Adam was nervous. That wasn't usual for him, but this was a touch and go situation. The entire purpose of the White Fang, the group he'd dedicated his life to since he'd found it, was coming to a head. One of the Kingdoms was falling, because of what they'd done to his people. Not by faunus hands, to be fair, but still, they would be blamed, and that made him flick Wilt and Blush apart, and then put them back together, a tick he'd thought himself past ages ago.
Beside him, in a modified bullhead, sat the Arcs. Jaune…Null Arc and Amber Arc. That mute woman was here too…she looked younger than Amber, but according to Null, she was actually almost as old as Adam himself. Odd that. But regardless, the three of them, and the pilot. That was all he'd allowed to come here, just in case this little trick failed, and they had to retreat in a hurry.
He watched outside the window, as the once clear ground gave way to forests, then to buildings. They had arrived. He got up from his seat, and walked to the edge, looking down towards the ground. It was covered with what one would expect. Mountain Glenn was a known failure, after all, and the Grimm loved to nest in mankind's failures, so there were hundreds of them, all milling about, some even attacking each other, while a few turned to the sky and roared at them, silently thanks to the engine noise and walls of the bullhead.
He spotted a dozen species he recognized, from beowolves to goliaths, and even a few he didn't. One in particular, a sort of humanoid one seemed to be leading them, the whiplike arms driving the rest forward, even as it turned that one red eye towards them, and then turned back, seemingly content to ignore them as it kept the frenzy of the others going, somehow sensing the approach of a huge amount of prey. He smiled to himself at the reversal this was about to become as he pounded on the door to the cockpit, before turning to the Arcs.
"Go time. Hit them with everything you've got," he ordered, and Amber nodded, closing her eyes as she focused, and when she opened them again they were…there weren't words. Colors with no names swirled in her eyes, and then all at once, Adam felt…weaker. Jaune at the same time, opened his to the flash of gold, before going into other colors himself, and Adam slumped down.
Aura, his aura, was gone. Neo's too, as she slouched a little in her seat. With it, he was a god among men, able to run faster than a car, leap a dozen times his height, and even to scale buildings with sheer speed and strength. Now he felt the weight of his body, his every motion was limited, and he felt…vulnerable, as he knew instinctively that he'd have no protection if someone tried to hurt him.
Jaune didn't suffer from that, though Amber did. An odd quirk of their Semblances. Null would normally eliminate Jaune's aura as well, as Nullification would do the same to Amber's. But if Jaune turned his on first, something about them interacting caused Jaune to keep his aura, a fact that meant he hadn't left his sister's side since he'd returned from the dead to stand with them all.
Adam had heard rumblings of how short sixty meters was from a few of his own soldiers…well recruits anyway. Regardless, he'd tried to impress on them how monumental this was, and he smirked as he wondered what they thought as the cameras the White Fang brought showed the stuff happening below their bullhead, as the world beneath erupted into chaos and tumult.
The Grimm would have scattered, they were smart enough to do that, if they'd known where the pain was coming from. But here and now, they could see no attack, no fire, no blade, just dropping dead. That one with the whip arms had done so after looking up once, his body smashed by a collapsing goliath, leaving the rest unable to organize as they began to charge all around.
The pilot didn't let them leave, as she turned the ship around, and then began a box pattern, slowly going around the edges of the Grimm horde beneath them, and then working her way backwards. The bullhead was a bit clunky, no Dust at all in its veins, but it was agile enough for this purpose, and soon enough, what remained of the Grimm beneath them were piles of scattering ash.
He ordered the rest to move in, the one that had been filming them peeling off to keep the cameras on the evac, as they broadcast to all of Vale that salvation for the faunus had arrived, and they would be taking any of their people who came to Mountain Glenn back to Menagerie, where they'd find home and hearth waiting for them amongst their own kind, the kind that didn't try and sterilize you.
Adam watched the ships land, counting some of them, knowing, even as he wished fervently it weren't so, that there weren't nearly enough planes to get everyone out. Boats had been assembled too, after all, this was an evacuation they'd been planning since Jaune had revealed the existence of the agent, but they were too slow, and they wouldn't make it to the coast for another few days.
