Out Of Ashes (quasi-apocalyptic RWBY quest)

The walk back to the Cultural Center felt like it took ages. You were all sore. You were all dirty. Olena was quietly swearing every few steps. You were almost certain Tawny was trying not to cry.

You, however, were content. Mostly. You'd fought well and even if Olena's stunt had cut your fun short you couldn't argue with the results. In all, a suitably impressive end to a battle. Now, all you needed to do was get your less enthusiastic compatriots home in one piece. Fortunately, the Grimm were mostly giving you a wide berth. The few that ventured too close quickly became examples to the others of why that was a poor choice.

You were actually impressed that Olena managed to snap-shoot a Creep without even looking.

Unwise life-choices of local shadow-monsters aside, you all manage to make it back to the Cultural Center. Tawny hesitated at the threshold, staring up at the towering structure with no small amount of trepidation. "We're… going in there?"

You blink owlishly at her reaction before walking back over to her and patting her on the back, "Don't worry - this place is ours. Perfectly safe."

"Well, now that we've cleared out the basement…" Olena adds with a shrug as she moves past the pair of you.

"Basement?" Tawny gains a look of panic as she rushes after Olena, "What was in the basement?! Hey, wait!"

You follow after the two, and by the time you reach what part of your brain is calling the Inner Sanctum Aurelia was already waiting for you. "Welcome back," she says as she nods toward Tawny, "Found another stray?"

"Excuse me?" Olena says in obvious annoyance, but you ignore her.

"Aurelia, meet Tawny Sweets," you turn to the small rifle user, "Tawny, Aurelia Armas - our resident tech genius and Voice on the Radio."

Aurelia gave Tawny a soft smile as she adjusted her glasses, "She's adorable," Her smile fell away as she turned to you, "So - what did you find?"

You ignored a stammering, blushing Tawny as you pulled out your scroll and handed it to Aurelia, "The station was just a relay - Olena… did something with it. I don't get the technical stuff. It should all be on here though."

"Lovely," Aurelia replies, taking the scroll, "So - what are you doing now?"

"Now?" you reply as you turn to leave, "Raiding the fridge and then taking over the couch again."

"Have fun," Aurelia waves languidly in reply as she turned to her workstation, "Just don't touch my yogurt."

"Yeah, yeah," you say back as you turn to Tawny, "Come on - I'll show you around. Hopefully Olena hasn't eaten all the good grub."

Once you've finished rummaging through whatever edibles you could get hold of, you made sure to show Tawny what was where before promptly shucking off your gear, dropping onto the couch and passing out.

When you awake, time has moved on considerably. Based on how much sunlight was coming from the skylight it was probably late morning, and from your vantage point on the couch you could spot to of your companions. Tawny was curled up on an oversized chair, asleep and using her jacket as a blanket, while Aurelia was across the room at the kitchenette making coffee based on the smell.

You left her to it, instead heading to the bathroom to freshen up. You might have been lacking in spare clothing at the moment but you could still clean yourself up. You make a mental note to look for some spare clothing anyhow.

Aurelia is seated at a table, mug of steaming coffee in hand, by the time you step back into the room. You grab yourself a protein bar from the fridge before dropping into a chair across from her. You give her another look over before summarizing your thoughts, "You look like crap."

With a groan, Aurelia slumps over, "That data you bought me was basically a raw I/O dump. Why would you do that to me?"

You just shrug, "Bring it up with Olena - she handled that part. Me and Tawny were preoccupied with the army of White Fang grunts trying to murder the lot of us."

Aurelia stills for a moment before her shoulders slump and she sits back up with a sigh, "That's… fair, I guess." silence falls over the table again as Aurelia stares into her coffee for a long while before taking a long drink of it. "...I shouldn't be here."

You raise an eyebrow at that, "What? You have work to do in the command room or something?"

"I mean… here," she says, "In this city. I was supposed to be back at the command headquarters, telling you what to do from the safety of the largest military encampment the continent has seen since the Color Wars. Not sitting in an abandoned museum waiting to get eaten and… I could see the building topple over from here!"

"Oh, you saw that?" you grin, "Pretty cool, huh?"

"No!" Aurelia shoots back, "Not cool! You blew up a building! Just like that! Normal people can't do that - I can't do that. I don't have advanced weapons, or years of combat training, or soul magic bullshit. I'm just an analyst." She leaned back in her chair, "I'm so far out of my league I think I'm in a different sport."

