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When night finally came, the trio stepped into the elevator, stretching awake as the small metal box descended the building's height slowly, Cinder starting, "Pyrrha, Mistress Neo and I have worked together before. So we both know what to do, when and where to do it, and how. If you have any questions, now is the time."

"And if you want to leave, this is the time for that too." Neo typed out on her Scroll, a mechanical voice sounding out each word quietly and mechanically. "No one in this crew does what they don't want, so if you got cold feet and want out, last call for it. Otherwise you're stuck in our little shindig for the rest of the night."

"Jaune asked me to be here, so I am." She responded simply, too prideful in herself to complain. Or perhaps too loyal to Jaune. One of those two, at least she was sure of that much. "I don't care what we do, or how we get to what Jaune wants. Be it brawling, bribing, or spreading my Dust damn legs."

She gave Neo a pointed look, the small woman smirking at the barb knowingly, "I don't care. It is his need which drives my actions. His words, my swords. His goals, my everything. Now may we all please get on with this?"

After a moment, the muted mechanical voice at Neo's behest spoke again, "They grow up so fast, Cinder." The older Maiden rolled her eyes, giving Neo a reprimanding look with an eyebrow raised and a hand on her hip, and Neo added, "Oh fuck off. That was funny."

"Yes." Cinder answered Pyrrha, nodding slightly, "Let's get on with this."

During the day Vale was known as a city of colors. Bright, happy people walking, talking, working, all in a city with banners flying stores open to the air if the sun shone, and shining like the metropolis it, at the end of the day, truly and completely was. Guarded by massive walls and the troops on them, the citizens lived bright lives under the warm sun and grey skies alike, laughing and walking the streets. Though bare of many of the soldiers that had walked its walls, thanks to Ironwood's still - publically, at least - unexplained departure of the city, and his forces with him.

Even Faunus, in most walks of the city and welcome in most - if not all - stores, lived brighter and happier lives than they could have hoped in the Kingdom in centuries past, or even now in some places around the world. Occasionally you could even see a few White Fang walking the streets, making a point of their presence and ignoring the cops tailing them with their bright blue tabards on full display and warm bands to match. Making a show of themselves and the fact that they, unlike their brethren, meant no harm. Some even offered hands to anyone who looked to need them, from the elderly to children or even to informing officers of trouble in the area.

At night, though, things changed drastically, and in some cases even violently.

The banners that stores hung to advertise,or celebrate, were furled and brought in, doors locked and barred, security systems and their warning signs on and made visible enough only the blind could miss them. Tables, chairs and everything else were brought in, and in a set few neighborhoods where no one else would brave the streets without a badge and a gun, or Aura and the training to use it, and the seediest of Vale's population came out to play. In the Industrial and Shipping districts, that meant White Fang. And a lot of them, of both colors and creeds, and in some places that meant fighting. Very rarely, though, of course, did the fighting happen in any numbers that mattered. And if it did, very rarely did it happen in public.

Cinder's foot slammed into the metal door, age and neglect sending it flying a foot away from the wall and crashing to the ground with a heavy metal crunch as she sauntered into the White Fang safehouse, one of several she herself had made use of. A half-dozen grunts rose to meet her, drawing blades from their waists warily. When two sets of heels clicked into the room, though, they seemed to hesitate at the sight of the three women in front of them.

"I thought as much." Cinder smiled, summoning a long and straight sword in her right hand and flames that engulfed her left, "Not very keen on fighting me on my own, much less with Neopolitan and Nikos at my back. Are you?"

One of them, either a brave or stupid young woman with only one of her antlers, raised her sword and shouted, "For the White-"

Pyrrha's shield slammed into her stomach so hard she doubled over it and staggered away, blade clattering on the floor in favor of clutching the rim and staggering. In a flash of crimson and bronze, Nikos was beside her, spear spinning in her and and sweeping her legs out from under her, a hand encased in flames as her shield forced the woman down with enough force that her startled and pained cry became a choke, the spear-point tickling her chin and Pyrrha's heel landing between her modest breasts as she recalled her shield.

"I probably broke a couple of your ribs." Pyrrha said quietly, looking down at her with her spear in a single hand, the haft resting against her shoulder. Smiling apologetically, she added, "Please, don't try to do anything. You might puncture a lung, or I may need to hurt you more."

"S-Stupid, Human…" She chuckled, the voice wet sounding as she forced a smile through gritted teeth, "Who the hell do you think you are? Coming in here is a death sentence for you."

"I doubt you're in a position to threaten." Cinder scoffed, looking down at the woman as the other White Fang soldiers backed away. Smirking, she held out her flame-wreathed hand and simply said, "Simply answer our questions and we will leave. No fuss, no harm. Refuse, and I start using your comrades as candles."

Nervously, the five exchanged glances, before one took a step towards the raven-haired Mistralian. This one Neo dealt with, her rapier shooting through the air and embedding in his legs.

"Son-of-a-bitch-" His cry was cut off, free hand clutching his leg around the blade, as Neo's legs wrapped around his head.

