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Chapter 38: Scramble City
Brindle Bordeaux, police officer in New Vale's narcotics' branch allowed himself a single whimper before gripping the steering wheel tighter with shaking hands, his floppy mastiff ears flat against his skull as terror, disgust and a seething mass of every other negative emotion he could name washed over him. His life as he knew it was over but there had been no choice, not since he'd been approached almost a month ago by members of Torchwick's crew.
"Come on, come on" he whispered to himself as he pushed the prison van he was driving to its' limits, speeding away under cover of darkness from the oppressive monolith that was New Vale correctional facility and racing towards the wall that marked the city limits; silently hoping for the sake of his wife and children that the start of the festival would provide adequate distraction for the Kingdom's law enforcement and that there would be no interference.
"Proceed to the nearest shelter. Grimm incursion in progress. This is not a drill" the endlessly looping message played from a speaker mounted to a nearby building, one of many that the Kingdom had in place for just such an occasion. Hearing the words Brindle felt as though his veins had filled with ice and frantically began working the police radio mounted in the vehicles' dashboard, his worst fears being confirmed when several channels were filled with the assorted sounds of unfolding chaos; gunfire, screams, sirens and an inhuman snarling that the city dwelling officer may never have experienced before but still knew on a primal and instinctive level knew the source of. Letting out a stream of curses he brought the prison van screeching to a halt before desperately making his way through the secure channels used by law enforcement until he received part of a message
"-sion zone! The shelters nearest aren't gonna hold, evac from the wall to-" Brindle cut the radio off, sinking into his seat with his head in his hands as he tried to control his breathing. The defensive wall had seemingly been breached, leaving all manner of nightmares to stalk the Kingdom. He was a police officer not a Hunter, nevertheless he had been trained on how to respond in case of such a catastrophe, all officers had. The only issue was how to integrate those half forgotten protocols with his current dire situation. Pressing the pedal to the floor he took action, screeching around the nearest corner and turning away from his original destination; the city limits would be closed anyway. Taking several turns he eventually found himself on a deserted road leading to a retail park that had closed hours ago, any workers who had been stocking shelves would most likely be taking refuge in whatever store rooms were available in case the Grimm made it this far across the city. Killing the engine Brindle braced himself, breathing erratic as he took the cane currently resting on the passengers seat and hopped out of the cab, making his way to the rear of the truck and fumbling with the keys before unlocking it and climbing inside to come face to face with the sole prisoner contained within
"Well Bordeaux, I'd ask if you got all emotional and came to see me off but I am clearly not where I told you I wanted to be" Rhodium Torchwick noted pointedly, his almost bored tone masking a fury that Brindle knew would see his family dead if he didn't explain himself.
"There's been an attack, somehow Grimm have gotten into the Kingdom. I can't get you out of the city, they'll have locked the place down"
"You cannot seriously expect me to believe that shit right?" Rhodium drawled "Grimm just happened to burst into the city, today of all days"
"I swear I'm not making this up! Rhodey if I was gonna lie to get out of my end of the deal I would have done it before now" the redhead gangster seemed to consider that for a moment, Rhodium's response to being given the location of Bordeaux's family was to offer the Mastiff Faunus a simple deal, their lives for Rhodium's freedom. Naturally Brindle had accepted the terms and naturally Rhodium had taken this compliance as an excuse to make additional demands, he'd considered having some of his crew freed along with him but decided that they were needed inside to keep the prison profitable. All things considered it seemed reasonable that Brindle was telling the truth, he was not a man who would gamble with his families' safety; which left the criminal with a chilling revelation
"The Grimm are at ground level aren't they?"
"I don't know" Brindle admitted "They came in through the exclusion zone so I'd guess so"
"Fuck….My Ma lives kinda near there. Get me out of this fucking collar" Brindle quickly complied, the Aura dampening collar Rhodium had been forced to wear as a prisoner audibly deactivating before opening
"So we're done now, you won't go after my family?" Brindle demanded
"Is that for me?" Rhodium ignored the question, instead gesturing at the cane in Brindle's hand, eyes widening in recognition. His own weapon had been destroyed when he fought against the Hunters who's eventually arrested him and he'd demanded a new one; however he knew the cane that was being held out for him to take from the photographs he'd seen of its' previous owner. This was Melodic Cudgel. His fathers' old weapon, obviously stolen from whatever evidence locker it had been kept in for the last two decades.
"Yeah, yeah your family are fine. I'm not really into killing kids anyway" Rhodium murmured as he gave the cane a few experimental twirls
"Oh thank Oum. Now I need to assist with-AARGH!" Brindle let out a pained scream as Rhodium turned and fired Melodic Cudgel into his leg without hesitation. The Faunus fell to the ground howling in agony, unable to resist as Rhodium took the collar that had been around his own neck and clamped it around the Narc who'd dared to infiltrate his crew, a cruel smile on his face as it activated
"What the fuck are you doing!" Bordeaux demanded, struggling to stand despite blood trickling through his fingers as he clutched at his ruined leg; Rhodium simply stepped out of the back of the van and closed the doors behind him
"Rhodey!" Brindle's eyes widened in horror as the redhead placed his hands on the surface of the vehicle, infusing it with the destructive power of his Semblance; Brindle collapsed with tears streaming down his face as his surroundings were bathed in a magenta glow
"Rhodey please!" through the barred windows of the prison van he saw the escaped convict smile at him before answering
"I fucking hate cops" with that he turned and left, giving Brindle a brief moment to pull a photograph of his family from his wallet and take one last look before his world exploded into flames.
