I actually have no idea what im doing here now.
Basically I'm stuck in the process of "how will the Sharded's first contact with Atlas play out" and currently? Im out of ideas and as a result was unable to update the fanfic as usual thanks this too, and also my procrastination is to blame for this minor hiatus too
And so as a result, I've decided to just go with what my mind thinks as of now, I'll still try and be faithful to RWBY as usual but uh.. mind of you expect Atlas in this story to be a bit more off than usual? Idk im not into military matters most of these days.
Enjoy this chapter made for fun!
~~~~~ MINDUSTRIAL WAR ~~~~~
Ruby Rose, Weiss, and a few other people in the background who were curious all watched as a shooting star flew through the bright blue skies of Vale, seemingly leaving behind a trail of white clouds as it goes
"Weiss? Does Atlas do that for testing or something? Because that doesn't look natural or meteor-y to me" she squinted her eyes at the sky
"I-" She shook her head, continuing to walk as Ruby followed behind her "I don't think so? I mean im pretty sure Atlas did try and send equipment into space many years ago? But it failed possibly because dust DOESN'T work in space, I don't think they tried again right now" She shrugged "But that doesn't matter now doesn't it? I mean we still have to information about the robberies right?"
"Ooh yeah I forgot!"
It didn't take long before that "shooting star" disappears into the clouds and onto the horizon.
...
Nora looked outside at her dorm window, with Jaune and Ren following at where she's looking.
It's the same shooting star from before. Just as bright in daytime as before, leaving behind a trail of smoke
"15 Lien it's an alien, Ren" She bets immediately after spotting the bright shooting star, smiling widely
"You think it is?" Jaune looked at her "It could be from Atlas instead.. could it be..?" He looked at Ren for reassurance, to which he could only give him a small shrug in response
"Aw cmon Jaune!" Her endless enthusiasm doesn't seem to be fazed by his reasoning by a bit "Be optimistic about it for once! Besides.."
She turned to look at where the 'comet' is heading "imagine if it could be aliens after all.."
She only got a confused "okay?" from her leader and a small nod from Ren, her childhood friend
They didn't realize that their teammate was right in her guesses. Just not in the way that she didn't expect it to be.
~~~~~ MINDUSTRIAL WAR ~~~~~
The ship the AI was controlling slowly wobbled around in the air while facing an army they didn't know even existed in front of their base.
It nervously turned its ship to look at the hovering Atlesian Dropships, and to the seemingly smaller mechs in a formation on the ground.
...
It was concerned, too concerned for the safety of their base.
They don't have the signature red color, they don't even have the same technology as that of the Crux. However they have a massive army awaiting them outside it's base.. meaning they're probably here to exterminate this specific base for whatever reason.
Just like the Crux.
While it doubted its decision, the AI eventually gave in to its concerns, marking every single one of these Atlesian units as hostile in their minimaps and in their defenses' hardware.
Whenever they would approach, any that fall in the turret's range would soon be met with a rain of bullets
The Sharded doesn't want to take any chances now, not after remembering the old records regarding any planet in their Solar System that their predecessor once conquered being taken over by a rogue AI..
It's Salvos and Scatters immediately took aim at the slowly approaching fleet, cartridges ready to be emptied.
...
Winter stared at the Flight Deck's window infront of them with a hint of concern in her face, only masked within a hard cold stare. Atlesians around her worked endlessly as they attempted to contact the unknown base with their current technology but to no avail.
It's as if the ones behind this strange base is ignoring them on purpose, or was it just wary of them?
Winter didn't know the answer, and deep inside she was.. how does she put her current feelings in words? She was simply anxious.
Many had the idea to have chosen representatives of Atlas drop off to the ground to approach the base in person, as their attempts at contacting it were proven to be impossible.
