Chapter 25: Desire To Preserve Life
(Argus, Docks)
Against all the odds, Yang was having the time of her life. She knew that would be a rather insensitive thing to blurt out in their situation, so she kept it to herself. Currently they were covering the crew of a AGC-23 at Argus's civilian docks that in turn was covering an emergency response team that was trying to rescue civilians from a collapsed building.
Needless to say, all of the emotions running through everyone present was making them prime targets for the Grimm that were being spawned from the storm. Which was made even more apparent by the pack of Beowolves running at them. Yang drew her arms back, which activated Ember Celica's Bomber Mode. "Alright, let's go." She said before breaking into a dead sprint at the Grimm, with Blake and Mercury on either side of her.
"Have fun, kids." Qrow quipped, "Me and Rae will take care of any that make it by you." The veteran Hunter had taken it upon himself to act as a go-between for Yang and Raven, to prevent any incidents from putting anyone else at risk. After hearing a screech, he looked up. "Rae, Nevermore, Eleven o' clock high."
Raven's eyes flared with Maiden power before she flicked her wrist, sending a single ice spike hurtling at the airborne Grimm, perforating its throat. It began to fall, right into the firing line of one of the AGC-23s stationed elsewhere in the city. After taking the turret's characteristic triple tap, it dissolved into nothingness.
Raven couldn't help but feel some small amount of pride as she watched Yang and Blake pull off a maneuver where Yang planted some of her bombs on a Beowolf, then Blake used Gambol Shroud's chain sickle mode to yank it into the rest of the group, causing them all to be blown to smithereens. For his part, Mercury took on the Alpha Beowolf, hitting it with rapid fire Wind Dust shots from his weapon before finishing it off with an axe kick.
"She's strong." Raven said, just loud enough that only her and Qrow could hear.
"Careful, Raven." Qrow deadpanned, "That was sounding dangerously close to parental pride."
Raven pointedly ignored him. "How much longer until they fish everyone out of that rubble?"
Qrow rolled his eyes, before activating his com link to the leader of the emergency response team, "Ratchet, this is Old Bird, what's your status?"
After a crackle from his comm, Qrow got a reply. "Still got some living people buried. It's going to be slow going if we want to keep them that way. Thirty minutes at the bare minimum."
Qrow grimaced, the longer those people were trapped down there, the tougher their job would be. "Copy that, we've got your back." He glanced over at the AGC-23 as its crew began the process of reloading its magazine. Something was going to go wrong, he could feel it. Then, two things happened at once.
A shiver went through him, like someone had just walked on his grave, and he heard the unmistakable roar of a Goliath. Qrow paled, his Semblance had just killed them all.
The kids came running back towards him and Raven. "Uncle Qrow, was that what I thought it was?" Yang asked.
"Yes, Yang. It was exactly what you thought it was. A Goliath." Raven said, "Now what are you going to do about it?"
Mercury grimaced, this was usually the part where he ran for the hills, but with those civvies to protect, that wasn't an option. "We can't run, so we go through it."
"How are we supposed to do that?" Blake asked, "Professor Oobleck once told Ruby that most Goliaths have been alive for hundreds, if not thousands of years, meaning it will be very smart, and very dangerous."
Yang grinned, "Yeah? So are we. Mercury, can you do that big ass Wind Dust cyclone you hit me with during our fight at the Vytal Tournament?" Mercury nodded, causing a snicker to escape Yang, "Perfect. Raven, do the Maiden powers let let you effect rock? Like, rock spikes?"
Raven raised an eyebrow, "Yes. What are you scheming, Yang?"
Qrow finally came back to his senses, "What's step one?"
Yang's eyes began to glow red, and her hair began to burn, "I need you to shoot me."
Qrow just about burst a blood vessel, "Are you out of your godsdamned mind, Yang?"
Yang shook her head, "Nah, but I helped kill a psychopath, so I think I'm entitled to be a little crazy. Now here's the plan..."
As Yang explained her plan to take down the Goliath, Mercury took a moment to do some self-reflection. If he was still on Salem's side, in a similar situation, Cinder would probably be demanding that he or Emerald do something as completely suicidal as the plan Yang had cooked up. The difference was that with Yang and the rest, they had absolute confidence in each other, and that they could pull a miracle out of their collective asses. No Cinder being abusive, no backbiting, and most thankfully, no Tyrian, being... Tyrian.
Gods, why hadn't he defected sooner?
He came back to the moment, and heard the Goliath's roar again, much closer this time. "Alright, it's go time!" Yang said, "Qrow, now!"
Qrow took out Harbinger and aimed it at Yang. "Why are you kids so determined to make me look like a responsible adult?" He fired, and Yang's Aura glowed bright yellow as it absorbed the impact, and fed it to her Semblance. Qrow then transformed to bird form, and flew straight up for the rest of his involvement.
"Raven, Merc, Now!" Yang yelled.
Mercury dashed forward, and began breakdancing, letting off Wind Dust shots with every revolution. They circled overhead, and would continue to do so until he fired the tracer round that would give them their target. Raven sheathed her sword, and switched to an Earth Dust blade. She would need the extra help for what the plan called for. A red corona ignited around her eyes, and as the Goliath approached, rock spikes erupted from the ground, impaling its legs and drastically impeding its forward motion.
Mercury slammed his heel into the ground, priming the secondary barrel of Talaria. With a side snap kick, he sent the tracer round screaming towards the Goliath, and grinned when it hit its face. Time for phase two. As the veritable cyclone of Wind Dust besieged the elephant Grimm, Mercury called out the the code word to trigger the final phase of the plan. "Bumblebee!"
Yang and Blake both took a breath, and let hundreds of hours of Ruby's grueling team attack training take over. They must have practiced this move thousands of times, for a very good reason. The first step of Bumblebee involved Blake throwing her weapon directly at Yang. The trick wasn't to try to grab the spinning chain sickle, but grabbing the Ribbon just below it. Yang's left hand lashed out, and held fast to the exact point it needed to. Yang started running, as fast as she could. She would need the speed for the jump, without it she simply wouldn't have the centrifugal force necessary to launch herself at the intended target.
