Chapter 2: It Begins

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"Mister Ironwood?" Penny asked. The two were on their way to the large fleet command ship. Both were sitting in the sleek, white chairs just outside the room on the ship where Ruby was being operated on. "How did you find Ruby?" She asked, not looking up from the place on the ground she had been staring at. Ironwood looked up from the tablet he was filing a report on.

"What do you mean?" He asked, clearly annoyed. He didn't like Penny, and she knew that. He may be taking care of her, but this was only because so much lien had been put into creating her, and he didn't want it to go to waste.

"How did you know where she was?" Penny rephrased the question, hoping he would understand and give her the answer so that he would stop looking at her so angrily.

After a long moment of silence, he answered "Her scroll has a tracer. It was put in after The Breach. She always seemed to be in the right place at the right time. I didn't like it. Now I see that it was all just luck. And her luck ran out." He looked back down at the tablet and continued filling out his report.

"But how?" Another question came.

Ironwood sighed, irritated by her questions. This was the military, not pre-school. Creating a sentient robot had its downsides: it asked too many questions. It was curious. It never understood. It was immature. It was like having a toddler that knew how to follow orders. "She dropped it during The Breach and we took it in, saying it was evidence. Is that all?" Penny nodded in response, sensing his hostility.

The metallic door beside Ironwood slid open, the pistons that opened it making a noise once it went all the way in.

"General." An Altesian medic appeared in the doorway. "We have sealed the primary wound, what do you want us to do with the girl?" Ironwood stood and turned to the medic, setting the tablet down on his seat.

"Have you cauterized the limbs?" He asked.

"Yessir." The man immediately responded. "It was the first thing we did."

"Good. Wait until we arrive at the command vessel before you replace her limbs." Ironwood commanded.

Ruby sat up, trying to figure out where she was. She could see 'Rose' in the top left hand corner of her vision, but as far as she could tell, it was pitch black in the room she was in. Then her vision turned green, and she could see that she was in a forest.

"Miss Rose," a man's voice came through her ear, making her jump.

"Where am I?" She asked, looking around. She noticed that her voice came out as deep and distorted.

"Don't worry about that." He said. "I am General Ironwood. I believe you have met me."

"Yeah. I remember you." Ruby replied

"Good." The General said. "Do you remember what happened before now?"

"Yes, General." She said, now sounding dark. "I was betrayed."

"Yes, and I saved you. I replaced your limbs, and saved your life. But your dreams were destroyed by your conspirators. I can make you something better than a huntress and you can help people like you've always dreamed." He told her.

"I may have been defeated easily, but I'm not stupid. You're trying to manipulate me." She said.

"No." He said. "I'm offering you a position in the Atlesian military. Thoughts of revenge cloud your mind—"

"How do you know that?" She asked frantically.

"I've been where you are: scared, alone, vengeful, angry." He told her. "They did this to you because you were better."

"I'll join you." She said immediately after, not allowing him to gain momentum.

"Good." He said. "I'm dropping your new partner in. When the time is right, I will unleash you into the world."

Once he finished speaking, the forest disappeared, transforming into a massive grid. It was a simulation room. A door opened against the wall, and Penny came in. "Penny?" Ruby asked.

"Why does your voice sound like that, Ruby?" The ginger timidly asked.

"I'm unsure." Ruby brought her hand to her face, finding that she was wearing a mask. It was smooth and metallic. It seemed to curve in front of her face, and by the way Penny was looking at her, she didn't think her face could be seen either.

Suddenly, a tab appeared over Penny's head. It read, "P.E.N.N.Y. Operating at peak performance."

"I didn't know Penny was an acronym." Ruby said.

"You can also run diagnostics on yourself." Ironwood's voice told her.

Several tabs appeared on Ruby's HUD: "Stealth, Blaster, Shield, Semblance Masking, Diagnosis, Melee." Ruby thought of going into the Diagnosis menu, and it was selected. She quickly realized that she had to use her mind for this. A diagram of her suit appeared. It looked like it was designed to take a nuclear bomb head on. The left arm was highlighted as, 'Shield', the right was 'Blaster'. The boots were the 'Semblance Mask'.

The body pieces were form fitting, but still protective. The suit was completely black and grey, the mask completely black. It was apparent to Ruby that the Blaster was retractable, as she could see it on the diagram, but when she looked down, it was just a mirror of the left hand.

(A/N: The boots and arms look like Lazer Team, but black and grey.)

"Ready?" Ironwood asked.

"Ready." Ruby said, extending the Blaster.

Grimm materialized in the room, surrounding Ruby and Penny.

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