GRYD Season 02 Episode 12: Build Up and Destroy
In the secret lab of Taupen Wizzer, all was not quiet. Taupen himself was working on his computer, the various tubes that had the Grimm were only half full, and the ones that were still in them continually struggled to get out. He smiled as he heard their screams.
"Yes, I know, I know," he said as if they were speaking directly to him. "You're eager for release, but I'm afraid I can't let that happen. Primrose? Be a good girl and feed them so that I can work in peace."
Primrose stepped in front of the tubes and glared at each and every one of the shrieking Grimm, her hate boiled within her, and as she exuded it, the Grimm went silent. Her attire had been repaired since her time in the Emerald Forest, and she resembled more of her regular self, but on her face was an expression of pure hatred that didn't die when she was done looking at the Grimm.
"Thank you."
"I don't want your thanks, I want what you promised!" replied Primrose bitingly. "I've been here for...who knows how long!? Weeks, months, it's all the same! All you've done is run tests on me and put me against your mutant pets. When will you give me your serum so I can kill Glyph?"
Taupen sighed and turned around to face the angry Primrose, "Your desire is palpable, your passion irrefutable, but you know better than I how strong that boy is. The reason I'm pushing you is because of the very nature of the serum. Your body needs to be in peak physical condition and your mental acuity as sharp as it has ever been. This serum is not perfected yet, and neither of us get what we want if you die from it!"
This last note made Primrose hold her tongue, she looked away in anger, but compliant. Again Taupen sighed, "However, you are right, you have put up with all my tests so far. So I say we head into final motions, and prepare for the test."
"What do I need to do?" asked Primrose eagerly.
"That's the best part, this final test isn't for you, it's a for a very special pet of mine, who I'm going to send after a very...special...boy."
Glyph woke with a start, his breathing heavy, he looked around to see what was there, but there was nothing. His teammates were all asleep, dreaming of who knows what. But something reached out to him, something alerted him that there was something amiss. But as to what it was, he couldn't say. He didn't like the feeling that was within his gut, and Glyph feared what it could mean.
Knowing he wouldn't be any good in this state, he calmed his breathing, and slowly went back to sleep.
The morning came, and while the feeling in Glyph's stomach went away, it didn't quell his unease over what it was that woke him in the first place. He did his best not to show what he was feeling to the others.
Everyone was in high spirits for the most part, Reyson especially had felt great after Night bailed him out of the situation with his stepfather. He was downright elated after hearing from Yasmine that she knew the general area where his father might be in Minstrel. He longed for the chance to go out and try to find him, but everyone kept him in check because the area she noted was still rather large.
"I'll take the summer off if I have to," he joked.
As classes with Barker, Vixi and Lochen went on, each of them teased that a big mission was coming. Something that would test them beyond what they had done before. They wouldn't elaborate though no matter how hard the students tried to press them for info.
GRYD and MEAL did their best to try and figure it out, but even some of their best guesses didn't feel right given that all the teachers were teasing it.
"Guess we'll just have to wait and see," noted Macro with a shrug after a discussion.
Another day passed, and eventually the teams of Beacon were all called to the Amphitheater. After they gathered, Squire quieted them all down and allowed Night to take the stage.
He watched them all for a few seconds before smiling and saying, "I'm so very proud of you all. You have done well despite many hardships both without and within. Recent events have been...trying, for sure for some of you. Betrayals, family issues, matters of pride and honor..."
Most of GRYD and MEAL smiled because they knew he was mostly talking about what they had gone through.
"But the sad part is...despite all you've gone through...you really don't know what's going on out there."
The students murmured amongst themselves at this 'revelation', wondering what he meant. Night let them do so before raising his hand to silence them.
"What I mean by this is very simple. While many of may know the dangers out there, who is threatening us, and why the Grimm are so dangerous, there are things happening even now that you don't know, that you can't prevent, and you can't stop when it happens in the first place. This is because right now, you're in a school, a protected school. But in the world? These protections do not exist, and both humans and Faunus suffer as a result."
He gave a motion to Squire, who pulled out a controller and pressed a few buttons. The lights in the amphitheater dimmed and a holographic map of Remnant appeared.
Night motioned to Squire again, and after another button push, a series of dots appeared on the map, "You see these dots, yes? These dots represent major Grimm attacks or bandit raids in the last several months. Whole towns have been destroyed, some even wiped out. By the time Huntsmen, Huntresses, or the military got there, it was too late."
The students looked at the dots in horror and shame. Glyph and Macro took this news especially hard.
"You're right to feel bad, because this is what you're training for, to try and make sure this doesn't happen again. It will, but you can try and stop it. But what is lost is what happens AFTER these attacks. You've already done support missions to repair villages, and that's noble work. But sometimes, entire relocations have to happen, and that takes time, effort, and manpower that many nations can't provide at times. We're going to help change that."
With a nod from Night, Squire stepped forward to get the student attentions, "Your teams will be paired up and sent to a location on the map. Some of you will travel far, some...not so far. Your goal is both simple, and complicated. You will meet with the refugees who need shelter, learn their stories, and what happened to them. You will then be guided to choose a spot in a general area where they will try and rebuild their lives. And then, you're going to help rebuild it. This mission will not have a set time limit because there is a lot to do. When you are done though, you'll contact the school, and someone will come and inspect what you have done. Only after approval will return to Beacon."
The students tried to speak but Night shut them down with a wave of his hand.
"This mission isn't just about fixing damage, it's about helping you understand even more what you're fighting for. Because one day, you might be called upon to save a village, a city, or even just a small set of people from this fate. Remember the faces you're going to see, and use them as fuel to try and make sure you never see faces like them again. You'll be given instructions tonight, and then leave in the morning. You have the rest of the day to yourselves to prepare. Dismissed."
The students reluctantly dispersed, still somewhat in shock at the gravity of the mission they were going to undertake. Wanting to shake the feelings that had been stirred in them, many of the students went to relax or unwind, but GRYD met with MEAL in their room to discuss what was to come.
"I'm not sure how to feel about this mission," noted Erin with clear reservation.
"It is...an odd assignment for sure, my dear." said Aaron with much less bravado than usual. "I'm curious if this is just as Night said, or if there is something more at play."
