Chapter 6
"This is Hatchet 1-Actual. We're moving to secure Parker Hotel. Facing light resistance. Over."
"Archer 2-1. Target is a mass of Grimm running through Sanzar Street. Need a gun run down the road with your 900s. How copy? Over."
"Litter 4-4. This is Thumper 3-2. Requesting MEDEVAC for ten civilians. Over."
"Clubber 1-3. I have Meteor 1-1. A flight of four F-38As. Standby for relay."
"Taipan 2-2. Hostile on your six. Brake right! Brake right!"
James tuned out the buzz of radio chatter and status reports, returning his full attention to the war conference.
In the Resolute's War Room, he and Kenchiro were connected to real-time feeds of various military and government heads. To his front-right was the CSC, a group of six of Vale's most senior military personnel. To his direct front were Headmaster Ozpin, Vale's Secretary of Defence Windsor Hellbraun, and the three members of the Vale Council. Finally, on the left were Commissioner Laghari of the VPD, Colonel Serena Faust, and Colonel Harold Yun, the last two of whom were in full battle gear and respectively leading Atlas' Marine and Army contingents.
Under most circumstances, James couldn't imagine just how much paperwork and preliminary organisation would have been needed to make this meeting happen. Requesting the time and attention of Vale's most powerful leaders would have been a bureaucratic nightmare. But with their current crisis, and Ozpin's sway over the Kingdom, Vale had sent the invitation within minutes. It probably also helped that he and Kenchiro had been so quick to lend their men and ships to the defence.
They'd sent in their first (and only) wave. Composed almost entirely of Atlas' troops and Beacon's students, it wasn't meant to close the Breach, or even stop the Grimm's advance. It was to buy time for the bulk of Vale's own military, which had been scrambling for the past half hour to deploy en masse, to move back into the main city and push the creatures out. He knew it, Ozpin knew it, Kenchiro knew it, they all knew it. As of now, they were giving a general update to the Council, who had thus far remained mostly silent, willing to let them do their work.
"The 7th Aerial Fleet will reach engagement range with the Grimm in five minutes," said Kenchiro. "With our point-defence and missile systems, we will endeavour to attain air superiority over the breached area."
"Ninety percent of my students have reached their assigned objectives, and the rest are en route," said Ozpin. "I have also received authorisation from Headmasters Lionheart and Theodore to deploy the visiting students of Haven and Shade Academies."
James had already given Ozpin permission to send out Atlas' own students. His conscience screamed at him for effectively throwing more young adults and teenagers into the meat grinder, but right now they needed every last one of them.
"How's our ground team looking, Colonel Yun?" he asked.
"We've set up a joint FOB (Forward Operating Base) at the Cobalt Stadium," replied the Atlas Army officer. "Our forces are splitting to make a perimeter, branching out from Janice Interchange. My men are headed south, while Colonel Faust's Marines are going north."
"Once we've locked down our sectors, we'll be ready to push," added Colonel Faust. "But even with air support, we'll have to move slow and make sure we don't let anything sneak past us."
"All available Vale military assets have been recalled to the city proper," said Secretary Hellbraun. "The 2nd Aerial Fleet from the south, and the 3rd Fleet from the northwest are heading in with units from the 1st and 4th Infantry Divisions, and the 2nd and 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigades. They'll hit the main city perimeter in half an hour. The 1st Armoured Division is also inbound, but won't arrive for at least another hour."
"Nesara Air Force Base is scrambling the 1st and 5th Fighter Wings and the 2nd Attack Wing," rounded out General Octarion of the CSC and Vale Air Force. "We'll have squadrons on station to assist the Atlas 7th in five minutes and are also moving to lock down the airspace outside the walls."
"Thank you, ladies, gentlemen," said Councillor Meesh. "Do you have an estimate as to how long it will take us to neutralise this threat?"
