A Beowolf's howl echoed from the mountains. An ear splitting roar that shook the bones of all who could hear it, even from miles away.
As it passed, for a moment, the night was so silent that Ruby could hear her own heartbeat.
One, two three. The scream of artillery shells falling began. Dust explosions blossomed in the distance, making the mountains look like the night sky.
But, those stars told no tales.
She looked up, confirming what she already knew one last time. The sky was clear, the moon in the middle of shattering over the descending sign of the Lightning Bolt. It's path would cross over the descending Wheel, ending on the ascending sign of the Lovers. A bad omen if she'd ever heard of one. Close to the worst considering the circumstances.
It would be a story of failing light, of the darkest horrors of the night run rampant and innocents slain. The Grimm would clash against all that was good and find themselves victorious. Only through violence could they be pushed back, violence which harmed those who wielded it as much as their foes.
Many lives would be lost, only for the survivors to relieve their grief with each other's bodies.
"Do you think they'll break through the Atlesians?" A man to her right asked, his rifle pointed at the open field.
The only thing she had to be thankful for, was that the descending Sword was nowhere to be seen. While Atlas may be her enemy, they shouldn't, or maybe couldn't, strike her by following the wave of Grimm because the sign of broken hope was not present.
"They will." She looked over her line. Almost three hundred men and women stood ready to defend their home. More were stationed elsewhere on the walls, but her position would be where the Grimm would focus. That was why she had brought their best here, those who'd either had their Auras Awakened long ago or volunteered for the risk. With such a terrible future, they needed everything they could get.
Astrology was a strange thing. No one believed in it because important predictions were never accurate. 'Will we win the battle?' was the most useless. There was some negative thing, a blanket of bad energy that covered all of Remnant, making every prediction err on the side of cynicism, but reading the stars still failed even when taking it into consideration.
Why? She'd asked herself that question a lot over the past few months and came to a single answer.
Aura.
Aura was the light of the soul, the power to make miracles manifest. It allowed Hunters to defy their Fates and fight off certain doom.
As Anathema, she had a lot of Aura to spread around and an awful Fate to avert.
Rose petals flew from her hand. Each fell on the forehead of one of her soldiers, binding them together with a crimson thread of battle. They immediately straightened up, standing at attention. A warrior's howl began forming in their lines.
Ruby shouted with them as she sent another pulse of energy along her threads. They would be blessed for this battle, their bodies quicker and resolve stronger. If there was any day they would not falter, it would be today.
Ruby Rose, Commander and Anathema, opened her priority channel to the entire city. "Attention everyone, this is Ruby. Tonight, we face more Grimm than I've ever seen in one place. We'll be outnumbered one hundred to one, if not worse. Against odds like that, even senior Hunters fear for their lives."
The murmurings died down, replaced by the soft clink of weapons being checked.
"This fear will be a relative you can't escape from. Because this is the first night where we'll stare darkness in the eye until it blinks." She raised Crescent Rose to her shoulder, peering down the scope. "The first night where all of our hard work is put to use and these beasts butcher themselves on our defenses. The first night where we prove that no matter what they throw at us, we will not be broken!"
She fired a round at one of the spires they'd built a hundred feet from the walls. As it passed, a bolt of lightning erupted from the tip, destroying the bullet.
"These towers are the fruits of your labor. You pushed yourselves night and day for weeks to build them up. With that same focus, that same strength, we will see another sunrise." Ruby fired again. A fireball blossomed, a point of light in the darkness.
At the edge of her vision, black bodies and white claws charged out of the gloom.
"Tonight, each and every one of you is a hero. Trust in your brothers and sisters." Ruby drew a bead on an Ursa's head. "All teams, open fire."
She fired again, forcing her round to bounce between packs of Grimm and causing more stars to appear in the wave of darkness. Moments later, the opening salvo began. Explosions tore through the ocean of Grimm, any smaller monsters pulverized by the pressure waves from artillery shells. Those who survived, met a wave of metallic death from the machine gunners. Her unit's timing was perfect, lead scything through them like Crescent Rose through wood.
"I never expected those to work this well," Blake said as a crescent of purple flew from her blade. It split an Ursa Major, the smallest Grimm capable of weathering the storm, in two.
"This is why Atlas uses them all of the time. They're not cheap, but we have enough ammo thanks to your runs." Ruby raised her eyes to the skies. Six spotlights lit up a flock of aerial Grimm. While her men could put down the Sphinxes and Griffons, they wouldn't be able to hit Nevermore at night except by luck. With each pull of the trigger, Ruby killed ten.
"How many are there?"
"No clue."
"Just like when we met, huh?"
"Kinda… What I wouldn't give for a squad of Hunters right now, even students would work." That was their biggest problem. Either of them could scythe through the Grimm on the ground, but not when they were worried about dodging that many bullets. There was a hundred yard zone that stretched from the base of the wall where no one was supposed to shoot, just in case she had to jump down.
"Where would they be?"
