Howdy. Chapter 2 up and ready.

RapeyLemons: Strength in this story is pretty much realistic. The characters on their own are, compared to the actual show, pretty weak. But that doesn't mean that they aren't capable.



Ziirroh: Glad you like it! Patience, young grasshopper. Things will be explained in due time. However, there should be plenty of history coming out in the near future that you can fangirl over.

Tear of Light: Yeah, I haven't seen a sci-fi RWBY story either, and I really like sci-fi stuff. I figured I give it a shot.

With that, enjoy Chapter 2 of The Vale Order!



Day 7, Month 7, Year 75 of the Sixth Age

When did the world start to wobble?

Ruby shook her head violently, clearing the darkness from her mind. Her pod was cruising at a more casual pace, allowing her to return to consciousness. "Man, he wasn't kidding…" She said weakly, finding her legs once more.

The pod was inside a tube that prevented light from entering, so the only illumination came from Ruby's AURA. She pressed a button on her wrist to open the AURA's interface, and started to customize the load out. It didn't take long to do, as Ruby preferred to keep things simple.

She had just finished when the pod slowed suddenly. Bracing herself, she was barely able to remain upright. Then, the pod began to travel upwards, towards the surface. Ruby readied her rifle, preparing herself for combat.

The pod stopped, but she couldn't see beyond its boundaries. "Polarized." Ruby commented, noting that the pod seemed to glow, but not from an outside source. A blind drop.

Ruby heard something hiss from inside to pod. A sweet-smelling gas filled the chamber. "Must be that waking agent…" She added, feeling energy returning to her body. A few moments went by in silence as the other pods were likely pumped with the stuff.

Then, a number appeared on the pod door. 5. Ruby entered a ready stance. 4. She clicked her AURA, activating the device. 3. One last weapon check. 2. "Here we go." 1. A held breath.

The doors opened and Ruby immediately exited. She scanned her surroundings. It looked like a city that had been bombed. Tall structures were damaged, some still standing, others mangled wrecks. The sky was a mixture of smoke, clouds and fire. If this wasn't Hell, it was pretty damn close.

Then, a jet blew past up above, followed by the ear-splitting cry accompanied by it. Ruby took a quick look at the plane and nodded. A Nevermore-Class fighter. Grimm.

Ruby flipped on her AURA, which beeped almost inaudibly as it scanned the default 15 meters around her. Once she was sure she was in a hidden location, she pulled the radar out, losing the ability to detect individual enemies, but great at mapping out terrain and, in this case, ruins. After reaching nearly 4 kilometers, the radar hit a dead zone. The edge of the arena, obviously.

A quick look at the new map showed Ruby about 700 meters south of the objective. Returning to the normal 15 meter range, Ruby marked a simple path on her AURA and began her trek south.

xXxXx

Weiss Schnee was cautious.

Once she had exited her pod, she immediately scanned the area, finding her objective within the minute. The heiress' path, however, wouldn't be easy. Several Grimm trackers, or rather, holograms of Grimm trackers, were patrolling the area, making a clean passage difficult. Weiss growled ever so lightly. She would rather be done with the mission, but she couldn't afford recklessness.

Weiss found the ruins of what looked to be a bank and headed there. Her AURA was scanning at maximum range, 50 meters, so she could only barely make out the Grimm squad she was avoiding.

She was avoiding it. The Grimm began to converge, fairly slowly, on Weiss's location. Another growl. The Grimm must've had AURA-like radars on them. Weiss started to crawl around, hoping to flank them. However, it seemed the Grimm prepared for that, and spread their squad up. They now nearly surrounded the bank, and Weiss was certain they had their weapons trained on her location.

Weiss then hit the 'Stealth' button on her AURA as a last ditch effort to escape. Stealth mode absorbs radar beams, making you effectively invisible, but you cannot use your AURA's radar as a result. Blind your enemy, blind yourself. But it needed to be done if Weiss wanted to escape. One or two Grimm, she could handle. A whole squad? She was good, not suicidal.

Weiss was almost free when a shot nearly hit her cheek. She turned to see the group of Grimm bearing down on her, weapons trained on her. The Grimm were tall, well over two and a half meters tall and thicker than even the most heavy-set human. They might not be monsters, but there were damn close.