James glanced at Kenchiro. In the minutes before the war conference, they'd hurriedly conversed with each other and come to the mutual agreement that this was going to be a long fight. Even if they could annihilate the Grimm and push them all the way back to the Breach, there was no guarantee Vale was secure. They would have to sweep every nook and cranny to make sure every single one of the invading creatures was dead. Then, there was the matter of sealing the Breach itself. To be safe, they'd need to push past the point of entry and maintain a constant guard while their engineers began repairs. At best, the city would be secure by dawn tomorrow. At worst, the city could remain a designated warzone for over a week. It would all depend on the next few hours, and how quickly and well their response forces handled themselves. Kenchiro bowed his head slightly, acknowledging James' responsibility to answer the Councillor. James recognised he wasn't being thrown under the bus. As the ranking officer, it was his duty.
"A sizeable portion of downtown Vale has been overrun, Councillors," he said. "And multiple suburban areas are at risk. Our men will advance as fast as they can. But until they can be reinforced by Vale's own forces, they must proceed cautiously. One mistake could cause our entire line to collapse and be overwhelmed. And with the heavy civilian presence, our naval and artillery units won't be able to bring their weapons to bear on the ground targets."
"I understand, General," said Councillor Meesh. He looked about ready to say something else but was inadvertently cut off when a Lieutenant approached Kenchiro. A few hushed whispers followed before the junior officer moved away. James saw the Vice Admiral exhale lightly through his nose before addressing the others.
"Our spotters have identified what appears to be a particularly severe concentration of Grimm forming a spearhead."
As his colleague spoke, the holoprojector, which had been displaying a map of the Breach underneath the portraits of the war conference members, altered to reflect the updated intel. Amongst the red areas indicating the presence of the Grimm, a moderate portion was highlighted in white before turning a darker crimson. James felt the muscles connecting his body to his prosthetic arm twitch as he imagined how the clean imagery before him masked the horrific onslaught that was occurring just a few kilometres away and a few hundred metres below. It was linear relationship: More Grimm meant more casualties – most of them being fatalities. And like a rolling ball of death and destruction, this group was looking to raise the numbers.
"Their current trajectory puts them on a direct line to Beacon Academy," Kenchiro continued. "Unless they change direction, they will hit two of our designated strongpoints, being held by Strike Teams SAGE and CFVY. After that, they will engage our joint Army-Marine line. If we can't stop them there, we risk a significant unchecked force running rampant throughout the rest of the city."
In their organisation and deployment of the Strike Teams, they'd attempted to keep the lower years furthest away from the Breach, placing the more seasoned students to bear the brunt of the Grimm's advance. SAGE and CFVY were examples of the former, both having a trio of first-year teams being led by a second-year team. But something had gone wrong. Maybe they'd spread their forces too thin, leaving too many gaps for large pockets of Grimm to slip through. Or maybe they hadn't sent out the students quickly enough to make a significant dent in the horde. Regardless of the cause, they were about to have their youngest and least experienced fighters face off against the largest threat to the entire Kingdom.
"We need to reinforce their positions," declared James. But even as he said that, he knew the time frame just wouldn't allow it. With how quickly the newfound group of Grimm was moving, they had less than three minutes before they fell upon SAGE. If they continued at their current pace, they'd reach CFVY in another two minutes. Even if they had the ground forces to spare at the moment, there was no way they could reach the students in time. But he had to try. "Divert as many air assets as we can to conduct precision strikes against the 'superwave'. "
Even as Kenchrio began to relay his own orders, James was aware of the Vale Council looking at each other uneasily. There was a silent discourse going on between the three leaders, and he wasn't sure he'd like what they were debating over. After a few seconds, one of them, Councillor Harper, turned to face his camera.
"In the event that the situation deteriorates even further, would the Atlas 7th Fleet be prepared to…conduct a naval bombardment on the Residential District?"
The response from many of the conference members was almost immediate. James saw Secretary Hellbraun's brows furrow, while Admiral Compton and General Leblanc of the CSC jerked their heads slightly to look at where the Council would have been displayed in front of their own faces.
"With respect, Councillor," said Kenchiro, "we're already stretching our jurisdiction over the fleet. Without the Atlas Council's and JCS's explicit permission, we would be unable to fire directly on the city."
