XxX-XxX-XxX Official Supporters:
Fanatical Fucking Reader, ScrubLord Yoda
Obsessive Reader, the Lizard
Compulsive Reader, The Impossible Muffin
Adeptus Militaris, Wilger
Commissioner, Gib, Espa Cole, Death Daddy If you want to be on the Supporter list, PM me for details or join our private server for details. Hope you enjoy reading my stories, please leave me a comment to let me know if you did, or where I can improve. Link here, where able to be seen :
Second link here, remove ( and ) and it SHOULD work : D(i) (slash)kfhkfUb
I have a kofi account now, too, under this name for those interested.
Beta(s) :
XxX-XxX-XxX
The machine was a sleek, silver creation with a layer of layered armor plates painted a deep bronze to match his armor. Its fingers ended in the same tapering as his own, and the joints aligned perfectly. A section in the middle of his forearm could be opened, to access its internal power and to replace its secondary hard-light Dust crystal. It curled into a fist and hardlight lanced out from a two inch wide, millimeter tall, opening to form a short, narrow blade about half as long as the Bane and glowed with a light that was not dissimilar to the Bane's more mundane kin.
"Palm." The good doctor demanded tiredly, turning the Arbiter's new hand over when he held it out to him. He pressed a large rod against it and asked, "You feel that?"
"I do."
"Good." Pietro nodded, moving the rod to each finger-tip and asking the same question for the same answer until he was done. Once he was satisfied, he set the tool aside and asked, "Can you move the digits naturally?"
"I can." Thel rumbled, closing and opening his fist a few times and then rolling his fingers in odder shapes and ways, to better test its flexibility. Finally, after a moment, he rumbled, "It is satisfactory, Doctor."
"A modern miracle is what it is!"
"Doctor Polendina, please." Ironwood sighed, turning from his holo-display to chide the man. "We're all fatigued. And afraid. But we need to stay away from each other's throats or-"
"I know, I know." His machine's heavy meat thudded against the floor as he turned and walked away from the Arbiter. "I just… Need some rest."
"Get it while you have time." Ironwood ordered, turning to Thel as the man strode away. "If you're ready-"
"War does not wait for our readiness." The Arbiter rumbled as he rose from the same stool Ruby had brought in earlier, now turned to a similar, if a bit more final, purpose. "Tell me what you need, General."
"You two." Ironwood grunted, pointing between the Arbiter and the white-arnmored Spartan. Then he turned to point out at a spot in the tundra, a decent distance away from Atlas itself, and with the floating kingdom between it and the Whale. "Here."
"The tundra…?"
"An old Dust mine." Jorge grunted quietly, turning to the General and asking, "A supply run, sir?"
"As a secondary objective." He nodded, "But primarily, you're to clear Grimm out so that engineers can prepare Amity Colosseum's final retrofits for launch."
"Amity Colosseum…?"
"It's part of a festival, run to commemorate the ending of a war a few couple decades back." The Spartan explained shortly, "You can find the details on the 'net later. Fpr npw- Retrofits, Sir?"
"I've ordered the crew sections expanded via retrofitting the warehouses internal to the structure into emergency housing, and the arena floor converted to replace the warehouses." Ironwood explained quietly, "Along with sections of the stands. Other sections, and the normal broadcast booth, are being re-tooled with CCT-aligned technology that, once Amity achieves high enough altitude, will emulate Vale's lost connector, and link Atlas, Vale, and northern Mistral together."
"Impressive."
"Is it?" Ironwood scoffed, "The intention was for it to reach all Mistral and Northern Menagerie. Proof of concept of an array of communication stations in high transit, where the wind protected them from Grimm. Eventually, two more would be built and placed in derivative orbit, to complete the net. With this reach, we'll be lucky to do the same with five."
"The technology did not fail." Thel rumbled comfortingly, or as best as he could approximate. "Time did."
"Aye." Jorge nodded, "Prove the concept, then just build a replacement for Amity. Easy as."
"Regardless." Ironwood shook his head, "Specialist Adel has his orders. Arbiter, do I have your cooperation?"
"You have my blades." Thel nodded, flicking his new hand and letting the pale blue of the hard-light weapon flare to life. "Merely direct it."
