Four days ago, the demon warmaster known as Razael had launched an attack on the village of Arroyo on Patch. The attack had ended in failure due to those four huntsmen from Vale, the local militia and...her. SHE was there, hiding in the trees and firing on his army. Not only was he forced to abandon his persona of mercenary commander Michael Lazu and change into his true form, but he was also forced to retreat. This...would not sit well with the master. Once he had driven through the rune-portal he had created, the forested landscape of Patch had changed to the equally familiar wasteland. The ground itself was black, as if the land was covered by solidified magma. The sky itself over this wasteland was dark purple, the only variation was the white glow of the broken moon. Razael had returned to the Badlands. He grunted as he revved up the Lich and boosted further into the wasteland.
Soon, Razael reached his destination. In the center of this seemingly dead continent rose a massive structure. It resembled a pyramid, colored the same shade of black as the actual land. The material was no doubt obsidian but there also seemed to be technological elements as well. Red power conduits surged across the surface of the structure, a faint glow emanating from them. And this was just the top. Razael drove up to the pyramid and waited as the pyramid's side opened for him. The two massive pieces of stone parted to create a door that led to a vehicle elevator. Razael drove his Lich onto the platform as the door sealed behind him. Red lights began flashing as the elevator descended. As the elevator continued to descend into the depths of the earth, Razael silently prayed. Something he almost never did nowadays. Ever since he fell, he had never prayed to any god. Now...now he was praying his master wasn't in the mood to use the flaming iron maiden his brother had given him. Hopefully, their history was more than enough to protect him.
"Please...for the love of everything in CREATION...let him BE in a good mood," Razael muttered to himself.
Once the elevator had stopped its descent, the full extent of the facility was revealed. It was a massive underground base, filled with thousands, if not millions of soldiers. Some wore the trappings of the White Fang, though most notable was a massive man wearing a full facemask and a weaponized chainsaw. Other soldiers wore the armor of the Razael's garrison. Even more looked nothing like the other two, resembling bipedal reptiles. Razael jumped out of the driver's seat of the Lich, letting another armored demon soldier take his place. The warmaster took notice of two of his master's personal guard, the Praetorians. These soldiers were clad in armor that seemed nothing like the soldiers and officers under Razael's command. Each of them wore expressionless masks that were made of moonstone, if Razael remembered right. Hoods covered the rest of their heads. The attire they wore was more akin to ceremonial robes instead of proper battle armor making them seem rather vulnerable even if they were armed with massive polearms. Razael knew how dangerous these Praetorians were though, after all, each shared a similar background to himself.
Each of the Praetorians, and even Razael himself, were of the Fallen caste of demons. Demons are either born or created. Fallen demons were once angels that were forced out of the White City for one reason or another, be it having a forbidden relationship or going against one of the many doctrines the paladins of the light were taught. The second caste, the Pureblood caste, were born from one of the Nine Circles of their homeworld, Hell.
Razael walked up to the two Praetorians and spoke. "Is our lord busy?"
"No. In fact he...was waiting for your return," the first Praetorian said in a monotone voice.
"I see…" Razael sighed and decided to get it over with and walked further into the facility, soon entering a massive room with a throne situated at the other end. A dark figure sat in the throne, reading a book. Razael sighed one last, approached, and took a knee before the figure.
"My lord...I have returned to give you my...report on Arroyo."
The figure marked the page he was one and then spoke, "Continue then Commander."
"Sir…" Razael began.
About half an hour later, the throne had been converted into a meeting room. The throne was still present in the room but in front of it was a long marble table that was able to seat all of the commanders at this man's-or demon's-disposal. Razael was already seated at the table after everything had been said and done from his report to his master.
"Now then," the mastermind in the shadows said to his Praetorians, "assemble the other commanders. Sustrai, Black, Merlot, Taurus, all of them."
The Praetorians bowed and headed out.
The first two to be gathered were Adam Taurus, along with his lieutenant, and Merlot.
The next pair of Praetorians knocked on and opened the door of the quarters of another trio of commanders.
"Oh...it's you guys," came Mercury Black's uninterested voice as he put down one of the few comics he could come across in this place, an issue of Red vs Blue. Of course, the Praetorians decided to interrupt him just as Agent Carolina was about to fight Sharkface.
"What do you want?" Mercury groaned as he put his comic down.
"A meeting has been called for all of the commander of our master. Commander Razael Ignis has returned from the field...with failure," the Praetorian deadpanned.
"Ignis eh? Guess he was a bit too hot-headed?"
The Praetorians simply stood there, not responding to Mercury's pun.
"Really? Nothing. You're just...going to stand there?"
No response.
"Wow you guys are no fun."
"Where are Commander Sustrai and Commander Neopolitan?"
"Em's in the library last time I checked...as for the little mute...good luck finding her. Maybe try the nearest ice cream place."
Once again, the Praetorian's fail to grasp Mercury's humor.
