Chapter 3: Caffeine rush
Noble Six awoke the next morning, extremely thankful that she remembered she'd elected to sleep up in a tree that night so she didn't try to roll once she was awake. Instead, she carefully crawled along the branch to look over at the camp she'd seen the other night.
She'd debated making contact, but elected against it, not only were they heavily armed and better fed, but none of them had anything to indicate they were UNSC. If they were hostile, she wasn't going to stand a chance. It was far better to collect intel undetected from a distance and to make sure they were friendly.
Admittedly, I don't think any Rebel Cell ever wore high heels into combat.
Just because they haven't yet doesn't mean they can't ever.
It's still weird.
She looked across at the camp, where they were getting ready to move out, with the man in green packing up the tents while everyone else collected various other gear into dull grey backpacks. She realised that she was going to have to move quickly if she wanted to catch up with them. Six unhooked her rucksack from the branch it was hanging on and climbed down, before setting off after them, munching on her last ration bar as she followed them.
Six couldn't hear what the group was saying, but she knew that they were talking, their body language was a big give away. She noted how casual it was, this probably meant they weren't trying to be stealthy or secretive; so hopefully that meant they were indeed friendly.
Yeah, but will that tone change when they realise that they've been followed?
Deciding not to dwell on that, Six kept moving. The sky was still grey but the rain had finally stopped; so she was at least slightly more comfortable, even if the straps of her backpack were grating against her skin.
Suddenly the group she was following stopped, what were they looking at?
Six's brain jumped into panic mode the second she saw the glowing blue orb light up. She'd seen that charging at her across a battlefield before, usually in the hands of a Grunt.
Six had a split second to make a choice, yell and warn them and hope they were friendly or duck for cover in hopes of avoiding shrapnel.
Thankfully she didn't have to, the man in the orange vest yelled "Throw it!" and the woman holding it had done so, and just in time as the grenade exploded. Six didn't actually see the blast though, she'd thrown herself behind a tree and curled up as tight as she could in the hopes of making herself a smaller target.
As her heart beat slowed down she sighed in relief, grateful they'd had the sense to toss it. Though a small part of her was angry.
Who the hell picks up a freakin' grenade off the sodding ground!?
"Okay, new rule: No touching any mysterious spheres found on the ground." Coco declared, looking at the burning/destroyed trees where she'd thrown the orb. "Thanks for the heads up Fox."
"Don't thank me, thank our stalker." He sent back. "They freaked out as soon as that thing lit up."
"Do you think it was theirs?" Velvet asked, looking at Coco's hands; the flesh felt raw but there wasn't a burn, so she'd probably gotten lucky. Still, she was worried, Coco's Aura was dangerously low just from holding the thing while it was smoking, if she hadn't thrown it...
"I don't know; at the very least, they knew what it was." Fox said, his head turned to better hear the fire.
"We should get moving, Yatsu' what are you looking at?" Coco asked, looking at the most stoic member of her team who simply pointed at the path they were following. Coco followed his finger and realised what had caught his attention.
"What kind of Grimm makes that kind of track?" Velvet asked nervously as she bent down to examine them closer; Fox moved to cover her as she leaned in closer.
The tracks were a weird mix of different shapes, some like two clawed feet, some like hooves, a few wide and squat hoof shapes, others narrow and pointy.
"Nothing good." Coco muttered; while she wasn't an expert on Grimm species she did remember something Professor Port had told them about. "Guys, I think we have a Nuckelavee here."
The group recoiled, Port's stories were usually exaggerated to make him sound better than he probably was, but if you paid attention, he did actually explain things about Grimm while he rambled. Nuckelavee looked sort of like a man riding a messed-up horse, with stretchable arms and the ability to rotate their torso a full three hundred and sixty degrees. He had made it abundantly clear that you should never face one alone, even his story had emphasised how many people had been with him the last time he hunted one.
"The Village is in danger if there's a Nuckelavee around." Velvet said, looking up at Coco. "We have to warn them."
"We need to see what we're dealing with, they might ignore us without proof." Yatsuhashi pointed out. "We are just first years, after all."
Coco was annoyed that he was right; as competent as Team CFVY might be, they were still new. Warning the villagers of a powerful Grimm being around because of some footprints wasn't going to be enough; they were going to need more solid proof.
