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Chapter 160: Into Darkness
"What the hell are these things?" Arctus demanded through clenched teeth as he grappled with one of the latest wave of Grimm to fall upon them "I've never seen any Grimm like this!"
"Well we were in all the same classes so I'm not sure what you want me to tell you!" Felix shot back irritably from some distance away as he launched a flying kick at his own Grimm before using its' face as a springboard to back-flip onto the upturned form of the Lightning Bug and drive Hack and Slash down into to the beasts' neck and carve away its' skull; an impressive feat considering that the trembling of the ground had left the upturned chassis rattling uncontrollably.
They were facing Salem's Gargoyles; the hulking monstrosities had struck the bleak desolate and desolate ground like falling boulders and cratered it as they tucked their bat-like wings close to their bodies and hurtled downwards with thunderous crashes rather than truly flying; catching Team FADE off guard as the leapt from the ramparts and parapets of Salem's fortress in their dozens before the Hunters could ever hope to truly get close to it and displaying a level of tenacity and prowess that had shocked them further still, each Gargoyle being closer to an Alpha Grimm or something similar in its' own right.
Team FADE pushed on however and without wasting time replying to Felix's comment Arctus continued to grapple with a lone Gargoyle, being surprised as the lumbering beast managed to match him in strength and even begin to overpower him until he adjusted his strategy; he'd been fighting the way he tended to and displaying a modicum of respect for his opponent that was entirely wasted on them and instead used the sort of approach his father, who had learned to fight in much less forgiving circumstances had taught him, headbutting the Gargoyle directly in the face before unsheathing his weapon and shifting it into its' laser cannon mode and shooting the Grimm in the gut, beams of light bursting through its' back.
Three more were on him in an instant, wings unfurling as they bounded towards him to they could hurtle forwards even faster yet Arctus remained unflinching and simply shifted his weight and braced himself despite the ongoing tremors as he transformed Grimmiger-Henker into its' sword form before rushing out to meet the closest of the trio; letting out a wordless war-cry and manifesting a Glyph in the air to use as a stepping stone and leaping over the top of the Gargoyle as it lunged at him, kicking downwards and sending it crashing to the ground before driving his broad-sword through its' back. He rose to his feet again and saw that the two remaining Gargoyles had once again shown a level of intelligent and had split up to flank him.
The were both neatly bisected by a pure white blur of movement.
"I got 'em!" Eagle called out as she skidded to a halt with her black-bladed sword trailing behind her; the freckled blonde had seen Arctus being outnumbered and had used her Semblance to break from her own encounter with the Gargoyle Grimm, taking to the air and using a steep dive to build momentum before returning to her natural state and rushing passed the Grimm in an attack that was highly reminiscent of something she had seen in an old Mistrali film once; staggering slightly as the quakes that were doubtlessly being caused by Salem threw off her landing. Her only issue now was that the Grimm she had initially been fighting had found her and were rushing towards them both; though as Arctus readied his weapon Eagle reasoned that the two of them should be able to handle this threat.
Diamond had gunned down several Gargoyles with precise shots to the head, various varieties of Dust rounds ensuring that no matter how well armoured or unreasonably resilient the things were they still went down, engulfed by flames or with arcs of lightning crackling throughout their dissipating forms with her Semblance allowing her to act without hindrance despite the shaking ground.
Two of them however had managed to close the distance and Diamond had been forced to convert Lex Talionis to its' glaive form and weave between the pair of monsters, the Gargoyles having shown some spark of initiative and positioned themselves on either side of her so that she couldn't properly focus on one without having the other at her back; a problem that the silver haired woman was trying to overcome by staying on the move, spinning out of the way of crushing blows as she slashed and kicked at the Grimm to keep them at bay until, finally she received a helping hand
"Dee!" Arctus's voice called out to her and a glowing, jet black Glyph charged with Gravity Dust appeared between her and the Grimm attempting to tackle her; as the first monster was thrown back she leapt and used the opposite side of the Glyph to launch herself back at the Grimm behind her, narrowly avoiding its' wild attempt to grab her with its' massive gorilla-like paws and deliver a flying kick to its' skull that left the thing dazed enough for her to follow up by leaping into a somersault and sending her glaive crashing downwards to neatly bisect the Grimm vertically in a single blow. The Gargoyle that had been thrown back let out a guttural roar and leapt over the Glyph, prompting Diamond to turn and face it, her weapon returning to its' sniper rifle mode as she did so only for the Grimm to explode into obsidian mist before she could do anything as Arctus unleashing a summoned Grimm of his own. Diamond smiled and shook her head gently at this and blew stray strands of her silvery hair out of her eyes before returning the favour by taking aim and picking off one of the Gargoyles attacking Arctus and Eagle.
Felix remained preoccupied with his own Grimm as he fought close to the twisted remains of the Lightning Bug, Hack and Slash screaming and spitting sparks as they tore into armoured carapaces, a thick cloud of smoke made of the fading bodies of felled Gargoyled surrounding him yet the monsters paid no heed to their own losses and continued to push on.
"THIS ALL YOU GOT!" he roared as he ducked under a savage blow that would have ripped through his Aura and answered the attack by springing upwards to drive his swords through the chests of two Gargoyles at once and tear them free before using them block against a third Grimm that tackled him; the Gargoyle howled in pain as part of its' chest and wing were shredded yet the combination of the impact and the tremors that shook the entire island beneath his feet were enough to send Felix toppling backward with the thing landing on top of him
"Little help here!" he called out to any of his team-mates who were close enough to offer aid as he struggled and thrashed to get the Grimm of of him, struggling evade blows that cracked and crushed the ground around him as the Lion Faunus fought to keep his head from being ground to a pulp by the hulking beast until finally help came and Felix found himself smiling as the Gargoyle suddenly became far lighter than it had been
"Thanks Heely" he called out, seeing Helios's Semblance for what it was and using the reduce gravity to simply kick the Gargoyle away from himself before the armoured redhead rushed into view and skewered it through the back with Milo in its' spear form
"OLLIE!" he bellowed and a moment later the trembling of the ground was amplified and the air was filled with blinding light as somewhere in the distance the diminutive woman opened fire with everything at Buster Bravo's disposal and cut a swathe through the Gargoyles, Helios however wasted no time watching the display
"Fluffy!" he pulled Felix to his feet and began dragging him away "We need to fall back!" with that Felix sprung into motion, Team FADE and NEON falling into place beside their team leaders and seeing what it was that had caused such urgency; a fresh wave of at least a hundred more Gargoyles were rapidly descending towards them and it seemed clear to each of the Hunters now that there was an inexhaustible supply of the monsters monsters waiting to be unleashed.
