It wasn't a hard fight.
Actually, it shouldn't even be counted as a fight - more akin to pest control really. A pest that came back over and over, like a cockroach that you thought you killed but then suddenly flew.
Cinder couldn't rest, jumping after another continued burst of machine guns threatened to turn her into a bullet cushion. She barely dodged most of it, her aura absorbed a formidable amount of shrapnel from shells or bullets that hit their mark.
The disguised woman bit her lip, she couldn't imagine what terrifying machine could sneak up on her, much less able to shoot down entire sections of the room. Some secret weapon that even Salem's information network didn't catch? She didn't know.
"For Queen and Country!" Centurion said, firing another shell toward the increasingly weakening Cinder.
If it wasn't for her Aura, her ears would've ruptured already. Cinder had to get out, she wasn't going to risk her identity or overall plan, her objective was out of reach. Not that she could even do it anymore since the tank had levelled the entire floor, including the numerous computers.
Centurion tracked the woman's movements, Cinder's quick reflexes making her a hard target. He suppressed her with more gunfire, alternating between the guns he had to reload or cool down the barrels.
Cinder found a moment to get out, it was a risk but nothing was riskier than being shot by a tank. She bolted out of the way and found the turret swinging after her.
Meanwhile, Centurion was humming the tune to the British Grenadiers, the only thing left to complete his identity was a cup of tea.
With no option other than surrender or death, Cinder grit her teeth as she faced the window and raised her arms forward. Closing her eyes as the window gave way.
*CRASH!*
"By George, I never thought self-defenestrating was in season this time of year."
Centurion couldn't believe it, someone was brave enough to leap off a building without regard to their safety. Well… technically Cinder did want her safety, thus she jumped out of a building.
*DING!*
"Centurion! What in tarnation happened here?" Pershing was hefted by Coco, a smirk on her face as she took in the new appearance of the room.
"A bit of civilizing, my friend." Centurion muses, before meeting with only the leader of team CFVY. "I suppose we need to immediately inform a higher authority that I have blown out an entire floor."
Coco whistled at the sight of the damage. "Interior decorating, I'm not an expert but I think the job you did is spectacular. I love the scorch marks, it gives the room personality and a bit of flair."
"I'm not one to not appreciate such dashing remarks. Where are the others?"
"Cordoning off the area, we're not going to send everyone in here while an intruder lurks. Especially when you've been firing cannon shots the entire time, don't worry I believe in Yastu and Velvet. So, who's the little rat?"
"I'm afraid I don't recognize anyone here, it's my first time in Beacon. She jumped out the window and I can give a description of her if you'd like. Machine gun and cannon muzzle flashes make for good lighting."
"Oh believe me I know that too." Coco gave a little fist bump at the cannon barrel before walking towards the rubble and eventually the window. "Arrows?" She picks up broken heads and shafts on the ground. "So, something as archaic as a bow and arrow being used."
"Oh that, it took the lady a single shot at my armour to determine that it wasn't worth it. It pinged off with a slight chip in my plates."
"We'll leave this up to the professionals. I hope Glynda doesn't take this too harshly."
Among the crowds of people gathering near the restricted area were the trio of infiltrators that had recently failed. Cinder was livid, she'd take out more stress later on.
Emerald and Mercury hadn't fared much better, the dance was entertaining for one but horrible for another. If not for Emerald's intervention, Mercury's jewels would have been snipped off like a withered branch.
Cinder didn't get out without some minor problems, she was exhausted beyond what she was used to. Still, she could fight another day but this time the problem was truly bigger than it was.
They'd have a talk later… and maybe some backup for their plans.
A distance away from the crowd, much like their previous situation in the docks, team RWBY was brought somewhere nearby out of view. Ironwood, Glynda, and team CFVY accompanied them while the tanks miniaturized themselves.
Glynda surprisingly did calm down at the fact even more damage came at the expense of everyone around the destruction.
"Just keep yourselves out of trouble, you all should have contacted the school that you brought along more… of them." Glynda nudges her head in the direction of the two tanks.
Coco shrugged. "Sorry, miss G but I wanted to surprise everyone. I didn't know the little sweet cheeks got something as amazing as those things."
