Well, here it is. Sort of a kind of a maybe hypothetical scenario where Vytal happens.
Bleak Skies
Burning Arms,
Desolate Roads,
Crumbling Legs,
Desperate Screams,
Bleeding Chest.
There were few things that Jaune hated more than the sight of mentally broken people. The few things he could list that he hated more were dead people and maimed people. As for the people of the town of Red Boa, they were firmly in the camp of mentally broken. Nothing had happened to them yet, of course. Their small town in the middle of Mistral was quite quaint, connected to one of the main rivers of the Mistrali river system, and survived off of its fairly prosperous farming community.
It had been all great and dandy.
And then a series of things happened.
First, Vytal happened. A terrorist attack that killed many students, many more civilians, and the culprits were still unknown. Then, it was found out that someone was serial killing hunters in Mistral. Turns out, it had been going on for fucking years and the reports had been censored by the Mistrali council in order to prevent negativity from spreading. To top it all off, the Headmaster of Haven had been murdered by some mystery assailant. And when those three events happened in rapid succession, the worst fears of the council were answered when Grimm numbers skyrocketed in Mistral. Many hunter corps were crippled with the strikes and could only defend Anima's central territories, the main walled towns of the continent.
Red Boa was not that. Red Boa was a small town that barely even had walls. It had a single team of local hunters who could only afford to work there because their weapons were extremely simple and required little dust. But Red Boa was now surrounded on all sides. There were more and more reports of Grimm popping up in Anima. And scouts warned the town that it was likely a horde was going to stampede them. The worst part? The horde encircled the entire region, making escape, especially for a population with a fighting force of only five, practically impossible.
Men and women drank and sobbed and despaired. A few had tried to prematurely take their own lives, but held out hope that the hunters could come up with something.
Jaune was in the room with five others, the team of four hunters and a jittery man in a ruined lab coat. Among the hunters were Sol, a martial artist, Timber, who wielded a greataxe, Chrome, who had a jacket full of bayonets, and Huck, who had a long quiver full of javelins. Adding him to the mix, they were all fairly skilled, strong, and smart. They all knew how to kill Grimm. They had all faced their fair share of bad odds.
This was far beyond any of them. Even Jaune had no clue as to what they could do. Sure, if they were really fast they might be able to dig mile wide trenches, but they didn't have anything to deal with aerial Grimm. Plus, they had very few resources for fortification.
Simply put, there were few options. Hypothetically, the five of them could survive if they pushed past the Grimm and escaped, but that would mean leaving behind Red Boa's people. And that was not a choice. So, they all had come to the same conclusion; They were dead men walking. Well, that was until the jittery man who introduced himself as Dr. Emmerich walked in.
"So, you were saying?" Timber spoke first, looking at the lanky doctor with little patience. He had been nothing more than irritated by this entire scenario. The corps abandoned Red Boa even before the news came. And all their desperate signals were met with silence and sympathies.
"Y-yes. I have an idea. There's a weapon nearby that could possibly be what you all need to defeat the Grimm and save the people." Emmerich's hands scratched at his neck and ruffled his already messy brown hair almost every second, his eyes darted behind his glasses while his foot tapped, as if praying for fortune by knocking on wood.
"Really?" Sol was the eldest of the group and listened to Emmerich, though his eyes never glimmered.
"Of course. Y-you see, Mistral and Atlas cooperated on more than just Argus. Solitas' weather doesn't make for a very good testing ground, so Mistral has allowed the Atlesian military to do testing on its own ground, for a fee of course. And I was actually part of a weapons projec-"
"What." Where Timber merely simmered with irritation, Chrome went from mourning to rage in mere seconds. "You're telling me those Atlesian shitbags-" She nearly jumped over the table to throttle him before being held back by Huck.
"Calm down Chrome." Huck sighed and turned back to Emmerich, who nodded in thanks and continued.
"Well, then Vytal happened. All personnel were ordered to evacuate back to Atlas, but I was left behind on accident. At the time of abandoning there were five working prototypes. And we all were ordered to immediately leave, without ever cleaning up. If you can go into the woods, retrieve the prototypes, and get out of there, you may be able to come back quick enough in order to mobilize an evacuation force. Just five of you wouldn't be able to defend a convoy, but five of you in the prototypes? That's far easier."
"And just what are these prototypes?" Jaune wasn't going to lie, he was clinging to this last shred of hope that the world graced them with, but he wasn't going into this blind. Or at the very least, he wasn't going to do this if it was something stupid.
"Mechs." A pause. Nobody had expected that, it seemed. "I guess since it's public now I can say it, but we were a relative of the Atlesian Paladin project. Or, a rival, I guess. The Paladins were focused on general usage, like a swiss army knife loaded with dozens of different guns for different foes that only took a few days for proper training. They were meant to be deployed on their own to act as multi-purpose tanks of sorts that could deal with both hordes and titans. Project Living Metal, the one I was in, created a line of mechs made for specialized purposes that also used a sort of mental interface. The problem came when that interface sort of took a toll on the pilots. Plus, the designs were rather niche and required a lot more skill coming from the pilot." More and more details were revealed about the project, giving them less and less faith.
"Ok, what?" Timber groaned into his palm. "Look, it's nice that you want to help, but this doesn't seem like a good idea. You're telling me that you want us to go into these death machines that have a chance of lobotomizing us, with no idea how to pilot them, and then just hope that they work? No thanks." The others gave various agreeing remarks. The only one who remained silent was Jaune.
"Where?" There was a brief silence before incredulous cries.
"What!?"
"Oh c'mon, dude!"
"Really?"
"If the child wishes."
"Look-" Jaune turned to the four hunters. "-It's worth looking into it. Right now, we have no chance of winning. If there's even a slight chance that this is worth it, I'm looking into it. Plus, I'm probably the best to go. I'm not used to fighting with you guys, my normal sword and shield has less killing capability than all of you, and I'm still the greenhorn of the bunch."
"That's even more-"
"Again, if the child wishes." Sol was oddly willing to let Jaune jump to his own death, which he appreciated. He turned to Emmerich once more.
"Now, where is it?"
From there, Emmerich was given a map and pinpointed the location of the hidden lab. He also informed Jaune of everything he'd need to know, including how to even get in the freaking place, possible security measures that might still be active, and how to activate and pilot the mechs. He would only be able to get one of them, but it shouldn't matter at that point. With the rate the Grimm were going, they'd have enough time for him to do a scouting run and then a subsequent trip to retrieve the rest. Plus, they might not even be functional, so there was no point in putting all their eggs in one basket.
Jaune set off for the lab. He decided to set his pace to a brisk walk. Running would just exhaust him but anything else simply felt too slow, what with the impending disaster and all.
"Ok, found the cave in the hillside with scratch marks on the floor." He had slain a few Grimm on the way there, nothing to write home about. "There's supposed to be a button or something I need to press." Jaune grumbled, making a torch just to see in the damned place. Eventually, he remembered about Calm Waters and sunk into it, focusing on a torch in order to find if there were any drafts. Turns out, detective fiction wasn't lying and it actually worked, leading him to busting open a fake part of the wall to find a hallway.
It was definitely Atlesian, what with the sterile color scheme of white and sky blue. Calm Waters revealed that the place was completely abandoned, which corroborated with what Emmerich said. He sighed and continued to walk, occasionally putting out the fires that his torch created on the cobwebs. Just in case, he made sure to think before every step. Emmerich warned him of the security systems; There were scanners that would mark anyone without proper ID for the turrets to shoot. There were also Atlesian Knights ready for deployment. Though, given how everything was shut down, he was pretty sure that there was nothing to worry about.
The facility soon opened up, with halls and dorms and labs and storage all abandoned. It was odd that this place was built inside a mountain, but he supposed that it was probably built out of a natural system. Considering what Emmerich said about the project, it made some sense. People were already antsy about Atlas' military growth, even if they said it was for combating Grimm. Well, whatever, their ridiculous spending on weapons development was going to come in handy.
He navigated through the complex using the instructions Emmerich gave him, searching for certain landmarks for directions before ending up in the hangar.
