Chapter 16 - A Sad Truth


Minutes after leaving Beacon, the team assigned to the village further east of Vale for the next evacuation. McGillis, Gaelio, Team RWBY, Kudelia, Shino, Dante and Chad are already heading there now. The girls await in their ship, preparing their weapons, while McGillis, Kudelia, Shino, Dante and Chad fly close by in their Mobile Suits, but a little ahead of them.

"So, how bad do you think it'll be when we get to the village?" Yang asked, loading up one of her gauntlets.

"Really bad, Yang. The real question is whether or not it's going to be worse. Or whether or not we can save everyone at the village in time." Blake correcting her partner, sheathing her sword.

"I don't even wanna think that." Chad said, conversing through the comms.

"Look, I know things are bad, but we can't focus on that right now. There are people out there that need us, and we have to be brave for them. If we don't protect them, then who will?" Ruby asked.

"…Ruby's right. Keeping these negative thoughts in our head will only help the Grimm. I don't know about you, but I'm not going to help those monsters anytime soon. Let's just get to the village, get the people out, and get back to Beacon. We can worry about the other stuff later." Weiss explained, supporting her leader.

"Wow Weiss, you really are trying to be like Orga, huh?" Yang teasing Weiss at the most inopportune time.

Weiss blushed furiously, "T-that's not important right now, y-y-you blonde barbarian!" Weiss exclaimed, before turning away.

"First Mikazuki, then Akihiro, now Orga?!" Shino complains, if he was seen frustrated.

"You can screw around later - we've got a mission right now." Gaelio said.

"He's right, Yang - don't tease Weiss. Now's not the time." Ruby said.

Yang holds her hands up in surrender, "Alright, alright. I'll back off…for now at least," Yang muttered at the last part.

Meanwhile outside, Kudelia stays close to McGillis to keep an eye on him alongside Gaelio.

"We'll be approaching the village shortly. All hands, prepare for drop off." Everyone hears the pilot call out.

Everyone looks out to see the village shortly ahead of them, with one problem. The Grimm were already getting close to the village's edge.

They all look out to see the village shortly ahead of them, with one problem. The Grimm were already getting close to the village's edge. Seeing this, McGillis sped ahead of the airships and started firing off some cannon shots to stop the Grimm's advance and get their attention away from the village. The shots work in taking out a few of the Grimm too close to the village and getting most of their attention. McGillis doesn't slow down, but in fact, speeds up and crashes into the ground in front of them. Soon, Kudelia, Gaelio, Shino, Chad and Dante followed and did the same thing. Appearing from the smoke, McGillis, Kudelia, Gaelio, Shino, Chad and Dante fires off multiple rounds of gunfire to take out a few more Grimm, standing their ground.

"You will not come any further, monsters. McGillis Fareed. Gundam Bael. Commencing mission," McGillis said, his eyes lighting up.

"Gaelio Bauduin. Gundam Vidar. Ready to go," Gaelio said, his eyes also lighting up.

"Norba Shino! Ryusei-Go III and I ready for action!" Shino hollered, twirling the partizan in his right hand and wielding his rifle in left.

"Dante Morgo," Dante said, followed by, "Chad Chadan," Chad said. "Landman Rodi's ready to roll!"

"Kudelia Aina Bernstein. Graze Custom. Let's go!" Kudelia hollered, armed in sword and shield.

The Grimm roared and charge at the six MS pilots, with several Beowolves as the first opponents. Gaelio made the first attack, slicing through some with his Hunter's Edge and Burst Saber in tandem with extreme speed, slashing without mercy. McGillis, Shino and Kudelia followed behind, slashing through the rest of the pack to give their comrade a hand. Chad and Dante provide fire support, shooting down any that may attack the charging four from behind or any unguarded sides. Until the airships arrive, they can't move from their current position, nor allow any Grimm to get past them. After the first wave of Grimm fall, the next group comes at them, this time with a King Taijitu with them. McGillis, Dante and Chad fire several bullets at the giant snake, holding it back while more Beowolves and now Creeps run at him. Kudelia blocked a Creep with her shield, before thrusting her sword through the Creep's head, effectively killing it. Chad and Dante decided to join in the fray, each throwing one grenade at two more Creeps, which did damage them before the two Landman Rodi Human Debris used their Hammer Choppers, slamming the weapons on the heads to kill them. Gaelio later avoids an attack from a King Taijitu. When he lands back a few steps, he notices several shots fly over him and nail the Taijitu in the head, staggering it. He looks back to see the airships arrive and Team RWBY jump out of theirs to land on the ground. They then move in to stand alongside McGillis and the others.

