I
187.M4224-69, Landing Zone Primus
The energy from Roman's cane blast pushed Ruby Rose back, further than she expected. She drove Crescent Rose deep into the metal skin of the airship as she attempted to arrest her backwards flight. She was successful, though she landed flat on her face.
'Little Red, Little Red…' Roman Torchwick mocked her in his false affable tone as he walked up to her. He leaned on the very cane he had shot her with just a moment before, smiling menacingly.
'... you're just determined to be the-' He continues, his monologue cut short by the first of many fiery blasts to tear asunder the night sky. A round hurtles downwards slamming into the airship next to the one they're fighting. Ruby, Roman and his hired thug, Neo Politan, can't help but watch in horror as the round penetrates the steel effortlessly. A moment later it explodes in the dust tank. The fiery ball runs through the ship creating a cascade of explosions exacerbated by the fuel. Eventually the ship's back breaks and it bends in half as it crashes to the ground.
'Oh no!' Ruby rushes to her feet, grunting as she struggles to tear Crescent Rose from the ship before she too is engulfed by fire.
'Well Little Red, I'd love to stay and chat, but I have to cut and run!' Roman taunts, trying to maintain his usual cavalier charm, though his pale face betrays his own horror at what he didn't expect either. Whatever this is, Ruby feels even they didn't anticipate or cause this
As he races to the edge, he scoops up Neo Politan under his arm and with her held tightly, he leaps from the airship. Once they're clear from the airship, Neo opens her parasol and they gracefully descend together into the darkness and chaos that is Beacon.
'What now...' Ruby whimpers desperately at a particularly loud explosion. She runs to a wing as the aircraft she is on takes a hit and begins descending rapidly. She stays close to one of the engines that kept it hovering and anxiously waits as it falls, to leap off when it's safe. The chunk of airship falls faster than she expected but she loses no time turning into a burst of petals and leaps down from it. Realising she'll be killed by the faster, smaller calibre fire, Ruby speeds at an inhumanly fast speed towards cover.
Looking skyward Ruby sees something large, like the size of a building descend towards the clear space where the airships were situated. It seems like a palace or something to her, it's highly ornate and much of it is decorated with gold. It is heavily armed, with both canons capable of rapid fire and those capable of quite powerful shots, Ruby observes it safely from afar.
She narrows her silver coloured eyes as the large, ornate doors begin to open once it slams down firmly onto the concrete. Are they grimm? Are they Atlesians, or something else? Ruby thinks to herself. What comes out is black like grimm, they walk on two legs but their faces are white and their eyes red, like the grimm. But they disembark in orderly formations, some shout commands, commands Ruby can understand. Some are without helmets it seems, and have short white hair. They come out in formations of ten to a dozen or so with their bulky guns levelled. Having seen enough, Ruby decides it's best to sneak away and get back to her team.
(Next)
Sacresant Squad Carpus charges out of the Invasion Cathedrum, with their large shields held up and they form a defensive circle within two concentric circles of Battle Sister squads. One by one the Sister Superiors of the Battle Sister squads sound off that their sectors are clear of enemy activity. Many of them occupy craters made in the descent.
'No contact, Lady Palatine.' Celestian Superior Alicia Carpus advises through the comm system.
Behind them, with deliberate, rhythmic clanking a tall figure in even more ornately decorated black power armour steps down the plasteel ramp. She moves towards the protective circle of Sacresants taking her place in the centre. In the gentle winds the blood red robes of her Order sway a little. With a casual air about her, the Sister removes her relic power sword, Rosethorn, and drives it deep into a very large crack in the weak concrete the Cathedrum landed on, declaring the world of 24-69 to be a world conquered by the sword.
'Lady Palatine-' Celestian Superior Alicia attempts to begin, before a raised armoured gauntlet silences her.
'Listen…' Palatine Athanasia Corinthus says with a wicked smile stretching across her face as she raises the visor of her Sabbat pattern helmet. '...listen to a city die…' She says with a distracted tone, like that of a connoisseur appreciating something exquisite. Her ears listening keenly to the sounds of violence, the wails of those about to die and the cries of the dying. Her small, upturned nose sniffs at the acrid smells of war, of burnt buildings, machinery and flash. She knew of course that this city was doomed. She could see full well what was going on as the invasion force descended. From what she could see, something brilliant was in the offing when the Emperor's blow was struck. Something like the death of Troas in the legends of Ancient Terra. The city's defences are in disarray and there is a minimum of military forces in the city. Forces acting erratically as some sort of Xenos beasts feast upon the panicked and disorderly population. When this is over, she resolved to investigate the matter. And not just that, this world has many mysteries to be unravelled.
