MARZ Rising

by FandomPariah

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

107. A Crippling Blow

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

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

I am making no money from this.

Chapter 107: A Crippling Blow

Atop the aerial platform upon which housed Halo Academy of Neo Vale and the orphanage and foster home which had been built into its' premises a fierce battle continued to rage as Lie and Nora Ren and Qrow Branwen, standing upright and wielding Harbinger once more following the transformation of his many-legged mechanical chair fought to defend their home and those in their care from the Cyber-Grimm variant known as the Shroud and keep it from entering the campus.

The monster itself continued its' relentless rampage against the trio despite the crushing blows that were delivered against it, each effort it made being further proof that the legendary Hunters before it, those who represented the very heart of the conspiracies at the root of the Kingdoms which Nero had railed against were in fact not its' primary target and that instead the twisted mass of flesh and metal was instead seeking something within the academy itself; perhaps access to troves of data at the headmasters' disposal to further Nero's other plans or perhaps the students and residents themselves as part of some plan to liberate them from their supposed indoctrination or use them as hostages and bargaining chips in some larger plan.

To Nora the specifics of the Cyber-Grimm's instructions were less important that preventing them from coming to fruition; with the most obvious solution being to destroy the Shroud.

"HOLD IT STEADY!" the diminutive redhead called is she launched her latest assault on the winged and disturbingly agile thing. The Cyber-Grimm was currently held in place by both Qrow, whose transformed chair had given him the sturdiness and mass required to withstand a flying charge from the Shroud by holding Harbinger sideways in tis' scythe form and using its' shaft to block its' blows and Ren who had positioned himself behind the monster and fired the Storm-Flowers blades into its' wings, making use of a more recent modification to the weapon.

Nora approached with the use of a modification of her own, Magnhild collapsed into a form that resembled its' grenade launcher mode but served as a mode of transport which the Huntress rode like a witch on a broomstick; soaring up into the air above her target with a triumphant yell before leaping clear and shifting her weapon back into its' hammer form as she swung and delivered a strike which warped and shattered the ground beneath the Shroud. The Cyber-Grimm was forced to its' knees as the yellow-bricked road leading to the campus itself was shattered, leaving the Shroud knelt in a shallow crater lined by statues left leaning precariously at and odd angles and which revealed vague hints of the inner workings of the platform itself. Now freed from the grasp of the monster Qrow took a step back in his mechanical exo-suit and prepared to swing his scythe down for a single decisive blow in the Grimm's neck.

The shroud refused to be beaten.

In a flash of movement so swift it staggered its' foes the bat-winged monster pivoted and took charge of the fight with a single spinning motion; engaging the propulsion system in its' abdomen which glowed like some monstrous firefly and washed over where Nora had landed, forcing her to roll aside with her Aura rippling in the wake of the assault. Qrow's strike missed its' mark and the blade of harbinger was buried in the ground which gave the Shroud the opening it needed; now facing toward Ren it reared back the wings which had been pierced by the Storm-Flowers blades and unfurled them from the cape like configuration they had been in, dragging Ren forward and off-balance as the Shroud aimed and fired its' arm mounted guns to leave his Aura flickering worryingly before thrashing free of its' meagre constraints and preparing to charge at the Headmaster.

Managing no more than a single strike which sent Ren reeling and forced him onto the defensive before being halted.

"Not a chance, not today" Qrow growled, voice low and dangerous in a way which suggested a calmness and confidence entirely at odds with the panic coursing through him as he pushed the exo-suit which had never been properly tested to its' limits and strained a body that he was forced to admit was long passed its' prime to an even greater extent. The Shroud hissed and chittered as Qrow caught it by a single spindly and under-muscled leg and used the might granted to him by his chairs' transformation to slam the Cyber-Grimm face first into the ground repeatedly, all whilst being silently annoyed at the fact that his chair had lost the limbs containing laser cutters prior to its' transformation as they were intended to be shoulder mounted in this form and would have been useful.

The shroud retaliated by rotating its' arms and wings around, each pair of limbs taking the place of the other as it reverted to the flight mode which had carried it to the academy and once again activated its' rear thruster; the chair was an extension of Qrow's form as much as Harbinger was and the ageing Hunter's Aura could be extend far enough to encase it entirely however it was a narrow margin that left his Aura thin and strained, as was proven the moment it began to ripple and fluctuate the moment the heat and waves of force began to wash over it, forcing him into a position where he would have to pull his Aura closer to his true body and sacrifice more part of the machine that had granted him his mobility.

Qrow found another way.

Forcing himself forwards a single pace, armoured panels of his exo-suit glowing as his Aura was strained further the grizzled veteran Hunter kept one mechanical arm around the Shroud's leg and used his free hand to take hold of the Cyber Grimm's propulsion system itself; pivoting at the waist and bodily hurling the monster away from himself and his allies with all of his enhanced might and a subtle flick of the wrist which crushed, warped and loosened parts of the Shrouds' abdomen. The Cyber-Grimm flailed and thrashed as it hurtled through the air before finally righting itself and turning its' singular optic and the bat-ear sensor arrays adorning its' skull towards Qrow with a sense of malice and fury that was conveyed despite the limitations of lacking a face; in the same moment Qrow braced himself for another attack despite the way that his Aura rippled around his entire exo-suit and the faint orange glow of superheated metal still emanated from the machines' right arm.

Then the two of them charged at one another once again.

Bullets sprayed from the now back-mounted Armaments of the Shroud as it surged towards Qrow, the Hunter covering his face and the few unshielded parts of his body with his left arm as he rushed at the monster; Harbinger lay between them and was near enough that Qrow had time to tear the weapon free of the ground in a shower of sparks and hastily transform it into its' sword form and bring the blade around for a slash that would hack away the skull of the Cyber-Grimm variant.

The Shroud evaded.

If he had been a younger man, or uninjured and fighting without the aid of a machine then Qrow would almost certainly have been able to react in time and parry or evade the incoming blow, instead the Shroud plunged the bladed fingers of its' membranous left wing into the ground before transforming again and returning to its' more upright and humanoid form; the motion of the rotating limb assemblies whilst as wing was held in place allowed the Shroud to slip passed Qrow's assault and land in a crouch behind him before gathering up its' long fingered wings about itself and directing them forward to direct the blades which extended from its' clawed digits.

Ripping through the back of Qrow's exo-suit.

A gasp of pain, surprise and sudden, all-consuming fear escaped him as his Aura shattered; Qrow's physical body had been unharmed however several, grasping, shearing blades had forced their way through the weakened structure of the suits' right arm and shoulder; allowing the Shroud the purchase it needed for a final wrenching motion which tore the limb away entirely, a sizeable portion of the amour and inner workings of the suit which had once been his chair being torn away in the process with a shower of sparks and spray of fluids. It was with a sense of finality that Qrow watched the Shroud take the mangled section of the machine that had tended to both his mobility and his health, Harbinger still clutched in the hand of the severed limb, and throw it with all the strength the foul creature could muster so that it sailed towards the edge of the academy.

Qrow collapsed a moment later; the loss of so many important components of his chair whilst at the same time suffering from the consequences of fighting for his life and exerting himself to such a degree at his age being forced upon him. Breath came in shallow, ragged gasps and his heart hammered unevenly in his chest, his vision swam and the coppery taste of blood assaulted his senses only to be made more prominent by the numbness suddenly consuming the rest of his awareness. The world felt distant save for the single, bleak and terrifying finality of the Shroud advancing upon him with its' guns reloading and bladed wings clacking ominously.

And then it was gone.

"DIE!" Nora screamed, the syllable filled with a white-hot rage which managed to pierce the fog slowly settling over Qrow. The Combat instructor of Halo Academy hurtled into the battle once more, clothes singed from the Shroud's earlier attack and wild-eyed as she swung Magnhild with inhuman strength to strike the Cyber-Grimm in the midsection; its' left arm all but exploding below the elbow as the hammer connected with it and lifted the monster from its' feet entirely. Qrow's failing vision was torn away from the spectacle by the sensation of needles being jabbed into a right arm that was now exposed without the exo-suit around it, the mere fact that there was any sensation to speak of demanding his attention.

"Aura stimulants, they're all we had….I grabbed a handful from medical but I didn't want to take too many" Ren had crouched beside the ruined form of the exo-suit and produced several syringes whose contents Qrow could easily recognise and yet the wavering in the Headmaster's voice was enough to confirm his uncertainty; both Ren and Qrow sharing the same dreadful suspicions.

That at Qrow's age and in his condition it might not be enough.

"Can you fly?" Ren asked hopefully "Get to the medical wing and-

"No" Qrow shook his head, eyes downcast as he managed to mumble and slur the words out "The amount of Aura I'd need to use to change might be the difference between my heart carrying on or not"

"I'll-"

"Help your wife damn it!" Qrow spat, the force of the words alone leaving him wheezing "Stop that thing and help me after….If it's too late….Tell Eagle, Ruby, Yang, Tai….Bury me on Patch; near Summer; Team STRQ-"

"You're…." Ren trailed off, realising that any platitudes would be useless and simply nodded as he rose to his feet "Okay"

With that Qrow allowed himself to lose consciousness, the last thing he saw being Ren rushing into battle against the Shroud; he and Nora preparing themselves to fight to the end.

