Chief stowed Caliburn away on his back after giving it a thorough checkup. He had to admit, openly, that Ruby was one of the best weapon designers he'd had the luck of running into. He arranged his armor, stating, "Call up the others. We've got a quick job I want done..." in reference to the White Fang's presence and what work they were doing in the middle of Vale, especially with hidden bases like the one they'd engaged.
"Going on a Fang Hunt now that it's the weekend, huh?" Cortana quipped, pulling up the com and sending a ping to everyone to gather up in the main room, "We missed a pretty big food fight, by the way. Apparently, teams RWBY and JNPR really went at it in there," She then smirked. Chief rolled his eyes. They were still kids, he had to remind himself, unlike the Spartans, who were merely adults in de-aged bodies.
Descending down the stairwell, the man found the entire task force of Spartans gathered, weapons in hand and ammo strapped onto their chest and side pouches. He stopped in the middle of the group as Cortana transmitted some of the data in regards to possible White Fang bases of operation. He nodded to everyone, then said "This is gonna be a scouting mission. We operate in teams of two. Each of us hits different locations around Vale and keeps their eyes open for rumored White Fang activity or accesses relevant information points."
"NOBLE, you're taking the south of the city, near the agricultural district. There should be remote access systems in there that will provide us proper information on any possible targets," He told Carter and his team, "Divvy yourselves up as you see fit, but stay in com range," And then he looked to the two girls to his right and said, "Daisy, Cal. You two are going to hit the Industrial District, see if you can find any derelict buildings that may be in use. Colleen, Kurt. Rumor on the RemNet is that there's a club nearby that deals with shady business. Cortana's going to give you the address. I want you to stake it out, then check it during the, when patrons start arriving."
He then paused and looked over to Blue, "Sam, you're with me. We're hitting the CCTS so I can get Cortana into the system again, properly. Fred, Kelly, you two go near the southern outskirts, where I landed. Linda? You take Jack and give us eyes on anything that could be trying to sneak in... Or Any one. All of you, keep your eyes peeled. Cortana tells me we may also have some of our own entering Vale as we speak. Their IFFs are scrambled, but you should catch them on the MT... That's all for the assignments. Let's get moving."
His comrades offered quick nods, each of them sliding their helmets on their heads and filing out of the house. Sam took to Chief's side and asked, "Have you seen Penny?"
"She mentioned she was going for a 'checkup' at the Atlesian outpost nearby," He replied as they walked out of the house and scattered. Those heading into town would take Foe Hammer's Pelican and go around the less-inhabited areas. This was an operation in broad daylight, so they had to find some way or another to be stealthy, especially with the Atlas Navy and Military hanging high above them.
John and Sam continued to the CCTS Tower all the while, each of them looking at groups of gathered students, who, now that they knew them, seemed much more at ease with their march through the campus. Sam whistled when they approached the tower, the height and design of the construct clearly impressing him enough. Chief showed him to stop, to which his comrade halted, hand hovering over his pistol.
Chief pointed forward and Sam's gaze followed. He caught a glimpse of Ruby and Weiss in the distance, both of them dressed in different outfits than their standard. Weiss wore a white jacket with black accents and cuffs, a more normal-looking, pleated skirt and thigh-high combat boots, while Ruby wore, aside from her standard cape, a silver shirt with some sort of emblazoned metal symbol on the shoulder, a black pinafore, a strange skirt with her symbol, leggings and combat boots. Each of them had their weapons on them, as well.
John hummed.
"Curious..." Cortana voiced what the big man was thinking, "... Could they be here for the same thing we are?"
"Something tells me there's more to this than meets the eye," John noted. He saw Penny approaching the two, a smile on her face as she greeted them before veering off to the right. Ruby seemingly joined her, leaving a distraught Weiss alone, to which John looked to Sam. He looked to Sam, then ordered, "Keep an eye on them from afar. Ping anyone if something seems off... And if you get a chance? Ask Ruby what they're doing out... Armed..."
"Got it," The boy nodded, quickly moving to trail the girls. John hoped his friend knew how to maintain stealth, even with the armor, but he probably shouldn't worry. Sam was one of their best, after all.
