Author's Notes:

There have been three comments that have caught my very blatant pandering to certain other game franchises. I've hidden others throughout the series but so far only these three have been commented on.

The first comment was from "the boltguard" who asked if a certain new initiative was from a series called the Phantom Doctrine. Yes, yes it is.

The second is from "ProfessorZooms" who asked about a certain quote being from a certain character from a certain game. The answer is yes. I would say one quarter to half of Six's little speech there was very similar if not directly from that referenced character.

And there was a guest from a long time ago that commented on a certain Star Wars: Bounty Hunter reference.

Have fun hunting these references down if you want to see them.

This chapter has a bit more action for you all. I hope you enjoy!

"Text"

"Speech"

Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout, RWBY, or any associated characters.

Remnants of a Courier

Arc 4: Chaos Theory

Chapter 43: Fight or Flight

"Now I'm sure some of you have heard that we have big plans for the City of Vale. Big plans…" Roman trailed off, his voice echoing in the warehouse.

Six could hear him past the black curtain he was currently standing behind while fully equipped in his Mimic gear. He would be lying if he said he wasn't a little nervous.

He had done public speaking before and was versed in arguing. That being said, it was always on his terms and he was defending himself. The plan here was for someone else to make a case for him.

Right now, the Courier was in some backend warehouse in the middle of Vale during a White Fang recruitment rally. With the general fear that had recently taken the city thanks to his efforts and Atlas sending its forces to "support" Vale, a lot of Faunus were currently fed up with how the Council was running Vale.

From what Six understood, the Council was composed of politicians, bigwig executives, and military men who were democratically elected. Of course, Six also knew of several backdoor deals being made by said individuals so "democracy" was a loose term. Gambling, bribery, and even human trafficking were all rumored to occur among the more corrupt members. A democratic and corrupt Republic like the Old World. The difference being instead of several different branches of government, Vale had one central Council.

This Council oversaw everything from taxes to giving the green light for military operations. Each Council member oversaw a different aspect of their society. Military, Law enforcement, Taxation, they even had a Councilor dedicated to human resources. Gone were the days of a singular King holding all the power. Of course, Vale still had the position of King but it was more of an honorary title than a position of power. Six assumed Atlas's intrusion into Vale was of great irritation to them as well.

Which was why he was there. A plan had been set in motion to take the general sense of dread in Vale and ramp it up to paranoia. Who better to usher in that fear than the current boogeyman of Vale, the Mimic?

The plan also needed manpower to see the operation through, hence the White Fang. And in Roman's terms that meant he and the White Fang needed to "play nice." Six couldn't see it happening. In fact, it was a direct opposite of what they told him before. So, what had changed in the plan?

Maybe all of that was the reason for the giant machine of war sitting next to him?

The dark grey fifteen to twenty foot robotic warrior was blocky. Large chunks of metal had been grafted onto overly large pistons that vaguely resembled limbs. The center piece was designed to open and have a human occupant seated at the controls. Though from what Six understood it was autonomous as well.

Six didn't have the specs behind its weapons but from what he could visually see there were several large scale turret-like guns strapped to the arms. The legs bent in two places almost as if it had multiple knees.

The entire thing reminded Six of an overcomplicated and advanced set of power armor. He imagined it had to be safer than power armor. The memories of people breaking their own limbs with their power armor's enhanced strength was not something he wanted to relive.

That didn't even begin to bring up where exactly Roman had gotten hold of an Atlesian Prototype Paladin. Six had heard of it through Ozpin and his several surveillance devices throughout the city. When a person had access to most devices in society, there was little one couldn't know. Part of that little unknown was how Roman stole the Paladin and kept it under the radar.

"We'll get rid of the humans in charge that are keeping you down and to do that I've brought two gifts for you."

At least Six had staked out the warehouse beforehand so if needed he could make a swift exit. Add on to that he brought a few extra mines to litter behind him and the Courier was sure he could get away.

The Courier idly glanced at Neo casually strolling around. She seemed very bored with the proceedings and he couldn't exactly blame her. He would be too if he wasn't about to go on trial. Besides, she could use disguises at will, she didn't have to worry about being judged when she could change identities on a whim.

That didn't excuse her past behavior over the week. Cinder had kept good about staying away from each other though she did tend to monitor his movements. Neo on the other hand…

She had shown up in the middle of the night more than once demanding he acquire her ice cream, games, and any form of entertainment that came to her mind. He had done his best to get her to stop but the small mute psycho had him pinned.

