Well, I'm pretty sure we all expected this at this point.
Yeah, this story is canned. Sorry about that.
Hope you all are doing well and hope to see you around for my future endeavors and stories.
Chapter Six: Fight of Titans
Strike groaned loudly as the adults were asking Teams RWBY and JNPR what is happening, not listening to Strike trying to get their attention.
"This must be my punishment for the pranks I pulled. My eternal damnation right here." Strike moaned as he finally had enough.
"Alright, LISTEN UP!" He roared out, flaring a bit of his power to get his new guest's attention.
Tai, Qrow, Glynda and Ozpin turned and looked at Strike with a bit of trepidation.
"I am StrikeFreedom10, otherwise known as Strike. You are in an inter-dimensional library containing recordings of many realities I have observed. My boss, the king of all, has put you here for a reason. He hasn't told me what, but it must be important. So, take a seat, sit down and watch some universe. I will be answering your questions as they come along, but for right now, please sit down so we can begin the next viewing." Strike said as he checked over the book in his hands to make sure it is ready and that they can safely view it.
Tai turned to his girls and asked, "Is he telling the truth?"
"Yup! We've seen three different realities already! One were Uncle Qrow is on a planet called Earth which is being attacked by giant monsters so they build giant mechs bigger and tougher then Atlas's Colossus units to fight them off when something goes wrong, we don't know yet. Then we saw a universe where my friend Jaune is the only Hunter left of Teams RWBY and JNPR after we kill Salem and the Brother Gods reappear to judge humanity and then they wage a war against us because they judged us unworthy. Jaune went to Yggdrasil and after tearing his eyes and hanging himself, he found out the Brothers are parasites eating off the energy of the fallen humans and Faunus, so Jaune goes, wipes out humanity and kills the brothers to free that reality. Then we saw another reality where Yang burn an entire arena to the ground!" Ruby said, frowning as she remembered Rune King Jaune and his really depressing reality, but then smiled as she remembered how awesome Yang was in the previous reality.
Tai shot Ruby an incredulous look, but Yang backed her up and said, "She's right dad. It got really depressing in here, but the last reality was nice. Besides, the big guy upstairs said we aren't allowed to leave until we are done, so might as well get comfortable."
Tai reluctantly nodded and sat down on the third coach which Strike created a second ago.
"Fancy trick you got their metal man. Anyway you can make me some booze?" Qrow asked.
Strike gave Qrow a stink eye and said, "Call me metal man again and you'll be wearing a tutu for the rest of the time you are here. To answer your question, yes I can."
A bottle of some really strong alcohol fell into Qrow's hand a second later, much to the delight of Qrow.
"Nice! Your my new favorite person!" Qrow said as he opened the bottle and started drinking away.
Glynda sighed as she saw her college starting to drink yet again, another migraine forming in her head.
A hot cup of her favorite tea appear in front of her, much to her delight.
"Thank you Strike." She said as she took a sip, relishing the feeling of the hot liquid running down her throat.
"No problem. I know the feeling of coworkers who drive me up the wall, so I can sympathize with you." Strike responded as he finished his checks.
"Alright, it appears that we are safe to view this reality once more." Strike said as he prepared the viewing.
"Safe?" Ozpin asked curiously.
"There are guardians of realities, forces sworn to protect their reality from outside forces. Some of these guardians allow Observers such as myself to view their reality while others will violently attack anything that comes near their reality. The protectors of this particular reality aren't as zealous as others, but they don't like me due to a past disagreement, so we have to watch this reality in small doses." Strike explained to the man.
"Ah I see. Strike, something Mrs. Rose said earlier caught my attention and I wish to discuss it with you." Ozpin said.
"You want to know how much I told them about Salem and your shadow war with her." Strike said.
"Yes, I would like to know." Ozpin said.
"I told them much, but I don't think the true reality of what Salem is and what she has done has yet to dawn on them. It would be best if you properly explained to them what she is and your past with her. You might not know it, but Team JNPR and RWBY are the ones who kill Salem permanently in many realities. Don't keep this a secret from them, trust them to follow you and they shall help you win this age old shadow war. Ozpin, you need to have faith and hope once again, if you wish to win." Strike said quietly to the aged immortal.
"I see. You have given me much to think about. Thank you." Ozpin said quietly, trying to get his thoughts in order.