Even from the beginning, Ruby had known her team better than she had let on. All of the team attacks that required Yang's involvement required the partner involved to commit. This way, Yang would be sure that the partner in question wouldn't abandon her when the going got rough. Yang felt that familiar tug from Blake that signaled that it was time to jump. She leapt with all her might, trusting in her girlfriend's judgment, her hair bursting into flame as she soared through the air.
As she careened towards the Goliath, she saw that Mercury's attack had left a crack in the bony armor covering the Goliath's face, just as planned. Yang cocked her arm back, let out a shout, and impacted with all the power of a meteor strike. For a split second it seemed like the world had frozen in time, with Yang suspended in midair and the Goliath seemingly indifferent to the bone shattering blow it had just received.
Then time resumed, and the true reason that Yang had asked Raven to anchor the Goliath with rock spikes was revealed. Its legs were kept in place, while the rest of it was violently thrown backwards, both from the force of the blow and the blast wave that tended to accompany Yang's bigger punches. The Goliath tried to press forward again, to try to swat the fly that had brought the sky down on it, but found that it couldn't stand on its tattered legs. It fell over, and began to dissolve, indicating that it had been defeated.
Yang looked up after hearing a crow caw, and saw Qrow transform back into human form before landing next to her, with a crooked grin on his face. "What exactly did you need me for, Firecracker?"
Yang blinked. "I didn't think that would kill it, I thought that you would need to finish it."
Qrow laughed, "Well, it did. Congrats, Yang. You're the first Huntress in twenty years to kill a Goliath." They started to walk back to the others, but Yang still had questions. "Who was the last one?"
Qrow's gaze became distant, as if he was remembering a once forgotten memory. "It was Summer."
Yang smiled, any other day they would've celebrated the Goliath kill for at least ten minutes, but that wasn't an option today. There were people to save and Grimm to kill. Then after they were done with that, they would have to do it all over again in Atlas, and pray that they could make a miracle.
All in a day's work.
(Argus, Arc-Cotta Residence)
After the battle with the Chill, the rest of the journey to Saphron and Terra's house had been without incident, aside from Jaune freezing up a bit when he saw a sign proclaiming that a nearby vacant lot was the future site of Pyrrha Nikos Memorial Park. The last time he had been in e middle of a Grimm attack like this, one of his closest friends and confidants had died. Something that more than a few of Argus's citizens were going through right now. He almost called Weiss, but he didn't want to run the risk of distracting her at a critical moment.
"Alright, we're here." Jaune said, as they stood in front of a house like many others they had passed, unique only in the Arc emblem on the mailbox. "Let's get them and go. Any reports on how things are going elsewhere?"
Ren pulled out his Scroll, and scrolled through the reports they had received while they had been traveling, mostly injury reports. "More of the same it seems. The only thing that I would consider pertinent is that there are reports of the seismic sensors in Argus's main wall going crazy."
Reign-Beau frowned, "Typically those are for detecting Creep burrows, not that Creeps can tunnel through stone. It's probably nothing, it would take months for Creeps to cause subsidence to an extent that would damage Argus's wall."
"What about Centinels?" Nora asked, "They tunnel through rock all the time."
Reign-Beau shook his head. "I doubt it, Centinels are native to Solitas. They've never been reported anywhere else."
Jaune whirled around to face his father, "I don't think Salem cares about what Grimm were reported where, dad."
Jaune's statement about their enemy's likely tactics drove home a sobering point. They likely had much less time before Argus became indefensible than they had previously thought, and they were a little too far away from the Atlesian Military base to be complacent about their situation.
"We need to hurry." Jaune said, making for the door. He turned the knob, only to kick himself. Of course it was locked. He hit the doorbell, expecting a quick answer. Saphron and Terra knew that they were coming for them, after all.
No response.
Jaune felt fear begin to close around his heart. No, not again. I can't lose anyone else. "Saph, it's Jaune! Open up!"
Again, no response.
"Move." Reign-Beau growled. Jaune, surprised by his father's tone of voice, shifted to the side, allowing Reign-Beau access to the door. Reign-Beau began trying to kick the door down, hitting just above the lock with the heel of his foot.
Jaune turned back to Ren and Nora to tell them to take their weapons out, only to find that they already had them out. He faced forward again, to watch as the wood splintered, and the door gave way, granting them access.
Jaune followed his father in, with Ren and Nora close behind. They quickly found Terra, with Adrian in her arms, slumped on the sofa in the living room, with Saphron laying facedown on the floor. Jaune was by his sister's side in a heartbeat. "Saph, it's Jaune, what's going on?"
With some effort, Saphron got an arm under her, and turned to look at Jaune. "About time you show... what took you?"
Despite the situation, Jaune grinned, "We hit traffic. Can you stand?"
Saphron shook her head lethargically, "Don't think so. Got really weak a couple of hours ago. Keeps getting worse." Without saying another word, Jaune turned to his father and mouthed a single word. Apathy.
"Sweep the house, groups of two." Jaune said, "There's an Apathy here. When you find it, eliminate it with extreme prejudice, property damage be damned. Nora, you're with-" Jaune's orders were cut off by the sound of breaking glass from the kitchen.
"Well, I'd say we just found us an Apathy." Nora said before she charged off to the kitchen.
"Nora, wait!" Reign-Beau said as he tried in vain to grab her by the jacket. She was just a little too quick for him, as Maghnild was already out and ready to smash. In theory.
As Nora rounded the corner, she came face to face with the Apathy, which would have been upwards of seven feet tall, if it hadn't been hunched over. Its skull like visage combined with its skeletal appearance reminded Nora of some of the unlucky kids at that rat nest of an orphanage she had been at. She didn't like being reminded of that. So, she did the one thing that had always come naturally to her.
Be strong, and hit stuff.
She moved, winding up for a blow, but before she reached her target, the Apathy let out an ear piercing wail, and Nora felt her arms and legs give out, as a wave of weakness washed over everyone.
Reign-Beau and Ren went down like bags of rocks, ending up in much the same position as Saphron. "No... not again." Reign-Beau muttered, as he tried to push himself to his feet. Ren tried to follow suit, but his arms gave out. "Nora... No, can't lose her." He activated his Semblance, then rose to his feet and started towards the kitchen, pistols in hand.
Jaune caught himself on a nearby table, that sucked, there was no doubt about it. But why had Ren and Reign-Beau gone down, while he was still standing? Hell, Ren had to use his Semblance to stay up, so why was he so resistant to the Apathy?
