Been really enjoying writing this. Glad to see other people want to see this idea too.
And to think it was just a random offhanded thought while I was ripping chairs apart...
Anywho, I had a message which I thought would be rather wise to point something out. No, there is no planned ship in this fic between Santus and another character. While I can be convinced, the fact he is both an Astartes (That isn't a space wolf) and a Techmarine, such things would never even come to his mind. Of course, however, there will be certain characters that grow much closer to him, and those that dislike him more as his world-view clashes with their own.
Well, PSA aside, I hope you all continue to enjoy Those We Will Cherish. Hopefully the start isn't a crawl, but it is nessecary to set up future events.
Here we go...
"Come on you two, tell us what happened with the big dude?!" Yang begged in a pleading whisper as Teams RWBY and JNPR sat within Beacon's cafeteria, huddling unusually close that the two normally outstanding teams were catching strange and confused looks from their fellow students around them. Nora shared a similarly desperate expression, directed at her own team leader who was wilting under the grenadier's gaze even as Pyrrha had a similarly hungry expression and even Ren had a certain eager edge to his normally relaxed posture.
To be fair, they had been too tired by the time they had snuck the yellow giant into Beacon, and Miss Goodwitch had clearly told them not to speak about it to anyone. Blake blamed the residual fear that their combat professor instilled in her students to obey her commands that it wasn't until breakfast Yang had broken.
Weiss glared at Yang with a serious expression for must had been the seventh time that morning.
"I let it go earlier in our dorm, and in the halls on our way here, solely because we were alone!" Weiss hissed, taking some of the air out of Yang as she continued to hiss, "Do you think some stranger in such an unusual suit of armour and such strange weapons should be talked about out loud for anyone to hear?"
Blake couldn't help herself as she raised an amused eyebrow at her former enemy with a grin.
"To be fair, at least she didn't go into detail about what he looked like." Blake cheekily whispered, gaining an amused round of laughter from both teams as Weiss levelled her angry glare at the Faunus, who merely shrugged.
It wasn't as if she was any less intrigued about the strange giant then the rest of them, Blake could fully admit her to her own desire to know.
Ren was curiously the first to speak up.
"To be fair, no one is around us here, and we will see if anyone does come up to us long before they can overhear you two." The normally quiet man pointed out, earning a frustrated sigh but an accepting nod from the Heiress, simply looked to the side as if being forced into this. But even the Schnee couldn't hide the slightly eager look in her pale blue eyes as Ruby started speak.
"Well, when we were going up, he was still quiet, but he seemed to start laughing when Miss Goodwitch sighed on the way up." Ruby started, earning a series of surprised looks around her. The red-haired girl blushed embarrassedly before continuing. "A-As we arrived, me and Jaune got out so he could exit the elevator and even the Headmaster seemed as shocked as we were when we saw him."
Jaune nodded in confirmation as Nora looked at Ren with an awed expression, while Weiss narrowed her eyes, as if the idea that the headmaster of Beacon had no idea who or what that giant was. Blake, for her part, was sure she had a confused expression on her own face, but waited quietly as Jaune continued the story.
"The Headmaster told him who he was when the guy asked him, then he gestured for Ozpin to take a seat before he took his helmet off." Jaune explained, only to be cut off by the shocked gasps of his fellow students save Ruby, who had an eager, childish grin on her face.
Weiss was the first to speak with in a worried yet shocked tone, "He offered the Headmaster a seat in his own office? The sheer arrogence to feel comfortable doing such a thing..." The SDC heiress' words were quickly overtaken as Ruby eagerly continued.
"He did!" Ruby repeated with an excited whisper, "He took of his helmet and he was human!" Blake couldn't help the small, minor disappointment that the pilot of that suit hadn't turned out to be faunus, even if it was to be expected. Ruby continued despite her offhanded feelings, "And he had black hair, and a really handsome face, and he had cybernetic eyes and these weird studs above his eyebrow and a metal plate across the side of his face! And that axe and his sidearm and those tentacle limbs are so cooool!"
Ruby finished her excited rant, taking a deep breath before looking at her friends.
