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Chapter 97: Plans Derailed
The first thing Felix became aware of as he regained consciousness was pain, dull throbbing aches pulsing through his abdomen and skull that caused him to wince and screw his eyes shut a little tighter rather than open them until the sensation of movement caused him to remember the severity of his situation; disjointed memories and flashes of images without context cascaded over his reeling mind and in conjunction with the nausea induced by the pain and lurching movement conspired to make the Lion Faunus feel ill. Within moments Felix had forced his thoughts into order and coalesced them into a few key facts; Team FADE were in danger, Corona had betrayed them and he was currently on a train heading towards the city of New Vale where he would be unable to help.
"Oh good you're awake….waking you up myself just wouldn't be the same but I really don't have the patience for you to be knocked out the whole ride home" an indescribably smug and satisfied voice sneered, moreover the voice was a familiar one and Felix's eyes flew open as he made to rise to his feet and lunge at the speaker fuelled by nothing but instinct, finding himself halted and collapsing futilely back into the seated position he had awoken in due to previously unnoticed restraints. Felix realised with a sharp spike of fear that he was wearing an Aura dampening collar around his neck and that his hands had been bound behind his back, tied to part of the storage racking inside of the trains' carriages whilst Rhodium Torchwick sat atop a wooden crate that was presumably filled with smuggled weapons and munitions with his cane propped against its' side whilst the red-headed mobster himself made a show of idly examining one of his prisoners' swords before casually discarding it, leaving it to clatter to the floor where Felix saw that its' twin and all of his ammunition had been placed.
"So you were on the train the whole time?" Felix asked, affecting a sneer to rival Rhodium's own "What's the matter, scared to come and fight me yourself, think I might knock the rest of your teeth out?" whilst Rhodium quickly let out a derisive snort Felix still saw it, the momentary hardening of the gangsters' eyes and the slight clenching of his fists that told him that his hastily conceived and still formulating plan was working
"I don't clean floors either, I've got people to sweep shit up for me"
"Still?" Felix asked with a wide grin that displayed his overlong canine teeth "I thought between my team handing 'em their asses, your hired goons calling it quits and Melanie Malachite stepping on you like bugs you'd be running out of meat-shields by now Rhodey" the taunting, the over-familiarity of using his nickname and the sickly sweet, mocking tone that the Lion Faunus delivered his words with were enough to make Rhodium's knuckles whiten and audibly crack.
Exactly what Felix wanted.
Angry people made mistakes and one thing that Felix had learned both through lessons with the exceedingly ruthless Professor Cimmerian and countless instances during his own life was that mistakes were merely opportunities and options in disguise, opportunities and options that Felix was sorely lacking and needed to create. This approach came with some severe risks and could backfire in ways that Rhodium seemed to be giving some consideration as he rose to his feet and took Melodic Cudgel in his hands.
"You're an annoying little prick y'know that right?"
"Sounds like you've met my sister, she says the same" Felix retorted, still attempting to push Rhodium into doing something ill-advised
"Didn't I stab your sister?" Rhodium asked, cocking his head and shrugging before crouching down to Felix's eye level, taking care to tread on the stump of Felix's tail as he pressed the end of his cane under the Faunus's chin
"You keep making me second guess myself and-"
"If this where you tell me that you've got a crush on-" Felix was silenced as Rhodium's fist collided with his nose, leaving it bleeding and immediately starting to swell; without his Aura Felix was left seeing stars and Rhodium used the momentary silence to continue speaking
"Now when you broke into my factory and started threatening me I decided I was gonna fuck you up, then you ruined my ride and knocked my teeth out….see at that point it was personal, I was gonna make a fucking example out of you kid; told myself every night while I was locked up that once I'd dealt with that fucking Narc Brindle I'd come for you and pull your fucking teeth out with pliers before I cut your throat….and then you went to Atlas" Rhodium let out a sigh and stood up straight again, giving Felix a few seconds to contemplate before the monologue continued "The White Fang killed my old man, shot him in the back right after he broke a load of 'em out of prison; I mean shit he probably still wouldn't have been around for me even if he was alive but it's the principal y'know. The White Fang killed my Dad and you took their new leader out in Atlas….I've gotta respect that; I've got standards"
"So are you gonna fucking kill me or not? 'Cos otherwise I've got places to be" Felix slurred out, bloody and likely broken nose detracting little from the cocky swagger he was affecting.
"Oh I'm still gonna kill you, I'm just gonna be quick about it" Rhodium laughed "I'm gonna stuff you in one of these crates and put a gag on you to get you off the train and then tonight I'm gonna take you out to some quiet road away from the city and shoot you in the fucking head then leave you for the Grimm to eat….but, you still knocked me teeth out" the last was delivered with a bemused sigh and Felix, who had been left in stunned silence as he was forced to consider the very real possibility that he would soon suffer a bloody and inglorious fate, didn't have quite enough time to react before Rhodium swung Melodic Cudgel. The cane came down in several wide arc, each resulting in a dull thud punctuated by a metallic clang as the weapon caught the racking the Felix was tied to. By the time Rhodium was done beating him blood was pouring freely down Felix's face from a gash above his left eyebrow, his cheek was already beginning to swell whilst the entire side of his began to discolour, he suspected that both his cheek and jaw were broken or at the very least cracked and when he spat out a mouthful of blood he was unsurprised, yet still sickened to see several teeth leave his mouth.
"Really Rhodey?" the disinterested, yet still annoyed voice of Corona demanded "You're beating his ass while he's tied up? I thought the whole point of smuggling him off the train was so that there's no evidence like blood left here to find….you may as well just shoot him now" the Mantis Shrimp Faunus treated Felix to a disparaging shake of the head as she sauntered into the carriage
"Don't act like you've got morals, you could have easily done the job without telling me he was here but you wanted a bonus"
"I'm a cold hearted bitch who likes Lien and doesn't mind getting my hands dirty for it; that's why you like me"
"That and you've got a great ass" Rhodey shot back, a smug grin on his face almost daring Corona to challenge her employer "What do you want?"
"Foggy's gonna be blowing those charges any minute and we don't know which way the Grimm are gonna run when they run out of Hunters to eat. I've got the controls for the trains' defences but I need someone to cover me" Rhodium's expression hardened into something calculating and business like for a moment before a roguish smile formed on his face
"I'll be with you in a minute….And I've got dibs on that old Paladin in the back" Corona merely rolled her eyes and took off leaving Felix alone with the mobster once again, head still spinning with the pain of being beaten senseless.
