Chapter 24: The Siege of Argus

(Mantle, Watts's Safehouse)

Cinder was absolutely sure that she had died and gone to hell. That could be the only explanation for this situation. She had been cooped up in this rundown apartment that passed for a safehouse for over a month. Even worse, she was trapped with one of the most pompous Atlesian elites that she had the displeasure of meeting.

"Damn it!" Watts said.

Cinder smirked, any time Watts was annoyed was good for her, "What's the matter, dear doctor? I thought Atlas didn't update Mantle's security code?"

Watts glared at her briefly before returning to his work. "The controls for Mantle's heating network run through the SDC mainframe, I'm trying to make sure I can get access at the drop of a hat, so I can pull the plug when Salem commands it, but..." He stared at his screen intently, and began typing furiously. "Blast, he almost had me."

Cinder snickered, "Some SDC IT flunky giving you trouble?"

Watts shook his head, "No. whoever this is, he's no corporate drone. He's too good to be one of Jacques's."

Cinder could barely contain her mirth, "So, it's some punk kid with too much time on his hands?"

In his mind, Watts was enjoying a mental image of the Arc boy tearing Cinder apart, relishing in the absolute impossibility of it. "Are you suggesting that some punk kid is my equal?" Watts hissed.

Cinder shrugged, then got up to go get some food. "Why don't you wait a few hours, you know, to make sure it's past his bed time."

Watts pinched the bridge of his nose. He almost activated his project and ordered it to kill Cinder, but it had one singular purpose, and it had nothing to do with that bloody migraine.

"I miss Tyrian." He muttered to himself.

(Beacon Academy, Mess Hall)

Things had settled back into some degree of normalcy for teams RWBY and JNPR, and they adapted to it the best they could. However, that didn't stop things from leaking through the cracks. News reports were scrutinized for any trace of a possibility of Salem's next move, Lien was pooled for more efficient purchasing of Dust and other supplies, and brainstorming possible weapon upgrades was a weekly occurrence.

"Okay," Nora said, "Ruby, you've been grinning like a fool ever since you got back from Atlas. What happened?"

Yang snickered, as much as Ruby wanted to tell their friends what had happened, General Ironwood hadn't exactly given them permission to tell anyone about Penny. However, that didn't stop Ruby being an endless wellspring of happiness. She was pretty sure Mercury had gagged a couple of times.

Although, he had done that along with Nora. So, he was making friends. Cute. Yang still only trusted him as far as she could throw him, which admittedly was pretty far.

"Sorry, can't tell you." Ruby said, giggling like someone who was barely keeping a secret in.

Jaune shook his head at his teammate's antics, secretly grateful for it. It was a sign that things were getting back to normal, at least temporarily.

"So, I got a call from Sun last night." Blake said.

Yang slung her mechanical arm around her girlfriend, "He does know I get like, crazy jealous, right?"

Judging by the loving glare that Blake sent at Yang, she had clearly been taking notes from Weiss. "Very funny, Yang. No, it was a business call, if you catch my drift."

Their mood sharpened immediately, as they shifted from just another breakfast to planning mode. As luck would have it, Mercury chose that moment to join them.

"You're late." Weiss said.

Mercury shrugged, "You do know that I don't actually go to classes outside of Combat, right? Now, what did I miss?"

"Blake was about to tell us." Jaune said.

With a twitch of her ears, Blake continued, "As I was saying, Sun called me to tell me about some unusual weather patterns in Mistral, specifically in the vicinity of Argus."

Ren rescued his right hand from Nora's grip and scratched his ear, "What's unusual about it?"

"The storm is coming from the west." Blake said.

"You lost me, babe." Yang said, "How is that unusual?"

Jaune looked up from the bowl of Pumpkin Pete's he was devouring. Weiss had tried to get him to eat healthier breakfasts, but to no avail. "Argus's weather systems come from the east."

"We need eyes on that storm." Mercury said, "Now."

"You know," Nora interjected, "I liked you better when you were snarky."

Weiss pulled out her Scroll, "It's a longshot, but I might be able to use my SDC login to access Argus's early warning system."

As she did that, Jaune pulled out his Scroll as well. "And if that doesn't work, I'll call Saphron. She wont knew exactly what to look for, but it's better than nothing."

Weiss huffed, "Go ahead and call her. I don't have high enough access to view live feeds, just maintenance logs."

"Mind if I take a look?" Blake asked. After Weiss, she had the most experience with Atlesian systems, due to her time learning how to disable them in the White Fang. After a few tense moments, she spoke. "Weiss, what does it mean when they're red like this?"

"Either it's malfunctioning, or it's been destroyed."

Oscar was about to finally join the conversation, when Ozpin interrupted him. "Oscar, ask them to plot the trajectory of the storm, we need to find its origin. Right now."

"Uh, guys?" Oscar asked, "Can we find out what path the storm took to get there?"

Nora was the next to take out her Scroll. "I'm on it, give me fifteen seconds, give or take ten minutes."

Yang did a double take, "Wait, what? Since when is Nora good at math?"

"Since always." Ren said, pride evident in his voice, "She's always been good at the more logical subjects, while I excel at English, History and the like." A tense silence descended, broken only by the sound of Jaune's chewing.

"Guys, you're not gonna like this." Nora said.

Ren leaned over, "Nora, what... oh, gods."

"The storm that is currently bearing down on Argus originated from the Grimmlands." Nora said.

With a clatter of his spoon, Jaune went from a dork just trying to eat his cereal, to a leader. "Oscar, go tell Professor Goodwitch what we've discovered, and tell her we have to go now. By the time we'd get there, the storm will have made landfall for eight hours."

Oscar practically rocketed out of his seat. "On it, Jaune!" He said as he scurried away.

Ruby was the next to stand, "Everyone else, get your gear, then go to the air field! We've got a giant Grimm invasion to stop!"

As everyone ran off, Jaune hurriedly called Saphron. He had to make sure that her, Terra, and Adrian got to safety. "Come on, come on, pick up!"

Finally, Saphron blinked into existence, "Hey, Jaune. What's up?"

