To Be Relentless
Chapter 18
-Marrow-
"Good work out there today kiddies!" Specialist Tortuga laughed, the leader of the Ace Ops having taken Marrow, Ivanov, Jaune, and Choir out on a mission for training purposes, wanting to see how well they did in a real setting where he could still pull their asses out of the fire as needed. "Admittedly still some…rough spots to work out." Marrow translated that as 'Choir needs to actually pull her own weight and not try to let others do all the heavy lifting for her'.
"I am aware." Ivanov's clipped tone and irritated side eye showed he'd made the same translation that Marrow had.
"Still, you lot followed orders and did well enough for dealing with clearing those Grimm from the mine." Tortuga worked to ease the tension; the defense focused Specialist having taken them to an abandoned Dust Mine to clear out the Grimm infesting it. Mostly the insectoid Centinel Grimm but a Geist had been at the heart of the mine, Tortuga taking it on himself. The man having used his semblance to project incredibly durable shields of aura that resembled the shell of a turtle; even somehow using the shields as a weapon to batter and break apar the Geist's fake body to kill the spirit within.
"Hope the General is satisfied." Marrow grunted as he worked maintenance on his weapon, most of them out or low on ammo from the sheer number of Centinel Grimm within the mine.
"Trust me," Tortuga snorted bemused "even if you hadn't impressed on this outing it wouldn't be the end. The General isn't so stupid as to throw away an investment after one bad occurrence. Now that he's invested in you lot you aren't getting out that-" whatever else the Specialist had been about to say was cut off by the sound of an explosion rocking the bullhead, the ship screaming as it plummeted down to the snow bellow.
-Alexander-
Grunting, Alexander dropped his bag to the floor and collapsed onto his favorite chair "Well, that was quite the sigh." Looking over, he saw the blue skinned Djinn smiling at him, thankfully having put on clothes he'd given her, even if she laughed while accepting them.
"I hate politics." Alexander groaned, having spent the last couple weeks dealing with the aftermath of eliminating the Crown. Even if it was the best for everyone that the curs were dead and in the ground, the Council still had to give him shit over it. Whether it was because they were in Ozpin's pocket and part of the bastard's cult, or just secretly in Crown's pocket, Alexander wasn't sure. All he knew was that he'd been having to defend his right to 'protect his own life and mind' from a mind controlling terrorist cult bent on world domination. Thinking that description over once more Alexander slapped a palm to his face "Dear lord my life is turning into one of those blasted comic books Jaune loves to read."
"Hah!" Roman snorted amused as he entered the chamber hidden within the Arc home depths, Neo having built the chamber down here with the magical skill granted by the Relic of Knowledge. This way Djinn still got to interact with and talk to people, admittedly just the three of them for now, whilst also keeping her relic from attracting Grimm or leaving her accessible by Ozpin.
"Still, Crown is gone meaning I don't have to worry about them targeting Jaune." Even as he said it though, Alexander frowned, something in his gut feeling horribly wrong.
-Jaune-
Groaning with pain, Jaune sat up, feeling the dried blood caking the side of his head "Wha-," Jaune bit back a pained scream as he felt his leg protest, the finally noting the makeshift brace on what he assumed was a broken limb.
"Thank the Brothers." Marrow let out a tense sigh of relief as he approached Jaune, checking the splint "I was getting worried."
"What happened?" Jaune groaned, pushing himself so he was more propped against the wall of the cave he was noting they were in, "Where's Tortuga?" apart form Marrow he could only see Ivanov and Choir.
"Something hit the Bullhead." Marrow scowled "Tortuga kept us alive thanks to his Semblance, but we still got pretty banged up and the Bullhead itself is scrap out there." A jerked thumb directed Jaune to look outside the cave where he could still see rising smoke. "He's doing a sweep to see if he can find what knocked us out of the air. Or any way to signal Atlas besides hoping that they notice we're late and find the smoke."
"Then he should hurry up already!" Choir snapped, the girl's arm in a splint similar to Jaune's leg and a nasty gash over her eye as she glared disdainfully at Marrow "It's ridiculous that he's taking so-"
"CHOIR!" Ivanov snapped, giving the insufferable girl a hard glare "Unless you have something useful to add then remain silent. At the moment there's a potential threat in the area, our pilot is dead, you and Arc are injured, so we are rather limited."
"Wait." Jaune groaned as he sat up, "That smoke looks close…did we crash right outside the cave?"
"Yes. It was…fortunate." Marrow trailed off as he picked up Jaune's thoughts.
"Too fortunate." Ivanov did as well.
"Glad you kids figured that out too." Hearing the voice of Tortuga, Jaune looked to the entrance, seeing the Specialist stepping in, the man covered in soot and blood but seeming fit to fight overall. "I checked the area I could without straying too far, even checked the bullhead but nothing useable survived. For now, I'd suggest we bunker down here to wait for an Atlas Patrol to come find us. The Bullheads are designed to send an emergency signal upon destruction and looks like the mechanism is smashed enough that it should have worked."
"At least there's that." Marrow grunted, blowing on his hands to warm them.
