Saviors of Remnant: Book 1 Beginnings
Made possible by the joint efforts of Keeper Of The One Winged Angel and TheBoredBoot
AN: Hey guys keeper of the one winged here let me first apologize for the long update, are personal life has been busy.
Now this chapter we pick up where we left off with the team fighting the first boss of this story arc and a new character will be introduced so without further adieu let's begin.
Chapter 7
"Be brave. Take risks. Nothing can substitute experience."
: Paulo Coelho
Atlas sensor outpost #46
"So much for this being a simple in and out mission."
Kit's hands danced across the keyboard as the sound of fighting behind him continued. The stress he was feeling didn't even come from the fact that his life was in danger, rather the fact that he couldn't complete his job. Even though he had just met Yang for the first time, he had confidence in her protecting him as he did what he could.
"Morven I've done all I can up here." He called out over their comm link, turning around in time to witness Yang, who with an uppercut to the jaw sent a Beowulf flying into the ceiling before continuing. "Until you get the power back on there's not much else we can do up here."
"Alright we'll keep that in mind," Morven replied his eyes falling onto Fenrir who looked back up at him wide eyed over the black abyss beneath them as Morven tightly grasped his arm.
"Uhhh thanks for that," Fenrir stuttered peering down into the darkness, his sharp eyes catching sight of the crashed remains of the elevator as well as a semi clear area for them to drop down.
"Hey down to the left there's an open area where we can drop down on," Fenrir pointed out before looking back at Morven. "Think you can get us there if I guide you?"
Morven glanced down where Fen had described and nodded his head. "There's no need to guide Fen, I see where you were talking about. I'll drop you down first and then follow after. Just make sure, after you land to stay on your guard. If I had to guess I'd expect to run into more Grimm down here."
"Man nothing is very easy for us huh?" Fenrir grumbled as Morven gently swung and released his arm dropping him into the dark.
With a grunt and a roll the young wolf hit the ground and came to a stop, his weapons drawn automatically as he scanned the area before calling back up.
"Alright Morven it's clear down here, but it's creepy as hell so let's hurry this up!"
"I'm right behind you," he replied calmly dropping down silently after his ward. His face Fen saw darkening a little as he took a step forward before checking comms with Kit.
"Kit -bzzzt- can you sti-bzzzt- hear us?-bzzzt-"
Through the static Morven could barely make out the response and sighed. "Well at least he can hear us for the most part," he muttered drawing his own weapon. A creeping sensation raising the hairs on the back of his neck as his eyes piercing the darkness searching for the main power terminal.
"Morven, I think I spotted our access point but what's the plan for restarting the generator?"
"I'm going to use Storm Razor to jumpstart the generator and then I'll have you manually flip the breaker to start the flow of power back through the outpost."
"Seems almost too simple," Fenrir said with a shrug before starting his way to the terminal. His hand just about to touch the controls pad when what they thought was a collapsed pillar suddenly swung towards him.
"Fen!" But Morven didn't even need to yell before his ward reacted, lifting his leg and suddenly kicking off the edge of the terminal, he nimbly leapt backwards barely avoiding the strike.
Landing back beside his mentor, the two looked at what now clearly was a large pillar-like leg and followed it up into the darkness where large red eyes now gazed hungrily back at them from the carved out ceiling.
"Great! I knew that plan of yours was too simple, now what the hell is that thing Morven?"
"I couldn't tell you," Morven snapped as he leapt back grabbing Fenrir by his collar, just as another pillar like leg smashed into where the two had been standing seconds earlier.
Looking back up at the monstrosity before them he tensed up as a great clawed hand extended towards them. Raising Storm Razor in preparation to strike he halted, seeing the massive claw stop short. Instead of going to grab the two the claw just hovered there as a black slime began to pool from it onto the ground, forming a black pool and from the depths more of the creatures of Grimm emerged.
"You had to say this was too simple."
"Like I was supposed to know that thing was down here, so what's the plan now?" Fenrir cried firing his gunblade at the first Beowulf that leapt out at them.
Glancing up at the abomination again Morven made a split second decision before shouting back to Fenrir, "we're keeping the same plan Fen. I'm overcharging the generator so we can fry that monster." The hum and crackle of electricity building up within his blade as from the darkness all around them Grimm began to pour like opened floodgates.
Hearing the plan Fenrir flashed a toothy grin before cutting down another Beo. Switching to a low stance and summoning two of his wolves he shouted back. "Sounds good to me, let's rock!"
Dashing through the pack Fenrir slashed and hacked with his twin blades while his wolves tore into any Grimm that came for his back.
Leaping up he planted a foot on the shoulder of the beast directly in his path and pushed off it, his right hand blade shifting into whip form as it wrapped around the Grimms throat tightening before slicing cleanly through. Using the falling body of the Grimm, Fens two wolves followed suit leaping of the dissolving corpse like a springboard after their leader.
Across the room from Fenrir with his blade visibly crackling with stored electricity once again Morven charged as well through the horde of Grimm towards the generators dust port. Each one that attacked or tried to slow him down was met with the same ruthless efficiency he had towards all creatures of Grimm.
"Damn monsters," Morven mentally spat throwing a heavy uppercut into the jaws of another Beowulf. The force of the blow stopping the creature in mid-lunge before instantly slicing through its midsection and continuing on through the horde towards the generators dust port.
Fighting beside his wolves Fenrir made one last dash letting his summons take out two more Grimm in the process as he landed at the console. Posting up beside of it Fenrir cried out, "alright Morven I'm here so hit it!"
Shooting one last a glance at the towering Grimm above them Morven nodded, in a almost dancing fashion he weaved in and out of the attacking Grimm, his blade singing and crackling as it passed through the monsters like a hot knife through butter.
With only two Grimm between him and the port Morven made his move, blocking the claw attack from the first with his free hand he then twisted sharply snapping it's arm. The Beowulf barely able roar in pain before a swift slash hacked off his it's head along with the second before he jammed the blade into the dust port twisting the handle.
