And I am back with another chapter of Remnant Unleashed. I hope everyone had a great holiday. I know I did, even if I wasn't able to spend time with my family because of this damn Covid-19 crap. When they finally begin to administer the vaccine, I'm going to be one of the last ones to get it, since there are more people who need it more than I do.
Anyway, onto the reviews.
To the guest Galen Marek: Thanks man.
Luffy L Deathwalker: No shit things are going to get bad sooner than later.
Hamm1999: In regards to Return of the Jedi, I haven't thought that far ahead yet. In regards to the BFG-9000 from Doom and BFG-10K from Quake, I will admit, I like the BFG as much as the next person, since it's a great weapon to use against the Demon hordes of Hell and seeing something like that being used against the Empire does sound like something many people would want to see, but the BFG is an advanced type of weapon and I'm not sure that Remnant has developed plasma-based weapons and even if they did, it would probably be being secretly developed in Atlas. But I will consider the idea.
Darth Cody: Thanks for those kind words. Like I said before, I am trying to wing it when it comes to March's back story. Seeing that he is your character and all, which you came up with on the spot.
Jack Smith1: Happy belated birthday man. Twenty-years old, that's something to be proud of. If you ever need to PM me about certain things involving your StarEffect story, I'll be glad to help you as much as I can. In regards to Kota and Proxy, you'll be in for a surprise as too when they arrive, as for the fleet, its only the Rouge Shadow.
Spartan-626: Thanks for those kind words yet again. In regards to the vehicles being left behind because old greedy mustache face is a weasel his way out of certain situations. But those vehicles will be seen later on, this time actually working properly.
Ok, reviews done, lets get this done.
Disclaimers are the same as always, please enjoy.
Chapter 23: Underground Rumble
Night had fallen over Beacon Academy as Ironwood looked out from the landing docks and towards the city of Vale. Several Airships hovered over the lit-up buildings as the General kept looking out to the city. He was alone for a while before Glynda walked up behind him. "Trouble sleeping?" the blonde teacher asked.
Ironwood looked back, gripping his shoulder with his other hand. "Arm was acting up." He answered. Truthfully, he was more concerned about what it was that the Empire wanted from Remnant. First, he lost an entire air force base to a single fighter with more advanced weaponry than anything he had ever seen before. Second, the White Fang had been continuing to steal Atlas Paladins, weapons and Dust over the past few months and somehow, they were getting Imperial equipment, according to what Galen had told them.
"Of course, so logically, you got out of bed, dressed yourself completely and decided to gaze menacingly out into the distance." Glynda said in a concerned voice, approaching the general from his side. "What's wrong?"
"I've trusted him for years. We both have. I just… I can't help but feeling like he's keeping us in the dark." Ironwood stated.
"Don't be ridiculous! You know very well that we are not the ones in the dark." Glynda answered.
"That makes it worse! I refuse to believe that a man that I've trusted for so long would act so… passively." Ironwood countered.
"You're a good person, James. You've always done what you think is best for the people, even against strong protest. It's admirable. But it's high time you stopped talking about trust and started showing it." Glynda said, dropping a reassuring hand from her friends' shoulder, staring into the distance together. "Ozpin has experience that the rest of us lack. And I think that's something worth remembering." She added.
Meanwhile, at the base used by the remnants of the Clone Army, the mechanics and engineers were working around the clock to modify the planes used by Warwolf Squadron, the Galm Team, Trigger, Mobius 1 and to their surprise, Fulcrum and the Gelb Team. During the battle over the Round Table, it was observed that the basic cannons like the 20 and 30mm's were still effective against fighters such as the Vulture, but once they were out of gun rounds and missiles, they would be vulnerable to enemy attack. The decision to upgrade the planes with the same type of hybrid laser cannon/ballistic cannon used by buggies such as the Shark and Screamer was made, along with equipping them with shields, space flight capabilities and a slot for an Astromech copilot to handle onboard systems.
Talks of equipping them with a hyperdrive were also in the air, but for the moment those who were being put on hold. In order to upgrade the fighters, they needed to dismantle or salvage the components from any starfighter's they could find from recon flights, such as several Rebel R-22's whose pilots had long since died from either their crash's or the creatures of Grimm.
Watching the former White Fang members working on making the modifications to these fighters, Fulcrum smiled under her hood as she watched both Faunus, human and clones working together on something that would help defend their planet against the Empire. "I'd never thought I would see this day." She said to herself.
"It's something you have dreamed about for a long time, haven't you?" Aayla said as she walked over to Fulcrum. "This is what you have been fighting for ever since you were old enough." The Rutian Twi'lek Jedi Master added.
"It is, Master Jedi. Ever since I can remember, I've wanted both Humans and Faunus to live together in peace, much like our old High-Leader. Our efforts may not have been successful when we first started, but we were determined to bring about a new world through peaceful means." She replied.
"Yet there are those who believe in a different way to achieve your goal. Violence is never the answer." Aayla added.
