Ruby and Hackmon scrambled back into the base and locked the door behind their backs, just barely escaping as hellfire started to rain down their heads. Her friends approached them with worried expressions as they kept their backs pressed to the door. "What happened!?" Yang asked.

"W-Wild ones!" Ruby said, taking in shaky breaths. "They looked like Nevermores! It was pretty scary!" She said, walking backwards from the door and looking at it with suspicion.

"Attacks from them are that common?" Weiss asked to the air, not really expecting an answer.

Hackmon did provided one however. "Back at the island not much. Not since I was little, at least."

"Well, we are not in the island anymore," Blake winced. She gripped Gambol Shroud and kept its two blades on her hands.

Yang engaged Amber Celica and frowned when she checked her caskets. "Not good. We can't go around wasting Dust."

"Tell me about it…" Weiss said. Considering she was always carrying them around even after she was disinherited, her fighting style aside from summoning relied on it.

"Here," Ruby unclasped the rounds of Dust she had around her belt and tossed them to them. "Without Crescent Rose this are wasted on me."

"What about you sis?" Yang asked with worry, loading the rounds on her weapon.

Ruby shrugged and held up her hand showing the watch. "I'll manage." She looked down to the Digimon at her side. "I'll be counting on you, Hack."

"I will not let you down!" Hackmon said, pumping his fist. Eyes shining with emotion. He threw a punch in the air. "Let's kick their feathered butts!"

Yang gave Ruby a knowing smile. She blushed and waved her hands around knowing what Yang was implying. "I was not that bad!"

"You still are."

"Not helping, Weiss!"

Their banter was cut short when the building they were in shook and they heard the sound of a material hitting the ceiling above. Ruby was convinced it was metal, but for a military base this place looked really cheap and the ceiling could be made of tin metal.

Whatever the case, it was clearly not resistant enough because a beak burst through it followed by other three. Soon it was chicken legs breaking through the ceiling retreating back and then stabbing down on other areas of the ceiling. Blake frowned. "At this rate they are going to collapse the whole thing in our heads."

"I think the best thing we can do it scare them off," Ruby reasoned. "They are not Grimm; they are not relentless. They are more like wild animals."

"Check that thing and see if you can find anything similar to them," Weiss recommended. She got into position and summoned a Glyph, ready to take action. "Knowledge is power as they say."

"On it!" Ruby nodded and started fiddling with the watch-thingy on her wrist and looking around. "Okay, it was the encyclopedia and—"

PAM! Another beak appeared and screeched openly at them, this time with flames licking at the edge of it and with all the intention of being fired at them.

"No time for that!" Ruby yelped as she stopped fiddling with the watch and looked at the flames in panic. Again, she froze and felt her brain fill her head with the name of an attack, like before. She acted upon that sensation and yelled, "Wokenapalm!"

Hackmon sprung to action after that command. His own flames licked at his snout and then he fired just as the Digimon from outside fired their flames. Both flammable attacks met and caused a small explosion was caused, forcing them to cover their mouths and noses to avoid inhaling the smoke.

"That's one solution, but the detonation can suffocate us!" Weiss exclaimed.

Pam! Pam! Pam! Ruby frowned as she looked up to see that the chicken legs were breaking through the ceiling, their holes gathering and slowly causing a bigger entrance by which these overgrown birds could enter. Yang looked around with a panicky look. "Quick! What scares animals!?"

"When it comes to predators they have to be cornered! But we are in no position to get them like that!" Blake exclaimed, shifting the blade from Gambol Shroud into its gun mode to keep aim.

"Maybe not now…" Ruby said as she narrowed her eyes, catching her sister's attention. "But they can get hurt and they won't know what is inside to hurt them…" She turned to her. "Yang, remember what you did to that Nevermore in the initiation."

It felt like a timeline ago considering everything they went through, but Ruby remembered as one of the best days in her life. The way Yang's eyes lit up told her she thought the same and understood what she was referring to. "Heck yeah!" She said, punching her open palm.

