Author's note: This time, we're starting off with the farming team. Enjoy.
Sky cut down another group of Beowolves, while Oscar killed them with his cane, and Peter focused on the few Alpha Beowolves and Ursai. The soldiers provided cover fire, distracting the Grimm with pot shots or reducing their defensive abilities with special projectiles. When a Deathstalker showed up, Sky retreated and used his semblance, creating several turrets that immediately began firing energy blasts at the Grimm. The Deathstalker tried to hit Oscar with its stinger, but Oscar created a barrier around himself, blocking the attack. The soldiers immobilized the Grimm with ivy bullets, allowing Peter, Sky and Oscar to kill it safely. When the Grimm evaporated, Sky turned to Oscar.
"What was that barrier?" Sky asked.
"Probably my semblance," Oscar answered, trying to sound a bit more clueless than he was.
"That barrier looked a lot like Ozpin's semblance," Peter said.
"Well, some semblances are similar," Oscar said, "Anyway, I feel we're close, so let's hurry." He walked ahead, and while the soldiers set up another barricade, Sky and Peter caught up to Oscar.
"And remember, you'll probably see some gross stuff," Sky said, just before stepping into something squishy and smelly. The trio looked ahead and saw that the entire area was progressively coated in what was unmistakably animal waste, and Sky recoiled at the realization, and the smell.
"Like that?" Oscar asked with a grin and said, "Looks like at least the pigs are alive. Not that that's particularly good for us, though."
"You're really hung up on that, aren't you?" Sky asked and said, "Pigs aren't that dangerous if you have aura." Suddenly, a red portal opened, and two aqua blue Combat Drones floated out from it. One began circling Sky, the other Peter. Before the portal closed, a water-dust crystal came out of it as well, and Sky picked it up.
"Looks like someone wants to tell us something," Oscar said, "Well, it would help clean up this place. Let's go."
"Is it me, or do you tend to take charge?" Sky asked, "I mean, aren't you just some kid?"
"I am, yes," Oscar answered, "But I'm also an expert with farm animals, so it makes sense for me to take the lead from here on out."
"I'll give you that, young man, that is some solid reasoning," Peter said, "But yes, that expertise of yours is precisely why I asked you to come along on this excursion."
"Thanks, sir," Oscar said, turned to the soldiers and said, "And you, switch your magazines for water-dust rounds." While the soldiers switched out their magazines, a cyan bird flew up to Sky. He held out his hand for it to land on, and when it landed, a voice came out of it.
"Clean the filth," the bird said in Cardin's voice, then it disappeared.
"What was that?" Sky asked, looking at his hand as if the strange bird was still there.
"If I were to hazard a guess, I'd say Sirena met up with Ruby," Oscar answered, "That was probably the semblance of a fusion." Another bird approached the group, and landed on Peter's hand.
"New Grimm. Small Ankle-biters, spiked Leshy," the bird said, then disappeared. The group waited a bit for more birds to show up, but nothing happened, so they got going again, even though Sky was violently uncomfortable with the ground's condition, and wished that he had brought water-dust bullets, so he could clean the ground a bit.
~o~
After the huntsmen passed a small alleyway, when the soldiers prepared to set up a barrier, a small group of Beowolves entered the alleyway from the other end and charged towards the soldiers. The soldiers opened fire, and each hit created a splash of water that somewhat moistened the filth and turned the ground more slippery. One man, wielding a shotgun, fired a shell into the alleyway, but instead of a normal splash of water, it turned into a fine mist that lingered in the air for a bit and harmed all the Grimm inside it and slowing them down.
"Anat, was it?" Peter asked when he saw what was happening, and said, "That is one nice ability you have there." With the added bonus damage, the Grimm were quickly taken care of, and while Anat turned to talk to Peter, the rest of the soldiers went to work.
"Thanks, Professor," Anat said and asked, "But… what do I do with it?" Hearing that, Peter let out a chuckle.
"Well, isn't that an unusual question," Peter answered, "It appears it changes how water-dust functions. I've seen my fair share of semblances like that before, so I know quite a bit about them. Yours appears to be for offensive support. I'd suggest looking into long-range attacks."
"You mean like a sniper rifle?" Anat asked.
"That, or mortars, or something like that," Peter answered, "Anything that allows you to take out enemies from afar. It also seems centered on the point of impact, so wide-range attacks should be more effective. Unless of course only one such field can exist at a time."
"Hey Sky, Ruby sent something else," Oscar said and picked up an empty food can that had fallen out of a portal.
