Chapter 24
The Juniper Tree
XXXXX
Running in power armor was disorienting; it didn't take nearly as much effort as you thought it should. The suit itself did much of the work, the key to control with it was knowing when you had to relax and not try to overcompensate for perceived floatiness. So when James was speeding through the Scattered's base, keeping up with Qrow and Winter, he had to force himself to not go into the all-out, panic-driven sprint that he wanted to. Otherwise, he'd end up smashing headfirst into a wall.
"Ok, the front door is still our only way out," Qrow said. "These Scattered idiots will have their hands full with Raven and the Legion if that's who's attacking. This is way more than the three of us can handle. Winter, you use your Semblance to speed Walker through an opening if we get bogged down. I've got my own way through. We are not fighting, we're running."
"Wait, hold on," James said as they all turned a corner. "What about the portal? What if Raven or the Legion get their hands on it? What's her deal anyway?"
"She's the leader of one of the most infamous bandit clans on Remnant, as well as a deadly swordswoman," Winter responded from his side. "This is the first time I've ever seen her face. I didn't know she had family outside the clan." She gave Qrow an odd look.
"Yeah, family reunions are awkward when they happen every five years or so," Qrow said "And you don't need to worry about Raven. This is all too much for her. She's not getting loose on your Earth if that's what you're worried about."
"What about the Legion?" James said. "If they're here looking for a portal to Earth, it means they want to replace the one that I destroyed. They want a way to run back home or bring more reinforcements in, I don't know which, but I know that both are bad news."
"So what? You want us to grab it and drag it out with us?" Qrow asked, glaring at James with annoyance. "We've got three different factions stuck underground with us, and taking on any one of them has a high risk of one of us being killed or critically hurt. And no offense, you're the one who's at the highest risk of that. Look, I get it, that thing is the only way home right now, but we can't capture it right now."
"I know," James said bluntly. "I want to destroy it."
Qrow and Winter both came to a grinding halt, looking at him in shock. He followed their lead. There was a heavyweight in his stomach. "Whoa, hold on," Qrow said, holding up a hand. "I said we can't capture it [I]right now/I]. I know where the Scattered base is. We can hook up with Ironwood and arrange an attack with you two safe. Let's not panic and do something stupid that you'll regret later. Unless portal number three is handily hiding somewhere around here, that's your only way home. Don't be in a hurry to run off and burn it when we can be back for it in less than a day."
"I can't," James said. Ever since the whole situation had gone to shit, the horrible implications had been festering in the back of his mind. Han, for all the wrongs he had done, had rooted an idea in James that just wouldn't go away. Aura would be truly devastating for Earth in the wrong hands. He wasn't about to start thinking he was a danger to Earth, but someone like Raven could massacre a platoon by herself. And she was the lesser issue. From what he had seen, all legionaries with Aura were on Remnant, he had stranded them here. It had been a pure fluke, but he had kept them from taking their newfound abilities back and wreaking havoc. And now they had a chance to make Earth their playground, to undo the losses they had suffered in both wars with the NCR. It wasn't worth it. "If the Legion beat the Scattered, we won't have a day."
Qrow gave him an appraising look. "You can't take this back, are you sure you want to do this?" James nodded, praying that Qrow would just agree with him before he lost his nerve. Qrow sighed. "All right man. It's your ticket we're burning. But we're making this quick. We drop into the room where they're keeping it, drop some of your bombs, then run. No negotiating." Another explosion rocked the base.
"The fighting will be concentrated near the entrance, the Scattered aren't expecting infiltrators from the rear," Winter said. "Let's make this quick." Winter gave James a very odd look before the three of them picked up the pace again.
While they didn't know the majority of the base's layout, heading to the portal room was a simple matter of retracing their steps from a mere half hour ago. They ducked and weaved through the passageways, James going over the steps in his head. For much of it, they were uninterrupted. And then it all came crashing down.
A door just ahead of them screeched as it was ripped open, tearing into the far wall and digging into it. Gunfire echoed from down the passageway, behind it. "They're breaking through! Someone stop them!" Han's voice echoed behind them, but it was swallowed up by the roar of battle. Three figures stepped through the doorway. James recognized all of them. The first was a man whose name he didn't know, a towering man with a chainsaw sword and a White Fang mask. He was one of Adam's men. One was Marie F., a massive shit-eating grin on her face, her knives in hand, and, to James's dread, a Fatman slung over her back.
