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Chapter 136: Big Game Hunter

Salem's fortress in the swamplands beyond the Kingdom of New Vale continued to expand and take shape, the living tissue which formed every surface within the Queen of the Grimm's domain contorting itself in increasingly grotesque and disturbing ways. Armoured walls made of thick and fibrous cords of obsidian muscle were encased in thick layers of dull white chitin creating ramparts, sinking into the waterlogged ground marking the outer perimeter of Salem's domain and whilst currently the walls remained below the canopy of dead and diseased trees in order to remain hidden from view this still allowed for several stories, identifiable from the outside by the various sets of thin windows in the outer wall which were filled by a layer of translucently thin skin, pale purple and littered with narrow and pulsating veins.

Salem's domain now reached far below the muddy surface, thick roots and tendrils of Grimm matter than had once simply anchored the mass of living darkness in place having expanded and grown until they had excavated large spaces beneath the riverbed; walls made of bone and flesh kept chambers that would soon fill with Spawning Pits and incubation chambers for freshly spawned monsters. The river itself had been polluted and poisoned until was a foul and blackened liquid from which a constant, pungent violet mist rose whilst a swarm of thousands upon thousands of Rapier Wasps buzzed incessantly as the flitted through the air and below its' surface the water had been infested with all manner of horrific and nightmarish creatures.

Salem's throne however was much as it had been ever since her arrival to the lair which Pantheon had initially carved out, a throne of twisted and ornate bone seated upon an artificial island though what lay beyond it had been altered somewhat; where once there had been muscular tendrils and dozens of smaller Spawning Pits made of Grimm tissue beyond the dais formed by what had once been a river-faring dwelling there was now a vast emptiness. The Spawning Pools had been relocated and instead there was what could only be described as a shallow moat or perhaps small lake which her throne sat at the centre of filled with a roiling and viscous substance, an immense primordial darkness from which the Grimm were made with a single large tentacle like that of some ancient sea-monster forming a bridge from the entrance to Salem's throne room to the throne itself.

Whilst her forces were being birthed and reared elsewhere this Pit, aged into something artificially ancient by an abhorrent union of Salem's own abilities and the powers of the Wizard served a single purpose; to provide the Queen of Grimm the means to experiment and raise more monstrous creatures, a task she sensed that she would soon be required to undertake.

As if in response to her introspection the roof of her domain opened, a disgustingly wet sucking sound followed by a vast jaw-like opening above her stretching wide whilst thick and ropey strands of a mucus-like substance seemed to freeze on contact with the outside air and form a series of perches; looking upwards Salem saw a flock of Nevermore take their places upon those perches whilst, silhouetted against the cold glare of the morning sun Pantheon swooped downwards.

"My Queen" the towering monstrosity snarled as they landed in a bow, speaking in their usual unsettling cacophony that sounded like several voices screaming and roaring as one whilst their wings folded behind their back.

"What news?" Salem demanded expectantly, her voice almost a purr of contentment as she regarded them.

"The enemy remain" Pantheon admitted, conveying their disgust with an expression that Salem found oddly human and articulate considering that the Sentient Grimm had six eyes and a snout rather than a face.

"Small packs were sent during the night, as you commanded" they continued "None were successful, yet the enemy has made no attempt to advance on us"

"I had my suspicions" Salem all but cooed as a sinister smile crossed her face "I don't think that the Kingdoms even know of our domain here, they have their own plots and goals in mind….not that this makes their presence any more tolerable to me"

"I will devour them my Queen" Pantheon assured her, tightening their grip of Flesh-Seeker the living trident

"Of that I have no doubt" Salem's smile widened which only served to make it more twisted and menacing as a flickering crimson light shone from her irises, a manifestation of her arcane powers gathering "But do not be greedy my child….after all, your siblings grow hungry" the walls began to reverberate with her words, the sound of countless snarling monsters and heavy thumping footsteps ascending up from the depths of Salem's fortress sending tremors through the ground and the very air itself as with a single command issued into a select branch of the vast swathe of Grimm Hive Mind that Salem controlled a tide of nightmares made flesh was spurred into motion.

Salem was far from finished

Pantheon watched in reverent awe as their Queen rose from her throne and strode to the edge of her island dais, a single lithe and porcelain white hand outstretched over the surface of primordial darkness surrounding her. The tentacle that formed a bridge across the lake of of liquefied Grimm tissue contracted and moved aside as if to make room whilst the viscous substance became even more tempestuous as something vast took shape within.

What rose from the surface was monstrous yet Salem regarded it as though it were a masterpiece crafted by the finest artisans which in her mind was in fact close to the truth; this Grimm was one that had never spawned naturally in this iteration of Remnant but that one of her counterparts in another timeline that she had seen was responsible for.

The Geryon

A body perhaps eighty feet long uncoiled and slithered from the Spawning pit, a mass of glistening and jet black scales with a row bone coloured armour plates and serrated spines laid across its' back; much of the Grimm's body was comprised of a long, powerful and serpentine tail which ended in a stinger like that of a scorpion, the other end of the tail however tapered out into something far more unsettling. The torso of the Geryon was largely humanoid despite having four arms with which it crawled and dragged its' gargantuan mass, the limbs were covered in skeletal armour and ended in hooked talons whilst the chest of the monster was emaciated and encased within a thick, armoured ribcage and shoulder-blades rose from its' back like a pair of jagged fins; behind them were a pair of wings, pitiable and atrophied things which remained folded and motionless and were entirely incapable of raising the beast from the ground. The things' head was terrifying, like the torso it was a sickening parody of human; its' jaw distended and gaping and filling with countless rows of teeth, its' nose entirely absent along with its' eyes as midnight black skin as stretched taut over the empty sockets that they should have occupied. The Geryon was not blind though, as from its' scalp grew scores of serpentine Grimm which hissed and spat, each having eyes and fangs of their own.

