The morning started off as any other morning in Atlas for Team RWBY. Wake up, fight who gets to shower first, get dressed, eat and head to the briefing room for the dayâs missions.
Everything was normal up until the end of the briefing, RWBY sitting alone in the room. No mission for them it would seem. At least until General Ironwood came into the room. Now things were interesting.
âAlright, I know what you are wondering and Iâll cut to the chase. Today, we have yet to receive a report from a monitoring outpost in the farther regions of Solatis. Normally we are a bit more patient but this is a critical outpost as it receives information from multiple monitoring systems and it is the closest one we have to the grimm lands.â said Ironwood.
âIf itâs so critical, why not send the Ace Ops, theyâre more than equipped to handle something so important like this?â asked Blake.
âThey have their mission besides todayâs. And, this does not leave the room, other posts have reported strange sightings. One would think it would be just nervous soldiers but these are experienced men, and the fact we have gotten multiple reports with nearly the exact descriptions, this is a cause for concern. I want some of the best that I have to investigate.â
âWe wonât let you down sir.â declared Weiss.
âI know you wonât. Now move, a bullhead will take you the outpost. The bullhead will only drop you off at the outpost, its needed for the Amity project. Once you have regained control of the outpost, turn on the power and its defense system should return back to operational level. Iâll have teams come and relieve you once you have made contact back with HQ. Good luck ladies.â
Crunch Crunch Crunch Crunch
The sound of snow underneath their feet did nothing to help the sense of uneasiness that flowed through Ruby.
âJust perfect, a snow storm had to show up,â said Weiss.
âHow much farther do we have until we reach the station?â asked Yang as she clutched her jacket.
âWe should be reaching about now,â said Ruby. And just as she said, the station had appeared in their vision.
Quickly making their way towards it, they soon noticed worrying signs. The door seemed to have been blasted, computers destroyed and bodies scattered everywhere. As they continued, the bodies soon began to tell a story. An unnerving one.
âI donât understand how they could have been killed so fast. Even White Fang ambushes werenât this efficient, even with Adam leading them.â said Blake.
âNot even a fight. Look at how far away the security team is away from everything else. Barely out of the arms room before they fell.â added Weiss.
âWell, whatever did this, they sure liked fire.â said Yang as examined a burn mark on a wall. Her curiosity told her to touch it. And she did, recoiling her finger back with a yelp.
âWhat!?â questioned Blake.
âIt's hot. Even after all this time it's still burning.â
âNo fire would still be hot, the outside climate would have cooled it by now. Speaking of which, Weiss, you noticed the burn marks on the bodies as well?" asked Ruby.
âI did. But it couldnât have been any kind of shaped charge either. Even fire dust canât cauterize wounds, or make them this big.â added Weiss.
âIf it wasnât dust or guns, who or what did this?â asked Yang.
Again, Blakeâs ears flickered.
âWell, whoever they are using shaped charge projectiles because these are literally burn wounds. Heck, even on the walls those scorch marks could pass for a shape charge except thereâs no hole. That hole was essentially made by melting it.â explained Ruby.
âGUYS MOVE!â shouted Blake.
On instinct, the other three dived away from their positions. For a brief moment, they saw a blue blade strike the center of their position before disappearing.
âWhat the HELL was that!?â
The four formed a circle, back to back. Scanning the room, the readied themselves for their attacker to show themselves.
A hissing sound was all they heard before they were all blown out of the room and into the cold outside.
The snow in front of the defeated girls was deafened by a ringing in their ears. Multiple footprints were made in the snow, the only thing that alerted the girls that their attacker was not alone.
A familiar blue blade was ignited followed by a hiss. The blade was raised and the wielder took their time to ensure that their blade struck true.
Only that their aim was interrupted by a shot to the head. A brief flicker gave the four a glimpse of their attacker. One word ran through their heads.
Another bang echoed out followed by automatic fire.
âThis is sergeant Allieri, weâve made contact with covenant forces. Four civilians, requesting med-evac.â
As the four regained their bearings, their mysterious saviors were busy shooting atâŠnothing. Or at least it would appear so to them. A soldier broke them out of their thoughts.
âAre you alright?â she asked.
âWho are you?â asked Ruby.
âPrivate Ackers, UNSC.â she replied.
âUNSC?â questioned Blake.
âKeep firing, Bird is almost here. Where are our hogs at?â yelled a soldier before a small flash of green took him down.
Suddenly, 5 vehicles jumped a small ridge, unleashing a stream of minigun fire.Â
With the element of surprise gone, the mysterious foes unveiled themselves. Like water following over glass, their opponent became visible, granting RWBY a clean view of who they were attacked by.