"Get back to the ship!" Felix called out, gesturing towards the beached Nemesis Kharybdis where Team GORE could be seen perched on the prow, Onyx blasting Grimm out of the sky at range whilst Hellion and Carcharodon cut down any that drew close.
"Arctus!" Felix turned to his cousin "Some of us are gonna need a way up there!"
"On it!" the Bear Faunus called out, manifesting a series of Glyphs to act as a stairway which the majority of the Hunters rapidly ascended whilst Ether, Diamond and Eagle used their own Semblances; Arctus was not quite finished however and quickly produced a sizeable chunk of Ice Dust
"Hang on" he warned "I'm gonna seal the hull!" with that countless Glyphs were brought into existence and Arctus was left staggering and plainly exhausted as a wall of ice engulfed the crumpled and torn hull of the ship, hiding the various breaches from view so that the Grimm could not use them to sneak aboard
"They're pulling back" Nyanza noted, gesturing to the Gargoyles which had broken off and swirled around Salem's massive, living fortress like some midnight black storm cloud.
"Good" Carcharodon murmured, breath misting in front of him due to the sudden cold before voicing aloud a concern that each of the Hunters shared "Even with the tremors we can't just throw ourselves at Salem's walls….we need a plan"
Pantheon's landing could not truthfully be called anything other than a barely controlled crash and had torn a large furrow into the ground that trailed several meters behind them
"W-where are we" the ten foot tall sentient Grimm rumbled out as they dragged themselves to their feet, birdlike legs unstable beneath them and coarse sand shifting beneath their claws, tail and scythe-like upper limbs as they struggled to steady themselves and take stock of their surroundings; after a few moments Pantheon realised that the ground shaking beneath their feet was not entirely a product of their imagination brought about by their battered form trying to balance itself and the fact was enough to snap Pantheon's mind back into focus, honing in on the matter at hand with terrifying clarity.
Salem's plans were unfolding once again and time was limited.
"Save Remnant" Pantheon snarled, the cacophony of voices they spoke in little more than a weary and defeated wheeze, though the idea of something so abhorrent to the Grimm made them bristle and rethink the situation "No, not Remnant….Kill Salem, hunt Remnant, save the Grimm" with their objective clear in their mind the monster began to seek out a means of achieving their goals; first appraising themselves of the tools at their disposal.
Their first realisation was that their own might would be far from enough.
The battered, impaled, bloody and broken state that they had left Salem's fortress in had proven that; Pantheon had healed, their body regenerating far slower than it once had as they had flown over the open seas until their inhuman stamina and tenacity had finally given out and they had slipped into unconsciousness, careening downwards until the crashed onto another island on the chain of almost entirely barren and uninhabited islands that Salem had built her lair upon. Whilst their body had largely recovered at this point, their bony chitinous armour still discoloured and hardening in some places and a few patches of jet-black flesh hanging loose where they had been sundered left to be knitted back together it was still painfully apparent to them that they would be unable to face Salem directly and win.
Eventually an idea occurred to Pantheon and they realised that they may not have to.
"Grimm" the sentient horror snarled, their voice becoming something closer to the primal roar, made of a chorus of screams that it had once been as their single-minded and unshakeably steely resolve began to reassert itself; the urge to consume and destroy being tempered by the cunning and intellect needed to understand the larger situation and form a plan.
Pantheon's first step was to reach out into the Grimm Hive-Mind and let out a sigh of relief that was utterly incongruous with their terrifying physical form as they realised that they were far from the only Grimm in the area that was free from Salem's direct control; there were in fact several Spawning Pits that Pantheon could reach through the fractured networks and mental corridors that intersected and branched out like some endless maze or web that Pantheon could follow and trace back to Spawning Pits that they themselves had brought into Salem's fold that were not being used at that moment, vast and ancient things far below the waves that had been allowed to grow and fester undetected and unmolested by the Kingdoms and their weapons. These Spawning Pits would provide Pantheon with everything they needed, though unlike Salem the Grimm General swore to themselves that they would not forsake their fellow Grimm, these would not be tools to be used and discarded, this would be an army of Grimm to first conquer Salem and unite the Grimm species under one banner again and then to wage war against the Kingdoms.
It would be beautiful.
Pantheon took control of the nearest Spawning Pit and forced it to act, focusing on sheer weight of numbers above any individually powerful monsters and spawning Creatures that were capable of both surviving the pressure of the deep that they would be birthed into and also able to fly so that they may rip Salem's defenders apart with fangs and talons; the Sentient Grimm, still not entirely inhabiting their own body glanced out at the roiling and crashing waves that Salem's plan to burrow down to Remnants' core was causing and watched as something else disturbed the waters' surface; breaching it like countless pitch black rockets as they tore upwards and into the sky before unfurling their wings and letting out nightmarish shrieks that echoed and carried through the air. Pantheon's flock of flying horrors was returned to them, this iteration made up of countless hundreds of Grimm that were almost indistinguishable from the average Teryx; leathery membranous wings sprouting from lithe saurian bodies, yet these Grimm sported thicker and heavier armour plates and were larger overall with crystalline masses protruding from their body in place of the usual bone spikes where the ancient deep-sea Spawning Pit that had created them had responded to Pantheon's needs.
