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Chapter 58: Good To Be Back
Within the confines of the airship chaos and desperate, frenzied pandemonium were being kept at bay through nothing more than a tremendous force of will.
Booming, trumpeting shrieks from the Greater Dredge had continued to rattle the air and buffet the airship carrying members of both Team MARZ and Team WULF amongst its' passengers with their clamorous intensity until finally, within the confines of the airship itself this endless din, joined by wailing sirens and alarms had been punctuated by the voice of the airships' Captain and resident Hunter acting as the chief of security as they began to broadcast instructions to the frightened travellers from the command bridge. The Greater Dredge was fast and unreasonably mobile and it seemed highly unlikely that the airship would be able to reach the safety of central Port Alistair before the monstrous avian Grimm managed to catch it whilst similarly it seemed that that the Kingdoms' defenders would not be able to deploy fighter craft to intercept the beast owing to their own still depleted numbers and condition, further to this the sheer tremendous scale of the Grimm made it impossible for Port Alistair to properly or adequately defend against its' malevolent intentions as its' mass would allow it to overwhelm any hard-light shield levelled against it even if it did not simply soar over those which made up the cities' coastal defences and the airship itself was even more defenceless, the pilot explaining that they had been forced to disable their vessels' shields entirely as the risk of them being overloaded by a ramming or swooping attack from the Greater Dredge risked causing power outages to major areas of the craft and possibly it falling into the ocean below.
However there was still a plan, therefore there was still a chance.
The ships' security officer, whose claims of being an experienced Hunter were given weight by the weary, gruff determination of their tone had taken over the announcement resounding through the entirety of the hunted vessel at this point and began to explain, with a calmness as reassuring as it was galling to those unaccustomed to dealing with the nightmarish Creatures of Grimm that whilst the old and woefully underprepared and under-equipped airship lacked any firepower with which to combat the Grimm it did still boast a full compliment of freshly maintained and full operational escape pods. Ejecting the passengers en masse into the waiting waters below would offer little solace of course, there were likely even more monsters lurking below the surface capable of piercing the armoured hulls of the escape pods and dragging the fleeing civilians to a bleak and watery end however the captain and their crew-mates believed that they would be able to manoeuvre the airship away from its' intended flightpath and towards a broad stretch of sandy coastline located just outside of the cities' perimeter walls where they could escape to with relative safety and be rescued more easily.
It was this plan that had seen Astra and Zirconia making their way towards the designated evacuation points towards the lower port and starboard edges of the massive airship.
"See, you don't get fun like this flying first class!" the Deer Faunus joked, nudging their team-mate's shoulder as the two of them pressed themselves into the crowded waiting area, luggage held as close to them as possible.
"Hardly the time or the place" the Grasshopper Faunus sighed in her usual monotone, understanding her leaders' preference for masking worries beneath their cockiness but being in no mood to entertain it as she took in the sight around her. It was simply harrowing, reminiscent of the attacks on their home city and time spent in Grimm shelters during her childhood as people of all ages huddled into corridors whose decorative fascia had slid away to reveal the utilitarian workings below; where normally the passengers would see imitation wooden furnishings intended to give the airship an admittedly undeserved sense of class, this decoration broken up by signage and the occasional portcullis it had now been removed to reveal access hatches control panels for the various escape pods which would be fired down onto the beaches which the ship was turning towards with all haste and a creaking, ominous groan of strained systems which rose above the ambient buzz of hushed conversations and the crying of children which pierced it.
"Fair" Astra nodded, sensing that arguing over the reasonability of their comments would be of little use and instead allowing their sea-green eyes to rove sharply across the scene before them before pointing at a familiar, towering form made larger by the scorpion tail rising behind in a high arch
"There's Ursinia, Diabla will be with her" they noted "We should stick together"
"They're moving towards the escape pods…..They wouldn't run away" Zirconia observed, watching the trail of Ursinia's Faunus attribute as the towering young woman cut through the crowd with polite but determined progress until a moment of clarity came "The Hunter is still here, he has to be the first one onto the ground to secure the landing area-"
"And Ursinia and Diabla wanna help, well let's go help" Astra beamed, expression suddenly fierce as they increased their pace and gently, with many apologies began to make their way through the crowd; managing to get several paces ahead of Zirconia so that by the time the Grasshopper Faunus rejoined them her team leader had drawn level with the two members of Team WULF and were now standing before the lone qualified Hunter presiding over the airship, an old man whose hairless but tattooed skull was offset by a grey beard styled into twin forks and a leathery, weather-beaten look which spoke of experience.
"We're Breaktide students" Astra declared by way of introduction, planting their luggage down and producing their scroll to display their identification "All four of us fought in the battle for Port Alistair….We want to help"
"I see" the grizzled old Hunter spoke slowly, a calloused thumb tracing the blade of an ornate and double-headed axe in a thoughtful gesture as his initial and obvious intention to brush aside any teenager with ideas above and beyond their abilities was left conflicting with the realities of the situation.
"We can help you get these people to safety, more hands fighting the Grimm on the ground!" Ursinia chimed in with eager enthusiasm whilst Astra's mind continued to race and Zirconia watched with rapt interest, curious to see that detail the Deer Faunus had picked up on that their peers had not and being rewarded as they locked eyes with the older and more experienced Hunter whose own expression was similar drawn and focused.
"Even if we get the passengers to safety we still need to distract that big Grimm….we need to keep it chasing the airship until everyone can get to safety; if it attacks you while you're on the beach you won't be able to fight it, it's too big"
"You're right" the leathery old man noted, shifting his grip on his axe "But don't say it so damn loud, keeping cool heads is half the battle….Do you have any suggestions"
"The ship might not have any weapons….But we do" Astra noted, adjusting their stance in defiance of an expected counterargument which never came and then instead turning their attention towards Ursinia and asking "You think one of your grenades would get that things attention?"
"Darlin' I'm hoping to blow its' darn beak off if it don't stop its' hollering" the country girl answered confidently, her words almost lost beneath the shrieking of the latest challenge from the Greater Dredge as it continued to stalk the airship through the skies, prompting a fresh wave of panicked chattering and outbursts from the gathered passengers whilst the four students braced themselves, Zirconia simply giving Astra a silent nod which her team-mate took to mean that she would follow their lead with her usual dedication whilst Diabla stepped forwards, placing her own sparse luggage at the feet of the older Hunter and deploying Peace and Quiet in their gauntlet form in a show of might.
"We both know what the fastest way up onto the top of the hull is" she growled, well acquainted with the design of such ships and earning herself a nod of respect from the Hunter who cleared his throat and addressed the passengers with a booming clarity.
"ATTENTION!" the ambient buzz was silenced, save for a few final cries from scared children "The plan is as follows! Each of these escape pods can hold up to twelve people, once all of you are inside I will be taking the first pod down alone in order to secure a landing area; from there I will begin launching the escape pods and we will wait for a recovery team from Port Alistair! In order to keep the Grimm from following us these four fine young Hunters before me will be providing a diversion. You have two minutes to organise yourselves and get into the pods! MOVE PEOPLE, MOVE!"
With that the pandemonium began anew, but now it possessed a sense of purpose which made the affair seem less bleak, even as the sound of wingbeats grew perilously close.
"I hope you kids know what you're doing! And I'll make sure your luggage gets sent to your school. Good luck!" the old Hunter gave each of them a hearty and friendly slap on the shoulder before taking each of their bags and suitcases and throwing them into the pod he intended to use; taking a final glance around to see that there were no stragglers before clambering into the Atlesian steel capsule and slamming its' hatch shut behind with a hiss of compressed air as it sealed, followed by a roaring of stabilising rockets which preceded pod bursting free of the airship as magnetic clamps released to reveal a hole in the hull of the vessel and howling winds beyond.
