It's about time! SDC vs. White Fang!
Should we call Adam's White Fang the Crimson Fang after this chapter? I feel it's more fitting, with the bloody mess that's going to go around. :|
Let us know.
Alpha: White Wolf's Pack
Atlas... it smells of Dust here. You'd think the air would be clean here, but no. They love Dust way too much.
No wonder the Schnee Dust Company is so rich. Now that I think about it, they almost have a monopoly on Dust... and nobody has decided to stop them.
Atlas is essentially the SDC. Yet another reason for Adam to target Weiss Schnee. A dead heiress is a dead human Atlas.
Skoll stood on the cramped motorboat as he stared upon the mass of airships above. 20 Bullheads, with anti-personnel weaponry and a Specialist each. 1 Atlesian Cruiser, armed with lasers, Atlesian Knight-130's, and five more SSSs.
And on that hell was Weiss Schnee... and Winter Schnee.
That one person could break this plan. I'll have to take care of her and kidnap Weiss at the same time. Hopefully, we've brought enough explosives.
He beckoned to Aire, who nervously handed him a crimson flag and looked away from his eyes. With practised movements, he unfurled the fabric and waved it clearly above his head. Bearing the symbol of the White Fang, he sent the first attack order: destroy the Bullheads.
The Bullheads are the primary defense. As long as those remain, the guards can kill us off. Not only that, but the Bullheads hold the majority of the Specialists. If we can take them out, we can at least delay the SSSs for... say half an hour?
It's a tight plan, Adam. And as usual, it's the best one. Thanks for tying my hands behind my back.
Well, too late to b**** about it.
From the sea below the armada of the sky, the Faunus organization bared its fangs. Sniper shots began to ring out in vollies, damaging every Bullhead engine at the same time. Such an action required insane coordination... which Adam beat into the special Faunus force. Go figure.
I'd prefer anti-air, but that's a bit too flashy for what we want. Plus, ground-to-air missiles have a bad habit of being shot down and leaving survivors with Aura alive.
Using snipers is the only good solution to that issue. And a bonus... not many can block or dodge sniper shots. I can assume most of the SSS can't.
Now, Winter and her Glyphs... She can dodge, deflect, and take command. I would've ordered her dead first if she wasn't so good. Killing her will be next to impossible, and if we do we'll have wasted most of our resources.
She's my problem.
He checked the state of the enemy. All Bullhead engines are damaged enough. Not all are useless, but it means they can't pursue us now. Next phase.
He took another flag from Aire and displayed it to all of his Faunus comrades. It was a dirty red that showed a human head. The kill order for the Specialists. In a full, face-to-face fight against them, we can't win. So we kill them off from a distance.
I have 20 snipers. 10 can kill one off, Aura and all. With a five second reload, aiming period, and hesitation, it'll ideally take a minute to kill them all. But that's only on the Bullheads...
The Cruise will notice us and target us. Although we know where the operator stations are, the armor is too thick for the snipers to penetrate. The physical systems servicing the weapons also have redundancy; we'd have to destroy four Dust lines to disable one of the lasers. So...
"Hacking is done, Skoll," Aire notified as she brushed a bit of her hair away from her face. "We have at least two minutes."
He couldn't stand it. He laughed.
"Better than expected, then," Skoll replied, cracking a smile in the tense situation. "Hopefully, our Bullheads will come in soon..."
She scratched her ears nervously. "Um... about that... they've encountered Atlas sea-based defenses."
Skoll sighed. Well, he shouldn't have expected everything to go right. Luckily, he was at least somewhat ready.
"Can we hack the propulsion systems?" he asked Aire. "If so, we'll send the Cruiser down into the sea."
Her eyes cutely widened. "W-What do you m-mean?" she squeaked.
He stared upward as the giant Atlesian ship continued onwards north. "If we can't board their ship with our Bullheads, we'll make them come to us," he replied.
"W-Wouldn't that bring them-"
"Yep. They'd be in striking range. That's why we've got to make them land on the robotics bay."
Aire breathed in deeply, understanding. "The robotics bay... you're saying-"
Skoll nodded. "At best, we can take out all the Atlesian Knights they have. The servicemen onboard will still fight, though. Which means..."
"Explosives for them and the specialists, at least enough to daze them."
"Right, Aire. Another promotion."
She nodded quickly and happily, her dog ears twitching cutely. "T-Thanks..."
He smiled. "Anytime."
"Oh, one more thing... I HATE WATER!"
"GAH! Aire, get off of me! This is a warzone! Off! Now!"
As he tried to pry her off his left arm, he waved a blue flag with a downwards arrow. Bring the Schnee to us, Cruiser.
