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Chapter 115: Renewed Efforts
Pantheon, the towering and monstrous General of the Grimm, steward of the species through right of conquest and simple survival had left their throne of dark crystal, Grimm-flesh and twisted metal.
The ground shook and reformed itself with each titanic footstep Pantheon took as they made their way deeper into their fortress layer. Whilst its' rings of jutting and angled obsidian spires rose up from the sea-floor with interconnected lattices of coral-like Grimm tissue growing between and around them, serving as nesting grounds for marine horrors as well as allowing Pantheon to traverse their domain without being subjected to the crushing pressure of the seafloor much of the fortress was situated deeper still and it was these abyssal depth which the Grimm General now ventured towards.
The singular Spawning Pit which had served as the basis for the fortress lair had been reformed and altered to suit Pantheon's whims and this had included partitioning several areas of the roiling darkness, cutting them away to create new Spawning Pits which served specific purposes; one which ceaselessly repaired damage to the fortress itself whilst another which unleashed a steady supply of nightmarish beasts into the surrounding depths to both keep the terror on which the Grimm fed in steady supply and keep humanity from venturing too far below the waves and another pit produced the myriad Creatures of Grimm such as Synapses which existed within the fortress. None of these however were Pantheon's goal and instead they made their way towards a shifting mass of darkness which could no longer truly be considered a Spawning Pit in its' own right and yet was of utmost importance to their goals.
It was Pantheon's way of guiding the path of Grimm evolution.
Each naturally occurring Spawning Pit on the surface of Remnant, whether or not it was connected to a larger Hive-Mind consciousness, be that Pantheon's own, one belonging to the would be usurper Gestalt-Prime or any other had a level of base, primal consciousness albeit one which species such as humanity would not recognise as such or be able to relate to; it was this which gave the Spawning Pits their drive to produce more Grimm and respond to threats made against them with suitable species of monster. Whilst Pantheon could, from the comfort of their throne and with the aid of their Synapse Grimm reach out to scores upon scores of Spawning Pits and have them increase their rate of production of alter the manner of Grimm they produced within certain parameters the primordial sludge did not truly think, dream or imagine and thus could not be asked to invent and improvise new solutions to more complex problems; instead that was the duty of this particular Pit, Pantheon could use it to sculpt and design a new creature in much the same way Salem had been able to and then use their connection to the Hive-Mind to send that information out to either wherever it would be most useful or their entire interlinked network of Spawning Pits.
For years Pantheon had been content to simply monitor the progress of the Grimm and interfere as little as possible to ensure that a balance was maintained, Gestalt-Prime however was a threat which demanded a response.
Their reverberating footsteps continued to crack and splinter the ground beneath them, a tunnel and bridge of crystalline Grimm-flesh through which the faint glow of magma could be seen with each fresh fissure that was sent through its' surface only to be snuffed out as the tissue healed itself; a defensive precaution intended to ensure nothing but Pantheon themselves could enter the cavern beyond.
Eventually the Grimm General reached their goal, the tunnel behind them healing itself once more and dimming the glow of the magma beyond it so that the only light was that of Pantheon's own glowing red eyes as they pushed their way through a thin film of flesh which acted as both a doorway and a further precautionary barrier, allowing them to finally enter the subterranean chasm ringed by outcroppings of rock and crystal which served as their twisted workshop.
It was dark.
"Go" Pantheon's voice echoed throughout the darkness and coincided with a twitching of their living cape, the membranous and scaled tissue of the atrophied wings unfurling from around their massive form partially so that a swarm of smaller nightmares made flesh could be divulged into the surrounding area; each of them consisting of a central body with an almost tumorous form ranging in size between that of a fingernail and fist with a plethora of long and spidery limbs sprouting from them. As they spread it became apparent that these simple Grimm existed for a single purpose, namely to spread themselves around the rim of the chasm where they began to glow with a crimson light and illuminate the mass of tar-like protean Grimm substance below which rose and shifted in ways which seemed far more lively and complex than the simple bubbling and formless swirling of a more common Spawning Pit, going so far as to form strange geometric shapes within which structures and function could be glimpsed for a moment before they melted back into the primordial darkness.
"Now" Pantheon snarled, clawed digits of their tail and upper arms clacking rhythmically as they regarded the darkness with all six of their eyes and began to consider their options.
Gestalt Prime was on Menagerie, that much was certain.
It was the only answer which could be said to make sense unless the younger sentient Grimm had far more reach and influence than anticipated, not impossible given the general shape of their ambitions but ultimately unlikely. Of all the raiding parties of Grimm that had been sent out from various Spawning Pits across Remnant the only ones to have found noteworthy results were those on the island and whilst Gestalt-Prime had remained impossible to find those results had proven most instructive. A single settlement, one known to its' natives as Pikesreach had been defended by foul, corrupt and perverse things which aped the forms of Grimm and could only be the work of Gestalt-Prime's disturbed ambitions, the Alpha Beowolf leading that particular horde of Grimm had survived and its' memories had been a trove of useful information; so much so that Pantheon had taken care to leave the thing alive as they extracted them and from there they had begun preparing their initial response. It had seemed obvious and simple to the Grimm General that they should prepare a larger force of Grimm and simply tear the place asunder however in recent days they had found traces and signs of more of the twisted pseudo-Grimm elsewhere on the island of Menagerie, so far afield that they could not be the same monsters which had brought Pantheon to an irksome realisation; that Gestalt-Prime had more than one base of operations and if they survived being attacked at Pikesreach they would simply go to ground elsewhere.
As such the manner would be handled with some finesse.
Pikesreach would receive a hammer blow all the same, though one intended to maim and cripple rather than kill; from there a specialised Creature of Grimm would be used to track and stalk either Gestalt-Prime themselves as they fled or any of the humans with whom the younger Grimm had allied in the event that they tried to call for aid. Only when all of their enemies' nests and dens had been found would Pantheon deliver the true killing blow and it would be swift and merciless, destroying both the head and the body of this new threat to the cycle and natural order of the Grimm.
All that remained now was to decide the form of that specialised Grimm, one which would be suited to the task of rooting out Gestalt-Prime's allies and then implementing that form; after a moment of consideration Pantheon's skeletal and monstrous skull split into the closest thing to a smile it could achieve as the simplicity of the obvious solution occurred to them.
"Yes, it will do" they chuckled as they realised that rather than create something entirely new it would be better to reward the Alpha Beowolf which had provided such useful intelligence, by elevating it to a new and worthy form.
By the middle of the week the improvements in Team MARS's performance were plain to see and impossible to overstate.
