Chapter 14: A Crop to Harvest
-Site 18: Dragon's Forge-
-Dragon's Head-
"Are we really letting Dr. Merlot help with this ma'am?" A Soldier, Ariel, spoke
"Yes, but don't fret as he'll be kept on watch by the Ace Ops." Myra smiled, having someone with Merlot's intelligence would prove invaluable to the site's research
"Whatever you say doctor…" Ariel mumbled
Myra looked to the the landing pad and saw a Bullhead making it's descent. The two walked towards the pad and saw the Ace Ops emerge from the Bullhead. "Do you have him?"
Clover sternly nodded "Yes, ma'am"
Right on cue, Dr. Merlot walked down from the Bullhead, dressed in a winter coat, Atlasian prosthetics and an eyepatch. He looked around the area and inhaled deeply "Feels wonderful to return to the outside world…"
The doctor suddenly took notice of Myra "Ah, you must be Dr. Myra correct? I'm Dr. Merlot, you might of heard of me, with all the Mutant Grimm and that fancy-"
"Yes, I'm fully aware of your work. And I'm sure you are aware of how we'll be handling the research here?" Myra firmly spoke
"But of course, The Ace Ops did an…acceptable job of briefing me on the area, but let's not waste time with chatter. I'd very much like to see the interior of the site, because those pillars sticking out of the snow don't seem to be ancient Mistralian"
Myra nodded "Very well, follow me."
"As you can see we've established a little base of research here, more fortified than usual due to the Spartan's orders" Myra explained "But we have found that this entire Forge runs on a singular grid of sort and may even be part of a larger grid"
Merlot profusely tapped and touched the walls and hardlight of the structure "This is absolutely fascinating, this place is filled with an incredible aura of discovery"
"Yes it is impressive-"
"-and Ironwood was bossed by someone else?" Merlot chuckled "That's probably the most fascinating thing of all that you've mentioned!"
"He was simply advised to fortify this structure in case any sort of attack were to happen. Grimm or White Fang" Clover explained
"Yes yes, the Grimm and the animal farm. So, care to explain to me what those things are?" Merlot pointed at a Promethean Knight patrolling the forge
Myra looked over to the Knight "Those are what the Spartans call Promethean Knights, there are several variations of these…'Prometheans', but they seem to serve the same purpose, that being protecting this Forge"
"A-and these Spartans you keep mentioning, who are they?"
"That would be none of your concern, your concerns are to assist with the research here." Myra smiled "I hope you understand."
"Yes, of course. So, I'll start by opening up one of those Promethean Knights!" Merlot begun walking towards the Knight in question, but was stopped by Elm
"Woah woah, you're under direct orders from here, she'll point you towards your-"
"Actually, that is what has most priority at the moment" Myra spoke in "There will be a hall over to the left, which'll have the equipment Merlot will use."
Merlot smiled and danced around Elm's arm. "I'll be going now."
Clover sighed and motioned the rest of the Ace Ops to follow "Let's go team"
Elm crossed her arms "This is bullcrap, why are we relegated to sitting around this place anyway?"
"Make sure Merlot doesn't cause anyone here to disintergrate here?" Marrow answered
"This does seem like a job more fitting to the Shadow Company" Vine noticed Atlasian soldiers with glowing weapons "I have no doubt their skills would've be more than sufficient to handle this"
"I don't think this is just about taking care of Merlot…I think this is something else entirely" Harriet butted in
"What do you mean?" Clover asked
Harriet motioned around the area "Look at how fortified this place is and what weapons the troops are using and how many Atlasian Knights are stationed here, not even Fort Exodus has this many defenses."
"You've got a point. Ironwood isn't pulling any stops here, he really wants this place secure."
The group entered a large room of sort, in the middle was a kneeling Knight with a table of tools next to it.
A scientist walked up to Myra and handed her a clipboard "Greetings Doctor, so far we've only been able to open parts of the carapace, but nothing internal, there seems to be no opening to it nor any internal circuitry for that matter"
Merlot strutted next to the Knight "Nonsense, given how the hard light inside of it seem to act as batteries to the Knight. There must be some sort of opening."
Merlot inspected the table "Do you have any Dust powered laser cutters or will I have to settle with Hardlight cutters?"
"That's Doctor Merlot…" The scientist spoke
"Yes, it is. He is here to assist in our research here, so you'll have to learn to work with someone of his…psyche" Myra said "But when he's done with his usefulness, he'll be put back where he belongs"
"Hello? Do you people have Dust cutters or not?" Merlot sighed
"Over than that far table, should be a Dust cutter ready to use."
