Volume Two Finale
Part Three – Straight From The Grave
/-\ Oscar Pine /-\
Mahogany hit his helmet again before messing with some knobs on his wrist. "Godsdamnit…" He muttered. "Welp, looks like I lost contact with command…"
"Hey, guys?" Cerulean said, coming down from the treetops. "So… you know the starship that was above the alien base?" We both nodded. "Well… it's kinda… on fire right now. As in, 'probably about to explode' on fire."
"Uhh… is that a problem?" I asked.
The Atlesian suddenly stiffened. "Wait… if one of our battlecarriers is bright enough to light up the sky when it blows up…" He trailed off.
"…Then we don't wanna be anywhere near this thing right now." I finished. "But where do we go? We can't get off this mountain without any airships!"
Cerulean suddenly jumped between us. "Wait, didn't we pass a cave on the way here?"
"What?!" I shouted. "Didn't your parents ever tell you to stay away from dark caves? They're filled with Grimm!"
"Well, the way I see it…" Mahogany started. "We can either stay here and hope the thing doesn't explode, or we can go back to the cave and hope there aren't any Grimm inside. Or maybe just Creeps. We can probably take those."
A loud explosion boomed through the forest. Through the trees, I could barely see the remnants of a large fireball bursting out the top of the enemy starship.
"Cave it is!" I shouted, sprinting past the others.
I burst through bushes, snapped twigs, and startled more than a few deer in my haste, diving behind a rock outcropping and whipping out my pistol only a few moments before the others arrived.
"Godsdamn, Pine…" Cerulean huffed. "With those legs, you shouldda been in the infantry."
I gave a half-hearted chuckle. "Uhh… sure, let's go with that." I pulled out my flashlight, taking a moment to remember how to brace my pistol properly when holding one. "So… we ready?"
Another explosion boomed from above.
"Welp, no time like the present!" Mahogany shouted, flicking on his own rifle-mounted flashlight and charging into the darkness.
I followed him, Cerulean a few paces behind me. We pushed deeper into the cave, our boots splashing through the darkness as we sidestepped stalagmites. I caught a flash of red in my flashlight. Immediately snapping my gun to the source, I fire-
…I let my finger back off the trigger, sighing.
"Got something, Pine?" Mahogany asked.
I shook my head. "Just some… weird white shrimp." I said, seeing them scurry about in the small pond in front of me. A small, drip-fed stream flowed into the water, no trace of the surrounding grey stone polluting it.
He shrugged. "Come on, we need to get as deep as possible." I sighed, following him deeper. The cave bent in a… weird way; turning almost ninety degrees.
Perfectly.
The walls also seemed to be straighter here; the ceilings had less stalactites, and the floor with less stalagmites. Just as I opened my mouth to voice my unease, something rumbled behind us. I whipped my flashlight and revolver around just fast enough to catch the rumbling earth assemble a wall in back of us.
"Oh, shit." Cerulean said.
"Fuck! Contact!" Mahogany shouted, opening fire.
I whipped back to his positions, seeing a pair of big red eyes.
"THIS IS NOT YOUR GRAVE…" A rumbling voice said.
Suddenly, half the cave was illuminated, revealing a green… thing that stood beside the red-eyed – and still shadowed – Grimm. The leaves around its head unfurled, revealing glowing silver eyes and a mouth filled with bristles.
"But you are welcome in it."
/-\ Winter Schnee /-\
The Spartan, as I'd been informed she was, tossed me into the waiting Pelican, the ramp closing behind her almost instantly. I scrambled to a seat, barely grabbing on as I felt the airship launch forward. I fastened the restraints, melting into the soft padding with a sigh. Only after I'd secured myself did I look around the cabin.
My eyes widened.
"What in the Gods name happened?!"
The Spartan tending to Qrow glanced at me. "Her datachip showed they encountered a Covenant Spartan-equivalent."
His comrade, the one tending to Ruby, continued. "They won."
"They wo- They're both unconscious!"
The conscious Spartans glanced at me in unison. "They destroyed the target with zero KIA." 130 said.
I glared at her, but before I could say anything, a blinding light shot through the tiny porthole at the back of the ship. "W- What the hell?" I muttered, getting up and walking on the now-stabilized floor. Peering out the dropship's window, I saw a massive fading fireball; one whose cloud was just now hitting us.
I stared as the cloud diffused, my jaw practically hitting the floor when I saw just how big the crater was. When Ruby and I arrived here only hours ago, there was a mountain range. Now?
A glowing red crater sat between the mountainpeaks…
/-\ Weiss Schnee /-\
I quickly dodged to my left, ducking under the Beowolf's swipe, just barely staying on top of the wall and avoiding a long fall into the sea of red trees below. All around me, guns blazed; the city's defense turrets working overtime to stem the black tide. I landed, pirouetting and sticking my blade into the Grimm's brain, silencing one of the fewthat slipped through.
I glanced over to my teammate's position and saw her bayonet another Beowolf that was just cresting the wall before unloading a round into its face.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a Griffon descend towards her. Acting on instinct, I tackled her to the ground, the Grimm's talons ripping a knot out of my ponytail as we hit the ground. I yelled in pain, quickly rolling to my side to face the monster. Valkea was slightly slower on the uptake, so I sprang to my feet and jumped between her and the snarling Griffon.
