Chapter Sixteen; The Battle of Mistral
Those within Amity colosseum began to worry about what was happening and wondered who was possibly attacking, when gunfire followed by several explosions could be heard coming from the city. Shortly after, an Atlesian fighter skimmed the top of the colosseum and was shot down. The crowd erupted into a panic. Then, another fighter skimmed the top of the colosseum, it wasn't Atlesian.
Neptune took the microphone from Scarlet, "everyone please remain calm. Colosseum staff will escort you to the designated evacuation points, please proceed in an orderly fashion. Everything will be fine."
Bianca jumped off her pedestal, and together with Alani, they ran to their teams. Professor Haze was already beginning to gather the students to get them out of the colosseum. Many, if not all, showed some kind of worry, or were scared.
"Guys, did you see that fighter?" Bianca asked.
"Yea, it had VDF markings on it," Lucas replied.
"Why would Vale attack Mistral?" Alani inquired, "I thought their was peace between the kingdoms."
"There is… or at least was anyway," Ebony interjected.
"Come on people, let's move!" Professor Haze commanded, "now's not the time to stand around and talk. Get to the transports, I'll meet you all there in a minute."
Professor Haze turned and jumped over the wall separating the grandstands from the arena. She hit the ground running and quickly made her way to centerstage where Neptune, Sage, Scarlet, and Arslan were. All the finalists save for Sierra had made their way back to the stands and were with their fellow students, leaving the arena. None had noticed that Sierra hadn't left yet.
"Neptune, we need to get to the main hall and ensure the safety of the relic," Professor Haze said.
"I know that Ember," Neptune replied. "I was just about to head there now."
"Wait, what relic?" Arslan asked.
"Yeah, what are you two talking about?" Scarlet added.
Neptune sighed, "I wanted to do this under better circumstances." He paused and looked back to Ember, "get your students to safety and then meet us at the main hall."
Ember nodded and was about to run off to meet with her students when Sierra walked up to the group. Both Arslan and Ember looked at her with stern expressions on there faces.
"I want to help," Sierra said.
"That's out of the question," Arslan stated. "Go to your team and evacuate the colosseum now."
"But…" Sierra was cut off.
"That's not a request Sierra," Arslan said sternly.
The silver-eyed tiger-faunus looked from her Sifu to Ember, who was standing slightly behind her. "Ember, come on, back me up here."
"I'm sorry, but I have to agree with Sifu on this one," Ember said. "You're a great fighter, but this is too dangerous for a student."
After hearing those words, Sierra reluctantly relented. With a disgruntled look about her, she ran off towards the stands where her team was waiting for her. Shortly after that Ember ran towards where her students were directed to go to board the transports.
Neptune looked to his three compatriots, "come on, we can use my personal Bullhead to get to the academy, I'll fill you all in on the way."
As the battle was beginning, a single Bullhead landed outside the lower district of Mistral. Rouge, Jet, and Nilah stepped out as Rommel Berg hung out from the door. Rouge looked up at her forces engaging those from Atlas and smiled at the flawlessness of the attack thus far.
Rouge turned back to the Field Marshal, "I'll leave the men to you Rommel, I trust you can take it from here. Jet, Nilah, and I have an appointment with the headmaster."
"Good hunting mein lady," Rommel saluted.
Rouge pulled out her scroll and checked the time, "Albus and his men should be at the enemy base about now."
The Bullhead took off and headed for one of Rouge's airships. As they watched the craft ascend, Jet manifested a black mist around the three of them and they descended into the shadows.
Back at the Atlesian base, Commander Soliel was in her command center when she received a transmission from General Schnee. They were not yet aware of the attack on Mistral, or what was coming for them.
"General Schnee, what is it ma'am?" Ciel saluted as Winter appeared on a large screen within the command center.
"Commander Soleil, Mistral is under attack! Mobilize your forces for a counter-offensive immediately," the General commanded.
"Yes ma'am," Ciel saluted as the screen deactivated. She then addressed her subordinates, "you heard the General, Mistral needs our aid! Go to code red, I want those airships in the air yesterday!"
"Yes ma'am!" Ciel's subordinates replied.
Alarms blared throughout the base as Atlesian soldiers readied themselves for battle. Boots were strapped and weapons handed out as quickly and urgently as possible. Knights and Paladins were loaded onto the airships, and soon after they began take off procedures. Most of the soldiers, Knights, and Paladins were on the airships as they lifted off the ground, when a thunderous blast erupted from the engine of one of the airships, then another, and then, another. Before the Atlesians knew what hit them, all five airships crashed back to the ground, most of their crew, passengers, and cargo being killed upon impact. Furthermore, several explosions ripped through the armory and motor pool taking out most of their remaining heavy weapons and vehicles.
