RWBY: MRRN

Volume 6, Chapter 35: Victory or Defeat

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY. All rights go to Rooster Teeth.

"How much longer until we arrive in Argus?" Colonel Geom-Eun Holang-I asked his Top Specialist aboard his flagship. The Colonel stood at a bit over 6 feet with black hair, blue eyes and an honest air about him, wearing an Atlesian military uniform, along with a beret that marked his rank and two swords on his back, a jikdo and a geom.

The shorter sleeves of his uniform showed black stripes on his arms, marking him as a Tiger Faunus. Beside him was his Top Specialist, Andre Carnelian, a young man of around 24 years of age with dark skin, black hair and red eyes, clad in Atlesian armor that he had painted with red stripes and wielded a pair of Dust handguns.

"We're about two hours away," Andre answered. "We still can't raise comms with the Argus base."

"Hail them again," Geom ordered. "We need to know what's happening there." One of the soldiers operating the ship hailed comms again as ordered and Colonel Holang-I approached the screen in front of his seat.

"This is Colonel Geom-Eun Holang-I of the Atlas Flagship, Odysseus. Argus Base, do you read? Over."

There was no response, making the Colonel fear what was happening at the city. He hailed them again, hoping for an answer.

"I repeat, this is Colonel Geom-Eun Holang-I of the Atlas Flagship, Odysseus. Argus Base, do you read? Over."

"This is Argus Base, Colonel. How far out are you? We don't have you on radar. Over."

"We're approximately two hours away from the city. What is the status of the siege? Over."

"The Iron Knights have breached the wall and are pouring in as we speak. We're receiving reinforcements from Mistral, but we need you here as soon as possible. Over."

"The Iron Knights have breached the wall? How is that possible? The force field would've kept the city safe until we arrived. Over."

"Our enemy sent a strike force to disable the generator powering our force field. A team of Huntsmen tried getting it back online, but one of the Knights damaged the controls; we're unable to reactivate the force field. Over."

"Understood. We're on our way, so just hold on. Over."

"Hurry, sir. Even with the reinforcements from Mistral, we're losing ground. Over and out." The comms then went dead.

"Carnelian, increase the fleet speed," Colonel Holang-I ordered. "Argus's defenses have been compromised; it's only a matter of time before it falls unless we get there."

"Yes, Colonel," Andre complied. "Alert all ships: increase speed. We've less time than we thought."

"Just hold on," Geom-Eun whispered. Argus couldn't be allowed to fall into the hands of the Iron Knights; should they fail to get to the city in time, it'd be a crippling blow to Atlas and Mistral.

-0-

"Need some help?" Sun asked as he looked down at the battle from the airship he was in. He and his teammates leapt off and dived down into the battle at the breached wall, quickly brandishing their weapons for combat.

"Sun?" Blake asked in shock.

"Hey, Blake," he greeted, twirling his nunchaku around and blasting the Knights away. "Well, everything looks terrible here."

"Definitely could've been worse," Luna replied as she conjoined her two kamas to forge a double scythe and mowed down several Iron Knights in her path.

"What about my dad?" Blake asked. "Is he still in Mistral?"

"Actually, he should be landing-" Ghira landed on the ground, pinning an Iron Knight underneath his feet and then throwing off his robe.

"Blake!" he addressed, looking at his daughter. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," she assured. "Atlas is sending reinforcements; we need to hold out until they arrive." A loud roar was heard from above, coming from Bhaal Bhoora as he dug his claws into another Iron Knight. After that, three arrows took down three Iron Knights, coming from Akela Dhoosar.

"We brought everyone we could," Ghira informed his daughter. "Let's just hope it's enough."

"Thanks, Dad," Blake replied before using a Shadow Clone to evade an enemy's attack before throwing a knife at their neck.

-0-

"Hrah!" Math cried out as he threw his shield at the Iron Knights, taking down three of them before swinging his blade to cut down another one. Upon retrieving his shield, he raised it in time to protect himself from a Berserker's ferocious punch, sending him back down the street. He quickly recollected himself and hurried to rejoin the battle, but was stopped by none other than Nachtfel as he appeared in front of him.

"You know, you've become an absolute nuisance," the devil swordsman stated. "Why is it so hard to kill you?"

"I don't die easily," Math responded, raising Torrach. "I'd ask why you're so blind to the damage you cause, but you're too delusional to listen to reason."

"Delusional?" he questioned. "Everything about the Huntsmen is delusional; they claim to be protectors, yet willing give themselves to the highest bidder. For 65 years, the Huntsmen were above the law, doing as they please with no consequence. They took everything away from me, everything I ever loved. Do you know how painful it was to watch everything you care for be ripped away from you because of the apathy of others?"

