Android vs Cyborg
Pyrrha blocked a strike from Talos, but the force still pushed her away. She switched Milo to gun mode and fired, only for the bullet to harmlessly against Talos' armor, before switching it back to sword mode. She slashed at Talos, who easily evaded the attack, and brought up one of his blades, which Pyrrha managed to block. He then held up his hand, his fingers opening. Having a good feeling that that meant, Pyrrha quickly fell back as Talos started firing.
The red head took shelter behind one of the trees, cringing as she hoped the trees could withstand the bullets. It proved to be a non-issue, though as Talos was suddenly on top of her, swinging his blades, and though he missed the teen, he still brought down the tree. Pyrrha then unleashed her Semblance, sending the metal man tumbling away. He managed to catch himself, driving his blades into the ground as he ground to a halt, and looked up, his faceplate glowing menacingly. He then held up all four of his hands, as all four of his palms opened up, releasing a massive burst of energy that careened through the air, bringing down several of the trees.
"Why are you still doing this?" Pyrrha demanded, once the attack had ceased, "I told you what happened!"
"I know the truth," the android answered, as he advanced on Pyrrha, "Emerald told me what happened."
"So why are you going for me?" Pyrrha demanded. Talos fists clenched and unclenched briefly.
"She may have set my sister up for execution," he said, "But you were the one who pulled the trigger, and as long as you still draw breath, my vengeance is incomplete!" His Dust apparatus activated, as his blades lit up with Dust enhanced power, and with that, he lunged at Pyrrha again.
(in the air)
Weiss looked over the ocean, as Maria swung the Bullhead back in the direction of the cliffs. She then checked her Scroll, noticing that there was still a signal, meaning Blake and Ilia hadn't gotten the job down then.
"Come on! Come on!" she muttered to herself nervously.
"Calm down, child," Maria said, glancing at the girl beside her, "I can hear your heartbeat from here, and my hearing ain't what it was." Weiss would've chuckled at that, but was too nervous.
"It's not that I don't have faith in Blake," she explained, "But…"
"Manta 5-1, this is Argus Base," a voice from the radio said, catching both women's attention, "We see you circled back. What's your status? Over." An unspoken "oh crap" was exchanged between the them.
"Why can they see us?" Weiss asked.
"Something tells me, someone couldn't get their job done," Maria answered, "Don't worry, I've had my run-ins with Atlas before, just leave it to me." She then took the radio.
"Argus Base, this is Manta 5-1," she said, "We were up here to inspect the outflow of the vehicle, but everything has demonstrated to be optimal. We are going to go a little further before we head back, just to make sure." There was a five second pause.
"Unidentified pilot, please surrender to Atlesian authority, or you will be treated as hostile, and respond accordingly."
"What?!" Weiss squawked, "You said…"
"Miss, none of our pilots are elderly women," the voice interrupted. Weiss opened then closed her mouth, before she face palmed.
"Okay," Maria said, "Maybe I should've seen that coming."
"Calavera!" a familiar, and very annoying voice shrieked onto the radio, making Weiss wince at the noise.
"Good day Cordovin!" Maria said, with a smirk, "I hope you're doing well."
"You insipid old shrew!" Cordovin said, "I don't know how you corrupted Ms. Schnee, but I'm not going to let you get away with this!" Weiss was about to say something, only for Maria to pull a thing of nuts out of nowhere.
"I'm doing this, Cordovin!" she declared, "I will be eating nuts while I'm doing it!" Weiss decided that she would wonder about that later, as she rolled her eyes, and took her Scroll again.
"We've got a problem here," she said into it, "And our brave pilot isn't helping the situation."
(on the cliffs)
"What's going on?" Ruby asked, after Nora relayed the information to the group, "Why isn't the signal down?"
"Something must've happened with Blake and Ilia," Ren said.
"Shouldn't we go and help them, then?" Jaune asked.
"Something tells me we may not be able to," Oz said, as he looked into the distance, seeing the airship coming up, "I suspect that Cordovin is going to be scrambling her fighters."
"Uh…," Weiss's voice suddenly said, "Guys…"
"Weiss?" Jaune asked.
"I don't think she's sending any fighters." As if on cue, the ground began to rumble slightly. All eye were drawn to the base in the distance, as the side of the cliff actually opened up.
"What's that?" Ruby asked.
"Trouble, that's what," Qrow said as he put his hand on Harbinger, for what little it would be worth, as a colossal mech emerged from the cliff. They couldn't tell how big it was from there, but it was absolutely enormous, as it started lumbering in their direction.
"Now!" Cordovin said over an intercom on the mech, "You will taste the true might of the Atlesian war machine!"
"Well, so much for the plan," Ren commented.
(at the tower)
Blake was slammed into the railing of the tower, as she quickly avoided a piece of rebar thrown at her. Taking shelter around the corner, she took a moment to catch her breath. It never failed, just when things were starting to look up, he had to show up and ruin it all.
