With tensions running at what I think to be an all time high between Russia, China, possibly North Korea and the rest of the world, I think it's a stupid decision on department of defense to retire the best tank killer of all time, the A10 Thunderbolt.
From what I heard, they plan on handing over the A10's duties to the F35 and while the F35 is a good plane with it's 25mm cannon which is effective on ground targets, weapons bay, VTOL capabilities, stealth systems, and being a carrier based fighter, but the A10 is built like a goddamn tank with titanium armor, the deadly 30mm GAU-8/A Avenger Gatling Gun, eleven hard points for rockets, bombs, air-to-ground missiles and two air-to-air missiles for air defense, that's the kind of bird I'd prefer to have covering me if I were a soldier, and let's not forget that many beings from Cybertron use it as a vehicle mode.
Then there is the F22, did you all know that production of the Raptor ended because of a lack of air-to-air combat missions along with the cost and time it took to make one of them? I get that it costs a lot of money to build them, but with close to two hundred aircraft having been manufactured, you'd think the DOD would want to bring back that bird for our pilots, when it comes to dogfighting.
Speaking of dogfighting, people are saying the F16 is the best fighter jet of all time. Me, I think the F15 is better with its primary role of being a dogfighter like the F86 Saber during the Korean War, with its speed, firepower, and avionics. Still, the new F15EX I've been hearing about does sound promising, provided the developers and DOD make the same mistake they made during Vietnam and neglect giving it a gun, like they did with earlier models of the F4 Phantom.
Enough about new aircraft and the prospect of possible nuclear war, it's that time of year again. The time of year with heatwaves and barbecues. It already hit the nineties the other day and damn, I was sweeting like a pig, coupled with the work on my parent's house that's about to start, the summer has been quite an interesting one so far. I do hope everyone enjoyed the Forth of July.
Time for another chapter of Remnant Unleashed and you'll all find out why Salem wanted Kara.
First though, onto the reviews.
Luffy L Deathwalker: Yes, there is a reason why Salem took Kara, we both know it.
SunPhoenix90: Difficult choice to choose from when it comes to the traits.
Hamm1999: It could have been enhanced with some characters from Left 4 Dead, but I got a few too many characters right now, with a couple of others coming when I reach Vacuo, but I am glad you liked the chapter.
Court of Talons: Glad my chapter got you interested in replaying Doom and Doom Eternal and that you found time to read this story. I'm still working on my Bad Batch story, but I'm also trying to focus on my recent Power Rangers story I started a while back. You are correct about your statement regarding us fans of the Autobots for being introduced to the Maximals from Rise of the Beasts. I hope the next movie includes Warpath, Powerglide, Wing-Saber, Landmine, the Aerial Bots, and Jetfire, the later of which I hope chooses the F14 for a vehicle mode while Power Glide takes the F20 for his vehicle mode. Funny thing, when Death Troopers first came out, I never wanted to read it, but I ended up reading it later on in life and found it to be a good read. If the Doom Slayer was in that book or Red Harvest, I'd like to see him rip and tear those monsters apart.
Reviews done, time for the intro.
(Start Polaris, by Blue Encount)
On that day I promised to protect you. That promise still remains in my heart.
(A blizzard rages across the tundra of Solitas before subsiding to reveal Galen, Team RWBY, Jaune, Ren, Nora, the Clones, Ace Ops, and their allies standing on a cliff as in front of them lies the imperial occupied Atlas and Mantle, with the Executor hovering high in the air. Behind it is the silhouette of Vader, Adam Taurus, Maul and Salem as the title card is revealed with the title.)
Remnant Unleashed
Even if I must lose everything I have. To Save a life in front of me.
(The camera zooms down below to Fort Arrowfell where exhausted Atlas soldiers and pilots sit on crates with their heads hung low in disbelief at the loss of their home.)
I'd be happy to give it all away without a doubt. This is the first time I've ever felt this way.
(One soldier is looking at the picture of his family, almost on the verge of tears until Captain Rex puts a hand on the soldier's shoulder. Behind him are Luke Skywalker, Ahsoka Tano, Ray, and Neo. Harriet is nearby, glaring at Galen, the badge of the Ace Ops no longer on her uniform.)
I won't hide my scars anymore. Making the despair as my weapon, That's how I want to live my life!
(Cuts to Galen who is standing in front of a massive attack force of Grimm, Battle Droids, Imperials, White Fang and Death Bots with his teammates, friends, allies, and fellow Jedi behind him. Above them, Republic and Rebel ships fly towards the enemy force alongside Remnant fighter jets, before the ground forces charge)
Push aside these tears as best I can. I'll give you everything that I have.
(Explosions light up the tundra as Ray and Neo lead the charge with the Bad Batch and Delta Squad, firing at their enemies while the young huntsmen and huntresses cut their way through the Grimm, as Vader engages Luke and Ahsoka in deadly lightsaber combat.)
So please, don't give up on me and disappear.
(Cuts to Salem and Maul wielding their lightsabers against Ray and Neo while the Fox, Winter, The Ace Ops, Artoria and Mordred run through the bowls of the giant whale Grimm towards Oscar.)
On that day I promised to protect you.
(Shows Whitley standing in front of his mother defensively as White Fang soldiers move in with their weapons raised. In his hands is a familiar object.)
The promise still remains in my heart.
(Galen and Ruby stand in Mantle with their hands extended as Atlas falls from the sky towards them, joined by Faye, Kara, Lop, Ahsoka, Serra, Zett, Plo, Kit, Aayla, Rahm and Grogu. While the others, including the Fox stand behind them and watch in awe before the screen turns dark)
Even if the light is fading. Just Go!
Disclaimers are the same as always, please enjoy. No music scores this chapter.
