Disclaimer: This chapter contains graphic content description, so be mindful of reading at your own pace. I do not own RWBY, this is merely a fan story. Hope you enjoy it.
? A.G.W. - Vanitas, West Sanus - 1:30am
Tolling bells… That's the only thing able to be heard in the middle of the night, with a starry sky watching the unfolding chiming reaching far beyond the settlement and into the surrounding red desert. If only it was just the bells that sounded off that night.
Voices screamed in panic, drowning out the sound of the tolling bells, nothing but palpable terror amidst the people of a settlement in the middle of the desert, Vanitas. This remote town sat at the edge of Vacuo's territory covered in red sand known as the Red Sea, it stood as an example that newer settlements could be raised to inspire hope and let the people of Remnant take back the desolate lands. But as if nature itself was mocking them, the very wildlife of this world rampaged through the area like a sickening wave of death and torture, their defenses trampled over, along with any hope of further settlementation. Every settlement across Vacuo's Frontier became sieged by ferocious beasts formed from the negative emotions and suffering of mankind, fueled by the constant pain and torment of the living, the Grimm.
Hideous monsters formed the darkest pits of the world, feeding off the suffering of any living being they came across, but its favored prey was Humanity and Faunus kind. These beasts consumed pain and torment like candy, eagerly waiting to bite down on anything sentient they could come across... And for the town of Vanitas, the Grimm had chosen this place to be a sickening feeding ground of death and torture as the night became a macabre theater staring the populace being picked off in horrifying ways, hopelessly trying to fend off as many of the ghastly beasts as they could.
"Where are the Huntsmen?! I thought they were supposed to be fending off the Grimm!" A guardswoman desperately yelled for a response; her armor having been torn to shreds. The sounds of gunfire from her bayonet rifle disoriented her senses.
"They fucked off that's what! We paid them to protect us, and they left-!" A nearby defense guard yelled back with irritation, having a curved sword as his only defense. Though his statement was cut short, for he was pulled down onto the sand to drown and be eaten alive by a gathering of centipede Grimm the size of a full-grown person, Centinels. The guardswoman screamed at the sight, shouting her companion's name in terror dropping her rifle to try to save him.
"Xan!" Desperation began to gnaw at her core much faster at the inability to save her fellow guard, now reduced to a scarlet pit of blood staining the sand. Before she could properly lament her loss she was suddenly swallowed whole. Letting shrieks of fear while squirming in panic from within the maw of whatever Grimm had gotten the drop on her. Until she was silenced by a dreadful gulp from a cobra-like Grimm, a King Taijitu. The sadistic Grimm hissed nonchalantly as it scurried deeper into the settlement to feast on the panicked civilians.
Across the town, a large gathering of people desperate to flee the increasing massacre pushed against each other in a fit of self-preservation. Trampling over one another as they all wanted to be saved and yet their own needs, unwittingly pushing themselves closer to being the perfect target for more Grimm to swarm them.
Gathering at the crowded spot, a swarm of spiderlike Grimm, Dread Widows, towered over the citizens and immediately went on to feast on them. Boney legs and dreadfully pale white armor lunged at the population with dreadful ease, sadistically playing with their food. Either wrapping them in paralyzing webs for a slow and painful end or outright killing them on the spot, a mercy considering how the night unfolded.
Some lucky few managed to escape the massacre and flee the town as fast as possible without looking back from the absolute nightmare of a night. And amidst those few survivors, a mother ran desperately clinging onto her child... Until her grip on her child falters, causing the boy to fall face-first onto the sand.
"Lone!"
The mother shrieked in a desperate attempt to reach for her child, the fear-stricken boy looking at the boney face of death swinging down to end his life. Only for the mother to step in between, letting out an ear-piercing scream as death had claimed another soul.
"M-Mom?"
August 4th, 94 A.G.W. - Mount Glenn, East Sanus - 10:42 A.M.
With a sudden gasp, a young man wakes up abruptly, having just relived a vivid nightmare. Shaky breathing escaped his lips, getting his perception of reality back instead of dwelling on reliving such a thing. Taking a moment to breathe properly he looks to his surroundings, finding himself inside a moving all-terrain vehicle being driven on an uneven road filled with major bumps shaking everyone on board. The narrow road in the woods served as a path for the journey of a traveling group heading north towards the capital city of East Sanus, Vale.
With a groaning impatience, the young man slowly breathed carefully as he composed himself. "How much longer until we arrive?" The young man asked groggily, rubbing his restless eyes. His question was directed to anyone willing to answer him.
"Half a rotation, we've just crossed the southern border." The sound of another person came through, it was a raspy yet serious voice speaking from the front of the vehicle, accompanying the driver of the moving vehicle.
The young man didn't respond, still recovering from the tormentous dream, merely shifting his attention to the passing trees, seeing nothing but blurs of the greenery vegetation and far-off mountains as the only sights within the dense forest of Vale's frontier. It was a deceptively calm sight, from afar you'd assume it was a quiet environment with the only sound being the morning birds chirping as they signaled a new day. But once inside, it was a maze of death with stalking beasts eager to shred any life and hope that dared step into its expansive territory.
"Assuming Orion doesn't drive us off the cliff or into a pack of Grimm." A third person added, a teenage voice made itself present amidst the moving coffin, it sounded younger than the person asking for the remaining time to arrive at their desired location.
"Hey! That was once! …Okay, twice that it happened, and it wasn't my fault. How should I know we would stumble onto a stray pack of Beowolves?" The fourth and final person made himself present, Orion, a man with a deep but lively voice retorted in protest with slight hints of shame from the front of the vehicle, clearly driving the other three people doing separate things inside the moving car.
"We passed an abandoned settlement; it was obvious we'd meet some form of Grimm activity." The second person added with a stark tone of cold logic as he spoke his statements while checking on some files on a pocket-sized technological tablet.
"Aurelio, Sigma, leave him alone. The sooner we get to our destination, the better." The young man spoke with his eyes undeterred from observing the forest passing by before exhaling to form a small smile on him as he finally broke his focus from the forest. "And besides, we needed a little stress relief after seeing the devastated town."
The young man spoke with a lighter and calm tone to the conversation, taking Orion's side made the driver chuckle gladly while pulling one of his arms back to fist bump. Sigma shook his head silently as he found no sense in continuing the banter, preferring to continue looking into the files stored within the tablet. And Aurelio merely scoffed jokingly as he looked at the young man in a 'Really?' gaze, leaning against his seat and tossing an already-opened bottled water to the young man. "Nightmares again, boss?"
