MARZ Rising

by FandomPariah

It's been thirty years since Ruby Rose saved Remnant from Salem and almost a decade since it was saved again. Salem is gone yet the Creatures of Grimm remain and now a new generation of Hunters are ready to begin their story... By enrolling at the Breaktide Academy of Menagerie where they'll be trained by legends including Team CFVY and Ruby Rose herself. Part 5 of the Spiral-Verse

52. All Along The Watchtower

RWBY & All associated trademarks are property of Rooster Teeth (RIP Monty Oum)

I claim no ownership of anything except my own original characters.

I am making no money from this.

Chapter 52: All Along The Watchtower

The Grimm were coming.

Team MARZ had remained at their position, posted on the perimeter wall of Port Alistair and flanking their Professor and current commanding officer Velvet Scarlatina with a sense of rising and inescapable fear coiling and deepening within each of the three young women present as sirens began to blare throughout the city behind them. That fear and tension did not give way to abject panic however as discipline and self control brought about by both their own extensive training and the presence of so many other Hunters and assorted defenders manning the walls' colossal guns to set an example and defend their homes took root, allowing Athena-Jade, Regalia and Zirconia to continue standing ready and defiant as the horde of Grimm continued to close the distance.

Though Regalia's eyes narrowed behind her heavy, tinted goggles and her finger understandably twitched on the trigger of her weapon as she watched the tide of monsters draw level with the Aiktishaf Dune Crawler.

"Professor" the word left her with a slight whine as her striped and fluffy stood erect and twitching behind her "That's my home, those are my people….I can't just sit here"

"Hold your position" Velvet murmured before bringing her camera to her eyes, using the integral part of her iconic and near-legendary weapon to simply magnify the scene on the ground beyond what even Faunus eyesight could achieve and give herself a better picture of what exactly was happening.

Surveying the tide of nightmarish beasts that stretched out across the land and sky ahead of them to take a vast swathe of the open wasteland ahead the ragged-eared Rabbit Faunus took note of two equally important facts, firstly that the Creatures of Grimm were not, as she had expected closing in on the Aiktishaf and using their tremendous numbers to overwhelm it and were instead largely ignoring the gargantuan land-train and the entire tribe of people within it aside from a dozen or so small skirmishes breaking out as Clan Aiktishaf defended the still moving crawler from the nearest monsters, their outriders on their jetbikes closing ranks around their peoples' collection of robots and the tracks of their home to slay Grimm with swords, spears, automatic weapons and in one case what appeared to be a salvaged laser taken from an old warship fitted to the back of a vehicle the likes of which Velvet had never seen before, a two-seated jetbike which more resembled some form of gravity defying sled.

The second fact that Velvet was forced to acknowledge however was that the reason for the Grimm's overlooking of such an easy target was that they were instead charging towards the city at full speed and the knowledge that the rogue Hunters who had managed to lie their way aboard the Aiktishaf had intentionally drawn Gestalt-Prime made that change in the monsters' usual behaviour a frightening thing to behold.

The hybrid Alpha really was marshalling their forces as though they were an army and for a veteran of the war against Salem the notion was chilling.

An explosion, deep and dull thudding impact followed by a roaring blast which overpowered even the rising cacophony of howls and screams of monsters jolted Velvet back into full awareness and action as she realised that the battle for Port Alistair had now begun in earnest with its' opening salvo. The blast had come from further along the wall, even further away than Coco's position judging by the location of the impact and had torn a clearly visible crater into the ground where it had struck, however more importantly it had reduced one of the stampeding Goliath currently thundering forwards into a headless ruin which stumbled forward several more paces before collapsing entirely and fading away. The salvo could not possibly have begun without the approval of Coco herself and as it was followed by more earthshaking blasts the fact that permission had been granted became apparent, as did the leader of Team CFVY's plan; the shattering momentum of the incoming horde was quickly splintered by explosions throughout its' front lines which targeted the largest monsters, though kept clear of the Aiktishaf itself whilst Manta and Bull-Head fighters and bombers soared overhead in formation to begin tackling the airborne threat and at the same time rip through the corridors of massed bodies that the Grimm on the ground were funnelled into.

"WE CAN'T SIT HERE AND DO NOTHING!" Regalia yelled, sudden mind-numbing fear at the sight of her entire extended family leaving the ice in her veins railing against the white hot righteous fury welling up inside her.

"Regalia-" Athena began, only to be halted by Velvet who raised one hand whilst readying her weapon with the other.

"She's right" Velvet said simply "Slate, your weapon has the range, you and I are going to pick off Grimm closer to the Aiktishaf; cover fire for their fighters since we can't risk aiming the walls' batteries any closer than we currently are. Russet, Shadowmoon….Give us cover fire, we're about to have some unwanted attention"

"Yes Professor!" Regalia snapped off a salute and readied her shotgun, almost giddy at the chance to finally do something other than watch helplessly whilst beside her Athena and Shadowmoon mirrored the gesture in a more subdued manner. Athena-Jade readied Mould-Breaker, which was already in its' laser cannon form whilst Velvet's personal hard-light emitter took the shape of a Gatling gun that every Hunter, student or soldier present could recognise as belonging to Coco Adel and, with soldiers who were not already manning the artillery loading rifles and machine guns, uttering prayers and curses as they did so Velvet yelled out an order.

"FIRE AT WILL!"

"Yes Professor!" this time it was Athena-Jade who called out, the Bear Faunus's face morphing into a confident, if slightly unnerved smile full of teeth as she unleashed a blinding stream of pale green death into the tide of monsters; the knowledge that Zirconia was beside her to ensure that no harm could come only bolstering her as she panned her laser cannon across the open expanse of wasteland. Between them Athena and Velvet managed to fell easily a hundred or more Grimm in a matter of moments, their ranged fire cutting down the beasts before they could hope to answer whilst sustained bombing and shelling inflicted damage to the roads leading to the city which would take a great expense and effort to repair but ensured that the onslaught was at least staggered if not halted out right whilst snipers serving in the cities' defence picked off any Grimm which broke free of its' pack and rushed at the walls of Port Alistair as though it might hope to scale them until, all in a matter of moments everything beyond the city was almost blocked out beyond the rising plumes of smoke, illuminated by laser-fire, blossoming flames and the eyes of Grimm within which the shadow of the Aiktishaf could be seen and the deafening sounds of battle.

Yet despite it all the three members of Team MARZ present could still here the buzzing of droning, insect wings.

"UP THERE!" Regalia called out, pointing skywards as the bulbous yet impossibly agile form of a Queen Lancer bobbed into view, several of its' nest visible in the air close by as the descended on the wall at various points in an effort to slow the defenders' attack through simple attrition and self sacrifice, or else tangled in the wreckage of falling and spiralling aircraft.

"Move!" Athena-Jade yelled as she ceased firing Mould-Breaker for long enough to look up and on simple instinct alone shove Regalia aside a split second before one of the chittering mass of chitin launched one of its' retractable stingers into the ground where the Racoon Faunus had stood.

"Keep firing Professor, we've got this!" the Bear Faunus yelled, raising a series of glyphs overhead to deflect more incoming projectiles and in the same moment, with practised ease Regalia aimed Apex Scavenger skyward to fire its' harpoon component into the Grimm's thorax and anchor it which in turn allowed Zirconia to ready Sunriser Cain in its' pistol form, twin Dust cartridges rotating before the weapons' synthetic voice rang out.

'Double gravity!' with that the Grasshopper Grimm braced herself, mechanical legs visibly straining under the concussive force of such a highly powered anti-armour round; a single shot which erased all other sound and left ears ringing for a second as its' kinetic energy caused its' target to simply erupt into smoke and fading debris.

Yet the fight was far from over.

"WE'VE GOT INCOMING!" Velvet, who neither stopped firing not taken her focus away from the battle outside of the walls bellowed out "SOMETHING'S UNDER THE GROUND!"

"What?" Regalia demanded, rushing to the wall and snapping of several bursts of her shotgun at smaller Grimm almost habitually before peering down and feeling her knees suddenly wobble in naked, primal terror beneath her at the sight which greeted her; Team MARZ had all encountered the Grimm responsible for casting a vast darkness like an inverted shadow on the ground above it before, albeit a far smaller specimen and Clan Aiktishaf had long lived in fear of almost mythical beasts which grew to the lengths of what was currently surging towards the city; Grimm with the power to simply unmake all in their path.

"LAND-SHARK!" Regalia's voice cracked as she screamed with such urgency it caused physical pain "FALL BACK! GET OFF THE WALL!"

"Fall back! Fall back!" Velvet echoed gesturing for the soldiers to run and any nearby Hunters to use whatever landing strategies might occur to them as the more experienced Huntress saw the undeniable truth of Regalia's words and the wisdom of her frenzied order. What followed was carefully contained chaos, with Athena-Jade throwing as many glyphs as possible into existence to serve as makeshift escape routes for soldiers who now fled and ran towards exits and stairwells for dear life; Regalia caught sight of Zirconia launching herself over the wall with a powerful leap and using her weapon to create a ramp of hard-light and ice as she fell which other retreating defenders used in their own escape and so, inspired by this Regalia charged forward and grabbed two fleeing guards by their waists before leaping over wall and using Apex Scavenger's harpoon to repel herself and her precious cargo downward.

Then the world erupted into pain, fire, confusion and then darkness as the Land-Shark burst upwards.