"I never thought I'd wanna fuck a Huntress so bad" Rhodium snorted, addressing Felix as though the two were old friends "Still, at least she's not a cop….I fucking hate cops" with that Rhodium gave his captive one last kick in the ribs for good measure before exiting the carriage. The moment Felix thought the coast was clear he sprang into action; his plan had paid off despite its' costliness and with a little force he managed to dislocate a section of the racking that he was tied to enough to free himself from it, whilst Felix's own Aura fuelled strength was denied to him Rhodium was under no such limitations and his blows had weakened the material considerably. Next Felix used the blade of one of his own swords to begin sawing away at the bonds around his wrists and within moments his hands were freed. Finally Felix dug through his pockets and was relieved to find that his Scroll was still in place, Rhodium obviously expecting him to remain a captive. Frantically he began calling Eagle to warn her of the betrayal and imminent danger, as he did so his eyes scanned the dimly lit carriage for any small scrap of metal that he could use for the final step of his escape plan, putting the lessons taught by Professor Cimmerian into practice and picking the lock on his Aura Dampening Collar.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU THINK YOUR JAW'S BROKEN?" Eagle exclaimed, caution and regard for her Grimm filled surroundings momentarily forgotten until Felix hushed her on the other end of the call and began to hurriedly explain what had occurred since he had left the rest of the team; Eagle's deep red eyes widened further with shock, fear and disgust with each word until she was finally forced to speak, unable to simply stand and listen to any more without acting.
"Okay, turn your Scroll's tracker on. We're coming to get you!" Eagle had reached the Killer-Bee, her Semblance carrying her through the trees in her avian form to where Felix had parked the muscle car at the side of the all but forgotten and unmaintained road and had been waiting for the signal from Foggy to indicate that he, Arctus and Diamond had prepared the explosive charges. With the revelation that roughly half of those charges had been rendered useless ringing in her mind Eagle all but hurled herself into the drivers' seat and brought the engine roaring into life, depositing Sentinel in shield form on the passengers' seat and fastening her seatbelt in an instant before driving as fast as possible towards the Spawning pit, the power at the vehicles' disposal being far greater than her limited experience had prepared her for; resulting in a wing mirror being removed as she turned the car around as well as an incredibly bumpy and unpleasant ride which would no doubt take a toll on the suspension.
Throwing everything she knew of road safety aside Eagle desperately tried to contact her team-mates' Scrolls as she drove towards them at breakneck speeds; letting out a stream of rapidly stammered curses as she failed to do so, Arctus and Diamond having evidently silenced their devices. Eventually she found herself driving further into the forest than Felix had originally done, the road being long since reclaimed by nature which had in turn been snuffed out by the malignant presence of the Grimm Spawning Pit, the branches of dead trees scratching against the sides of Killer-Bee as it tore passed them, tires leaving the uneven surface several times as it did so and nearly costing her control of the car before she finally caught sight of Arctus's distinctive white jacket amongst the trees; bringing the car to a screeching halt she leapt out and sprinted towards her friend, Diamond and Foggy mercifully being close by and all three of them looking at her in utter confusion
"IT'S A TRAP!" she bellowed as she drew close "WE NEED TO GO! IT'S A-"
"What on Remnant are you doing?" Foggy demanded, his fury deserved as Eagle's obvious panic could easily cause their target to spawn a fresh batch of monsters which could in turn begin to undo their hard work.
"Foggy I know how this is gonna sound but I promise you it's the truth" Eagle prefaced before launching into an explanation "Gnarledwood was never under attack, Corona is smuggling guns for Rhodium Torchwick. They've kidnapped Felix and Corona's covering her tracks by tampering with the charges; she's planning on getting all of us killed by Grimm"
"Then let's go" Arctus stated simply, his concern for his cousins' safety was obvious as it fuelled his willpower
"You believe this?" Foggy questioned
"Of course we do" Diamond snapped, somewhat galled at the question
"Let me check something" the older Hunter insisted before withdrawing his Scroll and waving off the students' who each silently insisted that he simply get moving. They were unsure exactly who it was Foggy had called but merely the act of them answering was enough to turn his face a ghostly white before he simply hung up.
"I just called one of the engineers" he explained "There's definitely no Grimm in Gnarledwood. Shit"
"Then let's go!" Eagle demanded "We've gotta catch the train! They're taking it back to New Vale"
"We've got another problem" Foggy breathed out, hands visibly shaking as he spoke "The charges are already primed and armed. I can't disarm them all or find the ones' that are actually working before they go off….Gnarledwood isn't under attack right now, but it will be in….less than five minutes" a chill passed through those present at the news.
"What do we do?" Arctus asked, voice subdued by fear "We can't stop 'em all, we're gonna get overrun"
"Get back to the car, arm the main weapon and take out anything heading towards the village" Foggy answered after a moment of solemn silence "I'm gonna draw as much of 'em as I can deeper into the forest-"
"No way!" Diamond answered "You'll-"
"That's an order Sustrai!" Foggy barked back "Sacrifices have to be made and we all knew the job was dangerous when we took it….for what it's worth kids, it's been an honour serving with you"
"You too" Diamond nodded, blinking several times to clear eyes that were suddenly watery "Have you got any family to pass on a message to?"
"Wife and two kids" Foggy admitted "Goodwitch can handle the formalities, I won't ask you to….come on, we haven't got time" with that the members of Team FADE who were present and made their way back to the Killer-Bee whilst behind them Foggy positioned himself just out of the blast radius of the charges and readied his weapon.
"How far back are we moving?" Arctus asked
"We're not" Eagle answered, crimson eyes blazing as she positioned herself in the drivers' seat and positioned Sentinel on the roof of the Killer-Bee, the shield unfurling out into its' automaton form and securing itself to the roof.
"Eagle we've got our orders-"
"And I'm disobeying them" Eagle shot back firmly, hoping to sound far more confident than she felt "I'm an Arc and Arc's defend what's important" before either Arctus or Diamond could either attempt to reason with their friend or ask what she was planning, the charges detonated.
