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Chapter 105: Declare War
"I am Chairman Damascus Nero of the Clara Die Novus Conglomerate….I am here to deliver you into a better, brighter new tomorrow" the words rang out and it was all Astra Mars could do to remain standing as the sensation of shock and horror as the foundations of everything they had thought they understood were shaken.
"That-Is that Zirconia's old man? What the hell's going on?" Stygian demanded, the baffled and almost instinctively angered tone forcing Astra to focus and gather their thoughts despite themselves.
"I have no idea" their words were hollow and cracking, interrupted a moment later as the Benefactor, shadowy figure responsible for the attack on Port Alistair, the smuggling of Creatures of Grimm, the arming of the cities gangs with military grade weapons and machinery and the creation of the Cyber-Grim which Stygian's team had encountered; revealed to Nero, whose promises to build a force which would make Hunter obsolete now seemed far more heinous began to speak, offering what he no doubt thought would be an explanation for the madness.
"Your Hunters, your heroes have lied to you time and time again….How quick we all are to forgive and forget when we're forced to, when they've made us all powerless, at their mercy" Nero's voice had a fierce, hateful edge to it now that cut through the faint traces of a stammer that the man had spent years of coaching to correct
"We all remember don't we, when we thought Salem was merely a rogue figure and not the manifestation of the Grimm themselves….We all remember don't we, how the Hunters were only forced to admit the truth of what Salem was and the truth of all the stories we were told as children and the truth about the world we live in! They kept all of that from us until Salem herself came and cut this very city off from the rest of Remnant, subjected us to a siege and threatened to simply remove New Vale from the map….Countless dead and yet the Hunters kept their power!"
"Why is this still broadcasting?" Stygian demanded "Why haven't they cut it off?"
"I don't think they can" Astra gasped, sea-green eyes taking in the sight of the crowds and realising that many of them were not looking at the screens at all and were in fact peering at their Scrolls "I think it's broadcasting everywhere"
"Well I am here to tell you that nothing has changed!" Nero barked with unconstrained fury "I know that even now those same Hunters, Qrow Branwen, Ruby Rose, the heads of each of the Hunter Academies continue to keep their secrets from you, the people they were sworn to protect and answer to! I know this because they asked me to join their conspiracies and I told them no!"
"This was his plan all along" Astra choked the words out, bile rising in their throat and knees suddenly shaking as their arms hung limply at their side, barely aware of the way Stygian's electric blue eyes darted from Astra to the screen as Nero continued on with his monologue.
"I have already discussed publicly the corruption of the Hunters, the banal and simple ways they lord their power over the rest of us; but it goes far deeper. Good citizens of New Vale and of Remnant at large consider this, the Hunters created a compound which can obliterate Grimm during the last war and then forbade its' usage! The Hunters kept the true nature of the conflict against the Grimm from all of us for generations! The Hunters over the years have devised several other such weapons which could finally turn the tide of the war only for them to never see the light of day, instead they're hidden away in vaults in Atlas, only unleashed against civilians in acts that always end with the Hunters victorious and with more power than ever! The Hunters have political power in each of the Kingdoms and as we speak Halo Academy of New Vale is host to an orphanage so that they can take our most vulnerable children, children like my Zirconia might have been and teach them to join their twisted, disgusting campaign against the rest of us!….I ask you this people of Remnant, do these sound like the actions of protectors or do they sound like the actions of despots? The Hunters are mad with power and they know that so long as there are monsters to fight we will never be free of their ability to extort us all….And so, people of Remnant I stand before you now to offer you a bright new tomorrow, a better way forward-"
"This is insane" Astra whispered.
"But some people are already listening" Stygian countered the Mouse Faunus twirling his katana nervously as the two Faunus stood back to back almost defensively as they peered at the massed crowd around them "What he's saying has just enough of the truth in it to make people at least consider the rest of it….this is gonna be big-"
"I propose to do what no Hunter could….What no Hunter would ever dream of, or allow to come to pass because it would challenge the order that they have established and benefited from for so long!" Nero's voice continued to grow in fervour as the man unleashed a tirade that had evidently been waiting for an unimaginable amount of time to be released "Because the truth about Salem proved something that they could never allow us to know, that the Grimm are not just mindless monsters!"
"Okay, now he's insane" Stygian spat.
"No….Wait" Astra's blood ran cold as flashes of the Grimm attack on Port Alistair came unbidden to their mind, the tactics the monsters had used and more importantly, the intelligence and awareness of the hybrid Alpha that had led them, the Grimm Carmesi Hueso had sought to capture on Nero's behalf.
"The existence of Salem proved to us all that the Grimm have the capacity to be not only intelligent, but aware and even reasonable….For it to be a war as the Hunters call it, then surely our enemy are not the Creatures of Grimm, but the PEOPLE of Grimm!" Nero spread his arms wide, delivering what was clearly in his mind the final stroke of his masterpiece "And so, I have achieved what the Hunters could never! I have found the means to end the war against the Grimm forever….I have found a Grimm willing to come to the table and open negotiations on behalf of our two peoples"
The silence that followed this proclamation was absolute, washing over the stadium entirely and likely across Neo Vale and beyond like a tidal wave of cold, disbelieving apprehension. After several moments the image on the screen, the same image being seen by people all across Remnant changed subtly and a smaller screen flickered into existence within the bottom corner of the image, as a new figure joined the announcement. A dark-skinned man with curly, unkept white hair and who wore gold-rimmed glasses over icy blue eyes, a slender and hunched man wearing a lab coat over a sharply cut and stylish cream suit; a moment later the man stepped aside and something else lurched into view, a figure which it took those viewing the screen a second to fully parse and identify.
"What the hell is that thing?" Stygian demanded.
"No….It can't be" Astra breathed out, the dread that had begun to fill them now consuming the Deer Faunus entirely as they saw that their efforts in Port Alistair a year ago had been no more than a temporary respite, even in a new body far removed from the hulking monstrosity of fused metal and flesh that they had once been there was no mistaking the creature which stepped into view for all of Remnant to see; an almost humanoid mass of rippling black flesh covered in interlocking plates of sleek and spiked silver armour with a skeletal appearance in parts whose tail swished idly behind them as they looked into the camera with a singular glowing optic hidden beneath a visor and set into a wolfish, metallic cranium.
"People of Remnant!" Nero's voice was exhilarated now "I would like to introduce you all to Gestalt-Prime, the Grimm with whom I have formed an alliance!"
Zirconia's heart felt as though it had stopped some time ago, her entire body leaden and numb whilst blood thundered in her ears and silent sobs shook her, tears streaming from mismatched eyes as she looked from the screen where her father figure continued to outline his plan for the future of Remnant and the new, better age for all its' people to where Athena-Jade stood and realised a heartbreaking truth from a single glance at her partners' face which was now contorted with rage and betrayal.
She had lost her.
"The Grimm have a Hive-Mind" it was Gestalt-Prime who spoke now, their voice far smoother and words more erudite than they had been when Team MARZ had fought the monster "Under Salem we were unified, a single species under the will of one. Since our former Queen's ending the Grimm have evolved and continue to do so, with individual minds beginning to rise up and take shape. I am simply the latest of a new breed of Grimm which you were not told of….I seek to evolve the Grimm further, to a new state of being and in pursuit of that goal I have allied with the human before you, our plan is to unify the Grimm again under a new leadership; my leadership so that the needless conflict between us can end"
"This….This is wrong" Athena-Jade's voice trembled yet before Zirconia could even begin to find words that would explain the situation Nero continued on.
"This is what I promise you all!" the Chairman's arms were wide again and something brutish and lumbering began to move into view behind him "A new age where human, Faunus and the People of Grimm are free to develop and progress alongside one another in a peaceful Remnant, free of endless violence and free of a ruling class who use the threat of monsters at our gates as a justification to rule over all of us! A better future is possible and to ensure that future I present the product of my alliance with Gestalt-Prime; I present the Cyber-Grimm!"