Regalia was uncertain how long she had been unconscious for, but was sure it could not have been more than a few moments however as the sensation of one of Athena-Jade's glyphs brushing against her skin as the Bear Faunus created a glowing shield to cover her and Zirconia pulled the downed nomad to her feet Regalia quickly realised that her surroundings were now entirely unrecognisable.

The Land-Shark had emerged directly beneath the wall and had torn a section of the cities' defence several dozen feet across apart completely as it surfaced, leaving fires raging where weapons and ammunition stores had exploded and debris and ash still raining across a landscape which suddenly drove home the scale of the battle with its' utter devastation.

Most terrifying of all however was the Land-Shark itself, truly indescribable in its' vastness Regalia covered her ears as the thing let out a shriek of victory; its' tail thrashing around it to rip several more artillery pieces from the wall before it dove low to the ground and used its' six, shovel-clawed limbs to propel itself forwards and drive its immense skull, bearing three pairs of protrusions which carried its' eyes like those of a hammerhead shark, albeit angled back to create something which resembled mining equipment at a single target.

Velvet Scarlatina.

The Rabbit Faunus, Professor, engineering and technological mastermind and most importantly Grimm Hunter with few equals had remained unbowed despite the destruction all around her and, in a show of brazen, unwavering purpose used her weapon to manifest a hard-light construct around herself; creating a bipedal war machine of Atlesian with a dizzying array of weapons which were unloaded into the approaching Land-Shark before Velvet simple reached out with the battle-suits arms to grab the Grimm by its' head and attempt to grapple with it.

"REGALIA!" Athena-Jade's voice, distant and vague finally reached the Racoon Faunus and brought her senses back to her body, which she realised was pained in almost every conceivable place however she noted, with an experimental movement that she was able to stand and more importantly that her Aura had held, she also noted the soldiers she had been carrying were nowhere to be seen which she forced herself to believe was a sign that they were regrouping in the buildings behind her.

"I'm okay" she finally managed to wheeze out, shaking the fog and dizziness away as much as possible.

"Okay good" Athena breathed out, clearly allowing herself to release at least some of the incredible tension filling her entire body only for that miniscule respite to be undercut by the quiet but steely words Zirconia uttered.

"Good, but we need to help Professor Scarlatina" she gestured towards the newly opened breach the Land-Shark had left in its' wake "We have incoming"

"Damn it….Come on, move!" Athena yelled, catching sight of countless hateful and glowing eyes in the smoke and dust as the Creatures of Grimm which had escaped the Kingdoms' aerial assault began to pour towards the clearest path into Port Alistair and, with no alternative in sight the Bear Faunus shifted Mould-Breaker into its' hammer form and charged; her partner and friend behind and soldiers slowly begging to regroup and rally themselves for a charge some distance away after being so thoroughly rattled by the explosion.

The battle for Port Alistair had truly begun.

---

Carmesi Hueso had been forced to re-enter the Aiktishaf itself.

Whilst the seemingly endless horde of monsters had been compelled to ignore the titanic vehicle as it continued to power towards the walls of Port Alistair at full speed, the will of the Alpha at their head and the promise of the far greater prize they would find beyond the cities' defences enticing them it appeared that the defenders on the perimeter wall and even, counter-intuitively the fighters of Clan Aiktishaf themselves were inadvertently making it harder for the Creatures of Grimm to ignore the waiting, if by no means easy meal in their midst as explosions and hailstorms of gunfire which ripped the landscape apart forced the monsters to act with some degree of animal cunning and huddle closer to the dune crawler whose massive form they could use as cover for their advance; with the outriders of the Aiktishaf, along with the clans own gunners and its' few weaponised robots unleashing whatever havoc they could upon the beasts and turning the attention of the Grimm towards them. As skirmishes broke out, with Grimm breaking free of the grip of Gestalt Prime and their mental imperative to launch themselves at any vulnerable portion of the dune crawler or possible opening Carmesi, who had been sprinting across the upper hull was given no choice but to dive back into the dark, cramped and sweltering mechanical maze that was the interior of the Aiktishaf as his route towards the head of the vehicle was cut off by a sustained aerial attack.

Carmesi had not counted on the Grimm making it so far into the Aiktishaf so quickly, not had he considered just how stalwart the defenders of the clan would be in their efforts to slay any foe, including himself.

"IT'S THE FALSE HUNTER!" the voice of one of the Aiktishaf warriors exclaimed, their yell rising above the sound of shrieking monsters which had managed to tear there way into the clans' home.

"WE'RE SURROUNDED!" another screamed.

"THEN WE KILL EVERY ENEMY THAT WE CAN!" hearing this Carmesi realised that any attempts to reason or negotiate would be wasted and that he would have to fight his way toward his goals, with his course set and his weapons in his hands he charged into the midst of the tangle of bodies comprised of at least half a dozen fighters armed with blades and staffs and several Beowolves which clawed and snapped at any flesh they could reach.

"Stand aside!" the rogue Hunter rumbled as reached the fray and drove his boot into the back of the first fighter he reached, slamming them to the ground with a resounding thud and leaving them unconscious whilst he trampled over their prone form to swing his weapons out in the widest arcs his surroundings would allow, sparks exploding as metal screeched against metal or else tore through pipes and cables in twin paths which unmade several Grimm, filling the confines of the narrow metal corridor with thick black smoke.

Hiding Carmesi from view for the few seconds he needed.

These were honourable men and women defending their home and he decided that as such they would be given fitting ends; spared as much suffering as possible as they were removed from his path rather than butchered and held up as examples like the scum from the Kingdoms' criminal element had been, limbs severed and bodies mauled. As the Aiktishaf fighters wisely abstained from using guns within their home the Komodo Dragon Faunus had no risk of return fire should he become illuminated and as such he crouched low and used the echoing ring of fumbling footsteps and the ongoing confusion to slip between the remaining fighters before unleashing his Semblance in an explosion of crimson which pierced bodies in several places. Rising to his feet and waving away the last of the smog produced by fading Grimm he observed his handiwork and saw that only one of the fighters still drew breath, however judging by the size of the wound in their stomach which they clutched at how long they would continue to do so was a questionable thing.

Carmesi gave them the mercy of a swift ending and dragged a blade across his throat, better than being found injured and defenceless by the next Grimm to come.

Suddenly an explosion of unspeakable proportions shook the entire world and Carmesi was flung to the ground, the innards of the entire Aiktishaf creaking and shuddering as the Faunus was sent ricocheting off of several walls before collapsing. After taking a moment to drag himself to his feet again and take stock of his surroundings as best he could he realised that explosion had not come from within the dune crawler and had instead been a product of the ongoing battle for the city outside, sensing that this likely meant that the Grimm under the command of the hybrid Alpha had landed a critical blow to the defences Carmesi realised that there was no more time for subtlety, he could no longer continue to use the Aiktishaf as cover to disguise his approach and would have to rush out after his prey despite the risks.

"So be it" he grumbled to himself, changing course and using his blades to hack and slash his way towards his new goal.

It was fortunate for Carmesi that his path through the Aiktishaf had taken him close to the vehicles' outer edges, its' narrow paths and corridors snaking between the openings of the outer hull and the larger living areas within to form a makeshift maze of defences to throw any who would fight their way aboard it into disarray; it was less fortunate for him however that as he found an opening, where the view of early afternoon sun and the world outside was obscured by the smoke pouring from the gutted remains of one of the weapons' turrets, its' crew laying scattered around it three such invaders, specifically a trio of Creeps came skittering into view. The Creeps were a small and insignificant threat, Carmesi snorted to himself and decided they were not worth the exertion that using his Semblance on them would take and instead simply ran at the monsters; they rushed forth to meet his charge and two of their number died in an instant, the Creep and the head of the back being cleaved in two from the top of the skull downwards as the Faunus swung his larger blade and a Grimm to Carmesi's left being gutted by a well placed blow from his smaller machete. The final Grimm managed to writhe free of incoming blows and position itself to pounce at Carmesi's bearded and bloodstained face, fangs and claws bared only for its' skull to explode mid-leap as it was removed from the fight by an as yet unseen ally.

"Who?" Carmesi demanded in a cold snarl, keeping his weapons half-raised as he backed towards the exit which the smoking wreck of an artillery piece provided. His received his answer as a small girl, a wiry Rabbit Faunus and clearly a member of Clan Aiktishaf wormed her way out of debris and even the body of one of her people which she had hidden under; clutching to herself, with some difficulty a rifle which had been manufactured in one of the Kingdoms, but whose age and the various markings adorning it including a bayonet of etched bone carved with an ancient Vaccuan script suggested it had been in the clans' possession for some time.

"S-S-Stand down and S-Surrender" the girl ordered, aiming the weapon which was likely an heirloom at Carmesi "I mean it"

"What are you doing here?" the rogue Hunter demanded, unwilling to force himself to stoop to this final depth; the girl who he realised could not be more than a pre-teen regarded him with wild, frenzied eyes which began to fill with tears.

"I-I wanted to help, I was….I was gonna help the gun-crew reload and-and-"

"You helped" Carmesi murmured "The Grimm are gone, now run for safety"

"I SAID DON'T MOVE!" the child screamed, adjusting her white-knuckled grip on the weapon which shook violently in her trembling hands as Carmesi took another cautious step backwards; Carmesi remained silent and still for a moment before shaking his head.