Since the events of the previous weekend the four of them, Athena-Jade and Stygian especially had benefited from several practical lessons working alongside one another, volunteering at every opportunity as well as several hours of extracurricular training and studying until the beginnings of a new team synergy emerged. Amongst the team themselves the changes had been noted, becoming the subject of several jokes pertaining to Athena's relentless drive supposedly being contagious or Astra and Regalia, who had informed their closest friends that they were now dating using the sparring and training as a cover for physical contact, much to Regalia's mortified embarrassment; whilst Stygian had noted with a smirk that being worked to the bones simply reminded him of his time with Team TRQS which had prompted the four of them to reach out to the Santara Twins for an overdue conversation where they had paid their respects to the late Snapdragon Majus.
Now however their results were being put to the test before an audience of their peers and Ruby Rose herself, with the latter cheering them on enthusiastically.
"That's good! That's much better, keep covering and outflanking. Don't let them get around you!" Ruby, once again wearing her familiar hooded cloak called out as she watched her students work. The days' Third Year Grimm Studies lesson had been moved to the outdoor training arena, its' state of the art and highly adaptive and modular surface being transformed into a vast arrangement of hard-light, holograms and swarms of nanobots which had taken on the appearance of a hillside on which an aircraft had crashed. Within the scenario the crash had drawn the Creatures of Grimm, represented by pre-programmed hard-light and nanotech constructs and it was Team MARS's job to not only rescue the injured and surrounded civilians within the craft, but to clear a path to safety before its' damaged fuel tanks could explode.
A difficult proposition given that the scenario allowed for an infinite amount of Grimm, recycling and re-spawning them in batches.
"AJ can you get nearer or not?" Astra demanded, voice rising above the sound of Buckshot Ares's maelstrom of bullets as they ripped into a tide of scuttling Deathstalkers with menacingly clacking claws, some of them almost as large as the aircraft itself. At present the Deer Faunus was trying to act as a distraction to bait the projected monsters away from their goal, taking care not to allow stray shots near the downed transport; at the same time Stygian and Regalia had fanned out and taken flanking positions to keep the Grimm from simply enveloping their leader whilst Athena's role had been to soar overhead on incandescent and pearly wings to begin extracting the training dummies representing civilians.
Professor Rose revealing that the simulation also included Lancer Grimm attacking from the air had complicated matters somewhat.
"I can't get close, there's too many of these bugs and if I manage to push through they'll start firing their stingers at the craft. It's too risky!" The Bear Faunus replied, snapping the words out through gritted teeth as she tucked her Semblance-made wings and dropped into a swooping dive which allowed the blade of Heartbreaker to flash out and cleave an arcing path through the airborne Grimm projections before conjuring a glyph which lay horizontally in mid-air and formed a landing pad from which she leapt and bounded through the air; wings being reformed into ephemeral Beowolf claws which tore through yet more of the projections.
"Okay, we need a new plan….Stitch, can you get close with your Semblance; maybe if one of the bigger Deathstalkers gets closer?" Astra asked hopefully, already wincing at how callous and calculating the idea sounded to them.
"That's risky Astra" Regalia noted, voicing Astra's own concerns even as she expertly dispatched a projected Deathstalker as it drew dangerously close to her friends by first firing Apex Scavengers' harpoon into the things' armoured carapace to drag it closer and then leaping up onto its' tail stinger as it tried to stab and lunge at her, using her elevated position to gun down one of the Lancers still swarming Athena before leaping down and shattering the arachnid Grimm with a single devastating knee-strike to the skull.
Stygian was fortunately used to having to keep track of multiple things at once and formed an answer even as he continued to fight.
"It won't work Astra" he admitted, slashing through the claws of a Deathstalker before driving his sword through its' eye "Projections make my Semblance a little wonky, it won't register them as the threat. I need something more real….Actually I've got an idea"
"What is it?" Astra asked, Buckshot Ares falling silent at the Deer Faunus was forced to hurriedly reload whilst the projected Grimm began swarming and scurrying up the hillside formed by raising parts of the arena towards the facsimile of a downed craft.
"Time's running out, that fuel tank is gonna blow is less than two minutes!" Professor Rose declared, underlining the severity of the situation for all of them.
"Hold off on firing until I give the signal" the Mouse Faunus urged before yelling up to their new partner "AJ, HOW CLOSE TO THE TARGET CAN YOU SHOOT WITHOUT RISKING ANYTHING?"
"Pretty close!" Athena-Jade yelled back, already changing Heartbreaker into its' laser cannon mode "But I won't have much time, what's the plan?"
"Fire now!" Stygian yelled before taking a deep breath and allowing his Semblance to take hold as the warping, thrumming bass note of Athena's weapon priming filled the air.
A moment later he had vanished and reappeared.
Using Athena-Jade's laser fire as a guide he had teleported, the proximity to the attack leaving his Aura wavering momentarily and yet he paid this no mind; instead sprinting forwards towards the half-destroyed aircraft formed of hard-light and nanobots with Sharp Cheese at the ready. It took him no time at all to find the faux fuel tank which placed time constraints on the scenario and hack through the fuel lines connecting it with his katana.
From there he rolled it down the hillside towards the Grimm.
"ASTRA SHOOT IT!" the leader of Team MARS wasted only a moment on silently gawking on their new team-mates' gall and audacity before opening fire on the severed fuel tank as it rolled into the midst of the swarming Deathstalkers.
The results were predictably explosive, a wash of holographic flames cascading over the equally unreal monsters and prompting the various illusions which created them to be deactivated; from there the final few stages of the loose and impromptu plan fell into place with almost no communication at all. Astra was free to turn their guns skywards and cut through the swarm of Lancers, in turn giving Athena-Jade a free path to fly towards the aircraft on glowing Nevermore wings. By the time she had reached the mission objective Stygian was already carrying the first of the dummies representing passengers out, the two of them worked quickly and loaded their supposed evacuees onto a glyph which the Bear Faunus had created on the ground like a sled before Regalia fired her harpoon up to the two of them and pulled the collective mass downwards in a twist in the way that the team had sometimes travelled as a group before Astra had their pickup track.
Before the end of the two minutes Professor Rose had stipulated Team MARS and their rescued dummies were gathered before their teacher as the training area began to cycle down and return to its' bare and level default setting, each of the students wearing extremely satisfied smiles and trying not to visibly preen even as the sound of their classmates cheering for them reached their ears.
"Mission complete Professor" Astra couldn't help but offer Ruby a mock salute, being rewarded with a sharp elbow in the ribs from Athena who would not abide the cheek being given to her aunt regardless of who it had come from.
"So it is" Ruby nodded, holding her own pleased smile for a moment before giving her final appraisal "That was good considering the circumstances. Risky on several fronts, I will specifically deduct points for relying on a strategy that involves deliberately put a team-mate at risk and the timing was a little closer than I'd like. But….And I want you to focus on this, that was a marked improvement on last week. Keep this up"
"So do Athena and I get our Saturday mornings back?" Stygian asked brazenly, casually blocking the elbow aimed at his own ribs after seeing how Astra had been treated.
"You are the suckiest" the Bear Faunus hissed.
