Chapter 81: Retreat
Commander Central led Task Force Omega, their boots pounding rapidly down the hallways of Odinson's mansion, making their way to rendezvous with Winter and the captured Odinson before going to the extraction point where the Retribution would pick them up, going unabated by the guards, who did not want to get in any more trouble with the authorities.
Central and Jammer took the lead, their individual weapons already up, just in case any of Odinson's thugs tried anything. Behind them was Invictus carrying a hand-cuffed and unconscious Seymour over his shoulder, and Javelin who had slung his customized rifle over one shoulder and drawn his own assault rifle to bring down any enemy. Shocker and Fieros brought up the rear, watching their backs and making sure that no one managed to spring an ambush.
"Omega Two, do you read me?" Central asked.
"I read you, Omega One. Go ahead." Raider's voice came through the internal encrypted communications channel within Central's helmet.
"We have secured the secondary target and Specialist Winter has captured the primary target. We will meet up with her and then make our way to the designated extraction point." Central spoke as he tossed a pair of frag grenades which bounced off the wall and down into the hallway on the left, a pair of explosions erupting later and spraying those very same walls with red fluid while pained screams rent the air.
"Understood. I'll bring in Retribution for extraction," Raider answered back before adding, "The other squads aren't facing any resistance from Odinson's men at the front gates and the other roadways, but they will try to divert away as much of their attention from you all as possible."
"Hopefully we won't have a hot pickup for once, Omega Two." The Atlesian commander mentioned.
"That'd be a first." The Strike Corvette's pilot chuckled.
"Be prepared for my signal. Over and out." Central closed the communications channel as he emerged from a hall and into a spacious art gallery filled with many wall-mounted paintings and peculiar-looking statues placed on top of stone pedestals, their weapons covering all angles while making sure there was no sudden attacks or hidden traps awaiting them. As he looked for any potential dangers, Central briefly wondered how many other crimes Garrett Odinson managed to commit in order to obtain all the expensive paintings and artifacts.
He shook his head, mentally throwing away the errant thought as he already knew that Odinson was already condemned by his uncovered illicit actions and association to Cinder Fall and whoever she reports to. A couple hundred or so art and artifact trafficking charges wouldn't make any difference in what would probably be an extremely long prison sentence.
"Omega Three and Four, cover the left hallway! Omega Five and Seven, cover the right!" Central ordered, "Omega Six, secure the secondary target and make sure he keeps still." Acknowledgement blinks flashed back at him from the sigils within the heads-up tactical display within his advanced helmet, and then he switched over to a private communication channel to speak with Winter, "Specialist Schnee, we've arrived at the secondary escape tunnel's entrance you told me about. What's your status? Are you close?"
"Yes, we are." Winter's voice came back calmly, "I have the primary target with me, and we're approaching the secret entrance. Be ready to receive us; and whatever you do, make sure nothing shoots Odinson!"
"Understood, Specialist." Central said as he kept his weapon at the ready, panning it swiftly around the huge room while his helmet already looking for any sign of the mentioned hidden entrance similar to the one in Odinson's personal office.
"Area secure!" Javelin spoke and was echoed by the other Omega Troopers before he added "For now, anyway."
"Secondary target still subdued," Invictus mentioned calmly as he laid an out cold Seymour down behind a display case made of glass and steel showing various extinct insects encased in a misshapen slab of amber crystal, "But I can't exactly guarantee he won't start screaming when he wakes up."
"Just keep him alive," Central said, "A live witness with valuable information always comes in handy."
"Acknowledged, Omega One." The heavy weapons Omega Trooper instantly complied.
There was a sudden loud grinding sound, and the Task Force Commander promptly aimed his rifle at the section of a nearby wall upon which was hung a painting depicting a battle scene between the Four Kingdoms during the Second Great War. Like what happened in Odinson's office, a sizable section of the painting-covered wall extended outwards and revealed the entrance of another secret passage, with loud footsteps coming from the staircase leading to it.
A dishevelled, sullen-faced Odinson emerged with his hands secured by cuffs behind his back emerged, followed closely by Winter and her Beowolf Summon. Using quick hand gestures to directing Fieros to see to Odinson and check him for any hidden items and weapons, Central lowered his rifle as he saw the elder Schnee sibling turn to him while sheathing her saber. "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine. Primary target secured." She spoke curtly as she waved a gloved hand dismissively at him, "What's the current situation facing us?"
"Odinson's forces have stood down. Apparently they're smart enough to know when to quit," Central answered concisely, "Regardless, we should keep our guards up and head to the extraction point at the south side where I'll signal the Retribution to get us."
"Very well, that's an acceptable break to our overall plan." The female Specialist thought carefully for a moment, "Wait, Odinson's guards are standing down?"
"They are," Central said with a nod, "Imagine that, intelligent henchmen."
"Still, they could be preparing a trap, maybe one to kill and silence these two. We have to make sure both of them survive, or at least Odinson," Winter's eyes met the face-plate of Central's armored helmet, "How much time do we have until the rendezvous?"
"A few minutes after I give the signal, so we should probably get going." The armored Atlesian commander replied. Winter nodded, and Central pulled his backup pistol out of his holster and handed it to Winter, "I trust you still know how to use this?"
"Please." She rolled her light blue eyes as she did a quick check of the pistol to ensure its functionality and a full clip before nodding back at him.
All of a sudden, there were deafening explosions, grenades going off from the left hallway. Jammer and Javelin emptied their weapons into the left hallway, but the sheer volume of enemy weapons fire shooting back forced them to shelter behind the walls.
"Apparently they're not giving up yet!" Jammer said as she fired several short bursts from her rifle, ducking back as bullets zoomed by her.
"Watch the art, you fools!" Odinson shouted to his more zealous guards as Seymour stirred and quickly began to panic.
"Smoke grenades followed by suppressive fire!" Central commanded, gesturing for Invictus and Fieros to roughly haul up Seymour and Odinson respectively, "We're making for the extraction point now!"
Breaking through the main doors of the art gallery in perfect tactical formation, the elite team formed up smoothly around Winter and their captured targets as they ran through more hallways and other gallery rooms, all the while dispatching a significant number of the stubborn guards that tried to bar their way.
"It's no use. These are my top men, and they know that death is better than capture." Odinson told them before Winter elbowed him in the gut to keep him quiet. Seymour kept quiet, shaking in fear as he kept his head down, not as ready to die as his employer.
Jammer spoke up a moment later, "E.T.A. for Retribution is five minutes."
"Copy that." Central replied before switching channels again, "Sergeant Andrei, we're under attack. Have your soldiers provide covering fire for us while we exit the complex with the primary and secondary targets!"
"You'll have it, Commander." Andrei's voice responded.
As they went on, it seemed that the resistance stopped. Central's team and Winter emerged from the adjacent dining hall into the main lobby of the complex where Javelin and Jammer kicked open the front doors. The sounds of firearms being fired and explosions coming from both rockets and grenades hit them full in the face as the fierce battle, a gauntlet of gunfire thrown down by Odinson's zealous guards, taking place outside was revealed.
Atlesian soldiers and Atlesian Knight-200s were exchanging fire with the guards, pinning them down and diverting their attention from the escaping group.
"Sergeant Andrei, we're at the front doors!" Central shouted as he tossed his final frag grenade out at the guards and inserted a fresh magazine into his multi-purpose assault rifle, "We're coming out now so we need as much covering fire as possible!" He glanced back at Winter who gave him a quick nod, while confirmation blinks from the rest of the Omega Troopers signaled to him that they are all ready.
"GO!" He bellowed as the latest grenade blast threw dirt up into the air. The elite team ran down the steps and through the small gap across the rolling green lawn created by the thundering gunfire coming from combatants, even as the vast, armored bulk of the Retribution came in to land on the outer lawns. Bullets and shells bounced off from the airship, and its weapons answered by unleashing salvos of missiles, shells and armor-piercing bullets from its many armaments, shredding apart the boulevard of nicely-patterned shrubbery and rows of hedges that bordered the lawn as well as the mansion's façade.
"Task Force Omega, get in there now!" Central barked upon seeing the main ramp of the Retribution starting to lower and reveal the hanger's interior. Despite the intensifying weapons fire from the Atlesian troops, the remaining bodyguards serving Odinson continued to shoot at the escaping group. Jammer, Javelin and Shocker laid down covering fire as Central, Winter, Invictus and Fieros carried a howling Seymour and growling Odinson broke out across the last stretch of grass towards the Strike Corvette. A few soldiers nearest to them joined in as well, using their armored bodies to shield the very important targets from the bullets that whipped and zipped past from all sides. A rocket fired from the roof of the mansion impacted more than a dozen meters away from the ramp, showering both Central and Winter in clods of dirt and bits of grass.
They quickly climbed up the ramp, still firing their weapons at any visible target in sight. Invictus went first, throwing Seymour inside and then drawing his own rifle to provide covering fire. Fieros went next, shoving Odinson up the ramp followed by Winter while Central picked off target after target behind them.
"Omega Three, Four, Five! Time to go!" Central instinctively raised one arm to shield himself when another grenade blast a few meters away from him, splattering dirt and chunks of stone all over him. The trio of Omega Troopers quickly dropped back to the Retribution, still firing their weapons as they ran for the safety of the Strike Corvette's interior hangar. However, Central heard a panicked shout from Jammer as they reached the ramp's edge, "Commander, primary target in danger!"
"Sniper! Ten o'clock!" Javelin bellowed.
Turning his helmeted head quickly, the Task Force Commander noticed a red dot on the back of Odinson's head, realizing that whoever the criminal businessman reported to definitely wanted him dead at all costs. Knowing that he had only a miniscule window to act, and seeing that Winter had also seen the immediate threat to Odinson's life, both Atlesian specialists leapt towards the businessman to thwart the deadly kill shot.
Time seemed to slow as Central hurled his armored body towards Odinson, his hands reaching out to grab the mustached man. A short distance away from him, he could see Winter doing the same thing, while the other members of his elite team were too far away to respond in time.
BANG!
Central's armored body slammed down on the deck of the hangar, covering both Winter and the restrained Odinson as much as he could. He dimly heard Javelin bringing down the hidden sniper with a head shot, and pushed himself up from the hangar floor slowly and painfully even as the ramp sealed fully behind him. Invictus and Fieros marched forward to help him up, the former Omega Trooper only doing so after securing Seymour to a prisoner harness carefully.
Feeling the Retribution lurching heavily with lifter thrust as it rose swiftly into the sky, the Task Force Commander rolled over to the side and sat up, wincing as he felt excruciating pain flare up on his right shoulder. He unclasped his helmet and tossed it aside, not caring where it went as he wiped sweat away from his eyes and moved over to Winter.
"Commander Central...are all right?" She asked as she moved over to him.
"I'm…I'm unharmed." He answered as he pushed himself to sit up, "What about Odinson?"
"Odinson's fine," Invictus answered, "It appears that the sniper bullet penetrated through the upper layers of your armored suit and ricocheted into the ceiling. Odinson is shaken up and annoyed, but he'll live."
"Then it's mission accomplished." Central sighed as he looked at Winter and smiled, wincing a little as he felt another burst of pain from the sniper wound in his right shoulder, "Omega Three, Six, Seven; take the targets to the holding cells."
"Orders acknowledged, Commander." They saluted him and began to haul their prisoners away.
Central turned back to Winter when he heard a soft cough from her, "I suppose I should thank you for saving my life as well as Odinson's?"
He raised an eyebrow at the female Specialist, "I did what I felt was my duty, Specialist Schnee." Central paused for a moment, then added, "Nonetheless, you're welcome. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get some medical attention for my shoulder."
"Let me help you," Winter offered, her normally cold personality dropping a little, "As a show of gratitude."
"If you insist." Central inclined his head as he leaned a little on Winter's shoulder as she helped him out of the hangar bay and towards the on-board infirmary, followed by Javelin and Shocker. Unknown to them both, the former sniper discreetly elbowed the latter melee combat specialist as they chuckled a little behind their soundproofed helmets.
The Retribution pulled away to safety with its accompanying escort ships as Task Force Omega withdrew from Mistral.
Margarite Harbor was in complete chaos.
Conflict raged fiercely throughout the once breathtaking ocean-facing city, and several sections of it were ablaze with fire. Several of the outlying buildings had been reduced to smouldering rubble by the unrelenting firepower of the pirate fleet's cannons, despite the incredible amounts of firepower the anti-ship cannon emplacements and its supplementary machine-gun and anti-air turrets were retaliating with.
Across the entire harbor, squads of Atlesian troopers were engaged in brutal gunfights with groups of pirates who managed to make landfall while convoys of battle tanks and APCs rolled down the main avenues after being deployed from transport airships that flew in from other nearby military bases that weren't attacked. Meanwhile, the inner ring of cannon emplacements and missile batteries lobbed salvos of artillery fire and launched waves of missiles at the hordes of Grimm coming up from the beach as well as at the Griffons descending from the smoky skies.
At one of the beachheads where the pirates managed to secure and fortify, Captain Silvers ordered his men and women about the dockside, ordering them to get their plundered loot aboard The Bloody Hook as quickly as possible. He was currently surveying the harbor yards of damaged ships and buildings just as another burning warehouse went up in a huge explosion, no doubt the effect of some volatile chemicals or explosive ammunition cooking off, sending flaming bits of wood and hot pieces of metal flying everywhere.
His crew as well as those of other pirate ships had given the Atlas navy forces a black eye by destroying a number of their docked battleships, and they have also gotten quite a lot of much-needed resources and money from the dockside warehouses and the damaged bank vaults respectively. Seeing that their objectives had been mostly achieved, Silvers made his way past fighting groups of pirates while clenching his robotic hand and muttering, "Well then, it looks like we've done our job…"
Had he been in control of the overall situation, he would just order a retreat right now before things got worse for them since Nautilus II and the other battleships of the Atlesian Navy were still preoccupied with Lizbetha's ship and the swarms of aquatic Grimm attacking the harbor. If they withdrew now he and his crew could make a clean getaway without any major casualties…but Silvers wasn't about to risk offending his new benefactors.
As he climbed back onto the main deck of The Bloody Hook, one of his crew climbed down to the pier of the huge ship and dashed over to him through the crowds of pirates. "Captain! Captain!" She cried out before coming to a halt not far away from him.
"What is it, lass?" He asked.
The young female pirate spoke breathlessly but carefully, "We've gotten an urgent message from our benefactor. We are to retreat right away, and the other pirate vessels involved in other coastal assaults have also gotten the same message."
"They say why?" Silvers asked, stroking his bearded chin with his robotic hand as he listened to the sounds of the ongoing battle at the far end of the docks. It was definitely getting nearer.
"Apparently, their agent within the Atlesian government reported that significant reinforcements are on their way to aid Nemo, including the airborne assault carrier Spirit of Winter! We have only a small window to retreat since it sounds like it will be here soon." She reported.