"So how do we get up top?" Zirconia asked, already sensing that she would not like the answer,
Diabla offered no words and simply launched herself forwards and the grabbed the rim of where the escape pod had been before she could fall and then from there began to clamber expertly upwards along the outer surface of the massive vessel, making use of various handholds and rails as she went.
"Come on let's move!" Astra yelled, quickly following the Mantle-born brawler and hauling themselves up onto the hull of the airship with Ursinia and Diabla close behind, the latter using various stabilisers, supports and adhesives to aid her climb to such a degree that she could walk unimpeded along the slanted surface until finally the four of them were perched precariously on the upper surface of the vessel where the wind whipped and howled around them and the scale of their task became truly apparent.
The Greater Dredge seemed even larger than before from here.
Astra had initially spied the Pelican Grimm from the observation deck and at that time it had been lurking below the airship and somewhere in the distance after rising from the waves it had waded out into, now however it had closed the distance between them almost entirely, allowing its' hideousness to be fully appreciated and it had moved to a position above the airship from which it would soon be able to dive and tear at the moving nacelle wings of the older vessel.
"The escape pods are starting to launch!" Astra exclaimed as the sound of dozens of nearly simultaneous ejections, reduced to muted pops by the rest of the cacophony around them sounded out; the sight of a barrage of metallic comets erupting from the flanks of its' intended prey and falling downwards towards the sands below drawing the attention of the Greater Dredge, its' serpentine, almost industrial neck extending and craning outwards to allow it peer down at this new prize until Astra turned to Ursinia and gave the Scorpion Faunus a single nod.
"Eat this ya overgrown seagull!" Ursinia bellowed as she aimed The Adventurer in its' pistol-gripped grenade launcher form and fired, sending her projectile up in a high arc to sail through the air and strike the Greater Dredge in the back; a blossoming fireball drawing a squawk of pained fury from it.
"Well, we have its' attention" Zirconia noted "Now what?"
"Still working on that part" Astra admitted sheepishly, only for the avian Grimm to let out a truly uncomfortable sound, a shrieking that was cut of by a choked, strangled retch as it opened its' bill wide and promptly vomited forth a flowing stream of the viscous, protean tar-like substance that bubbled and swirled within it; the raw Grimm matter flying through the air before beginning to break off and spatter into various branches of its' own accord in a display that was as sickening as it was unnatural, with each of these globules of manifest darkness beginning to condense and coalesce in mid air before landing on the hull of the airship in a loose formation; several pairs of red eyes blinking into existence as bone armour began to rise to prominence on bodies which resembled that which had created them, albeit flightless and with heads whose disproportionate size seemed to suggest they might be used as axes or cudgels.
Lesser Dredges.
"Well, now we know what they next part is" Diabla snarled, readying her ultrasonic blade and flamethrower "Now we've gotta fight those"
The news of the Greater Dredge attack had spread quickly through Port Alistair.
It was impossible for it not to of course, given that anybody who happened to look out of a sufficiently high window would have been able to physically see an approaching airship begin to sharply veer off course and offload a full compliment of escape pods as the winged monstrosity which left trails of obsidian ichor falling in its' wake gave chase or else simply hear the screaming, honking cries of pelican Grimm if they were located in the areas of Port Alistair closest to the coastline.
Once the initial surprise of the enormous beasts' emergence was overcome people, plans and equipment who well-drilled and recently tested in the most hauntingly real sense began to be put into motion and whilst the lone Creature of Grimm was not deemed cause for a full scale evacuation towards shelters there was a definite sense of panic throughout the city which quickly grew to become almost palpable; the busiest parts of the city centre soon finding themselves devoid of the press of bodies that was characteristic of a Saturday afternoon during the summer as the citizens began to quickly retreat towards their homes even before strategically placed speakers and klaxons had begun to emit warnings that they should do so, though this had created gridlocked roads in many places as people hoping to make their way to safety had found themselves forced to wait for passing convoys of armoured vehicles including flatbed trucks with various robotic battle-suits, some of which still bore the scars of their last engagement with the enemy as they made their way towards what would become the front lines of the conflict if the Greater Dredge chose to attack the city directly; with all of this being bolstered by the colourful and awe-inspiring displays of Hunters as they made their way towards where they were needed most.
Amongst those Hunters was Regalia Russet.
The Racoon Faunus had been parked just within the limits of Port Alistair when the news of the Greater Dredge's attack had reached her; after crossing the wasteland between the roving Aiktishaf and the perimeter walls of the city she now considered home without incident Regalia had taken the opportunity to rest for a while upon seeing that she had arrived in good time and would not be required at Breaktide Academy for several hours and it had been here, sitting atop the idly hovering form of Clunker whilst enjoying the thermos of bone broth she had been given by her mother and making small-talk with groups of workmen continuing the task of rebuilding what had been lost to the Grimm only months earlier that she had learned of what was happening miles away on the other side of the city. Without hesitation Regalia had lowered her new goggles, faceplate sliding into place with a series of satisfying chugging clanks before speeding off, Clunker's Dust powered engine roaring into life and spewing flames behind it as she raced deeper into Port Alistair and paused only to use her Semblance; focusing and giving Look-See the simple and unequivocal instruction of 'Friends' in order for it tell her precisely where she needed to be.
Only for her stomach to plummet when the oscillating gold and purple marker of her Semblance informed her that Astra and Zirconia were on the very same airship the Greater Dredge was chasing.
From there Regalia had sped onwards with reckless abandon, the anti-gravity systems of her jetbike shrieking and thudding dangerously in protest under the strain of additional weight and forces exerted on them each time the nomad used a sharp tug on long and sturdy handlebars in order to leap over traffic or other obstacles with a plan, or at the very least a direction began to cement itself in her mind and it was that plan which had brought the Racoon Faunus to her current location.
"TOOK YOU LONG ENOUGH!" Athena-Jade called out as hopped over several tables and chairs to come rushing from the side-street she had ventured down in search of shade, making her way out onto the main road at the sound of Clunker's distinctive metallic roar; the Bear Faunus's urgent pace impeded only slightly by the furniture littering the way and the fact that she was still dragging her own luggage behind her.
"Heh, missed you too!" Regalia called back, voice muffled and yet given an almost imposing quality by her mask which was in turn almost lost beneath her jetbikes' roaring engine as she pulled Clunker into a sharp, sliding turn and in the same, expert motion drew Apex Scavenger its' holster resting behind her thigh on the bikes' chassis and firing the harpoon section fitted under the shotgun directly at her team-mate.
"So how was your summer?" Athena laughed, allowing herself the distraction of friendly and familiar banter as she caught the harpoon with practised ease and prepared for what had become one of Team MARZ's usual ways of travelling in places or circumstances where traffic laws did not need to be obeyed, namely threading the harpoon through the handles of her various items of luggage so that she could free her hands and then creating a glyph directly under her own feet before Regalia revved Clunker's engine and tore off once again, towing Athena-Jade behind her.
"What's happening?" the snowy haired Faunus yelled over the sound of rushing wind "I know there's a Grimm up there and people are getting out of the way but-"
"Astra and Zirconia are still on that airship"
"THEN WE'VE GOTTA HELP THEM!" Athena-Jade's voice took on a frantic edge as the words struck her like a physical blow, eyes darting upwards to see the massive Grimm continuing to swoop down upon the aircraft visible between the rising buildings that separated them "What's happening, that ship's going the wrong way?"
