RWBY is property of Roosterteeth! I only own my characters.
CHAPTER 24
"Cover! Now!" Alex yelled as Europa sent large shards of ice flying in all directions. He quickly grabbed Luna and Ruby and dragged them behind a cement wall. He didn't see where any of the others had gone. Crashing and shattering followed a moment later, and one particularly large fragment of ice impaled itself in the ground behind where Alex's trio was hiding.
Alex popped up over his small section of cover, where he was greeted with the sight of only towering mirror-smooth fragments of ice. Europa was nowhere in sight. "I've lost sight of her! Is everyone alright?" Alex keyed his radio, unable to see anyone besides Ruby and Luna.
"We're good over here, Bossman!" Ryland's voice called out from somewhere in the field of ice. "I've got Yang, Carbon, and the new girl with me!"
"Blake and Firo are both fine," Dimitri reported.
"Keep an eye out," Alex replied. "She could be anywhere."
"Gotcha, Bossman," Ryland switched over to the radio. "We'll- Oh, shit!" The transmission cut out, but was followed by an echo of gunfire.
"Everybody, see if you can find Ryland's group and give him some help!" Alex commanded. He was met with quick acknowledgments. He, Ruby, and Luna raced towards the source of the gunfire, made difficult by the maze-like arrangement of the ice.
Ryland jumped back from a vicious stab from Europa, then returned fire with a burst from his rifle. Unfortunately, the shots did not find their mark, as the Lord darted out of sight once again.
"Damn it," Ryland swore.
"I thought this was going to be more interesting," Europa's bored voice echoed around them, bouncing off the icy enclosure.
"How about you stop fighting like a coward, and we'll test that thought?" Yang called out.
"Yang, what are you doing?" Carbon asked, scanning with his rifle.
"Trust me on this," the blonde student replied calmly. "I've got a plan, just roll with it."
"Whatever you sa- Whoa!" Ryland blocked an icicle that came sailing through the air with his rifle. He tossed the weapon aside upon finding that it was impaled by the frozen water. "Alright, railgun it is..." He quickly slotted a conical iron projectile into his prosthetic arm.
"I feel like she's toying with us," Carbon noted.
"Or, maybe she's just a big chicken!" Yang yelled. Ryland suddenly had an inkling as to what his girlfriend's plan was. Sure enough, it seemed to work as Europa came dashing out of the maze of ice, aiming for Yang with an icy longsword.
In the instant before Europa's swing connected, Yang activated her semblance and grabbed the offending blade with her bare hand. To the Lord's dismay, the weapon only dug slightly into the blonde's skin before melting into a useless state.
"Well, you said you wanted it to be interesting," Yang smiled and blasted Europa in the face with a pair of shots from Ember Celica. The Lord shattered into fragments as the projectiles connected. "Oh, crap."
"Did you really think I would fall for such a juvenile trick?" Europa's voice echoed. Clones of the Lord, a mixture of Shade and ice, stepped out from all directions, surrounding Ryland and the others. "Though, perhaps you all aren't quite as boring as I thought."
"Well, that's a new one... Anyone else got a plan?" Ryland asked, leveling his arm at the nearest clone. 'How 'bout you, new girl?"
"H-huh? Me?" the silver-haired girl asked. "I- I'm not sure."
"What can you do?" Carbon asked urgently. "What is your semblance?"
"It's useless... I used to be able to calm people down... but now... I'm not even sure what I can do," she replied. "I can't exactly control it..."
"That's unfortunate," Ryland said flatly, eyes darting between the clones.
"Well, then I guess we're going the 'smash everything' route," Yang punched her fists together. She turned and winked at the silver-haired girl. "Thanks for getting us out of that jam earlier. Just hang back and let us handle it if you can't help, 'kay?"
"I- Okay..." the girl sighed defeatedly.
"Enough talkin', then," Carbon leveled his plasma rifle at the closest clone and fired, melting the figure above the waist. "Let's get to breaking these things." The trio fell into the standard formation they had used when fighting together two years prior. Yang acted as their front-line fighter, since she was both limited to close-range combat and her semblance made her far more durable than either Ryland or Carbon. Ryland and Carbon both worked on keeping enemies from overwhelming her, thinning the clones with precise shots.