Weiss shot back, taking out one Grimm, and took cover inside the ruins of a gas station. She knew she couldn't stay here forever, but she needed time to think. She occasionally popped a shot at a Grimm when the opening presented itself.

The heiress was too busy trying to plan her escape to see her AURA make contact with another recruit. She continued to defend herself, keeping a close eye on the Grimm as they bore down on her. Thankfully, the squad hadn't gotten bigger. It hadn't gotten smaller either, though. Things weren't looking good for the heiress.

A shot rang out from behind the Grimm squad, taking out one of the Grimm leaders. Several other Grimm turned to the source, but the shots kept coming. Judging by the distance, and the faint but sharp sounds, it must've been a sniper. Weiss was thankful for the help, even if she didn't think she needed it.

The heiress used the distraction to start picking off the enemies. The squad tried to find cover, but the sniper shots were able to puncture even the thickest wall. Before long, every one of the Grimm were defeated, their bodies fading away into low-level energy waves, not visible to either human eyes or an AURA.

Weiss scanned the horizon for whoever it was who assisted her. Her AURA flashed 'Contact Made,' but since it was at a long distance, she couldn't get information about the person.

The heiress then heard a voice on her AURA. "So, you alright?" The feminine voice spoke. Weiss knew that voice. Ruby. The heiress frowned deeply. "Obviously not…"

"If we're going to be on a team, you better not do anything stupid!" Weiss shouted. "And where the hell are you!?" The heiress's face began to turn red with anger.

She saw slight movement maybe 80 meters away, near a burned out wooded area. "In the woods. I'm not picking up anything on my AURA. We should regroup and head to the center." Ruby's voice was clear, a natural leader. Weiss's anger subsided slightly. Maybe Ruby had what it took to be a Huntress?

The heiress started towards the other girl, taking great care to keep her profile low to the ground. Grimm had just as many marksman as the Order, so it was a good assumption that this simulation had some as well.

Once Weiss made it to Ruby's position, she noted that the girl was scanning her AURA. "Alright, I marked a path that takes us to the objective while keeping our visibility low." Ruby sent the information to Weiss's AURA, and the white haired girl examined the path. It wasn't the most direct route, maybe a kilometer long, but avoided potential choke points and open fields. However, the objective, what looked to be a warehouse of some kind, had a large open courtyard with no cover.

"What about the courtyard?" Weiss asked. So far, Ruby's plan was quite logical and thought out. It was impressive.

Ruby looked the map over again. "I'll stay behind and cover you. You go inside and collect the scroll and get our exit." The redhead said. "I'll make sure nothing gets to you." The redhead smirked. Weiss nodded.

"Okay then, let's go."

xXxXx

If there was one thing Yang Xiao Long wasn't, it was stealthy. That wasn't to say she couldn't be sneaky when she needed to be, but she preferred to face an enemy rather than skirt around them.

A small squad of Grimm learned of this philosophy firsthand. Yang preferred shotguns, using two different types: An S130, a pump-action shotgun made for heavy hitting, and two SE773s, double-barreled shot-pistols meant for quick and easy use. If she had to fight at long-range, Yang's S130 had an under-mounted 1037 Dust Launcher, which used dust crystals like a bullet with the added bonus of a small explosion.

Suffice it to say, there was very little Yang couldn't kill.

The blonde scanned her AURA quickly, noticing that something was approaching her from behind. It was alone, whatever it was. She smirked. An easy target.

Yang grabbed her S130 and loaded it. She found cover behind the wreckage of a civilian car, and peered over it for a visual confirmation of her target.

It was a lone Grimm hunter, and a pretty tough one from the looks of him. Donning deep red marking over his entire body, the hunter wielded a gun that might've been as tall as Yang. The blonde's smirk deepened. She loved a good challenge.

When the Grimm turned away from her, Yang took a shot. The distance, about 8 meters, made the blast fairly inaccurate, and many of the pellets missed. However, a few of them hit, and they staggered the Grimm, allowing Yang to close the distance.

The Grimm finally turned around in time to see Yang pull out one of her SE733's and shoot it at near point-blank range. The blast caused the Grimm's head to explode in a flash of low-level visible light. The rest of it's body began to fade away in a more controlled way.