Ciel and most of her command staff had been knocked to the ground from the shockwave of the explosions. "What the hell was that!? Someone get me a sit-rep!" She shouted.
"Ma'am, all airships lost, along with seventy… no, eighty percent of our forces," one of her subordinates replied.
"Dammit!" Ciel slammed her fist against the command console in front of her, "I want a headcount of everyone who's still fit for battle. And get me a line to General Schnee ASAP."
"Ma'am," another of Ciel's subordinates called out, but failed to get her attention at first. "Ma'am, you're gonna want to see this."
Ciel hurriedly walked over to where her subordinate was standing. He handed her the pair of binoculars he was holding, and she peered through them. Roughly three-hundred meters away on a slight incline that overlooked the base was a man on horseback, he wore white robes and an ornate silver mask. He drew his sword and held it up in the air as several-hundred more individuals crested the incline.
Ciel pulled down the binoculars she was holding. Even from this distance, she could see the glistening of their weapons in the sunlight. Then she heard them shout, first it was faint, only the man in the mask, "Deus Vult!" Shortly after came the rest, "DEUS VULT!" From the volume she could tell there were thousands of them over the incline.
"Get all remaining forces to the perimeter now!" She commanded.
The remaining Atlesian soldiers rushed to their defensive positions. There were only a few hundred at most, along with a single platoon of four Paladins. To say they were hopelessly outnumbered was an understatement.
Albus sat atop his horse at the head of his forces, beneath his silver mask, an expression of zealous pride in what he was about to do for his matron. He lowered his sword and pointed it towards the Atlesian Base. "In the name of the Maidens, attack!"
Albus and his templars charged forward. The thundering of hooves beat against the ground like deafening drums and their shouts were like a bloody chorus. Together, they were a symphony of war and death.
Ciel looked out at the enemy in shock and disbelief for a moment, she couldn't believe in this day and age she was facing a cavalry charge. She soon broke herself out of her shock and issued her orders, "all forces, open fire!"
Blaster cannons and machine guns roared to life as they spat out volley after volley and burst after burst into the charging enemy. The remaining paladins let rip with their cannons and missiles, taking down dozens of enemies, but they didn't relent in their attack.
Gunfire rippled around him, yet Albus remained stoic and zealous in the face of those his god has declared the enemy. "Come my templars, ride! Ride!" He exclaimed.
All around him, his templars were felled by the dozen by the Atlesian defenders. He raised his sword as he charged, indicating his men to look to him. "Lower your lances, prepare to fire!"
The templars of the first few ranks lowered their lances, and the tips opened revealing large-caliber gun-barrels. The templars took aim at the machine-gun nests and paladins as they awaited Albus's order.
"Fire!" The Arch Deacon commanded.
High caliber dust-rounds ripped through the air and then struck their targets. The Atlesian soldiers screamed as they ducked for cover, many were killed, even more were wounded. Half the paladins were destroyed in the initial volley, and so were several machine-gun nests. Gaps opened in the Atlesian perimeter, and Albus's templars road forth.
Albus was first into the breech. He cut down a pair of Atlesian soldiers with his sword and then trampled a third beneath his horse. Like a holy river, the templars flooded into the base and brutal close-quarters combat began. Atlesian soldiers were mercilessly cut down with swords or impaled with lances. Similarly, templars were shot from their mounts or had their horses killed under them. At this point, several men dressed as Atlesian soldiers leapt out of the wreckage and rubble within the base, threw off their uniforms, and began firing their blaster rifles at the defenders.
One templar was thrown from his horse after it was shot several times. He hit the ground hard, but quickly jumped to his feet, drew his sword and cut down the soldier who shot his horse. Soon after, he was gunned down by two other Atlesian soldiers.
Ciel looked out over the battle within her base, she had to do something to turn the tide. Luckily for her, she'd managed to get Major Stallion to leave her a handful of specialists at the base. One huntsman was easily the match of several dozen regular soldiers, and specialists were even more well trained than a regular huntsman, they could be the key to turning the tide.
"Commander Soliel, your orders?" One of the specialists asked.
Ciel looked down to her watch and pressed a few buttons, soon after, three hard-light dust blades were emitted from it. "On me," she said.
She smashed open one of the windows overlooking her base and leapt out. She was followed by all her specialists. Including Ciel herself, there were nine of them. With weapons drawn they joined the fight and began laying into the enemy. The templars, no matter how zealous they were, couldn't possibly be a match for the specialists.
