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Chapter 67: Under Siege
The moment the alarms had begun to blare throughout the Schnee Dust Company plant situated just outside of the settlement of Gerat-Handlung the Specialists had sprung into action; Kafsi ordering the soldiers under her command, a dozen of the finest the icy Kingdom of Atlas had ever produced, to converge on the conference room that the meeting between representatives of the SDC and the Coalition had been taking place and ensure that the few security guards currently already working at the site as well as the engineering firm who had completing work on the facility had been safely and promptly brought along as well. Kafsi had then given one of the Specialists the dubious honour of being the one to perform reconnaissance and keep their comrades appraised of the situation as it unfolded.
"Oh my Oum" a disbelieving voice gasped over a crackling transmission, the atmosphere in the now crowded conference room darkened and became ominously urgent
"Focus soldier" Kafsi ordered, a rare note of empathy and concern creeping into her words "What do you see?"
"Three hostiles; two Faunus….I don't even know what to call the other one" the words seemed to hang in the air for a moment, the tone the hardened veteran had said them in conjuring all manner of horrific images in Team FADE's minds before she continued "Security robots are offline, the main gate has been breached….the gatehouse is destroyed, at least one confirmed casualty….Sweet merciful Oum they've got a kid with 'em"
"Say again" Kafsi instructed, even she with her ruthless dedication to any mission entrusted to her would never consider the use of children as a way to deter enemy gunfire; truly the Faunus extremists she had been briefed on were the worst kind of filth
"Hostiles have a child present" the scout confirmed; prompting a flurry of muttered curses and whispers of disbelief from those in the conference room "They're splitting up. Female target and child are entering what's left of the gatehouse. One hostile is moving to flank us, making their way around the perimeter of the building….The big one is coming right for us; the door isn't gonna hold him-"
"Understood" Kafsi interjected out "Reinforcements are inbound, Asteri out" with that she turned her attention to the people around her, amber eyes narrowing as she forced her laboured and mechanically assisted breath to a slow and even pace as her rational and calculating mind smothered her emotions and began taking stock, silently designating everyone present as either an 'asset' or 'payload'
"We have a panic room, everyone here will fit inside; probably" one of the SDC representatives offered, face filled with naive hope. She saw what natural colour Whitley Schnee's complexion had slowly draining away and asked
"With the robots disabled can you guarantee the safety of the panic room Mister Schnee?"
"No" he croaked out, voice suddenly hoarse and Kafsi watched him clench his fists in an attempt to still his trembling hands.
"Understood" with that she quickly formulated a plan, decisive action dictated by an observant and analytical mind was what had propelled her to her current station and it was what would see them through this "I will lead the specialist strike team to converge with our scout and neutralise the threat-"
"Team FADE can take the one trying to sneak in" Felix Xiao Long assured her, stepping forward with an air of confidence and giving her a slow nod an a gesture that seemed to convey that whatever issues existed between herself and his team, they could be relied upon
"Negative" Kafsi answered firmly before turning to the hover-board using Specialist who was a member of Commander Gangrel Slate's own crew; while she thought the Bear Faunus suffered from questionable judgement and a lack of resolve in certain cases, his crew were without exception among the best
"Donner, take the security team and head off the one attempting to flank us"
"Got it" she gave a feral grin which in combination with her choice of weapons and electric blue Mohawk gave her an intimidating, almost savage appearance; though she faltered a little at the sight of the nervous expressions on the faces of the security guards
"Are you all armed and trained?" she demanded
"Standard issue rifles, older models….and we weren't trained to deal with this kind of intruder" Donner nodded in understanding, scanning their faces again it was apparent which of the guards had served in the military and she felt a stab of pity for those that hadn't; but she gestured for them to follow her nonetheless
"I'll take point, we have the numbers and the firepower….It's one guy for fuck sake" with that scathing comment she left, the security team spurred into action readied their weapons and set off after her
"Team FADE, guard the civilians" Kafsi ordered
"Bullshit" Felix snapped "You need all the help you can-" the Lion Faunus was silenced as the Specialist stepped closer and enunciated each word slowly
"Guard the civilians" she let out a slow sigh which her respirator transformed into a mechanical hiss "Something else is going on here. I need someone with combat experience to hold the line"
"You think we've been set up?" Arctus demanded from behind Felix, the pieces seeming to slide into place
"Captain we should move" one of the other Specialists noted, Kafsi gestured for them to set off. She waited until her fellow veterans were out of earshot to reply
"Slate you're a travesty of a soldier….but you'll make a good Hunter one day if you live long enough. Yes I think us being 'set up' is a distinct possibility. Keep the civilians safe; no one enters or leaves this room until I sound the all clear" she turned to leave, pausing for a moment as she did so "And as insufferable as the four of you are….try not to die; I have better things to do than file that much paperwork" a moment later she was gone, her footsteps echoing down the hallway as Team FADE stood in silence
"So" Diamond began as her eyes roved over the now emptier conference room and saw that Obsidian Eadala was talking soothingly to the bureaucrats, many of whom were openly panicking "If Kafsi's making jokes just how screwed are we?"