The monster came fully into view beside Nero and Zirconia's blood was like ice in her veins, Nero had told her that his creation was a beautiful thing, something which represented his hopes for the future and yet all she could see as she regarded the hulking mass of metal, muscle and armoured carapace which bristled with its' multiple weapons was a fearsome weapon of war more menacing and openly horrid than any Hunter.
"So now let us speak plainly" Nero's tone turned suddenly icy and Zirconia realised that it had all led to this "I speak to those who rule the Kingdoms and sit on their Councils, but I also speak to the people at large, those who might rise up and make a bright new tomorrow for themselves if those who claim to lead them try to keep the future from them-"
"He's trying to start a war" Athena choked out.
"With my various works and charities I have integrated myself into the workings of your cities infrastructure, your logistics, your communications and those defences not connected to Hunters and I am willing to ensure that each of these are improved upon as I have done thus far. I have begun forming a new defence force, comprised of willing individuals, my Cyber-Grimm and the latest equipment and armour to ensure that each and every one of you can have the means to defend yourselves; that you will never be victims again and when the Hunters are gone and the Grimm are united under Gestalt-Prime we will have peace and unity the likes of which the founders of the Vytal Festival could only dream of" Nero paused and Zirconia saw for the first time something truly malicious in his quartz coloured eyes "All that I ask is that you cast out the Hunters, that you stand aside and allow my forces to take them into custody to be tried for their corruption and crimes against you….I am offering you a better world, all you need to do is accept it"
With that the screen faded to black, the blankness being replaced a moment later with an error display as the previous footage of the stadium failed to connect; suggesting that Nero's agents were already active in the field where Zirconia herself was supposed to be amongst them, urging students to turn on their mentors.
Instead she turned to her partner.
"AJ-" she choked out a sob, unable to say more as she quailed under the lost, broken and utterly furious look on the Bear Faunus's face.
"You knew about this" Athena wanted to yell and scream but it would not come, instead there was only a hoarse and ragged whisper "This is what you wanted to talk about?"
"I….I knew" Zirconia admitted, bawling almost incoherently with her shoulders shaking at every word as she continued "And I wanted you….All of you to be with me when it happened. It was supposed to be beautiful, it was supposed to be the start of a new age and-"
"It's going to be a massacre!" Athena had found her voice now and her scream was enough to draw the attention of nearby civilians who mercifully had the sense to begin slowly retreating or outright fleeing at the sight of the daughter of the unhinged Chairman turned revolutionary weeping before her partner.
"YOU THINK THAT THE HUNTERS ARE GOING TO LET THEMSELVES BE TAKEN IN? YOU THINK THAT DAMASCUS IS GOING TO DO ANYTHING OTHER THAN TORTURE AND MURDER THEM IF THEY DO! DO YOU ACTUALLY THINK THAT THE PEOPLE ARE GOING TO GO ALONG WITH THIS OR THAT THINGS WILL END PEACEFULLY WHEN THEY DON'T?"
"It's not like-"
"HE WORKED WITH THE GRIMM!" Athena's voice cracked and she gave a single muffled sob of her own "You worked with the Grimm….The whole time; when we were fighting Carmesi, when we were fighting Gestalt-Prime you've been in on it this whole time….Did you only partner up with me because you thought it would get you closer to important Hunter-"
"No!" Zirconia urged, fervent through her tears "Athena-Jade I promise you that everything between us has been real, everything I feel for you is real! I have always love-"
"DON'T YOU DARE!" Athena screamed "You don't get to say that to me, not now! You are not the person I fell in love with Zirconia and you never were!"
"Please just listen to me-"
"An alliance with a talking Grimm….You and Damascus are no better than the people who worked with Salem" the words seeped with venom as Athena spat them, sapphire blue eyes narrowing and fists clenching as she spoke "No, you're worse….Because this time it's people choosing this. I don't know how many people have died already because of this sick plan of yours, but I can promise that you're going to answer for all of it!"
"Don't do this" Zirconia took a single step back, eyes wide and colour draining from her face as she realised what her now former partner intended.
"I'm bringing you in" Athena said tonelessly, the tears spilling from her own eyes not hindering her as she shifted into a familiar stance and reached behind her to draw her weapon; as Mould-Breaker unfurled into its' oversized hammer form Zirconia screwed her eyes shut and fought the urge to simply sink to her knees and beg for the woman she loved to try to understand why she had done what she had done and why a new future was needed. Instead she simply whimpered, hands shaking as she raised them slowly before turning to bolt; her cybernetic legs sending her springing away at an inhuman speed.
Only to be forced to leap and roll aside as Athena-Jade used a Glyph to draw level and swing a mighty hammer-blow at her head.
"Please don't make me do this, anything but this!" Zirconia screamed only to realise that it was far too let to plead or reason as she looked into Athena's eyes and saw only rage there.
"That went rather well I think, I must commend you on your public speaking….Though it remains to be seen how well it will be received by the people themselves" Albion Herringbone's seemingly calm and jovial words were betrayed by the tone in which they were delivered, a high and faltering thing which spoke of indescribable fear and uncertainty now that events had finally come to fruition after so many years of steady planning.
It was a rush like no other and at the same time it was terrifying.
"Then let it be seen" Gestalt-Prime answered bluntly, the Alpha Cyber-Grimm now lacking the raw hulking mass of their previous incarnations yet having no less of an imposing presence as their seven foot tall form lurked behind the scientist, who realised now that their face would be known to all of Remnant, a consequence of his actions and involvement in Nero's grand plan for Remnant that he had always understood on an academic level but had never truly appreciated until now.
The name Albion Herringbone would be remembered forever, though the context was still to be decided and the scientist could only wish that Houndstooth, the partner they had lost was still here to witness what had been made in their name.
"Agreed" Albion nodded, collecting his thoughts and setting about the task at hand in a way that allowed him to feel oddly at peace with the fact that the monster of his own making currently pacing in a way which revealed the bestial nature beneath their speech and thought, talons scraping at the ground; even allowing to scientist to disregard the fact that with Carmesi and Zirconia, the only members of their coalition of disillusioned souls to know the location of the Chamber being present in the field where he was needed most Albion was in fact protected only by and therefore entirely at the mercy of Gestalt-Prime, the Creature of Grimm he had experimented and inflicted unspeakable pain upon.
Setting aside everything but a singular focus Albion turned their attention to the vast array of screens and computer terminals that had been a focal point of their life for so long the idea of being without it in the near future seemed strange, closing the program that had allowed he and Gestalt-Prime to interject into Nero's broadcast and instead beginning to access the vast swathes of the cities' infrastructure which he had used Nero's connection, funding and businesses to gain access to.
"They are not siding with us….Not as we intended, they're fleeing and scurrying" Gestalt-Prime's low, unsettlingly smooth words were filled with a sneering note that went beyond simple scorn and reached and edge of pure, disgusted loathing as they loomed over Albion to peer at various camera feeds which displayed key locations around the city and showed the crowds of countless frightened civilians hurrying to safety as it became obvious to all of them that something with major consequences was happening.
"They're not fighters" Albion answered firmly.
"This is what Nero wishes to create a new world for….These-"
"Enough" the scientist snapped, absently enough that the fact he had so openly challenged the monstrous fusion of Grimm flesh and metal, the living weapon behind him went largely unrealised and instead Albion continued to work. A slaughter of the innocent was something neither Nero nor those following him, not even the gang members who had been fashioned into a competent force intended and so one of the first things Albion did was to begin accessing various parts of the cities' infrastructure that would otherwise be disabled in the case of an emergency; reactivating monorail lines and setting traffic lights to run on more efficient and suitable algorithms whilst adverts plastered across countless billboards across the cities' Hive-Towers were replaced with directions to the nearest shelters along with displays of the current percentage of each shelters' total capacity being used so that those fleeing toward them could make an informed decision. The next task to draw Albion's eye was a far less peaceful and noble affair and his icy gaze was quickly turned to new camera feeds which displayed the various battles that had already begun to rage across the city as a coalition of gang members trained to pilot mech-suits and use more advanced weapons, rogue soldiers and other conspirators who would form the true basis of the more noble and worthy institution Nero wished to build fought with the Cyber-Grimm alongside them; seeking to bring down the Hunters and those who allied with them.
