Hehe… so this is awkward ain't it? Explanation at the end
~§~
Yang watched from her hiding spot as the Beowulf- as Atlas called them- prowled by, its red eyes scanning around it through its angular mask. Yang leaned out and saw Pyrrha behind another car watching the Beowulf closely before looking at Yang and giving a little nod.
Yang grinned behind Blake's purple scarf and looked down the street to where Jaune was behind another car. He looked at her and paled slightly as she nodded, he visibly sighed before suddenly standing and running out into the street, sword and shield in hand.
The Beowulf paused and studied him before going low and growling threateningly.
"Nice wolfy" Said Jaune shakily as he tried to hide behind his shield more "good wolfy"
The Grimm ground before bounding forward, Yang and Pyrrha taking their cues and emerging from hiding, as quietly as they could following the Beowulf.
"I hate this, I hate this, I hate this" chanted Jaune as he ducked behind his shield as the Beowulf lunged and bowled him over, pressing down on his shield.
Before it could do much more Yang broke into a sprint and brought up her gauntlets which she had spray painted yellow, the spikes glinting in the sunlit before her fist connected with the Beowulf's side.
The Beowulf yelped and stumbled, then turned to her with a growl and prepared to lunge at her, she smirked though as it didn't notice Pyrrha suddenly run up and implant her spear into its neck. It froze before going limp and falling to the floor, Pyrrha yanking out her spear as Jaune scrambled up and readied himself as the corpse bubbled and writhed and Grimm began to emerge from it.
Yang launched forward and punched a Grimm in the head, sending it flying as it dissolved while next to her Pyrrha speared a Grimm's head before then pulling it out, twirling her spear and herself and in the same movement skewering another in the head.
Jaune bashed a Grimm with his shield then bright his sword down in its head, killing it as he struggled to rio hi sword out as another Grimm approached. He tugged desperately as the Grimm got close and closer, it's black hand reaching for him as that impossibly wide maw opened-
Yang appeared as bashed the Grimm in the side of the head, crushing its skull.
"Thanks" Said Jaune as he finally ripped his blade free.
Yang simply nodded before turning and punching again, the last of the Grimm falling to the ground.
"That's all of them" Said Pyrrha looking around "we should move quick"
Yang and Jaune nodded and they ran to the convenience store, Pyrrha discovering it was unlocked as they slipped in, the lights on and a low hum indicating the fridges were still on much to Jaune and Pyrrha happiness and Yang's continued confusion, but she had no time to question it as they all got their backpacks and began to try and find what they could.
By the looks of it the store had been raided before and not much was left, but a few cans and some stuff in the fridges were still there, likely not being taken due to the lack of fridge by previous raiders. Luckily the church had a fridge in it's small kitchen area as Yang opened a fridge and took off her gauntlets so she could more easily grab things as she began to put cold food into her backpack.
As she finished filling her bag her eyes caught something brown and she looked over to see one glass of beer, solitary and surrounded by the freezer light like God himself had blessed it.
Yang stared before grabbing it, holding it in her hands like it was an artifact on an archeological dig. Then she heard a shuffling beside her and looked up to see a Grimm (now referred to as an 'Imp' by Atlas) shambling toward her, she prepared her fists before she realised she'd taken them off and her pack was a few meters away.
She cursed before slamming the bottle over the Grimm's head, it stumbled backward with a snarl as the bottle smashed. Yang growled and pounced forward, sticking the cracked bottle into its neck and shoving it to the floor. Then Yang pulled the bottle from its neck and brought it down on the Grimm's head, shoving it deep into where she guessed the temple was as the Grimm repeatedly snapped its jaw.
It eventually stopped moving and Yang fell backwards, resting temporarily as Pyrrha rounded the corner, spear at the ready. She lowered it as she saw Yang lying on the floor and the decaying body of a Grimm.
"Are you hurt? Bitten?" Asked Pyrrha, the grip on her spear tightening slightly.
"No" waved off Yang "I'm angry though, I just found a good bottle of beer!" She said, her hand waving in the Grimm body's direction, the sharp glass top rolling to the floor.
