A sizable portion of Vale main harbor was converted into a temporary military compound for the visiting Atlesian army. It was done without much of a fuss from the locals since the area given over was part of the less frequent inner dockyards. Infact, there was some jubilation from the local small businesses due to the influx of soldiers who had turned out to be pretty good customers, not to mention the extra security against any ruffians in the more seedy corners.

However, much fuss was being raised tonight by a young blonde faunus at one of the newly built landing pads.

"How can she be running back after me?! I was already on the other bullhead!", Liz practically yelled at an atlesian pilot.

They were standing between a couple bullhead transport along with professor Glynda, another pilot and every other trainee who were part of the disastrous ambush aside from Alma and Bach of course. The academy instructor was busy yelling through her scroll for general Ironwood or her boss to send out another search party for the other missing students, or trying to since the connection kept cutting out before any proper word was said. Everyone else was trying to figure out why the leader of ABEL was missing.

"Look, that's what I heard over the comms. Why your crazy sister really jumped out of my ride is her problem", he crossed his arms and shrugged, "freaking nutjob..."

Liz almost lunged at him if her teammate didn't grab hold of her by the shoulder. For a moment, Eric was holding on to a spitting image of her sister Alma.

"Your sister did say she was going after you", Blake spoke with a voice as if to calm the angrier faunus down.

"Before ripping the seat belt off with her bare hand,"pretty badass", Yang interjected which made her faunus teammates roll her eyes out of their sockets.

"Maybe she was misheard?", Eric tried to move the topic away from the comment, "Bach could be in trouble and she was going back for him?"

"That still doesn't make any sense. If Bach was really in trouble, he could… you know…off himself...and be here already", Liz retorted.

"Well, your friend never actually explained this undead thing, like he promised, or do I know the inner working of your team...", Ruby chimed in. Though as confused as anyone here, her voice was filled with the confidence and positivity of an up and coming team leader.

"...but as a fellow team leader, I'd say she only did this for good reason. And I know she's smart enough to stay away from whatever that giant was."

"Yeah but…"

"She'll be okay", the young girl held her older schoolmates hand in her own, "you just gotta have trust in your team leader."

The word and gesture slowly calmed Liz down, just in time for the lantern on Eric's belt to shake and burst open. There was a puff and Bach was flung out from a small gout of flame, landing and skidding his back plate on the hard asphalt. He took a few moments to pick himself up and re-orient, only to rip the helmet off as if to do a double or triple take or the surrounding.

"Bach, you…er...there's a hole on your…", Eric slowly gestured to his own neck.

"Forget that, where are we?", there was a mixture of frustration and confusion on the undead face as gears in his head were turning when it shouldn't have to.

"Atlesian Forward Expedition Base, Camp Griffin, ma pride and joy. Why mine? I was the person who proposed the layout and co-ordinate the building effort", one of the transport pilots spoke with the pride of someone who had a personal hand in building this military camp, "I eve-

"First, I don't know or care who you are", Bach pointed a finger at the pilot before turning back to his fellow trainees, "Second, why the fuck are we here while Alma is back there…"

It took a few seconds for the undead to process what he was gesturing at. From his point of view, the city CCT tower and its surrounding lacked any giant and airship nor sign of combat. Prior to the operation, a significant number of their illusionists and others with complementary semblance from the Atlesian ranks and files had masked the area from civilians. It was necessary to keep the people's wariness down, lest they risk attracting Grimm attacks. In the heat of the fight, Bach had almost forgotten that fact.

"My sister is back there what?", Liz was almost yelling at her slightly confused teammate.

"Oh right, she's fighting some four-arm giant fucking Pursuer or something."

Silence descended as everyone, even Glynda, had to process what was just said. It didn't last, however. Liz grabbed the pilot standing next to her by the collar, causing the all other Atlesian around them to tense up with hands on their weapon.

"Fly me back right now!", she hissed.

Before anything drastic could happen, the two were pushed apart by a quick whip from Glynda's riding crop. The professor stepped in front of the faunus, her expression was steel but her eyes betrayed a softness that made the student falter.

"Prepare the bullhead for me", she spoke without looking away from the girl, then leaned down, "Someone has to go back but not any of you."

