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Chapter 48-Hellfire Pt.1

"Ashes fly back in the face of him who throws them."

-African Proverb

It was strange having something other than instinct guiding its actions, almost as if for once the puppeteer had become the puppet. Grimm didn't have emotions, at least not the wide range of emotions humans enjoyed, what they had was closer to animal instinct, granted there were some similarities. Annoyance, that was the word. The Geist felt annoyance at having something other than its own instincts directing it, telling it what to do. Even if it all paid off in the long run it still didn't like it, especially since it was humans doing it. If it were a fellow Grimm then it would have been easier to stomach, regardless, the orders of the humans were absolute and the Geist had little will to resist them.

The Geist felt the hot rush of air hit them right in the face the second the cargo hatches opened. After that came the rush, like heavenly nectar it beckoned to them, calling to them as if they were insects. Stopping in midair the Grimm marveled at the sea of flames that stretched out before it. Even through the cargo container it could sense the mounting chaos, it was a tingling sensation that spread through its gas-like body. Something hard and powerful clapped down on the Geist's mind, forcing it to move its body the way it wanted it to, if not for this strange grip the Grimm knew it would have run rampant across the battlefield doing whatever it pleased. In time it would have its chance to add to the death and chaos, but for now it was to return to darkness.

With the raging fires and general chaos of battle no one noticed the squadron of Geist moving through the flickering flames. It wasn't like if anyone saw them they could do anything to stop them. Disappearing into the various cracks and fissures the Geist descended further down into the base's subterranean levels. There was no shortage of misery and fear to stimulate the Grimm's hunger, if they had mouths they would have been watering from the sensory overload. They heard all the frightened whispers and calls for help, the slow destruction of hope as seconds passed without any sign of rescue, some had already lost hope of rescue. In addition to laughing the Geist would have grinned like idiots, wide sickening grins that would have terrified any living creature that laid eyes on their faces.

In time the Geist would relieve them of that fear the only way they knew how.

One by one each of them found a nice little corner to call their own and settled down. Once there they began their usual process of spreading out and absorbing the native materials, with so much negativity flowing in like rain water for many the process went by incredibly fast. They had so much to work with as well, so many wonderful new toys to play with, the likes of which no Grimm had ever seen before. Amongst the Geist one in particular dove deeper than the others, heading down further into the underground where darkness dominated and light was practically nonexistent. Reaching what it only guessed to be the bottom it made its nest, and began to consume.

Grow. Grow. Grow. Grow. Grow. A subtle voice in the creature's mind urged, and it did as instructed without a care. Shadowy stitches reached out from its body contacting with anything solid, spreading across it like cracks on a mirror. The Geist breathed in and out via unknown means, each breath carrying the sweet taste of despair.

Yes, What passed for thinking fell from the Grimm's mental lips. Grow and consume, grow and consume, and then…then…


3:01 PM Topside

"So how has your day been so far? This little mess notwithstanding." Was the first thing Izaak said to Jaune and Ruby when he laid eyes on them. It amazed them how lax his voice was despite the pandemonium around him, it fact it was almost scary how calm the Viking was when almost everyone around him was a second away from breaking down. "Our day was boring but acceptable until we started seeing fire coming from the base's labs and the sky started raining lava, heh, pretty drastic change huh?"

While almost everyone could only stare in shocked-confusion at the brown-haired male Weiss wasn't having it. Seeing him so at ease infuriated her, made her feel small and weak when those were the last things she needed. "How the hell can you be so calm at a time like this?! Are you deaf and blind!?" She screamed walking right up to him and grabbing him by the edges of his jackets and pulling his face towards hers. "What the hell is wrong with you!?"

What passed for a command center had been set up near the transit station, or at least the first front half of it. It was the closest rallying point anyone could get to, not to mention the only one they'd been able to hold against the sudden invading enemies now tearing their way through For Lennox. Any attempts to contact other parts of the base and the outside world had been a dead end, the latter probably because the base's radio tower had been destroyed leaving them now completely cut off from the outside world.

"They notice we've stopped transmitting the government will send reinforcements." One of the surviving senior officers spoke up.

"Yeah, one problem with that though, we'll all be dead by then." Yang had drily replied when hearing that one.

"You don't say Yang," Olivia added with a dry chuckle.

Neither teen shrunk back under the heated glares of the adults, nor their teammates who silently begged them not to make the situation worse. Thankfully no one was willing to voice how the situation could have gotten much worse, anyone who was still thinking straight had already pictured that and weren't happy having those images put into words. All one had to do was look outside to see the situation was only going to get worse, or listen to the vibrations that shook the station every passing minute. Not even the air inside was free of the taint, blood and smoke filled everyone's nostrils further driving home how direr the current state of affairs was.

"Since you asked," Blake began in an unsure voice. "Our day was going rather well, we got to fight on the field before we headed into town. That's where we were when…"

"Least you guys got to actually fight before this mayhem started." Chicahua snorted.

