Chapter 54
"You what?!"
Liya winced as I yelled. Before I could tear into her for how I felt about maidens, I quickly stopped, remembering that actually losing my temper did jack shit to help any situation - especially one as important and surprising as this. Taking a deep breath, I stopped. "Why?" I finally asked, much more calmly.
"Miss Eyla told me about how...she was outside of the norm, when she was made aware of the events of before," General Ironwood said, walking forward with his arms behind his back. "She was never around the first time, so this makes her an unknown. We plan to use that to our advantage."
"Don't bother trying to talk me out of it, I already accepted when they asked. I know the risks and I know what's at stake," Liya said as she crossed her arms. "Plus, if it wasn't for that bitch I would already be a maiden, and a lot of that trouble could've been avoided."
"I wasn't going to. I'm not gonna make you do anything you don't wanna do...I was just worried. You know that you'll be targeted by Cinder. By Salem. If you're captured, you'll be tortured. If Cinder gets to you, she'll slaughter you with no remorse," I said. "And for the record, she would've hunted you nonstop if you got the maiden powers before."
"I know that," Liya said, and I remembered she and a few others had watched all of the original series of RWBY thanks to the power of the lamp.
"Then why?" I asked as I looked at the General. "Why change from Winter to Liya? I know you practically based most of her entire military career for this role. Hell, her semblance was practically made for being used with the Maiden powers."
General Ironwood sighed and looked at me. "Indeed. But things have changed. Miss Eyla explained the things I did, in more detail of how I caused Atlas to fall," the general stated, and I winced, knowing this was likely a sore spot for him. "And I cannot deny the risks of it happening again. I assume you know the reason for my downfall?"
"Paranoia," I said, looking at team CRDL.
"Not just that. Miss Eyla said...said it was tyranny. Ruling by fear. Making irrational and utterly immoral decisions while never being called out on my actions. And my subordinates did nothing to stop me out of fear or loyalty...leaving my power unchecked," the general said. "I see that I am a liability."
"James," Clover said, clearly disturbed.
"I went off the deep end, don't you understand?" General Ironwood said, a bit harsher but nowhere near the volume of shouting. "Full control of the Maiden, the military, and the Relic? I would've done something drastic sooner or later...abandoning Remnant? Abandoning Mantle? That's too far!"
"Then why this? Why make Liya the Winter Maiden?" I asked. "Winter would be a better candidate - she was trained for years."
"Because Winter is too loyal to me," the General said. "I trust her with my life...but I don't trust her to oppose me when that is necessary. I fear that if I truly become a liability, then...she will as well."
"General..." Winter whispered, and I realized that she was scared. I was sort of unnerved as well, did the General really see himself as that much of a danger? Even with all of the knowledge and foresight we had in our capabilities?
"You know that it's true, Winter," the General scolded lightly, before he sighed and looked at me with a determined expression. "So with the threat of Salem hanging over our heads, as well as the unknown factor that is Cinder, I am leaving the Winter Maiden to you, Markus. If I ever fall to my fears, then the maiden shall not fall with me."
Great. More responsibility on my head.
I winced awkwardly as I realized the sheer implications that I now had on me. "I don't know..." I said. "This is a lot. And what if Liya can't control it? What if Cinder knows and goes right for her? The moment she gets the power, she's vulnerable - and if she's vulnerable, so is the relic - and the kingdom."
"And that's why we'll have Miss Polendina with you. As well as Miss Sustrai and you to protect," General Ironwood said, and I could tell he was dead serious. "I'm not certain if you were informed, but Doctor Polendina has upgraded his daughter's combat capabilities."
And with that, Penny pulled out Floating Array - which now consisted of twelve blades in a circle rotating clockwise. Then they stopped spinning, and I was able to get a proper close up look of the changes to the weapons. The blades were about 20% longer, and there was a split down the middle with struts on either side of the blade. "Are those...railguns?" I asked.
"Indeed! Father has retrofitted my blades with the ability to fire 0.2 gram projectiles at a speed of 200 kilometers per hour!" Penny revealed cheerfully. "He has warned me not to use it near people or buildings, however."
"I hope so, those things can shoot through a whole city if they were strong enough," I said.
"She also has personal barriers - hard-light shields that can encompass her body," General Ironwood said. "Not to mention a new matrix enhancing her combat reactiveness and tactical processing power. She's now one of the strongest combat beings on Remnant."