These were questions that he would have to ponder later, as Nora, finding that she didn't have the strength to get a good hit going with her hammer, switched it to grenade launcher mode. In her desperation to kill the Apathy before it could get its claws on her, or anyone else for that matter, she fired a grenade. It exploded just like it was supposed to, but the shockwave from the explosion blasted her back into Ren, who had just followed her in. They were sent sprawling to the ground, and Ren lost focus, dropping his Semblance.
Due to the aftermath of Nora's ill-advised grenade, Jaune had to raise his shield to block the shower of splinters and drywall. When he was able to look again, the Apathy was looking him dead in the eyes, with its head cocked. Almost as if it was curious how he could still be standing. Jaune began to move again, only for another unholy wail to emanate from the Apathy. This time he dropped to his knees. Why did this feeling of weakness brought on by the Apathy feel so... familiar? Almost like... like...
His depressive episode that he had gone through after he and Weiss had started their relationship, that was the only possible explanation. However, the willpower drain that the Apathy was inflicting didn't even compare to what that had been like. Jaune got to his feet to find the Apathy standing over Ren and Nora, its claws inching closer and closer to Nora...
Oh, hell no.
Jaune activated his Lightning Dust, causing his sword to spark with electricity, took the few steps needed to close the distance with the Apathy, and shoved Crocea Mors up through its jaw, and up through its head. Jaune continued to let the Dust do its work, electrifying the Apathy. It let out what Jaune could only categorize as a surprised screech, causing him to chuckle darkly. "I've felt worse." He said, as the Apathy finally dissolved.
After diving himself a few moments to catch his breath, Jaune got down to business. "Anyone hurt?"
Nora groaned, "Nothing Aura can't fix, other than feeling like I just went twelve rounds with a Beringel."
Ren shook his head to drive away some last bits of drowsiness. "It seems that the will-sapping abilities of the Apathy linger for a time after their death. This is problematic, considering we don't have any time to lose."
"Don't worry, Ren. I came prepared," Reign-Beau said as he hauled himself to his feet. He reached into a pouch on his belt, and produced some chocolate. "Secret Arc family remedy for post-Apathy exhaustion."
Jaune ate the offered chocolate, and was pleasantly surprised to find that the weight on his shoulders felt lighter after a bit.
"Urgh, remind me to never live at the site of an apocalyptic Grimm attack ever again." Saphron said as she got up. "I'm already having nightmares about the insurance premiums."
As Saphron and Terra got up, and gathered what meager possessions they planned to take, Reign-Beau noticed that they both had their pistols strapped to their waists. They had planned to fight to the bitter end, Aura or no. He couldn't undo the past, but he could...
"Saphron, there's something we need to take care of, a mistake I have to correct." Reign-Beau said.
Saphron cocked her head, she had her bugout bag on her back, as did Terra. Terra also had Adrian, and the bag with all the stuff they needed for Adrian. "Dad, whatever it is, it can probably wait."
Reign-Beau shook his head, "Not if you're planning on using that properly." He said, pointing to Saphron's pistol.
Saphron's eyes went wide. "Dad, are you sure?"
Reign-Beau laid a hand on her shoulder, and gave his oldest daughter a rueful smile. "No. Close your eyes and concentrate."
Saphron did as instructed, and in her mind's eye, saw a dim golden ember. Was that her? Another golden light, this one much brighter, touched hers, and when it withdrew, Saphron heard her father's voice in her head.
"It is through regret that we find penance, through this we become a guidepost to the next generation. Infinite in wisdom and lifted up by family, I give you strength, that you might protect the ones you love."
Saphron's eyes snapped open, to find her whole body covered by a golden light. "Whoa." When she looked up, she saw that everyone was watching her. "What're all you gawking at? Don't we need to get moving?"
Jaune grinned, "Yeah, we do. Once we step out that door, we make a beeline for the Atlesian Military Base. We do not stop, we do not make detours, no matter what happens, am I clear?"
Nora snapped to a mock salute, and Ren nodded. Saphron raised an eyebrow. "Who are you, and what have you done with my baby brother?"
Jaune pouted, "Saaaaaph, I was doing a thing!"
Reign-Beau smiled, even in the most oppressive environment, even when surrounded by death and darkness, Jaune was still... Jaune. He chuckled, mostly out of relief that his last fears about his son had been put to rest.
(Argus, Top of the Wall)
Scorch wasn't a superstitious man, he had always dismissed the fairy tales his mother had told him as nothing but that. However, the longer that the siege went on, the more Scorch became convinced that the Grimm Eclipse was upon them. Dark clouds that spawned Grimm and spewed unnatural lightning, the sun blotted out... it all fit.
"Lancers, incoming!"
Scorch reacted instinctively to his squad leader's call, existential dread notwithstanding. He swapped out his Hard Light Dust rifle's barrel out for the anti-armor attachment. "Thanks for the callout, Boss!" He pulled the trigger, causing a shining blue ovoid projectile to be launched at the approaching group of bee Grimm. It impacted the lead Lancer, causing them all to vanish within the explosion. Five down, only a million more to go.
"Sir, the seismic sensors are acting up again!" Fixer, the squad's tech expert yelled, "If these readings are right, the wall is seriously compromised!"
"Give it a rest, Fixer!" Sev grunted as he shot a Manticore out of the air with a well-placed sniper shot, "The only Grimm that could compromise the wall like you're suggesting are Centinels, and we're not in Solitas!"
"Can it, Sev!" Boss ordered, "Fixer, how big of an impact do they need now to breach?"
Fixer did some quick mental calculations, then looked up and immediately wished he hadn't, as a group of three flying Beringels were winging towards the wall. "That." He said, pointing at the winged gorilla Grimm.
"Who the hell was the genius who gave them wings?" Sev asked, When I get my hands on them-" The sniper's rant was cut off by a Centinel bursting out of the wall right in front of him. "Shit!" With a fluid motion he drew a combat knife with his offhand, and stabbed it into the Centinel. It screeched in pain, reared back, and gave the Atlesian sniper a face full of acid for his trouble.
