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Chapter 36: Delta-Omega
Atlesian Special Operative Kafsi Asteri strode purposefully towards the flames which firefighters were fighting to contain, she smell of smoke assaulting her nostrils. She wore a look of clear irritation which she made a point to hide behind a mask of pure stoicism whilst her mind continued to fill itself with the same disparaging thoughts; it offended her sensibilities that these foreigners she found herself surrounded by were unable to apprehend their own criminals, they were seemingly unable to guarantee their citizens any measure of safety at all; intercepting the call regarding this attack had been child's play, as had redirecting the Huntsman the authorities had originally intended to send to assist the emergency services and taking their place. She forced herself not to shake her head at the sight of the fire fighters scurrying around with their hoses, in Atlas if anything of any importance were subjected to arson it would have been put out by now with concentrated Ice Dust. Tightening the leather jacket with integrated body armour she was wearing instead of her uniform around herself as well as blue contacts over her golden eyes she approached a middle aged police officer whose uniform identified him as someone of authority
"Nimbus Grey reporting, what happened here?" she asked in a voice that was far removed from her own, breathless and childlike, she sounded like a far less experienced Huntress to whom arson might actually be considered outside of the norm, the name was one of many aliases she had identification for
"This place makes electronics, from what I've been told they've got some pretty big contracts with the defence sector" The officer exhaled slowly and shook his head "All we can tell so far is that the guards were taken out, they've been taken to hospital, and the place was most likely torched from multiple places….No idea if anything was taken"
"You think maybe corporate espionage and sabotage?" Kafsi ventured, she had her own suspicions which lay in an entirely different direction but she wanted to see what the authorities surmised
"Above my pay grade, I deal with street punks and that's about it" he shrugged simply, causing Kafsi to struggle with the urge to beat him bloody. In Atlas his words would have been taken as dereliction of duty and he would be punished accordingly.
"Were their any witnesses other than the guards?" Kafsi desperately wanted her suspicions confirmed so she could make some progress with her mission
"As it happens there was one, haven't gotten much out of her yet, she's a shaking mess"
"Was she taken to hospital?"
"Not yet, it's a Friday" the officer explained "Emergency rooms are gonna be packed, she's in the emergency triage we've set up to take the pressure off" Kafsi's disbelief at the sheer inefficiency of it all was forced aside as she plastered a warm smile across her face
"I'll speak with her now, I don't wanna give these bastards a head start on getting away with this" that much was true, though for different reasons than implied. As far as Kafsi was concerned foreigners could fight amongst themselves but the moment they attacked Atlesian interests there would be retribution. She turned away from the officer and made her way towards the small triage that had been indicated, in reality nothing more than a collection of large tents and marquees to provide cover; the individual she was seeking was made readily apparent by the trio of officers flanking her as if they expected the attackers to come back to silence her
"Can we help you ma'am?" the nearest officer, a tall woman whose hair was barely contained by her helmet, asked as she approached
"I'm the assigned Huntress, I'm here to speak to the witness….can we get a some privacy please?" the officer paused for a moment before silently gesturing to her two colleagues who followed her out of the tent leaving Kafsi alone with the witness. Again the specialist was stunned, the trust these people had was ripe for exploitation, it was a wonder any Kingdom other than Atlas remained standing if this was how foreigners acted. Forcing herself to focus on the task at hand she regarded the young woman before her, tear tracks stained her face and her hands shook; Kafsi had no sympathy or patience to spare
"Name?" the woman visibly flinched at the commanding tone and Kafsi fought the urge to roll her eyes
"Brandy Oak, I-"
"And what is your position within the company?" Kafsi's next question came the moment Brandy had given her name, cutting through whatever else she intended to say
"I, I'm a cleaner, miss-"
"My name is unimportant right now. I need to know what you saw in detail, now" Brandy was reduced to nervous and incoherent stammering, tears welling up in her eyes as she struggled to speak under Kafsi's glare. Within moments the Operative snapped at her "This is a matter of the Kingdoms' security! Speak or there will be consequences!"
"It was a Faunus guy okay" Brandy choked out "I was taking a smoke break outside and I saw him"
"Describe him"
"It all happened so fast, I didn't get a good look" the clearly traumatised woman took a moment to attempt to regain at least some of her composure "He was short, like really short and his skin had a pinkish tinge to it. Baggy clothes and a big sword on his back, little fins sticking out near his ears and a tribal tat on the left side of his face" Kafsi remained silent for a moment, it seemed that her instincts had proven correct
"And what was he doing when you saw him?"