"You've never killed a man before have you?" the child continued to regard them with open terror, slowly giving way to uncertainty which Carmesi took as an opportunity to continue speaking "Killing changes you girl….The rage is good, the pain is good; hold onto it but if you're going to kill me then at least mean it"

The girl swallowed, her face a mess of tears and mucus whilst her rabbit ears drooped and a moment later her eyes were screwed shut in grief and shame as the gun was lowered.

"Now run" Carmesi rumbled out and, with her world shattered and mind racing the child clung to that single instruction and turned to flee. The rogue Hunter, with some lingering vestige of decency waited until she was out of earshot, his hearing straining for the sound of any more Grimm aboard the Aiktishaf which might hinder her before he finally stepped into the open, if smoke filled air and took in the sight of the battle that had come to Port Alistair.

It was chaos.

Fires raged, ground erupted at random intervals as explosions and shells tore the wasteland apart and Grimm were being felled by the hundreds and thousands yet it seemed to do nothing at all to the tide of darkness which continued to pour towards what Carmesi realised with plummeting, sickening dread was an open breach in the perimeter wall of Port Alistair. The fight was far from over, defenders continued to fight with what the Faunus could see, even from this distance was fiery determination as some behemoth Grimm whose form suggested it might be aquatic was held at bay just beyond the breach, as savage dogfights took place at a hundred or more points in the sky above him and Creatures of Grimm tried to scale the walls in dozens of other places in a wild effort to halt weapons batteries from firing into the hordes, only for those monsters to be torn apart by Hunters positioned amidst the soldiers.

Yet all that mattered to Carmesi Hueso in that moment was that the Grimm were inside Port Alistair and that Gestalt-Prime would be amongst them and so; without any hesitation at all he leapt from the Aiktishaf and began sprinting towards the breach, cutting down every monster he passed on the way.

---

Team WULF had found themselves in the thick of the battle.

The location the four of them had been assigned to, close to Coco Adel herself was almost directly above another of the gates into the city of Port Alistair; a smaller road far less traversed than some of its' counterparts as it was one which led only to smaller fishing, mining and farming settlements and a small fiefdom of sorts within the Kingdom rather than any of the other major settlements and cities however it was still a route into Port Alistair and whilst it was currently sealed by a hard-light shield and a heavily reinforced blast door the sheer size and scale of the incoming Grimm tide, combined with its' aerial capabilities and the ferocity of the attack had left the matter of whether such defences could hold indefinitely an open question in dire need of a more forceful and succinct answer.

"COME ON KEEP MOVING!" Wolfram bellowed, his normally gruff voice filled with a high and cracking note of pure, instinctual fear which even he could not suppress as he struggled to be heard and keep his friends pushing forwards as they made their way towards where the wall had been breached, being forced to fight almost every step of the way as the soldiers and gun-crews around them were assaulted by wave after wave of nightmares made flesh.

"We've got incoming, nine o'clock high!" Laser called out in warning from a few paces behind which brought all of Team WULF to a halt, the four of them focusing on the direction of the attack to spot a number, they were unsure of whether to call the mass a flock or a pack, of abominations the likes of which they had never seen before as they came howling towards both Team WULF themselves and the nearest weapon emplacement ahead of them in what looked suspiciously like a formation Diabla had seen Atlesian fighter craft deployed in during her time living on bases.

"They've got flying Beowolves now?" she demanded, fists already beginning to glow with a volcanic light as her 'Overachiever' Semblance began to charge whilst Peace and Quiet formed around her fists in their armoured gauntlet configuration.

"BRING THESE FUCKERS DOWN!" Wolfram bellowed, readying his weapon in one hand and preparing to unleash his Semblance with the other.

"You got it partner!" Ursinia by contrast was almost ecstatic as she tipped her hat back with her tail to get a better view and at the same time closed one eye to help her aim before opening fire with The Adventurer in its' pistol gripped grenade launcher mode; after so many missions, training exercises and other battles in cramped and volatile or otherwise unsuitable conditions the Scorpion Faunus had finally found herself in a position where she could engage in the kind of heroics she had left home to seek and use her weapon in the way it was intended, painting fire across the sky and reducing monsters to wailing ash with each bone-jarring boom.

The Winged Beowolves, in a frightening display of their more cunning nature and the vicious edge their instincts had been honed to began to change formation and trajectory the moment the first of their number was slain and yet even as they hurtled towards Ursinia, wings tucking close to their bodies in steep dives they still encountered fierce resistance in the form of Laser Greenback. The scavenger and reputable miscreant proved himself equal to any other Hunter in heroism as he first flung a flash-bang grenade into the incoming monsters and then aimed Permadeath in its' machine gun form, his signature visor freeing him from the effects of his own attack and allowing him to down several Grimm in quick succession with controlled bursts until he saw a dark shape racing towards him through the haze and promptly launched himself into the next stage oh his attack. Permadeath was shifted into its' katana form and without hesitation the chemically blonde scavenger leapt up onto the very edge of the perimeter wall, holding his sword aloft and using the retractable claws within his boots to anchor himself in place; the single motion bisecting the first Winged Beowolf to reach him from the tip of its' snout to its' hindquarters.

"DIABLA!" He called out his partners name as he sheathed his sword and held both hands out to her, the Mantle-born fighter seeing that he produced from somewhere within his endless supply of pockets two small chunks of barely refined Gravity Dust and getting an immediate sense of what it was he intended. With no more words needed Diabla sprung forwards and placed complete faith in her partner, allowing her gauntleted hands to find his and for Laser to hurl her upwards before the two of them crushed the Dust crystals at the perfect moment to fling Diabla directly upwards.

Straight into the path of the Winged Beowolves.

Her Semblance set her eyes, fists and forearms ablaze as it was unleashed as she soared upwards with the pack honing in on her, hellish eyes wild with animal frenzy and clawed limbs outstretch Diabla threw a series of blows whose impacts were granted explosive and impossibly magnified power which reduced everything she touched to shattered fragments until finally she reached the apex of her leap and began to plummet downwards again, forced to focus her attention and where and how she would land only for two lingering Creatures of Grimm to come swooping towards her.

They were stopped by Wolfram's Semblance more than a dozen feet away.

Team WULF's leader had, in a violation of all duty and responsibilities of leadership which he would allow himself to feel shame for when the red haze faded from his mind, allowed himself to fall in love with the comforting and familiar rush of battle and lose himself partway within it.

Whilst his friends worked around him in perfect tandem Wolfram had found himself reverting to what he had been some months ago, before Astra and before the growth the Deer Faunus had inspired in him; clutching Berserker in its' combined and oversized hand-cannon form and firing the weapon so remorselessly that his Aura flickered around his left arm ached and bruised even despite the modifications he had made to lessen its' devastating recoil whilst at the same time he used his Aura offensively with his right palm, hurling forth wave after wave of chilling, semi-solid air and slashing away the limbs of any Grimm within range as a vindicating fury began to steadily overtake him.

If he was doomed to hurt people, if he was no more than the weapon his Semblance indicated then he would be a terrifying weapon to behold.

That rage had peaked and crested the moment he had seen Diabla helpless, Grimm inbound and her weapons' alternate configuration lacking the range to halt them. Without conscious thought he had fired his Semblance out again, a single pane of solidified air rushing out to form a horizontal guillotine edge which decapitated the first Winged Beowolf and the second beast crashed into as though it were a wall; leaving it prone to Ursinia's follow up grenade. Something about the situation seemed odd in away Wolfram, with blood thundering in his ears could not articulate and so it fell to Laser to try.

"Your Semblance!" he yelled, his own abilities and aptitudes coming to the fore "The way you just-"

"GET DOWN!" Diabla screamed, her urgency cutting through all other sounds only for it to be lost beneath the roar of jet engines which unmistakably heading towards the wall and accompanied by a metallic shriek which each of Team WULF had heard in their sleep several times since their previous mission. Wolfram frantically separated his weapon into its' axe and shield components and yet it was still far too little, far too late as Gestalt-Prime itself came racing towards the team and yet deemed the students of far too little importance to engage in true combat; instead aiming its' own artillery piece directly at Wolfram Ironside and firing.

Wolfram lost all awareness for a moment.

"QUIT YOU'RE GOSH DARN LOLLYGAGGING PARTNER Y'AINT CROW BAIT YET, NOW GET UP!" it was Ursinia's unmistakable voice, raised to a yell which intermingled with choked sobs which reached Wolfram's ears first as she hauled her friend and partner to his feet; one of the first things Wolfram's battered senses took notice of being her own Aura rippling around her, followed by the distinctive numbing sensation of his Partners' Semblance allowing him to overcome his injuries and carry on fighting as she poured everything she had into him.

"I'm up! I'm okay!" he yelled "Don't put yourself at risk like that, we need you here!"

"Then don't scare me like that idiot" Ursinia snapped back, tail shuddering skittishly behind her. Wolfram, still uncertain on his feet looked around only to see that his immediate surroundings had changed and that he was no longer on the ramparts of the wall; instead he was on the street immediately behind it and had been left laying sprawled on thankfully disabled tram tracks whilst above him a broken section of the wall revealed where he had smashed clear by Gestalt-Prime.

"The Grimm took off, it's clearly got something in mind!" Diabla barked from where Wolfram now realised she and Laser were standing.

"Not that we don't have our own problems! Feel like helping?" Laser punctuated the mocking question with a burst of gunfire into, what Wolfram realised with a sense of plummeting dread was a small but steadily widening breach in the cities' walls where a hard-light shield had failed and the claws, fangs and brute force of the monsters beyond it were slowly taking their toll on the blast doors; with several glimpses of the Grimm now being visible through widening gaps.

