Reviews:

Gabe2000: Okay, I will try the Salem fight when we get there. Currently thinking of a fighting style similar to an archvile summoner mix from Doom. Resurrecting grimm while she uses some sort of attack, eh that might work. Doom Eternal might present some more ideas. I did appreciate the toaster, and I have yet to find the tyranids who put the genestealer inside of it. Do you perhaps know where the culprit might be found? They almost cost me two toasters, and I want them to get in touch with my eradication ray.

webzayne717(chapter one): It is almost like I never used internal speech in the first chapter, and used '' when I actually did it. I understand why you do not like me using - for Lingua-Technis, but I did state it like you recommend me to do in that very same chapter. For being that picky I am surprised that you did not notice me spelling Malleus two different ways within the first paragraph.

Speech Syntaxes:

+Speech+ Lingua-Technis

"Speech" Low Gothic/English

"Speech" Amplified Low Gothic

*Speech* Sounds/Background Noises

Chapter's Pre-Readers:

Notes: Apologies for not getting this chapter out sooner. Once I actually got what to write down the concoction of nurgle, corona, hit. And this entire encounter has been a surreal experience where I have to add toilet paper onto the list of items I must protect alongside toasters. Thankfully none of my family members have been harmed but this outbreak, and hopefully you can say the same. Remember, protecting and caring for those who you consider family is the most important thing you can do.

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Three Way Brawl

*plop* Dominus Ferrum twitched one final time, for she is done with this game. She sent out an order through the noosphere, +Squad Chi-Omicron, you will escort me to Vale. I have classes to teach.+ The tech-priest marched out of the headquarters bunker and made for the exit, with the squad of skitarii following behind. To her surprise the gate was not lifted for her on her approach, instead it remained locked and shut.

+Dominus Ferrum,+ reported Chi-Omicron-6682, the Vanguard Alpha of the squad, as Ira turned around to face him. The tech-priest had the Adeptus Mechanicus equivalent to a ferocious smile on her face, and her eradication ray started to hum with life. The skitarius paused, for he did not wish to lose his status of being past the crux mechanicus. +Dominus Ferrum, there are no classes scheduled for today.+ Ira ejected a round from her macrostubber to check if it was loaded, coincidently it was pointed at the squad in front of her. The Alpha corrected himself, +Upon reconsideration you can provide private lessons to any willing student.+

The voice of Doctor Oobleck resounded throughout the stadium at the highest volume possible, "That concludes the matches for today. Please leave the Coliseum IN A CALM AND ORDERLY FASHION!" Ruby flinched at the loud noise, the effects of the concussion coming back for a brief moment.

"Come on, let's go congratulate 'em." Yang led the team out of their seats, the music and the dying cheers of the crowd started to fade out. The subtle roar of an airship crept upon her ears as Weiss stopped walking without warning.

The graceful team leader unceremoniously bumped into her partner. "Uh, Weiss…what are you doing?" Instead of answering the Schnee's eyes widened and a smile grew upon the desolate wasteland of her typically stern face. 'Almost like when she first saw Zwei.'

Tears started to form in her eyes as she whispered two simile words. "She's here." Like a giddy child the Heiress sprinted out of the stadium, pushing past Blake and Yang in the process. Ruby struggled to keep up, and had to resort to her semblance. 'Note to self: ask Weiss how to run in heels.' As they finally reached the special airship, Weiss stopped in her tracks and gazed upon the Atlesian walking down the ramp.

"Weiss! What is the big-time rush!? Who is it? Who is she!?" questioned the crimson reaper as she tried to catch her breath.

"Winter." The reply was firm as if she should know who this Winter is just by the name. 'Winter…she had white hair, name starts with a 'W', is Atlesian, and looks super strict. Hmmmm.'

A buzzer went off in her mindscape as she reached a conclusion. "Your sister?"

The heiress cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted for her sibling as she ran to meet her. Ruby followed right behind her partner. Weiss allowed all of her giddiness to flow out. "Winter! I'm so happy to see you!" But the idea of who she is talking to made her real her emotions back in. "Your presence honors us."

"Beacon…It's been a long time. The air feels…different," stated Winter as she allowed her eyes to drink in the landscape around her.