"He was dragging Clayton, one of the security guards and there was smoke coming from the direction they'd-"
"That will be all" Kafsi interrupted, pieces of the puzzle connecting in her mind. There was no way that this attack was perpetrated by anyone other than the criminals she was searching for and they never operated alone which begged the question, if one of them was outside starting fires to serve as a distraction, then what were the others stealing inside. Knowing what this 'Shadow Cadre's' aims seemed to be and that this company had business with defence contractors Kafsi could make an educated guess. She simply turned on her heel and left the makeshift triage hurriedly slipping away from the crime scene, making her way through several side streets and alleys leading away from the now evacuated industrial estate before pulling her Scroll and making a call to a contact saved under a fake name
"Special Operative Asteri reporting" she was leaving a voice message "Commander Slate I regret to inform you that the targets have acquired military grade electronic components of an unknown nature. I believe this is to aid their goal of arming themselves with Atlesian weapons and that those weapons may soon be operational. Contacts within the criminal underworld have proven ineffective thus far, I request permission to resort to more enhanced measures" Kafsi waited until she had ended the report to let out a sigh, enhanced measures included physical and psychological torture and the destabilisation of another Kingdoms' government and infrastructure. Kafsi would gladly do all that and more to ensure Atlesian interests were kept safe but she knew that the authorisation would not come, the head of the Specialist Branch was a Lower Atlesian peasant and a weakling who empathised too much; in Kafsi's mind one could do their duty to their Kingdom or indulge their own feelings but not both and duty was far more important. She began the walk back to her current base of operations, breathing out a single sentence to herself as a reminder of why she carried on
"For the glory of Atlas"
When Corvid had first learned that Team CLIR would be spending their final mission of the year working alongside her Aunt Penny she had been utterly ecstatic. Not only would it provide the perfect distraction from her recent breakup; it had been something she'd wanted since she was a little girl sitting on Penny and Ruby's laps telling how she was going to build the coolest weapon ever and kill all the Grimm with it. Now, almost four weeks into her mission, bringing it to almost one week over the estimated time it would take Corvid would begrudgingly admit to herself if nobody else that the novelty had worn off. The mission sounded simple enough when one described it, Aquatic Grimm activity had increased to such a level that shipping routes were being affected and the Kingdom had decided to send a warship, the Tempest, captained by Dew Gayl to not only exterminate the Grimm but to find the, presumably underwater, Spawning Pool producing the monsters and eliminate the problem at its' source. Penny's private Bull-Head had been docked on the Tempest where she and Team CLIR would be performing scouting missions, bombing runs and boarding ships under attack as needed. The complications came when one factored in the sheer size of the ocean and the fact that an underwater Spawning Pool would be extremely difficult to find, finally on the early hours of Saturday morning Captain Gayl had informed Penny and Team CLIR that the Tempest would have to return to dock for refuelling after being in the air for so long, Penny had answered that she understood and would continue the mission alone until she returned as her own craft was far more heavily armed than the standard Bull-Head.
This brought Corvid to her current situation, dozing in the passenger compartment alongside her team, all of whom were trying to reclaim the sleep they had been deprived of. The seats had been removed from the rear of The Pearl and Penny had apparently removed the blankets and pillows that the twins usually left in the craft; leaving Rusty in a corner, Stetson covering his face with his somewhat ragged poncho over both himself and Lux who was leaning into the crook of his neck. Iris had slumped over and was now sprawled inelegantly on the cold metal floor with her flowing white hair obscuring her face. Corvid herself leaned against the Omega Wing wing which was propped against the side of the compartment in standby mode. Eventually giving up on drifting off until they were needed she rose to her feet and made her way into the cockpit, pausing and snapping a picture of her team-mates in their unflattering positions before taking the empty co-pilot seat beside Penny; the seat was utterly superfluous as the Pearl was capable of flying entirely autonomously, it was mainly there so that Ruby and Penny could share the cockpit when they were both on missions together
"Morning Aunt Penny" Corvid suppressed a yawn
"Salutations" Penny seemed utterly unaffected by being woken so early
"Think we're any nearer to finding the Spawning Pool?" Corvid asked hopefully as she readjusted her jacket and tied her hair back
"Hard to say" Penny paused for a moment to consider "All Spawning Pools have mass Grimm activity around them, the problem with this particular Pool is that it's most likely so deep underwater that we can't see a lot of what it's spawning until it surfaces to attack something"
"So what's the plan?" Corvid asked, her Aunt turned and gave her a mischievous smile
"We fly low and get their attention. We're approaching our designated search area; wake your team"
"On it" Corvid rose from her seat and returned to the rear of the Peal before exclaiming loudly "WAKE UP!….we're gonna 'wave' at some Grimm
"Little lady it is too damn early to be dealing with this" Rusty growled as he rubbed his eyes, Iris looked as though the only thing that had stopped her echoing the sentiment was the fact her hair had found its' way into her mouth; any further conversation was halted by Penny calling back to the synthetic voice of .R.L the artificial intelligence that oversaw both the Pearl and Penny and Ruby's home
"Approaching area T-Minus thirty seconds"
"Make yourselves combat ready" Penny added, the teens rapidly moved to follow the order as they felt the acceleration of the craft; rechecking weapons and positioning themselves near the rear hatch in preparation. The sound of water crashing around the exterior of the Pearls' hull reached them as the craft swooped low
"Multiple impacts detected" the synthetic voice announced, straining her ears Corvid could indeed hear the sounds of several small items colliding with the hulls' exterior
"What in Oum's name is that?" Lux demanded, twirling his twin rapiers in anticipation
"Rippers" Penny answered bluntly from the cockpit "Piranha Grimm, about two feet long. No real threat but we're heading in the right direction. Pulling up" the moment Penny had spoken Team CLIR were forced to hold onto overhead handle to balance as the Pearl began to rapidly gain altitude
"I'm seeing massive disturbances in the water in the distance, it seems that we've found the Spawning Pool" Penny informed them
"Awesome, what's the plan?" before Iris's question could be answered Pearl alerted them to a new problem
"Multiple non mechanical entities inbound"
"Well unless someone else has learned to fly we have incoming Grimm" Penny told the students in her care, her tone deceivingly calm
"Someone else?" Iris went unanswered as Corvid activated the Omega Wing and prepared to open the rear hatch
"Aunt Penny, I've got this. Just say when"
"Corvid there are over a dozen Nevermore out there….Are you sure you can handle them all?"
