Chapter 9 (filler stuff, introducing RWBY characters and another OC)
The Citadel
October 14th, 2913
"We're arriving at the Citadel," Joker announces on the intercom, with Shepard, Tali, the two crusaders, and a few others of Shepard's crew waiting in the cockpit.
"Keelah. Those warships." Tali muttered. In formation with the Citadel Defense Fleet was a collection of Warships pulled together from several Coalition nation-states to reinforce the already depleted force. Flying alongside Salarian frigates were destroyers and corvettes from the Ztrakphor Star Kingdom's 4th fleet, Turian cruisers stood in line with their Federation and Commonwealth counterparts, and the Destiny Ascension was sailing alongside a Guardian Alliance Escort ships (we don't have any cannon size numbers for Stellaris ships so I made the battlecruisers of the FE 35ish kilometres tall, with their escort ships coming at 4 kilometres tall because why not?).
"And all to think that these are light warships of your people," Garrus muttered as he stared at the G.A's escort ships. Everyone's attention turned to the two newest and largest behemoths in the Nebula, the G.A's battlecruiser GAV Lightning Rod and one of the Vissari Directorate's Juggernauts, the VSS Hope.
"The actions of the Reapers have rallied our people. Every day, hundreds of new warships come out of the shipyards or Mothball fleets, hundreds of thousands of crew members finish training, and millions of soldiers rally for one cause: Evil must be purged." Chris said as they observed a few battle-damaged Coalition vessels enter the 60-kilometre large vessel that was the VSS Hope. "6 More Titans and another Juggernaut just came off the line and are coming here to reinforce our efforts.
"Wasn't it a UN vessel that where though? Light of Sol?" Shepard asked.
"Oh, the UNS Light of Sol left to reinforce your S.A's second fleet. The Vissari pulled the juggernaut VSS Hope to help maintain the fleet here." Chris replied.
"Uh, guys? Cerberus attacked the Citadel again." Ashley said, looking at her omni-tool.
(News clip) "- and in other news, what was left of Cerberus forces on the Citadel launched another attack, this time on United Nations Field Marshal Victor Ross. It is not clear why Cerberus attempted an assault on the Field Marshal or why they continue to fight on. However, thanks to the aid of Warlord Urdnot Wrex and a squad of C-Sec officers, what was left of the Cerberus presence on the Citadel has been wiped out. What is also known was that Field Marshal Ross defended himself with what one C-Sec officer quoted as "a bloody rocket launcher that turned into a battering ram". It should be noted that Field Marshal Ross is a supersoldier, along with large portions of the Coalition's high command and that carrying heavy weapons is very common. This reporter recommends that no one engages in a fir-" the clip is cut off when Taryn spoke.
"I'm not surprised at this point. We're talking about a man whose main solution to dealing with the Grimm was to blow them up with MOABs. He sometimes likes to do overkill, especially with tanks." Taryn chuckled. "How much property damage did he cause?"
"Says here over 200 rounds of machine-gun fire, the second floor of a store destroyed, and the crater in one of the walkways. Totalling around 600,000 credits. Also says that Ross will provide raw resources to make up for the damage costs." Ashley read the article.
"Damm, roughly 6000 energy credits in one day." Taryn whistles. "And in a galactic capital as well, that's a first."
After Joker spent some time arranging for docking, the Normandy comes in and lands at the Citadel. Shepard, Ash, Tali, Garrus, and the two Crusaders step out of the ship, deciding to visit Wrex.
"So your friend Wrex, what's he like?" Chris asked.
"A shotgun, head-butting uncle of a sort," Tali responded. "Cares for his people, somewhat wise, and willing to help out allies."
"Somehow I feel like he and Ross are going to get along quite fine." Taryn chuckles.
"I DON'T CARE IF IT'S A FREAKING QUARIAN AND GETH SQUADRON! YOU'RE FIGHTING FOR THE SAKE OF THE GALAXY! JUST WORK WITH THEM AND LET THEM SAVE PEOPLE!" a voice roars from the building the joint command was
"I think I can tell who that is already," Chris adds, chuckling.
