Chapter 21
Ebony pack has been chasing this huge Grimm with Yang when he noticed it had lead them all into a canyon "take it easy driver" he said to the driver how nodded back at him looking back at the front he saw Ren using his weapon to attach himself to the Grimm.
12 minutes later
They managed to avoid falling rocks and they did tried to shot the thing only to hear it roar which made the whole area shake and a lot of worm type Grimms popping out of the ground then came the flying Grimms that flew in from above them "did that thing just called reinforcement!?" Ebony hears Sienna asking curiously.
"I am guessing so" Ebony said "driver slow down" he said while getting on a radio "Yang we'll hang back a bit to keep these guys on us you all go on ahead" he said nodding to a soldier who climbed into the jeeps top turret.
"okay be careful" he hears yang over the radio which made him smile at this he soon feels the vehicle slowing down a little and both Yang and Jaune racing ahead.
"okay everyone who can use a window use it and shot out of them the rest of you keep the ammunition coming" he said rolling down the window and using his gun to kill a grimm.
5 minutes later
Ebony saw one of those worm Grimms spitting out an acid liquid at them watching as it eat away at their wheel just then he saw another one doing the same to the front of their jeep which caused it to stop "ok guess this our stop" he said just as they noticed the Grimms were now leaving them all alone.
"okay this just got weird right guy's" he hears a soldier saying to them.
"okay let go" Ebony said while getting out the vehicle and grabbed a bunch of stuff along with the others as they began to rushed to the others location.
5 minutes later
Ebony arrived at a clifftop where they all noticed Ren weapon was in the ground quickly they rushed to the side to see Ren holding onto Jaune and Yang "hay we are here hang in there!" Ebony shouted as he and the others grabbed a hold of the rope and started to pulling them all up.
...
Once they got them all "are you all okay!?" he asked concerned them.
"we're fine how you all?" he looks to Jaune.
"fine our jeep busted" Ebony just then noticed someone wasn't with them "did you get Oscar back?" he asked looking at each of them seeing the look they gave him which gave him his answer "I see come on let get moving!" he said sigh in defeat as his thoughts turned to how his sister and Penny was getting on.
...
Crimson group had arrived at Weiss home when they saw her brother opening the door and they all walked in leaving her and her pack outside "Crimson I need to go with Nora to keep an eye on her" she turns to see a young human male with bright blond hair she saw his uniform with a red cross medic badge on nodding to him before he rushed off she turned to see the two infiltrators Spiders were still here "you two stay here and keep out of sight" she said to them both as they all made their way in to the house.
...
Cerise was talking to the old Doctor as they were talking about exploding the mine up to make the Amity to rise up in the air "I do appreciate this" the old doctor said to Cerise as they were exiting the mines.
"no worries like I said I want the world to know what is going on and not to be afraid of this so giving up a few of my explosive devices is a sacrifice I am will to make" Cerise said turning to face the outside seeing the tent were now gone and the last of her planes were now heading towards the fleet only her own plane remained "well that us cleared the area good luck to you three" she said shaking his hand.
"and you too" he said shaking her hand as he watched her leaving.
Three hours later
Ebony and the others have been walking out in the snow for awhile now as he could feel his robotic parts starting to freeze over as he heard Yang asking Ren on the where about is the outpost is Ebony noticed how Ren was looking angry and annoyed but before he could say anything Yang got in front of Ren to confront him which caused Ren to snapped at them as he talked about Ruby being a kid and him being an Orphan and how Jaune cheated his way into Beacon.
"and you all" he saw Ren looking at him and the other soldiers "being so proud and mighty but your empress pulls her army out when the battle was changing for the worse" Ebony saw some of his troops looking like they wanted to kick him he even saw Sienna looking mad at him as he held his hand up to keep them at bay.
"come on troops let just keep going" that was all he said to them as they all walked pass Ren.
...
Weiss house
Crimson was sitting in a dining area looking out the window thinking on how the other's were doing when she saw that same male with the medic badge walking in looking worried "um ... Crimson!" she hears him asking with worry in his voice.