"Seriously, do you guys just...NOT have a sense of humor?"
"All emotion was stripped from us Commander Black. Apparently you don't remember the briefing on us."
"Or I just didn't go."
"I would recommend you head to the throne room immediately otherwise we will have to drag you there. Or our lord will teleport you in."
"Well...even after four months I am NOT use to the whole teleporting thing so...might as well."
With that, the Praetorians nodded and split up, one going off to find Neo while the other went to find Emerald.
Mercury, despite being the third to be told of the meeting, was the last to arrive. He took a seat next to Emerald and Neo, the former silently chastised Mercury for his tardiness while the latter somehow managed to get a bowl of Neapolitan ice cream and was happily eating it. That even managed to confuse Razael and the mastermind of this operation, even to the point of Razael asking where she got it from. Her response was an innocent grin and a shrug.
"Ah...Commander Black...I was WONDERING if you would join us," the mysterious lord stated.
"Yeah well I-" Mercury began.
"Save your excuses Commander. We have more pressing matters to attend to. Not your trivial delays. Tell me...Commanders Sustrai, Black, and Neopolitan...do you remember these four?" the mastermind pressed four buttons on his throne and a holographic image came up with pictures of Ruby, Jaune, Nora and Ren.
"What the? That little brat from Beacon?"
"So you know her. What of the others?"
Emerald spoke up, "Jaune Arc, Nora Valkyrie, and Lie Ren. The remaining members of team JNPR."
"Good...you remember them. Because these four INTERLOPERS are responsible for the loss of an entire garrison and...the Venarox-44 Anti-Aura Artillery."
"WHAT?!" a new voice spoke out this time followed by a loud clang. The new voice belonged to a man who wore a grey jacket with a high collar and a red shirt underneath it. He had grey hair, a mustache and a beard. One of the man's eyes was brown while the other was a red cybernetic replacement. The clanging noise that followed his outburst was his right robotic arm slamming against the table. This man was none other than Nero Merlot, CEO and founder of Merlot Industries. Behind the mad scientist were two of his combat androids, the Ronin S-77 Combat Android. "You mean to tell me, Commander Ignis, that MY creation was destroyed by one of the very same bumblers that forced me to abandon my offshore Grimm laboratory?! You imbecile!"
"Enough," the mastermind stated bluntly and coldly.
"A-apologies my lord."
"Now then...they've made it QUITE clear as to what it is...they...seek. They seek the truth. The Queen may have...deserted us...but that does not mean they will not continue on. Mercury and Emerald used Mistral as their cover, if you'd remember."
"Kinda hard to forget something like that," Mercury blurted out.
The mastermind glared at Mercury from his throne which shut him up. "I have unleashed some of our naval forces to deal with them before they even reach Mistral, give them a watery grave. However...I feel they will fail in their mission."
"Well, my lord," another new voice said, "what EXACTLY did you send?" The new voice belonged to a man who had black hair, blue eyes, and was wearing a simply grey outfit with three red rectangular shaped medals pinned on his chest and black boots.
"A few aquatic Grimm. A school of Kamoah led by a Hydra."
"I'm not so worried about the Hydra failing. The shark Grimm though…"
"On the very likely chance that this...team RNJR reaches Mistral along with their shadow...I have some missions for you, my loyal commanders. Firstly, Doctor Merlot, when this meeting is over, I want a progress report on Pantheon."
"Of course my lord. It'll be on your desk shortly," Merlot states.
"Mercury, Emerald, Neo, you three are to be deployed to Mistral. Monitor EVERYTHING."
"What? No fighting?" Mercury said, shocked.
"Only on MY command. Admiral Vitallion."
"Yes my lord?" the man wearing grey, now identified as Admiral Vitallion, responded.
"Take Adam Taurus and his lieutenant to Patch."
"What's on Patch that you need?" Adam inquired.
"Well...how shall I put this...this mission is a win-win. I'm able to send a message DIRECTLY to the interlopers and YOU are able to continue your vendetta. Commander Razael...you are to remain here for the time being. As for me…"
That last part got everyone's attention. Razael and Vitallion grin while everyone else was shocked.
'What do you plan to do...Lord Belial?" Razael asked.
The mastermind, Belial, rose from his throne and stepped into the light. He had dark hair, brown eyes and was clad in a set of heavy armor. It resembled old plate armor but it was technologically advanced. A helmet began to form around his head from the collar of the armor. Said helmet was adorned with two short horns of disproportionate size, the left being smaller than the right.
"I plan," Belial began, his voice becoming synthesized and his eyes becoming blood red, "to send a message...written in the blood of the innocent to General James Ironwood, himself."
(A/N: And now, the big bad has a name and a look. Belial. I'll get into more detail about him further down the line. The Kamoah's name is a very corrupted version of the Hawaiian word for shark. The next two chapters will be Blake and Yang chapters. After that, Belial's going to send his message. As always, read, review and enjoy.)