"Saph, I need you to listen closely. Take Terra and Adrian, and get to the Atlesian military base. You'll be safe there." Jaune said.

Saphron tilted her head quizzically, "Jaune, what are you talking about?"

"The storm that's coming, it's not natural. It's cover for something else. Someone else." Jaune said, "I can't explain right now, I just need you to trust me, okay?"

Saphron swallowed, "Jaune, I believe you, but we can't get to the military base right now. They have the districts on lockdown, because there's a massive group of Grimm approaching the wall from the south."

Jaune knew that Saphron could probably see the panic in his eyes. He didn't really care. "I'm going to come get you then. I'll be there as soon as I can."

Saphron's eyes took on a steely glint, Jaune supposed that was what he looked like in the middle of a battle, or at least hoped he looked like that. After all, it was the look of an Arc that was committed to a course of action. "We'll be ready, Jaune. If I have to slap my way through the Grimm, I will be very annoyed." She hung up and her face winked out of existence.

Jaune grit his teeth and kept running to the locker room. There was only one reason that he could think of for sending enough Grimm to wipe Argus off the map. Salem was going to take out Atlas next, as with Argus gone, the continent of Solitas would be completely cut off from the rest of Remnant, making it relatively easy pickings. And with the SDC's monopoly on Dust, if Atlas fell, the world's capability to fight against the Grimm would be severely reduced, almost crippled.

In effect, it would be the beginning of the end.

As he rounded a corner, a crazy plan started brewing in Jaune's mind. Not even a plan, more like twelve percent of a plan. There were too many variables bouncing around that he didn't know about, but one thing that he did know was that Salem would want the Staff of Creation before destroying Atlas. Which meant there was a possibility, to end it. A chance to get him, Weiss, Ruby, and Oscar alone with Salem, and somehow, by some miracle that they would need to find in the moment, convince her of the meaning of life and death.

This attack on Argus really would be the beginning of the end, one way or the other.

(Beacon Academy, Airfield)

When Oscar had burst into Glynda's office and told her that a Grimm attack of apocalyptic proportions was about to happen, he had expected some shouting, maybe an order to call everyone for a meeting before running off half cocked. Instead she had just looked at him, then started calling people. Qrow, Tai, Raven, and Reign-Beau. Glynda calmly explained the situation to each, and asked them to convene at Beacon's airfield as soon as possible.

As they were on the way, Oscar risked a question, "Aren't you going to try to stop us from going?"

Glynda's eyes remained hard, as would be expected from what some students would expect of her, but her voice was soft, for her anyways. "No, Oscar. I'm not. By now I've learned the lesson that it's impossible to stop you lot when you have your minds set on something."

She was quiet for the rest of the walk, until she spoke again, voice heavy with emotion. "The last time I tried to stop someone from going on a mission but they did anyways, they... not all of him made it back."

There was more to her reasoning than Glynda said though. She knew that for all of his head first mentality, Jaune had most likely came to the same conclusion that she had. An attack on Argus meant Atlas was next, and if Atlas fell, all of Remnant would follow.

As they approached, everyone turned to her and Oscar. Sometimes Glynda forgot that she was the leader of their group even though Ozpin was technically still around. "We'll be taking one of Beacon's military grade Bullheads. By the time we get to Argus the whole city will be a hot zone, and we'll need the extra protection."

The kids looked at each other quizzically, "You're not going to stop us?" Weiss asked.

Glynda shook her head, "No, because I know full well that you all would go whether I gave you permission or not. So, we'll all go, to give ourselves the best chance at survival. Tai, Qrow, get the Bullhead ready."

Reign-Beau turned away from the group, there was a call that he needed to make before he left. He pulled out his Scroll, and dialed a number. He couldn't help but let out a brief chuckle as he heard Qrow swear up a storm after Raven using one of her portals to appear right behind him. After a couple of rings, the face of his wife, Couleur, appeared, and immediately started teasing him. "Reign-Beau, what do you think you're doing, calling me when you should be in class, what kind of example are you..." Couleur paused, her husband had the same look he had right before he had told her what had happened to his partner. "Reigny, you have that look on your face, what's going on?"

Reign-Beau hesitated briefly, how much could he tell her? "There's a massive Grimm attack happening in Argus soon. Jaune and his friends are determined to intervene, so I, and some of the other teachers are going with them."

Couleur's eyes widened with alarm, "What about Saph and Terra? Are they safe?"

"As far as I know. Getting them out is going to be a priority."

"Okay, okay..." Couleur said, running a hand through her graying blonde hair, "Promise me that you'll make it back to me."

A pang of guilt tore at Reign-Beau. He knew what he was about to walk into at Argus, and he knew that he couldn't guarantee that he, or all of their group for that matter, would make it out alive. "I... I can't promise that."

A flash of understanding passed across Couleur's face, she knew that Reign-Beau didn't think that he was going to die, but that he thought that there was too much risk that he wouldn't be able to fulfill his promise. "I understand, my darling knight. Be safe."

Reign-Beau nodded, "As you say, my Angel."

Couleur terminated the call, as she hated long goodbyes. Reign-Beau pocketed his Scroll, and boarded the idling Bullhead, with Tai and Qrow at the controls.

"Alright, kids," Qrow said, "We've got a long flight to Argus, just over twenty hours. We mounted fuel pods on this thing, so we won't need to stop for fuel. If anyone wants out, now's the time."

No one moved.

Qrow sighed, "Alright, then. Let's hit it, Tai."

Tai coaxed the Bullhead into the sky, and they rocketed off towards Argus, and what would possibly the largest Grimm attack in recorded history. After they had been in the air for a bit, Nora came to a disconcerting realization.

"Uh, guys? How are we going to not get blown out of the sky by all of the Grimm?"

Everyone turned to look at her, that was a very good point that they had completely overlooked.

Jaune turned to Ren, "Ren, what's your upper limit with your Semblance?"

Ren frowned, "Theoretically, all of us, but I'd need to be touching everyone. That would also burn through my Aura faster that I'd like to admit."