Grimm had begun to investigate the edges of the battlefield, forcing templars and soldiers alike to cease their fighting and focus on the new threat. One of the two remaining Paladins was swarmed by a pack of Beowolves as it was fighting. The cockpit was ripped open by the beasts and the mech's pilot was mauled to death.
Forces on the perimeter struggled against the Grimm, but they steadily pushed the beasts back. Within the base, the fighting devolved as blaster ammo ran dry and blades were dulled. Soldiers and templars scrambled for what weapons they could find; rocks, shards of glass, rebar, anything. The faunus amongst them resorted to using their fangs and claws to bite and gouge at their opponents, those who had those traits anyway.
Several templars, still armed with their lances surrounded the last paladin and began attacking it in unison. "Focus your fire! Bring it down, bring it down!" One shouted.
The paladin whipped around, swinging its arm and sending several templars flying. It then fired its cannons into the crowd of enemies, killing several more of them. The focused fire of the templars started to take its toll, however. Several shots hit one of the mech's leg joints and forced it to a knee. The pilot inside continued fighting.
More templars began firing at it, some with their lances, others with the blaster rifles of the fallen Atlesian Soldiers. They took out one of the mech's arm cannons, but the other continued to fire.
One templar who was knocked to the ground noticed an Atlesian rocket launcher laying on the ground. He picked up the weapon and took aim. The weapon achieved a lock-on on the mech, and he fired. This last blow brought the machine and its valiant pilot down for good.
By this point in the battle, the Grimm at the perimeter of the base had all but been pushed back and only a few stragglers remained. Meanwhile, the sheer weight of numbers the templars had began to show. Despite the bravery of the Atlesian soldiers, there were few left, but with no place to retreat they kept fighting.
Like cornered animals they never gave up, each of them selling their life at the price of two or even three templars. Some of the specialists had been killed as well, their prices were even higher, each one taking at least a dozen or more enemies with them.
Ciel cut her way through the ranks of the templars, until she came across Albus in the middle of the fighting. His once pristine white robes were stained with blood and sweat and his mask had several scratches from weapon strikes.
The two leaders faced off against one another. Albus twirled his sword in his hand before getting a firm grip on it as he and Ciel circled one another. They charged each other. Steel clashed with hard-light, as each desperately tried to kill the other and end this battle.
Ciel slashed at Albus and got a grazing blow on his arm, leaving a large cut behind. To her it was apparent that his aura had already been broken, or his aura had never been unlocked to begin with. They rushed back at each other and continued to trade blocks and parries with their weapons.
Albus managed to get in a few lucky hits on his opponent and shatter her aura. He then raised his sword to slash downward at his opponent. In response, Ciel raised her hard-light blade to block it, but at the last second, he ducked under Ciel's parry and slashed at her legs, slicing deep into one of them.
Ciel collapsed to one knee as she could no longer stand. When Albus came in to finish her, she threw a right hook at his face that knocked off his silver mask. The left side of his face was horribly scarred, a large gash crossed his white left eye, while his teeth were visible through several holes in his left cheek. He also had no hair, eyebrow, or eye lashes on that side of his face, indications of being burned.
Before Ciel could strike him once more, Albus pulled back and thrust his sword into her heart. The pain of the blade entering her chest sent her into shock. The Arch Deacon twisted the blade as she looked down at it, and then back to him. Albus removed the blade from his opponent, and her lifeless body fell to the ground.
After the death of their commander, the remaining Atlesian soldiers and specialists attempted to surrender to Albus and his templars, but per Rouge's orders they were shown no mercy. They proceeded to slaughter the Atlesian remnants to a man.
Albus walked over to where his mask lay, picked it up and put it back on. He then raised his bloody sword in triumph. "Deus Vult!" He yelled.
"DEUS VULT!" His templars responded.
Back in Mistral, Teams BLAC and AYST reached Amity Colosseum's docks. From here they could see the extent of the battle. Dozens of sleek and nimble fighters were dogfighting in the skies, as Winter's command ship exchanged fire with the enemy airships. All the while, gunfire and explosions ripped through the city.
Alani looked out over the edge of the docks at the city, "so this… this is what war looks like."
Among the students waiting for evacuation were those of Teams STON and SSGE. All, except for Apollo and Yaara looked out over the city with concern and worry in their eyes. The leaders of both teams instead approached Professor Haze once she reached the students.
