Chapter 12: Being Badass is Logical

Mountain Glenn

Shockwave held his arm out just in time for a mutated Beowolf to bite on. The teeth didn't even so much as make a scratch on the metal of his arm. He then used his organic arm to rip an eye out of the creature's head before shoving the tip of his Hyperflux Cannon into the gaping hole and blowing its head off. That was the last opponent in his area, that much he could confirm after surveying the scattered remains of Grimm dust and robot parts. These opponents were becoming less challenging and more predictable as he fought more of them. Certainly these Grimm were more dangerous than their more 'natural' counterparts and the mechs were combat-ready, but their behaviors and patterns were easily discernible. Ultimately the real thing to watch out for was his own energy usage, which wasn't a concern at all.

More importantly than the attackers were their nature. Experimenting with the Grimm could be considered logical and illogical.

It could be considered logical to experiment with the Grimm in the sense that in order to defeat the enemy, knowing the enemy was key. What better way to understand the enemy than to experiment with all the physical aspects? Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats could all be assessed through experimentation, information critical to the job of a huntsman.

On the other hand, it could be considered illogical in the sense that Grimm paled in comparison to the living. Grimm were little more than wild animals with an unexplainable desire to kill Humans and Faunus. It took hundreds of years for Grimm to develop any sort of intelligence that could match humans or faunus and even then, it was used for the sole reason of killing the living and nothing more.

Shockwave collected some robotic parts and technological sample wherever he could for future analysis. He still held a mixed picture of the Grimm; he needed more data to have a more conclusive way to deal with the black monsters. It was fortuitous that Team CFVY were elsewhere attending to their respective parts of the mission lest they question what he was doing, not that he cared what they thought about him or his behavior. It was merely more convenient if the mission continued on with less friction and more cohesion.

Once he had what he needed, he proceeded to make his way to the rendezvous point agreed upon. Mountain Glenn itself was far too problematic to establish a base of operations. A permanent base was needed somewhere outside the city perimeter, close enough to be traversable by foot but not close enough for the Grimm to be attacking in droves constantly. That was part of the reason why Shockwave had combed through the databases: to find a location that could serve as that base of operations. He was prepared for many different scenarios when he read through the full map, even for the ideal scenarios that had were highly unlikely, but still it would appear fortune favored him.

Mountain Glenn was a failure, that much even the average person could speak about, but nobody really knew the reason or reasons why. The general public just assumed it was a result of Grimm attacking in massive numbers, too many for even skilled and experienced huntsmen to hold back. While that assumption was not wrong, it did not provide the full story as to the breach of the mountain settlement.

The layout of the city told a much different story, one that involved what would have eventually become the outer wall that would be the first line of defense against the Grimm. Before the abandonment of Mountail Glenn, construction was being focused on building a highly resistant wall that would surround the settlement, preventing land Grimm from invading and the wall would also sport anti-air defenses to combat flight-capable species like the Nevermores. It all sounded logical, but for some reason, construction on the wall was slow, and by the time the Grimm came through, the walls were not even able to slow the Grimm much less stop them from entering.

That much Shockwave was able to deduce from what he had discovered in the databanks, but what had his attention were the parts of the wall that were complete. The plan was to have towers lining the wall every so often. The fortress-like walls were never finished, but it was a different story for one of the towers. One tower had already been completed and still stood, worn with time and a lack of proper maintenance, but still durable and functional. That would be a perfect place to establish a base of operations.

After making this discovery, the former Decepticon make a decision to make this tower their new rendezvous point. He had relayed this new development to all of his students and they had acknowledged his order and were moving to adjust their routes. He had included a brief explanation of why the sudden change and for the most part, everyone understood and agreed with his decision. That was somewhat unexpected though; he anticipated a bit more resistance. Perhaps the transition from freshman into sophomore meant more tempered emotions in students. No matter the reason, it meant less potential conflict.

