The shooting range was one of the less utilized facilities within Beacon Academy, but by no means meant that it went unappreciated. Anyone who valued accuracy with their firearms found themselves here occasionally, though those who fancied themselves as marksmen were present far more often. It wasn't difficult to understand why, either, after all, with moving pop-up targets at all ranges for each lane, it made for good practice. On top of that, a live-fire simulation provided a suitable experience for shooters to test their skills in a controlled "combat" environment. When in the live-fire simulator, the tester wore a special rig and used holographic rounds for their weapons. They simulated recoil and everything that mattered, while being harmless to anything that wasn't a hologram.
Most wrote the room off as just something they just had to do every now and then, but not everyone, and especially not Ruby Rose. Any alone time she had was usually spent here, or spent cleaning her weapon. It was something she found enjoyment out of, and if she could find entertainment in something that made her a better fighter, then it was just that much better.
She'd just finished a few sets with Crescent Rose, making a perfect score every time, before moving onto the live-fire. This she also achieved a perfect score on, beating her previous record. It was also the current first place holding score in all of Beacon, but she didn't quite concern herself with that or bother to boast. She just moved on to another weapon, a select-fire rifle with a red dot sight and a 30 round magazine, and began familiarizing herself with it before stepping up to shoot.
The first few rounds were, of course, spent zeroing the sights, before moving on to the actual activity. Once again, a perfect score. The trend repeated itself in the live-fire exercise, though she only beat her score with her baby by a narrow margin on account of the quicker cycling rate. The thought had of course crossed her mind to convert it into a semi-automatic, but that would require some pretty notable changes that she didn't wanna make.
"Eh, I'll work with what I got. If I really need a faster firing weapon at some point down the line, I can just pick up a good sidearm with a spring-loaded stock. Know I've seen one before." She thought, putting a few hundred more rounds down range before disassembling the weapon, cleaning it, reassembling it and putting it away, cleaner than when she picked it up.
Normally, she'd be trying to spend time with her team, develop good cohesion... but they blew her off tonight. Like they had been doing for a few months now. Every Friday, they'd pretty much just ditch her alongside JNPR to go out and do things they deemed her "too young" to do... even though they themselves were also too young to go out to the club and drink. She supposed that thought never crossed their minds, but pushed it to the back of her own as she packed up all of her stuff.
She knew her team was in JNPR's room at the moment, drinking substances they were too young to legally consume, probably gossiping about something... didn't matter, she wasn't going back to her dorm room anyways. It was 1800, meaning that she'd spent roughly four hours shooting after school, and the Gym was open 24/7, so, like she had been doing for awhile now, she went there.
Her main aim was remedying the problem that was her lack of upper body strength. Crescent Rose was made of ultralight alloys, so it was incredibly light... but if she got disarmed, her punches did practically nothing. It was a problem she recognized, and one she was working on fixing. So, as she pumped the iron for both resistance and reps, she let her mind wander back to her friends...
"We've been a team for three months now, but outside of the school day, it's like I'm not even there at times. After the first four weeks, they started getting real close with JNPR, but..." She racked the bar after her tenth set of ten reps. 125 pounds, nothing particularly crazy, but she felt a good burn nonetheless, and it was a good weight for her. She spent a total of three hours there, making sure not to waste a single minute of her time.
This was the routine she'd held for the last two months for the weekend, and she'd fit studying in on the weekdays, though only an hour on Fridays. She had nothing but time whenever her team blew her off. Weiss always so busy being her harsh, judgmental and overbearing self, Yang always being off with other friends, and Blake always just not wanting to be bothered as she red her book... the damn books she spent all day every day reading. Didn't help that on the weekends they didn't even bother answering her when she asked where they were, or that they blew off all plans she'd make days or even weeks in advance because they wanted to go to a club or hang out with JNPR.
It was annoying, but she let it go for the sake of keeping the peace. She didn't wanna upset any of them, so better to just let them do as they would. Not really worth a fight, after all...
She was walking down the hall back to her room, when she noticed that JNPR's door was wide open, laughter pouring out from within. A soft sigh escaped her own lips, before moving to close the door-
"I can't believe it! She actually sped out of her own clothes?!." It was Weiss's voice, cackling with laughter. Ruby froze up, a shocked look setting over her face. She hadn't come into view of the inside yet, so she retracted the hand that was previously reaching for the door.