"Did you really think I wouldn't find some way to find you?" Adam growled, as he spun Wilt through his hands, "You could go from one end of Remnant to the other, and I'd still find you!" Blake clenched her teeth as she switched Gambol Shroud to gun form. She then rounded the corner, and fired a Dust bullet, which Adam easily deflected. While it didn't do enough, it did distract him, as Ilia came down on top of him, swinging Lightning Lash. Again, Adam easily blocked it, before having to dodge a kick from Ilia, which he quickly countered with his own kick, knocking her away.
"I guess I should've expected you turning," Adam said to her, "You always did seem completely obsessed with Blake."
"You're one to talk!" Ilia countered as she got to her feet, and swung Lighting Lash again, which Adam managed to avoid. He then, however had to duck from a strike from Blake. He swung Wilt up, which the cat easily managed to avoid.
"I've been waiting for you two to get away fro the other's for a while now," Adam said, as the red eyes on his mask narrowed.
"Why!" Blake snapped, "Why do you still stalk me like this?! Can't you just get on with your life?"
"My life ended the moment you ran away," Adam answered, "You can run away again, but there's nowhere you can go where I won't chase you!" He then sprung at Blake again, as the two traded strikes with each other for a while, before Ilia moved, and struck with her weapon. While it missed the Faunus, it wrapped around his sword, and before Adam could react, Blake wrapped her ribbon around his otherwise, causing him to be pulled in two different directions.
"You're insane!" Ilia said.
"He's always been insane," Blake said, "It just took us a while to admit it."
"Maybe I am insane," Adam said, his mask glaring with him, "But I don't care at this point, and if losing my sanity means killing you, then I don't care what have to give up!" It was then that Blake something noticed in addition to his mask: an iron crown, a very familiar iron crown.
"It can't be," she murmured in shock; it was the crown of the Wild Empire, thrown into the darkness by her ancestor so long ago. Adam seemed to notice what she was looking at, as his eyes narrowed cruelly.
"There was a time when the Faunus ruled all of Remnant!" the bull said, "I hoped that you and I could share a return of those days together, but now..." Suddenly, his Aura glowed bright than normal, and his eyes glowed behind his mask, as he clenched his fists, and yanked hard. The force sent both women tumbling towards him, and he held up one first which caught Blake in the face. This in turn, sent Ilia slamming into Blake. When the two got their senses back, they saw Adam retrieving his sword (which he dropped when he pulled the two together).
"I thought I understood what it meant to be powerful," he said, as he spun his sword through his hands, "But now… now I have real power. Power that can rival every human and Faunus in the world." He then looked straight at Blake.
"I know what you are," Adam suddenly said, pointing his weapon at her, "You aren't even a Faunus anymore, you're just a monster." Blake's eyes widened upon hearing that; she knew what he was talking about.
"How…," she began, as she rose to her feet.
"You're not the only one who's scene the face of a creator," Adam answered coldly, before he sprung at her again.
(in the woods)
Pyrrha and Talos continued to exchange blows, as the android brought down his lightning enhanced sword. Pyrrha blocked that, but the bronze conducted electricity, sending a shock through her body. While her Aura deflected the damage, it stunned her, allowing Talos to kick her away. As she was knocked to the ground, Talos was quickly on top of her, stabbing down with his gravity enhanced blade. Fortunately, Pyrrha managed to roll out of the way, but the shockwave generated sent her careening away.
The android was quick to follow up on his attack, as he held up his hand, and his palm opened, sending a blast of green energy at Pyrrha. She dodged the attack, but it hit some nearby rocks, blasting it apart. Noticing a rock landing by her, Pyrrha narrowed her eyes, before she picked it up, threw it in the air, and kicked it at Talos. As she expected, it harmlessly bounced off Talos' armor, but it did get his attention, allowing the champion to press her own attack. The two exchanged another several strikes, before they locked weapons.
"You can't beat me!" Talos said, "I was designed specifically to be the greatest fighter in Remnant. The best fighting styles, battle strategies, and reflexes were directly programmed into my brain. I'll never tire, I'll never slow, and I'll never stop, not until you, and everyone else who murdered Penny, are dead!"
"Great," Pyrrha said, "That all just makes it another chance to test myself." She then activated her Semblance, repelling the metal man again. With a growl, he leapt to his feet, as he he suddenly grabbed one of the nearby trees, and literally pushed it down, sending it Pyrrha's way. Fortunately it was easy to avoid, as she switched Milo to rifle mode again, and fired, aiming for his faceplate. It was deflected off his forehead, but distracted him, as Pyrrha used her Semblance to bring him to her, as she thrust forward with Milo in spear form. Talos leaned out of the way, but the head of the spear grazed his cheek, leaving a gash across his face. Talos tumbled away, but was quick to recover.
"Hmm," he mused, as he touched the gash that was under one of his eyes, "It's been a while since someone was able to actually damage me." Pyrrha didn't say anything at that, as she held a battle stance. The android was quick to act, as he swung his fire enhanced sword, sending an arc of fire her way, which while it missed her, made an entire tree go up in flames. Pyrrha looked to throw Aukuo, but the android moved faster, stabbing down with all four of his swords. Talos then quickly swung up his Ice-enhanced blade, creating an arc of ice that trapped Pyrrha's leg in it. She quickly tried to activate her Semblance, only for Talos to knock her upside the head, stunning her.