The third was the very last person James wanted to see. Clad from head to toe in steel armor, a Galea decorating a full helm smelted in the image of a bearded man, a crimson cape flowing down his back, and a massive, six-foot-long greatsword in his hand, Legate Lanius stood before him. But something was wrong. Before, Lanius's armor had perfectly covered every inch of his body. Now though? Bulging muscles of inhuman proportions threatened to burst the armor apart, exposed veins covering every corner of flesh. Slowly, Lanius turned to face James. He stepped forward, shifting his sword as he did, but stopped as his gaze fell upon James's Pip-Boy. "Ah. Man of the Bear. We meet again."
"Oh fuck yes," Marie F. said, clasping her hands together and wiggling as if she was about to start dancing. "This day just keeps getting better and better."
"What the fuck happened to you?" James said, ignoring Marie F. looking the man up and down as he aimed with his gauss rifle, Qrow, and Winter both taking up fighting stances beside him. He had seen chronic Psycho and Buffout abuses that hadn't even come close to the muscle mass Lanius had achieved. He was more Super Mutant than human at this point. What in the utter hell was going on?
"I trained," Lanius said simply. "Strength-building exercises. I merely utilized my Semblance and did them at ten times Earth's normal gravity." Oh. Oh fuck. Oh FUCK. "This world is fascinating, is it not? It has awoken power inside us that we were never aware of. I thought that the crucible of nuclear fire and the clashing of tribes shattered our limitations. But I now see I had a child's understanding of strength, an error I have rectified. Have you seen this world, Man of the Bear? It is wonderful, a paradise. A swarm of never-ending monsters that gives birth to mighty warriors. Even the women of this world that awoke to their potential are titans that the Legion of yesterday could not hope to scratch. Even now, many of our number are neophytes, ones that your companion could doubtless slay a score of before she fell." He gestured to Winter, who tensed up. "But I welcome the tribulations. They will reshape the Legion in ways we could only dream of before. Tell me, man of the Bear. Have you awakened to your true full potential?"
Yeah, Lanius didn't need to know a thing about his Semblance. "You haven't learned a thing Lanius, and here I thought you wised up a bit at Hoover dam. You could barely afford to stretch yourself all the way to Hoover Dam, now you're sending men into other dimensions? Exactly how much more blood can the Legion afford to spill after all you've been through?"
"Now, more than ever, the truth that I told you is paramount. My work here will set not only your people free but the Legion as well in ways that we could only dream of before. The Legion, Caesar's dream for the future, is sick and dying. To remain safe and complacent is to give it the death of an old, frail man. It is as unworthy as it is inevitable. No. Our future lies here in this Remnant, desperation driving us forward along with our conviction. And in there we will find true strength and victory."
"You talk too much," the Faunus with the massive sword said. "Do whatever you want with him. The Schnee is mine. The last time I met one she slipped through my grasp. I'm not letting that happen again." The man's knees bent, ready to charge. Winter pivoted to face him, ready to parry, as James shifted to aim the hulk of a man. But before anyone could take a step, Lanius lowered his sword, positioning it between the Faunus and everyone else.
"I have not finished speaking," Lanius said, not looking at the White Fang operative. "You may attack when you have my blessing and not a moment sooner." His voice was calm, but there was a firm finality to it that made it clear that nothing he had just said was up for debate
Lanius earned a snarl for a response as he shoved the blade away. "You're not Adam, I don't take orders from you." The man took a step forward. In response, Lanius lightly tapped the man on the shoulder. He froze, looking at Lanius. "You wouldn't."
"I was never a man of science, but I must admit I've developed a curiosity for certain matters ever since I've gained these powers. There's a question I've still been unable to find an answer to. At what point does gravity reduce bones to powder?" Lanius leaned forward. "Defy me again and I will discover the truth of the matter. Do not forget your place." Slowly, the White Fang man stepped back.
Around this point, Marie F.'s insufferable smile faltered for a moment as she glanced up at Lanius. For the smallest of moments, fear flickered across her face. So even she was scared of Lanius, even if it was just a little bit. Apparently, some degree of survival instinct was buried in that twisted and selfish mind of hers.
