The clash of blades emerged first from their holding in the early hours of the morning, followed by the roaring blast off of jetpacks into the dark skies and low-hanging clouds. It might've been a cause for some concern, had it not been for the fact that this battle was merely a simulated free-for-all for the best warriors of the Mando'ade. He'd staged it as a method to find out which warriors were their best, and which would be best to take for the more headlong attack against that snake, but wasn't anticipating a fair number of things.
The first thing he'd failed to recognize was that despite having only just unlocked his aura, Midnight had simultaneously unlocked his semblance in that battle, and the appraisal they'd performed revealed a name but not it's nature or abilities. "Destined Son's Haki," they'd called it, and while it's nature or larger range of abilities were as of yet unknown, what was already present had revealed the man to be an absolute beast. Faster, stronger, nigh instantaneous reaction speed and an ominous glaring blue shine in his eye... not to mention just how absurdly resilient to basically all forms of damage he became whenever it activated.
That being said, of course, he couldn't help but notice that Midnight couldn't activate it at will. Seemed to him like some sort of emergency protocol or override a droid would have, if to a much more dramatic extent. He'd only managed to force the Mand'alor into activating his semblance once, when they were sparring one-on-one earlier. Despite being his top Lieutenant, in combat experience and raw skill he did have Jango's scion beaten, and was even initially winning their fight... but had been absolutely throttled when his semblance kicked in.
Sighing lowly as he and the man himself stood off to the side, watching as their remnant-born comrades continued to battle amongst themselves, Marcus couldn't help but get this feeling deep within his gut. Something along the lines of something being... off. His battle with Qrow the other day ended better than he could've hoped, but the fact that those Black Ops Hunters hadn't even looked towards their penthouse yet despite his certainty that the old man would've told them he was here in the city had him somewhat worried. Qrow, much like himself, was NOT one to let his prey slip away from him so easily, and neither were those Hunters, whom he doubted wouldn't be eager to pursue him.
Call it a hunch, but he just knew that something would come of it. An ambush at some point, maybe. They could just be waiting for their next move to converge and engage him and the Mando'ade, something he couldn't allow to occur. Of course, Marcus had raised his concerns to Midnight, but the man already had his hands quite full, and had many other important things to prioritize, such as readiness checks and training up their new recruits in everything there was to being a Mandalorian... not to mention, formulating a good strategy for killing the snake. No, Midnight couldn't handle everything on his own, and something like this he recognized would naturally be like child's play for someone of his own caliber. Lure out some pursuers and give e'm the run-around? He'd be a poor excuse of a Mandalorian if he couldn't handle something as simple as that.
His little excursion out of the hideout during the city's curfew, something implemented by the Black Ops Hunters, had been going smoothly thus far, and he'd remained undetected for three hours now. The hard rain and partial power outage still affecting the city only helped him in this regard, as it made several routes that would've otherwise been inaccessible more viable than not. Aside from the environment, even if he hadn't been trained as a Mandalorian, his work here as an assassin meant that he wouldn't have been long for this world if he couldn't sneak around undetected... or effectively eavesdrop on a conversation not meant for his ears like he was doing right now.
"I'm telling ya, whoever those guys up in the tower are, they probably aren't good news. The fact that Qrow is being so tight-lipped about it is strange enough as it is, but about what little we do know? Disintegration weapons? Jetpacks that far outstrip anything even Atlas can produce right now? Seemingly indestructible armor, too." One man spoke, a lanky sort with a gravelly voice that he couldn't pin down the origin place of accent-wise. He couldn't really make out any other details about the man that wouldn't translate universally to any other Black Ops Hunter, since they all wore similar uniforms, vests, helmets and masks in all black.
"Yeah, we've all seen some of the footage, especially of that supposed top Lieutenant. Doesn't even bother to raise his aura unless something hits somewhere his armor doesn't cover. Normally I'd call that plain cocky, but from everything I've heard and seen so far I'd say that confidence isn't misplaced." The second figure mused, albeit in a more hushed tone than her louder compatriot. "Nevertheless, Ozpin's right to want us to keep an eye on them. Outside of their tech and the fact that they're all superb warriors, we know basically nothing about them except that call themselves... what was it, "Mandalorians?" Kinda a strange name, if you ask me. Ain't even any region or culture here that the name could be derived from."
"No kiddin. Not to mention, they aren't even the only strange thing in this region. Forget the cult and those crusaders, these Mandalorians and those guys in that big, weird metal arrowhead thing in the forest are by far the most exciting things here right now." That note intrigued him, as whatever the last thing they'd mentioned was, it was well out of their range of intelligence. Must've been a recent development, if he were to wager a guess, explaining why he was only just now learning about it.