"Sounds like a decent test run for the Omega Wing" Corvid shrugged entering a series of commands into the gauntlet mounted on her left forearm "Lux, Rusty keep the hatch open and shoot down anything that makes a pass at it. Iris, just be ready to pull me in with your Semblance if anything goes wrong"
"Got it" Corvid opened the rear hatch, wind whipping around her as she braced herself and turned to her team-mates
"You should turn on the radio….'cos I'm gonna get some air time" with that she let herself fall; rotating in mid air and catching sight of several dark shapes in the distance clearly changing their trajectory; the Nevermore had collectively decided to attack the weaker target. The the Omega Wing which had been given commands to home in on her location and activate combat mode reached her and began enveloping her body as it transformed. Though the glossy black armour covering her chest, chromed exoskeletal armour around her limbs and featureless black helmet remained, leaving the fur collar of her flight suit and her yellow scarf that had once belonged to Yang free the changes to the Omega Wing were clear to see. Three retractable blades extended from armour around each of her wrists, while the four wings were arranged in an X shape and swept back, a hefty and ominously glowing power supply between them and the rail guns which had previously been arm mounted sat over hers shoulders. As the first Nevermore drew close, shrieking furiously, Corvid wore a confident smile beneath her helmet
"Shields online" a rippling sphere of pale blue light engulfed her, reaching further than her own Aura and protecting even the tips of her weapons wings and barrels. The Grimm collided with her, knocking her aside but sending the Grimm tumbling towards the turbulent water below, fading away into dark mist as a large swathe of its' body had been burned away by the force field the Omega Wing was generating
"And now to be utterly Fowl" she chuckled to herself before collapsing the arm blades into a single additional armour plate over each of her arms and lowering her shield while reaching up to her rail guns and grabbing the redesigned triggers. From that point onwards the battle in the sky was a mere formality, Grimm were reduced to fading and mangled pieces as her shots tore through them while she weaved around their attempts to snatch her out of the sky with ease. In a matter of minutes Corvid was hovering and watching the Pearl double back through an obsidian mist
"Corvid do you copy?"
"No I'm an originator" she snorted in response and she was sure she heard her Aunt mutter something that sounded like 'For Oum's sake' before continuing
"That was some good shooting. We've located the spawning pool and are moving into strike position, return to the Pearl"
"Hey….would you mind if I stay out here?" Corvid asked, somewhat hesitant to question the order "I kinda wanna see a Spawning Pool go down first hand"
"Okay, fine" receiving her answer Corvid pushed the thrusters of her battle suit to their limits, she may have been able to keep up with an unmodified Bull-Head but the Pearl was truly in a league of it's own and so it took her a few moments to catch up. Reaching the target area and peering downwards Corvid let out a gasp of shock, dozens, if not hundreds of bone white fins were visibly protruding from the water, circling something protectively.
"Preparing to fire" Penny warned her through the comm in her helmet. Corvid watched with a childlike smile of glee as the Pearl deployed its' primary weapon, eight pylons extending outwards and moving into a circular formation with arcs of ethereal green energy arcing and swirling between them; a full sized photon accelerator. Then the early morning gloom was illuminated for a single moment as the weapon discharged, directly into the waves below targeting the suspected centre of the Spawning Pool and Corvid was left open mouthed as she took in the sight of thousands of litres of water being flash-boiled and the Grimm it contained being utterly obliterated
"Target is most definitely destroyed" she laughed excitably into the comm
"Agreed, now get back in here" Penny answered, suddenly tense "Right now Corey" before she could question her Aunts' insistence something burst from the depths, easily several times the length of the Pearl. Corvid made to ready her rail guns, assuming that it was some manner of sea-serpent Grimm before seeing that the mass of living darkness and chitinous armour now extending into the sky was not an entire body, but was in fact a tail
"Holy Oum" she mouthed out
"Corey get back inside! Now!" Corvid frantically followed the order, the last thing she saw before returning to the confines of the Pearl was a shape beneath the water that seemed to extend outwards as far as she could see
"What the fuck is that thing?" she demanded as the Omega Wing disconnected and shifted back into its' aerial drone form while Corvid herself rushed into the now cramped cockpit where her team and Aunt were waiting with ashen faces
"When a Spawning Pool is destroyed it creates something far larger than the average Grimm in its' final moments as an attempt to defend itself, it's why some smaller Spawning sites or sites near settlements are sometimes left….that was one such example of them"
"That's why we had a warship with us" Lux sighed "And now we're all that's out here"
"Indeed" Penny answered tersely as she drummed pressed a series of controls, a crackling of static informing everyone that whoever she had been trying to contact had answered, before they could speak the copper haired Huntress interjected
"Dew, Spawning Pool has been found and neutralised"
"Awesome-"
"We now have a Grimm heading towards the coastline and my primary weapon is still recharging. I need assistance"
"Projected landing point?" Dew Gayl was suddenly all business
"The Broken Coast"
"Understood, I'll inform the hangar that my mission is now code red. Do you have a visual on the target?"
"Negative, it's remained below the surface" Penny entered another series of commands "Sending my co-ordinates and estimated trajectory. Target is designated Delta-Omega until I have a clear visual"
"Understood. Gayl out" as the call ended Penny turned to Team CLIR and gave them a stern gaze
"That Grimm cannot be allowed to make landfall under any circumstances" Corvid's steely grey eyes met her aunts' and she stood up a little straighter as she set her jaw. This was the moment she'd been preparing herself for since she was a newly adopted little girl
"Team CLIR are combat ready" Penny gave her a proud smile, then she saw Lux, Iris and Rusty behind her, all equally determined and nodded
"I know you are"
Raffia Dirge let out a demented cackle at his own impression of one of the guards at the factory he and Carcharodon had attacked the previous night, while at the same time feeding scraps of a meat Antonia knew better than to question the origins of to the bird of prey currently perched on his arm; a bird that Antonia had been told belonged to a captured member of their crew. The scientist made no attempt to fight the feeling of shame washing over her, she felt she deserved far worse as she was the one who told the Shadow Cadre where to find the final components she would need to make their stolen laser battery work, only one of the four being able to be completely restored.
"I expect little of people that hide behind a Kingdoms' walls, but this fat fool was embarrassing, he looked like a confused seal pup before I-"
"All hail Raffia, scourge of people who have their backs turned and master of scurrying away the moment an actual fighter arrives, how many Hunters have you run from exactly?" Antonia's voice was laced with venom as she cut through the Axolotl Faunus's bragging, feeling an intense desire to stab at one of the few things he cared about which she could actually affect; his martial pride.