"So, you want to just run back to Earth then? Use your fancy new toys to massacre NCR troopers like you're shooting fish in a barrel?" James said. If Lanius didn't want to fight just yet, and with preemptive strikes on Aura users having proven to not be the decisive blows they could be on normal people, maybe he could get something out of this. "I'm surprised. You've got a world of titans and you're going to go back for Hoover Dam and Vegas? Do you just think small all the time or is it just that you know you're outmatched here?" Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Winter flinch.
"Your vision is limited, it does not rise to the heights that Caesar's does. He has lost all interest in the paltry gains of the West. Our work here is far from done, the true prize has yet to be claimed. But for now, that will wait. We were denied a proper conclusion. Come man of the Bear." He held out his sword in front of him. "Show me what-," but he didn't get a chance to finish. Sending that the time for talking was over, James shifted his gauss rifle. There was a crack as he opened fire, the slug boring right into Lanius's face. Lanius, in turn, was forced to take a step back. That was all. There was no grunt of pain, no sign of him being off-balance, it hardly looked like he had suffered anything more than a light push. Well. Crap.
Everything exploded after that. Qrow darted forward, driving the point of his sword right into Lanius's chest with a clang. At the same time, Winter flicked her wrist, and pitch-black glyphs appeared behind him, the ones that pulled instead of pushing. This whole time, James fired twice more, both shots hitting home in Lanius's face. Between the combined efforts of the three of them, they were able to force Lanius off of his feet. Tilting backward, he fell into the black glyphs. With no anchor, he was pulled back into the room behind him, the room where gunshots were still echoing. James didn't have time to see what happened to him. The very second he cleared the doorway, Winter, slammed her sword into the ground. Her ice wall sprouted to life, rocketing forward and plugging up Lanius's way back into the room.
But Lanius's allies had not been idle. The giant man charged forward, heaving his massive blade and bringing it crashing down on Winter, who barely parried it with her second sword. James pivoted, aiming for the man's head. "Oh, she's got her dance partner." He hated that voice so much. Marie F., grinning at him from the far side of the room, tapped the Fatman on her back. With a pop, another one appeared in her hand, fully loaded. James's stomach dropped. She was insane, at this close range in quarters this tight the backblast ran the chance of hitting her too. That didn't seem to deter her, as she gleefully pulled the trigger.
Nothing happened. In fact, instead of the catapult firing, the warhead slid out and onto the ground, landing with a dull thump. Marie F. stared down in disbelief and outrage. Angrily, she dropped the Fatman and reached for the one on her back again. She wasn't even halfway there before Qrow was on her, swinging his greatsword as if he intended to cleave her in half. Teeth clenched tight, she threw herself forward and just barely slid underneath the sword. As she did, she tapped her knife sheaths, materializing one in each hand. Coming to a stop, she spun and slashed at Qrow, only for both points of her daggers to be blocked by the flat of Qrow's sword. Holding his sword steady with both hands, he flashed a smile at Marie F.. It was trying to be mocking, but it didn't have the desired effect. There was a tenseness to it. Qrow was nervous, much like James was.
Still, Marie F. was now occupied. Trusting Qrow to handle her, James whipped his rifle back at the White Fang fighter. He was pressing into Winter, trying to take her head off with wild swing after wild swing. She was dancing backward to avoid his blows, mixing dodging with parrying, but he was giving her next to no breathing room. Winter had just enough space to dodge but not do anything else. His arms moving without thinking, James lined up a shot with the man's gut and fired twice.
The results couldn't have been farther from when he had shot Lanius. The force of the slugs blew the giant man right into the wall, leaving a sizable dent. Finally having a moment of respite, Winter slid up next to James, one of her swords in each hand. But the man was already recovering, glaring at both of them through his mask as he revved his sword. Having exhausted his five-shot magazine, James didn't trust himself to reload in time. Instead, he let the rifle fall and hang from its strap as he grabbed the Blue Bull's ax. He was able to draw it just in time. The Faunus man charged at him, bringing his sword crashing down in a vicious overhead strike. James managed to block it with the shaft of the ax, but only barely. And even then, he could feel his bones rattling, despite the power armor.
