Right, so there's a lot of shit going on in this chapter. I would be grateful if you guys told me if I screwed anything up or if I need to change something. That said, there's a bit of a fluff chapter next time, and then its on to the first major story arc of Aura of Steel!
I'd like to thank those who've stuck with me, there's a hell of a ride to come. Enjoy.
IRONWOOD PROVING GROUNDS
Indigo City. Built nearly eighty years before at the end of the Great War, it was intended as the city of the future, using a revolutionary design that turned the city itself into a single massive Dust reactor. Arrayed in concentric rings, shock Dust would have been shot through the buildings indefinitely, and still did. However, lack of funding had destroyed the dream, rendering the impossible vision just that – impossible. Buildings were half finished, exposing steel skeletons and concrete walls, and the streets were little more than unfinished pavement or even exposed the massive tunnels beneath them, where bundles upon bundles of heavy-gauge wire were still active. It would have been a beacon to the entire world, to show all the progress humanity could make.
Instead the CCT was constructed, leaving the city to be the site of Ironwood Academy's war games.
On one side of the city in a secluded courtyard was the Red team, consisting of fifteen "units" – ten troops, one light reconnaissance truck, three tanks, and one command unit, an Atlesian Paladin. The Blue team on the opposite side of the city had the same unit strength, forcing the test to rely on the commander's tactical skills, rather than raw power or numbers. However, one thing about the Red team was different.
They had a Faunus on their team.
The M7A6-H had been ordered into the tunnels below the city, to circle around the flank and gather data. In all honesty it was a job for the scout, but the commander hadn't wanted to risk the truck driving on cabling that could carry nearly four point eighty-four gigawatts of electricity at any time. As luck would have it, the M7 used jets to create a cushion of air under itself. It wouldn't even touch the cabling, he said.
Connie cursed under her breath as Grendel's belly scraped the cabling. She had enough sense to know that they were just sending her ahead of all of them. That's just what happened in an all-human squad. Plus, it was her commander that was the source of her problems… at this point, he was less than dirt in her eyes
The piping was barely big enough for her tank, though she supposed that was a good thing. It meant that the enemy scout wouldn't be able to fit underground, and troops would be too slow. Of course, it didn't change the fact that the Blue team consisted entirely of Faunus – the commander had to have turned some heads if he was granted permission to lead his own team. God, how she wished she was on the Blue team. At least she would be around others that understood the concept of teamwork… or humanity.
Still, she had to make due. This was her final exam – she would pass this, and then she would escape.
Connie typed a command and Grendel sent out a radar pulse that mapped out more of the tunnel system, detecting nothing more than copper wires and concrete.
"Grendel reporting in. No hostiles detected, over," she said tersely over the radio.
"Good work," came the smug reply of her commander. "Now, exit from point 21-B and scout out Main Street, I want to know where the Blues are."
For once, her commander had actually given an order that made sense.
Connie urged her machine forward, wincing every time she scraped the wall. After about a hundred feet she came to an intersection where all of the cables in the ring she was on and the rings further out came together and traveled deeper into the city – judging by the layout, the outside ring was to her right, and to go further in she would have to turn left. Of course, that would be the case if half the tunnel wasn't collapsed. The street above had been weakened at some point and fallen into the power system, making a rough ramp. Connie was cautious as she angled Grendel to travel up, using only subtle twitches of her hands and feet to maneuver. If she used too much power everyone on the entire block would be able to hear her before she was ready.
"I've reached point 21-B, exiting."
She rammed the throttle open, making Grendel lurch forward and shoot up the ramp. The tank was airborne for several seconds before she came back down, scraping the pavement before coming to a stop – Grendel had exited in a really dilapidated part of the city, the buildings around her decaying in the harsh Atlesian landscape and becoming nothing more than twisted skeletons of steel and concrete.
Grendel spun in place, her turret tracking every suspicious corner before Connie was satisfied.
"Point 21-B is clear, they haven't made it this far yet. Over," she said, sure that there were no enemies in the area. Though she had never been in command herself, she knew that 21-B had a distinct tactical advantage. It was in the west side of the city, with lots of cover and tall buildings for troops to spot targets. The ruined sector effectively made any maps useless, and made it impossible for the enemy to guess where the next attack would be coming from. If they gained control of this area, her commander would be able to control the entire left flank and dictate where he wanted the enemy team to go. It was perfect to force the Blue team into ambushes, traps, even pushing them back into their own starting area to pick them off one by one.
It was a major shock when her commander said, "Good. Now, continue along the street and look for the Blues. When you've found them, engage. Take down as many as you can."
Connie's heart stopped. "…What?"
"You heard me," her commander said, none too pleased. "Engage the enemy team!"
Struggling to control herself, Connie clenched and unclenched her control sticks as she said, "…Sir, clarify. Are you asking me make a suicide run in a tank?"
"Yes. Now, if you're done exercising that blob of meat you call a brain, carry out your orders, Faunus."
Connie sat there, lip curling in disgust. Falcone Winchester was an asshole. She would know – she was under his direct command. She'd had more unpleasant run-ins with him than she could count, the most notable last night.