"It's what he said," interjected Macro, getting everyone's attention. "Have any of you ever been to a place after its been wiped out by Grimm or Bandits?"
One by one they all shook their heads.
"That's what I thought. I have, twice actually. Once when I was younger, before Signal. It was an emergency and my dad couldn't drop me off. It was...bad, and I didn't understand much of what I saw. Then, during the break between Signal and Beacon my dad and I were called to another town that had only a day before been crushed by a Grimm attack. It was...it was..."
"It's ok," said Glyph with a calming look, "you don't need to say it."
"Right, thanks. The point is, that image was indeed burned into my brain, and I can't describe it in good detail. We all need this, especially with what's going on with the Heralds, and all the other activity. Vale itself was almost one of those "lost causes" if it wasn't for us and Team KGHT. Now you all get to see what it would've been like if we failed."
Diana groaned, "I get having lessons on the real world, but this just sounds depressing. I mean, we all saw the Faunus captured in the Heralds base, was that not "scary enough"?"
"It was for me," stated Leilani with a shiver as she thought about it again.
Yasmine wrapped an arm around her sister to support her, "Me too, sis. And while I appreciate you saying that Diana, that was a different circumstance. A very particular and focused circumstance. This is...more random, and random is often times more dangerous than a planned attack."
"I just hope we get out of Vale and go to Minstrel," Reyson said with a longing look out the window.
"Not likely, Reyson. Besides, with our luck we'll be sent to wrong side of the continent. I know your eager to find your father, but this mission must be the only thing on your mind. Got it?"
The two shared a tense stare down, but Reyson eventually relented and nodded, "I got it. But Red's right, this is just depressing."
Macro gave a soft laugh, "Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you, Reyson, but this is the life we chose. Remember that night in the Emerald Forest when we all talked about WHY we became Huntsman and Huntresses? Regardless of the reasons, this is what we're going to be doing. Sure, we're fighting monsters, saving lives, but that's the glamour that schools and veterans use to lure in the younger crowd to join them. There is darkness out there that people like my father, Night, even your mother Orchid only see because they're out there. Death of friends and family, whole areas being wiped off the map before you can even think about saving them, Grimm possibly around corner, it is depressing...because our job is a depressing one, and it never really ends."
The two teams went into their own heads at this, Glyph was the first one to shake it off and say, "Not your best pep talk, Macro."
"Yeah, sorry. I'm sure we'll find happy moments somewhere in all of this, even if it's just helping the people. For now though, let's do what the others are doing and just relax the rest of the day, ok?"
The others happily agreed to this and left the room before going their own ways. Glyph teleported out of the room and went to a tree on the grounds. He sat against the trunk and just observed nature, something he used to do a lot when he was back home. The wind sent a chill down his body, but one he welcomed, especially when the wind went through his hair rather playfully.
He closed his eyes and just soaked it all in, the peacefulness, the quiet, the simplicity of it all.
"Mind if I join you?" came a voice.
Glyph turned and saw Leilani, she looked at him with a very kind smile, to which he returned and motioned to the spot next to him, "By all means."
She happily sat next to him, then joined him in looking out at nature, after a while though she couldn't help but notice that something was wrong with him, "Is everything ok?"
"Nothing serious, I had a weird feeling last night."
"Of what?"
"Like a premonition if you will, it felt like...something was coming for me."
"Have you ever had these before?" she asked, very curious as to what it could mean.
Glyph thought about it and shrugged, "Once or twice, never really gave it much thought."
"Well hopefully this mission will take your mind off that feeling, we get to do some real good with this. After everything I saw at that mansion, I want to help people now more than ever. I want to be that person that brings hope, brings relief, brings them something positive instead of just pain."
Hearing this, Glyph looked at Leilani and could tell that she was not just serious, but that this feeling resonated with her deeply. Smiling at her, he got close and kissed on the forehead, "That's why you're a good person, Leilani. You care about others and doing your best for them."
Leilani blushed at the act and the compliment, "You're not so bad yourself."
"Nah, don't sell yourself short. You're better than I am, and that's ok. Maybe you can teach me to be more like you."
"Now who's selling themselves short?"
The two smiled at the other before looking back out at the trees. Leilani moved a little closer to Glyph so that she could rest her head on his shoulder, which he was more than happy to allow. Neither knew what the next day would bring, but for now, they had a little peace, and each other.
Later that night, GRYD and MEAL got the message they were waiting for. Not only were they to be teamed up, as they had already predicted, but they were indeed going to be in Vale.
"Of course," said with Reyson with a groan. "Why branch out?"
He stopped complaining after a look from some of the others. Macro and Yasmine observed the map and saw that they were to the northern part of Vale, not too far from where they had the start of the train mission. The area had heavy forests, but also some clear plains areas that had notable small cities. They were going to one of those cities where they were to meet some soldiers and find out more about the refugees.
"Usually I'd like to get more info than that," noted Macro after reading the briefing, "but I'll take what I can get."
"You think Night is hiding something?" wondered Yasmine.
"Not hiding, withholding, I think he wants to drop a shock on us, which given the nature of the mission, I'm not too surprised."
Diana didn't seem pleased by this, "I just hope he's not throwing us into the deep end after all we've done for him."
"We don't deserve coddling, Diana," said Glyph sternly. "Like he said, we need to see all sides of this war we're being trained for. This is just another side of it. Make sure you're all ready for what's coming, prepare for a long haul, alright?"
They all nodded and again went their separate ways once again, packing some backs and making sure they had enough items for a multi-day trip, if not a week.
When the early morning came, an attendant came and got both teams and took them to the launch pad for the air ships. Glyph and Macro watch as many of the other teams got into the ships. Glyph gave a wave to Elenor before she boarded a ship. She happily waved back and mouthed, "Good luck!"
Their personal ride came soon enough, and once they were all in the helicopter took off without delay. They only lightly talked about the mission, going over what they would do and how they should start the rebuild process in general. But mostly, they kept quiet and focused on the various views that were in front of them.
Vale, and Remnant in general, looked different from above, and their ride had very big windows so they could see it all from an interesting point of view.
