The uhh, the fic ain't quite that dead. Sorry for the super long delays, but eventually I'll get this to be more consistent.

Chapter 4

Weiss slammed her locker shut and placed her hand on the pad to lock it. It hissed and locked with a mechanical click. The girl turned around, wincing as the tight VR suit pricked and squeezed in all sorts of uncomfortable places.

Ignoring the discomfort, Weiss made her way out of the locker room and into the spacious bay that held all the VR pods. It was the size of a small hanger, with enough room to seat about 2,000 people. Weiss walked over to where her team was sitting or stretching, getting ready for their combat exercise.

A girl with a grey beanie waved to Weiss and ran over to her. "He's who we have on today's roster. Neon got sick and is staying home right now. Mentioned something about roller blading accident? I don't know. I talked to Colonel Goodwitch and she said that she would provide us with a replacement."

That news was upsetting, Neon was one of the stronger fighters on the team. Weiss hid her disappointment behind an annoyed frown. "Thanks May. Do you have any idea who the replacement is gonna be?"

May shrugged and itched her head. "I don't know, but they better be here soon. The match is starting in 3." Weiss nodded and walked over to the front of the staging area. Everyone started quieting down and took their seats.

"I'll keep this brief. Today's match is against Colonel Fall's team. You know that they are led by Emerald Sustrai. We got this. Just stick together as pairs, and only engage them when you have the advantage. Unless my new partner shows up, I will stick by myself and provide wide coverage over the area. The sim starts soon, so get in you pods and get ready."

There was a chorus of agreement and the team broke. Weiss sighed and paused one last time, hoping to find a replacement before she had to go. The entrances stayed empty and Weiss made her way to her pod, chiding herself for putting up too much hope.

The doors opened with a hydraulic hiss and Weiss stepped into the black chamber. She sat back into the harness system, cushions conforming comfortably to her body. Wiess reached out to the console above her and typed in a few commands, initiating the simulation. The door's hydraulics roared right next to her ear and the metal plates slid together. Right before they finished shutting, Weiss could swear she heard someone saying something and a flash of red and black. A blinding array of lasers poured out of tiny holes and whited out the world.

When the whiteness cleared, Weiss was standing in a darkened dropship with her helmet in hand. A few other figures stood around, checking their equipment and grabbing weapons. Flares of pixels burst sporadically, leaving people in their places. Weiss slipped her helmet on, waiting for the light blue HUD to boot.

"Here ya go." A man in a grey flight suit handed Weiss a long rifle. She took it and looked it over. It was her sniper rifle, painted an immaculate white with blue accents running down the barrel. The customized scope hung off the side of the rifle, making room for the bolt to be pulled easily. It also left room for her to easily put her eye up to it while in motion. Other than that, Weiss hadn't changed anything else. Satisfied that it had been generated correctly, she slung it over her back and did a quick run through of the rest of her equipment.

"Blue team, please come to attention," a strong and commanding voice rang out from the front of the ship. The entire squad came to attention, some shuffling to face the source. "Today's wargame is a simple Live Fire match. No regeneration. No objective other than to eliminate the entire team." Colonel Goodwitch reached up and pulled the hatch release. A blast of wind whistled through the cabin and bright sunlight flooded in. Everyone in the cabin collectively winced at the sudden shift. "Don't disappoint me, be ready for anything," she said as she waved the team out of the ship. Weiss gave the teammate next to her a curt nod and jumped.

Gravity took hold again, dragging Weiss down into the overgrown remains of a city. Her cloak kicked in, reducing her to a slight shimmer. A pair of her teammates soared by, sticking to walls and higher platforms to get to the middle faster. Weiss grabbed onto a window sill and vaulted into a blown-out flat.

"Enemy sighted north-east side of the 'scraper, moving to engage, over," Weiss's radio crackled. Gunshots and the rumbling of explosives soon followed. Shit, I'm not even in position yet, Weiss thought as she scrambled to get to the top of the building.

"Copy that, overwatch support almost in position. Over," Weiss said into her mic. With a final jump, and a small boost from her jumpkit, she landed on the roof and surveyed the battlefield.

True to their word, Weiss's teammates were engaging the enemy team next to the glassy remains of a tower. She saw one go down to a slew of bullets, corpse fading into blue pixels. Without a moment's hesitation, Weiss shouldered her rifle and targeted the source of the machine gun fire. She saw a flash of silver paint slide across a rooftop.

Myrtenaster bucked and roared, the .50 BMG bullet leaving a light trail of distorted air. The ground next to the figure sparked from the impact. Weiss growled to herself and racked the bolt. Her grip tightened, and the rifle barked out another bullet. She was rewarded with a splash of red as her target was turned to paste by the round.

