Hello, hello! It is I! Apologies for the delay without any explanation, but I don't like posting AN's without an actual chapter to present. I'm sticking to a biweekly schedule for now until Karma's life slows down a bit, updating on Wednesdays. After that? It might speed up, it might not. We'll see. Also, for the tank in question, look up M7A6-H on Deviantart.

Cheers.

"This is going to be a problem."

Glynda Goodwitch was not amused as she stood with her hands on her hips, glaring at the monstrosity parked before the school steps. It was early in the morning, which meant no students were up and about. She still hadn't finished her morning coffee – she hadn't even changed into her work clothes. It was, in a word, way too early to be bothered by this nonsense.

It was a good thing she was glaring down at the thing from the teacher's lounge on the third floor, the windows closed against the morning chill. Otherwise, she might have been tempted to punt the thing right into Emerald Forest with a glyph.

The door creaked open behind her and in walked Professor Oobleck. By the time he began teaching he was usually operating on overdrive, fueled by the godsend that was caffeine. There was a reason his nickname was 'The Green Whirlwind'. That certainly wasn't the case now, however. Even his hair drooped lethargically as he shuffled to the coffee maker, still clad in his ankle-length night gown as he dumped five sugars into a mug of the blackest coffee they had.

"That's going to give you a heart attack someday, Professor Oobleck," Glynda said, half in jest.

"Uhnnn," he grunted, his eyes bloodshot behind his glasses as he brought the liquid heaven to his lips. It was promptly sloshed up his nose when the door slammed into his back after being thrown open, leaving him choking and sputtering as Professor Port sauntered in with a jovial grin and an energetic bounce in his gut.

With a laugh, he pounded Oobleck on the back – nearly knocking the scrawny man off his feet in the process – and said, "Bart, you should really be more careful! If I were a Beowolf I could have ripped you open in the time it took you to choke!"

"If you were a Beowolf you'd barely be a footnote in history," Oobleck muttered under his breath, wiping himself off with a spare towel. Friend or not, Oobleck could never tolerate Port's… enthusiasm without the crutch of coffee.

At Port's voice, Glynda bunched the massive sweater she wore around her shoulders and brought her mug to her lips, praying to whatever god there was for the obnoxious man to not notice her.

"Ah, Professor Goodwitch!"

Glynda cursed the gods.

With a heavy sigh, Goodwitch turned to face the pudgy man. "Good morning, Professor Port," she said with forced civility. It was too early to deal with him.

At least, not before coffee.

Port, ignoring – or not noticing – the barely-hidden glare his associate was giving him, strode over to the window and whistled, a bushy eyebrow shooting up to his hairline. "So that's what caused the commotion yesterday? My, an impressive machine, to be sure!"

"We need somewhere to put it," Glynda snapped, her patience already wearing thin. "I won't have that monstrosity sitting in front of the school."

Port blinked, though it was hard to tell with his heavy eyebrows. "Ah. Then why not use the old armory?"

Glynda shook her head. "No, it's…"

Wait. Glynda's foggy thoughts cleared abruptly as she chewed the idea over. The old armory was located at the rear of the academy, separate from the school itself. It had been built during a time when the Academy was still new and the wary public needed assurance that the superpowered teenagers wouldn't rampage through town with overengineered weaponry. It had since been replaced with the new armory during renovations made years ago, and the old one had lain forgotten.

Given that it was in good shape on the outside and hadn't been opened for a good twenty years, it might be serviceable.

"Actually," Glynda said, giving Port a genuine smile, "that might just work. Thank you, Professor Port."

"Of course, anything for the loveliest woman on campus!" Port said with a wink and a wide smile.

And just like that, any gratitude she held for the man was gone.

-O-O-O-

Ruby found herself lying awake and staring up at the sheet that passed as her bed curtain. She had been awake since much earlier that night, her mind unable to shut down and therefore leaving her to mull over what had happened the day before.

It had been a day like any other, really. They had been attending classes and were in the middle of one of Port's painful lectures when a loud bang was heard outside. In a school filled with Hunters and Huntresses, explosions happened all the time, accidental or otherwise. What made it strange that not only Professor Oobleck raced past the door, but Glynda Goodwitch as well. Ozpin sauntered by only moments later and asked Port to come with him before dismissing the entire class for the rest of the day, with the caveat that none were to go outside.

While she had initially been thrilled to have an impromptu day off, Ruby had a funny feeling about the whole thing. What had the explosion been from? Had a Grimm attacked the school? And why was a school-wide notice sent to their scrolls instructing them not to leave through the front hall? The entire ordeal reeked of strange.

With a sigh, Ruby sat up and swung her legs over the edge of her bed, careful not to make a sound as she dropped to the floor. Thinking that fresh air would do her troubled mind some good, she threw the window open and breathed in the early morning chill. She stood there for several minutes, watching as the sun slowly began to peek over the horizon and blue marched on to banish the night.

