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Chapter 68: Warzone
In a remote and mountainous region of the continent of Mantle; from the Kingdom of Atlas or any of the outlying settlements that had thus far managed to establish themselves a pair of Beowolves snapped and growled at each other; breath misting in the cold and blood red eyes glowing enough to pierce the snowfall that left their surroundings indistinct. The Grimm were young, their still forming minds as yet unconnected with the splintered remains of the shared Hive Mind that their kind had once shared; the absence of its' influence left the Beowolves utterly controlled by the most base of their instincts, the need to consume and destroy everything in sight even if that happened to another Grimm. The pair of monsters, distracted as they were failed to notice the sound of something approaching them from above and failed to react in time when a lone figure clad in a winged suit of advanced battle armour, the figure shot between the Grimm a trio of blades mounted along each forearm lashing out at blinding speed as they landed in a spray of displaces snow before turning slowly and watching the Grimm fade into mist. Corvid Xiao Long gave a cocky smile that had been described as 'mean' on several occasions beneath the visored helmet of the Omega Wing; her wings and propulsion system realigning themselves for take-off
"You're a darn show off" Rusty's drawling voice sounded in her earpiece; his amusement audible even beneath his sigh
"I'm just bored" she countered "I'll be back in a sec" with that she kicked off, her weapon sending her soaring into the steely grey sky once more; flying almost silently as she rendezvoused with a Bull-Head of Atlesian origin and a slightly older model, the Omega Wing peeling away from her body and condensing itself into its' aerial drone form as landed inside the transport, the rear hatch closing behind her with a sight hiss. Corvid stowed the Omega Wing securely before tightening the scarf that had once belonged to Yang Xiao Long around her neck and brushing away a few flakes of snow that had managed to linger on her hair and clothing before making her way into the cockpit of the Bull-Head belonging to Atlas Academy. Iris sat at the pilots' seat, her attention utterly devoted to the task at hand the dark skinned and white haired woman failed to acknowledge her team leaders' return; Corvid was unconcerned by this as she knew how much attention was required for the job which she herself had failed to qualify for. Beside Iris Rusty was operating the limited weaponry of the Bull-Head while Lux stood behind him; hands resting on his shoulders.
"Anything come up while I was out?" Corvid asked while finding somewhere to make herself comfortable; her usual seat having been forfeited to Rusty when she exited the craft
"In the last forty five seconds?" Lux snorted "No"
"Oum damn it" Corvid muttered. Team CLIR had been offered a selection of missions and had agreed as a team to take the one which offered Iris the most opportunity to test her skills as a pilot, an assignment that had seen them prowling the overcast skies in search of a Grimm spawning pit that was suspected but not confirmed to exist in the area. The mission had met one complication and delay after another, in the form of weather grounding them, airborne Grimm damaging their craft and more than one instance of the small settlement they had landed at to spend the night simply having nowhere for them to stay and now the four third year students were each giving serious consideration to calling the mission off and simply informing their professors that the information they had received was false. Corvid knew deep down that she would never take that course of action of course; she now viewed it as a war of attrition where either the Grimm's resolve to stay hidden would break or Atlas Academy would recall her team.
"Wanna find somewhere to land?" Rusty suggested
"Do we need to refuel?" Corvid asked with clear surprise
"This crate doesn't but I do….let's take a lunch break, we can come back here and not make a lick of progress whenever you want" Corvid on the one hand wanted to stay airborne, adjourning early smacked of conceding the day to the Grimm to her and she would have none of that, on the other hand she had skipped breakfast and could only ignore the growling of her stomach up to a point. The matter was rendered moot when Corvid heard all four of their Scrolls sound off in tandem as they received a message
"Well that was weird" she noted, digging the device out of her pocket with fingers still somewhat numb from the cold
"Reckon it's from the Academy, they might want us to call it quits?" Rusty was unable to keep the hopeful note out of his voice, the cold disagreed with him vehemently
"It's from Felix" Corvid answered with some mild confusion as she played the voice message on loudspeaker; her face becoming ashen with each frightened word that her brother had uttered
"Anyone hearing this, this Felix Xiao Long, Trainee Hunter stationed at the Gerat-Handlung SDC facility; co-ordinates attached to this message. We've been attacked, we have casualties. There are civilians here and we need help; evac or reinforcements I really don't care which….the Specialist strike team engaged the enemy over twenty minutes ago and haven't come back; we can still hear the fighting outside" the message ended and Corvid stared at her Scroll in stunned silence for a few seconds before turning to Iris, her expression hardening
"Do we have enough fuel to make it there?" she demanded as she held the message containing the co-ordinates in front of her face. Iris considered for a moment before nodding
"Might have to refuel there but we'll make it"
"Get us there. Full speed" she then turned to Rusty and Lux, both of whom were already making to check their weapons
"You don't even need to tell us" Lux assured her "We're going in"
"Well then" Corvid smirked as she masked her sudden tension and the feeling of dread in her stomach with a joke "I guess my baby brother's luck he's got friends in….high places. Let's go CLIR 'em out!"