The Geryon let out a wailing shriek as it emerged from the lake of Grimm tissue and Salem regarded her work in pleased silence for a moment before gesturing to Pantheon.

"Make it look as though they merely disturbed a Spawning Pit….Leave none alive, but give those that hear of the deaths no reason to suspect" Pantheon rose to their full out and stretched their vast wings out, a frenzied bloodlust seeping into every facet of their psyche as they prepared to unleash untold horrors upon Salem's enemies

"As you wish my Queen"

What had appeared to be another of the many shipping containers needed to transport the Survey Teams' equipment was in fact equipped with its' own power supply and kitchen it lacked any of the space needed for camp to have a designated dining area as this had naturally been deemed an impractical use of space; meaning that as Team FADE approached in search of food or at the very least caffeine they were greeted a sizeable group of people who had arrived before them, comprised of a handful of engineers and scientists who seemed content to talk amongst themselves and pay little mind to the hired guns that ate beside them, as difficult as their loud voices and raucous behaviour made that task. The small cluster of mercenaries contained Brick and the leader of the Inedibles caught Team FADE's attention with a whistle

"Finally decided to put in an appearance then did ya? Y'know this isn't a camping trip?"

"Really? But I brought marshmallows and everything dude" Diamond shot back as she rubbed her still bleary eyes, the retort making Brick the subject of his colleagues laughter which he grinned and bore good-naturedly. Felix, suppressing a yawn strolled over to the older man and simply said

"Make sure you've got enough cover on the perimeter, my Team are going to be scouting ahead and getting closer to the river….we wanna head deeper into the swamps to research some things for our thesis" the Lion Faunus's comment almost immediately met with jeers and taunts, seemingly primarily focused on the fact that the word 'thesis' sounded a little too well-spoken for someone in that particular crowd; Brick allowed the rabble to continue for a moment before barking over the top of it

"Alright you animals, give it a rest!" he nudged one of the mercenaries close by "Snowball, go wake up Violet and her people….they can rest but I want 'em awake in case these kids bring a party back with 'em"

"What about Cogs and the tin cans?" the younger mercenary asked, clearly unwilling to wake up Violet presumably due to some previous experience

"No Aura, machines are just extra padding" Brick grunted out before turning his attention back to Felix "You sure you wanna head out alone"

"It's recon work, fewer people makes it easier to stay quiet"

"Fair" Brick nodded "What're you researching" Felix paused for a moment as he once again chose his wording carefully; understanding that if it were spook or unnerve the hired guns around him whilst they were in this wilderness the results could be catastrophic

"Grimm pack activity" he answered in a nonchalant tone "We've got a theory that the Alphas leading Grimm packs and hordes are getting a little bit smarter, we want to find out if it's a result of constant fighting against Hunters around New Vale's settlements doing it or if it's a natural process in their evolution; we want to use the Grimm out here as a reference point because they won't have interacted with people for a long time" there was a heavy silence in the air after Felix finished speaking and the Faunus thought for a moment that the revelation that Creatures of Grimm may be growing more intelligent had concerned them more than he intended, until one hired gun near the back of the crowd called out

"Ya wanna give that speech with backing music next time? Some proper horror movie shit!" the laughter that followed the comment was brief however; Arctus called to Felix and Brick to get their attention and indicated to Doctor Loam and Cogs who approaching them at a brisk pace, the fiery-haired doctor wearing a panicked expression

"What's up?" Brick asked as they drew near

"We were calibrating some of our instruments to take some readings" the doctor panted as she reached them "At first we thought we were seeing seismic activity but it doesn't fit, it's almost organised-"

"Grimm" Brick snarled

"It would seem so I'm afraid" Cog nodded, their voice as always putting Felix in mind of a butler "Possibly a large creature, possibly several small creatures although previous experience would suggest both"

"Okay kids your field trip's cancelled" Brick said bluntly "I need all hands on deck"

"On it" Felix nodded before turning to Doctor Loam "Which way?" she pointed in the direction of the treeline from which small packs of Grimm had been venturing ever since the Survey Team's arrival and the Faunus unsheathed his weapons and sprinted, Team FADE following suit without a word until the four of them reached the fence that marked the perimeter of their encampment and realised that it be of no use at all against a tide of Grimm.

Seconds passed at a torturous crawl and both Felix and Arctus strained their ears, both of them sharing a look as the first snarls in the distance reached their ears; when the sound of trees seemingly being ripped aside could be heard Arctus, Diamond and Eagle deployed their own weapons; though the Grimm still didn't emerge

"They're waiting, gonna hit us all in one big go….think you might be right about 'em getting smarter" Brick grunted as he and Cog wheeled one of the Inedibles larger artillery pieces into place; a hefty thing fitted with four high calibre Gatling guns, a small amount of Dust-powered rockets and a thick blast shield

"Vee's got half of the crew guarding the civvies and taking up vantage points for anything that gets passed us, they're all bunkered down" the mercenary informed the students "The other half of the crew are spread out on the perimeter, they're gonna be line-breaking and slowing the Grimm down enough for the Knights to light 'em up with the big guns"

"Sounds like a good-" Eagle's words were lost below the sound of a piercing wail as trees were ripped aside and a monstrous serpentine form with a vaguely humanoid upper body came rampaging into view, much of its' mass tearing a ditch into the ground behind it as it dragged itself along on its' four arms.

"What the fuck is that?" Brick demanded, appalled at the sight of the Geryon which existed entirely outside of the scope of his knowledge

"About to be dead" Felix growled as he brought Hack and Slash roaring into life; the sound of the whirred blades drowned out by the roars and howls of a tide of hundreds of Grimm that poured from the trees as a single unified force intending to deliver a hammer blow.

