Chp. 32: Battle of Vacuo Pt. 2
A Blackhawk helicopter was flying towards the city's defensive line. It makes its landing as a French soldier approaches. The door slid open and out came Keaton, Alex, Steel, and three other American soldiers.
"Sir," the soldier greeted with a salute.
"Report," Keaton ordered.
"We're at a stalemate right now. The Crown is not backing down. We need to take out their leader to win," The soldier explained.
"Well, let's break this stalemate," Keaton said as he pulled out his radio and spoke into it. "Bring the shade."
Keaton turned to Steel and nodded his head. With a smile, Steel pulls a Scroll out of his pocket and presses a button on it. Suddenly, Richard Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries began to play throughout the entire city of Vacuo. A moment later, flying out of the horizon were six Chinook helicopters, four Blackhawk helicopters, and ten Little Bird helicopters. Following the helicopters is an that looked like an Atlesian airship. However, the airship has a few noticeable differences.
The airship was two times bigger than a regular Atlesian airship. The hull was bulky and had an indoor airstrip inside. The engines on its sides were rounded and were slightly tilted with some armored plating around them. Two extra spines shot up into the air from the engine supports. The airship has twin fins and rudders on the back of it and a large fin underneath in between the engines.
The helicopters land from the side of the battlefield. Stepping out of the helicopters were, several U.S. Huntsmen and soldiers, Ilia, and Teams SSSN, ABRN, FNKI (Funky), and Team CRDL (Cardinal). One of the soldiers was carrying a U.S. flag as another carried a yellow flag, depicting a timber rattlesnake coiled and ready to strike. Beneath the rattlesnake are the words: 'Dont Tread on Me.' The soldiers and Huntsmen all lined up in formation as the academies' students grouped up behind them.
"Battalion! Forward! March!" a soldier barked.
The soldiers and Huntsmen began to march towards the battlefield as the students followed them behind.
"Welp, here we are in a battle again," Sun said.
"But this time there's a lack of Grimm," Neptune said.
"Just be sure you don't run off like always," Scarlet said as Sage nods in agreement.
"Guys, I know I'm not the best leader, but I try to help out as much as I can," Sun said.
"Just to chase down a girl," Scarlet said, narrowing his eyes at his team leader.
Sun sighed knowing he has a lot to make up for his team.
"Don't worry. I'm sure they'll warm up to you like your partner," Ilia said.
"Thanks, Ilia," Sun said.
Meanwhile back in the battlefield, Teams RWBY, JNPR, GRMA, and CFDT all watched as reinforcements marched towards the battlefield, while the airship turned to its side.
"What is that?" Weiss asked.
"We'll tell you about it later," Jacob said.
"Right now, we need to focus on getting to Jax," Allen said.
"If we take him out, his control over his army will break and they will stop fighting," Britney said.
"So how do we do this?" Rebecca asked.
"My team and I will do what we can to help the other Huntsmen," Jaune said.
"Me and the others will aid our fellow reinforcements," Britney said.
"And the rest of us will go after Jax," Ruby said.
"Let's do this," Jacob said.
The teams split off to put their goals in action. Up on the hilltop, Jax watched over the battle sitting on his palanquin with a smile.
"When this little resistance is crushed and dealt with, the days of Malik the Sunderer will return to Vacuo and the world will soon follow in its glory," he said.
"Your Highness, more enemy troops are approaching," Rosa said, pointing to the side of the battlefield.
Jax looked to see what Rosa was pointing at and saw U.S. troops and Huntsmen students approaching the battlefield. He looked towards a Crownsman and spoke.
"Send some of our men to take care of them," Jax ordered.
The Crownsman nods and runs off into the battlefield. Jax turns his head and notices Teams RWBY and GRMA charging towards him.
"Men, defend your king!" he shouted.
Umber and Argento set the palanquin down as Rosa hands The Crown's flag to another Crownsman. the three walked in front of several Crownsmen.
"Charge!" Umber yelled.