Felix was acutely aware of Arctus, Diamond and Eagle turning to him in unison; Celeste's terms still ringing in his ears
"What do we do now?" Eagle asked, being the first to vocalise the question on each of Team FADE's minds
"Not what she wants, that's for damn sure" Felix breathed out, any confidence or bravado he had been hoping to convey fizzling out while his heart hammered in his chest at the sight of the force amassed against them.
"Yeah I didn't think the whole genocide thing appealed to you for some reason" Diamond snorted, the sarcasm an obvious effort to cope with the tension and pure unfettered fear that each of them were feeling at that moment; it was enough for Felix to have a moment of clarity in which the barest essentials of a plan presented themselves to him. Taking a breath to steady himself and speaking slowly while painfully aware of the passage of time working against them he addressed his cousin
"Arctus you've been to SDC plants before right….roughly how much Dust do you think there is on site right now"
"Not up and running but there's still the amount needed for general day to day, plus whatever they stocked up on with us being in the middle of nowhere" the Bear Faunus muttered to himself as he tried to make a reasonable estimate before finally giving a cautious but hopeful answer "Probably enough for whatever you're planning"
"Good, the big stuff you can summon….think you've got another one in ya" Felix glanced at the waiting ranks of the New White Fang below, adding "They're armed but there's only really a handful of fighters down there. The rest are just some guys, they can be scared off"
"Got it" Arctus nodded, turning and looking for the quickest route through the now heavily damaged corridor towards where the Dust would most likely be stored.
"Diamond go with him" Felix ordered calmly "You're injured….besides, we haven't heard back from the security team. No more surprises"
"There's no point in saying I think this is risky is there" Diamond sighed "There's no other way out of this….you two stay safe"
"Felix" Arctus's voice came out in a hoarse whisper, as if the words were unwilling to leave him "I've seen what they do to people they capture….if it looks like we're gonna lose then I'm detonating every piece of Dust I can" Felix stared at him in horrified silence for several seconds that felt far longer before finally nodding his head while his voice cracked
"I get it" he answered simply. A moment later she and Arctus had left, their footsteps fading away as Felix and Eagle were left to face down the attackers
"So….you take the hundred on the right I'll take the hundred on the left?" Eagle offered, voice trembling somewhat
"Not exactly" Felix answered, desperately hoping he sounded as though he at least believed in his own plan "I'm gonna go straight down the middle. You'll know when to step in"
"Felix-"
"Don't worry, I trust you….you've got this" with those parting words Felix launched himself from the building out of the hole caused by the explosion of Arctus's summoned construct; powder white snow being flung into the air as he landed in a crouch before promptly rising to his feet and striding towards the White Fang forces slowly and with an air of purpose and determination about him
"You made the right choice" the High Commander intoned solemnly as the Lion Faunus who had kept his eyes locked on hers despite her mask as he neared, sheathing his weapons in the harness on his back while he did so "Your mother was once favoured by Adam Taurus himself, welcome home….truly this is the only way forward" Felix remained silent for a fraction of a second, deep blue eyes darting to a wounded but still conscious Kafsi Asteri being held in the gargantuan hands of the monstrous Pangolin Faunus
"Yeah, truly it is" Felix answered while making the faintest possible nod to the captured Specialist who seemed to understand his intentions. Celeste Lupus was not a trusting woman, the mere existence of the Cult of Taurus serving as proof and she recognised the barely perceptible gesture for what it was, though the recognition came a moment to late.
"Alpha!" the moment the barked order left her lips Kafsi sprung into action; her damaged cybernetic arm detaching itself at the elbow causing her to slip free of Gamma's grasp. The fraction of a second it took him to comprehend what had happened was a moment of hesitation he paid dearly for; Kafsi caught the falling prosthetic in her right arm and buried the wrist mounted blade it sported in his chest, his deep red Aura flickering and failing around him; not satisfied that the behemoth was dealt with she rolled to where Aegis Thunder had fallen, reattaching her respirator as she aimed and fired. The hot coppery scent of blood was mixed with the smell of ozone as the attack landed, Gamma collapsing to the ground clutching the smoking stump of his right forearm; the steel plates he had grafted over his own body glowing at the severed edges while his body shrunk and reverted to its' natural state, blood pouring freely from the wound in his chest. Felix paid no mind to this, his sole focus being the snowy haired Ram Faunus in black armour before him; he sprinted toward her with a feral war cry and waited for the exact moment to unleash his Semblance and land a devastating blow that would end this battle entirely. The Lionfish Faunus who stood at her right hand made to apprehend him, surging forth to meet him. Felix remained undeterred and allowed a feral smile, more a baring of fangs to cross his face as a sound he recognised pierced the air and time seemed to move in slow motion
'CAW!'