Silvers considered the message for a few seconds, casting his glance across the severely damaged Margarite before saying, "Well, best do what they say!"
He held his robotic hand to his mouth and it transformed quickly into a megaphone-like device, shouting into it above the roar of explosions and gunfire, "Listen up, boys! We're done here! Finish grabbing whatever loot you can, place explosives to cover our retreat, and get back to the ship before we leave you for dead!"
While the megaphone-mode of his robotic hand also gave his warning to all of his crewmen and women in the immediate vicinity, the other pirates scattered throughout the dockyards also heard the message to retreat through their radios, letting them know it was time to go.
Once the message was received across the pirates' front, they all began to fall back as fast as they could. While Arrow's pirate group removed the last few boxes of money and gold bars from the bank and left straightaway, the others quickly finished up whatever plundering they were doing and ran for The Bloody Hook, while others simply dropped what they were doing and retreated.
If the pursuing squads of Atlesian soldiers and armored vehicles were expecting a panicked rout, they were disappointed as the pirates armed with guns and rifles provided covering fire for their escaping mates from behind piles of rubble. In addition, some of the pirate ships' cannons were also redirected to target the battle tanks and APC reinforcements that were making their way through the rubble-choked roads, their turrets and cannons hurling munitions at the retreating pirates while bullets rattled against their armor plates. More than a few armored vehicles were either blasted into flaming wrecks or knocked onto their sides.
Mavis, still atop her Sea Feilong, heard Captain Silver's message and wondered to herself, "Time to go? Why haven't I been told?" As soon as she asked that question she received an answer, as her waterproof communicator began to beep, prompting her to answer it while a few other Sea Feilongs returned back to her side and swam around her protectively, occasionally unleashing blasts of yellow lightning energy at any gunboats or Atlesian airships that tried to get close to her.
"Mavis here." She spoke before ducking down as the Sea Feilong she was riding on twitched its head suddenly to the right in order to avoid a salvo of small missiles launched from a portable missile launcher on board one of the approaching gunboats belonging to the 21st Naval Marines. The Sea Feilong she was riding on roared and unleashed a few crackling beams of lightning from its mouth, momentarily driving the marines' gunboats off as they sought to find a safer firing position, while the troopers on board continued to shoot at the circling Sea Feilongs with their assault rifles.
"Grimm Commander Mavis, this is Dr. Watts. Our Mistress has returned and has ordered all forces to disperse for now. Once you're done helping our pirate allies get away successfully, go to the rendezvous location Sigma as transmitted and her grace will open up a portal for you to come home. Is that understood?" Watt's voice came through the communicator.
"Yes, sir. I'll help them get away-" Mavis began before a massive explosion cut her off, the shockwave nearly blasting her off her Grimm mount and into the churning ocean waves.
The youngest Grimm Commander looked over to Nautilus II, the damaged carrier battle cruiser had shot off the harpoons and chains keeping it connected to Lizbetha's ship and began to put some distance between itself and the enemy ship, which was then bombardment mercilessly of railgun, cannon and laserfire, effectively blowing its port side wide open. Water from the ocean instantly flooded into the damaged pirate ship, extinguishing some of the fires within but also crushing and drowning any survivors of the attack. The excess weight of the seawater rushing in as well as the huge structural damage soon caused the severely damaged form of Lizbetha's ship to sink rather quickly.
"Oh no…" Mavis whispered as she could feel the fear and panic from those pirates who were trapped within the sinking ship, and some of them were jumping overboard while covered in flames as the huge ship sank into the waters below while shedding large flaming chunks of debris.
"What was that just now?" Came Watts's voice again, static briefly coloring his voice.
"Erm…Lizbetha's ship was just destroyed, Doctor! And I'm pretty sure that the admiral lady killed her…" Mavis reported, adjusting her grip on the Sea Feilong's horn.
"Unfortunate. Have the Grimm under your control speed up the retreat, my dear. Do whatever you can to assist the pirate fleet and then make your way to the agreed rendezvous location. Stay safe and we'll see you soon." Watts mentioned before ending the call.
"I understand, withdrawing now." Mavis answered as she stowed the waterproof communicator onto her belt and sighed once more, gently rubbing the forehead of the growling Sea Feilong underneath her as she added quietly to herself, "Well…at least the violence is ending."
Raising both of her arms as though she wanted to embrace the wrecked city of Margarite Harbor, Mavis held her arms akimbo and reached out with her Grimm Commander powers, quickly extending her control of all of the Grimm in the entire area. Moving her hands in a series of wavy gestures, she directed the Claw Hammers, Broadbills, Krakens and even some Sea Feilongs to defend the retreating pirates by holding back the soldiers of the elite 212th Assault Battalion and the 21st Naval Marines. Once that was done, she had her own Sea Feilong she was riding on lower itself into the whipping ocean waves so that she was less of a target for the airships and gunboats.
Out of the goodness of her heart, Mavis also had a few of the remaining Sea Feilongs swim near the sinking wreck of Lizbetha's ship to rescue any survivors brave enough to grab onto them and the escape. She also reached out along the coastline, having the various other Grimm which were attacking Margarite Harbor doing the same things as the aforementioned dragon Grimm, which took a heavy toll on her powers being stretched so far and so thin over a wide area.
A few minutes later, Silvers had gotten back on his ship and was now on the bustling main deck, mentally making sure the majority of his crew had already returned since he was seeing less and less men and women running towards The Bloody Hook as the seconds ticked by. After tossing his box of looted money to another running pirate beside him, Arrow came up beside the pirate lord and saluted.
"What's the status of the other ships in the fleet?" The mechanical-limbed pirate put to his first mate.
"Captain, Lizbetha's ship is sinking as we speak with most hands lost but the Grimm girl's having her beasties bring the survivors to us." He reported while gesturing over to where a number of soaked and shell-shocked looking pirates who were climbing aboard their vessel, with some members of Silver's crew giving whatever assistance they could, "And our recovery boats have also managed to rescue a good portion of Stephenson's crew."
Silvers knew an opportunity when he saw one and smirked knowingly, "Good. With all the deaths and sunk ships, it looks like we can expand our crew…once they swear their allegiance to me."
"As you say, captain." Arrow nodded in agreement. He then excused himself to assist in the departure preparations while Silvers continued to watch the conflict rage at the other embattled sections of Margarite Harbor in the distance.
Things seemed to go by so quickly, with the surviving members of Silvers's crew soon returned to his ship in no time at all, the last crew member jumping aboard the last rope ladder as it was retracted. Mavis and the Sea Feilong under her control soon came over, the Grimm beast rising up from the water so the Grimm Commander could jump onto the pirate ship before she had it go underneath the vessel with the other Feilongs to help it go faster.
"Captain Silvers! Are we ready to go?" She called out to him as she rushed up to the crowded main deck.
"Looks like it, lass! Anyone who didn't make it is probably dead…or not worth saving!" Silvers said darkly before calling out to his busy crew, "All hands, cast off and set sail! Let's get the hell out of here!"
The engines of the ship roared as it reversed out of the pier, leaving a ruined dock behind as it backed up into the open harbor, and turning about without difficulty due to the help of the Sea Feilongs below it which were all being controlled by Mavis, her red eyes shining like a pair of blood-coloured orbs.
"Captain! Incoming airships!" Arrow cried out in alarm as he pointed up in the smoke-wreathed sky behind them, with a number of other pirates looking at where he was pointing.
Captain Silver looked up at the sky and grimaced before saying "And that huge carrier airship behind them looks like the Spirit of Winter!"
Sure enough, the massive form of the warship emerged from the cloudy sky alongside a sizable fleet comprising of both destroyer airships and battle cruisers. Moments later their cannons, missile launchers and gun batteries began to rain down waves of devastating firepower on the areas around Margarite Harbor with large concentrations of Grimm, while multiple squadrons of Atlas Eagles, Bullheads and Manta airships flew out of their hangars and flew towards the battle-ravaged port city, carrying scores of fresh reinforcements.
"Murderous Maelstroms!" Silvers cursed before he shouted at his navigator, "Full speed ahead! Get us out of here!" Then he leaned down and spoke to Mavis quietly, "If you can get the Grimm to whip up some fog again, I'd be very grateful."
Mavis gave a small nod, "I will see what I can do, captain…"
And so it happened, the remaining two pirate ships, with one bring rather badly battered, began to speed out of the ruined harbor along with their surviving escort ships. Their escape was further accelerated by the aquatic Grimm beneath them, while the other serpent-like dragon Grimm creatures created huge sprays of water which rapidly turned into thick clouds of fog to mess with the pursuing Atlesian battle cruisers and gunboats' aim. They vanished into the fog clouds within moments, just barely avoiding the hails of gunfire and missiles launched at them by a small number of pursuing gunboats and a pair of damaged but mostly functioning battleships.
"They're retreating!" An exhausted crewmember standing at the forecastle of the Nautilus II shouted, "We did it! We won!"
There was a huge round of relieved and victorious cheers coming from the surviving crew of the various Atlesian battleships and other naval ships while the remaining Grimm either returned back to the wreckage-filled oceans or were destroyed by barrages of gunfire, laser blasts and missiles coming from the various battleships' armaments.
Admiral Nemo stood amongst her cheering crew and soldiers on the main deck of the Nautilus II, watching the pirates withdraw in silence. Unlike the rest of her loyal crew, she did not cheer. She was still mentally calculating the losses her fleet had suffered in the battle, and knew that it would undoubtedly be a long list. Nonetheless, when she looked up to the massive form of the Spirit of Winter which flew slowly over the damaged harbor city , which Nemo had to admit she was quite happy to see. But sadly it wasn't enough to assuage the sadness she was currently feeling.
Sadness over the many lives lost today.
She walked through the deck, stained with blood and debris, taking note of the injured personnel receiving medical treatment. The medics available tried to save as many as they could, but there were still quite a number that had to be made comfortable until they could be evacuated to the nearest hospital. Cries and moans of pain filled the air as the medics went about their work, and more than a few times Nemo saw an overworked medic zipping up a black body bag while shaking his or her head gloomily.
As she made her way past her crew, Nemo still received respectful salutes from every single one of them, including those who were lying down on the decks or being supported by their comrades. She accepted them curtly and silently, nodding back as politely as she could while the wounded personnel make way for her whenever she walked. Eventually the Admiral came to a stop when she saw a huge hole blasted in one of the thick walls that made up the battlecruiser's upper-decks and took a careful look through the ruptured armor plates, seeing that the enemy munition had punched through a number of outer decks before detonating in one of the smaller hallways of the ship. While it wasn't the worst her ship suffered compared to the previous time she almost lost her preceding warship in a battle with Lizbetha, it grieved her to see such a fine ship suffer such wounds.
She let out a sad sigh, then placed a gloved hand on the right hand side of the large jagged hole and spoke to her ship, "We'll repair you, and hopefully fix you up until you're good as new again…but I doubt we would be able to fix everything that had been broken today."
Of course, her ship never spoke to her, but Nemo had always felt a sort of special connection with the Nautilus II ever since the day she took command of it. Like the other captains with their own ships, she could somehow feel the mood of her carrier battleship at times. Her grandfather had told her that all vehicles, if given enough love, could take on something of a personality, and right now from the humming and rumbling sounds she was hearing, the admiral imagined her ship was telling her that even though it was damaged in battle, it was still standing and had paid the enemy ships back in kind.
Nemo stood there for a long moment with her eyes closed, before she opened again and bowed her head respectfully in thanks to the ship which served her as faithfully as everyone else on board. She turned and walked down the packed deck, returning to the place where she had previously found the severely wounded Ensign Armin Rosen.
Her heart caught when she found the said young Ensign officer's body now covered by a bloodstained white sheet, while Medic Marcoh was nearby hurriedly tending to another wounded crewmember with a severed elbow. Blood splattered down his uniform as he carefully bound the victim's bleeding stump while another medic administered some painkillers.
"Marcoh!" Nemo called out as she came to a stop before Armin's body.
After telling his fellow medic to finish up, Marcoh stood up and quickly saluted her. Seeing her looking at the sheet-covered body, he slowly shook his head and said, "The cuts were too deep, Admiral…and he has also been severely poisoned by the enemy pirate's shuriken. I did my best but I couldn't save him. I'm…sorry, but I'm only an army medic, not a full-blown healer with a Semblance and everything. If it's any consolation to you, I tried to ease his pain as much as I could as he passed."
"It's all right, Marcoh." Nemo assured him with a hand on his shoulder, "I'm sure you did everything you could," She paused for a moment and then asked, "Did Armin say anything, before he died?"
"He…he wanted a message to be passed on to his family, and his fiancé. To let them know that he loved them all." The medic passed Nemo a small flash drive as he finally spoke, "And he wanted me to let you know that he was sorry to disobey your orders."
Nemo managed to hold back a sob as she gave a small nod, "I understand…thank you, Marcoh."
The medic saluted her again before kneeling down beside another wounded soldier and began his gruesome but necessary work once more.
Nemo looked at the flash drive in the palm of her gloved hand for a few moments, before tucking it into her pocket and walked off. Her booted feet soon brought her into the main deck populated by army and naval personnel, all of whom were cleaning up the debris of battle and clearing away the corpses of both pirates and Atlesian soldiers alike. Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see about a dozen or so wounded pirates being handcuffed and then marched down a secondary corridor under the watchful eyes of a heavily-armed squad of troopers from the 212th Assault Battalion, no doubt to the holding cells where they later would be transferred to a more secure prison facility. It seemed to her the pirates didn't really care about those who they had left behind in their hurried withdrawal, and honestly it disgusted Nemo.
Eventually she reached the stairs that led up to the next floor and the reinforced blast doors of the hybrid carrier battle cruiser's bridge, but after hearing shouts of fire and hurried footsteps running in the floor above she turned and sat down on those stairs instead, placing her sheathed sword across her lap. Armin Rosen would be another death she would have to write a condolence letter to, to arrange a full military burial with posthumous promotion and full honors, to fold the flag of Atlas and hand it to his grieving family, to salute them for his sacrifice…
Armin Rosen might have been a bit of a hothead at times, but he had been a good soldier, tragically killed before he got the chance to really prove himself. Why do young people with bright futures like him get cut down in the worst possible ways while an aged veteran like her gets to live with the time they had bought for such a high price?
Nemo buried her head in her gloved hands as countless other thoughts spun through her head. Despite only being in her early forties, she suddenly felt at least thirty years older at that moment.
"Admiral Nemo!" The voice of her executive officer Chris Blanc called out from the top of the stairs above.
She wiped her eyes with the back of her gloves before lifting up her head and turned around to look at him, "Yes, Chris?"
"Sorry, but we're receiving a transmission from Spirit of Winter." Blanc told her while gesturing behind him towards the bridge, "It's Captain White, he wishes to speak with you."