They all then charged at the oncoming Teams GRMA and RWBY. Weiss stops and stabs Myrtenaster into the ground and a glyph appears in front of her. An Arma Gigas rose out of the glyph as it then readied its sword. Weiss and the summon then charged at three Arma Gigas swung his sword at the sending them to the ground.
Allen rushes at Umber as she lowered her sunglasses and makes eye contact with him, freezing him in place. Ricky charges at Umber and slashes at her side. She looks at Ricky's eyes freezing him while Allen is free from her semblance. He rushes at Umber and shocks her with Daburushokkā. Umber jumps away a few feet and puts her sunglasses back over her eyes, breaking Ricky free from her semblance. She pulls out her whips and gets into a stance as the two boys smirk at her.
Ricky glanced at Umber's waist which confused her. She looks down at herself and sees a sticky note that was stuck to her pants. It was glowing red and the note read: 'KA-BOOM!' The note explodes sending her flying back several more feet. She quickly gets up as Ricky and Allen charge at her.
Argento and Rosa rush towards Yang and Blake. Blake tries to slash at Rosa, but her attacks just phased through her. Rosa tries to punch Blake, but she moves away from the attack with her semblance, leaving an ice clone which catches Rosa's attack. Blake Jumps into the air and rushes at Rosa who frees herself with her semblance. Before she could react, Blake kicks the Crownswoman in the face making her stagger backwards. Rosa gains back her balance and rushes at the cat Faunus.
Yang tried punching at Argento, but couldn't land a hit on him due to his semblance. Argento lands a couple punches at Yang as she tries to dodge them. He then punches Yang across the face. Yang looked back at him and noticed a couple strands of her hair in Argento's fist.
"Come on, Blondie. Is that the best you can do?" Argento taunted.
Yang closes her violet eyes, then opens them to reveal red. An inferno surrounds Yang as she activates her semblance, and she rockets forward at Argento. He activates his semblance readying himself, but Yang punches the ground in front of him, which the force of her attack creates a small shockwave sending him back a few feet, while catching him off guard. Yang then rockets herself at her opponent and gives a series of punches at him. She finally delivers an uppercut that sends him flying into the air.
Jacob and Kelly were back to back as six Crownsmen surrounded them. Suddenly, Ruby dashes behind two Crownsmen and swipes at their feet with Crescent Rose, making them fall to the ground. A Crownsman rushes at Jacob about to strike at him with his sword. Jacob parried the attack with God's Trust, followed by kicking him in the stomach and bashing his head with the blunt end of his sword, knocking the Crownsman face first to the ground. Jacob quickly swept his foot at Crownsman's feet making him fall to the ground. Kelly swung Hacker at two other Crownsmen knocking them to the ground. One of them tries to get up, but Kelly kicks him in the face knocking him out.
Jaune and Pyrrha run through the battle around them. They both stop for a moment to look around for a moment until Pyrrha sees something.
"Jaune, look!" she said.
Jaune turned to see what Pyrrha was looking at. They saw Lydia pinned to the ground as Gillian was siphoning away her aura.
"Come on! We got to help her!" Jaune said.
As soon as the two Beacon students began to run over to help, Gill had finished taking her aura and fixed her bow and arrow at the Commandant's chest. Pyrrha pulled out Miló in its rifle mode and quickly shot at Gill. The Crown's second leader winced in pain and released her arrow as it struck Lydia in the right shoulder, making her cry out in pain. Pyrrha rushed at Gillian and bashed her away with her shield. Pyrrha rushed at her again as Jaune ran up to Lydia. She pulled the arrow out of her shoulder as she continued to bleed. Jaune puts his hand over her wound.
"You're gonna be fine. Just hang in there," Jaune said.
Suddenly, Jaune's hands were coated by a white aura and Lydia's body was coated in that white aura as well. Jaune then realized he finally found his semblance, Aura Amplification.
As Pyrrha and Gillian face off against each other, Gill looks behind her opponent and sees Jaune work his semblance on the French Huntress. She realized that Jaune was giving part of his aura to heal Lydia, much how she can as well besides taking it. She then looks back at Pyrrha with a smile.