Team CLIR had leapt into the fray without hesitation the moment word from the Kingdom below reached Halo Academy; climbing aboard one of the first craft to reach the aerial platform to ferry students eager to fight into the battlefield, Corvid simply telling the pilot to take them where they were needed most.
"Not even one day off" Lux growled as the teens positioned themselves at the side hatches of their transport
"Take it out on the Grimm" Corvid snarled from behind her visor, the Omega Wing already wrapped around her in it's battle-suit configuration
"Oh we plan to little lady, don't worry about that" Rusty chortled from his and Iris's position at the opposite hatch; the co-pilot who also served as the Bull-Heads' gunner called back to them to give her own input
"Coming up on your drop zone now, fair warning you're the gonna be the first ones in"
"Got it" Corvid nodded, if her teams' previous mission had proven anything it was that they were capable of acting as a vanguard "What are we looking at?"
"Evac is mostly complete in this tower complex via the east side, Grimm are being forced into bottlenecks and taken out" what little of the co-pilot's face was visible beneath helmet became visibly tense "Problem is we've got reports of something burrowing its' way straight up through the west side, something big. We're gonna drop on you on a bridge to head it off"
"Oh don't worry, we've killed bigger" Corvid replied calmly, rolling her shoulders back and cracking her neck
"Be confident kid, not cocky" the co-pilot warned her before the pilot interjected
"FINAL APPROACH ON DROP ZONE! HATCHES OPEN IN TEN SECONDS!"
"Okay Iris get ready to stop anything that attacks us. Lux, Rusty, cover Iris. I'll be covering from above!" Corvid gave her team their orders just as the hatches opened with an alarm and several lights interspersed around the rear compartment of the craft changing from red to green and they carried them out without question or hesitation. Iris landing on a bridge between two massive tower complexes, Venus Rising in hand and eyes glowing faintly as she prepared to bring her Semblance to life at a moments' notice, Lux and Rusty landed either side of her and brought their weapons around in wide sweeps while Corvid took stock of the situation while hovering above them. It seemed that this tower block was far enough from the exclusion zone that an attack from airborne Grimm seemed unlikely, leaving just the monsters that had tunnelled underground to contend with.
"Okay what's the plan?" Iris asked as Corvid landed beside her
"We can't just run in blind, we need to lure the Grimm out into-"
"CONTACT!" Lux bellowed indicating downwards where several planes of glass exploded outwards and steel groaned in protest as a long, chitinous, many jointed limb ending in a jagged point became visible for a moment
"Some kind of bug Grimm" Iris noted
"That aint a Deathstalker" Rusty noted "Don't look much like an Infinipede either"
"I might have an idea what it is" Corvid grimaced as memories of what Felix had bragged about facing during his initiation came back to her "And we're gonna have an Itsy Bitsy problem if we can't force it out. Lux, Iris, fire on those windows!"
"On it!" both of them called out in unison before the area was surrounding where the limb had burst from was pierced by a stream of Dust tipped arrows, then torn asunder as Iris sent the head of her face crashing through walls and windows with the power of her telekinesis. The response they received was a furious hissing followed by a mass of viscous inky black webbing being vomited forth from the hole, allowing the Grimm responsible to scuttle onto the bridge at frightening speed. A huge bulbous abdomen, skull like face with prominent venom sacs, eight obscenely long limbs and it could use its' own Grimm matter as a projectile. The Dungeon-Master was exactly how Felix had described it and Corvid felt a swell of pride for her brother before focusing on the task at hand
"Lux, Iris. Be ready to go on the defensive"
"Got it"
"And Lux, your family work construction….how much of this bridge can Rusty safely disintegrate?"
"None of it! What the hell?" her partner seemed flabbergasted by the question, though he had no chance to ask what exactly Corvid was planning as the trapdoor spider Grimm made its' move, its' abdomen arching over and spraying a mass of webbing which connected with his chest and arms, pinning his swords across his chest and hurling him into the barrier of the bridge; the metal of which began to creak ominously as the Dungeon-Master began to retract the substance back into its' body, drawing the immobile Hunter closer
"Little help here!"
"I got it!" Rusty rushed forwards, only for Corvid to clamp a hand on his shoulder
"Wait?"
"What in the Sam Hill-"
"I've got a plan. Iris, Semblance! Hold him in place. Lux just hold on. Rusty wait for my signal then use your Semblance on the webbing" Without hesitation and trusting implicitly that her orders would be carried out Corvid deployed the arm mounted blades of the Omega Wing and flew forwards, directly towards the Grimm's face; waiting for the last moment to land and trigger her Semblance before it lunged at her, front limbs stabbing at her chest while the remaining six sunk into the surface of the bridge. Corvid angled her blades so that the spindly yet powerful limbs were caught between and began the task of Grappling with the Dungeon-Master, turning at the waist to drag the Grimm from the centre of the bridge and towards the railings
"Rusty Now!" Corvid rapidly deployed her twin rail-guns and fired point blank into the Grimm, sending it hurtling through the safety barrier and towards the ground, the webbing holding Lux in place, which Rusty was hastily dissolving with his Semblance of 'Degradation' being the only thing keeping it from falling
"Iris keep him steady, you've got this!" Corvid encouraged as she took pot shots at the Grimm which swung like some grotesque pendulum before finally falling several stories to the ground, hitting the floor with an audible crash.