Hours passed, and eventually they received word from a pilot that they were close to the location. Macro gave the go-ahead to land when he had a clear spot. They touched down in a clearing just outside the small town they were aiming for. The pilot noted that his instructions were to leave, but gave Macro and Glyph the numbers to call when it was time for a check-in on their progress.
They watched the copter leave their sight before steeling themselves and heading for the city. Upon entering it, they were a bit confused. Both Macro and Glyph thought there would be more hustle and bustle about everything. But there was only minimal flying around by people.
The city was small, and yet very full of life. There were stores, and businesses open and busy. There were scores of kids moving all around. Many of which noticed the teams and watched them with both awe and curiosity. Adults were scattered all over the place as well, and like the kids, they were watching GRYD and MEAL with a mixture of looks. The teams nodded or waved to them to keep things pleasant, but there was something in their eyes they couldn't explain.
After a while Diana couldn't hold the general silence, "Where are we meeting these people again?"
Macro pulled out the instructions once more, "We're meeting the soldiers near the outskirts of town."
"Aren't we there now?"
"The OTHER outskirts, Diana."
Reyson snickered at the unintended pun, but stopped when Yasmine elbowed him. They argued, which ironically put the others at ease as they continued through the city.
Eventually, they saw the beginnings of the forest and plains again, and as they approached, Macro noticed some soldiers and gave them a wave. One of them saw this and jogged towards them.
The soldier went straight to Macro, stood straight, and saluted, "Captain Ochre, at your service. You're Gunner's son, correct?"
"Yes sir," answered Macro with a smile and a salute.
"I thought so, I've worked with your dad in the past, glad to have his son here, and the rest of you, we need all the help we can get after the attack."
"What exactly happened?" asked Glyph.
"We weren't told much other than you needed help," added Yasmine.
Ochre sighed, "There was a massive Grimm attack a week ago. They came out of nowhere and attacked a village that was two miles from here."
The wordplay got Reyson curious, "Was?"
"The village is completely gone. We were lucky to save who we could. We almost didn't get to them in time, they almost didn't reach the alarm to signal us."
"Good heavens!" exclaimed Aaron.
"Why did the Grimm attack at all?" wondered Erin.
"As far as we can tell the group was nomadic. They started the initial attack and there were more nearby, so they all...they all swarmed. My group was in the city doing basic patrols when the alarm sounded. We rushed over there, and we even got lucky by having a Huntsman nearby to assist, but...there were just so many. I lost a few men, the Huntsman was badly injured because of a blindside."
"I'm sorry for your loss," said Macro with a bow of the head.
"They knew the risks. Besides...it's not me you should be sorry for..."
With a motion, he beckoned them to follow. They looked at each other with uncertainty but followed. The other soldiers went to attention as Ochre and the teams passed by, but didn't follow.
They eventually reached a building that Macro could tell was a makeshift shelter, "Your team make this?"
"Yeah, the people of the city helped us. Many hands and all that," replied Ochre before going up some steps and opening the door.
He held it open and motioned for them all to enter. Feeling even more uncertain as to what was going on, Macro and Glyph took point and entered the building, with the others in tow.
As they all entered they were confused by what they saw. There were rows of double decker beds. Each of which had a Human or Faunus on it. As the teams looked at them all, they could see a variety of sad, beaten, and broken expressions.
"I don't understand," said Leilani softly, "are these all the refugees?"
"Yeah," said Ochre simple from behind as he closed the door.
Yasmine used her eyes to scan the room, "There's well over a hundred people here..."
"I know."
Macro could tell Ochre wasn't telling them everything, so he faced him and said, "You said you were happy you saved who you could...how many were lost?"
Ochre sighed heavily, which got everyone to look at him. With a heavy heart he revealed the truth, "There are 137 refugees from the attack. The village before the attack...had over three times that number."
This shocked the teams to their core. They had heard of light attacks, or small villages like the one MEAL had fixed up getting attacked. But this...this was something else. This was a massacre. Something they had never experienced before. And as Glyph and Macro looked upon one another, they sensed that this was what Night wanted them to see. That this could be the result of a failure in a battle, or if the Heralds had their way. Widespread devastation, and a plethora of people without a home, without the comfort of their lives.
This was the danger of living in Remnant.
Macro looked at the others and saw many of them struggling to find what to feel or say.
"Hey", he said aloud to get their attention, "remember Night's message. We're here to help these people, but we're also here to hear their stories. Break into your pairs and each one take a row. We talk to anyone who wants to chat. Get as many details as you can, it might be helpful for what comes next. Go."
They nodded and the pairs left save for Macro and Leilani. Macro waited to be separated from them before turning to Ochre, "This might take a while, so go prepare for the scouting and clearing part of the mission. Give me as many men as you can, and get me a detailed map of the area. Best you got. We'll meet you outside when we're ready."
Ochre saluted at this, "Yes sir!"
As he departed, Macro and Leilani went to their row and started talking to the survivors.
All the members of GRYD and MEAL took turns talking to each set of people they could. Some together, some apart to gather more information and more ground. As they did, the villagers all wove the same story, just from different viewpoints.
They told of how it was just a regular day, how it was not unlike the many others in the week that they already had. It was a cloudy day, and the wind was fast as well as loud. Many of them felt that was one of the reasons that they didn't notice the Grimm coming, as the wind drowned out a lot of noise. It was about midday when the attack happened.
It started out small, with a pack of Beowolfs. The attacks were swift and sudden, catching many off guard. At first the villagers just tried to hide or fend off the attack if they had combat experience. Some of the injured noted that initially they were able to fight off the attack and were on the verge of pushing the Beowolfs back when the other Grimm arrived.
Ursas, Boarbatusks, Beringel, and one claimed even a Geist showed up and just swarmed the village. At that point the village was forced to call for help. But the minutes it took to get to them was an eternity to the village. More and more people were struck down while many more fled to try and get out of the Grimm's range.
Eventually, the military did show up, with a Huntsman in tow. Each of the villagers expressed a different kind of relief when recalling this part of the story, though they also noted that the Grimm didn't go down easily. The losses on all sides was too much, and their homes by the end of it were totally destroyed.