"Thank you, Chris. I'll be up shortly." She answered as she stood up and began to ascend the stairs, limping a little as her legs screamed for a break. Once she reached the top, Nemo turned towards the nearest armored viewports and looked out at the wide-open ocean where other battleships and gunboats patrolled while roaring squadrons of airships flew through the cloudy, smoky skies.
If she squinted at the distant horizon, Nemo thought she could just make out the faint shapes of the retreating pirate ships that could just barely be seen due to the unnatural clouds of grey mist that were obscuring them by the Sea Feilongs under the control of the Grimm Commander that was working with them. She owed them a long debt of pain for all that had happened today, Nemo thought to herself as she unconsciously clenched her hands into fists, and she would see that same debt settled one way or another.
Grimacing as she tucked those thoughts away for another time, Nemo turned and made her way back to the bridge.
Fort Valor was utterly destroyed.
Every single building had been demolished while various tanks and other combat vehicles were reduced to smoldering wrecks. The command tower had collapsed, spreading pieces of wreckage over a wide area and smashed through one of the reinforced walls of the base's defense perimeter.
The wreckage of airships and Paladins lay dispersed between the snow-covered rubble of the base's various buildings, while scattered piles of burning debris spewed black smoke into the sky. Bodies, both whole and missing heads or limbs, laid everywhere alongside discarded weapons devoid of ammunition; and gratuitous splatters of blood covered the surfaces of the ruined walls.
Other than the Grimm hordes which were feasting on the corpses of deceased soldiers and base personnel, there wasn't a single living soul left alive at Fort Valor. Those the Tyrant hadn't killed were finished off by various Grimm creatures which swarmed into the base attracted by the fear and terror of its victims, and any remaining stragglers quickly fell underneath a whirlwind of gnashing teeth and slashing claws.
As for the Tyrant itself, the huge Tyrannosaur Grimm stomped out of the devastated base through the broken wall where it had first entered, kicking aside the ruins of the other long-range cannon emplacement which had collapsed from its turret mountings. It was still in the process of devouring a group of dead bodies it had collected in its mouth before finally leaving and letting the other, much smaller Grimm to fight over the scraps.
Feeling the urge to establish its uncontested dominance, the Tyrant lumbered over to a large hill with a steep drop down into the white forested plains below and allowing it to look out across the valley where Fort Valor had been initially established to look over, throwing back its head and letting out a magnificent, menacing roar.
All of a sudden, it felt something calling to it. Beckoning it to return.
The Tyrant turned its horned head over to see a portal of swirling black and red colours like the one that had brought it here, and immediately felt the urge to go into it.
It gave a softer growl as it recognized the call of the Mistress of Grimm, and so it made its way into the portal which swiftly closed behind it, leaving the ruins of Fort Valor behind to be consumed by the falling snow.
Sienna Khan used her chain whip to lasso a Saber, keeping her grip on the chains and hauling the Tiger Grimm to a stop. It slowly turned around, growling at her as its front left paw dug at the snow beneath it, preparing to charge.
She looked straight into its reddish-orange eyes, not backing down one bit despite its ferocious growls.
It charged at her, but the Tiger Faunus flipped over agilely and landed on its back, pulling the chain tight to strangle it before stabbing a blade deep into its skull, killing it instantly. She then leapt off its fading body as she snagged her whip around the paws of another Saber, slamming it into a nearby pine tree hard enough to crack the bark and smash the Saber's head in.
Sienna jumped onto said tree and climbed up to a firm branch, looking out as her fellow White Fang members went about fighting off the remaining few Grimm with the police, local Huntsmen and Huntresses, and military personnel that had been stationed in Borea Town when the Grimm incursion had begun.
Speaking of which, she couldn't help but be curious as to what happened to the aforementioned base. Luckily, there weren't many Grimm left threatening the town, so they could afford to send some of their scouts out.
Jumping off the tree and landing gracefully on her feet before sprinting ahead down the street, she soon came across Kane and Yuma who were shooting down a number of Boarbatusks.
"Kane, Yuma." She called for their attention, "I want you two to go up to that military outpost nearby and scout it out. They don't seem to be sending any reinforcements to save the people of this town, so I'd like to know what's going on."
"Right, we'll fly up there!" Kane nodded as he unloaded his assault rifle into a Hellhound that nearly tried to tear out his throat.
"We will be back as soon as we can, Madame Khan." Yuma informed her before he and Kane jumped up and spread out their wings and flew up into the air, the chilly wind carrying them upwards.
Not far away, at Borealis Base, the Son of Salem stood in the center of the camp, letting the remaining twenty-four Atlesian soldiers and base personnel hide and regroup within the shadows of burning buildings and damaged airship hangars. He stood as still as a statue, listening for their approach, gripping Chaos Edge firmly in his hands, but the sound of birds flying overhead grabbed hold of his attention. The dark-armored warrior looked up to see some birds, crows mostly, landing to perch in the ruined base wherever they pleased.
While he couldn't see them due to thick smoke coming from the fires all around him, the Son could still hear the tread of their booted feet and the creaking grip of their hands around their weapons as the troopers and support personnel moved around as cautiously as they dared, and thinking that he couldn't hear them.
They were wrong.
The first attack of the final group came when a female soldier struck out from behind with a combat knife, only for the Son to grab her and break her elbow with an awful crack, followed by throwing her onto her back. She recovered quickly with a pained scream, and attempted to plunge another blade into his chest but he sidestepped it effortlessly before grabbing her and then sliding his deadly sword over her chest, breaking her aura. He twisted the black blade and withdrew it, letting the choking soldier drop to the snowy ground to shriek and struggle weakly for a few seconds, and finally finished her off with another sword blow to the heart which crushed both her ribcage and heart just as the other twenty-three survivors charged out to avenge their fallen comrade who had rushed out ahead of them.
One bulky male soldier roared as he ran forward shooting with his assault rifle, but the Son jumped out of the way before eviscerating him and then severed the arm of another soldier who attempted to shoot his head off. As the armless soldier screamed while waving his spurting stumps, the dark warrior grabbed him by the neck and used the soldier as an impromptu shield to absorb bullets coming from the rest of the survivors. A female officer slashed at him with a sword, only to be chopped in half by the Son's deadly blade before he bounded over the other charging troops and landed boots first on the head of one of them, slamming him painfully into the snow and then leapt over the others, the bullets of other soldiers missing him by inches. He spun Chaos Edge in his hands and then stabbed it forward as he landed, impaling a stout communications officer through the chest as he drew his 'borrowed' gun and blasted another trooper multiple times in the head and chest which broke his aura, allowing the bullets to pierce his body and send blood spraying into the cold air.
The remaining survivors charged the Son with guns and blades in their hands, trying to dogpile him but the Grimm warrior easily took out the first three victims by gutting the first one lengthwise, shooting the second through the head and stabbing the largest of the three downwards through the chest and forcing him painfully down while blood vomited out of his mouth as he died screaming in agony.
The Son shot down two more attackers, just as another one went flying back into a charging and gunning group. The closest member dodged aside and tried to punch the Son with a wild haymaker, which the Grimm warrior grabbed and forced up before putting his gun to the man's chest and shooting a couple of holes through him. Dropping his bleeding corpse, the Son then performed a sweeping kick to knock down the soldier he had landed on earlier and then slammed his sword down into the man's neck, decapitating him.
As the bloodied form of the Son rose up, seven of the ten remaining survivors jumped him at once, managing to hold him down with their combined strength. They grunted and roared as they bore their enemy to the ground, whacking at his head and limbs with the butt of their guns and repeated punches and kicks.
"Hold him down!" A trooper with a broken arm smashed the butt of his pistol into the Son's face repetitively, "Hold that fucker down!"
"Shoot him! Shoot the son of a bitch in the head!" A female soldier who was rather close to the Son's ear yelled.
"I'm trying!" howled another trooper with an empty assault rifle, "Bloody hell, I'm out of ammo"
"Bastard!" A sergeant moaned on the ground while holding his bleeding face, "We're going to make you pay!"
Through the endless punches, booted kicks, weapon whacks the Son managed to reach into his belt and remove a small cylindrical device, a flash bang grenade, pulling the pin and letting it fall to the ground where it went off a second later and surprised all of his enemies at once. They screamed and cried out as their eyes were blinded, and the Son lurched up and fought back, exploiting the opportunity and using it to free himself.
The female soldier desperately tried to regain her senses as she stumbled awkwardly away, only to hear the voice of one of her comrades scream as he was eliminated. She looked this way and that while shaking her head slightly, and when she finally saw something that wasn't white it was the menacing dark figure of the Son. She barely had time to scream when he grabbed a hold of her head and bashed her into a nearby cracked wall several times, shattering her aura before shooting her through the chest.
The Son ran back into the fray, avoiding the attacks of the largest remaining soldier who was throwing wild and uncoordinated punches in a sloppy attempt to defend himself. The Son jumped over him and with one swing of Chaos Edge, removed the man's head from his body. He then ducked down just as a fusillade of gunfire erupted from the surviving troops tore through the place he was in a moment ago. The dark warrior dashed forward, slamming an elbow which broke an unfortunate trooper's aura and neck and used him as a human shield, allowing the corpse to take several shots from the firing soldiers before tossing him at them, knocking them off their feet before he made his concluding attack.
With well-timed and placed, not to mention deadly, swings of his black sword, the Son cut all but one of them down, leaving more dead and bleeding bodies in the snow.
The final man swiped at the Son with his sword, who effortlessly dodged and blocked the soldier's next attack before snap-kicking him in the gut to bring him down to his knees. The next blow knocked his sword spinning out of reach and when the doomed soldier finally looked up, the last thing he ever saw was the yawning barrel of a gun before a fired bullet lodged itself into the front of his skull. He dropped without another sound, blood splattering out of the fresh hole in his head and onto the snow.
Holstering the gun, the Son of Salem surveyed the wrecked base which was now quiet and as lifeless as a ghost town, filled only with bodies of his victims. He looked around the outpost for a few minutes, as though making sure he hadn't missed anything before, but found nothing but corpses, falling snow, idle birds either perching on something or flying in the sky above, and burning buildings that were devoid of life.
Then he suddenly remembered the final task his mother had given him. Using the sharp blade of Chaos Edge, the dark warrior knelt down and began to carve a message he had been told to leave in the snow for the enemies of Salem
As he went about his work, a pair of birds watched quietly from a safe distance while perched on a thick branch of a large pine tree not far away from the ruined outpost. Those birds were actually the Guardians of the Dead in disguise, who had come to guide the deceased souls to the afterlife, and now they observed the Son stoically performing his given task.
Gabriel, who was currently in his crow form, kept a cautious and inspecting eye on the mysterious warrior clad fully in black armor while his fellow Crow Guardian took careful notice of Gabriel's suspicious look. After all, it wasn't every day you get to see the Crow Guardian having a somewhat unsettled expression on his bird face.
"Are you all right, Gabriel?" He inquired, cocking his avian head to one side.
"Oh? Uh, I'm fine. It's just…something about that...man who killed all these people is bothering me." The Crow Guardian of Purgatory answered.
"Is it because of the fact he killed all these brave soldiers with barely an injury to speak of? Or the fact he's as quiet as a mute? Or you're that message he's writing in the snow?" The Crow Guardian suggested, idly waving a wing.
"All of what you've mentioned is making me uneasy, but there's something about this man that unsettles me…something familiar…" Gabriel murmured to himself before their attention was abruptly caught by an ominous-looking portal opened out of nowhere in the middle of the destroyed Borealis Base.
They watched in silence as the Son of Salem walked into the portal, almost zombie-like, before it closed up neatly behind him and leaving no trace whatsoever of the Son's presence behind.
"Welp." The Crow Guardian sighed before looking over to the spirits of the Son's victims, seen only by the Guardians of the Dead. They stood unnaturally still, frozen in shock. "Better get to work guiding those souls. We don't want any phantoms lingering about, yes?"
"No." Gabriel answered as he kept his eyes where the portal had been moments ago before looking back to the message the Son had left behind, "We don't."
They took flight and went about their own work.
It wasn't long until Kane and Yuma flew towards Borealis Base, surveying the ruined buildings, crashed airships and scattered dead bodies from above before landing some hundred meters away from its broken gates.
"Holy Crap! What the hell happened here?!" Kane wondered as he landed, taking a look around the now-destroyed military outpost.
"I haven't had the slightest idea, but it looks bad." Yuma said with an unnerved expression on his face before he and Kane slowly and cautiously approached the base with their weapons at the ready just in case anything happened.
They made their way to the base's shattered gates, slipped into the shadows nearby before going in while covering each other. What greeted the White Fang members was the downed airship still burning with the rancid stench of charred flesh, and the scattered bodies as well as the frozen puddles of blood covering the snowy ground before them wasn't helping to paint a positive picture.
"By the Four Gods…this is horrible." Yuma muttered as he covered his mouth and nose, resisting the urge to vomit at the horrifically maimed bodies.
"You, my friend, have a gift for understatement." Kane murmured quietly.
With Yuma watching his back, the Flying Fox Faunus ran to check all of the bodies, at least those that were visible, but everyone he laid his hands on was dead. He eventually stopped and focused his senses on the surroundings around them, as while his distinguishing Faunus features were his wings Kane still had the heightened senses of smell and hearing.
He could smell death, expended ammunition, grenade residue, burning flames, gas in the air, blood, melted snow, and something else…something that felt like death but wasn't, and it deeply disturbed him as well.
'Creepy.' Kane thought and shuddered to himself. He forced himself to remain calm, then looked at Yuma and said, "Stay at the gates and keep watch. I'm gonna take a look around."
"Are you sure about this?" Yuma looked around and gripped his assault rifle tighter, "We should stick together just in case whoever did this is hiding somewhere and sees fit to attack you." His bat wings twitched unsettlingly as he spoke.
"Relax, whoever did this is gone…and I'm sure there's nothing here." Kane reassured his fellow White Fang assassin, "Besides, I don't sense anything living in the area except some scant wildlife, and even they're keeping their distance."
He looked around again before asking, "Anyway, do you sense that weird scent that feels almost like death itself?"
"I do…and it's making me nervous." Yuma confessed grudgingly.
Kane walked away from the Bat Faunus until he spotted some footprints in the snow which were different from those of the Atlesian soldiers. As he examined the footprints he noticed that the tread was heavier, and the markings were also different as well.
He called Yuma over. "You see those footprints? They emerge from the forest. Maybe they belong to the attacker?" Kane suggested.
"One? Kane, it would have taken more than one person to kill all of these soldiers." Yuma pointed out as he gestured with his assault rifle at the ruined base around them.