"You've got a plan, stick to it!" Felix ordered, suddenly authoritative as he pointed to the Geryon "We'll can handle that thing"

Team FADE sprung into action and acted on pure instinct refined by years of training.

Diamond cut down Grimm by the dozen as the four of them charged and weaved through the sea of snapping jaws, coming to a faltering and uncertain halt as the shadow of the Geryon loomed over her, her cherry red eyes widened and all sound seemed to simply fall away as time slowed and her breathing became shallow; her mind racing back to the previous summer and the battle against the Hydrakken and the moment she had lost her arm.

"DEE MOVE!" Arctus's voice screaming warnings at her managed to bring some degree of control and the sniper came to her senses to just as the first of the serpentine Grimm that were rooted in the titanic monsters' skull like braided hair came rushing towards her, hissing as it did so.

Her glaive cut away the head of the snake and she leapt and rolled aside from the others as the Geryon chased after her, shifting Lex Talionis into its' sniper-rifle form and taking the heads of several more snakes as she went.

Athletic as she was her Aura-fuelled muscles had their limits and she simply could not outrun the vast creature; though its' attempt to strike her with one of its' monstrous clawed hands failed as Arctus sprung into action. A series of Glyphs manifested around her, each of them comprised of a shimmering darkness as the Bear Faunus infused them with Gravity Dust which allowed Diamond to leap further away from the Geryon as she used her Semblance to land and balance on platforms positioned at odd angles. The Geryon thrashed and swung its' skeletal limbs until Arctus launched a counter offensive in earnest and created a gigantic summoning Glyph which expanded from his outstretched palm and created something which left Diamond's mouth hanging open as she landed beside her fiancée; Arctus had taken one of the Hydrakkens' three heads and it was that draconic skull and neck that burst forth and collided with the Geryon with earthshaking force.

The battle between the real and conjured Grimm was titanic but brief.

The Hydrakken head bit and snapped at the Geryon, its' skeletal armour audibly snapping and cracking until the massive Grimm managed to clutch at its' opponents' skull with all four of its' arms before bringing its' massive tail overhead and driving its' stinger downwards; destroying the construct entirely and allowing the Geryon to return its' attention to the Hunters.

A clawed hand rushed over Diamond and Arctus with a howling rush of air, yet the pair were spared from being ripped apart by a golden comet colliding with them and tackling them to the ground

"You good?" Felix demanded

"Yeah dude" Diamond managed to nod, gasping for breath

"Where's Eagle?" Arctus demanded, to which Felix wordlessly pointed upwards just as the Geryon let out another piercing shriek of pain; Eagle could be be seen atop the Grimm having used her Semblance to fly onto the its' skull, where Sentinel's claws allowed her to keep her balance whilst she cut away the twisting and biting serpents that allowed the monster to see, slowly blinding it piece by piece.

"Diamond take its' tail out and try and distract it" Felix barked "Arctus, fast-ball me at it!" the pair nodded in agreement, realising that Team FADE's traditional method of dealing with larger Grimm, namely hurling Felix at them would be suitable in this instance.

They sprung into action once again; Diamond switching to her own specially made rounds, featuring a mix of Ice and Gravity Dust crystals which froze large surface areas and promptly caught the attention of the Geryon as its' tail stinger was encased in ice and frost. Eagle removed the last of the snake-like appendages from the Grimms' skull on leapt away, shifting into her avian form as she fell whilst Arctus created a Glyph that would propel Felix skywards; struggling to aim properly as the monster thrashed and shrieked in blind fury.

Eventually he did so however and Felix rocketed upwards, body transitioning first into its' Balrog state and then being engulfed in blue-tinged flames as the Aura regulator in his prosthetic tail engaged.

He collided with the roof of the Geryon's screaming and distended mouth and felt the unsettling sensation of travelling through boiling flesh for a fraction of second before bursting from the back of its' skull and sailing to the ground where he landed in a crouch with contrails of ebony mist trailing around him.

A primal roar filled the air and caused Felix along with his team to turn towards its' source and see that the Grimm horde had been largely pushed back, skilled fighters and heavy weapons having torn through their numbers; the sound itself had been uttered by Brick who stabbed at Beowolves pouncing at him with his hunting knife in one hand whilst firing a pistol-gripped shotgun into the face of another as he stood back to back with Cogs upon the upturned remains of their artillery piece, the robot firing its own shotgun into the face on an Ursa.

"Come on!" Felix called and, despite his own sudden weariness they charged into the remaining Grimm; dragging the monsters away from Brick and Cog's position and dispatching them with ease.

"Watch a lot of John Mango movies by any chance?" Diamond panted out as she physically sagged and almost collapsed onto the damaged artillery piece, struggling to catch her breath as it became apparent that the battle was almost over; fuelled by pure adrenaline Brick let out a hysterical laugh in response

"Watch 'em? Not sure if you've noticed but we live in one! We're the Inedibles!" he barked out that declaration and a cheer went up from his fellow mercenaries, Brick turned his attention back to Team FADE and chuckled "Tell you what though, you four definitely know what you're-"

There was no warning

Cogs was flung backwards, a bone coloured trident embedded in the robots' chest and before Brick or Team FADE could aim their weapons and fire and monstrous winged shape had swooped low and seized the damaged robot and soared back into the air. Team FADE saw a pair of vast wings keeping the Grimm aloft, a pair of humanoid lower arms and upper limbs with horrific scything claws which each grasped a limb whilst a clawed tail reached around and clutched at Cogs's cranium and in a single jerking movement and a shower of sparks the robot was simply torn apart and reduced to a rain of falling debris before the Grimm that had destroyed him soared away and vanished into the trees.

Team FADE's blood ran cold as they realised that Pantheon was here and leading the Grimm.

