, which prompted him to grab the upper and lower jaw with both hands.

For a moment, it was a contest of physical strength. Although he hadn't got intimately familiar with the jaw power of what was usually seen in Beowolves, the scientist knew that this one was greater than even an increased his own strength against the modified Grimm until he used enough strength snap its jaws from its head before punching a hole through its skull. A Creeper then tried to strike him from the front, a move that proved ineffective as it meet his robotic arm that swatted the annoyance away casually before being blasted. Another attempted an ambush attack, which failed due to the fact that aura was protecting him. A stomp to the neck silenced the minor distraction.

Shockwave surveyed his surroundings. The rest of the Grimm were now somewhat in question. Like with his first encounter with them, they teetered on the edge of his personal bubble. A moment ago, they hadn't hesitated to attack him, but now they seemed indecisive as to what action they should take. Then an epiphany came to him: since the Grimm were reliant upon emotions and feelings, specifically negative emotions, since he was in control of his emotions and had evolved to the point of being all but emotionless, the Grimm weren't so quick to attack him, yet at the same time, his body was that of a Faunus, thus the trained instinct to hunt down the living still kicked in.

Those modified Grimm must have some semblance of control over normal Grimm. Shockwave deduced. Therefore, it is logical to assume that they came here with the intent to kill under the orders of another.

"Shockwave to Team CFVY." The Cybertronian-Faunus hybrid keyed into his com unit. "Be advised, contact has been made with modified Grimm. Be on the lookout for Grimm with glowing green."

"...come again, teach?" Coco responded. "Grimm with glowing green parts?"

Transformers - - - RWBY

"Affirmative." Professor Watson's response came quickly. "Modified Grimm with glowing green parts. They are impossible to miss."

Coco checked her scroll for any signs of dings or bangs. Of course it was disrespectful to doubt a teacher of Beacon Academy, but the thought of modified Grimm was sort of far out. No Human or Faunus alive and with any trace of sanity would dare to touch Grimm in a non-aggressive way let alone try to research them and make them better.

"I am sighting Grimm with the Professor's description now!" It would seem Yatsuhashi had made contact. "I am moving to engage!"

Coco listened to the sounds of dozens of growls calling for her deaths. Her head spun around to find find a pack of Beowolves surrounding her, three actually, and it looked like her professor wasn't kidding.

"Whoa there, you ugly mofos." Coco transformed her handbag into its chaingun mode. "Stay the hell away from me!"

Normally, her weapon would be more than enough to shred a Nevermore into two with no effort. This time though, while her bullets did damage the Beowolves surrounding her, they weren't an instant knockout. The leader of Team CFVY grit her teeth slightly, surprised a little bit by their resistance.

"So I'm playing with the big boys now." Coco said as she ceased fire. "Well then, step on up! Let's go a couple rounds!"

Coco swung her gun around, smacking one of the monsters upside the head. She barely had enough time to twist her body and narrowly evade a swipe at her head. She backpedalled on her dominant foot, firing a few rounds as she did so. The Beowolves tried to shield themselves with their own arms. This display of defensiveness coming from what would be considered a lower-tier Grimm was surprising.

"Guess it's time to play more strategically." Coco readied herself to charge. "Okay, here comes the thunder!"

The fashionista held her weapon in front of her, charged her aura, then dashed forward with a sudden burst of speed. All the while, she unleashed another hail of bullets. The mutant Grimm took the shots head on and charged themselves. When both parties were within physical striking distance, both were quick to be the first to draw blood. It was only by a fraction of a second that Coco was able to get the upper edge. She bent her waist so that the paw would go over her, missing her by mere centimeters. She followed up by smashing the barrel against the side of the Beowolf's head, the force of the blow enough to send it sliding to the ground. She dashed forward to smash her heel into the back of its neck.

Coco had a brief moment to check herself. Her ammunition was plenty and her aura was currently at 91 percent. She was good for now. Satisfied that she was still in good shape, she prepared herself.

She failed to see the Beowolf attacking her until it was too late. If not for her aura, he face would no doubt be sporting some deep claw gashes. Grunting in pain and staggering back, Coco reoriented herself, then stopped.

There was a scratch on her glasses, on her left lense.

"Bad move, buddy." Coco said menacingly.

She would settle the score, then keep searching for the thing she came for.

RWBY - - - Transformers

Yatsuhashi held his blade, one hand on the pommel and the other on the flat of the blade, engaging in a pushing battle with the mutated green Grimm that the professor had warned about. These monstrosities were leagues stronger than their standard counterparts. Even alphas were small fish compared to this thing, and Team CFVY had been enough missions to know what was big and what was small.

"This thing is strong." Yatsuhashi said to himself, even if he could be heard. "But I'm stronger!"