"I'm sure there are others" Said Pyrrha, extending a hand which Yang took, Pyrrha pulling her to her feet.
"Ha, not if sane people still live in this fuckin' city" laughed Yang as she slipped her gauntlets back on.
"Is everything okay?" Asked Jaune as he rounded a corner.
"About a minute late Jaune" Said Yang as she put her pack on her backpack.
~§~
Weiss growled in annoyance as the Imp she was going for was smashed to the ground and its head was caved in under Sun's staff.
"Do you mind?" She asked as she twirled and skewered a different Grimm on Myrtenaster.
"What?" Asked Sun, Weiss glowering as she heard the grin in his voice.
"You know what" she shot back as she cleaved another Grimm's arm off before delivering a swift kick followed by severing its head.
"I really don't" Said Sun, bashing two Grimm into each other followed by knocking them into a wall.
Weiss growled and turned, stamping her foot "Yes you do you-"
"Aaaaiiiiiih!" Screeched Neptune as he kicked a cut in half Grimm that had been crawling toward his leg "can you two fucking help!" he snapped as he brought his glaive down into its head.
"You look like you got things handled" grinned Sun as he rested on his staff
"You're an asshole!" Shot back Neptune as he cleaved a Grimm in two and skewered another on his glaive.
"I'm hurt" pouted Sun before he quickly twirled the staff and hit a Grimm in its chin, sending it flying into the air and bashing a wall.
"Can you two stop acting like children" growled Weiss as she stabbed and then pushed a Grimm.
"Maybe you should stop acting like an adult" Said Sun
"Well someone has to" she muttered.
Eventually the last Grimm fell leaving them alone in the alley they were in. "Finally" stretched Sun "I thought they wouldn't stop"
"Come on" said Weiss as she strode forwards.
Sun slung his staff behind his neck, looping his arms over it "aye aye ice queen"
Weiss paused and turned with a glare "what did you say?"
"I said aye aye ice queen"
Weiss's eyes twitched "ice queen" she repeated, seething as she stalked toward him.
"Mmm, seemed fitting" said Sun with a grin as Weiss stopped in front of him, showing the height difference between them.
Weiss glared up at him with a glare that could melt steel. "Do not call me that"
"Alright" Said Sun "Weiss it is"
Weiss's eyes narrowed but she turned and walked back through the alley toward the street. Sun shook his head and looked at Neptune who was panting wide eyed.
"You okay dude?" He Asked
Neptune turned to him "do I look okay?"
"C'mon man" he said, tapping his shoulder as he followed after Weiss "gotta keep up with Weiss cream"
~§~
Yang gave a sigh of relief as they rounded the corner and the church came into view, the tower that looked over the street now looking like a proper snipers nest. Looking up she couldn't see Ruby but knew she was looking at them as she gave a wave.
Visually the Church hadn't changed except for the tower, however as Ren opened the door wide enough for them to slip in the inside had changed massively.
Yang looked around the church with a small smile. Over the past week since their group had formed it had gone from sparse and uninteresting to actually looking inhabited. Their group had raided several stores for clothes, camping equipment and supplies.
Now instead of sleeping in blankets on top of pews they each had little cloth tents with mattresses they could sleep on, everyone with their own bed except Ren and Nora who shared. The middle of the church was a communal area where they ate meals and talked.
Next to Yang's yellow tent was a small workshop area she had set up, they had gotten supplies and now she made sure the weapons were sharp and deadly.
"Are we back first?" Asked Yang
"Yeah, you're the first" confirmed Ren
The radio on one of the pews crackled and Ruby's voice spoke "Yang! Yang!"
Yang smiled as she walked over, already knowing the question her sister was about to ask her "Yes Ruby?"
"Did you find any cookies?"
Yang shook her head with a grin "No Ruby, I'm afraid not"
"This apocalypse is getting on my fucking nerves" sighed Ruby before squeaking
"Ruby Rose! Language!" Said Yang. The radio was silent and Yang frowned in worry "Ruby?"