"Well it's worth being awake early on a Saturday for!" Wolfram shot back, hoping that the dread he felt did not seep into his words as he and Ursinia bolted towards the beginnings of a secondary breach; their weapons hacking through limbs by the dozen yet to no avail as even as they fought they inevitable began to happen and the blast door holding the Creatures of Grimm at bay began to creak open and topple.

"FALL BACK!" Wolfram yelled, only to be left blinking in surprise as Laser firmly grasped him by the upper arm; fingers finding exposed flesh and grasping tightly as he raised his visor with his other hand so that he could meet his leaders' eyes as he spoke.

"Do you trust me Wolfie?" somehow Wolfram seemed to sense what Laser was truly asking, though the intentions behind it remained a mystery; at that moment however the leader of Team WULF was prepared to try anything to stem the tide of monsters from spilling into the heart of his Kingdoms' capital.

"Do it!" he nodded, watching with a fascination that almost managed to distract him from the unfolding horror as Laser's Semblance manifested in flickering motes of firefly-light around his palms which were quickly reabsorbed into him whilst Wolfram's own Aura became visible and bled into his team-mates' at the point of contact until finally; bracing himself and waiting for the final moment before the breach was torn open Laser unleashed his 'Analogue Jacking' Semblance in order to mimic Wolfram's power.

Using it in a way Wolfram had never contemplated.

"IT'S NOT A BLADE!" Laser cackled hysterically "THIS WHOLE TIME YOU'VE BEEN USING A PLANE OF SOLID AIR AND AURA AS A KNIFE….IT'S A SHIELD YOU FUCKING DUMB-ASS!" Wolfram was left floored by the sudden and undeniable truth being presented to him as Laser his palms outwards and allowed the burst of Semblance to extend not straight forwards to sever and cleave but outwards to the sides and above him to create a solid wall which the tide of Grimm collided with, just as the Winged Beowolf had done only moments prior.

Yet another truth became evident.

"Laser, you can't hold that wall!" Wolfram thundered "YOU CAN'T USE MY SEMBLANCE FOR AS LONG AS I CAN, YOU SAID IT YOURSELF, LET ME TAKE OVER!"

"They'll get through when we change over" Laser shook his head "Go, there's another breach! Go plug that and I'll buy you-"

"Varmint you're not playing with a full deck if you think we're leaving you behind!" Ursinia yelled.

"We're not leaving anyone" Diabla snarled, gauntlets changing form to reveal her flamethrower and ultrasonic blade as she strode into place beside her partner "You can't hold it forever and neither can Wolfram. The four of us can hold 'em as long as we need to"

"Just go!" Laser hissed through clenched teeth, the first cracks already beginning to show in his wall of Aura as the exertion of his Semblance and the mental strain of channelling powers that were never his and that he had never experienced before began to buckle his limbs whilst mere inches away the ravenous monsters continued to throw themselves against his defences. Each of Team WULF shared glances, each of them readying their weapons and preparing themselves, certain of the fact that within mere seconds they would be forced to fight for their own lives and those of everyone behind them as the Grimm broke through.

BOOM.

The shield broke and yet no Grimm came, instead the roars were reduced to screams and yelps as the ground trembled under the might of a sustained barrage which left the remains of vaporised Grimm pouring through the breach which seemed to have been sealed from outside as a deafening cacophony of moving metal coincided with a darkness falling over the wall.

"What the-" Wolfram mouthed out in disbelief, the new presence strange to the native of one of Menagerie's small villages "The nomad clans?"

"That's a Dune Crawler, an actual fucking Dune Crawler" Laser, the only native born Vaccuan present murmured in something akin to glee as each of Team WULF looked up at the titanic form of the Aiktishaf, namely its' vast control room which had been partially opened to the skies ans where a tall and powerful figure stood; lone arm grasping at a javelin which had been thrust into the floor to steady her whilst blood-soaked bandages indicated a wound to her leg. Beside the woman was what could only be another member of her clan holding an enormous megaphone for her to speak into.

"KINGDOM BORN, I AM SWARF RUSSET AND I SPEAK WITH THE AUTHORITY OF MY PEOPLE! WE DO NOT HAVE THE MIGHT TO HOLD THE OTHER BREACH BUT WE CAN SEAL THIS ONE! WE HAVE CHILDREN AND ELDERLY ABOARD, LEND US YOUR COVER AND WE WILL LEND YOU OUR GUNS!"

A resounding cheer echoed through the walls of Port Alistair as the notion of reinforcements, no matter where they came from or how bleak the situation was bolstered spirits; another roaring salvo of gunfire from the Aiktishaf doing even more as Outriders continued to harass and savage any monster they could reach beyond their home. The sound died down and it seemed that Swarf Russet, whom each of Team WULF realised could only be the mother of their friend Regalia was not yet done with her impromptu negotiations.

"IF MY DAUGHTER IS RETURNED TO ME UNHARMED I WILL AID THIS CITY IN ANY WAY I CAN" her powerful, if wheezing voice thundered "THE ROGUE, EXILED HUNTER CARMESI HUESO IS AMONGST YOU PEOPLE….BRING THAT BASTARD TO ME AND I WILL TEACH HIM HOW TO PROPERLY USE A JAVELIN BEFORE HE DIES!"

"Yes Ma'am!" Ursinia yelled, unable to keep herself from whooping, hollering and even throwing her hat into the air in response to what was certainly one the most awe-inspiring entrances she had witnessed. Beside her Wolfram, still shaken at the truth of his own Semblance and his deeper nature as a person, along with the thought of Laser using a borrowed, pale mimicry of that Semblance in order to sacrifice himself if the need arose managed, with some difficulty to force all of his emotions aside and do what it was that had made him a leader.

He did exactly what was needed.

"Regalia was with her team, right by where that big Grimm smashed the wall! We were heading there before we got tied up and we've lost enough time! TEAM WULF, MOVE OUT!"

---

Smoke billowed from the tires of the Killer-Bee whilst flames spewed from its' exhaust as the jet black muscle car shrieked its' way around corners at terrifying speeds and weaved though upturned and abandoned vehicles, leaving Astra clinging on for dear life as they desperately fought to keep their head or at the very least their antlers from being smashed through the passenger side window despite their brothers' assurances that it was in fact bomb-proof with each whiplash-inducing motion. In times such as this normal traffic laws were naturally suspended and Hunters were granted even more freedom to interpret the rules than they normally granted, which Astra had taken to mean they could forego the use of a seatbelt.

They refused to give the Grimm an opportunity to land the first blow as they unfastened themselves.

Initially the siblings had found the role the assumed in aiding the evacuation of the cities' populace from its' streets and into its' shelters going well, even if Felix had been silent save for a few sharply given orders to both Astra and the members of Port Alistair's defence who had deferred to the Lion Faunus's experience despite his not being part of the cities' official command structure and overall more focused and single-minded that Astra had ever seen him, even during Team MARZ's mission alongside Team FADE. Moving the civilians from the park and its' surrounding areas towards the nearest secure shelter had been relatively simple and had been enacted without incident; the people clambering aboard the buses provided or else using their own vehicles and following the Killer-Bee and the military personnel carrier towards a sizeable building attached to one of the Kingdoms' Dust stores which, given its' strategic importance had been heavily reinforced and fitted with multiple layers of shielding in order to protect it from whatever might come.

Word had soon come that others had not been so fortunate.

Astra had followed Felix as their brother sprinted back towards their muscle car, yelling at soldiers to remain where they were and defend the current shelter as waiting for them to catch up would only slow him down. Upon seeing that Astra had joined them the older Faunus briefly explained that prior to the implementation of its' tram network the first settlers to form Port Alistair had toyed with the idea of an underground metro system which could one day span the length and breadth of the island and though it had been scrapped the beginnings of what could have been Port Alistair's central station had been dug out, their half-completed form acting as a subterranean shelter with fully functioning shields and blast doors. The current issue was that those shields and blast doors had not been properly maintained and due to lack of use had failed to properly engage, leaving the shelter filled with civilians who were now trapped with their only means of exit being back out into the besieged city where the Creatures of Grimm were beginning to hone in on their location trough the fear they collectively exuded.

"I see downed robots, looks like we're on the right path!" Astra exclaimed as he saw the flaming and mauled remains of a squad of what had once been Atlas Knights, or at least a similar design manufactured by another company. The Deer Faunus watched as their brothers' frown only deepened.

"Means we're taking the same route as the Grimm….Which means they took the shortest route and we can't head 'em off" before Astra's stomach could even properly plummet in response to that it was left lurching as they were forced back into their seat by sheer force and pressure as Felix pushed his cars' engine to ludicrous levels and yet still continued to handle the machine as though it were nothing at all. Within moments the two of them were within sight of their destination and racing down the street toward it, a large and admittedly partially dilapidated building, something of a rarity in the young Kingdom around which a rapidly thinning platoon of robotic drones were putting up an impressive level of resistance against a pack of several dozen Beowolves; though the automatons lack of Aura and inferior numbers were beginning to show and Astra found themselves hoping that whoever was remotely controlling the machines had a backup plan, or route of escape in mind.

"Astra, are your shields charged?" Felix's question snapped his younger siblings' mind into clear focus.

"Always" Astra answered, sea-green eyes hardening and taking on a steely glint which was magnified further by the dark make up which framed them and seeing this expression Felix gave a nod of approval.