"No kidding. Ruby's gonna have a field day. Seriously, she'd sacrifice a whole day's worth of cookies for the chance to look at that stuff. Do you think Ruby would appreciate a railgun for her own weapon?" I said, and we all laughed as Penny began to giddily hop up and down at the mention of Ruby. Sighing, I looked to the General. "I see where you're coming from. Not many have the strength to put themselves in check."
"Good. I will not end up like Lionheart, and I won't be the cause of Atlas's downfall - or my own downfall. Not with this much at stake," the General said before he tilted his head, gesturing out the door. "Head to training room 2K. There is someone waiting for you. I suggest you bring Sustrai as well. Eyla, Polendina, you're dismissed."
"What about team CRDL?" I asked. "They know about everything here, which means they'll definitely be fighting Salem at some point. Will they be prepared for that?"
"Not now. But I hope they won't have to. For now, they'll be working with Winter," General Ironwood said as he looked at the four boys - no, young men - in question. "Guarding the Winter Maiden. I believe they'll make for excellent defenders."
I looked at the four former bullies, seeing their proper stances and the stone expressions on their faces. Like RWBY and JNPR, they'd come a very long way from the schoolyard bullies that they were known for a long time ago. "They'll do good. I believe in them," I said. Cardin's face twitched in surprise - but his eyes did turn in my direction, something akin to thanks or gratitude flashing in them.
As we left, I heard Clover talking on his scroll, sounding serious before I heard him quickly say something - before he rushed past us in the hallway. "What was that all about?" Liya asked.
"I dunno," I remarked before I looked back at Liya. "Look, I'm not doubting your decision, but are you absolutely certain you want to do this? You know how risky it is being a maiden. And you probably saw what happened to Amber...to Penny..."
"Yeah. I appreciate you caring...but what I really need is for you to trust me," Liya said softly. I noticed her face wincing right as she said this, and I realized that this was because of the lamp incident - and I immediately felt my face heat up when I recalled my lashing out when we first arrived in Atlas.
I didn't really blame her anymore. Thinking over it, I probably would've done the same if I were in her shoes - especially given Ironwood's reasoning for her becoming the Winter Maiden. All that knowledge of the future was more or less something to fear, after all. When RWBY came back, I needed to talk with them - I wasn't going to forgive them or say what they said or did was acceptable just yet - but I at least somewhat understood.
Sighing, I wiped my eyes. "Look, I do trust you. With my life," I said, hugging Liya. "I'm sorry I never really talked with you..."
"No, I get it. You needed time, and that argument was kind of intense," Liya reassured, patting my shoulder as she returned the hug. "So anyways, I've been spending a lot of time with Penny ever since Ironwood dropped the bomb on me. Before you were called in."
"Oh yeah. When did that happen, by the way?" I asked.
"A few hours after your White Fang mission started. So maybe...maybe around the time you got captured," Liya said. She looked disturbed to say that, but luckily, she brushed it off - I really did not need anyone bringing it up.
"So literally just yesterday," I said. "I thought it was decided when Winter called me from our date."
"Our?" Liya asked before her eyes widened. "Wait, Emerald and you? When did that happen?"
"Yeah. Happened yesterday, I think," I said as I scratched the back of my head sheepishly. "Sorry, probably should've started with that-"
"No! No, it's cool!" Liya said, frantically waving her hands in front of her face. "Honestly...I kinda expected the two of you to be dating. Just wasn't sure if you'd confirmed it. With how close Emerald is to you. You know..." She finished lamely.
"And what about you?" I asked as I looked back in Liya's direction. "You ever plan on asking anyone out? You know...someone like Arslan?"
"No," Liya said casually before looking in Penny's direction, who was humming innocently as she bounced along at their pace. I didn't miss how her cheeks flushed, and considering how Liya looked back at me for a split second - she didn't miss that I didn't miss that her cheeks flushed. "Alright. Maybe."
"Ooh! Got a crush?" I asked cheekily.
"No! Not...not a crush," Liya said quietly. "Honest. Just...well, she's kind of cute and she's super nice. I think she's great. No crush, just curious to see if things can go somewhere."