"Trust me, I know my fair share of pain," Math replied. "From what I've seen, there's no doubt that there are Huntsmen who abuse their power and victimize others while claiming to protect the world. But mercenaries…the Huntsmen and Huntresses often have families to protect, to support; it's not unfair of them to be paid for what they do. I don't condone when they only care about money, but just because they want to be paid for their skills doesn't make them monsters."

"You will never understand," Nachtfel angrily told the autistic swordsman. "They hide behind their ideals and justify their actions all the while using their power to serve themselves. It's them that allow society's corruption to spread and victimize everyone." Nachtfel caught a dagger in his hand, having been thrown by Safirlas as she and Robin approached the Iron Knight leader.

"Just like you victimized millions?" she questioned. "How much blood is on your hands, monster? Including my teammates from Beacon."

"They chose to be Huntsmen and support a broken system," Nachtfel claimed. "They have only themselves to blame for their own deaths."

"They were good people, you hypocrite!" Safirlas barked. "They were good people and you murdered them!"

"Let's stop wasting our breath," Robin insisted. "Nachtfel's too delusional to listen to reason." He nocked an arrow and fired at the Iron Knight leader; despite his compound bow upgrade allowing the arrow to fly faster, Nachtfel still deflected it before catching on to see Math and Safirlas attack him simultaneously.

"You'll pay for everything you've done," Saf growled at Nachtfel as she twirled her spear at him, clashing blows with his new sword. Upon deflecting one of her blows, he kicked Safirlas back and then clashed blades with Mathdon; as he was about to attack again, he felt something hold his sword hand back, belonging to Robin as he used his grapple to give his cousin an opening.

Math slashed at Nachtfel's torso, damaging his orange Aura and causing it to shimmer, followed by Safirlas thrusting at him, but he used his scabbard to deflect the attack again. He then moved to avoid an arrow fired by Robin, landing only a few meters behind him.

The Kendrick siblings then swung at Nachtfel's head and legs, prompting him to turn into ashes and reappear above them to avoid their attacks. When he landed, Saf leapt onto her brother's shoulder, then jumped again and threw her spear at the demon, narrowly missing him; this left him open to a surprise attack from Robin, who slid under him and shot two arrows at his head at point-blank range.

Math and Saf charged Nachtfel as he was left open by Robin's surprise attack, clashing weapons and landing some blows on the Iron Knight leader. The archer then joined in by using his grapple to catch Nachtfel's hand again, leap over him and landed a blow on his helmet with Sharp Shot.

"You've become stronger," Nachtfel admitted as he recovered from the attack. "It's obvious why you three stayed alive all this time."

"We're not just going to roll over and die," Math claimed, pointing his blade at the dark warrior. "There will always be someone who stands in your way."

"To defend a corrupt world?" Nachtfel questioned.

"No," Math denied. "To defend their families, their homes, their friends from people like you. You're so blinded by your hatred that you only see the corruption and horror in this world, ignoring the good and kindness in it. There is a lot of stuff wrong with society, yes, but the world you're looking to create…it's just not possible. There will never be a world without evil, without corruption."

"Lies," the voice of Nachtfel's master spoke. "You know how these Huntsmen are; they'll spout whatever they can to trick you. This world is beyond redemption and must be cleansed through blood. Do you truly wish for others to be victimized like your father? Your mother? Your sibling? Your village? Do you truly wish to let this corruption run rampant!?"

"No," Nachtfel refused, blind to Math's words. "You will not stand in my way." He raised his weapon again.

"Like I said, blind to reason," Robin repeated, twirling his bow and the three on one fight continued.

-0-

"The Leviathan is almost down!" the Argus Mech pilot informed as he activated the Mech's drill and drove it into the colossal Grimm's head. "I repeat, the Leviathan is almost down!"

"Be careful!" the Argus Base warned. "Sonar's picking up another colossal Grimm heading your way!"

"Another Leviathan!?" the pilot gasped.

"No," the Argus Base denied. "It's something else; I can't tell what it is."

AAAARRRRRRRRRRR!

The other large Grimm sprung from the water, a good distance away from the Argus Mech and Leviathan, and then dove back into the ocean. It appeared as a sea serpent-type of Grimm with one eye, a thick and scaly body, long needle-like teeth and horns right above the eyes.

"Great!" the Argus Mech pilot groaned. The Leviathan opened its mouth and breathed fire on the mech again, causing it to stumble back before it regained its balance and then countered with a blast of Earth Dust, finally killing the creature.

