The Witch's War Begins
Hello everyone and welcome to the halfway point of volume 8! As you've likely already guessed, yes this story will be taking a mild hiatus as we await the continuation of volume 8 in February. Fortunately, it should more or less be around the corner and will be going again before we know it. In the meantime, please enjoy this chapter and as always I'd like to give a shout out to my fellow readers for their support throughout the writing of this story. And to DCDGojira: You just might, though I'm also starting to think you ship Tobias and Raven. Or do you just like her having a blue flaming sword? Either way, into the chapter we go!
The City of Atlas
From within the city of Atlas itself, one might assume all was peaceful. The buildings were still pristine, the sun was out and the people were still going about their days, be it working, playing or lounging in the park. That delightful illusion was shattered upon the sound of the city's intercomms coming to life with the voice of General Ironwood on the other end. "Citizens of Atlas," he announced, "please proceed to the nearest underground subway station and take shelter." A siren sounded then, driving home the seriousness of the emergency as numerous citizens dressed in everything from the uniforms of the Atlas elite to the common street clothes of an average citizen rushed towards whatever entrance they could find that led underground.
The curious few that remained, were treated to a sight they thought would only ever appear in their nightmares. Nevermores, Lancers, Teryxes, Manticores, Sphinxes and even Beringels with wings were descending upon the city, snatching at whatever prey was closest to them. Several squads of Atlesian mantas appeared shortly after and engaged with the flying Grimm as the sky filled with the sound of roars, screeching and explosions. But all of that, was merely the tip of the iceberg.
The real battle, was taking place upon the wide plains that served as farmland for the floating landmass. Hundreds of Atlesian soldiers advanced in numerous squad formations to meet their coming adversaries. The largest and most advanced Atlesian Paladins to date lumbered alongside them, forming up along the middle, front and back lines to provide support fire and to break formation should a larger Grimm need to be engaged. The Atlesian airforce, what parts of it hadn't been called back to defend the city, circled around the massive whale Grimm itself, bombarding it with lasers, turret fire and rockets.
So far, however, they seemed to be having little effect as the gargantuan Grimm groaned and vomited out more black sludge from the land of darkness which produced even more of its brethren. Sabyrs, Beowulves, Centinels, Megalioths, and even Apathy Grimm emerged and charged forward to tear into the Atlesian forces, creating a scene of utter carnage and destruction. And the occupants of a certain manta were getting a rather good play by play of the situation as radio report after radio report sounded. "The generators took too much damage to maintain the hardlight shield without the other two towers!" Reported an Atlesian engineer over the communications line.
"Then don't waste any more resources on them and focus on repelling the Grimm," replied the voice of Ironwood over the manta's radio, "Beta Squad, give me an update on the creature."
"We've hit it with both bombs and missiles so far," replied the soldier on the line, "we haven't been able to make a dent in it, Sir."
"Sir, Specialist Schnee here," said Winter, picking that moment to give the General an update, "Penny is still MIA, but we have managed to apprehend Arc, Xiao-long, Ren and the younger Ursario."
"Standby for further orders," replied Ironwood, "and don't let those fugitives out of your sight."
"Understood sir," Winter answered back before ending the transmission. Yang, having sat quietly for some time, decided now was a perfect moment to chime in with her view on the situation.
"Still just following orders with all this going on," Yang more said than asked. Winter didn't reply, mostly due to the fact that she was currently speechless. It was an understandable reaction, given the sight that greeted them the moment Atlas came into view.
"That's where the Grimm took Oscar," said Jaune as they looked on in awe and horror at the massive whale Grimm spewing out wave after wave of its kin, "It's, even more enormous than I thought."
"Grimm don't take prisoners," said Vine in a matter of fact tone.
"They will if they're ordered too," said Aegis as he tilted his head towards the direction of the Grimm whale, "do you think that one just floated around waiting for this moment on instinct?"
"The Grimm that took Oscar was also different from any other Grimm we've seen before," said Yang, "if you would just let us go help-." She was stopped from standing up by both Elm and Vine as the radio transmission continued to play.
"Manta squads cease fire," ordered Ironwood, "concentrate on secondary hostiles. Command is working on another solution for the creature."
"Do we have anything in mind at present, Sir," questioned Winter with her earpiece.
"As you've heard, we aren't making any progress assaulting that monster from the outside," replied Ironwood, "but it just might be vulnerable to an attack on the inside. Science Team is putting together a bomb at present. Once it's ready, we'll drop it off as close to the target as possible and then your team will deliver it on foot. I'm sending you the rendezvous coordinates now."
"Understood Sir," said Winter after a moment's hesitation, "we'll hold the drop zone and we will get it done."
"But Oscar's still in that thing," said Jaune with no small hint of worry in his voice.
"You can't do this," said Yang as she struggled against the Ace Ops's grip, "we have to get him out of there!"