"Yes… and now there are five of them." More headaches for Glynda, hooray!
Ironwood and Ozpin were more concerned with the matter than Glynda. Dragging everyone out because of reported cannon shots was a pain but since Glynda actively forced them to 'take responsibility for your pet project', they had their hands tied and fully realized how painful it is to deal with Ruby's tanks.
"So, the entire floor was demolished, a few thousand of lien worth of damages…" Ironwood twitched an eyebrow at those details before continuing. "Ruby has not known you two existed before the events of this… incident. Correct?"
"That's right, we were stuck in God knows where before we ended up hunkering down in a village. Centurion and I met along the way."
Ironwood jotted down another note, "So there might be more of you just stuck around the world. We'll discuss this problem in detail tomorrow. We needn't be so brazen in declaring that an attacker is present. Public opinion would be against us once they know something of notoriety happened under our noses."
"James, you just don't want to deal with this today do you?" Ozpin mentions at the side, sipping a cup of coffee while staring at the damage on the CCT from the outside.
"Ahem… no. On another subject, Miss Rose." he approached the girl with a frightened look in her eyes.
"I uh… don't hand me over to Goodwitch!"
"No, it's not about that. I believe we have a conversation needed for later, it's about your three tanks. Just expect a talk later on in the week, I'm here to tell you to be prepared, it's a big decision."
"Oh… okay. Umm… I'm not in trouble am I?"
"No, don't worry. While Glynda is harsh about your tanks wreaking havoc, she's much more attached to team CFVY and it was their actions that directly led to today's events. I believe you've already seen her talking to them without bursting into a rage?"
Ruby did see the disciplinarian talking to team CFVY with a more familiar tone. It was sort of the same kind of familiarity it was with Ozpin and her own team. "I did, so what happens now?"
"Rest, Miss Rose - you children have already faced so much in a few months. Get to know the other two tanks and don't concern yourselves for at least a day. Your teammates are waiting for you to get back."
Ruby nodded, tanks were good and always welcome. Tomorrow would be more focused on that. With that in mind, she lets the tanks come to her and places them in her pockets.
Ruby walked back to her team with an assured expression. "Girls, we can head back now. I guess the dance is cancelled-"
"Hold on there, Ruby," Coco spoke from behind, scaring Ruby for a moment as she whipped around to see Coco with crossed arms. "We didn't get all the way from our mission just for everyone to leave. Miss G gave us the green light to continue, Ironwood and the Atlesians will just tell everyone a lie about the dust power pipes leaking."
"Is that legal?"
"No, but that is what makes it more exciting."
"Oh."
"So, you got yourself some amazing friends. I would be lying if I expected you to meet with five tanks. Maybe I need to borrow one of them for my missions, they are useful for a lot of things."
"...Sorry, Coco. They are my friends first before weapons, I wouldn't want them to leave me before I even get to properly meet Pershing and Centurion." Ruby received a blank stare as a response. "I- I mean… if I borrowed Velvet for a week do you think you would let me?"
Coco paused and considered the possibility. "I see your point, good for them that they have a leader like you. Keep it up kiddo, I can see why the bossman of Beacon chose you. See ya!" Just as quickly as the conversation started, Coco had already left for what was left of the dance. It may be later than usual but teenagers never followed curfew so everyone knew there'd be an after-party… and an after-party for the after-party.
The rest of the night went predictably, the dance continued and eventually turned into a rave with Yang taking over the speakers after all the classical dancing was done. Team RWBY eventually clocked out at different times, Ruby and her tanks going first to the dorms and Weiss following after. Blake and Sun had a nice time dancing but after a while decided to separate with a farewell.
The only ones who were left kept themselves busy until the crack of dawn and the beginning of the morning were Yang and NR of JNPR. The incident at the CCT forced Glynda to head back to her duties while Ironwood had to deal with the aftermath.
This meant Ozpin was left with the kids… this was a mistake. Never leave Ozpin with the kids, he'll somehow make them worse than they already are.
This is why it now led to the morning when most of the students were unconscious and sprawled out on the floor with drool leaking or tables in a mess.
