Fort Beacon Armory
10:19 hours
The armory is everything Ruby dreamed it would be, and a little more.
The entire back wall is lined with lockers packed with M4s, HK416s, Beretta M12s, and a few more weapon families that supply the basic infantry units. Crates upon crates create aisles of weaponry like a supermarket. The bottom crates are things like .50 caliber heavy machine guns, anti-tank missiles, laser designators, and other equipment that will be the last to be unboxed and organized. The crates on the top, however, are open and showing off their high-end content.
Every weapon Ruby has seen in war posters, movies, photos, documentaries, and Uncle Qrow's cabinet is somewhere in this room; G36, ACR, XM8, Scar-H, HK33, and a whole range of AK assault rifles; Bizon, UMP, MP5, MP7, Uzi, and Vector submachine guns; LSAT, MG3, PKP, and M249 light machine guns; every bolt action and designated marksman rifle (DMR) has ever heard of are displayed brilliantly on racks on the wall, where Ruby immediately rushes over and looks them over like a kid at the candy store. She couldn't be happier.
"I can't believe it!" Weiss groans to Blake behind her.
Well, except for being team leader, of course.
"Can you believe that?" Weiss asks Blake, who's shifting through a crate of MP7s. "General Ozpin picked a private over a captain for being squad leader of a special forces unit? I went through Officer Academy, I commanded an infantry company in a border country, I have the experience, I'm the superior officer. Why on Remnant would the General trust a grunt?"
"It is a curious decision," Blake mumbles. She picks up an MP7 and walks over to a crate full of suppressors and screws on one.
"I mean, it's completely insane!," Weiss continues. "A private has absolutely no experience in leading other soldiers in combat. A leader needs to be able to keep a level head in a chaotic environment in order to keep the morale among the men up while consistently give out orders and keep the battle on your side. A private wouldn't know the first thing about any of that!"
"I'm sure General Ozpin has his reasons," Blake says. She attaches an Elcan Specter OS3.4x scope to the MP7, and starts looking around for more weapon attachments.
"This better be a test of some sort to see how I take it," Weiss says, now mostly to herself as Blake walks away. "And then I'll be given command of RWBY squad if I take it well. And I will take it well, of course. I won't allow a grunt to jeopardize the Hunter Program."
Being only a few crates away, Ruby hears every word, trying to distract herself by inspecting the different scout rifles proudly displayed on a wall, but to no avail. Yang notices while she's looking over a heavily modified striker shotgun, and walks over to Ruby.
"You know," Yang says. "I have a little sister that looks exactly like you."
"Uh, really?" Ruby asks, turning to Yang, who nods.
"Yeah. Hold on, I think I have a picture…" Yang digs through her back pocket, and pulls out a wad of photographs. She filters through them, and picks one out, giving it to Ruby. Besides having longer hair, bangs, and green eyes, Yang's sister could be mistaken for a twin sister of Ruby.
"Wow, you weren't kidding," Ruby says. "Is she in the military?"
"No, she tried running away with me, but that's not happening until hell freezes over." The two girls chuckle, and Ruby begins to forget about Weiss. Yang's mere presence is calming to her.
"So, do you have an idea of what rifle you want?" Yang asks.
"Oh, I already have one," Ruby says. She reaches behind her and unslings what looks like a thin, red and black box.
"Wait, what?" Yang says, bending down to take a closer look. "Is...is that a gun?"
"Yeah, it's an M200 Intervention," Ruby says. She pulls one part back, extending the stock, pulls the receiver forward, doubling its size and automatically raising the scope, and unfolds and extends the barrel, which has a bipod and flash suppressor attached. "I did a bit of modifying on it. I call her Crescent Rose."
"A bit?" Yang repeats. "You probably had to completely take it apart and put it back together half a dozen times."
"Not half a dozen...more like four, maybe five." She pulls a sling from behind her back. "I also made a custom sling so I can take it out and put it away quickly, while keeping it concealed behind me.
"This is incredible, Ruby. Why aren't you designing these for a living?" Yang asks. Ruby shrugs.
"I don't want to build weapons, I want to be in the fight, using them. Besides, my Uncle helped me with most of it. He's the real genius."
"It must run in the family," Yang says. "I guess between your wardrobe and weaponry, you aren't one for the uniform look, huh?"
"My wardrobe? Oh, you mean my hoodie?" Ruby is wearing a dark red hoodie underneath a black Outer Tactical Vest, urban camouflage cargo pants and black combat boots; only the boots are standard issue, everything else she had to scrounge for. "Yeah, I just feel a lot more comfortable with this on. I've had this particular hoodie since I joined up. I guess I really like the hoods."
"Yeah, I guess it could work if camouflaged correctly," Yang says. "But have you ever thought about a close range weapon?"
"Uh...what do you mean?"
"Like if a Fed sneaks up on you and Crescent Rose is too bulky to swing around in time?"
"Well, I always had my spotter, who is supposed to carry an assault rifle or carbine for that sort of thing, but…" Ruby's mind flashes to Penny, then the mess hall engulfed in flames.