The man staggered, swinging the red sword into her side several times while Neo smiled and slammed her fists into his head until, with awet cracking sound, she kicked off of the back of the man's shoulder with a foot and snapped his neck, flipping off of him as he fell and landing, ending her display with a small bow, her arms to either side behind her. Like a performer on a stage.

"Neo, please." Cinder chided gently, the woman's almost feral smirk turning on the oldest in their group as she smiled, her hand flaring brighter, "I said they would be a candle, not a rodeo. And besides, I haven't even asked anything yet."

Shrugging, Neo straightened and stepped towards the corpse, yanking her rapier free while Cinder asked, "Now then, my Ma- Employer," she amended quickly, voice never losing that commanding edge that met her sultry pur, "wishes to know why the White Fang are acting so… Strangely. I noticed that there seem to be quite a lot of Faunus wearing the old insignia and colors, and even fighting your ilk."

"Traitors." The woman beneath her fellow Mistralian spat, hands wrapped around Pyrrha's ankle. "After that traitorous snake, Belladonna, died her parents have been up in arms. The division runs deep, but they'll be rooted out quick enough."

"So the Belladonna's are fighting, in their daughter's honor?" Pyrrha asked the woman underneath her, snorting at the idea. "I had always heard they were doe with the spectacle of being in the public eye. I suppose Blake's loss could galvanize them."

"What does Taurus plan to do about it?" Cinder demanded, the woman below her clamming her mouth shut at the question almost instantly. Sighing, Cinder thrust her hand at a small woman with rabbit ears edging towards the door. Her scream died quick enough, the flames bursting around her head probably rendering her unconscious far before killing her, and she reiterated, "What is Adam Taurus planning to do about the schism?"

Again, the woman held her tongue, trembling under Pyrrha, and the champion closed her eyes as another White Fang member was targeted, raising his hands and pleading, "N-No,wait, I just joined, I'm not-"

"Please, just tell us what we want to know." Pyrrha asked mutedly, looking into the deer-Faunus' eyes through the holes in her mask. "None of us take pleasure in this needless killing." A rock skittered down her armor and Pyrrha amended with a growl edging her voice, "Except her, of course."

The woman looked at her two remaining comrades for a long second before she seemed to deflate, "I will answer, if you swear to leave us after." Pyrrha nodded, and the woman sighed, "Taurus is planning a move against them sometime next month, if nothing is done. Sienna is trying to gather her own support to depose the Belladonnas. I doubt either of their plans will stay, though. Nothing is concrete, not yet."

"That is all we wanted. Thank you, for your cooperation." Cinder said, shaking her head and nodding before, with a flick of her wrist, the other two exploded in flames. Surprised, Pyrrha took two steps away from the downed woman and held out a hand towards the dead terrorists, and Cinder added, "Neo, the leader?"

"You fucking Humans, you swore that- Ack!" Pyrrha turned to see Neo slam her foot into the woman's head, stunning her before she put her neck between her heel and the rest of her foot and twisted, a dull snapping sound echoing in the otherwise quiet room.

"But…" Pyrrha shook her head, looking to Cinder, "Why? We got what we required, there was no need for that."

"Corpses don't tell any stories, Nikos." Neo's Scroll sounded out, Cinder nodding at the statement.

"If we left them, then they would report on our presence. The three of us, unfortunately, are known quantities in the world. If anyone knew we were asking about this, that would connect to Jaune, and then he would be in danger." She waved a hand at the corpses, their bodies igniting fully to the last aside from the leader, and then jerked her head towards the door. "No trails. Now come, we need to verify this with some members of the other White Fang. Neo, bring the corpse. We plant that at one of the White Fang safe houses and they won't even think of him. Or us."

Swallowing her distaste, Pyrrha sighed and nodded, following the other two without hesitation. "If it helps Jaune, then so be it. They were, after all, all terrorists. They can't erase that as easily as changing their clothes' coloring."

But even still, it left her feeling disquiet and uncomfortable. Perhaps it was simply that this was her first time being involved in this. Maybe Jaune even wanted her on this one to make other things, harder ones probably, easier on her?

It would be just like him to be so thoughtful about even something like this.

When they finally returned to the hotel penthouse, Pyrrha was exhausted in a way she couldn't quite gauge. It had only been a scant six hours at best, yet she felt as weary as if she had instead fought a championship tournament and barely scraped through the final bout.

"It can be quite exhausting for even the most enduring of people, what we did last night." Cinder said quietly, smiling weakly at her in an effort to convey some kind of comfort. Even if she was rather bad at it. "Your help was appreciated, though. As was your willingness to go along with our orders."

"Jaune needs to be safe-guarded." She shrugged, reaching up to tuck a strand of hair back behind her ear absently. "The last thing that he needs is a bunch of terrorists hounding after him. That much is obvious."

"Indeed." Cinder agreed simply, nothing else really left to say on the subject, the door sliding open quietly as the three tired women stepped out. "We should take the time left to rest up again, before we head for the landing area. And then on, towards Atlas."