With all the enemies cleared out, Yang checked for her objective. She was still quite far away, nearly a full kilometer away. The blonde smirked. She knew she'd run into more Grimm along the way.

Yang had barely moved a few meters when she heard a ping on her AURA, followed by a 'Contact Made' notification. She checked her radar and noticed a blip about 10 meters north of her position. She looked over and saw, barely, black cat-like ears poking over a crumbling wall.

"You can come out." Yang said into her team channel, lowering her weapon. "It's all clear."

Blake exiting from her cover confirmed Yang's suspicions. "I see you prefer a loud approach." Blake said flatly, almost humorously. Yang chuckled, approaching the faunus.

"Yeah, I'm not one for playing it safe." Yang joked as she stepped beside her now teammate. "So, you got a plan?" The blonde asked.

Blake scanned the map on her AURA, and Yang could see several waypoints were made. "I suggest we take this path." Yang saw the map update on her AURA, and saw a path drawn that was direct, but well covered. "It should limit our exposure while still allowing us to make good time." Yang nodded in reply.

"Sounds good to me." And with that, the blonde took the lead and began the long walk to the objective.

xXxXx

Weiss still didn't trust Ruby completely, but so far the younger girl was slowly earning that trust. When the pair was nearly ambushed by a squad of Grimm soldiers, Ruby was the one who came up with a plan of action: try to avoid confrontation, but still have the option to fight back effectively. Ruby stayed put while Weiss looped around, on a path that took them around the Grimm camp. Fortunately they didn't alert the Grimm, and they were able to advance without further delay.

Now they were at the objective. The courtyard looked big on the map, but it looked even bigger in person. Weiss guessed it to be almost 30 meters at its widest, with no cover around. The nearest area where they could avoid enemy fire was almost 40 meters away from their current location.

Ruby scanned the buildings around them. She didn't see any Grimm, but that just meant they weren't in this particular vantage point. "Alright, how quickly do you think you can cover the distance?" Ruby asked, still scanning the surroundings.

Weiss took a careful look at the expanse before her. "On a good day? Maybe 5 seconds." There was confidence in the heiress' voice, but Ruby didn't seem to notice or care.

"And today?" Ruby asked, looking Weiss in the eyes. The heiress faltered slightly.

"Fast enough." Was Weiss's response. Ruby smirked, and set her weapon on a ledge.

"Alright, I'll try to keep anything off you." Ruby said, pulling the long-range scope out of the weapon. Ruby's weapon had a fairly unique sight; The iron sights were mounted on top of the sniper scope, which could collapse into the main body of the rifle. The only thing Ruby was limited by was range. The barrel wasn't long enough to be a precision rifle at distance, but got the job done in a medium range situation.

"Whenever you're ready." Weiss spoke, lowering her weapon, a PT137A, a lightweight, high-fire rate rifle. Weiss hoped she wouldn't have to fight any Grimm inside, but she was confident in her abilities to do so.

"Go." Ruby ordered. Weiss broke into a sprint, willing her legs to move as fast as they could. It felt like an eternity, but in about 6 seconds, Weiss was inside.

"I'm in." Weiss said over the AURA. Ruby gave a beeping response, not speaking lest she disrupt her sight. A true markswoman.

Weiss used her AURA to scan the layout of the building. It was large, with many rooms and hallways. In other words, the perfect place for an ambush. Weiss honed in on a signal that emanated from the largest cargo room in the warehouse. As she did so, more came in, and more clearly. Obviously those were the scrolls she was looking for.

The huntress noticed that the path there was fairly short, but there were plenty of corners. Setting out with care, Weiss headed down the nearest hallway, her weapon now raised and ready to fire.

Weiss took down a Grimm that made contact as she rounded the first corner. The noise alerted any other Grimm in the building, so Weiss increased the frequency of scans on her AURA. She noticed a group of Grimm approaching on a course that would surround her. Needing cover, Weiss did the only thing she could: She ran.

Holographic bullets whizzed past the heiress as she ran, thankful that her attackers were terrible shots. Weiss noticed the hall split ahead, and that the right path, though it led away from her objective, was safe from an ambush from behind.