"True." Fulcrum said, clenching her fist. "I will be the one to admit that I first suggested using violence as a means to get what we want, but only as a last resort. I still believed in a peaceful solution and still do. But people believe that violence is the only way to achieve our goal, but all that has accomplished is making all of humanity believe that we Faunus desire a war." she added, turning back to the sight she was witnessing. "This is what I want, a world where everyone, regardless of our species can live together with persecution of who or what we are. But no matter how hard I try, I feel like we are taking many steps backwards on the road to peace."
"The road to peace is a difficult one. There are always those who will do anything to keep such a peace from coming to fruition. Government leaders who will do anything to put down those who wish for a change and also the Sith." Aayla added. "For the Sith, those who desire for peace are a threat to them and they will as far as to order the elimination of those who call out for peace. As for those who profit from war, they will also do anything to ensure that a war will continue, as for their own benefit. The Clone War was used by both the Sith and those allied with Separatists as a means to not only keep their power, but to bring about the end of the Jedi and Republic."
She closed her eyes, remembering when she felt the deaths of many of her fellow Jedi when Order 66 was carried out by those they trusted. "We blindly played the part the Sith wanted us to play and by the time we knew what was the real goal of the war, we were branded as traitors who were using the war for our own personal gain. The peace we fought for, was nothing but a lie and there aren't that many Jedi left to protect the galaxy." She said as a tear fell from her eyes, remembering how many of her fellow Jedi were cut down. "But even if the road to peace is a long one, we will continue to pursue it, but we must ensure we do not follow the same path as many of those who fought for power." She added.
"That is why you continue to fight. I understand, in a way we are fighting for the same reason. Both of us want peace, but to do so we must fight. I will not allow us to be pushed around like we are animals, but I will not allow us to become aggressors. Adam Taurus has forgotten this and I fear for all of us, that this is only the beginning of something far worse." Fulcrum declared.
"It appears you have your goals set; I respect that. But take care not to become drunk on power." Aayla reminded.
"I will not become a destroyer. Not like Adam." Fulcrum said to herself, clenching her fist.
Back in Mountain Glenn, the full moon shined over the ruined buildings of the city as a lone Bewolf searched through the rubble. The creature looked up briefly as Ruby trained her scope on the creature, before lowering her weapon and sighed with tiredness as she, Galen, Waxer and Boil continued to keep lookout over the destruction. The rest of their teams, Rex, Fives, Echo, Hardcase, Kix, Jesse, Ahsoka and Rick slept around the fire while Doctor Oobleck slept on a higher perch, slumped down against the nearby wall next to the ceiling.
Everyone slept silently until Yang opened her eyes. "Blake, are you awake?" Yang asked her teammate who confirmed that she was awake. "Why do you think he asked us about being a Huntress? Like, what was he trying to say?" Yang asked, referring to the question that Doctor Oobleck asked them earlier that day.
"Maybe he was just curious." Blake guessed, but she wasn't entirely sure herself.
"Weiss are you awake?" Yang asked, turning to the Schnee heiress.
"Of course, I'm awake! You two are talking." She snapped before changing her tone. "And I think he… When I said I wanted to honor my family's name, I meant it. But, its not what you think. I'm not stupid. I'm fully aware of what my father has done with the Schnee Dust Company. Since he took control, our business has operated in a… moral gray area." She explained, getting Blake to say that Weiss was putting it mildly before Weiss continued. "Which is why I feel the need to make things right. If I had taken a job in Atlas, it wouldn't have changed anything. My father was not the start of our name, and I refuse to let him be the end of it." She added.
"Your intention is honorable," Arthur began, still awake but with his eyes still closed. "But such an intention will be difficult. Kit Fisto told me that those with power will do anything to keep the power they have acquired. Your father married into your family only for the name and cares only about his reputation and wealth then the people close to him and will do anything to make money. You said it yourself, he cut of your older sister Winter when she joined the military. It appears to me, that he wants to control your life and the life of your sister. If a Dust embargo were placed, he would try to anything to remove the embargo all so he could make money." He said with gritted teeth.
Weiss agreed as Blake began to speak. "All my life, I fought for what I thought was right. I had a partner named Adam. More of a mentor, actually. He always assured me that what we were doing would make the world a better place. But of course, his idea of a perfect future turned out to be not perfect for everyone. I joined the Academy because I knew Huntsmen and Huntresses were regarded as the most noble warriors in the world. Always fighting for good. But I never really thought past that. When I leave the Academy, what will I- how can I undo so many years of hate?" she said.
"I'm sure you'll figure it out. You're not one to back down from a challenge, Blake." Yang assured her teammate.
"But I am! I do it all the time! When you learned I was a Faunus, I didn't know what to do, so I ran! When I realized my oldest partner had become a monster, I ran! Even my Semblance! I was born with the ability to leave behind a shadow of myself; an empty copy that takes the hit while I run away!" Blake snapped.
"At least you two have something that drives you. I've just kind of always, gone with the flow, y'know? And that's fine, I mean, that's who I am. But how long can I really do that for? I wanna be a Huntress, not really because I want to be a hero, but because I want the adventure. I want a life where I won't know what tomorrow will bring. And that'll be a good thing. Being a Huntress just happens to line up with that. I'm not like Ruby, she's always wanted to be a Huntress. It's like she said, ever since she was a kid, she'd dreamt about being the heroes in the books. Helping people and saving the day, and never asking for anything else in return. Even when she couldn't fight, she knew that's what she wanted to do. That's why she trained so hard to get where she is today." Yang explained.