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Down below, the skirmish was growing to a full-fledged battle. Cardin Winchester did not like such intense engagements. Yes, he was bigger, fitter, faster, and a better shot than most, but he still knew his limits. In combat as close quarters as this, even a professional pilot could be defeated by a surprise attack from a single grunt. Not to mention intense battles always came down to the wire as casualties stacked on either side.

His train of thought was interrupted by the sound of shattering glass. He turned towards the window that had been caved in, his rifle aimed at the pilot who had just arrived. His finger began squeezing the trigger, mostly on reflex.

"Oh shizz! I'm a friendly," the pilot yelled loudly. Cardin hesitated, but his computer confirmed it. He took his finger off the trigger, not fully relaxing, and looked this unfamiliar teammate over. She appeared to be a girl, mostly from her higher pitched voice, but the slimmer build of her armor was also a tip off. Her armor was printed with some exotic red and black camouflage.

"I don't recognize you," Cardin said, lowering his rifle cautiously, "are you new?" The girl looked away and kicked a piece of glass.

"You could say that. I just started here yesterday, but I'm only filling in for one of your teammates, hehe. Colonel Fall thought it would give me some good experience of a battlefield," she said.

Cardin paused, letting the silence get a little bit awkward for the girl. "And your name is…?" he said, finally breaking it. "Also, don't stand so close to the window. You could get sniped," he added.

The girl shrugged and propped her rifle against the sill. "Right, I'm so sorry about forgetting my name. Yang's always saying I'm so socially awkward, but that's not true! I like to talk to people, it's just strangers I don't like. That's what your parents always tell you right? 'Don't take candy from strangers' or whatever that saying is. Anyways, I'm much better at fighting, so I don't mind being bad at conversations. I'll just everyone how good I am at this." The girl peeked down her scope out the window as she began to babble.

Cardin sighed. He was getting really irritated. Didn't she realize that they were in the middle of a combat simulation? "I asked for your name," he said.

"Oh right, the name's Ruby Rose." Ruby didn't even seem embarrassed that she had gotten off track.

"Alright, Ruby, you're gonna stick with me and my fireteam for now," Cardin said. "Dove, Sky, Russel, form up. We're moving up to take out the sniper in the tower. I'll take the new girl with me through the buildings to clean up any stragglers. You can move through the streets and be ready to storm it."

"You got it, boss," Dove said over the radio. Cardin heard the three descend the stairs behind him.

"C'mon, Ruby. Let's go."

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Weiss heard someone enter the floor above her, the blast of a breaching charge shaking dust from the ceiling.

"Move it, we need to rush him," a male voice said. Weiss hefted her rifle up off its stand and pointed the barrel towards sealed door behind her. Shit, this is bad, she thought to herself. Someone else was climbing the stairs underneath her, their boots clanking heavily on the metal frame.

Splinters of wood peppered against Weiss's faceplate as the door detonated. A trail of blue light from an arc grenade sailed in. Weiss noticed it too late. It detonated with a loud bang, electricity short-circuiting her helmet systems and sending her into convulsions. A figure followed the grenade, the enemy pilot rushing in with his SMG ready. Weiss managed to pull the trigger through the pain. The man jerked with a short cry as the bullet passed right through his chest. He fell over forwards and faded into pixels.

Another pilot turned into the doorway and sprayed an arc of fire. Weiss grunted as a bullet caught her left leg and another glanced off her shoulder. She hurled her rifle at him and followed it up with a jet-boosted tackle. They fell into the stairwell, grunting and swearing as they struggled for domination. Weiss managed to get on top and slammed her hand into the side of his head. He grunted but managed to pull the knife out of Weiss's leg and pushed it up towards her chest. She smacked his hand aside and kneed him in the groin to ward him off. Instead, her knee caught a piece of armor, drawing an audible curse as her move backfired.

The knife was brought around again, this time for a slash to the neck. Weiss reeled away backwards and brought her head back forward into his. The world flickered as they collided, and Weiss mouth tingled from the impact. She didn't let up from her onslaught. Her elbow crushed his wrist, knocking the knife free. She landed blow after blow to his face, ignoring his weak punches.

Maybe it was the reflection from her opponent's helmet or pure instinct, but whatever it was, Weiss noticed a threat behind her. She dove to the side, narrowly avoiding a brutal swing of another enemy pilot using his gun as a club. The blow went missed and slammed into the man who was pinned underneath Weiss. His helmet collapsed with a sickening crunch and he disappeared.

"Oh shit," the teammate said, staring at where his friend used to be. He turned to look at Weiss, his body still frozen.