Neo knew fully that Cardin was in the school and one little reveal of herself to him would mean Cardin thinking House had been dating a school student. Cinder and Ozpin would be the least of his concerns if everyone believed he was a creep.

To avoid this he had been doing small tasks and favors at night to acquire the items she wanted. It would only be for roughly a month and a half. Then he could finally get out from under everyone's thumbs.

"Now, I ask all of you to keep an open mind because the individual is someone you probably wouldn't expect."

And with that the curtain fell away revealing both him and the mechanized weapon.

It took a few seconds for the sizable audience to digest what was just revealed to them. At first, their eyes wandered to the bigger and more noticeable Paladin. A few wondrous and awestruck gazes rested on it before turning to him.

And when they did, the crowd went from ecstatic to outraged.

"What is that monster doing here!" Someone from the crowd cried out, letting loose the rest of them.

This was predictable. Mimic, murderer, monster; all names he had heard before were flung at him. The event he was forced into was going to be an utter spectacle.

"Now, now," Roman tried to cut in. "There's something you don't know yet…"

But his words didn't matter because Six could see in the crowd a certain Faunus he was becoming annoyingly familiar with. The cat ears, the black hair, and the mask barely hid her features. And her companion was even more obvious.

Sun looked a bit worse for wear. He had some bandages wrapped around his abdomen and the teenager was definitely favoring one of his legs. Though that was an insane recovery rate given what the Courier did to him.

Blake stood next to Sun in White Fang masks. Six was almost completely sure they weren't there to join the White Fang but either spy on or disrupt it. Annoying but not worthy of interfering just yet. He didn't want to stir the crowd to violence by accusing her.

Not that it mattered when she cut Roman off. "That monster must never be allowed within the White Fang. How many of us has he killed?"

And just like that, he received a wall of accusations full of shrieks, wails and all from the Faunus terrified of the big bad Mimic. It angered him.

What was he supposed to do back then? Let them get away with what they'd done so they could go after the people he cared about again? Yeah right, they wouldn't do the same for him. Hell, they weren't forgiving him right now. Just because he wasn't willing to forgive them makes him the bad guy?

Of course he'd feel regret if they hadn't deserved it and they had died anyway or innocent people got hurt. That didn't happen. But they couldn't admit that they were in the wrong just like everyone else in the fucked City of Vale.

They could never be a monster like him, they just lost their way sometimes or tripped. They were all such little angels and how dare he even accuse otherwise.

Like they knew what was best for them! Did they even know how difficult it was for him with everyone breathing down his neck? Being stuck in a place utterly foreign with no friends or allies? Just people who used him!

The crowd had no idea what Cinder had planned for them. These rats weren't even in control of their own lives, how were they supposed to control him?! A few people decide to fill their minds with lies and the next thing Six sees is people treating him like he was a tyrant!

He was trying to help them from a threat they couldn't even see! He was their only hope! These people were lucky to have him, could they not see what they were doing?

But The Butcher of House could play along, he could be good. Six could feel his heart rate rising as he reached for his firearm.

Could the Mojave see the truth now? There's a Monster among them.

Adam couldn't help but feel like this had gone to shit. Roman clearly wasn't winning over the crowd so it was about time for him to step in.

That's when he noticed the heat. The Faunus turned from his position just off the stage and in the shadows to stare at Six. Something was off.

It was that familiar almost physical anger that he felt back at the White Fang Northern Scouting base when he-God's sakes. The man was already reaching for his gun and it felt like the room was slowly being choked in fire. Was that the man's Semblance kicking in? Wait, he doesn't even have an Aura how would that…

Adam watched as Neo strode up behind the near-homicidal Six before patting him on the back and giving him a very pointed stare. And just like that, the heated anger dissipated near instantly.

Huh, from what Adam had seen, Six was pretty hard to calm down once angry. Did he have a thing for the mute? Ew.

Well, time to go play his ace to hopefully salvage this mess.

And Six was calm, and everything was fine.

The Courier had to take a couple longer breaths as he composed his thoughts. He found himself asking more and more when did he become prone to outbursts of rage like that? He was willing to ruin his entire plan at that moment to satisfy some base reactionary and defensive urge.

And it took… Oh God, Neo was the one to snap him out of it. For just a moment, Six wanted to just leave and forget that ever happened. But as the rational part of his mind kicked back in, he realized a couple things.