All the members of GRYD and MEAL did their best to put on brave faces as they heard each and every story. Some of them even tried to comfort the villagers when they felt they couldn't continue. Leilani was the best at this, and the Lovers were good as well. But on the inside, they felt just as crushed as the survivors. They knew that danger like this was possible, but to hear it from the ones who truly survived what shouldn't been "the end" for them was all manner of disheartening.
It took over two hours for all the stories to be told, and each pairing finished at a different time. Once they were all back together, it was clear they were all sick to their stomach.
"I'm sick to my stomach," projected Diana.
"Yeah...me too, Red," admitted Reyson, whose fists were shaking as he felt the bloodlust burning inside of him.
"It's just...they were...it wasn't supposed to..." sputtered out Erin, seemingly on the verge of a breakdown.
Aaron wrapped an arm around Erin to comfort her and said in his normal voice, "I feel the same way."
"This is worse than the mansion," said Leilani with tears in her eyes.
Yasmine nodded solemnly, "In its own way, yes."
"Now you saw what I saw," noted Macro, who was very composed still. "This is the risk we take by existing. This is why we exist, to try and prevent this."
"And repair what we can't prevent," added Glyph, just as composed.
"Right. Take a few more minutes to sort out what you need to. Put on a brave face again, and meet us outside and we'll start the next part of the mission."
Reyson chuckled, "Who's the brave face for? Us or them?"
"Both. See you outside. Glyph?"
Glyph nodded and followed Macro through the room. Once they were out of earshot Macro whispered to Glyph, "How you holding up?"
"I'll be ok," he replied simply.
"Come on, it's just us."
"I just...it puts my pain in perspective. I made a mistake, but I could ask for forgiveness and atone. This? This was senseless, pointless. Lives were lost...can't be returned...and for what? So the Grimm can get their negative energy?"
Macro sighed heavily at this, "Something like that."
"I almost wish Primrose was here," Glyph said with an odd sense of clarity.
"Say what now?"
"If I could show her this? It would've ended our rivalry no doubt. No amount of attention is worth risking this."
"Well said."
With a small smile to the other they went outside and started to confer with Ochre about what to do next. As they started to plan, the others slowly but surely came out, with the Lovers bringing up the rear.
Once altogether again Macro asked, "Everyone better now?"
One by one they all nodded, even though it was clear they were all still struggling with what they heard or saw.
Knowing that they needed something to distract them Macro drew their attention to a map that was in front of him on a table.
"So, the next part of the plan is to go and pick an area to rebuild, and then clear out the area of any remaining Grimm so that they don't have to worry about anything...for at least awhile."
Reyson raised his hand, "Question."
"Yes...?" answered Macro, curious as to what he would say.
"Why don't we just rebuild on the same spot that the original village was at? We could even use the supplies that are still there to start."
Yasmine got fired up at the ignorance of the question, but a look from Macro stopped her from going off, "There are many answers to that, but the simplest one is emotion."
"What?"
Ochre stepped in to address Reyson, "Grimm are attracted to negative emotions, remember? If we were to rebuild on that exact spot, it would cause many problems, not the least of which is the emotions of the villagers would be incredibly negative because they're at the spot where their lives were ruined and their loved ones were lost."
"Oh, right...sorry."
"It's ok, if the attack didn't happen so severely that honestly would've been the best answer. But we honestly had to bury the lost in the village itself, so even if we wanted to and could, it would be...questionable to do so given what would be visible."
"Right..."
Yasmine gave a look to Macro, he sighed and nodded, which allowed Yasmine to smack Reyson outside the head.
"Ow!" he shouted.
"Next time actually think before speaking," she noted with disgusted eyes, "you claim to have a brain, use it!"
"Why you little-"
"Enough," ordered Glyph. "Macro, continue."
"Anyway..." he started, "We need to find a good area to set them up. It'll need to be big enough to let the villagers both stay, and grow. It needs to have natural protections, but also not be too far away from the city, just in case another large attack happens."
"Anything else?" asked Diana sarcastically, "Maybe be next to a waterfall so they can have pure aqua to drink?"
Some of the others laughed at this but a look from Glyph shut them down.
"I know it sounds like a lot Diana," Macro admitted, "but this is important. We need to give those people the best chances to survive because barring an emergency we likely won't be back. Night knows that, which is why we're here until the job is done. Yasmine?"
"Yeah?" she replied focusing on him.
He pointed to the map, "Ochre and I think one of these three areas would be good for a relocation. I want your eyes though, which do you think is best?"
Yasmine examined the map, and even used her Semblance to try and eek out details that the others might have missed. For a few minutes she focused hard to make sure that nothing escaped her vision.
After a while, she pointed to a point that was circled, "That one, it's got good forest cover, has a path nearby, and actually has a waterfall close to it."
"Wait, really?" asked Diana surprised.
"No, just wanted to make you look stupid."
The others laughed, especially Reyson, "Oh, she got you, Red, now you know how I feel."
"Don't get cocky, Diana had to have a setup to make me do a joke on her, you never need to go that far."
This clapback got the others laughing even harder, Diana sneered at Reyson, "Looks like you're still king of the fools."
"Focus," interjected Glyph. "Yasmine, please tells us for real what you see."
"The spot really is good," relented Yasmine, "there are enough tree clusters that we can both make houses while also ensuring we don't allow too many open spots for Grimm to show up, and we can shore things up if we need to. There is a path nearby that we can exploit while protecting it as well, and it's only a little farther away in pure distance from where the other one is."
Macro looked at the spot and then nodded in agreement, "Ok, that's good enough for me. Ochre, get your men, we're going to search the area and make sure it's as clear as it can be. Get us some communicators while you're at it, we'll need to make sure we have no interference in the forest."
"You got it," said Ochre before leaving to get everything.
"Load up everyone, this is where things get a little messy."
After preparations were made the group set off, Macro and Glyph took look lead, with Ochre's soldiers spread out between the other members of GRYD and MEAL. The soldiers only had basic armaments, but that didn't seem to both Macro, who knew those could easily work on Grimm, especially when weakened.
As they entered the nearby forest things got tense as everyone expected a horde of Grimm to attack them at any moment. But for whatever reason, they didn't. Yasmine constantly scanned the area, even spinning around at times to make sure she didn't miss anything, yet she didn't find any signs of Grimm.
