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
Gods, I am THIS CLOSE to just outright killing Irondaddy at the start of every fic I ever write ever just to keep him out of my hair.
Chill, y'all. And you fuckos in my DMs are why I say that, and you know who you are. -.-
As always, I'm not responding to Irondaddy drama beyond the SIMPLEST points. Its obvious why he's doing what he is, and why it's not good, in this story.
XxX-XxX-XxX
The Bane melted through golem stone and warped steel with a hiss and a bubble as Thel sprinted past the lumbering beast. He turned on a heel as he came clear and slid, slamming the hard light blade of his prosthetic into the ground to slow him. The Grimm turned to follow him, but as it stepped, its leg shattered and it fell, sinking to a knee with a mind numbing bellow. Still, it comes for him and the Arbiter backed away, flexing his fingers around the grip of the Bane as he went.
The Gheist's arm exploded at the shoulder as a hundred rounds ripped into it, catching Dust and detonating in a display of bright colors that made the Arbiter's eyes widen as it ripped into the Grimm's chest and side, ripping it into pieces as the Gheist pulled free and turned to flee. As it did, Thel turned and watched the Spartan lower his cannon and raise a blocky sidearm, tracking the Grimm as it traced between the Dust crystals overhead for cover, headed for the exit.
Finally, as Thel looked back to the Grimm, the Spartan fired.
A single shot, which ripped right into the monster's mask-face and shattered the monster in a shower of stone, bone, and smoke.
"That was risky." He rumbled as the Spartan approached and Thel let the light of his blades die. "You fired and struck Dust. If you had struck a particularly strong crystal-"
"It worked." The Spartan grunted, then sighed, "But you're right. Stupid mistake…"
"We all stumble." Thel rumbled as he stepped by and clapped a hand on the man's shoulder, "Even Spartans. What matters is that the beast has fallen and we have not. Let the rest lie amongst the rubble."
"...Alright." The Spartan sighed and turned, and together, they began to make their way back up the tunnels. "We need to move. We spent too long clearing the tunnels. There's no telling what has happened."
"You wouldn't know?"
"Dust interferes with comms signals." The Spartan explained, "Raw Dust, at least. Between that and the mountain itself, getting signals in and out all the way from Atlas is spotty at best. Even with the best equipment."
"I see…"
"It's a big part of why so many accidents happen down in Dust mines." The Spartan went on, seemingly more interested in filling the silence than anything else. "You have to run landlines down to a handful of phone boxes. Which are spread out over the mine. So if one gets cut, or buried…"
"I understand." It reeked of propaganda, to his by now well-trained nose at least, but he did not say as much. It would only be an argument, and one to no end - neither of them could change how Atlas behaved.
Pointless conflict was more than a waste of breath.
Outside of the mine, the wind was biting and gusting, hurling up snow and frost the Arbiter blocked with his cloak as they stepped into the open. Beyond that worrisome weather, though, the world was peaceful. A world of whispering white, broken up only by old, frost-laden SDC constructs. He let the peace sink into him, sighed, and turned towards distant Atlas.
His eyes widened…
"Spartan."
"I know." The soldier grunted as he turned, "Atlas is under siege. We're being called back to defend it."
"Mantle…?"
"Ironwood did all he could, but Atlas' shields have been breached. Grimm are at the gates. They're still fighting down there, but…" The Spartan shook his head, slightly, gravely, "If Atlas falls, Salem will wipe Mantle out, too. And no one will have anywhere to run."
"Then we go to battle." Thel nodded, "Atlas needs our aid."
"Transport is inbound." The Spartan nodded, then hesitated and added, quietly, "And…"
"It goes unsaid." The Arbiter nodded, touching his fist to his helmet in an old, small salute. Quietly, as he turned away, he sighed, "To the next fight, then."
XxX-XxX-XxX
Ironwood watched the battle from his office window, which was as dark a thing as he'd always imagined it would be.
Trenches had been hastily dug by his soldiers coming back from Mantle, in the time the garrison held the Grimm back. As they buckled and were slaughtered, his regulars had stepped up, using their entrenched positions alongside their mechanized units to form the next layer of defense. The first trench line had been the freshest, incomplete and lacking the heavier arms of the back four, but it held for long enough for the rest of the regulars to properly prepare themselves. And now they were holding as best they could, while his engineers deployed artillery to the walls and anti-air batteries scattered across the city opened fire on the aerial Grimm.
In many ways, it was the ideal battle.