"No problem. Unlike other Observers, I sympathize with you. You have had to do many things you never wanted to do, all because the Brothers overreacted and misused their powers. You should have long since been granted a peaceful death, not forced to die and absorb your host's soul over and over again in an endless war against your lover. If you need someone to talk to, I will listen. Now, you should go sit down, the viewing is about to start." Strike said as he prepared the book, managing to see the look of slight desire awaken in Ozpin, the desire to simply talk to someone about his predicament, all of it without judgement.
Ozpin took a seat as the book in Strike's hand finally flew out of his hand and moved into position, the familiar screen appear instantly before those assembled.
"Freaky." Qrow said as he took a swig.
"You really should prepare yourself. You're about to see things beyond your imagination." Strike cautioned right before the screen started playing.
"In a dark bedroom, a screen on the far side of the room suddenly turned on as a synthetic female voice shattered the quiet of the room.
"Harbringer's Omen, report to bay 08. Level A-42. Kaiju detected, Category 3." The voice said, causing a familiar man to wake up with a look of excitement on his face as he jumped up from his bunk and started trying to rouse the occupant from slumber.
"Raven, wake up! Movement in the Breach!" Qrow said as he slapped the bed around his sister, causing her to groan as she rolled over to get away from he brother."
"Wow. It's...weird to see yourself, knowing it's you, but at the same time, not you doing these things." Qrow said.
"You think this is weird? Try watching yourself mutilate themselves and then become a god and then kill two other gods. It's beyond weird." Jaune commented, shivering slightly as the memories of Rune King Jaune as his trials flashed through his mind.
"Touché." Qrow replied, taking a swig of his alcohol.
Yang looked at Raven with conflicting emotions. Here was a version of her mother, the women who left her and she appeared...normal. She didn't look evil or emotionless as Yang always envisioned her Raven. It was confusing to see a version of Raven who wasn't a deadbeat.
"You okay Yang?" Ruby asked.
"Yeah, just...feeling a little conflicted." Yang said.
Ruby didn't believe her for a second, but she didn't want to push her sister and so dropped the matter.
"Hey come on. We're being deployed." Qrow said as he grabbed Raven's head and gently shook it to try and get her out of the bed.
"Right." She replied, pushing her brother off of her as she sat up, her long raven locks of hair spread out like a tornado.
"Good morning." She then said, lethargically getting off the top bunk and stretching her stiff limbs.
"Morning." Qrow said as he slipped a shirt on and grabbed a glass of water. "Kaiju's the biggest one yet. Codename: Knifehead."
"Knifehead huh? How bad is it?" Qrow asked.
"Not the biggest or the strongest Kaiju ever made, but definitely not a pushover either. Knifehead is a unique Kaiju for several reasons that shall be revealed later." Strike said.
Qrow nodded and then turned back to the screen and said, "One of us is dying today, right?"
Strike said nothing as the screen started up once again.
"What time is it?" Raven asked as she rubbed her eyes, trying to wake up.
"Two." Qrow replied as he continued to get ready.
"AM?" Raven said tiredly as she is not a morning person.
"Yup." Qrow answered as he started looking for his boots.
Raven shook her head slightly at her brother as she gathered her cloths and moved to change, but before she could Qrow held out his fist.
"What do you say? Ready for the fifth notch on the belt?" Qrow asked, a look of excitement on his face.
Raven rolled her eyes and gently bumped the fist and the moved to get ready.
Just before she closed the door to her changing room she said, "Hey."
Qrow turned to her as she smiled and said, "Don't get cocky kid." And then closed the doors.
Qrow gave a snort as he moved to get ready."
"Yep. Totally different Raven." Qrow said as he took another gulp of his drink. His sister never would show emotion like that to others, even privately. She would consider it "A showing of weakness." Made growing up with her a lot harder.
"The screen then showed both Raven and Qrow walking side by side wearing brown leather jackets that proudly boasted the words, "Harbringer's Omen" on the back.
The view changed to show the sibling's faces with Raven having a calm look on her face while Qrow had a smirk on his.
The older Qrow then began to talk once again, saying "Years before, you wouldn't have picked my sister Raven or me for heroes. No chance."
The two siblings entered a room filled with technicians and equipment as Qrow said, "Alright, let's suit up and kick some ass!"
