Out Of Ashes (quasi-apocalyptic RWBY quest)

"You know what?" You say after a moment, "Screw it - let's just go go straight out."

Olena raises an eye at that, "Straight out through a likely horde of White Fang forces?"

"I also have questions…" Tawny says hesitantly. You look between the two of them and groan. Nobody appreciates your genius.

"The plan isn't without merits though," Olena continues, interrupting Tawny, "Primarily your exit strategy. You have no guarantee that they will be unable or unwilling to follow you."

You raise an eyebrow, "You have a suggestion for that then?"

"One or two," Olena says as she walks over to the wall, picking up a piece of brick and roughly sketching out a map of a building lined street. A set of small x's crossing the road half-way along its length. The White Fang, you're guessing, "But all basically the same idea - once we get past them," she draw a rough line arching around the x's, ending at the other side of the sketch, "We need to block their route after us,"

Okay, you'll bite, "Block how?"

Olena shrugs as she drops the brick piece, "Dropping a building on them should do it."

Tawny's expression morphs from vague confusion to panicking horror in an instant. You, however, can feel yourself grinning, "I like it!"

"I don't!" Tawny all but wails, "It's a building! You can't just blow it up! I mean-"

"My Starbursts should be more than enough to take out a skyscraper's structural supports," Olena assures her before turning to you, "It will take time though. And it's hard to place explosives when somebody is shooting at you."

"Tawny and I will keep them off your back," You say, stepping over to the smaller brunette and patting her roughly on the back, "They won't know what hit 'em!" Tawny just replies with a soft whimper. With nothing else to work out, the three of you head out of the alley and make your way east toward the edge of the district.

You manage to make it about two-thirds of the way across the district before you run into trouble. The easiest route out at this point was through a plaza surrounded by towering office complexes - from the logos, you were guessing banks and the like. A wide boulevard crossed in front of the street you'd been following, creating a large T-intersection that was now choked with abandoned cars. Past it, a plaza of concrete tile, corporate sculptures, and little gardens where cubicle workers could relax and have lunch between shifts - could being the key word, since large sections of the plaza had apparently collapsed downward, the spray of water from some of them suggesting the cause. Sinkholes from burst pipes or storm drains, most likely.

The other three sides were occupied by buildings, but the largest was the twenty-something story monolith of steel and glass that stood directly opposite the intersection. A small forest of gleaming steel supports surrounded the glass-shrouded lobby, the massive weight of the floors above seated atop them. Just in front of the supports a concrete plinth supported a stylized plum logo, the words 'Murasaki Financial' written out in large letters next to it.

Sitting atop it were maybe a half-dozen White Fang grunts. More were lounging around the plaza, tending to their guns or cooking food over little fire-pits. "So," you say as you look out across the scene from behind a corner, "Plan?"

"You and Tawny go in first to draw attention," Olena explains, "Then, once they are thoroughly distracted by your no-doubt enthusiastic assault, I can slip around the side and toward the building," she pauses briefly before adding, "Do be ready to move once you hear the signal - that large of a structure will easily take out the entire square."

"Um," Tawny hesitantly speaks up, "What's the signal?"

"Explosions," Olena replies succinctly.

"...oh.."

"Okay, so!" You say cheerfully as you heft your shield and shotgun-axe, a wide grin coming unbidden to you face, "Let's get to work!"

You try and imagine what the White Fang goons would see from their perspective as you stride forward. A white-haired, armor-clad figure calmly walking across the intersection, massive axe in one hand and equally massive shield in the other. Next to her, a small girl in a heavy coat brings up a heavy machine gun and without preamble opens fire on the nearest clump.

The initial burst of fire doesn't hit any of them, but does send the entire population of the plaza scrambling in a disorganized mob as they rush to respond to the sudden attack. That gives Tawny enough time to find a good spot to crouch down, bracing herself as she takes aim and fires again.