Winter was annoyed. Her commanding officer, an arrogant colonel who had made his fame in the tactical world, had told her nothing could go wrong. That the "uncivilized brutes" that were the Faunus couldn't even dream about denting the Cruiser. That the Faunus were dumb enough to come at Atlas because of one name: Weiss Schnee.
Winter instantly hated the man the moment they met. He wouldn't stop hitting on her, and it seemed like he was targeting Weiss too.
What a narcissist... how on Remnant did he even get promoted!?
She ignored him as he tried, yet again, to show off. She wasn't impressed. Her sister's suitors were ten times more impressive than the colonel, and they were disgusting.
"Isn't he amazing?"
Winter turned to see a swooning officer staring at the colonel. "How?" she managed to ask calmly.
The officer sighed as she finished her work. "He's really handsome, with that blonde hair and sea-blue eyes... he's a super hard worker... he's funny... just about everything about him," she said.
He's arrogant, overbearing, and stupid. All he has is a silver tongue and good looks.
"Hello, Winter!"
Weiss walked up to Winter elegantly, smiling just a bit. She courtesied, drawing the eyes of male officers- and unfortunately, the colonel's.
The afternoon sun shone on Weiss, enhancing her beauty ever so slightly. Her short stature, easy yet proper movements, and beauty shone around her.
"Hello, Weiss. How are you?" Winter asked, bowing slightly. "How is your trip so far?"
"Satisfactory. I know which Huntress School I wish to attend. As for the ride, thank you once again. It has been smooth and surprisingly uneventful."
The colonel (damn him) held up his hand. "Please say thank you to the right person, Mrs. Schnee," he said suavely. "I've plotted the best course we can. No White Fang brutes would dare attack-"
Winter looked around the ship as the alarm blasted. How did the White Fang find out where we were!? No wait... the colonel leaked info to attract them. That way, he could also say he protected Weiss...
Glory hound.
"Sir, our Bullheads are being attacked!" a male soldier reported. "Their engines have been damaged, but they are still functional... barely."
"Order them to fire at the scum," the colonel replied. "Those savages are as good as dead."
An incoming message caught the attention of Winter. She easily allowed the call through. "Atlesian Cruiser Cavalier, this is Winter Schnee. What is it?"
"They've taken our Specialist."
Her eyes immediately widened. "What about the others?"
"The White Fang below are sniping them. They're killing them, Aura and all."
An unfamiliar voice entered the call. "Took you long enough to notice, kid," a slightly husky voice said.
"Are you behind this, White Fang?" Winter ordered. "Why?"
"Just listen carefully. You can give Weiss Schnee to us, and we'll let the rest leave. Or you can refuse, and we'll take down the ship. If you're thinking about shooting us all, don't even bother. We've hacked the Cruiser, comm system, and Bullheads. If you activate even one Atlesian Knight, we'll send you into the deep sea," he replied easily. For a Faunus that hated civilization, he was rather civil and sane.
"I'm not giving my sister to the likes of you beasts," the older Schnee sister said. "No matter what."
He sighed, almost sadly. "Well, I guess I have to do it then."
As the White Fang leader disappeared from the connection, the ship shuddered before beginning to drift downwards. No... it was plummeting towards the ocean.
The colonel staggered before holding onto the railing. "The scumbag hacked the propulsion systems..." he said, horrified.
"No s***." Winter muttered under her breath as she protectively grabbed her sister and shielded her with Aura.
Force rattled through the metal structure of the Cruiser, impacting all the crewmembers and their Aura. Winter could hear steel bending: the bottom part of the Cruiser was damaged.
Then it was over.
She turned her attention to her little sister. "Weiss! Are you ok?" she asked with worry in her voice. Winter was careful not to show it in her facial expression as she took out her weapon. She needed to be prepared for anything.
"I'm fine sister, but what's going on? Why did the alarm go off..." Weiss replied as she held Winter's hand tightly. She tried not show anything in her facial expression... but for once, the fear in her voice was was as clear as a summer day.
The colonel, by then, had recovered from the impact. "Activate the Knights," he ordered.
A serviceman tried before her eyes widened. "Can't. All Knights are out of commission."
Winter's thoughts raced as the crew all pulled out their weapons. He must've forced the Cruiser to land on the robotics bay. That would've ruptured it and damaged all the Knights... by corroding the wiring and messing up the AI board with saltwater.
That Faunus... is a tactical and strategic genius.
He made our forces on the island we were going to land on useless by making sure we never reached the area. He also disabled communications, so Atlesian forces can't locate us. And he decimated our defenses by damaging them beyond use... using nature itself.
An explosion somewhere else in the ship brought her back to reality. It shook the fallen airship as testament to its strength.
Metal creaked, then snapped as the entrance to the command cabin flew open.