She was sure that it would give her nightmares for weeks. Her ears still hurt.
He was the bane of every Faunus in Ironwood, viewing them as nothing more than cannon fodder. While she'd resigned herself to his stupidity before the test began, she couldn't believe the sheer magnitude of it. To sacrifice a tank, one of a commander's greatest assets, simply to spite her?
It made her sick. Not only that, but if she couldn't get a high enough score, not only would she held back but her tank would be seized for a 'better suited' pilot. Connie knew she wouldn't be able to survive – she could admit it was a miracle she'd lasted five years, let alone six. Still, it made disturbing sense. Faunus were a dime a dozen in Atlas. The effort to train five Faunus poorly was the same to train one human correctly. It was the system that the Atlesian military was built on despite Ironwood's attempts to reform it. After all, he may have been a General, but the Atlas Council had the last say in military affairs. It was mainly due to them that the bulk of the army was being replaced with droids. Though the history books didn't say it, it was known that Atlas sent captured Faunus to concentration camps to be 'reeducated' to fight for them during the war. Ironwood was practically a reeducation facility itself.
Again, despite Ironwood's great efforts to reform it. All he could do was prepare his students as best he could.
This realization had always made Connie sick. It wasn't the first time she asked herself if she really wanted this. 'It's for your own benefit,' Hawthorne had said.
She'd always pushed it out of her mind. She'd always believed there was an end to this hell. But there was nothing but humans like Winchester, and in recent days she hadn't been able to stop from asking herself, was this really what she wanted? Was this even what her parents had wanted for her? Though her training screamed at her to stand down and follow orders, her mind shouted, 'NO.'
And if nothing else, she would do anything to prevent her tank from being seized.
The disgust, panic, and rage fueled her as she threw out all decorum and spat into the radio, "Sir, you can kindly take your order and shove it."
Static filled the airwaves. "…What did you just say to me?"
It seemed that he never thought a Faunus would have the balls to talk back to him, his voice trembling with hidden rage. So, it was with glee that she fiddled with the radio, turning off the encryption and setting to broadcast on all frequencies. If she was to be cannon fodder, she'd have her last laugh.
"Sir, I said to take your order and shove it," she repeated, her voice flat.
Immediately, cackles and laughs sounded over the airwaves, trickling through Connie's radio and on to her team.
"Are you broadcasting on an unencrypted channel?!" Falcone roared.
"Yes sir."
"You animal! Are you fucking stupid?! You're not going to jeopardize my graduation because you don't like my orders!"
Suddenly, the realization of what she'd just done filled her with dread… but, in all honesty, she couldn't care less. Any fear was beaten down by the fire that suddenly filled her. After yesterday, any respect she had for the man, even earned through fear, was lost, and all she wanted to do was bite back. "Falcone Winchester, you put your own graduation in jeopardy when you sent a tank on a scouting run. I'm not even in a command position, and I know how senseless that is."
"What?! Are you lecturing me?!"
"If you would exercise that blob of meat you call a brain," she mocked, drawing more laughs, "you would find that, yes, I am. Of course, why would you need to think? You're an egotistical boy whose daddy is on the Council. Besides, I'd rather ruin your graduation than spend one more millisecond in the same facility as you."
There was a distant boom as Falcone fired into the side of a building in anger, showering his own troops in chunks of concrete. "You're dead, do you hear me?! YOU'RE DEAD! When I find you, I'm cutting off ALL your fucking ears!"
Somehow, over the radio Falcone Winchester wasn't nearly as impossible to defy, though his words definitely made her shiver. Connie dispassionately cut off his frequency, though she kept the channel open as she broadcasted, "Blue Team, this is Constance Carlisle. I am hereby deserting Ironwood Academy. When Ironwood questions why, you can tell him I was forced to under extreme duress. If an investigation is carried out, inform him that I am currently in possession of my licenses and warrants."
She took in a breath, ready to cut the broadcast entirely when a malicious grin found its way on her face, hidden beneath her helmet. "Additionally, the Red Team hasn't moved an inch from the starting area. Show them what a Faunus can do."
The Blue Team mobilized immediately, heading straight for the Reds. In the minute and thirty seconds it took to spot the first Red trooper, not a single one of them had organized themselves against the threat. Not with their commander still in the throes of rage. The training exercise would later come to be known as the Red Team's quickest and most humiliating defeat.
Still, when the dust settled and an investigation was made, not a single trace of Constance Carlisle could be found.
-O-O-O-
Fingers snapped in front of Connie's face, making her break out of the daze she was in only to be staring into an icy glare.
"Are you back to the present?" Weiss asked haughtily, fists resting on her hips.
Connie shook her head, forcing herself away from the memory. "…Yes."
The first few minutes since they'd arrived in the VDF Workshop were, simply put, damage control – Ruby had managed to send a miniaturized Dust reactor into meltdown, and after Weiss shoved her out of the way to get the thing under control she backed into a stack of metal tubes. Needless to say, the five of them were cleaning up amid Ruby's sheepish apologies. It was when Connie looked back to her treasured tank that her mind flashed back to her final day in Ironwood Academy, over three months before. Maybe seeing him again was what started it…
Connie shook herself once more. With any luck, Ozpin would find them, they'd leave, and all memory of this place would fade away before she had to lay eyes on her commander ever again.