"On a scale of one to ten" Felix sighed unsheathing Hack and Slash from the harness on his back "Probably at least a twelve…..Eagle drop Sentinel near the door; Arctus get ready to throw a Glyph up" the blonde looked around the room himself and winced at the scared faces that greeted him; expensive suits weren't armour, these people weren't fighters and in Felix's humble opinion anyone who thought a pen was mightier than a sword was welcome to try fighting a Grimm with one. Upon seeing Whitley Schnee's desperate attempts to calm himself, his pale sapphire eyes wide and breathing ragged, the Lion Faunus let out a breath and repeated words that he remembered Aunt Ruby saying to him and Corvid not long after the two of them had been adopted and they had been inconsolable at the idea of her never coming back
"It's okay, we're Hunters there's nothing to worry about….they tell stories about the cool stuff we do and we're not out of stories yet" somehow it didn't feel as reassuring to Felix now as it had then.
The screams persisted though Alpha had long since stopped singing to her latest victim, clearly seeing no more need for her Semblance as whatever she had done to the unfortunate feline Faunus within the ruined gatehouse would be enough to assure that his attention remained firmly on the leader of the Cult of Taurus and her implements of torture. Gamma let out a low rumbling chuckle, thick strands of saliva escaping from the mouthpiece of his mask as he did so; he'd been keeping track of how long it took Alpha's playthings to utterly break, their minds no longer able to process the amount of agony she put them through in retribution for their crimes against the White Fang and by extension the Faunus people, by the sounds of it this one wouldn't take much longer
"A good effort; heard better though" Gamma noted idly to himself before trudging forwards, bulging and distending muscles visibly flexing beneath his discoloured flesh with every step. He could have been inside the building tearing the occupants limb from limb by now if he so desired but that simply wasn't how the Cult of Taurus operated, they were an implement of fear; the monstrous Pangolin Faunus had already caught sight of movement in the windows above and had purposefully delayed his onslaught in order to let the doubt and dread seep into the souls of all who stood against him; this wasn't about efficiency it was about utterly breaking the spirits of the defenders before the High Commander arrived with the main force to deliver the killing blow. As he made it halfway between the breached main gate and the glass entrance to the reception area, his pace slow and deliberate the sound of shattering glass reached his ears causing him to look up; whoever he had seen moving in the windows a moment ago had clearly brought friends; friends who still had some spirit left to break. Gamma wasted no words, simply letting out a feral roar as the first bullet ricocheted harmlessly against his Aura which rippled and became visible with the contact, a layer of light the colour of arterial spray. Then he charged forwards, the hastily barked orders and concentration of gunfire alerted Gamma to something that made the terrible rictus grin he wore widen, they thought he was going to charge the glass doors. He decided to correct them
"I'LL TEAR YOUR HEARTS OUT!" he bellowed as he leapt, a combination of Aura, momentum and pure muscle allowing him to reach a height of several stories and sail towards the windows that the Atlesian defenders had shattered; only for time to slow to a crawl as things suddenly ceased to go according to plan. A lone figure, a scarlet haired woman with a cybernetic limb, wearing the uniform of a specialist and some kind of mask over the lower half of her face leapt from the window and threw a left handed uppercut, Gamma felt the coppery taste of blood in his mouth has his own Aura and that of the challenger collided; the Specialist's momentum carried her into a spinning kick to his solar-plexus and the monstrous Faunus caught a glimpse of her using his body as a springboard to launch herself back through the window she had leapt from, then all he was aware of was falling.
Inside the corridor which had become an impromptu line of defence the Specialists collectively cheered and made their approval of Kafsi's daring attack known. Kafsi herself simply rose to her feet and returned to her position crouched in the space between two windows
"I say we go down their and clean 'em out" a Specialist positioned in the next available space growled as he forcefully slapped a fresh magazine into a machine gun which still bore pieces of the axe it could transform into
"Negative" Kafsi responded tonelessly "We don't know the full scale of their abilities and I see no ranged weapons….They want us to come to them, don't fight on their terms" the man, whom Kafsi would have guessed to be in his late twenties or early thirties nodded silently before firing out of the window with a war cry; several of the other Specialists followed suit and the courtyard was blasted with all manner of Dust infused bullets, shells, arrows and a rare beam of laser fire from one heavily armed fighter; for a fleeting moment the cold, detached rationality that Kafsi demanded of herself was almost pushed aside by the feeling of hope that welled up inside her, only to be crushed by the venomously spat words of Specialist with dreadlocks in the process of reloading their weapon
"Nothing that bulky should be that fucking fast….what the fuck is he doing with the ' bot?"
"TAKE COVER!" another Specialist, the young woman who had been enlisted through the army rather than the Hunter corps warned; the reason becoming clear as the inanimate form of one of security robots came hurtling through an already shattered window, time seemed to stand still for a moment as Kafsi caught sight of the ripped open chest panel and damaged generator that angrily spat sparks as a precursor; she quickly flung her arms in front of her face and felt heat and debris wash over her and her Aura buzzing in response as the automaton exploded
"You gonna start fighting properly or what boss?" the man beside her demanded before aiming a short, controlled burst of gunfire which had no discernable effect
"Excuse me?" Kafsi demanded with a raised eyebrow
"Come on, you're Kafsi Asteri….Winter Schnee without the charisma; the one who gets all the new toys….shoot the son of a bitch with something!" Kafsi quickly decided that now was no time to reprimand him for his tone or relish in the knowledge that she was something of a celebrity among Atlas's elite soldiers. Instead she simply reached into a holster mounted below her left arm and obscured by her uniform and drew her weapon; Kafsi did not consider herself sentimental in the slightest and while it was in her possession had only regarded the experimental 'Laser Lance' a tool, the weapon that her flesh and blood fingers were currently tightening around however she could freely admit she was going to get attached to.