"Woman I will carve out your tongue!" he roared as leapt over the mess hall table, sending Marauder flapping out of the room while Carcharodon who had been silently watching the proceedings wrapped his hand around Raffia's throat and hoisted him into the air
"Calm yourself"
"I will not be challenged and insulted by-"
"I said calm yourself. We are so close to our goals and I will not have your pride risking them" Raffia let out a low hiss of frustration before acquiescing, as Carcharodon dropped him the Shark Faunus turned to Antonia
"How long before the weapon can be fired? Onyx is already trying to make it handheld" Antonia sputtered in disbelief
"Handheld?" she gasped "The thing is supposed to mounted on a ship, I thought you'd have the sense to fit it to your prow at least"
"We're not weak like your people" Carcharodon snorted "He said he plans to saw off part of the barrel, I believe he's working on it right now" Antonia pinched her nose, as a scientist and an engineer what was being discussed was offensive to the point of blasphemy, however it could most likely be used to suit her own ends. Sensing that Carcharodon still wanted an answer she shrugged
"Those parts were the last I needed to make it fire, I could have had it ready to fire in perhaps two days at the most. Making it a handheld weapon is going to mean I have to modify the intake system and probably build a cooling mechanism from scratch….you're adding weeks and more supply runs onto the job" Carcharodon merely nodded in understanding
"The difference between my people and yours is that your people don't know to move after they've crossed someone. Our enemies will still be in the same place when we come for them. Get to work" with no more to be said Carcharodon stalked out of the mess hall, taking Raffia with him as he made his way onto the top deck to avoid him being antagonised by the scientist any further. Staring out at the impassable barrier of rusting steel and iron formed by the dozens upon dozens of ruined ships that were the broken coast he let out a long sigh
"I cannot wait to be free of this place"
"I can't wait to be free of that wench, the moment her usefulness ends I swear-"
"You will do nothing" Carcharodon hissed "I gave her my word that no harm would come to her. Make me a liar and I will make you a corpse" the smaller Faunus looked ready to argue for a moment before visibly sagging
"Soon we'll have Hellion back yes?" Raffia's voice was barely above a whisper with those words
"We won't lose anyone else" Carcharodon assured him before gazing out at the sea, it felt as though it had been far too long since he'd lived the way his people were meant to. His thoughts were interrupted by the sight of an aircraft rapidly approaching, his greater than human eyesight spotting a weapon mounted on the front of the Bull-Head
"Hunters" the snarled out "Below deck, now"
"Let them come!" Raffia spat, clearly still incensed by Antonia's taunts "Let me face them!"
"They're coming from the sea, not the kingdom!" the Shark Faunus countered "They're hunting something else. Now get below-" he was silenced by a sudden cacophony and violent jerking of their ship. Both Faunus watched open mouthed as water erupted outwards in all directions and almost half of what had once been a cargo ship was sent arcing through the air; a monstrous shadow falling over everything around them.
The Grimm the Bull-Head had been tracking made its' presence known with a shriek that filled them with dread.
"Holy Oum" Lux mouthed out, squeezing Rusty's hand subconsciously
"That is one big critter" that Vaccuan gunslinger drawled. Penny opened a comm channel to Dew Gayl and her warship, saying simply
"We have a visual of Delta-Omega, moving to engage" Corvid merely stared down in grim determination at their quarry, the bland sanitised designation it had been given seemed almost laughable when confronted with the monster itself. Delta-Omega was huge, standing at over two hundred and fifty feet tall despite its' hunched posture; it's impossible size made even greater by the tail which accounted for more than half of the things' length. It's form could be said to vaguely resemble some ancient trilobite twisted to nightmarish proportions. it's curved, vaguely triangular head was broad, the tips reaching past its' shoulders and the entire upper half was covered in bone armour, while the underside formed a seemingly boneless maw filled with countless rows of fangs, the divide between the two halves sporting a row of glowing red bulbous eyes the size of a persons' chest which spanned from one side of its' skull to the other. Its' body was slender in comparison, the majority of it being formed by a spine like structure, obsidian Grimm matter visible in the space between the vertebrae, the spine led downwards into its' tail where swept back spines and fins began to grow from each segment. A chest like cavity was formed several jagged spines that sprouted from the central backbone and curved around, giving the appearance of a hollowed out ribcage. It supported itself on two of its' six limbs, all made of inky darkness with multiple bone spikes protruding from them at odd angles; the rear legs and lower arms had the same slender proportions as the Grimm's body, the feet ending in three toed claws while on the arms they more resembled a trio of movable blades. The upper arms were truly monstrous, the longest of its' limbs whose entire lower third was encased in armour and ended in what could best be described as a giant bone machete that sank into the ground when the beast moved, each blade at its' broadest point being wider than Delta-Omega's shoulders. It was clear that the bladed limbs doubled as fins and the monster was more adept underwater, but its' sheer gargantuan scale and power would make it devastating to any settlements it came across if were allowed to move inland.
"So what's the plan?" Iris turned to Corvid expectantly, her team-leader in turn looked to her Aunt; Penny's eyes narrowed as she tightened her grip around the controls of her craft
"Pearl how long until the main weapon can be fired"
"Seventy two seconds and counting" came the synthetic reply, the sound of tearing steel reached them again as Delta-Omega's bladed forelimbs cleaved through the abandoned hulks of several ships as it steadied itself. Penny quickly made her decision
"Transfer to manual piloting, bring secondary and tertiary weapons online and deploy flares"
"Confirmed"
"We have to lure it away from the coastline" Penny explained to the students as the flares were fired, high pitched screeches accompanying the dozens of glowing projectiles; Delta-Omega must have seen them out of the corner of one of its' many eyes as the Grimm turned to face them with a deafening shriek, it's tail creating massive waves as it whipped around before crashing into the wall of ruined ships and crushing them against each other in a titanic show of force.