"Oum damn these critters keep getting uglier" Rusty spat as he physically pulled the last of the Grimm webbing from Lux and quickly checked him over to ensure that no harm had come to him. The moment was interrupted by the voice of a newcomer from overhead
"It's not dead yet!" Corvid looked upwards and was met with a blonde woman roughly her parents age sporting white armour; the chest-plate seemingly having an extra, more advanced layer atop it, she was flying with the aid of a jet pack with wings that seemed to formed from the blade of a double edged sword, the newcomer added "But it's about to be" Team CLIR quickly looked over the remains of the bridges safety barrier, appalled to see that the Dungeon-Master was indeed rising to its' many feet. That disgust soon turned to quiet awe as a pair of women in similar ivory armour strode forwards, one with a spiky blonde undercut wearing goggles as she aimed a heavy duty flamethrower at the Grimm, which shrieked in protest as it found itself enclosed in a ring of fire. The second woman, tall and graceful with long flowing blonde hair wielded a hammer which Corvid was certain weighed far more than herself; then the hammer reformed itself into a shoulder mounted rail gun of a far larger calibre than Corvid's own. A single shot rang out, punctuated by a low warbling bass note and the Grimm was hurled backwards several dozen feet, black mist rising from its' unmoving form indicating that it had finally been killed
"Holy Oum" Iris breathed out turning and pointing to the newcomer who still hovered above them and pointing with her golden cybernetic hand "Okay who are you guys?"
"I'm Citrus Arc. Those are my sisters, Victoria and Hellebores. Sorry it took so long to assist, Flax likes to go the extra mile when he's rigging Grimm traps" she turned briefly to Corvid, seemingly noticing the younger Huntresses own weapon for the first time "Cool weapon kid. Your team ready to take this inside? We need to secure this building so we can pull people back from the breach" Corvid turned to her team and saw matching looks of determination on each of their faces, a feral smile forming on her face as she turned back to Citrus Arc
"Yeah. Let's go CLIR the place out"
All across the capital of New Vale the fight against the Grimm raged on, from countless skirmishes between small packs of Grimm stalking though the streets and impromptu militias led by those who had fought in the battle of Vale twenty years ago and would not see their home fall again, to the bloody carnage that was the breach itself where streets ran red beneath an impenetrable obsidian mist as both Grimm and defender fought to the bitter end; to the aerial battle which filled the night sky with flashes and explosions in a bleak perversion of the earlier fireworks as laser batteries and photon cannons discharged or smaller craft were torn from the sky by swarming Grimm. Amidst it all Gangrel Slate sat, each breath a feral snarl as the sharpened claws of his cybernetic arm scored grooves into his armrest each time he drummed his fingers.
"Drop cloak and prepare to join the battle"
"Sir, our orders were-"
"This was a covert operation before the Grimm showed up. General Schnee will understand. Now drop cloak, fire on those Nevermore and prepare to scramble our fighters"
"Sir yes sir" within moment his orders were acted on, the Gespenst, personal ship of the head of the Atlesian Specialists became visible in all its' fearsome glory, light arcing from its' weapons batteries as it tore through a flock of Grimm worrying nearby Bull-Heads from New Vale's defence force. Gangrel noted that even after all these years Vale's craft were just not as capable as those built in Atlas, adding his own fighters to the fray may just tip the scales in the air. Now the ground battle had to be won
"Sir we're being hailed by one of New Vale's warships" Gangrel nodded before turning to his first mate
"You have the bridge. Co-ordinate with New Vale. Contact Operative Asteri and tell her to engage all hostiles at will"
"Sir?" his first mate was capable, yet nonetheless confused by the order
"I'm taking a Bull-Head and a strike team down there. Vale is just as much my home as Atlas is" the Bear Faunus sighed before giving his first mate, one of his most trusted allies in the Atlesian military, a wry smile, his next words tinged with pride "Besides, my son is gonna be down there somewhere….He's too much like me to be anywhere else right now"
"Mom are we going to be okay?" hearing the frightened voice of one of her children forced Penny to turn away from the controls of the Pearl and face the twins, putting on the warmest smile she could manage
"We're going to be sensational" she tried her best to assure them, reading the disbelief plainly on their faces "You're just getting to see part of what Ruby and I do for work, this is like bring your kids to work day"
"Okay" Tai-Jaune mumbled, still clearly not entirely convinced, Penny reached out and pulled both him and Summer-Pyrrha into a hug before turning back to the controls and sending a pair of rockets after two of the larger Nevermore nearby, the resultant explosions taking out several other Grimm in the process was an added bonus, the Pearl had not been entirely resupplied before Penny had left home, meaning she was having to be economical with ammunition. Thus far Penny had been lurking around the perimeter of the aerial battle, picking off any airborne monsters that slipped through the net formed by the Kingdoms' own fighters; making every shot count and more importantly protecting the precious cargo that she was carrying aboard. As she strained to spot any sign of incoming Grimm the synthetic voice of the Pearls' AI spoke out
"We are being hailed by New Vale heavy cruiser Valiant"
"Audio only" Penny answered bluntly before sending another rocket streaking forwards, the cockpit was filled crackling and a voice Penny was unfamiliar with
"Unidentified pilot, I have a priority one order from the council"
"I am a certified Huntress, proceed" Penny only had to wait a moment before the instructions came
"Armoured cables are being lifted from the tower complexes to Halo Academy. The craft carrying them need escorts….The council have authorised the use of the Yashima Protocol"
"Understood. Send co-ordinates" Penny answered, somewhat stunned; though she supposed she shouldn't be. The Yashima protocol was strictly for use in emergencies, a Kingdom wide Grimm insurgency most certainly qualified.