"Well you're in the car, so looks like decision time came and went" the Lion Faunus gave a savage, teeth-bearing smile "I'm gonna drop you off….Hop out and cover that doorway, no questions. Got it?"

"Got it!" Astra nodded, mind racing as they tried to piece together what their brother was planning before they swiftly clamped down of their unruly thoughts and forced themselves to focus on nothing outside of the task at hand as Felix brought the Killer-Bee screeching around in a wide, arcing power-slide which left the door Astra leapt from level with the nearest of the Grimm which had now turned their snapping maws towards the car.

The window was indeed bomb-proof, it cracked the skull of a Grimm as it was flung open and struck the beast.

"COME GET SOME!" Astra bellowed, deploying Buckshot Ares and first unleashing the mini-gun slung under each of their forearms, taking care to aim only out to the sides of the teeming, roiling mass of lupine horror and avoiding firing toward the building where their might still be allies hiding in the upper levels. With the pack marginally thinned Astra next used their blades and shields to great effect, weaving around fangs and claws before stabbing, slashing and using the broad and lightly curved surfaces of each shield in order block and parry, leaving a stream of obsidian smog in their wake until finally they had found themselves placed firmly in the centre of the open space where a blast door had failed to deploy and bringing their shields together in front of their body, painting the world red as rose-tinted hard-light erupted outwards in a hexagonal pattern to fill the entire space.

Just as Felix put his plan into practice.

The Killer-Bee came roaring back around at full speed, the flames erupting from its' rear having developed a blue tinge to them which set alarm bells off in Astra's mind as they realised just how close the car was getting. At the last possible second Felix brought the car skidding to a halt and dragged the vehicle around in a sharp anticlockwise turn which spewed a jetting fountain of flames onto the Grimm and the few remaining robots facing off against them, the machines exploding as critical systems overloaded in an instant, yet it mattered little as there was little at all left for them to fight with the majority of the Creatures of Grimm being reduced to howling and screaming as their bodies were cooked. The few that remained found themselves unmade in a matter of seconds as Felix Xiao Long erupted from the drivers' seat of his car and used his Semblance to channel the heat of the inferno he had created back into his own body where it was promptly weaponised once again, the Lion Faunus's hair glowing gold whilst golden fire streamed from his eyes and his body took on an appearance like craggy, molten rock strewn with lines of magma.

In his Balrog State Felix was an unstoppable force as the few remaining Grimm soon discovered when he began to wade through their midst, sword clutched in both hands and tearing bodies apart with each swing until finally nothing that could harm the civilians trapped below remained.

"Holy shit" Astra breathed out, lowering their shield at the same time their brother released his Semblance, the thrill and adrenaline fuelled excitement of what had just transpired loosening their tongue enough for them to add "And you don't get why I'm upset about not figuring out what my Semblance-"

"It'll come when you need it" Felix interrupted, understanding Astra's current hyper-alert and dangerously amped up state but having no time to bring them back to a manageable level.

"If not now then when?" Astra demanded, receiving no answer as Felix simply strode into the emptied upper layer of the building, finding signs leading to the shelter below whilst at the same time reaching for his scroll and making a call on loudspeaker.

"Car, you wanna tell me how the hell there are ground based Grimm already inside the city?" Felix's voice was urgent in away which cut through the buzz of hyperactivity and feverish rush which had emerged to overcome the chilling fear of a city under direct attack and forced Astra to listen as Carcharodon Gore, the Shark Faunus seemingly co-ordinating from a position aboard the still docked Nemesis Kharybdis replied in his usual sibilant, rasping snarl.

"Because it is utter carnage and I am unable to do anything about it, this is a warship not a call centre you-"

"Car!" Felix snapped.

"The walls of Port Alistair have been breached a single large point of attack followed by smaller positions where the defences have fallen. Pitched battles throughout the city, though from radio chatter I have word that reinforcements have come from outside….I've heard reports of intelligent Grimm, flying Beowolves the like of which I've never seen which seem to be targeting Hunters and commanding officers in the defenders deliberately; Team FADE are already making their way to your location"

"Damn it all" Felix spat, clearly reeling in shock from several parts of that report "Anything else?"

"The Grimm have numbers and your people will not deploy their strongest airships, so the beasts cannot claim the skies entirely but they're stalking them with impunity; the coastal defences have been raised as Grimm came to us from the seas and the Nemesis Kharybdis was still docked….I have to leave the art of battle to static guns and barely tested land-born because I am the wrong side of the shields, it's unconscionable Felix-"

"Deal with it" the Lion Faunus answered bluntly "What about-"

Astra no longer heard them talking.

Whilst Carcharodon explained that their were still a number of untraceable and unsolvable errors slowing and hindering the various automated systems of his vessel Astra frantically fumbled for his own scroll and turned the device, which had been dormant back on; mentally willing the process to speed itself up so that he could find his friends, hoping despite knowing that it was almost an impossibility that Team MARZ were still within the walls of Breaktide Academy. Their fears were proven to be justified within moments as they first saw the dozens of missed calls and messages from their friends begging to know where the Deer Faunus was and explaining that they were coming to find them, followed by the fact that all of their locations and Aura levels had been set to a limited display option which allowed Astra to remotely view them.

Their friends were bunched together at a point close to the perimeter wall and all of them had lost notable amounts of Aura.

"Shit! No, no, no!" Astra hissed out through clenched teeth, already in motion as their plan began to form itself in their mind eve before their conscious awareness of it; the moment they became aware of what it was they were preparing to do a lump of unadulterated fear lodged itself in their throat yet the Deer Faunus fought to ignore it, instead breaking into a full sprint and throwing themselves into the drivers' seat of the Killer-Bee, their brothers' car, the same vehicle in which they had spent a considerable amount of time learning to drive and finding, as though it were an omen that the keys were still in the ignition.

"Astra what're you doing?" Felix's voice boomed out as their brother came hurrying out after them, finally realising that the younger Faunus was no longer nearby.

"My team are right on the wall! They yelled back, lowering a window to do so "I'll bring it back with a full tank, I promise!"

And with that Astra stole their brothers' car and sped off, leaving a slack-jawed Felix fading into the distance in the rear-view mirror

---

Team MARZ were putting on what could only be described a spectacle as they fought to keep the tide of monsters spewing into the city at bay, an undeniable masterpiece of their craft which any Hunter from the most naive and inexperienced student of the prep schools to the most grizzled and decorated of veterans would have considered it an honour to be present for and their duty to fight alongside and yet, despite all of this the odds remained stacked against them to such an unspeakable degree that the notion of victory seemed painfully far-fetched.

It was a small mercy then that the giant Land-Shark had at least been kept largely at bay thus far.

Professor and living legend amongst Hunters, Velvet Scarlatina was both co-ordinating and leading the charge against the hammer-headed colossus; directing the nearest artillery teams stationed at the remaining sections of the perimeter wall to turn their heavy weapons towards the Grimm and fire in rotation; with soldiers, Hunters and combat robots of multiple sizes and types spreading out to both aid in directing the attention of the monster and at the same time cut down as many of the endless sea of smaller Grimm which had followed it. The Rabbit Faunus herself moved and fought like a woman possessed, her weapon projecting the form of a battle-suit in order to unleash a maelstrom of firepower, then a Gatling gun or sniper rifle so that she could reposition herself whilst going undetected amongst the smoke and rubble before once again using a larger construct, perhaps another battle-robot or in one instance a small aircraft.

Zirconia Shadowmoon was however too focused on her own task to pay attention on her teacher.

A flock of Winged Buffalo, cumbersome and unwieldy things whose front heavy and monstrous appearance were an insult to the concept of aviation had swept through the breach and immediately began setting about the task Gestalt-Prime had forged them for, namely using their bulk and momentum to plough through the initial waves of resistance in a display of overwhelming force and as they had managed to burst through more tha one fully qualified Hunter in their initial assault, catching them by surprise as they pulled themselves from the rubble of the shattered wall it had fallen instead to the three members of Team MARZ present to stop them.

To this end the Grasshopper braced her mechanical legs and slowed her breathing as she began to use her Semblance; mismatched eyes glowing even as darkness spread from within them to consume everything except her illuminated irises as Phantasmagoria spread out to form a dome which trapped seven of the Winged Buffalo within its' impassable sensory void. The monsters came hurtling toward her in a disorganised rabble, snorting and bellowing with gouts of smoke spewing from their nostrils as they wheeled around and jostled for position at the head of the herd whilst Zirconia herself simply raised Sunriser Cain in its' pistol form, her expression one of grim resolve beneath her scarf.

'Gravity! Hard-light!' the weapons' synthetic voice declared, the combined effects of the two Dust varieties sending a lance of solidified light forwards in a flash of cyan which scattered the aerial stampede, leaving them struggling to regroup as the monster at the head was unmade, body fading as it was skewered from end to end. Seeing the remaining six Grimm attempting to coalesce into a hammering mass once again Zirconia shifted Sunriser Cain into its' cylinder-tipped sword form, its' Dust chambers rotating again as she twirled and unleashed what had become one of her signature moves.

'Fire! Lightning!' a jet of flames erupted out from the tip of her weapon, behaving unnaturally as though the path of the inferno were entirely under the rogues' control as it swept through the Grimm and crackled with buzzing electricity until only a single monster remained and as it came roaring toward her, horns aimed for a killing blow as it dove Zirconia simply turned away and aimed the tip of her weapon over her shoulder whilst at the same time focusing and using her Semblance in the way she had discovered during her time at Breaktide.