"The latter seem to be similar to the former, though, if WAY more unfriendly. From what little we've seen of the inhabitants, their armor seems to strongly resemble the "Mand'alor's" own... Some of their armor even looks the exact same, just colored different. Didn't you say they shot at you when you tried to approach them?"
"Yeah, we got visual on some of the people there from about 2 miles out from a mountain path in the Southern Yultim Mountain Range when a squad of e'm started opening up on us with some strange plasma weapons. Our longest range weapon had an effective killing range of about 800 meters, so we couldn't even really shoot back. Lost half our team before we were ordered to pull back and leave them alone for the time being. Oz thinks they saw our marksman looking down his scope at them and assumed we were lining up a shot on one of e'm, and the first half of that, well... yeah, could've done that better. Seem to be a military sort, so probably thought we were scouting them out." Marcus mentally chuckled a little bit as he heard about their blunder, but maintained a low profile as he attempted to glean off some more info. Alas, it seemed like the only worthwhile thing that seemed to come up after the initial bit of good info was the location of a good pastry shop close to their HQ.
Still, the information he'd obtained was decent enough. Seemed that these Hunters were taking a sort of "wait and see" approach with the Remnant Mandalorians, and that Ozpin wanted to keep an eye on them. It would create a few complications, specifically in their quest to reclaim the Beskar after killing Ouroboros, but he was sure that nobody among his ranks was weak enough that they couldn't pull their own weight in battle with these Hunters, should it come to that. More importantly, however, was the intel on the other group not too far from them at that moment.
The Yultim Mountain Range was a little out of the way, and it was more inland than they'd like to travel, but from the sounds of it, there were other clones there, and that presented a fine opportunity to reinforce themselves... especially if they had a star destroyer, like it sounded like they did. He remembered Midnight saying that he once commanded a company of ARC Troopers aboard a modified Venator Class Star Destroyer named "Blackout," and that there were several other Republic Special Forces elements that operated out of it. He doubted that it would be the same Venator that Mand'alor used to serve aboard, but he couldn't write off the possibility.
He'd have to make Midnight aware of it, as he doubted that the man wouldn't jump at the chance to guide some lost brothers... but even if it would be the case, they'd have to wait until after Ouroboros was slain. No point putting additional troops in harms way when they already had a more than sufficient force to finish the task. On the other hand though, if there were more ARC Troopers or even Commandos, then not only would they have a suitable honor guard, they'd have plenty of teachers for the Foundlings.
Nevertheless, he knew that matter would need to wait, before the convoy attack but after Ouroboros. With this information in mind, Marcus turned back towards the HQ, silently stalking his way back through vacant halls and abandoned alleys for a swift and uninterrupted return...
"A Star Destroyer? With my brothers present? You're certain that's what you heard?" Midnight asked for certainty, having snapped upright from his hunched over posture the moment the news reached his ears, startling the child with the sudden movement. Even from behind his mask, Marcus could easily hear the excitement in his voice, almost like that of a giddy child learning their best friend was coming over. He chuckled slightly at that, remembering that the Manda'alor was still technically just 12 years old and noting that it wasn't necessarily out of character for someone his age, even if he was physically much more matured.
"Absolutely. They're in the Yultim Mountain Range, I'd recommend we see if we can't enlist their services after we've killed that damn snake." He responded, chuckling slightly as Midnight immediately turned his eyes back to the battle plans they'd drawn up to kill the snake. They weren't rushed, but with their limited arsenal and the need to detonate the seismic charge inside the beast they couldn't get too fancy, either. A simple, well thought out plan would serve them the best here, and that's something he saw the Mand'alor had no trouble drawing up.
"I see... well then, I'll walk the pan through with you first, then if you think it's good, everyone else will learn the plan during the Pre-mission Briefing." Midnight offered, drawing a swift nod from the elder Mando and prompting him to point down at the map. "We know where Ouroboros is hiding, and while we may lack the firepower to destroy the entire body, we only need cut off the head. To draw it out, twenty of our brothers and sisters equipped with jetpacks will approach the mouth of the cave, unload explosive weapons into the mouth of the cave to stir it up. Before it can attack, they'll launch back to a safe distance, continuing to unload while airborne. The rest of our force will post up on the mountains on either side of the cave and unload as soon as the beast has revealed itself. After that, we'll detonate charges placed above the mouth of the cave to cause it to collapse, hopefully immobilizing it momentarily and making it opt to spray acid. Once it opens its mouth to spray, I will fly in with the Seismic charge, kick it down its throat, and fly out before I blow the snake to kingdom come. Do you think that'll all work?"