"Your little sister is still just a kid." Rose said, turning her body into another direction as Fives and Echo woke up to relieve Waxer and Boil of guard duty.
"She's only two years younger. We're all kids." Blake reminded.
"Well, not anymore. I mean, look at where we are! In the middle of a warzone and armed to the teeth!" Yang said.
"It's the life we chose." Blake added.
"It's a job. We all had this romanticized vision of being a Huntress in our heads! But at the end of the day, it's a job to protect the people! And whatever we want, will have to come second." Weiss interjected, none of them noticed that the so-called sleeping Oobleck had a small smile on his face as Weiss finished speaking.
A half-hour later, everyone had gone back to sleep, but Rick had woken up and was about to begin work on the Screamer when he caught the sight of something pink in the distance. "Neo." He said quietly and immediately raced after his old friend, not noticing that Ahsoka had just woken up and saw him run off.
His assault rifle in hand, Rick scanned the street where he saw Neo for any signs of Grimm, but found nothing. He was about to lower his weapon when once again, he felt something in the back of his mind warning him of an impending attack. Quickly, he ducked as the claws of a Beowolf nearly took his head off. "Great, just great." He muttered before dashing in a direction further away from the two teams. He managed to gain some distance from the Beowolf which was quickly joined by five more creatures of darkness. "Ok, you over grown wolves, eat lead!" he shouted and fired his assault rifle as the horde started to charge at him. Bullets tore through the Grimm like they were made of paper, but more of them soon arrived as Rick reloaded his weapon's magazine. "You want some more!? I'll give you more!" he shouted, continuing to fire his weapon at the creatures which just seemed to keep on coming.
One Beowolf got close to him and with a swing of its claws, managed to knock Rick into a wrecked building, forcing him to drop his weapon. "Shit!" he cursed and was about to draw one of his sabers when the wolf-Grimm was stabbed from behind by Ahsoka. "Tell me you didn't follow me because you have feelings for me?" he asked.
"No and don't even go there." Ahsoka spat as the other creatures began to circle around them. "I followed you because you were walking into a trap. You saw her, didn't you?" she asked which Rick nodded. "It seems that Neo tricked you and lead you right into a trap. What possessed you to even…" Ahsoka began before Rick shoved her out of the way, brought out one of his sabers and slashed a creature across the chest.
"I don't expect you to understand! Neo is family, and I will bring my family back even if I have to die!" Rick spat back, gripping his lightsaber tightly and at the ready as the Grimm charged towards them. "We'll talk about this later, right now we got some pups that need to be put down." He said, getting a nod from Ahsoka who took a fighting stance as the Grimm came closer and closer to them.
The moment the creatures got close enough, Ahsoka reached out with the force and sent some of the Grimm flying backwards while Rick slashed apart one of other creatures that wasn't send flying with his blue blade. "I'm more of the gun person, but I have to say that a weapon like this is amazing." He admitted, rolling out of the way of another creature's attack and sliced its arm off.
"Lightsabers are the weapon and life of the Jedi. It's our life, as my master told me as he was told by his master." Ahsoka said, slicing the arms off another Beowolf before throwing her shoto at another Grimm and cutting it in half.
"I thought that you Jedi were keepers of the peace?" Rick asked, backflipping a few times before pulling out his second lightsaber and stabbed two creatures in the back. "Doesn't the idea of carrying a weapon contradict the purpose?"
"We fight only as a last resort." Ahsoka answered, grabbing one Grimm with the force and slammed it into the side of another building. "Besides, if someone's trying to kill you, you need to be able to defend yourself." She added.
"I think I understand that." Rick answered, sheathing his sabers before quickly scooping up his rifle which he then shifted into machine gun mode and unleashed a barrage of gunfire, cutting into the bodies of creatures which turned into black mist upon death. "Damn it, I really hate these bastards!" he cursed, loading a new magazine into his weapon before he saw a Grimm take a swipe at Ahsoka, knocking her into a wall. "Hey ugly! Come and get me!" he challenged. The Grimm took the challenge and charged towards him as Ahsoka regained her senses just in time to see Rick raising his hand and lifted the Grimm into the air before he grabbed his sabers and threw them at the Grimm, cutting it in half. "Whoa, how did I do that?" he asked aloud.
"You used the force. Somehow you are force sensitive and it must have been dormant all this time until now." Ahsoka summarized, sheathing her own weapons.
"Guess that explains the reason I felt something was off when I was working on my fighter. Might also explain the feelings I get when I'm flying." Rick said to himself. He then looked around and noticed that they had gotten pretty far away from the others. "I think we better get back to the rest. They're probably wondering if we snuck off to explore." He added. Ahsoka agreed and both of them quickly headed back to the campsite, but Rick turned around one last time, catching a glimpse of Neo who gave him a glare.