'Double Ice!' a howling, freeing rush of air struck the Flying Buffalo, robbing its' momentum and leaving both its' interior and exterior cooling in such a rapid way that painful fissures began to rupture its' form until it was ended as the darkness around it began to take shape, Zirconia sending a stalagmite of pure nothingness bursting upwards to impale the Grimm before finally releasing her Semblance, allowing her eyes to take on their normal appearance as she swayed on her feet and let out a shaky breath.

Just as Regalia's harpoon ripped through the air and into the haunch of another Winged Buffalo which had been flying toward the outward manifestation of Phantasmagoria.

"Heh, go ahead...Make my day" the Racoon Faunus chuckled before retracting Apex Scavenger's harpoon to drag the snared Grimm back toward her; an admittedly strenuous effort though she still managed to achieve the desired result whilst holding her weapon in a single hand and in doing so pull the lumbering beast into range of her shotgun, which was promptly fired, blowing the thrashing Grimm apart and allowing both Zirconia and Regalia herself to continue fighting. The scavenger quickly set her sights on a group of four Winged Buffalo which were hurtling, in a steep dive towards the twisted and sparking remains of a downed Paladin type Battle-Suit, a later model than that Velvet mimicked yet clearly piloted by someone with less experience. Regalia's purple eyes darted first to the bloodied and smoke-blackened form of the pilot as they clambered, limped and dragged their way free of the collapsed hulk of machinery, then to the diving Grimm and finally to a shoulder mounted rocket pod which had been left smoking and barely attached, listing at an angle with sparks spraying from its' mangled connection point.

With only the briefest flicker of her Semblance behind her eyes Regalia had concocted a plan so brazen she felt that Astra would be proud of her.

She ran toward the twisted machine, her weapon shifting into its' pickaxe-headed staff form as she went and being swung into the face of a nearby Grimm without slowing her stride until she finally reached the smoking wreck and, with all the scrabbling, dextrous agility her people were known for had managed to scale it and reach a vantage point form which she could use her staff to prise the rocket pod entirely away from the Paladin and then, with the shadows of the nearing Grimm looming over her return Apex Scavenger to its' ranged form and bury its' harpoon into the freed pods' casing before finally; in a monumental Semblance-fuelled leap throwing herself clear of the expected blast area and swinging the rocket pod up into the midst of the Grimm in a wide and high path that launched it free of her harpoon.

Where it was promptly detonated between the still airborne Grimm as a laser beam struck it.

"You're welcome!" Athena-Jade called out to her friend over the booming explosion that they had created before returning to her own problems. The Bear Faunus, despite her stature had proven herself to be one of the most mobile threats on the current battlefield as she flung herself from one glyph to another in a series of flips, leaps and on several occasions a rocket-powered swing of Mould-Breaker in its' rocket form; the oversized weapon trailed ethereal green light from its' head as it pulverised Grimm with blows that blurred into little more than a comet of utter destruction. As she shifted her weapon back from its' laser cannon form after assisting Regalia she became aware of another Winged Buffalo surging toward her from behind, clearly aiming to tackle her free of the glyph she was perched on and so in retaliation she threw herself into a backflip which saw the Grimm rush beneath her and miss its' strike entirely, whilst Athena-Jade took the opportunity to complete her flip by landing on another freshly-conjured glowing platform and swing her hammer up through the monsters' torso. With her sapphire eyes bright the surging adrenaline and hyper-aware senses she sensed another Grimm soaring through the air to attack from her left and promptly swung her hammer again.

A fraction of a second too late, with the Grimm already being far enough inside her guard to smash her from her glyph.

"Oh no!" the words seemed utterly feeble in Athena-Jade's own mind as she toppled head over heels backwards, grateful for the twin small mercies of the Grimm being sent careening away as its' horned skull clattered against the shaft of Mould-Breaker in the collision and that she had only the relatively short distance of roughly two dozen feet to fall before before she struck hard ground, back-first and with her Aura rippling around her. Not allowing herself to be bested by such minor inconveniences as having the air knocked from her lungs the gasping and half-blind with her vision swimming Athena began transforming her weapon and attempting to aim Mould-Breaker directly upwards in its' laser cannon form at the Winged Buffalo now diving towards her with a rapidity which left the air whistling with its' passage. The dark shame came rushing ever closer and by the time Athena's vision had become clear enough to see the Grimm's glowing crimson eyes it was obvious to her that it was far too late to be halted and that she was about to be gored and crushed into the shattered paving.

Then the Grimm's skull exploded under the force of a single explosive blow.

Athena was left blinking in confusion as she was left struggling to compute what her senses were telling her as a familiar figure erupted into view with a wordless yell, gauntlet-clad fist driving into the monster a moment before it could strike, wreathed in a volcanic glow that shone from within, reaching almost entirely up to the shoulder and being repeated in eyes which now blazed and cast a lightly scarred face in flickering shadows. Taking a moment to relish the moment Diabla Fuego looked down at the Bear Faunus before disengaging her Semblance and reaching down.

"So….We're cool now, right Slate?" Athena gave no verbal answer, instead lurching to the side and swiftly repositioning her laser cannon whilst still on the floor so that she could fire over Diabla's shoulder; directly into the face of the lead member of the remaining Winged Buffalo, which had gathered for a final crushing blow; their purpose in Gestalt-Prime's plan largely served.

As she did this Athena-Jade nodded, giving Diabla the sense of absolution she had been looking for.

"WE'VE GOT THE REST OF 'EM!" Wolfram's voice declared as the armour clad warrior stormed into view with Laser Greenback and Ursinia Red beside him, the three of them pre-empting Diabla's attempt to throw herself into battle once more. The Scorpion Faunus pulling Athena to her feet and enveloping the Bear Faunus in the comforting numbness and warmth of her Semblance, allowing her to ignore her minor injuries without truly tending to them.

At the same time Wolfram's expression took on expression of something close to euphoria as he used his own newly reimagined Semblance and projected the shield of chilling, solidified air outwards; attacking in order to defend and sending it slamming into the Creatures of Grimm, halting the Winged Buffalo for long enough for Laser to produce what appeared, to his friends deep concern to be a collection of improvised explosives littered with metallic shards which were flung into the midst of the halted monsters and detonated with a well-placed burst of gunfire courtesy of Permadeath.

"So….We're all gonna agree that nobody is gonna ask me where I got those from or why I have them" the Vaccuan scavenger proffered the idea in a nasal whine accompanied by a waggle of his eyebrows which left Ursinia shaking her head before she turned to Team MARZ who were regrouping around their newly arrived friends.

"Y'all okay now?….Regalia, your Momma is safe and sound, holding a section of the wall right now and is gonna be mighty pleased to see you're okay when this is over-"

"If we're all still okay by then" Zirconia noted with a dull mutter, a statement which many of the gathered members of Team MARZ and WULF made to object to, only to be halted as the ground trembled under the force of the Land-Shark's latest attack, the titanic abomination thrashing and wheeling around on its' six enormous limbs in order to chase Professor Scarlatina and sending its' thrashing tail sweeping across the breached wall, destroying a weapon emplacement in a blossoming fireball almost absent-mindedly.

"So" Wolfram grimaced and squared his broad shoulders "What's the plan for dealing with that thing?"

"There isn't one" Athena admitted, gesturing at the destruction strewn all around them as if to say that it should explain everything.

"We've been holding the line against the smaller Grimm, keeping as many of them from getting deeper into the city as we can" Zirconia added "They ran over the first line of heavy armour with sheer numbers"

"Well we can't just sit here and do nothing" Diabla growled out, belligerence and eagerness dripping from every syllable.

"Plans for stuff like this are normally…." Regalia trailed off, heart sinking along with her plummeting stomach.

"Astra's thing" Wolfram sighed, hefting his weapon and bracing himself a moment later "Well Astra's not here, so we're just gonna have to be enough without 'em"

With that dreadful truth becoming painfully evident the seven students charged into the breach, desperate to do anything the could to defend against the Creatures of Grimm.

---

The sense of terror which filled the cockpit of Ruby and Penny Rose's personal transport was unlike anything the pair had endured for almost a decade; the two women were less active in direct conflict with the Creatures of Grimm than they had once been, even if Ruby would hotly protest that even in her forties she still had plenty of gusto and drive left for the task and that she was by no means passed her prime and there was no sense in denying a sense of complacency that had been allowed to grow with their relatively peaceful lives in Port Alistair since the final defeat of Salem.

Ruby and Penny had halted Grimm attacks on settlements in recent years and likewise had wept over the few instances like midpoint where they had received the call for help too late before redoubling their efforts to see that they were never caught unawares in the same way twice, they had both taken students on missions and showed an entire generation of would be Hunters the true scope of what their profession could be and could demand, throwing themselves into the line of fire to save those same students from the Creatures of Grimm or the consequences of their own adolescent overconfidence, the pair had worked alongside Qrow Branwen and the other members of his shadowy cabal in order to make Remnant a safer place for all who lived in it, no matter the cost and in the course of doing so had seen loss, carnage and depravity few could comprehend.

However it had been almost a decade since the monsters had threatened their home, invaded a city where the two women had built a life and raised their children and the shattering of that imagined sanctity was the source of an entirely different, far more bitter and selfish if still righteous fear and rage.