"But-

"I know she's your sister, but both of you are my student and I can't in g-

Her word came to a screeching halt when Glynda's eyes caught the massive trebuchet materialising right behind the group. Bach was sitting in its basket and handing a bundle of stick-like objects to Eric while also taking an ornate iron lantern from said teammate.

"...my call from the scroll, have everyone break one of these. Wait, in case more people want to go...goddamn it...", a small wooden box fell to the ground next to the contraption, "...why is there a hole in my pocket now…"

The box floated away before he could scoop it up, right into Glynda's hand.

"What do you think you're doing?", the question's tone had an implied stop to it.

"Well, Eric got this innovative idea for a swiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii…

With the aid of the counterweight trebuchet, Bach sailed into the night sky before any more jokes in bad taste could be made, leaving the flabbergasted instructor to slowly turn around. Next to the cut anchor rope, she spotted Lisbet with blades in her hand and a determined face.

"And I know she's smart enough to stay away from trouble she said", Yang's voice was full of mirth.

"Too soon, Yang", Weiss hissed and elbowed her teammate.


Under the cover of the mirage, the Atlesian airship and its crew were trying their best to contain the monstrosity down below in spite of not being equipped for a situation such as this. Their visit to Vale was supposed to be solely for diplomatic purposes in tandem with the upcoming Vytal Festival and tournament. Thus, heavier weapons and the hardlight shield generator were removed in favour of cargo space for the technology showpieces. This was coming back to bite them in the ass.

The gun batteries were having a hard time piercing through the giant seemingly magical shield and even when the shield was temporarily dropped, it was only chipping the plate on the monster It didn't help that the starboard engine was smouldering. The ship was maneuverable enough to play keep away for now, but one more hit from one of the giant's ballista arm and it's back to port, leaving the monster to its own devices. They have to hold until reinforcement men from the harbor could get here.

Fortunately, there was also someone else occupying the giant's attention.

Down below, Alma Campbel, huntress in training, was throwing herself at the monster like a demented cat. A plethora of purple blasts of magic, dark energy orbs or geysers of black flame, would erupt from gaps in the armor, barring her. But the girl, in her frenzy, would still dodge, roll or deflect most of them. Some would eventually hit and knock her away only for a moment.. Faunus would ignore the injuries and swung right back around attack using what seemed to be a whip of pure fire.

Fireballs after fireballs were thrown, leaving behind scorched and dented armors plates. And whenever the girl managed to latch on to her target, burning claws carved deep molten gashes into the plates that glowed as brightly as her burning arms. She was tearing the four armed abominations apart, piece by painful pieces.

At one point, Alma saw the giant twist its body for a lunge and bounced herself off a building just in time to dodge the incoming blade. A backblast pushed her forward along the same sword arm. Her claws hooked on to an old rent in the armour, widening it as her momentum came to a halt. And through that wider gap, the faunus spotted an opportunity. Armor plates were unevenly distributed and that spot was thin enough to expose the dark murky flesh underneath after a single hit from the airship gun. Alma took a deep breath and black smoke began pouring out of her mouth, then fire and finally molten lava.

The monster roared as its whole arm caught fire from the inside out. It shook the limb with fury but the girl held on tight. There was no dousing the fire that she started. Desperate, it finally turned a ballista arm onto the suffering limb and fired.

The blast sheared the arm right off at the joint and flung Alma onto a nearby rooftop. Her body bounced against a ventilation box and skidded to a halt on the hard concrete. Her aura had already popped on the first impact and her left arm was definitely broken from the shooting pain it gave. If there was anytime to get away, now was the time, while the giant was regaining its footing under the airship fire. However, Alma chose the opposite. Her body might be weak, but grief and hatred was still burning through her mind, like the molten lava dripping from her hands.

The young faunus staggered to her feet and began limping toward the giant. A snarl escaped from her mouth as she watched it holding up a shimmering shield against the airship. Alma pushed through the pain and started sprinting only to be smacked in the kneecap. The girl tumbled like a jenga tower onto hard concrete. Her eyes darted around for a few confusing seconds to find the offending object. An ornate steel lantern.

The side lid snapped open. Glynda materialised in a gout of fire, followed by members of team RWBY and finally, Eric and Lisbet. Suddenly seeing her sister was like a surreal cold shower that literally doused the fire coursing through Alma's vein. The anger immediately dissipated and left behind only a wave of exhaustion and confusion.

