Chapter 7
Glynda swiped forward, then retreated before a bladed tail could strike where she stood, only for the hooded figure to attack her from behind. The problem about fighting summons was that they tended to be in perfect sync with their summoners. Case in point, the combo attack she just had to fend off was a perfect example of it. If the assailant was in her combat class, she may have nodded in approval, being on the other end of it however was less than amusing.
Aside from the ruined road, she grit her teeth at the stalemate both of them were in. Her assailant was buying for time, and she knew this very well. She couldn't exactly just go and take her out however, every time she got either her summon immobilized, one came to bail the other out. It didn't help both of them liked to fight at range instead of being up close and personal, though she had ways of reaching them.
Just as she was about to launch another flurry of rocks at the summoner, she suddenly paused, before shouting at her summon.
"Illuminate!"
The random word caught her off guard, and unfortunately, it seemed to have actual meaning for her summon. Its mouth opened again, but this time a yellow ball didn't come out of it, rather, a shell-like projectile did. With a boom, it flew out of its mouth, with the shell landing directly next to her on the ground. For a moment, she thought it missed, only for the shell to explode in a flash of brilliant white light.
"Argh!" Her ears rang, and her vision was completely white, she formed a defensive circle around her with the debris held up in the air, fully expecting an attack to come her way at any moment. Seconds turned into a minute, and as her vision gradually came back, she realized that her assailant took the time to escape, leaving the street empty once more. Rubbing her eyes, all that remained as proof of their existence were fragments of a shell close to her.
"Tch." A bitter taste was left in her mouth, probably from the asphalt dust she just inhaled. As the distant sirens got ever closer, she bent down to inspect the one thing responsible for her 'loss'. The shell was mangled, in some parts, and was still glowing red from releasing its white light. She was no forensics expert, but she was one on semblances. Usually, they didn't produce anything resembling artillery shells, and yet, here she was, looking at one directly in front of her. Deciding to leave it for the experts, she did notice some writing on it, what little remained of it that was.
"SK…C…28?" A seemingly random string of words and numbers, perhaps it may mean something else? Regardless, today was a loss, but at least she now knew that Torchwick had another accomplice helping him, one that proved to be competent at the minimum.
Back at Beacon, the moment she stepped off the bullhead she was greeted by Ozpin, coffee mug in his hands as usual.
"Glynda, good night I presume?" One of these days, she should really hide Beacon's entire coffee supply and watch how the millennia-old wizard will function without any of it. Seeing her glare, Ozpin tactfully decided to drop his usual cryptid dialogue for now and focus on what they just learned. Walking along Beacon's quiet halls, Glynda shared what she found out regarding Torchwick and his new accomplice.
"She stalled you of all people? Impressive, and with such a unique semblance as well…"
Again, those who had summoning semblances were rare, and they usually kept to themselves, like the Schnee family with their own hereditary semblance.
"I checked our databases on the way back, there is no one that matches her description or semblance on all four kingdom's records. Mercenary, perhaps?"
Ozpin shook his head. "Unlikely, they don't operate in Vale itself anymore. I believe it was someone with close ties to the criminal underworld."
"Hired muscle?"
"Likely, but let's not discount any possibilities. Now, you said that her familiar shot an shell of all things at you?" Based on the voice of her assailant, Glynda guessed that her assailant was a woman, young, maybe early twenties based on her deep voice. Though her short stature made her initially think she was a teenager, that notion was quickly dispelled soon after.
Glynda opened an image on her datapad, showing the shell embedded into the ground to him. Ozpin raised an eyebrow at the image, years of dealing with him told her that he knew something.
"I assume you know something?"
"Hm? No, maybe, maybe not. I cannot be certain nor can I be sure." Glynda wanted to strangle his neck- "Has Qrow returned from his sojourn into Vale's fishermen's bars yet?"
That particular question caused her to frown, the amount of Lien that the drunk bastard requested as 'mission expenses' made her want to strap him to a chair and make him drink nothing but tea for a month. How that man still had a functioning liver was anyone's guess, but she couldn't deny that he was reliable in getting information. When he bothered to respond that is.
"He has…not."
"Hm. No matter, I've received a report from him that may link tonight's incident with something else. Do you remember the explosion from a few days ago?"
The one that woke up a large portion of Vale, yes. Glynda's precious few hours of sleep were cut short by that, she thought it was another dust robbery gone loud, only to hear that it was a false alarm.
"The Coast Guard has not made this public, but they suspect that the source came from naval artillery."
Glynda's eyes widened slightly, this was the first time she heard of this, and naval artillery was the last thing she suspected to be the cause. A number of vessels still used dust cannons for protection, but they were usually small in size, unable to produce an explosion heard all the way in Vale. "Are they sure?"
Ozpin nodded. "A retired admiral swore on it, so I am inclined to believe him. His last commanding role was an old battleship after all. Anyways, I believe tonight's incident and the one from a few days ago are linked. Qrow's report further gives me cause for suspicion."
"Suspicion of what?"
Ozpin did his usual dramatic look out of the window before responding. Glynda saw the same action way too many times in her career with him, these were usually reserved for some groundbreaking revelations, it was how she learned that the Brother Gods were real from him.
"An old Battleship may be prowling Vale's waters in this day and age. And I am inclined to meet her."
"Her?" Glynda's voice beggared in disbelief, what was Ozpin saying now?
"Don't you know? Sailors are a superstitious bunch. I believe you can designate our mystery accomplice as 'Hutten' for now. Get some sleep, Glynda, you've more than earned it."
Ozpin then turned around, casually making his way back to his office and residence at the top of his tower. Glynda had little to no idea what just happened, and like most of her dealings with him, answers tended to be revealed much later. Sighing, she dutifully entered the name into the file for 'Hutten', before making her own way back to her room. A Battleship sailing in this day and age? Where did its crew come from? How was it still sailing? Fuel, ammunition and pay apparently not a concern.
"Whatever, a problem for me to deal with tomorrow…"
It was a good way to deal with things, especially when one had to balance being a university administrator and saving the world from an evil witch queen.
AN:
Originally this was supposed to be in the last chapter, but it felt better to separate them instead. From the original outline I removed a long fight scene as it just felt like filler, the last part of the fight was kept instead.
Reviews:
Guest:
Think of it from Ruby's perspective. It's less 'stupid Hentai plot' as you believe, but more like 'If I get arrested for this my family will know/be suspicious." Her goal is to make sure her family doesn't know of what she does above all else, breaking the law isn't high up on her list of things to avoid, especially if it means that her 'secret' will remain so, a secret. Her thought process goes something like this:
-Torchwick gets arrested, babbles, Junior's club is investigated, it eventually gets to her
-Even if she isn't arrested because she is a minor, she will still be investigated over her smuggling links
-This investigation will involve her family because she is a fifteen year old.
-Family gets suspicious, asks how she can even smuggle things, thus leading to her abilities exposed to them.
See where I'm coming from? Try to think from the perspective of a character instead of from our eyes, I write Ruby to make sense from her perspective, not ours. Also, stop advocating for straight-up murder most of the time, I see a lot of this in fanfiction and I'd like characters to not be murderhobos thank you very much. If you still take issue with it, well, you can always click away instead.
Regarding Kansen rigging power, it really does depend on the Kansen. Bismarck can shoot black hole shells stronger than what her conventional ship can shoot, and I don't think the projectiles that are shot in riggings are shells, more like lasers or some other thing.
Turtledude: It's an inconsequential change, I really don't think it is very important.
Be civil in the reviews.