Chapter 5: A Duty to Uphold.
-Kingdom of Vale-
-Cicero Outskirts-
Cicero.
It was a lush mountainside. It's grand vista and its city below gave an amazing view.
What was hidden however was a Grimm problem, there was a nest nearby. The city didn't have the resources nor the firepower to take it out. So, they were cautious, making shelters so the huntsmen above could hold them off.
In the mountain's forest, laid a Spartan-IV with various types of equipment on top of him. This was Jirou Katsuo. His armor was a full set of ACHILLES-armor. It was Crimson colored with a gold streak across the armor. He wore the Mad Dog VISR. Within the helmet, he was beige skinned with short blonde hair and brown-red eyes.
Jirou slowly opened his eyes and saw the trees. He doesn't remember this, he was fighting in desertic land, not a forest. The Spartan saw the Corp Mongoose on top of him and clutched it, he pushed it off of him and sat up.
He was confused, this wasn't the colony he was fighting in. He was fighting off Prometheans, alongside the people there. Last thing he remembers is a Knight detonating and a blinding white light. "I need to find out where I am."
Jirou stood up and walked to the UNSC equipment, but stopped when he noticed a glowing light from within the equipment. "What the…"
The Spartan looked around and grabbed his battle rifle from the floor. It was modified with an Energy bayonet, alongside an extended mag and a special five-burst modification.
Jirou aimed his rifle at the equipment and moved it. But was surprised by half of an upgraded knight bursting out of the cargo and flailing its sword at the Spartan. He moved back, avoiding the hard-light blade.
The Spartan kicked the Knight back and went to stab into its faceplates. The Knight used its partial arm to block the Battle Rifle, it raised its sword and swung at the Spartan.
Jirou let go of his weapon and dodged the blade, but grabbed it and stomped the Knight's head. He pulled against the Knight and ripped the blade from the knight's arm. The Spartan lifted the blade and plunged it into the Knight.
The Knight started fading and Jirou pulled the Blade out of the fading knight and put the Blade on the ground. It hadn't faded with the Knight, which was odd but ignored it.
Jirou walked to the crates and opened one. Each UNSC crate came with a beacon to mark them, in case they were lost or needed to be highlighted, etc. Jirou found his target and inspected it.
"Mild scratches…but still functional." The Spartan spoke to himself, he activated the beacon and dropped it on the ground. He grabbed his Battle rifle and placed it on his back, the spartan looked around for other weapons. He saw a SAW on the ground
"Squad Assault Weapon…" Jirou grabbed the LMG and inspected it. It was still shootable, and still loaded. He placed it alongside the Battle rifle and looked around the foliage surrounding him.
He needed to know where he was, get back into the fight as soon as possible. Jirou walked into the foliage, he was near the end of the tree line. Hopefully he was in a favorable spot for extraction.
A shadow suddenly passed above Jirou, prompting him to grab his Battle Rifle and take aim above. It didn't help that his motion sensor detected something huge soar above him. The Spartan kept his stride towards the end of the tree line, this time Battle Rifle in hand. Jirou cut a brunch from his path and saw the view.
The mountain range was unlike any other, it was incredibly lush and green. The ground beneath him was full of flowers and beauty, but he noticed a fence in front of him. There was a path, leading somewhere…
Jirou looked along the path and could see a town, it was far but he could make it before dusk. He looked above, trying to find what ever had flown above him but no avail. It must have been wildlife.
"Maybe they could help…" Jirou spoke, he checked his battle rifle and turned it over. It was reliable as ever. He breathed in, then let it out to flow. Jirou commenced his walk towards the unknown town, hopefully it would have answers he needed.
-Cicero-
The town was lively as ever, despite having a Grimm problem nearby. The townspeople went along their business, the townspeople meeting in café's, merchants selling their wares and children running around playing in gleeful joy
The town's huntsmen were in a local bar, it served as a usual hangout for when they weren't fighting hordes of Grimm.
One of them was over a small table, going over a plan of sorts. "Listen, if we want to stop these Grimm skirmishes. We need to hit the source." Braith, a redhead woman with equally red eyes and brown skin explained
"You know that'd be a great plan. If we could even fight the Chernobog sitting up there." Urdin, a blue haired mouse faunus with green eyes and pale skin, gave a rebuttal
"We just need some more huntsmen!" Braith countered "Anything that can bleed, can die. And that thing can most surely bleed"
All of a sudden a huntsman busted open the bar's doors open "Guys! A Spartan is here!"
Urdin and Braith looked at each other. What would a Spartan be doing here? Perhaps they heard of the Grimm nest nearby. "We should check it out."