"NOW FEN!"
Kicking back another Grimm Fenrir didn't need to be told twice. Turning around he wrenched the switch into the on position throwing the electricity discharging from his mentors weapon into the generator.
Fenrir watched as the power in the facility activated so without thinking he contacted their mechanic. "Kit, this is Fenrir the power is back on so whatever your gonna do you better to it quick!"
"Finall-bzzzt- we can get this -bzzzt-" Kit answered still coming in broken over the comms, his hands dancing across the keyboard in the control room. "And now the -bzzzt-fense grid is back-bzzzt-, let's start clea-bzzzt- House."
Throughout the outpost lights began to come back online, and with those the defense systems as well. Hatches began open up around the facility and older model Atlesian Knights began to reactivate and fire upon the Grimm that remained. At this rate it was only a matter of time before the facility was back under their control.
Yang watched over Kit's shoulders as he continued to work on the outposts systems, pulling up the security cameras on different monitors telling her to look for the rest of their team. Nodding in agreement Yang went to check the cameras, shifting from each view she watched as the re-activated AK units systematically mop up the remaining Grimm before eventually locating Fenrir and Morven. The two seemed to fine dispatching the remaining Grimm though she could still tell something was wrong.
"Kit, are there any other cameras in that room?"
"Yeah switching over now," Kit replied, the keyboard sounding like a machine gun as he typed bring up different camera angles for the generator room.
Behind them Winter had just dispatched the last creature of Grimm and had summoned her own to watch the door before joining them. Peering over Yang's shoulder she caught a glimpse of the screen.
"Checking up on Morven and the dog? I'm relieved to see at least you learn quickly enough." Winter commented giving Yang an approving nod before asking. "So anything to report or are they just cleaning up as well?"
"From what I could see, it looks like that they're still dispatching of some stragglers but something doesn't seem right the more Grimm they eliminate the more show up." Yang responded watching the screen with a concerned look on her face something that didn't go unnoticed by the older women."
Winter cocked her head to the side and gave Yang a confused look before checking the screen again. That's when she saw it, the leg of the massive Grimm that they were fighting.
"What the hell? Kit! We have a situation!" She cried out running towards door calling out over her shoulder. "See if you can send some of of the AK units down to the generator room as fast as you can, Yang you stay here and protect him."
Yang opened her mouth to protest but then thought better of it and instead nodded and gave Kit a comforting pat on the back.
Even with the power back on the room was still fairly dark, with his blade still in the port Morven turned to the towering monstrosity. His mind racing for the fastest way to end this.
"This monster is big but it seems solely a support Grimm, spawning more of these pests. In that case…" Twisting Stormrazor's handle and revving it's dust core he shouted, "Fen! I need you to hit that switch again, one more time and then we can leave."
Nodding his head again the young wolf quickly dashed towards the switch quickly dispatching the Grimm in his way. Noticing again now that ever since he had started training with Morven a month ago it still surprised him how much his strength had grown. With the removal of the weights that he was made to wear the Grimm which once were a struggle to fight in large numbers were now only a nuisance.
"Okay not gonna lie," Fenrir thought to himself sliding under a outstretched claw and weaving through the Grimm. "Now I'm kinda glad he made me wear those annoying weights, not only has my speed and strength improved but being more conservative with my aura is easier too." Quickly taking out the last Grimm in his path Fenrir quickly flipped the switch in reverse for his partner sending the flow back to him.
With the recycler flipped Morven felt a jolt as electricity surged back into his weapon and himself, but he knew he could handle it. He had trained his body to handle the volts. Pulling his blade from the port it glowed white hot and crackled, the energy within his weapon ready to be released at a moments notice as he got into position.
Gritting his teeth he hissed to Fen, "clear a path and then get down!"
Immediately Fen turned towards the Summoner and the mass of Grimm at its feet and grinned. "Finally, there's been something I've been meaning to try out," he muttered switching one of his blades to whip form. With a spinning motion almost like how one would use a lasso he began to slowly releasing fire dust from the blade until a flame was caught, the speed of his weapon spinning keeping it floating until it formed a ball of fire within the ring.
At the sight of the ball of fire Fenrir had formed Morven couldn't help but be impressed, the concentration on the young wolves face clear as he focused solely on the fire he weaved with his weapon preparing his attack.
"Dammit but he's a little too concentrated," Morven recognized, spotting three Grimm suddenly move to converge on the boy, the rate of speed at which Fenrir was readying his attack had left him open and the Grimm were closing in.
Switching his sword to his left hand Morven reached into his jacket and with a quick flick of his hand, embedded several throwing knives into the Grimm stopping them in their tracks.
"FEN DO IT NOW!"
With a grunt Fenrir cocked back, gritted his teeth and swung the built up fireball launching it through the group of Grimm incinerating them.
With a clear path now, Morven began discharging electricity from Storm Razor. Dashing through the opening his ward had made he leapt and cleanly sliced through one of the thick armored legs spinning again all the way around slashing again, the energy built up in his weapon released this time in a single wave of energy directly at its center.
In an effort to protect itself the Summoner raised it's claw to block the wave, but like a knife through hot butter it bisected the claw all through the arm and blasted through it's torso. The wall and ceiling behind it now painted with a black ichor as the Summoner collapsed shaking the foundation of the outpost.
Back in the command center Yang and Kit stared open mouthed at their screen, having witnessed the end of fight and felt the tremor from the Summoners collapse the two were dumbfounded.
"Yang what just happened?!" Cried Winter, snapping the two of them out of their stupor, her breathing sounding heavy over the comms as she continued running through the corridors. "Was that the generator room? Is Morven okay? What happened?"
"We're fine down here Winter," Morven replied before taking a deep breath. Glancing over at Fen he nodded adding, "I had my back covered down here so there's no need to worry."