---

Marsh and Hibiscus were already down, their Auras having been broken by the relentless rampage of the larger Cyber-Grimm that Teams TRQS and SHMR threw themselves at in an effort to stem the tide of enemies; their retreat towards the rear of the loyalist Hunters and the exit from the stadium, protected by their fellow students being facilitated by Tiger's Semblance.

Leaving six of them, Team TRQS alongside Ravi and Snapdragon to fight a beast that showed no signs of stopping.

The larger Cyber Grimm seemed to be of a model intended to engage larger Creatures of Grimm at close range, the specifics of such a design translating and carrying over well to its' current use. It stood at twice the height of the students fighting it and even with this impressive size had a squat and stocky look about it, hunched forward to a sharp degree like the standard model and sporting arms that were even more disproportionately large and bulky which ended in massive claws whilst the weapons' mount of its' back had been removed to accommodate for a secondary pair of arms, tipped with blunt wrecking balls and massive amounts of armour adorning its' thorax and back; the carapace like structure and craggy, jutting horn which arced up over its' cranium offering incredible protection to both its' torso and the relatively small and stunted Cyclopean cranium set within its' mass of plates, bone and muscle. The legs of the thing were similarly muscular and armoured, though the point which connected them, a junction of bone, sinew and contorted mechanical workings and circuitry forced into a right angle was relatively exposed to allow the thing a greater ranger of movement.

A weak point which those fighting it were struggling to exploit.

"GET CLEAR!" Rye Fairfax's yelled warning was what brought Tiger's attention back to scene in front of her, closing the pathway her Semblance had created for the downed half of Team SHMR and quickly protecting herself with the broad blades of her trident, peering through the armoured veil she wore just in time to see her own team mate ready Chivalry in its' rail-gun form and fire a hefty chunk of Ice Dust into the Cyber-Grimm, striking it at a hip joint as it moved to avoid being caught in its' exposed midsection. The Dust reacted to the impact and a moment later sheets and twisting spires of ice had erupted around the raging juggernaut to encase its' lower half whilst peaks rose up to hinder the movement of some of its' arms.

"PILE ON IT NOW!" it was Snapdragon Majus who yelled now and Tiger could not help but be impressed by her fellow team leader as the always flamboyant woman performed a spinning heel kick which saw her multicoloured coat fly out around her dramatically and allowed her to fire the Shuffle Kicks; her weaponised footwear discharging a Gravity Dust round which warped the air and sent a pulse of concussive force out to strike the Grimm directly in its' eye with enough force to snap its' head back within the armoured enclosure it inhabited. Seeing that their foe was stunned, if only for a moment Tiger readied Fearful Symmetry and rushed in, her charge bringing her almost level with Rye and Amaya who had moved with perfect synchronicity as always.

The Cyber-Grimm, or whatever this particular monstrosity was called by those responsible for its' existence broke free.

Ice shattered in a cascading wave of fragments as the thing managed to free its' clawed arms and sink them into the ground and thereby anchor itself enough to simply uproot itself from where it had been frozen in place and from there it lashed out its' mace-tipped secondary pair of arms in wide, arcing swing which were far too precise in their intention to be described as flailing.

Rye was the first to be struck, the floppy-haired gentle giant managing to at least partially protect himself with weapon in its' Zweihander form which, in addition to his armour absorbed some of the force which lifted him from the ground. Amaya Quasar, Rye's partner and girlfriend acted on instinct alone and threw one of her own weapons to him so that she could use the way that her bladed guns were connected in order to redirect Rye's momentum and fling him back into the fight with his sword at the ready the way they had done several times before; her efforts failed as the monsters' other mace arm struck her and left her petite body skimming and bouncing across the floor until she and Rye came to a halt close enough to reach out to one another.

The larger Cyber-Grimm advanced on them.

"MOVE!" Tiger yelled, already changing course so that she could put herself between the monster and her team-mates but failing as the twisted mass of flesh and metal was far faster that in its' lumbering, hulking form would suggest; carrying itself forward with powerful bounding steps before leaping and rearing back all four of its' limbs.

Team TRQS acted in unison.

Tiger leapt and thrust the blades of her weapon a the thing whilst a rippling in the air announced the arrival of Stygian blue, the Mouse Faunus slashing with his katana and cutting into cables and tissue at the exposed point between the upper and lower halves of the Cyber-Grimm's body to leave a spray of ebony ichor in his wake. The two of them felt themselves be snared by Amaya's weapons and pulled clear of the monster as it fell upon where she and Rye had landed; her partner pulling himself into a crouch and slamming his palms into the ground to activate his Semblance and create a barricade of rising earth and stone.

It made little difference and a moment later broken earth washed over the broken ground as the Cyber-Grimm ploughed through Rye's defences to through both he and Amaya back again, the petite girls' Aura rippling whilst her partner lay on his back with his Aura broken and the armour he wore warped and battered, each breath he took leaving specks of blood littering his ashen face.

"NO!" Tiger's scream was a thing of pure fury and she rushed at her quarry once more, determined to put an end to it with her own two hands, further bolstered as Stygian's Semblance brought her partner rippling to place at her side yet rather than join her the blue-haired boy tackled her to the ground; air whistling overhead announcing a slashing pass of the Grimm's metallic claws that had been narrowly avoided and being followed by the sounds of struggle of further violence as the remaining half of Team SHMR prepared to make their presence felt.

"TEE!" Tiger looked up to see that her brother had climbed up onto the armoured back of the Cyber-Grimm "GET YOUR FRIENDS OUT OF HERE, THEY NEED HELP!"

"He's right, Rye's a mess!" Stygian urged, tugging at the single sleeve of her jacket to pull her back to her feet and in that moment Tiger was forced to accept both that dealing with the monster was not the most important thing that she could be doing and that Ravi seemingly had the situation under control. Tiger half-turned and made to rush back to her team-mates but was brought to halt and forced watch in stunned amazement as Snapdragon rushed into the fray and she and Ravi worked in devastating tandem against their foe.

"Blind it!" Snapdragon called out and Ravi's Semblance exploding into life, a wave of heat and light which reduced parts of the Grimm's extensive armour to molten slag and forced it thrash and flail in a desperate attempt to rid itself of the source of its' misery whilst its' lone optic was rendered useless. With an opening created Snapdragon closed the distance and with all of her usual showmanship leapt and flipped of each of the Cyber-Grimm's swinging limbs and delivered a series of punishing kick which the Shuffle Kicks made even more effective, her weapons discharging Ice and Gravity Dust into the molten portions of her quarry so that the mixture of force and rapidly changing temperature shattered entire segments of its' form to reveal the raw obsidian flesh and mangled inner workings within. Seizing the opportunity Ravi, still clinging on to the hulking behemoth deployed the claws of his own weapon and thrust downward in an effort to gore and burrow his way through the Cyber-Grimm until he found something so vital that it's destruction would finally halt the thing and in response the creature reared back, almost toppling itself with the force of its' exertion and presenting the weak point of its' underside where its' two halves were connected.

Snapdragon saw her own opportunity and sprinted at the creature, Dust and raw power flinging her into the air to deliver another of her unspeakably powerful kick whilst lightning began to crackle around her heels and toes as her weapons were primed and charged for a blow intended to crush the weak point of the monster and send the effects rippling outwards; all whilst the Cyber-Grimm variant swung its' mace-tipped and clawed arms around to strike at Ravi, missing him entirely.

But catching Snapdragon instead.

It was a blade-like claw which struck her, hitting her from behind and destroying her Aura reserves in a single, fatal blow before continuing onwards to impale the leader of Team SHMR; the claw erupting from her chest and leaving her suspended and motionless on the end of the monsters' limb.

Everything felt as though it were silent, the screaming and commotion falling away for Tiger as she struggled to process what she had seen; her arms falling to her side in numb shock until a sight like a sunrise began to emerge from behind the back of Grimm which had just taken the life of her classmate and former rival, the realisation of what she was seeing breaking Tiger out of her daze.

Ravi's Semblance, being abused in a way that was already beginning to leave his Aura flickering around him; the man determined to avenge his partner even if his efforts to melt the Cyber-Grimm consumed him along with it.

"STITCH! PULL HIM OUT! Tiger screamed

"ON IT, GET TO THE OTHERS!" her partner disappeared a moment later, reappearing as a dark form washed out by the blazing light of Ravi's Semblance who frantically fought to drag the grief-stricken Hunter away from the monster that had taken his partner from him. Seeing her brother eventually be physically restrained and dragged away from the Grimm Tiger staggered and trudged towards Amaya and Rye, whom she saw was still breathing and clinging to consciousness but suffering from the pain of ribs that were certainly broken.

"As soon as Stitch and Tiger get here I'm pulling us out" Tiger's voice was cracking and raw now, pulling her veil away from her face to reveal that tears had spilled from her eyes without her ever noticing at the horrors she had witnessed.

"They're…." Rye wheezed and sputtered before trying again "They won't make it"

"Damn it!" Tiger almost cried as she turned around to see that Tiger and Ravi were indeed sprinting towards her, her brother carrying Snapdragon's body which had been flung free of the Cyber-Grimm's claws, her blood smearing him with every movement but that the monster still lived and was giving chase; the fact that much of its' back and armoured thorax had been ripped away or that one of its' mace arms had been removed entirely as every structure it was connected to was destroyed doing little to slow it and it was obvious that the thing would reach its' prey before the two boys reached Tiger.

Then Yang Xiao Long appeared.