The sea serpent Grimm, as if on cue, sprung from the water again and dove at the mech, digging its teeth into its armor. The mech drove the drill into its body, pushing it off and back into the water, causing a colossal splash.

"I have to finish this thing off quickly," the pilot thought out loud. "The wall's already breached; they may need my help."

-0-

"Geez, there's no end to these guys!" Yang stated as she grappled an Iron Knight and threw them into the side of a building. "Seriously, how many of these guys are there?"

"Yang," Ruo responded in a joking manner. "Are you saying you're getting tired of a fight?"

"I don't turn down a good fight, but this is getting ridiculous," Yang replied.

"Look out!" Ruo cried out as a Berserker charged in Yang's direction. He tried to rush and help her, but was stopped by an Iron Knight throwing a flashbang grenade at him, temporarily blinding him.

The Berserker grabbed Yang in its fists and slammed her into the side of a wall, proceeding to squeeze her violently as her yellow Aura shimmered. A strike of a black blade gave Yang an opportunity to free her arm and punch the Berserker in the face, freeing herself.

"You okay?" Blake asked.

"I'm fine," she assured. Yang then charged the Berserker again, appearing to go for a direct attack; instead, she caught the bestial Knight's hand in hers, using the attack to power up her Semblance. Blake then leapt over the Knight and wrapped the ribbon of Gambol Shroud around its neck and brought it to the ground, giving Yang a perfect shot of the Berserker's back; she leapt up and delivered a powerful punch to its armor, destroying it and then pressing the button on its back.

The brute cried out in pain, swinging its arm around wildly as it became overwhelmed with the agonizing feeling. Unknown to Yang, the Berserker accidentally destroyed a portion of a building…that was about to collapse on her.

"Yang!" Blake cried out. "Look out!" Just as the rubble fell, Blake pushed Yang out of the way. When the sun dragon regained herself, she looked back in horror to see her teammate under the rubble.

"BLAKE!" she cried out, alerting Ruby and Weiss and prompting them to hurry to Yang, who was grabbing rubble and throwing it aside to find Blake. Ruby and Weiss quickly joined Yang in tossing aside the rubble in the hopes of finding the Cat Faunus.

"Guys!" Ruby alerted. "I found her!" Blake appeared unconscious, her body underneath a large rock that, according to Weiss's scroll, did severe damage to Blake's Aura. Ruby and Yang made themselves a path to Blake and then destroyed the large rock keeping her trapped.

"Come on, Blake," Yang pleaded as she and Ruby pulled her out from under the rubble and checked her pulse.

"She's still alive," Ruby sighed in relief. "She's alive."

"Blake!" Ghira shouted, rushing over to see her daughter wounded, "What happened?"

"She saved me," Yang replied. "She's alive, but her Aura's beaten bad."

"Are there any medical tents nearby?" Ghira questioned. "Anything?"

"There's medical tents in the safe zone," Commander Brownwood informed, shooting another Iron Knight dead. "And I'm grateful you came to help us, Mr. Belladonna."

"I'm glad we could help," Ghira replied.

"Soldiers," Brownwood addressed to two Atlas soldiers. "Show him to the safe zone and get her to a medical tent."

"Yes, sir," the two soldiers obeyed. Ghira took Blake in his arms and followed the soldiers to the safe zone where Blake would be kept safe.

As she watched Blake be carried away, Yang felt great amounts of regret. She had given Blake the cold shoulder, openly questioned how long she'd stay with the group before running again, even fought her under the influence of the Fury Grimm back at Cinder's home…that one moment alone proved Yang wrong.

Blake nearly died to protect her friend from something that could've killed her considering her low Aura at the moment. Fortunately, she did not lose her life, but was prepared to do so if it meant keeping her friend safe.

For so long, she thought of her the same she thought of Raven: a coward incapable of facing up to her mistakes, who'd choose the easy out even if it meant alienating everyone, but she was wrong. Where Raven left for eighteen years and showed almost no regret for abandoning Yang, Blake left for around eight months and expressed remorse over her actions. Where Raven had sold her out to Salem to save herself, Blake nearly died to save Yang from possible death.

"Blake is not Raven."

Those words said by Ruo-Jian had resurfaced, the same words he said on the Argus Limited after she got mad at Blake. If there was any way to prove that she was done running, this was it.

"Blake…I'm sorry."

-0-

Math swung again at Nachtfel, his blow being deflected by the armored swordsman and followed by Safirlas and Robin attacking simultaneously; Saf by thrusting Himmelkanten and Robin by shooting an Ice Dust arrow. Nachtfel used his scabbard to knock the spear aside and dodged Robin's arrow, not knowing that Robin had fired another Earth Dust arrow and hit him in the helmet.