A large bird of prey swooped low, its' feathers white with a smattering of golden brown and eyes of a deep crimson that seemed to shine. Eagle's Semblance allowed her to take the form of her namesake and as she flew towards Alpha she tucked her wings flat against her body before transforming back; simply barrelling into the Faunus with incredible force before lashing out with arms that had been crossed across her chest. Her shield struck Alpha across the side of the face with a resounding impact though she managed to roll with the blow, carrying the momentum into a low spinning leg sweep; Eagle however was equal to this and planted her sword, allowing Alpha's leg to collide with it before launching her own offensive, steel scraping against steel as the blondes' first strike was aimed at her enemies' face and as the two of them circled each other Alpha's mask bore a shallow but plainly visible slash.
Felix saw none of this, his faith in Eagle's abilities so absolute that he simply barrelled forwards. With the only obstacles between himself and the High Commander of the White Fang removed he unleashed his Semblance; wanting her followers to see the source of their defeat. Snow was reduced to mist as Felix's hair, furred tail and eyes blazed with golden fiery light while his body darkened until it resembled burned rock, glowing veins the colour of burning magma coursing all over him as he entered his Balrog State. The roar that escaped Felix as he prepared to deliver a crushing blow was a primal thing, sending ripples through the air and chills through the White Fang. Then Celeste lunged forwards; the over-handed right that the Lion Faunus had intended for her face expertly countered as her left hand found his wrist and her right applied pressure to his elbow all while redistributing her own weight, the end result being that Felix was sent hurtling past her and crashing to the ground; rage battling with disbelief as his he rose to his feet and saw Celeste reclaim the crimson bladed Katana she had sunk into the ground and twirling it almost disinterestedly
"You wouldn't have made that attack if you thought I could stop you" the High Commander stated matter of factly as she planted herself firmly, the joints of her power armour giving a low whine, Felix's attack having evidently strained them "But I don't have to stop you" Felix's only response was a low guttural snarl as he braced himself, preparing for another attack. Before he could lunge forwards Celeste and Kafsi both bellowed out an identical order; sending the White Fang into a bout of panicked and frenzied shooting whilst the Specialists leapt from the building and charged towards them
"ATTACK!"
The security team were either dead or dying, the lone exception being a woman in her twenties who had survived so long through a combination of speed, unpredictable leaps and sheer dumb luck. She and Donner were all that remained against Beta's assault; the Snow Leopard having put on a masterful display in swordsmanship that was equal parts grisly and elegantly artistic.
"We can't take him" the last remaining guard all but cried, voice trembling.
"Not with that attitude we can't" Donner growled through gritted teeth, twirling her swords before composing herself and making a tactical choice "Fall back, try and get the wounded to safety" the guard did so and Donner returned her focus to Beta who had been waiting aloof and almost patiently for them to attack again; blood pooling on the ground around him and splashed across the nearest walls in wide arcs marking where members of the security team had fallen to his blades.
"Shall we continue?" he asked calmly before lashing out so fast that Donner never saw the katana leave his hand, merely felt it displace the air around her as it sailed past and found its' mark in the back of the guard whose name the Specialist had never learned; the woman fell to the ground while silently convulsing and grasping at the blade which now protruded from her chest, having neatly pierced her heart.
"Leaving so soon?" the sadistic Faunus almost purred "No no no, that won't do at all" enraged far beyond her ability to calm herself or form a plan Donner rushed forwards with a murderous scream, twin scimitars at the ready. Beta leapt aside only for a booming thunderclap to reverberate across the bloodstained factory floor and the Faunus to be launched backwards, clothes and fur smoking. As he rose to his feet Beta saw that Donner's skin seemed have become translucent while lightening or pure Aura manifesting as such crackled beneath her skin; her eyes and hair shone with light that was almost blinding as the Specialist activated her Semblance.
"Y'know I never really use this. Lightning Dust is more efficient" Donner noted, voice distorted by the raw power she was channelling "But this isn't about efficiency" Beta cocked his head at that
"We're in agreement in that regard….it's about setting an example" with no more to be said the two combatants rushed forwards and locked blades once again; Beta thankful for his mask preventing the human from seeing his winces of pain each time their weapons clashed and her Semblance sent arcs of electricity down the length of his katana and made his Aura ripple even as he parried and blocked.
