The Random Hand of Fate

by TheMightyTeaRex

"Destiny is not set in stone. It only takes one grain of rice to tip a scale, one pebble falling into the sea to start a tidal wave; Every action, no matter how small has an effect on the future. So, tell me... do you believe in destiny?" Real-world SI. First-time fanfic. Rated M for violence, gore, swearing, smut (later on) and alcohol. Warhammer 40K characters in Remnant.

33. The Breach

...How in the hell did I get this long of a Chapter...

You might want to get a bag of popcorn for this one. 20,000 words and all that.

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Chapter 33: The Breach

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"we few, we happy few, we band of brothers—for whoever sheds his blood with me today shall be my brother." —Henry V, William Shakespeare

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His fingers nervously drummed on the wood table he was seated at. He hadn't touched his plate of food in well over ten minutes, and his coffee sat half-consumed as it began to grow cold. Papers a plenty littered the table he was seated at in the Inquisition's meeting room, illuminated brightly by the Military-grade Scroll he had expanded in front of him with its blue-tinted glow. Reports from the outer territories of seismic activity, thermal readouts of the city and the surrounding two hundred square miles of ruins and mountains and forest, criminal activity reports from the City of Vale Police Department, requests of mobilization from the Vale Community Militia for security purposes; all of these and more littered the table, already some gaining stains from the mug of coffee spilling each time he brought it back down to the table. In front of him, the images of several of his top generals continued to buzz silently to each other, the mute button on the Scroll bright and red with activation. The long night with brief moments of respite in the land of sleep had taken its toll on his patience, leaving his lieutenants—even Winter, his most trusted advisor—to speak amongst themselves of the amassed information.

He was glad that it was a voice-only meeting, otherwise he would have been forced to take it somewhere less private. At least here, he could walk away and check on Amber as he calmed down or processed information. At least here, he could take a moment to be alone with his thoughts.

At least, that was the case normally.

At his side sat two men of note, both brandishing a mark of the Eye in the I, their de facto symbol for their little secret society. The first was clad in a bright white leather jacket with a popped, tan fur collar and red stripes on his jacket's arms, starting at the cuffs and ending at the collar. He wore black jean pants with several belts attached, each one bearing a set of miniature tools of some kind; most were mechanist gear like wrenches or sealed bottles of oil, but others carried grenades and something that seemed to be a crushed leaf of some kind. He was vaguely tanned from time out in the sun, a long, flowing mustache and goatee on his face to accent his stark black hair drawn back in a topknot. His eyes were a stormy blue-grey, easily mistakable for silver like Ms. Rose's eyes were, but weighted with a wisdom that discomforted the Atlesian general. At his sides, red, silver and white pistols sat in reinforced holsters to stop the blades that acted as a finger guard on each one. Beneath his jacket was a t-shirt and bandolier, a bronze buckle on his shoulder painted with a concave rectangle and a lightning bolt streaking across the center of it.

The second man, seated across from the first, was far more... eccentric would be too flimsy of a word for a man basically the same height and build of Ironwood, and yet seemed to be less of a presence. He was dressed in a medical long coat that was an unusual dark grey color in the torso and white along the sleeves, lined with yellow-gold epaulettes on his shoulders to denote his status as an Atlesian Army field medic. Under that he wore a red button-up shirt, pressed damn-near to perfection as far as Ironwood was concerned, separated from his black dress pants by a cream snakeskin belt with various bottles and vials of medicines and concoctions of his. Black boots and gloves completed his outfit, while a pocket watch's chain of solid gold hung from his chest. He had a faded buzzcut and a large handlebar mustache more stylized than the one his compatriot wore, and a great scar ran down the length of the left side of his face, starting at his chin and ending at his hairline. His look was calm but was tinged with worry of its own, hidden behind a sense of profession that he was well known for back in Atlas. His Eye in the I was a small thing, a simple decorative pin on his collar that Vulkan had fashioned for him. The larger thing, though, was the gold bolo tie around his neck, clasped together by his mark: a stylized red scorpion, its tail curled in towards itself as it looked straight down towards his feet.

"At this point, Ironwood," said Sugodai Tsagaan, the man in white, "There is nothing that we can do."

Ironwood glowered at him. "I know, I know," he said calmly, avoiding letting the exhaustion consume him. "But... is this really the best course; now I'm having my doubts."

Across the way, Pythol Umbaras nodded grimly. "To send in children like that," his gravelly, throaty voice rumbled, "is to make them court death; surely Ozpin understood this. Surely you did as well."

Ironwood pinched his brow as a dull throb began to manifest in his temples. The cup of coffee was starting to wear off, much to his ire; caffeine seemed to do less and less to him with each passing year, and his tasks only seemed to increase in frequency and frustration. "Sending in Titus and Mira was our way to make sure they were safe," he reassured. "They even suggested it in the first place."

"That means little if we have to bury empty coffins," Pythol replied.

"You doubt their skill?"

"I doubt nothing about them," he replied with a glower of his own, "but skill can only carry so far, James. I thought you of all people would remember that."

Ironwood growled as his cybernetic hand clenched hard on his coffee mug. He heard a tiny cracking sound from the mug.

"Boys, please," came the forceful voice of Glynda from the other end of the table. Ironwood blanched in surprise. "Glynda, how long have you been there?"

"Long enough to overhear those reports from your troops," she said. "I don't like what I'm hearing one bit."

Ironwood nodded. "Titus and Mira are still out there with those kids," he reassured again. "I'm sure they will inform us what's going on."

"It does not take much for fate to play against us," Sugodai pondered in his faint East Mistrali accent. Ironwood had forgotten just how much he could sound like a philosopher when he wanted to. "We should be prepared to intercept anything invading the city from that edge of the city's borders."

"That will mean little if they are slaughtered out there," Pythol replied angrily.

"And what would you have us do," replied Glynda. "Invade into the mountains at full strength!?"

"Atlas' present military force is enough to deal with any Grimm in Mountain Glenn!"

"Think of the casualties!"

"Would you have your closest friend and her husband leave their son an orphan!?"

Ironwood's skull was throbbing as he finally stood up. "That's enough!"

All three turned to him as the sound of anything seemed to escape the room.

Ironwood gripped his nose bridge again. "While I am inclined to agree with Pythol," he began cautiously and firmly, "We have our orders from Ozpin. And right now, as much as I honestly want to put my military instinct to use, Ozpin's plans have the highest chance of success. Now, if that changes, I will happily act in what I consider the best interest of both Vale and Atlas, but for now, my hands are begrudgingly tied."

Across the way, A great burden seemed to be lifted from Glynda's shoulders. Her features seemed to soften as she watched them, a look of both relief and contention in them.

"Bah," said Pythol as he picked up a report, "I still don't like it. Too much error and not enough room for it."

"Be that as it may," replied Sugodai, "as I said before, there is nothing we can do at the moment. We should take some time to calm down, let our minds refocus. Let's start with the basic one I've been thinking: How Amber is doing."

Well, that's not going to help our mood, Ironwood thought with a sigh. "She dipped into the red a few days ago, but we managed to stabilize her. To be honest, I'm getting worried."

"Ozpin is too," Glynda replied. "He just doesn't show it. And I'm getting worried about not hearing anything from Eustace."

"Mendoza is quite busy on Lionheart's behalf," replied Sugodai. "Always was."

"Her heartrate has increased by 2.4 percent over the last few days," noted Pythol from the readout before him. "And her brainwave patterns are getting more active."

Glynda looked at him with a hint of worry. "Is she coming around?"

Pythol shook his head. "On the contrary, it's a sign of the body making a desperate last attempt to break free of the coma. I feel we are reaching Amber's twilight soon, and I have my doubts that she will make it out. Even then if she does against all odds, most parts of her mind will have been used so little in the last five months she will be no better off than a Down's syndrome child for a significant amount of time, on average four months. Just look at her physique as of late; her legs are practically the last bits of muscle and bone as of now; I can just barely see her ribs, for fuck's sake."

Ironwood grimaced as his words hit home. He was absolutely right; Amber was looking every day more and more like a cadaver, her body withering away as curves shrank, muscles deflated from lack of use, and the luster of her skin and hair had dulled, visibly draining her of life. It gripped Ironwood's heart to see that young girl he once met as the future member of the Inquisition, so lively and hopeful, now reduced to a near-dead husk.

But he couldn't bring himself to pull the plug. Not now, with what was at stake... and more than likely, he could never do it.

"Any word from Cain," Sugodai deflected. "I haven't heard from him since Wednesday, I wanted to get a few rounds at the target range anyhow. Take my mind off of this for a little bit so I can... come back with a clear mind."

Ironwood looked up from his thousand-yard stare into the table. "Said he needed to prepare something, wanted it for an excursion outside the walls for something."

Sugodai's hazy blue eyes watched him closely, like a hawk watches its prey.

Glynda grimaced again as she leaned forwards onto the table. "Vulkan and Gabriel?"

"They were going into the city," Pythol replied quickly, as if he was preparing for that exact question. "Said something about errands for... the after-party from the kids' first mission."

Again, worry settled over the group.

Ironwood felt his secondary Scroll buzz at his hip, one long tone echoed over the entire group.

All four looked up from where they were.

"A City Alert," Glynda said, a tiny ounce of dread in her voice.

Ironwood nodded as he reached up and pulled it free, punching in his password. As the operating system awakened, he was immediately beset with the sight of a City of Vale Public Alert; the red border classified it as a Safety Warning.

The message it posted gripped Ironwood's heart in terror.

[GRIMM IN CITY, EVACUATING RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL DISTRICTS, PLEASE BE ADVISED]

"Oh no," Glynda let out worriedly.

Pythol and Sugodai both stood up and nodded. "I'll get my bike," said Sugodai as he pulled a massive, boxy revolver from his side.

"I'll grab my kit," Pythol replied as he pulled his exact same pistol, though unlike the white frame of Sugodai's, Pythol's was black and gold. "Inform the rest of the group, we're on the hunt."

Ironwood stood up beside them, stowing away the fact that they seemed to be mentally prepared for this to happen. "I'll warm up the Knights and scramble my troops." He turned and reactivated his mic for the meeting, the sounds of Ms. Cordova and Ms. Schnee ringing out in argument. "Ladies," replied Ironwood, letting his general's voice assume dominion over his throat. "I'm afraid there appears to be a Grimm incursion in progress in Vale. I'll have to call you back later." With that, he cut the line short and activated the local comms to Lieutenant Marbelia. "Lieutenant, do we know how much we're dealing with?"

"Unconfirmed counts, sir, but we have sightings of King Taijitu, Beowolves, Ursa and Creeps!"

"Anything else?"

"Raptor sightings in the Commercial District, headed towards Beacon."

Ironwood's stomach clenched. "Raptors!?"

"Three packs, sir, moving fast through the streets. Ten casualties already reported, and climbing."

"Evacuate all civilians in the Residential District," he barked as he ran down the emerald green hallway of the Vault. "Send out Paladins and get Atlesian Huntsmen out there now!"

"Understood sir... wait... the Raptors," Maribelia began, "they've stopped. Something's spooked them."

Ironwood blanched. "What? Raptors don't get spooked," he returned.

"General," she said without acknowledging his question, "We have confirmation of Huntsmen on the ground! Logan and Anders have engaged!"

The dread that was beginning to fill James suddenly dropped off. He let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding in. "Converge troops on them," he began, "Follow up behind them and provide fire support. Raise Gabriel and Vulkan and see if—"

A sharp static sound interrupted them as another signal butted in. Ironwood winced as his Lieutenant audibly groaned at the sound. "What on Remnant was that?"

"Apologies, James," came a familiar female voice. "We thought we would get in contact with you directly."

Ironwood stopped in his tracks. "Pandora?"

"It's been a long time since we last talked," she said with a grunt. The unholy screech on her end heralded the death of a Raptor. "Sorry we're late, our ship was delayed."

