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Chapter 132: Jidhir Town
Damascus Nero had been and done many things in life and could, with very little effort pinpoint the exact moment where his life had branched away from the more ordinary and unassuming, if still successful path that it had once been set upon in order to become the man that he was now, the exact moment that had started a chain of events which would ultimately lead to the bright new tomorrow he saw for Remnant where the Creatures of Grimm were no longer a threat and with that threat removed from over their heads the people of the Kingdoms were free to live their lives without the interference and corruption of Hunters. Despite all of this there were still moments that managed to catch Damascus Nero entirely by surprise and things that he had never expected to do or experience.
Currently he was in the midst of such an experience.
"Status report!" he demanded, his usual quiet and gentle voice raised to a commanding tone which rose above the distant thundering of weapons and the shrieking and roars of both his own Cyber-Grimm forces and the Creatures of Grimm which they had been rallied and deployed against; an incessant chorus which had started on the very edge of hearing but was steadily growing more urgent with every passing moment as more monsters through themselves against defences which Nero knew could not keep the enemy at bay forever, especially not when the Creatures of Grimm had shown enough forethought to entirely surround Jidhir Town before making their approach.
"All readings are nominal Mister Nero. We're progressing within expected parameters and on schedule" the answer came from one of the lab-coat clad scientists currently littering the space which Nero had been the sole occupant of for some time, making it feel claustrophobic and offending his personal sensibilities. The speaker lacked the particular flair that Albion Herringbone had boasted, Nero's old dark-skinned, white-haired and icy-blue eyed friend and confidant having worn similar garments with a sharply cut, creamy suit beneath them and they also, like every other member of the acne-ridden, naive and painfully inexperienced collection of figures currently surrounding Nero lacked the brilliance of his dead friend; though he had hoped that some of them might show promise.
"Status of the Grimm literally attacking out walls you incompetent bastard!" he snapped, the curse leaving him in a voice that sounded unfamiliar to his own ears; the dialect he had sort to lose along with his speech impediment as he elevated himself and became the figure Remnant needed returning in full force
"Mister Nero, we don't know….We don't have access to that information" another of the group, a woman seemingly in her early to mid twenties who exuded a practical and no-nonsense air which Nero could respect answered, stepping forward and moving her shell-shocked colleague and possible former classmate aside. Nero grit his teeth, rubbing at the scarred skin along his jawline and focusing himself as he realised that whilst the people surrounding him were undoubtedly experts in their respective fields none of them were trained bridge crew and none of them were trained for the kind of situation they had found themselves in; whilst Nero's plan for a better Remnant involved its' people taking their safety and futures into their own hands he could accept that this was neither the time or place for them to learn how to do so.
"Have any of you ever served aboard an airship before or had any direct experience in aerial combat?" it was a slim hope and in truth Damascus would have accepted something as tangential and flimsy as one of the people around him having relatives within their native Kingdoms' defences who had imparted some wisdom upon them but it seemed that even this was too much to ask for and instead he was granted with several blank or fearful expression and shaken heads
"Bring up the ships' AI and engage emergency tactical subroutines" he continued, heart hammering against his chest though he did everything in his power to continue to appear outwardly calm
"That might not be possible Mister Nero" the young woman with some degree of composure informed him apologetically "With Project Megalodon not being entirely completed we run the risk of-"
"No matter then" Nero's cybernetic arm jerked as he fought the urge to strike the terminal closest to him but caught himself and instead channelled his anger and frustration into something more productive "All of you leave, everyone who is not armed and trained to defend themselves and their fellows should be taking shelter, we didn't fortify this place for no reason. Go, no and only stop to tell one of the fighters to make contact with my bridge crew; their presence may will prove vital"
"What about you Mister Nero?" the first of the scientists who had spoken to him asked, the young man with acne scars and an unfortunately vacant expression who he had yelled out was regarding the former chairman with a level of worry that almost made Nero feel guilty; rather than succumb to that feeling however Damascus simply squared his shoulders and spoke stiffly in an uncertain attempt to convey total calm and, as the youth called it 'Bad-assery'.
He noted that he would have to ask Zirconia for pointers, she had something of a knack for it.
"Thank you for your concern but no….Today I will be leading by example" Nero realised with a small swelling of pride that he couldn't help but feel was out of place given the circumstances that his little dramatic flair had worked and that his followers gave him fleeting looks of awe and fresh optimism as they filed briskly out of the command bridge of the Megalodon. A moment later Nero took the opportunity to sink into his seat and study the various consoles and stations around him, the ship could be flown by a single operator if its' AI were functional to receive guidance from a pilot or by a crew operating it manually; at present the former seemed entirely unworkable as Nero, despite his bravado a moment ago lacked any applicable experience.
Though he still reached for the console before him and began preparing the process which would engage the ships' artificial intelligence, flagrantly ignoring the warnings of his scientists.
"You were capable of communicating through the Forge whilst you confined in Neo Vale. The Forge is now part of the Megalodon and you are connected to it" Nero spoke aloud, refusing to believe that he was alone as the vacated bridge would suggested and drummed his fingers against the arm of his chair before adding "Are you aware enough to understand? Are you aware enough to answer?"
"I am" Gestalt-Prime's voice snarled through several speakers with a tinny quality to it, though Nero took a level of calm from the sound; he had been worried that the voice might reverberate through the walls and floor in a way that suggested that the Alpha Cyber-Grimm had merged with the Megalodon.
"To be clear, Jidhir Town is being assaulted by Grimm from all sides; your assistance would be required"
"I am unable to control the Megalodon" Gestalt-Prime's voice took on a bitter, but darkly amused edge "You made sure of that, not can I directly control the Cyber-Grimm here to make them more efficient"
"No, you can't" Nero answered stiffly, entirely unwilling to cede any control to the monster he bargained with "But you can expedite the process. Get the Megalodon ready as fast as possible and then join the damn fight-"
"Or I could do the opposite" Gestalt-Prime answered, something positively smug in their words "Every moment your people are surrounded here is a moment you could lose people you care about, or a moment where your work could be undone….Let's see how long it takes for you to grow desperate-"
"From all sides" Nero repeated the words slowly and with an emphasis, pausing for a moment to ensure Gestalt-Prime understood before hammering the point home "These are not regular Creatures of Grimm and you know that as well as I do, they're being directed as surely as our Cyber-Grimm are….I think that the Grimm that you were preparing for war with, a war you need my help to wage, knows that your here. If you don't do as I say then you will die as surely as the rest of us".
There was a moment of silence which lingered until Nero was certain that the Alpha was seeking to test his resolve, only for the silence to broken by an irate snarl.
"You make a valid point" with that Gestalt-Prime fell silent once more, though Nero watched with a faint thrill as the various consoles around the command bridge came to life and began to display various percentages and loading screens which cycled up at an accelerated rate as the Alpha pushed Project Megalodon forwards at a more hurried pace.
Whilst Nero steadied himself in the Captains' seat of a vessel that was now a warship of an entirely new category and prepared himself for the new and terrifying experience of going into battle.
The chase had gone on.
