Big Issues
AN: To start things off, I'd like to thank weardeadpool for the faves and follows. And now the action begins and I'm not quite sure how many parts this section will have... I tend to underestimate how far things will go by large margins, but I'm sure that we'll have at least three parts left to go. Anyway, on with the show!
Haven Part 1
The call from Leonardo Lionheart came a day later than expected but was welcome nonetheless. The Headmaster had invited the team to Haven to meet up with some others he had gathered and begin making plans now that the Council had approved of the mission.
It was after sunset when the team made their way up to the academy, Qrow taking the lead as Ruby, Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha, and Ren climbed the stairs. The school was as empty as they expected, no students or faculty roaming the grounds or lights on in the buildings they could see.
"I guess everyone else is waiting for us inside." Nora commented as they walked through the door.
"Ahem, yes, we have been waiting for you." The voice made the team look up to where Lionheart was standing on the balcony over the statue in the lobby.
Qrow's eyes narrowed slightly, noticing that the lion seemed nervous… more than normal at least. And the fact that he had his weapon strapped to his arm raised his suspicions.
"'Bout time we could get this going, huh?" The elder Huntsman grins.
"Y-yes, it's time to end the reign of those bandits." Leo wrings his hands.
"So… um, sir, where are the others?" Jaune asks as he looks around to find nobody.
"Oh, they are on their way now, children."
Just as Leonardo said, the doors behind him swung open and a trio of figures walked out to join the Headmaster.
"Hmm… if it isn't Little Red?" Cinder drawls as Lionheart steps to the side. Her amber right eye trailed over the team, noting that the only one she considered a legitimate threat was ready to draw his weapon. Meanwhile the others looked at her in a mix of anger and shock, not the surprise she was hoping for, but she locked onto a pair of green eyes staring at her in fear.
Now that look was what she wished to see from everyone who looked her way. Fear.
"Ah, Pyrrha Nikos… the Invincible Girl… how nice to see you again." She spoke with false sincerity. "It appears that I left a lasting impression with you. Perhaps we could finish what we started last year? I can assure you that it won't end the same way as before."
For the Spartan, she couldn't stop her body from freezing up or her mind to replay the fight. The phantom pain of the arrow piercing through her foot came back acutely and the scars from the surgeries to fix the damage throbbed in time with her rapidly beating heart.
"You." Pyrrha gasps, taking an involuntary step back.
"Me." Cinder was far too smug about the situation.
Jaune stepped up next to his girlfriend and deployed his shield. "You're not doing this alone this time." He tells her, making her lock her eyes onto his blue. Eyes that looked at her with nothing but care, confidence, and empathy.
And Pyrrha drew strength from him, sliding into a ready stance as her Polarity moved Milo and Akouo from her back to waiting hands. Her face shifted from fear to grim determination as she leveled a glare at the woman looking down at her. "I may have some fears from our last encounter but I refuse to let that hold me back."
"Hmph, I'll have you on your knees again soon enough."
"Let's get on with this." Mercury scoffs as he eyes up Nora and Ruby with their large weapons in hand.
"Just remember that we're supposed to take her alive." Emerald tells him, one hand on her pistol but otherwise looking ready to both fight and move.
"I know my job."
"Leo, you're working with them? Do you have any idea how much damage they've done?" Qrow glares at the lion.
"I know what I did and regret everything." He started out sadly before the next words were filled with desperation. "But they left me no choice!"
"How long? How long were you working with them?!"
Leonardo seemed to have lost his voice, his mouth moving but no words were uttered.
Cinder took that as her cue to enjoy herself a bit more. "Oh, he's been helping us for quite a long time. Getting us into Beacon was just a small part of what he did, right underneath dear Ozpin's nose too." Behind her, Mercury chuckled as Emerald smirked.
"All of those Huntsmen… how many of them really died from Grimm attacks?" Red eyes shifted between the Maiden and Headmaster. "How many did you kill?"
"Me? My associates here?" Cinder gestured to her partners with her right hand. "We never lifted a finger against them. Tyrian and Hazel? They had their share as the Grimm did the rest."