"Watch out!" the silver-haired girl yelled, pushing Ryland, who hadn't noticed one of Europa's copies sneaking up behind him. The girl slipped on the icy ground onto her back, where she had to quickly roll out of the way from the clone's downward slash. The figure's icy blade clipped the girl's silver hair, leaving a few strands laying on the pavement. The girl reached out and grabbed the clone's arm in an attempt to stop it from making another attack. To her surprise, the Lord' copy simply shattered the moment she touched it.
"What was that?" Ryland gaped as the silver-haired girl looked at her hands. "Thanks, by the way. Please do more of whatever you just did."
"Miss," Carbon addressed her, "Think you can help us watch Yang's back?"
"Y-yes! I think I can help!" she replied. She rose to her feet and ran up to where Yang was holding her ground against the swarm of clones. The four of them stood together, mowing down any icy copy that stepped within range.
"Hey, Bossman, you here yet!?" Ryland shouted into the radio, punching a clone in the face instead of wasting his single shot in the railgun.
"Still trying to get to you, just hold on," Alex's voice replied. "We ran into Dimitri, Firo, and Blake. We'll all be there as soon as we can."
"Wait," Ryland suddenly had an idea, "You got a flare?"
"Yes, why? What are you thinking?"
"Fire it into the air, then get down," the orange-haired soldier ducked underneath a clone's swing. Yang kicked it into the wall, where it shattered loudly. A bright red light shot into the sky from the group's left. Ryland leveled his arm at ground-level below the flare. "Fire in the hole." The railgun on his arm fired, kicking the prosthetic arm back hard enough to cause Ryland to stumble. In a fraction of a second, a series of gaping holes opened in the icy maze's walls, followed by a loud boom. A newly-created tunnel had been opened in the maze, which would allow Alex and the others to reach them.
"Well, that's troublesome," Europa's voice said from nearby. Ryland whirled around to find the Lord right in his face. She slashed upwards with her blade, severing the soldier's prosthetic arm between the elbow and shoulder. Europa stabbed forward with an icicle in her off-hand stabbing Ryland in the gut. He let out a splutter and coughed blood.
"Ry!"
"Kid!" Carbon, Yang, and the silver-haired girl whirled around as they finished off the last of the clones. They were greeted with the terrible sight of Ryland falling onto the ground and laying still in a rapidly expanding pool of his own blood. "Damn it!" Carbon yelled, aiming at the Lord with his rifle. She ran forward with her hand out, throwing an icy projectile. The small orb impacted Carbon's hands, freezing them so he could not pull his weapon's trigger.
Yang attempted to close the distance on Europa, but her worry for Ryland had delayed her just a few seconds too long. She watched in horror as the Lord ducked underneath a desperate swing from Carbon and sliced her blade across the Atlesian's throat. Carbon's eyes widened as he registered the pain and begin to fall. Europa turned to face Yang, the Lord's emotionless helmet showing no remorse.
"Please... make sure they're okay..." Yang shivered as she spoke to the silver haired girl. "Do your best to make sure Ry and Carbon are okay..."
"O-okay," the girl replied quickly, darting over to the two collapsed forms. Europa walked towards Yang calmly as the blonde continued to shiver.
"That's two of your friends down," the Lord kept her ears open for Alex's group, who grew closer with every passing moment. "Let's make this qui-" Europa was sent flying as Yang closed the distance between them and punched the Lord's visor. Glass shattered under the student's fist. Europa stood from the ground and tossed her broken helmet away, before removing a long shard of glass from her cheek. She realized the student hadn't been shivering from the temperature, but from utter rage. Flames licked around Yang's body as she snarled and stared the Lord down.
"You won't get away with hurting them, Bitch."
Alex jumped through another one of the holes in the maze Ryland had made, attempting to maintain his speed. He tried to raise Ryland or Carbon on the radio again, to no avail. Ryland's idea had been good in theory, but the maze's oddly shaped walls had sent the railgun's projectile flying in odd directions, creating a path that curved and zig-zagged frequently.
"Something's wrong," he grit his teeth. He hoped they weren't too late.
"We'll make it, Alex," Ruby said firmly, several paces ahead of the blond soldier. The EDC armor over her combat clothing bounced slightly. The girls had all kept the plating as parts of their standard gear, since it offered increased protection for very little weight. Still, it wasn't invincible, and wouldn't last long against a Lord. "I can run ahead if you want."