Back at the campsite, everyone was still asleep despite the sound of gunfire. By now, Ruby had been relieved of watch duty by Yang and was sleeping with Zwei by her side when her beloved dog woke up, getting Ruby to wake up. "Huh? Zwei, its late. Go back to bed." She said tiredly, but Zwei ran off. "Zwei! Zwei! Ugh!" Ruby groaned before getting up and went to look for her dog. "Zwei! Zwei, where are you? Zwei! Huh?" she called out before she spotted her dog, urinating on some ruins. "Zwei, this is a wasteland! You literally could have done that anywhere!" she scolded her dog, who simply barked.
"That dog is really something." Galen said, causing Ruby to jump and nearly drop Zwei from her hands. "I heard you getting up earlier, be glad I didn't catch you in your…" Galen began before the two of them heard a pair of voices they didn't know and quickly hid behind some ruins.
The voices belonged to a few White Fang guards who were out on patrol. One of them thought Zwei's barking was that of a Beowolf and his partner didn't want to stick around so they could get torn to pieces like the others before them. As the pair walked away, Ruby, Zwei and Galen quietly followed them to a ruined building with a pair of metal doors, which the two guards entered while the three following them hid behind a corner with Ruby holding Zwei out to watch them. "Did they go in yet? One bark means yes." Ruby asked her dog.
Zwei barked as the door closed. "Oh! This is it! This is it!" she said excitedly before pulling out her scroll in an attempt to call their teammates, only to find that the screen said 'Low Signal'. "Aw man! Come on, we gotta get the others!"
They quickly hurried back to the others, but Galen stopped short and sensed that the ground was about give way. "Ruby wait!" he called out, but by then the ground began to sink before it finally gave in. Ruby was quick to grab onto a ledge and caught her dog, who she then tossed up before trying to pull herself up, only for the ledge to break as she plummeted to the bottom. "RUBY!" Galen shouted and jumped in after the young leader, catching her and landed on a building against the cavern wall and was surprised to see that the cave was filled with ruined buildings. "You ok?" he asked.
"Y-yeah. I-I'm alright." Ruby stammered, hiding her blush as she leapt from Galen's arms and looked out towards the ruined city. "What is this place?" she asked. Before Galen could answer, he sensed a presence behind and quickly dashed to a hiding place as two White Fang guards arrived and tried to apprehend Ruby, only to have their weapons sliced in two by Galen's lightsabers before they were knocked out by Galen.
"What, you didn't think I'd leave you behind and save myself did you?" Galen asked.
"Kind of." Ruby answered.
"Not my style. Come on, lets see where these guys came from." Galen assured Ruby before the two of them headed through the same door the White Fang soldiers came through. They didn't get very far before they ran into a large group of White Fang soldiers accompanied by several battle droids which outnumbered them. Rather than risk a fight, Galen and Ruby surrendered themselves to the enemy, but deep down, Galen knew that they would be taking them to where they needed to go.
Meanwhile on the surface, Yang was returning from her watch with Jesse, Hardcase, Kix and March when she noticed that both Ruby and Galen weren't at the camp, waking everyone up as Zwei came in barking. Knowing something was wrong, Oobleck ordered the teams to gather their weapons and follow that Corgi.
Back in the underground, Ruby and Galen were brought into the underground city where they saw dozens of droids and White Fang members working on loading large shipping containers and other equipment onto train cars, which Galen assumed to have been stolen and brought underground, as indicated by the tracks that led further back into the underground city, possibly to the outside.
One of the droids was handed a box by another droid. "Put this in the train, and be sure not to drop it." The droid instructed, only for the droid who was carrying the box to trip over a rock. "I told you not to drop it." The droid groaned.
"Hey boss! Found something you might want to see!" one of the guards shouted.
"Is it good or bad, Perry? Because let me tell ya, I have had a day." A familiar voice from inside one of the train cars shouted.
"Uh, it's a little girl and her boyfriend?"
Leaning outside of the car and seeing both team leaders, Roman Torchwick groaned. "That would be bad."
Back on the surface, Zwei lead the others to the hole where Ruby fell into and Yang was quick to spot Crescent Rose next to hole. Immediately, everyone's thought was that both of them fell into the whole, but when Doctor Oobleck looked down the hole, he realized something and called himself stupid, much to the confusion of the others. "Mountain Glenn! Yes, an expansion of Vale that was inevitably destroyed by creatures of Grimm! Previously home to thousands of people! Working people commuting to the city, the main city! Developed a subway system to the inner city! Grimm attacks increased! Population in danger, now desperately searching for shelter! City evacuates into the metro tunnels and what do they find? The southeast quadrant of Vale is known for wild forests and deep caves!" Oobleck ranted.
"Doc what are you saying?" Yang asked.
"He means that the enemy we've been looking for wasn't hiding on the surface, but underneath our very feet inside the tunnels." Rex clarified.
"They've been working in caves?" Blake questioned.
