Out Of Ashes (quasi-apocalyptic RWBY quest)

Considering you'd just fought through a B-grade monster movie set, it would probably be a good time to work on your armor. You're sure there are more than a few kinks to work out. And dents. and gouges.

Goal in mind, you head back to your 'room' to grab your armor and shield before trying to find that conference room from a few days back. You weren't sure if Aurelia had moved things while you were all gone or if you were just lost, but it was taking you an age to find it. You were about to start kicking in doors when you spot Olena coming up the hallway, her own equipment tucked under one arm. You give her a wave as you quickly approach, "Hey. working on your gear too?"

The silver-haired huntress nods, "It seemed prudent, I take it you just finished?"

You chuckle sheepishly, "Still looking for the room, actually," You frown as you glare down the hall, "I think Aurelia moved everything while we were gone."

Olena rolls her eyes before pointing to a side-hall, "There's apparently a maintenance shop in this section. Better spaces for equipment work then a conference room, apparently. I also take it she'd prefer we worked on weapons further from her delicate computer systems."

Well, you can't argue with that. Instead, you throw one arm around Olena's shoulders as you gesture vaguely with your other, still laden with your gear, "Lead the way then!" Olena doesn't bother trying to push you away, instead she simply walks the two of you down a short hall and through a pair of rather drab looking doors. The room inside was even more utilitarian, a large metal work table in the middle surrounded by rough looking wooden benches and shelves. Most of those were covered with tools and parts you remember seeing before. Olena gestures towards one set of tools as she pulls a stool out from under the table and drops onto it.

You follow her lead, dropping your breastplate onto the table as you dig into the tool box for whatever you need. Olena is already disassembling her small shield, the sections coming apart in oversized wedges she sets aside to start examining the mechanism they were mounted on. She looks up from her own work briefly as you start pounding dents out of your own gear, "Sometimes I forget you even have an Aura, with the way you carry on."

You chuckle at that, "I like having something in the way for when my Aura fails."

Olena raises an eyebrow at that, "Most huntresses would see that as a reason to pull back."

"Eh," you wave the small power-impactor vaguely, "Not always an option, you know? And even when it is, it's not always easy."

Olena nods as she returns to her own, fiddly-looking, work, "Sounds like you have experience."

"A bit," you reply, pounding out another dent before giving the inner-side of the armor a once over. You frown as you realize you'll need to replace some of the padding. You get back up to go see if the crates have any polyfoam, "What about you? I'm guessing disaster zones aren't your usual cup of tea?"

"Disaster zones? Sure," she replies, "War zones? Not so much. But this is where the work is."

"You make it sound like you wanted to be here," you reply, raising an eyebrow.

"Not quite, but close," Olena shrugs, "Things get left behind by people, people realize those things were more valuable than they thought, people decide they want somebody to go and get them back," she lifts her shields mounting assembly up, carefully examining it as she cycles part of the mechanism, "My family have been fighting Grimm for generations. We've had the favor of kings and the prestige only granted by having a Hero's blood," she sighs as sets the mechanism back down, lifting a thin screwdriver again as she adjusts a bearing, "I know what it's like to lose things. Some things are easier to get back than others."

"Must be nice," you muse after a long moment of silence, "having a history like that. I've just been doing my own thing for… about forever, you know? From Atlas to Animus, just taking whatever jobs catch my eye…"

"You've been to Atlas?" Olena asks, "What for?"

You manage to keep working in apparent calm as you give her a probably-nonchalant shrug, "Usual stuff. Fighting, Grimm. So on," You quickly look up from your own work to nod toward hers, "So, how does a shield that small even help you? You strapped it to your arm so you can't even throw it!"

Olena rolls her eyes as she grabs one of the wedges. The look on her face tells you that she's fielded this question before. Probably quite often, if the vague look of annoyance is anything to go by, "It's for parrying and counter-attacks, not static defense. It's also less restricting on my mobility."

You shrug, "I get around just fine with mine."

"Yes, but you're a terrifying aberration and shouldn't be used as a reference for anything," Olena replies, still working on her shield as adds, "Except for how not to be stealthy, perhaps."