"An admirable attempt, I must thank you for finally throwing caution and restraint to the wind" the Faunus sounded genuinely impressed as he weaved between a pair of slashes intended to tear him apart; a predatory smile formed on his face with his next words "It makes it far easier play the long game against you….you've already been defeated by the way, this is mere formality" Donner gave no verbal response, instead charging again and making to impale him. Beta blocked from the side, despite being stood directly in front of her
"What?" Donner's momentary confusion was replaced with horror as the answer became apparent. Beta was using his own Semblance, which evidently gave him the ability to clone himself to a limited degree. Donner was soon brought to her knees by a storm of blades swiping at her, the clones carrying them fading away a moment later. The Specialist peered up at Beta who had used his Semblance to retrieve his second sword, her Aura visibly breaking prompting him to kick her across the bloody floor with an audible crunch of breaking ribs
"Thank you" the killer noted in a dry tone "For making this more entertaining than I had feared it would be" Beta stalked towards her, the Indominus combining and shifting into their broadsword form and Donner struggled in vain to rise to her feet, desperate to not spend her final moment on the ground soaked in the blood of people she failed to protect. Respite came in the sound of engines followed by a roar from beta
"NO!" for a moment the cultured tone and mannerisms were dropped and replaced with raw fury, he shifted his weapon into its' rail-gun mode and began aiming; Donner took what little strength she could muster and used it to grab at Beta's leg, pulling him just off balance enough for his shot to miss its' target. Another fierce kick forced her to release her grasp on the Faunus and she turned to see him aim another shot at one of two vans speeding towards the perimeter wall on what seemed to be a collision course. Donner spat out a mouthful of blood and gave a tired but victorious chuckle as she watched the distinctive form of a Schnee Glyph deflect the shot, another Glyph smashing a makeshift exit into the wall and allowing the vans to escape
"We win" she half laughed, half coughed before spitting blood at the Snow Leopard Faunus's masked face in defiance "It's just a matter of cleaning you fuckers up now….someone'll be along to finish what I started in a min-" she was brought to an excruciating halt, her world being reduced to nothing but blinding pain and suffocation as Beta's booted foot crashed down onto her throat
"No human" he snarled, evidently trying desperately and failing to regain his customary detached persona "We win. We win because you're broken and scared and those who just escaped will spread the message that judgement and death are coming for you all. I want you to remember what you witnessed today….let it be the last thing you ever see" Donner's eyes were watery and her vision blurry and swimming with the immense pain yet she could make out that her adversary had split his weapon into its' twin katana form once again, she waited for the seemingly inevitable deathblow only to be rewarded with a fresh wave of agony in its' place; a scream that echoed around the room escaped her as Beta's blade flashed across her left eye
"I'm not going to kill you" he sneered "You don't get the honour of martyrdom, I'm going to leave you blind and crippled; nothing but a tongue to deliver a message" Donner felt Beta's weight shift above her as he prepared for the next cut; it never came. The low muffled crack of a sniper rifle sounded and she heard the Faunus collapse to ground near her, evidently wounded but still alive.
"Oh you will die horrifically for that" Beta snarled as he rose to his feet, left arm hanging limp while a crimson stain expanded out from the fresh wound in his shoulder. On the metal gangway above Diamond Sustrai-Black kept Lex Talionis at the ready
"ARCTUS NOW!" Beta had no more warning, just a blur of white as a tall, muscular and pale Faunus collided with him swinging a dark bladed sword with lethal intent
"This won't do at all" he murmured while deftly avoiding a few strikes whilst noting that the traitors son had talent even if it hadn't been fully refined yet. It took Beta almost no time to reconfigure the Indominus into its' ranged mode and fire almost blindly at the railings the sniper was still perched on. The effect was instant and exactly as predicted; Arctus broke off his attack and rushed towards the collapsing structure casting multiple Glyphs at once to halt any steel that may have landed on Diamond before catching his partner himself. When the two of them turned back towards where Beta had been the Snow Leopard Faunus was nowhere to be found.
"Oh my Oum, DONNER!" Arctus sprinted over to the Specialists' side; she was alive and fighting tooth and nail to cling to consciousness, ragged and shallow but furiously determined breaths escaping her as she clutched at her ruined eye.
"Help the others" she managed to hiss through the pain; Arctus looked around at what he had assumed had been corpses and allowed himself a fleeting moment of hope upon seeing that some of them still held a grip on life, tenuous as it was.