"Nice shot. However, we should spread out." Gaelio commented.

"Precisely, Gaelio," McGillis said before he gave out his orders, "Rose, I need you in a sniper position for support. Gaelio, Shino, Blake and Yang, behind me. Take out any Grimm that comes our way. Ms. Schnee, you, Bernstein and these two stick close to the airships. They'll need help to keep the villagers safe." McGillis instructed.

"You sure that five of you can take all those Grimm?" Weiss asked, out of concern.

"Pretty much. Besides, our mission is to evacuate the villagers. That's top priority." Kudelia explained.

"And we know Shino likes to go wild at times like these." Chad commented, seeing Shino/Ryusei-Go III fired up.

"You bet your ass…" Shino said, remembering the promise Yamagi said to come back alive and the sudden kiss he got. Those feelings intensified, as Shino became enveloped in a pink aura, much to the others' surprise of the same power Mikazuki and Akihiro demonstrated.

"He's gonna…" Gaelio said, as Kimaris chuckled.

"He sure is." Kimaris said.

"I won't let anyone die! I'm gonna get stronger and fight like I've never fought before!" Shino hollered, as the pink aura transformed completely, as both McGillis' group and the Grimm braced themselves from the shockwave. The shockwave soon died down, as in the clear, Shino now transformed from the Shiden-Custom/Ryusei-Go III… into his very own Gundam: Flauros/Ryusei-Go IV! It has the same design as it was back in the good ol' days despite being about 9 feet tall and the same size as all Mobile Suits in Remnant, and armed with it's dual shoulder barrel cannons, one hand holding onto a 120mm Machine Gun and another stored in back, and the other hand holding onto a axe-looking assault knife.

Everyone were surprised, as well as Shino, but he knew better since he's with Flauros himself.

"Looks like you've found the drive to fight, my friend." Flauros said.

"So rad… let's do it Ryusei-Go!" Shino hollered, much to the deadpanned expressions of the others and Flauros' embarrassment.

"He's still calling it that?" Team RWBY, Gaelio and Kudelia asked in unison, having sweat drops on their foreheads.

"That's just how he is…" Chad and Dante replied.

"Must really suck for you, eh?" Kimaris teased, earning a growling response from Flauros.

"We really need to get back on track here." Bael said, reminding everyone of the current situation as the Grimm were getting ready to attack.

"With that done, let's begin our plan of attack!" McGillis hollered, as Weiss, Kudelia, Dante and Chad head back to the airships. Meanwhile, Ruby heads up to land on top of a nearby building, taking a sniper position. At the same time, Yang and Blake take a few steps back while McGillis, Gaelio and Shino stay up front. With their formation set, the group prepare to fight.

The Grimm charge, and the six staying to fire off their weapons to take some of them out. However, many got through and get up close. McGillis uses his swords to slash through two Beowolves in half, and then jumps up to kick the black head of the King Taijitu before he moves to avoid the mouth of the white head. Meanwhile, Ruby fires off her sniper scythe, killing any Grimm that get in her sights. One Creep jumps up to attack her, but she pulls her scythe out of the ground and twirls it around to slice off its head before getting back into position. On the ground, a few Ursai get passed McGillis, who's still busy with the King Taijitu, and Gaelio, who took out another Creep with his handguns, but gets blocked off by Yang and Blake. Yang runs up and deals an uppercut to one Ursa before throwing a left cross to smash it into more Grimm behind it. She then fires her gauntlets behind her to shoot her over to another Ursa, smashing her right fist into its skull and sending it flying. Behind her, Blake twirls in the air, using her chain-scythe's reach to become a tempest of steel as she reduces several Grimm to pieces. One Ursa throws its right claw at her, but she uses her semblance to avoid it before she fires off her pistol, nailing it in between the eyes, and then stabs through its skull to make sure it was dead. Shino was also able to handle several Creeps and Ursais very easily, firing both his shoulder cannons and single rifle-shaped machine gun as every last one of them without trying. In fact, Shino was rather going wild without even trying.