The only response Aurelio got was a sudden eagerness on drinking as the young man chugged down the entire bottle like it was his last meal. Aurelio exhaled from the other side of the armored vehicle, placing himself against the sturdy wall while watching his boss respond by rushing to finish the bottled water. "It never gets any easier..." The young man spoke exhaustedly as he faced Sigma tapping on his goat horns and sitting on the seat on the other side.
"What was it this time?" Aurelio asked in a contrasting serious tone as he kept the conversation going like any sane Bounty Hunter would do, pushing for an answer while looking as uninterested as possible. A trait, the young teen, unfortunately, picked up from their many jobs as a group.
"The Red Sea massacre..." The young man stated with a blank stare as he grasped the empty water bottle. That was the beginning of his life leading down a horrible spiral, his hometown erased within a single night and... the death of his mother. The serious mood of Aurelio prevailed through the otherwise dull conversation, staring with a tinge of understanding towards his fellow partner before throwing him another bottle of water.
"Then you're gonna need a lot more than that." Kino caught the bottle inches away from his face and returned to glance with a raised eyebrow at the change of expression Aurelio presented, a grinning smile from a comforting companion. Which made Kino relax enough to scoff calmly, throwing away the empty bottle into a makeshift trash bag in between the backseats.
"We've reached our last stop before reaching Vale!" Orion announced from the front beginning to drive slower, garnering the attention of Aurelio and the young man as the former peaked through the window with a joyful smile as they became witnesses to the nearest location near Vale that wasn't a settlement, Mt Glenn. Another bastion of hope for humanity turned into a warning to stay within its established cities. Another tragedy inflicted by the hordes of unending Grimm punishing the arrogant civilization trying to expand into Grimm territory.
For the traveling group, this was an ideal spot to take a small break from their travel. An abandoned city vast enough to give them temporary shelter and, potentially, harbor useful technology or materials left behind. A place quiet enough to spend a good portion of the day resting and scavenging for any noteworthy finds.
"Aurelio, you are so freaking joyful it's unsettling." Orion stated as he watched through the rear-view mirror over to the passengers in the back, laughing rather nervously over Aurelio's honest smile over seeing the dilapidated grave of a city.
"Because this is my first time seeing it! I've heard stories of this place... And yet to actually see it in person feels so strange." Aurelio spoke never separating himself from peering through the window, keeping his undivided attention to gazing at the approaching city. The young man on the back didn't look outside the window, he shook his head dismissively over Aurelio's weird enthusiasm for seeing a city's ruins.
"So, what'll be the procedure this time, Kino?" The young man, finally named, shot a glance at the rear-view mirror, noticing Orion glancing at him with a stare that was purposefully dragging his companion back to his usual self. Making him leave the unopened bottled water on his seat. "Same as always Orion, get us to the nearest and most stable entrance to the city."
With an obliging nod, Orion drove closer to the city, using a busted wall among the outer defenses of the city leading into a dried-up canal. A shaky change of road from uneven dirt to a stable concrete surface made everyone hold onto the car as they passed through many bumps. Orion chuckled over the change of road as the other three tightly held onto anything with an unamused expression over their driver's choice before the road stabilized and the vehicle came to a halt at the middle of a crossroads of canals with ruined bridges overlooking the desolate area.
"Gentlemen, we've arrived." Orion chuckled as he turned to his companions holding onto any corner of the vehicle like frozen cats. Sigma frowned tiredly before stepping out of the vehicle, followed by the rest of the group.
The four travelers stood beside the roaring transport as they took in the fresh air of the rising day. Kino stretched every part of his body, earning a couple of cracking noises from his tense limbs. Aurelio groaned in annoyance as he massaged his head, tending to a small bump formed by hitting his head on the roof of the car thanks to Orion's driving. Sigma tended to his uneven glasses, placing them back in place before grabbing the makeshift trash bag now full of empty food packaging mixed with empty bottles, and dumping it in the nearest sewage tube.
As Sigma walked back to the stationary vehicle with a relieved face for no longer spending any more time with a bag full of garbage, Kino opened up the trunk with a resounding thunk as the rest of his companions approached the back of the vehicle with varying expressions to retrieve the items inside.
"Shop's open, pick your prize." With a humorous grin, he tapped the wall of the vehicle signaling everyone to grab their weapons.
Aurelio was the first to barrel towards the trunk, retrieving a set of curved knives with an opening on the bottom for the purpose to switch his combat style. And rapidly spinning them within the palm of his hands with terrifying skill before placing them into scabbards on both sides of his waist.
Sigma grabbed a modified aviator helmet with a visor replacing the usual goggles that come with this type of headgear and two holstered handguns designed quite particularly to fit more uses than simply being efficient ranged weapons. Calmly adjusting the holsters on his thighs before placing on the helmet with practiced ease and lowering the visor over his glasses.
Orion carefully lifted a heavy slab of reinforced steel, designed as a collapsible shield able to be carried over his arm with ease. In an observant glance, he gripped onto a handle on the underside of the shield, holding it tightly for brief moments before attaching it to a strap on his back.
With everyone else having picked up their weapons, Kino retrieved a pair of holstered firearms and a face mask with a visor. The former included a heavy revolver embraided in a golden detailing of a desert flower. At the bottom of the barrel there laid a lengthy and sturdy machete blade in case he ever ran out of bullets. The small firearm served as a backup should he ever lose his main weapon. With careful movements, he set the bladed revolver on the back of his waist and his firearm on a right thigh pocket.
Kino slowly grasped at his face mask, stroking the lenses of his darkened visor showing his reflection. A pair of lavender-toned eyes stared back tiredly, contrasting his calm demeanor from just now. On the left side of his face, a scar ran from his lower eyelid down to his cheekbone, with two smaller scars intersecting it. He shook his head for a moment, now staring at a pair of honey-golden eyes with the scars still present. The difference in view made him sigh softly and finally put on the facemask covering up his eyebrows.
"Alright people, gather up, time to secure our pitstop." With a resounding serious tone gathering everyone's attention, he began listing off the things to do while they stayed inside the dead city. "Aurelio, scout for any nearby Grimm, neutralize them if you can, and find us a good resting spot. Orion, keep an eye on the car, we don't want another Possession incident. Sigma, you're with me, we'll check if there's anything valuable left around."