"Your friend there could be useful in our ranks. With a little adjustment from my brother of course," Gill said.
"You're getting anyway near Jaune," Pyrrha said, glaring at her opponent.
"We shall see, Invincible Girl," Gill mocked.
Gillian quickly shoots an arrow at Pyrrha as she raised Akoúo̱ blocking it. Pyrrha charges at The Crown's second leader as she fires another arrow. Pyrrha makes a flicking motion with her finger behind her shield. The arrowhead had a black aura around it and the arrow then flew past Pyrrha, narrowly missing her head. This was the work of her semblance, Polarity.
Pyrrha switches Miló to her javelin mode and thrusts it at Gill who backflips away. Gill shot another arrow at Pyrrha as she quickly leaned away from the attack and charged at her. Pyrrha transformed her weapon into its xiphos form. She tried to slash at her opponent, but Gillian parried away her attacks with her bow. Gill pulled out an arrow and tried to jab it at Pyrrha, but quickly stepped out of the way and bashed Gill in the head with her shield. Gill swept her foot at Pyrrha's foot, making her stumble. She then thrusts her arrow at Pyrrha, but Pyrrha uses her semblance to redirect the arrow's direction in Gill's hand. then kicks her away.
Neo backflips next to Pyrrha as Carmine approaches. Pyrrha and Neo got into a stance as Gillian and Carmine charged at the two girls.
Meanwhile with the American soldiers, Huntsmen, and students, they continued to make their way closer to the battlefield. They all notice a few groups of Crownsmen charging towards them.
"Battalion! Halt! a soldier ordered.
Everyone stopped as the Crownsmen continued to charge at them.
"Make ready!" the soldier barked.
The soldiers and Huntsmen readied themselves and readied their weapons.
"Take aim!" the soldier shouted.
Everyone then aimed their weapons at the oncoming Crownsmen. The next moment the soldier gave out the command to open fire. Everyone began to open fire upon the Crownsmen as some of them dropped to the ground and stumbled. They quickly recovered and continued to charge at their enemies.
"Fix! Bayonets!" the soldier ordered.
The Huntsmen and students transformed their weapons into their melee modes. As the Crownsmen were getting evermore closer, the soldier gave the order to charge. They all charged at the Crownsmen as both sides then clashed. Team CFDT ran towards the battle between the Americans and Crownsmen to aid their allies.
Meanwhile, Ren and Nora run through the battlefield, attacking any Crownsman they come across. Ren and Nora noticed that Teams RWBY and GRMA were unable to get close enough to Jax.
"They can't get to him!" Ren said.
Nora looks around for a moment and then sees Nolan jabbing and electrocuting a Crownsman with his cattle prod. Nora gave a mischievous grin and ran towards Nolan. Ren noticed her partner running towards the member of Team BRNZ and quickly realized what she was planning as he then followed her. Nora taps on Nolan's shoulder, getting his attention.
Jax was still sitting on his palanquin as he watched Argento, Rosa, Umber, and several other Crownsmen trying to fend off Teams RWBY and GRMA.
"Seriously, is this the best they can do?" Jax asked.
Suddenly, Jax hears the sound of cackling from above. He looks up and sees Nora falling towards him, about to swing Magnhild down as her body is surrounded by pink lightning, a result from her semblance, High Voltage.
"I'm queen of the castle!" Nora exclaimed.
Nora slams her hammer on the front of the palanquin, catapulting Jax into the air and straight into the battlefield. He hits the ground several feet next to Jaune and Lydia. They both take notice as Jax tries to get up from the ground.
"Take care of Asturias! Now!" Lydia ordered.
"What about you?" Jaune asked.
"I'll be fine!," Lydia answered.
Jaune nods and stops using his semblance then stands up to face Jax as he finally gets up facing Jaune.
"Useful semblance you got there," Jax said. "I could use you in our ranks."
"I'm not interested," Jaune said, drawing out Corcea Mors.
"I guess I'll take you the old fashion way," Jax said as he draws out a sword.