A single, world-shattering strike as the blonde woman streaked across the battlefield; hair and Aura aflame and eyes a fiery red was all it took. She hit the tip of the spire of armour which jutted from the Grimm's back and arced over its' skull, the raw power of her blow crumpling the obstruction and allowing her continue forward and drive a golden fist through the eye of the Cyber-Grimm and out of the back of its' skull to leave the hulking abomination sagging under its' own weight as it collapsed.

And yet it was still too late.

"FALL BACK!" Yang yelled, to Team TRQS along with any other fighter still in the vicinity; her voice raw and choked as she raised it "EVERYONE RETREAT! WE HAVE AIR SUPPORT INBOUND AND THE CIVILIANS HAVE BEEN EVACUATED….FALL BACK AND GET THE WOUNDED TO SAFETY ASAP, THIS STADIUM IS ABOUT TO GET AN AIRSTRIKE!"

With that Tiger finally engaged her Semblance once again, reaching out to her brother with one hand as Stygian led him closer and using her other to help Amaya carry Rye; a moment later the five of them, along with Snapdragon's body left the doomed stadium with their remained comrades behind them and several captured and defeated rebels being dragged along to be detained.

The knowledge that the remaining enemies would soon be consumed in fire did little to change the sinking feeling of utter defeat.

A new war for Remnant had started and the first casualties had already fallen.

---

'Hard-light, Lightning!' Sunriser Cain's synthesised voice rang out as Zirconia swung the weapon frantically, the fluid grace and flawless technique she usually carried herself with being lost in the face of a relentless assault which battered her on the emotional level as much as the physical; her swing creating a flickering wall of light with the last dregs of the Grasshopper Faunus's Dust reserves which extended out several feet to either side of her and crackled faintly with lightning, an electrified barrier to keep Athena-Jade away.

The Bear Faunus was not so easily stopped and pressed her attack regardless.

Destroying Mould-Breaker had been an accident on Zirconia's part, though upon seeing her former partners' weapon lying on the ground, as twisted and ruined as the rest of the street in which they had fought the rogue Faunus had hoped for a single brief moment that it might be enough to dissuade Athena from continuing the fight only to be reminded painfully of just how determined the woman she loved was and also just how incredibly capable she was in an unarmed fight. Running towards Zirconia's flickering barrier the Bear Faunus created a Glyph which sat horizontally at a height which allowed it to be used a step, vaulting over the hard-light Athena landed behind her partner in a crouch and with a spinning motion that was inspired by the styles of dance and martial arts she had studied she first drove a heel into Zirconia's wrist to send her weapon clattering from her grasp and knock her guard aside before following up with a leaping, spinning kick that slammed the taller girl back-first into her own barrier.

"Athena I-"

"FIGHT BACK!" the Bear Faunus screamed "THIS IS WHAT YOU WANTED RIGHT? TO BRING DOWN THE HUNTERS….SO DO IT, BRING ME DOWN….MAKE IT HURT AS MUCH AS EVERYTHING ELSE DOES"

Zirconia's mismatched eyes widened at the sheer desperation and brokenness in the single sob that escaped Athena, whose sapphire blue eyes were already red and puffy from the tears they had shed but before she could answer or even properly adjust her footing or try to retrieve her weapon the shorter girl was on the attack again.

The first blow was a wild and uncoordinated haymaker thrown with none of Athena's usual skill, a simple expression of grief and anger at the betrayal which Zirconia managed to redirect by taking her by the wrist and slipping beneath her arm to send Athena staggering off balance. Undeterred the Bear Faunus threw herself back into a cartwheeling kick which caught Zirconia on the side of the head but also left Athena in front of her opponent with her back turned, a situation she remedied by creating a glyph between the two of them and pivoting to deliver a kick to its' shimmering surface which sent Zirconia skidding backwards with her Aura flickering as it absorbed the blow; Athena seemingly heedless of the way her own Aura flickered in response to the strain on her dwindling reserves after weathering an explosion and using her Semblance in extended bursts.

From there, still losing herself in a fury that allowed her a measure of catharsis and something akin to numbness as it consumed her Athena charged in again with Glyphs appearing at her feet to change the height and angle of her approach, zigzagging across the damaged street to finally leap into Zirconia's space with the aim of delivering a crushing overhand strike whilst the Grasshopper Faunus let out a single measured breath.

"I'm sorry" the words left her in a muted whisper and in the next instant she had leapt, cybernetic limbs allowing her to reach a greater height than expected before meeting the incoming blow with a snapping front kick which struck Athena-Jade in the midsection with a rush of displaced air and sent her hurtling backwards, soaring high enough into the air that she reached the ceiling of the Hive-Tower level in which she fought and ploughed through several lights and panels before finally landing in the ground in a crumpled heap half buried in detritus.

"It was never about bringing down the Hunters, it was never about revenge….It was about nobody else losing what I did, it was about making a better, safer and fairer Remnant" Zirconia retrieved her weapon and holstered it, offering a final glance at Athena who was struggling to rise "And I wanted so badly for you to be part of it….I thought that you could see it, that you would understand. I'll wait for you AJ, as long as it takes"

With that Zirconia turned and made to stride away, hoping to keep some semblance of composure until she was out of sight; her breathing coming in rapid, trembling pants as grief and nausea threatened to make her physically ill. All other sensations were silenced and pushed away however by the sound of whatever scrap had fallen on top of Athena being ripped apart in a single violent motion and the wordless howl of emotions unable to be conveyed any other way that was torn from the Bear Faunus as she emerged from the wreckage.

Zirconia realised in that moment that she had never really stood a chance.

A single glyph span like a saw blade and flashed through the air at blinding speed, Zirconia's attempt to block it doing nothing but leaving her Aura fluctuating unsteadily around her. Athena's own Aura was in a similar state as she charged forward yet the presence of ethereal glowing wings erupting from her back showed that she had at least enough left to give for one more blow; a blow that was delivered moments later as she crashed into the girl who had broken her heart and betrayed her, claws extending from fingertips for an open-handed strike.

Zirconia's Aura shattered and Athena-Jade's Semblance exploded into a cascade of glowing embers around her as she realised what she had done.

"No! No, no, no, no, no" repeated words spilled out of her as she turned back from where she had skidded to a halt and rushed to Zirconia's side, catching the taller girl partway through collapsing before she could hit the floor. The sight of her own alabaster skin stained with blood cut through all of Athena's anger and left a cold, crushing dread in its' wake as she tried to both take the now ragged shawl away from Zirconia's face so that it could be used to apply pressure and also so that the Bear Faunus could see the extent of her grisly handiwork.

"AJ…." Zirconia trailed off, the taste of her own blood filling her own mouth more off-putting than pain that was at once worryingly cold and white-hot in its' intensity.

"You're gonna be okay, you're gonna be fine" the Bear Faunus hurried through her words, determination battling with disbelief and naked horror as she surveyed the damage. A small mercy came in the knowledge that her claws had missed both Zirconia's throat and left eye but still her face was rendered a bloody, swollen mess with deep gashes torn diagonally from above her left ear to her cheek and eyebrow with a distinct shape and spacing between where the Bear Faunus had torn through flesh with Aura-fuelled strength.

"I don't wanna do this" Athena sobbed, barely coherent as she clutched at Zirconia's cheek, pressing the ruined shawl to her face "I don't wanna hurt you, I don't, I just-"

Whatever else she intended to say was lost beneath the booming report of a shotgun blast.

"I take it that I am to understand you won't be joining us then Slate?" Athena heard the words, issued by a familiar low and rumbling voice and felt her blood run cold at the sound of them yet despite the terror which weighed down upon her she forced herself to persevere. The gunshot had flung her clear of Zirconia and whilst her Aura had remained intact, absorbing the blow it flickered and wavered visibly around her in sporadic and uncertain flashes as she pulled herself into a sitting position and retreated a few paces on her hands to take in the sight before her.

Carmesi loomed over her despite the distance between them, the Komodo Dragon holding his weapons at the ready in a display which was less threatening than the simple bloodlust in his eyes whilst between them Zirconia lay on the ground, holding fabric to her shredded face in an effort to staunch the bleeding whilst struggling to form words despite her condition, an effort Carmesi largely ignored as he instead made a show of striding forward and raising his weapons whilst rolling his neck and shoulders to give a satisfying crack.

"All of the people you could have convinced to join our cause if you had been at the stadium where you were supposed to be Zirconia, instead you decided one person, one life was more than so many peoples' futures….I hope this failure teaches you something valuable" placing himself between Zirconia and her former partner with a degree of protectiveness which seemed misplaced and strange from brutal rogue Hunter Carmesi turned his focus to Athena-Jade herself "I was tasked with bringing Zirconia and anybody who had joined our cause to safety, with Zirconia injured I see that I am going to have to use a measure of violence to succeed in that task….I won't lie and pretend that I haven't been looking forward to this"

He gestured vaguely to the ragged scar running across his chest and through patches of craggy scales which had been torn into his flesh as he forced himself through the Bear Faunus's glyphs.

Carmesi advanced further but stopped short of simply falling upon his victim and instead offered a smile that showed jagged teeth.

"I would offer you one of my weapons to make this more even, but you hardly need the help" he gave a final menacing chuckle which pushed Athena's already strained mind further into despair and to the verge of a total breakdown.

