CHAPTER 3

A Short While Earlier…

Paula's eyes flickered from her Scroll; one of a pair she and Shaidar had bought earlier in the day.

Through a nearby window, she saw night had fallen outside the hotel room she and Shaidar Gorthule had rented. Located within Vale's Industrial district, the room faced towards the nearby seaward dockyards. Although spartan and inexpensive, they'd made sure the room was in good condition before renting it.

The sound of a movement drew her attention to where Shaidar had risen from small table in the corner of the room and was making his way towards her. For the past hour, he'd been carefully opening up his damaged Linking Device with the tools they'd bought. Both to avoid causing any further damage and to avoid setting off counter-measures built into the device.

Given that Shaidar had a digital copy of the blueprints, opening up the scanner-dampening covering would be enough for him to get a reading with his sensors and compare the results.

Unable to help him and with nothing better to do, Paula had spent her time familiarizing herself with the Scroll. Which hadn't proven too difficult. Even if she still wasn't comfortable with how over-designed and fragile the mobile phone seemed to her eyes.

"So how bad is it?" Paula asked, putting her Scroll down on the small bedside table.

"Very. Parts of the Linking Device have been almost completely fried." Shaidar settled beside her on the king-sized bed.

Since they were no longer in public, he'd dropped the illusion that gave him a wholly human appearance by hiding his eyes and their vertically slitted pupils. Although he still wore the clothes they'd bought in Remnant. The black uniform, with it's golden accents and rank collar pins with the image of a black hand, that he'd worn under his bio-armor when they'd arrived on Remnant was stored in a box under their bed.

"Any chance you can fix it?"

Paula was aware that her lover did have some technical know-how, but it wasn't his area of expertise. That said, being part Shadow as a result of genetic manipulation, Shaidar Gorthule had what he'd called a 'watered down' version of their vast genetic memory that contained their philosophy, history and technology. But even a cliff-notes version was enough to give him a level of instinctive control over Techno-mage cybernetics that took normal Techno-mages years to learn. Though he'd told her exceptions had occurred.

Shaidar shook his head, "Even if I had the technical skill to do it, Remnant's technology just isn't advanced enough. It'd be both difficult and prohibitively expensive."

"So we're stuck here," she summarized.

"I wouldn't rule out all chance of us being rescued just yet. But even if it comes, we could be stuck here for a very long time," Shaidar told her.

Paula nodded slowly. She wasn't thrilled at being stranded on Remnant, but knew things could be much worse. Already, most of her focus is on making this new situation work. But she still felt a sliver of guilt about her actions having stranded them here. "So what now?"

He took a deep breath, the motion making a deep orange gleam flicker to life within his eyes. Reminding Paula of how the eyes of the alien Shadows always glowed. "I'll have to destroy the Linking Device. My associate's Operation Security is quite clear about ensuring they stay out of the hands of third-parties."

Paula wanted to tell him not to. Even through her barriers and his telepathic defenses, she could sense the sudden spike of discomfort; a quiet fear, an anxiety simmering in the back of his head. She'd also seen the look on his face before, albeit not often. The way his eyebrows furrowed and his very controlled tone told her that destroying the device didn't sit well with him. Doing so would destroy their way home, but for Shaidar it would mean destroying the symbol of the new life he had built.

She knew of that his old life had been torn apart by forces beyond his control. Yet he'd done his best to carry on, trying to live his life in the wake of the alien calamity. It'd been almost a year after the attack that he'd stumbled into contact with the Shadows, the ancient beings who's outlook resonated with his own. He'd joined them and they gave him a new purpose, a new name, a new life that he'd embraced.

He'd been a commander, both on and off the battlefield, a field agent and, perhaps most important of all, an emissary of the Shadows. The last role wasn't unusual- his associates had long used servants from younger races, such as humanity.

What was unusual was the lengths they'd gone to in Shaidar's case. For his role as their emissary had been a key reason behind why, thanks to genetic manipulation, he'd been transformed into a Shadow-human hybrid. Though not the sole reason for that metamorphosis-or the purpose behind it.

Now he would be forced to destroy a symbol of that compact. That it was also a literal link to his patrons, even if damaged beyond easy repair, was salt in the wound.

But even ignoring all the problems the device could cause for them in Remnant, if they were rescued, the Shadows wouldn't be pleased if Shaidar had failed to follow procedure. Paula cared too much to risk that, so she told him what he needed to hear rather than what he'd want to hear.