Her troubled thoughts were pushed to the back of her mind as she stretched and yawned, suddenly feeling tired for the first time all night. Having had her fill of the morning air, she closed the window and prepared to swing herself back up to her bed. With any luck, she could catch a couple hours of sleep before needing to wake her team.

Ruby froze, wide awake once more. "What the…?" she muttered, wondering if she had been seeing things. She was prepared to push it out of her mind for the sake of sleep, but she just couldn't bring herself to do so. Her curiosity demanded it.

There was barely a blur as she threw the window open once more and looked down into the courtyard. The statue was there like it always was, but there, in front of it, was the second most amazing sight she had ever seen, though it was second only to the first time she'd used Crescent Rose. Excited and unable to contain her glee, Ruby bounced on her heels and let out a cross between an excited babble and a shriek.

*1

"WHERE'S THE FIRE!?" Yang yelled as she jerked awake suddenly, her thrash sending her tumbling to the floor in a pile of limbs and blankets. Blake flinched awake and leveled a death glare at the bouncing girl, and Weiss scrunched her nose and pressed her palms to her ears.

"Why in the name of all that is good and holy are you screaming?!" Weiss screamed herself.

Ruby, oblivious to her team's pain, babbled unintelligibly and pointed out the window.

Seeing that her partner's insanity wasn't going to end anytime soon, Weiss got up in a huff, spun the girl around by the shoulder and gave her a light slap. "What is your problem?! Are you trying to make us go deaf?!"

Only slightly shaken by the slap, Ruby pointed back out the window and said, "W-Weiss, look! Look out the window! In the courtyard!"

Curiosity piqued, if only to shut the girl up, Weiss looked out the window to see… something strange. It was as long as a flatbed truck, perhaps half again as wide with a flat turret and… was that a cannon? Weiss shook her head, having never seen anything like it. "What in the name of Dust is that?"

"Eh? Okay, I've gotta see what's up if even the Ice Queen doesn't know what it is," Yang said, suddenly up on her feet with everything but her eyes obscured in a mound of sheets.

"Ice Queen?"

Ignoring Weiss' confusion, Yang shuffled to the window to see just what had sent her sister into a fangirl's frenzy. Ruby could see her sister frown, tilt her head, open her mouth to speak… and promptly shut it again, the sheets muffling the click of her teeth coming together.

"What the hell is that thing?" Yang asked.

"That, my dear sister Yang," Ruby said with a grin, "is an M7A6-H Light Battle Tank. Made by Carlisle Industries-"

"Wait wait wait," Weiss interrupted. "A tank? As in a rolling hunk of steel?"

Ruby's face scrunched in disgust.

"What? Ew, no! The M7 is a hovertank. It's not just a tank anymore, it's... it's… beautiful," she gushed. There was a twinkle in her eye as she was completely lost on cloud nine.

Yang sloughed the blankets off, shaking her hair free before waving her hand in front of her unresponsive sister's eyes. "Uh… Ruby?"

Weiss rolled her eyes and gathered her towel from under the bed. "As long as we're up, I might as well get my shower over with. Do not come in, or I will punish you."

No one even acknowledged her as she strutted into the bathroom. Blake was uncaring, Yang was concerned with her sister, and Ruby was currently giggling like she was back in elementary as she studied the tank through the window.

Still, Yang automatically found herself saying, "C'mon, punish me."

Meanwhile, Blake took one look at Ruby's glazed stare. "She's gone, Yang. Ruby's no longer with us," she said in a defeated tone.

"No!"

Yang leapt forward and wrapped her sister in a bear hug, crushing her as she cried theatrically, "No, I will not lose my baby sister! Don't go, Ruby! Look away from the light!"

Turning blue, Ruby flailed her legs and thumped her free arm against the limb tightening around her throat. "Y-Yang… you're choking…" she gurgled out. Finally, she had the sense to ball a fist and slug the blonde.

As the two began pounding on each other, Blake sighed and bookmarked her page. It seemed she wouldn't get any more reading done… but even as she did so, no one noticed the girl striding out of the school towards the tank.

-O-O-O-

*2

Connie, despite sleeping like one of the dead, woke promptly at five in the morning. Cursing the years spent in what was essentially boot camp, she begrudgingly hauled herself out of bed and peeled her piloting suit off, having long since gotten used to the fact she spent far more time in the damned thing than out of it.

"Damn that school…" she muttered to herself as she pulled baggy sweats and a shirt from her packed duffle. Changing quickly, she crept out the door and carefully shut it behind her; both to avoid waking anyone up and to keep from having to deal with anyone that did wake up. If she could avoid it for a little longer, she would. She barely made a sound as she found her way out, the darkened halls and stairwells hiding nothing thanks to her superior vision, but as she came to the main hall she stopped at the sight of it.