Weiss had a frankly mildly shocked but intrigued expression, which wasn't too surprising given Atla's particular emphasis on technology. Opposing her, Yang had a distinctly uncomfortable expression as she gave Ruby an indescribable look. Opposite of them, Jaune's face had turned to a particularly twisted look, as if he didn't know how to think either way. Ren's expression betrayed nothing, though he had a certain curiousity that could be seen in his eyes. His partner, on the other hand, had a wide, plesently surprised grin on her face while Pyrrha merely had a sympathetic expression. Whatever taken his eyes to need such replacements must have been terrible and Blake could understand.
For the former terrorist, Blake wasn't sure how to think. On one hand, she was no stranger to cybernetics, there had been many with them in the White Fang with cheap replacements issued to them by the SDC mines. On the other, just who was this human that was a giant and wore such strange and powerful gear that he needed such implants?
At this point, Jaune took up the retelling of last night's events.
The blonde's face took on a confused edge as he began to say, "It was weird...after that, he complimented the Headmaster for his choice of profession, then said he had reason not to tell us his own name, then started asking strange questions about Aura and Semblences..." His words spreaded Jaune's own confused expression as Blake and Yang shared a confused shrug as they glanced at each other. "Ozpin explained what it does, the basics most people know, and he only seemed more confused when he asked about "madness" and "corruption"." Jaune explained, visibly making airsigns.
At this, Ruby shifted uncomfortably.
"He whispered something about it being "warpcraft" he had never seen or heard about before." Ruby added with her own airsigns. "But then he said due to his own memories and something called 'mechanicus databanks' that aura apparently could exist, and therefore he asked us to call him...Techmarine?"
Techmarine, what a strange title? Blake thought. Clearly he was a soldier, a marine of some kind. Perhaps he was a combat engineer of some sort, and those strange tendrils on his back carried his tools? Then again, if he was, what kind of combat did an engineer have to experience to require the rest of his weaponry?
Ruby continued on, "Techmarine said it was what his Brothers referred to him as, and that they had seen power like aura that could mind-control people just by knowing their name." A dark shiver ran down Blake's spine, one she was confident the rest of them shared. The idea of someone having full control over her just by knowing her name was a terrifing thought that only compounded on her own worries about what he must have had to fight on a regular basis.
"Wait, you said brothers? He has siblings?" Ren asked suddenly, taking noticing of the curious word. Ruby nodded emphatically.
"That's what he called them, his brothers. Though it sounded more like a term for people rather actual siblings." Ruby explained, before an embarrassed look appeared on her face at Weiss' incredulous look at her deduction. "It's a sibling thing, you should get it Weiss..."
The Schnee nodded, still with her incredulous expression.
"I do, but what kind of military would refer to their soldiers as brothers?" The heiress said, an air of concern fell over the two teams before Ruby stubbonly narrowed her eyes slightly at Weiss before Jaune continued to speak.
He rubbed the back of his neck as he whispered, his voice in clear awe and amazement, "The Headmaster offered to help him contact his allies, and Techmarine explained that he actually came from Space."
That, earned a share of doubtful and equally awed looks from those around him. The doubters being Weiss, Ren, Pyrrha and Blake herself. Space? Really? While his equipment was unlike anything she had ever seen, she'd be more inclined to believe it was some new Atlas prototype warsuit then he was some space-faring warrior. Jaune saw her doubtful look and shook his head.
"He claimed to be part of something called a 'chapter' called the Lementers, and that he was some kind of 'Angel of Death' that defended humanity across the stars." Jaune explained in his awed tone, clearly enamoured by the outlandish idea of a space travelling soldier. "And that he was something called an...uh...'Adeptis Astahrtes?'
Ruby giggled at Jaune's pronounciation.
"It was 'Adeptus Astartes', Vomit Boy." Ruby corrected, earning an eyeroll from Jaune and a lightening chuckle from their friends around them.
Jaune shook his head amusedly before he continued speaking, "And that it was his job to defend humanity from 'The Alien, The Mutant and The Heretic."
That set Blake on edge, though she felt alone on that idea. Just what qualified to him as 'aliens' or 'mutants'? Was he secretly some human supremacist? But what di he mean by Heretic exactly? Traitors? Was he a religious nutjob that focused on duty?
Ruby was finishing the story as Blake stewed in her thoughts.
