Chapter 11

He was surrounded by destruction, blue fires dotted the area and little pieces of glass were still falling from the shattered windows.

Nearby he could see the large burly man attending to the arrogant mustache man, who had a large gash in his right arm. His lieutenant, the one who had delivered the blow, lay headless on the ground.

The large man had stabbed himself with some strange crystal which had given him unusual properties to kill the warrior.

His standard bearer was also dead, lying next to the exhausted form of the mutant who he had nearly choked to death before getting stabbed in the face with the stinger.

"I believe you understand your position in all of this." A calm voice said above him, he looked up to see the pale witch stand over him with her hands clasped in front of her. He might have responded but he found it difficult to find the strength to say anything, he supposed the giant glass like spike in his chest had something to do with that.

"No quips? No slurs? Nothing to say? My, that's a first for your kind." She said and he got the distinct impression that she was messing with him.

"I suppose we should get back to business. The reason in which I summoned you here was simple; I saw the potential for you to do something worthwhile instead of just throwing yourselves at a well-crafted bulwark. For all your claims of otherwise, when presented a challenge you'll tackle it head on either with gore laden violence, jolly entropy, tantalizing seductions or the use of mystic powers. To me that's foolish, why grind your blade dull fighting where they want to fight you? No, a smart commander fights where the enemy doesn't want to fight, which goes back to how I saved you from that frozen wasteland. However there is no such thing as a free favor, I need something new to break my own deadlock, my enemy has become complacent. They expect mindless violence from my end but unlike them I am not afraid of changing tactics I do not wish to hide my intentions in the dark like they do. I am not a liar." Her pale face filled his vision. He realized that he should have already died; he had no strength left to craft a working to keep him from bleeding out so it must be her.

"Help me defeat my enemy and your own enemy will follow soon after. As that shift in balance will be the key to victory, when these lands burn in the fires of war and destruction they will come as they always have." She smiled though her mouth began to extend and curl in a viscous mocking of a human smile.

"When they do we shall divide and conquer." Her face snapped back to normal, or as normal as it was before.

"Now then, I would like to hear your answer though I supposed I should let you up." There was a snap and the glass shard broke apart in a puff of black smoke. Looking down he could see the hole in his chest plate but underneath his flesh was unmarred. He rolled to his feet, his chest ached but he was able to get to his feet with relative ease.

"I will help you." He said and the pale witch smiled.

"I'm glad to hear that, I will return you to your men with your instructions but first I need you to kneel before me and swear fealty." Inside his helmet he narrowed his eyes as he thought about what might happen if he refused. Glancing to the side he could see his broken greatsword, the top half had shatter to fine dust before she had impaled him.

"I swear to you that my life and the lives of those that follow me shall be yours to command." He said as he got to one armored knee.

In the distance, an incalculable horde began to bay up towards the shattered moon.


2 Days Later…

Lilith Arc stood on top of a half constructed building, behind her thirty soldiers in full kit where setting up camp on the floor. Some shoring up doorways while others were setting their gear down, for this mission the soldiers were required to pack for an extended combat mission.

An average soldier rucksack contained a bedroll, an extra liter size water canteen, two MREs, extra ammunition, a small medical field pack, a metal canteen cup, entrenching tool, a compass, extra socks, a magnesium fire starter, a field repair kit for their armor or helmet, fragmentation grenades, smoke grenades for signaling or concealment along with other items that a soldier might need.

Though other soldiers, such as heavy weapon specialist also had to deal with heavy equipment parts and ammunition on top of a regular load.

"Ma'am." Captain Hansen said from behind her.

"Is everyone in place Captain?" She asked and the soldier appeared to her right then began to point to various locations.

"I've got everyone spread out in sections of three. Yullen's has the scouts on the ground already looking for any sign of the White Fang but so far they've reported just a few packs of Grimm but they haven't picked up our scent yet so we're good on that account."

"Well I doubt that they're going to be out and about during the day time. It would probably draw too much attention from the Grimm if they do that." Lilith said and Hansen nodded.

"Well we did draw in a lot of attention by the Grimm when we got here, but I still stick by the decision for a fast hard drop." Hansen said.

"And like I've said, I don't blame you for that choice Hansen. You're the soldier, I'm not." Lilith said then gestured towards the street.

"Besides which the White Fang is filled only with Faunus, so I would wager that they do most of their patrolling at night since they would have the advantage against Humans."

"Ah, yea I guess they would stick to that strategy since it's worked for them before." Lilith nodded silently before Hansen went back to checking on his soldiers. She felt a little distracted; something was telling her that there she was missing something about this mission.

It may have to do with the fact that Varah had reported seeing one of mechanized walkers from Atlas at the White Fang recruitment meeting which she found very troublesome. Lilith hadn't heard of any reports of a train getting hit that contained military supplies.

To her, that meant that the Atlas Military was keeping that information close to hand since Ironwood was making waves in the Vale Council. Or more likely it was an SDC supply train that was hit, which would make sense as to why something like that wasn't reported.

Across from her in the shadows of a collapsed corner building that had the layout of a diner. Two White Fang grunts watched her with binoculars.

"What's that human doing here?" Asked the shorter of the two before fiddling with her mask, her tusks always pushed up against the mask much to her annoyance.

"You know you can always just ask for a new mask or say that you need to make adjustments." Her partner said.

"I mean I could but you know that I rather not be a nuisance."

"Come on, you won't be a…" He didn't get to finish that statement as there was a sharp crackle behind them. The two of them spun around to see two black armored figures standing behind them with poleaxes poised overhead, the metal heads glowing blue as tiny arcs of energy danced on their surfaces.

The taller White Fang grunt drew a pistol only to watch as a spiked hammer head came down. In his mind everything seemed to slow down as the hammerhead descended on him before speeding up just as it struck him.

In an instant his hand was gone; steam or smoke was wafting off the stump of his wrist as the edges were charred from the heat. Blood however still pumped out onto the dusty floor covering it in the gore or fleshy bits of his hand and heated fragments of the shattered pistol.

"Huh." He said as he stared at the missing hand before the spike head of the poleaxe ramming into his face caving his skull inward as it breached the other side of his head pinning his body to the wall.

The shorter girl however jumped to the side to try getting away but the second poleaxe slammed down on her leg. She could hear a sharp crack as it came down behind her and she yelped as pain flared briefly from her right leg before falling down on the ground.

When she tried to get back up to her feet she found much to her shock that her right leg had seemingly gone numb below the knee before falling over again. Looking down she could see that there was in fact nothing anything past her knee; she looked up to see the plated warrior pulling the poleaxe up from the ground where it was embedded.

She could see the ground was glowing white from where it was but most importantly on the other side of where it had been was the other half of her leg.

She looked up at the armored warrior; she could see a soft red glow being emitted where she assumed the eyes were. Her body felt cold and she just wanted to closer her eyes in hopes that when she opened them again she might find herself at home.

She could see the armored warrior raising the poleaxe again and she finally realized that she was going to die. Just as the head spike came down to penetrate her chest she whispered one last word in an accusing tone.

"Monsters."


Elsewhere…

Pyrrha watched as Jaune sighed for what seemed to be the thousandth time in the last hour. Ever since Jaune had come back from that meeting with the Governor a few nights back he seemed to have fallen into a foul mood.

She wasn't sure why, though if she had to guess he was feeling upset at the situation. Kagiris had told them the morning after that the Creatures of Grimm were on their way to their western border.

Mr. Nauo of course asked if this was going to be a problem for them to which Kagiris said that Nodens shouldn't be in danger however if they wished to leave early he would arranged for transportation.

The Envoy of course went out to talk with the Governor in the hallway before saying that they have until Friday morning to decide if they want to stay or leave which would cut the trip early by two days.

Ms. Aster however had offered to give her assistance to the Governor but he declined which caused a small argument.

Ms. Aster insisting that it was her job to fight the threat of the Grimm when she can but Kagiris said that in the Hurin Valleys Huntsmen and Huntresses don't have that sort of jurisdiction. Ruby of course was on her side, Yang also itched for a fight but she was also mindful that the decision didn't lie with her.