"Hold on," Ruby said, "We're all touching the ship, right? Could you mask us based on that?"

Ren blinked, he had never thought of it like that before."I can certainly try." He closed his eyes and concentrated, as his Semblance spread out to everyone. After about a minute, everyone was covered, but he was struggling.

"It's a lot... to focus on." Ren forced out, "Using Aura too quickly." He let out a gasp as he let his Semblance drop, "I can give us a minute, maybe two. However, that will use all of my Aura."

Jaune grinned as his hand began to glow with a golden light. "You sure about that, buddy?"

"Jaune, I need you to do me a favor." Qrow said, "Never use your Semblance on me unless I'm on death's door."

Better for everyone that way, Qrow reasoned. His Semblance hadn't ruined anything yet, but the streak had been going on too long, and there was no way that it was going to last much longer.

Everything went according to plan for about an hour, until a retching sound came from Jaune. Weiss turned to him immediately to find his hand clamped over his mouth.

"You forgot your pills, didn't you?" Weiss asked. A nod was all she got in return. She frowned and started to trace circles on the back of his neck with her fingers. Ren had once told her that if Jaune ever had a bout of motion sickness, that the best way to help him was to give him something else to focus on.

With some effort, Jaune managed to swallow. "Ugh, that was s close one." He said, "Sorry for almost tossing my cookies next to you, Weiss."

Weiss glanced around at the others, Nora was double checking how many grenades and Lightning Dust cartridges she had, Ruby and Yang were both doing eleventh hour weapon maintenance with their field repair kits, and Mercury was loading Wind Dust into Talaria, his boot mounted weapon. "It's alright, Jaune. I understand."

They say in silence for a moment longer, until Jaune suddenly sat up straight. "Weiss, how many Dust reloads do you have?"

Weiss very nearly swore before checking her satchel, breathing a sigh of relief when she saw that she hadn't been as careless as she thought she had been. "Three, what about you?"

"Same." Jaune confirmed, "It was a good thing that we made that last supply run when we did."

"This is going to be bad, isn't it?" Ren wondered aloud, drawing everyone's attention.

Raven rolled her eyes, "The worst Grimm attack in over thirty years? Can't see how that could possibly go wrong."

"The last attack that was anywhere close to what's going to happen in Argus was the fall of Mountain Glenn." Oscar said, "At least, according to Ozpin's memories."

Qrow gritted his teeth, a discussion about Mountain Glenn was not something he wanted to talk about at the moment, or ever, if he was being honest. "Enough, Rae. They don't need to hear about that right now."

Raven just shrugged and went back to brooding. Taiyang sighed, this was going to be a long twenty hours.

(Argus, Arc-Cotta Residence)

"Terra, have you got the baby bag together?" Saphron asked, focusing on her task of putting together their bugout bags.

"Just about, babe!" Terra called back, "You got the bugout bags done?"

"Almost!" Saphron yelled back, "Is Adrian ready?"

While waiting for her wife's response, Saphron reached for her binoculars. The storm that the meteorologists had said was unprecedented, had nearly reached the city, and as such, was visible from the living room window. Ever since, it was blindingly obvious that something was very wrong with it.

Maybe it had something to do with the ominous red glow.

Last they had heard, the Atlesian military was engaging large groups of Grimm that were attacking the wall from the south, but there was something about that storm that made Saphron think something worse was coming. "Babe, I'm going to pop my head out to get a better look at that storm, I'll be right back." The Grimm attack alarm hadn't gone off yet, so it was still safe to be in the streets. Allegedly.

Growing up in a family so connected to Hunting had its perks, namely access to gear that normally was only available to Hunters, like her binoculars. She opened the front door and took a look around, no Atlesian soldiers around to order her back inside, they were probably focused on defending the wall and manning the various gun emplacements around the city. She trained the binoculars on the storm, then flipped over to thermal vision. What she saw shocked her, the storm was full of Grimm. Including one that she could only describe as enormous.

She ran back inside, and glanced at the clock in the wall. According to the projections, the storm was predicted to make landfall at eight that night, while Jaune and his friends wouldn't arrive until four the next morning.

Would there even be a city left for them to help save?

"Saph?"

Saphron looked up and saw her wife, holding Adrian, and a look of concern from both of them. "Saph, what did you see?" Terra repeated.

Saphron looked down at her hands to find that they were shaking. "Grimm." She said, "Lots of them. Too many of them."

Terra took an involuntary step back, one of the things she loved about Saphron was that she was unashamedly fearless in that peculiar way that could only come from the Arc family. For her to be so shaken...

Saphron clenched her fist, she refused to succumb to her fear, that would only make it worse for everyone in the end. Her father's lecture about fear that he had given her before she had left for Argus came to her mind.

Only fools say they're fearless. While it's true that fear can bring the Grimm, it's not necessarily a bad thing. Fear can warn you of danger, it can keep you alive. Even help you figure out your next course of action. Feel the fear,let it pass through you, but do not let it control you. If you do that, you may not like what you see in the mirror the next time you look.

"I hear you loud and clear, Dad." Saphron muttered. She crossed the room to the living room's wall safe, and punched in the code, which happened to be Adrian's birthday, and retrieved the two pistols and ammunition that it contained.

"Saph, those are only for emergencies-" Terra started to say.

"This is an emergency!" Saphron hissed, as she strapped a holster to her waist, "And I'll be damned before I don't do everything in my power to protect my family, Aura or no Aura!"

Terra's eyes took on the same steely glint as Saphron's. Even if she was only an Arc by marriage, she was still an Arc, and that hereditary determination was infectious. She put down Adrian, then followed suit. "You took the words right out of my mouth, Saphron."

(Argus Airspace, 4 AM)

"Ah, hell."

Qrow knew that there would be a metric crap ton of Grimm to deal with at Argus, but he hadn't expected them to be so spread out. He blamed his Semblance, even if that was irrational. What else could explain it?

"Glynda, wake up Ren and Jaune!" Tai called back, "We're about to be neck deep in Grimm if they don't help us pull their disappearing act!"