An explosion drew both Albion's sickened expression and Gestalt-Prime's approving stare as the Alpha and the man largely unused to direct violence both watched one of a series of ongoing skirmishes at the cities' perimeter wall. Nero's broadcast had served as a signal as intended and one of the street gangs covertly integrated into the Kingdoms' defences and armed with the Chairman's weapons had fell upon the nearest Hunter without hesitation, their assassination of the supposed hero a bloody and brutal affair where they fell upon them in the enclosed space from all sides and celebrated by throwing their victims' body over the wall; enraged at the violence and treachery soldiers loyal to the established order had retaliated without mercy and the traitors were cut down by a hailstorm of gunfire as soldiers with more extensive training began closing in on them until part of the wall was simply unmade in a flash of searing light. The Bug-Bear as Albion had dubbed it, a variation of the Cyber-Grimm design more analogous to a tank or mobile weapon emplacement had opened fire and those enemies who survived the initial blast were quickly set upon by the gang members and a pair of the standard model Cyber-Grimm. With the afterglow of the explosive blast subsiding Albion watched, his horror at the realities of warfare steadily fading as the Bug-Bear began to scale the shredded and partially molten section of the perimeter wall and place itself in a firing position. This conflict would draw the Creatures of Grimm and it was of utmost importance that Nero's bright new tomorrow was proven to be viable and sustainable, as such the Cyber-Grimm would need to be seen to be capable of cutting down their more natural cousins.
Within the city itself things were no less chaotic, Albion being left conflicted as his numb, detached horror grappled with an undeniable pride in his own work at the sight of the way the Cyber-Grimm performed in each of the various theatres they were deployed to. All across Neo Vale Nero's forces began targeting pre-designated key areas, with the scientist noting the various methods and levels of efficiency on display as war-machines, rebels and man-made monster advanced on Council buildings in search of politicians so that the new reality could be explained to them in person, as supply lines and routes that the Kingdoms' reinforcements would travel were systematically targetted by lighting strikes and underhanded tactics, Hunters rushing to intervene in key areas were ambushed and cut down and other vital locations including landing pads for aircraft and CCT relays were advanced upon. Nero's forces were undeniably vastly outnumbered, more than ten to one in the majority of cases but with the element of surprise and superior equipment, including the Cyber-Grimm on their side they were performing admirably thus far and would likely continue to do so until the loyalist forces rallied a proper counter-offensive.
Specifically the Hunters.
Unable to maintain his calm at the thought of the Hunters inevitable violent retribution Albion turned his focus towards the interior of the stadium at the edge of the city where the Vytal Tournament had been scheduled to take place, seeing that the chaos had already begun to set in there and that a few Cyber-Grimm had already forced their way into the building which had been reacted to in ways that were unfortunate and yet predictable, the mass panic in turn providing the spark and catalyst for the myriad Hunters and student Hunters within the stadium to draw their weapons and prepare to fight for their lives.
With Zirconia being nowhere to be seen.
"Things are going as expected" Gestalt-Prime noted, making no effort to keep the pleasure from their words as their Cyclopean optic glowed brighter at the scenes they witnessed. Beside them Albion took a deep, shuddering breath before centring himself and adjusting his glasses.
"Indeed, which means the plan will proceed….We remain here and oversee events, providing intelligence and coordination until all files can be transferred to out secondary location; then we evacuate and destroy all evidence as we leave….We cannot allow the Hunters to have what we've built here"
"Agreed" Gestalt-Prime snarled, clearly angered by even the notion of the means to create more of the packs being taken from them and rounding on Albion a moment later "Then why do we not attack the Hunters at their nest? Remove them entirely-"
"It's already underway….This is something I've been waiting for" Albion managed to small, twisted smile at that beside himself as his fingers danced across the keyboard before him and he moved the final pieces of the puzzle into place to ensure that the excision of the Hunters' corruption was complete and total. There was one last variant of Cyber Grimm left to deploy, the bat-winged variant specially made for the task in question, a creature which far surpassed the drones, aircraft and even the other airborne monsters that had been devised by Aefen, Gestalt-Prime and Albion together.
In a war against Hunters a certain level of abhorrence was required and Albion found himself suppressing a shudder of both anticipation and fear at what he was about to unleash as he put the opening Zirconia had placed within Halo Academies' systems to good use.
When Damascus Nero had begun his broadcast to Remnant at large Lie and Nora Ren had still been aboard Halo Academies' aerial platform, the antics of children and teenagers keeping their intended departure from happening on schedule.
It was a fact that the two of them became more grateful for with each passing moment as their newly revealed enemy had stated his intentions.
Screaming children and panicked students who had, for whatever reason chosen not to attend the tournament in person had brought the interruption to the opening match of the day to their attention and at the conclusion of Nero's speech Ren and Nora had leapt into motion, the married Professors marshalling the forces at their disposal with the intention of evacuating the academy, the children being taken to the platforms' landing pads and evacuated by the staff and remaining students whilst the professors remained behind to ensure that the engineering teams operating the platform itself had not been compromised and would be able to land safely at a pre-designated point in the city below should it be damaged too much to remain airborne over the course of the battle that it seemed obvious would soon be upon them.
Ren and Nora's plan had run into an immediate complication, one underlined by Nora's furious bellow that they had been betrayed as she drew Magnhild and braced herself.
Halo Academies' landing pads stood completely vacant, each and every craft that was supposed to be present having been called away or redirected with further proof of the traitor in their midst coming in the form of the distortion and incoherent glitching which affected each of the displays and screens that were supposed to show incoming and outgoing flights. Upon seeing this Ren and Nora had both attempted to contact help, with the former being horrified after trying both his own Scroll and several others to learn that communications from the campus were being jammed as an area of effect rather than any particular device. Nora's attempts to seek aid uncovered similarly worrying truths as, whilst she succeeded in making contact with the engineering teams in the bowels of the aerial platform they quickly informed her that whatever saboteur had infiltrated the academy had managed to disable the shields and limited amount of defences to an extent that would take hours to repair at least.
Time that the academy obviously did not have.
With the reality of the threat now clear Ren and Nora had quickly changed their approach and ordered the majority of the remaining academy staff and students to take the children from the orphanage and those who cared for them down into specially secured vaults within the bowels of the aerial platform, following this by ordering the engineering and control teams to likewise secure everything that thy could before retreating. The professors and those few students old enough in the eyes of the Headmaster and his deputy had been instructed to fall back to the main body of the campus and position themselves throughout, using their limited numbers to maximum effect by using windows as vantage points and creating choke points within the corridors where they could face off against whatever foe might come for them.
Ren and Nora themselves had remained out in the open, standing side by side with weapons drawn in the centre of the landing pads and presenting themselves as a target and opportunity that their enemy would be unlikely to avoid, all whilst watching in abject horror as previous assaults upon Vale's capital were re-enacted before their eyes with weapons fire and explosions being stitched across the clear blue sky and the sound of spreading violence reaching up toward them.
"What're we waiting for?" Nora demanded furiously, gloved hands gripping the shaft of Magnhild tighter as she adjusted her stance and braced herself; the years having done nothing to dull her abilities as a warrior.