"Ugh…" Nora had a momentary moment of recollection before her tiredness instantly poofed away, replacing it with untold amounts of energy. "That. Was. Awesome! Right, Renny?!"
Nora yelled with the most passion she'd ever done, Ren couldn't keep his eyes closed at the noise as he got himself seated. "Nora, please never again copy whatever Weiss, Ruby and Penny were doing. I still feel my spine being in pain."
"Aww… don't be such a downer!" She smacks him right on his back and Ren widens his eyes at the pain before falling to the ground and groaning. "Oh, sorry! I forgot about that. Hey, have Jaune and Pyrrha arrived yet?"
"I… don't… think so." Ren managed to croak out. "The last time we saw them they were dancing just across from us, and then I saw them head to the balcony. I don't remember anything other than that- ow."
Ren once again gets slapped on the back, and he screams in distress on the inside, his semblance bringing his face neutral. Nora stood up with more vigour and prepared to bolt out the door. "You should have said that last night! I'll look for them in the dorms!"
"Wait- …and she's gone." Ren sighed, despite Nora's antics he has always learned to just accept it in stride. "The dorms? …Two romantically interested teenagers at the height of hormones leaving a crowded area and being alone?" Putting the pieces together, it didn't take long for Ren to assume the worst. "Uh oh."
Ruby woke up early compared to her other teammates after the dance. She had a bedtime that her father strictly enforced. The young girl would always be mad about it but at this moment she was thankful. Sleeping early meant she woke up at 5:00 am but still had 8 hours of sleep.
"Mhhhh…" Ruby hummed as she tossed away the blanket, with a gleeful step in her walk she went over to the group of tanks conversing with one another on top of the table by the side of the door. "Oh, you guys are up early!"
The tanks ceased their conversation as the German tank questioned, "Up?" Tiger elaborated. "Ruby, we don't sleep."
"...Huh? But I don't hear you all when it's night."
"Ruby, we may be loud, crass, offensive and incomprehensibly annoying but we have the common decency to let you all sleep. Right, guys?"
"Hear! Hear!" Centurion cheered. "If I may, your majesty. We haven't met each other because of the terrible events that occurred yesterday-"
"You did that terrible event." Tiger pointed out.
"-so I'll introduce myself." Centurion lowered his gun, trying to sign to Ruby a genuflection. "My name is Centurion the First, who died gloriously in the Korean War. My American mate served in the same theatre of war since we've talked about it in the caves of Lower Cairn!"
Pershing responded with a nod. "That'll be right, the name's Pershing. Got to Germany and saw the end of the war and then died in roughly the same year as 'im. Wasn't much of a death since I got destroyed by my own crew for overheating. Wouldn't want to get captured by the Chinese, so I'd bet my chickens it would be the best option."
"Ooooo~ You need to tell me all about your production! But… Why introduce yourselves with your deaths?" Ruby was worried about the nonchalant mention of losing their lives.
"Your highness, it's who we are. Our lives are given value by our creation and our deaths. When one gets obsolete, we get replaced, melted down to the metal, and recreate anew. We are expendable, we serve no other purpose than our sacrifice."
"You can't think that!" Ruby reprimanded. "You're all good tanks and people! No one is going to get themselves killed… You're all not allowed to think that, leader's orders."
"...If you wish, your majesty."
"Oh, and please don't call me that… I don't like being mentioned like I'm some classy, dress-wearing, heel-torturing princess!" Ruby then remembers a certain heiress who would take offence to that. "Sorry if you're awake, Weiss," she whispers.
"Why so?"
"Umm… Cuz I don't think I'm royalty?" Ruby wasn't sure about the answer. When was the last time someone considered you an important figure to be called a King or Queen?
"Nonsense! You have the makings of a royal figure in my eyes, viewports if we're talking specifics! But if you truly desire it then I shall call you ma'am."
"Good. Should we all head out for some breakfast? I want to learn all about your histories in detail but I need some grub to help me up. I know you don't eat but… I don't wanna go to the cafeteria alone."