"You couldn't have picked a better time, to get here," Ironwood said as he began to run again, entering into the elevator. "Is he with you?"

The answer came as a bemused, masculine chuckle followed by the shriek of a dying Raptor.

"As if you had to ask."

---

The first thing that came back to him was the sensation of pain. Specifically, a pain in his head. It wasn't a sharp, icepick stab like he was used to in his episodic migraines, but it was the dull kind found in the metaphorical aftershocks of a migraine. It throbbed horribly in his skull, beating against his brow with the force of a fist trying to break free of his skull. He reached up, cradling his brow as he hissed in pain. He could see light—or at least he could see it through his squeezed eyelids. There was a dull roar to the world around him, faint sounds like air raid sirens drowned out by his own heartbeat and the muffled sounds of his own mind.

He reached out with his hand—rocks, no, concrete jagged and falling apart, as if pulled out from the earth. Metal and plastics. He reached out and gripped it.

His mind recognized Cadia, the grip familiar to his hand.

His mind slowly began to piece things together. The pain... the light... Cadia... the tunnels.

A tiny girl with bright pink and brown hair. Neo...

A red Chaos Marine. Gorechild.

Khârn the Betrayer.

Jacob's eyes shot open as his memory came screaming back to him. The train!

Sunlight scorched his eyes. He groaned angrily as he squinted his eyes shut again. He started registering pain across the rest of his body, dull aches just like his head but far fainter; he must have hit his head in the crash and passed out, his Aura saving him from having a scrambled egg for a brain and a metric ton of broken bones as he tumbled around in the debris. He pulled himself upright, his back screaming back at him to stay down with dulled pain. Slowly, his eyes began to open.

Chaos met him.

Dust was finally settling around the concrete crater he was sitting in. Broken heaps of concrete sat on the ground beside him, a sign of the train's destructive force as it collided with the earth and flew upwards. From a massive hole in the center Grimm were pouring out in droves, Beowolves, Creeps, a few Boarbatusks were rolling out into the street, and even a few Ursa as well. Overhead, he spotted a giant Nevermore, screeching as it lashed out with a hailstorm of its giant, sharpened feathers. He heard a car screech before there was an awful crashing sound.

His head swiveled around to see where he had landed. Sure enough, he spotted the shattered remains of the engine, a bloom of blackened metal and steel bent into shapes that could never be undone fully. He saw a white coat and ginger hair with a bowler hat attached to it doubled over a slab of concrete; Roman wasn't moving, either unconscious from the impact or from some other force. If he remembered the show right, hadn't Blake kicked him in the side of the head?

His eyes went wide again. "Blake... guys!"

Panic gripped his heart as he realized he couldn't see any of them from where he was. With a groan as his body screamed in rebellion, he lifted himself onto his feet, eyes scouring the area for anything. Stars briefly sparked to life in his vision as he stood up, forcing him to clutch his head in worry that he would pass out. Too much was going on as his eyes regained their sight, the Grimm pouring out of the crater in waves, thundering into the city with a screaming anger.

He turned around and spotted Cadia near his feet. He reached down and picked it up, wiping the dust off the blade. Surprisingly, only a handful of scuffs were visible on the casing and teeth, and the gold was dinged and splattered with blood from...

From all those Chaos Cultists.

His stomach, still wheeling from his dizzy spell, threatened to rebel again, though he was sure it would be only a dry heave at this point. He gritted his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut, letting the nausea ebb and flow for a second before it rolled away on the sounds of battle. He shook his head and opened them again, flicking Cadia back into its pistol form. He turned back towards the concrete wreckage, looking for any signs of... anybody, really. A shimmer of hair or weapons, cloth, something or another to tell him were someone was—

A flash of ginger hair and a silver, rounded cylinder, hidden in rubble. Jacob's heart leapt in terror. "Nora!"

He scrambled to her, stumbling over debris before he stopped right in front of her. There was three or four feet of concrete on top of her, her motionless body making his stomach curl and twist in terror. "Nora," he said, "talk to me! Nora!? Nora!"

Something stirred beside her. Raven hair gave way to Ren's face. He looked stunned and dazed, his head listing a bit as he stared up at Jacob. "Jacob," he said quietly, in a rasp.

"Jesus," Jacob hissed, "hang on, let me get you guys out of there!" He stepped forwards and began to shove at the concrete at the top, hoping to work his way down towards them. It took pushing with his whole body just to force the first piece off, a slab only a quarter his size sliding off behind them. He backed away, stars beginning to appear in his vision again. "Hang on," he said breathily, "I've got it going." He grimaced as he realized that he would take forever to get it off, and the Grimm were still pouring out behind him. If he didn't get them out...

He imagined the flame sparking and roaring to life inside of him. The aches and tire in his bones seemed to fade away a smidge, though it still permeated his body. His Aura wasn't even remotely recharged at this point, and he doubted that he could be strong enough to make it move.

Doesn't mean I'm not gonna try, he thought desperately as he tried again, managing to shove a few more pieces aside with a few angry grunts. Below, he heard Ren cough, a painful, wet sound that only made his panic worse. "Hang on... just hang on, guys!"

"EEEEN-AAIII!"

Jacob's heart stopped as an ear-piercing scream filled the air. It was a sound he recognized from a hundred times of watching the same movie over and over again as a child, a sound formed from the mixing of a walrus' roars and the screams of a dolphin. The blood in his face fled, his grip white-knuckle. He turned around slowly as he realized what it was.

Standing over a rock was a Grimm out of his wildest dreams. He knew full well it stood six feet tall and around fifteen feet long, most of that length made up by its long tail. Its head was like a wedge, a line of white, sharpened quills starting at the eye ridge, following back along the center of its head and down the length of its back. Pale white, bony ribs followed the quills back, giving it a skeletal appearance. Long, lanky arms ended with pronated hands with three long, curved claws on each. Its legs were muscular and long too, ending in three short toes, with the inside toes hooking up in a giant, gleaming-white sickle claw on its foot.

"And he slashes at you with this," Sam Neill remarked in his mind. "A six-inch retractable claw, like a razor, on the middle toe..."

How appropriate since Jacob was staring at a Grimm version of Jurassic Park's Velociraptor; how appropriate it be called simply a 'Raptor'.

It sprung at him, letting out a belting roar as it began to bear down on top of him. He managed to roll out of the way as the creature came down on the rocks, pushing a few more off with the force of its impact. Jacob reached into his pocket, seeking Titan's grip... only to feel empty air.

His heart clenched. He must have dropped Titan in the crash.

A squealing roar came from the Raptor's mouth as it wheeled and struck him with its tail. There was a feeling of the wind being sucked out of his chest as he flew aside, slamming into a concrete wall. The last vestiges of his Aura sputtered and flickered around him, saving him from a broken back. He groaned as he stood up, adrenaline overpowering his pain as the Raptor charged again, leaping up onto a rock and coming down on him with that same scream as the first time. Jacob yanked Cadia loose and fired just as it came down on top of him, the beast screaming in pain as the bullet connected with its stomach. Regardless, the Raptor landed on him, forcing him to the ground with a grunt as Cadia tumbled out of his hand. His vision swam as he stared into burning red eyes, eternally hungry and tinted with a glow of intelligence that sent a chill up his spine. He struggled under its feet as it stared him down, its weight greater than his strength much to his horror. It raised its head in the air, letting out a caw of triumph before it swung its head back down and trumpeted in his face, its hot, sticky breath reeking of death.

Their eyes made contact again. Some horrified part of Jacob thought for a moment that this was where is bus stopped, that he would die getting eaten by a demon version of a Velociraptor, and that Nora and Ren would be next.

It raised its head as its sickle claw dug into his stomach, his Aura shielding him from a grisly fate. He brought his arms up instinctively to shield his face from the rows of shark teeth in its mouth.

There was a retort of a shotgun blast, and the Raptor's head snapped aside violently, the creature letting out a startled screech. Another shot made its mark as it recoiled again, stumbling off of him. He rolled away and grabbed Cadia, snapping off a shot as he rose. The shot made its mark, a bloom of light impacted with its head, the Raptor stumbling and listing to one side. With a gurgled screech, it fell over and fell still, its claws still twitching with desperate fervor. A few seconds later, its body began to dissipate into black smoke.

Jacob rose to a shaky knee, his heart thundering in his chest. He heard footsteps behind him and turned around, his hand shaking and Cadia rattling in his hands.

"Jacob!"

He was met with a mass of gold and black pulling him into a vice-like hug that squeezed the air from his lungs and hurt his back. "Jesus H. Fuck," he wheezed, "Yang, Blake, I can't breathe!"

"Oh my God," Yang cried out, a sniffle amidst that. "We thought you'd gotten caught in the rubble!"

"Yeah," he said breathily, adrenaline still pumping. "I'm alive... somehow. But the same won't be said for them if we don't get them out!"

Blake looked at him before turning around. "Oh gods! Ren, Nora!" She ran over and took a knee, reaching out for their hands. "Talk to us, please."

Ren groaned. "Nora's been out for a bit now," he said with a hint of panic to his whispy, weakened voice. "I haven't been able to wake her!"

Another voice rose over the din of chaos. "Ren! Nora! Where are you guys!?"

Jacob turned at the only other male voice in their group. He couldn't see him, but at least he could hear them. "Jaune," Jacob roared, his throat feeling like sandpaper, "We're over here!"

Pyrrha's voice piped up next. "Jacob!? Where are you!?"

"Follow my voice," he replied as he stepped over to the rubble and began to shove. "Yang, got some muscle to spare?"

Yang nodded as the trio began to shove the concrete loose. With three of them now, removing rock and letting out as much sound as they did, it was no coincidence that Jaune and Pyrrha arrived just as the trio had shoved the last slab of concrete they could free of its spot. With enough space now to pull them out, Jacob reached in and grabbed the unconscious Nora while Yang and Blake pulled Ren out. Unfortunately, for what progress he had made, Jacob was not at a strength to even pull a tiny girl like Nora out; she felt heavier than she had any right to be, and he was cursing himself with every derogatory term he could come up with in his head as he futilely pulled. "Fuck am I a weakling," he said to himself.

"Hang on," he heard Pyrrha said as she dropped to her knees and reached in with him. "We'll pull together, okay?"

He nodded in reply. Behind them, there was a distant, bloodcurdling scream as the battle roiled on around them.

She returned the nod. "One... two... three!"

The two of them groaned in unison as they pulled by Nora's hand and by the base of her arms, hoping to get more leverage. They heard something move from the remaining rocks. Nora pulled forwards just a hair.

"She's stuck under some of the concrete," Jacob growled as he pulled, pushing back into the ground as a counter to his lack of arm strength. "We've got her to budge! Pull!"

They pulled again, and the stone budged again. Jacob saw out of the corner of his eye that Jaune had grabbed hold too on Pyrrha's side, and Yang had circled around.

She threw a punch, the concrete shattering.

Like a baby tooth free of its root, Nora popped out in their arms, wearing a pain-twisted look on her face.

"We got her," Jacob said, only noting too late how he shouldn't have been so quick to be relieved. A solid curtain of red was on her brow, right between her actual brow and her temple. Jacob hissed as her eyes opened, a visible haze to her vision. "Fuck," he said aloud, "She's definitely concussed."

She smiled dazedly at him with a tiny thing of a smile. "Hey, big guy... what a ride, eh?"

Ren, still leaning on Blake as Jacob and Pyrrha hoisted Nora onto a rock, looked up in mild panic. "She needs to get out of here-" he rasped before a cough broke through. Jacob winced as he noticed how little Ren's voice sounded normal right now, barely above a rattled rasp.

"With all those Grimm out there, we'd never make it," replied Jaune with worry in his tone.

"Ruby and Weiss have them on lockdown," Yang replied as the signature retort of Crescent Rose's sniper form heralded the scream off of a dying Taijitu.

"That means little if the Grimm catch their second wind," Jacob replied.