"Sorry" Said Ruby quietly "you just sounded a lot like mom"
Yang froze, staring at the radio for several moments before she took a deep breath "right" she said, internally wincing as she heard how cold she sounded as she dumped the radio back on the pew and walked toward her workshop area, not noticing Pyrrha, Ren and Jaune looking at her in concern. Nora was eagerly trying to see what they got.
~§~
The mission was without a hitch, which was only natural considering she was leading it thought Weiss as they crept through streets and alleys.
They had gone to raid a store which was a fair distance away from the church for sanitation products among other things. Weiss was relieved at how easy the mission had been considering how it started with the attack in the alley, and Sun.
She didn't like Sun, the way he constantly talked to her as if they were friends. The way he sometimes assisted her without her asking, the grin on his face as he wound her up. The way his shirt would sometimes move and give her an amazing glimpse of his toned and muscled body-
Weiss shook her head with a scowl. No, he was annoying and an ass and other terms she couldn't think of right now. But she was also pained to admit that his years spent living on the streets were extremely useful in this environment, especially when compared to her own which she found appalling.
And the way he seemed to always, always, talked.
"So what was it like living in a mansion?"
"Cold" she growled out, finding that the easiest way to shut him up was to simply answer his questions.
"What? Did you not turn the heating on?"
"… it was expensive to heat an entire mansion"
"Hashtag first world problems" mumbled Sun
Neptune had to try hard not to sigh any louder as Weiss spun round and faced Sun "for your information, my father couldn't be bothered to fish out the lien required to keep the entire mansion warm" she crossed her arms and turned away "I didn't have a choice"
She marched away before he could respond, Neptune glaring at him as he walked by.
"What?"
"Dude, stop pissing her off every five minutes"
"I'm just curious"
"Stop being a jackass"
Sun looked at him before sighing and rolling his eyes sliding his staff on his shoulders and hooking his arms over it. "So, what was your favorite thing to do as a child?"
Weiss paused slightly before looking at him suspiciously then looking away "I liked to read" then she smiled slightly "and Klein used to make up activities for me" her smile faded as regret and sadness overtook it.
"Uh- well I liked to go into markets and see what I could steal" said Sun
Weiss huffed "and why doesn't that surprise me?"
"Hey, I stole for kids who couldn't steal for themselves" defended Sun
"Then I stole from my parents" interjected Neptune
"Yeah, to feed me" said Sun, wrapping an arm round his shoulder "so it was for a good cause"
"I regret it"
"No you don't"
"If this guy showed up on your door step, would you feed him?" asked Neptune looking at Weiss while Sun grinned.
"Need I remind you two that we still have a ways to go until the church, and that Grimm could attack at any moment" said Weiss, then seeing their expressions sighed "and only out of pity"
"Wow, thanks" said Sun sarcastically.
"I only fed you cause you wouldn't go away until I did"
"Yeah, let's ignore all those times you talked to me and complained about your rich friends"
"You were decent company"
Sun just rolled his eyes, but smiled seeing the slight smile on Weiss's face that lasted all the way back to the church and wondering why it made him feel warm.
~§~
Jaune winced as he massaged his arm, his arms and back sore from the Beowulf jumping on him and holding him down as it tried to eat him. He shuddered at that though and flexed his arm, hoping that would remove the pain.
"Jaune?" Asked Pyrrha as she walked into his tent.
"Hi Pyrrha" Jaune quickly tiredly to hide his bruised arm by rolling up his jumper sleeve "do you need something?"
"No, but I imagine you do" Said Pyrrha with a light smile as she revealed the bottled water and some pain killer tablets, Jaune eyed the tablets and water before shaking his head.
"No, no I don't that, I'm fine" he flashed a smile as Pyrrha narrowed her eyes slightly.
"Oh, Okay, I'll just… leave them here" Said Pyrrha as she placed them on the pew next to Jaune.
Jaune eyed them again and knew that as soon as Pyrrha was gone he was going to take some.
