Did you see today's episode? Holy shit, that was awesome! I won't spoil it if you haven't seen it, but what the hell are you doing reading this if you haven't? Go watch, this fic won't go anywhere and it certainly won't match the 'wham episode' nature of today in terms of awesomeness.
Guest, thanks for your elaborate explanation as to what you think defines Ruby as a character. I agree that her naiveté and optimism are core to her character, but unlike you I do think there is more to her, based on the scene in the Emerald Forest with Weiss, Ozpin's remark that her skills are second only to Qrow, who I believe is extremely powerful, and her part of Red Like Roses Part II. Furthermore, I think that while she indeed gets a lot of her wisdom from Ozpin and Weiss, I feel that she really does understand the lessons, and uses them in subsequent decisions, showing she really learned from them. You'll have heard all of this before, of course, so don't see this as an attempt to convince you. I just wanted to briefly share my views on her and these things form the core of them.
Also thank you to everyone else who reviewed last chapter. I hope you will be so kind as to do so yet again. With all of that out of the way, enjoy!
Chapter Eight: Lethal Industry
The industrial quarter was dark in the distance. That was to be expected, since it was a full two hours before the rally was due to start. We were currently hiding in the grassy field surrounding the industrial area. In contrast to the dried out grass around Vale, this was lush and green, and the ground was so muddy our shoes were sucked into it. At the very least, that meant that I'd have to buy new ones once this mission was over. I wasn't going to be seen running around on muddy shoes.
We had left Mistral City through the northern gate, and made our way to the industrial quarter from outside the city. The industrial quarter itself was located outside the walls of the city, but strategically placed guard towers kept the area relatively safe from Grimm. Since the area we needed to enter was on the very outskirts of the industrial quarter and not within range of the lone guard tower in the area, it had been relatively easy to get this far. If I had to guess, I would say that was how the White Fang had been able to obtain the factory and warehouses to begin with. After all, an area not protected by the guard tower was open to Grimm attacks.
Now, however, the mission had encountered its first difficulties. While we were sneaking ahead, Blake had spotted a guard high up on a walkway near the warehouses we were trying to reach. For a moment, I wondered how the guard could see anything without any light, but then I remembered that Faunus in general have better night vision than Humans do, and the odds the White Fang would post anyone who didn't have excellent night vision on guard duty were slim to none.
"Does Faunus sight have any weaknesses?" I asked Blake.
"Very few, and none we can use if we wish to remain undetected," Blake said grimly.
"What would our options be?" Yang asked.
"Bright lights would hurt their eyes if they're fully accustomed to the dark, as they currently are. Another option is drawing them away with a diversion. Both of these, however, would instantly give away our presence."
"So what can we do, then?" Yang asked.
To my surprise, Blake smiled. "I have night vision too. I can be our eyes and make sure we remain undetected. My ears are pretty good as well."
"That sounds like a good plan, Miss Belladonna, however I have an improvement to make upon it," Dr. Oobleck said. From his backpack, he pulled a set of night vision goggles. "I suggest we split into two teams. We each try a different angle of approach. Our first and foremost priority should be to listen in on the rally itself, but if that proves impossible we should at least attempt to sabotage their equipment. Under no circumstances do you initiate contact with the enemy, but if you are spotted neutralize them ASAP."
I wasn't entirely sure I liked the idea of splitting up. After all, the last time we did that it ended with Ruby getting sick. Not having her on this mission felt strange, and I didn't like it one bit. Still, from a tactical point of view the lack of a single point of failure was sound, and so I couldn't argue with Dr. Oobleck's plan.
"Miss Belladonna, you and Miss Xiao Long shall make an envelopment and approach from the west, whereas Miss Schnee and I shall come in from the north. In the event a retreat becomes necessary, the rendezvous point is the small copse near the start of the marshes, directly west of our current position," Dr. Oobleck said.
I wondered if Dr. Oobleck wanted me to be in his team because of my tactical mistake last time, or simply because he knew Yang and Blake were partners and thus worked well together. Maybe it was a bit of both.