And she was one of them now "I shall be going now, I'll join with the other diplomats" the other Atlesians in the airship nodded as two Atlesian Knights stepped in to accompany her from behind to the outside to get into a dropship
And just when she left, all the turrets stationed ariund the base immediately flared to life as the mechanical parts rattled accompanied with a low roar from the Scatters
And flak immediately started to rain upon them.
...
The AI stared at the hellfire that began raining upon the fleet, at the sudden provocation of the Sharded's Scatter Turrets, the Atlesian Knights below immediately fired at the turrets that were unprotected by the walls.
Both sides were already throwing everything they got at each other. But the only difference was that the Sharded had way more fortifications and firearms than Atlas has.
Dropships began to plummet in a trail of thick smoke from heavy flak, Atlesian Knights and Paladins pummeled by Dust-armed Ripples before they began firing back with their own weapons and the Airship in the middle was tanking all the damage dishes out from Anti-Air installments within the Sharded Base, shooting out precision lasers back at the defensive placements.
If the AI had built plastanium walls it wouldn't really be a problem but they didn't have enough plastanium to upgrade the walls right now.
But as the skirmish went on
It was already clear from the start to who wins this battle, judging by the damage the opposing fleet sustained.
...
Winter almost stumbled and fell over as the Airship she was in tilted and shook from the flak bullets that threatened to rip it apartment. Her breath heavy and yet she still remained composed under the sheer stress that was the unknown faction suddenly opening fire at their attempted gunboat diplomacy.
She looked around grimacing, her hands holding tightly onto whatever was welded onto the airship so as to not let herself fall over again
The Unknowns definitely thought that Atlas was the aggressors no doubt, making her wish that Ironwood brought a much smaller force but alas, his orders would say otherwise. Dooming their attempts at a peaceful contacg
If they stayed here now, it would be a bloodbath..
And Winter's eyes widened immediately. Donning an immediate stern look on her face she turned to face the Atlesians running towards the deck.
"Attention to all soldiers!"
She shouted, catching the eyes of the other Atlesians onboard
"Hail the others! We need to retreat immediately! If we keep on sitting here like ducks, we'll be scrap paste by the time they finish-"
Before the two Atlesians and a few others in hearing range would follow her orders, a lucky flak bullet pierced through the weakened armor of the Airship and traveled straight to the hallways where Winter was in.
It exploded, sending several lead shrapnel all over the place, the others onboard all crouched instinctively from the explosion
And as for Winter?
Every part of her senses were ringing.
...
And as it kept on supervising the base from the view of an Evoke, the enemy did something that would baffle the AI for days to come.
the remaining Atlesian Ships that survived all decided it was NOT worth keeping this battle up, even if they decided to called upon reinforcements from a nearby outpost.
And so they started to turn and leave, quickly flying out from there as soon as possible, so as to get out of range from the AA placements in the Sharded Base.
The AI turned the Evoke to look at the remaining ground forces which to his surprise too was also retreating with the other forces
This was a first, especially when it fought enemies(especially the Crux) that didn't retreat even if they faced conditions that would guarantee their total annihilation.
They just kept on going in hopes that their massive force would be enough to overwhelm the Sharded defenses.
Were they smart by any chance? Could they be like the AI?
If so then it seems they wouldn't be the only one with intelligence and built-in(or rather gained) personality in this planet..?
They couldn't answer these questions until the near future.
Remaining confused, the AI transferred it's consciousness from Sector First Contact to Sector 219.
...
They barely made it out alive, their ships in various critical conditions with armor pelted with all kinds of dents and ice, and even the Airship seemed to look like it was a
By the brother gods even Winter was somehow wounded just because a flak bullet somehow penetrated the Airship! Leaving her with a body that barely tanked flying lead shrapnels all thanks to her aura.
Her visit to Beacon was delayed by days, she had to recover quickly.
And Ironwood would not be happy by that news, and may Ozpin pray that he could calm him down before he starts escalating his so-called war with the Sharded further.