"So friends first," I said, a bit giddy at the thought of Liya finally getting romantically involved with someone. Well, potentially romantically involved at least. Not everything started strong, anyways.
"Duh," Liya remarked. "Penny's always been big on friends. Anyone can see that." I decided to hold back the fact that Liya likely saw everything about Penny when the relic showed her everything about the universe.
"Understandable. It sounds like a good matchup," I said in a genuine tone before lowering my tone to a whisper. "She'll make you happy."
"She definitely tried," Liya said, her voice a mix of a bit amused and slightly flustered. "And...it's kind of working. You uh... wanna hear about it?"
"About everything before I was called back here? Or about how much you and Penny could be friends?" I asked.
"The former," Liya said, poking me in the side.
"Sure," I said, grinning as Liya blushed a bit more.
- flashback: Liya Eyla & Penny Polendina -
"So, you wish to talk to the General? What for?" Penny asked as she walked alongside Liya down the hallways of Atlas Academy. She was wearing a dress familiar to Liya, almost the same dress from what she saw in the vision of the relic.
The dress she saw her die in as a real girl. It was similar, anyways - only by a little bit.
The dress was new - according to Penny, given to her very recently by her father by the time all of Penny's upgrades were finalized and properly installed. Her black thigh high boots were no longer black metallic pieces that looked more like armor instead of feet - rather, they were shaped like real human legs - with the boots looking like actual boots, sleek and slim fitting against her legs, knees, and lower thighs. The soles were lined green as per her color scheme, and the balls of the feet of her boots were expanded for the sake of thrusters - at least, that's what Liya assumed.
The skirt of the dress she wore was no longer frilly, but more or less smooth and somewhat a little longer - covering a bit more of her thighs than her very first dress did, or her rebuilt dress version had. It was green with white edges, and she had a bit of a modern streak to said dress, with a slim fitting shirt with buttons, as well as a jacket-like attachment with a rather small collar and slim sleeves for the arms. However, the shoulders were expanded by an inch - a sort of science fiction take on puffy shoulders.
Penny's hair was also less curly by a bit - their length going down past her shoulders - between the short length of Volumes 1-3, and the longer length of Volumes 7-8. Her bangs were combed a bit as well, brushed to the right side of her face, with much of her shorter curls now smoother around the sides of her face. Regardless, they still covered her ears. She also had a much smaller bow on her head - black with pink outlines and an equally pink center. Her backpack was also much larger - but the way Penny walked suggested that it wasn't as heavy as Liya assumed. Then again, Penny was a prototype android with unquantifiable levels of power and capabilities, so maybe she was much stronger than she looked.
The way she saw that Ruby could lift her up and shake her several times over also suggested otherwise. Then again, Penny was still able to practically flatten Ruby by bowling into her. Liya decided to stop thinking about this line of thought before her brain could start hurting. That was the problem with life being based off of fiction - not a lot of the little stuff was realistic.
Overall, Penny's new outfit looked a bit more modern and a bit less refined, and Penny seemed to be very happy with it. According to Penny, she had been watching movies and wanted to "switch up her style", which her father approved. Plus, Penny mentioned that this outfit properly suited the brand new upgrades she had received. Liya was most definitely not complaining - she looked very fine in that outfit.
Perhaps she didn't use those exact words, but Liya still managed to get the message across. From telling her as much, Penny simply giggled coyly and thanked her for the compliment before asking Liya again - "Why did you wish to speak with the General?" she asked.
"Well..." Liya began. She explained everything, how this entire universe was made by one man - for the purpose of a show, how the world was more or less a simulation - but she also talked about how Markus was thrown in - how he made things different, how he tried to help.
Liya didn't know entirely why she was doing this. She knew Ironwood probably told Penny about Salem and about Markus's knowledge, but this still seemed more…intimate? Regardless, it felt liberating to talk about all that she had seen, about all the worries she had about having all this knowledge.
When she realized their mistakes with Markus, Penny frowned sadly. "That doesn't seem like something a friend would do."
"...well, I wasn't a very good one..." Liya whispered. Penny responded by hugging her gently, which surprised Liya. Even if a 'gentle' hug from Penny was still very tight, metallic and heavy, it was still warm and somewhat comforting. Liya hugged her back awkwardly before she went back to talking, explaining the events of the series without Markus.