"Whatever Nero sent to take our home….Whatever it is or whoever they are, they stop here" Ren answered, something truly hateful simmering beneath his strained attempt at his usual calmness as his fingers brushed against the triggers of the Storm Flowers, scarred features tight and fuchsia eyes narrow as he and his wife scanned the skies, watching for any sign of an incoming attack whilst silently wondering if or how they would be able to respond if the attack came directly from below, ripping into the aerial platforms' propulsion systems with the intent of simply killing everyone aboard until finally such thoughts were pushed aside by Nora's nasal voice being raised to a fierce yell and the sound of Magnhild being shifted into its' ranged form.
"THERE!" Ren saw the direction she pointed in and turned his focus towards a black shape too small to be an aircraft which swooped and sped through the sky at an impressive speed, catching sight of the thing before it was shrouded by the results of Nora's opening salvo; a flurry of grenades whose explosions were clear amidst the ongoing sounds of chaos below and filled a stretch of sky with a pink mist that was more than decoration; the diminutive Huntress had learned and employed many tricks over the years and her grenades had filled the air with micro-particles of Fire and Lightning Dust which would ignite and hopefully disable any monster, war-machine or twisted combination of the two which tried to fly through it.
A series of secondary explosions ignited the micro-particles and was promptly revealed to have been caused by gunfire as the ground at Ren and Nora's feet was blasted and ripped into with staccato bursts which sent the experienced pair ducking for cover, allowing their incoming foe to make its' final approach without being assailed; hurtling into the campus's landing pads and crashing down on the display board which, unbeknownst to Ren and Nora was where Zirconia had placed the small device which both allowed Albion to access the Academies' systems and acted as a beacon to draw this monster.
"Okay then! This is happening!" Nora barked as she leapt out of cover, weapon at the ready.
"Be careful….This doesn't look like the one in Nero's broadcast" Ren regarded the variant Cyber Grimm ahead of them cautiously and with an open revulsion, taking the fact that the monstrosity dared sully his academy with its' presence as a personal insult.
The things' body was elongated an unnatural, standing on overlong and spindly limbs comprised on a mixture of obsidian tissue and mechanical pistons covered with minimal and almost token amounts of armour plating, each leg terminating in an appendage with flat digits spaced all around it whilst connecting to an abdomen which had the appearance of that of a wasp or hornet, albeit made of a mixture of chitinous bone spikes and metal armour wrapped around a translucent casing which housed a propulsion system which even now bore a lingering afterglow. Its' upper and lower body were connected by a series of cables and corded, emaciated muscles which were lined by a few pairs of exoskeletal ribs which in turn quickly disappeared beneath more substantial armour of the things' thorax. Looking at the things' upper body was a puzzle for Ren and Nora until they realized that the abomination was modular or adaptable to some extent; as it had approached them it had flown on a pair of vast, membranous and bat-like wings whilst on its' back had rested a small weapons mount boasting a pair of machine guns. As Ren and Nora watched components shifted and rotated away until the wings which had appeared to be a primary pair of limbs rested on its' back and arched over its' shoulders to menace the Hunters' with skeletal fingers tipped with scything blades which seemed capable of collapsing down to a single point whilst the weapons on its' back separated to unfurl and reposition themselves and form elongated and grasping arms ending in rudimentary hands, each of the limbs having a machine gun resting beneath the limb itself. in a design eerily similar to Astra Mars's weapons. The bizarre and uncomfortable fusion of mechanical and flesh, bat-like and insectoid features continued with the things' cranium which was affixed to a many jointed neck which extended and allowed for an impressive range of motion. Hinged jaws opened vertically and revealed an array of whirring and grinding implements within a mouth set above a singular optic surrounded by nightmare black tissue that had grown into the cavity of a robotic cranium which had been gutted in the things' creation and where the standard issue of Cyber-Grimm was fitted with weapon mounts on its' cranium this model instead bore shifting and roving sensory arrays to aid it in flight.
This collaboration between Albion Herringbone and Aefen Cruor had been a precursor to Gestalt-Prime's new form and they had dubbed the thing their 'Shroud' variant, owing to the way it cloaked itself with its' wings in odd display of behaviour that not been intended.
"Oh I'll be careful, I'll be careful to smash every nut and bolt of this thing!" Nora roared, unleashing another grenade which the Shroud skittered around with far more agility than its' disproportionate limbs should have allowed for. From there Nora was in motion, her weapon reverting to its' hammer form as she prepared to engage the Cyber-Grimm with a running leap only for her foe to prove that it was not off-guard as it seemed, shielding its' upper body with its' wings and charging forward. Ren rushed to the side and opened fire, seeking to find a weak point he could exploit and work around the membranous cloak the thing wore.
Until an avian shriek filled the air and a much smaller black shape dive-bombed the Shroud before disappearing in a flash of crimson.
"QROW!" Nora yelled, Ren only a pace behind her as she ran to the aid of the older professor.
"Hey kiddo" Qrow laughed grimly, crimson eyes harsh as he took in the results of his work; he had bodily thrown himself at the Shroud before returning to his true form at the last possible moment, immensely grateful for the fact that his Aura seemed to consider the mechanical and many-legged chair he was confined to as a part of him after so many years. The force of the collision and contact with a raised Aura had sent the Cyber-Grimm variant crashing to the ground several dozen feet away where it was already struggling to rise, though the way several of its' spindly limbs; which Qrow noted were lined with twitching, fibrous hairs where armour did not cover them needed a moment to rearrange and realign themselves was gratifying in a particularly unkind way.
"Thank you for the assistance" Ren murmured as he and Nora took ready positions once again, eyes fixed on the monster before them "But you should fall back, work on directing the larger battle"
"I'll get on with that as soon as I know the academy and the kids inside are safe" Qrow drawled out, reaching into a hidden compartment of his mechanical chair and managing to surprise both Ren and Nora by drawing an enormously broad-bladed sword with obvious gears and sliding panels to facilitate a transformation as part of its' design from somewhere within.
Harbinger.
"Sometimes it pays to be paranoid" Qrow chuckled as he saw their eyes briefly land on his iconic weapon "I've been carrying this around with me for weeks now….I'm honestly lad I get to use it on something worthwhile"
A battleground was a familiar place for Carmesi Hueso, the sight of blood staining streets littered with fallen combatants and spent casings, of roads and building broken apart by heavy weapons or crushed by Grimm whose claws had scored their outer surfaces all sights that the reptilian Faunus had become accustomed to over many years.
He saw those sights once again, witnessing the battle for Neo Vale through keen senses sharpened and heightened to pick out individual voices amidst the raging storm of firefights, screams of agony, terror and rage and worse still the sound of the Cyber-Grimm as they fell upon their preys and overcome the smoke already beginning to fill the air between the Hive-Cities' monolithic towers, paradoxically more clogged than inside those towers without the benefits of their filtration and fire suppressing systems.
The screaming took on a more terrified and desperate edge as the arrival of Hunters signalled that Carmesi himself should enter the fight.
His group had consisted initially of perhaps two dozen young men and women on foot, the gang colours they had once worn proudly represented only with small flashes of colour largely hidden on their fatigues and body armour one of whom controlled a small aerial drone with limited capabilities, this force being accompanied by a single bipedal and largely humanoid Cosmo-Guild Mecha whose pilot continued to show far too much enjoyment in wanton destruction, alongside a Bug-Bear variant Cyber-Grimm, with the hulking monstrosity of a living weapon platform being supported by three of the standard variant and this had clearly been deemed a sizeable enough threat to warrant the dispatching of several Hunters, escorted by loyal soldiers to halt their advance; one of them boasting a Semblance which gave them incredible reach in the form of extending limbs which were used to sink knives into a pair of Carmesi's soldiers before seizing a third and beginning to drag them towards the Hunters' position where they were clearly intended to be captured and detained.