The sun had reached its peak point in the sky, illuminating the world around Shockwave with much color. Looking at the world through a human-like eye gave him something of a new perspective, a new way to look at the world, therefore giving him a new way to understand the world. His Cybertronian sight was a much different beast entirely, providing him with superior eyesight and options when it came to learning about his environment. His organic eye was basic, inferior, and in almost every way, pointless when compared to his Cybertronian optic. Still, it was his tool and useless or not, this organic eye was part of him now, so he would use it for all that it was worth.

Grimm were currently on the move now, and not the mutated ones either. It appeared that unchanged specimens were located outside the city more, separated from the ones experimented on.

The concentration of non-mutated Grimm could only mean one thing: there was a higher concentration of negative emotions. They certainly weren't coming from him, which meant that likely it was Team CFVY who were closing in on his coordinates. That was good. They were making good time. By his own calculations, they would be here within fifteen minutes or so. Everything was still ahead of schedule.

Shockwave began his own preparations.

RWBY - - - Transformers

Team CFVY had finally managed to reunite after slowly making their way to the new rendezvous point. It wasn't in the plan to meet each other like this, but now that they had, they were making greater progress to reaching their professor. They had recently been notified of the increase of hostiles coming their way and they were to make haste and try not to get too bogged down in fighting the sheer numbers coming at them.

"I thought Mountain Glenn was abandoned!" Fox shouted as he cut down another Beowolf. "What part of this is abandoned!?"

"It was abandoned by the Kingdom of Vale!" Coco continued unleashing a torrent of bullets as she replied. "Not the Grimm!"

"Then what about these mechs?!" Velvet took down another Grimm while chiming in. "Surely, there weren't abandoned here too!"

"There are too many here!" Yatsu slashed and killed three at once. "It's far too suspicious to be anything but natural!"

All of them were getting the same uneasy feeling, but it wasn't like they had any concrete evidence to back up anything they were saying, only a gut feeling and some intuition and their own eyes, which may or may not be reliable. The most pressing matter was that they were fighting a fierce firefight, thus any thoughts they had concerning what was really going on was second to surviving and finishing this mission.

The four of them had gathered their components as requested, but when comparing and contrasting their respective pieces briefly, none of them could really figure out what their professor was going for. A power generator, a military multi-functional turret, a long-range communicator that doubled as a radar scanner, and a shielding unit. This didn't sound like how anyone would set up a base here. Though their time with Professor Watson was brief, there was no doubt in any of their minds that the man was not simple in any way, but no way was that stuff enough to defend an entire base.

"Look, over there!" Velvet called out and pointed. "That's our destination."

All four teenagers could see a tower, which clearly stood out in context to the natural environment of the mountain. Maybe they would be able to catch a break for once. They might be the top class in their year, but they were still only students, not fully-fledged huntsmen and huntresses.

"Um, guys?" Fox gestured in the direction opposite of the tower.

An echo of roars reached all of their eyes, all of them too many to count individually, but also accompanying the sound of the roars was the sound of a massive hoard of enemies closing in on them. At first, there appeared to be tiny dots in the distance moving towards them. Then as the picture became more clear, it was clear that their situation had devolved into utter madness. There were too many for them to take on all at once. Four teenagers against what appeared to be an endless hoard of foes, all rearing for action.

"CFVY, fall back!" Coco shouted against her natural instinct. "Get to the tower!"

The next few minutes became a dangerous game of cat and mouse. The only thing left to do was run like the wind and hope that their parkour skills would be enough to get them through the terrain that combined the decaying settlement with the resurging wilderness. None of them possessed a ranged weapon that could be used while on the run. The chain gun-wielding leader knew better than to try and use her weapon while running with the enemy at her back. She would undoubtedly stumble and most likely trip, forcing her team to pick her up or leave her behind.

The four of them scattered when gunfire tried to strike them in the back. The took care not to stray too far from each other. When it came to dealing with high-risk environments like this one, none of them dared to break off from the team. With such a high-volume of enemies, even the slightest mistake could result in some really dire situations and death was the last thing that the team needed.