"Existence of this weapon is currently classified, thank you for your silence" she beamed with confidence oozing from every syllable as she aimed a bulky handgun, its' body almost the length of her forearm and its' muzzle almost large enough to fit a fist inside
"What the hell…." the man beside her murmured, childlike eagerness spreading across his face despite the severity of their situation
"This" Kafsi smirked "Is the Aegis Thunder. A weaponised force field" with that she fired.
Gamma heard the booming report of the weapon and saw the wall of crackling turquoise energy rushing towards him at a speed that allowed him no time to react; a moment later he was hurtling backwards across the courtyard, his steel sheathed plates tearing gouges into the ground until he rolled to a stop with his bloody Aura rippling around him while electricity crackled over his body and the scent of ozone lingered in his nose. Rolling his neck and shoulders with a series of audible cracks he gave a guttural growl and made to charge into the fray once more; halting as he heard footsteps among the pattering of bullets and turned to see Alpha striding out of the ruined gate house holding a portion of the bullet proof glass in front of herself as a makeshift shield; the poisonous spines intertwined with her hair stood raised and angry behind her whilst her mask, clothes and gauntlets were simply dripping with the blood that had spattered and stained them.
"Omega?" Gamma demanded before spitting out a mouthful of his own blood
"Safe" Alpha gave a barely perceptible nod towards the gatehouse she had just exited "Shall we continue?" Gamma chuckled; taking a moment to note that whatever the weapon that had struck him was it hadn't been fired again
"Definitely; they have some heart" the Pangolin Faunus paused, making a final observation before charging into battle "I was getting bored of hearing all the begging and crying, this is at least interesting"
Donner strode a couple of paces ahead of the security team who were exactly as poorly equipped as they had warned her; privately she was making a silent vow that she would not die here if, for no other reason than refusing to let Commander Gangrel Slate's comments about her distinctive electric blue Mohawk 'Doing any snipers nearby a massive favour'
"Okay team" her voice was commanding but not raised "We know the hostile is Faunus; I assume everyone is familiar with anti-Faunus tactics" the question hung in the air for a few moments and Donner quickly buried her concern at the lack of an affirmative answer
"They kinda glossed over it in the cadets, I'm from a Faunus part of town….it wouldn't have gone over well" one security guard finally admitted
"Lady we're security guards, we're getting paid to make sure the staff don't steal shit; not whatever this is" another added, their voice growing dangerously close to hysterical
"I know how to take 'em down, was a cadet when Eisenstadt Siebte fell" a man in his mid thirties answered, Donner noted that it was one of the guards she'd identified as being ex-military
"Won't help now though" he sighed "We don't have the tools for it" upon hearing that Donner needed every ounce of her self control not to let out a furious string of expletives and merely settled for agitatedly twirling her swords; Anti Faunus warfare relied heavily on underhanded tactics that turned the natural Faunus's advantages against them and Donner noted that while the Specialists were all extensively trained on how to combat any threat it was foolish to assume that since the threat of the White Fang had supposedly ended the technique would still be widely taught.
"Looks like it's gonna be a slog then" she grumbled to nobody in particular before reassuring herself "It's just one guy" she led the security team through the corridors of the facility towards the stairs that would take them down onto the factory floor, specifically the loading bay doors at the rear that they had deduced would be the most likely targets for the attacker; the tension growing more difficult to bear with each step closer until eventually they were forced to make their way across a steel gangway and down a flight of stairs which were completely exposed, their footfalls echoing around the empty factory until they reached the ground
"Oh fuck" a hoarse voice beside Donner noted, it took her no time at all to find the source of their fear; a fire escape had been opened, its lock blasted away with some kind of high calibre weapon whilst a cautious glance along the length of the loading bay revealed that every single shutter door had been raised. The specialist pursed her lips and steeled herself as she examined the evidence and came to a conclusion that sent shivers down her spine
"The doors are open, the guy we're stopping could come through any of 'em" the hysterical guard who had spoken earlier all but cried
"No lad" the former soldier corrected from Donner's right hand side, evidently having picked up on the same thing that she had "Look at the bottom of the shutters, there's no damage. He blew the door off and raised the shutters as a decoy….he's already inside" as if waiting for the perfect moment to strike, the moment the words left the mans' lips his body seemed to disappear before Donner's eyes; warm blood and viscera soaking her clothes and splashing across her face while the telltale sonic-boom and earth shattering metallic crack of a rail-gun discharging rang throughout the factory floor
"Indeed I am" Donner's eyes were wide as she struggled to fight the shock at what had happened; the wall had been damaged and a trail of blood led from it back towards remains that couldn't rightfully be called a body after the unspeakable damage that had been inflicted. She tuned out the disgusted retching and assorted sounds of fright from the guards under her command, instead focusing on their attacker as he strode forwards with a gait that could only be described as relaxed. The Snow Leopard Faunus was tall, muscular and dark skinned with curly hair and a bushy tail, both white a dirty white colour and adorned with black spots, a sizeable portion of his face was hidden behind a mask styled to resemble some long extinct sabre toothed cat. As she watched him shift the weapon that had just ended a mans' life into a broadsword, it's rail collapsing into a single double edged blade, Donner snapped out an order
"OPEN FIRE!" the guards did so and the Specialist gaped in stunned silence for a moment at the sheer level of skill on display as Beta made no attempt to dodge, simply blocking every single bullet with the flat of his blade, countering without giving a single inch of ground before finishing with a flourish as magazines ran empty
"Well that was simply insufficient" something in his manner and calm, cultured tone tipped Donner over the edge and with a feral war cry shy charged forwards and lunged at the Faunus, both of her broad scimitars hitting nothing but air as Beta somersaulted over her, by the time she'd turned to face him again he had separated Indominus into it's twin katana mode and was making a 'come' motion with one of the blades. Donner was almost invisibly fast and delivered strikes with devastating force, yet none found their mark as Beta blocked, parried or simply sidestepped each attack in turn.
