Sandstorm Over Remnant

Chapter 12

The long shadow of RobCo

Winter watched with a raised eyebrow at the poor scientist that was standing in front of her desk "Say that again, I think I might have misheard you"
"S-some of the scientist have requested nuclear material to be analyzed…" Winter raised her hand and shook her head "Denied, it destroyed a civilization of billions in a matter of seconds. We should not be playing with a power like that"

"But think of using this nuclear energy as a power source for Atlas! We will save billions of lien, we would no longer have to rely on dust for everything!" the scientist said. The specialist narrowed her eyes at him "My position still stands, no. You have not seen what it can do, turn people into mindless feral ghouls, mutation of life, capable of creating a divide on the land. Unless is a request directly from General Ironwood I will not allow anyone from Remnant to get their hands on nuclear material. Have a nice day"

Winter returned to the report she was working on, only when she heard the door to her office close, she allowed herself to frown. They might have good intentions; she could not blame them for wanting a different power source but it was almost inevitable that one bad person would take the power of atom and twist it into a weapon of mass destruction, she made a mental note to get a camara and go to the Divide and take a couple of pictures, that and pictures of feral ghouls to scare them off for now. If continued relationship with earth was a thing that was going to happen they needed to have regulations on all radioactive things.

Her PipBoy emitted a soft beeping sound making her look down at her wrist, seems like Weiss had delivered her threat. Writing down the robots that Six had listed she continued to work on the report, the door to her office opened once again as General Ironwood entered "Schnee, a moment if you don't mind"

"Sir" she saluted, the general nodded at her "I got a complain from one of the scientist, they said that you are denying them valuable information to process energy for Atlas" Winter snorted "I assumed they omitted the fact that they requested nuclear energy, I don't remember them asking for the plans to replicate Hoover Dam"

Ironwood shook his head "They did omit that, yes. Don't worry I had an idea of what was going on, the select few that we let on the little secret have been like children dying to see things from the other planet. While understandable I am afraid that some information might be leaking to people who should not be in the know, people like… well like your father"
Winter felt something akin to worry as she remembered that only Weiss was in the know about her travel to Earth, the rest of her family didn't even know she had gone missing. She wanted to go in person but she had not found the time to go and face her past, besides she had enough in her plate already with the construction of the portal and handling some minor missions for the General "I… yes, I think its best if everything that comes from Earth is handled and sold under strict restrictions, Courier Six is already thinking of opening a branch of RobCo and we could regulate what can be sold"

Ironwood seemed to nod "Better than having everyone wondering, actions most of the time say more than words. Winter the portal to planet earth is now top priority, Courier Six is to bring the most basic and inoffensive weapons and robots he can find. Getting the scientists and prying eyes off the real danger that lies on the wasteland he came from"

Winter nodded and saluted "It will be done."

Beacon's halls began to fill up as the last classes for the day ended. Many headed straight to the gymnasium to practice while others headed to their dorms to speak strategy, but team RWBY was content in simply walking today. The last couple of days had been interesting to say the least, the routine of Beacon was greatly appreciated to take their minds of the approaching tournament and the weirdness of the travel to the planet earth.

"Sooo… we are just walking?" Yang was the first to break the ice, Weiss shrugged "I had some things on my minds, I was just following Ruby" there was a pause as everyone turned to the small leader who blinked in surprise "Oh… sorry I spaced out, what are you guys talking about?"
Blake snorted "About how we are just walking, are we training today? Because if not I would like to finish my books"

"Your smut book"-"It has a story!"

Ruby let out a sigh "Sure, I don't think we need to train today. Everyone can go do their own thing" Yang narrowed her eyes at her sister "You okay little sis?"

"Yeah, I just need some time to think about somethings. Catch you later" and just like that she was gone in the blink of an eye, the only thing left was a small trail of rose petals. The older sister looked at the spot were Ruby had been and then looked at the horizon "Is she okay?" Blake asked as she followed the trail of roses with her eyes.

Weiss looked down at her scroll "Not much we can do now, other than trying to follow her. and she has super speed if you forgot, our best bet is to wait for her to come back to our room" Blake nodded "She is right, don't worry Yang we will get to the bottom of this"

As the team walked away Ruby exited from the pillar she was hiding behind and she headed to one of the abandoned gardens of Beacon, she knelt on a patch of grass as she brought her cloak closer to her. It felt like hours passed as the air cooled around her "You know, if your team looses because you catch a cold I will be beyond upset" a cold voice said from the side as Ruby turned to look at the white boots of a familiar face "Miss. Winter?!"

Winter glared down at her "Yes, what are you doing out here? You will get sick, come on lets head inside" Ruby shook her head "No… I am fine I just need a minute"

"… then if you don't mind I think I will seat next to you" Winter said as she sat on the spot next to Ruby, as night began to set across Vale the small team leader and the specialist shared a moment of serene silence as the broken moon appeared on the night sky "Are you proud of Weiss?"
The question caught Winter by surprise but she quickly regained composure "I am, she ha progressed a lot in a very short time. The tournament you guys will win be will be the crowning achievement of her stay here in Beacon"

There was a pause as Ruby smiled sadly "I see…"

Winter looked at her "You are… wondering about someone from the past" [Intelligence 8]- Successful.

