46

Chapter 46

Finally, it was time for their first mission!

"So, we have-'' Ruby turned to her team, scroll in hand. "Caravan protection, extermination of a beowolf colony in the Forever Fall, ship protection, settlement protection and Mt Glenn containment."

Yang continued to lay on the bed, whatever mission was chosen, she would be fine with it. It would probably be a boring routine anyway.

Pyrrha was just reasonably excited to get a somewhat proper mission instead of vigilante counter terrorism outings.

Weiss on the other hand… "Isn't Mount Glenn that failed extension of Vale?"

Ruby nodded in response. "It's southwest of Vale and quite a distance. Grimm had made themselves at home in the ruins so someone has to thin them out before they start spilling out."

"Didn't Blake say that Whate Fang base was somewhere in the southwest?" Pyrrha asked.

Ruby slightly frowned. "Yeah…and there is a big chance that it might be there. If cleared out and properly defended, some parts of the city should still be inhabitable." With how many weapons White Fang had at their disposal, clearing out some of the grimm wouldn't be that hard. "There are also underground parts of the settlement and the train tunnels going to Vale. they were sealed after the evacuation but it wouldn't be hard to open them up." Hopefully somebody is watching them now… She had mentioned the possibility of it in their report for the headmaster.

"Old ruins, it is then." Weiss commented.

"Actually, I have half a mind to go as far away as possible from there." Ruby flatly stated.

"What? But the terrorists-"

"I'm not letting you and Yang pump up your body counts!" Ruby shot weis down. "Unless I'm sure that you won't cause more harm than good, we will have some normal grimm killing."

Yang just hummed. She would do her best not to get Ruby upset but if things were to go south too much, she had her priorities. Her sister and their team came above whoever or whatever they would end up against.

Weiss had a different problem. It wasn't like she intended to put them all to the blade. What made her angra was that Ruby doubted her ability to perform properly.

"I promise-" Weiss ground out. "-I'll be good."

-BBW-

"Are you sure about this Oz? I can send Winter and a division instead."

"I have to agree with James. The containment mission is usually given to the second or even third years. Not to mention the chance of what else they might encounter."

Why were they both ignoring the fact that the girls already had two separate run-ins. They would even have Oobleck with them. Ozpin thought. With Glynda, it was the same every year.

Too dangerous.

Too far away.

Port fell asleep and left his team with no supervision.

Peach accidentally drugged them. Or herself.

And Brothers forbid if Glynda finds herself a new favorite student.

And now with James here he was getting the complaints in stereo. In his case, he was trying to convince him that letting the army bomb the place and level it down was a great idea.

Oz turned around and looked at the quartet of girls making their way towards the bullhead. It wasn't like he was sending them without any sort of insurance.

The small black dot made its way into the bullhead and hid under the seats. Knowing him, he was probably giving a mocking salute with his wing.

Besides, looking at them…he wasn't too concerned with something happening to them.

/

Weiss was at the front, face set in a small frown. Not only did Ruby give her an additional and unnecessary 'talk' about focusing on helping people and not just destroying everything that was a danger to others, she also didn't have her new weapons ready! She paid for all of the new stuff but nooo, she prioritized Pyrrha's monstrosity. So for their 'debut' mission she had nothing special to offer.

Pyrrha was right behind her and was feeling rather happy about herself. Finally! A mostly normal mission! Sure, they all expected to run into a certain type of trouble but they already had met White Fang two times and… Ruby might be going a bit overboard.

Third part of the group was their mule. Or more properly, a summoned horse-sized boarbatusk that was carrying additional ammo, supplies and camping equipment.

Then there was Ruby. They were going into a grimm infested ghost-town with a big chance of armed terrorists, so she was fully decked out. The red cloak of course stayed but the rest of her clothes were changed into a black tactical armor. Not that she needed the protection but the plenty of extra pockets were nice. She of course took all of her weapons, except her sweetheart. Instead the school was for the first time treated to the sight of her monstrous scythe. And they thought that the one she used normally was too big for her.

Yang was walking last. And she was geared up for war. While she had established herself as a powerhouse during combat training, now she was the main reason why everybody was giving her a wide breadth. Shiny yellow skintight suit covered in dust capsules, with only a vest thrown on it to preserve her modesty. What really mattered were the four large weapons she was carrying. Ember Celica in its compact form wasn't that noticeable but the minigun and a grenade launcher on each side of her waist, and a rocket launcher and a railgun on her shoulders were very very noticeable.