The explosions happened in tandem, hurling vast chunks of blasted earth into the air and ripping several of the dead trees from the ground while destroying a considerable amount of the bubbling and viscous liquid that filled the pit; though it was clearly not enough and the fact was proved beyond all doubt when a multitude of howls and screams from newly spawned Grimm filled the air
"Sentinel, take out anything that gets near us!" Eagle demanded sharply "Arctus, protect the car as much as you can and Diamond, I might need you to pull Foggy in"
"Holy Oum" the silver haired sniper breathed out, her team-mates looked dead ahead and saw the cause of her shock; hundreds, if not thousands of Grimm were pouring from the crippled Spawning Pit in an all-consuming tidal wave of fangs and claws; each of them tearing hungrily at the monsters around them in a cannibalistic frenzy as their imperative to destroy overruled everything else. It was obvious that Foggy would be dead within a minute if left to pursue his own plan.
"LET'S GO!" Eagle bellowed, flooring the accelerator and speeding towards the mass of Grimm, many of which had turned their murderous gaze on the Killer-Bee as its' engine roared
"Arctus?"
"ON IT!" the Bear Faunus assured her, a moment later the front of the vehicle was shielded by the strongest Glyph that he could muster, angled slightly and acting as a plough whilst Sentinels' compact Mini-Gun ripped through Grimm by the score as the leapt at the sides of the car.
"I CAN'T SEE FOGGY ANYWHERE!" Diamond panicked, her characteristic calm wavering as they were attached from all sides by the seemingly endless horde
"There!" Eagle pointed "Fighting those Ursas, Sentinel!" Diamond quickly unfastened her seatbelt and engaged her Semblance, using to balance on the outside of the car door as she clambered out of the window and Eagle tried to manoeuvrer closer to where Foggy battled with a group of Grimm. Ursa were normally relatively solitary Grimm, hunting alone or in groups of rarely more than three, however Foggy had found himself facing off against a dozen of the lumbering monsters and was already bleeding profusely from wounds that the Grimm had inflicted on his thigh and forearm, his armour already having been gouged and broken
"GET ME CLOSER!" Diamond called out over the roar of the Killer-Bees' engine and Sentinels' weapon as the droid despatched the Grimm with a hailstorm of armour piercing rounds. Reaching out Diamond plunged into the cloud of black smoke left by the dying Grimm and scooped up the wounded Hunter, realising as she frantically pulled herself back into the car that Foggy had also suffered a wound to his abdomen that she hadn't seen and was currently barely clinging to consciousness
"Arctus keep your Glyphs up, I'll take care of this" she instructed as she began to put the first aid lessons that Team FADE had taken to as much use as possible in the cramped space.
A piercingly high pitched, wailing shriek filled the air
"I think the Pit just spat out its' big bad!" Arctus grunted through clenched teeth, the effort of keeping his strongest possible defences active taking a toll on him; he didn't have the chance to turn round and see what monstrosity had been produced but its' footsteps shook the ground as it gave chase, allowing him a rough estimate of its' size.
"Okay then" Eagle growled with grim determination as she placed her hand over the button that would activate the high output Dust booster and send the vehicle hurtling forwards at even greater speeds "Looks like we've got all of their attention, they're following us away from the village….Let's go catch a train."
Pantheon simply would not die. Artemis let out a hiss of pain and annoyance as she was forced to roll aside from another attack by the monsters' scythe like claws, her wounded shoulder causing her immense discomfort as it struck the hard ground. A single flap of their powerful membranous wings pushed Pantheon backwards and away from Onyx's attempt to bury his axe in their skull a moment later before the Grimm's tail lashed out and forced the Puma Faunus back
Help was yet to arrive and Artemis was unsure how long she and the students in her care could hold out against a Grimm whose horrific bloodthirstiness was seemingly tempered with intelligence and technique and whose regeneration made them an infuriatingly resilient opponent.
"Car!" she beckoned the Shark Faunus who was clearly searching for an opening to come closer, as he did so she spoke again "I'm gonna try and catch this thing off guard, can your team keep it occupied for a minute or two?"
"Gladly" Carcharodon rasped out, making a series of silent hand gestures to his team-mates that they each seemed to understand. Artemis chose not to waste time asking what he had instructed them to do and simply ran towards one of the two rocky and barren mountains whose slopes they valley they were in sat between. She did however chance a look over her shoulder, finding that Team GORE had chosen to engage in what could best be described as hit and run tactics as she did so; Onyx and Raffia had switched their weapons to their ranged forms and were opening fire to create brief openings for Hellion and Carcharodon to tear and slash at their target before slipping away just as quickly, Hellion abstaining from using more of her smoke-bombs to allow Artemis a clear shot.
"Okay, let's do this" the older Faunus muttered to herself as she scaled the side of the mountain as quickly as she was able to in her injured state, searching for a suitable vantage point to snipe from as she went. She eventually decided that the very same boulder Pantheon had been hidden behind whilst stalking them would provide adequate cover and she hastily scrabbled behind it only for her mismatched eyes to widen and her heart to skip a beat at what she found waiting for her.
Tremor-Somnium, several small cannisters of the pheromone; as she looked around her she saw that several other such cannisters had been deposited behind every available piece of cover and were leaking out the colourless mist whose scent alone set her nerves on edge. Artemis was left staring at the cannisters with several thoughts and emotions running through her mind at once, this proved beyond all doubt that someone else was hunting the Grimm that had named itself Pantheon and considering how secretive Gangrel had insisted that this mission was she doubted that this unseen agent had intentions that boded well for herself or Team GORE. A shriek of rage finally brought her back to her senses and she quickly made a decision and began checking the canisters and palming the one which contained the most of the pheromone; Tremor-Somnium was not only useful for drawing out Grimm, it also helped with their destruction by virtue of being highly explosive. It took her only a moment to plot the trajectory of her throw and a moment longer to line up the shot; then with as much force as she could muster she hurled the canister towards Pantheon in a wide, sailing arc
"GET CLEAR!" her warning to the students was immediately followed by the muffled crack of Hakai Suru firing, the round tore through the canister and ignited the Tremor-Somnium within; resulting in a fireball that consumed everything within several meters in all directions and swallowed Pantheon entirely.
"And fucking stay dead….Gangrel can find another Grimm" Artemis panted out, resting her sniper rifle against her uninjured shoulder. Below her Team GORE surrounded the impromptu pyre, keeping a safe distance whilst clearly waiting for an attack. Almost predictably and to Artemis's extreme displeasure the attack came within moments, Pantheon bursting from the flames with a howl of murderous rage and forcing Team GORE to dive aside. Artemis made to ready another shot when something glinting in the sunlight above made her pause; it seemed that whilst the explosion had failed to destroy Pantheon it would still serve as an adequate signal flare for the Baba-Jaegers who were approaching rapidly and in formation.