Ruby nodded "Everyone's family is coming to see the tournament and I know its childish and lame of me to think about this… but I was wondering if my mom would be proud of me too. Would she have come to see me?" Winter hummed as she brought a hand to her chin as she tried to navigate the situation with tact.

"I am sure she would, everyone from your family is proud of you. From the few interactions I've had with your insufferable uncle he always put your name in high regard" Winter nodded at herself, happy with the answer she provided. Ruby for her part simply smiled even if she did not feel all that happy "Yeah, all the more reason to not disappointment I guess"

Winter gave her a look of disapproval "If you do things just because you are worried about others young Rose, you will eventually be left unhappy" standing up she placed a hand on her shoulder "Fight for others, but never forget about yourself." She never had, it was the reason she joined the army in the first place. As both left a figure watching from the shadows reached for a cigar, using a small match he illuminated his face as the eyepatch on his face absorbed most of the light.

"Never forget about yourself huh?" selfishness in selflessness, interesting idea.

The last bolt had been placed, everything was set. The portal that now resided in the heart of Beacon pulsed with power as Six waited patiently for the last of the energy readings to finish. Winter nodded as she pushed pass the lab coats that had assisted them in the construction this time "Everything is green, you sure you want to be the one to try it out?"

Six nodded and smiled "Sure! I need to bring some things along anyways. Give me a few minutes and I will be right back"

"Ok then, please be careful"

With those last words the portal was activated and the tear in space and time glared at Six, the courier simply smiled as he prepared to jump back into his home. As he crossed the portal the machine shut off as everything powered down, the scientist looked at one another and then at Winter "How long do we wai…" the portal opened again without anyone pressing a button, the scientists jumped in fright at the unexpected development. For her part Winter was just happy that this time around the portal was stable between worlds.

"Protect and Serve" came the robotic chant as in line about twenty protectrons and buildtrons marched followed by a large Sentry-Bot that glared at the scientists but kept its weapons away from them. Winter repressed a shudder when she remembered how a prime Sentrybot in the big MT nearly killed her and shattered her sword. The machines were perfect for killing, no wonder they used them so much in the great war, behind the small convoy Six walked up to them with a large grin "Hey there! Sorry I took so long I had to get some things too, as promised I brought some toys" Six opened his coat and showed off the weapons.

An assortment of handguns, powder and energy weapons hanged from the coat of the courier making Winter nod "What are you buying stranger?"
Winter simply snorted and grabbed a laser pistol "This are a good way to start, plasma might melt their hands. You, get this weapon to General Ironwood and the rest of the science team" Winter said as she handed the weapon to nearest scientist. The Sentry bot approached the specialist and scanned her, the blue light illuminated the room for a second before the machine stepped back "Face added to database, Winter Schnee"

Six nodded as he lowered his PipBoy "Nice it does work, control of the machines is now on my wrist" the courier said, Winter looked at the machine that rested on the wrist of the man with no name and frowned.

"You need a more secure way to control the robots" she said, the courier nodded slowly and looked at the small convoy of robots at his disposal "I know honey, but that's something that I am going to have to deal with later, for now. Ozpin owes me a factory" Winter gave him a look "And did he say were on Vale is the factory?"

Six shook his head "He said that it would be somewhere away from prying eyes, so I imagine is going to be somewhere close to the borders of the city or maybe even outside. I just hope the Bullhead is strong enough to transport all the robots". Winter notified Ozpin with her scroll and the small army began to walk behind them as they headed for the station.

Most of the students were in classes so they were not spotted by any students, Glynda was the only one that seemed to be aware of what was going on. She met them halfway, she looked back at the machines and shook her head.

"More robots… lovely" the teacher muttered under her breath, she looked with distrust at the machines. They were bulkier and slower than the one Atlas had, the material rougher and if she was not mistaken also heavier than what they used, she could hear it in the way the walked, the Sentry-Bot especially made a lot of noise as it slowly followed them. She just hoped that Ozpin's little gamble was worth it, Courier Six for all his eccentricity did not seem malicious and he had shown that he did care about the students which was always some bonus points in her book.

As they reached a bullhead Ozpin walked out of the ship to greet them "She's ready for flight" she motioned at them to get closer "As promised I have made an investment on RobCo, a small factory that closed long ago is now completely under your control. Is on the outskirts of Vale, near the forest. Perfect for your operation, I have made sure that only a special few know of its location"

Six shook hands with the headmaster with a big smile "Thank you! Just let me know what you need from the catalogue and I will happily provide" as the bullhead left and the protectrons all prepared themselves for construction duties, standing next to the Securitron Six wrote a small phrase in his PipBoy and let out a sigh "Faze one-complete"

Nate slammed the metal together as he prepared to build one of the craziest he had done yet, the machine began to shape around him as he used one of the most secluded workshops he had for this project. "Using a military scanner to retrieve the design of the machine, is such a brilliant thing to do! Were did you even get the idea for this Monsieur?"

"We used some in the war, around the red's submarines. Back in Alaska I helped with the operation" Nate commented as he remembered the hell he lived through in the cold snow of Alaska.

Curie nodded as she stared at the blueprints "This is for travel non? Were are you going?"

Nate looked at the power armor with the brotherhood insignia that was sitting on the far back of the workshop "I am going to kill a monster"

A/N: The rising fist of the brotherhood is about to collide with the shadow from the Old World.

Thank you for reading, see you soon!