"I think I know what that is," Sky said and explained, "Ruby can make stuff attract any species she wants, and has used this trick before to draw Grimm towards my team and I, so we could make more ice to recharge people's auras more effectively." In the distance, the group heard aggressive squealing, and everyone turned to where it had come from.
"That sounds like a pig," one of the soldiers said.
"Are there still some around?" Sky asked and said, "If there are, we should make sure it's safe." Before Oscar could stop him, he ran off, so he just sighed and followed him, prompting Peter to follow them as well. As he took off, Peter told the soldiers to stay put.
~o~
After setting up another Combat Drone to continue the line of drones into the industrial district, Weiss pulled up a map of the area again and counted the crossings along the different paths, quickly calculating the average number of crossings her friends would come across, as well as a low and high estimate, depending on whether they got side-tracked or not.
"Alright, they'll need on average 30 drones," Weiss said to herself, then looked at the ones she had prepared and decided that 50 in reserve were plenty, even if some got lost due to Grimm presence. One of her Queen Lancer summons saw that a soldier had unlocked his semblance, and decided to upgrade a little. She quickly summoned a Seer near the soldiers, then used Quick Travel to get to the group.
~o~
The farm trio arrived at what was undoubtedly one of the large factory farms, where they saw some pigs face off against a Big Ursa. However, instead of being properly maintained, the ground was dug up, with half-eaten shrubs growing through various cracks and openings and dung in multiple places. Sky covered his nose in disgust, while Oscar took a deep breath.
"This is so gross," Sky said with a muffled voice.
"Smells like home," Oscar said, "Anyway, watch." He directed the other two's attention to the pigs, and they saw that only one, a massive boar, was really preparing to attack. The boar had thick, black fur, impressive tusks, and several scars on its body. Several sows stood behind it, and upon closer inspection, the group saw quite a number of small piglets behind the sows.
"This looks… bad," Sky said, remembering his past encounters with a Big Ursa, and was about to aim at the Grimm, when the boar charged. When the Big Ursa was about to attack it, the boar swerved to the side, dodging the attack and hitting the Grimm in the leg. The Big Ursa fell on its stomach and the boar turned around and charged again, goring the Grimm with its tusks.
"See, that's what I mean," Oscar explained, "Wild pigs aren't dangerous because they're wild, but because they're pigs." With the Big Ursa dead, the pig turned its eyes to the newcomers, but didn't approach them. However, it was eyeing them suspiciously, as if to judge whether they were friend or foe.
"Hey, farm expert," Sky whispered, "What do we do?"
"We let them know we're not a threat," Oscar answered, "They're actually peaceful, and fairly smart, so we just need to let them know we're on their side." He put his cane away and began looking around the area, and Peter and Sky put their weapons away, too.
"How do we do that?" Sky asked, "Can you speak pig?"
"I can kind of understand the pigs at home," Oscar answered, "But it's not that easy. Come with me, and be sure to walk exactly where I walk." He began walking across the area, careful not to step in the wrong spots, and Sky and Peter followed his every step, awkwardly hopping around since Oscar was so much shorter than them. The trio made their way over to a storage building, with a chute leading up the side that had scratches at the bottom, but was still fine further up.
"What is this?" Sky asked, "And why is it important?"
"It looks like a food storage barn," Oscar answered, "Normally, this would automatically drop feed on the ground, but without electricity, it doesn't work. So, we'll do it."
"Great idea," Peter said. Oscar made his way up the chute, and the boar came around the corner, keeping his distance, but still keeping his eyes on the humans. At the top of the chute, Oscar found a hatch and hit the opening mechanism with his cane, breaking it and opening the hatch, releasing a sack of feed onto the chute. It slid down and landed in front of Peter, who picked it up. The boar focused on him, and Sky relaxed a bit.
"Great, what now?" Sky asked, while Peter stood there motionless so as to not become part of the pig food.
"Over there," Oscar answered and pointed towards a dilapidated trough, which was still free of filth. Peter walked over, tore the sack open, and emptied it into the trough, then quickly made his escape as the boar squealed and every pig in the area came for food. Hearing the hooves thunder, even on the slightly muddy and slippery ground, made Sky realize exactly where the name came from.
"Incredible," Sky said in disbelief, as he saw the sows eat their fill, with the boars waiting their turn. Within seconds, the trough was empty, and the pigs looked at the trio. Oscar sent another sack down the chute, and Sky brought it to another trough, quickly making his escape as the pigs converged on him. Oscar sent another sack down, and Peter went to feed the pigs again. Some of the sows walked away after the second trough, and Sky decided not to follow them, as they were likely going to nurse their piglets.