In response Carmesi joined the fray with his customary violence and urgency, the captured fighter receiving a horrific gash to the chest which the rogue Hunter regarded with callous disinterest whilst the Hunter seeking to detain them was left with their Aura flickering to the point of an almost total collapse as Carmesi unleashed his Semblance in a wall of solidified Aura erupting from the ground as a mass of blades and spikes of glowing crimson.
With the initiative seized Carmesi let out a wordless roar and hurled his machete in its' spinning and triple-bladed configuration, cutting through barrels of weapons and ripping through the bodies of soldiers who lacked the protection of Aura whilst the rampaging Faunus himself rushed at the staggered Hunter with his lager weapon held overhead in a two-handed grasp.
A single swing killed a loyal Hunter and tore their body asunder.
Before Carmesi's felled opponent could fall to the ground or he could wipe away the blood that had soaked him the Komodo Dragon Faunus found himself forced on the defensive as the remaining Hunters fell upon him with every weapon and ability in their disposal; the tortured screams of their fallen friends' name rising above even the sounds of Carmesi ripping his surroundings apart and opening fire with Retribution in its' shotgun form.
The rogue Hunters' allies were equally unrestrained in their violence however and the battle quickly became a slaughter as another Hunter crushed into an unrecognisable smear by a back-handed swing of the mech-suit as it charged into the midst of the Kingdoms' defenders at speed. An explosion shook the ground as the armoured vehicle the soldiers had arrived in was reduced a mess of twisted and near-molten scrap by the Bug-Bear, return fire and thrown grenades from the soldiers led by a final remaining Hunter being intercepted by the Cyber-Grimm before one of the monstrous amalgamations of flesh and steel turned its' gaze on the Hunter and launched itself at them for a duel that was quickly proven to be immensely one-sided. From there all that remained were soldiers who had found themselves without the advantage of either numbers or superior weapons.
Carmesi held up a hand to bring his own forces to a halt, callously stepping over the bloodied form of the gangster he had carved open and gesturing to the remaining defenders of the city; silently seeking to parlay and perhaps spare them any further bloodshed and loss whilst at the same time searching each of the faces, finding only terror, disgust and a hatred which grew with every passing moment there.
And yet still he sheathed his weapons, spread out his arms and spoke as Nero had instructed him to.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the Hunters are gone you are free" there was a moment of tense silence, punctuated by the sounds of battle in the distance and the growing tension as the overwhelmed and beaten fighters regarded their attackers and more importantly the monsters that walked amongst them before Carmesi, seeing that he had not been fully understood spoke again.
"Each of you chose to defend your city, your Kingdom….You chose, without Semblances or the abilities of a Hunter to place yourselves between the threats that lay beyond the walls and the people you hold dear; you are heroes, you are truly the best of us" he rumbled out, words disturbingly gentle in his blood-soaked state "But thing have changed now, the threats are within the Kingdoms, within the Councils and we will be the ones to promise safety….You can stand aside and allow us to cut our the corruption of the Hunters or you can join us, I would personally be honoured to count you-"
"YOU BASTARD!" the fierce scream came from one of the soldiers toward the rear of the group who Carmesi realised had been cradling the ravaged and shredded remains of the Hunter slain by a Cyber-Grimm; finally giving up on the futile task of saving someone who organs lay strewn about them and instead charging to the fore at the group with a sidearm barking out a constant report.
She fell to the ground dead before Carmesi could draw his own weapons, picked off by a well placed gunshot before the Bug-Bear variant Cyber-Grimm unleashed a tide of destructive power which left the rogue Hunters' Aura flickering simply due to his proximity as the last of the resistance against his forces was cut down.
After several moments, time Carmesi spent trying to overcome the ringing in his and blink away the spots in front of his vision whilst knowing that the stench of burned flesh would linger in his nostrils for some time his attention was finally grasped by one of the former street thugs at his disposal whose gaze was fixed on the member of their own forces who lay on the ground unmoving.
"You took one of our guys out with friendly fire just to offer them a chance to surrender? What the fuck-" the gang member was silence by Carmesi casually slapping them aside; their allies coming to a halt as they realised that whilst their comrade in a mech-suit might have move to intervene the Cyber-Grimm had not responded to the Faunus's violence at all.
"You're all scum, most of you I'd kill personally; especially anybody stupid enough to get snatched from within our lines the way that fool did….These soldiers were decent people, simply misguided" at that Carmesi shook his head and let out a sigh of genuine regret, something he rarely allowed himself
"We have an objective to seize! Another group is in the process of taking an airship terminal which our people on the inside have already begun aiding them with, that group has anti aircraft capabilities and will be securing our route out of the city. Our job is to take one of the major thoroughfares through the Hives leading toward it and hold it whilst our forces and any who wish to join us regroup! NOW MOVE!"
With the rogue Hunters' final booming words and the unmistakable sense that he would eviscerate any fighter who disobeyed them the collection of rebel fighters exchanged glances before setting into motion, betraying their lack of discipline and raw emotions in many cases as they did so; sneering and spitting at Carmesi's fit in displays of open disrespect with the Komodo Dragon Faunus chose to overlook, deciding that killing each and every one of them was of less importance to the mission.
Though even as he began to trudge towards their goal alongside them Carmesi could not help but harbour his own misgivings. He had hoped that some of their opponents might side with him and join Nero's movement or perhaps that civilians seeking to empower themselves much as he had as a grief-stricken youngster might flock to their side and take up arms rather flee towards the nearest shelter, abandoning their vehicles and screaming at the sight of the Cyber-Grimm as they approached.
It seemed that the influence of corruption ran deep, he would simply have to cut deeper to remove it.
Yang looked on in horror at the unfolding scene below, frozen in a way that she had not been in several decades.
Either Nero had secretly hoped for violence to erupt, as a further part to his campaign against Hunters and an effort to turn the Kingdoms against them when a civilian was eventually caught in the crossfire or else the man was simply a deranged fool for believing that his chosen course of action would be answered peacefully.
Yang's attention had primarily been devoted to assessing the situation in the moments' after the Chairman's betrayal had been confirmed; trying to get a greater understanding of what was going on throughout the city as a whole by cross-referencing hastily uploaded CCT footage with alerts from various Hunters where her shock and disgust at how deep the rot had set in and how many people had turned against the defenders of the Kingdom was only mitigated by the relief which came from seeing that the enemy seemed to be avoided targeting the innocent and infrastructure where possible, indeed the fact that communications were still possible suggested that Nero understood the threat of the Grimm well enough to avoid causing mass panic. The brief lull in her sinking horror however was stolen from her in the next instant as gunshots began to ring through the stadium itself; lilac irises flickered intermittently to a glowing and fiery red as Yang fought to keep her fury contained and instead think, hoping to use her position in the announcers' box which could also function as a control room to her advantage.
Sending additional security forces to the stadium had been an obvious and easy decision to make given the ongoing threats within the city and the several historical attacks on the Vytal Festival and Tournament in recent decades and as a result of this there were several Hunters accompanied by forces from the cities' defences stationed around the venue; what Yang was horrified to see however was that several of those Hunters had fallen or been captured already and others were being forced to retreat into the stadium itself where the crowds were already beginning to grow desperate and frenzied; the sight of several armed individuals accompanied by the same machines that had attacked their student dance being the final push needed for many of the students in the crowd to draw weapons and prepare themselves.
Worst of all was the fact that the attackers were joined by several examples of Nero's foul creations; the Cyber-Grimm marching with a lumbering gait into view beside their handlers.
"Damn it!" Yang's metallic fist struck the desk her microphone was mounted on hard enough to rattle the microphone itself loose and send it toppling over the edge of the desk, though before it could reach the ground Yang swiftly caught the device and regarded it for a second before a grim and determined smirk found its' way to her face.
Immediately she began activating several controls in quick succession whilst at the same time bringing the microphone crackling into life once more and addressing both the crowd and those who had intruded upon it.