"So...I would die twice if Markus wasn't around?" Penny asked when Liya finally got around to Atlas. She noted how Penny seemed to droop a little - sounding and looking rather sad.
"..yes," Liya said, knowing that Penny was likely feeling all sorts of emotions right now - especially since emotions were still so new to her. However, she was surprised when Penny looked back at her with a smile.
"Well...I suppose if it was to help others, I wouldn't mind," Penny said, her smile soft yet unsettling, especially in this topic. "Though, I only wish I could've spent more time as a real girl..."
"Look on the upside," Liya said, trying to cheer Penny up. "You got to experience how us meat bags feel when we hug each other. You are a real girl." Liya said firmly. "Just like Ruby said before, even if you don't have gut's like us, you're alive. After all, only living things have Aura right?"
Penny shyly looked away, though she didn't blush - could she even blush? - something Liya noticed immediately as she smiled once again, this time a bit more happily. "Thank you...that is very kind of you to say," she said.
"Of course," Liya said. "You're my friend." Penny's smile made her heart skip a beat, only a little. The two fell into silence as they walked out of the hallway, quickly making the turn to General Ironwood's office - which was open and awaiting Liya's arrival.
- back to the present -
"I'm just gonna guess you two kissed and got it over with?" I asked with a grin, still quietly enough that Penny wasn't paying attention. Well, she was probably not.
"Ass," Liya remarked as she smacked me in the shoulder. "No, we didn't. I was just thinking that she was pretty cute. Not gonna jump her right there, even if I'm kind of interested. We're still just trying to be friends."
"For now. That interest won't stay an interest for long, you know," I said. Liya rolled her eyes, and the two of us shared a comfortable silence on the way to the training room - training room 2K, General Ironwood said. When we arrived, we all looked at what was inside. Liya smirked, I chuckled, and Penny let out a high pitched squeal as she began to hop up and down.
Biscuit was sitting patiently, looking a whole world different from the last time they saw him. His nails were trimmed, and his fur was cut to a comfortable short length. He even looked less malnourished by a bit.
The cute and large doggo bounded over, tackling me at the doorway and pinning me down with his much heavier body weight. Liya giggled as I was once again assaulted by licks and barks against my face. As much as I enjoyed the affection, I had no plans to get stuck with dog breath again.
"Biscuit, come on!" I complained. Luckily, Biscuit obeyed and got off me. As I wiped my face, Liya and Penny came over to coo and play with him, attention the dog very much enjoyed as he licked their faces and nuzzled himself between the two girls.
I say let him be spoiled, he deserves the love.
"So, we still have the day off," I muttered as I wiped my face, getting up and brushing myself off as Biscuit sat on Penny's head. "What do you wanna do?"
"Well, normally my father would say he'd like me to spend the day with my friends," Penny said. "But considering that your date with Miss Emerald was interrupted, I think it would be best for you to get back to her."
I flushed as I remembered Emerald, and shook off how lovestruck I was. Corny as it was, it was true and I had no qualms with accepting that. I just wasn't ready to go shouting it from the rooftops, and I doubt Emerald was either. "Thanks," I said. "Will you and Liya be alright?"
"And Biscuit," Liya said before patting me on the shoulder. "I'll be fine."
"Yes," Penny said, seemingly unaware or completely fine with the panting dog three times the size of her head perched perfectly atop her hair. "The two of us will be perfectly safe."
"Alright. Thanks," I said after a moment of pause. Before I walked out, I turned back to look over at Penny. "How'd you know Emerald and I were out on a date anyway?"
"Oh, I heard you and Liya talking about it when we were walking here," Penny said. Liya flinched and looked at Penny in somewhat minor alarm. "I heard all of your conversation on the way to the training room."
Penny was a robot girl - I didn't know why I thought she wouldn't have super hearing. "Oh, so does that mean you're going to chat with Liya about the other things we discussed?" I asked in bemusement.
"Of course! She does flatter me, and I do find her rather 'cute' as well!" Penny said, with as much innocence as a child brought to the zoo for the first time. I chuckled as I zipped out of the training room.
Making my way through the hallway, I exited the campus grounds and headed towards the dormitories. The journey to one specific room was rather short - or it felt short at least. I was too busy thinking about everything that had happened before now. Specifically, with General Ironwood's decision to make my Beacon partner the Winter Maiden.