The situation was far from ideal. He had gotten himself into melee, a field that wasn't his area of expertise, against a very large, very angry man. His mind was racing for a solution. Maybe as strong as this man was, James could overpower him with the Hellfire armor. He had never seen Aura and power armor attempt to match each other pound for pound in the strength department, but right now it was the best he could do.
However, as he clashed with the White Fang operative, he saw a blur of white and blue. Winter had slipped around him, right into the larger man's blind spot. With a twirl and a swipe, she carved both swords into his back. Howling in pain, he abandoned his assault on James and swung behind him. But Winter had already leaped back, well out of his reach, her back now against the wall.
Seething in anger, he made to follow up his assault, only to be blindsided by an ax blow to the back of the head. James was treated to a nice, meaty thunk as he landed it. Now roaring in rage, the massive man turned his attention back to James with a wild, vicious upwards swing. It caught the head of the ax with such force that, before James could even blink, the weapon was ripped out of his hands with such force it nearly dislocated his fingers. With a cry of triumph, the Faunus made to bring his sword down in a decapitation strike. James, with no way out and with no particularly clever ideas, took the only solution he had. He charged.
Throwing himself forward, he slammed into the man, shoulder first, forcing the full weight of both his body and the armor into it. A shallow gasp escaped the man as James continued to press on, not stopping until the pair of them smashed into the wall, Winter hastily getting out of their way. James felt an unpleasant jolt as the two of them came to an abrupt halt, but that was nothing compared to the hoarse cry of pain that escaped his opponent. "You son of a-," the Faunus swore, his voice shallow and hoarse as he tried to get a firm grip on his sword. He sounded like the air had been knocked out of him.
But Winter gave him no respite. The second James slammed him into the way, she was on him, her swords flashes of silver as she peppered his chest with thrusts. "Get off!" the man bellowed, letting out another wild swing. This time he was able to find his mark, catching Winter in the side and forcing her back, Winter's face twisted in pain.
Winter dealt with, his attention went right back to James, bringing his sword crashing down. James drove a knee into the man's gut, trying to stagger him, but even as he grit his teeth in pain, the blow did not stop. Sparks flew as the chainsaw's teeth bit into the shoulder of the Hellfire armor. As James had hoped, it was holding, leaving his Aura undamaged, but he didn't know how long that would last, and his teeth were already rattling in his skull. He had to move fast.
Hands darting up, he drove a fist into the man's throat. Even with his armored fist and the other man's Aura, he could feel the fragile cartilage bending under the force of the blow. The man gagged, spit dribbling out from under his mask, and while he did not cease his assault, his grip noticeably weakened. With his other arm, he jabbed into the hilt of the chainsaw sword, elbow first. It was enough to jerk the blade off of him, knocking the man off balance.
James was weighing the risk and rewards of pressing the attack versus falling back when something happened. The Faunus fell to the ground like a ton of bricks, even though his form hadn't degraded that much. Then he saw it, the man's sword arm pinned to the ground, a spinning black glyph right below it. But even then, the teeth were still active. James had an idea.
"James get your weapon, I don't know if I can hold him long!" Winter called out, but James was already sprinting forward. The White Fang operative was pulling at his arm, having scrambled up into a kneeling position, and he was slowly sliding off of the glyph. Darting forward, he wrapped his hands around the man's head and kneed him in the face. There was a loud crack as the porcelain mask shattered under the force of the blow and a wet splutter followed. After that, he followed up with his true intention. Shifting his grip to the back of the man's head, he forced it down, face first. He directed it right towards the still spinning chainsword.
"NO!" the man shouted, panic raw in his voice as he realized what James was doing. Frantically, his sword arm jerked, trying to either move or deactivate the weapon, but his trigger finger seemed to be pinned. He was able to brace himself when his face was mere inches away from the revving teeth, their roar deafening at this close range. For a second, James struggled, trying to force him down the last half foot before the man could get loose.
For a single, second horrible, uncertainty seized James. What if he screwed up and this big bastard reversed the situation? And then he saw her. Winter was above them both, her swords pointed downward. There was a silver flash as they bore into the prone man's back. He howled and his concentration slipped for one crucial second. With no resistance, his face smashed into the live chainsaw sword.