After their defeat of the Wolf Faunus Noir, a word that seemed deliberately sanitised in comparison to what had actually been done and the subsequent information courtesy of Corvid Xiao Long that the four runaway students would be continuing their mission alone, the ravenous assaults of the Grimm waylaying their reinforcements Team MARS had done the only thing that they could; they had steeled themselves and given chase through the wastelands once again until finally they caught up with the remains of Noir's convoy of allies as they made their way towards where Nero's forces were regrouping.
That chase, rather than reaching a conclusion of any sort had simply taken a new dimension as it had progressed.
At first Team MARS and their quarry had exchanged sort bursts of cheap shots at one another, with the latter being protected by both Athena-Jade's Semblance and also the simple hardiness and brute force of Astra's pickup truck, the vehicle having belonged to another Hunter before it had found its' way to the Deer Faunus and being equipped to receive all manner of punishment with little more than smalls dents and chipped paint to show for it; though Team MARS had still found themselves wary of what lay ahead as they knew that the Cyber-Grimm along with whatever else their enemies were harbouring in their main base of operations would pose a far greater threat than small arms' fire. What has actually occurred had been far worse and would have been considered unexpected had it not been for their earlier contact with Corvid Xiao Long; Team MARS had seen other small convoys and parties which could only have been more of Nero's forces heading towards their shared rendezvous point form various angles and directions and shortly after that the faintest outlines of a settlement of some sort could be seen on the horizon.
With its' entire outline almost smothered by a shifting cloud of blackness interspersed with glowing, fiery red as the Creatures of Grimm laid siege to it.
"What's the plan Astra?" Athena demanded from her position in the back of the truck, Regalia having reclaimed her customary place beside her partner after the teams' encounter with Noir; the Bear Faunus already gathering strength that had recovered considerably after the battler against the mercenary Wolf Faunus and preparing to defend her friends and bring them closer to victory in anyway they could.
"Working on it AJ" Astra called back with a slightly nervous and wavering edge to their words as they took in the scene ahead "Regalia, do you have any idea what that place even is?"
"Heh, as far as I know it shouldn't be there?" she answered nervously, trying to find any identifying marks and failing as there were no buildings tall enough to rise above the defensive walls which were in turn hidden by monsters "My people have never spoken about a settlement here, so it must have failed early on-"
"And there's nothing nearby either" Astra noted "Completely out of the way and with no reason for Hunters to come and look"
"Like Pikesreach" Stygian noted "So it's just gonna be us?"
"Not necessarily" Astra answered thoughtfully, the carefulness with which they spoke contrasting sharply against their driving "They need to fight the Grimm just as much as we do and there's a lot more Grimm than there are of us-"
"I don't think they're gonna take an offer of a team up" Regalia pointed out.
"We're not asking" Astra grinned "We just need to get over that wall-"
"And then what?" Athena demanded, confused and mildly incredulous but willing as ever to humour Astra's ideas based solely on how well he had led the team thus far and the trust they had earned.
"We split up" Astra paused and let out a breath "Corey said to hang tight and wait for backup but the situation is different now; if we can find Nero himself and extract him then we win"
"What about Zirconia?" Athena-Jade asked, swallowing a lump in her throat as she asked and determinedly not looking at Stygian.
"Grab her too….Carmesi if we can, blow Gestalt-Prime up if we can; main objective is shut down Nero's operation before it can get off the ground, let Atlas sweep up whoever manages to get out of here. Unless anyone's got a better idea?"
The interior of the pickup truck was silent, though the noise from outside still assaulted them.
"Settled then" Astra's face was a tight smile as they pushed the truck forward as fast as it would go, veering away from Nero's allies as following them was no longer required and instead racing directly towards the tides of Grimm; numberless and utterly heedless of the way artillery mounted on the settlements' walls and diving, rampaging Cyber-Grimm tore swathes out of their ranks.
"How're we doing this Astra?" Stygian asked, clearly unsettled but powering through it "I don't even know where my Semblance is gonna bring me at this point"
"I'm gonna get us close" the Deer Faunus winced at the thought "AJ, on my signal I'm gonna need a ramp….We're going up and over"
"That's crazy….But I can do that" Athena breathed out.
And then they were amongst the Grimm.
If Astra's truck were not so heavily armoured it would likely have been smashed to a halt and torn asunder in moments however instead it simply ploughed through Creatures of Grimm like an armoured fist. In the next instant the tide of monsters began to turn as the Grimm realised that they were now the ones being attacked from all sides and the trucks' wind-shield sustained a severe crack as Beowulf leapt at them, though ultimately the Grimm was flung away and the armoured glass held firm even as Team MARS were jolted in their seats. Athena-Jade answered by conjuring Glyphs directly ahead of the vehicle to serve as a makeshift plough or battering ram but only succeeded in pushing the Grimm to the sides.
"NO! Regalia let out a panicked yell as a shadowy form, so surrounded by other bodies that it was scarcely distinct leapt onto the trucks bed and began snapping at Clunker, which was still fastened in place only for the monster to be thrown free as an explosion of artillery forced Astra to all but throw the pickup aside; more Creatures of Grimm were on them again in seconds and it seemed that they might be successful in forcing Astra to turn back or worse still halt until their team-mates intervened.
"I'VE GOT THIS SIDE!" Stygian yelled lowering his window enough to thrust his katana through the limited space, skewering a leaping Grimm and slicing several more as the truck raced by; his words punctuated by the sound of Regalia firing Apex Scavengers' shotgun. It was chaos, pure and brutal but finally after time that could be measured in minutes but had felt like an age the defensive wall of whatever failed town Nero had made his base loomed overhead, flashes of its' artillery lighting the Grimm-blackened sky.
"AJ NOW!" Astra yelled and was rewarded immediately by a steep ramp of glowing glyphs wide and sturdy enough the truck to surge upwards and into the air at an angle that would see it soar over the heads of defending forces who were too preoccupied and hopelessly outnumbered to be able to stop them; it seemed for a single, fleeting moment that Astra's planning and Athena's ability had seen them through.
And then a shadow bore down on them.
"LOOK OUT!" Regalia yelled "CYBER-GRIMM!"
There was nowhere to turn though Astra still tried hopelessly to veer away at the sight of the mass of steel and obsidian flesh rushing towards them, hurtling violently through the air with its' claws extended and carapace horn lowered.
"BRACE FOR-" Astra never had chance to finish as the Cyber-Grimm struck them, glass shattering and steel tearing as the monstrosities' horn tore a gouge into the roof of the truck and its' claw punched clean through the armoured metal of its' door, reaching so perilously close to Astra that the fabric of their seatbelt was frayed by their tips. The blow knocked the truck free of Athena's glyphs and sent it sailing downwards, its' angle enough to carry it over the wall as planned but flipping end over end in uncontrolled crash until Astra, taking some inspiration from the damage to their seatbelt, took action.
They leapt out of the truck in mid-air.
"HOLD ON!" they yelled frantically before their Semblance began to take shape, the growing Aura-body being riddled with bullets so that even as it formed its' glowing and fiery red appearance was scarred and fractured with cracks of white light but still the Deer Faunus was successful; their changing size allowing them to land safely and to reach out and catch their falling friends and bring the truck to the ground, right way up and with Clunker still in its' bed before Astra was finally forced to release their Semblance.
"That was amazing-" Regalia's praise was cut short as bullets began to patter and thud against the compromised armour of the truck, one of its' protected tires being shredded by the salvo as Nero's forces turned their focus away from the Grimm outside to pepper the Hunters who had broken through their lines.