Ruby chose this time to practice her skills with small talk. "I mean it is fall so, eh, it's probably colder." Her reward was an unsubtle punch from her partner on the shoulder.

"So, what are you doing here?" questioned the Heiress as she ignored what her partner previously said.

With a pensive stare, the specialist looked to another landing platform. "Classified."

Weiss faltered in the conversation, "Oh, right. Well, how long are you staying?"

This earned her an expression of emotion from her sister, a glare to be specific. "Classified."

"Of course," responded the Heiress with a respectful nod. But her excitement soon broke her facade of refinement. "You're going to love it here! I know you travel a lot, but so much of Beacon is different from Atlas! Vale, too. The government and school are completely separate! Can you believe it!? I-"

"I'm more than familiar with how this kingdom handles its…bureaucracy," interjected Winter, the last word coming out with a bid of audible distaste. "That is not why I came." Weiss cringed and shrunk in words at her sister's statements. "Nor did I come here to watch my own blood fail so miserably in battle. But it appears that I have no choice in the matter."

Weiss attempted to argue against the patronizing, "But, we won."

"Only a novice would refer to that as a victory. I counted at least three strikes missed." The rant on her skills as a fighter ended as the specialist turned to face the Atlesian Knight squad behind her. "Leave us." With a sigh and a slight smile on her face, Winter started the conversation over. "How have you been?"

Weiss started conversing with her sister as if they were equals again, instead of mentor to student. "Oh, splendid! Thank you for asking. I'm actually in the very top ranking of-" *SMACK*

Winter's gloved hand retracted back to her side. "I don't recall asking about your ranking, I'm asking how you've been. Are you eating properly? Have you taken up any hobbies? Are you making new friends?" Her tone softened as she went from question to question.

"Well, there's Ruby," informed Weiss as she gestured to her partner. Winter however turned her stern expression from her sister to her sister's new friend.

"I see. So, this is the leader you wrote of. How appropriately…underwhelming." The specialist glared at the team leader with her statement. A barely audible thanks escaped the crimson reaper's lips. Her hardened gaze softened for a brief moment. "Greetings, Ruby Rose. I wish to thank you for taking an interest in my sister."

"Oh! Uh, yes, of course!" Ruby was not expecting the sudden change in tone at all, and added upon her unfamiliarity with social situations it added up to an awkward result. "The honor is in my…court!"

Ira watched the Atlesian specialist converse with the Beacon students from afar. Chi-Omicron-6682 approached the tech-priest with his taser goad and radium pistol in their holsters. +Dominus Ferrum, what are your orders?+ Ira paused for a moment as a drunken man started to approach the Atlesian automatons. The two acting as the rear guard were torn to shreds with his bare hands.

An idea sparked to life in the still organic portion of the tech-priest's mind. +Inform the rest of the squad to prepare for quelling a fight. Safeties on, but do not be afraid to point you guns at the bickering feudals.+

"Saw that gaudy ship of yours in town. I guess you're here, too." slurred the red eyed drunkard as Ira and Squad Chi-Omicron joined in the standoff. "Oh, and these alien robot things are here as well." The Alpha ignited his taser goad.

"You realize you just destroyed Atlas Military property," accused the specialist.

The tech-priest was faster on the draw than Qrow, "Then nothing of value was lost, basing off your doctrine of using them."

"This does not concern you, tech-priest," retorted Winter as she stepped closer to her real opponent.

Qrow stepped forward as well. "Geez, you Atlas Specialists think you're so special, don't you?"

"The term specialist implies that they are unique," informed Chi-Omicron-6682.

The drunkard now turned on both the adepts and the specialist. "Well, you know what you both really are? A bunch of sellouts. Just like your bosses."

Weiss stepped in between all of them, "There is no reason to fight, we can all just come to our senses and talk it out."

"Weiss Schnee, it's time for you to go." ordered Winter as Qrow started to chuckle.

"Listen to big sister, Weiss. She'll protect you. Just like Atlas is going to protect all of us, huh? Just like how the Accept Us Machinists fail to as well," jabbed the drunkard.

Winter proposed an ultimatum with her drawn blade. "If you won't hold your tongue, then I will gladly remove it for you!"

