XxX-XxX-XxX

Official Supporters:

Priests, The Impossible Muffin, Xager the Chaos King.

Adeptus, Private Wilger

Ze Nope Rope, Kaiser Snek, Snekiest Snek

Acolytes, DigiDemonLord, Cheeseberry

Initiates, Espacole

If you want to be on the Supporter list, PM one of us for details or join our private server for details. Hope you enjoy reading my stories, please leave me a comment to let me know if you did, or where I can improve. Link here, where able to be seen : /2UZncAm

Second link here, remove spaces and it SHOULD work : D iscord . gg (slash) kfhkfUb

I have a kofi account now, too, under this name for those interested.

Beta(s) :

XxX-XxX-XxX

There is currently a poll on my discord for new stories coming up, for those interested.

XxX-XxX-XxX

In the wake of taking the gate the White Fang had chosen the smartest of plans, and stayed there, reinforcing a position they knew Atlas would not dare destroy. The barriers that steered traffic towards it, the check-in building's metal panel walls, and even the ruined chunks of the truck they had used to take the gate, the White Fang used everything to hand to seal up the gate and make a barricade to fight behind. Knowing that Atlas had to retake the gate, and that they couldn't commit their full force to it, the insurgents were more than patient enough to wait for Atlas to come to them.

The only sensible course of action, then, was a frontal assault to retake the gate before the White Fang either attacked the city within or withdrew.

Two dozen Atlesian droids marched on the position and, using his tactical cloak, he trailed behind them. Dozens of feet back, the soldiers themselves marched alongside their armored trucks. As soon as the droids stepped into the plaza around the gate the White Fang stood to offer withering reception fire. The machines answered in kind as they advanced, ignoring the rounds that punched into them, tore limbs away, and cut down their fellows.

Had they been men and women rather than base machines, he would have been impressed by their discipline even if he had yet to see a single Faunus fall. But then, making the Faunus fall was his duty, not theirs. And he was not about to be shown up by mere machines.

With long, loping strides, he charged the left-most barricade, the White Fang firing over his head at the enemies they could see. As he reached the mounded metal he leapt, heedless of the wayward rounds from both sides that sparked off his shield and shattered his camouflage. On the other side of the barricade he had chosen were two of the insurgents whose eyes widened behind their masks as he appeared before them, the Bane blooming to life in his hand. His boot landed on one's chest as he came down, his massive weight bearing the slight man down and crushing his chest while Bane snapped out to take the other's head.

Stepping off of the crushed man he turned as a woman charged him, red sword thrusting towards his stomach. It skated off his shoulders and his hand snapped out, gripping her by her head and lifting her off the ground. A twist and her neck snapped, her body falling limp at his feet as the rest turned to him.

"Hunter, Hunter, Hunter!" One called, mistaking his shields for Aura no doubt and raising his rifle as three lightly armored swordsmen rushed him.

Chainmail and light plate did little to protect them against his superheated plasma, though. The first closed with him and he turned, flicking the Bane to bisect the thin, curved sword and then punching it up to remove his head. The second and third came as one, though, one going for his knees while the other leapt. Stepping into the attack he snapped a hand out to bat aside the leaping Faunus and brought his knee up with such force that the second Faunus' mask shattered.

As the man fell, the Arbiter stepped over him, eyes narrowing as yet another Faunus lumbered towards him.

This one was larger than any of the others, closer to his own great height and wearing an impressive, ornate Grimm mask. In his wake, his fellows seemed to calm, turning back to the fight with the now pressing Atlesian forces. A display that showed a faith in command that almost, almost gave him pause, the Arbiter turning his gaze on the great man as he came to a lumbering stop.

"You are the cause of this chaos then?" He asked, turning and slowly pacing away from the gate, into the open ground outside it where he could fight without much chance of the other Fangs intervening. The giant nodded and he snarled, demanding, "Why? The Grimm abound, and yet you slaughter the innocent?"

"The 'innocent'?" The titan laughed, shaking his great head and turning a long look first on him and then on the besieged city. Finally turning back to him the Faunus laughed, a harsh and feral kind of sound. "No one 'innocent' lives in an Atlas city, but I don't expect an Atlas dog to understand that."