"Hmm... it's a simple, solid plan, but if the remote fails to trigger, you'd have to manually arm the bomb. I'd suggest you trigger the arming sequence for thirty seconds once you're in, that way once you're out, even if the remote doesn't trigger the bomb, time still will. Additionally, whenever Ouroboros has emerged, massive hordes of Grimm have converged on its location. We'll need to be ready for that." Marcus added on, drawing a nod from Midnight as he turned his eyes over to his Lieutenant and crossed his arms.
"The 20 equipped with Jetpacks will be a fine horde counter while the main body focuses down the real threat, but I'll need someone I can trust to get things done regardless of the odds to lead them. I take it you're up for the challenge?" Midnight put his free hand forward, drawing a big smirk out from Marcus as he met the hand in a firm shake.
"Easily. Now, let's get everyone on the same page, kill that snake, and let the Remnant Mando'ade bask in the downpour of glory and honor eternal!" With that final declaration, the two turned back to the table, burning it all into their memories. Midnight touched a single finger to the intercom attached to the table, calling up all his forces for their brief. Come what may, the beast would die this day...
They thought it fitting that on the day of glory, a massive storm had erupted in their wake, following the Mand'alor nearly a hundred warriors Mandalorians clad in full armor, some of them not combat-trained quite yet but trained well enough to at least protect the Foundlings, who were all being transported in a few armored transports. With the knowledge of the horde, the tank followed suit at the middle of the formation, and would break off with the untrained and the foundlings to provide some extra firepower on that front. For this mission, he was given a Z-6 Jetpack with full Beskar casing, and a missile to be launched should the need arise. He recognized it as one of the jetpacks his donor and father, Jango Fett, utilized, and he was already familiar with the usage of this one and how to fly properly. He'd be going without his Aura Blade, however, as he did not want to risk the acid disintegrating his saya. On that note, most of his kit was absent aside from integrated weapons and his DC-17s, just to prevent any damage to them, and because he could easily replace the pistols.
As they rolled down the street, his convoy was soon followed by several drones that shined their cameras down upon them, broadcasting their actions to whoever was watching, whom he assumed may well be many. Still, it would only sell the validity of their kill and their glory, and act as proof to cement him and his in the history books. This time, publicity was exactly what they wanted, and the bounty on this beast's head would go a long way to funding their operations. It was the single oldest, highest paying bounty in all of Remnant's history, having existed for hundreds upon hundreds of years, and as such it would reward the slayers with the amount of 100 million lien. The Kingdom governments didn't expect anyone to ever call it in, so they'd set an absurdly large bounty on it, knowing it would never be claimed... until today.
Within minutes, the Mandalorians had left the city and were well on their way, closing the distance and positioning themselves around the cave within three hours of their departure. The storm had only intensified, with the wind howling wickedly and wildly, putting the intense downpour at a steep angle and slaking the ground with mud. Lightning and thunder rained from the heavens above, as the Mandalorians planted their flags into the earth and let them flap wildly in the wind. The trees around them bent dramatically from the gusts blowing through them, but the Mando'ade remained unmoved, unflinching before the storm as they readied their charges over the massive cave mouth, took up ready positions on the ridges with high powered rifles, shoulder mounted missile launchers, mortars and other heavy weapons.
"This will be a day of Glory. Hear me, Brothers and Sisters! Today we leave our mark on history! Today we slay a foe older than the Kingdoms themselves, and today, today we burn the name of the Remnant Mando'ade into the very earth of the planet itself! Akaanir ti ijaat, revel o'r kote bal parjai! Mando'ade! Vode an, shekemir ni at akaan!"
His rallying cry was met with a booming roar of jubilee and excitement that drowned out even the crackling thunder that boomed from all around them. And, with the drop of a hat, the battle had begun...
Qrow had been staking out these Mandalorians on their way to the objective, unable to believe that they were suicidal enough to go after Ouroboros itself. Still, he kept his distance, not wanting to interfere with this fight, even if he knew Marcus was down there. Make no mistake, he fully intended to take Marcus in still, but not like this. Marcus had speed him when he could've easily killed him, so he did the man the courtesy of keeping his presence in their ranks to himself. After all, if the snake killed Marcus this day, then that's just be that tied up on its own... still, he was at least rooting for them, and keeping his distance, lest his bad luck affect them in this crucial moment.
"Heh... wish the glory of killing this snake was mine for the taking, but I'll be rooting for you. Hope you're watching this too, Oz, because I got a gut feeling that despite the suicidal nature of this attack, they might just pull it off today..."
