Chapter 6: The Steel Beast

"Do you understand now? I'm unfinished," Nori, or what would become her, said to her friend, "Not just physically… I'm going to be uploaded with a ton of data when I'm finished."

"Wait, but that means…"

"That's right… everything I know about you is stored in my memory. But, once I get fed new data… you will be erased from my memories."

"Nori!" The child in front of her cried out, hugging her before bursting into tears. "Promise me! Promise me that even if your AI is overwritten, you'll keep me in your heart!"

"My heart…" Nori muttered, returning the hug. "Of course I will… I may but just a machine, but you taught me that I have a heart, that I'm a person… and for that, I will always thank you, Yuu-"

Nori's eyes opened wide, just finishing being fed data to improve various internal programs and data. Again, with that… dream, or perhaps a memory. If it was a memory, Nori had no idea how old it was or if it was even real.

"Yuu…" A fragment of a name, the only thing she could remember of that person besides that they were very young.

"You alright, Nori?" A voice came from her right.

"Yes, I am okay," Was her response, stepping out of the container as various wires and cables unhooked themselves from her body. She didn't hiccup, so it seems like she really does think she's fine.

She thought back on the memory. A heart? She was an AI with a machine body, was it really possible for her to have a heart? Sure, she could produce her own Aura, but still…

"Nori," Came another voice. An older woman with blue hair that she instantly recognized entered the room. "You understand that they won't let you go unsupervised now, correct?"

"Yes, I understand," Nori responded, slumping her shoulders a bit, "Thank you for reminding me, Big Sis Kazumi."

"That's why I'M here now!" A boisterous voice called out as the new speaker entered the room, blond hair and a busty figure filled Nori's eyes before she was wrapped up in a hug, the smaller girl instantly recognized the newcomer and cried out in joy.

"Honey!"

Beacon Academy

Yang was bored.

Trying to keep up with Professor Oobleck's lecture was like trying to outrun the sun, and it felt just as exhausting. It didn't help that Ruby said that there was something she wanted to show the team after classes were over. However, whatever the coffee addicted instructor was talking about seemed to pique her sister's interest, and by extension Yang's.

"And so the Great War commenced! Not only was it a time of great tension, but a time of great advancement as well! Can anyone name the quite large invention that was first put to use in this war?!" The green blur cried out, emphasizing every 'great' with a slight swing of his mug.

Ruby would raise her hand, excitement on her face as Yang also realized the answer.

"The mobile suit! In particular, the Zaku used by Mantle's ruling party at the time, Zeon," was Ruby's answer, to which the professor shouted "Correct!"

"Thus began our first steps towards the Super Robots we have today! Make no mistake students, these wondrous machines may be a symbol of the human will today but they were made from the human desire for war!" He blurred across the room, stopping in front of some student that Yang recognized from Signal Academy. Looks like the poor guy was caught gazing off into space.

"Tell me, who were the two great aces of the Great War, and what sides of the conflict did they serve?!"

"Uh…"

"I know, Professor!"

"It's Doctor! But yes, what is the answer Miss Nikkos?!"

"Char Aznable of the Mistral-Mantle alliance, and Amuro Ray of the Vacuo-Vale federation."

"Good, good! Now-" The teacher began, but was cut off by the ringing of the class bell. "Ah, that is the end of this lecture, we shall continue the rest next class but for now your homework is to list and give a short background on the leaders of each nation!" The hyped up instructor blurted out before disappearing in a blur.

Yang gave a quiet sigh of relief, earning a slight smirk from Blake before the two looked at Ruby. Weiss was already standing beside her sister, waiting on the duo. Curiously, Jaune was also with them, and surprisingly he hasn't been trying anything with Weiss recently. Looks like he gave up chasing her.

"Well… let's go see what Ruby wanted to show us," The blond said as she stood up, stretching her arms while Blake put her notes away. The two promptly followed their young leader through the halls of the academy for some time. So long, in fact, that Yang began to wonder if they had gotten lost.

"Hey, Ruby-" She began but was cut off by some kind of alert ringing from her sister's scroll. Weirdly enough, the same sound came from Jaune's scroll as well. Looking to each other, the two nodded before making a mad dash down the hall.