Weiss was neutral, stating that since they were students on assignment the decision belonged with their supervising Huntress. At the same time saying that since a sovereign group didn't necessarily want them to act within their territory that they had to abide by their rules.

Ruby surprisingly argued against that saying that protecting people is more important than rules and regulations.

Blake however was the one to bring about the current situation however. As she pointed out that they had a royal member amongst them that could easily make an exemption for them.

Jaune had simply left the room, which promptly ended that discussion. So now it seemed that their mission would end a few days early since they had no reason to stay any longer as Mr. Nauo was trying to quickly wrap up his business with the Governor.

Nora however had suggested that she go and be with Jaune to see if she can help improve his mood. As such they had spent the last day and a half together as they walked around Nodens. Which in all honesty Pyrrha found amazing as it was so nice here with the people even nicer it seemed.

It didn't have the smoky sea smell that she had started to associate with Vale, but the crisper cold mountain air of Mistral that she enjoyed.

"You don't have to follow me Pyrrha." Jaune said and Pyrrha looked up to see him smiling albeit a little sadly at her.

"It's not that I have to, it's more like I just wanna spend some time together." She said and hurriedly added.

"You know, as friends!" Now she wanted to slap her forehead at how dumb that sounded but Jaune laughed softly as he stopped to let her catch up to him before walking side by side with her.

"Jaune, you know you can tell me anything right?"

"Yea I know Pyrrha."

"So you'll tell me if anything is bothering you?"

"I guess."

"Then what's bothering you?"

"I'm not sure."

"Not sure?"

"I'm not sure how to explain it, there's something I want to do but the more and more I do it the more I feel just, wrong. Like I'm forcing myself to do something that's hurting me because I feel like I have to." He said and Pyrrha felt a pang of companionship in her heart that made her feel a little warm.

"Actually I know what that's like." She said and Jaune glanced up at her.

"Winning four Mistral Regional Tournaments in a row, it's put me in an odd position. At first I enjoyed the accolades of winning then when I won the second time that's when I noticed that something was happening. People showered me with unending praise and even businesses such as the SDC began to look at me then I got the Pumpkin Pete's sponsorship. But at the same time I noticed that the people I had been friends with in Sanctum were a little tense around me. I didn't know at the time what they were thinking so I figured it was just the normal stress of combat school. So I would offer them help whether it was studying or fighting. I didn't realize that it made people feel even more distant from me as my own hard work seemingly outshone their own effort which made them feel, as one person later told me when we graduated, unworthy. When I won my third tournament that's when it became clear that the path I was on had a near irreversible effect on my life. My friends and classmates at the time began to distance themselves from me, I was popular but not in the way that allowed for something real when I tried to hangout or talk with people I could feel that they weren't being themselves and it hurt. It got worse when people stopped talking to me all together, not out of spite but just separating themselves, there were days that I didn't even speak to anyone, aside from maybe answering questions from a teacher, until I got home. Now you may be wondering why I would continue on and do a fourth tournament? Well I felt I had to participate because if I merely stopped because I wanted to be liked then it would have undermined the work I put into bettering myself." Pyrrha said.

"Wow." Jaune managed to say and Pyrrha laughed.

"Yes, I suppose that is a lot to take in."

"I mean, I figured it must have been rough from how you seemed whenever you or someone brought it up but that's rough."

"It was but in the end I did what I thought was right and while it sort of forced me to move Kingdoms it finally did lead me to people I can call friends." Pyrrha said as she smiled at him and Jaune was forced to look away as he could feel his face heat up. On the other hand Pyrrha felt like her heart racing again and she was pretty sure it was because seeing Jaune blush.

A part of Pyrrha had always realized that out of everyone she had met so far in Beacon, the one person she liked spending her time with the most was Jaune.

Now she didn't have much confidence in her socializing ability outside of formal events but even she understood that she liked him. As her heart always picked up pace whenever he was around and she had the desire to be next to him.

However she didn't know how to approach Jaune as for one she didn't know if he would like her in the same way, which if he didn't then things between them would probably be ruined. So much to her regret she knew that she would have to keep her feeling bottled up for the time being and sadly she found that easy to do.

"Look over here Pyrrha." Jaune's voice interrupted her thoughts and she looked up. They had reached the Turin River; the massive river ran through Nodens as it travelled from deep within Sanus to the western coast.

The water looked clean and calm that Pyrrha honestly wanted to jump in it though she knew that the Turin River at its deepest was seventy five feet with currents far too strong for anyone to swim in.

Looking up however she could see three ships that were very low into the water. As they got closer she could see that it was three Dry bulk cargo barges were coming from down river, each being two hundred by forty feet.

As she looked to either side of the river she could actually see other small vessels in its waters, most of them looked to be civilian or merchants based. However she also spotted a dark grey vessel with a gun mounted on the front deck, as the grey vessel coasted by she could see a second gun on the backside.

"Styx Patrol Boat." Jaune said gesturing to the grey vessel.

"Since the Turin River so large they needed a dedicated force to patrol it as the main strength of the Army Brigade defends the mountains and land based towns." Jaune explained.

"I thought the towns in the Hurin Valleys were all based on the river?" She asked and Jaune shook his head.

"They were but during the Great War the Four Kingdoms destroyed a number of the river towns and the people never went back to them." He said and the two of them stood there in silence listening to the water or boats with the background of the town behind them.

"I kind of wished we could have left Nodens, I feel like it would be nice to be amongst the forests here." Pyrrha said and Jaune hummed a little. She frowned at that.

"Jaune."

"Yea Pyrrha?"

"Do you really hate these people?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean about what you said; do you hate these people so much that you would throw away who you are?" She asked and Jaune lowered his head.

"I guess but I don't hate them, I swear, it's not the people I hate."

"Then is it your father you hate?"

"Yes? No? Pyrrha I don't actually know what to say about that as I'm still trying to answer it myself." She put a hand on his arm.

"Jaune, what is it that made you hate him? You're his son and he's your father that's not something you can throw away so easily."

"I never imagined that it would be easy Pyrrha but a part of me feels like it might be necessary. He wanted me to be a soldier or really anything besides a Huntsman, as the amount of faith he had in me was a thousand times more than the amount of Aura I had before Initiation. And yes I know my Aura wasn't unlocked at that point but you know what I mean." Jaune rubbed his face with both of his hands in annoyance.

"He wanted me to be a soldier that he could control, to stay in his shadow. It frustrated me to no end when I realized that my dream, my life, was something that I might not be able to control if I listened to him. To him, his son is nothing but another tool that needs to be wielded by him as he thinks there's nothing else for me." Jaune said and Pyrrha didn't say anything at first.

"I'm sorry Jaune but I disagree." Pyrrha said after a few moments and he glanced up at her.

"You say he had no faith in you and that he just wants to control you but from where I'm standing I think he was just pushing to see if you can stand up for yourself. I mean look at you Jaune; you're far stronger now than you were at the start of the year. That's not because of Ozpin, Goodwitch, Oobleck, Peach, Dillinger or anyone else. It's because your own effort, just like with me and the tournaments. So at the end of the day it doesn't matter who's behind you, next to you or even ahead of you. All that matters is you and your skill that you've cultivated yourself." She gestured out at the river.

"Honestly, I think your father just didn't wish to lose his son so he offered an alternative career that essentially does the same thing. You said it yourself; the soldiers put their lives on the line to protect these people. Isn't that what you want to do, isn't that what you're trying to do now? Protect people?" She said and Jaune didn't say anything as he looked at the water. She wasn't sure where that had come from but it seemed like the right thing to say, Jaune didn't look at her so Pyrrha just turned to look back at the river.

"Thank you Pyrrha." He said after a while before turning to walk away and Pyrrha couldn't help but smile the entire trip back.


Later That Night…

Varah and the newest legionary in her contubernium followed from a distance behind the White Fang patrol. They had spotted the five Grimm masked members looking for the two that they had killed earlier that day but thankfully they didn't investigate the buildings in the square that the company was holding.