It was hard not to notice the shame all over Lionheart's face that contrasted with the smug satisfaction that was on Cinder's. Mercury had the same expression as his boss while Emerald looked torn between both sides of the spectrum.
"Hazel?" Qrow mutters as his mind races for the name, trying to match it to anyone he knew to be strong enough that Salem would recruit.
Then the doors behind them opened to allow a mountain of a man through who quickly closed the way out. Slowly, he turned around to let the gathered team know exactly who they were dealing with. "Nobody is getting out and nobody is coming in." His deep rumbling voice matched his size, though while it seemed humble, there was a threat of violence just under the surface.
Standing at an impressive eight feet tall and with broad shoulders, the man's skin is naturally tanned and showed scars on his thickly muscled arms. He wears a black shirt with the sleeves rolled up nearly to the elbows, black pants, a thick brown belt and brown leather boots. His pants have leather pouches strapped to them while he wears a long green vest that is held closed by his belt. His hair is shortly cut with a black beard and sideburns.
"Shit." Qrow had been hoping for a different Hazel.
"The White Fang have begun their part. I suggest that we make this quick." Hazel states as he crosses his arms like the world's largest bouncer.
"That's… a really big guy." Nora was dumbfounded by his size. His arms alone looked to be as thick as her beloved thunder thighs and his limbs were solid muscle.
Sirens began to blare, echoing from the lower levels of the city.
"Grimm? Now?" Ren looks around the room with Stormflower ready, expecting an attack from the creatures at any moment.
"Do you really think we'd have them attack here?" Mercury laughs.
"They are just so we can do this without interference." Emerald elaborated.
"What are you here for?!" Ruby shouts with her rifle aimed at Cinder.
"Hmph, nothing too big." Cinder sneers as she looks them over, not that she had lost the curves from when she was at Beacon but her figure is still small compared to the other girls. "Just looking for a Lamp."
"You're not getting anything but what you deserve for what you did to Beacon and Vale!" Ruby screeches back as her glaring eyes seemed to have a bit of a shine to them for a moment.
"It's still five on six, in our favor." Jaune reminds the team.
"Who's that kid?" Cinder glanced back at Mercury who shrugged in response.
Jaune instantly went from hopeful determination to anger. "Are you kidding me?! Do the people you hurt mean so little to you?!"
"Meh, so noisy about crap like that." Mercury was quick to blow off the blonde's questions. "Ya see, punk, you only matter to us if you are worth being considered a threat."
That explanation made Jaune blink as he didn't expect that. But Mercury continued.
"And the only ones who matter here are Branwen and Nikos. The rest of you… heh, are just time killers to us."
"Now Mercury, just because you are right, that doesn't mean that you can play with your toys whenever you want." Cinder admonishes her teammate as if he were a child, though it was meant to irritate the team below them. And it was working.
"Any reason I shouldn't pull the trigger?" Nora asks with her grenade launcher aimed at the balcony.
"No." Was Pyrrha's simple response, to which Nora obliged.
BOOM!
"Was that really necessary?" Cinder's voice pierced the smoke that soon faded to show that everyone on the balcony were fine, just slightly dirtied by the explosion. Even the balcony was only slightly scorched.
"Gonna need to do better than that to even hurt us." Emerald teases as she holsters her pistol again, having used it to shoot the grenade before it had reached them.
"Time to make things exciting?" Mercury asks his boss.
"Go on, have your fun."
With a grin, the assassin hopped onto the railing and jumped off from there, pulled a couple flips to gain momentum before bringing his right leg down in an axe kick aimed at Ruby. Pyrrha shoved her aside and took the attack on her shield, feeling the force ripple through her before she shoved back.
Off balance, Mercury soon found herself with a sword swinging at his head, courtesy of Jaune. The taller man was able to snap his leg up in time to kick his arm off target and allowed himself to drop and roll out of the fall. Standing up behind the knight, the assassin gave him a quick shove to push the blonde into Pyrrha.