"Professor," Yaara called out, gaining Ember's attention. "These transports are short-range and automated, they're only good to get us to the academy and back. What are we supposed to do if the battle spills over to it while we're still there?"
"Yea, I ain't going out without my weapons like a bitch," Apollo added bluntly.
"I never said anything about not being able to protect yourselves," Professor Haze replied. "Once we're down on the ground, we'll make our way to the dorms where you can gather your weapons and gear."
"Good, I was worried we wouldn't be allowed or able to fight," Yaara stated.
"However," Professor Haze held up a finger. "You are not to seek out battle, if you can avoid it, do so. You're only allowed to fight if you absolutely have to."
"That sounds reasonable," Yaara agreed.
Apollo nodded in agreement as well.
"Alright now, everyone on the transport, lets go!" Professor Haze commanded.
The Beacon Students quickly and somewhat orderly boarded the transport. Ember was the last one on board, she was sure not to leave any of her students behind. Before she boarded, she looked out over the city. Memories from the civil war years began flooding back to her, the death, destruction, and screams filled her head. Shakily she took her calabash from her belt and took a long drink, soothing her nerves. She wiped her mouth of a few droplets of alcohol, and then boarded the transport.
At the opposite side of Amity Colosseum, Team SLVR was waiting to board a transport to get to safety. Sierra had a disgruntled and unfocused look about her and didn't notice her partner calling out to her.
"Sierra, hey, Sierra, you there?" Luke asked.
Russell put his hand on his leader's shoulder, snapping her back to attention. "I'm sorry, my mind was wandering, what's up?" She asked.
"What's the plan?" Luke asked.
"What do you mean, we're supposed to evacuate with the others," Sierra said halfheartedly.
Russell, Luke, and Violet all looked to one another and then back to their leader. Russell spoke, "we know that, but is it what we're going to do?"
"Yeah, you know whatever you decide, we've got your back," Violet interjected.
Sierra took a moment to think, and contemplate what her teammates were telling her, verses what her Sifu and lifelong friend had. "Once we get to the academy, call your RPLs. We're not gonna sit idly by while another of our homes is destroyed."
Russell, Luke, and Violet all had confident smiles on their faces as they looked to their leader. The three of them nodded in agreement with Sierra's plan.
It was chaos on the command deck of Winter's airship. Alarms blared as personnel ran around between stations and the ship shuttered from being hit by projectiles from enemy airships. Winter herself was nearly knocked off her feet by one such impact.
"Ma'am, squads two, three, and seven have been wiped out!" one of Winter's officers stated.
"Squads thirteen and seventeen are at half strength, they're requesting reinforcements!" another yelled.
"Dammit where's Ciel with those reinforcements? They should've been here by now!" General Schnee shouted.
"Ma'am, we've been trying to hail them, but we've gotten no response since your last message," one of Winter's subordinates said.
"Damn, we can only assume they've been compromised," the General said with a sneer.
Another blast rocked the airship as Winter's communications officer called out to her. "Ma'am, urgent transmission from Major Stallion."
"Put him through," she ordered.
A hollow screen popped up in front of Winter, on it was Major Stallion. In the background the General could see several of the Major's specialists fighting against hordes of Grimm.
"General, Grimm have begun to pour into the lower district, we need reinforcements now!" Major Stallion stated.
"I'm afraid I can't help you, Commander Soliel isn't responding to hails, she may be under attack as well. You'll just have to hold out," General Schnee replied.
The General's communications officer then called out to her, "ma'am, a group of local huntsmen are attempting to make contact with us, they're requesting orders."
Winter breathed a sigh of relief for a moment, "how many?"
"Just about three dozen," the comms officer replied.
Winter looked back to Major Stallion, who had since turned away from the screen and was shooting at Grimm with his blaster pistol from behind the cover of his shield. "Major Stallion!"
"Yes ma'am," Marcus turned to the screen.
"I may have help for you yet. Several dozen local huntsmen have taken up arms. I'll be sending them your way," she said.
"They may just help," Marcus replied.
"Good hunting," Winter replied as the screen deactivated. She then looked towards her comms officer, "tell the huntsmen to proceed to the lower city and rendezvous with our specialists, we'll need them to keep the Grimm from overrunning the city."
"Yes ma'am," the comms officer replied.
"Furthermore, inform all forces in the middle district to pull back to secondary defensive positions at the perimeter of the upper district. Also, tell them to get as many civilians and VIPs out of the battlefield as possible," General Schnee commanded. "And finally, tell Agents Alpha and Omega to pull their squads back to Haven Academy and defend it at all costs."