Ignoring Winters response, Fenrir couldn't help but beam with pride at his mentors words, and with the success of his new technique he felt even more confident in his growth.
Morven gave Fen another nod and sheathed his sword, taking one last look around the area all the while thinking about all that had happened. "The Grimm were causing the interference with comms but I still feel as though we are missing something." Morven paused in mid-thought for a moment before carrying on. With Fenrir help the two went back to work conducting a full systems check on the generators with Kit over the comms until Winter joined them.
As they worked Fenrir heard the approach of the AK units and Winter arrive at the elevator. Ordering the AK's to stay up top Winter dropped down to them and immediately ran to Morven, listening to her lecture him on how risky that attack was Fenrir couldn't help but smirk a little. Despite her slightly cross tone even Fenrir could tell she was relieved that the ordeal was over, he was even surprised when she glanced over towards him asking if he was ok too.
"Yeah I'm fine though I'm surprised you'd even ask," Fenrir replied smirking.
Winter scowled and rolled her eyes before spitting back, "Well as team leader it's my job to worry about my whole team, even about the stupid dog on my team."
Before he could open his mouth to respond Morven raised a hand silencing both of them, the expression on his face torn between tired and amused.
"Lets save this for when we have the whole team together, now in the meantime we should head back up to the control center. The sooner Kit is able to get this outpost systems back online the sooner we can return to Atlas, and the sooner we can report this mission a success."
Blushing slightly in embarrassment Winter nodded and keyed in again to Kit, "You can go ahead and set the AK units back to patrol mode now, we're making our way back up to you two right."
"Roger that," Kit cheerfully called back quickly switching the squad of AK's that went with Winter back to patrol mode before pausing. On one of the security screens he watched as the last group of Grimm that were fighting a larger group of AK units get cut down. When the last one fell a message popped up on the screen informing him that no Grimm signatures were detected and that the outpost was clear.
"Well at least we don't have to worry about anymore Grimm for now," Yang chuckled patting Kit on the arm. Looking over his shoulder at the screens she nodded to herself, unconsciously drifting her gaze to the screen she could see Fen and the others coming back from the sub-levels.
"They had a bit more action with that big monster then we did up here but thankfully they look fine," Yang thought to herself watching Kit continue to work while they waited, her head still spinning from the series of events that had led her to this point yet for some reason she often found her mind drifting towards thoughts of Fen. Yang felt she could almost relate to him both being in the same sort of boat, yet couldn't find the words to talk about it.
It almost reminded her of back at Beacon, when they had just formed team RWBY. Blake had the same sort of feel about her, that wariness of being around new people, let alone humans made her keep her distance at first. But after some time the team had grown close, that was until the fall of Beacon.
"I wonder if she's is ok," Yang whispered quietly snapping out of her thoughts right as their remaining members walked in led by Winter.
"Kit I need some good news, what's the status on bringing this outpost back online?" Winter asked pulling out her scroll and setting it beside his keyboard. "If there's any startup errors take my scroll and plug it in, from there it should give you step-by-step instructions or just help troubleshoot the issue." Turning to Yang she added, "Yang you and the dog are going to stick and keep Kit company while Morven and I retrieve a data cache we were asked to pick up. It's outside the main building and on my way down to the sublevels I saw that the passageway was collapsed so we'll have to go through the maintenance entrance from outside."
Yang frowned slightly hearing that she had to stay back again, It was almost as if Winter didn't trust her enough to have her do more then stand guard and frankly Yang found it insulting. But before she could open her mouth to argue Fenrir growled.
"Hey! Ice bitch! Didn't your boss tell you that this was a test for us as well? If that's the case why don't you let me and Blondie take care of that." Fenrir paused a moment before giving a toothy grin and adding, "while you and Morven get cozy somewhere."
Winter turning beet red at Fenrir's last comment snapped back, "maybe if your were more trustworthy I'd even consider it. The fact that they are allowing you to act as a Atlas Specialist is far more than you deserve after all that you've done in the Fang."
Yang saw Fen's jaw clench in anger, but in his eyes she saw that Winters words hit home. He too was still haunted by the things that he had done during his time in the White Fang. She didn't know it but and truth be told even though he didn't know how to show it very well he was thankful for the forgiveness that he had been offered.
Morven noticed the internal struggle his ward was wrestling with gave a little sigh before gently placing a hand on Winter's shoulder. "That may have been going a bit too far Winter," he said quietly giving her a little squeeze before turning to Fenrir. "I understand what you were saying though you could've been a bit more tactful about it. I think you're right though. The General did specifically tell us too have Fenrir and Yang have more of an active role in this mission, so this might be the perfect opportunity for them."
The expression of shame on Fenrir's face turned to surprise when he heard Morvens words, and glancing at Yang he saw that he wasn't the only one. Turning back to Morven and WInter, Winter who clearly wanted to argue more but then just sighed.
"Alright Morven you win, but if something happens…"
"I understand Winter and I'm sorry for stepping on your toes, you are team leader afterall and on general Ironwoods orders."
Sighing heavily Winter took Morvens hand in hers and nodded, "you always know just what to say Morven… Very well." Turning to Fenrir and Yang she gestured for them to pull out their scrolls. "Alright listen up, since it's a secure external data cache comms won't get through so once your out there the two of you are on your own."
"With the Summoner gone and the AK's on patrol, most of the Grimm should be gone, but don't get careless." Morven added tapping on his scroll, in response both Yang and Fen's beeped indicating they received an attachment. "I sent you both a keycode for the cache as well as the reference for the files you'll be looking for…"
"Once you find them and download them to this memory stick and return here ASAP, understood?" Winter asked handing Yang a small hard drive.
Looking down at the hard drive in her hand then to Fen beside her who just gave her a nod, Yang slipped it into her pocket and gave Winter a reassuring smile. "Don't worry boss We're all over it, I'll even keep our little doggy here in line." She said jokingly jabbing Fenrir in the ribs giggling.