"And then he explained how his ship had some kind of technical issue that caused him to be stranded alone above Remnant." Ruby's voice took on a sad tone. "It must have been catastrophic if he was the only survivor, and he claimed that the odds he would ever be found were next to impossible" Then her voice became excited again, much to Blake and Yang's shared concern. "And guess what? Ozpin offered to let him stay here! And he accepted!"
Blake and Yang slowly shared a concerned look at Ruby's excitement, the red-haired girl not noticing as Nora started asking her what happened next. The fifteen year old stiffened. Her grin never strayed from her face, but her body was refusing to move.
"Weeeelll...that is when the Headmaster asked Miss Goodwitch to escort us out." Ruby admitted in a quiet voice, earning a disappointed gasp from Nora and a sigh from Weiss and Ren.
It was at this point, Blake flinched at tapped Yang's arm, before pointing discreetly over the brawler's shoulder with a rushed whisper.
"Miss Goodwitch is coming!" Blake hissed to the two teams, who quickly split aside and attempted to look casual and failed miserably. The combat professor visibly sighed as she approached them. Blake noticed that the huntress seemed exhausted and probably hadn't slept last night.
Blake could sympathise.
"I presume you eight had the common sense to keep this quiet?" The teacher demanded and earned quick and honest nods from the students, Blake included. Their deputy sighed before looking over at Ruby and Jaune. "I'll assume you've already told them?" The two leaders gave reluctant nods, likely expecting punishment. To their surprise, Miss Goodwitch just shook her head before addressing the rest of them as well. "Well, our...'guest'...has moved his crashed ship to somewhere more secure, while he has personally taken up residence within Beacon's forges." Blake noticed their teacher's eyes flick briefly between the two team leaders before she sighed again tiredly.
"Is everything okay, Miss Goodwitch?" Ruby asked politely and cautiously, eager not to earn the wrath of the professor.
Miss Goodwitch nodded before looking at Ruby with almost a reluctant edge.
"Yes, I was simply working all night." Miss Goodwitch responded in a tired voice, much to Ruby's visible relief as the professor continued, "Our 'guest', asked if he was to be kept in seclusion. When I said that anyone to meet him yet would have to be carefully vetted, he did say he would be welcome to have your teams visit him." The combat teacher pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. "While I have some concerns, it would be wrong to isolate someone in his position." Ruby and Jaune started to take on hopeful expressions that split into wide grins as Miss Goodwitch confessed, "So you are permitted to visit him, during your free periods and not during class." She finished with stern, piercing eyes that promised vengence should any of them try to skip class to visit the 'Techmarine'.
Both team leaders nodded enthusastically, with eyes that promised such a breach of trust would not go abused for risk of losing it. The Deputy nodded with a pleased expression.
"I'm glad the two of you appreciate this privilage. He is located in Forge 9 and has been given permission to alter it to his needs. Be sure to not touch or damage anything there, or to cause offence. He must be treated with as much respect as our own faculty." Miss Goodwitch informed them with a valid warning. Who knew what his tools could do even if Blake wasn't sure she would bother visiting.
Though, given what he had done to those elder Grimm, Blake certainly wasn't going to be the first to risk insulting the yellow 'Astartes'.
It had taken all day, but finally, Ruby and her team were finished with classes for the day.
In her mind, the long logical course of action was to talk with the space travelling warrior with the greatest tools she had ever seen.
"Remind me again why we must all come along with you?" Weiss muttered with an frustrated scowl. She must have been annoyed from being kept from her usual routine of study. Meh, what was a bit of homework compared to a literally spacefaring engineer?
Yang smirked at Weiss' annoyed tone.
"Well, it's either we all come together, or you leave my sister with the space soldier boy." Yang said with a strangely humourous tone that seemed to suggest something else that Ruby was unable to make out.
Damn older sisters and social interaction both!
Blake, at her partner's words, merely rolled her eyes.
"I, for one, think the worst that could happen is Ruby offending the guy over his weapons." The faunus girl joked, much to Yang's strange amusement and Ruby's frustration. Sure, she loved weapons, sure, maybe she might have perhaps just kinda spent whole afternoons working solely on Crescent Rose instead of doing things with her team. Suuure she might have been a bit socially awkward at times. She still understood basic decency not to ask a man for his weapon at first proper introduction!