"Yeah, it was hilarious! She'd only just unlocked her semblance and could barely control it! She was speeding all over, and somehow she left all her clothes in the dust! It's too bad she was so fast though, I couldn't get my camera out quick enough to record it!" It was Yang, and Ruby felt something inside just snap. Why the hell would she tell them about that? She didn't go around joking about her abysmal dating skills, so what made this okay?
"Oh my god, that's just precious! Anything else you can tell us?" It was Nora, and she clenched her fist and stayed her feet as she wanted nothing more than to just burst in and chew the lot of them out.
"Oh yeah, but the more I think about it, the sadder it gets. You guys realize we're the only friends she's got? Even back at Signal I was her only real friend, hell, you guys know how many plans with friends I had to cancel because of her?"
"Had to? I never asked you to do a damn thing, never mind cancel your plans for me... where's that big sister mantra you're always so proudly spouting now, huh?"
"That's just awful, I'm so sorry Yang. To be completely honest, I'll never understand how you do it! She and I are all but stuck together everywhere ever since Ozpin made that CHILD my partner! I can barely stand it, the constant childish whining and insistence on being 'BFFs'! Ugh, she's just so annoying..."
"Oh really? Is that how it is? I wasn't happy to be paired up with the ice bitch, but forgive me for wanting us to be close since, y'know, we ARE partners and all... but you clearly got a problem with that, so fuck me, right?" Ruby thought with spite, before refocusing in on the next voice.
"Don't even get me started on the annoying factor. No telling all the times I've been tried to read in peace just for her to come along and ruin it all. Always need to find somewhere private to escape her bothering me." It was Blake, and she silently sneered at the declaration.
"Alright, miss moody and emotional. You wanna play that card? Excuse me, your team leader, for trying to get to know you better. Honestly, you read enough books and I haven't the slightest clue what Sun sees in you."
"But trust me, guys, I got it the worst. When dad got a job at Signal, I was stuck it's her all day, every day. God, I stopped keeping track of all the plans with friends I'd had to cancel because of her, and now I'm stuck with her again! Ugh, you guys don't know annoying yet, trust me!" It was Yang again, and the declaration shot Ruby's eyes wide open, her silence only barely holding now.
"Wait, I thought you were happy that Ruby came to Beacon with you?" Pyrrha asked, a hint of uncertainty in her voice.
"Initially, yeah, but then I realized that it was just more of the same for another four years! It would've been fine if she were on a different team, but we're on the same one! Honestly, Ozpin made a mistake allowing her to come, she shouldn't be here." The declaration was like a blade to her heart, and she began to feel somewhat weak at the knees. Her own sister...
"She lied to me... every word of encouragement she's ever given me here has been a lie..." Ruby ground her teeth and clenched her fists as tight as she could. "And... and I was noticed and accepted for stopping a crime while YOU committed one!"
"Well... you have a point Yang, I mean, I may not be the best student or fighter here, but her attitude can get a little annoying sometimes." Jaune spoke, igniting a certain fury within her.
"THE AUDACITY OF THIS-! WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU OF ALL PEOPLE JUST SAY ABOUT ME?!. The absolute nerve of the dumbass that can't take a fucking hint from Weiss?! Tell me who the fuck CONSISTENTLY gets their ass handed to them by Cardin?!" Ruby roared internally as she barely restrained herself from barging inside and mauling him.
"Hah! Replace 'sometimes' with all the time and you paint an accurate picture!" Weiss sneered, making Ruby roll her eyes.
"Shut up Weiss, you act like a total bitch all day, every day, and it's honestly why Neptune won't ever call you back."
"She's rather incapable in combat, especially without Crescent Rose." Pyrrha added on, just as blood started to drip from Ruby's fist as her nails dug into her skin.
"Well, sorry I'm not a professional tournament champion, Miss Invincible! And dammit, I'm working on unarmed combat! Maaaaaybe it would actually be going somewhere if you idiots would actually help me out!"
"She's pretty much useless without it." Nora added.
"Yeah. Just like you are without sugar and your hammer. At least the upper years don't think I'm a drug addict."
