RWBY is property of Roosterteeth! I only own my characters.
CHAPTER 23
Melody stared up at the ship above Vale in a mix of terror and confusion, unable to fully process what was happening as the first volley of fire rained down on the city. The silver-haired girl ducked for cover as chinks of rubble were blown in all directions. The residents of Vale screamed in horror.
After she had left Chaos, Melody had entered into Vale through one of the main gates. The Guards seemed to think she was only a vagrant, so they hadn't paid her any mind. She'd finally collapsed in a patch of trees near the academy for the night, with only her grumbling stomach and thoughts to keep her company.
Melody noticed a swarm of aircraft and dark flying creatures descend from the ship, spreading out across the city like locusts. Vale's sparse forces vainly fired into the growing ocean of enemies, only to be overwhelmed. Well, this is what she had wished for, wasn't it? All she would have to do is not move... and... Melody couldn't bring herself to finish the thought as more fearful shouts intermingled with the sounds of multiple distant battles. If she was going to die... she might as well do as much good as she could beforehand.
"Well, Bossman, I'd say we found Ol' Ozzy's impending calamity!" Ryland yelled, grabbing a charging Fenrir by the neck with his prosthetic arm and shooting it three times with his handgun.
"I'd say that's a safe bet," Alex replied, rolling out of the way of a Wyvern's clawed swing. "D, need an assist!"
"Got it," Dimitri affirmed, mowing the draconic Shade down with his machine gun. "Where did all of these come from?" He gave Firo a nod of gratitude as she killed a Shade that had tried to sneak up on him.
"I'll be sure to ask em later," Carbon cut in. "Just keep shootin' the bastards for now." A Fenrir vanished in a smoldering mist as the Atlesian introduced it to his plasma rifle. "Not seeing many Order troops mixed in, only the fodder."
"That's how they always played it back home," Alex noted. "They're-" He was suddenly knocked off his feet by a crimson handled weapon, just before a bladed tail sliced through the air the soldier's torso had been occupying moments before. Ruby flipped Crescent Rose around and leveled it on the Behemoth that had attempted to kill her friend, blowing a large hole through its body. "Thanks, Ruby."
"No problem- Luna, on your right!" Ruby called out. The azure-haired soldier turned to fire a burst into a Banshee, which let out a shrill cry as it died. Blake noticeably flinched as the noise assailed her sensitive hearing.
"Good eye, Ruby! Thanks!" Luna shouted over the clamor of the fighting. Alex had to admit he was impressed with how the students had handled the situation so far. They'd worked cohesively with the EDC as a unit, and their small group had managed to hold the main access onto Beacon's campus on their own. However, it didn't change the fact that other groups of Order forces had slipped into the academy and were engaging Beacons staff and students at will. The sounds of combat continued to echo across the entire campus.
Alex's thoughts were interrupted as a collective flinch seemed to travel across the horde of Shades before them, causing the creatures to freeze in place. It took the soldier a moment to realize that the creatures really were frozen solid. To his surprise, he caught sight of a civilian. An extremely confused-looking silver-haired girl. He became acutely aware of the cold air as the girl nervously picked her way around the Shades, accidentally shattering a Fenrir as her hand came in contact with it.
"Did we win?" Yang called out, finding she had no further enemies to pummel.
"I- I think so?" Ryland said, catching sight of the silver haired girl. "Wait, who's that? Is she the one who-"
"God, this is bothersome," Alex felt the air drop another several degrees, as a new voice approached. The silver-haired girl scampered over to the EDC forces' side while a woman with dark-blue hair strolled towards them, a black helmet tucked under her arm. Her hair was tied in a ponytail over her shoulder, and her expression was a mix of disgust and boredom. "I was wondering why this area wasn't under control yet. Looks like all of the competent fighters were up here... and as usual, I have to do everything myself. Wonderful." She turned to address Alex and his friends. "I'm Lord Europa. I'm here to defeat all of you in the name the Order. Blah, blah, blah, you get the picture."
"What can we expect from this one, Boss?" Carbon asked, he and the others tightening their formation and leveling their weapons at the Lord. Alex tried to recall anything on a "Europa", but found himself coming up blank. They'd never faced a Lord with that name.
"I don't know... She's not a Lord I think we ever fought... though I'm not sure how that's possible..." Alex admitted. "Be ready for anythi-" He stopped as the frozen Shades around them smashed into sharp fragments with loud crashes. The shards of ice hovered in the air around Europa, who looked decidedly uninterested.
"Look, can you hurry up and die? I've got places I'd rather be."
"Come this way!" Ironwood ordered, leading Charles, Alyia, Anise, and the Schnee sisters towards a military hangar. "We only have a small window to leave the Kingdom!" In the aftermath of the initial attack, Ironwood had been contacted by the Council. The same people who had spent the hours just prior insulting the General and Winter, had now begged them to rush to Vale for assistance.
"Do you need time to get ready?" Alyia yelled over the ceaseless noise.
"Only a short while," Ironwood affirmed. "The dustplane is still in the process of refueling."
"Got it," the Guardian nodded. "Dad, think you can lend me hand with holding off the Order?"
"Not a problem," Charles answered quickly.
"I'll help as well," Weiss stated. Charles placed a hand on her shoulder.
"No, Weiss. I need you and Winter to watch after Anise. Don't worry about me and Aly, we can handle this."
"But, I-"
"No 'buts', young lady," Charles said commandingly. "Please, just do it." Weiss and Winter both looked as if they wanted to argue for a moment, but they both seemed to relent, chasing after Ironwood.
"Looks like we've got company," Alyia drew her father's attention to a group of five Order soldiers headed towards them across the tarmac.