"We begin our approach exactly twenty minutes from now at…" He checked his scroll. "…2020 on the dot, in order to give you time to get into position, so let's synchronize our scrolls. One last thing," Dr. Oobleck said before Blake and Yang could slip away. "In the event you encounter a SNAFU and the situation becomes FUBAR, you have permission to do as much damage as possible before retreating. Make sure that this mission won't be futile."
Yang and Blake gave Dr. Oobleck a weird look because of his choice of words, but then they nodded and stalked off into the night. Dr. Oobleck turned to me. "And now, we wait," he said.
I had the sneaking suspicion that Dr. Oobleck had been really eager to use his military jargon and in particular that expression. He'd used just about every cliché I could think of in those few sentences. I wondered if I should begin addressing him in military jargon as well, just to play along. After all, I'd grown up in Atlas, the most militarized kingdom in all of Remnant. That said, I'd never been part of the military so any attempts I'd make at using their lingo would most likely end in an embarrassment.
Silently we sat crouched in the grass. It gave me plenty of time to think, and most prevalent on my mind was my complete failure to tell Ruby what I felt for her. Sure, there would be other opportunities, but yesterday we'd been alone. Somehow I didn't think that was going to happen all that often anymore on this trip, and the thought of confessing my feelings to Ruby with Yang present wasn't a very pleasant one. Not that I was afraid she'd be against it, mind. No, what I dreaded about that scenario was the hurricane of lame jokes that would follow to my confession. Knowing her, she'd launch right into the most tasteless sex jokes she could think of.
Before my thoughts could go deeper into the gutter than thinking about Yang's jokes, Dr. Oobleck said, "It's time. Stay behind me, and follow my directions immediately and without question"
I nodded once. "Yes, sir."
A salute would probably have been too much, but just this choice of words should at least satisfy Dr. Oobleck's newfound military aspirations. Slowly, we began to creep forward, Dr. Oobleck wearing his night vision goggles. At first, we could creep in a straight line without many difficulties, but then we entered the sight range of another walkway, and we had to adjust our course to remain undetected.
Every now and then, Dr. Oobleck signaled that we had to remain still for a moment, covered by the grass, but I couldn't help but wonder how long that would last. There would have to be a point where we'd need to risk detection and cross open ground. Aside from that, the angle of the walkways in regards to the grass should by now allow the guards to see us, or at least the bend of the grass. Something wasn't feeling right, but we were in too deep to break it off at this point. No alarms had been raised, so presumably we still held the element of surprise. We reached the edge of the grassy area.
"The guard has thus far patrolled in a consistent manner. We should be able to take refuge against the wall of the container tower, directly underneath his walkway. It's a blind spot, because the tower itself blocks the view from the other walkway," Dr. Oobleck whispered.
I nodded. "I'm ready," I whispered back.
Around twenty seconds passed, and then Dr. Oobleck whispered, "Now."
We jogged over to the wall of the large, cylindrical container and pressed up against it. Directly above us, the grated walkway extended around its circumference.
"We shall move around the right side of the container tower. The warehouses are located at the heart of the complex, but there are fewer high structures on the western side," Dr. Oobleck said.
I nodded and wondered if Yang and Blake had managed to infiltrate the compound yet. Considering they had less cover at their disposal, it would be harder for them to get close. Conversely, the relative lack of high structures also meant less high ground for the guards, so the western entry point would likely have more ground-level patrols. We snuck around the container tower, and once we reached the other side we had a view of the back of the warehouses.
According to Dr. Oobleck, the leftmost one was the one where the rally itself would be held, while the other two contained the mechs. It worried me that the White Fang had access to all that technology. Just how deep did their influence run?
Each of the warehouses had a back door with a light above it, in front of which an armed guard was posted. I wondered if the infiltration at the Vale rally by Blake and Sun was to blame for the heightened security here.
"How are we going to get past them?" I whispered to Dr. Oobleck.
Before he could give me an answer, however, another guard approached the warehouses guards. He called the other two over and made a circular gesture with his arm. The warehouse guards nodded and followed the other guard, apparently on a patrol around the warehouses. That was an amazing stroke of luck, and I didn't like it one bit. Still, we couldn't ignore the opportunity. Every moment we lingered here increased our odds of being detected by a patrol. Dr. Oobleck seemed to have the same thought. He looked up through the grated walkway to see the position of the guard stationed up there, and once he had set off in the opposite direction he gestured at me to follow him.
