Last Edited: 12/3/16
Sander Blanco's POV:
I groan one last time in pain before forcing myself back onto my feet.
We don't have much time to lose, and quite frankly, it's really a miracle we haven't been caught yet. "Alright. So, we're inside an enemy headquarters and back to our proper size. Any ideas on where we can start Phase 2?" Weiss asks, looking around for any threats.
Phase 2 is the 2nd stage of our operation at this fortress. No matter how much faith Ozpin put in us, he understands that just 9 of us can't take out the army here by ourselves. So, for this stage, we would find a nice, hidden alcove to stash a transmitting device so the newly assembled army of Vale can invade this fortress and finally end the White Fang. While we wait on the army to come, we would do some considerable damage and sabotage their military hardware to create an even greater advantage in the coming battle.
The Force beckons to me, and I get a basic idea. "I don't know. But I do know that we should split up into 2 groups. Yang, we're going to find their leaders and start taking them out of the game. The rest of you, find and free Alec and do some serious damage to this place." I said sternly.
Max is looking around, somewhat awestruck by the technology here. "Hey, guys. Before we continue, are you sure we shouldn't borrow some of this technology? Some of it impresses even me."
I too decide to have a look around. As he said, there are many sorts of strange, yet impressive-looking contraptions ranging from guns to weird masks and thick armors. The oddest of said masks is a sleet gray mask with 2 eye holes and lots of little holes spread around it and that the top right has a nasty cut to it, outlined by what looks suspiciously like blood. Before I can make a choice, the Force speaks to me again, and I look to my left, and notice a metal briefcase on a table. I walk to it and open the case.
Inside the case is a long, highly sophisticated looking synthetic arm. Its outer metal gleams silver while the inside is black, and the silver metal fingers are long and slender. For some reason, the Force wants me to take this arm, so I close the case and take it off. "I think we should keep this safe for now, and nothing else. Taking too many weapons would just weigh us down in the long run. But I get the feeling this arm might come in handy later." I said, giving it to Max.
"OK." He nods then holds it at his side.
"Alright, you guys know what to do. Start up the tracking device and release all the captives here, then start sabotaging their work. Yang, as painful as this must sound, we need to severely wound, or kill if it comes to it, this base's leaders." I said, looking at all of them. Each one of their faces hold a hint of fear that they won't make it through the day as well as motivation to fight. No one in this group wants to back down from this fight. I must say, these are some of the bravest people I've ever met and I am glad to be their friend. I never really had any friends in the Jedi Temple, where most of my early life was spent. I mean, I had a few friends, but I was too rebellious in nature to ever truly get to know them.
"Let's do this." Yang said, pumping her fists together and a wide grin on her face. Although she doesn't look happy about the idea of killing anyone, so she'll go for mortally wounding. I hope it just stays that way, as well.
"That's the spirit. Remember, this is to save our homes. For Remnant." I said triumphantly.
The others start smiling and we make our way to the door. "Hey, what should we do about them?" Blake asked, pointing to the 2 Faunus scientists, still unconscious. Penny waves her cutlass around and the 2 fly into a storage closet, after which she slams it closed.
"Good enough?" She asks.
"I suppose." Blake answers, then we walk towards the door. Blake opens it a notch and looks around. "All clear for now."
She opens the door all the way and we all walk out. The White Fang are most likely patrolling other rooms, but this hall won't be empty for long. I feel yet another pulse from the Force, and looking around, notice a hidden door in the shadows, on the wall behind the curved stone staircase. Behind the door, I can sense something sinister. I walk towards the door, Yang behind me, and open it.
All I see are staircases that go down, the tunnel lit with powerful lightbulbs. Slowly and cautiously, I walk down the steps, holding Yang's hand to make sure we don't get separated. After a minute of walking, I start to hear voices. I look around, and see a wooden door on the right. Opening it up, we slip into the tunnel. Before us are 2 chairs that are empty but have names on them. Apparently, these are the seats for 2 different White Fang lieutenants. "Yang, I have an idea. Hold still." I said, then snap my fingers, and use the same Force technique I used to disguise myself as a mailman to defeat Jigo.
But this time, both of us are disguised as White Fang soldiers in full armor. I have to say, it's really strange seeing Yang in White Fang armor, even if it's a disguise. But only now do I start to pay attention to the loud shouting nearby. We look forward and see a sight I haven't seen before.