"Well…you're probably right," you say with a shrug as you tear open the food bar and bite a chunk out of it, not paying the analyst's gobsmacked expression any mind as you continue, "I mean, none of us are really supposed to be here, right? And it's not like you're dragging us down or something - sure, you can't fight as well as me or Olena, but neither of us can handle the technical stuff for shit and if you weren't here we'd probably have died by now. So no, you can't topple a building but I can't hack government computer systems. We all have our talents…"

You pause momentarily before adding, "...though you could probably knock over a building via hacking? Just hack the gas mains and trigger something - that's how that sort of stuff works, right?"

Aurelia blinks at you before chuckling dryly, "No - no it isn't," she drains the last of her coffee before standing up and stretching, "Thanks for the chat - think I'll get back to work on that data. Should have a location by the end of the day, hopefully."

You grin, "Nice."

A smaller grin of her own appears on Aurelia's face, "I suppose it is. What about you?"

You give another shrug, "Probably work on my gear a little - why, you need something?"

"Not right now, no," she says back as she heads back to the kitchenette to drop her mug in the sink, "Thanks Viveka."

You give a dismissive wave, "No problem. Let me know when you find something out."

"Will do," Aurelia gives a final languid wave goodbye as she heads back toward the command room and its bank of computers. Alone again, you nibble at your protein bar as you think about your next move.

And where did Olena get to, anyhow?

As it turned out, the swordswoman had found herself an open meeting hall and was using the space to run through the training exercises. What for you had no idea, given how much fighting you'd all just been through, but you weren't one to judge.

So, you left her to her flowing kata and headed off for your own goal - the workshop.

Well, 'Workshop' was a bit of a stretch - after you'd found all of those weapons parts and tools you'd just set it up on one of the larger conference tables as neatly as you could be bothered to. It left you with plenty of room to strip-down and clean any of your gear and kept everything in close reach.

You weren't the only one looking at doing some weapons work though - Tawny was seated at one end of the table, her rifle dismantled into its constituent components. She was also out of her coat, and as a result she looked… small.

She hasn't noticed you walking in, and the adorable look of concentration on her face, tail curling around the chair as she cleaned and maintained her gun didn't waver as you strode around the table and took a seat for yourself. It wasn't until you dropped your armor and shotgun onto the table with a heavy thunk that she looked up with a start, "Hiya!" You greeted her cheerfully, "Mind if I join you?"

"Oh, uh, yes," Tawny replies before her eyes widen in a panic and she starts waving wildly, "I mean no! I mean - please, sit. Yes." she stammers out the last part before quickly looking back down at her own weapon, the inner workings of her rifle suddenly very fascinating.

"Great," With that, you pull your chestplate closer with one hand as you reach into the toolbox sitting on the table and fish out a couple of tools. You give a small 'tsk' as you examine the plate; bastards nicked the plating. With a grumble, you start fishing through the box for repair alloy.

You both continue your own tasks for a while in comfortable silence, the only noise being the clanks and taps of tools in use or parts being moved. It isn't until after you've finished repairing your armor and moved on to servicing your shotgun that Tawny breaks the silence, "Um...Viveka?"

You look up at her as she says your name. Her rifle is still dismantled in front of her - actually, you think it's even more dismantled then before; the loading system is partially dismantled in front of her, miniature servo's and lever systems supporting what look like a whole set of magazines. "What's up?"

"So, um…" her gaze darts back down to her own work fiddling with a small screwdriver as she speaks, "...Why are you here?"

You blink owlishly before dropping your head to the table with a thunk, "We forgot to tell you, didn't we?"

"It's fine!" Tawny quickly assures you, "You were busy not dying!"

"I guess," you groan. You lift your head back up with a sigh before turning to her, "We're trying to save Glynda Goodwitch."

Her eyes widen at that, "Wait, she's still in the city?"

"Yup," you say with a nod as you go back to work on your shotgun, "It was supposed to be a grab and go but…" you shrug, "The Grimm had other ideas. And things have turned out to be a lot less straightforward than it looked. Anyhow!" you flash her a smile, "What about you?"

"Eh?" Tawny stammers.

"How'd you get here?" you ask, "I mean - Olena is here to rob the place blind-"

"Wait, she's what?!"

"-And Aurelia just got stranded here when our transport crashed. So, what about you?" After a moment you add, "And what's going on with your rifle? It looked normal-ish but that-" you jab a finger at the complex assembly in front of her, "-is not normal."