Glynda hated to wake them up, everyone had finally gotten some much needed rest, given the length of the flight, but now was the time for action. She shook Jaune awake first. "Huh, Whozzat?" He mumbled.

"Mr. Arc, it's time for your stealth strategy." Glynda said.

Ren's eyes snapped open, and he bolted up, assuming his position in the middle of the Bullhead, and Jaune took up position behind him. Ren began to project his Semblance, masking the Bullhead and all its occupants, while Jaune used his Semblance to crank up Ren's Aura to absurd levels of regeneration.

"Hold on, kids!" Qrow yelled, "We're gonna have to do some fancy flying to dodge all of these Grimm!"

Jaune paled. He was earning that damn nickname all over again, wasn't he? As he braced against the first turn he could already feel his stomach turning. Weiss, however, had already prepared for this turn of events, and created a Gravity glyph underneath Jaune and Ren, keeping them in place.

Ruby looked out the window, and immediately wished she hadn't. All she saw was Grimm, as far as the eye could see. "There's so many..."

Yang joined her, and automatically laid a comforting hand on Ruby's shoulder. "It'll be fine, you can just blast them all like you did at Beacon, right?"

Ruby hung her head, "I don't know, Yang. There wasn't this many either time at Beacon..."

Mercury was next to comment on the situation. "I don't get it, with this many Grimm, Salem could just steamroll the entire city, not to mention whatever she's got in that storm."

"City's about to come into view!" Tai called out.

It was bad, to say the least. The storm had completely covered the city of Argus, and in addition to lightning strikes that happened far too frequently to be random, the storm seemed to be passively spawning Grimm.

"What are we supposed to do against that?" Raven asked.

"We save who we can, and avenge those we can't." Reign-Beau said.

Then, the radio crackled. "Unidentified Bullhead, this is Argus Control, please respond!" The voice behind it was clearly on the verge of panic based on the tone of the speaker's voice.

Glynda took the radio, and responded. "Argus Control, this is Beacon Defender One, we are here to assist in whatever way we can."

"Oh, thank the gods! We might have a shot at making it out alive! Come to the Atlesian Military base so we can task you appropriately."

"Copy that, we'll be there as quickly as we can." Glynda said, "Qrow, Tai, don't spare the engines."

"Is anyone else concerned by the fact that the fact that the literal Atlesian Military thinks that they're not making it out alive?" Mercury asked, only to get a bunch of blank stares in return, "Just me? Okay."

"We're all nervous, Mercury." Oscar said, "Even scared, I think. But while fear is one of the oldest human emotions, we don't have to let it control us."

Raven raised an eyebrow, "You're starting to sound a lot more like Ozpin, Pipsqueak."

Oscar scratched at the back of his head, "Uh, that's because going into his memories has gotten a lot easier. I can do it almost subconsciously now."

"I'm seeing gun emplacements all around the city, is that normal, or did they rush those into place?" Blake asked.

Ruby glanced out the window to find that Blake was right. There were turrets scattered throughout the city, some anti-air, and some anti-personnel.

"Yes, those are normal." Reign-Beau explained, "Those, along with the wall and the hard light barrier network form the backbone of Argus's defenses, which is supplemented by the Atlesian Military, which maintains a generous presence here."

"Are those guns automated?" Mercury asked, unease seeping into his voice.

Reign-Beau shook his head, "No, they're crew served."

Mercury let out a sigh of relief. "Good, that means Watts can't hack them. We're going to have enough on our plate without that arrogant code jockey throwing a wrench in the works."

As Qrow brought in their Bullhead for a landing, Glynda stood and addressed everyone. "This will not be like anything any of us have experienced before. I am going to make something clear, something that I know that some of you, are going to struggle with." Glynda paused for a moment before sending worried glances at Ruby and Jaune, "You will not be able to save everyone today. It is impossible. Our job here is to do what we can to staunch the bleeding and save who we can without putting ourselves at extreme risk. Once we get to Atlas after we're done here, I fear that we will have no option but to implement our endgame strategy provided by the Lamp of Knowledge. But, that's a discussion for later. Ready yourselves."

Jaune took a deep breath. Note to self, in the future, don't forget your motion sickness pills before an apocalyptic Grimm attack.

(Atlas, General Ironwood's Office)

Chaos was not a term that Winter typically associated with the Atlas Military. However, in the wake of General Ironwood's order to evacuate as much of the population of Argus as possible, chaos was an apt term. Scrounging up every possible ship and pilot, preparing space for refugee camps, and resources for said camps. It certainly didn't help that space was a premium in a floating city.

As Winter entered Ironwood's office, as requested, he was in the middle of a discussion with the Ace Ops. "That just doesn't solve our problem! We just don't have the room for everyone here in Atlas, especially if we have to evacuate Mantle later!"

Marrow timidly raised his hand, "Um, why don't we ask Robyn Hill and the Happy Huntresses for help? I know they're technically criminals, but we need all the help we can get."

Ironwood shook his head, "No, we don't need-" He stopped abruptly, and took in a breath and held it, mentally convincing himself that this was the right course of action, because it was, no matter what his Semblance was trying to tell him. "I'll leave it to you to facilitate that, Marrow. Go now. The rest of you, you have your orders."

The Ace Ops left, with Marrow pulling out his Scroll and already dialing a number as he went. Winter stood at attention, waiting for the General to acknowledge her. "Ah, Winter, you're here. At ease."

"What did you need from me, sir?" Winter asked. There wasn't any time for beating around the bush, and Winter didn't have any patience for it today. The reports from Argus had stated that teams RWBY and JNPR were about to be on the ground, and Winter did not like the idea of Weiss being in the middle of that bloodbath.

"Winter, Salem is effectively knocking on our front door. We need to have every advantage if we're going to survive. Go claim the power of the Winter Maiden. Now." Ironwood said.

Winter froze, Fria was still in stable condition, more or less. This would mean using the Aura Transfer Machine that was hilariously untested or...

"Sir, are you asking me to kill her?" Winter asked.

