Here's another chapter for everyone. This one's mostly going to focus on what's happening on the ground. Expect to see a lot of chaos from Loki, Artemis, and Vulcan, along with a few scenes from Adrienne and Aurelius himself.
On that note, I feel like fight scenes are where my writing is at its weakest. It just feels like I have a harder time writing chapters focused more on combat (like this one, less than 3500 words and it took me two days) compared to ones heavy on character interactions. ( chapter chapter 32 was written in about a day and was almost 5400 words long) Maybe it's just me and this is just one of those "I need it to be perfect" chapters and I'm just overlooking that. Leave a review if you have any input on the situation.
Chapter 34: Battle of Beacon: Counterattack
Vale Central Plaza
Adrienne hummed as she watched the group of White Fang approach the Council building from a nearby rooftop, shaking her head as a massive bear faunus tried to knock the door down. The orange-clad girl hopped down, calmly moving towards the group. She frowned as she heard one of them speak up.
"Just give up man, it's no use. This place is probably more well-fortified than anything else in the city, we're never getting in there."
Adrienne tapped the tip of her blade against the ground before she spoke up. "He's right you know. There's no way I'm going to let you hurt anyone." The White Fang members turned to look at her, drawing weapons. She hummed as she glanced around. "Every single one of them is wearing a mask… Nothing more than cowards I guess."
The bear faunus in the group stepped forward, glaring down at her. "And how do you think you can do that, little girl?"
Adrienne growled. "I'll have you know I'm 20 and the normal height for someone my age. Don't call me little just because you're too tall to fit through a door without hitting your head."
The White Fang member clenched his fists. "You must think your so brave, don't you? Trying to take all of us on by yourself."
"Bravery has nothing to do with it. My sworn duty is to defend the innocents and I will never falter in that task. I will not abandon my post until those under me are safe. Besides, I'm not the one wearing a mask, am I?" She grinned as the bear growled. "Now then, how about you show me that you're more than a coward, hmm?"
"You little…" The faunus let out a roar before charging forward. Adrienne smiled slightly as he lunged at her, taking a quick step to the side, her sword igniting before she made a slash at the back of his legs. The man fell to the ground, legs severed below the knees before the Orange Rose delivered a final strike. Adrienne frowned, returning to her previous position.
"Does anyone else want to try?" she asked, watching as the remaining White Fang members glanced between each other nervously. She let out a groan as they took off running. "Do you think I'll let you run and start attacking people elsewhere in the city?!" She made a quick horizontal slash, sending an arc of flame down the street after the White Fang before turning and running down a nearby street.
Vale Residential District
A trio of White Fang members turned onto the narrow street, quickly scanning every shadow as they moved slowly. They were lucky enough to escape Artemis' initial ambush, but they were on guard constantly, each sound making them nervous. "I think they're gone…" the rabbit in the group said causing the other two to let out a sigh of relief. "We need to tell Adam and the others… Can you guys keep an eye out while I make a call?" The other two nodded and she went to pull out her Scroll when they heard a pained groan from a nearby alleyway. The trio glanced at each other nervously before walking towards it. The three let out a gasp as they saw another White Fang member with a number of arrows in his back before the bull faunus in the front ran over, kneeling down as the rabbit started searching through her pouch.
"Hey, stay with, you're going to be fine!" the bull said, turning to look at the rabbit. "Rouge, hurry up!"
"I'm trying! Give me a minute to fi-" a cry of pain tore her gaze away from her pouch, looking on in horror as the seemingly injured deer faunus stabbed a dagger into the bull's chest before morphing into the vague shape of a Sentinel. Loki let out a laugh as he stood up, removing his knife and turning to the two remaining White Fang members, causing them to flinch at the psychotic grin on its face plate. "W-what are you?!" Rouge cried out, stepping back behind the wolf faunus in front of her.
Loki hummed, stepping forward as he twirled his dagger. "I suppose what is a much better question than who. I am everything you could ever possibly fear, every terror you could imagine but never see, every monster from your bedtime stories, all wrapped together and given physical form. I am Loki, Master of the Mind and it is my joy to spread fear and confusion in those that would harm the innocent. The two of you, your friend…" Loki gestured at the body behind him. "And the entire White Fang… Tonight, you will all amuse me as payment for your crimes."
The wolf muttered over his shoulder to his companion. "Rouge, you need to get out of here."
"But-" the rabbit started.
"No buts, you need to get out of here and warn the others to watch out for this thing and the other ones. Go!" the wolf growled. Rouge looked at her comrade sadly before running off, eliciting a laugh from Loki.
"Yes, run! Tell all your friends of the horror that will soon be upon them!" Loki called out before glancing at the wolf in front of him. "Now then, how about we have some fun, shall we?" A wisp of energy left Loki before taking the form of a Boarbatusk next to him. The wolf swallowed nervously before lunging forward with a roar.