He felt a hand grip tightly on his shoulder. He turned and was met with Nora's ice-blue eyes, still hazy but coherent enough that she seemed to know what has happening around her. "I... I'm not out just yet," she said as she began to stand, using his shoulder as leverage. "Just... just let me get my Aura running again." With a deep sigh and a physical shock of electricity—one that Jacob felt in his teeth—a pink glow enwrapped her. With a hard blink, the dullness left her eyes to some degree. Still, she flashed a determined, cocky grin that Jacob had come to expect from Nora.

Crescent Rose roared again over the din of the air raid sirens—or were they rather Grimm raid sirens—as an Ursa replied in earnest.

Blake turned and jogged over to the edge of the rubble. "They're still coming," she said dejectedly. "There's just... no end to them."

Jacob felt the wind fall out of their collective sails. Even Pyrrha and Jaune, looking tired but still quite untouched, were looking a bit downtrodden. A part of him wanted to get them out of harm's way, let Atlas clean up this mess and get back to the safety of Beacon with both teams.

He heard a woman scream in the distance, only for the scream to be abruptly cut and followed by a Beowolf howling triumphantly.

"Then we fight them until reinforcements can seal the crater," he said as he turned and looked each of them in the eye. "We don't stop until either they are stopped or we..."

The sentence died in his throat as he realized what he had almost said, his eyes now on Pyrrha as she looked at him with determined eyes of worry and confidence alike.

"Or we have to retreat," he finished, correcting himself. "I'm not losing anyone today."

All of them nodded, Nora included. Jaune stepped forwards, offering him a still-smoking Titan. "Here," he said quietly, "I found it by the engine. Got a few shots off with it."

Jacob smirked. As he took the gun back. "Here I thought you were the kind for the sword and board." He let the magazine loose; three shots had been fired. Two magazines left in his pocket, a grand total of seventeen shots left.

"Let's make it count," he said as he walked up to the ridge and transformed Cadia. He leveled both and opened fire with Titan, catching a Creep in the head and dropping it to the earth. Another shout landed wide of a Beowolf, only for a third one to tear open its throat. Cadia swung opposite and fired, slamming into an Ursa's eye and pissing it off. A second shot went down it's roaring gullet, strangling the roar in its throat before the creature doubled over.

On his left, he sa a flash of gold hair and the retorts of Ember Celica as it lit a Beowolf up with a long-range shot. His right was met with Pyrrha's flowing red hair and the roars of Milo's rifle form, followed by the clunking and subsequent explosions of Magnhild.

Soon, all of them sans Jaune were firing into the crater, dropping as many Grimm as they could before they ran out of ammo. Jacob grinned as their firing line continued to mow Grimm down in droves, the ones escaping getting caught out by a red and black blur and Weiss' glyphs throwing them about like ragdolls.

But still they came.

"No mercy," he roared aloud, his throat feeling as though it were being ripped apart by his warcry, "no respite!"

---

"You don't think..."

"Sure looks like it."

"That's still weeks away!"

"What do we do now, Cinder?"

"..."

"Cinder?"

"... All the Huntsmen at the school will be out fighting in the city; now might be out only chance at the Tower. We let it play out and work from there."

"What!? And if Roman gets caught—"

"He won't tell a soul. I guarantee it. But we have to act fast. Get Eliphas on the line and tell him to meet us at the docks."

…

"This is brazen, even for you, Cinder. And your disguise couldn't fool a newborn."

Cinder rolled her eyes as she ducked out from behind the wall. "And you stick out like a dragon in a field of daises."

Eliphas growled annoyedly. "Why do we sneak like this when even now I could more than likely beat Ozpin and the rest of his merry band in single combat? There is nothing to be gained from this incognito pomp and circumstance."

"My dear Eliphas," she said as she ducked back, watching the last few students thunder out of the building towards the city, "It's because if we get too brazen, they may just find a way to catch us." She peaked out again, checking all directions as she did so. "We're clear. Let's go."

She snuck forwards in her obsidian heels, the dampening effect on this design making them surprisingly good at masking her footfalls. Eliphas, however, was a stomping nightmare behind her, less subtle than a freight train barreling down the tracks at top speed. She rolled her eyes as they closed in on the dormitories, Cinder lowering to a crouch as she brought her back against the wall. She peaked around, unsure of whether this building had been cleared too.

"I am all for caution and planning," Eliphas replied, "But this is superfluous, even by Chaos' standards."

A few seconds passed before she felt that the coast was clear. With a nod, they made their move. The Tower's entry was in sight, just another building to go and they were in.

Cinder smirked. Destiny still smiles brightly on me.

She didn't even bother sticking to cover as she noticed the grunt-level Atlas soldiers protecting the Tower's doors. Whether it was with their stupidly-bulky helmets or that they were ridiculously-unobservant, they never noticed her or Eliphas, even as they left the late morning shade of the building and went to a crouch right ahead of the planters out in front of the tower.

"Our objective is in sight," Eliphas commented with a low growl. "We should strike now rather than wait and be caught."

"I agree," she whispered. "Do you want them or the ones that are no doubt inside?"

"I'll take the ones inside," he said, hefting his Meltagun.

Cinder nodded as she reached out with the Maiden's powers. It bit angrily at her heart, but her mentor's talon again mentally calmed the blaze. A second later, a bow of pure obsidian was in her hands, smooth and hot to the touch. She smiled as she manifested an arrow and notched it.

She breathed in deeply, letting her beating heart slow to a crawl. The first shots had to be precise. She summoned a second one and notched it beside the first.

Three. Inhale.

Two. Exhale.

One. Inhale.

She sprung up a good seven feet in the air and turned her bow sideways as she did so. Without a word, she fired her arrows, her breath held until she saw the arrows off the nock.

She smiled proudly as the arrows made impact with their chests and pierced through. They hadn't even gotten the chance to say anything, their voices now strangled gasps, their guns clattering to the floor from shock-riddled hands. She landed like a cat in front of them, holding them up as the arrows did their work. The two guards fell to their knees, only for their bodies to begin to glow, the heat from her obsidian arrows igniting their chests in a warm glow. She caught their brows as they fell forwards, channeling her powers into a quick surge of heat.

She let out a content sigh as there was a flash of orange and the sensation of ashes flowing though her hands. "Two down," she said as she walked past their disintegrating corpses, strutting cattily as she walked in.

She was met with the sight of three more, only now noting her approach. "Hold up, Ma'am," said the first one, a tall woman with dark skin. "The Tower is under lockdown until the Grimm are removed from the city.

Cinder smirked. How quaint. They must not have noticed their companions perishing.

She heard Eliphas approach the doorway, his massive feet making the sound of an avalanche. The three Atlesian soldiers looked up and tensed up at the same time, worry tinging their very beings.

For a second, the sounds stopped.

Then, the doors were obscured by a body larger than any normal man's form.

Cinder checked the clock on the wall. 8:25:03

Eliphas smashed through the doors with a sound like nails on chalkboards. Cinder jumped sideways as the Word Bearer shoulder charged one into the wall, a sickening sound like bones cracking emanating from the soldier's body. He groaned audibly as Eliphas stepped back and brought out the Cursed Crozius, the orb-like mace swinging through the air like a gyroscope from hell. The second one, a smaller, squatter man, was ripped apart by the impact, a deluge of blood splashing across the walls behind him.

The one that had approached Cinder backed away and opened fire. Not a single cartridge managed to make it through his armor. "Drop dead you giant motherfu—!"

Her sentence and her life were cut short as Eliphas wheeled on the spot and pointed his meltagun point blank into her and pulled the trigger. There was a flash of light and Cinder saw armor, skin, flesh and bone vaporize from the stomach up by the blast. The legs toppled over, now bereft of the brain that commanded them. The battlefield fell silent.

Cinder saw the clock strike 8:26 out of the corner of her eye.

Cinder grimaced at the grizzly kill and the foul smell of cooked flesh and ozone that emanated through the room. "Well," she said with a disgusted tone, "that was messier than it should have been."

"Indeed. I managed to finally procure the right mix to work as an actual meltagun for a change, though I seem to have been off on my energy output. I would have preferred to leave no bodies."

Cinder waved it off. "Bodies are a stronger message of fear," she said as she stepped over the dead soldier's legs. "And fear is what we need to strike with." She reached into chest pocket of the one smashed into the walls and produced a keycard. The man groaned in pain, clearly not dead but still on the doorstep to the Other Side. Cinder built the fire in her body again, the Maiden's powers furiously rebelling against her as she did it. Still, she felt it yield to her begrudgingly, the man's body igniting in that same orange glow.

"And yet you deigned to disintegrate his body."

She turned to look him square in the eye, a malicious grin on her face. "A balance, shall we call it? Regardless," she said as she turned and activated the elevators, "We have a virus to install."

The ride up was quick but tense as she expected the doors to open on a number of Huntsmen and Huntresses on the defensive, prepared to get their first true taste of battle. At this time of day, it had to be busy as sin, she would estimate anywhere between thirty and forty students present, in various states of armament and preparedness depending on the schedules they had for that day.

Forty student Huntsmen, assorted Atlesians, civilians and staff, against The Fall Maiden and Eliphas the Inheritor.

Cinder had very little worry in her heart about their destined outcome.

The elevator chimed above them.

"Our floor," he chuckled darkly. "Let's see if anyone is home today."

The door slid open, green dim light shimmering in their faces. Cinder had no choice but to squint as the light assaulted her eyes. That's odd, she thought, The lights are much brighter today than usual.

Her Aura screamed at her to step to the side. She obliged without a second thought.

Something silver, black, green and copper zipped past her and embedded itself in the back wall of the elevator. She turned and met Eliphas' gaze as they both looked at the offending object.

A cutlass-like sword, thin and dainty, had rent an arm-sized hole in the wall of the elevator. Without warning, though, it screamed backwards through the metal and back into the lobby of the terminal station.

"I wouldn't attempt whatever it is you're trying, Mr. Eliphas," came a bubbly but angry voice from the lobby as the light turned off; turned out that someone had set some of the lights to shine directly at the elevators. Cinder blinked harshly and was able to see a girl that was about a half-foot shorter than her, ginger as they came, garbed in a frilly dress, black stockings and pumps and a bright pink bow on her head.

Her Aura prickled warningly. In the back of her mind, she felt the tiniest hint of apprehension. She was lucky to be here with the more understanding Eliphas rather than... some of his other colleagues.

"And as for you, Ms. Maiden," she said, setting the hairs on Cinder's neck up like a cat's back, "I would like to ask you to surrender yourself so that we may take those powers back."

Cinder snarled angrily. "Not on your life, little girl." She summoned her bow, her worry giving the Maiden powers an opening as the bow came out different from her usual design, and subsequently not as balanced to her as she would have preferred. Too much weight in the center, her shots risked being off her mark every time she fired.

"Spirited little one, aren't you," crooned Eiphas as she heard his meltagun whine to life. "Tell me, before we kill you and anyone else here so that we might do what we came here for... tell me what your name is, so that I may carve it into my grimoire back at my sanctuary."

The girl said nothing, only giving off a glower that looked more cute than menacing. "You will not be killing anyone else here," she said as she pointed to the receptionist's desk, one of the screens flashing the carnage downstairs.

Cinder's attention snapped back to the girl as she heard the whine of motors. Without warning, five more blades just like the one that had put that hole in the elevator sprung out from behind her seemingly out of nowhere. They spun in the air in a tight and precise wheel as she drew out her arm and flourished it up into the air, the blades coming down in a corkscrew and spinning before surrounding her like many heads from a hydra's body. She was poised to spring either back or forwards, one shoulder out and another back as she glowered at them.

"Because I am combat ready."

Even as she smirked through her snarl, Cinder felt a chill up her spine. She couldn't tell if it was excitement or fear.

That alone scared her.

The two lunged forwards.

---

This is definitely not how I expected this mission to go...