"Yuma, when it comes to the Grimm and whatever controls them, nothing is normal," Kane told his comrade morosely, thinking about the mysterious Salem that Adam had aligned with, before spreading his wings and flying up to the top of the damaged gates, where he saw the very same footprints leading to the centre of Borealis Base before suddenly ending in an empty spot, "Looks like the set of footprints just end…right over there, as if they were teleported out of…"
Yuma raised an eyebrow as he heard Kane's voice trailed off and asked, "Well, Kane? What is it?"
"Yuma, I think we better get back to Khan." Kane spoke again, but his voice was clearly more disturbed than the Bat Faunus had ever heard him, and heard the soft clicking sounds of a scroll's camera function.
"I think you're right, but what's got you so shook up?" The White Fang assassin called.
Kane swallowed before answering, "I don't…just get up here and you'll see what I mean."
"Okay, I hope you're playing a joke." Yuma replied as he flew up to land on top of the gates with Kane, and froze when he saw the gruesome message written in the snow, which seemed to radiate some sort of unearthly power which melted the snow all around it.
'Those who had died here were weak. This attack on your Kingdom is just another step in your long fall to utter defeat. The Mistress of Grimm shall rule over you all. – The Son of Salem.'
Both flying Faunus took in the ominous message for several seconds while sharing uncomfortable looks with each other, before they both flew off the gate and made their way back to the village as fast as their wings could carry them.
As Kane and Yuma made their way back to Borea, Sienna Khan was standing in the town square, directing the White Fang troops under her command to watch out for any lingering Grimm creatures that had managed to survive, the Atlesian soldiers as well as their Huntsmen and Huntresses regrouped warily. A few other Bullheads with the colors of the White Fang were flying overhead in their usual patrol formations, making sure that the town has been fully secured against any other sudden Grimm incursion.
"Is the town clear and secure?" Asked a Huntsman armed with a hybrid claymore-firearm weapon as he glanced at the group of Faunus clad in the uniform of the White Fang a little distrustfully, but it seemed that he wasn't willing to start anything. Perhaps his opinions, would probably change in time…but not immediately.
"Looks that way." Sienna replied, "I just spoke to our Bullhead pilot via radio, he said that the Grimm that aren't dead are already fleeing back into the wilderness."
"We did it!" Another scuffed-up Huntress cheered, earning a rousing round of victorious cheers from all who had fought to protect the town.
"Hell yeah!" Kong bellowed loudly as he slapped a high-five with the scout from Borealis Base, the action causing them to stop a few seconds later when they both realized who they were celebrating with. Thankfully though, both White Fang trooper and the scout decided that race and such didn't matter when you had just worked together to save lives, which caused both men to smile.
"Looks like it's over for now. I'll go and report to General Ironwood." The police captain named Hanson stencilled on his helmet said in a relieved voice, who then looked at Sienna and asked, "What do I tell him about you lot?"
Sienna allowed a smile to grace her face and said, "When you get him on the radio, let me speak to him. I'm sure he'll be happy to know who helped to save the people of this town. Also, is there a place for our airships to land and distribute supplies?"
Hanson turned and pointed at a wide open space of grey concrete which was not far away from them, "The town square would be best suited since the town's airship terminal isn't in the best condition at the moment."
"I'll inform the pilots where to land," Sienna inclined her head in a gesture of gratitude.
Hanson nodded and walked away back towards the other police officers and scouts, raising his voice for someone to get him in touch with the police precinct. The Tiger Faunus then took out her communicator again and spoke into it, "All White Fang pilots, bring your airships down! Get ready to distribute the medical supplies and what food we can space, there are injured civilians down here who need it."
"Copy that. But are you sure about this, Madame Khan?" The pilot of the Elite Guard's airship asked hesitantly, "I mean…they're Atlesians."
"We've already given our support to Razor, and what better way to show how the White Fang has changed?" Sienna pointed out, "The past is past, so let's show them how we've changed for the better. Besides, I'm through holding grudges against humans. All airships, land in the town square's clearing."
A short while later, Sienna and Russel watched together as Morgan and the other White Fang members under her command helping to distribute the first aid and food supplies and carry the wounded to the makeshift shelters where the few medical personnel within the town can treat them. In the meantime, Kong and Selena each led squads of White Fang soldiers to patrol the surrounding areas with the local Huntsmen and Huntresses to make sure Borea was fully secure.
Sienna herself had pitched in as well by carrying some of the medical supplies to the temporary shelters, where she had received substantial praise for coming to the town's rescue. Sienna had said nothing, instead choosing to simply smile and humbly accept the town inhabitant's grateful thanks.
"We got here in time, commander." Russell mentioned to Sienna, "I'd hate to think of what would've happened had we not been here."
The Tiger Faunus merely nodded.
Russel raised an eyebrow and inquired, "You're not regretting this, are you?"
"Of course not," Sienna turned her head to look at the White Fang Elite Guard member, "Why do you ask?"
"I know your family has a…history with fighting humans, back in the Great Wars. Especially Atlesians. And here you are, saving the lives of human Atlesians. I know your stance on race relations has changed, but it's still odd to see you, the great Sienna Khan, helping humans who may possibly still resent us." The Polar Bear Faunus remarked softly.
Sienna gave his words careful thought and replied "I no longer see the world as black and white as I once did. Humans, Faunus…in the end, we're still people fighting for survival. We either stand together or we die apart, so what kind of person would I be if I allow simply stood by and let others suffer and die?"
"No better than Adam." Russell responded darkly.
"Exactly," Sienna voiced in agreement, "And that's the last person I want to be like. Yes, I've made mistakes; I was blinded by my hate for what humans have done to my family and other Faunus at first, and hence I have made some bad decisions which got some people hurt. I disagreed with Claudandus's efforts because of my desire for revenge and I let Adam to gain enough power to take over much of the White Fang, and he turned it into a terrorist group. The damage is already done, but I refuse to add to it anymore."
"Well said. At least you didn't go down the same route as Adam." Russell's eyes met hers, "And that makes you a better person than him."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence." Sienna answered back with a grateful nod.
"Commander Khan!" Kane's voice reached their ears, with Sienna and Russell both turning to see the two flying Faunus swooping down towards them and noticing that their faces look rather shaken.
"Report." Sienna inquired curtly, "What did you find?"
Kane breathed deeply to steady himself, propping his hands against his knees as Yuma looked away uncomfortably.
"It…it was a massacre, Commander Khan." Kane told her as quietly as he could, "We got there too late."
"What did you say?!" A nearby Atlas army scout with the tag of Buckner, who just so happened to be the one they had saved earlier, cried out. He sprinted over to them and roughly grabbed Kane by the shoulders, shouting, "What the hell happened back there?! My friends are stationed there!" He demanded to know.
Yuma tried to separate the shouting human scout until Kane managed to push him away and exclaimed, "Hell if I know man! The base was completely destroyed and there were no survivors! You're lucky to be here instead of there!"
Their distressed exchange caused everyone in the immediate area to stop and look at them, with the majority listening in both anticipation and cautious curiosity. Yuma even saw a few of the other scouts tightening the grip on their weapons, as though expecting violence to erupt at any moment between them and the White Fang troops, and noticed the Faunus soldiers doing the same gestures.
"You, calm down." Sienna glared at Buckner before returning to Kane, "What exactly attacked the base? Grimm? Or those robots?"
Kane shook his head, "I'm pretty sure it wasn't either."
"Indeed." Yuma agreed with Kane, "None of the bodies were even bitten or mauled and there were no tracks of the beasts. Nothing that would point to any Grimm being in the area. And there weren't any traces of the robots, not even a spare part. We think…"
He abruptly trailed off and the other Flying Faunus decided to finish for him, "We found a single set of tracks, and a chilling message. We…we think only a single unknown individual attacked the base and slaughtered everyone there."
"Just one person being killed everyone there? That's highly unlikely, no matter their abilities," Sienna said, thinking hard about what she had just been told, "Did you find a body?"
"None except those of the various Atlesian soldiers and base personnel." Yuma replied while holding near-frantic Buckner back.
"But…that's not possible!" Buckner called out with a distraught voice, "No way in hell one…man or thing could take on an entire base by itself and survive, it's just not possible!"
"Well, that depends on who that individual is…" Kane muttered before gesturing for a pair of police officers to guide Buckner away gently but firmly.
Sienna looked at him carefully and asked, "That message you mentioned, what did it say?"
Kane and Yuma exchanged worried glances before the Flying Fox Faunus said, "I'd rather not say it in front of everyone. It would definitely freak them out pretty badly."
He looked left and right before leaning in and whispered the message he saw to Sienna, whose eyes visibly widened in shock upon hearing it, "I swear on my life that it's the truth. I took some pictures of it with my scroll for evidence."
"Show me later." The Tiger Faunus whispered back to him, "We need to inform Razor."
A short while later, Sienna calmly walked towards Borea town's police station with a small group of White Fang soldiers in tow. When she reached its front gates, she spotted a young police officer was already there waiting for her. He greeted her politely and said, "Uh…Captain Hanson wants me to inform you that he has managed to establish a secure transmission with General Ironwood, who'd like to speak with you. Please follow me."
She nodded and gestured for her escort to wait outside, before walking into the police station's communication room. General Ironwood's image was shown on a moderate-sized screen which hung from the wall, apparently being transmitted from the Resolute.
"Sienna Khan? I almost didn't believe it." The Atlesian general had a faint hint of surprise on his face.
"Believe it, General Ironwood." The Tiger Faunus said with a small smirk that came off as very feline while crossing her arms, "I'd be surprised too, if my past self knew I was going about saving Atlesian towns. But I suppose my days of 'striking fear into the hearts of humans' are far behind me."
"So I take it you've joined up with Razor's reformed White Fang?" The Atlesian general asked carefully.
"Obviously." Sienna replied with a wry smile.
"Glad to hear it." Ironwood's stern expression relaxed a little, "And it's good to see you again."
The White Fang commander and Atlesian general had met through carefully meditated meetings in the past, during times when the former White Fang organization hadn't yet adopted its more radical methods. Claudandus knew Sienna was a better negotiator than Adam was and trusted her more than the Albain Brothers, so allowed her to partake in negotiations and meetings with certain government officials, which was part of the reason why she had been given control of the White Fang Chapter in Menagerie.
"I suppose it's nice to see you as well." Sienna mentioned, "At least you're still alive, under the dire circumstances Atlas is facing at the moment."
"Actually, I won't know how I'm feeling until this Kingdom-wide disaster is under control. There is something I would appreciate if you have any information; has there been any word from Borealis Base from your troops? We lost contact with them." Ironwood inquired.
"Yes, I sent my fliers up to check it out," Sienna then revealed to him, "Unfortunately, I'm afraid the base was attacked, and the soldiers there were completely and utterly wiped out to the last man."
"What?! They were all dead?" Ironwood's eyes immediately widened as his voice rose considerably, "Do you have any proof?"
"I'm afraid it's the truth. I'll pass the relevant information over to the highest military personnel in town later." Sienna spoke with another nod, "Also, there was an extremely disturbing message was found at the ruins, from something calling itself the Son of Salem. Do you have any idea who or what that is?"
The Atlesian General's expression turned grave as he absorbed the given information, and it was a while before he replied, "No, I don't. I'll need to confer with my associates who may have more knowledge pertaining to that sort of thing. However, I'd like to thank you for the information...and Commander Khan? If you could, can you and the White Fang troops wait until the reinforcements arrive before you leave?"
"Do I have your word that we won't be arrested?" Sienna asked, looking him directly in the eyes.
"You have my word that they will take no aggressive action whatsoever towards you." Ironwood answered in a cordial voice.
"Then we have an agreement, general. Besides, we won't leave these people undefended." She assured him.
"Thank you. I'm glad to know that the new White Fang is living up to their word," James's attention was abruptly stolen by something else as he held up a gloved hand, "Hold on Commander Khan, I'm getting an urgent transmission from…no, it can't be…"
The transmission ended before Sienna could ask what was wrong, but the look of shock on General Ironwood's face even as the screen blanked out made her wonder what could have him so worried.
Sherizawa watched as the Grimm Knights swarmed all over the prototype pulse spectral array cannon, disconnecting cables that led to various power generators and monitoring systems, before checking one final time that the on-site as well as remote self-destruct systems had both been rendered inert.
Once that was done two dozen of the more thickly-armored and durable Grimm Knight variants all worked together to lift the cannon off its security locks and transfer it onto a huge open-bed military transport truck commandeered by same dark-armored robots rumbled into the vault which would then carry it out of the weapons facility.
After making sure that his terrified hostages were still being carefully watched by the Grimm Knights, Sherizawa turned to look at the security cameras in the hallway. He knew Rhiel enough to know that he was probably sweating and looking very uncomfortable
"Open the main doors, Dr. Rhiel." He spoke calmly to the older man in the security booth.
Feeling the eyes of his other scientists and security personnel focusing on him, Rhiel swore under his breath as his hands hovered over the control panels for the facility's security system for a few seconds before finally bringing himself to open the huge blast doors that granted access into the main corridor leading outside. Through the security cameras, he could see the robotic minions escorting the hijacked transport truck to the slowly opening main gates of the secret weapons facility, the armor suit-clad form of Sherizawa walking beside two huge and heavily-armed Grimm Knights.
Salem's technology scientist opened a secure communication channel within his helmet with a small facial gesture and said, "This is Dr. Sherizawa to base, I need a portal opened at the coordinates I'm have sent over right away. Oh, she's back already? Then please convey to her that everything went according to plan; the prototype cannon has been secured for the Dreadnaught along with all accompanying data."
He then ended the call, telling himself, "Well, it's about time I left." Sherizawa glanced up at the glaring Dr. Rhiel from a nearby security video screen set into the wall near the thick blast doors, "Besides, it seems that I'm also not welcomed here."
"You have the cannon and its data, as promised." Rhiel almost spat the words, "Now will you keep your word and let us all live?"
"Most certainly. As I said, I'm a man of my word." Sherizawa reminded him coolly, "Just keep in mind that I am willing to do whatever is necessary to achieve my goals. Although how far I'm willing to go depends entirely on whatever circumstances I face."
"One day Toma, that reckless willingness will be the death of you." The Atlesian scientist warned as he shook his head in disappointment.
"Thank you for the warning, Albert. I'll be sure to remember it." Sherizawa's smirk grew into a sneer, "Let me assure you, you did the right thing."
"Did I, Toma? I gave in to your demands, and whoever you work for will probably use the cannon to cause the deaths of hundreds, if not thousands of innocent people." The older scientist lamented.
Sherizawa watched as the transport truck carrying the massive cannon pass through the main gates, where moments later a quartet of grey-coloured airships descended with thick chains dropping from their bellies for the Grimm Knights to hook onto the powerful weapon's external ports. With their engines roaring in effort, the unmarked airships lifted the cannon off into the air where a huge portal opened up not far from the entrance for them to pass through, followed by the Grimm Knights.