The darkened skies and raging storm were split with a sudden and violent ferocity by the rapidly flashing red and blue lights of blaster fire streaming into the cave, followed shortly after the barrage had begun by the cascading blasts of grenades and missiles launched down its mouth. For a tense fifty seconds, the whole waited with bated breath as the endless flow of firepower flooded into the cave, before gasping as these 21 fearless warriors launched backwards, their firepower unrelenting as a massive head shot through the dark of the opening, snapping at the retreating warriors and just barely missing them as they began to scatter. With every minute movement of the giant black and white snake, it felt as if the whole world shook, and they could only watch in awe as more and more of its body emerged from the cave, followed by two massive, muscular and reptilian arms that ended in giant clawed, webbed hands.
Upon it's face, two massive horns sprouted on either side of its head, sprouting forward similarly to how the legendary Mythosaur was depicted. It's maw opened up in three separate parts, each lined with row after row of razor-sharp fangs, and above them rested eight baleful red eyes that pierced their very souls, threatening to stun any lesser warriors from their gaze alone. As it continued to emerge, the Mando'ade that had posted up on the cliffs and ridges to either side began to unload all their weapons just as its body had risen a full 4 kilometers in height, casting a darker shadow upon the lands than any storm could ever cast. With a simple sweep of its right arm, an entire mountain was sundered with ease, sending a debris of stone, foliage and debris sailing through the skies while the Mandalorians caught in the attack were sent reeling across the immediate landscape.
"Detonate the charges, NOW!" Midnight ordered, smirking as the massive detonations ravaged the beast's backside and collapsed the entire mountain from which it emerged upon itself. Ouroboros roared with an unmistakable rage, deafening all save the Mandalorians who were protected by their helmets for scores of kilometers in every direction. However, with it, Midnight saw his chance and drew his katana from its saya, leaving the latter behind in his MRAP as he grabbed the Seismic charge in his opposite hand and blasted off into the skies. Just as he anticipated, the beast turned its head downward and began to spray the entire area beneath it with an acidic spray, its mouth held wide open as it continued to spray and allowing him to align himself with its mouth so he could fly right inside.
The beast swept its opposite arm, decimating the ridge the rest of his ground forces were posted on effortlessly and scattering them all around the area with brutal force, showering them in a storm of debris, shrapnel and dirt. However, before it could do any more harm, it's attention turned to the rapidly approaching singular figure, all eight hateful eyes aligning on the Mand'alor as he launched a missile into its mouth just as it tries to spray him, forcing it to recoil slightly before it could shower him in acid, and allowing him to shoot straight into the back of its mouth. Almost amused, Ouroboros snapped its mouth shut, trapping the Mand'alor inside.
"Arming the bomb... armed!" Midnight spoke as the world around him turned black and he felt the muscles in its throat constrict around him just as he slammed his fist down on the button to finalize the timer to detonate the bomb. With his soul recognizing his dire situation, both eyes shone a hazy blue light, with his aura blade taking up a similar blue haze as he forced his arms to move through, slicing up the area around him and allowing him to bound up to its enclosed mouth, where it's tongue was attempting to move up to crush him against the roof.
However, kicking off into a spin with his jetpack, the Mand'alor kept his blade belt close at an unmoving angle, piercing through like a drill and shattering all the beast's teeth in his way as not a second too soon, he launched out the front of its mouth like a bullet, trailing a spiraling corridor of blood, gore, viscera and bone in his wake. Flying up higher, the Mand'alor turned over to look at the beast before pulling up the remote and depressing the trigger...
Only for nothing to happen. He depressed it twice, three times, and no change. He growled in further frustration as the thirty seconds had already passed, meaning that the acid must've damaged that part of the sequence or interrupted something important. Deciding to improvise, Midnight pulled a thermal detonators from his belt and shot back down, bounding back and dropping the Thermal Detonator just as it lunges to snap at him, allowing it to fall in its mouth while he just narrowly dodged its snapping jaws.
Knowing that he wouldn't be able to rise up fast enough to clear the safe radius, Midnight pivoted his body back and blasted himself downward, descending like a comet towards the acid-scorched earth. It was just in time, too, as not a moment after he cleared the safe radius of the blast, the deafening implosion and following ring of the seismic charge echoed across the continent, sending a rush of whipping and wild winds after him that managed to even blow him off course from where he wanted to land, and throwing him off balance as it did so.
