Chapter 33
Yang felt disorientated as she pushed herself to her feet, stumbling from side to side. Her eyes remained a shade of red and she could feel her semblance was still at work. The rage hadn't left her however, turning to see that she was now outside with the mansion in the distance. Blake was besides her and only just standing up herself. "Wh- What...?" asked the Faunus in confusion as she glanced around. The rain lashed at them alongside the wind.
There was only one thought in Yang's mind, she had to get back to the mansion, she had to avenge Winter. She took a step forward and paused to hold her hand to her head, she felt light and dizzy. She shook her head as her burning blonde hair swayed behind her, trying to shake away the feeling. Below her in the muddy snow she could see something moving, a red dot. It made its way along the floor and onto her boot before running up her body. She looked up to see it ahead, the Atlesian Paladin in the distance. It seemed to twitch repeatedly and its back was scorched and damaged as if struck by the lightning. In fact it probably had been. Multiple lasers aimed at Yang as it lowered its form in preparation to charge.
"Yang watch out! Winter said we can't take one of those by ourselves!" called Blake as she looked to the machine as jets of flame erupted from the back of its feet, propelling it along the slippery ground and towards the two. Its right arm was formed into a large sword and its left a mechanical claw.
She was still furious and she didn't have time for this. She brought her fist back and hurled it forwards recklessly to meet the iron fist of the Paladin. The two made contact but the construct proved the stronger as its power slammed into her. The strike sent Yang hurdling against the ground as she slid to a halt, the machine attempted to press on towards her but was intercepted by Blake who stood between the two. The Paladin pulled back its sword arm and brought it towards her in a low swipe. It made contact against her legs, severing them as her clone took the hit and vanished. She appeared higher in the air now as she hurled Gambol Shroud towards the cockpit, the blade embedding itself into the metal as she pulled herself towards it, planting her feet against the hull. While secure from falling off she delivered repeated strikes with her cleaver-like sheath to the metal surface of the machine and with each blow it stumbled back.
The hatches upon its shoulders opened to reveal the missiles ready to fire point blank into Blake and with a hail of fire they did just that. But once more the Faunus proved that she was a capable fighter, using her semblance to take the full blast while she leapt back for cover. The Paladin recoiled as its cockpit was scorched by its own missiles, the hatches closing as it aimed its grasping claw forward. Blake had made enough distance for its attempt to grab her to be utterly futile. The ever adapting machine displayed why it was the final design though as its claw fired towards her, a winch attaching it to its arm. She widened her eyes, any attempt to avoid the claw would now be too slow.
It halted in front of her and fell to the floor like a dead weight, she looked over to see that Yang had caught the winch in her hand. With an angered expression she pulled on it and amazingly the Paladin was tugged forward, stabilizing itself as to keep from being thrown around like a rag-doll. Its form shifted again against the wet ground, the winch creaking under the pressure. Two thick and large nails upon either of its feet stabbed into the earth, preventing it from being pulled any further. Its lasers focused upon Blake who had jumped up onto its claw and started sprinting along the winch and towards its body, weapons at the ready.
The cold and calculating machine suddenly released its nail-like stabilizers and allowed itself to be pulled by Yang's force. The sudden shift in momentum caused Blake to lose her footing and fall from the winch as Yang stumbled back and against the floor, her own power having been used against her as the Paladin slid forward. The winch immediately started to pull and return its claw to its arm, locking it in place. Its sword raised and aimed to chop down towards Blake who rolled to the side before aiming her pistol up to its cockpit, firing off several shots and taking out one of its main eyes and two lasers. The machine turned its full attention to the Faunus and raised its blade once more before bringing it down a second time. With a burst from Celica Yang intercepted the attack and punched Ember into the blade, the hit she had taken earlier from the Paladin only made her stronger as her fist knocked aside the sword, crashing it into the snow besides Blake who leapt up towards cockpit once more to deal with what was left of its optics.
The Paladin shook itself as Gambol Shroud made repeated slashes against it, in its flurry its claw curled into a fist and hurled itself towards Yang who went to meet it with her own fist once again. They connected but this time the result was different. At first Yang recoiled, her aura taking more damage as the Paladin bested her and went in for a second strike. Another of its eyes being taken out by Blake as its claw made contact with Yang's fist again. The connection was made and both Yang and the Paladin recoiled their arms from the impact this time. Each strike was only making Yang stronger but how long would her aura keep her standing? In refusal to back down the Paladin made a third strike, two of its protruding laser devices falling from its cockpit after having been severed by Blake once more.
When the fist of Yang and the iron claw of the Paladin collided they paused into a deadlock. Yang grit her teeth as she tried to force more pressure against the machine as its arm buckled but returned the same amount of pressure. Yang's arm began to shake as two jets of flame roared out from behind the feet of the Paladin, pushing Yang back slowly as it became determined to beat her down this time. Blake stabbed her blade deep into the hull of the machine, she had created a mess of deep cuts into the cockpit by now but the stubborn machine kept pushing.