Weiss dove around the corner and began to shoot back. She was able to hit several Grimm blindly, but she had a hard time aiming accurately. Being left-handed, she couldn't spin around in cover like she would prefer. Still, she was adaptable, and she was able to compensate by shooting less often, allowing her control her shots.

After a firefight that lasted a few minutes, Weiss was clear of all Grimm attackers. She was thankful, too. Her ammo was running low. Not that it mattered, since the ammo was photonic and not physical, and was recharging by the second, but it's recharge rate wasn't very fast: maybe a full clip every 3 minutes. With about half a clip remaining, Weiss was in trouble. Thankfully, she wouldn't need her remaining ammo.

Once she found the scrolls, she picked the first one she saw. She uploaded the information to her AURA. "Alright, I've got the scroll. I'm on my way back." Weiss heard the confirmation beep from the other end. She then heard the characteristic pierce of sniper fire. "You alright?" Weiss asked with only the slightest bit of concern.

For a moment, no sound came over the AURA. Just when Weiss started to worry, Ruby sent three short, low-pitched beeps. The signal that she was in trouble and needed help ASAP. "I'm on my way." The heiress said and immediately tore for the exit.

xXxXx

Yang and Blake worked quite well together. While Blake preferred stealth and Yang preferred combat, the pair was quick to adapt to any situation.

They were inside the warehouse, littered with bullet impacts and slowly fading Grimm. They had just finished off a small group of stragglers.

Blake's weapons were the AW12 and the AY39, two machine-pistols that she used almost elegantly. She kept one in hand at all times, while the other was usually kept around her waist. However, at times she would use both.

Yang grabbed a scroll and started the download. "Well, that wasn't too hard." She commented, noticing that gunshots were ringing out nearby. "Guess they drew the attention." Yang smirked. Blake kept a flat expression.

"You should keep your guard up." Blake warned. "Grimm are quite good at ambushes." Yang smirked as she headed towards the exit.

"Yeah, but I'm good at kicking ass." She made a thumbs-up gesture towards herself, her confidence practically burning off of her. "So that cancels it out." Blake shook her head in defeat, a small smirk on her face.

xXxXx

Ruby was panting as she reached a gas station almost 300 meters from the warehouse. Weiss followed her in, panting heavily, less than a second later. The two had run the entire distance here at full speed. They hoped they lost their pursuers.

Right after Weiss found the scroll, Ruby got snuck up on by a small group of Grimm, three in all. Ruby barely avoided being hit and took out the three, but that attracted every Grimm within 100 meters. Unable to keep her position, Ruby bolted towards the warehouse, met Weiss as the heiress was exiting, and started running in the general direction of their exit.

"That was close." Ruby said when she could finally speak. Weiss nodded weakly, having never run that far. She was a sprinter, not a marathoner.

"Let's…rest…for a…minute." Weiss breathed out. Ruby nodded in agreement, and laid back almost immediately. She started to steady her breathing, slowly regulating her heart rate, which she could see on her AURA level out at 74 BPM.

Ruby noticed, however, that Weiss's heart rate had only dropped slightly, and was currently leveling out at 98 BPM. Weiss was also still breathing quite quickly. "Weiss, are you okay?" Ruby asked, a small amount of concern entering her words.

Weiss breathed out what sounded like a "Yes.", but it was hoarse. Ruby sat down in front of the heiress.

"You need to slow your breathing, otherwise you'll strain your heart." Ruby said, putting one hand on Weiss's shoulder. Ruby motioned for Weiss to breathe in, and then, after a few seconds, breath out. The two did this for a few moments before Weiss was able to do it on her own.

Thankfully, with this help, Weiss was able to regulate her heart rate to a much more stable 81 BPM. Still high, but safer.

"You need to breathe steadily when you run a long distance." Ruby said once Weiss was breathing normally. "That's all there is to it. Keep breathing." Weiss nodded.

"Why'd you join BEACON, anyways?" Weiss asked suddenly. It was a question she had been dying to know the answer to. What was a girl of 17 doing joining the military, and the most elite branch at that?

