Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.
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273 Ironrose
York
With a start, York woke up to the smell of delicious food. He rose from the couch and pulled on a shirt and a pair of combat boots, looking to the activated TV broadcasting news. White Fang Robs Dust Bunnies. He turned up the volume as the newscaster was speaking.
"… unexpectedly, this is the first robbery the White Fang has committed against a Faunus-run organization. Although none were harmed, these shop owners have suffered severe losses…"
York turned to see North, dressed in a black hoodie and jeans with Sperry's, making bacon in a skillet, while South, wearing a sleeveless blue shirt and black skinny jeans, was working on batter for pancakes.
"I didn't know you cooked." Maine said to the blonde woman, coming down from the loft. He was wearing a white undershirt with a dark hoodless leather jacket, collar turned up, with black jeans and combat boots.
"She doesn't." North grinned. "But her ability to make and mix batter is unrivalled."
"My batter, his cooking. Best. Pancakes. Ever."
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Across vale in the Beacon cafeteria, Ren shivered.
"What's wrong, Renny?" Nora asked.
"My pancake title just shivered." Ren groaned.
"WHAT?!"
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One hour later
York sat back from his plate and bit into a piece of bacon. "Damn. Those were friggin' fantastic."
"Too bad Utah and CT stayed behind." South commented.
York rose an eyebrow. "What?"
"Yeah, CT told me to go away or she'd slit my throat. Utah said he would go grab some food for her when she got up." South shrugged.
"He is so considerate." Florida stated. The strange man wore a simple green T-shirt and shorts, neon yellow tennis shoes on his feet.
Maine nodded. "Always was. Helped me when my throat was hurt, had some special Mormon voodoo."
Wyoming hummed in agreement. "He also wanted to help me when the triplets trashed my quarters."
"Yeah, Utah's always been straight on the moral compass."
"And his gay-dar. If a guy slaps him in the butt, he'd usually get really nervous and claim he didn't swing that way."
"For the first couple weeks, anyway."
York though for a moment, then leaned forward in his seat. "I think that's why the Director chose Utah to be his alias. He matches the description perfectly."
Outside, a car rolled up into the drive. A second later, CT stepped through the door, a tan leather jacket over a dark brown blouse that was tucked into a pair of jeans, with a pair of leather boots covering them up to the knees. "Hey, you guys save me any grub?" She smiled. Utah stepped in a few moments later, running a hand through his brown hair. He wore his jacket over a red shirt and his black jeans and boots. He pulled off a pair of sunglasses, revealing his chocolate brown eyes.
South smirked. "Someone's in a happy mood." She said in an undertone.
CT snatched a piece of bacon and downed it in a few bites. "So, what's on the agenda today?"
Delta appeared via the 3D projector in the center of the table. "Headmaster Ozpin has informed me that he highly doubts these recent attacks were the original White Fang that we've been dealing with."
"Yeah, attacking Faunus doesn't really seem like them." Georgia commented, taking his dishes to wash and clean them.
York nodded. "Then we need to find out who is. It could be the Knaves, or the small list of usual suspects."
"Why do we have to assume it's someone we know? For all we know, it could be a new cell, or even just that little woman Torchwick hangs with at times."
South groaned. "Ugh, Neo. I hate her."
"Because she beat you?" North chuckled.
York looked up in interest, grinning at the twins. "What's this? South's ego was hurt? Do tell."
"Shut your trap." South barked.
"Anyway." Georgia cut in with a pointed glare. "I suggest a stakeout. Since you've got a bigger force now, we can easily spread out to get some wider coverage."
York nodded. "Very true. We'll split into teams of two to spread out to the different districts of Vale. That way, no matter where it happens, we can have two people there and ready to fight and know who it is."
"I will stay and coordinate our efforts, as well as document all visuals from your helmet feeds." Delta told them.
"May take a couple nights before it happens." Maine said simply.
South agreed. "Yeah, who says this is going to happen tonight? Could be a week, even more before they strike again.
