RWBY: MRRN
Volume 6, Chapter 31: The First Skirmish
Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY. All rights go to Rooster Teeth.
"Everyone," David addressed all the defenders of Argus; Atlas soldiers, Steel Elites, Bushi Militia, and Huntsmen and Huntresses all stood before the Commander as he himself stood atop the stairs leading up to the top of the wall. He breathed heavily as he thought of what to say to his forces.
"It's fallen to us to defend Argus, the largest non-Kingdom city in Remnant. It served as the main route of travel and trade between Anima and Solitas ever since it was first founded by both Mantle and Mistral. This is no simply city; this is the connection between two continents and Kingdoms, so it's no wonder why the Iron Knights want to capture it so badly."
"Do you think the Atlas forces will arrive on time?" Math asked Forest.
"For now, all we can do is hope and hold out," Forest assured his son figure.
"Many of you have seen the Iron Knights; they are a group of fighters who believe that society is hopelessly corrupt and that they must burn down the old world so they can bring in a new one. They have proven that they will slaughter anyone in their way, anyone they deem an enemy. The Fall of Beacon, the attack on the Anima Express, the attack on Haven, the near destruction of Mistral's Huntsmen and Huntresses…they all had a part in this and they showed no mercy, no regard for the lives they destroyed. They are entirely convinced that their cause is just and they are the saviors of this world."
Team MRRN repressed the urge to laugh mockingly at David's statement. The Iron Knights believed themselves heroes, when they were monsters, killers and terrorists. There was no line they wouldn't cross, no boundaries they wouldn't break to achieve their goal. In the end, their only result would be setting the world aflame like a powder keg.
"But those of you who have fought them know who they truly are: fanatics, terrorists, hypocrites, murderers. They blame society for countless deaths and great injustice, yet they are blind to their own faults. They are blind to the damage they cause, the lives they destroy, and the chaos they unleash."
"That couldn't be more true," Ruo growled.
"Make no mistake; they are not here to destroy Argus's city, walls, or homes. They are coming to destroy our people, all the way down to the very last child. Once the battle begins, there will be no quarter; if you throw down your arms, if you fall to your knees in surrender, they will kill you and they will kill your families, your friends, your loved ones. The Iron Knights will offer no surrender, no mercy…nothing but a fight to the death." David exhaled as he prepared to deliver the news that would hopefully lift their spirits.
"General Ironwood is sending reinforcements to help us as soon as possible. He is sending a fleet under the command of Colonel Geom-Eun Holang-I, one of his best field commanders. If we can hold out against the Iron Knights until they arrive, then we can win this battle. We can win!" Some of the defenders gave out a loud but brief cheer.
"Remember your training, your skills, and what you fight for! Stand by your comrades and tell those Iron Knights that if they want this city, they'll have to fight us for it! For Argus!" The defenders gave out a much louder cheer, bolstered by David's motivating words. They were ready to defend Argus, to defend their homes, their loved ones; they were prepared to let the Iron Knights know that they will not go down without a fight.
-0-
The sun was barely dipping below the horizon for the people of Argus. Their defenses had been prepared as best as possible and all comm lines were green across the board. The crews for the Force Field generator, Argus Mech and automated gun systems were all on standby, ready to act when ordered.
The majority of the defenders were positioned on the wall, waiting for the Iron Knight army to arrive as the distant sounds of marching and airship engines could be faintly heard. They were bringing the full might of their forces in Anima, utilizing every resource at their disposal.
"Kokkinos wasn't lying," Math told Nasser as they stood on the wall side by side, easily hearing the sounds of marching. "They're bringing a full army. They must be hellbent on getting Argus."
The noises of their own airships started to power up, the four Mistral airships Silvio and Benjamin brought along with seven Atlesian ships as well. David Brownwood, who was on the wall along with the defenders, activated his earbud and hailed the ship leading them.
"Scorcher 2-3, this is Commander Brownwood," he stated. "Are you ready to start your assault? Over."
"Scorcher 2-3, we are confirmed ready for first run," the pilot responded. "Green across the board for all Scorchers. Over."
"Hold on for now," David commanded. "We're picking up several hostile airships on our radar. Hold on until the army is closer so our turrets can cover your retreat before we activate the Force Field. Over."
"Understood, Commander. Standing by for now. Over and out."