The task was far from complete however, Pantheon reached out to each of the separate Spawning Pits and roving packs and swarms of the Creatures of Grimm that had been unified by their own efforts and then foolishly ceded to Salem's control; the beginnings of a reunified Hive-Mind. It was with something akin to sadness, the closest thing to it that the Grimm General could ever conceivably feel that they reached the point where each tethered stream of consciousness reached Salem and Pantheon themselves, the traitor Queen of Grimm controlled the Grimm through a connection that Pantheon had gifted to her and the monster knew that they could no more overpower her in that plane of existence than they could in the physical realm and so there was only one possible answer. Pantheon began severing the connections, casting each pack and Spawning Pit adrift amongst a newly fractured and disparate Hive Mind of their own making; ripping the shared psyche of the Grimm away to ensure that Salem would be left with nothing even if their efforts to stop her were unsuccessful, safe in the knowledge that her attention was so entirely consumed by her own plans that she hadn't felt her control of any Grimm not spawned in her own fortress be ripped away from her. Pantheon reached the last mental tether and came to a halt, contemplating before deciding to keep it in place; reasoning that should they succeed and Remnant survive long enough to be conquered that the deep-sea Spawning Pit that had spawned the Armoured Teryx would serve as their new beginning, the seat of their power that they would forge their Grimm armies from.
With that decided Pantheon took to the sky with a primal roar, joining their flock and leading the charge as they prepared to go to war once more.
"It's getting worse" Arctus noted in a hushed whisper, barely keeping the panic in his voice at bay whilst beside him Felix merely nodded in tense silence; the Bear Faunus's proclamation having all of the unshakeable feeling of finality of a death sentence about it.
Teams FADE, NEON and GORE had retreated deeper into the Nemesis Kharybdis; rigging the corridors with whatever Dust based traps and mines they could swiftly manufacture as they went in case any Creatures of Grimm managed to clamber there way onto the top deck and work their way into bowels of the ship, Qrow's lessons as Professor of Unconventional Tactics and Ungentlemanly Warfare proving instrumental until finally the group of Hunters had found themselves in the cargo hold, weapons trained on the hatch that the Lightning Bug had left through in case any monsters chose that angle of attack as they sat in a loose circle trying to formulate a plan; their concentration being constantly challenged by the endless rattling of the ships' walls and floors and the groaning creaks of its' hull as the ground it had been run onto continued to shake and violent waves continued to crash against it as Salem's plan continued to cause steadily increasing tremors whose effects reached out across the island chain and towards the mainland of Vytal and Anima.
Eventually a slight distraction from the headache-inducing cacophony came in the form of another metallic sound, namely a door opening and boots hurriedly crossing the metal floor as Olivine and Hellion returned to the cargo hold, the smaller woman pushing heavy goggles from her eyes onto the top of her head whilst disconnecting a cable that ran from them to her Scroll whilst Hellion stroked Marauder as the bird of prey shifted his weight on her forearm
"What did you find?" Carcharodon asked, his tone was unusually restless though nobody could blame him; Olivine and Hellion were returning from a brief attempt at a scouting mission and everyone present found themselves waiting with bated breath for news that might reveal that there was a chance, that their situation was not as dire as it seemed.
"Tell us you've got something" Felix chimed in, shifting his weight on the crate filled with supplied that he was sat on and leaning forward eagerly.
"I could barely get close enough to see anything….even through Marauder's eyes" Hellion replied with a shake of the head as she sat beside Eagle and leaned into the blondes' muscular shoulder as she continued "The Grimm attack anything that gets close, not just us….there's other Grimm in there as well, those Gargoyles you fought are just the first wave"
"Damn it" Felix sighed, fingers drumming against the wooden surface of the crate agitatedly until Olivine spoke up
"I managed to get some pictures while the Grimm were focusing on Marauder" she handed her Scroll to Helios who peered at the images and began passing the device around to the others whilst his team-mate continued to speak "Good news is that there are ways in and out of the castle, those Grimm are coming from windows near the top….bad news is that there's nothing closer to the ground"
"So what do we do?" Nyanza asked "Try and scale the walls with the Grimm attacking us?"