"Not quite yet" Ruby answered with a chuckle "In fact you might be contacted by a professor or other member of staff about that later today, depending on some outside factors"
"That sounds….Promising?" Athena managed a smile that was not entirely nervous only to fumble in the professionalism she tried to assume when working with family "Thank you Aunt….Professor Rose"
"Of course" Ruby did not outright hug her niece, but did still reach out and give her shoulder a reassuring squeeze before turning to the class at large "Okay, we've got time for at least one more attempt at this! Team LEMN, let's see if you can beat Team WULF's score!"
As the lesson moved on around them Astra, Athena-Jade, Regalia and Stygian made their way out of the training arena and towards the seats they had taken for themselves in the coliseum like stands; all of the aching and short of breath but all of them quietly pleased with themselves and sharing a single thought.
Team MARS had found their groove and things could only get better from here.
The Grimm had come to Pikesreach once again and Zirconia Shadowmoon found herself genuinely afraid that she and the towns' defenders might not be able to stem the tide.
Where before the Creatures of Grimm had attacked with startling coordination and a variety to the makeup of their forces but ultimately insufficient numbers this was a far greater tide of monsters which promised to crash over all in its' path without hesitation.
The first sign of an incoming attack had been what first appeared to be a dark cloud, only to be revealed upon closer inspection to be a vast flock of avian monsters. The response from Pikesreach's defenders had naturally been a full force counterattack from the moment the Creatures of Grimm were in range, with the wall mounted guns setting the sky ablaze and ripping into the shifting mass of darkness to break whatever ranks and organisation might have existed and reduce the massed flock to a flurry of shrieking and frenzied individuals. Any sense of victory was quickly undercut however as the aerial Grimm were quickly revealed to be a distraction when hundreds upon hundreds of nightmares made flesh came surging and thundering into Pikesreach's territory with fangs and claws at the ready, the time needed to reload the depleted guns and reorganise a hastily rallied and mustered defence allowing the horde to close much of the distance and leave the first ranks of the defenders making their stand not out beyond the fields of Pikesreach's farmlands but instead only a short distance away from the fields' of razor-wire, barricades and tank-traps surrounding the walls themselves.
As the tide had fallen upon them with a ravenous fury it had been little comfort at all to Zirconia that the behaviour of the Grimm was mindless in its' savagery and did not suggest that an Alpha was present.
'Fire! Lightning!' Sunriser Cain announced the Grasshopper Faunus's intentions as she sprung forwards with a wordless yell which was distorted somewhat by her mask; her cybernetic limbs carrying her ahead of her allies and allowing her to pivot gracefully whilst unleashing an arcing torrent of flames and lightning which consumed several snarling and thrashing monsters entirely and yet even this was not sufficient so rather than fall back Zirconia hastily shifted the rotating Dust chambers within her weapon and pressed her advantage, extending what had become one of her signature moves into part of a combo.
'Hard-light! Gravity!' it was a Dust combination Zirconia used often but applied in a different way, rather than the lancing beam of solid light which pierced all in its' path she created a curving pane of hard-light which Gravity Dust propelled forwards; pushing the lingering firestorm from her previous assault forwards and deeper into the ranks of the Grimm to burn and electrocute them.
If she could not have her team with her then she would at least improvise and try to use her best approximations of their abilities; idly wondering for a fraction of a second despite the chaos around her if Astra would have been impressed by the move they had inspired. The howls of Grimm, cacophony of countless weapons firing and screaming of those at the forefront of the fighting brought her out of her momentary daze soon enough however and Zirconia, seeing that she had cleared the immediate area around and ahead of her of monsters quickly began falling back a less exposed position and took stock of the situation.
Realising as she did so that there were far too few defenders present, less than there should have been.
"You!" she called out to one of the fighters recruited from Neo Valle, a handler for the Cyber-Grimm currently taking cover behind a hedgehog tank-trap whilst sweating profusely and holding a weapon to their chest with one arm whilst the other dangled limply at their side with blood trickling down from beneath their sleeve.
"Yes ma'am" they made an instinctive attempt to salute, identifying themselves as a trained former soldier in the process but wincing instead as the motion jostled their obvious injuries.
"You're injured, fall back!" Zirconia urged, horrified at the sight before her
"No ma'am" the soldier answered simply, utterly casual in their defiance before letting out a low, grim chuckle "My Cyber-Grimm is still up and running so I'm still gonna be here directing it. That's the whole point isn't it, no more relying on Hunters and waiting to be saved like little kids….Besides, Grimm are too close to our position now; I'm not gonna risk 'em opening the gates for me"
"Damn it all" Zirconia huffed, the cursing something she had never entertained before her time with Team MARZ "We should have cover fire, where the hell are Team NUGT?"
"Fell back….Bunch of yellow-bellied bastards" the soldier's chuckling took on a distinctly unpleasant edge "Oh they grabbed a few injured people like they said they would but they've been hiding up top since, shooting from the walls and saying they're covering our artillery in case there's any more Grimm in the sky"
For all of her tutors and expensive education and the articulate and extensive vocabulary it had given her Zirconia was reduced to a wordless sound of frustration at it all, carrying that anger into a flurry of gunshots as she shifted Sunriser Cain into its' pistol form and first set a trio of Deathstalkers ablaze as they tried to clamber over the defences before shifting to Lightning Dust and shooting the razor-wire nearby to electrify it temporarily.
From there she continued appraising the situation and found it wanting.
The wall-mounted guns had remained operational and even now unleashed one ground-shaking salvo after another, claiming dozens of monsters with each impact yet still the Grimm came.
Whilst Team NUGT had retreated the battle on the ground was far from decided, remaining members of Pikesreach's warrior caste fought heroically with some amongst them using a style Zirconia recognised as being similar to that of Stygian Blue, all agile and sweeping movements as they weaved through the Grimm whilst others fought more cautiously; taking firing positions within the maze of defences or else thrusting spears through the razor-wire to stab at the Grimm. The fighters, for all the their bravery and determination could do little to stem the tide of claws and fangs and so had had begun to coalesce around the Cyber-Grimm handlers to provide them with additional security whilst the Cyber-Grimm themselves bore the brunt of of the attacking horde; each of the twisted amalgamations of flesh and steel rocketing into the midst of the Grimm under the crushing force of their own propulsion systems and promptly wading through their enemies, skull mounted machine guns and thorax mounted lasers firing endlessly whilst monstrous claws and carapace horns ripped through anything in their path.
It was still not enough.
Mismatched eyes widened as Zirconia realised that several of the men and women who had arrived with Nero were absent entirely, not a single trace of the black clothing and skeletal iconography worn by the Path of the Apex Being could be found on the battlefield and the Grasshopper Faunus realised, with sinking dread that the cult had retained the same beliefs which had seen them follow Aefen to the Crater a year ago where they had been willing to allow themselves to be eaten or torn asunder. They would not fight the Creatures of Grimm they so dearly revered.