"Hey, Robin," Ruo greeted his partner, who was wearing a protective Atlesian mask now, courtesy of David Brownwood. "Will you be okay for this fight?"
"I'll be fine," he assured. "I know you guys are worried, but I've learned enough of my new Semblance to not be a burden."
"It takes more than just a few days to master a Semblance, Robin," the White Tiger replied. "Don't feel ashamed to stay back on this one."
"I'm not helpless," Robin sternly responded. "I spent enough months feeling that way after the Fall of Beacon. I'm not doing it again."
Ruo sighed, having heard of how Robin was ever since he lost his eyes during the Fall of Beacon, the reason for his hatred of Emerald Sustrai. He had spent months in depression, only breaking out of it when he received a visor from General Ironwood that allowed him to see again. Now with it destroyed from the attack on the Argus Limited, a new Semblance had emerged: echolocation.
The White Tiger had never heard of a person's Semblance changing completely, though he believed it was possible. Semblances were merely a more tangible form of one's Aura, so it changing due to certain circumstances was not entirely impossible.
But there was time to think about it later, though they'd have to win the siege of Argus first.
"There they are," Yang spoke. The Iron Knights' army slowly crept over the hill and out of the forest in front of the city, pouring out into the open along with possibly thirty tanks and fifteen assault ships flying above.
The one ship that frightenedly stood out was the large Grimm ship with a Nevermore head and a large red eye in the center, leading at the front of the air fleet. Many of the defenders spoke and murmured among themselves, wondering what the monstrous ship was and how it could even exist.
"Salem must've given it to Nachtfel," Forest guessed.
"Scorchers, begin hit and run! Over!" David commanded.
"Scorchers, beginning first run. Lining in attack formation. Over." Argus's ships flew over the wall and towards the Iron Knight army that was almost fully within full view. As they feared, the Argus defenders were outnumbered possible fifty to one; the Iron Knights seemed almost endless as they poured into the open.
-0-
"Open fire!" Benjamin ordered on his commlink as he flew on one of the Mistral ships. The Mistral airships opened their missile launchers and launched them at the Iron Knight ground forces, exploding on impact. Many Iron Knights went up in flames and at least three tanks were destroyed in the skirmish, much to the defenders' hopes.
"Look out!" a Mistral pilot shouted over the commlink. "Missiles inbound!"
"Evasive action!" Benjamin ordered. Immediately, the Mistral and Argus ships took evasive action to dodge the incoming missiles launched from the Iron Knights' airships. Two of the Argus ships were hit by the missiles, one immediately exploding and the other crashing to the ground, then being destroyed by a blast from an IK tank.
"Second run!" Benjamin ordered. "Mistral airships, focus your fire on the Iron Knights' gunships!"
The remaining Argus airships fired more missiles at the Iron Knight forces, killing more of them while Benjamin's forces launched at the IKs' air fleet, quickly taking down two gunships. As expected, more missiles were launched from the enemy fleet.
"More missiles inbound!" Benjamin alerted. "Evasive action! I repeat, evasive action!"
The airships quickly maneuvered to avoid the incoming missiles, but unfortunately, another Argus airship was destroyed and plummeted to the ground.
"All ships, return to base immediately!" David ordered over the commlinks. "I repeat, return to base immediately! Over!"
As ordered, the airships turned around and started flying back to the city while the automated turrets opened fire at several IK ships pursuing them. When the Argus and Mistral ships were safely within the city's walls, David contacted the crew in charge of the Force Field generator.
"Activate the shield!" he commanded.
"Shield activating!" the crewman answered. David looked back in the direction of where the generator was and watched as a light blue force field rose from it, creating a dome as it spread. The IKs tried taking several artillery shots at the wall, but they hit the force field instead as it completely enveloped the city of Argus.
"Soldiers," David contacted the Atlas soldiers guarding the generator. "Keep an eye out. The enemy may've sent infiltrators inside before we activated the shield."
"Yes, sir," one of them replied.
-0-
"They've activated the shields," Dagger pointed out. "We need to deactivate that generator and quick." Cloak reached into her knapsack and pulled out two flying drones, placing them on the ground and then activated them with her gauntlet.
"What, you're staying behind?" Emerald questioned the younger Lynx sister.
"Her specialty is scouting, not combat," Dagger told the one-eyed girl. "Now let's get moving, cyclops. She'll use her drones to scout ahead."