Now though she wanted to see where they were coming and going from. As the entire day her legionaries and the company's scouts were unable to find anything to indicating their base of operations.

"Ma'am, shouldn't we wait for the infantry company and the rest of the contubernium?" Kemmler asked over the vox channel.

"If we lose sight of them waiting for the others we might tip them off by the activity especially at night." Varah said.

"But you're right; I want you to stay here and wait for them then come find me." Varah said as she moved out into the street.

"Yes Decanus." He said as Varah moved out into the street. As the White Fang patrol disappeared around a corner she moved to follow them however she stopped when she heard a crack then gripped her poleaxe in both hands as she looked around.

When there was another crack followed by the ground shifting under her feet, she cursed to herself as she looked down to see spider cracks forming all around her. She activated the power field on her poleaxe as the ground began to give way. Just as she lifted one foot, the other one felt all resistance in the road disappearing.

As Varah struggled to reach safety she swung her poleaxe down into the road ahead of her hoping that it would catch and keep her from falling. Instead, as the weapon dug into the ground, it too gave way but the poleaxe was snatched out of her hand as she fell.

Everything was a blur as Varah fell and it wasn't long till she landed on her back with the crunch of metal. Her vision swam and she blinked a few times as chunks of concrete fell on her before seeing her poleaxe falling down on her.

With a split second decision she clapped her hands together and caught the blade of the poleaxe a few inches from her face with her hands.

She screamed at the burning sensation as she tossed her weapon aside then rolled onto her knees. Her hands felt as if they were on fire, true to thought she looked down at them she could see the inside of her gauntlets were bright red from the brief contact with the power field.

As her armor injected her with a heavy dose of painkillers, that barely masked the pain. She however realized to some extent that when the time comes where she must remove the gauntlets the results will be even worse.

"What the fuck was that noise?" Someone shouted and Varah looked up to see two White Fang grunts coming through a door.

"Who the fuck is that?" One of them asked and Varah wasted no time in charging them. In a manner of seconds Varah was on the first one with a high kick with her left leg.

Her armored leg hit his neck with bone breaking force that sent him to the ground. She didn't know if he had Aura or not nor did she check as she immediately followed through with the motion to do a wheelhouse kick that hit the second man in the face sending him to the ground as well.

Neither of them made a motion so Varah was finally able to look around. She knew that she was indeed underground but as she looked back where she fell she could see that it there was more to see. Walking up to the edge she could see that she was in fact in some massive cavern.

In the distance she could see more half-finished buildings but more important in the middle was a large train. Using her helmet's optics Varah could distinguish the uniforms of a lot more White Fang members, if she had to guess there had to be hundreds of them down there.

"Decanus?! Are you there?" Kemmler called over the vox.

"I'm here." She said after a few moments.

"What happened?"

"The road collapsed and now I seem to be in a cavern of some sort." She said.

"Are you stuck down there Decanus?" He asked.

"No but listen, there's a door and I've already run into two White Fang members. So go and tell the Lilith that I have found the White Fang, it's an underground base and they seem to be loading up on some kind of train."

"Hang tight Decanus, I'll bring the rest of the contubernium here and we'll find something to climb down to you."

"No, if I recall the mission briefing said that the original inhabitants of Mountain Glenn used an underground rail system to transfer supplies and people between here and Vale. Then they used it as the last means of escape or hope for the expansion when the Grimm came in force before they could establish a proper defense. Focus on locating an entrance, then tell Hansen he should deploy his company down here while having the two extra platoons look for additional entrances to secure in case they try to run." Varah said as she looked down at her hands. The metal looked like it was cooling down so she tested her hands but closing them.

She found closing her fingers to be difficult and reckoned that the heat must have distorted her gauntlets. Varah sighed as she turned to the two White Fang grunts, the first one still hadn't moved but the second one was groaning as he lay on his side.

Walking up to him, she could see that his mask was shattered from her kick. His face was already swelling up heavily with bruising that looked like someone had dumped a mix of black and purple ink on his face. A puddle of vomit mixed heavily with blood and broken teeth lay next to his head.

"Hey asshole, are you done bitching?" She asked using her armored boot to tap his shoulder. Honestly she was surprised to see what he was alive; she chalked it up to his Aura which seemed to have barely saved him. He mumbled something but Varah was unable to make it out so she leaned closer.

"Look, I don't have the patience to sit here all night until you finally grow a pair and tell me what I want to know." She shifted her foot over to his outstretched hand.

"So you see, since I can no longer use my hands I think it would be fair if I relieved you of your ability to use your own." She said before stepping down on his hand, crushing it with relative ease. The White Fang member started to scream, loudly.

Varah went to work.


Sometime Later…

Roman sighed for what seemed to be the thousandth time as he checked the latest manifest. While he was no stranger to managing large scale operations, trying to keep the White Fang in check and supplied for the plan was stressful.

"I fucking hate this." He said as he tossed aside the clipboard on a wooden crate filled with Dust rifles then took out a cigar.

"First there's the debacle on the docks, in which I find out the one Kingdom that actually seems to get things done nowadays if in a bat shit crazy way is looking for me. Now to top it all off, my balls are being used as decoration on that crazy bitch's wall while she had me babysitting these fucking animals." When he spotted his new assistant Perry looking at him oddly with a new clipboard, he realized that he said that a loud.

"Not you Perry, you're a blessing." Roman said as the bespectacled Faunus handed the clipboard over. As Roman took the clipboard, there was a muffled boom that reminded him an explosion.

He pleaded with all of his heart that none of the White Fang members accidentally set off an explosive charge. So he looked up to see several dozen of them running out of one of the building. A few of them seemed to have the mind to stop and fire at something only for gunfire to be returned.

Most of them would fall over, though those with either their Aura unlocked or just a larger of amount of it didn't fall down.

"Run! They're coming!" Someone was yelling.

"Uh, sir?" Perry asked and Roman just put a gloved finger on his lips.

"Please Perry, just, let me have this moment of peace." Roman said with a heavy heart. Soldiers appeared in the distance in the black clothing and armor with eight of those same black armored warriors from the docks leading them.

"Fuck."

Everything fell apart at that point, the White Fang that hadn't seen what was going on but heard came running to see if the Grimm had found them. Instead most of them were greeted by a hail of gunfire or energy covered weapons that cut Aura, armor, weapons and flesh with relative ease.

Roman had his White Fang Lieutenant order everyone onboard as a few hundred White Fang members counter charged the encroaching soldiers. He didn't see the eight black armored warriors cutting a swathe through the counter attack in order to get on the rear car of the train as it began to take off down the track.

Lilith however was hanging back with the infantry company as she hunted for any sign of what the White Fang were trying to do down here. As she ran through the buildings with a fire team of soldiers behind her, she could see room after room of what she guessed was the White Fang living quarters.

As she entered a small derelict building, keeping her head low as gunfire racked the wall above her before three of the soldiers with her returned fire. She entered the open doorway and inside she could see stacks of crates that nearly reached the ceiling.

She spotted a clipboard on a crate and ran up to it hoping it was a manifest. Picking it up, she began to look through it and her heart started to beat harder.

"What is it?" Hansen's voice called out from behind her and she turned to look at the captain who had his helmet on.

"This manifest lists enough explosives to level an entire city block, along with enough Dust and weapons to equip a battalion to fight." Lilith said.

"You mean the few hundred White Fang members we're fighting?" On cue there was a series of muted thumps could be heard that shook dust from the ceiling.

"Then what the explosives for?" Lilith asked and Hansen shrugged.

"Well they're terrorist organization aren't they? Plus we're in Mountain Glenn; I was a kid when they announced the expansion but if I remember my history correctly doesn't the rail line lead back to Vale?" Lilith could feel the blood drain from her face.

"And that train left just as we got here." She said and looked back down at the manifest then at the crates.

"Captain, start pulling the company out and someone get on the vox with the Valkyries for an emergency pickup."

"Ma'am?" Hansen asked.

"The train is heading to Vale."


Meanwhile…

Neo weaved between two of the armored warriors as they tried to hit her at the same time, one coming from up high while the other swung up from a low angle. She could feel the odd sensation that the weapons emitted as she narrowly avoided them.