"I'd say at the very least to let us go in there with you. But that'd be assuming any of you expect to get out of there alive," said Aegis as he noted a small tremble in Winter's hand before sniffing the air, "Mom always told me fear has a smell. Does that mean you already know you might be going on a suicide mission?" The Older Schnee sister didn't answer right away, her mind currently working a mile a minute as she considered the implications of their latest orders.
Nighttime: Grimm Whale Monstra
"So long as this world turns, you shall walk its face," Exo repeated as he leaned next to the wall of Mercury's room, "it certainly sounds like a curse. Which I wouldn't even believe in if not for the fact that I'm working with a being of pure, dark magic right this very moment."
"But he's a prisoner, Em," said Mercury, who was currently loading up the last of his essentials into a gray duffel bag, "he'll say what he thinks will get him out."
"So you're still going to Vacuo," questioned Emerald with a mild bit of disbelief in her voice, "after everything I just told the both of you?" And she'd told them quite a bit. Not only every word that she'd overheard from Ozpin/Oscar while eavesdropping on Hazel's interrogation of the man, but also the fact that Wayne had told her and Neo the same thing.
"Those are Salem's new orders for us," replied Mercury, "and Exo and I know better than to disobey her."
"But since we've got a second," said Exo, pushing off the wall, "why not go over what we do know for sure, even if it's for shits and giggles."
"You really think I'm trying to be funny about this?" Emerald asked while giving the mercenary a hard look.
"The three of us played hackysack with a dude's head that I cut off once," Exo pointed out, "we could find all manner of morbid things funny. But putting that aside, Ozpin, Oscar, Ozma or whatever name he goes by wouldn't bother with the 'say what I need to get out' approach."
"Oh, and how do ya figure that?" Questioned Mercury, mildly curious to hear his colleague's reasoning.
"Because he knows Salem's pissed at him," explained Exo, "and if he's in anyway familiar with how she operates, he knows he ain't going anywhere even if he begs on his hands and knees. The best he could hope to do is convince big man Hazel to get him out of here. But if he is lying to get him on his side, it's pretty elaborate."
"Being someone who's been told she's pretty good at lying, I'm pretty sure I could spot when someone else is lying," said Emerald, "Ozpin might be good at it, but that kid wasn't lying when he gave the password to Hazel. And like I said before, Wayne mentioned the exact same thing when Neo and I were fighting him at Amity. He's changed a fair bit since Beacon, but he's still got the same tell when he lies. I didn't see it once when he was explaining what would happen if the relics were brought together."
"Neo was pretty worried about it too," said Exo, "and believe me, it is rare for Neo to get worried about much of anything, especially now that Torchwick's bitten the dust."
"So you both want to believe all of that," said Mercury as he hefted his bag onto his shoulder ans started towards the door, "then you can have at it. Either way, we still got to go."
"But Merc-," Emerald started to protest before the silver-haired boy turned to her.
"Look," he said, "even if what they said was true, we couldn't stop Salem anyway. You said so yourself, Hazel tried, failed and then got in line. And if a big guy like that isn't gonna pick fights he knows he can't win, then neither should we."
"This is, of course, assuming winning and losing don't mean the same thing for us when it's all said and done," Exo pointed out.
"Don't tell me you're considering something this ridiculous just because we're going to Vacuo," said Mercury as he stepped out the door, "believe me, I get it. I wouldn't want to go back to where my old home was either, especially not with the bad memories involved. But we're both getting well compensated for this and besides, Salem's not ending the world-."
"Hehehehehe," the sound of Tyrian cackling suddenly filled the hallway as the scorpion Faunus slinked around the corner into view, "why of course she is!" His statement was met with a number of bewildered looks as Tyrian returned one of his own. "Are you really so surprised? Salem is destruction incarnate itself! Our mistress wishes to see the end of it all!" He put an arm, and his tail, around Mercury as he continued speaking and cackling, "there is no ideal more beautiful."
He released Mercury then before speaking in a more matter of fact tone, "if you couldn't see that from the very start, well, you'd have to be out of your minds. Now come along Mr. Black and my dear Mercenary companion, we have a date with the desert." The two boys decided it was best to say nothing as they allowed the psychotic scorpion Faunus to lead them to the parked Atlesian ray ship. Mercury almost lashed out when Tyrian practically pushed him into the passenger seat, but refrained as he looked back to see Emerald standing at the entrance.
Her eyes were filled with worry and doubt, as if she didn't expect to see them again. But Exo and Mercury both gave her a reassuring nod as the canopy closed and the ship lifted off from the platform. 'I guess there are some things in this world as valuable as money,' Exo mused, finding the sudden thought strange, 'If things do go south, I got no idea where I'd find others like these two and Neo.'