Kino's order was met with a unison of nods from the group, as Orion got back into the armored vehicle. The sound of the roaring engine echoed into the distance as it slowly faded as Orion drove off to a safer spot within the city. Aurelio shimmered in a dim pink light before taking off in a hurry, jumping into the air to the third floor of an abandoned office building. Sigma and Kino quickly rushed out to the city to search for any useful items left behind when the city was turned into a living nightmare that couldn't stop the wave of Grimm eager to extinguish humanity's hope.
With practiced movements, the young teen began to move from rundown building to rundown building before stumbling across a pack of Grimm lounging around the plaza of the abandoned city. Creeps, spiky agile bastards with nothing more than two legs and a mean bite that'll chomp a man in half. There were about eight huddled up together as if trying to identify where the source of their newly arrived prey. What they didn't know was that they would become the hunted.
Aurelio grinned eagerly before moving to a devastated section of the building with a clear view of the Creeps roaming around the plaza. Taking a running start, Aurelio launched himself into the air with deadly intent towards the gathering of Grimm, making the monsters instinctively raise their deformed heads to the being heading straight for them and roar as if they were ready to receive their meal handing itself.
But their cacophony of screeching roars ended as Aurelio instantly slashed the head off at the nearest Grimm before using its limp corpse to soften his landing and rapidly compose himself before lunging at every unholy beast in rapid succession with deadly intent. All of the Grimm fell one after the other with their bodies slowly dissipating, turning their anomalous tar-like bodies into darkened flakes as the momentary threat ended. Giving way to a sense of relief before the young teen kicked a fading head of a Creep with a small pout, quickly taking off to secure the surrounding streets and find a vantage spot to point out more packs of Grimm visibly roaming around the area.
While the young ram Faunus continued with his task on his side of the city, Sigma and Kino traveled across a street filled with debris and broken-down cars. Ruins of a better time when civilization wished to continue their stagnant progress stood as another depressing monument on the minds of those who'd get to hear of this place. Kino shrugged off any sense of empathy as he hovered his hand over a holstered firearm on his left thigh while staring at everything they passed by, aware of potential hidden dangers in the area. His partner seemed more focused on his tablet, following an outlined map of the city with a cautious pace.
"Where exactly are we heading? We passed by various tool shops and banks." Kino asked inquisitively as he passed a hand over a tumbled car, scraping off some dirt on its rusted exterior.
"Assuming the Grimm didn't alter the cartography of the city, we should be nearing an important building integral to the city's defenses." Sigma stated calmly, glancing away from his tablet and storing it in a pocket on his waist now that he had memorized the route to their target. "If I'm correct in my assessment, an important building such as this one should contain an emergency generator along with valuable information." Sigma stopped at a corner of the street, letting Kino pass him to take point. With a hand signal indicating that their route is towards the left, Kino nodded calmly before taking a glance at the road on their left side.
An empty path awaited them with a clear view of their destination, a sign of relief, and an easy time without any danger. That was until the looming presence of a pack of Beowolves appeared on the other end of the street, sniffing upwards in the air with an attentive look. Kino slowly pulled himself back into cover, silently gesturing to the danger now roaming around clueless of their presence. Hoping to avoid any confrontations that'll attract more Grimm, Kino motions to use the tumbled-over cars scattered on the street as cover to move sneakily. He slowly takes a first step, carefully crouching down and approaching the nearest car using the end of it as cover.
With a careful peek through the broken windows of the car, Kino noticed two more cars in front of him acting as big enough covers for the two of them. Lowering his head and facing back to Sigma, Kino motions to him their plan in this situation. "We'll move in turns. When I move to the next car you move to the one I was at." He expressed their plan of action through hand signals, earning an understanding nod from Sigma still at the corner of the street. Noticing the Beowolves facing away from their general direction, Kino silently rushed to the second car and immediately leaned against it without alerting the pack.
Sigma watched through his position as Kino carefully made his way to the edge of the car to take a glance at the Grimm blocking their path forward. Seeing that abhorrent beasts had not noticed his movement, he signaled for Sigma to move to the first car which his partner did in the same careful manner. With control over his body, Sigma quickly did as his partner motioned him to come to a stop behind the car and wait for the next move.
Just as Kino was about to step back to peek at the pack of Grimm blocking them, he felt the pavement under his feet snap to bits, causing a sound of cracking not loud enough to get him killed but just enough to be heard across the silence of the city. Looking down with shock Kino quickly halted himself, staying as still as possible before hearing that the Beowolves had completely stopped their curious blockade and instantly snapped in the direction of the cracking sound with low growls and snarls.
The snarling of the Beowolves made Kino stop dead in his tracks, with a slow pace the pack shifted their focus to the street beside them trying to sniff out what is causing the ruckus. Kino glanced back at his partner to stop as the sound of the abhorrent canine beasts growling in search of them put them at risk. The two of them slowly pulled out their firearms, careful to not draw any further unwarranted attention. A sudden bend of metal drew Kino's attention as one Beowolf jumped on top of the third car, its weight barely to be held by the rusting car as the beast growled restlessly. The feeling of the beasts dreadfully approaching had Kino and Sigma on edge, they could take the Grimm head on but if they did, they'd draw more to them from the loud sounds of such a fight.
As the pack slowly walked down the street, the sound of a far car engine drew everyone's attention. For the Beowolves they instantly turned back in surprise, for Kino and Sigma they looked with confusion before identifying it, easing into relief as they mentally sighed in thankfulness over Orion being their unintentional savior. And at just a moment's notice, the Beowolves howled defiantly and rushed away to chase after the source of the vehicle.
Once the street was cleared by all the Beowolves, Kino instantly stood up with his firearm still in hand inspecting their route before signaling to his partner to quickly follow close by. In a mad sprint, the two partners ran down the streets into the city's defense building, passing by various makeshift barricades that once served to hold back Grimm from entering when the city was under siege. As the two entered the building in a hurry they failed to notice a trio of Beowolves snarling from around the corner of the street, having seen them pass by and now were eager to have something to bite their teeth into.
Inside the defense station, Kino and Sigma stopped their running at the reception of the building littered with scattered skeletal remains. Taking a moment to calm down, letting the tensity of the situation finally die down. "Well, that's another close call avoided by Orion's reckless driving." Sigma snidely commented as he shifted his glasses back into position making Kino turn the instant he spoke, responding with an agreeing roll of his eyes underneath the visor before checking back on the entrance and seeing that they weren't followed.