Qrow was currently in his apartment within Halo Academy which naturally served as the latest iteration of his lair like base of operations; though the ageing Hunter found that in some strange and hard to define way the task of safeguarding Remnant from the shadows felt more heroic and less seedy or underhanded when it was orchestrated from the living room of an apartment where his work colleagues, old friends nieces and daughter could easily visit rather than in a hidden basement lair above a home that was truthfully little more than a disguise in service of normality.

Currently the veteran Huntsman was sat within his many-legged chair and grading papers, something which had been nothing but an irritation during his first tenure as a teacher but now seemed to give him a genuine sense of calmness and enjoyment which had come as a pleasant surprise upon joining the staff of Halo Academy; despite some initial difficulties and misgivings it seemed that Qrow had become a welcome and appreciated addition to the faculty, capable of pushing his students to achieve more than they believed possible and having a wealth of experience to draw upon and assist them in any matters that they approached him with but in and outside of the classroom.

The absence of the Fourth Year students had allowed him to remain in his apartment later into the morning, though he had resisted the urge to simply wear a dressing gown until his presence was required elsewhere and whilst he scanned the pages that his students had submitted, being impressed by the sheer ruthlessness of one of the Atlesian transfer students and taking note of their name so that Gangrel Slate and Ciel Soleil could monitor them for either a place in the Specialist Branch or to see if their belligerent tendencies manifested themselves in any inappropriate ways he also kept half an eye on his vast supercomputer set-up the entire time; Team NEON were acting as his eyes, ears and hands in a mission below the city which he would gladly have taken himself were he still able and whilst Helios had made contact with him the evening before he expected to hear from the students again before midday.

He couldn't help the sigh that escaped him at the thought of returning to the field again and the impossibility of the idea, even if his legs and spine had been able to be healed completely his battle against Nickel Polendina had proved to him that he was simply passed his prime; the thought was an uncomfortable one and sent pangs of sorrow through him as he stared at Harbinger which was mounted on the wall as through it were a display piece, a muted growl of discontent he decided to get rid of the weapon and thought that he would most likely give it to either Ruby or Eagle.

His thoughts were soon interrupted by the sound of his Scroll and crimson eyes narrowed in suspicion a fraction upon realising that the video call was from Felix rather than Helios, knowing that his great-nephew would not contact him whilst on a mission unless it were important Qrow quickly brought his mechanical chair in front of the many screens of his computer and transferred the call to it.

Felix's face came into view and the older man quickly studied it and everything else in frame for any clue as to what had happened, orders were being barked in the background and Qrow could see an Atlesian Knight being carried away, unmoving despite suffering no visible damage whilst Felix's face and clothes were spattered with mud and the young man wore the weary expression and sported the dry, flaking skin that came immediately after the use of his Semblance.

Evidently they had been attacked by something

"Uncle Qrow" Felix's tone betrayed a fear that the Faunus rarely ever displayed "Pantheon's here….and I think they might have a Spawning Pit"

"You're sure?" Qrow demanded quickly, he trusted Felix implicitly regardless of whatever tensions occasionally arose between them but if Pantheon was present in the wilderness then it forced the older man to rearrange his theories and suspicions; what was the connection between the swamplands and whatever it was that Salem, if she had indeed returned and her proxies were planning inside the city.

"Yeah I'm sure" Felix breathed out, exhaustion weighing heavily on every syllable "About ten feet tall, too many claws, wings, chest like an armoured-wedge and carries a trident….Everyone else on Team FADE has seen it before, I was dealing with Nickel at the time"

"Damn it….casualties?"

"None yet" Felix assured him "But we're in trouble"

"What happened?" Qrow asked, intrigued and afraid in equal measure

"Grimm attack since we got here, small packs nothing out of the ordinary….then a horde came, timed and co-ordinated attack with some big Grimm that I've never seen before leading it; like a four armed snake centaur would be the best way to describe it. We held the line, then Pantheon took out Cogs….the Atlesian Knight acting as a command unit for the others-"

"And now the other Knights are useless" Qrow surmised, seeing Felix nod he asked another question which he dreaded the answer to "How many people do you have?"

"Couple dozen" Felix answered with a shake of the head "And they're good but….this isn't what they signed up for; plus we have non-combatants with us" Qrow massaged his temples and considered his options.

"You're calling for an evac?" he asked, surprisingly Felix shook his head and stunned his great-uncle even further when he gave the kind of feisty smirk that Yang had often admired on Blake

"No" he chuckled "I'm calling you to say Team FADE have got a plan, we're just gonna need you to call in some favours for us" Qrow couldn't help but be awed at the boys' gall and gave a grin of his own.

"Tell me what you need" he quickly gave a stern glare "And for Oum's sake don't get yourself killed….I never want to have to make that call to Yang and Blake"

"You wanna tell me what the fuck is going on kid?" Brick's voice trembled with anger is he stomped towards Team FADE with a face like thunder; the four students had gathered in what was nominally the portable laboratory that the Survey Team would conduct their work in though at present much of the equipment had been removed or repurposed and the admittedly confined space was serving as an impromptu workshop where Team FADE made last minute repairs to their weapons and armour, with Diamond and Eagle being assisted by Doctor Loam who had dismantled several pieces of her teams' equipment. The students guessed that the current state of affairs was a large part of the reason why the head of the Inedibles had approached them and were proven correct by his next words

"I just got finished loading up the last of the Atlesian Knights and splitting their ammunition stockpile down for the crew….only to be told by a pilot that we're breaking camp, which is definitely not an order that I gave!"

"Brick, they're Hunters and they think that the level of Grimm infestation is more than we're prepared for" Loam explained, stepping forwards before any of the students could answer though this only seemed to infuriate the now red-faced man further

"They're not Hunters they're fucking students!" he barked, glowering at Felix over the doctors' shoulder "I thought we spoke about this last night? My fifteen years of experience against your few years in a classroom sunshine, who do you think you are giving the order pack up an evac?"