"Alright then!" Merlot grabbed a Dust cutter and ignited it "Let's get to work."
-Vale outskirts-
"We're looking at a High Priority Extraction, we go in take out the Grimm infesting the area, find the VIP and get them out of there. Then Damian is going to re-establish the local comms grid." Xavier spoke from within the Bullhead
"Are there any huntsmen in the area?" Jirou asked
Glynda's Holographic figure suddenly appeared in the Bullhead "There are two huntresses just outside of the farming community, Montiel and Umbra, and there was a reported Huntsman that was protecting the relay. He may still live."
Damian interjected "How were relay communications disabled?"
"It's assumed the Grimm may have destroyed some of the tech in the relay station as the workers retreated into the Safe room" Glynda answered
"Anything you can tell us about the surroundings?" Hannah inquired
"It's a tiny farming community split into small patches surrounding the Relay, should you find survivors, ensure their evacuation" Glynda's projection was joined by Ozpin
Ozpin begun explaining "Montiel and Umbra are informed of your arrival, they'll be assisting with your mission. The re-activation of the relay is crucial not only as a warning to the farmers but also for any Grimm spikes headed to Vale"
"Understood Headmaster" Xavier nodded. Both Glynda and Ozpin's projections vanished and the Spartans loaded up their weapons.
Jirou readied his Type-57 Carbine "So, why didn't Magnus come with us in this mission?"
"Magnus takes care of Vale while we're out taking care of any situations that need us out of Vale" Xavier explained
"You sure he's enough for a whole city?" Hannah asked
Xavier chuckled "I'm sure he's more than enough, now let's ready up and get those people out of there."
The Bullhead landed outside of the Farmlands, Montiel and Umbra waiting nearby. The duo slowly walked to the now opening Bullhead doors, with Xavier being the first out of the vehicle.
"Montiel, Umbra. It's been a minute." Xavier nodded
"Likewise Sergeant, I'm sure Ozpin has briefed you of the situation?" Montiel smiled
"Affirmative, any signs of the farmers nearby?"
Umbra shook her head "Nope, we better start acting fast the more we wait the more likely the Grimm are gnawing on bones."
"Alright, here's what we're gonna do." Xavier stowed his Type-52 Focus Rifle "Angeles, Montiel, Umbra and I are going to find and evac the farmers. Corral, you're with Katsuo, get that Relay online."
"Yes, sir." Damian nodded, Type-51 Plasma repeater in hand, he and Jirou begun their trek to the Relay
"Pilot, circle around the air and keep an eye out for any of the farmers, you find one you tell me!" Xavier ordered
"You got it!" The Bullhead once again lifted off and begun it's recon flights. The remaining ground team readied weapons and went off to complete their objective. It was going to be a busy day, so it was better if they didn't delay.
In a farmland, Grimm roamed, looking for the negative emotion they had felt just recently. It was close, but yet…hidden. An Ursa slowly made its way to what looked like a small warehouse and tried to walk inside, its large body preventing it from going all the way in.
The Ursa attempted to push itself inside but to no avail. The Ursa growled in defeat and left the building. Unknowingly, a family of four hid behind their crates.
"Is it gone?" The Son spoke
The Father slowly peeked over the crates and saw no Ursa "It's gone, we need to get to the garage. Do you have the keys?"
The Mother nodded and the Father slowly crouched out of their hiding spot, his shotgun in hand, he and the family quietly yet swiftly made their way upstairs. It would lead them to a gate headed straight to the garage, where their truck was.
"Hold on." The Father spoke, he carefully leaned around a corner and spotted a Beowulf trying to open the pig cages. The noises of the pigs were a great distraction for their escape.
"Ok, everyone move fast, in front of me" The Father spoke, his family quickly making their way to the gate's smaller door. The Father suddenly heard a loud crashing coming from the pig cages, then the pigs begun wildly running out of their cages with the Beowulf walking out trying to eat one of the animals.
The Beowulf then noticed the family.
"GO! GO! GO!" The Father shouted, aiming his shotgun at the Grimm he fired, stunning the beast for a second.
The Beowulf shook off the blast and roared at the farmer, then promptly started sprinting towards the latter.
The Father turned and jumped through the door, barely missing the Beowulf's claws. He kept his sprint but saw another Beowulf coming from afar, near his family. The Farmer fired his weapon again, this time hitting one of its legs.