As she passed by them she could see a third one swinging horizontally at her so she leapt over both the weapon and warrior. However as she landed behind and turned to look at the same warrior they had already jabbing the bottom part of their weapon at her.

While her Aura saved her, she was still surprised at the rather painful blow as it slammed into her chest sending her a few feet back. In hindsight she was kind of glad that she didn't try stopping all five of them even though the other two might end up killing Roman which would mean she was out of the job or worse a loose end.

The three armored warriors lined up holding their own weapons and Neo readied her umbrella, the Estoc jutted out from the top of it. The middle warrior moved forward at lightning fast speeds thrusting forward with the poleaxe as the other two moved from the sides.

Neo however had tricked them by leaving an illusion that shattered on impact of their weapons. At the same moment she came down on them with an aimed a blow at the back of the middle warrior.

She cursed mentally as her Estoc glanced harmlessly off the armored back and slid under the warrior kicking at the back of the knee. This had a little more effect as the warrior came down to one knee but Neo had already gotten to her feet as she kicked backwards hitting the kneeling warrior in the face.

The other two moved to strike at her, she ducked and weaved away from the blows of the poleaxes. One would think that such bulky looking armor and long weapons would prove disastrous in the confines of a train.

Yet these two worked in tandem like dancers, where one pulled the other pushed while advancing on her. The third one however wasn't trying to join in, no; instead Neo could see that this one was watching how she fought.

She had to figure out how to kill them but she could tell that even if she tried all day. The only thing her Estoc would achieve would be to dull itself against their armor plates and kicks wouldn't be efficient in trying to beat them as well.

As she continued to dodge their blows unable to find an opening to counterattack she wondered how the White Fang Lieutenant was dealing with the two that had slipped past her.


Meanwhile…

Kemmler stood over the bisected body of the White Fang member and inspected his breastplate. The chainsaw left a noticeable scratch that ran across the black metal plate.

"Well that was easy." He said then pushed forward, there was a series of dull explosions further up. So Kemmler passed through another six train cars filled with supplies till he found Legionary Thyrsos, one of the more experienced legionaries in the contubernium.

The legionary had Roman on the ground with his poleyns pinning Roman's arms to the ground while using his left hand to press his face into the floor with an arming sword in hand poised at his throat. Kemmler ran over with his poleaxe and held it pointing down at Roman as well.

"Kemmler, I got him. Go and see if you can stop this train or we'll be completely cut off." The older legionary said referring to how they saw the rear car break off then exploded leaving a hole to the surface.

Which apparently allowed the Creatures of Grimm to come through, though how or why they were near the exact spot of the explosion baffled Kemmler.

"Kemmler! Damn it, will you go already?!" Thyrsos yelled and Kemmler moved past him towards the front of the train. As Kemmler reached for the door handle he found that it was locked so he stepped back far enough to give himself a running start at the door.

He collided with the metal door with a heavy crack that saw him falling with the door onto the floor. Looking up however he wasn't surprised to see the dead body of a White Fang member in front of the ruined controls of the train.

Standing up he looked around for anything that might indicate an emergency brake but he couldn't find anything. Then there was the sound of multiple sabatons clinking behind him so he turned to see the other seven legionaries.

Two of them were being helped along by another legionary; their armor was cracked and dented in multiple areas.

"You need to see this." Kemmler said stepping aside so they could see the ruined controls as well and one of them echoed the sentiment of the rest.

"Fuck."


Dawn that same Day…

The early rising inhabitants of Vale busied themselves either by getting to their business to begin opening up or doing some light exercise before the day started.

When the ground started to shake however, most of them figured it to be a relatively minor earthquake at first. However when the ground exploded in fire and rock with multiple shattered train cars falling around them, they figured some accident must have happened thus many of them ran to see if they could find survivors.

Alas what they found was a gaping hole, from which the Creatures of Grimm came crawling out of. Thus the first Grimm to be seen within the Valean Capital emerged to hunt for their longest prey.

In the crumpled wreck of one of the train cars that came crashing through the ground, stirred the armored forms of the legionaries.

"Fuck, are we dead?" Jentzsch asked, Kemmler blinked a few times as his helmet's built in display flickered a few times but it didn't disappear.

Messages began to run across vision stating heavy damage was sustained to multiple parts of his armor. He would have guessed anyways as it felt as if he had gone through the Trial of Steel all over again.

"I think that I need some help." Alwina said and Kemmler looked up to see the legionary being held aloft by a jagged piece of metal that had pierced her abdomen

"Anyone else seriously hurt?" Thyrsos called out and Kemmler looked up to see the legionary standing at hole above them.

"We're good." Jentzsch called out.

"Good, someone get Alwina down. The rest of you get up here, we've got work to do." The legionary said and the rest of them scrambled. Kemmler was the third one to crawl out of the ruined train car he looked up to see that they were on the surface once more.

Though he immediately realized that they must be back in Vale as in the distant horizon he could see the airships of the Atlas Naval Group.

More importantly he could see that across what he to be a public square was the large hole that they must have come out of as the Creatures of Grimm were pouring out of it. Dozens of Beowolves, Ursai, the subterranean Creepers, and even a King Taijitu came crawling out of the hole.

He could already see dozens of eviscerated and mauled bodies of civilians on the ground. In the distance there were screaming and roars of monster mixed with the occasional pop of gunfire.

"On me Legionaries!" Thyrsos called out jumping off the train car and rushing towards a raised platform in the middle of the square. Kemmler and the other four legionaries moved after him as they took their spot in the raised platform.

The nearby Grimm turned from their butchery as they sensed this new foe. Kemmler readied his poleaxe as a Beowolf leapt towards him, stepping forward then to the right he brought down his weapon. The energy sheathed blade biting effortlessly through the neck of the Beowolf as he took its head clean off.

Around him the other legionaries moved to engage the Grimm. Turning around he raised his poleaxe with both hands blocking a downward swipe from another Beowolf then quickly spun his weapon clockwise twisting it at the same time as he stepped out of its reach while hitting the Grimm's knee with the hammer head.

The explosive force shattered the knee toppling it to one side as nothing was supporting it. As he raised poleaxe, two more jumped at him.

Ducking under the first he jabbed his head spike up piercing the second Beowolf's jaw and impaling the skull. As the dead Grimm hit the ground, the Beowolf he had ducked up under barreled into him from behind.

Kemmler stumbled a few steps forward before using the momentum to roll across the ground and come up. However he had also lost his grip on his poleaxe which was still embedded in the skull of the other Beowolf.

As the Grimm came at him, he ducked the first blow then brought his arms together to block the second following up strike. He could feel the creature's claws on his vambraces but he had managed to stop the blow with a grunt he pushed with his left hand to clear room to strike with his right fist aimed at its sternum.

There was a loud crack and he could feel what he assumed were bones cracking under the impact of his strike. As the Beowolf slumped forward Kemmler back stepped and brought his left fist up to break the jaw its jaw.

Turning around he dashed back to his poleaxe then pulled it out as an Ursa Minor came towards him. Readying his poleaxe he waited as the Ursa swung its large paw at him, in return he swung the hammer side to meet it.

When the two met, the hammer ripped a sizable hole in the Ursa's paw. Within a heartbeat Kemmler had already twisted his weapon around bringing the bladed side down on the skull of the Ursa.

Around him the other legionaries faired just as well as he had if not better. The dead forms of Beowolves, Ursai, and Creeps littered the group. However the larger Grimm pushed in, Thyrsos could see two Death Stalkers crawling out of the hole along with three dozen more Beowolves.

He knew that they wouldn't last long like this, they couldn't kill all of them nor could they stop the rest from leaving to spread into the city. If the Creatures of Grimm gain a sizable foothold, the resulting chaos and violence would probably draw every Grimm within a hundred miles.

The sound of hissing drew his attention back to the King Taijitu; he knew that he couldn't take it on. Yet he stood his ground nonetheless as both the white and black sides reared up to face him.