Help had finally arrived and Artemis left out a quiet sigh of relief, silently thanking her old team-mate Gangrel Slate.
"Target is in sight commander, preparing to engage" the speaker was the pilot leading the recovery mission. Behind them Matte Skye stood in the midst of the control room for the Baba-Jaegers, overseeing the sensitive and critical mission as it played out. Six of the advanced war machines had been deployed, leaving the other half of those sent to the desolate edge of New Vale's territory in reserve in case of emergency; five craft flew in an arrowhead formation whilst behind them the sixth carried the containment unit that formed the latest iteration of Project Snare.
"Remember we need it alive" Matte intoned, evidently tense
"Understood commander" the lead pilot nodded "Remember team we have Hunters in the field, students"
"Oum damn it" another pilot muttered, irked by the additional complication
"It's seen us" a third pilot warned "And fuck it's ugly" Matte paid close attention to each of the various screens that formed the pilots' displays, giving them an almost panoramic view of the monstrous Grimm as it unfurled its' gargantuan wings and took to the sky with a shriek of fury
"Clip it's wings!" the lead pilot ordered "Stratus pull up, PULL UP!" Matte watched with detached horror as one of the Baba-Jaegers was subjected to the full scope of Pantheon's wrath, the sound of metal being torn asunder ringing through each of the remaining fighters' displays as the Baba-Jaeger piloted by a woman named Stratus was dismantled in mid-air; its' various displays and controls going dark whilst a team of medical staff promptly ensured that the pilot had suffered no nerve or brain damage caused by possible feedback from the crafts' operating system.
"I've got it in my sights!" another pilot yelled
"Bring that son of a bitch down!" the lead pilot ordered, the sound of weapons being unleashed filled the control room and Matte watched as a missile streaked towards the still falling form of the disabled Baba-Jaeger, which their target still clung to and tore pieces from; only to watch in shock as it sunk its' scythe like upper limbs into the crafts' hull and caught the missile with its' prehensile tail before hurling it back at the fighters'
"I'M HIT! I'M HIT!" a second pilot was soon attended to by the medical team, forcibly ejected from their control of the Baba-Jaeger as it was critically damaged by the Grimm
"Holy shit that thing's smart!"
"Break off! Pull back….we might need to attempt an aerial capture" there was a moment of tense silence at the lead pilots' words; they had initially planned to capture the Grimm the same manner that it had been contained before, by using overwhelming force to push it into the containment unit whilst on the ground, an aerial capture would involve simply scooping it out of the air and would be far more difficult
"Regen have Project Snare ready, Wolke cover her in case this thing gets wise. Shuang follow me in, we're gonna keep this thing distracted"
"Aye" the chorus of affirmative responses filled the control room and Matte watched with rapt attention as the pair of Baba-Jaegers swarmed their target, flying far faster than it could hope to catch and riddling its' wings with bullets in a series of merciless strafing runs only for it to heal itself within moments each time
"Ah shit, breaking off!" Shuang spat as a wild strike from the Grimm's tail ripped into several sensors located where a cockpit would have been on a more conventional fighter, leaving her various displays flickering and garbled for several moments
"It's following you!"
"GET IT OFF ME!" the lead pilot; a woman named Aegean rushed in after the Grimm though it had already seized Shuang's Baba-Jaeger and was tearing into its' propulsion system, by the time she had managed to force it to leap away a third fighter had been rendered inoperable and the strike team was down to half of its' original number.
"Commander" the pilot known as Regen spoke up "I think we might need reinforcements"
"Negative" Aegean countered "It's on my tail, get after it trap it. Wolke, keep it in your sights" the trio of remaining pilots desperately tried to out-think and outfly their adversary which remained defiant and enraged despite the might of the Atlesian military levelled against it
"Wolke it sees you!" Aegean warned as a particularly impressive manoeuvrer she had used to avoid the Grimm's bladed appendages brought its' attention to the other craft
"I'm going for it!" Regen announced, bringing her craft into a steep dive that was clearly intended to snatch the Grimm out of the air. The monster, driven by keener intelligence than they had expected hurtled towards her craft and began to pull up in a clear attempt to tear through the cockpit of the Baba-Jaeger attempting to capture it.
Pantheon failed, their efforts being halted by an unexpected source.
"The Hunters!" Aegean laughed as she watched Pantheon's chest explode and its' limbs buckle; the Grimm being dragged downwards by some unseen force, allowing to be neatly snatched out the air by the containment unit of Project Snare
"Holy Oum, that was close" the lead pilot continued laughing, fuelled by the euphoria of victory "Lucky that one of 'em had immobiliser rounds on hand"
"I doubt it was luck" Matte observed, being certain that Gangrel Slate would have told his old friend to have prepared for every eventuality "Mission accomplished, you all performed admirably. Aegean, Wolke escort Regen to Atlesian airspace for-"
"INCOMING!" Wolke's bellowed warning came a moment too late and Regen found herself ejected from the controls as her Baba-Jaeger was obliterated in a beam of ethereal green light
"TARGET IS LOOSE! REPEAT TARGET IS LOOSE!" Aegean all but screamed, Matte watched on in horror as the Grimm burst free of the now destroyed remains of Project Snare and made good its' escape, the attack having burned through it from below
"Break off!" Matte demanded, seeing no sense in risking assets without the means to capture the target "Mission is a failure, break off!" the two remaining pilots never got a chance to comply with the order; their own craft being consumed in flashes of light and reduced to near molten scrap.
"What-what was that?" Aegean demanded in disbelief. Matte turned to the analysts
"Replay the last few seconds of footage from Wolke's feed, slow motion, magnified" the analysts rushed to comply and in a matter of seconds Matte was watching the recovered footage; their large brown eyes widening in fright as they saw a single figure step out from behind a boulder on one of the mountains', the light that had destroyed the Baba-Jaegers coalescing in their hand as several small and indiscernible components rotated around their forearm; what caught Matte by surprise was the brief moment where strands of coppery hair caught the light.
"Everybody out. This mission is now beyond your clearance. Forget everything that you've seen" the pilots, medical staff and analysts all silently complied with the order, understanding implicitly that whatever Matte had seen was a matter of utmost importance. Once alone Matte began the arduous process of recovering every single pixel from the destroyed crafts' cameras; encrypting it and removing every trace from record before sending General Schnee the information.
Winter needed to know that Project Legacy had been located.