Within the middle district, a squad of Atlesian Soldiers barricaded the front entrance way of a high-class hotel with whatever they could find and set up defenses inside the lobby, they made ready to hold the line as long as possible to get the civilian occupants out the back of the building. The enemy was currently trying to bash their way through the barricade.
The commanding Sergeant of the soldiers hurriedly walked besides the hotel's most prominent VIP, the Royal Princess Haukea Kapua Kamehameha. She wore the same outfit she had during her people's cultural performance a few days prior, with some additions, she had on leather shoulder pauldrons beneath her feather cape, matching vambraces on her forearms, and a belt about her waist. Strapped to the back of the belt in their sheaths, were a pair of long serrated daggers made in the same style as her younger sister's spear. They walked behind the defensive line, towards one of the hotel's event rooms.
"Your highness, I've just received orders to get you and your people out of here, so if you'd just follow me…" The Sergeant said but was cut off by Haukea holding up her hand to him.
"Those of my people who cannot fight have already been evacuated," she stated. "The rest of us have decided to stay and fight with you, besides, it looks like you could use the help."
"No offense your highness, but what could two-dozen of your royal guards do to turn the tide of battle?" The Sergeant inquired.
Haukea chuckled, "naïve haole. I've brought more than two dozen warriors."
The Royal Princess pushed open the double doors of the room, and to the shock of the sergeant, not only were Haukea's Royal Guards there, but so were nearly sixty others of her people, not counting her four brothers. All were wearing full battle regalia except for helmets, only the Royal Guards wore those, and carrying long spears. The Atlesian's jaw dropped at the sight.
"You see Sergeant, every Southern Islander is a warrior before anything else," Haukea said.
"If they're here, then who did you evacuate?" The Sergeant asked.
"Mainly children and the elderly," Haukea stated. "Oh, and a few who've been weakened by sickness. Basically, all those who are unable to fight."
"Well, if you wish to fight, there's no stopping you," The Sergeant said. "I'm just glad you'll be on our side."
Haukea smiled and nodded before turning to her people, "He taua!" She yelled as she held her fist high.
"HE TAUA!" Her people shouted in response whilst baring their teeth and tongues and slamming the ends of their spears to the ground.
Haukea's brothers stepped out from the group and took their places next to her. At the same time, Captain Keone stepped out from the warriors and turned to them, "three lines, form up, ha!"
With perfect lock-step discipline, all of the warriors lined up behind the Captain, their spears, shouldered. The Atlesian Sergeant was impressed, even if he didn't show it. After forming up, Captain Keone led his warriors out of the room and to the lobby where the Atlesian soldiers had set up their defenses.
The attackers outside had nearly broken through the door, in a few moments, an entire battalion of them would storm the building. As the large doors struggled to hold the attackers back, the warriors marched past the defenses and formed up in front of them, much to the bewilderment of the Atlesians.
"Left face, ha!" Captain Keone commanded.
All the warriors spun ninety degrees to their left at his command.
"Front rank, kneel!" He shouted.
Without missing a beat, the warriors of the front rank kneeled.
"All ranks, shoulder arms!" He commanded.
The warriors shouldered their spears and the tips opened to reveal blaster barrels. They were lined up in a fashion long since abandoned by most nations; line combat. The Atlesian soldiers looked at them like they were crazy.
"What are your men doing? They're all gonna die if they don't get into cover!" The Sergeant exclaimed.
Haukea smirked, "just watch."
The door took a few more hits as the last of the barricade was knocked away from it, then it burst open. Rouge's soldiers poured in, firing their weapons rapidly as they advanced. The Atlesian defenders ducked behind cover and returned fire. They were astonished to see the Southern Islanders holding their ground and not wavering. The Sergeant's eyes widened as he looked upon the warriors. The projectiles of the enemy were bouncing off a hard-light shield which was activated just in front of their ranks. Each warrior possessed a personal generator strapped to their lower back, and connecting the generators were streams of energy that amplified the shield's strength.
The gunfire soon dissipated as smoke had filled the room. When the dust settled, the attackers stood there in disbelief. They hadn't killed a single defender in their initial firefight. Atlesian Soldiers peaked out from behind cover, and an eerie silence fell over the room.
Captain Keone smacked his spear to the ground, "all ranks, fire!"
Disciplined volleys of blaster rounds ripped through the attackers ranks as they scrambled for cover. Many dozens were cut down by the wall of blaster rounds flying through the air, while those that reached relative safety returned fire upon the warriors. Their shots were desperate and ineffective, they just bounced off the hard-light shield in front of the warriors.