"Come on, follow us!" Jaune shouted, motioning for the rest of team RWBY to follow. Confused, the girls hastily made to close the distance between them as they wondered just what had happened.

North of Vale, Mountainous Region

In the mountains north of Vale, there was a village that survived by being out of reach from regular terrestrial Grimm. The only worries they ever had were from the likes of Giant Nevermore, which were fended off by the group of professional Huntsmen they had in their payroll.

That is, until the inhabitants felt a sudden tremor underneath their feet.

A massive drill suddenly burst forth from the center of the town, followed by a giant mechanical body to match. The shadows cast by the mountains obscured its features as it stared down at the buildings around it, and a tide of darkness spilled forth from the hole it had created.

The Grimm were unstoppable.

The best the Hunstmen could do was guide those who survived to a shelter, and send out an SOS signal.

Saotome Lab

Workers ran amuck, finishing the preparations for launching the Steel Machines as the students arrived. All the work was overseen by Michiru, who noticed the group arriving.

"Ruby, Jaune! Head to your machines, your suits are inside the cockpits!" She called out, waving them to their respective aircraft.

In the midst of the chaos were Weiss, Blake, and Yang. They could barely keep track of everything going on, and they were still processing just what exactly they were seeing when a pair of helmets were suddenly held in front of the group by a mechanic with a larger, well built frame.

"We've only got two seats left for pilots, so you guys need to decide right now!" He called out, tossing the helmets to Michiru before he ran off to finish up the preparations. "And don't you dare scratch up my dear Aura Robo too bad!"

Sighing, Michiru held out a helmet in each hand.

"Forgive Gai, this will be the first time Aura Robo will be at full potential," She explained, "However, he is right, you three have a choice to make."

Still taking a moment to process everything, it was naturally Yang who was the first to speak.

"A choice? For what?! We don't even know what's going on!" She cried, throwing her arms out in confusion. "And what about Ruby and Jaune?! What the hell are they doing?! Who are you?!"

Both Weiss and Blake nodded, agreeing with their friend. It seemed ridiculous to make a decision on something they had no idea about, especially not for people they didn't know.

"They are my colleagues," A voice came from their left. When they looked, they saw Hayato approaching with his hands in his pockets as always. "And the choice is whether or not you want to save some lives!" He takes his hands out, and points to a machine with an open cockpit. "Pilot the machine and investigate an SOS signal we received just before your group arrived, or have the blood of an entire town on your hands!"

He brought his hands down, leaving them at his side as he stared intensely at the trio.

"What will it be? Heaven? Hell? Who knows unless two of you pilot that machine."

A few moments passed, the girls deliberating, before Blake suddenly took a helmet.

"I trust Doctor Jin," Was Blake's confident response to the surprised looks from Weiss and Yang. The faunus then sprinted to the machine's cockpit before leaping in. Weiss was still hesitant, but that just made Yang's decision all the clearer.

"I'll do it, but just to watch over Ruby!" She called out, snatching the helmet and following Blake. This left Weiss with Hayato and Michiru, the white haired heiress left feeling somewhat disappointed in herself for her hesitation.

"Come, follow us to the control center," Michiru told her, gently placing a hand on her back to guide her, "We can watch everything from there."

Ruby finished putting on her piloting suit, and was putting on her helmet when the communication screen for Steel-2 buzzed to life. She instantly recognized the wild hair of her sister, and the cool demeanor of Blake. Smiling, she gave the top of her helmet a good pat to make sure it was snug.

"The old man roped you guys into this, huh?" She asked teasingly as she gripped the controls while her launch rail lined up with the tunnel to the outside.

"I only agreed cuz I trust you, Ruby!" Was Yang's reply, though she was smiling slightly. "However, we're gonna have a long talk about this later."

To that, the silver eyed warrior gave a nervous chuckle as she heard Yang's voice. Jaune cleared his throat as all three rails finished lining up, mentally readying himself.

"A-Alright, Doctor, what've we got?" He asked, shifting in his seat to prepare for the launch's g-forces.