"Get up. You're a Hunter….And for what it's worth, you were one of the good ones; you had potential. At least die properly girl, on your feet"

---

Neo Vale's defences were being steadily overrun yet in a twisted and sickening joke played on its' defenders the attack had come from within; not just within the city but from within the very defences themselves as entire squads of soldiers and individuals in key locations revealed their true loyalties and intentions, to say nothing of the amount of rebels that had been inserted into their ranks, the robotic and mechanised elements supplied to them by the shadowy Benefactor figure who had now been revealed as the eccentric mogul and philanthropist Damascus Nero and most damnable of all the Cyber-Grimm at their disposal which had made short work of all in their path.

Amongst those who stood against the rebels were the respectable portion of the cities' Hunters who had been positioned at various key points on the perimeter walls and amongst their number was Ether Arashi of Team NEON, alumni of Halo Academy, lifelong resident and native of the Kingdoms' capital and close friend to such famous Hunters as the now legendary Team FADE; Ether himself having been present for the final assault on Salem's fortress in the second war against her where both he and his wife had suffered severe injuries which had changed the path of their careers for good.

At present Ether simply pushed through the pain, discomfort and fatigue induced by the aggravation of his old injuries as he continued his determined push into enemy lines.

He had been stationed at one of the gates into the city, such structural weak points being regular targets for the Creatures of Grimm requiring them to be defended by the heaviest weapons and the most capable and experienced fighters; this reasoning had been common knowledge amongst the traitors and so Ether's post, along with several others like it had been engulfed in barrages of withering fire and then charged from all sides in the opening stages of the rebels' ambushes with Ether only surviving the detonation of ammunition dumps and being surrounded where the loyal members of the cities' garrison assigned to him had not because of his Semblance.

Ether Arashi was not confined to a solid state, instead his entire body could dissipate into a cloying fog or mist which rolled over his surroundings and allowed him to reform at any point in the area of effect that he chose, granting him a form of teleportation that was slowed down but versatile and unpredictable. The first use of this ability in the opening moments of the ambush had seen tendrils of fog coiling their way from within burning wreckage and weaving around enemies, allowing Ether to appear in their midst and bring his axe-like weapon, Ghost Reverie to bear with results to clear the area before dipping back into the flames once more to rescue the few allies whose lives he could still save.

From there Ether had been relentless, flitting through the damaged and beleaguered sections of the perimeter defences to lend aid where he could, bringing supplies from abandoned posts to where they were needed, aiding outnumbered and pinned pockets of loyalists and assisting the Hunters who had, like himself managed to push through the initial betrayal until a single overheard command barked from one traitor to another gave him a more solid goal.

With a renewed sense of purpose the Hunter had gathered his allies and led a countercharge, his Semblance allowing him to advance further ahead and land crippling blows with a ferocity which paired with the all black attire he wore, leathers and spiked surfaces in keeping with the rocker he had been in his youth, the way his green-tinged black hair flew out behind him and the appearance of his weapon 'Ghost Reverie' an axe which doubled as a guitar served to make him a foe whose presence was a psychology damaging as it was physical and pushed his enemies into a retreat which threatened to become a full rout at any moment.

Allowing Ether to draw closer to his target, a commander amongst the rebels who could seemingly direct and control at least some of the Cyber-Grimm which had been ploughing through everything in their path.

"ON THE GROUND! DROP YOUR WEAPONS AND SURRENDER!" Ether yelled as his Semblance coalesced into a solid body amidst a fresh batch of adversaries, a two handed swing of Ghost Reverie cleaving through a rifle that was raised against him and sinking the weapons' blade into body armour which allowed the Hunter, slender as he was to physically hurl a grown man over a wall larger than himself to whatever painful fate waited below; using the pivoting motion of the throw Ether kicked out and shattered the knee of another would-be attacker and brought his weapon whirling around so that it's flat edge smashed into the mouth of the soldier who was in the process of collapsing to the ground. Shifting the weapon in his hands into its' guitar form, something almost ludicrously out of place in the heat of battle Ether produced a guitar pick made of solid Gravity Dust and brought the shimmering obsidian surface down on the instruments' strings to send a pulse of concussive force which warped and rippled the air out in all directions. The reinforced surfaces of the defences were bent and bowed, creaking worryingly and giving way in several places whilst those who stood against the lone Hunter were thrown from their feet and slammed against the walls and floor of the walkway atop the wall; leaving Ether free to advance upon brandishing his weapon once again whilst his allies began to draw close after defeating their own opponents behind him.

"YOU'VE LOST!" Ether declared assuredly "I WANT THE MAN IN CHARGE!"

"Well Chairman Nero isn't here and neither is the person who supplied us with the equipment for this….But I've got rank over these apes" the answer came from a short distance away, a booming voice that seemed to be made for shouting orders shortly preceding the appearance of the man who had offered them; a man whose burly form clad in fatigues and armour was further ensconced in the mechanical frame of a more stripped down, almost skeletal mech suit, adding barely a foot to his own height and little armour beyond a roll-cage like structure around the man wearing with the main benefits coming it additional reach and strength along with the extra weaponry that strength supported.

The man was also flanked by a pair of Cyber-Grimm which chittered and lurked at his sides with their weapons audibly priming.

"Stand down soldier" Ether spat "Your men are down and those….things won't be enough"

"They don't need to beat all of you, just the Hunters" the solider gave the faintest of gestures and the pair of monstrous creatures at his sides subtly directed their laser weapons at Ether himself whilst their master continued to speak "Funny how this is the fastest response time I've ever seen from a Hunter-"

"That's what this is about? You think-" Ether demanded incredulously, a desire to stall until he could form a workable plan that would not put the men and women behind him at risk being bolstered by a genuine ire, one which the rebel leader opposite eagerly matched as he interrupted him

"I think you look good for the cameras, do just enough to keep us from questioning why you have as much power as you do and then leave the rest of us to rot! Just like Nero said!" the soldier jutted out his chin in open defiance "I wasn't always on this wall….I was a drop out who ended up serving on the garrison at Arcadia; Hunters weren't there when it fell-"

"The hell they weren't!" Ether roared, furious at the lie given that he personally knew Hunters who had been present "They were-"

"There to put on a show! A couple of students for a whole city, we had to wait hours with Grimm already inside the city for a real response!" the soldier bellowed, Cyber-Grimm at his sides moving in anticipation "AND NOTHING CHANGED!" I came here and for my whole career it's been the same, all you do is-"

Whatever the man intended to accuse Hunters off and whatever conspiracies Nero and his allies had used to sculpt and mould his righteous anger the man fell silent as a single sound which all who stood atop the perimeter wall, Hunter and soldier alike recognised split the air with its' piercing shrillness before being answered and mirrored from a hundred or more sources.

The cry of a Giant Nevermore on the hunt.

"Does Nero's plan have an answer for this!" Ether spat furiously "For when the Grimm inevitably attacked the city en masse and the defences were already crippled because of your people?"

"We've got a plan….We are the plan, same as we always were Hunter" the burly soldier chuckled darkly, gesturing to the Cyber-Grimm at his sides with the mechanical limbs of his exo-suit "We've got these now"

"Have those things ever been tested against an attack like what's coming?" Ether's voice was cold, his gaze drifting away from the rebel to the roads and open ground beyond the city limits where more Creatures of Grimm were flooding into view as a rolling tide of darkness, drawn by the chaos and violence within the city "Because I have been tested soldier, as much as you have and I can promise you that Chairman Nero's monsters aren't gonna be enough….Maybe for killing a few Hunters in a fight with stacked odds, not for this?"

"So what're you suggesting?"the soldier's voice was quieter now, hesitant and betraying the merest hints of uncertainty as he followed Ether's gaze out and took in the size of the horde that was approaching, realising that with their attention directed elsewhere the Kingdoms' airships would likely be unable to destroy all of the incoming Grimm.

"That you man your fucking post and prepare to do the job that we both swore to do! Defend this city and hold the line of this wall!" Ether raised his weapon into the air and behind him the Hunters and loyal soldiers following him let out a cheer of approval, one which was despite everything echoed by a handful of the rebels as they pulled themselves back to their feet and retrieved their weapons.

"Let's make this clear….Whatever happens today, you're finished" Ether continued coldly "But I'm willing to offer some terms. All of you bastards who sold out your Kingdom, if you survive this you get off the wall and out of this city, run to wherever it is you planned to go when this was done and I won't chase you; what happens between you and any other Hunter that finds you is your business"

"And what do you want in return?" the commander of this group of rebels demanded, his abrasive sneer less important to Ether than the fact that the man and his followers had enough conviction in their stated beliefs to defend the city from the monsters beyond its' walls one last time despite everything they had done. Ether gestured to the pair of Cyber-Grimm as he answered flatly.

"Those things die" the burly man in the suit of mechanical armour considered for a moment, blunt and squared jaw working silently until finally he nodded, drawing a pair of grenades from his belt which the Cyber-Grimm for all of their ferocity allowed to be fastened to their metallic craniums and then the rebel soldier gestured for the two abhorrent creations to attack the incoming Grimm, a task which they took to with gusto; the Cyber-Grimm leaping from their walls and deploying their wings to soar upwards into the approaching Nevermore flock with their weapons firing ceaselessly until finally blossoming explosions removed the machine-Grimm of their heads.

Ether and his counterpart amongst the rebels turned and nodded to one another, taking up positions on the blasted and twisted defences beside one another and risking intermittent glances away from the oncoming tide to watch for any sign of treachery until they came to an unspoken understanding.