"WE'VE GOTTA GO!" Athena yelled, throwing up a glyph and using it to not only shield the four of them but also to shove the damaged truck into cover behind a building so that it might survive long enough to be used as a getaway vehicle. Once free from the gunfire raining down on them Team MARS leapt out of the truck and looked around, getting their first real view of Jidhir Town and more importantly the colossal Cyber-Grimm Nero had been constructing within
"Holy shit" Stygian breathed out "Look at it"
"That's an airship" Athena gasped in disbelief "Astra they turned an airship into a Grimm, what do we do? How do we fight that?"
"We don't" Astra shook their head "We can't….We stick to the plan"
"Find Nero, find anybody who can fly that ship and take 'em down" Regalia nodded, though she was notably devoid of the relentless pep that might otherwise have carried her forwards. Astra swallowed uncertainly and found that this, like the Abomination of Pikesreach was something entirely beyond anything they were prepared for.
But there was simply no other choice.
"Split up, we work in pairs. Regalia you're with me….We head for the ship"
"Let me see if Clunker still works" Regalia regarded the pickup truck and her jetbike with some trepidation; unwilling to leave the machine she had worked so hard to build behind.
"Okay" Astra nodded "AJ, Stitch I need you to see where else they'd be coordinating their defences from….I don't think everyone is on that….thing yet"
"Yeah" Athena nodded slowly, the words unwilling to leave her "We can do that"
"Come on, let's go" Stygian readied his katana and prepared to move, with Astra halting the pair to deliver some final words.
"Guys….Be careful out there".
"THEY'RE BREACHING OUR DEFENCES!" Carmesi's voice was a ragged, booming roar of defiant rage and violent intent as he rushed forward, Zirconia finding herself dragged along in his wake through sheer charisma alone.
With the Creatures of Grimm having assaulted Pikesreach from so many angles at once it had been inevitable that some of the monsters would be able to slip inside, particularly flying Grimm which managed to thread through the barrages of firepower unleashed by defensive guns whose crews were forced to split their attention between countless targets and the Cyber-Grimm that were similarly overwhelmed, with several of their number having fallen already as even the more advanced and deadly variants reached their limits and were towed down by tides that outnumbered them by improbable amounts.
As she followed the older Faunus who had devoted his life to bringing Nero's vision into reality Zirconia saw that the current threat which had drawn Carmesi's ire was a group of Teryx, the winged, reptilian horrors bearing down on a group of fighters whose armour was little match for the claws and teeth of the Grimm and chasing them as they tried to make a fighting retreat; a dozen or more Grimm each larger than a person. As she sprinted, managing to draw level with Carmesi despite the aches and pain still lancing through her in the wake of being caught of briefly brutalised Zirconia wondered briefly, for a single moment why exactly she was following the shirtless and scaly rogue Hunter when the assault on Jidhir town was the perfect distraction and would allow her to attempt to halt Gestalt-Prime once again and then possibly escape to anywhere else on Remnant if she could slip through the tide of Grimm. A single panicked scream from one of the fighters as a diving Teryx ripped through the body armour of its' prey, its' claws coming away bloody pushed such ideas aside and gave Zirconia a moment of pure and unshakeable clarity.
She was going to help and save people; she might not be a Hunter but she would act in accordance with their ideals.
"GET BACK IN POSITION! NOBODY RUNS, THERE'S NOWHERE TOO RUN!" Carmesi bellowed with all of his usual force, his voice felt as much as heard though it served a purpose beyond simply cowing the soldiers before him until they were more frightened of him than the Grimm that harried them; instead Carmesi was making himself as loud as possible to draw the attention of the monsters and compel them to attack him instead.
It was a show of the man's character and bravery, displaying the kind of Hunter he might have become had he never met Damascus Nero.
"MOVE!" he punctuated his words by shooting the bloody-clawed Teryx in the face with Retribution, its' snout reduced to fragments before the rest of its' body could begin to dissipate and from there he drew Vindication and threw the curved machete into the pack of Grimm, the weapon shifting into its' triple-bladed and rotating configuration in mid-air and slashing through more of the foe; this assault finally being enough to bring the Teryx shrieking and spitting towards the two rogue Hunters, flying over their now forgotten quarry in a blind fury. The moment the Teryx were far enough ahead of the fighters to do so Carmesi gave a savage, fanged smile and dropped into a crouch in order to slam a palm into the ground and unleash his Semblance; crimson light didn't so much ripple around him as it did glint and gleam like facets of a rough-edged gem before bursting out along the dry earth to erupt upwards in crimson spires of solid Aura which skewered many of the Teryx in a single terrible blow. More of their number escaped the attack however, flapping up into the air higher that their kin who had been skulking lower to the ground and it was there that Zirconia made a final decision by shifting Sunriser Cain into its' long-barrelled pistol form and firing.
'Ice, Hard-Light!' the computerised and synthetic voice announced the attack a moment before the concoction of Dust was unleashed a wave of interlocking cyan surfaces was sent forth, with wisps of freezing air trailing from its' individual panes; the hard-light shattered as the Teryx thrashed through it only for the Ice Dust to take effect, spreading through the monsters and freezing their limbs and wings solid.
Sending them crashing down onto the spikes Carmesi had made.
A lone Teryx survived the Grasshopper Faunus's offensive and came hurtling towards her, shrieking and raising its' claws as Zirconia sprung forward to meet it as she acted on instinct, Sunriser Cain shifting into its' melee form in her hand.
'Fire! Lightning!' she weaved around the swiping claws of the Teryx and struck it across the face, snapping its' neck back as she pivoted to deliver a move that had been one of her signature techniques at Breaktide Academy; an arc of flames wreathed in crackling lightning followed her blow and sent the Grimm flailing back onto its' hindlimbs, burned and wounded but not beaten and a moment later it craned its' neck and opened its' maw wide before diving forward to snap Zirconia up in its' jaws.
Only to be beheaded.
A faint gurgle escaped the Teryx as Carmesi's rotating blade cleaved through its' neck and then plunged through its' back and out of its' gun on its' return pass and soared back into the Komodo Dragon Faunus's hand with a contrail of black mist surrounding it. Silence set over the area, so profound that the ongoing attack and the soldiers who now followed Carmesi's orders and began rushing back to their position faded away into irrelevance and Zirconia's focus was narrowed down to nothing outside of herself and Carmesi, her stance shifting subtly so that she could leap away the moment an attack was launched at her whilst her entire body felt leaden and heavy.
"Hunters just breached our walls, they used the Grimm as a distraction" Carmesi's words were so unexpected that Zirconia could only blink her mismatched eyes as her mind struggled to keep pace with the situation
"What?"
"I can only assume that they're going to launch a surgical strike on Mister Nero. The fighters that saw them say they've split up and others say that two of them are already making their way to the Megalodon"
"I'll-" Zirconia's gaze darted towards the monstrous form of the Cyber-Grimm airship, now almost entirely complete in its' transformation and her voice wavered, that moment of uncertainty enough for Carmesi to counter her.
