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Chapter 14: Boss Fight

The Jackrabbit flew low, its' underside barely avoiding the treetops with its' thrusters at less than the optimum in an effort to lessen the noise while it followed a trail of destruction that would no doubt lead to the monster those within were searching for.

"How far out do you think we are?" Felix murmured. He alongside the rest of Team FADE were in the cockpit of Flax Scarlatina's personal transport while the older Huntsman piloted, the result was crowded and less than comfortable but the students all wanted to get a good look at their quarry before facing it battle if possible.

"Oh you'll know when we're near it" Flax assured him, his tone betrayed a hint of his own anxiousness "It can't have been quiet when it moved these trees out of the way. That being said if we can't hear it by now then I need to make a call" with that he flipped a series of switches that engaged the autopilot and turned his attention to the comm, hoping to contact one of the small fleet of warships that loomed over New Vale. After almost a minute of dead air a voice could be heard, distorted by static but not enough to unintelligible

"This is captain Gayl of the Tempest. You are on a restricted channel"

"Hey Dew" Flax drawled, Dew Gayl an alumni of Shade Academy had taken up one of the many vacant positions in Vale following the war and had a reputation of being one of the most successful Huntresses and captains of her generation with a penchant for the dramatic; or as the Atlesian Freelancers, most of whom were native to the icy Kingdom described her; not bad for a Vaccuan.

"Baby face" Dew Gayl gave what sounded like a resigned sigh "One day you'll take that Oum damned illegal scrambler out of your Bull-Head. Do you have visual on the target"

"Negative" Flax admitted "We're following it's trail, I think it might have actually managed to get further than anticipated overnight"

"You think it's out of the forest?"

"Exactly, and heading towards the Jagged Mountains themselves. We put down a lot of Grimm last night though, mission is still active….we'll keep you posted"

"Understood. Stay safe out their Flax" with that the line faded into crackling and then silence

"So on a scale of one to ten how big of a problem do we have?" Diamond ventured

"Well it means we'll be working out in the open so it depends how much cover you normally like to have" Flax answered with a shrug

"Well we have my Glyphs" Arctus pointed out

"True. It's just a matter of catching up with whatever it is now….I think if it's out of the forest it's caution to the wind, hold on tight" with that Flax disengaged the autopilot and pushed his craft to higher altitudes and much greater velocity.

"Well we're ready for it, whatever it is" Felix eyed him team confidently, still savouring the previous nights' victory "Everyone got a homing beacon?"

"Right here" Eagle pointed to the collapsed device hanging from her belt, next to her sheathed sword

"Got mine stashed" Diamond gestured vaguely to her back, Felix assumed she had it tucked beneath the sash and bandoleers she wore, hidden in much the same way she hid Lex Talionis when the weapon was not in use. Arctus merely held open his jacket, showing his own collapsed homing beacon placed in a hidden pocket

"Good to see you're set" Flax noted "Because you'll be the ones going down there"

"You're not joining us?" Eagle asked

"I'll be watching, this is still a training mission. If it goes south I'll jump in but you should be fine though" he gave his niece a warm smile which she happily returned before focusing on the controls of his craft and pushing it forwards even faster.

It was almost another hour before there was any sign of the target. They were still over the sprawling forest but they could hear something, a distinct low thud that had long since sent birds fluttering from the trees. The booming sounds coming in regular intervals. Upon hearing the sound Team FADE who had retreated into the rear compartment of the Bull-head for the sake of space made their way to the cockpit once again

"Is that-" Eagle began

"It can't be" Diamond interrupted "Nothing's that big. Flax didn't choose to respond, he was silently withdrawing a photograph displaying a blonde woman holding up a child with equally blonde hair and a pair of rabbit ears. Daisy and Honey Arc, his wife and daughter and kissing it for luck

"It is" Arctus mouthed out, voice barely above a whisper. His father had told him stories about gargantuan Grimm that his parents had encountered in the war, monsters that were to regular Grimm as a shark is to a minnow. The sound assaulting their ears was the sound of Footsteps.