Hopefully.
She turned to her tank, inert as it rested on its skids. It looked better than ever, with the tears in her armor repaired and repainted in a dark camouflage pattern with greens, browns and greys. Ignoring the others, she traced her hand along Grendel's armor as she walked around to the front of the machine, content as she slid open the access panel and typed at the control pad, telling her machine to open the cockpit.
"Access denied, insufficient privileges."
Connie frowned, her peaceful mood instantly dashed. She typed in another command to reboot the system.
"Access denied, insufficient privileges."
Stopping for a moment, Connie thought as she tried to remember higher level commands. Once she did she typed in a long string, telling the machine to run a diagnostic and report its condition.
"M7A6-H, serial number 5982095-AH is currently on lockdown. Authorization made by Felix Eau, Head Mechanic of the Vale Defense Force."
I guess that explains it, Connie thought to herself. Either he wanted to speak to me before I went to pilot Grendel again, or he needed to keep it from being tampered with.
Either way, she could respect the mechanic's decision, though she was slightly annoyed that she couldn't access her own tank. She turned away, fondly brushing her hand along it as she did so.
"Hey Connie, do you know what this is? I've never seen it before," Ruby said, drawing Connie from her thoughts yet again. When she laid eyes on the girl staring up in awe at the metal titan that took up almost an entire corner of the workshop, she couldn't help but smile slightly. Deciding that Weiss, Yang and Blake wouldn't get into anything – though truthfully the only one she had to worry about was Ruby – she strode toward the younger girl, reaching out to stroke the leg of the machine.
In a small, quiet voice, Connie muttered, "Model Eleven, Variant Twenty, Revision One, Legged."
Ruby blinked. "Uh, what?"
"M11T1-L. My father designed it," Connie said quietly.
"Oh. That's cool. So your tank… that would be Model Seven, Variant One, Revision Six, um… Hover?"
"That's right. It was my father's naming scheme."
Silence.
Taking a breath, Ruby nervously twiddled her thumbs as she said, "U-um, Connie? Why didn't you want us to come?"
Immediately, Connie frowned and traced a finger along the T1's leg armor.
"I-I mean," Ruby continued, "I know you don't trust us yet, but… are we that much in the way?"
She didn't answer.
Before Ruby could say anything else, however, a klaxon alarm blared throughout the base. "Security alert in mess hall. Security personnel, please respond."
Blake looked up from where she had been leaning against the workbench, idly flipping through a manual. No one noticed her bow twitching as she said, "Security alert? In this place?"
With a grin, Yang slammed a fist into her palm. "Oh yeah! My guns were ready for action!"
Rolling her eyes, Weiss turned away from the Dust reactor. "Your guns?" she said in disbelief. "Your 'guns' are shot gauntlets, which you left in your locker."
"Nope! Say hello to the Double Tap!" Yang flexed her arms, fists in the air before she jokingly kissed her biceps.
"And you wonder why you've been to the Headmaster's office eight times this semester…" Weiss groaned.
Even Ruby was excited, despite her partner's sarcasm. "Yeah, let's go check it out! I saw that map earlier, if we take the next two lefts we should be there."
Weiss put a hand on her hip, turning to Ruby with a raised eyebrow. "And how would you know?"
"Um… I looked at the map?"
"But you only looked for two seconds!"
At this, Yang grinned and slung and arm over her sister's shoulders. "She's always been good with directions… as long as you give her a map. Give her a map of the world and she'll tell you where you are before you can say 'I'm lost!'"
Weiss grumbled under her breath, vowing to study maps more than ever. She would never, ever, ever ride a Nevermore for the rest of her life if she could help it. Then again, with Ruby as a partner, that possibility was up in the air. Still, she followed her teammates with a roll of her eyes and an ever so slight smile.
"Wait," Connie said, bringing them all to a halt. "The security will be able to handle it. We should stay here and wait for the mechanic to come back."
Yang grinned and put her hands on her hips. "Oh, ya scared?"
Connie gave an almost disgusted face. "No. My business is with him, we have a better chance of finding him if we wait for him where he works."
"Yeah, but what's the fun in doing that?" Ruby said.
Connie's mouth opened and closed, unbelieving of the girls before her. "Professor Ozpin told us to stay out of trouble –"
Surprisingly, almost impossibly, it was Weiss that huffed and said, "Do you always have to follow orders to the letter? We're only seeing what's going on, we're not declaring war or anything." Connie could do nothing but watch as all four of them left, eager to see what was going on. In all honesty, she was curious too, but… shouldn't she wait?
"Security alert. Security personnel, please report to the mess hall."
Screw it.
Connie dashed out of the room, catching up to them just a few steps from the door – it was as if they'd been waiting. They met her with grins and smiles – aside of Weiss' glare – before they set off once more, Connie trailing at the back as they shouldered their way through scrambling personnel. It was when Yang shouldered her way through an armed guard that something was amiss. The man was caught by a tall, gunmetal-grey figure that had emerged from a hatch in the wall, glaring at the group with a bright red visor that had a gouge running through the armor where the left eye would be.