"I've seen her try unarmed... let's just leave it at incompetence." Ten said matter-of-factly, making Ruby scoff ever so quietly.
"More than adequate compared to your attention span in class." These were here so called 'friends?' Apparently fucking not, since not a single one of them had a positive thing to say about her. And on that, she was a whole two god damned years younger than them! Was she not allowed to have faults to overcome? How come they were expecting miss perfection from her and nobody else?
Evidently enough, she was without friends here, if her friends roasting her to hell and back were any indication. She decided she'd heard enough, and made an about face, marching away from the dorm. Fine, if they had such problems with her, they obviously didn't want or need her there. She'd leave them be, just as they wanted. She would be there for classes, practice missions, and nothing else, just like they apparently wanted...
Aimless wandering had led her to the forge, a place she visited often to do maintenance on Crescent Rose. Normally, she'd be happy to just take her time in here and have fun making small, minute adjustments and improvements onto Crescent Rose, but this time it was different. The first thing she did was go over to the workbench and pull out some paper for a rough draft.
New weapons, new equipment, new tactics, and a new look. She'd admit that her arsenal was rather limited, and while Crescent Rose could do a lot with some creativity, it ultimately had limitations that were just inherent to the type of weapon it was. Such weaknesses as lacking usefulness if the enemy got too close, and lack of modularity.
Sure she could put a new scope on crescent Rose, but that was about the extent of it. On top of that, the scope had to fit certain, very specific dimensions that made replacing it if damaged both difficult and expensive. The new design wasn't a collapsible design like her baby was, rather it was a simple, straightforward concept. A select-fire rifle with a collapsible stock that had an adjustable cheek pad, and pretty much everything about it was interchangeable. The pistol grip, mag well, upper receiver, barrel, and the end of the barrel to be worked so that it could accept anything like a compensator, suppressor, or a muzzle brake. On top of that, the barrel shroud had rails on the top, bottom and sides to allow for additional equipment, things like lasers, flashlights, foregrips, or even a grenade launcher. The top rail ran all the way back to the end of the receiver, and the charging handle was ambidextrous, placed near the end of the barrel shroud.
The design didn't have a name yet, but that could wait. The next design was another weapon, a sidearm this time. She implemented a spring-loaded stock that would extend when drawn out of a holster, and could be collapsed down after pressing on a lever. The weapon was effectively a small pdw, and the forward grip could have another magazine locked in so that when she drops the empty magazine from the mag well in the pistol grip she could just slot that one in with ease. It was a simple, if robust design, and it had a top rail located over the little box-like area where the stock slotted back into once collapsed, and another below the barrel in front of the forward grip.
The third design was much simpler, a serrated combat knife with a vibration cell. Nothing really too complicated, but it would be a useful tool and would do in a close fight as a fallback weapon. The last thing she made designs for was a whole combat kit, with plate carrier, helmet and all, all of it designed to be completely modular and accept those new ultralight armor plates that had just come out.
She planned to make additional, more high-speed attachments and the sort for her kit later, but for now she'd burnt roughly four hours on designing the blue prints for a completely new fighting kit. To say she was tired would be a gross understatement, so she decided she'd leave actually making everything to tomorrow and Sunday. She was sure her team wouldn't miss her...
After waking up to an empty room at 1100, Ruby decided that the day would best be spent getting the things she'd need from downtown Vale. She didn't want to make her new rifle use the same heavy ammo that Crescent Rose used. Too much recoil for a weapon like this one, couldn't carry as much ammo. Besides, full auto or even burst with ammo like that would probably break more than a few internal components.
She idly contemplated her options while she wandered Vale, though put that on the sidelines of her considerations as she approached the store of her desires. A simple tactical store that sold apparel for the most part, though there were some additional things she wanted. It was a local shop, not part of any chain, and had the convenience of being willing to tailor things like combat shirts specifically for the user.
She'd been told about it by some of the others who frequented the shooting range, all stellar reviews across the board, if a tad expensive. Even custom-made the new gen plates to fit the wearer's form for comfort, which would be a godsend since the last time she wore a plate carrier with the plates in, they were compressing her breasts in such a manner that was rather painful. Nevertheless, they carried just about everything she was looking for, be it patches, name tapes, tactical bags, eye and ear protection, socks, boots, neck gaiters, combat shirts and pants, fatigues, weapon slings, plate carriers, more common combat knives... the only thing they didn't really sell was the equipment that went in the bags and helmets and their accessories.