"Come on, in here!" The Daughter shouted as she ran into the garage, all the family but the father followed. The Father pumped his shotgun and took another shot at the Beowulf before going into the garage, this time hitting its skull plating.
"Close the doors!" The Father shouted as he walked back to the garage, his aim in the Beowulf, taking shots as he went.
The Father turned and slid under the closing doors, just in the nick of time before the Beowulf attempted to breach the garage doors.
"What are we going to do? All the Grimm probably know we're here!" The Son sai, fear engulfing his words
"We'll barrel through them. The truck's big enough, we just avoid the Ursas!" The Father answered, suddenly the Beowulf tried to breached the doors, The Father turned to his wife and spoke "Damnit…okay honey, open the truck, there's a gun in the glove compartment."
The Mother nodded and went to do as told. Once more did the Beowulf try and break through the doors, leaving a bigger dent in it.
The Father begun loading shells into his weapon "Kids, go to the second floor."
The Son and The Daughter nodded and did as told. The Mother returned with the gun from the truck "I have it."
"Okay, come on." The Couple followed their Son and Daughter. The Father grabbed a large crate and pushed it to the base of the stairs, making an impromptu cover. "Honey, I really hope you've learned from the shooting practice."
"Me too, I love you."
The Father turned and gave a reassuring smile "I love you too."
The Father took aim at the garage doors and once more saw the Beowulf smash against the doors. This time leaving a small opening. "Come on…come on…"
All of a sudden, the couple heard various…crystalline noises from outside. Then an explosion, also crystalline. "What was that." The Mother spoke
"It's them!" the Daughter was absolutely ecstatic
"Who?" The Father walked over to the Daughters view and looked out the window, it was the same people from the news. The Spartans.
"We're saved!" The Son looked out the window too, in awe of their saviors.
Xavier fired his Focus rifle at an attacking Beowulf, making a soccer ball sized hole in it. The Spartan snapped to his right and made another hole through another Beowulf.
"They must be in that garage!" Xavier shouted . Hannah jumped over a Beowulf, shooting it with needles as she was in the air. The needles begun glowing and did their lethal supercombine, eviscerating the Beowulf into bits.
Montiel and Umbra ran to the garage and were greeted by the doors opening and a family on the other side. "You guys okay?"
"Yes, thank you!" The Mother's voice filled with joy and relief
The Family all reunited outside, just in time to see an Ursa be flipped over by Xavier and be finished with a beam through its head. "They secure?"
"Yes. Evacuation will be arriving shortly" Montiel said
"You need to activate the relay! We all have radios we communicate each other with, but we need the relay to be turned on again!" The Father spoke
Umbra nodded "We have people already headed there."
Xavier entered into his radio "Corral. You at the Relay yet?"
"Yes sir! We just- Ursa right! The entrance is crawling with Grimm!"
"Any sign of the workers?"
"Not yet! We'll make our way inside and get the relay online ASAP!"
"Understood, we'll keep finding farmers here."
Hannah turned to Xavier "Pilot's on his way"
Xavier nodded "Good, you three go on ahead and scout for more survivors. I'll stay and guard the family until Pilot gets here."
"Alright, stay safe" Hannah readied her needler once more.
"Ditto." The three ran off in search of more survivors. Xavier turned to the Family
"You four doing okay?"
"Y-yeah. No thanks to you." The Daughter answered
Xavier gave a soft smile "Just doing my job."
The Son walked up to the Spartan "Hey! Is it true that you guys are like, cyborgs?"
Xavier noticed a slight glimmer in the boy's eyes, he shook his head and spoke "No, we're 100% human. We're just a bit augmented is all."
"You're cool!" The Son kept his awe, he'd seen huntsmen and huntresses before, but this Spartan.
He was more than a Huntsman.
-Relay Building-
Damian fired his repeater at the downed Beowulf, he stopped and vent the weapon as he ran towards another Grimm facing away from him. He engaged his thrusters and shoulder charged directly into the beast, knocking it down. Damian then unloaded the repeater's plasma Bolts into its stomach, leaving a burnt mix of dark flesh and fur.
"We have some Deathstalker Minors crawling down!" Jirou called, aiming his Carbine . He begun picking off the scorpions as the attempted to crawl to the ground, the Spartan quickly ejected the Carbine's magazine and replaced it with a new one.