"Sis! Oh du- Eric! Bring the lantern over!", Liz was immediately by her older twin's side, shouting for her teammate's help. She had quite a few pointed questions but held her tongue as her eyed laid on the scorched limbs. They can argue and interrogate each other later. The healing came first.

Alma, on the other hand, was frozen in confusion. Her brain was a jumbled mess, trying to reconcile what had happened before and what is happening now. All she could do was stare at her sister. While the flame works its healing magic, her confused mind was unsure of the reality until Liz tried to examine the mending wounds on her hands. The physical sensation of her sister hand wrapping around her own jolted Alma out of the stupor. She quickly pulled Liz into a tight hug, afraid that her twin would disappear if she let go.

"Er...sis...is everything alright?", Liz asked, awkwarding returning her sister's embrace. She glanced at Eric for an answer but he could only give a confused shrug.

After a few more seconds, Alma finally let go. She turned away for a moment to hide what she was whipping off her face, but a sniffle could easily be heard.

"I'm okay, I'm okay...you're here now, in one piece, nothing to worry about", Alma finally responded as her finger traced the disappearing gash on her forearm and her eyes drifted to the fighting on the boulevard, "We should lend them a hand."

"No, Eric and I will lend them a hand. You need to heal up and get away."

"But…"

"No but. Ms. Goodwitch can take care of us and I think you've done your part already with the arm", Liz gave her sister a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder before taking off.

"Could hold on to these until Bach gets back?", Eric tossed her the familiar wooden box and a scroll belonging to the former's owner then ran off.

Alam tried to get up, but the strength in her legs had been replaced with a numbing ache. The gashes on her limbs might be gone, but she was far from okay and it would take a while before her aura could regenerate. All Alma could do now was sit there and look on with worries.

"Alright gang, it might have three arms but only two legs. Target those and the exposed joints!", Ruby's enthusiasm could still be her through Bach's scroll.

The sight of her student in terrible shape basically poured gasoline on to the fire burning in Glynda and she was going to make the giant Pursuer pay. Boulders, debris and everything that was not bolted down was flung at it like the other hand, any retaliation was easily evaded by the veteran Huntress.

Even though concrete and random objects weren't doing much damage to the monster's thick plates, Glynda wasn't alone. Team RWBY were also adding themselves to the equation. Its limb were constantly hindered and encased in ice, while any exposed joint and chink in the armor were cut or shot at by Ruby and Blake. The Pursuer landed a couple of good hits on Yang, but that only allowed the Bblonde to power up her aura and stagger it with the next punches. Then finally, the EL half of team ABEL joined their range fire power to the fight.

Now that they had regrouped and focused, the combined group was slowly whittling down the monster, even though its shield and armor.

Suddenly, there was a thunderous flash and a chunk of the Purser's greaves was sheared off. Yang back stepped away from a wide sword swing and looked down at the electricity crackling around her gauntlet.

"Guys?", she spoke, "I'm shooting lightning with my fist."

Then came a cacophony of thunder as golden bolts of electricity rained down on the giant from every shot or impact made by the huntsmen. Each tore pieces off of its armour like chisels to stone. There was a brief lull as both sides tried to figure out what was going on, and that was when they heard it. Above the din of battle was a faint guitar rift, rising in volume and intensity.

"Wait…", Liz peeked out from behind a concrete railing to look at Eric, "I know, no, we know this…"

"O yeeeeah", Eric leaned out from his own cover, "It's one of the songs Bach keep blasting from his phone."


Minutes before, James Ironwood was staring down a Huntsman trainee sprawled out on the side of his bridge amongst broken glasses.

"Ozpin, I've given you a lot of leeway as an old friend, but what the hell is your student doing on my ship?", the word was more of an accusation than a question.

"Well…", Bach pulled himself up, shaking off glass shards as he did, "What the hell is your ship doing on my flight path?"

"You-

"Yeah, yeah, save it for later…", he brushed off the indignant general before squatting down on the edge of the broken window.

The chaotic brawl below did not look enticing at all. Dueling with Yorshka was a big enough pain in the ass, Bach was not looking forward to getting stomped to death, or worse, getting hit and surviving to feel it all. Having an aura would have saved him so much pain.

"Do you wish for assistance, my champion?"

"Fuck off, Fina", he wished this was never a problem in the first place.