"Last one for today," Oscar said and slid down the chute, another sack in hand. He walked over to the few remaining pigs, tore the sack, and emptied it into the trough, standing his ground despite the pigs coming rushing in to get something. When he was done, he calmly walked away, making his way through the pigs, and put the empty sack away.
"How are you so calm around those things?" Sky asked, far past disbelief, and now just shocked at how ravenous random animals can be.
"Like I said, I grew up on a farm," Oscar answered, "And one of the things you learn very early on is that prey animals don't want to hurt you, unless you give them a reason to. And if you give them food, they won't have a reason. They may be rough, but they're not hostile."
"Well, if you say so," Sky said and looked around, noticing that the pigs seemed much less on edge around the trio now.
"In any case, I think we should head back," Peter said, and the Combat Drones finally caught up with them.
"One more thing, though," Oscar said and rushed off, only to return dragging some iron chains and hooks behind him. He tied the chains to the drones, fixated them with the hooks, and put one link of the chain over a metal pole sticking out of the ground, stopping the drones from following them. The pigs were initially suspicious of the aqua blue orbs, but when they saw that they were no threat, they ignored them.
~o~
Ruby led the group, consisting of Bumblebee, Arkos, Nora, Cardin, Qrow, Glynda, Sirena and several soldiers and bandits, through the industrial district. A Combat Drone was following them, leading a series of drones that would stop at all the crossings they passed, and move on when they reached another one. Nora fired a lightning-dust grenade into a web of Ankle-biters, killing them all in one hit and creating dozens of white orbs with Spectral Assault.
"Well done, Nora," Ruby said, "Bumblebee, if you would."
"Of course," Bumblebee answered. Just as she wanted to burn down the webbing, another Leshy appeared from behind a corner, and fired over a dozen of its spikes into the ground and wall around the webs. As soon as the spikes hit, they began spreading vein-like red tendrils, quickly covering the surrounding area, and the webbing.
"Well, that looks bad," Cardin said and asked, "What is that stuff?"
"Let me see," Ruby said and duplicated herself, and her clone ran into the webbing. As soon as she touched the red veins, they wrapped around her and held her tight, filling her with a burning sensation. She voluntarily disappeared, leaving Ruby a bit winded when she learned what it felt like.
"And?" Cardin asked.
"It's bad," Ruby answered, "But we still have ranged attacks, so that's good."
"I'll get rid of it," Bumblebee said and shot a black fireball into the webs, only to realize that it had no effect.
"The veins are connected to the Leshy," Ruby explained, "Unless we get rid of it, we can't damage them, or what they're attached to. And since it's not an attack, Arkos' Shielding won't protect us against it, so we have to either find another way, or fight."
"Do you want me to call Mint again?" Cardin asked, and his left hand glowed cyan.
"Not this time, no," Ruby answered, "We will have to sort this out ourselves this time." She dashed onto a nearby rooftop and loaded an earth-goo magazine, and shot the Leshy from above, where it wasn't protected. The impact rocked the Grimm, and it swung one of its legs at her in retaliation. Ruby dodged the attack, dashing to another rooftop, and followed up with additional shots, aiming at the spiky nubs at the ends of its three limbs. Each hit caused more stones to build up around the Leshy's body, until it eventually became too heavy and fell to the ground.
"Alright, now," Glynda said, and everyone opened fire, now that the Grimm was no longer hidden behind the reinforced webs. The Leshy got back up, and Glynda quickly grabbed it with her semblance and threw it away, back where the group had come from. Sirena created an air-goo Glyph and blew it away, ending with the Grimm firmly planted on the nearest Combat Drone, which immediately began peppering it with energy blasts until it died. When the red veins disappeared from the webs, Bumblebee burned them, and the bandits rummaged through the items left behind to see if they can use any of it.
"Good thinking, kid," Qrow said when Ruby returned to the group. They walked ahead a bit, and once they reached the next crossing, the Combat Drones started moving again.
"Time for some rest, I'd say," Bumblebee said and split up again to allow Blake to create a Grassy Terrain, while Ruby set up a Safezone and summoned a Seer to contact Weiss. However, another face appeared in the Seer, though it was somewhat similar to Weiss. The person looked androgynous, had short, white hair, dark blue eyes, and wore a helmet that somewhat resembled the headpiece of Atlas soldier armor, but the emblem resembled a Glyph, with each spike being the staff of creation.