Vale's Southern Wall
A group of Atlesian soldiers jumped behind cover as an explosion tore through the wall. They watched cautiously as the White Fang charged in, one of the soldiers tapping a button on their phone before the lights throughout the neighborhood went out, plunging them into darkness. The faunus floundered for a moment as their eyes quickly adjusted while the soldiers switched on their helmets' night vision feature, quickly moving back with the White Fang in pursuit, exchanging fire. A group of Sentinels and Champions moved in behind to take care of the Grimm pouring through the gap. Once the firefight was far enough away, one of the soldiers let out a whistle before throwing a flash bang down the street, the rest of the squad ducking behind cover.
The faunus glanced in the grenade's direction in confusion before a blinding flash went off, causing many of them to drop to the ground crying out in pain. The squad moved up, quickly disarming and restraining the White Fang members before moving back to assist at the breach.
Vale Commercial District
The White Fang hid as they watched Vulcan and a group of Sentinels take on a swarm of Grimm. Vulcan made a quick slash, taking out ten Beowolfs at once. "There's no way we can take that thing down…" One of the faunus said, causing another one to let out a groan.
"Don't be so cynical, everything has a weakness and it's only a matter of time until-" he froze as they watched Vulcan try to stab into a Deathstalker, only for the massive scorpion to backpedal and snap his sword with its claws. "See? I told you it'd only be-"
The faunus went silent as Vulcan let out an enraged roar, throwing his shield hard enough to cave in the skull of a Mammoth before grabbing the Deathstalker's tail, swinging it over his head. "Nobody breaks MY SWORD!" he roared, slamming the scorpion down on top of an Ursa before swinging it to the side to send a group of Beowolfs flying. After that, he ripped the stinger off and roughly slammed the point into its own armor, impaling it to the ground. Steam rose off the giant before he went to retrieve his shield.
The first White Fang member let out a whimper. "I-I know Adam's not going to like this, but maybe we should leave or surrender or something…"
Vale Fairgrounds
A group of White Fang moved along the path, pushing a group of civilians closer to the center of the fairgrounds as Atlesian soldiers tried desperately to hold them back. As the faunus pushed them into a corner, they heard a voice carry though the air. "Ah, the White Fang. The absolute worst the faunus have to offer as a species." The White Fang looked around before a cloud of blue rose petals flew into the center of the group, Aurelius forming within. "Don't you have something better to do than plot mass genocide?" He glanced around, frowning slightly. "Look at you, running around slaughtering people like a bunch of savages. Is this all you're good for? Is this what you want the White Fang's legacy to be?"
The cat faunus leading the group scoffed. "When this is over, we'll all be heroes! I don't get why you humans don't understand this is how things are meant to be, with you cowering in fear when you see us!"
Aurelius laughed, tapping his longsword against the ground. "I have fought creatures far more intimidating than you. If you truly believe you can pose a threat then come, prove it!" Aurelius' eyes shone brightly as the White Fang charged him. Just as they entered arms' reach of him, the Blue Rose exploded into a cloud of deadly petals, shredding the ones closest to him before reforming nearby, his cloak still slicing through them in the form of rose petals. He moved to attack the nearest surviving White Fang member when his Scroll went off. He glanced down at it and frowned before answering it. "This better be important, general."
"Aurelius, there's a problem. After Bastion and my ships took down the first wave of bullheads the White Fang was using for the attack, they started flying right above the city. My men can't fire on them without causing serious damage to the city and they're all landing near Beacon. Ozpin and your… Imperator Janus believe they're trying to block any route to the CCT Tower to prevent us from reaching Amber. I've already deployed Winter to the area, but we're going to need all the help we can get and the Aurora's gone silent."
Aurelius hummed. "Alright, I'll see what I can do." Aurelius closed his Scroll, glancing at the remaining White Fang member as his cloak reformed. "Ah, I should probably deal with you first…" He pointed his sword at the faunus before a blast of lightning shot out, sending him flying into a nearby tree. Aurelius nodded subtly before exploding into a cloud of petals, flying toward Beacon.
AWS Aurora, Bridge
The Aurora's captain let out a frustrated sigh. "Why haven't we heard back from the hangar crew? The dropships with our reinforcements should have unloaded and went to assist with the fight by now." One of the crew members went to tap a few buttons on a nearby console before it made a beeping noise as an error message came up. The captain glanced over nervously as the man made a few more attempts, getting the same result each time.
"Um, sir… All communications are down. I can't get in touch with the hangar bay, engineering, damage control teams, gunnery crews… I can't even contact the other ships in our wing or General Ironwood." A short girl behind the captain grinned as he spoke up.
"Lock down whatever you can, we need to assume-" The captain let out a gasp as a blade stabbed through his chest, causing the rest of the people in the room to jump back. Neo smiled as she pulled the blade out, twirling her umbrella as she glanced around the room. One of the soldiers quickly pointed his rifle at her, pulling the trigger before she shattered like glass. Neo reappeared next to the man, stabbing him in the shoulder to make him drop the gun before she got to work clearing the bridge. After a few quick slashes, everyone else was either dead or crippled, causing the girl to nod in satisfaction.