Yatsuhashi brought his greatsword to bear, using it to batter aside debris in his way. Fox slid onto his back to get through a narrow gap between an uprooted tree and the ground. Velvet leaped and elegantly dove into an opening. Coco activated her weapon, using her weapon as a stepping ladder to jump over some random obstacle, making sure to not let go of her gun. The settlement extended farther than any of them realized. Sure, they had studied the maps and had guessed the magnitude of the settlement, but now having to run through it gave them the proper perspective that they were lacking.

A few shots rang out that came from the direction that the four of them were running towards. They could only spare a glance as the shots were perfectly placed, turning Grimm into ashes before their bodies could disintegrate themselves. Four sets of eyes trailed the shots back to their origin point. From the top floor of the tower, it appeared that their teacher had taken up a firing position and was proceeding to snipe enemies from a distance. Even the mechs didn't fare well against the shots.

"Just a little further!" Coco egged her friends on. "Almost there!"

That brief second of checking the status of Coco checking on her team had her drawing her attention away from danger. Thus, the fashion diva was too late to dodge the grenade aimed at her. She was only able to watch it as he entered her vision and slammed against her. The explosion and the force behind it caused her to trip and fall. Coco skidded a few meters before coming to a stop, coughing up dirt and debris.

Yatsu was the first to respond. Bringing up his greatsword, he held himself in front of his team leader. Using his aura, he began to create waves of kinetic force to push the charging Grimm back. Velvet came in next, helping her fellow huntress up. Fox provided additional cover along with Yatsu.

Transformers - - - RWBY

Shockwave took note of when Team CFVY stumbled and that's when he moved into more direct action. Having to explain student deaths to Ozpin would be problematic, so he needed to cover as much ground as possible and get to them before they were overrun. They were definitely going to die if he did not step in, even if their teamwork was adequate.

WIth his students about to reach him, the scientist charged his HyperFlux Cannon again, taking aim even while moving towards the enemy and fired another salvo. As expected, his shots hit their marks and killed instantly. He then wasted no time in running at full speed, steamrolling any Grimm that got in the way. and for the first time, Team CFVY saw him and were quick to stick to his sides. Once they were at his side, Shockwave fired again.

"Professor!" Velvet and Coco called to him, the former carrying both her item and her leader's item.

Yatsu and Fox, still acting as shields, heard what was going on behind them and moved to pull back while not letting up in their defenses.

From that point on, it was a slow battle back to the tower with numerous enemies converging from seemingly out of nowhere. Coco's aura had taken a hit, but fortunately, there was no damage to any part of her body. The same could not be said for the shades that she was wearing, or rather that she was no longer wearing. Her fall caused them to slide off and break into several pieces. She had to leave it behind.

"I take it back!" Coco growled as she kept pace with everyone. "I don't like these things at all!"

"Coco, now is not the time!" Velvet replied back sternly, which was unusual for her. "We can get a new pair for you later!"

"I'd rather they not be broken period!" Coco evaded being hit in the back by a hair as she complained. "That's money wasted!"

"Not now, you two!" Yatsuhashi yelled at them.

Shockwave chose to ignore their pointless bickering. While he could certainly do without such nonsensical chatter, trying to stop them would be a pointless waste of energy. He would let them vent out their frustrations and that would get them back to normal. Biologically speaking, anger could only be sustained for so long before the brain turned apathetic, so he would not worry about it for now. Logically speaking, it was easier for certain emotions to be expressed so that they did not surface in any unhealthy way later on. Better for these teenagers to take out any misgivings on the enemy than someone else.

"Professor!" Velvet exclaimed as they moved. "Do you have a plan to deal with this horde?!"

"Naturally." Shockwave raised his voice only enough to be heard. "The plan is already in motion."

All of them were visible perplexed by his words. He expected such a reaction; quite frankly, they didn't know about a lot of things and why should they? He had given them the details of the mission to be sure, but he certainly did not tell them everything. He needed them focused on their duties here.

