Disclaimer: I own neither RWBY nor Super Robot Wars.
The Hagane and Hiryu remained stationed in Genève for some time after the defeat of Adler, awaiting new orders while protecting what was left of their headquarters.
"Do you think they'll use the Valsion Custom?" Yang said, leaning back in her seat and stretching slightly.
Team RWBY were looking at combat data, keeping old information fresh and thinking up new ways to fight based on it.
It honestly wasn't that different from their time at Beacon, just different foes, and weapons.
"Probably. It's too powerful to just pass up if its usable." Weiss remarked, surprisingly soft even while highly absorbed in whatever she was looking at.
"The question is just who to pilot it." Ruby added. "We don't exactly have any extra pilots around, so if they want to use it someone will have to switch."
"Not me, I hope." Blake said from her own seat. "I like the Hückebein, it suits me."
"So it does!" Yang chimed in. "I'd also rather not. I actually like the Gespenst, despite its shortcomings."
"You like it because you get to punch things." The raven-haired huntress teased with a smirk.
"All too true! But it also has a nice mix of sturdiness and agility that fits me nicely."
"While the Gespenst isn't quite my style… and I would like to switch off it… neither is that monstrosity." Weiss interjected.
"Then why are you looking at combat data relating to it?" Ruby asked, peering over her partners' shoulder.
The heiress sighed. "Just in case. Someone is going to have to do it, and if that someone is me… I'd rather be prepared."
"Makes sense." The other girls nodded along to this reasoning.
Then, after a short while of silence, Blake drew Yang and Ruby away while Weiss was continuing looking at her data.
"Blake? What is it?" Yang queried, keeping it to a whisper since the Faunus had made a gesture to be quiet.
"Do you… feel like there is… something… strange, going on with Weiss?" The raven-haired girl replied.
"Well… kind of? She's been a bit… strange, sure." The buxom gal said.
Ruby, on the other hand, seemed to have fallen into deep thought, with a strange expression.
To her, what Blake said made her think. She'd certainly felt like the heiress' changes between soft and harsh were more jarring than they used to, and it did feel like there was something… odd… going on.
Seeing their team leader's expression, Blake sighed. "I might just be overthinking it… This… Our current situation has affected us all…"
"I… can't deny that." Ruby agreed.
"Yeah…" Yang added.
As was a far too common trend, they were interrupted by the warning sirens.
-Break—
It all started out quite normal.
They deployed like usual, and while their enemy wasn't common, it was also nothing they hadn't fought before.
Just more of the Aerogaters' drone weapons.
The biggest difference was that the Hagane and Hiryu were holding a position over the ruins of the headquarters in order to protect what was left of it.
"Isn't this just like after Aidoneus? They showed up with a similar force back then as well, right?" Yang remarked.
"They did, didn't they?" Ryusei agreed.
"They might be testing those who came out on top…" Rai said.
The drones might have been annoying in their own right, but not much of an actual threat, and the force was cleaned up before long.
""Eh?!"" Several members of the force exclaimed as they collectively sensed something.
This time, something different happened.
A large mobile weapon suddenly appeared, much in the same manner as the warship in Antarctica.
It had an almost pyramidical or conical shape with the point at the middle of the front where a face adorned it and a number of almost wings flaring out behind it, resembling almost a diving great bird of prey.
It hovered at a decent distance, almost as if it wanted them to move away from Headquarters…
"The hell is that?" Yang exclaimed.
"It's almost as big as my Giganscudo…" Tasuku noted.
"I think it's actually bigger…" Latune remarked.
"It isn't responding to our calls. Treat it as hostile and engage." Daitetsu cut in.
"Understood. All units, engage the unknown, but exercise caution and stick close to the Hagane and Hiryu." Ingram commanded.
Once they started moving closer, the machine suddenly opened fire with a canon.
They evaded the first shot, directed at the R-1, but threatening to hit others.
"Is it… targeting me? What is this feeling?" Ryusei muttered.
He then fired with his Boosted Rifle, but even with the aid of the T-Link System the opposing machine evaded it, although there was something… off, about the reaction.
"Here, have a present!" Excellen exclaimed as she fired a beam of energy at the enemy.
This time, its reaction came late, and the beam hit, only a bit off centre…
Only to meet with a barrier.
And not just any barrier.
Several people reacted at the sight of this barrier.
"That's…!" Aya shouted with an accompanying gasp.
"A Psychodrive-field?!" Radha added.
"Why does it have that?" Yang questioned.
"Does it matter?" Ingram cut in.
While some of them might have disagreed with that sentiment, it wasn't really the place (which was probably the point), and they had a large unfamiliar mobile weapon firing a cannon at them.
Some of their quicker members moved ahead, confident they could return to their motherships quickly if need be.
Many of them couldn't quite ignore the barrier used by their enemy.
Eis was certainly thinking about it quite a bit.
The Psychodrive-field was something that the R-series made use of, as well as the Grungust Type-2.
Certainly, chances were good it was something that their enemy had developed independently.
Or…
Perhaps, this was another example of tech used by the Federation based on EOT…
The exact origins of the T-Link System weren't known to her, other than that it had been developed by a team led by Professor Kobayashi…
Suddenly, the unknown mech turned to seeming look directly at them, and launched what seemed to be small weapons in large numbers.