"I will protect Mister Nero and the Megalodon" he spat, the emphasis on himself making clear what he still chose to state explicitly "You will not go near it or I'll gut you myself, Nero's feelings be damned. If you want to help, find the other Hunters and put them down….It might help your case when you explain yourself to him"
Zirconia was certain her heart had stopped for a moment, her entire body numb and cold as a sickening feeling twisted its' way out from the pit of her stomach to consume her until she finally mastered herself and gave a single, stiff and shaky nod of the head, turning to set off deeper into Jidhir Town but pausing briefly to address Carmesi and managing a weak, nervous smile that stretched at the scarred skin of her face as she uttered words that she realised that she should have said long before things had devolved this far.
"Whatever it looked like, whatever kind of traitor you think I am…. Just keep him safe, he's my Dad"
A sense of grim satisfaction gave way to an ecstatic glee coloured by bloodlust and predatory instinct as Pantheon felt the innate violence of each and every member of the tide of Grimm that had encircled their prey seeping back into their own consciousness and even with their psyche removed from their physical form the Grimm General, in whatever form they could gave a twisted and monstrous smile.
They had found Gestalt-Prime's lair and now victory was upon them.
The would-be usurper Grimm was yet to enter the battlefield though Pantheon simply saw this as further proof of their own superiority and more reason to regard the younger, lesser sentient Grimm who had chosen to ally themselves with the prey and distort the natural cycle and order of things with scathing contempt and murderous loathing rather than a sign of any particular strategic acumen on the part of Gestalt-Prime; they had done nothing but run and cower thus far in their ongoing hostilities and nothing more was to be expected.
In Pantheon's mind the outcome of the attack was a certainty, the major settlements of Menagerie were preoccupied and thus far the only outside forces to come to the aid of Gestalt-Prime's forces had been a small trickling of bodies, never more than a dozen at a time and arriving in small vehicles with small weapons if they were armed at all, their presence amounting to nothing more than a small distraction before those reinforcements who managed to run the gauntlet and make their way to the settlement simply took the places of those who had already fallen. Jidhir Town was surrounded and even with the presence of Gestalt-Prime's abhorrent Cyber-Grimm it was a war of attrition which Pantheon knew they would eventually win, a reality which inched ever closer as their forces began to breach the defences with airborne Grimm managing to push deeper into the settlement before being cut down with each attempt.
The only change to this understanding of the situation came when one of these small flocks and packs of Winged Grimm managed to deep enough into Jidhir Town to catch sight of something which gave the Grimm General pause.
A new kind of Cyber-Grimm, one far larger than any of the monsters or weapons currently being used by either side of the battle between monsters.
Pantheon was left momentarily taken aback by the presence and existence of such a weapon, stunned by something that nothing in their existence thus far had prepared them for or given them any real frame of reference for how to wage war against; with the only small positive being that the colossal beast, whatever it was had remained dormant thus far. The results of Pantheon's momentary distraction were felt across the battlefield however, the Grimm General's instinctive and loosely emotional response to the sight of Gestalt-Prime's latest blasphemy having caused clusters of the attacking force surrounding Jidhir Town to break from their formations and pre-determined roles to give in to more base and instinctual forms of aggression; a mistake which in turn allowed the defenders to gather their wits and regroup in key places.
Allowing them to launch a counterattack which pulled Pantheon's conscious back to where it was needed as the mental feedback of hundreds of Grimm dying in an instant tore a snarl from the Grimm General which reverberated through whatever astral place their mind inhabited when linked with the Hive-mind.
"No" they snarled simply, seeking out the source of the violent retaliation and finding it in short order a collection of defensive weapons which had been well defended and further bolstered by the presence of several of the more heavily armed varieties of Cyber-Grimm, including those which functioned as living artillery and then further defended by airborne horrors to keep the Creatures of Grimm at bay. Pantheon regarded the strong point in Jidhir Town's defences for a while ultimately deciding that it was of little overall importance, especially given that even now more Creatures of Grimm were swarming towards the assault to replace the forces that had been lost thus far.
Including the two larger monsters which Pantheon had designed specifically for this battle.
The first took inspiration from an animal that the prey knew as a 'Sun Bear' and had been loosely based on the Ursa species of Grimm, albeit enlarged to an almost preposterous degree and made far more dangerous in several ways. Pantheon called the creature their 'Nova Beast' and it could move on either all fours or on its' hindlimbs, with the latter bringing to a height almost equal with the defensive walls; its' appearance was lean and muscular with proportions which left its' grasping limbs seeming almost too long in a way that was underscored by the relative lack of armour adorning it, the Nova Beast was an obsidian mass with the usual bone coloured armour only protecting its' extremities wherein it granted a collecting of oversized and hooked claws to things' limbs, its' neck where a collar ringed with spiked had been formed and the Grimm's skull which it encased entirely. The head of the Nova beast was oddly flat in appearance and it's eyes and ears seemed too small though this was offset somewhat by the painfully large degree to which the thing could unhinge its' jaw to reveal both a grasping and prehensile tongue lined with spikes and squid-like suckers as well as the glowing orange light of a raging inferno at the back of the Nova Beasts' throat illuminating it from with and giving some suggestion as to why the thing had been so named.
The other monster was equally terrible in opposite ways, equally massive it was a Snapping Turtle Grimm which Pantheon had come to think of as their 'Shatter Beast', the name being fitting if unimaginative. Whilst it could walk bipedally it approached Jidhir Town on all fours, its' wide and squat body an oval disk propelled forwards by stubby but powerful limbs whose jet-black scales were ridged and interspersed with spikes and jutting studs of bone and was at the same time encased almost entirely in armour; thick, interlocking plates and fused ribs protecting its' underside whilst the back of the Shatter Beast was comprised of a massively armoured shell whose surface was so jagged and craggy that its' spires and spikes resembled a miniature mountain range. Once again however its was the head of Grimm which held its' main form of attack, in the instance an oversized and angular but bulky beak attached to an immensely muscular and overlong neck which could dart forward at terrifying speeds; the beak itself being comprised of several moving and interlocking segments, each of which was lined with moving components resembling grinding and crushing teeth which gave the maw of the Shatter Beast the appearance of some sort of heinous mining or industrial machine.
Pantheon allowed their victorious satisfaction to wash over them once again as the two monsters they had made neared Jidhir Town; the walls of the settlement would be torn down, either by the jaws of the Shatter Beast or the fiery wrath of the Nova Beast and then Gestalt-Prime would be found.
The Grimm General contemplating keeping their enemy alive just long enough to ensure they saw their new creation to be torn apart by real Creatures of Grimm.
Whilst Clunker had been damaged by the crash the jetbike was still perfectly functional and Regalia had assured her partner, with a blatantly forced brightness that the vehicle had taken worse punishment before; referencing the first time she had ventured across the wasteland alone to reach Port Alistair and the way Clunker had been spewing thick, choking smoke out behind it by the time she had reached the city. Astra took what heart they could from such assurances though their effect was lessened by the way that the jetbike vibrated unsettlingly and with a degree of force that occasionally spiked and saw it veering off course with its' rear end fish-tailing outwards in a sputtering burst of flames.
Yet still neither Astra nor Regalia were willing to be deterred.
"HEADS UP, THEY'RE IN THE BUILDINGS!" Astra warned, adjusting their grip on Regalia and bringing one of Buckshot Ares's shields up to deflect an incoming volley of bullets aimed at their partner, blocking her view for only a moment before sweeping their arm outwards and unleashing a roaring volley of firepower which was swiftly halted as it made Clunker rattle and shudder even more unpredictably.