Ozpin sipped his coffee and said, "My, a bit of arrogance from your other Qrow. A bit cockier then you have been for years. Reminds me of how you came to Beacon. A young man who thought there was nothing to learn and no one was worth a moment of your time. I remember how quickly you changed your tune."
Qrow winced and said, "Hey, I wasn't that bad."
Ozpin raised a single eyebrow and said, "No? Then remind me: Who was the young man who said and I quote, "Teammates are for weaklings. All I need is myself and my weapon."
"Hey I got better." Qrow said.
"Yes, only after Glynda had enough of your shit and threw you into the rafters and left you there for three hours as the staff had to carefully pull you out." Ozpin replied.
"You sent Uncle Qrow into the rafters?" Ruby asked.
Glynda adjusted her glasses and said, "Indeed. I was sick of his and Raven's trash talk, so I decided to put them in their place, so to speak. Afterwards, Qrow has forever been scared of me."
"Nice one Mrs. G" Yang said, giving her a thumbs up.
"I appreciate the compliment, but to try and not follow my example Mrs. Xiao Long. We are still fixing the sparring arena from your last session." Glynda said.
Yang nodded with a bit of fear and the screen started once again.
"We were never star athletes. Never at the head of the class. But we could hold our own in a fight. And it turns out we had a unique skill: We were Drift compatible." The older Qrow narrated as both Qrow and Raven stood in strange black inner suits and turned while technicians attached white armor plates on top of the inner suits with various equipment.
"What's all that stuff?" Nora asked.
"Circuitry suit and data gel that disperses within said circuitry suit. It allows for the user's brain impulses to be transmitted from the user into the unit with a time lapse of near zero. Meaning the user thinks of an action and that is transmitted into the Jaeger almost as quickly as the person can think it. It's a critical component of Drift units." Strike explained.
"Drift? What the hell is the Drift?" Qrow asked.
"You'll see." Strike said as the screen began playing again.
"With both pilots all suited up, both Raven and Qrow hen stepped inside a large machine where two harnesses lowered down directly above where two sets of clamps rested. As Raven and Qrow stepped up, the clamps latched onto their feet while the harnesses lowered down and the technicians connected wires to the back of the circuitry suits. With all of that done, a single arm latch appear on their arms, the right for Raven and the left for Qrow as the controllers then floated up into their awaiting hands.
"Nice." Yang said, impressed by how high tech ever looked.
"Wait to you see the weapons, that is were Jaeger's really shine." Strike said as the screen started up again.
"Good morning Brandwen siblings." A voice said over the comm unit.
"Peter, what's happening my man?" Qrow asked.
"How did that date with Alison go last night Mr. Port?" Raven asked.
The showing then changed to show a 28 year old Peter Port. Port is thinner and has chestnut brown hair and brown eye and finally, his mustache is much smaller as well."
"Wow, Professor Port looked a lot different when he was younger." Yang said.
"Peter has changed a lot over his career as a Huntsmen. The stress of constantly fighting the Grimm as well as constantly having to bury his friends caused him to grey earlier then normal and he started gaining weight due to him eating more to cope with the loss of so many friends. He then quit being an active Huntsmen and turned towards teaching to try and find meaning in life again. It's nice to see Peter as he once was again." Ozpin said, smiling softly as he saw his old friend young and hopeful again. Ozpin has known Peter for decades and he knows that the smile Peter shows to the students is hollow and meaningless. Peter only pretends to be happy and content for the students, but really, Peter is only slowly putting himself back together again.
Ozpin's words make the students quiet as they think about Port and what they just learned about the man. With no one saying anything more, the screen started up again.
"Oh, she loved me. Her boyfriend, not so much." Peter said as he pressed buttons, preparing for the launch of the Jaeger.
"You're gonna get your ass kicked." Qrow replied, a bright smile on his face.
"A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do brother." Port easily replied as he too smiled.
"Engage drop, Mr. Port." A stern voice said from behind Peter, causing the man to move up in his seat and to sit a lot straighter. As he did so, a tall Caucasian man with thick raven black hair and a thick beard walked besides Peter in a dark blue uniform.
"Who's that?" Nora asked.
"James Ironwood, number one general of Atlas military forces. He is also the Headmaster of the Atlas Huntsmen Academy." Weiss answered, surprised to see her sister's commanding officer on screen.
"You know him?" Yang asked.