His eyes widened as the massive blue ring expanded outwards for kilometers on end, not even halting as they sheared the top of a distant mountain clean off before eventually fading away much further. The sheer intensity of the blast had even managed to blow most of the storm away, leaving a giant hole in the clouds that allowed the sun's golden rays to bleed flood through, bathing Midnight and all his forces in a glorious spotlight of golden rays.
Chuckling audibly, he pivot his body midair once more to realign himself upright, before engaging his jetpack once more, slowing his descent just enough for there to only be a small explosion of dirt and splintered rock with his landing. Turning his eyes back to the skies, Midnight watched with awe as the body of the beast began to rapidly disintegrate, leaving only the skeleton of the behemoth to drop to the ground around them. As the flesh of the beast faded into nothing far down into the chasm, they watched as the remainder of its skeleton sunk down into the floor, the ground for dozens of kilometers collapsing with the disintegration of the only thing holding up many layers of earth, leaving a wide, winding chasm that snaked for miles as the only thing aside from bones to tell the tale of the once feared monstrosity.
"Marcus, I need a battle-damage report. How many did we lose?" He spoke into his comms unit, drawing a soft chuckle from his XO.
"Injuries across the board, but thanks to our aura and armor, we're all still kicking, all living to fight another day. The horde is also running with their tails between their legs... we've won." His Lieutenant's declaration drew the Mand'alor's eyes over to the fallen skull of Ouroboros, and a cheeky grin to his mouth as he picked up a fallen banner, and flew up to plant it atop the skull that alone stood at least a kilometer in height from jawline to crown. A mighty battlecry left his lungs, drawing all his kin back towards his position in short order while he basked in the golden rays of the glorious sunshine. As soon as all his men were gathered, the foundlings joined them at the front of the mass with Ruby in the center.
Feelings of pride swelled through their ranks, and the cries of jubilee and victory echoed for miles on end before finally coming to a close as Midnight raised his hand. During this time, Ruby had managed to climb up to the top, and Midnight honored her efforts by lifting her up with his free hand to hold her as he usually did.
"How you doing, Ruby?" He inquired in a soft tone, making her bounce a little in his arms as she held up a large tooth, one he recognized to belong to a Beowulf Alpha.
"I killed it! It snuck past the others and jumped out at us, but I managed to kill it with the vibroknife you gave me! Did I do good?" He was amazed as she announced this, looking back down to the other foundlings and watching them all nod in confirmation before turning his gaze back to Ruby, his chest swelling up somewhat.
"That's my girl! You'll be a worthy heiress to my title yet!" He praised, pressing the crown of his helmet against her own with a small smirk, before turning towards the rest of his comrades, and raising his sword up into the air while he made his speech.
"MANDO'ADE! HOLD YOUR HEADS HIGH THIS DAY, FOR WE HAVE SLAIN THIS MIGHTY BEAST THAT HAS STOOD AS A BLIGHT UPON THIS WORLD SINCE TIME IMMEMORIAL!" He began, silencing the world around him as he spoke, having possibly the entire world watching as he declared their victory. "Today is not a victory for any Kingdom, fallen or present. It is not a victory for the people of this world and it is not the victory of any individual. NO! Today is a day of Victory for the Remnant Mandalorians! Following in the footsteps of our legendary ancestors, those who slew the mighty Mythosaurs and tamed the fearsome Basilisks, those who did battle and won against legions of sorcerers, those Ancestors who've carved a path into history with countless thousands of years of honor and glory, today we have made them proud! Stand tall, for today our ancestors smile upon us and recognize all of us as worthy inheritors to their legendary legacies! Today you all have proven yourselves worthy of being called Mandalorians, and until the day we all meet our glorious ends, we shall never be found wanting! O' may cuun kote draar fade! Revel o'r parjai ibi'tuur, par nakar'tuur vi may ash'amur sa vi ganar lived! Ibic cuyir te ara!
"O' may cuun kote draar fade! Revel o'r parjai ibi'tuur, par nakar'tuur vi may ash'amur sa vi ganar lived! Ibic cuyir te ara!"
The booming roar of the repetition of the last verse of his speech were beyond deafening, almost sounding as if it could eclipse the very blast of the bomb they'd used to slay this legendary beast. With their victory etched in the annals of time, the Remnant Mandalorians raised their weapons to the skies and resounded with a mighty cheer to shake the heavens, letting all of Remnant know who they were in perfect clarity.
Gone now was the age of cowering in fear before the many walking nightmares of this world. Now was the dawn of a new age, a new era, a new chapter in the story of this world, one with the Remnant Mandalorians standing proud and facing bravely the endless night...
Now was the Age of the Mandalorian...