Being students the three teams had happily exiled themselves to the edges of the room that had become the command center for the base's survivors. In the center the surviving officers had gathered with the Beacon teachers to try to map out some sort of response to the surprise attack. For Teams JNPR and RWBY, untrained in military matters such as these, all they could hear was a lot of shouting and cursing, for Team IONC every word was just a further nail to a coffin they had a sinking feeling was going to be theirs. Thanks to their respective Auras and relative quick thinking the team of problem children had been spared any major injuries aside from clothing damage. With the heat inside the station steadily climbing all four had chosen to forgo the winter coats and sweaters they'd put on in the morning leaving them three of them in simple t-shirts save for Chicahua who'd decided to go completely shirtless. All their wounds, especially Izaak had healed giving them the appearance of being completely unaffected by the last thirty minutes. Looking at the eyes of the four teens; however, told a very different story. Team JNPR, who'd barely twenty minutes ago escaped a burning building, still looked a little shell shocked from their close encounter. Jaune especially was the worst off, his body constantly fidgeting and his hands twitching. It was as if he was expecting the entire building to come down upon them any second and be forced to fight his way out, given how things were progressing the possibility couldn't be completely rolled out. Even Nora, normally loud and ready to take on any challenge, had an air of fear and anxiety around her. They'd been in bad situations before, but this one took the cake. Maybe the only reason she wasn't reacting like Jaune was because Ren kept her hand clasped in his giving her an anchor. Lastly there was Pyrrha, who was too lost in her own thoughts to really notice anything going on. What was running through the Spartan's mind now was anyone's guess.

Team RWBY's leader was in a similar boat as Jaune and Nora, instead of Ren she had Yang softly rubbing her hand as a subtle reminder she wasn't alone. Yang found herself pulling double-duty as Blake, despite answering Izaak's question, looked ready to cut and run any second. No one could really blame her. Following behind Yang Weiss perhaps looked the bravest of the four girls, her feet constantly tapped against the floor in an impatient manner created a steady beat. Her eyes stayed locked on the adults speaking in the center of the room, going from one face to another listening to every word being uttered. As Beacon students these men held their lives in their hands, and that didn't set well with Weiss at all. Flicking her eyes over her classmates she wasn't surprised to find Olivia staring back at her.

Despite their differences both girls had grown something of a begrudging respect for each other, partial out of the fact their minds operated on the same course, and both hated having their fates taken out of their hands. There was one stark difference between them, and that was Olivia was a hell of a lot more forcefully than Weiss was.

"Since no's brought it up, I guess I have to. We have to kill the warheads."

Olivia's words were like a sledgehammer shattering whatever fragile tranquility there was in the command center. Now as the shards fell to the ground everyone braced themselves for the steep drop that was awaiting them.

"Are you out of your Goddamn mind girl?! Do you have any idea what you're talking about?!"

"Listen, just because your family had a hand in building those warheads-"

"That's exactly why I'm telling you all we need to kill every last one of them as soon as possible!" Thunder was the only way to describe Olivia's voice, a booming sound that made the heart of every person in the room, adolescent and adult skip a beat. Behind her Ruby and Nora visibly squeaked, completely caught off guard by the sudden change while the others merely stared at Olivia with eyes as wide as the moon. They could feel an aura of power and authority radiating from her and casting a shadow over them all. The adults in front of the arms heiress had the added bonus of being able to see her eyes, gray-green torches that welded their bodies in place. "I know perfectly well, that every man and woman here, knows damn well what those warheads are. You all know what will happen if they fall into the hands of an unknown enemy, one who's heavily suspected to allied with the White Fang." Her words cut through the air like a blade silencing any naysayers while at the same time inviting them to challenge her statement. The silence she'd created was so stifling every tremor that ran through the transit station could be heard and felt in perfect unison. "As painful as it is to say this, we must face the possibility the enemy has already managed to capture at least one set of warheads. No contact from any of the other transit stations right?"

Ironically it was Professor Mulnix who answered her. "Nope, and we're probably not going to. Based on what's come in it's pretty safe to say we've lost all the transit stations including half of the HQ. One shipment was able to be sent off, but the one after it," he shook his head telling the teens all they needed to know.

For the first time Olivia shuddered, visibly shook from what everyone knew could only have been fear. The teenagers in the back, especially her teammates, were glad they couldn't see her face. Izaak, Neil, and Chicahua, being her teammates, natural knew that when Olivia was scared of something than shit had well and truly hit the fan.

"Yahtzee." Izaak whispered so quietly only his brother could have heard him. If Neil did, he said nothing about it, no doubt his mind was running through every Gaelic curse he knew of.

"So our main objective is securing the remaining warheads, our first and only priority right?"

"…Yes." One of the men admitted with crossed eyebrows. "Believe me Ms. Takeko, as the personal of Fort Lennox, we can sympathize with your rage."

"Then please sir, give us directions to stop this, at least give us something to do so we won't have to stand here like idiots dwindling our thumbs."

All the adults looked at each other then back at the students who all moved forth as one joining Olivia. Some of them were injured, half of them looked scared, but they all knew this was what they'd signed up for. At this moment they weren't normal kids, they couldn't be if they expected to survive. With a heavy sigh the senior officers turned to Mulnix seeing as he'd had the greatest sway over the students on top of being a rather skilled tactician.

For probably the tenth time the bearded professor wished he'd had a smoke. "I won't sugarcoat it for any of you, we're probably five steps past this whole thing being FUBAR, but we gotta try. As it stays there's multiple factors keeping us from moving out, the most pressing one being the wildfire and mini-volcano right outside." Placing his Scroll down on the floor an eye-widening 3D projection of the base appeared before the twelve teenagers. Over half of it was covered in red blinking dots and being consumed by a sea of orange flames. From what they could see the sea of flames was growing at an alarming rate. "We need to put this fire out, now."