My eyes narrowed as it reared up on its hind legs, readying for a pounce. I spun Myrenaster's revolver to ice dust; maybe if I could freeze it in place, I could-
BANG
…Or Valkea could shoot it.
Acting quickly, I plunged my blade into the floor, sprouting an ice spike that pierced its throat as the Grimm roared over the loss of one of its eyes. I pulled my blade free as it disintegrated, offering Valkea a hand and pulling her upright.
"Did it get your hair?" She asked.
I frowned. "Is it that bad?"
She shrugged. "I'm sure you can fix it. Somehow."
"Let's hope so." I said, slotting in a replacement ice dust canister into Myrtenaster. At that point, I realized that the turrets in this sector were substantially less active than they'd been a moment ago and, peering down at the forest, I saw no Grimm attacking. None whatsoever. "Huh." I let out. "Looks like we get a break."
"Finally." She said, plopping down. "Do you have any more of my eight-mils in your backpack? I'm down to my last clip."
I rolled my eyes, unslinging my small backpack and digging through it. "You really need to learn to carry your own ammo." I said, tossing her a canister.
"Hey!" She shouted, catching them. "I bring more stripper clips!"
"And what, exactly, are you going to do with those? Throw them?"
"Don't be ridiculous." She said, packing them. "I use 'em as shanks." We both stared at each other for a moment before bursting out laughing. "Y'know, Weiss, I gotta be honest with ya, you're not so bad." She paused, mirth in her eyes. "…For a Schnee."
I smirked. "And you're not so bad for a terrorist." She froze, eyes going wide. My smirk dropped. "Oh, right. You didn't know that we knew, did you?"
Her gaze trailed to the ground. "I guess it was too much to ask for Ruby not to tell you, huh?" She said. "Well, at least you didn't find out right away or anything…"
"Umm… actually…"
She groaned. "When?"
"Day two or three." I said. "Honestly, did you really think you could slip past an ex-Fanger and a terrorist hunter?" I hummed. "Then again, that's why Ozpin put you on our team in the first place."
"When you put it like that…" She trailed off before shaking her head. "If you've known for so long, I'm actually kinda surprised you guys didn't do anything to me."
I shrugged. "We still needed to be a functional team; Beacon only allows teams of four or lone wolves."
She resumed packing her clips. "Well, I appreciate it. Even if I was a bit of a bitch at the start."
"Well, I believe you're talking to the one person on the team who can empathize." I said, sitting down next to her. We stayed silent for a while, the only noises being distant gunfire and the soft clicking as she inserted each round into a stripper clip.
I couldn't help but glance over to Beacon Academy, seeing black smoke bellow from its direction. Once again, I pulled out my scroll and once again, I had no signal. Actually, scratch that, the first bar was flickering in and out of existence. I put it away; figuring whatever was interfering with my scroll would be gone soon.
At least, I hoped it would be.
I didn't like the idea of not knowing whether Blake – and Team JNPR… minus the J – were alright. I just had to hope they were. In the meantime, I stood back up and peered over the wall. I nodded to no one in particular, seeing no Grimm. When I looked up, however, my eyes shot wide open.
"Valkea…" I said, warningly. "Get up, we're about to have company!"
She shot to her feet. "What's wro-" She cut herself off, staring forward. "That's… a lot of airships."
"Starships." I corrected. "Just be glad it's only fighters and dropships."
Suddenly, the turret next to us boomed, causing us to clasp our hands over our ears in surprise. In the distance, a single Phantom started spinning out of control, plummeting down to the forest. The turret's guns elevated – trying to line up another shot – but they were obviously designed to depress, the barrels smacking into a metal ridge that stopped them in their tracks.
A hatch opened on the turret's top, a single VDF soldier climbing out and manning the pintle machinegun. A volley of green plasma flew forward from a flight of escorting Banshees, slamming into the turret and turning it into little more than slag.
Valkea and I ducked behind the machicolations, blue plasma bolts screaming over our heads. Moments later, Phantoms, Spirits, Seraphs, and even more Banshees flew overtop of us. After they passed, both of us sprinted to the inner side of the wall, peering over the ramparts there.
The sounds of weaponsfire – both plasma and dust-based – greeted us on the other side. Banshees and Seraphs engaged Bullheads, Kites, Hornets, and even the odd Winterfury. In the distance, I saw the few Human ships stationed here – both Atlesian and Valerian make – descend from the clouds, their low-yield lasers and conventional point defense guns blazing.
Suddenly, the forked form of a Spirit dropship descended on the street below. A pair of Ghosts dropped away before the doors opened, speeding away as the alien infantry hit the ground. I glanced at Valkea, sharing a nod with her before drawing my revolver and peering over the top.
I lined up a shot on the unsuspecting squad, my sights on a Jackal's skull. A moment later, it slumped to the ground along with an Elite Major that Valkea domed. The rest of the squad turned to us and returned fire, forcing us back behind cover.
'Five…' I thought, popping back up and taking a quick pair of shots at a Grunt. 'Three.' Valkea racked her bolt, turning invisible mid-way through the action. A moment later, her rifle boomed, accompanied by a loud and deep cry.