James closed his eyes instinctively, but that didn't stop the sound. There was a single second of horrible, agonized screaming before it was snuffed out. In its place was a nightmarish symphony of flesh being torn, bones being chipped, and blood splattering onto the ground. After a few seconds, ones that felt like an eternity, the body went limp. He let go after that, pushing it to the side. Mercifully, the noise stopped. He was no stranger to violence and he liked to think he had a strong stomach. But you had to be a sadist to be comfortable using a weapon like this.
But there was no time to dwell. Grabbing the gauss rifle, he slapped a fresh magazine in before aiming. Marie F. was still fighting Qrow, but it wasn't going in her favor. She was throwing a nonstop flurry of stabs with her knives. Maybe one in every ten was landing. Qrow's body moved with the precision and ease of a lifetime of experience of using Aura. Somehow, his massive sword was keeping up with her assault, so much so that he was easily landing twice the number of hits as her, each one far harder than hers.
Seething in frustration, Marie F. swiped upward at Qrow's throat. He neatly stepped to the side before leaning his entire body into a brutal, two-handed swing. Catching Marie F. in the side, he sent her flying across the room and towards the doorway that the three of them had originally entered through. As a parting gift, Qrow pulled a triggered on the hilt of his blade. With a clang, his sword split in half, the front sliding down to reveal a pair of gun barrels hidden inside the center that fired three times. Each shot was expertly aimed, tearing into Marie F. even as she swung wildly with her knives as she landed and skidded backward. It didn't help at all, the shots, apparently buckshot or some Remnant equivalent, peppering her torso. James adjusted his aim to compensate for Marie F.'s involuntary reposition.
Fuming, Marie F. snarled like a feral beast, noticing James aiming. "Didn't take you for a little bitch, Walker! You wanna play it like that?" Her knives clattered to the floor as she again tapped the Fatman on her back, a copy appearing in her hands with a pop. James tensed as he pulled the trigger on the gauss rifle, ready to throw himself to the ground to avoid the blast if he had to. But instead of firing directly at him, the mini-nuke arced downward and towards the gap between them. Qrow, who had been moving in to follow up on his assault, pivoted at the last second.
Whatever flaw had seized her Fatman the first time did, there was not a repeat here. The second the mini-nuke touched the ground, a blinding white light filled the room and a wall of heat slammed into him. Qrow was hit by the edge of the blast, sent skidding back, jaw clenched as he did. For a moment, James squinted, rifle at the ready, waiting to put a slug in Marie F. the second she appeared. But when the flash finally subsided and the cloud dissipated, she was gone. She had fled deeper into the base, but thankfully not in the direction they needed to go. She would have to wait for another day.
"Qrow, you ok?" he asked, shooting the younger man a glance. Even an indirect blast from a mini-nuke was devastating back on Earth, it spoke to the capabilities of Aura that Qrow looked more disoriented than hurt.
"Stings like hell, but I'll live," he grumbled, dusting himself off.
"Winter, are you-," James began, Winter wasn't listening to him. Her hand slid upward, to the shoulder that the chainsaw bit into, gently running her fingers into the groove that had been carved there. She let out a sigh of relief when her fingers couldn't reach down any further.
"Good. It looks like you were right to trust that armor," she said, withdrawing her hands. James permitted himself a small smile. As devastating as Remnant could be, as overwhelming as these otherworldly displays of power could be, there was a comfort to be had in Pre-War armor holding its own.
"Son of a…," Qrow idly said, staring at dissipating remains of the mushroom cloud. "You have weapons like that where you're from?"
"Apparently," Winter said, eyeing the cloud with distrust. "Qrow, don't get near it. I had a run-in with something like it, it's highly hazardous to your health." Mini-nukes didn't give off too much radiation, but avoiding being exposed to radiation at all was generally a good life policy. Even small doses could build up the damage they caused over time.
"They're not a cap a dozen, but yeah," James said, glancing at Qrow. "Pre-War America and China were both working on some nasty stuff. I-," but he was cut off. The deafening sound of ice being shattered with something heavy filled the room. All three of them stopped dead, eyes moving towards the blockage Winter had created. Another echo of breaking ice thrummed through the room, and cracks spiderwebbed through the far end of the barricade.