A whole gathering of men and women are present, sitting around a large metal table with holographic screens on each side, as well as names. Thankfully, it shows that the empty seat that we're directly facing would normally be occupied by Cinder, but due to her current condition, she can't attend. In the process, I notice the crazy man who attacked us at the pirate's outpost, with his name plate reading 'Tyrian.' The buff red-haired man, Hazel, is there, as well as Dr. Watts and even the master thief, Roman Torchwick. But with them are the leaders of all the branches of the White Fang, including Menagerie's 2 leaders, Corsac and Fennec Albain.
"Enough!" A woman said. She has dark skin, short yet messy black hair that nearly hide her tiger ears, her orange brown eyes are filled with unbridled disdain, and she's wearing a black and red outfit that reveal the tiger-stripe tattoos on her arms. The name plate implanted on the table describes her as 'Sienna Khan.' "So, this is the order of your mistress? Pull all of our armies back here so we can attack and wipe Vale out completely, then destroy Shade Academy, followed by the rest of the kingdoms?" She asks coldly.
"Correct." Hazel said in his deep voice. Yang and I look at each other, more horrified than we might look being caught watching porn. Thank goodness I hate that shit; saves me a lot of embarrassment in the long run.
"You do realize that such a feat is borderline impossible, if it should even happen. Even for the growing numbers of the White Fang, this...strategy is borderline suicide?" Sienna said, her tone becoming colder than before.
"That's where you are wrong. It is possible to wipe out the kingdoms if you hit them just right. You forget that one of our members who would be sitting here, Cinder, single handedly made Beacon Tower fall and Vale is now cowering behind their walls. This is the perfect time to end their kingdom. As for Mistral and the other kingdoms, I already have a total of 5 sleeper agents weaved into their ranks. Just with a push of a button, and they start killing everyone they can get their hands on, thanks to my mini-bot technology. Not to mention Professor Lionheart's cowardice has left him open to be a valuable pawn." Dr. Watts said, a calm look on his face.
He did what?! Ozpin needs to be alerted about this. Apparently, Sienna also looks a little rattled by what she just heard, but before she can argue, alarms start blaring loudly. 'Attention, attention. All prison cells have been released. All prison cells have been released. This is not a drill.'
"Oh great. Come on, let's go and kill all those scumbags we've been holding here for too long anyway." Sienna said, standing up and pulling her large metal mace at her side. The rest of the people around the table also stand up and run towards the staircase. I hear thumping on our right and look to see 2 female White Fang leaders running at us.
"Hurry up. We have problems." One of them said, but I trip both of them and they fall on their faces. For good measure, Yang punches the back of both their heads. They let out a moan before falling silent.
Yang looks down, somewhat scared. "Are they…"
Knowing what she's scared about, I kneel and place my fingers on their necks. "Nope. They're still alive, but out cold. Help me carry them." I said, lifting one of the women on my shoulders. Yang shrugs and picks up the other lieutenant with ease. Canceling our disguises, I kick the door open and walk all the way to the command room. Once at the bottom, I drop my unconscious warrior onto the table facedown. Yang follows suite.
"Well, we certainly suck at our job. Now those leaders are going to put down our little distraction. What new ideas do you…have…" Yang asks, then her sentence stops.
I feel the disturbance as well and look towards the back of the circular room. There, on the floor, is a circle pattern with distinct lines around it and a lever on the wall. The source of the dark vibe I got before we came down here is radiating from that spot and is much stronger than before.
"I sense it too." I said, then I slowly step towards the strange circle, getting a good idea on what it's for. "Looks like we haven't fail just yet. Let's see where it takes us." With that, we both stand on the circle and I pull the rusty lever. For some reason, an odd sensation comes over my fingers, but it quickly goes away and I pull the lever down. The circle lets out a hiss of steam and drops.
The make shift elevator falls at an abnormal rate, but we somehow manage to stay grounded to it. Eventually, the elevator stops at the bottom, having arrived at its destination. "Whoa." Yang breathes. We find ourselves in a giant chamber, with columns supporting the tall ceiling, and candles hanging on brackets and statues between each column and a stain glass window behind the statues. The chamber branches off in 3 directions: Left towards a wood door, right towards another wood door, or straight towards the even larger set of double doors. The Force is beckoning to me, torn between telling me to leave or to proceed. "Where are we?"