"Do I look like an Atlesian?" He asked, spreading his arms so the man could get a very good look at his ornate armor. When the large Faunus didn't answer the Arbiter shook his head slowly and sighed, "I very clearly am not. But then, a beast such as you would not be able to comprehend what I truly am."

"Beast…?"

"What else would you call one that slaughters children as you have done?" It was a force of will that kept him from laughing at the mild hypocrisy in his words. Force of will and a quiet reminder that he had been fooled into his sins, while this man had chosen them freely.

"An avenger." The man snarled in answer, revving his saw threateningly. "You talk like an Atlesian, at least, whatever you are."

"I am the Arbiter, Thel Vadam, leader of the Swords of Sanghelios." He answered, raising his sword arm and bracing his wrist with his more armored right arm. Glaring along the straight edge of his arm and sword, he asked, "Who are you, then, that dies for his sins today?"

"My sins? Heh." The giant shrugged, though, and offered simply, "You can call me Banesaw, for whatever little time you have left to say it."

"We shall see who falls and who rises, beast." The Arbiter rumbled in answer, watching his foe bristle. Squaring his shoulders and lowering himself readily he took a breath and rumbled a last, "Banesaw or the Prophet's Bane. Come then and we shall see which of us will leave this place under our own power."

"Hmph." The titan grunted, saying nothing and turning his hips slightly, angling his left leg back and holding his saw across his wide waist like a shield.

Crossing the few feet between them in a single, powerful bound, he thrust the glowing edge of his blade in towards the Faunus' shoulder. When he ducked back the Arbiter followed, taking a single step and flicking it across his throat. His Aura flared and his skin reddened, apparently unable to stop all the heat of the weapon from burning him.

But that was all it did, and the Arbiter had to duck back from an elbow thrust into his face before he could try again. Banesaw followed, raising his roaring saw and shoving it into his armored chest before Thel could get back and out of his reach. It was a gentle strike, the kind you used to get space, and so he expected little to come of it. Instead, a titanic blow slammed into his chest and drove the air from his lungs, hurling him bodily away from the Faunus.

He hit the ground and rolled as best he could, staggering upright and sucking in air as the man laughed.

He said nothing, though, as he lumbered towards the winded Sangheili warrior, chainsaw revving hungrily. Rising and collecting himself, he slid into a more defensive stance and backpedaled away. Laughing almost ferally, the Faunus followed, his engine revving angrily in the air between them as he attacked and the Arbiter retreated and racked his brain for answers on what that had been. How had such a simple, light seeming strike hit him so hard?

That it was a Semblance was a simple and obvious conclusion to reach. The children had taught him much by simple observation about them. But how it functioned was the next question, and not one with as swift an answer. Instead, it brought a line of questions.

To answer the first, he dug a heel in and ducked under a slash, thrusting up as if aiming for his face. The man grunted and threw his saw up, blade roaring for the Arbiter's forearm. But the attack was a feint and he pulled the blade high and back, over his own shoulder, before the Faunus' attack could strike home. Using his free hand he grabbed the weapon's handle, pulling it as though to steal it.

"Let go!" Banesaw snapped, yanking the weapon up with one hand and slamming a meaty punch into the Arbiter's head with the other.

It stung, to be sure, but only as much as any blow to the head would. It forced him off the man, the Bane hissing through the air to ward him off as the Arbiter withdrew. Banesaw snarled as he backed away, the forearm he'd used to ward off his attacks red and burned. He had no way of knowing how much more Aura the man had, but he'd learned what he sought. The man's Semblance appeared tied to his weapon.

So, he just needed to break the weapon, then.

Returning to his ready stance the Arbiter waited for the man to recover and then began to circle. One step at a time to his left, the man mirroring him warily. While he watched, the burn across the top of his forearm healed. Another trick of Aura, he knew, to be able to swiftly heal all but the most grievous of wounds. But it meant expending your Aura rapidly, and that was just fine to him.

In fact, it gave him another idea.

Finally, he stopped his circling and made his move, once more leaping towards his enemy. A mirror of his earlier attack, aiming a thrust up towards his face to force him onto his heels and give Thel the advantage. As before Banesaw ducked back to dodge and swept up and out with his saw, aiming for his chest. This time, though, Thel had a plan in mind. Like orange lightning he carved down, burning across the man's chest and slamming his plasma sword's edge into the engine assembly of the weapon.