"Then that's what we need to do," she told him firmly while placing a gentle hand on his shoulder, "a civilization like this getting their hands on the device could be a disaster."

"You're right," he said gently squeezing her hand, "as always. They're at that troublesome threshold of development as a civilization. Smart enough to make use of the technology, but reckless enough to be a danger to themselves. And if by some minor miracle they manage to repair it, others."

"Can't say I see Earth and Remnant being guaranteed to get along either," Paula mused. "A world without Grimm, where they'll be superhuman compared to almost everyone else? It'd look like paradise."

Which was all the more reason why they couldn't risk trying to ask the Remnans for help. Should things go badly, all they'd be doing is walking up and making themselves targets for the rest of Remnant. As Shaidar would say, it was all a matter of relative strength.

"Not to mention that it'll attract attention we don't need. Even broken, its technology obviously isn't native to Remnant."

It was as those words left his mouth when a brilliant flash of light shone through the thin window curtains. Along with a distant rumble as something far-off exploded.

-RWBY-

Darkness surrounded Blake Belladonna. For several long seconds, she had no sight and no sound but an awful, high pitched ringing. Then sight and sensation returned to her once more.

Sprawled out on the ground, Blake coughed as the smell of smoke, burning metal and Dust filled her nose. The hiss and crackle of fire made her look up.

Different temperatures hit Blake in waves. Reaction after reaction chasing each other as ice and burn Dust fought each other for victory. From the torn top of the container, spurts of fire mixed with smoke shot skywards into the night sky. While across it's surface, jagged ice crystals formed and melted. Perhaps the mixtures of Dust were some kind of safety feature- Blake didn't know.

Almost all the force of the explosion had been directed upward, leaving only a small hole in the container's deformed sides. But in the process, it'd toppled the containers and shifted the crates around it. Erasing the path between the crates she'd been running towards.

Blake took all this in a split second. She grimaced, blinking her eyes to clear the phantom blotches that filled her vision. The cat ears atop her head pulled flat as those sensitive eardrums rang. Her Aura had done very little to protect them from the painfully loud explosion. The explosion had also thrown her back. Nothing was broken, but her body felt bruised.

As Blake forced herself to her feet, she heard Sun call out her name. And bursts of gunfire filled the air. She whirled, Gambol Shroud in hand and the world threatened to spin around her. Staggering, she saw Sun skid to a stop in front of her. His staff spinning as he deflected the bullets set their way.

Past him, through the veil of black smoke, Blake caught flashes of the attacking Faunus. She couldn't see Garnet, and didn't spend time to wonder how Sun had managed to slip away from him. The sight of the human from before leaning comfortably on his cane made Blake bristle. Whatever was going on here, she knew that he was somehow at the heart of it all.

For an instant, Blake wavered, indecisive. Between Garnet and the rest of the White Fang, they might be getting in over their heads if they stayed and fought. But letting the White Fang escape with Dust would be running away again. Then the moment passed, and she made her decision.

"Sun! Come on, this way!" she yelled.

With bullets hissing through the air around them, she led Sun away from the White Fang. Schnee Dust shipping containers flashed by them as they ran. Trying to jump over them wasn't an option. Even if she and Sun managed to pull off the jump, she didn't want to risk a repeat of almost getting blown up.

Behind her, Blake could hear Garnet bellowing orders. "Team four, with me! The rest of you start loading the Dust like we planned, we need to be out of here before the police and Huntsmen show up!"

At his words, the gunfire died down. She did not turn to look back, instead allowing the man's words to urge her on even more. One way or another, she was going to keep her promise to stop running. If she and Sun were quick enough, they could still reach the Bullheads by the entrance and stop them from loading Dust. Even if there were more Faunus there, being closer to the exit also would give the two of them a better chance to escape.

Unless, a part of her mind pointed out with dread, Adam was here as well. That thought made Blake stumble as they neared the end of the row of shipping containers. Sun shot her a worried look.

Recovering, she reached her left hand over her shoulder to Gambol Shroud's sheath. Now using it as a cleaver-like secondary sword, Blake sprinted around the corner. An instant later, she was batting aside bullets as the White Fang opened fire, with Sun alongside her doing the same with his staff.

Continuing her charge, Blake's eyes darted from one bunch of White Fang to the other. There was no sign of her mentor and former lover in either of the groups by the two entrances to the pier. Blake was so relieved that she almost didn't her Garnet shouting orders. Her head snapped in the direction of his voice.