Ruby pointed upwards where the claws of the birds were still trying to make their way in, giving her orders, "Wait until another beak appears and opens its mouth. If we time this right, we can cause them damage that causes one to flee, if one goes away the others might follow—like a pack."

Who said Jaune was the only strategist? Not to brag but she was the one who came up with their combinations, knowing which Semblance and ability was the most compatible with each other. It was, sadly, one of the reasons Yang and she didn't have any combined attacks.

And, maybe, to be fair, she did pick a thing or two from Jaune during their journey to Mistral. But that's beside the point.

She saw her team get ready. Yang engaged her weapons and took aim with Weiss and Blake doing the same, shifting to rounds of Fire Dust to make it more efficient.

They didn't have to wait long. These birds must be really hungry. A beak with black flames in it appeared ready to fire. But so were they.

"Go! Wokenapalm!" Ruby declared, also giving the signal for Hackmon to join the offensive.

In unison, Team RWBY plus Hackmon, launched an attack at the beak before it could unleash the attack. The effect was the desired, the flames inside its beak combusted and it let out a pained screech.

"Let's hope that didn't make them angrier…" Weiss muttered.

"Well, we have more if they're hungry!" Yang declared, keeping her aim steady and just hoping they'll attack.

"Let's try and scare them off…" Ruby muttered. Her eyes settling on Hackmon. "Fire again through the holes." Then she turned to her team. "Then fire at his attacks to make them explode like flares."

"I got it," Blake nodded. She had the best aim and a perfect gun for the job

Hackmon nodded and fired another round of Wokenapalm through the ceiling and just after Blake shoot right after. Her rounds detonating Hackmon's attack and sounds similar to fireworks coming from above.

"SKREEEEEEEEEE!" Again, those screeches. They all tensed and awaited to see if they would take retaliation against them.

However, the sound of flapping growing distant allowed them to relax. Their plan had worked.

Yang slumped over one of the crates and sighed. "One day on this continent and we already got our first brush with danger. That's gotta be a record!" She exclaimed with a laugh.

"Sadly, I don't think we will get any recognition from it," Weiss rolled her eyes. She checked her holster of Dust and sighed softly. "We didn't waste much but…"

"Yeah, its sparce even with what you gave us, Ruby," Blake sighed looking at the holster of her gun.

Ruby also sat down on the crates and looked up at the ceiling. "I know… This place has guns, but carrying them all will get tiresome. And I don't think their ammunition is compatible with your weapons…"

She made a mental note to check that later, if they were compatible then maybe their Dust problem will get reduced, but she seriously doubted it. Just by eye she could see the differences with their own weapons. She looked at the ceiling and in the holes in it she saw the starry sky. "It's already night. We did travel for a long time in Trailmon…" She commented, crossing her arms.

"So… We stay?" Hackmon asked, tilting his head.

Ruby nodded. "We stay, and we mount guard. Not that different from our time at Mount Glenn," she said, giving them a wry grin. Crazy how thinking back to a mountain infested with Grimm seemed nostalgic. "I'll take first watch like last time, and I'll check the guns in the meantime."

"I'll take the second turn then," Blake said, raising a hand. "Enhanced hearing, night vision, I'll be able to tell if they come back."

There were no objections, Weiss was left third and Yang last. Their backpacks had blankets, since that was the only thing the islanders could afford to give them and they would use it to try and make themselves comfortable through the night

Yang emptied a crate and broke it with a punch to use the remaining wood as firewood. She put it all in the center and without being telling to, Hackmon lit them up on fire with a blast form his mouth. "Atta boy, pulling your weight," Yang complimented.

"The least a knight can do!" He replied, ever cheerful.

Ruby sat on the table, grabbing one of the riffles to check its ammo. She looked down where she saw Hackmon pulling his blanket close to her feet. He circled on it in a way that reminded Ruby of Zwei and settled down, ready to sleep. She giggled at the sight. "Goodnight, Hackmon."