There they were. The White Fang, in flesh and bone.
"Last chance, Atlas. Hand over Weiss Schnee."
Winter pushed Weiss to the back of the colonel's formation and pointed her saber at him. "Not today, not ever," she replied.
The leader sighed, brushing his mottled brown hair. Unlike the rest of the White Fang, who seemed to have angular, brutal Grimm masks... his was smooth, elegant, and deadly. Almost the antithesis of what the White Fang stood for.
Winter had to reconsider her evaluation of the leader. She had thought he would be brutish, large, and imposing with that voice of his.
He stood about her height, maybe ever so slightly taller. He was slim and obviously not a musclehead. For a White Fang leader... he looked weak.
"... Well, that settles it. Should I say we've got improvised Dust bombs on the main engines?" he said. "We can blow you up."
The colonel sneered at the Faunus. "Shut up, you filthy animal. All you terrorists are just s*** under humans-"
For a trained Huntress, Winter was skilled in fighting high-speed battles. Yet she never saw him move. One moment, he was in front of her. The next, he had his weapon to the colonel's throat.
"Hmm? Say that again. I'm afraid all the explosions have dulled my hearing," the White Fang leader taunted. "Come on, don't be nervous. I'm not offended... yet."
For a smug snake, the commander was decent at combat, aiming his elbow at his assailant's face.
That was a mistake.
One punch brought the colonel's Aura down to zero and knocked him into a command console, breaking the station- and his left arm.
Once again, the mottled-brown haired Faunus gave his ultimatum. "Hand over the heiress."
"Not going to happen..." Winter managed to grit out. "Specialists, form a defensive line. We're taking this one down."
"Me? Please. You don't even know how deadly your ship is now."
Another explosion rocked everyone, save the White Fang leader, off their feet, opening the cabin to the outside world. By then, the cabin was now ruins, with no way to command the ship anymore.
A**hole. Now we're really crippled-
A specialist to her left flew past her, burning despite the Aura around him (oh wait... it was gone). As he flew, the Faunus still standing intercepted him with another accurate blow. This time, it was lethal.
Winter recognized the weapon the mottled-brown Faunus wielded as he used it to pierce through the Specialist's left eye. An estoc. Weapon used for thrusting. Similar to a rapier, but tends to be thicker. Can have a usable edge. It isn't normal: the weapon shines weirdly under the sun.
She cursed under her breath. She had next to no information about the enemy leader, save his weapon. She still had to figure out his skill, Aura levels, Semblance, and weapon forms. Without any of that, she was at a severe disadvantage, even with her Glyphs.
In comparison, the White Fang seemed to be ready. Any attack the crew shot at them, they countered perfectly. They easily rendered Atlas's defenses useless. Even the Specialists were picked off, one by one, without any casualties to the invading terrorists.
"Skoll-san, orders?" one of the Faunus (a female, due to the pitch of her voice) asked.
Finally. A name.
"Ehh... cripple them if you can. If they resist too much, kill them," Skoll replied. "We can't afford to have Atlas on our trail."
He parried easily as Winter thrust at him while utilizing her velocity Glyph. As Winter spun and sliced from the right, he leaned to the left and socked her with a right straight.
From there, she had no respite. Winter desperately tried to dodge and parry, but Skoll's blows seemed to give her no rest. They weren't enough to make her sick, but they shaved her Aura down faster than anything she'd ever faced.
She had no time to set up Glyphs. His speed was too fast, too efficient for her to keep up.
Then he stopped. "Come on. Fight back."
He again dodged another slash, but this time he was forced onto the defensive. The moment's respite allowed Winter to use her velocity Glyph to batter at Skoll.
This... is going to be a tough one. His technique is at a master's level, so while I might be faster he will always be more efficient. He can outlast me, so I have to end it quickly.
It's good that his strength isn't ridiculous-
Skoll's estoc sent a jarring force up Winter's arm, forcing her to stop momentarily. He then grabbed her by the scuff and pitched her out of the cabin and into a maintenance door.
Winter summoned a flock of Nevermores to blind Skoll, but it all for nothing. Skoll just dodged under the (frankly) impassable storm of long-dead Grimm.
His Semblance... it's enhancement.
"You really think it's simply enhancement, eh? You'd be wrong." the mottled-brown Faunus said, as if he'd read her mind.
Dammit.
The older Schnee sister staggered onto her feet as she deployed her saber's dual-wield form. With practised, expert motions, she set up her offense against Skoll. Which... wasn't much good.
Winter recognized why the White Fang leader threw her into the maintenance system of the Cavalier. To reduce her movement and make it easier to take care of her, and thus force her into a disadvantaged state where her Glyphs weren't as useful.
She was half right. So, what's the other 50%?