Fenrir rolling his eyes gave Yang a sideways look before turning to Morven, the two sharing a silent glance and nod before Fenrir cracked another smile. Giving a mock salute he pocketed his own scroll and moved towards the door, stopping in the doorway he turned back to Yang and smirked. "Well c'mon blondie, aren't you supposed keeping me in line? You can't do that if you don't hurry up."
Morven, Winter, and Kit watched as the two left all before turning to the computer again, Kit was running a series of dummy tests throughout the outpost systems while Morven and Winter began compiling their reports for the mission so far.
Outside the facility Fen and Yang were digging their way through the snow to get to door. Both wanted to talk but besides their couple encounters from when they first met and the ride to the outpost, they really had no time to get to know each other.
The two were awkwardly silent as they worked side by side digging through the snow, the blizzard though it died down slightly still chilled them to the bone despite their layered snow gear as they labored.
"Dammit me and my big mouth," Fenrir muttered breaking the silence, looking at Yang. "If I hadn't said anything we'd be the ones hanging out with Kit in the heated office instead of freezing our asses off out here."
Yang couldn't help but giggle as she stopped digging for a moment and looked at Fen. "Yeah this kinda sucks, but it's a bit more entertaining than sitting in that control center. Don't get me wrong, I really like Kit but I'm a woman of action." She said flexing her arm.
"Oh yeah you've pretty much been on guard duty since we got here huh? Did you have to deal with a lot of Grimm up there?" Fenrir asked going back to his dig.
"We had a few groups try to get into the control center so I had to protect Kit, but for the most part Winter took care of them. She really is something to see in action though," Yang said in awe.
"Yeah Morven's the same," Fenrir muttered pausing for a moment, the memory of the attack that cut right through the Summoner flashing through his mind again causing him to unconsciously whisper. "That must be the power of a highborn huh, must be nice."
"I think it's more then just that though," Yang added quietly clearing out the last bit of snow in front of the door. "It's kind of cute because Winter talked a lot about him and his family during the month I spent with her, she told me all kinds of stories about when they were younger and about him. Apparently he even disappeared for almost two years to train with some sword master and hone his skills before becoming a licensed Specialist."
"God she is so obvious," Fenrir said rolling his eyes behind his goggles as he entered the keycode into the door panel opening the door, motioning Yang to follow. "They've been friends for so long but she clearly wants to be more, and I'm not sure if it ignorance or if Morven genuinely can't tell that. But anyway," Fenrir said changing the subject as he removed his face mask and hat turning on the lights in the process. "Now that we're in here let's get back to the task at hand and find that data."
"Yeah your right," Yang said blushing behind her own mask. "God what am I doing, gossiping like I'm back with my friends signal. Was I that desperate to talk to him that I just started rambling? What's wrong with me?"
The two fell back into silence as they walked through the server racks looking for the access terminal, both still slightly embarrassed that all they had to talk about was their respective mentors. It wasn't till Yang spotted the terminals that the silence was broken.
"Hey here's the terminal we were looking for, now all we need to do is plug this in and start downloading those files," Yang chirped plugging in the hard drive while the terminal booted up.
Yang began typing away on the keyboard searching for the files when she became acutely aware of Fen staring at her from the left, it wasn't a creepy feeling but more of just a casual observation as he watched her work. His gaze flicking to the computer screen every now and then. Several more minutes passed and right as Yang was about to open her mouth Fen suddenly burst out, "Hold on a second Yang! Go to that scan file there." Pointing at the screen.
Yang gave him a strange look and than did as he asked clicking on file, it pulled up what appeared to be an anomalous reading alert that was dated a month ago. The exact time when the outpost supposedly went offline.
"This is too much to just be a coincidence," Fenrir muttered narrowing his eyes at the monitor. "A reading like this and then a outpost going down and getting overran, there has to be some connection between the two."
"Wait so you understand what this stuff is talking about on the screen?" Yang asked looking impressed before seeing the sheepish expression on the young wolf's face.
"All the technical stuff here? No not really," Fenrir replied with an embarrassed chuckle scratching the back of his head. "I only read the the detection message and the date stamp. All those graphs and stuff I have no idea what they mean but I bet someone back in the control room would know, so we should download this file too."
"I'm way ahead of you," came Yang furiously typing adding to their list of downloading files. "We have about 15 minutes for all this data to download so now I guess we can just hang out and wait."
"Well you don't have to tell me twice," Fenrir chuckled moving across from Yang before sitting down against the wall looking up at Yang.
The two just stared at each other for a moment before Yang coughed clearing her throat, struggling to find something to talk about she asked. "So how long were you White Fang Fen? Did you grow up with them too or was it something else?"
Fen blinked and turned away slightly, his voice going cold as he muttered, "why do you want to know?"
"I'm sorry I didn't really mean anything by that," Yang added hastily trying to backstep with her words. "I was just kinda curious about your past, like my old teammate Blake. She didn't talk about her time in the White Fang much so I was just wondering if you could tell me anything."
"Oh sorry blondie," Fenrir said immediately feeling bad for snapping at her. "It's kind of a sensitive subject for me to be honest so I don't really like talking about it."
"I know what you mean Fen," Yang said quietly thinking about the conversation she had with her father before she left. "You see, my mother left when I was really young to go lead a group of bandits and has been there ever sense. For the longest time I had thought she had just disappeared, but recently my father told me the truth behind it and now… Well I just don't know anymore."
Fen saw Yang's eyes tear up before she quickly turned and wiped them, the mournful tone she had used made him want to reach out and comfort her but he stopped himself. After a moment of silence Fen sighed.
"The village that I was born in had some minor ties to the White Fang, mainly to help protect it from Grimm and… humans who weren't so tolerant I guess you could say." Fenrir said slowly. "I was a young boy so I didn't know much about at the time.