"I guess I'm up." Team IONC's dual-wielding knight muttered.

"Neil, isn't this a little much for you? Summoning up a rainstorm strong enough to douse a flow of magma?" Ren advised.

"Not with me backing him." Chicahua counter argued cracking his knuckles. "Neil and I can synchronize with each other."

"Oh, well never mind, that should be enough to give us some elbow room."

"You two can use Aura Synchronization?" Weiss questioned raising an eyebrow at the two boys.

Ruby knew the wiser choice would have been keeping her mouth shut, but her curiosity got the better of her. "Uh, quick question, what's Aura Synchronization?"

"Something that's going to keep us alive a little bit longer." One of the officers growled unhappy with the sidetracking. "Fine then, you two," he pointed at the two knights with narrowed eyes. "Go to the roof and call in the biggest rainstorm you can, don't stop until you're completely and utterly drained of Aura. In addition to dowsing the flames it'll prevent the enemy from taking off with the warheads if they have aircraft capabilities. They'll buy us enough time to counter attack and reclaim the other warheads."

Dwayne, who'd been silent until now, stepped up and placed his hand on a spot near an area labeled the airfield. "We're amassing whatever forces we have to retake the airfield, we have to because apparently this bastards left that spot largely intact for rather obvious reasons."

"Yang, Nora, we'd kindly ask of you to be a part of that force and do what you two do best." Mulnix grinned watching the fear and doubt melt away from both girls. Hopefully the good news would be enough to keep their spirits up, at least until they made it out onto the battlefield. "As powerful as you two are the second the enemy catches sight of either of you they'll more than likely attempt to take off immediately, odds are neither of you will be fast enough to catch them."

"Then I guess that's where Blake and I come in." Ren sighed casting an apologetic smile towards his feline counterpart.

"I guess someone's going to have to look after those two and make sure we're not billed for excessive damages later on."

Dwayne scuffed, although to the teens it sounded more like a laugh. "If anyone's going to get billed it's going to be us Beacon staff. All we'll do is make you brats pay for it with mountains of extra work." He coughed once into his hand symbolizing the return to seriousness. "I'll take you four and a unit of well-armed soldiers to bring the airships down. It's going to be a fierce firefight that we may or not make it out of. If I see the situation is going too far south I'm going to open a portal back here and order everyone out." His dark eyes swiveled back to the commanding officers who were now looking at the dark-haired professor as if he'd just proposed a suicide march. To his credit he didn't back down when some of their glares grew even more heated; it was obvious the mind of the professor and the officers weren't matching up as everyone had hoped.

"Onto the next matter, the second weapons lab." The spoken area quickly became highlighted in red. "I don't need to go over the specifics of why we need to take back this section of the base at all cost, and if we fail at that all the data within the lab's mainframes will have to be wiped. Olivia," The olive-haired student snapped to attention while her leader silently walked up beside her. Clearly the Viking had read the situation and come to the same conclusion Mulnix had. "From what I read you're a fairly skilled hacker, skilled enough you might just be able to wipe the base's entire digital mainframe and records if you have the time and resources."

"That's where I'll be," The bronze-haired youth spoke up. "I'll cover her while she's doing her thing."

"Not just you," Mulnix gravely added. "You two will be a part of another unit going to the weapons lab, you will hold your positions until every scrap of useful data has been cleansed from the base's computers. The secondary objective will be the recapture of two sets of warheads that were in mid transportation to the air hanger for transportation. Speaking of which, that's the next area of interest. There was another shipment of warheads there, not to mention aircraft the likes of which I can assure you we'd rather destroy than allow to fall into the hands of the enemy."

Jaune knew something was coming, he could feel it in his bones. The foreboding feeling actually worried him more than the constant tremors and outside noises. Maybe it was his budding sixth sense or some other fighter-borne instinct, all he knew as he hadn't been assigned a role yet, and that wasn't a good sign. On one hand he was doubtful he'd be worth anything since his combat ability was the lowest of all the students assembled. On the other hand he could swear from time to time Professor Mulnix's eyes would shift to him, silently sizing him up for something he wouldn't say. Just when he was sure he'd be left behind with a handful of others to defend the transit station he heard his name being called.

"Jaune? Jaune?"

"Huh?" Of all the times for him to space out he knew he'd picked the worst one with the heated sneers he got from the surviving commanders. Desperate his eyes searched the map hoping to pinpoint the latest area of interest. Quickly enough his eyes found what he assumed to be a second radio tower right a few paces to the right of the airfield. "Defensive duty?"

"Yes, that." Professor Foley affirmed. "Due to its proximity to the airfield that radio tower was spared from the initial attack. If we can retake that we may just be able to call for back up, or at least get word out fast enough for reinforcements."

"We're told you have a shield type Semblance," One of the officers said looking directly at Jaune with cold focused eyes. "Is that true?"

Around him Jaune felt his team ready to explode in protest. They all knew the danger he'd be facing and knew for a fact he wasn't ready, it was only natural they'd try to stop him. "I do and I can hold the line while the technicians get the word out." His response came out so fast it felt like it'd been shot out the barrel of a gun. As soon as he said them he could see his common sense face palming. Nice, you just volunteered for your own execution! Enjoy your little stroll through hell!