"The expert here" Felix snarled, suddenly matching the older mans' anger as he strode towards him; the atmosphere electric and airless as Doctor Loam planted herself between the two of them.

"This is not your average Grimm attack" the Lion Faunus stated bluntly "None of us have seen anything like that big Grimm, neither have any of the Professors at Halo….I'm almost certain, and they agree that there's a Spawning Pit in that swamp"

"Yeah no shit!" Brick shot back angrily "Of course there is, you thought my people have never dealt with a pit before so went over my head and called your teachers?"

"It's more complicated than that" Arctus interjected, clamping down on Felix's shoulder and trying to regain some semblance of order "It relates to our thesis" Brick paused for a moment and took a step back whilst visibly restraining himself from hitting the Faunus as he searched for the words to convey his utter contempt

"What? You think there's some kind of super intelligent Grimm out there?"

"We don't think Dude, we know" Diamond answered bluntly as she met Brick's gaze with an unflinching glare of her own "You saw it, the one that took Cogs out; or are you gonna tell us you've seen anything like that before….And I don't just mean what it looked like, I mean a Grimm that picks it's targets, uses a weapon and makes a tactical retreat like that"

"I mean- wait….Fuck" Brick fell silent as he took a moment to process the information, realising that what had seemed entirely rational in the heat of battle was in fact absurd simply because of how rational it was, the Creatures of Grimm were not capable of battlefield tactics beyond stalking, surrounding or simply overwhelming their prey according to all that was known about them.

"We've seen that Grimm before" Felix added, far quieter now as he used Brick's momentarily concerned and hushed state to explain further "Not just another one like it, the same one….it's intelligent, some sort of Grimm leader that moves from place to place and I know that it sounds crazy-"

"You're fucking right it does" Brick breathed out

"But we've seen it" Felix reasserted "It led an attack on New Vale itself and the attack on Arcadia….it took my sisters' eye out; this thing is why Team FADE's thesis is what it is; nobody knows what it is or just smart it is, hell there could be more of that thing"

"Sweet Oum" the mercenary could manage no more than a stunned whisper.

"We've gotta pull out Brick" Doctor Loam implored "A Spawning Pit is already dangerous….I know I'm not a Hunter but I know enough to understand that; we've already lost the Knights with Cogs being destroyed, if this Grimm is as intelligent as they think it is and it has a Spawning Pit at it's disposal-"

"We could be under constant attack for our entire time here by an enemy with unlimited bodies to throw at us, either a wave of Grimm hits us or they pick us off piece by piece until we're out of supplies" Arctus added as she trailed off; a proposition that made Brick visibly shudder as he considered it.

"Okay" he finally relented, the urge to fight seeming to leave him in a single defeated sigh "I'll call the head office and make sure they understand the situation; not the first time I've had to tell 'em a job's a bust….get your bags ready and we can be up and out of here-"

"We're not leaving just yet" Felix interrupted "Team FADE are gonna head into the swamp….now that we know that Grimm is here the research we were going to carry out is even more important"

"I might agree with you on that" Brick answered through clenched teeth "But you're gonna get yourselves killed, along with my crew-"

"Your crew stay here" Felix countered "Get the Survey Team loaded up and into transports. I told you we already contacted the Academy, we've got a plan….just trust us on this" Brick let out an irritable sound before examining the equipment that Doctor Loam, Diamond and Eagle had been working on repurposing and recognising several key components; he finally nodded in understanding.

"Doc finish up here and tell your team I want them in transports within the hour" he turned to Team FADE "Make this quick….And good luck out there"

The sun had already passed its' zenith by the time Team FADE had made their way into the swamplands and it had taken them longer still to make any serious headway as they fought against constant attacks from small packs of Grimm which seemed to be stalking through the foliage looking for them as though they had been warned of the Hunters' approach in advance as well as the terrain itself, all whilst trying to remain unseen and unheard in their attempts to track down their quarry.

A lone Creep, skittering through the mud and hissing and clicking as it went suddenly collapsed to the ground, its' head sheared neatly from its' body as Eagle shifted from her avian form back to her own body after flitting down form the branch of a deadened tree and slashed at is' neck in a single fluid motion; without hesitation she ducked behind another tree and motioned for her team-mates to move in.

Above her Diamond moved through the branches of the lifeless trees, a barely seen wraith as she stalked from one vantage point to the next whilst down on the ground Arctus and Felix trudged and slunk closer, the Lion Faunus visibly weary after using his Semblance against the Geryon and both of them caked in mud from both fighting against the Grimm and having to crawl through dense and near impassable foliage. The four of them regrouped, with Diamond using her Semblance to hang inverted from a tree branch

"We must be near the river" Felix noted, the comment directed towards Diamond "I can hear it from here"

"Yeah it's up ahead; I can see it from tree tops" the sniper confirmed "I think I can see where the Spawning Pit is but I'm not sure….there's a weird purple mist around it, my scope can't get a solid look"

"How far out?" Arctus murmured cautiously; their plan depended on drawing out Pantheon and trespassing into what the Grimm evidently considered their territory would certainly be an effective way to do so but the four of them were by no means equipped to deal with the contents of a Spawning Pit should it be levelled against them in its' entirety.

"A few miles" Diamond answered simply

"Well let's hope there's just the one" Eagle added, Felix nodded in silent agreement and motioned for the four of them to continue; sending Diamond back into the trees whilst he, Arctus and Eagle spread out through the lifeless and desolate terrain, encountering nothing living until they reached the river which flowed through the swamp and instantly knew that Styx and Stones Industrials' hope to use it as a water supply for the settlement they hoped to build was a lost cause; the water that flowed was dark and cloudy and rippling as miniscule Grimm slithered beneath it and briefly breached its' surface.