"If we used Team CLIR's Bull-Head we'd be ripped out of the sky" Onyx rumbled "There's too many Grimm and with how thick the walls of the fortress are we might not even be able to breach them if we fly straight at it"
"I could make Glyphs" Arctus offered "I can probably carry everyone up there but you're gonna have to cover me at that point"
"No" Helios murmured thoughtfully as he regarded the images, Felix watching as his brow furrowed and gears turned in his mind "If we try to breach the castle via those entrances we'll be fighting Salem's forces on their own terms and these Gargoyles have already proven themselves to be smarter than the average Grimm….we'd be locked in aerial combat when only one of us can fly, we'd be surrounded and overwhelmed in minutes"
"I agree with the Nikosi" Carcharodon rasped out "We attack the ground….or better yet below it, my Semblance-"
"Can't carry everyone Dude" Diamond pointed out "How many trips is it gonna take? we'll be cut off and by the time you get the second group through the Grimm will be on us, it'll be a trap" the Shark Faunus let out a wordless hiss of displeasure but was ultimately forced to concede that her point was a valid one whilst Felix ran his hands through his loosely tied back mane of messy, dirty blonde hair and tried to force the disparate thoughts in his mind into some semblance of a cohesive strategy; the first words passed his lip were uttered slowly and tentatively as he tried see the way forward
"We need someone to stay here and defend the ship anyway….or at the very least the Bull-Head. We need a way off of this island because; even if by some miracle we pull this off we're still gonna be left with more Grimm than we can deal with and that last time Salem was beaten the Grimm went crazy all over Menagerie" he looked at Carcharodon "Car I think you, Onyx and Hellion should stay here and defend the ship, cover our exit….unless everyone here is okay with the idea of throwing their lives away" Felix waited, half expecting Carcharodon to be furious at the idea of being denied the opportunity to face Salem directly and take part it what would, if they were successful be the most momentous victory in the history of Remnant; instead the Shark Faunus merely nodded
"A reasonable strategy"
"Helios….Team FADE and NEON should split up when we're inside the castle" Felix continued, his thoughts gaining momentum now "Salem built this whole fortress to withstand Fracture missiles, that must mean that there's a Spawning Pit in there somewhere; we've got Fracture, one team can cut her supply of Grimm off while the other team looks for Salem herself, she's gonna be hard enough to stop without an endless army to deal with"
"I agree" Helios nodded "This could work"
"But how do we get inside?" Eagle asked cautiously "All those armour plates are individual Grimm-"
"And that means they can be misdirected" Felix grinned "We've got Olivine's firepower, Arctus's Glyphs and plenty of Eco-Dust fuel we can use as a makeshift bomb….we hit two points at once and blast our way in"
"Somehow that is exactly the sort of plan I expected from you" Carcharodon chuckled "But it might just be enough to work" Felix swallowed, his heart hammering in his chest and his worries only worsening as the entirety of the Nemesis Kharybdis seemed to lurch under the increasingly violent tremors and quakes
"Okay, decision time" he breathed out "Is everyone onboard with this?" he glanced around, deep blue eyes widening as he realised that as insane as this plan was and as slim as their chances of victory seemed each and every member of the three teams present were nodding in silence
"We're in" Arctus nodded
"We made that decision when decided to come here Dude" Diamond added
"Let's do this" Eagle forced a chipper smile onto her face, though her Crimson eyes remained filled with steely determination; Felix smiled weakly before turning to Helios, finding the scarred and armoured redhead smiling back at him
"To the end of Remnant" he said simply. Felix swallowed thickly, forcing himself to ignore a lump in his throat yet unable to keep his eyes from stinging and as he hurriedly wiped them he spoke again.
"Okay….we're doing this, reload your weapons, get the equipment you need and get ready to move out in the hour….and if anyone wants to send any last messages this is probably the time to do it" with that bleak statement the cargo hold was filled with sudden movement as Teams FADE, NEON and GORE began to busy themselves whilst Felix simply withdrew his Scroll and stared at it in silence for a moment as he debated heeding his own advice. This may be his final chance to speak with his Blake and Yang, Corvid, Astra or his biological mother or any of his other family members and the idea of leaving anything unsaid terrified him in a way he could not begin to articulate yet at the same time the Lion Faunus had no idea of what he would say in such a final message and simply remained motionless.
Eventually he pocketed the scroll and forced himself to move; he was Felix Xiao Long of Team FADE, he was an unstoppable force and he didn't need to send a final message because he was not going to die here. They would succeed and that was that.
The experimental transport truly was a marvel of Atlesian technology and ingenuity; its' sleek arrowhead shaped body tearing through the air silently and at impossible speeds that left the world outside of its' cockpit reduced to an indistinct blur of tunnel vision as it sped over the tumultuous open ocean, yet to Corvid Xiao Long even this feat was not enough
"Can this thing go any faster?" She demanded urgently, leaning over Iris's control as the brown-skinned woman's fingers danced over the controls whilst Rusty sat beside her, fingers drumming nervously against the controls for the transports' various weapon systems.
"Not safely" Iris replied curtly, the severity of the situation and her own fraught mental state regarding it evaporating any politeness or goodwill she might have had, though a moment later she softened and turned towards her team leader and friend "But I can try something risky if you trust me?"
"I always trust you, all of you" Corvid murmured earnestly "There's nothing safe about any of what we're doing here….but I'd trust any of you with my life, so let's do it"
"You've got it" Iris breathed, taking a moment to steady herself and mentally prepare for what was to come "Hang onto something" the moment the words left her lips the pale blue glow of Iris's Semblance began to shine from her eyes and spread to envelop her entire body whilst her snowy white hair whipped around her; the effects of her telekinesis could be seen instantly as she used to reach and adjust the aircraft's controls and push them to more extreme settings that were likely not intended for any flight involving a living crew, piloting in the way an Atlesian military robot or AI would.
If the experimental air-craft had been fast before it was simply indescribable now.
"Woah" Corvid could find nothing more to say as she staggered back a single step before regaining her footing and quietly activating her Semblance to become entirely immovable; their transport screamed towards the horizon and the sky and cloud formations became an entirely unidentifiable mass as it raced passed them, the sensation of motion enough to make each of Team CLIR's stomachs lurch for several moment even despite all of the vaunted Atlesian technology that made flying at such speeds survivable. Corvid tried to centre herself and consider what would happen when she reached her goal, though she also pointedly refused herself to consider what she might find upon her arrival, the notion of her brother, cousin or lover having perished before she could get to them something that made her more physically ill than the inhuman speeds of the air-craft could ever hope to; she did not have long to gather her thoughts however as a fresh distraction soon presented itself.
"Incoming communications" Lux informed her from his position to the right side of the larger than average cockpit, eyes wide and nervous as he turned to Corvid "It's from your Aunt Ruby"
"Put her on loudspeaker" Corvid answered simply, preparing herself for what she sensed would be bad news and waiting a moment for the crackle of static filled the air "Aunt Ruby, what's the situation?"
"We're in the air, Penny's pushing the Pearl as fast as it can move" the familiar voice of Ruby Rose, saviour of Remnant regardless of what the public chose to believe answered, her voice resolute and yet somehow filled with the same happiness that Corvid had always marvelled at
"Yeah, we're pushing our ride to its' limits as well….gonna have to bug Aunt Winter until she lets Team CLIR have one of these permanently" the attempt at bringing some levity to the situation, hopefully giving her friends confidence along with it was quickly brought to an end as Ruby spoke again
"We saw, we're tracking your location through your Scroll….we were already a long way behind you but there's no way we can catch up with those speeds"
"Oh" Corvid mouthed "You need us to ease-"
"Nope" Ruby answered vehemently, popping the P as she always did "You get there as fast as possible….Fluffy, Arctus and everyone else are gonna need all the help they can get as soon as they can get it. We're gonna be behind you but at your current speed you'll likely get there at least twenty minutes before us, we'll arrive around the same time as the Atlesian fleet"
"We'll have to make do" Corvid answered, forcing a calm and icy facade over her entire demeanour, something like the utter sense of undisputed control that General Winter Schnee spoke with, or at least her closest approximation of it.