"I don't know" Regalia admitted "But it looks like like there's already Hunters heading towards the wall and out of the city….towards the beaches"
"They're rescuing people!" Athena exclaimed in realisation "They must have used the escape pods"
"But Astra and Zirconia are still up there" Regalia countered, certain of what her Semblance had shown her and therefore that the absent half of Team MARZ were still in the air. Athena pondered that fact for a moment, faculties limited somewhat by the fact she was having to maintain her grasp on the cable she was clinging onto and also adjust her balance and footing every time Clunker was thrown round a corner at breakneck speeds in order to avoid having herself smeared against a wall; eventually the answer came to her.
It was obvious, it was chilling and considering who was being discussed she should have realised it sooner.
"They're not gonna try and escape" Athena sighed "They're gonna try and fight that thing….Of course they are"
"Well it looks like it's leaking everywhere" Regalia noted, studying the Pelican Grimm and the viscous sludge falling from it before lowering her voice to a deep and resonant imitation of a movie star she remembered and had once idolised "If it bleeds we can kill it"
The upper hull of the airship was a largely flat and open expanse of metallic panels which offered little in the way of terrain which would be used as cover or obstacles and as the flock of Lesser Dredges came rushing towards Astra, Zirconia, Ursinia and Diabla with their outsized heads rocking almost comically and their clawed feet cutting into the metal beneath them the four teens quickly began to use that open space to their advantage, rushing forward to meet the Grimm with their weapons at the ready.
"Zirconia! Astra called out "Create an opening!"
"Understood!" the insectoid Faunus rasped, bounding forwards in long and leaping strides as her mechanical limbs propelled her and Sunrise Cain was twirled in her hand as she shifted it into its' melee form, Dust cylinders rotating in preparation for a decisive blow. Her speed carried her ahead of her allies until she and the charging Grimm were mere feet away from one another at which point Zirconia crouched and coiled her muscles whilst cybernetic components audibly hissed under extreme tension before finally she threw herself beyond the reach of the nearest monster and delivered a flying kick to the skull of a Lesser Dredge somewhere in the midst of the squawking rabble; from there she held her weapon overhead with its' flat cylindrical tip facing downward before slamming into the surface of the hull.
'Ice! Lightning!' the synthesised voice of her weapon declared as twin Dust cylinders discharged, first freezing a segment of the hull and leaving the Lesser Dredges nearest to the rogue trapped in places as the frost rushed out across the metal surface and up their limbs and then sending a lethal electrical charge, replete with crackling bolts of arcing lightning out along the affected area, dangerous yet contained as to prevent the attack from striking her friends; several of the waddling and ungainly monsters exploded in a burst of smoke and stray feathers before Zirconia heard her team-mates' voice again.
"Get clear!" the moment they saw Zirconia's lithe form streak out of the dissipating mist Astra readied Buckshot Ares; the arm mounted weapons being fully deployed with their shields, blades and underslung Mini-Guns presented as they held their arms straight and skidding to a halt to brace themselves before unleashing a maelstrom of bullets almost blindly into the mass of Grimm cloaked by the fading forms of their vanquished kin; the flickering and failing light of malevolent red eyes being the primary indication that more of the Dredges had been cut down by the onslaught until a handful of their number came screaming and squawking out of the darkness directly at the Deer Faunus who promptly offered an almost feral smile in response before allowing their guns to fall silent and closing the distance.
The first of the Lesser Dredges came rushing at them, claws scrabbling wildly against steel and spiny neck whipping around to swing a blunt, cudgel of a beak around in a wide threatening arc only for the Deer Faunus to answer by throwing themselves into an acrobatic leap over the attack which saw them land in a crouch beside the Grimm, then follow up by flinging themselves to their feet and complete their spinning motion so that the blade mounted on their right forearm cleaved through the neck of the beast and decapitated it completely whilst their left arm came around to collide with a second Grimm that had come screeching at them and send the thing rolling across the hull as the shield component of Buckshot Ares clattered into it.
And then the two members of Team WULF that were present made their presence known.
Diabla entered the fray with a wordless yell and her fists wreathed in the volcanic orange light of her Semblance as she leapt high into the air and delivered a single, devastating punch to the torso of the Lesser Dredge Astra had struck before it could rise, almost imploding the things' body entirely and sending a shock-wave of concussive force travelling outwards which forced her allies to steady themselves whilst at the same tame visibly damaging the armoured hull of the airship though Diabla simply continued her assault on the Grimm by shifting her weapons out of their gauntlet mode and consuming several more of the squawking horrors in a jet of flames.
"Careful now darlin', if I lose this hat I'll be mighty upset!" Ursinia noted with a playful edge as she leapt effortlessly over Diabla's back the moment her flamethrower ceased its' immolation of the nearest targets and from there the Scorpion Faunus added her own strength to the proceedings by kicking a burning, frenzied Grimm back with a booted foot; her spurs leaving a fresh gouge in bone armour before she cleaved the thing in two with a single swing of her sword.
Only for the Greater Dredge to remind them of its' presence in a terrifyingly effective manner.
"Holy shit!" Astra yelled, crouching and sinking their blades into the hull they stood upon to anchor themselves as the Pelican Grimm finally drew close enough to dive down and take one of the airships' moving nacelles in its' claws and, with a single powerful beat of its' wings begin to tear the massive component loose with an eruption of flames and smoke and a screech of tortured metal which the Grimm's own triumphant outcry managed to rival as it began to extend its' neck and widen its' bill once again to reveal the bubbling and roiling contents within.
"Ursinia, grenade!" Astra bellowed without thinking, sea-green eyes wide as they realised that the Greater Dredge intended to unleash a fresh wave of its' smaller spawn upon them and that until a way of effectively combating the pelican Grimm could be found it would be free to do so over and over again, all whilst continuing to tear the airship apart with hateful glee. The Scorpion Faunus followed the instruction without hesitation, the massive golden blade of her sword breaking apart and performing a pincer-like motion as the weapon shifted into its' ranged form and was fired in another high arc; this time sending the projectile directly toward the beak of the Greater Dredge where it struck one of the jutting spires of bone which sprouted from the lower jaw of the Grimm's cauldron-like maw like some hideous combination of tooth and rock formation before finally exploding with a deafening blast.
And ripping away part of the Grimm's mouth.
"Well, we got it!" Ursinia declared happily as the Greater Dredge shrieked in agony and whipped its' oversized skull back in rage and fright as torrents of shifting obsidian ichor spewed from the gaping wound in its' skull; a hole several times larger than a person in diameter from which cracks and fissures spread out in all directions to form a web of damage which spread across most of the bottom right side of the Greater Dredge's bill.
Yet the victory was short lived.
"That sludge isn't fading!" Zirconia warned, mismatched eyes widening and then narrowing "It's still forming more Grimm!"
"The passengers! Damn it that Hunter is gonna be on his own!" Diabla spat as she raced towards the edge of the hull, skidding to a staggering halt and watched in horror as the Greater Dredge continued to thrash its' head around though now it seemed almost deliberate, as though the Grimm were intent on seeding as wide an area as possible as the protean contents of its' bill began to congeal and take shape whilst still in the air, forming dozens upon dozens of Lesser Dredges which hurtled downwards with a focus which seemed to suggest that they expected to survive their fall onto the same beach which the escape pods had been deployed onto. The Mantle-born brawler was not the only one to see this however and Astra called over to her and Ursinia
"You two go! Ursinia, your Semblance will help fight waves of Grimm more than one big one….Zirconia and I will keep this thing distracted for as long as we can!" there was a moment where Diabla and Ursinia seemed ready to argue before seeing the severity of the situation and recognising the validity of the idea.