"yes come in" she said to him watching as he walked up to her while saluting to her "what's wrong?" she asked him.
"um well I have been keeping an eye on Miss Nora" Crimson nods to allow him to continue "well her Aura was at 1% when I first checked her before we left the base but when I lest checked her there it had only rise to 6%".
Crimson could already tell where this was going "isn't that a good thing about it rising?" she asked him.
"yes it is but however it isn't rising quickly enough to keep her sustained and alive anything above 20% is okay but hers failed below 10% we need to get her to the medical ship Wolf Of Hope there they can help her" she sighs in defeat at this.
"we can't radio out we would risk our enemy finding us before helps comes, do we have any other option!?" she asked fearing anything else.
"well there is only two other options, one option is we keep a close eye on her I have set up a monitor to keep track of her vitals but I can't guarantee she will make it through the night or the next day" she looks out the window while holding back her tears when she heard that option.
"and the other?" she said while taking a huge gulp and facing him again.
"well when our troops Aura fail like this in the battlefield we would give them a formula that would boost their Aura to rise quickly" she perks up at this "however that is for an adult person but for Nora even thought she is classed as an adult she is still a teenager giving her this would help her but might also kill her" her whole body just froze with fear upon hearing this.
"can't... you alter the formula?" she asked him.
She saw him shaking his head in sadness "I can't the bags have been made in a way were it is impossible to do that plus opening the bag up to do that the air around us might contaminate it these things are made in special laboratory where the air is controlled" she sigh closed her eyes to think.
"thank you I need to discuss this with Ruby and the other's on this matter can you fetch them for me?" she saw him nodding and rushing off.
Once she was alone she broke down in tears "how does mother do this?" she asked herself.
12 minutes later
Crimson heard the door opening up and quickly cleaning herself up to make it look like she was okay "hay Crimson you wanted to talk to us" she hears Ruby saying while walking in the room.
"yes I do it will involve all of you" she said giving them a moment to settle down "right well it about Nora" she saw them looking worried "my medical personnel can explain it to you more" she said pointing to the man who got up and began to explain the situation with the other.
20 minutes later
After the man had spoken to them all no one could speak nor say anything that was until Weiss spoke out "and these are the only option?" she asked.
They heard him sigh "yes I am sorry but unless we use the radio to gain help our enemies will pick it up and get us first" they all faced each other knowing who they meant 'their enemies' were.
"can we have time to talk about this?" Blake asked.
"yes you can and if you know any doctors here please get them I am only a field medic so I am limited to my knowledge" he said seeing them all getting up and walking off.
...
Cerise was on her new bridge of her own ship were she was surrounded by Generals "how is the mobilisation of our entire army?" she asked on of them.
"the empire has recalled all the soldiers who was on leave back to base while we have told the empire about the situation and asked for volunteers out recruitment went up" she nods to this news.
"good" she said when something else came to her mind "what about our factories?".
"the weapons factories have step up the production as well they are all working together now rather than separate new fresh vehicles will be rolling of the line in a few days times ships will take longer" she turned to face the Arena in the distance.
"that's good news to hear tell the ship's yard's we're not in a rush for new ships so tell them to take their time" she said seeing one nodding to her and walking off she saw the other's then began to leave her alone as her mind went to her children she noticed a cup of tea was in front of her.
Smiling up to her Faunus friend "thank you!" she said sounding tired.
"it no problem" was all she heard "you know they are smart your children".
"I know but I still worry about them both" she said before taking a sip of her tea.
"it's okay to be worried it just means you care about them" she smiled at that nodding in agreement to that.
...
50 minutes later
Crimson saw Ruby and the others coming back in "we made our choice we will go with the formula to help her and we all agreed to help keep an eye on her the only thing is we don't know a doctor who would come and help us".
She smiled at this facing the medic "what do you think?" she asked him.
"well with extra pair of eyes it would allow us to take turns to be with her so that will work but I would really appreciate the doctor part but I suppose we all can't get what we want so I'll make it work" she nods to him "okay I'll go get things ready" she watched him leaving.