"I'll back you up from here," Charles stated. "I left my weapons back at the manor, but I can still fight." He flared his ability, sprouting a pair of purple flaming crow wings. Charles idly tossed a fireball in between his hands. "I'll wait for your 'go'."
"I sure hope you haven't lost your touch," Alyia smiled, quickly checking her plasma pistol. Her gaze drifted back to the approaching enemies, her eyes falling on the leader. "Crap. It's Golem."
"Who?" Charles asked.
"Lord. Bloodline of Earth. Expert in melee combat." Alyia rapidly listed off.
"So we're at a disadvantage up close," the old Terror Inheritor analyzed, rubbing his chin. "Let's just hit him from a distance, then... and if we clean up his four lackeys first, that should make it easier."
"Sounds good," the Guardian nodded, dropping into a half-crouched stance. "Ready when you are."
"Then let's introduce ourselves," Charles pulled his arm back and threw the fireball as hard as he could.
Golem and his four troops, all of whom seemed to be Knights, noticed the incoming projectile. The Lord shielded himself and his troops by raising a solid wall of gray stone, blocking the worst of the attack as the fireball erupted across the surface. The Knights rushed forward as Charles readied another projectile, only for one of them to catch a blast from Alyia's pistol in the chest.
Charles realized that he hadn't seen his daughter's power in action yet. Alyia charged forward with her handgun, downing another Knight with a shot straight into the visor on his helmet. In a flash, she relieved the now-deceased Knight of his weapon, a simple straight-sword of some unknown make, and sheathed her firearm. To Charles' surprise, Alyia began using the weapon to fight the pair of remaining Order soldiers as if it the blade had been made for her.
Before he could spend any more time thinking about Alyia, Charles jumped into the air to avoid a stabbing attack from Golem. The Lord had closed on him in a fraction of a second. Golem summoned several stone javelins from the ground, chucking each one at Charles from the ground. The Terror Inheritor increased his altitude so that he was effectively out of reach.
"So, a Speed Secondary?" Charles asked as he hovered above the Lord. "Unfortunately for you, I spent a good portion of my childhood sparring with someone like that."
"Good, then perhaps you can offer me a sufficient challenge," Golem replied, "But, that overconfidence may be your downfall..."
Pyrrha panted heavily as she sprinted alongside the others towards Vale. Smoke rose ominously into the air from the uncountable number of fires spreading across the buildings. The Mistral girl ground to a sudden stop as Jerloh held up a hand and skidded to a halt. The rest of the group quickly followed suit.
"What's wrong? Why are we stopping?" Emerald breathed heavily and wiped sweat from her forehead.
"I assume because Jerloh can feel that," Arthur shivered.
"Feel what?" Pyrrha coughed. "I don't feel anything."
"The air feels bad," Lex attempted to explain from her perch on her father's back.
"There are a whole lot of different powerful energies running around nearby," Jerloh clarified. "It's probably safe to assume that the Order's dropped off at least two or three Lords." Pyrrha blanched, recalling a fight from two years prior that had leveled a section of Vale.
"Jerloh, think you can take a look ahead? Make sure that we don't run into too many enemies?" Marcia inquired urgently, scanning the trees for any hostiles.
"Sure, just hold on to Lex," the Bloodline deposited the six-year-old into Pyrrha's arms.
"I do mean 'take a look'," Marcia reiterated. "Do not-" The rest of her statement was missed as the Guardian flew off into the air with flaming wings on his back. He was already a speck in the distance. "I really hope he doesn't do anything too stupid."
"It's Jerloh," Arthur deadpanned.
"Right..." the EDC General sighed to herself.
"Be safe, Daddy!" Lex called after her father.
Ignis grasped the side of the old transport as Cherri attempted to start the aircraft. Thanks to the Bloodline's increased strength, the pair had managed to drag the ancient Bullhead out into the open. The pillar of smoke and dust above Vacuo had only grown more and more. To say the least, both the Maiden and ex-Lord were quite anxious to escape the nearby battle before somebody noticed Cherri's expansive garden in the middle of the desert.
"Any luck?" Ryan asked.
"This thing's been sitting around so long, the Dust used to power it is... 'stale'... for lack of a better word. I'll have to switch it out for a new one," the Maiden of Spring explained. "Keep an eye out for me, would you?"
"Right," the Bloodline nodded, keeping careful watch over the Order ship in the distance.
"I'm surprised you didn't ask," Cherri quipped as she began unscrewing an access panel on the side of the old Bullhead.
"Ask what?" Ignis inquired, helping the Maiden remove the rusted-on panel before returning to scanning the skies.
"About how the Maiden of Spring got to be such a tech geek?"
"I assumed it was something you picked up while out here on your own."
"Not really. Before I got the powers, I used to help out in my Dad's machine shop. The Gardening thing was more Mum's thing, so-"
"Cherri," Ignis cut her off, "I promise that I'll listen to the whole story once we're out of here. But for now, you need to get that transport running as soon as possible."
"What's wrong?" the Maiden asked worriedly, though she was fairly certain she already knew the answer.
"We've got incoming," the Bloodline confirmed. The dark shape of an Order dropship streaked towards the Maiden's home, stopping to drop off a hulking form. The black metallic figure shattered the cement foundations of Cherri's house. Its skull-like visage fixed on Ignis, and it stormed towards him, crushing flower pots underneath its massive weight. "Carnage," Ryan spat distastefully.
"I believed I sensed a familiar presence," the Lord laughed menacingly. "I have always looked forward to crushing you, Ignis."
Ryan drew his sword from his back and ignited the blade, separating the weapon into its whip-like form. "You can try."
A/N: Untold property damage awaits. Pacing feels a bit off to me for this chapter. My apologies for it taking longer than usual.
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