"It was the Grimm wasn't it?" Yang whispered her eyes still moist as she looked at Fen.
"Yeah and only a handful of us survived by hiding, one of the older survivors semblance saved us and when the White Fang members came they took us in. They told us that humans had lured the Grimm to the village." Fenrir sighed heavily and closed his eyes, lightly banging his head against the wall before whispering. "I can't believe I fell for that."
Suddenly the computer began beeping getting both of their attention, the download was done and they could head back to the control center.
After wiping her eyes again Yang pulled out the hard drive and and started pulling her mask and hood back on. When she was ready she held out her hand to help Fen up but pulled back sharply when then hands touched as a static charge zapped both of them.
"Sorry that just surprised me," Yang said giggling slightly as she reached out again helping Fen to his feet.
Fen chuckling as well cracked a smile and mockingly said, "don't you mean that shocked you blondie."
Yang laughed again, this time much harder as she stared into Fen's red eyes through her goggles, giving him another smile she blushed when she realized that they still held each others hands. Quickly letting go and silently thanking that he couldn't see her face the two left the cache and began heading back to the rest of their team in the control center.
When they made it back they found only Winter and Kit in the room. Winter was watching over Kit who was so focused as he typed away on the computer, the only indication he knew they had entered the room was the twitch of his fox ears.
"We got those files from the cache," Yang reported back handing Winter the hard drive.
"Good work you two," Winter replied looking only at Yang before glancing down at the hard drive and pocketing it. "Were there any issues or opposition when getting the data? The two of you took quite some time getting back."
"Not a Grimm in sight, and besides digging through several feet of snow and ice it was mainly a waiting game since it took a minute to download." Fenrir shot pointedly at Winter. "There was something strange we found though while pulling those files."
"What do you mean strange?" Winter asked, her interest piqued before narrowing her eyes again at Fenrir. With the tone he had given her she couldn't help but feel he was mocking her.
"Actually I think we should wait for Morven to come back first, and speaking of the spark plug where is he anyway?" Fenrir asked ignoring Winters question completely.
"I needed one of the sensor arrays on the roof of the outpost realigned," Kit answered finally turning away from his monitor with a heavy sigh and a stretch before hopping to his feet. "He should be on his way back now, and the even better news is the the outpost is back online. Now the only thing that needs to be done by us is get the heck back to Atlas."
"So our first mission was a success?" Yang asked, her tone hopeful as she looked over to Winter who gave her a small nod before glaring at Fenrir again.
"Now about that strange thing the two of you found, what was it?" She asked still holding a glare at the wolf Faunus.
"Again I'd rather wait till Morven gets back," Fenrir growled standing his ground. "He might have an idea about the source so just chill out Ice Queen."
Yang coughed to hide a laugh and nervously turned away to avoid meeting Winter's irritated expression, while Fenrir didn't even bother to hide his mocking chuckle from the vexed Schnee.
"Why am I not surprised that the two of you are arguing again."
Everyone turned around as Morven walked the doorway brushing snow of his shoulders, "I managed to get that array back up Kit, was that enough to get the signal to bounce off the other relays back to Atlas?"
"Yeah we got enough of a signal established so we've done all we can here, when the next group assigned to this outpost comes out here though, they'll need to have an actual maintenance squad perform a complete overhaul on the system to get it back to 100%."
"That's good to hear Kit, good job on your end. Now what about you two everything go well with pulling the data?" Morven asked turning to Yang and Fenrir.
"We got the data as well as found something strange, You want to tell him Fenrir?" Yang asked shooting finger guns at him.
"There was a file we found in the cache. An anomalous reading was detected on the same day the outpost went dark so we downloaded that file as well."Fenrir explained watching for Morvens reaction. "We thought there was maybe a connection between the two because the outpost going out the same day something like that is detected, there's no way it's a coincidence."
Though his face didn't betray his thoughts Morven nodded his head. "I think you may be onto something there, and with that Summoner we encountered too there's more and more not adding up. When we get back to Atlas we'll have that reading thoroughly checked out."
"So I take it we're leaving now?" Yang asked looking from Morven to Winter. "Based on your expectations how do you think we did? You know, for our first mission for Atlas."
Morven and Winter exchanged a glance before nodding.
"For a first mission I'd have to say this went very well," Morven commented giving Yang and Fen a pat on the back. "We started this mission with limited intel and support and the two of you managed to be flexible with our orders and performed your role to the letter."
"The two of you also showed excellent judgement when sent to operate alone and in doing so brought what could be critical information, well at least one of you did." Winter muttered glaring at Fenrir.
"So now let's head back to our ride," Kit said with a yawn turning to Yang and Fenrir. "Hey do you two mind taking the first two shifts? My eyes are shot after working in front of this screen for the past eight hours so I'd like to rest for a bit."
"Yeah it's no problem Kit," Fenrir replied, quickly shooting Yang a questioning look before adding. "I'll take the first shift if that's cool Yang? That way you can get some rest too."
"Yeah that would be nice actually, thank you Fen." Yang said giving Fenrir a big smile.
With that everyone began throwing their warming layers back on and they made their way back to the APC. Passing through the atrium and all the dead Fenrir watched as Morven and Winter took the time to go to each body and pull either the I.D. cards or dog tags from their bodies, a somber expression on both of their faces as Morven gestured that they were ready to go. With not even a look back Yang gunned the engine and they were off, beginning the two day journey back home.
One day of travel
With the outpost a couple hundred of miles behind them and Atlas approaching the team couldn't help but relax a little. Kit now being fully rested continued to navigate through the storm occasionally stopping to reorient themselves once again when a sharp cracking noise broke the silence and the APC started to shake, waking Winter who had been asleep against Morven.
"Oh shit! Now what?" Growled Fenrir removing his headphones, grabbing onto one of the emergency handles on the ceiling as the APC shook again.