"No," Alex shook his head and panted. "The last thing I want to do is throw you into an unknown situation." Their entire group came to a sudden halt as a scream of rage drifted through the maze.
"That was Yang..." Blake spoke up worriedly. A nervous look appeared on Ruby's face as well.
"Screw it," Alex said through grit teeth, "Ruby, go. Take Blake with you and help Yang. We'll be right behind you."
"Alright," Ruby nodded quickly. "Thanks, Alex." She grabbed Blake's arm, and in an instant, the two girls were gone in a burst of rose petals. The remaining soldiers hefted their gear and gave chase, following the trail of petals through the maze.
Ruby ran as fast as she could, more or less dragging Blake along with her. The two students ground to a halt, shocked by the sight that lay before them. The silver-haired girl was knelt by Ryland and Carbon, trying to staunch bleeding wounds on both of them. Yang was currently engaged with the Lord, her semblance throwing off intense heat and causing the nearby walls of the maze to melt.
Both Yang and Europa were covered in injuries, from small scratches to deep gashes. Yang's EDC armor lay in shambles, the chest plating tossed completely aside in pieces. However, the student still had the boots, one of which she furiously planted in the middle of Europa's chest. The Lord responded with a swipe from her blade, tracing a bloody line across Yang's left cheek.
"Yang!" Ruby yelled to get her sister's attention while loading a Dust round into Crescent Rose. Blake moved to help her partner. They both suddenly regretted announcing themselves, as Europa took advantage of Yang's temporary distraction to stab her in the thigh with an icicle. The blond student stumbled back, and the Lord readied another strike.
Europa's attempt on Yang's neck was foiled by a quick shot from Blake's Gambol Shroud. Ruby sped forward with Crescent Rose in hand. She ran up the side of the maze's wall, jumping into the air to line up her shot on the Lord, who was preoccupied blocking Blake and Yang on the ground. Ruby shot off the Dust round loaded into her weapon, a bullet tipped with a highly volatile Burn Crystal. The round exploded on Europa's armor, sending the Lord smashing into the wall behind her. The Lord's eyes flashed angrily, and Ruby suddenly realized she wasn't falling.
"That's enough of that," Europa coughed and spat out a bloody tooth. Her dark-blue hair was singed to a dusty coal-black. "And your friends are just in time." Alex and the others came barreling through the hole Ruby and Blake had come through, quickly leveling their weapons at the Lord. "Yeah, none of that." Ruby noticed she wasn't the only one floating the air. Blake, the silver-haired girl, and Ryland's unconscious bleeding form all hung awkwardly above the ground.
"She's got a Kinetic Secondary," Dimitri noted through grit teeth.
"Here's what's going to happen," Europa ignored the Russian. "I've triggered my distress armor's beacon so that my soldiers will come pick me up. If you try anything before I leave..." Ruby suddenly noticed single sharp pillars of ice beneath herself and the others floating. "Well, let's just say it could get messy."
"As interesting as that would be to see," a woman's voice said from behind the wall at Europa's back, "I can't really let you kill the person I came all this way to find." A pale hand burst through the ice wall, grabbing Europa's forearm. The maze's ice began to melt and shatter, and Ruby and the others were roughly dropped to the ground, thankfully escaping impalement. Europa quickly stabbed the arm that had grabbed her with her blade, causing it to let go. The wall fell apart into fragments, revealing a beautiful young woman with eerily pale hair and skin. The wound on her arm closed in the blink of an eye. "Now that wasn't nice... If you would-"
Europa stabbed forward with her blade, letting out a small cry of shock as the weapon simply deflected off the newcomer's skin as if it were metal. The pale woman calmly grabbed the Lord's right arm. A flash of heat and sound erupted from the point of contact, sending the Lord screaming to the ground as she gripped the burning stump of her arm.
"Now then," the pale woman smiled sweetly. Alex and the others leveled their weapons at her. "Would anyone else like to interrupt me?"
A/N: The action begins. There's going to be a pretty solid wall of these as we cover the fighting going on all over the place. Stay tuned, I will put these out as quickly as I can.
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Skaana: Yes, Atlas would do considerably better against the Order than any of the other Kingdoms, since they have a larger, more advanced military. Still, they remember what happened last time a small group of Order troops showed up, so they're asking Vale to lend assistance, unaware that a similar attack is occurring there as well.