"Okay….good luck Corey"
"We don't need luck" Corvid allowed herself a confident smirk "We're sensational" with that the communication channel ended and Corvid's face fell, colour draining from it and her cybernetic eye audibly whirring and adjusting as it fought to keep up with her rapidly changing expression.
"So now what Little Lady?" Rusty asked
"This doesn't change anything" Corvid replied after a moment of thought "We've got a job to do and we're gonna do it….whatever it takes" with that the cockpit fell deathly silent as Team CLIR continued to race towards the battle against the ultimate enemy, each of them readying themselves until Iris's voice brought them from their collective reverie
"There's something coming up on radar in the distance…..Corey it's right over the island chain I don't like this"
"Bringing it up on screen now" Corvid moved closer to the controls, the cockpit featuring a digital viewscreen rather than a true window allowed her to magnify the image of what lay in rapidly approaching distance in a corner of the screen that would not obstruct the pilots' view.
What she saw made her blood run cold
"There's so many of them" lux whispered, in truth Team CLIR had fought just as many Creatures of Grimm, if not more on several occasions but the sight of what appeared to be a vast and rapidly moving thundercloud filling the otherwise bright and clear sky, glowing bloody crimson as they eyes of the hundreds of Grimm that formed it glowed malevolently was a chilling thing at that particular moment, Corvid quickly speaking aloud the fears that each of them knew on some deeper level
"This isn't a coincidence"
"You think Salem expected us?" Rusty asked
"No" Corvid murmured "They're heading for the island Teams FADE, GORE and NEON were, they're heading to Salem's fortress not away from it….they're gonna cut off the others as they retreat, they're gonna be surrounded" Rusty's fingers tightened on the controls for air-crafts extensive weapons and both he and Iris turned to their team-leader, Iris spoke first and the servos of her burnished gold cybernetic arms clenched as she braced herself
"Give the order Corey" Corvid nodded in silence before glaring at the massive flock of Grimm in the distance, cybernetic eye whirring as it narrowed to reflect her baleful glare
"Lock and load, we're going Hunting"
It was time, there was nothing left to do but launch the attack on Salem and charge into the jaws of whatever horde of beasts awaited them.
"LET'S GO, LET'S GO!" Felix yelled out as he vaulted over the twisted and crumpled remains of the railings that had been in place around the prow of the Nemesis Kharybdis before drawing his weapons and shifting them into their machine pistol forms as he slid down the almost sheer wall of ice that Arctus had put in place to keep the Grimm at bay; excellent reflexes honed by years of training allowing him to keep his balance even as he built up enough momentum to narrowly avoid incoming attacks.
"Heads up!" Arctus's warned a moment before something struck the ice behind Felix and left shards and fragments ricocheting off of his back, prompting the Lion Faunus to glance upwards and see that a small group of Gargoyle Grimm had left the safety of Salem's Fortress and been joined by a flock of Nevermore, one of which had fired its' quills at Felix like cruelly barbed missiles. A moment later the avian beast was torn asunder as a smaller, glowing white and translucent Grimm collided with it and burst through its' body
"Arctus save your strength, we need your Semblance!" Felix warned
"We need to get there in one piece as well!" the Bear Faunus shot back as the two of them, joined by their team-mates and allies in Team NEON hit the ground and broke into a sprint
"Leave it to me!" Helios called out before the blackness of his Semblance engulfed him and several of the Grimm in the air hurtled downwards, wings and skeletal structure being crushed by the suddenly massively increased gravity.
"Guys" Eagle's voice was suddenly nervous, an entirely understandable state of affairs considering that strapped to her back was a rucksack filled to bursting with ominously glowing and highly volatile Eco-Dust that they would be using as a makeshift explosive; Felix however saw the cause for her concern and his stomach dropped at the sight of a fresh wave of Gargoyles, accompanied by several other winged monsters leaping from the ramparts and parapets of Salem's fortress.
"WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO RUN FOR IT!" at the Lion Faunus's command the eight Hunters burst into motion once again, Felix, Diamond, Nyanza and Helios all firing into the cloud of Grimm that threatened to descend upon them and overwhelm them through sheer numbers long before they reached their goal.
"There's too many of 'em!" Arctus warned "We're not gonna-"
BOOM
"IT'S TEAM GORE!" Eagle announced with utter delight as the sound of thunderous gunfire filled the air and Grimm were shredded in the air; the Nemesis Kharybdis may have been heavily damaged and its' primary weapon a crushed and unusable mass of twisted steel but the former freight ship sported other weapons which Carcharodon had turned on the incoming tide of monsters from the bridge of his vessel, forcing the Grimm to divert their attention away from the Hunters on the ground
"Felix!" Helios called out "Now's our chance! While they're distracted!" Felix glanced up for barely more than a fraction of a second and saw the truth of his boyfriends' words
"COME ON, LET'S GO!" at his command Team FADE sprinted as fast as their Aura fuelled muscles would carry them, sucking ragged and painful gasping lungfuls of air whilst Team NEON did likewise but head in a slightly different location as they both sped towards their respective targets.
The walls of Salem's fortress.