And the space opened up to reveal a large room with as much space as a very big warehouse, if not more. And hanging off of several frames were five large and complete mechs. Turns out, Emmerich wasn't lying about them being nigh complete barring quirks.
The smallest one was rather lithe, more like an oversized piece of armor than anything. It still stood rather tall, about the height of a building, but still short in comparison. It was leg and arm heavy, with its arms being as thick as large tree trunks with articulate hands at the ends, and legs that could bend and twist with incredible range. There were no feet, instead there were two wheels that likely could carry the mech at high speeds. Jaune looked at the small note Emmerich gave that he sketched the roster on and confirmed that this was the Atlesian Beserker due to the big sword on its back. It was intended to be a blender against hordes, as the sword was capable of breaking into several smaller blades or a blade-whip.
On its right was a chicken walker with no arms. Its legs alone were taller than the Beserker and the cockpit actually seemed like something someone would sit in, with heavy armor covering it. It was basically a mobile weapons platform, what with the excessive amounts of guns that were on it. He could spot a large dust blaster from the top, a long range railgun, and several mini-missile boxes attached to it. This was the Atlesian Hwacha, intended to act as fire support for the squad.
The next one Jaune spotted was the largest of the bunch. It had four bulky legs with large treads reminiscent of a tank's. It was extremely wide, had a heavily armored body, and could wield a giant mace with its two arms. It wasn't totally devoid of ranged combat, however. On its shoulders were numerous turrets that could shred through annoyances with ease. This was the Atlesian Destroyer, whose strength was second to none and capable of destroying even the toughest of Grimm.
The fourth one's design was rather smooth. It actually resembled a human in quite a few ways. It was also the only mech with arms that didn't wield any weapons. Its feet resembled birds with the four claws that could sink into the ground and its hands were similarly constructed, though with five and arranged to have a better range of motion. It was made to be as articulate as the Beserker with the addition of added mobility that came in the form of the rocket booster on its back. This was the Atlesian Tiger, which could launch itself like a missile towards priority targets and rip them apart with speed and fury.
The fifth one was rather average in comparison. It was made to act in a supporting role, like the Hwacha. Instead of a giant mace or sowrds, it wielded a simple multi purpose dust powered cannon. Its only remarkable power was the fact that it was loaded with hard light dust that it could use to create shields. It was the Atlesian Vanguard, his choice of the five.
Yes, the Hwacha outgunned it. Yes, the Destroyer had far more strength. Yes, the Beserker and Tiger had far more killing potential. But the Vanguard was perfectly made for their job, getting the people out of Red Boa and to a safe haven nearby. The hard light dust that it was loaded with were capable of creating large and strong shields that he needed.
Also, the notes said that the Vanguard was the easiest to use. The Beserker caused a lot of motion sickness (and that was on normal people), he wasn't good enough with hand to hand to use the Tiger (on top of the motion sickness that one caused), the Hwacha required a lot of mental control to properly use all of its weapons, and the Destroyer just seemed like a hassle.
So, he began to climb. He walked over to the Vanguard's frame and went up the creaky old ladder, slowing down as he heard the rusty metal groan and crackle, flakes and dust fluttering down like falling snow. He wasted no time walking from the platform into the tight cockpit. It kept him in a sitting position, thankfully, but his arms and legs were weirdly compressed, like it was some sort of massage chair. After a bit of finagling with his armor, he managed to lock himself into the thing.
And then, as if a switch was flicked, the cockpit door was shut close, and several needles plunged through his arms. They were so small that his aura was unable to properly block them in time. On one hand, he didn't feel any pain, just a slight unnerving sense of his flesh behind invaded. On the other hand, he felt entirely new sensations. He could still see from his eyes into the cockpit, but he could also see from the Vanguard's head, or at least its optical receptors. When he jerked in surprise, he heard the sound of creaking and metal groaning and clattering as the mech moved with him.
After a few moments of panic and thrashing, Jaune had finally realized what was happening. Where many a hunter eventually grew so comfortable with their weapons to the point where they could channel aura into it as easily as they could their own bodies, the Vanguard was sort of forcing that reaction. It had poked itself into various parts of his body and used its system to connect itself to them and soon, his very soul spread out through the machine like blood pumping through veins. It reacted to his aura akin to how scrolls relied on sensing it (locked and unlocked alike) in order for their touch screens to work. In other words, this was the mental interface Emmerich talked about.
"Hmm." Jaune began flexing his arm, rotating it like he would with his actual arm. And then his attention moved onto the rather detailed fingers of the Vanguard. He made sure not to touch the other mechs as he stumbled in the hanger, almost falling over several times before finally catching his balance. And then his scroll began ringing, causing him to yelp in shock and trip, causing him to fall on the wall and tear through it, revealing it to be a door that led to the outside. With an annoyed grunt and more than a few slip-ups, he managed to answer the call.
"J-u there?"
"You're cutting off!"
"G-da-ok-Grimm! GRIMM!-COME!" Well, that wasn't the most cohesive message, but Jaune got its meaning either way. With an exit already created, the Atlesian Vanguard began to move like hell, with Jaune pulling out the rifle on its back in preparation for the task ahead. His aura began interacting with the weapons' own systems, with a display popping up for the dust gun's internals. There were several firing modes and a variety of ammunition, there was even a small diagram displaying how the gun worked, which was neat.
Moving it was extremely weird. It was like being in armor so big that he couldn't feel anything except his own muscles burning with every strained step, except now he didn't even have that. He could sense his aura flare when a part of the partially unfinished mech began to bend or smoke right before auto-repair systems kicked in, but besides that it was just cool metal and cushioning. He still found his muscles becoming strained, despite the lack of exertion on his part. Must've been an automatic response.
His eyes darted from screen to screen as he slowly came closer and closer to Red Boa.
And then he got a good look at what was happening.
There was an early incursion. It wasn't the full force of Grimm that were converging on Red Boa, far from it, but it was still extraordinarily large. There was a saving grace, they came in waves. The current force was being handled by team STCH, a stampeding horde of 50 Boarbatusks of varying size. Strolling in behind them were 5 Goliaths, ready to flatten the village. With his targets found, Jaune charged forward. He adjusted for aim as he got closer until the target reticule was firmly on the distant Goliath's side and then fired.
With a gun so large, even the giant metal shell encasing him wasn't enough to dampen the kickback. It was satisfying, in a sense, feeling the sheer power of the dust gun. It unleashed the full power of a foot-sized shell of fire dust, incinerating the Goliath's hide and melting its flesh until part of its ribcage was exposed. The elephant Grimm was so absurdly strong that even that only got halfway through its width, but the force of the blast tipped it over and caused it to fall and gauge itself with its own bones.
He could see Team STCH pause for a moment, completely and utterly shocked at the arrival of the Vanguard. He could also see the civilians watch the distant giant thrash the fallen over Goliath with its large metallic legs, eventually killing it by smashing its skull in with its gun.
He couldn't milk their surprise any further as the other four began charging at him, having spread out so they completely surrounded him. The Goliaths had enough force in their charge to reduce the Vanguard to a tin can. Praying to the Brothers for fortune, he activated the hard light dust systems, seeing a number tick down in his peripheral as he began conjuring shields of blue light. It wasn't to block them, but rather to subtly change their paths so he didn't have to deal with all of them. He left one as it was in order to shoot at it with his dust cannon, melting out its eyes in the first shot and then destroying its skull with a change to gravity dust.
Then he turned to a Goliath that missed him ever so slightly and grabbed it by the horns with the Vanguard's metallic hands before snapping them off, making a sound like a tree trunk breaking, and stabbing the titan Grimm in the eye
"WHOOHOOO!" Jaune felt his excitement reach a fever pitch from the fightin-
"Oh my god the battle drug system is still in there."
"What." Jaune's mood died instantly as he registered those words from Emmerich. "Wait, how are you even-"
"All of the mechs have a comms frequency, for mission control to call in with. I'm in my room and looking at what's happening." Well, alright. "Anyways, we tried to implement a injection system that would administer a cocktail of drugs into the pilot, to numb their senses and let them sync better with the machine. Well to do that and to automatically inject aura if they run out." A pause.