"Goodnight, then." Pyrrha inclined her head, stepping past the older women and pushing into the room where everyone else was, murmuring a quiet, "Hello, Winter." Before the door clicked shut and cut off the rest of it from the remaining two's hearing.

"Did pretty well, for a total virgin at this." Neo quipped through her Scroll, looking up at Cinder with a raised eyebrow. "What do you think? She did pretty well, yeah? Didn't make a fuss about killin' 'em, fought when we needed her to too. Whole nine yards."

"She did well." Cinder acknowledged, nodding to the smaller woman with a thin smile, "Get some rest, Lady Neo. We've much to do later today, after all, and it would not be useful for you to be exhausted."

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"Master." Cinder nodded politely as the door closed behind her, Neo laid up on the bed with every pillow in the world -or at least the penthouse level, probably - stacked up to rest her legs on at the end of the bed, her umbrella resting against the bed by her head, "Everyone is ready as they are able to be, and I have reconfirmed our craft to be waiting for us on the roof of this building."

"I understand. How did your evening go, then? Find anything worth mentioning?" He sighed, checking his armor again and mentally trying to shake off the jitters he was feeling. "Anything useful, I mean?"

"I…" "You're nervous? But why? You've done as much as this far too often to be afraid like this." He stiffened, looking at her, and she blanched, standing straighter and quickly saying, "Yes, Master. I found out that, with the death of their daughter, the Belladonnas are moving again. From what those on both sides said, they are acting in what they feel is the best way to honor their daughter's sacrifice. Or what they interpret as it, at least, since so few know the truth of things fully." "The truth you know."

"I see." Jaune sighed, "Thank you, Cinder."

"Of course, Master, I-"

"I'm not nervous, you know. I mean, I am but, you know, not because I am nervous." He gestured with a nod of his head at the wall and, beyond it, the rest of their little group. "They are nervous, and you know I'm basically an emotional sponge. Their emotions are infectious."

"I meant no offence, Master." Cinder whispered, head bower politely and eyes closed almost reverently. Like she was speaking to a god, he thought with no small amount of displeasure at both the idea, and that he was the god in that scenario. "I was… I was merely concerned for you, that is all." "If anything should get to you, this is it, after all."

"I know, Cinder. You always have my interests on your mind, regardless of what's going on." He nodded, taking his sword from the counter to his penthouse's kitchen and strapping it on, adjusting it a bit before resting his off hand on the pommel and turning to her, "I didn't want you to worry while we're out there." He gave her a smile, inclining his head towards her politely, "You do that enough already, Cinder. Thank you."

"I-I see." "That smile...Oh." She stammered, actually flushing amusingly enough before she coughed and turned towards the door, not missing Neo's smirk as she made her way towards it, "I shall see to the final preparations, then. Please, Master, come to the roof when you're ready to depart."

"That was adorable." Neo snarked, chuckling once the woman had gone and the duo was alone entirely. "Had to give her the proverbial head pat, did you? Stoke her flames a bit just before the fight?"

"She deserves some praise, after everything." He shrugged, his armor shifting quietly at the action. Sighing, he added almost tiredly, "After what I did, I can at least make her happy in her service. Show her some respect, treat her right, that kind of thing. Not like it hurts me or anything like that."

"Still beating yourself up?" Neo asked, stretching her legs above her and then kicking them towards her head, rolling off the bed and onto her hands and then springing off of them over the bed towards him, landing effortlessly and smiling in satisfaction, "Brothers and Dust, it is so nice to be able to do that again."

"No, I'm not beating myself up. And it's nice to see your acrobatics back up to par, was worried for a bit there that you might not be recovered in time." She gave him a very pointed look, and he quickly added, "Not that I would have made you stay behind if you weren't, of course. This is too important. I need you at my side for it."

"Good boy." She smiled, patting his armored chest as she stepped past him and hopped up onto a stool behind him, "I'm glad you're over all that, with Cinder, though. I was kinda worried you'd never get past it."

"Let's get going, Neo." He said, the woman giving him a curious look but following him without any real comment towards the door.

A short elevator ride, itself barely a minute given their own location in the building, saw them to the roof where the two craft Cinder had gotten them all were waiting, one already off the roof and hovering nearby expectantly, nearly silent aside from a gentle thrumming sound. Like normal Bullheads, it had two large wings with large turbines at the end, and a smooth, sloped belly where its 'cargo' would rest, leading up to the cockpit.

Unlike normal Bullheads, though, its wings also sported a secondary set of smaller turbines nestled in the corner of the connection between wing and body, and it lacked the sliding side-doors that most also hand. It was also shorter by nearly a foot and sleaker, longer rather than tall and bare of any weapons aside from three barrels protruding from the nose under the cockpit, which itself was also slightly smaller than normal with dark tinted windows. Painted a dark blue, likely to blend better with the sky, it looked like a Bullhead should but with that slight difference that somehow shifted it entirely.

"A military interceptor and dropship." Cinder explained, standing near the elevator with Pyrrha at her side, when she saw him. "Fast enough that it can catch up to almost anything, but only lightly armed and armored. Not suitable for situations with hostile Grimm." "Luckily, our trump card takes that problem off the table fairly instantly."