"But why…" He growled, laying his arm on the glass in front of him and leaning his head against it. The cool metal of his prosthetic did little to help his headache, but he enjoyed it regardless. "She's no fool."
Salem had landed outside his walls, across Atlas' fields, which admittedly meant that they did not have the heated fields that fed the two cities. But why? That would be useful in a siege, but she was assaulting his walls. And she'd chosen that, when she could have brought the Leviathan in and landed on the walls directly. Hell, she'd even brought the shields down in the longest part of the fields, offering him the most space to defend in.
Why…?
Was this all a game to her? Some way to pass the time?
It would make a bit of sense…
"Sir." He turned as one of his aides came into the office and snapped a salute. When he nodded, she reported, "Team RWBY has returned, as ordered, but Nora Valkyrie, Lie Ren and Jaune Arc refused to leave until evacuation was complete. They're still in Mantle, holding the evac line."
"But Rose's team came in…?"
"Yes, Sir."
"And where are they?"
"Miss Weiss Schnee reported a mild injury, and her team demanded to accompany her to the medical wing." The officer reported sharply, "However, they promised to join the fight after doing so."
"Hmph." He hated delaying deploying his silver eyed warrior to the front, but for long enough to do that, he supposed he could wait. "Fine. As long as that's all they do. Pass the word along, we need them out there as soon as possible."
"Yes, General."
He nodded and turned away, asking over his shoulder, "Any word from Specialist Schnee?"
"None yet, Sir." The officer answered, venturing a moment later, "Should I… Put out a notice?"
"No." He answered quietly, "We have more important things to focus on."
She was probably just recovering from the transfer process, or acclimatizing to her powers. He could grant her enough leeway to do that. At least for another hour or so. Then, he might need to hunt her down…
But that was a decision for an hour from now.
XxX-XxX-XxX
"Left up here." Roland said, his voice crackling in Weiss' ear as she marched, one hand holding the ear bud in her ear and eyes sharp. She rounded the corner so closely she nearly rammed her shoulder into it and kept on. "Straight ahead, past two more halls. Door on the left, near a lift."
"Weiss…?"
"Roland says we're almost there."
"O-Okay." Ruby stammered from just behind her. After a moment, she said, "I-I'm sure your sister is fine. Ya know?"
"Yeah." Yang added brightly, "She's a tough lookin' bitch. It'd take something big to take her out."
"Something we'd have already heard about." Blake added quietly, laying a hand on Weiss' shoulder to reassure her.
Weiss knew that, of course she did - Winter was an Atlesian Specialist, Ironwood's right hand, and a woman with half a decade of service under her belt. So why was she so scared? What was making Weiss so nervous? It was like she'd eaten something foul and developed a fever for it - her stomach churned so powerfully with anxiety, and she felt positively frigid. Frozen to the core.
Why…?
The answer was simple enough, "She would never call me for help. Not in the heart of Atlas' military might. She'd call on Ironwood and the Atlesian military."
None of her friends had anything to say to that, for obvious reasons, though Blake did squeeze her shoulder affectionately before taking her hand away. Weiss missed it, the reassuring pressure and physical tell that her friends were with her. An irrational desire, the cold, quiet, rational part of her mind murmured at the back of her racing mind.
Then, they rounded the last corner and her blood froze in her veins.
The silvered hallway was sleek and sterile, as Atlas' military was so inclined, but that only served to make the bright red pooling in the door all the brighter. She stared at it for a while before her eyes slowly slid across the pool of ruby red to the closed door. On mechanical legs, Weiss paced toward it, ignoring the blood as she punched the code Winter had given her days ago into it - 'just in case' she'd said, and refused to elaborate.
It slid open and Weiss choked on her air, croaking, "W-Win…"
"Fuck." Blake slid past her and knelt in the blood, pulling the woman onto her side and pressing a hand over her mouth and nose and the other against her neck. When she felt nothing, Weiss watched her yank the woman's blouse open and press a hand between her breasts to search for even the faintest heartbeat.
Finally, she turned to Weiss with wide, sorrowful eyes, "Weiss, she…"
"You fucking bitch!" Weiss heard Yang snarl as she slid to her knees and reached out with a trembling hand to touch her sister's face. As Yang stomped away and snarled something else, Weiss choked and shot up and back, hands fisting in her hair.
"Go with Yang, I've got Weiss!" Ruby was in her face then, filling her vision with silver eyes and a worried friend, but Weiss just stuttered. Words she couldn't even understand herself, and that Ruby seemed unable to either.
Weiss didn't care, though.