"It's the ice below us," Kit cried out struggling to control the wheel as their vehicle started to spin out and the ice continued break. "There must be a tunnel or something under the ice, everyone hang on we're going down!"
With one last ear splitting crack the ice below the vehicle completely gave way and for a moment they were weightless in freefall as the APC fell through the ice. Inside Morven grabbed Winter and pulled her close moving to take the brunt of the impact when they finally hit the ground again, the APC rolling twice before coming to a stop on it's side.
After a moment of silence waiting for everything to settle Morven called out, "alright is everyone ok? No serious injuries or anything?" His gaze going down to the blushing Winter still in his arms.
"I'm fine Morven, thanks."
"I'm ok up here," Kit called wiping a little blood from lip and looking back at them from the front.
"Me and Yang are ok too," came Fen looking slightly disheveled as he hung from his seat beside Yang, who looked equal parts concerned and relieved that they were ok.
Releasing Winter from his arms Morven made his way to the hatch and forced it open exiting the Apc and taking a look around and sighing when he caught sight of the hole above they had crashed in from.
"Alright everyone come out, we may have a slight hitch in our plan to get back to Atlas," Morven called out rubbing his chin in thought. Kit was the first to exit and looking to the young Faunus he asked," Judging just from the looks do you think we're in trouble or is this something you can take care of?"
Kit took another second to quickly look over the flipped APC and wiped his face, looking to everyone gathered around he gave a little shrug. "It doesn't look too bad right now but looks can be deceiving. We fell a good ways down, so until you flip her right side up again I wont know."
"Well I see a problem," Fenrir said pointing to one of the rear tires. Despite being heavy duty tires a spike of ice had not only pierced clean through the rubber, but also bent the inner rim of the wheel as well.
"Oh that's not good," Yang commented moving closer to take a look before glancing at Kit. "We have a spare wheel right? Cause if not we are going to have some serious problems, especially with nighttime approaching and the temperature dropping."
"Good idea Yang, we have the spare so now all we need is to get the this thing right-side up." Kit looked and Morven and gave a little flourish with his hand, "could you do the honors big guy?"
"Of course, everyone stand back." Morven replied moving to the other side of the APC. Bending down slightly he gave a grunt and flipped the vehicle from its side back onto its wheels with a slam.
"Showoff," Fenrir muttered under his breath as he watched Yang and Kit run to the back and start grabbing the tire and tool kit in preparation to change the wheel out, when he noticed Morven looking around them at the tunnel. Even though Fenrir couldn't see his face he could tell something was bothering him so he asked. "Hey Morven whatcha lookin at?"
"This tunnel, it wasn't manmade. Nor was it naturally formed," he muttered quietly still looking around them cautiously. The lights from the APC only illuminating so much of the dark tunnel but in the distance of it, a faint glow in the dark.
"Should we go check it out, it could be a way out?" Fenrir asked looking in the same direction as his mentor.
"Yes, you and I shall take a look around while Yang and Kit finish the repairs," Morven replied turning than to Winter. "Are you fine with stay here and watching over them? We can't be to careful."
Winter sighed and gave Morven a frown. "Alright fine but don't take to long and try to keep in radio contact."
"Yeah don't worry Ice Queen I'll keep Morven safe for you while we check those lights out." Fenrir said in a mocking tone sticking his tongue.
Winter shot Fenrir a dirty look before they disappeared around the bend. Waiting a moment she sighed and walked to the back of the APC where Yang and Kit were hard at work removing the damaged wheel.
It had been maybe ten minutes since Morven and Fen had started walking down the tunnel in silence looking around, the light at the end becoming brighter until they found themselves in a large open area beneath the ice. In the air were strange floating motes of light illuminating the area with a soft green glow.
"Whoa, what is this place?" Fenrir said awestruck by the sight before them, around them in the vast open cavern he could see that there were several other tunnels.
"I don't know Fen but it appears we are not alone," Morven whispered quietly gesturing to the center of the cavern. Before a large stone slab etched with strange symbols they saw a heavily cloaked figure on their knees appearing to be in deep thought, and peeking out from her cloak a thick black scaled tail.
"Who are you and what do you want?" Came a feminine voice as the figure stood and turned to face them, their face hidden in the shadow of their hood as they looked from Fenrir to Morven.
Morven stepped forward first and replied, "My name is Morven and I am Specialist from Atlas. This right here is my Ward Fenrir," he added gesturing to Fenrir before continuing. "We were traveling back to the city when our vehicle broke through the ice and brought us down here, so we started looking around to maybe find another way to the surface."
"I see Atlas Specialists," the hooded figure muttered quietly to themselves before lowering their hood and looking at the two again with crimson eyes. "Since the two of you are not Grimm I have no quarrel with you."
Fen in surprise quickly rubbed his eyes and blinked before staring open mouthed at the figure before them while Morven raised an eyebrow in apparent interest. With their hood down now the two could see the long bright red hair of the girl in front of them. The first thing they immediately noticed was the two short ebony black colored horns that curved back slightly on her head, next was that her heavy cloak and hood were all handmade from the pelts of common animals that could be found in the northern wilds of Solitas.
"She must be a Faunus nomad of sorts," Morven whispered noting a large knapsack beside the stone slab as well as her appearance. "Though I can't quite tell what sort she is just yet."
"A nomad? What would one be doing way out here you think?" Fenrir chipped back, not taking his eyes off the girl as she approached them.
With her closer Morven now with a better looked at her face guessed from the soft yet developed features she was maybe between the ages of eighteen and twenty, still young but with an air of maturity around her as she seemed to look over the two of them in return.
"So who are you?" Fenrir asked suddenly breaking the silence, his eyes narrowing slightly at the Faunus before them.
Rather than getting offended by his tone the woman smiled. "I'm sorry that was rude of me, demanding your names while not telling you mine. My name is Irithyll, it's a pleasure to meet you Morven and Fenrir."