"Can you keep us any steadier?" Diamond demanded as she tried her best to stem the bleeding from Foggy's wounds, using torn strips of his own jacket as makeshift bandages whilst bracing her feet against the floor of the Killer-Bees' interior and using her Semblance in an attempt to minimize the thuds and jolts as the muscle car tore though an environment it was never intended for at speeds that would punish the slightest mistake with a crash.
"I'm trying!" Eagle called back, voice raised over the din of the engine, Sentinel's weapon which threatened to run out of ammunition at any moment and the roars and snarls of thousands of smaller Grimm, those produced by the Spawning Pit being bolstered by the monsters already inhabiting the forest, all the while the ground shook as the Spawning Pits' final creation chased after them; uprooting trees as it went.
"It's gaining on us!" Arctus warned through clenched teeth "I don't know how long I can hold these Glyphs for" as if to underline the statement the a gout of steaming and glowing turquoise ichor spattered against the surface of one of Arctus's Glyphs, the Bear Faunus now being forced to protect the car on all sides, the Glyph shattered into countless shimmering fragments and miniscule droplets of the Grimm's ranged weapon came into contact with the rear door of the car, burning into its' surface enough to leave several small holes.
"THAT'S NOT ACID, THAT'S PLASMA!" Arctus declared, recognising the substance from the previous iteration of his own weapon.
"How far to the tracks?" Diamond demanded
"A little further, we can get some distance there" Eagle answered, daring to take her eyes off of the forest in front of her for a moment and get a good look at what was chasing them in the rear-view mirror.
She almost wished she hadn't. Grimm poured through the trees or simply tore them from the ground in a roiling mass of darkness; common varieties which could be handled with ease in normal circumstances but in their current numbers would simply overwhelm most opposition.
The main threat however was the Spawning Pits' parting shot, a Grimm that Eagle didn't have a name for; it ran on two legs that ended in taloned claws and had a body that was roughly birdlike in structure, it was perhaps a little smaller in height and length than the average house though the long, thin tail trailing behind it gave it the appearance of being larger than it actually was. It had the ubiquitous black and bone colouration common to all creatures of Grimm, with skeletal armour encasing its' chest, extremities and the top of its' skull whilst a row of thin spikes adorned its' spine and tail. Its' forelimbs were folded and tucked lamely against the sides of its' torso as it ran, though this made the Grimm no less threatening as its' real threat was located on its' head and neck; its' skull was sloped and streamlined with a pair of angled crests reaching from its' snout to behind its' eyes and as it screamed in primal fury Eagle saw that its' mouth was filled with hundreds of needle-like teeth. Then in unfurled its' main weapon, folds of flesh draped around its' long and slender neck fanned out into a wide, frilled crest around the Grimm's skull; jet black in colour with veins that glowed at first with the same fiery red as its' eyes and then a faint turquoise as it prepared for another plasma attack.
"HOLD ON!" Eagle warned, veering the Killer-Bee bee sharply off-course and almost ploughing into a tree as she swerved out of the way; several meters of ground were blackened, scorched and dissolved by the plasma but Eagle prevailed, daring to hope as the tree line came into view
"WE'RE GONNA MAKE IT!" a moment later the Killer-Bee, scuffed and damaged as it was, burst out into the clearing created by the train tracks; tires screeching as Eagle turned sharply and simply mounted the tracks before giving chase at full speed.
"I can see the train!" Arctus announced, his Faunus eyes allowing him to see it a moment before Eagle did; the next thing that they saw however shattered what little hope they had managed to retain
"Oh no" Eagle breathed out, all she could manage as Grimm poured out of the forest on either side of the tracks, twin tsunamis of claws and teeth that threatened to wash over them in an instant
"We're gonna die" Diamond said simply as she took in the sight of several thousand monsters blocking their path to the train whilst several thousand more chased after them.
"No we're not!" Eagle declared, her mind racing as fast as the car she drove "Arctus, what's the biggest thing you can summon right now?"
"Maybe a big Nevermore?" he answered after a moment of deliberation, blood already dripping from his nose whilst blood-vessels in his eyes ruptured under the strain of overusing his Semblance as much as he already had.
"Okay" Eagle took a shaky breath before committing to her new plan "Summon it, attack the big Grimm and then chase after the train; make the Grimm follow it instead of us!" Diamond and Arctus both sat in silent shock at the ruthlessness of the idea before the Bear Faunus complied, focusing much of his rapidly failing Aura reserves into a single shimmering construct which pivoted in mid-flight and fired dozens of its' bladed feathers' into the flank of the large Grimm before soaring through the air after the train.
"I don't believe it" Diamond gasped "It worked!" the Grimm with the plasma weapon lost all interest in the car and shrieked in rage as it gave chase to the construct; the countless hordes of smaller Grimm following after it and allowing the Killer-Bee to race alongside them with little interference beyond a lone Beowolf occasionally snapping at the car, only to be promptly despatched
"How's Foggy?" Eagle enquired
"Hanging in there" Diamond replied as she continued to apply pressure and Dust to his wounds
"Okay Arctus just keep that summon going for as long as you can….We're not done yet, we just need an opening"
"DID THEY JUST SIC THE FUCKING GRIMM ON US?" Rhodium demanded incredulously as he watched the seemingly endless mass of Grimm turn their attention on the train in unison.
"Clever little bastards….shame you're killing their friend; we could use that kind of dirty fighting" Corona noted in a tone that managed to sound almost bored despite the situation, her lips pursed at the sight of what exactly was chasing the glowing construct "And of course it's a damn Phlegmiurge….Cover me, I'll bring it down" the two of them stood atop the rear carriage of the train, the howling wind whipping around them as they prepared to face the oncoming tide; Corona was quickly using her Scroll to activate the trains semi-automatic defences whilst Rhodium had, true to his promise, clambered into the cockpit of the recovered Atlesian Paladin that had been included with his shipment of weapons; unfortunately the robotic battle-suit had not been fully prepared and was currently missing the majority of the front of its' hull, which left its' pilot exposed to any attacker that managed to slip through its' admittedly formidable defences.