Ironwood nodded and turned back to his map, "Adel, you know the way to the Specialist hangars. A transport will be waiting."
XxX-XxX-XxX
"B-But my paintings-"
"Are insured. Well, hopefully, but Robyn didn't add that part. She just smiled and herded the woman onto the waiting transport, along with the shovel-toting mom and her daughter. As it lifted and twisted away, up into the sky, she sighed and grumbled in what she knew was absolutely petulant, "Please, don't get eaten for some canvas and oil. Oh, won't you kindly just save your damn lives?"
"People are dumb." She turned to Joanna, who was lounging on a ramshackle ramp a few feet away while Fiona worked a bandage around her bloodied thigh. Injured or not, the woman looked comfortable.
"People are irrational, not dumb." Fi pointed out quietly, tying the bandage taut and standing, dusting her hands off as she went. "She'd abandon it in a heartbeat if a Beowolf were on her heels."
"Some kinda are…?"
"Not really, Robyn." Fi shrugged, cocked a hip and crossed her arms in that way that told Robyn she was feeling feisty today. "The Grimm are half a block up, now, and being handled by the Hunters and those super soldiers. Everyone's... Basically just queuing to ride out from this sector, now."
Then, the way she tossed her hair and turned to listen to Branwen growl from his own lounge spot on the barricade, "Yeah, kinda bored, actually."
"Fi…" Robyn's eyes narrowed and the Faunus turned towards her. Wordless, she flicked a look at the wiry Huntsman behind her and Fiona's eyes widened just a hair.
Robyn snorted and Fiona flushed, stammering, "D-Don't you dare-"
"Tall, dark and broody." Robyn and Joanna both intoned at the same time. The tall man flinched and turned toward them while the two women laughed.
"What-"
"N-Nothing, Qrow! Go back to taking your break." Fiona turned to reassure him, waving the man off with both hands and then rounding on them and hissing. "Listen, bitches, don't mess this up for me!"
"Oh?" Joanna chuckled, quiet enough the man couldn't hear but Fiona's sharper, Faunnus ears could. Even Robyn had to read her lips. "There's a 'this' is there?"
"Jo!"
"Relax, I'm only-" The whine of Atlas engines on approach cut her off and the tall woman stood. Qrow did, too, and as Joanna and the lithe man passed Robyn by the former said, "We'll handle this round. You two catch a sit down and something to drink."
Robyn took the suggestion and fell into the mostly comfortable spot Joanna had found, and smirked as Fiona joined her. A seat large enough for Joanna could fit both of them, after all, which wasn't to call her fat. She was a very large person, but that was for muscle, not fat, and Robyn had zero complaints about it.
Looping an arm around Fiona's shoulder, Robyn leaned her head on the Faunus' and smiled when she murmured, "Oh, no…."
"So." Robyn smirked, "There's a 'this'?"
"Robyn, please…"
"No, no, I'm happy for you." Robyn smiled, "Tall, dark, broody, seems kind… Just your type."
"All of my hate…"
"Oh, all of it? Must be into him, then." Fiona whined and Robyn smiled, running her fingers through the Faunus' thick hair the way she knew made her feel better. She murmured a swear under her breath but leaned into the affection, touch starved as always, and Robyn smiled. "He's got a cute butt at least."
"Yeah," Fiona chuckled, "he definitely has a cute-"
They were interrupted by a ground-quaking boom and a bright flash that swallowed the street. In its wake, Robyn stood to watch the Atlesian transports - loaded down with civilians and wounded fighters both - slam into the concrete a half a block away. Between it and them, the soldiers who'd been dropped off watched the fire with slack-jawed shock. And Qrow fell to his knees, watching the fire like he'd seen his own family go down with it. Panic started to filter through the evacuees still waiting, and she saw more than a few back away and turn for the buildings around them.
If panic took, and they scattered, they'd be massacred...
"I saw the Beringel!" Fiona raised her voice, standing and pointing at the buildings, "We need more rifles on the roofs, keeping the skies clear! One slipped through, caught the engine."
The soldiers listened, one of their commanders turning and barking out orders that sent half their number into the surrounding buildings to keep the Grimm out of the skies. More interesting, though, was the relief on Branwen's face as he rose. As if a weight had been lifted.