A little over an hour later they reached the opening. Macro kept them focused though and had the teams and the soldiers set up a perimeter as best they could so they wouldn't be caught off guard.
Once everything was set and it was clear no ambush was about to happen, Glyph, Macro and Yasmine formed up with Ochre to discuss the area and plan.
"So this is it, huh?" asked Macro looking around with slightly less tense eyes.
"Yes," replied Yasmine with a nod, "As you can see, there are a few paths that led to city, as well as plenty of cover for the...for the..."
"For those who remain," finished Glyph.
"Yeah."
Macro gave his own nod of acknowledgement at the heaviness of the statement before turning to Ochre, "What do you think? You know the people, can we make a home for them here?"
Ochre gave a quick survey of the spot and mumbled some math before turning back to them, "Yeah, this should work fine. At least to start. If they want to expand they'll have to cut down some trees but...this should work."
"May I ask a question?" wondered Yasmine to Ochre.
"Of course."
"Why don't the people just move into the city? They're less than two hundred, and you've already made temporary homes for them already. Why not just expand the city?"
At this question Ochre sighed heavily and scratched the back of his head, "I asked them the same question. They prefer this kind of life, even with what happened to them. They want to be out here with nature, especially the Faunus in the group. What's more...they felt that if they stayed they would be "disrupting" the city, and they didn't want to be viewed with pity."
"An interesting viewpoint," noted Glyph.
"Welcome to Remnant, you never know what to expect from people."
"Indeed," interjected Macro. "Alright, if there are no more questions..."
He looked to Yasmine and Glyph, who each shook their heads.
"...good. Now, I refuse to start building without making sure that at the very least that the Grimm aren't within a few miles of this spot. So here's what we'll do. Ochre brought 13 soldiers including himself. We'll break off into our pairs, and each gets three soldiers to tag along. We'll go off on the paths and into the deep brush to try and ferret out anything that might remain. Kill with extreme prejudice, none gets away. We can't risk it. We'll give ourselves about two hours of walking and searching and then come back and start planning out the building stage. Understood?"
They each nodded again, which made Macro smile.
"If only everything was this easy to get across."
"Then there'd be no challenge," stated Glyph with his own smile.
"True enough. Ochre, while we fill in the others get your teams ready from the city. You have building materials already there, right?"
"As much as the city and others could spare on such short notice," admitted Ochre with a tinge of shame.
"We'll make it work, and obviously we got plenty of wood to work with. While the scouting party comes with us get your clearing party to start prepping this area. Brings some extra soldiers for yourself to protect them just in case some Grimm sneak by us."
"Understood."
Ochre grabbed a communicator and immediately started talking to his men. Macro, Glyph and Yasmine went and filled in the others on what they were doing. Once everyone was briefed and the plan was in motion they broke off into different paths to go and find the potential Grimm that were out there.
The next two hours was a tense few for all involved. As each pairing found themselves dealing with Grimm of various natures, as well as numbers.
For Glyph and Diana, they dealt with a large pack of Beowolfs. Thanks to the soldiers help they were able to slowly pick them off one by one and made sure they weren't overwhelmed. Diana further helped out with this by using her dancing projections to help restrain and restrict their movements. Glyph, wanting to make this quick, used full use of his teleporting to ensure that the deaths were quick, and that injuries to everyone involved were few. Once they defeated them they waited to see if any others would show up, and then moved on.
The Lovers had a slightly harder time as they found themselves against a nest of Lancers. Though small, the warrior drones were numerous enough to cause problems. After getting surrounded by all sides, Aaron had everyone close ranks so he could put up his shield Semblance.
"Well isn't this a pickle?" he joked as his shield took damage from the various Lancer attacks.
"Now is not the time to joke, darling. We need to think of a way out of this," stated Erin, slightly worried.
One of the soldiers next to her was very nervous as he saw the shield starting to crack, "We can't attack them all at once! And they'll see any counter we do."
"Oh, that could work..."
Aaron smiled, "You have your other outfit on?"
"Of course. I didn't want to ruin it though in these forest conditions so I kept my kimono on. One sec."
To the surprise of the soldiers, she took off her over outfit to reveal her more sparkly attire. They weren't sure what to make it.
Aaron on the other hand did, "Ready, my love?"
Erin beamed, "Yes, lower the shield."
With a bow of the head, Aaron dropped his shield. When he did, the Lancers rushed them, but Erin glowed brightly, and shined her Semblance in all directions. The Lancer were stunned by this, and with this opening, Aaron let loose with his crossbows and killed them all.
Once done, the Lovers smiled to one another, but the soldiers didn't seem pleased.
"Do you hear that?" asked one.
The Lovers went quiet and a low hum filled their ears, as they turned towards the source, a Queen Lancer emerged from above the trees.
"Oh dear," said Erin.
"Well," sighed Aaron as he reloaded his crossbows, "looks like we're not done yet."
The Queen Lancer rushed in and the fight continued.
Far away from them, Reyson and Yasmine and their group of soldier were caught in a very different struggle. Their group was being besieged by a pair of Beringels. Reyson took on one by his own, while Yasmine used her drones as well as the soldiers weapons to help fight her own.
Reyson and the Beringel traded blows back and forth, and though he was taking damage, Reyson was loving the struggle and the fire that the fight gave him.
Yasmine was more composed and focused on the task at hand, though she did occasionally look at Reyson to make sure he was ok.
Eventually, her Semblance revealed to her an opening, so she reformed her drones into a lance and pierced the Grimm, killing it.
Without missing a beat she pointed the solders to the next one before shouting, "Reyson, get down!"
Reyson instinctively did so, and the soldiers let loose their bullets on the Grimm, who roared in anger at this. Seeing his own opening, Reyson transformed his weapons into their cannon forms, shot out the legs of the Beringel and then did a charge shot on its head, killing it.
The fighting over, Reyson dusted himself off before shaking his head at his partner, "I had that, you know."
Yasmine scoffed, "That's not the point, and you know that."
"Yeah, whatever. Can we go? I want to see if there are anymore-"
Before he could finish, a roar filled the forest near them. Yasmine sighed, but Reyson laughed.
"That's what I'm talking about! Come on, boys! The hunts not over!"
With a roar of his own and his blades now back in his hands, he rushed towards the sounds, the soldiers close behind him.