She just threw herself at her partner, tucked her face into the crook of the woman's neck, and keened.
XxX-XxX-XxX
Neo watched the blonde and her partner stalk towards her with narrowed eyes and flicked a look past them, to the other two. Red was holding her partner as both vanished around a corner and the woman sobbed, and Neo's frown deepened. Red was right there, it'd be so easy…
Especially now.
But where would that get her?
"I'll fuckin' kill you!" The blonde snarled as Neo backed away and raised Hush. Then, as she walked, she dropped the weapon and held up her hands in a gesture of surrender that brought the two women to a sudden stop a few feet from her.
The Faunus flicked a look to her partner, and blondie chuffed, bounced a shoulder, and then Blake stepped to the side and forward. Like she was going to flank her. Then she asked, quietly, "Are you… Surrendering?"
She pursed her lips and slid one leg back - a half-step further down the hall. Then she made a so-so gesture with a hand.
"Fuck do you mean 'kinda?" Yang growled, pacing forward and rolling her shoulders as her weapon extended and a tube on her prosthetic opened up - probably another gun.
Slowly, Neo brought a finger to her eye, then pointed at Yang and Blake, and then at the door to her side. The one the old woman had been behind, until she and Cinder had… Shown up. Slowly, she took another step back, away from her sword, and the two women copied her, pacing to match.
It was also very annoying right now…
"If you give up, then give up." The Faunus said quietly. Quickly, she took two steps forward and knelt, eyes on Neo, to pick up Hush before retreating and dropping it behind the two of them.
With a roll of her eyes, and a flash of her Semblance, she shifted to her finely fallen former partner's form and turned at the hips, waving both her hands at the door. As she turned back to the two women she raised her eyebrows. They traded looks, Yang grimaced and shook her head, Blake smiled softly and sighed, and then Yang growled and turned to Neo.
"Don't fuckin' lie to me." The red-eyed blonde warned, "Did you kill Winter?"
Technically, when Neo shook her head 'No', she wasn't even lying. She'd put the woman on death's door, sure - but Cinder had killed her. The blonde watched her for a moment, then stalked forward. When she grabbed Neo by the shoulder, shoved her back and then slammed her into the wall by the door, Neo knew better than to resist. That would just make blondie go on the attack, which as fun as that would be, she had other plans.
"Blake," Yang grunted, "you mind?"
Quiet, the Faunus paced up to the two of them and slipped by, into the room. After a moment, she returned, eyes wide, "Yang, let her down."
"What?" Yang blinked, "Why?"
"Those machines are in here." Blake explained, "The ones Jaune told us about."
"The Maiden transfer…?"
"And Cinder." Blake murmured, watching Neo closely, "She's dead. So is an old woman, and… And it looks like Cinder killed her."
"Cinder was the Fall Maiden." Yang murmured, turning to Neo with steadily widening eyes. "You're the only one back here, and you wanted to show her to us…"
Neo smiled and blinked, tugging on the power settled in the back of her shoulders, and pushed the blonde back with a gust of powerful wind. She staggered away and brought her arms up instinctively, but didn't move as Neo stepped forward and held up a hand. Fire danced from her finger-tips, floating in mid-air as she stenciled out, 'Killing those women gives you their powers, right? Would explain a few things Cindy never got around to telling me.'
Yang blinked and, quietly, murmured, "Well, fuck…"
XxX-XxX-XxX
He watched the little woman from across the bay, leaning against the wall in the Black Sun's guts while Linda parsed out ammunition to each of them. As she came over with his AR's spare magazines, he asked, "You think she's alright for this?"
"Worried about her, Chief?"
"I'm worried about the mission." He answered, slotting the ammunition into its proper place and frowning behind his visor. "She's nervous."
"John, tell me the truth."
"I am."
"You are." She agreed, "But not the whole truth. You're keeping some of it back. Don't. I, we, are here for you."
"...I'm worried about her." He finally sighed, "She's shaking like a leaf and fumbling with her rebreather. The Grimm are attracted to anxiety. She'll be like a beacon. We'll be fine, but she might not be. And if she goes down, the drive goes with her."
"Yeah, she's terrified." Linda nodded, watching the Faunus from the corner of his eye, the same way John was. "Someone should talk to her. Make her feel better. Probably an older, veteran with that natural aura of command."
"Linda…"
"For the record," he could hear the smirk in her voice, "Kelly and Frederic already said no. And I'm saying it, too. You get short straw."
"I do?"
"Mhm." She nodded and turned to leave, "Bad luck for you."
