HNV Lyons, somewhere over Sanus
"So we're waiting for an attack?" Eckhard asked, looking out the window of the bridge. "I hate waiting."
"Oh?" Lyz asked. "Waiting is all we've done the past week. The enemy needs time to bolster forces."
"I know, and now I hate waiting." Eckhard countered. "All of this preparation and shit. We've seen it since the dawn of time, no one defends anything successfully."
"The kingdoms don't know that. They think they can hold off the Grimm forever."
"No, they want to believe they can do that." Eckhard pulled out the Dust crystal he had taken. "They won't be able to hold for another two or three years. Something always happens."
"Regardless if you arrived or not, the kingdoms would have fallen?" Lyz asked.
"Yeah." Eckhard put the crystal back in an ammo pouch. "I've read about empires rising and falling all the time. Nothing lasts forever."
"What about the Hammond Empire?"
"We have a strong military, and a government structure to keep us stable. Will we last a long time? Theoretically yes. Will we last forever? Absolutely not."
"Radar is picking up incoming hostile forces." A technician reported.
"About damn time. I was getting worried they forgot about us." Eckhard muttered.
"Status of ground forces?" Lyz asked.
"Looks like three divisions. They're heading for the landed battleships." An intel officer reported.
"Aren't those refueling right now?" Eckhard asked.
"The HNV Delhi is not. The others are refueling."
"Hmm…tell all the soldiers to start slowly pulling back to Delhi and/or the refueling station. If the refueling station is destroyed, the ships refueling will go with it."
"Yes, Sergeant Eckhard."
Eckhard turned to Lyz. "Let's go."
On the ground
An Atlesian dropship crashed to the ground, it's contents spilling out over the ground.
"Shit!" A soldier shouted, diving for cover. "Those turrets mean business! Where's our support!?"
He began to get up with the others around him, and a Paladin stopped in front of them. The hatch opened to reveal the pilot. "On your feet! We're getting the hell off this killing field!" The hatch closed as a group of Paladins ran at the wall.
"Holy shit! Was that Captain Lazuli?!" A soldier shouted.
"Doesn't matter! Get to the wall!" The whole line charged at the defenses as the Paladins broke through the perimeter wall guarding the HNV battleships.
With Hammond
"Warriors of the Hammond Empire! We will hold this line! None shall pass!" A familiar voice shouted. "Am I understood?"
"YES CAPTAIN FJORN!" The soldiers shouted.
"To your stations! Hold back the icy menace!" The soldiers dispersed, and began rapidly setting up turrets and getting to cover.
"The wall has been breached!" A soldier shouted. "Kill the intruders!"
Guns all over the base started firing. Dust rifles fired back. Titans launched salvo after salvo of missiles, bullets, 40mm, and Arc blasts. Paladins answered with rockets, missiles, and cannon shots.
One group of Hammond grunts moved to defend the refueling station, and were accompanied by a Jaeger. "So, we're lucky enough to get a Jaeger? Sweet!"
"Not so fast, McLeod. We got a Jaeger because we're gonna be swamped by forces." The platoon leader shouted. "Set up defenses, we need this place locked down!"
"Our forces are being overrun! We need reinforcements!" A grunt shouted. "Some of our soldiers are reporting heavy mechanized presence!"
"They got those damn robots!" The platoon leader scowled. "The ones that smear the name of Paladin. Soldiers, prepare heavy weaponry!"
A Paladin mech broke through a wall, and two more behind it emerged from the smoke.
"Oh shit."
The three mechs began charging the refueling station.
"OH SHIT!"
They fired as many rounds as they could while the Jaeger powered up a plasma battle-axe. The Paladins fired missiles off. They went over the platoon and impacted the refueling station.
"OH SHI-"
The refueling station exploded.
Ironwood's flagship
Ironwood, for the first time in a while, smiled as the refueling station exploded. He watched as the fuel pumps detonated, the explosions tracing all the way to the grounded ships. Their fuel tanks erupted, and the ships were destroyed.
"Objective complete. All units, move to hijack the last ship!" Ironwood ordered.