One, Neo hadn't just patted him on the back and called it good. It felt like all the anger had fled at the cold he felt for just a moment when she touched him. Like her friendly pat had really been a threat.

Her usual smile was gone, replaced by a cold indifferent look as she stared into his mask. It lasted for only a few seconds before that same goofy smile returned but Six was sure of it. If he had acted against her, she would have tried to kill him.

The mute let out a short giggle as she retreated back to her original position. The Courier was never going to live this one down.

"Quiet!"

And with just one word, the crowd was cowed. In front of them stood one of their greatest leaders. Six could admit the booming baritone of Adam could calm his followers.

The fiery-haired Faunus turned and gave Six a long once over. It was obvious he had seen that too.

"I know this… Mimic has brought grief to many of us," Adam began as he turned back to the crowd. His masked visage spanned from left to right as he made sure to address the entire room.

"And I promise, one day he will die. If not by my blade, by one of you."

The White Fang officer raised his arm and pointed out one of the large windows towards the roof of the warehouse and straight towards Beacon. "But there's a bigger problem."

"The humans in charge of this city, the ones that keep us in check. They get to sit up at the top of Beacon and the Council, using influence in our institutions to keep us down here in the slums! Law enforcement is abusive with us but lets bigger corporations like S.D.C. get away with anything they want, our rallies are treated like crimes no matter what we do, and there is just one Faunus on the Council, and he's a slime-y backstabber. Not to mention, they allow Atlas to station their armies and lord over us! Faunus financially suffer while big businesses like Fern Industries get away with labor laws that benefit them and in turn keep us in check. Vale has failed us at every level of government."

A lot of that was true but some of it was exaggerated as well. Normally, he'd get into the finer points of what the Faunus was saying but he needed to focus on the speech and the crowds reaction.

As he continued, Adam raised his voice. "They never cared about us or our struggles! All they have ever cared about is lining their own pockets and keeping us in check. That's our goal, to bring them down, to make this city truly equal!"

Only then did the bull Faunus turn back and point a hand towards Six.

"This monster will be dealt with. But right now, the people at the top are scared of him. We will use that fear to tear them apart."

"And," this time Roman spoke up as he took a step forward. "If you do join us in the southeast with your other brothers and sisters…" The conman turned back and pointed towards the Paladin. "This is the arsenal I can provide."

Adam nodded his head before adding, "I will not force you to come. But if you truly want to make a difference for the Faunus in Vale, this is how."

It worked, at least partially. The crowd had gone from angry and near violent to relatively quiet. It didn't look like they were all onboard with the plan but a good number of the new recruits seemed to be nodding their heads.

Finally, one of the recruits shouted, "down with the Council!" This seemed to spur the rest into agreement as multiple recruits began shouting as well.

Six let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. It seemed like Adam was able to recover from the conman's momentary blunder. It was a bit surprising but the Courier supposed the White Fang's hatred of the established institutions in Vale outweighed their hatred for him.

"All new recruits, please come forward!" Roman called out as the crowd was finally galvanized into their way of thinking.

Alright, it was time for this charade to end. Six stepped up behind Roman before muttering in his ear, "Beacon students at your eleven o'clock."

The conman's eyes trailed over in that direction before resting on Sun and Blake and narrowing. "Sneaky little pests aren't they?" He joked before nodding towards Neo.

The blonde teenage Faunus even dared to wave when he realized he had been caught. Six liked his bravado. It wouldn't save the teenager but it was funny.

Before Neo could act, the cat Faunus raised her firearm before shooting at what looked like a circuit breaker of some kind. The power went out and all the lights turned off.

The Courier sighed as he slung the rifle off his shoulder and enabled the night vision for his mask. He could have done so for the cybernetics in his eyes but they worked a bit strange when staring through the lenses of his mask.

Taking aim, it was pretty easy to track the two teenagers through the crowd but he didn't fire. It was more beneficial for him if they got away now. He still wasn't entirely sure what the mission in the southeast was but he didn't want it to pan out the way Cinder wanted.

"Don't let them get away!" The conman shouted in the dark and Six turned to spot the suited man stepping up and into the Paladin.

It immediately whirred to life as several White Fang members sprang into action and ran towards the duo. What was far more interesting was Adam's reaction.

The bull Faunus tracked their every move as they attempted to make their escape. Like a predator sizing up its prey. By the time Roman had powered the Paladin on, Adam had sprung into action, heading towards the windows the duo was trying to make their escape to.