Something worked its' way to the tip of Zirconia's tongue though whether it would have been frantically issued orders to anybody who could still hear her over the sound of the battle, furious challenges and insults to Team NUGT wherever they were cowering on the wall and behind defences whilst others fought in their stead or simply a wordless scream to unleash her building anger remained a mystery as before the young rogue could speak or act something new arrived on the battlefield and sent a tremor through her.
She only wished it had been metaphorical.
The ground shook and the air followed it a moment later, being split by a deafening, trumpeting bellow of the kind every Hunter knew well enough to dread the approach of. Goliath were rare things on Menagerie, the wasteland providing scarcely enough prey to sustain such monstrous and yet social creatures however as the thumping and shaking of the ground began to reach a crescendo the lesser Creatures of Grimm began to part and flee to the sides to clear a path for a stampeding herd of the elephantine beasts, each of them several stories tall and on a collision course for the main gates of Pikesreach.
"ALL WEAPONS FIRE ON THOSE GOLIATH!" Zirconia screamed, fighting the urge to sink to her knees dramatically as it became painfully apparent from the first barrage that it would not be enough and that the Goliath would reach her position within mere moments.
Hope came from an almost perversely unthinkable source, a shriek like tortured metal filled the air and was followed in the next instant by what Zirconia slowly began to realise, through her fog of terror and numb, detached confusion was a cacophony of chanting and war cries that were almost feral in their ferocity
"ATTACK!" the command came from behind Zirconia and the Grasshopper Faunus whipped around to see that the gates of Pikesreach had been opened and pouring out from within the settlement was a tide of obsidian almost as ferocious as the Creatures of Grimm themselves; Aefen had sent her cultists out to fight and as they came surging forth in a wild-eyed frenzy Zirconia saw the way that the robed figures clutched at not only guns and swords, axes and other weapons but also construction and farming tools, almost foaming at the mouth in their fervour in some cases and was left wondering if Aefen had done something, given them some chemical concoction to drive them.
Then a trio of shapes streaked overhead, metallic components gleaming in the sunlight and contrasting against nightmare black flesh and the truth became clear.
The Path of the Apex Being worshipped the Grimm, the Cyber-Grimm had been heralded as the next stage in evolution, brought about by the works of their High Speaker and championed by Gestalt-Prime.
And now the Alpha Cyber-Grimm and the Shroud Variants which followed them had joined the fight.
Pantheon sat on their throne within the heart of their seafloor fortress once more, their gaze somewhat unfocused as the wiry, pulsating and uncomfortably pulpy mass of veins and bundles of nerves latticing its' way across their hulking throne merged itself with their monstrous form and in turn to a single Synapse Grimm floating listlessly close by, those tendrils which were not subsumed into the throne itself phasing in and out of reality as they hung in the air around the main body of the squid-like abomination. Pantheon themselves remained motionless and their unfocused gaze gave the Grimm General an outwardly dazed and faraway appearance that suggested that they might be under the influence of some toxin yet this could not be further from the truth, their mind was entirely active and its' current activities brought a twisted, snarling smile to their fanged and armoured, skeletal maw.
They had almost allowed themselves to forget the thrill that came with breaking a settlement full of prey.
Pantheon was not actively or directly controlling individual Creatures of Grimm as such a feat was simply impossible, the minds of the lesser beasts would not stand the burden of having such a higher consciousness roughly imposed upon them and the results would likely be pyroclastic to some degree; instead the Grimm General had first overseen the creation and composition of this particular force of monsters and used the remains of their previous scouting party as its' basis and once the lesser monsters had arrived at Pikesreach simply gave broad directives and slightly adjusted the natural urges and impulses of parts of the horde to achieve desired results.
Sending the Grimm in staggered waves was thus far showing such impressive results that old hungers and base instinct began to rise to the fore even through the degrees of removal at play and Pantheon was forced to contain and control the desire to do away with their own carefully weighed and considered plan and instead simply sack their target wholesale, ravage all before them as they had when they had stalked Remnant's surface themselves and leave carnage and ruin in their wake.
Pantheon was patient and determined however, capable of seeing the greater picture and enforcing their will upon the Creatures of Grimm which could not and to that end the initial wave of airborne monsters had been sent, the defenders reacting exactly as expected, overextending and exposing themselves like newly spawned and excitable Beowolves. From there the successive deluges of ground based monsters had done enough to shake and weaken the already bloodied prey and leave them reeling and limping, unable to properly defend against the hammer blow.
The Goliaths would break open Pikesreach and the Grimm would gut its' carcass.
"Now" Pantheon whispered, barely aware of their own body or the words reverberating around their throne room as they watched through countless pairs of eyes creating a composite image and yet from afar and with clarity the stampeding masses of muscle and armour surged forwards at the critical moment. Pantheon watched, already forming the instinctual directives that would subtly change the behaviours of the other Grimm to have them hunt and sniff out any sign of their true quarry and give chase to any prey that tried to flee.
Yet the Goliaths never reached the wall, the elephantine beast at the head of the herd being relieved of its' skull in a flash of blood-red light.
"You!" Pantheon's voice echoed through the throne room again, unheard as the Grimm General's thoughts remained detached from their own form and instead sent a wave of fury and disgust through the collective consciousness of their horde that each of the lesser Grimm on the ground fought with fresh vigour and let it seemed to make little difference at all now that Gestalt-Prime had entered the fray. Pantheon had already seen the twisted mockeries of Grimm that their prey puppeteered in action by now, the results of Gestalt-Prime's ruinous union with the humans which threatened to destabilise the entire natural order and had been forced to admit that the things were capable to some extent, each of them being armed and acting with some degree of both individual intelligence and a group cohesion within both their own ranks but also the humans they served; ultimately however the more senior of the sentient Grimm had dismissed the fruits of their younger kins' labours as simply insufficient, they lacked the numbers to be decisive.
Gestalt-Prime themselves was a force of nature on the offensive.
The weapon which had destroyed a Goliath in a single blow had been mounted in their torso, something which Pantheon had only ever seen the likes of on the aircraft which the Kingdom used or mounted on the walls of their cities, something easily the equal or better of Pikesreach's own defences. Upon seeing the head of their herd so easily felled the other Goliaths continued their charge but lost some of their cohesion and directions, spreading out to avoid the new threat and simply flailing and falling forwards instead of the destructive might that had been planned for them and even this was not the extent of Gestalt-Prime's wrath.