"Um…" she hesitates before answering, "I was here to watch the tournament like a lot of others. When everything… went wrong, I thought I could help. But I haven't been a Huntress for long and I got a little turned around in the city and then there was Grimm everywhere and I figured it would be safer to hide somewhere for a short while but when I came out the whole city was cut off and-"

"Woah, woah!" you quickly try to calm the girl, "Slow down! So you got stranded in Vale - you aren't the only one, or so I've been told." Wait - had there been anyone in that building? Standard protocol for a Grimm attack was to get below ground, so there shouldn't have been. Especially with the White Fang apparently owning the area…

You make a mental note not to say anything about it to Olena.

"So, what about your gun?" you say, changing the subject with all the subtly you are known for.

"Oh, it's not much, really," Tawny replies with more energy then she was showing before, "It's a Parallel Magazine Interchange System."

"...A what?"

"So, uh, you know how a lot of Huntresses use revolver-type systems with several dust types?" Tawny explains, "It gives them more options, but revolvers are sort of limited with ammo. Magazine systems can still change ammo types, but you have to swap out entire magazines. This-" she gestures down at the assembly, "-just lets me keep several magazines loaded at once and switch between them. It's a lot heavier than a normal magazine system, and reloading the whole system is slower, but…"

"Cool…" you say as you lean closer, "If I want to use different Dust shells, I have to change them manually."

"So, uh," Tawny nodded toward your shotgun where it's partially disassembled, "What are you doing anyhow?"

"Just some general work," you reply, "Seeing if I have any ideas while I service it. Nothing major."

Any further questions were cut off as the intercom overhead (which you didn't even realize was a thing) crackled to life and Aurelia's voice came from it, "Viveka? I think I've got something. Meet me in the command room."

"Well, that's our cue," you say as you stand up, quickly reassembling your weapon. In moments, Fire is back in one piece and cradled against your shoulder as you head out into the hall, "Alright! Let's go save the world or something!"

Olena is already in the office along with Aurelia by the time you and Tawny arrive, "Did she call you too?"

"No," Olena replies as she leans back against a console, "But I figure that whatever she found would be worth knowing."

"An accurate statement," Aurelia says as she finishes whatever she was typing on the computer, hitting one final key before turning around in her chair to face the three of you, "So - good news, bad news, and other news."

"Good news first, please." Tawny says hesitantly.

"The data you brought back let me trace the transmission source," Aurelia explains, "I've found Glynda."

"So what's the bad news?" you ask.

Aurelia raises an eyebrow, "What did you think of fighting that Paladin when we got here?"

"Didn't particularly enjoy it," you reply. Next to you, Tawny is staring up at you with something akin to awe while Olena is just giving that flat annoyed look she sometimes does, "Why?"

"The message came from a location in the commercial district - where, specifically, I'm not sure, but I have the location down to a block or two. Give me a little longer to sift through the infrastructure data and I should be able to narrow it down further - there are only so many narrow-beam data relays in that area."

"So, what's the commercial district have to do with Paladins?" Olena asks.

"All of the survey data we have from outside have shown thermal and ELINT signatures consistent with Atleasean mech systems operating in the district, and in large numbers." Aurelia says, "Why they're concentrated there, I have a few theories but nothing concrete. Best guess? Power and computing resources."

"Doesn't change the fact that getting through them will be a pain in the ass," you can't help but groan. Fighting robots is just annoying.

"So," Olena speaks up again, "what's the other news?"

Aurelia frowns as she turns back to her system, "I found other messages in the data as well - all transmissions from inside the city. I'm guessing the comm's system picked them up while routing its primary traffic."

Olena begins to frown as well, "What sort of messages?"

Aurelia glances back at the three of you, "Distress messages, what else? All of them are on standard SAR frequencies, and most are old enough to dismiss. But two are more recent; One's coming from the Industrial District - specifically, the main power station for the city. Looks like something has tripped its automated alert system, which means something has most likely damaged it's Dust systems. Catastrophic damage isn't likely, but there's a good chance the city will lose what little power it has left. We'll be down to local reserves and whatever is still coming in from outside - assuming the system flux doesn't trigger a cascade failure."

"And… the second?" Tawny asks.

