Dishonorable Combat
Jaune let out a string of swear words as Blake tore off, Emerald Sustrai becoming briefly visible as she sensibly ran the hell away from the angry ex-terrorist chasing her. Both vanished behind a series of bushes, became briefly visible as they raced across a small opening, and then vanished into the more built up sections of the school gardens.
Dammit!
Though he now had a better idea as to why Nora and Ruby had torn off after the Dragon despite everyone screaming at them to come back, that didn't change the fact that Weiss' escort detail had just lost most of its members. That fit in with everything else that Cinder was doing; she was stripping away his support, distracting potential allies, leaving the Maiden open and vulnerable.
And it's working dammit!
"Neo, Sable!" He shouted into his scroll as he cut down a small Creep that had come rushing in to the gap that the girls' departure had left open. "Status on Yang!"
"Still in surgery!" His sister shouted in reply.
Jaune sucked in a furious breath, his heart clenching. He couldn't leave her behind, couldn't leave Blake, Nora, and Ruby behind. But... if Cinder got a hold of the full power of the Maiden, it might not matter where they were, what they were doing. No matter what else happened, Weiss had to leave. And... if they could deal with Cinder quickly enough, Neo and Charcoal could always return to get them.
It was a thin hope, but it the only thing that let him shout the order. "Get Pyrrha out here now! We're lifting off as soon as you get to the Bullhead!"
"We're coming!"
He closed the device, sucked in a breath, then turned and called up to where Adel was still fighting to keep the skies clear. "Adel! We're getting the VIP clear, we'll provide air support as long as we can!"
"Wish I knew what the fuck was going on!" The student shouted back, "But we'll keep the docs safe!"
Jaune gave her a quick thumbs up, then started running for the Bullhead. Ren and Ilia were sensibly blocking Weiss with their bodies, keeping her back while she vainly tried to see what was going on. To the side of the trio Levi was abusing his semblance to keep picking off Grimm with precise shots, each round finding an eye or open mouth to kill his targets.
"Jauney-lad." The old man greeted him as if they were just meeting up on the street, a wrinkled and slightly shaking hand reaching out to help pull him into the hovering aircraft. His grip was unnaturally strong, but the sight of the twitching returning when he let go made Jaune flinch slightly. "We leavin?"
"Soon as Neo's here." He replied, shifting a bit to stay out of the huntsman's way as he kept watch for any Grimm heading their direction. Aside from a small flurry of Nevermore that Adel handled from her position back on the rooftop, it seemed like most of them were being drawn to where the wounded Dragon was busy demolishing the mall complex. A glance in that diretion showed flickers of color, explosions, and a almost circular swarm of airborne Grimm diving at the students and professionals who were doing their best kill them all.
And far closer, a door flew open to reveal Sable hauling a stumbling Pyrrha along while Neo kept a sharp eye out behind them.
"There they are! Vest, can you glide us over?"
Instead of responding, the other man simply banked the vehicle slightly, and it obediently began shifting laterally towards where the three young women were doing their best to get to them Less than a minute later found the trio clambering in as well, making the Bullhead feel a bit cramped even as Weiss backed off to help force Pyrrha into a seat.
Ilia quickly moved to help, while Levi shifted to the other side of the open bay, moving increasingly better as the airspeed picked up, his shaking vanishing as his semblance built up power in relation to the vehicle's own momentum. For his part, Jaune settled in with his weapon next to Ren, the two men keeping their weapons ready while Neo and Sable shifted to stand beside him.
"Climbing!" Charcoal called back from the co-pilot's seat. "Step two is the get the bitch's attention, right? How do we do that?"
"We'll handle it!" He shouted, "Circle the main tower, office level!"
The ground dropped away as the Bullhead rose higher, tilting slightly as it began to bank. He absently lifted a hand, grasping onto a strap to help stay in place, but his eyes were entirely focused on the wreck that had once been Ozpin's office.
It didn't take long for them to get high enough to let everyone see inside, and in the corner of his vision he saw Sable flinch at the sight of Ozpin's body laying on its side, two arrows protruding obscenely from his chest. Blood covered the ground around him, and he narrowed his eyes as he thought he picked out a trail that headed back towards the elevator.