"We need help, we're being chased by Adam and Roman!"

Yang raised a brow as she heard her partner over her scroll. That didn't sound like two people that would work together.

She was proven wrong when Sun, her partner, Adam, and a massive robot zoomed past the alley she and her new "teammate" were sitting in.

"I think that was them," Neptune commented and the blonde couldn't help but roll her eyes. Why did she have to get paired with the blue-haired "cool guy" for their investigation?

The infighter put away her scroll and gripped the handles of her motorcycle: Bumblebee. "I got it," she replied before throttling her vehicle and sending the two chasing after the fight.

At the very least, Yang was glad her partner had found more success than her in finding White Fang activity. It had recently been one of Blake's two unhealthy obsessions.

She was really getting worried about her Faunus teammate. She kept losing sleep and talking like she had to solve all of the world's problems. Yang knew better than to think she could fix every problem, especially on her own.

It was why their team had set out with Neptune and Sun to investigate for any White Fang activity. Her venture into Junior's place had proved fruitless but now she could help with a far simpler problem.

As they finally came into view, the blonde spotted her partner and Sun sitting on top of two cars as the giant robot closed in on them. And sat atop the robot was Adam. From what she understood, the guy was a major pain in the butt but definitely not in league with any humans. It seemed like Blake was right that something bigger was going on.

"Oh shit," Neptune cursed as they watched Roman toss aside several cars in his path, all of which had people in them.

It was bad enough he was tossing them aside but the freeway was built a few dozen feet off the ground. If anybody was tossed off from that height it would kill them. They had to get that madman off the freeway!

"Hold her steady," the Huntsman behind her said as he took aim with his weapon and fired. Several bright streaks rocketed into the back of the robot and exploded, making the entire thing shutter. Still, the robot pressed on, charging after her teammate.

After the first few landed, the Faunus riding on top of the robot turned and deflected the rest of the shots with his sword. Explosive rounds slid across the edge of the blade before Adam flicked them away. The robot by itself was a problem but having Adam there was going to make things insane.

Then the Faunus's sword glowed red and Yang felt her body tense in anticipation. When Adam lunged forward and swung his blade at them, Yang instinctually moved her ride to the side.

A red wave of energy shot at them and slammed into the ground behind them, exploding in a shower of red mist and concrete.

"Okay, enough of that," Neptune commented as he stood up on the back of her bike. Getting his dirty footprints all over Bumblebee.

The Huntsman's rifle shifted into what looked like a mechanical spear-thing before he leapt forward and at Adam.

"I'm in position," Weiss said over their shared scroll channel as Neptune flew. Apparently Ruby had some plan to get the robot off the freeway.

Unfortunately for the blue-haired teenager, it looked like the Faunus was ready for him. The sword in Adam's hand pushed aside the Huntsman's strike when he landed. Actually, now that she got a better look at the White Fang crook, his lip look like someone had split it open not too long ago. In fact... It looked like he took a beating not too long ago. Ugh, enough staring at his face, it was time for action!

Deciding to do something about saving more lives, Yang accelerated forward and past the robot. The thing was fast but definitely not as fast as her baby.

The Huntress pulled up to the next few vehicles that Blake and Sun weren't currently sitting on before motioning for them to pull over. Everyone that saw her and the giant robot behind them did.

When she turned back again, she saw the red-haired Asshole send a series of quick slashes at Neptune who just barely managed to avoid getting hit but had no time to counterattack.

"Keep it going straight," Weiss said over their scrolls as Yang noticed the pale Huntress leap off another freeway that was situated above theirs before landing on the road in front of them. The blonde didn't know what she was planning but she trusted her teammates.

Doing her part, Yang shot a few rounds from Ember Celica at the robot and attracted its attention. It turned its attention towards her and charged. That was perfect.

The blonde raced towards her friend at a pace the robot could just barely keep up with. Meanwhile Blake and Sun had moved back onto different cars, having gotten the gist of the plan.

Once Yang shot past her friend, Weiss slammed her rapier into the ground and channeled one of her family's iconic glyphs. It spun with power as ice formed on the ground around her.

"Schnee girl!" The now angry Adam shouted from the top of the robot as it charged.

As soon as the robot stepped onto the ice, going at the speed it was, it lost its footing immediately. The two occupants on top of it had to hold on for dear life as the two-story machine toppled over and rolled.