The size of the settlement Jidhir Town was supposed to be had become more apparent as the two of them had made their way deeper into it in their efforts to reach the colossal Cyber-Grimm that was in the process of being made, finding themselves flanked by rows of tenement houses that had never been completed, likely intended to serve as the homes for the blue collar workers at the heart of whatever industry the place had been built around the idea of; though now the empty windows, half built walls and skeletal frames simply served as vantage points for Nero's fighters, many of whom had served upon defensive emplacements of their home Kingdoms and put those skills to good use as they fired downwards with a purpose that became apparent to Astra quickly enough.
"They're trying to force us to a stop!"
"Heh, you'd think they might have better things to do!" Regalia answered with the same forced lightness, a quirk she had undoubtedly picked up from Astra themselves and as she spoke she removed one hand from Clunker's handlebars, gesturing broadly to the state of the besieged settlement before plucking Apex Scavenger from its' holster on her jetbike so that she could hold the weapon directly.
"Look for a building that's empty enough for us to take a shortcut through!" Astra urged, already leaning forwards and making themselves as small as possible as they leaned flush against Regalia's back and prepared to protect their antlers in the event the two of them had to ride Clunker through a ground floor window-frame or similarly small opening.
"There!" Regalia pointed out eagerly, wincing as a bullet clipped her shoulder and left her Aura rippling as she pointed towards the small house whose walls not been entirely completed; she steered Clunker hastily towards the building in question and something in Astra's mind screamed that she should not, that the bullet aimed at her had been another calculated effort to direct her in a specific direction.
"WAIT-" it was too late, their slight change in direction had slowed Clunker down enough for the jetbike and its' two riders to be the target of another hail of gunfire which left both Astra and Regalia trying to frantically cover themselves, Auras rippling painfully whilst at the same time a far greater threat emerged in the form of a dark shape lurching out of the shadows of the unfinished building.
A lone Cyber-Grimm
"GET PASSED IT!" Astra yelled, throwing themselves to the side and helping Regalia pull the jetbike into a sharp turn to avoid the lancing beam of light from the machine Grimm's main weapon, the laser ripping a chunk from the opposite house which left its' structure perilously and unstable in ways which left the fighters hiding within it running and leaping to safety as it began to collapse; an opening that that neither of the two Faunus they had been targeting were able to take advantage of.
"HOLD ON TO YOUR BUTTS!" Regalia exclaimed, continuing the sharp turn she had been forced into until was a full spin and rushing directly at the Cyber-Grimm the moment its' laser ceased firing; the monster charged forwards with its' carapace mounted horn lowered and claws splayed wide to grasp its' target only for Regalia to slip free at the last moment with a death-defying display of skill and daring which left Astra, despite all of their experience with their partner trying not to lose the contents of their stomach as Clunker was flung sharply forward and into a turn on the axis of what should have been its' front wheel with the result being that the flames spewing from its' main thruster blasted the Cyber-Grimm directly in its' face, leaving it shrieking with a sound like grinding gears and rusty saw-blades and blinded in its' singular optic for long enough for Astra to take action.
"CATCH ME!" the instruction was all the warning Regalia needed and even with her goggles covering her eyes Astra was certain that their partners' expression was one of pure mischief.
And then they leapt until a standing position and back-flipped off of the jetbike.
Fiery red light engulfed them in an instant as they once again used their Semblance and began forming their Aura-body around themselves, this time with the intent to attack rather than protect although in such desperate conditions the line between the two acts had become impossibly thin. Whilst still in the air Astra launched a flung hook kick, its' reach extending far out beyond their own body to not only strike the Cyber-Grimm with enough force to partially crumple its' armour but also drive it through the building it had emerged from with enough force to utterly collapse the unfinished house down onto its' head in a cloud of dust.
Bullets hammered Astra's Semblance self and deprived them of any chance to enjoy the aftermath of such an impressive blow, though Regalia delivered what was expected of her excellently; firing the harpoon of Apex Scavenger directly into the outstretched hand of her partners' glowing red construct. Rather than immediately allow themselves to be reeled in Astra instead maintained their hold on their Semblance and gently tugged on the cable they held, once again giving Regalia all the warning they needed and a chance to briefly silence the roaring engine of her jetbike before Astra swung and threw Clunker through the air whilst at the same time releasing their Semblance with a carefully measured precision which ensured that they maintained their grip on the harpoon and could finally be reeled back onto the back of Regalia's jetbike.
As it soared over the roofs of houses.
"HANG ON!" Regalia called out, kicking and bringing Clunker's engine back into life with perfect timing as it and the two of them plummeted downwards; the sudden shift in forces sending an admittedly painful jolt though both Astra and Regalia as the jetbike bucked and shuddered more violently than before but still surged forth and allowed the two Faunus to continue racing towards the Airship-Grimm Nero's people were making, with the advantage of being several streets away from their previous attackers.
"Okay that was crazy even for me" Astra admitted breathlessly, panting and gasping as their blood thundered in their ears.
"That was awesome, I can't believe- AWW NUTS!" Regalia was cut off as a fresh threat, terrifying its' immediacy presented itself. The two of them had been close to their goal, the neatly arranged rows of streets giving way to a space that had been intended for something far larger than houses, the area of Jidhir Town where Nero's creation was located yet before they could reach it a single figure came into view and the ground simply erupted.
Into a wall of crimson spikes and blades.
"BAIL!" Astra yelled, seizing Regalia by the waist and pulling her clear of Clunker which continued on without them until was violently halted, the jetbike struck at an oblique angle which simply smashed it off course and sent the vehicle flipping and crashing with a series of metallic clangs and crunches rather than impale it entirely and risk detonating its' volatile fuel supply and internal components. Astra and Regalia themselves were only spared from being similarly impaled by their own quick reflexes and refusal to allow the other to come to harm, each of them rolling and thrashing on the ground as the dodged arterial red eruptions of solidified and weaponised Aura, the attacks coming so rapidly that neither of them had a chance to get to their feet and yet both of them, with a chorus of panicked yells and screams reached and shoved, dragged and rolled their partner out attacks that would otherwise have carved them apart.
And then finally it stopped, revealing Carmesi Hueso as the Komodo Dragon Faunus as he rose to his feet and drew both Retribution and Vindication.
"May thy knife chip and shatter!" Regalia spat, the sudden venom in her voice balanced against a wavering fearful note as she realised just how close to death she and Astra had come and that Carmesi was now engaging with the two of them with a ferocity beyond their previous fights, the same kind of open and remorseless violence he had used when had skewered Athena-Jade's legs. Beside her Astra rose to their feet and readied their own weapon just as she had, regarding the older, more experienced and more powerfully built fighter with a calculating look belied by the sneering and dismissive tone they used.
"Hey ass-hole, did you lose your shirt?"