"SO WHAT IF THEY'RE SUIT RATS OR LIGHT BULBS?! WOULD YOU RATHER LET MILLIONS MORE DIE BECAUSE YOU ARE TOO STUBBORN TO ACCEPT SOME HELP FROM THOSE LOWER THAN YOU?! EVERY SOUL WISHING TO FIGHT IN THIS WAR IS WORTH TRIPLE THEIR WEIGHT IN PURE ANTIMATTER! IF I HEAR YOU DENYING ENTRY TO THOSE SHIPS, I WILL PERSONALLY BREAK YOUR LEGS AND THROW YOU INTO THE NEAREST STAR!"
The group entered the room where the galactic high command was working, to find large portions of the officers trying to stay as far as away from the enraged Field Marshal as he berated an Asari admiral, with Wrex laughing and Primarch Victus shaking his head.
Ross turned his head to see the newcomers and turned to face the admiral. "Admiral L'Monia, that Geth and Quarian squadron will be joined by a force from both the United Remnant Protectorates and Guardian Alliance, both of whom make heavy use of AIs. They will be entering Asari space to help alleviate pressure on your fleets and to evacuate civilians to more defensible positions. Is that understood?"
The poor admiral simply nods and hurries away. The Field Marshal turns to face the rest of the officers in the room. "That goes for all of you. Just because we have big guns and ships doesn't mean you can slack off, this is your galaxy for fuck sakes. FIGHT FOR IT! I expect all you give one hundred and ten percent, understood?"
"YES SIR!" the Humans and Turian yelled, military instinct kicking in.
"Dismissed. Back to work." Officers return to their duties and Ross sighs. "Bloody Hell, what's with the Xenophobia with the Quarians?" Ross then turns to face Shepard
"Commander Shepard, welcome to the International Combat Command Center. I hope you aren't too mad that I usurped your role as Supreme Commander."
"Not at all, take the stress off me now that someone more experienced can do it." Shepard said. He wasn't lying, he was a spec forces commander, not an admiral. He barely was able to manage commanding an entire galaxy. The time freed up thanks to Ross allowed him to focus more on building the alliances necessary for a counterattack or spending a bit more time with Tali.
"Hey old man, good to see you again. We aren't going to let you hog the fun." Taryn replied, with a grin.
"Old? We're the same age? And at least I got here on time, you dragged your asses from Sol to get here to the fight." Ross smiled.
"HA! I know why I like you know. Always energetic." Wrex laughed.
"Commander Shepard, you met Taryn Mchill and Chris Chow, members of Crusader team Comanche and some of the best warriors in UN's ranks. Also family for me." Ross said.
"They fought well on Horizon. I'm glad to have them on my side." Shepard responded.
"Very good. I spoke to Hackett, you're going to be helping us out a bit more to help build the crucible." Ross said.
"What's our next mission?" Shepard asked.
Ross turned to the holo table. "Apparently someone named Aria T'Loak wants to speak with you. Something about reclaiming Omega from Cerberus. She's in possession of resources that the Coalition can't acquire for the Crucible and we need her help to get it. She requested your help, along with minor support from the Coalition. She said something about not trusting extragalactic aliens or around those lines."
"Aria. Alright, I'll speak to her. What's our situation galaxy-wide?" Shepard asked.
"Alright, all things considered. Terminus Systems are all clear except for Omega. A few more warships just arrived and we're putting them to use by preventing additional Reaper forces from attacking Palaven. But it seems that what's left of the major Reaper space forces are withdrawing to S.A space. We're mobilizing 5 numbered fleets to help deal with Terra." Ross said.
"Terra?" Tali asked.
"It's our nickname for your galaxy's Earth. Two different Earths makes communications very confusing so we call our Earth and call your's Terra. Nothing official, just to distinguish between the two." Ross replied. "We'll sort out the legal crap later."