Atlas: Aboard the Ace Ops's Manta
"You can't blow it up with Oscar still in there," Yang pleaded as she finally managed to shake off Vine and Elm before standing up. She'd be throwing her arms up in the air to emphasize her point if not for the magnetic bolas serving as handcuffs to hold them behind her back. It was the same for the rest of her friends, though it was just a small annoyance compared to the implications of what was being suggested.
"That creature is causing more and more damage every minute," said Vine, "we can't afford to wait."
"Winter please," said Jaune as he also stood up, "just give us a chance to try rescuing him first. We could be…..a test run for the main mission." This statement seemed to get Winter's attention. "You don't know what might be waiting for you inside that whale, right? So we can go scout ahead and look for Oscar while we're at it."
"You want to go inside that thing, alone?" Questioned Marrow from the co-pilot's seat.
"I wouldn't call a whole team, 'alone', per se," Aegis pointed out, "but yeah, it'd just be us if no one else wants to come along."
"Besides," said Yang, "wouldn't you do it for Elm? Or Harriet or Vine?" Her question was met with a number of downcast looks.
"We don't let feelings get in the way of making the right call," said Elm, to which Aegis snorted.
"And when was the last time any of you actually made a call that wasn't an order," the Half Bear Faunus pointed out, "would you even be doing anything if Ironwood didn't say to do it first?"
"You're talking about trading four lives for one," Elm shot back, "are you gonna sit there and tell me that's not stupid?!"
"Yes," said Ren, speaking for the first time since they'd been brought aboard, "he's our friend, and that's why we'll do whatever it takes to find him. We'll risk our lives to save him because we care about him."
"I really had you pegged as the most level-headed of the group," said Harriet, switching control of the manta over to Marrow as she turned around and got out of the pilot's seat, "but I guess you're just as naïve. I've said it once and I'll say it again: feelings don't matter, just the job. When you lose someone on your team, you move on. You replace them like Marrow replaced Tortuga and-."
"Wait a sec," said Aegis, "the reason Winter's here right now and not Clover is because he's dead?! The fuck happened?"
"What do you think happened," said Harriet, suddenly raising her voice, "that bastard Qrow killed him!"
"Bullshit," said Aegis as he stood up, "Qrow wouldn't have done that. With anyone else his bad luck semblance might accidentally screw them over but Clover's semblance should've counteracted it with good fortune. What really happened?"
"You tell me," Questioned Harriet as she took a step towards him,"do you know why Clover's blood was found on his weapon?"
"That's easy," said Aegis, "it was probably that psychopath Tyrian. Given what I've heard it'd be more than possible for him to get Qrow's scythe away from him and-."
"Now who's bullshitting!" Exclaimed Harriet as she shoved Aegis against the wall of the manta, "your older brother made the same excuse and it wasn't convincing then either."
"Funny thing about that," said Aegis, "my brother spent part of his training learning how to get under someone else's skin, psychological warfare is what Dad called it. One of the more effective ways my brother found, though, is hitting people hard with the TRUTH!" The Half Bear Faunus punctuated his statement with a powerful knee to Harriet's side, causing her to keel over just close enough for Aegis to headbutt her. The surprised Ace Ops member backed away a couple steps, allowin the huntsman som breathing room as he continued to speak.
"And here's the truth for all of you just to save time on a pointless interrogation," Aegis said, "one, if Penny ain't up at Amity then none of us know where she is! We've been out of communication with the rest of our friends ever since we wound up on the tundra and two, Qrow didn't kill Clover. You're wasting time and resources holding both of us in that regard. And three, quit tryin' to tough it out like nothing's wrong. Even I can tell you're all beat up about losing Clover and you're just taking it out on the nearest people you can find."
"What do you know?!" Harriet shot back, "you and your little friends haven't even been huntsmen and huntresses for a year! Losing people is part of the job, so it's a waste of time to mourn them when they're just going to get repl-."
"NO!" Exclaimed Ren as he stood up, "no one is replaceable and you-." He paused for a moment as the look on his face turned from one of anger to surprise. "You, don't really believe that at all. You're completely furious about losing Clover and, you miss him."
"Neither one of you know anything about me!" Harriet shot back, unable to come up with an actual counterargument to his observation.
"But we've met more than a few people like you," said Aegis, not really sure what was going on with Ren but deciding to roll with it anyway, "you keep thinking you've got to be some kind of unfeeling machines, that you have to be less than a person to get the job done. But that's hardly the only way."
"It's also why you lost to team RWBY," said Ren in realization, "you all try to fight how you feel about each other, so you'll never truly work as a team."
"Shut up!" Elm practically yelled while releasing Yang in the process, "You don't know what you're talking about!"
"Bee boop, I think the emotions still compute," quipped Aegis, "since we're on the subject of you guys losing fights, did my brother happen to kick your asses too while he was up in Atlas?"