"You take care now, don't end up as crow bait" Ursinia nodded before leaping over the edge of the airships' hull, her team-mate close behind as the two of them prepared to put their tried and tested landing strategies into practice.
Leaving Astra and Zirconia alone on the hull of a now damaged airship to confront the still thrashing Greater Dredge.
"Do you actually have a plan to keep this Grimm distracted….Or better yet, actually beat it?" Zirconia asked as she rejoined her team-mate, faint traces of both hopefulness and expectancy creeping into her voice as she found herself almost subconsciously preparing for whatever ideas the Mohawk-sporting Deer Faunus would offer which would no doubt be daring in a way which bordered on lunacy.
"Still working on it" Astra admitted "In the meantime, wanna give me some more time to think….Maybe electrocute its' claws so it lets go like you did to the little ones?"
"Give me a moment" Zirconia sighed, already planning her route to the damaged nacelle which the Greater Dredge was using to keep itself attached to the airship rather than tear it away entirely; a moment later the Grimm shrieked in defiance and lashed out again, a clawed limb tearing deep trenches in armoured steel and prompting the two teens standing against it to charge into action.
They were half a team with half a plan, but they were the only ones there and so they vowed to be enough.
Team ABRN were already on the move when they learned of the plan concocted by the pilot and Hunter turned security officer of the airship arriving from Neo Vale to deploy the escape pods onto a stretch of beach that had been rendered mercifully vacant by the fact that the crowds hoping to enjoy it had already seen the approaching Greater Dredge and fled for safety, whilst at the same time creating a distraction so that a secure perimeter could be set up and an extraction operation put into effect; or in more blunt and direct terms, so that the nearest Hunters could help fend off any Grimm that might attack whilst the passengers rushed through a small opening in the cities' defences whilst armed soldiers and a small mechanised contingent stood at the ready behind it.
Given that they had already mobilised themselves, taking one of Breaktide Academies' small fleet of lightly armed and armoured, but swift and reliable transport craft and informing Coco Adel of the situation, as her dual roles as both head of the academy and Councilwoman of the city made her the de facto commander of any such operation to take place within or in proximity to its' limits Team ABRN had been the first on the scene with Arslan working in tandem with both the axe-wielding Hunter on the ground and the nearest defensive position on Port Alistair's walls which could be used to create an evacuation corridor before she, Reese and Nolan had leapt from the aircraft whilst Nadir brought it racing over the broad stretch of beach whose golden sands had been cratered and displaced by the gleaming masses of metal from which frightened people had already begun to emerge.
Only for the Grimm to follow suit and begin to emerge from the previously calm waters, drawn by the terror and discord sown by the screaming monstrosity soaring above.
Team ABRN had reacted with skill and speed honed over decades of experience however; Arslan rushing to the fore and placing herself steadfast and stalwart between the amphibious horrors that slithered and leapt ashore, standing beside the grizzled older man who readied his axe, her weapon flying into their midst to puncture skulls and chests before being withdrawn time and time again whilst at the same time she directed the team who were also her family, prompting Bolin to gather up the passengers and begin leading them towards safety with a remarkable level of cohesion and send Reese and Nadir speeding out across the water to wreak havoc on the Grimm in their own territory until shortly thereafter, just as the last dregs of the aquatic assault were being put down Arslan receiving an incoming call on a secure frequency only a few people had access to.
"Ruby" Arslan murmured as she tapped at an earpiece.
"Salutations" the voice of Penny Rose, formerly Polendina replied, revealing that it was in fact the Silver Eyed Warriors' wife who had contacted her; though the two were likely together "Ruby and I will be combat ready shortly, we're waiting to be rotated out of our current assignment as Coco does not want to leave our defences open….What's the situation on the ground?"
"Situation on the ground is being taken care of" Arslan answered with no small amount of satisfaction, she considered Ruby Rose a friend but there was no denying the fact that having ones' own accomplishments and abilities so continuously and absurdly outshone made those rare occasions where she could, if even for a moment outperform the living legend herself all the sweeter.
"Sensational!" Penny exclaimed with her customary upbeat cheer "Ruby and I will focus on the Greater Dredge"
"Understood" Arslan answered simply, ending the transmission before skewering another Grimm with an admittedly unnecessary flourish and a small, playful wink in Reese's direction which she would never dream of offering in front of students. The sense of victory and control ended swiftly however as an explosion somewhere above, sounding ominously as though it had come from the direction of the still fleeing airship had preceded something truly unexpected.
It began to rain Grimm.
"What the hell!" Arslan demanded, fierce yellow eyes narrowing in questioning fury as she regarded the squawking, ungainly and frankly oddly amusing forms of the Lesser Dredges that attempted to use themselves as living missiles as they were flung out in torrential waves of spattering darkness that took shape to birth them, only for the vast majority of them to be fired upon before they could reach the ground by both snipers and long range weapons mounted on Port Alistair's defences and the nose and wing-mounted armaments of the Manta class transport Nadir was piloting. Arslan prepared to rush into battle and cleave and hammer her way through those Lesser Dredges which survived their fall to rise, disoriented and noisome from the sand in flailing masses, if only so that she could recount the experience to the freshly minted teams of First Years she would encounter tomorrow yet before she could do so she felt the leathery hand of the airships' attached Hunter on her shoulder and promptly turned to face him, arched eyebrow silently demanding an answer for his presumptuousness
"Look, two of the kids that stayed on the airship are already on it"
"Kids?" Arslan demanded icily "By which I presume you mean students of mine….Whose presence here you entirely neglected to mention!"
"Aye" the bald and bearded man answered frankly "Four of 'em, said they helped defend this city over the summer; didn't feel it was my place to tell 'em no in that case"
"I see" Arslan forced the words through clenched teeth, annoyed largely by the fact that despite her urge to throttle the man before her with his own beard his reasoning was one that she could quite easily imagine as having come from her own lips and so instead she turned her focus towards where he had indicated just in time to see two forms fall to the ground in a slowed and controlled way which suggested the use of landing strategies, a flare of blazing orange light as the pair engaged the Grimm around them identifying them both in Arslan's mind as she would recognise such a distinctive Semblance manifestation from one of her students anyway. Now that she knew Ursinia Red and Diabla Fuego were on the ground and capable of handling themselves for at least a while longer however there were other matters to consider, not least of all contacting Ruby and informing of these new developments.
"You said four students" Arslan snapped "Two are still up there, who are they?"
"I didn't get names but I've got their bags here" the old Hunter gestured to the escape pod he had used to lead the evacuation from the airship "One had half her face hidden behind a scarf and a pair of robot legs like a cricket or a grasshopper, the other one was a Deer Faunus with a Mohawk-"
"Astra Mars and Zirconia Shadowmoon of Team MARZ" Arslan sighed slowly, wondering to herself who else she had honestly expected and setting off towards the two representatives of Team WULF at a brisk pace whilst muttering under her breath in a rare breaching of her composure.
"Because of course it is, why wouldn't it be?….I swear I'm getting too old for these teenagers and their antics"
With its' bill torn open by the explosive might of Ursinia's grenades and the vile contents of its' cauldron-like maw spilling out into the wind the Greater Dredge was forced to enter a new phase in its' attempts to kill the two remaining enemies standing against it, though the pelican Grimm did so with an eager malevolence which made its' crimson eyes glow all the brighter.