Shepard nodded and Ross continued. "Well, I need to get back to managing Coalition forces. Reinforcements just arrived from our allies. Good luck Commander, and stay safe."
The conversation ends and the crew turns to speak with Wrex and Victus. Meanwhile, Ross looks over the galactic map. With the sentry array up, he now had access to data from all across the galaxy. Fleets and armies from all over the home galaxy were being assembled and deployed via wormhole stations to the Zentunzin Cluster. And there was almost no opposition, the people simply couldn't stand watching the Reapers butcher species over a simple notion such as the inability for organics and to cooperate.
I haven't seen the galaxy unify as one since everyone donated troops to eliminate Salem. Huh, and it seems the Protector is arriving soon. Can't wait to see Syd again.
Another Icon pops up on the galactic screen, this time being Green. This was from another Coalition member state, the Cosmic Union. Just arriving after a 2-week journey, 4000 warships were prepared to once again bring down evil.
Time to get back to work.
Palaven, New Cirilis
Commonwealth of Man 3093rd Armor Regiment.
Advancing down the street of New Cirilis was a Human tank. It had one goal in sight, kill the Reapers.
"Gunner, Reaper Destroyer, 1500 meters out. Load Heat rounds" Manticore Tank Commander Vasili Volkov ordered.
"HEAT rounds created and loaded." the gunner reported.
"Fire!" The twin barrels of the Commonwealth Manticore Super Heavy tank unleashed twin streaks of death on a Reaper destroyer. The rounds sliced right through said destroyer and ripped a hole through its kinetic barrier, severing several important systems, and detonated its heavy explosive payload right in its interior. The Reaper destroyer collapsed in a heap, once a mighty foe for its enemies, now a turkey for the Coalition.
"Scratch another Destroyer. Let's head out to support the Council offensive." Vasili ordered. " Wait, the second Reaper destroyer, coming in front of us. It's pointing it's big cannon at us. Boost shields."
To the horror of supporting Turian forces, a single Reaper destroyer manages to slip by the Coalition's air cover and drops in front of the Manticore tank before firing it's spinal magnetohydrodynamic cannon. A ray of red death sweeps over the tank and it's covered with a massive explosion.
Only for everyone, including the Reaper destroyer, to be shocked when the dust settles and finds that the tank was simply fine.
"Shields at 68%." one of the tank operators reported.
"Load High Explosive Thermal Destruction rounds, burn that squid," Vasili ordered.
The nano-creation machine within the Manticore tank creates two rounds which incorporate Volatile motes, Fire Dust, and other chemicals. The autoloader feeds said rounds into the main guns in less than 2 seconds.
"Rounds created and loaded. Tracking target." the gunner reported. The Reaper Destroyer, now realizing that it was facing a foe as equal to its power, tries to back away.
"Fire!" two more streaks of Death streak out of the Gauss cannons and impact straight into the Reaper shields. The Kinetic barriers of said destroyer, already weakened by having to land on a planet, collapses and the Reaper is engulfed in flames. When the flames dissipate, a massive chunk of the Reaper has been taken out and it collapses to the ground, anima style.
"Good hit, second Reaper destroyer done." Vasili says. Meanwhile, Council forces were cheering as they watched a behemoth of a tank rip apart two dreaded Reapers.
"Hold on, Reapers ground troops inbound. Coming down the main street. Range 600 meters out. Gunner, ready the grenade launchers." one of the other operators reported.
Soon enough, a bunch of husks, Cannibals, Marauders, and a few Banshee start streaming in. Turian forces begin to open fire on the Reapers, with the Manticore tank providing additional support with its machine guns, grenade launchers, and a pair of Hawk drones.
"Two UN Liberators and 2 Valkyries coming alongside us." the gunner reports.