I scooted along the wall, finally going over the top again after moving several meters away. I squeezed off the remaining trio of rounds, downing another Jackal before ducking back down to reload. Just as I popped out the cylinder and emptied the spent casings, I felt my scroll vibrate in my pocket.
I groaned, glancing at the caller ID before nestling it into the crook of my neck and continuing to reload. "Yang, this is not the time to-" I paused, dropping the shell I was holding onto the ground and stared at my scroll. "Wait, Yang?!" I shouted, her pixelated face staring back at me through the scroll.
"Oh my gods, Weiss, you have no idea how bad the situatio-"
"I have no idea how bad this is?!" I shouted. "If I recall correctly, I'm on the front lines of a Covenant invasion! Again!" I said as I saw a Phantom disappear onto the street below. "Where are you? Valkea and I could really use some reinforcements right now!"
"Valkea? Who's that?"
I groaned. "We'll explain later, I'm activating my scroll's locator. Just get here, you dolt." Only after I'd hung up and stowed my scroll did the full weight of just who I was speaking to set in. 'Complete radio silence for two months and then just out of the blue…' I thought, my hands starting to tremble slightly. I shook my head, reaching for my spare revolver ammunition.
I clicked the cylinder shut just as the last round entered, popping up a moment later; the Phantom's troops just landing as my eyes peeked over the rampart. One of its Grunt gunners immediately acquired me, sending blue blobs of plasma my way.
I crouched down, only exposing my eyes and revolver to the enemy. I loosed three rounds, two hitting home. The Grunt spun around, falling from the dropship a moment later. At that point, I noticed that the wall was starting to get uncomfortably warm to the touch.
The Phantom turned away, jetting off into the baby blue sky one crewmember short. I wheeled on to the new targets below, namely the Jackals. Before I could open fire, I heard the telltale sound of glass breaking. Looking to a floral shop across the road, I saw an older man clad in a grey apron – matching his thinning hair – raise his shotgun through the now-broken window, anger in his eyes.
Without warning, he opened fire. An Elite Major's shields broke instantly, a round from my own weapon finishing it off. Valkea's rifle boomed, sending a round straight into an Ultra, making its shields flare brightly. My last two rounds made sure it would never harm anyone again.
I ducked back down to reload, the shopkeeper's shotgun still blazing away. I winced as my cloaked back pressed against the stone wall, the heat bleeding through almost instantly. I reloaded quickly, the roar of gunfire echoing in my ears.
I popped up once more, receiving a green plasma bolt to the face almost instantly. With a yelp, I ducked back down. More bolts sailed over my head, the heat from the wall getting worse and worse by the second; my aura even kicked in once it was as hot as boiling water.
I repositioned along the wall and looked back, my eyes widened when I saw the section I was huddled against start to faintly glow. I shook my head, once again going over the top. I immediately started firing, downing another Grunt and a Jackal before their comrades' plasmafire fell onto my position. However, not all of them focused on me and as I ducked into cover, my gun empty, I saw a trio of blue bolts slam into the shopkeeper's chest.
My teeth clenched as I jammed more rounds into my revolver, Valkea's rifle booming in the background. Just as I was about to peer over the wall again, loud, jet-powered airships screamed overhead. I completely missed the first flight, but I caught the second well enough to make out their large, dark, and angular frames. They were Human airships.
UNSC airships.
My thoughts didn't linger too long on the airships themselves, though, instead focusing on the two figures that jumped out of them even as their cannons boomed. I immediately knew they were huntsmen; no one would jump out of an airship and into a war zone without complete and utter mastery of their aura.
Add the fact that one of them wielded a large glowing weapon while a stark white cloak flapped in the wind behind her, and I was certain. The other huntsman was dressed in black armor from head to toe, save for a pair of golden gauntlets on their forearms. As the pair zoomed closer and closer, the gauntlets started to look very familiar. My eyes widened as I remembered my brief scroll call only a few minutes ago.
"…Yang?" I muttered. The two huntresses fell past me faster than a speeding cannonball, one with far more grace than the other. Yang, of course, decided to fall straight into the street, barely missing the wall on her way to meet the enemy fist-first.
Her partner, however, used an actual landing strategy. Throwing her weapon down to her feet, she expanded its width many times over, standing on it like a surfboard. Then she dove, pulling up at the last minute to avoid getting a mouthful of leaves. She clipped the wall, skidding off into the city beyond.
I wanted to be surprised – to yell at them for being so reckless – but honestly? We had more important things to worry about.
"Valkea! Cover me!" I shouted, drawing my sword and vaulting over the wall. The only response I got was a boom from her rifle, the bullet smearing an Elite's brains all over what remained of the pavement. By the time I hit the ground, Yang had already stood up, bodies filled with concrete shrapnel surrounding her.
The aliens, numbering only a dozen, stood shock still at the display; at least, most did. The sole remaining Elite, a Zealot, growled, drawing an energy sword. Its hiss snapped the aliens out of their stupor, and they raised their weapons.