"Retreat!" One of the attackers shouted. As he said this, those around him began to scramble for the door where many more were cut down by the volleys from the warriors.
"Atlas isn't the only nation with hard-light technology," Haukea said to the Sergeant.
The Royal Princess and her brothers leapt over the defenses and walked in front of their warriors as they ceased firing. Each one pulled out their weapons; Haukea, her daggers, Akamu, a large great sword, Kaimana, a two-handed axe, Keahi, a pair of blaster pistols, and Kalani, a short sword and single-handed axe.
"All ranks, prepare to charge!" Captain Keone commanded.
The front rank of the warriors stood and all of them shifted their spears back into melee mode, retracting their barrels and closing the points. They held the tips of their spears forward and readied themselves for melee combat. The beams connecting each warrior's shield generator to one another deactivated, but their personal shields were still active.
Haukea turned to her warriors and yelled, "Kia Mate Toa!"
Haukea turned and was soon in a full sprint as she ran over the dead and dying soldiers in the hotel lobby. She was followed closely by her brothers, and behind them, Captain Keone and the rest of the warriors.
The Atlesian Sergeant looked to his men, "come on now, you're all soldiers of Atlas. Are you going to let some island rabble show you up?"
"No sir!" The soldiers replied.
The Sergeant pumped his shotgun, "alright then, charge!"
"Hooah!" The soldiers replied.
The Atlesian Sergeant and his men activated the bayonet attachments on their weapons, leapt over their defenses, and followed the Southern Islanders into battle.
The charge of the islanders and Atlesians caught Rouge's soldiers off guard as they were regrouping on the street to make another assault themselves. A vicious melee ensued. Despite being outnumbered a little more than two to one in this engagement, Haukea and her people fought valiantly and with little regard for their own safety. They tore through the ranks of the enemy. Some of Rouge's soldiers scattered and ran off in the face of their onslaught. Haukea and her brothers showed their battle prowess, cutting down enemy after enemy in little time.
The Atlesian Squad charged into the fray and fought side by side with the islanders. With bayonets fixed and weapons set to full-auto, they surged forward, gunning down foe after foe. If any enemy got too close, they were immediately cut down by swift bayonet strikes. Haukea and her people were impressed by the skill and tenacity of their Atlesian allies.
The Royal Princess effortlessly avoided the attacks of several assailants. As she parried and countered their attacks, she twirled her daggers in her hands, getting different holds and grips for every strike she threw.
An enemy soldier rushed Haukea from behind. When he got close, he pulled out his combat knife and prepared to stab the Royal Princess in the back. However, as he reached her, several blaster rounds ripped into his chest, killing him near instantly.
Haukea turned to see the soldier falling dead to the ground. She then turned once more to see her brother Keahi running up to her. "Thank you, brother," she said.
"You know I've always got your back sister," Keahi replied. The Prince then shouted "CHEE-HOO," and charged back into the fight, firing his blasters at any enemy he crossed paths with.
Princes Akamu and Kaimana fought together, guarding one another's back, while Prince Kalani cut his way through the enemy's ranks in a blood-lust. The hulking elder brothers were unstoppable, anyone who got within range of their great sword and battle-axe were chopped down mercilessly and without a fight. Kalani threw wild slashes and chops at those around him, cutting down anyone who challenged him, be it one opponent or many.
Rouge's soldiers began to rout and flee in the face of the islanders and their Atlesian allies. Those that decided to stay and fight were cut or shot down where they stood. They were brave, but foolish.
"Look at the Valean cowards, watch as they run, ahahaha!" Kaimana exclaimed.
Haukea and several others turned to look down the street as they heard a vehicle thundering towards them. It was an armored car with a heavy machinegun atop it. The hatch on top of the vehicle popped open and a soldier emerged, manning the weapon.
"Everyone, get to cover!" The Atlesian Sergeant shouted as the machinegun opened fire.
"Your highness, get down!" Captain Keone shouted as he tackled Haukea into an alleyway.
The warriors and soldiers ducked into buildings and alleyways at either side of the road as the armored car skidded to a halt just in front of them. Several islanders and a pair of Atlesian soldiers were caught in the line of fire and cut down, the warriors' personal hard-light shields doing next to nothing to stop the high caliber machinegun rounds.
Captain Keone rolled off the Royal Princess as she sat up, safely behind cover. "Thank you, Captain," she said. When she received no response, she looked down at the man, her shoulder's dipped in sadness at what she saw.