Jaune was quick to twist himself upon contact with his girlfriend, getting out of her way as she thrust her sword at Mercury. At the same time, Nora lashed out with a kick, the combination forcing the assassin to bend over backwards so far that his hands were on the floor just to avoid being hit. Still, he felt the wind between his legs from the boot that was far too close for comfort.
Ren took the opportunity to plunge his twin blades at Mercury, only to miss as the man let himself fall to the floor and return the favor with a boot to Ren's face that transitioned into a roll to get the assassin back on his feet.
Magnhild switched to hammer mode and swung down as Pyrrha extended Milo into a spear and thrust forward. Both attacks missed and the floor had a new hole as he slid backwards. But Pyrrha kept up the pressure, spinning around the hammer and hole as her spear retracted into xyphos position in time for her to slash at his silver haired head, forcing him to bend back once again to avoid the blade.
Though that position prevented him from seeing the fist with the added weight of a shield before it rammed into his chest.
"Gah-oof!" Mercury was sent tumbling until he rolled to his feet holding his chest with one arm. "Not bad."
Meanwhile, Qrow and Hazel were having a standoff as they stared at each other.
"Aren't you gonna help him?" The swordsman asks, noticing that aside from his eyes, the big man had yet to move.
"This is his fight, not mine. And so long as I'm not attacked or my mission is in jeopardy, I have no reason to hurt you."
That was certainly unexpected, his comment making Qrow skeptical and cautious but besides watching the fight, Hazel refused to move.
The fight with the teens continued with Mercury unable to gain an advantage against the five of them, Pyrrha being the most problematic for him and Ruby and Nora were nothing to dismiss with their larger weapons and the boys made sure to cover any weaknesses. Yet none of them were really doing much in the game of cat and mouse.
Leonardo winced as the floor was cut and smashed as the fight went on, he had spent years keeping the place running and had been a student here himself. As the damage added up, so did the guilt in his mind.
Cinder and Emerald were content to watch from their perch. The former looking on with a smile as the latter held some fear and worry.
"Time to put the odds in our favor." Qrow mutters and taps his scroll in his pocket. A few seconds later a swirling black and red portal appeared near him, soon followed by Weiss, Team DAYT, and Raven stepping through.
The new arrivals made the current fight stop as Mercury was simply doing his best to avoid being hit again, taking the pause as an opportunity to get some distance from his foes.
"Well now, this is a surprise." Cinder drawls sarcastically. "If it isn't the Spring Maiden herself."
Raven snapped her head up to the Fall Maiden in surprise but that quickly became a glare; she had not made it known outside of her tribe that she was the Spring Maiden and even then she kept it minimally mentioned.
"We've been expecting you." Emerald seemed to have gained some confidence as she pats a small pouch on her hip.
"You knew I'd be here?" Raven glares at the pair, her daughter doing the same behind her, though hers was directed at the man rejoining his team on the balcony.
"Oh, we knew you'd come one way or another, it was just a matter of which bait to use." Cinder set a hand on her hip.
"We also found a little help along the way." Emerald raises her free hand and snaps her fingers.
The doors around the lobby opened and several dozen rough looking men and women walked in. Leading them were a huge man that matched Hazel in size, though with greater girth in the middle, and a young woman with short hair.
And many of them carried an interesting rifle in their hands or wore some pieces of armor with tech that was a far cry from the clothes they wore.
And the teams were surrounded in short order by the bandits. Then heavy footsteps were heard.
Weiss' eyes went wide as she remembered the number of Paladin's that she and the others fought back at Beacon during the attack. For Ruby, she was familiar with them thanks to fighting them on the train from Mountain Glenn.
"Knock knock!" A voice was projected before the source broke through the doorway opposite from where the huge bandit had come from.
It was a large robotic battle suit that made even Hazel look small in comparison as it stood up fully, though still smaller than a Paladin, standing at roughly twelve feet tall and more than half that wide. The legs made it walk digitigrade and the 'toes' gripped the floor with every step to ensure it was secure yet looked very capable of high speed running. Arms stuck out of the rounded cockpit body that were not only well armored but had a machine gun and a large blade attached to the right arm while the left held a cannon and flamethrower. Both arms ended in three digit hands.