"Co-ordinates received" Pearl announced. Penny turned back to the twins with a smile, trying to find a positive way to frame the situation
"You're going to get to see where your cousins go to school, maybe you'll get to see them later on when this is over. And you're getting to stay up passed your bed times"
Rover Tan stood in the reception of one of New Vale's many hospitals, the one closest to his home in fact. The waiting area which was usually filled with various incoming patients and staff who gave everything they had, was currently occupied solely by Rover himself and the entirety of the hospitals' security staff; brave men and women who despite not being trained to fight the creatures of Grimm in any real capacity, who when the emergency sirens had started had retrieved a cache of weapons reserved for just such an occasion and readied themselves as best they could. Outside were almost two dozen Beowolves, behind them a lumbering Ursa preparing to make another roaring charge. The only thing currently keeping the bloodthirsty monsters from gaining access to the hospital was the rippling and pulsating force field enveloping the only entrance. Hospitals in New Vale may have taken up several floors of the tower they were located in, but they were far from easy to breach. Several key locations were similarly defended including government buildings, fire stations and schools.
"I'd feel a lot better if you guys went back upstairs" the Husky Faunus called over his shoulder as he lowered his mask over his face; golden electricity crackling around his extremities in anticipation "Let the patients see that they're safe. This forcefield is gonna hold"
"And if it doesn't?" one of the security challenged, Rover smirked behind his mask
"Then the Grimm get a death so quick it's almost mercy" there was a spattering of dissenting whispers amongst the guard, one of them simply snorting 'Typical Hunter' their words barely audible above the sound of the Ursa outside colliding with the forcefield to no discernable effect. The illusion of calm ended when a panicked nurse ran into the reception area and cried out
"THEY'RE GONNA REDIRECT POWER AWAY FROM THE HOSPITAL!" the head of security paid her panic little mind
"Don't worry we've had blackouts before. The auxiliary power is gonna kick in" another security officer interjected with words that sent a palpable chill through the room
"But the shields will still take about ten seconds to kick back in. We're gonna be on our own" Rover simply took another step towards the entrance and braced himself
"Everyone get back. Right now" with no more to be said he reached over his shoulder and gripped his weapon, preparing to draw Malis-Canis in its' short handled axe form. The moment the lights of the reception flickered and died out everything became illuminated by flashes of golden lightning as Rover shot forwards at a speed that allowed him to simply phase through the entrance and begin tearing into Grimm faster than the eye could see. By the time the auxiliary power had kicked in the security were left standing open mouthed, the obscene prices that Hunters tended to charge having been forever justified in their minds. Rover simply raised his mask and asked
"Now can one of you please go and find out how my wife's doing?"
"Let anyone who knocks on the door in, we're offering shelter. Try and call my Uncle Hie, call my sister; they should both be fine but I wanna know for certain" Melanie Malachite told the barmaid who'd fortunately come in early that evening before turning to the roughly fifty members of her crew occupying the dance floor of her establishment; all of whom were more heavily armed than usual "You're with me. We're sweeping the streets. Obviously people who pay us protection money get checked in on but we're not being picky here….fair warning if you've never seen a Grimm up close before there's nothing that can really prepare you for it. Don't freeze up"
"You're coming with us boss?" one of them asked, a relative newbie who somewhat awed. Melanie deployed the blades hidden within the heels of her stilettos in answer
"That's what I said" she cocked her head "I can't very well have it be public knowledge that something rolled up in my turf and started attacking people and I didn't do anything about it. I don't care who or what it is"
"Boss" another of her crew chimed in, an older gangster; highly respected within the Black Bear Syndicate, having been around since they all answered to Junior "We've got this. Are you sure you wanna be out there in person?" Melanie's expression hardened as she forcibly suppressed a shudder that she refused to show in front of her people. Memories of the month she spent living in a bunker beneath the original iteration of the Bear after the battle of Vale came back to her followed by memories of hearing that members of the Syndicate that she'd befriended, been protected and taught by and occasionally flirted with having been cut down in the fight to retake the Kingdom, memories of walking though streets that had once been her home and seeing nothing but desolation
"Yeah" she snarled "Yeah I have to be out there in person"
Kafsi waited at the location that she'd been given by an unverified source purporting to be Qrow Branwen, a quiet country lane flanked by sparse trees leading to the unassuming suburb that her targets seemed to be approaching; an admittedly better place for a confrontation than a residential area though her presence in full uniform seemed incongruous in such a place. Taking a slow breath of cool night air she focused herself, the first mate of Commander Slate's ship had informed her that priorities had been changed and that she was to engage the Grimm that had found their way into the city; Kafsi had no intention of doing so. Her duty was to Atlas and if that peasant Slate wanted to throw his life away by rushing to the aid of inept foreigners then she would complete her assignment and use it as an opportunity to advance her own standing. Eventually the sound of an approaching vehicle reached her, followed quickly by the light cast by its' headlights. Seeing that the vehicle was in fact the pickup truck that the so called 'Shadow Cadre' had acquired for themselves Kafsi stepped out into the road, her intention to stop the vehicle apparent as her hands tightened around her swords though she refused to unsheathe them, not until she could be certain she wouldn't harm Antonia Arc who in Kafsi's mind had been reduced to simply 'The payload'. The pickup came to a halt a few meters away and the large large Faunus occupying the flat bed leapt out, a large bird flying from his shoulder and perching itself on the roof of the vehicle.