Jirou walked through the town. It was archaic yet clean, the townsfolk were incredibly different than any he had seen. He noticed some of the people walk out of a building, it was a bar as he could interpret from the sign in the front. Jirou took notice of them and their weapons.
"U-um, hi…" Jirou heard, he turned to the voice and saw a woman. She looked nervous but had a smile "Welcome-welcome to Cicero! My name is B-brina, I'm here for any questions you may have."
Just what Jirou needed "Is the leader of Cicero available? I wish to speak with him."
"O-oh! Why yes, he is, he will be delighted to see a Spartan!" Brina nodded. Odd, she knew he was a Spartan. Perhaps the UNSC does have a presence here, at least not a large one.
-Aurelius' Office-
"A-a Spartan!?" Aurelius was surprised, yet extremely happy. A Spartan could be helpful with the Grimm, he walked behind his desk and tidied it up.
"Mr. Aurelius. The Spartan has arrived, he wishes to meet you." He heard from his desk phone
"Oh, oh. Send him in please!"
The office doors opened, showing his assistant and The Red and Gold Spartan. "Spartan, what a delight to see you!"
Jirou nodded, Aurelius grabbed the Spartan's hand and shook it. "It is good as well Mr…"
"Aurelius, call me Aurelius!" The leader spoke "I cannot put into words how happy I am to see you. Would you like something to drink?"
"No no, I'm fine. Thank you." Jirou spoke "I did wish to speak with you"
"Oh, very well, I'm all ears!" Aurelius sat on his desk
"I was wondering, if you could tell me about Cicero" Jirou asked "As I am unfamiliar with this town."
"Ah, Cicero...it was founded on a principle of joy. They slowly built it and made it into the grand town it is…though the Grimm always found their way into happiness" Aurelius walked towards his balcony, Jirou walked along with him
"Grimm…" Jirou mumbled, he would take note of that.
"And we've had a nest of Grimm nearby, they've been-" All of a sudden a shadow flew over them, Jirou looked above him, but couldn't find whatever it was. "Oh, dear no…"
Jirou took note of Aurelius' face, he was petrified. "What's happening?"
"The Grimm are coming." Aurelius walked back in and pressed a button on his desk "Brina, you know what to do."
"Yes sir." Brina spoke from the phone
Aurelius turned to Jirou "Spartan, this may be too early to ask for your assistance but-"
"Get to a shelter. Do you have any other types of security in the town?" Jirou readied his Battle Rifle.
"We have huntsmen and huntresses, and our police force." Aurelius told
"Tell the Police to hold the shelter doors down. Do not let the Grimm get through" Jirou activated his Bayonet "And tell the huntsmen to take up defensive positions, they'll be in for a storm"
Jirou ran to the balcony and jumped off. He activated his stabilization jet and hovered to the floor, he saw the townsfolk make their way to the shelters.
"Are we going to be okay?" Jirou heard, he turned to the source and saw a woman walking to the shelter, staring at him as she walked.
"Get to the shelter, it'll be fine." Jirou nodded. He noticed the specially armed people walking towards him, he suspected these were the huntsmen Aurelius was talking about.
"Spartan we've got one hell of a horde coming!" Urdin spoke
"Take up defensive positions. We'll need to thin the horde enough to minimize damages to the city." Jirou walked towards the city gates "Kill anything that gets past me."
"You aren't thinking about taking them all yourself?" Braith asked
"No, some will get past me. I already told you what you need to do" The Achilles-clad Spartan aimed at the hordes of what were Grimm.
Urdin aimed his sword sniper rifle. He saw the Spartan stand far into the path, but he kept his aim at the incoming horde. All of a sudden he felt rain drops, he looked to the sky and saw the clouds darken. It was going to rain.
Jirou stared into the path and could see the Grimm, their red eyes getting ever so closer. He gripped his battle rifle and held a grenade, the Achilles armor started gnawing at Jirou. He slowly felt the Mania, the seething Frenzy her felt each time he went into battle. To be drown in the ocean of blood was common for users of this armor.
But for the few that could rise above, those that can handle the storm. They were able to use the armor to its fullest and rising into a sky of gold. Jirou breathed in, holding it for a few seconds, then releasing.
"RRRRAAAAAAAGGHHH!" Jirou let out a burning war cry and sprinting towards the horde. He saw a Beowulf and charged directly at it, crashing into it's chest, knocking the Grimm on it's feet. Jirou raised his Battle Rifle and plunge it into the Beowulf's head, blood sprayed into the Spartan's armor.