"She's on the ground already." He shook his head. "Keep us circling, everyone keep your eyes open! We've got to find her before she loses her temper!"
Blake felt her arms vibrate as she slammed her sword-blade into Sustrai's crossed pistols, pushing the other girl's weapons back against her chest. Her opponent snarled and narrowed her eyes in a fashion that made her back tighten, and she used her semblance to roll to the left on reflex before she could be caught in an illusion.
Eye contact was definitely the key. As soon as she lost it, her semblance seemed to fail immediately, and Blake was ruthlessly exploiting that single weakness. She had a bad feeling that, if she didn't, that her opponent wouldn't hesitate for a second to kill her.
Sustrai wasted a bit of effort cutting through the afterimage before finding her again, weapons snapping up to fire off a quick set of rounds before Blake could close the distance again. Hissing in pain as a few shots struck her aura, assuredly leaving bruises on her chest and belly, she came in with a hard feint with her sword before side-stepping and bringing the sheath down in a quick slash.
The other girl fell for the fake, moving to block high, then yelped in pain as her thigh was struck instead.
"Fuck off!" Her opponent snarled as blades swung free on her weapons, her counter-attacks forcing Blake to parry a quick trio of cuts before Sustrai's form abruptly warped into that of Adam Taurus.
She couldn't help but flinch at the sight, only triggering her semblance and diving away after a second's worth of hesitation. While she expected to be hit almost immediately as Sustrai pressed her advantage, instead she came up to find Emerald running laterally away, opening the distance once more.
Cursing under her breath she took off after her, getting the primary half of Gambol Shroud up to send pistol fire into her enemy's back. At least one shot struck home, sending Sustrai into a forward roll, and she came up with a sweeping motion with both arms to the left.
Blake felt her mouth part slightly in surprise as the enemy's weapon abruptly shifted, the blades flinging free from the pistol grips on long chains to come sweeping directly for her. She recovered in time to utilize her semblance once more, bouncing up and over them, keeping up a suppressing fire as she did.
It was Emerald's turn to flinch as a round hit her in the shoulder, driving her back, and she kicked off with her back foot while the bladed chains abruptly retracted. They were faster than Blake would have liked, both snapping back into place just as she closed the distance, their weapons clashing in another quick blur of slash and counter-stroke.
"Why are you doing this!?" She half-shouted over an explosion, focusing heavily on the other girl's eyes; they seemed to narrow whenever she used her semblance. "Look at what you've done!"
"Like any of them gave a crap about me!" Emerald screamed back, twisting away from a quick lunge and planting a foot into Blake's gut. She let out a pained cough as Emerald kicked off from her, opening the range for a few seconds, "Everything I do is for Cinder!"
Great... I just ran down a crazy fanatic!
She settled into an at ready stance, taking a split second to glance at her wrist as it moved past her eyes. Her aura was near the red, she had to end this soon, even if she didn't think Sustrai's was much higher.
Blake was getting less worried about Sustrai killing her and more worried about the girl escaping; this was the second time she'd managed to catch her for a second and bolt instead of going for the kill. If she ran out of aura before Emerald the other girl could catch her long enough to get out of sight, and she didn't think she'd be able to find her again if that happened.
The Dragon roared in the distance, neither girl reacting as something crashed to the ground in a roar of noise. Blake took a cautious step forwards, Emerald taking one back in response, and then her chance came; Sustrai's scroll abruptly vibrated with an incoming call, and red eyes dropped for a split second towards the device on her waist.
Blake sprinted forwards at the opening, hoping to cut hard across her throat, but even with the distraction Emerald's reflexes were top notch. The blow was enough to make her stumble, but she managed to get one of her pistols up and into Blake's face. She spun in a quick twirl to avoid taking a bullet to her nose, lashing out with both halves of her weapon as she did.
Emerald again managed to block the first impact, but the second caught her on the wrist and drew a yelp, a crackle of green energy... and a thin line of blood.
Blake felt her lips curl into a slight smirk as she brought her blade up in a ready position, making sure the slight flecks of red were visible. "Surrender?"