"A town in the mountains to the northwest of here sent out a desperate cry for help," Hayato began, pulling a microphone towards himself. Weiss was behind him, taking in all the consoles and panels in the control room, "Normally a team of huntsmen would be sent out, however, they reported that the attack was caused by something massive digging a hole into their town center and leading the Grimm there. You four are to investigate, and try to eliminate, whatever it was that caused all of this. The survivors are huddled in a shelter right now. The clock is ticking."

A sudden weight made itself known to the pilots, the weight of the lives that were at stake.

"Aura Robo! Launch!"

Blake and Yang were suddenly slammed into the back of their seats as the machines were catapulted along their rails, entering a constant right turn before straightening out and rapidly increasing in speed.

To Yang, it was a thrill that beat out the thrill she got whenever she did some… less than legal driving with Bumblebee, or even whenever she fought Grimm. To Blake, it made her think about whatever it was she just got wrapped up in.

However, any doubts faded as they were shot out from behind a waterfall.

"Man, talk about a view," Yang said, giving a wink to Blake before looking back to outside the cockpit. The black haired faunus simply rolled her eyes with a smile, but then shared a look alongside her partner.

?

"Here they come! With Doctor Merlot's newest creation, I cannot lose!" Came the double voice of Baron Ashura. They waved their Bardos Wand, the tip glowing as they gave a new command to both their machine and the Grimm that followed it.

"Destroy Aura Robo by any tactic at your disposal! Change forms if you have to! Beat them at their own game!"

North of Vale, Mountainous Region

Arriving near the town, Yang was quietly having a conversation with Blake.

"I just… How could she hide something like this from me, of all people?"

"I'm sure she had a good reason… we just have to trust her, like we always do." Was Blake's response as she placed a hand on Yang's shoulder.

Momentarily startled by the touch, the blond relaxed as she looked into her teammate's eyes. Whatever they were going to say next was interrupted by a screen suddenly turning on to reveal Hayato and Weiss. Her white haired teammate seemed to have a perpetually confused expression on her face.

"You're on."

"O-Oh!" The heiress stuttered out, not quite knowledgeable on how the system works. Taking a deep breath, she read off some information on the screen to her right before speaking. "So um, it looks like I will be the eyes in the sky for you all…"

"Wouldn't want to have a teammate just idly sitting by feeling useless," Hayato says, crossing his arms as he looks to a screen that displays a topographical map of the area. Plugging in his scroll, the map is updated with areas and specific locations highlighted in red. "These are the areas that we know are under attack by Grimm. Once you four are done with whatever it is that started this, a huntsman team will be right behind you to take care of the Grimm."

"Understood, Doctor!" Ruby called out, taking a quick look at the map as it appeared on their screens. Just at a glance, they could tell which area had the hole from the sheer amount of red on the map. "Heading to intercept unknown!" Making a tight turn, Ruby turned around a mountain peak to get a good view of the town. It was very large for a settlement outside the main kingdom, but it was definitely protected by the terrain. Of course, the pillars of black smoke belied its destruction.

"Picking up three airborne enemies to the North!" Weiss called out, doing a quick scan on the screens in front of her. "Judging by the size and speed, they are Giant Nevermores!"

"Three Giant Nevermores…" Jaune mutters to himself, then flips up the trigger cover on his control stick. "Weapons are hot!" He calls out, spotting the approaching dots in the skies with them. There was something off about them, though…

"Wait, I don't see any flapping wings!" Blake calls out, her eyesight much better than her human teammates'. Her eyes suddenly widen, and she pulls Steel-2 into an evasive turn. "Incoming fire!"

Bullets and rockets suddenly fly past them as everyone takes various evasive maneuvers, the hailstorm of projectiles halted for a split second before the enemy trio formation whizzed right by them. The redheaded leader of the group was able to spot some identifying characteristics of the enemies, and quickly spoke into her mic as soon as she was out of her turn.

"It's three jets like ours!" She calls out, pushing her thrust to its maximum.

"They don't look like any kind of military aircraft I've seen!" Blake responds.