One of the widely accepted truths of the Hunter community was that Qrow Branwen knew almost everything. His Semblance which allowed him to take on an avian form wasn't widely known to those outside of his family, this had led to several fanciful rumours and stories about how the old Huntsman had achieved his supposed omniscience; Qrow's personal favourite was one he'd heard in a tavern in a small coastal village in Mistral, the story involved him having drunk the contents of a Grimm spawning pool from an ancient artefact and only failing to achieve immortality due to the fact he added whiskey to the process. The truth was far less magical, Qrow had a several decades long career that had taken him from the echelons of Upper Atlas to the bleakest parts of the Mistrali and Vaccuan underworlds and everywhere in between and he had informants in the form of those grateful for his help or terrified of his wrath in all of them. Coupling this network with Atlesian military surveillance technology and key members of governments willing to turn a blind eye afforded him a level of information few people could hope to process.

It was with a little diligence and a few half truths that Qrow had learned when the first years at Halo Academy of New Vale would be undertaking the first test mission. a little more gave him the name of the Hunter that Team FADE would be working alongside. He knew of Flax Scarlatina, the man was capable and had worked alongside Ruby before but Freelancers had a tendency to be reckless and that was not acceptable. Not where his daughter was concerned.

Qrow had learned of the mission Team FADE were assisting with and knowing of the outpost that the Freelancers maintained on Vytal in flagrant disregard of several treaties between the Kingdoms he deduced that Flax would have them set up camp there overnight and wear down the smaller Grimm congregating around their target before following after whatever was making its' way towards the mountains. Qrow had spent most of the night flying, eventually reaching the Jagged Mountains and positioning himself on a large outcropping of rocks. Currently he was waiting, listening to the steady low thumping of the approaching monster. He wouldn't intervene unless it was strictly necessary but he stood ready, his body nowhere near as withered as he allowed those around him to believe. Eventually the booming sound of footsteps drew close, the sound of an aircraft following it and he peered down; eyes widening as they found what he sought. This was going to be interesting.

"That….is a big son of a bitch" Felix noted feebly as the target came into view

"Oh this just became a lot less fun" Diamond murmured

"What even is that? I mean it's not like anything my Grandparents have ever mentioned or Aunt Vicky" Eagle rambled, the speed at which words tumbled out of her indicating her trepidation. The Grimm below them redefined the word monstrous. Standing on four thick legs, each capable of flattening a house, the forelimbs slightly longer causing its' body, which was comparable in size to some of New Vales' largest warships, to angle downwards towards the rear. Its' tail was roughly double the length of the body tapering off to a relatively thin tip which sported a row of four curved spikes on each side, tearing gouges in the ground as it thrashed behind the monster seemingly of its' own accord. The head, easily large enough to crush their craft in a single bite was situated at the end of a neck almost as long as its' tail and encased in a helmet of spiked bone armour sporting a swept forward crest. Meter long bone spikes jutted from the back of its' neck, giving way to longer blade like protrusions along its' back, around which several overlapping and interlocked armour plates were weaved like pieces of a puzzle designed by a madman, screeching as they grated against one another.

"That" Flax breathed out, trying his best to remain calm and collected "Is a Brachiodonis"

"How do we even fight that?" Diamond gasped

"You don't fight it" Flax reminded the students "You get down there jam those beacons somewhere where they're unlikely to come loose and get out"

"Okay….Okay yeah we've got this" Felix tried to psyche himself up, his usual confidence having taken a blow

"Before you deploy, let me get a feel for its' reflexes" Flax advised him, hands flying to the weapons controls and sending a salvo towards the back of the Grimm's head. Bullets pattered harmlessly against the armour and within seconds the Rabbit Faunus was forced to send his craft into a dive to avoid the bladed tail of the Brachiodonis as it ripped through the air at frightening speed

"Oh my Oum, Oh my Oum, Oh my Oum" Eagle muttered

"Snap out of it!" Flax barked "Okay it's tough and it's got some range but it's tail isn't fast or flexible enough to take you out before you land. Get ready to jump, once you've deployed I'll get its' attention"

"Okay, ready?" Felix cast his eyes around when every member of Team FADE had given him a sign of some sort he nodded "Okay then, let's do this" the four students made their way to the rear of the Bull-head, opened the side hatch facing towards the Grimm and without preamble leapt.