"Are you alright?" Asked Pyrrha as she looked him up and down.
"Yeah, Yeah, I'm fine" nodded Jaune, his eyes not able to meet those piercing green eyes that were clearly seeing straight through his bullshit.
"Well… I'm glad to hear it" smiled Pyrrha, her hand moving as if to touch him before going back to her side.
"Are you okay?" Asked Jaune
"Oh yeah, just… really tired" she finally said.
"Don't let me keep you from sleeping then" Said Jaune quickly "you should rest after all that work you did today"
"You did a lot of work too, without you we would've taken longer" Said Pyrrha encouragingly.
Jaune looked up at her and smiled slightly "thanks"
"You're an important person here" said Pyrrha "and if you ever need help-"
"No, it's fine Pyrrha" Said Jaune gruffly and looking away.
Pyrrha blinked before letting her shoulders fall "Okay Jaune, I'll… leave you to it" She said, walking back to the entrance of the tent, casting one last look at Jaune before going through the flap.
Jaune looked after her for a moment before grabbing the bottle and pills.
He looked at them for a long time before finally putting the pills aside and taking a swill of the water.
If no one else needed help then he didn't either.
~§~
Ren sat crossed legged and meditated, nothing interrupting him. The sounds of the others in the church had long since faded to a white noise in the background.
It was peaceful and quiet, not a noise or sensation to distract him-
A quiet muttering arose from nearby and he frowned, as it persisted for several minutes he finally sighed and opened an eye.
Nora was sat on their bed and scribbling in a coloring book which was one of her favorite things to do, all the while muttering to herself.
He observed her for several moments "Nora"
She paused and looked up at him inquisitively.
"You were muttering again"
"What? No I wasn't" said Nora shaking her head
"Yes you were"
"No I wasn't"
"Yes you were"
"No I wasn't"
Ren looks at her before sighing "maybe it was just my imagination then" he said, closing his eye. However instead of starting to meditate again he simply listened to Nora scribbling in the colouring book, counting in his head until.
Nora began to mutter to herself again.
It had taken three minutes and fourteen seconds.
Ren sighed before standing up "I'm just going out for a moment Nora" he said.
Nora looked up at him and nodded before going back to her colouring.
Ren exited the tent and walked into the body of the church, the fire they had set up in the centre crackling happily but no one sitting around it, Yang still in her mini workshop area, Ruby up in her sniper tower, Weiss, Pyrrha and Jaune retired to their tents and Sun and Neptune siting around the fire.
He nodded at them and they nodded back before continuing with their own conversation. Ren sat down on an available pew and closed his eyes, starting up the meditation process. But it took him a long time to fall into a trance, his thoughts troubled by Nora, and her muttering to herself.
~§~
Yang walked up the circular stairwell and emerged in the snipers nest, proper walls that Ruby could rest the gun on had been installed and she'd even gotten herself a camping chair.
Ruby turned and her eyes widened slightly at the sight of Yang "h-hey Yang" She stuttered.
Yang internally winced and felt a sharp sting come to her chest at the fear in her sisters voice. Her fear of her.
Yang grimaced and faltered slightly before sighing and holding up half a tin of still hot soup she'd brought up. Ruby's eyes widened and she took it, a small smile coming to her face as she ate a spoonful.
Yang pulled up an extra camping chair tucked into the corner and sat down next to her sister letting her eat in peace fro a few minutes as she observed the city in an orange glow. To the west in the distance were the just visible start of the skyscrapers that packed the centre of Vale, they were quite far south from the coastline though.
"I'm… I'm sorry" Yang finally said.
Ruby looked up at her and looked away "about what?"
"Earlier"
"Oh, don't worry about it, it doesn't matter"
"Yes it does!" Snapped Yang before taking a breath "I shouldn't of… of…" Yang trailed off and rubbed her face, since when was it so hard to apologize to her sister?
They stayed in silence for a moment "I'm sorry, okay?" Said Yang looking at her sister.
Ruby looked at her before nodding "okay"
Yang smiled, even though she wasn't feeling any emotion even near happiness "so, we cool?"