Weiss was frustrated with life. It seemed that every time she'd been happy, the White Fang was there to ruin it.
Just when she had figured out how to be free from her father, the White Fang came knocking on the Cavalier. Just when she'd thought the Bullheads would take care of them, the Cruiser goes and strands her.
Just when her own sister comes up to protect her, the White Fang leader makes a fool of her.
So this time, Weiss wasn't going to sit back and let Atlas soldiers take care of the White Fang. She was tired of being protected, being the princess that could shatter with a touch.
The first White Fang goon that attacked her swung downwards with an old fire ax. Clumsy, slow, and obvious.
With an easy flurry of jabs, Weiss defeated the hunk of animal muscle.
The second White Fang (officer?) stood in front of Weiss, nervously unsheathing a combat knife. It shone oddly for steel, reflecting sunlight as a weird ocean of muted colors.
The heiress ignored such a detail as she created a velocity Glyph under her feet. Pushing off, she brought her rapier forwards and prepared to thrust.
"Aire! What are-"
"Hush! I'm dealing with Weiss Schnee!" the officer Faunus ordered.
Aire managed to parry Weiss's blade away and stepped forwards, punching the younger Schnee sister in the jaw.
Offended, the heiress spun and promptly froze the poor dog Faunus in ice.
That was easy... but still. I'm surprised.
There was only one thing to do. Find out where Winter was and take out the leader... Skoll, right?
Threateningly, Myrtenaster hovered at its foe's throat. "Where is Skoll?"
Aire's face filled ferociously fast with fear. "M-Maintenance corridor!" she squeaked.
And so, with a few velocity Glyphs Weiss rushed through the now ruined Cavalier. She didn't have to go far.
Her older sister's once prim perfect uniform was torn up, covered in soot, cuts, and oil. She could only briefly breathe before backflipping away from the White Fang leader.
Skoll was perfectly fine, save for some ash and residual Dust on his clothes. His weapon (an estoc) was... on fire.
Well, she'd seen weird things before, but a flaming sword wasn't one of them. In retrospect, she should've expected it. But she instead recognized it for what it was. A Dust alloyed weapon. By carefully adding and mixing Dust into iron or steel, the metal would take on the properties of the Dust without consuming it, thus only requiring Aura to activate and utilize it. But mess up... and the metal becomes converted into a volatile bomb...
Atlas was the first to try and make these weapons, but they were all flawed and dangerously explosive. It shelved the project because the efficiency for making Dust alloyed weapons was too low.
How he'd get one?
The roar of long-slain Beowolves brought Weiss back to reality as Winter used her trump card: the summoning Glyph. She watched as a pack of 20 Grimm rose up again to slay the hound.
Skoll promptly negated the pack with an horizontal slice that bit through the undead (are Grimm alive?) darkness and soared towards Winter.
Weiss could hear her older sister grunt in pain as she was pushed back... into another maintenance hatch.
The mottled-brown haired dog Faunus gave chase to the poor Specialist, parrying easily against the panicking ice-eyed Schnee.
Winter performed a scissor cut that Skoll couldn't avoid. Skoll simply stabbed a cooling module and let the liquid within spray Winter down.
Her final attack, a double stab, was negated with two quick disabling slashes, one for each wrist.
Winter was defeated soundly. Without Aura and without any way to make her Glyphs or attacks connect, she had lost.
Her only hope now was that Weiss could get away-
"Winter!"
The older Schnee sister's heart stopped as Skoll turned around to face her little sister, alone. She knew she couldn't stop it. But...
It was all over.
"Weiss Schnee," the leader said sadly. "You chose to resist instead of sacrificing yourself for the greater good. And now you come to me."
The heiress pointed Myrtenaster at the dog Faunus. "And you attacked Atlas property for one little girl," she taunted. "Isn't that sad?"
He nodded, to her surprise. "It is. To be honest, I really didn't want to do this..."
Already, the conversation was transforming into the oddest talk she'd ever had with a White Fang member. Schnee gets hunted, Faunus says he really doesn't want to kill her, and now this.
"Look... It's either Atlas or Adam that tortures me. And I would rather have pain from your pop's company than the hell Adam Taurus would force into me," Skoll continued. "So..."
He sighed, sadly again. "I'll return her, Winter. I promise. But..."
Weiss could only momentarily see Skoll rush up towards her, his estoc burning as he swung it in a glowing arc. As it hit her head, the impact jarred her into unconsciousness. But she managed to hear one last thing. One last thing from the Faunus that brought the hell of the White Fang upon her and Winter.
It was... heartbreaking, in a way. Weiss didn't want to feel sympathy for the killers of her family. Yet...
It would haunt her for nights to come.
"I'm sorry, Weiss."