"Hey, far as I'm concerned I'm here to kill things," you set the power hammer aside as you examine the breastplate briefly. Satisfied, you set it down on the table before dropping your shield next to it. Both are covered in gouges and scrapes - nothing too serious, but still places an attack could find purchase. You head back over to the bench, dropping off the power hammer and start looking for the next thing you need.

Which doesn't seem to be there, "You know where the patcher went? I swear we had one…" You glance back at Olena to see her lift up from near her what looks like a bulky welding torch with a pair of squat cylinders attached to its base. You head back over to the table and take the offered device, flicking it on. You didn't understand entirely how the thing worked - something involving nanotech and material matching - but you knew that the thing used a spool of armor-grade composites to work and it patched your armor better than anything else.

The device gently hums as you start repairing your armor. There is, for a time, silence save for the sound of two huntresses working.

It's only a brief time, however.

"So," you say, "Out of the four of us… fuck, marry, kill?"

Olena nearly fumbles the wedge of armor she's remounting as she looks up at you in a mix of shock, indignation, and red-faced embarrassment, "W-what!?"

"Oh, do you not know the game?" you ask, raising an eyebrow, "Okay, so - what you do is-"

"I know the game!" Olena quickly cuts you off, "Why are you asking me?"

You blink owlishly, "Because I'm bored?"

Olena stares at you before slumping over slightly and, slowly, goes back to work on her shield, "You. I'd definitely kill you…"

You can't help but laugh at that.



The four of you set out the next morning, equipped with new radios at Aurelia's insistence. She was also staying more active on the comms this time, "Alright - you're getting close to the edge of the mech territory now." she informs you over the link.

"Wait, you can track us?" Bianca asks from just behind you. Olena was positioned just to her side, with Tawny taking up the rear.

"I can now," Aurelia replies, "Not quite as good as the usual Scroll network stuff, but good enough."

"...Did you put tracking markers on us?" you ask.

"The technical term is telemetry beacon," Aurelia replied, "Now focus."

You roll your eyes but comply nonetheless. You had been making your way down a narrow secondary street leading from the Center to the shopping district, but your street was about to terminate at a T-junction. Just a few blocks past that was Soleil Avenue and your target. Which made this the edge of the 'safe' zone. "So, any ideas for an approach?" Bianca asks.

"Hrm, don't see any convenient alleys," you say with a frown, "Olena?"

"Street to our left, maybe half a block away? I don't like the idea of taking another of the larger roads in."

"I, uh, can get on the roofs to provide cover," Tawny suggests, "Make sure we don't get ambushed?"

"Somebody would have to go with you," Olena replies, "Can you carry somebody?"

"Um, I can-" Tawny starts to say before pausing, eyes going wide, "I hear something coming!"

The rest of you pause, and as you listen you can just make out the heavy mechanical sound of moving robots. And here the lot of you were standing in plain view, "Shit, uh-" you look around, "Bus, now!"

The four of you scurry toward the semi-crumpled and now windowless bus, ducking inside and hunkering down between the ruined cushions. You point your shield toward the nearest door as Olena whispers harshly into her radio, "Any idea what's coming?"

"It's a beacon, not a scanner!" you hear Aurelia reply over your own radio, "But given that you could hear them coming, probably something big."

Tawny whimpers softly as she hunkers down lower behind a bench. All of you tense, weapons ready. There's a faint thrum of power past Tawny as Bianca conjures some sort of short-handled axe while Olena forms another of those fist-sized spheres, this one frosting over slightly as it settles into her hand. You simply brace your shield with one arm as the other prepares to raise your shotgun-axe if needed.

It doesn't take long for the sounds that had been floating at the edge of your hearing to far more upfront - heavy, rumbling foot-falls as several large somethings stomp their way past you. You take a chance and raise your head just enough to get an eye over the bottom of the window.

Paladins. Several of them. As well as a smattering of knights, but you were really more worried about the car-sized mobile weapons platforms. Luckily, they seem more interested in pressing on to where they're heading then-

"Crap, they stopped." Bianca mutters under her breath.

Dammit.