"Oh my brothers, really?"
"Yea, I turned it off from here."
"Good." He felt the high dying down as reality turned back to normal. It seemed that in his haze, he killed all of the Goliaths with brutal ease. Their corpses were slowly fading into nothingnes as Jaune just stood there. "Alright, are the Boarbatusks dealt with?"
"Yep. By the way, how is controlling the Vanguard? The project may be dead, but I'd like to know how you're feeling with it." He could imagine Emmerich taking out a notebook and writing whatever he said with vigor and obsession.
"Hmm? Oh, it's pretty smooth. The needles are a bit uncomfortable though."
"Oh, yea." Emmerich chuckled guiltily. "That was a pretty big complaint from testers. We tried working on a different system but then Vytal happened-"
"Yea, I got it." Jaune used his rather high view and Red Boa's lack of tall building to his advantage, looking to the horizon for any incoming threats. He used his semblance as he dipped into Calm Waters, sensing the vibrations in the distance. He located a particularly large disturbance eastward and began to head there. "Alright, prepare the villagers for an escape."
"Huh? Really?" Emmerich seemed shocked.
"Yep. It'll be hard, but if STCH guards the caravan and I defeat any larger threats, we might just get through. The town has a few trucks that it can ride on." And they also had guns of their own. They wouldn't be very effective against the larger Grimm, but that was what the hunters were there for. "Disregarding the smaller groups heading faster, the larger stampede that's sweeping Anima will reach Red Boa in maybe 12 hours? So, tell the villagers to get packing."
"Alright then! Leave it to me!" He could hear the click of Emmerich turning off his comms and immediately turned to face the newest wave. It was likely that whatever was leading the incursion was sending small scouting forces to prematurely eliminate smaller enclaves or mark trouble areas if they died. This time, it was a giant Deathstalker and a pride of 50 Manticores that were following it in the sky. As he ran towards the Deathstalker, he began firing the cannon upwards towards the Manticores. He shot blasts of ice dust, aiming for the wings in order to ground them. After a few misses, he switched to incendiary shells.
Hey, might as well light the sky aflame. With an even heavier thump, he let the shell fly through the air before bursting into flames that spread everywhere, painting the sky orange. There wasn't enough fuel for the warm blanket to reach the ground, but there was definitely enough to jump onto the wings of the Manticores and begin burning them. Meanwhile, he put the cannon on his back as he engaged the Deathstalker.
Faced with a foreign foe much larger than it, it opened with the tried and true method of stabbing it as hard as it could with its poison filled stinger. It aimed for the center of the body, where its enemy couldn't dodge. With heavily trained reaction speeds, Jaune simply grabbed the bright orange bulb. He felt the metal of the Vanguard's hand dent at the impact, but soon he was in control as the Deathstalker tried to pull out of his palm.
He yanked it upwards off the ground, disorienting it with the foreign sensation of it actually fighting something above its weight class, and used the giant scorpion as flail to whack the falling Manticores like baseballs. Though, in this metaphor, he was hitting those Manticores with a ball and chain. Eh, oh well. He could hear as the bones that made up the Deathstalker's tail began cracking under the stress of being pulled in such a ridiculous manner. He could see as the skulls of Manticores cracked when hit against the ridiculously armored shell of the Deathstalker and how the scorpion's own bones began to chip under the constant pressure.
He mentally counted every Manticore he killed with a comical slap of their own kin, occasionally firing a blast of lightning dust to fry any that escaped the initial flames. The Vanguard didn't really stand out amongst the others, if he was being honest. The Beserker had its numerous blades, the Hwacha its arsenal of guns, the Destroyer its giant mace and turrets, and the Tiger had its extreme mobility. But, if he was being honest, he really liked the idea of the dust cannon. It was basically just a giant flare gun.
After finally counting 50, he slammed the Deathstalker into the ground, noting its numerous cracks, and put the thing out of its misery with a shot from the cannon. Another benefit of having mechs was the sheer size of the weaponry and how flexibly it could be used.
He searched Calm Waters again and noticed another force coming, this time from the West. The horde master was definitely noticing the disturbances near Red Boa, as the vibrations were far larger. The numbers were in the hundreds. Without a moment of rest or hesitation, he began going around Red Boa to head westward. The cameras placed around the Vanguard's body all focused on his target, built in systems counting the Grimm for him. It was hard to describe, but he could basically see a list of the visible Grimm.
Among their numbers were several Feilong flying through the sky, a large amount of rather large Cenitaurs, and a ludicrous amount of Beowolves and Ursai. Jaune gulped as he began taking shots towards the Feilong, hoping to get rid of the biggest threat right at the start. Unfortunately, his blasts of fire dust were countered by the Feilong's own beam breath, which completely overpowered his projectile and forced him to dodge, lest the Vanguard get a hole blown through it.
Even with Red Boa's population converging near the trucks, where the civilians would bring their families and belongings so they could flee, letting even one Grimm near the town was asking for disaster. He hadn't seen team STCH, so he assumed they were helping with the evacuation, but they were only four people. The amount of Grimm coming towards the town was far more than even a team of veterans could handle. It was his job to completely eradicate the forces in front of him.
The problem? Its sheer size.
Still, without hesitation, he charged in. Wolf's Gaze shone like a sun of fury to the Grimm, making him a Beacon of negativity ready for consumption. The line slowly converged towards him, becoming a sort of arrow. He had to step to the side of shoot rock dust in order to avoid being melted by the Feilongs, who were content to merely shoot at him from the sky while he couldn't do jack to counterattack.
Beowolves and Ursai turned from minute-long engagements to second long annoyances as he began battle with the Cenitaurs. He had to play it safe in regards to their acid. The auto repair systems were good, but acid was still dangerous. Plus, if the acid touched the info core, then it'd lose functionality. Still, he battled relentlessly against the Grimm tides, using his rifle as a utility to block incoming Feilong fire or to encase a particularly annoying Grimm in rock or ice to deal with later.
It was just that he was fighting a losing battle. His mental link wasn't as solid as to simulate feeling, but he did know the status of the Vanguard's various functions. The arms and legs were sustaining damages from various blows, the armor of several fingers had been eaten up by Cenitaur acid, and the torso was at risk with several holes and scratches that were made.
"Ah shit." Jaune gulped as he heard a click. He ran out of ammo. Fire, gravity, wind, water, ice, rock, and electricity were all used up. Hard light dust was being drained by the system's chassis-wide shield and the auto repair was running out of material to work with. The Vanguard's fists were good weapons, but he needed something more, or else he'd be overwhelmed and the stampede would hit Red Boa.
Wait, all the Grimm were crowding towards him and were all relatively close. This was usually the part where he died in a heroic sacrifice. And while he wasn't keen on dying, he also wasn't exactly happy with letting a bunch of civilians die either. Plus, he could probably set the self destruct to a timer, so it was really only a matter of cloaking himself in Sheep's Gaze and hoofing it while the Grimm whacked the mech until it blew up in their faces.
But right before he tried figuring out how that worked, he heard the comms sputter to life.
"Need some help!?" It was Chrome's voice, but how? His scroll was off-And then the Beserker landed on the Cenitaur about to spurt more acid on him, sword first. She pulled it out of the ground and began to spin it, eventually turning it into several smaller blades that she held in the fingers of the Beserker. "Cavalry's here bitches!" She began to wildly swing, slaughtering Grimm with ease.
"You held the line fine, now let us do the work." Timber's voice came next as the Destroyer's mace decimated the Cenitaurs with a single powerful swing. Beowolves and Ursai that ran towards its legs were quickly dispatched by the roar of high caliber machine guns planted around the Destroyer's chassis.
"Let me shake my old bones." Sol's raspy drawl made Jaune shiver in surprise as he realized that the Tiger had jumped up towards the Feilong, grabbing onto one as if it was a monkey bar before leaping off of it, tearing its scales apart as its claws departed its skin.