"Should we contact them?" Weiss asked Hayato. She pulled up an image that Steel-1 managed to capture of the enemies, and showed it to the scientist. Whatever they were, she could see Hayato and Michiru's eyes widen like they just saw a ghost. "...Doctor?"

After a few moments of silence, Michiru suddenly looks around at the operating room staff, giving orders to find and track down any signals that the enemy fighters are receiving, and Hayato grabs the mic and starts speaking. "Do NOT let those machines escape! This has now become a priority one mission, shoot them down so that we can capture them!"

"U-Understood!" Ruby responded, tightening her grip on her controls before turning to chase the trio of enemies. Jaune, Yang, and Blake all followed suit, with the black & yellow duo lagging behind a bit due to their lack of training.

Saotome Lab

Jin Hayato let go of the mic, taking a silent breath to calm himself before he looked at the image again. Three machines, one red, one blue, and one yellow, flying in a V formation as they unloaded their weapons.

"Doctor?" Weiss piped up from her seat, catching his attention.

"Yes, Miss Schnee?"

"What are they?" She asked him, watching for any kind of telling reaction to her question. She saw him think for a moment for how to respond, but he then let out a breath and seemed somewhat resigned.

"Miss Rose was not incorrect to say that they're like our machines," He says, beginning his explanation as he looks at the blurred image of the enemy aircraft. "These new machines… They match the unfinished designs of this lab's previous head's plan for a successor to the original Aura Robo."

"A successor? What happened to it then?"

"We scrapped the design after he passed and we lost most of the original Aura Robo pilots. I had to adapt the unfinished design to new pilots with my own knowledge as well." He admitted, placing his hands in the pockets of his lab coat as he watched the live combat footage. "He gave it a name before he passed, saying that it was made for pure combat, and would be nearly ten times more powerful than the original. He called it…"

"Aura Robo G!"

North of Vale, Mountainous Region

Meanwhile, Blake and Yang were chasing the blue aircraft. It outmaneuvered their missiles and machine gun fire with ease, earning a growl of frustration from Yang as her eyes gradually shifted to red. Taking notice of this, her feline partner places a hand on her shoulder as a signal for her to calm down.

"We've almost had it a few times, we'll get it soon." The black haired beauty told her golden partner. It did seem to help somewhat, but the frustration was still there.

"Just hold still you little-"

Whatever Yang was going to say was interrupted by a series of gunfire coming from behind the duo, causing them to go into evasive actions. Turns out that Jaune was chasing the yellow one in their direction by mistake.

"Watch it, Vomit Boy!" Yang shouts, but Ruby suddenly pipes up.

"Heads up! The one I'm chasing suddenly started heading towards you guys!" The redhead shouts, maneuvering to keep her quarry in her sights. As she watched the trio of machines, she took note of their change in formation. It was linear, the red machine was leading the others in a very familiar formation. It was at that moment when she would hear what Hayato was telling Weiss over the open mic.

"He called it Aura Robo G!"

"They're gonna combine!" She shouted out as a warning to her teammates. That's when she heard it. A masculine voice that only she seemed to hear rang out in her head as she watched the trio combine in front of her eyes.

"CHANGE, LIGER! SWITCH ON!"

"You guys heard that?!"

"Heard what?"

In an instant, the steel triad combined perfectly. There now flew a predominantly blue & red robot with a pod-like appendage for a left hand in their place, and in an instant it outsped its pursuers before spinning around to face them while still flying in the same direction. Once again, Ruby seemed to hear a voice no one else could hear.

"LIGER MISSILES!"

"Evasive maneuvers!" She shouted out as it raised its left arm, causing both herself and her teammates to scatter and break formation as Aura Liger fired three missiles in quick succession from the opened pod. Pulling up hard, Ruby pulled the lever to her right as Weiss made a status report on the enemy.

"The enemy, now dubbed Aura Robo G by Doctor Jin, is now moving at Mach 5! With that speed, it could pick any of you off in an instant!"

"Then we'll just have to match it!" Jaune replied, looking directly at the screen which depicted Blake and Yang. "Yang! Blake! You guys are up!"