At Atlas Academy, all recruits were drilled day and night in proper response to actions from specific Grimm. For Centinels, the proper response was to engage at range with focused fire. However, if forced into melee range, and you were hit by its acid spit, assuming that it didn't hit bare skin removing any armor hit by the acid was the next step.
"Shit!" Sev repeated, he dropped his knife, and used his free hand to tear his rapidly melting helmet off. After it was discarded, he shoved his rifle's barrel in the Centinel's eye and pulled the trigger. He cycled the bolt, and sighted in on the lead Beringel and took a shot. The bullet pinged off of the bony armor near its eyes.
"Everyone, take down those Beringels!" Boss ordered. Fixer opened fire with his rifle, the hard light shots completely ineffective against the Beringel's armor.
"This'll smoke them!" Scorch swapped his rifle for the AT4 rocket launcher he carried. He brought it to his shoulder, sighted in, and fired. The single rocket, carrying the all the hopes of the squad flew true and hit the lead Beringel. "I got it!" Scorch crowed.
His misplaced enthusiasm lasted for all of two seconds, as the winged gorilla Grimm all gained some altitude, and prepared to come down on what remained of the wall with a barrage of hammer blows.
"I just want you guys to know," Sev said, "Out of everyone I know, I hate you guys the least."
Boss, being the leader, was a little more pragmatic. He raised his hand to his ear and activated his comm. "This is Wall Defense Team Delta to all points. Wall Breach is imminent, I repeat, Wall Breach is imminent."
The Beringels descended, and Argus's mighty wall began to fall.
(Atlas, Ironwood's Office)
The situation in Argus had just gone bad to potentially catastrophic. The wall had fallen, and the Grimm were moving in. They were moving in waves, instead of all at once, as predicted. The only explanation was that Salem wanted to completely obliterate any resistance before wiping Argus off the map, so the survivors would tell stories of the devastation, and turn Atlas into a pressure cooker of fear.
James Ironwood stared at the holographic map of Argus in front of him, not for the first time today, common sense and Mettle were at war inside his head.
His Semblance was simply telling him to order a immediate evac of Argus, anyone not able to make it would be left behind. However, that would doom RWBY, JNPR, and all that stood with them to an inevitable death to an endless tide of Grimm. Common sense was much along those same lines, but allowing the remaining refugees to board the evac ships, and given RWBY and company time to escape.
He slipped his hand into his pocket, and took the silver plated lighter there in his hand. I pushed her away once, I won't do it again. He pushed a button on the console in front of him. "Sound the general evac order for Argus, time will be allowed for the remaining refugees and defenders to escape as well."
Then, he hesitated. A moment of deliberation, teetering between the choice of whether to believe in guardians, or trust in strength of arms.
"Send Penny."
(Argus, 250 feet from the Atlesian Military Base)
Due to the nature of life on Remnant, running for your life was an essential skill. Jaune had never been more appreciative of that than right now. His muscles were practically screaming at him, begging him for a few moments respite, but with the wave of Grimm behind him, to stop and rest would result in his death. He soothed his legs with Aura as best he could, and the Atlesian Military Base had come into view.
"Incoming!" Saphron yelled. Jaune grimaced as he saw a group of Beowolves leap over them, then turn back, charging at them. There was only one option here. "Nora, go!" Ren took a shot at one of the Beowolves on the fringe, so that Nora could focus on the main group.
Nora hit the trigger on Maghnild, activating its electrification mode. "GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Empowered by the Lightning Dust, she scattered the Beowolves like bowling pins, and the group continued their mad dash to relative safety.
As they got closer, the gun emplacements surrounding the military base began to fire, chipping away at the Grimm behind him, but Jaune knew it wouldn't be enough, they had seen exactly how many Grimm there were as they came in to Argus, and the guns would run out of ammo long before all of them were killed.
Ever since Pyrrha's death, Jaune had taken great pains to eliminate or mitigate his natural clumsiness, but occasionally it would rear its head, usually at incredibly inconvenient moments.
Like right now.
His foot caught on something, whether it was a rock, piece of debris, or something else, he had no idea. All he knew was that he had tripped, and was falling. He knew full well that he would probably not get back to his feet in time to escape the Grimm. He was going to die, all because he tripped over a damn rock.
Ren turned back, and his eyes went wide in alarm. "Jaune, no!"
Jaune hit the ground, "Keep going! Keep them safe!"
Reign-Beau heard his son's voice, and heard him fall. He knew that Jaune had to survive, as the Lamp of Knowledge had revealed that Jaune's experiences would be critical for teaching Salem the meaning of life and death. In short, if Jaune died here, Remnant would die with him. All he needed to survive this was a few more seconds to get away.
Seconds that Reign-Beau could provide.
Reign-Beau Arc turned, and barreled headfirst towards the Grimm horde, his shield glowing a brilliant gold. His Semblance allowed him to project his Aura from objects he held, and he pushed it further than ever before, creating a barrier that kept the Grimm back. "Get out of here, Jaune!"
Jaune knew that he should run. He knew freezing up here would be fatal. But in that moment Jaune ceased to be anything but a scared boy who didn't want to lose his father. "Not without you!"
Reign-Beau reached up with his free hand and removed his locket, tossing it to his son. "That's not an option at this point, unfortunately. Give your mother and sisters my love." Reign-Beau took up his sword again, and prepared for the worst. "And no matter what happens over the next few days... I'm proud of you."
Even as the barrier began to crack, Jaune still hesitated, "Arc's Promise?" He barely managed to ask.
Reign-Beau smiled. "Arc's Promise."
Jaune turned and ran, his father's locket unceremoniously stuffed into one of the pouches on his belt. Reign-Beau gritted his teeth: He didn't have much Aura left, hopefully he gave Jaune the time he needed.
When the barrier failed, and his Aura broke, Reign-Beau did not shrink from the end. He met it head on, with a straight back, a battle cry on his lips, and unfailing determination to protect those he loved in his heart.
Like any Arc would.
(Argus, Atlesian Military Base, Main Gate)
Weiss saw it all.
She saw Jaune fall, and saw Reign-Beau turn back to protect his son. She saw the golden barrier blaze into existence, and she saw Jaune finally scramble to his feet and run.
She saw the barrier break, and watched as Reign-Beau vanished into the Grimm. The Grimm that were now bearing down on Jaune, and by extension... everyone else.