"I would suggest you move"
"Stand down. Hand over Antonia Arc" Kafsi's tone was assertive, her would be adversary responded with a guttural growl as he hefted what appeared to be a roughly repaired Atlesian heavy weapon, held in place by a makeshift harness. One of the two individuals within the pickup left the vehicle, their body rippling through the surface of the metal as they lowered their hood revealing grey tinged flesh and pure black eyes, the left framed by a tattoo depicting several tribal markings arranged in the shape of a shark. The newcomer deployed curved and serrated blades along his forearms and rasped out
"I have no quarrel with you, but make no mistake you will die here unless you put your swords on the ground and walk away slowly" Kafsi slowly withdrew her weapons, her sabre in her right hand, short-sword in her left, held in a reverse grip
"You lower your weapons, savage" Kafsi demanded, her tone imperious "I am Atlesian Special Operative Kafsi Asteri and you will release your prisoner, lower your weapons and be taken into custody" the two Faunus shared a look before the taller of the two young men smirked
"This Hunter has titles. A worthy opponent….let me" he then turned back to Kafsi stepping forwards "I am Onyx Ursabane; mountain breaker, thunder-fist, speaker to gods and you were warned!" with a snarl Onyx raised the laser battery and fired only to be hurled into the side of the pickup truck with enough force to leave a dent and crack the wind-shield, winded and with smoking clothes as the laser battery itself landed with sparks and smoke spewing from within. The passenger side door of the pickup was flung open as Antonia Arc tired to escape in the confusion; at which point two things happened at once. Firstly Carcharodon turned to face Antonia, face murderous as her betrayal became apparent; secondly a lone bird swooped down from the trees before vanishing in a flash of crimson Aura, being replaced by the form of Qrow Branwen, Harbinger at the ready
"You didn't really think I was going to give you weapons?" Antonia challenged, trying to take the arrival of Hunters in her stride. Carcharodon merely stalked towards her
"I promised you your safety. Know that if Onyx is harmed I will hunt down everyone you care about"
"She cared about me once" Qrow interrupted, planting himself firmly between them "Take a shot kid"
"Gladly" Carcharodon didn't risk turning to face his comrades and maintained eye contact with the older man while giving his next order "Raffia, kill the other one" With that the battle began.
Final preparations for the Yashima Protocol were underway, Penny brought the Pearl into a steep climb to follow the ascent of the craft that was essentially towing a mass of cables wider around than the average car, pulling them towards the aerial platform which housed Halo Academy; gunning down a Griffin which had managed to slip through the ongoing havoc that was the battle around the breach. From the reports that she'd received the main mass of Grimm spewing from the destroyed gate was being somewhat contained, though at great cost; leaving the ground forces consisting of Hunters, students, law enforcement, former Vale militia fighters and local street gangs to deal with Grimm pouring through several smaller breaches that had been created throughout the Kingdom. New Vale's warships were unable to effectively deal with these smaller threats as the Kingdoms' own layout was turned against them, several holes had been opened within the tower complexes and the ones out in the open still could not be effectively fired on by the ships' weapons without risking unacceptable levels of damage. There was also a worrying series of reports that described a larger than average Grimm, believed to be monster that had burst through the exclusion zones' defences, rampaging its' way through the city.
"Docking power cable now" one of the crew of the tow-craft Penny was escorting alongside a handful of other fighters informed them, professionalism slipping a moment later "We're gonna cook the fuckers, make 'em pay" the cheers that filled the communication channels were interrupted by a new voice, an emergency transmission
"This is Captain Grey of the light cruiser 'Justice' we're taking too much damage we need to pull back….we'll take out what we can but some Grimm are gonna slip through the cracks"
"Understood captain" Penny answered as she scanned the several displays before her and winced at how low on ammunition she was. There was a tense wait, all of the escort pilots knowing that they were the last line of defence for a vital part of the Kingdoms' countermeasures and that they were about to be thoroughly tested. Then the first of the flying Grimm to have slipped through came into view, prompting a firestorm of retaliation which turned the night sky into a canvas of explosions and elemental forces as various Dust missiles interacted with each other; this proved costly as it reduced visibility to the point where Penny failed to see the Nevermore swooping to attack the Pearl, wings spread ready to fire a salvo of sharpened quills until it was too late; a missile she'd already fired at a Griffin impacting with the avian Grimm far too close to the Pearl. Penny, in a superhuman display managed to leap from the cockpit and into the rear compartment before the wave of heat and concussive force washed over her craft, ripping through the controls like foil; she clutched the twins close to her even as pain blossomed through her body, keeping them safe as the Pearl began a rapid tail spin towards the ground, left wing being sheared away on contact with one of the buildings below. Eventually the craft came screeching to a halt and Penny released her grip on her children, stepping back and frantically checking them for injuries
"Mom!" Summer-Pyrrha pointed at her, eyes filling with tears while her twin stood in open mouthed silence; refusing to comprehend what he was seeing. After seeing that they were physically no worse for wear Penny finally acknowledged the source of their tears, ripping the pair of Nevermore quills that had pierced her body free and leaving her left arm hanging limp while her abdomen sparked where she'd been impaled, clothes darkening around the wounds as the blood that flowed through her synthetic flesh spilled out
"Mommy's gonna be okay" She assured them through clenched teeth before taking a knee, eyes glazing over and voice becoming robotic as she spoke "Nanobots active. Commencing field repairs" at Penny's order the swarms of minute machines coursing through her body that she had in lieu of a true Semblance began to repair her mechanical components while her Aura healed her flesh. Within moments Penny rose to her feet again, visibly tired but uninjured. Pulling the twins into a brief hug she murmured to them
"I have to go outside for a while. I want you to stay in here, whatever happens, whatever you hear you stay here. Do you understand?" seeing both of them nod Penny smiled, leaning down to kiss both of their foreheads before making her way out of what had previously been the front of the Pearl, pulling the remains of the partition between the rear and the cockpit across and using one her laser pistols to weld the metal in place. She then shifted her pistols into their sword forms and used her own internal communication system to send a message to Ruby's Scroll. Something that had been a distress signal between the two of them for years. Before long the first Grimm came to investigate the crash as Penny had known they would. Penny twirled her swords in anticipation, she would not be moved from where she stood, she would hold the line and defend their children until Ruby arrived or until she ceased to function.