"James." The holographic form of Ozpin appeared behind the general. "I trust your attack is going well?"
"It's going more than well! We have destroyed five of the six support ships and are moving to secure the final one." Ironwood reported. "We'll have control of the ship soon, and use it for our plan."
"I trust the Dust-Bomb is fully operational?"
"Absolutely."
Ironwood replayed the plan in his head. His forces were to attack the temporary base of the enemy, catching them while the rearmed, repaired, and refueled. With five of the six ships destroyed via fuel explosion, Ironwood's forces would secure the last ship. They would hijack it and take it back to base to study it. Meanwhile another ship was planning to crash into the big ship, Lyons, with a Dust-Bomb.
A Dust-Bomb was a powerful explosive. It mixed Electric and Fire Dust together to make a powerful explosion, resulting in an EMP for all surviving electronics.
Few were made, but one was taking up the entire cargo hold of Red 6.
"Red 6's crew has been fully evacuated from the ship, it's on remote control from mine." Ironwood explained. "I wouldn't worry about this, Ozpin. You worry about the Vytal Festival."
"Yes, and we'll be awaiting your triumphant return." Ozpin cut the connection, and Ironwood went back to coordinating attacks.
"This will all be over soon." Ironwood mumbled. "One explosion, and we'll be status quo again."
HNV Lyons
"HNV Delhi is losing ground! The Atlesians are on the ship!" An officer reported.
"Dammit! Tell as many of the forces still on the ship to evac to Lyons. The hangars should still have the dropships." Eckhard ordered. "Is Admiral Sloane a safe distance away?"
"He was evac'd back to Exiled God the minute shit went south." Lyz explained. "He took Amber, with her consent, as well."
"So who's left?"
"The officers aboard this ship are dealing with getting crew prepped in the case of an emergency. Soldiers are evacing to Exiled God's surrounding troop ships, and all fighter wings are on standby to protect us from incoming battlecruisers." Lyz looked through the list again.
"Enemy formations?"
"Three divisions, all mixed. Two battlefleets, so we're looking at...I wanna say 16 battlecruisers."
"How the hell did Ironwood manage to pull together 16 battlecruisers?" Eckhard wondered aloud. "What's protecting Atlas?"
"Three battlecruisers, a lot of gunships, and many infantry divisions." Lyz explained.
"We could take them." 17 Actual stated.
"I wouldn't recommend it." Another Jaeger Commander walked in. "They are ruthless when they want to be."
"12 Actual? How was your vacation?" 10 Actual asked.
"Oh it was great. I got hit a lot, rifle butts hurt. The hotel was always in the air, but the service was bullshit." 12 Actual quipped.
"One star review?"
"In their dreams."
"Both of you, quiet down." 17 Actual ordered. "We have bigger problems than 12 Actual's shitty AAR."
Eckhard slightly smiled at that. "Guess we do what we do best now."
"What's that?" Lyz asked.
"Hurry up and wait."
"I hate this part." 17 Actual mumbled.
HNV Delhi
"They're nearly to the bridge!" A soldier shouted. "All soldiers and crew, move to the hangar! We have orders to evacuate off the planet!"
Soldiers and crew members moved away from the firefight as Atlesian soldiers and Knights moved to intercept them.
"We need to stop them here!" Another soldier shouted. "We can't let them interfere with the evacuation!"
"You think I don't know that?" A bullet bounced off the wall were the soldier was hiding. "We can't hold them off! Most of our ground forces were evac'd before these fucks got here!" He fired his rifle at the enemy. "Get some, bitch!"
"Enemy forces have breached the bridge. All personnel, please be advised." The intercom announced.
"That's our cue! Let's move, grunts!" All the soldiers left the hallway as the Atlesian soldiers pressed towards them.
"Well, that sucked ass!" A soldier shouted as they ran towards the hangar. "We didn't even kill that many of them!"
"Well, better work on it for next time!" The leader shouted.
"Yes sir!"