"Cyclops?" Emerald growled, hating that insulting nickname. "Who do you think-"
"Save it for later," Renegade stated. "We have to disable the generator and quick." While Cloak stayed behind in some bushes and used her drones to do recon on the enemies, the other four snuck off to shut down the generator. Dagger's mind went back to what Mercury and Emerald told them before they left for their mission.
Dagger wasn't blind to the things she had done to make sure her sister stayed safe: she had killed, stolen, and lied to ensure her sister's safety in a world where they were judged just for being themselves. There was nothing she wouldn't do to make sure her sister was protected and cared for.
After working in the criminal underworld for money to support herself and her sister, Nachtfel found them after their boss tried to blackmail Dagger into working for free. He gave them a promise much better than Lien: a world without prejudice, without hatred, and without corruption of power. They were easily swayed by this promise and became Iron Knights, serving as assassins and informants in Mistral.
Nachtfel always spoke of the promise of a better world, one led justly and fairly. He always insisted that the only way to this goal was to burn the old world down and everyone who remained determined to defend it. He always made his followers feel that he genuinely cared for them and never considered them pawns on a chessboard; to
But her faith in him was now shaken by what she and her sister had been told before the assault. As Mercury pointed out, Nachtfel had allowed his followers to experiment on themselves, turning them into Berserkers and Oni, something they'd never change back from. He had always pushed the blame onto his enemies for him becoming a monster in the eyes of the world, never accepting responsibility for his actions. He was allowing his own Knights to fight and die for someone else's cause, someone he wouldn't tell who they were.
Despite all of the destruction, death and ruin he unleashed, he acted as if he was achieving greatness and believed himself only a victim and a messiah of sorts instead of a terrorist. He had torn apart families, aided in Grimm invasions all over Remnant, had victimized and killed millions of innocent people…and he believed that every action he made was justified.
Cloak and Dagger had become desensitized to the violence and death due to their hate-filled and racial upbringing; they were prepared to do violent and murderous things to help fulfill Nachtfel's goal. They longed for the world he promised his followers, one that sounded like paradise and a truly good world.
Was there no line Nachtfel wouldn't cross to see his goal fulfilled? Was there no action he wouldn't commit if it meant bringing forth the world he desired? Was he truly someone trying to save the world of Remnant? Or was he just a man taking out his anger on the world and had rallied thousands to his cause, using the corruption of power and their feelings of oppression as his war cry?
"Okay," Cloak informed the group over their commlink. "Twenty-five soldiers, armed with swords, assault rifles, handguns and explosives. They're all carrying scrolls, so any of them could warn the defenders."
"Thanks, sis," Dagger told her. "Stay safe."
"You too…Dawn."
That was possibly the first time in a long while that Cloak had called Dagger by her real name. Ever since they joined the Iron Knights, they often called themselves the names Nachtfel had given them, just as he gave names to all his leading Knights. Was this a way to make them forget themselves, to forget who they were as people and only know themselves as Iron Knights?
"Dagger?" Renegade asked her, noticing that she wasn't completely focused.
"Yeah, yeah," she quickly reassured. They snuck closer to the generator until finally approaching it, appearing as a short yet broad tower with three separate balconies that allowed soldiers to look over the area. The majority of the soldiers were on the ground, keeping an eye out for intruders.
"We need to move quick before they can alert the others," Dagger pointed out.
"Yeah, we know," Mercury groaned.
"Alright, Dagger, you know your part," Renegade told the assassin. Reluctantly, the Lynx Faunus changed her appearance to that of an Atlas soldier, surprising Emerald and Mercury.
"Be right back," she spoke in a different voice. "Get ready to strike when I give the signal." As she moved down, she breathed heavily to make it look like she had been running hastily. When she felt her act was ready, she emerged from the foliage and made herself known to the troops.
"We have to hurry!" she informed them. "Iron Knights are inside the shields!"
"What?" one of the soldiers gasped. "Are you certain of this? If they're inside-"
"Hold on," the leading soldier interrupted. "If Iron Knights are inside the shields, why didn't Commander Brownwood inform us over the commlink?"
"I saw them, not him," Dagger claimed, still keeping up her act. "I didn't have time to warn him. We need to-"
"I'll contact him and let him know," the leading soldier insisted. "How many are there?"