The Spartan dragged the bayonet across the Beowulf's head and tore it off. He ducked under a flock of Nevermore and threw his grenade at an Ursa. The grenade exploded and tore a duo of Grimm, Jirou ran through the gore and blood, he tackled an Ursa's head and punched through at skull.
The Spartan ripped his arm from Grimm's head and ran to a Beowulf, it had more bone like armor and spikes on it. He would have to punch harder. Jirou charged raised his Battle Rifle and swiftly dodged its claws. Jirou plunged the bayonet into the beowulf's chest and dragged it through its chest, ripping the bone plating off the Grimm.
Urdin fired his sniper at a Beowulf, he chambered another round and fired once more. He saw the Spartan tearing through Grimm like wet paper, he took aim and fired at an Ursa, shattering a piece of its armor.
"URDIN BEHIND YOU!" Urdin turned around, but was hit by a Beowulf's claw. The Mouse faunus flew across the streets and crashed down.
Urdin's aura was shattered, he lifted his view towards the Grimm and saw it slowly walking towards him. He noticed his weapon across from him, Urdin tried to reach it but was stopped by his wounds. The Huntsman pushed through and started dragging himself to his weapon, the Beowulf getting closer.
Urdin started frantically pushing himself to his weapon, but suddenly saw The Spartan fly in and take hold of the beowulf's head and throw it off balance. The Spartan activated it's thrusters and smash his knee into the beowulf's face shattering its face plating, the Spartan grabbed his other weapon and pulled the trigger, mowing down the Beowulf's head into a red mist.
"On your feet huntsman! You're not done yet!" The Spartan kicked Urdin's weapon towards him and reloaded his own. The mouse faunus grabbed his rifle and stumbled to his feet. "Get to a safe area. We're on the last one…"
Jirou saw the shadow once more, but this time he found its source. It was a giant bird, a Nevermore as he'd heard from the civilians.
The aforementioned Grimm landed at the town's entrance, staring down the Spartan. Jirou gripped his SAW and started walking towards it, then begun running, and then into a full-blown sprint. The Spartan dodged the Nevermore's wing and thrusted on its back, he ran to the Nevermore's beak and propelled himself off of it, flying into the air.
Jirou activated his stabilization jets and raised a grenade, he primed it for detonation. The Spartan activated his thrusters and rocketed it down on the Grimm's head, he rammed his fist down and into the Grimm. He pulled his arm out and jumped off the Nevermore, rolling back and seeing the Nevermore's head blowing into a show of gore and red mist.
The Spartan noticed the rain dissipating, he saw the remaining Grimm flee into the forest.
"Did we do it?" Braith spoke, she walked next to the Spartan.
Jirou stood up and nodded "We must've…"
-Hours later-
"I can't thank you enough Spartan!" Aurelius was full of glee "Th-there must be a way to repay you!"
Jirou shook his head "No, it's okay."
"No, please. I insist, you saved many lives today." Jirou took note of Aurelius' smile, he wasn't going to let him not repay him.
The Spartan suddenly had a thought. "I…may need, one thing."
Jirou placed a crate inside a storage unit, other people held boxes as well. He had requested a storage unit for the UNSC equipment, he saw a huntsman drive the Corp Mongoose was driven into the unit. "Thank you for your assistance"
Braith held a blade of sort, it had a blue hard light blade and metal support behind it. But it had no hilt "Wow, what a blade."
"It's all hard light." Jirou spoke, he leaned a Spartan Laser on a crate and compacted it.
"But it's hilt is quite short." Braith touched the blade, it was warm to the touch. "I know someone who can help with the hilt!"
"Oh, no it's alright" Jirou spoke "Aurelius already lent me this storage unit, I wouldn't want to abuse the hospitality"
"It would be a little cherry on top!" Braith cheerily answered "You saved my buddy Urdin. It's the least I could do."
Jirou stared at the woman for a second, then sighed "Okay…let me just finish here and I'll join you"
-Aurelius' Office-
-Next Morning-
"Spartan, I am ashamed to ask you for help again so soon…but this would help greatly" Aurelius spoke.
"What's the situation?" Jirou asked
"We're going to attack the Grimm nest and kill the Chernobog" Braith spoke "If we do it. We'll stop, or at least minimize these Grimm attacks"
"What is the Chernobog capable of?" The Spartan asked, to which Braith placed a device on the desk, which showed a giant creature.
"It has heavy plating on its arms and it can shoot out fire" The red head pointed at a spot in its chest "Whenever it shoots out fire, it's chest opens up and it exposes the heart. We need to hit it there."