I quickly flicked Myrtenaster's chamber over to lightning dust, plunging it into the ground a moment later. Everything around me – from Yang's dive to the side, to the Zealot's lunge, to the Grunts' and Jackals' plasmafire – slowed to a crawl. I quickly formed a repulsion glyph behind me, jumping off it at lightning speed.
I flew towards the Zealot, my blade arcing for its sword arm. When it was only a few feet from Yang, I connected, throwing it off just enough to miss my teammate. I made another repulsion glyph as I rocketed past, skewering a Grunt on the way.
I flipped, flinging myself off this glyph and back towards the Zealot, which was slowly turning to face me. Before it could, however, my blade sliced into the alien's throat. My momentum carried me onwards, my Myrtenaster – blade slick with blue blood – following suit after half-decapitating its victim.
As I skidded to a halt, the world started to speed up. Eyes widening, I quickly flicked over to my limited supply of hardlight dust and cast a shield between me and the Covenant forces. The moment the barrier sprang to life, it was already engulfed with plasma. I started retreating, even the Grunts being fast enough to be untrackable with my eyes.
I barely got a single step backward before I was roughly shoved to the ground, an enormous boot stomping my face in. Just as suddenly as it started, a black and gold blur shoved the Brute away. Shotgun blasts and plasma bolts echoed in my ears as the world spun around me. By the time I finally clawed myself up from my prone position, the world was rapidly returning to its normal speed.
My eyes fell upon Yang, who had just punched her fist through a Jackal's abdomen, a pair of glowing red dots just barely visible behind her steely visor. Alien bodies lay all around her; some with faces caved in, some with grievous gunshot wounds, some with limbs missing entirely. She withdrew her hand, tossing the Jackal to the ground as she seethed.
"Y- Yang?" I let out, slightly terrified at the sight before me.
She whipped around to face me, those burning red eyes boring into my soul. A moment later, they were gone. "Weiss!" She shouted, sliding town to my level. "A- Are you alright? Does anything hurt? Is your aura-"
"Yang!" I interrupted. "I'm… I'm fine."
She sighed in relief, enveloping me in a tight embrace. "I…" She started. "I missed you."
I returned the embrace. "I missed you too."
We stayed like that for a moment before separating, her visor depolarizing. Her eyes flicked downward and she winced. "Ah… sorry about that…"
I looked down, frowning when I saw my white dress was now covered in alien bloodstains. "It's… fine." I said, shaking my head. "But what isn't fine is now you recklessly you fought them. I've never seen you this angry, Yang, what's wrong?"
Her eyes flashed red, only returning to some semblance of her usual lilac after a few moments. "They hurt Ruby. Badly." She said.
My eyes widened. "How badly?"
"She… she's in surgery right now." She said, fists clenching. "Those bastards put her in the hospital and I'm gonna make damn sure that they don't live to regret it." She growled. "And that's not even everything. My Uncle Qrow's right beside her with a hole in his chest, Peach is dead, and they took the rest of Winter's arm!"
A spike of worry flashed through my veins. "They…" I started. "They're safe, right?"
She nodded. "As safe as they can be, yeah. They uhh… they hauled them up to the Spirit of Fire; that's the big ship I got here on." She shook her head. "But that doesn't matter right now. Where's Blake? We have a ship to blow up."
"She… won't be walking for a while yet." I said, raising an eyebrow. "Now, what's this about a ship?"
"Wait wait wait wait." She said. "Uhh… what do you mean, Blake won't be walking for a while?"
I winced. "There was an… incident at the dance last week." I said. "She's fine, but she's in a wheelchair with a broken leg. So, about the ship?"
"It's a CCS-class battlecruiser." A new voice said from behind me. I jumped, startled, and pointed Myrtenaster at the newcomer. I stopped mid-thrust when I saw that the person in front of me was an older and somehow miniature version of Ruby Rose.
The white-cloaked woman gave a gentle smile, pushing the blade away with the tip of her index finger. "You two really need to work on your situational awareness." She frowned. "But in all seriousness, we need to get going. You're Weiss, right?" I nodded. "Yeah, you look like a Schnee. I'm Summer, by the way; Ruby and Yang's mom."
I stiffened. "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, missus-"
"Yeah, nice to meet you too and all, buuuut…" She interrupted. "There are three Covenant ships parked up by the northern coast. If we can isolate the carrier at the center of their formation, Captain Cutter thinks we have a decent shot at destroying it."
I blinked, caught off guard, but quickly recovered. "So say we take care of the battlecruiser, you said there were three ships. What about the other one?"
Summer shrugged. "Cutter sicked Red Team on it."
"They're uhh… they're Spartans, too." Yang said.
My eyes widened. "There are Spartans here?!"
"Yeah, but we still need a team for the other ship." Summer crossed her arms. "And I don't like our chances if it's just me and Yang."
"In literally any other circumstance, I'd join you in a heartbeat. Especially for what they did to Ruby and Winter." I said. "But as it stands, Valkea and I can't leave our post at the wa-"
Suddenly, a loud rifle boomed from atop the wall, a loud screech following it. Moments later, the rifle boomed again. Something struck the wall; something that shook the ground. The attacker struck again, toppling over the slagged-out remains of the topside turret and sending it tumbling to the street below.