While the others fight, Weiss, Kudelia, Chad and Dante remains with the airships to help with the evacuation efforts and provide some defense for any Grimm that manages to get past the blockade that McGillis and the others set up.

"Please remain calm and proceed to the airships in an orderly fashion. There's no need to panic!" Weiss calls out.

Just then, Kudelia notices a few Nevermores flying in from the south, away from the fighting with Agnika and her team. While they weren't that large, they were still big enough to cause the people to scream and start to create a panic. Weiss conjures up a few glyphs and then shoots out ice shards at them. The ice shards skewer one Nevermore, but the other four manage to evade the attack and swoop down towards the civilians. Kudelia switches from the sword to her assault rifle, and shot down another Nevermore easily, with only two continuing to close in. eiss spins the Dust chamber in her sword to a gray Dust vial, and then aims her sword up into the air. She sends out a twister of air to blow back the Grimm, creating a temporary shield of air to block them off. After that, she switches to the ice Dust chamber and then jumps onto another glyph in mid-air. When two Nevermores fly at Weiss in a pincer attack, Weiss waits for the right time before she jumps over them, and then creates two black glyphs that grab their tails, pinning them in place next to each other. As she falls, she uses her rapier to create some ice that traps the two together before she lets them fall onto the ground in front of her. Using this chance, Kudelia runs up with her boosters, switching from the rifle to the sword again, and managed to slice off their heads with the increased speed making the force of her slash stronger. Weiss then looks up to see the last Nevermore flying over the villagers, getting ready to flap its wings and shoot its feathers down at them. Quickly, she moves into the center of the people and switches to the fire Dust chamber. The Nevermore flaps its wings, sending out a rainfall of black feathers towards the civilians. Weiss swings her sword around in front of her before she makes a wide swing, sending out a circle of flames that burn away the feathers. She then conjures some glyphs and jumps between each one to get her closer to the flying Grimm; Chad and Dante follow behind using their thrusters. When they get close, the Nevermore charges at her, beak wide open. However, Chad and Dante used their combined strength to hold it in place with their hands on one side of the beak (Dante to the left, Chad to the right), still keeping the mouth open, allowing Weiss to impale her rapier into its head, sending a spark of fire that explodes inside its skull. With the threat dealt with for now, Kudelia returns to the villagers.

"As my friend said, please remain calm and enter the airships in an orderly manner. We will be leaving as soon as everyone is on board!" Kudelia calls out, as Weiss, Dante and Chad returned to the ground safely.

Listening to Kudelia's words and feeling a little safer after seeing their display, the villagers continue to enter the airships without freaking out as badly. Kudelia, Weiss, Chad and Dante then turns to look back at their allies, "Be safe, everyone…" Kudelia mutters.

Back in the main fight, Gaelio jumps over McGillis and decapitates the last head of the King Taijitu and then the two old Gjallahorn comrades rush forward, using their swords to slash through four Ursai, cutting them in half. Behind them, Ruby, having run low on ammo, twirls her scythe around before swinging it to behead on Beowolf and then swings the blade upwards to nearly cleave another in two, thought the attack kills it anyway. Aside her, Shino, also running low on ammo after using all at once in a frenzy display, decided to fight hand-to-hand, starting with swinging his knife at a Beowolf, killing it instantly. Meanwhile, Yang and Blake double-team an Ursa Major, with Yang upper-cutting it into the air and Blake using her semblance to zip all around it while slicing at its side with her sword, and then Yang throws a right haymaker to send what is left of it flying back. Gaelio stabs one Creep in the chest and then looks up to see a small flock of Gryphons flying towards the village. He turns to the others.

"Dammit, they're heading to the village!" Gaelio hollered.

"You three focus on the enemies here on the ground. Gaelio and I will deal with the ones in the air!" McGillis hollered.