"Enough talking" Carmesi shook his head, working out a crick in his neck and rolling his broad, scaled and craggy shoulders as he strode forwards "You showed promise, you're good kids at heart and I wish you'd seen what Mister Nero is trying to achieve, I wish you'd joined us when you had the chance….But you didn't and chances don't last forever"
"Yeah, you're way passed the point of no return" Astra nodded, shifting their stance and unsheathing the forearm blades of Buckshot Ares whilst beside them Regalia transformed Apex Scavenger into its' own melee form with a flourish; the display being enough for Carmesi to give a faint smile of genuine amusement and respect for the tenacity of the teens whose careers he now realised he was intertwined with for better or worse, rather than attack himself he gave a simple signal and both Astra and Regalia felt their stomachs plummet as their saw movement from seemingly every shadow and behind every corner around them.
They were completely surrounded and each of their new adversaries sported close combat weapons, hateful expressions and the telltale tattoos of Pikesreach's exploited and downtrodden workers.
"I've been training them" Carmesi rumbled "They spent their entire lives without the power to change their situation, we liberated Pikesreach and I have given them power to make things better and make things right….And I think it's understandable if they want to kill a Hunter or two after what they've been through"
With those words as a signal the battle began.
Zirconia, begrudgingly hopeful and optimistic that no matter how the two of them might loathe one another Carmesi would successfully protect Nero and that she would be able to explain her actions to him and hopefully, if it were at all possible convince him to see sense had set off in search of the Hunters who were not directly attacking the Megalodon.
Her route however had seen her forced to skirt dangerously close to the perimeter of Jidhir Town where the Creatures of Grimm were once again managing to force their way through the defences in small numbers thanks to brutal single-mindedness and the sheer volume of bodies throwing themselves at the gates, walls and emplacements without a care for their own survival and it was this which had seen the Grasshopper Faunus waylaid.
'Double Hard-Light!' Sunriser Cain announced her intentions as she threw herself into a spinning swing of the weapon which saw a wide and multi-layered shield of cyan panels shimmer into existence to protect her from an incoming barrage of bladed quills, the feathers being fired from the wings of a flock of Scree; carrion bird Grimm whose long-necked forms greatly resembled the more common Nevermore albeit with the proportions of something closer to a vulture. Zirconia found herself enjoying the thrill of battle as her efforts were rewarded with a series of resounding and satisfying thuds when the feathered projectiles sank into her shield but failed to penetrate it and from there she calculated her next moves, watching as the Scree gathered themselves overhead and wheeled about before finally diving as a unified force whose sheer mass and impact would break through the Hard-Light Dust shield and whose talons would be a match for even the protections of her Aura.
And so Zirconia rotated the Dust cylinders of her weapons, allowing the glowing an ephemeral barrier to fade away as she launched herself backwards and into another spinning swipe of her weapon.
'Fire! Lightning!' the avian monsters vanished from view as the immediate area was consumed by fire and lightning, the blazing heat washing over everything in its' path all whilst Zirconia continued to spring backwards with superhuman agility only to be vindicated a moment later when the Scree came bursting through the flames, claws extended and letting out the piercing shriek for which the had been named; a trio of winged beasts had survived Zirconia's attack and swooped low to pluck her from the ground or rake their claws through their preys' flesh. Answering the attack with a smirk which tugged at her scarred face the grasshopper leapt into the air and towards the wall of a nearby building, ricocheting from one half-completed part of Jidhir Town to the next and in the process forcing the Scree to bank, roll and reposition themselves at the cost of their momentum and the initiative they had taken until finally Zirconia managed to leap up and over them and aim Sunriser Cain directly downwards in its' cylindrical-bladed sword form.
'Hard-Light! Gravity!' she used another of her more well-practised attacks and sent a lancing beam of light downwards from the tip of her weapon to pierce neatly through the neck of the first Scree, its' continued flight seeing the beam tear a wound with glowing edges through the neck and spine of the monster and bisect it almost entirely before its' body faded away. From there two Scree remained and as Zirconia fell, using the abilities of her cybernetic limbs to land of a wall and run along its' surface the Grimm gave chase.
Only to be cut down in an instant.
"What?" disbelief gave way to a flurry of emotions so swirling and complex that Zirconia could not hope to name them all, much less process them as a flurry of familiar glowing surfaces began to appear in the air, arranged at various heights and angles with the Grasshopper Faunus having just enough time to realise that they were the Semblance of her former partner before Athena-Jade Slate herself appeared, using spectral Beowolf claws to vault from one surface to the next in a nearly incomprehensible blur of motion which ended with her driving her new weapon through the torso of a Grimm in its' sword mode. The final Scree had drawn dangerously close to Zirconia, though by the time she had freed herself from her state of shock enough to acknowledge its' presence the threat was already gone; a glyph had appeared and Stygian Blue, Athena-Jade's new partner had appeared in mid-air to decapitate the Grimm with a single swing before landing on that glyph and carrying his momentum into an impossibly powerful spinning kick.
Which caught Zirconia in the face faster than she could hope to react.
She hit the ground with a painful thud and rolled several times before coming to a halt and them immediately throwing herself back to her feet and readying her weapon, the instinct to fight surging to the forefront of her thoughts in an instant, fuelled by bitter thoughts, anger and regret. She zigzagged through the street in an effort to throw Stygian off balance as she approached him only for the Mouse Faunus to audibly scoff before using his Semblance once again; his teleportation bringing him barely a foot away from her and into the air with his katana poised for a vicious downward slash.
The blow was halted by another of Athena's glyphs, which the Bear Faunus then used to force the two apart.
"No!" she exclaimed as she landed with a boom behind Zirconia, spectral limbs vanishing but sword still raised; keeping her new partner at bay and yet still cutting off any retreat Zirconia might have tried to make in a display of contradictions which matched the conflicted look upon her features perfectly.
"I knew that some Hunters had slipped in, but I didn't know that it was you" Zirconia rasped out quietly, allowing herself to ignore Stygian as she simply drank in the sight of Athena for as long as she could, halting when a realisation hit her "It's Astra and Regalia trying to take the Megalodon? Carmesi is waiting for them-"
"Zirconia….Hops" Athena's voice wavered, audibly pained as she used the nickname she had given Zirconia "At Pikesreach you were going to surrender, right before Gestalt-Prime took you away….Do the right thing here….Stand down and tell Nero to do the same-"
"I can't" Zirconia's voice wavered, the rasp almost giving way to a sob as her desire for such a simple answer nearly overwhelmed her completely
"You can-"
"He won't listen AJ" Zirconia's voice raised in desperation "I am trying to keep this together, to make the future of Remnant be what it could be and stop Gestalt-Prime from using everything Damascus has built against us all….If you had come with me we could have-"
"Stop talking" Stygian's fierce snarl intruded on the moment and the Mouse Faunus stalked around the edge of the glyph Athena had made "Shadowmoon you're coming in one way or another, even if it has to be as a body and then we're gonna capture Nero as well….If we can't do that then well blow that airship up with him still on it"
"If you hurt him I swear I will-"
"NO!" Athena yelled again, stepping closer as Zirconia rounded on Stygian and her two partners visibly braced themselves.
"There's only one way this is gonna end AJ" Stygian spoke quietly, twirling his katana.
"Stitch don't do this, please" Athena whispered whilst Zirconia's mismatched eyes darted between the two of them uncertainly.
"After Pikesreach….After everything that happened there-"
"That wasn't her!" Athena yelled "Zirconia, tell him!"