"Anyway, look on the bright side." He said while not looking at Rhiel, checking that the small box containing the valuable silver bullets was locked to his armor suit's waist,"At least you managed to save some lives. If it was anyone else sent by my master, I'm afraid there would be far more bloodshed."
"Spare me. Why are you doing this, Sherizawa?" The older scientist demanded to know.
Sherizawa did not answer at first as he strode out of Europa base towards a final airship which was landing to pick him up while being protected by his bodyguard of upgraded Grimm Knights. But he paused at the threshold of the main doors and glared at the small image of Rhiel being shown on the screen of a nearby security panel, "Because my new employers gave me boundless opportunities and resources for my research, with no meddling oversight committees, supervisors with ethical woes or military goons always looking over my shoulders and finding fault with whatever I do."
Before Rhiel could say anything, he added, "Thank you for the cannon, Rhiel, and enjoy explaining this to General Ironwood. Farewell"
Leaving the Atlesian scientist to mull over his actions, Sherizawa climbed on board the airship, joined by the Grimm Knights which activated their flight functions. Within moments they were in the air and through the portal, which closed up behind them a few seconds later and leaving the battered Europa Base behind.
Hazel looked back at the half-totalled Sentinel Base, watching the rampant fires burn and the battles with the Geist Grimm rage on. The muscular man had fulfilled his objectives by eliminating the commander and other officers in charge of the base, and since he wasn't one to indulge in needless carnage he had left the war zone behind once his tasks were complete.
As of the present he was standing off by the trees in the snowy hills overlooking the base, calmly observing the Geists go about their work of killing everyone by rampaging unchecked throughout the doomed military base in their unholy amalgamations.
He sighed and looked down at his hands, still marred by drying blood. He knelt down and dug into the snow, hoping the wash off the scarlet. But he knew it would never really wash off.
Just then, he felt a vibration coming from his scroll which told him of an incoming call. Taking the device out of his pocket from his durable and blast-resistant clothes, Hazel saw that it was Watts who was calling him from the name displayed on his scroll's screen.
"Dr. Watts. I assume it's time to disengage?" Hazel inquired.
"Indeed, Hazel. I trust your mission is accomplished?" Watts's voice asked calmly.
"Yes. Sentinel Base has been heavily damaged, I have eliminated the commanding officer as well as those who serve him, and the position of the base is highly compromised." Salem's physically strongest associate reported.
"Excellent. We've got a fix on your location, and her grace is opening a portal now. Summon your Grimm Knights to return with you, and leave the Geists. They can keep the military personnel busy for some time." Watts informed him.
"Understood." Hazel cut off the call and used his scroll to communicate with his entourage of Grimm Knights, overriding their battle protocols and giving the order to report back to his current location just as a portal opened up a short distance behind him. Once the remaining Grimm Knights returned, with some worse for wear, Hazel led them through the portal which shortly closed up behind them, leaving the pitifully few Atlesian soldiers of Sentinel Base to fight off the hulking Geist abominations until help arrived.
Camp Independence had become a war zone, with huge hordes of Grimm charging towards the concentrated of Atlesian soldiers, who ran to and fro behind their hastily-erected barricades, pouring as much fire as they could at the surging Grimm while cannons and turrets from battle tanks and other armored vehicles boomed near-endlessly behind them.
Squadrons of airships and Atlas Eagles shot through the air, firing their machine gun turrets and missile pods into the swarms of aerial Grimm and blasting dozens of them from the warring skies. Here and there an airship was brought down by a swarm of buzzing Lancers of a flock of several Nevermore, the Grimm tearing viciously into the military personnel on board and ripping out the doomed airships' screaming pilots from their cockpits with their snapping beaks and sharp claws.
The Atlesian army forces were holding back the endless hordes of Grimm for the moment, but with Norvick in charge of the attack, it was proving to be quite difficult. The only way to potentially break the Grimm incursion would be to eliminate Norvik, and that was what Chamberlain intended to do.
The Atlesian Colonel ducked under the slashing claws of an Ursa before he brought up his plasma repeater cannon and smashed it into the beast's open mouth and squeezed the trigger, vaporizing the Bear Grimm's head. He then quickly knelt down and grabbed the hand of a female soldier who had nearly been clawed apart by the Grimm beast had he not stepped in.
"Come on! On your feet, soldier! Norvik's still here!" Chamberlain shouted as he dragged her behind a barricade manned by a number of other Atlesian soldiers, "Regroup with the others! GO!" He then pushed her in the direction where other troopers were gathering for a push back against the Grimm.
Jackson looked around carefully for the monstrous form of Norvik amidst the clouds of thick smoke rising from flaming wrecks of armored vehicles, airships and Paladins, but the Grimm Chimera was managing to remain hidden in the chaos.
Thanks to the quick thinking of the essential military personnel making up Camp Independence's leadership, the base was holding strong throughout the intense assault. In addition, the soldiers stationed there had been adequately trained for this kind of attack, so they were holding their own better than others.
"Pour it on!" A female sergeant shouted as the rest of her squad unleashed a barrage of assault rifle and shotgun rounds that obliterated an entire group of Grimm.
A trio of heavily-armed Paladins marched forward behind the barricades, and unleashed their arm-mounted energy guns, rear-mounted missile launchers as well as their double-barrelled guns in a deafening storm of firepower, blasting an oncoming surge of Goliaths to oblivion.
"Forward! Keep up the pressure!" A lieutenant bellowed as he mowed down some Beowolves and Creeps with his assault rifle and motioned for the Atlesian soldiers behind him to advance, "Kill every last one of them!"
"That's the stuff! Blow them all to hell!" Chamberlain shouted as he ran by, looking for any other stragglers who were trapped or outnumbered by the Grimm.
He leapt out of the way as a Vampire attempted to divebomb him, coming to land on the snowy ground underneath a metallic awning. The Atlesian Colonel pushed himself up just in time to see the Bat Grimm approaching him, creeping towards him on its hind legs and clawed wings with its fangs bared and hissing nastily. Strings of saliva splattered the ground beneath it as the Vampire tensed itself to jump at him, and Jackson knew there was no way the nearest troopers can get to him in time since they were busy engaging any other Grimm they could see.
It leapt at him hungrily, only for Chamberlain to whip out his service pistol and fire several rounds into it. The final round punched into the Bat Grimm's face and killed it instantly, and its disintegrating corpse thudded to the ground a few inches from his boots.
The Colonel spat at the fading Grimm, reloaded his pistol's magazine and checked the energy level on his plasma repeater cannon to make sure it was still functional. Then he ran back into the maelstrom of chaos once more, trying to look for any soldiers in need of help in addition to looking for any signs of Norvik.
He heard both soon enough, the first being the screams of fighting soldiers being torn apart, as well as a distinct and familiar roaring.
"No…" Chamberlain muttered to himself as he dashed towards the source of the noises.
He came to an abrupt halt, nearly falling due to the ice on the pavement leading into a medium-sized garage used to store APC's and other patrol vehicles. A considerable number of dismembered body parts which leaked blood lay strewn around the garage's entrance, and Chamberlain could see the rear of Norvik's Grimm Chimera body sticking out of a smashed windshield of a patrol vehicle while he devoured the corpses of the soldiers within. Blood had splattered everywhere, splashed on the cracked side windows and leaking out of the ruined patrol vehicle, with horrible trails of death leading towards the awfully disturbing sight.
Knowing that while he was too late to save those unfortunate soldiers; Chamberlain knew he still had a chance to avenge them, and so he steadied himself while bringing up his plasma repeater cannon to aim directly at the Chimera Grimm which housed the insane mind of a serial killer. A quick glance down told him that his weapon was already at its highest power setting, and he immediately pulled the trigger which sent a number of azure plasma blasts slamming into Norvik's rear legs and tail which caused the Chimera Grimm Commander to shriek loudly in anger and pain.
The Atlesian Colonel then proceeded to unload as many plasma bolts as he could into Norvik's body without overheating his gun, shearing off bits and pieces of bone armor from the Grimm Commander's body and punching smoking holes in his back and limbs. Norvik struggled to claw himself out, tearing up the interior of the patrol vehicle and ripping off its roof before throwing the chunk of torn metal at Chamberlain who dodged to the side while scooping up a discarded assault rifle from the ground next to him.
Seeing the red light flashing dangerously on his plasma repeater cannon, Chamberlain hit the quick release straps on its power pack and the overheating weapon thudded to the ground beneath him. He continued to fire multiple rounds into the Chimera Grimm as it shielded itself with its thick arms which were covered with thick plates of bone armor.
The serial killer-possessed Grimm roared as it stretched to his full height while bleeding splatters of black blood from its plasma-inflicted wounds, howling and then glaring at the human.
"You dare attack me so brazenly?" Norvik bayed loudly.
"I do. Now shut up and die, you evil bastard." Chamberlain snapped and kicked the overheating power pack of his plasma repeater cannon towards Norvik before drawing his pistol and firing a few rounds at the visibly smoking power cell as it skidded to a stop underneath the Grimm Commander.
A deafening blast knocked the Colonel onto his back several meters away as a wave of hot blue plasma energy erupted into the smoky skies above when the overheating power pack detonated, demolishing the entire vehicle hangar in the process. He covered his face with his arms until the echoes of the plasma detonation faded away, before removing them to see the hangar reduced to a huge pile of flaming rubble and twisted metal wreckage.
"And stay dead this time." He murmured.
Suddenly the wounded form of Norvik erupted from the remains of the hangar with an angry roar, shaking chunks of rubble from his Chimera Grimm body before turning to glare at Chamberlain. The Colonel cursed and scrambled to his feet while shooting at Norvik again, the Grimm Commander dodging his shots and began to charge at his adversary, howling maniacally.
Chamberlain kept shooting and backing up as the serial killer Grimm barreled towards him. His weapon's magazine soon emptied, and Jackson knew it was time to run.
"Come on! Come and get me!" He shouted daringly and tossed a pair of grenades at Norvik before sprinting away. He heard the twin blasts of grenade detonation behind him, followed by more howls as the Grimm Commander chased after him. Chamberlain weaved between the buildings of Camp Independence, running past scenes of Atlesian soldiers fighting various kinds of Grimm and trying to lead the Grimm monster towards the bulk of the army base's forces, where they could easily blow this monster to hell where it belonged.
He quickly dropped down and rolled aside just as Norvik leapt towards him, making the Grimm abomination crash into the side of a tank repair bay building. Chamberlain forced himself up and dashed away as fast as he could, with the Grimm Chimera Commander got up howling and gave chase again.
Chamberlain hadn't run this fast in years, but since his life was counting on how much distance he could put between himself and Norvik, he ran as though hell itself was chasing after him. He skidded at a junction between the power stations and the airship hangars, sprinting past other daring soldiers fighting scattered groups of Grimm, all the while hearing horrified screams and loud crashing sounds as Norvik slaughtered and barged aside anyone and anything that stood in his way.
He could feel the hot breath coming from the Chimera Grimm's fanged mouth on his back, and put in even more speed in an attempt to outrun the abominable beast. Chamberlain eventually burst out back out into the heavily-fought over square once more, just as an APC screeched to a stop in front of him, moments from accidentally running him over
He scrambled out of the way as the turret swiveled and opened fire the moment Norvik emerged from the narrow gap between the hangar buildings howling like an insane demon.
The tank hammering shell after explosive shell at the Grimm abomination as it manages to avoid the blasts. Chamberlain watched grimly as Norvick charged towards the armored vehicle, smashing into it like a cannonball and violently overturning it. Chamberlain barely had time to get clear as the APC crashed down inches from where he landed.
He shook his head, cursed and looked up to see the Grimm Chimera tearing the screaming APC driver's head off in a shower of blood while the Atlesian soldier who previously manned the turret was dying in a growing pool of blood from a fatal abdomen wound as he futilely fired a pistol at Norvik's back. "Colonel…go! Run!" He gasped out as he pulled the pistol's trigger, but the trooper was only dealing superficial damage to the Grimm abomination.
Norvik slammed down his limb and crushed the entire upper body of his latest victim into bloody red paste, cutting off his final scream brusquely. Gritting his teeth against the intense pain coming from his legs, Chamberlain manages to force himself up and lope away from the gory scene. Suddenly, he heard the dreadful sound of Norvick stomping after him. With a brief glance, Chamberlain saw his frightening head right beside him with blood and bits of flesh and bone oozing from its huge fanged mouth, swinging right at him.
The Atlesian Colonel cried out in pain as Norvik bit down into his flank and bashed into him, sending him tumbling across the wreckage-littered area, knocking both his weapons out of reach. Groaning and spitting blood from his wounded jaw, Chamberlain tried to get up when he felt Norvik's clawed forelegs come down painfully on his torso, cracking a few ribs and causing him to cough up blood again as he screamed.
"You have been a most irritating pest, Chamberlain," Norvik snarled as he bared his fangs, "Time to die."
Struggling to pry himself from the monster's forelimbs, Chamberlain instead put on a brave face and shouted, "I'm not afraid of you, Norvik Vannicutt! I know what happened to you! Would your brother want this?!"
Norvick stopped. He was surprised by the mention of his full human name, since while many people know of his deeds and murderous acts, not many individuals actually knew his full human name or know about his brother. However, he was still rather annoyed with Chamberlain's attempt at bravery, trying to spite him even in the last few remaining seconds of the military officer's life.
"Is that so? Then I'll make an example out of you right here and now, to prove that everyone should fear me! I'll so relish killing you nice and slow, human!" Norvik seethed angrily as he kept his right foreleg on Chamberlain's wounded midsection and lowered his head towards the Atlesian Colonel's legs.
A loud scream of agony came from Jackson's mouth as Norvik's fanged jaw chomped down on his left leg, biting deep into the muscle and crunching into the broken limb's bone, splattering blood onto Chamberlain's uniform. The Colonel reached for his belt and yanked out a standard issue army knife, and roared his hatred as he stabbed it into Norvik's clawed paw, making the Chimera Grimm howl in pain before bringing its horned head forward and smashing into Chamberlain's hands, knocking the bloody knife away and breaking through his aura.
In that small space of a few seconds; the Atlesian military officer looked right into the furious red eyes of Norvik's Grimm body, and instantly knew there and then he was facing something truly evil.
Norvick tore off Chamberlain's left leg in a spray of blood, making him scream in excruciating pain.
Laughing wickedly, enjoying Chamberlain's screams, Norvick prepared to take another bite, when all of a sudden, he stopped and lifted up his head, as though listening to something only he could hear.
"Mistress? I…But I'm not yet done! He growled, apparently speaking to someone unseen. A voice in his head perhaps? Chamberlain used the chance to push himself away, his torn limb oozing blood all over the snowy ground underneath him as he saw yet more factual proof that Norvik was well and truly insane. "I…very well, Mistress. Open a portal near my location and I'll return as soon as I can…right after I finish off a bothersome nuisance!"