"I wish we could do more!" she said to the others sounding disappointed in herself.
"it okay you are doing everything you can" she hears her cousin saying to her as she smiled at this.
...
Ebony and the others managed to find the out-post it was just a simple but building where they got the heating working again everyone was silent he heard Jaune and Yang talking about Ren where he saw Ren sitting out side "don't be too hard on him it just the situation we are in it making I'm do this" he said to Yang and Jaune.
"I know" he hears them both saying.
"well I am going out side for a bit to get some fresh air" he said walking out of the building.
...
Crimson was standing in the room where they had kept Nora she saw everyone was there watched the medic moving to and from Nora when she saw the clear bag with the clear formula being brought out of his bag "okay everything is set up now I just need to find the blood vein" she hears him saying watching with hope as he tries to find a vain.
As the seconds tick by which to her felt like hours when she suddenly saw him finding one and placing the needle into it she watched as the formula made it way down the thin tube and in to Nora quickly turning to see the monitor showing Nora still steady breathing and her heart rate beating normal "well now we just have to wait" she hears him saying as everyone except for Ruby, Blake, Weiss and the medic guy left the room.
...
Cerise was sitting in her office busy doing some paperwork when she saw a tall female human walking in she noticed it was one of her many Generals "your empress" she hears her saying.
"and to what do I owe the pleasure of seeing you?" she asked facing the woman.
"well I have been studying that huge Grimm creature and I was wondering if you have a few minutes to spare?" Cerise placed her pen down giving the woman her full her attention "well as I said I have been studying this thing and I have came up with one a problem and one a solution to this problem" she saw the woman placing a data pad on her desk.
Picking it she saw the data showing the creature and what it presume to be the thickness of it skin "okay what is the problem first?" She asked while facing the woman.
"well I and the ship's assistant AI we have been looking at the creature skin and how thick it is we there for determined that our normal artillery and our ship's guns won't kill it" Cerise knew what she meant she too could see from the data pad that her normal artillery won't work.
"and what would be your solution to this?" she asked her.
Suddenly she noticed the woman changing her stand from being confident to a more scared one "well... we also determined that the only thing that would work is the... Heatwave missiles!" she hears her saying in shyness.
Sighing to herself she turned around to face her Window where she saw the fleet waiting while she could see Atlas in the distance "you know as well as any other person why they were banned from being used" she said.
"yes I do" was all she heard from her.
Turning to face the woman "what your asking me to do is go against my great, great grandmother's law" again she saw the woman nodding "and this is the only solution?" she asked.
"I am afraid so me and the AI have tried to match other weapons we already have that aren't banned and the only other one is the six sister's ships but we can't risking the ship safety and as I said the other weapons just isn't powerful enough" she hears the woman saying to her.
"I see but the heatwave missiles doesn't penetrate it burns" she said to the woman.
"again yes I understand how they work but we thought if we can't penetrate the skin then why not burn it" Cerise closes her eye in deep thought.
"I need time to think you may go now" she said seeing the woman saluting to her before leaving her alone before she could think further on she saw a massage was coming through to her office " yes what is it?" she spoke into a device.
"your empress the message is being broadcast right now the doctor did it" quickly turning her TV on she smiled at the broadcast of Ruby.
"they did it" she said only to see it cut out "what but where's the rest" she turns to the window looking at the mining area bringing a small device to her ear "captain get two patrols planes up in the air and get them to search the around the mining area".
"right away your empress" she hears before turning around and walking out of her office "I need to get to the old operation room" she said to herself.
25 minutes later
Cerise arrived in the same room where she had told Goodwitch about them and what their were planning on as she looked at the many names of people that were killed under Ozpin she then looked at the most recent name Pyrrha Nikos "AI" she shouts out.
"yes your empress" she hears a male voice.
"are you both certain using the heatwave missiles is the only thing?" she asked it.
"yes" was all she got from it.