Busts of long-dead heroes stood on pedestals and paintings of battles made the hall into a piece of living history, with new pieces constantly being added. Most of it was lost on Connie, but the pictures were pretty.

She made her way through the main door and towards her tank. As a hovertank, it didn't need treads and instead floated on jets. At the moment, though, it was resting on footpads, one at each corner of the vehicle since its powerful turbines were cold and still. The bulk of the machine came up past her neck, almost to her nose, while the turret towered over her by another two feet. Continuing her inspection, she looked over the four massive vector jets at the rear of the machine and the twelve smaller ones under its side skirts, only satisfied once she had looked over every inch she could reach without her tools.

Still, while she had fallen into an easy rhythm as she looked over her machine, she smiled at the sight of the name painted on the side of the turret: Grendel.

Almost half an hour had passed by the time she was done, and her clothes were now covered with dirt and oil stains from crawling under her machine. Looking up at the sun, she guessed it was now a bit after six. Still wanting some time to herself, she broke off for a run around the school to both get a feel for her surroundings and to work in her morning drills.

To hear the birds chirping as she ran, let alone to feel the grass giving way under her feet, was disconcerting after having been used to walking on concrete for so long. It was strange - unlike the thick smog that hung over Atlas, a kingdom renowned for its technological innovations, the sky in Vytal was clear and fresh… and if she was being completely honest, smelled weird, causing a constant tickle in the back of her throat.

The only thing that hadn't changed was how flat the schools were. While Ironwood Academy was built on unforgiving concrete at the base of a mountain, one could see for miles around from where Beacon sat on a plateau, a sentinel standing watch over the nearby city of Vale. Connie made her way to the edge of the cliffs, prepared for a run that would take her several hours.

It suited her just fine.

-O-O-O-

In the hours following Ruby's discovery of the "dream tank" as she put it, both Team RWBY and Team JNPR were subjected to her spouting off about what seemed like every single part in it, on it, or could be attached to it. This wouldn't have been so bad if she hadn't been going on and on about it.

For hours. On end.

Weiss was ready to encase her partner in a block of ice by the end of the first period.

Now it was lunchtime, and Ruby still wouldn't shut up about it. Her voice rivaled Nora's embellished stories, something Ren once thought impossible. She had even drowned out Professor Port's 'lectures,' something which, ironically enough, the man never noticed as he was too engrossed in his own story. Waving a glass of chocolate milk around, unknowingly making Weiss lean away every time it came close to her, Ruby was to be found describing the differences between an L/88 and an SA44 cannon.

Not that anyone was listening. All but Blake and Pyrrha held their heads in misery, though Blake was too absorbed in her book to care and Pyrrha's boundless patience was about to run out.

"…but even though the L/88 is newer and has more punch than the SA44, most pilots use the SA44 because of the revolving cylinder. I mean, that thing can pop off a full load in, like, five seconds flat! Unless it has a Dust cannon, then it's just boom boom boom!"

"Full load? Bow chicka bow wow," Yang muttered, idly poking at her lunch.

"Hush, Yang," Blake said, flipping a page. "She'll tire out eventually."

Yang scoffed and whispered, "You've got a book to distract you. Mind if I join in?"

At first Blake was hesitant, blushing slightly before a sly smirk slid across her face. "Of course. If you can handle it."

With a snort, Yang leaned in and read over her partner's shoulder. She barely got a paragraph down before she launched herself away, blushing furiously and screaming, "Holy hell! He did what to what?!"

As Blake motioned frantically for Yang to calm down, Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose in a futile attempt to relieve her headache. "Will all of you be quiet? It's bad enough that Ruby can't. I'm amazed she hasn't passed out by now."

At this, Ruby frowned indignantly at her partner and waved a forkful of gravy-covered potatoes at her as she said, "Hey, I like guns! I like big machines that go boom! What's wrong with that?"

Sensing an argument, Ren sighed and got to his feet, dragging a happily bouncing Nora along behind to get her out of the crossfire.

"What's wrong with it is when you drag everyone else into your little fantasy world!" Weiss shot back.

"It's not a fantasy world! The M7's sitting right outside the doors!" Ruby shouted.

Jaune and Pyrrha looked hopeless, glancing back and forth between the two warring partners. Oblivious to the conflict were Yang and Blake, both once again reading the… literature, though while Blake was indifferent – having read Ninjas of Love many times – Yang's face became redder and redder.

"But you don't have to remind us every five minutes!"

"Well I-"

Just then, the school intercom blared before settling. "All students please report to the auditorium after lunch. Afternoon classes are hereby cancelled for the day. I repeat…"

"Okay, yesterday was weird enough," Yang said, having recovered from her foray into her partner's book, "but calling a half-day? There's gotta be something going on that they're not telling us."