"You can't let them near the village at all cost!" Bael hollered, as McGillis and Gaelio flies into the air.

As they fly closer to the Gryphons, McGillis and Gaelio fire off their ranged weapons, taking out two of them and getting the attention of the rest. The Gryphons change their course and swoop down towards them, screeching all the while. McGillis kicks one away and then relieves another of its wings, sending it plummeting to the ground. Next, he sheathes his swords and goes to grab one by its neck, and then brutally punches its chest. Throwing the dead Grimm away, Mcgillis senses one Gryphon flying at his back, and spins around to kick it away by its skull and then fires off another cannon shot to finish it off. Same time, Gaelio took out his battle rifle and fired at a few more Gryphons in a horizontal manner, taking out those who were unfortunate in Gaelio's way. He and McGillis turns to see how Team RWBY and Shino are doing, but then sees that they are in trouble. The Grimm on the ground are pushing forth, and the three members of the team and the Flauros Gundam pilot are being forced back, even with Shino having activated the same evolution as Mikazuki and Akihiro. Seeing them in danger, the duo flies down and lands hard on two Beowolves as they were about to attack Ruby and Shino. The latter two look up to see the former two before them.

"We need to retreat! You four, fall back. Gaelio and I will hold them back. The evacuation should be just about done now. Move!" McGillis commanded.

Obeying his orders, the quartet move back, firing off a few shots as they retreat. Gaelio fires off more rifle shots while McGillis sheathes his swords and grabs one Ursa Major, using his Alaya-Vijnana to react to the monster's attempted assault behind him. Using his strength, he throws it at the large group of Grimm coming towards him, making them all fall back onto the ground. Given a chance to move, McGillis and Gaelio flies back to regroup with the others. Getting to the evacuation point, McGillis and Gaelio sees that only a few villagers have yet to board the airships, along with Team RWBY, Shino, Kudelia, Chad and Dante who remain in front of them as a protective wall. They lands in front of them and turns around to see the cloud of blackness that is the Grimm coming towards them.

"I got this" Shino hollered, stepping forward as he transformed into the Flauros' quadrupled form, known as "Shelling Mode," as the short cannons extend forward, transforming into newly transformable Railguns ready to fire. Yang, Blake and Weiss were shocked, while Ruby… her entire being was excited as she awed Shino's new weapons with pure excitement.

"Ready to fire when you are, Shino!" Flauros hollered, as a smirking sound was heard from Shino. "Then let's give them something rad," Shino said as he aimed his railgun cannons at the charging Grimm. "Galaxy Cannon… FIRE!" Shino shouted, firing a pair of conventional warhead bullets that tore the ground, blasting several Grimm with only a few luck enough to dodge. Shino transformed back into Flauros' regular form, converting the Railguns back to shoulder cannons; a sparkle gleamed from the green eye. "Don't mess with my Ryusei-Go!" Shino shouted.

The Grimm that managed to evaded continued their advance. "Fire off whatever you got left! Keep them back as long as possible!" McGillis shouted.

McGillis, Gaelio, Kudelia, Shino (with only the assault machine rifle since the cannons now need to recharge), Chad, Dante and Team RWBY then fire off their weapons with what remains of their ammo at the Grimm, killing any that come in their crosshairs. The shots take out the Grimm, but more keep on coming. Ruby looks back on moment to see the last of the villagers getting on board the airships.

"Everyone is onboard now!" Ruby hollered.

"Then it's time for us to retreat, McGillis." Bael advised.

"Couldn't agree more, Bael. Everyone, on the airships, now!" McGillis shouts and the group retreats.

Team RWBY jump onto the airships just as they begin to ascend into the air while McGillis, Gaelio, Kudelia, Shino, Chad and Dante join them, firing off their last few shots at some Grimm that try to jump after them. Once they are safely away from the Grimm on the ground, the airships engage their thrusters and leave the area while all the passengers watch on as the Grimm engulf their former home. Some of the people cry at knowing that their homes were destroyed, but most were glad to be safely away with their families. Ruby watches the mix of emotions from the side of her airship and then looks back out into the sky with a melancholy expression. Yang notices this and walks to stand next to her sister.