"Ruby, finally," the person said, "I've been trying to reach you."
"Who are you?" Ruby asked, "Another fusion of Weiss?"
"Oh, right, yeah," the fusion answered, "Anyway, I have a nice semblance, called Douse, which makes the target's semblance act like it was augmented with water-dust for five minutes. I wanted to share it with some of you."
"Sounds good," Arkos said and split up again.
"Let's do it," Jaune said, and the Seer raised one of its tendrils. The Seer held its tendril in front of Jaune's face and the tip emitted a dark blue energy, shining into Jaune's eyes for a few seconds.
"Anyway, that is all," the fusion said, "See you." Their face disappeared again, and Jaune sat down on a nearby pollard to enter his soul core and find out how to use this new semblance.
"And?" Ruby asked when Jaune stood up again.
"See for yourself," Jaune answered and manifested a dark blue energy ball in his left hand and pushed it over to Ruby. When it reached her, it disappeared into her, and she felt like she just got hit in the face with water.
"Let's see," Ruby said, left the Grassy Terrain and focused, trying to sense Grimm. She used her bonds through Kindred Link as reference points, narrowing down where the agricultural district is in relation to her. Once she found a pack of Beowolves, she used Wolfpack, and three wolves made out of blue energy manifested and ran off, chasing after the Grimm she had sensed.
"Look at that, it really works," Blake said, looking after the wolves, whose bodies made everything behind them look as if it was under water.
"It sure does," Ruby said and sent another pack, and another, while Jaune recharged her aura.
"Will you please take this seriously?" Glynda asked, starting to get frustrated with Ruby's carefree attitude. Ruby sent another pack of wolves, then turned to Glynda.
"I am taking this seriously," Ruby said with a sternness that caught everyone by surprise, "I am a huntress, after all, and I wouldn't have made it this far if I didn't take my duties seriously. It's also getting pretty late, so there isn't much reason to keep going. We should set up camp and get some rest, then continue tomorrow."
"Yeah, I think some sleep would do us all some good," Qrow said, "Bandits, you know what to do." The bandits went and looked around for suitable places to rest, while the soldiers prepared to secure the parameters once a good place was found. Ruby continued using Wolfpack until Douse wore off, then followed the bandits to their camp site, to get some well-deserved rest.
~o~
The following day, around noon, the group finally reached their destination, an SDC dust processing facility. It was located on a small island, only connected to the harbor via a single bridge, making it easy to defend against attackers. Seeing it in such pristine condition, especially in contrast to everything else, Ruby finally realized just how scummy the business practices must be, if people were so dedicated to attack it that the resulting defenses could ward off Grimm for over a year.
"So, we're here," Ruby said, looking across the bridge and at the large industrial plant. She burst into rose petals and slipped past the chain link fence, and Sirena opened a portal to her, allowing the rest of the group to follow.
"I can't believe we're trespassing on SDC property," one of the soldiers said, sounding a bit anxious.
"Your orders are to help Vale recover," Ruby said, "This is part of that."
"Ruby," Cardin said, and Ruby summoned a Seer to contact Weiss. When her face appeared, she used Quick Travel and teleported to the group, and both Seers disappeared again.
"Seems quiet," one of the soldiers said and let out a sigh.
"That is not a good thing," Qrow said, and all the soldiers tensed up again, "We've been encountering Grimm at every step, but haven't met any today. If we don't run into serious trouble at the end of this bridge, I'll eat my cape." Ruby focused to see if there were any Grimm, and suddenly stopped mid-step.
"Guess you'll go hungry today," Ruby said, "Everyone, prepare for a really bad time." Hearing that, and seeing Ruby's expression, everyone got worried. Jaune used Aura Amp on the soldiers with the buff semblances, who used them on the entire group. Blake used her predator sense to pry ahead and entered her Alpha State. Yang readied her explosive shotgun shells and slapped herself a couple times to build up energy. Qrow took deep breaths to calm himself, and did his best to stop restraining his semblance. Sirena fused with Cinder's soul, and Mithala entered her Alpha State to recharge Nora's aura. Nora crystallized her aura and formed as much lightning-dust as she could reasonable carry.
Author's note: So, this chapter is one of those instances like the JNPR fight in the Vytal tournament, where the opposing team all charged in the episode's final shot, but in the next episode, May ran and hid in the trees instead.