As the Grimm reared its heads back to strike at him, something came streaking from the corner of his vision. The white King Taijitu's head exploded as a rocket hit its face; another rocket hit the second head a moment later.

Thyrsos looked in the direction of the rockets and could see the Valkyries disgorging soldiers on the rooftops and streets under the guidance of Captain Hansen. Gunfire thundered as dozens of soldiers opened up on the backs of the Grimm with more soldiers arriving to add their own gunfire.

Much to the credit of the Grimm however they didn't break from the onslaught of firepower. Instead they merely charged at them and in a close quarter urban fight such as this with so few soldiers, they were a force to be reckoned with.

Thyrsos and the other legionaries pulled back to the Arcadian soldiers as Hansen directed his platoon leaders to spread out and keep the Grimm pinned in as much as they could.

The Grimm that had already escaped into the city however were turning back to attack them from behind as well. However Hansen had already ordered his platoons to set out a perimeter guard for rear attacks.

At that point though, more people showed up at the scene. High in the sky above them one of the Atlas Airships began to launch smaller aircraft that descended on the area.

The Arcadian Valkyries pulled away from the airspace as the smaller aircrafts began to open fire on the Grimm much to the relief of Captain Hansen who was on the ground with his company.

In less than ten minutes, a second year Huntsmen team along with a couple of Professors from Beacon arrived on the scene. Hansen watched as the Creatures of Grimm were pinned down then slaughtered as one blonde woman started repairing the hole that the train made.

"All Platoons rally on me, we need to get out of here." Hansen said over his helmet's radio, he looked towards the Praetorians that had joined his line though he could see two of them carrying one that looked hurt.

"Praetorians, follow me." He said but as he turned towards the building that they had come out of he stopped short. In front of them were dozens of the newest Atlesian Knights with their weapons aimed at them.

As he turned around more of the Atlesian robots surrounded them as three of the Atlesian aircrafts settled into the public square. There were another two that keep their positions in the air, no doubt with their weapons trained on his men.

Off to the side Thyrsos couldn't help but notice that the four person team of Beacon students was dragging Roman out of the rubble. Only to hand him over to a pair of Atlesian Knights who escorted him to an airship.

However, a man with another ten Atlesian Knights at his back approached them. In his hand was a large revolver, the look of anger was evident on his face.

"You are all under arrest." General Ironwood called out.


Later That Night…

Jaune and the others were sitting in the main room of their suite when Gideon entered. The nine of them looked up to see the rather distracted look on the Envoy's face.

"Mr. Nauo?" Ruby asked when he went over to a small cabinet and pulled out a liquor bottle before filling a small glass then downed it in one gulp.

"Is something a matter?"

"I've got some news for you all." Gideon said after a few moments.

"There was an incident; a train was used to breach downtown Vale. The train was using the old rail lines from Mountain Glenn so no one knew it was coming and it let Grimm into the city." This brought a reaction out of everyone but Gideon shouted them down.

"That's enough!" He yelled.

"There's more, it seems a company of Arcadian soldiers were found on the scene fighting the Grimm. General Ironwood on behalf of the Vale Council has placed them under arrest for the crime of espionage and clandestine military operations within the Kingdom of Vale." This made Jaune stand up as he knew that it had to be his Aunt.

"In addition to that, I've been asked to return to Vale with you all." Gideon said as he looked at Jaune.

"What about the Grimm attack on its way here?" Ruby asked and Gideon shrugged.

"That's not our fight besides which unlike them we won't be doing what would tantamount as an illegal action within their own territory." He said looking back at Jaune.

"Right Mr. Arc?" Everyone looked at Jaune now who just looked down as he sighed.

"You're right; we can't go and fight the Grimm." A smile touched his face when he did look up however.

"But I can."

"What?" Gideon asked.

"I said I can help them. So if you have to go back to Beacon then by all means go, I'll come back later and explain myself to Headmaster Ozpin as to why I didn't come back."

"I can't let you do that." Gibeon said and Jaune frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"You're a Beacon student and this mission is under my authority."

"I have a responsibility Mr. Nauo and you can't keep me from doing that."

"I can and I will." He said adamantly and the two of them stared at each other for a long time. Gibeon finally sighed as he poured another glass full of liquor.

"Fine have it your way and I suppose you won't try to stop him from this would you Ms. Aster." Fusia shrugged.

"Look I really don't think there's much to say about this, he's got a reason to do this and one that I think is completely justifiable so drop the subject Gideon."

"Actually can we go back to the train thing, what's that all about?" Yang asked and Gibeon nodded.

"Well as far as I know Roman and the White Fang used a train to breach Vale and the Arcadians who were believed to be involved in a number of incidents prior to this were caught on the scene."

"So what's going to happen to them?" Weiss asked.

"I suppose they'll have a trial for the crimes General Ironwood has levied against them."

"So the Arcadians are seen fighting the Grimm and Ironwood decides to arrest them?" Nora asked.

"I suppose, but what else can you do when a foreign army shows up unannounced and definitely uninvited to conduct military operations within another sovereign Kingdom." Gideon said.

"Yet, isn't Ironwood doing the exact same thing?" Fusia asked.

"Ironwood is different."

"Aye, he's got two council seats one as a General another as Headmaster. It makes you wonder what that kind of sway would do to any Kingdom." Fusia said.

"Yet the report states Ironwood responded far faster than Ozpin could."

"Okay but how is anyone supposed to plan for a freaking train to come breaking out of the ground." She said and Gideon shook his head.

"Ozpin's been telling the Council for years to trust him but he's made far more mistakes than anyone would like to admit. In the past two decades we've lost eight villages to the southeast and let's not forget the Mountain Glenn expansion."

"Don't. Do not talk to me about the Fall of Mountain Glenn Gibeon or I swear this is going to go down a path you won't like." Fusia snapped and Gibeon closed his mouth.

"Uh, I have a question." Ruby said softly and Fusia looked at her.

"Yes Ms. Rose?"

"What happened to Mountain Glenn? I know the Grimm attacked it but surely that couldn't be it." Fusia just smiled ruefully before taking a deep breath.

"Well you see Ruby, Mountain Glenn was the first serious expansion for Vale in the last century. After the last two wars the population of Vale and its outlying villages and towns grew far too quickly as the soldiers returned home for the agriculture to keep up. So while Vale was trying to pick up production without sacrificing the quality of the precious farming land it had. Someone had an idea of expanding the Kingdom, so surveyors were sent out to find a suitable area and they found Mountain Glenn which had a stable geography and plenty of resources and Dust to be mined. So construction began first with robotic help from Atlas which built the initial infrastructure and housing for the city until enough people could be convinced to go and it began to take off. Thousands were leaving almost every month to live in Mountain Glenn since housing was virtually free in comparison to the residential areas of Vale with guaranteed tax exemptions. With more and more people heading to live in Mountain Glenn the need for more supplies to keep up with the demand meant that a fast means of transportation was needed for workers and residents of the budding city. So the underground rail line was constructed for that purpose. However after the first few years the Grimm seemed to finally take notice of it, though many people would later attributed the main cause of the attraction of the Grimm with Merlot Industries. The attacks soon started to hit the city, Vale's Army was too small, after being gutted by the Council post war, to properly protect Mountain Glenn along with the rest of the Kingdom's border. As well as the main wall still not being completely built as Mountain Glenn terrain made it difficult to sustain the same type of defense as Vale. So the Council petitioned Ozpin, who had only been in the position of Headmaster for a relatively short time, to send Huntsmen to help protect the city. Which he did, in a few weeks he had reached almost a thousand Huntsmen and Huntresses most of whom were well experienced or veterans of the field. So all of them headed to Mountain Glenn and began to defend it. Keep in mind though; a thousand Huntsmen isn't a sizable force even if they're all well trained or experienced professionals with the support of eleven thousand police officers and soldiers. As they came in beating back several attack, the Creatures of Grimm simply ramped up the scale and frequency of their attacks. One could see how the battle was going as the combined force lost the fight for the city's borders after three straight days of fighting. Then as skirmishes within the with city began that's when the real causalities started, while the Grimm kept an overall pressure on the defenders how they would gain ground was by concentrating on a small section, when enough Grimm would break through along two points of the line they would close behind the defenders trapping them until they were killed. This carried on for almost another week before the inhabitants of the city and its few defenders went underground. By this point in the fighting, of the thousand Huntsmen and Huntresses there were reported to be only around some three hundred odd left standing with almost another two hundred too wound to continue fighting. The Police and Army took a larger hit since they were in the fight for longer, only coming out of the surface fight with two thousand people with almost twice that in wounded. As the city inhabitants and defenders caught their breath then began to building out underground having abandoned the actual city, they thought they would finally be safe. As always fate was cruel as an explosion would open up a series of caverns, these caverns would be teeming with subterranean Grimm. So before anyone really knew what happened, the Creatures of Grimm would overrun them. In Vale, the Council would react quickly by instructing the bulkheads, a containment or security measure of the rail line, be closed. So kids, forty thousand civilians along with twelve thousand police officers, soldiers and Huntsmen would be lost along with a nearly completed city in the greatest Grimm disaster of the Four Kingdoms since the wars of the early century." Fusia explained no one said anything as she finished, the atmosphere of the room was heavy.