It suited her just fine, and the price of items really didn't bother her too much. She had been planning of changing her kit here for some time, now she was just effecting that change. She got four pairs of custom tailored light summer combat shirts and pants, four heavier winter pairs too, all black and dark gray with no camouflage pattern. It was the new general look she was going for in her kit, but she'd keep the lenses of her goggles with a silver one-way ballistic glass. She got another four pairs of light-adaptive goggles with black frames and dark gray bands that, looking at the visor from the outside, looked like pure silver and turned black in darkness. Four black neck gaiters, four black balaclavas of both summer and winter variety, four pairs of black lightweight combat boots with dark gray laces, eight pairs of black socks, four of them summer, four winterized. Finally, she had her measurements taken for the plates, all front, back and sides, got four black half-finger combat gloves with dark gray rubber braces topside, and four winter combat gloves with the same coloration and rubber braces, that also integrated some stuff that would allow her to interact with touch screens.
She decided that she'd hold off on purchasing anything like magazine pouches until she decided what caliber munitions she'd settle on and the magazines were made, so for her vest she made simple no-brainer purchases in the same black primary and dark gray secondary coloration. An IFAK pouch, tourniquet pouches, grenade pouches and flashbang pouches, along with a 3-point sling for her rifle and a 1-point for her pdw, just in case she needed it. The total cost would've had her sweating bullets if Weiss hadn't given her a card specifically for combat essentials, which all of these most certainly were.
After checking out, they told her to come back Monday afternoon to pick up her plates, and she was on her way for the next store. A medical supply shop, specifically. After all, an IFAK pouch was useless without it's contents, as were the tourniquet pouches. She bought several tourniquets, six inch pressure bandages, gauze bandages, nasopharyngeal airway tubes, a few pairs of surgical eye shields and surgical gloves, chest seals, gel-soaked burn dressing pads (important given Yang's semblance had the tendency to burn things and people around her), antibiotic ointments, a few 16 fluid ounce bottles of povidone iodine prep solution, water purification tablets, EMS shears and a few strap cutters. All the equipment she'd need to provide immediate medical attention to battlefield injuries. She'd undergone the training for proper usage of everything in the kit, courtesy of the Independent Operations elective she was taking at Beacon, so it's not like she was just buying whatever looked good.
After paying that tab as well, she moved onto the supermarket where she bought a few black shemaghs with a mid gray hexagonal pattern. It was really the only thing she was getting there besides a bottle of strawberry soda. She continued her day on the town by stopping into the gun shop to get some ammo. Normally, a 15, almost 16 year old wouldn't be allowed to purchase ammunition or firearms, but thankfully the rules were waived for hunters-in-training. Now was the time to decide what kind of ammunition she wanted.
Did she want 5.56x45? The ammunition was plentiful and relatively light, lighter if she put a little extra in for polymer casings. They didn't take up much space either, so she could afford to carry a lot and still have room for other important equipment. The catch however was that while it hit decently hard, it wasn't as effective at punching through armor, be it bone or manmade, and it's effective range was less than that of some larger rounds. 7.62x51 was also an option, it had better range and stopping power than the 5.56, and could reliably punch through most armors, but the larger size meant that it was heavier and took up more space. With the larger bullet, she'd have to carry less ammunition so that she could retain maneuverability and carry other important gear. Both options had their own advantages and disadvantages...
"Wait, I'm designing this rifle with modularity in mind, including magazine well, receiver and barrel... I can literally just buy both and pick & choose what's appropriate for each mission." Ruby realized with a deadpan expression, before shaking the thought away and whipping out her equipment card. 1,500 rounds of stock 5.56x45, 300 incendiary dust, 300 gravity dust, 300 EMP rounds (By dust were those expensive), 300 tungsten penetrator AP rounds, and 300 cryogenic dust rounds, all in polymer casings, then 1,000 7.62x51 and 200 of each kind of special bullet that she'd already bought, this time chambered in the larger caliber, once again in polymer casings. A grand total of 5,000 rounds. She followed it up with 850 9mm bullets for her PDW alongside 170 of each special round, totaling at 1,700 9mm ammunition. There was no feasible way for her to carry all that ammo back, so she instead paid for transport directly to the Beacon Armory in her assigned room.