"Try this," Blake says, holding out a weapon that looks like an M4 carbine with no stock. Ruby takes it in her hands and looks it over.
"What is it?" she asks. It looks like an M4 variant, but she has a feeling it isn't.
"PLR-16," Blake replies. "It's actually a pistol, but chambers 5.56 rounds. Thought it'd be good for close quarters combat."
"Yeah, I bet it will," Ruby says. She attaches the sling mount to her Crescent Rose sling, pulls it taut, and aims at the floor. "Thanks, Blake!" she says cheerily. Blake nods and walks to the other side of the armory, grabbing a few magazines for her SMG. Yang follows her.
"So…" she says to the quiet girl. "You get your weapons squared away?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah," Blake says, putting the mags in her vest. Yang reaches over and takes a handful of shotgun shells from a crate and begins feeding them into a bandolier.
"What did you get?" Yang asks after a few minutes of silence. Blake puts her MP7 and a pistol with a suppressor attached on the table in front of her.
"Custom MP7 and a GSh-18 that I've had since forever," Blake says. The pistol's paint is chipped everywhere, and has the letters "BB" written in white market written on the grip. Eight tally marks are engraved on the barrel, and the words "GAMBOL SHROUD" are engraved on the suppressor.
"Oh, cool," Yang says. "Did you personally own the pistol before joining up? I don't think the VAF carries Faunus-made weapons."
"Yeah," Blake says bluntly, and quickly puts the pistol away again. Yang takes the hint and returns to her bandolier. Blake looks over to her, back down the table, sighs, and says, "You?" Yang smiles and drops her shotgun down. The original stock has been replaced with a Mil-Spec M4 stock, a picatinny rail lines the top of the weapon, and a shell holder directly in front of the receiver. The built in foregrip has been cut off and replaced with a second picatinny rail, which already holds a laser sight and tactical light.
"I've always wanted to use one of these, but the infantry never gets anything good," she says. "Now all I need to decide is which LMG to use. I'd take the PKM, but between a shotgun, LMG, and packs of extra ammo, plastic explosives, and body armor, I wouldn't make it very far without getting tired."
"Have you tried the Stoner?"
"Huh?"
"The Stoner LMG? I think it's one of the lightest machine guns. Back there." Black points to the corner of the armory."
"Sweet, thanks!" Yang says, and walks away.
Ruby, after practicing quickdraws with both her weapons, is satisfied with them. She glances over at Weiss, who is attaching an ACOG scope to a G36c. She watches the older woman professionally check every angle of the rifle, even going as far as taking the handguard assembly off to closer inspect the barrel.
"How the hell am I the team leader and not her?" Ruby silently asks herself. Weiss glances in her direction, and Ruby whips back around to the sniper rifles before they could fully make eye contact, but shakes her head to herself. "Come on, Ruby, what are you doing? You're the team leader! Well, you're not a very good one, and you haven't exactly 'led' anything, but you should still make the most of it." Ruby takes a deep breath, turns back around, and walks up to Weiss.
"Hey, Weiss…" Ruby says hesitantly. Weiss turns to her angrily.
"Oh, am I not moving fast enough, team leader?" she retorts. She says it loud enough for Blake and Yang to turn around.
"Uh, no," Ruby says, taken aback. "I mean, uh, you're not moving too slow, so I guess yes you are, which is good-"
"Well it's a good thing that you're only supposed to act as team leader while on deployment so I don't have to care. That is, if you last that long." Weiss turns her back to Ruby and fiddles with her rifle some more. Ruby's brows furrow.
"I didn't ask to be team leader, you know," she says. Weiss turns back around.
"If so, you didn't put up much of a fight in the barracks."
"Well if you're the perfect leader, then why didn't you?"
"Ah, passing on the blame. Another trait of a substandard soldier." Ruby clenches her fists, but doesn't move. Weiss notices and crosses her arms, alert.
"I bet you everything in this world that I've seen more shit than you ever did when you were my rank, you rear echelon pogue."
"Officer on deck!" Blake shouts, and stands at attention, along with Yang. Weiss and Ruby look towards the entrance of the armory, sees an officer with the insignia of a colonel attached to his shoulder, and do likewise. Weiss tries to maintain eye contact with Ruby, but she looks in the opposite direction.
"Fall in, Hunters!" the Colonel orders, and the soldiers comply, lining up in front of him. The Colonel is wearing an Army Combat Shirt (ACS), heavy Vale Commando Combat Trousers (VCCT), and standard combat boots. He has a large, gray mustache, puffy eyebrows, and long grey hair that poke out beneath his Ops-Core helmet.
"I am your commanding officer, Colonel Port," the Colonel announces. He paces back and forth as he speaks, hands clasped behind him. "You can run around the border countryside playing superheroes all you want, but as long as your boots are on this military establishment, you will assume that I am God. I fought in the First Human-Faunus War, led hundreds of soldiers into battle, and am the only human in history to fight ten Feds at once and take them as prisoner, so I do not recommend getting on my bad side. Understood?"
