Argus Reports.
In the latest events to have occurred in Argus, many people are now wondering just what is even happening.
Around the morning a horde of Grimm had come, led by what many are considering to be a rogue Atlas machine which attacked our fine city of Argus. The citizens asked to stay at home or go to the immediate shelters for safety. Huntsmen and Atlas soldiers sent to deal with the situation with the horde.
However, another came though not from the land, but also the sea and sky. From the very ocean a massive Leviathan Grimm came alongside other Grimm like Griffons and Manticores. The Atlas base releases the Collosal to combat the Grimm and fight it.
Eventually thanks to the saviors here in Argus, both hordes were dealt with and are now dead. The rogue machine was also taken inside custody for disabling. Yet it seems more problems have come as the Atlas base has exploded in one section, with reports of casualties already noted. Argus Base commander Cordovin refused to answer on what just caused the explosion. Currently nobody is letting into the Argus base, but this reporter will get answers regardless.
"So then, things went pretty well I guess." Jaune told everyone as he drank some water. Speaking aloud to those with him such as Ren who's drinking some juice while others are in the living room like Ruby. "We faced a robot, beat him as best we could and then won."
"Technically Codovin won, though we certainly played a good role in taking Ganeesh down." Weiss told Jaune though accepted that all of them still did a good job in defeating Ganeesh. "And I must say, I'm proud of our accomplishment."
"Hell yeah!" Yang, now full of aura again, pumped her hands in the air. "We totally rocked!"
Indeed. Despite the odds against them, Team RWBY and JN_R with Qrow, Oscar and Ozpin had done very well. Defeating a strong foe, not too many casualties if at all with the people safe. The Grimm themselves are driven back while Argus is now safe. The teams now back in the Arc home to relax until the actual owners came back. Turns out, the police and Atlas troops were keeping the citizens inside certain safe havens and will only let them out until morning, just for some safety as it's now night-time. Leaving the heroes to take some well-deserved time off and relaxation after the fight.
"Yeah. I guess we did some good." Blake agreed with Yang, also satisfied with what they did. Sitting near her on the couch like with Ruby and Weiss. "Ganeesh was tough alright. Thankfully, he didn't seem to know much in terms of actual fighting."
"Mmhhmm." Nore giggled from the kitchen while eating some sandwiches. Stuffing one in her mouth and swallowing while saying, "We kicked metal ass! Wa-hoo!" It was awesome in Nora's book.
"I suppose when you put it like that, it kinda was." Jaune agreed. Sure Ganeesh had been terrifying in a way. Immune to so much physical damage. Massive with the strength and speed to boot. Plus while not a strategist, the robot wasn't stupid and managed to get the Huntsmen and Atlas soldiers to focus on the Grimm than him. His stamina also massive and could have probably outlasted them all in a straight fight.
"Ganeesh was definitely a string threat. But…not the hardest one really." Ruby then said as she thought back to Ganeesh. Like Jaune, she saw all the power Ganeesh had. Yet for all that power, Ruby never felt any real fear towards him. Just like the Grimm she faced, Ganesh felt like that sorta. "Ganeesh was…more like a Grimm. Strong. Fast. But-"
"No skill to help him out and too much overconfidence in his ability." Weiss finished for Ruby who nodded. "He certainly thought little of us."
"Underestimating us is what did him in." Ren added with everyone agreeing. "For all the power he had, he didn't know how to use it beyond just basic punches and kicks." Had Ganeesh bothered to fight properly, chances were the situation would have ended much differently than now.
"Still, it doesn't change one thing." Blake then said a certain name everyone knew. "Salem." That made everyone stay silent, with Ruby herself flinching a little. Ganesh didn't scare her at all. But when she went up to see what happened in the Atlas Base, she saw the eyes of who is apparently the one causing all the trouble in Remnant. One who gave a presence that wasn't human and told that one wrong move could end in death.
"Was that Salem though?" Nora then asked. "I mean, I thought Salem was a woman. And from what you said, what you saw was a dude." So that couldn't be Salem at all. Maybe. Probably? "You don't think there's another person like Salem. Oh! What if this one is from another continent? Another world?" Nora then said while slamming her hands on the table.
"Right. Another world." Yang rolled her eyes. "Still, that does leave some unanswered questions on who that was. Though maybe that was just Salem.. disguising herself?"
"That doesn't even make sense." Jaune then pointed out. "I mean, not like anybody would have recognized him-er-her or anything." That and aside from Ruby, all the other witnesses are dead.
"I suppose only cute-boy Ozpin and Qrow might know why?" Nora chuckled. "In fact, where are those two?"
"Oscar is upstairs talking to Qrow." Ruby answered. "It seems Qrow is doing a little investigation." So it'd be a while until he returned. Ruby betting he's doing all right even now.