"We taking Weiss and the CCTS?" Cortana inquired.
"Mhm," John replied, shifting his gaze toward Weiss as she entered the tower. The man followed, moving into the building and waving to her to hold the elevator. Weiss, noticeably surprised to see the Chief out and about, nodded and hurried him along with a 'come hither' sign. He clambered into the elevator moments before the door closed, to which a surprised Weiss looked up at him once more.
"Master Chief? What are you doing at the CCTS?" She asked.
"Running a short check on something," He replied. It wasn't exactly a lie, but he deflected nonetheless, asking "What about you, miss Schnee?"
"I'm... Here to make a call..." The girl smiled awkwardly, moving her scroll toward the wall panel to allow it to be scanned. She changed subjects, probing his defenses by offering the proverbial olive branch of discussion in this case, "So... The weather is nice... I take it you're just out for a... Walk... In full armor... I... Take it it's patrol time, is it not?"
Cortana snorted as John nodded. Weiss turned back toward the door as it slid open. The two approached the reception desk, where the hologram of a young woman took form. Chief tuned out her discussion with Weiss, looking around for a free terminal away from prying eyes. He found one far to the right just before Weiss snapped him out of it, stating, "Master Chief, she's going to want to know what your business is. If you need me, I'll be at that terminal..." Pointing toward said terminal closer by the window and stepping off.
Leaning forward, the Spartan said, "I'm going to be searching for information online for a bit."
"That'll be fine, sir. For that, you can pick a terminal at your leisure," The woman smiled. John nodded in thanks, before stepping off toward the terminal he'd eyed and sitting himself down, somewhat thankful the damn chairs here could take his armor's weight. He turned off his external microphone before pulling up the emerald-tinted holo-display and keyboard.
"You don't need to yank me this time," Cortana quipped as she saw John slowly moving to do just that. She explained, "I managed to fully integrate myself into the Scroll's systems and it now acts as a wireless terminal for me to interact with the Remnant tech that can access it. Slide it into the slot on the right and I'll be able to parse through the new data on the RemNet..." words to which John removed the communication item and slid it into the slot, access port down.
He saw the screen flash a noticeably familiar blue tint for a moment before returning to the opaque emerald it was before. Cortana spoke, "Right... Act like normal. I'll get to searching through any files on the White Fang... Including Atlas Military intelligence databases. Their firewalls are there, but they're so easy to crack through, it's more like a game to me..."
"Got it," He replied, moving his hands to mimic searching through data. He hummed, looking over to Weiss, then said "I have a feeling Weiss is looking for something..."
"I'll try to nab a copy of whatever she's looking for... She's talking to an SDC rep," The AI replied as some data flashed on-screen, including a muted window showing the face of the Atlesian woman on the right. Chief turned back to the terminal, mimicking working on it again while waiting for his AI to nab the files. With a quiet hum, the AI said, "Interesting..."
"What?" He raised a brow.
"Files on Dust Convoys ambushed by the White Fang, on recent White Fang protests near the SDC Mines and on speculations about supplies being delivered to them by a rival company or two..." Cortana explained, "C'mon. I got all the files we need..." And the two watched as Weiss, too, stood up from her seat. The duo met at the elevator, entering it while Cortana explained, "Damn, this is... Some of the files on here are marked as sensitive... Weapon shipments going missing from some PMC? Huh..."
"Hmm..." Chief hummed.
"So..." Weiss looked to him, "Find what you were looking for?"
"Yeah. You?" He raised a brow, his mic now on.
"Certainly," She smirked, "Anyways..." and the elevator stopped at the bottom as Weiss added, "I should probably go meet my teammates... Be seeing you, Master Chief."
"Miss Schnee," He nodded before the two exited the place and split up. He hummed, then said, "Let me know what you got out of those files the moment you can. Right now, I want you to keep an ear out for the others calling in if we need to go help them," And he strode toward their house again. He needed to be ready when he'd need to swing by and help the others.
"Should've probably asked Weiss what they were doing..." Cortana offered with a tone indicating smugness.