"Okay" Stygian's electric blue eyes remained locked on his foe and his sword arm remained ready as he addressed the rogue Faunus "Because this means so much to AJ and for reasons I can't figure out she cares whether you live or die, I'm going to give you one chance to surrender-"
"Stitch-"
"Please, don't try and stop me AJ….Please" the Mouse Faunus's voice was agonised by the weight of his decisions and Zirconia felt herself unexpectedly sympathetic; realising that that the tattooed young man had no more ability to walk away from the situation than she did. "I think you should suffer for everything you've done, but if you surrender now and tell us how to stop what Nero is doing then we can do this without violence….So Surrender"
Zirconia heard Stygian's words and for a single, blissful allowed herself to consider the possibility of simply throwing her weapon to the ground before reality took hold and she was forced to accept that whilst trading her own freedom in order to save lives and prevent the Abomination of Pikesreach from rampaging freely was acceptable standing down here, allowing Gestalt-Prime to continue to have influence over her father figure and for Nero's plans to continue down their current path was something else entirely.
"I really wish I could" she rasped out, genuine sadness in her words as she turned to face Athena "I'm sorry AJ"
Before she had finished speaking Stygian teleported again, his sword slashing through empty air as Zirconia leapt aside with her own weapon ready for a counterattack.
"THIS ISN'T HAPPENING! IT CAN'T!" Athena yelled launching a flurry of glyphs out to halt her former and current partners in an effort to halt the madness, only to find herself dragged into the heart of it.
The walls of Jidhir Town would likely be breached at any moment and despite that seemingly self evident truth those who stood and defended it continued to do so stalwartly and with a grim resolve that was fuelled in equal measure by a willingness to stand their ground and give their lives for the cause and their beliefs, for the possibility of a better Remnant which varied in its' fanaticism from one fighter to the next and also the simple, equally self evident truth that Jidhir Town was surrounded and until Project Megalodon was completed there as nowhere for them to run.
Lesser Creatures of Grimm had reached the walls of Jidhir Town and were now charging, leaping and scrabbling relentlessly over one another in a roiling, surging tide of bodies which saw the monsters drawing ever closer to their goal of simply pouring over the walls and eviscerating in all in their path; their climbing advance having already silenced several of the defensive guns and emplacements as the crews manning them were forced to fend off the nearing Grimm by throwing grenades into their midst, shooting the monsters as they drew near or even, in several worrying instances stab at them with bayonets or whatever bladed implements were available.
With the perimeter guns forced to a halt in several places the Creatures of Grimm, with an intelligence and calculating ruthlessness beyond their usual animal cunning were able to make several precise and critical blows, targeting the Cyber-Grimm with a distinct bloodlust which saw the monsters scaling the walls surrounded and cut off from assistance or one another, or else simply dragged down into waiting masses of claws and fangs whilst the standard variant Cyber-Grimm and the few Shroud Variants that were available were harried and torn out of the skies as airborne monsters managed to make their way through the widening holes in Jidhir Towns' defensive lines.
All while allowing the Nova Beast and the Shatter Beast to draw near.
Screams, a cacophony of yells and hastily given, desperate orders filled the air as the two massive Creatures of Grimm lumbered and thundered their way towards the reclaimed and occupied settlement, uniting so that they could strike at Jidhir Town as a unified force. The two giants neared and rose to their hind limbs, clawed limbs flexing and the ground cracking beneath their sheer seismic mass as they issued their challenge to Jidhir Town with a pair of roars; the reptilian Shatter Beast letting out an echoing, haunting hiss with a grating, scraping note to it which assaulted the senses of all who heard it whilst the Nova Beast unleashed a deafening, bellowing roar which saw their prehensile, spiked and sucker-lined tongue lolling and thrashing while glowing sprays of magma-like saliva flew from its' maw to burn anything they made contact with, including several lesser Grimm.
It was the mammalian Nova Beast which attacked Jidhir Town first, the massive Sun Bear Grimm striding out before its' partner on lithe and muscular limbs and rearing back, utterly heedless of the array of weapons being fired at it as a deep, reverberating growl filled the air until it transitioned it a sustained and vibrating bass tone as the raging, infernal light of a falling star began to rise up in the back of the Nova Beasts' throat, growing in intensity until it seemed as though the monster held a miniature sun in its' jaws and was hard to look directly at before finally lurching forwards to spew a beam of destructive light directly at Jidhir Town's walls.
Only to be halted.
Cheers and fresh battle-cries went up along the defences, with those black-robed followers of the Path of the Apex Being who were particularly devout in their unsettling beliefs giving a chorus of praises and made their adoration known when as the beam of fiery golden light, laced with crackling and unnatural fire which lashed out from its' main body in unpredictable ways was met and countered by an equally powerful attack in the form of a hellish, vivid red beam of light coruscating light.
Gestalt-Prime had joined the battle.
The Alpha Cyber-Grimm hung in the air a few dozen feet behind the walls of Jidhir Town with their chest armour opened and unfurled to reveal the components of the photon weapon within, its' blood red light making their winged and monstrous form appear all the more imposing and miraculous in its' arrival; relief quickly turned to panic as the point where the two attacks met began to produce waves of punishing heat which sent Grimm and fighter alike retreating as the outer surface of the perimeter wall began to glow. It took only a moment longer for the Nova Beast to be spent, its' devastating attack utterly denied and the beam of light guttering out; Gestalt-Prime was similarly unable to sustain such a prolonged effort though their own attack lasted a single moment longer and that moment was used mercilessly, with the sentient Monster pivoting in the air and dragging the beam of their photon cannon upward and to the left to tear away a chunk of the right side of the Nova Beasts' jaw and skull; not enough to be a killing blow but more than enough to tear a tortured scream from the Sun Bear Grimm as it scurried its' titanic mass back towards its' partner with a trail of acrid smoke spewing from the rent open tear in its' face.
A Grimm at their core Gestalt-Prime was unwilling to give up the violence once it had begun and pressed their advantage relentlessly, allowing the armour plate and bones of their torso to slide and fold back into place before soaring and diving through the air and ploughing into the disoriented mass of lesser Grimm that were yet to regroup after base instinct had forced them to avoid being incinerated.
It created an opening for the defenders' of Jidhir Town to rush back to their posts though Gestalt-Prime cared little for such small details and instead simply indulged their instincts, landing amidst the Grimm and swinging their metallic tail out in a wide arc which reduced a swathe of Grimm to nothing before shifting their axe-bladed wings so that they encompassed their arms to form a pair of oversized and weaponised limbs whilst at the same time deploying the laser weapons mounted above their shoulders; from there the sentient monster was a force of nature, cutting down a dozen or more Creatures of Grimm every instant.
Though the sound of heavy, thundering footsteps brought them back to their senses.
Looking up at the Nova Beast and the Shatter Beast Gestalt-Prime regarded the two giant monsters with a sense of terrible certainty; these were creations made by the older, larger presence they had felt within the Hive-mind, the unseen enemy against whom they would wage a war for supremacy and survival and there was no doubt at all in Gestalt-Prime's mind that the battle was being observed by the unknown presence.
A thought which made Gestalt-Prime deploy their tactical visor over their lone optic, close additional plates and panels over their lupine muzzle and fanged maw and then rush into battle once more.
They would crush their enemies' greatest works and tear their bodies asunder so that even the presence in the darkness understood that Gestalt-Prime was the future of the Grimm Species.