I wasn't sure if it was the right decision on part of Liya or her fate, but it was easy to tell that it was most definitely the right choice on General Ironwood's part - the best chance we had to keep the Maiden out of Salem's or Cinder's hands when she has no chance of predicting Liya as the next Winter Maiden, and if the chance of General Ironwood going rogue was high.
I frowned at that thought. Almost everything I did before now was in part, to keep General Ironwood's trust and prevent a repeat of the fall of Atlas.
Mantle and Atlas were united atop a single land - even if everyone was unhappy - but at least they were safe. Robyn and Ironwood were struggling, that much was clear - but I remembered the public as we walked by. If the Grimm didn't attack first, then the people that would revolt would cause more problems first...
...
Wait...
...
That was why Salem hadn't moved in!
It was such a minor thought that I hadn't even considered it, but Salem likely wasn't waiting for the city's hard-light shields to fall, she could just destroy it like she had before. The General knew this as well, but there was nothing that he could do about that - especially since leaving anything outside the city's protection to barricade against the river of Grimm sludge from below risked them being destroyed with no chance of rescue, with no chance of preventing the Grimm either way.
There was literally no reason for her to halt her advance unless she were waiting for someone on the inside to cause damage. And because we know for sure that no one was able to slip inside, she has to be waiting for natural events to take their course. And with so many people in an overpopulated city, half of them wanting to kick out the other half...
She's only waiting for the negativity to snap people's minds. If Atlas began to suffer riots in the streets and schisms of their own making, Salem would allow it to happen. She was hoping for fear and anger to destroy Atlas from the inside out - not the power of her own forces.
I pulled a complete 180 at once, running down the hallway to get to General Ironwood in order to warn him. We had a completely new problem on our hands - the emotional and mental state of the public.
- elsewhere: team RWBY, an hour ago -
"ACHOO!" Ruby sneezed, Atlas weather hadn't been kind to her. Right now they were flying in a Manta airship, high in the frigid air toward Amity Arena to deliver supplies for the new CCTV tower to be constructed atop Amity. It'd been a full day since the mission started, and it had been a routine back and forth mission ever since.
They had the rest of the Ace Ops and extra technicians tagging along this time. Something about a potential snow storm and extra Grimm presence, which would explain why they were currently flying instead of driving there like they usually would. It honestly felt a little weird, since they were in the trucks that they were put in after being arrested in the other timeline, the Police Airships she thinks Weiss called them. Who knew these things had wings as well? And why were they law enforcement only?
"You better not be getting sick." Weiss frowned at her as she handed her leader a handkerchief. "We can't have our leader out of commission so soon, especially with how important these missions are".
"Don't worry about it, Weiss Cream." Yang grinned at Weiss as she frowned at her and Ruby took the offered item. "After all, Ruby's the bee's sneeze, eeeeh? Eeeeh?" Yang laughed as she was met with a bunch of groans from the rest of the ship's occupants, except Vine - who merely grimaced.
"Gods you're actually worse than Clover, and he always makes the same puns about his semblance," Harriet groaned from the pilot's seat, and Marrow rubbed his ears - all four of them - from his own airship, able to hear the horrible excuse for a joke over their comms.
"Clearly he is a comedic genius," Yang said as she crossed her arms and gave a jokingly haughty humph!
"Or the both of you have terrible taste in humor," Blake dryly replied, the supporting unimpressed look aimed at her partner just as dry.
"How much longer until we reach Amity?" Weiss asked as she tried to soothe a growing headache. "I don't think I can make it if I have to put up with anymore terrible puns".
"Not too long now, once we arrive at our destination make sure we don't have any interruptions. I don't fancy trying to fly this thing through a storm." Harriet responded to Weiss's query. Just then a crackle of static sounded from the speakers in the cockpit, before Marrow's voice came through.
"Harriet, a military transport vehicle along with multiple individuals has been spotted just about two klicks northwest of your position. The vehicle appears beyond repair, and the Grimm are converging on the location at a rapid pace. I'm contacting home for backup."
Everyone besides Harriet converged on the tightest available window. Just as Marrow said, North West of the Manta there appeared to be an overturned military truck, smoke billowing from the engine, while Teryx tore at the outside armor and windows. The cause of the crash was made clear however as a very large Ursa Major lifted its bulky form from beneath the snow, a few of the spines on its back showed to be broken. Slowly more and more Grimm joined from their hiding places under the snow as well. Beowolves, Ursa, Sabyrs, even a Megoliath.