Then a louder and instantly recognisable reached Team FADE's ears

"Grimm" Felix breathed out, keeping his voice barely above a whisper as a pack of several dozen large Beowolves came into view, carrying themselves on their hind legs as they waded through chest-deep and filthy water whilst behind them were a handful of lumbering Ursa, the Grimm moved in something loosely resembling a formation; providing indisputable proof that these monsters were acting under the influence of Pantheon and that the intelligent Grimm was searching for them, Felix decided that it was time to act.

"Eagle" he breathed out "You know what to do" his partner nodded silently and released her shield, allowing Sentinel to deploy. The whirring and clanking of mechanical components shifting into place was enough to draw the Grimm's attention yet it was far too late for them to react; Sentinel aimed their compact mini-gun and opened fire on the monsters with explosive rounds whilst at the same time deploying his claws on their retractable claws directly into the river and unleashing a devastating electrical charge;

the results were cataclysmic, the surrounding area was filled with howls and roars of dying Grimm and blinding light which was followed by a tense and heavy silence permeating the air.

Second ticked by slowly

"Here they are" Felix whispered as the sound of powerful wingbeats and avian shrieking pierced the silence; they had made their way to the river so that they would have time to see their target coming and there was no chance in the Lion Faunus's mind that the rapidly approaching dark shapes could be anything other than Pantheon and the flock of Nevermore that followed them.

"Eagle, Arctus you're on air-support, Diamond get ready to take the shot; I'll deal with Pantheon" Felix barely managed to finish giving the orders before Pantheon dove and hurtled towards them with a roar. Arctus deployed Grimmiger-Henker in its' twin laser-cannon form and opened fire on the Nevermore whilst summoning flying Grimm of his own to keep them from attacking; Eagle took to the air with the use of her own Semblance and leapt from one Nevermore to the next, slashing and stabbing as she went whilst Sentinel turned his weapon skyward.

Felix and Pantheon simply struck each other with earthshaking force.

The monstrous Grimm found their momentum robbed as the Faunus collided with them, what little Aura Felix had recovered in the few hours since their last encounter blazing around him like golden fire as his Semblance made him an unstoppable force.

"DIE!" the Grimm bellowed as they rose to their feet, water cascading around them as they unfurled their powerful wings and charged again with their living trident outstretched, Felix rushed in and ducked under the stabbing attack before grasping the legs of the Grimm and with a grunt of exertion lifting them overhead and slamming them into the ground and delivering several punishing blows to Pantheon's skull and torso that fractured their bony carapace before their clawed tail whipped around and grasped at Felix's back, throwing them aside.

"DIAMOND NOW!" Felix roared as he sprung back to his feet and saw that Pantheon was still struggling to rise; the sniper came into view in a blur of motion and fired a single shot which bored into the upper section of one of the monsters' limbs in a spray of viscous black ichor.

"NOW! GO, GO!" Felix continued to bark orders, even as Pantheon's tissue began to stitch itself back together though in a way that was far less rapid than what they had once been capable of.

A cacophony of roars and primal screams filled the air and the force of stampeding monsters shook the ground as trees could be seen splintering in the direction that Diamond had stated that the Spawning Pit lay.

"Come on!" Arctus added grabbing Felix and dragging his exhausted cousin along by the shoulder whilst at the same time using his Semblance to create a large Glyph directly above Pantheon in an attempt to keep the Grimm held in place.

They had achieved their goal and all that remained now was to evacuate.

"Brick we need to go" the pilots' voice wavered with fear

"Not yet" the reply came as a terse and clipped dismissal whilst the head mercenary drummed his fingers against the controls of the still-grounded transport in nervous agitation.

Brick had contacted the upper management of Sticks and Stones Industrial and explained the situation to them, whilst initially reluctant to sacrifice a mission which represented a considerable expenditure they had eventually seen reason upon having the severity of the situation explained to them; plans to build a settlement on behalf of the Schnee Dust Company so that they could mine a newly discovered Dust vein would likely be redrawn to account for the reality in the ground, meaning that to some very limited extent the mission had been a successful information gathering exercise; more importantly however the mission had been cancelled and the company had accepted the advice of both the student Hunters and the Hired Guns under their employment and decided to abandon the area. Currently Brick and a lone pilot who had volunteered to stay behind were the only occupants of the last remaining transport; the head mercenary had ordered Violet to take command of the rest of the Inedibles and ensure that Doctor Loam and her Survey Team were escorted to safety and as he watched the small fleet of aircraft depart Brick had promised himself that when he returned home he would ask the Doctor out to dinner and recommend the pilot beside him for a promotion.

There Grimm had made no move to attack and it was, as much as Brick despised the cliché too quiet.

He had expected the sound of Dust engines and turbines roaring into life to attract a fresh horde of Grimm as he refused to believe that what had attacked them a few hours ago was the entirety of what lurked in the swamps; he had expected his mercenaries to have to fight tooth and nail to ensure that the transports made it into the air and for the pilots to be dogged and harried by flocks of winged horrors yet none of it had come, now over an hour later the silent stillness had become more terrifying than the howls of the Grimm.

"Brick" the pilot insisted, their own nerve beginning to fail them "We can't stay here indefinitely; sitting here with the engines idle uses Dust and we need to make sure we've got enough fuel and I can't kill the engines entirely in case we need to make a quick exit"

"I get that" Brick nodded, shaking his head as he added in a firm tone "But we're not going anywhere without the students" the pilots' expression darkened and he turned away as he offered his nest suggestion, eyes downcast

"What if they're not coming" it was an idea that Brick had considered, as unpalatable as it was and simply dismissed out of hand; Team FADE knew what they were doing and that was that.

A few moments later he was proven at least somewhat correct as the ground began to shake with the force of countless paws and hooves stampeding in a unified direction whilst a vast flock of Grimm rose above the trees like a great cloud of pure darkness.