Author's Notes:
Okay ladies, gentlemen and esteemed others, the mid-season finale of Vol.08 is now officially upon us.
Is everyone else having fun?
By the way, if you think it's emotional and you kinda hate me a bit right now….Wait until next week, you're gonna wanna reach through the screen and slap me just from the title alone.
But anyway, let's summarise shall we?:
Starting with Nero on the bridge of the Megalodon, giving the cliché status report line felt like the best way to open and set the tone.
The the big ol' aircraft Grimm is still buffering and isn't ready to be unleashed yet, which is a problem for everybody.
He would have taken people whose granddads were fighter pilots and told them war stories at that point because anything will do.
He doesn't know about Zirconia yet, he was gonna ask her for tips on appearing bad-ass; just enjoy that stab and twist.
"Thank you for your concern but no….Today I will be leading by example" was bad-ass though.
Of course Gestalt-Prime was listening in through their connection to the Megalodon.
Naturally Gestalt-Prime tried to haggle, there's no point in pretending to have loyalty any more because they both know where they stand with each other and can assume they're going to be fucked over.
But the fact that this clearly an attack from Pantheon is enough of a reason to play nice.
And now we're back to Team MARS and the remains of Noir's people, who have finally reached Jidhir Town and seen the attacking Grimm.
Astra's plan was sensible on its' face, use the Grimm as a distraction, extract the enemy leaders and destabilise their entire operation; a little optimistic but valid….Of course it was never gonna be that simple.
This is the first time we've actually seen Astra's truck take notable damage, the fact it was customised by another Hunter who put a lot of money into it has served it well thus far but there's limits.
Astra's use of their Semblance has been small and non-combative, but very useful this chapter.
I think that's a fair first response to the Megalodon.
So I've used Teryx a couple times this volume and they weren't on Menagerie before hand, but I've managed to make it reasonable….Because they've only appeared when the attacks were launched by Pantheon directly, or by a Grimm they had made.
Zirconia has all these lofty ideals and big ideas….But half the time she only has them after she's been swept up in something and already started moving.
"It was a show of the man's character and bravery, displaying the kind of Hunter he might have become had he never met Damascus Nero"….I mean the fact is that Carmesi undeniably gets shit done, he has the ability and sheer will for the job.
The last time Carmesi and Zirconia teamed up was at Pikesreach and how did that end up for the Hunters there?
So they know there's Hunters coming but not who, because obviously the surprised meeting needed to happen.
And yeah, she finally called Nero Dad….Whilst at the same time trying to fuck with his plans; she contain multitudes.
You knew that there was gonna be a scene from Pantheon's perspective here, just because it's the best way to have a birds' eye view of the battlefield and an overall picture.
So now Pantheon has seen the Megalodon and it's a sign of just how impressive Nero's plans are the sight of it made Pantheon who has literally watched Salem try to implode the multiverse before was surprised for a sec.
But the main point of this scene was to show off the two Kaiju Grimm that Pantheon has had on standby, the Shatter Beast and the Nova Beast, with names that are deliberately uncreative, because neither was the Clutcher; Pantheon isn't trying to be clever with it….But also, an alligator snapping turtle Grimm and a Sun Bear Grimm, admit it that's cool.
Of course Clunker can take damage, it was damaged the first time we saw it.
A brief taste of urban warfare, because getting sniped out of every damn window is just inconvenient.
If you know where "HOLD ON TO YOUR BUTTS!" is from I salute you.
Okay so of all the variants of the Bumblebee technique that we've seen Astra and Regalia use so far this one might just be the most insane….And in my head it looked like some of the scenes in the Spider-Verse movies.
Oh come on, I literally told you that Carmesi was gonna be the one holding the line and protecting Nero, how else was this gonna go?
So Clunker and the truck are both fucked, there's limited ways out of Jidhir Town at this point.
"May thy knife chip and shatter!" Dune 2 isn't even out yet and she's quoting it.
Of course Astra took the piss out of Carmesi for the fact he's been walking around shirtless since Vol.07.
Bringing the people from Pikesreach into it was dirty….But also sets Carmesi and Nero up for failure.
Scree, Vulture Nevermore that were in Team MARZ's initiation….Also Scree is not just the noise they make, it also means debris which felt fitting for a carrion bird Grimm.
Zirconia was just throwing out all of her classic moves today, along with the wall running and bouncing around that was inspired by a mix of Spider-Verse and Deku.
Yeah that went about the way you'd expect, she was so busy staring at AJ and trying to say something, anything at all and not make an idiot of herself that she barely even noticed Stygian was there until he kicked her in the teeth.
Oh she was on smoke with Stitch immediately, just jealous of the fact he's AJ's partner now….Just wait until she finds out they fucked.
So AJ and Stitch had a talk about Hops, it got heated, the topic changed, they fucked about it, talked about everything except what was gonna happen when they saw Hops and now here we are….At an impasse where AJ is doing everything she can to do this without hurting someone she still cares about, whilst Stitch is honestly just looking for an excuse.
In Stitch's defence he gave her chances, in Hops's defence she knows more about what Nero is planning than anyone else at this point and Gestalt-Prime cannot be allowed to get hold of it, in AJ's defence….Feelings are hard.
So this is a tragedy, in that sense that it didn't have to go like this but ultimately it was always going to….And now we'll be going into the next chapter with a three-way fight.
It really was looking like Jidhir Town was fucked there, because just in terms of numbers Pantheon's advantage was massive. Nero's people had maybe a few hundred at most, though how many of them were actually fighters and how many of those fighters were on the wall, plus a few dozen Cyber-Grimm….Pantheon had thousands and can always make more.
And that's why it's called the Nova Beast….The sun bear dropped a sun on them. Making the reptilian one have the beam attack was too predictable, that's just Godzilla; you thought the Sun Bear's tongue was its' weapon but no.
Scenes like this last one are fun to write because they turn the usual dynamic on their head, where we see things from the perspective of enemy grunts and actually get to see Gestalt-Prime as they see them; a messianic monster that saves all of their lives every time they join the fight.
Seriously between Carmesi's entrance with the Semblance attack and Pantheon ripping part of the nova Beasts' face off then blending a few hundred Grimm in seconds the villains got some pretty big entrances today.
But yeah now we get a proper head on face to face showdown between Gestalt-Prime and two Grimm that are Pantheon's avatars, though obviously nowhere near Pantheon themselves in terms of power.
And that's what we're looking at for next chapter: Astra and Regalia vs Carmesi + Athena-Jade vs Stygian vs Zirconia + Gestalt-Prime vs Nova Beast and Shatter Beast, whilst in the background Pantheon's forces continue to attack Menagerie and delay Corvid and the Nero is readying the Megalodon….Bet you can't guess how it's gonna end.
Thank you to Neil12 and MajorBrony95 for their reviews on the last chapter.
Oh they're gonna wish that it was Coco or Ruby handling the fallout of this.
This story has been going on for 2 and a half years and it'll be going on probably until mid 2024...I'm actually a little over three months ahead with writing.
Yeah it was an all round fuster-cluck for everybody there...And somehow it managed to get even nuttier.
Well once this story is over I'll be starting work on my own original writing, which I've already done some planning for the early stages of; so you're welcome to follow that as well lol.
As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review.