First off, a happy 4th of July to all my friends and viewers from America, secondly, I'm not dead! It's time we got back to the writing, and I'll be trying to be more frequent with the updates. Hope you enjoy the chapter and feel free to leave your thoughts.
Chapter 15: Hands on Experience
Title Song: Reparation - RvB Season 13 Soundtrack
Sprinting with care down the corridor, Koa was prepared for anything, "Corridor to the left, a squad of guards," Lilo said. With that said, Koa tossed a boomerang, which curved around the corner, and a cry was suddenly heard.
Lilo was next to go round the corner, claws digging into the wall, and she then sheathed them to slam an armoured fist into a White Fang Soldier. She then drew her claws again, slashing at the two adjacent men. The last soldier was about to slash at her, but suddenly was clubbed in the head by Jasmine's gunlance.
"No time to hide them, press on!" Koa called, catching the bouncing boomerang as it came back their way.
"Things look clear until we reach the next corridor, full unit in play ahead," Lilo said.
Koa didn't question her intel, it had been sound up until now. He pulled out his scroll, "Science wing control center is just past them, come on," He said. The three students dashed on.
A blue barrier formed, and Lilo and Jasmine took positions, firing their weapons at the White Fang position, who returned fire with rifles and pistols. Koa silently counted down on his fingers, before the group broke formation, charging.
Koa blocked several bullets with some quick reflections of his boomerangs, then released the bladed edges, which cut through the flimsy aura of the White Fang members with ease. He slashed at one soldier, then kicked his unconscious body into his comrade, he then tossed a boomerang, which bounced in the corridor, clubbing two men in the head before returning to his hand.
Lilo burst forward with a jolt, firing her wrist guns that cut down several, which she then slashed at them with the claws on her knuckles. She then sent a mental command, and Shadow leaped free from one of the White Fang's shadows, claws ripping at another, fangs showing.
Jasmine then leapt forwards, taking Kitsune's Kickback and swiping it horizontally, letting out a salvo of shells that caused the White Fang remaining soldiers to scatter, which Jasmine then descending upon them, bashing three men with a single heavy swing. She then whirled it over her shoulder, jabbing it into the gut of one more soldier.
She yelped, as suddenly a soldier attempted to slash at her with her sword, but a sudden boot connected with her face. Koa grunted, collecting his boomerang. "Scum. Don't you dare touch her. Never again."
With the battle ended, the trio of students regrouped, and then pressed on.
"How's that door?" Mari asked, whipping out of cover to fire at the White Fang.
"Working on it!" Reggie said, tapping away at his scroll.
Persia whirled back from attempting to fire, "Work faster! I'll buy you some time!" She called, and broke cover, charging forwards, firing three shots from her arm mounted cannon, which was attached to her right gauntlet. Dust blasts spat free, disabling two guards and hitting a third.
Persia's weapon was a large gauntlet mounted arm-cannon, called Midnight Fusion, that could hold different dust types, and the girl suddenly clenched her fists, causing a large katar-like blade to extend, which she used to cut down the survivor of her initial attack.
She was quick to pounce upon the next group, her blade singing as she slashed through the thin aura of the guards. She then saw another squad approaching, and sighed, with a twist of the wrist, the inner mechanisms of the weapon spun shortly and the blade sheathed. She then fired, and a blue dust round shot free, which impacted on the ground in front of the leading soldier, which exploded, ice forming instantly.
With a sigh, she lowered her arm, which let it power down automatically. Persia turned back to Mari and Reggie, the later who gave a thumbs up, the door opening. "Ok MPR, let's move!" Mari called out, whirling through the door, hitting a lone guard with a single shot from Sunshot.
Reggie pulled out his weapon, and vanished in a purple flash, reappearing next to a grunt and slammed the head of it into him.
Reggie's weapon was a simple wrench that he called the Eureka Effect, it was a red hilted tool with a silver head, on the top was a pattern which was the atomic symbol, which was his own emblem. He then pointed it at the next soldier, and fired a jolt of lightning that incapacitated him instantly.
Reggie then was suddenly next to another White Fang, jabbing the head, sparking with electricity right into his gut. He then tossed the wrench, and it hit another man, and Reggie was suddenly there to retrieve the weapon again. He panted, and blocked bullets with a flourish of Eureka Effect, before releasing a charged bolt that blasted three soldiers into the wall.
"Reggie, get back!" Mari called out, blasting two soldiers coming from behind them.