"I know of him. Not only is he the commanding officer of my sister, Winter, but he is also a prominent figure in Atlas itself, due to be the Headmaster of Atlas Academy, like I said as well as the top general. Winter say's good things about him." Weiss replied.
"Of course Ice Witch says good things about Ironwood." Qrow said as he took another gulp.
"If you have something to say about myself, my sister or Ironwood, say it now drunk." Weiss snapped back.
Before the two get start an argument, Strike glowed and shut them up, "No fighting, either of you. Sit down, eat something and watch the screen."
After he finished speaking, the screen started up, drowning everyone out.
"Engaging drop sir." Port said as the screens in front of him glowed as he worked. "General Ironwood, on deck."
As he typed he final commands and flipped the final switches, Peter said out load, "Comm Pod is almost ready to drop."
As he did so, two technicians made the final adjustments and locked the Comm Pod, moving back quickly as the pathway they are standing on retracted back into the main structure.
"Release for drop." Raven said with little excitement. For her, this is just another day on the job.
Qrow on the other hand could barely be contained as he said, "Harbinger's Omen, ready for the big drop."
As he said so, the final clamps of the giant head shaped Comm Pod released, causing the metal construction to fall quickly down. Thanks to rails beside the Comm Pod, the head was kept on course for it's destination. The sudden acceleration of the fall made Qrow give a few shouts of joy and made Raven focus.
As quickly as it began, the free fall ended as the Comm Pod connected into the torso of a massive humanoid robot, the connection port rotating quickly to secure the head to the torso.
"Cool. So very cool." Nora said with stars in her eyes as she saw the massive robot. Seeing the Jaeger in their full glory reignited her desire for a giant robot of her own.
The rest of team JNPR saw her desire for said robot and it only reinforced their oath to keep her as far away from a Jaeger as possible.
"Coupling completed and secured, sir." Peter reported as his screens showed him the data from the Jaeger, all of which was looking good.
"Engage pilot-to-pilot protocol." Ironwood replied, his eyes never leaving the massive Jaeger.
As the Jaeger prepared for combat, the large nuclear engine in it's center torso roared to light, the circular turbines spinning rapidly as the core changed from orange to bright baby blue and then back to orange once again.
After the nuclear engine ignited, multiple lights turned on across Harbinger's Omen frame, bathing the Jaeger in light. While that was happening, the giant machine was being slowly wheeled out of the bay, the giant pair of concrete doors moving to open for the Jaeger. As the doors opened, the terrible storm that has been raging outside of the base was shown to all.
The giant block of metal Omen has been standing on lowers itself into the raging waves below, as the rain drenches the metal frame of Omen.
"Harbringer's Omen, ready and aligned, sir." Qrow said.
"Rangers, this is General James Ironwood. Prepare for neural handshake." Ironwood said into the comm.
"Starting in fifteen seconds." Port said as he made the final preparations.
"Neural handshake? Is that the Drift you told us about?" Weiss asked.
"It is. Prepare to be amazed." Strike said as the screen started again.
"Ready to step inside my head kid?" Raven asked her brother.
"Please. Age before beauty old lady." Qrow said with a smile on his face.
Raven shook her head with a smile on her own face, promising herself that she would hurt her brother for that one.
As Peter counted down the remaining seconds, Raven closed her eyes and cleared her mind, preparing to once again, jump into the Drift.
"Neural handshake, initiated." The computer announced.
As it did so, a light blue vortex appeared around Raven's head, sucking the view inside. Once inside, the screen showed images of the Brandwen twins sitting at a table, their mother and father coming out to join them. It then changed to show Raven sitting on her bed doing her homework, only to change to show her and Qrow getting into a fight. It then changed once more to show the two of them applying for the Jaeger Academy and getting in.
"The Drift. Jaeger tech. Based on DARPA Jet Fighter Neural Systems. Two pilots melding through memories with the body of a giant machine. The deeper the bond, the better you fight." As the images faded away, both Brandwens relaxed a bit while gently moving their bodies to center themselves."
"So that's the Drift? Sharing memories with one another to create a bond so that you can pilot a giant machine?" Glynda asked.
"Yep. The Drift takes the bond that forms between teammates and takes it up to eleven. By sharing the mental load between two or more people, a Jaeger can be used effectively. The Drift is the critical component in a Jaeger as it is the bridge that allows the pilots to fight in a Jaeger. Without, reaction time would be considerably slowed down and the Jaegers would be almost useless." Strike said.