Weiss at this point merely rolled her eyes at all three of them as they slowly made their way to the forges in Beacon's North wing. It seemed a lot of the random things other then classrooms and dorms were all located on the North wing, Ruby noted idily as her team made their way through the halls. The red-head could walked down these halls with her eyes closed with how many times she would make adjustments to her beloved scythe. Though as they turned a corner, an unusual sight awaited them outside the main doors to the forges.
A man in a simple black and grey security uniform with Beacon's patch stood, leaning against the wall next to the doors with his eyes on his scroll.
Ruby's eyes narrowed in puzzlement.
Since when did Beacon have it's security members outside the forges?
While the team paused at the sight of the man, Ruby continued on. One security guard was not going to stop her from meeting probably the best engineer on the world. Besides, Miss Goodwitch had said they could chat with him!
"Um, excuse me?" Ruby asked the guard as she stopped in front of him.
The man, who was about middle aged, looked up at her for a moment, before saying in a bored tone, "Sorry, the forges are closed at the moment. Please speak with Miss Goodwitch or the Headmaster if you need to enter."
At this point, Weiss had joined her and had crossed her arms as she looked at the man curiously.
"Would that be due to the...new resident, inside?" She asked politely, much to the security guard's sudden surprise and shock, before he quickly narrowed his eyes at the two and pulled up his scroll. The guard seemed to scroll through a set of messages, before visibly sighing in relief.
"Oh, your Team RWBY, right?" He asked in a tone that seemed relieved that he hadn't messed up somehow. Ruby and Weiss both nodded as Yang and Blake walked up behind them. "Miss Goodwitch told me you and JNPR were allowed in. No idea why two first year teams are, but she's the boss." He explained with a casual shrug. Ruby smiled sympathetically.
"Yeah, we happened to meet him with the Professor. We just wanted to make sure he was settling in and introduce ourselves." Ruby explained in turn, the man smiling in amused silence.
"Sure, I get it. To be honest, guy's kinda terrifying, so you girls are braver then I am." The guard admitted with a slight shiver before pressing his scroll against the door lock and pushing them open. "I'll be on until seven, though I've be told you girls need to be out by eight alright?" Team RWBY nodded in understanding as they started walking their way down the reinforced halls that made up the Beacon Forges.
To be honest, many people would wonder why Beacon would have forges for their students. But, in common Hunter tradition, they made their own weapons, and looked after, repaired and improved them themselves. Ruby had certainly been brought up that way, as had Yang, and they treated their own weapons like extensions of themselves, even if Yang would never admit it. Ruby had seen how much love and care she put into Ember Celcia first hand, helping with the firing control groups herself.
As the four huntresses made their way, Ruby counted down the forges as she made her way to Forge 9. In truth she usually used Forge 10, the next door neighbour, which was ironic given this traveller deciding to use that of all the forges. Ruby saw Forge 7, then 8, before settling her eyes on 9.
Given she had been here the day before they found Techmarine, she was certain there had been nothing on the door before. Even the rest of her team had confused expressions.
Now, the door had two strange symbols embossed on each side of the sliding door. One, was the strange half skulls that had been displayed on his shoulder. The other, however, was a red tear surrounded by two black wings. At first, the red tear reminded Ruby of the same tear she had seen on his shoulder, but that had been a black and white checkered field with a red heart. This, was different.
"That one's was the symbol on his shoulder, but what is that other one?" Weiss asked curiously, her eyes flickering to Ruby. The younger girl could only shrug in confusion. Techmarine had never mentioned anything about it or had she seen it on him.
"That would be the symbol of the Ninth, and my progenitors." A scrambled, deep and menacing voice said loudly from within Forge 9. Which meant on top of the rest of his badass skills and weapons, he had super hearing too.
Ruby couldn't help but internally squeel in amazement.
The rest of her team on the other hand recoiled from the door, as if the metal doors themselves had spoken. Ruby took Techmarine's sudden explanation as permission and pressed the control panel for the door to open. The doors paused for a moment, as if awaiting permission which was unlike them as they usually opened immediately, before sliding aside as Ruby stepped into the forge.