Feeling shock she slowly looked at the old map where it still held arrows showing the time before the empire went into hiding "replay the last time they were used and the time my grandmother banned them!" she demanded.
Soon the room was engulfed in blackness and a holographic image of the planet was in front of her, she saw some lands were on fire "the last moment they were used was three hours before the empress gave the order to head for home" she shears the voice saying before she was suddenly thrust to a scene of a city she saw the battle that raged on troops desperately trying to keep the Grimms at bay looking up she saw the ships some on fire others falling to the ground just then she saw her family ship firing three missiles she watched as the three missiles flew threw the carnage before smashing into the centre of the city creating a huge ball of fire which then exploded outwards travelling all over the city burning everything in it path.
Once the fire had died down she felt tears coming to her seeing the battle was no more she saw some fire still raging but not a single person was left only dust the entire city killed by three missiles "just after the missiles were launch and hit their targets that when your grandmother ordered the banning of these weapons" she hears.
Just the scene was changed to showing a tall woman decked up in pure gold armour with a navy blue cloak on "I empress Violet hear by ban the use of the heatwave missiles any of the missiles we still have will be placed in dormant to never be use again" she wipes a tear away hearing her grandmother voice.
"thank you AI" she said to the voice as the was once again light up looking to the names placing a handing on it "I promise no one will die in vain not even an entire city" she said before leaving the room to think.
1 hour later
Cerise was on the bridge where she saw that same woman "your empress have you thought on it?" she hears her asking.
"yes and my answer is no we won't use it" she saw the woman gasp in shock and was about to protest only for her to stop the woman "I know what you said about it being too thick on the outside but I have thought of another solution" she said waiting for the woman reaction.
"but... I have tried everything I could think of your empress please consider my opinion!" she saw her begging.
"I have but like I said I have one as well" she walked to a table that showed the holographic image of the Grimm "even if it skin is too thick but it inside isn't if we get a bomb inside it placing it near it heart that should do" she said turning to the woman.
"but how would we get it in there?" she smiled to the woman.
"simple" she held her hand out to make the image larger showing the side of the creature "these looks like landing pads using a small team with the stealth plane they would be able to land there carrying the bomb through the creature making their way into it heart placing the bomb right there" she said while the image went back to it smaller size.
"but what team would be crazy enough to get in there and do that!?" she saw the woman asking while being confused by this.
"well it just so happens we have a crazy team who is renowned for their suicidal missions" she smiled seeing the woman realising what she was on about pushing a button on a comms "can team infiltrator come to the bridge" she said before taking a seat to wait for the team to arrive.
35 minutes later
Cerise saw a team of six not well armoured troops walking three female two of them were lizard Faunus while one is human three males two humans one lizard Faunus she watched them walking up to her and saluting "you called you empress".
Nodding to them she then pointed to the holographic image of the creature "I have came up with a plan to hopefully kill this thing with a bomb on the inside of it but it need someone to carry it" she stopped there seeing them carefully looking at the creature "that where you come in if you choose to accept this mission".
"what are the stakes we're talking about?" she hears the one of the male asking.
Walking up to the table "well as long as that thing is alive it creates the Grimms our weapons won't be able to penetrate it thick skin the longer it alive the more of a threat it becomes to the fleet and possibly to the rest of the fleet that are currently being mobilised" she said seeing them looking at each with a knowing look.
"so it is a suicide mission" a Faunus female said out loud.
"it might be it might not be but it up to you" she said sitting back down on her chair.
She gave them a few moments to talk to each when she saw them turning to face her "when do we go" she smiled at them.
"a soon as the bomb is ready for now get some sleep" she said seeing them leaving the bridge getting up herself "captain I am heading to my bed as well wake me if anything happens" she said leaving the bridge for the night.
...
Ebony was laying down for the night as he was thinking about Penny he did see the broadcast die which got him worried for her but he knew he couldn't do anything right now as he closed his eyes for the night.
...
Crimson and her team was given a room to rest as she too was thinking on Jaune "please be careful my love" she said before closing her eyes.