Team FADE connected with bone armour with a series of thuds, Felix having crushed a Fire Dust crystal in his palm as he descended and delivered a punch as he landed, his team-mates travelled on a Glyph courtesy of Arctus

"Okay, it was dumb to think that'd work and I admit it" the Lion Faunus sighed as he returned to his feet, the faint golden glow enveloping his body dissipating as he extra power he drew from the heat of the Dust crystal was expended; the only sign of his attack being a slight scorch mark on the surface of the monsters armour

"Okay Sentinel, your turn" Eagle cooed as she crouched and allowed the automaton to unfold from its' shield form "Blow a hole in its' armour" she indicated a place where there were slightly less overlapping layers of armour

"Doot doot da doot!" the droid chirped enthusiastically before deploying its' claws on their retractable cables to anchor itself then aiming its' mini-gun downwards and firing. Team FADE were forced to cover their eyes as fragments of bone armour were sent flying, as the barrage stopped the they were left looked at the results in open mouthed shock

"Nothing?" Eagle gasped, the attack had amounted to nothing more than cosmetic damage. Before they could ponder their next move the Brachiodonis let loose a shrieking roar that seemed to span several octaves simultaneously and the shadow of its' monstrous tail looming over them alerted them to the imminent attack.

"MOVE!" Felix bellowed as he tackled Eagle to the ground. The tail passed over them leaving wind whistling in their ears as it did so

"Dude why the fuck can it bend its' tail back that far?" Diamond spat furiously as Arctus vanished the Glyph he'd conjured over the pair of them. The sound of gunfire ahead informed them that the Jackrabbit was making another pass over the Grimm, hopefully turning its' attention away from the small threat on its' back

"Okay, we need a new plan" Felix growled "I don't even think my Balrog state is gonna crack this armour"

"Let me try something" Arctus breathed out steadying himself before crouching and drawing a glinting obsidian crystal, Gravity Dust. Crushing the crystal in his palm he created a Glyph, small and condensed, it shifted colour to pitch black as the Dust coursed through it. Arctus held the Glyph vertically and forced it downwards, sawing into the bone armour. Sparks flew and armour plates cracked before Arctus sagged forwards gasping for breath as the Glyph flickered and faded out of existence

"Can't hold it for long enough, sorry it's armour's too-"

CRACK

Team FADE were instantly on the defensive, Diamond pulling Arctus to his feet as the four Hunters and Sentinel closed ranks. The sound of splintering bones filled the air setting their nerves on edge

"What the-" Felix was cut off by the armour plates exploded outwards in over a dozen places, Grimm bursting from the wounds in the gargantuan monsters' back. Insectoid Grimm, each slightly smaller than them with oversized rear limbs, the front and middle pairs ending in jagged points; a skull sporting oversized mandibles and a body of living darkness with jagged chitinous plates covering strategic points

"Dude" Diamond mouthed out slowly, sounding both disgusted and horrified "It has fleas"

"KILL 'EM ALL!" Felix bellowed as he charged towards the nearest of the Grimm, the blades of Hack and Slash spitting sparks as they whirred into life and carved the skull of a many limbed horror that attempted to pounce onto the Lion Faunus.

"Get 'em Sentinel!" Eagle ordered, her expression resolute. With a series of disturbingly happy chirps the droid aimed and opened fire, ripping the vastly less armoured bugs apart with ease.