"Man, this is a trip." He could hear Huck flex his fingers and the sound of a chorus of gunfire and whistling mini-missiles that shot towards the Feilong in guided paths, avoiding energy blasts as they did before crashing against the giant flying serpents, specifically in the places where Sol cut open. Within a few seconds of the bombardment, a Feilong fell to the ground, returning to nothingness once more.
"Huh." Jaune blinked, unsure if he was dreaming, and then smiled wide. "Thanks guys!"
"It's a pleasure!" He could tell Chrome was smiling as well as she absolutely decimated the Grimm with her numerous blades. Her smaller mech meant that she could get up and personal with the Beowolves and Ursai, destroying them with ease.
"But don't count me out of the fight just yet!" Dipping into Calm Waters to make sure there were no other Grimm going towards Red Boa, he entered the fray armed with only the Vanguard's fists. Hey, they were strong enough to tear apart a building, they could probably deal with a few shadows with too many bones with ease.
"Woah." Dr. Emmerich stood in between the population of Red Boa, who were all loading into their vehicles, and the hunters of Red Boa, who were before the five mechs of Project Living Metal. Beserker, Hwacha, Destroyer, Tiger, and Vanguard all stood tall in the streets of Red Boa. They were pretty dented from all the fighting, some requiring repairs due to the Cenitaurs' acid. Still, they were functional, and that was all they really needed. "So all of them worked." Emmerich seemed to be in disbelief. "And, how did you all do with them?"
"Eh, since it wasn't my body, it wasn't as hard as swinging ol' Feller here." Timber's large mecha-shift (though relatively simplistic, given it only switched between two large hatchets and one giant great axe) weapon was ridiculously heavy, Jaune could attest to that.
"I mean, I know my way around a handful of blades." Bayonets for days.
"I think my head is going to fry, but I'll be fine." Huck hucked a painkiller puck while the truck of guns worth a big buck stood behind him like a vertical truck.
"It was an interesting experience." Sol sipped on some nice sweet beer he'd gotten, civilian grade. Getting drunk, even just a little buzzed, was not a good idea at the moment.
"I'm still not used to having a sword, but I'll manage." Jaune was pretty sure that if he tried to use the Beserker, he'd impale himself somehow.
"Mhmm, mhmm." Emmerich nodded as he quickly took some notes. "Anyways, lemme just do some maintenance checks on these guys, alright?" The pilots backed off, letting Emmerich set down a tool box in front of the kneeling mechs, pulling out various tools and dust crystals as he got to work. As he did, he decided to explain what he was doing for the sake of the pilots. "I'm refilling the hard light and metal dust!"
"Metal dust!?" That was a new one.
"Yea! The Living Metal project was partially about a material that could be used to repair machinery like aura. We eventually created a compound we called metal dust, though it's more like a liquid."
"Wait, but doesn't aura also shield people? Did you guys get that?"
"Oh, yea! There were plans to put a reactive shield using hard light dust as a fuel. We actually managed to put it in the Vanguard!" That sounded great! It'd make the mechs last far longer while also probably adding extra oomph to punches and kicks. "Our budget was cut before we could add that feature to the rest." The other four whined at the fact.
"Atlesian bastards." Chrome muttered as her foot began tapping impatiently.
"So, what's with you and Atlas?" Jaune nervously tapped Chrome on the shoulder. He'd seen this attitude in Vacuo and occasionally in Vale, but Mistral and Atlas have had fairly sunny relations, at least in the grand scale. He knew the north enjoyed having Argus and Mistral itself liked the easy trade, but he had no clue about a far off village like Red Boa.
"Oh, she's-"
"SDC's a bitch. Our own MTC isn't the best, but at least they know that fucking with home ain't a great idea. SDC comes around and bleeds Mistral dry, lowers our wages, and practically has half the council in its pocket." Chrome grumbled some more before sighing. "Lost my home cause of the SDC, that's why." Her foot stilled as the tension was all released.
"Huh." Jaune really didn't know what to say in this situation.
"Yeesh, ya really are a Valean, ain't ya?" Chrome roughly pat Jaune on his unarmored back (he got sweaty), a smile forming on her rough and scarred lips as she felt his muscles. "Well, if you'd like to-"
"Oi." Huck flicked Chrome in the back of the head, getting the chrome coat wearing girl to immediately turn towards the tall javelin thrower in a black bodysuit with red highlights. "Stop bothering the guy." Chrome rolled her eyes, but walked away without a fuss. "Sorry about that, Chrome gets handsy when she's nervous."
"Heh, it's no biggie." Especially considering what he'd done in less desperate situations. "Anways, you guys seem like a good team."
"Yep, been with these morons for around five years by now. Ain't my first team, but damn it's my best." His stoic expression lightened up to a slight smile. "And what's a huntsman like you doing, wandering around without a team?"
"Eh, kinda just thought to do my own thing. I do travel with someone."
"Really?"
"Yea, she's not exactly willing to fight, though." While Huck thought he meant a civilian, Jaune really was thinking about a whimsical goddess with too much time and too many games. "She's still fun to be around, haven't had any troubles yet."
"Aye, if you say so." There was a brief silence as Huck thought about what to say next. "I mean, time's are getting tough, you know?"
"Yea?"
"Remnant's cut off, Grimm are rising, stuff like that. If you'll have us, I'm pretty sure none of us would say no to traveling with you. Chrome might complain about it being a sausage fest, but she'll understand it's better for us hunters to stick together." And boy did that sound like an enticing offer. Normally, Jaune would laugh it off and decline, but he was right. It was the world's darkest hour and being stupid and continuing to go alone was basically suicide. Yes, he had Darling's blessing, but at a point she'd get fed up with his insistence on doing it solo.
"You know what? Sure!" Jaune chuckled, during training he'd fantasize about what team he'd get. Looks like he was getting one after all. "If I'm going to join you guys, I guess I better tell ya my Semblance. It's Amplification. I can transfer my aura into other people and increase its effects." He gave an example, bumping Huck on the shoulder and pushing some aura into him. The man let out a pleased noise, flushing in embarrassment once he realized what slipped out.
"Jeez! Give a guy a lil' warning." His smile softened any bite the reprimand might've had. "Your power will fit in real nice, we need healers nowadays, and not for us." Jaune had spent a lot of time recently tending to civilians. "Well, I guess I gotta follow suit, only polite. My Semblance is Quick Time." With a blink, a small glowing ring appeared in the air. Half of it was bronze, the other half gold. "Anything that goes through the bronze side is made to go at half speed, anything that goes through the gold goes at one and one twentieth speed."
"Huh." Jaune seemed vaguely unimpressed, though he kept it polite.
"Yea, not so glamorous, I get it. But get this, I can summon a bunch of them." With a snap, twenty more of those rings appeared. "And now!" He flicked his fingers through the first one, the small wind going through the rings and becoming faster and faster until the force went through a window and pushed a curtain back a bit. "... Ok, it's better when I pull out a javelin."
"Yea, yea, I get it." Jaune could imagine the possibilities.
"What are you two conversing about?" And out of nowhere, Sol appeared. He was a small old man, his head at the level of Jaune's chest. Even with that fact, the knight could sense that the martial artist was extremely skilled and sturdy. His aura exuded discipline and his movements spoke of practice and purpose. He wore a loose black gi and a white belt, though Jaune was half sure that it wasn't indicative of Sol's rank.
"Hey Sol, I'm just talking about Semblances with Jaune here. Plus, kinda thinking about letting him join the team."
"Hmmm, that is wise. Though, I do worry that Stich will turn into Starch with this addition." Jaune snorted as Huck merely facepalmed at the observation. "I assume you two have learned of each other's power within already?" Jaune briefly shared his with So, earning a slightly raised eyebrow. "Hmm, a man of repair. You'll be useful. And I suppose it is my turn to reveal my tricks?"
"Eh, if you want. We've got some time." Jaune took a sip from his reliable canteen. His favorite piece of equipment would always be his flare gun (Crocea Mors and his armor were family items), but the canteen was a close second.