"I'm going with him."

All eyes went to the rather short rose-haired reaper who'd up until that point been as silent as a mouse.

"Ruby," Professor Mulnix cautioned. "This is serious. We-"

"We need to get help out right? We need to clear out the area right? I'm good when it comes to crowd battles and dealing with large groups of enemies so it should help right?" The fifteen year-old argued forcing her body to remain firm.

"Can you take life though?" Professor Foley jabbed narrowing his eyes. "To do this you're going to have to do a lot of killing. When the enemies die their bodies aren't going to disappear in puffs of black smoke. Can you handle that?" he pressed.

"I will if it means saving lives." The little reaper nearly screamed tightening her fists to keep them from trembling. She was very aware of the fact her sister and Weiss were shooting her dirty looks, silently begging her to reconsider, but she wasn't going to budge. Briefly she looked over the eyes of the other three members of Team JNPR. All of them silently pleaded for her to look after their leader, to protect him. She'd do it even if it cost her an arm and leg.

All that adults looked between each other than back at the teens. Some of them were still trembling, but the fear that had overridden them before had now been replaced by something harder and stronger.

"Very well then, everyone, prepare to move out."


Looking out from the top of the central transit station Neil was glad he hadn't been born with the same telescopic eyesight Chicahua had. What he was seeing with his limited human eyesight was enough to give him nightmares for months on end. The only time he'd ever seen anything that could be described as a 'sea of fire' was in old pictures and paintings depicting epics battles and sieges hundreds of years old. What lay before him was exactly that, only instead of stone buildings they were steel towers and domes that housed Vale's greatest scientist and soldiers, many of whom were probably dead by this point. Hundreds of twisted smells rushed into his nostrils, carried by the multiple jet streams created by the sprawling inferno; again, Neil was happy he didn't have Faunus' senses because he didn't want to know what was burning.

"Seems like no matter where we go trouble follows us like a vulture stalking a wounded animal eh?" His animal-blooded companion laughed. There was no humor or spirit behind it, a rather dark and unusual thing for the normally sunny and positive warrior. "Even in my dreams I didn't picture fighting on a battlefield like this, at least not until I'd made a name for myself."

"Come on C, this is how guys make names for themselves." The human countered setting his eyes on the growing black ash cloud that seemed to have settled over the center of the base. Something in his gut told him the enemy had some aerokinetics are some method of dispelling the ash so their own aerial abilities wouldn't be hampered. Or maybe they were hoping the base's inhabitants would do something about it for them. Spreading out his hands he established the mental link that connected his soul to that of the increasingly darkening sky. Once the link was established he was quite happy to find a rainstorm had been just a little ways off when the attack happened.

"I'm not sure anyone's concerned about making a name for themselves today. Not over something like this." With every breath Chicahua took he could feel his body swell with energy. No matter how long the battle raged as long as the flames remained he could keep replenishing his energy, perhaps one of the few trump cards they had left. For various reasons the thought of this bloody battle prolonging itself didn't feel him with any sort of glee of excitement, the longer this dragged on the lower their chances of survival were. Twisting vines of fire and raw energy swirled around the Faunus' wings, now outstretched to both sides. The brightly colored feathers quickly began glowing with flame-like radiance mirroring the plethora of colors covering the ground. Slowly feather by feather the wings began to change from organic in appearance to now resembling blow torches. From them the power flowed into the seventeen year-old's body alighting all of his senses. As usual it felt as if his entire body had been injected with metric tons of pure adrenaline nearly drowning the Eagle Knight in a dream-like euphoria; it was combination of tempered will and outside influence that kept Chicahua from losing himself in the rush of power.

Said outside influence was the rumbling of thunder, mighty drums that shook the earth with every beat. All day the sky had been growing increasingly darker with many predicting rain or at least a passing drizzle. The sudden gale-force winds were indicators what was about to come was a torrential storm that rarely took place in winter. All signs of a blue sky disappeared behind a sheet of black and gray clouds that cast a shadow over the crimson inferno Fort Lennox had become.

Neil had clapped both his hands together and shut his eyes as if he were praying. Those familiar with the gray-haired youth knew he wasn't praying but concentrating, willing nature to do as he commanded it, and nature was responding. The dual-wielding student was steadily becoming surrounded in a whitish-gray light with faint cackles of electricity around him. The closer Chicahua got to him the heavier the air became, a testament to unchecked power his teammate was summoning up from the depths of his soul.

"This is going to take us out of the game for a while, but hopefully it'll give everyone a chance to make the winning play." The shorter of the two managed to say seconds before he felt both of Chicahua's hands lock onto his shoulders. No matter how many times they synced Neil could never totally get use to the feeling of Chicahua's Aura interacting with his, probably because it was rare to find someone who held as much power as he did.

Unseen thunder exploded within the clouds momentarily stunning those stuck on the ground, forcing them to look up in awe as the jet-black clouds burst into torrents of ice-cold rain. The needle-like droplets fell onto the surface inflicting a stinging-like pain on any person unlikely enough to be caught outside. Even those who were protected by layers of clothes and armor found themselves feeling an icy cold snaking its way up their bodies slowly but surely numbing their senses. That was saying nothing of the fierce winds that whipping through the burning hilltop causing metal to shudder. Coupled with the rapidly dropping temperature and the wind could have been compared to an arctic gale spreading layers of frost along its path. Against these things even the volcanic flames that had suddenly erupted from nowhere began to decease and shrink as nature turned against them.