"Gladly. I'm sure the fine group of gentlemen plus one poor dodgy pillock involved would gladly accompany you, as much as I hate Communists in the presence of royalty! Remember the last time a communist met a king and their royal family? They killed their entire bloodline!"
"Oh for fucks sake." Iosif sighed. "Do any of you actually even care that we're the ones who brutally mauled the Germans? Now you all hate me too just as soon as the war ended!"
Tiger laughed at the irony. "Hah! Do you feel what I felt, Ivan? I haven't had a single useful ally and I was fighting the world! Serves you right that you get the ire of the western democracies."
"You got big talk for someone who got split in half!"
"Oh boo hoo. Does this face look like I care about that?"
"We don't have faces! We're tanks!"
"Exactly!"
"Huh?! What the hell does that even mean!?"
"Shush!" Centurion declared. "Can't you see her majesty- I mean… -Ruby's eyes squinting at your ape-like tantrums? We would've thought fellow Europeans would understand dignity."
The tanks turned to see Ruby with a major angry face, angry as in - she was slightly narrowing her eyes and moving her eyebrows downward. It was the cute kind of mad compared to the bottomless rage-filled fury Glynda.
The tanks immediately stopped and recited their pledges. Ruby returns to a smile. "I'll get ready for today and head outside so don't fight." she heads to the bathroom as the tanks lie in wait.
After a while, Ruby is finished with her morning routine, she takes each of them in their way like being stuffed in her pockets or hiding them in her palms. Walking outside she sees Nora barreling down the hallway at record speed for the ginger-haired girl. Her eyes lock on the impressed Ruby as she skids to a stop just in front of JNPR's dorm.
"Hi there, Ruby! Say, have you seen Jaune and Pyrrha last night? I'm here to check if they went back first but if you know anything about their location then tell me." Nora yells.
"No, ask the tanks. Iosif is very adamant about finding them." Ruby searches her pockets and feels Iosif's outlines before setting him down on the ground.
"The dorms… I didn't think about that…" Much like Ren, Iosif practically had his engine almost explode on its own after figuring out why they had been missing. "Nora, do you think you can try opening the door?"
"Huh? Why? Oh well!" Nora did as told, placing her hand on the doorknob and turning. Only for it to not budge as she wrestles with the thing before Iosif stopped her before she broke anything. "It's not moving! That's it, Nora punch-"
"Stop! Listen, I want you and Ruby to go to the cafeteria to do a pancake-eating contest. Ruby is starved and said she could be you this time."
Nora refocused her mind, instead of finding her team leader and the redhead, she decided to snap her neck to a surprised Ruby. "You dare try to knock me off my pedestal?! Heathen!"
"What?!" Ruby responded before looking wistfully at Iosif. "Why did you lie-"
Ruby didn't get to fully respond as she was forcefully hefted up and slung over Nora's shoulder. Nora had held her tight after hearing Iosif's statement on who could eat more pancakes.
"Off we go, Rose! Your silly tactics of taunting me will cease today!" Nora runs as fast as the wind while Ruby struggles hard over the ensuing fiasco.
Feeling satisfied with his actions, Iosif shrunk small enough to fit inside the door. He looked like a proud dad when he entered. The warmth of the freshly risen sun was nothing compared to the joy he was going to feel.
Growing back to full size, he saw it on Jaune's side of the bed. He'd been inside their dorms so he knows well which ones are which. He couldn't stop himself from chuckling.
"Boy, you have done well."
Like a proud father, he had seen it with his gunport. Jaune smiled softly with a certain redhead under his arms doing the same exact expression.
It was a tight hug, their clothes scattered all over the floor while their soft breaths filled the ambience of the room. Their eyes were mere inches from each other, the satisfied look on them made it obvious what happened.
Iosif swayed his turret from side to side, seeing that the room had been untouched other than Jaune's area. "So they went to the dance and Jaune asked her, probably declaring his love too. Pyrrha took it as a sign and one thing led to another…"
No wonder it led to an occurrence.
"Hahahahahahaha!" Iosif cackled, seeing under the sheets the distinct presence of skin. "Holy Jesus Christ, when I told him to do more than dance or confess he went up and exceeded that by a lightyear!"