James couldn't help but notice his colleague hadn't outright denied the prospect of turning their biggest guns onto the streets and buildings. His tone had made it clear he was under no circumstance in favour of the idea, but…he was right.
War was a numbers game, and survival even more so. All too often, there wasn't a difference between the two. If they kept letting the Grimm tear through the city, more lives would be lost. However, if they could eliminate their vanguard, they would blunt the attacks, even for a few minutes. And with the might of Vale's military less than an hour away, every one of those minutes would count. Their weapons didn't discriminate. Without a doubt, people would be caught in the bombardment, but the mathematics spoke for themselves. Sacrifice a dozen, a hundred, a thousand even, here and now so they don't lose hundreds of thousands in the coming hours.
Beyond the friendly and innocent casualties, there would be repercussions. Vale would bear witness to a foreign Kingdom firing on its own inhabitants. Even if the upper echelon understood the necessity of such an action, there was no guarantee the people would. PR nightmare wouldn't even begin to describe the fallout. There was a good chance his and Kenchiro's names would be mud. And what about the shipmen crewing the 7th Aerial Fleet? Would they follow through with the order to start shooting? How would they be received when they docked back home? How would they react to being told to turn their guns on civilians? Could they live with themselves? Could he and Kenchiro live with themselves?
As they, at the tentative urging of the Vale Council, put forward a request to speak to Atlas through the Resolute's secondary CCT, James continued pondering. Yet, when he looked back at the holotable, at the sea of red spreading throughout the city, he knew in his heart what he would do.
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With an ear-splitting tear, the east barricade was ripped open.
In their short time as a team, JNPR had developed an order of battle that boiled down to Jaune and Ren distracting or tying up their foes, leaving them for Pyrrha and Nora to pick off one by one. Ren's bursts of acrobatic movement and martial prowess allowed him to kite, harass, and often kill particularly large targets. Jaune…was more of a 'dumb' brawler. He would stand his ground, or wade into the largest group of Grimm he could find, and just start blocking and hacking away until the area around him was clear. A few months ago, he would have viewed such a role with shame and disgust. Right now, he couldn't care less how he fought, just as long as it kept the people in Avanti safe.
He brought up his shield arm to quickly shout, "East barricade: down!" into his scroll before striding forward to meet his enemy. A hail of gunfire zipped past him as the town centre's defendants fired into the horde. Their bullets cut into the Grimm, digging into their dark hides and blowing out chunks of flesh and bone. Some missed or bounced off the tougher ones, the rounds ricocheting into the walls, floor, and ceiling. Were it just Pyrrha and Nora firing, he would have trusted them to watch their aim. But with so many combatants around, he'd just have to hope he wouldn't get nailed by a stray shot. If he did…well…that was what his aura was for.
Making sure his shield was angled to better deflect attacks, he approached the Grimm, a group of four Beowolves and a pair of Ursa. Thumping his sword against the shield, he let out a shout to get their attention. As expected, the creatures zeroed in on him, with the smaller, more agile wolves crossing the short distance between them in the blink of an eye. He made a quick, horizontal swipe with his sword arm.
One of the wolves dove under it, but the one behind it was mid-bound and unable to twist out of the way. The blade caught it right in its snarling mouth, cleaving all the way from gullet to abdomen. Jaune grunted as he yanked his sword out, along with a significant amount of blood, while shifting his left arm to catch the swipe of another wolf. The ring of claws against steel made his spine tingle, and he made sure to keep his feet steady as he swung downwards to cut off one of the offending limbs at the elbow joint.
By now, the Ursa were nearly upon him. A grenade from Nora sailed past the two lumbering bear-like creatures and detonated behind them. It wasn't enough to hurt them, but the concussive force of the blast made them stumble. A second grenade followed, this time hitting one of the Ursa in its centre mass. The flash and 'crack' of the explosion revealed a gory mess of mulched flesh and minced organs. The Ursa stood still for a few seconds, took a couple of paces forward, then tumbled face first into the ground. Its dying gargle was lost in the roar of its comrade, as it continued its charge.