"His Aura must be halfway down by now," Math believed as he activated the Lightning Dust edges in his weapon and clashed blades with Nachtfel again, ending his attack by throwing Torrach at him; Nachtfel deflected the shield back, prompting Math to imbue two of his Aura Swords into Dochas-Mhadaidh and slammed the shield back at the Iron Knight; this time, instead of just damaging his Aura, it shattered his helmet as well.

"Let's see who you are underneath that helmet," Math wondered. Nachtfel looked back at the Kendricks, unwillingly revealing his true self to the Kendricks. His amber eyes were so full of hatred and anger, almost as if they were begging to be seen by those he considered enemies.

"Now they've seen you for who you truly are," Aaron's father spoke. "Please; stop this bloodshed. You must stop before you destroy yourself." For a moment, Nachtfel's eyes changed from hate-filled to full of confusion.

"I can't, father," Aaron claimed, looking away from the Kendricks and slowly getting back onto his feet. "I can't…I won't…"

"You won't stop becoming more and more like those you hate?" Aaron's father questioned.

"You are not like those you hate," Nachtfel's mentor insisted. "Now kill them. Do what must be done!" Aaron's eyes changed back to being filled with anger just in time to block Math's surprise attack, but was left open to a spear twirl by Safirlas, hitting him in the head.

He growled in frustration before disintegrating into ashes and disappearing into the night. The three Kendricks huddled together, back to back as they kept an eye out for the Iron Knight Commander.

"Robin, can you hear him anywhere?" Math asked his cousin.

"No," Robin responded. "Hold on…he's above us!" The three Kendricks dispersed into different directions, though Nachtfel went after Saf and grabbed her by her throat.

"Saf!" Math cried out. He charged forward and raised his sword up, unknowingly fueling his Dark Herald power through his anger. As he saw Math incoming, Nachtfel swung his blade, but Math easily knocked it aside and brought the blade down on his arm.

It took Nachtfel a few moments to realize what had just happened: he couldn't feel his hand anymore. He looked down to see his severed arm on the ground, along with his enchanted blade. He gave out a cry of shock that quickly changed into agony as he dropped Safirlas, allowing her to catch her breath.

He looked over to see Math's sword burning with flames that were brown and purple. How was this possible? His Aura was strong enough to prevent an injury such as this. How was Math able to cut off his arm in one swing?

"You…you…" he growled in anguish. He suddenly gave out another cry in pain as something started to grow from where he was amputated, appearing like purple diamond.

"What…?" Math wondered as he watched the diamond grow more and more until it started to take shape like an arm. "How is that…? Wait…is he…a Dark Herald too?"

Nachtfel continued to shout in pain until the purple diamond-like substance had fully formed into an arm. He cried out in anger as he clawed at Math, who proceeded to block his attacks until Nachtfel kicked his shield aside and slashed at his left arm, creating a tear in his Aura. Nachtfel struck again, digging his sharp crystal fingers into Math's arm.

The autistic swordsman cried out in pain before swinging Dochas-Mhadaidh at the devil warrior, knocking him back. Math groaned in pain from the wounds inflicted on his left arm, despite his Aura being active.

"He's…a Dark Herald?" Saf gasped in horror. When she recollected herself, she rushed over to her brother to check on his wounds. Luckily, since his brown Aura was still active, it immediately took care of the wounds caused by Nachtfel's new arm.

"Holy…I have no words right now," Math responded, taken completely by surprise at Nachtfel being a Dark Herald as well.

"Did he just grow a new arm?" Robin asked, taken back by what his echolocation was showing him. "How is that possible?" Before he could receive an answer, Nachtfel came after him next, prompting him to dodge his attacks.

"That new arm of his is able to create tears in your Aura!" Math warned before finally being able to shake off the immense pain in his arm. He and Saf rushed over to help their cousin, unleashing a barrage of attacks on Nachtfel, which he managed to deflect with his retrieved weapon.

Suddenly, Saf's visions kicked in again, showing a barrage of explosions on the Iron Knight forces, most likely fired from airships. It meant that most likely, the Atlas Fleet would arrive in time to help the defenders against the invaders.

"Alright," Robin spoke before drawing another arrow and pulling back on the bowstring. "There's no way you can survive this." He filled his head with thoughts of anger, of rage, knowing it would trigger his Dark Herald power; as expected, his arrow started to glow red. The minute it was ready, he fired at Nachtfel, a red trail of light following the arrow.

To his shock, Nachtfel grabbed the arrow with his new arm, frowning angrily as he snapped it in two and tossed it aside.