"Do control yourself" Beta admonished her the way a particular strict teacher would have "The time for fear will come" Donner broke away from him, their blades clashing against each other one final time before she issued a command that she had privately wanted to since she had first heard an older girl at Atlas do so during her own time as a student
"Fix bayonets and prepare to defend yourselves!" hearing this Beta cocked his head for a moment, disbelief etched on every inch of his mocking expression until the sound of several security guards charging forwards with whatever blades they possessed or simply swinging the butts of their rifles as crude clubs filled the factory floor. Donner rushed into the fray once more and allowed herself a brief moment of relief as the Faunus was finally pushed onto the defensive; what she failed to realise however was that far all her insistence that 'It's just one guy' she had failed to make sure that she was correct and as she and the security team fought Beta none of them noticed another individual slip through one of the opened shutter doors; even if they had noticed the realisation would have quickly faded from their consciousness. As it was the fact that Delta was now scurrying along the walls and ceiling, Prae Dolore slung across their back, in search of victims to inflict the wrath of the High Commander upon went unseen and unchallenged.
The longer the gunfire outside continued the harder it became for Felix to justify the notion of following orders and staying put; each time the urge to make his way out into the thick of the fighting became almost unbearable he would cast his eyes around the conference room which now doubled as a woefully inadequate bunker, the frightened faces that greeted him providing ample reason to stay and guard the door. Arctus stood a few paces away from the door, giving himself enough room to throw a protective Glyph in the way of any attacker that made it this far into the building; Diamond was positioned at a window that the representatives of the SDC and the Coalition had been moved away from, clutching Lex Talionis in its' sniper rifle form; Eagle had deployed Sentinel near Arctus and was currently holding her Scroll close to her ear, only to collapse the device with an aggravated huff and a shake of the head
"No luck?" Felix surmised
"Calling her Scroll is a long shot at the best of times anyway trust me" Eagle tried to make the bad news sound like a joke, the atmosphere in the room grew more tense regardless. She had been attempting to contact her mother after finding that Poly-Tech customer service lines were completely swamped with calls, the hope had been that Antonia Arc would know how to reactivate the security robots. Felix himself had spent the first few minutes after Team FADE had been left to ask as a last line of defence recording a message explaining the situation and sending it to everyone he could think of, the gnawing feeling that something was drastically wrong only worsening as the minutes passed by and he received no response.
"That's it! We're going, we need to get out of here!" One of the SDC representatives, a spindly man with a reedy voice snapped "We're sitting in an office with glass windows when there's a panic room in the basement! This is suicide!"
"Going out there is suicide" Arctus answered bluntly before Felix could intervene
"YOU DON'T KNOW THAT!"
"I know that anyone who can get through an entire Specialist strike team can probably take the door off of a panic room if they really want to"
"We stick to the plan" Diamond agreed "Asteri might be a lot of things including a total bitch, but she knows what she's doing"
"Excuse me if I've got no faith in the Atlesian military" Ringo drawled from the corner of the room, the sarcasm dripping from his voice making up for the stoicism of his oddly expressionless face "It's just that the last I checked they'd still killed more Faunus than anyone else I can think of-"
"And you're so innocent are you?" another member of the SDC demanded "You're as dirty as they come Umi, those are probably friends of yours out there!"
"EVERYONE CALM DOWN AND SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Felix barked as the blue ringed octopus Faunus took a step towards his accuser, the luminescent pigment in his skin glowing and shifting angrily
"I agree" Obsidian Eadala stated, tone still friendly despite the situation "Though I would perhaps not have put it in those words"
"Boss" Ringo growled while lowering his voice "As much as I hate these suits they're right about one thing, we need to go….these kids mean well but let's be realistic" Obsidian slowly stroked his bushy beard for a moment before turning to Whitley Schnee who had been oddly silent and unable to meet anyone's eye
"Mister Schnee, do I have your assurances that your panic room is safe?" Whitley let out a bitter angry laugh that threatened to crack and become a sob
"Safe? Yeah sure it's as safe as Schnee Manor was when it was stormed, this can't happen again, this can't happen again" Felix saw the colour drain from Arctus's face at the mention of the attack on his home that had taken place before either of them were born, the same attack in which the Spring Maiden Jade Rangifer after whom Athena-Jade Slate had been named was killed with a fourteen year old Whitley Schnee as witness. The statement hung in the air until the oppressive tension was broken by an unlikely candidate
"We've got vans outside if you haven't got keys to the cars you came in. Where they're parked isn't near the gate" everyone present turned to face the man in charge of the engineers who had been working in the facility, a slightly rotund man in his forties with a receding hairline and work clothes that bore countless stains "I'm not trying to be a hero but we can get everyone out of here if we squeeze in"
"And if we were to be attacked on the way?" Obsidian asked, another of the tradesmen gave a blunt answer, the bravado failing to hide their fear
"Well we're not hunters but we've got hammers, wrenches and plenty of things with sharp edges handy"
"Whoa, whoa whoa" Felix objected quickly "I didn't say anything about us leaving"
"Young man" Obsidian sighed as he placed a hand on his shoulder "I have no doubt you mean well and that you truly want to protect everyone here, but you are not our jailer and it seems that we are all in agreement" Felix looked around the room, a feeling of hopelessness worsening with each face he saw
"Oum damn it" he sighed before opening the door "I'm taking point, Arctus watch our backs, Eagle can you help Mister Eadala?"