Chapter 120: Planning a Rescue
"Oscar? Don't panic. We're going to okay." Ozpin's voice said as Oscar slowly began to regain consciousness. The last thing he remembered was following Kara towards the sound of alarms when the Grimm broke through the bases perimeter before something pounced on him and knocked him out while Kara snapped her rifle to her shoulder, then started to fire.
As his eyes opened, he found himself looking at his feet which were hovering above the ground. Instead of the air base, he looked around to see fleshy walls, bone spikes, a bone staircase and membrane door. From out of the shadows of the doorway and approaching him was Salem herself, with a cloud of smoke hovering above her hand. "My long-lost Ozma, found at last." Salem said with fake happiness.
The smoke above her hand soon took the form of Salem's daughters, all of which were running in a circle and giggling only to dissipate as Salem turned her head and looked at Oscar, who's eyes had just widened, then looked around and struggled, only to find that he was being held by the very thing that attacked him.
It was a large Grimm with a short, wide snout with it's teeth overlapping it's jaw, with no eyes, but canine ears and quill-like spines on it's back, one of which was sliced off, a tar-like body that was dripping the liquid that spawned the other creatures of Grimm from it's mouth and body, with two mouths in it's body, where it's primary and secondary pair of jaws were located on the back of it's neck. The creature held Oscar in the air by the back of his coats collar, preventing him from breaking free.
"So small, this new host of yours. It's a wonder my Hound didn't break you or the Lah girl. How many years since we saw each other like this, face to face? And nothing to say?" Salem mocked.
"I don't know what you're talking about. My name is Oscar Pine. I don't know of anyone named Ozpin. Where's Kara?" Oscar said, feigning ignorance only for Salem to grab his face while her own face wrinkled slightly with a furious glare.
"You can pretend, boy, but you're not fully him. Not yet at least. As for the girl, you needn't worry about her, yet. But if you must play these ridiculous games, then I suggest you try better than that." Salem retorted, slowly walking around the Hound. "The Beacon Relic. My forces have been unable to locate the Relic beneath the school, but we have retaken the ground we lost to these rebels and the kingdom's army, thanks to the Empire and my droid army. If I know my Ozma, he has used some means of deception to hide its location differently then the others." She then stopped next to Oscar, smiled at him, and then scratched the Hounds shoulder. "I need to know where it is."
"I… That's not something I know about." Oscar said with defiance.
Salem stopped and then slowly walked away from Oscar to the other side of the room, with Oscar letting out a sigh of relief. "Of course. He would keep that one guarded as long as possible. How about something easier, then? The password for the Lamp." Salem said with disappointment.
Oscar paused for a moment, his eyes darting down then back up before he answered. "The Lamp is all out of questions." He answered.
Salem, not satisfied with the answer turned around and faced Oscar, smiling before she summoned a black orb of magic in front of her, which then sent out a rainbow of magic beams that converged on Oscar's chest, causing him to scream out and writhe in agony. An intense glare on her face, Salem continued to torture Oscar for eleven seconds, then lowered her hands with a frown as the magic faded, then walked over to Oscar who was still squirming and gasping while the remnants of the magic floated from the scorch mark on his chest. "The lies come out of you so easily." She snarled, while Oscar turned away, cowering as Salem gently put her hand to his cheek and gave Oscar a sweet smile. "Like-minded souls indeed." She began, then walked away and towards the door. "One of you is going to tell me what you know. I don't much care if it is you or Ozma. Either way, I'll finally have the Relic."
"I won't tell you anything. Do whatever you want to me, but let Kara go! She's got nothing to do with this!" Oscar demanded. This caused Salem to turn around and raise her hand, causing Oscar to grasp his throat as he was joked by the Force.
"Oh, Kara Lah has everything to do with this. As she is the new Fall Maiden, she is my key to accessing the vault underneath Beacon once you divulge its location. Of course, she won't do it willingly, but Cinder will." Salem said with a sinister smile.
"Cinders… dead…" Oscar said, gasping for breath as he felt his face turn blue.
"Oh, she might be dead physically, but not mentally." Salem replied, dropping Oscar to the ground as the membrane door opened, allowing two White Fang soldiers to walk in, pick-up Oscar and take him away after the Hound dropped him to the floor.
At the same moment in another area, Kara slowly started to wake up and the first thing she noticed was that her clothing had been changed into the same clothing that Cinder wore at Haven. A decorated long, dark red dress with golden designs on the collar and upper dress, two long black gloves, black pantyhose, and black heels. Her rifle wasn't with her, and her lightsaber sat by a window.
Getting up from the bed she was placed on, she went to retrieve her lightsaber only to find that the room she was in was situated thousands of feet in the air, which was made clearer to her when she watched a pair of S47's and S57's fly by her window. "Am I in Atlas?"
The noise of a respirator soon filled her ears as she turned around and saw that entering 'her' room was Vader himself. She tried to grab her lightsaber, but Vader called it over to her before she could even make a move. "You fail to hide your thoughts, young one. A true Jedi would be able to guard your thoughts of retrieving their weapon." Vader said, examining the lightsaber in his hands. "You created your lightsaber well, but you are not a true Jedi, nor will you ever become one."
"Did you do this to me?" Kara demanded, gesturing to her new attire. "If you plan on killing me, then why go through the trouble of dressing me up in these clothes? Did you…"
"I did not disrobe you or change you into your current garments. That was done by Emerald. I would never do anything as despicable as changing a girl as young as you, such things are done by men with lewd thoughts and those target girls of your age." Vader answered, interrupting her. He slowly walked towards Kara, who backed away in fear of the Sith Lord. "Do you know why you are here? It is because you posse the powers that once belonged to Cinder. Power's, she took from someone who was given those powers and ones that Salem needs to acquire the Relic from underneath Beacon Academy." He explained.