Jirou aimed and shot the final Deathstalker Minor, it's corpse crashing down to the hard concrete. "Area cleared, let's move"
Damian nodded "Right, taking point."
The duo moved into the building. The lights were either out or about to be out, so the pair activated their helmet flashlights. Damian called into the dark "Hello? Anyone here?"
"We are Spartans! We're here to assist!" Jirou called as well, but their voices echoed through the now derelict facility. The two kept their walk through the dark hallways, the walls were filled with bullet holes and claw marks, the control room was nearby and so was the Safe room.
The Spartans stumbled across a door, it was half opened, clearly jammed. Damian grabbed the slight opening and pushed the door open, revealing a messy scene.
Two corpses were sprawled on the control room panels, and a Beowulf's remains were on the floor nearby. Damian walked to the body and inspected it, revealing some oddities. "This guy has a bullet holes in his head."
"Bullet holes? Are you certain?" Jirou kneeled next to Damian, spotting the bullet holes as well. "Then this wasn't just a Grimm attack"
"Sabotage, but from who?" Damian asked
Jirou pondered, he gave out the easiest answer "White Fang, maybe?"
"Maybe, perhaps a nearby bandit camp?"
"Perhaps. But I'll inform Sgt. Marx, you get the relay online." Jirou spoke, he then turned to his comms "Sergeant, we have a situation."
"Inform."
"Grimm were in the area but the relay seems to have been sabotaged by someone else, the workers had bullet wounds. Do we have any Intel on nearby bandit activity?"
"Negative. What about the Huntsman?"
"Nowhere to be found. I'll continue the search, will inform you of developments as they occur."
"Understood, What's the relay's status? "
"I estimate a solid 5 minutes before I can get this thing back up and running, whatever clawed the place up really didn't want anything intact" Damian spoke
"Keep it up, I'll find the Safe room and see if I can find the Huntsman." Jirou walked to the next room, hoping to find some answers.
Jirou heard faint voices in the air, it seemed the Huntsman was nearby, hopefully he'd be able to shed some light on the current situation. "Huntsman? If it's you, come on out, rescue has arrived!"
The faint voices continued, apparently not having heard Jirou's call out. The Spartan kept walking towards the voices.
Jirou slowly stopped before a saferoom door, this was it. He could hear the voices more clearly now.
"I risked everything for this Taurus!" The Huntsman shouted into a scroll.
"And it will be worth it, the Queen knows what she's doing, mostly."
The Huntsman scoffed at the White Fang leader "Is this Queen even one of us?"
"She is. Now, there's some of us headed to your location, they'll go and pick you up, and you can don your mask."
"Thank you. I'll see you-"
"Calling for some help Huntsman?" Jirou suddenly, walked into the room, he noted the The Huntsman was faunus, a mouse faunus most likely because of the teeth
"Wha- A Spartan?" The Huntsman recoiled at the sight of Jirou, he definitely matched the description he'd heard from them.
"Yes. One tasked to securing this relay and making sure, any threats are neutralized." Jirou stowed his Carbine, for his Converted Promethean Blade. "Are you a threat, Huntsman?"
"What-what n-no! I was simply trying to, as you said, call for help!"
"Really? Then why did you mention how you, risked everything for this?" Jirou interrogated
The Huntsman slowly backed away "Yes…because I did in fact, risk it all…FOR THIS!" The Huntsman pulled several blades right off the wall and threw them at Jirou.
The Spartan dodged the knives and sent out a hologram. The Huntsman tried to kick the hologram, suddenly had his leg stopped then was pulled and thrown over Jirou's shoulder smashing him to the ground.
The Huntsman quickly threw more blades, but was quickly knocked out with the pommel of Jirou's blade.
"Stay down, you oathbreaker." The Spartan mumbled. Jirou activated his comms and spoke to Xavier "Sir, I've found our culprit for the downed relay, and our dead workers."
"Report"
"The Huntsman, he was responsible for the down relay. I have reasons to believe he was working with White Fang leaders, as he mentioned Taurus before I subdued him"
"Damn. We've just about finished evacuation, once the Farmers are safe, we'll transport the Huntsman."
Jirou nodded "Yes sir."
Damian suddenly blurted into the comms "And the relay is back online!"
"Good work, Corral"
The Achilles clad Spartan looked at the unconscious huntsman beneath him "And you're coming with me."
A/N:
I managed to get into the halo Mcc season 8 flights. Those armors be lookin fine!
I hope I get an invite to the halo infinite flights