Yang internally winced as she saw the robot fall over the side of the tall freeway with Neptune on it. He should be okay because he was a Huntsman but it still put him in a lot of danger.

The blonde glanced over the side of the freeway to see her sister already waiting below as the robot recovered. A large crater had formed in the cracked cement where the metal annoyance fell. Was that the plan, lure it off the freeway and into a more open area?

Yang along with Sun, Blake, and Weiss jumped down and into the fray. It wasn't a tough landing for a trained Huntress but she did have to recover for a second.

And in that second Adam had closed the distance and was swinging at Weiss. The blonde felt her heart skip a beat at the sight. He was damn quick! Luckily, Ruby was prepared and jumped into the Faunus's ribs before kicking off him, sending the man tumbling to the side.

Not wasting an opportunity, Yang lunged forward and reared back a fist. She could feel her muscles tense and Ember Celica chamber the Burn Dust. It was only thanks to her trained instincts that the blonde sensed danger at the last moment and pulled back. Her entire body bending at an odd angle.

After being hit, Adam had used the momentum to sheath his blade. When Yang got close, Adam sent his sword flying forward in one swift motion at near superhuman speeds, nearly nailing her in the face. Yang's only saving grace was her panicked twist to the side.

Her last second dodge did leave Yang open but the rest of her team ran forward and at Adam, forcing him to leap back and away from them.

It was then that she saw the robot behind Adam bring its leg back before kicking Neptune like a football and sending him flying. He let out a high pitched wail of despair that did bring a small smile to her face.

Now that they all had a moment to breathe, Yang could finally get her bearings. It had all happened so fast that she had missed parts of the fight. She glanced and took stock of what each side had.

They had five Huntsman and Huntresses in training. They had a conman in a robot and one red-haired asshole. And the place they were fighting in was littered with large support pillars. Even with an injured Sun she liked their chances.

"Freezer Burn!" Ruby called out one of their formations that the group had trained on. Blake and Ruby lunged away from the group causing Sun to look around confused.

Weiss glanced towards the Faunus as she raised her rapier up. "That means get back you dolt!" She shouted before bringing her rapier down.

Sun only had enough time to stumble out of the way before ice covered the ground around Weiss once more. Poor guy, one leg fucked up and without his team in this fight.

After summoning the ice, Weiss jumped to the side giving Yang time to perform her part of Freezer Burn.

The blonde leapt into the air before pumping Burn Dust into her gauntlet. Gravity caught her and sent her back down towards the ground. At the last moment, Yang slammed her weapon into the ground and fired off the Dust.

The combination of heat and cold made misty steam expel from her strike and coat the area. This helped to shroud everyone inside the cloud except for the oversized robot. It was actually a trick they had picked up from the Mimic during their last encounter.

This time they weren't going to talk. There was only going to be fighting.

Yang could make out the vague shapes of her teammates running in the steam. What looked like the form of Blake lunged out of that mist and struck the robot from behind before disappearing again.

After that attack, several tracking lasers shot out from the robot in an attempt to find them. It felt like eyes moving back and forth in random directions hoping to catch them. They wouldn't be able to surprise it like that again.

"Checkmate!" Yang heard her sister call out as she ran towards the robot.

Weiss and Blake at the codename being called out lunged forward and ahead of Ruby. Each took one leg of the mechanized weapon and began slashing and stabbing at it. The mech took a few steps back defensively as the two pushed it back.

A red blur shot out from the mist and straight at Weiss's back. Yang knew who that was and she had no plans of letting it get to her teammate.

Aiming her gauntlets at the ground, the blonde fired and propelled herself into the air and at the red blur. Just as he was getting close to Weiss, Yang once more reared her arm back. From the other side of the White Fang Asshole, she saw a glowing gold and ethereal figure emerge from the mist and move to send a horizontal kick at Adam too. A tag-team combo from her and Sun was bound to work!

But as she went to launch her fist forward, Adam put his blade away again. A sense of dread filled her but she couldn't stop her descent now.

Without looking at her, Adam pressed a mechanism on his sword holder thing-y and it launched the blade out hilt first. The hilt of the Faunus's sword clocked her in the nose and threw her strike off.

Worse yet, when it bounced off her face Adam reached out and grabbed the hilt before bringing his blade down in an arching slash. It pierced through the golden form of Sun's Semblance and shattered it.