Yasmine watched them run off before shaking her head and sighing again, "Why in the world did fate stick me with that one?"
When no answer came she sighed a final time before following.
Not so far away, Leilani and Macro were teaming up in various ways to take down a group of Boarbatusks that kept popping out of the bushes that they were surrounded by. Every time a pair of them were struck down two more from another side came. With the soldiers at their sides they were able to mostly combat the surprise attacks, though one soldier did get impaled through the leg by one of the Grimm before it got killed.
"Form up around him!" shouted Macro with a motion to the injured soldier.
They did so, and for the next minute they continued to the process of calling out where the next Boarbatusks were and then killing them. After it was over Macro went and checked on the soldier.
"Let me see. Dang...that's not good, soldier. But I'll patch you up as best I can before we get you back to town."
"Thanks sir," replied the soldier, wincing as Macro put medicine on him.
Leilani's ear perked up, and she brought out her claws once again, "Macro? Something's coming."
Macro groaned in impatience, "I don't need this right now..."
As if to make him more angry, a Deathstalker burst through the nearby set of trees and roared at them.
"And I REALLY don't need that right now. Soldiers? Fire right at it, don't stop. Leilani, introduce its stinger to its head."
The soldiers opened fire, Leilani meanwhile jumped high into the air. The Deathstalker roared once again but then charged at them. Before it could reach, Leilani came bounding back down and landed right on the stinger of the Grimm, sending it right into its head, and killing it just feet before the others.
As she slowly fell to the ground and off the dissolving Grimm, Leilani took a deep breath, "Well that was close. Too close."
"Good jump as always, Leilani. Now let's go and..."
He stopped as another noise caught his ears. But it wasn't Grimm, it was phones. Specifically, his and Leilanis. Both looked at them and saw a countdown timer all at "0".
"Perfect timing," said Macro with clear relief. "Our scouting time is up. Men? Help carry our injured, me and Leilani will keep lookout just in case a Grimm pops up on the way back."
"Yes sir!" shouted the soldiers before they went and picked up their wounded and headed down the path.
Leilani and Macro reloaded their armaments before following them out.
As all of them reconvened at the clearing, they were all glad to see one another. They each told their tale of Grimm fighting and all were surprised by the variety they had met.
"5 kinds of Grimm in a single forest area?" asked Glyph aloud, expression displeased.
"7. Recall the stories? They said Ursa and a Geist were in the area too. I don't think we have that kind of variety in the Emerald Forest, do we?" wondered Reyson.
"Not usually," answered Yasmine. "though as noted by Ochre, this was a nomadic group. It is odd though..."
Aaron made a loud noise of annoyance, "Should we not be celebrating our great and noble victory? We have made sure that the forest is clear of dangers! That is to be praised!"
"You're overselling it a little, dear," said Erin with a giggle.
"Is that not my job in this group?"
"Can it," overrode Macro, who was in thought. "It is odd even for this kind of forest to have so many types of Grimm, nomadic or not. We keep our eyes and ears open at all time, especially during the building process. If something shows up that we didn't expect, I want to be able to react quickly, understood?"
"Understood," said the others.
"So what now?" asked Diana with a wave of the hand to the clearing that now looked pristine thanks to the clearing crew.
"Now we build," replied Macro.
"We have experience in that," noted Leilani with a smile.
"I prefer fighting," stated Reyson.
"We know!" they yelled back, causing him to jump back in place.
"Ok, ok! Sheesh. Calm down, I'll help."
Macro gave him a stern look, "Darn right you will. Like Night noted, we don't go home until this place is built and inspected. Let's meet up with Ochre and starting making plans. We have plenty of daylight left to get a good start on things. Let's make every hour count so that these people can try and live their lives once again. Move out."
For the next hour they did nothing but planning as more and more supplies started to fill the area. Macro and Ochre took stock of what they had, what they should use in what amounts and more. Yasmine helped them with laying out how the new village should be and how they could maximize space alongside supplies without things getting too cramped.
As they did that the others worked with the soldiers to separate the supplies and get initial ideas on what they should build first.
Once a plan was in place they started the building. They first used sheets of metal to provide a strong foundation for all the houses to be built on. Due to the size of the clearing, they could only lays some of them down, though Macro noted this was fine as they would lay more down once things came into more focus.
After the foundations were laid they started chopping wood and cutting metal to start making the homes. With all the hands they had at their disposal it was rather easy to get them up once they had a rhythm going. Reyson even took joy in using his Khopeshes to cut the metal and wood into certain sizes and shapes.
"I might have found my new calling!" he joked, and some of the others joined him in a laugh.
Within a few hours time they had fully constructed the exterior of a few houses. The insides were barren, but that would come later. They needed to get the houses all built and ready for habitation before furnishings and more personal items were to be added.
"Those will come in soon, hopefully," noted Ochre when Diana asked about that. "The building supplies were most important, obviously. The kingdom will be helping bring the personal touches once everything is set up."
"Makes sense," said Diana with a nod.
For the next few hours, and well into the night time they went and made as many houses as they could before they decided to call it. They were all tired from the various events, so they happily took their rest back in the town.
The next day came and they were all relieved to see their work was still standing. As they started early, they were able to put many more houses up before the noon time soon. But to their surprise, as that time came, some of the survivors of the Grimm not only treated them to a nice lunch, but they offered to help with the building so that things could go faster.
Macro smiled happily at them when they offered, "The more the merrier, and you can help us design your village how you like. It's your new home after all."
With the new dozens of workers, the construction went up even faster. Which was good because they also helped expand the clearing and bring more materials while also freeing up space for more homes. The day went by in a blur as over a dozen new houses were built as well as other amenities that the villagers would need to survive.
As day three of the project continued, there was still more construction to be done, but with the various people helping and the project now seeing its end, there was hope that everyone would be where they needed to be soon.
During a lunch break, Glyph happily chugged some water and bit heavily into a sandwich.
"I don't think I've seen you this tired before," came a voice.
He turned to see Leilani approaching him with her own dish of food and drink. He laughed softly as she sat down next to him before stating, "Not before a meal at least. I'm used to physical labor, but maybe not this longevity of it."