"I said SHUT UP!" Yelled Elm as she reared her fist back, intending to punch both Ren and Aegis before Winter got in between them.
"Everyone, calm down," ordered Winter. Elm and Harriet backed away upon her intervention, realizing they'd let their tempers get the better of them. Winter took a deep breath then before putting her hands behind her back and speaking again. "Fine, you've all made your points. It's obvious keeping you here won't benefit anyone, so we'll drop you as close to the monster as we can."
"You can't be serious," said a surprised Harriet, "these are fugitives and traitors we're talking about!"
"I thought you were all about following orders," said Yang, "where's Winter on the totem pole?"
"She's right, I outrank you," said Winter, glancing in Harriet's direction before turning back to the Beacon huntsmen and huntress, "but be aware. If you're not out in time, we're dropping the payload."
"We understand," said Jaune, speaking for all of them as the group nodded in unison. With that, Harriet resumed her position in the pilot's chair and flew them down towards the now currently very hot zone, scraping the ground with the landing gear due to the speed of the landing.
"You don't want to be a part of this either," Ren spoke to Marrow, who was standing by the now open door of the manta as the group proceeded to check and ready their weapons, "in fact, you don't want a part in this at all anymore."
"I," Marrow hesitated, "I have a job to do, and I'm going to do it." He moved back to the co-pilot's seat then. Ren simply nodded before looking back at Winter to give one last comment.
"I know you don't either," he said as he caught his weapons which had been thrown to him by Jaune. Yang leapt out first, followed quickly by Ren and then Jaune, all of them readying their weapons as they went.
"If you happen to see my brother, my parents or my other friends," said Aegis as he drew his own weapon, "tell 'em we've taken the fight to Salem's blubbery ass whale." He leapt into the fray then, charging forth with Yang and the others, his glass ax held at the ready.
Amity Colisseum
The sound of two transforming weapons could be heard in the lower levels of Amity Colisseum as Wayne Ursario sat on a few metal cases that used to hold dust, checking and double checking his weapon's ammo, dust capabilities and functionality. "You were right Wayne," said Pietro suddenly as he continued to work on inputting the coordinates into one of the escape pod located along the wall, "I should've listened to you when you told me about them taking Penny's sword. We just had such a small window of time, I didn't think Watts would actually be able too-."
"It was one of a million other problems we had to deal with," said Wayne as he holstered his weapons and stood up, "besides, if I'd been just a bit quicker then Penny might still be here right now."
"And I think you both should stop blaming yourselves for stuff you can't change now," said Maria, rapping her cane on the ground with a look of disapproval, "we've all been doing our best to save Mantle and Atlas, a fight which isn't over yet need I remind you. So let's worry about what we can do right now instead of what could've been done differently." Wayne and Pietro considered the old huntress's words for a moment before nodding in understanding.
"I still feel I should ask one more time, Wayne," said Pietro, "are you sure this is where you want to head off too? I could easily program this to take you to a less inhospitable location." The Elder Ursario Brother hesitated for a moment before answering. In truth, he knew where he wanted to be most and in all honesty there were a number of places that he could also be of help in Atlas and Mantle. But he'd turned it over in his head a hundred times already, and even now he was coming up with the same answer.
He knew where he wanted to be, but it wasn't where he needed to be. "I'm sure," said Wayne as he pulled his helmet off his belt and put it on his head, "it's like we discussed before, if Salem gets what she wants, then it's all over. I can't say how much good I'll be able to do once I get there, but at the very least I can do something." He stepped into the escape pod and turned around then as the built in harness automatically secured him.
"Just remember to be careful," said Maria, "It'll be a lot harder for me to find and thank your grandmother if you bite it kid."
"I'll keep that in mind," said Wayne as the pod doors closed around him, leaving only half his face visible due to a window built-in to the door, "and try not to land this thing too hard. Giant floating arenas don't grow on trees ya know." Maria chuckled despite the lameness of the joke as Pietro finished keying in the coordinates.
"Initiating launch sequence," said Pietro as a door opened beneath the escape pod, "good luck, huntsman." Wayne nodded one last time to that before he felt a tremendous force pull on his body as the escape pod ejected out of the bottom of the stadium, rocketing towards its destination like a meteor. 'I'll be there soon everyone,' he thought, 'just hang on for a little longer.'
And with that, we're halfway through the volume, I think. Either way, this shall be the last chapter for Team WA Vol. 2 for a bit as the wait continues for RWBY to resume in February. But fear not, once the show is on again, so too shall this story resume. If you're bored in the meantime, I'll still be posting chapters for my 'Breath of the Rifleman' story and I'll be resuming 'A New Crusade' relatively soon as well. And don't forget to leave a comment or review about what you liked/disliked or if you've got any neat ideas for future chapters. Be sure to stop in next time as our heroes continue their battles on multiple fronts! 'Til then.