The two then charged at each other and clashed swords. Jax swung his sword at Jaune as he blocked his attacks. Jaune quickly retaliates as he tries striking at his opponent as he struggles to block his attacks. Jaune bashes his shield against Jax's head, knocking him to the ground. Jax quickly stands back up and swings his sword at Jaune who jumped away from the attack. Jaune sheaths his sword into his shield and transforms Crocea Mors into its two handed sword form.
"Good thing I had my weapons upgraded," Jaune said to himself.
Jax ran up to Jaune and swung down his sword at him who quickly deflected away the attack. He tries to reach out to grab Jaune, but quickly steps away. Jaune swung Crocea Mors down on Jax as he blocked his attack and tried to push back against him.
"I'm gonna be honest here. Your level of combat is about as terrible as my level of combat from when I got into Beacon," Jaune said.
Jax tries to reach out to grab at Jaune again, but Jaune jumps away before his opponent could reach him. Jax charges at Jaune with his sword raised. Jaune stepped aside and stuck his foot out, tripping his opponent. Jaune swung down his sword onto Jax as he rolled out of the way to the side. He stands back up as Jaune then kicks him in the stomach, making him stagger backwards and his aura flicker.
Jax regained his balance and began to wildly swing his sword at Jaune. He was able to block his attacks, Jax quickly kicked Jaune in the chest knocking him to the ground. Jax tries to grab onto Jaune again, but Jaune rolls to the side away from his opponent before getting back up. Jaune ran up to Jax and slashed at his chest then delivered a punch to his face, sending him to the ground once more and depleting his aura.
The Crownsmen within the battlefield suddenly stopped fighting and then dropped to the ground falling unconscious then waking up a second later. Jax slowly gets up as Jaune sheathes away Crocea Mors as he stares at him.
"It's over, Jax. You've lost," Jaune said.
"No... This is our moment!" Jax yelled.
"You'll just get yourself killed," Jaune said.
"Then I'll die trying," Jax said with venom. "For I am a Vacuan monarch!"
He quickly gets up from the ground and charges at Jaune. He quickly draws his sword and stabs Jax in the chest just as he got too close. Jaune pulls his sword out as Jax falls to the ground.
Gillian stops her battle with Pyrrha and notices her twin brother has been fatally wounded.
"Jax!" Gill screamed out in terror.
Her scream catches Carmine, Argento, Rosa, and Umber's attention as they quickly run to their leader's aid. Gill shoves Jaune aside and kneeled down to a wounded Jax. Carmine creates a sand cyclone around The Crown for a moment. The cyclone dies away, revealing The Crown is now nowhere in sight. Pyrrha runs up to Jaune.
"Are you okay, Jaune?" she asked.
"I'm fine, Pyrrha," Jaune answered.
Nora, Ren, Neo, and Teams RWBY and GRMA all approach the couple, looking exhausted.
"What happens now?" Ricky asked.
"I'm sure once everything is settled here, we all get back to Fort Daniel," Yang answered.
"So I see you guys have an airship," Weiss said.
"Yep. It's been finished for a few weeks from what we were told," Jacob said.
"We better get back to the city. They might want us back right now," Weiss said.
They all started to walk back to the city as the other soldiers and Huntsmen around them tended to the wounded and the now free Crownsmen.
Meanwhile a few miles away from Vacuo, Argento, Rosa, Umber, and Carmine all had their hand on Gillian's left hand taking their auras as she had her right hand on an unconscious Jax giving the aura to him.
"Don't you have any more aura to spare?!" Gill asked in a panicked tone.
"We all used up almost all of our aura for our attempted invasion," Umber answered.
"He needs more aura! He'll die if he doesn't get it!" Gill said.
"Guys, look," Rosa said, pointing in another direction.
Everyone turned their heads at what Rosa was pointing at and saw Hazel approaching them.
"It's you again," Gill said.
"I've tried to warn you that your plan would fail, and it did," Hazel said. "However, the offer I had given still stands and I can help your leader."
Everyone was silent, not sure what to do since Jax is currently out of commission. Gillian finally spoke up to Hazel.
"What is your offer?" she asked.