"Okay it sees us, now what?" Corvid asked, trying her best to keep her nerves from showing
"Target locked, firing weapons" Penny answered calmly as she sent several projectiles streaking towards the Grimm from wing mounted missile pods; the secondary weapons were plasma rockets which exploded in blasts of cyan light and tore agonised howls from the monster, the tertiary weapons were more suited for disabling rival vehicles but Penny had no intention of holding back in this battle; rockets with a nano-bomb payload struck Delta-Omega's spine, depositing a mass of Poly-Tech Nanobots which swarmed into any available crevices they could find before detonating and triggering the Electric Dust they carried, causing lightning to arc across the colossal beasts' body. Yet still it stood.
"Photon Accelerator primed" Pearl informed those in the cockpit as Delta Omega lurched forwards
"Firing!" Penny gripped the controls and Team CLIR watched on in expectation which slowly morphed into horror as the Grimm saw the buildup of the weapon and clearly recognised it as a threat, when the Photon Accelerator fired it ducked and weaved aside with speed belied by its' spindly frame
"Incoming! Brace yourselves!" Penny shouted frantically as she forced the Pearl into a turn that most pilots would never have attempted in order to avoid the Grimm now lunging upwards at them; the light of the Photon Accelerator reducing a vast swathe of the Broken Coast to molten slag in the process.
"Pearl switch to autopilot, repeated hit and run attacks with primary weapon, falling back out of range afterwards"
"Confirmed" hearing this Penny then turned to Team CLIR
"The Photon Accelerator is powerful enough to take it down but it's too fast, has too much range and it's field of vision is too wide"
"Then we'll blind it!" Corvid snapped as she turned and prepared to lead her team into battle "Team CLIR let's go kick some-"
"Negative" Penny interrupted as she stood up and drew her swords "You're not ready to fight something like this alone. I'm assuming direct command and will be joining you in the attack" Corvid's face split into a wide grin suddenly feeling far more confident at their chances.
This was going to be fun.
The workbench was flipped over as Onyx threw it aside and rose to his feet, holding his hand out to Antonia, whom he'd pulled under the bench and shielded with his own body the moment the entire ship had been shunted several meters, the entire hull screaming in protest and panels falling from ceilings. Currently lights flickered and sparked and the Puma Faunus looked around in abject shock for a few moments, noticing that in a small display of mercy that neither the laser battery or the recently stolen components seemed to have been damaged
"What was that?" Antonia demanded, visibly shaking and wide eyed
"Wait here" Onyx growled before making his way out of the room and jogging along the corridor in search of his people, barely aware that Antonia had followed him. The damage to the ships' interior was pervasive and the smell of burning metal clogged his nostrils
"CAR! RAFFIA!" his hands instinctively flew to the axe slung over his back when his shouts were answered by Carcharodon's liquid form oozing and rippling from the wall before solidifying
"What the fuck is happening?"
"Grimm, biggest one I've ever seen" Carcharodon gasped out "Hunters are already out there" Onyx paled, he'd killed thousands of Grimm in his short life but the idea of a single monster with the power to move several ships at once was terrifying bordering on absurd to him; yet there was a far more important issue at hand
"Where's Raffia?" Carcharodon looked round, dark eyes widening in surprise at the realisation that the smaller Faunus was in fact unaccounted for
"He was with me, I told him to get below deck. I must have passed him when I merged with the wall" without waiting Carcharodon sprinted back the way he had coming, Onyx and Antonia on his tail until he came to a sudden stop. Light poured into the ships' interior from a gaping wound that had been burned into its' hull and the deck below leaving the ship broken almost completely in half, the edges still glowing where the weapons of the Hunters' craft had torn their home asunder. Laying face down at the edge of the burned away section of the corridor was an unmoving Raffia Dirge; smoke billowing from his blistered and blackened form and filling the air with the stench of burning flesh. His lower legs were missing, burned to ashes below the knees until nothing remained. Carcharodon stood in horrified silence until the sound of Antonia vomiting behind him spurred him into action he crouched down and rolled his fallen friend over, wincing in pain as his palms burned and despair slowly seeping into him
"Get up" he sat and pulled Raffia' head onto his lap, voice dropping to a whisper as it cracked; he knew that his crew-mate was resilient but he'd never seen him so badly wounded before "Raffia get up, I can't lose anyone else. I need you with me when the times comes….Please just get up" everyone present recoiled in surprise and horror despite full knowledge of the Axolotl Faunus's Semblance when Raffia regained consciousness and screamed in agony
"You're going to be okay, I swear you're going to be okay, just fight through it" Carcharodon attempted to soothe him while Raffia's Aura began to engulf his body, the pale pink light rippling like water as it stayed close to his burned and ruined flesh and extending beyond his charred stumps to form a pair of legs made of pure Aura, slowly his scorched and blackened skin began to restore itself, returning to its' natural unblemished state. The sound of new bones and muscle tissue forming inside the confines of his Aura recreating his legs with a series of wet snapping and squelching rose above his whimpers of pain; closely followed by the sound of Antonia's continued retching. It took several minutes and the minute Faunus had exhausted almost all of his Aura in the process, but eventually Raffia rolled onto his hands and knees, struggling to stand until Onyx placed a hand on his shoulder and pulled him up
"We thought you might have met something you couldn't shake off for a second there" the Puma Faunus laughed, clearly trying to mask the fact he was near hysterical at the thought
"You sound almost concerned" Raffia snorted before looking around at the catastrophic damage done to their home "This ship will never sail again, she'll be below the waves in hours"
"Hunters did this" Carcharodon hissed, voice trembling with rage "Not the Grimm. The Hunters. Come, everyone above deck. I want to get a good look at their faces; this demands vengeance"
"LUX LIGHT IT UP AND MOVE!" Corvid bellowed; their attempt to simply distract Delta-Omega enough to keep the monster in place was proving difficult as its' sheer size allowed it to shrug off their best attempts. Currently Corvid and Iris were fighting from the air, Iris using her Semblance of telekinesis on herself in order to levitate while Lux had managed to land on the Grimm's gigantic skull and manage to find enough purchase to climb along its' surface towards its' eyes. Penny had taken Rusty with her, asserting that she had been an Atlesian Special Operative and a member of the Freelancers, whose father had founded a robotics company she had some tricks up her sleeves. Chancing a glance over to Delta-Omega's upper right shoulder she could see that her Aunt was guiding Rusty's use of his degradation Semblance, having him dissolve strategic parts of its' bony carapace while she prepared explosives she'd had stashed in a hidden compartment of her Bull-Head.
