Rising Tide
Same time…
It wasn't easy to create a Human-sized hole in an energy field designed to withstand mortar shells using only the equivalent of a laser cutter. Granted, the laser cutter was hot enough to cut through metre-thick granite, it still didn't make up for the fact that he was getting shot at by explosive rounds and shells the size of his fist.
Well, at least I have help…
The cracks in the shield were becoming longer and longer as SK emptied the vial of Fire Dust loaded into his laser rifle – one would think that running into the centre of the spider-web of cracks would cause them to shatter apart. However, they would be sorely disappointed when all they got from it was a painful shock all over their body.
Another salvo of missiles went up into the air as the same Bullhead flew low for another dive. This time, however, the airship wasn't so lucky and one of the missiles clipped the end of one of the wings.
"We need to hurry!" T shouted as he loaded another Fire Dust vial into his metal arm, which functioned as a plasma torch for the moment.
"W-what do you think I'm doing?" SK barked back rhetorically as they focussed their fire on one point on the shielding. Just a few…more…seconds… it was then that a ballistic shell landed a metre away from him that he couldn't take it anymore. "Fuck this! Tanner, it's now or never!"
On cue, Tanner raised both of his pistols and fired four rounds of explosive Dust at the cracked energy shield. After the third blast, SK wasn't sure if it would work, but when the forth Dust crystal made contact, shards of energy fell away like glass, and the rogue quickly took the opportunity to jump through the opening.
T and Tanner followed just as the shield reformed behind them. SK counted his luck at rolling into his leap and narrowly avoiding another shell as he mapped out his path to the fortress in his mind. Now all they had to do was sprint across the ten-metre long yard to the front entrance of the castle, fight their ways through dozens of heavily-armed guards and find the shield generator.
Simple…
Bits of gravel, dirt and grass were being torn from the ground around them as a mixture of mortar fire and heavy shells rained around him from above. Despite his current predicament, SK tried as hard as he could to look at the bright side of the situation. Well, at least I'm not alone…or running through a mine field.
Running along the path up to the main iron gate, the Bullhead flew in for another run on the shield, carelessly spraying bullets and Dust rounds all over the village and the field of energy that protected the castle.
"When is that idiot going to realise that's not working?" Tanner yelled over the barrage of rounds being shot at them. SK was about to make a snide remark at how the marauder had less sense in his head than a headless chicken, but he was cut off as the swordsman shoved him to the side while stepping in front of him.
In less than a second, Tanner had his pistol drawn and fired off an Ice Dust round into the ground, creating a barricade of ice that almost instantly shattered when a shell hit it. The momentary cover was gone in an instant.
"We're going to get creamed out here!" SK shouted as they continued their charge towards the main entrance – which was locked and heavily fortified. "What's the plan for getting past the first wall?" he asked just as he did a front-flip over a missile aimed at him.
"Still calculating variables." T remarked in reply as he took a harpoon that was strapped to his back and loaded it into the barrel of his mechanical arm.
"We're definitely not going to get very far through the front gate." Tanner remarked as he pointed out the rows of White Fang Soldiers and Androids that had gathered behind the iron bars of the gate.
"Got it." T suddenly exclaimed as he ran off at a tangent. There was a moment when SK hesitated to follow and stumbled to a stop in the middle of the battlefield. Tanner noticed almost immediately and stared at him with a wide-eyed panic.
"What are you doing? You want to get blown to bits?"
"Won't be much different if we run through that minefield!" SK shouted in reply as he pointed in the direction T was running.
A moment more of hesitation was all the rogue got before the resounding barrage of bullets and charged Dust gave him the motivation to follow the hacker on instinct alone. He could hear his heartbeat in his ear as he kept his eyes open for any incoming fire or any mines he might have tripped, which is why he almost fell to the ground when he heard a voice in his ear.
"Vermillion, the mines are powered by Dust. Set them off before we get into their blast radius." He heard T's commanding voice through the earpiece in his right ear.
"How did you get this frequency?" SK asked while tapping on the communication device. The black-haired teen knew that this was hardly the time for such a question, but he felt that he needed to know.
"Lucky guess." The hacker replied just as a shell landed three feet from the rogue, triggering one of the splinter mines to fire bits of shrapnel off in every direction. In less than a second, his training kicked in and Yakmak was in his hands to deflect every piece of jagged metal that flew towards him.