They barely spared it a glance, though they hurried ever so slightly more to get past it.
"What was that?" Ruby whispered.
"That was an AK-130. They're the standard security model android on Remnant," Weiss hissed, nudging her way by a man in a suit. "Though I wonder why they have them, they're being replaced with the AK-200 that's coming out in a few months."
Blake, after giving the android a long, heated glare over her shoulder, looked quizzically at the heiress. "And how do you know this?"
Weiss beamed, practically preening herself as she boasted, "The Schnee Dust Company is the co-designer of the 200. It outclasses the 130 in every way."
As the white-haired girl continued on her tirade, Connie watched the scarred android as they moved away. It gently set the man aside before staring after them, shoulders squared and hands fisted. It could've been just her imagination, it could've been just her being paranoid, but… for some strange reason, it almost seemed like the battle droid was staring at her. With a shudder, Connie faced the front and did her best to keep up with the group, once helping Ruby back to her feet after a guard as big as an entire doorway bowled her on her rear. They began to hearing bangs and thumps as they continued along, along with muffled cheering. That was disconcerting itself, but it was when they turned down the second hallway filled with even more personnel and saw the massive open bulkhead for the mess hall that Connie heard a muffled gunshot. Her ears were erect as she instinctively reacted, shoving her way past Blake and raced down the hall, leaving Team RWBY behind to fight through the crowd. She vaulted over a discarded trolley before skidding through the door.
The sight that greeted her was pure chaos. Long rows of tables, much like the ones in the Beacon dining hall were thrown aside and upended, becoming little more than a giant's playthings. A crowd of guards and jumpsuit-clad personnel were crowded in a large circle, cheering and shouting bets. However, it was when she heard a dull thud and a low grunt of pain that she moved into action, shoving her way through the throng and taking a pair of elbows to her head and gut for her troubles. Just as she thought she was going to suffocate, she popped out of the crowd and was greeted with a sight she thought she would never see again… or even want to.
Falcone Winchester. Tall. Lanky. Cold, detached eyes. Brown hair cut with a flip at the front and a ponytail in the back. He was currently hefting a mouse Faunus barely half as tall as he was by the front of his coveralls, while a pair of black AK-130s kept the few people who wanted to help at bay. The sight of her former commander made Connie tremble where she stood. It was unlike before, where the shock of seeing him had kept the fear from surfacing. But seeing him, now, face to face, was suddenly terrifying. She wasn't in the VDF facility – no, she was back in the utility tunnels, begging for an unreceived mercy. How his fist would come down on her like the blow of a hammer. She tumbled back, letting out a loud, fearful yelp.
The sound drew his attention and Falcone slowly turned, silencing the crowd in an instant. Once he laid eyes on her, however, a long, vicious smirk spread across his face, making her tremble harder than ever.
"Well," he said smugly, "if it isn't my little vixen."
The Faunus in his hands looked to Connie, blood dribbling from his nose and forming a black eye. "R-run," he groaned. "Commander Winchester is extremely dangerous –"
Falcone tutted in annoyance and threw the Faunus aside, sending him flying into the floor where he immediately lay still. "Stay down and shut up, I'll deal with you in a moment," he said, before turning to Connie. She flinched, ears laying back in fear, a sight that pleased Falcone to no end. "You know, I had this whole plan to smash up your tank and draw you out, but no! You go and bring yourself to me, like a good little animal."
Every fiber of her being screamed at her to run, her fox thrashing and yowling to be loosed on her foe, but all Connie could do was stare at Falcone in abject terror. She nearly urinated herself when he stooped over her, hands on his knees and face twisted in a sneer. "So, how about we pick up where we left off three months ago?" he asked casually. However, there was nothing casual about the wickedly sharp karambit that he drew from his belt.
"There's no one to stop me this time."
Connie's eyes drew to mere pinpricks at the sight of it, and let out a bloodcurdling scream.
-O-O-O-
Over three months ago…
"Please, stop!" Connie begged. She had been dragged into a deserted maintenance hatch, filled with steaming pipes and bundles of wires that kept Ironwood Academy alive and functioning. It was one of those same pipes that she had been handcuffed to, practically hugging the steel and grunting every time she touched the scalding metal.
There was a dark chuckle behind her, and Falcone Winchester grinned at seeing her predicament. "But why? This is so much fun!"
Connie couldn't hold back the sob that escaped her, eyeing the evil teen from over her shoulder. It was almost too dark to see anything – it was only the red emergency lights that gave off any sort of illumination, bathing everything in a bloody glow. The squad she had assigned to would surely notice her absence soon, it had been nearly two hours since the Winchester had pulled her into this alcove from hell and it was drawing near lunchtime. Surely, surely they would notice something… right?
There was a long pause before Falcone sighed. "But, as pretty as you look there, I'm gonna have to cut this short."
Connie couldn't help the sigh of relief, and there was tears in her eyes as she said, "Oh thank you, thank you! Please, get off me off this pipe, it's boiling –"
She was cut off when Falcone slammed his fist into the pipe next to her face. His aura pulsed a deep red as it protected him from the searing heat, but what shocked her more than the sudden violence was short, wickedly curved knife in his grip. Connie went cold, and stared at the knife in terror.
