Another meeting was held in Ozpin's tower. The scars of the battle were still there, but the Huntsmen Academy remained functional in training children to become the guardians of humanity. Colonel Miller stepped out from the elevator and recieved many glances from the headmaster's inner circle. "Excuse me for my tardiness, I was busy making sure the Nazis and the Reds play nice with their neighbors."
Professor Ozpin nodded his head. "I heard on the news. There was conflict between some of the neighborhoods simply because they were taking up space, I presume."
"You're not wrong in any way." Miller replied. "It's hard when both factions are equally paranoid of one-another. It's worse when the neighbors are starting shit with their citizens."
A huntsman took out his flash and took a sip. "Why don't you go hard on them?"
"I can't. I've tried to talk with some of the neighborhood watchmen, but trying to keep the punks from starting a fight is very hard to do."
"We should consider ourselves lucky that the Grimm haven't breached Vale's walls. They would have a fine supper with all that negativity."
Ozpin stood up from his seat. "You are correct, Qrow. We simply cannot let this continue any further, but that is not the reason we are here today. Do you have any information on the whereabouts of our enemy?"
"Yeah, there is a location out in the wilds. I'll mark it down on your scrolls, but it can be summed up that you might recognize it, colonel."
Recognize it? Miller became confused. "What do you mean? Is that the reason why I'm here?"
The huntsman pulled out his scroll and showed it to the commanding officer of the Polis Rangers. "There was this strange aircraft we found, but it had some symbols to it. Since you know Russian, I hope you could figure this out."
Taking a closer look at the image, he froze in place. There was a heavily armored helicopter that had crashed into the ground. It looked like an older model, but he knew it was clearly designed by Russians. "That's a Hind."
"A what?" Qrow wondered.
"It's a gunship, but it looks old."
"How old?" Professor Ozpin wondered.
"Very old. Based on those markings, it looked like it was back in the days when the Soviet Union was still a thing."
Qrow expressed his curiosity. "The Soviet Union? Was it some kind of ancient kingdom?"
The colonel shook his head. "If you want ancient I should be talking about the Tsars and days of Imperial Russia before the Soviets took over." He said. "No, the Soviet Union was the previous government of the Russian Federation. It is so strange to think that yesterday I joined up as a Soviet soldier and ended up as an ex-soldier of the former officer corps."
"You were there when your country changed? What was so different about it? Something must have happened to cause a switching of governments."
"Well, we were competing against another country for the influence of world events. The Americans won and we had to suffer the drawbacks of switching over to a different government."
"Was it bad?"
"More along the lines of doing well for us Russians - of course that was before the bombs dropped."
Professor Ozpin tapped the ground with his cane, getting their attention. "Although I find the history of your world intriguing, Colonel Miller, do you believe we should take a closer look at this gunship for clues."
"I can spend a few Rangers at best to find out what we're looking at, but I'll need someone… qualified to protect them from the Grimm." He answered. "Remember, we don't have the strength to deal with a pack of beowolves alone."
"I'll volunteer." Qrow said.
Yet, the headmaster was quick to protest. "Qrow, it is not your mission. You're duty is to find out about what we're facing."
"I am, but this is our only lead at the moment. With one of the pawns of Salem gone we won't have to worry about her trying to undermine our efforts ever since you transfered Amber soul to Winter's."
That name? It had been awhile since he had seen her ever since Artyom and her had to stay apart from each other for their safety. Poor guy, he didn't even get a chance to properly enjoy his time with his first girl. "May I ask you a question, professor?"
"You may, I think it's about time we concluded this meeting of ours."
"How is Winter doing after all of this time?"
"General Ironwood has put her on leave with her family, giving the specialist some time to spend with her family before she has to go back into hiding."
At the mere mention of her family, the colonel did his best to not be reminded of that man known as her father. Such as ass. Belittles the Savior of the Metro and attempts to blackmail him by pulling out his funds into Artyom's surgery just to spite him. How the specialist had to endure that he would never know, but she seemed happy around Artyom.
Hopefully, everything will be going well for the young Ranger.
Artyom sat alone in his room with only the lamps and a single candle to light up the whole place. It was a small place, enough to keep his time to himself as he continued to draw pictures of Winter with his pencil. He was never supposed to use the lead for this since it was a waste to use it for such leisure, but supplies from Remnant occasionally trickled down to this frontier station. The lonely world he once knew was being reconnected with another that was far vast for him to see.