"I'm gonna plant a beacon!" Arctus called out as he prepared a Glyph, forming on his left forearm like a shield and barrelling towards one of the freshly made holes in the Brachiodonis's hide, drawing his homing beacon and deploying it with his free hand; smashing a Flea Grimm aside he stabbed the beacon into the wound

"Okay I've got-!"
"MOVE!" Arctus leapt aside moments before the gargantuan tail lashed against the armour of the Grimm it belonged to, leaving the Bear Faunus staring in shock as the seemingly impenetrable armour was torn asunder, a large amount of flesh was removed and the beacon being ripped free along with it.

"Okay we need a new plan" Felix growled

"It won't smash its' own skull like that" Diamond noted, staring intently at the back of the monsters' head towering above them before making a snap decision

"Cover me" with that she tore off, shifting Lex Talionis into its' glaive form and cleaving Grimm in her path limb from limb

"You heard her!" Felix bellowed "Arctus get a Glyph between its' shoulders, right at the bottom of its' neck and stop the fleas from following her. Eagle, cover Sentinel and thin their numbers. I'm gonna deal with the tail"

Diamond sprinted, her Free-runner Semblance allowing her to traverse the curve of the Brachiodonis's neck without hindrance, using the spines jutting from each vertebrae as handholds until she reached the base of the spine, the helmet-like armour around the back of the head proving itself to be an obstacle

"Come on, come on" She hissed through gritted teeth as she shifted her weapon to its' sniper rifle form and switched its' current ammunition out for one of her limited supply of high explosive rounds. She pressed the muzzle directly against the edge of the armour plate and fired upwards. The result was instantaneous, fragments of bone armour were blasted away evidently less sturdy than the plating on the monsters back and the Brachiodonis screamed in pain and fury, thrashing wildly in a futile attempt to throw Diamond off. Collapsing her weapon she retrieved her homing beacon and deployed the device before wedging it into the now unprotected section of the Grimm's neck, the tip sinking into flesh and the armour plates surrounding it locking it into place. Looking down she saw Arctus, her partner had set up a truly massive Grimm to cover her and was stood in front of the glowing construct, sword in hand as he faced off against the Flea Grimm; she made no effort to hide the smile that crept across her face before readying her weapon once more and making to rejoin her team.

Grimm were still crawling from the holes in the armour of the Brachiodonis in a frankly nauseating display, though thankfully Felix knew he could rely on his partner. A quick glance over his shoulder revealed that Sentinel was indeed riddling monsters with bullets the moment they emerged from holes in what almost looked like a twisted parody of an arcade game. Eagle herself was slashing through Grimm with skill that those who didn't know of the Arc family often forgot she possessed. Turning his attention back to the task at hand Felix returned his swords to their place on his back and searched his pockets, finding several of the Fire Dust crystals Arctus had given him as a birthday present. Crushing them in his palm and triggering his Semblance he couldn't help a confident smirk; the familiar feeling like fire flowing through his veins began to take hold and he was aware of the golden glow enveloping him as he entered his Balrog state. The bone armour beneath him began to burn and gradually took on a red glow where he was stood and Felix watched the tail of the Brachiodonis soar overhead, knowing exactly where it would fall. It happened impossibly fast, the tail crashed down and Felix lunged forward to meet it the end result being that the Lion Faunus slid back, leaving a scorched trail on the surface of the Brachiodonis's armour and pulling the tail with him as he refused to relinquish his grasp on the spikes that adorned it

"Don't know how long I can hold this!" He roared out as he braced himself, the Grimm straining against his grip. The Brachiodonis was strong beyond belief, in his Balrog state ripping the Dungeon-Masters' head off during initiation had been far easier than simply holding this beast still.