"Got it" his partner nodded, collapsing Sentinel into his shield form and affixing him to her left arm while offering her right to the elderly Faunus
"Diamond I need an honest answer….do you think you could shoot to kill if I ask you?"
"I….I don't know" she admitted
"Load some Dust specials and try to incapacitate" the Lion Faunus instructed offering her a solution whilst silently hoping he didn't have to find the answer answer to that particular question himself. With their course of action decided they made their way through the corridors at a tortuously slow pace, several of the civilians clearly looking as though they would prefer to simply bolt towards the nearest exit. Minutes went by without incident until Felix felt a presence beside him
"I wanna make an offer" Ringo Umi murmured as he fell into step beside him "Give me one of your guns and you can name your price; you know I'm connected kid I'll let you live like a king the whole time you're in Atlas"
"What?" Felix asked nonplussed, Ringo's pigments flared irritably beside him at the response
"Come on kid, don't be dumb you're Blake Belladonna's boy. Look there's rumours about a group calling themselves a New White Fang; I think we both know who's outside fighting the toy soldiers….The guards took my gun when they searched me at the gate, I will buy one of yours and make you a very rich man" Felix looked at the twin machine pistols in his hands, the chainsaw blades of their sword forms mounted beneath the barrels like bayonets glinting as they caught the light
"Sorry, I cant-" he was cut off by the telltale crack of weapon discharging and instinctively made to leap aside; when he turned and caught sight of Ringo Umi his heart seemed to stop and ice flowed through his veins. Ringo had collapsed and slumped against the wall, blood burbling from his lips, staining his clothes and flowing between his fingers as he made a futile attempt to apply pressure to the horrific wound in his neck; the shaft of a steel spike steel clearly visible. His dying words went unheard as he coughed and struggled to form them before the wildly flickering luminous pigments adorning his skin faded until they were as dull and lifeless as his face.
"Felix on the ceiling!" Diamond called out before an Ice Dust round whizzed past and froze a portion of its' surface in ice; a figure leaped down from the roof and the Lion Faunus took his first look at their attacker, whatever means had been keeping them from detection having evidently been compromised by such a violent display. The individual was barely five feet tall and clad in all black with exceptions of white Vambraces and gauntlets upon which a tally, presumably of kills, had been etched and a white featureless mask with eight eyeholes. The newcomer took a moment to survey the terrified group before them before pointing past Felix at Obsidian Eadala
"You will come with me. Everyone else….collateral" with that Delta raised Prae Dolore to one of their many eyes and snapped off a shot faster than Felix could react; the steel spike halted a hairs breadth from his chest as a flickering black Glyph sprung into life and hurtled the projectile back towards Delta who nimbly leapt onto the nearest wall, only to be batted away by another Glyph. Felix was about to thank Arctus and begin formulating a more cohesive counter attack when a voice bellowed out
"DID YOU REALLY THINK THAT I WOULD LET YOU PEOPLE HURT MY FAMILY AGAIN! AFTER YOU PUBLICALLY EXECUTED MY FATHER! DID YOU REALLY THINK I'D STAY WEAK AND HELPLESS?" Whitley Schnee brought a dozen more Gravity Dust fuelled Glyphs into existence; launching Delta away from every surface they tried to find purchase on and sending them crashing back down the length of the corridor
"Uncle Whit!" Felix shouted "Get everyone out! Go, we'll hold 'em off!"
"Go, everyone follow him!" Arctus added, frantically kicking a nearby side door off of its' hinges as he rushed to the fore, Diamond and Eagle close behind and Sentinel being deployed with a series of mechanical clanks.