While she preferred 10, she had used 9 before, and when Miss Goodwitch had given Techmarine permission to alter it, Ruby figured she hadn't realised the lengths he would go in 'altering' it.
Ruby gazed across the now unfamiliar yet similar forge.
Many of the wall panels had been removed, wiring and frames lining the roof and walls, and even some parts of the floor. Said wiring was now running all over the forge, connecting to both devices Ruby could recognise, others she had never seen, and some that were new but the young girl could make out the purpose for, like the strange casting forge that seemed to be made in the shape of some kind of shell Ruby had never seen before. But as for the forge, the metal workbenches had been left mostly alone, if not now packed with all kinds of strange tools and curiously, incense burners, that lit a strange yet comforting smell to Ruby. It reminded her of the kind of oils she used to clean Crescent Rose funnily enough.
The self-proclaimed Angel of Death was kneeling in his yellow armour, his arms deep within the main forge unit of the room, his mechanical tentacle with the tools on it whirling and spitting a blowtorch flame as they cut and drilled into the rather expensive forge. Beside her, Weiss looked positively affronted at the signs of altercation. Ruby found her eyes drawn to a rather large two headed eagle plaque against one unaltered wall in the corner. Next to it, was the skull emblem again, and next to that, finally, the stranged checkered heart that was on his shoulder.
"My apologises, but this worthy forge requires some altercations." Techmarine explained without even looking at them, his helmeted head still looking directly at the forge. "I am more then capable of working two tasks at once."
Ruby paused, as she suddenly felt the sheer pressure of the giant's presence wash over her, much like the same dreadful feeling she had felt at his crash site and on their way back. Though, curiously, it seemed less terrifying and more simply something that existed.
"O-Oh, w-w-well I was hoping to see if y-you were doing a-a-alright?" Ruby stuttered embarrassingly. She was sure Yang had facepalmed behind her, though, strangely, the giant man merely gave out a chuckle, which sounded vaguely threatening behind his helmet's voice modulator.
"I appreciate the concern, though I can assure you that an Astartes like myself would have little issue with much on this world of yours." He declared with a casual air, one that Ruby could almost feel like fact rather then arrogence.
Behind her, Blake scoffed nearly silently.
Techmarine suddenly stilled. Her team too stilled. A sense of that familiar dread seemed to edge into Ruby's mind for a moment, as Techmarine pulled his arms from out of the forge and turned around. Behind him, his mechanical tendril continued to work.
"You doubt my words." Techmarine said simply, his baleful red eyes staring down at the faunus, who quickly and nervously looked down at the ground. The yellow giant started stepping towards Ruby's teammate, the rest of them unable to move out of fear and concern Blake had already angered the nine foot tall Grimm eating warrior. Right before he was mere feet away, Ruby found herself quickly stepping between the two.
"S-She didn't mean it like that." Ruby quickly said, a polite if admittedly fearful grin spread across her face. "I-It's just we have no idea how strong you are compare to what we have seen!" She confidentally said in a scared voice.
It made sense. Ruby would forever swear from this day on.
However, Techmarine simply looked at her, before that same chuckle from before came from the giant man as that edge of terror fled from her mind as she, and her team, visibly relexed.
"I see. I am glad to see one so young being observent in way of the universe." Techmarine said approvingly, as a giant, yellow gauntlet reach for Ruby's head. The huntress in training closed her eyes as she looked down at the floor, praying to any god out there he wasn't going to squish her head like a grape. And he could, his hand could fit at least three of her heads!
But much to her surprise, she felt the cool touch of metal briefly rest atop her head, ruffling her hair, before stopping. Ruby opened her eyes as she watched the man pull his hand back.
On one hand, someone had patted her head. On the other, it was a nine foot tall super soldier and not Yang, who was currently staring at Ruby in horrifed yet relieved shock. However, Techmarine was first to speak.
"I am sure your companion meant no offence." Techmarine continued in a calming voice that still set Ruby and her team on edge throug the modulation. Seemingly noticing her discomfort, the giant raised a hand to his head and removed his helmet much like he did the previous night. This time, however, he placed it on a nearby workbench as he revealed his noble face and amazing cybernetic eyes. Ruby looked behind her to catch a glance at her teams reactions.