"Enough for us to take care of on our own," Dagger pushed. She was sensing that the soldiers weren't falling for her act, openly showing suspicion towards the disguised Lynx Faunus.
"Arrest him," the leading soldier commanded. "He's a fraud."
"What?" Dagger barked. "I saw Iron Knights inside the shields. We have to-"
"Or you're distracting us," the soldier interrupted as he activated his scroll; as he suspected, Dagger's own scroll was not answering.
"It's a military requirement that all Atlas soldiers have their scrolls connected to the Atlas Military network," the soldier called out. Dagger frowned, knowing that she had been exposed.
"Attack!" Renegade shouted from the side, appearing in a flash of black Aura as he quickly killed two soldiers with his Kopises. Several more soldiers lined up their weapons to fire; before they could unload, Mercury appeared right in front of them in a flash of white Aura, smirking.
"Hey, there," he greeted. The soldiers fired at him, but he was gone before the bullets could even hit him. He reappeared again, kicking one Atlas soldier in the head before unloading a round from his gun greaves, Talaria, into another's torso, killing him instantly.
"Commander Brownwood, come in!" one of the soldiers on the balcony shouted into his radio. "The generator is under attack! I repeat, the generator is under-" He ceased talking when Emerald Sustrai appeared behind him and decapitated him, watching his head fall from the balcony to the ground below.
"Kill them before they can call for reinforcements," Dagger shouted as she shot and killed two Atlas soldiers with her knife gun before dodging a grenade thrown by one of the soldiers. She then swung her spiked chain at one of the soldiers, wrapping around his neck and slamming him into the ground.
"What the-?" one of the soldiers gasped as Dagger's disguise changed back to her normal form. "She's an infiltrator!"
Renegade and Mercury used their speed to dodge the bullets fired from the Atlas soldiers, easily slaughtering them in moments as they tried in desperation to stop the attackers.
"Sound the alarm!" an Atlas soldier shouted before being killed by Mercury. One of the few remaining soldiers hurried to the alarm button, knowing that it was their only hope of stopping the infiltrators. He opened the control box and slammed the red button labeled 'Alarm'.
-0-
"What's that?" Cole asked as a loud sound started going off.
"That's the generator!" Pyrrha called out. "The Iron Knights must've gotten inside before the shields closed. But if they've gotten inside…oh, no."
"We have to hurry!" Cole called as he and Oren hurried off in the direction of the generator, followed by Yang and Robin. They ran down the stairs of the wall, leaping to the ground when they were close enough and hurried to the coastline that would lead them to the generator.
"They couldn't have sent more than probably twenty," Oren deduced as he equipped Rouge Paragon. "We would've seen them."
"Whatever it is, we need to hurry," Cole told the group. "If they deactivate the shield, there's nothing to stop the Iron Knights from unleashing their artillery on the wall and city."
"The city will fall in a matter of hours if so," Yang stated grimly. "They outnumber us probably fifty to one and they've got a crapload of ships and tanks."
AAAAARRRRRRRRR!
"Grimm," Robin gasped, his echolocation allowing him to easily see the Manticore Grimm flying from the forest and making their way towards the shielded city. "I can't tell how many there are."
"At least a few hundred," Cole pointed out as they flew closer. "The shield should vaporize them upon impact."
Suddenly, the shields started to slowly rise up, no longer protecting the city of Argus. It left an easy way for the Manticores to fly in and start terrorizing the city with nothing to stop them.
"Oh, no," Oren gasped as he saw the Manticores fly closer to Argus. "They've shut down the generator!"
"Then let's stop talking and get it back online!" Yang insisted, pushing the others to keep going towards the generator. Upon approaching their destination, they were horrified by the sight of dead Atlas soldiers littering the ground and tower, their blood seeping into the ground and from the balconies.
"Hey, blondie," Mercury greeted from atop the tower, joined by Dagger, Emerald and Renegade.
"Mercury," Yang growled. "You've joined the Iron Knights?"
"For now," Mercury responded arrogantly.
"So you and Emerald are Nachtfel's lapdogs now?" Robin insulted. "Well, I guess you'd have to be since Cinder is dead." He heard a shot go off, prompting him to dodge it; based on the heavy and enraged breathing he was hearing, it undoubtedly came from Emerald.