"I wield the power of Reversal. It allows me to instantly reverse my body's posture to up to two seconds in the past." To demonstrate, Sol did a roundhouse kick, but right as he did a full 360, he returned to standing as normal. It was like he skipped returning to a neutral position. Wait-
"Isn't this just cancelling in fighting game-"
Sol immediately kicked Jaune, used Reversal to return to standing, punched the Knight as he was recoiling, and then used his semblance to quickly do a jab.
"OW! Fine, you made your point!" Jaune groaned at the excruciating pain that formed across his body from the various jabs. Sol must've learned an auric art for combatting other people with aura. While no auric art could completely nullify the shield of the soul, there were arts that existed just to make attacks far more painful to those with unbound souls.
"Hmph. Comparing decades of my life to a cheap fighting game is nothing but grave disrespect."
"Got it, got it." Jaune groaned some more at the cramps that Sol somehow created with his jabs, trying to stretch his muscles but groaning in response. Eventually, he settled on hunching while the cramps lasted.
"Yea, sorry about that. Sol's a bit serious about his trade, but he's casual about most other things."
"Jeez, I guess dedicating half of your life to punching people puts a bit of pride in you." Jaune grumbled some more, halting his under-breath whining when Chrome came back.
"Yo, just saw ya talk to the geezer. Did ya piss him off or something?" She had a beer, it seemed like someone was handing those out. Then again, they were leaving in a hurry. Might as well consume whatever excess was had. The evacuation was still underway, but without immediately incoming Grimm there wasn't any need for worry.
"I said his Semblance was like cancelling in a fighting game."
"Oooh! Yea, that's a sore spot for him." Chrome fiddled with a short bayonet she pulled out, deftly spinning the blade with her scarred fingers. "So, what got him talking about his Semblance?" Huck gave a brief rundown. "Oh, you're joining the crew? Good, need some variety in my-" Huck flicked Chrome again, earning a scowl and rolled eyes. "Whatever, whatever. My Semblance is Bayonets." A pause. "I can create Bayonets." She flicked her wrist and out of her sleeve came a bayonet, an older version that looked more like an old and thin saber than anything, but still a bayonet.
"You can't make anything el-"
"Nope." Chrome's tone left no room to argue. "Anyways, Imma ask the egghead about my mech, wanna see what that baby can do." Chrome walked off once more.
"Is she always like that?" Jaune knew hunters were peculiar by nature. Life or death scenarios had a tendency to exacerbate quirks.
"Yep. I'm going to make some more ammo for me. I know we've got the mechs, but it doesn't hurt to be prepared." Huck walked off as well, pulling out a carving knife. For some reason, Jaune thought he would use a giant pencil sharpener in order to create javelins. As Huck walked off, Timber took his place, having just finished loading up some heavy luggage into the trucks for some families as they packed up in their own car.
"Heya, heard from old Fastfoot that you were joining us when all of this is said and done."
"Yep. Sounds like it'll be a blast."
"Mhmmm."
"So, got any ideas about what we're facing?"
"Nope." Timber popped out a small packet of gum and began chewing on a stick. "Want one?" Jaune took it, grinning in delight at the sweet watermelon flavor. "The plan is to take a caravan on the main road to Sheijo, a nearby town. One of the trucks will carry a platform that can carry the mechs. We'll stay on that platform until Grimm come out. Well, Huck will stay on as fire support, but you get the point."
"Hmm, alright." That sounded like a solid plan. "How long will the drive take?"
"Couple hours. We don't know what we're going to face, but we do know there's going to be a lot. On top of clusters that we'll have to push against, we're inevitably going to run into something we have to run head first into. When we reach that wall of Grimm, Huck and So will stay with the caravan as a guard while the rest of us form an assault team that will carve a path forward."
"I'll form a pathway with my shields, I'm guessing?"
"Didn't think of it, but that's a good idea." Timber grumbled as he cracked his beefy knuckles. "It's going to be tough, but with the mechs we actually have a decently high chance."
"Any chances of Titan Grimm?"
"Eh? We ain't near the ocean, so no Leviathans. Maybe there'll be some Goliaths, but that's hardly anything to worry about with our power."
"I meant something larger. Like a land Leviathan."
"..." Timber looked at Jaune with disbelief. "I'll keep my mind open. But, I'm pretty sure we're fine. Aside from the Leviathan making a mess near Argus, there haven't been reports of any giants walking Mistral." A pause. "Well, I assume. CCT's down, but I don't feel the ground shaking."
"Yep. Jeez, I wonder what students at the academies are feeling?"
"Eh, probably better than us. I heard that Haven's begun chucking their students out of the city walls to act as reinforcements. They're Green, but we need bodies out here. Too bad they only covered central."
"How is this meshing with the hunter corps system?"
"Hmmm, the CCTs are down so I don't know for sure, but I'm guessing that each corp gets assigned a few student teams. Those teams are then assigned posts by the corps. I'd reckon that they'll put some good teams on frontline posts with veterans. Doesn't hurt to sharpen their skills while the situation's stable. But that's guesswork."
"Aye, aye." Jaune swallowed his gum, having chewed out all the flavor from it. "Hey, what's your semblance?"
"Eh? Why, we can't use 'em in the mechs."
"Wanna learn about you guys. I'm hitching a ride, ain't I?" Jaune gave an easy smile, he meant nothing by the inquiry.
"Ah, got it. Well, I call mines The Harder They Fall. I can make gravity stronger on things in the air. Like this." He pulled out his weapon, Ol' Feller, and tossed it in the air. With the clenching of his fist, it immediately began falling straight down, ending up with the axe head splitting the stone underneath. "It lets me correct for missed dshots. Though, Huck does get huffy when I correct his aim."
"Huh. You all have pretty interesting Semblances." Really, it was interesting to hear about the all sorts of weird and rather situational powers hunters had. It was even more inspiring to hear how they made do with them, disregarding the roundabout nature as but a part of themselves. It made him feel a little guilty for getting a such a straightforward and simple power.
"Yep. When I got it, I thought I'd be dead meat, but it turns out that it doesn't matter what power you have as long as you can split boulders with a single swing."
"Wait, you can do that?"
The conversation continued on from there, with Jaune talking with Timber, who occasionally switched out with other members of the team, about all sorts of mundane things as they stood guard for the packing refugees. Even in the darkness of present day Remnant, there was joy to be found in friends made due to circumstance.
"Ok, I'll be acting as mission control for this ride." Emmerich's voice rang through the internal audio systems of all five mechs. "I'd like to say that this is really cool!"
"Yea, yea, doc, just tell us what you did to our babies." Chrome's shrill vocals came in next with a small buzz of static.
"I only repaired and reloaded them all. Your auto-repair systems should be full of metal dust and your guns should be loaded. Ok, except for the Hwacha. Sorry, Huck."
"It's no problem. I still got plenty of guns and a few missiles loaded up here. I'll make do."
"Besides that, you all should be ready for battle. And, Huck?" He heard a hum from the javelin thrower. "The Hwacha is able to deploy drones that can extend your vision. If you want, you can use them to observe the entire caravan." They could hear a noise coming from the Hwacha and suddenly, out came a small disc-like drone with a camera.
The next few minutes of driving was a build up of tensions as the hunters all waited for a single sighting of Grimm, of a single rustling bush, of a single glowing yellow eye.
"Heya!" And then Darling spoke into his ear.
"AHHHH!" Reflexively, Jaune yelped, scrambling to mute himself in the comms after giving some paltry excuse for the outburst. "Darling? What? How!? WHERE!?"
"It's nice to see you too, I can change my size and form, and I'm currently in your ears." Well that was a nice explanation, Jaune would've thought if it weren't for the screaming. "Anyways, I came out to see what you were doing. Turns out, I should've come out sooner. Humans have always been enamored with creating large automatons of their likeness, I suppose its a form of stroking ones ego. To exercise the might of the mind in order to create a large love letter to the bipedal form."
"Or people could just really like giant mechs."
"Or that!" He could imagine Darling shrugging. "Anyways, I just wanted to see this peculiar invention of man. For all of its glory, the era of gods could never make something as fun as this."
"Darling, I'm a bit busy."