"Move," Qrow hissed. Neither Winter nor James needed to be told twice. The three of them bolted down a nearby hallway, back on course for the portal room. As James ducked and weaved to keep up with his two faster companions, he could feel the dread coming off of him. Marie F. had been sadistic and had a powerful weapon, but was like James in that she lacked experience with Aura. The White Fang fighter had been strong, but not overwhelmingly so.
Lanius was different. He had always been a freak of nature, his body far beyond what any unaugmented person had any right to. James had seen the man grapple with men in power armor and swallow up magazines of ammunition. And now he had become that thing back there. Even Cinder, with whatever that abnormal power she possessed was, looked as if a gauss slug had hurt her. At least she had been concerned enough that she had resorted to blocking them. But Lanius? James had shot him in the face, three times no less, with an anti-tank weapon, one specifically designed to counter the juggernaut that was power armor. And Lanius had lost his balance. Even that small victory had required help from Qrow and Winter. The implications were horrific and James was forcing himself to not think about them. He was right behind them, and if the fears now festering in the depths of his soul were even half right, what could they possibly hope to do against him?
His heart thumped against his chest as they followed the winding path Han had led them on earlier that day. Every step of the way, James could swear he heard something behind them. Either the grinding of metal being torn apart or heavy footfalls that bent the ground beneath them. They were so faint he couldn't tell if they were real or if his mind was playing tricks on him. Either way, now was not a time to find out. Finally, after what seemed like an hour of flitting through the base, they came to a halt right outside the room. Winter darted forward and flicked the switch, the door sliding open.
Róta was standing right on the other side, ax at the ready. She was halfway through a swing, a silent battle cry on her lips, when she came to a sudden halt, staring at the three of them. Taking a defensive step back, she kept her weapon at the ready, not making any aggressive moves but not standing down either. "How?" she said in her raspy voice, clearly confused. Her eyes darted onto Qrow. "Who you?"
"The guy who spent the last couple of days inside your base without you noticing," Qrow said dryly, his sword at the ready.
"You're not at the front with the others?" Winter said in surprise, also on guard.
Róta's eyes were now darting back and forth between the three of them, doubtlessly realizing how badly outnumbered she was. Her gaze eventually came to rest on James. "Last line," she said, pointing her thumb at herself. "Base big. Multiple paths in. Not use military design." She paused. "Anna's armor." Now her thumb was pointed at James. "Anna's rifle. You hurt her?" A twitch of anger flashed across her face.
"No," James said. As he did, he holstered the gauss rifle. Róta was someone he could bring himself to hate, not after she had gone out of her way to stick up for Winter and him. "I just grabbed it from the armory. I didn't even see her there. She's probably holding the front gate." He took a step forward, reaching up and taking off his helmet.
"James, what are you doing!?" Winter hissed. He felt a pang of guilt over making Winter worry again.
"I'm just gonna talk to her, I know what I'm doing," he said, giving her the best reassuring smile he could manage. She didn't look entirely convinced, but at least didn't object further. However, she did not stay her sword, and James had a very good feeling that if Róta made even the lightest aggressive movement, Winter would be on her. Not wanting it to come to that, he turned back to the tribal woman. "Róta. Someone else got into your base. Someone called Raven Branwen."
Upon hearing the name, Róta noticeably stiffened. "How?" she said, her voice dripping in dread.
"She's my sister, her Semblance lets her create portals to people she has an emotional connection with. It came down to a case of bad timing." It was hard to be certain, but James was certain an element of regret was in his voice.
"Shit," Róta swore, glancing beyond the three of them and outside. "Where?"
"We don't know," James said honestly. "Róta? If you spent this long working with Han, you must believe everything he does, am I right?" The woman nodded, looking at him with a puzzled expression mixed in with her nervous energy. Ok good, he could work with this. "Can you and the others fight off a two-pronged assault like that? Do you even know how many men the Legion are beating down your door with?"
Róta said nothing, she merely looked at him as if she didn't like what she was hearing. "Róta. You know what the Legion is like. You know what they do to people. If they get that portal, they'll bring Aura back to Earth and they'll be the only ones to have it. The NCR won't be able to stop them, the Legion will kill and enslave hundreds of thousands of people. None of us want that. We can't let that happen. Róta...Lanius is here. He's a minute behind us at most. We don't have time. We can't let him get back to Earth."