Jaune and Pyrrha did dance… just not in the way you thought it was.
Who knew teens drunk on love could do so much? At least it wasn't too late for him. Vomit Boy was no more.
He was now… Vomit Man.
Ruby had finished her painful breakfast and was approached by Glynda to report to Ozpin's office. Has it been that long since Ruby lost another round of eating pancakes? She's not quite sure herself.
After desperately trying to barf the entire ride up, she had forgotten to take Iosif with her but she could make do with only four of the tanks.
She approached the table, hunched over and holding her stomach as she sat on the chair provided by a concerned Glynda. Ozpin, as always, had a cup of coffee already ready by the time Ruby sat down.
"Now then, will Centurion tell us what you know?"
"Right." Centurion readies himself. "It's a fair-skinned young-looking woman a bit shorter than Miss Nikos. She has expertise in a bow and she has black hair. Her eyes were hard to determine behind a mask even when she was being lit by my muzzle flash. Her outfit glowed when she tried fighting back. That is all…"
"Hmm… you seem unsure." Ozpin notices his sentence ending with a higher tone.
"There's one last thing. I'm sure her cup size is roughly A."
Glynda had an eye twitch at the certainty of the tank. "And you notice that out of the entire fight?"
"Quite, she had an outfit exposing it, it's not easy to forget such a thing when it's right at the centre. Ah, but don't mistake my interest as actual attraction, I just saw and pointed it out."
Ozpin chuckles. "Be it that Centurion has more details than we thought, it is useful knowing these things Glynda. We can narrow it down further, so does anyone else have to say anything?"
"Actually… sir." Ruby awkwardly raises her hand. "I didn't say it at the time but, there should be an operation in the southeast."
The news came as a slight shock, Ruby had withheld information. "Enlighten me as to why you see it favourable to tell us now. This is important; as of now have a who, the White Fang - and now the where, somewhere in the southeast... Mountain Glenn perhaps?"
Ruby nods, she'd come to the same conclusion.
The Atlesian general seems to liven up at the new information. "Oz, it's the perfect time to send in what we have! They won't know it, if this lady is related to the attack then we know that they would at least be stunted knowing that their attempt has been foiled."
"James, we don't know that for sure. We don't even know what attempt we have foiled. Besides, you know what I am going to do about this. I believe anything related to them is now under their jurisdiction."
The three understood what he meant, they all looked at the young leader as she looked around erratically at their stares. Ruby couldn't fathom what was next, except that she hoped she wouldn't get put in detention again.
"Miss Rose, you'll be assigned a special mission. One that even any first-years have been given. The staff and the professor have all been informed of this decision to let you do what you must, do well Miss Rose."
"Special mission?" her mind was racing, a way to deal with the bad guys was finally within reach. "What kind… Headmaster." her voice couldn't keep the overwhelming sensation of excitement.
"...A mission to Mountain Glenn," Ozpin said with a smile.
"Really?! …We won't let you down!"
The rest of the gang had woken up, late and still getting ready for the day. Ruby bursts into the dorm room with a maniacal laugh from her tanks. She slams the door close to the startled teammates.
"Girls! We have it!"
Ruby raised her arms up in celebration, Yang followed her example but the other two were more confused. "What do we have, Ruby? Don't tell me you lost your marbles after our dance." Weiss asked.
"No, I meant that we have a mission specifically for us, not even everyone else can do it!"
"You mean to tell me that our reckless and often childish team leader actually got something done in advance? Who are you and what have you done to the real Ruby?"
"Weeiiiissss, just because I act like that most of the time doesn't mean I won't have one good action."
Weiss smiled. "Hmph, at least you can see it for yourself. So, tell us what this mission is about."
"Wait! Before that!" Yang interrupts. "Ruby, I got some mail from dad. We might as well open it before we leave for whatever we have planned."
"Really?! From home?!" Ruby dashed to her sister's side as Yang pulled out what looked like a tube from her things. "What is it? What is it? What is it?!" Ruby started vibrating in place from the excitement.