Persia then fired an ice blast at their feet, and touched it, manipulating it into cover around the three second years with her semblance. "We gotta beat these goons then get back on track!" She called, firing a fiery blast at several White Fang.
A sudden explosion burst open the doors to the science wing, Jasmine was first into the room, her weapon on her back as she charged with a replica of Koa's Hardlight melded into a shield. Bull rushing into one man, she then drew her weapon, firing three shells that hit two more. She then burst forwards with Ruby's speed, surprising two men that tried to hit her with their axes, sweeping them off their feet.
Behind her, Koa's boomerang lanced into the room, bumping into a scientist's head, then bouncing into a soldier's back. Koa caught the weapon, then tossed it's twin, while drawing the blade of his other one, he slashed three times, knocking out one man, then leapt off his body, kicking another man in the head. At this time, the airborne Return to Sender bonked a man aiming at Lilo's back.
At the same time, Lilo burst into the room, her wrist weapons popping off rapid flurries of rounds that caused several White Fang to keel over, then she stopped, drawing the claws and slashing at another man that had attempted to stab at Jasmine. Shadow then burst from her silhouette, growling as he changed into a ghostly form, ripping into two more men that tried to attack Koa.
A moment later, Koa caught both boomerangs, holstering them as Jasmine collapsed Kitsune's Kickback, and Lilo retracted Metal Wolf Claws with a SHINK! "Ok, Jas, use my semblance to sweep up these guys, Lilo, check these computers with me. Shadow, you watch our six," Koa said, sitting into one of the chairs and booting up one of the screens.
"This moron forgot to lock his monitor, I've got access to everything in here," He said, eyes flicking through each file, before coming up to one called Project: KITSUNE. His eyes widened when he saw the name and picture attached to it, and plugged in a drive.
"Look at this," Lilo called him over. "Files on all sorts of Humans and Faunus alike, Chief Ghira will love to see these Faunus reports," She muttered. "There's also detailed reports from multiple officers of the White Fang."
"And Ozpin will want to see this one," Koa said, his eyes narrowing. He pointed to a screen. "Blake Belladonna." He passed his drive to her, and she copied the entire database to the drive, then erased the original.
Done with cleaning the floor, Jas came over, and her eyes locked onto a name and pointed it to Koa.
"Adam Taurus… your kidnapper," Koa growled.
"This base will self-destruct in ten minutes, all personnel are advised to evacuate immediately," An automated voice said.
"Guys?" Koa raised his scroll, Mari's name was on the screen. "We got a problem, we've encountered some big shot of the White Fang, and he's set the power generator to blow! We got ten minutes!"
"Acknowledged, we're done in the science wing and are on our way back," Koa said.
"You'll have to find another way out, the corridor you took collapsed!" Onyx spoke up.
"Damn it," Lilo muttered.
"I've looked at the schematics, looks like some kind of vehicle hangar next door to the science wing. MPR, you get back here, KLD, you get some land vehicle and get out of there," Sapphire spoke up.
"Roger!" All voices replied.
As the first years were breaking into the science wing, Mari, Persia and Reggie walked into the command centre. There was a man in black, with black and red hair with a pair of small horns poking through. His eyes were covered in a modified grimm mask, and as they entered the room, he stabbed the controls with a menacing katana.
"It seems we have some nosy trespassers," He said, turning to face them, holding the sheathe of his sword, which Mari noted had a barrel.
"Identify yourself," Mari said calmly, but took her gunslinger stance.
"Who I am is none of your concern, all that matters is that you will not live to see tomorrow," He said, sheathing his sword, then taking a stance.
"Get ready…" Mari said to her team.
The bull Faunus fired the katana from the barrel, and it shot forwards. Reggie took the chance to blink forwards, catching the black garbed man off guard, and attempted to jab Eureka Effect into the man's solar plexus. The man however swept Reggie's legs, and kicked him into a chair, which wheeled backwards.
Mari blocked the sword, which was caught by the man, slashing at the leader, but Persia's blade was there, and the cat Faunus deflected several blows from the katana. At this moment, Mari's dagger formed Sunshot intervened, and she used the smaller blade to catch a swing from the man, then fired the gun inside.
The man leapt back, avoiding the shot, then sheathed his sword, firing it again, then leaping and kicking it into a spinning blade, which ripped at Mari's aura, until Persia stepped in and swatted it aside with her own wrist sword.
As the man recovered his sword, Persia and Reggie checked their leader. "I'm ok, it bounced off my aura," She looked ok, but her voice was shaky.