The other girl snarled and threw her arms forwards, her chained blades whipping free from the pistol grips as she began to whirl them. A quick dodge let her avoid the first cuts, then she parried one of the blades and stepped forwards, twisting around and cutting down hard at one of the chains with her edged sheathe. Momentum carried the chain up and around, looping around the weapon, and Blake smirked as she yanked it down and slammed a foot atop it.
...of course, that smirk faded when Emerald didn't bother trying to yank her weapon free, instead simply releasing it with a quick flick of her hand, the chain bucking as the pistol bounced and whirled forwards. It nearly smacked Blake in the face as it flew at her, striking her shoulder instead as she yelped and dodged, locking up against her sheathe as it tried to finish collapsing.
And that moment of distraction was all Sustrai needed to turn tail and bolt once again, this time at a full on sprint into the heavier sections of the gardens as she tried to get out of Blake's sight for the third time... and this time she was clearly headed straight towards the cliffs.
Swearing rapidly under her breath, she tossed the entangled half of her weapon aside and took the up the chase, keeping the rest of Gambol Shroud up and ready to shoot as she pursued.
Cinder pursed her lips as a bleeding and stumbling Emerald came sprinting out of the school's garden, running as best she could towards where Watts had relocated their aircraft. A bit of motion behind the girl made her sigh and shake her head, hands rising as she made a minimal call to her semblance, her preferred weapon forming at once.
The little cat emerged from behind a tall hedge just in time to catch an arrow to her sternum. She must have had just enough aura left to survive the impact because she staggered back, then threw herself behind the hedge once more. Cinder sighed with irritation and dismissively flicked a hand.
Lovely green shrubbery obediently burst into cherry red flames, and she distinctly heard a feminine shriek of pain, though she couldn't quite tell if she had actually killed the annoying little pest. Not that it really mattered, the girl was irrelevant to the greater game being played.
"Were you successful?" She asked as Emerald all but crawled up beside her, the girl's right hand clutching at a gunshot wound in her left shoulder, that arm hanging limply.
Emerald whimpered in pain, but twitched her head in a quick nod. "Rose... is running around. So is... Valkyrie."
And Belladonna had come chasing after her, so that was three potential guardians removed from the game. Not the full set that she had tasked the girl with relocating; yet another partial failure. Par for the course on this distinctly unsatisfying day, but at least the silver eyed little creature was gone.
That kept her options open.
"Well done." She murmured, "Watts, please lift us off. I believe I can see dear Jaune's craft circling the tower, please pursue at a distance; I'd rather not be shot down."
"I trust you have a plan beyond that point?" The irritating man called back, the sleek aircraft rising as its engines thundered up to a full roar. "Our last information from Torchwick indicated that Arc may have a full team of at his disposal, plus whatever students remain... and the half-maiden."
"Have I ever not had a plan?" She countered, kneeling down beside Emerald and pulling her hand free to examine the wound. "Merely play your part and by this evening we will both be basking in Salem's approval."
"We've got a tail!" Jaune shouted, his instincts shouting a warning when he realized that the Grimm were entirely ignoring a Bullhead that had swooped overhead the main battle near the mall. "Let's get moving!"
"We're going!" Vest's deep voice bellowed back, "Keep us clear!"
He didn't really have time to reply as the abrupt acceleration nearly sent him flying from the open doorway, and it was all he could do to hang on as his old ally throttled the engines up to maximum and began flying east.
"Neo!" Jaune managed once he'd recovered his balance, "Over here with me! Ren, take that side with Levi! Sable, Ilia, keep Weiss and Pyrrha secure!"
"I can help!" Weiss, predictably, protested.
To his surprise, Ren pushed her back into her seat before he could say anything, "If they catch up to us you need to be fresh."
The newest Maiden's face twisted in displeasure, but she tellingly stayed in place, turning slightly to tighten Pyrrha's harness before the taller girl could even begin to try undoing the buckles. Jaune let out a quick sigh of relief at that, glancing down at Neo as she settled in beside him with her parasol in one hand, and her small pistol in the other. Double-checking that Variable Impact and Crocea Mors were both secure on his waist, he hefted up Dragon's Breath and gave her a quick nod.
"Almost done."
Neo gave him a tired nod, unable to really respond beyond that with her hands occupied.