"OKAY GO!" Lux's voice came through the comms clearly before he silenced his channel, sparing his team-mates the assault on their senses as he dangled himself in front of Delta-Omega's eyes and triggered his flash-bang Semblance, scrabbling to safety before the burning light and sonic assault caused the Grimm to hurl him into the air with its' thrashing. Corvid and Iris immediately capitalised, Iris flinging the detached head of Venus Rising forwards while Corvid opened fire with her rail-guns, both of them targeting the Grimm's eyes in an attempt to permanently blind it before it could recover. If it's shrieks of pain were any indication they had at least some measure of success though before either girl could relish the moment Penny's voice shouted urgently into their comms
"MOVE!" Corvid pushed the Omega Wings' thrusters to their limit, flying to the side and grabbing Iris; pulling her team-mate to safety as the massive air disturbance behind her alerted her to Delta-Omega's failed attempt to swallow them whole, the ground shaking which each step it took
"I've got this" Corvid grinned behind her helmet as she released Iris and turned to face the Grimm, noticing with some satisfaction that thick black smoke spewed from the now empty sockets where several of its' eyes had been destroyed and began firing again, high explosive rounds claiming another half dozen eyes before Delta-Omega turned to face her, swinging its' upper limbs in a wide arcing slash which Corvid was spared from by Iris's Semblance dragging her out of the path of the attack.
"Thanks"
"Well we've still got it's attention, now what?" Iris demanded as the pair retreated, forcing Delta-Omega to turn and follow them back out to sea. The answer came in the form of a computerised and familiar voice
"Pearl inbound, T-Minus fifteen seconds"
"Split up and keep it busy!" Corvid yelled "Lux, any chance of another blast?"
"Gonna need a sec, I can't really climb while it's moving like this!" Corvid merely continued ahead undeterred, swooping low and taking several potshots and the unprotected underside of the Grimm's skull and boring several holes into its' gaping boneless maw until the sound of an approaching aircraft served as a warning for her to fall back. Unfortunately Delta-Omega turned to chase the pair of airborne Huntresses, allowing it catch sight of the Pearl in one of its' remaining eyes a moment before the Photon Accelerator fired. The Grimm weaved aside turning back towards the coastline with unsettling speed as its' tail lashed out towards the Pearl. Delta-Omega let out a shriek that seemed to rend the air as the burst of light lanced through its' flesh and bone, sending roughly two thirds of the Grimm's tail crashing into the water where it began to slowly fade away
"Corvid it's heading back towards land. We're still not ready" Penny warned
"On it!" Corvid shot through the air, rushing ahead of the monstrous creature while firing an endless barrage into its' bony flank before bringing herself to a stop, hovering directly in front of its' wounded face
"Trilo-Bite me you ugly fuck" she spat before catching site of Lux who was still hanging onto the Grimm's skull and deciding against opening fire again lest she injure him by accident. The Grimm seeming to sense her hesitation let out a shriek of rage and defiance and lunged. Corvid swooped downwards, landing on the hull of what had once been a freight ship and seeing the mountain of living darkness bearing down on her activated both her Semblance and the Omega Wings' forcefield simultaneously. The air was filled with the sounds of cracking bone and tearing metal as the structure of the entire ship began to buckle; yet Corvid against all odds remained standing, her hands planted on the surface of Delta-Omega's skull, the bone blackening on contact with her forcefield and several hairline fractures extending along its' surface from her palms while she braced herself against the rusting hulk she'd landed on
"Corey hang on!" before she could locate the source of the voice Lux had leapt down, landing beside her and connecting his twin rapiers into their bow form
"Hey Lux, I think I'm knee deep in ship here" Corvid growled through clenched teeth as metal continued to groan in protest "Could really use a hand"
"Will a claw do?" Penny's voice answered, a hint of laughter in her tone "Charges are armed. Detonating in fifteen seconds" Corvid managed to spare a glance upwards, catching sight of her Aunt and Rusty clambering across the surface of Delta-Omega's carapace in the direction of it's upper left limb. The lower pair of arms, each armed with three claws made to strike downwards only for the Grimm to write and thrash as Corvid locked it in place when explosions rocked its' body
"That's my boy!" Lux cheered, firing a Fire Dust tipped arrow into a glowing eye as Delta-Omega's upper right arm was separated from the rest of its' body in a fiery blast
"COREY LOOK OUT!" Iris announced her self by landing beside them, eyes glowing with her Semblance as she sent a mass of twisted steel crashing into the Grimms' secondary pair of limbs to knock them aside
"Corey this ship won't take much more" Lux warned her while he continued to fire every kind of Dust tipped arrow he had at his disposal, Corvid was also being besieged by flashing emergency warnings on her HUD as her forcefield was forced to its' limits, her heart hammering in her chest and legs beginning to shake. She simply set her jaw and refused to budge in the face of death
"I'm the only thing holding it place, if I let go it's gonna make it ashore. Not happening"
"Iris pull her out of there!" Lux cried, clearly distraught
"Iris don't you fucking dare! The mission is more important!" Iris looked from Lux to Corvid, terror written plainly across her face as her unwillingness to compromise the mission wrestled with how much she cared for her friends. She was spared having to make an impossible decision by Penny and Rusty came crashing down in their midst, Penny clutching at Iris and Rusty lifting Lux from his feet while the copper haired Huntress bellowed out an order
"GET CLEAR, EVERYONE GET CLEAR!" Corvid heard the order and discharged her rail guns into Delta-Omega at point blank range, flying blindly in the direction her allies had ran as she blinked spots out of her vision. She managed to regain her sight just in time to watch the first of several missiles streak overhead and impact against the colossal Grimm, sending it staggering back as ice spread over its' body at an impossible rate. She pulled her helmet off and stared in complete confusion until a shadow passed over them all. Looking up she saw the underside of the Tempest, Dew Gayl and her warship had arrived
"Those new type nineteen Ice Dust missiles really are sensational" Penny noted in an incongruously cheery tone "I'll have to let your Aunt Weiss know that they're an improvement on the old ones" before any of Team CLIR could comment on this the sky was set ablaze as the gunners of the Tempest proceeded to highlight the difference in the Pearls' single Photon Accelerator and the full array of weapons at a warships disposal. The prone form of Delta-Omega was obliterated in an onslaught of laser-fire, missiles, and searing beams of light which left nothing but a black mist blowing out to sea in their wake.