Valkea wasn't far behind, though her landing was far more graceful. She slowly backed away, eyes wide. "We can't stay here!" She shouted. "There's no way we can fight it!"
The ground shook again. "What even is it?" Summer asked.
"It's…" The wall shook again. "It's the biggest Deathstalker I've ever seen! The thing's stinger almost got me when I was up there; it's gotta be as big as an aircruiser!"
Summer hummed. "Welp, I guess we get to kill two ships today, then."
"Are you insane?!" She shouted. "Even my fourteen-millimeter rounds did nothing to it. How in the Brothers' names do you plan on killing it?! We need the airfleet, not a couple of huntresses in training and a single huntress!"
"It's a good thing we've got eye lasers then." Summer said, smirking.
Valkea gave her a flat look. "Eye lasers…"
The Deathstalker struck the wall again, causing the top third to give way and fall into the street below. I felt Yang yank me backwards, knocking me out of the path of a big chunk of concrete. As I regained my balance, I gave her a nod of thanks. Looking around, I saw everyone else was fine as the dust cloud began to clear.
The Grimm screeched, drawing our attention. I paled as I saw its claws peek over the shattered wall, scraping away yet more of the structure. 'That wall is twenty meters tall…' I thought. 'How in the Brothers' names did a Grimm that big get so close to the city?!'
"Mask Girl!" Summer whipped towards Valkea, grabbing her by the shoulder. "Look into my eyes." As the words left her lips, Summer's mirrored eyes began to glow with energy.
Valkea tried to look away, but the huntress held her firm. In the corner of my eye, I saw the wall crumble even more as the titanic Deathstalker began to mount it. "Whatever you're doing, do it quickly!" I shouted.
Suddenly, a pure white energy erupted from Summer's eyes, linking with Valkea's. My teammate gasped, her body stiffening. She spasmed, her rifle clattering to the ground.
I felt a loud boom through the ground and looking over to the wall, I couldn't stop myself from taking a step backwards. "It's climbing down!" I shouted, the beast's hind legs still piercing the wall while its forelegs skewered the street.
"Now!" Summer shouted, whipping the both of them towards the giant Grimm. I yelped, throwing up my hands as a blinding, omnipresent white light enveloped me. When that didn't save me from the light, I buried my head inside the crook of my elbow; even then, I could still faintly see it. Still, aside from the brightness, the light felt almost… motherly.
It wasn't a strong feeling, but the light had little inklings of love, warmth, and just… life.
As it began to dim, I felt a small part of myself wishing for its return. I shook my head, blinking several times as the light finally reached sane levels. Everything seemed to be the same around me as I looked around.
Everything except the Deathstalker.
"…What the fuck?" I let out as I saw it was completely encased in stone. I stared at it for several moments, completely oblivious to the world around me. After seemingly hours of standing still, I heard a faint cracking sound. I had just enough time to blink before the entire front half of the Deathstalker fell forward, disintegrating into a cloud of dust, a small pebble rolling forward and hitting my boot. I picked it up, rolling it between my fingers before crushing the chalky rock.
The wail of a Banshee pierced my ears as it flew through the dust cloud, dispersing it. Moments later, a pair of Kites darted past, firing on the alien craft. I whipped around, about to yell for everyone to get to cover, but the thought died on my lips as I saw Summer collapse before me.
"Mom!" Yang shouted, running to her as Valkea just… stood there, eyes glazed over. As the girl tended to her fallen mother, I noticed that the sounds of Covenant airships never truly went away. The Banshee zoomed above us, afterburners blazing, before doing a big loop, bringing its weapons to bear.
The pursuing Kites scattered as a green glob of plasma left the Banshee's front, heading straight for us. I gasped. "Yang!" I shouted, barely eliciting a flinch from her. I groaned, plunging Myrtenaster into the ground and pulling the trigger. A sheet of ice sprang forth, forming an overhang above them just in time to intercept the plasma.
Steam bloomed into the air as it impacted, but it ate through the ice like a hot knife through butter. Black stones rained down from the overhang onto the three below. Yang winced, immediately moving to shield Summer, meanwhile, Valkea yelped, finally snapping out of her stupor.
I ran up to them as the Banshee zoomed off, the Kites' cannonfire chasing after it. "You two can't stay here!" I shouted, running to them. "They've got a command post set up in Regalia Square, take Summer and-"
"No!" Yang interrupted. "We need you for the assault. Either you come with us, or we hold here until you can lea-"
Suddenly, something slammed into the remnants of the ice canopy, shaking it slightly. Raising an eyebrow, I peered around the-
I quickly flashed my sword upward, blocking the Beowolf's slash. It snarled and snapped its jaws at my throat. I struggled to hold back the beast and as I was setting up to reverse it, Yang surged forward, embedding her gauntleted fist inside the Grimm's masked face, her eyes glowing red.
My relief was short-lived, however, as through the Grimm's evaporation cloud, a pair of malevolent red eyes glared back at us. As Yang retracted her fist, I surged forward through the smoke, Myrtenaster poised to strike.
The Ursa Minor on the other side batted away my blade, practically sending it into orbit as it lunged forward, jaws wide. I sidestepped its attack, using the momentum of its parry to power my own counterstrike; one that slashed its neck.