Captain Keone lay their dead, blood oozed out of his back and onto the asphalt ground. Haukea leaned over him and removed his helmet, his expression was not one of shock or fear, but pride. Pride in the fact that he had achieved an honorable death protecting his liege.
Haukea closed the dead man's eyes, "you've died as you lived, a true warrior, and loyal to the end. May your ancestors guide you to the afterlife."
The Royal Princess and the warriors around her placed their fists over their hearts and bowed their heads to salute the old warrior and mourn his passing. After a moment of mourning they brought themselves back to their current situation.
The Atlesian Sergeant blind fired his shotgun at the armored car, before quickly dipping back around the corner as several machinegun rounds tore through the edges of the brick wall. "Dammit, they've got us pinned!"
Haukea looked down the alley they were in, it was a dead-end, and so was the alleyway across from them. To make matters worse, several of the enemy soldiers they had previously driven off had rallied and were around the armored car, adding to the fire they were under. Haukea also noticed that her brother Akamu had been hit in the shoulder and was being tended to by an Atlesian medic. Near him were the rest of her brothers, they all looked uninjured.
"Kaimana! Kalani!" Haukea called out gaining the attention of her brothers. "Let's show them the strength of our family's mana!"
From across the street the two brothers nodded to their elder sister. All three of their aura's began to glow bright orange and they stepped out into the line of fire.
"What are you doing, get back into cover!" The Atlesian Sergeant shouted.
Haukea and her brothers payed the man no mind as they charged the armored car. Their aura's became like vibrant flames surrounding their bodies as they let out a loud war-cry. Several of the soldiers firing at them began to waver. Their rounds just mushroomed and deflected off the three of their auras.
"Kaimana, you take out the truck. Kalani and I will clear you a path," Haukea stated.
The armored car's machinegun jammed as the three of them got close. The soldier atop the vehicle quickly and desperately attempted to clear it. All the while, Haukea and Kalani easily dispatched the soldiers surrounding the vehicle. They hardly stood a chance in close combat.
The soldier on the machinegun cleared the jam, but it was too late. As he took aim at Kaimana, Haukea sliced off the barrel of his weapon with her daggers and then ripped him out of his gunner's seat. He fell before Kalani who cut the man down before he had a chance to fight or beg for his life. At this point Kaimana leapt into the air with his axe reared back and swung it down onto the cabin of the car, smashing it and killing those inside.
The three siblings jogged back to their warriors and allies as the smoking wreck behind them exploded. None of them flinched. The soldiers and warriors emerged from cover and cheered at their victory.
Haukea and the Sergeant approached one another. "Where to now?" She asked.
"Our forces are setting up a defensive perimeter around the upper-district, we've been ordered to pull back there." The Sergeant replied.
"Then that's where we shall go," Haukea replied.
The Sergeant nodded and then turned to his remaining soldiers, "alright you grunts, let's move."
Haukea looked to her warriors and motioned with her head for them to follow the Sergeant. They did so without question. She then jogged over to Akamu who was leaning against a wall on his good shoulder while clutching the other in his hand.
"Are you going to be alright brother?" She asked.
"Doc said the bullet passed through cleanly for the most part, I'll live." He chuckled lightly, "It is a bit sore though, and I can't quite lift it all the way. I may be sidelined from here on."
"You fought well, you deserve to rest," Haukea replied. "I'm just glad you're ok."
"Thank you, sister," Akamu said. The Prince then looked to his shoulder, "my first battle-scar, do you think father will be proud?"
Haukea chuckled, "I'm sure he'll be elated at your bravery and the fact that his eldest son still lives."
Haukea and Akamu then turned and ran to catch up with the others on their way to the Atlesian perimeter to aid in the defense of the city. This battle was far from over.
Back at the academy, the students from Beacon had landed and made their way back to the dormitory they had been staying at. The academy was in relative chaos as the professors guided their students to evacuation points in order to get them out of the academy and city as a whole for the time being. Though the fighting had not yet reached the academy, people were no doubt afraid of what would happen if it did.
Ebony was on her scroll as she and her fellow students hurried through the academy, she had a worrisome look on her face. "Come on Kim, pick up please."
Kim answered her scroll. "hello!? Ebony is that you!?"
"Oh, thank god," Ebony breathed a sigh of relief. "Kim, please tell me your safe."
"Yeah, I just got to one of the shelters in the upper-city," she replied.
"Good," Ebony said. "Do me a favor, stay safe and keep your head down till the battle ends."
"You don't have to tell me twice," Kim stated. "Where are you at right now?"
"The academy, my classmates and I are on our way to the evacuation points," Ebony said.