"Covering the other arcs." Ruby spared a glance to the right. The Grimm were advancing further as soon as her team's attention wasn't on them. A pack was attacking one of her lightning towers. Three Fire Dust rounds pushed them back. But, they'd still managed to warp it, breaking the circuit.
With a wave of her hand, Ruby grabbed onto the frayed pattern and returned it to its proper shape.
"I still don't understand how you do that." Blake said before vanishing and reappearing in the middle of a group of Creeps that tunneled their way to the wall. A whirlwind of black and purple energy destroyed them in an instant.
"It was broken and wrong, so I made it right," Ruby mumbled under her breath.
For nearly half an hour, the pattern continued. Most of the Grimm would be killed by the regular fighters and lightning towers. If any got past the barrier of lead, then Blake would jump down. Meanwhile, Ruby kept the skies clear. However, even after that much time, they still hadn't seen the Ancient in charge.
"Where do you think it is?" Blake asked as she landed next to Ruby.
"Could be anywhere..."
"Lady Ruby, spotter's report," Maple, one of the youngest who was allowed to have her Aura Awakened, said over the radio.
"Go for it."
"We have strange flashes of light at two hundred and thirty degrees. Unknown origin."
"Thanks." She glanced to the southwest.
Flashes of light turned out to be an understatement. It was like someone had conjured a storm in the trees. Bolts of lightning arced from deeper in, the light reflecting off of flying crystals of… pink and silver…
"Oh," Ruby brought Crescent Rose's scope to her eye as she continued. "No, no, no, no."
"What's wrong?" Blake asked.
Ruby's eyes were glued to the glyphs floating in the air, firing what had to be ice shards. "Yang got back early."
"She… Oh no…"
Their friends and teammates were stuck outside... fighting an ocean of Grimm...on the other side of the wall of death.
Yang would be able to fly over it or just go though, but none of the others would be able to manage. If they opened a gap, then the Grimm would have a free path forward until everyone made it in. For that matter, they might not even be able to contact anyone.
"Ruby?" Blake tapped her shoulder.
"I'm thinking..." She raised a hand to her visor, hesitating before changing the channel. She needed to be able to respond to anything that was announced and had never figured out how to make it intelligently splice channels together. With a groan, she passed her scroll to a soldier. "Walton, call the following contacts until one of them picks up: Sis, Weiss, Pyrrha, Penny, Ren, Nora."
As it rang, she cleared the sky of aerial Grimm. Between each shot, she glanced at the name being dialed.
Yang didn't pick up.
Orange flames blossomed from the space her friends were fighting, lighting up the forest. Ruby called out an order to change targeting priority.
Weiss didn't pick up.
Green flames joined them as an Ursa exploded, taking a tree with it.
Pyrrha didn't pick up.
A bolt of lightning fell from the sky. Then another. And another.
"Hello? Ruby?" Penny's voice called out over the sound of combat. "As much as I would enjoy speaking with you, this is a really bad time. We wandered into a big group of Grimm."
Ruby grabbed her scroll back, trapping it between her shoulder and her ear. "I know. I can see you."
"What? We made it?!"
"Yeah. I have a plan to get all of you to us." Ruby sighted in another group and blew them away. "Can you put Weiss or Yang on?"
"Not really…"
"Why not?"
"Because I don't use a scroll."
Ruby nodded to herself, that was probably the only reason Penny picked up in the first place, "Right… Umm, okay… We'll make this work."
A Beowolf swiped from the right.
Emerald slipped under its paw, her blade sinking in behind its jaw. The red in its eyes winked out after she'd pulled back, but she was moving too quickly to notice where it fell.
Another came in, claws streaking toward her. One blade batted them up while the next cut its throat out. A third followed, two kicks to the neck and a blade through the chest ended it. She wiped the sweat from her brow as she pulled her weapon free. It was good to have them again, even if they'd be back on Weiss' belt soon and Grimm weren't any fun. They didn't react.
Grimm rather than a calm night at camp, urgh. If only Cinder was with them, she'd be able to take control of the Grimm and end all of this fighting instantly.
Emerald hopped back, narrowly avoiding another attack. Before she could strike back, silver shards of ice took it out… along with everything else in front of her.
She glanced over her shoulder. Weiss and Nora were in the center of their formation, both surrounded by glyphs. An elegant princess and a brute, Weiss' spells were the main thing holding back the tide of Grimm with Nora helping. It shouldn't have just been them, but-
An explosion rocked the ground to her right. A wave of green flames so harsh Emerald could feel them from several feet away followed.
Another wave was torn to shreds by Yang. The self proclaimed demon queen lifted her heel and tapped it down, like an impatient child. Another blast followed a second later, then another, and another; like clockwork. She just stood there with her arms crossed and obliterated more Grimm than the rest of the melee line combined, all while barely moving a muscle.
If she'd bothered trying, maybe they wouldn't be in this mess. How could Weiss call Cinder arrogant when that was her girlfriend?