We hurried across the open space to the door to the leftmost warehouse, and Dr. Oobleck tried the knob. The door opened. Another bit of luck. More and more I began to suspect a trap, yet no one awaited us in the small hallway we now found ourselves in and there still wasn't any indication that an alarm had been raised. Still, I had to voice my doubts to Dr. Oobleck.
"Isn't all of this going too smoothly?" I asked him.
He nodded grimly. "I had the same thought, but information can even be obtained from walking into a trap. The trick is to stay alive long enough to make use of it."
That wasn't a very reassuring thought, but it was far too late to back down now. We snuck through the hallway, which had one side path with an office to the right, and sanitary facilities to the left. At the end of the main hallway was another door. We went through it and ended up behind a makeshift stage. A small staircase led up to it, and the structure underneath was hidden by curtains. An ideal hiding spot. This was the fourth suspiciously lucky break we got. The trap was obviously ready. Now it was up to us to set it off. I sincerely hoped Dr. Oobleck had an escape plan ready as he and I crawled through the curtains to hide in the structure of metal struts that supported the stage.
We sat in the dark, waiting for something to happen. Nothing is more harrowing than knowing something will happen, just not when. Time passed frustratingly slowly. Each moment, I expected White Fang guards to show up with weapons trained at us, but nothing of the sort happened. After what felt like an hour of waiting, I heard the main doors of the warehouse open and tensed up. Was this the moment? Were the White Fang going to spring their trap? But no gunfire sounded. Instead, I heard casual conversation. Apparently the attendees of the rally were coming in.
I wondered where Yang and Blake were hidden, and if they'd even made it to the warehouses in the first place. Then again, I didn't know the layout of the interior of the warehouse. They could be anywhere. Blake might even be among the crowd, considering she was a Faunus. I took deep breaths as I heard the warehouse fill with both existing and new White Fang members.
At long last, I heard someone walking up the steps to the stage. The murmuring in the warehouse died off, and the person on stage began to speak. "Brothers and sisters, I bid you welcome to this event. Throughout Remnant, our ranks are swelling. For the newcomers among you, you have made the right choice to stand against the tyranny and oppression of the Humans. Too long have they trod on our pride as Faunus, but at long last the day is at hand where we shall take what is rightfully ours."
The speaker was silent for a moment. There was something about his voice. It sounded slightly musical, and I'd heard it before.
"In the warehouses next to this one, we have a supply of Atlesian mechs. While we only have relatively few at the moment, you can rest assured that as our numbers grow, so shall the amount of equipment we have access to." There were some incredulous noises from the crowd. "I understand your disbelief, friends. I, too, once underestimated the power we wield. But I do not expect mere words to convince you. As a full-fledged member of the White Fang, you will bear witness to our might firsthand. The Mistral kingdom is just the beginning. From the southern swamps, we shall bring down the decadence of the Human rule here in the east of Remnant. The day of reckoning is near, but before we can get to that…there is a more urgent matter to attend to."
Once again the speaker fell silent. I looked at Dr. Oobleck. In the gloom, I saw that he had the same thought. The fight was about to begin.
"For we are not alone. Our enemy is among us. More than that, they are hiding beneath this very stage. I advise that you come out of hiding, if you wish to remain alive. No amount of Aura will protect you from all our guns," the speaker said menacingly.
Dr. Oobleck made a motion with his head, telling me to follow him. I hoped for both our sakes he knew what he was doing. We climbed out from our hiding place back into the backstage area. Six guards were waiting for us and led us up the stage. On the stage, the speaker was waiting for us. He wore a full face mask, but when I saw the wolf ears I immediately recognized him. Cyril Cyano, the owner of the Blue Leaf. It appeared the recognition was mutual, because his body tensed up when he looked at me. Then, he began to laugh.
"I should have known you were among the spies, Ice Queen." He looked around. "Where's your little friend? Not hiding somewhere else, I hope?"
"Neither my associate nor I have anything to say to terrorists," Dr. Oobleck said.
Cyano scoffed. "Take pride in your bravery while it lasts, Human scum. We have ways of making you talk, and now is the excellent time to demonstrate them."