"How far out are we?" Ruby asked, voice wavering with barely contained panic as she considered both the sheer, unfathomable loss being inflicted on Port Alistair as Gestalt-Prime's initial large scale assault inevitably began to draw even more Grimm to it from further afield with the scope of the misery and anguish it produced and also the far more personal matter of whether or not her house would still be standing at sunset; at the same time her eyes, both pale silver and faintly glowing cybernetic darted in agitation from the cold and sterile readings of the cockpits' various instruments to the view of the world outside where she searched for some form of landmark or frame of reference but found only crushed and pulverised ground in the wake of the enormous mass of the Aiktishaf and the countless Creatures of Grimm which had chased after it, uprooting all in their path.

"By my estimates" Penny's own signature cheer dropped away, emerald eyes hardening as her features set in a rare scowl "Too far….By the time we're combat ready the Grimm will have already done irreparable damage to the city. Pearl, divert all power from non-essential systems to thrusters; get us there faster!"

"Confirmed" the clearly synthetic voice of the artificial intelligence responsible for both the transport and the Rose's family home answered, followed a moment later by an uncomfortable lurching kick as the Pearl rocketed forward at speeds which would soon become dangerous.

"Shields are non-essential?" Ruby noted, arching an eyebrow but not quite willing to question any decision that would get her into the thick of things soon enough to be of real use.

"Less essential than weapons and long range comms and sensors" Penny answered, chewing her lip in an entirely human display of nerves "We're approaching from behind the Grimm, we should be able to clear a path….I should be able to outmanoeuvre them in aerial combat even at this speed, I haven't done anything like that in years but….I don't forget the same way other people do"

"I trust you" Ruby said simply, reaching over to squeeze the hand of the wife who was still wearing a simple sundress rather than the usual fatigues which she wore when expecting combat before addressing the crafts' computer, given vague hope by its' presence "Pearl, engage all home defences….Expand area of effect to maximum range and limit targets to Grimm, exterminate with extreme prejudice"

"Confirmed" the voice answered tonelessly, giving Ruby cause for a savage smile as she considered the shields, lasers, tripwires, machine-guns and weaponised roombas that were now being deployed in order to protect her home and those of her immediate neighbours. Penny joined in her wife's smile for a brief moment, returning the gentle squeeze of the hand whilst being silently thankful that the second body her late father had constructed for her had been even morel lifelike and attuned to sensation than the first before she forced herself to focus on the urgent matter at hand, speaking to the computer intelligence once again, deeming it to be a more effective and timely way of gathering information that trying to integrate with the command structure of the ongoing defence from this distance and try to decipher what was useful from countless channels of radio chatter.

"Pearl, what is the overall situation of the ongoing attack on Port Alistair?" the artificial intelligence took a moment to respond, largely due to the systems of Hammerfall Observation Outpost being needed to reroute such data through secure channels, a feat made more difficult by the sheer volume of transmissions being sent from across the island Kingdom and also the simple fact that the outpost and its' CCT uplink were still under some degree of repair.

"First wave of Grimm has entered city limits, ground forces are making progress in several directions whilst aerial attacks are being reported and combated across the city" the toneless and detached answer left both Penny and Ruby reeling "Secondary Grimm attack reported, approaching from the sea but repelled by coastal defences. Tertiary attack imminent as Grimm are drawn to conflict zone, Grimm reinforcements expected to reach the city within the hour at current projected speeds. Casualties have been confirmed-"

"That's enough" Ruby interjected, cutting of the synthetic voice with an irritable wave of the hand before sinking back in her co-pilots' seat and burying her face in her hands

"Ruby-"

"What're we gonna do?" Ruby let out a choked sob from behind her hands "I haven't fought a battle like this in years, I only have one of my eyes….I don't know if I can even still take out whatever broke the walls; if more Grimm and we can't get the breach sealed then-"

"You'll think of something, you always do. It's why you're sensational" Penny assured her lovingly, giving Ruby pause for just long enough for the two to share a meaningful and emotional look before the voice of their transports' computer, previously silenced interrupted them; its' words accompanied by a severe and shrill warning siren.

"Fast approaching entity, unidentified. Suggested course of action-"

"Manual controls" Penny's hands were already firmly wrapped around the directional and weapon controls by the time the words had left her lips, her machine mind speeding up to levels of perception that few humans could hope to achieve, however Ruby Rose, due to her Semblance was one of those few and managed to glance at several readings before Penny could bring the Pearl around in a steep, banking turn and open fire.

"Identify yourself!" she demanded, opening a comm channel and hoping, desperately that she had interpreted the strange energy signature accurately.

"Hey chief!" the familiar voice of Nickel Polendina answered her, audibly strained as though she were speaking though teeth that were clenched with exertion "Heard you were having a party without me? Epic fail bruh!"

"I nearly shot you!" Penny chided the younger android "You should have made contact"

"At the speed you're moving I could barely get in comm range buddy" Nickel countered "Besides, I'm trying to catch up….I don't have my Battle-Suit with me"

"Wait, then you're-" Ruby was about to ask if Nickel had really mastered the powers of the Spring Maiden to such a degree that she was able to travel from Maiden-Gate to the wasteland beyond Port Alistair in such a short time but was spared the need by the sight of a forest green comet streaking over the right wing of the Pearl and racing ahead of the craft before performing an acrobatic spin as Nickel, dyed hair thrashing in the wind and erratic, wild green fire spewing from her eyes, fists and the point where wings had once connected to her back flew ahead of them whilst facing backwards so that she could look into the cockpit and address her family, as odd as their relationship might be directly.

"That talking Grimm launched an attack on the Capital?" she demanded fiercely.

"It did and your help would be sensational" Penny answered, the younger android whom she had come to love dearly as something close to the sister she had initially been intended as, before that goal had been corrupted and the two set against one another merely gave a smile that could only be described as feral; a propensity for mayhem which Ruby and Penny had tried to curb rising to the surface.

"Buddy if that thing is in the city then somebody tell it to come and meet me in the Denny's parking lot" Nickel laughed mockingly "I wanna kick its' ass"

---

Astra was forced to conclude, as the Killer-Bee continued to tear through the streets of Port Alistair that they had somewhat overestimated their own abilities to control their brothers' muscle car and also that they had vastly underestimated the scale of the ongoing Grimm incursion.

Each instance of yet more ruined buildings, raging fires spreading from one building to the next despite the brave and valiant efforts of firefighters who continued to work despite the attack, covered by whatever Hunters and other defenders could be spared or ruined military hardware lying in the street sent the Deer Faunus spiralling deeper and deeper into an all consuming panic which had long since evolved into full terror and in response Astra forced every ounce of speed and power out of the Killer-Bee that they possibly could, transforming the car into a fiery blur of motion as it weaved around obstructions with screeching tires; paint scratched and front bumper sporting several fresh scars and dents as it became almost too much for even the student Hunter's superhuman reflexes and strength to keep in check and at the same tie Astra considered even more urgent action, largely in the form of abandoning all pretence of self-preservation and driving towards their goal in a straight line, allowing the heavily armoured muscle car to simply plough through any resistance.

Only the thought of having to face Felix afterwards prevented them from acting on the reckless idea.

Even despite this urgency the leader of Team MARZ had found themselves hampered and delayed from reaching the epicentre of the fighting, where all logic and their own gut instinct told them that they would find their friends. No matter their goal Astra could not, as a Hunter or simply as a person with a conscience allow themselves to pass by those in need and had therefore been forced to divert their course several times already; once simply slamming the Killer-Bee into a lone remaining Beowolf before it could pounce upon a wounded fighter as they crawled from the wreckage of their own vehicle and on at least half a dozen occasions already they had brought the car screeching to a halt and launched themselves out of it with weapons unfurling around their forearms in order to defend a group of civilians who were yet to reach shelter before giving the beleaguered souls an update of the current state of affairs as they understood it, on one occasion resulting in the civilians in question being forced to turn back and seek out another place to hide as a safe route towards their intended shelter simply did not exist.

Now however Astra was beginning to get close; the feeling of an endless bombardments launched against Creatures of Grimm both nearing the wall and managing to cross through the various breaches and into the city being felt within the Killer-Bee as each heavy and thudding impact managed to jolt through even the drastically improved tires and suspension.

They had not dared to try and contact their team-mates yet, even to answer their previous messages and inform them that not only were they safe and sound within the city limits but that they would soon be joining them; this lack of contact was not currently due to feelings of shame and unease though Astra was certain those would return later once the fog of war lifted, more simply they did not wish to distract any of their friends who were almost certainly in the midst of a fierce battle and had thus far not been able to risk driving the Killer-Bee in all of its' obscene power and text at the same time without risking a crash.

"Fuck it" Astra muttered under their breath, allowing their foot to ease on the accelerator by the slightest fraction and cause a minute change in the tone of the cars' roaring howl as they reached for their scroll and prepared to divest themselves of their previous caution; having seen familiar landmarks amidst the ruination and chaos which informed them that they would soon be close enough to be of some real use and help stem the flow of monsters into Port Alistair.

Yet before they could make the call disaster struck.