"I'VE PLANTED THE BEACON!" Felix was too preoccupied to turn around but he heard Diamond yell. With a roar of exertion he ripped the bone spikes he was currently holding free of the tail itself and rolled aside, moments before his enhanced state failed him. Turning away from the tail he saw Diamond reaching Arctus's position and leaping over his glyph and drawing Lex Talionis, the glaive relieving a Grimm of its' head as she landed in a crouch; Arctus swinging his great-sword horizontally and bisecting another Grimm as it made to lunge at his partner in an attack that the two of them had no doubt practised together.

"UNCLE FLAX! OVER HERE!" Felix saw Eagle waving her hands desperately trying to get the attention of the Rabbit Faunus piloting the Bull-head which had been distracting the Brachiodonis, he dreaded to think how much more lethal its' attacks would have been had they been subject to its' full attention

"I think he sees you" Felix forced out, his stamina rapidly failing him after the use of his Balrog state. The Jackrabbit was indeed breaking off and making its' way towards them.

Qrow had watched the entire ordeal on tenterhooks, contemplating jumping into the fray the entire time. Eventually he saw Felix simply grapple with the tail of the monstrous Grimm in a display of the kind of brazen insanity that he associated with his nieces and the rest of Remnant probably associated with him. Moments later his daughter was waving her hands and Scarlatina's Bull-head was veering moving to extract Team FADE. Qrow allowed himself to breathe again and relish the sense of pride that washed over him, however undeserved it was. Then just as he was preparing to leave the creatures of Grimm made one final strike.

Felix and Eagle were already aboard the Jackrabbit. Diamond ran and jumped, narrowly making it, finding herself pulled forwards by Felix as she staggered into the craft

"Thanks" she panted breathlessly before turning back to the hatch and shouting down to Arctus who'd been covering them with his Glyphs once more, clearly draining himself in the process. His arms shook with the effort of maintaining the construct and his breathing was laboured

"Dude we're all on board, come on!" hearing her the Bear Faunus collapsed the Glyph and sprinted, the remaining Grimm giving chase. Diamond readied her rifle and began picking the bugs off. It wasn't quite enough, as Arctus leapt towards the open hatch one of the last Grimm jumped, its' powerful hind-legs sending it crashing into his back

"ARCTUS!" She grabbed his hand, struggling to pull him onto the Bull-head as he grappled with the Grimm with his free hand, trying to keep mandibles from closing around his skull

"I've got him" The voice belonged to Flax Scarlatina, the senior Huntsman deploying his machine-gun gauntlets and crouching down. He transferred her grip of the student to himself and he casually hauled the six foot three Faunus into the air by the shoulders, right hand flying out and pulling him aboard by the scruff of the neck while his left flew shot forwards and knocked the Grimm loose, falling to its' end

"Bloodsuckers, nasty little bastards" he noted idly, neither Diamond or Arctus seemed to hear him. She had helped him into one of the seats in the rear of the craft and was cupping both of his cheeks, her face terrified and cherry red eyes wide

"You, you nearly-"

"Hey, I'm fine" Diamond rested her forehead against his, managing to get her breathing under control before wrapping her arms around her partners' shoulders and holding him close as she repeated words she'd uttered the first time they met

"Dude, you're an idiot" there were soft chuckles laced with exhaustion around them and the pair seemed to remember that their friends were present and broke apart

"Well done" Flax planted a hand on Eagle's shoulder and pulled her into a hug "I'm proud of you, all of you. Mission accomplished Team. I'll contact the Tempest, we'll be home by tonight. Get some rest on the way back. You all earned it"

"Go Team FADE" Eagle cheered softly but with enthusiasm as she collapsed into a seat. As the hatch closed she saw a single bird fly beneath the wing, seemingly staring directly at her. Black with glinting crimson eyes.