He gestured at his guards. I only now noticed that they weren't carrying regular assault rifles. My eyes widened when I realized what they were holding. Atlesian Aura suppressor rifles. They fired bolts of electromagnetic energy that could essentially shot-circuit a target's Aura, leaving them entirely helpless. They had originally been designed for use by police forces because they were non-lethal and useless against Grimm, but their use was banned after it was discovered a minor adjustment could make them excruciatingly painful and cause them to leave lasting nerve damage. How did the White Fang manage to obtain those weapons?
The guards leveled the rifles. I would perhaps be able to take out before they fired, and Dr. Oobleck would certainly match that, but that still left two guards, plus Cyano, plus all the other armed guards in the warehouse and the crowd. Dr. Oobleck, however, didn't look worried at all. When Cyano raised his arm to give the order to fire, I learned why.
"Hey, bastards, look alive!"
Everyone present in the warehouse looked at the source of the voice. In the rafters of the warehouse stood Yang and Blake, ready to leap down. As soon as they had all eyes on them, they jumped down onto the stage and attacked the guards. I didn't hesitate and drew Myrtenaster, while Dr. Oobleck extended his fiery thermos.
"Kill them!" Cyano roared at the surprised crowd.
While the White Fang members in the crowd drew their weapons, Dr. Oobleck fired several fireballs into their midst, causing them to scatter like bowling pins.
"We need to destroy the mechs," he told us. "We're going straight through the walls. Miss Xiao Long?"
Yang nodded. "Got it, Doc."
"You're not going anywhere," Cyano said. He raised his suppressor rifle, but before he could shoot I'd summoned a glyph and blown him off the stage.
"That's really becoming a habit of his," I remarked to no one in particular, to the general confusion of my teammates.
We fought our way through the White Fang members until we reached the wall. Yang flared up her Semblance and punched a massive hole into the adjacent warehouse, where the mechs were stored.
"Quickly, destroy as many as you can," Dr. Oobleck ordered. He gave the example by firing a massive fireball at the closest mech, engulfing it in flames. I spun the Dust chamber on Myrtenaster and selected my trusty ice Dust, using it to encase one of the mechs in a block of ice. While it might not total the mech, it would at the very least cause significant damage to the most delicate and important systems. Yang used her Semblance's power to destroy all the armaments on yet another mech, while Blake, ever the subtle one of us, used Gambol Shroud's blades to slice apart the hydraulics of her target, leaving most of it intact, yet wholly unusable.
Behind us, the White Fang were filing into the warehouse. I sent a wall of ice their way in an attempt to seal up the hole and impede them, while Dr. Oobleck used his fireballs to blow out the front doors of this warehouse.
"Girls, out, now!"
We wasted no time in obeying Dr. Oobleck's orders and we ran outside into the cool night air, which was promptly rent apart by a missile that came straight at us. Before it could reach us, however, Dr. Oobleck had sent a veritable wall of fire its way, destroying it in mid-flight. Through the clouds of smoke I could vaguely see the outline of a mech, cutting off our escape route to the south.
"West!" Dr. Oobleck ordered, and we ran after him…right into another mech that approached from the side.
"We're surrounded," Blake said.
"That would indeed appear to be the case," Dr. Oobleck commented dryly.
"What do we do?" Yang asked.
"We go north. We may be able to use the container towers as shields while we make our escape," Dr. Oobleck said.
He fired several fireballs at the western mech, and we followed him, fighting the White Fang guards that were still coming from the warehouses as we went. They didn't worry us nearly as much as the mechs did, however.
"Around the towers, quickly," Dr. Oobleck said.
We fought our way around the container towers, but when we reached the other side we were greeted by yet another mech, which immediately opened fire with its machinegun. We scattered to avoid being hit, staying in motion to deny the targeting system an easy kill.
"I'll distract it, get to the rendezvous point," Dr. Oobleck ordered.
But before he could fire, a rifle's report sounded clearly through the night. Sparks flew off the mech in front of us, and it was forced back a bit from the power of the impacts. The sound of those shots…the power of the rounds…those shots could only come from one gun I knew.
Again, the rifle fired, forcing the mech back another step. It looked around, its pilot desperately trying to find his assailant.