It was only after he lowered his scimitar did he notice that the gunmen and guards on the walls of the fortress weren't firing with as much ferocity as they did before – likely trying not to trigger the mines around them.
It was also after SK lowered his blade did he notice the small shard of shrapnel sticking out of his right upper-arm.
While he was standing still to see where the forces along the walls had gathered, Tanner ran ahead of him and waved his hand in a wide arc. His hand glowed a vibrant-orange all the way up to his wrist as the hidden landmines ahead began detonating, clearing the path that T was taking to the wall.
Yanking out the piece of serrated metal, the rogue followed the path littered with craters.
Out of the effective blast-radius of the mines, all the bits of shrapnel did was irritate SK as they harmlessly bounced off him and Tanner, which the White Fang militia-men on the wall seemed to pick up on.
Without much warning, the fire and shots that rained down on them increased in intensity, getting to the point where they didn't seem to care if they set off every mine in the ground around the castle.
They must be desperate to get rid of us…
Weaving in between salvos of missiles and rounds, the trio eventually reached the base of the outer-wall that surrounded the fortress. Right underneath the heavy batteries and artillery and under their range, they were at least safe from the heaviest firearms the White Fang possessed. It still didn't keep them safe from the White Fang gunmen, but even at the range they were at, the Faunus grunts still had the accuracy of a drunken demo-man.
"Great, we're here. Now what?" SK directed the question at T, who was busily firing a harpoon at the top of the wall. The projectile exploded in a burst of white light that blinded the Faunuses' sensitive eyes. Loading in a second harpoon with a larger head, he turned his attention to the rogue.
"Get climbing." He simply stated as he fired the next harpoon. Unlike the other one, the second bolt had a cable attached to it, trailing up from T's arm as it impaled the hard concrete of the wall.
SK quickly recognized what the hacker meant and was struck with half-amazement and half-fear at the man's quick thinking. Seeing no other way around this, he muttered a quick curse phrase under his breath and began running up the length of the wall, using the rope as a support before finding a handhold.
Climbing over the top, he was met with more Faunus opposition than ever before.
This should be interesting…
Untying the scarf around his neck, Tanner grabbed onto the metal cable and lowered himself into a crouch in preparation to scale the three-storey wall. He took a moment to look for a good target on the top of the wall while a plan formed in his mind – which was slowly getting harder and harder as SK cut down the White Fang guards.
"You coming?" he asked T without turning his gaze away from the top of the wall, finally spotting a distracted Faunus.
"I'll bring up the rear." Was the only response he got before he sprinted up the side of the wall in a burst of speed. The burst only carried him three-quarters up the wall though, just as he had planned for.
As he felt himself slow to a stop along the vertical surface, he finished undoing her scarf and flung it towards the distracted Faunus on top of the wall. In less than a second, the scarf twirled around the Faunus' neck and tightened like a noose.
Using the momentum he carried during his vertical sprint, he pulled on the scarf with all his might, pulling himself up the rest of the way, while subsequently pulling the terrorist off the wall.
With a scream of fear and pain, the Faunus fell to his doom as Tanner landed on the walkway along the wall, quickly following up his landing by swinging his scarf around him like a whip at the nearby guards. When doing so, he channelled his Aura into the fabric and caused the scarf to catch fire and leave burn marks wherever it touched.
The swordsman treated the style of fighting more like a dance as he slowly cleared a path towards the rogue, who looked like he was having a difficult time holding his own against the increasing number of White Fang soldiers. Tanner recognized why; it was because several of the Faunuses among their ranks were skilled mercenaries and veterans of war, if their choice of weapons and armour were any indication.
Unlike the 'greener' members of the White Fang, the ones they fought wore armour with more decorations and blood-red paint that gave them the impression of certain types of Grimm or demons from various legends. Along with that, their choice of bolt-action weaponry could only mean that they felt more familiar with such technology in comparison to the semi-automatic and fully-automatic weaponry that had been developed in more recent decades. It couldn't have just been a coincidence. This seems like an awful lot of added security over a Blacklist.
Having actually dealt with the White Fang in the past meant that he needed to know this, in the event that something like this occurred.
Exhausted of Aura for the moment, Tanner finally made it to the rogue and quickly retied his scarf around his neck as he watched T clamber over the edge of the wall.
