Chapter 22: Deathwish
The VTOL soared off towards the burning city. Alongside them flew fighter escorts, gunning down airborne Grimm. As they approached the city they could barely breathe, for the entire city was ablaze, sending thick plumes of smoke in the air.
"Grimm don't start fires." Oliva growled, looking over at the chaos unfolding below. Grimm ran amok in the streets, overcoming the valiant defense put up by the Vale Guardsmen. Rouge Atlesian Knights took potshots at their ride, and the pilots had to swerve multiple times to avoid oncoming fire from Atlesian Paladins.
"We're approaching the destination." the intercom crackled to life, prompting the squad to ready their weapons. Out of force of habit, Oliva checked his ammo belt and motioned at one of the Guardsmen to inspect his backpack, from which grenades were fed into his weapon. He looked over at the crew. Five Guardsmen, five Atlesians, himself included.
And Grauer. Oliva had no idea what that kid was doing aboard the VTOL. The massive soldier shifted uneasily. Grauer was technically the enemy, and if he so much as tried to lift a finger against them Oliva would turn him and his two companions into bloody giblets. Their eyes met for a second, and in that second Oliva felt as if his mind was being assailed, being probed, being violated by some immense, perverted force. The Atlesian broke off his gaze and stared in the other direction.
Herman stroked Nihil as he mulled over Oliva's thoughts. Evidently they still did not trust him. That would have to change.
The VTOL slowed down and hovered right above an apartment building. The light went green, prompting the soldiers to rise as the craft lowered towards the roof. One by one, they exited and spread out in spearhead formation, with Captain Lauton taking the lead. Below they could hear gunfire and screaming, intermingled with guttural growls and shrieks.
There was a sudden crack and one of the Guardsmen grabbed his throat. Immediately his hand went to the affected area, and he may have tried out to gurgle out a warning, but only blood intermixed with saliva exited his mouth. He collapsed onto his knees, slowly choking to death. But they couldn't do anything about it; to not seek cover was to court death.
"SNIPER! TWELVE 'O' CLOCK!" Another Guardsmen yelled, and everyone immediately hit the ground and crawled behind whatever cover they could find.
"Anyone see where that came from?" Oliva called out.
"Definitely from that hotel dead ahead. Probably top floor." Lauton replied. At that very moment, the door leading down the apartment building was kicked open and something small and circular came soaring out, landing hard upon the ground and slowly rolling towards Lauton, whose eyes widened in shock upon noticing what it was. He backed up from the grenade, but before it could detonate a Guardsman flung herself upon it. For a moment, her body was lifted up into the air as if punched by some unseen force. She crumpled up and lay still as a dark red subsatnce began to seep out from beneath her shattered armor.
Herman immediately rushed out of cover and down the stairs, determined to find out the identity of their attackers. He rushed round the stairs, running headfirst into someone. Herman felt the world turn black for a moment as he collided into another person, feeling the rush of his momentum bowl over approximately one, two, three, four and five people. Nihil went flying out of his hand, and Herman heard someone cry out. Groaning, he looked to his right, only to be greeted by a White Fang member lying by his side. Though the Faunus wore a mask, Herman could feel his (or her) eyes boring right into his. Definitely a her.
Another day, he'd be quite pleased. Today, he had a war to fight. He drove his fist into the masked thug's face while kicking out at a hand that had just wrapped round his boot. Regaining his feet, he looked around for Nihil, only to see the chainsword firmly wedged into another Fang member's chest, a red stain spreading across his overalls. Stunned by what he had done, Herman was caught unaware when a third member leapt on him, trying to gauge the wolf's eyes out with his talons, while the thug's partner darted in front of Herman, combat knife at the ready. Herman sidestepped the thrust, driving his foot into the thug's knee, causing the Faunus to drop. Meanwhile, the talons round his eyes had become a complete blur. He drove his elbow backwards into the White Fang member's belly, and for a moment the claws round his face went limp as he heard the Fang member sharply exhale.
At that moment, gunshots rang out, and Herman felt the load fall from his back. The body fell to the ground with a thump.
The Atlesians and Vale Guardsmen made short work of the incapacitated White Fang members, pausing momentarily when Herman pulled Nihil out of the impaled Faunus. The chainsword had gone all the way through his body, and had even cut through the concrete wall. Herman grimaced upon seeing Heidi and Beckendorf's shocked faces, but there was little else he could do. Silently, the group descended the stairs and entered the street, where pandemonium reigned. Multiple Guardsmen, along with a few Atlesians had been able to fortify a plaza junction with rows of sandbags, barbed wire and machine guns. Two APCs blocked the southern road, while a tank with a flak cannon as its main armament was pounding away at aerial Grimm. Flashing signs indicated that the route to the evacuation zone was through the junction and towards the east.