Weiss was trying to hid her surprise and amazement at Techmarine's face, and even to Ruby she was failing miserably to seem unimpressed. Meanwhile, Yang was staring at the man with wide eyes and an awkward grin as she clearly tried not to stare at his robotic eyes. Blake, on the other hand, was pale white which Ruby woud not fault her for given the giant walking up to her like that, but her eyes had a surprised look to Ruby. Like the fact he was so strangely human was surprising to her.
Ruby could fully admit, the man had an unnatural face. It look human, yet didn't. Like every movement was being calculated to the precise measurement to seem human. And the fact he looked so remarkably as well simply made the oxymoron of a face even more complicated. In all honesty, Ruby had no idea what to make of him other than he seemed almost superhuman.
By now, Techmarine's eyes had focused once more on Blake.
"Tell me, girl, what is your name?" He asked with a curious tone.
"B-Blake. Blake Belladonna." Her teammate tried to say in a confident tone, betrayed by a slight stutter at the start. Techmarine smiled slightly, but otherwise simply nodded his head.
"Blake Belladonna, you are correct that perhaps there are entities and warriors on this world capable of challanging me." He admitted freely before gazing directly at Blake's eyes. "However, if you had fought the same monsters and foul beings I have, you would not be so disbelieving." Blake stared at the man with wide, fearful eyes, and nodded once, the man's tone offering no point of argument.
"Okay." She whispered quietly, almost ashamed. The Astartes merely reached out and rested a hand on her shoulder, causing Blake to flinch in fear, but the giant merely rubbed his huge gauntleted hand over her arm.
"There is no shame in calling out arrogence." Techmarine explained in a comforting tone. "However, it is wise to do so when you know it is truly so." He added with a mechanical smirk that seemed to take some of the fear out of her teammate at last, who nodded again. "Though I do have a question for you in particular, Blake Belladonna."
The faunus blinked and looked up at Techmarine, who lowered his arm and stood before her in confusion, but nodded.
"Tell me, what is the nature of the two appendages on the top of your head?" He asked in a polite but guarded tone.
Flinching, Blake's eyes flicked up and then back at Techmarine, who continued to give her a polite smile that frankly creeped Ruby out.
"If you are wondering, yes, I know they are there. Both my eyes," He explained, gesturing to his face before point at his helmet, "And my helmet are capable of seeing heat signs."
Blake's eyes widened, before she took a small step back.
"I assure you, if I meant you harm now you would already know it." Techmarine vaguely reassured/threatened Blake, who flinched again. He sighed at her reaction. "I apologise, I do not mean to concern you with my words. I simply desire to know why you alone have these features on this world."
That made sense, at least to Ruby. If we was going to be stuck here, he probably should know about Faunus sooner rather then later. Looking at her quiet friend, Ruby gave Blake a reassuring nod.
Surely the space man wouldn't be that amazed by cat ears?
Reaching to her bow, Blake moved her shaking hands to undo the bow, before pulling it aside and revealing two adorable, black cat ears.
The Techmarine hummed, before he leaned forward, making Blake step back fully as his cybernetic eyes roamed over every inch of her faunus heritage. She could see Blake's open discomfort.
"Curious." Techmarine muttered as he narrowed his eyes. "It seems similar to the genetic structure of Felinids. Tell me, do you have claws?" He inquired. Blake gave him an extremely uncomfortable look as she shook her head. The Astartes hummed again. "I see. Perhaps it is a local genetic mutation. Tell me, what exactly are you called on this world?"
"I'm a faunus..." Blake whispered, a slightly defensive edge in her voice.
"I see. Do all faunus here have such ears?" Techmarine continued to question in a professional tone. Blake shook her head.
"No, my mother does, but many faunus have different traits, like bull horns or a monkey tail." Blake explained in an awkward voice. Techmarine's eyes narrowed in mild confusion, as if not recognising the animal names, before he shook his head as if to dismiss it entirely.
"I see. How very curious..." He muttered quietly to himself.
At this point, Weiss seemed to gather her nerve as she took a few steps towards the giant.
"Why are you curious about the faunus?" She asked, Ruby noticing a slightly defensive tone in her voice that made her heart aww at Weiss sticking up for Blake.
