"Life is like a mirror, if you frown at it, it frowns back; if you smile, it returns the greeting"-Adolf Hitler

Ruby woke up once again to the sounds of Dr Emirs talking to someone, perhaps Wendy? No the voice was certainly that of a man. The usual bell beside her on the table, she rang it and the doctor came in.

He was not angry or even exited… he looked concerned "Ruby… do you feel alright?"

"Yea… Yesterday, what happened?" asked Ruby, her head no longer ached but she was still fuzzy

"You don't remember?"

"No, I visited the Quartermaster for something… why did I visit her?"

He looked her over and said "I see, I'll be back in a moment Ruby"

Dr Emirs was pissed, but not for the usual reason… whatever happened to Overseer Rose erased her memory of yesterday's events; he had never seen anything quite like this but perhaps… he walked out to see Overseer Roswell visibly straining himself to not walk side to side and instead wait for his report.

"How is she?" said he worriedly

"She appears to have some sort of amnesia; I have never seen something like this before…. Perhaps PTSD? No… she is too young for that. But I have a theory…"

"Let's hear it then" said Briar, visibly annoyed at his rambling

"I believe that her mind could not handle remembering what occurred and thus… deleted itself? I don't know, but she appears to still retain some memories considering she isn't a blank slate and that she remembers some of her visit to Wendy's office. But I believe it should not occur anymore; if the memories have indeed deleted themselves…"

"But how was she able to think clearly before she collapsed then; shouldn't she have collapsed immediately?"

"If my theory is true then perhaps she was running off pure adrenaline before yesterday… and she ran out"

"I see (sigh) Will she still be able to fight?"

"That depends really… how much has she lost? If only the traumatic memories then she should be as usual, if not… lets cross that bridge when we get to it"

"May I see her?" asked Briar with tears of relief on his face

"Yes, now she is awake but report anything whatsoever to me. I am yet unsure on the stability of her condition…" but before he could say more Overseer Roswell was already gone in the green forest of sterile curtains.

Ruby could hear something outside, but what was it? But then Briar flew through the curtains and stood over her lying form "Ruby… do you know who I am?" he asked in a shaken voice

"Of course you're… Overseer Briar, right?"

"Thank goodness, Ruby… I'll tell you what happened if you want" at her nod he continued "you appear to have some sort of amnesia, but the fact that you remember me and Emirs shows that you haven't lost much"

"Wait… WHAT?!" asked Ruby in an overly surprised voice before covering her mouth in shame "I mean, what happened?" but before Briar could answer Dr Emirs burst in

"What happened? I heard a yell"

"Nothing major Doctor, I'm just explaining what happened to Ruby here…" and that was as far as he could get before Emirs interrupted him

"WHAT?!" yelled he in an ironic representation of what Ruby sounded like just moments ago "Are you serious? You don't tell someone with amnesia that they have amnesia within a literal minute of their diagnosis? You reveal that slowly…" before realizing that Ruby just watched the whole spectacle "Erm… Overseer Rose, I believe you may have amnesia by virtue of what happened last night and…" before having a finger put to his mouth before he spoke any further

"Emirs… we haven't even asked her anything. Don't rush into a cave before looking it over for enemies" he then put down his finger and looked back at Ruby; trying to think of some test for the Doctor's theory before remembering something from her file…

"Ruby what were the circumstances that lead you to joining the Order?" Asked he finally

"Well… I was abandoned by my friends in a forest near here, then Overseer Phill came and saved me, then he brought me to you (pointing at Dr Emirs) and there…"

"See… wait, what?" said Briar in a mocking representation of what his two companions had "this disproves your theory Emirs. But what then?"

"Perhaps I could shed some light?" noted Ruby in response to their confusion

"Sure, why not" replied Dr Emirs

"I believe that I went into some sort of hibernation for my memories to work themselves out… I just needed to go through and process what happened"

"That doesn't make much sense to me, why do you think so?"