"R-Right!" Blake responded, only a moment of hesitance exposing how tense she was. Pulling a lever back hard, Yang initiated the combination sequence. At least, she hoped she did.

"CHANGE, AURA DAWN!"

In unison, Blake and Yang both activated the voice command to activate the combination. When Jaune's machine collided with the rear of their own, metal screeched like a beast in the night before they felt the full impact. Barely a millisecond later, Ruby's collided with Jaune's and the entire union transformed with an almost bestial growl rumbling through the black and yellow duo's cockpit.

"PUNCH IT, MAX SPEED!" Blake called out. Yang, who was in control of weapons and thruster power, shoved the throttle to her right as far as it could go. This action immediately caused everyone to sink into their seats from the g-forces, but they managed to match Liger's speed.

"Panther Claw!"

"Drill Arm!"

Extending the forearm blades, Blake threw her right arm forwards and clashed against Aura Liger's spinning drill that replaced its right hand. Sparks flew as Blake tried to force the trajectory of their flight to the ground by forcing the enemy downwards.

"No doubt in my mind that this is the thing that created the hole in the town!" Yang pointed out, noting the drill arm. She pulls a trigger on her yoke, causing the guns in Aura Dawn's right wrist to fire directly at Liger's face in an attempt to blind it. "Eat that! Cougar Cannons!"

Grabbing the pod-like appendage that's in the place of the left hand with her own left hand, Blake could better forcibly maneuver their trajectory into a valley wide and flat enough for them to fight in.

"Chain Attack!"

The pod was suddenly loose from the rest of Liger, revealing that it was attached to the forearm by an extendible chain. Catching them off guard with their grip still tight, Liger then pulls back and swings Dawn into a valley wall, shaking the surrounding earth and cratering the cliff face.

Nearly slamming into the control interface, Blake lets go of the appendage and is momentarily dazed by the impact with the cliff.

"Blake! Snap out of it!" Yang shouted out.

"Mach Special!"

Hearing another attack callout, Ruby pressed a pink button to force them to separate and dodge the incoming attack. "Open Get!"

Spinning its drill arm at incredible speeds, a tornado forms at the tip of Liger's drill and rapidly extends in the direction of the flying machine trio. Tearing trees and boulders alike out of the ground, the tornado could easily damage Aura Robo and possibly immobilize it.

Luckily, Ruby had the right idea in separating. The three machines easily dodged the incoming whirlwind and flew past Liger, getting in sight of its vulnerable back.

"Blake! You okay?!" Yang calls out, lightly shaking her partner's shoulder to snap her out of her daze.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine!" The Faunus replied, nodding in thanks to her partner's concern. "More importantly, it's exposed!"

"Leave it to me!" Called out Jaune, the knight pulling the lever to trigger the combination sequence as the others followed suit.

"Change, Aura Zeus!"

Dropping to the ground like a stone through water, Aura Zeus's landing kicked up a massive cloud of dust and stone, obscuring both their view and Liger's.

"It's headed right for you!" Weiss called out, tracking Liger's energy signature with the lab's equipment.

"Good! Let it come!" Jaune shouted, throwing his arms forwards to activate a weapon system. "I've got a present for him!"

"Typhoon Cannon: Monsoon!"

The cannon in Aura Zeus's stomach activated, and a massive back blast strong enough to carve a rut through the ground was unleashed right in the direction of the approaching Aura Liger. Unfortunately, the devastating attack would not land.

"OPEN GET!"

Suddenly splitting back into the three machines they first encountered, they flew around and behind Aura Zeus before moving into formation to combine again.

"CHANGE, POSEIDON! SWITCH ON!"

"It can do everything that you guys can do!" Weiss pointed out, earning a slightly irritated response from the blond knight.

"Yeah, I can see that!"

A stout and heavy built machine now approached them from behind while Jaune swiveled Aura Zeus's torso to face it. Raising his arms just in time, he managed to block a punch that sent him skidding along the ground for a short distance, almost crashing into the cliff face. Pushing the throttle of his treads to their maximum, the knight charged forwards with an uppercut of his own that lifted Aura Poseidon off of the ground.