"Good morning, students!" Oobleck blitzed up to the bullhead as the girls were packing up their things into the ship. He quickly took a look around. "Hmm, I was told we were doing a simple recon, why are you bringing so many things? And miss Xiao Long. Please explain all of your…stuff."

"Ehm, Dr. Oobleck." Ruby popped out of the ship. "I'm not sure if you were briefed on…certain things we were doing in our free time, but there is a high chance that the grimm won't be the only opposition."

"Well…" For once he slowed down and thought about it for a second. "It's your rodeo. I'm here just to make sure you don't get hurt. Looks like you have it handled so I'm leaving the decisions to you, miss Rose."

-BBW-

The trip to the mt. Glenn was uneventful and soon they were already jumping down, heading straight into the outskirts of the settlement.

"Okay, Pyrrha with me in the front. Hold your fire, keep it quiet and deal with grimm up close if you can." Ruby went straight into her 'mission mode'. "Yang, watch our backs. Weiss, make a bird, I want some eyes in the sky. Prrrr…doctor…enjoy the sights…or something."

You up for some flying? Weiss asked.

"Flying in a grimm filled sky…sounds absolutely lovely." Ivory dryly remarked. "Once this is over, I want some me time."

Weiss rolled her eyes and summoned a small nevermore. Ruby immediately started fixing a small camera around its neck. When she was done, she connected her scroll and it immediately displayed… an orange-red blob with a vague outline of a human body.

Oobleck merely raised an eyebrow. So what if some first-years brought a thermal camera to a grimm hunt.

/

Her fingers twitched, the giant blade shot out from behind her back and sliced two beowolves mid-jump, Ruby barely even looking away from her scroll. So far there were only a couple of average beowolves, ursas and an occasional creeper. The camera was so far useless, grimm had no body temperature to begin with and unless somebody was outside, it wasn't good enough to see through walls.

And this was how they spent the entire day. Slowly tracking through the city, killing an occasional grimm while Ivory was flying circles above the buildings. After setting up their tents on the highest floor of a reasonably tall building, dr. Oobleck noticed a small herd of goliaths and decided to give his students a small lesson.

That idea didn't go as planned.

"Weiss…do you have any idea how loud it will be?" Ruby exasperatedly asked.

"Didn't you want to fire a couple of rockets at them?"

"On our way back!"

During their argument, an almost twenty foot tall archer stood on the roof next to them, arrow drawn, only waiting for its master to charge it up with dust.

"What if I need a big meat-shield during the mission?"

"Just make a bigger boarbatusk or something!" Ruby shot back.

"You are just scared that I will be the Sniper on our team soon." Weiss rolled her eyes and before she could blink, Ruby's rifle was already set and she was aiming towards the herd.

Behind them stood their teacher and the rest of the team. "So… you wanted to tell us something?" Pyrrha awkwardly asked.

"Yes." He answered, watching the giant arrow fly towards the elephant-like grimm. "Mostly to your leader. About the fact that not every grimm is immediately hostile and could be left alone for a time." He paused as the explosion lit up the small plain on the border of the settlement. "Now, it seems rather pointless." They briefly cringed as Ruby's monstrous rifle fired off. "Remind me, how did she get her hands on what essentially is an anti-aircraft cannon?"

Pyrrha looked at Yang. It would be better to ask Ruby but her and Weiss were currently discussing the benefits of having a horse-sized goliath as a battering ram. Or means of transportation.

"Uncle Qrow gave her some Atlasian schematics when she was younger. The rest is history." Yang answered.

/

"Do you think there are huntsmen birds? Like how Zwei is?" Ivory asked during her flight the next day.

…maybe? What brought it up?

"Well, there are two weird birds following us. One crow and one raven. I know that I'm not exactly knowledgeable on the subject but shouldn't normal animals be startled when a glowing crystal bird, twice their size, flies over? And is it okay for them to have red eyes? I thought it was a grimm at first."

Weiss briefly thought about it. Do they still follow us?

"I can't see the crow but the other one is still there."

Can you control another nevermore if you are like this?

"Make one and we will see."

"Stop!" Ruby called out and motioned for them to turn right. "Weiss, turn to the right and try to go lower. I've got two hits, see what it is."