"How did…?" Robin wondered, but that thought was quickly put to rest when he remembered that he didn't know his Dark Herald ability all that well, so he wasn't sure of its extents and limits. Perhaps it had to pierce the skin or Nachtfel's arm was immune to its abilities.

Then again, if Nachtfel was a Dark Herald too, then his abilities also had to have a weakness. His arm grew back in the form of a purple diamond-like substance, but what would happen if a vital organ was struck, such as the heart or the brain?

"Go for his head!" Robin suggested as Math and Saf fought against Nachtfel. Robin nocked an Earth Dust arrow and fired at Nachtfel, hitting his head and making him stumble back and his orange Aura to shimmer from the impact.

Nachtfel growled at how this was turning out. He knew that they had undoubtedly become stronger ever Beacon, but he was still certain that he'd beat them despite the odds being against him. But now here he was, struggling to stand against them now; he had underestimated how powerful they had become.

But what were those abilities they had? How were they able to pierce through his Aura and cut off his arm? In fact, what was this substance that was his arm now, one that allowed him to create tears in Aura and wound Math's arm? What was all this? He could only hope that Salem would have an answer for this; knowing that he'd probably lose this battle, he turned into ashes and flew off.

"No!" Math shouted as he chased after him. "He's getting away!"

"We'll get our chance again," Saf assured, though she wished this fight had ended in Nachtfel's death. Instead, it ended with another dark discovery: their enemy was possibly a Dark Herald as well…and that was a very frightening thought, especially after seeing what it could do.

"We'll worry about that later," Robin replied. "For now, we still have a battle to win!" The three Kendricks hurried back to the fight at the breach in the wall.

-0-

"Hold the line!" David commanded as he cut down an Iron Knight. "Hold the line!"

The defenders were pushing as hard as they could, but the Iron Knights' numbers were overwhelming, especially with the damage the Berserkers had done before the main assault. It was only a matter of time before their defenses were broken, despite the reinforcements from Mistral having arrived. If they stayed, then odds are they'd be slaughtered to the last defender and there would be no one to stand between the Iron Knights and the civilians.

David was about to sound a retreat until he heard over his commlink "This is Colonel Geom-Eun Holang-I. Is this Commander David Brownwood? Over."

"Y…yes," David assured. "This is Commander Brownwood of the Argus Garrison. Over"

"We're about to approach the city. Tell your forces to clear the breach; we'll be opening fire."

Hope. That was the one word David felt right now. Hope had pushed this defenders to fight for the city and it was now paying off: the Atlas reinforcements had arrived and they were about to unleash a barrage.

"Fall back!" David called out. "Barrage incoming!"

"Barrage incoming?" Qrow wondered before looking into the distance to see ships approaching the city from the sea. "Well, I'll be damned…"

"The reinforcements," Sterling replied, his night vision giving him a perfect view of the Atlesian Fleet. "Thank the brothers."

"Fall back!" Forest shouted, causing the defenders to fall back and the Iron Knights to come after them, unknowingly walking into a trap.

Nachtfel, who was on the roof of a building, looked back to see the sun starting to rise, revealing the Atlesian fleet that had come to reinforce the defenders. He looked down to see his own forces pouring in, which would give the fleet a perfect shooting gallery.

"Stop!" he cried out to his forces. "Fall back! Fall back!" Unfortunately, his forces didn't hear him, so they continued to pour into the city.

-0-

"Prepare missiles," Colonel Holang-I ordered.

"Yes, sir," Carnelian replied. "Prepare missiles to fire and aim for the Knights at the breach." As instructed, the soldiers on the ships started preparing the missiles for launch, aiming for the innumerable Iron Knight forces charging into Argus.

"Fire," Colonel Holang-I ordered. The missiles fired at the Iron Knight forces, blowing them up in mere moments and alerting them to the arrival of the Atlas Fleet.

"Successful hits, sir," Carnelian informed. "No casualties on our side."

"Good," Colonel Holang-I replied. "Now move forward and take down the enemy. All ships, attack formation! All Scorcher pilots to their ships!"

"All ships, attack formation!" Carnelian repeated. "Scorcher pilots, get to your fighters! Move out!"

Colonel Holang-I smiled as he and his fleet had arrived on time to help save Argus, knowing that they had prevented it from suffering a terrible fate.

Author's Notes: Colonel Geom-Eun Holang-I (pronounced Ho-wrong-gi) is an OC created by Darth Stigma, so credit goes to him. Andre Carnelian is based off a famous clone from Star Wars: Captain Fordo. I hope you enjoy these characters as they appear in the future more often!