It shattered, chain whipping away and into the dirt, and Thel turned to slam a shoulder into the Faunus and force him back. Surprised and suddenly disarmed, the man staggered away. But now he had the edge, the Arbiter pressed it, stepping in and unleashing a flurry of shallow, weak and wholly randomly placed attacks that would have earned him a beating in his training hall.

Here, it forced his enemy back, searing angry red lines across his enemy's stomach, arms and legs.

Seared in a thousand places, the man tried to collect himself and managed to snap a devastating punch up and into the Arbiter's armored gut. It forced him back and Baensaw was on him, grabbing his sword-arm's lightly armored shoulder and slamming a blow into his chest that drove the air from his lungs. But the Arbiter stayed on his feet and answered in kind, slamming his own armored fist into his enemy's throat.

The Faunus choked, backpedaling as green light flickered across his body, and he followed him. This time, when he thrust his blade in and up, it met flesh past the resistance of his Aura. The man buckled, hands gripping his armor for the briefest moment before he wrenched the sword back out.

"El…" The man murmured as he fell, sinking to a knee and choking once. Then, he fell forward in a heap and the Arbiter turned, roaring his victory.

Another, distant roar answered and he flinched, turning to the ocean. Miles away, out in the deep ocean, a great black beast stood tall. At its arrival, dozens and dozens of Atlesian aircraft turned from the fight overhead to attempt to meet it. He watched many of them fall, pursued by Grimm out over the ocean, but they persisted and began to harry it as pylons rose from the water. A great barrier stretched from one to the next, and then a second row rose to do the same.

"Arbiter, Sir." A soldier called, three of them moving to him from. Behind him, the White Fang had been cut down or surrendered in the wake of Banesaw's death and while these three came to him those left set to work on arresting the Faunus and clearing their barricade. "The White Fang are broken, Sir, but the Grimm-"

The beast's roar cut the man off and drew his attention back to the gargantuan creature as it reared back and spewed a gout of fire that washed over the shields which now sealed the harbor. The first was of fire did little but spark and sputter on the impressive shields. But the second, which came a few seconds later after a throaty and angry roar, washed over one of the shield pylons. It exploded in a fiery display that left a gap in the defenses, through which the beast lumbered predatorily.

"Arbiter, Sir." His attention was drawn back to the soldier who, professional as always, went on, "We're moving to evacuation protocols, Sir. The Garrison Commander has slated you and your people a light strike craft to evacuate the city."

"What of your people?" He rumbled, "What of her?"

"She's going to buy time with the Colossus while we evacuate the citizens."

"The Colossus….?"

"It's a special-" The sounds of sirens cut him off, mixed in with the sound of scraping metal, so loud it carried even over the sounds of fighting overhead.

Lumbering out into the water behind the second shield, a massive machine moved, great legs kicking up waves in its wake. Dozens of Atlesian strike craft trailed around it, moving to intercept any Grimm that followed it. But the Colossus, for that was what this had to be, ignored the lot of them. Instead it spread its arms wide, missiles spewing from its shoulders and arcing up, over the barrier the Leviathan had only just reached. By the dozens, they punched into the beast, explosions echoing along with its rage-filled cry.

"People of Argus, fear not!" A thousand Cordovins spoke, echoing from every speaker in the settlement. Echoing and layered in static, the voice carried confidence. Emerging from the smoke, the Leviathan spewed fire and fury across the barrier, striking and shortly annihilating another pylon. "Proceed calmly to evacuation. I, Caroline Cordovin, shall deal with this pathetic creature personally!"

"Sir," the soldier called, dragging his attention away from the brewing fight and back to the man, "your transport is on its way. Please, remain here, it will pick you up and you'll be on your way."

"I… Understand." He nodded, turning back to the fight and sighing, "Luck to you, Caroline."

She would need it, he was sure. Even from here he could see the ragged end of the right arm, melted and blackened. Another segment further up looked the same, malformed and broken near the elbow. He couldn't make out much in the way of details, but the war machine was clearly damaged beyond proper use. And yet, there she stood in it, bold and defiant.