His hand instinctively moved to scratch the scar Yorshka and made a small jangle that caught his attention. His eyes spotted the thumb-size metallic pendant hanging of the silver string wrapped around his wrist and an idea began to form. Slinging lightning was costly in terms of souls and painted a giant target on his back, but what if everyone else was doing it for him?

Like a spell or pyromancy, a miracle first needed power. Power that can be drawn from one innate arcana reserve or one own soul of which Bach had plenty. Next is faith. However, in contrast to common assumption, a strong faith is flexible. A person can believe in a god, a man, or an ideal; one single notion or many; some even believe in several completely contradicting thoughts at once. Bach didn't need to have faith in a deceitful Goddess. It was easy to have confidence in his own miracles after witnessing equally impossible absurdity. What's left to create his own miracle was up to his own imagination.

Bach stood up and held the Zweihander remains by the broken blade like it was a guitar neck, with the hilt pointing upward and away.

"A man sold his only soul at the crossroad to pluck the strings til twentyseven. I'll burn hundreds more to play this night."

His right hand ran parallel to the steel and dragged out six golden strings made of pure light.

"An instrument to play, a voice to rise above the cacophony of war and the finesse to bring a classic to life."

A runic circle glowed beneath his feet while souls and memories evaporating in his mind as fuel for the magic. He smiled, plucked a glass shard stuck in his armor to use as a pick and started a guitar riff to a familiar song.

"What is that boy trying to do?", James looked to his old friend and Fina for answers.

"General", the goddess just smiled gently, "We are witnessing miracles in the making."


I was caught

In the middle of a railroad track

THUNDER

Yang rolled away from a resounding stomp to deliver a staggering counter punch in the giant ankle that knocked it off balance with an explosion of lighting. The blonde brawler was bobbing slightly to the music echoing from above.

I looked round

And I knew there was no turning back

THUNDER

Up above, the shield arm was frozen at the joint, opening a way for Blake to dive in. Her enchanted dagger tore open a rend on the sword arm's joint. Electricity sparked and crackled as metal was torn to expose the dark flesh underneath.

My mind raced

And I thought what could I do

THUNDER

Blake jumped away just in time for a hail of lightning to shear the exposed arm off as Eric, Ruby, and Liz poured their fire in unison. The beast roared and charged toward the trio with its shield raised. However, it was knocked into a nearby building by an unexpected blow to the side.

And I knew

There was no help, no help from you

THUNDER

The Pursuer tried to pull itself from the rubbing with great difficulty as Weiss attempted to encase its limb in ice. Floating in front of it was the cause of its stumble, the giant broadsword with its severed arm still gripping the hilt.

Sound of the drums

Beating in my heart

Glynda raised her riding crop and the blade reared back for a strike.

The thunder of guns

Tore me apart

Crimson sparks of electricity crackled to life around the massive weapon.

You've been

The Purser raised its shield and the blade struck.

THUNDERSTRUCK


Leaning on her sister for support, Alma half limped toward the gaggle of huntsman trainees gathered around their instructor. Said instructor looked to be just about done with tonight. Behind them, the husk of their adversary lay crumpled against a building. The inky darkness that had once given it life had long evaporated after the outer shell was splitted down the middle. The massive sword that had done the deed was still embedded in the breastplate, sparking with remnants of electricity.

"Hey, look what the cat dragged in!", Bach hollered which earned a 'nice one' from Yang and eye rolls from everyone else.

"Thanks", she returned the lantern to Eric before finding herself a seat on a broken piece of concrete.

There was a bit of fussing over from Liz, but she didn't mind. Her eyes linger on the younger twin for a bit longer even after she turned to face their instructor.

"Sooooo...I guess we're in for an intense lecture about not poking our noses into military stuff", Bach started again with a strangely hopeful tone, "And grounded for the rest of the night?"

The professor just pinched and let out an exasperated sigh.

"...rebuilding this to take all night…", she mumbled before speaking up to the group, "No, no, you're all going to the headmaster office tomorrow, but for now, just stay put and go back to your dorm once the bullhead gets here."

With that, Glynda grumbled and walked off a bit to the side for her call.

"Trying to weasel your way out?", Yang leaned on Bach with a smirk, "I'll get my unlimited free drinks at the afterparty, grounded or not, buddy."

"Well, it's worth a shot", he shrugged.