"Well damn" Corvid chuckled "She blew it over….with Gayl force winds" she allowed herself to sag from sheer exhaustion, Penny slinging one of her nieces' arms around her shoulder to keep her steady while her team-mates groaned at the pun before trudging over and pulling her into a group hug
"Little lady you are nuttier than squirrel shit, but I'll be damned if you ain't got the biggest pair of balls"
"You all did well, you should be proud of yourselves. I'm proud of you" Penny congratulated them softly, looking to the sky and smiling as the Pearl came into view "Mission complete. Now we just need to write up our reports and go through debriefing since this was a council approved mission" Lux's answer was a sentiment that all of the teens shared
"Can't we just fight another giant Grimm instead"
Carcharodon watched in silence as the airship turned away and returned from whence it had come. He, Onyx, Raffia and Antonia had managed to watch the destruction of the gigantic Grimm without being detected, Onyx keeping a watchful eye on their prisoner. Carcharodon holding the still drained Axolotl Faunus upright while hatred seeped into every fibre of his being at the sight of the copper haired Huntress who had blown the Grimm's arm away. He knew her face.
"Can you imagine if we had one of the Kingdoms' ships and not just a single weapon" Onyx mused before catching sight of his captains' murderous expression. Following his gaze he saw that the Shark Faunus was staring after the Bull-Head which the Hunters who had fought the giant Grimm had boarded, the small craft was already gaining altitude as it prepared to follow the airship
"Onyx, get the laser battery. Bring them-"
"PENNY! PENNY DOWN HERE! PENNY!" Antonia used her captors momentary distraction to slip passed them and rush out onto what remained of the upper deck of the shadow Cadre's stolen ship, waving her arms as she screamed after the craft in desperation. Her cries went unanswered and she had no chance to react as Onyx lunged forwards, his fist connecting with the back of her head with an audible crack sending her to the ground where she remained limp and unmoving
"That was the Huntress that took Hellion and she knew her" Carcharodon spat, fighting the urge to deploy the Red Waves and tear his prisoner apart. He turned to Onyx "Take her below deck. Lock her in any cabin still suitable and get to work on that weapon"
"And our guest?" the Shark Faunus's expression darkened at the question
"First Hellion and now our home? When she wakes up, we will have our answers, she will tell us where to find this Huntress"
Team FADE lounged in their dormitory late on Saturday afternoon, freshly showered after a gym session with Team NEON who were expected to rejoin them shortly. Diamond leaning against Arctus as she and Felix faced off against each other in a winner stays on computer game tournament; the Bear Faunus having just lost spectacularly to his girlfriend. Eagle was currently sat on her bunk engrossed in a teachers handbook, searching for any methods that would make teaching Hellion to read and write easier. The final mission of First Year would be beginning on Monday but the nerves and tension that had preceded their previous two assignments were strangely absent, something Felix attributed to knowing in advance what the mission would be and that it would be taking place inside the Kingdom with no chance of facing the creatures of Grimm.
"And that's two down!" Diamond cheered as Felix slouched back with a defeated sigh before turning to his partner
"Eagle you want in? It's no fun without the reigning champ"
"Just let me finish this chapter then I'll jump in"
"Well babe that means it's you again" Diamond took Felix's controller and handed it over to Arctus who leaned forward with a determined expression on his face. As he watched the two of them select characters Felix felt his Scroll vibrate in his pocket and assumed that it was most likely Nyanza messaging him to say that they were going to get food before joining them. His dark blue eyes widened and his face split into a toothy smile upon seeing that the message was in fact from his sister. That smile only widened upon opening the message and learning that Team CLIR had all but completed their mission, a spawning pit had been destroyed and they expected to be home late Sunday evening in time for the start of the Centenary Festival on Monday night which it seemed that the whole year had been building up to
"Hey guys, just heard from Corey. She's back tomorrow night"
"Awesome" Arctus smiled, Felix's Scroll vibrated again causing him to glance back to the screen and see another message from Corvid, this one containing an attachment. The Lion Faunus let out a surprised curse as he opened it and was greeted with an image of a Grimm that dwarfed anything he'd seen before, even the Brachiodonis from Team FADE's first mission seemed small in comparison. The photograph was taken from above, a still image taken from the Omega Wing's helmet, displaying Delta-Omega in all of its' monstrous glory. A caption emblazoned across the image made Felix bring a palm to his face with a sigh, Corvid had added the words 'Sea what I have to deal with'
"Whoa" Eagle breathed out as she read the message over Felix's shoulder, her curiosity having gotten the better of her. Arctus paused the game allowing both himself and Diamond to see what had gotten a reaction from their team leader, the Bear Faunus shaking his head in resignation.