"No, no, Mountain Glenn was Vale's first serious attempt at expansion. It worked for a short period of time, thanks to an aggressive perimeter defense, advanced military technology and unique transportation; the city developed an elaborate subway system to carry citizens safely from the new territory into the main Kingdom! Sadly, without the many natural barriers Vale had to protect its borders, Mountain Glenn was doomed from the start! As the end drew near, the citizens of the territory made one last attempt at survival: They took up shelter beneath the city! In the massive caves they had cleared out for the subway. And they had cut themselves off from the surface!" the doctor added.
"An underground village?" Yang questioned.
"In a matter of speaking, yes. A safe haven. Until… an explosion opened the mouth of another cavern, filled with subterranean Grimm. After that, the Kingdom officially sealed off the tunnels, creating the world's largest tomb. If Ruby is down there, we must find her…" Oobleck answered, drawing his weapon a flamethrower as Rex and the others locked in a few grappling hooks and descended into the lower depths. "Mr. Autumn, I don't believe we'll be needing your vehicle for this part, it's a long drop and I don't think it will survive the drop." He added.
"Fine by me, lets just get down there!" Rick said without a care and followed the others down below.
Back in the underground city, Galen was held back by several White Fang soldiers as Roman threw Ruby across the ground, laughing aloud. "Wow! You are much more manageable without that oversized gardening tool of yours." The master criminal said, sidestepping as Ruby tried to charge at him only to stumble across the floor. "Oh man. You know, Perry, I really did need this." He said to the member of the White Fang who raised his thumb in agreement as Roman laughed.
Roman then walked over to Ruby, aimed his weapon at her and asked how she was able to find their hideout. Ruby didn't answer, and Roman didn't like that one bit. Raising his club, Roman swung it and hit Ruby across the face, angering Galen. "Leave her alone!" Galen shouted as Roman struck Ruby several times. Neither he nor the others noticed Neo looking outside one of the train cars with a look of disgust on her face. Ruby may be her enemy, but even she wasn't this ruthless as Roman was being right now, especially when she noticed how concerned Galen was about Ruby.
Her Aura low, Ruby growled before using her semblance to escape from her captors and started to make a run for the exit, only for Roman to fire the handle part of his weapon, revealing it doubled as a grappling hook which caught Ruby by her hood, which Roman soon started to pull back to him. "I see you've got some tricks up your sleeve! Let me make this clear: We're not through here yet." He said as a massive explosion from back down the tracks echoed around the city, causing Roman to look up. "Oh, what the… Perry, if you and the boys could take care of that? Kinda in the middle of something."
Before Perry could even respond, Galen unleashed a low-powered Force Repulse knocking the guards that were holding away and allowing him to call his lightsabers back to him, which Roman had attached to his belt. Another explosion sounded, annoying Roman as a third explosion sounded as multiple White Fang members and battle droids came running around the corner, firing at an unknown enemy which were actually Yang and the others further annoying Roman. Ruby took the moment given to her and tried to escape, jumping on Roman's shoulders and pushing his hat down over his eyes before making her way to the others with Galen right behind her. "Somebody kill her!" Roman shouted, readjusting his hat before he, the White Fang and the droids began to fire at the two escapees'.
Ruby dodged and weaved between the shots while Galen deflected whatever shots he could, taking out a few hostiles much to Roman's anger, who turned towards the nearest White Fang member near him and gave him an order. "Attach this car and spread the word: We're starting the train." Immediately, the White Fang member protested, telling Roman that they weren't even finished loading up the train, but all they got was a reminder that it would be them who would be finished if they didn't do what Roman told them to do.
"Keep running Ruby! I'll hold them off!" Galen shouted, cutting down several battle droids with his sabers before he sent a couple of White Fang soldiers flying with the force. Ruby kept pumping her legs and continued to run, before she nearly screeched to a halt when she realized that she was running towards a group of White Fang members, all of whom had trained their weapons on her before an explosion appeared behind them, sending them flying as Yang ran towards Ruby who jumped into her arms.
"Are you okay?" Weiss asked their young leader.
"I'm fine, I'm fire! But listen! Torchwicks got all kinds of weapons and robots down here." Ruby said, assuring her teammates as Blake handed Ruby her weapon back while Arthur switched Excalibur into its blaster mode and fired on the droids. "Androids, mechs, battle droids, they're all loaded up on the train cars!" she added.
"Ahhhh, that's ridiculous. These tunnels are sealed, the tracks lead to a dead-end." Oobleck assured the two teams.
"Hate to break it to you, Doctor. But the tracks don't lead to a dead end going the other way." Rick reminded, pointing towards the long tunnel that headed further away from the underground city. Just as he finished saying this, everyone heard Torchwick shouting over the speaker system as the train started to move down the tunnels, down the other direction. "What the hell!?"
"Well, it sounds like he's going somewhere." Yang said.
"No good in trying to call for backup. Communications aren't getting through, we're too far underground." Rex shouted, firing his pistols at the droids that still remained behind to cover the trains departure.
"Then I believe we only have one option…" Oobleck began.
"We're stopping that train." Ruby finished.
"We better get moving!" Galen shouted.