Sigma quickly pulled out his tablet and a cord from a bag on his waist and connected it to a small computer terminal to check for any files that might help them while inside. That's where his specialty shined as he began to scroll through every folder and subfolder inside the machine with practiced ease. Kino turned away from the reception, carefully watching his step over the remains of various scattered bones and spent old rifles, he slowly took in the scene laid out in front of them and his mind began to piece how each body had laid where it did.
The people had set this building as a holdout, a last stand against the Grimm, barricades set up haphazardly on the parking area to prevent monsters from coming in and the ones inside made it clear they didn't have much time to prepare and were severely outmatched when the wave of death hit them. Within his mind's eye he could hear the faint sounds of shooting and screams, a sight that repeated everywhere the Grimm went. Before he could sink any deeper into the macabre mind theatre giving him a representation of how the city fell, he heard Sigma unplug his tablet and store the cord away.
"According to the map of this station, the emergency generator lies in the basement. Given the dilapidated state of this place, we'd need to run some repairs but once power's back we should have access to the more... beneficial areas of our search." Sigma showed Kino the holographic map on his tablet, putting a finger on the floor beneath them as the first place to check. With a silent nod, Kino took point as they began to move down the nearest hallway, leading them onto the stairway while making sure not to repeat the incident with the pack of Beowolves.
At the end of the hallway, they entered through a door leading onto a completely dark staircase going down and up, but their target was downstairs. Keeping the door open to let in a small amount of light as they both searched for a pair of pocket flashlights, small enough to be carried easily and shine just enough light for them. Kino led them down the staircase aiming his firearm with the flashlight underneath it, giving him a clear line of sight.
Once Kino and Sigma arrived at the basement, they noticed a reinforced fence circling a huge industrial generator having been left open. Sigma carefully stepped closer as the fence gate creaked quietly from their actions attempting to open it. With their lights shining on the machinery Sigma was free to analyze the state of the generator, looking at every corner of the large power supply before moving onto the inside to check for any sign of integral damage.
"Looks stable enough, there's no grave damage on the interior components and there are enough stable Combustion type Dust crystals that haven't decayed to last for a day or two." Sigma exclaimed from within its interior, giving a brief summary of the situation while Kino leaned against the reactor. His flashlight pointed around to scan the room as he listened attentively to his partner.
"That's some good news, how long until you can get it back on?" Moving his flashlight across the basement he noticed cobwebs of dirt piled on every corner of the room, gaining his attention briefly before turning back to the door of the inner components. Shining on the logo of the manufacturer of such intricate piece of machinery, a simplistic design of the letter M inside a hexagon along with the company name: Merlot Industries. However, such a view lasted just for a brief moment as Sigma opened the door to speak clearly. "I need to run a diagnostic first for any abnormalities, so give me a couple of minutes."
With his piece said, Sigma returned inside leaving Kino to explore the basement. Following his partner's unknown timeframe to get the generator working again safely, Kino shined on as much of the room as possible, coming across a bulletin board serving as a calendar for scheduling work. Choosing to entertain the curious notion of exploring the basement he approached the board, carefully inspecting many dates marked with names of workers to take shifts on certain activities.
This basement floor served as a janitorial meeting spot for the ones not assigned with valuable labor, turning down to his feet he saw many notes laying on the floor haphazardly as they had lost their adherence to stay stuck to the bulletin board. Slowly looking at every scribbled note one by one, he began to notice that the janitorial staff had written about some sort of discomfort present amidst the upper floors, claiming that something weird was going on with rumors of Grimm... experiments?
Before he could put any more focus on the written notes, the sound of the industrial generator instantly made him aim his firearm toward it, slowly easing up once he let the sound and shaking of the generator coming online sink in. With a relieved sigh, Kino turned the flashlight off and headed back to meet up with his partner, who eagerly exited the machinery with a confident look. "Power's back on! We should be able to access the data we require."
The generator started up sending off energy into the lights in the basement, instantly flooding the room as they came alive and began illuminating the other obscure rooms and halls of the entire building. And since this place held much importance back in the day it had connections to some other areas of the city, but those parts aren't receiving enough energy to be beneficial at the moment.
"Nice job, now let's get to what we came here for." With a comforting exchange of smiles, the two began to make their way back up the stairs, glad that their excursion would be over soon.
Sigma followed his partner upstairs a sudden thud sound made them stop briefly, looking at the ceiling of the room trying to identify what that was. It seemed to fade away after a couple of moments, letting the pair continue out of the basement and back into the hallway. Unfortunately, Sigma stopped short behind Kino standing still as the thudding sound returned, now coming from down the hall. Whatever the sound was, it had now moved onto the reception and made the two look on with uneasy glares from the sudden sound, making them slowly reach for their weapons, Kino stowing his firearm with slow and cautious movements.
And so, they waited in the hallway with growing concern, readying themselves for anything. That's when they saw it, the large form of a curious Beowolf presenting itself to the pair on the other end of the hall, joined by two more pack members who had followed the one that witnessed Kino and Sigma back on the streets. Three large hunks of beasts snarling with vicious grins, having finally caught their prey in a vulnerable position. The small group of Grimm barely fit in the narrow corridor, but their size discrepancy wasn't going to stop them from tearing into newfound meat.
At the sight of the Beowolves blocking the way back, the duo tensed up but remained calm, not letting their fear paralyze them. Kino reached out for his revolver machete, tightly gripping the handle and pulling it out slowly, being careful of his action should the Grimm jump them in an instant. Following his lead, Sigma pulled out another firearm identical to the one in his hand, activating a function that replaced the barrels meant to shoot bullets with ones displaying a flame you'd get from using a welder.
The Beowolves drooled with anticipation as they watched Kino and Sigma pull out their weapons, aware of the danger the weapons presented but that didn't deter the beasts as they steadied themselves to lunge at the prey on the other end. And just as time seemed to freeze in that tense moment, glares were exchanged in defiance that one side would come out alive and prevail.
In an instant the Beowolf at the front took the lead by sprinting forward, hunger in his eyes as the other two Grimm followed close behind, however, due to the small size of the corridor the only Grimm able to attack was the one leading the charge being limited by space. With feral intent, the leading Beowolf swung his sharp bone claws at Kino, slicing at him in hopes of putting it down with ease. However, the one to suffer a deadly blow was the canine monster, for Kino had parried the lunging arm of the beast making it stumble back into the other two. With an opening made, Kino plunged his revolver machete into the abdomen of the beast, using its body weight to keep the other two Beowolves at bay.