They only had to hold the line for twenty more minutes, twenty minutes until the last refugee ships could get away. But now, seeing the Grimm nipping at Jaune's heels, only one thing mattered.
In an instant, Weiss understood how Jaune must have felt at Haven after Cinder impaled her. But here, the tragedy hadn't happened yet. It could be prevented.
Weiss broke formation and ran right into the maw of the Grimm, her only concern being saving Jaune. "BY MY WORD AS AN ARC, I WILL NEVER LET YOU FALL!" Weiss heard the screeches of Nevermores and the roars of Manticores as they rained their feathers and fire down on her, but they never touched her. No, she was a woman on a singular mission, and she had given her word as an Arc that she would complete it. She was a Schnee after all. Nothing less than perfection was acceptable.
Her lips quirked up in a smile as she heard the voices of Ruby and Oscar behind her. She didn't need to be perfect, she just needed to be Weiss, and her friends would pick up the slack.
"Captain!" Ruby shouted into her comm, "Fire up the Witchbane CIWS! We need a hole punched NOW!"
The mildly annoyed voice of Captain Champagne came back, "How do you even- Look, you're too close to the Grimm for us to do that! You'd be ripped to shreds!"
Oscar was beginning to panic a little. He was in the middle of a war zone and armed with a cane. Absolutely perfect, totally fitting. Tell me there's a way out of this, old man!
"There is, but using it now will accelerate your progress. I will most likely disappear within days."
Oscar swallowed. Was he ready to not have Ozpin in his head? He saw Jaune narrowly dodge a charging Boarbatusk, and the decision was made for him. Let's do it, Ozpin.
"Very well, gather everyone together, then hold down the large lever on the cane. Then hold on."
"Guys! Gather around me, then call in the artillery!" Oscar shouted.
Jaune glanced at him, "But Captain Champagne said-"
"I know what he said!" Oscar snapped: "Trust me, everything will be fine."
With that, and surrounded by Grimm, they had no other option that they liked, so the four of them grouped up. "Here goes everything." Oscar muttered before depressing the lever of the Long Memory. The cane began to crackle with emerald lightning, and a shield sprang into existence around them. Ruby gasped, this was their chance! "We're safe! FIRE! FIRE NOW!
For a second, there was only the snarling of the remaining Grimm as they tried to break through Oscar's shield. In the next second, there was only sound and fury as bullets that glowed an angry red against the night sky shredded the remaining Grimm. Oscar winced as one of the bullets impacted the shield, if they didn't have the protection it offered, that would not have been pretty.
"Come on," Ruby said, already darting back towards the main gate, "We've got to set up for the next wave."
Jaune turned to Weiss seeking an explanation. "There's still some refugee ships that haven't taken off yet." She explained, "We have to hold the line until they escape."
"Right." Jaune muttered, his voice cracking, "Let's go."
Weiss's heart skipped a beat. Jaune had just watched his father sacrifice himself to save him, so he probably... "Jaune, are you-"
He cut her off, "Don't. Don't make me think about it. I'll mourn after." Despite the sharpness of his retort, he slipped his hand into hers as they made their way back to the rest of the group.
By the time they got back to the others, Captain Champagne was swearing up a storm. "Gods damn it all!" He roared into his comm, "You better have it fixed by then, or I'll feed you to the Grimm myself!"
Qrow glanced at the Atlesian officer warily, this could not be good. "What happened?"
Champagne growled, "One of the refugee ships has a fault in the Dust Reactor. It'll take an hour to jury-rig it to the point it'll be able to fly again."
Everyone turned and stared at him. Holding this position for twenty minutes had seemed difficult but possible, but an hour? The roars of the next wave of Grimm getting louder only made it worse.
"It will be alright, everyone." Glynda said, her confidence unshakable. "We will hold."
"How can you be so sure, Professor?" Blake asked.
Tai cracked his knuckles, "it's simple, Blake. Every Hunter comes up against a situation like this in their career. A situation where they have to draw a line in the dirt and tell the Enemy that they will go no further. For team STRQ, that was Mountain Glenn. For you, it's this."
Glynda had already begun using her Semblance to erect barricades that would help funnel the ground based Grimm into the frontline that Jaune was setting up. Ruby glanced around, what could she do, what could she...
She smiled when she laid eyes on an AGC-23. Among their group she was uniquely qualified to coordinate artillery, now wasn't she? If the Atlesian Military was going to give her the rank of Acting Specialist, she might as well use it.
She took out her Scroll, and browsed the available Atlesian comm channels until she found what she was looking for, TacGunnery, the channel shared by the AGC-23 crews, and the Witchbane operators. Ruby took a breath and keyed her comm. "This is Acting Specialist Ruby Rose, I've got some questions for you guys. I think I have a plan that will get us out of this mess, but I need a couple things first."
There was a beat of silence, then she received a reply. "What do you need to know, Spec?"
Ruby grinned.
(Argus, Atlesian Military Base, some time later)
Even on his best day, Jaune would have had second thoughts about the task he and his friends were undertaking. A borderline insane holding action against an endless tide of Grimm, all to protect a few hundred refugees. That was the whole reason they were here, so that's what they would do.
Jaune forced himself to stay focused, if any part of the defenses that they had all put together failed, then their already precarious situation would rapidly deteriorate from bad to worse. However, if his time at Beacon had taught him anything, it was that no matter how hopeless a situation seemed, whether you were crossing blades with Adam Taurus, or trying to ace one of Doctor Oobleck's History exams, there was one incorruptible fact.
There was always hope as long as you stood as a light against the darkness, because even a candle can hold it back.
"Fiddlesticks!" Ruby's voice sounded over the comm, "An Ursa Major got past the AGC-23s!"
"For the love of Color, just curse!" Nora yelled.
To make sure that neither of them got overwhelmed, Ruby and Jaune had split leadership duties, Ruby led the back line, including coordinating the Atlesian artillery units, while Jaune led the front line. The strategy that Jaune, Ruby and Glynda had hashed out in what little time they had was simple, but effective.
The Witchbane CIWS turrets would focus on the aerial Grimm, while the AGC-23s would load AP rounds and go for the larger ground targets, Deathstalkers and the like. This left the smaller Grimm for Jaune and the frontline to deal with. Any other day, Jaune would deal with the Ursa Major himself to work out the anger simmering in his heart, but he kept it locked down. "Raven, kill it!" He called out.