"THERE!" Brick pointed to four instantly recognisable figures that had burst from the treeline, sprinting as fast as Aura-fuelled muscles could carry them; the first members of a tide of Grimm several thousand strong trailing several dozen feet behind them, snapping hungrily; the mercenary saw Felix gesturing wildly and understood

"Get us airborne!" he snapped at the pilot "Get moving and open the hatches! They're coming to us!"

"On it!" the transport lurched and hovered for a brief second before its' modified landing gear retracted and the craft began to climb, the pilot not daring to push the machine to its' full capacity lest they inadvertently leave Team FADE behind.

Brick stepped out of the cockpit and into the rear of the craft which was more intended for cargo than passengers, which luckily featured a rear access hatch; the hatch opened and the wind howled around the hired gun as the transport steadily picked up speed and flew close to the ground, barely a dozen feet above it

"COME ON!" he yelled as he drew a pair of large and powerful pistols from holsters at his hips and began opening fire, each shot ripping through the skull of a Grimm intending to pounce, dive or charge into one of the students until, finally the four of them made it.

Eagle was the first to reach the transport, using her Semblance to swoop inside and collapse to the ground gasping and panting for breath as she reverted back to her natural state in a flash of pure white Aura; next were Diamond and Felix, propelled and carried by mobile platforms formed from Arctus's Glyphs even as the Bear Faunus seemed to flag, his exhaustion visible in the pained look upon his face

"COME ON!" Diamond yelled, taking up a firing position beside Brick and picking off a Grimm that made to leap onto her partners' back; with his Aura flickering around him Arctus pushed the last of his strength into a summoning a construct, the Nevermore was large enough to carry him and brought the Bear Faunus into the rear of the transport before it shattered and vanished; Diamond pulled him to safety whilst Brick looked out at the hundreds of Grimm tearing through the sky as they gave chase

"GET US OUT OF HERE!" he barked to the pilot as he closed the rear hatch, a moment later he was forced to clutch onto overhead railings to keep his balance as the sudden rush of acceleration threatened to topple him.

"Please" he gasped out, turning to Team FADE "Please tell me that you at least got what you were looking for and you didn't just give me grey hairs for no reason"

"I think so, definitely a Spawning Pit at the very least" Felix nodded before turning to Diamond "You got the signal?" the silver haired woman produced her Scroll and gave a small nod and a wide smile of satisfaction before explaining once she saw the look of confusion on Brick's face.

"We turned some of the Survey Teams' equipment into trackers and placed them inside my ammunition….Managed to get a direct hit on that Grimm with the trident, wherever its' broadcasting a signal that's being transmitted to a warship that's already en-route"

"Sweet fucking Oum" Brick couldn't help but give an exhausted and almost hysterical laugh in response to that information "And apparently I'm the one who lives in action movie"

"You've got no idea Dude" Diamond chuckled

"Seriously" Felix laughed wearily "This isn't even in our top five" Brick saw that the students were serious and found himself wondering just what exactly was being taught at the academies' these days that produced such insane students.

The sound of the gaping maw that formed the roof of Salem's fortress stretching open caused the Queen of Grimm to direct her gaze upwards where she saw the lone form of Pantheon descending towards her until they finally crashed down to the dais before her in a graceless approximation of a bow and as Salem regarded them she saw that her general was injured, in addition to the obvious absence of the flock of Grimm that followed them Pantheon's bone-white armour was cracked and fractured in several places whilst their upper right arm hung limp and motionless, the sight caused her to purse her lips and let out a small noise off annoyance

"What news Pantheon?" she asked, voice even and emotionless as she braced herself for the worst

"I have done as you commanded my Queen" they answered, wings folding away as they rose to their full height and puffed out their chest in a prideful display

"The enemy has fled" they continued, each of the multitude of voices they spoke with dripping with satisfaction "The Geryon was lost but they have fled, some of the Hunters attempted to creep into your domain but they were sent running and cowering, I saw to that myself"

"You've done well" Salem purred, though her smile was a half-hearted one as something seemed wrong somehow; Hunters were a resourceful and resilient bunch and many had stood their ground and fought against worse odds over the decades, many of them achieving measures of success that disgusted her.

And then she heard it.

A dull beeping sound, rhythmic and regular and as Salem honed in on the source of the sound she found herself staring at a spot on Pantheon's wounded limb where a blue light could be seen flashing in time with the sound.

"YOU FOOL!" she screamed as she flew from her throne and seized Pantheon's arm, tearing it open and plunging her hand into the obsidian flesh to rip the offending device free, inhuman eyes widening in horror as knowledge taken from Ozymandias Eldritch allowed her to see the small, beeping tracker for what it was.

Then an explosion outside of her fortress shook the ground and set both Salem and Pantheon staggering

"THEY USED YOU! YOU FOOL, THEY FOLLOWED YOU HERE!" Salem screamed as the shadow of the warship attacking her domain fell over her as the massive vessel blotted out the sky above them.

Salem realised that her fortress was lost and simply grabbed Pantheon and dragged her general to her throne with inhuman strength; black, fleshy tendrils sprouted from the dais and coiled around the throne before growing armoured plates, resulting in a pulsating and grotesque parody of a seed pod.

The warship above was the Tempest, piloted by Dew Gayl of Team NDGO and with a single order she rained fire and destruction down upon Salem's fortress until nothing remained and laid the creatures of Grimm that spawned to defend their territory faster than they could fully form or hope to react.

She would be sure to report exactly what they had found to Qrow Branwen.

Authors Notes:

You know it's not over, you know it's not that easy…..which once again begs the question, if I'm letting you have this much hope; what's coming.
Three chapters left of this volume.
Next chapter won't actually feature Team FADE, it'll be happening at the same time that this chapter was and will follow the other teams.
Then we've got our big volume finale chapter and wrap up chapter; brace yourselves.