"EVERYONE STAND DOWN! THIS IS HUNTRESS YANG XIAO LONG OF TEAM RWBY!" at the sound of the announcement, proof that the living legend and older sister to Ruby Rose herself was in fact still amongst them and had not vanished like a coward to save her own skin the way Damascus Nero had sought to imply the violent skirmishes below ceased and an air of electric tension filled the stadium. Hunters both student and veteran alike silently thanking whatever it was that they drew faith and solace from whilst those who had turned upon them, sensing that they might have miscalculated somehow came to uncertain halts; more than one particularly bold rebel barked orders at the nearest Cyber-Grimm and gestured furiously at the announcers' box where Yang waited with bated breath but the beasts, which she noted were even more hideously fearsome in person held their fire and allowed her to continue her address.
"Citizens of Neo Vale and guests of the Vytal Tournament, please remain calm and remain seated. The stadium is and will remain safe! You will be able to leave shortly and we apologise for this inconvenience!" in the face of that outwardly absurd claim the blonde woman allowed herself a confident smirk as began the process of sealing the stadium shut, revealing that it was in fact capable of serving as a bunker, mustering point or triage in the event that Neo Vale suffered another large scale attack. Yang allowed herself no small amount of satisfaction at the almost palpable wave of panic from the attacking forces as comprehension dawned on them, armoured and reinforced blast doors began to slide into place to close each of the entryways to the stadium and lights flickered into life to counteract the darkness suddenly settling over the arena and surrounding stands as the open roof began to slide closed with a gargantuan creak of metal; intending to cut off those assailants who had entered the stadium off from their allies outside and any incoming aid, instead leaving them surrounded by a crowd comprised by no small amount of Hunters, though given the glacial speed of the mechanisms involved it would likely take several minutes. To follow up Yang deactivated the shielding around the arena itself, intending to allow her former star student Astra Mars and their intended opponent to leave before ordering the attackers to march themselves to the centre of the arena, where she would use the shields to detain them.
"To those allied with Chairman Damascus Nero!" Yang, despite her smirk forced to keep the anger from her tone upon addressing the enemy "You are outnumbered, you are surrounded and you are beaten. Drop your weapons and call off your….Pet Grimm. Walk backwards and slowly towards the centre of the arena where you will be detained until-"
Things went wrong before she could finish detailing the terms of the enemies' surrender.
Several of the rebels sensed that their situation was hopeless, or else were truly committed to not harming civilians and complied; however there were those amidst them who continued to posture and brandish weapons threateningly and it was these individuals whose sparked the chaos that followed. Yang didn't see the inciting incident precisely but it was all too easy to imagine, one attacker waved a weapon in a direction that one of the students in the crowd deemed to be far too close to themselves or worse still and their family and reacted as their training dictated. The first traitor soldier to fall to the ground unmoving served as a clear signal to the rest that violence was the only way forward and gunfire which had been halted for a few moments erupted in earnest this time, the flash and warping thrum of a laser battery informing Yang both of the fact that the Cyber-Grimm had joined the fight and how terribly well armed the monsters were.
Before she could begin to attempt to claw back her spurious control of the situation trouble found its' way to her in the form of the door behind her being kicked open.
"ON YOUR KNEES WITH YOUR HANDS BEHIND YOUR HEAD XIAO LONG!" Yang, with memories of her own time at the Vytal Tournament forcing their way to the forefront turned to face her would be captors, finding a pair of burly men in fatigues, faces hidden by black shawls and weapons clutched tight in hands that wavered faintly as they were pointed in her direction.]
"You do not want to do this" Yang stated coldly, eyes already flashing red and hair beginning to glow; as a combat instructor hand to hand combat was a part of her daily life yet she very rarely used her Semblance against her students, meaning that her reserves of stored power were left to call upon whenever they were needed.
"I SAID ON YOUR-" Yang was in motion before the demand could be finished, bullets pattered harmlessly against her Aura and only empowered her further and drove her to such a level of force that she didn't need to deploy Ember Celica; instead she simply closed the distance between herself and her first victim by bringing her right leg up and delivering an axe kick to the barrel of his weapon which forced its' stock upwards, tearing the gun from his hand and smashing it into the underside of his jaw with enough force to send the man slumping limply backwards. From there Yang simply lunged at the second attacker, her apparent lack of coordination revealed to be a ruse as her arms wrapped around those of her opponent; with a flash of blazing golden fire and a short burst of the power her Semblance had stored Yang shifted her grip and squeezed with enough force to both crush the weapon her attacker held and break both of the man's upper arms.
From there she simply took her still struggling foe and hurled them bodily towards the almost panoramic window of the announcers' box, in doing so finding that the glass was not bulletproof or protected in any other meaningful way and as it shattered, sending the gunman falling to the ground with a frightened yell Yang charged towards the freshly made opening.
Even after so many years as a teacher she was still a Huntress and there were people below who needed her protection; with that in mind she put a landing strategy she had honed as a teenager into practice.
"OH SHIT!" Astra yelled as the beam of light discharged by a Cyber-Grimm tore a burning gouge into a section of the stands, sending members of the now trapped crowd running and screaming for their lives; the Deer Faunus quickly turning to face Stygian who had thankfully not teleported away the moment the shields' were lowered "Team TRQS has fought these things before right? What the hell do we do?"
"Yeah we fought 'em but we didn't actually beat the damn things!" the Mouse Faunus admitted "Nothing we did to 'em really stuck….the big Grimm that came out of the Spawning Pit managed to take one out but was using a ranged weapon at point blank, big enough to-"
Stygian's hurried explanations were cut short by an explosion of glass overhead, the falling shrapnel followed by a man whose flailing body hit the ground with a muffled thud, underscored by several worrying crunching sounds whose seriousness was made apparent when the rebel soldier made no effort to stand and was instead lost beneath the tide of bodies as Hunters, attackers and civilians alike began to rush in every available direction.
Astra was on the cusp of yelling that they and Stygian needed to do something, a true plan of action yet to formulate and yet before they could do so their eyes were drawn upwards once again by another emergence from the announcers' box, this time a rush of fire and force, propelled by a shotgun blast high into the air to the point of ricocheting off of armoured roof panels which were still sliding closed before hurtling downwards to land in a crouch in the centre of the arena with enough force to crack the floor and make the entire stadium shake.
Yang Xiao Long.
"Regroup with your teams!" she yelled, the woman who had taught Astra more than they could put into words deploying her gauntlets and opening fire at rogue soldiers even as she continued snapping orders "Leave the Cyber-Grimm to professionals wherever you can but take out their handlers! I don't know how much they can do instinctively or if they can be operated remotely but I've seen the people with them spotting and range-finding"
"Got it, come on!" Astra nodded, giving only a gesture to Stygian before springing into action. The Deer Faunus hurtled towards a point in the chaotic combat where it seemed that the enemy had gone largely unchallenged and where rogue soldiers were in the midst of making their way through the crowd of frightened civilians, yelling demands to see identification in the mistaken belief that there were any Hunters present who had chosen to hide their allegiances rather than stand and fight.
Raising their weapons Astra paused and faltered for a heartbeat, realising that there was no safe way to open fire and instead simply closing the distance and throwing themselves at their foe with practised ease; for all their fury the leader of Team MARZ contained themselves to non-lethal force and was granted a measure of respite as the people who had only moments ago been the audience of a sporting event fled which in turn gave Astra room to move. An Aura-fuelled spinning heel kick cracked a sternum even through body armour and left a traitor on the floor struggling to breathe before an attempt to attack them from another quarter was ended prematurely by Astra bringing one Buckshot Ares's blades down on a weapon to break it on half and then slamming the flat edge of their other weapons' shield component into the attackers' face. From their Astra was a whirling dervish of striking and sweeping blows, using their weapons to slash, block and stab in tandem with kicks which damaged knees and struck faces with enough force to render enemies unmoving and for a while the Deer Faunus could almost allow themselves to become lost in the moment, to believe that this was simply a mission no more complicated than any other.
