Smoke. Ash. Fire. It had spread over almost the entire nation of Vale overnight. All that remained of Beacon was the shattered towers now ransacked by Grimm of every species. Nesting in the former homes of loving families; packs of Beowolves made their territory among the torn linen and furniture. Nevermores had made their nest in the steeples that marked the Beacon skyline; old skyscrapers and the late Professor Ozpin's clock tower being the chief nests in the area. It seems the beasts of Mountain Glenn were at home now, for those unlucky few who were caught in the initial onslaught of the Vytal festival remained where they were slain, the coagulated blood now stinking the air. That was why he was here, Cobe Simmons, recently directed from his Alma M,ater of Haven Academy to help investigate the effects of Beacon on the rest of Vale, and the other kingdoms. Although not Huntsman, he was the most suited due to his academics, a role he found himself more attuned for even amongst his team; CORL. Coral as it was fondly named for the members homes proximity to the sea.
It seems the Goliaths that once patrolled the borders of the Kingdom had taken Beacon as their new Mountain Glenn. Memoirs of the once proud academy were scattered like confetti, a shredded poster for the 'Achievement Hunters' was laid out lazily under one of the dormitories from which a curtain that looked as though it was sliced in half was flapping in the holes made during the battle. He'd seen enough. Making his way back to the shoreline, the observer made his notes. The report was complete, now all was needed was to ensure these documents reached their destination.
As he dashed around from one hiding spot to another, Cobe gave a nervous glance in the direction of what used to be the CCT tower. There, preserved in a perpetual state of pain and aggression was the infamous Dragon. Until now, no one had even the slightest chance of nearing the tower, let alone the creature itself, still perched atop and not moving. No one, except him. Atlas drones had thus far determined the beast to be in stasis, but still depositing pools of an unidentified liquid which spawned greater numbers of Grimm. To a point that the pooling numbers in the local nest were writhing atop each other to retain alpha leadership. Many scientists across the four kingdoms determined if this stasis remained and suspended any regenerative capabilities that Grimm normally had, it would eventually waste away to nothing. But too much negativity reigned in this area, more than enough to sustain the lifetime of one hundred Grimm twice over.
However, his semblance allowed for ease of traversing through the hordes, but nonetheless a painstaking process. His aura interacts with the light frequencies to render a chameleon skin that shifted to suit his needs, rendering him invisible on command. That still left him with one drawback of facing Grimm, his emotions, while they couldn't see him immediately, they would eventually sense him. Thus he had to move in fast and focus on his mission, not the fear of being surrounded on all sides. 'Dear Gods, why did I say yes to Lionheart about this!'
He made for a shortcut through the library, the once luminescent repository now dark and piled knee deep with the ash of burnt textbooks and littered with the corpses of scorched tomes still piled high from the White Fangs assault. Above the entrance was smeared "GRIMM" in the blood of some unlucky pupil. He threaded lightly along, but rounding one corner he came across a creep, dragging its tail through ash as it sniffed at some unseen prey. With uneasy movements, he took further steps towards the exit that would lead to the river, his escape from this hellish nightmare. Right foot, left foot, right foot, left foot, righ-CREEEAAAK!
The floor groaned as he held his breath, but…the creep moved its head toward him as his fear became more palatable. With a burst of energy, he dashed from the library. As he paced forward, he began picking up more hordes roaming about and they too began to form up, their first form of enjoyment in days. He panted and puffed as he raced towards the tower. The grotesque creature looming above as it perched on the ruins. He jumped over the scattered cog wheels and broken stone that had fallen down now covered in rain, slippery to walk on. That was how he found himself on the ground, sprawled before a sleeping boarbatusk. A blast of its breath went into his face and he accidentally breathed in the horrid rotting stench. Gagging, Cobe shuffled away towards the main entrance.
The oncoming horde right on his heels as he tiptoed up the stone steps into sanctuary. Shutting the doors behind him, he allowed himself to breath and wheeze. 'I couldn't control my emotions, why the hell couldn't they have sent a Huntsman. No, no, no, they don't know the intricacies of the system, it would have taken too long. Besides, much ado about nothing now. My only chance is to get the data and get word to the captain. If I stay a couple of hours, the horde might disperse.'
Removing the short-wave communicator, the archaic ham radio was all that could be used these days besides writing a letter, he attempted to get in contact with his colleague.