"Now you know what this upsets the Vale Council so much, its insult and injury. The haunting past of failure comes back to injure us." Gideon said quietly.

"I wouldn't be surprised if someone on the Council uses this as some political ammunition in the next election. Though most likely they'll shift the blame to Ozpin again." Fusia said and Weiss tilted her head.

"Again?" Weiss asked.

"When Mountain Glenn fell people immediately began to search for a cause in the aftermath. While everyone understood the majority of the blame was on the Grimm, a few politicians, those that supported the idea of the expansion in the first place, pointed part of the blame at Ozpin saying that he purposely held back resources that could have saved the city." Fusia explained and Weiss wrinkled her nose at that.

"So what does that mean for us?" Ruby asked.

"I guess since I need to return then you will be coming with me." Gideon said and looked at Jaune.

"As for you Jaune, I guess your fate is in your own hands." For some reasons Jaune seemed to smile at that, though it wasn't a smile born from happiness but from something else which Gideon could not put a finger on.

"Mr. Nauo." Pyrrha said as she stood up and the Envoy sighed.

"Yes Ms. Nikos?"

"I would like to stay as well." She said, Jaune glanced at her and she nodded to him with a small smile.

"Look, I've already said that we can't do anything here. Jaune's the only one with a reason to be here, so why ask me that?"

"Because it's not true." Ren added as he stood up.

"Jaune's our friend and team leader besides which how can we leave when we know that we could help them fight off the Grimm?"

"If you haven't gotten the clue, they don't fight like the Four Kingdoms." Gideon tried to reason but Ruby stood up at that as well.

"Not true, they have swords and guns so to me it's no different than what we have."

"That's not what I meant, so, ugh, Ms. Aster a little help would be nice." The older Huntress smiled as she shook her head.

"Sorry Gideon, it looks like these kids have their minds made up." The Envoy sighed as he poured himself another drink.

"I guess that's settled." A voice said so everyone in the room turned to see a pair of figures at the open door standing there was Governor Kagiris and Centurion Tava.

"Governor, how long have you been standing there?" Gideon asked as Kagiris walked into the room

"Just long enough to know that I've got two teams of specialists to add to my forces in the west." The older looking man said and winked at Jaune.

"Though Mr. Nauo I have to say that I've also arranged transportation back south to Nimedos Keep since there's nothing else for us to discuss here." Kagiris said then turned towards Fusia.

"And I assume you will be assisting us as well?" He asked.

"I wouldn't dare miss an opportunity to see how you Arcadians fight." She said and Kagiris laughed.

"My dear by the end of this you'll see just how different we fight."


A Few Hours Later…

Jaune and the others stood on the steps of the capital building as the escort convoy with Gideon Nauo left. Looking around however he could see that there was a change in atmosphere among them, with the prospect of battle it was clear to feel excitement but honestly there was a subtle hint of nervousness as well.

"So what now?" Yang asked.

"Now we prepare for war." Kagiris said from behind the group, turning around they could see a rather young looking man in an Army uniform standing with him.

"This is Captain Amand Madeg of the Arcadian 5th Battalion which is located to our west where the Creatures of Grimm are going to attack." The Governor said and the man gave them a crisp salute

"It's an honor to meet you all!" He called out and Jaune traded looks with his friends.

"I know what you're thinking so let me get this out of the way, you will be attached to Captain Madeg and his Company for the duration of this event. Incorporate yourselves into the Company structure so that when you go out to fight you won't be left out of the loop or support of the Army." Kagiris explained then stepped closer to them.

"Lord Arc, I know that normally your position would warrant your attachment at nearly any level within the Army. Due to your experience or lack thereof I'm letting you know now that for this time I've sent word out that your temporary rank within the Hurin Valleys is that of a Sergeant First Class while Ms. Aster is technically in overall command of your group with the temporary rank of First lieutenant." He said then looked at everyone else.

"You all will be given temporary ranks which Captain Madeg will explain to you at his leisure as I will now leave you to him. Captain." Kagiris said before nodding at the man then headed back up the steps.

"Alright then, let's get down to business. We'll form up with the rest of the Task Force at Toutatis after that we'll head to the western front. So go and get what you need to fight with from your rooms, I'll have some vehicles gather to take you there." Madeg said as he looked at each of them, though Jaune couldn't help but notice the slight wobble in his voice.

"First Lieutenant Aster?" Madeg asked and the older woman just smiled at him.

"Yes Captain?"

"I'll see to it that you'll get a couple volunteer squads to come over and held round out your platoon."

"That's not necessary Captain we've got enough people." Fusia started but he shook his head and seemed to grow a little sterner if not more confident.

"No, you're a part of my company and I don't want one of my platoons to be undermanned as you are right now." He gestured to them.

"The nine of you don't even make a full squad though I know Aura gives you such an advantage that doesn't mean you're invulnerable."

"True but each one of us can take and dish out more damage than a squad of soldiers." Fusia said and Madeg frowned.

"Then you obviously never fought in a battle, a competent commander would know that there is a chance that his foe has Aura enhanced individuals amongst his ranks. I too have a number of soldiers with Aura but that doesn't mean that they can do something imprudent just because they might survive a grenade to the face as the soldier next to them might get perforated by shrapnel." Madeg shook his head.

"Alright that's enough now, First Lieutenant, you've got ten minutes to get your platoon mustered on these steps, I suggest you make the most of it." Madeg said before turning to walk briskly back into the building.


Ten Minutes Later…

The nine of them were standing on the sidewalk outside of Noden's capital building. In front of them was a pair of Tauroses but between them was a large, loud, boxy looking machine with a slightly sloped front.

"Well First Lieutenant? Let's go." Madeg called out from behind them and they turned to see that he was dressed like most of the soldiers they've seen. Except his helmet was dangling from his waist and he had a drab colored duffle bag over his shoulder.

"We're getting in that?" Yang asked and Madeg raised an eyebrow.

"Sir." He said and Yang looked confused.

"What?" Yang asked and Blake leaned over to whisper in her ear.

"Oh! Right! Sorry. So we're getting in that sir?" Yang asked and Blake just shook her head silently as she stepped back.

"Yes we are it's a standard Armored Personnel Carrier called a Chimera with thirty millimeters of an aluminum alloy for armor with a heavy stubber on top." Madeg explained as they walked up to it and Ruby seemed to beam as she looked it over before trying to climb on top only to have Yang pull her down by her cape.

"Captain, where are we going first? You mentioned something earlier." Weiss asked and Madeg pointed towards the castle to the west.

"We're heading to Toutatis; it's the main Army Fortress or headquarters of the Hurin Valleys. Most of the Battalions get billeted there when they're rotated off the line along with the brunt of the Armor being located there. So that would make it the nerve center for two thirds of the Brigade's strength." Madeg explained as everyone got in the Chimera. As everyone sat down the machine, which had been rumbling loudly as it stood in the street, jerked to a start and Pyrrha felt as if she should cover her ears at the loud noise as the Chimera moved. Madeg seemed to smile out of enjoyment at the odd expressions they were no doubt making.