Yang shut her eyes, the strain on her arm becoming worse. She refused to let this tin can get the best of her as she opened her glaring red eyes. With a blast from Celica behind herself she overpowered the Paladin, pushing its claw back and upsetting its balance. She then fired Ember while still pushing her fist against the claw. The Paladin's arm flung back from the force as its jet powered feet accelerated. The shift in momentum of two parts of its body caused it to fall upon its back as Blake clung to it. "Blake!" yelled Yang as she reached out her hand in front of herself. The Faunus turned and nodded, ripping Gambol Shroud from the cockpit and hurling it towards Yang who caught it in her hand. She raised her right leg and stomped Celica down against the ground as she launched herself into the air with a blast. Blake dashed towards the spot Yang had just been in while gripping the black ribbon with both hands as she swung it down.
The two practically swapped positions as the back of Yang's heel came down towards the face of the Paladin. It crushed into the metallic plating of the cockpit, cracking its surface before Celica kicked off of it with a second close-range blast. Yang landed by Blake's side before holding out Gambol Shroud to her. The two looked upon the Paladin, it was still as it laid upon its back. It appeared they had defeated the machine.
Yang leaned forward as she started to pant, the fight having taken much from her with the repeated impacts she took. Blake held an arm around her in order to steady her partner. "I- I don't think..." began Yang, looking over the Paladin and towards the mansion, her eyes fading from red to lilac as her hair returned to normal.
Blake understood, the both of them were too fatigued to mount a revenge mission on the mansion. She frowned and held her arm tighter around Yang as the rain descended upon them. "We'll come back..." she spoke in response.
Amidst the sound of the rain, the wind and the thunder another sound joined the fray. It seemed like engines, or some sort of vehicle. Blake looked over Yang's shoulder and could see something approaching, large metallic vehicles, armoured to the teeth and travelling across the road that went by them. Before she could tell Yang she heard the blonde gasp. The Faunus felt herself pushed to the ground by her partner only to see a metal claw envelop her. Yang held her fist out in defence as the metal tried to crush around her body. The Paladin had launched its claw at her using its winch once more, even after all this it was still active as it sparked and twitched.
"Yang!" screamed Blake as she lunged for the winch, bringing her cleaver down upon it. She made minimal damage to it and slashed down again. Yang could feel her aura being depleted, using all her strength to push against the palm of the claw as to avoid being crushed completely. Blake cut down for a third time, it was too slow, she wasn't getting through it fast enough. She could hear one of the armoured trucks driving up behind them as its wheels skid to a halt.
Before Blake could deliver another strike the winch started to recoil as in a second the claw was pulled back to the arm of the Paladin. A shimmer of yellow appeared around Yang, her aura being depleted completely as her arm gave in. Her body was firmly grasped by the claw now as she let out a scream of pure agony as the machine started to crush her, her cry echoing out.
Blake never felt herself scream Yang's name so loud before, her voice turning coarse as she rushed towards the machine in a desperate attempt to save her partner, driving Gambol Shroud into the face of the Paladin once more, stabbing into the metal as hard as she could as she cried out in frustration.
From behind her a voice called out, "Sir it's not responding!" it yelled.
A man's voice replied, one she was sure she had heard before, "Bring the turret around, aim for the arm!" it yelled. A blast tore open the left shoulder of the Paladin as its claw-arm fell to the ground, the machine twitching once more while still active. Blake's hearing had turned to ringing, the impact having thrown her off of the machine. She crawled her way over to the claw and reached her hands to it, trying to pry it open. She could see Yang, frozen in its clutches, her body limp and her eyes closed.
"Y- Yang!" called out Blake once more, desperately trying to pull the claw apart. Her hearing came back into focus and she could hear multiple boots rushing towards her. She turned to see Atlesian soldiers and readied her weapons in defence. But they ignored her, rushing straight to the claw around Yang as they all worked together to pry it open. Blake watched in confusion, it was then she noticed that these soldiers didn't have the Schnee logo upon them like the others in the mansion had.
"Get a medic!" called out one of the men as they successfully opened the claw up, crowding around Yang. Blake felt useless, unable to contribute towards the safety of her partner.
"Miss Belladonna, right?" came that familiar voice once more. Blake turned, the tears still in her eyes as she saw a tall man dressed in white, his hair black and greying in places. There was a strip of silver metal above his right brow and his eyes were a deep blue shade. A man she knew as General Ironwood. Blake could barely form a response to his initial question as he continued. "Do you know where Winter and Weiss Schnee are? I know you were travelling with the former, you can trust me" he spoke. Blake's eyes lingered upon the group of soldiers, now carrying Yang on a stretcher and rushing back to their armoured vehicle, of which the small turret on the top was still smoking.