The feral beasts turned on their leader as they clawed into its fur with annoyance over its body not permitting them from reaching their prey. Just as the first Beowolf tried to free itself from Kino's blade, Sigma quickly used his firearms to take care of the leading beast. A controlled but scorching flame pressed onto the underside of the canine's jaw burning away at the interior of the mindless beast, making it howl in pain before feeling the intense flame pierce through its skull and begin to burn away. Just as the first beast coiled in flames, Sigma quickly switched his firearms on the other two causing them to recoil as the fire spread through their fur. Without giving the beasts a second to recover Kino quickly pushed forward the fading burnt corpse of the first Grimm onto the other two, causing the beasts to fall onto the ground with the heavy weight of the corpse still taking effect, keeping the Beowolves trapped momentarily. To prevent the beasts from calling out more of its pack, Kino stomped over the pile of fallen Beowolves with a silent wrath as he swung his machete over the unprotected necks, silencing the beasts effortlessly.
With the three Beowolves finally down, Kino shrugged his nerves out of his system, waiting for his partner to pass over the burnt but fading corpses of the now eliminated canine Grimm. Exchanging a silent look, Sigma carefully stomped any leftover flames from the Beowolves thrashing around, preventing the building from burning down with them still inside. Once the flames fully subsided, the two of them returned to their previous endeavor, Sigma holstered one of his firearms back and moved on to investigate the upper levels and with the generator powered on it made the task of traversing the rest of the building far easier. Lighting the enclosed space of the deeper parts of the faculty where they walked up to the fourth floor to find anything useful.
Once they reached the fourth floor the two hunters noticed the door to it locked, prompting Sigma to use his firearm once more. This time intensifying the flames to act as a plasma cutter. Kino quickly turned away from the scene, not wanting his eyesight to be damaged by the sudden sparks of the plasma cutter doing its job. All the while Sigma worked efficiently with his visor offering the degree of same protection a welding helmet had. Within a couple of seconds, the lock was rendered useless letting Sigma power down his firearm before switching the spent ammunition. The top of the weapon opened up to reveal a spent fire-Dust container being ejected from it, with its energy source turned into a dull color. Sigma carefully retrieved another Dust crystal container from one of his pockets and loaded it into the chamber before stashing his firearm away.
With the door lock melted, the two of them entered. The first thing they noticed upon entering were more skeletal bodies lying around but instead of having been killed by Grimm, the way they were placed revealed a far darker. truth. Against a wall there laid seven bodies with no visible fracture or damage to the bones or even dried-up blood on the tiles, discarding the possibility that they were mauled by Grimm. If anything, the group had locked themselves in, either committing suicide or starving themselves to death, likely the former considering the orderly way they died, not letting the monsters of Grimm get them.
Sigma slowly paid his respects for the grisly fate the people inflicted upon themselves, understanding their reasons behind doing such a thing but not standing by it. But that was the nature of the lives outside any kingdom, you either get killed early on, commit suicide or if you are lucky, get to your 90s. Having paid their respects, Sigma went to work on an old computer terminal on the local data hub, beginning to decrypt the data inside to transfer it to his tablet now connected to the computer while Kino stood guard for his partner.
"Interesting, this place had access to more than just simple defense routines. It appears this has some extended control over the automated defense turrets around the border walls. I'm receiving responses from a couple of them, but I will need time to access them." Sigma pointed out in a fascinated manner having entered into the systems of the building, feeling drawn to this discovery, but ultimately focusing on passing any information to his tablet. Kino curiously raised his eyebrows over why such a vital part of the city would be in a building like this. But that probably was due to some confidential military reason that while interesting to argue over will not result in anything satisfactory at the moment.
"Kino, we've got a situation." The suddenness of the call took Kino out of the moment, making him press an earpiece on his ear to answer. All the while slowly taking a look at the barely operational equipment around. "What is it, Aurelio?"
"We've got White Fang activity, I see five ships on the horizon, their course looks like it's towards the city." Aurelio spoke through the radio, sounding slightly concerned as he contacted the rest of the group within their closed channel. The news seemed to have made everyone take a second to listen attentively. "This far from the kingdom? That's never a good sign." Kino commented lightly confused over the presence of White Fang approaching the abandoned and Grimm-filled city.
"A better question would be, what are they doing this far out?" Orion suggested through the radio, while Kino calmly checked on his partner keeping his attention on cracking the security systems of the rundown complex. "A myriad of things actually, scouting out locations for a base of operations, a stop in their route to Vale. Mt Glenn, as dangerous as it is, provides an excellent point for any future activities of theirs without any disturbances. Given that the military and most Huntsmen don't tend to visit this desolate place."
"Yeah, I was kinda hoping they'd just pass by… But what now, boss?" Aurelio worriedly asked, continuing to observe the approaching vessels from within the confines of the seventh floor of a rundown skyscraper. A second passed by in silence as Sigma finally decrypted the secure files before answering. "What we always do best, work to impress."
With his response, the varied reactions of his teammates came to be, Orion sighing before relaying that he'll drive the car closer to their position. Aurelio laughed at the order as he too prepared for the incoming dispute.
Kino merely shook his head in amusement at Aurelio's laughter before checking up on Sigma's progress. "Sigma, you said this place had access to defense turrets, any way we can turn them on?" With an inquisitive tone, Kino motioned Sigma over to him if his idea could be carried out.
"Already on it, I'm diverting all power from the backup generator on this station to the outer defenses. It should enable a handful of the defenses." Sigma continued to examine the passing code with an equally fast comprehension of the information being sent over to his tablet before the light of the monitor ceased to be and he presented the tablet over to Kino with access to a couple of turrets. "I got five turrets online, but I will need time to recalibrate their targeting system."
"Do it while running." Kino received a silent nod from Sigma as the two quickly made their way outside the abandoned building with the intent of ambushing the approaching group of Faunus bent on causing more harm than good. It seemed that this day got interesting for the traveling group, an improvised scavenging task about to turn into a confrontation with a terrorist cell.