"Forget it! I will never help her! I'd rather die than help her destroy the planet! You might as well just kill me!" Kara shouted in defiance.
"Unfortunately, that is not my decision to make." Vader said, as the membrane door behind him opened up and two Stormtroopers walked in, positioned Kara's hands behind her back and placed a set of binders on her wrists. "Salem has other plans for you." He finished as the troopers escorted Kara out of the room, leaving Vader alone before he too left the room.
Back at Khesed, Galen and Ruby had just stored the armor they found on their latest mission in the Rogue Shadow before they rejoined their teams and the Ace Ops in the command room. "What did you mean by Salem took Oscar and Kara? How the hell did she even captured them?" Galen demanded.
"It was right after the four of you left on your little 'zombie encounter'. The minute your ship left the base, the Grimm managed to break through our defenses and attacked us. All of our ground forces were focused on the entry point, but somehow one of the Grimm managed to break through and took the two of them. My guess it was a new Grimm that Salem only just created and unleashed for the first time during her war with Ozpin." Yang answered.
"A couple of soldiers were killed when they saw the damn thing, before they could even call it in. We only caught a glimpse of it before left the base with Kara and Oscar." Clover answered. "My guess is, she took Oscar because since Ozpin inhabits his mind, that means she encountered some sort of roadblock in her quest for the Beacon Relic and of course, she wants the lamp."
"Okay, that explains why she wants Oscar and the lamp, but why Kara?" Ruby asked.
"Isn't it obvious?... She wants her fall maiden back." The Fox said.
"What do you mean? Cinder's dead. Kara isn't Cinder, there's no way she'd help Salem." Weiss countered.
"Not willingly, but this does support this theory I've always had about the maiden powers and how they each preceding maiden becomes a part of their successor. Namely, that if the next host is weak willed enough, the personality of the predecessor will act like a prion infection, attacking the brain and eventually transform the host into a facsimile of the predecessor." The Fox explained.
"But Kara is strong in the force, then that means Cinder is buried so deep in her subconscious then if what you're saying is true, then she can't get out." Blake interjected.
"Under normal conditions, yes. But if someone strong in the dark side like say Vader or Salem get a hold of her…" The Fox began.
"Then they could give Cinder a means to take over her body by way of her mind." Ruby finished with her eyes widened in realization.
"Exactly." The Fox nodded.
There was a long silence before it was Ray who spoke up. "After all the pain and suffering Cinder has caused, you're telling me that your theory is that prion infection bullshit would give Cinder a chance to return to this world and cause even more suffering?" he said angrily, slamming his fists on a nearby tool that Marrow was using.
"Hey! I needed that!" Marrow scolded.
"Tough shit!" Ray shouted. "I won't let that murdering bitch return! She killed my sister and I'll be damned if I let her return. My sister is finally at peace, but if Cinder returns, I'll make it a short trip." He snarled.
"Sounds like you got a plan, Kid." Wrecker said as he and the rest of his squad walked into the command room. "Does it involve explosives?" he asked eagerly.
"Oh, it will involve explosions alright, cause we're going to rescue Kara, Oscar and anyone else Salem has as prisoners. I'll rip and tear anything that gets in my way." Ray declared, then turned to Wrecker. "And you… you get to blow some shit up." He finished.
"I like this plan!" Wrecker exclaimed.
"We're in no position to launch such a plan." Rex pointed out, typing in a few commands on the main console and brought up a map of Atlas. "We're a thousand miles away from the main Kingdom and the enemy controls the entire mainland while we are stuck on this island with forces that are aren't willing to partake in another full-frontal assault."
"Since when is anything ever easy?" Ray asked.
"Rex is right." Clover said, expanding the map even wider. "The enemy not only has control of the main kingdom, but they've taken Stonehenge and are continuing to produce more Death Bots, droids and let's not forget the modifications made to Stonehenge make it a threat to us. We wouldn't last a full week." He then turned to the Fox. "This prion infection, it takes to time to fully develop, right?"
"Yes, but it mostly depends on the weak willed the subject is and how strong Salem is." The Fox answered.
"Then it might take a while for Kara to be broken." Faye said. "She still has a lot to learn, but she's not that easy to break. I'm afraid to admit it, but she's been tortured before, by those who tried to force her father to make weapons for them. He declined, so they kidnapped her and tortured as a means to send a message to Kara's father, possibly as a means to force her father to comply with their demands."
"Bastards! They did that to her. All for weapons?" Neo cursed and snarled.
"At least they're dead." Elm pointed out.
"Regardless of their status, we still have time before Kara's will breaks and I doubt that Salem would risk killing the current Fall Maiden, unless she plans on searching the globe for the new Fall Maiden." Fordo pipped in. "I've got a plan to get our forces back on the mainland, but it will require a bit of planning and we still have a few prisoners to rescue."
"Speaking of prisoners, what's the status on Bram and his allies?" Galen asked.
"They're being moved to Rosamond for interrogation as we speak. Our allies in Corinth spotted some prisoner transports leaving the city earlier today." Hunter answered as Tech uploaded the data they acquired onto the terminal. "This just came in from one of the units still trapped on the mainland. Commander Shepard, the woman in charge of a special squadron of Atlas soldiers has been leading a resistance movement and she managed to get the prison transfer schedule. Bram and his associates are being moved to Rosamond the day after tomorrow at 0800 hours."
"Imperial high command has ordered that they be transferred to Fort Arrowfell, possibly so they could continue the research that Bram and his conspirators were conducting. It stands to reason that the deceased Arthur Watts had taken an interest in the idea of luring the Grimm to unsuspecting towns in secret, especially if it meant he could get his revenge on Ironwood." Tech added.