+Get your squad to keep the civilians out of the crossfire! You're with me.+ ordered Ira to the Alpha as she rushed the clashing huntsmen. Qrow tilted his head to doge the specialist's saber, the following stabs and slashes he evaded with an unparalleled ease. The drunkard bowed to allow his sheathed weapon to block the blow, but it never came. An overly decorated axe had its blade a few inches above his neck, with Winter's blade caught on its pole. On instinct he rolled away from his position as an electrified prong smashed into the ground where he used to stand. The tech-priest ordered, "As the highest-ranking member of the Adeptus Mechanicus present. I order you to end all hostilities immediately before the wellbeing of civilians is put at risk."

"This matter does not concern you. This squabble is between Atlas and this drunkard," stated Winter in defiance of her demand.

Qrow, in an elaborate fashion, twirled while unsheathing his blade into a duelist's stance as he taunted the tech-priest. "You are welcome to try to break this apart. Would make it fairer if you teamed up with her." Ira chuckled to herself, for she now had a chance to satiate her blood lust.

The alpha slowly stepped backward as the three parties stared at each other in a standoff, not one of them making any sudden movements. But to his augmented gaze, he could spot faint tightening and relaxing of muscles. The drunkard rushed the specialist with a vertical slice, knocking her saber out of the way. He quickly pivoted to a horizontal slash towards the tech-priest approaching behind him, but the staff of her axe stopped the blow. Using the rebounded momentum from the block, Qrow parried a stab from Winter which he flowed into another horizontal strike towards Ira.

The Dominus fired her macrostubber at the huntsmen's feet, forcing him to jump away. Winter rushed at the tech-priest with a flurry of stabs and slashes, but her mechadendrites slapped the light blade away. The specialist started to use her superior speed to circle Ira as she continued her onslaught, the Dominus struggled to keep up with her aura enhanced speed. But she was not going to fall just to simple tactics. Ira's eradication ray fire in an arc at her feet, making the Atlesian to slow down. Winter backflipped over a horizontal sweep from the omnissian axe. As she landed her sword redirected Qrow's Harbinger into the ground between her and the tech-priest.

The two feudals started to speed up as they clashed in close quarters around the area formed by the crowd. To the normal eye, it may appear that they are teleporting around, and only being visible for the split seconds that their blades clash. Chi-Omicron-6682 watched the fight with a pinch of dread, 'It would take multiple squads of skitarii just to bring down one of these huntsmen.' The display of their speech and martial prowess was almost beautiful, how they perfectly countered each other's move with another perfectly timed strike or an effortless dodge. That was until Winter disengaged from the close quarters with one of her glyphs as Qrow shattered the stone walkway below him.

Ira cursed to herself as she slowly made her way to the two battling feudals, but her cogitators convinced her to stop. The tech-priest chose to analyze the fight from afar as Qrow cut down a lamp post in his attempts to reach the specialist. Winter landed upon the extended blade of Harbinger mockingly before backflipping off onto the remains of the lamp post then backflipping again onto the walls of beacon academy with her sword penetrating the wall to keep her up. They both transitioned into running across the curved walls attacking each other from a distance, but the Atlesian used dust to create a smoke screen before she charged at Qrow with her weapon now shifted into two blades. Their ensuing collision caused damage to the wall they were standing on and a small crater where they landed on the walkway. Completely ignoring the damage that they caused, they resumed their close quarters engagement. The specialist achieved the upper hand with a pushing block from her twin sabers, sending Qrow back to where they started this fight.

The drunkard with a grin plastered unto his face readied his blade to resume his fight with the Atlesian, but the sound of mechanical joints brought him out of his battle trance. The flat end of his blade blocked a downward smash from Ira. Mechadendrites started to help her main arms push Harbinger closer it's owner. "You know," commented the tech-priest as their weapons remained interlocked. Qrow could hear the sounds of mechanical footsteps approaching him. "You should watch your back." The drunkard tilted his blade, sending the omnissian axe to embed itself into the ground. He then spun around to see the skitarii squad leader holding a metallic pistol pointed to the sky, his muscles started to fail him as Ira jammed the alpha's taser goad into his back.