To this, the Techmarine turned his mechanical gaze on Weiss, who seemed to shake slightly as his eyes met hers, but remain steadfast.
"Within the Imperium, there are those that have genetic mutation to the normal human genes." Techmarine began in an educational tone. "While there are many which are considered abnormal and...influenced by other forces, there are many within the Imperium which are understood and fully accepted. Amongst them are the Felinids, which have ears smiliar to Miss Blake here as well as large claws for melee combat." He paused as he looked back at Blake with a curious look in his eye. "However, as Miss Blake says, there are those here that have traits resembling other animals native here, which is most spectacularly unique."
At his words, Blake narrowed her eyes at the Astartes.
"So you are saying you persecute some based on...mutation?" She asked forced tone of politeness. The Astartes did not seem to notice as he nodded.
"That is correct. However, you should know that those that are typically are both inhuman in both appearence and mind, and are little more then pack animals in man's flesh." Techmarine admitted. Blake nodded, but had a disturbed look on her face.
Seeing her teammates discomfort, Ruby stepped up to Techmarine with a wide, if somewhat forced, grin.
"Well, anyway, m-my name is Ruby. Ruby Rose." She offered in greeting, raising a hand to shake before pausing, realising how massive his hands were.
Techmarine let out a deep, rich chuckle before offering her a hand, or more a finger, to shake out of politeness.
"Well meet, Ruby Rose. Though as I explained to your headmaster, I will have to ask you refer to me as Techmarine for now." He greeted in return before turning his eyes to Weiss and Yang who flinched in turn.
"I am Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company." Weiss said with a curtsey.
"Hey, name's Yang Xiao Long, I'm Ruby's older sister." Yang offered with confident smile that seemed to lack it's usual luster.
Techmarine inclinded his head respectfully at the two, seeing no reason to repeat himself.
"So tell me, what brings the four of you here so soon?" He asked curiously as he turned around and knelt back at the forge, reaching inside the machine again.
Her team started to look around the forge as Ruby wandered up to the giant man. Weiss was looking at an array of Dust crystals sitting across a table with a serious of devices around them, while Blake and Yang seemed intrigued by the strange devices he had scattered across another.
"Well, I wanted to see if you had managed to get all your things here in one peace and were doing okay." Ruby admitted honestly as an embarrassed blush covered her face. Techmarine raised an eyebrow, not even looking at her as he started pulling apart a section of plating from the forge, revealing part of it heat core of fire dust.
"I do appreciate the consideration, as I said before. Though as I also said, if those beasts were anything to go from, there is little that truly would have stopped me." Techmarine said with an amused smile once more.
Ruby shrugged, uncertain if he could notice as she found her gaze turning towards the massive axe she had seen him with laying across a workbench with almost reverant placement.
"I guess so, but I think if I ended up on another planet with strange humans, I would want them to care." Ruby confessed in a quiet tone. After all, how could she know how he was feeling at this point? The Techmarine paused for a moment, his robotic fingers pausing briefly, before they returned to fiddling with a series of wires connected to the forge main regulator.
"I see. I must confess, it is...unusual, to see such concern from a psyker." He said with a faintly confused grimace.
Ruby however, noted that word he used again. Psyker.
"What's a psyker?" She asked, speaking her thoughts openly, only to realise such a pulling her hands to her mouth. The Techmarine, thankfully, seemed not to be annoyed by her questions.
"A psyker is one who can use the power of their own soul, in a way similar to yourself, but with much more destructive and dangerous consequences." Techmarine openly explained, loud enough to draw the attention of the rest of her team. "While I am no Librarian and know the specifics, I have been informed such powers usually come with noticable drawbacks, ones that lead to either madness, or damnation. Neither of which should you ever wish to have inflected on you."
There was something in his words that spoke to Ruby. It was like when her Dad or Uncle Qrow were trying to give her advice, the kind that she really should take into consideration for her own benefit. The kind that spoke of first hand experience when it went wrong. She nodded, and she noticed the thoughtful expressions across her teammates faces.
"I am sure, however, you have many questions given my nature." Techmarine then said in a more conversational tone. Ruby blushed at being called out, but nodded, making Techmarine smile once more.
It was strange, seeing him smile. Like he was unused to the motion but was desperately glad he had a reason to.