"Of course there's a pun. Of course there is"
"She has to be stopped" Felix sighed dramatically, tilting the screen away so that he wouldn't be seen typing a response that he would deny all knowledge of if asked.
'It's not that DEEP Sis'
Authors Notes:
Well damn this is a long chapter, not the longest but it felt longer to write. I think it's because Team CLIR aren't as fleshed out as Team FADE at this point.
Also I start a new job on Monday, so I'm thinking of actually taking a week off writing this time (I know I've said that before) to plan a few chapters ahead seeing as we're coming up to the final stretch of first year and I want to make sure these threads all tie themselves up.
Anyway let's summarise:
I think I made a mistake in starting this chapter with Kafsi, she's such a bitch she's genuinely unpleasant to write and it kills my momentum.
The scene gave a little insight into the way Kafsi thinks, she's an Atlesian nationalist first and foremost with an extra helping of extreme classist to boot.
Note that the cleaner saw Raffia dragging an unconscious guard away from where he'd just started a fire; Carcharodon gave his word that the Shadow Cadre would use only as much violence as was strictly necessary and he's making sure they stick to that.
Gangrel was a Faunus in Lower Atlas, he saw how the Atlesian government operated when they felt threatened, I don't think he'd ever be able to bring himself to use the same kinds of tactics.
"For the glory of Atlas" is Kafsi in a nutshell.
Little Corvid was so like Ruby it's not even funny in a lot of ways.
Also yes Dew Gayl gets a mention again, her warship was the one that dealt with the Grimm Team FADE were planting homing beacons on in Vol.1 so we can assume that this is what she specialises in, taking out larger Grimm from the air.
Team CLIR; bad-ass Grimm killers extraordinaire….not morning people.
Yes Penny skimmed her Bull-head along the surface of the ocean to lure Grimm up to the surface, 'cos Penny is bad-ass.
Notice how Penny said "Unless someone ELSE has learned to fly" yeah, I've got a plan for that, you'll see.
Omega Wing v2 is up and running, asses will be kicked.
Oh god the puns.
Yeah imagine the sea serpent Grimm from Vol.4….that's Delta-Omega's tail. I used a Kaiju and Mecha size chart, Delta-Omega stood in it's natural almost upright position is around 80 feet tall. Think EVA 01 from Evangelion but walking more like a gorilla.
"Team CLIR are combat ready" Corvid looks up to Penny and Ruby the way Ruby looks up to Qrow in canon; Corvid has probably wanted to say that for years.
Raffia is taking care of Marauder, Hellion's pet bird.
Damn Antonia takes no shit and fires shots at close range.
Yes the Shadow Cadre are very close to being ready, but notice the offhand comment about Antonia having her own plan in the works.
Yeah two hundred and fifty feet tall, but over five hundred feet long including the tail, it's longer than a football stadium.
Yeah Penny had Nano-bomb weapons, mainly as a reminder that they exist, because remember the two magazines of Nano-bomb rounds Felix got from Penny and Ruby in Vol.1, he still has one of them left.
Just a little note that Onyx actually made a point to protect Antonia.
I don't care how much of a villain Carcharodon is right now, I think we all felt a little bad for him while he was pleading with an unconscious Raffia to wake up.
Come on you've seen Raffia regrow a burned off arm courtesy of Arctus, Ruby collapsed his skull and Flax shot him in the face and chest with a Mini-Gun….he can basically soak up anything that gets thrown at him but it wears his Aura down.
So the Shadow Cadre's ship is pretty much done for. That's gonna force their plans to change.
Team CLIR and Penny really are gnats in comparison to Delta-Omega, their best bet was just to be annoying enough to distract it.
Yes Corey doesn't just stop a moving Truck. She stops a charging Kaiju sized Grimm and cracks its' skull by standing there and letting it charge her.
"Will a claw do?" yes Penny did that, she really did that.
So that's both Xiao Long kids that have proved that they are willing to die in the line of duty.
Paperwork or another round with the monster….what's the difference.
So now the Shadow Cadre know that Antonia knows Penny, who was the one who captured Antonia and they're out for blood. What if I told you that this was all according to Keikaku.
Yes Eagle is reading teachers handbooks to be a better teacher for Hellion, which I think is adorable.
Felix had to respond with a pun there. Had to.
Thank you to SumoSnipe, Araniladin, FleetOfWarships, Bulletproof Vanguard, ShadowAlex2000, Unstoppable Cyborg and FluffyFirefly for their reviews on the last chapter.
The funny thing is, Hellion has most likely got just as many honorary titles bestowed on her by the Frost River Tribe as Onyx, she just doesn't list them all off before a fight to shake down opponents.
Anyone who leaves a pun in my reviews is a treasure.
In Eagle's defence she was staring at Hellion's pretty face as well.
It's more the connotations "I bet she drinks pumpkin spice latte" can practically read as "That basic bitch"
Eagle's favourite genre is Fantasy. Whatever Remnant's equivalent to Lord of the Rings is, she grew up getting bed time stories from Ren. Also in Vol.2 there was a scene where she was reading one of Felix's books….he totally has Blake's taste.
I hope you had the Pacific Rim theme in your head while reading the scene with Delta-Omega
As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review.