They ran into the hangar, and shut the blast door behind them. "Get to a goddamn ship! We are leaving this godforsaken battleship!"
"Is it wise to leave this thing here?" A soldier asked.
"It's all we can do! We can't get this thing airborne without it getting destroyed! Better to leave it here than to risk the crew trying to escape." The leader explained. "Now go!"
The soldiers got into dropships as the blast door started to turn red. "Here they come!"
The dropship began to lift off, and a soldier grabbed the doorside gun. He cocked the charging handle on the Spitfire, and aimed at the door. "C'mon c'mon c'mon...get in here."
The door exploded, and the soldier unloaded at the advancing enemies. "Fuck you!"
The bullets streamed through the smoke, destroying the Atlesian forces with ease. Soldiers dropped and Knights were ripped apart. The gun suddenly locked up, and the door closed as the dropship shot out of the hangar.
A group of Atlesian soldiers ran out from the carnage, finding a messy and empty hangar. No personnel for the General to interrogate.
"General Ironwood is not gonna like this." A soldier muttered.
HNV Lyons
"Dropships have left. None were left behind." The intel officer reported. "We are in the clear."
"Good, now we wait-"
"Sergeant! Battlecruisers in front!"
Eckhard looked out the window, and watched as battlecruisers broke through the cloudline. Their guns began firing and missile salvos flew at Lyons.
"Reroute shields! Begin evacuations! Get the fighters to start defending this ship!" Eckhard ordered. "Make sure we make a goddamn lasting impression!"
Fighters streamed out of the hangar while dropships began moving out of the atmosphere.
"Is that our cue to leave?" Lyz asked.
She was answered by the ship shaking.
"What the hell was that?" Eckhard asked.
"Something collided with our side! We have a ship lodged into the side near our right front engine!" A technician answered.
"Well, how the hell did it end up there?" Eckhard asked.
"Sergeant, they may be trying a really desperate plan." 17 Actual intervened.
"I've been hearing reports of a 'Dust-Bomb' from the monitored channels." 12 Actual stated, supporting 17 Actual's statement.
"Does that mean-" Before Eckhard could finish, the ship was rocked by an explosion and the lights went out. "-they're suiciding us."
"Off the ship, now!" Lyz ordered. Everyone ran for the hangar as the ship started to lose altitude.
Ironwood
"Bomb detonated!" A crew member shouted. "She's going down! Repeat, Lyons is going down!"
Ironwood smiled. "Mission complete. Get that airship we stole out of here! We need to get a scan on their technology, ASAP!"
The crew relayed the orders as Ironwood stared down at the falling ship. The SuperCarrier had lost it's right front engine, which was falling separately from the ship. There was an exorbitant amount of dropships and fighters leaving the ship, and heading for higher altitudes.
"They're leaving?" A crewman asked.
"Why fight?" Ironwood asked. "We're successful, they aren't. We've majorly evened out the score, and maybe just absolutely beat them."
"Uh...sir?" An intel officer began. "We have a situation."
Vale, immediately after the Ozpin/Ironwood call
"Ironwood has hopes for his mission. There appears to be no problem in his plans." Ozpin hummed. "Something is gonna happen."
"The enemy seems to have an affinity for that." Glynda stated. "They like to do that sort of thing."
"Yes, but we should focus on Vytal, like Ironwood asked us to." Ozpin sighed. "He can deal with the enemy. I have a feeling that this will be the crushing blow he needs."
"I hope so." Glynda said. "Everyone in Vale is cheering him on in some way, shape, or form."
"Indeed." Ozpin nodded. "How is the school right now?"
"The student body has been training nearly non stop since the attack." Glynda began. "The fourth years have been lobbying for more missions, the third years are the same way. Second and first years have been working hard, class GPA and fighting forms have improved considerably."
"They took it as a wake up call." Ozpin hummed. "Excellent."
"Should we be looking for more missions for our senior teams?" Glynda asked.
"All we can give them are missions pertaining to the reconstruction of Vale." Ozpin sighed. "They're gonna have to deal with the hand dealt."