Every curve was like a dream for him, each lined was him being possessed by his separation between himself and the specialist. Of course, it was for her safety since she was the Fall Maiden, but he was always happier in her company. Sukhoi would never understand because he'll never be in his shoes. He survived this far with luck, but his experience on Remnant told him that luck can do so much before the reaper takes your soul.
The Ranger reached for a cup on his right and took a quick sip of his mushroom tea. The taste will never leave him, but its recipe will die with him. It was a way of life for Exhibition, the only way to be important to the rest of the Metro. There were other stations that sold mushroom tea, but they always cut corners trying to make it or attempted to replicate its taste through pig fat. Thankfully, Hanza was very harsh against such violations. Despite all of their greed, they still had some decency to let Exhibition stay the way it is. Perhaps it was the Dark Ones and they were being pragmatic about letting Exhibition deal with the carnage? Still, the station became important and people stopped mocking his home for being crazy.
Yet, every time he thought of Hanza he couldn't forget his face - Bourbon. That man was crazy, but he was the good kind. The stalker had the decency to lend him his assault rifle on his dying breathe while he held the Nazis back. The thought of seeing those kind of stalkers were very few and maybe Bourbon's… humor was a way to cope with the horrors of the surface. Still, he never failed to respect the stalkers after him. He was the prime example of one in some way.
When the drawing was complete, Artyom raised his paper to the lamp in order to admire Winter's beauty. He did take liberties with her uniform since he didn't always get the right adjustments for it, but the face always stayed the same. The Ranger would never sacrifice the beauty that belonged to her.
Then he heard footsteps come to his door as he faced towards it in his chair. Three knocks were all that were needed. "Artyom, are you in there?" Sukhoi was outside.
Artyom grabbed his journal and slipped another drawing of Winter into its pockets. "Yes, I'm here."
As he slid the door open, the station commander leaned his arm on the doorway and smiled. "Good morning Artyom, how are you feeling?" He asked.
"Fine." He answered. "What brings you here?"
"My boy, I think it's time I told you. You're now old enough to understand what why I am so worried about you." The old man answered. "It's just, I don't want you to react badly to this."
"Sukhoi, is it because of yesterday? Are you truly worried about me getting radiation poisoning and being infertile?"
"Yes, I think it's important enough for me to tell you."
"Important? What do you know about important? I'm trying to see if people outside of Moscow can hear us and you're discouraging me from going out there."
"Artyom, I have my reasons-"
"I won't hear of it." He cut off. "I saved Exhibition from being destroyed when the Dark Ones were killing us by the dozens."
"It's not that."
"Not that? Then what is it about? I'm trying to help the Metro and you're obstructing me from helping them."
"It's related to that, but please hear me out."
Artyom began to calm down for a moment, allowing his stepfather to be heard. "What do you want to talk about?
He smiled. "You and your mother."
Did he know of her? Was there a secret he knew about his mother? "You know something about her? Why didn't you tell me before?"
"You were very young and I didn't know how to talk to you about the subject, especially since they got to her first. You and I both know what happened to her."
She was eaten alive by rats - along with everyone else who didn't make it to the train. "You knew her?"
"Before the war, many people knew about her and you." Sukhoi answered. "When the bombs fell, no one could care less except for me and a select few."
"A select few? Who were they?"
"I can't tell you. There are too many ears around, but when there a private moment for us to talk I will go deep into the matter with you." Then he continued. "What I can say is that you and your mother are very important. By extension, your father as well. He would be happy to know that you have survived after all this time."
"My father? You know him? How?"
"He's someone who placed his trust in me to protect you. Don't worry, I'll talk to you about him next time."
Sukhoi turned his full attention towards a guardsman who managed to survive the days when the Dark Ones were once a threat. "Commander!"
"Yes Petr, what is it?"
"We're being attacked by the surface entrance. Something is trying break in." The messenger answered with his Shambler in hand.
"That can't be. No mutant is strong enough to break through the hermetic doors."
"I thought the same, but it's breaking through."
"What could it be?" The station commander wondered.
Yet, Artyom took the opportunity to get his uniform on. "It might a librarian." He suggested.
"A librarian? Why would a librarian be this far from the State Library. That is just impossible."
"Anything is possible, Sukhoi. Think about the Dark Ones."
Then Petr garnered their attention. "What should we do they breaks through?"
"Did you say they?"
The militia man nodded.
"Order a full-scale evacuation of the entire station, radio a message over to Riga that we're being under attack and we cannot risk civilian casualties. Get a massive trolley ready by the platform. We can't let the Librarians get through."