Norvik let out a booming roar, and Chamberlain could see multiple flying Grimm overhead suddenly flock in another direction while others simply stopped attacking and joined the withdrawing flocks. He turned his head a little to the right and spotted a huge swirling vortex coming into existence at the far end of the parade square, with the nearest Grimm making a beeline for it. Seeing a corpse of a headless soldier not far away, he made use of the crucial few seconds of Norvik's distraction by reaching out his hand and plucked a frag grenade from the dead trooper's belt.
The Grimm Chimera Commander growled at him and said, "Your comrades shall live for now…but tragically you won't!" The abominable being then leaned in, managing to smile with his misshapen mouth and added, "I shall make it quick, if you scream for me! Scream!"
Norvik dug a claw into Chamberlain's other badly injured leg, making the Atlesian Colonel groan in pain. But he stubbornly refused to scream, instead choosing to glare defiantly at the nest of sharp fangs that was inches away from his face despite nearly choking at the serial killer-possessed Grimm beast's rancid breath.
"Never, you son of a bitch." Chamberlain spat and held up the frag grenade clutched firmly in his fist, his thumb on the pin. At least he would take this monster with him.
But fate apparently had other plans for him.
"Colonel! Get down!" A shout pierced the air before suddenly a huge barrage of bullets and shells slammed heavily into Norvik's side, blowing him off the Atlesian Colonel and left him sprawling a few meters away in a smoking heap.
Chamberlain managed to look over to see the female soldier he had rescued some time ago leading a few squads of other troops with Corporal Piers among them, all armed to the teeth with heavy weapons and raining waves of intense firepower at the Grimm Chimera Commander. Behind them, a couple of upgraded Paladins marched forward and added their weapons fire to the mix, blowing huge craters around Norvik's beast form with their missile launchers and laser cannons.
"Kill it like the rest!" She shouted while pointing in Norvik's direction. Knowing that he couldn't withstand such heavy firepower even with his chimeric body, the serial killer let out an annoyed snarl before bounding away towards the open portal where other Grimm creatures were running towards, leaping inside before it fully closed off behind him, the bullets, shells, laser blasts and missiles all zipping by and hitting nothing but the few remaining Grimm beasts that couldn't reach the portal in time.
Chamberlain let out a groan of relief as he slumped back onto the ground, letting the grenade fall to the ground. He saw airships and Atlas Eagles soar through the smoke-choked skies above Camp Independence, eliminating any Griffon and Nevermore that didn't flee. He heard several pairs of booted feet running towards him.
"Area secured! No Grimm sighted!" He heard a corporal shout from nearby.
"We found the Colonel!" Another sergeant shouted into his communicator, "Oh gods…he's lost his leg and is bleeding badly! Control, we need immediate medivac at these coordinates!"
"Medic! I need a medic here! The Colonel needs a medic asap!" The female soldier called loudly when she saw Chamberlain's severe wounds and missing leg, "Where's the damn medic?! Someone help me stop the bleeding!" Another soldier quickly passed her a first aid kit, and she along with a few other troopers began to hurriedly administer medical attention to the wounded Atlesian military officer.
"Is…is it over?" Jackson gasped out as he felt someone binding his bleeding leg in order to stop the ceaseless bleeding.
"Colonel, the Grimm are retreating wholesale, and reinforcements from the capital have arrived," The female soldier told him, "Looks like we've made it. So just hold on sir. The medic is on the way. You're gonna be alright. Stay with me."
"Will do." Chamberlain said before laying his head into the cold snow, trying to ignore the agonizing pain. He vaguely heard the sound of an incoming airship, no doubt the medivac that was requested moments earlier, and felt someone stab a syringe worth of painkillers into his neck even as the face of a medic filled his slowly darkening vision.
The most infuriating thing about fighting someone with an illusion Semblance is that one must quickly figure out which one is the real opponent among the duplicates before they were attacked again. That was the current situation Anastasia was facing.
She found herself surrounded by copies of Neo in a deserted street, all of the heterochromia visages smirking at her while nonchalantly toying with their umbrellas while the Grimm Knights under her command flew overhead, spreading out and attacking Mantle City, were swiftly engaged by the newly-arrived reinforcements from the Atlas military, and some were already obliterated with well-aimed shots from the powerful gatling gun turrets of the huge airship that was at the head of a rapidly incoming squadron.
"You think you've won? All you have done is annoy me!" Anastasia spat as she struck at the nearest Neo copy, shattering it to pieces and then letting loose arcs of lightning energy from her chakrams to destroy a further three copies. Hearing footsteps running behind her, the dark blonde woman turned around to see another Neo about to stab her with her estoc, and so brought up both of her circular weapons to slice off Neo's arms, only for the illusion copy to shatter upon contact yet again.
Snarling angrily, the chakram-wielder leapt back from another Neo and stood on one leg, twirling herself around and sending arcs of yellow energy which shattered all of the remaining Neos. When they were all reduced to smoking bits and pieces, she landed back on her feet once more and looked around carefully, trying to spot the real Neo.
Just then a cheerful whistle caught her attention, and Anastasia turned around to see Neo standing atop a sturdy ledge belonging to one of the nearby buildings. The petite girl, seemingly unharmed, gently shook her head and wagged a finger at the furious dark blonde, a mocking smile gracing her face.
"Why you cheeky little…!" Anastasia bounded up and sent two more arcs of crackling energy spewing from her chakrams. Neo instantly leapt off the building's ledge which exploded in a cloud of debris and smoke, using her umbrella to slow her fall and avoid getting hit by more of the yellow arcs which caused the brick walls and windows she had just passed by to explode outwards and shower her with bits of wreckage.
Once she was almost directly over Anastasia, Neo snapped closed her umbrella and fell boot first into her adversary, kicking Salem's maiden candidate in the chest and knocking her onto her back with a pained cry.
Sprawled awkwardly on the road, Anastasia opened her eyes and jumped up once more with her chakrams at the ready, only to see Neo sitting on a bench casually and stifling a fake yawn. The fact that she was losing to the lacky of the late Roman Torchwick, who wasn't taking her seriously sent a surge of boiling hot anger through the dark blonde girl's heart.
"Slut!" Anastasia snarled and shot forward, clashing her weapons with Neo's estoc which appeared in her own hands in an eye-blink. They exchanged several quick blows with each other until Neo flipped over the bench, nimbly avoiding a nasty cut that sliced apart the bench entirely.
Anastasia then jumped over the wrecked bench and kicked Neo in the chest, knocking her back against a wall. The mute girl dropped downwards before one of the chakrams slammed into the wall, and aimed a kick at Anastasia's knees which staggered her. Salem's maiden candidate elbowed her across the face and then grabbed Neo by a fistful of her hair, hauled her upwards and delivered a punch hard enough to send Neo bouncing onto the street with her aura flickering.
Neo forced herself up and crouched with her legs spread apart and drawing her estoc's blade, only to be sent flying across the street and into a nearby abandoned car by an energy wave from Anastasia's chakrams, leaving a visible dent on the hood.
Neo groaned as she heard Anastasia approaching her. The dark blonde disciple of Salem smirked victoriously as she came forward, her fingers tightening on her weapons as she raised them, preparing to unleash the final blow.
The blow never came as the sound of an incoming call echoed through the street, and it seemed to come from the pockets of Anastasia's clothing.
"Ugh, what now?" She muttered as she took out her scroll and answered it, "Yes, wha- Mistress! Oh, I didn't expect you to call, I wa- Retreat? But…" Her eyes flicked back to Neo and saw that she was still there, or was she? Anastasia threw her right chakram into the assassin thief, and growled when she watched the decoy image Neo had left behind shattered into colorful bits.
She sighed and returned back to her call, "What? Oh, it's nothing Mistress, I thought I had a target in my sights, but the little brat eluded me. Very well, I'll send out the retreat signal and withdraw immediately."
Tapping a few buttons on her scroll to alert the remaining Grimm Knights within Mantle City to converge on her location, Anastasia made her way to the given portal point just as one such portal opened up to take her back to Salem's palace.
As she hooked her chakram weapons back onto her waist belt, she noticed something was missing; the necklace she had stolen earlier was gone! The traitorous mute must have lifted it from her when she was distracted!
"Argh!" Anastasia exclaimed and kicked a piece of debris which clattered away from her as a number of Grimm Knights began landing around her with their weapons pointed outwards, "You may have gotten away this time, thief! But sooner or later we will find you and you'll suffer for your betrayal!"
She then walked into the portal, followed by dozens of surviving Grimm Knights. Just as the last Grimm Knight stepped through the portal, it closed up neatly behind them and promptly vanished. Moments later, a couple of Atlesian airships arrived on the scene, descending onto the street and deploying squads of Atlesian soldiers with additional support in the form of Atlesian Knight-300s. They quickly moved off to engage the lingering Grimm creatures and Geist amalgamations which were still wreaking havoc through.
Hiding in a nearby alleyway, Neo wiped sweat from her face and checked that she didn't suffer any painful internal injuries. She had watched Anastasia's retreat and had heard Anastasia's threat, and knew that she would be able to avoid them easily since she knew a number of secret bolt holes and hidden hideouts she had managed to establish, and old places Roman had told her about. Nevertheless, she couldn't deny that she dreaded what would happen if she was captured by Salem's agents.
Perhaps it was time to lay low, or maybe seek out some old friends who could keep her safe.
But that could wait for now Neo checked her pockets, and held up the necklace she had lifted off of Anastasia and smiled. She recognized it and knew that the piece of exquisite jewellery belonged to a nice woman who worked at a restaurant that Neo liked to visit in Mantle City.
"Looks like I got another good deed to perform in the near future." She said quietly to herself, smiling and enjoying the fact that she was still free and alive.
The Grimm beasts were retreating from Nashville, as the fear and other negative feelings weren't as great as they had been earlier. The White Fang troops under Razor had worked together with the Atlesian Hunters, the surviving Atlas soldiers and police officers to drive the soulless creatures away from the town, and they were doing a fine job of it.
Razor grunted as he used his chainsaw-sword to eviscerate a screeching Griffon, while not far away Neon clobbered a Beowolf in the face with her nunchakus. Waves of energetic music blew away scores of Grimm, which were provided by Piper's sound-based Semblance as well as the musical weapons of Katrina and Iggy. Flynt added to the instrumental barrage by using his Semblance Killer Quartet to vastly amplify his attacks by sending out Dust-powered soundwaves that blasted the Grimm back or killed them outright.
Meanwhile, Darla and Cash were killing any Grimm they could find within reach, while Teresa was spinning around and sending various chunks of debris flying at the retreating monsters. Thayer, who was still piloting his airship, worked with the other airships from the Atlas army to eliminate the aerial Grimm and provide covering fire whenever necessary.
"They're running! All together now!" Razor shouted as he sliced a Beowolf in half, dodged a swipe from a Saber that nearly tore open his stomach, and decapitated a Hellhound which tried to dash away from him.
"You heard the man!" Flynt called out to the rest of his team as they, along with Piper, attacked the Grimm all at once with what was literally a killer song. Several Grimm of various species were flung howling into the air and hurled back several meters by the shockingly loud soundwaves, while others were simply killed outright by the sheer power of the combined musical weapons and Semblances.
Aided by the police officers, White Fang troops, local Hunters, Atlas soldiers and Atlesian Knights all shooting away at the Grimm, it wasn't long before any of the creatures within a five-hundred-yard distance of the village were all dead, and those further away turned and escaped back into the wintry surroundings.
"Aw yeah! We did it!" Neon cheered.
"Yeah, that's right! Run for it you freakin' cowards! You aren't so scary after all!" Iggy shouted at the rapidly vanishing Grimm in the distance, "Should we go after 'em?"
"Let's just enjoy our victory as is." Katrina advised with a roll of her eyes, seeing the police officers and Atlesian soldiers cheering along with the civilians who have taken up arms to defend their town.
Flynt walked over and high-fived Piper, who was quite enthusiastic over the victory as she used her music box machine-like weapon to play a victorious tune, one that matched up nicely with the cheers coming from the others. The leader of Team FNKI smiled and said, "Nice work, girl. You got a spectacular style, and you're welcome to play with us anytime."
The Mouse Faunus beamed, making a happy little melody as Razor came over.
"Hey man," Flynt began, "Thanks for everything, if you hadn't shown up when you did-"
"We'd be toast!" Neon finished for him.
"We're just doing our job." Razor said as he smiled at Piper, who grinned back. The Boar Faunus then grimaced as he looked out to the retreating Grimm and added, "Hopefully, the other towns and cities weren't hit worse than this…but I doubt it."
When Ziz and Steppenwolffe were also called off from their respective attacks the former was relieved, as she no longer had to fight or endanger any more lives, and so the flying Grimm Commander used her powers to reach out to the aerial Grimm and have them cease their attack on the Atlesian city of Azsod.
This caused flocks of hundreds of various flying Grimm to quickly retreat from the devastated city, although some were shot down by the weapons of Huntsmen, Huntresses, Atlesian soldiers and combat vehicles, while the regrouping squadrons of airships and Atlas eagles harried the withdrawing Grimm with their powerful guns and missiles until they were out of range.
Ziz herself joined up with her main Griffon pride and gathered them around herself, before leading them into the portal that had opened up high in the sky a safe distance from Azsod City, flying through it to return back to Salem's dark palace.
In the intervening time, Steppenwolffe ran on all fours like his animal half, sprinting with his Beowolves as they departed from a besieged North Point behind, leaving burning fires and the bodies of nearly half the town in their wake as they bounded towards their own portal.
A short distance from the portal Beowolf Grimm Commander stopped and turned to look back, and found himself grinning at the sight of the severely-battered town. He felt a sense of pride welling within him, feeling that justice had been served for those Faunus who had been persecuted and harassed.
He looked up when he heard the sound of airship engines, and saw reinforcements from the Atlas military forces approaching the North Point in the distance. Knowing that they were far too late to be of any threat to him, Steppenwolffe took his leave by dashing into the portal with his pack of Beowolves.
And as for the Nuckelavee…
The horrifying Elder Grimm slowly walked away from the burning remains of the village once known as Solitarius.
The stench of death hung in the air. Its terrible smell was everywhere. There were no survivors.
None had been spared; human or Faunus. Young or old. Man or woman. It didn't matter to the Nuckelavee, as long as it got to feast on fear and flesh. And it had feasted well.
With copious amounts of blood covering its hands and mouth, the Nuckelavee threw back its head and let out a soul-piercing shriek, startling some of the birds who hung over the area, many of which were performing their duties by guiding the souls of those who had lost their lives into the afterlife.
A portal opened up in front of the Elder Grimm, catching its attention. It knew that when the Mistress of Grimm called it, it was to answer without delay.
The Nuckelavee swallowed its last mouthful of bloody human meat and then trotted towards the swirling vortex, leaving behind bloody hoofprints in the snow.