She felt the wind bristle against her as the Beowolf's teeth snapped, inches away from taking her nose off. She grimaced in exertion and pain, its paws pushing against her but finding no purchase. She let out a grunting cry of force as she pushed it farther and farther back, but the beast refused to give up. She had stabbed how many times now? Three, four, five times now, and yet the thing still wouldn't go down.

There was the sound of a pistol firing, and the Beowolf's head snapped aside, the creature letting out a surprised yelp. Pyrrha didn't waste her chance, pushing back with all her might into the creature with one spring forwards.

Relief filled her as she sent the beast to the ground and spun over it, slashing at it as she passed. She twisted and rolled into a kneel, catching herself as the creature stood back up, clutching its chest. She didn't hesitate as she shot forwards, swinging wide with a fast, horizontal slice for its throat.

Pyrrha felt Miló connect with the Beowolf's throat, its arms going limp as the beast collapsed and dissolved into smoke. With a spin on her heels, she smacked another one in the chest, stumbling it before she slashed it across the face with the blade and bashed it across the face with Akoúo̱. It became smoke before it even had begun teetering over.

Without a second to hesitate, Pyrrha spotted incoming Creeps, ten of them at first glance. No, it was twenty, and closing in on her; 60 feet out and closing fast. She grimaced as she reached out with her Semblance into her weapons. Not a second later, she crouched low and used the momentum to jump into a spin, her shield flying through the air like a lethal discus. She transformed Miló into its spear form and began to spin it up over her, letting them come to her as she gathered enough speed with her Semblance to actively create a flow of air right over her as a side effect. Even then, her shield had sliced through several, her other hand guiding it as it flew through the air like a bronze-gold flying saucer.

Eight made it into striking range, lunging up and into the air at her.

She swung wide with her other arm, letting out a shout of both pain and effort as she held onto the spear for dear life, letting its momentum flow free.

In a wheel of bronze and red, the eight Creeps were decapitated by the blow, their bodies falling to the floor lifelessly as she let Miló's momentum shift her over a few feet. The bodies collided and disappeared in a massive puff of smoke.

For a second, Pyrrha felt on the racing of her heart.

Then the slow burn kicked in again.

She groaned as she took a knee, Akoúo̱ returning to her bracer with a clunk as she raised her arm in time to catch it. She leaned up against Miló, letting her body take a second to relieve the pain in her body. She had been fighting for... gods, she didn't even know how long now, all of it both a crawl and a blur as pain and exhaustion and concern flooded her body.

Okay, okay, she thought to herself, Ren and Nora... center courtyard a few minutes ago, right? Right, King Tajitu... Weiss, crowd control... Yang, taking care of the big guys... Blake... Where's Blake?

There was a very animal screech behind her, followed quite quickly by the sound of a gun going off. The screech fell silent, followed by the sound of a Grimm disintegrating.

"Pyrrha!"

She looked up as she recognized Jacob's voice, the sound of footsteps on concrete. She was met with the sight of him approaching, His rounded face flush with exhaustion and a tired limp to his gait.

"Jacob," she gasped tiredly, trying to pull herself back onto her feet. She hissed and winced as her knee protested, bringing her back to the ground.

"Fuck, are you alright," he said, sliding to a knee beside her. "Are you hurt!?"

"No, no," she said, "I'm fine... I just... I'm just tired..."

Jacob nodded. "I can understand that," he said quietly. He reached out a hand to her, beckoning her to stand back up. She took it in earnest, only stopping as her knee hated her again. He changed his stance, bringing her up onto his shoulder as a crutch, a very fortunate thing since she was still seven inches taller than he was.

There was another scream of terror in the distance. Pyrrha's heart clenched.

"...Fuck," Jacob hissed. "Where's our fucking support..."

Pyrrha didn't respond, her mind starting to wander as the sounds of battle continued to rage behind her. "How... how long have we been... fighting," she asked through tired pants.

Jacob grimaced as he glanced down at his watch, still unbroken by some freak miracle. "It's 9:10 in the morning," he said. "Six hours now—no, wait, four... five? Jesus H. Fuck, this is going on too long."

Another screech filled the air. Raptors.

"We've lingered too long," she said. "We need to meet up with the others."

"Agreed," he said. "Let's get a move-along."

A few minutes of silence passed between them as they hurriedly made their way back to the town square that they had entered the city through. Pyrrha felt her heart sink lower and lower as the two of them passed several damaged buildings and outright flattened cars, the distinct patterns of various Grimm attacks mingling into a nightmarish image of carnage and destruction. Debris littered the road, smoke curling up into the late morning sky, tinging it with black and oranges from formed and growing fires. The air was thick with screams of terror in the distance, peppered by more roars and impossible screeching and the odd sound of gunfire.

Pyrrha hoped that the lack of bodies meant a good thing.

Eventually, her leg began to feel less in pain. "Jacob," she said, "I think I'm good for now."

"I don't want to take risks," he replied, his eyes laser focused on some distant point far ahead of him. We should probably find Jaune, Nora and Ren and get you guys to safety."

Pyrrha grimaced. "I'm fine," she replied. "My leg is not hurting anymore."

"Regardless," he said back to her, "I don't want to take chances."

Pyrrha pulled away a bit, trying to get loose of his grip. "Jacob," she said a little more firmly, "I'm fine. I can still fight."

They stopped in the middle of the road. Pyrrha could now feel Jacob's thundering heartbeat in his hands as they held her arm in place on his shoulders.

Pyrrha watched him, his eyes darting about tiredly in thought. Some part of her mind began to wonder just what made him so jumpy.

Jacob sighed as he relinquished his hold on her arm. "Right... sorry."

She didn't pull away fully, only resting her hand on his closer shoulder. "We're going to make it through this," she said. "We're all going to make it through this."

Their speed picked up as they rounded the corner and were met with the sight of Team RWBY fighting a massive horde of Beowolves in the ruined square. Ruby herself was a whirling dervish of black, red and silver, sending the Grimm flying every which way. The inferno of gold and red in the distance was the telltale sign of Yang, the distinct sounds of Ember Celica roaring in the distance. A comet of yellow streaked into the air with a scream of anger, caving a giant Nevermore's head as she made impact with it and continued onwards. Storms of sharpened hail from Weiss' Glyphs were eviscerating Grim by the dozens, shredding them with the force of a hurricane. And on the rooftops above the street, a blur of black and steel and ribbon turned flying Grimm into ribbons of their own as Blake sliced and diced them into pieces.

"Well," Jacob said, "at least they're holding most of the line."

Pyrrha grimaced as she saw a pack of Beowolves escape from the crater and thunder past the fighting. They were headed south, towards the Industrial District, where there was no doubt a dirth of police and huntsmen to protect the civilians there. "It's still not enough..."

Her sentence was cut short as a thunderous, mechanical roar sounded overhead, drowning out her thoughts. A bulbous silhouette passed over them for a second, casting a long shadow over them as they stood in the center of the street. It was a Bullhead, and a Valean one at that by the insignia of the Kingdom painted in white on its side.

Four figures jumped from the Bullhead, all four of some various shape and size. Pyrrha felt some degree of relief as she saw Team CFVY land not thirty feet from them, weapons drawn—sans Velvet, strangely—and bristly.

"Coco," Jacob called out, "good to see you!"

Coco turned, wearing a look that seemed halfway between tense and glad. "Hey, Short-Stack," she called out, priming her purse-minigun as several Grimm spotted them. "I take it you know what's going on!?"

Velvet stepped back, worry tinging her features. "How did they get inside the city!?"

Jacob sighed as he drew Cadia. "Long story short, Torchwick grabbed a train in Mountain Glenn, loaded all the Dust he stole from around the city, set bombs on all the cars and... well..."

Coco turned and fired as a Beowolf lunged at them, her minigun roaring to life and shredding the beast asunder. It hit her and disintegrated into a puff of smoke, not even stumbling her as she turned back around and pushed her sunglasses back up. "Sounds like we need to plug that hole, then," she said. "Or are their multiple?"

Pyrrha mentally drew a map from where they were now to where they had begun. "There might be more, farther inside the city," she guessed as she drew her weapons, now dinged with dust and dirt from all of the fighting she had done today.

"The Academy's been scrambled to fight them off," Yatsu said as his head was on a swivel, "And the cops have mobilized too."

"Atlas," Jacob asked.

Fox shook his head.

"Nothing yet," Coco said as she fired another barrage, dropping a dozen Creeps. "Their dropships are mobilizing, but they're elsewhere."

"Then we're on our own for now," Jacob said as he snapped off a shot and caught an Ursa in the eye. The beast roared in pain as it stumbled forwards, looking to find purchase in them.

Pyrrha spun Miló in her hand as she triggered the metamorphosis, counting the clicks that she heard and felt as it expanded into its spear form. One click, two clicks, three clicks, four clicks, good to go. She hoisted the spear and pulled the trigger, using the energy of the Dust cartridge inside to catapult her spear forwards. It soared like a red and bronze bird, lodging itself deep in the Ursa's head at 20 paces out from them, the beast losing its footing and slamming into the ground with a colossal thud. Its momentum never stopped though, the body sliding forwards right back to her feet before the corpse stopped mere feet in front of her. With an effortless yank, Pyrrha pulled Miló from the disintegrating corpse, pulling Akoúo forwards to block any attacks that would be followed up. After a second, she turned aroud and looked back at them.

Team CFVY was watching her with bemused looks. Jacob's face was a look of determination and worry mixed with some degree of bemusement of his own.

Why does he seem so bothered, she thought to herself. We're taking hits, but we're beating them back!

Pyrrha blinked as she heard the screeches of Raptors. She turned in time to see the crater surge with a sea of black and white; Raptors, dozens of them, fast as lightning and looking starved for battle.

"Jesus Fuck," Jacob cried out as she heard the clicks of his guns being racked, "Look at them all!"

There was an angry hum as Coco stepped up beside Pyrrha. "You need to find your team," she said. "We can handle this."

There was a cry that reached Pyrrha's ears as an Ursa in the distance toppled back, its head missing from its shoulders. Her hear soared as she saw Jaune, looking tired by his posture but otherwise alright, jogging around the body with his sword and shield in hand. For a moment, she felt elation and joy, seeing him standing proud over the slain Grimm as it disintegrated, though the emotions were tinged with that same fluster she got anytime they were close enough these days. She couldn't deny that he seemed unusually handsome when he was looking rugged and battle-worn, the faintest puff to his chest in awakening self-pride that made her smile when she saw him embrace it, his blonde hair flowing off his brow—

About then, she noticed the Raptor charging at him. She and Jacob let out the same cry, though Jaune was across the courtyard from where they were and it was doubtful that he could hear them.

"Jaune, look out!"

Either the wind had carried their voice, the sound of battle died down at just the right moment, or Jaune had better ears than she remembered, his head turned towards them.

The Raptor lunged. Jaune began to turn, but it wasn't enough.

Pyrrha saw the beast tackle Jaune and throw him to the ground, his cry of terror and its hungry roar mingling as he disappeared out of her sight behind a planter.

Her heart froze like ice and plummeted back down into her chest as she heard a cry of pain.

"JAUNE!"

She took off like a bolt, heart hammering back to life. "Hang on! I'm coming!" She vaulted over a planter and launched off of it, getting a few feet from her leap. She saw it biting down on his sword arm, pinning it with its teeth as Jaune desperately thrashed his shield arm despite it being pinned by its foot. The Raptor's bite was strong enough she could see the white shine of his Aura around him, violently reacting as it fought back against the Grimm's maw.

"Pyrrha, stop!" She heard Jacob's cry, but she didn't have time to listen, not with Jaune in trouble.

Her trajectory began to turn earthbound. She grasped Miló strongly in her hand as she brought it up and over her head, a great cleaving blow intended to strike the creature dead with a single slice.