"Welcome to the Army."


Elsewhere…

"Command to Serpent Actual, Serpent Actual, how copy?" A voice buzzed in the ears of Flight Lieutenant Thomas Bekker, who lowered his Avenger Strike Fighter right above the clouds. To his right were the other four Avengers of his Flight in a rough line that stretched out over a hundred meters.

"This is Serpent Actual; I'm reading you five by five, over."

"Acknowledge Serpent Actual, what's your 10-20, over."

"We're fifteen klicks out at 7,500 feet, over."

"Advisory, scouts reported an increase Nevermore activity in that area, over."

"Acknowledge, Serpent Actual out." Bekker said before everything went silent or well as slight as it could be in a fifty thousand pound flying war machine.

"Is there any word on Burscogh Flight sir?" Flight Officer Mayme Harper asked over the vox.

"If they had something to say they would have mentioned it." A second voice, Flight Officer Leon Farley, chimed in.

"Unless the only news they have is bad news in which case they'll tell us once we're on the ground again. Though I don't see why they would actually tell us anything." A third voice began to say.

"Shut up Gates." The other two said.

"Alright that's enough, tighten up on my six and keep your eyes sharp, we're dropping to 6-9-0-0 feet." Bakker said and there was a chorus of acknowledgments. The five Avengers formed up then dropped below the clouds and his heart fluttered at seeing how close the mountains actually were to their planes. Had they been too far right or left they might have hit the top of the mountains.

Though it only lasted for a moment as he was used to coming down through the clouds amongst the much more restricted portions of the Hurin Valleys. He still would hear rookie pilots questioning why they would build an airfield in a narrow valley.

Yet to him, it seem like it made sense as the narrow valley that the Felvennis Airbase was located in made the actual visualization of where a pilot needed to go so much easier plus it was far wider than they actually made it out to be.

"Shit, to my 10, there's something burning down there." Gates said over the vox and Bakker looked out his canopy to see something on the mountainside.

"What is that?" Harper asked.

"It can't be the Grimm, they shouldn't be here." The last member of the Flight, Eugene Atkinson added.

"Should we continue on?" Gates asked and Bakker sighed inside his helmet.

"Gates, Farley, do a fly by and see if you can get an idea what's going on." The two of them sent acknowledgments before peeling off. Bekker, Atkinson and Harper slowed down before beginning a slow circle over their current position near one of the Turin River's tributaries.

"It's not Grimm." Gates was the first to say as the two passed over.

"Not Grimm?" Bekker asked.

"No I saw people scattering down there." Gates replied.

"Are you sure?"

"I can confirm Flight Lieutenant, it was people down there." Farley replied.

"Do another pass; see if you can get a better look."

As the two Avengers circled around for a second pass, that's when the Grimm attack. From above, a dozen Nevermores the smallest of which were the same size as the Avenger Strike Fighters while the larger ones were nearly twice that came down on the two air planes.

"Break! Break!" Gates called and Bekker could hear the two men breathing hard as they executed sharp turns to either side. However the Avenger Strike Fighters were never meant for dog fighting, so Bekker winced as he saw a Nevermore get a passing strike on Gate's Avenger. Almost immediately black smoke began to spew out from his plane.

"Gates get out of there!" Bekker yelled as he turned towards the fleeing war planes.

"Mayday! Mayday! I've got a dead stick and descending rapidly." Gates said and Bekker cursed however most of the Nevermores turned to face them.

Bekker lined himself up with one of the larger ones and fired his nose mounted autocannon. As it roared he could not only hear it but feel the slight vibrations in the Avenger as a stream of heavy caliber shells hit the Nevermore dead center.

The Nevermore screeched loudly in pain as torn apart, however some of the others began to either fly towards him while a few instead flung feathers at Harper and Atkinson.

Bekker always found it slightly absurd that a bird, even a monstrous one, would try killing its opponent with feathers. Yet he also knew that those feathers were strong enough to puncture their hull easily.

As the Nevermore in front of him fell to the ground, Bekker tilted and turned to the left avoid a return flurry of feathers. He could see a few of them passing close over his canopy but nothing hit him.

However his turn put him in front of another two closing in fast on him, breathing hard he pushed the throttle to the max as he pulled hard on his control stick and the Avenger rose sharply up.

He was pressured down hard by the force of the sharp upturn that his vision began to constrict to the point that he feared he might pass out.

So he turned his plane to the right then began leveling out. The pressure slackened as he eased off his throttle and he focused on breathing for a second aware that the Nevermores wouldn't be far behind him.

Tilting to the right again he began a long turn to see how everything was going; Harper was calling for help from Atkinson while Farley was locked in a turning fight with two Nevermores. Gates however had ejected out of his Avenger as Bekker could see a parachute descending on the trees.

Below him the two Nevermores were slowly coming up to him, he needed to deal with them fast or they'll get a hit on him before he knew it. Leveling his Avenger he took another deep breath as he picked up speed then began to pull up and around then spinning right side up as he pointed nose down at the two Grimm.

Now he was closing on them fast so he fired a five second long burst of his autocannon, then adjusted his nose only to five another three second burst. As the two Nevermore moved aside to avoid the first burst, the second burst caught the Nevermore to the left on its right wing sending it crashing to the ground.

Bekker however was too close to swing his nose to aim for the other Nevermore so he zoomed under it before ascending away from the Grimm. As he turned the Avenger around, something odd happened, blue lightning cracked across his vision.

What was strange about it was the fact he was fairly certain that it had come from the ground. He shook his head; he didn't have time to worry about that as he fired another burst at the Nevermore. The large Grimm bird however had dove to the ground avoiding the burst.

However another burst caught the Nevermore and Bekker looked up to see Harper's Avenger zoom overhead.

"Sir, we've got ground, lightning?" Atkinson said over the vox channel.

"Climb." Bekker ordered before switching to his long range vox instrument.

"Command, this is Serpent Actual, how copy?" Bekker asked.

"Serpent Actual, this is Command, sitrep?"

"Nevermores just ambushed us and I've got one Avenger down plus it seems someone is throwing lightning at us." Bekker said and waited for a few moments.

"Repeat that Serpent Actual did you say lightning storm?"

"Negative Command, we've got a hostile mage on the ground and I've got a plane down with the pilot potentially still alive."

"Roger that Serpent Actual, we'll dispatch a C.S.A.R. please relay grid coordinates." The voice asked and Bekker checked his avionics before relaying his position.

At the moment another flashing of lightning appeared in his vision followed by a second then a third. Bekker rolled away but had to pull up sharply as he was too close to the mountains. Another bolt of lightning passed right over his canopy and the Avenger shook violently.

"That's it, I'm gonna make a pass." Harper said over the vox but Bekker couldn't see her Avenger as he rolled to the right passing over the mountain tops.

However he could see more flashes of blue lightning coming up from the forest where the village had once been located. He gritted his teeth as he pulled his own Avenger up to get into position for an attack run.


Meanwhile…

He cursed loudly as he raised his hand towards the sky, power danced around on his forearm before shooting out of his palm. The metal birds of their Enemy or Arcadians if he had heard the Pale Witch right, roared overheard avoiding his lightning,

When the Pale Witch reunited him with his force he had been relieved but when she sent him to combine with a few other groups he had been shocked at what she had done. Now he was the leader of nearly four thousand marauders with a thousand harden warriors all of whom were survivors of the battle in the snow.

Sure he had spent the better part of a day killing the war leaders of the other groups then using the portals to travel to some valley at the foot of a large mountain chain only to have to hike it then fight these Arcadians as she calls them.

Now though he supposed that since he had the support of this Pale Witch all he had to do was help her smash her enemies which of course mean he may very well gain power. With such power he hoped to use to extract his revenge upon her.

Two of the metal crafts came down towards the mountain side, all around him his marauders were scrambling to find cover but the technology that they faced was far superior to what he had. Yet in his opinion when it comes down to it, magic always beats technology in the long run.