She was combat ready.
Kafsi parried with her sabre and lunged forwards with her short-sword, making to open Raffia's belly, only for the Axolotl Faunus to no longer be there and the tip of Hydra Macabre rake across her face in flail form, causing her Aura to visibly ripple as it did so. The fight had been far more challenging than the specialist had anticipated; Antonia Arc had taken cover, Qrow and Carcharodon seemed to be at a stalemate; the older Huntsman's experience and ability to take to the air seemingly evenly matched against the Shark Faunus's seemingly limitless stamina and willpower and his liquid like body allowing attacks to simply pass through him. Kafsi herself had been left with the diminutive berserker who was similarly immune to harm, as she'd learned when she'd slashed at his face only for his torn flesh to stitch itself back together within seconds; her own disciplined fighting styles somehow proving inadequate for his insane onslaught. Raffia's weapon retracted back into its' sword form as he leapt into the air, Kafsi knocked the blade aside as he landed and the two of them danced around each other, blades clashing and blood spattering the ground as Raffia was wounded and healed time and time again, relentlessly pushing Kafsi back.
Exactly as planned.
Kafsi allowed herself a cruel smile of victory as she took another step back, finally moving a satisfactory distance away from where Antonia was taking refuge while at the same time allowing her opponent to believe that he was the one controlling the pace of the fight. Kafsi jumped over an attempt to sweep her legs out from beneath her and as Raffia rose to his full height she delivered a heel kick to his chest that sent him crashing to the ground; then she deployed her primary weapon. Her swords combined at the hilts and attached to her right forearm with a series of metallic bands, the blades of the swords split in half while several mechanical components could be heard whirring into life. Kafsi hadn't given the experimental weapon a name the way Hunters traditionally did; to her the experimental laser lance was a tool and nothing more, albeit a powerful one, effectively having the same amount of firepower as the ship based weapon the Shadow Cadre had stolen yet weighing less than a standard issue rifle.
"Impressive" Raffia cackled, seeming to have an innate awareness of how dangerous the weapon was "I'll put it to much greater use than you" with a demented and gleeful smile he charged towards Kafsi, sword raised in a two handed grip, then Kafsi fired and Raffia tried and failed to leap aside on time; falling the ground screaming in pain and horror at the sight of his arms, burned away below the elbows while his weapon had been reduced to several molten fragments littering the ground. His instinctive attempt to activate his Semblance failed, the pale light forming around him only to flicker and fade as Kafsi locked an Aura dampening collar around his neck and pressed the pointed barrel of her weapon against the back of his head
"For the glory of-" she never finished her sentence, instead she found herself flung across the now battle scarred road and into the trunk of one of the trees lining it, the sound of a deafening roar still ringing in her ears.
She had forgotten about the other one.
Kafsi rose to her feet and saw Onyx bearing down on her, Jotun Fang in its' axe form held over head as he let out an enraged battle cry. She calmly detached the laser lance from its' under slung position and prepared to make her next attack count, knowing that she would get one chance. The specialist lunged forwards and hurled the weapon at the Puma Faunus, Onyx pivoted allowing the separated blade of the sabre to bury themselves in his shoulder rather than his chest while at the same time bringing his axe down in a wide arc that shattered what remained of Kafsi's Aura, rending through flesh and bone and sending blood spraying across his face. He stepped back, releasing his grip on his weapon in shock at the sight of what he had done, his tribe raided but rarely killed and murdering a Hunter was something far removed from his comfort zone. Kafsi's left arm lay on the ground beside her and the Huntress coughed up dark, viscous blood before collapsing forwards, still attempting to pull the weapon that was embedded in her chest loose with her remaining hand before finally falling still. Ripping the weapon she'd hurled at him free and forcing the bile rising in his throat down he turned to see that the battle seemed to have paused, the combatants staring in stunned silence
"CAR GO! CARRY ON WITH THE PLAN, WE'LL CATCH UP!" Carcharodon seemed to hesitate for the briefest possible moment before nodding
"I'll come back for you!" then he triggered his Semblance melting into the ground, a shadow in the night; Marauder, Hellion's pet taking off after him. Onyx's instinctive attempt to rush to Raffia's side and rip the collar off of him so that he could heal had been anticipated. He'd gotten no more than half way before the older Huntsman had used his bird form to close the distance and press his scythe against Onyx's neck
"Don't move kid. I don't want to put you down but I will"
"Onyx. Please….let it end" he turned at the sound of Antonia's voice, finding her knelt beside Kafsi whose blood was now pooling around her "Onyx she's still alive but barely….we can fix this if you help me"
"Help you?" Onyx seemed confused by the notion, Raffia was enraged, hatred overruling his agony momentarily
"Kill them both Onyx, better we die like warriors!"