As quietly as you can, you shift to try and get a better view of the procession of machines. One further down the line has stopped, and after a few moments the rest of the mechs had noticed and stopped as well. You watch as the Paladin's torso slowly shifts back and forth, lights across its front blinking rapidly as it, you assume, slowly surveys the environment. After a few moments, several of the other mechs begin looking around as well. "Oh, that cannot be good…" Olena mutters, only to be quickly shushed by Bianca.

You tense but resist the urge to just start shooting, at least for the time being. After what seems like ages though a ripple of beeps and buzzes sweep through the procession of angry hardware, and they begin moving again, though you swear they've changed direction a little.

Tawny lets out a sigh of relief as the sounds of the mechs finally fades off into the distance. "That was scary."

"I was sure we were toast there for a second," Bianca replies with a nod before glancing in the direction they went, "Wonder what got their attention?"

"Us maybe?" Olena replies, "What I don't get is how they didn't-"

"You clear?" Aurelia asks suddenly over the radio.

You're the first to reply back, "Yup - paused for a long minute and then kept going."

"Which way did they move?" Aurelia asks quickly. You can hear rapid-fire typing in the background, "They might be moving toward a high-value target."

You raise an eyebrow at that, "Sorta North-westish, I think. I thought Goodwitch was further in?"

"I mean a different target, obviously," Aurelia says and you swear you can hear her rolling her eyes, "Finding Professor Goodwitch doesn't do us any good if we can't get out."

"Still," Olena replies, joining in, "priorities. We need to find a way forward that won't get us killed. We have no good idea what's in this area."

"We should split up," Bianca suggests and when everyone looks at her she just shrugs, "What? It's a big area and we need to cover a lot of ground." She nods toward the back of the bus, "I saw a clock tower or something just down the street - should give us a good lay of the land."

Olena shook her head, "If this area is anything like the rest of the town then collapses are going to block half the streets. We can find a way in more readily at street level."

"And get jumped more readily," you point out, "We should probably see where those mech's came from, make sure a whole army of tin cans isn't about to come down on us."

"See? Lots of things to do," Bianca points out, "So we split up."

[ ] [Team A] (write-in 2 teammates)
-[ ] Scout out the buildings at street level, figure out a good path in
-[ ] Head for the tower to survey the area
-[ ] See where the mechs were heading to
-[ ] See where the mechs were coming from

[ ] [Team B] (write-in 2 teammates)
-[ ] Scout out the buildings at street level, figure out a good path in
-[ ] Head for the tower to survey the area
-[ ] See where the mechs were heading to
-[ ] See where the mechs were coming from

[ ] Write-in

You raise a hand, earning an odd look from the rest, "I'll go after the robots!" At Olena's flat stare, you add, "I won't try and fight them, promise. I'm crazy, not stupid."

Bianca raises an eyebrow at that before shrugging, "Well, at least she's self-aware. Who wants to go with her?"

Tawny slowly raises her hand, "Um, I'll go with her, if nobody-"

"No, no," Olena cuts her off with a placating gesture, "You go with Bianca - last thing I want is you getting yourself hurt keeping up with her."

"Guess me and the cutie can go check out that tower," Bianca says with another shrug, eliciting a small 'eep' from Tawny, "But what makes you think you aren't going to get hurt?"

"I can summon explosives," Olena replies simply as she casts a glance in your direction. You don't say anything in reply, "Besides," she continues, "The two of you have a better chance of not being spotted."

Bianca turns to you, and you just give her a look in return, "What? I'm fine with it." Nobody else seems to object to the arrangement, and soon the four of you have split off into pairs.

You and Olena hang back just long enough to watch the other two head off. You begin to turn to leave yourself as your radio crackles to life, "So, got everything sorted?"

"Yup," you reply to Aurelia, "Me and Olena are going after the mechs like you want. Any idea what's waiting?"

"No, but that's why you need to go look," Aurelia replies, "Last thing we want is to miss them building a weapons emplacement or retooling fabrication center."

"That does sound bad," Olena agrees as she starts to move, "Hopefully they didn't go too far."

"The Paladins will limit their overall speed," Aurelia says as you move your way down the street, sticking close to the edges and its mixtures of abandoned cars and ruined buildings for cover, "And it's unlikely that they ventured too far from their territory, based on prior movement patterns."