"I- Winter is- She's at the mansion and Weiss-" she paused, looking down. "Weiss and Neo escaped, we were split up but they got out, I don't know where they are but- But Winter she..." she swallowed, the images flooding back into her thoughts.
The General nodded at her slowly, "Winter Schnee...?" he spoke, as if not believing what he had just heard. "Go with my men to the armoured transport, you'll be safe there, both of you. And you have my word Miss Belladonna, we'll find your friends. The Schnee Dust Company has overstepped itself this time" he answered. He turned to call over two men and they came arriving. "Troops, escort Miss Belladonna here to the transport unit, treat her and her friend as high priority subjects and get double the medical attention on Xiao Long" he ordered. The troops saluted and looked to Blake, standing at either side of her and waiting for her to be ready to move.
Blake looked back to the Paladin as a group of soldiers surrounded it with aimed rifles before she was led to the vehicle where Yang was taken. She watched as the General signalled for some more men, some of the vehicles in the column started moving out into the snowy wastes of the hill as a result, no doubt to search the area for Weiss and Neo. She moved out from the rain and into the back of the large armoured transport, a group of medics were surrounding Yang and so she was unable to see her as she was seated upon a bench. The back hatch of the vehicle slowly started to close as she overhead the medics. "If not for this damn storm we could fly back" sighed one of them.
"We can make do for now, the drive isn't that long" replied the other medic.
"It's not time I'm worried about, if she doesn't stay sedated every bump we hit is going to be the agony for her, and these trucks really suck" answered the other medic. Blake looked over to them with concern.
"Is..." she began, one of them glancing back at her, waiting for her to finish. "Is she..." she continued, trying to put her words together.
The medic paused and looked down to Yang. Blake feared the worst from that pause as he looked back to her, though he smiled. "She'll recover, it'll just take some time" he answered with confidence before returning to his work. Blake felt relieved to hear that she was going to be okay but she was still shaking, not from the cold but from the scream she heard. That blood-curdling scream from her partner as she was pulled into the claw. As it slowly constricted and started to crush her body.
One of the medics spoke in a lower tone, likely so that Blake wouldn't hear but her Faunus ears granted her that luxury. "All of these fractures though... She'll be in torment... I don't think a single one of her ribs didn't get cracked..." he spoke, Blake's gaze lowering to the metallic floor of the truck, it had since started moving and all she could hear were the thrums of the engine, the rain hitting the roof of the vehicle and the medical team speaking.
"Hey I'm just glad the spine was untouched, she's one lucky girl when you take that into account" whispered one of the other medics as the truck continued down the hill, returning to the safety of the city.
Weiss shuddered another breath, she couldn't feel her feet or her hands as she held Neo tight, embracing her as closely as she could for warmth, not only for herself but for her too. The girl in her arms hadn't moved or opened her eyes since she closed them and she started to worry. The rain beat down against the umbrella more, she had heard distant explosions in the direction the Paladin had ran in but she lacked the strength to move herself any more, never mind with Neo. A low thrumming was coming closer, the sound of an engine? Weiss shuddered as she turned her head in the direction of the sound, she tried her best to raise the umbrella higher so that anyone could see her. An armoured vehicle was coming into view, she tried to call out to it but her voice was lost to her, her lips opening but making no sound.
But thankfully she didn't have to as the vehicle proceeded towards her, turning slightly as it came to a halt, soldiers and medics moving out from the back of it as they rushed to the aid of the two.
The General stomped his way down one of the many hallways of the mansion, his expression angered as besides him was Weiss' father. "You forget yourself Mr Schnee, Winter is my agent" spoke the General.
"An agent that deserted your army for a personal vendetta" replied the man, behind them were several of the General's own men.
"She still falls under my jurisdiction!" responded the General in a heated fashion as the two came upon a door. The General opened it and stood inside, his blue eyes gazing over to a medical bed. A heart monitor beeped steadily, the wires linking up towards the bed as in it laid a pale woman with long silver-white hair, her arms at her sides and her eyes closed. The General narrowed his eyes, seeing that her left hand was completely missing.
Mr Schnee approached the General's side as he looked down to Winter. "The Huntress that took the contract was rather... harsh in her methods of capture. She pierced her lung but my medical team was able to stabilize her in time. A shame about the hand" he answered.
Winter laid silent in her bed with her eyes closed, the heart monitor still beeping at a steady rate. "I'm taking her with me" answered the General.
"You will do no such thing-" began Mr Schnee as his expression soured.
The General turned to face the man, pointing a gloved finger at him. "Do not turn this into a complicated situation. Weiss is the sole heiress of your company and she ran from home and that sounds like your problem, do not try to replace her with one of my soldiers, because then you make it my problem too" he stated firmly.
The old man grumbled under his breath as he turned to look upon his daughter.