"I can't say that I blame them for going after Ironwood. I would have done the same thing; had I not been shown kindness by a human who once worked with Ironwood." Sienna said aloud as she walked into the command room. "The villages of Essen and Dormir have been left alone, possibly because the enemy doesn't view the villagers as threats, as they have done with the off-grid communities along the railway line towards the main kingdom."
"Looks you and the Gelb Team managed to make it back from your recon flight." Clover said with relief, being openly opposed to Sienna's proposal of taking the Gelb Team with her on a recon flight, but agreed, nonetheless. "I take it your mission was a success?"
"It was indeed, and I can confirm that both the Empire, White Fang and Salem's forces have reinforced the coastline with anti-air and anti-ship defenses." Sienna answered. "Tanks, AA Guns, howitzers, SAM's, bunkers, pillboxes, walkers, and they've been using the nearby airbase as their own. They've also completely sealed off the bridge to the island. Only a fool would try to launch a full-frontal assault on their own. They would only get themselves killed, even if they pilot a forty-ton war machine. An operation like this would require the combined efforts of both navy, air fleet, infantry, and air force, along with much planning. We were lucky to have changed our IFF to that of the White Fang." She continued.
"Our focus right now is rescuing Bram and his allies." Rex interjected. "A large assault force to rescue a few prisoners is out of the question. That's why I suggest that the Bad Batch, Delta Squad and Omega Squad for this mission, with Team's RWBY and GARM as support." He continued, zooming in on a section of the map he had highlighted. "If we can divert the prison convoy towards this narrow canyon and detonate charges at both ends, we can block any means of escape and then ambush the convoy. If they can't escape, then they can't call for back up."
"Guess that means Wrecker's going to be blowing something up after all." Yang said with a smirk in the direction of the muscular clone who had stars in his eyes. "Just make sure it's not enough to cause and avalanche." She teased.
"Oh, I know exactly how many explosives to use for this op." Wrecker said, grinning like a devil. "What about Trigger and Neo?"
"We need them to stay on base, mostly so Ray doesn't do anything crazy and take the Blood Asp for a joy ride towards the enemies doorstep." Cody answered. "No offense, kid, but you aren't in the right state of mind to be fighting now. You need to calm down and think rationally before you're cleared for duty."
"Fine!" Ray huffed and walked out of the command room with Neo close behind him who said she'd keep an eye on him. A loud slam on the wall outside indicated that he wasn't happy on the idea of waiting to launch a rescue operation.
"Perhaps it would be best if we send you to gather information on the enemies' defenses." Clover said to the Fox. "You're quite sneaky when it comes to gathering information, plus I want to know if the enemy has plans to counter the new Karambit and Corsair fighters."
"You flatter me with those words, General." The Fox praised with a bow and left the command room, followed by the others, leaving Clover and the rest of the Ace Ops alone, with only Galen behind.
"Bram will be leading the council members and you'll be leading the military, but what if your plans conflict with another's?" Galen asked.
"I'm not one to interfere with politics. I don't have my own agenda, not like some council members back in the day before the Empire. My duty is to the people of Atlas and Mantle, not myself or any goals I might have." Clover answered. "But what are you and Ruby going to do about the armor you brought back?"
"We'll hold onto it for right now. It might come in handy in the future. Plus, I think Ruby might have a few ideas on how to improve them." Galen answered, then headed for the door, but stopped shortly before he reached the door. "We should contact the rebellion for additional firepower. Last I heard, Master Plo and his fleet are in the Outer Rim, along with Master Kota. With Vader here on the planet, we'll need all the firepower we can muster." He advised.
"I don't plan on underestimating the Empire, not like Harriet." Clover assured. "But we still have to finish the tower and ensure that Salem can't destroy it, in the event that Harriet told her about the tower."
"I know that." Galen said and left the command room. As he walked through the base, he felt the stares of several Atlas army personal and the 'high class Atlas citizens who were upset with their current living conditions. Refugee camps were established around the air base, just like it was done at Arrowfell and naturally, the people of Atlas weren't pleased at being treated like 'second class or working-class citizens' as some of them put it. Naturally, they pinned the blame on the survivors from Beacon who managed to 'sabotage their kingdoms efforts to survive' and were already starting to spread rumors through out the ranks that they had planned to destroy Atlas.
Naturally, the upper class of Atlas were demanding better living conditions, better quality food and other necessities they had privilege to in Atlas before it was captured, some of them even going as far as to take several tents for themselves and their friends from those who were already using the tents, claiming that they were given permission by Clover and the council. It was even worse for those of faunus heritage, who had their food and personal belongings taken from them, causing tensions to rise even further which in turn brought the Grimm back to the base.
'Those people need to see the bigger picture. Their old lives are gone now, and they need to accept the reality of the situation. This is how they treated the people of Mantle, and they still seem fit to continue such treatment. The sooner we can take back Rosamond, the sooner we can send them to Vacuo and get them out of our hair. This is war and unless they plan on volunteering for the military, they're just getting in the way.' Galen thought.
Stepping out of the building, he was greeted by the sight of a smart dressed Atlas citizen being thrown through the air and slamming into the side of the building. "Ray just got into a fight with an Atlas soldier!" Hunter exclaimed to Galen as he helped the man up to his feet.
"Not again." Galen groaned as he ran towards the fight, where soldiers and Atlas citizens surrounded Ray, with several bruised and beaten soldiers lying on the snow, alive but hurt badly.
"Say that again to my face!" Ray shouted as Neo tried to hold him back.
"You heard me, kid." One of the instigators, one of the 'elite soldiers' shouted. "You and your bitch of a sister and that freak of a girlfriend of yours are the reason we're in this mess! You broke the borders! You brought those animals to our kingdom! It's because of you that we're in this situation!"
"I could be having a decent meal in my home if it weren't for you commoners!" a woman shouted.