"Unless there's another event that is more important, it's not like we have anything better to do." Utah commented. Everyone was silent, and he continued. "I signed up for Project Freelancer because I thought we were doing something good. We definitely had the potential, but someone used it for personal gain… now we are free from his orders and simulations, with the same tech that gives us a good chance to do something good." He said, then resolutely and slowly continued. "I. Am. Not. Going. To. Miss. That. Chance. Again."
"Amen, Mormon." North grinned, and Utah shoved him roughly but jokingly. A couple others were nodding around the table, South rolled her eyes.
Delta spoke once more, looking to York. "Agent York, I suggest that we use the same method you used for your own armor to begin compressing the other Freelancer's armor into backpacks, as to not rouse suspicion."
York grinned, then looked to North and Utah. "How's your tinkering?"
North shrugged. "A little bit rusty."
"I built this last night." Utah grinned, pulling a floating White/Platinum cube that floated just above his hand. "Grenade mixed with alien tech."
Everyone was amazed until CT scoffed. "You made that last month!"
Utah grinned. "Yep, just wanted to see your faces!"
North slugged him in the shoulder as he and York stood. "We'll get started immediately. The rest of you, do whatever. There's a diner a couple blocks down the street for lunch, and I need someone to go down to a nearby blacksmith shop to order these parts." York began to write down a list on a piece of paper. "And a couple people to take the truck from the residential district down to a specialty store to get these parts." He wrote those on a separate sheet.
"I'll head down to the blacksmith's." Maine said.
"I'll go with him." CT said.
"Georgia and I can go get the rest."
York nodded. "Alright, let's get to work.
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273 Ironrose, twelve hours later…
Utah
After a hard day's work, the combined skill and speed of the three workers, plus the fact York had done this twice and had refined the process, Utah, North, and York had finished most of the armor except for Utah's and South's. Flowers, who had been demoted to an older model of the MJOLNIR armor instead of his grenadier-variant ODST armor, so that would be upgraded and then given mechashift abilities the next day.
Utah sat at the table drinking an "Everyone Loves Grape" soda, York and North opting for alcohol. The others were testing out their improved armor, making sure everything worked smoothly, checking new features, and playing with the retractable feature.
CT pressed the deployment button and her armor started to spark after her chest plate had almost locked into place.
Utah sped over and started to work on the problem, a snap in the extending wire that shifted her legs and boot armor down and into place. He paused the activation process by connecting his Scroll to the backpack, then grabbed a soldering iron and melted the piece back into place. He stepped back and resumed the process, and the armor slid onto CT without any problems.
"Thanks, Mormon." She said, casting a secret wink that none of the others caught just before she reached back for her helmet, which didn't just attach onto her head, instead sticking to the underside of the armor's back. York found that most of the mechanical errors happened in the helmet. CT slid and snapped it on, nodding to herself as the system booted up.
He sent a message to her HUD that simply said, "Later." She glanced at him before he stepped away to get into his own armor, while she began to reverse the process.
York called all of them over to the large map of Vale at the back of the warehouse a few minutes later. "Alright, here's the plan." He said, looking over all of the Freelancers. Flowers, South, and Utah were in their armor, weapons in place as well, while the others had their backpacks on or near them. "Utah and CT will be in the Agriculture district, in the black car with the tinted windows, so the civilians don't see his armor. Maine and I will be patrolling the seaside and Industrial district, Georgia, Wyoming, and Flowers will be taking the northeast side, the Upper-class district and surrounding area, while North and South are in charge of the remaining residential and commercial districts. Our vehicles don't matter, except North and South will be primarily on foot."
South cursed under her breath. "I hate walking."
"Everyone got it? We return after five in the morning to our safehouses, and meet back for reports by noon at the latest. We'll switch around pairs and areas, but the schedule will stay the same until we discover who is attacking, and what their central target is."
Utah crossed his arms as everyone got with their partners, CT coming up next to him. He grinned, then looked at the others.
York spoke again. "Remember, do not attack before reporting a robbery, attack, or something big. And don't be afraid to save someone if something bad is happening." He nodded to Utah, remembering the speech he'd given at breakfast. "Let's move out."