He hadn't chased after them like she'd thought. Instead, he'd backtracked, leading his group of Faunus around the shorter route to the opposite side of the wall of shipping containers. So that they were now only meters away from her and Sun.

Even as she realized this, the White Fang at the entrance to her front were reacting to their commander's order. They rushed forward, closing the short distance that remained between them and their enemies with melee weapons in hand.

Without breaking stride, Blake lashed out at them with Gambol Shroud's tethered blade. But her range of motion was limited with Sun alongside her. And these weren't Grimm or lightly armored, Aura-less androids. So the sloppy blow did little more than stagger some of the Faunus. And not enough to disorganize them or give her and Sun the openings they needed.

As the two groups slammed together, Blake alternated between slashing away with one blade and using the other to block the attacks being hurled at her. Besides her, Sun had separated his staff into two sets of nunchucks. Spinning them in his hands, he fired shotgun blasts into the crowd of White Fang. The line of masked Faunus bent and for a moment, Blake felt a surge of hope, sure that she and Sun would be able to break through.

Then hope died. Having used the time brought by their brethren to close the gap, Garnet and his group hit her and Sun from behind. Swinging her blades desperately, Blake tried to dance back from the blows that were raining down on her. She heard Sun stop firing. Fear clawed at her for an instant and she risked looking over at him. Not having time to reload, he'd reformed his nunchucks back into a staff.

The sound of approaching Bullheads caught her ears, but she had little time to think about what it might mean before a sword stabbed against her chest. Shocked that she'd gotten so distracted, Blake instinctively tapped into her Semblance and leaped back. She didn't get far. A blade rebound off her neck, draining her Aura further. Spinning, she struck low with Gambol Shroud. Only to find herself forced back as a Faunus with deer antlers stabbed at her from the side.

It was a tactic the White Fang had created for it's rank and file should they encounter Huntsmen or the older creatures of Grimm. Like the pack of beowolves they resembled, they were bleeding her and Sun with numbers and feints. Attacking, then backing off whenever retaliated against and hit from another angle. Try to focus on one of the pack and get mauled to death by the rest. Between their tactics and combined strength, she and Sun were being forced back.

Swaying to the side, Blake brought her curved blade down on his sword. With a hash crack, the cheap and poorly made blade snapped beneath the blow, leaving it's owner to gape in disbelief. That was enough for Blake. A flurry of strikes chipped away at his Aura in seconds and he stumbled back, clutching a bleeding gash in his side. Any shock she might have felt at spilling a fellow Faunus's blood was lost beneath the need to survive.

As she cut, slashed and whirled away from another attack, Blake caught sight of Garnet again. He was prowling around the outside of the ring of fighters, purring chainsaw in hand. She knew he was ready to step in if she and Sun started breaking through, or to intercept them if they tried to escape.

Blake also knew she and Sun could take Garnet if he was alone or with a few people to back him up. He did have some familiarity with her fighting style, as the train robbery hadn't been her and Adam's first visit to Vale. But that knowledge went both ways. Which was part of why he was hanging back. If he charged in, the White Fang would risk getting hit by their own leader.

Hot air buffeted the fight as the two Bullheads she'd heard earlier swooped low overhead. Blake's ears- the set that weren't still ringing- told her that one of them was moving off to land behind the wall of shipping containers. Probably to help the White Fang there secure more Dust, Blake thought with despair. But she didn't have much time to think about it. From her left, Blake glimpsed several more masked men and women jump down to the pavement to join in the fight from an open hatches.

Another shadow-clone and Blake was back at Sun's side. She ducked a swinging ax blade and swung her blades in growing desperation. All around her was chaos. The blows were raining down on her so quickly now and from so many different directions that even her Aura-augmented reflexes couldn't block more than half of them.

The only reason why she and Sun still had any room to move was that their enemies would end up getting in each other's way. Not that it mattered, they still couldn't retreat. It was all her fault for charging in. Now she had to be the one to try and get herself and Sun out of this.

Caught up in the swirling melee, she almost didn't hear the roar of the Bullhead by the other entrance take off. A glance upwards only showed her a glimpse of the aircraft slowly pulling itself into the air, a shipping container dangling beneath it. Before she was again batting strikes aside with her swords.

Then, over the sounds of battle and though the roar of engines, Blake heard something else. Shouts and cries of alarm from where the Bullhead had just taken flight. Followed by the noise of assault rifles spraying gunfire. Busy blocking another strike, Blake didn't dare let her attention waver from the fight right now.