"Holy Oum" Diamond breathed out as they drew close "We're really doing this" Felix could understand her feelings, the reality dawned on him in a way that it hadn't before as they reached the walls; close enough to see the minute cracks and fissures in the thick armour plates that covered the monstrous buildings' exterior which creaked and shifted as the entire thing pulsated rhythmically, expanding and contracting as though it were breathing; beneath the thick armour plates were large masses of repulsive tumorous muscle that could be glimpsed through thin cracks in the fortresses defences whilst small insectoid Grimm scuttled across the outer walls, their entire bodies forming additional armour plates that could be deployed as needed. It was clear that the entire exterior was made of hardened Grimm tissue to protect the unformed and protean Grimm matter of a Spawning Pit within from any attack used the Fracture warheads that had defeated Salem in New Vale; they could only hope that in her single-minded focus Salem had made the place more susceptible to other angles of attack
"Eagle?" Felix turned to his partner who slung the rucksack from her shoulder and nodded silently, her tension etched into every fibre of her being; they could detonate the Eco-Dust at any moment but they needed to wait for the perfect opportunity as each of them knew beyond any doubt that they would get no second chances. Felix stepped back so that Team NEON could see him from their own position some distance away, raising a hand and giving the signal to start the attack.
It happened instantly.
Olivine unfurled Buster Bravo, the entire weapon glowing eerily with the Eco-Dust that now fuelled and fired, the usual laser and photon weapons were pushed far beyond even their usual destructive capabilities and the wall of the fortress shuddered as it was struck; within seconds Felix could see that the barrel of the weapon was glowing and the entire thing was beginning to vomit acrid black smoke as some internal components failed but it was clear that the plan was working, Nyanza standing beside his team-mate using his Semblance to tilt the odds in Team NEON's favour until finally the bone armour of the wall splintered and the living armour plates began to swarm towards the rapidly healing breach, throwing themselves into the path of Olivine's attack and more importantly out of the path of Team FADE's
"NOW!" Felix called out, activating his Own Semblance as Eagle flung the rucksack full of explosive Dust against the wall and Diamond shot it with an incendiary round. The explosion was cataclysmic, Felix absorbed the flames before they could wash over his team-mates yet each of them were still flung to the ground which continued to tremble under the force of Salem's tremors when the Lion Faunus leapt to his feet however, ears still ringing and the world still spinning he saw that there was now a hole, several dozen feet across and equally high that had been blasted into the wall of the fortress.
Except it was beginning to heal
"ARCTUS NOW!" he roared, dragging the Bear Faunus to his feet before turning to Team NEON "COME ON!" the Bear Faunus flung himself into the opening and hurriedly flung rapidly rotating saw-blade Glyphs into the regenerating Grimm tissue, shredding it as fast as it could heal whilst Eagle and Diamond ducked under him and slipped inside the fortress. Felix made to join them but halted as he saw a stream of Gargoyles break off of them main swarm of Grimm that were still trying to overcome Team GORE's firepower, drawing his pistols and opening fire as they dove towards Team NEON who sprinted towards the opening; the situation becoming a battle of wills that Felix sensed would be decided at the last possible second.
Helios tackled Felix through the hole.
"Well we did it, we're inside" Nyanza declared, the faint light of his Semblance filling his eyes and lighting the space around him to reveal that Ether and Olivine were beside him and Arctus had leapt backwards, allowing the Grimm tissue of the wall to seal shut just in time for the Gargoyles to collide with it.
"Nice work" Helios nodded, seeing the current situation as the product of the felines' Semblance that it so clearly was.
"Yeah we're in, now how do we get out?" Diamond asked, her only answer coming in the form of the snarling and roars if Grimm emanating from a corridor made of a sickening display of flesh and bone somewhere in the distance
"Worry about that later" Felix said simply "The Grimm know we're here now and we've got a job to do"
"Salem will likely be in the centre of this place" Helios murmured "Go….we'll hold these Grimm off and then find her Spawning Pit; Ether has the Fracture we need for the job"
"Heely-" Felix croaked out, suddenly realising in a way that hadn't seemed entirely real even as they fought their way into Salem's fortress that this could very well be the end and this might be the last time they saw each other.
He flung himself into Helios's arms and kissed him fiercely
"You come back to me….you come back safe, promise me that?"
"I promise" Helios nodded, even if his vivid green eyes were filled with the profound sadness of someone who knew that it was a promise they might not be able to keep "Now go….you can do this, I believe in you" Felix stepped back and took several deep breaths before being forced to act as the first red eyes illuminated the darkness, announcing the arrival of the Grimm. Felix gritted his teeth and shifted Hack and Slash into their chainsaw bladed sword forms before turning to Team FADE
"Come on, we're gonna go save Remnant!" the four of them were in motion in an instant, weapons at the ready and filled with fresh determination even as they tried not to consider the ominous fact that the tremors had suddenly stopped and what that likely meant.
That Salem knew they were here and had turned her attention towards them.
The sky was filled with a cloud of midnight black, formed entirely of the disintegrating forms of the monstrous winged horrors that Team CLIR were engaging in aerial combat; each Grimm that faded away into nothingness was seemingly replaced by another instantly a moment later however and the attacks continued in an endless torrent that had begun to test even the resolve of the team of Hunters.
"They keep coming Corey, there's too many of- Damn it, HOLD ON!" Iris declared suddenly before bringing the experimental craft she piloted into a deep, spinning dive that sent them plummeting towards the sea before banking hard and pulling at the last moment in an effort to shake off a group of the larger, more intelligent, resilient and overall more dangerous Teryx that they fought
"Corey we're gonna run out of ammo for these guns a good while before they run out of bodies to throw at us" Rusty warned, his ever-present drawl laced with tension as he underlined the statement by unleashing a fresh salvo of rockets from their pods mounted on the crafts' wings whilst lasers and machine-gun fire continued to rake through any Grimm that dared draw close; the rockets streaked through the air and explosions bloomed into vast balls of flame that consumed several of the Armoured Teryx yet it clear that it was not enough and more took their place in moments. Corvid's brow furrowed and her knuckles popped as she surveyed the situation before finally making a decision.