Shockwave's eye and optic told him that his trap had already been triggered. Around the perimeter, he had placed tiny motion sensors that were combined with some tricky lighting dust rounds. They were simple things to fashion and they were his first use of dust in live combat. They acted like landmines, causing enemies that tripped them to be electrocuted enough to render them unable to continue further. Against normal Grimm and mechs, it would have likely destroyed their bodies, but since these were more advanced foes, the most that could be expected was a lengthy paralysis, which was decent.

Furthermore, the bodies of the now-defunct combatants would serve as roadblocks the more piled up. He made sure to strategically place mines in a way that would make bodies liked up in ways that would at the very least impeded progress. It would not hold them all back forever, but just a little time was all that was needed. Their enemy was not a simple bloodthirsty manic. Given enough resistance, it was plausible that their enemy might consider pulling out simply because it would be easier.

Shockwave pinged his motion radar to find that more enemies were getting left behind, more than his calculations had predicted. That immediately got his attention because by all accounts, they were surrounded and had their backs against the wall. To leave the battlefield with such a decisive advantage suggested that the mastermind had something much more dangerous in mind.

"Stop." Shockwave ordered the four teenagers.

They all obeyed and looked back, confusion etched on their faces. They must be realizing what he had already realized. That only made them even more edgy.

RWBY - - - Transformers

Team CFVY rested at the entrance to the tower while their professor had taken the pieces of tech they had each retrieved and got to work on his part. From this point forward, he had given them one simple thing to do: protect the tower at all costs. Since he would be the only one performing more technical work, he would not be assisting them in any capacity. With this in mind, all of them kept an eye out for danger while regaining some of their energy. About two hours had passed without much activity.

They knew something was coming and left them with very twitchy fingers. They weren't dealing with a typical search and destroy quest. This went way beyond anything they had ever done before. They were pushing their limits to get the most out of their skills and who knew when more bad luck would follow them. Coco had gotten lucky with a minor dent in aura. More serious injuries could follow. The mission was not complete yet and until it was, anything was possible. The fact that the professor wasn't the least bit tired or phased by this level of combat made it very clear they had much to learn.

"I didn't sign up for this." Coco groaned really loudly. "Dammit, I knew this was gonna be tough, but not like this."

"We knew that mission would increase in difficulty when we became sophomores." Velvet appeased, but didn't look any better. "We should've known that."

"I get the logic, Velvet, but hearing the words and experiencing them are two different things." Fox made his point clear. "And it's only gonna get tougher come junior and senior year."

"Which is all the more reason to rededicate ourselves to training." Yatsuhashi, leaning against the outside of the tower, said. "And also retool our minds so that we don't get complacent."

The sound of the wilderness around them did nothing to quell their warrior instincts. Camping out in hostile territory was never a fun time no matter how many enemies there were or how difficult they were to take down. The reality was that they all could die at any time in the line of duty, the ultimate way to go down. Of course none of them would go down without a fight. They would be dishonoring the title of huntsman if they did.

"So what do you think the professor's doing?" Fox addressed the elephant in the room. "I've really got no idea what's he's even doing."

"I would like to know that myself." Velvet joined in. "Those components don't really have any relevance to each other."

"Perhaps not to us, but I have heard that brilliant minds have a way of approaching problems that most people fail to understand." Yatsu offered his own opinion. "Our professor is nothing if not knowledgeable."

"That's putting it lightly." Velvet's eyes began to sparkle. "The man is brilliant when it comes to dust theory and weapons technology. He gave me the best advice on completing my weapon. I might even be able to deploy it as soon as the start of the school year!"

"Whoa, really?" Coco's head whipped to the rabbit faunus. "He's that good?"

"He's better than good." Velvet said. "He's a genius among geniuses."

"Hmm, so our teach's got brains and brawns." Coca grinned eagerly. "Not to mention those looks."