This time her rounds hit true, a group of goons on their way to their guns falling to the concrete in a cacophony of screams and curses. You don't pay them any mind as you steadily pick up your pace, gaining speed until a squad of mooks looks up to see your metal-ceramic armored form barreling toward them at a full sprint with axe raised. Panicked firing pings off your shield as you crash into the group, axe swinging. It's arc barely slowed as it cleaved through flimsy armor and soft flesh with equal ease, and in short order you're once again standing alone, your victims strewn about your feet. Out of the corner of your eye, you catch sight of Olena's silver hair, billowing behind her as she bolts across the square. None of the White Fang seem to see her.

An armored woman with a big axe is quite the attention-grabber, after all.

Ahead of you, a group of White Fang have just enough common sense to stay back, peeking out from above the edge of one of the sinkholes as one to open fire in your direction. You duck behind your shield again, but like this you can't really move forward until they stop for a reload.

From somewhere behind you comes the sound of tearing metal and when you glance back you see why. Another group of goons has opened fire on Tawny, but for her part the girl has deftly dodged, round after round biting into the metal where she had been as the girl arcs over the car in a graceful leap… and actually, you're pretty sure that's not how humans or fanus fall through the air.

Not without aura shenanigans, at least. Neat.

You watch as the small huntress alights on top of a bus for the briefest of moments before kicking off again, twisting in air, tail curling around her as she soar over the heads of a group of charging White Fang. Half of them simply stare skyward in confusion as the airborne huntress reorients herself, rifle aimed groundward. The other half have enough sense to grab their companions before scrambling out of the line of fire, heavy caliber rounds eating into the pavement where they had been standing a moment later.

At the same time as Tawny lands again, the gaggle firing on you run out of ammo, their rifles clicking dry. With a grin you kick off and launch yourself forward, your axe held behind you and your shield lowered so you can see their expression as you descend on them like a force of nature. You fail to bowl anyone over this time, but the first one goes down to a shield-enhanced backhand even as you bring your axe down in a massive overhead strike. Sadly, it seems you over telegraphed the strike, as all of them manage to scramble away. A Shame.

Moreso because that leaves more standing then you were expecting as the survivors of your rush attack finish hastily slapping in new clips and unload on you at point-blank range. You roll back, tumbling into cover behind a concrete planter and into one of the smaller sinkholes, but not before they manage to tear a few chunks from your plate armor. The bastards.

Tawny it's only fairing slightly better - whatever gravity shenanigans she's pulling are keeping her moving faster than the goons can track, but even from here you can see the look of panic on the poor girl's face. How the blazes did she survive out here this long anyhow?

The answer comes a moment later as she drops back to earth, light as a feather. In the brief lull as the White Fang try to reorient, you watch her take a deep breath before pressing something on the rifle's side. With a whirr, the receiver briefly expanding and shifting before collapsing back into its original shape. Along its side, the glowing stripes have changed color - from a cool blue to a harsh, angry red.

And then she springs into motion.

As a half dozen of them close on her, she shoots off - not forward, but sideways, a blur of motion that the White Fang only have a moment to register before her first salvo hit home. A string of explosions, thundering cracks in the echoing concrete valley of the plaza, mark where the first three are sent flying back into sprawling heaps as high explosive rounds bite into cheap armor. The remainder quickly open fire, but Tawny kicks off on another erratic vector, dodging gunfire by dashing into the middle of their loose formation. One goes down to friendly fire as his friend panic-fires as the tan and black blur, while the other two fall shortly after to snap shots from the miniature markswoman.

Well then, you think as the gunfire above you slackens, you suppose it's your turn.

You leap out of the sinkhole, no fancy semblance controlling your flight - just cold physics to direct your ballistic arc into the middle of an entire squad of White Fang. You twist yourself mid-air until you are dropping in feet first, and a slip second later you crash into one of the mooks, his body doing little to slow you down as you roll forward and shoot to your feet. Shield meets flesh as you rise, a wide swing clearing space around you as you bring your axe around, "Come on!" you shout, Axe-head hooking a goon by his bracer to pull him into head-butting range. He drops to the ground in a heap, "Fight me!" Three more charge at you - two from the side and one straight ahead - and with a grin you brace yourself. The girl taking the head-on approach is brave, but sadly for her svelte. A one-handed swing of your axe clips her jaw with the flat of the blade, and instead of cleaving her head in two you knock her off her feet just long enough for you to drive a boot into her gut in a kick that sends her crashing backward.