"Arctus you need to go" Diamond stated bluntly as she made her way over as fast as her own injuries would allow "Donner can you stand? I know some basic first aid but I need help….Arctus go; Felix and Eagle need you"
"Right" he breathed out, pulling his partner in for a slow kiss which he dearly hoped would not be their last despite the odds against them. Then he sprinted across the factory floor in search of the secure containers he knew would be nearby; it took him perhaps a minute or two to find them and tear their locks away with the blade of Gefroren-Erbe; halting as the distinctive eerie green glow of Eco-Dust washed over him; a frantic inspection of the despatch orders on the unopened containers bringing a gleeful smile to the Bear Faunus's face. There was enough of the highly reactive substance here to fuel a capital ship, more Eco-Dust than he had ever even considered using at once before
"Looks like things just got interesting"
Eagle and Kafsi had held their own against Alpha and Gamma respectively since the battle outside had begun anew, at some point during which they had switched opponents; the Specialist and the Lionfish Faunus could be seen trading blows at a dizzying pace some distance away through the chaos of the conflict around them. Eagle herself was doing everything in her power to subdue the Pangolin Faunus who defied all logic by the simple fact that they still stood and fought. The true focus of the battle however came in the form of the living mass of flames and magma that unleashed an endless onslaught against the figure in obsidian coloured armour, each blow landed or blocked accompanied with an earth shattering boom while the ground beneath them cracked and burned under their power.
"You have skill, I'll grant you that much race traitor" Celeste snarled through clenched teeth as she managed to redirect several punches to her face and torso that came in quick succession "But skill cannot match destiny" to punctuate the statement she stepped back and waited for Felix to launch an airborne spinning heel kick, catching his leg and hurling him away once more. She had sheathed Wilt upon seeing that the relic that had once belonged to Adam Taurus himself could not pierce the Lion Faunus's skin in this state; seeing Felix rise to his feet yet again she braced herself even as her armour whined and hissed in protest, its' surface smoking in several places. Felix seemed to sag and sway for a moment before letting out a berserk roar and charging, Celeste gave a victorious smile as she saw the desperate final gambit for what it was. The Ram Faunus saw her opponents' right arm move and turned to the side to parry the telegraphed attack, a moment later her world was reduced to blinding pain as a superheated left fist crashed into her back, landing between her shoulder blades and connecting with the spinal column of the armour which connected to Celeste's own cybernetically augmented spine. She fell to her knees, every nerve ending in her body seemingly on fire as she was momentarily paralysed
"It is destiny" she gasped out, sucking in an agonizing lungful of air "We will not be denied" seemingly in direct answer to and confirmation of her beliefs Celeste heard the sound of Felix Xiao Long collapsing to his own knees panting with exhaustion beside her; steam rushing from his own body and the ground around him as his Semblance failed him despite his anger and willpower remaining unbroken. Forcing her still shuddering limbs to obey her she sent leapt to her feet, Felix followed suit and the two were instantly locked in combat again though this time the fight favoured the High Commander; Felix's drained body and Aura were unable to withstand the maelstrom of blows she unleashed which culminated in a flying kick to the chest, sending him sailing through the air to land in a crumpled and limp heap several feet away.
"Get up and die on your feet traitor" Celeste spat venomously and despite the punishment he'd weathered thus far the Lion Faunus made to do just that; slowly pulling himself into a crouch and wiping trickling streams of blood away from his mouth and eyebrow before reaching over his back for his weapons. Celeste grabbed the hilt of her sword; without his Semblance to grant him invulnerability he would be cut down like any other enemy. Celeste braced herself and waited to deliver the blow that would snuff out the Lion Faunus's life in an instant; a moment later she was sent crashing to the floor as the ground exploded around her in a storm of dust and fragments. The sound of Alpha's Semblance powered voice bellowing out a command almost drowned out by the ringing in her ears
"BRING THAT CRAFT DOWN!" Celeste managed to reorient herself and gaze upwards at the source of the attack; a lone Bull-Head of Atlesian origin with smoke already billowing from its' wing mounted Dust engines, though its' flight seemed unhindered and an unnatural blue glow surrounded its' hull. The transport swooped low, weapons raking through the ranks of the White Fang and reducing those without unlocked Auras to little more than pinkish red mist and bloody heaps of unidentifiable meat and as it did so its' rear hatch opened, a pair of figures leaping out to join the fray. The first was an individual whose age or gender Celeste couldn't discern due to the suit of advanced and winged power armour encasing a sizeable portion of her body and the flickering forcefield, like that of a capital ship rippling around them like a second Aura whilst the shoulder mounted rail-guns of the exoskeleton ripped through Celeste's steadily depleting forces. The second figure was a young man clad in a black tuxedo with hair of a pale lilac colour. The High Commander followed his descent, watching the light slowly building up around his body with an accompanying high pitched whine; her magenta eyes widened in realisation a moment before she shielded them