"If she dies Atlas will never stop hunting your people, you will get no justice" Onyx looked around, hands shaking as he realised that he held the lives of Carcharodon, Raffia, Hellion and any other member of the Frost River Tribe that may have survived in his hands. Deciding that his pride meant little in comparison he through his axe to the ground at Qrow's feet
"I yield" no sooner had the words left his mouth than Antonia had thrown one of Kafsi's Aura dampening collars to Qrow who in turn locked it around Onyx's neck.
"Coward" Raffia hissed "You think they'll let us live?"
"I had to take the chance"
"I've found her emergency locator. All Specialists have one" Antonia called out "Qrow, follow that bird and catch the other one!"
"I can't leave you with-"
"I can override the defences on Penny's place the same as you can. One of them hasn't got arms Qrow!" Qrow nodded
"It's good to see you again Toni" with that he transformed and took to the air leaving Antonia with the two remaining members of the Shadow Cadre
"Help me carry her to the pickup….we may just be able to salvage something from this mess"
The Yashima Protocol was ready.
Lie Ren was left to watch in stunned silence as Nora made her way from the engine rooms of the aerial platform, where the power of the entire Kingdom's electrical grid had been diverted to under the guidance of Professor Peach, stepping out into the night air.
She was glowing.
Nora had activated her Semblance and absorbed so much electricity that she now had power that clearly rivalled that of the Maidens. Lightning arced and crackled around her, her turquoise eyes glowed with unnatural light as if lit from behind while her entire body was enveloped in both the vibrant pink glow of her supercharged Aura and what appeared to be miniature storm clouds forming around her. This was the Yashima Protocol, New Vale's contingency plan; turn Nora Ren into a living weapon and allow her to unleash her powers on the threat in a single decisive strike.
"Are you sure you're ready?" Ren asked as she neared
"Ready? Ha! I've been wanting to try this out for years!" Nora gave him her usual cheery, almost manic smile before finally admitting the serious of the situation to herself "I've got you here don't I? I'll be fine"
"You've always got me" Ren assured her, taking her hand and discreetly activating his own Semblance, granting her a sense of calm, allowing her to focus despite the unfathomable power currently coursing through her as he took her hand, the two of them walking to the gyroscope launcher which had lain dormant since the initiation of first year students, a skeleton crew of technical support staff on stand by, led by Neptune David-Vasilias who besides being a therapist possessed a skill with machinery that rivalled even Ruby; Scarlet had entered the battle below on the same Bull-Head as Dove Bronzewing and Goodwitch herself.
"Nora we're ready when you are" Neptune informed her "Just be careful"
"I'll be right behind you I promise. I love you" Ren assured her, his composure wavering for a moment until Nora gently brought her knuckles against his nose
"Boop. Love you too" with no more to be said and the battle raging with every second they delayed Nora deployed Magnhild and stepped into the gyroscope, barely having time to take a deep breath before being launched into the air, lightning trailing behind her as she began to plummet towards the exclusion zone. Curling herself into a ball she picked up speed and allowed herself an adrenaline fuelled yell of exhilaration as she prepared to do what she was best known for.
Smash.
Nora brought the head of Magnhild crashing against the ground and channelled every ounce of power she had into the attack. The night sky became white and the distant sounds of battle were swallowed by deafening silence for a single moment that seemed to last an eternity, then the shock wave burst outwards from the point of impact; seeming to warp the air itself as buildings were vaporised, any Grimm within them simply being unmade. The shock wave travelled throughout the exclusion zone laying waste to everything in its' path and though Nora was unable to see, the tunnels that the Grimm had burrowed into the city imploded and the Grimm still making their way out of the breach in the walls, chasing defenders that had inexplicably began to fall back were decimated as the blast reached them.
Nora struggled to rise to her feet, her shoulders sagged and her breathing was laboured. Harnessing such power had taken a toll on her body which had returned to its' natural state. She made to plant Magnhild into the ground to steady herself only to realise with a pang that the weapon had been ruined, the head blown apart and the shaft bent at angle. She frowned to herself and hefted the remains of the hammer over her shoulder with heavy arms, it was still something to hit a Grimm with after all and Nora held no illusions about destroying all of them. Slowly she trudged towards the breach following the plan to regroup with the defenders at ground level, aware of glowing blood red eyes flitting through the darkness around her; with nothing but a low hiss as warning a lone Creep rushed out of the darkness only to collapse to ground without its' head before it could reach her. Ren having landed in a crouch in the space the Grimm had occupied, black mist wreathing the blades of the Storm-Flowers. Nora smiled and gestured to the destruction around them
"Look Renny, I'm queen of the wasteland"
Authors Notes:
The Battle is now well and truly underway.
We'll catch up with the main characters next chapter, there are just so many people with a stake in this that I couldn't not show that I felt taking a chapter to show all the secondary characters putting in work was necessary.
I think the battle will go on for another two chapters, then we have the wind down afterwards and that'll be it for the first year
But don't worry second year is gonna be fun. The Shadow Cadre have already hinted at what's in Atlas and hey, second year will be a Vytal Tournament.
So let's summarise:
This is what Torchwick wanted Bordeaux's family for, not to kill them, they're far more useful to him as leverage to get himself out of prison.
Whatever Rhodium is, he still loves his Ma.
Yeah he has Melodic Cudgel now, in The Downward Spiral Roman didn't have it when he and the White Fang broke out of his prison, his hat went to Neo but his cane was left in an evidence locker or 'Prop box' at the prison and presumably found at some point between the stories.