Jaune was in the middle of impaling the recently amputated Beowolf when the Ursa ploughed into him. His aura made the impact feel more like a light shove, but he was still sent flying head over heels. Crocea Mors' enarmes ensured he held onto the shield, but he lost his grip on his sword when he landed on his back. It clattered a small distance away, and he had to roll to one side to avoid the Ursa's stomp, which had been aiming to crush his head. He used the momentum to help him get back on his feet and dashed for the Grimm, whose primitive mind had been briefly stumped at how its target had seemingly disappeared. Gripping the top of his shield with his now free hand, he plunged the lower pointed part of the kite frame into the Ursa's back, careful to avoid the spikes protruding out of its rear. The Ursa howled in pain, making a clumsy swing behind it that Jaune easily dodged. He must have hit the spine, as the creature fell to its knees, having lost control of its lower body.
A shout from Pyrrha had Jaune instinctively diving left, as his teammate used her semblance to guide Akouo above his head to decapitate a Beowolf, resulting in a spray of blood that coated the floor. He looked away from the viscera to prevent anything from getting in his eyes and retrieved his fallen sword. He returned to the Ursa, sidestepping its last desperate swipes, and thrust his blade into one of its eye sockets. It went still after that.
To his right, he saw Ren sliding under a third Ursa, letting off a quick burst with Stormflower to send a volley into its groin. While the creature fell to a knee, his teammate twisted around and started climbing its back, using the blades on his machine pistols like ice picks. When he reached the Ursa's shoulders, he dug his weapons into the neck, which left the barrels pointing at the monster's skull, and fired. The Ursa's head jerked back and forth as round after round punched through its cranium.
There wasn't much time to keep watching, as the thunder of an approaching group of Boarbatusks reached his ears. He turned and faced where the wrecked barricade was, seeing five in total. Two fell quickly to the onslaught of gunfire, tripping up a third with their riddled corpses. Jaune moved directly in front of one, crouching slightly to give off the impression of receiving a challenge. His mind wandered back to his very first class with Professor Port, and how he'd demonstrated the danger of going head on with the Boarbatusk, due to how easily its long, curved fangs could disarm the unprepared.
"Pyrrha. Bait!"
"Bait. Check!" acknowledged his teammate.
A second before the Grimm would have slammed into him, he shifted right, letting the bull-like creature almost slide off his shield like a ramp. Momentarily airborne, the Boarbatusk was sent flying, its vulnerable underbelly exposed. A bullet from Milo in its rifle form lanced through the soft skin and tumbled around the creature's insides to cause immense pain and damage to its internal organs. An agonised squeal left its mouth before it unceremoniously crashed to the ground, knocking the breath out of its lungs. Two more shots from Pyrrha to its head ensured the Boarbatusk would stay quiet for good.
The last of the bounding creatures had slipped by Jaune and Ren and looked to be gunning for Nora. Jaune saw his teammate grin, as she shifted Magnhild into its war hammer configuration. Winding up with an almost leisurely spin assisted by activating the hammer's rocket booster, his teammate let out a triumphant shout as the head of her weapon met with the head of the Boarbatusk. A meaty 'thwack' followed, indicating she'd successfully bypassed the fangs and hit the proverbial bullseye. The Boarbatusk's front half was briefly sent upwards, then flopped back down, motionless. Not satisfied with her initial strike, Nora stayed in motion, performing another half-spin and bringing Magnhild down on the creature, whose head ceased to exist in any tangible manner, save for a pair of bloody tusks.
"Strike Team JNPR. This is Watch Master. Do you copy? Over." came from Jaune's scroll. In the respite they'd had before the Grimm started pouring through the entrance, Jaune had received authorisation from HQ to officially take command over Coco. He'd informed the higher ups of their situation, and they'd promised a relief force ASAP (As Soon As Possible). The lack of a definitive ETA annoyed him, however, he understood there wasn't much he could do about it. The middle of a fight wasn't the best time to take a call, but he didn't really have a choice.