There was a sound like a humming lightning bolt before something struck the Raptor on its side with the force to rip it off of Jaune. The Grimm screamed as it sailed into a planter, pulled away by a streak of volcanic orange and gold that slammed it into the planter with enough force to shatter the concrete feature.

Pyrrha felt her attack falter as the creature was no longer a threat. She tucked in on herself as she transformed Miló back into its sword form, rolling onto her feet and drawing Akoúo̱ forwards as she stood between is newcomer and Jaune.

"Pyrrha," she heard him shout, "Oh, thank God! I was worried you'd been pinned down."

She blinked hard as she realized that she hadn't check on him. "Oh my gods," she said as she her guard dropped and she took a knee over him, "Jaune, are you okay!?"

He motioned for her to give him some space as he replied, "Yeah, yeah, I'm okay," though his voice was tinged with mild panic, his eyes still wild from his encounter. "Thanks for the save, Pyr."

Pyrrha blinked. "Jaune," she said, "that wasn't me. That was..." She realized that she didn't even know who to thank for saving her partner, turning to see what had struck the Raptor off of Jaune.

The first thing she noticed was its size and how buried it was in the shattered planter that it has smashed the Raptor into. It was a gargantuan, two-headed axe, its blades flat at the top and the first three-fourths of the way down before they curved in towards the hilt, giving it an Ancient Mantlean look. The second thing she noticed was the metal it was made of; it was something vaguely akin to the color of rust, but the sheen and the magma-like glow it gave off from cracks and crevices in the blades spoke otherwise; she even noticed that there were flames—actual flames—sparking off of the blades, small enough that they probably would never fully ignite, but still a menacing enough addition. On its hilt were various gadgets and power nodules, glowing, hissing and humming to live near the base of its blades while a haft easily three-fourths her height, the blade itself making up the final fourth.

The final feature she noticed was the golden relief of a two-headed wolf forged in the center of the axe's face, an emerald the same color of her eyes glowing ferociously back at her.

Who's weapon is this...

"Pyrrha, Jaune," she heard Jacob cry out as he shot at something behind them, the scream of a Creep answering what it was. "Are you two okay!? Did it get past your—HOLY FUCK!"

She looked up just in time to see Jacob jump like a startled cat as he stared at the axe, his eyes looking haunted as if he had seen a ghost. "Is... is that—"

There was a sound like a wolf down the street from where they were standing, anything past seventy feet away obscured by a dust cloud from a fallen building. Pyrrha braced herself for a pack of Beowolves to come thundering out of the cloud.

She saw humanoid figures as the dust began to settle. One at the front raised an arm up and a sound like a mountain-sized thunderclap erupted from the arm as a massive flash preceded it.

Pyrrha's Aura screamed at her to duck, the Mistrali champion ducking just in time to hear a massive shell—nearly a grenade by the size of the gust of wind that it left in its trail—scream past her. She heard something explode behind her, followed by the screech of a Death Stalker. Pyrrha turned just in time to see the creature topple over not thirty feet behind them, a chunk of its head the diameter of her shield missing from what remained of it. The body toppled limply to the earth, its tail disappearing in a puff of ash and smoke as its body began to fail and fall apart.

Pyrrha watched for only a second more before she turned back to the forms in the dust. The dust itself was parting, revealing the figures of Mr. He'Stan, Mr. Grimnar, Mr. Cain, and a few others she had never seen before standing at attention, all bearing various weapons and armament.

"On your feet, kids," Mr. Grimnar called out as he lowered his massive, two-barreled gun. "The battle is yet to be won!"

Vulkan stepped forwards. "Brothers," he cried out, spinning his spear as the blade itself caught fire with the distinct colors of an oil fire. "Into the fires of battle!"

The rest replied as they hefted their weapons. "Unto the Anvil of War!"

At that, they charged towards the crater in a multi-colored cavalcade of clothing, armor and weaponry, with Logan swinging past them to pick up his axe. "On your feet, Lad," he barked as he hefted the axe onto his shoulder with no trace of difficulty, "the ground is no place for a Huntsman!"

Pyrrha didn't pay attention, and could only watch on as the... well, the only word she could use was army of Huntsmen collided with the Grimm forces, carving a swath right from the onset, as if they had practiced fighting these creatures a thousand times over. At the tip of the spear was Vulkan, ironically swinging his flaming spear left and right as a tiny stream of liquid gold flitted about him, parrying strikes and countering attacks with the grace of a falling leaf. Beside him was Cain, his chainsword tearing effortlessly through the Grimm as they came at him piecemeal. She heard the roar of a engine being gunned as a scar of white and red zoomed into the fray, carrying an East Mistrali man of notably sharp features into battle with a scimitar worthy of high fantasy novels.

"Holy fuck," she heard Jacob say as she saw him walk just into her line of sight.

She felt a massive hand on her shoulder as Logan grabbed her shoulder. "Don't tell me you of all people don't want to get in the middle of this fight?"

She shook her head as she glanced up at him, catching a look at the massive axe in his hands. She felt a rush of adrenaline in her veins as she brought Miló and Akoúo̱ to bear, the red and gold spear glinting angrily in the late morning sun. "Never, Professor," she said determinedly as she saw Jaune out of the other corner of her vision stand up, brandishing his shield and sword.

Mr. Grimnar's toothy grin flashed his wolf fangs jovially. "That's what I like to hear," be barked as he spun the axe over his shoulder without an ounce of difficulty. "For Russ and the Allfather!"

Pyrrha smiled as he cried out his warcry. "For the Wolf and the Father," she returned.

Jacob looked at the two of them for a brief moment with a look that seemed surprised, only for a Dust cartridge to zip past his head. With a shake of his head and a tired grunt, he drew Cadia and Titan again, spinning the roaring blade to life in his hand. "Last one to fifty kills buys drinks for everyone later," he said as he snapped off a shot into the Grimm hordes.

The four of them charged forwards, Pyrrha scaling up and over a planter again as she looked to come down on the head of the nearest Ursa to them.

Definitely not how I saw this mission going, she thought with a battle-induced snarl on her face.

---

Penny crouched low against the broken terminal as the particle-wave weapon blasted a cone of heat over her head. She felt the blistering spike in temperature, her internal monitors silently screaming that those temperatures were even too much for her to handle.

Penny honestly didn't care at the moment considering she had more immediate threats than that.

Her artificial Aura alerted her to an incoming threat overhead, something intending to impact her head. She ducked left as the massive spiked mace of the giant Space Marine slammed down onto the terminal, crushing the machine in a shower of parts and wiring. Penny backflipped away as her training and tactical procedures denoted a Backswing Strike; She drew back three of her blades and swung back through her backflip, the blades skimming the floor and careening towards where she approximated his chin to be. She observed the blades close in on his chest, only for him to pull his mace with blinding speed between his chin and her blade, riposting them with ease.

Penny grimaced as she landed on her feet twenty feet away, bringing her blades into a pirouette as she blocked another swing from him. Her processing power became exclusively focused on blocking and riposting back, drawing another three blades as she became a whirling dervish, blades and maul swerving and dancing in a dangerous game of skill as the two fighters battled.

She turned her head just for a moment as she spotted Cinder Fall in front of a terminal, typing away furiously as another Atlesian soldier lay dead beside her. Penny's mind recognized the soldier, Petty Officer Russo Tetania; his arm was missing from his torso, torn away by the maul along with his rifle, leaving him to die there... alone and in terror.

Penny felt a pang of guilt and fear in her mechanical heart as she realized just how little it had hit her when it had happened, not even four minutes ago.

Her defenses faltered for a second, letting Eliphas bring his giant gun up to try to blast her. She stepped sideways as he fired, the blast of heated air slamming into the wall and melting a near-perfect circle in it as the slag dissolved or tumbled to the earth below.

Penny felt a spark of worry in her circuitry as she lashed out from the spin, catching his gun across the barrel and sending it flying. Eliphas didn't even seem to react to it as he swung around and attacked back with a great, cleaving blow. Penny had only a second to block with three of her blades in a makeshift shield, the jagged spikes poking through the open spots in her makeshift barrier. Their weapons locked together, forcing them into a shoving match as both tried to overpower the other.

This fight has gone on too long, she deduced mentally. I need to stop Ms. Fall before that virus is installed... but how?

Penny made very little effort to counter Eliphas' attack, finding that while he was large and his strength higher than normal humans, he was surprisingly weaker physically than she was, even in such advanced, augmenting armor. Her x-ray scanners had identified gear and mechanics well beyond the capacity of even Atlas, yet she was able to keep her ground against it to some degree. Still, his ten millennia of combat experience was winning the day, blocking every swing and riposting in kind.

If I had Father's bio-scan upgrades I could see what is his physical condition, she mused in her circuited mind as she swung out with another two of her blades and caught him across one of his massive pauldrons. Eliphas growled as he jumped back, drawing his gun with lightning reflexes.

Penny didn't have enough time to dodge the attack. She grimaced and squeezed her eyes shut as she prepared to take the hit, crossing her arms in front of her.

Thermal sensors screamed at her as she took the full blast, the force threatening to throw her backwards. She stumbled with a small scream of surprise, feeling the heat as it roared over her.

A little part of her processor noticed that the heat signatures reached over 1000 Fahrenheit. She was lucky to have her Aura, or she would have been reduced to slag; a small part of her mind glitched with panic at the thought. She opened her eyes, looking down at herself to see if there had been any damage. The good news was, nothing so far, even to her clothes, though she wasn't as worried since she wasn't entirely anatomical; she had always wondered why she wasn't made fully anatomical when Father had wanted her to blend in with humans.

The bad news was her Aura plummeting to just under 30%. Another hit like that and she would be reduced to a pile of slag.

Penny grimaced. This had to end now.

"We're in and loaded! Let's go!"

Penny blinked in surprise as she heard and felt a sharp whistle of wind overhead. Her gaze turned to where she had last Cinder, and was met with the sight of the Fall Maiden nocking another arrow in her bow with cautious speed. She was grimacing, a look that Penny could read as what was considered 'self-disappointment' to most. Penny was familiar with it from seeing Jacob in his sparring practices.

The obsidian arrow flew with another sharp whistle less than a second later. Penny drew a blade and smacked it out of the air as it careened on a trajectory for her lower abdomen.

"Eliphas," Cinder hissed as she backpedaled, "Time to go!"

The giant looked over. "I heartily agree," he said with a nod as he smacked another due of Penny's swords away.

Penny grimaced as she realized she was too late to stop them. But wasn't about to let them get away so easily.

"No, you won't," she said as she dove past Eliphas, retracting her blades for but a brief moment only to draw them all and launch them at Cinder.

Cinder somersaulted away, Penny's swords zipping past her as she spun and twisted through the dervish Penny had sent her way. Penny saw a flash of orange and black as her Artificial Aura alerted her to an oncoming threat, heralded by another sharp whistle. She ducked aside as the obsidian arrow screamed past her, weaving past her swords' wiring and embedding into a wall. Penny continued forwards, frowning determinedly at the Fall Maiden as she shouted, "Cease hostilities immediately, Maiden!"

Cinder seemed to bristle at that, though Penny saw a small smile on her face. "I don't think so," she said as she hopped back and stretched out her hand.

Penny saw glowing yellow flames cascade around her eye, and another one that appeared in her hand. She didn't even need her most powerful processors to know what was coming next.

The world erupted into fire, a stream of angry flames casting the room in an inferno. There was a scream from behind her. The blaze smacked Penny head on, slicing away at her Aura with an angry roar.

Penny dashed backwards, drawing all of her blades and beginning to spin them in a circle. Her onboard processor calculated the right angle to blow the flames back as the eight blades spun clockwise, forcing back the blaze. Penny strained against the inferno, worrying that her blades would eventually hit their twist-zenith and the flames would engulf her again.

Her synthetic ears picked up the sound of whimpering. She turned her head and was met with the sight of a young Huntress in an Atlas uniform, cradling a bleeding arm. Her ginger twin tails were tinged with blood too and looked like they had been singed, her weapon—what looked like glowing blue nunchaku—were shattered and melted, Ice Dust inside spilling out onto the floor and leaving a ring of ice around the broken weapon.