"Aww, really?" Jaune nodded. "Fine! Have fun~"
"Yea, yea." Jaune rolled his eyes as he felt Darling's presence disappear. After a moment, he realized that on top of muting himself, he turned off the volume of the comms as a whole. He swiftly turned it back up and immediately regretted it as he heard intense shouting and gunfire.
"-AUNE!?" The was Chrome.
"Yea?" Jaune weakly groaned as his ears rang from the noise.
"Oh, good, you're back!" it was Emmerich, this time. "Quick, we need you on the east. Sol's trying his best, but the Grimm just outnumber him." Jaune hummed in ascent before leaping off of the truck's platform towards the east, where So was fighting myriad Grimm with furious stomps and slashes. With a mighty thud that send dirt and Grimm flying, he dispatched some Grimm with ease before running to catch up with the caravan. He could see Huck using his guns to fire at aerial Grimm while Chrome took care of the west. The Destroyer, whose fast treadmills let it keep up with the Caravan, lead from the front, brutally smashing any large Grimm they were running into while shooting the smaller ones.
Meanwhile, Jaune was trying to conserve ammo. Using the incredibly durable dust cannon, he smashed Grimm after Grimm like slightly oversized rats, the sound of bones crunching becoming a constant that accompanied the symphony of engines. He occasionally switched it over to freeze mode, letting it shoot giant icicles whenever he needed to off a threat that was out of reach. The Tiger was a blitz as it ran with the caravan, occasionally hopping on or gutting an ambush within seconds of them showing their hides.
It was monotonous, almost like crushing tin cans. The slight boredom Jaune felt was immediately shattered when he looked forward and heard Emmerich's voice.
"We've spotted the wall! Timber, Chrome, Jaune, immediately head forward!" In front of them was what could be accurately called a monstrous tsunami. It was a giant wave of Grimm that practically blotted out the sky. It replaced the horizon with a sea of void that was only lit up by small red stars. As soon as Emmerich gave the go ahead, the Destroyers's treads accelerated even more, the Beserker crouched and leaned forward a bit as its motors went on overdrive, and Jaune began hoofing it even faster. He could feel phantom pain in his legs at the intense sprint, but it was necessary. The three of them were going to have to smash through the wall.
As they went, Jaune began counting the big threats. The really big thing to look out for were the Goliaths, whose numbers neared the hundreds just in the first row alone. Jaune mentally took back the thought he had, of how just the five of them might've been able to break through the walls and escaped. They wouldn't have been able to. They would've been shredded alive within seconds of entering the fray.
Jaune went first, unleashing fire on the Grimm. Balls of fire exploded and killed hundreds. Shots of ice froze particularly big targets like Goliaths are made the floor slippery to the point portions of the horde stumbled and fell behind. Bolts of lightning leaped towards Nevermore and jumped from Grimm to Grimm before finally running out of energy.
Chrome pulled out their sword before leaping forward into the tide, slaughtering countless Grimm every second as they eviscerated the horde from the inside. Timber's mace tore up the earth as Goliaths were crushed with every swing. Meanwhile, Jaune focused on a single point: The road. He kept on killing Grimm after Grimm after Grimm that were on the road, pushing the hard light barriers he erected further like an arrowhead digging through flesh. He carved a glowing blue channel through the tides with Timber and Chrome's help for the incoming caravan.
Jaune grunted in surprise as he felt a sharp pain in his chest as a Nevermore slammed into the torso of the Vanguard. Both sets of eyes darted downwards in fear, but soon he realized that his body was intact. The bird didn't even get close to the cockpit. He soon disregarded the oddity and got back to fighting.
"This is getting really tight!" Chrome's wielding of the Beserker's multi part sword got better and better by the second as she practically juggled the parts with unexpected grace, tearing through Grimm with one blade before tossing it up and grabbing another to tear out the eye of a Goliath. Still, the Grimm were pushing back hard.
Jaune grit his teeth as he began feeling the pains of the Vanguard's metal. There was no longer a delay between his mind and the mech's body, he no longer realized that he was looking out from the cameras and not his own eyes, and he felt every blow that rained upon his metal body. He felt as their blistering assault became a sluggish fire that was dimming under the harsh winds.
"Guys, are you also feeling this?" Jaune felt like he was in a daze. What was going on? Why could he feel the dirt beneath his feet? Why could he feel the impact of his steel fist against Grimm hide? Why could he feel as the pistons strained with every single punch and kick?
"Yep! I can actually feel the sword in my hand!" Chrome also was in this odd trance-like state, where she felt bonded with the metal of her suit. Before anyone else could add onto that, Emmerich spoke.
"... Wait, really?" They could hear Emmerich's voice ring out. "Oh my god! Your semblances evolved!"
"What." That was Timber speaking.
"We theorized about this in the lab. Semblances have been known to occasionally evolve when put under extreme stress. It looks like your piloting of the mechs has evolved your semblance."
"What is it that you mean?" Sol's voice was firm, but steady.
"This theoretical power was called Living Metal! You've completely bonded with the machine! The mechs are basically now your bodies!" That got cries of alarm and confusion from the group. "Wait! Wait! I didn't mean it like permanently. It's just that, while you guys are piloting it, it's like your own body. You can still leave and stuff." That got them to calm down.
"Wait, if that's what this is, then-" Chrome immediately got to testing with another wave of the Beserker's sword. And out of nowhere from the blade, bayonets shot out like throwing knives and immediately stabbed nearby Beowolves, cutting through hide and sinking into flesh. "Oh! OH! HELL YEA!" And that got Chrome to work even faster. Every swing no longer was just a slash or stab, it was punctuated by a small storm of bayonets that either caused or exacerbated wounds.
"This is going to be good." Timber threw the Destroyer's mace high up in the air and backed up, letting the mech's machine guns do the work as the giant weapon spun high. And then, with a gripped metallic hand, the mace came crashing down head first. The Grimm had already occupied the spot the Destroyer was just on, unknowing of their demise. In seconds, a giant cluster of Grimm were smashed in an instant. Those who didn't die instantly from the collision were instead torn to pieces by the wind. Those who weren't were thrown into the air and to the side. And as they flew in the air, they suddenly were thrown down into the ground with so much force that they turned into dusty paste. It looked as if Timber had parted the black sea.
"Hmm!" Near the caravan, Sol was having fun as he engaged with a Goliath that jumped the gun and sped up towards the civilians. Sol started out with a simple jab, then used his semblance to immediately jab again, and did it again and again and again, making it look like he was taking a jackhammer to the Goliath's face. With a final extra forceful thrust towards the crack that was forming on the Goliath's skull, he had killed it. Sol kicked the elephant to the side so its decaying corpse wouldn't impede the civilians' way.
"Alright, just think back to Argus." Huck was having a grand old time as he operated several different guns all at once with pinpoint precision. He shot out the eyes of Nevermore, hit Goliaths through the trunk, and sent whistling missiles towards Timber's position whenever they crowded around too much. And every shot he let out was accelerated by thousands of his rings that made the bullets pierce through even the thickest of armors.
"Clearing the way!" Meanwhile, Jaune was heavy at work paving the way forward. The caravan had reached the breach that Jaune was creating, the only problem being that it wasn't finished. The hard light dust was holding up well against the Grimm onslaught, but it hadn't pierced the entire wall. Timber was hard at work cleaving through Grimm as Jaune extended the walls as he walked with the caravan, occasionally shooting a giant Nevermore from the sky that was about to fall down on the civilians. Chrome even departed from her spot to help shred any Grimm that Timber missed in his wide swings.
"Keep it up guys! We should be nearing the end soon!" Emmerich's ecstatic voice inspired more hope in them. They would make it out with minimal casualties. They might actually save the people of Red Boa! Jaune thanked both team STCH and Emmerich a thousand times in his head for saving a town from Veinshire and Reli's fate. He feared for his resolve if he had to see another corpse town like those.
With a chorus of smashes, slashes, engines, grunts, and guns, the five metal giants carved a path to salvation through the Grimm tides. They continued to work as the metal plates that armored them were torn off, as their ammo ran dry, and their weapons chipped. They continued despite how every attack on their beaten frames hurt like a bone being shattered. They continued on for what seemed like hours upon hours.