"Cinder is dead because of you!" she angrily shouted. "You should've been the ones to die at Haven, not her!"
"Cinder got herself killed because she was too blinded by revenge," Yang countered. "She sabotaged your own plans for her benefit."
"You don't know anything about her!" Emerald shouted again, her face filled with rage and anger towards the four defenders.
"I know more than you," Yang countered. "I saw her old home before we came to Argus. She was raised by a hateful and abusive family who mistreated her for the slightest insult; beaten, abused and deprived of any happiness. Trust me; I know what she is."
"You…you think you know her?" Emerald questioned. "You think that just because you've seen her old home that you know her more than I do?"
"You were nothing but a pawn to her," Yang claimed. "People like her and Nachtfel don't care about people, they use them because they want to take their anger out on the world. They want to make others suffer just as they suffered. You honestly think she cares about you? To her, you were just some tool for her to use until you served your purpose."
"Liar!" Emerald shouted. "I…You don't know anything."
"Someone spoke like a blindly obedient pet," Robin mocked before arming himself with Sharp Shot. "Don't waste your breath, Yang; she doesn't want to accept reality."
"I'll kill you!" Emerald shouted as she jumped from the balcony and rushed towards Robin, engaging in combat with him. In the moment of distraction, Oren activated his shield's shotgun and fired at Mercury, but missed as he disappeared in the blink of an eye.
"What!?" Yang gasped, never having seen Mercury do that before. Several shots were fired at her, coming from Dagger who was aiming her knife gun at the sun dragon.
"Wait, I know you," she called out. "You're the one who led the attack on our home in Mistral that night."
"I am," Dagger confirmed before jumping down and twirling her spiked chain around. "You know, you're a real pain in the ass." Yang frowned, then activated her gauntlets and started punching at the Iron Knight assassin.
"Hey, there," Mercury greeted Oren with a smirk before unleashing a roundhouse kick on the Lynx shield user. He blocked the attack with Rouge Paragon before countering with a powerful punch at the assassin but missed as Mercury used his speed to dodge the attack.
"So I guess that leaves you and me," Cole told Renegade as he leapt up onto the balcony, brandishing his scimitars.
"You should leave," Renegade insisted as he drew out his own Kopises.
"And let you destroy Argus?" Cole questioned. "Not happening." Before Cole could catch on, Renegade moved at a superhuman speed, leaving a black Aura trail behind as he did before reappearing behind the leader of Team COAL. Cole reacted in time to dodge the attack before using his Semblance to counter.
A black Aura copy of Cole attacked Renegade from the side, delivering two slashes before kicking Renegade to him. Cole activated the Ice Dust in his weapons and threw two icy winds at the Iron Knight, but he again used his speed to dodge the attack.
"I've seen that Semblance before," Cole whispered to himself. "Who…who could it-?" He shook his head to clear his mind; the priority had to be getting the generator back online. He tried rushing towards the control box, but Renegade quickly appeared in front of him, clashing his blades with Cole's scimitars.
Cole used his Semblance again to summon a black Aura copy of himself to attack from behind, but Renegade dodged the attack again. He stood in front of the control box, unwilling to let them pass.
"I'll have to beat this guy if I want to reactivate the generator," Cole thought to himself. He and his doppleganger tag teamed and rushed towards Renegade together.
-0-
"The shields!" Luna called out. "They're offline!"
"The generator's been shut down," Pyrrha gasped in horror.
"Then let's hope Yang and Robin get it back online," Ruo insisted.
"Defenders!" David ordered. "Prepare for assault! Man the turrets!"
-0-
"They did it," Nachtfel grinned, happy that the strike force was successful in shutting down the shields. He watched from atop the Basilisk as the shields went offline, leaving Argus's walls vulnerable to attack.
"Send in the tanks to destroy the wall," Nachtfel ordered. "And start sending in transports to attack the city."
"What about the turrets?" an Iron Knight captain questioned. "They could tear our artillery and ships apart."
"Send in our fleet to attack the turrets," Nachtfel ordered. "I'll take care of the airfield myself. You have your orders, now ATTACK!"
Author's Notes: The long awaited Battle of Argus has begun! I hope this is a good start to the battle and I hope you continue to enjoy it (much more than that mech battle in canon. Seriously, who ever thought it'd be a good idea to put a psychopathic zealot like Caroline Cordovin in charge? Seriously?).