As the train rushed down the tunnel, loaded with equipment, a White Fang member stood on the train before they heard a noise and looked outside to see rose petals. Before they could sound the alarm, Oobleck knocked the guard out, the doctor wasn't quick enough for up in the engine Roman had been informed of the groups boarding and with a sigh, ordered the White Fang to get the kids off the train.
Meanwhile, on top of the train, the two teams, ARC-Troopers, Ahsoka and Rick stood on the roof. "Hurry, children! We must get to the front and stop this train!" Oobleck reminded them. Before they could even move, Weiss who called Oobleck by the wrong title again, noticed something inside the train car they were on which the Doctor confirmed was a bomb.
"It's not just any bomb. Its filled with Rhydonium!" Rex exclaimed, just as Ruby pointed out that they had bad guys approaching from several cars ahead, White Fang and Battle Droid. As for the bomb, it started to beep and everyone started to run, while Oobleck ordered Blake to detach the final car. Much to their surprise, before Blake could even cut the couplers, the car detached itself on its own, rolled down the line for a few seconds before it exploded.
"Oh, that's not good." Oobleck said with concern.
"Err, neither is this!" Ruby shouted, confirming that there was another bomb in the next car. Oobleck ran to the next car, and confirmed that all of the cars had bombs, the second of which started beeping before the car it was in detached itself and forcing both teams to dash towards the next car.
"Get the humans!" one of the many White Fang grunts shouted as they continued to climb up onto the train cars, forcing the two teams to focus on the enemy. White Fang members charged towards Yang, who took out numerous enemies with fiery punches and kicks while Rose parried enemy swords with her own as Rufus head-butted several White Fang grunts.
Blake swung both her sword and sheath at several of her former comrades, knocking many of them off the train while March used his semblance and knocked more enemies off the train. "No ticket means no ride!" the Rabbit Faunus said with a cackle.
With Arthur providing her covering fire, Weiss took a running start, casted a glyph and skated along the top of the train cars, the ice crystals that appeared from her speed burst, knocked multiple White Fang grunts off the train along the remains of several battle droids taken down by Arthur.
Rick laid down some covering fire with his battle rifle as Ahsoka leapt over him, slice apart droid after droid with her sabers and pushing White Fang soldiers off the train as Rex and his brothers joined up with them. "Come on, we have to push forwards and stop this train!" Rex shouted.
"Gee, we didn't…" Rick began before he sensed something familiar ahead of them. "She's here!" he shouted, shifted his weapon into assault rifle mode and without any consideration for his own wellbeing pushed forwards, clearing a path.
Positioning Crescent Rose behind her, Ruby smiled before she fired a shot propelling herself forwards by a blast of rose petals, knocking two bad guys off the train and slicing apart a few droids before she swung her scythe and knocked four more bad guys off the train followed by many more members and droids courtesy of Galen using both the Force and his sabers.
The battle seemed to be going in their favor, but that changed when Oobleck noticed that the freight car that detached exploded, this time creating a hole in the subway tunnel, allowing the creatures of Grimm to enter the tunnel and began to follow the train. "Oh dear…. He's leading Grimm to the city!" Oobleck shouted.
"What?" Weiss asked in surprise.
"It's the cars! They detach and explode, creating openings for the Grimm!" Oobleck clarified, with Blake saying that it was insane as another car detached itself. "We have to hurry! Captain! Take your men, Mr. Autumn, Miss Tano and the others, go below and try and stop those bombs! Miss Rose, Mr. Marek and I will stay up top!" Oobleck shouted.
"What are we going to do?" Ruby asked.
"We're going to stop this train!" Oobleck said, forgetting that Ruby had already said that. The group moved forwards, as White Fang members started the various Paladin-290's which jumped on top of the train. Taking a sip from his thermos, he turned it into its flame thrower mode as Zwei barks, prompting the doctor to launch the corgi, who jumped and flipped into the air before batting the now fireball turned dog at the Paladins, which were knocked off the train and tumbled onto the tracks before exploding. Another Paladin landed in front of Zwei, its guns trained on the dog and was about to fire, before multiple blasts slammed into the power suit before the good doctor knocked it off the train.
Inside the train cars, the others moved through the cars, except for Rex and his brothers who went to work on disarming the bombs while Ahsoka and Rick followed the others towards the front of the train, only to be stopped by Neo who dropped down from the ceiling. "The rest of you go on ahead, I've got this." Rick said, stowing his rifle away and pulling his lightsabers out.
"We've got this." Ahsoka corrected, activating her lightsabers as well while the others moved forwards. Neo ignored them and just focused on Rick and Ahsoka. Neo gave them both a sinister smile and pulled out two lightsabers of her own, igniting their violet blades and stood waiting for who would make the first move.
Further ahead, the rest of the teams ran through the cars before they heard the sound of a chainsaw being dragged along the floor of the train car by a White Fang Lieutenant. Weiss and Arthur stayed behind to deal with the new opponent, drawing both Myrtenaster and Excalibur. "Finally, I get to kill a Schnee and a Penwolf…" the lieutenant said with glee.
"You will find that to be very difficult." Arthur said, preparing for battle.