"I told Sam to ask Ruby if he gets a chance," He replied calmly, "But I feel we'll find out soon enough what our intrepid Huntresses are doing..." and he entered the house to grab a few more things, including his Magnum, an MA5 as an extra firearm and some extra ammunition. The man then left the building, heading for the landing pads and watching as Foe Hammer swung in, the Blood Tray of the Pelican empty.
"Chief," Foe Hammer poked her head from behind the door, a smile on her face, "Comin' aboard as QRF?"
"I am," John replied, "Get us on a low orbiting flight over the nearest drop-off area... We'll be picking up Sam after he's done with his own work if we don't get called in," And he sat himself down in one of the rearmost chairs of the bird. Foe Hammer thumbed the door closing button. The rear hatch of the aircraft shut with a hard metallic clang. Cortana started humming something.
He felt the vehicle accelerate, while Cortana started pulling up any and every file she could, including data on a new Atlas military unit type. Chief had a nagging feeling that it wouldn't be long before they saw said unit up-close, so he let Cortana do her thing. She simply stated, "By the way... I'm looking through WF data from the Atlas Military and... Apparently..." She chuckled, "They're not considered a major threat... At least not for right now."
Well, again, John had a sinking feeling that was going to change soonish. He sighed, leaning back into his seat and watching as they dipped down to below the detection range of whatever radars the Atlas Airships utilized to track them, moving rapidly toward the southern sector of Vale. High-rises soon turned into houses, then into ever-larger fields of crops ranging from wheat to corn with interspersed houses between them. They'd hold orbit there and wait for the two teams they'd assigned to scour this place.
"One more thing," Cortana smirked, "A couple contacts just made it into town... Marine IFFs from what little I can unscramble."
John felt like... Like he knew.
Sam followed Penny and Ruby from the rooftops, using his armor's enhanced audio sensor suite to listen into their conversation. So far, most of the stuff they'd spoken of was boring, standard girl things, or so Sam thought. Ruby had inquired about why Penny had vanished that night at 'The Docks', but Penny deflected the question. Sam pretty much crawled over the Rooftop he was on when it was needed, jumping between it only when it was needed as he listened in.
Docks, huh? He probably had to inquire about that when he got to talk to Ruby. Still, he watched their interactions from a distance, ducking to hide only when a Bullhead or some other transport or military bird flew up above. John had figured it best to do the 'in broad daylight' approach to the search, but, to be fair, to the many citizens of Vale, a Spartan could easily pass off as either a Huntsman or an Atlas soldier, provided they could lie well enough.
He'd seen many a weird, but relatively cool thing in his little chase for the past half-hour or so, ranging from a small stand where food was being sold to even the presentation of Atlas's newest war machines, the Atlesian Knight Two Hundreds and the Paladin. The former was an android designed for combat, with what looked like composite armor covering the arms, legs, pelvic region and chest. Its abdomen was relatively exposed, some of the innards visible through a layer of some kind of flexible black material. Its visor was also T-Shaped... Then, there was the Paladin. A giant machine of war resembling some of the wackier prototypes he'd seen for new armor on Damascus Station...
Then again, Sam was one to speak of wacky ideas. He was literally travelling via Rooftop.
Not his particularly smartest decision, he felt as he jumped across to the next roof over, following Penny and Ruby closely. He gasped as he heard the screech of car tires and the rapid-fire honks of a horn. His gaze swept over to the right, where he saw a 'From Dust 'Till Dawn' truck barreling toward them. He stood to his feet, ready to intervene just before he saw the truck slam into something hard enough for its back wheels to lift off the ground and engine compartment to bend as it stopped dead, wheels landing back on the floor moments later.
He stared down at the object it struck, which sat square in the middle of the road, expecting to find either another car, a very hardy bike or some misplaced concrete pillar. Instead, he was staring at Penny Polendina, her hands outstretched and a crater about half a foot deep with her square in the middle. As a crowd began to gather, Penny immediately ran off down an alley just next to the road, with Ruby immediately running after her.