They were quickly disabused of that notion a moment later by a familiar voice screaming for them in a way which made their blood run cold.
"ASTRA LOOK OUT I CAN'T STOP IT!" They wheeled around, Buckshot Ares instinctively flying up to protect them with its' shield components pressed together ready to deploy their Hard-light payload only for their sea green eyes to widen and their entire body to be gripped in fear at the sight they were confronted with.
Regalia, presumably in an effort to join Astra had made her way hastily towards the front of the stands where the enemy had been in the process of being pushed back towards the arena itself and in the ensuing chaos had somehow managed to find herself locked in single combat with one of the Cyber-Grimm; allowing Astra to see first hand just how dangerous the abominable things truly were and learn that they were entirely capable of fighting without instruction from a handler.
Gunfire spewed in twin streams from the cranium mounted weapons adorning the Cyclopean monsters' skull as it thrashed and lumbered a few paces behind the Racoon Faunus who leapt, rolled and weaved with almost preternatural reflexes and agility despite winces every time she moved a shoulder which had clearly already been struck once; avoiding barrages which ripped through the air and ground around her until eventually she managed to put herself in a position where she was able to swing Apex Scavengers' pickaxe head into the face of the Cyber-Grimm. The monstrous hybrid halted her with a block, following up instantly with an almost dismissive backhand which lifted Regalia from her feet and sent her sailing through the air to strike railings and crash painfully into seats; all whilst Astra realised that the Cyber-Grimm's singular glowing and baleful optic was now focused on them and that its' laser weapon had been priming the entire time.
Astra braced themselves for a blow only for it to never come.
"MINE!" Stygian's voice, energetic and somehow suave even such bleak circumstances filled the air in the exact moment the Cyber-Grimm opened fire and Astra risked a glance over the lip of their raised shields to exactly what the Mouse Faunus had done, being left awed by the results they found.
Using his Semblance and his weapons' hyper-conductivity to Dust in tandem the blue-haired young man had teleported into the most dangerous place he could see, namely directly in the line of fire of one of the Cyber-Grimm's weapons, where he had proceeded to use Sharp Cheese which had been imbibed with an impressive amount of Hard-light Dust to effectively parry the laser blast in a searing bolt of light which managed to strike another of the things' kin; rendering the second Cyber-Grimm staggered and crippled as the metallic armour encasing its' hulking form was melted and fused which enabled the Hunters fighting it to overpower the thing more effectively.
Though the monster which had shot at them still remained.
"Get behind me!" Astra yelled, realising that Stygian's lack of a ranged weapon could easily become a problem. Extending their arms outwards they deployed the guns of Buckshot Ares and unleashed them without hesitation now, ripping scores and wounds into the obsidian flesh of the Cyber-Grimm whilst its' armour was buckled minutely and sparked as rounds impacted against it; the beast itself simply chittering and sinking its' clawed limbs into the ground to brace itself before throwing itself forward in a motion more fitting of a gorilla than the insect the thing bore similarities with and as it went unfolding the wing casing like structure of its' back to reveal the propulsion system within.
"Astra get out-"
"WE'VE GOT IT!" Stygian's warning was interrupted by Regalia's fierce yell as Astra's partner once again came to their aid, this time using her weapon in its' ranged form and bringing aid with her in the form of the rest of Team TRQS.
The Cyber-Grimm was first brought veering sharply off course by Regalia as her harpoon embedded itself in flesh and armour before being winched tight and a moment later the things' attempts to thrash itself free or else simply drag the Racoon Faunus along with it were impeded by Amaya Quasar revealing her presence, rushing in from the opposite side and hurling one of her own weapons, blade-tipped pistols connected by a durable cable into the exposed ribs and underside of the Cyber Grimm.
"Bring it down!" Astra bellowed, levelling their weapons at the monstrous beast and opening fire yet again albeit to little discernable effect and doing little more than pushing the Cyber-Grimm deeper into the throes of its' primal rage as it forced itself intractably forwards one laboured pace at a time until Tiger and Rye made their own gambit.
"What kept you?" Stygian demanded with a shaky laugh that betrayed his nerves as he watched his partner deploy the Semblance that she had practised with incessantly since its' recent discovery. Reality itself was disrupted as a tunnel of warped nothingness that could quite be described as a portal came into existence, a straight and inviolable line between two points at one end of which stood the Cyber-Grimm and at the other end of which were Tiger and Rye, the latter in a crouched position with Chivalry in its' rail-gun form held at the ready.
The towering young man fired a single shot, a solid chunk of unstable Fire Dust ripping through the air at impossible speeds and striking the Cyber-Grimm directly in a propulsion system which had been left exposed as it had powered forwards with the casings opened; Astra was forced to shield their eyes though the sound of the monsters' chittering reaching a high-pitched shrieking note that was almost painful to be subjected to was one they would remember for some time and as the initial wash of heat and light subsided the Deer Faunus looked again, utterly aghast to see that the Cyber-Grimm had been utterly devastated by the attack; its' legs and hindquarters ripped away and reduced to slag entirely and spewing acrid fire from the remains of several mechanical components the thing inexplicably still lived and was attempting to drag itself forward on its' forelimbs.
Until it didn't.
"FUCKING BUG!" Yang Xiao Long's thundering war-cry preceded her falling from the sky like a meteor to deliver a leaping punch to the head of the Cyber-Grimm, igniting ammunition within the cranial weapons and reducing the tissue within the metal casing to pulp; finally killing the monster and leaving its' Grimm-flesh reduced to a viscous primordial ooze rather than fading mists so that it might be recycled by its' creator and in the process eating away at several vital and traceable parts of the mechanical frame until they were destroyed. Yang remained crouched and studied the scene for a moment before rising back to her feet, shoulders shaking with heavy breaths.
"I'm doing my part" she muttered.
"That was awesome" Astra breathed out, having never truly seen their former teacher fight at her full capacity before; though the sight of their partner and friends regrouping around them caused the Deer Faunus to focus on the ongoing battle around them "What do we do Professor Xiao Long?"
"Where's Athena-Jade? Where's my niece?" hearing the question Astra's stomach plummeted as realisations came to them unbidden and unwelcome.
"She'll be with Zirconia somewhere in the city" managing to suck in a deep breath they turned their gaze skywards, to where the armoured roof of the stadium was almost entirely closed; the gap between individuals panels barely more than a meter.
"We can find her" Astra nodded before looking around at the continuing violence "But-"
"Go" Yang said simply "Take your partner and find her, find her partner as well….You four, you're with me. We're going to get the civvies out of here, that takes priority over arrests"
"Yea ma'am" Tiger Santara snapped to attention, dutiful as ever and Team TRQS fail into formation behind her, leaving Astra to turn to Regalia; nodding upwards at the direction of the closing roof.
"Come on, let's go" Regalia nodded, too overwhelmed by the situation to offer any glib quotes from a beloved movie and instead wordlessly flung herself at Astra so that she could wrap an arm around their waist and then once again fire her weapons' harpoon, this time directly upwards where it anchored itself on the stadiums' roof and allowed Regalia to pull the two of them upwards and onto the outer surface where they both took a moment to get their bearings, utterly appalled at what they found.
"It's….Terrible" Regalia whispered, clutching at Astra's hand as the two of them witnessed for the first time just how far Nero's treachery had spread; evidenced by the fires visible at various points in the Hive-City even from their current distance and the explosions of air to air combat above it. Astra swallowed thickly and peered downwards to see that those traitors and rebels who had been cut off from their allies and left outside were gathering at a single point as though the sought to breach the stadiums' defences through sheer might and the Deer Faunus frantically tried to use the last few moments before the stadium roof closed entirely to gesture to Yang and Team TRQS and convey the information before finally locking eyes with Regalia.