"I'm sure they won't mind helping out the citizens of Vale." Glynda assured Ozpin. "I'll get onto sending that message now."
"Thank you, Glynda." Ozpin said as Glynda left the room. He looked out the window as he watched students go on about their day. He sighed, his thought drifting to Team RWBY.
RWBY had been on site for the conflict in the poorer district. They got there too late to make a difference, but just in time to be caught in the explosion of the mech soldiers. He looked towards the main campus buildings, and lamented on the actions taken by the young leader in RWBY.
Ruby Rose had rushed her team to the frontlines when the fighting had broken out. Ozpin was worried she was becoming obsessed with the new enemy. He understood it was one thing to hurt her, it was another thing to hurt her weapon of choice.
"Perhaps I should counsel her on this. If not for her, then to put my mind at ease that she won't do something reckless."
RWBY Dorm
"Ruby, why are you getting ready to leave?" Weiss asked her partner. "We don't have anything scheduled for today."
"I'm heading down to Vale." Ruby answered. "I want to look for something."
"Ruby, what could you possibly find at the wreckage sight? They've cleaned up most of the area, and have carted away the entire wreckage to Atlas for studying. You won't find anything."
"There has to be something! Anything!" Ruby exclaimed, surprising her partner. "Something that'll lead to where they'll attack next!"
"Ruby, you're working too hard! You need to relax, this has been going on for too long!" Weiss exclaimed. "You're acting like Blake did with the White Fang!"
"This is bigger than the White Fang, Weiss! This is an enemy that has huge airships and can strike anywhere on Remnant!" Ruby shot back. "We need to be prepared-"
The door swung open as Blake entered the room, with Yang behind her. "Check your Scrolls!" Blake exclaimed.
Ruby and Weiss brought out their Scrolls, and saw they had a message from their news app.
"The Atlesian Military destroyed the big airship?" Ruby asked.
"While a portion of their military has escaped, the Hammond menace is not a threat and may never be a threat again." Weiss continued reading. "Well, I guess that settles it."
"So...that's that?" Ruby asked. "We beat back one wave of robots and an attack on Vale, and the enemy gives?"
"To be fair, there were a lot of resources for two failed attacks." Blake reasoned. "Let's not forget the two pronged attack before Redwood."
"Those operations in such quick succession? They have to be out of everything now." Weiss explained.
Ruby sighed, mostly in relief. "I guess we no longer have anything to worry about, right?"
Ironwood
"What do you mean by incoming radar contacts?" Ironwood asked.
"There is a large amount of interference, but something is approaching us." The radar operator explained. "I think-"
He was interrupted by the sound of Lyons exploding as it hit the ground. Even in the sky, the ship shook.
"My Oum, that thing was a heavy POS." An officer commented.
"Be that as it may, we may have more pressing problems. Have the ships begin escorting our new toy back to Atlas. We need to-" As he was speaking, he failed to notice the sky start to glow. "-make sure that the ship is secured and begin studying technology on it."
As he finished, a railgun shot impacted the top of Red 3, which was beside the General's ship, and exited through the bottom of the battlecruiser.
"Alert: Unknown airship detected." The computer chimed.
"No...no no tell me I'm dreaming!" An NCO shouted. "What the fuck is that!?"
Ironwood looked out the window, and the sight he saw instantly destroyed his good mood.
In the sky, was another airship. This time, it was much bigger than the Lyons. The ship was big enough to have her name written on the side of the hull.
HNV Deterrence, a Colossus class, had arrived on the scene.
The comm devices suddenly went crazy.
"Holy shit, you see that thing?!"
"My Oum, it's the size of a continent!"
"I see streaks...oh shit their dropping more mechs!"
"They weren't retreating, it was a ploy!"
"All forces fall back to the battlecruisers!"
"Red 3, come in!"
Ironwood turned back to his crew immediately, ignoring the voices on the device. "Get all forces evacuated! Move the stolen ship to Atlas, and get us the hell out of here!" He ordered. As the crew went to work, he turned to the comm device. "Red 3 is dust, we got to get the hell out of here!"