"Calm down, Rubes. It's not going to run away, let's see-"
*THUNK*
A cylindrical mass of something landed on the floor, a curious gaze to most of the members as they slowly start seeing furs poof up from the thing that dropped out.
"Is that… a dog?" Weiss pointed at the fully visible creature of adorableness showing itself.
As soon as they heard a whimper and a bark, all four had different expressions and reactions to the ball of fur that was Ruby and Yang's dog. Blake ran away and attached herself to the roof with a hissing noise.
Yang laughed. "I guess whatever dad sent could run away." continuing her sentence from before.
"Zwei!" Ruby had recognition in their eyes and was ready to snuggle with 'the cutest in all the universe', her words of course. "Oh, how I missed you! Stop, that tickles!" Zwei offers a greeting with a lick to her cheeks as she brought him up to her face.
"Wow, I didn't know Remnant had shrinking technology. How'd that dog even fit in there?" Sherman eyed the dog, a creature that size being stuffed inside a cylinder should be impossible. Well, so were their abilities but who cares about that? Tai had sent a dog in the mail!
"Dad must have sent him," Yang answers. "He does this all the time, don't worry about it!"
"That doesn't answer my question." Sherman tried to argue.
Weiss looked closer at the dog, her eyes narrowing at the canine. "Are you telling me that this mangy…" Zwei turned his head around, his snout mere inches away. "Drooling…" Weiss saw the dog pant and looked like it was smiling. "Mutt… is going to stay wiv us forevah? Oh yes, he is, yes he is~"
"Great, she's reduced to using baby speech. I knew making her not dance with Neptune was a bad move, Tiger. Look at what you have done." Sherman talked at a lower volume while the girls were distracted.
Tiger groaned. "Blame the Soviet for making it competitive."
"Wait." Pershing pressed for more information. "Y'all had a competition for a dance?"
"A competition to see who could make the ship Iosif come to life. I did pretty well considering I got Ruby and Weiss to dance all night. It was with an additional partner but at least I didn't come out empty-handed like the other two."
Tiger didn't even know what news awaits him later.
Blake looked absolutely horrified by the creature. "Please don't let it go…" Then it happened anyways. "-why'd you let it go!"
Sensing the distress from the cat faunus, Zwei had instinct call to him to leap off of Ruby's grasp and started barking up at the roof while Blake was clinging on for dear life. "Shoo! Get away from me you hellspawn!"
As Weiss and Ruby played with the dog and Blake kept her vigilance at the maximum, Yang looked at the package, she reaches inside and pulled out a small piece of paper. "There's a letter in here… Dear girls, I've got to leave the island for a few days. Something has been moving from the horizon and I've got to deal with it. It looked like a massive ship but ships don't usually come that large. Anyways, here's enough food for Zwei, I'll leave it up to you. Love you both, Taiyang."
*CRASH*
Inside the said package was a whole lot of cans that even the tanks heard and saw from view. "Ok," Sherman stated. "Now I really want to know what your dad does to fit all that inside."
"Well, that settles it!" Yang threw the remnants of the package away. "Anyways, what mission didya get for us, sis?"
Ruby stopped her cuddling and stood up. "Oh right! We're heading to Mountain Glenn for some counterattacks!"
"Ura! What I am an expert in!"
The sudden voice came from the door as Iosif waltzed in with his engine fully hearable after exiting the Seam. Ruby smacked a fist to her palm as she watched the tank roll in. "Ah! Where have you been, Iosif?"
"Heh, nothing to worry your innocent mind, Ruby. So we are going to Mountain Glenn? Hit the enemies of the state where it hurts most?"
"We are, Ozpin and the professors already told me they already have decided before I even told them where in the southeast! Accepting that offer really did make us this opportunity! I'll get the tanks refilled with gas and ammo before we leave for the mission, especially Centurion and Pershing. Do we all know what to do?"
The team nodded and voiced their agreement.
Ruby had time to prove herself, a mission reserved for them and them only. She raised her fist into the air as she yelled out; "Go, Team RWBY!"
"Uhh… what about Zwei?" Sherman asked the most obvious question. "If you try making one of us take care of him, I think that'd be a bad idea."
"Hmm… I have an idea."