"We can't trust these animals! They're with the White Fang and they'll kill us all!" Another man shouted.
"You caused this! You're the reason we lost our homes! My money! My jewelry! My clothing! It's all gone! You better have the money to pay for what I lost!" another woman shouted.
"Enough!" Robyn shouted, walking onto the scene with her huntresses, Onyx and Grogu by her side, just in time to stop Ray from going into a rampage. "None of this is anyone's fault! Especially my nephew. You all should be ashamed of yourselves!"
"Oh look, it's Mantle's hometown vigilante! You hear to steal everything else we have?" the first man asked mockingly, only to get a swift kick to crotch, causing him to squeal in pain.
"My nephew, his sister, and everyone else you blame for the current situation have done nothing to warrant such hatred. I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth like all of you, I had to work hard to get where I am, while the rest of you care only about your money, jewelry, clothing, and everything else that doesn't matter! We're in this situation because Salem attacked us and the only thing, you're doing is giving her exactly what she wants. To divide us all, humanity, the Faunus, none of those matters, we're all her target. The only way to stop her is to come together and fight her as a unified people. But if you can't see that, then get the hell out of here." Robyn yelled.
"It's because of your nephew and the others that we're in this situation! They cost us everything!" A soldier shouted.
"Is that what you really think?" Robyn asked. "Because from where I'm standing, things could have been a lot worse if Jacques Schnee stayed on the council. He would have focused more on filling his own pockets with money and not care about the people who have worked all their lives just to scrape by and survive. People were already ready to go to war with Atlas and they would have done so if I hadn't stopped them. The Jedi, the kids from Beacon, the clones! They are the only chance we have of taking back our kingdom and fixing the problems we were facing before today! Unless you want to get killed by the Grimm when they break through the defenses again, then you'll blame yourselves."
"Miss Hill is right." Sleet said as he and Camilla arrived to see what the commotion was. "Unless we all pull together, then Salem will win, and we will all be dead. This isn't about whether one of us is human, faunus or in between, we must come together and defeat her, or all will be lost. Those of you who can't see that, pack your bags, and wait for the next transport to Vacuo, although, they won't be taking off no matter how much you pay the pilots."
The fire in the rioters was quick to die out before they dispersed and went about their business, but not before one of them called Robyn a bitch. Hearing that, made something inside Ray snap and he literally pounced on the man, punching the man in the face hard. "No. One. Calls. My. Aunt. A. Bitch!" he said, dealing a hard punch that left the mans face bruised and beaten.
"Yeah, I don't think Triggers in the right mind to launch an assault on Salem right now." Galen said as Ray was pulled off the man and dragged away.
"Let him cool off, he's going through a lot right now. Remember what the Fox said, Salem's probably planning on having Cinder come back in Kara's body and that's not something he'll let happen." Hunter reminded Galen.
"I know, but that doesn't mean I'm worried about him." Galen admitted.
When night came, Ray snuck quietly towards the hanger where his fighters were stored with his shotgun, machine gun and plenty of ammunition, loading them into the cargo pod of his Strike Dagger which R5 was already preparing for take-off. "So that's it? You're going to launch a one-man assault against the Empire, Salem, her droid army, the Grimm, and the White Fang despite our warnings that such a task would be impossible. Are you looking to get yourself killed?" Galen asked, catching Ray's attention as the Demon Lord of the Round Table himself stood in front of the hanger.
"Don't try and talk me out of this, Galen. I've made up my mind and I'm not going to let that bitch Cinder return to the land of the living!" Ray snarled, closing the cargo pod, and turned around to face Galen.
"The only thing you're going to do is get yourself killed. You think your sister would appreciate it if you died after doing something that you know is suicidal? We have a plan, and we'll save Kara, Oscar and whoever else Salem has as a prisoner, but we can't do anything so reckless as wagging a one-man war against impossible odds." Galen countered, walking directly in front of Ray's Strike Dagger as said pilot climbed into the cockpit, powering up his fighter.
"Get out of my way, Galen. I'll run you over if I have to, don't make do it!" Ray implored over the radio.
"What would your father and sister say if they saw you like this? They'd say that you're suicidal and looking at an early grave. What about your aunt? Do you know how much pain you'd cause her if you died right now? You're acting just as selfish as those from Atlas, thinking only about yourself and not about others." Galen said, not budging from his spot in the hanger as the Strike Dagger slowly moved towards the hanger exit.
"I am nothing like them! I care for my family and those around me!" Ray shouted over the radio.
"Not from where I'm standing! If you launch now, you'll alert the enemy and countless people will die because you left on your own! All that blood will be on your hands and yours alone. Kara is stronger than you think, she won't break as easily as Salem hopes. I promise you that Cinder won't take control of Kara's body, but you have to think rationally or else what you fear will come to pass." Galen shouted back.
As quickly as the engines powered up, the engines of Ray's Strike Dagger quickly shut down and the pilot exited the cockpit. "You're right. I am afraid. I'm afraid that Cinder will come back and take the rest of my family from me. My Aunt, Robyn, Sienna, Onyx, Neo, Ahsoka. I'm afraid that she'll come back and kill them all, just to make me suffer before she goes after you, Ruby, her friends, and the rest of the maiden powers. I'm afraid that I won't be strong enough to stop her! Heh, it's funny. Me, a Mandalorian afraid that I'm not strong enough!" Ray finally admitted.
"Then fight to prevent such a fear from happening." Galen said, putting a hand on Ray's shoulder. "I already told you that we won't let Cinder return and I know this because I helped train Kara in the force, with Faye helping her padawan. Both of us know that Kara won't break easily, no matter how much pain or torture Salem inflicts upon her. I can't say the same for Vader or Barriss, but I know that Kara's stronger than you think. So, calm down, take a deep breath, and relax. We will save them. I promise you."