He felt yet another pang in his chest, at this rate he wasn't sure he'd survive the day even without Cinder or her Grimm. Neo managed to pack so much exhaustion and regret into that little tilt of her head that it made him look away, unable to meet her eyes. She wasn't really accusing him of anything, at least he hoped she wasn't, but... how many days of preparation had they lost because he'd stubbornly tried to stick to impossible plans?
A smack at his side stopped him from delving too deeply into those thoughts, and he quickly forced himself to focus as Neo pointed down as they crossed the cliffs.
Beowolves were swarming up them, taking the direct route towards the school. A thin line of huntsmen still seemed to be present atop them, they seemed to have anchored their line on the school's forges, but more and more of the canine Grimm were getting past them to join the chaos across the school grounds. Worse, there was a veritable column of Goliaths, Ursa, Creeps, and other Grimm that couldn't climb were simply bulldozing their way through the Emerald Forest as they headed towards Vale.
About the only good thing that he could see was that the Dragon was still earthbound, and was flailing ever more slowly, staggering as it clearly neared its end. Even better, the speed and airborne nature of the avian Grimm that had let them arrive so quickly had meant that the defenders had been able to focus them down. Most of them seemed to be dead aside from those nearest the Dragon, and aside from...
"Uh, Vest?" He called. "I don't suppose you can go any faster!?"
"How many are chasing us?"
"Fuckin' all of 'em!" Levi shouted in reply, his rifle cracking as he shot down something on his side. "They're coverin' that damned Bullhead!"
Jaune leaned out as far as he dared, and saw that the old man was right. Cinder's aircraft had gained an escort of Elder Griffons, a half-dozen of the massive Grimm easily keeping pace with the planes as they settled in between the two of them.
Stopping us from being able to get a shot off... He frowned a little. Of course, that works both ways.
They didn't really have any weapons that could bring them down, but Cinder apparently didn't know that. Or she was just worried that Weiss would pull off some kind of magical assault to bring them down.
"Why though?" He shook his head, speaking loudly enough for everyone to hear him. "She's got to bring us down sooner or later, she's blocking her own shots right now!"
Ilia carefully stepped over, and with his help leaned out to take a look of her own. "Maybe she needs some time to recover after killing Ozpin?"
"Maybe." He kept frowning as he turned it over in his head. Most of the Grimm weren't able to keep up, which was good, but those Grimm that were keeping pace were the largest and oldest, which was far less good. "Or she's just waiting for enough Grimm to catch up to smother us once she forces us down."
The faunus girl grimaced, her freckles flaring a dull red as she drew back inside. "Then maybe we should double-back towards the city, fight her somewhere besides the forest."
He shook his head, "She'll probably try and hit us as soon as we turned back, try and ground us near one of the Grimm formations still outside the walls." It went unsaid that if that happened they'd be torn apart before they could even try to defend themselves. "Our best chance is to get as far out as we can and then fight her on our terms."
Weiss nodded slightly in agreement, though his barely-trained sister seemed less enthusiastic, and it was she who spoke next. "Can't we just outrun them?"
Charcoal evidently heard that, because she called back from the open cockpit, "We're at top speed in this old rust-bucket girl, and they stole one of Beacon's fancy models. She'll catch up as soon as she decides she wants to."
Everyone but Levi and Neo winced at that, and Jaune leaned his head back out once more, trying to look more confident than he felt. "Right. We go on until she makes her move, then everyone but Vest, Pyrrha, Levi, and Sable are going to bail. We'll engage her on the ground while the rest of you provide air support. Levi, how's your aura?"
"I got enough for a hard fight, don't worry 'bout me!"
Jaune nodded without taking his eyes off of the dark forms lazily pursuing them, trying not to notice the smoke rising from Vale, or from Beacon's broken towers. "Sable, you're in charge of making sure nothing gets into the Bullhead! So long as Levi has aura he can pick off damn near anything, but he can't see out of the back of his head. Pyrrha can keep her eyes open as well."
"Got it." His sister replied, her voice a bit shaky despite her brave words, "I'll watch his back."
"You need me on the ground." Pyrrha, predictably, protested, "I'm feeling much better!"
"Her left hand is still shaking." Ilia promptly betrayed her. "I've got Milo."