"We cool" nodded Ruby giving a smile.
"Good" Said Yang before grinning and suddenly grabbing her, pulling her into a surprise hug as Ruby squawked and the empty tin and spoon went flying from her hands.
"'ang!" whined Ruby thrashing again the embrace.
"I hate being on bad terms with my baby sister!" cooed Yang teasingly.
After some struggling Yang relented and let Ruby go, Ruby straightening her red cloak which she had began wearing when she was on watch "head on down and get some rest, I'll take first watch" Said Yang
"You sure?" Asked Ruby.
"Of course I am, when am I not?" Asked Yang giving her a light push "go on, get some rest"
Ruby looked at her before nodding "I'll see you in the morning"
"See you in the morning" nodded Yang as Ruby descended the stairs.
Yang breathed in a deep breath of the city air, Vale had always smelt like any other city. But since the Grimm came there was a new scent added to the mix, something foul that wasn't immediately detectable but you could just sense it.
She leant back in her chair, the street outside the church quiet and unmoving. She grabbed the purple scarf around her neck and brought it to her nose, a smile on her lips as she smelt the familiar smell.
Blake.
Yang frowned as she pulled the scarf away from her face, why was she suddenly all gooey for this girl? How could she of developed any emotion for the girl in such a short time?
Her thoughts wandered and she thought about what Blake might be doing right now.
She sighed "probably more interesting then what I'm currently doing"
~§~
Blake slowly crawled along, she knew that using the shadows as cover would do little to help, having read the white fang reports about how the Grimm were attracted to other unknown factors apart from just sight or noise.
But she felt more comfortable in the shadows, even if every muscle in her body was tense and ready to spring. She stopped as her target shuffled slightly, the Grimm's head flopping to the side. She steadied her breathing and got ready, crouching and getting ready to strike.
Her ears twitched as she heard a noise way off, like gun fire. She ignored it and silently slid her Katana and a knife into her hands.
She took a silent breath.
Then she struck.
She shot from the shadows, her body revealing itself as she planted the knife into the Grimm's neck and dragged it into the shadows, wrapping her legs around its waist. It gave a snarl as it gnashed it's teeth, every time it's teeth met being following by a click as it thrashed.
Blake quickly raised her katana and plunged into into the top of the Grimm's head and down, all movement ceasing from the Grimm. She retrieved her Katana and watched the body flop onto the ground, obscured by the shadows except for the slowly dimming eyes.
She looked around the store and quickly made her way to the can food section, dumping whatever she could that wouldn't weigh her down. Just as she was about to finish she spotted a tin of tuna. She was going to resist and turn away when her stomach voiced its protests and she closed her eyes before slipping a couple of tins.
She had been so distracted by the tins and her stomach that it came as quite a surprise when the gun was pressed into her back.
"Well well well" said a voice "look what I've caught, a cute little kitty"
Blake remained frozen, not even snarling at the remark.
"Okay, now your going to turn around so I can see that face of yours" Said the man, the gun being taken away from her back but Blake knowing he was looking at her intently.
She clenched her fists and slowly turned to be faced to face with a man in a red bandanna and sunglasses, the only visible feature was the white hair falling out his hoodie. He seemed to look her over before giving a low moan followed by a chuckle "ho-hoh yeah, we're keeping you"
Blake narrowed her eyes and her ears went flat as she bared her teeth, her gas mask blocking his view of the reaction which she was glad for.
"Cardin will probably want to break you in first though" his shoulders slumped slightly before perking up again. "But he does usually give you back when he's done" he chuckled lecherously "I don't mind waiting all that much"
Blake felt pretty disgusted, from what she was interpreting here this man belonged to a group that were just as bad if not worse then the white fang.
"You do that to all your female captives?" She asked.
"Aw, kitty has a voice" mocked the man "and only to the faunus ones, we usually shoved the male faunus in a cage and make 'me fight each other… or the bones without weapons"
Blake narrowed her eyes further.