Neo wiped off her blade before sliding it back into her umbrella, grabbing Torchwick's cane and hat as she walked over to the door, quickly unlocking it. As the door opened, she stepped aside to let a group of White Fang members through. "Not bad girlie, now we can actually fight back and really level this place." Neo rolled her eyes before starting to sign something. "Sorry girlie, I don't do that hand-speaking crap."
Neo growled silently as she pulled out her Scroll, typing out a quick message before putting it through a voice synthesizer. "Where's Roman?" the voice asked.
"How the hell should I know? You're the one that's been casing the ship out, go look for him yourself," the monkey faunus said dismissively, causing Neo to stomp out of the room, rubbing her throat as a few tears filled her eyes.
"Sometimes I really wish I could talk like everyone else…"
Amity Colosseum, Landing Area
Ruby glanced around, watching as civilians crowded onto the airship. "Okay, this is the last group and then we can go help down below with the battle…" The wolf's ear twitched as she saw a Nevermore swoop down to attack one of the fleeing airships, only for a blast of fire to hit it from above and rip it to pieces. Weiss walked up to Ruby, a look of concern on her face.
"Ruby, you said you tied Mercury up, right?" The wolf faunus nodded, causing Weiss to run a hand through her hair. "I looked everywhere in that access corridor, there's no sign of him. I think Emerald got him before she left." Ruby let out a frustrated sigh.
"That's just what we needed isn't it…" she grumbled. As the transport was loaded, Ruby glanced at Ironwood to see him pacing quietly. She walked over to him cautiously. "General Ironwood, is something wrong?"
Ironwood glanced at her anxiously. "Nobody can get in contact with the Aurora." Ruby's eyes widened. "We're not sure if it's just a malfunction, some virus that escaped our scans, or-" The general stopped as the two watched the Aurora fire a laser barrage into the destroyers in front of it, tearing the formation apart as debris rained down on Vale. "Ruby, I need you to go with your friends. Our only hope is that, if the Aurora was hijacked, I can get to it and take it back. If not… We may have to hope that the Bastion can deal with it."
Ruby nodded slowly. "If it looks like you're run into trouble, I'll try to come and help, alright?" Ironwood nodded before moving to enter the nearby Dropship, sitting in the pilot's seat before launching. Ruby quickly moved toward the nearby airship, glancing at the nearby teams. "Come on, the airship should be able to reach Bastion without any problems. We need to go help out at Beacon."
Bastion, Citadel Command Center
Janus leaned against the railing as he looked at the screen, watching as the Atlesian fleet crumbled around the Aurora. "Athena, what's going on?"
Athena glanced in his direction. "We're not sure, we haven't been able to get ahold of anyone on the Aurora through any means. It's entirely possible that the entire ship has been taken over."
Janus nodded and went to speak when the Cruiser fired a missile barrage directly into the city, destroying entire blocks. The Imperator growled as he looked at the destruction. "I want all weapons to prioritize the Aurora. Prime the Aegis."
"Janus, if we do that-" Athena started.
"If we don't do anything Vale will be destroyed and everyone currently hiding within Bastion will be reduced to refugees," Janus said, voice hard. "You have your orders. Prime the Aegis."
Athena nodded, moving over to a console. "Power transfer will take approximately ten minutes…"
Janus nodded as Ironwood's face appeared on a nearby screen. "Janus, I don't know what you have planned, but I beg you. Give me a chance to take care of this." Janus leaned forward.
"General, ever moment we waste is another building that gets leveled. I can't sit around and wait for you to potentially reclaim your ship…" Janus sighed. "But I can promise you ten minutes before we're able to engage it without risk of our own destruction."
Ironwood nodded. "I'll try to see what I can-" Gunshots rang out before the screen turned to static.
Amity Colosseum Landing Area
Ruby growled in frustration as she watched Ironwood's dropship go down near Beacon. She turned towards Weiss, noticing the girl's worried expression. "I need to get up there. Can you take care of things for me?"
Weiss went wide-eyed, gaze subtly going to Ruby's shoulder. "But what if you get hurt or worse? We don't know how Janus is planning to deal with the situation!"
Ruby put a hand on Weiss' shoulder, giving it a squeeze. "I'll be fine, okay?" Weiss nodded hesitantly before walking off towards the airship. Once she was out of sight, Ruby unfolded Crescent Rose and launched into the air, flying towards the Aurora in a cloud of rose petals. She was going to stop the Aurora, no matter what.
This chapter's finished for now. As I said, I'm not too happy with the quality of the fight scenes that make up most of the chapter. If you think they're fine or have a suggestion for how to improve them, leave a review or send me a message.