Immediately, the squad was met with gunfire, and once more they hurled themselves behind what little cover could be found. Herman crouched behind a dark blue sedan, Beckendorf and Heidi by his side.
"Definitely holed up in the hotel!" Beckendorf hollered over the gunfire. "Third floor!" He added. Herman switched Nihil to its LMG form, slamming in a box of Anti-Grav.
"I'll suppress them and you guys rush in." He told his friends, who readied themselves. Looking over at the captain, who had taken cover behind a green hatchback, Herman called out.
"Captain!" Lauton peeked around cover, breathing heavily. "I'll suppress them! Take your team and go!" Lauton disappeared behind the vehicle as more shots clattered off the side of the vehicle. Herman pressed Nihil against his shoulder, firmly gripping the weapon. Herman drew a deep breath. His heart had begun to pound in his ears, and his mouth felt very dry.
"One...two...three...MARK!" He cried out, popping out of cover. Now he was facing the hotel directly, and he could see something scurrying about the upper floors. He fired in short bursts, watching how his shots knocked off pieces of masonry. It was working, though, as the gunfire subsided from the upper floors. In the corner of his eye, he could see the squad and his friends rush across the open street and into the hotel. More bluish-yellow flashes could be seen as they entered.
Nihil clicked empty, causing Herman to quickly rush forward and dive behind a fallen section of the hotel's wall. Spurts of dust kicked up all around him. Slowly, he crawled through the rubble even as bullets smashed into the terrain around him. Eventually, he reached the comforting darkness of the hotel entrance, where he rested a bit, basking in the coolness of the interior. Moving through the dark interior, he kept Nihil at the ready. There were Faunus corpses everywhere, bearing signs of battle. One was an unrecognizable bloody mess, its bones jutting out of its melted knees. Another was in its final death-throes, grasping an arrow firmly embedded in its neck. Still others lay sprawled, with bullet wounds riddling their corpses. In the middle of all this, only one Atlesian corpse lay face-down.
Herman's wolf ears perked up at the sound of tearing. It seemed to be coming from behind the counter. He drew closer, the wet sounds of chewing growing louder. A bone snapped. Something could be heard fizzling and crackling. In the darkness, Herman could see red stains on the counter, which bore claw marks.
Herman leapt over the counter and found himself facing a Grimm, which was astride a White Fang member's corpse, on which a radio was strapped. It was a pathetic little quadruped, with toady eyes and thick black lips, from which a few golden-red feathers hung. It blinked its little filigreed eyes before extending its mouth, revealing a solid wall of alabaster teeth. Something darted out from within, and a pink wet thing wrapped around Herman's arm and began to drag him forward. Herman was jerked off balance, but before he could be dragged into those heavy jaws he thrust Nihil forward, firing fully automatic into the beast's mouth. It squealed, and the tongue wrapped around Herman's hand loosened and fell with a wet thwack.
The radio began to hiss and crackle once more. Detaching the device from its previous owner, Herman pressed it against his ear. Across a sea of static, he could barely make some words out.
"Can you hear me? Delta One? Come in, Delta One, come in." The radio crackled. Playing along, Herman spoke.
"This is Delta One reporting."
"Oh, thank Oum. Delta One, the hotel SAM site has been breached-"
"Hold on. Who is this?" Another voice came, this one low and raspy. Herman swallowed nervously. It seemed like his ruse was up. The older voice had ceased speaking.
"Identify yourself." The raspy voice commanded. Herman sighed, before answering. His ruse was clearly up, so he might as well respond in style.
"Private Herman Grauer, formerly of Alpha Pack. I'm here to make you motherless bastards regret your attack, and I will not stop until I have hurled the stinking corpse of your Commander into Hell." Herman growled in his best Spruce Willis impression, though internally he wondered if he should have said something else. Ah, well. He was never good at improv acting.
For what felt like a century, he stood there, feeling like an ass until the sudden crackling-suspiciously resembling laughter-stooped.
"Tarry a little, traitor." Came the raspy voice. "This is Commissar Petrenko Zheeliyony. I assure you, I will not stop until I have delivered your filthy head to the Supreme Commander himself. Retreat, and you might live, for our force is unstoppable. You cannot resist the will of Faunuskind."