"Leave this to me, I'll split their focus and buy you some time" she turned and stepped away from the cockpit as she spoke, heading into combined cargo hold and passenger area of the craft which was larger than those found aboard a standard Bull-Head but still managed to feel cramped and claustrophobic
"Corey" Lux called out, bringing her to a halt as he turned away from the consoles he was monitoring "You sure about this?" Corvid paused for a moment before nodding and offering her team-mates a weak smile that became stronger and more genuine the longer she maintained it, her steely grey eye seeming to shine with a sense of mischief that somehow failed to suit the situation whilst also being the most natural thing in the world for her at that moment.
"Of course I'm sure, this is what we do" she replied confidently "And the Grandmaster-yx of this"
"Just go" Iris managed a weak chuckle "Bring 'em down and get back in here, sooner we thin 'em out sooner we can help the others" Corvid nodded in agreement and began swiftly entering commands into the bulky computerised terminal adorning her left forearm that she used to remotely control the Omega Wing, the Omega Wing itself rose from the floor of the cargo hold in its' aerial drone form and hovered close behind her as she strode to the rear hatch; Corvid braced herself and opened the hatch allowing the howling wind to wash over her.
And then she jumped.
The Omega Wing was forming around her even before the Grimm had had registered her presence, heavy-duty but lightweight armour featuring a mechanical exoskeleton that added to her already formidable strength encasing her limbs, including a trio of blades arranged in a roughly triangular formation extending from each armoured forearm; more armour covered her upper torso and her wings fanned out behind her in their signature X shape whilst her twin rail-guns locked into place over her shoulders and the featureless helmet with its' opaque black visor slid over her head, her ponytail trailing out of its' open back and its' various tactical readouts flickering into life as the battle-suits' propulsion systems came roaring into life along with each of its' other features.
Including her forcefield generator.
The first Grimm to throw itself at her was simply vaporised as the sphere and rippling and distorting air manifested itself, forming an impenetrable barrier that crushed the beasts' jaw and skull on contact. From there Corvid was simply a force of nature, utterly and literally untouchable as she streaked through the air at lightning speeds; her forcefield allowing her to act as a battering ram as she simply flew through the incoming Grimm rather than truly fight them, all whilst her shoulder mounted weapons tore through more winged monsters in the distance.
It couldn't last however
"Oum damn it" she hissed through clenched teeth as warnings flashed across her visors' display before opening a channel to her team "Hey guys, my shields' are overheating….I think I overdid it with that, I can keep fighting but I need you to cover-"
She was forcibly silenced as something struck her like a comet.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?" she demanded, uncaring of whether the answer came from her team, the attacker or Remnant itself as she was sent careening through the air and kept aloft only by a concentrated effort on her own part. Pulling herself out of a spin she steadied herself and reflexively unleashed a barrage of shots from her shoulder mounted weapons, each blast ripping through an Armoured Teryx yet the true enemy remained at the centre of the flock, powerful wings beating to keep them in hovering place as their claws flexed and hateful blood red eyes focused on Corvid
"You!" Pantheon snarled.
"Corey!" Lux's voice sounded in her headset "Corey what-"
"It's Pantheon" Corvid interrupted "Pantheon is here"
"Shit….Pull back and Rusty can-"
"No" she interjected again "Break off head after Team FADE, they need all the help they can get….If Pantheon's leading this flock of Grimm then they won't follow you if I can beat them" with that she silenced her comms and watched as the experimental air-craft turned and streaked away, though it took a moment longer to do so than expected as if Iris had hesitated and in the brief pause Pantheon had managed to silently direct a portion of their forces to give chase. The two of them stared each other down as they hovered in the air, Corvid regarding the Grimm that had taken her eye with seething, boiling hatred which the Grimm returned simply by the nature of its' being; several of its' flock at its' back snarling and snapping yet doing nothing to deter her.
"It's Panthe-On you ugly son of a bitch" Corvid declared coldly "And this time I'll make sure you don't come back" with that she and Pantheon flew at each other.
Salem's eyes flew open.
"NO MORE!" the Queen of Grimm's voice was a scream of pure, distilled rage that warped the air around her and sent lashing bolts of crimson lightning tearing through the space around her from her fingertips to fill her throne room with the scent of burning ozone; the entire display of terrifying power was accompanied by the deafening thunderclap of arcane energies being forcefully dissipated.
She had been forced to halt once again and this insult would not be allowed to stand.
As she released her grip on the Wizard's powers her monstrous and titanic Grimm Drill slowed almost to a halt as it was forced to sunder and consume the stone with nothing more than its' own power without Salem's warping of time to accelerate the process yet as the Queen of the Grimm glanced over the edge of the bridge that shortly before been the site of her battle with the traitor Pantheon she was pleased to see the scale of the progress that had been made. Where the vast lake of primordial Grimm tissue had once been there was now simply an unfathomably deep chasm, a yawning void of a hole that would have been a simple abyss were it not for the gouts of flame and magma that illuminated it; Her Grimm Drill had burrowed and chewed its' way through Remnant's crust and was now eating into its' molten mantle, its' unthinkably grotesque form healing from the catastrophic burns that it received as fast as the magma could scorch it, its ropes of thick, corded muscle lined with teeth and claws growing thicker and more hideous with each regeneration.
The sight brought Salem a modicum of comfort, though she was still unable to entirely ignore her sudden concerns; Pantheon's escape had seemed inconsequential at the time but now Jormungandr had fallen and Hunters had breached her walls the situation suddenly seemed far more precarious and the ghostly pale woman was simply unwilling to allow any more potential risks, with that in mind Salem reached out into the Grimm Hive-Mind with the intention of mobilising every possible Creature of Grimm from every Spawning Pit under her control in the nearby area, she would bury these trespassers and any who came after them beneath a sea of fangs and claws and ensure that the Kingdoms were swallowed by a tide of monsters long before they could come close to stopping her plans.
What Salem found in the astral plane that the Hive-Mind occupied horrified her.