Astra and Zirconia were once again forced to brace themselves, stomachs plummeting with both fear and the sudden terrifying lurch of the airship as the Grimm shifted its' grip on the already damaged nacelle wing of the airship and finally tore the gigantic assembly away completely, leaving the vessel listing and veering off course only for it to be forced to lower its' altitude significantly; the sound of screeching and buckling steel filling the air and the Greater Dredge stalked and bobbed its' way across the upper hull of the airship with its' wings fanning out to keep some semblance of control and balance whilst hooked claws tore through armour and into inner workings and upper decks. The terror was not yet finished however as the Greater Dredge let out another of its' choked, phlegmatic retching sounds and vomited forth all of the remaining protean Grimm tissue that remained at its' disposal; though now rather than a wave of Lesser Dredges the avian nightmare ejected what first appeared to be its' own tongue, then unfurled and revealed its' multiple appendages and cephalopod suckers, giving the Pelican Grimm a mass of thrashing tentacles akin to something a seabird might conceivably have eaten which were now fused to its' mouth and gullet.
"Astra we need to finish this now or it's going to drag the airship down over the city!" Zirconia warned, her customary aloof and refined, delicate rasp rising to something more urgent as she was forced to concede that matters had grown a little outside of her comfort zone; Astra for their part merely flashed a winning smile and reached up to dramatically pop the new black leather collar of their remade jacket.
"Good thing I've got a plan then!" they called, aiming Buckshot Ares and opening fire to keep the Pelican Grimm's limited capacity to think occupied "Those tentacles might change things a little….You think you can spread you Semblance out far enough to trap its' head?"
"I….should be able to" Zirconia answered with some pondering uncertainty, taking the question to mean that Astra needed the Greater Dredge to be deprived of its' senses for a moment in order to enact something greater and being vindicated when the Deer Faunus spoke again.
"Okay, this will work let's go!….I promise I'll catch you!"
"What?" Zirconia demanded though it was too late for more information as the Deer Faunus was already rushing out in a flanking manoeuvre to keep the attention of the Greater Dredge firmly on themselves and as she watched disgustingly muscular appendages which had no part of being part of the pelican Grimm's anatomy come crashing down like waves of slimy flesh onto the armoured hull with thundering impacts Zirconia decided to, for once simply act without fear or consideration and instead display an unwavering belief and commitment.
As Athena-Jade would if she were with them.
The tendrils missed Astra narrowly and as they watched Zirconia leap onto one of the vomited limbs and begin running along its' surface, arms trailing behind her as she readied her weapon again the Deer Faunus gave her a few more moments to operate undetected by taking both of their arm mounted blades and driving them into the nearest tentacle, then pulling them in opposite directions with all the force they could muster.
The Greater Dredge screamed and thrashed, doing yet more damage to the airship and sending hefty chunks of steel hurtling through the air as the entire vessel shook under violent wingbeats all whilst the monster let out a sound comparable to those made by one who had bitten their own tongue as the drew their tendrils back at least partway into their broken beak.
And then the plan was put into motion.
Pained and furious squawking took on a mildly curious and confused note, followed by one of primal fear as an all encompassing manifest darkness more total than even the monsters' own inky form came into existence around it, rippling faintly at the edges of the Grimm's monstrous neck but otherwise totally encasing the things' head.
Astra knew that there was precious little time and that they would only get once chance, if any at all as the pelican Grimm was almost certainly capable of breaking through Zirconia's sensory deprivation by simply throwing its' tentacles forth again and with all of this in mind the leader of Team MARZ collapsed their weapons and began to run towards their opponent at full speed.
Activating their Semblance as they went.
After spending so much of the summer training their newly discovered abilities Astra, whilst entirely aware that there was a great deal of work still to be done was comfortable in saying that they had understood and practised the basics enough to implement them now and was rewarded by the feeling of their strides lengthening and the changing of sensations as their Aura expanded outwards around them to create a glowing facsimile of pure light, casting everything in a fiery red hue. Whilst weighing far less than a real body of comparable size the presence of both Astra's Aura self and the Greater Dredge upon its' back forced the airship lower still and it became obvious that things could not continued as they were for more than a few moments, however Astra was confident that was all they would need and surged towards the still blinded Grimm until they were close enough to attack; throwing a bicep into the meaty structure of the things' throat and wrapping an arm around its' neck entirely before flinging their feet free of the hull and leaping over the edge of the airship with a gleeful yell that rang through the air.
"R-K-O outta nowhere!"
As they fell the levity vanished yet the adrenaline remained, Astra's landing strategy required weapons that they had no functional access to in their current state and yet despite being lowered forcefully the airship had still been travelling at a considerable height however their was no time to make considerations and plans as the Deer Faunus watched the sphere of impenetrable nothingness dissipate from around the skull of the Grimm, Zirconia's ability to maintain her Semblance being broken by the exertion, the monsters' resistance and the simply act of being flung through the air. With nothing else to be done Astra released their grip on the Greater Dredge and cupped their team-mates falling form in glowing palms made of solidified light; all whilst striving to position themselves so that they landed away from the cities' perimeter wall and struck only soft sand.
They hit the beach with a boom which flung sand out in wave several meters high in all directions.
"Ouch" Astra groaned the moment they were able to speak, their Semblance having faltered and failed the moment they hit the ground and leaving them sprawled at the base of a shallow crater of their own making. As their senses returned to them however they quickly realised three things in rapid succession.
Firstly that Zirconia had been flung to the far edge of the crater yet was already on her feet, brushing sand from herself and adjusting her stance to accommodate the loose surface below.
Secondly that the airship, damaged as it was had torn away at full speed with a contrail of black smoke in its' wake the moment the Grimm had been ripped from it.
And thirdly that in lieu of its' preferred and intended quarry the Greater Dredge had instead set its' sights upon the two Hunters once again; its' massive shadow falling over the crater in the sand as it circled overhead.
"Ah crap" Astra muttered, rolling their shoulders and noting that the right was now more than a little sore after the fall as their eyes narrowed and their mind raced in search of a new angle of attack against odds that seemed to be increasingly stacked against them.
The odds were changed a moment later as the dull boom of the sound barrier being shattered was followed instantly by a sight famous all across Remnant, that of a comet whose tail was made of falling rose petals streaking across the blue sky in a burst of blinding motion and heroism. Ruby Rose had arrived and as she landed mere feet away from Astra, Crescent Rose slung behind her in an iconic pose the Deer Faunus realised that the Greater Dredge was already fading away; the living legend having cleaved through its' neck and leaving the monster falling to the ground in two pieces with a single blow delivered so fast it had gone entirely unseen and yet without any effort at all. It took Astra a moment to form words, yet when they did they offered what any knew them would call a summation of their character.
"You know we totally had that right?"
"I'm sure you did and that you would have looked impressive whilst doing it. Well done" Professor Ruby Rose laughed "I'm sure Arslan will appreciate that her students haven't forgotten to train over the break. I assume she'll be here any…..No, that isn't her….Astra it seems you have company"
"Huh?" Astra followed the direction of their professors' gaze and sought out what her mechanical eye had detected; hearing it a fraction of a second before they saw it, the distinctive roar of Clunker's engine followed by the sight of Regalia Russet speeding across the sand on her jetbike with Athena-Jade Slate in tow, quite literally as she hung on to harpoon component of Apex Scavenger until the bike finally came skidding to halt and the pair leapt clear and sprinted towards their respective team-mates, though Astra and Zirconia were stood only a negligible distance apart as Astra had begun making their way closer, allowing them to see and smirk knowingly at the reunion between Zirconia and Athena-Jade.