"Okay, no. They're not getting a pass on this" Rhodium huffed, raising one of the Paladins' arms and firing a short salvo from the cannon mounted on the limb which destroyed the summoned Nevermore entirely
"Not gonna help, they've already seen the train" Corona sighed, being proven correct as the Phlegmiurge unfurled its' frill and unleashed a beam of plasma that seared the air as it sailed passed the train, several droplets spattering the side of the carriages and sizzling against the metal
"Are you gonna start shooting back at some point?" Rhodium demanded, stunned at the Mantis Shrimp Faunus's composure
"Gimme a sec….There we go" Corona gave a satisfied smile as the trains' defences sprung into life; every window being protected by a reinforced shutter, the angular plough mounted to the front expanding outwards and becoming covered in crackling arcs of electricity as a Dust powered generator sent power coursing through it. At the ends of the train a pair of identical weapons systems came online, each featuring a quartet of chain-guns with six barrels apiece and several surface to air rocket launchers. The opening salvo cut down several hundred Grim in a matter of seconds and ripped into the flank of the Phlegmiurge.
"They're not doing much to the big one!" Rhodium pointed out as he added the Paladin's own firepower to the attack, shooting down the last remnants of the Nevermore flock that the missiles had torn asunder
"They weren't meant for the big stuff!" Corona countered "They're meant to rip through packs. Shit, they're getting onto the train. Help me take 'em out and watch the tracks!" with that the renegade Huntress pocketed her Scroll, hoping that the somewhat outdated weapons system would be able to prioritise the most important targets if left to its' own devices; drawing her pistols she aimed over the side of the train and fired into faces of a pair of Beringrel that had managed to latch onto their carriage, spitting out a curse as she did so at the sight of several other Grimm sinking their claws into the train and attempting to clamber up to their position.
"They're no so tough!" Rhodium laughed at the Paladin ripped through Grimm by the dozen, whilst damage that had never been truly repaired made its' movements slow and jerky whilst several important readouts and screens were simply missing in their entirety; the war machine was still agile to turn and blast a Creep out of the air as it leapt from the trees, jaws snapping at Corona
"Thanks" she then promptly reciprocated by lunging across the roof of the train in a single motion and planting her palms against the chest of a Beringrel that had managed to climb onto the train behind the Paladin. Her Semblance sending the beast hurtling through the air with its' chest reduced to a concave mass of pulp and shattered bone, this was followed by an impressively acrobatic kick that struck the top of a Beowolves' skull with enough force to send the Grimm toppling over the edge of the carriage before she donned her Knuckle-Dusters
"Okay, new plan. You shoot and I'll cover-ARRRGH!" Rhodium felt the air burning behind him and saw the flash of Phlegmiurge firing its' plasma weapon again and thus knew what to expect when he turned to face Corona, the knowledge didn't make the sight that confronted him any less horrific. The Mantis Shrimp Faunus's Aura flickered and failed and she was reduced to screams of unspeakable agony as the viscous, glowing plasma clung to her flesh and clothing, burning away everything it came into contact with; the mobster watched in sickened terror as her right arm was burned away to a bloody stump at the elbow and her cheek and torso were eaten away by the substance
"No! No, no, no, no!" Rhodium screamed, frantically opening fire on Grimm scaling the side of the train as they threatened to make a meal of the downed Huntress. A wordless roar of fury escaped him as he unloaded everything the Paladin had, positioning himself over Corona's prone and mangled form. The battle-suit lurched as a particularly large Beowulf bit into the left arm and began tearing away at it, Rhodium's retaliatory shot only damaging the limb more as it blew the Grimm's head off, the crippled Paladin continued firing even as a Creep ripped away hydraulic pistons in one of the legs before the mobster crushed it underfoot, before long Rhodium was reduced to swatting Grimm aside with the suits' remaining arm; using one hand to operate the Paladin's controls whilst frantically trying to free himself of the cockpits' harness. Another burst of plasma reduced the carriages chain-guns to molten scrap and caused the redhead to halt just long enough for a Grimm to see the opening and leap through the air, claws outstretched as it hurtled towards him.
A golden blur streaked into view and hit the Beowolf with the force of a meteor; breaking its' spine with ease.
"You've gotta be fucking kidding me!" Rhodium exclaimed as he made sense of what had just happened. Felix Xiao Long, Aura blazing around his body whilst his face was coated with dried blood and his twin chainsaw bladed swords sparked and screeched looked if anything more terrifying than the Grimm.
"How the fuck did you get overrun this badly when you've got a Paladin?" the Lion Faunus demanded as he weaved around Grimm, tearing them to shreds with his swords or in several cases simply crushing their bones by hand and hurling them from the carriage.
"Hey! I make the smart-ass comments here!" Rhodium retorted as he leapt from the ruined Paladin and drew Melodic Cudgel, first using its' grappling hook feature to haul a Beringrel away from Felix and over the edge of the carriage and then blasting the wing from a Nevermore with a small explosive "And I know this is gonna sound really fucking rich all things considered….but we've got a wounded Huntress" Felix half turned as he impaled a Creep and regarded Corona with an odd mix of pity and loathing, leaving Rhodium worried that he might simply refuse to help
"Get her onto the next carriage, I've got a plan"
"Oh thank Oum" Rhodium muttered, lifting Corona over his shoulder and fighting his way onto the next carriage whilst calling back to the young man that he still couldn't quite believe that he had allied with "What's your plan?"
"There's other villages between here and Vale, we have to stop the Grimm here! Use your Semblance to charge this carriage then decouple it!" Felix called back, treating Rhodium to a smug smile as he relieved another Grimm of its' head "That's what took me so long, I was busy moving your guns into the back"
"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Rhodium spat, realising that he had been spectacularly played and had no real options; after a split second of incandescent fury he let out a low hiss "Okay fine, let's do this" Rhodium sprinted back onto the rear carriage and activated his Semblance; Felix protected the gangster as the magenta light engulfing his hands began to spread to the entirety of the carriages' surface. It took almost a minute but eventually Rhodium rose to his feet
"Okay, we're done. I'm gonna blow the coupling" with that he leapt onto the next carriage, where Corona had been safely deposited. Felix watched him ready his weapon and made to follow; only to be sent crashing backwards as Rhodium shot him in the chest. The Lion Faunus leapt to his feet just in time to watch the mobster separate the rear carriage from the rest of the train with a single well placed shot
"I had to win something today!" the mocking taunt could be heard over the train
"Next time Rhodey!" Felix shot back, holding up the Aura dampening collar like a trophy for the mobster to see and promptly activating his own Semblance a moment before the carriage exploded.