Coming along the Manticore Super Tank were two Liberator MBTs and 2 Valkyries Heavy Infantry Fighting Vehicles. Heavy Gamma Pulse and Machine Gun fire from these four smaller, but still deadly beasts put down advancing Reaper forces.
"(Comms) Harvester coming in. Engaging with shredders." one of the Valk gunners reported.
The main armament of Valkyrie was a 9.5mm fully automatic Magnetic Accelerator Rotary cannon, given the name shredder. In the span of 2.5 seconds, a Harvesters, once the feared demon of the skies, was torn apart when dozens of bullets wreaked havoc upon its body. It fell to the ground, limp and dead.
"(Comms) Kill confirm. Maybe our guns are over-kill." the Valkyrie gunner reported.
"(Comms) Against the Reapers? I'll take overkill any time of the day." a Turian officer added.
"All units, hold your advance. Specters are going to run a burn strike against the dead Reaper corpses." Vasili orders. The armour advance halts, much to the temporary confusion of the Turian infantry platoons support them.
"(Comms) This is Spooky 34, coming in for a run. Firing swarmer missiles."
A single gunship roars ahead, and 36 missiles come down. This time, these missiles were loaded with a combination of Exotic gasses, nanites, and rock dust. Realizing that council forces were still vulnerable to Reaper indoctrination, several engineers cooked up a munition that would null the indoctrination effects of a Reaper ship corpse. (no one outside the crew who made it knows how it works but it renders reapers to harmless corpses. Don't ask how it works, it just does in this universe).
After a large gray explosion, the dust settles and the Turians are stunned to find both downed Reaper destroyers petrified in stone.
"(Comms) Uh, how did that happen?" one of the Turians asked.
"(Comms) Dust, or basically anima crystals that can affect the elements. We used stone dust to null the effects of Reaper indoctrination. Don't ask how it works."
"(Comms) Uuuhhhh….what in the spirits are you people fighting back home."
"(Comms) The last major war was around 50 years ago against the Grimm, giant demon monsters. Otherwise, we're just good at making weapons."
"Cut the chatter. Let's continue hunting Reapers." Vasili ordered.
The 5 armour vehicle squadron moves down the street. The two Reaper destroyers would not be the last ones to fall to the kings of the battlefield.
The Steel Emerald Maidans and the Flaming Red Bulls, once the bane of the Grimm, Khanate, and many other foes, became the protectors and liberators of New Cirilis. They would not be alone.
Meanwhile, near the Perseus Veil
QFS Neema
"Keelah," was all that came from Admiral Han'Gerrel. That sentiment was shared by many Quarians on the Neema
A joint Quarian and Geth fleet, augmented with stragglers from Turian patrol ships, watched in awe as several Guardian Alliance battlecruisers and Directorate Titans swept a system full of Reaper ships. Just mere weeks ago, the Reapers decided to make a major push to the Perseus Veil. Now, they were being annihilated with ease.
"Ships thousands of years old, built using the knowledge of entire species. Behemoths are dedicated to nothing but war and combat. Only wish that they had come sooner." Shala Raan said as a Titan Pertition beam sliced apart a Reaper capital ship.
"I remember the day Tali sent me that message. We laughed at first and then we got another message from the Citadel, 2 massive warships dwarfing the station." Han replied.
"If only they arrived a few weeks earlier. We could have avoided the war with the Geth." Shala sighed.
The Coalition arrived just too late for them to stop the Geth war before it began. Some lambasted the coalition, only for the Coalition to flatly point out that A) they had to assemble a large military force in 13 years that would travel across the void of space, B) set up logistics and construct wormhole gates that sustains a massive Warmachine, and C) could have choose to let their galaxy burn instead of risking tens of millions of soldiers to help fight them.
"(Comms) This is GAV Wrath of Mercy to Quarian and Geth vessels. The system has been cleared of Reapers, you are cleared to continue your supply run."
"Wait, already? It's been ten minutes!" Han'Gerrel yelled.