"TAKE COVER!" it was too late, Lux Lumière of Team CLIR unleashed his Flash-Bang Semblance at the remaining White Fang forces were left howling in pain as they were left deafened and blinded, providing all the opening the remaining Specialists needed. Celeste opened her eyes a crack just in time to see Felix Xiao Long rushing towards her, his weapons in their machine pistol form and promptly twirled and slashed with Wilt at a truly inhuman speed; her armour and blade sparking as countless rounds clattered against their surface to little effect, Felix however had merely being trying to close the distance and shifted Hack and Slash back into their sword forms as he drew close. Celeste leaned back and allowed a wide arcing attack to pass over her only to be slammed into the floor as the Lion Faunus simply leapt up and stomped down on her chest with both feet. Celeste returned to her feet in a spinning motion that incorporated a low sweep at Felix's legs, he agilely cartwheeled over the attack and expertly weaved around the follow swipe at his chest, the tip of Wilt rustling his shirt as it passed. The next few exchanges of blows happened so fast no onlooker could accurately describe them; coming to an end when Felix blocked Celeste's attack with the blade in his right hand while driving his left into the armour of her right shoulder, sparks flying and metal screaming in protest as the chainsaw blade ripped into the suit, a viscous blueish black liquid spraying from the power armour which while clearly not blood equally clearly served some vital purpose as Celeste's right arm dangled limp and Wilt fell from her grasp. Incensed by the sight of the crimson blade falling to the ground she stepped inside Felix's guard and drove her left fist into his right bicep, leaving the arm unresponsive before following up with an elbow to the ribs that resulted in an audible crack and forced the Lion Faunus to release his grasp while letting out several sputtering choking noises. Celeste's left hand closed around his neck and she hoisted him into the air while forcing her right arm to move despite the now lifeless armour weighing it down through sheer Aura and willpower alone, she ripped Felix's sword free of the damaged shoulder panel and throwing it aside before she spat furiously
"You will die here Felix Xiao Long. Your broken body will serve as warning to any who stand against us-" the enraged monologue was cut shut by an earth shattering explosion, a noise that sounded as though Remnant itself had joined the battle. Squeezing a little harder on Felix's throat to ensure he didn't make another desperate gambit Celeste turned to face the front wall of the SDC plant, or more accurately where it had once been. In its' place was a gaping hole which left much of the buildings interior on display and stood in the centre of that hole, his entire Aura tinged from pure glowing white to a pale jade while his eyes glowed unnaturally with the sheer volume of Eco-Dust he was currently harnessing, was Arctus Slate. The Bear Faunus stood between two constructs which glowed with the same sinister light and were each easily thirty feet tall; one the Valknjoggr Grimm he had slain whilst serving aboard the Gespenst, the other being the Minotaur Grimm Team FADE had faced in second year; the bipedal construct reaching out and grabbing the now heavily damaged Bull-Head, setting it down as whatever force had been keeping it aloft began to fail. Celeste had seen enough, her ends had been met and this display of power only ensured that there could be no possible denial or cover up, with that in mind she threw Felix to the ground and quickly recovered Wilt while issuing an order
"FALL BACK! FULL RETREAT!"
The White Fang were scattering, each member of the attack already having a designated rallying point and several routes their given to them before the operation began as well as several contingency plans. Gamma however found himself in the rare and frankly infuriating position of being unable to follow his High Commanders' directive, owing to the fact that the blonde Huntress he was currently locked in combat with was simply not dying despite his best efforts.
"JUST DIE!" He roared while slashing at her face with the steel coated plates adorning his unharmed left forearm, she blocked with her shield and stabbed at his thigh which forced him to lurch away almost drunkenly; his vision swam with each sudden movement, pain surged through his chest and the burning stump of his right arm in ceaseless waves while a trail of blood stained the snow as it flowed freely from the wound Kafsi had inflicted on him; yet still he persisted. With a scream that would haunt the nightmares of those that heard it he rushed forwards and wrapped his arms around Eagle Arcs' upper arms and pinned them to her chest; his own wounded arm in agony all the while as he squeezed until he heard the steel of her armour creak and delivered headbutt after headbutt, blood spurting from her nose as her Aura finally flickered and failed, with that he hoisted her overhead and slammed her back first into the ground with enough force to send a spiderweb of cracks out from the point of impact. On any other day Gamma would have relished tearing the human limb from limb, especially after they put up such a good fight but today was exceptional. The Pangolin Faunus half ran and half staggered towards the gatehouse he had destroyed earlier; it was a sin to leave ones' allies behind when the order to leave was given, the ultimate sign of cowardice declared so by Adam Taurus, Delta and had already left and Beta had his own means of escape, Alpha would follow Celeste to the end of Remnant but that still left one member of the Cult of Taurus unaccounted for.