Felix's ears were ringing and nothing made sense as he dragged himself free of the wreckage, yet instinct alone propelled him onwards as he sheathed his weapons and entered his Balrog State; the heat he had absorbed from the explosion having given him all the power he would need. His instincts were proven correct as the Phlegmiurge burst through the smoke and dust, roaring and screaming as it made to close its' jaws around his body. The Phlegmiurge had been heavily wounded by the blast, having lost one of its' arms entirely whilst its' flank was ripped open and the frill around its' neck was a tattered mess on one side, leaving plasma dripping down onto the ground. In his Balrog State Felix was an unstoppable force and when the Grimm lunged at him he simply caught its jaws, holding its' mouth open wide and swung the monster so that its' neck collided with a tree, yet it persisted and rose to its' feet once more; shrieking as it made to charge.
Then its' skull was engulfed in a stream of light, leaving its' decapitated corpse to fall to the ground before fading away.
"Sorry it took us so long!" Eagle called out, Felix turned and saw that the Killer-Bee was facing backwards and the Stinger was in the process of collapsing back into the trunk of the car whilst Eagle, Arctus, Diamond and wounded but determined Foggy readied their weapons.
"Oh and um" Eagle shuffled nervously despite the situation "Sorry about your car" Felix couldn't help but laugh at this, even in the face of thousands of Grimm who now had nothing to turn their appetite for destruction towards save for the Hunters.
"Don't worry about it" Felix panted out as his Balrog state failed "We can buff that out….if we make it out here alive"
"Can this craft fly no faster?" Helios demanded as Team NEON raced towards Felix's location. The Lion Faunus had contacted the redhead soon after freeing himself from the Aura dampening collar and explained the situation as he knew that Helios had been deployed to one of New Vale's aerial defence platforms. Helios himself had immediately relayed the information to the officer in charge, who had, mercifully wasted no time with unnecessary questions or bureaucracy and leapt into action; the knowledge that the freight line between New Vale and Vaccuo was closed due to a suspected Grimm Spawning Pit in close proximity had already been disseminated to those operating the Kingdoms' defences and the knowledge that their were student Hunters in mortal peril warranted nothing less than swift and decisive action. Team NEON, at Helios's instance had assigned to one of the two dozen Bull-Heads filled with Hunters, soldiers and Poly-Tech manufactured battle robots that were being deployed to halt the incursion and would in fact be among the first to deploy
"We've passed most of the train" Nyanza informed him "Looks like they disconnected the last carriage as a distraction"
"COMING UP ON DROP ZONE!" the co-pilot bellowed back to those in the rear of the craft, Team NEON and a heavy weapons team formed of half a dozen specially trained men and women of New Vale's armed forces
"What's the situation on the ground?" one of the soldiers' enquired
"Sweet fucking Oum it's a zoo down there" the words were sobering, though they spurred Helios into action and he rose to his feet, opening the hatch and preparing to leap down into the fray
"We'll clear a landing area for you. Nyanza, Ether, Olivine; follow me" with that Helios leapt, his dislike of heights utterly forgotten as he plummeted towards the ground; his obsidian Aura manifesting around his body as he engaged his Semblance in mid-air, reaching terminal velocity as he magnified gravity around himself. The ground rushed up to meet him and Helios clutched at his shield, driving its' edge neatly through a King-Taijitu and splitting the serpentine Grimm in half before sprinting towards Felix's car; Team FADE and their assigned Hunter had fallen back and were currently pressed against the sides of the vehicle and at risk of being swallowed by the tide of monsters at any moment
"FELIX DOWN!" he roared before hurling his shield into the face of an Ursa with enough force to split the Grimm's skull open before leaping into the fray, sword flashing out and tearing Grimm apart at incredible speed.
"HELIOS!" Felix warned as a Beowulf lunged at the redhead; only for its' jawbone to be splintered by Nyanza who fell gracefully from the air and pistol-whipped the Grimm as he landed
"Reinforcements are here" he said simply, eyes glowing with his Semblance of good fortune as he entered the battle in earnest; weaving around the mass of attacking Grimm and gunning them down with a series of shots that no ordinary marksman could ever have hoped to achieve and shattering limbs with the weapons in their tonfa form. Olivine and Ether soon made their own presence known as all around them soldiers and Hunters dropped into the battlefield and began cutting down the monsters in droves; Buster Bravo alone accounting for over a Hundred destroyed Grimm in a single salvo as Olivine opened fire without mercy or hesitation.
"Holy shit Dude we did it" Diamond laughed, adrenaline still coursing through her as she leapt down from the roof of the Killer-Bee which she'd been sniping from and into Arctus's arms as the exhausted Bear Faunus sunk his sword into the ground.
"Thanks, it looked like we were pretty much done for there" Eagle murmured out to not only Team NEON but the reinforcements as a whole as she slumped back against the side of the Killer-Bee, utterly spent, caked in mud and dust and bleeding from countless small cuts. Helios heard her but paid no mind to anything other than Felix as he pulled the clearly wounded and bloody Lion Faunus to his feet and into a crushing hug
"Are you okay?" he whispered softly in his ear
"Nothing that won't fix" Felix assured him, words slurred by his admittedly injured jaw and missing teeth; despite his assurances however Helios could feel the way that Felix was swaying against him and it was clear that the Faunus was barely clinging to consciousness.
"Sir" Foggy forced himself upright and snapped off a quick salute despite his injuries, causing the students to turn and face a man whose uniform bore countless of medals and embellishments; Helios recognised the man as the officer in charge of the Eos Defence Platform, striding through the now desolate battlefield as the Hunters, soldiers and machines cut through the last of the Grimm; their combined might making the task far less daunting.
"At ease" the office said simply, taking a quick look at the condition of Team FADE and making the obvious choice "All of you at ease, you've done well; you held the line for your Kingdom. You've earned yourself a break before your debriefing"
"I'll handle debriefings" Foggy offered "Send them straight to the Academy for medical"
"Oh I will, but I'm sure they'll have to report to their Headmistresses at some point" Team FADE shared a groan of exhaustion at the prospect of paperwork in addition to the ordeal that they had already endured; Helios merely grinned and responded in the only way someone raised by the Nikosi could, whispering into Felix's ear
"I look forward to hearing this story; it seems as though it bordered on legendary"
Rhodium Torchwick was, in a word, furious. His return to New Vale had been far from the triumphant one that he had envisioned and the redhead considered the facts that he was both still alive and had not been apprehended by the police of Hunters to be his only real victories.
His weapons were all but wasted, only a crate or two having been missed by Felix in the Lion Faunus's endeavour to move them into the rear of the train prior to its' detonation; to add insult to injury there had been breaking news articles from reporters live at the scene, which camera crews had flocked to the moment the area had been cleared of Grimm which not only broadcast Rhodium's failures for all of New Vale to see, but confirmed that Felix Xiao Long had the unspeakable audacity to not be dead after Rhodium had blown him up.