"So what's the next part of the plan?" he asked as he drew Beofield out of its sheath.
"There are four anti-aircraft turrets in place around the base." T recapped as he un-holstered his pistol and began taking pot-shots at some of the White Fang that were running down the far side of the wall. "We need to each take one of them out and converge on the last; this mission will fail if we lose Overwatch."
"Over-what?" SK asked as he levelled a squad of White Fang soldiers with his laser rifle.
"The fucking airship!" Tanner explained in a universal language that SK – luckily – understood.
"Marking a target for each of you on your maps." T said once before leaping from the top of the wall – before Tanner could stop him – to an inner-wall where more soldiers were gathering to gun them down. "Keep on this frequency to allow for communication." He heard T mutter into the earpiece as he turned to SK to make sure he wasn't hearing things.
"Wait, how did he hack my Scroll so quickly?" SK asked as he gestured for Tanner to crouch down under a rocket-propelled grenade that had been fired at them.
"He does that a lot." Tanner replied while batting a grenade back at the White Fang soldier that had lobbed it at him with the flat of his sword. The explosion knocked four Faunuses off the wall and blew several chunks of masonry along with it. "At this rate the Grimm will be all over this place in a few minutes." The brunette muttered quietly to himself.
"Well, we've each got a target on the different side of the wall. You think you can handle all the guys on your side by yourself?" SK asked in a mock-serious tone as he shanked and kicked a Faunus that got too close to him off the wall.
"Can you?" Tanner asked back, but when he got no reply, he turned around to find the rogue had disappeared. Thankfully, he didn't have to watch his back as the guards along the opposite side of the wall were all taking a great interest in something that was happening a few concrete turrets away from him.
Rolling his eyes and shoulders at the same time, he turned to face the squad of White Fang soldiers taking up a defensive position on the side of the wall he was facing, armed with several rocket launchers.
"Please, don't. You'll make this too easy." Tanner told them as he raised one hand towards them. The hand – from his wrist down – took on an orange hue as he channelled his Aura through his fingertips. In less than a second, his Aura had flooded the rocket launchers and caused them to prematurely explode, taking a large section of the wall with it.
Once the smoke from the explosion settled, the swordsman slid his sabre into its scabbard before taking off at a sprint with the intent of jumping across the hole in the wall. Upon sticking the landing, Tanner found that there were more White Fang soldiers ready and waiting for him further along the stone wall that seemed to curve around the castle within.
Firing an Ice Dust round into the ground, he took a moment to hide behind the wall it created while pulling out his Scroll and looking for the anti-aircraft turret that T had designated for him. According to the scale hologram that appeared, it was further into the fortress along the third wall that surrounded the inner-castle. Each wall was connected to the other by a structure that seemed to function as either a gathering spot, a rest area for guards or a smaller version of an armoury.
With the connecting structure in sight, Tanner loaded a few Lightning Dust cartridges into Beofield and Crossed Star before sliding around the wall of ice and onto the steel railing on the edge of the wall.
His risky manoeuvre paid off as the White Fang soldiers expected him to burst through the ice wall instead of going around it. The brunette made a leap towards the group of Faunuses while pulling the trigger on his sabre, causing the blade to spark and crackle with electricity. He swung it in a wide arc as he landed, slicing and knocking most of the guards down before firing several shots ahead of him while the Faunuses were still in their daze.
Tanner continued this pattern as he raced down the wall – the connecting structure getting closer and closer. His advance was halted when several rockets in his peripheral vision blew apart the wall in front and behind him, causing him to suddenly stop and almost fall into the inside of the castle.
Quickly turning to the source of the rockets, Tanner felt his eyes meet with one of the White Fang gunners in the seat of a rocket turret. Thinking his options over as the turret swivelled in a new salvo of rockets; the brunette decided that as tired as he was, using Dust Manipulation was the only way out of this alive.
Slinging Crossed Star back into its leather holster, he held out his left, gloveless hand and prepared to trigger the Dust inside the rocket. However, before the gunner got the chance to pull the trigger, T was on him as he raced down the wall. The gunner's brain-matter was splattered across the metal surface of the rocket turret as T unloaded two bullets from his pistol right into the man's head.