The tech-priest allowed Chi-Omicron-6682 to restrain the drunkard as she turned to face the specialist. Winter had summoned a glyph behind herself as she stood in a practiced stance. Ira attempted to calculate what she was trying to accomplish in that weird stance. 'Her back is facing me, her feet are pointed towards her glyph. But she is looking at me and one of her blades is attempting to cover her back. To spin before using her - what I assume is a - speed glyph would waste energy.' The eradication ray started to hum to life as they waited, but her weapon deactivated once she spotted the Atlesian General. Ira proclaimed for all to hear, "There is no reason to fight Atlesian, sheath your weapon."

Before she could counter the Dominus' demand, Ironwood yelled "Specialist Schnee!"

Winter lowered her weapons as she addressed her superior. "General Ironwood, sir."

"What in the world do you think you're doing?" he demanded as he approached gesturing for the specialist to follow him towards the tech-priest.

Winter pointed to the now released drunkard standing next to the skitarius alpha. "He started the altercation sir, and the tech-priest increased the hostility of the situation."

"That's actually not true," injected Qrow. "She attacked first, and the cyborgs intervened and tried to knock us both out." The crowd went silent and the squad of skitarii fell back in line with their squad leader.

The general glared at his subordinate. "Is that right?"

Winter stammered for words, as Ira backed up Qrow's story. "What the huntsman said is true. I can provide video evidence if required."

"And you." Ironwood stepped forward past the tech-priest and specialist to face Qrow. "What are you doing here?"

The huntsmen easily countered, "I could be asking you the same thing."

"Now, now, everyone." interjected Ozpin as he stepped through the crowd with his second in command. "There is a sanctioned fight happening just around the corner at the Colosseum, that I can assure you has better seats, and popcorn." The glares from Glynda were enough to get the message across for those who could not hear him. The crowd slowly dispersed as the Atlesians followed the headmaster and professor back to Beacon Tower.

Electronic blue eyes glared under candle light as he listened into a no-longer private conversation. The connection between General Ironwood's scroll and Ozpin's desk alerted him to this meeting, and he expected something of value to be learned. "I'm here because this is what was necessary." A display of a fleet of four small escort ships with fifteen armed bullheads appeared in front of the Magos Dominus.

A gruff and unknown voice argued with the General. "You're here because Ozpin wanted you here! He made you a part of this inner circle and opened your eyes to the real fight that's in front of us!" Pugnus silently mused to himself on how to pry more information out of Ozpin about this secret war they are fighting. The unknown retorted to a statement that Pugnus did not hear during his thinking. "Oh, well, you've got a real funny way of showing it."

"The people of Vale needed a native of Remnant to protect them; someone who would act. When they look to the sky and see my fleet, they feel safe, and our enemies will feel our strength." The tech-priest had to hold back a chuckle at the overconfidence of Ironwood in his army.

The unknown voice started to laugh at the General. "You-you think they're scared of your little ships? I've been out there and I've seen the things she's made, and let me tell you…they are fear."

+She's made?+ questioned Pugnus out loud. +So, there is a source to this Grimm infection.+

"And fear will bring the Grimm. A guardian is a symbol of comfort. But an army is a symbol of conflict. There's an energy in the air now, a question in the back of everyone's mind: 'If this is the size of our defenses, then what is it we're expecting to fight?'"

The tech-priest retorted to the conversation, +A guardian is a symbol of weakness and pacifism, while an army is the embodiment of power and might. You need an army to win this secret war of yours Ozpin.+

Afterword: As for the naming of the skitarius, I did it in a matter similar to the kill team table for naming skitarius. The first word is the designation for their squad, the second word is the designation of commanding tech-priest, and the last four numbers are to differentiate for the skitarius within the squad. The Vanguard Alpha for example is part of Squad Chi, and is under the command of Ira Ferrum (Omicron), and has the serial number 6682. For future reference, Pugnus is Gamma, and Quin is Pi. What do you guys think about this method?

Notice: There is a poll on my profile for you to vote for how the battle of Vale should turn out in this story. Since I have multiple plans for it that I feel can all work, I want you to be able to have a say in which way this story goes.