"Yes sir." Petr acknowledged, before leaving the duo and heading deeper into the heart of Exhibition.
Meanwhile, Artyom donned the Ranger armor he had been given since his induction into the Order while cocking his Kalashnikov. "We should provide a defense to delay the mutants in the meantime."
Sukhoi stared at him with shock. "No, I just can't risk you getting hurt."
"I know that, but I am the only one who has experience dealing with librarians. In fact, I am the only one who was able to kill one of them." Artyom reasoned. "You got to let me join them. Otherwise, our men will get slaughtered."
A warm smile was all he could express. "Promise me you won't be doing anything reckless?"
"Da, I promise."
"Ladna, let's go!" He said while bells rang and alarms were blaring through the sirens.
Sukhoi and Artyom ran past the medical ward, seeing the doctors and nurses scramble for whatever medical equipment they could carry. The Ranger couldn't blame them, if casualties were inflicted on the guards, they would have to be sent to the trolley convoys and someone needed to make sure the wounded had the right medication or someone to keep another from bleeding out.
When they arrived at the other side of the medical ward, it was far more protected than with a heavy machine gun watching the main door. A firing line was formed with dozens of men aiming their weapons - makeshift or pre-war.
One of the men took the opportunity to let out a joke. "I don't know why, but someone make some glorious battle speech before we end up dying." Of all the people it was Eugene. It was a surprise that he survived the assaults from the Dark Ones in his absence.
Despite the dark understanding that everyone in this room could die, Artyom knew it was better to have some comfort facing death than to fight alongside cowards. "Men, my brothers, my neighbors, our station calls upon us to fight the terrors of night. Today we show these mutants what we truly are. These fuckers think that just because the Dark Ones made us weary and tired doesn't mean we won't fight tooth and tail. I say let them come for we will put them down like the dogs they are."
He laughed. "Artyom, is that the Savior of the Metro side of you doing the talking?"
On the other side of the hermetic door, monstrous growls snarled at them before they lunged themselves into the metal barrier between the surface and the Metro.
"Enough talk." Sukhoi replied. "If the librarians storm in, unleash everything you got on them and don't hold back. We have enough ammunition for everyone."
Artyom unloaded his mag filled with dirty rounds and switched it out for his mag of military-grade rounds. Eugene, who was beside him, took notice of his switch. "Are you really going to waste your cartridge on them?"
"I fought these things before." He answered. "They take plenty of punishment and you'll need every advantage."
"I see."
Another ram into the doors occurred, but a small opening from the surface came as a result of their might. "Gas masks, on!" The Ranger shouted as he aimed his Kalashnikov downrange. Once everyone slipped their only source of oxygen on, he followed suit.
One of the monsters had casted its black shadow through the opening before its fist punched the door open.
When the deed was done, it slowly crept forward, displaying its tall height and creepy design. Yet, Artyom knew it was no librarian. The skin was dark as night, plates that were harder than the armor of Nazis, but its gleaming eyes of crimson was the sign that he needed to confirm it was not of this world. "Chyort, it's a Grimm! Everybody stay back!" He shouted to the top of his lungs.
The others were confused at his sudden knowledge of this creature, but that didn't matter to him. What did matter was the fact that these men were going up against monsters that were beyond their ability to kill.
Artyom charged forth and unleashed a hailstorm of bullets at the creature. Annoyed by his initial counter-attack, it stood tall and roared in defiance by pounding at its chest. Then it lunged it swung its arms after him, but the Ranger slid past its powerful fists and bypassed him.
Behind his back, he heard Sukhoi announce the order. "Open fire!"
He immediately stood up and fired upon the exposed back of the Grimm. Annoyed by avoiding his flanking maneuver, it turned its gaze upon him.
Yet, the young man looked past the face of the creature to see the horrified looks of his fellow comrades. "Behind you!"
He was never given a chance when a great force knocked him down to the ground.
When Artyom opened his eyes, all he could hear was screaming. The growls of the monsters woke him up as his gaze looked up to see the defenders torn apart by the might of the Grimm. Men were tossed aside like dolls, Eugene was screaming for mercy when the creature swung its hands down on him. Why were they here?
Among them all, he saw Sukhoi order the others to retreat as he became their rearguard. He tried to call out for him, but the very same monster took note of his final stand. His stepfather raised his carbine and tried to fight back, but it was to no avail. In a single swipe of its hand, he was knocked back. Despite his age, he was still able to get up, but his hands reached for his throat while his gas mask showed the very fear he didn't want to witness.