"A commercial emergency beacon, usually used by hikers and the like," Aurelia explains, "Battery is only good for 48 hours or so, meaning it's recent. Either somebody in the city is desperate for help or it was triggered by mistake. Luckily, it's not too far from here, just inside the Residential District. Given how bad that area is though, it's probably a false alarm."

"Might not be though," Olena points out.

"So…" Tawny asks, "How do we choose?"

(CHOOSE ONE - all time-sensitive in some way)
[ ] "The sooner we save Glynda, the sooner we can fix everything else."
[ ] "Even if we don't lose power here, the rest of Vale going dark would make things a lot harder."
[ ] "If there's a chance that there are actual people out there, we can find the time to at least check it out."

It didn't take long for you all to agree on going for the distress signal - if anything did happen to the power grid, you could fix it later (probably) and If Glynda Goodwitch could take care of herself for two weeks, another couple of days wasn't going to hurt.

It was just before noon when the three of you finally head out, Aurelia promising to relay anything she finds over the radio. The sun is high overhead as you walk out into the abandoned streets, a steady breeze sending loose trash tumbling down the road like tumbleweeds and leaving the sky a cloud-and-smoke-free blue.

It's… eerily pleasant. As if the entire city had just headed off to the lake for the weekend.

"Come on," Olena says as she brushes past you, startling you out of your thoughts, "We've got people to save." She pauses for a moment to glance back at you when you don't move, "You alright?"

You glare down the street, as if your look alone could change the scene, "I don't like it. This is a battlefield - it should feel like one."

Olena shrugs as the three of you start moving again, "Battle's don't last forever. And when they end, battlefields always become the same thing."

Oh - you think you know this one - An old turn of phrase. Tawny, however, seems less familiar with it as she asks, "What's that?"

Olena looks to her right, glancing at the girl with a raised eyebrow, "A grave."

Tawny's eyes widen at that before she quickly begins looking around, scooting closer to the two of you.

Yeah, you suppose that thought would be creepy if you weren't used to it.

Fortunately, the trip to the source of the beacon is relatively calm. A few lone knights and a smattering of Grimm are all you come across - and they hardly counted as a fight. The lack of action is rapidly grating on your nerves as you wait for the other shoe to drop.

It fails to do so as you reach what is your apparent goal - a complex of angular buildings, all decked out in glass and exposed concrete that was the in-vogue style for corporate architecture it seemed, and surrounded by a tastefully manicured ring of tall shrubberies and slender trees. The only real gap through was a wide private road, barred off by a vehicle barrier. Sitting next to it was a rather low-key sign that read 'Sidereel Technologies - Vale Development Labs'. You key up your radio, calling Aurelia, "You sure this is the right place?"

"Absolutely," Aurelia replies over the radio, "Now that you've gotten close enough for me to get a proper bearing. Why?"

"Because this place looks huge!" you reply quickly, "Can you at least tell us where we're supposed to be going?"

"Only if you want to waste a day walking around the place so I can shoot some lobs off your scroll," Aurelia says. You can't help but imagine she's shrugging.

"I have no idea what that means."

"It means you can spend a day walking in a circle or just search the place and probably get lucky," Aurelia says, "Sorry."

You sigh, "Well, it's better than nothing, I guess." You drop the connection and turn to Olena and Tawny, "Looks like we're searching this place."

"Joy," Olena says as she raises her weapon, "Any idea what's inside?'

"Eh," you shrug as you heft the barrier up and out of the way with a grunt, "Probably the usual - angry shadow-monsters, rogue kill bots, disgruntled locals," Your face lights up as a thought occurs to you, "Wait, this is some sort of lab, right? Maybe it'll have booby traps! Or some sort of horrible abomination of science."

"Couldn't it just be empty?" Tawny asks nervously as you all head up the road. It seems to dip down into some sort of underground garage up ahead, while just above the tunnel you can make out some sort of courtyard, "Empty would be good, right?"

"Empty is boring though," you say back. Fire is pressed against your shoulder as you sweep the treeline. Next to you, Olena is doing much the same with her sword pistol. You idly note that the blade is still extended out in front - guess it isn't one of those fancy folding types.

"Boring is good!" Tawny says back, her own rifle raised as she sweeps left and right.

"Boring or not," Olena speaks up, "I hope whoever was here doesn't mind if I borrow a thing or two. This trip is getting expensive."

"Hey, if we save some people I'm sure they won't mind," you suggest as you approach the tunnel. The road dips down at a shallow angle before terminating at a heavy metal shudder that currently seals off the tunnel. You turn to Olena, "Think you can blast it open?"