She heard the sound of Eliphas' footfalls off to her side, but her focus was on keeping the momentum up so that neither of them were incinerated.

The wave of fire lasted for twenty seconds and 145 milliseconds according to the internal chronometer in her system. And then it ended without warning.

Penny spun aside and launched her blades forwards, letting the twines spin nearly to their end as the swords crashed through the remains of the flames.

They made no impact with where she calculated Cinder to be. Instead, she felt the impact of striking the wall a second and a half later, sending the impact vibrations up her wires.

She frowned as the fire parted, revealing Cinder and Eliphas both to have disappeared. No arrows, no Space Marine worshipping Chaos Gods, no Fall Maiden who thieved her powers. Only a burn scar on the floor that splayed out towards Penny like tendrils reaching to grab her and drag her into the abyss.

Penny hummed as she drew her swords back and returned them to her interior compartment, the blades snaking back into the small of her back with a small hiss.

"Damn," she hissed angrily, only to cover her mouth in shock. Did I... did I just swear? I think Jacob is rubbing off on me!

There was a sharp hiss behind her. She turned and was met with the sight of the girl, teetering on her feet. Penny felt like she had seen this girl before, but where she couldn't quite put it. Almost immediately, her facial recognition software began to comb her memory files for any matches.

"Wow," the girl said as she continued to cradle a bleeding arm. "That was amazing!"

Penny felt a big smile across her face. "Thank you, but you've been hurt. You should stay down and wait for a doctor."

The girl shook her head. "Nah, I can walk," she said, still tottering just a little on her feet. "But... who were those guys?"

Penny almost automatically let the words out through her mouth, only for her cogitation systems to override desperately. "Uhh... I... am not sure," she said in recovery, hoping it wasn't suspicious to her.

About then, her memory banks found a match. [FACIAL ANALYSIS...88% MATCH TO: NEON KATT]

[STUDENT: ATLAS ACADEMY—FRESHMAN CLASS—TEAM FNKI]

[RACE: FAUNUS—CAT]

Penny's memory pulled forth a clip from RWBY itself, early on in Season 3, showing her fighting with Yang in the Vytal Tournament's arena.

An alarm sounded as she scanned the girl for injuries. [WOUND NOTED: LACERATION ALONG TRICEP, DEEPNESS: UNKNOWN... 60% CHANCE OF MAJOR ARTERY BREACH; RECOMMEND IMMEDIATE MEDICAL ATTENTION]

Penny grimaced. "That seems to be deep," she assessed. "And you've lost blood."

Neon smirked cockily. "I lost more when I fought a Beowolf for the first time," she said, her eyes starting to seem unfocused. "I mean, it's not that much... right?"

"Your entire sleeve is bloody," Penny commented worriedly.

She looked down as if it had only just occurred to her. "Oh... uh, I guess you're right. Wow... that is a lot."

Penny nodded her head. "Please," she said, "I don't want to see anyone else die today. Just... sit down and let's find you an armband. I think we can halt the blood flow."

A minute later, Penny had torn off a piece of her sleeve and was wrapping it around Neon's upper arm, wondering how the fight farther in the city was like. As far as she was aware, this was supposed to be the events pertaining to the end of Season 2, an event called 'The Breach,' as far as she was concerned with the name of the final episode and what Jacob was calling it. Out there in the city, Ruby, Jacob, Pyrrha and the rest of them were busy fighting the Grimm invasion coming from the subway systems. And yet, the footage indicated that Cinder did nothing during the events of the episode. Ergo, there was something that spurred her to act differently from the original timeline; she was originally supposed to perform the virus upload during the Dance, if Penny remembered right.

Penny's brows shot up just as she finished tying the band over her arm. "Oh dear," she said as she stood up and jumped over to the nearest terminal. Memory banks pulled infrastructure codes and access information, allowing her access to the core systems of the CCT. She was immediately into the network data, her fingers furiously typing in access codes as she felt worry in her emotional processors. Data poured across the screen, her eyes scanning anything she would have presumed out of sorts for the interior systems; a code out of line or missing, a program or site corrupted, something, anything that seemed out of sorts.

"Hey, uh," she heard Neon Katt say, "I think you dropped something."

"I'm sorry," she said, her processors focused exclusively on the codes. "I'm... a bit busy at the moment."

She continued for she didn't know how long, until she had combed every file uploaded for the last 600 seconds of data entry. She huffed in uncertainty; nothing there, but that was not a guarantee she had failed. Heck, their retreat was a guarantee they had managed to get the virus into the system. And yet she couldn't find anything...

She backed up, only for her hand to brush something. She looked down and was met with the sight of a melted piece of metal and plastic the size of her thumb, damaged beyond repair by fire and impacts, bent and warped in a myriad of ways that would be impossible to even salvage.

She felt her processors lock up with worry as she recognized it as a physical memory bank... the kind that she used for backup of her memory.

"Oh no..."

---

"We can't hold them any longer!"

"There's too many of them!"

"Are the rest of the civilians evacuated!?"

The cries between the Space Marines and other Imperials reached his ears through the din of battle, but his mind was preoccupied by other, more immediate threat. He pulled Cadia loose of a dying Creep with an exhausted huff, stumbling backwards as he felt his adrenal high begin to fade away. How long had he been fighting now? He'd lost track of time and he hadn't exactly had a chance to look down at his watch. The sun was getting high in the sky by now; surely it was closing in on midday?

There was a growl to his left, angry and hungry. Jacob sighed as he feathered Cadia's engine, her angry purr bringing the world back into focus. Even then, she was feeling heavy as sin, and he could feel his arms aching with each muscle spasm as he braced to fight again. His gaze traveled over his shoulder as he spotted it; another Beowolf, the... twentieth he had fought so far.

It crouched low, growling angrily. Jacob grimaced as he turned to face the beast, shakily drawing Cadia up and around as he channeled Obi-Wan Kenobi. With his outstretched hand he bade the creature forwards, not even sure if he was coaxing it forwards in mockery or in an earnest want to get it over with.

The Beowolf howled loud and long. Jacob's ears perked up nervously as he heard four more around him.

"Oh, that's not even remotely fair," he said as he turned and saw them encircle him. Five Beowolves, one novice-as-fuck Huntsman.

Whether in desperation or his reserves weren't fully gone, he felt adrenaline rush in his veins again.

The Beowolves lunged together, a five-pointed wall of teeth and spikes lunging at him.

With an angry roar of defiance, Jacob spun like a pirouetting dancer as Cadia roared to life in his hands, teeth spinning inwards as he sliced through their faces and torsos, feeling the tension of metal teeth meeting boney plates.

That didn't stop their forwards momentum as he found himself dogpiled by them, four of them hitting him limply. The fifth, however, collided with him and tore him loose of the others, sending Jacob face first into the dirt. He felt his waning Aura flare in terror, only for a growl to rumble behind him. He surged fearfully and angrily, trying to throw the creature off, but his low Aura did nothing to amplify his strength and stamina.

He felt something clamp onto the sides of his head with the force of a punch and the pain of one too. He let out a roar of pain as he squirmed his left arm free, trying to reach for his head on instinct. He was met with the touch of cold fur and a growl from directly behind him. The Beowolf was trying to eat his head.

His Aura felt like it would give out any second now.

Adrenaline surged in his veins as he reached in his pocket desperately with his free hand, the creature starting to shake its maw as if to tear Jacob's head from his shoulders. He felt the hilt of his pocket knife and flipped it open as he drew it from his pocket, spinning the stiletto and jabbing blindly.

A deafening howl left the creature's mouth as is let go of his head. With all of the instincts of an animal, Jacob scrambled forwards in a blind panic, drawing Titan as he flipped around and opened fire. The beast howled angrily again as it took a bullet in the chest, followed by a few in the arm and another in its jaw, that last one blasting the offending orifice apart. The creature recoiled in pain, throwing Jacob's shots off as he emptied his magazine into the open air behind them.

The Beowolf snarled through its lack of a lower jaw, wheeling angrily on the spot with blazing red eyes. It limped forwards, its one unwounded arm lashing out at him angrily as he scrambled backwards, Cadia on the opposite side of the Beowolf from Jacob.

Jacob felt terror grip his heart as he scrambled backwards. He reached for a magazine on his belt with the hand he held Titan in, only for him to feel nothing there. He was out of rounds now, at least for Titan, and Cadia was... well, behind the Beowolf.

He felt his stomach sink.

The beast prepared to lunge angrily, it's destroyed maw leaving it with a permanent snarl.

"Get away from him!"

He heard the sound of Ember Celica from off in the distance. A blur of gold slammed into the Beowolf, throwing it aside.

He was met with the sight of Yang, blazing with fire and anger, her eyes blood red as she landed beside him in a roll that ended with an immediate volley of shots from her shotgun-fisticuffs. He turned just in time to see the beast fly backwards from the shells, strangely not destroyed by the blasts.

Somewhere in the back of his adrenaline-drowned mind, his brain was wondering if he wouldn't be done with this Beowolf for a while as it stood up and fled into the city.

"That's right, fucker, you better run," she roared angrily, her body a raging inferno. She looked down at him, crimson eyes meeting his again. She offered him her hand up. "Are you okay?"

He felt his heart skip a beat. "Uhh... y-yeah," he said as he took the hand and stood up, body shaking again with adrenal fatigue. "I... th-thanks, Yang."

She sighed. "Don't mention it," she said before she took a massive breath, her personal inferno dying down again. Their little corner of the square was clear of Grimm for the moment, though across the way more fighting continued with the Imperials, the still-standing half of Team JNPR and the rest of Team RWBY. Jacob saw the dashing blur of red and black as more Beowolves dropped, their head removed with the force of a hurricane as a white and red motorcycle carried what he could only presume to be a White Scar aside her; A wall of ice skewered a half-dozen Boarbatusks as it manifested from thin air, The Great Wolf beside her as he slashed another three with a single cleave of Morkai, a literal trail of ice and fire arcing off of it from its arcane, Khornate origins. Blake zipped about the battlefield like an agile cat—how appropriate—her shadows dancing through the Grimm lines and slicing them apart with ease.

For the rest of the Imperials, they were busy having broken up into smaller groups stemming other threats elsewhere; he saw Vulkan and Gabriel back to back swatting away tides of Creeps, Vulkan's flaming spear with the icon of the Salamanders carving through them with the ease of a hot knife through butter as Angelos swatted them away by the dozen with each swing of his Remnantine warhammer. Cain and The Lysanders were busy holding back a pack of Ursa, with Captain Darnath himself squaring off against an Ursa Major while Luce backed up their daughter against another Ursa Major.

At the center of it all, though, stood Pyrrha and Jaune, fighting back to back as they... well, there was no way else to put it, as they danced across the center of the battlefield. Jaune blocked an Ursa's paw for Pyrrha to jab the creature in the throat with her spear, only for the two of them to turn around, Jaune catching a Beowolf across the chin with Crocea Mors' shield. Pyrrha kicked out a leg and tripped the beast, forcing it onto her spear as Jaune pulled away and slashed another one across the snout, sending it reeling backwards as it gripped its bloodied snout. They were a blur of gold and white and red, as in-tune as partners could be as far as Jacob was concerned.

For a moment, he wondered if this time around Jaune might pick up on her feelings sooner rather than later. Then came a Raptor's cawing from the direction of the yawning maw in the ground, followed by another three or four.

And yet more Grimm continued to pour out of the tunnel, as if called up and over like soldiers from the First World War.

"There's no end to them," Jacob said shakily through his adrenal high. "They're fucking Legion."

Yang nodded. "We can't hold them off forever."

"Any ideas?"

She shook her head. "Not unless you have a boulder hiding in your pocket."