"I don't know. It just feels right…"

"I see you can leave then; you seem to be fine but make sure to come to me if anything comes up, kay?"

"No problem. Hey Briar, can we still do that thing you wanted yesterday?"

Feeling Emir's questioning gaze on his back Briar quickly replied "Yes, we can talk about your new Job; we can do so here if you like…"

"Yah, that would be alright, but can you give me my uniform back; these pyjamas aren't amazingly comfortable"


Soon enough she was back in her uniform and the two of them were heading to her quarters to discuss things relating to her tutoring…

As they entered Ruby's room Briar sat down on one of the chairs at the small table before asking "So, tell me of your past as a hunter"

"I used to go to beacon…." But before she could continue Blair interrupted her

"No, what I meant was what weapons you used? Were you part of a team? That sort of thing"

"Oh, in that case I was part of team RWBY; I used a Scythe/Sniper rifle combo called Crescent Rose"

"A scythe sniper rifle combo? Wow, well I doubt that anyone would allow you to use something like that here" but before he could continue Ruby interrupted him

"But why? I fought with one just fine before…"

"One word Ruby, Standardisation… That is why most Overseers use a sword for melee and a pistol or rifle for ranged combat"

"I still don't get it though…"

"(Sigh) Tell me Ruby, how much maintenance did you have to perform on your weapon?"

"Well… like once every few weeks? I'm not really sure"

"Okay, well I have to clean/fix my weapons a few times a year for them to function" noticing Ruby's horrified expression he quickly added "Of course I clean and maintain my weapons often so that they remain in top condition but that isn't my point. In addition to the fact I can take literally most overseer's weapons and be proficient in them is a great thing, meanwhile if anything ever happened to your scythe I would bet on there not being a single one like it in the whole world. You see my point?"

"But since I built my scythe myself I could just build myself a new one…"

"Really?" asked Briar, somewhat impressed "But you'd need a forge and/or special parts most blacksmiths probably would not keep a ready stock of… but tell me Ruby, how long did it take you to build your weapon?"

After some thought Ruby finally came to the figure and was horrified 'An entire MONTH? I suppose he has a point there'

Noticing her horrified expression Briar continued "Meanwhile if my sword was to ever break I could head down and have a new one issued within an hour if I had the smiths balance it for me" thinking back to her scythe being a sniper rifle he also asked "What caliber did the Scythe fire?"

"12.7mm high impact"

"Doesn't sound like anything we would stock, so you'd have to make your own ammunition as well. Meanwhile my pistol's 5.45mm rounds are mass produced by the lads below…"

"Look, is it that you want me to use a sword and gun instead?"

"Yeah kinda, while the sword is standard issue I have made several modifications to it (because that is allowed) as well as my pistol having been of my own make. You can make your ranged weapon anything you like as long as it fires one of the standard calibers, not even mentioning special ammunition"

"Could I combine my sword with my gun then?"

"No, literally no one does that combination nonsense here aside from the few residing huntsmen" seeing her expression I return to this he continued "Do you know how much weight and complexity that adds? Say you have a sword and want to incorporate a crossbow into it, it would increase the weight, make it more likely to break as well as the opening mechanism possibly jamming. You see my point?"

"Yes sensei, but I've always known how to fight with a scythe… I have no idea how to fight with a sword"

"But since everyone uses a sword here you can literally ask anyone to train you. But that is beside the point; we've talked for way to long and are somewhat late for my appointment with one of the blacksmiths downstairs"

Ruby decided not to argue as the two descended further into the mountain, she was not overly happy with having to abandon her scythe but since, she could not do anything about the rules she decided to give it a try.


They arrived at a floor which was slightly warmer than the others, not to an uncomfortable degree but to the point where it was noticeable through the layers of her uniform. Passing through the doors they opened up into a massive pit of sorts, filled with all sorts of machinery and overcalled people hammering away at metal and working on all sorts of things.

Ruby was quite visibly impressed by the forge and asked "So this is where everything is made?"