A pair of lesser winged horrors swept behind their master and fell upon everything in their path, indescribable things' whose limbs whirred and shifted even as they stabbed, slashed and shot at every Grimm within their sight whilst Gestalt-Prime themselves moved from one Goliath to the next to either unmake them personally or else tear into them so thoroughly that they were left lame and defenceless against incoming artillery. Pantheon could only seethe silently as the Alpha Cyber-Grimm concealed their main weapon and instead deployed a pair of smaller lasers which mounted themselves on Gestalt-Prime's shoulders, firing them without hesitation into the eyes of a Goliath before swooping low and under its' tusks to lash at the things' forelimbs with their tail to all but sever the legs midway. A moment later Gestalt-Prime had pulled up and over the herd, lasers firing downwards to stagger and halt the Goliath before picking one of the harried Grimm and diving at it; their wings remaking themselves as the hybrid Alpha fell, wrapping around and encasing Gestalt-Prime's arms to form enormous axe blades which allowed them to plough through their target in its' entirety, shattering its' spine and bursting from its' stomach.
Pantheon was forced to conclude that their plan would not be the total victory that they had allowed themselves to hope for.
"So be it" the Grimm General snarled to themselves, sending a final cocktail of impulses and driving forces through the tattered remains of their attacking horde; issuing orders which would see them ultimately break from their goal and be routed by Pikesreach and its' foul saviour but do so in a way which would not arouse undue suspicions. Specifically Pantheon did everything in their power to ensure that some parting shots were landed, a mixture of spite and practicality which was rewarded when one of the more slender Cyber-Grimm which followed Gestalt-Prime was utterly eviscerated; one of the last of the Goliath goring the Shroud though its' torso as it tried to reconfigure its' limbs mid-flight with impressively gory results and severed limbs sent crashing into the defenders below.
"Now….Move" Pantheon hissed before finally allowing their consciousness to recede back into their body which in turn disconnected from the Synapse Grimm and their throne as the Grimm General decided that there was nothing of value left to be seen for the moment. They had more knowledge than they had expected to glean, so much so that whilst their forces would likely be utterly ruined they could still consider the attack a victory. Pantheon now knew where Gestalt-Prime was and had seen how the would be usurper fought and acted while at full strength; furthermore this knowledge ensured that Pantheon's plans could proceed and that when the Alpha Cyber-Grimm inevitably fled to whatever other lair they clearly had they would be followed.
The Alpha Beowolf which led the previous assault had been elevated to a new status and form and Pantheon's final order had been for that newly remade monster to put itself into position.
Classes for the day had concluded some time ago and so Team MARS had collectively found themselves in the teams' dormitory; a decision made in part because of simple tiredness in the wake of a gruelling and challenging days' worth of lessons which had not concluded with their earlier victory in Professor Rose's Grimm Studies class, instead having merely been difficult in other ways as the demands placed on Third Year students continued to be far greater than anything the four of them had experienced before. The four of them had also chosen to remain where they were so that they were sure to be present and free from distractions in the event that they were contacted by a member of the faculty as Professor Rose had suggested they might be.
At present Astra was lounging on their bunk, one earphone in place and loudly blaring music as the Deer Faunus paid a limited amount of attention to a list they were compiling of things to be bought or requisitioned from the academy at the nearest opportunity after the amount of ammunition expended over the course of the last few days alone had somehow, though a convoluted thought process which their team-mates had mocked them for led to Astra realising that they also needed to buy polish for their pickup truck; whilst this was a task that should have been approached with more interest and concentration to ensure that nothing important was missed Astra found themselves easily distracted by the sight of Regalia nearby as their girlfriend had changed out of her school uniform the Racoon Faunus's current attire left her chiselled and defined abs on display.
Astra would argue that it would be almost rude to not be distracted by such a sight.
Regalia herself was sat on Athena-Jade's bunk whilst the two of them shared a sizeable plate of food and snacks along with a textbook and several pages of notes as they pored over what would eventually be the beginnings of an assignment for one of Team MARS's elective courses; with Regalia deep in concentration and entirely unaware of Astra's attention on her as she tried to keep up with Athena's train of thought, a task which had gotten somewhat easier over the years though the Bear Faunus was undeniably exceptionally intelligent and capable academically in a way which Regalia herself had never really been pushed towards.
Above them Stygian lay on a bunk that now felt more like it was his own and not simply taken from Zirconia Shadowmoon, the Mouse Faunus having made a half-hearted effort at another of the teams' assignments before deciding that it could in fact wait and that keeping in touch with old friends was a better use of his evening, though if Tiger ever found out that he was putting off an assignment to talk to her then Stygian was certain that his former partner would have some choice words on the matter. Between messaged he found himself adjusting his position sprawled on the bunk, leaning over its' edge in order to more easily address everyone at once as he asked.
"So are we sure we can't do anything tonight….I wanna see if any of those First Year students every actually beat Laser?"
"In a video game tournament?" Athena-Jade laughed as she glanced up at her partner "Not a chance, there's lien involved and Laser cheats all the time"
"Heh he's kinda awful honestly" Regalia nodded earnestly "He only gets away with it because he's funny"
"But if you're looking for something to do then take a walk with AJ when she takes those plates back to the canteen, someone needs to make sure she actually does it" Astra chimed in, having removed their earphones in order to take part in the conversation more easily. Stygian kept his mouth closed as he saw the effect Astra's comment had on Athena and instead simply chose to sit back and watch"
"I'm sure it's your turn to do that?" the Bear Faunus noted, the observation having the feel of being a demand as Athena's features scrunched up; prompting Astra to give a cocky smirk.
"Yeah but it's your mess….Besides, you've been back in Atlas for so long that you've probably forgotten how us mere peasants live; there's no butler here"
"We don't have a butler….Any more" Athena added the last part in a muffled huff which Astra responded to with a snort, in turn prompting her to turn to the Racoon Faunus beside her "Regalia I'm sorry, but I'm gonna have throw something heavy at your partner"
"Try to avoid their face, I like it the way its is" Regalia beamed, only for both Astra's and her own cheeks to colour slightly at the sudden openness of the flirting between them.
"Aww, that's cute" Stygian drawled, leaning further forward to such an extent that he was almost dangling over the edge of his bunk "But seriously, who's getting rid of the trash and plates?"
"I think you just nominated yourself" Astra countered, eyes widening as an idea came to them "Damn it we should have hazed you, you're new we could have had you cleaning for a month-"
"No, you really couldn't" Stygian laughed "But what I'm hearing is that you two live in absolute filth at home"
"I assure you I do not" Athena huffed, far less affronted by the claim than she allowed herself to act though there was clearly a note of something genuine there "If you want to see a room that looks like a nest then you should see my sisters'….I've never seen Astra's, I assume it looks like some sort of archaeological dig site with the amount of old cutlery and plates in there"
"Not that bad" bad Astra laughed, far more interested in the topic now as it allowed them to take part in teasing their friends, a pass time they clearly enjoyed "I mean if I've ever got more than two cups in my room my Dad goes on a whole speech and routine about it, I've practically got it memorised by now….Huh, that makes me think; hey Regalia we've all met your Mum before but what about your Dad?"
"Oh I just never knew him" Regalia answered with a simplicity which caught all of her team-mates off guard.