Very odd…
More importantly, Robyn leaned in, "Fi, I didn't see a Beringel…"
"Yeah, well…" The Faunus sighed, "Someone had to keep the flock in the fold."
Robyn felt a swell of pride but couldn't resist asking, "Isn't that a bit-"
"Yes, it is, shut up." Red-faced, Fiona stalked away to check on tall, dark and broody. He smiled and waved her off, and Fiona answered with a little head tilt, reaching up to lay a hand on his shoulder comfortingly.
Oh, yeah…
She had it bad.
XxX-XxX-XxX
Mercury sighed and slipped back into the alleyway he'd come from and pressed a hand to his ear, "The airships went down, but the situation is still under control. Want me to cause some chaos?"
"No." Hazel's deep bass reverberated across the connection in a painful wave of static that made the assassin wince. More for annoyance than pain, though. It would take more than static in the ear to hurt Mercury.
"But we need to-"
"Cause trouble and hinder Mantle's efforts." Hazel growled, "We are. Emerald had an idea."
"Em?"
"Yeah, genius, this is a group call."
"I know that, Em, damn it. Would you just-" He sighed, forced himself to calm down, and started to make his way down the alleyway, head down and eyes wary. "What's your idea? From you, I'm guessin' it's a nasty one."
"Atlas is managing air traffic in Mantle at outposts set up on roofs a few blocks back from the front." Emerald informed him, "Without their radar, Atlas air won't know where the Grimm are. Which means they can't-"
"Survive in the skies." Mercury grinned, "Good idea, Em. knew you'd pull through. I'll get rid of their radar operators."
"I-I was thinking more about the radar systems-"
"Those, too." He grinned, "I'm sure the soldiers there have grenades and Dust on them. I'll whip up a bomb, leave a tripwire… When the replacements come to investigate and get things moving, boom! No more building."
"I-I mean, I guess that works, yeah…"
"I'll take care of it." Mercury grinned, and asked absently, "Assuming that works for you, boss?"
"Do what you have to." The big man sighed, "Emerald and I are headed up to take care of our other objective. We won't be able to help you."
"No worries," Mercury assured him, "I'll be fine. Bring down the walls so her highness can come on in, would ya?"
"Hmph." Hazel growled and ended the conversation.
Mercury just grinned. It was fun, riling him up...
XxX-XxX-XxX
"Saturating fire." Their pilot reported quietly as dull, distant seeming 'thunks' echoed and vibrated through the hull of their craft. A pair of 'whumps' finalized it and the pilot reported mechanically, "Area clear. Descending for drop-off on your order, Specialist Adel."
"You have it." The armored man grunted, sliding his wide-visored helmet on and turning to the Arbiter. "You ready?"
"It is not the first time I have gone into battle with a demon."
"That name…"
"Demon?"
"It is offensive, or…?"
"Anm insult, to be sure." The Arbiter nodded, "But one borne out of a healthy respect. Why do you ask?"
"Curiosity."
"Mhm." He took a moment to appraise his companion, curious himself.
Atlas, it seemed, had taken earnest efforts in researching and equipping the Spartan in the best approximation of his former gear that they could manage. His forearms and legs were encased in all-enclosing armor much like the Spartans of this age wore now, and his was studded in the expectable battle-wear. The plates of his thighs and biceps were only outward facing, but they were thick, with banned supplemental armor along the middle of their plates. His chest was much like the Master Chief's own, with a pair of pectoral plates fused at the middle and layered abdominal armor. His armor was equally similar, almost a mirror's match of the more heavily armored Demons he'd seen in his past, with a wide, off-silver visor and a light mounted to the side of his helmet, just behind his eyes so that the flash would not blind him.
It was heavy, and suited to the Demon, but sleek and white-painted in all the right ways to speak to Atlas' design beliefs.
"We call it THOR."
"THOR?"
"My armor." The Spartan shrugged, his heavy, matte-black heavy weapons pack shifting quietly as he did. "I told the General the original was MJOLNIR. And where it's from. He named the attempt to match it THOR - Tactical Heavy Ordinance Rig."
"I see…" Thel blinked and asked, "Why are you telling me such things? I had thought us still cold."