He sneered in triumph. "That's what I was waiting for, Carlisle. All your money, all your skills, all your fucking commendations mean jack shit. You're just a scared little fox digging through the trash, and get a face full of arsenic for the trouble. I've been waiting for this moment for five years, you little bitch. I even had to get Dad to hold you back – I can't have you graduating without my permission."
Slowly he began grinding the blade closer to her face. His grin grew wider as he said, "But I need to get going, it's almost time for lunch. I think I've got what I wanted, but I need a little souvenir, don't you think?"
The blade came closer, shifting up as it traveled.
"Have you ever heard of plastination? It's kinda cool actually – body parts are preserved by turning tissue into plastics."
Terror grew in Connie, tears silently streaming down her face.
"And I just chose what I want to remember you by."
The knife was suddenly pulled away from the pipe, now as hot as the water within. Any question of what Falcone intended to do with the knife was answered when she felt the blade come against her fox ear, making her gibber in terror and thrash against her restraints. Falcone's grin grew even more, threatening to spread from ear to ear.
He pressed the blade in harder, nearly breaking the skin.
Her scream echoed down the hall, but even it couldn't drown out the yells and curses of incoming prefects. Falcone cursed, tensing to rip the ear off in a quick flick of his wrist but was knocked to the side by a large man in combat fatigues. The man screamed in Falcone's face and slammed him into the concrete floor again and again, even as another released Connie from her handcuffs. The brutish-looking man had no idea what to do when the fox girl leapt onto him, bawling as blood trickled from her ear.
-O-O-O-
Connie scooted back, all control of her limbs gone as she struggled to crawl away. To this, Falcone gave a snort of disdain and looked to his personal combat droids.
"Well? Grab her," he said. The 130s bleeped in confirmation and strode forward, snatching Connie off the ground before she could react and hoisted her to her feet. Their hands were like vice grips around her arms, and she struggled briefly before looking back to Falcone in terror.
She didn't notice that, in the background, a flash of blonde was shoving its way towards her.
"P-please…" she whispered, paralyzed in terror.
The Winchester heir strode toward her with a grin, karambit flicking between his fingers.
"Help…"
The crowd around her hollered in excitement. Whether any of them approved of this or not, they had already been swept up into a mob mentality, one that screamed for blood. Human and Faunus alike were throwing their fists in the air, eager to see what happened next.
Falcone reached out and roughly grabbed her hair, tilting her head to expose her ears better.
"HELP ME!"
"What the hell are you doing, asshole?!" someone yelled from the crowd, and the mass of blonde hurtled through the air and slammed into Falcone. He was blasted away with a grunt and a flare of yellow aura, hurtling into the crowd with enough force to knock ten others down. Yang Xiao Long held her fists in a loose stance, eyes glowing an ominous red that flicked to Connie in concern before looking back to her prey.
No one noticed the gunmetal-gray figure enter the room, sticking to the shadows.
Ruby squeezed through the crowd, following the trail of destruction that her sister had wrought. As soon as her gaze fell on her friend she gasped, and ran toward her as she exclaimed, "Connie! Oh my god, are you okay?! We heard your scream and –"
She was stopped when one of the 130s shoved its hand into her chest and knocked her back. The same fist retracted and shifted into multiple gun barrels that were aimed at the girl as it intoned, "This subject has been detained on the order of Falcone Winchester. Any attempts to approach this subject will be met with lethal force."
Ruby froze at the sight of the barrels. Aura was strong. Aura gave one power. But the ability took deflect bullets took time and lots and lots of practice, time that she hadn't taken yet. She wished she had done so now.
Connie began to wake from her terror-fueled stupor. "R-Ruby," she said. "Ruby, run! Get out of here! He'll hurt you!"
At this, Ruby's eyes became hard and determined as she shot back, "Then I'll hurt him ten times worse! No one does this to my friends!"
"Damn straight!" Yang shouted, watching as Falcone began to get to his feet. Connie looked between them both, utterly confused to why they were helping her.
"What on Remnant is all the commotion –" Weiss began, striding through the crowd, only to stop and stare in shock at the scene before her. Blake was not far behind her, though when her gaze fell on Connie her eyes narrowed and she reached for her right shoulder, only to find that her weapon was, in fact, still in her locker. The realization made Blake hiss under her breath.
The arrival of the newcomers had made the gathered crowd come to their senses and they retreated to the edges of the room, wanting to see the chaos but not wanting to die in the process.
Everything happened too quickly for Connie to process. One moment she was running to stop an armed confrontation, only to end up as… this? Falcone's chewtoy? It had happened so many times in the past that it no longer surprised her, the feeling of control that he had control over her simply made her feel numb. She was always alone when he found her, or passerby simply didn't care enough to intervene. But, the one time she wasn't alone, these four stupid girls outright attack the Winchester heir over her? She couldn't believe the ludicrousness of it all.
There was a dark chuckle, and all eyes turned to Falcone. "Well, looks like you got some friends," he spat maliciously.
"A slut."
Yang bristled.