Olena frowns, "I'd rather not - besides shrapnel, any blast that big will not be subtle," she turns to you, "For once, I'd like to be subtle."

"Hey!" you jab a finger her direction, "I was plenty subtle back at the manor!"

Olena rolls her eyes, "Up until you dropped a guy off the roof."

"That was not my-" you start, only to get interrupted by Tawny.

"Uh, Couldn't we-" both you and Olena instantly turn to her, and the girl lets out a surprised squeak at the sudden attention before stammering out, "C-couldn't we just try the door?"

She points down the tunnel, and as you look at where she's pointing you can in fact just make out a door tucked into the wall just before the shudder. "...Huh. Good catch Tawny."

The three of you head down the ramp, stopping at the door as Olena begins picking the lock. It's a strange one - no handle, just a heavy lock embedded into the metal. You guess the key was also used to pull it open. You and Tawny cover Olena as she works - for a while, it's quiet.

Then you hear something at the top of the ramp. Both you and Tawny snap your weapons toward the sound, but all you see is a piece of rubble tumbling over the edge and onto the street ahead of you. You strain your ears, trying to hear anything else. You can't tell if the sound is somebody shifting between cover above you or just your heart pounding in your ears. "Olena, this is quickly turning into a bad idea."

"Then let… me…" Olena grunts before with a dull thunk the door pops open, "Work!"

"Olena in first," you quickly order, "Tawny after. Move!" The two of them quickly file through before you walk backward through the door, Fire trained on the far end of the sloping road the entire time. Just before you close the door, you swear you see something move across the far end of the tunnel.

But then the door slams shut, and you're plunged into darkness.

"...Viveka?"

"Yeah, Olena?"

"I can't see shit," there's a chorus of grumbling and fumbling as everyone pulls out their scrolls and flicks on the lights. You're in - what else - a utility corridor, though thankfully this one seems short. At the far end you spot another door, and you waste no time in heading for it.

You find yourself in a concrete cavern of cars and columns, an expansive parking garage lit only by your lights and a few burning barrels and containers, "An abandoned camp?" you ask as you spy the glowing embers of a fire.

"Maybe," Olena says as you slowly make your way through the garage. The sweeping lights send shadows dancing across the space, tricking the eye with illusions of movement. You and Olena stay focused, but next to you Tawny's aim keeps leaping around as she jumps at shadows.

You make your way past the cluster of guttering fire pits, and as you press forward you start seeing more signs of habitation - cars pushed out of their spots to form barriers, car seats pulled out and arranged into circles, hoods and tires stacked into tables…

"Stairwell," Olena announces, and you turn to look where she is pointing. A pair of wide concrete steps wind their way upward, flanking an elevator shaft that you highly doubt is working at the moment.

"Onward and upward, I guess," you say as you lead the way to the stairs.

You find more and more signs of people as you press on - forgotten bags, dropped toys, discarded jackets, "What happened here?" Tawny asked hesitantly.

"Something fast," Olena replies, "But… there's no damage to anything. It's like they just up and left."

"Well," you interject as you nod ahead to where the steps finally end at a bank of fogged glass doors, "Let's hope we can find some clues then."

You push the doors open, and step back out into sunlight. You'd come out in some sort of inner courtyard, A menagerie of buildings encircling it, cutting it off from the outside world. It's a large courtyard - more of a park, really - with a few gentle hills and small stands of trees intermixed with gazebos and picnic tables. A large number of said tables seemed to have been pulled out of place and turned into barricades. A ring of metal tables arcs in front of you and continues around behind you, abutting against the sides of the concrete stairwell you'd just stepped out of.

"Huh," you say as you step forward, striding into the middle of the brick-paved square, "Well, this is-"

Whatever you were going to say was cut off by the sound of a hundred weapons being raised and readied. In an instant, you find yourself vastly outnumbered. All three of you raise your weapons, but you don't need to be a tactical genius to realize that these odds suck, Aura or no.

"Who the fuck are you three?" a voice, artificially amplified, echoes over the crowd arranged against you.

"We're friends," Olena replies for you three.

"Like we haven't heard that one before," the voice replies, "Put down your weapons or lose your breathing privileges. Your call."

[ ] Put down weapons
[ ] Try and talk them into letting you just leave
[ ] Attempt to ask some questions
[ ] Write-in