"Okay, I think we can make it to my truck from here without getting picked off, ready to make a run and jump for it?"
"Yeah" Regalia nodded "But….If Zirconia's with Athena-Jade when we find her, what happens then?"
"I don't know….That depends on her" Astra answered, suddenly aware of how little confidence that thought offered them where before their faith and certainty in the most reserved member of Team MARZ had been absolute.
Astra hated that realisation.
Author's Notes:
Well we are well and truly in it now aren't we? Welcome to the finale of Vol.06 and the entire second arc of this story.
I hope this is up to my usual standard, I'm writing it a few weeks before any of you will read it but during the week I wrote this chapter I want you to understand that I was either in constant pain or medicated with painkillers due to fucking up my back in the gym, that I had been given the notice at the start of the week that I'd be getting laid off from my job, that I'd been applying and interviewing for jobs until I got another one during the same week and that all of this fucked up my sleep schedule….And also St. Patrick's day happened.
But anyway, let's summarise shall we?:
Picking up right off the end of the last chapter with a deliberate repetition of the closing line….Proper 'Last time on Dragon Ball Z. vibes.
Yeah this fucked Astra up, 'cos obvious there's the damage to AJ and Hops's relationship to consider but like, Astra was willing to shape their future over Nero's ideas.
For someone who doesn't like public speaking you've gotta admit, Nero kinda went ham with that monologue….Anger gave him charisma.
Those callbacks to other parts of the Spiral-Verse, Fracture Compound, Project Hexxus, Project Snare (Which is the basis for Nero's own Grimm containment units) Warehouse 13/The Toy-box.
Deliberately misrepresenting some things though, like the orphanage but he'll get away with it because it's mixed in with enough facts.
It had to be Stygian to point out that people are listening, he's the one who's grown up under real corruption from Hunters.
I want you to know that I have been wanting to write the whole 'People of Grimm' and talk about doing what no Hunter could, ending the war by negotiating spiel for well over a year.
The split in perspective felt needed and having Gestalt-Prime revealed to all of Remnant felt like a great point to shift to what people outside of the stadium are seeing, thus AJ and Hops.
This is the first time Zirconia has actually seen the Cyber-Grimm, it's clearly not the most relevant thing right now but….Definitely shook the foundations a little and forced her to confront the reality.
And there's Nero's plan in full; all of the different angles he's told different people put together.
….And now for the heartbreak.
The accusations about being worse than the people who worked with Salem are apt.
But buckle up 'cos AJ Vs Hops is gonna be one of the focal points for this whole finale.
The Chamber scene, felt like a good shorthand way of showing what's going on across the city at large without spending too much time focused on fights that push the plot forward.
Right of the bat though, Gestalt-Prime is noting that the people aren't really siding with Nero's people the way they wanted them to.
I felt it was important to show that even when they're villains Nero, Albion and co still help get civilians out of the way; turning the trains and monorails back on was a fun little inversion of the first time we saw their control over Neo Vale's infrastructure by turning the power back onto the tracks to kill a potential informant.
They Cyber-Grimm are also being used to set up defences on the wall to replace the people they kill, because this is obviously gonna draw actual Grimm….But those Hunters got wrecked; fun to note that this is all taking space in the space of a few minutes, this entire chapter really spans a short period of time.
So Albion and Gestalt-Prime are planning an evac….But Albion's parting shot is the Bat-Wing Cyber-Grimm that I've been hyping up.
So, a little scene setting to establish that the majority of the staff and kids are on the platform but hidden and it's gonna be Ren and Nora holding the line, because right now the academy is defenceless and can't be evacuated, courtesy of Zirconia's hacking from a few chapters ago.
Nora smash yes, but Nora absolutely has some tricks after all these years….The abrasive Dust sandstorm from the tournament, yes it was inspired by Vaccuan sandstorms, but it's also something that the designers in universe saw Nora do.
And now we get a look at it, the Shroud Variant….Definitely a horrible little fucker, with some Horizon Zero Dawn and Bay-Formers vibes about it; fun thing to remember is that if this thing performs well then there's nothing stopping Nero from ordering a batch of them made.
Surprise, or not really….Come on now, just 'cos he's over 70 doesn't mean he can't get stuck in; Qrow's got some fun tricks left up his sleeve.
Honestly the hardest part of writing the Carmesi scene was just the amount of nameless grunts that got switched off, but that's probably just the way he sees the world if we're honest.
Well R.I.P Mr Fantastic, he just got fucked up.
Now here's the thing about Nero's plan….If we take out the latent insanity of working with a Grimm that thinks and plans, the idea itself is workable; his fighting force can absolutely fight and they prove it.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the Hunters are gone you are free"….Least inspiring quote ever.
So here we get two examples of Carmesi's biggest failing back to back; for all his zealotry and belief in the cause, he is completely incapable of understanding other people enough to communicate with them or inspire them, so instead he's forced to rely on brute force and intimidation.
So the enemy already has an evac planned, because I like actually capable bad guys.
Yang asks a valid question, did Nero want the Hunters to be forced into a fight that endangers the crowd or did he truly think that Hunters would be forced to give themselves up?
She might not be an active part of Qrow's cabal or a former Team Leader but Yang can absolutely take on a mission control role if need be.
Okay so Yang's plan of turning the stadium into an impromptu shelter makes sense considering the way things stand, as does using the shields around the arena as a holding cell….But I will admit that I actually had to go back and change the part about the roof sliding shut just so Astra and Regalia had a way out.
Ever been to a football match? That many idiots who are invested in something in a confined space = trouble, it was only a matter of time before bullets started flying.
I will be honest, I genuinely debated having more people aim guns at Yang so I could make a callback to the scene in Junior's bar in Canon Vol.02 but it honestly didn't feel like it fit.
I was tempted to do another transition where it went to Astra's point of view immediately after that guy got thrown out a window but it didn't work really.
Yang definitely gets a hero landing though.
Yes, regroup because we can't have this chapter with no Regalia obviously.
Of course the footsoldiers were a warm up and of course that was gonna be how Regalia and a Cyber-Grimm got brought into it; it's just good action scene writing….Although I will admit there was definitely a lot happening here, it gets tricky trying to balance the amount of chaos and frantic action per scene.
Stygian with the bad-ass parry….Because when it's infused with Hard-light Dust he can use his katana like a lightsaber, had to do a blaster rebound.
We got Team MARZ and Team WULF working together in the First Year finale, only right Team TRQS get their moment here.
The fact the Cyber-Grimm kept on dragging itself forward after being ripped in half by Rye's rail-gun can be seen as homage to that one Terminator Salvation scene, you know the one.
Second hero landing and a confirmed kill from Yang; she's getting her time to shine this chapter.
Also I had her shout something about Bugs specifically to have her use the "I'm doing my part" line….It's not a pun and movie quotes are Regalia's thing, but having her reference Starship Troopers just worked there.
And now we have the objectives set up for the rest of the finale, Astra and Regalia are going to be trying to 'Regroup' Team MARZ whilst Team TRQS are part of the effort to handle the violence at the stadium.
….But remember that Carmesi was ordered to ensure Zirconia gets out.
Thank you to MajorBrony 95 for their review on the last chapter.
Yeah, some pre-match nerves would have been interesting to see in canon but honesttly, Pyrrha would likely have been calm if she didn't have other stuff weighing on her and Yang wouldn't let herself show any amount of nerves.
Nero has greased that slide and is ready to Jamaican Bobsled Team his way down it at speeds.
The comment about her hair was meant to be "Teenager doing weird stuff with her hair" so imagine that she has Dalmatian spots, but also dyes them.
Oh yeah if Zirconia ever goes back to Breaktide she's gonna get shot at.
It has indeed begun...Enjoy.
As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review.