"Heard her, on it. Also, yeh, I can control the thing. It's a bit confusing but I'll manage."

"Okay… So we have two White Fangs on the lookout." Ruby announced after confirming her findings. They were all currently hidden in the building one street away.

"...well, this is interesting."

What happened?

"That raven had aura and took the hit without much-"

Wait a second! I thought you would just keep an eye on it, not try to kill it!

"Anyway, it flew deeper into the building. I went after it aaand… the owner is female and has a long dust-coated sword."

Fantastic… I'll tell Ruby, make sure she doesn't jump us when we are not looking.

"Pyrrha? Can you try to scan the area with your semblance? Maybe there are some backdoor entrances or tunnels, try to find some…support beams, I guess?" Ruby proposed.

"Sure." After a few seconds, she did find something. "Got it! A corridor leading this way." She pointed in the opposite direction from the building they were watching.

"Okay, moving out. Pyrrha keep looking further, Weiss, keep the look out."

"Ruby, there is something else you need to know." Weiss stopped her before they started moving.

/

"Lost it. It went too deep." Pyrrha awkwardly spoke up. They were able to somewhat follow the tunnel for about half a mile before it started rapidly descending and Pyrrha's semblance couldn't reach it anymore.

"Okay… I'm marking this place. If we can't find any other place, we will come back and dig our way in." Ruby offhandedly commented and continued to move along. Soon, they reached a large crossroad.

"Ruby, stop!" Pyrrha called out. The reaction was…predictable as everyone pulled out their weapons and tensed up. "...Ehm… I wanted to say that there is a large…dome(?) under the road. I'm not sure if it's safe to walk on it. It's old and…" She quieted down after receiving various glares about stressing them all over nothing.

"Hmm, how big is it?" Ruby asked and looked around the place.

"I don't know… I can only sense the top of it. Who knows how deep it goes." Pyrrha answered.

"Weiss, can you send out a bunch of small summons to look for vents? If there is something this big there has to be an air system. Pyrrha, keep looking around, maybe you'll find an entrance. Yang, stand guard. I'll take a look around, maybe I'll figure out where exactly we are and I'll be able to check things out with the old maps."

Ten minutes later Pyrrha did find an entrance but then they found a different problem.

"Yang…maybe you should lay off the gym? You know, when we find a different way in." Ruby offered with a small frown.

"Hell no, I didn't spend half a dozen years building myself up!"

"Aaanyway!" Weiss stopped the meaningless bickering. Besides, she liked Yang being strong, warm but still soft…

"Focus."

Right! The mission. "She won't fit. So, what's plan B?" it was Ruby's fault anyway. It wasn't Yang's figure that couldn't fit, only Ruby's toys.

"Go in guns blazing." Yang proposed.

"We have no entry point."

"And there are at least a couple dozen people just running around, who knows how many people are actually there." Weiss added. "We won't be able to sneak in and as soon as we start, we will get bottled up somewhere."

Yang smirked and looked towards the middle of the crossroad. "I prefer making my own entrance." Pyrrha said the place was the top of the structure, what was stopping her from breaking in?

"We are not burying all of them in there!" Ruby objected.

The elder sister rolled her eyes. "C'mon Rubes, you know I'm more careful than that. Just a small cute hole in the ceiling. Let's say…twentish feet wide. I'm sure the place can handle it."

Ruby gave her a pout and looked at the others. "Does anybody have a better plan? And no, we can't sneak in. Out of all of us, I have the best chance and that is unless they question why they are smelling roses everywhere." … "Weiss, send a bird in. Find somebody who looks like he is in charge and tell them to surrender. They do, we keep an eye on the place until somebody comes to pick them up. If not-" she sighed "-we go in."

/

"Ehm mister Torchwick, sir, others are really angry about how you treated Lessie-"

Blah, blah, blah… should have gotten used to it. Or paid me to be nice…

Both him and Neo agreed that it was funny. The dumb lass was carrying around unfinished explosives so he just said her to put it down. He said 'drop it'...about half a dozen times…in a way that one would talk to a dog but hey, they would need to gather at least five people to have the intellect of an average person and well, she was a dog faunus.

And now they had a rat infestation, at least that's what he assumed after reports about scratching in the vents started coming in. Weird, considering how many animals they had here, they would probably hunt them all down.