As if on cue Morven and Fen's communicator beeped and Winter's voice came through. "Morven we have the wheel just about on but we're getting some tremors over here, could be an earthquake or something but I have a bad feeling it's something else."
At the mention of tremors, the ground below began to rumble. The hairs on the back of Morven's neck stood up as if to warn them of danger.
"It's a Grimm," Irithyll immediately growled her eyes flaring in anger, turning towards one of the other tunnels she pushed back her cloak revealing scaled claws.
Morven gave a nod and reached up to activate his earpiece again calling his partner. "Winter have everyone get in the vehicle and come down the tunnel after us, we may have an exit but you'll have to hurry."
Irithyll cocked her head to the side and gave a questioning look at the two before asking, "wait you're not going to fight the Grimm?"
"Normally we would, but something doesn't feel right about this," Morven replied walking towards the center of the cavern. Looking from one tunnel to the other he then turned to their newest acquaintance and asked, "So how did you get down here?"
Turning around Irithyll pointed to the far left tunnel. "This one leads to the surface but there's a bit of a slope though, so without claws like mine it'll be a struggle."
"Don't worry we'll be fine," Morven reassured feeling the ground shake again. This time much closer and a crashing sound coming from deep below them, and then suddenly silence.
The trio stood there tensed up, eyes darting around before Morven and Irithylls met widening in realization as they both cried out.
"It's below us!"
Right as the words left their lips the ground below erupted, throwing them into the air as a massive creature burst from the ground hissing loudly.
"Dammit we just can't catch a break!" Fenrir shouted as Morven snatched up him and Irithyll by their collars from the maw of the Grimm beast. The three of them just barely out of reach of the initial attack, the anger of missing its prey evident in it's hissing as the worm sank back into the ice.
"It's coming around for another attack!" Irithyll cried out flashing her claws glaring down, her body tensing up as she tried to shake herself out of Morven's grip to drop down.
"What are you doing," Morven snapped his eyes darting from Irithyll back down to the ice, a sharp crack sounding as the ice shattered before everything froze. Morven gritting his teeth as his aura focused into his semblance once again.
5…
Not missing a beat Morven glanced around before lightly pulling and then releasing the two Faunus in the direction of the exit, their moment he knew would carry them out of harm's way as he looked down once again.
4...
The Grimm worm he was surprised to see, had been much closer than he had realized. The beasts open maw yawning before him as he dropped past it when Morven suddenly gasped in pain and landed on the ground his eyes widening in shock. Dropping to his knees Morven gritted his teeth, the inside of his head felt like a heavy pressure had built up and broke his concentration.
Time resumed immediately and the worm continued it's flailing attack towards him catching Morven with a glancing blow, at the same time behind him he heard Fenrir and Irithyll cry out as they were launched by the transition of force down the tunnel.
"What the hell was that!" Irithyll screamed while Fenrir sailing down the tunnel with her only let loose a torrent of curses directed at his mentor as they hit the ground and continued to slide down the icy tunnel.
"Morven what's going on over there? Those tremors sounded a lot closer now and we're hearing some shouting coming down the tunnel."
"Winter thats Fen and our new friend sliding towards you," Morven said with a grunt slamming into the wall. "Please pick them up and keep heading down the tunnel till you, you know what you'll know it when you see it." His next words suddenly cut off by a loud crashing and another grunt as his comm link suddenly went offline.
"Morven? Are you ok?" Winter's voice laced with worry as she looked over to Kit and Yang, the only thing coming back over the channel was static despite keying in Morvens frequency over and over again.
"Yeah that didn't sound good," Kit said throwing the APC into high-gear bouncing them down the tunnel.
Yang activated her communicator and quickly keyed in Fenrir. "Fen are you and our new friend ok?"
"I managed to stop our slide but we need to get back to Morven."
"I know that dog! But is he ok?" Winter snapped hanging onto the seat as the APC, "Nevermind we are on our way so be ready for pickup."
Yang couldn't help but chuckle hearing Fenrir let loose another string of curses, this time directed at Winter. Her laughter however suddenly stopped when a sudden female voice cut through the background noise catching her attention .
"That damn Grimm! I'll kill it, let me get back so I can kill it!"
Though no one saw it a surprised look suddenly sparked across Yang's face as the APC slid to a halt and the hatch opened up. Fenrir climbing in and following him a figure wrapped in many furs with only a scaled tail poking out.
Winter only gave a quick glance back before turning her attention back to the tunnel, her face ripe with worry as Kit stepped on the gas again rushing them back to where they had left Morven. As they came around the corner they entered the large cavern just in time to see the tail of the worm whip around once striking Morven heavily and launching him across the way before disappearing into the ground.
"Morven!" Winter cried out clenching her hands in panic as she watched him crash down, his aura flaring up as he crashed the rock formation in the center before sliding to a stop several meters later unmoving.
"I'm fine, Kit watch out! The vibrations will attract the worm so floor it!" Morven yelled not moving before realizing he lost his communicator.
As if to prove a point the ground began rumbling again and coming around from their left the ice began splitting apart as the worm burrowed rapidly through the ice towards them. Seeing the danger Kit spun the wheel with all his strength to the left barely avoiding the maw of the Grimm as it reared up. But the force of the turn and the ice below erupting still managed to jar the vehicle throwing two of the passengers who were not buckled against the inside of the APC.
Fenrir who was less prepared was slammed head first and knocked unconscious falling to the deck while Irithyll somewhat braced herself for the hit was only slightly dazed, the vehicle tipped precariously before straightening out, unable to stop it kept moving with the worm not wasting a second before returning to it's pursuit after them.
Yang watched as Fen lolled on the floor for a moment before unbuckling herself and picking him up and placing him in the seat beside her securing him in place. The APC bouncing as they lapped around the room heading straight for Morven.
Climbing unsteadily to his feet, Morven wiped a bit of blood from his lip before looking at the APC and noticing it slowing slightly as it got closer. Shaking his head and waving his arms he screamed for them to not slow down but knew that they couldn't hear him.