But anyway, let's summarise shall we?
Salem's fortress was, as always just a great chance for me to get my grim-dark out of my system; although I did take care to put a reason in place for why Team FADE never saw the fortress itself (Distance and the mist/cloud covering it)
The idea of Salem having her throne in the middle of a lake of liquid Grimm is great and you know it.
Salem knows that if the Kingdoms knew she was there then they would have sent a lot more than that.
I liked the idea of her using ideas that other Salem's from the other timelines she saw tried to create new kinds of Grimm that don't exist in this Remnant.
The Geryon is a monster from Greek mythology, I googled and got a few pictures of different depictions of it, then mixed those with the stereotypical idea of Medusa….Enjoy.
Don't use overly complex terminology or sound too much like a student in front of blue-collar workers, we'll think you're a cunt.
Don't wake up anyone who was on the night-shift before 2pm if you enjoy having teeth.
"Ya wanna give that speech with backing music next time? Some proper horror movie shit!" is exactly the sort of nonchalant reaction that Team FADE want from people who aren't in the know.
Oh you know it's gonna be bad when the Grimm horde registers as a small earthquake.
The first Grimm hiding just out of view until they had back up….I was tempted to make a Jurassic Park "Clever girl" joke there.
I felt like I'd be slacking if I didn't have Diamond freeze for at least a second there.
Arctus pulling out the Hydrakken head summon is something I was debating using much earlier in the volume but I decided against it.
The whole Hydrakken could have beaten the Geryon but not one head….Also I think I'm gonna go against giving the Hydrakken head the ability to use the radiation breath attack; although I'm not 100% on that yet.
Eagle is a certified bad-ass simple as that….Think she should get a Geryon tattoo on her other arm since Hellion gave her a Hydrakken tattoo on one?
When in doubt Yeet Felix.
Brick and Cogs went full 80s action movie with it….in my head Brick had already taken his shirt off and worn it as a bandanna for no particular reason at this point.
John Mango….that's callback to Downward Spiral, 'cos Coco was a fan of those movies.
Oh you thought you were getting a free win? Nah lol, that's cogs gone and remember how I said last chapter that Cogs was a command unit for the other robots; if Cogs goes down so do the others.
I was actually gonna give a description of Qrow's apartment and include photos of him with Tea STRQ/Yang & Ruby at both of their weddings, baby Felix and Corvid….so yeah, it's there I just couldn't make it the scene flow right with it.
A recommendation from Qrow will probably get you a spot in the Specialist Branch.
Yeah no matter how nice his chair is, what happened to Qrow is gonna hurt him and make him confront his own mortality and age in a way that nothing else did….but also, who would you want to have Harbinger?
Felix has the least experience with Pantheon, I had to go back and check to see if the rest of Team FADE had actually met the beast and they have, in Vol.8 but that's when Felix was fighting Nickel.
Oh Yang is definitely the product of being raised by Team RWBY; Blake and Yang for parents, Aunt Ruby and honorary Aunt Weiss who he visited over the summer.
Okay Felix may be in the right, but also never go over someone's head unless you're prepared to deal with the fallout from it.
"We don't think Dude, we know" it was at that moment Brick knew, he'd fucked up.
Brick saw sense, because nothing annoys me more than background characters that exist to drive a plot by means of their own sheer stupidity.
Notice that at no point did Team FADE refer to Pantheon by name, because if it's a named individual then it's something entirely different to just a smarter Grimm.
We need to see more of the Hunters actually hunting and using stealth tactics in RWBY, Blake would be great at it.
Beowolves don't walk on their hind legs and don't move in formation; that's a definite sign that Pantheon is giving the orders.
Sentinel dealt with that easily, because at this point small packs of Grimm are just not a challenge.
Felix wouldn't have won that fight, but at the same time he was never really trying to.
Props to anyone who figured out that it was a tracker Diamond fired into Pantheon from the little hints I dropped.
Also, Pantheon heals slower now because they don't have their fossilised Grimm heart to give them auto regeneration.
"It's quiet, too quiet"
The scene of Team FADE bursting out of the trees was inspired by Jurassic Park 3 and 28 Weeks Later.
Dramatically duel wielding pistols as he shoots out of the back of an escaping transport….Brick really is an action hero.
Arctus and Diamond cover each other so often it's just a given that it'll happen in any given mission.
And that was the favour they needed Qrow to call in, to get a warship out there and home in on the tracker Diamond buried in Pantheon.
Pantheon really puffed their chest out and thought they'd achieved something.
The beeping and pulling the tracker out, that's definitely a movie trope I just don't know the name for it
I had it be Dew Gayl's warship "The Tempest" for three reasons a) it's been mentioned plenty of times in the story. b) Dew is pretty much confirmed to be one of Qrow's people even if she isn't one of his inner circle like Ruby. c) I never miss a chance to make Dew Gayl a bad-ass, its one of the tropes I've used since Downward Spiral.
So….that might look like it was a heavy blow; but those of you who read Downward Spiral know how Salem travels from location to location and that she's gonna be a lot harder to kill than that.

Thank you to SumoSnipe and Funlander for their reviews on the last chapter.
You're right, Ruby swiped the binder from Weiss; I haven't actually watched Vol.2 in a while and forgot.
Yeah they were fucking like rabbits….but come on, they share a room with two other people, Arctus has younger siblings and Diamond lives in an apartment with parents who literally worked in black-ops; these two have learned to not get caught.
Yeah Whitley is kinda the least important Schnee unless someone needs to cough up ludicrous amounts of Dust, funding or shake down the press.
Harder Daddy was too obvious, besides it's nice for someone to apologise to Pyrrha for a change.
15% of an industrial sized Dust haul is still a killing though and Car knows it.

As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review