Ironwood rounded on her, "I gave you an order, Winter! And I expect you to FOLLOW-" He cut himself off, he wasn't going to let his Semblance take over and nudge him down the path of logic and strength of arms. He was trying things Ozpin's way, for better or worse. "No, Winter, I'm not. Do what you feel is right. I trust your judgement."

"Even if that means not claiming the power?" Winter asked. While she was loyal to Ironwood, she would not shed innocent blood, or treat a person as a resource to be expended. That strayed much too close to her father's way of thinking.

Ironwood nodded. While having a combat capable Maiden was a priority, he knew that trying to force Winter into doing something that she thought was morally reprehensible was a recipe for disaster.

Winter left without being dismissed, she knew that when time was of the essence, Ironwood would shelve formality in favor of decisive action, and appreciated that same quality in his subordinates. She made her way to the elevator and hit the button for the restricted research level, where Fria's room was located.

In a snap decision, she used her clearance to activate the elevator's Priority Mode. This would keep it from stopping until she reached her destination, and gave her a few blessed moments of privacy in which she could drop her composure.

She leaned against the side of the elevator and ran a hand through her hair. "What am I going to do?" She muttered.

There was no guarantee that the Aura Transfer machine would properly transfer the Maiden powers, and the other option... was far less appealing.

It didn't help matters that with Arthur Watts still active, it was completely within the realm of possibility that if Winter didn't claim the power, then he would just lead Cinder to it later. Even though no one quite knew what would happen if she stole the powers of a second Maiden, no one really wanted to find out, either.

The doors opened, and Winter moved on instinct, she had come here for this many a time, to the point it was almost reflexive. In fact, she made it to Fria's room and had submitted to the retinal scan before realizing it.

The door slid open, and revealed Fria, in her bed as always, with only the breathing tube up her nose and beep of the EKG to denote how close to the end of her life that she was. Winter almost collapsed from guilt when she saw Fria's face light up when she saw her. "Oh, hello, Winter!" Fria said, "Is this just a quick visit, or do you have time to finish the painting you started last time?"

Winter looked regretfully at the easel and the half-finished painting it contained, a landscape of Vacuo's Rust Mountains. She had learned early on that she enjoyed painting, when Weiss had been... seven or eight. But after the events of Weiss's tenth birthday, she had abruptly abandoned it, not wanting to have Jacques have anything about her that he could exploit.

So, the small part of Winter that still mourned her decision to give it up had leapt for joy when Fria had asked her to paint for her. She truly wanted to finish that painting, but there just wasn't enough time... was there? Just a couple of hours would be all she needed.

A couple of hours that she could be training with the Maiden powers.

"I'm sorry, Fria, but I don't have the time. General Ironwood has ordered that I claim the Winter Maiden powers." Winter didn't bother trying to hide it when her voice cracked, after spending so much time with her, she had come to view Fria as the grandmother that she had never had.

Fria smiled sadly, "I see. Well, no point in delaying it, take my hand."

Winter blinked. There was another way? "Excuse me?"

Fria chuckled, "I don't blame you for not knowing. It's been a long time since the power has been passed this way. When a Maiden gets close to dying of natural causes, we can use the power to choose when to go. It's how the power was passed to me."

Despite how Ironwood had rigged things so that she would be the only possible choice, Winter couldn't help but feel a wave of gratitude wash over her as she took Fria's hand. "Thank you for putting your trust in me."

"Think nothing of it, my dear. Now, before I initiate the transfer, there's something I need to explain about the power." Fria said, "While you need to use a good deal of concentration to utilize it, it works off of feeling and emotion as much as it does logic."

"I understand."

True to her words about not wanting to waste any time, Fria's eyes began to glow, before the glow dissipated, and her EKG flatlined. Winter looked down at her hand, to see a glow surrounding Fria's hand, only for that glow to transfer to her. She gasped, then looked in a nearby mirror.

It had worked, if the flames around her eyes were any indication. She was the new Winter Maiden.

She looked at Fria, if she didn't know better, she would say that the older woman was sleeping peacefully. Thank you, Fria. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to reclaim a bit of my childhood from that hell.

Winter raised her hand to her ear and tapped her earpiece. "General? It's Winter. I have the Winter Maiden powers. I'll be in a training room if you need me."

(Argus, Atlesian Military Base, Airfield)

Whatever everyone had expected upon disembarking in Argus, it certainly wasn't the greeting they got, never mind the ambiance. Thanks to the storm, the sky was a mix of black and blood red, even though it was early morning.

"Welcome to hell, kids!" Said an Atlesian solider wearing some beat up armor that approached them as they disembarked from the Bullhead, "I'm Captain Champagne, but you can call me Champ for short."

Glynda frowned, "Are you in charge here? What happened to Commander Cordovin?"

Champ snorted, "Ran back to Atlas with her tail between her legs, something about how regulations don't permit me to be in a combat zone. Took the command codes for the Colossus too, Damn shame, we could use a giant robot right around now."

Ruby glanced around before her eyes lit up, "Ooh, are those AGC-23s?" Everyone turned to look at what had caught Ruby's attention. At the gate to the military base, there were four double-barreled Anti-Grimm turrets, one of which was in the process of being reloaded.

Champ whistled, he wasn't used to non-Atlesian Hunters knowing anything about artillery. Most others only knew the portable turrets by their nickname, GrimmSwatter. "Anyways, first things first, here's the lay of the land." He took out his Scroll and projected a real time map of Argus. "All of our Specislists are helping defend the wall, so we're stretched a little thin. All y'all are a godsend, if I'm being honest. That being said, there's two problem areas that you can help with. I've got some of my men protecting groups of civvies as their districts get cleared for evac, but without Specialist support, they're losing people, thanks to the Grimm spawning from that damn storm."

Qrow frowned, "For that, we should probably have people who are either fast, or can cover a wide area."

"Sounds like a job for me and Weiss!" Ruby piped up.

"Agreed," Glynda said, "Me, Taiyang, and Oscar will come with you."

Champ nodded, "Couldn't have planned it better myself, your callsign is Mercy Team. Learn it, love it."