Premature and unsettled as it was, the attempted attack on Neo Vale would soon reach its' conclusion for better or worse.

---

"NORA GET DOWN!" even without her husband's warning the redhead managed to avoid the incoming blow, ducking and throwing herself forwards to avoid having her face and neck skewered by the Shroud as it extended the blades from the tips of the wing-fingers bunched around its' shoulders once again; stepping into the Grimm's guard allowed Nora to tackle it with a violent body check which saw her right shoulder bend and punish ribs and armour before she drove the base of Magnhild's shaft into a point roughly analogous to where a persons' diaphragm would be and whilst the airborne Cyber-Grimm variant did not need to breathe the sheer force of the blow focused into such a small point both punctured the monsters' armoured hide and left obsidian filth dripping from the weapon that had struck it and also shunted the Shroud back several feet.

Allowing Ren to pounce.

Years spent teaching and handling administrative duties had done nothing to dull his skills or reflexes, something to be expected given that he was married to the academies' combat instructor but still an impressive thing to see in practice as the nominally retired Hunter sprung up and over the Shroud's attempt to turn and shoot him with the gun mounted to its' remaining arm, landing a kick to the skull of the monstrosity which staggered it and made the chattering and twitching components of its' insectoid maw clatter against one another in a way Nora sincerely hoped caused the thing discomfort. Without ever touching the ground Ren parlayed his first kick into a back-flip over the Shroud to land behind it and to its' right where he aimed the Storm-Flowers and opened fire until the magazines were empty, ripping into the Cyber-Grimm's wings as it once again shifted the membranous but resilient cape-like structures to cover itself before turning to return fire, its' own body seemingly capable of producing a near-infinite amount of ammunition; before he could be shot however Ren once proved his supreme agility by sliding beneath the arms and wings of the Shroud to kick at one of its' oddly designed legs before rolling into a crouch and leaping onto the things back where plunged the blades affixed to his sub-machine guns and began promptly tearing away at his foes' back and shoulder assemblies.

"What're you doing?" Nora demanded, having already shifted Magnhild into its' grenade launcher form but unwilling to risk firing without a clearer shot.

"Trying to cut into whatever parts it needs to keep changing its' limbs around, maybe I can stop it from fly-" as if it could understand Ren's answer and were incensed by the idea of being crippled and grounded the Shroud reacted with a chattering hiss of whirring mouthparts before throwing its' entire mass forward with enough force to throw Ren clear of it, though the ragged motion of his weapons being torn through muscles and mechanical superstructures had a clear effect on the beast; it lashed out with its' wings and left Ren's Aura visibly flickering as bladed fingertips extended once again to rake across his torso though as the Headmaster of Halo Academy landed in a barely coordinated and painful crouch beside Nora the two of them both noticed the way that the Shroud's uppermost pair of limbs sagged and hung more loosely.

"I think it's only got one arm left" Nora managed a lopsided smirk as she hefted her weapon, cocking her head and closing one eye as though she were not firing an explosive with a broad area of effect.

"It can still move them….Just not as much and I think I damaged some sort of connection point" Ren's more cautious observation was both given a measure of credence and yet ultimately silenced by the Shroud itself as the Cyber-Grimm that was built like some gruesome hybrid of mantis, bat and firefly clacked its' bladed digits and shifted its' weight before giving the limbs which served as shields, wings and weapons all at once a series of experimental flexes, leaving fluids spattered across the yellow brick road which led to the academy and sparks spraying into the air around it but ultimately the thing would not be deterred and its' insectoid abdomen began to glow dangerously once again as it shifted its' weight, overlong and flexible neck thrusting its' head forward in an obvious preparation for a charge.

"I've got it!" Nora declared opening fire and launching a rapid succession of grenades which exploded with devastating force and clouds of pink mist only to be left gritting her teeth in annoyance as the Shroud emerged from the cloud in a blur of motion, not in a wild and headlong charge but instead streaking out to the left of the two Hunters before turning and zigzagging towards them; body low to the ground, its' three remaining upper limbs trailing behind it and propelled forwards by a gout of flames whilst moving with a precision and fluidity that rivalled those of the Hunters themselves to dodge more incoming explosives.

"We need a plan" Ren murmured, features tight in a way which made the scar running along his right cheek where a Nevermore had clawed it at seventeen more prominent and his fuchsia eyes betraying his worry as he studied the Shroud's movements; realising that if Hunters with decades of experience struggled to bring down a single creation of this calibre then any future where mass produced Cyber-Grimm could be regularly loosed upon less experienced teams of Hunters was a bleak one indeed.

"I've got an idea" Nora answered, her nasal voice brimming with a confidence which her husband could not help but be bolstered by even as she continued firing "Load up on Lightning Dust, I'm gonna need a boost for this"

"Nora" Ren's voice grew wary, unable to mask his concern at the way the Cyber-Grimm continued to evade explosions and draw steadily closer "Please tell me your plan isn't just to hit it harder?"

"Nah, that's that's just stage one" if the moment were less urgent then Ren would have booped his wife's nose endearingly in response to her antics; instead however he was left frantically trying to find and load the required rounds whilst at the same time keeping an eye on the situation as his wife stopped firing and instead charged towards the Shroud. In mere moments he had done what was needed and aimed the Storm-Flowers at Nora's back, trusting her plan and her abilities implicitly but unable to keep a cold sinking feeling from twisting through his stomach a she squeezed the triggers.

Lightning Dust detonated, arcs of crackling lightning danced across his wife's skin and time slowed to a crawl for Ren as he watched the results.

Nora brought Magnhild around in its' hammer form for a single crushing blow that came from an upward angle and smashed into the skull of the Shroud with enough force to leave its' lone optic blinking and whirring mouthparts strewn across the ground like broken teeth and yet this impact which could be felt throughout the entirety of Halo Academy and the aerial platform supporting it was merely an opening gambit. With the Cyber-Grimm stunned Nora pressed the advantage by driving the shaft of her weapon horizontally into its' midsection and tackling her opponent with enough force to lift it from the ground and drive it backwards.

At which point Ren began to realise what she intended.

The Cyber-Grimm began retaliating and Nora's Aura shimmered around her with each bullet from the things' remaining arm-mounted gun even as her eyes continued to glow and crackle with absorbed power that her Semblance channelled until finally she had carried the Shroud towards the crater that had been left in the surface of the campus where electrical components were exposed and still sparking. Hoisting the Shroud up into the air and over her head Nora gave a triumphant cheer before slamming it down back-first into the already broken ground and straddling it; throwing Magnhild aside so that she could grab at the damaged components through which the power of the entire aerial platform flowed with one hand whilst beginning to rain punches down on the head and body of the Shroud with a force that grew more cataclysmic with each impact.

Yet Nora's triumph was premature as even here the Cyber-Grimm variant refused to perish.

"LOOK OUT!" Ren was left in a twisted reversal of Nora's earlier position as he tried to line up a clear shot but was left unable to do so as the Shroud's bladed wing-fingers, damaged as they were provided enough leverage from the monster to roll whilst its' lithe flexibility allowed it twist itself and pin Nora beneath it, already rearing its' bladed appendages back for a fatal blow.

Nora shattered the blades of its' right wing with a backhand that sounded like a thunderclap, reaching out and seizing its' right wing by the wrist to stop bladed digits mere inches from her face whilst her free hand once again sought out exposed cables in order to draw upon the power she would need to free herself from the crushing weight and power of the Cyber-Grimm. Looming and thrashing above her, enraged in whatever way its' programming could comprehend at both its' injuries and inability to destroy its' enemy the Shroud let out a series of grinding, sputtering noises from what remained of its' maw before retaliating with brutal cunning.

The sound of Nora's scream as the Cyber-Grimm took the ruined stump of the arm Nora herself had destroyed and jammed it into her eyes to blind her was one which would haunt Ren.

There was no time left to think and all Ren could was take action, he was already in motion as he saw his wife change her approach and begin discharging the electricity she had been storing and using to power herself directly into the Grimm, recouping some of that power with each moment that the Shroud's shredded and sparking limb was still pressed into her face; he was still drawing close as he saw smoke begin to rise from his wife's pinned and thrashing form and felt the entire aerial platform his home and academy were housed on begin to dip and lurch in the air as Nora pushed her Semblance to its' limits in an act of extreme desperation. She had once channelled the power of the entire city but it had been a measured and careful thing done before the battle had been joined and bore no real comparison to the terrifying ordeal of trying to absorb and release power whilst fighting for her life and powering through the agony of having her eyes gouged at.

Eventually the moment reached its' crescendo; Nora's plan bore results as the Shroud began to spasm and writhe with smoke seeping from overlapping panels of its' mechanical parts whilst its' obsidian flesh began to bubble and hiss with the heat being generated, vital components overheated and in several cases clearly began to explode or rupture within its' body which left the Shroud rearing back with its' overlong neck arced back in agony.

The perfect opening for Ren to leap and slash with the Storm-Flowers; his Aura breaking as electricity travelled along the length of his weapons on the contact.

Yet when he landed the Shroud had collapsed and its' head lay detached from its' husk.

"NORA!" Ren skidding along the ground, shuddering limbs and protesting muscles unwilling to cooperate with his needs but still he reached his wife and was overcome by an immense wave of relief as he saw her chest heave with a pained, gasping gulp of air.