If Jaune hadn't become preoccupied by killing a Beowolf that had decided to rush him, he would've seen a wave of fire emanate from Raven's katana, neatly bisecting the offending Ursa Major. He would've seen Yang switch her arm to Autocannon mode, and light up a group of Creeps. He would've seen any number of his comrades kill any kind of Grimm in many ways.
The flow of Grimm began to ebb, and Jaune breathed a sigh of relief. A couple moments of respite before the nightmare started again. "Alright, everyone. Ammo check!"
Ren's last magazines clattered to the ground. "Empty." He spat.
"I've only got six grenades and one Dust cartridge left." Nora said, the familiar click of Maghnild's loading mechanism sounding rather ominous.
Jaune heard the sound of Dust vials clattering to the ground. "This is my last Dust reload." Weiss said, the edge in her voice telling everyone that running out of Dust wouldn't even come close to stopping her.
"Running low." Qrow grunted.
"I'm out." Mercury said, grinding his heel into the ground.
"I'm fine." Raven hissed.
"Good news, my Semblance is topped off." Yang said almost cheerfully, "Bad news, I'm almost out of ammo. Maybe three reloads left."
As Jaune kept an eye on the horizon, ever vigilant for the next wave, he processed the responses. Can't hold out much longer, I've only got one Dust reload left too... "How much longer?"
Ren checked the timer he had set on his Scroll. "Ten minutes."
"Alright, if we're smart, we should..." The words of encouragement Jaune had been about to utter died in his throat as he saw the storm clouds part, and reveal what Salem had hidden in the storm.
A Grimm Whale.
"Well, at least I'm going to die on the right side." Mercury quipped.
"No!" Ruby called out. "No one else dies today!
The whale opened its mouth, and Grimm began to flow from it, only adding to the now approaching next wave. Nora brushed her hand against Ren's, the most affection they could show at the moment, then switched Maghnild to hammer mode. "Well, if we go down, I say we make it look damn good."
With a click, Captain Champagne entered their comm channel. "Knock off the impending doom shit, it'll sour the good news that I've got for you."
Glynda let out a breath that she hadn't realized that she'd been holding. "Let's hear it, Captain."
"The mechanics' time estimate was generous, in our favor. The last refugee ship just took off, and my boys got your Bullhead warmed up for you. Me and mine will cover you, you all will be needed in Atlas when this hits there." Champagne said. "Get out of here."
"What are we waiting for? Let's go!" Raven said.
Jaune shook his head. "They're too close, we'd never make it to the airfield in time." Precious seconds ticked away as Jaune weighed the options, "Tai, Yang, go get the Bullhead, and bring it around. Ren, go with them, just in case some of them make it past us."
Ruby was practically beside herself, "Jaune, what about the rest of the soldiers? We're just going to leave them to die?"
Jaune grimaced, "I don't like it either, Ruby, but if we die, that's it for Remnant."
"But-" Ruby tried to continue.
Raven cut her off, "Shut up, brat. It's us or them."
Qrow had started to tell Raven off, but it didn't matter. Ruby shook her head, this wasn't right. They weren't training to become Hunters to decide who lived and who died. They were supposed to be guardians! They were supposed to protect everyone! Sure, there was always the chance that some people would still die, but that was nothing like what was happening here!
She was a Huntress! Huntresses were supposed to save everyone!
Save everyone...
Protect...
Preserve... life.
The tide of Grimm was about to get to Jaune and the others, and there were too many. They were about to get overwhelmed. Ruby moved, darting forward under the power of her Semblance. She had no idea why she was doing this, only that it was on instinct... the same instincts she followed during the Miracle of Beacon when she had first unlocked the power of her eyes, and again when Adam had brought those Grimm.
"Ruby, what are you doing? Blake asked.
"NO MORE!" Ruby screamed, "NO ONE ELSE DIES TODAY!"
She made it to the front line with mere moments to spare. She could feel the power building, just like before. With a wordless scream, she let it loose, turning her world to silver. When the world came back into focus, she was on her knees, clutching her head due to the absolute headsplitting pain that was ricocheting around her skull.
"Ruby!" Jaune said, "Oscar, Weiss, pull her back!"
Ruby chanced opening her eyes, "Did I get them?"
She followed Weiss's worried gaze, only to see that the Grimm she had just vaporized were already being replaced. "I'm sorry..." Ruby said, "I don't think I can do that again... right now..."
Then, their comm circuit clicked, and a voice that Ruby Rose had longed to hear ever since the Vytal Festival Tournament brought salvation.
"Salutations!"
Everyone looked up, and saw none other than Penny Polendina rocketing through the sky, emerald fire trailing behind her, and right behind her, their Bullhead. "Hey, guess who we found?" Yang quipped, "Hurry up and get on! Penny will hold back the Grimm!"
"Don't have to tell me twice!" Jaune said. "Move it!"
In the background, Ruby could've sworn she heard Captain Champagne give similar orders to his men, she smiled as Weiss bundled her towards the waiting Bullhead. Those Grimm wouldn't know what hit them.
Penny did a sensor sweep of the approaching Grimm horde, and determined that maximum force was the only proper course of action. She stretched forth her hand and launched the components of Floating Array 2.0, calling out the activation sequence as she did so. "Go! Funnels!"
Ten cone shaped objects launched from her backpack and sped towards the Grimm. Once in range, they began to fire, causing emerald lasers to carve through them. Penny waved her hands like a conductor, directing their movements. "You will not hurt my friends!" Penny declared, "You will not hurt anyone ever again!"
Her onboard tactical analysis program indicated that more force was necessary, so Penny landed, and called Floating Array back to her. She arranged them in a ring in front of her, and caused them to spin, charging up her most powerful attack. In moments, it was ready to fire. "Starburst Cannon, FIRE!" Ten lasers became one, one giant laser that rendered most of the remaining Grimm to ash.
Satisfied that she had enabled Ruby and the rest of her friends to get away, Penny took to the air and began to follow their Bullhead out. As she did so, she noticed a thin man, who she quickly identified as Qrow Branwen, was waving at her to board from an open door. She angled toward the Bullhead, and landed perfectly on the access ramp. Qrow laid a hand on her shoulder and cracked a crooked half smile. "Thanks for the save, Skygal."