"A brat."
Ruby grumbled.
"A priss."
"Hey!"
"And another slut."
Blake's eyes narrowed.
Taking another look at them all, Falcone laughed and laughed. "Oh man, you sure know how to pick'em, Carlisle," he choked out, wiping a tear from his eye. "Not only did you find schmucks to leech off, but they're all human! What, is this some sort of half-assed revenge on humanity? 'Cause it ain't doing it for me."
Connie's eyes narrowed, but she just gritted her teeth.
Yang growled and took an aggressive step at the man. "ARGH! Enough!" she shouted. "Get away from her! Who the hell do you think you are?!"
Falcone gasped, hands over his heart in mock hurt. "Oh, whatever do you mean? I was only catching up with the little vixen, it's not like I'm doing anything she doesn't like!"
"You certainly have a strange concept of what she likes," Weiss said, hands on her hips.
At this, Falcone chuckled. "Oh, what? And you do?"
The four of them went silent, unable to say anything.
"And that's what I thought," Falcone mocked. "Let me guess, you've been trying to get closer to her, right? Be her friend? What a crock – she's an animal! She doesn't want friends; she wants a pack that will protect her from the big baddies in the world! I'm just doing a public service, ridding the world of this trash. She's like a puppet without its strings, she's danced enough so that she wants others dance for her."
With every word that Falcone had spoken, Connie's head bent lower and lower, until her chin rested against her chest. She found herself exhausted, so much that to deny what her former commander was saying felt impossible. One minute, one minute she saw him again outside of Ironwood Academy and she just… folded. Where did the girl who cussed him out on the radio go?
"She's nothing but a dog, I'll prove it you," he said, cutting off Team RWBY's protests. "130s!"
The droids snapped to attention.
"Release her."
The 130s tossed Connie to the floor, making her collapse to her knees.
"Connie!" Ruby shouted, but before she could move one of the 130s fired a volley at her feet, making the girl squeak and fall back in shock.
Connie watched this happen with a dead look in her eyes, one that scared Ruby to her very soul.
"…Connie?" she asked.
She didn't answer.
Falcone watched on with a sneer. "Pilot Carlisle," he shouted in a commanding voice. Connie instantly leapt to her feet, shoulders square, feet together, ready to serve. And hating every moment of it.
Connie bit her lip as she stood there, too ashamed to even glance at Ruby. The girl couldn't help but give her friend a piteous look. Yang stepped forward, only to take a long spurt of bullets into her gut. Thankfully her Aura stopped them, but she still doubled over in pain amid her sister's panicked yells.
"Are you trying to kill us?!" Weiss screeched.
"Just stay back kiddies, let the adults talk," Falcone said, brandishing his little knife before turning to Connie. "Now where were we?"
Connie bit her lip, keeping herself from looking at the group.
"Get on your knees."
Don't, she told herself. Something in her quailed at Falcone's stare, and despite her wanting to do something, anything, she found herself on her knees before him. She felt small, so very, very small in that moment. And worse of all, Ruby was watching.
Falcone laughed at Connie's submissiveness. "Good girl!" he mocked, rubbing between her ears.
Watching from the background was Blake, waiting for an opening to attack with the one weapon she had been able to find – while it was a spoon, even it would be able to do some damage if it was infused with Aura. When she saw him praise the girl like a dog, something in her snapped. A low snarl tore itself from her throat as her eyes narrowed, irises growing slitted, and she made sure she was absolutely silent as she cocked her arm back and let the utensil fly. She knew it was moving fast – she had trained herself to be able to knock people out just by throwing a rock at their heads. So, Blake was completely and utterly shocked when Falcone's arm whipped up and snatched it out of the air with even looking.
He looked to Blake with a smirk. "I'm better than all you combined, brats. Learn your place like my little vixen here did, or I'll make you learn."
All of them bristled. Connie, however, just seemed to sink further into the floor, wanting nothing more than to disappear. She was shocked when Falcone roughly grabbed her hair, making her gasp in pain as he forced her head to tilt up and meet his eyes.
Yang rushed forward once more, only to be kicked away in her already wounded stomach by Falcone's 130s. "Further disobedience will not be tolerated," the left one intoned, looking at Yang as she doubled over, gasping for breath.
"Yes, further disobedience will not be tolerated," Falcone mocked, flicking his little blade into the air. "You want her back? Try anything funny and you'll get her back in pieces."
He looked back to Connie, clawing at his hand to try and escape. Giving her a rough shake and smiling at her cry, Falcone finally released her and allowed her to drop to her hands and knees, only to kick her arms out from under her and drop the girl to the floor with a grunt.
"Here's your next order," he said. "Lick my boots."
Connie felt dead inside.
Her hesitation must've angered Falcone, as he snarled and shouted, "130s! Target the girl with the red hood!"
The androids gave out an ominous garble as they aimed their weapons at Ruby, who stood there in utter shock. Yang, however, pushed through her pain and screamed, "What the hell are you doing, you bastard?!"
Falcone ignored the enraged girl. "Obey me, or your little friend gets it," he told Connie, who stared at Ruby in fear.
Pain.
Humiliation.
Rage.