"Could you not succeed at anything useful!" Choir snapped, Jaune's classmate apparently not handling stress well as she stomped past Tortuga, slapping at his hand when he moved to stop her. Jaune expected her to take one step outside before coming back in to avoid the cold, to return to the safety of the fire burning inside the cave. He wasn't expecting the thunderous crack of a bullet going through the side of her head.
"FUCKING HELL!" Tortuga readied his weapons as he projected a barrier, the snow beneath Choir's unmoving body slowly turning red.
"Huh, was hoping to get Ivanov." A callous voice scoffed from outside, Jaune noting Marrow and Ivanov both freeze, one in shock and the other in murderous rage. "That's what I get for being too eager I guess." The speaker stepped into view outside the cave, kicking Choir's corpse with a sneer. The speaker was tall, with dark canine ears atop his head.
"Fenrir." Marrow was shaking and backed against the wall.
"Hey little bro!" the now named Fenrir smiled happily, not caring about the blood splatter on his face or the corpse of the girl he'd just murdered at his feet, "Gotta say, I wasn't expecting to get a chance to find you so soon. But when I picked up that broadcast about you and the Ivanov I missed coming back from a mission, well, I couldn't just pass up a chance like that now could I?" Before the man, someone Marrow had already stated was a White Fang Assassin, could continue Jaune saw Tortuga surge forward. The Ace Ops leader left a barrier blocking them from Fenrir and other pressed ahead as he surged towards the murderer.
"Wait don't-" Marrow tried to shout a warning to Tortuga as Fenrir's eyes flashed, the aura constructs fading away right before another bullet fired, this one punching into Tortuga's chest, the huntsman collapsing to the ground, gasping and gurgling as he clutched at his chest, his aura struggling to keep his damaged heart pumping.
"Oh man, I forgot how much fun this was!" Fenrir laughed gleefully, "Oh, it's so good to be out and about again! And now I've even managed to find you little bro!" Fenrir casually stepped further into the cave, stepping on Tortuga's gasping form, seemingly enjoying the man's choked screams. "You can finally join me in the family business. Gotta say, it got real boring having to keep you from this shit before, but orders were orders." The psychotic killer shrugged.
"You son of a bitch!" Ivanov thrust his hand out to shoot a spear of ice, a move Jaune had seen him do to more than one Grimm on their mission, only for nothing to happen as Fenrir kept his glowing eyes on the artic Atlesian. A hasty dodge ensured that the bullet found Ivanov's arm and not his face like Choir had suffered.
"You see, this is why I hate losing the element of surprise." Fenrir gave an exaggerated groan before the eager grin came back on his face, walking past Marrow as he focused on Ivanov "Still, this shouldn't take too long, and then we'll be out of here little bro. I wanted to grab you before making my way back to the Fang, but it shouldn't take too long to kill these to humans." A harsh stomp broke Jaune's other leg, making him scream out in pain "Hell, this one's barely even worth a bullet!"
"Go to hell!" Jaune spat, refusing to cry even as he felt the moisture prickling at his eyes.
"No thanks!" Fenrir kicked him again, his boot connecting with Jaune's face as he felt his head rattle "For now I think I'll have my fun with the little ice princess here. Try not to piss yourself before I get to you, I fucking hate that smell." As Fenrir spoke, he stepped past Jaune and towards Ivanov who was getting off the ground, clutching his bleeding arm.
"Freeze." The shaky voice of Marrow echoed in the cave as Fenrir suddenly froze, his back to Marrow and Jaune, meaning his glowing eyes that could apparently cut off semblance and aura weren't facing them.
"The fuck are you doing Marrow?!" Fenrir demanded, "I'm all for a good joke but this isn't the fucking time! Let me go so I can kill these damn humans and get us out of here!" Marrow kept his mouth shut, but Jaune could see the tears forming in his mentor and friend's eyes, staring at the back of his own brother, knowing full well what was about to happen. Jaune looked over at Ivanov, the man tightening his belt tightly around his arm with his teeth, using it as a tourniquet to stop the blood flow. That finished, he reached to his belt and pulled out an old looking knife.
"Seriously Marrow, let me fucking go already!" Fenrir demanded even as his body failed to move so much as an inch. Ivanov limped over to the bastard, ankle seemingly twisted and one arm useless as he got closer and closer. Jaune clenched his eyes and looked away as wet gurgles filled the cave, knowing that Marrow couldn't look away. That Marrow had to watch his older brother's throat get cut. Hearing the sound of the assassin's corpse hitting the ground, Jaune grit his teeth and drug himself over to Tortuga, desperately hoping he could use his semblance, or what he'd learned of medicine, to save the man. But it was too late, the man's heart was too damaged for Jaune's drained aura and limited knowledge to be enough.
Ivanov had followed the tracks left by Fenrir in the snow to a shelter, found a radio and called for help. But by the time Atlas had arrived, Tortuga Basse-Terre was dead.
AN: And lo, the heavy shit continues! We got one more chapter before the epilogue which sets the sequel story 'a personal favor'. THAT one will take place during the beacon period of the show.