"We're okay" he whispered as he cradled her head on his lap, all responsibilities and the larger battle for the city being forgotten as he ran a hand through hair that had been singed and blackened in places; the tears in his own eyes unable to fully obscure the lightning-bolt scars that arced and forked their way across Nora's face, extending from the edge of her left cheekbone to spread across both of her eyes whose brilliant turquoise colour was lost to a milky whiteness littered with splotches of red where blood vessels had ruptured.

"We're okay" he repeated more calmly, though his voice still wavered "You're gonna be okay….We're gonna get you to a medic, both of you, you and Qrow and we're gonna take back this city-"

The words that left Nora in a fearful whimper silenced Ren and left a lump of pure grief and terror in his throat.

"Ren….I can't see, everything's a blur and it's not getting better. I-I think I'm blind"

---

To Astra and Regalia every moment that passed where they had not been reunited with the absent half of Team MARZ, if only so that they could finally know that they were unharmed and hear the truth of everything that had happened from Zirconia's own mouth was a personal affront that they were unwilling to suffer.

As much as the pair would have the like the situation to be otherwise neither Astra nor Regalia could afford to be truly single-minded in their focus given the realities of the situation. On more than one occasion Clunker had been brought skidding to a halt and the two student Hunters had leapt into the fray to turn the tide of a particular skirmish or taking a decisive action to halt the advance of a Cyber-Grimm before departing once more. Further to the pitched battles taking place through the city and diversion the two of them were forced to take by both damage to the cities' infrastructure and the simple fact of battle lines being drawn without regard for where they needed to be Astra and Regalia were also hindered and slowed by Regalia's inability to use her Semblance whilst riding her jetbike, meaning that her partner's ability to track Athena-Jade's scroll had been their only means of locating their friends.

Yet finally it seemed that their search was nearing its' end.

"JUST UP AHEAD TAKE THAT RIGHT AT THE END OF THE ROAD!" the Deer Faunus yelled to be heard, their sense of urgency increasing dramatically as their keen senses and desperate efforts to search for any sign of their friends were rewarded by the sounds of violence up ahead in the direction of Athena's scroll; yells of exertion and fury and the sounds of weapons biting into various solid surfaces rising above the full roar of Clunker's engine and the thruster taken from a downed aircraft that the jetbike had been built around.

It only took Regalia a matter of seconds to follow her partners' directions and bring Clunker hurtling around a corner with its' rear end fish-tailing out behind it in a jet of flames and the deafening cacophony of its' approach enough to make up for the lack of a suitable screech of tires. As the jetbike appeared on a street which had been entirely wrecked, with overturned and burning vehicles strewn across it and visible damage marring the walls and windows of various homes and businesses, and with the floor and ceiling of the Hive Tower itself.

Taking in the sight that greeted them was enough to stun Astra into a motionless silence that threatened to see them slip listlessly from the back of Clunker, their ability to quickly recognise the need for action keeping them from doing so even if sheer disbelief had rendered them unable to form and enact a plan as required.

The scene before them was easy enough to decipher, Athena-Jade Slate late beaten on the ground with blood flowing freely from a split lip to indicate that her Aura had been shattered and broken, the Bear Faunus being worryingly unarmed whilst standing over her, with only his larger weapon drawn was Carmesi Hueso. The rogue Hunter's intentions and actions to this point were plain, he held Retribution aloft in its' broad and flat-edged, jagged tooth-riddled cleaver form in preparation for a final, fatal swing which would either cleave through Athena's skull or strike her neck and cut her head away entirely. The frenzied Komodo Dragon Faunus had been brought to a halt before their killing blow could land by Zirconia Shadowmoon, the Grasshopper Faunus having thrown herself between the two combatants despite ragged slashes which had spilled blood across the left side of her face and rather than try to fight simply raised her hands and began to beg and plead for her partners' life as she wept.

Though to Astra, to whom time no longer held meaning as a numb distance had taken hold of their senses the most important detail of all, one which damned Zirconia Shadowmoon with its' simplicity was that Carmesi was making no effort to fight her and move her aside.

"YOU GUYS, NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF A DRAMATIC ENTRANCE!" Astra was forced back to their senses as Regalia revealed that her own focus had never wavered, pushing Clunker to even more dangerous velocities and throwing the jetbike into a dangerous spin which brought its' rear end up higher than its' handlebars and forced Carmesi to grab Zirconia and all but hurl her out of the way, that he had chosen to protect someone who should have been an enemy rather than ensure his own safety being a final confirmation of truths none of Team MARZ had been ready to accept before the thudding impact of metal against scaly flesh filled the air and Carmesi was slammed backwards and sent rolling head over heels away from Athena until he managed to pull himself into a crouch at the opposite side of the street.

Both Astra and Regalia were on him in an instant despite his best efforts to charge at them and seize the initiative; with Regalia firing Apex Scavenger's harpoon into Carmesi's shoulder where it caught on clothing and allowed him to be dragged forward and into Astra's path as the Deer Faunus brought their shields together and tackled into the older Hunter with all the force they could muster. With their opponent stunned and winded Astra followed up by delivering a roundhouse kick to the ribs and then a spinning back kick and acrobatic leaping kick which swept across Carmesi's bearded cheek and jaw to throw him back again and before he could recover Astra deployed the guns of Buckshot Ares; unleashing a torrent of firepower into their enemies' Aura and leaving it rippling whilst at the same time keeping the broad edges of their shields turned upwards.

Allowing Regalia to follow up with her own attack.

Astra kept their arms steady as their partner leapt over them and used the surface of their weapons as a springboard from which to leap at Carmesi and bring the harpoon-tipped base of Apex Scavenger, now in its' pickaxe-headed staff form slicing upwards into his chin before pivoting and using a two-handed grip towards the bottom of her weapons' shaft to swing the pick of her weapon into the reptilian Faunus's gut with a force that lifted him from his feet as it slammed into him, his own rippling Aura being the only thing preventing him from being opened across the belly by the vicious assault. Before Carmesi had even landed Regalia had shifted her weapon into its' pistol-gripped shotgun form and snapped off a trio of booming shots which collided with the back and shoulder of the Hunter who had taken Team MARZ on their first ever mission only to betray them all.

"Astra, cover me and I'll-"

"ENOUGH!" Carmesi exploded into motion, forgoing either of his weapons and instead rearing up to his full height has he roared the single word; his Aura powering his Semblance and shifting into a shield-wall of blades and spikes which brought both of his attackers to a halt, yet even in the face of this Astra found the willpower they needed to press on and speak with an assertive confidence.

"It's over" they turned to give Zirconia a truly venomous look "Both of you….You're outnumbered and running on fumes; drop your weapons"

Carmesi's answer was mocking, barking laughter.

"CARMESI NO!" Zirconia screamed out, understanding what was about to happen in a way that her former team-mates did not. The Komodo Dragon dropped to the ground and slammed a single palm to the floor with the only hint of his intentions being the way his hellish red and wildly crazed eyes darted towards Athena-Jade, the beaten and bloodied Bear Faunus forced to hand back whilst her friends fought on.

The snowy-haired girls' screams filled the air a moment later.
"NO!" Zirconia screamed again as she saw Carmesi's Semblance erupt from the ground, a small burst of blades further away and without the overwhelming force that the Komodo Dragon Faunus often employed but still enough pierce through both of the Bear Faunus's feet and stab at her calves in several places to leave her toppling backwards in a way that only tore at the injuries even more as she was suddenly unable to support her own weight. Before any of the stunned teens could react more spikes erupted from the ground where Athena had fallen, eliciting fresh screams of wordless terror from the Bear Faunus and Zirconia alike as they narrowly missed the pale girls' neck, hands and torso in a gesture that could only been understood as a threat.

"The next one will go through her heart" Carmesi finally spoke, taking cautious steps towards Zirconia and readying Retribution in its' shotgun form as he released his Semblance for the moment "Zirconia and I will be leaving, I will kill your friend if you try to follow us"

It had been clear that their friend had betrayed them before, but hearing it so clearly was enough to bring both Astra and Regalia to a halt; the Racoon Faunus being the first to find her words.

"Zirconia….Why….How could you, we were your friends?" every word required her to swallow a fresh lump in her throat and she raised her goggles and face-mask in order to look the most taciturn member of Team MARZ in the eyes as she demanded an answer, her bushy tail shuddering. No words came from Zirconia who instead simply shook her head, eyes screwed shut as tears welled from them; shaking her head in what might have been an attempt at an apology even as she allowed Carmesi to lead her away in a cautious retreat.

"We're gonna come after you for this" Astra snarled, shoulders heaving with barely contained rage and the sound of Athena's pained yowling close by as every effort to move intensified her agony serving as a haunting backdrop "We're gonna hunt you across Remnant and when I catch you I swear I'm gonna-"

"When we next meet hopefully you'll understand the vision that you could have been a part of" Carmesi sneered, speaking in Zirconia's stead and offering the Deer Faunus a nod that was almost perverse in the respect it conveyed "For what it's worth I wish you three had joined us….You're good kids, you've got heart. But we're done here"

As if to highlight the statement an explosive tremor tore its' way through the entirety of the Hive-Tower in which they had fought, coming from the direction of a nearby bridge leading into another part of the city; following that a terrible, wailing howl like a thousand voices condensed into a single note split the air.

"That would be our ride" Carmesi laughed darkly, snapping off two shotgun blasts and catching both Astra and Regalia off-guard.