Oh, a nickname! Ruby had told her once about her uncle's penchant for giving people nicknames. It made Penny happy that Ruby's uncle has given her an endearing nickname rather than a antagonistic one. "You are welcome, Mr. Branwen."
Qrow chuckled as he hit the button to close the door, "Don't go all formal on me, it makes me feel old."
Penny was mildly astonished when she looked at everyone. Ironwood had briefed her on Mercury and Raven's involvement, but had said nothing about the most startling development. Jaune and Weiss were sitting next to each other, and Weiss was rubbing his back. Were they together? That was certainly interesting. However, there was one person on the airship that immediately drew all of her attention.
Ruby was laying on her back across three seats, eyes screwed shut to block out as much stimuli as possible. Nora was kneeling next to her, and she closed her first aid kit as Nora approached. "I've given her some painkillers." Nora said, "I'm not sure what else to do, though. This is a magic eye thing, after all."
Penny frowned. If Ruby hadn't used her eyes, there wouldn't have been any way for her to get there in time to save everyone. "It is okay, Nora. I will take it from here." Nora nodded, then went to sit next to Ren. Ruby stirred, groaning as her migraine continued to assault her. Her eyes fluttered open, to find Penny kneeling beside her. "Penny?"
Penny brushed the hair out of Ruby's eyes and smiled. "It is alright, Ruby." Penny said, "I am here."
Ruby smiled weakly, "I know." She caught one of Penny's hands, pressed it against her cheek, and nuzzled into it. "I've missed you so much."
If Penny was capable of crying, she would have. "I will not leave you again. I promise."
Across the Bullhead, Weiss was tending to Jaune, wiping away some of the grime on his face. "Jaune, are you sure that you're doing alright?" Weiss asked, her worries more than obvious to everyone else onboard the Bullhead.
Jaune hesitated, "For the most part, but..." He trailed off, then hung his head. "He died because I tripped. If I hadn't tripped, he wouldn't have..." He took a moment to gather his thoughts, then continued; "If I had gotten the crap kicked out of me by the Grimm, then he died protecting me, I could accept that. But I tripped!"
Weiss frowned, "That might be true, but your father also knew what Jinn told us. That we need me, you, Ruby and Oscar to teach Salem the meaning of life and death. He knew that if you died, all of Remnant would be in jeopardy."
"I know." Jaune said, almost gently. "That's probably the only reason I'm not a sobbing wreck right now." There was a moment of silence, then Jaune continued, "He said that no matter what happens with Salem, he's proud of me. He's proud of me, Weiss."
Weiss smiled, she knew how much that meant to Jaune, and that it was undoubtedly helping him with the new batch of grief that had been piled on him. "So am I, my darling knight. No matter what happens." She pulled him down into a kiss. There was no passion in it, that wasn't the point, and it wouldn't have been appropriate. It was a reminder to both of them that no matter what, even if Salem was on the cusp of total victory, they would have each other.
Until the end, whatever that might be.
(Atlas Airspace)
Yang had finally figured out her least favorite thing ... no, two least favorite things about flying. Thing one was that she couldn't cuddle with Blake while she was piloting, and thing two was Atlesian Air Traffic Control. It was a good thing that her dad was handling the radio, because otherwise Yang probably would've broken the thing by now.
Judging by his expression, Taiyang was pretty close to that too. "Look, I understand you're dealing with a lot of refugee ships right now, but we just got done protecting all of those refugees, so we would really appreciate it if we could land and get some rest."
"No can do, at the moment, Beacon Defender One. With the volume of ships we've got right now, we have to take them as they come, and you're at the back of the line."
Taiyang proceeded to strangle the air in front of him. He was a patient man, but Atlesian bureaucracy was making him consider buzzing the nearest Atlesian warship.
Jaune came into the cockpit. "Still no luck?"
Yang rubbed her eyes, "Nope."
Jaune sighed, "Give me the radio. I can get them to let us land." At that point, everyone in the Bullhead except for Weiss, was looking at Jaune like he had grown a second head. "Sure, Jaune." Yang muttered, "Give it a shot, it can't possibly make things any worse."
"Just promise me one thing, Yang. Do not laugh." Yang looked at Jaune quizzically, why would he be telling her not to...
"Atlas Control, this is Acting Specialist Jaune Arc, onboard Beacon Defender One. We have Precious Cargo, repeat we have Precious Cargo onboard." Jaune held his breath and waited.
"Confirm identity of Precious Cargo."
Taiyang's eyebrows shot up, and Yang did a double take. Jaune, to his chagrin, continued. "Songbird and Vomit Boy, repeat Songbird and Vomit Boy."
Yang very nearly forgot that Jaune had been very insistent that she not laugh, and a giggle escaped her. She received an almost Schnee-like glare from him in response. "Wait a second, the code name that the entire Atlesian Military has for you... is Vomit Boy?"
Jaune's testy response was cut off by the Atlesian operator. "Beacon Defender One, you may land in hangar Omega-12, General Ironwood is expecting you."
Taiyang took over the radio again, "Many thanks, Atlas Control." He replied, with absolutely no sarcasm in his voice whatsoever, "Beginning landing sequence."
Jaune went back into the passenger compartment to find that most of RWBY and JNPR had fallen asleep. Nora had fallen asleep in Ren's lap, Ruby's migraine had gone away, but she had fallen asleep on Penny's shoulder.
"Jaune, when we land, we will handle debriefing Ironwood." Glynda said, gesturing to the other adults, "You all should get as much proper rest as you can."
Jaune settled in next to Weiss, and she shifted, her head falling on his shoulder. "Thanks, Professor." After a moment of silent contemplation, Jaune came to a realization, and took his Scroll out of his pocket. He still had signal, that made sense, considering that they were practically at Atlas. "I need to call Mom. She needs to know what happened to Dad." No one raised any objections, so he took the plunge.
Without delay, Jaune dialed his Mom's number and called her, audio only. that way there was less of a chance of the call being dropped if the Grimm took out too many of the outlying CCTS towers. Couleur Arc answered almost immediately. "Jaune, what's happening? Are Saphron and Terra safe? What about your father? Did his Scroll get broken, I can't see his Aura meter so I assume that-" Couleur spoke in a rapid-fire manner approaching Oobleck speeds, which made the pit in Jaune's stomach open wider and wider as she went on.