Sam rolled his eyes, murmuring to himself, "Well, I got an interesting job..." before using the age-old sport known as Parkour to travel over multiple roofs as he trailed the girls, at one moment even jumping across the alley-way to another roof as they got to a T-intersection that the girls took a right down on. The thunderclap of military boots echoed, causing him to turn and see Atlas troops following them.
He hummed, checking his belt and unclipping a flashbang. With a mischievous grin on his face, he pulled the pin and dropped it in front of the Atlas troopers. It landed just as they passed and gave it a quick look before exploding in a burning white flash of light and noise. The stun grenade did its job, disorienting the crap out of the Atlas troops so Penny and Ruby could have their moment.
And indeed, they had had it. So Sam figured when he saw the adorable carrot-top pulling the Rose into a tight hug, shoving her friend's face into her chest and laughing happily, calling Ruby the 'best friend ever'. Even Sam could appreciate that compliment. However, what Penny did next caught even him by surprise as he watched it happen to the sound of trodding boots.
Penny had picked up Ruby over her head. A squirming young huntress that must've been about the same weight as her and Penny had just lifted her like it was nothing. Sam snorted, watching it unfold with a grin behind his mask, with Ruby protesting about the fact that 'she could help'. Penny slammed her into the dumpster just below where he was. He looked down, watching as they exchanged a last couple of words before the Atlas troopers, still seemingly discombobulated, arrived to Penny's jubilant greetings. She looked up to Sam, surprising him with a wink and a beaming smile before she was taken away.
Huh... Clever girl.
After they took her away, a spooked, somewhat dirty Ruby emerged from the dumpster and dusted herself off, rolling her eyes. Sam figured it was as good a moment as any. Jumping, the man landed with a hard thunk onto the concrete next to Ruby, garnering the loudest shriek of surprise the man had heard in his life. It had enough decibels that his armor decided to tone it down.
He looked to little red, trying to avert his gaze from the cracks he'd made in the concrete, before offering a quick, "Apologies... Hi, by the way."
"... Hi..." Ruby let out, strained and gripping her chest, "Oh, I swear, my heart nearly jumped outta my chest..."
"Sorry... Again..." Sam noted, turning to Ruby, "So..."
"... You were following us, weren't you?" Ruby looked to him, silver eyes locked onto his Mark IV CQB helmet's visor. A nod from him caused Ruby to smirk. She asked, "So, which one of the big fellas are you? 'Cuz I'm pretty sure that Armor's a model I've seen before, but it ain't the Chief's. And you don't look like a female Spartan, since I can't see the shape. Plus, the voice and..." before watching with awe as Sam removed his helmet, revealing yet again the handsome young fellow with a welcoming smile. Ruby felt her breath hitch in her throat before she let out a slight, quiet shriek of embarrassment, "Oh! S-Sam, right?! H-Hi!"
"Yup," He nodded, "Ruby, if I'm not mistaken."
"Y-Yeah! Haha!" She chuckled awkwardly, rubbing the back of her neck, her face growing ever more red. She seemed happy he remembered her name...
"You alright? Your face is kind of... Red..." He quipped, causing the girl to swivel about at the speed of sound, her back ramrod straight, stiff and her hands by her side, tiny fists clenched in embarrassment. He didn't know what to make of the reaction outside of finding it... Oh, what was it that word Fred used? Cute? Yeah, cute. It felt like it fit the young girl's reaction to whatever it was.
'Ruby Rose, you're a fricking Huntress in Training! Why are you so embarrassed by a cute guy standing in frontofOHMYGODWHYDIDITHINKHECUTEAAAAAAAAAAAAA!?' The girl thought, her inner voice shrieking at her as she snuck another look at the blonde-haired, blue-eyed boy with the features of a model. Her heart was rattling off like an assault rifle on full auto and her face felt actually hot. Like she had a freaking fever.
"... Uhm, Ruby? You okay?" He asked, his smooth voice booming in her ears and filled with concerned.
"... mfine..." She murmured.
"Rrrright..." Sam hummed, "... Want to go get something cold to drink? I... Figure it's best if you cooled down a bit before I asked any questions."