"Okay, we'll go and find it, but we won't engage unless we have to, we're far too low on supplies to bring down something like that." Coco said, shocked by how sensible the plan coming out her mouth was. Seeing Velvet nod approvingly did make her feel a little better though.
"We need to be careful; there are other creatures with the Nuckelavee." Yatsuhashi pointed out as he freed his sword from his back and pulled out his wet stone. Fulcrum had seen a lot of use recently and really needed a proper repair, but for now it was probably the teams best ranged defence once Coco and Fox were out of bullets due to its sheer size, and if yesterday's inventory check was right, their ranged weapons were going to be useless soon.
"Got it. Velvet, if we set off something big, let 'em out." Coco said, nodding to the box the rabbit girl kept strapped to her belt. Once her girlfriend had nodded back, Coco grinned. "Come on Team, let's get ourselves some proof."
After half an hour of walking Team CFVY ducked down low, hearing animalistic noises they slowly moved forward and had to fight gasping at what they saw.
The creature in the clearing wasn't a Grimm; it seemed to be a nine foot tall ape of some kind, with ash grey fur and wearing a very burnt looking suit of armour. It was also extremely angry, swinging around a massive hammer with a large blade on the back and yelling as it smashed up the surrounding trees.
"Are you quite done Knox?" A new voice said; the speaker moving out of the opposing treeline, Team CFVY once again not knowing what they were looking at. Shorter than the ape, this creature seemed to be some kind of hunched over lizard, its four mandibles moving in such a way that made it a massive shock it could even speak english clearly.
The Ape, apparently called Knox, let out an annoyed grunt as it swung its hammer over its massive shoulder.
"Yes." It spat back, discontent evident in its voice.
"Good, then get back to camp and stop wasting your hammer; clearly we're quite a ways away form the nearest refill station, and I do not want to deal with your whining when you run out of power in the middle of battle." The Lizard said coldly, not even flinching when the Ape closed the gap between them, towering over it.
"The Prophet's cannot protect you here, Turak!" It bellowed.
"The Prophets protect me everywhere, Brute." The lizard responded simply. "And if you make me your enemy, you will regret it when we get back."
The Large Ape growled and grabbed the lizard around its arm, pulling it up into the air.
"We aren't back yet Elite; if you make me Your enemy you will regret it." It spat.
"Both of you stop." Another voice growled, another lizard stomping out of the woods; it's scaly face was hard to read, but Coco knew what 'I am so done with your shit' sounded like.
"Kurak, I was just…" The lizard in white began before it's gold-armoured companion closed the distance, growling in its face.
"We will discuss this away from here; Knox, take a moment to calm yourself, then head back to our camp. The Unggoy have yet to lay so we really can't afford to lose anymore to your anger. Meanwhile, I need to have a word with my brother." The Lizard in Gold said before grabbing it's white armoured brother and hauling it off.
"Will someone please tell me what's going on?" Fox sent, still as a statue as he hid behind a rock. He knew that whatever had gone on out there wasn't normal but he had no way of knowing exactly what they'd seen.
"Honestly I don't know, some kind of sentient ape and lizards" Coco sent back before looking at Velvet. "Get a picture, I have no idea what's going on but we need to tell someone; those lizards had more of those blue orb thingies on their belts, they're clearly armed and I'd be willing to bet they're ready to use 'em."
Nodding Velvet freed her Camera and readied it, pushing the capture button… and realising the mistake she was making a split second too late.
Her Camera's flash lit up from the woods, and the Ape noticed.
"Run!" Coco yelled, subtlety tossed to the wind as the Ape charged at them.
The team bolted, darting into the thicker trees to stop the creature from getting a clear run at them.
"Coco, we're going to attract Grimm!" Yatsuhashi pointed out as he vaulted over a rock, narrowly missing a swipe from the Ape's massive muscle bound arms.
"I'm sorry, this is my fault!" Velvet cried as she jumped over another swing, spinning in mid air to kick the ape in its face.
"We'll bring it down once we hit a clearing." Coco called out. "Go all out on this thing as soon as you get a good shot."