With that out of the way, Tanner considered his options with how to get to the anti-aircraft turret. While he considered attempting to jump the huge gap that had been created, static crackled in his earpiece along with SK's voice.
"Guys…-ve located the shield generator. Can't get to it…-avily guarded. I did manage to find a weapons stock and will try to create a diversion. Marking the shield generator on the map now." He said before cutting off.
Once the transmission cut off, Tanner noticed how close the adjacent walls were built to each other. The idea formed in his head as he loaded more explosive rounds into his flintlock pistol, all the while trying to keep agile on the small amount of concrete surface he had to avoid machine-gun fire.
Once the pistol was fully loaded, he fired off a single round at the ground beneath him and angled his body so that he flew towards the wall that T was running along. Noticing the amount of sword-wielding White Fang soldiers that were going after T, he fired off another round to change the angle of his descent so that he landed right on top of them.
Crushing one of the Faunuses to soften his landing, he drew his sabre out of its sheath at such a speed – in his crouch – that he was sure he broke a few leg-bones with the attack.
While he remained crouched, he heard the hacker utter one word and reacted on instinct.
"Hand!"
Sticking his free hand out behind him, he felt T grab it as the hacker rolled over his back. Tanner's body was working on reflex as he flung T towards an approaching group of androids, which resulted in T levelling all four of them with a single Dust-infused punch, sending sparks flying off in different directions.
Tanner was quick to catch up to T, who was taking a moment to catch his breath. When the brunette's footsteps became audible to T, he stood upright to acknowledge the swordsman. "Good throw."
"Thanks, I have been working out." Tanner complimented himself as he dusted off his shoulders in a show of class, trying to cover up the fact that he hadn't known what he was doing at all.
The moment quickly passed as a loud explosion shook every wall in the fortress and almost caused Tanner to fall to the ground. "Get to that turret." T reminded as another salvo of heavy calibre rounds went up into the air while the Bullhead performed another bombing run.
Without anything more than a small grumble, the swordsman took off down the wall, swinging Beofield at any guards that got too close to him. Once they reached the connecting structure that connected all three walls to one another, Tanner and T took off at diverging paths to their respective anti-aircraft turrets while having to now dodge sniper fire.
Finally coming within eye-shot of the turret – which was loading up another barrage, Tanner had to quickly consider his options while ducking low to avoid the snipers that were shooting at him. Already, one of them had caught him in the right wrist with a bullet, though the wound wasn't very deep or bleeding too profusely. With his target on top of a stone tower on the wall and the snipers somewhere he couldn't quite discern yet, he counted down from five before he pulled the trigger on his sabre, causing it to become covered in an uneven sheen of ice. With it, he drew a wide arc on the ground around him with the tip of the blade, causing a barricade of ice to form just high enough for him to popped out of his cover and hold his free hand like a pistol. Aiming at the turret, he surged his Aura forward unconsciously.
"Bang."
As the sound escaped his mouth, the side of the turret exploded outwards and blew apart a segment of the tower it was on. He barely had enough time to admire his work before he was on the move for more cover as several sniper rounds shattered his ice barricade.
Running along the sloped wall towards the structure that connected all three walls to one another as he pressed his thumb to the earpiece in his right ear. "Anti-aircraft turret offline."
"Having…a little trouble on my end, but I'm really close." SK replied in turn with the sound of clashing steel and explosions of concrete in the background.
Instead of a reply, T's response came in the form of a large explosion off to one side of the fortress, which Tanner could only guess as to mean that he had just blown his up. Running for cover into one of the connecting structures, the brunette didn't see one of the White Fang bruisers hiding just to the right of the entrance way, who stuck his hand out to throw Tanner's momentum off and cause him to fall to the ground.
His vision went bleary for a quick moment before the stars disappeared to reveal a squad of White Fang soldiers with their weapons all pointed at him.
"Advance on the shield generator. We need to get Overwatch into the fight – and perform repairs before that buffoon crashes my airship." T barked into the communications link before cutting off.
Yeah, sure. I'll get right on it. Tanner thought sarcastically as he looked for his weapons, which lay several metres away from him – out of his reach.
Sighing to himself, he raised his hands in mock-surrender before surging his Aura outwards.
Meanwhile…
Spamming the trigger on the flight controls, Mason was having the time of his life as he emptied the mini-guns of the airship on the village and the shielded castle, doing little damage except to the village.