She could already foresee the storm of questions from her partner, if she even bothered to ask, but pushed it to the back of her mind. Now she just had one last stop before she headed back to Beacon. A hunter-exclusive store that sold actual tactical equipment, such as grenades of various types, smoke grenades, flashbangs, pulse grenades, gas grenades, and electromagnetic shielding devices. The final item was one that she wanted more specifically than other items, since it would give her a one-time protective shield against any sort of electric-pulse type attack, such as from a pulse grenade, before needing to recharge. The one she bought had three uses, and took five minutes for each spare charge to activate after the shielding was depleted. Spare batteries and all, couldn't really instantly recharge any electronic, now could she?
She bought ten of each aforementioned item save the shielding device, which she really only needed one of but bought a spare just in case it got damaged. Satisfied with her purchases, Ruby called for a bullhead, and made her way back to Beacon. She'd taken a considerable amount of time out, starting at around 1200 and ending around 2030...
She came back to an occupied room full of her teammates who seemed rather indifferent about her return, not even batting an eyelash save for Weiss who simply held up her scroll and pointed at the tab on her equipment card. She simply raised an eyebrow with a quizzical look on her face, asking a question without any vocal communication...
"Ammo, medical supplies, new combat attire." Ruby answered simply, to which Weiss simply closed her eyes, whisked away her questioning look and nodded in understanding, before returning to whatever it was she was doing prior.
"Well that was surprisingly painless." Ruby mused internally, before going through the normally tedious task of sorting everything out and putting it all in the right places. Normally, it would be tedious, but Weiss recognized the medical equipment and immediately went to help her get it all into the IFAKs correctly...
"It's a surprise to see you bought all this equipment, but a welcome one... I'll give you this one, you had good foresight getting all this." Weiss admit, though Ruby didn't say a thing in response. It surprised all of them, as normally Ruby would be fawning over such praise, but just now she was just... indifferent, as if she didn't care. Nevertheless, they chalked it up to Ruby having had a busy day, and possibly being tired. However, she surprised them once again when she just changed into some loose, comfortable clothes and walked out the door...
"Huh... I assumed she would immediately go to bed... Is something up with her?" Weiss wondered, but didn't pursue. It was odd that Ruby seemed so mellowed out, normally she was just this obnoxious ball of energy, but not today. Ruby came in, dropped her stuff off, answered a question, did what she needed to do, and left without a hint of excitement or joy, and without a single wasted word...
To say it was out of character would be a gross understatement, as normally if she were in such a subdued state, she'd just wanna go back to sleep. Clearly, Ruby still had some other things she needed to do, and the locator on her scroll indicated that she'd headed to the forge. It explained why she threw on such comfortable, loose clothes, but not why she was acting the way she was. Maybe this was just a side of her she hadn't seen yet? A laser-focused, single-minded, quiet and professional face she only showed when there was something truly important, perhaps?
"Come to think of it, the ammunition she bought doesn't match up with Crescent Rose at all... that oversized gardening tool uses .50 BMG, but she bought 7.62, 5.56 and 9mm... has she made another weapon?" Weiss thought logically, before ultimately just deciding to leave her leader be. Whatever Ruby was doing, it was clear by the way she was acting and the way she moved that she didn't necessarily want or need help with it. Though it was somewhat unnerving, the drastic change, a dominant part of her hoped that this face would come out more often...
It was well into Sunday morning when she finished all her gear, but it was done. She slapped an angled foregrip under the barrel shroud, a high-powered flashlight on the right side, a green twin laser on the left side (one was only visible using night vision), and a holographic sight with a NV mode located just over where the ejection port was. She went with a 16 and a quarter inch barrel, and slapped a suppressor on it, and also put a recoil pad on the stock that she had no real intention of removing. For now, she'd chamber it in 5.56x45, for versatility's sake alone.