~~~~~ MINDUSTRIAL WAR ~~~~~
The Core Ship immediately came back to life as the AI switched over to Sector 219 from the Planet Interface in the span of a few seconds. Sand collected on it's surface but the Sharded AI remained unbothered
As it looked around to check on the condition of it's base, it noticed that the sandstorm had calmed down quite a bit, yet it almost buried the deep drills with sand on it's side.
They immediately took care of it through mining with their current Core Ship's beam in a few seconds.
Aside from that, everything seems to be almost in peak efficiency, not even the Daivos, which are now around atleast 16 of them in total, are unbothered by the sandstorm.
The Graphite Presses are doing quite fine and the conveyor belts kept on delivering copper, lead, and unfortunately bits of sand particles into the core.
And with that, it began to expand more on the base by building more Silicon Smelters, followed by a bunch of deep drills that now outputted Titanium, and Kiln Stations.
Kilns when fed Lead and Sand produces Metaglass, a tougher glass-like metal used in all kinds of liquid transpoetation as well as a bunch of other stuff such as producing their Naval Units and Plastanium Walls.
They used regular pneumatic drills to supply the kilns with sand for that.
And with a newly constructed line of Coal Generators powered by Pyrium, they were quickly able to produce a full conveyor line of metaglass to be used in the near future.
The AI then used said Metaglass to pump water out from a nearby river, constructing a Rotary Pump with Power Nodes to supply power to, and a line of titanium conduits delivering water to the Deep Drills around the base.
The results were already showing itself as the drills began outputting almost twice as fast. Yet as it drilled ore veins below it was comparably slower than a regular drill.
The Crux, nor the Atlesians (this time) were not around to make them rush so it was spending it's time improving the base.
And yet their personality program.. It's like it's telling them something was definitely gonna go wrong the next minute
But why was it..?
Sector 219 Under Attack
Estimated Time until Enemy Forces Arrive: 3:99
Ah.
That was the foreboding feeling that the AI noticed earlier wasn't it.
Perhaps it shouldn't jinx itself further..
...
Their base was practically out in the open, no cliffs nor natural obstacles other than the rivers were around to block the enemy from attacking on all sides.
So it was no surprise that the AI was quick in trying to establish several fortifications around the base protected by titanium walls.
Salvos, Scatters, Ripples, you name it. And each were loaded with the respective elemental crystals that were mined straight from the patches of drills on the sand.
It took them about atleast 2-3 minutes before they were able to finish the last minute preparations for the incoming attack.
Wave 1
0:01
Threat Level Reassessment
Low - High
Wait what?
...
Wave 9
1:15
48 Enemies Remaining
It took all of it's willpower for the Sharded to not cave in to it's stress as newly built Parralaxes, Salvos and Scatters all shot dowh each higly evasive Airborne Grimm
Ravagers of all kind flew around the Scatters like flies in a bin, taking swoops here and there to try and get a scratch on the flak turret, but their efforts would be undone by the Mend Projectors, the scratches soon faded away after a flash of neon green enveloped the Scatters.
Nevermores who came from Vale circled the aerial defenses while the Ravagers tanked and fell from heavy anti-air fire, responding in kind with hails of sharp feathers.
But the ones unlucky enough were pulled in by the tractor beams of Parralaxes, which sent them in a frenzy before their fears were immediately silenced by Salvos that took advantage of their state of panic.
Sometimes they did destroy a few structures here such as a weakened Scatter or a few small Titanium Walls here and there but those were quickly replaced by the AI
Infact, there were a few instances where the AI's Beta ship was chased around by a small flock of Ravagers, the AI constantly shooting back with its repeaters all the while the Scatters near the Core finished them off.
Heck, they've even took like two Beta ships down with them.
The AI scoffed internally, annoyed that they focused on it's Core Unit and not the defenses.
It scrolled through it's build menu in it's interface, the Force Projector catching it's eye.
Perhaps they could do well against the Bat-like grimm? The AI soon nodded before building down the Force Projector near it's Anti-airs.