"We won't be able to stop the Grimm, but you guys should at least be able to fight them off long enough to ensure that as many soldiers survive as possible. Elm and I will carry on with the drop off, it's all on you guys," Marrow finished, speeding up his ship to try and avoid drawing any unwanted attention. "As far as we're aware, Clover will be bringing reinforcements on the way back here."
"Don't order me around," Harriet responded with half the bite and all the bark, but followed Marrow's commands all the same.
"Good luck, you two. Stay safe," Marrow said, as he and Elm continued to Amity. He didn't like not being there to help, but that fact was he really couldn't afford to help due to them transporting the engineers and most of the supplies.
"Try not to have too much fun," Elm quipped, similarly disappointed in not getting to join the action.
Team RWBY weren't idle during that little bit of banter. Everyone had their weapons held at the ready, as Ruby tried to calm herself and focus. She had prepared for this, she carried on practicing what Maria had taught her, she could do this. She wanted to protect all these people, she would protect everyone.
Taking one last deep breath, Ruby began formulating a plan. "Alright we don't have much time, this just needs to be quick in and out. Harriet, we need-"
"Already ahead of you." Harrier cut Ruby off, as she opened the side door, before handing over control of the ship to her co-pilot Vine and joining them.
"Right, thanks," Ruby smiled at the older woman. So far so good, now it was just getting everyone to agree to the next part of her plan. "We'll use Color Combo to get down there quickly. Yang I want you to aim for taking out the Ursa Major ASAP. Weiss I want you to focus on defense, creating walls with your ice and earth dust, while using your glyphs to send Grimm flying. Blake you'll be in charge of watching their backs and taking out any stragglers. Harriet and I will focus on getting everyone on the airships. And uh Vine?..."
"I'll stay with the ship and keep it hovering, I can grab anyone you bring me from the ground," Vine interjected.
"Sounds good. Anyone else?" Ruby asked after he was done, looking at everyone expectantly.
The entirety of team RWBY agreed easily, while Harriet raised a slightly disbelieving eyebrow at the girl. The plan was solid all things considered, still she expected them to follow her lead.
"A sound plan, but what is 'Color Combo' exactly?" Harriet asked. They were almost at the vehicle now, but unfortunately it seemed people were already dying at the hands of the Grimm, despite their best efforts to fend them off with guns and any other weapons they had.
"My semblance allows me to turn into rose petals, allowing me maneuverability in any direction and speed. If someone's holding onto me they get to join along for the ride," Ruby finished with a slight grin.
She had talked about the maneuver with her team after the viewing of the future thanks to the relic. It was still a work in progress as they didn't have as much time as the other version of her had, but Ruby was confident that she could handle this. She wouldn't be splitting her form or trying any fancy moves, just a straight shot to the truck.
"Are you sure you can handle four other passengers?" Harriet questioned her.
"She's right," Weiss spoke up, voicing her own concerns to her leader. "It's still a new technique and it takes a lot out of you."
Ruby just nodded confidently. "It's just going to be a straight shot down and we aren't staying long. We grab any survivors and get out. I shouldn't have to worry about tiring myself out too much then."
"If you say so," Blake said.
"Yeah, we got this," Yang said, pounding her fists together. She didn't seem gung-ho about this either, she was composed and prepared - if not a little eager regardless.
They all still had their doubts, Weiss in particular, but they trusted Ruby. Besides, they all had a landing strategy, what difference did it make if she did fail?
"Alright, then let's do it." Harriet said, as she and the rest of team RWBY laid their hands on her shoulders. Ruby smiled, and all Harriet could remember was the world going red.
Suddenly, everything went weightless - and Harriet found herself slamming against a metal surface, likely a wall. The sounds she now heard suggested that she was in the truck.
"Agh!"
"Ugh!"
"Oof!"
A cacophony of similarly uncomfortable sounds told her she wasn't the only one that suffered a rough landing.
"Sorry! Sorry!" Ruby frantically apologized.
Okay so maybe she should've practiced more before trying to carry that maybe people, but they did reach their destination, so it wasn't a total failure.