'This city is lost to the defenders.' She snorts contemptuously as she shoves down the visor.
'Lady Palatine.' Sacresant Superior Carpus acknowledges.
'We best be off.' The Palatine adds, turning her gaze to the one large tower dominating the city's landscape like a giant's spear. Her command Rhino Armoured Personnel Carrier, Perseverance's Reward, stops beside the formation. Quickly and orderly they enter the Rhino and the Rhino takes its place in the centre of an armoured formation spearheaded by Castigator Battle Tanks and flanked by Immolator Infantry Fighting Vehicles.
(Next)
'She told me you'd be arrogant…' Cinder Fall echoes her previous introduction as Professor Ozpin's broken body hits the hard floor. Is that all? She thinks to herself, he was powerful, a bit of a challenge but not too difficult for her to overcome when she came into her full powers. It shouldn't have been that easy, but it was. She can't help but smirk as she strides over to him, on long legs shod in glass. The glass daintily clinked against the floor.
The Fall Maiden looks down at the corpse, his once quite fair hair charred black, his signature eyeglasses missing one lens and the other shattered. The frame itself is distorted by the heat and the forces thrown against him. That distinctive outfit of his is charred and almost indistinguishable, the flesh underneath more so.
'Tsk, tsk, tsk.' She laughs as she crouches low to touch him and reduce what's left of him to ashes.
Then, suddenly, like an earthquake the whole structure shakes. Cinder listens carefully, above she can hear the repeated roar of what must be explosions that preceded every trembling of the tower.
'What now?!' The Fall Maiden growls as she levitates, empowered by a hateful anger. She propels herself under the power of a fiery magic to the entrance above like a bolt of lightning.
Her enticing lips stretch murderously around clenched perfect white teeth when she reaches ground level. Here the explosions are at an almost deafening level. Amongst the shaking structure raining small bits of masonry, Cinder summons a bow of black glass and sorcerous arrows part black glass, part flame.
Her enchanting golden eyes, wreathed in flame, narrow at the doors where the blasts are loudest. She waits, fixed on when they finally give way. She is fixed on when whatever is pounding at them breaks through. She waits…
With the last barrage of Castigator battle canons the metal doors leading into the tower were blasted off their hinges. Smoke from the shells and from smoke launchers obscured the entrance.
'Forward!' Palatine Corinthus shouts through the comms.
'Forward!' Celestian Superior Carpus echoes.
The Sacresants raise their large shields, the size and shape of a sarcophagus lid and advance into the smoke in a wedge formation. Their power halberds and the Celestian Superior's power spear glow and crackle with energy as they're levelled for the advance. Behind them, the Palatine raises her boltgun, ready for anything.
They advance slowly into the smoke and dust, their red lenses seeing what would obscure their natural vision. After the Astartes, no one in the Imperium was as heavily armoured and as well equipped as the Adeptas Sororitas.
'Contact, twelve o'clock! Shields up!' Celestian Superior Carpus barks as she sees the thermal signature of a trio of projectiles heading straight for them. The Sacresants barely raise them in time, two projectiles hit the shields, one buries itself into the floor. All three explode, breaking the line as two Sacresants are forced onto their backsides and others are compelled to step back.
'The Emperor guides us, guides our blades and guides our fire, breaks our foes and kindles their pyre.' The Palatine sings serenely, aiming her bolt gun at the levitating humanoid she spots before them. The war hymn keeps her scarily calm as she paces through the breach in the Sacresant shield wall.
Her finger squeezes on the trigger in disciplined, short but constant bursts. The bolts are on target but they explode against some sort of energy field the creature emits. As they continue to explode, it emits a bestial growl. Tossing aside it's bow it summons fireballs in both hands and hurls them at the Palatine and her bodyguards. The formation spreads apart even further and Palatine leaps aside. Is this the work of the foul Aeldari? No, the Aeldari are more graceful, they're calmer… The Palatine thinks to herself.