"Sir, yes Sir!" the girls say in unison.
"Very good! Grab your gear, stow them in your barracks, and get your AURA on. We're starting PT in thirty mikes, dismissed!" The soldiers salute and run out the door.
Fort Beacon, RWBY Squad Barracks
10:31 hours
"So, does anyone else know how to wear the AURA?" Blake asks as RWBY Squad stow their selected weaponry in empty cases, except for Crescent Rose, which Ruby keeps under her bunk, and Gambol Shroud, which is kept under Blake's pillow. Ruby looks at the large lockers against the wall. Now that she's closer, she can tell that they were specially built for the AURA suits, made completely out of stainless steel and no markings anywhere in sight.
"You kidding? I don't even know what they look like," Yang says. All their papers told them about AURA is the acronym and its basic functions.
"Ozpin must really not want anyone outside the Hunter Program to see them," Weiss says. "Not even my father heard anything about this."
"Well, it can't be that hard," Ruby says, and approaches the locker with the red square. She notices a small square button on the left of the front, and slowly touches it with her index finger. It doesn't move, and she tries pressing harder. A green button flashes on, and locks holding the door in place loudly unbolt, making Ruby jump back.
"VAF spares no expense," Blake mutters. Yang helps Ruby pull the massive steel door open, and the squad get their first look at an AURA suit.
It's a lot smaller than they imagined, judging by the size of the locker. The specially designed spaced and reactive armor isn't just one piece, of a series of packs of armor, held together by bolts, not unlike reactive tank armor. They are built in different shapes and sizes, depending on their location of the suit, in order to increase mobility and decrease weight for the user. A basic metal exoskeleton connects all the pieces of armor together, making it form a humanoid shape. Wires can be seen running inside the metal frame to all parts of the suit. The back of the torso is simply a sheet of metal, which carries the large, five pound battery that will keep the suit along. The torso is sewn onto a standard issue military jacket for ease of use. Metal straps are attached to the legs. This particular suit is outlined with red stripes. A Heavy Hunter Headgear (H3) helmet, an upgraded Ops-Core helmet with thicker armor plating, built-in flash lights on either side, and ear protection/headset, and a pair of ICARUS combat gloves sit on the ground of the locker.
"Wow," Yang says with a smile. "Now that is body armor." Blake tries pressing the fingerprint sensor on the locker with the white square, and the light turns red.
"They're for each individual user," she says, and opens the black locker. Yang and Weiss open the yellow and white lockers respectively.
"Do we just step in?" Weiss asks.
"Guess so," Yang says. They take off their body armor and stow it in crates. Each girl steps into their cramped locker, turning around as they slide their arms into the jacket before strapping their legs into place. As they do so, they can easily feel the weight of the metal frame and body armor of the suit. It's already about the weight of their old uniform plus full backpacks.
"Not exactly any improvement on the weight," Ruby says, stepping out of the locker. She practically has to drag her feet in order to walk; the metal frame around her legs is thicker than the rest of the exoskeleton.
"Hold on, Ruby," Blake says, also stepping out. "There's a switch on your battery pack."
"Well, flip it," Ruby says. Blake does so, and the battery comes to life. Ruby can feel the electrical waves spread throughout the suit, and as they do so, the extra weight is lifted. "Woah, it's light," Ruby exclaims. "Turn around." Blake turns, and Ruby flips her switch.
"The suits must be powered as well," Yang says, who steps out along with Weiss. They flip each other's switches on.
"Hopefully they won't seep energy out of the suit when it starts taking damage," Weiss says.
"Hey, all our suits are different," Ruby says, looking at her squad's AURA. She has the buffed legs; Weiss has small shoulder-mounted boxes on either shoulder, each with a casemate-mounted barrel; Blake's suit is lined with a second line of thicker wire on the outside of the suit; Yang has larger body armor and metal frame, and battery is nearly twice the size as the other suits'.
"Well, we are divided into classes," Yang says. "I guess all our suits help fit those classes."
"Correct," Port says at the entrance of the barracks, who quickly adds, "Don't bother standing at attention unless I say so from now on, it annoys me to say 'at ease' all the time. Besides, you're not grunts anymore, you're Hunters."
"Yes, Sir," the girls say to him.
"The engineers have been fiddling with the AURA design, and have been able to make modifications to the suit to better fill the needs of each class. Ruby, your sniper suit has heightened leg strength, allowing you to run faster and longer than any other Hunter class. Weiss, your assault suit has a shoulder-mounted GLYPH Personal Defense System, an experimental device. It will automatically target and fire small ball bearings at incoming RPGs and similar armaments with extreme accuracy. Blake, your stealth suit uses prototype light bending technology that is capable of bending the visible spectrum of your body to match the surrounding light, rendering you nearly invisible. Yang, your demolition suit is capable of converting absorbed bullets and fragments into extra power, making your suit stronger the more damage it takes, with the penalty of extra weight."
"Not a problem, Sir," Yang says.
"Wouldn't matter to me if it was," Port says. "Now get out here, your training as a Hunter begins now."