Velvet immediately moved to stop any further implications. "Coco, it's not appropriate to think about our professor like that."

"Oh, don't be such a spoilsport." Coco waved the her friend off. "C'mon, you can't say that he's not appealing."

"T-that's besides the point!" Velvet nearly maintained her composure save for the tint on her cheeks. "We're students and he's a teacher. It's improper and it's wrong."

"What are they talking about now?" Fox tried to wrap his head around what was going on. "I thought they were talking about the professor."

"They still are." Yatsuhashi replied somewhat awkwardly. "It's just different now."

"Right." Fox didn't really want to talk about it. "So, about what the professor is doing with those parts, what do you think?"

"I honestly don't know." Yatsu shrugged his shoulders. "It's really anyone's guess. It could be something really amazing. It could be something really simple. I don't have a clue."

"Yeah, I've got no idea either." Fox couldn't add anything else.

The two boys looked up at the tower while the girls continued on with their own chat. The breeze felt cool against their skin, which helped them considering the four of them had worked up a sweat. No doubt when they all got home, a shower and some new clothes were in order. That might just be another battle itself consider the unexpected stress that was resulting from this job.

Being a huntsman was anything but an easy job contrary to what a normal person thought. It was hard work fighting the most dangerous threat in the world on a regular basis. Not only that, but huntsmen were expected to also be involved in government affairs, mercenary work, and other high-risk high-reward careers. There was a reason why Beacon Academy was highly selective. If being able to fight was the only thing that mattered, the acceptance rate would have doubled or even tripled, but even if that were the case, the acceptance rate would still be low.

Jobs like these were probably going to be run of the mill for all of them in the future. Most likely in the future, they would be expected to do a job like this solo and get out without so much as a scratch. That was how badass they needed to be when the time came and they were struggling with all four of them right here. They could only imagine what Professor Goodwitch had in store for combat training. The woman was nothing if not cold and blunt when it came to training her students. It was hard to make a good impression on the experienced huntress let alone impress her.

Fox felt his senses telling himself something. He looked to the woods and his body tensed up. "Heads up, guys. We've got company."

Team CFVY resumed attack formation.

Transformers - - - RWBY

Shockwave already knew that something was coming long before the battle had even begun, but he ignored it for just a while longer and continued on with his work. He couldn't afford to be distracted by the fighting. A lot of future events were riding on the outcome of what he did here.

One of the first things he did with the tech components that the four students had acquired was to reconfigure them so that they couldn't be used by anyone other than himself and those that he deemed trustworthy. Since he didn't have the proper tools or equipment to fix or upgrade the parts, he focused on what he could accomplish here: upgrading the primitive operating systems that all of this technology utilized.

Although his entire neural functions had been converted, he still retained his memories and his processing power as a Cybertronian. Thus, he still carried the data to a personalized and custom-built operating system that he had complete domain over. This would not only prevent anyone else from controlling what the scientist built, but it would also allow him to make use of the same technology at his own pace. Considering that dust was a universal energy source on Remnant, it gave way to some very creative ideas.

Shockwave already had figured out exactly what he needed to do. As he had said before, setting up an isolated base of operations was the number one priority. In order to make this goal a reality, he needed to turn this place into an impregnable tower fortress, an easy thing to do now that he had all the information he needed regarding Grimm and these mechs. All he had to do was input his own personal data into the system generator and when the thing lit up around the tower, it would instantly recognize and react to anything that had programmed into the system. That included Grimm, unchanged and mutated as well as these mechs.

The main question was how long was the shield unit going to last. Maximizing the damage output when enemies made contact with the shield would be a major drain on dust power. Yes, enemies would be downed quickly if they didn't disengage, but for every enemy that decided to melt themselves into oblivion trying to get through the shield would significantly drain power. It was a gamble ultimately and failing now would be problematic considering that as a teacher, he had a duty to ensure that his charges returned home alive and sane. It was logical to succeed and illogical to fail.