Speaking of which... Amidst the blue skies of the dense forest, the aircraft belonging to the White Fang made their way to the abandoned city. Their force consisted of five stolen Bullhead aircraft holding a meager formation as the squadron of ships traveled to the city to survey the supposed site of a future operation they were preparing for.
Inside the leading transport were a bunch of huddled-up White Fang rooks, talking amongst each other as they looked displeased to be on a scouting mission. "Such a shame what happened to this place." One of the rooks commented amidst the group holding onto their seats, prompting a conversation to start for time to pass as the members of the organization waited to arrive.
"My grandfather came from this place before he moved back to Menagerie, good thing he did too."
"Hmph, amen to that. This place is such a genuine dumpster." Another masked rook crossed his arms while snidely adding his comment with no empathy for the city-turned-mass grave.
"Dude!" The two of the rooks from before turned towards their dismissive brother-in-arms, looking quite taken aback by his comment. "Yeah, good riddance to the humans that lived here but there were Faunus lives lost here. At least show some pity for the dead."
The previous rook groaned in annoyance, having already received his first lecture from one of his companions. "Yeah? Well, pity didn't save them back then, so what's it to us? They blindly followed the humans' promises and now look at where we're at, still undermined by human arrogance and on the backend of becoming another piece of useless history as the ones who lived here."
"Are the deaths of our brothers and sisters, something to be deemed useless?" A clawed gauntlet fell over the goon's shoulder snidely dismissing the history of the city, found himself tensed up from the sudden metallic hand grasping his shoulder. Making the newly initiated member of their force turn in an uneasy manner, glimpsing at a superior member staring down into his soul through an ornate bear-styled mask. "B-Brother Boovar! I didn't-."
The White Fang goon was shushed with an unnerving soothing whisper as the higher-ranking superior eased his shaken state with a calming tone to his voice. "At ease rookie, it's clear that you are versed in the history in this place... Then why is it that you find it... so unnecessary to us?"
Before the goon could even blink, his face was caved into the seat with unbridled strength. Boovar had activated his power gauntlet to demonstrate a point, that those who speak so low of other Faunus aren't worthy of a chance and that men like the one that dared to insult the deaths of Faunus should be punished accordingly. Especially if it was from a brother-in-arms.
The tense mood slowly winded down from the display of authority, certainly making a couple of members a little nervous over their lieutenant knocking out someone. The Faunus in question noticed their uneasy glances but ultimately shrugged it off as he walked onto the cabin where two pilots kept the ship steady and on course. Before any of the pilots could talk over what just happened, a tiny bulb on the board began to blink with an accompanying alarm. The Lieutenant looked on with confusion over the sudden blinking light, prompting him to lean over to the pilot, hoping to know what was going on. "Why's that light blinking?"
"Don't worry Lieutenant, must be another faulty minor system. This ship has been in its fair share of missions, so it's started to go through some mechanical issues. Whenever we fix something, another thing breaks down. Just this morning it had its wings checked so don't get jumpy over the light, must be a system not responding at the moment." The pilot calmly stated continuing to steer nonchalantly toward their objective.
Boovar frowned, uncertain to agree with the pilot over it, not entirely dismissing it but weary of the calm the two pilots shared over the situation. He was about to address the pilots once more before hearing the radio letting through some communications from the other Bullheads, making the co-pilot tune into the chatter as they continued to fly normally without a worry in the world.
The co-pilot slowly listened on the radio using their limited channel to communicate with the other ships before widening his eyes in confusion. "It's not just us, every other ship is picking it up. But that can only mean-." The co-pilot was abruptly stopped mid-sentence as their ship began to shake violently from an explosion near them. The three Faunus looked out the window noticing an incoming stream of explosive rounds aimed directly at them.
"We're under attack!" The lieutenant shouted in a panic, holding onto the seats of the cabin as the aircraft continued to shake violently from the anti-aircraft rounds exploding near them.
"Anti-air guns?! But that's impossible, what could be...?!" With another volley of rounds hitting closer to them, Boovar hurriedly walked back to the passenger area finding his men gripping onto the seats in panic and confusion over the sudden development. Unfortunately for them, the realization of how they were being fired upon didn't hit as hard as the defense turrets hammering their small fleet of ships. One of the ships on the rear got its wings clipped, sending it tumbling at high speeds to the far-off ground.
"We lost Condor-Five! Condor-Three break off and try to salvage any survivors! Condor-Two and Four spread out and follow our lead!" Without questioning the ship designated as Condor-Three immediately broke off the mess and onto the forest to, hopefully, rescue any survivors before the Grimm get to them.
"Are you trying to get us killed?!" Was the single response Condor-one received from the radio as it breaks off from their formation and dives down to avoid more explosive rounds hitting the Bullhead.
"Unless you want to go back empty-handed, Condor-Four then by all means, you can tell Adam why we fled! But we can prevent it if we enter the city and disable those fucking turrets!" If there was an answer to Condor-One's statement, neither pilot heard it as they dodged any round exploding near their Bullhead, feeling the weight of the world on them as they flew closer to the city. At two clicks away, the ship was joined towards its destination by the other two remaining Bullheads following the flight path, doing their best to avoid being caught by more blasts of the city's defenses.
With blinding fast speeds, the Bullheads managed to reach past the city's wall and defenses, hurrying to move behind any building for cover to escape the turret's barrage. Just as they entered a dense zone of high buildings, one of the Bullheads got hit causing it to deviate from the remaining two. "We're hit! We're hit! I'm gonna try to crash land this thing!" Condor-Two tried to control its rapid descent before hitting a ruined sending it out of control onto the governmental zone of the city.
Condor-One and Condor-Four managed to scurry into an abandoned plaza big enough for them to hastily land, touching down beside each other as everyone aboard the aircraft hurryingly pried the doors open. Condor-Four's door was pulled open by a large group of White Fang rooks relieved to have touched solid ground once more after the sudden attack. However, the same couldn't be said of Condor-One's occupants as the door to the passenger area was flung open by a heavy punch sending it hurling towards a fountain.
From the inside of Condor-One came out a pissed-off Boovar with his robust power gauntlet active, along with the White Fang troops that had to view the Bear Faunus punch his way out. A sense of creeping relief slowly began to replace the harrowing sensation of almost being killed and the fear of watching their leader effortlessly punch the steel door open. "Pilots stay inside the ships and try to reach base! Everyone else, gather up!" The lieutenant's noticeable voice coated with frustration and restrained anger certainly made the other survivors tense up but ultimately followed his command as they were now essentially trapped in an abandoned city full of Grimm.