"We'll wait for you" Whitley assured the teens
"Don't" Felix argued "Get out of here, call help. We'll regroup with the Specialists" Delta could be seen rising to their feet as the civilians were quickly ushered out of the line of fire and the moment it was safe to do so Eagle ordered Sentinel to attack whilst Arctus used his Glyphs to shield them from the Spider Faunus's return fire; Delta's reflexes, athleticism and ability to contort their body into simply unnerving positions reducing the situation to a stalemate, though Delta began to gain ground inch by hard fought inch. Inevitably the sound of gunfire came to a halt as Sentinel ran out of ammunition, seeing their adversary begin to charge Diamond rushed past her team-mates and shifted her weapon into its' glaive form
"I've got this!" she assured them, leaping into the air and using her Semblance to run along the same wall the Spider Faunus was scuttling across; Delta leapt and the two of them met in a flurry of blows traded at a speed that made the exchange all but invisible. Delta transformed Prae Dolore into its' spear mode and lunged, Diamond's response was to move to the ceiling and slash at their masked face, Delta flipped down onto the floor and stabbed upwards which gave Diamond time to return to the floor and launch a spinning heel kick at their chest followed by another slash with her weapon, Delta's counter was to weave beneath the attack and sweep at her legs. This continued for perhaps a minute, though it felt far longer to Felix, Eagle and Arctus who were forced to watch as none of them could get a clear shot or truly hope to match either combatant in this kind of fight. The display of superhuman agility was brought to a terrifying close when Diamond's Aura rippled as it deflected an attempt to skewer her midsection; Delta whom Diamond had almost managed to pin against a wall capitalised by swinging the shaft of their weapon weapon at her face, a feint which allowed them to sidestep around her whilst simultaneously driving her face into the wall with a dull crack and swinging the blade of his spear in a graceful, pirouetting arc that slashed across Diamond's back and tore a scream of pain from her lips
"NO!" Felix expected Arctus to surge forwards, what he did instead defied all expectations. The Bear Faunus had palmed every ounce of Fire Dust he was currently carrying and crushed them in their entirety; the Glyph he created was a deep angry scarlet and spanned the entirety of the corridor and from it stalked a construct which glowed like molten iron, a Grimm which Felix had never seen personally but Arctus had recounted his fight against. The Valknjoggr let loose a piercing shriek as it surged forwards directed by Arctus's urgency and rage, simply snapping Delta up in its' jaws and carrying them along the corridor until it reached the edge of Arctus's ability to control it; at which point it promptly exploded, tearing walls and floor asunder in a blossom of flames which were quickly absorbed by Felix's Semblance, the Lion Faunus's golden Aura shimmering as it acted. Delta was nowhere to be seen amidst the devastation but Arctus sprinted forwards regardless, trusting in his team-mates to cover him while he rushed to Diamond's side
"Dee, talk to me" he all but begged as he examined the slash which had mercifully done its' worst to her shoulder blade rather than spine "Can you stand?"
"Yeah I think so, I need you to use some Ice Dust and numb that for me though" Arctus promptly removed his own jacket and pressed it against the wound with one hand whilst digging through his pockets for Ice Dust with the other, secretly wishing he had a third so that he could hold Diamond's while assuring her that she would be find
"Hey Big Guy" the silver haired sniper added through clenched teeth as blood from a split eyebrow trickled down her face "Next time can we just lead with that?"
The Specialists were being worn down, their enemies evidently taking perverse pleasure in waging a war of attrition against them and making them suffer greatly for every lapse in focus or judgement. So far three such lapses had been made, each paid for with a life. The first had been a Specialist whose name Kafsi didn't know, they had assumed that neither of their attackers carried a ranged weapon; that assumption was proven to be incorrect when a drill-bit fired from one Alpha's gauntleted fingertips entered the veterans eye socket and exited the back of their skull. The other two deaths had been far worse; Alpha had used her Semblance to direct all attention onto herself and as the Specialists concentrated their fire on the dirge singing Lionfish Faunus Gamma had made a running leap and snatched someone from the window they were firing out of; both people captured in this way met grisly ends as Gamma and Alpha set about tearing down the last of their Aura reserves before ripping, tearing and breaking every part of the defenders' they could reach. Two bodies barely recognisable lay in snow that was stained red for several feet in every direction.
"We need air support!" one of the surviving Specialists called out to Kafsi "Contact Commander Slate and have the whole place carpet bombed"
"Negative" Kafsi answered simply before leaning out of the window she was firing from and snapping off another shot with Aegis Thunder, the weaponised forcefield did nothing but vaporise snow and scorch the ground beneath as Alpha and Gamma proved their prowess once again, expertly avoiding salvo after salvo
"Captain" another Specialist called, a man whose face was hidden behind a mask featuring many rotating lenses "We have incoming….looks like a convoy of trucks"
"Reinforcements?" someone else offered hopefully before opening fire again, their voice still audible over the gunfire "Maybe the Coalition guys had a contact? SDC private security we weren't told about?….Fuck I'd even take the Freelancers right now" if the joking statement weren't enough indication at the grim reality of the Specialists situation, each of them realising that their superior numbers and equipment were counting for little; the next words from the man with the mask, delivered with an ashen face and a trembling voice certainly were
"Oh they're reinforcements….just not ours" Kafsi crouched low and moved closer to the mans position, peering out of a shattered window and biting back a curse at the sight that greeted her; as the trucks drew close it became easier to see the masks worn by the drivers. Letting out a slow breath which here respirator transformed into a haunting sound she rose to her full height and gave her next orders in a commanding voice