Rose, Yang, March and Blake continued to make their way through the train and were almost at the engine when dropping down from the ceiling were multiple BX-series commando droids who landed right between the last four. "Blake, you and March go ahead and stop the train! Rose and I will deal with these clankers!" Yang said, cocking her gauntlets while Rose readied her borrowed SE-14r repeating light blaster pistol and one of her pistols. "So, want to see who can take out more of these clankers?" Yang asked.
"Like you have to ask." Rose quipped and the two of them readied themselves for battle.
As for Blake and March, they made it to the engine and stopped dead in their tracks when they came face to face with Roman himself. "Hello, kitty cat, mad rabbit. You miss me? You know kitty, we really gotta stop meeting like this. People are gonna talk…" Roman taunted, getting Blake to grit her teeth.
"Stupid Bowler hat man. I'll show you!" March shouted and charged at Roman recklessly, swinging his sword wildly only for Roman to block the attack only to have Blake feint and used her semblance to create a fiery shadow of herself. Roman took the bait, and after pushing March off him with a kick to the stomach struck the shadow, sending him flying into the air allowing Blake to hit him with numerous midair strikes that knocked him down, but Roman landing in a fighting stance.
March got back to his feet and saw Blake create another shadow of herself this one made out of stone which Roman shot, allowing her to leap over head and prepared to strike, feinting once again and created used her semblance to create another shadow clone of herself, forcing Roman to block a flurry of attacks before trying to strike Blake with an overhead strike, only to be stopped by a wind-blast from March's shotgun.
This allowed Blake to create a frozen shadow, trapping Roman's weapon. Said criminal tried to retrieve the weapon only to be knocked down by a double vertical slash from both Blake and March, destroying the ice sculpture and knocking Roman down to the floor where he found the blades of both student's swords at their throat. "Why are we fighting? I saw you at the rally, we're on the same side and you know it…" Roman chuckled nervously, before he his tone changed dramatically.
Back in the other car, Weiss and Arthur readied themselves as the White Fang Lieutenant charged towards them, forcing Arthur to block the chainsaw with his sword, allowing Weiss to cast a blue glyph which formed a forcefield around Arthur. Cyan shockwaves radiated from the center of the force-field as the Lieutenant tried in vain to saw through it, but this left him vulnerable to an attack from Weiss. Angered, the lieutenant attempted another overhead swipe, only for Arthur to back off while Weiss pointed the weapon downwards, creating several sparks but missed her completely as a volley of dust rounds from Arthurs gauntlet guns slammed into the lieutenant's Aura before Weiss flipped over her opponent, slashed at his head and landed on the other side.
"You're part Faunus, boy. Why not embrace your true heritage and side with us against the damn humans?" the lieutenant questioned.
"As I have said before, I fight for the innocent and for honor. Even if it costs me my life." Arthur said, sheathing Excalibur and wiping out his gauntlet blades. Before he could attack, a shock from behind surged through his body. Turning around, he saw that he was attacked by four IG-100's. "Weiss, take care of this fool, I'll deal with these droids." Arthur said.
"Got it!" Weiss answered, before backflipping and dodging like an acrobat out of her foes range before attacking with a series of slashes and stabs that threw the Chainsaw wielding foe into the air and back to the ground, facing him from another angle.
Arthur brought his blades up, blocking the electro-staff of one Magnaguard before sweeping his foe off its legs before thrusting his blades into the droids torso, slashing it in half before he retracted one of his blades back into the gauntlet and fired off several shots at another droid. His second blade broke the electro-staff in two before he plunged his blade into its center. The last IG-100 slammed its staff into his armor, only to be slashed in half with a slash from Excalibur. While Arthur finished off the droids, he soon noticed that the White Fang Lieutenant had knocked Weiss unconscious and was about to ready his chainsaw when it was intercepted by Arthur's own blade.
"Ordinarily, I would instruct you to lay down your weapon but, in this case, I'll make an exception. I'll take you down for hurting the lady!" Arthur snarled, swinging his blade and forcing the White Fang member on the defensive, each slash reducing his foes aura but in a reckless manner before his opponent's aura was depleted.
"I'll kill the Schnee!" the Lieutenant growled.
"I'll die before that happens!" Arthur replied, parried an attack from his opponent before he plunged his sword into the Lieutenants body, killing him. "You fight well, but you lack discipline." Arthur said as his foe took his last breath. He then rushed over to Weiss's side and helped her up. "Are you alright?"
"Y-yes." Weiss stammered before the two of them headed for the next car.
Meanwhile, Rex and his brothers had found one of the remaining bombs on the train and Hardcase was quick to attempt to disarm it. Unfortunately, the battle droids in the cars behind the bomb carrying car were moving towards them and firing at them. "Don't these clankers realize if they hit the bomb, we're all dead!" Waxer shot, firing his carbine and nailing a few droids while Boil threw a droid popper.
"You know the answer to that, Waxer! They don't care as long as they kill us!" Boil replied, throwing another droid popper, which damaged both the systems of the droids and what was on the train. Fives, Echo, Jesse and Kix moved up to the rear of the car and decoupled the ones behind it from the rest of the train just as Hardcase disarmed the bomb.