The body itself is shaped more like an egg with the narrow end down. It also looked to be well armored and had a variety of sensors built into it all over that would no doubt give the pilot behind the cockpit window a full view of the battlefield all around them.
Speaking of the pilot, the mech marched to stand in the middle next to the big man and the woman before the thick canopy opened to reveal a blonde man that Yang recognized. "What's up bitches?" Shay D. Mann asks with a grin that showed the gap in his teeth thanks to Yang punching it out.
"What the hell?" The blonde in question asks.
"Explain, now." Raven was far from amused and her grip on Omen tightened.
"I believe it's quite simple really." Cinder chuckled. "Imagine our surprise that the first group we were looking to hire as added muscle also knew about the Maiden we were looking for."
"All ya gotta do, Raven, is open the vault for her so she can get her prize." Shay explains as his mech waves its arms to the sides. "Boss lady gets what she wants. Boss man gets us more toys like this."
"Boss lady?" Raven's eyes narrowed to mere slits.
"Let's just say that they recognize true power and ambition." Cinder states proudly as she points to herself by laying a hand on her chest.
"The Branwen Tribe is going in a new direction under my leadership." Vernal announces, making an odd hand gesture as she spoke.
"Then it seems that I have some traitors to get rid of." Raven growls. "And you all know how that is handled."
"Oh, we know." Shay laughs before the canopy closes again and the mech's arms rise. "Let the execution of the traitor begin!" The whine of rifles being charged up filled the room as other guns and melee weapons were readied.
"Hey! Don't forget we need her to open the vault first!" Emerald yells at the man in the machine.
"Ah, I almost forgot!" The mech lifts an arm to knock on its 'head'. "Silly me."
"Though she may be spared if she cooperates fully." Cinder adds, causing some of the bandits to look up to her questioningly.
The large team glanced at each other with worried expressions but most landed on Raven herself. The woman herself glared at Cinder and her tribe, many of them withering under her gaze.
Some of the bandits recognized Qrow from his days with the tribe or from the stories of his skills. His red eyes looked them over with contempt, causing some to cower or others to harden their resolve.
Meanwhile, the only ones who actually seemed to gain any form of respect among the younger crowd were Team DAYT and Weiss, but even then many of the bandits seemed to be looking for revenge, bolstered by their new tech and numbers.
The others… were simply looked at as kids trying to play hero, and doubly so for the girls with their plush forms that were not what one would expect from a Huntress.
"What's it gonna be, Raven?" Vernal reached back and took hold of her blade-ringed pistols.
—-
The ceremony for Marrow's admission as a full member of the Atlas Specialists was small and quiet, compared to most of them. Part of it was because the Atlas Council unanimously agreed that it would be best to keep it that way to help keep the condition of Farkas from accidentally being leaked. Part of it was due to the strong anti-Faunus stance that many in Atlas still hold.
"Congratulations, Marrow Amin." James shakes his hand.
"It's an honor, sir."
"I do wish that this could have better timing, but…"
"I know, sir, I know."
"Right now, I believe a bit of celebration is in order." Ironwood tries to lighten the mood, certainly not his strong suit. "Just… don't go too wild, just in case."
They arrived outside of the Ace Ops meeting room and the door opened to reveal the team waiting for them, complete with a large cake and other foods meant for a party.
"Surprise!" None were louder than Elm, though Clover put in a good effort. Harriet and Winter were far more subdued while Vine remained silent but quite visibly supportive.
"Haha! Guys!" Marrow grins as he approaches the team with open arms. "You didn't have to."
"Ah, that's where you're wrong." Clover claps a hand on the Faunus' back. "This has been a tradition for every new member of the Ace Ops since its founding."
"And that's a great excuse to party!" Elm declares proudly, already having a large mug filled with something in her hand that she passed to Marrow. "Drink up!" She quickly grabs a matching mug.
"Umm… what is this?"
"Drink!" Elm insists before knocking back her mugs contents, the very large woman finishing the drink in seconds.
Marrow looked at the brawler before shrugging and began to drink… and gagged as he didn't expect how strong it was, especially with the alcohol burning its way down his throat. But he pushed through and finished the mug, though he was already feeling the effects by the end.