"AFTER THEM!" Astra yelled dragging themselves to their feet only to realise that their quarry had vanished entirely.

"We can't leave AJ behind!" Regalia called back with equal force, rushing to the side of her injured friend. Astra paused glaring in the direction that they suspected Zirconia and Carmesi had escaped in and then to their wounded friend before making the only decision that made sense.

"We're gonna get you a medical evac" Astra assured the Bear Faunus as they came skidding to a halt at her side.

"What the hell was that impact?" she hissed out through gritted teeth, eyes glassy and unfocused even as she sought to distract herself from the pain she was clearly in.

The question made Astra pause, cold dread pooling into them as they considered Nero's broadcast and realised the answer.

"It's Gestalt-Prime….It's the Grimm we fought at Port Alistair" the Deer Faunus looked in the direction of the nearest exit to the tower with fearful eyes "We should evacuate the whole tower before that thing decides it wants payback for what I did to it the last time we fought"

---

Gestalt-Prime's plan to avenge themselves on the other architect of their pain and misery had taken several unexpected turns and as a consequence of them events had somehow followed a plan much closer to Nero's design than their own.

The Hybrid Alpha had torn their way through the sky after their disposal of Nero's scientist, finding themselves attacked and waylaid at every turn in their efforts to track down Carmesi Hueso and deprive the human they had allied themselves to of their more violent and immediately threatening lieutenant.

This had been entirely expected and Gestalt-Prime had been, at least initially more than equal to the threats the enemy could level against them, deploying the weapons of their new form and giving the body which was as much a product of their own instinctive abilities as it was Albion Nero and Aefen Cruor's twisted genius its' first real test; the destructive might that they were now capable of unleashing with armaments that put the absorbed and reconfigured artillery piece they had one wielded to shame and the Alpha Cyber-Grimm had felt an exhilaration and sense of oddly serene peace and joy as they had intercepted and cut down each of the Kingdoms' fighter craft in turn in a series of brief and vicious dogfights wherein Gestalt-Prime used their knowledge of their enemies' own tactics and doctrine against them, forcing pilots into positions where they would have to risk striking at their own allies or sending stray shots into buildings filled with civilians whilst Gestalt-Prime fought with no such considerations and was free to exploit every moment of hesitation.

What Gestalt-Prime had not expected was to have allies of their own.

The final member of the attack wing of fighter craft, likely deployed from one of the warships hanging above the city in the state of constant readiness which had allowed the Kingdoms' loyalists to begin a counteroffensive in such short order had been preparing itself for what Gestalt-Prime quickly realised was a final, suicidal gambit with the intention of ensuring that even if the pilot was doomed they would still ensure that their mission was a success and that their foe was defeated; it was a single-minded manifestation of fury which the Alpha Grimm found that they could appreciate on some level. Their weapons had been ready and they had been in the midst of swooping through the air in search of a more advantageous position from which open fire and deny the would-be martyr of the ending the sought however before Gestalt-Prime could take action a salvo of air-to-air rockets and thin beams of precise laser weapons tore through the wing and hull of the incoming fighter; producing a ball of from from which twisted wreckage rained.

It had taken the hybrid Alpha only a moment to locate the source of the unexpected interference, their singular optic widening a fraction in surprise as the visor laid across it magnified and annotated the image aerial drones and fighters piloted by the few rebels seeded with the Kingdoms' air corps, delivering the withering assault before peeling off as they were targeted in turn and revealing that Nero's followers still believed that Gestalt-Prime was counted amongst their number. Using this information to their advantage Gestalt-Prime had began accessing the restricted and encrypted channels that the rebels were coordinating their efforts through, sifting through the chatter with processing power greater than a simple human mind in order to hone in on where Carmesi Hueso was most likely to be.

Bringing the sapient horror to their current location.

The Komodo Dragon they sought was somewhere within the once pleasant upper-middle districts of one of the more luxurious Hive-Towers located beyond the main urban sprawl of the metropolis city and Gestalt-Prime had positioned themselves in the air above an opening that seemed likely to show promise, a bridge spanning the distance between two of the towers.

They had no interest in trying to hunt down their quarry through close confines where the Faunus's own skills and experience might give them an advantage, no matter how satisfying carving Carmesi Hueso apart with their axes might be and so the Alpha Cyber-Grimm had began unleashing a more direct and dreadful approach to the matter; with their broad axe-bladed wings braced they had primed the main weapon of their new form, namely an energy based weapon similar to those employed by Penny Polendina or the Kingdoms' warships. The ribcage-like design of the armour encasing their chest revealed itself to have a practical application, unlocking and sliding outwards which in turn allowed other components to shift aside which in turn revealed the barrel and rotating components of a weapons array whose initial discharge had destroyed the bridge and torn through a respectable portion of the Hive-Tower it had struck in a maelstrom of crimson light and howling, deafening force. The chest-mounted weapon had only needed a matter of seconds to cool and recharge before being fired again and Gestalt-Prime's onslaught had continued.

Until finally Gestalt-Prime was struck by a weapon which even their monstrous resilience could not overcome.

Warnings flashed across their vision, rendered redundant by the agony of feeling the metallic armour encasing them become superheated in several places and the sensation of having bone and tissue reduced to a leaking slurry before it began to congeal and reform itself with worrying sluggishness. They remained airborne however and subroutines which had been ingrained to the point of functioning as instinctual behaviour took action, allowing Gestalt-Prime to collapse their primary weapon and instead deploy smaller shoulder mounted laser from within cavities in their back that were often masked by their wings, all whilst avoiding a steady torrent of missiles and photon beams which threatened to incinerate the wounded Alpha Grimm. Eventually Gestalt-Prime's senses began to reorient and realign themselves and it was here that the monster felt genuine fear upon realising that one the capital class warships which defended Neo Vale attacking them directly with its' main weapons whilst at the same time deploying dozens of freshly resupplied fighters from within its' hangers.

New warnings and streams of tactical analysis informed Gestalt-Prime that the situation was hopeless and that death was imminent, yet once again the Cyber-Grimm was not alone and salvos were intercepted as Nero's forces once again came to the aid of the hybrid Alpha; though this time an explanation of sorts was offered encrypted channels.

"To the Grimm….Uh Gestalt-Prime, the one on Nero's broadcast?" a stammering, uncertain and fearful voice declared "We've got no idea if you can hear us or not….But thanks for the assist, Hueso and Shadowmoon weren't at the extraction point their safety was deemed a priority; we guessed you'd be trying to pull 'em out"

Gestalt-Prime was almost overcome with rage.

They had, even in their efforts to take revenge upon their captor and tormentor played into the hands of Damascus Nero, the human once again proving himself to be more than simple prey. Gestalt-Prime was a Creature of Grimm despite everything else that made the hybrid Alpha what they were and their first instinct was to answer the indignity with carnage on a scale unimaginable only to be forced to concede that it would be impossible to achieve and thus foolish to attempt, in their current damaged condition and without the means to control the Creatures of Grimm currently swarming towards the cities' perimeter the Cyber-Grimm was no match for the forces that would be arrayed against them; either Nero's rebels or the loyalists could overwhelm them alone and if both sides were to pen fire Gestalt-Prime would simply cease to be.

Instead they were forced to watch as a lone transport slipped through the hellish exchange of fire between the two sides and open its' hatches as it neared the devastated section of the Hive-Tower Gestalt-Prime's own weapon had rent open, other craft and drones guarding the transport and going to far to open their own hatches and release Cyber-Grimm stored within them in an effort to tip the scales somewhat. The larger warships' weapons made the effort a largely futile gesture however, before the last of the Cyber-Grimm could be unmade by a photon battery intended to destroy Grimm larger than the average street Gestalt-Prime saw movement within the mangled remains of the towers' structure.

Carmesi Hueso and Zirconia Shadowmoon leaping into the leaping transport, the former pulling the latter along by the hand and all but hurling her to where she needed to be before the craft quickly pulled away from the monolithic building and racing towards the Alpha Cyber-Grimm.

"Where's Albion?" the Komodo Dragon Faunus bellowed, voice raw and ragged as it was raised above the uproar of the ongoing aerial battle. Gestalt-Prime's lone optic narrowed and they were forced to consider several options in the space of a moment, coming to the conclusion that their vengeance would not come today and, at least for the immediate future they still had need of Nero and his resources.

"Dead" they answered bluntly "I was intercepted as I tried to fly him to safety, carrying him affected my ability to fight in the air….He was hit" Gestalt-Prime took a moment to relish the reaction the lie had on those who heard it, Carmesi's fist struck the inner wall of the transport as a furious yell escaped the man who was clearly upset by the loss in spite of every interaction the two had shared, something Gestalt-Prime could not reconcile. Zirconia Shadowmoon's response was to sag under the weight of the crushing reality, sinking to the floor and huddling in upon herself; though Gestalt-Prime had much less reason to care for the Grasshopper Faunus's feelings and was distract a moment later as a volley of laser-fire from the Kingdoms' loyalists forced them to evade.

"GO!" the Alpha commanded "Rendezvous as planned….I will draw fire"

With that Gestalt-Prime soared away, weaving through the crossfire and taking a few parting shots at acceptable targets in the process before racing across Neo Vale's skyline at full speed without a fixed destination in mind; they knew what they needed in order to recover but at present they were uncertain of where to find it.