Guards and security are now at an all time high. Atlas troops kept an eye out for anything suspicious, with patrols inside the base while a clean-up crew had been sent to aid in to naturally clean up the mess. Though only after investigations are done as a group of said investigators are now trying to find any hints on what happened. Thankfully, a security camera caught some of the action to reveal some insight on what just occurred a while ago.
Reports were made that everyone in the room had died by clear disintegration. No ashes remained at all, with the walls and floor clearly burned and having some black soot around. All that remained was Ganeesh's head, which had been brought to see if it saw anything.
The head was now empty with no information in it at all. A blank slate with nothing in it. All the cameras saw before they went out was an unknown figure that seemed to speak towards the head with a Grimm near them, then they just as quickly vanished only after killing everyone.
This meant any downloaded information gained is all Atlas had left. In which case, the blueprints to make Ganeesh, a few weapons inside and finally, memories that went up to two months ago. Of course due to the situation Cordovin made it clear to first fix and repair everything while all data went to Atlas while keeping a few copies here.
Elsewhere, inside the base, a small crow was in the vents of the command center before going elsewhere and entering a restroom. No sooner did the crow vanish and in its place, a human male with a flask on his hip and a scroll already in his ear contacting someone he knew.
"Yep." Qrow then spoke, already getting the good intel as befitting of Ozpin's best scout and spy. "It seems whoever did this, looked less like a person and more like a Grimm."
"That…isn't good." Elsewhere, back in Jaune's sister's home, Ozpin had taken control with everybody else relaxing after the long day that had happened. From battling Ganeesh to letting their auras recharge, all the way to wondering what had happened to cause the base to explode like that.
Needless to say, after Ruby spoke of seeing someone and described them as someone that eerily looked like Salem, caused both Qrow and Ozpin to try and get more information. Ozpin sent Qrow to do what he did best. Gather intel.
With Qrow's ability to turn into something small and hide away from prying eyes, Qrow managed to easily get the information needed. Which unfortunately only served to increase their fears and concerns. But also some very confusing matters as well.
"From what I saw on the feeds from the vents and what Ruby said, the person who busted in looked like a dude." Unless Ozpin managed to misidentify his ancient enemy, Salem is a woman. As such, this made the men rather uncertain on what was even occurring. "I don't suppose Salem, maybe, made herself a boy or whatever? Can she do that?"
"No. Even if she could, she wouldn't just turn herself male as she's rather proud of her own form." Plus, changing her form wouldn't serve much seeing as it would be easy to tell that this was a Grimm human, outing herself already. But that was the problem in itself.
Qrow then asking, "Well then, who was that then? If not Salem, then who?"
Ozpin stayed silent on this part, contemplating. Back in Saffron's home, he sits on a couch and rubs his head. The ancient soul, just as confused as Qrow. Pondering the question of what happened mere hours ago with Ganeesh. Made it quite clear that the person who came, wanted to ensure Ganeesh said no more. Someone who obviously knew about the Relics, with only a few that knew about said Relics. Like Salem.
"I…suppose this could be some new strategy Salem has come up with." Granted, why Salem gave herself a male form of all things baffled Ozpin. While Salem has taken different names when using other people as proxies, she usually stayed in the shadows and nothing more. Never taking action unless she had to. So her showing herself is a major surprise, even if this ally of hers could have revealed everything.
"Is it her though?" None other than Oscar asked Ozpin. "I mean, could this have been someone else?"
'Unlikely.' Ozpin told Oscar with their mind. 'Salem is the only one who has such power and appearances.' All of what Ozpin said is true. Salem is the only being who wields powerful magic and control over the Grimm, with there being no other. Mainly due to the fact that if anybody else were to try and dump themselves into the pools of Grimm, they'd die instantly with Salem only surviving because of her curse. Unless there was somebody else on Remnant who had the same circumstances, there is no other being like Salem in this world.
Even so…that didn't stop Ozpin feeling that something was wrong. For while logic said that the person who entered had to be Salem, that lingering doubt was in him. Still, thinking about this won't do any good. As such, Ozpin spoke back to Qrow again.
"How much does Atlas know?"
"They haven't figured out much." Qrow replied as he leaned against the wall. Glad that nobody is using the room, meaning he could speak like this without worry. "While I learned they have that garbage's memories, it seems they've a bit tougher to review. That, and they're more busy looking over the more accessible blueprints on Ganeesh's body and other weapon plans in him."
It made sense really. Why take who knows how long checking out months of memory when Atlas can instead check out all the fancy tech Ganeesh knew. More easy to do and much better use. "I give us a few weeks before they check the memories. But when they do, well…"
It'll mean that some people, Atlas mainly, will realize about Salem and the Relics. Which isn't good at all. Had Ironwood still been here, he could have just told those working under him to just focus on the memories and later delete or ensure nobody discovered those memories. But with him gone, that meant those memories will eventually be checked out and then the whole secret shadow war will be revealed.