"This is JNPR. We copy," he said, jumping back to avoid the snapping jaws of another Beowolf. In a flash, its torso was shredded by a round of buckshot. He glanced back to see Detective Heyman with the non-student defendants. The officer fired off another shot. When Jaune returned his gaze to the wolf, he saw one side of the Grimm's face had been torn apart, leaving a mangled jaw to hang by a tendon and parts of its skull visibly cracked.
"JNPR. We're tracking a high concentration of Grimm inbound on your position. ETA, three Mikes. Over."
Jaune was in disbelief. Did command think they were just sitting on their asses, sipping drinks, and making small talk? He tried to be diplomatic with his response.
"Yeah…I uh…think they're ahead of schedule," he said, before exclaiming, "Ah shit!"
He threw himself to the floor to avoid a flying desk, which had been unfortunate enough to be in the path of a raging Ursa. He didn't bother to look where it landed, but the high-pitched whimper that followed indicated a case of friendly fire. Unfortunately, his dive had placed him in the middle of another pack of enemies.
"Negative, JNPR," came the reply. If Jaune wasn't currently struggling with another Boarbatusk for possession over his sword, he might have heard a hint of panic in what had until now been a calm and collected voice from command. "The group you're engaging is just the vanguard of a superwave of Grimm. Projections list twenty-five hundred plus hostiles about to hit Avanti."
That got Jaune's attention. JNPR wasn't cut out for protracted engagements. Without the decades of training and experience that allowed veteran Huntsmen to fight for days on end without rest, they would crumble. Until now, their battles had been quick and one-sided, with their numbers, weapons, and teamwork giving them an overpowering advantage over isolated or severely weakened pockets of Grimm for them to practice on. Get in, clear the area, then get out. Their most challenging fight had been during initiation, when they'd joined with Team RWBY to go after a Nevermore and a Death Stalker. They'd been left exhausted and drained after that particular battle, dropping onto their beds and heading off to la la land before their heads could hit the pillows. There was no doubt JNPR had improved dramatically in the months following that particular encounter, but they were still novices. Against the tide of 'smaller' Grimm right now, with scores of gunmen and defence systems to back them up, they were holding. But Jaune was already beginning to feel fatigued. Adrenaline was doing what it could, but he'd yet to find his second wind. He flinched as a line of stray bullets sporadically peppered the ground next to him, incidently also nailing the Boarbatusk he was tussling with.
"R-Right, Watch Master," he said into his scroll. "When can we expect help? Over."
"The 7th Aerial Fleet's about to begin clearing the skies with their ships. Once we've achieved air superiority, we'll direct as many air units as we can to hit the superwave. Ground teams still have no ETA. Over."
No decisive answer. This day was just getting better and better.
"Copy, Watch Master. Thanks for the heads up." And with that, he cut the line and yelled, "JNPR! Regroup!"
He needed to get everyone on the same page, and there was no way he'd be able to do that while simultaneously fending off half a dozen creatures every five seconds. His teammates complied, dashing to his position all the while firing their weapons. Around his body, they formed a miniature firebase, guns pointed outwards and ears inwards.
"I need to talk to the other teams. Cover me, but listen in, too," he said, then spoke into his scroll. "CYAN. BEIJ. Give me an update."
"CYAN here. We're still on the fourth floor. Everyone accounted for."
"This is BEIJ. West barricade's down, but we're good for now."
"Okay. Listen up," said Jaune. "We've got a superwave of Grimm coming in."
"Say again?" came Detective Burns' voice, followed by the 'crack' of his anti-material rifle. Jaune had let the two officers tap into communications within their own Strike Team. He might have been in command, but found it prudent to let the two people who had actually been in the military to listen in. "Superwave? How many?"
"Thousands," said Jaune. "They'll be on us within minutes."
"Well, shit," said Detective Heyman. Out of the corner of his eye, Jaune saw the man changing drum magazines with a scowl. "How'd ya wanna handle this, Burnie?"