The blonde fell past Adam and tumbled along the ground as Weiss turned to her would-be assailant. The blonde lost the next few seconds of combat as she tumbled, unsure of what was happening. She could feel her Aura taking a hit but she was still good to fight.

Sitting up, Yang realized Adam had been pushed back while she was tumbling. Weiss had also been kicked by the overly large robot and was now sailing through the air. Yang watched as Weiss gritted her teeth and flipped in the air to orientate herself.

With a quick flick of her wrist, Weiss sent a white streak of light to Blake's feet and a glyph was formed at the Faunus's feet. This caused energy to build up and surround the student who took in a breath before darting forward towards Adam.

"Adam, come back to reality!" The cat Faunus shouted as she became a blur.

Yang couldn't keep track of what happened in the next moment. It appeared as if a wall of small blades all hit Adam at the same time. And while the White Fang Asshole was fast, he only managed to block a select few strikes before being clipped a few times.

"The reality is that a traitor and a Schnee are both going to die together!" The bull Faunus shouted before bringing his blade up, pointing it at the ground, and plunging it downward. When it connected, a red wave shot out along the ground from him, forcing Blake to backflip to safety.

Adam took one step forward to counterattack when he was once again forced to step back as that spear-looking weapon stabbed into the ground in front of him. Neptune had returned to the fight as he taunted, "kept you waiting huh? Ready for round two?"

An ugly snarl escaped their opponent before a voice sounded from the robot. "Adam, clear the area!"

Two slots opened up on the top of the robot and from them a dozen or so small missiles launched out and headed straight for their group.

"Oh wow, I need to move!" Sun shouted as he sent two of his glowing clones at the missiles.

"Fluttering Petals!" Ruby shouted as Adam ran away from their group.

Knowing what she was planning, Yang sprinted over before standing next to her two teammates who had also gathered around Ruby.

The pale Huntress of their group held up her rapier to her face and chambered Cold Dust before flourishing it towards the ground.

A thin wall of ice formed in front of the group and the majority of the missiles slammed into it before exploding. This sent a thousand tiny shards of ice flying into the air as Ruby darted forward. Using her Semblance, Yang's sister disappeared into a mass of fluttering rose petals and charged forward. Those twisting petals turned upward and moved past the falling ice shards. The remaining missiles angled themselves upwards and chased after Ruby before slamming into the ice. A mass of smoke, ice shards, and petals littered the air giving them a perfect smokescreen.

Yang took the offered end of Blake's grappling hook before the Faunus gripped it tight and locked herself in place. Yang stretched out the cable between the two until it was taught and began running along with it. After a few steps, Yang fired Ember Celica behind her, this propelled the blonde into the air and with Blake acting as an anchor spun her in a large circle building up momentum.

At the end of the arc, Yang released the rope and was propelled forward and through the smokescreen. That same smoke trailed behind her form as she emerged on the other side heading straight for the tall metal enemy.

"A little help Adam!" The robot called out as she sent a fist into what she assumed was the thing's face, creating a large dent.

Her other hand quickly gripped onto one of the many angles of the machine as she positioned herself at the top of the enemy. Only for her free hand to begin raining blows down on it again and again with Burn rounds, leaving dents that were slowly becoming larger and larger.

That was when the last part of their plan played out and Ruby who had ascended above came back down. In a red streak that went from a few feet above the robot's left arm to the ground, Yang's sister brought her scythe down and completely bisected the machine's left arm. With a loud thud and the cracking of concrete, the arm landed on the ground.

"Help right now pretty please!" The robot spoke again but as Yang turned her head she saw Adam preoccupied. Neptune, Sun, Blake, and Weiss were all holding him at bay as Ruby kept up her attack from behind the robot. Fuck yeah, they were totally gonna do this!

"Yang, above you!" Ruby called out, causing the blonde to raise her head. She saw a short multicolored woman land in front of her. The shorty shot her a smug grin before kicking Yang in the face and sending her off the robot.

Thinking quickly, Yang managed to flip backwards and orientate herself in time to land on her feet. It still brought an irritated frown to her face at having been kicked.

A lull in the battle commenced as all combatants paused.

At one end of the battle, four Huntsman and Huntresses stared down Adam. On the other, Yang and her sister had this new girl and the injured robot flanked. It felt like they were evenly matched and everyone was stopping to catch their breath.

That was when Neptune's head jerked to the side and his Aura flashed a brilliant blue. What the Dust had just hit him?!