Gambol Shroud blocked another blow, this time to her ribs, with a clank. It was then that the sound of a deeper sounding gun interrupted the chattering of automatic gunfire. A shrill war-cry screamed in an equally familiar voice pierced Blake's ears.

Blake smashed a Faunus on the side of his head with her sword, using the flat of the blade to send him stumbling back. Having gained a few precious seconds, Blake risked a glance in the direction of the commotion. To see one of the Faunus by that entrance get bowled over. His attacker, trailing flower petals behind her, was a red-cloaked teenager holding a large mechanical scythe whose menacing, curved blade was as tall as her.

-RWBY-

Rose petals still tumbling after her, Ruby fired the high-caliber sniper-scythe known as Crescent Rose again. This time at the ground. Augmented by a touch of her Aura, the gravity Dust in the high caliber round threw her skyward. Up towards the Bullhead, her flowing red cloak billowed out behind her.

Now airborne, Ruby switched her weapon to it's war-scythe form. Gears within Crescent Rose shifted, hinging the curved blade back. Spinning the scythe in a whirling arc, Ruby flew through the space between the rising Bullhead and it's stolen cargo. The razor-sharp blade sliced through the four cables holding the container to the aircraft in two swift sweeps of steel. Sending it falling two dozen or so feet to the ground, while Ruby continued her dive forward.

With a loud crash, the blue box hit the ground several yards behind and to her left. A heartbeat later, Ruby landed with her beloved weapon back in scythe form and at the ready. But her booted feet scarcely had time to hit the ground before she was moving. Swapping out her weapon's empty magazine for a fresh one as she ran forward. Towards Blake and the monkey Faunus she'd recognized as the stowaway from days before.

"Team seven! Kill her! Kill her!" snarled the deep voice of a towering man who carried a massive chainsaw. Ruby saw several of the White Fang react to his command and start towards her. His voice also snapped a handful of his goons who'd been frozen in surprise at her sudden appearance back into action.

A sense of recognition from a Dust-shop months ago hit Ruby as she heard a rising whistling sound from her right. A glance showed her a bright red flare screaming towards her. She pulled the trigger of Crescent Rose, her sweetheart flinging her to the right. As she was thrown into a new direction, the flare shrieked by her to slam into the empty space where she would have been standing. Still, the near-miss was close enough. Ruby felt it the heat and shock eat into her protective Aura.

Regaining her footing, Ruby spared a glance in the direction of where the flare had come from, only to glimpse a man she recognized as Roman Torchwick turning tail towards a half-hidden Bullhead. But that was only for a moment as she turned her attention towards the goons who'd been sent her way.

As a Huntress, her focus was on fighting the Creatures of Grimm. Not people. But in combat a lot of the same rules still applied. Still, her first instinct with fighting people was to hold back rather than kill. At least if she could help it.

Falling back on an old strategy, Ruby sprang forward, blurring an erratic path from opponent to opponent. Between using the recoil of firing and the weight of her weapon, she performed acrobatic feats that would be impressive enough without the added speed of her Semblance. She'd used it to get close to the docks in order to avoid being heard, only switching to Crescent Rose once she'd been seen.

Even as the air began to grow heavy from the scent of dust-powder and roses, she caught glimpses of the blond Faunus and Blake getting pushed back. The big Faunus who'd been hanging back shouting orders had joined the fighting. The giant chainsaw he used as a weapon made it difficult for him to land a hit against the more nimble Blake. Or for his goons to directly assist him. But each sweeping attack was making Blake dodge or give ground. But that wasn't all.

Even as a blow from the blunt side of Crescent Rose sent one of her opponents flying, Ruby saw a goon charge at Blake when she backed away. Forcing Blake to divide her attention and use her Semblance to keep from getting pinned down. The monkey-Faunus was trying his best to keeping the White Fang goons away from Blake. But there were too many of them and he could only be at one place at a time. To make matters worse, every time he tried to help Blake, he'd get attacked from several directions.

Speeding towards another goon, she swept him up with her scythe. Before bringing Crescent Rose around again, knocking him back to the ground. From behind her came a hoarse roar of anger. A pull of Crescent Rose's trigger, and Ruby hurled aside at dizzying speed.

Her opponent, one of the goon that Ruby had taken out earlier, charged after her. The woman's mask had been knocked aside, letting Ruby see a pale face freckled with green scales. She slashed with her sword, but Ruby was already moving, stabbing Crescent Rose into the ground. The other's red eyes went wide as Ruby used scythe's haft like a gymnast's balance beam. Spinning atop it, Ruby smashed her feet into the woman's chest and sending her flying back.