It growled, black ichor gushing from the wound as it prepared another strike, this time with its claw. Before it could actually land a hit, however, I had already skewered its brain through one of its glowing eyes. The other flickered for a moment before going dark, its entire body evaporating.
A howl drew my attention to the wall, where a horde of Beowolves were climbing through the breach made by the Deathstalker. The alpha climbed atop the remains of the titanic Grimm, teeth bared as it gnashed its teeth.
I glanced at Yang. "You see? This is why I can't abandon my po-"
Suddenly, a green laser appeared out of nowhere, bisecting the Alpha. I froze for a moment, but the advancing lesser Beowolves forced me out of my stupor. I flicked Myrtenaster over to fire dust, summoning a row of glyphs in front of me. With a wave of my weapon, flames spewed forth from them and struck the Grimm as they advanced. Some fell, but their numbers were easily replaced by those behind them.
And then a green blur shot past me. I immediately stopped firing, dumbstruck at her audacity. After a moment, I recognized the newcomer as- "Penny?" I let out, seeing the girl twirl her swords around her with the slightest of gestures. I glanced towards Yang, who shrugged, cocked her gauntlets, and jumped into the fray.
By the time I joined the two, there were precious few Grimm left, the rest evaporating already. I only scored three kills before the black tide had been stemmed. I still kept my weapon readied in case any more crested the breached wall, remaining vigilan-
"Friend Weiss!" I was suddenly tackle-hugged.
"Penny, now is not the time!" I shouted, flailing my limbs about.
She released me, but not before I found myself on my feet. "But I'm just so happy to see you again! We never hang out!"
I dusted myself off. "Yes, well, I'm sorry about that, but I've been…" I glanced at Valkea. "busy." The silver-eyed girl glanced away for a moment, rubbing the back of her head. I made a mental note to apologize later. "But either way, what are you doing here? Aren't you stationed somewhere else along the wall?"
"Actually, I'm on the quick reaction force!" She said. "I was sent to contain the breach here in the commercial district!"
"Well, uhh… looks contained to me." Yang said, glancing at the half-statue of the titanic Grimm. "So Weiss, do you uhh… think we can go now?"
"Honestly, if they think Penny could handle that thing on her own, you'd probably be better off bringing her instead of us." I said. "Someone still needs to hold the wall, after all."
"What is happening?" Penny asked. "And also, who are you? I detected you using aura during our engagement with the Grimm, but I was unaware that the UNSC had any aura-capable soldiers besides Lieutenant Commander Ruby."
Yang's head tilted slightly. "Oh, uhh… I guess you wouldn't recognize me like this, would you?" She reached up and depolarized her visor. "I'm uhh…. Yang. I was there when you met Weiss."
Her eyes widened. "Oh, splendid!" She said, rushing forward. "My records had you marked as killed in action. I'm very happy to see that they were incorrect!"
My teammate took a step back from Penny, who was standing a literal inch in front of her. "Yeah, I'm uhh… glad too." She said. "But anyways, we need to blow up that battlecruiser so the Spirit can engage the carrier. Are you with us?"
Penny froze for a moment. "The… alien starship? The one that can go all the way into space with zero notice?"
"That's the one, yeah."
She glanced at her hands for a moment, flexing her fingers. "I… I better stay here."
"And why is that?" I asked.
"I…" She started, eyes moving rapidly. "I am afraid of heights!" She hiccupped.
"You really don't notice it." I said. "I remember being far too concerned with the Covenant inside to worry about what was outside."
She smiled a little too widely. "E- Even so! The mere thought is enough to unsettle me. It would be best if I remained here while you three proceed. I am more than capable of holding this position on my own."
I glanced at Yang. "I suppose we are on a bit of a time limit, aren't we?"
"Yeah. Let's uhh… let's get going." She said, walking over to her unconscious mother. I faintly heard her speaking to someone, but couldn't make out what.
I glanced at Valkea. "Care to join us?"
She hummed, racking her bolt. "Do you really think I'd miss out on a chance to blow up a starship?"
"Now I don't." I said, walking towards Yang as she picked up Summer in a fireman's carry. "Alright, I'll take the lead. Yang, stay behind me and try to take cover once the shooting starts. Valkea," I summoned a propulsion glyph in front of her. "take the rooftops; you'll be our eye in the sky."
She nodded, stepping onto the glyph. "I'll make sure nothing gets close." She said before rocketing into the sky, vanishing mid-flight.
I drew my pistol. "Think you can handle this and keep her steady?"
"Definitely." She said, taking it. "Six shots, right?"
"Correct. Ready?"
"Let's go."
I took off running, Yang behind me. "It's only a dozen blocks, but keep your eyes open. I saw them drop off a patrol of Ghosts while I was still on the-" A beam suddenly shot past my head, only missing by an inch. "Sniper!" I shouted, diving behind a parked car as the beam swept over its roof.
Hot metal poured down the door, melting even the glass. Just as suddenly as the sniper's beam started, a high-caliber shot rang out. I watched the body slump to the ground, its head completely gone. I sheathed my sword, diving for its rifle as a second plasma beam connected the rooftops.