"Yes, everything aside from the bullets and some of the mass produced guns is made in this pit" he gestured towards a staircase down to work level "come, we'll meet the one responsible for equipping new recruits"

They came down along the white path a dirty-faced man ran up to them "Ruby Rose? You're late but whatever as he gestured for them to follow while to speak over the machinery. They followed him out of the pit and into one of the side rooms (Which were thankfully cooler than the pit). Swiping his card the dirty-faced man gestured for them to come in before asking Overseer Blair to come back in an hour. Once they were alone in the room the man spoke up once again "Give me a second to wash my face, have a look over our current stock for now" before heading over to a sink beside the… Firing range? Now that she noticed the room had racks and racks of weapons on the sides and a large table in the middle with various components, ammo and god-knows what. She looked over them before heading to the rather small 'swords' section and looking over her options but then remembering her mother's sword.

Just then the man came back; no longer as dirty once could see his muscles from the tee shirt he wore under his overalls "Like what you see?" he asked pointing to the weapons

"I was actually wondering what happened to my mother's sword" seeing his confusion she elaborated "as in I'm not sure what happened to it, it was in my dorm earlier but it was gone when I was there just minutes ago…"

"Oh! I remember now, we had your sword down here if it could conform to standards, let me fetch it for you" He soon came back with a case and placed it on the table, opening it he took out a note and glanced over it, "sorry to say so but it has not passed the test, had it been real combat the thing would have outright snapped… you may keep it as long as it is not used in combat"

"Can I have one of these then?" she said pointing to a similar looking sword

"Well, yes but that is not how it works. You take each of these, give it a few swings, see what feels best. Well go on then"

Seeing him gaze at her expectedly she took one of the swords and swung it, it felt light and good "This one feels great" she told the man

"Did it feel light?" he asked looking her over

"Yes"

"Then that may have been it, still give the ones directly beside it a go"

She gave them a go, but they were too heavy or light. Seeing her finally decide on one the man took it and read the label on it "M-1.3Kg, remember that designation" he told her while dashing over to the side to grab a piece of paper and writing it down "now have a look over the guns" he said

Ruby looked and saw nothing familiar, literally all of them had wooden stocks and various mechanisms "Stuck eh?" said the man having completed his form "The stuff next to the door is the most common. Pick up one and have a go at the range; it's the only real way to determine what is best"

Picking up on his hint she picked up a random rifle by its sling and read the tag '9.23mm Baker semi-auto', she picked it up and took it over to the range. The man gave her several stripper clips and showed how to load the weapon. Lining up the iron sights she let of a single shot, the recoil was rather heavy, noticing her bewilderment he said "These are not dust rounds, these are Cordite bullets, hence the recoil. This thing will punch through and Ursa at 400m and may even go through thin Grimm plates at close range"

Ruby was amazed, if these rifles were indeed as powerful as this man claimed then killing Grimm would be a piece of cake, what would be the purpose of having a sword in that case?

"Okay you seem to like this one so we'll just go with it, now to choose you a pistol." He headed over to a nearby rack and handed her one "Try it" Yet try as she might she simply didn't like any of them "Odd, so you don't like any of them?" she nodded in response, well you're going to have to make yourself one as we have no others left to try.

Ruby was exited at this prospect and described exactly what she wanted. 'a pistol with a lot of power in one shot' and the man said he would see one of the engineers about making a design for it. But for now she would be given a temporary filler gun. And so she stood, pointing what looked like a makeshift pipe pistol down range. The recoil was immense as was the bang, creating a ringing in her ears for a moment "You like that?" asked the man "12g shotgun in a package the size of a book, this is the gun for those that want power up close. The only downside being that there is only one shot, you could add more but your wrist may not be able to handle it"

She had left the armoury half an hour later with a scabbard with her new sword held securely within its leather and the two guns she fired, in addition to having filled out the forms to have her custom gun designed and made. Overall she looked like a walking armoury; with her pistol and sword at the side, rifle slinged over her shoulder and two cases of ammo in both her hands.