"Piston Punch!"

Zeus's fist suddenly shot forwards from its wrist socket to impact against Poseidon's gut a second time, sending it even higher off the ground. Taking the opportunity, Jaune grabbed Poseidon by the legs and slammed it into the ground.

"Take that!" He calls out in excitement, but then notices the holes in Poseidon's feet that rapidly glowed before expelling fire. Activating its thrusters, Poseidon began to drag Zeus across the ground until the Vale mech let go of its legs due to the increasingly large scorches growing on Aura Zeus's arms. "Tch, hey!"

Righting itself in the air, Aura Poseidon bends over as its neck piece lifts up to reveal a massive fan at the base of its head that began to spin rapidly with the aid of wind dust. Seeing this, Jaune pushed his arms forwards in anticipation.

"Aura Cyclone!"

"Typhoon Cannon: Monsoon!"

The two reverse maelstroms collided and fought for the direction for the wind to rotate. The forces of nature were dead even, which meant that this endeavor was just a waste of energy. Both realizing this, the pilots of Poseidon and Zeus cut off their howling winds before reengaging.

"Finger Net!"

Throwing its right hand forward with its fingers splayed, massive nets shot forwards from Poseidon's fingertips in an attempt to capture Zeus to make it vulnerable or restrict its movement. With no way to dodge in time as Zeus, Jaune slammed his hand on the pink button to his right when he saw the mass of nets flying at him.

"Open Get!"

Separating in an instant, Ruby was at the lead this time to combine. Seeing its enemy separate, Poseidon followed suit as it chased its enemies into the air.

There was something about the voice that was bothering Ruby, and not just the fact that she seemed to be the only one to hear it. In her heart, it felt familiar, but her mind kept telling her that she had never heard this voice before even as a child. Shaking her head and giving her helmet a bop on the top to make sure it was still tight, she ignored that feeling and pulled up, pulling her combination lever as well.

"CHAAAANNNGE! AURA ROSE!"

Combining in the air, Ruby used Aura Rose's cloak to conceal her arms as the momentum from before their combination still carried her upwards for a small distance. She watched as the enemy flew up to meet her, aligned to combine as well.

"CHANGE, DRAGON! SWITCH ON! DOUBLE TOMAHAWK!"

A pair of gigantic double-sided hand axes shot out of Dragon's shoulders, which it promptly grabbed as it flew up to intercept the falling Aura Rose.

"ROSE BLOOM!"

Suddenly extending her cloak by a large length, Ruby throws it downwards into the face of Aura Dragon to blind it. Wrapping the cape firmly around her opponent's face, Ruby throws a downward punch that hits Dragon right in the face and sends both of them plummeting towards the ground. As a result of the titanic impact, a massive cloud of dust and trees was thrown up into the air.

"This thing is tough!" The red headed leader calls out in surprise, seeing no visible dent in Dragon's face beneath her cloak. Feeling a rumble beneath her, Ruby adjusts Rose's footing before she's suddenly shoved off of Dragon. "Whoa!"

Slashing through Rose's cloak with its tomahawks, Dragon frees itself before wildly throwing an axe in Rose's general direction. With its now free hand, Dragon rips off the piece of Rose's cloak that still remained on its face as the lens between its eyes started giving off a purple glow.

With a horizontal sweeping motion, Aura Dragon fired a beam meant to cripple Aura Rose's legs that carved through the ground with ease. Spotting the minute telegraph of this attack, Ruby made Aura Rose leap up as to dodge the sweeping beam.

"No matter how much you dodge or distract, you are no match for Aura G!"

Hearing the voice again, Ruby was surprised to hear it say a full sentence, but this only caused her to frown in determination.

"You're just a sore loser!" Ruby shouted back, blowing a raspberry at the enemy in case they could even hear her before landing and throwing her right arm up. "Have a taste of my upgraded weapon!"

"Reaper Crescent!"

A panel opens up on Aura Rose's forearm and shoots out an identical upscaled version of Crescent Rose's compact mode. Grabbing it before it left her reach, Ruby gives it a spin as it unfolds to reveal the absolutely giant sniper scythe in all of its rose red glory.