He reached into his pocket and produced one of his IEDs. "A hard no on that, and I doubt these are of any use," he said.

She grimaced in agreement as she racked another couple shells. "Round Five it is, then."

"Right, then. Let's give 'em hell. We resist and—"

His sentence was interrupted as a colossal series of booms echoed from the tunnel. Under his feet, the earth quaked angrily, though not enough to knock him off balance. But it was the first one that he noted that sounded... familiar.

Like giant footfalls.

For a moment, adrenal rage gave way to panic. Oh no...

There was a sound like a freight engine mixed with a screeching pig from inside the tunnel, sending other Grimm—even a pair of Ursa—scrambling out of the way.

The rocks around the area exploded outwards like they had been set to dynamite, though there was no flash from an explosion. Jacob could only see a mass of black from within the masses of concrete and earth, flying in every which-way.

Ruby stopped dead in her tracks as a concrete boulder four times her size zoomed past her and slammed into a clothing store. The White Scar managed to miss it, vaulting up another upturned concrete boulder to jump over the path of trajectory as it careened passed them. A smaller one struck and broke Weiss' ice wall, sending the heiress to the ground as ice shards fell on top of her. Another one zoomed past Jaune and Pyrrha, the former panicking and falling on his ass as a bowling ball-sized piece zoomed over his collapsed self; whatever this was had either solid precision, or was plain lucky. He and Yang as well were forced to shield themselves, a shower of dust and small rocks covering them in a coat of dirt.

However, Jacob could only wince as Blake took a piece the size of her torso square in the face, stopping her agile maneuvers and sending her to the ground in a heap with a scream of pain.

Yang started forwards through the settling dust, panic in her eyes. "Blake!" Without another word, she rushed forwards through the interrupted battle, leaving Jacob to stare on in confusion.

"W-wait, Yang, don't," he shouted in worry as he bolted after her, only for the sentence to die in his throat as the dust settled.

The black mass in the center of the crater moved.

The first thing that Jacob noticed was the shape. It was immediately noticeable as bearing the shape of a therapod dinosaur, and a big one at that. A short, squared and angular head was lined with rows of teeth that jutted from the sides of its short snout. Its body was stout and thick with muscle, practically obese by the standards of most animals. The upper half of it was wrapped in white, Grimm-bone armor plating, each plate bearing around 3 or so hooked spikes on them. Its head, also encased in bone, bore a row of spikes along the center of the snout, almost like a buzzsaw blade set in its head, trailing up its snout, down its neck and all the way to its spiny, jagged tail.

But the parts that made him the most worried were the stumpy, three-fingered and long-clawed arms at its side, and the massive bull horns that jutted up and forwards off of its brow, beady red eyes blinking hungrily.

"Carnotaurus," Jacob muttered in terror under his breath as the creature strode forwards, surveying the battlefield.

Across the battlefield, he saw Morkai shoot up and towards the beast. The roar that came out of Logan Grimnar's throat was terrifying in how much alarm there was.

"Matador!"

Jacob turned and gazed around at the chaotic battle. Most of the Huntsmen had drawn their attention to the Carnotaurus Grimm, the beast towering over them as it let out a haunting roar-scream from its throat, a lawn-mower and a tiger mixing with a dying pig in its throat. Other Grimm ran further into the city as if being around the beast was a death sentence.

At this juncture, Jacob wondered how accurate that was.

It lunged forwards at the nearest target, the Lysanders and Cain, its massive jaws snapping but failing to make purchase on any of them as they juked out of the way. Unfortunately, Jacob saw that even the tail was dangerous as it slammed against Delia's shield, sending her flying a dozen or so meters backwards and tumbling across the ground. Meanwhile, it continued on, the beast now comparable to a freight train with its forwards momentum. Ruby and the White Scar again dodged the oncoming threat, though its tail seemed to clip the back of the White Scar's bike.

Jacob began to step backwards as he watched charge forwards, its turning radius too wide to impact him where he was but still terrifying to watch. "We've got to get out of here," he said silently to himself. "We can't fight that thing, not without more help..."

About then he noticed where Yang was as she helped Blake to her feet; right in its sights.

Jacob's stomach roiled in terror. "Yang," he roared as he started running forwards, "look out!"

He saw the creature close in at impossible speeds, kicking up debris left and right as it charged, looking to trample the two partners. Yang rose a fist and fired, the Fire Dust shell screaming through the air and making impact with its brow.

It never even flinched, continuing forwards.

Jacob sprinted as fast as his legs could carry him, adrenaline still pumping through him as he pulled his chainsword loose and began to scream, trying to get its attention.

The creature was 100 feet from them, and its course didn't change.

Jacob continued to roar. "Hey! I'm right here you big brute! Come on, Ugly! Right here, fight me!"

50 feet, and Yang was still firing away, no shot making impact.

"Right here! Eat me, kill me! Come on, I'm right here!"

30 feet out.

"COME ON!"

A flash of bronze zipped past him, slamming into the side of its head with enough force to move it.

The Carnotaurus Grimm—the Matador—seemed to stumble and list to the side, its feet missing a step and its charge failing as it slipped and made impact with the ground.

Jacob's heart clenched in his chest as Yang turned to body-block Blake, only for the creature to skid past them, missing them by inches with its spiked tail.

Jacob skidded to a stop a few feet out, trying to find where that bronze blur was from. Surely it had to be Pyrrha's shield, a thought that only slightly less unnerved him since it now meant that she was probably in its line of sight.

He was indeed right. Pyrrha leapt and rolled over some concrete rubble with Jaune in tow, launching Miló at the beast with a blast of a Fire Dust round. The spear soared and made impact, sinking in a good four or five inches into its blackened hide as it tried to rise to its feet. The Carnotaurus—or, rather, the Matador shrieked angrily, trying to right itself as Pyrrha jumped and kicked out her feet at the spear, sinking it in deeper. The creature roared again as Jaune went to slice into its face with a defiant roar, only for Crocea Mors to bounce off harmlessly.

"This guy's hide is really tough," Jaune cried out with a tone of worry as the beast righted itself and began to rise on its feet with a shake of its head. Jaune began to back away, terror dripping off posture. "Oh, crap! Run!"

Jacob felt himself go clammy as Pyrrha and Jaune began to retreat, the Mistrali Huntress pulling her weapons free of the beast with her magnetic Semblance. The Carnot—the Matador—gave chase with a colossal roar, its single-minded course laser-focusing on the two even as he saw Blake open fire at it with Gambol Shroud.

Jacob didn't need to be a physicist to know full well that Jaune and Pyrrha couldn't outrun the beast. At a glance, it could and wound outrun them in a straight line, though they went and mitigated that problem by turning their trajectory just a hair. It wasn't a lot, but Jacob saw that it was enough to force it to slower speeds than its maximum; yet there was little doubt that it would still catch up with them.

Jacob grimaced as he levelled Cadia and Titan and squeezed both triggers, trying to land a good shot. Cadia clicked hollowly as Titan roared, a charge of Lightning Dust slamming into its boney osteoderms. The creature didn't even flinch.

"Fucking Christ," Jacob cursed under his breath. This thing's not gonna go down easy.

Jaune and Pyrrha swerved aside as they reached the street across the plaza, Jaune screaming as the beast snapped at his heels and missed, its trajectory too wide to not slam into another building.

"That was my favorite store," he heard Coco scream as a volley of shots soared past Jacob's left flank at the beast. The shots made laser-guided impact, but it did nothing to distract or damage the creature. The Matador roared as it burst from the ruined store and chased after Pyrrha and Jaune, disappearing down the street.

Ruby alighted near him, tired and leaning on Crescent Rose as she panted tiredly. "Why is... it after them?!"

"I think it's single-minded enough to chase anything running from it," Jacob said as he felt clammy sweat pour off his brow. "We have to find a way to get its attention!"

"How do you suppose we do that," Weiss said as she joined them, shortly followed by Yang and Blake.

"Its underbelly is exposed," Blake offered as she stared at where it had last been. I can swing underneath and carve at it, then the rest of us can finish it off!"

Jacob nodded. "I like the sound of that! Let's go!" At that, he took off at a dead sprint, only to be immediately outpaced by Team RWBY, even though most of them were battered and sporting bruises of some kind. He growled, angry at his own slowness as he sprinted forwards at his flat-out top speed, following the trail of carnage it left in its wake.

There was a solid six whole minutes of sprinting he forced himself to endure, his lungs and legs burning as his Aura desperately worked overtime to keep him alive and alert. He thundered down several streets, following the trail of overturned cars and smashed buildings, frantically ducking past Grimm too busy with searching through the ruins to notice him, surprisingly.

There was a cry of pain farther down the fifth road he turned onto. He recognized it immediately. "Blake!"

Not a second later, he saw her limply fly down the street towards him, hitting the ground and rolling like a rag doll as a flash of violet energy coursed over her as she cried out with each tumble and impact that she made. She stopped a few feet short of him, Jacob immediately dropping to a knee and picking her up to rest in his lap.

He was quick to note that she had been spared any damage other than her impact with the pavement, though that had not been so kind. She was covered in cuts and bruises, purple and red set to her tan skin. Her left eye looked to be already turning black and blue from the impact, though he didn't see any swelling, just coloration. Her bow had been ripped from her head, her Faunus ears out for the world to see.

"Oh my God," Jacob said as he tried to gently shake her awake. "Blake, talk to me!"

Blake groaned in pain, her eyes still closed. She moved slightly, only for her to wince and clutch her sides. "It's... ggh... it's too strong..."

Jacob felt the blood and heat rush from his face as he let her try to talk. "Easy, easy, Kitty-Cat," he said. Curosity filled him as he felt her side. He could feel what he presumed to be a rib... and it was moving like it were hinged.

Blake let out a cry of pain, making him wince. "Sorry."

"Don't worry about me, y-you need—agh! You need to h-help them!"

Jacob winced again. "Did anyone else take a hit before you?"

"...Weiss down... Yang was still fighting. Ruby's staying back and f-firing from afar."

Jacob grimaced. It was just down to Pyrrha, Jaune and Ruby. How poetic. He reached into his jacket pocket and produced his Scroll, shakily trying to dial for a number. He heard the ringing for several seconds as another roar from the Matador sounded off, followed by the retort of Crescent Rose.

The ringing gave way to the light sounds of a scuffle. "Not a good time, Jacob," came the voice of Vulkan. "Where are you anyway, I saw you and the others take off after the creature, we got cut off—"

"Blake's been hit hard," he said in panic. "She's got some broken ribs, I think there might be some internal bleeding, I don't know for certain."

"Alright," he said after a second, "Hang on, Pythol and I will be right there. Just keep her safe."

"I am not leaving the others to take that fucking thing on alone," he hissed back.

There was a revving sound down the road as a motorcycle of white and red rounded the corner, carrying the White Scar on it. "No need," he said in his thick Mongolian accent. "I've got her, go and help them!"

Jacob nodded before he looked down at Blake.

She grimaced through the pain as she stared at him with her bright, amber eyes, even as one seemed to only open half-way. "I'll be fine," she said, "go and help—ah! Help them!"

He stood up and let the White Scar dismount his bike and replace him. "Thank you..."

"Sugodai," he replied. "Sugodai Tsagaan."

Jacob nodded before he quickly flashed a sign of the Aquila, turned about and thundered back after the group.

In his mind, he found himself worried in both directions. The thought that crossed his mind carried double meanings aplenty. Please don't be too late, please don't be too late...

Another three streets of carnage and scattered Grimm—small enough ones that he easily dispatched them—and he was met with another town square. Here, it was evident that the Vale Police had tried to put up a fight with the Grimm and had succeeded for the most part.

That was, until Pyrrha and Jaune had accidentally lured the Matador to them.

Cop cars sat overturned or on fire, several caved in like they had been t-boned. Police barriers and riot shields sat crushed in giant theropod footprints, as firearms sat scattered across the ground. Even more gruesomely, some were still attached to arms and whole people, several cops having been crushed or savaged by the beast; were Jacob a few months younger, he might have truly thrown up at the bloody messes left in craters and wreckages.