As your foot slams back to earth, you maintain the momentum, twisting at the waist as you bring your shield-bearing arm around in a pummeling haymaker right into the face of the goon coming from your right with enough force to send them pinwheeling. You don't bother turning to face the third one, now behind you, instead driving your arm back and burying your elbow into their gut before reaching back with Fire. The bottom of the Axe-blade hooks onto a gap in the armor, and you heave them over and catapult them across the way, "Is that all you can do!?" You shout, blood pumping in your ears as you seek out your next target. But none are willing to stand against you.

Cowards.

In the background, you can hear the gunfire of Tawny's running battle, but that's not your problem right now. No - what you need is somebody else to fight.

Luckily, you quickly find yourself a target.

You charge further across the plaza, bearing down on what had once been a cooking pit. Embers and ashes go airborne as you crash through, bearing down on your prey. They had thought they could take cover behind a battered coffee cart. You reduce it to kindling as you bulldoze through it, White Fang sprawling around you as you lash out. You bury your axe into the back of the nearest one, the armor cleaving in two before you lash out with an armored boot and kick them aside. Your shield finds its own target, smashing into a young woman's face with a sickening crunch and spray of blood. Another you grab with one hand before slamming their face into your opposite knee. You look about for more prey.

And instead find a veritable firing squad staring you down.

You hoist your shield up as you leap to the side, bullets pinging off your armor.

And then, over the sound of bullets striking metal, you hear a much louder sound.

The White Fang still standing turn around at the string of thundering explosions, looking toward the Murasaki building in confusion that quickly turns to terror. With a slow, droning groan, the steel supports around the lobby snap one after another as the towering structure slowly begins to tilt forward.

A few of the White Fang stare upward in slack-jawed surprise as they suddenly find a skyscraper looming above them. The rest have the good sense to run, as do you. Tiles shatter underfoot as you charge across the plaza, vaulting over planters and leaping across sinkholes as more and more of the sky overhead vanishes behind the quickly approaching facade of glass and steel. None of the White Fang you pass pay you any mind, more concerned about survival as the sky falls down.

You can just make out the jacketed form of Tawny closing in on you as you near the far side of the plaza, angling toward the narrow street that had squeezed between the Murasaki building and its lesser neighbors. Great plumes of dust and debris fill the air as you both close in on your goal, the great displacement of air as a hundred-thousand tons of architecture falls to earth. You can just make out the sleek form of Olena dashing from somewhere near the buildings base and into a side-alley before the tower finally reaches the ground in a cacophony of shattering glass and steel, and you're enveloped in a great cloud of dust and rubble.

The force of the blast sends you reeling, and you find yourself tumbling head over heels down the street before finally coming to a stop. With a groan, you flop onto you back, staring up into the open sky for a long moment before Olena's face obscures your view, "You alive?"

You shrug, "More or less. Tawny?"

"My everything hurts…" comes a groaned reply from somewhere off to your left.

"That was a good plan," You say with a nod toward Olena.

She replies with an undignified snort as she grabs you by the arm and pulls you onto your feet, "It was a horrible plan and we all should be dead."

"But we aren't," You point out, "So it was a good plan."

Olena rolls her eyes as she moves to help Tawny back onto her feet - with, you note, far more care then she bothered with you, "Let's just get back to base before you do something crazy. Again."


What do you want to do at base? (Vote for all options you want - top three win)
[ ] Talk to Aurelia
[ ] Talk to Tawny
[ ] Talk to Olena
[ ] Work on your weapons
[ ] Poke around the base
[ ] Investigate outside the base
[ ] Write-in (Specific talking topics, equipment goals, where you want to look, anything I didn't think of, etc…)