More thunder boomed though there was no lightning, not even a flicker amongst the black clouds. From the viewpoint of the townspeople at the bottom of the hill it looked as if some supernatural storm cloud had settled over the fortress and chosen to remain there, as if now firmly anchored to the patch of land. In a way it was anchored to the skies about the Unbreakable Fortress, two in fact.

Once those anchors were cast off the storm would fade yet there were no certainties the skies would be clear.

Or that the battle would be even half way close to being over.


"So, really quick, what's Aura Synchronization?" Yang whispered as their unit assembled before the various portals Professor Foley had opened up.

With a silent roll of her eyes Blake did one last check of her equipment. "It's when two Huntsmen are able to synchronize their Auras, think of it like two roads running parallel to each other then joining into one. Once they do the abilities of both warriors increase provided they're able to stay perfectly attuned to each other. Hear that rainstorm outside, that's probably because Chicahua and Neil have synced themselves to each other." The feline ninja explained.

"Uh-huh. Why don't we try something like that when this is over with eh? I'd say we'd be even more kick-ass than before." She questioned with a cheeky grin. "If it's all about staying in sync with each other then we should be able to master it in an afternoon. Maybe fast than Ruby and Weiss."

Blake didn't know if her partner was being genuine or just trying to lighten the mood, either way a part of her couldn't help but smile at her question. Whereas panic was always her first response to the deeply unexpected Yang met every challenge with a laugh and smile, something she'd admired. The blonde was probably one of the few who could still smile despite the fact everything around her was falling deeper into hell by the second. It'd be a coin toss rather or not that smile remained once they set out into the field.

"Just don't be too reckless out there okay?"

"Come on, you know me."

"I'm serious Yang. This isn't Mountain Glenn or the highway." Blake pressed gripping Yang's hand. "Promise me you won't do anything crazy stupid."

"Alright, alright, fine, I promise. Just make sure you do the same alright?"

"Hey! Move it you two!"

Grabbing her partner by the shoulder Yang rushed them through the swirling dark portal that would take them to the other end of the fortress. At Beacon students often joked about what going through Professor Foley's 'Dark Holes' were like, some speaking from firsthand experience while others merely guessed base on rumors. Yang was amongst the latter group since she'd never done so herself, now she could count herself amongst the former. What struck her first was the immediate drop in temperature, as if she'd suddenly walked into a giant cooler. Though her sight was the only sense that went completely dark her other senses were thrown for a loop as they all blurred together temporarily turning her stomach. The one constant was Blake's grip on her shoulder reminding her they hadn't separated yet. As trippy as the sensation was it only lasted for little over a second, when she felt air enter her lungs she was seized by a very real chill that reminded her they were in the starting days of winter.

When they stepped through the rain was dying off but its effects were still going strong. From what they could see the mysterious soldiers had to halt their operations when they found themselves caught in the middle of a torrential storm even they couldn't work through. Now they stood before a force of half a dozen soldiers, all incredibly pissed off at the indignity and horror they'd suffered at the hands of the mysterious invaders. In turn the mercenaries seemed more annoyed than surprised at their sudden appearance.

Yang didn't remember anyone giving an order, not that an order was needed. Recklessly she threw herself into the first group of mercenaries she saw before her, after that everything else simply became a foggy blur or explosions and shouting.

Almost immediately the mercenaries opened fire on them while jumping to form defensive lines in front of the aircrafts they'd procured. Literal waves of bullets and shells exploded from the barrels of their weapons and sped towards the advancing attackers, some of them hitting their mark and others being deflected. Their enemies responded in kind putting all their emotions into their attacks.

At the forefront were the Beacon students who'd been assigned the airfield. Raw fury blazed in their eyes as the bullets bounced off their Aura shields allowing them to close the distance between them and the enemies before them. Once the gap between them was closed the students let loose with all their pent up fury smashing into the defensive lines like human wrecking balls. Amongst them was Yang, her shotgun gauntlets roaring like angry beasts knocking down three or four men at a time with each strike. A combination of raw physical strength and the power of her Dust cartridges made each blow comparable to a grenade going off, and with so many happening in fast succession there was little to no defense against it.

Tempting as it was Yang knew she couldn't lose herself in the rush of excitement that was currently sweeping through her, not that her enemies would let her. Unlike the White Fang at Aemon Strip the Mercenaries gathered themselves and pushed back against the students once they'd directly confronted them. Out of the corner of her eye she saw rifles being dropped in favor of combat knives, hatchets, and some opting to go simply barehanded. Grinning Yang met those masked soldiers knowing her skills exceeded theirs.

While Team RWBY's blonde brawler made herself content with drawing the enemies' attention Blake's eyes were elsewhere, scanning the battlefield for their target. Doing that while trying to keep herself alive was tough, yet at the same time the same adrenaline that followed through her partner was now pumping her in her veins. With every swing of Gambol Shroud and its sheath she saw pieces of armor, flesh, and blood scatter, some of it staining her coat and face. She didn't bother to lament some of her strikes were killing blows because if she did she'd fall to the ground dead just as countless others were. Driving her blade into the throat of an attacking soldier she used his limp body to get a leg up, lifting her off the ground and into the frigid air.