Yanking Crescent Rose from the ground, Ruby heard the tall Faunus shouting orders. "Fall back! Fall back to the Bullheads! Now!"

Without thinking, Ruby pulled back the bolt on her sniper-scythe, ejecting the spent shell and chambering a fresh round. That done, Ruby ran forward towards Blake and her companion. Any goons nearby gave the young Huntress-in-Training a wide space as they fled to the remaining Bullhead by the entrance. Several of the goons were carrying unconscious comrades.

Ruby thought she could hear what sounded like Ember Celia drawing closer. She smiled, warmth flooding her chest. She had nothing to worry about. Soon she'd have the rest of her team with her. Together, they'd save the day and Ruby didn't feel sorry for what that was going to mean for the White Fang and Roman Torchwick.

As the main group of the White Fang retreated deeper into the dockyard, Blake and her companion chased after them. With Blake's companion spinning his staff to deflect away some of the bullets sent their way. Blake meanwhile was firing away with Gambol Shroud. She'd switched one of her swords back to pistol mode and the other blade held in a clenched fist. But both of them seemed to be moving slower than normal to Ruby's eyes.

This prompted Ruby to speed up. As she drew close, Blake whirled around. Having heard the sound of booted feet approaching her from behind, she had her sword at the ready. For an instant, a snarl was plastered across her features before she saw who it was.

Moving past Blake past in a blur, Ruby swung her scythe at the throng of attacking White Fang, sweeping them away with the blunt side of Crescent Rose. In the face of the sudden attack, the masked goons fell back. Ruby skidded to a halt, rose petals tumbling off her.

"You okay?" She asked her teammate. Blake was breathing hard, her face smeared with what looked like soot and dirt. Ruby felt almost overwhelmed by both relief at having finally found her missing friend and concern over her current state.

"I'm fine." Ruby didn't think she looked fine, but Blake continued before she could say anything. "Look, we need to hurry if we're going to stop them. If we don't they're going to steal more Dust and escape!"

The younger girl nodded and looked ahead to the White Fang who had regrouped around a mountain of a man, who raised his weaponized chainsaw in challenge. One the silver-eyed girl wouldn't let go unanswered.

"Yaaaaaaaaah!" Ruby shouted, flourishing Crescent Rose and shooting forwards to charge right at the White Fang's forces.

Chapter Notes:

I'm particularly eager to hear what people think of how I handled the fight and if I did Ruby and Blake's fighting style justice. I've tried to strike a balance between the Monty-style fights we got in the earlier Volumes and the more restrained ones that the series seems to be leaning towards now.

I'd just like to again give my warmest thanks to everyone whose not only favorite'd and followed this story, but left comments as well. I really appreciate that you guys and gals enjoy my story; it means a ton to me. Please feel free to leave your thoughts and comments, as I love to hear them. It's always good to hear input from my readers.

Speaking of which, thank you Zam, Fiersomeone and Paladin for your kind words! I'm glad you think so highly of my story so far.

Egoraptor:

I think your being a bit unfair there. Cinder is, after all still human and just as prone to fear as anyone else. Also, based on what we see in the later Volumes, as well as her flashback conversation with Salem in V3, I'm of the view that Cinder as we saw her in the early Volumes was something of an act. A facade she put up to try to awe and intimidate others. Which, to my mind, makes Cinder a much more interesting character then the (frankly bland) smug villianess she first appeared to be.

Alucard45:

I appreciate your honesty and I'm glad that you decided to give my story a chance. Plus it's nice to know the cover-art paid off a little. As for the two characters, they're 100% of my own creation. Although the Shadows and the techno-mages aren't.

Also, thank you for pointing out the errors in chapter 1 for me! I've gone back through the chapter and I think I've gotten all of them. As for the timing error, the bit with the OC's in chapter 1 was a left-over of an earlier version of the chapter that somehow snuck past my editing. I've fixed that and added in some lines in chapters 1 and 2 to hopefully clarify when everything is happening. Though I will admit Shaidar and Paula still being able to see the moon, however faintly, is somewhat a bit of artistic license on my part.

GuestLurker

Heh. Well, let's say that Blake's encounter with the White fang Lieutenant will have some interesting butterfly effects on the rest of the story. As will quite a few other things in this version of the dockyard fight.