Raising both hands he shot one bolt of lightning followed by the second, the first wasn't really meant to hit. Instead the bolt passed between the two metal constructs making them spin reflexively aside just as the second one flew at where he believed the lead one would spin into it.

The bolt of Lightning sheared through the protruding left side of the craft separating it from the main body and it twisted violently as it crashed towards the ground. The second construct however opened fired, and a long stream of bright bolts struck the forest to his right.

Trees and men were ripped apart in a thunderous wave as the bolts passed him. However he was intact and that meant he could still fight. However he anticipated the craft's movement after watching the slaughter on the frozen battlefield.

So he thrust outwards with both of his hands, a singular but much larger bolt of lightning shot out of his hands racing up to meet the metal construct. Alas this one rolled to the right and immediately circled back towards the forest.

Cursing silently he began to move as well, he needed a few moments to gather the necessary power. More of the deadly projectiles ripped apart the forest around him killing or seriously wounding another three dozen marauders that had been hiding.

He smiled however as his hands shot up again sending another bolt of lightning at the metal craft. While it wasn't a direct hit, the proximity of the lightning seemed to have some effect on it.

Though while the sorcerer didn't know that the aircraft was protected from lightning strikes it didn't really matter as the bolt of lightning he flung at it was no normal lightning.

As such the tendrils of power or electricity left many glowing cuts in the hull of the warplane. These cuts while not enough to outright destroy the war plane were enough to cripple it.

Not wanting to let his prey escape the sorcerer flung another bolt of lightning; this one stuck the rear of the aircraft which exploded in a shower of blue sparks and smoke. The sorcerer smiled inside his great helm as the last two metal constructs disappeared into the sky.

"My lord." A voice said nearby and he turned to see one of the marauders kneeling.

"What is it Kudatch."

"We've found the man that came down in that large cloth, he's tried running east by my hunter packs caught him soon enough. What do you want us to do with him?"

"Bring him to me."


Later that Night…

Ozpin stood looking out from atop his tower at Beacon, the night seemed unnaturally quiet. In the skies above Vale he could see three of Ironwood's Frigates cruising through the skies like whales in the ocean.

"I see you've changed." A cool voice said and Ozpin sighed as he turned around.

In front of him was a short man with pale skin, black hair and a goatee. He wore black trousers with a white button up shirt and carried an ivory cane with an obsidian dragon head in one hand.

"And you haven't." Ozpin said evenly as he walked back to his desk in which he poured himself a cup of coffee then gestured down to the pot.

"Want some?"

"What's the brew?"

"Mistral Gold."

"That sounds lovely." Ozpin poured a second cup as the man sat down which he placed in front of him.

"Now old friend, what can I help you with?" Ozpin asked but the man seemed far too engrossed by taking a sip but he frowned.

"Hmm, if you ask me this normally tastes better hot." The man said and Ozpin watched in a fairly amused manner as smoke began to curl up from the cup.

"I would ask you to refrain from doing that, these cups aren't meant to be heated from that sort of method."

"My apologies, I guess I'm not used to this sort of thing anymore." He said before quickly sipping on his cup which Ozpin did as well from his own. The two men sat silently there for a while until Ozpin set down his cup with a gentle click then clasped his hands under his chin.

"So what brings you here old friend?"

"Ah well, I heard you had some trouble with some uninvited guests."

"Well you don't have to worry about that, the Council has placed General Ironwood in charge of security for the Vytal Festival."

"Oh my, Ozpin is that a note of disapproval I hear in your voice?"

"If you're insinuating that I'm slightly displeased in the course of action my colleague has taken which coincidentally has slightly undermined my desire of a low profile then you might be correct."

"I see, I see, so then Oz, care to explain what you reckon the General might be planning to do with your other guests."

"Ah, you mean the Arcadians? Well I suppose there's nothing to do but follow the law, what happened to them is out of my hands."

"Do you realize what this is going to mean for you right?"

"I'm aware of it but I'm sure you would like to point it out for me."

"Now Ozpin, I merely am trying to make sure you're informed about what will probably happen. With the arrest of the soldiers and his son being discovered, it's only going to force his hand by making him come here to either defend or bargain for his soldiers." The man leaned forward and Ozpin had to admit a part of him was a little uncomfortable with his gaze.

"I've met the man Ozpin; he fights a powerful Enemy so you don't have to. If he gets mixed up in your own war then that can have dire consequences."

"He's already involved, in fact he's always been involved, trust me, I've met him before and I know that he fights, them, however he's also a valuable piece to have against her which she knows so drawing him in would only serve against her desires."

"I guess you're right there but here's the biggest question, does he trust you?" The man asked and Ozpin sighed as he poured the man another cup before refilling his own.

"He doesn't."

"I thought so, while you may be fighting the same enemy, you're definitely not on the same side. In fact, I'm pretty sure I'd have a better shot at becoming allies with him and trust me when I say that he would rather put a sword in both of my hearts before that happens."

"Maybe but he's man that's willing to change when the time comes."

"Ozpin you and I both know that he's no mere man, at least not anymore. If anything he's almost like a force of nature and that's saying something since I know he has people that can use true magic within his inner circle." He said and Ozpin nodded.

"I'm aware of that; I've faced off with one of them before."

"Ah yes, the Old Wolf, I remember you telling me about that."

"Indeed, that's when I realized that I needed to get him on my side."

"Good luck with that, I remember when I first met him. He was so odd, that I honestly mistook him for one of my kind in disguise as I could feel something, inhuman about him." The man gave a lopsided grin.

"Something I feel even he doesn't know or if he does then he knows far more than what I would expect or even imagine."

"I hear what you're saying but I believe having him here, even if reluctantly, will be a good thing in the long run."

"If you say so." The man looked over Ozpin's shoulder then put down his cup.

"Well, I guess I should get going." He said as he stood up and Ozpin stood up as well before putting his hand out which the man took. Ozpin couldn't help but take note of the heat that seemed to emit from him, he was glad that his guest didn't end up melting anything.

"Where do you plan on going now?" Ozpin asked as he walked with the man towards the window and the man opened it. Ozpin glanced out and could see straight down to the ground where some of the lights around the base of the tower were still on.

There were pairs of Atlas soldiers seemed to be walking around the perimeter of the tower; Ironwood had doubled the guard since someone broke into the tower a few nights back during the school dance.

"You know how it is; I just go where the wind takes me." He said and Ozpin smiled as they shook hands once more before the man jumped out the window.

One might have expected to see the man falling to what would be his doom, however as Ozpin looked out the window against there was no sign of the man.

As time passed Ozpin once more just stared into the night sky, in the distance he could see the lights of Vale along with same three Frigates. The sight tired him as he took a deep breath and sighed however he noticed something off about the air.

It felt different somehow, as if there was an almost unnatural stiffness that seemed to speak of a time long lost to him. He looked up into the sky seeing the familiar shattered moon and thinking back to a time when like him, it was whole.

Yet as a shadow passed over his mind at thinking about those days a different shadow passed in front of the broken moon. One though while unnatural was all too familiar to him.

As this shadow was one of many that have given birth to legends and stories.


Happy Thanksgiving (But that was yesterday) Black Friday or even Christmas depending on how you view holidays.

With the end of this chapter I'm now on the cusp of tackling the task of combining the fluid yet almost gaudy fighting of the RWBY characters (minus Jaune) with the more grimm (I see what you did there) dark action of the Arcadians between the Norsii or Norsca Marauders, Warriors and Sorcerers.

Brownie points to anyone that can figure out who or really what Ozpin talked with and saw.

One thing I gotta say is that with the new volume out there's been a lot more fluff being put out but since I'm the kind of person that waits to binge watch this is gonna be problem for me but I guess I can figure something out.

On a side note, The Dance With Death still on hiatus.

Anyways, let me know what you thought about this chapter was there something you liked or didn't like. Do you have a suggestion? Concerns? Or just wanna discuss something whether or not it's related to the story or not? Then by all means go ahead and leave a review for me to answer or send me a PM and I'll try getting back to you as soon as I can.

Till Next Time!