His aura powered his entire body, giving him a boost to his already impressive strength, and pushing his opponent back before he swung in a wide arc. The Beowolf raised its arms to block, yet the force of the blade and its sharpness were enough to cleave off its forearm and paws. Yatsu then split its head clean in half, almost with perfect symmetry.

According to the map that he had looked over, he was looking for what seemed to be a sort of prototype power generator. On the surface, it was nothing special; it was powered by conventional dust crystals, but what was unusual was that the notes claimed that depending upon what sort of crystal used, the power output would be altered. Also, different crystal combinations were viable as well, and they too produced differing power options. By the standards of modern power technology, this was a novel concept, and really convenient.

Yatsu realized that he was no longer surrounded by Grimm. It was just him and a desolate land of decrepit and deteriorating buildings. His nerves weren't often rattled, but even the second-year huntsman in training had to admit that this wasn't a place he wished to stay in for long. The silence in the air was heavy. With his greatsword at the ready, he moved forward with purpose, now very alert.

This section of the Government sector was less packed with residential buildings and more functional facilities. Up ahead of him, there was a communications tower, no doubt a means to connect to the CCTS system. Also within eyesight was a barrak, no doubt for police and military personnel. As important as these facilities were, they weren't what he had come for. His target just a little bit ahead.

And in the distance, there it was. A very clear sign was up ahead, and it was Merlot Industries. Back in its heyday, the company had been known for cutting edge technologies and innovative breakthroughs. When Mountain Glenn had fallen through, the company lost everything practically overnight when Doctor Merlot had died. Almost all of its assets were seized by shareholders as well as the Vale council. The name Merlot was practically non-existent now; finding anyone who actually knew about the name was hard. Even if this was very recent history, it played more like a legend than history.

Yatsu stopped when his ears picked up something strange. He could have sworn that he heard machinery whirling. He was sure that he hadn't been hearing things, and although it was plausible to believe that some technology could still be running, it was also just as likely that they had run out of power.

"Something's not right." Yatsu mumbled.

Transformers - - - RWBY

Fox hid behind a large rock contemplating his next move. The item he was to retrieve was in his sight. He would have already gone and taken what he was asked to take if not for the problems in his way. From his position, he could see androids blocking his path, but unlike mechs found in the Atlas Armed Forces, these ones were much larger and they were all equipped with close-quarters weapons. They stood still and at attention.

"Fox reporting in." Fox spoke softly into his scroll. "I've located my target, but it's being blocked off by android guardians."

"What?" Coco asked in surprise while still fighting. "Mechs? Out here? Something's not right."

"Yatsuhashi here." The sound of combat mixed with his voice. "I am also currently engaging mechs."

"Velvet reporting in." The bunny faunus sounded. "I've got my item. I'm moving to the rendezvous point now."

"Understood." Professor Watson replied back, a cannon blast being heard as well. "Fight to kill, but if a more simple solution presents itself, take it. We will waste more time in prolonged fights.

"Got it." Fox acknowledged quietly. "Fox out."

Well, it wasn't like he wanted a fight to begin with, but he wasn't sure if he was going to be able to get to his objective without at least engaging briefly. The real problem was that he didn't know what these mechs were programmed with. A basic mech wasn't anything to be worried, but these things screamed dangerous. Their stiff and at-attention posture didn't help matters.

Fox looked at his scroll again, seeing another minute tick off the clock. He couldn't really waste any more time strategizing. He could be flanked if he didn't make a move soon. He'd have to go in and make decisions on the fly. Having made up his mind, he flipped over the rock and brandished his weapons. The mechs immediately moved to defend their position. His first response was to strike swiftly. The mechs held their staffs, holding fast to their positions. Once he had made his move, the closest mech made a move as well. A vertical strike, then a horizontal one. The moves were executed with robotic precision, and despite being a bit predictable, they were fast.

Fox fell back a bit, making sure not to backpedal into anything. He waited for another opening, choosing to parry and deflect rather than dodge and weave. Staffs had the advantages of range, but it also came with it a weakness. If not handled properly, a staff could be a hindrance in close quarters. A momentary opening was all it took for the junior huntsman to seize his chance, putting a burst of speed into his step and slicing and hacking at the chest of one of the mechs. It wasn't enough to take it down, but it was enough to damage it, forcing the machine to retreat. The remaining units moved into a semi-circle formation, likely trying to attempt a pincer maneuver, but to do that, he needed to be completely unaware of their intended positioning.

It wasn't that easily getting the slip on him.

RWBY - - - Transformers

Velvet expertly dodged, flipped, weaved, ducked, and evaded the near-constant strikes aimed at her. Even with her level of skill, training, and experience, she was being hard-pressed to not get hit by either the mutated Grimm or the white mechs with chain guns. At this rate, this was going to run out of aura. Even having taken out at least half of the initial enemy count, she was pushing herself.