Velvet nodded and soon the group jumped into a fresh clearing; Velvet slid to a stop and went to open her box, only she didn't get a chance. She knew something was wrong as soon as she touched the box, something was stuck to it. A quick look showed it was long, with a fatter end adorned with 4 brutal looking spikes; one of which was stuck in the weapon's casing.
And then it exploded.
"Velvet!" Coco cried as she ran to where the girl was knocked out. "You okay?!"
"Aura took most of the hit." She gasped; staggering to her feet, trying to activate her box… only. "Oh no, Coco, Anesidora's…"
"Broken, Vel get back, we'll cover you." Coco said, shifting her bag into its minigun form. The barrel reving up as the angry ape exploded out of the treeline, she didn't give it a chance; she opened fire on the creature.
"It's got an Aura!" Coco called as her bullets failed to penetrate the Ape's hide, this was bad. Not only were they failing to injure the ape, but they were mostly just making it mad. It let out a deep roar and charged, closing the distance between itself and the girl in seconds. Crushing the gun's barrel with its hands. Coco didn't get a chance to react before it grabbed her and threw her bodily across the clearing.
As Coco crumpled, Fox ran in, slashing at the creature with his tonfas; once again failing to penetrate the creature's Aura. It brought its hammer around and swung it straight into the blind boy.
The effect was devastating, not only was the hammer swung with force that rivalled Yatsuhashi's swings, but the weapon had an extra trick up its sleeve. The impact unleashing a massive surge of force that ripped the ground out from underneath Fox's feet; the painful crunch as he hit a boulder was sickening to hear.
Yatsuhashi sprinted in next, swinging his sword and catching the hammer. The two combatants locked in battle of strength, both sides fighting to keep themselves upright and not fall back.
"You can't win, Human." The Ape spat, forcing the man in green back, his head bowing in defeat. Only to be shocked when he looked up and smiled.
Coco's weapon slammed into the side of the Ape's head. While it being mangled the way it was had prevented her from closing her minigun up into its handbag form, there was still enough weight in its half closed-up form to throw the distracted creature off. In a rage it stumbled before slamming its hammer back, hitting Coco square in the gut with the handle of its weapon.
The air was forced out of the girl's lungs as she staggered backwards, barely standing as the Ape kicked Yatsuhashi in the gut before slamming the bladed edge of its hammer into his skull; thankfully his Aura withstood the attack, but it did break in doing so. Coco readied herself to attack again, she was not letting that thing get another hit off.
BANG! BANG!
Coco gasped as two shots blasted out of the forest, staggering the Ape as it fell backwards, light flaring up around its body as it did; it's Aura finally having broken from what Team CFVY had done to it and the shots coming in from…
Coco was not above admitting she'd dreamed of being saved from impossible odds by a naked girl before. She would argue it was perfectly natural to fantasise. But when she had those dreams they typically involved a more adult looking figure, usually immaculate with long flowing hair and sporting a very ample chest. This girl… was none of those things.
Yes, she was naked, with a short mess of lavender hair on top of her head and fierce orange eyes glaring at the ape, but she was also short, worryingly skinny, covered in scars and burns, including a very nasty one on her gut. She looked as though she'd been dragged out of some piece of heavy-duty industrial equipment while it was still running.
She was also armed only with a small pistol and knife, but that didn't seem to stop her as she closed in. Firing another shot at the creature's face, she forced it to bring it's hand up to shield itself from her bullets as she ducked down low, taking advantage of the raised arm to drive her knife into the creatures torso, depth indicating she'd threaded it through the ribs and straight into the vitals.
The Ape roared in pain as the girl's eyes went wide before she lunged for something on the creature's hips. The Beast grabbed her around the arm, a sickening crunch sounding out as it closed its fist around the limb. The crazy girl didn't even seem to flinch as she raised the object she'd stolen and grinned.
BAM!
The Ape let out a gargled cry as the gun blew the creature's face off, seamingly fueled by hatred, it raised both its fists; determined to bring them down on the girl even if it couldn't see her anymore.
However, before it could, Velvet slammed into the creature, delivering a brutal two footed kick to the beast's chest; the creature went crashing down, letting out one last gargle before it finally stopped moving. Team CFVY took a second to centre themselves, breathing deeply and regaining their footing before Coco asked a very important question:
"What the hell just happened?!"