"Listen up! We will secure this place, disable the city's defenses and find out who's responsible! And when we do, we will bring their heads mounted in pikes to show what happens to those who mess with the White Fang!" His small speech roused some inspiration from the twenty or so members gathered at the plaza. But before any of the forces could begin to work on how to solve their situation, the sound of a speaker system tuning into a high pitch echoing across the plaza made everyone tense at the suddenness of the audio system turning on.
Boovar tensed up from the surprise of the sound system coming to life, signaling his men to assume a defensive placement across the entire plaza. Hastily scattering at every possible cover available, the White Fang steeled themselves before the sound of the speakers faded out into... a heavy rock song?
At the unexpected turn of events, everyone in the plaza gained a baffled expression, unable to begin to comprehend if they were pranked. "What... What the fuck?" Boovar did a double take over the situation, slowly getting more frustrated and pissed off, until a heavily armored vehicle rammed through a debris pile honking a loud and boisterous horn drawing everyone's attention once more.
The vehicle rapidly drifted over the road with controlled proficiency as it skirted past the grounded Bullheads and stopped at the other side of the plaza. Boovar stood dumbfounded for a moment, not expecting an actual armored truck to have broken down piles of debris before ordering his men to be on guard and carefully approaching the vehicle while firing toward it. Until the driver's door opened up intensely, revealing a tall bulky man dressed in a studded dark blue military uniform none other than Orion.
"Over my dead nonna's grave you are harming Big Bertha!" Orion angrily shouted at the prospect of his vehicle being damaged, immediately retrieving his shield from the strap on his back and immediately proceeding to block every bullet aimed in his direction. The bullets bounced over Orion's shield effortlessly, deterring the effort of the bullet storm to put him and the named armored vehicle down. The pouring of bullets ceased due once the White Fang grunts spent their ammunition, leading to Boovar ordering a charge from the forces wielding melee weapons who eagerly rushed towards Orion still holding the shield in front of him.
Within the cover of the shield, Orion grinned fiercely, meeting the charge of the White Fang forces with the strength of a barreling train, crushing into the hasty line of the daring Faunus trying to swarm him. It proved quite effective as Orion swatted the front Faunus with ease, adeptly blocking, countering, and striking the smaller opponents with enough force to break through their Auras.
The small close quarters White Fang force struggled to retain the force of nature that was Orion, fortunate for the group battling the fierce giant, the line of rifle bearers aimed at Orion easily breaking through the meager attempt to block his path. The fire squad had him in their sights and all that was needed to fire was Boovar's wrathful order.
"Fi-!" Just in the nick of time, Orion was saved by a sudden hail of bullets coming from the right of the Faunus terrorists a pair of armed men began firing upon the firing squad, causing some casualties as the bullets pierced right through their Auras. Another military man resembling a pilot brandishing two intricate-looking handguns and a masked hunter holding out a revolver with a large machete blade on it. "To our right!"
Just as his order was given, the pack of Beowolves from earlier had arrived from the other side of the plaza, growling impatiently for they had chased the source of the engine roaring all across the city and the indistinguishable sensations of negativity with newfound prey. Along the pack of Beowolves came a gathering of Creeps and Ursa, large, darkened bears able to snap a man's body with a single swing. Every beast of Grimm roared in satisfaction, sprinting forth to eviscerate the White Fang goons knocked out or too damaged to struggle against the Grimm's voracious desire.
"Sigma, go with Orion! I'll handle the main group!" Kino rapidly shouted as he dashed towards and watched Sigma instantly follow his orders, providing backup to Orion who had just finished dealing with the meek defense of the White Fang rooks and now focused on keeping the Grimm off them.
Kino dashed across the plaza with precise movements, cutting any incoming bullets being fired towards him and when he came close to the group of huddled-up terrorist Faunus, he swung towards the bear Lieutenant. Boovar angrily met the blade head-on as his right arm became encased by the clawed power gauntlet, clashing fiercely without giving away a single inch to the masked stranger in their standoff. "You dare interfere with the White Fang, human?!"
"Guess again." Kino proved the more resolute in terms of will as he pushed back Boovar with a kick to the hip, making the White Fang superior skid back against the concrete. His response was met with absolute confusion from the terrorist with bear ears, slowly realizing he was facing another Faunus. Kino had a pair of small horns on the side of his head just above his ears. "W-What? You're a Faunus? No, you can't be!"
Boovar put his foot down, cracking the pavement as he reeled in a heavy punch backed up by the strength of the technological gauntlet, shouting out as the force behind the punch caused various ripples in the air heading towards Kino. The masked hunter dodged the incoming pressured air punch by rolling to the side and turning to glance at the aftermath of the attack, noticing that it broke down through various walls of a building outside the plaza. "A pressurized air blast in a single punch?"
Kino eyed the damage incurred by the punch's force for a moment until his body reacted in time to another blast of pressurized air directed at him. Taking some distance between the Faunus terrorist and himself, Kino kept dodging barrages of punches sending forth more devastating blasts of pressurized air with deadly speed. Keeping Kino away from the White Fang grunts dealing with Grimm, Boovar reeled back his punches panting softly. "If you really were a Faunus, you'd be with us fighting for our justice!"
"Justice that involves raiding businesses? Executing anyone opposed to your ways? Your justice is nothing but hypocrisy." Kino retorted back, having dodged the final blast of pressurized air and slashing at Beowolf trying to catch him off guard. "You're no better than the humans you claim keep us down."
Boovar gritted angrily, dashing forth towards Kino and engaging in a viciously fast exchange of blows with his enemy, using the clawed gauntlet continued to reinforce his swings. As their exchange grew into a blinding flurry of blows, the pressurized air blasts went everywhere across the plaza, breaking through walls, blasting away any unfortunate Grimm, and scraping against the Bullheads.
Kino patiently kept his defensive posture against the endless barrage of swings before finding an opening with an overarching punch, letting him fire his secondary weapon at the angered Faunus. The rounds pushed back the White Fang Lieutenant a few feet away, the bullets were designed to do more than bruise the Aura, and the fact that Boovar remained standing proved he was more tenacious and well-trained than any of the grunts fighting off the Grimm.