For the first time in my life, I'm lost for words. Much more so than when I went through the shrinking device. I walk straight down the red carpet, taking in the surroundings. Curious, I decide to have a closer look at the statue, held up by a pedestal that's shaped like skulls, and gasp. The statue is of a man with billowing black robes, blood red gems for eyes and outstretched arms, a sharp scythe hanging at his side. But what makes the statue so recognizable is the fact that the left half of the man's body is human and a warm smile is on his face, while his right side is Grimm-like. Literally, his right arm has bone armor with spikes on it while the right side of his face is shaped like a Beowulf, except the markings on his face are different and more numerous. This entity is the embodiment of the 2 halves of all sentient beings. "Deithos." I said, both awestruck and terrified at the same time. I have no idea whether or not I'm understanding this right, but I could have sworn I felt the Force recoil a little at the name.
"Who?" Yang asks, looking a little nervous at being in this area. Not that I blame her.
"Deithos. The god of death and darkness. One of the 12 gods first worshiped here on Remnant. I did a whole paper on that particular subject for Oobleck's history class. But why would there be statues of Deithos here?" I explain, then ask with a little concern, seeing the statues. It's like their eyes are following me. After looking at the statue, we continue walking down the corridor. However, the more we walk, the stranger I feel. My hair and skin start tingling madly and my body starts heating up.
Worried, I look at Yang, and to my shock, her hair is on fire and her eyes are already red. "Hey. What did I do?" I ask, backing up a little.
"Huh?" Yang asks, looking at me and her eyes widen. "Sander, what's happening to you?"
"What are you talking about? Your semblance is already kicking in. Red eyes and all." I respond, confused on what Yang is talking about.
"That is really weird, but I'm not the only one changing suddenly. You're…paler than you usually are." Yang says, looking even more disturbed. Paler than usual, what is she talking about?
I am pulled from my confusion when I realize that we have reached the double doors. Only now do I notice the 2 smaller statues of men in full Vale-style battle armor on each side. The interesting part is that the statue on the right has a stone sword sticking out of the man's chest, while the statue on the left has no sword, but a gash on the same spot.
An idea clicks in place and look around. One of the Deithos statues is holding a small, stone broadsword in its human hand. Grabbing it, I walk back to the statue of the man in armor and insert the sword into the chestplate. "Oh, that's lovely." Yang said, her face betraying her disturbance at the thought. But suddenly, the doors creak open, permitting entrance inside to the council room. The place where my dream took place. The stone table in the center, the bone thrones surrounding it, headed by the throne made of purple Dust crystals. There are more stain glass windows in this room than the hall and has a crystal chandelier hanging overhead along with a table behind the crystal throne, holding even more candles. Seriously, what is up with these candles?
I walk towards the table and stare at the candles. I stretch my arm out, and to my shock, the flame actually dims considerably and finally notice what Yang was talking about. My skin is much paler than usual, so white its literally deathly. Even my blood veins are visible, which are a deep red color and swirling with some orange. My fire semblance has been revealed in a way I have never seen it before. "Sander. You might want to see this." Yang said, looking out the window. Knowing what's out there already, I look out and see the vast desert-like landscape, with the jagged cliffs, enormous purple crystals and pools of blood where Grimm are crawling out of and walking away.
I ask the big question on both our minds: "What is this place?"
"A sanctuary." A cold, hard voice responds. Me and Yang turn around to face the white-haired, deathly skinned woman of my dream walking towards us. "The last active sanctuary to those who worship Deithos with both their heart and soul." She then faces us, her glowing red eyes piercing me and a wicked smile on her face. I must say, despite my efforts to reel in my fear, this is the most scared I've been in my life. Even the courageous Yang looks frightened by this woman's very presence and unnatural appearance. "Ah, but where are my manners. My name is Salem. I would like to know the names of the people who think they can put an end to my plans."
I stare at her briefly. Then I notice Yang getting into a fighting stance. "You can call me Yang."
Nodding in approval, I do the same. "As for me, my name is Sander Blanco. Together, we are going to end your reign of terror."
AN: So, lots of new material I've been waiting to post is now done, and another cliffhanger! (Sorry about that, I guess I unintentionally do a lot of those).
As for Sander's…odd condition, find out next time, when the final battle begins.
I look forward to posting it and will see you later. Later, y'all.