The Shadow of Fire
Chapter 29: White Fang
"Heeeeeyaaaaa!" Yang shouted out as she fired off Ember Celica, the blasts of Dust soaring towards the White Fang body guards of Touko.
The blasts of Yellow and Red Dust exploded as the White Fang body guards spears deflected them across the room, colliding and exploding with random objects.
Blake was having a more up close encounter; for whenever Yang ceased to fire for a moment, she would use her Semblance to get in close on her targets, slicing with Gambol Shroud at their armor.
The guards held steadfast, not giving up an inch of area as their leader fled the premise. Touko was the White Fang Commander and Leader, and as such was to be treated with the up most protection. The two were prepared to give their lives for her to escape, anything to help further their organization.
The two had another reason to fight: Blake Belladonna.
As the higher-ups body guards, they were tasked with objectives that were vital to the White Fangs survival. Once Blake had fled the organization from Adam Taurus's command, she had been declared rouge and needed to be eliminated at all costs. As a previous agent, she knew many secrets of the group, some of which she didn't even know in her current state of mind, locked in the depths of her brain. As she held important knowledge, she needed to be dealt with. Quickly.
The two deflected more blasts from Yang, who began relocating herself as Blake pressed her attack on the men, getting a few slashes in on their arms and legs.
As one guard jabbed forward with his spear, Blake spawned a shadow double, who took the hit as she rolled on the floor, stabbing Gambol Shroud upward into his right knee.
The man fell to the floor instantly, his teammate distracted by Yang's oncoming fire to help him. He let out a few painful screams before Blake did the honorable thing and impaled his throat, killing him quickly to stop the pain.
Blake never liked killing people, especially Faunus at that matter. However, no matter where she turned, she saw death and pain everywhere she looked. It was a fact of life, and if she didn't do it, more people could die.
Blake fired several shots at the back of the second guard, the bullets bouncing off his armor as he turned to her, about to strike.
Yang was across the room in a few seconds, slamming her fist into the man with such force that his neck snapped the seconds contact was made, killing him instantly as his body flew into a nearby water fountain.
"Ya okay Blake-y?" Yang asked quizzically, reloading Ember Celica.
"Yes." She said, breathing heavily. "I believe so." The Faunus turned to the door that Touko fled into, taking a few steps towards it. "We need to stop her."
Yang grasped her wrist and held her firmly in place, moving her head so her eyes faced Yang's own.
"We need to find a way back to Weiss and Ruby, they need us. That... Tuoka person or whatever can wait." Yang replied, trying to pull her towards the blocked off hallway.
"She is more important than Saturn, Yang." Blake said, removing herself from the girls grip. "The White Fang must have ordered the hit on us; we need to kill the source." Blake demanded, reloading her pistol. "I'm going after her myself; it would be easier if you came too. Once we get her, we can find the girls."
Yang weighed her options, taking in the logic of Blake's suggestion for once in her life. "Fine, letsa go partner!" Yang said with a grin, following the girl down the hallway.
Touko quickly booted up her black Scroll, wiping a dab of sweat from her forehead as she dashed down the halls, dodging carts and drones as she fled.
"Come on you damn machine! Work!" She commanded, tapping a few commands on the side of the Scroll. A large black screen was reflected back at her before it changed to white, several lines of blue numbers of coding rushing up and down the tablets screen every few seconds. Touko dragged numbers around the screen, a small keyboard with numbers one through nine in the bottom right corner spawning new lines of code.
A small box of black font popped up in a small box in the center of the screen, a message:
Access Granted.
Touko grinned as she took in the message.
She was in. All of the bases software and computer systems were at the touch of her fingertips.
And Saturn didn't even know it.
"Alright Belladonna... Time to even the score." She said, tapping a few new lines of code for the main computer system to read. A simple message sent from her Scroll was answered by the bases main computer, allowing her to proceed.
As she tapped the screen, several drones nearby began activating their weapons, turning to face the hallway that she was running from, waiting for Blake. Several machine gun turrets sprung to life on the ceilings above her, doing the same as the drone forces.