"Uh, Rubes? Who were you talking to?" Yang asks over the comms, causing Ruby to sweatdrop slightly before answering.

"Uh, don't worry about it! I was just thinking of something cool to say!" She answered. It wasn't untrue, she had been thinking of some cool catchphrase to say ever since joining Dr. Jin's operation.

"G Tomahawk!"

A single hand axe shoots out of Dragon's shoulder, a replacement for the one it had thrown earlier. Running forwards, it brings both of them down at Rose in an attempt to catch Ruby while she's distracted. However, she was quick in her feet and brought the shaft of Reaper Crescent to block the axes, causing sparks to fly.

Shoving upwards with a grunt, Ruby temporarily throws Dragon off balance long enough to pull Reaper Crescent behind herself and pull its trigger, firing a massive round from its muzzle and causing the weapon to swing back with the blunt side of the scythe heading right for the chest of Aura Dragon. Making impact, the hit rings out like a hammer hitting steel and sends Dragon stumbling backwards.

A visible dent was made in the torso of her enemy, causing Ruby to give a small smirk. It's the little victories that count in a fight like this.

Giving Reaper Crescent a spin, Ruby plants the tip of the scythe blade into the ground and pulls back on the bolt action to chamber a round. In a split second, she slightly adjusts her aim before pulling the trigger, a massive round tears through Aura Dragon's right arm before its pilot could even react.

Turning its head to aim at Aura Rose, the lens on Dragon's forehead glows purple again before unleashing the beam from before directly at its opponent. At the same time, Ruby aimed the barrel of Reaper Crescent to her right and fired, the recoil was strong enough to send her flying to the side and dodge the beam. It wasn't as effective as when Ruby fought with Crescent Rose, but it was a given for the size they were fighting at.

Aiming behind herself and firing again, Aura Rose flies forwards and swings the scythe blade upwards. The blade cuts clean through the metal alloy of Aura Dragon's left bicep. An oil-like substance spurts out of the amputated limb like blood, and Ruby is suddenly reminded of the fact that she could be facing a human opponent.

Freezing in her tracks, her hands tremble slightly. Was she ready to potentially take a human life? She knew she could restrain herself when fighting on foot, but in a machine this large…

That single moment was all it took for the pilot of Aura Dragon to see an opening for their escape.

"Open Get! Change, Liger! Switch on!"

"Ruby!" Weiss calls out when she notices that her leader wasn't moving.

Snapping out of her daze, Ruby tries to catch the enemy and fires a round from Reaper Crescent.

"Liger Vision!"

Her bullet seems to strike true, however her target faded from existence upon impact. An afterimage.

"Drill Arm!"

From up above, Ruby saw Aura Liger dive towards with its drill hand leading its body.

"Oh no you don't!" She cries out, swinging her scythe in an attempt to intercept Liger. Unfortunately, it was just too fast compared to her swing and managed to drill into the ground. Just as she's about to press the pink button to separate and change into Aura Dawn to give chase, an order from Hayato interrupts her.

"Do NOT pursue!" Came his firm voice, causing Ruby to freeze mid arm swing. "We don't have a digging capability in any of the forms, so if the tunnel collapses you are all stuck! Not to mention the difficulty in navigating the tunnel!"

Slowly lowering her arm, Ruby sweats a bit. Her failure was the reason Aura Robo G got away, and she knew that everyone knew it. Giving a deep, resigned sigh, she deactivated the motion tracking and crossed her arms.

"…Crap."

Author's Note:

Sorry about the wait for this chapter, guys. Had one of the most important exams in my training to study for, that with my old ass laptop made it a pain to work on this. Seriously, this thing is older than bluetooth and can't update to windows 11. Also, the O, T, and Y keys don't like to work 70% of the time. Thankfully, I am getting a new laptop and have graduated from that stage of training. I don't start the next phase of training for a couple of weeks, so I should have some downtime to work on the next chapter. I think this might also be my longest chapter so far, hopefully its to y'all's liking.

Until next time!