Jaune raised his hand, "I'm sorry to interrupt, but have a Saphron Arc, Terra Arc-Cotta, and their son come in yet?"

Champ frowned, "One second, let me check... oh, shit."

Reign-Beau Arc stepped forward, "What is it?"

"So, short answer: No, they haven't come in." Champ explained, "Long answer: The district that the system says their home is located in has gone dark, both civvies and my men. Could be Apathy, could be the Chill."

Jaune turned to his father, and saw the blazing look in his eyes, he was going to go get his family back, no matter what it took. "Ren, Nora, You're with us."

Nora gave Jaune a hearty thumbs up, "Got it, Fearless Leader!" Ren simply gave him a nod.

Champ shrugged, "Suit yourselves. You guys are Rescue Team. Now, as for the rest of you, a good chunk of the Grimm are specifically targeting the AGC-23s we have placed through the city, and the teams I have guarding them. You'll need to be mobile, but all I can spare right now is three hover bikes."

Qrow grinned at Raven, "Oh no, Rae. How are we gonna cope?"

The corner of Raven's mouth quirked up in a smile, not because of her brother's joke, but because of the fact that they only needed the bikes for Yang, Blake, and Mercury.

"No objections? Cool, you guys are Relief Team. Now, one last thing." Champ gestured with his Scroll, and everyone else's beeped. "Congrats, everyone! You've all been promoted! I just made you all Acting Specialists, that way you can give orders to my men in the field as circumstances dictate. Now, get going. It's only a matter of time until we have to bug out, and I don't want to leave without knowing we did everything we could!"

Jaune glanced over at Weiss, as much as he wanted to properly say goodbye to her before they marched into the jaws of hell, there just wasn't time.

I love you, Snow Angel, he mouthed.

She caught his gaze, and replied as best as she was able given the circumstances. I love you, be safe.

(Argus, Commercial District)

When Dodger had been assigned to Argus Base, he had expected an easy deployment, maybe some Customs issues, or a smuggling ring or two to bust. Maybe find a nice guy or girl to settle down with. He wasn't picky.

"Damn it, that Manticore is coming back!" Mason, the only other member of their five man team left alive yelled.

Dodger quickly assessed the situation, but it was just as bleak as it had been five minutes ago when the Manticore that had been dogging them had swooped in and grabbed Sergeant Slater. They were boxed in an alley by Grimm, with a family of five to escort to the Safe Zone.

Mason, ever the optimist, was trying to radio for reinforcements. "This is Epsilon Team, we're pinned down in the Commercial District! Any available units please respond! We have civilians in tow, repeat, civvies in tow!"

"No one's coming, are they?" Asked Jade, the youngest daughter of the family that they were supposed to be escorting.

Dodger turned to the poor girl, and gave her a thumbs up. As far as he knew, it was hopeless, but he'd rather go on a solo mission against a White Fang stronghold than let her die without hope. "Don't worry, you heard Mason! Help's coming, I promise!"

He heard a thud behind him. He whirled around, rifle snapping to his shoulder to find that the Manticore was back, blocking off the entrance to the alley. Dodger and Mason opened fire, peppering the Grimm with bullets. Damn it! We just don't have the stopping power! If only we didn't lose the recoilless rifle!

The Manticore opened its mouth and roared, causing Dodger to flinch. He was going to die here, wasn't he? That thought lasted all of two seconds, because that's all the time it took for his comm circuit to click, and a cheery voice to bring salvation.

"Incoming!"

He heard the crack of a sniper rifle, and a grunt of exertion. There was only one thing that could mean if help had gotten here that quickly. It meant Specialists, but that didn't make any sense. Weren't all of the Specialists guarding the wall?

The Manticore turned and charged, obviously considering whoever had attacked it more of a threat. "I got it, ruin its day!" An older male called out.

Then Dodger heard rapid fire impacts from some sort of blunt melee weapon, some sort of staff maybe? "Weiss, finish it!" A young boy called out.

Wait. Weiss. Weiss Schnee was here?

All Dodger saw of the Manticore's demise was a few ice shards flying past. He turned to his charges with a wild grin on his face. "See, Jade? I told you help was coming!"

For once in his life, Dodger was glad to be proven wrong. He poked his head out of the alley to greet their rescuers and saw Professor Goodwitch of Beacon, Taiyang Xiao Long of the legendary team STRQ, Weiss freaking Schnee, a girl in a hood that could only be Weiss's partner, Ruby, and a boy holding... a cane? "Uh, thanks for the assist."

He was approached by Taiyang, "It's no problem, just doing our job. Do you have any injured?"

Dodger shook his head, "Nothing major, some bumps and bruises, Mason got a little toasted by that last fireball. We're ready to go when you give the word."

He turned back to the alley, "Come on! We're getting out of here!" Mason and the family emerged from the alley, at first unsure of how safe is was, but then relaxing when they saw their rescuers. However, there wouldn't be time for the thank yous until they were safe, so the group started making their way to the military base.

After about ten minutes, the roaring returned. The Grimm had come back to finish the job. Dodger turned around to find a group of Beowolves and Manticores chasing them down.

"Run!" Ruby yelled. "No matter what happens, don't stop!"

One of the Manticores flew over them, its mouth brimming with the flame it was about to belch at them. Suddenly, a purple glow encompassed it, and it careened into a nearby building. Dodger chanced a look back, and saw Taiyang and the boy with the cane engaging the Beowolves, while Professor Goodwitch dealt with the Manticores. Seriously, how old was that kid? He didn't look a day over fourteen!

Then, another screech echoed as some Griffons joined the fray. Dodger resolved that he would jump in the way if they made it past their defenders, he had promised Jade that her family was going to be okay, after all.

"Weiss, I need a Velocity Glyph!" Ruby said. A glyph appeared under her, and she shot off like a rocket towards the Griffons, decapitating one with a swing of that ridiculous scythe of hers, before blowing the head off of another with a gunshot. Weiss, for her part, used a volley of ice shards to knock the third Griffon out of the sky. There was just one problem.