"Night, Ruby… Sorry for sneaking in…" He replied, already drowsy.

Ruby chuckled and pet him in the back. "It's alright." She looked around and smiled at her team. "Goodnight, guys."

They all offered their own variations of goodnight wishes. Soon the sound of their soft breathing filled the room, everyone already tired after the ordeal with the Digimon, despite having slept on the way here. Ruby turned to the weapons and tried to focus on her favorite craft…

"Saberdramon: A Digimon shrouded in black flames. Due to the roughness of its temperament, for which it continues counterattacks against enemies to a ferocious degree, it's difficult to even approach it."

Ruby read the information that appeared in the watch as she and her team trekked through a plain road. After a night of rest the group continued on their journey through the continent, travelling by the railroads to get to another Trailmon station.

Yang looked over her shoulder to look at the screen. "It does look like a Nevermore. But that info is outdated, I didn't see them shrouded in flames and they certainly didn't counterattack us."

Weiss looked back at them, curious by the information. "Maybe that's for normal specimen of that…" Weiss tilted her head as she considered her next words, "Type? Species? Species," she nodded as she settled for one. "For normal specimen of that species and not… wild ones."

Ruby frowned as she kept looking at the watch, something she realized has become more frequent ever since she got it, knowing that she could heal them like she did with Dobermon. "We really need a better strategy to deal with the Wild Ones if they are common around here. I mean, maybe facing them like they are Grimm is the best approach…" She frowned, "the problem is running out of Dust in the long run." Despite her effort she didn't saw any way to adapt the bullets from the guns at the base to their weapons, she'd need time and that was something they couldn't afford to waste.

"It'll happen sooner or later. We didn't take into consideration that Server was going to be more hostile than we first thought," Blake frowned and crossed her arms. "There's more than just the Metal Empire to worry about."

"Almost forgot about those…" Yang muttered, twirling a strand of hair around her fingers. "I mean, that rundown base where we slept didn't exactly screamed: Mighty Empire!"

That brought chuckles from the group. It was certain that for now everything seemed a bit grim, but they had survived worse in their world and two rounds against the opposing forces of this one. They'll be fine.

Blake stopped and narrowed her eyes to the distance. She put a hand over her eyes, in a way that shadowed them from the sun and gave a tilt of her head, before her ears perked up and her eyes widened with emotion. "Guys, I think I see buildings ahead!"

"Bonus! And it didn't even take us long to get there!" Yang cheered, pumping her fists into the air, before turning to her Ruby. "It didn't, right?"

"No, it didn't," she said, rolling her eyes. To be fair, she didn't kept track on the time with the watch, more focused on finding information about their attackers from last night. "At most it was thirty minutes of walk."

While the rest of the group made their way towards the newfound settlement, Ruby noticed that one of them was not moving. She looked back to see Hackmon standing in place with a nervous look on his face. "Hack? What's wrong?" She asked, walking back to him and crouching to his level.

"That's… the first town of Server I've been…" He explained rubbing his paws together. "I'm kind of nervous…"

Ruby connected the dots right away. Server was this place where the big bad Metal Empire lived, and it didn't help that his home almost got an aggressive take over by the soldiers of said Empire. That kind of thinking could lead to some prejudice, and she already dealt with a fallout on that issue during her first year at Beacon, better to avoid it now.

"Hey now. Not everyone on Server is a soldier like those guys from the base," Ruby smiled and pet his head. "I'm sure in that town are normal people with normal problems, and houses… like back at the island." She had to fought back the urge to say 'At least I hope so.' Because he didn't need to hear her doubting her own words.

Hackmon mulled over her words and eventually gave a nod. "Yeah… yeah, that's right!" He said, bouncing on his paws. "Maybe they were also bullied by those soldiers! Come on let's go check!"

Ruby just chuckled at his enthusiasm as he ran past her to get to the town soon. She sat up straight and followed after him and her team.

"You know? This kind of reminds me of the movies dad likes," Yang commented as they walked under an arc that had a sigh that said welcome.