Truly, Humans were a race worthy of his respect.

XxX-XxX-XxX

"So, good news or bad news first?" Roland asked as he paced the bridge, waiting on an update from the AI. At his silent, visored glare, the AI laughed awkwardly and sighed, "Okay, so, I've narrowed the area the signal was coming from down to about a mile of-"

"Was?"

"That was part of the bad news, yeah. Here, let me… Do a thing." Roland nodded, using the room-wide display at the front of the bridge to bring up a very rough map of the planet. Little more than the shapes of the continents and bodies of water, outlined in blue water, green land, and white borders between the two. A little circle popped up and zoomed in on the coastline of one continent while Roland explained, "So, I don't know why, but the signal cut out. I traced it to within this region, though."

"Diameter?" He asked, silently activating a feed-link from his helmet to his team down in the armory.

"Approximately seventeen klicks, Sir." The AI reported, rushing to add, "But, there's only one settlement in the region. The rest is rough forestry and mountains. I'd put my money on the Sangheili signal coming from the settlement before the mountains, personally, Master Chief."

"I see."

"But… That leads to more bad news." Roland murmured, bringing up a grainy, clearly sub-orbital picture for he and his team to see. "I… Think there's an attack underway."

"Is that a giant god damn mech…?" Fred asked over the line, putting words to the Chief's own feelings.

"I believe that, whatever it actually is, to be some kind of mechanised platform, yes." Roland answered with the barest hint of amusement. "And it appears to be about to engage a giant lizard of some kind, as well. If this signal is the Arbiter, and this city is where he was, he's not likely to not be involved in a fight like this. Educated guess on my part."

"Roland, dispatch reconnaissance drones." He ordered, the AI nodding and winking out as he turned to leave the bridge. "Linda, Kelly, prep a Pelican. Combat loadouts across the board, additional ammunition storage. It's time for the 'rescue' part of 'search and rescue'."

XxX-XxX-XxX

"Ma'am. Casualties are mounting, we can't evacuate every-"

"Delegate resource extraction shuttles to civilian evacuation." She ordered as the Leviathan approached her and she brought her gargantuan arms back in a fighting stance. The creature lumbered forward and stopped, crouching low and hissing like the beast it was. "Delegate our own personnel craft if need be. The civilians come before anything else. Understood?"

"Yes, ma'am." Her bodyguard answered, breaking protocol to add a final, quiet, "I'll make sure they hear about this in Atlas, Garrison Commander. It's been an honor and a pleasure, Caroline. For Atlas!"

"For Atlas." She answered quietly, face grim as she reached over and switched the radio system off.

A breach of a few thousand protocols, she knew, but she needed to focus on the matter at hand. This fight would be hard enough with their Dust destroyed by the saboteurs, she didn't need the incessant chatter to add distraction to it.

Hissing angrily but unsure of what her machine was, or could do, the Leviathan crouched low in the water. Like the great serpent it was it cocked its head and leaned from one side to the other, inspecting her machine. Staying in her fighter's stance, the arm-cannon held back and down so at least the missiles could still be used when the fight inevitably began in full. At this range her shoulder-missiles would be ineffective, but the cannon-arm's were designed for such close encounters.

And if the monster wanted to give her the time she was buying, well, she'd be a fool to force the matter.

Finally, though, it seemed to tire of waiting and reared up and back, flames flicking around its teeth. Her cannon-arm snapped up, her rockets popping out to prime, but there was a delay in using it. Only a moment, to target and fire, but that was enough for the gargantuan Grimm to lurch forward and spew its fire. Her Hard Light shields flared, protecting her from the worst of it even as she was pushed back, damaged arm coming up to protect her wide viewport from the flames while the other snapped up.

The devastating blow to the head staggered the beast and ended the fiery torrent. It hissed and retreated back for the weight and pain of the blow, snarling at her as she stalked after it. Snarling, it leapt and her damaged cannon snapped up. Its claws shattered through Hard Light segments and bit into the steel of its arms. Hanging off her it reared back and up, fire flickering in its teeth. Before it could, her hand came up, gripping the side of its armored head and forcing it aside. The fire still came, but it sputtered loose and useless in the air while they struggled.