Ruby thought for a moment. "Well, my mom's a Lieutenant Colonel." Ruby said shortly. "And, well, I wanted to help people." She said it like it was obvious. "Besides, what the heiress to the largest business in the Order doing in the military?" Ruby countered.

The question caught Weiss off guard. "Well…" She started, trying to find the right words. "I just wanted to make a name for myself." She said after a few moments of silence. "I don't want to be known for my family's business." Ruby nodded.

"Fair enough." She said simply. Then she heard a beep on her AURA. "More Grimm." She said, grabbing her weapon. "Come on, we should move." Ruby stood up, helped Weiss to her feet, and exited to the east, towards their exit.

xXxXx

Yang and Blake stood at the edge of what appeared like the ruins of a large park. "So, this is where our exit is?" Yang asked rhetorically, sounding almost let down.

Blake double checked the map. The coordinates from the scroll were inside, less than 100 meters away. "Yes, our evac point is in here." She confirmed. Yang shrugged, and started inside.

They were approaching the exit when they heard a Nevermore scream overhead. It was gone almost as soon as it came, but Blake frowned. "We might be expecting company before long." She commented. Yang smirked.

The two found a good cover, a gazebo, only 10 meters from their exit point. The gazebo had a thick wall and gave the pair a 360 degree view of the park. Barring running out of ammunition, they could hold their own forever.

The first patrols were on them less than 5 minutes later. It wasn't long until larger squads found their position. Gunfire rang out ceaselessly. Yang focused on the northern front, while Blake held the southern approach.

Things were going smoothly until Blake saw something approaching at good speed. Faster than on foot, slower than a Nevermore. She growled ever so much.

"Borbatusk inbound." She warned. Yang turned around just as the jeep-like vehicle, fitted with a chain gun and armored to the teeth, rolled onto the grass. Immediately, the turret spun up, peppering the pair with bullets.

Yang took cover next to Blake on the south wall. Fortunately, the steel wall stopped the bullets, but now the Grimm from the north could advance without delay.

"Cover me." Blake ordered. Yang nodded, waited for the turret to stop firing, and unloaded her Dust weapon, hitting the Grimm on the turret square in the head. She then started to fire at the others in cover.

Blake pulled out a flash grenade, pulled the pin, and tossed it over the south wall. Yang saw this and immediately dropped, looking anywhere but south. Blake did the same.

A second later, a light nearly as bright as the sun was let loose, blinding anyone foolish enough to have looked at it. It lasted maybe 2 milliseconds, but it gave Blake an opportunity to begin defending the northern flank.

She started unloading on the nearest Grimm, who stumbled aimlessly before dropping dead. Yang hit one nearby, the force of her shot knocking him on his back.

Blake turned south just in time to see the turret spin up. She dragged Yang to the ground just before a spray of bullets flew overhead. Though the pair were not hit, several Grimm on the north flank were cut down in the wave.

Yang growled audibly. This wasn't looking good. Yes, they weren't in real danger, but failure here, less than 10 meters from their objective, would be terrible.

"Need some help, sis?"

Yang perked up as a voice crackled over her AURA. "Ruby, when'd you get here!?" Yang shot back, trying to pinpoint her sister's voice on her map.

It wasn't long before several shots rang out, and the turret fire died down. Yang looked up to see Ruby and Weiss gunning down the Borbatusk from further south. The Grimm there scattered, trying to find cover.

Blake immediately cut them down, the cross fire leaving very few safe areas. Yang began to fire on the northern group, keeping them from advancing closer.

Weiss slipped into the gazebo next to Yang and began to unleash covering fire. Yang took the cue and advanced out of the gazebo and towards the Grimm. She was able to jump from cover to cover, eliminating any enemy in her way.

Ruby was on the south side of the Borbatusk, now filled with dead Grimm, using it as a cover. Blake's covering fire allowed the redhead to pick off each individual Grimm one by one.

What was near failure was now a total success. Once all Grimm were dead, the four converged on the gazebo.

Yang immediately bear hugged Ruby, causing the younger girl to squeak. "That was awesome!" The blonde gushed, her voice full of pride. "I'll have to tell that to mom when we get back to the bay."

Blake looked around. "We aren't out of this yet." Weiss nodded.