Palatine Corinthus rolls and then rises to all fours in the aftermath of the fireball. As she looks up the approaching light momentarily hurts her eyes as the creature approaches her, propelled by sorcerous fire. Before Palatine Corinthus can rise to her feet she feels a yank of inhuman strength pull her to her feet by grasping onto the golden halo on her power pack. The Witch loses no time flying around with her, taunting her bodyguards with the fact that none of them dare fire the guns attached to the inside of their shields.
'You will pay!' The beautiful face, contoured in unfathomable hatred growls down at the Palatine. She drags the Palatine into a wide circle and throws her into a wall, somehow adding to the momentum with her sorcerous strength.
'Gah!' Palatine Corinthus growls at the collision but her power armour saves her from broken bones, or worse.
The Sacresants run to her, to save their mistress, but before they can the Witch flies over her again and pulls her up again by a halo. The Witch flies straight for the elevator and punches a hole through the wall with a fireball. She then flies up the shaft, maliciously smashing the Palatine against the sides as she blasts like a rocket ever upwards. She taunts the Palatine as she smashes her against the walls like a cat with a mouse. But it doesn't last for long as the Witch is elevated by a lance of fire.
'Seraphim Squad Bellora, top of the tower! Primus priority!' Palatine Corinthus snarls through the comms between grunts of pain.
At the top the Witch blasts through another wall and throws the Palatine overhand into the large room. The Palatine soars and then hits the ground, rolling until she's stopped by a large cog. The room resonates with the clanging of metal on metal.
(Next)
'Who?! Are?! You?!' The Fall Maiden hysterically shrieks as she watches the figure in black armour slowly stand up. Standing by the cogs the enemy looks back at the Fall Maiden who watches her draw a hand-and-a-half sword.
'You are ruining everything!' Cinder bellows.
'You speak Low Gothic it seems.' The figure says with a pained laugh, lifting her helmet's white visor as she stands at her full height of just over six foot tall.
'I speak Remnantian.' Cinder hisses back.
'Quaint. I gathered your world would be ignorant of the universe outside your planet. No space travel capable vessels, no facilities capable of making or servicing such vessels, and most fortuitously, no orbital defences!' The invader mocks as she gets into a fighting stance. The Fall Maiden can tell she's female. Her heavily stylised armour is shaped around her breasts and her face is a beautiful one. Long, with bronzed skin. Eyes like molten gold. Oddly her thick eyebrows are mahogany brown, but what hair she can see from what little is visible from the open helmet is as white as pure snow. But the gazing is only momentary as Cinder notes the stance, not so far removed from what Rhodes once taught her.
'You're not from this world?' She hisses at the invader, summoning a black glass scimitar in each hand. Two swords to one, this should be quick.
'Quite perceptive of you.' The invader casually replies as she raises her blade with both hands, aiming it at Cinder as she circles around.
'Speak plainly and without sarcasm and I'll allow you a merciful death.' Cinder commands as she charges, slashing both swords at the woman in black armour.
The Fall Maiden howls in fury as the invader, whose armour makes her seem far bulkier than she moves, easily parries both blades almost effortlessly. All Cinder can do is snarl as she realises the martial prowess of her opponent.
'If it makes you feel any better…' The woman begins, continuing in her circling with her blade still held up, at Cinder. '...I am the emissary of this world's master, the God-Emperor of Mankind. The commander of the army He has sent to subdue this pitiful world.' It didn't make her feel better at all, mentally Cinder resolved to take the insolent woman's heart in hand.
'This world isn't yours!' Cinder spits as she charges in again, her dual scimitars striking at the invader like a pair of vipers. This time the speed is almost too much for the invader, she barely manages to beat them aside with a fluid left to right parrying motion. She is really good. Cinder ruefully concedes, she'd never seen such great parrying in Remnant. Ever.
'We'll see about that.' Cinder sneers, as she pulls back, flames bursting from around the edges of her eyes more than before. She summons all her power into her body. She can feel the maiden power course through muscle, vein and bone more keenly than she ever had before.
'By all means.' The invader laughs. 'Your world is what? A hundred million humans strong? Slightly industrialised, and quite lacking in powerful standing armies?'