Old memories were surfacing, making her want to just fold in on herself and hide. But, it didn't matter. Not now. Not when Ruby was in danger.
Steeling herself, Connie opened her mouth, leaned forward, and stuck her tongue out…
"Interjection: As entertaining as watching a bully work his magic on a defenseless girl may be, I have to cut in and say that all of you are guilty of dereliction of duty."
All eyes turned to the door, where an AK-130 had watching from the sidelines. It was a standard gunmetal grey – really, the only thing that made it stand out from the any of the other models was the ragged scar in its faceplate, where the left eye would be
Falcone looked to the 130 in disdain. "Go back to whatever hole you climbed from, robot. You don't have any business here."
The 130 shrugged – shrugged – and said in a robotic drone, "Answer: On the contrary, I have much business with that girl you are terrorizing, as well as her friends. Now, unless you'd like to be put on a military trial for assault and abuse of power, I suggest you get your filthy bastard hands off the girl."
The fact that an AK-130, an android model not known for its level of intelligence in the first place, was speaking like a functioning human being was lost on Falcone. He laughed, and said, "What? Do you even know who I am? 130s, terminate that one, I don't like it."
The black androids walked towards the scarred one, one staying back to level its gun barrel arms at it while the other strode forward with extended blades from its wrists.
"Target locked, engaging," they droned.
The scarred one almost seemed disappointed.
As the one with blades drew closer, the scarred one remained completely still. It was only when the blades were swinging at its head that it blurred into motion, blocking one strike with a forearm while extending its own blade and stabbed through with the other, instantly terminating the black AK-130. The scarred one didn't stop, turning so that the one with its guns ready would only have a shot at its dead ally. And it did, firing nonstop against its fallen ally's frame as the scarred one sprinted at it. The thing didn't even try to move as the scarred one pounced and impaled the droid on the same blade as its ally.
The scarred one drove the dead androids into the floor before it yanked its blade out of the pair of them. "Pathetic," it said, before stepping on their dead frames to continue onward towards Falcone. Strangely, though, he stopped beside Yang, ignoring the girl as she warily eyed the rogue android.
Connie, meanwhile, watched on with a blank expression.
Falcone looked on in shock, before shouting angrily, "I am Commander Falcone Winchester! You will obey me, you bucket of bolts!"
"Counter: You are not the commander of this facility. The commander is Anton Zurich, and I do believe you do not hail from Atlas. You should not be anywhere near this facility, in reality."
"I-I'm the Winchester heir!"
To this, the 130 gave a slight nod. "Supplication: Yes, perhaps. And perhaps that obligates me to ensure your life remains intact."
Falcone sneered.
"Continuation: But an obligation isn't the same as a directive."
It turned to Yang. "Suggestion: If I may propose, Falcone Winchester no longer has his lap dogs to protect him."
Yang blinked, realizing what the android meant – there were no bullets to stop her now! Falcone seemed to realize this as well, though he could barely take a step back or raise his knife to defend himself before Yang leapt at him with a feral scream, slugging him across the jaw. He flew magnificently, twirling two full rotations before he smashed into the far wall head-first.
"That's for threatening my sister, you son of a bitch!" she shouted, and stalked her way over to where his crumpled, groaning form lay.
Ruby, meanwhile, rushed to Connie. The girl was staring at Falcone's crumpled body, mouth opening and closing in disbelief.
"Connie! Connie, are you okay?! Say something!"
Ruby's words were unheard by Connie. That pig had tormented her for nearly five years. The bane of her existence. Unbeatable. Untouchable. And these girls were willing to face danger for her and knocked him out cold with a single punch? It was too much. Still, she was compelled to answer the girl, and she said monotonously, "It's okay, Ruby. I'm fine."
Instead of reassuring the girl, Ruby just seemed even more worried.
With a dull thud, Yang managed to pull Falcone from where he'd been embedded in the wall and let him drop to the ground. She grinned as she grabbed the front of his uniform and pulled a fist back to slug him until his face was mush.
"And just what is going on?" a voice asked.
All of Team RWBY gulped and looked to Ozpin, where he'd pushed through the onlookers. He took a sip from his mug, looking almost normal, but the stern glare he gave the girl made them quake in their shoes and wish that they had their weapons, if nothing else than to comfort themselves with.
As for Connie? She sat there, staring at the unconscious form of the man she once called her commander, unable to feel a thing. And through all the commotion, no one noticed a scarred AK-130 exit the room, joining another of its brethren before disappearing among their patrols.
-O-O-O-
"…no excuse for… put your sister… the Winchesters…"
Ozpin's muffled voiced trickled out his office door, keeping Ruby and Connie from knowing exactly what was being said but able to get the gist of it. They were waiting in the hall, Ruby squirming on the uncomfortable chairs while Connie sat with her head bent and hands on her knees. Neither had spoken a word to the other in the whole two hours since the confrontation with Falcone, nor during when Grendel was brought to the surface of the Beacon plateau by a cargo elevator, or even when they were brought to the small garage where Connie's machine would be kept.
Though Ruby had longed to geek out, seeing her friend the way she was gave her pause.