"Haha! Vine, get me another!" Elm holds out her mug to the monk-like man who was apparently the one in charge of the drinks and food, or at least in charge of keeping Elm from eating it all.
—-
Glynda sat at her desk with Team CRDL standing in front of her. They weren't in trouble and she held no small measure of pride that they had cleaned up their acts.
When they had first arrived at Beacon, they were little better than delinquents who often bullied others and didn't take their time in the academy seriously. Their records of misdemeanors were long and told a story of young men who rarely faced discipline before, something that took them a long time to learn.
Now, they are respectable young men who had pushed through the disaster last year and helped to defend Beacon during its reconstruction from Grimm and assisted in the building efforts. Their skills had improved and so had their teamwork while being humbled.
"You wanted to see us?" Cardin asks.
"Yes, I'd like your team to go down to Vale for your day off tomorrow."
"But our scheduled day off isn't until Monday."
"I'm quite aware of that." The Headmistress states, though there was a hint of amusement in her tone. "Consider it as a gift for your hard work."
"But the eastern dorms-"
"Are being repaired." Glynda let out a deep sigh before rising from her chair so she could speak to them face to face. "I know you want to make up for your past actions and you've done well so far. When we reopen in the spring, you will be acknowledged for your efforts."
"But Professor-!" Russel tried to speak up but was cut off by a sharp glare.
A glare that softened as fast as it appeared as she looked at their faces and their determination. 'Now I see why Ozpin would let them do things like this and deal with whatever fallout later.'
"I'll make sure that you four have your time during the ceremony to make your apologies to the entire school. Will that do?"
Instantly, they relaxed in acceptance of her decision. "Thank you, Professor Goodwitch." Dove bowed his head, quickly echoed by the others.
"Don't thank me just yet for that, not everyone is as forgiving as I am or will need some convincing that you've changed for the better." She paused to let that sink in, watching as they nodded in agreement silently. "Now, you are still taking tomorrow off from work. Maybe try getting some new armor or something."
"Yes madam." Sky gives her a sharp salute before following his team out.
Glynda watched as the boys left and descended in the elevator before turning to the large windows to look over the grounds of Beacon. The school was a mix of original buildings, newly built, and destroyed ones.
The originals had been mostly repaired early on, though most of that was simply to house materials of value such as equipment and antiques recovered from the damaged and destroyed buildings and to provide shelter for refugees and workers.
New buildings had replaced many of those that had been too heavily damaged for repairs to be meaningful and were designed to match the originals in their architecture but it was easy to tell them apart by the lack of weathering. It was a good thing that both Vale and Beacon had maintained a stockpile of materials in case of an event such as this, though some who knew of it had scoffed in recent years claiming that it was useless at best as they believed the Kingdom was too strong to fall in any significant way to justify the stockpile. How they were humbled.
A few buildings had been demolished and cleared from the extensive damage but had yet to be replaced. They were likely to be rebuilt in the coming years as the big push slows down and Vale recovers as well. At least both the Huntsman Academy and the Kingdom it protected were well into springing back to how they once were now that they had most of the major repairs done.
And with Beacon reopening in the spring in time for the new school year, predicting a smaller population of students for a few years, things were looking to be getting back to normal.
—-
Robyn tried checking in with her own contacts trying to track down the source of the bounties placed on the Schnee sisters. First and foremost, Robyn is a Huntress of Atlas- it was her duty to do this for anyone. Second, Weiss is a friend and a part time advisor for her campaign to become part of the Atlas Council.
Election-wise, it would be good optics to track that lead down and even better to out or capture them. She and her girls did many deeds to help the people of Mantle so they pretty much had their votes locked down. And doing this to help one of the most notable families of the Atlas 'elites' would help the snobs see her in a more favorable light.
But she was more focused on doing her job as a Huntress and finding her friend, the poll results being a silver lining that could help her gain more resources if she hadn't finished by the time of the election.
But not only had she found out that there were bounties placed on the sisters, but during their mission to find the source themselves, Weiss had gone missing on the way home. What made things more worrying was that a skilled Huntsman, a recruit for the Ace Ops, had been sent to track her down and he too had gone missing.