Secondly the workers at the train yard had been most displeased to learn that the engineers who had been aboard when the train departed for Vaccuo had simply been left at the settlement of Gnarledwood, a representative of the workers' union, itself a thinly veiled criminal enterprise had informed Rhodium in the bluntest possible terms that they would not be continuing business with him in any way, shape or form including protection money, going so far as to threaten to pay for protection from Melanie Malachite instead if he attempted to force the issue.
Rhodium assured himself that he would see the defiant union crushed into dust once he was done with far more pressing matters. His immediate concern had been getting Corona medical attention; Hunters and expendable workers were one thing but he did not abandon his true allies, after all he may be a ruthless crime boss but he still had standards; besides he needed a capable right hand to replace Tricky. Naturally an ordinary hospital was out of the question, Corona was now a wanted criminal, so Rhodium had pulled every available string and had a comfortable apartment that served as one of his own personal boltholes converted into a long term private hospital room for her, complete with paid off doctors. The red-headed gangster amused himself by imagining what his mother would say if she knew that he had let a Huntress, who before her injuries had been undeniably attractive, into one of his apartments; he shuddered as he realised that it would no doubt involve calls for grandchildren.
Currently Rhodium was alone in one of his many businesses, he hadn't alerted anyone to the fact he had returned yet; he knew of Ozymandias and Vert's failure to wrest control of the city from Melanie in his absence and he didn't trust himself not to lose his temper if he met with them. Instead he was taking matters into his own hands, this turf war was going badly and as much as he hated to admit it there was a serious risk of him losing and finding himself in a shallow and unmarked grave; it was with that in mind that Rhodium had used a considerable amount of skill at lying, charm and crude intimidation to acquire the Scroll number he was about to call. Taking one final drag of a cigar before putting it out he called and waited, the sound of the Scroll ringing echoing throughout the empty betting shop he was sat in.
"Hello, who is this?" a polite and refined voice asked, though the speaker was clearly annoyed at being contacted so late in the evening. Rhodium forced himself to stifle a derisive snort
"Hey Melanie….you can drop the cute barmaid voice, it's me" he waited a beat for his rival crime lord to connect the dots and realise who was on the other end of the line before continuing "We're both losing people and Lien here; so let's have a chat. I'll come over to your place in an hour"
Authors Notes:
Ladies and gents today is the twenty-ninth of May 2019, which means that as of today FADE: Legacy is two years old.
This chapter was posted a little early as a treat to celebrate that, happy anniversary to all of my readers, especially those of you who've been here since all the way back in 2016 when I started The Downward Spiral.
So, there's one chapter left of this Volume and then we're onto Vol.8…..7 of 12 volumes out of the way, so I'm thinking that this will take a little over another year to finish; I'd say eighteen months at most.
Now then, we've got a lot to talk about so let's summarise:
Rhodey really is a bastard isn't he?
Leaving the weapons in plain view, amateur mistake.
Also this whole thing with Felix being captured is from a discarded idea I had for second year; there was a point where I was planning on having Felix captured by the White Fang at the end of Vol.5 and he would have had his tail cut off then rather than in Vol.6 at the tournament.
Okay the banter between Felix and Rhodey in this chapter was a pleasure to write "If this is where you tell me you've got a crush"
You know what the Joker did to Jason Todd….yeah, imagine that.
"You may as well just shoot him now" Corona gives me some real 'Marlo' vibes, if you've ever watched The Wire you'll get it.
So yeah, Rhodey thinks Corona is hot….so that one person who shipped them; you're welcome.
You thought the thing with the Aura dampening collar was never gonna get paid off didn't you?
Eagle can drive, however she can't drive well.
Foggy is smarter than most adults in these situations in fiction; like yes he still did the sensible thing of calling for verification but at least he listened.
Shout out to Eagle for an amazing Nick Fury impression.
Foggy was definitely brave, but his plan needed a few minutes of thinking.
Gotta love how far Team FADE have come, I feel like Eagle in particular kicked all of the ass this chapter.
Team GORE held the line as well as could possibly be expected there.
So, it was definitely an attempt at a trap by someone (Which we all know was Project Legacy at this point)
The Baba-Jaegers are advanced, but they don't have forcefields and they're not indestructible.
I wanted the aerial battle to feel really frantic and out of control, I don't know exactly how well it came across.
And just for a moment, you thought that the good guys (Or at the very least the Atlesian military) had won this round.
So, Pantheon escaped which means that Atlas didn't get it but neither did Project Legacy; which is a dent in Oz's plans.
And at this point I'm sure that most of you have guessed what/who Project Legacy is….we'll meet her properly next chapter; I've still got a fun little twist planned that you won't see coming.
I'm just imaging the Jurassic Park "Must go faster" scene
Plasma, like the shift Arctus's weapon used to fire and is a war crime if it's used against a person….this Grimm spits it.
The Phlegmiurge is based on a Dilophosuarus, because I found out about just how much more they are in the Jurassic Park book than the film; the name is based on the demon 'Demiurge' but Phlegm….'cos it spits.
Team FADE are admittedly fighting dirty as all fuck here, and honestly good for them.
When I was writing the scene with Rhodey and Corona on the roof I kept thinking of the battle for Zion in Matrix Revelations with Rhodium's Paladin as one of those mechs.
I love that Rhodey and Felix were basically both trying to fuck each other over while having to be allies of convenience.
The rest of Team FADE coming in with the nice save.
Felix played smart and called for backup.
Helios's entrances are bad-ass as usual but I feel like Nyanza has grown into a real bad-ass since first year.
So yeah, Team FADE got a win and a happy ending for this one….and Helios's last line was classic Helios.
Okay despite my portrayal of them in this and other chapters I am a militant unionist and fully support every worker unionising.
So Corona is alive, she's missing an arm and her face and chest have got some pretty nasty burn scars but she's alive.
Rhodey and Melanie, face to face for the first time next chapter….this should be good.
Thank you to SumoSnipe, iSassenach, Funlander and DizzyDwarf for their reviews on the last chapter.
Okay, the idea of Team GORE getting their own transport is starting to appeal to me.
All of those cliffhangers got paid off, and now we have new ones.
I feel like the end of Raffia with a head would regrow, although it's not something I'm planning on experimenting with.
As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review.