Yeah Brindle's dead, Rhodium was always gonna get payback. Brindle was only meant to be a one chapter character back in Vol.2 but since people seemed to like him so much I worked him into Torchwick's story a little more.
You didn't think Team CLIR were gonna sit this out right? They're the Team CFVY of this story.
Most Bull-Heads have a pilot and co-pilot, the ones we've seen with only one person flying them are Penny's "Pearl" and Flax's "Jackrabbit" both highly customised and belonging to ex Atlesian Freelancers.
An "Itsy Bitsy" problem indeed, I had to bring back the Dungeon-Master from Vol.1, it's a callback.
Also the difference in experience shows in how easily Team CLIR took their dungeon master out.
Three of the Arc sisters, Citrus using "Dragonslayer" and Victoria using "Siegebreaker" is a callback to The Downward Spiral.
And think back to Vol.1 and how many traps Flax brings to a fight, now imagine what he can do in a hive city where the civilians have already been evacuated.
And of course….the puns.
Gangrel left Atlas, this is is where he's been; cloaked above New Vale (Probably illegally) keeping an eye on things personally.
Gangrel and Arctus team up? Maybe?
Yeah Penny took part in the aerial battle with the twins still aboard but realistically what else could she actually do.
I think I first teased the Yashima Protocol in Vol.2 when Ren and Team NEON were being hunted by Phobos in the exclusion zone.
I think the scene at the hospital, in addition to titbits given in the other scenes shows how much New Vale has learned from the fall of Vale, they are prepared for the Grimm this time.
Malis-Canis, Rover's weapon. For anyone that didn't read The Downward Spiral it's a short handled axe that doubles as a sawn off shotgun.
And if anyone still can't guess why he rushed off to the hospital I have no words for them.
Nothing like everything going to shit to bring a community together, yeah even Melanie is chipping in to hold the line; then again she'd been through this before.
Kafsi continuously manages to out bitch herself doesn't she.
It's been a while since Onyx has gotten to pull his titles out.
Antonia played the Shadow Cadre. She was luring them into a trap with a weapon that didn't work, only difference is that Qrow and Kafsi met her a little further down the road rather than at Penny's house (Which Qrow had already activated the defence systems at)
Yeah the big warships that New Vale has aren't really much use against individual Grimm once they've gotten into the city, the big guns would do more collateral than the Grimm.
So yeah Penny's craft is screwed, it may or may not be fixable; but the Pearl AI still exists because it runs in Ruby and Penny's house as well.
Penny has "Field Repair" basically she's living skin grafted over a metallic chassis, her Aura can heal her skin faster than most people because its' the only part of her that's technically living. Her second body (After she was destroyed in the Vytal Tournament) has Poly-Tech Nanobots inside it and one of their uses is that they can repair her, but it's obviously not unlimited.
I hope it doesn't look like I Nerfed Qrow or Kafsi (Although let's be honest Qrow is in his sixties at this point probably, he's slowing down a little) Carcharodon and Raffia are just really tough people to fight because their Semblances work in a way that means they don't really have to bother defending themselves.
Yes the "Laser Lance" is a VR Troopers reference.
Also yeah, the ship that the Shadow Cadre's laser battery came from was at least twenty years old; potentially a lot older. Atlas is constantly improving its' tech; hell Neo had her Chibi Death Ray in The Downward Spiral courtesy of a stolen Atlesian design, so Kafsi having a much more efficient laser isn't Dues Ex Machina.
Well, Raffia's weapon is scrap I wonder what he'll do now.
Also Kafsi has proved that he isn't totally unkillable. He can't regenerate if he either has no Aura or can't access it.
You forgot Onyx's weapon is a sonic roar didn't you?
Antonia's right. Gangrel may not like Kafsi but at that point the Shadow Cadre would be marked for death, they literally wouldn't be able to go anywhere without Atlas hunting them.
Onyx's love for his people outweighs his berserker tendencies...Raffia's doesn't.
The Yashima Protocol, an homage to Operation Yashima from Evangelion where they divert Japan's entire power grid into a single attack. I've had this planned for a while.
All the Halo professors that weren't needed for Yashima are fighting, remember that Dove Bronzewing actually has a family living in the Kingdom as well (We'll meet his son in third year)
The Gyroscope launcher from initiation, my bullshit ex Machina plot device….Still prefer it to the rocket lockers though.
Nora basically nullified the majority of the Grimm horde in one hit.
Don't worry Magnhild can be fixed, it's just a bit scuffed.
Problem with putting everything into one attack is that you put everything into it.
Thank you to Araniladin, SumoSnipe, Ferrous, FleetOfWarships, TigerRose, ShadowAlex2000, FluffyFirefly & Arkanes Shippou for their reviews on the last chapter.
Wrecking has commenced.
So what you're saying is you want Diamond to turn into the fan interpretation of Weiss?
We'll see Team NEON next chapter.
Ren and Nora don't have their own kids but they're honorary Arc (Hence Eagle calling them Aunt and Uncle) they see pretty much every student as part of their extended family as well.
Oh yeah, Phobos isn't an end game antagonist; more of a proof of concept and a way to let certain characters with Authority know that the world isn't safe.
I see Winter and Qrow as despite all bullshit being able to relate to each other; they've both got massive family issues and being Ironwood and Ozpin's old right hands respectively they've seen some shit that even other Hunters wouldn't understand.
Well the second year will be taking place in Atlas for the Vytal Tournament; Winter has both of Ironwood's seats on the council, one as head of the military and….what was the other one again.
Penny and Qrow is one of those interactions I wish canon had given us….another would be Sienna and Blake.
As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review.