"I can understand that, me and Sis are used to it because we would maintain the shop back home."
"So...you're like an endurance bunny? You just going and going and going..."
"Stop it!" Leilani exclaimed with a light slap to his shoulder, "The others will hear that and totally keep saying that."
"I won't tell, promise," he replied with honest eyes.
"Good, because I...I..."
Leilani went quiet, and her ears started shifting around as if to pick something up.
Glyph knew that look, "What do you hear?"
"I don't...I don't know...it's familiar...but...not?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean it sounds like wings...but...nothing I know is that size..."
"Where is it heading...?" he asked, though he felt he knew the answer.
Ears locking up, Leilani's eyes filled with dread, "Here."
Not wasting another second, Glyph shot up and looked for Macro, once he spotted him he shouted, "Macro! We got incoming!"
"Dang it!" said Macro with a grimace as he pulled out his weapon. "Ochre! Get the people out of here, they don't need to be here for-"
Before he could finish, a loud screech filled the air. Then it came again, even louder, causing everyone to cover their ears in pain. Leilani especially was in pain and Glyph did his best to comfort her.
Eventually the screeching stopped, and a blast of air soon swept through the clearing, and as they all looked up, a giant Nevermore was above them. It was bigger than any they had seen before, and it was whitish-grey in its look.
"That's a big bird," noted Reyson with some uncertainty while getting his own weapons ready.
A similar uncertain look befell Yasmine's face, "Worse, that's a modified bird."
Snapping to, Macro looked back at Ochre, "Get the civilians back to the town! We'll make sure it doesn't head that way."
"What about you all? Do you want some of us to stay?" asked Ochre worried.
"You're not prepared for that Grimm, trust us. Now go!"
Hesitantly, Ochre ordered the soldiers and builders to get the civilians out of the area. Fearing what would happen, Macro transformed his E-Tool into its machine gun form and pointed it at the Grimm, waiting for it to move towards the people.
But it didn't.
Instead, the Grimm seemed to just watch the people go, and then slowly looked to the teams of MEAL and GRYD.
"Is it...wanting to fight us alone?" wondered Diana.
"That would be odd..." acknowledged Aaron, his confidence not showing in this case.
"But why is it looking at us specifically? It's almost as if..." started Erin before stopping and seeing the Grimm stopping its scan.
The Nevermore's gaze fell to Glyph and Leilani. Who were rooted in place due to this.
"It's starring at us," said Leilani, eyes wide.
"Yep," replied Glyph.
"Why?"
"I don't know."
As if to answer them, the Nevermore screeched and then rushed at them. Glyph kept a hold of Leilani and teleported just before the Nevermore reached them. As it rose up from its dive it damaged some of the houses nearby.
"I worked hard on those you dumb bird!" shouted Reyson as he fired cannon blasts at the Nevermore. Though the attacks hit, damage was not evident, and the Grimm didn't even seem to take offense.
Rather, it got back up into the air and just scanned the clearing again. When Glyph and Leilani were back in its sights it rushed again, and once again it dove towards them and tried to attack, but again failed because of the teleport.
Yasmine looked to Macro, "Why is it going after Glyph and Leilani? That doesn't make sense!"
Macro took a moment to ponder about it, "You're right, it doesn't. Glyph! Separate! Now!"
Reluctantly, Glyph teleported Leilani to one part of the clearing and him to another after another attack by the Nevermore. After the Grimm again reared up it searched the clearing, and made another screech once it had its eyes on Glyph.
"Crap, it's after me," he muttered when he realized the truth.
"Glyph! We need to get it away from the clearing and the city, head to the forest, we're right behind you!"
He nodded to show he understood, and waited for the bird to attack once again. This time the Nevermore didn't dive in. But rather, lowered itself to the ground and stomped towards him. Glyph teleported away before it reached his position, and once in the trees, he shoot a blast at it via his shotgun.
"Hey! Watch the birdie!"
The Nevermore screeched in rage and fly back into the air to go and follow Glyph.
GRYD and MEAL formed up, still very much confused about the situation.
"What did Glyph do to get that Nevermore's attention?" asked Reyson.
"I don't know," answered Macro, "something isn't right. This has never happened before, even with modified Grimm."
"It doesn't matter how!" shouted Leilani distraught, "We need to save Glyph!"
"Right. Glyph knows we'll follow him so he'll stay to the path, or close to it. Once we're in range blast that thing with all you got. Let's go!"
With that they all loaded up and headed down the path to try and find Glyph and the Nevermore. Not so far away, Glyph and the Grimm battled. Glyph had the mobility advantage thanks to his teleportation, but the Nevermore wasn't make it easy on him. Not the least of which was because it seemed to just take damage and shrug it off as if nothing was wrong.
Glyph even saw an opening and teleported onto the Nevermore's head, not unlike he did in a previous fight against such a Grimm, and blasted it with his shotgun. The Grimm just roared, then did a barrel roll to knock him off and continued the fight.
He landed on the ground after a teleport and groaned, "This will get old fast."
The two battled on for a little while before the others finally arrived.
"Glyph, we're here! Let us help!" shouted Diana at him.
"By all means! This thing is a tank!"
"Then let's put some dents in its armor, open fire!" ordered Macro.
They all brought their guns to bare and fired at the Grimm. While before the Nevermore just ignored such attacks, this time it did take notice, and after letting loose another high-pitched screech, it flapped its wings in a focused manner, causing massive gusts of wind to knock the teams back.
Seeing an opening Glyph blasted the Grimm again with high-impact shotgun blasts, but still no damage was visible. He teleported away to the others who were starting to get off the ground.
"You all ok?" he asked as he looked at them all.
"Just enjoying a blustery day," joked Aaron.
"That Grimm took the wind out of our sails," added Erin.
"That was terrible," said Reyson with a smirk of his own growing, "I'm dis-gust-ed."
The three snickered while the others remained focus, especially Macro, "Enough you three. Glyph, what do you make of this Grimm?"
"It's smart, very smart, just look" he said while gazing at the Grimm who was waiting for the next move to be made.
"What Grimm uses tactics like this?"
"Modified."
"This goes beyond that...doesn't it?"
"We can worry about that later," interjected Yasmine, Leilani at her side, "we need to take it down in case it decides to change tactics again!"