"Up there," Blake said, pointing at the walkway around one of the container towers. It was too dark to make out much, but in the lights of the fire I could see the shape of giant scythe.
"Ruby!"
As if she'd been waiting for us to notice her, she leapt down from the tower and attacked the mech with Crescent Rose's scythe form.
Dr. Oobleck was the first to recover his wits. "Run, you know where to go," he said. "I will assist your leader. That girl will give me an ulcer one day."
It didn't feel right leaving Ruby behind again, but I knew Dr. Oobleck would get them out, so I ran. Yang and Blake were right behind me. We dashed through the field, miraculously not followed by the White Fang members who were probably still trying to kill Ruby and Dr. Oobleck.
We reached the copse and made our way into the group of trees. "Now what?" I asked.
"There's a small rocky overhang near the far side of the trees, essentially a small cave," Blake said. "It will be our camp tonight."
"Won't the White Fang follow us out here?" I asked.
Blake shook her head. "The White Fang have always focused on the bigger picture. If their prey escapes, they'll simply get back to their regular plans. They feel they'll win the fight one day anyway, and then they'll have their revenge."
I scoffed. "Modest, aren't they?"
"Humans don't have the best track record either, you know," Blake retorted angrily.
"Guys, it's no use if we start fighting," Yang said, stepping in between Blake and me.
I sighed. "You're right. I'm sorry, Blake. I'm just a bit stressed out," I said.
"Yeah, me too. Sorry, Weiss," Blake replied.
We reached the small rocky overhang. It would provide us with protection from three sides, while the person on guard duty could sit on top of the overhang to oversee the swamp that stretched out beyond the trees. We put our equipment in the cave. The floor was muddy, but at least we had cover. Yang gathered firewood and I used some fire Dust to light it.
We'd just gotten the campfire going when Ruby and Dr. Oobleck reached us.
"Sis!" Yang said. "How did you find us?"
Dr. Oobleck answered instead of Ruby. "It appears she felt she couldn't just let us do this on our own, so she snuck out of Henry's house and made her way here. When she arrived, we had already started fighting. Because all the guards had come down to help, she was able to gain high ground and saw the mechs coming out."
Ruby took over the story. "I wanted to help sooner, but you kept changing direction. With that last one, I knew it was now or never, so I shot."
Dr. Oobleck looked at her. "You have disobeyed direct orders in coming here. This time it worked out, but this behavior cannot continue, Miss Rose. I want your word that from now on, you will not make such decisions on your own. Should you break that promise I will have no choice but to have you sent back to Beacon," he said.
Ruby sighed. "I know. I promise I won't act on my own anymore," she said.
Dr. Oobleck nodded. "Then I will trust you. Please, Ruby, do not break that trust."
Ruby looked into Dr. Oobleck's eyes. "I promise, Dr. Oobleck."
"Good. With that out of the way, let's get settled in for the night. I shall take first watch. Miss Xiao Long, can you take the second watch?"
Yang nodded. "Sure, no problem."
Dr. Oobleck grabbed his thermos and stepped outside. The rest of us stayed in the little cave. The fire smoked heavily, because the wood was wet, but at least the smoke got away through small cracks in the ceiling.
"Sis, you were really cool just now," Yang said. "Sure, it was dangerous, but you totally saved our butts out there."
Ruby chuckled. "Thanks, Yang. I'm glad I came on time."
"So are we, sis, so are we."
Not too long afterward, we were all lying around the fire on our mats, trying to get some sleep.
After I had my watch and sent Ruby out, I stared into the fire for a bit, warming myself after the cold watch. No Grimm had shown up, fortunately. As I gazed into the dancing flames, I realized something. Everyone was asleep, except for Ruby and me. When she returned from her watch and sent Blake out…I would finally have a chance to talk to her. My heart began to beat faster when I considered it, but I knew that now was as good a time as any. I had to get it off my chest, or it would continue to haunt my thoughts. As soon as Ruby got back…I was going to tell her how I felt.
So, the time has come. Weiss will finally confess her feelings to Ruby. How will that turn out? I think you know damn well how it will turn out…so I hope to see you next time, when the White Rose really gets off the ground. Don't forget to leave a review, and see you next time!