Pushing those thoughts aside for now, Ruby used her semblance to quickly get to the biggest congregation of Grimm. It would be best to use her eyes now while everyone was focused on recovering, so she didn't potentially blind them during a crucial moment. Getting into position in front of the original Ursa Major, she released a blinding silver eyed flash that turned it to stone, alongside some unfortunate bystanders.
Satisfied with the results Ruby quickly grabbed ahold of the soldier that the Ursa was attempting to maul, and started taking them to the hovering airship.
"Don't worry! Team RWBY and the Ace Ops are here to help!" Ruby tried to reassure her very confused and violently jostling passenger.
The soldier didn't get a chance to respond before they were unceremoniously dumped, their red hooded savoir rushing back off into the fray, before they were picked up by yellow glowing arms and placed much more gently into the ship.
Once everyone else had gotten their bearings, they were quick to get to work. Yang hadn't been able to take out the Ursa Major, receiving a face full of snow instead, and when she had gotten up Ruby had already taken care of it. Disappointing, but she could worry about that later.
Yang shot forward, bulldozing a pair of Beowolves and drawing the surrounding attention to herself. "Come on boys, I'm far tastier than those soldiers," she taunted the Grimm, her plan seemingly working as she received multiple roars in return, before the Grimm launched themselves at her.
Their charge was cut off as spears of ice impaled the charging Grimm, Harriet weaving in between them, swiftly punching any Grimm that didn't immediately die from the injury and picking up more soldier's.
"Yang!" Blake shouted, as she tossed her ribbon to her partner. Yang got the idea almost immediately, grabbing it and quickly running to build up momentum. A full rotation later, and a force glyph from Weiss, and Yang was sent flying over the battlefield.
Taking advantage of the height, Yang took out a few Nevermore that had joined, taking a look around and growled. "They keep coming!" she muttered.
"Was it ever this bad before?" Weiss asked as she cut down two Sabyrs at once with a single barrage of ice from her glyphs. "We haven't fought any Grimm on our transports."
"No, only the occasional Grimm but never a force this size," Harriet said as she spun behind an Ursa and backhanded it hard enough to break its neck. "This place should be too far out from any civilization, there would be no point in congregating here otherwise."
"Think it's Salem? This force seems much more organized!" Yang called, before she started to descend. Not letting the opportunity go to waste she angled herself downward, before firing more shots from Ember Celica, launching toward the ground like a missle. Her landing was strong enough to send a plume of snow and Grimm up into the air, easy targets for the rest to pick off.
"Possibly! If so, why attack a single ground transport?" Harriet asked. "Why not go after Amity itself?"
"I thought she wasn't supposed to know about Amity! No one was!" Blake said as she focused on the smaller Teryx, leaving the heavy hitters to take out the bigger threat.
Despite their efforts however, some Grimm still managed to get ahold of a soldier, dragging him away from the others and hurling him into the other Grimm. Ruby couldn't see it happen - or be able to help, but the screams did nothing to help her focus on her task.
"With convoys of transports and airships going back and forth from the same location? She had to have learned about it long ago!" Harriet answered. "We were just waiting for something like this to happen!"
"Then why hadn't she attacked it before, if that were the case?" Ruby cried, as she took another chance to use her eye's. "She's planning something, something bad!"
The thought was a worrying one, Salem had been built up to be this almost unstoppable force, that they could just barely fight. To think that she knew about Amity, yet didn't attack it, possibly planning something else for it? Potentially watching them right now, fighting off this horde of Grimm? That was worse than bad.
Still they tried to persevere. Ruby and Harriet kept dragging fortunate soldiers back, as the rest held off the ever encroaching Grimm. As time went on there seemed to be more bodies lining the field than living people. The ground everyone fought on colored a sickening dark brown from all the blood.
"Please...help..." One of the soldiers weakly gasped as they reached out a quivering hand to Ruby, the girl quickly making her way to the man trapped in the mouth of a disintegrating Ursa, his midsection bloodied and mangled in horrible angles.
She had been rushing, the adrenaline and constant fighting causing the girl to get sloppy. When she reached the soldier she immediately grabbed ahold of their arms and began to pull, expecting the Grimm to have disappeared completely by now and the soldier's armor to have held up enough for her to drag him to safety.
