Resurgence: A RWBY Fic
By Kraven Ergeist
Chapter 52
The main hall at Shade academy had been converted into a war room. Ornate pillars lined the room, giving it the feeling of a great coliseum. Carvings and stelae of great acts of heroism throughout the ages were etched across the walls. Sunlight peered in through the columns, the great hall filled with officers, soldiers, guards and attendants, from both Vacuo and Atlas alike. Across the table at the center of the room was a wide map, spanning the entire country of Vacuo, the continent that it shared with Vale cutting off shortly after the desert and badlands gave way to sparse wilderness once again. Across the map were inked points for all known settlements spanning the Vacuan countryside. And stationed at varying points between these settlements and the kingdom were innumerable markers, each indicating an Atlesian airship, either venturing out towards one of the settlements, or returning to Vacuo, ferrying refugees in their holds.
Ironwood stared down at the map in contemplation. It bore a strong resemblance to the map that lay in his command center back at Atlas. Although the technology composing it couldn't be further from it. Instead of a sleek metal board of circuitry and holographic images, it was a table of carved wood, a map of animal hide and ink, the markers made of metal scraps. Although Vacuo was no stranger to technology, the walls of the great hall lined with computer systems, the kingdom itself was steeped in tradition, and in times of war, its people tended to defer to the old ways.
A strange custom, Ironwood thought, but he kept his comments to himself. At least quill and ink couldn't be hacked by a computer virus.
"We are making good progress…" Professor Jade observed as she made her way over to the map, having been tending to one of her senior professors as they monitored the computers around them. "Without your fleet, it would take months to evacuate the villages. But at this rate, our citizens will be safe within the walls of Vacuo within the week!"
The general crossed his arms. "Yes, but without your Huntsmen teams aboard each of my vessels, by now half the fleet would have been brought down with a dispersal pattern like this. Even our own Huntsmen could not cover so many airships, but Shade academy graduates more Huntsmen than any other kingdom by half."
"Well, that's to be expected when we have the largest population in the world," Jasmine smiled congenially. "But those numbers are not always to our benefit. In many cases, it only means we are more vulnerable. Without the technology of Atlas, our numbers would mean nothing. It is as we told the council: our two kingdoms are stronger together than we would ever be on our own."
Ironwood nodded sullenly. "I just wish we had managed to band together much sooner than this. If we had gotten our act together before the Vytal festival…"
The professor placed a hand on his shoulder. "Have faith, James. We will see the four kingdoms restored."
Something about her words made him feel uneasy. Then he realized what it was.
"There's that word again," he said, curiously. "Faith."
Jasmine gave him a peculiar look. "Is there something wrong with having a little faith?"
The general took a deep, cleansing breath. "No, I suppose not…I'm just not used to hearing it. It's not a word that gets used very often in Atlas."
Jasmine shrugged. "It was not long ago that Vacuo still worshiped the Gods. Most of this knowledge was lost in the great war, but there are still families in Vacuo that remember the days when the Gods were law."
James shook his head. "It's difficult to imagine…"
"It can be for many outsiders," Jasmine admitted. "But we cannot forget our cultural heritage. Telling someone to have faith is still a very common saying in Vacuo, and even the most modern citizen will still wish you luck when the say farewell."
The general stared down at the map, a hard expression on his face. "Everything in my kingdom is always so pragmatic and regimented. There's no need for faith because everything is either certain or uncertain. Everything can be rationalized and quantified, and everything that can't is little more than a statistical probability."
"It is something that every citizen of Vacuo feels deep in our bones," Jasmine explained. "The understanding that the world around us cannot be controlled nor predicted, and that sometimes, faith can be our only guide."
"We are a nation built on the foundation of engineering and ingenuity," Ironwood shrugged. "That has always been our guiding star."
"Ingenuity can only take you so far, my friend," Jasmine said earnestly. "The human mind can only encompass so much. Life goes on whether we will it to or not, and if we are not careful, we can get swept away along with it."
"How poetic," James responded with a wry smile.
Jasmine looked like she was about to reply when Winter Schnee came marching into the war room through the double-doors opposite the pillars.
"Sir," she said brusquely, snapping a salute as she stood upright.
"Schnee," Ironwood nodded. "Report?"
"My team is still on the hunt for Dora," Winter replied. "They were able to speak with her, however she managed to evade them. They are now exploring the city walls for further sign of her."
Jasmine raised a suspicious eyebrow. "The walls, you say?"
Winter nodded. "Yes Professor. There was one other bit, Sir, but it may be nothing."
"What is it?" the general asked impatiently.
"According to my team," Winter said hesitantly. "Dora believes that a large scale Grimm attack is imminent on the kingdom."
Ironwood and Jasmine exchanged a look.
"The team didn't have any evidence to support this," Winter added. "But they seemed to think it was important enough to bring up. And I don't believe they would give credence to flights of fancy."
James nodded and stroked his chin, concentrating down at the map.
"It would be unwise not to heed Dora's word," he mused absently. "And a large scale attack would fit the Grimm's M.O. thus far,"
"It would also explain why the attacks on your airships have been decreasing…" Jasmine added.
Before any of them could ponder the situation further, one of the technicians called out to him.
"General?" the young tech said. "We've got a bird coming in, east by southeast. Looks heavily damaged."
The two headmasters marched over to the technician's desk, where they saw a large blip appearing just of the right of a crude map of Vacuo on the translucent screen.