"I like them. They look really, really cool." He admitted, for the shortest moment in his life a kid again, looking at these cutting edge craft and knowing what they did and for whom. It vanished a second later, though, and Jaune asked, "Where is Salem's Seer? Already on the ship?"

"Yes, hidden in a small crate. It was her idea, to avoid rousing suspicion from the pilots when an actual Grimm boarded the ship." "Which I'm glad she considered, for I certainly neglected to." Cinder gestured to the craft with a hand, adding, "We should board, Master. We've a long way and these ships can't hold much fuel. It would not do to waste any with them idling in the air as they are." "Not that Watts couldn't afford the fuel."

"Did my helmet ever come?" He asked, moving towards and then up the ramp with the women in tow behind him. Instead of answering, Pyrrha just plucked a small box from one of the racks lining the roof, handing it to him with a murmured, "Thanks, Pyr."

Opening it, he looked inside and smiled in spite of himself. The helmet was much like his old one, with a Mistralian design. This one, though, was painted a coolblack like his armor's undercoating, edged in red and with silver chainmail hanging down around the entirety save the face, with extra loose steel hanging and a small hook just inside the face of the helmet to attach it like a war veil. The eyes and the opening slit down the front of the mask for him to breathe were edged in dull bronze rather than red, and a strange ridge-like pattern surrounded the crown of it in the same dull bronze.

"A crown?" He asked, running a thumb over it gently and looking to Cinder.

"After today, Master, a crown would fit you." She said quietly, sitting across from him with Pyrrha on one side of him and Neo on the other. "Given your deal with Salem, I mean…" "A Queen's partner would be a King, after all. And Kings wear crowns."

He made a sour face, staring down at the helmet's face for a long moment before sighing and lifting it, sliding it down onto his head and adjusting it, leaving the veil open for now and looking across at Cinder and then up at the only other crate on board, small and made of dark wood without any markings.

"A crown it is then. Let's just hope I live up to wearing one." He said, the ramp finally closing and Jaune shifting with the craft as it lifted into the air and tilted, angling North towards Atlas. Towards Ironwood, he thought, adding, "And my first act is declaring a war… Just freaking perfect."

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"You said there were how many Grimm Dragons in between us?" James asked, eyes wide and mouth gaping as he looked at his flight officer. Now his secondary officer, with Winter's absence and betrayal.

"Uh, seven, sir. And flocks of Nevermore and Gryphons as well, though given their company, they aren't much concern." The officer informed him, Ironwood leaning back in his chair and staring at the officer as he continued, "The fleet requests your orders, General. As it stands, they block our route to Atlas itself. And our fuel reserves as well, and any refueling centers in the area are out of contact."

Either destroyed or under attack and soon to be, he filled in for himself, turning hard eyes on the window in front of him and the blue sky beyond. Drumming his fingers on the arm of his chair, his mind raced with questions and accusations. This was Arc's doing, no doubt, only furthering what he already knew. Jaune and Salem were in bed together, metaphorically or perhaps even literally as disgusting as that thought was.

It didn't matter, though, whichever might be true. All that mattered were the dragons and his fleet.

"What are they doing? Can we tell?" He asked, barely turning his head towards the officer while he stared into space. Thinking, analyzing and planning a thousand different ways to handle this situation and a million problems the solutions brought.

"Holding, General." The officer responded quietly, sounding almost shocked. "They are just… Holding, sir. Hovering, mostly, or circling. A few have landed, however, according to scout craft reports. Likely to menace surrounding outposts and resource centers."

Or to maintain their stamina, he didn't add. Grimm in general didn't truly have stamina in the sense humans used but some, like these beasts, had similar. They couldn't fly forever and if you exhausted them they would slow. In all Atlesian history only one Grimm Dragon had been felled by the Atlesian Navy itself. At the cost of two thirds of its force and a century of Hunters.

Not a price he could physically pay, even if he were willing. He simply lacked the numbers for it.

So why would Salem order them to hold? They'd tire out, possibly even be injured by fighters on the Atlesian mainland before he got there even.

"Jaune Arc…" He tried the name, feeling his mind work around it. Around the young man's typical strategies, his ways of approaching things. His fingers drummed faster as his mind raced to match them, beating out a rhythm of every bout and battle the blonde had faced to his knowledge, voice low enough that the officer either couldn't hear. Or perhaps he knew better than to interrupt his thought process. "He never goes straight in for the throat. Or to batter own an enemy through sheer strength… No, he doesn't do that. He finds other ways in. Back doors, to fight the leaders themselves face to face."

"Maintain heading and speed." He ordered, smiling thinly in grim satisfaction as a plan came to mind. Standing he raised his voice, wary of all the eyes on him and the ears listening to his orders across the communication channels. "Assume Speartip formation, using my flagship as the tip and supporting with the heaviest craft we have. We will force our way through the dragons and towards the Kingdom, to link up with the rest of the Atlesian fleets. Send an order to all returning fleets to regroup at our current coordinates and then come in after us. Together with our brothers and sisters from across Remnant, we will sandwich these creatures between us within the next few hours."