Touko was now in control.
She quickly typed a few codes into the Scroll, grinning as her command was accepted.
"ALL DRONE FORCES: AUTHORIZATION CODE: OMEGA-12: COMMAND RESET: NEW TARGET: BLAKE BELLADONNA."
The message, or virus in Touko's vision and mind considering that the code she used prevented others access, spread throughout the base, all drones taking up the order and making their way towards the girls position.
Touko turned a hallway as the sounds of gunfire and metal crushing echoed behind her, indicating that Blake and her friend were near. Touko ran faster, sprinting towards hanger 6 as more drones ran by her and down the hallway.
The White Fang leader stumbled over a pile of crates, falling to the floor as explosions echoed behind her. She quickly gathered her scroll back up and activated a dozen more turrets behind her, breathing heavily as she ran down the metal stair case to the hanger.
"Watch your right!" Yang called out to Blake, firing several shots towards an auto turret, which exploded into hot shrapnel on the flooring. Several drone squads raced towards them, hand swords and fists at the ready while several took cover behind metal objects, firing bullets at the girls as they fought.
"You're a chatterbox, even when we fight, Yang." Blake commented, slicing a drone in half before throwing Gambol Shroud down the hall with her ribbon, pulling it back as it fired a single shot from the pistol, cutting several drones down as it sped back to its owner.
"Admit it Blake-y; you love the sound of my voice~~" Yang said while laughing wildly, taking cover as she reloaded her weapons, firing at the drones.
More and more turrets sprang to life faster than they could slay them, slowing the Huntresses down further and further as they went deeper into battle. A seemingly endless horde of drones were after them, focusing most fire on Blake for some odd reason. Regardless, the pair fought bravely, slicing and destroying squad after squad, and turret after turret. However, they just wouldn't stop activating.
As they moved up another few feet, they found themselves pinned down once more behind a few metal crates. Blake could see the staircase that she assumed Touko fled down to escape them, nearly getting shot as she inspected the area.
"Idea time?" Yang asked, firing a few shots at the drone forces.
Blake grunted as a bullet traveled through her left shoulder, forcing herself to ignore the pain. She looked around, noticing a large glass window to the hanger nearby.
"Yes." Blake said, firing at the glass, which promptly exploded into nothing. "Follow me!" Blake yelled out, firing at the drones before she sprung out of the window, down into the hanger with Yang closely following behind.
Glass shards exploded as they made contact with the hanger's concrete flooring. Blake landed with grace, slowly rising up as Touko spotted her, stumbling into a drone and falling over.
"Touko..." Blake growled, Gambol Shroud flashing in the lighting of the room, making the blade looking ever more deadly.
"Oh dear..." Touko made out in a hushed whisper. "Drones!" She commanded, the nearby drones looking towards the White Fang leader.
"Annihilate her!" She demanded, rising up and rubbing her aching ears before racing off.
The handful of drones opened fire on Blake and Yang, focusing it mostly on Blake. The two girls dove in opposite directions, hissing behind a few scattered mechanical devices as the drones slowly advanced, firing continuously as Touko ran.
A portion of the ceiling opened up, a large mechanical black crane holding a Bulkhead airship appeared, slowly moving it downward. Touko unlocked the crafts side door once it landed down, pulling on the handle.
It wouldn't budge.
Blake spotted Touko trying to flee, and looked over at Yang, who was firing a few shots every so often at the drones before taking cover. Blake bit her cheek and made herself look hurt. Blake was out of ideas, and this seemed to be the best saved for last.
"Yang..." Blake falsely groaned out, drawing her partner's attention.
Yang looked over, puzzled by her tone when Blake suddenly let out a whimper, pushing her shoulder forward a tad to show off the bullet wound in her. While it hurt very little to Blake, it looked horrible to Yang. Add this factor to how scared Blake seemed to be, and you got an angry Yang.
As Blake had hypothesized, Yang's eyes began glowing a blood red color, blinking many times, causing the color to grow darker. Her Aura began pulsating, melting the crate that she was next to. The angry brawlers Semblance activated with extraordinary power, her hair bursting into flames.