"WHAT? HOW? NO!" if her previous outburst had been terrifying to behold then this was simply apocalyptic, the wall of her throne room shuddered and their vast cavernous surfaces cracked and splintered, rocking the bridge she stood upon and sending vast chunks of solidified Grimm tissue down into the vast chasm below that was steadily filling with magma as the Grimm Drill continued to burrow at a now tortuously slow pace.
The Hive-Mind was entirely out of her reach and Salem realised that it was the work of Pantheon, her former General had enacted a final stand on the astral plane rather than the physical and committed one last act of defiance against her, consigning the Queen of the Grimm to the silent oblivion she sought as she was left utterly alone without the multitude of monstrous and primal psyches that had been joined to her own and denying her access to the entirety of her assets.
Save for one
The Fortress itself was a living thing in its' own right with a Spawning Pit beyond that which Salem had used for her experiments and when she found that Pantheon had been unable to sever that connection the Queen of the Grimm reached out, miasma of darkness coalescing around her like thunderclouds illuminated by blood-coloured lightning as she began to take control of the Fortress and its' many defences whilst in the physical realm she grasped the hilt of the monstrous, living broad-sword she had used to impale Pantheon and ripped it free of the bony surface of the bridge with her left hand whilst her right still hung limp and ruined after the battle with the treacherous beast.
She would find these intruders and deal with them herself.
Authors Notes:
Well, here we are….we are really and truly in the endgame now.
I suppose that ending feels like a cliffhanger and I feel like I've gotta warn you now that you can get used to those because there's a few more to go.
Also consider this a slight spoiler but we've got: a chapter of the teams fighting towards their objectives, two chapters of the big battle, the wrap up and then epilogue and then we're done.
After I finish this story I'm most likely gonna commit to just finishing Aegis before I take on another project because I don't want to work on two large scale stories at the same time again, which means Vol.8 of RWBY will most likely be over….I have ideas for an MHA story and I feel like Vol.8 will be the deciding factor in whether I write that or another story in this universe.
But anyway, let's summarise shall we:
Picking up right where we left off last chapter, right in the thick of the action.
Fun fact, I forgot to factor in the tremors when I wrote this scene and then went back to add them in.
Weiss to Arctus to fight honourably, using proper form and technique….Gangrel taught him to get the job done.
I've said before and I'll say it again, the whole "Panning from one fighter to the other as they interrupt each others' fights" is one of my favourite tropes when it comes to writing team fights.
As an aside, with the Gargoyles being slightly more intelligent I actually wrote this scene more like I would a fight scene in my Power Ranger story Aegis.
"An attack that was highly reminiscent of something she had seen in an old Mistrali film once" Eagle did an Akira Kurosawa move.
I could write Diamond's fight scenes all day, especially her combos with Arctus….I've got some fun stuff planned for the big finale fight.
Come on you saw Team NEON hop off the Nemesis Kharybdis and head after Team FADE last chapter, you knew they were coming.
Arctus is a powerhouse now, he couldn't have pulled that off in First Year.
Come on I didn't have Pantheon run away in an utter anticlimax for no reason.
"Kill Salem, hunt Remnant, save the Grimm" in case it sounded too much like Pantheon was getting a redemption arc.
There's other Spawning Pits in the area….Grimm Gamera came from somewhere.
I really like the Vol.7 Teryx design in case it wasn't obvious.
And boom, the Hive-Mind is completely severed again and back to the way it was at the start of the story; meaning Salem now has no assets other than what's on her island.
Yeah of all the places to think of a plan to deal with an immortal witch causing earthquakes "Inside a metal box" is not a great idea.
They actually learned something from Qrow.
I felt like it was important to show the teams actually working on a plan rather than just have one of the team leaders magically come up with the answer on the spot for no reason.
"We made that decision when decided to come here Dude" yeah there's only so many times you can do the "And my axe" scene before it gets boring.
He's not sending a final message because he's not dying to day….let's hope he doesn't regret that.
I don't know why I've never thought of Iris's telekinesis Semblance being part of why she's such a good pilot before.
So Ruby is arriving with the Atlesian Fleet, which realistically means just in time to be there at the very end; no Silver Eyes Ex Machina to deal with Salem this time.
"We don't need luck, we're sensational" damn right she is.
Oh you thought I was gonna let the heroes get help?
Realistically the battle from the ship to the fortress walls could have been an entire chapter of pitched battles and trench fighting on its' own if I'd really wanted it to but it wouldn't have served a purpose.
Yay for Team GORE and their big guns.
I mean hoping that Salem was a little too single minded isn't entirely as crazy as it sounds, she does tend to focus on a goal to the point that she can be caught off guard.
Olivine's weapon is definitely gonna be some degree of damaged going forward.
The whole "Door snaps shut at the last possible second and the enemy is left banging on it from the other side" trope.
Oh you thought there wasn't gonna be one last Battle-Cat moment before the big battle?
I cannot stress enough how much I don't like writing dogfights but sometimes its' gotta be done.
You thought Corey was done with the puns? Really?
Corey with a shield generator is just unfair, so I have to limit how much she can use it just to give her fights any narrative tension.
And now we get our final showdown between Corvid and Pantheon.
So the Grimm Drill has been slowed to an effective stop and now there's gonna be an actual lake of lava under the bridge she's stood on by the time Team FADE get their but the Grimm Drill can tank the damage from the lava; metal as fuck.
Insert Darth Vader "NO!" here.
Yeah Salem's still injured at this point, she isn't even bothering to fix herself up after that last fight because she's been throwing everything into the plan.
So Salem is pissed, she has activated the defences, she has got a bad-ass sword….and I've still got more to give you.
Thank you to SumoSnipe for their review on the last chapter.
Well...someone's gonna be dead before this ends.
And yeah, all the Hunters rides are tricked out and I like making sure that I leave them with no tricks up their sleeve that I straight up forgot about.
As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review