The Force Projector is a structure that "projected" a transparent hexagonal forcefield, protecting any buildings from outside harm provided they don't overheat from absorbing too much hits or they don't receive electric arc attacks.
It only required a few amounts of Lead, Titanium and Silicon to construct fully.
Linked with a water source by conduits, it can cool down before the attacks bring down it's hexagonal shield and extending it's life span in battle.
From an outsider's perspective, this may be the most advanced- or rather most futuristic structure the Sharded ever has built. But unfortunately there weren't any human witnesses to see just how outmatched their kindom is against the Sharded if they so ever manage to declare war against them.
The Ravagers soon realized as it clawed against the yellow shield walls, their attacka doing no good against this new obstacle. But they were quickly shot down before they could formulate a plan(if they can even form one as quickly as possible, even if an Alpha was around)
The feathers of a Nevermore were even shrugged off by the Force Projectors, they don't attack as fast as Crux Daggers or Crux Flares.
The entire aerial wave was soon finished off with Parralaxes, Salvos and Scatters working together in tandem.
The AI looked around before flying back to it's core. A Foundation-type to be exact.
Before they arrived on this planet, they've stocked up on all kinds of resources before setting off to whatever planet in their original system. From Copper to Titanium and even to Phase Fabric or Surge, but they haven't even gotten around to use the late-game resources just yet..
Probably because they were SAVING for later use, they didn't want to recklessly use it up before it was too late.
so far the most that they could harvest from this planet was Titanium, and even the new resources here such as Pyrium aren't even capable of being used as building materials.
But since this sector was set to high for whatever reason, other than.. it's guardians..
They've brought over a sizeable amount of Thorium here.. Infact right now they got enough for Oil Extractors or even a Surge Smelter..
The former for the Plastanium obviously, they've used up a few for the Swarmers in Sector First Contact, they've had to eventually stock up for more just incase.
Of course they can also use Spore Pressers to produce Oil too, but.. it uses Spores..
Spores that are way too invasive for this planet, and produces toxic fumes..
They're not gonna risk destroying this planet just yet, not anymore.
Anyway.
The Surge Smelters however, er.. The AI sheepishly wanted to stock up on them too. The Surge Alloy they created are some of the most advanced materials that they can use for insanely strong defenses. Walls that shock any attacker back with a surge arc that spanned meters, and Turrets as big as a Foundation-type Core
Hence the need to stock up on them for future battles lol.
The AI looked at it's interface as another wave soon arrived, followed by roars of Grimm in the distant sands, and soon were drowned out by the sounds of Ripple artillery firing down at them.
...
Wave 20
50 Enemies Remaining
Estimated Guardian Health: 100%
And with that, the guardian of this sector had finally revealed itself.
Grimms of all kind, from Jackelopes, to Dromedons, and Ravagers to Lancers, all charged forward, with many evading the oncoming hail of artillery fire with evasive maneuvers, the more slower ones soon picked off by Dust-loaded Ripples.
The AI took it's precious time before the final wave to built a small Plastanium setup, two Plastanium Compressors and a Liquid Tank half full of Oil pumped from the Oil Extractors.
Surprisingly the Oil Reserves down below are plentiful, almost untouched even. The Oil Extractor pumping at least 1.5 times faster than the ones back at Serpulo.
They did update the details observed in it's personal database.
The Plastanium was used to eventually build Swarmers and Cyclones, each loaded with powerful Pyrium crystals.
The result was far devastating than the AI had initially thought, as airborne Grimm were wiped out in a thick smoke of used Pyrium after several shots. They eventually began to mow down the weaker grimm on the ground.
The Surge Walls, thanks to two Surge Smelters back at the core were replacing the now obsolete bigger Titanium Walls, a few smaller Titanium walls were scattered in places here and there so as to pacth up several holes here because they kind of ran out of surge for the walls.