"Come on, you bastard!" She snarled, gripping its head hard enough the bone plating cracked and then wrenching it to the side.

Its claws scratched through heavy armor as she turned, ripping apart her armor until it lost its purchase. The beast struggled, claws scraping across Hard Light barriers and armor both, but as she turned to face the city she still hurled it down into the water. It slammed down with a massive splash, waves surging out in its wake, and she raised her cannon-arm over it, missiles streaking into the water.

Suddenly, without warning, the missile-pod exploded, slamming her to the side in the cockpit and blowing the right arm off at the elbow. Her machine had been damaged going into this fight, and she'd known that, but she still swore as the arm fell away into the water and she staggered back. Apparently, from the readout, a missile had failed to launch and then exploded, cascading throughout the arm.

"Damn it!" She snarled, moving back forward and slamming a foot down where the Grimm had been.

Her foot sank into the sand, mud and rock of the bay but found nothing else. Straightening she turned her machine, searching desperately for the suddenly missing Leviathan. It didn't leave her waiting for long, though, surging up from the water behind her and leaping onto her back. Metal screeched as its claws sank in all along her shoulders and hips, four sets of claws holding it up as its entire weight bore her down to a knee in the water. Metal and alarms both screamed as it sank its teeth into the back of her machine, ripping away hunks of metal while she fought to rise and reached back to try and get a grip on the monster.

"No, no, no!" She cried, fighting the controls as she spun and flailed, watching the power levels of her machine flare and fluctuate.

Finally, as her Hard Light generator went off-line, she got her fingers in its gills and found a frip, ripping it over her shoulder and hurling it down. As it went, it trailed metal ripped from her back, splashing down as she staggered back. Alarms rang out, warning of hull breaches, power losses, overloads and worse all along the Colossus's back and hips. As the Grimm rose she bared her teeth at it, opening her torso-mounted missile launchers and emptying their stock at it. The beast roared as the missiles struck home, and through the smoke, water and explosions, she saw bone armor fly into the air.

After a moment, though, she saw only water and ceased her bombardment, turning to once again reacquire the machine. Expecting an attack from behind she turned in time to see it rocked up from the water. Her fist came down to meet it, but that only forced it to slam into her waist instead of her chest. Already stressed, lacking power and damaged, the machine groaned and her legs failed.

For a brief moment she was weightless as the machine fell back, the beast's weight forcing her machine down faster than she herself fell inside it. Then she hit the water and slammed back, into her seat. Blue sky was replaced by blue water and then, glaring through her wide, blessedly reinforced viewport, the glowing red of the Leviathan's eyes. It roared mutedly in the water and she scowled, slamming her fist into its side to little effect.

Rising, it stood atop her mech and then slammed back down, its claws crushing her armored chest and shoulders into the bay's ground. Water filling her compartment, she brought her hand up to grip its own, fighting to break its arm. It snarled and snapped to the side, closing its jaw around the offending limb and then ripping it away at the elbow. Shaking it like prey caught in its jaws it turned and threw it away, then rounded on her again.

Cordovin's last sight as her bay flooded was of water boiling around its jaws, before it snapped forward and shattered her viewport entirely.

"For Argus…"

XxX-XxX-XxX

Where the machine had fallen, the Leviathan rose, bellowing a defiant, victorious and challenging roar and then turning to one of the nearby Atlesian bases. As it neared, strike craft dove from the blackened skies, machine gun fire raking across its armored hide. It did little, though, and the beast continued on towards the nearest base. The defenders still there did all they could to fend it off, from missiles to small arms, but a gout of flame saw an end to that.

"They'll never get everyone out…" Ruby murmured, standing at his side in the little craft they'd been given and looking out the long, thin viewport on the door. She turned to him and asked, quietly, "Will they?"

"I doubt it dearly." At this speed, the UNSC wouldn't have been able to, at least. He'd seen them lose cities this fast, and seen the bodies left in the wake of the Covenant's 'glorious' conquests. After a moment, he added, "Ten percent, were I to wager."

"Of…?"

"Of the civilian population which will survive, at this rate, Yang." He answered, turning to the rest of their motley little crew, crammed into the little craft. Atlas had needed their larger ones for evacuation, and their pilots too, hence Maria and Qrow sitting in the cockpit. "There are too many, and not enough time or craft for them all."