He watched her go, joining the other two at the Pelican, and then lingered for a moment. Finally, he pushed off the wall, adjusted the assault rifle in his hand, and paced evenly over to the woman. She had her back to him but he saw her head tilt to the side as he came over, and then she turned, blinking at him before waving…
Well, sheepishly.
"Drop is soon." John murmured, looming over the tiny woman and flicking a look to the rebreather and pressure suit they'd given her. It was too big by a size, but the seals adjusted, so for all she would look like a green marshmallow woman, she'd be safe. "You look… Anxious."
"Because I shouldn't be anxious?"
"We will keep you-"
"You literally want me to jump out of this ship and just… Let you carry me down." She cut him off, "We're a few hundred miles in the air. That's just… Fucking terrifying."
"It's not that bad…"
"Yes, it is." She sighed, "But… I'll do my job. Everyone's counting on us, right?"
"Right."
"Yeah." She nodded quietly, tapping the side of the helmet in her hands and swallowing roughly. "Yeah…"
"I…" He sighed and knelt, to better meet the woman's eyes, and said, "I'm not good at this. Dealing with… People. Like you."
"Faunus…?"
"Non-Spartans." He corrected her frankly, "I'm not good with you. It's… A problem. But what I can tell you easily is that you'll live through this."
"How can you possibly know that…?"
"I'll be protecting you personally, along with Linda and Kelly." He assured her as he stood and then he paid her a nod to reinforce it. "Once the bomb is placed, you're our sole priority. We'll get you out or die trying. And Spartans don't die very easily."
That seemed to mollify her a bit, at least. After a second she stood and slid the helmet on, peering out of the airman's visor. A hose ran from the bottom of it, below the mouth, and into the emergency suit and John could hear it running.
"S-So," she stammered, "let's get this over with?"
He nodded and then raised his voice, "Spartans, jump time."
XxX-XxX-XxX
The Right Price :
As a SMALL note - 'the cast' didn't make this decision, Qrow and the Spartans did. RWBY, JNR and Oscar didn't have any input on it as they were elsewhere. If you would like to 'blame' someone, the man you're looking for's name is 'John Sierra 0117'.
Also, no, if I was tired of this fic I'd drop it. As it is, I have SEVERAL chapters pre-drafted and a possible sequel in mind.
Lord of Tentacle :
I, generally, don't write stories super in mind for those that don't know stuff. I only reiterated Ozpin's backstory for the ARBITER'S scene coming off of it. I see no reason to pad the word count with the same stuff everyone reading these stories SHOULD know.
However, I try to make sure that the MAIN details come through. What the Arbiter is, what he did, the Schism, etc. Those are made clear. As are Spartan's roles.
I'm sorry if that rankles, but as an author, I have to ration my time.
KPMH 2001 :
Aura really isn't explained much, until Oscar is learning. There we learn that it must be consciously raised, but after a while, becomes a kind of muscle memory. Like how soldiers always hold themselves a certain way, or look and find pieces of cover in an area. Both are trained, conscious actions, but both are DRILLED into being passive.
The person he mentioned was Winter, that's who Qrow was trying to recruit.
I disagree, lol. I feel like I'm not finding the room for his moments nearly as well. But then, the author is the author's own worst critic. XD
Art of Wort :
The Hand was just a background detail, apologies.
Cliffy Silver :
All good points, but THIS is a smaller Slipspace drive, and yes, it is integrated with Forerunner tech. However, from my research, Forerunner drives are more tuned and accurate. Less prone to unstable BOOMS. Thus, that will reflect here.
Or, in short - Forerunner bs means it'll fuck shit up, but won't destroy BOTH CITIES COMPLETELY.
MJOLNIR has been established to, generally, protect against Slipspace radiation. Covenant lack that, so most died in the explosion. The rest, in the crash or to the Grimm that would have come after. Or, ya know, Jorge himself. XD
Dusk Dragon Delta :
Oh, you sweet summer child…
You haven't read many of my story climaxes, have you?
Sebine :
XD
Joe Cola :
They went out to kill the Gheist in the Dust mines so Amity could be worked on there.
The plan, simply, is to get as many away from Mantle and Atlas as possible and then take Salem out via the bomb going off on her Whale. Which won't consume ALL of Atlas.
Also, no - Neo intervened, if you recall.
Guest Man :
Yes. The focusing of military assets is the fascist bit, as opposed to the whole 'abandon the civilian population to fucking die'.
Also, I meant 'in this story' not that chapter.