The Grimm walked over to him and held him by the neck before it smashed his face onto the concrete floor. Then it repeated the same process until there was nothing left, but a lifeless body.
No, he would not have it. "Sukhoi!" Artyom cried out as he tried to reach for him.
A red tentacle struck at his arm and tied him to his back. This forceful method made him rise up from the ground against his will while he saw a different Grimm appear before him. With an orb in the shape of a head and tentacles for reach, he was confronted by the horror that originated from Remnant. Out of all the things this creature did, Artyom was surprised that it spoke, but was terrified whose voice it came from. "So you believed you could truly defy me?" A slight chuckle escaped from her lips. "How pathetic? Did you truly believe I would not forget your transgression against me? I gave you a chance to join me and thrive in a new world."
"Fuck your new world!"
A tentacle shot out and wrapped its hold around his throat. "Silence!" Salem ordered. "You have no right to speak to me. You threw it all away to join Ozpin's pathetic band of puppets - all for what? Hope? A better life? Look at you? Humanity lives in the dirt because of your own folly." She said. "Now I have consolidated my place in your world, your people will learn to fear me for there is no future in strength."
The orb-like creature was struck by a bullet as it's life force was put out of misery. Yet, none of the defenders had returned to their stations. As he dropped down and felt his throat relieved to breath fine, he heard gunfire come from behind his back. Who could it be? Rangers? No, it couldn't. The Order would have notified him.
The Grimm that were present ignored him and turned their attention away to the surface, but battle cries and orders were enough to suggest that someone came to rescue him. "Cover fire! Put that fucker down!"
"Get some gauss shots in that cyka!"
When Artyom turned his head towards the hermetic door, he was surprised to find more than a dozen men rush down the escalators to his rescue. Yet, he was no longer concerned with their arrival, but with Sukhoi's body. "Sukhoi!" He cried out as he rushed over to his body and turned him over.
The old man's gas mask was broken. However, he knew it wasn't the glass that killed him. Either the Grimm joked him to death or the poisonous air.
Tears flowed from his eyes as his hand grabbed ahold of his shirt. "Sukhoi!" Even though he was his stepfather, a man he had no relations to aside from helping him from the rats, it felt like a knife through his heart. Artyom cried and mourned this loss as he pressed his face into his chest.
Yet, he failed to recognize the words coming out from the dozens of stranger soldiers who were securing the surrounding area. The head of the group stood beside him and spoke these very words into his earpiece. "I found the president's son. I repeat, he is alive!"
Author's Note: I believe it is time I reveal my plans for what I have for this crossover. Due to the simple fact that I don't have the Metro 2035 novel and Metro Exodus hasn't been released this fic will be not be updated as much compared to Mojave Roulette and From the Shadows Redux. I recommend that you guys and girls check them out if you want to scratch your Metro itch. Until I obtain the novel and brainstorm enough ideas to post a chapter, patience is required. Now there is a possibility of going through the stations of canon, but as Snow and Firehas shown I never liked going by canon anyway.
TMDF-Artyom: Thank you.
Psihopatul: Danke.
The Many: Maybe. It the matters of Earth belong to another.
Azure: Spasibo.
Lt. Frostdromeda: Sadly, I didn't read the book, but learned the story through other means.
Guest: The people of Vale are not rioting against the Reds because of the stuff in the Great War, but because they're foreigners. "Get those foreign bastards out of my Kingdom!" Nothing like that.
TheShadowOfZama: The riot isn't at an embassy, but at a Red Line neighborhood. I apologize if I didn't go into the matter any further.
One of the reasons I went down this route is because I like the the idea of a post-apocalyptic population given a chance to be rehabilitated back into a modern society. Yet, I also realized that it would be wasted plot potential if there wasn't any conflict with this idea in the first place.
Tinboy: Metro Exodus is not out, but the book it is based on is. As for the population being allowed into Remnant, it's limited by Remnant's Council and by the Factions in the Metro. Some factions would cease to exist if the populations from the Fourth Reich and Red Line at the first sign of leaving the hell-hole they've been living in.
Guest: Yes, the events of Metro: Last Light was averted by the events in Vale. Not easy to invade D6 when they're helped by a Kingdom with warriors that have supernatural powers.
delta2177: Thank you.
Raraiki: Well, it's kinda a price you pay as a communist.