"Yeah, we still need our evac transport." The heiress said. Yang looked to the sky for a Bullhead. None came.

"Hellllooooo!" Yang called out, as if there was a transport hiding in the sky. "We're ready to be picked up!" Weiss face palmed.

"I don't think they can hear you, Yang…" Blake droned, looking at her AURA. "Maybe we have to wait?" Her guess wasn't the most promising idea.

Just then, their AURA's all crackled. "Team formed." The robotic voice of the Emerald Forest spoke. "Exit craft inbound. ETA 10 minutes." A timer then appeared on the girls AURA's, counting up.

"Okay then, we wait." Ruby said. "We should keep ready in case-" BOOM!

The girls turned around to see an Ursa Tank bearing down on them, the large vehicle having just let off a cannon-shot. Yang let out a curse, quickly scanning for something that could withstand an explosion.

"Over here!" Weiss called out, motioning towards a wooded area about 30 meters away. It wasn't thick, but it would make an exact shot difficult, and the trees themselves were still quite thick. The four ran towards the woods, another cannon blast hitting nearby. The explosion caused Ruby, who brought up the rear, to stumble, but she didn't stop her sprint.

Once in cover, they noticed several Grimm headed for them. Ruby and Weiss began to fire on them, trying to thin them out. All the while, Ruby was devising a plan of attack.

She noticed that the park was fairly open, so any movement would need to be covered, either by a decoy or covering fire. The Ursa's main cannon had a reloading period of about 10 seconds, and there wasn't much in the park that could survive a direct hit.

However, there was a ditch that ran around the south-eastern side of the park, covered by the trees. It held a vantage point of the Ursa's cockpit. It would take a careful shot to hit it, though.

"Weiss, Blake." Ruby said, her plan ready. "I need you to provide a distraction for me." She said. Blake looked at Ruby with a look of uncertainty, but Weiss seemed confident in Ruby's ability.

"You got it." Weiss said simply. Blake nodded after a second of thinking. The two began to circle to the west, following the tree line and, as planned, drawing the Ursa's attention.

"Yang, with me." Ruby said, and led the blonde into the ditch. "I need you to cover me while I set up the shot." Ruby added, approaching where she deemed was a good shooting point.

Yang was intrigued with her younger sister's plan, but she didn't vocalize her interest. She trusted Ruby to pull this through.

Weiss and Blake had set up about 50 meters from the Ursa, spread out to make it harder to hit either of them. The Ursa seemed 100% focused on trying to take out the pair, and Blake hoped that was the plan. She didn't like risking her success in this way, especially this plan failed.

Ruby set her weapon into its sniper form, and took aim at the Ursa. She could hit the driver, but if another Grimm entered the seat, then it wouldn't matter. She needed to hit the fuel cell, and blow the thing sky-high.

She scanned the tank and noticed an opening underneath the cannon's mounting, where it pivoted. According to her AURA's database, this opening lead to missile storage. She hoped there were still missiles inside.

She waited, her breath held, for the cannon to fire, and counted down. 10 seconds to the next shot. She needed to hit the missile as it was ready to fire.

She let the shot off, hitting where the missile was, and watched as a small explosion filled the cockpit of the Ursa. Then, the entire thing went up in a fantastic explosion. The remaining Grimm turned to the explosion in disbelief. They were easily taken out by the four in their confusion.

The four regrouped at the gazebo, which had been hit by a stray cannon blast. "Well…" Yang said after a few moments of silence. "That was a…thing."

Almost immediately after, a Bullhead transport roared into the area. It wasn't long before the four piled into the transport, and they were ferried to where they began.

"Alright." The pilot said as they landed. "Head inside and go to GEN Ozpin." The four nodded, headed inside, and immediately found Ozpin. The General was sipping coffee from a mug.

"Congratulations." He said casually. "You four have completed your initial training." He took a scroll from an aide.

"The four of you will now be a part of team RWBY." He said, looking at the details. "Until further notice, Ruby Rose will be your team leader."

Ruby gasped lightly. Yang gave her younger sister a side hug, a smirk on her face.

"I've arranged for you to return to the Emerald Forest. LTC Goodwitch will direct you to your new bay room." He said as he set the scroll down.

"Dismissed."