Damien Ante was in a foul mood, and he had more than enough reasons to be.
He felt even worse than he did after the humiliating defeat he and the rest of Salem's agents had suffered against Ruby and her friends back in Haven, due to the fact he had to fix the mess that was on the verge of spiralling out of control when the Vacuo Rangers, Desert Guards and police have begun to hit back strongly against the many Grimm hordes and the variety of different gangs that were wreaking havoc across the capital.
While the majority of the Red Fang managed to withdraw from different locations around the city by slipping into the myriad of alleyways and underground tunnels, the same could not be said of the various Black Vipers cells. When word had somehow gotten out that their leader Madame Viper had been arrested, a mad scramble to grab power soon erupted between the lieutenants in charge of different cells, with some even spilling into open gunfights with each other when arguments turned violent. The mini-civil war between the gangs inevitably resulted in quite a lot of those gang cells being easily and openly taken down by squads of Vacuo Rangers backed up by the cops.
"We just pulled out from District 26, now taking a detour to secondary rendezvous point-"
"-cut off from our rendezvous point! The Rangers have us pinned down and are closing in!"
"-entire cell has been nearly wiped out! There's only a few of us left!"
"The Spider Droid has been destroyed by the Desert Guards! We can't hold Ramses Station-"
"Are those Atlesian Knights? What're they doing here?! Wait, we're surrendering-"
"-and almost all of the Grimm Knights are down! We just saw Titan tanks moving down the street-"
The dreadlocked crime lord stood in the communication room of his headquarters, making his announcement to all the gangs under his power in Vacuo City over the secret frequency he had instructed their communication personnel to use, all the while trying to keep his temper in check.
All throughout the hallways of the Dust supply facility, his underlings who had returned were hurriedly packing up crates containing various equipment, vials of Dust, and usable weapons and making final checks to ensure nothing was left behind. At the far side of the facility, more gang members drove forklifts to load the storage crates onto a convoy of ten heavy transport trucks under the watchful gaze of a number of rifle-wielding Red Fang troopers while waiting for the order to move into the secret tunnel a few blocks away. From there they would make their way into the capital's extensive underground network where a portal generated by Salem would open for them to make their escape.
"Listen up, all of you! You've had enough fun for now, so make yourselves scarce! That's an order! Anyone who doesn't retreat now is as good as dead! Disappear or return to your bases and hideouts, go underground and lay low until the coast is clear like I ordered! So unless you wanna end up dead or incarcerated, I suggest you fuck-wits do what I say!" Ante spoke angrily to the surviving gang members who presumably could still hear him through the communication frequency they had installed in their scrolls.
After hearing the replies of acknowledgement coming from the gang members who had received his message, Ante closed the communication channel and banged a frustrated fist against the communication system's control panel as he mumbled, "Fucking hell!"
"Think they'll listen to you?" The voice of Emerald asked from the open doorway behind him, leaning casually into it. She also noticed the dark-skinned man absentmindedly rubbing the base of his skull, fretting over the explosive device that had been planted there to keep him in line.
"It's either that or the options I just told' em. Besides, this retreat plan was already part of my orders; once the battle tips out of our favour, get gone." Ante griped as he produced his scroll and checked through its glowing screen a little nervously, "Dunno what I'm supposed to do now except to cut my losses and pack up, since I've been run outta two cities."
"Maybe you should really consider another line of work." Emerald deadpanned softly, to which the crime lord responded by sticking his middle finger right at her with a snarl.
"Don't push your luck, girl! I'm in a bad mood." Ante seethed, angered by the loss of Fireball. "In case you've forgotten, I have got a fuckin' bomb stuck in the back of my head that will go off the moment Salem isn't feeling happy with me, so I'm kinda stressed out!"
Cinder's disciple nodded before saying, "I wouldn't worry, you still have a hold over these gangs, right?"
Damien scowled and nodded, "The heads of those gangs know full well the consequences of crossing me. I;ve especially made sure they remember that when I sent my Enforcers to settle a particularly…nasty dispute the last time I was here."
"Then don't worry too much. I don't know what will happen next, but at least we survived." Emerald remarked.
"Most of us, anyway." Ante muttered.
Emerald cringed slightly before she recovered and said, "Yeah, sorry about what happened to Fireball. Were you friends?"
"Not really," The crime lord answered, "But he was a loyal guy. A little unhinged but a good worker, and a good fighter. Fuck, this better be worth it in the end."
"We can only hope. I'll leave you to sort out your business then." Emerald said before leaving to keep an eye out for Tyrian, Mercury, Ilia and the others. A moment after she left, the familiar form of Executioner hurried in and presented an electronic tablet to Ante.
"Coast looks clear, boss." The masked man reported as Ante read the information displayed on the tablet's screen, "I've been monitoring the channels used by the Rangers and the like since we got here. Doesn't look like anyone knows we're here."
"Yet." Ante muttered to himself and added, "Hope it stays that way until we can get out of town," He gestured to the communication system behind him which was still relaying his message to the groups of criminals scattered around the capital, "And idiots not heading here better know a good place to hide if they know what's good for them!"
"And what if the Vacuo Rangers manage to corner them before they can reach safety?" Executioner asked.
"Then they're on their own!" Ante snapped.
Emerald returned to the upper levels of the facility where she saw Merrick and Trooper on lookout duty, keeping an open eye for anything that approached the seemingly derelict building, friendly or otherwise. As she neared them she noticed that the latter Enforcer had a pair of binoculars pressed against his face and carefully scrutinizing whatever was happening far away in the distance, and his assault rifle was hanging by its strap behind his right shoulder.
The dark-skinned thief looked out towards the sprawling city, watching multiple plumes of smoke rising up and slowly merging together, hanging over the city like an army of ghosts. No doubt the Vacuo Rangers, Desert Guards and the newly arrived Atlesian military forces were already mopping up the remaining Grimm and arresting any lingering gang members who were too either too bloodthirsty or foolish to flee. She stopped beside Trooper and looked at him, asking in a calm voice, "Are you doing okay?"
Pulling the battered but functional binoculars from his face, the ex-Atlesian soldier glanced at her and responded, "I'd say I'm feeling better than how Thorn and Anansi are right now." Emerald also noticed Trooper's fingers tightening slightly on Fireball's flare gun, which was holstered at his belt even as he spoke.
Cinder's disciple nodded, as Salem's Maiden Candidate and the Grimm Commander were currently in what passed as a medical bay for Ante's Vacuo headquarters, having their stumps and wounds treated and bound by a Red Fang agent who had medical training. Anansi had stomped off shortly to sulk somewhere else once his own wounds had been hastily patched up, while a considerable amount of analgesics had to be administered to Thorn in order to keep her acquiescent while emergency medical attention was being rendered to her in order to prevent the teleporter from bleeding to death.
Occasionally, they could still hear Thorn's shrill cries of pain echoing from downstairs which made more than a few gang members and Red Fang members wince as they hurried back and forth throughout the building, attending to whatever tasks they have been given.
"Salem's definitely not going to be happy with this." Emerald remarked as she pressed her forehead against the window, witnessing a Nevermore getting shot out of the sky in the distance. The avian Grimm dropped rapidly with an echoing screech before vaporizing into nothingness in mid-air.
"Tell me about it," Trooper noted with a morose tone, "Not one but two Maidens managed to keep their powers, we failed to steal the Aura Crystal, Shade Academy and Vacuo City are still standing, the Elder Deathworm was killed…who knows what else had gone wrong."
"I pity whoever has to explain this fiasco to Salem." Merrick spoke up with his eyes still looking through the scope of his sniper rifle which was propped the adjacent window sill and aimed at the deserted road outside, "Gods, isn't Damien the one who came up with the attack plan?"
"No, Tyrian had a hand in it as well." Trooper mentioned and Emerald nodded, "They both came up with the plan, so I guess they both have to accept the blame for its failure."
Emerald sighed before saying, "Hopefully this won't have been a total loss since there's the attack on Atlas."
"Heads up!" Merrick suddenly announced to them, "We've got company!"
"Who's in the truck?" Emerald asked before Trooper passed his binoculars over to her. He stood up and joined the marksman while behind him Emerald used the binoculars to look out the dirty windows to see a slightly battered transport truck approaching the abandoned facility, "Friend or foe?"
"Friendly by the looks of it...well, that is if you can call that psycho Callows friendly." Merrick mentioned a second later as Emerald focused the binoculars and saw the vehicle's occupants for herself. She then passed the binoculars back to Trooper and ran downstairs quickly to greet the new arrivals alongside a gathering group of Red Fang agents and gang members.
Little Steve and Lao pushed open the heavy double doors for Emerald as the transport truck pulled up, with Ilia in the driver's seat and an injured-looking Hui slumped in the seat beside her. The back opened up to reveal Tyrian, Mercury and a dozen other Red Fang members who managed to escape from the battle, pouring out of the crowded back of the truck.
Mercury jumped down and grunted as he leaned against the side of the faintly smoking vehicle as Emerald approached him and asked, "Merc, are you all right?"
"Aside from the fact that I got my butt kicked by a girl with more tits than brains, I'm just peachy, Em!" He responded sarcastically while holding his wounded side, "Argh, I think she broke a rib or two!"
"At least you walked away mostly uninjured. Don't worry, you'll get another chance to settle the score." She assured him before turning to look at Ilia, noticing that the somewhat gloomy look of apprehension in the Fusion Faunus' grey eyes, "And what about you? Ilia, are you all right?"
Snapping out of her stupor, Ilia looked to the mocha-skinned thief and answered, "Yeah, I'm okay. Just some cuts and bruises. Could be worse, all things considered."
"So did you manage to find and fight Belladonna?" Emerald asked.
The Red Fang infiltration agent nodded slowly while rubbing her arm, her eyes looking to the dirty ground, "Yeah, yeah I did. But she got away."
An awkward silence followed as a scowling Tyrian dashed past them in a stumbling sprint to look for Ante while Little Steve and Lao helped some of the injured Red Fang members inside. Although they were clearly reluctant to accept aid from humans, they decided that beggars can't be choosers. Ilia looked back to the smoking, war torn city in the distance and exhaled to herself, while Cinder's disciples glanced at each other with Mercury eventually shrugging his shoulders.
"Don't look at me. She lured Belladonna into the school to fight her, and I was outside fighting that bimbo the whole time." He mentioned. Emerald turned her attention back to Ilia, curious as to what happened between her and Blake Belladonna.
"And what happened?" Emerald prodded further, getting Fusion Faunus's attention.
"Oh, uh…well, I fought Blake. And she was even better than I remember her being from her White Fang days. Even after all the training and…enhancements I received, I wasn't able to beat her." Ilia replied, her skin changing to a dour grey for a brief moment before shortly returning back to normal, "And it took almost all of my infiltration skills to make my escape when she was distracted by the Sphinx."
She looked downward, only for Emerald to reach forward and place a reassuring hand on her shoulder, "Don't let that get you down. I bet you still gave her a fight she won't forget."
Ilia looked up and managed an awkward smile, "Yeah, I'm pretty sure I did."
"Well, it seems to me that she went pretty easy on you, anyway." Mercury observed with a sneer, "You don't look like she beat you half as much as Xiao Long did me."
Ilia's skin turned orange for a second before she replied with, "Maybe she was too surprised to fight me with everything she had? But at least I made it out of the fight alive, so I'm grateful for that." She lifted her face to look at Emerald, "How did everything go?"
"Yeah, tell me some good news." Mercury concurred.
Emerald sighed and shook her head, "Prepare to be disappointed."
They walked to another corner of the facility's busy ground floor area where the thief carefully filled them in on the various outcomes, which only made their faces fall even further into disappointment and shock, especially when they learned about what happened to Thorn and Anansi.
Meanwhile, Tyrian stomped into Ante's communications room after booting open the door which was nearly sent flying from its creaking hinges which made the grumbling crime lord look up from the tablet's screen and Executioner to turn, the latter's gauntleted hands instinctively falling to the shafts of his axes.
"About time you got back!" Ante almost shouted, "What the hell kept you?! Enjoying the sights?"
Tyrian snarled at him, "Traffic was murder, and we were trying to keep our escape discreet!" Salem's assassin was twitching with barely suppressed anger, and Ante raised an eyebrow when he looked Tyrian over and noticed the severed limb that was his tail. Droplets of some murky purple fluid oozed from the flicking stump, splattering onto the messy floor of the communication room.
"And what the fuck happened to you?" Ante asked, tossing the tablet back to Executioner who caught it and eyed Tyrian carefully, "Just tell me in the least amount of words possible, because I have a damn headache!"
Tyrian told him what had happened at Shade Academy before finishing up with, "And when the Sphinx arrived we got the hell out of there, letting it keep Ozpin's puppets off our backs while we stole a transport truck and made our way straight here."
Ante's hand met his face as he groaned visibly, "You stupi- did you even think of using the tunnels to get to somewhere less chaotic and then back here? Someone could've just followed you! The Rangers could be knocking right at our doors any minute now!"
"Relax!" Tyrian hissed at him, "We made sure that no one was following us. With all the Grimm attacks and the extra chaos our escape went unnoticed."
"As far as you know! Oh, this is just fan-fucking-tastic! I lose another one of my boys, we lost the Aura Crystal again, Thorn fails to get the Maidens powers and loses her arm and eye, Anansi discovers the Spring Maiden but she kicks his spider-ass…" Ante ranted before Tyrian interrupted him with a wide-eyed look.
"So, you know about the Spring Maiden as well?"
"Did I stutter, freak?" Ante shouted as he jabbed a finger at Tyrian, "She and those Team SSSN assholes worked together and took Anansi a peg or two."
Tyrian snarled, but then his face abruptly switched to a mask of fear and defeat upon realizing that due to his failure to accomplish any of the tasks she had given him, Salem would definitely be unhappy, and he also knew what the dreadful consequences would happen to those who face her wrath.
"Oh, the Goddess will be most unsatisfied! She won't be pleased in the slightest!" He spluttered as he paced nervously around the room, repeatedly sheathing and unsheathing the blades of his pincer-like gauntlets. Maybe he could use the severe wounding of Qrow Branwen to appease her? That seemed like a good idea... "She will punish all of us for sure!"
"No shit." Ante sighed as he walked over to his chair in front of a table cluttered with maps, illicit documents and other scraps of paper, seating himself heavily in it, "Well, at least our attack managed to trash half the city. That oughta strike some fear into the people of Vacuo, and the rest of the world too."
Tyrian conceded the point with a nod and said, "You're right. At least we showed those brats and their so-called 'guardians' that we still have the ways and means to attack the Kingdoms. That will probably keep them on edge for the time being," He paused for a moment, his severed tail's twitches also slowing a little, "And hopefully Watts succeeded in his task, so at least we still manage to get something out of this…"
The gold-eyed assassin turned his head to look directly at Ante as he stopped pacing, "Has there been any word from my Goddess or anyone at the palace?"