Blake nodded, finishing the last bite of her lunch. "Every day has been the same since the start of the semester. Something must've happened yesterday that threw the schedule out."

Grateful for the interruption, Weiss shot to her feet and stalked away from the table. "Whatever. I just hope it's about getting rid of that monstrosity on the front lawn. If I listen to your sister for one more second I'm going to scream," she said, aimed mostly at Yang, though the vitriol in her partner's voice made Ruby cringe as her partner stalked away.

"U-um… was I really being that bad?" Ruby asked hesitantly once Weiss was out of earshot.

Blake eyed Yang, causing the blonde to sigh reluctantly before taking an arm around her sister's shoulders. "Ruby… yes. You were that bad."

Ruby cringed painfully. "Oh boy…"

"Yeah. Uncle Qrow and I have both told you that you need to read the situation better, that there's always a time and place for something-"

"And spouting off on the M7 all day wasn't it," Ruby finished. "Yang, I'm sorry. I just – I just got excited when I saw it, I couldn't help myself."

At this, Yang laughed and ruffled her sister's hair. "I know, Rubes. Just try to keep a better eye on things, alright? That's a leader's job."

With lunch finished, Yang, Blake, and Ruby – now with a determined look on her face after her pep talk – made their way to the auditorium. It hadn't changed from the first day they had stepped into Beacon, large enough to accommodate every student on campus. However, one thing that had changed was the addition of a massive screen mounted on the back wall, allowing everyone to see it. While it was crowded, Ruby managed to find her wayward partner and Team JNPR huddled at the edge of all the students, though she internally cringed when she saw the panicked looks on her friend's faces. She was already apologizing as she strode up to them, Yang and Blake hot on her heels.

"Guys, I'm really sorry for earlier today. I didn't mean to annoy all of you," she said, bowing her head.

A look of pride and a smirk from Yang told them all they needed to know.

"I-I mean," she rambled, "I just got excited because it's a tank and I've never seen a tank before other than in pictures, let alone a hovertank, so I just figured, 'hey, tell everyone else about it', but I didn't realize that I was being annoying until Yang told me so I just wanted to say I'm really, really sorry."

"Y-yeah, it's fine, Ruby," Jaune said, looking uncomfortable as he rubbed his head.

Pyrrha nodded in understanding and smiled. "Of course. You're our friend, Ruby. Though, we would have told you more… tactfully," she finished, giving Yang a stern look.

Yang simply grinned with her fists on her hips.

Weiss, who had been standing off to the side with her arms crossed and glaring at the stage, shook her head as she released a pent-up breath. "I… apologize as well. I-"

"Holy crap. Break out the umbrellas, the world must be coming to an end if she's apologizing," Yang snarked.

"Oh shut up, you!"

Before she could say anything more, Glynda Goodwitch stepped up on the stage and the room fell into silence, all eyes now on her. Pushing her glasses up, Glynda leaned into the microphone. "Good afternoon, students. As you all are aware, the last two days have been somewhat unusual – however, I would like to dispel any confusion that you might have. Yesterday, we detected an intruder on the grounds and moved to investigate, and what we found was a young woman who knows a way of fighting Grimm that most Hunters never see. The Headmaster believes that this individual will be an important part of your training."

Hushed whispers echoed through the hall.

Goodwitch cleared her throat, prompting silence once more. "She will be undergoing Initiation momentarily, with all of you as witnesses. Once the test is over, whether or not she succeeds, your schedule will proceed as normal starting tomorrow. That is all."

The chatter in the auditorium rose again as soon as Goodwitch stepped off the stage, forcing Ruby to lean towards Weiss and yell, "What were you saying?"

"I was trying to apologize for my behavior! As my partner and our team's leader, you didn't deserve it!" Weiss said, leaning closer still.

The surprised look on Ruby's face caught Weiss off guard. "Oh. Okay!"

With that she smiled and looked back towards the stage. Weiss, however, was dumbfounded.

"You're forgiving me just like that?!" she asked incredulously.

Ruby nodded and looked at her partner out of the corner of her eye. "Just like that!"

On one hand, Weiss couldn't believe her partner's childishness. If she had acted that way in front of her father then she never would've heard the end of it. On the other hand, she couldn't imagine Ruby as anything different. Smiling, though slight enough so she could deny it if anyone saw her, Weiss crossed her arms as she waited with her team for the Initiation to begin.

Meanwhile, Team CRDL shuffled through the doors, though Russel, Sky, and Dove were edging away from their leader. Cardin was irritated, ineffectually holding a hand to his angry black eye. Cursing under his breath, his fury raged at the thought of the filthy animal that gave it to him and he took it out on the hapless students as he walked by, bowling them over with a scowl on his face.

Tank: art/M7A6-H-hover-tank-30198026