Weiss shot him in the chest with her revolver. After a brief pause, she sighed and picked her knife up off the ground. That was too close, Weiss thought as she limped back into the room. The click of someone turning the safety to a pistol off came from behind her. Weiss froze and turned around slowly to face her nightmare.

The red-painted pilot shrugged. "Sorry about this." She fired.

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Ruby was having some terrible luck today. Her and Cardin had run into stiff resistance in the form of some pilot who knew how to use her holograms to fight super effectively. Before Cardin had vanished from the effects of a hatchet to the spine, he had muttered something about 'fucking Velvet and her stupid tricks'. Ruby quickly avenged him, but the delay had been too much. By the time she had arrived at the tower to help the rest of Cardin's squaddies, they had already been eliminated by the sniper.

And, of course, that sniper had to be the angry white-haired girl, or Weiss, as Ruby had learned in one of the other classes they shared. So, Ruby decided to try to get the drop on Weiss and hid behind some crates. When the girl finally entered the room, Ruby had stepped out, pistol in hand. Then she realized the safety was still on, and Weiss heard Ruby's attempt to switch it off.

So now Ruby found herself locked in a melee that she really didn't want. Weiss kicked like a mule and was all too willing to go for cheap shots. Ruby had lost count of number of times Weiss had punched Ruby in one of her breasts to force her back. That hurt. A lot. She was, for once in her life, grateful that she was not as well endowed as her sister.

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Weiss was getting really frustrated. She knew that this fight was a losing one. Her leg had gone numb and she was dizzy from blood loss. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Weiss heard a voice yelling to give up, but she ignored it.

She swore and danced back from a round house kick that would have turned her ribcage into splinters. Ruby was faster, and she knew it. Weiss was especially annoyed by that. In fights between pilots, it usually came down to whoever could land the first blow and Ruby's speed was unreal. The girl zipped around, picking away at little weaknesses in Weiss's defenses.

So, to end the fight once and for all, Weiss threw her entire body into a tackle. Ruby dodged with ease and stomped on Weiss's exposed back. The world turned black.

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Ruby sat down in the debris, exhausted from her fight. Behind her, Weiss's body faded. It was really gross, but Ruby had to steel herself from such things. Most pilots didn't hunt evil beasts in forests, so she had to get used to the idea of killing human targets. Even if the methods could be brutal, like kicking someone in the head hard enough to remove it. She shuddered and swallowed the bile that rose as she remembered the sensation of bones shattering.

Her radio chimed. "Congratulations team," the silky voice of Colonel Fall came through. "You have achieved total victory over Team Snow. The sim should be ending and results will be sent to your emails." Ruby sighed and looked up at the vanishing sky

Fudge, that was disgusting. Gonna have call dad tonight to ask him if he ever did anything like this, she thought before she ceased to exist.

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"The champion returns!" Yang crowed as Ruby entered the apartment. "I heard you beat the ever-living shit-"

"Language," chimed their father from the video call on her phone.

"-out of Team Snow. I even heard you put Velvet and Schnee out of action. Why didn't you tell me that? Nora of all people had to seek me out and read off the stats in the middle of our showers. Anyways, I'm gonna go get dinner ready. Here, talk to dad!" She shoved her phone into Ruby's hand and ran off towards the kitchen.

"Hey dad," Ruby said. Her dad waved from the phone, his blonde hair waving from some wind wherever he was.

"Hey Rubes, how was your second day?" He asked eagerly.

"Eh, it was okay. I like the campus a lot and the food is okay," she said. "But I really like that combat classes," she added lamely.

"Sounds great! Have you spent any time in the workshop? I know that Crescent Rose is always in need of a little tune up," her dad said.

"Wait there's a workshop there?"

"Yeah, how do you think your uncle made his weapon of mass destruction?"

That was a valid point. "Well, I always thought he made it when he was in Signal."

"No," her dad laughed. "He didn't know people made custom weapons until Beacon. And then, of course, her had to make up for lost time and over-compensated in the worst way pos-"

He was cut off by a nearby explosion. Someone screamed in the background and bullets zipped by over her dad's head. "Oh shi-, I mean crap. Sorry Rubes, gotta go. Love you!" He said before ending the call.

Yang entered the room with two plates covered in some synthetic foods. "Did he hang up already?" She asked.

"Yeah, stuff started to explode. Duty calls, y'know," Ruby said, taking one of plates. Yang turned the TV onto the news and plopped down beside Ruby. They dug in, trying to forget that their dad was in life-threatening danger.

A/N: Sorry for the low quality writing. I wrote this chapter on and off over about 3 months, so my train of thought kept getting derailed. Thanks for reading anyways. Review, Favorite, Follow, do whatever. Just enjoy it.

Side note, if you are interested in my posting of my large non-fanfic Work In Progress just PM me and I'll either post it or link the doc to you.