Will gasped.
Because those weapons were reminiscent of the things that had taken team RWBY all that time ago.
"The heck?! Those look kind of like-!" Yang exclaimed, but couldn't finish as she was forced to evade some of the weapons.
But the bulk of them came straight for Will.
She tried.
She dodged, weaved, and did everything in her power to minimise the damage…
But she hadn't been prepared to deal with something like that.
She cried out as her machine was overwhelmed and she was forced to eject.
And, by some cosmic joke, only moments later the unknown suddenly disengaged and left the battlefield.
"Weiss!" Ruby cried out and sped towards where she was.
"Retrieve miss Schnee and her mech quickly and return to ship. Chances are high they have launched MAPWs at this location." Ingram suddenly instructed, with a slight hint of urgency in his voice.
"What?!" Ryusei exclaimed, but he did immediately start returning.
"Eita?" Daitetsu queried.
"Nothing detected yet, but it would be consistent with data from similar encounters, and it would be too late once we detect them." The operator responded.
"Then retrieve all units and prepare to leave this airspace."
At this command, the Hagane and Hiryu started moving towards their mobile units in order to facilitate a rapid retrieval.
Ruby picked up the ejected escape pod, while the wrecked Gespenst was retrieved by Russel and Yang.
Well, as much of it as they could safely get, anyway.
-Break—
Much like Ingram had predicted, a MAPW strike did indeed hit Genève not long after the unknown mobile weapon left, levelling what remained of the headquarters that they had fought so hard to protect.
"While it isn't optimal, we'll have Weiss Schnee pilot the Valsion Custom… Unless there are any objections?" Ingram said as they were holding a meeting after the battle.
No objections were raised.
"Good." The blue-haired Major continued. "We'll move on to Izu Base, where we will pick up additional parts for the R-Series and resupply."
With this they dispersed, going their separate ways.
"So, you ended up having to pilot it in the end." Ruby remarked to her partner.
"Yeah… It'll be a challenge for certain, but…" The white-haired girl replied.
"Well… considering how bad your Gespenst got wrecked…" For a short while they merely walked side-by-side without saying anything. "Those drone weapons that unknown deployed…"
"They certainly did look a bit like those things, didn't they?"
"Hard to say if there is any connection, really… I didn't get that good of a look at them back then and…"
"It's been a while… But they most certainly shared some design elements…"
Silence resumed between them.
Finally, Weiss sighed with a wry smile. "So… additional parts for the R-Series…"
Ruby looked at the other girl in a slightly confused manner for a short while, before recomposing herself.
"I wonder what they are. I had heard some talk about the R-Series not quite being finished yet, but I can't quite figure out what they would add." The young team leader gained some cheer at being able to talk weaponry.
The wry smile on the other girl's face became more genuine at this.
"They do seem perfectly fine as they are. Sure, there is room for improvement, but…"
"I know what you mean! Maybe it's just some minor improvements? Of course, they could always add additional equipment as well, especially the R-2 seems to lack any real good way to use its power output…"
As it turned out, the additional parts for the R-Series varied greatly between each machine.
The R-Gun received nothing, and the R-1 simply received a bunch of internal upgrades to help it withstand the usage it was being put through.
The R-2 and 3 though…
The R-2 received a new weapon pack mounted on its back and shoulders, a large beam-cannon to give it an additional punch at long ranges and something to do with the Tronium Engine's output.
The R-3 in the meantime got a set of large packs that more than doubled its size, gave it flight abilities as well as cluster guided missile launchers.
It also gained more space for supporting equipment.
To mark these changes to the machines, they were given the Powered designations, making them the R-2 Powered and the R-3 Powered, respectively.
But that wasn't all.
Because with these additions, the SRX-Team would now be able to combine their three mechs into a single, more powerful mech.
The SRX, a Special Unit, or as Ryusei put it, Super Robot, capable of overshadowing the Grungust.
That was the theory, at least.
First, they needed to succeed at combining in the first place, then they could see once and for all which would come out on top.
And unfortunately, there was no time for a safe test-run.
The Aerogaters were attacking all over the place, and the Hagane and Hiryu needed to go to Beijing, immediately.
If they were going to field-test the combination, it would have to be there, in active combat, or later.
An uneasy feeling filled the heart of Ruby as they headed to their next battlefield.
It was about time for the Aerogaters to start getting serious…
Author's notes: This chapter... This story... I'm sure I made at least one silly mistake somewhere but... Well, this is what you get. I honestly wasn't expecting Beijing yet... But according to the walk-through I use as reference at times... The time has come for... everyone's FAVOURITE event. *"Emissary from the Void" plays* Not yet! Wait for next chapter. *"The Omnipotent Arbitrator" plays instead* Right... That's... fine. It IS one of my favourite faction themes.
I couldn't actually remember if the R-1 gets anything at this point. Part of me wants to say it didn't actually get anything, part of me says that it should be now... Oh, and for clarity, yes its the... Vayyikra? Valk? Stupid Balmarian names... that shows up in this chapter, just as it's supposed to. Oh gods, it is probably based on something Jewish...
I hope you enjoyed, and that you have a nice day.