"We have to do something!" Jaune almost shouted, trying to rise but being held down by his friends. Eyes wide, he went on, "Saph and Terra are still- They won't get out! We can't leave them!"

"We won't." Ruby assured him, looking between each of them and then landing on the Arbiter and holding out a hand. "Give me the Relic, please, Arbiter."

"Why?"

"I have a plan." She answered simply, sighing when his eyes narrowed and he withheld the Relic, waiting on her to explain further. "I'll ride on one of Weiss' summons, and use the Relic to lure the Leviathan away. Once it's away from the city, I'll use my Silver Eyes to kill it."

"Ruby, when I said a trial by fire, I didn't mean this…"

"I did it at Beacon, Maria." She countered, "Then again at Haven. I can do this, but I need to get it away from Argus first. At this rate, by the time I get close enough, it'll be on top of the city. Stone that size falling would kill a lot of people."

"I'm low on Aura." Weiss warned, "I won't be able to summon anything for more than a few minutes. Not long enough to get it out to sea."

"Can you hold it long enough to bait it along the coastline?" The Arbiter asked, the small woman nodding silently. Turning to Ruby he bowed his head, "I will come with you and together we will lure it along the coastline for as far as we can."

"Why?" She blinked, "Why are you coming?"

"Negativity attracts the Grimm, yes?" She nodded and he sighed, already knowing what was to come. "I believe I can be a font of that negativity. Between the Relic and I, we can lure the beast away. And should you fail, I can lure it away while you flee or try again."

"What?!" Ruby shouted, shaking her head and pointing a long finger up at his face, "No! This is too dangerous to even think about that! You want me to use you as bait?!"

"I do."

"Well, I won't do it no matter-"

"Can you guarantee without doubt that you alone can kill the beast?" He snarled, leaning down and getting in her face challengingly. She blinked, hesitated for a moment, and then grimaced and held her tongue. "Can you? Without doubt? If you have even a fraction of it then you need a secondary plan."

"But Arbiter, that's… That's one way." Yang murmured from the other side of her sister, eyes hard and face strangely impassive. As though she couldn't actually decide what to feel, in the moment. "If that goes down, you… You don't come back from going one on one with a Grimm that size."

"I have lived a long time, and taken many lives." He answered, turning a quiet look on her and then on Ruby. Almost pleading, he knelt and added, "I will not allow any chance that more children die. Please, Ruby, if this is my fate… Allow me to save one of the cities I would have once burned."

"...Okay." She sighed, frowning and nodding. "But we try everything else first. Understood?"

"Of course," He rumbled, "I have faith in you. You will succeed and we will journey to Atlas together. I have no desire to die, only to see you and this city safe."

She nodded and turned to work out the details with Weiss, who stood and took long draughts from the bottle of water she'd been offered. Turning, he took a deep breath and watched the monster ripping through the last Atlesian base, closest to the city itself. For all his faith in the girl, he knew the truth of what was to come.

"If the Gods will it… So be it, then." He murmured, laying a hand on the Bane at his waist. "So be it then."

XxX-XxX-XxX

For those curious, Banesaw's Semblance was 'Momentum'. Basically, he was burning his Aura constantly and storing the continuous momentum of his chainsaw blade like a battery would electricity. He then discharged it in singular large bursts. Think Adam's Semblance, but instead of taking in outside energy, he uses momentum.

Also, making a fight with a guy that wields a buzz saw was slightly more difficult than I planned. So… Sorry, if it didn't turn out great.

XxX-XxX-XxX

Eclipse Metastar :

Know of what you speak, I do not.

Shirokama :

Fixed it! My bad.

Blaiseingfire :

That would have been clever but I haz a plaaaaaan.

CT7567Rules :

The answer is 'Yes'.

Thraus :

Glad you enjoy it! There's a supporter's list if you *really* enjoy it~

Combine117 :

Wouldn't THAT be the biggest of red herrings, lol.

Falloutman111 :

Especially the MACannon.

Astute (Guest) :

I mean none of his other titles make much sense, either.

Razmire :

The Grunts won't, no. But Banesaw put up a fight.