Jirou looked into the holographic Grimm, it had reptilian characteristics. It was quite tall at 12 feet; the plating was also of bone as he could see. A Railgun could easily go right through and kill it, but it would need to remain open for the charge time, that is if the flesh is durable enough to withstand the projectile. If that's the case then he'd just need to shoot it enough.
Jirou opened his storage unit, several huntsmen were behind him, including Braith. Jirou grabbed an ARC-920 Railgun and a few of its ferric shelled projectiles. He then passed it to a Huntsman "Here, use it unless absolutely unnecessary and be ready for some heavy recoil, it has a charge time."
"Woah…this is heavier than it looks." The huntsman was surprised by it's weight, even more so when he saw The Spartan grab it casually with one hand.
"It's the lightest model." Jirou had a M57 PAW, also known as the rocket launcher. He walked to Braith and gave it to her "Here, make sure you keep a safe distance when firing."
Braith held the launcher, it was quite thin. But it was certainly heavier than the Althesian X-74 Launcher. She saw the launcher's rockets, small but heavy. She nodded and slung it over the shoulder "Okay."
A huntress rubbed her hands "Alright, what you got for me?"
Jirou grabbed a Spartan Laser but placed it back down, The Spartan then grabbed a M363 sticky detonator and flipped it over, holding it up to a huntress. "Sticky detonator. It will detonate when you release the trigger. Be careful."
The huntress slowly grabbed the incredibly unintimidating weapon "Oh…thanks."
Jirou nodded and grabbed his Battle Rifle, along with a SAW "Let's go"
The group made their way to the nest, fighting Grimm along the way. Jirou had taken note of important things, such as the word Faunus. The mountains were incredibly beautiful, but could see as why it was treacherous to explore them. The group walked to the cliffside and saw the nest, it was a field of dirt and mud. There was a cave, it was dark and seemed incredibly deep.
"Well…there it is" Braith stared into cave, she slung the Rocket launcher over her shoulder and begun her walk inside. The Spartan held his arm in front of her
"Stay here." Jirou spoke, he started to walk into the cave
"You aren't thinking on going in there alone right?" A Huntress said
Jirou turned to her "Keep your distance from the cave. If it comes running out, you won't want to be caught by surprise"
The trio of huntsmen stood there as The Spartan walked into the cave, his armor suddenly turned on some lights alongside with two other flashlights on the helmet. They walked to the opposite end and waited behind a boulder. Wondering what the Spartan would do.
Jirou aimed his Battle Rifle around the cave, it was dark and cold. He wasn't a stranger to this environment, he'd gone on many operations that took him in caves. The cave floor was muddy, yet dry. "Where are you…"
He suddenly felt something under his boot, noticing a rusted sword. It still had a skeletal hand gripping the hilt, he moved his foot away from it and looked back into the cave. All of a sudden he heard a noise and his motion tracker picked up movement behind him, he aimed behind him and saw a small Beowulf.
"A baby…" Jirou walked towards it and punted it to wall, killing it, his motion tracker suddenly tracked a large dot behind him.
Braith stood outside, aiming her rocket launcher at the cave entrance. She held her finger on the trigger, making sure to shoot at the first sight of the Chernobog.
All of a sudden, the huntsmen heard gunfire, they aimed their weapons at the cave. They heard another burst of gunfire, followed by more successive burst. The Huntress moved her finger to the trigger, getting ready to fire the Sticky detonator. The Spartan out of nowhere came flying towards them, he crashed into the stone walls and stumbled on the ground.
The group turned back to the cave and saw two glowing red eyes, they slowly shook in place, they felt the sense of dread. The Chernobog stomped out into the outside, its eyes dilated from the sun rays.
"Shoot it, now!" Jirou shouted, he grabbed his SAW and started firing at the Chernobog.
A Huntsman aimed the Railgun and pulled the trigger, the gun slowly started shining blue, the huntsman kept her grip and the glowing stopped. The Railgun suddenly fired and the huntsman was blasted away into the wall.
The Chernobog stumbled from the Railgun's projectile, it looked to its arm and saw the plating decimated. Its skin was mildly scorched but not enough, the Chernobog's started glowing, then shot out a fountain of fire at the Group.
The two huntresses jumped out the way. The Huntsmen rolled out of the way, he ejected the shell and placed another inside. Jirou ran towards the Grimm, firing his weapon. He jumped towards it, he activated his jets and aimed at the heart. The Grimm's chest closed and the chipped the surface of the boneplating, the Grimm saw the Spartan and swung his arm, attempting to hit Jirou.