There were four Griffons, and the fourth was coming straight for the mother of the family. Dodger swallowed, he knew what he had to do, all that was left was to do it. He shouldered the woman out of the way, and took her place as the Grimm's target.

In the instant before it grabbed him, he remembered that he owed Mason two hundred Lien after the last poker night.

Everything became a blur as he felt his feet leave the ground. His rifle slipped through his fingers, he heard Jade's mother tell her not to look, and heard Ruby scream out in dismay.

He looked up at the Griffon in defiance, and could do nothing but watch as its head descended.

Then, all Dodger knew was darkness.

(Ruby)

Ruby's eyes widened in horror as she saw the Griffon's head descend and begin to swallow the Atlesian solider that had taken the woman's place. "NO!" She screamed. She took aim and fired, hoping to save the man just as she had saved Roman by accident the night of the Miracle at Beacon.

She missed.

What? How did she miss? And why were her hands shaking?

Vines leapt from a nearby tree to restrain the Griffon. "I got it, Ruby! Finish it!" Oscar yelled.

She fired again, this time the bullet struck home and shredded the Griffon's head. The vines that Oscar had created fell away as it dissolved leaving behind the fallen body of the Atlesian solider that the Griffon had tried to munch on.

Ruby rushed over, "Hey, you're gonna be okay, let's..." Ruby's voice trailed off as she noticed the complete lack of a pulse.

She hadn't been fast enough. Ruby could already feel the tears pricking at her eyes, how could she ever be like her mom when she couldn't save everyone?

Tai saw Ruby's impending breakdown from a mile away. He knelt down and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Ruby, it's okay. We're not going to be able to save everyone today, so we need to focus-"

"Mom would have!" She snapped, "Mom would've saved everyone!"

Tai sighed, the middle of a apocalyptic Grimm invasion wasn't the best place for these memories, but Ruby needed to hear this. "Summer knew that she couldn't save everyone, Ruby."

"Huh?"

Tai smiled as the memories flooded in, it felt good to be in a place mentally where he could handle it. "She knew that saving everyone was an impossibility, and knew that attempting it would only led to her death. We were at Mountain Glenn during the Collapse, and all of the people we were losing, both civilian and Hunter, was starting to get to us. Summer told us something that I'll never forget."

Ruby was listening with rapt attention. "What was it?"

"Sometimes it's worth it all to risk the fall to fight for every life." Tai said, "Now, that doesn't mean try to save everyone, it means to keep fighting, no matter how many people we lose, because if we can save even one life, then it's all worth it."

Ruby tightened her grip on Crescent Rose, and fired at the Beowulf that had dared to try to interrupt their family bonding moment without even sparing it a second glance.

Tai grinned, "That's my girl."

(Argus, Residential District)

Captain Champagne had been right, the entire area surrounding Saphron and Terra's home was a ghost town. The further in they went, the more and more Reign-Beau was on edge, and Ren was starting to notice.

"Professor Arc, are you alright?" Ren asked, "You're basically radiating nervousness."

"No." Reign-Beau said tersely, ignoring the fact that Ren had somehow sensed his emotions. "No, I'm not."

They continued on their way, their only company the cracks of thunder from the storm and the distant sound of anti-Grimm turret fire. Eventually, they came across an undeployed AGC-23, with the hover-truck that was towing it unceremoniously parked in the middle of a storefront.

"Nora, there could be injured." Jaune said, "Check for survivors."

"On it!" Nora scampered off towards the hover-truck, her first-aid kit in hand.

"Nora, keep your Aura up, no matter what." Reign-Beau said. "Best case scenario, I'm being paranoid, but I don't want to lose any of us to the worst case scenario."

Jaune shot his father a look, "What's the worst case scenario?"

Reign-Beau looked at Jaune, and Jaune saw a look that he had only seen the night that his father had tried to convince him to abandon that path he had chosen for himself. "The Chill, or worse, The Apathy."

Silence fell again, and it was incredibly uneasy. Jaune knew all about the Apathy, after all, Reign-Beau had described them in excruciating detail to him approximately five years ago. If one of them had found their way into Saphron and Terra's house then... then...

Ren placed a hand on Jaune's shoulder, "Don't worry, Jaune. We'll get there before anything happens."

Nora returned from her mission, her expression grim. "No survivors, but they didn't die from the crash, they died from three stab wounds, all right in a row, to the gut."

Jaune and Reign-Beau drew their swords in unison, and Ren and Nora responded in kind with their own weapons. "Alright," Jaune said, "No more subtlety. We make a beeline there, cut down anything in our path, then get the hell out. We're not taking any chances."

"Wait, just like that?" Nora protested, "What happened to sneaking in?"

"Those wounds are from the Apathy." Reign-Beau explained, "While they are some of the weakest Grimm when it comes to physical strength, they are one of the most insidious. Their wail saps your willpower, and once you are immobilized, they-"

"I get the picture, alright?" Nora quickly said as she put two and two together.

"We need to hurry, I'm not sure that the Atlesian military will wait for us to get back before they make their final withdrawal." Ren noted.

"I don't think that'll happen for a while." Jaune said, "But I don't want to stay here any longer than we have to, let's move."

With that, they resumed their march, making their former speed look like a crawl. Nothing but crashed vehicles and empty streets awaited them.

"Why don't people just leave?" Nora asked, "Even if these Apathy are around, we haven't seen them!"

"Nora..." Ren started to say, only for Nora to cut him off.

"I'm just saying, there has to be something keeping them indoors, right?"

Reign-Beau glanced back at her, "Other than the fact that district is cordoned off, and we can only come and go because Captain Champagne made us Acting Specialists?"

Ren mentally kicked himself. "Nora's right, in a massive Grimm attack like this, even with the district blocked off, there should still be some people making a run for it."

"I don't know, Ren." Jaune said, "But-"

"Help!"

They all stopped in their tracks, and turned towards the voice. They were in the middle of an intersection, completely exposed. Which Jaune was not a fan of, no sir.

"Come on, let's go!" Nora yelled.

Before she could move, Ren stepped in front of her, "Wait, Nora. Something isn't right here."