"OMEGA!" he barked as he tore his way into the building with reckless abandon; the room was utterly ruined and the mangled remains of the security guard Alpha had tortured to their breaking point before killing them lay in a pool of their own gore and filth, blood having spattered over every conceivable surface; yet there was no sign of the Crab Faunus
"OMEGA!" Gamma called out again, waiting for an answer but receiving none until he felt a stray shot of one of the Specialists' weapons rock the remains of the gatehouse; with a feral snarl of anger he picked up the body and rent it in half in a shower of viscera before bursting out of the gatehouse and bolting away from the scene of the atrocity; desperately hoping to find Omega on the way to his destination.
Donner clutched at her face, covering the remains of her left eye while blood trickled from between her fingers. Behind her Diamond and those guards whom had managed to regain consciousness and were able to do so were tending to those with more grievous injuries; the second category outweighing the first and the number of dead greater still. Donner however was currently focused on the device in her hand, a military grade Scroll with a secure line to the Gespenst; capable of bypassing the jamming signal that the heavily cloaked and shielded vessel produced. After over a minute of static the image of Gangrel Slate in full uniform came into view, First Mate Chiffon beside him confirming that he was indeed aboard the ship
"Report-Fucking hell, what happened?" the Bear Faunus demanded bluntly
"White Fang; full frontal assault while assassins breached the rear of the facility; robotic security went dark the moment it started" Donner took a moment to steady herself, several hisses of pain escaping her "Several wounded, several casualties" She watched her captains' face darken and heard the clawed digits of his mechanical left arm drumming rhythmically against his seat whilst Chiffon visibly winced as he caught sight of the carnage around them, a rare display of emotion from the grizzled Specialist
"This was timed" Gangrel growled, voice barely above a whisper "There's an insider somewhere at Poly-Tech"
"Sir?" Donner's confusion became more prominent than her pain for a brief moment; the Bear Faunus let out a long sigh, realising that one of his most trusted operatives had been out of the loop for days
"Poly-Tech robots have been going dark all over Remnant; including the ones we subcontracted….I told Winter we should have had them made in house….They're calling it a technical problem and we're stretched thin filling in the gaps in our fleet"
"Understood captain, the strike team can hold our own but we have injured here who need urgent medical evac"
"And the representatives?"
"Escaped Sir….I believe with your brother in laws' help"
"Mister Slate….Ringo Umi is dead" Diamond stepped into view of the camera for the first time, while her own blood stained her back it was that of other people spattered over her hands, face and clothes from where she had attempted to apply pressure to their wounds and bandage them with anything suitable "He was taken out by someone in a White Fang mask" Gangrel's jaw worked silently as he needed several attempts to choose his words to prevent them from simply being an exclamation of rage and fear
"Diamond, where's Arctus?" the silver haired sniper met Gangrel's eyes, her expression as plainly scared as his
"Felix and Eagle were out there. Arctus loaded up on Eco-Dust and went to help"
"Understood" Gangrel answered tonelessly, clearly taking immense effort to remain composed and rational though his voice still wavered a little as he turned to his First Mate "Chiffon, send the order to all Specialist Branch ships, I want an evac there with five minutes and search teams assembled within the hour"
"Aye sir"
"Orders captain?" Donner requested calmly despite her injuries, Gangrel needed only a moment to consider before giving his answer.
"Contact Kafsi or whoever has acting command and tell them to pull back and consolidate your position; protect the injured and have any prisoners you captured ready to be brought aboard a ship and processed"
"Aye sir" Donner answered, removing her hand from her ruined eye to give a salute. Gangrel turned his attention to Diamond, professionalism finally giving way to paternal instinct
"Contact your team; you've all done more than we could have asked for….tell your team that help is coming. Just hang in there a little longer" Diamond gave a weak and exhausted but relieved smile
"Aye sir"
Authors Notes:
So, that's the attack over; just one more chapter left of Vol.5 where we'll be wrapping things up and setting the stage for Vol.6
I hope you all enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.
I'm considering taking a break after I post the next chapter; only like a week or so while I plan out the next volume and recuperate a little.