As the blue-haired teen fell to one knee, Blake pointed back towards the freeway they had jumped off of. A figure was crouched at the edge of it with a rifle aimed at all of them. A familiar figure.

A skull mask greeted their group and Yang went from confident to not-so-confident. The six of them could maybe take the trio they were currently fighting. They would definitely lose against those three plus the Mimic

It was fortunate that Six arrived when he did. If he hadn't, each of these students would have died.

To their credit, the group lasted a lot longer than he expected them to. But Adam was in a whole different league from them. Not to mention the mute psycho who just showed up. And even if they attempted to take their weakest link first, they'd have to destroy the mech and then be forced to fight Roman.

The teens did have one advantage, time. Law enforcement had to be on its way. That wouldn't save the students who wouldn't last that long. But if they ran away, they could survive.

Six had arrived after Neo solely because he had actually stopped to help the civilians they had trampled on the freeway. It was senseless violence. Why did the kids take the killer Paladin to the freeway and why had Roman not cared about killing possibly dozens of people? It was this stupid thoughtlessness that pissed him off. When Six was going to kill people, at least he was aware that he was doing it.

After stealing a car, Six made sure to stop and help anyone that looked injured on his way. Any civilians that were more seriously hurt were treated on the spot with stimpaks and everyone else would have to wait for ambulances to arrive. Funny that medical help came to people in this world when they were injured and not the other way around.

And he had received the whole "stay away" and fearful stares he had expected. It was a fair response to seeing the Mimic approach with promise of aid.

"This never happened if you know what's good for you," Six had warned several of the more conscious victims. Hopefully his masquerade as the big scary Mimic would hold.

Of course, those civilians were better than everyone that stood there in a gridlock even after their friend was shot. Fucking teenagers with superpowers. That lack of instinct would get a person killed in the Wasteland. He lined up another shot on Ruby before firing. In turn, the girl dashed to her side before turning into rose petals and practically flying past the Paladin. At least she had the good sense to run.

"Freezer Burn!" The red-themed team leader shouted as she approached her team.

As Yang began running too, Weiss held her spear close to her face. Six could have interfered, preventing her from using her rapier to utilize Dust. But he didn't really want to.

Ice formed on the ground around the Pale Huntress-in-training before Yang jumped up and hit it with Burn Dust, creating a cloud of steam. Wasn't that his trick? Who Six had in turn stolen from someone else? How dare they steal his unoriginal and also stolen tactic.

The small mute jumped down to go after them before Roman spoke over the intercom for the Paladin, "let them go. We got what we needed and we need to get out of here before any sniffing dogs show up."

Roman turned the Paladin and picked up the severed arm before stomping off and away from the scene. Six wondered where they were going to hide the Paladin but that wasn't his problem. He had shown up and done his job. Time to disappear for a while.

The Courier turned and got back in the stolen car before pressing on the gas. It was still a little strange driving this many cars considering how few were left on his home world. Still, lots of practice later and the Courier found it relatively simple.

At least the mission had gone through and been completed. Now Six could rest and do his day job for a bit and not be interrupted. His day job with his boss's boss and a mute psychopath.

He suddenly felt a lot worse about going back.

Author's Notes:

Note 1: That scene where Six nearly loses it (while having multiple allusions and references to both other materials and other parts of this story) is heavily inspired by "There's a Man in the Woods" by Jacob Streilein. I heavily suggest you go give it a watch/read (whichever you prefer).

Note 2: There is a Council in the show for Vale but they are only mentioned in passing.

Note 3: When it comes to books and other material, I will be only treating the show itself as canon (and sometimes I will selectively choose certain aspects of canon that don't make sense to remove). Comics, books, Chibi, and other material of this nature will be treated as secondary source materials that I may or may not draw from.

Note 4: On a both good and contradictory note, while I am excited for the new "reboot" of the RWBY series, I will not be treating it as canon for this story for obvious reasons. For anyone that hasn't heard, from my understanding Rooster Teeth is doing a more traditional Anime 2D art style adaptation/reboot of the original series. This series also aims to shuffle some things around about the lore of RWBY as well. Although they will be finishing the last season of RWBY too (from what I've heard).

Note 5: When it comes to power armor, I've made a couple changes from lore. First, power armor gives you a boost in strength, the machinery inside helps you lift things and whatnot. Two, the previous aspect is why I mentioned some grisly things happening to people without power armor training in the chapter. This is more of a Halo detail that I thought would make sense to add to Fallout power armor.