What she saw were two groups of masked soldiers, one holding the line against them and the others doing everything they could to load a set of custom airships Blake knew hadn't been on the airfield when they'd arrived. If she had to guess there was almost half a mile between her and their objective. At this rate we'll never make it there, not until they're about to take off!

When she came down she heard an explosive crash behind her followed by an intense wave of heat that left her sweating in her jacket and cap. "So, on a scale of one to ten how bad off are we?"

"We came here to stop them from loading the warheads. Neil and Chicahua may have bought us some time but it won't do any good if we can't make to the airships to stop them." She answered reloading her weapon. "That's too much distance for us to cover."

"Then I guess now's a good a time as any of try this out!" The blond grinned before fiddling with the ammo rings on her weapon. "Cover me!"

"Yang?" Her partner asked concerned.

"Just do it! And when I give the signal try not to fall behind!"

No sooner had she said the words Blake felt the presence of five or six enemy soldiers. Dropping all her questions she switched Gambol Shroud into its kusari-gama form and spun her heel her. At the edge of her sight she saw the soldiers lined up with the flashes of their rifle muzzles making her blood run ice cold. Gnashing her teeth she infused the kusari-gama with wind Dust and swung her weapon by the ribbon. Immediately a violet-tinged whirlwind flew form her wind deflecting the bullets and temporarily knocking back the soldiers. Golden eyes flashing the ex-terrorist pounced on her enemies twirling Gambol Shroud in her arms.

SSSLLLIIISSSHHH!

Amongst the battlefield noise Blake waited and listened for the sound of heads dropping, one by one they fell to the battered ground. Barely a second later she heard the explosive geysers of blood erupt from their severed necks and smelt the foul odor invade her noise. She had no time to sit on her multiple kills when she saw something silver coming towards her. Ducking her head she recognized the hum of a high-frequency blade when the cackling of electricity running along the edge. Jumping back two feet she switched back to her weapon's blade form with its sharpened sheath in her other hand. In front of her now stood another one of the mysterious mercenaries, in his hands was a razor sharp katana that cackled with whitish-blue lightning. Like his comrades his face was obscured by a metallic mask with only two glass-like holes for eyes.

The ninja and soldier went at each other simultaneously, their weapons briefly meeting before separating. It quickly became apparent to the teenage girl whoever this soldier was he knew how to wield his weapon as too many time she felt the vibrating sword come too close to her skin. His attacks were swift and direct, almost all of them aiming at vital points or even parts of her arm that would leave her defenseless if struck.

"Yang!"

"Almost done over here!"

Her calculated risk paid off as her opponent lunged at her as she stepped back. A lightning-fast horizontal swing that would have taken her head off if she'd been a second slower, but she wasn't. Aiming the barrel of her pistol at the soldier's left leg she fired a Dust-infused bullet that left the limb covered in frost and connected to the ground; quickly enough she gave the other leg a similar treatment leaving the soldier immobilized. Sliding behind the soldier's back she lunged for the neck, the one area she knew she'd would be an instant kill with her Aura-infused blade.

CRACK!

Suddenly the ice shattered in an explosion of colored light and wind that left the feline ninja shocked. Free of his entrapment the katana user spun and around, his blade aimed at Blake's abdomen and thrust forward.

Rather or not he was surprised she couldn't tell, what she knew was that her Semblance at just saved her life. The soldier's HF blade was now impaled in a life-sized block of grayish-black stone shaped like Blake. With the sound of her blood thundering in her ear Blake rammed her Gambol Shroud's single-edged blade into the neck of the soldier before he could react to the trick. All at once his body went still causing his hands to fall from the handle of his weapon.

Darting to the right she saw another group of enemies approaching them, this time these guys were carrying guns. Acting quickly she charged into them, using the body of her slain opponent as a meat shield against their gunfire. Once she was sure the distance between them was enough she activated her Semblance again, and finally broke off. The flaming doppelganger continued her charge until it exploded in a cloud of flames and metal enveloping the soldiers and corpse with it.

Blake fell back with her breath coming out as cold clouds and sweat pouring from her brow. "Are you done yet Yang? Yang?" Finally setting sight on her partner she realized her sweat wasn't just coming from exhaustion but from the heat generated by her blonde friend. Ember Celica was burning bright red with a seething mass of heat and what looked like rock fragments in between them. Against all odds Blake found herself smirking. "So you were paying attention during class."

Yang merely grinned before slamming her fists into the ground. The Dust sped from her hands into the ground where it manifested as just geysers of lava and fire that tore through the ground in a singular direction. Everyone in the path of the blast either got out of the way or found themselves being burned by flames burning at close to fifteen hundred degree Celsius, enough to chew through Aura and body armor alike.

Try to her word Blake followed when Yang took her, hoping their allies got the messenger and took their cue. The fissure traveled further and further through the battlefield steadily losing power as it went on but still causing enough of a distraction for the pair to make their way across the field, dropping bodies when they had to.

"Blake, grab on to me!" Discording the emptied shells she'd used to fashion her little lava bomb Yang read the distance between her and the VTOL-like airship about to take off just before them. The roar of its four engines had her forcing her body to move faster than she thought possibly. Blake latched onto her back, wrapping both arms around her knowing what she was about to know.