"I can try and delete them, but honestly, I'm not that much of a tech wiz." Qrow stated with slight bitterness. Qrow is good with many things, computers, he only had the regular knowledge of a regular person. So stuff like hacking, or deleting important files from his out-of-date scroll won't be happening here. Meaning in due time, unless drastic measures are taken, Atlas will discover everything that tin can knew.
"You may as well return then." Ozpin told Qrow. "As much as I hate to admit it, there is nothing we can really do about this, especially with James gone and out of contact."
"Yeah…Can't believe I'm saying this, but I'd wish Ironwood was here." With those words in mind, Qrow then began making his way out of the base. With his skill, it was rather easy and soon enough he was out of there. He did all he could to help out, getting some decent information at the least. Still, Qrow wished he could have done more as he exited the base, knowing in due time Remnant might soon learn about some of the big secrets of their planet.
"Now this was worth the trip." With one other who learned much of said planet in the first place. In his throne with Moloch, the latter had been asked to come, which he did. Where, after a good review of a certain tin can who is now disposed of, Moloch and Sammael themselves have learned what their little rogue agent had been doing.
"A planet full of Grimm. Relics of grand power. I must say, it seems that fool Ganeesh did provide us something after all." Moloch is in full agreement. After Sammael had returned, he had decided to see the memories he copied from Ganeesh and reviewed them to see just what Ganeesh had even been doing. Having been sent originally to discover the strange influx of Grimm in Japan.
While Sammael did gain some insight on where the Grimm were coming from, to think they came from the exact same world as the new Fallen Salem came from. A world that was absolutely brimming with Grimm. More Grimm than humans of both that world and even his own.
'Granted, they do seem mundane according to the notes Ganeesh found.' Sammael had seen Ganeesh's memories, who in turn found many notes in what's undoubtedly Salem's base. 'Even so, the numbers make up for it and it seems that world even has Grimm unknown to even earth.' An interesting find indeed. Particularly, this Relic of Knowledge.
"The ability to answer one's questions." Moloch spoke exactly what Sammael was thinking. "If we could get that one, we could find the rest of the Spiral Gems or other items of relevance."
"We could. Although I did notice those notes had a severe lack of cons to this information." Sammael then said surprising Moloch.
"You believe Ganeesh missed something?"
"More like whoever wrote those notes, could have easily omitted certain information." Sammael told Moloch. "For example, those notes and journals state where the Relics are, but not much on how to get them or the exact location." Not to mention one note said the Relic of Knowledge needed a password. Something the notes didn't have. "Either way, chances are these Relics may require something to be truly useful. And besides, it's not as if we can get these easily."
"Hm. That is true." While gathering these Relics and their useful functions with the added bonus of a planetary army of Grimm is a useful endeavor to head for, there is indeed an obstacle. Mainly, getting there.
"While I wouldn't mind gathering these Relics, sadly, we do not have the time let aside any easy means to travel to Remnant." The Fallen leader didn't exactly have a portable dimension machine like Van Kleiss did. While he had his magic to help, the drain was too much for any meaningful use. As such, gathering Knowledge, Choice, Creation and Destruction should simply be a side goal if he ever had the time.
Though one he might actually do. After all, gathering more powerful artifacts and having a grand amount of Grimm could bring many possibilities towards defeating the heroes. It didn't matter how strong earth's greatest warriors were. Just because they had the power to defeat an army, didn't mean they would have the stamina to face one. Especially if Sammael were to send a continent's worth of Grimm at them which would snuff them out.
Not to mention that girl he saw. One with silver eyes. What a shame indeed he couldn't stay even a bit longer just for further analysis. At the very least, Sammael understood one thing. She had the eyes of someone who fought against evil itself.
"Still, for the time being we should resume our goal with Van Kleiss." Though who knows, maybe he'll be defeated by the time they get there. While Sammael won't deny the man has gathered an impressive army and unique powers from his time here, not only is the man's arch-enemy here, but likely many heroes at this point in time. Who knows, maybe they'll stop the man where by the time he and his army gets there, Sammael can kill them all then and there.
Alas, best to be prepared on the chance Van Kleiss did win. There's a reason Sammael interfered at certain points. Like when that man attempted to turn the entire multiverse into E.V.O's just to be a ruler of monsters. No need for that to happen.
One way or another, Van Kleiss will fall.
Welp, things have gone rather well for those in Remnant. Of course there is still worry. Mainly, that in due time people will know about Salem.
Sure Ganeesh doesn't know everything, and neither did those notes should be considered one-hundred percent trusted considering Salem wrote them with half-truths and outright lies in case someone ever broke into her home and thought they could get intel. As such, there will be complications for the RWBY gang.
More so with Sammael himself know knowing about it and if he ever has time and the equipment, wouldn't mind going back there. I mean, the show RWBY shows us that the Grimm are practically everywhere and in ridiculous numbers. They may not match the earth Grimm in terms of uniqueness, but their quantity makes up for it as Sammael mentions it. And him getting the Relics…yeah, not a good combination. Thank goodness he's too busy right now. For now anyway.