"Sure..." She nodded quickly, still averting her gaze. The two walked out from the alleyway and onto one of the main boulevards of Vale, Ruby's gait awkward, very stiff and machine-like. She was staring dead-ahead with wide open eyes and trying not to meet Sam's gaze. For a moment, Sam entertained the idea of her being awkward around him in his mind. He squelched that thought in a moment. He stopped, pointing out a shop immediately to their left.
"That place looks good..." He stated, Ruby tracking his extended index's point to a small corner convenience store. With a nod, Ruby warily followed Sam to the place, her walk growing slowly more normal. Sure, she still couldn't stare at the guy, but at least she wasn't walking like a freak and attracting unwanted attention, right? She looked around to check on that presumption and found herself staring at several bystanders around them looking at the pair and whispering things.
"They're adorable!"
"Holy crap, the dude's tall! Must be some kinda relationship... It also must be frickin' adorable to see'em trying to hug."
"Hey, at least they both look the same age, right? I mean, look at'em!"
"Yeah, fair 'nuff. Still, kinda wish I was with the guy... Girl's cute, too..."
Ruby buried her ever-redder face in her hands while Sam seemed to be perfectly good with ignoring the words. Or outright not understanding their quips. That was a possibility. Spartans probably had even less social abilities than her. Unless they were already in relationships. Were they? Oh goodness, they could've been! And here she was, maybe thinking of a guy maybe in a relationship!
Ruby slapped her cheeks lightly. No, Ruby Rose. She was pretty sure she'd read that militaries had things against fraternization, especially among what seemed to be special operations boys and girls. She had to think pragmatically. It was unlikely the guy was into her, right? Military guys probably didn't go for huntresses. She hadn't read a novel on it, anyway... Uuugh...
She whined. That made her feel worse. And even more embarrassed.
"Uh... Ruby?"
Ruby yelped, almost jumping out of her skin again, her face growing a combination of 'paler than bone' and 'redder than a freaking tomato' as she looked around, realizing they were in the middle of a crowd, in a line at the convenience store already. She looked up to Sam, embarrassed, but the man simply smiled reassuringly... If with a glint of worry in his eyes. He asked, "Are you sure you're alright?"
"Y-Yeah..." She suddenly found the floor very interesting, grabbing the hem of her skirt and pulling gently down on it.
"... So, what do you wanna drink?" He motioned to the fridges. Ruby awkwardly looked up, her heart still rattling in her chest.
She looked over the selection, stopping at one, then spoke, "The Cola, I guess..." as she looked at the canned soft beverage.
"Sure," He nodded, pulling out his own credit chit. Chief had been kind enough to split the money he'd gotten between the Spartans, each having an allowance now. He hummed, then stepped up to the counter. "Good afternoon..." He greeted the cashier, a seemingly nice older lady who simply smiled at them. He pointed out the drinks and said "Two Colas."
"Certainly, young man..." She nodded, stepping away from the counter for a moment. She reappeared moments later with the two canned drinks, then smiled at them and said, "You know? It's sweet when two Huntsmen get together... It's like seeing your favorite childhood heroes finally get that happy end..." smiling sweetly at the two of them. She watched the now-confused man pay, while Ruby's cheeks glowed red right now.
"Uhm... Thanks...? Have a nice day..." He offered.
"You too, young'uns!" She waved as they departed.
As the two sat themselves down against one of the walls of the store, Ruby groaned and rubbed her face. Sam hummed, unsure of what that meant as he opened his canned drink with a satisfying, fizzy pop. He took a sip of the drink, then looked to a still-embarrassed Ruby and said, "You wanna talk about whatever it is that's bothering you?" to which the girl sighed.
"No... No, I'm good..." She replied, picking up her own can from beside her and trying to open it... While somehow failing.
Sam took the can, popped it open and handed it to Ruby, receiving a muffled 'Thanks' from the girl as she turned to nursing her drink. The two sat there in silence for some minutes, each drinking about half the contents of their can before Ruby finally settled down, her cheeks now a fair shade of pink instead of that tomato red they were before. She spoke, "Were you following us?" as her first words.