All the while, Deterrence began her ascent back to the clouds, and warp jumped to a new destination.
Beacon
Students watched on their phones as video of the new airship was starting to go viral. Many were shocked that a ship even bigger than Lyons existed.
Ozpin, still in his office, scowled. "So you're not done yet."
"Ozpin!" Glynda shouted, running into the office. "The news is going crazy! There are reports of riots in Vale!"
"Pull all students deployed to Vale back here. I have a feeling James is not going to be pleased." Ozpin ordered. "I will prepare a speech for the school. I'll have it ready in an hour or so."
"Understood." Glynda left to call the students back to campus.
"Is this the new endgame?" Ozpin asked. "Is Remnant about to lose everything she knows?"
Salem's Palace
Salem wanted to scream. Of everything to happen, of all her planning, she never expected any of this to happen.
The foundries on her territory detonating? The attack on Vale that had her lose the other half of the Fall Maiden? The big airship? The Atlesian attack that summoned the bigger airship?
None of the above was supposed to happen.
She mulled over the past week or so. Her Grimm were being killed quicker than she could replace them. Attacks on Vale villages weren't possible anymore since this enemy had wiped out all of them. Grimm in her own territory weren't safe because of the remaining foundries. Even the foundries were becoming more dangerous. Now they were fortresses instead of foundries. This meant more turrets, more cannons, more mines, more infantry and vehicles. The only thing that was less was her chance of breaking through to them. Her only victory was when they began leaving, but that was short lived as the abandoned bases detonated. The explosion she could see from her own throne room.
"The war has evolved." She stated emotionlessly. "This is the first time the war has become a shooting war. No longer will forces hide in the shadows. No longer will attacks be just ones of sabotage and espionage. Full scale battles will be waged, aircraft and Grimm will choke the sky, the seas will be flooded with corpses and ships. And for what? Resources? Pride? A planet that is only a shell of what it once was? What does that say to us? That we are the creators of our own destiny? That fate hates our world so much that it would bring us this unbeatable enemy? Do the gods who abandoned us look down at us and laugh? Are they finally happy with what they see? Or do they weep, unable to help us in our fight? Unable to save even a single soul from the fiery retribution at hand, do they show tears and wonder what they could do differently? I do not know."
The castle shook as a Colossus Carrier warped into the airspace above the Grimmlands, along with several Supercarriers.
"All I know is this. My judgement, an event I have postponed for the longest time, has come." Salem remarked, seeming indifferent as Malta class battleships joined the assembled fleet en masse. "I will join the gods who have left this world, and I will ask those questions myself." Her veins glowed red, and swarms of Grimm were summoned into existence. "But I will not go down without a fight!" She shouted, as the castle began to crack and break apart. "I will let this enemy know that I stood up, and brought hell upon them!"
The sky came to life as Grimm, missiles, point defenses, fighters, and Hammond ships fought for dominance.
"I will be remembered by this empire as the one and only!"
The ground became a warzone of hell as artillery, glassing beams, gunfire, mechs, metal, and armored humans fought against a wall of flesh and bone armor.
"I am Salem!" Salem shouted. "AND YOU WILL REMEMBER ME FOR ETERNITY!"
The throne room exploded, and a wall of black liquid shot up from the ground like a geyser.
Council Room
"The war is now moving into its next phase." Red began as he read off of a paper sent to him from the Emperor Commander. "As such, the following changes to our military will be made."
"Here we go." Blue mumbled.
"HEF forces will be reorganized, as well as the HMF. The HEF, currently fielding 125 military groups, will reorganize the military into the new organization that has been detailed in the document. The HMF will follow suit." Red continued. "Jesus Christ, this is absurd."
"What?" White asked. "Did you get the shaft?"
"Yep. Divisions are gonna be smaller now. I'm gonna need to reroute this to division commands, like, right now." Red stated. "Take a look."
White took the folder, and looked through it. "The HEF is being shrunk down from 20.375 billion to 11.739 billion manpower?"