The bunny faunus swiped her legs in a wide arc, using infused aura to trip an Ursa. With the monster down, she delivered some fists to its head, enough to crack its white mask. She then dropped to the ground, so that he head wouldn't be taken out by flying bullets. Thanks to the chain gun of the mechs, some of the bullets hit the Grimm instead, taking out an enemy for her. Knowing that her cover was going to be gone, she weaved to her left, taking cover behind a crate with the symbol of Merlot Industries. Not for the first time, she wished that her weapon was complete so she could finish this fight quickly. That irrelevant thought lasted but a second. She blasted from her cover, aiming for a mech. The machine took aim, but before it pulled the trigger, she flipped over it, landing squarely on the back of its neck. Without considering her actions, she reached her right hand into the crack in its neck and grabbed. Just as she had hoped, there were wires and cables. All she had to do was pull with a bit of aura, ripping the precious connection. With that, the mech was effectively blind.

Velvet than did a backflip off just as a Beowolf swiped at the air where she had been, unintentionally decapitating the mech. Using the distraction, the girl used a little trick courtesy of Professor Port, aiming for a strike to neck as gravity carried her through the rest of her descent to the ground. The Grimm collapsed to the ground. Realizing that the now deactivated mech's chain gun was lying nearby, she dove for it. Testing out its weight, she quickly found the trigger and fired a torrent of fire into the down monster.

"Man, this thing is heavy." The sophomore huntress commented. "This makes Coco's weapon seem like a tiny pistol."

In spite of the weapon's terrible balance and handling in her possession, it was still useful, a fact which was further proven as Velvet moved the weapon to her seven o'clock, pulling the trigger and unleashed more suppressive fire. She didn't expect to hit much at farther ranges, but it was enough to put some dents and bangs here and there.

"Sorry to steal your moves, Coco." Velvet said with a bit of a sigh. "But I can't use this thing with my own skills."

Calling upon her semblance, she began to utilize what she had observed from her team leader. Then taking control of her liberated weapon, she went from struggling to use the minigun to wielding it like a pro.

Just a few more enemies to take down.

Transformers - - - RWBY

Shockwave regarded his now dead enemies with mild interest. Whatever had been done to these Grimm, he was now intrigued. To be able to experiment on these flawed creatures was something of a rarity in this world. How was anyone supposed to contain that which meant to kill people with souls?

It does not matter now. The scientist refrained from derailing his train of thought. The objective now is to establish a forward base of operations, not to study specimens of Grimm. That can be tabled for a later time.

Because the fight had been taken away from the data center, Shockwave had established a wireless connection from the servers to his own memory databases so that he could continue to download information. He knew that the fight was merely an attempt to get his attention away from obtaining information, and he would not fall for that trick. When his adversary realized that data was being downloaded, they had tried to block him. To combat this, the former decepticon erected a smart firewall to prevent anyone other than himself from remoting into the system. When the hack had failed, the attacker than tried to unleash a virus, to which Shockwave responded with his own countervirus.

This adversary is significantly more intelligent than the average human and faunus. Shockwave thought to himself. Yet this intelligence only applies academically speaking.

Reading all of the best information in the world was all well and good, but information without application or real-world value might as well be just useless information. Whoever was trying to kill himself and Team CFVY was no battle strategist or tactician. The most he had seen from this little skirmish were basic military tactics and strategies, all of which could be easily discernible through common sense.

Officially, Shockwave was the de facto leader of the Decepticons in all things scientific, but even with his specializations, he always was kept abreast of all things relating to the war. If Megatron were to fall in battle, then he would logically be the best-suited successor as leader of the Decepticons. As his own logic concluded, being a potential leader for the Decepticons meant being well-versed in warfare. That gave him something of an advantage over simple soldiers and warriors, something that the enemy clearly did not have.

Perhaps the only smart thing that the puppet master had done was erase all the data banks of the mechs sent in the attack. The parts were not even worth collecting and studying. There were better models and more sophisticated fighting systems. The only thing worth doing was taking a few pictures and collecting some data. He might not be able to directly trace these mechs back to the source, but he could cross-reference the parts and figure out where they came from and where they were shipped to.

Shockwave had determined that in the end, it was a waste of time and resources, a completely illogical and unnecessary. The only thing he would be losing was time, and he had plenty of that.

This chapter has been on the back burner for some time, and I apologize for that. I know now where I'm going with this, and I think you guys will like the results of this little journey. Just remember that all things scientific are of interest to Shockwave, even things like Grimm experimentation. He might assess them as weak, but that just means that there is potential for growth and betterment.

Team CFVY's dynamic with Shockwave is also a work in progress. That first section with Velvet was a taste of what to expect in the coming chapters. I think I get something out of all the team, so stick around for that.

So what do you guys think? To be logical or to not be logical? That is the question.

Oh, and if anyone catches grammar problems or anything else weird, let me know. I posted this rather quick and with little time to beta-read.

As always, thanks for reading.

"A dream doesn't become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination, and hard word."

Colin Powell