Ember Celica's dual muzzles roared nonstop lifting the two girls through the air towards the closing hatch of the airship. The higher it rose the lower their chances of making it onboard seemed to become.

With an animalistic growl Blake summoned up two more doppelgangers, Yang's boots fell on the shoulders of the first while that one stood on the shoulders of the second. The second exploded in a blast of wind pushing them all further. When the other doppelganger went off Yang fired off another pair of blast, this time it did the trick.

Behind them the cargo hatch closed shut locking the two girls in with a ship full of mysterious mercenaries and their stolen weaponry. Neither of the girls were worried about that though.

Yang hit the floor of the cargo hold with a ground strike sending a fiery shock-wave out while Blake landed gracefully on her feet. Around them the soldiers and workers who'd been fastening the containers onto the floor crumpled to the ground screaming in pain at their ruined legs. Both girls stood up to survey the area: dark, cramp and filled with soldiers all taking aim at them.

Looking back at the closed hatch Blake sighed, "Looks like it's just us against God knows about how many well-trained soldiers with guns. This exciting enough for you Yang?"

"Yeah, just the kind of brawl I like: outnumbered and outgunned, it's perfect." She giggled as a line of soldiers took up formation in front of them while the noncombatants scurried away. "Well come on guys! It's just two little girls so how come you're so chicken? Don't tell me when you don't have the drop you turn into wussies."

Resounding through the chamber was a set of footsteps that grew louder and louder as they approached the student pair. The soldiers before them parted making way for the new arrival. "What the hell do we have to be scared off? A pair of grade schoolers thinking they're some heroes?"

The man appeared to be in his late thirties, perhaps his early forties based on his body build and face. At first glance he seemed bald until Blake noticed the thin layer of red hair that covered his head, something resembling a military style haircut. Two scars ran parallel to each other, one near the right end of his lip and another longer one starting from his cheek and ending at his chin just almost an inch away. They further added to the cool look in his green eyes which shifted from Yang to Blake and back again. Besides his arms his attire was pretty standard issue, military boots and pants with armor padding at the knees, a belt filled with grenades and Dust-canisters, and lastly an armored vast covered in more of the same. His arms were what caught the teenagers' eyes. They were clearly cybernetic, high class cybernetics based on the polished shine of them. Unlike the blocky and typical design of Atlas' cybernetics these were more refined, almost resembling human limbs in appearance given their shape and form.

Something in the guts of both girls told them there was something dangerous about the artificial limbs. Falling into their usual stance they kept their eyes solely on the mysterious man ready to act if he made a move.

"Heroes, maybe not, but we did waste quite a few of you bastards down on the ground so I'd say we're worth your attention." Yang boasted.

The augmented soldier laughed, a mocking sound that drove the blonde's temper up the wall causing her hair to ignite a little. "Right, a blonde bimbo and a furry are worth my attention." His green eyes cackled with amusement when he noticed the tension build up in Blake's body and her eyes narrow even more. "Oh? Thought you'd be able to pull a fast one on me didn't ya' kid? Sorry, but I've seen enough of you damn furries to single you out in a crowd. At least you don't stink as bad as the other fur balls I've had to work with."

"Shut it!" Yang barked.

"Why? You're not a fan of animal cruelty eh? Or…" The dark glee in his eyes was finally mirrored by the evil grin that split his face in that instant. "Is she the smarter of the two? In that case she goes first!"

Boom!

Yang and Blake saw the man throw out his arm, and then they saw a burst of flames erupt from the elbow. The next thing they knew the metallic limb spending towards them.

THUNK!

"GAH!"

"Blake!"

"Like I said, what the hell do I have to fear from a bimbo and a furry?" The man's voice called, this time much closer than before.

Yang and Blake looked down to find the mysterious man was now crouching beneath them. Blake struggled to shout, but the cybernetic fist locked around her throat paralyzed her vocal chords and kept her rooted to the spot. Yang brought up her fists to attack, but the mercenary was faster. His left arm drove itself into her stomach knocking the air out of her then sending her sailing against the wall. Quickly turning back to the immobilized Faunus he reattached his right arm then threw her towards her partner. To his surprise the feline ninja managed to land on her feet, now she was in a crouching position while her partner wiped the blood from her lips. Her blonde hair which had been flaring before was now timing with embers lighting up the cargo hold.

"Hmph, so a pryokinetic and a cat. I knew Beacon was understaffed, but I expected more from Oz the Great and Powerful. Heh, then again he's nothing but another old fossil cooped up in his little tower. I guess age is finally catching up to the bastard."

Roaring Yang launched four fireballs at the soldier then rushing in with Blake following close behind her. All four of the attacks hit home obscuring the soldier as Yang closed the distance and threw a right hook at where she believed his face would be. She hit nothing but air as the man emerged from the smoke unharmed and now falling back under the seventeen year-old's assault. Once again his eyes showed more annoyance than fury as he effortless dodged each of her blows while still keeping an eye on her partner who silently ran around them, her blade gleaming with violet energy.

"If you're gonna do a sneak attack, at least be sneaky about it." He snarled catching one of Yang's fist in his hand while shooting out the left.

"Blake!"

The ninja saw a red circle appear on the palm of the man's free hand before all her senses screamed for her to get out of the way. She did so just as a baseball-sized chunk of red energy exploded from his palm leaving a scorch mark on the spot she'd just been. More followed her as she darted around the cargo bay trying to figure out a point of attack.