"Don't look at me like that, give it a few days and you'll love me" he turned his head slightly "hey guys! I got on-"
Blake leapt forward and tackled the man, both of them falling to the floor as the man's gun sprayed wildly at the ceiling as Blake punched him in the face, revealing his green eyes as the sunglasses broke.
Then Blake grabbed his belt and pulled the pistol from it. She looked up as she heard running footsteps and pulled the man savagely to his feet before pressing the gun harshly into his cheek. The man still dazed from the punch as three of his allies appeared, all dressed similar to him.
"Woah Woah Woah" Said one of them, Blake wasn't quite sure which "Hey Hey, let's just take it easy"
Blake glared at the guns "lower them"
"We don't take orders from-"
Blake shoved the gun harder into the man's cheek "do it or he dies"
The men looked at each other before one lowered his gun, the other two doing the same after a moment's hesitation.
"Who are you?" She asked, emphasizing who was in control by pulling the man's hair harder causing him to cry out in pain.
"We're just part of this small group" said one
"Yeah, we're just cautious around new people" said another.
Blake snarled and then aimed the gun down before firing, the man in her grasp howling as his foot bled from the gunshot wound "do not lie to me again" she threatened.
"Okay okay! We're this big group, we have a stronghold in a mall an hour south" Said one quickly.
"Yeah, we're just scavenging" Said another.
Blake mulled this over "whose your leader"
"This guy called Cardin, he's strong and tough" said one, clearly trying to intimidate her and failing.
"What's the name of the mall"
"It's the… the Vale something"
"Vale South Oliver Mall"
"Yeah, that"
Blake took a deep breath and stared at them intensely "what do you do with faunus?"
"Nothing! We don't do anything with-"
He was cut off as another gunshot rang through the air and the hostage man cried out again as his other foot was shot "What do you do with the faunus!" Shouted Blake.
"Look, we just… just-"
"We treat them like the animals you are" snarled one man interrupting another "I lost my job to a faunus"
"The white fang killed my sister" Said another.
Blake noted how their guns were beginning to rise, clearly taking their anger out on some faunus was now looking very appealing. If she let them go they'd tell their leader who would cause trouble for her.
She made a decision.
The gunshot was loud and clear as her hostage fell dead to the floor. The men stared in shock and before they could react further she brought the gun up and fired off, killing two of them as the other backed off "wait wait w-"
Blake didn't like using guns, the noise hurting her sensitive ears. She looked at the four dead bodies before dropping the gun to the floor and stepping over one of the men, his blood forming in a pool around him.
She had some investigating to do.
~§~
Ironwood stood in the control room, banks of screens cluttering the walls around him as people talked and moved.
'How had it come to this' he thought regretfully
They had initially had it contained and covered up, blaming all manner of things to justify Verloor's evacuation. And upon failing that simply keeping the Grimm contained in Verloor. Then of course the white fang had managed to contain and ship the substance around the world, every kingdom noticing a large sudden movement of faunus to Menagerie.
Of course, they could just deny the faunus travel but they'd most likely find a way over anyway and the public uproar from such a move would be overwhelming. So they had monitored as more faunus left, though in the grand scheme of things it was a small number. Even white fang attacks decreased.
Then reports of G.R.I.M.M began to come in from every kingdom and city, requests for aid and help decreasing as the hours wore on until only Atlas and Patch were left.
Salt water was the answer, the Grimm avoided it like the plague and research could not ascertain the reason why.
An aid grabbed his attention and he turned his head.
"The meeting is starting in five minutes sir" said Glynda.
Ironwood bowed his head "thank you" with that he turned and left the large room, their hands connecting in a fleeting touch, a promise for later.
He walked into the room and it's members stood.
"At ease" he said and the members sat down with him before he turned to Oobleck, his head of science and research.
"How soon until the Ark project is completed?"
"The construction is going well and we are on track for the project to be completed in a few months" Said Oobleck
"Excellent"
"However, we may not have that time before a massive scale attack" Said Oobleck grimly
"How do you mean?" Asked Ironwood.