"That's absurd!" Blue shouted. "How did the Emperor Commander let that happen?"
"She says she's still working on the details, and that the number is tentative." Red said. "Even for my military, I'm going from 5.184 billion to 2.592 billion per military group."
"When did this period of demobilization hit us? Is it because Sigmantium is over?" White asked. "What about the home defenses?"
"Your toys haven't been changed." Red answered. "Congrats, Arora can now project her power better than the HMF and HEF."
"I'm not sure how I feel about that." White mumbled.
"So...research divisions?" Blue asked.
"Not touched either. You are to carry on with what you have." Red answered.
"Yes!"
White sighed. "Grey is not going to like this."
HNV Exiled God
"So I'm losing almost nine billion men, women, and robots to budget cuts?" Grey asked himself. "Perhaps this campaign is not generating the revenue needed to progress the empire." Grey looked over March's plan again. "Looks like we're speeding up the plan." He activated the comm device and selected March's name.
He answered immediately. "General March."
"March, did you see the cuts?"
"Yes, I did. Something tells me you're thinking of something drastic?"
"Your plan is being moved up a bit. I have an idea to get our manpower back."
Beacon
"There's been a large spike of Grimm in the badlands." Glynda started. "I'm not sure what is happening out there, but villages on the fringe report lots of explosions and loud noises."
"The enemy is attacking her and her forces." Ozpin stated. "Whatever this is, it's the first of many attempts for the enemy to exterminate the Grimm."
"Will she be able to defeat them?" Glynda asked.
"She'll be able to push them back, but totally drive them out is impossible. She'll be harassed for days on end, until her forces and herself become wiped out." Ozpin explained, not even looking at Glynda. He was staring out the window. "But she will drag them into a slugfest. This battle will be one of absolute attrition. No longer is it a war from the shadows. She is bringing out everything she has, and will strike hard and often at the enemy." Ozpin looked at the students, who were still watching the footage of the Colossus, on the green. "We have been given breathing room, for now."
"Ironwood is going to take that breathing room in stride, isn't he?" Glynda asked. "He was successful in stealing some of their tech, and a whole ship is something new entirely."
"Considering the amount of tech, he could very well find new ways to arm up his military." Ozpin remarked. "If it wasn't for this new enemy, I would be worried."
"What about after?" Glynda asked. "Will he willingly disarm himself?"
"If the Grimm are defeated and the enemy pushed back, he might be so inclined to do so. He may, however, see the individuality of the Kingdoms as a threat against him."
"That would make him less inclined to disarm." Glynda finished. "Should we prepare?"
"No. We shall focus on the task at hand. The defeat of our new adversary is paramount, as the survival of our independence depends on it." Ozpn answered. "Though, I fear that this is much easier said than done."
HNV Zeus, Phoenix Class Superdreadnought, fringes of Hammond Territory
"Sir." An intel officer started. "There's been another spike in activity amongst the Fringe Sectors."
The Admiral walked over to the screen, and looked down at the information on the computer. "It seems Sigmantium wasn't the end." He walked away. "Prep a report, I want it to be on my desk by tomorrow morning." The admiral ordered as he walked away.
"Yes sir." The officer responded, and quickly went to work.
The admiral was deep in thought. 'So they think they can rise up and defeat us?' He thought in his mind. 'The council must be alerted. Red must be alerted.'
He went to his office, and sat down at his desk. He activated the communications device, and waited.
"Vice Emperor Red."
"Vice Emperor, the spikes are back. They've intensified since Sigmantium fell." The admiral reported. "Those budget cuts are gonna need to be put on hold."
"Ironic, those cuts were to help those planets. Guess we'll just have to reroute them back to the militaries." Red responded.
"Is that so?"
"Nope, if the Fringe Territories are acting up, then we need to fully mobilize to meet them head on." Red explained. "The HMF and HEF will probably have a hayday, and sizes will be increased."
"Oh." The admiral said.
"A show of force is in order. Admiral Fein, you control the 41st HMF Fleet, correct?"
"Yes, Vice Emperor."