"(Comms) We're a part of the most advanced alliance in the Coalition and our standard class of warship is bigger than space stations. Each ship is armed with enough weapons to crack apart continents. Figure it out from there."
"Arrogant Bosh'tet," Han grumbled. Most of the Quarian bridge crew agreed, though the G.A certainly had reasons for it.
"(Comms) System cleared, supply lines opened. We're departing to restart the hunt for these abominations. May Zarqlan watch over you." And with that, the G.A and Directorate ships began to jump out, using their very odd jump drives.
"Keelah, perhaps one day we can build such ships." one of the Quarian engineers on the bridge said.
"One day, one day," Gerrel muttered.
Hytiana, Asari Republics.
UNAF/RP Naval Task Force 247.
On the other side of the galaxy, the Asari colony of Hytiana is barely holding out. What was left of their defense force has been nullified and Reaper husks are pouring out onto the streets.
Yet now, they would soon receive reinforcements from the Coalition's newest ally. They were brand new to the galactic stage, yet had proven themselves invaluable to galactic prosperity.
The Reapers fleet, comprising of 14 Capital ships and 39 Destroyers, were concentrated on breaking the will of the populace when a sizable fleet jumped into the system. Baffled as to who would dare attack a superior foe, they were stunned to find a force of over 80 ships arriving in the area.
Dominion, a Reaper Capital ship, quickly began to study these new vessels. Unlike other Coalition ships, these vessels were brand new, no older than 30 years in age. And most weren't of the standard UN ships. Most were the size of Citadel cruisers and frigates, with a few dreadnaughts mixed in, sharing similarities to Turian vessels and of some Coalition ships (think of a cross between the Stellaris Plantoid ships and Atlas's air cruisers).
Studying the sensor data onboard, Dominion noticed something very odd: these ships were emitting the same energy signatures as those from some of the newer species an-. Dominion's thought process was interrupted when the energy signatures spiked on the ships and the Reaper fleet was blasted by Red bright lasers.
Appendages severed, barriers wrecked, drones sliced apart, the Reaper fleet, like others across the galaxy, were torn asunder. Dominion was baffled. They had a similar color scheme as the UN ships but were different in their weaponry. While the UNAF ships primarily relied on Kinetic weapons, missiles, and strike craft, these ships made heavy use of lasers, lots of lasers. And they hurt a lot.
Dominion's thought process was rudely halted when another laser beam sliced right through its barriers and detonated its eezo core. What remained of the Reaper fleet decided that now would be a great time to run and flee the system. They would never escape, as three more dreadnoughts, along with their supporting battlegroups, jumped in the Reaper's path and unleashed a light barrage of high-powered lasers and missiles.
UNS/RSV (Remnant Space Vessel) Protector (Aragon Class Carrier, Assault variant)
CIC
"Good shooting people. Our first catch of the day." Rear Admiral Vio Yamazaki reported. The crew, a mixture of Humans and the newly discovered subspecies Fanus, cheered as the remaining Reapers were torn apart by the reinforcing ships.
Before the UNAF's 10th fleet discovered what the Reapers were truly doing to this other galaxy, a lot of people were skeptical of the horrors the Reapers were committing. However when the 10th transmitted their findings, it threw the galaxy into another uproar and unified it in a way that hadn't been seen since the Unbidden war or War on Heaven. Amongst the many who joined the war were the newly created Remnant Protectorates.
"Well Rear Admiral, looks like you got your chance to test out those new cruisers of yours. How was it?" Rear Admiral Yamazaki turned to face one of the prominent figures of Operation Beacon of Light: Major Sydney Xiao-Ross. He wore the same outfit similar to what he wore during Operation B.O.L, a combat uniform similar to those used by UN forces during the third world war. He had both the flag of the United Nations of Solar Species on one arm, and the logo of Beacon academy on the other.
"Well, considering that Remnant has experienced space-flight for just over forty years and our fleet is staffed primarily of new recruits, we did all right." the admiral said, smiling.