"I'LL KILL YOU ALL!" Yang shouted in pure rage, letting out a fearsome roar that would put a pack of Beowulf's to shame.
The burning girl sprung up from her position and flew across the room, slamming her fist into the closest drone. The mechs body cracked all over, it's right arm falling off to the side as Yang forced her left fist through its stomach, ripping out power supply and internal cords. The brawler lifted up the body, spinning it around before throwing it across the room towards the Bulkhead.
The drones lifeless body flew directly into the right engine of the craft, melting nearly on contact with the heat. Shards of metal entered the engine, causing black smoke to be expelled from the airship.
Other drones moved up to face Blake and kill her, only to be greeted by Yang and her fists. The drone's numbers began dwindling downward, leaving only clumps of melted steel left as remains.
Blake began approaching the craft that Touko was trying to enter, the engines still running. Yang was still racing around, blowing up more and more drones in order to calm herself down.
Touko finally unlocked the crafts doors, and slowly began climbing inside. She felt a hand grasp onto her shoulder and turned to the owner. Blake greeted her with a scowl and punched the White Fang leader square in the face, sending her to the floor of the craft.
"Gahh!" Touko exclaimed, cupping her face. "You fight like Adam!"
Blake stood above her cocking back Gambol Shroud before aiming it at her forehead. Touko went pale, eyes wide as she took in the sight before her.
Blake slowly pressed down on the trigger.
A massive explosion shook the room, sending Blake off the craft as she fired her shot, nearly hitting Touko, who dodged it in a roll. The White Fang leader quickly scrambled up, racing for the controls to the craft. As she entered the pilots area, she jammed her finger down on a red circular button, which lowered a black metal door that cut her off from the back of the airship.
Blake scrambled up, dodging a blue plasma shot which tore up the ground where she had been, radiating heat. She turned her attention to the source, which was several spider drones, along with a small army of foot drones, weapons at the ready.
Yang was already in combat, hammering holes into the bodies of the mechs as bullets harmlessly dinged off of her body, her Aura deflecting them or melting the bullets before they could reach her. The collective spider drones locked onto Yang, each transforming into larger cannons, aiming at the girl. The group fired all at once, several high powered shots soaring across the room and into Yang. Smoke rose up from ground-zero, and Blake could see the heat rising up from the plasma rounds.
"Yang!" She cried out, the craft behind her all but forgotten as it slowly rose up into the air. A section of the wall lowered into the floor, revealing that the bases hanger was attached to a nearby cliff overlooking the sea. Touko fired the engines and the craft took off into the sky.
The spider drones and the remaining foot drones encircled Blake, weapons at the ready.
Yang emerged from ground-zero with a mighty roar, drawing the drone's attention, along with Blake's own, who was looking on in awe.
Yang's clothes were torn in various places, her arms and legs blooded but no bones appeared broken. The violent look in her eyes signaled that she wasn't done slaughtering yet.
Yang raced across the room and slammed a fist into one of the spider mechs four legs. The metal broke like glass, crumbling apart and down onto the floor. The mech groaned as Yang violently assaulted the metal monster, tearing it to pieces.
She slammed her boot down on the memory core, killing the beast for good as she glared at the rest.
Guns were firing and plasma soared across the room while Yang danced in a sea of fire, running around Blake in a circle. Her Aura flared up more and more, the room growing hotter around Blake. A sphere of oxygen surrounded Blake as Yang gained more and more speed, while the rest of the room's temperature began to skyrocket.
The heat was too much; air was growing none existent around the drones. The drone's internal devices grew far too hot, unable to take in more cold air to function. One by one, the drone forces shut down, collapsing onto the floor in piles.
An exhausted Yang staggered over to Blake, collapsing in the ebony haired girls lap, all strength missing from her body. She took several deep and fragmented breaths, groaning as her muscles ached.
"How ya holding up?" Yang asked, slowly glancing up at her teammate.
"Been better, Yang. Been better." She said looking down at Yang with a weak smile.
And at the same time, the exhausted due passed out on the metal floor.