And finally, they reached the end.
As the five mechs boarded the truck platform once more, watching as the Grimm hordes continued on despite their passage, all anyone could hear were the cheers of the people.
It seemed like the pack leader decided to let them go. It wasn't worth breaking formation, Jaune assumed.
"HAHAHHA! WE DID IT!" Chrome's volume was forcibly lowered as she cackled despite the phantom pains in her arms.
"This is worthy of a celebration." Sol's muscles felt sore and his old lungs practically wheezed from the exercise.
"When we get back, drinks are on me!" Jaune was elated at the- "What the fuck is that?"
There was silence for a few seconds as every looked backwards to see a tower coming from the horizon. A titanic Grimm rose from the moving pitch tides like a flower among a graveyard. Or, more accurately, a cactus laced with deadly poison growing in the graveyard. It looked like a Beringel crossed with an Imp, with large tree trunk like arms and legs. Its fingers and toes were giant bone blades, on its back were small spiky mountains of rock that forced it to hunch over. Its head was fully armored, from jaw to cap. Its teeth were numerous and sharp, with two notable tusks coming from the edges. In its chest, covered by an external rib, was a single orange-yellow orb. And in its arm was a giant club of bone.
It was the Mountain King. And even from so far away, it stood over them like a man would ants.
"Oh brothers." Jaune was the first to speak, though barely above a whisper.
"What the hell?" Chrome was next.
"T-that's a big one." Timber's voice shook.
"..." Huck's breathing grew shallow.
"By the stars." Even Sol's natural confidence was shattered.
"What the HELL is that thing!?" Emmerich wasn't so composed, his voice a mix of panic, confusion, and rage. "Oh my god, it's the leader of the horde, isn't it?"
"If we're going by the standard logic of Grimm pack leaders, then yes."
"Oh god." Emmerich was silent for a moment. "It's going to kill us all. Unless, unless-" Emmerich trailed off, muttering out of the mic's range as he considered his options.
"What is it doc!? We got no time for waiting, we NEED something! Do you have some sort of super mega laser weapon? Can these mechs transform and fuse together to create a super mech? Tell us!" Chrome voiced what they were all thinking.
"Ok, ok, ok!" Emmerich chuckled nervously. "We might be able to kill it!"
"How!?"
"See that yellow thing?" They could. It looked like a pearl in lemonade. "Well that's the Mountain King's heart! It's theorized that really large Grimm use those small yellow beads like they're brains. Shatter it, and it probably will die!" A pause. "Probably. Look, I have no other ideas. Its limbs are way too thick to cut apart."
"You know what, we'll take it." Timber sighed as the Destroyer began to wheeze to life. "We don't have many other options, do we?"
"No we do not." Jaune groaned, how did his life turn into this again? Oh yea, he quite literally asked to become a hunter. Then again, not every hunter piloted secret prototype mechs in order to fight kaiju Grimm. Ah, whatever. "Alright, let's head out!"
"Good luck, all of you. The refugees should make it to safety without you." And with that, Emmerich disconnected himself from the comms, leaving them in relative silence as they mentally prepared themselves for the task ahead.
Sol jumped first. The rest followed quickly.
"Alright, if we somehow survive this, I am taking the next week off!" Timber made that promise as he stopped the Destroyer's mace from tearing up the ground, carrying it with both of his metallic hands.
"If we make it out alive, I'm drinking the entire night!" Jaune didn't drink much, but sometimes he couldn't help it after really big battles.
"I'm buying a dozen doujins!" That was Chrome.
"I'm spending the day at the arcade!" Huck.
"Children, are you all going to blow away all of your money in these trying times?" A pause, a sigh, and a roll of the eyes. "I will buy a new teapot, happy?"
"Yep!" Chrome giggled as the Beserker pulled out its ludicrously sized sword.
"Lets do this!" With that, they finally got in range of the Mountain King. With its large glowing eyes, it looked down on them. And then, it attacked. Its free hand wailed on the floor, trying to crush them with a single blow. Before it could reach the ground, it found sizable resistance in the Destroyer's mace as it was held up like two swordsmen clashing blades. Meanwhile, the Vanguard, the Beserker, and the Tiger went their separate ways to make their own attacks on the Mountain King. The Hwacha had stopped a distance away, acting as fire support as it began unleashing more and more of its arsenal on the Mountain King. A storm of bullets and missiles assaulted the bright yellow orb in the chest of the Mountain King.
The Mountain King rose its fist once more to strike the Destroyer, the metal of which was bent and groaning, but it managed to dodge the blow using its treads. As a hail of gunfire bounced off of the King's hide, raising to the large yellow orb, it began to guard its chest with one hand with digging into the ground with the other. The Tiger used all of the gadgets at its disposal to climb the back of the gorilla while the Beserker tore at its legs with a sword. The Vanguard unleashed fire at point blank, barely singing the fur with white hot flames.
And then, the King pulled its hand out of the ground, spraying dirt everywhere and making the ground the Hwacha stood on unstable. It wobbled and ran as the King then tore up the land even further with its club, practically creating a tsunami of dirt with the force of its swing. The Destroyer tried to strike its leg with all of the force of the mech, but its tired engines and breaking parts meant that it was but a shadow of its former self.
Meanwhile, the Beserker was practically a walking frame with engines as it stabbed and stabbed and stabbed and stabbed. The Tiger had given it a hand, tossing it up the King's back. Using the miniature mountain on the King's back, it climbed up to its shoulders, where upon it began to go to town trying to cut it up. Meanwhile, the Tiger had heated its claws red hot as it tried to pierce the hide of the Mountain King's calves.
The Vanguard had moved onto unleashing explosive shot after explosive shot with its dust cannon on the stone spikes on the King's back, slowly chipping away.
Under five different threats, the Mountain King shook with irritation. The mortals were doing nothing, yet they were so persistent and annoying. So, it went in order. First, its hand reached behind its back and grabbed onto the Beserker before it could flee. It then smashed the annoying human to the ground, destroying it thoroughly. It grinned in delight at how the others radiated fear and hate with the sudden action. Following that up, it suddenly tried to smash the Destroyer with its club. It, once more, managed to hold it back with its mace. As the King raised its club again, the Destroyer tried to flee, but its treads jammed and it couldn't move.
The sick crunch of metal being torn apart rang through the air.
With surprising speed, it grabbed the Tiger and crushed it before throwing it at the Hwacha with so much force that they both broke instantly.
And finally, it turned to the shaking Vanguard, which almost dropped its dust cannon in sheer fear.
"..." So much had happened in the past 24 hours. Jaune had been given hope. He had been given a team. He had saved people. And now? That team was dead and he was facing the monster that was going to undo all the good he did.
He had one thing to say.
"SCREW YOU!" He flipped off the giant and before bolting into action. Fury and a mind used to working under pressure made him go on overdrive as his resolve hardened like steel in seconds, the Vanguard's fingers tightening around the cannon. As the Mountain King tried to crush Jaune into a fine paste with its club, a dozen barriers of hard light formed in the air and began straining. One, two, three, four, five, and six of them shattered, while the rest of them groaned under the pressure. But by the time they broke, Jaune had already moved out of the way and was firing more and more and more.
He fought and fought and fought and fought. Every shot seemed more powerful than the last. They made bigger explosions at higher heights. The colds went from below zero to colder than the Solitanian tundras. He fought with a fury unmatched, but it was all for naught, as the Mountain King managed to capitalize on an opening he left and smash him into the dirt.
And for some reason, he didn't die.
No, he was unconscious for what seemed like hours, but he didn't die. Despite everything being cracked, snapped, and shattered, he didn't die. Nor did the Vanguard. In fact, he could still see. he could still feel. And soon, his desperate attempts to move were answered. He managed to force himself up. The screens told him that the Vanguard was being fully repaired, despite the fact that there was no metal dust left for the syste-
His aura. The metal was his flesh and his aura was sewing it back together like it would his own body.