"Hey! Keep your eyes open bastard!" The brawler shouted rearing back her other fist.

"Against a brat like you I don't have to!" Suddenly the man's outstretched arm crawled into a fist he threw directly into Yang's stomach, smashing through her Aura leaving her agape for breath again. He hit her again in the stomach then smacked her across the cheek. "You think this is some sort of game!" Grabbing her by the throat he held her up with his right arm while his left palm was placed against her chest. Red light built up forming into a cackling sphere of energy.

"Actually no, I think this is called a diversion." She grinned through the pain.

Blake dove for her target with both arms crossed and both of her blades overflowing with energy. Snarling the solider tore his hand away from Yang and let loose with the energy blast now directed at the oncoming Faunus. The red energy beam tore through the shadow duplicate while the real deal rained down a stream of bullets on top of him with her pistol.

The bullets pounced off his red-colored Aura like flies on a windshield. "This is the best Beacon has to offer?"

"No smart guy," Came the blonde girl's near feral growl gripping the wrist of the augmented man. For a moment surprise colored his face as he turned to her to find her golden mane was now fully ablaze with searing flames. Her eyes which were once a striking violet were now bright red, almost the color of blood. "This is!"

Blake covered her eyes when Yang went off, a contained fire bomb that caught everyone in the cargo hold off guard. Their opponent was forced to drop the blonde and focus on shielding himself as Yang's sudden burst of energy sent another, stronger shockwave through the cargo hold, actually setting ablaze some of the cables keeping the containers buttoned down. When she peeked through her eyes she was greeted to the familiar sight of her teammate surrounded by an aura of golden flames with her waist-length hair swaying from side to side.

"You guys went through a lot of trouble and killed a lot of people to get these things." Yang began looking over at the various crates the soldiers were now struggling to contain. She couldn't tell if the warheads were among them, none of them looked big enough to contain them though she knew she couldn't take that chance. "It'd be a shame if something happen to them." She chuckled. At once the flames concentrated around her arms, her grin turned wicked as the realization dawned on the mercenaries.

"STOP HER!" The augmented soldier screamed throwing out both arms to gather energy.

Too late, Yang threw two punches towards the cargo hatch, each releasing a fireball almost half the size of a car. They easily melted through the metal merging together into a greater explosion halfway through. No sooner had the hole been opened that air came rushing through setting off the airships alarms. Yang dodged the soldier's energy beam and threw two more fireballs of equal power widening the hole, now it was a good seven feet tall revealing the gray skies outside.

The airship's alarms screamed in everyone's ears as they tried to get all the hooks on the containers. When several of them attempted to do so a jet-black blade swooped in like a flash, sometimes severing their hands at the wrist or completely cutting the cables freeing the ten-foot tall crates of their only restrains.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Through the window sills several soldiers and technicians saw lightning flash followed by the rapid darkening of the skies. Their voices were lost as thunder shook the aircraft like a rattle, and then everyone heard the sound of melt exploding, on the outside.

The airship's intercom blared to life declaring one of the engines had been hit and all semblance of control had been lost. Another crack of thunder and it changed to two engines. Now the entire airship almost half the size of a city block was spiral back towards the ground with its crew and cargo playing pinball with each other.

"I hope like hell you have a plan!" Blake screamed as Yang joined her in hugging the wall as the airship began its fast descent downwards.

"Mostly!" Her partner called back pulling out her Scroll. "Professor Foley! We need a portal out of here!"

"Where the hell are you two?!"

"Look for the two colored dots jumping out of the big-ass airship falling to the ground!"

"WHAT!?That doesn't even make any sense!"

"Just look for the golden flare!" Yang screamed back into the Scroll before closing it. "Just like before, don't let go of me!"

"Of course, because holding onto you has worked out so well for me before!" The ninja drily laughed getting her teammate to smile.

"YOU STUPID BITCHES!"

As much as Yang would have loved to give a sarcastic remark she knew they had to escape first. With a fireball formed around her right hand and her other wrapped around Blake's waist she let loose blasting a hole big enough for the both of them in the wall. They didn't even have to push to jump out, all they had to do was just let the wind carry them. The second they were out Yang felt both of Blake's arms fasten themselves around her, she did likewise hoping like hell their teacher would be able to see them.

By reflex she flared up her Aura resulting in her entire body emitting a burning flash she hoped could be seen from the ground. She kept the flare going for as long as she could counting the seconds until she could no longer do so.

It was just then that she felt a familiar rush of cold air envelop her. Just before the world went silent Yang could have sworn she heard something, an ominous howl that sounded all too familiar.

Enticed she cracked one eye open and looked back; coming in behind them was a Nevermore, one whose body was ablaze with orange and red flames. She saw something forming in its mouth that made her blood run cold.

"SHIT!"


Aaaannnddd I'm back from my months' long hiatus! Sorry for the wait, but I had some things I had to take care of. It nice getting this chapter out the day summer official starts, at least if you're living in the Northern Hemisphere. So the good guys have finally gotten their asses together and are attempting some form of counterattack, how do you think it's going to go? Next chapter we'll see how everyone is doing and maybe check back up on Yang and Blake after bailing Air PESTILENCE. As usual leave a review and have a nice day!