"Glad to see you're using the Protector well, she's one mean beast. Now can you please get us a scan of the ground, the rest of our teams are waiting for a sweep on the planetside below?" The black-haired, part Asian-Australian said.
The Admiral nodded and the senior officer on the Protector did a sensor sweep of the planet before sending the data to the holo table of the CIC.
"Well, the situation on the surface is not great. Two Reaper destroyers are on the ground and are actively dumping more Husks on the surface. Asari forces are on the verge of collapse and the Reapers are setting up death camps on the edges of the city. We have maybe 30 minutes before the Reaper breach the shelter defenses and gain access to the majority of the civilians hiding out." The admiral said.
"So in other words, be the cavalry, save a bunch of blue-skinned aliens, and be back on board for dinner. Just like the old days, right Syd?" another voice called out. The officers turned to find 16 familiar figures entering the room, with a certain yellow head leading the way.
"Hunters of Remnant and Earth, Welcome back to the fight and onboard the Protector. I was surprised you people wanted back in." Rear Admiral Yamazaki said, with a smile.
"Well these two bimbos decided to sign back up into the fight and when they were just about to leave, we learned what the Reapers were doing and decided to help out." a certain cat Fanus said, pointing to both Sydney Ross and Yang Xiao-Ross.
"And we're Huntsmen, we won't leave people to die when we have the ability to save them," Jaune Arc added. "As Syd said when he came to back us up at the breach, we'll go through hell to help the innocent."
"Yes but the fact that all of you decided to join back up? I thought you enjoyed a happy retirement." the Admiral said.
"Hey, being practically immortal at this point meant we had time. And where Fearless Leader goes, we go as well." Nora Valkyrie joined in before triumphantly yelling "the Reapers shall fear us!" This resulted in both Hunters and ship crews joining in on the cheer.
Rear Admiral Yamzaki laughed. "And the harmeress we all know is back. Let's get to work. Now, several Hunter and marine teams are being assembled to secure these shelters. Right now, we need you to split into two teams and relieve two shelters. We got two LAV-50 Valkyries ready to be handed over to you and the Protector is going to make a run over the city to begin dropping off drops."
"Then let's get ready. Where's Oscar?" Sydney asked.
"Right behind you Major." A former Mistrali Farmboy, now a Huntsmen for Remnant, stepped into the room, with a modified M5A2 battle rifle on his back and wearing combat armor made specifically for Hunters.
"Well, no time to waste and we're on the clock. Ocsar will take teams RWBY and SSSN with me, I will take Teams JNPR and CFVY. We'll split and take both shelters and then hold for marine reinforcements. Clear?" Sydney asked.
"Clear as day," Coco said, raising her sunglasses. Everyone nods as well.
"Well then let's go save some people!" The 18 Hunters leave the CIC and head down to the vehicle bay. Admiral Yamzaki stays behind and starts to coordinate airstrikes.
Many decades ago, this tight groups of unique individuals helped usher in a new era for a planet, ended a galaxy devastating threat, and brought a new age of prosperity for all. Now they had chosen to take up their weapons and do as they trained, fight monsters and save people.
More Hunters had entered the fray, and they would not show the Reapers, monsters similar to one they defeated, an ounce of Mercy.
Accessing United Nations Planetary force Database…...LAV-50 Valkyrie
The Land Assault Vehicle 50, or commonly known as the Valkyrie, was born from the Heavy Infantry Fighting Vehicle program created during the initial stages of Operation Beacon of Light in the 2850s. Realizing that their older armoured vehicles were ill-suited to dealing with the Grimm (mainly dealing with issues such as lack of heavy weapons, armour, mobility, etc) and with teams operating far from allied air support, the LAV-50 was born to create a vehicle that could reliably combat most threats posed by the Grimm and local insurgents. This vehicle would later be adopted by heavy mechanized units, Crusader supersoldiers, and Hunter teams, due to its ability to carry a large number of personnel, how it could operate far from friendly lines, its weapons, reliability, and ability to carry large amounts of personnel (12 passengers and 5 crew, though you only need 3 organics or one AI and an organic). It has become one of the standard IFVs for the Commonwealth of Man, the United Nations of Solar Species, Remnant Protectorates, and a myriad of other nations.