Raising a fist high into the sky, his robotic arm on purpose and he knew they recognized it as a symbol of Atlesian power and design, he added, "And with them coming to our aid, we will crush these Grimm. For Atlas!"

As the calls of 'For Atlas' echoed back at him across radio units and from his own officers, he took his seat and closed his eyes. It was only a matter of time, now, before the fighting began. But was it a fight he could win, he asked himself?

Opening his eyes, he looked out at the blue waters of Remnant and the lightly clouded blue sky his fleet soared through, smiling bitterly. A good day to die, it seemed.

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True to his word, two and a half hours passed and one of his staff officers called out, "Radar contacts ahead, sir. Radar pings show… The dragons, sir." The voice sounded nervous, unbecoming of an officer of his flagship, but this once James was content to let things lie. Even he was afraid. "All ships checking in, requesting permission to shift to battle preparations and enact code red protocols ship-wide."

"Granted." He said quietly, the officer turning without another word to give out the command along with three others nearby, handing out the words across his ship and the ships around him while he took stock of what he had, raising his voice to confidently say, "Remember, brave soldiers of Atlas, that our fleet has already felled one of these creatures before! This will be just like that one!"

His flagship, a dozen heavy frigates and three carriers, and two destroyers, all armed and prepared for the fight to come as best they could. A far cry from the hundreds of frigates, dozens of destroyers and veritably limitless fighters that had felled the first one, even with his flagship and the more advanced technology.

No one called him on the lie, as the lights faded to a dim red glow to conserve power and prevent overloads once the damage started to pile on.

Ahead of him he could see the snowy, forested expanse of Mantel, his home, as the southern coast spread out before his fleet and, he knew, galvanized their morale. And with that sight came the cloud of Grimm, for that is what the hordes of avian and flying Grimm looked like now. Along with three of the great Grimm dragons, two spreading wings and climbing into the sky already as soon as they saw him.

Cracking his neck, he order, "All ships with clear lines, fire explosive canisters as soon as the swarms approach range needed. Follow with fighters, on orders to close lines and then divert upwards. Heavy cannons volly again afterwards, aim for the center dragon and the center of their formation. Thirty percent anti-armor rounds, seventy canister."

His officers relayed the order and so, in ten more minutes as the cloud swarmed ahead of the dragons, he felt the slightest tremor under his feet as every cannon including his heavy ship-killers fired a single round, an act echoed by every ship to either side of him in a long wedge shape. Bright white lines trailed ahead of his ship, Dust flaring to carry the massive cylinders towards their target, before they exploded in bright splashes of yellow and red. The steel balls, around half a man's size and twice their weight, lanced forward out of them into the Grimm with devastating effect.

As his fighters and interceptors shot forward past his ship, the air ahead was already clogging with the black mist of the Grimm and the vapor of the burned Dust trails. Hundreds of fighters, mostly unmanned drones which took the fore but with a fair number of pilots as well, swarmed towards the Grimm and began silently, to Ironwood at least, discharging belts of ammunition and small-load canister missiles into the Grimm swarms before slamming up a few hundred yards ahead of the Grimm.

Some of the swarm followed them, great twisters of the creatures spiraling up after the retreating fighters, and Ironwood could see the small puffs that marked destroyed craft and releasing drop-canisters as they rose, detonating among the Grimm and tearing their numbers even further part as they rose and another volley from his ships came in, destroying hundreds more Grimm.

Now, barely two hundred yards away, the true threats became apparent. The Dragons, like massive creatures straight out of myth and fable both. With black bodies the size of his own flagship, covered in white armor etched in red and with teeth large and hard enough to crush even the heaviest armor plating, soaring forward on massive leather wings with their tails lashing behind them, curved horns over vicious red eyes stretching out to their snout wickedly.

The center dragon and leader of the trio, as well as the closest, looked straight ahead of itself at his ship and Ironwood swallowed nervously, fighting the nigh-irresistible terror that gripped him as it appraised his ship before with that same gentle thrum, his ship and those at his side fired once again, too close to truly miss and with anti-armor rounds so large that any lesser Grimm in their way simply ceased to be along its path.

The rounds struck home, and the creature visibly recoiled, head and neck twisting as it loosed a roar that Ironwood didn't so much hear as he felt it vibrate the entirety of his ship. Several officers stumbled from the force but Ironwood, seated in his chair, simply stared at the beast. And it stared back, clearly angry and just smart enough to know who had left the smoldering wounds on its armored chest. A second volley at barely fifty yards was released, barking forth, and Ironwood clenched his teeth and prayed.

Again the creature recoiled, huge hunks of armor and flesh falling away, but still it continued on. Headlong for his ship until just before its horns would have shorn through armor, the dragon twisted to the side, past him. His eyes followed the dark mass as it slammed down on the destroyer beside his ship, the Atlesians helpless to do anything other than watch as it slammed its tail into and through the command deck, lifting its head and slamming down with its horns into the center of the ship.