"You were absolutely amazing up there!" the Bear Faunus cheered rushing close and throwing her arms around her partner, pulling her into a crushing hug with enough force to lift her off of the ground entirely and spin happily with the insectoid Faunus in her grasp "I mean both of you were, but seriously hops that was….I mean-"
"It's good to see you too AJ"
"I uh….Yeah" Athena gulped audibly and the precise moment she realised just how intimate the way she was holding her partner, whom she had kissed and then heard nothing from for over a month was clearly discernable, marked by the way she leapt back several paces as though electrocuted wearing a sheepish, uncertain expression which Zirconia for all of her supposed coolness in her partners' eyes found herself mirroring.
"Hi" Regalia's nervous greeting pulled Astra's focus towards the Racoon Faunus who gave her an appraising look and nodded towards the shortened braid of hair which no longer reached to the small of her back.
"Nice cut….Did you see Ursinia and Diabla down there? Did the passengers-"
"Heh, everyone's fine" Regalia nodded and beamed brightly "We rode passed them, rode by Professor Altan as well….She looked kinda annoyed"
"So it's a day that ends in a Y….Good thing everyone's okay though, my bags are back there somewhere" Astra snorted, the comment preceding an awkward and heavy silence as the two who had parted on terms which neither of them had wished for struggled to find words until finally Regalia chose to opt for simple, yet brave and uncertain honesty.
"So….Are we okay?" hope and apprehension battled one another in her words "I missed my best friend"
"Look, a lot happened, some of it matters and some of it doesn't and we can talk more when we've had a chance to rest" Astra answered, speaking slowly as they crossed the distance between themselves and Regalia before reaching her and throwing an arm around her shoulders to pull her into a loose, one-armed hug of the kind reserved for the closest friends.
"But I missed you too"
The elation that came with that was one that could not be dampened by Arslan Altan's arrival, fierce and brazen as always, mildly miffed about being outshone by Ruby Rose once again though managing to take it in good humour and stating that those students who had been aboard the airship would naturally have to report for a debriefing at Breaktide Academy; though that there were still other matters to attend to before that could happen.
The amphitheatre of Breaktide Academy was filled with voices cheering until they became hoarse as the limelight filling the stage focused on the raised central podium where Headmistress Coco Adel had concluding assigning an official name and leader to the latest and indeed final team of prospective students to have successfully completed their initiation and taken their place among the ranks of the next generation of Hunters. Watching from the seating, whilst still an energetic and emotional affair was certainly and entirely different feeling to the heart-stopping nervous exhilaration which Astra recalled leaving their ears ringing and mind reduced to a dull fuzz the previous year however they, along with every other student, teacher and member of the academies' administrative and logistical staff present were both proud and honoured to be a part of it.
Even if Astra was somewhat distracted despite their best efforts to be otherwise.
Teams MARZ and WULF had arrived at the campus some hours ago and yet that time had rushed by in a blur of hasty activity which had left the Deer Faunus's head spinning and entirely unfocused. Firstly the quartet who had fought against the Greater Dredge aboard the airship, which Astra had learned over the course of the intervening hours had indeed landed safely, had been taken to the medical wing to receive a medical debriefing from Nurse Kintsugi who had been as thorough as ever in her attentions and judicious with her many needles with this being conducted in a small and secluded room as many of the returning initiates had still been present in the medical wing and the Fox Faunus, despite considering herself a woman of science had chosen to entertain the superstition and custom of not allowing prospective students to meet their upper class-men until their teams had been officially named nonetheless.
From there Astra had, along with their fellow team leaders been led to a small administration office in an area of the campus they really had reason to visit where they had been made aware of several recent happenings in the city that had been deemed noteworthy enough to be brought to their attention whilst new schedules and a plethora of miscellaneous updates and memos were foisted upon them. Further to all of this Astra found themselves unable to truly take in the moment before them as the back of their mind was occupied by the lurking thoughts of the official mission debriefing which they would have to endure in short order; the various professors had agreed to delay Astra and their friends' required report for long enough for them to attend the current ceremony but longer, proper protocol was required to be followed, not least of all for legal reasons considering that the aerial battle had been seen by a sizeable portion of the cities' populace and answers would have to be provided in a timely manner, the statements given by the four students no doubt being edited and sanitised to form part of what was released to the public; all of which would inevitably deprive Astra of sleep which they would frankly have preferred not to go without prior to returning to classes.
Yet all of this managed to be less distracting that the fact that Team WULF and specifically Wolfram Ironside were sitting directly in front of them.
Astra's now ex-boyfriend had been present during the prior gathering of team leaders and despite their best efforts not to seem worried, desperately needy or a great many other things the Deer Faunus had been unable to keep themselves from casting furtive glances in the armoured fighters' direction; noting with a series of dry swallows that Wolfram had only become more handsome during their time apart and admiring the way hair that had been altered from its' previous wolf-tail style hung in front of his sharply featured face.
If Wolfram had struggled with any similar tumultuous inner thoughts then Astra had been unable to locate any trace of them on his face and the two had thus far failed to exchange any words, with no more than a brief, passing nod of familiarity passing between them as Wolfram made to seek out his own team-mates and ensure that both Ursinia and Diabla were well; though Astra found that they could not begrudge this in the slightest and instead focused on the fact that their fellow team leader had seemed to drift, almost habitually into his customary place seated directly ahead of them as he had done when the two were an item and that fact gave Astra just enough hope to gather their nerve and lean forward, whilst their friends were still taken in by the fading spectacle ahead and attempt to speak.
"Hey….good summer?"
"Not as eventful as yours by the sound of it" Wolfram answered with a small, barely perceptible smirk which managed to colour his words; though was only offered after a moment of equally hard-to-spot pausing and consideration as he chose how to respond to the Deer Faunus with whom he had broken up.
"Yeah….That wasn't how I planned today going" Astra managed a small, nervous laugh as they fiddled with the points of their blackened Mohawk in an effort to ignore the way their heart hammered against their ribs "Did you see it?"
"No" Wolfram shook his head, not turning around enough to see how Astra deflated slightly at that "There were already security forces waiting at the platform when my flight landed, Laser and I couldn't get there….Not a fan of not being there when my team need me"
There was a thinly veiled barb in that which Astra chose to ignore, partly because they could understand Wolfram's agitation at being unable to fight beside Ursinia and Diabla and partly because they frankly still that they deserved it.
"They did great though" Astra offered with a nervous, overthought pat on Wolfram's shoulder "I mean I can tell you about it later if you wanna hang out-"
"I'll hear about it from Ursinia" Wolfram answered, polite, gentle but still firm in his declining of the offer before adding, almost to soften the blow "Besides, haven't the four of you gotta go for a debrief in a sec? You're not gonna have time to hang out even if you don't need to unpack"
"Yeah, true" Astra sighed good naturedly, accepting the statement for what it was and feeling privately glad, yet still nervous about the fact that the two of them were at least talking and deciding once again to push themselves bravely onward as they added "Looking good by the way….The new armour looks-"
"Astra" Wolfram sighed, finally turning in their seat enough to meet Astra's eyes, stormy grey boring into sea-green with an expression that was rare and shocking in its' pleading intensity
"Don't do this" he breathed out "Not tonight….Just….Don't"
"Oh….Yeah, okay I'll see you in the morning then?" without waiting for an answer Astra slunk from their seat and began to extricate themselves from the stands as quickly as possible without causing a scene, taking care to tap Zirconia's shoulder to draw her attention away from Athena-Jade for just long enough to understand that she should follow them for the debriefing; all the while steadfastly refusing to look back in Wolfram's direction or begin the gargantuan task of unpacking the brief exchange and their tempestuous feelings that surrounded both it and their ex-boyfriend as a whole.