If only this Grimm invasion had happened a week later, then they would have had enough, but the Grimm so rarely worked to the advantage of anyone, and now, watching as a stream of people emerged from the tunnel to Vale, he wondered if he should be grateful for it, as he knew some of them might have tried to stay, might have tried to justify what Chivalric Arms…what Atlas and Vale's Councils had done, given the signatures on the order.
It was as they soared above the crowd, keeping overwatch and ready to dive in should a Grimm horde make it into Mountain Glenn that he saw it. The crowd was, primarily, faunus. They'd been waiting in that tunnel, after being contacted by the Vale Fang chapter a few days ago now. But he could see some who didn't look quite so dirty, didn't look quite so panicked as they rushed forward, many carrying things.
Humans…fuck. Some were carrying whole chests and suitcases. One old bastard was yelling at some faunus carrying what were obviously cases and cases of lien to move faster. It took a moment for him to recognize one of the Council, but when he did he grit his teeth. What kind of dumb shits ran this town? Did they think they would be WELCOME in Menagerie?! After everything that had happened!?
And the lien? It wasn't worth anything in Menagerie anymore. Not at the moment. Money was good, a nice centralized trade good. It existed to facilitate things in the vein of bargaining and the like. Menagerie was cut off from the world though, and right now, so much land was opening up that it just wasn't worth it. Work, and you ate and were housed, as the Fang set up entire districts in a few hours.
They'd told the faunus of Vale that. Told them over the last week as they got the word out about the incoming fleet. No humans, no luggage, no money. It was going to be rough just getting everyone into a single convoy, to avoid Vale trying to 'protect' their rights or some such. And that was BEFORE this became a full on evacuation, with the Grimm breathing down their throats.
Adam watched as the throng of people started to reach the ships. The crews, knowing to move fast, did not speak much. They would help people up, stand them in certain ways, rushing to get everyone in position. A suitcase? It was chucked in the dirt, no need for anything but the clothes on your back, as every bit of luggage meant one more life that couldn't be saved, and that was that.
Luckily, the faunus population had been preparing for this. A few had hoped somewhere in their hearts that they'd be allowed to bring stuff. But when they were told no, they dropped their material goods, and tried to save their own lives. Smart people. They'd had to be to be faunus in a human kingdom, to live lives that didn't end with them in jail or worse just because they looked at someone wrong.
But the humans? Well, they didn't like being told no. The first to get to one was that old man, who tried to fucking BUY the airship, so he could load it with his people. The Fang, a deer that Adam didn't know the name of, told him no. And when he refused to back down, when he raised his voice, she literally reached forward, and twisted his neck around with a snap, killing him instantly.
That got the message across to the ones around him, got them to back away as she, with a bit of aura power, picked up the corpse and tossed it to the edge of the crowd, before motioning a woman and her children in. It would have been so easy if that had been that, if all of them had been some greedy bastard of a Councilor who needed to be removed at this point, by whatever means were available.
And yet, it wasn't. Families came up. Women crying, men trying to push children into the hands of Fang agents. They were mixed in, hard to separate, hard to tell apart since not all faunus features were obvious, and parents especially lied to get their kids aboard. Worse, some of the faunus that had come told them to take them, even lied for them, saying they were family, wanting to save the innocent youths.
Adam wanted to be mad at that. Wanted to be angry at how few they could take at all, and that wanted to just GIVE space to the humans?! This was…it was honor, and dignity, and so much else that he'd not seen in a long time. He would have retched at that fact, would have told them to just leave the humans, that only one family of them had stood with the Faunus, and so they were the only ones they'd take.
But he couldn't. That order, much as he wanted to shout it down to them, refused to leave his lips, and so he stood there watching, until the reports pulled them away. Another attack, another advancing squad of Grimm, already hitting the rear of the line of fleeing people. He turned away from those being loaded, and told the pilot to take them to it, and they went to save what little of the world they could.