Ante shook his head sullenly, one hand rubbing nervously at his forehead and glancing at his scroll's screen, "No. Do you think I'd be still sitting here alive and well if I did, Callows?!"
Tyrian was about to growl a reply, only to be interrupted when a message popped up on the main computer screen and the communications system within the room announced robotically from its voice unit, "Incoming transmission from Dr. Yiro West." The nearby computer screen flashed and displayed the next few words, "Accept/Reject?"
Ante and Tyrian looked at each other. What were the odds?
Ante stood up and walked over to the appropriate screen, cleared his throat and tapped the control panel beneath it to answer the transmission. A second later West's face appeared on the bulky old monitor before him and Tyrian, with a relatively calm look on his face.
"Ante, Callows; just the men I wanted to see." He spoke in an evenly-toned voice, "Since you're both alive and at the base, I assume you've returned from the battle?"
"You got it, Doc," Ante answered, "The battle's dying down as we speak and I've already given the word for those gangs working for us to scatter and lay low until we say otherwise. Almost everyone made it back alive, but we lost a lot of thugs and quite a few Red Fang members..."
"You said almost everyone." West asked again, "I take it something went wrong and someone we know didn't survive?"
Tyrian shot a look at Ante who shook his head and answered, "I lost another Enforcer. I don't know the specifics…but Fireball apparently went and got himself completely incinerated."
"I'm sorry to hear that." West replied, his voice made it hard to tell if his sympathy was genuine, "However, there are more pressing matters that require our attention. What are the statuses of your objectives?"
Ante was about to speak but Tyrian spoke up before him, "First of all, it seems that our spy wasn't a hundred percent honest with us. He neglected to mention in his report to us that Team Beacon would be there, along with the Aura Crystal."
"What?!" West's eyes widened in surprise.
"With so many unforeseen factors coming into our plans, we had to improvise. But…that didn't exactly pan out," Tyrian confessed as he brought the stump of his tail around, showing the doctor the missing stinger.
"Oh no…" West spoke uneasily, "…please tell me that the powers of the Summer Maiden now reside within Thorn."
Tyrian rubbed his hands together restlessly and said, "Um, no. I think it'd be best if we explained it to Mistress Salem in person."
Ante looked at the scorpion-hybrid assassin with a shocked and disgusted expression while West spoke again, "Very well, Tyrian. From what I'm seeing from the screens showing what's happening in Vacuo City, it seems that the capital was dealt a terrible blow which should take a considerable amount of time for them to recover, just like Vale."
"Is there any good news from the attacks on Atlas?" Ante asked cautiously, keeping his tone as neutral as possible.
"Mistress Salem had just returned, as have Cinder, Watts, Hazel, Anastasia and the Grimm Commanders." West answered smoothly.
"Tell me Watts was successful in his assignment." Tyrian demanded as he leaned towards the screen.
"Fortunately, yes," West replied as he adjusted his glasses, "I believe you and the rest of your group will know more when you arrive. Finish wrapping up whatever business you have and notify me through the agreed communications channel. Then I'll inform Mistress Salem that you need a portal opened at the arranged extraction location."
"We'll be there in fifteen to twenty minutes. Get ready to open the portal." Ante said before his finger stabbed down on the key to end the transmission, causing the image with West's face to abruptly vanish from the monitor. The crime lord then turned to look at the assassin as though he was a complete idiot, his hands clenching and unclenching as though he wanted to strangle Tyrian on the spot.
"What are you, fuckin' stupid?! There's no telling what Salem will do to us when she finds out how badly we screwed up!" He was shouting at Tyrian's face, spittle flying from his lips, "Do you have a death wish or something?"
"Don't take that tone with me, Ante!" Tyrian roared back, "If you haven't led those students, the Summer Maiden and that knight on a merry chase, we would have defeated them together and gotten what we both wanted out of this!"
"And what do you think I've been doing, dumbass?!" Ante jabbed a finger on the assassin's chest, "In case you haven't noticed, the Summer Maiden had several of those Knights to protect her, and that's not counting the Vacuo Rangers and Desert Guards, plus the army of Huntsmen and Huntresses in Shade! They have the numbers advantage there, and so I purposefully lured her out from her guardians so that Thorn had a better chance against her, and also so my Enforcers and I could keep the Crystal away from those kids!"
"Oh spare me the excuses, Ante!" Tyrian scoffed dismissively while waving a clawed hand, "If you have bothered to devise some backup plans, maybe we could have avoided this!"
"Don't you dare pin all the blame on me, you crazy bastard!" Ante's temper flared as he leapt up and tried to grab Tyrian by his white sleeveless jacket, only for the deranged assassin to snarl angrily and hit him with a neck chop. The crime lord reeled back, coughing and stumbling with one hand to his bruised throat and drawing a pistol from his belt with his other hand. Tyrian then exploited his temporary weakness by knocking his pistol away and grabbing Ante by the neck, slamming him onto the surface of the nearby table and scattering the maps and documents that hadn't been packed up.
"Do. Not. Test. Me. Ante!" He growled as his gold eyes widened in maniacal anger, "I'm in one hell of a bad mood right now, and I'm just aching to take it out on anyone I don't like!"
"That makes two of us..." choked Damien as he struggled to pry Tyrian's gauntleted hands off his neck, "You son of a bitch…"
"Come to think of it, why do we need still need you? You're more or less already a dead man with that bomb in your neck," Tyrian crowed in a psychotic-sounding voice as he tightened his grip, "There are many other crime lords around Remnant just waiting to fill your shoes, and Mistress Salem can always find another one to replace you anytime she pleases. It would be a simple matter to make it look as though you attacked me and I had to defend myself."
"Don't…" Ante's face was turning a little purple as he gasped for breath, his legs constantly kicking above the ground, "I have…"
"I changed my mind," Tyrian let a mad smile appear on his features, and with a flick of his wrist he allowed wrist blades of his gauntlets to fold forward and raised it upwards, "I really, really want to see your brains splattered across these walls now!"
Suddenly, there was the cocking of a run from very close by. "Release him," Trooper's cold voice came from behind Tyrian as the assassin suddenly felt the metallic barrel of a gun pressed firmly against the back of his head, "Now."
Tyrian growled but his grip was still firm on Ante's slowly bleeding neck where the blades cut into his skin, "And if I don't, toy soldier?"
"Then we shoot you enough to reduce you to a giant blood smear." Tom Tom snarled as he pointed his shotgun-bat weapon directly at Tyrian's face when the hybrid assassin turned a little while Trooper kept his assault rifle squarely aimed at disturbing individual's head. Behind them Executioner had drawn both of his axes and Lao aiming his blade at Tyrian's neck.
"Final warning, Callows!" Trooper almost shouted as his finger tightened on his rifle's trigger upon hearing a painful wheezing sound escaping Ante's mouth, "Let him go. Now!"
Tyrian glared hatefully at them for a moment before releasing Ante, who fell off the table amidst the clutter, panting painfully as he desperatley sucked in air as he felt his windpipe become unobstructed again.
Lao quickly moved over to help up the groaning Ante with Executioner standing beside him, his axes at the ready. Trooper jabbed with his assault rifle towards the open doorway and said to Tyrian, "Leave, now!"
"You heard him!" Lao added as he brought up his sword again, "Get out."
"I take orders from no one else but my Mistress!" He sneered at them furiously, "And no one threatens me and gets away with it!"
"We don't care, Callows." Trooper pointed with his finger at the doorway behind Tyrian, "I won't warn you again. Leave."
The deranged assassin stared daggers at the Enforcer as he twitched as though about to explode into a rampage at any second, and Trooper instinctively felt his other gauntlet drop to the collapsed Atlesian-made sword strapped to his lower back, ready to draw it should Tyrian become unruly. Despite having the skills of an Atlas Specialist, Trooper wasn't sure if he could last very long against the assassin, but he would still fight if necessary.
"We're nowhere close to done, Ante!" Tyrian shouted as he turned and stumbled out of the communications room, "We'll settle this another time! You can count on it!"
"Right back at ya." Ante gasped as he struggled to breathe, rubbing his neck repeatedly.
Tyrian shot a heated glare at him while making an 'I'll be watching you' signal with his hands while Ante returned with his usual middle finger gesture as the sadistic assassin stomped off elsewhere to brood.
"Executioner, watch the door." The axe-wielding Enforcer grunted in reply, and Trooper turned to see Lao helping Ante over to an undamaged chair, "You okay, boss?"
"I'm fine!" The crime lord groaned as Lao applied some medical cream and fished out some bandages from his belt pouches, "That psycho better watch his back if he knows what's good for him!"
"I'm trying, Boss. Just hold still." Lao said as he pressed medical gauze over the torn skin which was still leaking a little blood from Tyrian's blades.
"Orders?" Trooper inquired.
Ante grumbled, "Just get everyone ready to move when the time comes, because I've told the gang members to make this place…ow…as derelict as possible when we're gone! I want to be far away from here before the Rangers come around!"
"Understood, I'll go tell the rest of them to move faster." Trooper turned to leave, but stopped when he heard his gang leader call his name again.
"Trooper?"
"Yes, Ante?" He turned back to look at the dreadlocked crime lord.
"Thanks for the timely save." Ante managed to gasp out once Lao withdrew and he pressed a hand against his neck again.
"Anytime, Boss." The ex-soldier replied, before making his way past Executioner and back to his work.
About fifteen or so minutes of rushed but careful packing and emptying of the Dust supply facility, everything that could be tied back to Damien Ante, the Red Fang or any other of Salem's agents were either removed or destroyed. The heavy transport trucks were filled to full capacity with as much Dust and weapon crates as possible, and would be driven by trusted gang members through the facility's back gate which led to a series of deserted roads where they would be transferred to other hidden sites still under Ante's control.
As for the less important but nonetheless valuable items that couldn't be moved in time, Ante had ordered them moved to a secret sub-basement that had been discovered underneath the abandoned facility when he had chosen it for a base nearly a year ago. And its entrance was so cleverly hidden that the Ranger patrols had yet to discover it despite their occasional patrols in this uninhabited part of the capital's factory district.
Tyrian, Ante and his surviving Enforcers, Emerald, Mercury, Ilia, Thorn, Anansi, Hui and the remaining thirty-six members of his Red Fang cell, and a few dozen Grimm Knights, stood in the main floor of the storage facility where a swirling vortex hung at the far side of the massive room, the huge reinforced steel doors closing behind the recently-departed heavy transport tricks with their valuable cargo and accompanying passengers.
Emerald was the first to go, helping Mercury through the portal gateway to Salem's palace.
"Remember, you all have your individual exit strategies." Ante told his other underlings who were making a final sweep to make sure everything was secure, "Get to your hideouts and keep outta sight until everything blows over. If anyone comes snooping around this district just don't let them see any of you. And keep all the goods and weapons in the sub-basement and the tunnels, got it?"
"Yes sir, Mr. Ante." A dark-skinned henchman who was one of his more trustworthy lieutenants said as Anansi and Thorn both went through the portal. Ante noticed that he was trying not to look at the portal had just swallowed up the Spider Grimm Commander and the maiden candidate, and after exchanging a few final words, the henchman quickly took his leave.
Ante sighed as he looked to his Enforcers before saying, "Well, as Fireball would say; 'It's better to burn out than to fade away.'"
He raised his fist in respect for the dead, a gesture which was instantly mirrored by the other Enforcers in silence, with Trooper being the first among them to do so.
"May he find peace, wherever he is now." Trooper briefly eulogized as Ilia and the uninjured Red Fang members helped a limping Hui through the portal, while the rest followed behind them quietly.
Tyrian and Ante glared at each other for a long moment, before Ante gestured at the portal and grimaced, "Well, it's now or never. You first."
The stinger-less Scorpion Fusion Faunus growled but he then leapt through the portal, the Grimm Knights shortly flying in after him, with Ante and his men following him close behind.
They all came out into the lavish throne room of Salem's palace where everyone else; Cinder, Watts, Hazel, the Son of Salem, Anastasia, Mavis, Sheer Kaa, Ziz, Steppenwolffe, Sherizawa, West, were all waiting for them in the dark but extravagant throne room, statues of odd, Grimm beasts lining the walls.
Salem was nowhere to be seen, but there was something off, however; the castle looked much the same but it felt colder than before. Much, much colder.
"It's about bloody time!" Anastasia snapped as the new arrivals came forward, the portal closing behind them.
"What happened to you guys?" Ziz asked as she took in the injuries Anansi and Thorn had sustained.
"You'll find out soon enough." Emerald told her as she looked to Cinder, who came forward.
"Are you all right?" The Fall Maiden inquired.
"I'm a little banged up, but nothing some down time won't cure." Mercury responded.
"And I'm fine, all things considered." Emerald said as she looked Cinder carefully in the eyes, which was actually a look that told Cinder they had to talk about something at a later time. Cinder nodded, understanding the unspoken message before Ilia spoke up.
"So where's Mistress Salem?" She asked, a question in almost everyone's mind.
"The Mistress of Grimm had a situation to tend to outside. Elder Grimm like the Nuckelavee and the Tyrant don't exactly get along." Watts elaborated.
"Wait, the Nuckelavee is here?!" Mercury asked, surprised, remembering the horrifying stories his father would torment him with.
"Indeed. Mistress pulled out all the stops for this operation," The mustached man remarked as he surveyed the infiltration group from Vacuo City, "Which, for those involved in the Vacuo City attack, seems to have hit some bumps along the way."
"Excuse me," Anastasia intervened suddenly, "But can someone explain to me who has the Winter Maiden powers as of now? I wasn't there, neither was Thorn, and Cinder can't hold both Winter and Fall powers so who exactly is the new Winter Maiden?"
"Why, isn't it obvious?" Came a familiar, cool voice from above.
Everyone looked up to see Salem standing on one of the balconies overlooking the throne room.
There was something different about the Grimm Queen, the coldness to her person had seemingly intensified considerably and her skin had faint blue traces now which made her somehow seem even paler than before. In addition; something else about her also felt wrong, which was even more unnatural than usual.
"As if I would allow anyone else to have what is rightfully mine." She said as she held out her right hand, effortlessly creating a pile of snow in her palm, which she tossed out into the room, allowing it to flutter down on the surprised crowd.
The realization hit everyone at once.
Salem gave them a cold smile devoid of mirth and announced, "The powers of the Winter Maiden are back where they belong."
This chapter was co-written by Relentless Crusader
Oh god, this chapter was supposed to be part of like, the last three chapters. We decided to just make it its own chapter.
Also, dear god, it's been over two freaking years since this arc began! And it's still not over! Don't worry, just three more chapters and we're done!
And keep a look out for the Destiny of Remnant Fall Special!
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