"Concentrate fire on those trucks, prepare to use anti-Faunus warfare against any attackers that make it into the courtyard. I'll take point and engage the two on the ground" to punctuate the statement she flicked the wrist of her cybernetic left arm, causing a blade that been polished to a mirror finish to extend past her fist and begin to vibrate at an ultrasonic frequency with a slight whining sound. There was a single moment were time seemed to halt, the trucks filled with people who meant to kill them were drawing close and her allies seemed fatigued, rattled by the rare experience of a foe that could fight them as equals yet Kafsi felt above it and almost serene; then she leapt from the window and landed in a crouch just as a truck exploded in a fireball that sent wreckage flying in every direction. From that moment onwards it was pandemonium, Faunus wearing the masks of the White Fang poured into the courtyard carrying weapons of a quality that gave the Specialist pause; the defenders opened fire from the windows and implemented anti-Faunus warfare in all its' brutality; smoke bombs which issued thick clouds of cloying and pungent gas to limit superhuman senses of sight and smell were hurtled into the mass of bodies, sonic charges followed, small spherical devices which emitted a pulsing shriek at a frequency undetectable to humans but which left Faunus disoriented. The White Fang opened fire and Kafsi was sure that another Specialist met their end as a laser weapon being fired from a Gorilla Faunus's shoulder tore through their position. Kafsi cut that Faunus's throat in a single slash, White Fang attackers were cut down all around her by rerun fire; their numbers taking away most of the room to manoeuvrer until the snow ran red, Aegis Thunder was put to horrific use as the forcefields it fired tore through flesh and bone without resistance; but still Kafsi couldn't find her quarry as the smoke blinded her as much as it did the Faunus. Through sheer luck she saw the dark silhouette of someone striding towards her and the blade they carried, giving her enough time to raise arm and deflect with her own blade before firing at their midsection; the figure simply leaped over the attack and as the smoke was cleared from around them Kafsi took her first look at her adversary; a white haired woman carrying a crimson bladed Katana and clad in a suit of black power armour
"Call off your people and some of them might escape the death penalty" Kafsi offered, instantly recognising that this was the leader of the group; Celeste Lupus merely sneered while twirling Wilt in her hand
"To die for ones' cause is an honour; one that you will get to experience today" with no more to be said Kafsi rushed at Celeste only for her first three slashes to be parried expertly and Aegis Thunder to be knocked from grip. Kafsi fought methodically, systematically analysing her opponents' technique for openings and weaknesses. She had deduced that despite the power armour increasing its' wearers speed as much as it did their strength the Faunus was oddly static, having barely moved since their duel had started; just as she decided that her next flurry of attacks would be aiming low to target Celeste's legs Kafsi felt an indescribable burning sensation in her left arm, far beyond anything phantom pains could produce. It was clear that the Faunus leader was just as astute and just as ruthless as Kafsi, the fact that Wilt had been wedged firmly in place where metal and flesh met; damaging several vital components of the prosthetic and triggering severe neural feedback. Kafsi struggled to remain upright as waves of pain and dizziness washed over her, a struggle that was ended when Celeste leaned in and simply plucked the respirator mask from her face before backhanding her to the ground and tearing Wilt free of the cybernetic limb. It was at this exact moment that the two Faunus who had initiated the attack stalked through now thinning fog of war and Kafsi glared at them, refusing to look away and instead meet death on her own terms. A brief stay of execution was granted in the form of a booming explosion which Kafsi instantly knew came from the building she had been defending. Had she been able to do so she would have seized the opportunity to throw herself back into the battle, as it was her faltering, lurching attempt to stand was met by the blood soaked Lionfish Faunus flanking the leader of the group flexing her fingers, the blades drills and saws surrounding them whirring sinisterly
"Gamma, restrain her. Hold her so that she can see" Celeste crowed "Alpha, issue a cease fire and get their attention" the Cult of Taurus moved to follow their orders, the Pangolin Faunus still transformed by his terrible Semblance gripping Kafsi by the forearms and hoisting her into the air while Alpha called out, her Semblance making her voice resonate unnaturally
"CEASE FIRE, CEASE FIRE! THE HIGH COMMANDER WISHES TO SPEAK!" within moments the gunfire died down and the trio of Faunus marched forwards through the clearing smoke; allowing Kafsi to see the destruction unleashed upon the building. It appeared as though part of it had been torn apart from the inside and for a moment she caught a glimpse of another figure clad in the uniform of the White Fang scurrying along the exterior wall but her attention seemed to naturally direct itself elsewhere, namely at the familiar mane of dirty blonde curls visible in the hole that had been created and the equally familiar shapes of the rest of Team FADE surrounding their leader. Celeste had evidently seen them as well as she spoke with the clarity of voice of a practised orator, words carrying across the blasted courtyard with ease
"To the Atlesian Specialists guarding this facility; I will offer you one chance to stand down and leave….our reckoning will come another time!" a brief pause for effect before she continued "To Felix Xiao Long, son of the traitor Blake Belladonna and Arctus Slate, son of the traitor Gangrel Slate I will offer you one chance to atone for the sin of your existence! The arch traitor Obsidian Eadala, blasphemer against Adam Taurus is inside! deliver him to us to face punishment and swear fealty to the White Fang and I will allow the humans you consort with to leave unharmed and pardon the crimes of your families against the Faunus people!" for several seconds the only sounds that could be heard were the wind and the groaning of the wounded until Celeste offered some final words, making sure that there could be no room for misunderstanding
"If my terms are not met within ten minutes the bloodshed will continue"
Authors Notes:
Oh fuck this was so much fun to write….and it only gets more crazy.
I think two more chapters left of Vol.5, the tournament arc and big finale of the year time.
I kinda feel like Team FADE while they did have the biggest single scene of the chapter weren't as central….that's gonna change.
So, let's summarise:
Okay I know the Specialists reaction time was probably a little too fast but whatever, we're using rule of cool and movie logic here….also, that's why they're special.
Even Kafsi has a line….hell in The Downward Spiral even Adam had a line; no kids.
I was originally going to have Gangrel's First Mate Chiffon be present for this battle but after writing Donner I felt like she worked better.