To be quite honest, she was about to try getting in contact with the General and compare notes and maybe get some answers for herself. There were limits that she could reach into the darker corners of Mantle and Atlas and she was scraping those limits now.
The blonde pulls a coin from her pocket, old currency from before Lien cards became popular but still acceptable in certain parts of the world and often for a greater value than normal thanks to their rarity and the shop owner would often keep it as a memento of the past rather than putting it back into the economy. "Heads I go to Jimmy, tails I keep trying on my own."
With a flick of her thumb, the coin flew high and caught the interest of several children playing nearby. Deftly the coin was caught and slammed onto the back of her other hand. With only the barest bit of hesitation, the hand was lifted. "Damn." she mutters quietly so the kids wouldn't hear.
"Wow! Do that again!" A little girl was excited to see the trick again. Two more girls and a boy gathered with her.
"Haha, alright." Robyn laughed and repeated the coin flipping a few more times before giving it to the first girl, making a necklace of it by taking some simple cord laying nearby and putting it through the hole in the center and tying the ends.
"Yen! Time for dinner!" A man calls from a few doors down the street.
"Okay! Look what I got Daddy!"
—-
"Ilia! Left!" Sienna calls out to the chameleon girl.
"On it!" She shouts back and disappears into the foliage. It took a minute but the gunfire was cut off at the source, quite literally as a few pieces of a rotary gun rolled down the hill.
Sienna had been proven correct in her assumption to leave early and catch the terrorists off guard. This was the third outpost that they had come across since they made landfall after traveling as far up the river that her boat could go safely.
And while each one of the outposts were well armed and placed in very defensible positions, they weren't ready for an attack yet of any considerable strength. Between that and Sienna wanting to capture all who wore the White Fang uniforms as well as not risking being flanked by them, the decision was made to take them out.
Of course, all of the supplies were taken and those that survived were arrested, with minimal injuries on their side. Carts were made or 'borrowed' from the outposts to haul the prisoners with the militia. Yet some good had come from these attacks- finding out that they were only set up as the White Fang passed and left these people behind, meaning that they were right on the heels of the main force.
But that was yesterday…
Today, they had caught up just before evening and saw the black and white uniforms with masks moving towards a side gate of Mistral at the same time a horde of Grimm were attacking the main gate. The large guns built into the statues situated on the cliffs were tearing into the beasts with brutal efficiency, with a single shot taking down most of them. But the sheer number of Grimm drew most of the attention of the Huntsmen and soldiers.
—-
The key word being most as there were some who kept to their posts and as such they eventually saw the Faunus army but only just before they began their attack on the gate.
By then it was a bit too late, the Dust rifles tore into the walls and barricades as well as the men stationed at the gate. Mounted guns meant to defend the entrance were hit by crack shots, rendering them all but useless within minutes, to say nothing about the soldiers who were meant to be operating the weapons.
"Bring the charges!" One of the Faunus shouts after successfully making it to the gate that had been locked tight since their arrival. There were few left on this wall to defend the gate and they could barely shoot back through the suppression fire.
"Don't let them get close!" A guard shouts, holding a makeshift shield to protect him from the fire directed at him as he shot to stop the terrorist.
A bullet caught the man in the leg but he continued to carry the bomb. Then more men were bringing explosives towards the gate.
"Defend the gate!" The guard shouts as the few with him joined in, stopping two of the runners before they were shot themselves.
With the guards incapacitated or dead, the dropped bombs were retrieved and finished their journey to the gate.
"Get back! This is gonna be loud!" Porco Spino yells after the last one was placed on the gate. She lifts her hand holding a remote once her men had retreated far enough that she was sure they wouldn't be killed by the blast.
"How's this for loud!" A voice calls out as a green blast hits the woman's hand, forcing the remote to be released and fall to the ground. She was just lucky that her aura prevented damage but it still hurt.
Porco traced where the shot had come from to find a girl grinning down at her from the wall with a pair of pistols in her hands and bright green hair that stood out against her purple hoodie.