'No.' Cinder says coldly. The enemy's guesses were quite close to the mark, but the Fall Maiden could see no point confirming them. She is more focused on taking one last breath and charging at the invader. Her body is at its zenith in power, Cinder feels like she could outrun a cheetah or bend steel girders.
With a furious, animalistic howl the Fall Maiden charges at the invader once more, her attacks striking quite rapidly. Even Cinder can barely see her hands and the blades they hold in the hectic melee.
'The God-Emperor has worlds that are covered in cityscapes whose people number in the billions, worlds devoted entirely to industry! Should I fall, your world will still be brought into the Imperium by a ride of men and machines!' The invader gloats. Cinder ignores her, thinking she boasts merely a demotivational tactic, tactics Cinder knows full well. The very same stratagem she used to bring this pathetic city to its knees and become the greatest grimm magnet in history.
(Next)
Palatine Athanasia Corinthus could no longer keep up with the speed of the Witch's attacks. She allowed the ones poised to hit her armour to strike, bothering only to block what was aimed at the joints in her armour from what she could tell, the sorcerous blades are quite primitive and no match for power armour. She patiently weathered the storm as she tried to discern any patterns in the Witch's onslaught.
'My turn!' Palatine Corinthus triumphantly grunts and kicks the Witch away when she has an idea of how to proceed. The Witch snarls. Such an ugly look for such an unnaturally beautiful woman, the Palatine thinks. She activates her blade and it glows with a crackling blue energy as it slices through the Witch's blades like a knife through hot butter. In the moment that the Witch is overcome with blinding anger as Palatine Corinthus anticipated, she grabs the Witch's lithe wrist and swings her hard into a cog.
'You are a human, correct?' The Palatine's tone is casual, as she punches the witch to the abdomen in time with her words.
'I am more!' The Witcher growls, struggling to free herself with fire emanating from her body, but it is to no avail as the armour shields the Palatine against such sorcery. Palatine Corinthus can't help but internally sneer, she's wielded far hotter fires.
'I presume you are a psyker of some sort, no?' She continues to punch the Witch, ignoring the Witch's attempts to escape. But the detail that definitely doesn't escape her eye is how the Witch's gaze always returns to something in the distance behind her.
'Not talkative?' The Palatine teases, changing up her attacks to kneeing attacks. 'No matter, I'll ask something easier. Is this a communications hub?'
Palatine Corinthus doesn't wait for an answer as she watches her quarry for smirk, like the Witch has done something clever and then drags the both of them down. Above them, they are pelted with falling glass, steel and concrete as the top of the tower is smashed away. Palatine Corinthus can only see the back of what that something was. It was like a dragon of ancient Terra in appearance. As it flies off to make a second swoop, carried on giant bat-like wings.
'It was!' The Witch smirks, short of breath after managing to drag herself out of the Palatine's iron grasp during the monster's sweep. After that she manages to push herself away from her opponent over sharp glass and broken concrete.
'Squad Bellora incoming.' The comm chatters to the Palatine as she rises to her feet, mentally thanking the Emperor for the assistance of the power armour.
'I suppose some gratitude is necessary…' She says to the Witch, gesturing to the destroyed communications machinery as she tosses her helmet aside.
'...so, after you've answered all my questions, girl, I'll give you the Emperor's peace myself. How does that sound?' Her tone softens, like a mother enticing her child. For a second she can see the pure hatred in the Witch's face. It pleases her greatly.
The Witch doesn't get to answer, a hail of bolts crack against her psyker energy shield and she howls and curses angrily. In all directions around her, a blast of fire emanates, adding emphasis to her rage. The Palatine covers her face as she's thrown backwards. It takes all her strength to avoid being thrown off the edge of the open tower, let alone do anything to stop the Witch who now burns her way across the night like a shooting star.
'What happened?' Seraphim Superior Dardania Bellora asks as her squad of jetpack borne Sisters land at the top of the tower. Bathed in the light of their jetpacks they are almost angelic in appearance. Angels of vengeance, angels of death to those who oppose the progress of humanity.
'Just a little enhanced interrogation.' Palatine Corinthus laughs, before regaining her regal composure. She processes all that just happened while dusting off her power armour, armour that's almost white from the dust of the tower.