As they flew they considered the overall situation, Nero's secrecy and with it his ability to operate in the shadows with a vast amount of wealth and resources had been sacrificed and his rebel forces had sustained notable losses. A counterpoint was that the Cyber-Grimm had been revealed to Remnant and proven beyond all doubt that they could withstand and overcome the Hunters and Creatures of Grimm alike, despite this setback Nero had shown his plans for Remnants' future to be viable, whilst in the process inflicting a level of damage on the city, cutting down so many of its' defenders and drawing a tide of monsters' to its' broken defences that those who remained could not afford to give chase to either Gestalt-Prime or the escaping rebels.

That last fact caused the Alpha to let out a low, metallic snarl. They would have their revenge in its' totality and they would see their vision for the Grimm species enacted despite the technical stalemate and pyrrhic victory both sides had been forced to accept in this particular battle.

But for now it was over.

Author's Notes:

And that's the Battle for Neo Vale concluded.
One more chapter of Vol.06/the Second Year arc and its' gonna be tying things up/setting up what comes next.
….What if I told you that there's gonna be a massive surprise at the end of the chapter and it's one you need to have read the epilogue of FADE: Legacy for?

But anyway, let's summarise shall we?:
I know I keep saying that in my head certain scenes were cinematic and that I hope I conveyed them, but really and truly the fight between Ren, Nora & Qrow and the Shroud is one that I've been looking forward to writing because it is cinematic.
Not sure if I've actually included Ren's grappling hooks since they were added in canon during Vol.07, a later addition to the weapon than most of Ren's action scenes in the Spiral-Verse.
Nora' broomstick technique is another example of me retroactively adding a weapon upgrade from canon but fuck it, too good to pass up.
Who would have guessed that Nora cratering the ground here would be set up for something later.
There's something fun about the way the Shroud fights which I realised I had done as I was reading it back, it uses parts of its' body that aren't supposed to be weapons and functions like the modular arm/wing joint in order to fight with interesting results…..Kinda like Megatron in Transformers Earthspark where the fact he was a Gladiator once shows in the way he uses his Transformation and parts of his vehicle mode to fight.
So the Aura thing here is me squaring away the fact that Qrow's exo-suit is an extension of himself and contained within his Aura with the fact that in FADE: Legacy Corvid's exo-suit needed a shield generator to encase its' wings because her own Aura didn't reach far enough.
They were really gonna go for the whole 'Two warriors pass each other thing' that Samurai movies do, like the way Winter took Ironwood out….The Shroud said nah.
Qrow's chair is ruined and he just lost Harbinger….Even if they find it after a fall like that it's gonna be ruined.
So Qrow didn't die, but he's definitely not going to be as prominent moving forward.
The H & M of Team SHMR really were non-entities so rather than create weapons and Semblances for them now it was quicker to just drop us into the scene with Tiger giving them an exit.
So this Cyber-Grimm is one a might have more of turn up, a melee answer to the Bug-Bear's long range tank….I don't have a name for it but appearance wise it's basically if the Pokemon Golisopod was Steel/Fighting.
Of course Rye and Amaya tried to use a variation of the Bumbleby technique, I wrote this scene right around the time Bumbleby became undeniably canon…..Also Bumbleby nation, we fucking win.
Team TRQS have come so far….It's a shame it can't last.
Snapdragon and Ravi were doing so well, with backup and a coordinated effort they could have won….But unfortunately Snapdragon's death will actually allow me to move some pieces into place that need to be moved for Vol.07.
Okay so Yang definitely made a difference in the fight, the whole of Team TRQS would have been put into a situation where they have to drop Tiger's Semblance and get crushed by that beastie or risk it getting out; but it's too little too late for Team SHMR really.
Fall back and glass the place with an air-strike….A sign that things are an absolute write-off.
Opening with Zirconia's weapon announcing an attack just feels like an iconic part of the story and her character even though I don't actually do it that often.
"MAKE IT HURT AS MUCH AS EVERYTHING ELSE DOES" might just be the most heartbreaking thing I've written….Also, this entire bit from AJ has deliberate "Stop taking potshots and fight me like you mean it" vibes.
Zirconia really tried, she did….She gave a dramatic "I'm sorry" one-shotted her ex-partner mid-attack and then made to pull off a dramatic exit.
Oh come one SOMEONE from Team MARZ had to get bad-ass face scars….But yeah, this is gonna be a whole thing; neither of these two are gonna be in a good place for a while.
But anyway, enter the Komodo Dragon.
He did say he was gonna drag Zirconia for her poor decision making.
Carmesi has to die, it's just a matter of who gets to do the honours at this point.
Okay so flashing to what's basically a new perspective here seems like a random choice but I wanted to show the wider consequences of Nero's actions and remind everyone that the Grimm attacking the city from the outside was an inevitability; which in turn was a good chance for me to bring back one of my older Ocs….And Ether has already appeared in this story once, he had a showdown with Carmesi.
A Semblance like Ether's really is an unfair advantage in an environment like where the soldiers were fighting, it's basically part cliché hallway fight and part trenches.
He was never named but this is the same soldier Carmesi dropped Cyber-Grimm off to a few chapters ago.
Arcadia getting levelled, there's a FADE reference….Another evil genius orchestrating an attack on a city; the irony is thick.
Ether kinda had to offer terms there, neither side could afford to be fighting each other when the Grimm hit; but on the other hand any of those soldiers that escape are gonna be experienced fighters in Nero's forces.
Nora really does hit like a truck.
I could make jokes about how you have to be flexible and have stamina to be married to Nora but that would just be crude….even though I'm right.
Ren casually showing a mix of flashy and acrobatic style and ruthless intelligence, basically slashing the tendons of the Shroud.
Running with it's three upper limbs trailing behind it….The Shroud was Naruto running.
"Please tell me your plan isn't just to hit it harder?" anyone getting Team Four Star vibes?
'If the moment were less urgent then Ren would have booped his wife's nose endearingly in response to her antics' Absolute dork behaviour.
Tackle it while already charged up and then keep it pinned in place somewhere that she can keep hitting it whilst constantly getting powered up through her Semblance, it's a solid plan.
As canon has proven Nora's Semblance can be overloaded and that was the Grimm just did….With some absolutely brutal prison fight tactics.
Okay so Ren got the official kill shot with the decapitation but the Shroud was gone anyway, Nora was going for the mutually assured destruction.
So canon Nora has lightning bolt scars everywhere but on her face….Here Nora's scars are primarily across her face….But also she got blinded by that hit.
And finally we have the other half of Team MARZ; this finale was more about AJ and Hops as opposed to the first year arc where it was about Astra finding themselves and the team coming back together.
Had to invent excuses as to why Carmesi got there first.
Astra is living that one gif, came back with pizza and everything was on fire.
Okay so AJ is down for the count, no Aura and can't fight; Carmesi was about to finish the job but Zirconia stopped him….In the process proving to Astra and Regalia that she is in fact a traitor.
Regalia with a Kung Fu Panda quote and a jetbike collision for the win.
The Scrapmetal combos were absolutely beautiful here, just straight up mind-reading.
I get that the students don't really want to kill, Astra didn't want to kill Petrol but didn't have a choice….But Carmesi is not someone who's gonna back down.
And that was just straight up nasty; targeting the person whose Aura is down and using them as leverage is basically equivalent to hostage taking.
Astra and Regalia's different reactions were interesting.
So fun thing, Zirconia was originally supposed to escape as far as one of the bridges and Astra was originally supposed to actually see Gestalt-Prime but honestly since they were never actually going to face off again here it didn't add anything; Team MARZ already knew that Gestalt-Prime is alive because everyone knows now….Although it would have been a fun parallel to Astra setting them up for the rail-gun shot; I'll have to use that imagery at a later date.
Gestalt-Prime this entire scene was just "Task failed successfully".
So fighters were trying to take them out right after they killed Albion last chapter, they didn't last.
I had them demolish the tower from the outside because we haven't actually seen Gestalt-Prime's new body use ranged weapons yet….From this scene they've got hidden shoulder weapons tucked away but their main one is the torso mounted photon cannon; which you are absolutely encouraged to imagine as the kamehameha.
But as tough as they are, Gestalt-Prime cannot shrug off a hit from a full-size warship.
And now Nero's rebels are in full retreat, using the Grimm incursion hitting the walls as a diversion.
So, that's Carmesi and Zirconia out and heading towards Nero and Aefen's base on Menagerie; but more importantly Gestalt-Prime has lied in order to leave the door open to go back to Nero and Aefen.
As for where Gestalt-Prime is going…..They need to lick their wounds and progress the plot for me.

Thank you to Kyran Kandosa and MajorBrony95 for their reviews on the last chapter.
It definitely does have a similar vibe, except for the distinction that Carmesi has actually met AJ prior to this and actually has a scar from a previous fight with her.
Also, if you remember that fight between Weiss and Chainsaw guy didn't happen in the Spiral-Verse; that was the original Felix whom Blake and Yang's adopted son, Astra's half brother is named after….Weiss fought Neo and Chainsaw guy decided to spare Yang; only for Adam to cut him in half in retaliation.
But congrats on guessing the general trajectory that the fight was going to take….Multiple broken leg bone and severe blood loss for AJ; getting her to a medic is priority.
I'm glad that the AJ vs Hops showdown was just as heartbreaking as I was going for...How about now?
Yeah Carmesi Vs Team RAIN was brutal.
As for Gestalt Primes' betrayal...Trust me when I tell you there's layers to this and you won't believe what's coming.

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