Sam chuckled, "Yup..."
She whined, then asked "How much did you hear?"
"Not enough... I was trying to stop those Atlas troopers from interrupting you two near the end..." He smirked, then turned and asked, "What was that thing that Penny did? Can every Aura user stop a truck with their bare hands like that?"
"Oh, Gods, you saw that too..." Ruby murmured, then replied awkwardly, "N-No, not really. Penny's a special case... I can't tell you more than that. I promised her," and looked to Sam. His approving nod eased her heart a bit. Breathing a sigh of relief, she looked to Sam, then added "She promised she'll tell all of you when the time comes, so... I wouldn't worry about it!" And then she flashed him a smile.
Sam felt his own heart skip a beat as he looked at the smiling girl, a faint rosy tint on his own cheeks appearing and quickly being suppressed, "Right... I wanna know if she's gonna be alright. That crash looked pretty bad."
"According to her, just fine," Ruby snorted. The ice finally broken, Sam chuckled.
"After a truck pretty much slammed full-force into her and she stopped it with her hands... Christ, she reminds me of a J-" He caught himself, then added, "Dylan... Always playing tough."
Ruby laughed, "No way. Chief's like that?"
"Oh, only since I knew him. So since we were kids," Sam replied, "One time, during basic, he dropped and almost broke his arm. Guy walked it off and was biting back tears until two days later... Seriously, he didn't even go to medical for a checkup."
The little Rose leaned back and added, "So, sort of like Yang in that case."
"Your sister, right?"
"Yup!" Ruby happily proclaimed, "Big sis and butt-kicker extraordinaire!"
It was Sam's turn to laugh, "I bet. Dylan told us about each of you while we were having dinner last evening. Penny corroborated and added her own details."
"Heh. Can't imagine she wouldn't have," Ruby smiled, looking at the swirling black liquid content of her can... "So... Why were you following us?"
"Orders," He replied, "Dylan wanted to see what was up with you two, so he sent me to follow you two. Keep you safe, keep an eye on you... Stuff like that," He then explained, his tongue feeling slightly bitter at continuously calling his close friend by a different name. Still, that seemed to ease Ruby more. With a note of calm, the man then asked "What about you? Why were you and Weiss out?"
"Uhm... A mission..." Ruby smiled awkwardly, "One we... Kinda vowed we wouldn't get friends involved in."
Sam quirked a brow at the girl, as if asking 'for real?' before taking another sip of his drink. Ruby sighed, then started, "... I don't know, Sam, it... We... Well, to be fair, we got Sun and Neptune involved, but that's because they kinda came into our room through the window, but that's another matter entirely. I'm not sure Yang, Weiss or Blake would approve of me dragging you folks in, but then again, who knows what kinda backup we'll need if the situation goes bad..." a ramble for the ages. Sam listened in, a smile on his face, while Ruby went on to enumerate a series of issues with letting them join.
Ruby continued rambling, slowly turning her gaze to meet Sam's, then froze, stopping her ramble as her cheeks grew red again. She said, "S-sorry about that! I tend to ramble after a lot of sugar and I forgot Cola has a lot in it! It's..." she sighed deeply, finally surrendering and saying, "... The White Fang... We had a run-in with them at the Docks a month or so ago and... Well, we figured it'd be a good idea to go investigating, since they were working with this guy I fought, Roman Torchwick. Prolific criminal, apparently..."
"Aha..." Sam nodded, "And you thought about going at them... Alone... Just the four of you. And those other two fellows you mentioned."
"I-I mean, yeah, but..." Ruby sighed, "Again, we didn't wanna get anyone else involved. Sun and Neptune kinda just... Walked in on it... Or climbed in on it..." She corrected.
"Well..." Sam shrugged, then suggested, "Not to say anything, since this is top secret, need-to-know and whatnot, but our team may or may not be looking into the same thing and may or may not stumble upon your investigation, while very likely trying to aid it once we find out what your intentions and those of your comrades are... Maybe I'm just rambling, but...?" He smirked.
Ruby grinned.