And she wasn't alone as a tall boy with blue hair stood ready with his rifle aimed at the Faunus below, as did a darker skinned male with his submachine gun. Nearby, a redheaded boy in white aimed his pistol as a strong looking young man with green hair hefted a large sword on his shoulder. Two more revealed themselves, a blonde girl with a yellow gi and a taller man in green with a staff.
"Give up or leave and your lives will be spared." The blonde states with authority, giving the White Fang a harsh glare that was matched by the rest of the group… except the first girl who was still looking playful.
"Shoot them!" Porco orders as she lifts her own Dust rifle and fires. And the gateway once again became filled with gunfire.
Neptune managed to fire off a few shots himself before having to duck down, one of the Dust blasts taking a large chunk of stone from the wall as he dropped. "This isn't looking good!" He peeks around a corner and shoots a Fang member as he ran at the wall, making him fall from the shock of Lightning Dust.
"We won't get anywhere here!" Scarlet shot into a crowd that were standing without cover, trusting their numbers to provide safety. Two of them were hit and dropped.
"We have to hold them here!" Sage reminds his boyfriend, using a fallen soldier's gun. Bolin and Arslan followed his example in using the available weapons.
"This should help a bit." Nadir smiles as he tosses a grenade in his hand in preparation to throw.
Arslan and Bolin glanced at him in surprise, more worried about the grenade in front of them. "Do it." Bolin orders.
Nadir pulls the pin and chucks the explosive, and proved to have a good arm as the grenade flew far before it timed out just above the ground. White Fang members dropped from the explosion among their ranks, many of them incapacitated by the noise for a few seconds.
The young Huntsmen used that confusion to lay down more fire at the nearest terrorists as Nadir tossed two more grenades, the combination putting down more than a dozen White Fang.
—-
"They're held up by the gate!" Sun calls out on his radio as the Menagerie Militia draws as close as they can to the back ranks of the White Fang without being noticed. That was helped by the focus on getting through the gate, or at least the attempt to do so as the defenders were holding them off, though they were obviously struggling.
"Good, let's give them some help." Blake readies Gambol Shroud.
"Shields to the front!" Sienna orders and the members with the large barriers moved into position, the others falling in behind them. "March!"
From the treeline came an armed force that trapped the White Fang extremists in the small canyon between them and a locked gate. A wall of shields ensured that the bearers couldn't be identified as a number of spears poked through the line.
The White Fang were caught with their pants down as they had few to watch their backs. They instantly began to shoot at the incoming wall but small gaps opened to allow for return fire, cutting down those defending the back ranks.
Then they found the bulk of Adam's forces, easily outnumbering the militia three to one, at least. Forces who had entrenched themselves to deal with the column of shields.
—-
The canyon is small, only wide enough for the shield bearers to march twenty wide at its widest. The sheer cliffs between the mountains twisted enough that it was impossible to walk a straight line but just enough that one could see the gate from the entrance with the right angle.
But the gate was one of the few ways into Mistral, more of an emergency exit if needed or a way in with as little notice as possible. For those who had the luck of guarding the gate, that was normally an easy job where they could relax and play games more than they actually watched the canyon.
But the normal guards are dead or dying with only a small group of young Huntsmen who came late, the White Fang now having to deal with attacks on two fronts with no way to escape except by going through their enemies, they decided to push through.
Arslan saw the leader going for the remote for the bombs below her and her friends and shot her rope dart out at it. It missed its target, though only because Porco had her hand in the way, the flinch from being struck pushing the remote further away.
In a blink, the dart was back in its owner's hand. "Reese! With me!" She shouts as she throws the dart again but this time to trip up the porcupine Faunus.
"On it!" The skater girl acknowledges and changes her pistols into their hoverboard form, grabbing Arslan as they leap over the edge.
Porco heard the whine of the hoverboard just before it collided with her, releasing a burst of energy upon contact and blowing her away. Arslan rolled out of the drop with Reese and ran for the remote and reached for the device only to have a brace of quills thrown at her, forcing the chubby martial artist to break off from her trajectory.