Taking inspiration from older 21st-century designs, the LAV-50 resembles a cross between a British Warrior IFV, a modern Liberator MBT, and the BMP used by Russian forces. It's dimensions are massive, coming in at 8.6 meters in length, 3.8 meters in width, and 2.8 meters in height (slightly smaller than the 4 man Liberator main battle tanks. It weighs around 37 tons and is Powered by a micro zero-point energy core/lighting Dust Hybrid (installed during refits after the dust wars in the Mk3 and MK4 versions), thus shedding the need for traditional refuelling and is almost self-sustaining. Armour comes in the form of a Plasteel armour coating supplemented with a regenerative amoeba tissue (that can regenerate both the metal armour and itself with a bit of electricity) and an advanced shield generator. While lightly armoured for its time, it proved devastating against both the White Fang and Grimm forces as its armour and shields shrugged off absurd amounts of fire and damage from both ranged and melee attacks. It uses tracks for movement, and it is quite mobile in rugged terrains.
Weapons-wise, it is traditionally armed like many of its IFV predecessors (though it is fully modular and can be swapped out for other weapons). Housed in the main turret is a 3 barreled M93 Magnetic Rotary Cannon (nicknamed Vulcan), capable of firing 9.5mm Tungsten rounds at over 5000 meters per second and at a rate of 1200 rounds per minute. Note that while the vehicle itself can only carry around 1300 rounds, it carries a nano-fabrication device onboard, capable of manufacturing spare parts, munitions, extra weapons, and so on (Do note that many UN and Commonwealth armoured vehicles and aircraft carry nanofabrication devices where they can turn a small amount of raw material and energy in munitions. It eases logistics). The M93 is useful against virtually all 'lightly' armoured, air, ground, sea, and space target. The LAV-50 also carries a side pod of 4 Dagger anti-armour missiles, a coaxial plasma cannon (interchangeable with other weapon systems), 2 top-mounted hardpoints (usually used to house machine guns, grenade launchers, and other lighter weapons), and accompanying sensors and tracking equipment. It can also carry a complement of 2 Hawk drones (though only one Hawk can be deployed without a Neural chip or AI assistance) and 2 autonomous light battle drones. Battle Drones are mostly supported craft, meant to engage light targets with machine guns, conduct field repairs, or be used in reconnaissance missions.
The Valkyrie's first deployment was against the Grimm during the late 2850s and they were considered a major success. However, they would receive much more fame during the Skirmish of the Village of Fos (where both a Hunters in training team and Lieutenant Sydney Ross used the MK2 Valkyrie to defend a town from a major Grimm assault), the Grimm Breach of Vale (the Valkyrie, later nicknamed Beacon's Battle Bus, was deployed carrying 4 teams from Beacon using a cargo container with rockets strapped to it. It later accounted for a fifth of confirmed Grimm kills and 300,000 Lien in property damage), the Battle of Beacon (where alongside Manticores and Liberator tanks were hastily deployed to defend the cities, dropped from orbit mind you), the Dust wars, and the land of Darkness Campaign. It was used heavily by Lieutenant Sydney Ross and 4 Hunters in training teams, who fell in love with the Brass Brick for its firepower and the fact it could carry all of them to Vale during the Weekends (note that General Ironwood was not super happy to hear that students had access to a better combat vehicle than his Paladin mech), eventually, they were quietly recommended to stop using triple B and instead use UN armoured cars.
After the Dust Wars, the Valkyrie would see more limited action against pirates and slaves in the Rim, though it was difficult to get other nations to adopt the vehicle due to its expensive cost. Thus, only the Commonwealth, UNAF, and the reorganized Remnant Protectorates made use of the Valkyrie.