Ruby could see why she would compare them to that. The town was arid and the houses were made of wood and most of them were two stories tall with saloon doors in them. Digimon of different sizes that Ruby would have to check their names later on the watch buzzed around the town, but she noticed they did with hurry and urgency.

She wasn't the only one to notice, her team exchanged glances as they saw the disarray the town found themselves in. House sported large scorch marks and the Digimon were running around trying to find ways to patch up their homes and livelihoods.

"What happened here?" Hackmon wondered as he looked at the larger town with an edge of worry and sadness.

Yang placed a hand on her hips. "I have three guesses, little guy."

"HALT!"

The group turned around and raised their hands in surrender when a couple of Digimon approached them with real guns on their hands. "Who are you, you outsiders!?" One of them asked, looking like a reptile with blue scales and red horns, while the other looked like a fox of feline of sorts.

"Hey, relax. We are not looking for trouble!" Ruby gave a nervous, disarming smile. Not for the first time missing Crescent Rose.

"We were just passing by, gather some stuff, then go to the nearest city," Weiss explained as diplomatic as she could, taking a tentative step forward that made the two Digimon aim their guns at her. "If you could just tell us where the nearest Trailmon is that would be a great help."

The fox-like Digimon lowered his gun. "Trailmon, eh? That's for the big cities. It'd be a loooong walk from here to get to one. In this place the tracks just passes us by." He shrugged and lowered his gun, motioning his reptile companion to do the same. "I'm Gazimon, he's Dracomon."

"… evening," The dragon greeted with a nod and turned around to walk away, Gazimon following

Seeing the tension leaving, the girls decided to follow the two armed Digimon as they looked around the town. The Digimon scrambling and picking up pieces of debris or carrying with them tools to remodel the destroyed buildings. "I guess those birds are responsible for this?" Blake asked, raising an eyebrow.

"If you mean those darn Wild Ones then yes," Commented Dracomon. "Been years since they've come to attack us. Not since the patrol was set by the canyon.

The girls stopped and looked at each other, dreading what this meant. "The… patrol…?" Ruby asked with a nervous wince.

"Aye, the platoon at the station by the shore of the continent," Explained the Gazimon sighing. "They've been the ones keeping those darn Saberdramon at bay and kept the town mostly safe."

"Even if they were a bunch of greedy pricks," Spat Dracomon, getting a bad look from Gazimon. "What? They are! Heck if we know where they went!"

Stopping as the two Digimon continued their banter, Team RWBY exchanged worried winced and glances. "They are talking about them aren't they?" Ruby asked, tapping the face of the device on her wrist with a worried frown.

"They were still militia, and with these Wild Ones being a problem…" Blake trailed off.

Yang rubbed her eyes. "Of all the things. We saved our butts from those guys and turns out they were helping these guys!" She exclaimed, keeping her voice in a whisper and spreading her arms out to the town.

The group turned to once again appreciate the town. Digimon of bizarre complexions like rocks or like bipedal animals walked around with tools, yes, but there were others.

"Ouch…" A Digimon that looked similar to an armadillo was being tended by burn marks across his exposed skin.

And it was only one of many. All around they could see Digimon that were being tended for burn marks or injuries caused by the attack. An attack that could have been avoided if they hadn't locked away that platoon from File Island. Ruby looked down, feeling a familiar weight of guilt settling in her chest.

"They were not good." Those words made Ruby look down to see Hackmon with a serious frown. "Those guys were not good guys. They let loose a Wild One back home and treated everyone badly!" He huffed. "And they could have done the same here…" He muttered, sympathizing with the townsfolk. That was good, any doubts he had about coming to this town was gone.

"Little guy is right," Yang nods, specially affected by what that platoon of mechanical soldiers did. "Didn't they do the same to File Island before they ran out of the minerals they were looking for."

"It was only a matter of time before they showed their true colors," Blake commented, nodding along.