I quickly darted back out into the open street, training the strange rifle's sights – or at least what I thought were sights – on the source of the beam; another Jackal. A pull of the trigger showed my aim was off, but the beam itself made it stupidly easy to adjust my aim. I lowered my rifle, nodding in grim satisfaction as the alien's bisected body fell.
I glanced over at Yang, whose head was just barely visible as it poked out from a storefront. "Are you alright?" I asked.
She stood up, her mother still in her arms. "Yeah, you?"
"I'm good. Let's keep moving." Right as I said that, several fighters zoomed overhead; two Banshees being chased by one of the large UNSC starfighters. Its cannons roared, shearing off half of the lead Banshee's frame before it and the other Covenant fighter disappeared back into the blue. The damaged craft plummeted in a plume of smoke, rebounding off an apartment building and landing on a moving truck.
I brought my rifle back up as we advanced towards the crash site, Yang hanging back for obvious reasons. Nothing emerged as I climbed into the back of the truck, my finger on the trigger. I finally neared what was left of the hatch, opening it with a propulsion glyph. An Elite Minor laid inside, blue blood smearing the cockpit's interior.
It slowly rolled over, revealing half of its mandibles to be severed. It weakly growled at me, sounding more like a wounded animal rather than a fearsome alien warrior. It clicked on its energy dagger as it struggled to raise its arm, the other having been completely dismembered by either the crash or the cannon that brought the Banshee down. I stared at the Elite for a moment, not sure what to do.
"Do you need help in there?!" Yang shouted from outside. I glanced at the Elite again, seeing blood pour profusely from its gaping wound as it tried and failed to reach me. With a sigh, I raised my weapon and put a beam between its eyes, leaving a moment later. "Any uhh… any trouble?" Yang asked.
I shook my head. "Just… a body." I said. "Let's keep moving."
She nodded as I took the lead once more. I was more watchful of the rooftops this time, not wanting to come face-to-face with another patrol of Jackal snipers. Even so, the Elite weighed on my mind slightly. I shook my head, now was not the time for that line of thought. And besides, he- it was an enemy soldier that failed to surrender… not that I held any confidence I could actually hold an Elite prisoner.
Gunshots boomed in the distance; a combination of automatic weapons, burst fire ones, and faint sounds of plasma. Suddenly, my scroll buzzed.
Answering it, I saw Valkea's grainy face. "Weiss, there's a big battle around Regalia Square." She said. "The UNSC are holding out, but the huntsmen can't poke their heads out without the Jackals taking shots at them."
I frowned, scooting up next to a building and peering around the corner. Tracers whizzed by my head, missed shots aiming for the Covenant infantry in front of me. Beams shot down from the rooftops, aiming inside of a makeshift palisade made of parked cars.
Suddenly, a pair of Spirits descended from the skies, each carrying a four-legged walker of some kind. One was shot down almost as soon as it appeared by a pair of passing Kites, their guns tearing one of the troop bays off and shredding the walker between them; it spun out of control, crashing into the rooftops and skidding onto the street the next block over. The other dropship landed without a hitch, troop bays spewing out infantry as the quadrupedal walker fell onto the street.
I grit my teeth, pulling out a gravity bomb. "Valkea, take out the snipers, I've got an idea!" I shouted.
She winced. "Not so loud!" She shouted back, hanging up.
A moment later, more bangs rang out from above. I cast a propulsion glyph on the bomb, sending it tumbling towards the Covenant walker. It bounced off the skull of a Grunt on the way, landing right beneath its target's hull. A moment after it skidded to a halt, it went off, sending everything within ten meters floating into the air.
I whipped out my focus rifle, picking off all the smallfry as they flailed helplessly. A pair of rockets shot out from the square, both hitting their target and destroying the walker. My weapon overheated, making me wince as it vented all over my arms.
I threw it aside, drawing Myrtenaster and a shock bomb before charging into the enemy lines. As I rounded the corner, I saw that the effects of the gravity bomb were just now wearing off, causing them to plummet to the ground. Quickly scanning the area, I threw the bomb in the densest cluster of aliens I found.
I sidestepped a trio of plasma bolts, throwing up a glyph to deal with several more that came from my flank as I charged towards my target. The Elite Ultra shook its head, clearing the fog from its vision as its shields sputtered from riflefire. Its head shot up, glowing blue eyes boring a hole into my soul as it drew an energy sword.
"Valkea!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, still charging the enemy. It lunged towards me, but a fourteen-millimeter round pierced its skull from seemingly nowhere. I skirted past its falling body, aiming for the two Brute Minors beyond it.
Out of nowhere, I felt my side practically ignite. Looking left, I saw a Major with its plasma repeater trained on me. I quickly threw up a glyph, leaping towards the two unaware Brutes. One spun on its heel, but the moment its eyes met mine, my sword was embedded in its neck. The other didn't even have time to turn as I sliced at its spine.
As it fell from the alien's grasp, I grabbed one of their spikers, bringing it to bear against the Elite that had me in its sights. Before I could so much as pull the trigger, a sniper round pierced its skull. Shrugging, I turned my attention to the few remaining Grunts, unleashing big brutish spikes in their general direction. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a blonde and muscular huntsman vault over the palisade, fists raised. Needless to say, the aliens didn't last long.