"Blindly murdering everyone? Is that what the Faunus want, or just what Commander Taurus has brainwashed you into believing?"
"Everything we do is for the betterment of Faunus kind." Herman looked at the Faunus corpse at his feet, violated by the Grimm. He felt his blood boil. Something twitched behind his right eye "Of course, a traitor such as you would never understand that." Herman threw down the radio and stomped on it.
Betterment of the Faunus, indeed.
He strode up the stairs, towards the sounds of battle ringing out from above. There was a battery of SAM missile launchers along with a full communications array. A large number of White Fang soldiers were also there, locked in combat with the group. Oliva fired off a few grenades at the SAM battery, causing huge detonations to erupt along the roof. Heidi disarmed one opponent before hurling him at three others, bowling the lot down. Meanwhile, Beckendorf cowered in the relative safety of the doorway, occasionally popping off a shot.
"So you finally grace us with your presence?" He said upon noticing Herman. The reindeer shook his head. "What are you waiting for? Go and get them!" Herman needed no further encouragement. Switching Nihil back to its chainsword form, he charged out, shoulder barging the first opponent to rush him before bringing Nihil's hilt down upon another thug's face, cracking the mask he wore.
A sudden revving made Herman swing around. A large, beefy thug slowly advanced, dragging his chainsword along, towards Herman.
"Hmph. Seems like a traitor will have to do." He raised his own chainsword.
Herman raised Nihil, slowly circling round his opponent. He charged and swung Nihil down low, towards the opponent's waist. Chainsword met chainsword, and now the two had their blades locked, teeth tracks whirring and gnashing against each other, sending sparks flying everywhere. The two struggled to push against one another's force, resulting in the thug's chainsword being pushed back to the thug himself, who then exerted greater force and pushed Nihil dangerously close to Herman, who naturally pushed back. On and on they went, with the battle raging all around them, but neither could triumph over each other. Roaring in frustration, he kicked the thug in the stomach, or would have if the thug did not kick back at the same time, ensuring that their boots met each other midair. Simultaneously they leapt back, shockwaves travelling up their respective legs and spines. Herman made a few quick slashes with the Taijitu style; the opponent responded in kind. The chainsword wielding thug tried the Ursa Style; Herman parried the blows and attempted to feint, but his crafty opponent tried the same maneuver, resulting in both of them smacking each other in the face with their respective chainswords. If both did not have Auras, they would be half a head short.
Herman leapt back, rubbing his jaw. It wasn't a matter of skill levels or raw strength; it was that both combatants had been trained in similar styles. Neither could prevail over the other.
But Herman had one thing that the chainsword wielding thug did not have; backup. Looking round, he noticed the White Fang members were either killed or incapacitated, the SAM site little more than a burning, smoking heap. The squad had secured the site, with Lauton inspecting the communications equipment. The rest had secured various positions, periodically firing at Grimm. Backup seemed to be out of the window.
An arrow came hurtling through the air, striking the thug in the chest. It exploded, sending him flying backwards and into a corner. The thug's chainsword went clattering off as well. Herman looked round at Heidi, who stood there, arrow nocked.
"Was that Lieutenant too much for you to handle?" She asked, her tail wagging round playfully. Herman could only smile.
"Alright, evac ought to arrive in fifteen minutes!" Captain Lauton called out.
"Look out, Sir! Grimm, seven 'o' clock!" Oliva cried out, readying his weapon at the oncoming swarm. Beowulves and creeps had managed to scale the building and overcome the two defending soldiers there. Herman revved up Nihil, but spun to his left in alarm as he heard one of the Atlesians cry out in pain as an Alpha tore into him.
"More on our six and five! We're surrounded!"
"Gryphons!" The unfortunate Guardsman got snatched up by one of the damned creatures, and Herman had to roll out of the way when a few Nevermore quills peppered the roof.
Looking round, Herman positioned himself in the Gryphon Style. Heidi was at his side, and even Beckendorf was pressed up against him, weapon ready.
The beasts charged, but suddenly there was a great white flash of light, searing Herman's vision. He cried out in pain, dropping Nihil and clapping his hands round his eyes. He could hear the pained roars of the Grimm, intermingled with Oliva's bellows. Someone-a girl-was crying out in grief, a mighty cry that gradually drowned out all ambience.
Please, let it stop, let it stop, STOP IT, KILL WHOEVER'S SCREAMING SO FUCKING LOUD, was Herman;s last few disjointed thoughts before it all ended.