Still, he was thoroughly enjoying himself as he hollered at the top of his lungs while dipping down for another bombing run.
One of the missile pods on the wings had already run empty, and the other one was soon to follow as the redhead fired every weapon he could at the shielded facility, causing the shield to flicker for a moment before seeming to harden yet again. However, Mason knew that the attacks were doing a serious number on the shield's integrity.
Mason could have also sworn that there were a couple of bombs strapped to the underside of the airship, though he couldn't find a switch for it and the on-board AI was no help since Mason muted it manually.
Which is why he almost jumped out of the pilot seat when he heard a gravelly voice echo through the interior of the airship.
"What do you think you're doing?" the voice asked in a calm and neutral tone.
"How the fuck-where did you come from?" Mason shouted back, not really knowing what he was doing as the airship rocked slightly from the explosions around it.
"You're lucky I've reached the shield generator." The voice spoke as the flickering energy shield around the castle began to dissipate. "Overwatch, retake control."
Mason was startled yet again as a familiar female voice rang out. "Voice command identified. Command confirmed. Resuming auto-pilot." After that, Mason felt the flight-controls harden like rocks. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't even get the joystick to budge.
"Take this flight path and deploy Dust charges on my marks." T's voice rang out again before cutting off.
"Command confirmed. Flight path uploaded."
"Oh, and get out of my ship." T's words were the last thing Mason heard before he felt the rush of wind at his face at being suddenly ejected from the airship. Still strapped into the pilot's seat, he watched the Bullhead turn away suddenly as he plummeted to the ground.
"Welp, looks like I picked a good day to bring extra ammo with me." The berserker shouted to himself over the rushing wind. He hadn't really had time to react to being shot out of an airship or really think about the situation because…well…
It had never happened to him before.
In a way, it was actually quite exciting to him; this was a new, unfamiliar situation that he was experiencing. And very soon, he'd crash to the ground and have to fight a few dozen Faunuses... How exciting!
The ground came to him sooner than he thought it would. Fortunately, the redhead was able to unfasten his seat-belt before the chair he was strapped in hit the ground, jumping off it at the last second and landing on a nice, soft Faunus.
The sound of bones cracking and bloody gurgles as Mason stomped on the man's neck was music to his ears as he danced around in a circle, swinging his weapons at anyone who got too close to him. "Die, die, die!" he chanted as he fired off his weapons while swinging them for added range or force.
Once the fighting around him died down, he was able to take in the fact that he had landed on the courtyard right in front of the castle he had been storming for the past few minutes. Looking out in the direction of the village, Mason couldn't help but feel that the smoke and embers that rose out in the distance made the sunset even more beautiful; giving it a smoky quality that reminded him of the many villages he had set fire to just for the fun of it.
Smiling to himself, he transformed Fuil into its pistol form and aimed it just out of his peripheral vision, where he fired off two rounds at a charging White Fang soldier – stopping the Faunus almost instantly.
"Now this is where the party's at." He said as he turned around to face the short walk to the double doors that led into the castle. From behind the door, Mason could hear the sounds of objects being shifted and pushed up against the doors in an attempt to bar them. The berserker slowly shook his head at the sad attempt at keeping him out as he threw a few pouches filled with explosive Fire Dust at the door and began taking a few steps backwards.
Quickly making sure that Bas was fully loaded, he aimed it at one of the pouches and an explosion erupted…from the distant wall. There was a moment when Mason had to pause to be sure that he hadn't imagined the sound of the explosion before he turned around and recognized it.
Giving a quick huff in acknowledgement, he turned back to aiming at the pouches full of explosives and pulled the trigger.
The blast sent splinters and shards of molten metal off in different directions as the berserker merrily skipped into the main hall of the castle. "Knock knock!" Right after setting one foot into the structure, Mason found himself bombarded with bullets and intense firepower from the above level.
With only half of his Aura left to shield him, the redhead quickly looked for anything that he could hide behind for cover. Spotting a steel crate covered in scorch marks off to one side, he quickly dove behind it while twisting in mid-air…while trying to quick-scope the White Fang guards along the overhead walkways.
