Rage & Hope: A RWBY Story

Chapter Seventy - The Lady In The Shoe

As Cordovin pursues the stolen airship, Aya and Saint Walker along with Weiss and Maria found themselves in a dangerous situation. When the airship arrives at the location of Ruby's group, Aya, Saint Walker and Weiss jumps out of the ship and lands near Ruby's group. Aya inspects the giant mech with her scanners.

Ruby: We need to figure out how to stop Cordovin and protect the airship until we do.

Jaune: Let's give her more targets to focus on.

Nora: You mean us, don't you?

Jaune: Look at that thing. It's not designed for small enemies. It's probably meant for giant Grimm that come in from deeper waters. We can turn our size into an advantage. We just have to be smart.

Aya: That is a good idea, Jaune. A mech that size will have difficulty tracking smaller targets. If we can use that weakness to our advantage, we can overcome this mech. 

Saint Walker: Agreed. An air and ground assault should split the mech's attention to or advantage. 

Aya: My flight capabilities should provide adequate maneuverability to Cordovin's attacks and scan for a weakness. Maria, can you keep the ship out of harm's way?

Maria: They can take my driver's license, but I won't let them take this ship!

Ren: Reassuring....

Oscar: I'll be more useful if I go with her. From up high, I can try to spot a weakness.

Saint Walker: I will stay here. All will be well. 

With that, Aya joined Maria and Oscar on the airship. As the airship takes off, Maria pilots the airship away from Cordovin while remaining in close proximity to Ruby's group. Inside the airship, Aya observes the mech and attempts to formulate a plan. With time running out, Aya exits the airship and begins flying towards the mech. Aya shoots green energy blasts at the mech. As she calculated, the mech's armor proved too thick for her weapons to pierce through. In the airship, Oscar sees this and immediately runs to Maria.

Oscar: Maria?! Why did Aya jump off the ship?!

Maria: How am I supposed to know?! What's she's got planned, she didn't tell me! Let's just get this bird away before Cordo spots us!

With that, Maria pilots the airship away from the mech. As Ruby's group continued to fight the mech, Aya managed to fly past the mech's sight. From a safe distance, Aya uses her scanners to scan for a weakness. She soon finds the cockpit to the mech. However, the mech's hard light shields prevent her from entering. Aya then zips around and scans for a weakness to exploit. It doesn't take long for Aya to find  the hard light shield generator that pilots the mech. Piecing together the generator and the shields, Aya fires a volley of green energy blasts at the generator, destroying it. This results in a small explosion which doesn't even phase the mech. Aya then flies towards the cockpit. Meanwhile, one of Cordovin's copilots notices something on the computer.

Atlas Copilot: Something's happened, Ma'am! Something's in the Colossus!

Suddenly, the cockpit window was blasted. Aya then flies inside. 

Cordovin: You!

Cordovin pulls out her pistol and shoots at Aya, but Aya dodges the gunfire. Aya then fires a green energy blast which knocks the pistol out of Cordovin's hand.

Aya: Do not do this! We are not your enemies!

Cordovin: You are ants! You are lower than ants! This is what happens when you think you know better than those rightfully in charge!

Cordovin pulls out a combat knife and attacks Aya. As the two fought, Cordovin notices the airship carrying Ruby.

Cordovin: You....fire on her!

The Atlas copilots then charges the cannon arm. Meanwhile, Ruby aims Crescent Rose at the Colossus's missile launcher. Cordovin realizes what they are planning and retracts the missile launcher at the last moment and shoots them with a lightning Dust attack from the main cannon. Aya sees this and jumps out the window to the cockpit and lands on the main cannon. Aya then sees an exposed a weak point in the arm cannon. 

Aya: Ruby! Attack that weak spot!

Seeing an opportunity, Ruby and Weiss launch a coordinated attack with Aya using a combination of Lightning, Ice and Earth Dust while Aya fires a powerful energy blast. The Dust attack along with Aya's energy blast propels into the cannon and igniting the Dust cartilages inside. This results in a powerful explosion which destroys the arm and traps it in place. The explosion knocks Aya back, but she was able to regain her balance. As she does so, she flies back towards the airship. 

Ruby: That was amazing, Aya! You destroyed the mech!

Aya: No, Ruby. We all did. I can't take credit for this victory. If it weren't for you and the others, I would not have been able to do my part. This victory belongs to us all.

Saint Walker: Indeed. We all played our part in overcoming this trial. 

Qrow: We better get a move on. That mech may be out of commission, but Cordovin's still got a whole base of Atlas troops.

Suddenly, the ground began to rumble. At first, they thought it was the mech making another move, but it remained still. They all turned to the shore to see a shadow on the horizon. The shadow's form is soon revealed to be a Leviathan approaching Argus. In that moment, everyone quickly realized that the very means of defeating the Leviathan was now disabled. Now they needed a new plan to deal with the Leviathan or else Argus is doomed.