"This base will self-destruct in ten minutes, all personnel are advised to evacuate immediately," An automated voice said from behind the man.
"And that's my cue, we'll meet again, humans and traitor," The man said, before dashing through a side door.
"Reggie! The controls!" Mari commanded.
"No good boss, already checked, it's fried," Reggie said.
Mari raised her scroll. "Guys?" We got a problem, we've encountered some big shot of the White Fang, and he's set the power generator to blow! We got ten minutes!"
"Acknowledged, we're done in the science wing and are on our way back," Koa said.
"You'll have to find another way out, the corridor you took collapsed!" Onyx spoke up.
"Damn it," Lilo muttered.
"I've looked at the schematics, looks like a vehicle bay next door to the science wing. MPR, you get back here, KLD, you get some land vehicle and get out of there," Sapphire spoke up.
"Roger!" All voices replied.
"Double time it to the hangar MPR, let's move," Mari called, folding up her scroll.
Folding up his scroll, Onyx looked back at Sapphire and Leva, "Since an evacuation call has been made, we need to make sure our ride doesn't get taken," Sapphire said.
As if her words were a summoning ritual, the door from the command wing opened, and a full squad of White Fang ran in. "Get the humans! Steal their transport!" One ordered, she was holding a pair of hatchets, which Onyx made her to be a Lieutenant.
"Professor?" Leva asked, pulling her weapon from her back. Onyx noted it to be a circle of some sort, that extended several petal-like protrusions, forming a buckler of sorts.
"It's heartless, but it's us or them, don't let them past us," Sapphire said. Onyx looked at her weapon, which was a white and blue spear with a coil just behind the tip.
"Understood," Onyx nodded. With that, he took a knee with Obsidian Rage, firing the slugs from the head of the axe, taking out a line of grunts with quick shots.
At the same time, Leva threw her buckler, and it hit another grunt, Leva then pulled back, and a chord retracted, pulling the shield back to her. She then pressed a button on the back of the shield, and a small nozzle appeared at the centre of the buckler.
"Alright… who wants to play with fire!" She yelled, a roaring torrent of flames bursting free.
Onyx chuckled at the red head's eccentric battle style, then glanced at Sapphire, who was spinning her spear in a defensive way, blocking a barrage of bullets, then stopping and leaping into the air. The tip of the spear then opened, and a blast of lightning slammed into the middle of the White Fang ranks. She then came down to block the two hatchets from the LT Faunus woman.
"Dumb human, our base was fine until you and your nosy huntsman friend had to butt in!" She growled.
"With the way you treat Humans and Faunus that don't want to join your cult, I think we earned the right to be nosy a long time ago," Sapphire said. She leapt back, then tossed the spear at the LT, who blocked it, but Sapphire caught the spear and tossed it into a spin, the weapon bouncing off her stomach and back into the professional huntress' awaiting hand.
Onyx glanced away from Mrs Maru's performance and bolstered his arm, just in time to catch a sword with the flat of his hand, he then yanked it away, while jabbing the blunt of his own weapon into the man's stomach. He then tossed the sword, which a woman avoided, but not the flat side of Onyx's axe. He then twisted a dial on the hilt, and the gun barrel muzzle rotated. He fired, the knockback giving his axe rocket speeds as he slammed it into two more grunts that tried to get past.
He turned to Snowfall, the white wolf barrelling into a pair of legs, knocking over a White Fang soldier, then she froze his arms and legs to the ground. She then howled, the collar around her neck shimmering, before she stomped with her front paws, icy spikes fountaining out before her, incapacitating several White Fang, either with spikes directly impacting them, or the following explosions of ice knocking them off their feet.
Leva's buckler had paused in the fiery blast, and she was giving a grin, the flames swirling back to encase her fist. "What the… you should be writhing in agony!" The nearest White Fang spluttered.
"Not if my semblance controls fire, oh wait… did I not tell you that?" She asked, then punched him with said flaming fist.
She then bashed her buckler into the same guy, and threw it again, the flames dancing along the outside of the shield's petals.
Leva's weapon was called Phoenix's Guard, and it was a simple design of a shield with thin-as-blade extensions around the centre buckler, which just so happened to house a flamethrower, powered by fire dust.
Taking the flames on her fist, she released them in the direction of a swarm of White Fang, all retreating as the fire burned away, threatening to burn them alive. Leva threw her shield, then yanked right, the shield bouncing off another man, and then hit a woman in the back of the head.