She was heading to her room to put her new guns away and to read the manuals when she remembered that despite last night's occurrences she had still not concluded her business with the quartermistress, on second thought she could now tell why she was referred to as a quartermaster.

Walking in she placed the rifle and ammunition within her closet and left to head back down to the woman's office.


Wendy was quietly sorting and signing papers whit slow and calm music playing from her gramophone, oh she loved those things, they just gave music such a (Knock Knock) who was it this time. The door opened and a familiar face looked in. it was the Ruby girl, no Overseer Rose now. She gestured for Ruby to come in "Yes Overseer Rose, how may I help?"

"We never really finished talking yesterday die to my… outburst, so I was wondering if I had missed anything"

"No, I just called you in to explain how things work, but since you missed that lecture and I have nothing to do right now I may as well give it" replied Wendy, gesturing for Ruby to sit.

"has your Teacher has already mentioned to you how the system works?"

"Yes"

"In that case you should be aware that you will become a Probationary Overseer in a year, but are you aware that he may promote you at any time?"

"No" Replied Ruby

"Well, the more you know. On other topics your salary is 20,000 lien per annum, in addition to whatever you get from missions but note that we take half mission revenues upon completion"

She breathed in and continued "Aside from that you know that I am the quartermaster for this block, if you need something in terms of your room tell me and I'll get it arranged. Besides that we run a bus every week that goes to Murmansk; the capital of Mycelle- this is for shopping and such. On a relative note you get one month's leave, to be used in one big chunk or in little ones."


'Well that was an info dump' thought Ruby as she went to her new destination. Wendy directed her to the Tailor to have her webbing adjusted. And while she would have preferred to go read weapons manuals in her room the webbing she currently wore was bouncing all over the place and she wasn't didn't enjoying it.

Walking through the door she saw a hall of various people working on sewing machines, with large scissors and a few with needles all working away on making one thing or another. A short woman came up to her and asked "What can we do for you overseer?"

"I need this webbing adjusted, it keeps bouncing all over the place"

The woman nodded and called over one of the workers who promptly saw that her webbing was properly adjusted as well as having a holster added to it, he also handed her a few pouches that would attach to her webbing and act as ammunition storage. Lastly before sending her off she was given a rucksack that could be worn comfortably with her webbing. Thanking the man she left to head back to her rooms before bumping into Overseer Briar

"Ruby, there you are, where have you been?"

"Collecting equipment and the such"

"Alright, but I've been given an opportunity to go on a mission. Do you want to come?"

"Sure, what is it?" asked Ruby eagerly, yearning to have some action

"We'll be helping the Murmansk Police force, the White Fang is trying to expand into Mycelle and we must stop this disease before it spreads. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir!"

"Then grab your weapons and gear, we leave at 1930 hours from the hangar. Yes sir?"

"Yes sir!"

"Then get going, you've got less than half an hour and we're leaving with or without you"

"Yes sir!" shouted Ruby for a final time before dashing towards her room, desperate not to be left behind

She ran into the hangar to see Blair and a few other Overseers standing around in full gear and masks, she was quickly pointed by Blair to the issue station, the overseer standing within giving her ammunition, rations and a mask and hood.

She soon re-joined those outside, the mask being strapped to her side and rile slung she waited. Within five minutes they were beaconed by a man in the uniform of the mechanized branch who leads them towards one of the APCs.

With a total of six Overseers (including Ruby) there was still some room and they were able to somewhat stretch. Most went on their phones, listening to music or some such while one stood and gazed over the top alongside the gunner; watching the sides for Grimm. The positions switched around every few minutes until it was Ruby's turn.

She looked out into the darkening sky and thought. But she woke herself; after all you never know when a Grimm might attack.


Hope you enjoyed that, there will be action next chapter, I guarantee it.


For those interested the allowed Calibers are

20.3mm Special

13.5mm HVR

9.23mm rifle

5.54mm rifle

9.19mm pistol

2.20mm T/SR

12g shotgun