She put another of the same holographic sight on her PDW, a different suppressor, and a different flashlight that had a red laser functionality as well. Overall, her PDW only weighed about 2.5 pounds, her rifle just under 9. Of course, this was without ammunition, but that was to be expected. She made the magazine wells for each weapon so that they'd be compatible with more common magazines. It was a measure to cut costs, as having every magazine custom made would be painfully expensive. Her combat knife was just fine in it's make and quality, razor sharp and the vibration cell meant that it would cut through just about anything a knife could cut through way easier than normal.
Finally, there was her new helmet. It didn't cover her ears, instead it had two ports just above the ear cutouts that allowed for her to install a certain high-quality ballistic-rated headset that Atlesian Military Special Forces often used. She already had the headset in black and dark gray, so it was a simple matter of slotting it it, which it did just fine. She swapped out the straps on her goggles for 2-piece straps that linked into the same slide-port, and said port could still hold a third attachment on each side. However, before the goggles, she put a high powered flashlight on the left side, and a broadband signal amplifier on the right which she linked to the headset. On the front of the helmet over her forehead sat the nods mount, which when stowed granted enough space for her to set her goggles on without disrupting anything. Wires back to the power pack and counterweight ran under a straight flap in the black fabric cover of her helmet, allowing her to supply power to whatever night vision device she chose to use and balance out it's weight. Finally, she made a custom gas mask specifically to link with the goggles since they already made an airtight seal. It only took some slight modifications to make it work, some light retooling with the helmet to allow it to lock into place better. The mask only covered her mouth and nose, but that's all it had to cover since the goggles already did what she needed them to do. The mask could take a filter on the left side for the purpose of being able to aim, and like more common military gasmasks, it had an emergency induction port for drinking water.
Overall, her new gear set would be considered rather menacing, really giving her that whole "Elite Special Forces" vibe she was going for. The name of the game with this new set was versatility and supremacy, give her a reliable counter to just about every conceivable combat situation...
However, after having pulled an allnighter, she was exhausted, and wanted nothing more than to bury her face into her pillow and pass out. Noting that Monday was a holiday and they had it off, she saw no reason to stay up or study further. All her alone time spent studying had caught her up completely with the curriculum, and she'd drilled all of the lessons in Port and Oobleck's classes down to almost perfect memory, so she wasn't concerned with the upcoming tests.
So, knowing there was fairly little more that she could do than zero her new weapons for the day, she did just that, and hit the sack immediately after...
The first thing she did when she found herself in town the next day was buy a nice pair of elbow and knee pads, alongside a pair of new gen soft armor 2-piece shoulder pads, in black and dark gray, of course. Following that, she picked up a healthy amount of windowed PMAG magazines for both calibers for her rifle, about a twenty 17 round magazines for her PDW (it did not have a full auto functionality), and plenty of magazine pouches. She finished it all off with a black and dark gray assault pack that had a port for a camelbak, and plenty of MOLLE for her to attach stuff to. She decided that she'd fill it with more ammo, MREs, more medical supplies, and more communication supplies.
Finally, she picked up her custom plates that accommodated for her feminine assets, and made her way right back to her dorm. It didn't take long for her to suit up, taking the buckled straps off and linking it up to her plate carrier. Overall, she'd say she liked her new look, it showed off her natural features and curves that her old outfit concealed, didn't impede on mobility, and made her look badass. She linked her knife in it's holster to her chest over the left side, threw on the shemagh around her neck like a sort of scarf that didn't dangle around, pulled the mask of the balaclava over her nose, and took a few poses in the mirror. Sure enough, she looked like some sort of spec ops operative, exactly as she wanted.
Chuckling to herself, she looked out her window to Vale, knowing well that her gear needed a field test. There were plenty of criminal gangs in the old city, further West, that might prove a good proving ground. Criminal syndicates and the sort, though more specifically Roman Torchwick could be there... Nevertheless, she had her target, if broad, being that she'd pick a criminal network and take down an element of it or, if she was lucky, take it down entirely.
Nodding silently to herself, she left a note on her bet for her team detailing that she was scouting out the old city for info and that if they were gonna look for her to be discrete about it, and took her leave. Tonight, some bad guys were going down...
A/N: Got some time to work on my shit, finally. Terminatus and Inquisitorial Rose should be updated before September passes.