Once the last one had fallen, I breathed a sigh of relief. "Yang! The coast is clear!" I shouted. A moment later, she bolted out of cover, Summer over her shoulder.
"Wait, Yang?" The huntsman said, whipping around.
She stopped dead in her tracks. "Uhh… hey dad." She said, depolarizing her visor. "Longtime no see?"
"Long ti- Young lady, I thought you died!" He said, tears welling up in his eyes as he approached. "And who's that? Do they need medical attention?"
"It's uhh… hard to explain." She said.
He scoffed. "Here, let me have a loo-" He froze. "Yang, is this…?"
"Yeah." She said. "I uhh… I found mom."
He stood still, shaking slightly. "Is she… is she alright?"
"I don't know!" She said. "She did this weird thing with her eyes and then just-"
"Fell unconscious?" He finished, earning a nod. He sighed. "Godsdamnit, Summer…"
"What is it?" I asked. "Will she be alright?"
"After a good night's sleep, yeah." He said, turning back to the square and gesturing for us to follow. "She used to pull this stunt every once in a while, and she'd always end up passed out. So what was it this time? I saw the lightshow from here."
We followed him, Valkea landing right next to us. "A Deathstalker." She said. "One comparable in size to an aircruiser."
He let out a low whistle. "Yeah, that'd do it."
More airships zoomed overhead, a bulky UNSC one being chased by a pair of Seraphs this time. Yang's father hopped over the palisade of cars with us not far behind. Just inside, a pair of UNSC Marines gave us nods, a few armed civilians doing the same.
I looked around the square, astonished by the amount of people it held. I'd been here only four hours ago, when they started cycling out fully-fledged huntsmen and VDF regulars for Beacon and Atlas students for wall duty. The difference was night and day.
Tents had sprung up out of nowhere; medical, military, and even civilian models all organized in neat rows; not to mention that there had been no car palisade here before. In the only other entrance to the square, roughly forty-five degrees from the one we just entered, a Warthog's turret blazed away.
The only part of the square that I actually recognized from before this invasion was the statue in the center. Despite the chaos, Ozymandias, the last king of Vale, still stood watch over the square as his sword, raised in triumph, burned as brightly as ever. At the base of the statue, a large door opened up, a pair of VDF troopers hauling out a heavy machinegun and its mount.
"Medical's this way." He said, continuing onwards. "So, I'm Tai, Ruby and Yang's dad. Wanna introduce me to your friends, Firecracker?"
"Oh, uhh… this is Weiss." She said, waving my pistol in my direction before stiffening. "Oh, sorry. Uhh, here, I probably won't be needing it anymore." She said, handing it to me. I stowed it back on my thigh. "And this is… uhh…" She trailed off, gesturing at Valkea. "…Fallka?"
"Valkea." She corrected. "I'm on Team RWVB."
"…Groovy?" She let out. "I uhh… haven't heard of them."
I frowned. "It's Team RWBY. Valkea's…" I trailed off. "Valkea's your replacement."
"My… replacement." She said, voice slightly hollow.
"We didn't like it either, but you know the rules about how many members can be on a team." I said. "Everyone thought you were dead at the time, plus there were… extenuating circumstances which I'll fill you in on later."
She walked in silence for a moment, her head lowering a few degrees. "I… I guess I can see it." She finally said. "But… what now? I don't wanna just go off on some other team."
I smirked. "Don't worry. Once we figured out you weren't really dead, Ruby made it exceedingly clear to Ozpin that when you returned, you'd still have a spot on our roster."
A small smile graced her lips. "Oorah, Weiss."
I nodded. "Oorah."
Just as we finished, Tai took a left into one of the tents with a red cross emblazoned on the flaps. An Atlesian corpsman immediately ran to Yang. "Easy, easy!" He shouted, leading Yang to a vacant bed and helping her set Summer down. "What's her situation?"
"Severe exhaustion." Tai said. "Girls, did her aura break?"
I shook my head. "No; she just collapsed."
"Alright, I'll take it from here. Do you guys got something for me to treat?" We all shook our heads. "Good, then shoo!" He shouted, practically shoving us out of the tent.
We just stood there for a moment, somewhat shocked that he actually did that. "Is that uhh… is that normal?"
"I dunno." Tai said. "But there is one thing we still need to do." Yang looked at him for a moment before he embraced her in a tight hug. "I missed you so, so much."
She returned the embrace. "I missed you too." She said.
They stayed like that for a while, making me glance at Valkea. She shrugged back, taking this time to switch out her fourteen-millimeter receiver for the eight-millimeter variant on her back. Meanwhile, I made sure my revolver was fully loaded.
Finally, they broke apart. "Jeez, I uhh… I was gone for a week and you act like I've been gone for a year."
I raised an eyebrow. "A week? You were gone for two months."
She stiffened. "Oh." She let out. "I… uhh… I guess that's what Aurora was uhh… was talking about."
"And she is…?"
She opened her mouth, but the sounds of plasma bombs and men screaming reached our ears. "A long story. I'll uhh… tell you later."
"Sounds good to me." Valkea said, chambering a round. Moments later, we charged back into the fray.