"Wait, what?" Athena turned to face her, pieces sliding into place in her mind to form a terrible picture "Oh my gosh, I am so sorry to hear-"
"He's not dead….That I know of" Regalia shrugged "My people are on the move all the time, Mum met a member of another one of the Nomad Tribes when they both stopped to trade at the same place….By the time she realised she was pregnant with me she was on the move again, she didn't see that tribe again until I was a couple years old but apparently my Dad had left his people….Heh, I might have met him before and had no idea, I know a few people in my clan like that and it doesn't make any difference to us"
"That's" Astra shook their head, having some experience in having family they were unaware of in the form of their own brother "Wow….Yeah, I'm really sorry"
"Heh, I'm not" Regalia shrugged "Clan Aiktishaf are my family, always have been; you guys have met my people you know how we are….Everyone is family, blood is less important. Besides, from what I've heard about my Dads' people….I'm not sure I want to meet 'em"
"Still not as bad as my parents" Stygian rolled onto his back as he gave a bitter chuckle, still dangling precariously over the edge of his bunk and Astra, Athena and Regalia collectively realised that whilst they had heard the Mouse Faunus mention both his mother and the settlement of Pikesreach, specifically his plans to one day return and liberate it, none of them had heard him mention his father.
"Well now I'm curious" Astra noted, prompting Athena to finally throw a pillow at them.
"You don't just say it like that!" she exclaimed utterly aghast.
"Okay, if we're talking about this then I want you to promise that nobody says a bad word about my Mum after, okay?" Stygian insisted.
"Of course" Regalia was the first to answer, both Athena and Astra quickly following with promises of their own; leading Stygian to take a moment to choose his words before simply sighing and giving the honest and straightforward truth.
"My Mum was a Hunter Groupie" the simplicity of it left his new team-mates sputtering incoherently as he sighed and braced himself once again before explaining
"When the settlements across Menagerie were being founded not everyone followed and came along because it was some noble idea they believed in, or because they wanted to explore….A few people just wanted to start over or evade the law and some people, like Mum just really like Hunters and figured that this was the best chance to get to see what it's really like and spend time with some of the coolest people on Remnant and maybe get to hook up-"
"Is….Is that what people thought I was like, awww nuts" Regalia groaned, being shushed as politely as possible by Athena whilst Astra's expression suggested that they didn't trust themselves to speak.
"So yeah, my Mum came along to Pikesreach along with all of the other founders and despite everything that happened there, that's still happening there she kinda got what she wanted-"
"Your Dad was one of the Hunters that rules Pikesreach?" Athena-Jade gasped, the revelation giving entirely new context to her new partners' plans and visions for the place he had been raised
"Still is, at least as far as I know" Stygian shrugged "The problem is that he was married to another Hunter at the time"
"Oh shit!" Astra's hand flew to their mouth, quickly stifling themselves before they could say anything that would genuinely upset or offend Stygian who did in fact glare at the Deer Faunus for a moment before pulling himself into a sitting, slouching position as he continued.
"Yeah" he huffed "So basically it was always an open secret. Everyone knew whose kid I was, nobody was ever allowed to talk about it, especially not me, especially not to him….My old man has never acknowledged me as his and my Mum has never outright told me. A couple people dropped hints that was why I was made one of our defenders though"
Stygian gestured to where his tattoos were visible peeking out from beneath his clothes to highlight his point, already faded with age and signifying his former place and role within Pikesreach. Athena stared up at her new partner, feeling that she should say something but being unsure of how to approach the clearly sensitive subject with someone she had only recently managed to repair her friendship with; the upper echelons of Atlesian high society had its' scandals to be sure but they were scarcely discussed with any tact. After a moment of silent gawking however words came to her unbidden as she realised something important
"So you're saying that when you planned to liberate Pikesreach and deal with the Hunters there….You were gonna have to fight your Dad?"
"Probably at least one of my half-siblings as well" Stygian shrugged nonchalantly, clearly having already come to terms with that reality. Astra however could contain themselves no longer and promptly erupted into laughter.
"See you two are perfect partners, AJ tried to distance herself from the family name as well….Hell we're all the odd one out here-"
"You suck you absolute FUCKING pest!" Athena snapped, throwing another pillow at her team leader which Astra threw themselves flat on their bunk to avoid only for the Bear Faunus to bring a glyph flickering into life in her hand as the two of them prepared to engage in some childish but entertaining rough-housing.
Only to be brought to a halt by the sound of Astra's scroll vibrating.
"Okay it's from Professor Adel" the Deer Faunus breathed out, suddenly expectant and raising a hand to signal that they should all be serious for a moment "We're excused from classes on Friday, nice….Looks like we've got a little extra training mission. We're headed out to Maiden-Gate, Professor Adel hasn't given details but I guess that means that we'll be working with Nickel Polendina again right?….And it says we can potentially expect to be out there for a few days at most"
"So it's another weekend working….Uncalled for" Stygian sighed, slumping back onto his bunk and throwing his arms up in dismay which none of his new team-mates could bring themselves to disagree with.
Gestalt-Prime came surging into Aefen's laboratory like a roiling and crashing storm and metal and claws, a force of nature made manifest through both the natural brilliance and superiority of the Creatures of Grimm and her own genius and ingenuity; it was a sight that would be terrify most sane individuals to their core and yet for the scientist turned masked cult leader it was exciting, both on academic and more visceral levels even if she could not afford to indulge herself or allow the hybrid Alpha to continue.
"I can't think of anything that you could possibly want me to do for you that would be made easier by you overturning one of workbenches" Aefen barked harshly, raising her voice to its' most commanding and fearsome as the Alpha Cyber-Grimm stalked and smashed their way deeper into the workspace; answering the rebuke as though it were a challenge to their strength and power and rearing up to their full seven feet. Aefen, enraptured and terrified at the same time watched the display with eyes that were wide beneath her mask and a distant part of her mind screaming for her to act, to stop acting as foolish as those she had gathered to her cause and do something before she was torn apart; with fumbling hands she reached out for where her skull-topped staff was resting but before her fingers could grasp it Gestalt-Prime saw the movement and reacted, the tail lashing out and batting Aefen away from both her workstation and the staff before its' muscular mass, coated in interlocking plates of metallic armour coiled around her arms and midsection to drag her closer whilst constricting her painfully.
"I will be no use to you at all with my arms broken!" Aefen managed to wheeze out, voice suddenly tight and losing its' imperious edge. Gestalt-Prime first reacted by reaching out with an almost humanoid hand to take her mask by one of the various adornments attached to it resembling a plethora of stylised and swept back horns, antlers and wings and removing the mask entirely so that Aefen's terrified expression complete with her pallid, deathly pale skin, dry cracked lips and forest green eyes framed by dark rings from a lack of sleep could be seen. A moment later Gestalt-Prime removed their own mask, the visor covering their singular hellish optic retracting and allowing the monster to stare directly at their squirming and struggling co-conspirator.