Inside the APC however Irithyll caught sight of Morven waving through the windshield and made out what what he was screaming by reading his lips. Moving towards the rear hatch she yelled, "Hey don't slow down that's what he's yelling!" Opening the hatch and raising her voice over the rush of wind from the outside she cried out, "keep going! Pass him on the right side and I'll grab him and pull him in!"
The driver did not respond but Irith could tell she heard him cause the APC stopped slowing down, the woman beside him though turned around and shouted back," what do you mean you'll!" Her words faltering suddenly now that she got a second look at their newest passenger. The wind rushing from the outside causing her hood to fall revealing to the Schnee the Faunus woman who had spoken earlier. The two locked eyes for only a second before the woman grasped the hatchway and swung herself out to the side of the APC.
Right as the wind was about to catch her and take her away she lashed out and dug one of her claws into the side keeping her in place. She didn't even need to glance behind to know that the worm was gaining on them and instead focused on the man they were rapidly approaching. Though they had never met before already he had gotten her out of harm's way at the risk of his own life and that had caught her off guard causing her to think in surprise, "huh I guess some strangers can be kind," extending her hand out towards him.
Swerving around another breach the worm had made the APC finally passed Morven, reaching up he caught Irithyll's extended hand with a grunt and swung back around into the open hatch followed by Irithyll who landed on him. Glancing up to their driver she cried out. "Turn right and punch it, that's the way back to the surface!"
That was all Kit needed to hear as he floored the accelerator, the APC engine roaring as they flew towards the tunnel. Yet still over the noise the crashing sound of worm could be heard as it continued it's chase after them tearing through the ice, the sound only growing louder despite their increase in speed.
Spinning the wheel to the right Kit swung the vehicle hard around a jutting structure of ice and passed through an archway hitting the slight incline, indicating that they were on their way up and out of the tunnels. Ahead was the looming darkness of the tunnel, but in the distance they could see it. A light, a way out, they only need to press on just a little further before they were back on the surface and once again on the road to Atlas.
"Just a little further,"Kit whispered his eyes locked on the light as the tunnel shook all around them with the worms advance. Everyone holding their breath and clenching their hands as the APC bounced once more, the beast right behind them opening it's massive maw about to swallow them whole.
Back on the surface
The light of the shattered moon was almost blinding after being in those dark tunnels for so long, and as they launched into the air. The feeling of weightlessness before the jarring crash of them returning to the ground causing two of the passengers to land atop each other and for a moment everything seemed to lean to the right, threatening to tip over again.
But ever skillfully their driver regained control and righted the vehicle pressing on. Checking behind them just in time to see the worm burst forth from the ground as well, but falling short of it's prey slamming heavily into the ground. Issuing one last roar of anger it turned and burrowed back into the ground vanishing from sight.
And then aside from the roar of the engine and the dull crunch of ice and snow beneath the tires it's was silent once again, and everyone gave a collective sigh of relief.
Winter gently reached out and gave Kit a light pat on the shoulder, smiling gratefully. "Good driving Kit, I don't know what would've happened if you werent the one behind the wheel during all of that."
The young fox seemed to relax a little at her words and nodded slowly. "Yeah that was stressful for me too but somehow we pulled through, and I don't know about you guys but I'm going to request some time off after this one, you all worked me way to hard."
"Well we thank you for your hard work Kit, and I'll make sure to mention that in my report."
Winter gave a little grin hearing Morven joke and turned to look at him, when she did though the grin on her face immediately vanished, finding her partner lying on his back in the middle of the floor with the Faunus girl atop him, staring down at him with an intrigued expression before suddenly leaning in very close, before her hair came down and blocked Winters view. She couldn't make out what the girl whispered to Morven but could see his body suddenly stiffen up.
"Oh this should be interesting," Yang thought to herself still strapped in beside Fenrir watching the situation before them unfold, Winters face had gone slack with shock and in Yang's mind her thoughts drifted to the memory of one of her late night talks with Weiss. While she was staying at the Schnee manor Weiss had explained to her that when it involved her sisters partner, Winter became an incredibly jealous individual if other women were involved.
Out of the blue the radio came to life and Atlas command was coming through loud and clear, confirming a job well done and that the team was being awaited for their debrief. Snapping the team back to their senses, Morven gently pushing Irithyll off him and got back to his feet. Responded to the radio hail, Morven quickly informed command that within the next 24 hours they would arrive and give the mission debrief.
Thanking them for their work, command signed off and aside from the rumble of the engine all was quiet again, the mission was done and they were officially home free.
Trying to breaking the tension with a chuckle Yang turned to the rest of the team and in a slightly strained voice said, "Well I think that for our first mission as a official team that went pretty well," stretching her arms giving a satisfied sigh as some of her joints cracked. So far she had found being part of this little team had reminded her of the time back Beacon, before everything went south.
"Hey Morven I've been meaning to ask but how did we do on are first mission as a official team and judging by how wolf boy act's I assume he doesn't get along well with other people right off the bat."
"Well you can't just expect him to outright trust people when all his life he's been fed half truths, but for now all that matters now though is how he moves past all that onced troubled him and continues to grow as a person." Glancing down at the still unconscious Fenrir leaning against Yang he cracked another slight smile and added, "what he really needs right now is people he can trust and rely on Yang, so please. Promise you'll do all you can can to help him."
Yang followed Morvens gaze and turned slightly red at his words but still didnt move, a distant expression appearing on her face as she quietly whispered, "Alright Morven I promise."
AN: Thank you all again for your patience those who were awaiting this latest chapter. As I'm sure many of you are aware but my partner and I both have been going through so work related issues in regards to having time to work on this story, and while I want to say now we can finish these a bit faster now I honestly don't know. Life is a struggle at times but I can promise this.
The story is far from finished
TheBoredBoot