Róta was in agony. Her gaze shifted from the portal behind her, to the ax in her hands, to James's face. Then, finally, she looked outside. The heavy thumps were echoing through the hallway. And they were getting louder. Then, she sighed. "Destroy portal always end plan. Han wanted us do it when no more good to do. But no time left. Go." With that, she stepped past James, heading towards the door.
"Wait, where are you going?" James called after her. She was heading right in the direction of Lanius.
"Get vengeance," she said, her voice managing a snarl despite how weak it was. "Live long James Walker. Live long Winter Schnee. Will see you in Valhalla." The uncertainty had left her. All that was left was a red hot fury that was slowly growing. Her eyes were alight with hatred, her knuckles were turning white as they gripped her weapon, and her teeth were clenched. Then, she raised her ax, let out a hoarse roar, and charged.
"Róta!" James called out after her. His heart was in his throat. What in God's name was she playing at? Was she trying to get herself killed?
"Damn it," Qrow said, looking down the hallway after her. "Well, nothing we can do about it. Look, do what you need to do, and let's get out of here. "
"She made her choice, James," Winter said, sounding sympathetic but also as if she agreed with Qrow. "She's buying us time too, let's not waste it."
James felt a little sick. Lanius would kill Róta, he would make it hurt. If she was lucky, that was all he would do. If she was unlucky, she would be taken alive, a concept he wasn't even sure he wanted to consider. Unclipping one of his grenades, he looked at the portal as his mind raced, trying to figure out what to do. If he just destroyed the portal and left, Róta's fate was sealed. But if he went to try and help her, he risked getting Winter and Qrow trapped in this slugfest. There had to be something he could do. There had to be something.
XXXXX
Iila's heart was in her throat. The battle in the front of the underground base was a bloodbath. A giant green man, a man that was more metal than flesh, a glowing green corpse, and a massive robot were blunting their advance to the best of their ability. There were three ways deeper into the base, two of them were locked down.
The giant's shield had been morphed into a giant hammer that was cleaving through anyone who got too close to him. The handful who had managed to get through were caught in the green blasts of energy that the corpse gave off. Three of the Legion and White Fang's fighters were dead on the ground, two of them with no visible wounds. They had dropped dead Ilia didn't know how neither of them weren't affected by the blasts that were claiming lives, but neither of them were slowing down. They held one of the deeper paths in
On the other path, a massive machine only slightly smaller than an Atlas Paladin was standing guard, firing an absolute hailstorm of laser fire and missiles to keep them at bay. It was being conservative with its missiles, but firing its lasers without restraint. Occasionally one of the lasers would go dry and it would lift the barrel up to its back. The cyborg was clinging onto the robot's back, firing lasers of his own and smacking the spent lasers that were raised up to him. Whatever he did, the weapons would burst to life as they began to rake the assaulting forces.
The third entrance was unguarded, access into it was mainly denied by suppressing fire from the robot and its passenger. Only Lanius had managed to force his way through with Marie F. and Adam's second in command. A few minutes after, he had been forced back out with the way being blocked by a pillar of ice not long after.
For a time, Ilia thought the assault was stalling out. These four, whoever they were, were able to hold the line against a much larger force. That was until Lanius tore into the pillar of ice and smashed it apart. With his fists. "Inside," he ordered calmly, grabbing and throwing a large chunk of the ice at the robot. It rocketed towards it far faster than anyone should reasonably be able to throw, even with Aura, shattering on its chest and leaving a massive dent. For a moment, the machine stuttered, shots going wide. The man on its back tried to pick up the slack, but it wasn't enough. Darting from cover as fast as she could, Ilia slipped through the entrance as fast as she could. Servius, Tullus, Ancus, and a legionary she didn't know were right behind her, Lanius leading them all. Behind them, she heard the laser fire resume.
Now she was excited. She had broken into enemy instillations, before. She had helped Adam strike at the SDC's very core, and she had learned something there. Once you had breached their front line, you had already won on some level. Their territory had been compromised and you had achieved at least part of your objective. They could rally and drive you out, but that was them salvaging a bad situation. Still, she couldn't get complacent. They had hurt these people, whoever they were, but they hadn't obtained their main goal yet.