"That's one bomb that won't be exploding." Hardcase said with relief. "Though, I kind of wish that Delta Squad, Climber, Trace, Niner and Darmen were here with us. Same thing goes for Commander Cody." He added.
"All we can do is avenge them. Come on, lets clear the rest of this train!" Rex said to his brothers, who agreed and began to sweep the train for any other hostiles.
While the clones continued to clear the train, Rick and Ahsoka weren't having any luck in their fight against Neo. Ricks old friend proved to me more skilled in the art of Lightsaber combat then he once thought and Ahsoka seemed to think her skills were on par with that of General Grievous. "Who taught you how to use a lightsaber?" Ahsoka demanded. Neo said nothing and was quick to disarm Ahsoka of her weapons before kicking her in the gut.
Neo prepared to bring down her weapons on Ahsoka, but Rick intercepted the blow with his own sabers, forcing Neo to smile sadistically and turn her attention towards Rick. "Damn it, Neo, stop this! This isn't you! Its me, Rick! Snap out of it!" he shouted, but Neo didn't listen and quickly kicked him where it hurt the most, forcing him to drop his lightsabers and leaving him vulnerable to the final blow. "Get yourself together! Wake up! Neo!"
Before Neo could finish him off, she stopped and spoke for the first time. "Ri… Rick!" she said and began to clutch her head in pain before she screamed loudly as Rex and his men arrived in the car. "I… I remember." She said before she wrapped her arms around Rick, crying. "Rick, what have I done!?"
"Neo, look at me. Look at me!" Rick said, shaking his old friend. "We can worry about what you did later, right now, we need to stop this train!" he said. Neo wiped her tears and quickly nodded her head and rushed with the others to the front of the train.
Meanwhile, Yang and Rose continued to engage the commando droids with all their skill, but there were too many droids for them to deal with. Such was the case when a blaster bolt slammed into Yang's chest, reducing her Aura into the red before another droid knocked her around. "YANG!" Rose yelled before she was thrown back from an exploding detonator.
"Kill them all." The droid captain said, but before the droids could carry out the order a masked warrior with raven hair, clad in red and black came out of nowhere with a lightsaber ignited blood red and cut through all of the droids before looking down at Yang. Pulling out their sword, the warrior slashed their sword to the side, creating a portal that she walked through just as Yang began to regain consciousness. Neither she nor the swordswoman knew that Rose had seen the woman and had really bad feeling about the situation.
They were soon joined by their teammates, Ahsoka, Rex, his brothers, Rick and Neo. At first, they were prepared to attack Neo, but Rick assured them that she was back to normal. Things then took a turn for the worse when they all realized that Torchwick destroyed the trains brakes. "Shit!" Rose cursed.
Back on top of the train, Ruby, Galen and Oobleck took out another Paladin which they knocked off the train and exploded. Oobleck noticed that the cars that had detached and didn't explode, determining that it was the work of Rex and his brothers. "Ruby, Galen! You two go on ahead!" Oobleck ordered the two. Ruby was quick to protest, but the Doctor assured them that he could handle himself. Galen agreed, but Ruby noticed that Zwei was a bit saddened at leaving the doctor, so Ruby told her pet to go and help the doctor.
"That is one brave dog." Galen said to himself.
However, things took a turn for the worse when the joined up with the others and noticed that the trains course had it heading right for a thick wall of concrete, the barrier preventing the Grimm from Mountain Glenn getting into the subway tunnels of Vale. "Anyone have any ideas?" Hardcase asked.
Ruby and Weiss smiled at each other, before the Schnee girl formed an ice shield to protect them and braced themselves for the impending crash as the train slammed into the wall, exploding in a great fireball.
Some time later, Ruby and the others heard the sound of emergency alarms as their vision came back and everyone found that they were now in central Vale. "Everybody in one piece?" Rex asked as he helped Neo to her feet.
"I'll live." Neo answered.
"We're still alive overhear." March said.
Before anyone else could say anything, low rumbles and growls were heard behind the group as King Taijitu erupted from the hole created by the train, along with various other creatures of Grimm and numerous battle droids that survived the train crash. Civilians screamed as they attempted to flee the chaos while the group watched in horror. Ruby's expression changed from a worried and scared look to one of anger and determination, one that was shared by Rex and his men. "Well kids, you always said you wanted to be on the frontlines, well, here's your chance." He said, readying his pistols as Galen did with his sabers, itching for a fight.
And chapter is done. First off, Merry Christmas, hope you all had a wonderful holiday.
Second, compared to the original canon, Neo has changed sides and is where she belongs. She and Rick will become quite the team, both on the ground and in the air.
Speaking of Rick, he appears to be force sensitive. How is that possible? Is it that his family has more of a connection to the Galaxy where Galen comes from, or something else entirely? If you have any ideas for that, please give them to me in a review or PM.
Now, for those of you wondering why I mentioned Cody and a certain number of Clone Commando's, that's a surprise for the chapter following the Breach. Now, if any of you are wondering about the Puma's and Landstalkers, they'll be showing up and you'll see how effective they are.
Ok, please read and review and I hope to see you all either next year or before next year.