Reese was forced to deal with some of the closest White Fang as they attacked her, the hefty skater girl performing several tricks with her board to disarm and take them down, even landing on one man's chest with both feet before hopping back on and flying back to her teammate.
"Get it!" The blonde orders as she engages in hand to hand combat with Porco, seemingly unaware that the team on the wall was still being shot at and are shooting back at the rest of the White Fang. Arslan found that she had to be very careful as Porco had dozens of quills all over her body and made hitting her difficult. The quills hurt when they stabbed, obviously, but they also served as a form of armor as they absorbed blows quite well.
So Arslan had to choose when and where she hit much more carefully than normal. And that wasn't even considering that Porco was skilled in martial arts as well, her form generally taking advantage of her quills to attack and defend. And they were getting nowhere fast, just grateful that nobody tried shooting either one in the back due to the risk of hitting their ally.
Meanwhile, Reese found a problem of her own, some young Faunus who was quite fast who had snatched the remote from her hand just after she had picked it up. "Sorry fatso, you're too slow!"
Then a game of keep away began with the young man zipping around the battlefield with Reese hot on his heels but seemingly always one step behind. "Get back here!"
"Gotta catch me first!" He teases, his blue hair revealed as his hood fell back as he ran over and delivered a punch to Arslan from her blind spot.
"Damn it, Hog! Stop screwing around and hit the button!" Porco yells at her subordinate as she pulls a few quills from her shoulders to throw at Reese, forcing her to veer out of the way.
"Okay!" Click.
Everyone had paused in anticipation of the explosion but was met by silence.
Click. Click. Click. Click.
Everyone looked at Hog as he kept pressing the button until he noticed a quill embedded in the remote. "Umm…?" Silence reigned as everyone looked on in disbelief.
"Hahaha!" All eyes turned to a Faunus with a distinct green shell running towards the bombs with a lit flare.
"Stop him!" Bolin was heard shouting the order, followed by the defenders firing at the turtle. But the bullets that hit him rebounded off his shell and the two that did hit him barely slowed him down. Then the turtle threw himself on one of the bombs and jammed the flare into it.
"Get away!" Neptune yells as the five Huntsmen leapt from the wall as far as they could before their world was rocked by shockwaves and stone and metal flew by them before they even hit the ground.
—-
The relative peace of Mistral was barely interrupted by the Grimm attack at the main gate as the defenses kept them at bay. Everyone kept to business as usual, including one Neapolitan who was running an errand for Spider from one client to another on the outskirts of town.
Then the roar of an explosion echoed through the streets and a plume of smoke and Dust billowed down the road and into the air high above the short girl.
"..." If she could speak, she'd be cursing. The good part was that she had made the delivery that she had been sent on and so she gripped her umbrella tightly as she prepared herself for what may come as she walked towards the incident.
—-
Adam watched as the plume of smoke rose over Mistral with a smile. So far the plan was going as expected with the Grimm at the main gate and his troops at a side gate. He just needed to wait for a short time for his 'business partners' to finish their business inside the academy before he'd have his fun.
Hazel had walked into the main hall of Haven to ensure that the job inside was done a few minutes ago. Meanwhile, his men were setting bombs on the CCT and in a few other places around the school for extra damage. Their escape route was being kept open and preparations for the next target were underway.
Thanks to his 'partners', sneaking into Mistral was easy and Adam couldn't wait to fulfill his part to help aleve his frustrations at the failure at Menagerie. If only he could truly let loose on the rest of this Kingdom that barely even tried to hide its contempt for his species.
AN: And there we have it, the Battle for Haven has begun! How many of you saw these events coming? Care to take a guess at what will happen next?
As for the other chapters, how many caught the Monty Python bit with Ren and Nora? Or Penny's show with the Betta fish? Penny's VA actually does have a show where she shows off her Betta fish and you can find clips of it on youtube. Thought it would be a fun bit to add that trivia to and flesh her out a bit more.
Next time we'll see how Raven decides what to do, see how Team SSN and ABRN are holding up after that blast, and maybe see how well the Menagerie Militia does in full battle.
Reviews are welcome.