The legionary she didn't know darted ahead, overtaking even Lanius as he sped forward. He was laughing with an almost primal delight, his sword out in a triumphant gesture as he pivoted to round a corner. There was the swish of something heavy being swung and the man was thrown back, sprawling onto the ground. Before he could react, a muscular, red-haired woman was on top of him, an ax crackling with Lightning Dust in her hands. She brought it down, letting out a noise that was more like a dull wheeze than anything else, tearing into the legionary's chest. His armor buckled, his Aura shattered, and his intestines spilled out onto his sides. The man had enough time to scream before a second swing took off his head.
They all came to a stop as Lanius held his hand out. Ilia was taken aback at how quickly the man had been killed and was confused as to why Lanius was holding them back. Not that she was about to disobey him. She had seen the way Servius, Tullus, and Ancus had reacted to the Legate.
The woman spoke as she turned to face him, her voice slow and heavy, sounding as each every word was causing her great pain. "I am Róta Bloodaxe, last of the Einherjar. If I die today, I die wet with the blood of Legion and their pawns." She spared Ilia a single, disdainful, look. "I will finish what we started all those years ago. We will not be one of the conquered." With that, she took up a fighting stance, as if daring them all to attack. Her eyes were locked onto Lanius.
"I recall you. Barely," Lanius said, taking a step forward. He barely seemed to remember Ilia and the others. "Your tribe was a challenge, refreshingly so. But your end was cowardly, as were your tactics. You knew you could not defeat us, so instead of facing a noble end, you drew Legion blood with trickery and deception. And when forced into a proper fight, your tribe's final act was a craven one. I imagine you will disappoint." The woman, Róta, adopted a stony expression as she glared at him.
Slowly, Ilia connected the dots. Tullus had mentioned a tribe that attacked the Legion and then blown themselves up when cornered. She took a glance at Servius, checking to see if he recognized what was being said. What she saw caught her completely off guard. Pure, unrestrained fury was etched into every corner of Servius's face. He was staring directly at Róta, a burning hatred she had never seen before in his eyes. It made him look more like a feral animal than a man.
"YOU!" he roared, his voice tearing as he did. Without warning, he tore across the gap between himself and Róta, his sword out. The woman blinked in surprise but adjusted quickly, a downward swing that would've parted her skull in two biting into the shaft of her ax instead. As the weapons clashed, Róta's face shifted into a snarl of hatred that matched Servius's.
"Serv!" Tullus bolted after his fellow legionary, Ancus following and Ilia uncurling her sword. Slowly, the tattoos that covered the woman began to glow a bright blue.
XXXXX
Author's Note: The way the Gauss Rifle works in New Vegas bugs me. It's a solid projectile weapon that mainly consumes energy weapon ammo. Now I get the reasoning behind it, it is a weapon that uses a power source, but you're still not shooting energy, you're shooting slugs. So I changed the mechanics a bit. It has a five-round magazine with a power supply that needs to be changed every ten shots. I thought it'd be fitting that such a weapon be a little high maintenance.
On a side note, I updated so often lately because I had a huge burst of energy, but sadly that energy is starting to wear off. I think semi-frequent updates have been good for me and the story, but I don't know if I can reliably pump out a thousand words a day. So I'd like to ask you guys something. How often would you like to see the story updated? Would you prefer shorter chapters with shorter waits? Or meatier chapters where I'm slower to update? I think I'm at the point where I'm already cutting down on chapter length because that was committing to burnout on my end (and maybe this is me reading into it too much but I feel like it was scaring readers off) but I can make them bite-sized if you guys want to see me update weekly, I think I can handle three-thousand words a week. This won't change what I have planned, just the framing. And I hold ultimate decision as there may be days where I go insane and pump out five-thousand words or a month where I barely break a thousand, but I'd like some input on what I should aim for.
I would like to thank my legacy Patrons, SuperFeatherYoshi, xXNanamiXx, RaptorusMaximus, Davis Swinney, Mackenzie Buckle, Ryan Van Schaack, ChaosSpartan575, and LordofNaught for their amazing support.