After landing ungraciously on his back, Mason scrambled to reload his weapons – not bothering to get up – as multiple explosions rocked the castle. Slapping the different ammo types into his weapons, he burst out of cover and quickly took aim at the remaining guards overhead. "Oh! Oh! Where you at?" Mason shouted as several Faunus tried to rush him. In one swift hand movement, the berserker's shotgun was transformed back into its axe form and buried deep within the skull of one of the charging swordsmen with a single overhead swing. The corpse that was stuck to the blade of his axe was then blasted back into another swordsman with a round from his heavy pistol, knocking the living Faunus down to the ground.
It seemed that the only strategy the scrubs before him knew was to take him on one at a time in a single file line, as Mason cleaved through Faunus after Faunus with a mixture of both of his weapons while slowly making his way up a flight of stairs. The berserker's goal at the moment was to fight his way to the top of the building to once again prove that he was the true MLG in this town, and the White Fang seemed set on getting in his way as the prolonged fighting only made him stronger and stronger.
Taking one of the two flights of stairs opposite the main entrance to the castle, Mason began to find the White Fang's opposition almost boring. At the rate they were dying and their repetitive tactics, the redhead began to get worried that he might run out of finishing moves before he got to the top of the castle.
Never stopping once, Mason continued right down one of the dull, grey, concrete hallways until he found a spiral staircase that took him further up – once he made sure that the concrete walls and floor were covered in a sufficiently excessive amount of blood. By this point, any remaining White Fang members were running from him as fast as they could, with some of them making the unfortunate choice to go up the spiral staircase he had chosen to go up.
Reaching the top of the stairs, Mason found himself exactly where he wanted to go; the top of the castle. The four Faunuses that ended up on the roof were backed up into a corner on the edge of the rectangular roof, trying their hardest not to quake in fear as they made their last stand.
Spreading both of his arms apart and dropping his weapons to his side, Mason put on his most smug expression as he spoke. "Come at me, bro."
Honestly, this is sooo boring. I need a challenge. Mason thought to himself as he waited a few seconds for the terrified noobs in front of him to respond to his challenge. Without warning, one of the Faunuses wielding a halberd let out a war cry as he charged forward.
Sloppy noobs! The redhead thought as he simply had to move out of the way of his attacker's charge before grabbing him by the neck and lifting him off his feet. At this point, his blood-red Aura was flaring around him and his eyes were glowing like a predator of the night.
It was as simple as flicking his wrist before the Faunus' neck snapped in two and his body slumped to the floor. When the man's grip around his halberd loosened, the redhead quickly traded his grip from the corpse's neck to the shaft of the weapon. In less than a second after he grabbed the halberd, Mason sent it soaring through the air towards one of the other Faunuses.
The blade pierced right through the fox-eared man's chest as the force behind the throw sent him off the edge of the wall. Surprisingly enough to Mason, one of his companion's was stupid enough to grab onto the Faunus' falling corpse, taking him for a fall with the corpse.
Grinning at the success of the unplanned double-kill, Mason eyed the remaining opponent – no, prey – before taking a few steps closer.
The clatter of steel echoed across the rooftop as the Faunus before him dropped his only weapon – a measly dagger – to the ground before dropping to his knees with tears streaming down his face.
"P-please. N-no more, I-I surrend-der." The soldier pleaded as he lowered his head to the ground.
Letting out a huff in annoyance, Mason picked the Faunus up by his vest. "Surrender? What makes you think I'll accept your surrender?" he asked through gritted teeth.
"I-I'll do anything you want – anything you ask!" The sobbing Faunus choked out.
He took a moment's pause as he contemplated the offer presented before him. Anything I want… "Say that this is my house now." Mason hissed into the man's ear.
"T-this is y-your house now." The words came out as a squeak as the redhead tightened his grip around the Faunus' throat.
"You're damn right it is!" Mason yelled at the man before hurling him off the edge of the roof. "No mercy!" his words could be heard over the sound of the screams of the Faunus as he fell to his death.
"I own all this shit!" the redhead shouted at the top of his lungs while spreading his arms to his side. On top of the castle, before the multiple plumes of smoke that rose from different parts of the castle and its surrounding walls as hordes of Grimm poured into the once-proud fortress, Mason truly felt content for a few seconds as the sun finally set behind the horizon and a few more explosions went off in different locations…before the contentment was filled with a desire to do this again, and again, and again.
Licking his lips, Mason turned around and headed back into the castle, more work to be done.