Smoke, fire and metal spilling forth, it twisted its head until the ship's engines died and it began to fall, the creature releasing the vessel and letting it careen down towards the waters below. Then it turned and looked at his command deck, a massive piece of metal in its mouth that it hurled behind it at a frigate that buckled under the weight of it and another dragon doing the same thing to it.

"Sir, that was the main fuel center." An officer called out to him, sounding shocked as James felt as he turned to look at him, "The reserves can only be rapid-activated in the command deck, and all the Dragons are doing that!"

They knew how to destroy his ships…?

"All ships, disengage Speartup formation and break apart!" Of course, he thought to himself, he wasn't fighting Grimm. Not on their own. Now, he was fighting someone far older, wiser and more ruthless. Salem herself controlled these Grimm. "Lighter ships and their fighters are to break for Mistral, and all ships broadcast a belay on previous plans!"

"General!" He heard an officer cry, turning to look behind him as his cream scrambled for cover. His eyes were met with a dragon's tail, that carved through the upper decks of his ship towards him as it turned and pounced on another destroyed.

It would have taken him with the third of his command deck it destroyed, were it not for a pair of hands gripping his pants and yanking him away, hurling him bodily away from the damage. The officer, though, took his place and was swept away with the armor and huns of his ship's right side.

"Gods…" Standing and ignoring the air whipping at his face, Ironwood shook his head, looking over the ships with wide eyes as they belched fire and smoke, some falling already as swarms of Grimm overwhelmed them. "What have I done?"

A Gryphon landed on the shorn armor, snapping through the damaged and missing armor at crewmen running for shelter on other decks, and he set his drw as he drew his sidearm, leveling it at the creature as it turned towards him and snarled.A single well-placed round destroyed its head entirely and the corpse was carried away by the wind as another dozen took its place, snarling at him and his crew.

The first leaps and he blasted its wing away as it flew, letting it fly away and die on it sown time as he sighted the next and sent it to hell as well. The fourth, though, slammed into him bodily and snarled down at him, before a hail of gunfire ended its existence too and several pairs of hands dragged him away, behind a command console.

"Sir, I believe this will be more useful to you." His temporary, or not-so-temporary now given everything, secondary officer said as he thrust a rifle into his hands. James took it, turning and standing with the young man and putting burst into Grimm as they came and he added, "Looks like this might be it, Sir. Just wanted to say it was an hon-"

His words died along with the man as shrapnel from a misplaced canister round tore into his command deck, tossing Ironwood and several members of his crew to the ground. Only he stood backup though, swearing and leveling his rifle at the next Grimm as it came for him, maw gaping and claws scraping against steel.

It fell away and he looked at the body beside him, shaking his head and whispering, "An honor to have had you under me." Looking at the remaining men and women, some manning stations still or routing control to the safer consoles on the intact side of his ship, he raised his human fist and let out a roar, "For Atlas!"

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"Are you sure?" The pilot asked Jaune, looking over her shoulder at him as the blonde watched the fleet fighting in the distance, clusters of ships and their fighters being overwhelmed by the Dragons and the flying Grimm with them, four more slowly circling and tearing apart any ship brave enough to try and flee. "These ships aren't built for that kind of fighting."

"Get us above the fleet, find the flagship and let us know." He ordered quietly, resting a hand on the young woman's shoulder and trying to convey some warmth into his voice in spite of what he was seeing. "We'll leap for it, and you both get out of here. Don't' breathe a word of what happened here and you'll get what you were paid a second time. Tell the other ship to continue to Atlas with the others, land right on the coast there to let them out. Understand?"

She looked at him for a long moment and sighed, shaking her head, "Crazy motherfucking Hunters are lucky you have so much Lien on offer." Looking at him and making a face, she jerked her head toward the passenger section, "Well? Get ready to jump, you friggin' psycho. You ain't doing it from here."

Nodding, he left, and Pyrrha was the first to meet him, "What's happening?"

"Cinder, you have the crate. Pyrrha, you have Neo." He ordered simply, the women standing as he passed them and continued, "They'll get over the battle, and the flagship, and then we jump for it." Looking at the crate Pyrrha pulled down, he rapped a knuckle against it, "See if any Grimm can help us down, yeah?"

"You're insane, Jaune, you know that?" Pyrrha snarked, handing Cinder the crate as Neo smiled widely and excitedly, practically bouncing where she stood next to the Mistralian champion. Holding up a hand, forearm straight up, she smiled, "An absolutely insane, daring Lokhoi, and one I am most proud to have sworn to."

"Thanks, Pyr." He said, tapping his forearm to hers and pushing past them to the ramp, rolling his shoulders and sighing, "For the record, I think this is the craziest idea I have ever had too."

The ramp started to descend, and Jaune took a cold breath before leaping as soon as it was opened enough, shrieking as he fell through Grimm, smoke, dark mists from the dead creatures and more. A fighter billowing smoke shrieked by, spinning wildly, before Jaune felt claws latch onto him from behind and then felt the sudden yank of it pulling him up. A moment later Jaune felt a burst of wind, and was sent spinning through the air as something killed the Grimm.