"We've still got chokepoints," said Detective Burns. "Everyone retreats to the stairs and escalators. If we can keep them bottled up there, we limit their numbers advantage."
"We'll have to watch the windows," added Detective Heyman. "Sooner or later, these fuckers are gonna start scaling the walls. Whatever happens, we need to keep them away from the wounded on the third floor."
"Copy that. Hey, kid. You okay with this?"
Jaune wasn't sure if he liked Detective Burns' offhand title for him. But there wasn't exactly time to negotiate a name change. Otherwise, their revised plan seemed sound.
"Yeah. My and Baylee's teams will keep our positions as long as we can. After that, we'll begin a fighting retreat to the second floor."
"Roger that."
"Detective Heyman, we'll keep holding the Grimm. Can you let the other people on the ground floor know what's gonna happen?"
"Yeah, no sweat," said Detective Heyman. Jaune heard him grumble something about a 'Sheila', before he cut his transmission.
"Alright. Huddle's over," Jaune said to his teammates. JNPR broke out of their crouched gathering and made to re-engage the Grimm up close and personal.
In retrospect, Jaune was pretty grateful for the huddle. Not because he'd been feeling irrationally lonely, or because he wanted a minute to just sit down and talk. Rather, because it had kept the team away from Avanti's walls when they exploded inward to reveal a trio of Death Stalkers.
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Codex Entry: The Rush Hour Bombings
The White Fang's first act of terrorism occurred in 75 AGW. At 5:33pm, on the eve of a working day, explosives were detonated on three of Atlas' underground lines, collapsing the tunnels and trapping thousands of people on their homebound commute.
Rescue teams worked desperately throughout the night and much of the next day to reach the distraught and injured. Despite their efforts, over two hundred people were killed in the bombings, and the Kingdom was sent into a wave of mourning. A mass funeral was held for the victims, and a monument erected in their memory in the following weeks.
If there was anything positive to come out of the Bombings, it was that synthetic platforms (of which many had played an instrumental role in response to the domestic crisis) had more than proven themselves as an integral part of societal growth. While many knew that robots and androids had the potential to mitigate, or even eliminate, the need for organics in strenuous and dangerous tasks, their tireless and efficient work had drastically accelerated rescue efforts. Whether it be for civilian, commercial, or militaristic purposes, they were here to stay, with the blessings of countless survivors and onlookers.
There had been many within Atlas' government that had remained sympathetic to the Faunus Rights group and its tenets. The Bombings, however, swung public opinion against the once peaceful organisation hard. The coming months were filled with an onslaught of inquiries and counter-terrorism operations. From police investigation units to special forces, Atlas initiated its crackdown.
Anti-Faunus sentiment also spiked within the general populace. Minutes after the tunnel charges had blown, the White Fang had uploaded a video claiming exclusive responsibility for the attack. Pairing this with viral images and footage of the Bombing's victims being dragged out of the tunnels, there was little to stop the surge of hatred and cries for vengeance that followed. Riots filled the streets, involving public humiliations and beatings of Faunus, many of whom had no allegiance or association with the White Fang. Such was the level of civil unrest that the Atlas Army had to be brought in to assist the APD (Atlas Police Department) in restoring order.
The White Fang was soon declared by The Big Four as a terrorist organisation. All of its known leaders and figureheads were placed on the Most Wanted Fugitives list. Legislation was swiftly passed to authorise the Atlas military any and all power it deemed necessary to bring an end to the organisation, and similarly oriented entities throughout the entirety of Remnant. While some have derided this as a dangerous blank check that infringes on the territories and sovereignty of the other Kingdoms, the overwhelming majority of both the Atlesian people and government have remained in favour of the sanction.
Proposals were made in 76 AGW for Atlas to occupy the continent of Menagerie, which contained over seventy percent of Remnant's Faunus population. Such ideas, while initially popular amongst radicals, were eventually rejected as, in the words of the Atlas Council, "an untenable overextension of resources that would compromise Atlas morally, economically, and strategically."