And that meant that there was still a chance for the others.
He switched the cannon to gravity dust and used the knockback of the ammunition to fling himself towards the nearest fallen: Chrome in the Beserker. He could see her blood, but he could sense a heartbeat. She was alive! SHE WAS ALIVE! Desperately, before the Mountain King could react, the Vanguard's hand met the Beserker's body and began pumping it full of more and more aura. Jaune felt himself grow a weaker and weaker as the Beserker began rapidly repairing itself. Wires were saudered, circuits rebuilt, engines repaired, armor remade. He could hear her breathing turn lively, as if she was finally rescued from the water and was taking breath for the first time.
"What!? How am I alive!?" Chrome looked at her hands before looking up to see the Vanguard, which bolted away. "Jaune!? Did you? AH!" And then she immediately ran to dodge a strike from the Mountain King.
"Is this Elysium?" Next was Timber. Repairing the Destroyer took so much of his aura, but it was worth it to see its crumpled legs regain their shape, to see its stand up once more, to see the mace unbend and its fingers unsnap, to hear Timber wondering if the bliss he was feeling was death turn to amazed shock as he realized that he was being brought from the brink.
"No rest for the wicked, I suppose." Sol's voice was weary but focused and he went back into action quickly.
"Still got some ammo. If I run out, I'll just grab some random stuff and fire it in the grav-cannon." Huck was also quick to ascertain the situation.
Some time ago, scientists devised a compound that when administered intravenously rapidly restores aura. The only problem was the extreme pain and the scars left behind. In order to have enough aura to heal his team, he had to turn on the Vanguard's auric boosters.
That compound was an ultra-purified version of dust. The scars varied but they were never pretty. Jaune felt lightning shaped cracks etch themself into his skin, he felt parts solidify into rock and others beginning to bleed. As the five of them continued battling the Mountain King, many fell countless times. With but a pained grunt from another injection, he'd bring them back.
Over and over and over and over again. They fought endlessly, making scratches and small steps forward against the relentless tide. Jaune felt his entire body scream in agony but he forced himself to continue. Pain was but a temporary price to pay to protect the lives that the Mountain King would'e ended.
And after what seemed like hours, they had finally felled it. With Jaune's dust cannon distracting it, Sol's red hot claws forcing its ribs open, Huck's sustained fire creating numerous cracks, Chrome's storm of blades sinking into those cracks, and Timber's mace finally hammering the nail into the coffin, they killed the Mountain King.
"Hey, Darling?" Jaune Arc and Darling walked side by side in one of the few standing towns in Mistral. It had been a few months since the Titan Hunter 5 had formed. It had also been a few months since Darling and Jaune had a big fight over the lengths Jaune had went to in order to kill the Mountain King.
"Yes, Dear?" Whenever she looked at him, it was always with those sad eyes. He couldn't see it, but he could tell. It was in her voice, in her movement, in her soul.
"Are people staring?" Jaune Arc was a changed man. His right eye was stone, his left socket with smouldering. His skin was marked by branches of lightning and out of his scalp and skin sprouted the occasional branch. His appearance was unnerving to anyone who looked at him, with even his teammates admitting to finding it horrifying. Luckily, Jaune was too blind to see it himself when he was out of Vanguard. And when he was in it, while he could see through its cameras, there were none in the cockpit itself.
"Yes, they are." Darling always went with him on shopping trips. "I fear for the day you go to a beach. For that is the day when Remnant finds out what lay beneath your armor." As bad as Jaune's face was, nothing could compare to what the dust did to the rest of his body. Luckily for him, his aura still worked, but it couldn't reverse what happened to him.
"What isn't it hot? Or is it that my rocking bod is just so cool that it'll shock people? Scared of me knocking the wind out of everyone's sails? Maybe seeing it will plant the idea in some people to take me for themselves?" If there was one blessing about this, it was the fact that Jaune could make a dozen different easy puns all the time. Might as well make people feel his pain by making the worst jokes ever.
"If I didn't think they had sticks up their collective asses, I would pray to the brother gods to take away your gift of speech as to spare me your horrible humor." Darling rolled her eyes.
"Yea, yea. So, what did the others want? Y'know, can't read and all." With his armored hands (he took up wearing the gauntlets 24/7 now), he held out the shopping list.
"Let's see. So wants a tea he hasn't had before."
"That old man has had every tea under the sun." He's made that same request several different times.
"We'll find something." Her gaze moved to the next item. "Timber wants a giant axe."
"Oh my god, this is the fifth time. What else does he want?"
"He'll also settle on some music."
"Ok, that's doable."
"Huck wants ammunition, of course. He also wants a video game he can play in the Hwacha."
"Maybe we can try making VR work with the mental interface? If Emmerich can make toilets in the mechs, he can make VR work." How he managed the former was a miracle that Jaune wasn't willing to question.
"Sure. And Chrome wants crunchy chocolate." A pause as Jaune stared Darling in the eye. Or, well, tried to. "Fine, she also requested a porn parody of that famous Valean movie."
"Hah! Yes! I win the bet!" Jaune pumped his fist, making Darling chuckle at the childishness of the action. "Pay up!"
"Of course, of course, my precious gambler." She handed over some lien to the knight, who pocketed it immediately. "Now, let's go shopping."
After about an hour or two, the two of them made their way back to their small camp right outside the city walls. There were five mechs and a motorcycle, as well as a small campfire in the center. The mechs looked dead, but they were anything but, as they all sprang to life as Jaune and Darling appeared.
"Yo! Jauney! Got the goods?" Chrome was always the first, her mech being the least sluggish to move.
"Yea, yea." Jaune used Calm Waters to head over to the Beserker's chassis and toss a USB to her. She was actually pretty lucky, being able to use one of her arms.
"My tea?" Jaune tossed a teabag into the pot. "This better be new." It almost never was, but he continued trying anyways.
"Here's some music, Timber." Jaune grabbed his scroll and sent a few files to the Destroyer. After a few seconds, he could hear Timber's pained cries.
"Why did you give me pop!?"
"Revenge for interrupting my date." Jaune smiled as he could hear Timber's increased frustration as he desparately skipped song after song, finding every single one to just be pop.
"Well, that could be doable. But it'll take a long time." Meanwhile, Darling talked to Emmerich about implementing a game system into the Hwacha. The man had become the group's technician. If it weren't for him, the mechs would've broken a long time ago.
Jaune smiled as he sat on a log before the campfire, accompanied by his friends. Even in the darkness of current day Remnant, there was good times to be had. Even if their flesh intertwined with shrapnel in the fight with the Mountain King, none of them let that fact impede them from having fun. Even if they could never leave their metal bodies without extensive surgery, they'd use their metal prisons as weapons to protect the world they held so dear.
"Here's to another night of life!" Jaune cracked open a can of soda and raised it. He could hear similar cheers come from the speakers in the other four's metal bodies, with all of them tapping into the system's internal feeder system to drink from their own stored beverages.
Jaune had found his team.
To explain where this takes place, it's in a distant (not really) future. And I don't really have any plans to continue this one, so imagine what happens. If you want, think up of how Beacon faired without Jaune (likely identical) and a final battle where the Titan Hunter 5 show up. Actually, just imagine Team RWBY meeting the TH5. Like, team RN()R trekking Mistral and coming across the TH5. I could probably make a chap about that. Except I won't. You can!
Most other stories take place before this one.
Because aura is required for touch screens to work, imagine Cinder's frustration as she tries to use her scroll out of instinct with her Grimm hand and it just doesn't fucking work.
Ok, options.
1: Jaune encounters a holy man in Vacuo who he escorts to the promised land on a pilgrimage.
2: Jaune and Raiden find themselves in Vacuo and clean up after a messy spaghetti western.
3: Jaune goes to the moon and goes questing on the moon with moon people
4: A penny for a fairy tale, a tired Jaune in his earlier years listens to a strange man talk fairy tales.
5: Jaune finds himself in Mistral in the company of a monk (This is part 2 of the Time Travel Arc)
6: Jaune attends Vytal and no bad stuff happens definitely not totally not.