Jaune caught a glimpse of white metal and black dragon before another something yanked hi bodily to the side, and strong, armored arms wrapped around him. Pyrrha rolled over, Neo clambering around her and wrapping herself around them both as the Mistralian woman burst into flames and flew, if only for a moment, towards a ship missing a large portion of its armor on one side with Grimm lunging towards the opening only to be driven back by what had to be gunfire. A turret firing a belt of ammunition arced towards them and Pyrrha rolled them in the air, giving Jaune a glimpse of Cinder behind them, and then he felt once more a sharp yank as Pyrrha sought to slow them.

The foursome rolled across the top of the ship, their Auras flaring desperately to protect them as several Grimm latching onto them before they could fall away, and then they too leapt for the breach. The creatures fell to withering fire and that left them, kneeling in the breach and spreading out in front of half-a-dozen Atlesian officers with rifles and sidearms, and General James Ironwood himself.

He extended his shield, Pyrrha at his side raising hers and kneeling, and the other two leapt behind the two shield-wielders for cover as rounds seared through the air around them, and Jaune swept his leaf-blade sword back before, with a roar lost to the gnashing winds, he swept it forward and sent his Semblance blasting forward.

The shockwave sent everyone in front of him slamming into the wall or consoles, and the ship listed for a moment before an officer corrected it. His Maidens followed, shooting forward and trailing fire as they started to tear into the defenders and then the Grimm joined in, swarming through the opening they made as Jaune charged, his sword hilting in an Atlesian officer as she tried to fire into Pyrrha's back.

He stumbled as a round slammed into his chest, heavier than the others, and looked up to see Ironwood at the door waving men and women into the ship and aiming at him. He caught the next round on his shield, smiling behind his chain-veil, and Ironwood buckled as Neo dropped from the ceiling behind him and buried her rapier in his calf.

She leapt away as he staggered upright and slammed his elbow into the air she'd occupied, the last crewmen disappearing through the door as Ironwood looked at leveled the sword at him, tip pointed at his chest, and repeated, "No matter what you put between me and you, Ironwood."

Without saying a word in return, the General slammed a fist into a button at the side of the door and it slammed closed. Locked, Jaune knew, even without his Semblance. Spreading his arms to either side and stumbling as the ship shook and his destroyed pants dyed themselves red, Ironwood shouted, "What now, Arc?"

"Now," he said, smiling again in spite of the knowledge Ironwood couldn't see it, "we land this ship."

The ship shook violently, then, as one of the dragons mounted its top and ripped into it, Jaune grabbing a Gryphon as it turned, leaping on top of it as it and three others laden with his allies took to the air, now above the coast of Mantel as the ship twisted violently to the side at the Dragon's request, falling away and Ironwood was pitched bodily into the air, snapped up by a Nevermore that dove towards the ground below with him in its claws.

They landed in a clearing, the Gryphons letting them off like a horse might have while the Nevermore simply dropped Ironwood on the ground and then soared back towards the fight eagerly, and Jaune turned to Cinder, "Get Salem out here, right now."

"Jaune." She greeted a moment later, as the creature clambered out, sounding tired, "What do you need now?"

"Have your Grimm drive the fleet away, but stop destroying ships, Salem." He asked, standing less than a dozen feet from Ironwood as he staggered upright and watched him. The two locked eyes, and he added, "They don't need to die, not for this, and I have what I wanted. So please, Salem. Let this end."

"Very well." She said, as above and around them the lesser Grimm began to flock away, and the Dragons circled overhead, warding the damaged a fleet to limp away. A scarce few miles away, smoke from the wreckage of the flagship climbed into the sky, and Salem continued, "I must say, Jaune, that was quite the display. I'm impressed, truly. What now?"

"Now?" He chuckled, looking at Neo and bouncing his sword in his hand, before looking at Ironwood. "Now we finish this, Ironwood. You murdered my friend, and now you will follow him. Straight into the ground."

"I suppose you expect some speech, or apology, or for me toplead for Atlas?" He asked, sounding tired and looking around at the snow-covered forest almost reverently. When his eyes fell on the four of them again, he actually chuckled, "You won't get any of it. I did what I had to."

"Bullshit!" He snarled, Neo hissing at his side as he continued, "You attacked a ship just sitting in Beacon's airspace. Violated treaties, laws, betrayed your friend's trust, all to murder my friend based on your assumptions about me! All of this after you had me attacked in my own home, when I was minding my own business."

"And you had my men and women slaughtered for it, Arc!" He snarled back, gesturing around himself with his free hand, his other gripping the revolver tight. "And again, today, right here... You did it. Slaughtered my people in vengeance. And using Grimm to do it, almost like my so-called assumptions were entirely correct and well-founded!"

"Maybe…" Jaune admitted quietly, shaking his head and turning, slamming his shield into the snow in front of him, "And maybe later, I'll decide you were right and try to change. But you?" He shook his head again, taking a deep breath of the frigid air, "You won't see that. Or anything else at all."