Jasmine looked puzzled. "Or perhaps not…"
Ironwood looked less convinced as he looked over the technician's console. "We didn't send anything that big out that way…which unit is that?"
"Unknown sir," the technician said. "Radio appears damaged. It does appear to be a larger airship. Frigate class, by the looks of it."
"It is coming from the direction of Vale…" Processor Jasmine noticed.
The general's expression darkened. "It couldn't be…"
"Getting a visual now, sir!" the technician replied, before putting an image of the Atlesian frigate up on screen.
Ironwood's eyes flew open in recognition.
"That's my flagship!" he blurted, before pointing in the direction of the communication's officer. "Alert Vacuan defense forces! Target that airship! It cannot be allowed within Vacuan airspace!"
Professor Jasmine looked confused. "James, what is wrong? Why are we targeting one of your own frigates?"
"Because it's controlled by the enemy," Winter answered for him as the general began barking orders around the war room. "That airship went down inside the kingdom of Vale, and was never recovered."
Jasmine's eyes widened with realization. "But our forces just received the memorandum to allow passage to all Atlesian aircraft!"
Winter narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean? Can't we issue an exception?"
"Yes, but these things take time!" Jasmine ran over to the navigation technician. "How far away is the target!?"
"Two and a half miles, and closing fast!" they reported.
"Got it!" Jasmine nodded, and ran over to Ironwood, who was busy arguing over an intercom to a very confused looking security guard in Vacuan garb.
"Look, this is General Ironwood!" he barked. "I am giving you full authorization to shoot down that aircraft!"
"James!" Professor Jasmine said as she drew his attention away from the console. "You need to issue a general order!"
Ironwood nodded, and shut off the console, instead grabbing a communication's officer by the shoulder.
"I need you to broadcast a general order to all available units," he commanded. "Send out an alert that there is a hostile airship on east by south-eastern approach to Vacuo."
The communication's officer saluted. "Yes sir!"
"And send out a recall order to all airships!" he commanded. "Vacuo is about to get hit, hard!"
"I'll gather as many of my Huntsmen as are remaining in the city," Jasmine announced.
"Go!" the general nodded, as he watched her rush out of the war room.
Winter stood next to him as the two of them watched the events unfold, their intel coming in through the digital readout.
"Makes me sick to imagine what those monsters could be doing with my ship," Ironwood lamented. "It could be chalked to the brim with high explosives for all we know. As soon as it gets within Vacuan airspace, that could be it. It could very well cripple Vacuo's security forces. We cannot afford to let it get into the kingdom."
Winter furrowed her brow as she studied the airship and its approach vector.
"Sir…the ship appears to be descending at a rapid rate," she observed.
Ironwood nodded. "Yes it does. Has anyone responded to the general order?"
Winter glanced at her scroll. "Just one unit, sir. It's…hmm…well, what do you know? It's the airship I sent to pick up my Special Ops team."
The general allowed a sliver of hope to seep through his façade.
"So we won't be caught blindsided, at least," he mused. "Though from the looks of it, the frigate won't even make it to the wall…"
Sure enough, a moment later, the navigation technician reported in.
"Hostile airship has touched down, sir," they called out from their seat in front of the console.
"But it's still moving…" Winter noted. "Sir, it's going to collide with the wall!"
Ironwood nodded. "What's the ETA to impact?"
"Thirty seconds and closing!" the technician announced, as the readout updated on the screen.
The general gritted his teeth. "Winter, if your Special Ops team is going to do anything, now would be the-"
He was interrupted when an energy blast from what appeared to be a bullhead airship struck the frigate's nose, sending it skidding sideways.
"If I'm not mistaken, sir," Winter observed. "That would be the Mark 44 dust cannon we equipped to Agent Xiao-Long's prosthetic enhancement."
Ironwood crossed his arms. "Here's hoping it pays off…"
His question was answered several seconds later when he saw the airship strike the city wall broadside, plowing through the massive sandstone structure, before finally coming to a rest beyond the wall, leaving an empty space in the barrier where it had plowed through.
Many crew and technicians in the war room voiced cries of disbelief when the wall came down. The entire room was stunned to silence, however, when they all saw creatures of Grimm begin to pour out of the airship's hull.
Ironwood slowly raised his scroll to his face.
"Professor Jasmine," he said calmly. "What's the status of your Huntsmen teams?"
Jasmine's face appeared momentarily. "Ready to deploy on command, James."
"Jasmine, the walls have been breached," he explained as the room around him began to bustle with activity in response to the emergency. "The airship is down, but it's releasing Grimm into the city. You need to get your Huntsmen on site to contain the situation before it escalates."
Jasmine nodded. "Understood. How many Grimm are we dealing with?"
"Hard to say," Ironwood replied, shaking his head as he watched events unfold before him. "At least a hundred or-"
"Sir!" a cry of alarm interrupted the conversation. "We've got incoming Grimm on the horizon! Too many to count! They'll be on us inside twenty minutes!"
Ironwood looked up at the transmission screen, as the black wings of hundreds of airborne Grimm crested the horizon.
"Professor…" he muttered into his scroll. "What you were saying before, about having faith?"
The professor blinked in confusion. "What about it?"
Ironwood lowered his eyes in despair. "Well…it's just looking like we might just need a miracle right about now…"