Start with the good news, Jaune. What little there is. "Saph, Terra, and Adrian are safe. We're about to land in Atlas now."
Jaune's omission didn't escape Couleur's attention. "What about Reign-Beau? Is he hurt?"
Jaune braced himself. "He's... Dad's gone, Mom. He's dead."
For a few agonizing seconds there was silence from the other end of the line. "What happened?" Couleur asked, her voice very much the voice of a woman who was trying to hold herself together.
"He died protecting me from the Grimm." Jaune said, "He said to give you and everyone else his love."
A sob escaped Couleur and she took a moment to compose herself, "Of course he would, damned hopeless romantic. Jaune, you listen to me very carefully. By know, I'm sure you understand how... fleeting life can be on Remnant. If you feel like you need to make any... rash decisions regarding your relationship with Weiss, don't hold back."
Jaune glanced at Weiss to make sure that she was still asleep. "Mom, are you telling me to propose?"
He could hear the smile behind his mother's chuckle, "I'm telling you to do what you feel is right."
Jaune glanced out the window and saw that they were about to land. "Mom, we're about to land. I need to go."
"Alright, Jaune. Please, please be safe." The line clicked, indicating that Couleur had hung up. Jaune put his Scroll away, then began to wrestle with the crazy, rash, impulsive idea that was now occupying his attention. He could ask Weiss to marry him, and frankly, given their situation she would probably say yes.
Later, he'd think about it later.
(Atlas Academy, Jaune and Weiss's room)
Jaune was ever so grateful that Glynda and the other adults had taken the lead in the debriefing, letting Ironwood send RWBY and JNPR off to their assigned rooms in the Academy dorms. However, the room assignments showed that Ironwood wasn't about to begrudge those in relationships whatever comfort they might need from their other half, as he and Weiss, Yang and Blake, and Ren and Nora had all been assigned their own rooms.
He could feel Weiss's gaze on him as she dried her hair, "Don't worry, Weiss. I'm not going to go away again."
Weiss came to sit beside him on their bed, her hair down. "That's good, Jaune." She laid her head on his shoulder and sighed, "That's good."
Jaune frowned, "Are you okay, Weiss?"
"I've been better. You had it relatively easy in Argus, you didn't see Grimm snatch up civilians and be powerless to stop it."
Jaune wrapped his arms around her, just hearing it made a fist close around his heart. They stayed like that for a time, when Jaune got an idea. An idea that might help lighten the mood, and help them get the rest they so desperately needed, he got up, went to the dresser where he had stashed his armor and retrieved his father's locket. "I just realized, I've never shown you any pictures of my family. Dad kept some in here, if you wanted..."
Weiss smiled, "That sounds nice right now."
They snuggled in, and Jaune opened the locket. It projected the pictures contained on it slightly above it. Weiss couldn't help but smile as they went through them, Reign-Beau and Couleur on their wedding day, specifically, Couleur was shoving a piece of cake into Reign-Beau's face. Then there was Jaune's sisters. Saphron and Terra on the day that Adrian had been born, Coral Arc with her Elementary School class, Vert working as a bartender at a bar named Seventh Heaven, the twins Lapis and Lazuli in front of their restaurant the day it had opened, Ammy on the day she had been named First Chair Flute for Vale's Symphony Orchestra. "I can't wait to meet them all, Jaune." Weiss said.
Jaune tried to smile, "You'll get to, Weiss. We'll beat Salem, and then we'll be able to live our lives."
Jaune scrolled to the next picture, to be greeted with an image of an eight year old Jaune in crude armor fashioned from cardboard and a wooden sword. "Wait... this is a video." Jaune muttered. He hit play.
(Arc Household, Ten Years Ago)
Couleur shook her head at her son's antics, swinging a wooded sword at imaginary Grimm. It didn't matter what kind of Grimm, it was always one hit. And he always saved the imaginary people that were in danger from said imaginary Grimm. She laughed, "Is this what you want to be, Jaune? A knight?"
"Yep!" Jaune said, "I'm gonna be an awesome knight that saves everyone!"
Couleur smiled, "Oh really? Is this awesome knight going to have a princess?"
"Uh huh." Jaune answered, "But she's not gonna be a stupid princess that sits on her butt and needs to be saved! She's gonna be an awesome warrior princess that fights with me!"
(Atlas Academy, Jaune and Weiss's Room, Present Day)
Jaune and Weiss were both left speechless at the contents of the short video. Eventually, Jaune found his voice. "He believed in me this whole time... he was just too proud to say it. Damn it, Dad."
Weiss only snuggled in closer to him. He couldn't help but smile at her, at least until that crazy idea he had earlier surfaced again, and having recently seeing his dad's wedding picture...
No regrets.
"Hey, Weiss?" Jaune asked.
"Yes, Jaune?" Weiss replied.
Jaune swallowed, it could quite possibly be now or never.
"Will you marry me?"
(Atlas Military Complex, Maximum Security Holding Cells)
Adam Taurus was pragmatic when the situation called for it. He knew that the White Fang that were loyal to him were scattered to the wind, at best. There would be no heroic rescue attempt. He would most likely never leave the Atlesian prison cell he was in for the rest of his life, given his crimes, or rather, what crimes Atlas claimed he had committed. As a result, he saw no reason to antagonize the prison guards, as that would only bring him pain for no gain.
Then the camera outside his cell shut down, and his cell door opened.
"Watts." He growled.
True to Adam's prediction, Arthur Watts came strutting down the hallway, with a bundle tucked under one arm. "Hello, Adam. Are you ready to do what you're told instead of throwing your little temper tantrums?"
A/N: Yes, I know. I can't just tell you what Adam's going to do, you're going to have to wonder for a bit.
Put teenagers in high stress situations and they're going to start doing things on impulse. Things like proposing marriage.
The Witchbane CIWS is based on the Phalanx CIWS in use in multiple countries around the world.
Oscar's moving right along, isn't he? About time for a round two with Hazel, maybe?
Next Chapter: Watts hacks the SDC, and the Grimm start coming. Also, Adam is out there somewhere... but doing what?