The only things alive in sight were Yang, Ruby... and a dozen Raptors that had set upon them, encircling them and caging them from escape. Ruby was just landing back on the ground as a Raptor smacked her with its claws, while Yang was in the process of throwing off a humongous dogpile of the bastards.

"Jesus Fuck," he hissed. "Hang on, I'm comi—"

Suddenly, a building on his left exploded.

Jacob jumped in terror as he saw brick, glass, wood and concrete fly about, forcing him to the ground as some of the lighter, smaller debris made a bee-line for him. As the passed over him, he winced just a hair, only for his eyes to catch something.

His heart went cold and still as he saw Pyrrha and Jaune both fly limply through the air into the second story of another building across the way, crashing through the window and into the building.

The scream came before he even registered it in his mind. "PYRRHA! JAUNE!"

He didn't even need to think about it before he rushed after them, ignoring the Matador's angry roaring. He dove through the door and up the stairwell as he heard the store's entryway explode at the hands of the creature's charge.

Please be okay, please be okay, please be okay, Oh God, please be okay!

He ascended the stairwell and immediately spotted them; it wasn't hard to spot them in the giant crater in the drywall along the back of the building. Jaune seemed alright at first glance, groaning and trying to right himself, only to fail as the drywall he was perched on cracked and failed around him.

What chilled Jacob's blood was Pyrrha... and the blood dripping from her head. "Oh my God," he said through the roaring beast outside as he dashed over to her and tried to right her.

The good news was that she didn't have anything protruding from her, whether head or body. The bad news was she seemed to be bleeding from where her circlet was. Blood was running onto her brow, her pallor already starting to get paler. She was limp and unconscious.

Jacob ran a hand through her hair, terror gripping him. "No, no, please God, no! Not like this! Pyrrha, please, wake up!"

No response.

The wall across from them exploded. Jacob instinctively blocked her from the debris, feeling wood and brick smack him in the back. He roared in pain as his already weak Aura strained against the impacts, only for the floor beneath them to retort.

He suddenly felt like he was falling... for all of a second or two.

He cried out as he landed on his back with Pyrrha cradled in his chest, like a child with their favorite toy. That feeling of a fire in him fizzled and cracked, leaving him feeling normal, sans the pain he was feeling. His Aura had broken...

And the roaring beast outside was making a go at them.

He reached for Titan and fired blindly as he cradled Pyrrha with his other arm, only opening his eyes as the last shot made impact with its tongue... as it was mere inches from chomping down on Pyrrha's feet. The beast snarled and reared backwards at the pain.

Jacob desperately scrambled back, struggling to pull Pyrrha back despite her weighing well beneath his weight by any guess. The screams out of his mouth were only compounded by the realization he had just emptied Titan of all of his rounds. He reached over and produced Cadia desperately as the creature reared forwards again, gunning the engine on instinct and slicing into its nose. To his horror, the strike bounced off of the bony plate on its head, only making a screeching sound as metal met bone. Still, the creature was driven back for a second, giving him a chance to look out past it.

Without even intending on it, he found himself locking eyes with Yang as she watched them from afar, the Raptors slowly encircling them, now joined by a pack of Beowolves. Her eyes were wide in terror, her Aura visibly flickering and wavering; she was also nearly out of Aura.

For a brief, horrified moment, Jacob stared into her eyes and wondered if this would be their final hurrah. No fighting Cinder, no fighting Salem, Team RWBY and JNPR would end here at the Breach.

No happy ever after for them.

Something sparked in the back of his mind at that as the Matador lunged forwards again, teeth snapping. With a surge of exhausted strength, Jacob kicked out and pushed back off the Grimm's snout, giving them a bit more distance to work with. He stared at Cadia for a second, wondering what he could do with it against such an armored creature.

About then, he noticed the power nodule.

...Fucking idiotic me, he thought to himself, as he triggered its shift into a saber for the first time in a while. Immediately, the nodule sprung up along the bade and sparked to life, electricity coursing down the blade and giving it a glow of blue energy.

From chainsword to power sword. Talk about ranking up.

He leaned up and swung again as it tried to snap at Jaune, this time feeling the blade slice into the bone plate over its nose with ease. The beast roared deafeningly in his ears, reeling back and smashing its head into a support beam, bringing more of the second story down on it. Jacob felt a brief moment of respite as he forced himself onto his feet, desperately dragging Pyrrha up as he strained to keep her upright on his own. If they could just hold out for a few more minutes...

The Matador wasn't having it, swinging its head with another roar. Right then, Jacob spotted one of its horns too late as it swung, its head shearing a path at terrifying speeds.

Searing pain scored his sword arm's shoulder and yanked him off his feet, dragging him across the room with a scream of pain and terror. His world was pain in his arm right up until he felt his momentum stop and his back erupt in pain. It must have thrown him into the wall. He grimaced through the searing pain and tears as he sat himself upright and reached for his shoulder. He felt a ragged hole about the size of a paintbrush in his shoulder, and a hot, stickiness to it. His blood. He was bleeding like a stuck pig.

But his mind turned to something more urgent. Pyrrha... I lost hold of her...

He forced his eyes open through the pain. He saw her laying on her side where he had been, now ten feet away.

The Matador was poised to clamp its jaws down on her. Across the way, an injured and drained Jaune reached in desperation, trying and failing to get onto his feet.

Jacob grimaced angrily. "H-hey, ugly," he groaned as he tried to right himself to get in front of her, "pick on someone still conscious."

The Matador stopped and turned to face him with a growl, its burning, hungry red eyes boring holes into his soul.

Not planning on them or me dying today, he thought to himself as he powered up Cadia. But if I'm going, I'm taking you with me, motherfucker.

He picked Cadia up off the floor and moved in to swing. The beast lunged.

He heard Jaune cry his name in terror.

For a moment, he saw his life flash before his eyes as the creature's hungry, yawning maw opened, revealing row upon row upon row of teeth in its mouth, like the world's angriest wood chipper. He swung Cadia in a last-ditch strike.

The blade never connected. Neither did the Matador.

Something threw the 50-foot long Grimm aside, it's massive frame carving half of the entryway out as if it had been slammed by a tank round. That part of the building collapsed, leaving the rest intact as sunlight flooded the room.

Jacob blinked through his confusion and the growing lightheadedness he felt. "H-huh?"

Someone landed in front of him, crouched low in a superhero landing. He could immediately tell it was a she by the figure, her body robed in a light brown corset and bronze, lightweight-looking armor. At first glance, Jacob could see she was almost his height, probably the same as him if he was honest. She wore a leather-strap skirt, black leggings and black combat boots, though Jacob's stomach roiled as he recognized a very familiar red sash around her waist, clasped beneath a leather belt of bronze and red medallions. In her hands she wielded a very a pair of xiphos-like shortswords, Jacob spotting long chains wrapped around her arms, like she was trying to be Kratos.

But her head of red hair—actual red—cut in a bob-like hairstyle made Jacob double take the most.

"Get away from our daughter," she hissed.

The voice that left her mouth left Jacob's blood frigid in his veins. It was perhaps a pitch lower by comparison, but it sounded just like... Pyrrha.

He didn't need that much brain power to figure out who this was.

Pyrrha's mom.

The Matador stood itself back up with a shake of its head, limping on its left leg. It turned and snarled with its mouth of teeth, lunging forwards again.

A blur of gold and red slammed into it, throwing it into the adjacent building again. The blur zipped backwards at speeds Jacob would mistake a lightning bolt to wield.

Or a Space Marine.

A voice rang out, Jacob's mind recognizing it as no different from Hugo Weaving's dulcet tones.

"Pandora, now!"

The woman nodded and burst forwards, leaping forwards and launching a blade at an exposed support beam. The blade imbedded itself as she swung forwards at the beast, releasing the other blade as she spun it in a circle and launched it.

The Matador screamed in pain as the blade sunk deep into its neck, only for it to whip its head back and bite down on the chain and blade in an attempt to pull it loose.

"No, you don't," she said as a vial of light near the end of the chain sparked with gold light. The light traveled down the blade with a scream, the creature suddenly spasming as yellow electricity coursed up and down it. The sparking lasted all of two seconds before she yanked the other chain loose and tossed it down into the other side of its neck as she swung up and over it. She landed with a grunt and pulled the chain taught, a crimson Aura flaring to life as she visibly strained against the creature as it tried to stand back up. The tug of war began, one lone woman smaller than her daughter holding down a Carnotaurus Grimm that was more along the dimensions of a Tyrannosaurus.

Jacob didn't know if it was the blood loss or the awe of the scene, but he felt his jaw go slack at the sight.

She strained as the beast began to lift its head, only for the woman—Pandora—to grunt and pull the creature's head down.

About that moment, Jacob felt the spark of a memory. Wait... Pandora...

"Honey, now!" she called out as she strained against the beast.

The voice rang out again as the sound of a jet engine roared overhead. "By the Blood!"

The gold blur appeared again, this time joined by a glowing cascade of blue. It came down on the beast's neck.

Jacob felt his breath flee him as the Matador's neck was cleaved in twain, not even the bone putting up any resistance as it flopped loose and fell to the earth with a colossal thud, only to be obscured by a dust cloud.

Jacob blinked hard as he watched on in awe, the gold figure righting himself with a groan. He rolled his neck and began to turn around as the woman retracted the blades on their chains, following suit with a look of urgency.

Jacob gasped in shock as he recognized the figure.

In the armor he stood around seven feet tall, any of his features obscured by golden armor carved with intricate features. Abdominal muscles and pectorals had been carved onto the chest plate, the sheen on his armor dulled by the dust he had kicked up, leaving his form a matte version of what most might have considered the pinnacle of the human form. Jacob spotted a pistol in his other hand, the slotted barrel and large tube on the side being instantly recognizable as an inferno pistol, the Meltagun's handheld little brother with just as much kick. In his other hand, though, was an axe more than half of Jacob's size, its gold body, wing-tipped pick and leather hilt leading to a bearded axe head wreathed in blue energy. On his back was a massive backpack with a pair of vents; a Jump Pack, one of the more modern designs by Imperial standards. And upon his head, cast in gold, was the scowling, screaming face of The Lord of the Ninth Legion, the Great Angel Sanguinius, his head wreathed in a halo.

Jacob felt his breath leave his lungs in awe at the presence of the Lord Commander of the Blood Angels. The urge to take a knee was strong, even though the urge to pass out as he felt the blood flowing from his wound lessening. Was the wound already clotting itself, or was he running out of blood. Why was the world spinning even though everything was standing still?

The two turned their attention back to the two of them as the sounds of battle and familiar grunting was heard, followed by Ruby's voice crying out 'Uncle Qrow!?' Raptors screeched in pain as Jacob tottered over to the window to see. He was met with the sight of a blur of black and silver fighting Ruby and Yang, stopping every so often to reveal the form of Qrow Branwen fighting with them.

"Qrow... you weren't supposed to be here... 'til Volume... 3," Jacob muttered as the dizziness increased. He felt himself fall over, facing the rest of them.

Pyrrha was being scooped up in Dante's arms as Jaune was propped up by the woman, a hint of panic to his posture. "Pyrrha," came the Dante's voice again, smooth and calm yet carrying urgency to it. "Speak to me, sweetheart. Don't go into the light..."

Jacob felt his stomach churn as his vision faded. His mind put things together in desperation.

"Pyrrha... dad..."

The last thing to go through his mind before he was swept into unconsciousness was four simple words.

Dante... is... her father...

---

And... Scene.

*passes out in exhaustion*

Next Chapter, we see the aftermath and the tribulations the main character has to deal with. Of course he ain't dead, yet, the plot demands it!

Review, comment, like, favorite, all that good stuff, and I will see you all in the next Chapter... buh-bye~!