His anger subsided, Ray collected everything he loaded into the travel pod, disconnected the pod, and walked with Galen back to the barracks, both of them unaware that Sienna, Neo, Ahsoka, and Robyn had heard everything but decided not to make their presence known, deciding to wait and see what action Ray would take.
When morning came, the clone commandos of Delta Squad, Omega Squad, The Bad Batch, along Teams RWBY and GARM had gathered their weapons and boarded the Marauder which left the Khesed before the sun rose up and flew high over the mainland with the stealth systems of the Marauder operating at maximum power. "You guys sure it was a good idea for Mara to meet up with this Shepard woman? I mean, she was the Emperors former hand so that means if the empire see's her than she'd be shot on sight." Blake asked.
"Mara can handle herself when it comes to gathering information. She said it herself that she did spy on several imperials who were plotting on overthrowing the emperor, which they could never have accomplished on their own." Fixer answered, tossing down a holoprojector on the ship's floor which activated and projected a display of the canyon the prison convoy would pass through. "The convoy will arrive at the target location at 1050 hours, which means we won't have plenty of time to place the charges on the entrances to the canyon." Fixer began as the canyon walls started to blink.
"Once the transports enter the canyon, Crosshair, Sev, Climber, Ruby and Rose will fire their ion disruptors at the transport and disable it, while also providing Overwatch. Once the transport is disabled, we'll liberate the prisoners, but we have to ensure that no imperials escape to alert the fort. We'll be jamming their communications to prevent them from calling for help, but we need to be quick. Once the enemy realizes that the transport isn't responding, they'll send out a unit to investigate." Darman added.
"Which is why I am utilizing the same virus that Watt's developed to take control of the imperial systems." Tech explained. "Shortly after I revoked Watt's access into the kingdom's systems, I took the liberty of modifying the virus to affect only military systems rather than the systems of the entire kingdom. With the virus we can jam the enemies' communications and prevent them from calling for backup, but this will in turn reveal the virus to the enemy who will then remove it from the system all together. We need to make this count."
"Once we free the prisoners, we'll bring them to the Marauder and head back to Khesed. We're not here to start a full-on firefight, just extract the prisoners and leave. If they raise the alarm, then we'll have a more difficult chance of escaping." Hunter added.
The Marauder soon touched down several feet away from the canyon edge as its occupants exited the craft and moved towards their objectives, but Galen noticed the large build up of snow on the other side of the canyon. "Hunter, those charges won't trigger an avalanche, will they?" he asked.
"That's our conundrum." Hunter clarified, surprising Galen. "If we trigger an avalanche at certain points in the canyon, we can block the convoy without running the risk of killing the prisoners in the avalanche. They can't get out and reinforcements can't get in, we've covered all the bases."
"Let's hope those bases don't get breached." Galen said, leaping down into the canyon.
Hours passed before the convoy finally arrived in the canyon. Along with the prisoner transports, the convoy consisted of several recon troop transports, MTT's, AATs, and transport trucks loaded with White Fang soldiers. Inside the transport, wearing orange prisoner jumpsuits were former Lieutenant Colonel Olive Harper, former Mantle Union leader Hanlon Fifestone, Team BRIR which consisted of the prism blade user and leader Bianca Prisma, flamethrower user Roane Ashwood, mini-portal creator and whip user Ivy Thickety, drill gauntlet user Ruda Tilleroot and finally, Bram Thornmane, the leader of the conspiracy against Ironwood.
Once a student at Atlas academy, he trained under General Ironwood in hopes of becoming an Ace Operative, but was rejected because his semblance wasn't strong enough, which in turn made him resentful of Ironwood, which grew after he retired to the village of Essen where he acted as the guardian of the village.
As time passed, his resentment grew to the point of a conspiracy to show Ironwood in a bad light to the public, using technology from the then abandoned Fort Arrowfell, but failed due to the intervention of Team RWBY, leading to the arrest of him and his co-conspirators.
What came as a shock to Bram was that during their sentence, Ironwood constantly visited them in prison and when Bram pointed out the flaws that Ironwood had, the general said he was right, that he kept his cards to close to his chest and trusted no one outside his Ace Ops and Winter Schnee, until he was told critical information that was deemed essential to the survival of Atlas.
To say that Bram was shocked was an understatement when Ironwood told him of Salem, her plan to gather four relics that were buried beneath the huntsman academies, how she not only controlled the Grimm, but also possessed her own army of 'battle droids', knew the ways of the 'Dark Side', how she worked in the shadows to dismantle the kingdoms from within, but most of all, how one of her followers killed the daughter of Richard Autumn, a close friend of Bram and one who valued the importance of fighter pilots and spoke against the creation of unmanned combat vehicles.
When Atlas and Mantle fell to Salem and her allies, he and his co-conspirators were transferred to a White Fang prison camp, where they were forced to mine for Dust like the Faunus did when the SDC ran the mines, where they and other humans were treated like slaves, even Hanlon who spoke out against the cruelty of the White Fang, as 'slaves' dropped like flies due to being overworked, given little food and water along with their living conditions which consisted miner huts which were old, rusted and lacked heating.
Though Bram and his companions did their best to help their fellow 'slaves' they soon caught the interest of Salem who was intrigued by the idea of using technology to draw the Grimm to certain targets and believed to be useful in wiping out her enemies, the same was true with the White Fang's interest in such a weapon.
Sitting in the transport with his face looking at the ground, Bram remembered Ironwoods final words to him before he was killed by Darth Vader. 'I believe a time will come when we can work to make a kingdom for all, not just Atlas, but Mantle as well. I'll need a good leader to help me with such a task.' The words of the man he held such a resentment for still echoed in his ears while the rest of the transport's occupants remained silent, as the transports continued on towards the place where it all began for them, Fort Arrowfell.