With the Reaper war in full swing, Valkyries would once more be deployed alongside allied forces to combat Reaper ground forces and Oculus drones. It proved extremely deadly against the massing Reaper Swarms of Husks and other abominations. As one Coalition General put it, the Valkyrie was deployed to fight monsters and it will fight monsters again.
Accessing Commonwealth of Man Databases…CSHT-3 Manticore Super Heavy Tank
Why the Commonwealth chose to make the Manticore to counter the Grimm swarm is baffling to some but makes sense when you consider the Commonwealth's ideas for weapons. While both the UNAF and Commonwealth rely on balanced platforms that make use of kinetic weapons and missiles, the UNAF tends to lean slightly towards Quantity while the Commonwealth leans more heavily to overkill. And thus the Commonwealth Super Heavy Tank-3 Manticore was designed as a house-sized mass of F*** you and to kill lots of Grimm. It is a 165 ton tracked monstrosity that will destroy its targets as it is the king of the ground war.
Manticore vehicles are powered by rather large Zero-Energy cores (most UNAF and Commonwealth vehicles are moving away from Hydrogen Fusion cores) and come in at 20 meters in length, 9 meters in length, and 3 meters in height. Not much has to be said about the Manticores, only that it's twin 150 Gauss cannons can tear through Grimm Behemoths, low flying airships, maritime ships, Atlas mechs (much to their displeasure), and other armored vehicles. And note that somehow, it has a depression angle of 22 degrees and can raise its barrel to a surprising 34 degrees upwards. Airstrikes are extremely ill-advised due to the turreted twin blue laser cannons on the top of its turret that is capable of shooting down projectiles, aircraft, missiles, and avian creatures, along with its complement of Dagger missiles (yes they have them but aren't used unless the cannons are reloading. Why a tank needs anti-tank missiles, we don't know but remember that the Commonwealth likes overkill). Also the Manticore carries two turreted grenade launchers for anti-infantry purposes but it is strongly recommended to deploy with lighter vehicles to support them. Note that like most Human vehicles, it carries a small nano-fabrication device to replenish ammunition and create spare parts if necessary.
Defense wise, the tank is armored with Durasteel plating, dragon scale plates, and a light coating of Neutronium armor (somehow, don't ask). It also has a regenerative Ameba hull to regenerate armour if necessary. The Manticore also has access to two hyper-shield generators and can soak up damage.
The Manticore suffers two main downsides, one being is its slow speed. While the LAV Valkyrie can move at a respectable 35 kilometres off-road and over 80 kilometers on a road, the Manticore can do 50 on-road and 18 off-road. Another major downside is that unlike it smaller cousins, the Manticore cannot be dropped from orbit, thus requiring orbital transports, teleportation, or heavy dropships to be moved to a planets surface.
Like the Valkyrie, it was deployed first on Remnant and it was first tested in secret alongside its smaller brother. However, unlike the Valkyrie, the Manticore would not be openly deployed in the Kingdoms until the battle of Beacon Academy, where the 34th Commonwealth Armor Assault Division used these war machines to devastating effects against rouge military assets, local insurgents (though they only used their grenade launchers and Daggers against them), the Grimm, and a group of super-powered insurgences (there's not much left of said insurgents anyways). The Manticore would primarily be used as a mobile self-propelled gun, command tank, or the spearhead of a counterattack against the Grimm. However, their service after the Dust wars was quite quiet, seeing very limited action against some insurgents and parades.
Now the Reaper War is in full effect, the Manticore has come again to reclaim its spot as the King of the battlefield. Most Reapers that have faced the Manticore head-on have fallen to it's mighty 150mm cannons or to its Dagger missiles. The Commonwealth has proven that whether on land, the seas, in the air, or in space, it has the best tools to fight the biggest wars with maximum overkill.