"Now," Talos said, as he held up blade to finish the job, "I'm going to enjoy this." The dazed Pyrrha tried to force her leg out, as Talos brought it down. Only of him to stop, and whirl around, just as Bumblebee suddenly came down at him. Talos programmed reflexes quickly responded, as he caught the motorcycle in mid air. Yang rolled to the ground, her own weapons at the ready, as Talos ripped Bumblebee in half with his bare hands, holding them like blunt weapons.
"Yang!" Pyrrha cried, "What're you doing here?"
"What'd you think?" Yang answered, as she punched at the ice, freeing Pyrrha's leg. Pyrrha couldn't ask any more questions, as all of a sudden the two pieces of Bumblebee were thrown at the two, which the two managed to avoid.
"Who are you?" Talos then demanded, as he stared the new girl down.
"This girl's partner," Yang said, as she stood beside Pyrrha.
"I've no quarrel with you, organic," Talos said, pointing one of his blades at her, "Why don't you scram here and now."
"Yang, don't get yourself involved," Pyrrha said, "He's…" She stopped, as Yang look her straight in the eyes.
"I ain't leaving you this time," the blonde answered, "Got it?" Pyrrha would've been surprised, but found herself unable to feel like that, as she smiled at her partner.
"We got this?" Yang asked with her own smile.
"Yeah, we got this," Pyrrha answered, and with that, they turned to face their android opponent. Talos just growled, as he then held up his arms, only for each one to split in two. For a moment, Pyrrha and Yang thought he was going to attack them with eight arms, but instead, the arms seemed to rotate on his shoulders, with one of the upper ones going down to a lower socket, and a lower one going to an upper socket. The hands then came back together, each blade now enhanced with two different forms of Dust.
"It doesn't matter," he said, "I'll just kill you both."
The Old Ones: The Warrior
"I don't get it," Callum Duun said, as he prodded the fire slightly, "Why are we still here?"
"Because Lord Asgard has ordered it," his sister, Kara Duun answered.
"Oh well, that makes it all fine," Callum grumbled. They were in a fortress that sat in Southern Solitas, and they both suspected that if not for their Auras, and the fires, they'd probably be frozen.
"The people need us up there," Kara said, "If we don't stop him, he'll continue enslaving the people." Callum just grunted at that. Both siblings were soldiers in the army of Lord Ragnar Asgard, who had just landed an army. They were now marching North to face the forces of the Wolf King, Fenris. Fenris was a warlord who was remnant of the Wild Empire, who built his own little fiefdom in a city not far from there.
"Damn Faunus," Callum grumbled, "They need a taste of our pain."
"We'll figure that out another day," Kara said.
"Actually, I don't think those thoughts are worth it." The soldiers looked up to see a tall, muscular man with a short orange beard and mustache with short orange hair. On each hip was a sizable battle-ax.
"Sire!" both said as they rose to their feet, only for Ragnar to gesture for them to sit back down.
"May I join you?" he then asked, and after getting approval, he sat by the fire with them, blowing into his hands slightly, "You know, I almost hope my descendants decide to go back to Anima." He then looked towards Callum.
"So, what's on your mind?"
"Nothing worth your time, my Lord."
"Try me." Callum and his sister exchanged glances, before taking a breath.
"Our grandfather was born during the days of the Empire," he said, "The Faunus killed his whole family, and would've killed him he hadn't escaped to Anima. And while the Empire may be gone, there's still so many Faunus who think of us as just…. things." To his surprise, his lord put a hand on his shoulder.
"Let's clarify something right now, the goal isn't to defeat the Faunus," Ragnar corrected, "It's to defeat Fenris, and save the people in the city. The fact that they are Faunus doesn't matter."
"But if we don't take action now, the Faunus will just do it all again!" Kara said.
"We can't be sure of that," Ragnar answered, "And it's our job to be better than that. Freedom is a right to all living things." The siblings exchanged looks with each other, not sure what to make of their lord's words.
"My lord!" They all looked up to see a soldier on horseback coming up.
"Our scouts have sighted the Faunus forces advancing on our position!" The Duun siblings both gasped, as Ragnar took a breath, and rose to his feet.
"Come, let's go make some people free right now," he said.
Note: I just updated this chapter, along with chapter 69 and 75. These are small, but important changes, that I highly recommend you look at.
For what it's worth, what Maria says is not real military jargon. In my experience, when a soldier/airman/sailor/marine, wants to say something, they'll just say it outright.
Most of this chapter was dedicated to getting the final action scene going, and to give Pyrrha a go for her fight with Talos before Yang shows up. There's also the fight with Adam, where Blake will fight alongside Ilia instead of Adam. Something's going to happen, something that's probably not going to go well.
And that was the last of the Old Ones shorts, though I might do some more in the future if inspiration hits me. I've even been entertaining doing a little spinoff series regarding the adventures of these ancestors.
Be sure to review.