So let's summarise shall we:
Haven't really discussed the Grimm Hive mind since Phobos; it's still a thing and it's still fractured; it will become a plot point later on the story.
So here's what Team CLIR have been up to for the last few chapters.
Corvid has Yang's old scarf from her Vol.1 outfit.
Corvid can fly with the Omega Wing but can't fly a Bull-Head; honestly it felt like there needed to be something she can't do. As it is, her and Rusty can both act as gunner/co-pilot.
"She now viewed it as a war of attrition where either the Grimm's resolve to stay hidden would break or Atlas Academy would recall her team" Corvid in a nutshell. Felix is an unstoppable force, she's an immovable object.
Rusty is from Vaccuo, he does not do cold.
Ah the puns.
And that's why Felix is the leader.
Arctus is the only one who's really seen the Cult of Taurus's handiwork up close before this point; he knows it's better to be killed than captured.
And that Celeste is why you don't grandstand.
Gamma got fucked up.
I don't know exactly what kind of Eagle she turns into, I googled White Eagle and went with the first picture I got as a reference.
Felix hasn't used his Balrog State for a while; I'm pretty sure I gave the in universe reason a few chapters ago that he doesn't want the competition at Atlas to see exactly what he's capable of.
Celeste vs Felix kinda reminded me of World-Breaker Hulk vs The Juggernaut for a moment there "No-one stops the Juggernaut!" "Then keep going"
Okay a note on Beta and Gamma's voices; I was watching some old clips of Beast Wars earlier this week (Because I'm a 90s kid like that) and I think Infernos' mannerisms are kinda like Beta but that early characterisation of him, just a complete monster that could run through entire forces is pretty accurate for Gamma and that screaming nightmare fuel screaming noise he made when he first appeared is spot on for Gamma when he uses his Semblance. Search for it on Youtube.
"Not with that attitude we can't" Donner and Corvid would get on great.
I'm enjoying writing Beta more and more….just remember that he's the one who killed Carcharodon's sister.
Donner is an anti-Nora, Nora absorbs electricity while Donner generates and discharges it; it's inefficient compared to using Lightning Dust because Semblances are a drain on Aura.
Yeah, I've never actually written an OC who can clone themselves like Blake/Sun/Flynt; I thought it was time to change that and I wanted an OP Semblance for Beta; I call his Semblance "Pack Hunter"
Damn he's a sadistic bastard.
Team Diamond Dust to the rescue.
Seriously I feel like Celeste and Felix has the potential to be some landscape changing anime bullshit of a fight.
The armour she stole from Neon makes her a lot stronger but it has its' limits and the joints are eventually gonna give under that kind of pressure.
There's also a weak point on the spine due to the modifications.
Cheer up love the cavalry's CLIR.
Yes Iris was keeping them in the air with her Semblance alone….like a boss.
Okay the plan was always for Felix to damage her armour somehow but the damaged shoulder spurting hydraulic fluid or something similar was actually somewhat inspired by what happened at work the day I wrote that scene.
Hey look, Felix got something other than his nose broken.
Arctus just levelled up and Celeste took one look at it and though "Nope"
Do you know how much ass you have to kick to break Eagle's Aura; she's an Arc after all.
In the Downward Spiral Adam was actually a little more committed to the cause and had a strict policy of not leaving people behind.
So Omega bolted, probably the only reaction a traumatised child could have in that situation.
Papa Bear to the rescue….Also he's not stupid and has the experience of the last war; he knows there's an insider he just has no reason to suspect Oz. Nobody does, if anything they'll probably start looking for any antisocial Faunus in the company.
Thank you to SumoSnipe, Bankerrtx01, iSassenach, Funlander, ShadowAlex2000, CTFenix, FluffyFirefly and FleetOfWarships for their reviews on the last chapter.
Well an Air Strike was delivered whether it was called for or not.
Hey I work in engineering/manufacturing, don't send the robots our way we don't want 'em either.
Oz specifically decided turning the robots against the Specialists; he shut them down with a defective "Update" to cover his tracks.
Depends; Felix and Arctus would be useful to Celeste dead but imagine if she could turn one. It's why I'm surprised Sienna Khan (As far as we know) never used Blake for propaganda purposes against Ghira or to draw in new recruits.
Yeah I feel like Whitley needed to be something more than playboy billionaire.
All the cliffhangers.
The Branwen Defence? Did you perchance follow this story after finding me on Tumblr? If so feel free to message at any time.
Looks like I surprised a few people with how many people I didn't kill.
I feel like an explosives expert would fit in if the Cult of Taurus had always been intended to be a combat unit; remember that they originally basically the Gestapo….besides would MORE explosions really have added that much?
As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review.