"We are. But…" The Spartan paused, though and sighed. "Well, my daughter taught me to be a bit more open-minded about people. Their, ah, circumstances. Ah, ez bonyolult. You helped my people, down in Mantle, an' paid for it. I owe you the benefit of the doubt."
"Ah." He blinked, thn added unsurely, awkwardly, "I appreciate it."
"Mhm." Jorge growled, leaning down to heft his tri-barreled cannon and shrugging the whole matter off, "I made it awkward. Forget about it."
"Very well."
The Bullhead shuddered as it landed and the doors slid open, admitting the icy tundra wind. They both ignored it, dropping into snow that ran up to their ankles and waiting as the Bullhead lifted up and pulled back and away, several of its missiles curving out to impact among the few Grimm left in the area. They exploded in clouds of snow, dirt, fire, and black, inky smoke. The few Grimm, Sabyrs to the last, that turned towards them were cut down in a long arc of heavy, automatic fire.
"Surprisingly easy…"
"Pilot cleared a lot of 'em." Jorge reminded him gently, "And most of the Grimm are in Mantle, or on their way, right now."
"Tragically true."
"Let's get it sorted and get back." Jorge grunted, hefting his weapon and turning towards the mountain that towered over them both. "Come on, then. Let's get it done so we can get to the real fight."
Thel nodded, loping along beside the armored Spartan who turned, barking bursts of heavy weapons fire at the occasional Grimm he spotted.
XxX-XxX-XxX
Cinder watched the coming and going of the Bullheads, landing to unload wounded onto Atlas General's grounds and then turning to head back into the fight. Waiting staff swarmed the injured, rushing the least of them into tents set up against the walls of the buildings while the worst were brought inside, to better care under doctor's personal eyes. Soldiers, some of whom themselves sported bandages, patrolled the grounds, watching the sky for Grimm and helping to calm the injured civilians coming in.
It was almost admirable, even by Cinder's standards.
Almost…
She turned at the sound of the roof-access door opening and closing, curved sword in her hand in case it was another nurse out for a smoke. When she saw it was only Neo, she smiled, if only just, and asked, "Did you get it?"
The one made a kind of 'so-so' gesture with a hand and came over, her nurse's uniform dissolving in a shower of light. She held out the rolled up paper for Cinder to take and then watched as she unfurled it and looked it over.
"A map of the grounds… Perfect."
"Nothing is on there that seemed helpful." Neo's Scroll spoke for her as she stepped around, one hand's thumb flicking across it skillfully as she pointed. "But floor forty two has a weird layout. And the basement has an odd secondary power system that runs up, but it doesn't say where to."
"And the Schnee?"
"Injured supposedly." Neo's Scroll spoke, "She's on floor forty two. High security to get in, I probably can't manage it."
"Then that must be where the Maiden is being kept." Cinder purred, that predatory, empty, burning sensation rising up in her chest. "Perfect… I'm so close, now. We just have to wait until the right moment, and make our play."
Neo, eyes hard and narrow, only nodded. She was displeased, Cinder could see as much. But, well…
That wouldn't be a problem for much longer.
XxX-XxX-XxX
Oh no!
Cinder and Neo doing things!
Arby and Jorge are isolated!
Mercury is killing people!
Anyway, a wee bit smaller word count, but I'm just kind of… Moving events forward towards the climax arc. Which, as was probably picked up here, ain't so far away.
XxX-XxX-XxX
Joe Cola :
Weiss is Pyrrha-sexual. *nodding sagely*
How Operation Uppercut 2, Electric Boogaloo goes is spoilers~
Also, FUCKING auto-correct!
Sebine :
Weiss is Pyrrha-sexual~
KPMH2001 :
I toyed around with many ideas for the operation name. Eventually, I settled on this one for thematic reasons.
…
Also, Irondaddy and Jorge named it after the one on Reach.
Vincentburns343 :
I clearly state why they don't use bombardment - limited ammunition and a desire to preserve the SINGLE THING ON THIS PLANET that can leave orbit. Further, such measures aren't super useful, since they won't stop Salem. She'll just be back in a week or three with another whale, or a dragon, or whatever else. Eventually, she'd find a way to hit the Sun and destroy or cripple it. Or it would run out of plasma and MAC shots.
Don't be a dick.