"Right…" you answer as you press forward. Save for the distant rumbling of shifting ruins and the closer sounds of broken water mains - looks like somebody had crashed into a fire hydrant back when. You're certain you hear the crackling of a power line somewhere nearby. But outside the two of you, nothing else is moving on the street - no people, no animals, and no Grimm, "Guess those toasters take their patrols seriously."

"Then it would be best that we don't cross them, isn't it?" Olena replies, pitching her voice low as you near a fork in the road. It's a three-way intersection, with a large wedge-shaped building straight ahead of you. The torn fabric awning over the front says 'The Continental' in smoke-smudged letters. Olena eyes the building carefully before keying her radio, "Aurelia, we're at a fork - left or right?"

"Right, most likely," Aurelia replies, "based on their prior movements - but best to try and confirm. See if you can find any tracks." You contemplate a clever remark in reply but end up just giving a vague confirmation before you start poking around. Olena starts with the area around the… you think its a hotel, by the name, checking the doors - locked - before working her way toward the left. You go right, a narrower street then the avenue you had been on, narrow buildings crammed together with narrow alleys in between. Outside of smashed windows, most of them seemed to be more-or-less intact, shops and cafes not quite high-end enough to warrant being in the properly well-known area and instead trying to gain traffic from simple proximity. Given how many cars were crammed into the street, you guess it worked.

You're carefully examining an abandoned liquor store - which, conveniently, is missing its door - when you hear the sound of rubble crunching underfoot behind you. The foot sounded heavier than Olena.

You slowly turn to see a somewhat battered Altesian Knight standing near the mouth of an alleyway, it's expressionless faceplate pointed in your direction. You don't take your eyes off the eerily still machine as you call out, "Hey, Olena?"

"Yeah?" you get a call back.

"Pretty sure they went this way," you yell as you slowly ready your axe.

"How can you be so - SONOFA-" Olena's shout is suddenly cut off before you hear a pair of rapid shots.

"Olena?!" you shout and start to move toward your teammate, but the mech finally decides to react, its rifle snapping up to take aim at you. You bite back a curse as you juke out of the way, your shield still on your back. You'd stowed it after the little number on the bus. Stupid.

Bullets kick up chips of concrete as you roll out of the way, your grip on Fire tightening as you swing it upward, the axe-blade catching the mech in the armpit. Annoyingly, it was in the middle of backstepping so instead of removing the limb you leave it hanging by a few cables. Down an arm, it fumbles it's rifle, trying to shift its grip using just its good hand before you can strike again.

It doesn't make it as you slam your shield edge-first into its neck.

You turn quickly, scanning the alley, "Olena?"

"Busy!" Comes a shout from back toward the intersection, to find a pair of mechs getting wailed on by Olena as a third stalks toward the brawl from one of the alleys. You raise Fire and begin firing, starting with the one late to the party. Dust-infused shotgun slugs punch into the machine with ringing detonations, staggering it from the force as you rapidly close in to axe-murder range. Across the street, Olena back-hands one machine with her shield before firing a salvo of pistol shots from her gun-sword into the faceplate of the other in a shower of sparks. By the time you reach her, she's finishing off the remaining knight with a blade through its chest. She turns to you as she pulls her blade free, "You okay?"

"Found a booze shop, so I'm super," you say, jabbing a thumb back toward where you came from, "You?"

"Annoyed, but fine," she replies, "any idea where they came from?"

"The alley, I think," you point toward the narrow side-street the third one had been walking from, "Rear guard, you think?"

"Or maybe investigating something," Olena replies, "No way the Paladins were getting down that way…" she raises a hand to her ear as she keys her radio, "Aurelia, we just got jumped by a squad of Knights separate from the main group - are these things programed for rear guards?"

"Not for their patrol routines, no," Aurelia replies, "But with the way things are we can't trust that they're still running on baseline code."

"Fair enough," Olena says, "Want us to take a look?"

"If you would," Aurelia replies. Well, nothing for it then.

The two of you move down the alley, slowly, weapons ready. Doesn't hurt to be cautious and you were tired of being surprised like that. You scared others, dammit.