Five minutes later…
Even ten metres below ground, T could still hear the commotions of the battles that were taking place above ground. While the White Fang that occupied the castle had been all but decimated, their fight and the pained cries of the wounded had drawn the creatures of Grimm from the darkness of twilight to the scene.
There was little doubt in T's mind that – left to themselves – the rest of the White Fang stragglers would quickly die out. He didn't worry too much about his team, as he had designated a rendezvous point for them to be picked up by Overwatch, who would then return for him once he was done.
Upon entering the underground server rooms, the hacker was set upon by the smell of cooling fluids, the sound of CPUs working away, and a single Faunus armed only with a pistol.
He must be part of the newer batch. T thought as the Faunus attacked him within arms-reach instead of staying out of his reach.
Grabbing the end of the gun, T was quick to pull the Faunus towards him and crack his skull by slamming his head into the concrete wall. When the unconscious body of the gunman dropped to the floor, T flinched slightly as he felt a tight pain in his lower torso as the exertion once again stretched the healed wound that the White Fang Lieutenant gave him a week ago.
Despite being completely healed, the flesh was still tender and sensitive, so every time he exerted himself, he could feel the stretch of the muscles, reminding him of how he got it.
Shaking the memory off, he procured his Scroll and walked up to the largest server unit he could find.
The underground room was something of a basement; with no windows or other light sources aside from the ones that the transparent servers gave off, painting the rectangular room in a deep-blue hue.
It was just a matter of accessing one of the terminals and plugging his Scroll in. On the way down, T had already planned the sequence of events that would occur, and had changed the settings on his Scroll accordingly.
Firstly, a search program quickly found the list of Pawns on the servers. Making a copy of them on his Scroll for evidence, he wiped it from the servers. Next, the Scroll ran a program that sent out a pre-made message to everyone on the list; telling them about Gambit Protocol and all the information about the list of Pawns that they would need.
It didn't matter to T what they did with this information, only that it increased the chances that they would turn against Cinder or be executed pre-emptively before their task was complete, setting Cinder at a disadvantage.
Thirdly, T began to probe the closed network to check if the network only existed within these servers, or if there was another base that shared the network. Unfortunately for Cinder, T found that the network stretched out to three different locations across Mistral, and additionally to Vale and Atlas.
He set about hiding digital worms and malware into the stream of information that flowed in the network, causing the tracking software to get across Remnant in a matter of seconds. Now it was time to move to the second phase of operations: eradicating Black Queen.
Already, the virus was being detected at several of Cinder's other outposts, making them T's next destination. Transferring all the relevant data over to his Scroll, he unplugged it from the server, causing it to spit sparks as its processor ran into overdrive. The overloading server seemed to cause a chain reaction, as several of the other servers around him began to do the same as the hacker tightened his cap down and slowly walked out of the server room.
All lights from within that basement went out once T reached surface-level again. What happened next may have not been thoroughly thought out, but with the relevant data, T now knew where he would take his war with Cinder; an Underworld War – invisible to the public.
Passing by the rows of corpses that lay scattered throughout the castle, T couldn't help but wonder whether all the horrors and atrocities he was about to commit was truly worth it.
However, as he stuck his hand into the pocket of his overcoat and felt the familiar folds of the piece of paper he had spent hours staring at, he knew deep in his mind that whatever happened – whoever had to die along the way, they would all be worth it in the end.
Because in the end, nothing mattered more than family.
"Overwatch, transmitting my coordinates now. Let's go home."
A/N: This chapter marks the end of a milestone, and the beginning of another. This may be the first of many operations that Team MSTT will undertake together, but how long do you think this alliance will last? I honestly don't think it'll last for very long, but it just shows you how much you should trust the author.
There will be one more chapter after this one, and then I'm going to take a break from writing about MSTT to go back to the dream team that starter it all. This isn't just a whim I get now and then, what happens next in DAWN and later on in MSTT are important to each other's story. There will be major plot points that are ONLY flushed out in DAWN that I may gloss over in MSTT, and subsequently, some things that happen in MSTT will correlate to some of the DAWN events. Though DAWN affects MSTT more, both are still important to the storytelling as a whole, so check out DAWN if you haven't already. Apologies if the first few chapters are a bit rusty – I'm working on some replacement chapters, but the writing style and chapter length get better in later chapters.
Until then, I guess.