Instead, Ruby was met with a pain-filled scream, as the man's torso was separated from his lower half, the Ursa having bitten through enough that Ruby's rough treatment sealed the man's fate, his organs freezing as they were laid bare all along the ground, for all to see.
Ruby let go as soon as she heard the scream but it was already too late, the image forever seared into her mind. She was frozen stiff by the sight, before violently throwing up right next to the corpse. How? How could she have done that? She was supposed to help…
"We're not done yet kid!" Harriet hauled Ruby to her shaky feet, as Yang crushed the Grimm that thought they could harm her baby sister.
Harriet quickly handed Ruby her weapon again, before carrying on fighting. Still, Harriet knew she had to take extra care to keep an extra eye on the kid. It wasn't that she didn't feel sorry for her, but right now they needed to focus on not dying. Unfortunately this wouldn't be the last time she experienced something like this. Regrets and sorrow could come later.
Her thoughts were interrupted when several echoing howls filled the air, and the group looked around to see dozens upon dozens of Grimm approaching at once. Most of them were Centinels, but several Beowolves and Ursai were rushing in from a distance - getting closer and closer at an alarming rate.
"Here they come!" Harriet warned as she readied up - all of team RWBY doing so as well. The wave of Grimm got closer, seemingly getting faster and faster as well.
Before they erupted in a storm of explosions. The specialist and huntresses braced at once as they were hit with several blast waves from said explosions. "What the-" Yang choked as she spat out snow.
Screeches of engines filled the air, and several Manta airships flew by, their missile hatches open and smoking. As they flew back around, the doors opened and revealed soldiers - all firing their rifles down at the disoriented Grimm forces below. Yang whooped in tired celebration - finally glad that help had arrived. Weiss collapsed, her aura utterly shattered as Ruby stumbled over to help, looking like a little shell shocked herself.
Clover jumped down from one of the Mantas, bouncing on top of a dying Ursa and crunching the neck of a Beowolf in half. "Sorry I'm late," he said. His tone didn't sound jovial - rather, dead serious.
"Don't worry about it," Harriet panted as she punched an Ursa into a group of spiraling Centinels. "Word on Amity?"
"They're safe. So far, the only ones facing any opposition are you guys," Clover said, looking up to watch as the Mantas continued to circle the Grimm - cutting them down and slowly ending the battle with the power of close ranged air support. Soon, all that was left of the attack force was black mist - and Clover got to assisting Harriet with the wounded, leaving RWBY tired, pale, sick, but victorious.
No more words were said as the Mantas touched down among the slowly disintegrating corpses of the fallen Grimm. The soldiers silently got out to help their fellow wounded comrades into the airships, while Clover and Harriet helped team RWBY into one of the other Mantas. Luckily, this one had no injured soldiers in it as the group abandoned the wrecked truck.
As they left the battle site, Ruby couldn't help but shudder, thinking of all the people they could've saved had they gotten there sooner...
Instead of their victory, her mind was filled with the sights of the dead and the wounded.
(AN: Life sucks.
I was confirmed to have COVID several days ago, and I spent much of that time resting, going through checkups, going through phone calls and emails, and a whole ton of other drama that getting infected involves - such as quarantine and moving a lot of stuff to home, which meant that I've been a tad bit distracted. I'd like to apologize for the slower upload schedules, and I know I shouldn't be letting the little things get me down, but it has been really difficult. Still, I'll try and focus more on the story.
I have a very good chance of escaping this virus with no harm - but recovery has been janky, and a lot of my time has been spent in bed since I've been feeling weak. But slowly, I've been overcoming it and I'm feeling very optimistic. Regardless, I will be careful when it comes to this, so I can continue to work on the story and not leave all of you waiting. This story has been one of the best things I've produced, and I don't want to let it die. And with RWBY Volume 9 a few months around the corner, I have no plans on leaving this story anytime soon.
Big thanks to RokenDarkly for writing a big portion of this chapter, especially since times have been very rough to focus on everything at once. If you wish to join the beta team - a very small team as of now - message me on and we can chat further.
RokenDarkly: Not like I would let you! I worked too hard on making Markus suffer - I mean Ren x Nora happen!
All jokes aside, I'm sure everyone will agree they'd want a good quality story over rushed updates. Well try our best to keep them coming fast though! We're far from done with our femboy.
Not sure that last part was necessary, lol. Still, thanks, this means a lot.)