Ruby looked at them and sighed. They were right. Those guys were a danger to the people on the island. However, that didn't meant they shouldn't take responsibility. This town was still vulnerable to those attacks.

She walked to the two, armed Digimon whom received them. "Excuse me?" She got their attention. "The attacks, is it always those birds?"

"Aye," The Gazimon nodded, crossing his arms. "Come by, wreak havoc, by sunrise they leave. We're lucky that they are the only ones in this deserted area."

"And where do they come from, exactly?" Ruby continued to ask.

The Dracomon answered. "Always that way," he pointed east to the town. "Some good scouts went by a couple years ago and saw their nest on a mountain formation, but couldn't take them out."

Weiss started to mutter to herself behind Ruby. "There for years…?" Ruby found it suspicious too…

"Okay well, maybe we can strike a deal?" She smiled at the two. "Whom is in charge of the town?"

Gazimon shrugged. "No one. At most the ones that called the shots were those hot-shot soldiers, but here in the desert we don't really need those kinds of things. But me and Draco here kept the order before they arrived and now that they left."

Ruby held out a hand. "Me and my friends can deal with those birds and make them leave your town alone. In exchange, could you give us some rations to get by?"

"Tch, just like those guys." Dracomon spat, making Ruby flinch. "It was fair at first, but then they started to eat us out of town!"

Gazimon put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I know, partner. But I say we give them a vote of confidence."

Dracomon exhaled. "Alright…"

"I'll rally the others and see what I can do. I hope you bring me a proof that you got rid of those pesky birds," Gazimon said crossing his arms. "I ain't going to get scammed by a lie of you eliminating them and then getting swarmed by those overgrown meat fields."

Well, if Ruby managed to purify them like she did with Dobermon then that shouldn't be a problem. "I promise," She said and turned around. "You're with me, right?"

"You're just asking us now?" Weiss raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "You dolt, of course we are going."

"Whatever food we can get is going to be better than the things we got…" Yang said with a grimace, remembering the cardboard taste of the food from the base.

"Anything to help," There was no other reason for Blake to help. She agreed with a smile.

Hackmon puffed out his chest and put a paw over it. "Is what a knight would do! Protect this good town! Server will be protected as I'm around!" Maybe a bit of a hyperbole, but as usual Hackmon had the right attitude.

Ruby smiled at her team and walked up to them. "Seems even here people need help from Huntsmen and Huntresses."

"Am I a Huntsmen too?" Hackmon asked, looking up at here. "I don't know what it is, but it sounds so cool!"

"More like a Huntsmon," Yang snickered. Blake elbowed her stomach.

They walked out and circled the town. Blake took off her jacket and wrapped it around her wait, while Weiss was dragging her feet along the sand. "This was appropriate for Atlas. Now I'm not sure I'll survive a day out here…"

"We'll figure out something for you, Weissy, don't worry." Yang assured her. Luckily, her outfit as well as Ruby's was not as weather oriented as their teammate's. "So, sis? What's the plan?"

"For now its basic stuff," Ruby shrugged. "We find their nest, we fight as best as we can taking the element of surprise with us. And I try to purify them."

"I am not to backpedal, this people need our help and we need resources for the journey, but we will have to be careful about this," Blake said.

"Not to mention this whole thing seems fishy…" Weiss said, crossing her arms. "These birds have been harassing the town for years, the soldiers get involved and yet it continues? Sounds to me they were doing things half-way so they would stick around and take advantage of the town."

"Sounds about right," Yang muttered, clearly still resentful towards the soldiers that had her prisoner.

"Well, that will end now." Ruby smiled at her team with confidence. "We can do this.

A/N: Hey.

Pfffff, what a year.

I got a real job. One that has kept me on my toes all day and taken away my time to write. Luckily, I think I'm getting a good rhythm to it.

I decided to update this one, even if it's a short chapter, as a way to celebrate the announcement of the new Digimon game. My love for the franchise has slowly dwindled but this gave me a spark of inspiration.

I hope you like this one.

Byeeeee