The soldiers had formed into two rows, those in front kneeling down and those behind standing. Each one of them was standing ready as the ground shook from the sheer amount of incoming beasts. In front of them was a massive pack of Grimm, a mix of various creatures including Beowolves, Creeps, and Ursai. Ruby, Jaune, Nora, and Ren were standing next to the mercenaries on the front lines along with the commander. "Heavy artillery, are you ready?" the commander says into his wrist-comm.
"Yes sir. Awaiting target designation," a voice responded. The commander pulled out a targeting designator, its red targeting laser emanating from the lower left of it. The red beam shone brightly into the horde and a click could be heard from the device, followed by a massive, somewhat high-pitched blast. An explosion rings out in the middle of the charging Grimm, sending dozens of Beowolves and Creeps flying into trees or completely obliterating them. The commander smiled under his helmet as he held up his hand and signaled to his troops to open fire. Bullets flew into the horde of monsters accompanied by the volley of tank shots from further back. Ruby and the others joined in on the volley and blasted any Grimm they saw. Jaune, despite lacking a ranged weapon, decided to join in on the volley. He grabbed a pistol from one of the nearby armory tents and began firing. At first, he was a terrible shot, missing every mark. After a while, he managed to get a hit off on one of the Grimm-a creep to be specific. "I think I'm getting the hang of this thing," Jaune said proudly as he shot a Beowulf, only grazing it sadly, leaving it with a distinctive scar. He then realized he was out of ammo as the gun started clicking.
At that exact moment, the Grimm reached the lines of soldiers. "SWORDS!" the commander shouted to his men, all of whom drew swords and shields. The soldiers then brought their shields up as the Grimm threw themselves against the massive wall of metal. Ruby and the others rushed into battle, slicing the Grimm apart or in Nora's case, smashing them with a hammer. The soldiers began fighting the Grimm with their blades, several slicing the Grimm into pieces while others were tossed into the air by swings from Beowolf Alphas. Two Ursa Majors charged towards Commander Lazu but he didn't flinch. As soon as the beasts were in range, one of them swung their massive claws at him but the commander brought up his arm as a collapsible kite shield extended from his gauntlet. He parried the Ursa's strike and countered by slicing its arm off with his own blade, the severed limb quickly evaporating soon after. The Grimm roared in outrage and swung with it's available arm. The commander jumped over the strike and landed on the Ursa's shoulders. He swung his blade as he jumped off the beast, slicing its head clean off. The second Ursa tried to attack at a fast pace but the human in front of it parried or countered every strike, sending sparks as the blade met the natural armor of the monster. Getting annoyed, the commander jumped back and his sword began to glow. As the Ursa tried to close the distance between them, its opponent swung his blade and fired a crescent of energy at it, slicing the giant major in half lengthways. A Beowulf Alpha then tried to pounce on the commander but all that managed to do was ensure the beast was gutted as the commander's blade cut a massive gash right down its gut. "Ah, Grimm. Always so predictable," Michael said as he turned and swung his blade into the neck of another Beowolf, severing its head from its shoulders with its black blood staining the commander's weapon.
As the battle raged on, Ruby noticed two things. The first was that Ren was fighting far more aggressively than he normally does. Usually, Ren fights in a way that makes him seem in control of the fight from the very start. It's like he's planned out everything: what strengths and weaknesses his enemy has, what measures they're going to use to conceal them, what their next move before they make it, how he's going to counter it and how he's going to beat them. Right now, there seemed to be less of that tactical brilliance and more swift brutality, almost like Nora in a way. If Nora used two machine pistols with blades attached to them that is. Ren was relentless in his attacks, blasting the Grimm for a few minutes longer than was needed. This just wasn't like him. Ruby began thinking that maybe it had something to do with the mercenaries.
The second thing she noticed was something about the Grimm. They weren't acting differently but there was a slight change in their appearance. Something so subtle, she almost didn't notice it. Ruby was fighting with one of the Beowolf Alphas, dodging its claw strikes and then slamming her scythe-blade into the base of its neck. She was ready to pull the trigger and cut the beast in two when she noticed its eyes flash blue for a split second as it growled at her. She pulled the trigger and killed the beast afterwards but the image still stuck with her. Blue-eyed Grimm? The Grimm have always had red eyes and the only ones with any other color were the mutations she encountered with her team in Mountain Glenn and Forever Fall. She did always hate those exploding Creeps.
Eventually, the Grimm were driven back by the mercenaries, killing any Grimm stupid enough to still try and fight. Most of the beasts were smart and fled though. It looks like that, amazingly, the soldiers only suffered minor injuries from the attack. "Well...that went well. Right guys?" Nora said with her normal level of cheerfulness.
"For the most part, yeah," Jaune replied.
"Hey...Ren?" Ruby walked up him, putting Crescent Rose back into its dormant form. "Something wrong?"
"No. Nothing's wrong Ruby," Ren says as he puts StormFlower back into its holsters.
"You sure? Cause...ever since we talked with the commander over there, you've been acting...different."
"It's nothing Ruby."
"Ren...I'm just trying to help."
"I know...but I don't need help with this. I have everything under control."
"Would...you at least tell me what's going on?"
Ren stood in silence for a moment but then replied, "Not now. Not here. Not where Nora can hear me."
(A/U: So, over the next few chapters there's gonna be a few more reveals including my version of Nora and Ren's past and why Ren hates mercenaries. As always, read, review and enjoy.)