"But sis, our attacks aren't doing anything! It's shrugging them off like it's nothing!" Leilani said with clear fear and sadness.
"So we hit it harder!" suggested Reyson, "Maybe Glyph and I's blasts will be enough."
"I doubt it'll be that simple."
"Leilani's right," noted Glyph, still gazing at the Grimm. "We need to go to another level in our attacks, another tier, another...plane..."
Glyph looked up at the sky, and smirked. Macro sighed, "You have a dumb idea don't you?"
"Yep."
"Ok, who do you need?"
"Reyson and Leilani."
"We'll give you a moment to work it out, just don't take too long. Come on everyone!"
Macro, The Lovers, Leilani and Diana rushed at the Grimm, who again tried to knock them away with its wind gusts. But this time they held their ground as Aaron put up his shield. After it stopped they went on the attack, using their weapons and even their Semblances at times to try and trip the Nevermore up.
But the Nevermore took all the damage and gave back just as much. Even knocking The Lovers down with a swipe of its claw. It tried to rush them but a blast to the head made it pause.
The Nevermore turned to see Glyph staring it down, "Aren't you supposed to be after me?"
Seeing its prey, the Grimm rushed Glyph, who teleported out of the way. But this time, he just circled the Nevermore, blasting it and forcing it to change where it was facing in order to look at him. He did this for half a minute before the Nevermore tried to take back to the sky. Glyph teleported back onto its back and blasted it heavily to ground it, which barely worked.
After which he teleported right back in front of the Grimm and smiled, "Stay right there, please."
The Grimm got back to its feet, but just as it did, two blurs of light and motion slammed into the bird. It fell flat down to the ground and caused a cloud of dust to form. When it cleared, both Leilani and Reyson were on top of the birds back, both looking drained.
"I don't want to do that again," said Leilani, clearly woozy.
"Are you kidding?" mocked Reyson with his usual smile, "I want to do that again right now!"
"Focus Reyson!" shouted Glyph, "Help me finish this!"
Quickly getting down, Glyph and Reyson busted out their cannons and shotgun and blasted the Nevermore with everything they had. While nothing worked at first, eventually cracks showed, and a charged shot from Reyson finished it off. The modified Nevermore slowly dissolved into nothing.
The fighting now over, the teams reunited, though some were still confused as to what happened.
"So...what did you two do?" wondered Diana as she looked from Reyson and Leilani to the sky where they came down from.
"My Semblance allows me to do equal amounts of damage to the height that I jump up, that's how I killed that Goliath when we all basically met," replied Leilani with a smile.
"And mine's all about momentum, so Glyph just teleported to where Leilani jumped to and let me fall." boasted Reyson.
"That's...very clever," admired Aaron with a nod to Glyph.
"I definitely wouldn't have thought of that," acknowledged Erin.
"We needed a big move, this was it," said Glyph with a shrug.
"Way to downplay the hero moment, partner," teased Diana.
Yasmine cleared her throat to get all of their attention, "This shouldn't be about moments, it's about questions. Like why that Grimm was targeted Glyph, and only him."
"True, that's never before, even to us."
"Do you think whoever is modifying these Grimm got better at...I don't know...programming their minds?" asked Reyson aloud.
"It's possible, I suppose," admitted Macro with a hard sigh. "Remnant help us if that's true."
"Speaking of help," inserted Glyph, "we still have a job to do, remember?"
One by one they all nodded and made their way back to the clearing. They all lamented the damage that had been done, essentially ruining their work in parts. Macro and Glyph noted though that this was possible no matter the Grimm that arrived.
They quickly went back to town and found Ochre, who was happy to see them all alive and well. After getting reassurances that everything was safe, they all went back to the clearing to get back to work and make sure the job got finished this go around.
Two days later, Barker Chestnut showed up after GRYD and MEAL called for an inspection. As he looked at the village that they made he was most impressed.
"Well done!" he said with glee, "You have fulfilled even my wildest machinations about how this would go."
"I'm surprised he didn't want the village to reach the clouds," muttered Reyson before an elbow from Yasmine shut him up.
"Thank you, Professor," Macro said with a bow of the head.
"Did you understand now why this was so important?" he asked looking at the teams.
"We need to understand what happens if we fail," answered Glyph.
"As well as finding motivation to make sure something like this doesn't happen."
"Very good, and very true!" laughed Barker, "But what is also true is that it's our job to help everyone who needs it. This was a major project, yes, but even the smallest of projects can have a big impact. The good will you have done here will hopefully reverberate throughout Remnant. Well done, all of you. Your ride back awaits."
They each thanked Barker for the approval, and after saying goodbye to the villagers they followed Barker back to the aircraft and left for Beacon. But on the way home, Glyph and Macro looked at one another with worried expressions. They knew the hidden truth behind the attack. If that Nevermore could think like that? More was to come. Worse was to come...
Far away, in the secret lab of Taupen Wizzer, Primrose found herself on an operating table of sorts. One that she was strapped onto. But she was far from a prisoner, she seemed ecstatic to be there. Taupen soon joined her, and started to insert IV's into her arms and legs, and even one into her chest.
"Are you ready, Primrose?" asked Taupen as he made sure the needles were where they needed to be.
Primrose smiled gleefully at this, "I've wanted this for far too long. Do it."
"As a man of science, and technically a doctor, I must warn you, once I throw this switch, there's no turning back."
"I don't want to turn back! I want Glyph dead, and his stupid companions too. I'll do whatever it takes to get the power needed to do that."
"Glad to see your resolve is intact even now."
With a nod to her he went to a nearby machine, one that the IV drips were all attached to. Inside the machine was a vat of black liquid and smoke. He put his hand on the machine and readied himself to activate it.
Primrose couldn't help but laugh, "Isn't this the part where you tell me this is going to sting a little?"
Taupen gave his own grim laugh at the joke, "Oh dear child, this won't sting a little. If this works? It should be excruciating."
He flipped the switch, and the black contents of the machine went through the tubes and into Primrose. At first she started to fidget, then wince in pain, and as Taupen activated another machine, she started to scream loudly. Taupen watched as the process went on, and a slow smile formed on his face as he could see it was working.
*credits*