"We have several key points of information from project Bubo" said Oobleck "if you would observe the screen" he gestured and the wall screen turned on to reveal several files as Oobleck clicked the first one titled 'G.R.I.M.M observation'
The image changed to a video which began playing, it was footage from a drone that was traveling at high speeds over corrupted forest land, when Ironwood was beginning to get annoyed and bored a city appeared on the horizon.
Soon they were over it as the drone slowed down and began to circle, the camera turning to zoom in on the street "This is the city of Verloor, the first city to fall-"
"I know" grunted Ironwood, staring at the familiar city with regret.
The drone feeds focused on streets which seemed to be lined with black goo, then Ironwood realized with horror and agitation that it was thousands of Imps, shuffling and moving in one direction. Along building rooftops bounded Beowulf's while some simply charged through the Imps below without care. The camera traced the path of the Grimm and showed them walking along motorways or even over the fields and forests to the west of the city.
"As you can see they are moving as one entity, all at the same speed and in one direction, West" Said Oobleck as the video ended.
"Toward us" Said Ironwood grimly
"Precisely" nodded Oobleck, his emotions not quite clear due to his always excited voice.
"I want all motorways and highways in and out of Atlas destroyed" he ordered, an aide nodding and hurrying off.
"That's won't stop their advance" Said Port, an old general with a good eye for strategy and tactics.
"I'm not trying to" Said Ironwood "I need to delay them, if I have to use dust to do it then I will"
"I would advise against dust bombs" Said Oobleck pushing up his glasses "we don't want to be contending with the effects too many would have on our planet as well as the Grimm"
Ironwood ignored him, having heard the doctors complaints many times and knowing they were true. But if he needed to he would not hesitate to use them in the defense of his people.
"Is there anything else you wanted to show me?"
Oobleck and Port looked at each other "we believe that we have found the source of the Grimm"
"I know the source, it was just outside of Verloor, one of the subjects in the testing facility-"
"We mean the source, sir, where they're coming from" stated Port.
Ironwood furrowed his brows but gestured for them to continue. They brought up another video, again it was a project Bubo drone as it flew over landscape, below trees turned black as in the distance was a red haze.
Ironwood leaned forward as it drew closer to the red haze before entering it, the video freed becoming grainy before becoming clear again, only interrupted by fuzz every few seconds.
"The drone analysed a sample of the fog and it's just oxygen" Said Oobleck "we don't know how or why it looks like that, that or its not detectable by our analyses techniques"
The drone flew lower and at a slower speed to reveal the ground below which had been turned to a black swamp land, the trees converted to purple crystals as Ironwood raised his eyebrows at the image.
Then he saw it, at the edges of these pools crawled Imps and Beowulf's that shook themselves off, then ambled in one direction.
"It seems the gas does not agree with the drones, as shown next" Said Oobleck as the camera feed began to tilt then it turned into a roll as the craft plummeted to the ground and landed in the bog, then it went black as the feed was cut off "luckily the self destruct seems to still work"
"Do we have a precise location?" Asked Ironwood.
"Yes sir" nodded Port.
"I want it destroyed" Said Ironwood.
"That will require a lot of man power and equipment which we need he-"
"You didn't hear me" Said Ironwood before steepling his hands and leaning forward "I want it destroyed"
The room went silent before Port stood "do you confirm the order, sir?"
"I confirm the use of dust to destroy the source" said Ironwood looking into his eyes.
They stared for several seconds, Oobleck to the side frowning in disapproval, then Port straightened and nodded "we will begin preparations sir" he said grimly.
Ironwood simply nodded and the meeting continued on to more mundane topics.
~§~
I'm sorry for the wait, I just lacked some motivation to write for this. But then I read through it and found myself getting sucked into it and when I found out it was only 5 chapters I was upset. Then I realised I was the author.
So hopefully I should keep updates coming along and I definitely have a vague plot hashed out and written down. But don't expect once a week updates, maybe one every two weeks at minimum, but I'm gonna get this story finished.
So let's get restarted.