"Well, then the entirety of the 4th HMF Fleet Group is being sent to you. The 4th HMF Fleet Group commander is in charge now."
"Vice Emperor, I know you said a show of force, but aren't twelve fleets a bit much? Especially sending this many personnel-"
"Admiral Fein, the would-be rebels must be...reminded...of their allegiance to the Hammond Empire. Usually, I would ask the HEF to go down to the planets and deal with the problems themself, but they are preoccupied with different orders. Mainly, the Remnant and Paradis Questions." Red explained. "Begin regular port calls with the fringe planets, and show them we are still here and not to be trifled with."
"Yes, Vice Emperor Red." Admiral Fein responded, and the call was dropped. "When did the HEF get another problem?"
HNV Eternal Grace, Phoenix Class Superdreadnought, outside Hammond territory
"So that's it?" The Captain Admiral asked. "Another planet with trouble on it?"
"Yes sir." A general officer responded. "We haven't got a name from any local channels yet."
"What, they don't talk about their planet?"
The general shook his head. "There aren't any communication channels to listen to. Everything is pure static down there."
"But we know there's people, right?"
"Yes sir, at night the planet's population centers light up. Interestingly, SATINTEL has found a...promising spot for a base." The general brought up a tablet to show the area.
The Captain Admiral took the tablet, and looked at the area. "Open space, not too many mountains...big ass trees, interesting. Look at these big ass trees." He pointed to the trees. "Stick a whole sword through that. Grapple pilots are gonna love this one."
"Sir, there's one thing to note. This area has hostile creatures." The general officer brought up a screen with a paused video on it. He pressed play.
The video was a POV camera from a squad with two Atlas titans. They were wondering through a field, with slight clusters of trees.
"Stand fast, I hear something." The squad leader said. "Click off safeties."
There was a sound of clicking noises. The screen shook a little.
"What the hell was that?" The camera looked at a forest.
"It's coming from the east." One of the titans reported. "Stand by…"
The Admiral heard what sounded like large footsteps.
"Hey! Something's breaking through the treeline!" A soldier shouted. "It's...what the hell?!"
The admiral got a clear glimpse at what the creature was. He stared, disgusted at what he saw. It looked like a giant human.
"Holy fuck! That thing is huge!"
"It's coming towards us!"
"Fauna, stand down." The titan ordered the creature. It got a roar in response. "Engaging hostile fauna."
The admiral watched the unit shoot at the revolting creature, watching it start bleeding as the bullets tore through it. The explosive 40mm shots blew off an arm, and then the head was hit. The creature fell to its knees, and a final 40mm shot, probably aimed for the head, went low and hit the neck of the creature. The shot caused the body to lean backwards, and the creature started steam.
"Holy shit, what the hell?" A soldier mumbled.
The admiral just stared.
"Welcome to Paradis, sir." The general remarked as he turned off the video
HNV Exiled God, in orbit over Remnant
General March stared down at the planet, the contempt in his eyes was easily seen. This planet was becoming more and more of a burden to him.
While the Dust had successfully been integrated into Hammond power grids with ease, the planet was now no longer useful to Hammond as the power grids would be sustainable until at least the next two centuries. That is, if Hammond would last that long.
March had already received the reports of the budget cuts and the sudden spikes in the Fringe Sectors. He was...disappointed.
"Sir, we have a situation." An officer said. "The 11th HEF Fleet and Military have engaged the Grimm. Were those your orders?"
March turned around to face the officer. "I didn't order that."
"Well, they're attacking the Grimmlands. The entire group."
March went to look at his holographic map. He scrolled it over to the Grimmlands, and was greeted with massive amounts of reports of forces in combat with the semi-mindless enemy.
"Get the 10th HEF Fleet and Military down there to support the operation! When this is over and if we're successful, I want the 11th HEF's commanders here!" March ordered.
"Sir, we have a message from Vice Emperor Blue." An officer reported. "He says 'The cannon is loaded.' He awaits response."
"Tell him to 'fire away', lieutenant." March ordered. "The mechs of war about to come loose."