"Ruby, is everything okay?" Yang asked, in a concerned matter.

"…Why?" Ruby asks out of the blue.

"Huh? Yang replies, confused as she raises an eyebrow.

"Why did this have to happen? Why did these people have to lose their homes, or be attacked like this? Why did any of this have to happen?" Ruby asked, forcing herself not to shed any tears in front of the villagers.

"Ruby…" Yang trails off as she wraps her left arm around Ruby's shoulders.

"It's an unfortunate truth in war, Ruby Rose," they hear from Ruby's scroll and she pulls it out to show that is was Agnika speaking to them. "The sad truth is that this is war. It's not made to be pretty, or beautiful. The first victim in war is truth. The second…the innocent. Believe me, back on my world, plenty of innocent people die in almost every conflict. People who did nothing to be a part of that bloodshed, but were forced into it anyway. War has no mercy for anyone." McGillis explains, flying to the left of the ship.

"I know that none of you asked for this, but the sad truth is that you are now part of a war. You will have to see many terrible things, many people lose their lives, and may even see people you know and care about get hurt in this conflict. I just want you to be prepared for that, because it will not wait for you," Gaelio explains, flying next to the right of the ship.

"They're right," the sisters hear behind them and look to see Blake and Weiss standing behind them, Blake being the one that spoke. "Before I came to Beacon, back when I was with the White Fang, I saw a lot of bad things. Nothing to this extent, but still pretty dark. This is reality, and reality can be a cruel mistress," Blake says.

"…I'd just wish it didn't have to be," Ruby said, sadly.

"You have a good heart, Ruby. Don't lose that. Reality is different from the fairytales you've read in your youth, and you will have to come to terms with that. But never lose yourself. As long as you carry that light of hope within you, that light will spread to others, and will help them shine through the darkness. Remember that." Kudelia explains, cheering up Ruby.

Ruby smiles a bit at this, "Thanks, Ms. Kudelia," she replies.

"Of course." Kudelia said.

"Now let's head back home, gang. Mission all done." Shino said and the group flies back to Vale.

XXX

Beacon Academy - Landing Bay

Team RWBY, McGillis, Gaelio, Kudelia, Shino, Chad and Dante return to Vale and touchdown at the landing docks in Vale, letting the villagers disembark before the airships went back into the air to head back to Beacon. When the airships land, the girls get off as McGillis, Gaelio, Kudelia, Shino, Chad and Dante lands next to them, deactivating their Mobile Suits and returning to their human forms.

"Hey guys," they hear and look to their right to all of Tekkadan, along with Almiria, Team JNPR and Team NEGL walking towards them.

"Glad to see you guys." Dante said.

"How did your mission go?" Kudelia asked.

"Both of ours went pretty well." Eugene replied.

"There hasn't been any sign of any Princes since the one we took out in Grace's village," Orga explained, adjusting his tie.

"Where is Ms. Grace right now?" Shino asked, as he was getting a hug from Yamagi to see his "boyfriend" okay.

"She's helping out with the refuges we brought in after their villages were attacked." Almiria replied, refusing to look at McGillis and Gaelio.

"That's a relief." Kudelia said, feeling at ease.

"Well, I think for now, we should get some rest. Who knows when will have another problem to deal with-," Weiss began.

"WEISS!" They hear someone yell behind them and look to see that next problem, someone Weiss was hoping she wouldn't have to deal with for a long time. Standing there, in his pristine white suit, was her father, Jacques Schnee.

XXX

Evernight Castle - Conference Room

In Salem's lair, the Grimm queen sits in the meeting room, overlooking several Seer Grimm showing him battle happening across the globe through the eyes of the other Grimm. In attendance with her is Lucifer, Mammon, Hazel, Arthur and Tyrian.

"Things seem to be going well. However, we must speed things up. Once the survivors of our first wave are all together in their precious little kingdoms, then the real battle can begin. But first…" She trails off as she heads to the Grimm Pool and raises her left hand as dark power surges around it. "Time to make things more… interesting…"


The Gundam Flauros has finally returned! Salem's making preparations and Weiss' bastard of a father makes an appearance! What else is in store for next chapter!