For the moment they content to feel bitterly sorry for themselves and deride themselves for being stupidly optimistic.
The office of Headmistress Coco Adel was currently dimly lit as the artillery-toting woman herself and current sole occupant leaned over the expensive desk, a piece of furniture which served as the centrepiece of a style of decoration which served to impose and instil a sense of discipline in any student whose behaviour had landed them before it; Coco having found a balance with Velvet and Yatsuhashi in their running of the academy wherein the Rabbit Faunus was the knowledgable, personal and beloved member of the trio with whom students spoke freely, the giant of a man was the warm and fatherly counsellor with whom they would discuss problems not directly related to their training even if they might have arisen from it until they could be overcome and Coco was the stern and commanding presence at the head if it all who inspired by both serving as an example of what a Hunter could be, whilst at the same time having such a formidable reputation that no student of her academy could countenance the idea of disappointing her.
This image fell short however as Coco leaned her elbows on the wooden surface and finally turned off the computer she had been working at since the end of the initiation ceremony, a groan of utter exhaustion escaping her as she massaged her temples, her signature sunglasses and beret resting on the desk to her left whilst near her right hand, likely too close to the computer on which countless classified documents were stored was a bottle of brandy, of which a small measure had been poured into a nearby glass.
And yet, weary as she was there was still work to be done.
"Salutations" Penny greeted warmly as she and Ruby entered the office, not bothering to knock as their presence had been specifically asked for, though Ruby did also announce her presence in the form of a wide and long-lasting yawn which it took a great deal of effort and self control on Coco's part to keep from mirroring, though she did offer the copper-haired android a shake of the head
"You are too damn happy after a day this long" she muttered.
"So how're thing's looking?" Ruby chimed in, rubbing a silver eye that was bleary with tiredness that she rarely showed "The twins are back in Atlas for college and they've already heard about what happened today"
"Little Fox was in the same situation" Coco nodded slowly, allowing herself a bittersweet smile at the thought that her only child was now out in the wider Remnant and ready to make their own way before focusing and returning to the matter at hand
"Honestly, things could have been so much worse" she breathed out, downing her drink and baring her teeth in response to the burn then adding
"Some shaky scroll footage of people pointing and screaming and panicking at that damn pelican Grimm as it got nearer to the city got out but I've assured the council that everything was handled properly, convincing the media of that tomorrow should be a relatively simple thing….Everyone did exactly what they were supposed to do, we weren't breached and nobody was hurt; add that to the footage of you taking that Grimm down and honestly this might just be the kind of morale boost that the city needed after the attack"
"Honestly I only landed the final hit" Ruby noted with a faint shrug "Mars and Shadowmoon had the situation largely under control by the time I arrived"
"I read their briefing a few minutes after it was filed" Coco answered, considering pouring another drink "And I've seen the footage of how they handled themselves; definitely a marked improvement from last year and the footage is going to be part of what we show the press….It's going to make the kid an insufferable little shit though isn't it?"
"Yep" Ruby sighed, popping the P and giving a faint smirk. Truly she liked Astra Mars, even if their temperament a little hard to work with at times her nieces' team leader and half sibling of her nephew was someone in whom she saw a vast amount of potential and the desire to realise it so that it could help those around them; though it was undeniable that seeing their own face in the next mornings' news would stoke their ego to a level that would require some humbling.
"Nothing for it" Coco grumbled, her own thoughts following a similar pattern "Arslan will fix their attitude….I know it's mostly joking but she really wanted to be the one to take that Grimm down and get the photo op; one of Team ABRN got a little banged up when we were breached and she feels like she needs to win something again"
"Understandable" Penny nodded, before cocking her head slightly and giving a rare frown "However I don't think you called us here so that we could discuss Arslan's personal issues….Whilst I very rarely get tired, other people do and Ruby and I do not live on campus like you do"
"Penny!" Ruby gasped whilst Coco merely let out a barking laugh, revitalised by the sudden and unexpected bout of assertiveness from the android.
"No let your wife defend you!" she insisted "She's right though, I have been overworking you and you do need rest….And I'm sorry to ask, I really am; but I need to ask you for one more thing"
"What is it?" Ruby sighed, bracing herself as Coco's demeanour and body language shifted and tightened, expression becoming a grimacing snarl.
"I've had word from Hammerfall Outpost" the words were hissed through clenched teeth "That Greater Dredge came from there….From the pit that the canyon was supposed to block off-"
"It came from the sea" Penny answered "You can't annex the sea"
"But it could fly" Coco growled "And if it had flown the other way?….Damn it I was there and I had no idea, that thing could have been on top of the initiates before any of us could have done a damn thing about it. That can't be risked again, I can't allow it. I've managed to call in some favours and taken the copies of lesson plans you forwarded to me so they can be given to your substitutes tomorrow and I've already used emergency powers to okay what needs to be done with the rest of Menagerie's high council….It's outside of the city so-"
"Coco what are we talking about here?" Ruby asked, getting a scale of just how busy her long time friend had been and allowing a reasonable sense of caution to settle into her gut as Coco's expression became harsher still, deep brown eyes becoming cold.
"That Spawning Pit has to go" she answered bluntly "Velvet has already taken a small fracture warhead from our vault and loaded it onto one of our Bull-Heads….I want you to be the ones to handle it, Ruby your abilities will make sure there's no mishaps"
"I understand" Ruby nodded, swallowing thickly as she considered the implications of what had been decided.
Hammerfall canyon existed solely because the size of the Spawning Pit in question rendered it simply too large and dangerous to attack directly; doing so would force it to birth something truly monstrous in order to combat the attack and the resultant spawning would likely be a catastrophe that spread across the island and so the landmark had been etched into the map of Menagerie with aerial bombardments in order to keep the tide of Grimm at bay. In the intervening years however the myriad settlements of Menagerie had united themselves into a true Kingdom and, more immediately important was the fact that over the course of the second war against Salem a new weapon had been developed; warheads filled with a compound known as 'Fracture' capable of destabilising the protean and shape-shifting mass of unformed Grimm tissue which Spawning Pits were comprised of in a way that was total and permanent, allowing little chance for retaliation.
Facture warheads had been used to great effect in the days immediately after Salem's final defeat however their use had sharply tapered off once it had become apparent that the weapons were not quite the boon that they had initially been seen as; extracting a high price for their use in the form of wasting and corrupting effects on the areas subjected to them, indeed many former Grimm nests had been reduced to desolate wastes as barren as Menagerie's interior as nature failed to return to the places it had been pushed away from and attempts to make use of the now vacant land through industrialisation and urbanisation had been similarly short-lived owing to a staggering rate of sickness in children living, born or conceived in these places, leading to a prevailing belief that the Fracture compound had a way of sinking as deeply into its' surroundings as the rot of Grimm which it sought to root out.
"I know it's a big move" Coco breathed out "And I would never even consider this near a populated area….There's too many kids with health-problems in Neo Vale, I've seen what it does-"
"But in the wasteland the detonations' side-effects will be reduced to….acceptable levels" Penny noted, unable to keep a distasteful edge out of her words as she voiced her computations aloud.