The alley is little more than a back-area to let people discreetly toss their garbage, but in between the rust-marked dumpsters you find something odd. The alley is a dead-end, and tucked into a back corner you find a few cans, their tops cut open and a trash bin lid filled with ash, "Huh, looks like a campfire," you say as you key your radio, "Think we found something… some of the coals are still warm too."

"Anything else?" she quickly asks, "Clothing? Tools?"

"Nothing," Olena reports as she pokes around some of the dumpsters, "I don't think this was an actual camp - just a rest stop."

"Then keep going," Whoever made that fire might be what the mechs are after."

You turn to Olena as Aurelia cuts off the link, "Why would the mechs go after one person?"

"Who knows," Olena replies as she starts picking her way back out of the alley, "Blame it on messed up code." No other machines are waiting for you as the two of you make it back out onto the street and press on. The further you go, the more packed the street becomes with abandoned cars, and thanks to the giant robot boot prints in the crushed forms of several of them, your job of tracking is refreshingly easy.

You finally catch up on the mech parade at some sort of small square; overturned wrought-iron tables and chairs are scattered about, sun-shades lay torn and broken, and the restaurants that once catered them are just yet more mostly intact ruins. What's more interesting though, is what several of the machines are pacing around - somebody had set up a camp.

It wasn't much of a camp, you would admit - one of the places had its own little section of the square fenced off into a little patio, and somebody had reinforced the waist-high decorative metal fence with a whole lot of scrap metal. Mostly doors from the cars you'd passed, from the looks of it. A mish-mash of plastic sheets were draped across a set of ropes and tied down to parts of the fence to create a sort of tent or lean-to. "Well, that looks like a camp," you quip quietly as you consider your options. They weren't appealing, "Think they'll move on?"

"No idea," Olena replies as she studies the scene, "Although…" She keys her radio, "Aurelia, did they drop any supplies into this area?"

"Few supplies were dropped at all," Aurealia replies, "Let alone into an area that infested. Why?"

"Because we just found a camp in front of a Caboose's BBQ that has a pile of crates marked with the Vale emblem."

You take a second look and, sure enough, you can just make out the familiar crossed-axes logo on a few crates, "Looks like they've been emptied though. Nothing to loot..."

"Take a closer look once the mechs clear out," Aurelia's command comes over the radio along with a burst of static, "They had to come from somewhere."

"Yeah, not sure if that's going to happen any time soon," you reply as you watch the machines slowly begin to spread out, "Got any other ideas? I don't think whoever was here is still going to be around anyhow."

"They must have left somehow…" Olena asks as she looks around. You scan the square again too, but you don't see anything. Its only when Olena taps you on the shoulder and points that you realize you were looking in the wrong place, "Spotted something snagged on a fire-escape just above us in an alley. Looks like a… coat?"

And it was - a long coat, dark brownish-red, formerly pale fluff around the collar stained with dirt and who knows what else. As it flapped softly in the breeze you can just make out a design on the coat, "Olena, am I crazy or is there a stingray on the back of that coat?"

"Whoever was wearing it must have taken to the roofs," Aurelia quickly determines, head up, see if you can pick up the trail."

"What about-" you start to ask as another call comes in over the radio.

"B team, this is A team," Bianca's voice carries over the link, "Got a good view from up here - other than a pocket of mechs over at a square to the west all the mechs look like they're keeping closer to the center."

"Think we could reach the street?" Olena asks.

"If we swung east and were real careful, we might," Bianca replies after a moment, "It would at least get us closer."

"Or could get us trapped when the mechs move and surround us without even trying," you say with a sigh, "There's got to be a better route."

"Well, I'm not seeing it from up here," Bianca replies, "Soleil looks fairly clear but everything I can see around it looks bad." Ugh. Nothing was ever easy, was it?

[ ] Head up and try and follow the survivor's trail; They might even still be alive.
[ ] Head up and then head east; Have Bianca help guide you and see if you can find a route through the mechs.
[ ] Regroup with the others and then head east; You've both done as much as you can without pressing your luck - best to press on together.
[ ] Write-in