"Are you any use to me now….It has been days and you are yet to show your worth-"
"I made your Cyber-Grimm!"
"And how many of them fell today?" Gestalt-Prime gestured around them to were the gutted, shredded and crushed husks of damaged Cyber-Grimm were suspended by heavy chains and cables, each of them awaiting repairs and a fresh infusion of Grimm-tissue to reanimate them or else a complete dismantling so that their parts could be recycled. In truth Gestalt-Prime felt no great connection or attachment for the things as individual beings, such traits were human things that the monster had no patience for despite their occasional insights and understandings of them; with even the gathered remains of the Shroud which had been obliterated by a Goliath stirring little reaction.
Instead what infuriated them was the loss of time and resources, the setbacks in their preparations for a confrontation with the greater Hive-Mind which was clearly on the horizon.
"They can be fixed, made better than before" Aefen choked out "I am making progress!
"I killed Albion Herringbone" Gestalt-Prime admitted casually, doing so solely because their interactions with people had led them to believe that such and calm, freely given admission would serve to shock and terrify an underling into compliance even more soundly than naked violence and despite how odd it seemed to their own reasoning the Alpha Grimm could not deny the effect it had on Aefen who simply fell limp in their grasp.
"He made Cyber-Grimm just as you do now, he outlived his usefulness and had drawn my anger" they continued "I have others in Jidhir Town who will continue in your place if you fail, now….Show me your progress human; I demand results"
With that the Alpha Cyber-Grimm released their captive and it was a credit to her fortitude that Aefen managed to land on her feet and keep herself from sinking to the ground and weeping in the face of such terror.
"Thus far all test subjects have failed, but are showing continuous improvement. We've been using the prisoners that were taken after we took Pikesreach. Once those run out….Plenty of the Path were severely injured during today's attack, their deaths will be easy to explain away as the result of infections or sudden complications" Aefen stammered her words out, gulping audibly "The bodies are in the back if you would like to inspect them?"
Gestalt-Prime simply gave a growl to indicate that they would.
Aefen turned and led the way, stopping to retrieve her discarded mask as she went and ushering Gestalt-Prime first through the laboratory within her repurposed and hauntingly gothic lair, then deeper into repair bays for more Cyber-Grimm and the small vats of liquid, protean Grimm matter siphoned from Jidhir Town's furnace and finally into a specially made, secret and heavily armoured operating theatre which resembled something from the bleakest of horror movies; its' floor and the reinforced trolleys and beds lining one wall coated with dried blood and filth, the air chilled and the tools left out on display of the most viscerally unsettling kind imaginable all whilst the theatre itself was guarded by two Cyber-Grimm which remained motionless as Aefen and Gestalt-Prime entered.
Once inside Aefen silently made her way to a vast freezer towards the rear of the gory workspace, her trembling breaths misting in a way which vented out from behind her mask in the cold made her own appearance more fearsome in a way which suited the décor. With a series of commands entered into a keypad the freezer opened in a cloud of freezing air and mist before several metallic slabs slid out.
On each slab was a cadaver and each cadaver had been twisted and contorted in sickening ways.
"As you can see there have been marked improvements with each test, the process is becoming more cohesive" Aefen noted as she gestured to the gruesome sight which Gestalt-Prime regarded impassively. The bodies were the product of an idea Aefen had harboured for some years and which the Alpha Grimm saw the value of integrating into their own visions for the future of the Grimm species. Aefen had explained at length of how it was possible, in limited ways for humans to survive being fused with Grimm-tissue; the Kingdoms had briefly experimented and Aefen's own studies, those which had seen her censured had revealed to her that a woman by the name of Cinder Fall had carried a Grim parasite crafted by Salem herself with her body for some time.
This was an attempt to not only recreate that idea but to take it further.
Gestalt-Prime saw the idea as another way to break the Grimm away from the shackles binding to humanity, conversely by subsuming humanity into themselves; where before they had planned to use the false Hive-Mind they called to CCT to create a self-sustaining font from which to draw the emotions which gave Grimm sustenance they could instead take essence of what made humanity and slave it to the will of the Grimm. Aefen in her delusion, seeing the Creatures of Grimm as something to be studied and replicated had envisioned a more equal form of symbiosis wherein humanity and Grimm were one and the same; taking the ideas involved in the creation of the Cyber-Grimm and applying them to living flesh.
Thus far however all that Aefen had to show for her work was a series of corpses riddled with black veins which laced and speared through the subjects own nerves and blood-vessels, growing thick and ropey at points where they erupted out from bodies in sickening masses of pulpy and fungal tissue, ridged chitin or jagged claw like protrusions which tore bodies asunder from within, splitting limbs at odd angles or else erupting out through mouths and chest cavities.
"Make more" Gestalt-Prime finally before turning to stalk away, offering a final command as they did so "As many as we need. This is more important than Pikesreach, more important than repairing individual Cyber-Grimm"
"Agreed" Aefen murmured, quickly hiding her failures from view once again and stepping away from the freezer.
With their differing goals the monster and the demented scientist could at least share a single conclusion; that the next stage in their respective species' evolution was in their hands.
She considered herself lucky that it was a moonless night and that so many of those who defended Pikesreach, native and newcomer alike had died defending the settlement from the latest tide of Grimm to fall upon the place.
She felt the latter was a foul thing to be thankful for, but desperate times made desperate people.
The woman was a Mouse Faunus of roughly middle age, several years of hard and physical labour having taken their toll on her and made the lines and wrinkles on her dark skin deeper and more prominent and at present she wore simple, practical clothes that had been repaired many times already, layered to better fend off the freezing chill of Menagerie's night air. The various layers of clothing, including boots that would hopefully be suited to the terrain ahead of her, faded, worn and patched cargo pants with a variety of pockets and an outermost jacket whose denim material had managed to retain the faintest traces of its' original royal blue colour all served the additional purpose of hiding her tattoos from view; she had been one of the first members of Pikesreach's populace to submit herself to the tattooing and the new order imposed by the now-dead Hunters when they had taken control of the floundering settlement however she knew well enough what would follow if a member of the manual labouring groups, easily identifiable by the sharp and angular, almost boxy tattoos marking their arms and torsos was spotted making an effort to leave by the guards on night watch, either to steal from the fields or simply to flee from Pikesreach altogether.
Especially if the escapee in question was herself, more so than anybody else.
Beneath her faded denim jacket the middle-aged woman wore a ragged and thread bare hooded sweatshirt, something that had survived from the days before Pikesreach and she took care to keep its' hood pulled as far forward and cover as much of her face as possible; her hair was shorn and across her scalp she bore a second set of tattoos which more spidery in their appearance, like gnarled roots or twisting limbs and these tattoos had been inflicted on her as a punishment. Her only son had fled Pikesreach, using his position within the ranks of its' fighters to create an opportunity for himself to do so and in the inevitable questioning that had followed one of the settlements' ruling Hunters, a woman whose animosity towards her was well known and understood had levelled accusations of treachery, arguing that Pikesreach had lost a defender because the woman had encouraged her son to betray the settlement and likely helped him to flee.