"OH SHIT!" the yell escaped Astra of its' own volition as a lumbering Ursa Major, discernable by its' larger bulk and more extensive armoured carapace bearing jutting spines came charging into view; bursting out from a small side street and already sporting several injuries from earlier fights including broken and cracked bone carapace which had been smudged with smoke, suggesting an explosion, a small chunk ripped from its' flank producing a small contrail of leaking ebony mist which trailed behind it and a deep gouge etched into its' snout. The Grimm was level with the Killer-Bee in an instant and Astra, acting on adrenaline and instinct alone as a clawed forelimb lashed out at one of the cars' wheels, those instincts did not serve them however and the Deer Faunus was forced to engage their Aura a moment before their head collided with the drivers' side window; their antler shattering the bomb-proof glass as they collided with it and pain lancing though their entire body, the attempt to avoid the Grimm sending the car careening so sharply that it span out of control and left the ground entirely, smashing against several other vehicles in a resounding, clattering burst of destruction which ended with Astra trying to crawl free of the broken window whilst the muscle car lay on its' roof, armoured from heavily damaged, the flames spewing from its' rear guttering out and one of its' front wheels listing at a worrying angle which suggested the axle had been damaged.

More importantly the Ursa Major was advancing.

"Not today!" Astra spat, wishing in some detached and distant part of their mind, as they often did that they had a more memorable and suitable line ready to deliver at a moments' notice for just this situation; such thoughts however remained distant and disregarded as they propped themselves up on one arm and deployed the half of Buckshot Ares attached to the other. The Ursa came rushing at them on all fours, its' head low and jaws opened wide to reveal teeth that would surely shatter bones and tear limbs away with a single bite yet it failed to reach its' quarry as Astra simply aimed and fired their weapon; entirely removing the need for a dramatic and prolonged round of melee combat with the monster by unleashing a hailstorms of bullets to shred its' face and skull.

"Come on, come on, come on" Astra whimpered, barely coherent as they forced themselves to their feet with their Aura healing minute cuts caused by broken glass opening their palms as they crawled entirely out of the remains of the Killer-Bee and limped several paces away before turning back to regard the now unusable vehicle in dismay. After staring at the smoking and upended muscle car for a moment they were jolted into action by the sensation of the ground shaking beneath their wobbling legs and a deafening roar filling the air; sparing one last glance at their brothers' car Astra's sea green eyes widened and then narrowed, filling with an almost palpable determination as the Deer Faunus fully deployed both halves of Buckshot Ares and began to rush towards the direction of the fighting, their limp transforming into a hobble and eventually an all out run as they forced themselves to ignore the pain along with everything else in pursuit of their goal.

They didn't even realise when their Aura began to glow and pulse around them as it began to respond to their needs.

Nor did they notice that they were beginning to take gradually longer strides; far longer than should have been possible.

Author's Notes:

First of all….LET'S FUCKING GO!"
THE FIRST YEAR FINALE IS FINALLY HERE EVERYBODY AND WE'VE GOT TWO MORE CHAPTERS OF SHOWDOWN TO GET THROUGH BEFORE WE WRAP THINGS UP.
Also….It was oddly difficult to think of a title for this chapter, so song title that kinda fits was the obvious solution.
On a more personal/practical note, my shifts are changing at work (In a way that will make me more money for less hours) and although I'm actually a little ahead of what I'm currently posting and I'll still be posting on Saturdays I'm just forewarning everyone that there's a chance of slight disruptions.

ALSO: Last weeks' chapter was actually posted on the one year anniversary of the first chapter being posted and I DIDN'T REALISE so yeah, MARZ Rising is now one year old.

But anyway, let's summarise shall we?:
That opening felt cinematic, in my head I could see it.
The two seater jetbike with a turret was based on Warhammer 40k….Basically if the Orks built an Eldar Viper.
Some expert shooting from the defenders to start things off, basically prise that single giant mass of Grimm apart into manageable chunks.
Lancers, because I debated bringing back the Purge Bugs but ended up thinking a canon Grimm would work better this time.
Zirconia's weapon is just straight up Tokusatsu nonsense and I remind you all of that fact every time it literally announces its' own attacks.
See if Regalia wasn't there and didn't know what to look for that would have been the end for everyone on that section of the wall, including Velvet.
I didn't give a full description of the Grimm because it's the same as the last Land-Shark, just bigger and this chapter is long enough already.
Did anyone really think Carmesi was getting off of the Aiktishaf that easily?
Also yeah, some Grimm managed to overcome Gestalt-Prime's orders and act on base instinct while Gestalt-Prime is distracted elsewhere.
Those guys did not have a chance.
That explosion was the Land-Shark breaking the wall outside.
Child soldier, because the first casualty of war is innocence.
Okay, Carmesi did everything they could to not have to kill a child and it paid off but I need you to understand that if she had tried to stop him leaving he would have done whatever he felt was needed.
So Team WULF have moved away from where Coco was stationed in order to get to Team MARZ….Having Coco's gun would have helped.
Yeah Team MARZ and WULF haven't actually seen the Winged Beowolves before.
After months of not being able to launch grenades because of collateral damage Ursinia finally gets to go all out.
Laser having a bag of trick as always and then, finally an honest to goodness proper combo attack with Diabla.
Wolfram was going absolutely ham and I still managed to work in a couple hints that we were finally gonna get the resolution to his Semblance issues.
Well Gestalt-Prime is now officially inside Port Alistair and both Team MARZ and WULF are off of the wall.
And there it is, Wolfram trusts Laser enough to let him Semblance-jack him and Laser of all people, being smarter than people let on manages to figure out Wolfram has been using his Semblance wrong the entire time….The big bad wolf isn't huffing and puffing and blowing houses down, he's the house of stone.
Did you really think I was gonna let Team WULF have a self-sacrifice here, at this point in their stories? What do you think this is Gen: Lock season two?
Aiktishaf ex Machina….Cos Mama Russet aint dead baby.
Astra is now getting the team-up with their big brother that they always wanted, this one is going much better than the Vol.02 mission with Team MARZ because ego is entirely out of the equation.
Yes the talk about shelters may or may not be influenced by current real world events, wouldn't be the first time the news has seeped into my writing.
Well at least the Kingdoms' ('cos not only Atlas has them by now) robots are actually putting in a little work for a change.
Astra's the one with the impressive plans, but here we can see that they picked it up from Felix….That use of Astra's shields, the Killer-Bee's exhaust flames and their own semblance was an excellent combo.
"If not now then when?" ha ha ha, foreshadowing.
So a little overall of how things are going for Port Alistair all in all, along with the facts that Carcharodon is currently still inside the cities' shields with the Nemesis Kharybdis and also, importantly that the problems with the ships' computers are not only still persisting but increasing now, at a critical moment.
Did you really think this was gonna end without Astra rejoining their team?
They stole the car….They clearly do not have long term life goals.
So Velvet is holding the Land-Shark at bay with limited help by keeping it distracted chasing hard-light illusions.
We had to bring back the Winged Buffalo though, that is one of my home-brew Grimm that needed a return.
Everything about Zirconia continues to be Tokusatsu nonsense, she did a special move, paused and posed dramatically to aim her weapon over her shoulder and did another special move; just 'cos.
Regalia had to get a movie quote in this scene, followed by something nasty.
AJ was doing so well but somebody had to get floored so Team WULF could get their dramatic entrance and let's be real….That moment there, with Diabla saving AJ was the perfect way to end their rivalry and have some proper closure.
We really don't appreciate Ursinia's Semblance enough.
Oof, feeling that Astra shaped hole in the team aren't we?
The Penny and Ruby scene was just to remind everyone that they're still on the way and honestly to break up some of the other scenes.
Look, it's always gonna be different when the attack is round the corner from your house no matter how selfless you are.
The Super Roombas are just a running joke from FADE: Legacy.
Ruby self doubt, because she's only ever going to express that in front of people she completely trusts and Penny is at the top of that list considering they've been married for roughly twenty years.
And now we have Nickel….No she's not getting a rematch with Gestalt-Prime, I have a specific use for her in mind.
Yeah there's a difference between learning to drive and driving what is basically the new Robert Pattinson Bat-Mobile….also, yeah I showed of the second Killer-Bee long before we saw that but it's a pretty fair comparison.
The car can almost certainly plough straight through most walls and be okay, but still not gonna risk it.
Obviously they stopped to help civilians.
Don't text and drive….It, and giant monster bears, cause car crashes.
Yeah that car crash hurt but they're okay….However the car is fucked, not totalled mind you, but fucked.
And that right there is a cliffhanger….'cos we all know what's happening here, but we also don't know what's happening here.

Thank you to Lurkweed and MajorBrony95 for their reviews on the last chapter.
Oh year, the last Land-Shark was about forty, Regalia said that her people had seen ones twice that size and avoided them but this one was made specifically for the job of breaking the Capital so they made it bigger...Bascially it's the length of a football pitch (90-120M)
Yeah the Argus shields were poorly designed.
I think a lot of the times we've actually seen the fighter/drop craft in canon they've actually not been moving at top speeds, we always seem to see them just taking off, landing or at at the very least slowing enough for allow Hunters to jump out and deploy from the air.
Oh yeah, the late Major was absolutely hoisting the death flags high there.
As far as feeling sorry for Grapeshot...Nah. That face turn was too little too late and honestly, given everything we've seen of him, including calling Regalia "One of the natives" in his first appearance let's be honest even his idea of a retirement where he lived with the Aiktishaf would just have been him trying to "Enlighten and educate the savages"
There are plans for Carmesi, don't you worry about that...And speaking of plans, we still haven't actually gotten any actual indication of what this plan of the Benefactor's is and why exactly it's worth everything Carmesi has done.
Yeah Coco has dealt with enough red tape and idiots to appreciate having need to know intel when she actually needs to know it.

As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review.