To Emerald's other side, Pyrrha launched bolts of lightning that chained from enemy to enemy, the sword in her land useless because she still hadn't recovered. The temptation to say something, just a little comment to twist in the wound of the Maiden who'd almost zapped Emerald twice today, was high. It'd also be stupid. Staying away would be better, but Pyrrha refused to allow Emerald at her back, so here they were.
Penny and Ren were covering the opposite arc of their circle. Since they hadn't been overrun, Emerald assumed those two were killing a lot of Grimm. Not worth taking her eyes off of her own to check on.
If only she could've convinced Weiss and Cinder to help each other. The two would have been unstoppable… Maybe… Maybe that could change, once they all were safe and calm again…
Emerald raised her blades over the protests of her forearms as more Grimm closed. She let her Aura flow into the muscles, soothing the pain. The end wasn't in sight; she'd need to ration it.
"Outta Dust!" Nora shouted. "Pyrrha, hit me!"
Lightning struck Nora as she ran to the front line in a pink blur. She landed between Emerald and Pyrrha. Whew, one problem solved.
"I have enough for six more spells, then I have to draw on my own power, and they aren't letting up. We need to find a way out before either Yang or I light up," Weiss said between casts.
"Don't worry about me. I can keep this up all night." Yang said between taps. "Just like you when-"
"Great! Pyrrha," Weiss, thankfully, cut in, "can you keep the bullets from that city off of us if we have to run for it?"
"Possibly." Pyrrha began, "If you and Yang can keep the Grimm-"
"Wait!" Penny shouted from her side. "Ruby just called me and she has a plan to get us to the city!"
"Yang, you need to figure out how to time this more reliably! Penny, what's Ruby's plan?" Weiss said before anyone else could get a word in.
"She says that their shells aren't armed until the last thirty meters of the arc, so flying in at higher than forty meters should definitely be safe. She'll shoot down any Nevermore getting close."
"Because I can just tell how high that is." Yang grumbled, her wings splaying slightly as she shouted. "Is there some sort of marker to fly above?"
"Twice as high as the tallest tree would be safe," Penny added.
"Sounds good, but I can only carry two of you."
"Aren't you supposed to be, inhumanly strong, or something?" Emerald asked, rolling her eyes ever so slightly.
"I only have two hands and hanging off of my belt isn't exactly safe. Though, if you want to try the fun way, I'll send you over right now." Yang smiled at emerald. The same sort of smile Cinder had whenever she was about to hurt someone.
The veins in Yang's neck pulsed with a green light. Blood began dripping from the tips of her fingers, droplets leaving a trail behind her as she shot towards an Ursa.
The air screamed with a strong enough wind to force Emerald to take a step back. It crackled with sparks and the sound of something tearing as her punch connected with the Grimm. For a moment, the cloud of dust and ash surrounding Yang paused, frozen in the air.
The Ursa shot away, cutting a line through the sea of bodies.
It arched over the killing field like a missile with two Beowolves impaled on its spines.
When it hit the wall of the city, it must have exploded. Emerald could make out the flash of green light… from over a mile away…
Emerald sucked in air through her teeth. "I'll stick with the plan."
"Yang! Ruby says not to do that again! She doesn't have enough Aura to fix your damage too!" Penny shouted. "Also, two people at once should be alright."
"I should be able to bring one with me as well," Pyrrha said.
"Thank you, Pyrrha! She says that helps." Penny paused for a moment. "According to Ruby, the main issue is the question of who can best stay behind for the second trip and also protect Yang's bike. I would nominate myself fo-."
"I'll do it." Ren cut in. "My Semblance will make the Grimm ignore me and anything I touch until someone can return."
Penny winced. "Ren, Ruby's very annoyed that you never told her about that before."
"It wasn't relevant. Also, I can protect one other person while I do so."
The wince got stronger. "O-Okay, here's what she says to do."
Emerald dropped a pair of Creeps, paying close attention to the most recent insanity.
"Weiss will use half of her Dust to clear as much of a path between here and the city, with Yang's help. Both of you go all out. Then, Ren and I stay here." Penny pointed to him. "Nora, Emerald, and Yang are team Sparky Gems. Weiss and Pyrrha are team North Pole.
"North Pole will advance to the wall and join the artillery groups. Sparky will land on the ground and take out the Grimm who'll get through when the city stops shooting. Yang will then come back for me and Ren. Ruby needs to watch the sky and Blake's busy protecting the walls, so we won't get much support until everyone's in."
"Sounds like a better plan than we had before." Yang held a fist up. Green flames flowed down from her fingers as her skin melted, literally melted. Her face looked like it had been covered in oil before the fire burned it away.
Emerald grimaced, looking away as Yang began growing taller and taller. She topped out with her waist at eye level for Emerald, her entire body wreathed with fire bright enough that it was hard to look at her.
"Let's go," Yang held a gigantic hand out from Emerald. Somehow, the fire didn't burn when she stepped closer.