"Away!"

"Off!"

"Well, we just got our answer on what's keeping people indoors." Reign-Beau said, "The Chill."

Jaune's blood ran cold, the Chill were in the same league as the Apathy, in how insidious it was. It possessed people, making them look like a Grimm and then used the victim to kill others, then would jump to the next victim. To lure prey in, the Chill could make their victim repeat the last word they said.

Normally, defeating a single Chill was an exercise in stealth and patience, at least according to Professor Port. If you killed the host while the Chill was still in them, you would kill the Chill with them. Groups of Chill were considered suicide missions.

If Professor Port didn't consider something beatable with manly determination, that was a good sign that running was probably the best option.

"Should we run?" Ren asked.

Jaune switched his sword to Wind Dust, "We can't risk leading them to Saph and Terra, we have to kill these Chill." He clenched his teeth, he absolutely hated this plan, because it meant killing people who were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Unfortunately, there was no other option.

The first one shambled into view, its skin as white as bone, eyes as black as night, and red veins spread out across its face and arms. The way its, or rather, his clothes were torn indicated some sign of a struggle, along with the bite marks on his arms and neck.

"Something's not right here." Reign-Beau muttered. "Why the bite marks?"

Jaune's eyes went wide. Salem had done some tinkering with the Chill, that was the only possibility. "They can create other Chill through biting, that's the only explanation."

"Then we shouldn't let them get close." Ren said. A single gunshot rang out from Stormflower, and after the Chill's head snapped up from the force of the gunshot, it fell over, dead.

"We need to make sure the area is clear before-" Jaune started to say.

He was cut off by the cries of more Chill, that were approaching must faster than should be possible. "Oh, crap." Nora said.

Oh, crap turned out to be an accurate statement, as five more Chill were rushing them. "Nora, light them up!" Jaune said.

Nora hesitated for a split second. They were Grimm, sure. But these were Chill, which meant that they were people too. She glanced over at Jaune, surely he wouldn't be so callous as to order her to...

She saw his face, and saw that he wasn't happy about it either. Nora switched Maghnild to grenade launcher mode, and opened fire, scattering grenades across the path of the oncoming Chill. Hopefully, she'd be able to forgive herself one day.

Three of the Chill were neutralized, but the other two kept rushing at them, straight into the blades of Jaune and his father. Reign-Beau dispatched one of them with a no-nonsense stab, while Jaune took out his with a wind slash.

"Is that all of them?" Nora asked.

Ren looked around, for this being a battle with a much more terrifying and combat capable Chill group, things had almost gone too-

The hair on the back of his neck stood on end. The last time that had happened was during initiation right before that Great Taijitu had ambushed... him...

Ren whirled around to find that another, much larger group of Chill had snuck up behind them, and one was about to grab Nora.

"Behind us!" Ren yelled as he interposed himself between the Chill and Nora. He wasn't ready for the tackle from it because he was still in motion, so he tumbled to the ground, with the Chill on top of him.

It tried to lunge in and bite him on the neck, but Ren lodged his forearm between the Chill's neck and him, keeping it at bay. That didn't stop repeated attempts, its teeth gnashing, black Grimm ichor splattering on his face. The Chill had grabbed his other arm, preventing him from doing anything with Stormflower. He heard Nora say "Get off of him!"

Less then a second later, Lie Ren's life flashed before his eyes as he saw the head of Maghnild pass within inches of his face, sweeping the head of the Chill aside with a crack. He threw the currently dissolving body of the Chill to the side, scrambled to his feet, and wiped the ichor off his face with his sleeve. For all they knew, that was how these new Chill turned people.

He cursed himself as his guns sprayed bullets at the nearest Chill, even though he knew his Grimm detection ability with his Semblance was spotty at best. Maybe the reason he was able to detect the Chill when he did was because they were human once? So, even though the possession aspect of these Chill seemed to be permanent, maybe they still had some glimmer of the emotions they had when they were human?

Of course, these questions were completely irrelevant at the moment, as they were currently fighting for their lives against Grimm that had practically leapt out of Jaune's favorite zombie movie. Ren moved his aim to the next Chill, For the love of Dust and Color, how many of these things did Salem have, and pulled the trigger.

Click.

Ren blinked. He was slipping. Without missing a beat, because missing a beat at the moment would mean getting dogpiled by a indeterminate number of Grimm determined to either rip his throat out or turn him into one of them, he lashed out with Stormflower, its underbarrel blades ripping through the members of the horde that dared to attack him.

Jaune grunted as his sword cleaved through another Chill, and his shield caved in the skull of another with a mighty smash. He gritted his teeth as yet more ran at him, faster than they ever would've been able to in life. There had to be an end to them, right? Chill were a rare Grimm to begin with, rare enough that most civilians thought that they were a myth.

There was a time when Jaune had kept track of his Grimm kills, back when him killing an Ursa Major by himself was an accomplishment. Now though? He had lost count. Considering what the Chill were, he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

Finally, the seemingly endless swarm of Chill stopped being so endless. Reinforcements stopped coming rather abruptly, and the remainder were swiftly dealt with.

"Status?" Reign-Beau asked.

Jaune ejected the Dust vials from his sword, "Down one Dust reload, got two left."

Ren reloaded Stormflower, frowning at how many of his magazines littered the ground around him. "Running low on ammo, otherwise I'm fine."

Nora switched Maghnild back to grenade launcher mode, then put it back on the magnetic holster on her back, "Running lower on grenades than I like. Still got plenty of Lightning Dust, though."

Jaune sheathed his sword after reloading it with new Dust vials, "Alright, I don't want to wait around for more of those things to show up, the sooner we get to Saphron and Terra, the sooner we can get out of here."

They continued on their way, glad to be leaving the intersection that had become a killing ground.

A/N: Once again, we have another "Clem needs a lot of things to happen here, so he needs to split the chapter to maintain his sanity".

The AGC-23 "Grimmswatter" is based off of the Soviet ZU-23/2.

Next Chapter: The hammer falls, and RWBY, JNPR, and company do their best to save everyone they can.