With two hands, working was much easier. With one hand, he was carefully coding the shield unit and the power generator to work in tandem. The configurations needed to be precise and specific otherwise any number of technical issues could arise. There was nobody in this world that had even the mental capacity to process this kind of coding, hence why Team CFVY was out on guard duty.

And speaking of the enemy, Shockwave tilted his head to take a look at the radar scanner he had set up and put aside. He had only taken a few sparing glances at the device to check for enemy movements, but until now, there had been nothing of note. Then, the radar pinged a massive enemy heading their way. He doubled checked again to make sure he was not manfunctioning. That took a microsecond and by that point, he had reconfirmed what was already apparently clear.

There was a window nearby where he was working, so the former Decepticon stood up and opened the window to take a gander outside. What he saw were structures and the landscape collapsing as something really massive came towards them. He could make out what looked like two massive pincers and a long tail. It took him no time at all to realize what exactly was coming to kill them.

It was a mutated Deathstalker.

Now this was something that the shield would not be able to kill with the current power that the generator had, meaning that it was time to take matters into his own hands.

"Shockwave to Team CFVY." The scientist accessed his communications link. "Large enemy approaching from the north."

"We see it." Coco's voice sounded in acknowledgement. "Moving to intercept now."

"Negative." Shockwave countered her. "Take up defensive positions. Await further instructions."

"But…" The chain-gun wielder paused for a moment before rescinding her previous words. "Understood. Going on defense."

Shockwave transformed his robotic arm into his familiar HyperFlux Cannon and began to charge it. With much haste, he climbed the remaining stairs to the very top of the tower. Once there, he took a moment to survey the fall below. It was not a massive height from where he was standing to the ground. He had fallen down much higher heights back on Cybertron. This would not be a strain on his body in the least, even as weak as his body was now.

All he needed to do was to calculate the time it would take for the massive Grimm to arrive at the tower. He would then factor the numbers in for his own landing. Add onto the ever-growing energy with his weapon and he would be able to finish this fight in the calculated time.

The Deathstalker emerged from the forest with a clear intent to destroy. Shockwave did not even consider any sort of emotion. The only thing guiding his hand now was pure and cold logic. Channelling aura into his body he leaped from the tower the ascent gave him quite a bit of elevation before he reached his peak height. Once done, the Cybertronian-Faunus hybrid pointed his HyperFlux Cannon into the sky and fired. Normally, this would be considered not only illogical but idiotic to waste a shot, but the shot was not meant to kill the enemy. It was intended to accelerate the speed of the descent to maddening levels. A blur was all that was visible for all but a second.

Shockwave felt his body slamming into the body of the Deathstalker at breakneck speeds. His weight combined with the momentum he achieved was enough to bring even the gargantuan black monster down to the ground in a single move. Once the creature was down on its stomach, the scientist proceed to fire at its core from point blank range.

He fired once.

Then twice.

A third time.

Four shots

Five.

Each shot was not wasted as a gaping hole was created through the hulking beast until the last calculated shot made contact with the ground. By this point, the scorpion Grimm was already dead and its body was reduced to black mist and once again, the area was silent.

Shockwave processed his trainees coming out from cover to gaze at him with awe and respect.

Yes, awe and respect were logical.

"The enemy is down." Shockwave began walking back to the tower. "Resume guard duty until further notice."

Working was even more logical.

This chapter more or less concludes the arc with Team CFVY. The intent was to get across that there is a new professor in town and although he might be an intellectual at his core, he ain't no pushover. If he wants to do something, he'll do it.

The next few chapters will begin establishing more relationships as well as setting the groundwork for the events of V1 to kick off. Expect some really interesting things to keep happening going forward. It will also tie up loose ends from this chapter as well.

So what did you guys thinks of the chapter? Let me know in a review and also feedback for future chapters as well as ideas are always fun to read about.

I hope you guys enjoyed reading.

"Great things in business are never done by one person. They're done by a team of people."

Steve Jobs