"Please hurry and get out of there," Kim said urgently. "On my way to the shelter I saw some flying Grimm slip passed the Atlesian Airship and head straight there."
"I'll be fine baby, you have my word on that," Ebony said. "I'll check back in once my classmates and I are safe."
"I'm holding you to that," Kim said as her voice started to get a bit choked up. She then hung up.
As the students from Beacon reached their dormitory, gunfire erupted from the Academy and people began to scream in terror as several dozen Manticores appeared in the skies above them. One of the Manticores dove down and landed between the students and their dormitory. It let out a fearsome roar before pouncing at the students. Bianca and Alani being the only students with their weapons, quickly drew them and jumped in the beast's path.
As the beast got close, Professor Haze sprinted past the two of them, leapt in the air, and delivered a powerful kick to the beast's snout, sending it tumbling to the ground and sliding away. Before it could stand, the professor ran up to it and curb stomped its head into the ground. The Manticore's body evaporated.
A second, larger, Manticore landed near the group, though not in the student's path to the dormitory. Professor Haze turned to face the beast, and then looked slightly back towards her students, "go on, I've got this."
Bianca nodded to her professor and motioned for the other students to follow her into the dormitory. As they did this, Ember turned back to the beast as it made ready to charge.
"Man, you are one ugly mother..." the beast pounced on Ember before she could finish her sentence.
Ember stepped into the beast's vicious swipe and blocked the blow with her forearm. She held up her other hand to its face, smirked, and shook her finger at it. Then, in one fluid motion, she knocked the beast's paw away and punched it in one of its eyes.
The manticore reared back and roared in pain as Ember took her stance. Her hands were slightly open, as if she was holding a cup in each, and her stance seemed off balance as she leaned slightly as she stood.
The beast shook off Ember's last attack and charged. It struck Ember with its paw, but the blow did little as her body was loose. She recoiled from the strike and struck the Manticore at several points in its paw and front leg, breaking it.
It reared back in pain, but soon shot forward as it attempted to bite Ember. She spun under its mouth and pushed off the ground with her hands, throwing several spinning kicks to the beast's face.
Every time the beast attacked her, its attacks were dodged, or deflected off the huntress. Her movements were fluid, soft, and looked off-balance, but the strikes that followed them were strong, and precise. Some martial artists say a fighter should "be like water" in their movements, but Ember, her movements flowed like a fine wine.
The beast attacked again, this time swiping at the huntress with its other paw. Ember dodged this attack once more and struck the Manticore's leg several times. Now both the beast's front legs were disabled. Ember ran up and wrestled the beast by the neck. It whipped its head around as it continued to struggle, but Ember held tight and broke the beast's neck.
After the fight Ember took a few deep breaths. Fighting unarmed against Grimm wasn't an easy task, but it's how she was trained. She didn't have much time to relax though as several more Manticores landed around her, their eyes full of bloodlust.
Ember sighed and took her stance once more, "alright then, bring it."
To her left, Ember heard the spooling of a minigun, followed by a loud "brrrrrrrt" as hundreds of dust rounds ripped through the Manticores surrounding her.
The Atlesian Centurion known as Agent Alpha walked forward as he fired off his weapon. He not only killed the Manticores around Ember, but soon thereafter turned his weapon to the sky and shot down several more that were circling above.
"Are you alright?" He asked with his deep robotic sounding voice.
"Yea, thanks for the save… Look out!" Ember shouted as a Manticore flew in from behind Agent Alpha.
The flying beast struck the Centurion as he turned, disarming him and knocking him to the ground. Ember quickly rushed in to help since the Manticore was on top of Agent Alpha, but she was stopped in her tracks at what she saw next. The Centurion grabbed the beast by its front legs and effortlessly lifted it off himself as he stood. He then slammed the beast onto its back and delivered a deadly punch to its head, killing it.
As Agent Alpha stood, the beast evaporated around him. His helmet was damaged, the visor cracked, and Ember got a look at what was underneath. The sclera of his blue eye was bloodshot and the flesh around it was jet black, like that of a Grimm. Immediately memories of those unholy 'abominations' that Dr. Merlot had created came flooding back to her, however those were not nearly as large as Agent Alpha. She was going to have to bring it up to Oscar and the others once she got back to Beacon.
Agent Alpha picked up his minigun, looked to Ember, and then gave her a cordial salute before running off to find more Grimm to kill and people to protect. After watching him go, Ember jogged into the dormitory to check up on her students. Now, they'd have to fight their way out of Mistral.