"Good job." He smiled slightly, though the expression faded quickly as the Grimm visibly began to beat their wings harder, and the nose of Cinder's aircraft rose as it began to climb. "They're making a move!"
"Hold on!" Vest's shout came as he pushed the old plane into a dive, its frame shaking as everyone did their best to avoid falling out... at least until they were low enough.
Cinder narrowed her eyes as Jaune made his counter-play, the rusted old hulk he'd found racing along the tree tops, banking left and right slowly as it began to bleed off speed. Whoever was flying it was at least as good a pilot as Watts, and they'd gained a critical bit of distance as they and the Grimm were forced to correct to the sudden change.
"They're bailing out." Watts reported, one of the many screens updating at a gesture to show small figures leaping clear, vanishing beneath the trees. "They know they can't win in the air. We should bring down their aircraft, strand them, then-"
"That will be your affair." She interrupted him, not about to let the arrogant man seize control of her victory. "This vehicle has weapons, does it not? Use them."
Her nominal ally ground his teeth together. "It is therefore prudent to cut-off the Maiden's ability to retreat, she is unlikely to have control over her powers and-"
"They have two teleporters available." Cinder growled back, "I will not give them a chance to retreat. You will deal with their aircraft as instructed. I will command the Nevermore to follow your lead, the Griffons will support Emerald and I on the ground. Once I have the full powers of the Maiden we will return to Beacon and deal with the survivors before withdrawing."
"That is secondary to the maiden, we should-"
"This is my operation." She snapped, turning away from him and slapping a button to open the left-side hatch. Emerald, her shoulder hastily bandaged and a small collection of syringes around her from where she had applied pain-killers and auric-boosters, winced as wind began to roar inside. Her body would make her pay for the amount of drugs she had taken these past few hours, but that was for later. She would be of no use to Cinder without her semblance. "You will do as I command, Arthur."
Anything the man might have said was ignored as she seized her disciple's wrist, hauled her to her feet, and then stepped out into the open air. Emerald reflexively clutched at her, a scream of both surprise and pain as she forced her wounded arm into motion being buried into Cinder's skin as the girl buried her face in her throat.
Cinder twitched a little in irritation, Emerald was usually more collected than this, the wound must have rattled her more than she'd thought. A flare of magic was all it took to slow their descent a few meters from the ground, wind whipping dirt up and around them as they landed lightly.
This particular region of the forest was fairly dense, likely why dear Jaune had chosen to it to make his stand. It would hamper the movements of the large Grimm that were even now beginning to circle above her, and make it easy for his party to spread out and surround her once they made contact.
"Collect yourself." She ordered as the girl sucked in a shaky breath and only reluctantly let go of her, "I will take the lead, you will stay back and act accordingly. Your priority will be Neopolitan."
"Y-yes Cinder. I won't let you down!"
"See that you don't."
Inhaling sharply, she glanced down at her hands and twisted the left one slowly. There was the strange ripple across her entire body as the Grimm within her emerged form her palm, clicking inquisitively as its red eyes looked up at her. "Direct all Nevermore and lesser Grimm in the area to support Arthur Watts and bring down the enemy's aircraft. All Griffons are to encircle the enemy and consume them."
It let out a furious chattering sound, and a vague sense of eager excitement seemed to emanate from the creature before it vanished back within her once more.
Now... let us finally cross blades, dear Jaune.
Author's Notes;
So, originally this final battle section was going to be a single chapter at something close to the old length (Between 7-9k of words). But after actually plotting it out and starting writing it, it quickly grew beyond that to the point where I'd basically have a 12k word chapter just kind of stuck near the end which would be a massive change compared to the prior releases in this arc, so I had to go back to the old plan of dividing it up even after cutting several sequences out.
So I know some of you are getting tired of the cliffhangers, and I do apologize for that, but there really isn't a good way to break this particular series of fights up in a way that doesn't end in that kind of fashion. Rest assured that there will not be a long gap between chapters this time, come hell or high water this story will be completed in 2019. Expect the next chapter fairly quickly as a result.
Thank you to everyone who is still reading, reviewing, and promoting this story elsewhere. It's been a longer ride than I intended, but I greatly enjoyed it all the same.
Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."
Thanks, Kat