"Huh, so can anyone Drift if they have worked together?" Ruby asked.
"No. To be Drift compatible, you have to have a bond with someone. You have to know what they are going to do before they do it. Partners who have fought together for a long time can almost instantaneously know what their partner is going to do. It's less scientific and it's more along the lines of, "My gut told me this is my partner" kind of thing. It's complicated." Strike replied as the screen started again.
"Neural handshake strong and holding." Port said as he flicked a few switches.
"Right hemisphere, calibrating." Raven said as she raised her arms up.
"Left hemisphere, calibrating." Qrow said as he raised his arms up as well.
As one, the two siblings brought their arms to be parallel with one another, then threw them forwards and back quickly like a shotgun pump. With that done, the siblings raised their hands to head level and flexed their fingers before bringing them together in front of their chest. Harbringer's Omen did as well, smacking her left fist into her open left palm, creating a massive boom as metal met metal, causing all the rain droplets on the machine's arms to be flung off of the armor."
"Incredibly responsive technology. Even the best interface's of Atlas have a lag time, but this, it's incredible. It's one thing to hear of a machine with near zero lag time and it's a whole different thing to see it happen before your eyes." Ozpin commented, very impressed.
"Oh man, what I would give to just have five minutes with one of these Jaegers." Yang said, greatly envious of her uncle for riding the giant machine.
"Sorry firecracker, but only professions are allowed." Qrow said with a smirk.
"So why are you piloting that thing Qrow?" Tai asked.
Qrow shot Tai a dirty look as his nieces tried to hold back their snickers, but failed.
Before another could say anything more, the screen started up again.
"Rangers, you mission is to hold the miracle mile off of Anchorage. Do you copy?" Ironwood said.
"Copy that sir." Qrow said as he got hyped to kill another Kaiju. However, Raven deflated that hype when she opened holographic map of the area and saw something amiss.
"Sir, there is a civilian vessel still in the golf-" Raven started when Ironwood cut her off.
"Ranger, you are protecting a city of two million people. You will not risk those lives to rescue a boat that holds ten, are we clear?" Ironwood said with all the compassion of a rock.
"Yes sir." Raven said with a look of displeasure as she shut off the comm."
"As much as I hate to say it, Irondick is right, although he could be less of an asshole about it." Qrow said as he took another shot of his drink.
"What? Uncle Qrow, he just said to leave those guys to die. How is he right?" Yang asked.
"Because, our machine can't be in two locations at once. If we go for the boat and we are wrong, then that leaves a city of two million civilians who hold no chance in hell at stopping that monster to face said monster alone. Two million compared to ten. There's no choice. That's the awful truth of being a Huntsmen. Sometimes you are faced with impossible choices that have no good answer and you just have to pick the option that sucks the least." Qrow said as he took another shot.
"They can still save them." Ruby said.
"At what cost Mrs. Rose? Why should the two million people put their lives on the line for a boat of ten strangers? It isn't reasonable to put two million innocent civilians at risk simply so that your conscience can sleep better at night. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." Ozpin said as his hand tightened against his coffee mug. So many choices, so many friends sacrificed to save others, it is a horrible burden to bear.
"When people say that, I notice that they are never the ones to put their heads on the chopping block. If you are so quick to sacrifice others to achieve a victory, then you should be the first one to put your life down." Weiss countered.
"Perhaps." Ozpin said as the screen turned back on before the argument could continue.
"Man that's cold." Qrow said before he turned to Raven and said, "You know what I'm thinking."
"I'm in your brain. I know." Raven replied as her brother smirked at her.
"Then let's go fishing." Qrow said. "Here we go!"
"Come on sis, put some muscle into it!" Qrow taunted as he gave a grunt of effort moving his legs.
"Worry about yourself kiddo." Raven replied as she too grunted from the effort.
Outside the comm pod, the Jaeger began to walk forwards, the movements of the giant machine causing waves to be formed. Overhead, helicopters flew alongside the Jaeger until the machine eventually was submerged beneath the waves.
"There are things you can't fight, acts of god. You see a hurricane, you have to get out of the way. But when you're in a Jaeger, suddenly you can fight the hurricane. You can win." Older Qrow narrated once again.