At least Taurus wasn't here. Sure, he would be able to motivate the morons to work more but then they would also screw up twice as many things. Not to mention his outburst whenever any Schnee, his ex, Cinder or Sienna were brought up. It was funny to watch the first couple of times. Now? Cleaning after him became an annoying chore.

The sound of shouting came from the outside of his office…wagon…rundown trailer, whatever.

"What is this time… I swear, it's like herding ca-'' he was on his legs and ready to walk out when a pale blue bird crashed through a small window and gracefully (for a bird) landed on Neo's parasol.

Did it look way too smug to be even possible? Definitely.

Neo wasn't amused.

Then it stuck out one leg and presented the attached piece of paper.

"Neo." Roman spoke up. "Did you add something to my cigars again?"

She shook her head.

He took away the message, trying not to think about how dumb four random goons looked while pointing guns at some bird.

[Surrender, 3 minutes] followed by a phone number.

He snorted, turned the paper and started writing a witty response. The bird continued to watch him.

"Okay…done, hmm…how do I put it back? Can you carry it in your beak or something?" And now I'm talking with a bird…

"No." Oh fuck, it talks! He jumped back. One of the goons even dropped his rifle. "And you are not as funny as you think." It continued. "Also, we'll try to be gentle but you should find yourself a god or two to pray to."

Then it shattered and faded away.

/

Weiss already received the news from Ivory. "For the record-" she looked at Ruby. "-I want all of you to know: I told you so."

Ruby just looked a bit saddened. Why did it have to end in violence? Grimm was an enemy for everyone and yet they still had to fight… "Okay, so fighting it is. Yang, catch." She threw a grenade at her. "Everyone else, back off and double-check."

While everyone left to a safe distance, Yang was casually walking towards her stage, idly spinning the grenade on her finger.

"Showtime?" She called out without turning.

"Go for it!" Thanks sis.

She pulled the pin and put it in front of her chest. Normally she would keep it by her side but with the weapons… she didn't want to damage them.

I who shall awaken

Golden dragon who devoured the flames of the sun

The air grew heavy and became much hotter. Pyrrha, already used to the strange effect, just sighed and tried to ignore the creepy feeling.

Bartholomew Oobleck didn't fare as good and was barely keeping himself from shaking. Coincidentally, he had this issue only three times in his life.

First was when he, as a Beacon freshman, ran into Raven after her graduation party. And they say that a hangover was making people miserable… No! It was making people absolutely terrifying!

Second was his first day as a teacher at Beacon, fresh doctorate in his office, mind full of hope and dreams. Glynda had PMS. Sadly, Beacon had no clauses about bullying.

And now it was there again… He came to terms with feeling like he was about to be diced, then fearing being turned inside out. Now he felt like he was about to be burned alive.

BANG

A moment later, they were engulfed by a blast of hot air as Yang fully charged up.

Yang raised her fist and got ready to punch down.

/

"C'mon, c'mon! You are here to fight, not die of old age!" Exits were covered. Hopefully. There were definitely enough people to do so. Although numbers and logical thinking didn't always go hand in hand, especially not in this community.

Roman was quietly smoking a cigar, watching Adam's 'yes-man' try to coordinate the defense.

The worst part of this whole mess was that if everything went to shit, there was nowhere to run. Place was full of grimm, Atlasian battleships were patrolling the majority of the kingdom and Cinder would skin him alive if he tried to run.

There was always the train but… That would be the absolute last resort.

A muffled explosion gave everyone a pause.

It has begun.

Grunts were running around in small groups, reinforcing tunnels and mounting defenses.

Too bad they guessed wrong when it came to the direction of the attack.

The ceiling broke down and five figures were descending into the hornet's nest.

Roman ignored the invincible girl and little red, who this time brought an even bigger scythe. He didn't care about the only adult in the group or even the snowflake, even if some small part of him felt sorry for whatever unfortunate idiot would get in her way.

No, the only person he was staring at was the blonde girl, who he only assumed to be some sort of sidekick, falling down and the familiar armaments she had on her.

Before they had even hit the floor, he was already shouting.

"Get this thing going! We are leaving!" He gave a short hand wave to Neo and they both started running towards the control panels.

/

/

/

Replies

To skyway920: I have some small tweaks when it comes to silver eyes but for the most parts it will stay the glorified flashlight.

To P0k3d4th: Took some inspiration with the chant. I know, sue me. The wording is the only similarity though, Yang's power up does not work like that.