High above the canyons, laying flat on the snow, Crosshair, Sev, Ruby, Climber and Rose took aim with their ion disruptors as the convoy entered the canyon. Below them, lying in wait inside some small caves on both sides of the canyon. In the right cave, Wrecker, Trace, March, and Yang readied their launchers while the others waited to spring the ambush while Hunter and Darman kept a close watch for the convoy. "Crosshair, what's the status on the convoy?" Hunter said into his commlink.
"They just entered the canyon now and are five clicks from your position. I've got eyes on troop transports, a few tanks, and several White Fang trucks. A lot of security for a prisoner convoy. You got fifty seconds before the convoy reaches the ambush point." Crosshair reported.
"Copy that. Standing by with the detonators." Hunter acknowledged, looking back to Wrecker who was anxious to detonate the charges. "Easy on the detonator Wrecker, we can't blow them just yet."
"I know that Sarge. I just hate all this waiting around. My trigger finger is getting itchy." Wrecker groaned.
"Same here, big guy." March sympathized, "But we need to wait for the right moment. Remember, they got tanks and troop transports, so we can't jeopardize the plan by acting recklessly."
"Yeah, I know that." Wrecker grumbled.
"Look alive, here they come." Darman shouted as the convoy came nearer and nearer to the ambush point. "Damn, looks we got Death Bots rolling with the convoy. Looks like a few of those tanks with the spiked roller, blast bots and some of those flying clankers."
In the left cave, Galen, Arthur, Boss, Fixer, Tech, Niner, Blake, Weiss, and Scorch peaked out and saw the incoming convoy and its guards. "This just means more bad guys to blow up." Scorch said with enthusiasm, his anti-armor attachment loaded and ready to fire.
"Prison transports are in the center of the convoy. Awaiting your orders, boss." Sev said over the commlink. The rumble of the transport nearly caused an avalanche, but miraculously it didn't. The wait was intense that the tension in the air could be cut with a butter knife before the prison transports were in the center of the canyon.
"Fire in the hole!" Wrecker shouted, detonating the charges, as did Scorch and Trace. A series of explosions echoed around the canyon, causing the build up of snow to come tumbling down onto the convoy, save for a small area in the middle of the canyon. When the snow settled, only a few tanks, blast bot's, and trucks along with a single MTT were with the transports as the group moved from the caves and attacked.
Taking aim with their disruptors, the group on overwatch took aim at the blast bots and fired, disabling them before shifting their aim towards the MTT, but before they could take a shot, fire from behind them caught their attention. "We got trouble! Looks like some of the convoy on our end is targeting us!" Ruby shouted into her commlink, taking aim at one of the transports and fired. When she heard that disruptor rifles were extremely lethal on organic beings, she refused to fire on any Imperials or White Fang forces she would encounter, opting to use the weapon on only the Grimm, droids, and death bots. A blast from her rifle neutralized a transport truck, but not the soldiers it deployed.
Bullets and blaster bolts flew towards the snipers as enemy infantry ran up a small cliffside path towards them, forcing Ruby to throw down her disruptor rifle and ignite her lightsaber, then charged towards the enemy, slicing weapons in half, and disarming the White Fang while destroying the droids and death bots with her emerald-green blade. A blaster bolt from behind her slammed into the chest of a White Fang soldier, courtesy of Sev who then lobbed a flashbang towards the enemy, blinding and deafening them long enough for Crosshair to take them down.
Climber and Rose then followed up with a barrage of weapons fire, taking out a few Death Bots, but several airborne Death Bots swooped down and strafed their position. Climber was quick to move his body around and drew down on the enemy aerial units with his rifle, hitting one of them in the jetpack that sent it spiraling down into the snow and rocks below. Rose called upon her semblance and scored a direct hit on another Death Bot's head, shutting it down before it crashed and exploded into one of the tanks. "Any luck on freeing the prisoners!?" the gunslinger shouted.
Below them, Yang pummeled a Snow Trooper with her fists while March mowed down several hostiles with his heavy blaster rifle. Blake and Weiss slashed and shot down multiple enemies with their blasters, blades and glyphs. "We're working on it!" Yang shouted back.
One enemy had a shot lined up on Blakes head and fired, only to find out the target they fired at was a shadow clone infused with lightning dust that stunned the attacker for a few moments, allowing Boss to thrust his knife into the back of the shooter, killing them. "Enemy communications are jammed, but I'm picking up multiple Grimm coming this way, of the Arachnid variety!" Fixer called out.
Emerging from beneath the snow, multiple Warrior and Spitter Grimm screeched loudly, echoing through out the canyon before Wrecker, Hunter, Darman, Tracer, Niner and Scorch focused on the new arrivals, one of the spitters hacked acid towards them, only to miss and have its acid hit one of the trucks, melting away at it's engine block which rendered the vehicle useless. Blue flames slashed the legs off one of the warriors, courtesy of Arthur before he thrusted his sword into the nerve stem of one of the Grimm, killing it permanently.
"I despise bugs." Arthur snarled, shifting his sword into its range mode, and opened up with a burst of weapons fire, taking down another creature while parrying a sword strike from a White Fang soldier, elbowing them in the face and knocking them out of the fight.
Hunter fired the last of the rounds from his rifle, then reloaded a new magazine into his weapon as fast as he could, then drew his knife and tossed it into the head of a death bot, destroying it. "Galen, get those prisoners out of the transport! We'll handle the rest." Hunter shouted.
"YEAAAHHHHHH!" Wrecker shouted enthusiastically, bashing enemies away with the butt of his shotgun and firing his rifle in one hand at the enemy, cutting down enemy after enemy while enjoying himself. "Don't take too long! I'm having a blast here!" the gung-ho clone said.