"It's one guy for fuck sake" well, consider that jinxed lol.
"Slate you're a travesty of a soldier….but you'll make a good Hunter one day if you live long enough" that may just be the nicest thing Kafsi ever says.
'In Felix's humble opinion anyone who thought a pen was mightier than a sword was welcome to try fighting a Grimm with one' I mean he's got a point.
I imagine that when Corvid and Felix were adopted together they had some serious abandonment issues and panicked every time one of the adults in their new family left for a couple days.
Yeah Alpha is a sadist, she tortured someone to death in front of Omega….because if you're going to train a kid to be a killing machine they need to be desensitised early.
"This wasn't about efficiency it was about utterly breaking the spirits of the defenders" The Cult of Taurus in a nutshell everyone.
Kafsi 1 – Gamma 0.
"Come on, you're Kafsi Asteri….Winter Schnee without the charisma; the one who gets all the new toys….shoot the son of a bitch with something!" possibly the most heartfelt line ever written.
Okay so I imagine Aegis Thunder as looking like the caster gun from Outlaw Star, it was developed to basically end any fight in an enclosed area by shooting a forcefield generator that projects a forcefield the size of the average corridor and travels like that one scene from those terrible Resident Evil films.
Gamma is a sick fuck on many levels.
To be fair Gangrel has a point, it's hard to miss someone with an electric blue Mohawk.
I refuse to believe that Atlas doesn't have specific tactics that it teaches to its' soldiers and maybe Hunters regarding how to combat Faunus insurgents; but it's also equally as likely that with the change in the political climate in the twenty years since the end of Downward Spiral that they've fallen out of practice a little.
Yes Beta waited for the perfect opportunity to make an entrance, just like Delta….after all "Theatricality and deception, powerful agents to the uninitiated".
Yes Beta is extra as fuck.
Getting back into 40k made a "Fix Bayonets" reference a matter of when rather than if.
And they all got played; Beta was the distraction.
Felix sent out an S.O.S, I didn't add that little detail for no reason; their was another little detail I added a few chapters back that wasn't for no reason either.
"I know that anyone who can get through an entire Specialist strike team can probably take the door off of a panic room if they really want to" Look sometimes you've just gotta be blunt as fuck with people….and we saw in first year that panic rooms can be broken into; Carcharodon did it.
Whitley was basically having a breakdown there, between the White Fang attacking Schnee Manor and The Absolution attacking Schnee Manor he's got some issues.
"Well we're not hunters but we've got hammers, wrenches and plenty of things with sharp edges handy" and sometimes all you need is a few workmen and some tools.
Team FADE's combat experience is still pretty much exclusively against Grimm; they still haven't had to make the decision to kill someone yet.
Ringo is a gangster at heart, he might be into politics now but when he was introduced in The Downward Spiral he was basically Atlas's answer to Junior.
Was the imagery of Ringo's lights literally going out a bit too much?
Yeah Delta's Semblance has limits, once they've done something impossible to ignore then they're visible and can be focused on normally.
I don't know where Delta's stilted way of speaking came from but I like it so I'm sticking with it.
There is literally nothing in canon that suggests Whitley can't use the Schnee Semblance, he just doesn't want to. After the aforementioned attacks on his home this Whitley definitely wanted to.
Diamond and Delta fighting felt like it needed to happen, it's like a Daredevil hallway fight on drugs.
Also it occurred to me that Diamond hasn't taken as much of a beating as the rest of Team FADE, so now she's gonna have a scar on her back.
So Arctus went the fuck off on Delta and Felix is now primed to go full Balrog State if he needs to.
"Next time can we just lead with that?" You were all thinking it.
Alpha and Gamma combo kills were always going to be horrific; I didn't say exactly what happened to those two that were dragged down so whatever the worst you can think up is….yeah that plus a little extra.
Desperate as things were, come on do you really wanna call in air support for two people….especially when you know that they have a kid with them.
"Oh they're reinforcements….just not ours" could have been a cliffhanger.
The White Fang have military hardware courtesy of Oz remember.
I'm honestly imagining Kafsi making her way through the White Fang as something of a cross between the Battle of the Bastards from Game of Thrones and the start of Saving Private Ryan.
"To die for ones' cause is an honour; one that you will get to experience today" admit it, that's a bad-ass line.
Celeste is static when she fights because she still isn't used to being able to walk; she plants herself in one place and just holds that ground.
So the two fights were happening at roughly the same time.
Delta survived.
Let's be honest, we all know that Team FADE aren't gonna accept those terms….besides, they don't have Obsidian with them anyway.
Thank you to SumoSnipe, Bankerrtx01, iSassenach, FleetOfWarships, ShadowAlex2000, Funlander and FluffyFirefly for their reviews on the last chapter.
Definitely not empty checks.
Robots might not be an adequate replacement for actual staff….but they don't unionise.
It's not overboard at all, I would love a review every chapter if you feel like writing one.
I know Kaa is from the Jungle Book lol, I was tired when I wrote the authors' notes last chapter and I was also in a rush.
Omega committing atrocities….Interesting but what if I told you I had even more interesting plans.
Well Kafsi's not dead yet, not doing great either but still.
Holy Shit indeed.
Well I killed a side character, just not the one you were expecting….and a few red-shirts now have even redder shirts.
But y'know what trauma means….Character development.
As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review.