Creatures ranging from small to tall came into view, though saying small was an understatement as their smallest attacker was as tall as Weiss. What caught their eyes though was their equipment. The blue ones seem to have aura with how they seem to flicker with lights when struck. Their weapons however, told a different story.
The sounds their guns made were straight up the sound a kid would make pretending to shoot a laser gun. But instead of being toys, these were real. They saw a shot impact a soldier and immediately put them down. A familiar scorch mark was left where he was shot.
"At least we know who attacked the outpost.â said Yang.
âWe have to help them,â said Ruby with conviction.
âWoah, you are in condition to fight, you guys are lucky to have survived that plasma grenade.â replied Ackers.
âWeâre tougher than we look.â replied Yang before she stood up and leaped into action.
âINCOMING!â yelled Yang as she smashed into a group of enemies. Before one of them could regain their senses, she unleashed a punch into the abdomen of one, sending it flying. Her moment of victory cut short when she was shot in the back.
âAAAHH!â screamed Yang. She felt as though back had melted, her aura doing its job at saving her.
A loud shot rang out as her attacker dropped to the ground, a brief flicker surrounded them as the layed on the ground.Â
âWeiss, use a summon. Blake, go get Yang.â ordered Ruby.
âBack up?â hoped Weiss.
A hope that was quickly shattered as a loud rumbling roared out. Two gigantic beasts emerged from thin air. Their saviors quickly focused their fire on the two beasts. But for all their firepower, it did nothing to slow them. They shielded themselves with their large shields.
âWEISS!â shouted Ruby.
âHey get down!â ordered Ackers. To her surprise, she saw Weiss summon a creature of pure white and watch as it ram itself towards the beasts. It did nothing to the beasts but it gave Blake an opening to restrain its shield arm. The opening was taken advantage of as everyone opened fired.
The other one roared as one of its arms charged and shot out a ball of green. It struck one of the vehicles, resulting in a devastating explosion.
The strength of the beast was too great for Blake as it launched Blake. Ruby shot at it as it charged towards, but her shots literally bounced from its shield. As it neared, Yang prepared an aura charge fist.
A vehicle had crashed into their foe, sending it flying. A figure then landed in front of them as an explosion erupted from the crash. Clad in green armor, the figure looked down at the four before their attention was taken by a loud angry roar.
The other beast eyes had taken to switch from a faint green glow to a prominent red glow. Its cannon charged and unleashed a volley of rapid fire green.Â
âTAKE COVERâ ordered the green savior. Unfortunately, some were cut down.
In awe, RWBY watched as the figure ran towards the fire. The creature charged as well, shield raised and came crashing down. But he jumped over hit, landing behind it. Jumping onto its back, he extended a hand and activated a small purple ball which was soon covered in a blue flame. They stuck the ball into the neck of the creature and leaped off its back.Â
It turned around and let out a road. As it charged, an explosion took its head.
âWow.â was all Ruby said.
âIt's still moving,â yelled Weiss.
Indeed it was still moving, but without a head, it swung and shot aimlessly. A lone soldier ran up with a rocket launcher and fired. What remained was just a torso that soon fell backwards.
âRadio base that we neutralized Banish threats. Collect what you can and stage for retrieval. Have me-â the giant of a man stopped mid sentence as a rapier was pointed at their head. Soon guns were turned on the four girls.
âYouâre not Atlas, nor a Hunter. Explain.â ordered Weiss.
A showdown between the two commenced, neither backdown. Only ending when he ran into the group. The four dodge out the way but it appeared that they werenât his target. A punch into the air revealed another one of those blue creatures, this one with a blue blade. The punch had staggered it and the opportunity was seized by the man as he took its arm, extended and delivered a crippling punch to its elbow, breaking it. The being let out a roar of pain. The man took its blade and stabbed it. The creature fell without a sound.
The four just looked at him, astonished by the speed at which the kill was made.
âDouglas-042â âDouglas replied, back still facing the four. âSparatan of the UNSC. Now are we clear on who we are.â
The sounds of engines drew the four attention to the sky, hopping to see a bullhead. Instead, they saw 4 large aircraft, none of which belonged to any kingdom.
âYou can stay here and never speak of what happened,â Douglas said âor you can come with me and get answers.â
RWBY looked at each. Their answer unanimous.
âThis is Sparatan 042, RTBing to Oscar 4-11. Bring four civilians.â
âHuntresses.â scowled Weiss.
âCorrection, four âHuntressesââ. Corrected Douglas.Â
As the aircraft took off, Ruby jumped up from her seat.
âWhat?â asked a startled Blake.
âWe forgot to get the station back online and report to HQâ
The four looked at each before the silence was broken by Yang.