Onyx arrived in what had once been a cramped mess hall of the ship that they had stolen from Patch, currently anchored far from New Vale's docks wearing an expression of pure satisfaction. Hellion rolled her eyes at the smugness of the Puma Faunus before returning to sharpening her throwing knives, while Raffia made no effort to acknowledge him, the Axolotl Faunus was too busy devouring a freshly caught fish raw, scales and all. Carcharodon spoke, the Shark Faunus's rasping hiss demanding their attention

"What news?" Onyx's grin widened to comical proportions

"The Scavenger Guild are moving to collect the weapons tonight, I'll be one of their hired muscle. They suspect nothing"

"Gut them and leave them in the ruins" Raffia sneered "Take what we came here for"

"No" Carcharodon hissed, silencing his reckless companion. Raffia looked ready to object until the larger raider explained

"If we make our move inside this exclusion zone of theirs we'll never make it out of the city itself and Onyx will be fighting the guild and the Grimm at the same time. It's unsound….besides I wouldn't deny my smallest brother a chance to fight the best the Scavenger Guild could muster, free of interference" Hellion made no effort to hide a derisive snort, her dragonfly wings shaking with silent laughter

"I know I'm being played" Raffia spread his arms wide "And yet I don't care, give me carnage" Carcharodon gave the closest to a chuckle his voice would allow as he drew a map and spread it across the table they were situated at

"Show me their route"

"Here" Onyx traced the path the Scavenger Guild would take out of the capital of New Vale "Their trade is too dirty for them to risk using the docks or airships. They'll move the weapons to a coastal town. Here" he pressed his padded finger against a point on the map. Carcharodon thought for a moment, liquid black eyes without discernible irises or pupils narrowed as he in turn pointed to a place on the map

"Here" he indicated to Hellion "Take Marauder and scout ahead. Raffia and I will be there tonight, this is where we draw blood"

Authors Notes:

Next chapter will be the finale of the Vol.1 arc (I'm still planning on working with the roughly three arcs per year formula) this will naturally be Team FADE and the Raiders (Who I know we still don't know much about, but stick with me) first proper meeting. Sort of a parallel to Torchwick and the White Fang at the end of Vol.1

I might be taking a break from this story for about a week or so (Which will translate into two weeks due to the time it'll take me to write a chapter) after I post Chapter fifteen so that I can work on a series of one-shots for RWBY Rare-Pair week, yes they'll be posted on here.

Anyway let's summarise:
Dew Gayl, because I headcanon that she's a bad-ass.
Yes I dragged out the reveal for the sake of suspense, sue me.
Admit it, the story about drinking liquid Grimm doesn't sound that far fetched for Qrow.
Qrow is also seriously on his Batman shit today.
DINOSAUR GRIMM MOTHERFUCKERS!
Felix tried the super-hero landing.
It has fleas….because of course it does, did you really think I'd make the boss fight easy.
Diamond is bad-ass, that is all.
Had to throw in the reminder about Eagle, the sword is not just for display. She can fight without Sentinel just fine.
You know something is strong when Balrog State Felix doesn't instantly win.
The Arctus x Diamond moment was a parallel of last chapter….and it was cute, you know it was.
Flax to the (Casual) rescue.
So Onyx is going undercover with the Scavenger Guild, Hellion may be the scout but Onyx (Being based on Tormund Giantsbane) is a people person, put him in a seedy bar and people with information will talk to him.
Raffia is all the wrong kinds of crazy.

Thank you to JollyTheImmortal, TigersAndRoses, Ferrous, FleetOfWarships, ThePrimeWolf, ShadowWolf, ShadowAlex2000, SumoSnipe and MariamTheLibrarian22 for their reviews on the last chapter.
I'm glad so many people like the return of Flax Scarlatina and how the little troublemaker grew up.
Um, I don't know if you read The Downward Spiral. If you're asking about Oscar I'm gonna assume not….'cos reasons.
The Grimm pheromones may come into play later, they're a part of the world now but they're not something everyone has and they only serve niche purposes anyway.
I like that everyone likes this little section at the end. If you follow me on Tumblr then you know that this is closer to "Actual" me and not "Writer" me.

As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review.