"Exactly" Coco admitted "Nothing's growing there anyway"
"And now nothing ever will" Ruby sighed "But you're right….Vale a Spawning Pit on its' doorstep and we saw how that ended. It's what has to be done"
Though privately the idea of using a weapon of mass destruction on the island she had to call home worried her, this went beyond destroying Grimm; this would inflict a level of damage which even the Spring Maiden would struggle to repair.
Author's Notes:
So here we are, we're back at Breaktide Academy and we had some fun getting there.
I know that final scene made it look like things might be going one way, but this is one of those where I don't even consider it a spoiler to come out and say "No" because going into a situation where Hunters can just remove entire Spawning Pits without even having to really fight the Grimm is such a massive escalation that there's not really anywhere for the story to go that wouldn't render the students redundant.
But we'll get more into that in the recap and naturally in the upcoming chapters.
In the meantime just enjoy the knowledge that this is a chapter that even managed to make me mutter "What the fuck am I even doing here" in more than one place as I was writing it.
But anyway, let's summarise shall we?:
Just a nice bit of scene setting to start off and set the tone, this was probably one of Gestalt-Prime's custom made Grimm and it does the job it was made for.
Honestly I wish we'd seen more of the interior of the various airships in the show, Vol.07 makes me think the big ones can each act independently as a base of operations but those are military ships rather than civilian, so I'm just using extrapolations from other sci-fi plus what I need for plot reasons….But surely they've got escape pods, like reverse rocket lockers.
Firing an escape pod or lifeboat into the sea on Remnant is honestly probably a death sentence.
Astra and Zirconia were both in New/Neo Vale when Salem attacked, difference is that Zirconia is an orphan with two robotic legs.
I don't know why but when I thought of the Hunter I got the image of older Ragnar from Vikings.
It's nice to have an older, qualified Hunter who looks at the situation and sees that they really don't have the luxury of being picky about the help they get; the kids are experienced and they're the only people offering.
They didn't have time to go running through corridors and using access hatches, just jump out of where the escape pod used to be.
It's a boss fight….Of course the troop carrier Grimm was going to deploy its' troops.
Also, in my head the Lesser Dredges look dopey as fuck.
A whole lot of talk to explain why and how Regalia knew what was going on….Also, I played with perspective a little in this chapter and I'll admit it; basically I wasn't sure exactly how high up the airship and the Grimm would be and how far away people would be able to see and hear it clearly from, so the answer is "Whatever I need it to be".
The beaches aren't exactly free of Grimm either, as we remember from the Hippo Grimm in Vol.01.
"If it bleeds we can kill it" is from Predator, because if there's ever a time for Regalia to quote Arnie….
Our first Grimm fight of second year and it's a mismatched team set up….Was definitely still fun to write though.
Zirconia and Astra really are well suited to taking out crowds of Grimm when they need to.
Of course the Greater Dredge was going to land on the airship and catch it, it was just a matter of when.
And then there were two.
Planning this chapter I honestly wasn't sure initially if I wanted it to be Ruby or Arslan that intervened, so I worked it in a way where they could both be on the scene.
The Kingdoms are not stupid, thinking Grimm are rare but not unheard of and nobody wants to get hit with a pincer movement or surprise attack; so keeping Ruby in position covering the other side of the wall until someone can replace her makes perfect sense.
I can't imagine Arslan not having a level of friendly competition with other Professors, especially people like Ruby or Coco.
Everyone's gangster until it starts raining Grimm.
Oh yeah, that Hunter is never gonna work in Menagerie's territory again when Coco finds out.
Arslan might be a hard-ass, but she cares about her students and can easily identify any of them from just a quick look at Aura colour even from that distance.
"Because of course it is, why wouldn't it be?" is she wrong though?
The Pelican Grimm vomited up a wad of tentacles…..because why not the fuck not, if we're gonna do this then let's go all the way and make it horrendous.
"I promise I'll catch you!"come on you can't just add details like that at the end.
Thinks of AJ and immediately start Naruto running, because let's not lie she was Naruto running.
And there it is, Semblance combo; Zirconia blinds and deafens it while Astra runs in and uses their Aura-body.
And the R-K-O line made me literally stop, sigh and ask myself what the fuck am I even doing with my life but I still refuse to take it out.
Look, it was never gonna be enough to get rid of the bird Grimm; no matter how cool it was.
It's not Dues ex Machina if we already knew Ruby was on the way, at that point it was inevitable and honestly I could have had Astra and Zirconia hold the line until AJ and Regalia got there but it felt more fitting to do it this way, it showcases that these are definitely still students and that actual Hunters, especially people like Ruby operate on a different level.
You know exactly which pose it was Ruby pulled.
And there's our Team MARZ reunions…..Starting with the dorks once again being absolute dorks.
Astra and Regalia not being okay with each other just doesn't sit right with my soul.
Almost forgot there were new students coming didn't ya?
Three things are certain in this life, death, taxes and ungodly amount of paperwork and meetings that could have been an email.
Oh Astra you poor kid, no.
"Not a fan of not being there when my team need me" uncalled for honestly.
Astra wasn't taking the hint, Wolfram let 'em down there as gently as possible.
Coco has needed a good nights' sleep this entire story.
She is absolutely very similar to Goodwitch in her style of teaching.
Yeah Little Fox is out of the story for the foreseeable since there's no reason for him to be here.
I know it sounds like Coco is trying to control the media and to an extent she is, as every member of Qrow's inner circle likely does to some extent; but I'd argue that none of it is actually lies it's just managing the public perception of what happened because of the very real risk of more Grimm….Honestly if we ever get a prequel series this is one the things I'd like to see tackled because Mantle's clamp down on free expression during the Great War is understandable given that Grimm are attracted to negative emotions.
So yeah I had to throw in a little background on what Fracture warheads are and what they do, they were something that showed up in the third year of FADE: Legacy, Goodwitch and Dove Bronzewing sacrificed themselves to deliver a payload of them into Salem's siege of Vale but also you can see why I don't want them to become a staple part of this story.
The health risks are something I've added since, basically a consequence that's been discovered in the intervening years….Which is likely going to cause some problems for Nyanza Angora later in his life. Basically that's the reason that Grimm Spawning Pits don't just get removed so quickly that the story is already over….And also because honestly, they're a weapon of mass destruction and should be treated as such.
All of that being said, they're a holdover from another story that's going to play a specific role as a plot device here….Bonus points if you can figure out before the next chapter.
Thank you to Lurkweed and MajorBrony 95 for their reviews on the last chapter.
Oh they're definitely not gonna bounce back and be up on the feet that they currently don't have for a while.
I hope the Pelican related nonsense was up to your expectations.
Yeah I kinda wanted to give ABRN a little more strutting room, but there's only so much room….Might let Arslan show off a bit some time soon though.
Oh post-break up angst, relationship drama and eventually the mysterious blue haired character will all have their places; but that's spoilers.
Making properly monstrous Grimm is something I've definitely developed a knack for and I've got a few more ideas stashed away.
I honestly didn't have a design for the 'Faunus Pride' flag in mind but...I feel like it's be a three coloured and striped one, like most Pride flags are and that the middle colour is probably white; but that there's no White Fang imagery on it and putting either version of the White Fang logo, especially Adam/Sienna's version with the claw-marks on a Faunus Pride flag is considered something of a faux pas at best, a cause for a punch in the mouth at worst.
As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review.