"No." He agreed, straightening and rolling his shoulders, looking up at one of the Dragons as it turned lazily in the air. When his eyes returned to Jaune's they were cold and resigned entirely. "I suppose I won't, at that. So let's finish this, Jaune Arc. You and me, right here, on Mantel. My homeland."

"Sorry, Neo." He said quietly, the woman looking up at him curiously, Jaune gesturing towards the general with his head. "I have to give him this. After everything that's happened, I owe him that much at least. Forgive me?" After a long second of staring at him, she nodded and stepped back towards the trees, crossing her arms, and Jaune said, "Then let's get this over with."

Reaching up, Jaune pulled the helmet off of his head and turned to pitch it to Cinder. He'd need the edge his Semblance brought to match Ironwood, even wounded and tired as he was.

Turning, he readied his shield and, without a word, charged. Ironwood, even injured, ducked under the first strike easily and rolled to a standing position behind Jaune, firing a round into his armored back. His Aura deflected it and he spun with the force, his shield catching the next round as his blade whistled overhead. Sensing the next attack, he leapt over the round as it exploded in the snow and roared, his Semblance ripping forward and hurling him into the ground.

The man rolled to the side and to a standing position as the Arc landed where he'd lain, armored knees digging into the snow and dirt as he leapt and lunged at Ironwood's back. The man caught the blow on his forearm, slamming down on his wounded leg. And it buckled under him, Jaune slamming a foot into his sternum as his Aura - weakened from the battle to near nonexistence - gave out, his sword slamming down into his chest and beyond, into the soil underneath.

"I told you." Jaune gasped, feeling the blade inside him as well thanks to his Semblance, "My sword, in your chest, buried to the hilt. I gave you my word, after all, that this would be what happened. And an Arc-"

"-never breaks his word." Ironwood chuckled, head resting in the snow, "Maybe… I was wrong, then. And maybe..." "This is justice, for what my mistake caused." Sighing, his thoughts scattered, and Jaune stood as his mind and body failed, stepping away and turning towards the others.

"Let's go find the others." He said tiredly, accepting the helmet when it was offered and sliding it on once again. He turned to look at the corpse, eyes searching, and then deflated slightly, whispering low enough and far enough from the others they wouldn't hear. "This wasn't justice…"

This was a tragedy, almost a year in the making.

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[Archive Entry 109876] Atlesian Anti-Grimm Combat Tactics and Equipment : Speartip Formation and its Tactical Use

Due to the varied nature and the massive number of Grimm, many tactics have been devised across Remnant for combatting them on the ground, at sea and most relevantly here, in the air. Against massive swarms of aeriel Grimm a simple tactic was formed for combatting them in the most effective measure with many derivatives, the most common and oldest being the Speartip formation.

Using the Speartip Formation a commanding officer of sufficient rank orders his ship into a massive wedge shape, frigates and destroyers holding the outer edges and their heavier varients toward the front of the 'spearhead', serving as the main source of attack and the first and primary targets of simplistic Grimm aggression. The center of the fleet is usually comprised of transports, repair ships, carriers, lighter frigates and other small, lightly armored vessels.

Once the formation is assumed, the ships staggered to expose the largest numbers of guns and missile pods where applicable, the ships collectively launch a volley of long-range canister shells - Dust based munitions consisting of a single large cylinder with a rocket propellant which detonates at a pre-determined point, scattering shrapnel through the approaching forces - and then sends in interceptor forces for a skirmish that serves two functions.

The first and most obvious of these is thinning the number of Grimm with their attacks, consisting of belt-fed light unitions and smaller variants of the canister rounds used by the ships previously. The craft then spike up or down, depending on altitude, with up being preferable. Rear ships then release another kind of canister shell, falling like a grenade and detonating among the Grimm falling for the second purpose, to draw the Grimm away from the heavy ships.

From there, more volleys follow and the ships attempt to close the distance, using close-range point defence to support interceptor forces in neutralizing targets.

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What?

Double chapter inside a week?

Insane, right?

Hope you enjoyed. The boarding action was, I feel, a bit hectic. But I've no idea how to make leaping onto a ship in the midst of a huge fuck off battle seem not absolutely insane and a total shitstorm. Hope it wasn't too hard to follow.

And as for Ironwood I will simply say that, as Jaune notes in-chapter, Ironwood's Aura started their little bout basically gone and he was even wounded. So while it feels like an anti-climax a touch, it is how this would go.

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Gizmo Gear :

Glad you enjoy it so much. Hope to continue failing to disappoint~

Hikari Niwa :

I know, but I can't quite juggle that much romantics yet as a writer. Apologies.

Adol116 :

Er, well, um, surprise~?

Deathtrooper900 :

Not much chase here, now~

Just a battle~

Smokey Panda :

Killing off characters kinda fails if you don't like 'em.

Wolfpackrwby88 :

Yep~! First name Loki.

The Impossible Muffin :

The one I included in this chapter was probably less funny than you envisioned~!