Jirou ducked under the Grimm and charged into the Grimm's chest, shattering the Bone plating. Jirou saw a small opening in the chest, he dived under another Grimm attack and activated his thrusters, dashing away from the Grimm.
Braith aimed the Rocket Launcher and fired at the Grimm, the Chernobog raised its plated arm and blocked the Rocket. The Bone plating was chipped from the hit, but Braith fired another rocket and destroyed most of the plating.
Jirou reloaded his SAW and switched to his Battle Rifle, the Spartan ran to the Grimm. He raised his weapon and used his bayonet to parry an attack from the Chernobog, Jirou activated his thrusters and crashed his knee into the Chernobog's chin. The Spartan plunged his Bayonet into the bone plated chest, he tried to remove the bone plates but was hit by the Grimm's fist.
The Huntress saw the Spartan sent crashing into the wall, she looked back at the Chernobog and aimed the sticky detonator. The Grimm then started to glow once more, it shot out a stream of fire at the Huntress. The woman dodged out of the way and fired the sticky detonator. The grenade stuck the Grimm's chest, the huntress released the trigger and detonated the grenade.
Jirou saw the explosion and sprinted towards the stunned Grimm, he gripped his SAW and activated his thrusters, crashing into the Chernobog's chest. He destroyed the remaining plating and knocked down the Grimm, he aimed the SAW at the heart and pulled the trigger.
Braith saw a flurry of red mist coming from the Grimm's chest. The Spartan's armor was slowly being covered in blood, the gold streak was splashed in a fountain in blood. She lowered the rocket launcher and smiled.
Jirou stopped firing and stood there, the Grimm's chest was riddled with bullets. The Spartan breathed in, and slowly breathed out. He hopped off the Grimm and looked at the Huntsmen.
"He did it."
-Aurelius' Office-
"What delightful news!" Aurelius cheered "A-and the rest of the Grimm?"
"Taken care of, according to Braith." Urdin set down a tooth, it was from the Chernobog's "Just to confirm, sir."
Aurelius sat on his desk, letting out a sigh of relief. It was going to begin a new age in Cicero's history. He could redirect resources from shelters to other things. "And where is The Spartan?"
"He is in his storage unit"
Jirou sat on top of the storage unit with a radio, he was hoping to find any sort of UNSC presence "This is Spartan Jirou Katsuo, are there any other UNSC personnel out there?"
The radio only gave out static, the Spartan sighed and tried once more "This Spartan Jirou Katsuo, is there any UNSC out there?"
Jirou, once again, heard static. Jirou stared at the radio, but started shaking negative thoughts from his head. "No, no…there must be someone out there, Aurelius said there were other Spartans…"
The Spartan activated the Radio and started once more "This is Spartan Jirou Katsuo, are there any other Spartans out there?" The radio gave out the usual static
"Hello? This is Spartan Hannah Angeles, are you there?"
Jirou's face lit up "Yes, yes! This is Spartan Jirou Katsuo!"
"Can ya tell where you are?" Hannah spoke from the radio
"I am in a town named Cicero. Is it near your location?"
-Warehouse-
-Vale-
Hannah looked at a local map of Vale "Cicero…cicero. Oh, there! Yeah, we're near you are! Just a few hours from here!"
"Do you have any ways to transport cargo? I have some UNSC equipment here!"
"Don't worry. We got it." Hannah spoke "Just stay put, we'll go to ya!"
"Understood. Will update you on anything that comes up, Jirou out" Jirou answered
The Warehouse door slowly opened "Hey Hannah! Guess who's a teachers assistant?" Damian gave a jolly stride towards the Aussie girl
Hannah looked at Damian "I found another Spartan"
Damian stared at the Valkyrie, it was way more important than his assistant news "Oh…where is he?"
-Aurelius' Office-
-Hours Later-
Jirou and Aurelius stood on his office balcony, looking at the sunset. "I wish to thank you Aurelius."
"Mm?" the leader turned at the Spartan
"The Hospitality you and your town showed me, was more than I could ask." Jirou held the hard-light blade, it now had a hilt. "I will repay you, not today…but some day."
"But you already have." Aurelius spoke "You have given us peace in Cicero. You have rid the land of the Chernobog, there may still be Grimm. But they can no longer make us hide, only raise our weapons in courage."
Aurelius smiled "You've done way more than anyone ever could for us."
The Spartan saw a small silhouette in the distance, it was a Pelican "They've arrived."
"I'll get some people to help you load up." Aurelius walked to his desk "We will miss you Spartan. But we won't have to hide from the Grimm anymore, thank you."
Jirou turned the leader and smiled "You too."
A/N:
Hey, look how hard I can Vibe!
*floof noises*