Once the barrage of gunfire ceased, Boovar's aura shimmered brightly indicating that the sudden shots dealt more damage than what a normal firearm should. And his body was no different, instinctively feeling that the foe in front of him posed a grave threat, given that a couple more hits would result in his Aura breaking and if that happened, it was most likely he would die. Without wasting a moment, Boovar spoke through his earpiece to the pilots awaiting on their still-intact aircraft. "Condor-One, contact Condor-Three for reinforcements! The situation has gotten out of control!"
The only response he got was a static silence, unwanted feedback as the situation did not call for this kind of answer. "Condor-One! Come in!" Another static silence came through, infuriating Boovar's thin patience, making him glance over from the fight towards Condor-One trying to see if he could get a glimpse as to why the pilots weren't responding. "Condor-One, why aren't you answering?!"
To his bad luck, he was hit square in the jaw by a flying kick from a smiling Ram Faunus in a tattered cloak rapidly sending him toward Kino. With Boovar barreling towards the masked hunter at an alarming speed, Kino stood still against the lunged White Fang Lieutenant, mere inches away from each other, the masked hunter in a blurring motion sidestepped and delivered a swift slash with his machete. The force of it managed to cut through the Aura of the Lieutenant slicing through like it didn't exist to begin with. Boovar kept a direct path forward, hitting on the fountain causing it to shatter on top of some unfortunate Grimm near it.
"Sorry, Grizzy, your pilots have taken a... permanent retire." Aurelio grinned jokingly while dashing forth to his partner's side in a blur of colors, leaning on Kino's shoulder as he spun one of his curved knives freshly coated in a dark red tinge dripping down the blade. He had been the real threat unseen throughout the battle. Orion drew their attention first, followed up by Kino and Sigma entering the battle to get the leader while Aurelio dealt with the only means of escape for the White Fang, having sneaked onto the Bullheads and taken care of the pilots.
Boovar heavily groaned trying to grip onto anything, but something felt off, his right arm didn't answer, or rather... he couldn't feel anything from it. Panicking with growing uncertainty he gazed down to find a bloody stump where his limb was, making him shakily breathe with ever-growing frustration, forcing his body to stand up and check on his troops, what awaited him was far worse than the humiliation he received.
The remaining White Fang grunts were slowly getting picked apart by the steadily pouring hordes of Grimm, a single Ursa lifted a White Fang rookie by the leg and flung it around like a towel against the pavement, it was a gruesome sight as the aberration kept going, even when the Faunus had died. Another pair of grunts got trapped by a surging pack of Boarbatusks, armored beastly boars capable of spinning their entire body to crush their foes head-on. And what they did fit their description, as they rolled over the separated Faunus crushing them into pulps of nothing but flesh.
The sight of his Faunus brethren executed so ruthlessly triggered a deep memory within the mind of the Lieutenant, feeling his entire world go numb with the only sensation palpable in his heart being a roaring rage. His entire body began to seethe with hot steam emitting from the back, Boovar was trying to activate his Semblance but in his grievous state, it was only overtaxing the body to the point of vomiting blood before his body ceased to call forth his Semblance. But soaring ire and anger within him still burned brightly at the fact he was getting beaten so easily.
Boovar angrily gripped his remaining fist tightly, eventually releasing his anger through an exhausted groan. Not without reaching for one of his pockets, taking a glance at a vial filled up with a glowing liquid. Its tantalizing glow tempted him to use it, to consume the strange drink... But he would not depend on some cheap drug. Taking his remaining hand out of his pocket, Boovar frustratedly gave out the order to stop their operation. "Retreat...! Fall back to the ships!"
As soon as his order was declared, the remaining grunts instantly backed away from the fight to board the remaining Bullhead. When the White Fang forces made a break to retreat, the four bounty hunters ceased their fight with the hordes of Grimm and followed suit with the terrorist's notion of getting out of the city. Orion ran through a group of Ursai, using his shield to pave a path for his team until they reached the vehicle, quickly opening the doors for the rest of his companions to enter. Aurelio, Sigma, and Kino rapidly got in as Orion assumed the role of driver and speeded out of the city.
With the remaining White Fang forces entering the only operable aircraft, they hurryingly left the city watching as the Grimm narrowed in where the shootout occurred, trampling over the corpses of their fallen comrades and letting out nightmarish howls that echoed across the metallic jungle of a city. Almost every kind of Grimm you'd find in East Sanus had gathered up at the destroyed plaza, either mockingly roaring towards the fleeing Faunus or dismembering any body they came across with sickening pleasure, aware of the panicked stares their prey gave as it retreated.
Boovar took a seat within the aircraft panting heavily to himself while watching the armored vehicle belonging to the ones that ambushed them drive away, running over any Grimm that unfortunately stepped in front of it. The utter hopelessness of his situation felt worse than the grave wounds he sustained from the fight. And he lay there with his remaining forces attending his wounds and pride shattered, all the while feeling redundant over their failed task, beaten and outsmarted by a group of ragtag vagabonds who just happened to be there. "Fuck..."
August 4th, 94 A.G.W. - Vale, East Sanus - 11:14 P.M.
Through the narrow roads of the mountain pass, the armored vehicle was being driven with careful gentleness as the one driving it this time was Kino, seemingly taking good care of their transport with him behind the wheel. Accompanying him on the front sat Sigma playing soothing music coming from the aviator helmet. Occupying the back seats, was Orion tapping his thigh against the rhythm of the music while counting the shards of the broken moon decorating the night sky. And finally, Aurelio was sleeping peacefully with a blanket covering him from legs to shoulders, constantly shifting in a well-deserved rest.
They traveled calmly after the high-tension situation at Mt Glenn, having to rush out of the abandoned city and take a break after a couple of hours once things were in the clear. Despite that, the group resumed their journey taking a less transited area by the mountain's pass to avoid any more attention. Once cleared out of that rocky road, they joined back into a public route where they found a rest area.
The armored vehicle slowed down, stopping at a near vantage point within the rest area as the group of skilled hunters gazed into their objective with varying stares but all sharing a sense of relief from what they saw. The lights of the capital of East Sanus in their sights, the port city of Vale in all its splendor at night, really made it stand out as the emerald jewel. Kino leaned on the driving wheel as he took a moment to let the view sink before turning to the passengers.
"Next stop, Beacon Academy."
Author's Notes:
This story is something I've been meaning to publish for a while, so I plan to flesh it out and update this as best as possible through college life. I want to thank the people helping me bring this story to life. I'm already working on the second chapter, so expect a busy schedule but it's sure to be done.