She wasn't done, pulling the shield back to her, she then kicked it out again, pressing the grip she was holding onto. This sent a signal, and flames roared from the buckler as it flew through the ranks, sending the White Fang flying with the pressure from the blasts.
Leva then gained control of all the flames and held it into a fireball above her head. "Who's next?" She asked. The White Fang grunts glanced at each other, not wanting to be the one to challenge her.
"Leva!" The red-head turned, seeing Mari burst into the hangar, "Steam Grenade!" She called out. Persia was raising her cannon and fired an icy blast. Leva tossed the fireball, and it impacted with the large glob of ice. Steam burst out, covering the hangar.
"MPRL, Onyx! We're leaving!" Sapphire called. She was holding her spear like a rifle, firing lightning blasts from the tesla coil.
"Right! Leva, fire up the ship, we're meeting KLD outside!" Mari called. Leva nodded, leaping up to the ship with Reggie, the two teammates making the ship ready to fly.
A moment later, the ship sailed cleanly from the hangar, and not a moment too soon, as the facility was completely engulfed in flames as an explosion ripped it apart.
"Koa!" Sapphire was on her scroll. "Jasmine, Lilo, are you there?!" Her voice was getting desperate.
"Yo professor, I see them, a six-wheeled truck below," Mari called out.
"Mom, one thing I'm glad about… is that those driving lessons you and dad gave me really helped," Koa's voice came through Sapphire's scroll.
Landing the ship, Sapphire and Onyx leapt off first, and greeted the three students and Shadow dismounting a six wheeled truck. Koa and Lilo were in the front, while Jasmine appeared from a hatch on top, right next to a large twin barreled auto-cannon. Shadow ran down a ramp that popped open at the back.
"Looks like it was stolen from an Atlas Convoy and modified, can we keep it?" Koa asked.
"Well… it's not forbidden for first years to have vehicles, Ozpin and Ironwood will get the final say, we can clamp it to the underside of the Voyage for now," Sapphire sighed. "If it was up to me, I would be ok registering this as Koa's own vehicle, not sure of it's road laws, but again, we'll check with Ozpin when we get back."
Koa shared a grin with his teammates, Snowfall and Shadow giving toothy grins of their own, as they shrunk down to adorable chibi versions. "Whoa, looks like it's bedtime for you two," Lilo said, picking both up.
"Is that normal?" Koa asked.
"When they're not in combat or tired, they can choose to become this form, we've just kept them in combat form at school because they're not gotten much full-scale action lately," Lilo explained.
"Well, I for one want to get back and have a nice shower, that big shot from earlier gave us a real scare, almost broke Mari's aura," Persia said.
"Big shot? What'd he look like?" Asked Sapphire.
"Black and red hair, bull Faunus, black clothing and his unique mask, fought with a katana and shotgun sheath," Reggie reported.
"What?!" Koa asked. He was suddenly very attentive, as was Jasmine. "Adam Taurus was HERE?!"
Sapphire pulled Jasmine into a hug. "This will have to be brought up in the debrief, we'll go over it later. For now, everyone get some sleep, we've had a long day, leave flying to me. I'll wake you when we're almost home," She said.
Koa gave his mother a defiant look, clearly wanting to keep going, but he relented, taking Jasmine to the truck. "We're gonna crash in here," He said, guiding Jasmine inside, before entering it himself.
Sapphire turned to MPRL and Onyx and Lilo. "The man you three fought is the one responsible for Jasmine's frailty and her muteness. He's extremely dangerous, I barely escaped with my life when he attacked our village all those years ago…" She pointed to a scar on her upper chest. "He left me with this parting gift."
"Good thing he was just buying time for that self-destruction then. I'd be quite happy stopping petty criminals and grimm attacks, no more fighting him again please," Mari said. "Thanks for the save Persia," She smiled to her partner.
"Anytime, anywhere," The cat faunus smiled.
Onyx and Lilo headed over and got in the truck, Leva positioned the Imperial Voyage above the new acquisition, and a clamp extended. "Ok, I've seen fliers able to carry this sort of thing before, never flown one."
"I have," Sapphire smiled. "Let me bring us home."
From one of the hills behind them, Adam Taurus watched them go. Pests. The lot of them. Next time I meet those kids, I'll kill them.
Koa: And we're back!
Onyx: And we have a new toy. I wonder what we'll do to make it more homely.
Lilo: I don't care, as long as I can fire that gun!
Jasmine: 'Hey! I saw it first Lilo!'
All: Next time: Trust Issues