The Jackelopes that survived tried hopping and ramming into the Surge Walls, instead they were met with a shocking response. Only then they were silenced soon by hellfire itself.
The AI eventually noticee that in the Grimm Horde they haven't noticed a single Guardian in ther just yet..
Huh..?
The AI quickly turned, soon finding a massive scorpion Grimm coming towards the sharded base at the least defended side where only graphite Salvos were the only turrets that defended this place
The AI poured their resources into where the Grimm mainly attacked, forgetting the chance to reinforce their other sides
Welp, time to panic!
In a frenzy it quickly began to build Cyclones followed by rapid building of lines of Pyrium loading them, and after that? Lines of Arcs and Lancers(not the grimm kind) here and there.
Even if the Arcs and Lancers used up almost all of their power, turning 2.5k Power into a measly 1.3k-, it would've been worth it if the Deathstalker died in the end.
The Scorpion quickly crawled forward, which was followed by Blind Worms burrowing up and down, revealing themselves occasionally by leaping into the air before burrowing down.
And the hastily made defense opened fire, with Anemonite Ripple Shells knocking around the Blind Worms that were in the air at the time and all kinds of bullets landed onto the Deathstalker's exoskeleton.
The Scorpion roared, stepping to the right side as it tried to circle around the unblocked side of the base, before Anemonite shells immediately kept it at bay from entering
Thank the brother gods the AI controlled the Ripples before the Deathstalker was able to enter the base.
Estimated Guardian Health: 87%
As the Deathstalker raised it's claws to block the Salvos, the Arcs immediately started crackling with energy. The Giant Enemy Scorpion was in range.
Both Energy-powered Arcs and Lancers unleashed their power as lightning surged across the Deathstalker, making it flinch and stagger back before a laser from a Lance sliced off the already weakened stinger tail off the scorpion.
Estimated Guardian Health: 43%
The Scorpion shook itself and blinkes, turning to look at the visible turrets that were already aiming at it, where were the Blind Worms?
They were finished off by the arcs at the back. Death by lightning, what a horrible way to die.
It roared as ammunition rained fire on the scorpion's exoskeleton. Anemonite, Graphite, Pyrium.. And much more, all aimed towards it's target.
Estimated Guardian Health: 32%
21%
15%
The AI narrowed it's eyes, if they had one.
3%...
And the scorpion soon collapsed. No further movements and no victory sound effect, just a boss grimm collapsing and dying off...
The AI let out a relieved sigh as it turned towards the defense holding off the horde of grimm.
And without a doubt, the horde was already long gone, a lone Ravager flapping around aimlessly as flak bullets exploded around it. The bat grimm screeched as it struggled to keep itself in the air before diving towards the ground in a haze of black smoke.
Sector Captured
And so Sector 219 was theirs once more.
[Info]
Pyrium / Fire Dust
- Elemental crystals that are abundant to this planet. Mainly used in indendiary weapons and steam-powered generators.
Pyrium-compatible Structures:
- Combustion Generator
- Steam Generator
- Duo
- Scorch
- Salvo
- Swarmer
- Spectre
Cryotite / Ice Dust
- Elemental crystals that are abundant to this planet. May be used as thermal munitions, produces ice when used
[Note: It's ice-producing effects may suggest potential usage in the production of Cryofluid]
Cryotite-compatible Structures
- Cryofluid Mixer
- Swarmer
- Cyclone
- Hail
- Ripple
Anemonite / Wind Dust
- Elemental crystals that are abundant to this planet. Mainly used as ammunition, produces wind when used
Anemonite-compatible Structures
- Hail
- Ripple
- Cyclone
- Fuse
Geolocite / Rock Dust
- Elemental crystals that are abundant to this planet. Mainly used in fragmenting and obstructing munitions, produces geological rocks when used.
Geolocite-compatible Structures
- Hail
- Ripple
Any suggestions for more dust-compatible structures are appreciated.