But static was the only thing he could hear. He was out of range. And there was only thirty minutes to get the job done. Resigning himself to the task at hand, he ran for the stairwell, the only way of reaching the control room now that the lift seemed to have been torn out of place by some great force.
Within the control room, every computer system was either dead or dying. The latter showing only a red lit screen and the static image of a symbol, the black rook piece. This was it, his task at hand was nearing completion. He inserted every wire, every secondary console unit he packed with him. After five minutes he was ready to hack and download the system. Slow and tedious, the override codes provided only got him so far until he needed to compensate for the corruption. From there it was minute after minute of slowly typing away at the interface. When the malware was finally cleared of it harmful properties, Cobe removed the Bluetooth scanner to finally download the underlying software that made up this program.
It was done, he had successfully uncovered the malware that infected the beacon system during the Vytal festival. 'That was the easy part, next comes the escape.' No sooner had he done that, then the sound of a large crash sounded below. He looked up and his eyes caught the tendrils of a floating Grimm that seemed to glare at him with its luminous red eye. 'It's like it's watching me. Like some sort of-oh wait, Grimm, downstairs, CRAPBASKETS!' he ran faster than he had tried to get here, but the creatures were already clambering their way up the narrow stairwell to his very frightened presence. He broke out through the top and stalled before the mighty beast of the Grimm Dragon. Its gaping maw revealed a row of mangled sharp teeth and a red empty pit, but most disturbing was the revealed tendons that allowed the mouth to stretch open wide enough to swallow an entire Goliath. Shrinking away, he backed over to a large wheel still on its axis, one he could use to cover the entrance and cover his escape. But as he heaved the large cog, he never took his eyes off the large creature nor the black oily globule that was being produced near its chin.
As he pulled away, the banging on the door started up, the Grimm behind throwing all of their weight into the heavy obstacle, shifting it ever so slightly. He was out of time.
'OK, according to another scout, I think his name was Crow…something or other…the north-west side was facing the dock zone'. He removed his one weapon, an Atlas grade rocket launcher loaned for this mission. He loaded in the gravity dust cartridge and took his spot to have a running start. He jogged forward a little, then sprinted, then outright ran towards the edge. As he neared the precipice and prepared to leap, aiming the launcher downwards to slow his decent, the disgusting tentacled monster rose before him, catching him in its tendrils and throwing him back to the ground from where he jumped. He looked up at it, its evil eye daring him to move, but he didn't even make a sound. Then from behind him, the loud slamming against the door stopped, it seemed the creatures had moved away. Only for a loud splash to occur behind him, coating him slightly in a black tar-like substance. From this dark waste formed many tiny king taijitu, each one slithering over each other's slicked black coils, uncovered by bone plating and gliding in a pack towards Cobe.
He had to do something, the mission took priority. This code, this data, if it could be distributed, could prevent another shut down in the other CCT and, possibly, even reaffirm the system between the three other kingdoms. The first step towards reconstruction. He loaded the boxed data into the launcher, aimed towards the dock and pulled the trigger. The package flew out the other end for many miles into the sky until it fell out of distance. And all the while, the floating Grimm didn't take its eye off him, staring deep into his soul as though it were trying to eat it, until he could take it no more. He turned and ran for the edge, ready to jump when he loaded in the second gravity cartridge. The package would be found by the Captain, he was paid out for this job. Cobe would look for another route and hide out near Mountain Glenn, the area ironically sparse of Grimm now. He took an almighty leap into the air.
And the tiny snakes wrapped around his ankles like a chain. He was thrown off balance and landed on his face, the weapon flying off over the edge, out his reach. The taijtu's coiled around his legs, then his hips, he flailed in a desperate attempt to pull off the offenders, they coiled around his chest, he found it harder to breath, they slithered over his wrists, trapping them at his sides, his head lolled from side to side in one last desperate struggle, they bared their fangs as they closed around his throat and head. He was completely covered in a black inky mass. He cried out in terror.
"HELP M-"
The mission was a success. The data was secured.
Just a heads up, I haven't abandoned my other project, but I want to do a little something before Volume 5 of RWBY starts up. And since I have to wait until it comes to YouTube, then I still have another week at least before I get to see it. Therefore, I present to you my little idea I had drafted up since last year. These OC's are an experiment that will come into play next chapter once I see how well of a response this fiction has received. So please, if you wish this to continue, comment below and tell me what I'm doing right or wrong. A favourite here and there also wouldn't go amiss.