All of them could see that Connie was struggling with some inner turmoil, making all of them, Ruby especially, frustrated when the girl would pushed them away after they expressed their concern. It was maddening. Even Ozpin shot the Connie a concerned glance, but she simply stared at the wall, deep in thought.
Either way, once Falcone came to, it was surprisingly easy for Ozpin for bend him into giving back Connie's tank. Threats of sending video feeds of his behavior to his parents worked wonders to that end. As for Felix, he was brought straight to Beacon's infirmary to treat him for a cracked collarbone, bruises, and a concussion.
"Ruby."
Connie's sudden voice made Ruby squeak in surprise, nearly falling out of her chair. Taking a flustered breath, Ruby looked to see Connie staring at the wall. "Y-yes?" she asked.
Connie frowned, opening her mouth before closing it again. She took a steadying breath before saying, "Earlier… in the workshop, you asked me why I didn't want you to come."
Ruby sat forward, attentive.
"…I," Connie began with difficulty. "Ruby, I need to know I can trust you," she pleaded, still staring at the wall.
"Connie, of course you can," Ruby said, just as pleadingly.
"How?"
To this, Ruby could say nothing, feeling nothing but the cold settling in her stomach. Mind racing, she said the only thing she could.
"I can't show you Connie. You just have to trust me," Ruby said quietly.
It was illogical. It was risky. It was foolhardy. And yet, as Connie felt the last of her defenses crumble, the thought of Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang jumping to her aid spurned her on as she said, "For… most of my life, I've been taking orders. It's easy. You don't have to think for yourself. If anything goes wrong, the person that made the mistake was your superior. I've been living like that since I was twelve. It was fine for me."
If Ruby reacted, she didn't show it. Taking this as a sign to continue, Connie was shaking from her frazzled nerves and whispered, "I was…" She paused, and shook her head. "I wasn't happy actually, but I accepted it. If I was able to pilot, then I could take it. And after that wasn't enough anymore, I had Grendel to keep myself together. And when she wasn't enough, I ran away."
Finally, she looked to Ruby with pain in her eyes. "What you saw in the mess hall is how my life was. I never wanted you to see that, and I don't know why."
At this, Ruby reached out and rubbed Connie's shoulder – though the fox girl flinched and tried to shy away, Ruby held on and said, "Connie, if you think I would judge you for something that you couldn't change, don't! You're my friend, and friends don't do that."
"I've been judged my entire life, I'm used to it," Connie spat vindictively. "But you… I haven't talked much to anyone in the last five years, did you know that? How is it you're the one that makes me let my guard down?"
Ruby didn't know what to say to this.
"I hate him," she continued, gritting her teeth as tears began to come to her eyes. "I hate him! You call me a friend, but the people I've known are scum! You say to be there, but I've spent my life not being there so no one has a chance to hurt me anymore! Why is it you?!"
She lashed out, grabbing Ruby by the shoulders and forcing her into her seat. Connie ignored the sudden clattering in Ozpin's office as she continued, "Ruby, I want you to answer this one question. Tell me the truth, or I'll know."
In Connie's eyes, behind her control, Ruby could see her desperation. She was vulnerable. The look in her eyes reminded Ruby of herself after her mother passed.
"Why did you try to protect me from Winchester?"
Swallowing down the ball of grief, Ruby stared back and said, "I wanted to help you."
That simple answer caught Connie off guard. She stared at Ruby, searching for any trace of deception, but there was none. There was only a girl with an honest heart, one that, impossibly, was willing to accept her.
It was too much.
Connie felt herself shattering. The walls she'd built up around herself – the same walls that had shielded her through Ironwood – crumbled in an instant, and she clung to Ruby's shoulders as she bowed her head, shuddering as she clamped her eyes shut. Ruby almost began hyperventilating, worried to see the tough, determined girl like this. It scared her more than she'd like to admit.
"Connie, what's wrong? Please, tell me!" she pleaded, only for Connie to grip her shoulders almost painfully tight.
Ruby realized she wouldn't get anywhere with Connie in a state like this, so she tried to remember what Yang did for her when her mother passed. She brought an unsure hand to Connie's head and guided the girl to her shoulder, hugging her, careful to keep her hands away from the fox girl's ears as she murmured soft reassurances. To her delight Connie didn't resist or push her away, merely hiding her face.
Meanwhile, in the office, Yang stared in disbelief at the security feed playing on Ozpin's monitor. She'd never seen the girl smile, let alone break down like she was doing now. Blake had to restrain her after Connie had lunged at her sister, but now she just seemed… lost, in Yang's eyes. It was a familiar scene, of Yang comforting her sister and chasing away the nightmares after their mother died. But to see her baby sis where she herself had been made Yang smile.
Weiss looked on in confusion. "Wait… what?"
"I think," Ozpin began, watching the feed from the other side of his desk, "that our Connie may have finally found herself a friend."
Blake was happy that the fox girl had found a place for herself, her smirk almost unnoticeable, but a thought crossed her mind and she paused. "Professor Ozpin, why do you have a prerecorded scolding on your computer?" she asked, her voice stern.
"…It never hurts to be prepared," Ozpin said, smiling ever so slightly.