"That's only if we have enough ammo!" Scorch pointed out, lobbing a grenade towards several Snow Troopers that were hiding behind the disabled droid transport while the nearby tank fired its dual cannons at the attackers. "That tank is really getting on my nerves!"
Darman and Niner were quick to flank the tank and placed a few charges on the tanks side, detonating the charges that damaged its roller, but the remaining blast bots continued to keep them pinned down with bombs and blaster fire, which weakened the shields on their armor and forcing them to take cover behind a piece of one of the transport trucks. "I'm really starting to hate these things." Darman snarled, firing his blaster at one of the still functional blast bots, hitting one of the bombs that was just fired from the machine which ripped the front left leg off.
Niner also managed to destroy one of the bombs, ripping the legs off the second blast bot off in the explosion which allowed Tracer to fire an anti-armor round at the machine, destroying it. "I think we all do, sir." The commando replied.
Blue blades stabbed the optical sensor of the third blast bot, followed by the blades slicing off the turret as Galen zig-zagged through the enemy fire, grabbing one of the wrecked legs from the blast bot and flung it towards the tank, impaling the turret and disabling it. An ARC of force lighting followed, traveling from death bot, trooper, droid and White Fang soldiers, killing them before he leapt over the Grimm with a mid-air spin and landed by the transport's door. Plunging his sabers into the door, he twisted his blades until the door finally opened, much to the surprise of the troopers inside the transport who he quickly gunned down. "Bram Thornmane? We're here to get you out of here!" Galen said, slicing the prisoners' binders.
"Who are you?" Bram asked, rubbing his wrists.
"Galen Marek. Leader of Team GARM, Jedi Knight, and The Demon Lord of the Round Table." Galen introduced, as the other prisoners picked up the fallen blasters. "And you, councilmen, are needed by your people. Clovers pardoned you and your associates of your crimes to overthrow Ironwood." He added, firing his blaster pistol at the pilot of the transport who pretended to be dead and attempted to kill Galen, only to get killed themselves.
"I've been pardoned. We've been pardoned?" Bram questioned.
"Maybe we should get out of here before we start questioning Clover's actions?" Olive suggested just as Hunter rushed into the transport.
"We need to go now!" the commando shouted.
The former prisoners were quick to exit the transport, just as the guards separated by the avalanches climbed over and started firing at the rescuers. Ruby, Rose, and the other commandos were already down in the canyon firing back at the incoming enemies, killing several of them. Weiss and Blake stood back-to-back, their lightsabers ignited and in hand, slashing at any enemy that got in close to them while March laid down covering fire with his heavy blaster rifle.
Bianca, Roane, Ivy, Ruda, Olive, Hanlon and Bram were quick to fire back at the Grimm and their allies, killing a few of them, but more and more enemies continued to pour in over the avalanche, slowly surrounding them and cutting off any avenue of escape. But that soon changed when the Rogue Shadow arrived overhead with Ray standing on the boarding ramp with his heavy machine gun in hand, firing a burst of whistling birds at the enemy below while Neo aimed a sniper rifle at the enemy and sniped them from above. "Figured you guys could use some help and this is a good way to blow off some steam." Ray said over the commlink as the enemy started to focus their fire on the Rogue Shadow.
The distraction the two provided allowed the rescue team to climb back to the top of the canyon where the Marauder was, followed by the Rogue Shadow coming down for a quick landing. "Move! Move! Move!" Neo shouted as she and Ray laid down covering fire as the pursuers arrived at the top of the cliff.
Once everyone was aboard the ships, they left the canyon and headed back to Khesed where Clover and the rest of the Ace Ops, along with the councilmen, Aayla, Kit, Faye, Zett, Serra, Ahsoka, Rex, Fordo, Cody, Thire, Bly and Sienna were waiting for them. The moment the ships touched down, Bram stepped out of the Marauder and walked towards Clover. "What's this I hear about me, and my associates being pardoned for our crimes?" he demanded.
"It's like Galen said, you've been pardoned for your crimes like Sienna Khan has been. I'll admit, what you and your associates did, it left a bit of doubt about trusting you all again, but given the situation, we need all the help we can get. We've got your clothes and weapons here, so you ditch those prison jumpsuits and get your toys back." Clover explained. "I should also add that you, Bram are now on the Atlas council, so you've got a lot of responsibility now."
Bram looked at Clover, the blaster he picked up still in his hands as he walked towards Clover, with some nearby soldiers ready to shoot him, only for Marrow to order them to stand down. Once he was in front of Clover, he handed the Ace Ops leader his blaster and relaxed his body. "I'll accept this responsibility and promise that I'll live up to your expectations. I know I have much to atone for, but I vow that I hold the best interests of both Atlas and Mantle."
"You're not the only one who's got Mantle's best interests at heart." Robyn spoke up. "Let's work together." She then held out her hand, which Bram accepted, confirming that Bram was telling the truth about his intentions.
"And I'll start with something that I think you'll find most useful." Bram said with a smile but didn't fail to notice that Ray was concerned about something else.
Yeah, it took a while, but I completed this chapter and I think I could have done better.
But at least you all know why Salem wants Kara and having Cinder come back and take control of Kara's body, that's not a good thing for anyone, especially Trigger considering it was Cinder who murdered his sister. Thanks go to Luffy L Deathwalker for the help.
At the very least, Bram and his associates have been rescued and are now working with Galen and the others, but what about those Karambit and Corsair fighters? You'll all find out in the next chapter, which I can promise you will have music scores, dogfights, and plenty of action.
But some homework for you all, I want my readers to listen to the extended music scores of Ace Combat 4, 5, 0, 6, Assault Horizon and 7, along with Project Wingman for the songs I should consider using for the chapter. You can find them on Youtube.
So, until next time, please read and review.