"It is only logical. From what little time I've had to examine your technology, it is certainly pre-space flight." He continued, much to Ruby's gratitude. "In truth, there are many worlds out there with differing levels of technology."
Ruby's eyes widened as she took a kneeling position next to the giant yellow titan.
"What do you mean exactly?" She asked, unable to hide the curiousity in her voice.
Techmarine looked over at her for a moment, before looking back at the forge. "We have many classifications for worlds. From Agri-worlds, that feeds the billions upon billions of souls within our mighty realm, to Feudal worlds that's most advance technology is a stone wall." Both Ruby and Techmarine scoffed, earning a surprised and embarrassed blush from Ruby, and a glance from the Astartes, before he continued, "To the sprawling Hive worlds of cities built on cities, to mighty Mechanicus Forge worlds that produce everything from harvesters to transports to common lasgun."
Ruby gasped at that last example.
"You have entire worlds devoted to making things?" She asked in an incredulous voice that had had Techmarine chuckle again.
"That is correct, Ruby Rose. Those worlds are ruled by the Mechanicus, who's duty it is to protect, study and create mankind's technology." He continued.
Ruby looked at the space man with awe. A whole organisation that was about designing, building and maintaining technology sounded like heaven to the young engineer. Her awe must have been obvious as the Techmarine raised an eyebrow as he looked at her with one eye.
"I see you relate to such a calling?" He asked, with a curious smile. Blushing again, Ruby rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly.
"Well...it's a hunter thing to make our own weapon." Ruby began, patting a hand on Crescent Rose, sheathed behind her back. "And some people try to make fun of me, but I do really love Crescent Rose and she deserves to be treated right, you know?"
At this, the Techmarine turned his full attention to Ruby who wilted slightly under his cybernetic eyes.
He seemed to look appraise her, looking her up and down.
"There is no shame in such a calling, Miss Rose." Techmarine replied in a quiet voice that seemed likely the giant man as he leaned over to her slightly. "It is one I too feel the call of, if you had not realised by my title."
Oh, right, Techmarine. How did Ruby not put two and two together? She leaned in a little closer to the giant man as a sense of relatability came to the red-haired reaper.
"Tell me, Ruby Rose, would you like to assist me?" He asked with a strange smile as he tilted his head towards the forge. "Perhaps you could educate me somewhat with how your technology works?"
No one could ever say Ruby was socially stunted enough to not see a gold oppotunity right in front of her.
"And then he started saying about how he made that handcannon himself and how he specifically calibrated it to his taste by adjusting the..." Ruby's voice trailed off as Yang tuned out her energertic sister. On one hand, Ruby had made a friend that was equally nuts about weapons as she was. Except it happened to be the supposed space travelling super soldier.
Yang shook her head as she rested her arms above her head as she laid in bed while Ruby continued to gush to Weiss about Techmarine.
She still wasn't sure how to feel about that.
Call her overprotective, but she was distinctly uncomfortable with how much she gushed about the strange man that had, if his story was true, literally crashlanded from space. There was something off about him, Yang felt. She wasn't sure what, or how, but seeing Ruby talking with him so openly had her on edge. In truth, she didn't know what to think of the Techmarine. He seemed to be able to make anyone around him feel terrified on command, yet Ruby had managed to spend nearly an entire hour talking and working with the man before almost having to be pulled away by her and Weiss.
Honestly, that was the scariest thing of all to Yang.
Who was this guy that somehow managed to make Ruby of all people the most outgoing and social member of the team after barely meeting? What if he did managed to find a way off this world?
Would he want to take her sister with him? Or would Ruby try and sneak her way and leave Remnant.
These dark and concerning thoughts followed Yang as she drifted into unconsciousness.
So, there it is.
We see a bit more how RWBY's cast first views Santus, Blake is definately not a fan right now, Yang is confused and concerned, and Ruby made a friend.
Of all these things, knowing each character, I have no idea which is worst. I mean last friend Ruby made was Penny and look how that went. Firing Mah Lahzar in the Docks.
Oh yeah Penny...huh...
Next time on 40k RWBY, JNPR gets a chance to greet our Lamenter, Santus makes some discoveries and a certain someone takes note.
As always, reviews and criticism is always appreciated, A.D