There was no proof of such treachery but in Pikesreach a Hunter's word was law.
Her life had been spared however by the intervention of another Hunter, one who had argued that they were firm but fair and that they would not conduct themselves like utter savages; instead she had been marked as a traitor and a potential threat so that she could no longer pose a threat, a relatively simple and effective solution as for several years now the middle-aged woman had been entirely isolated within her community where her fellow workers avoided her and parents scolded their children for wandering close to her.
She knew now however that her safety would not last much longer.
The arrival of outsiders from Menagerie and further afield had changed Pikesreach indelibly and with the removal of the Hunters who had ruled for years, including the Huntress whose rifle transformed into a truly gruesome weapon intended to saw through bone and armour who had so sincerely hated her the woman who now fled might well have been able to live out the rest of her days in peace and rebuild a life for herself were it not for the presence of that accursed witch who created monsters and cackled like a madwoman from behind her unsettling mask.
Rumours had already begun to circulate through Pikesreach and despite her peers' best efforts to avoid her the shorn woman had still managed to hear enough to make it clear that she should flee as soon as possible; she had learned that all of those who had continued to resist against their new rules after the initial battle had been kept alive as captives at first but were now being taken to Aefen Cruor's lair on a nightly basis, sometimes several at once and that none of those who had been taken had been returned to their prisons or heard from again. The woman understood well enough that whatever obscene work it was that Aefen Cruor had come to Pikesreach to undertake, work which saw the Grimm which could talk spend its' days prowling around her lair to ward off any who might grow curious required fresh sacrifices and she also understood that if she was present when there were no more prisoners left then her peers, so used to simply obeying the Hunters even in their absence would readily hand her over to spare themselves.
With this uncomfortable truth in mind the bald and tattooed woman had used the fallout of the days' attack by the Creatures of Grimm to her advantage. When the morose task of gathering bodies had begun she had begun cautiously collecting what she could from each of the more heavily mauled and less recognisable corpses, managing to accumulate what would pass for rations to last for several days as well as water, a compass and other assorted and potentially useful items.
Most importantly of all however, she had managed to take a spear.
She had no pretensions of being able to fight or use the weapon effectively, even as a child living within the Kingdoms long before her voyage to the then-untamed Menagerie she had never been any kind of brawler; it was what had attracted her to the Hunters around her and seen her come to Pikesreach in the first place. What the spear could be used for however, was a disguise and so when darkness had fallen the middle-aged Mouse Faunus had slunk out and crept across Pikesreach towards a portion of its' defences which had been damaged by monsters which had drawn perilously close; the journey made more manageable by her keen senses as she peered ahead of herself with deep brown eyes and her hairless tail twitched nervously behind her. She had been certain to find an area of the wall guarded by newcomers whose allegiances were to Damascus Nero rather than natives of the place and used the fact that the guards were spread thin by so many casualties and injuries and thoroughly distracted by their own feelings towards the fact that many people the knew had died today, along with the fear that their own feelings might draw the next wave of Grimm to her advantage and managed to slip between the sentries and out into the freezing darkness.
Before long she was far enough away from Pikesreach that the settlement was out of view entirely even to the keen eyesight of a Faunus, its' walls hidden beneath the haze of dust and grit that characterised the wastelands of Menagerie as the howling, biting winds kicked it into the air. As the reached into one of the many pockets of her layered clothing to withdraw a pair of fortunately well-fitting goggles to keep her eyes from being painfully damaged by even this minor and unremarkable attempt as a dust storm the dark-skinned Mouse Faunus came panting to a halt and realised that whilst she was free for the first time in decades she was also lost, having no idea at all where to go.
Before the outsiders had come Pikesreach she might have entertained some notions of searching for her son who had escaped before her, perhaps she might have gone to Port Alistair; she had never been one of those few people of Pikesreach who were allowed to deal with traders and outsiders after all and in truth she had little idea of what settlements existed on the island of where they might be however she found it hard to believe that the first settlement on Menagerie, founded by a trio of Hunters could have fallen.
The arrival of the outsiders had changed that however, many of them had apparently hailed from Neo Vale and for all their talk of wanting to fight the corruption of Hunters many of the men and women who claimed to be former soldiers who had taken on a greater cause still enjoyed watching saved videos of Vytal Tournament matches and by listening in and watching what little she could the woman learned that her son had not only fled as far as Port Alistair but also managed to board a ship to the Kingdom of New Vale and enrol themselves at Halo Academy.
Her son was alive but entirely out of her reach, she could only hope that he was happy and would grow to be a better man than his father had been.
And so, with no fixed destination in mind but the certainty of death behind her Cornflower Blue simply picked a direction and set off on her way across the wasteland.
Author's Notes:
Okay first of all, does that ending counting as a cliffhanger or just a big reveal for anybody who hadn't figured out what I was doing yet?
Secondly, I know that we didn't spend much time with Team MARS this chapter but in my defence I absolutely think it was worth it all things considered.
Also, the next two chapters of the mid-season finale.
So, with the mid-season finale in mind let's just point out some important details so we know where things stand: A) Team MARS are gonna be heading out for a training mission in Maiden-Gate. B) Stygian Blue's Mum just escaped Pikesreach and knows at least enough of what's happening there to be a game-changer. C) Pantheon literally has a specially made Grimm made from an Alpha Beowolf, which we haven't seen yet sitting in the wings waiting to track down anybody leaving Pikesreach, under the assumption that they're going to be headed towards the other base that they know Gestalt-Prime has.
Are you getting it now?
Also an update on last week's updates:
My Nan is out of hospital and back home, she's doing well.
I also have a start date for a new job next week, working nights but it shouldn't actually affect my posting schedule...Although I'll probably be back to only writing one chapter a week.
But anyway, let's summarise shall we?:
I had show Pantheon doing something other that sitting there menacingly, so I used it as a chance for their MTV Cribs episode….Their evil layer is definitely better than Nero and Aefen's.
The flash-light bugs are something I've used before and I honestly can't remember if it was Salem's fortress in FADE or an insect themed villain in my Power Rangers story 'Aegis' but they're just a nice way to give the place that horror movie feel.
Pantheon could just level Pikesreach if they really wanted to, they've broken bigger and better defended places down in person before but they have a plan.
Also I had this scene at the start of the chapter because now it can be happening anytime between the last chapter and the "Mid-week" placement of the next scene without any sort of contradiction.
Okay so if we're honest either Team MARS's training mission or the second attack on Pikesreach could have been a chapter on their own and I'm left wondering if the pace was too fast but at the same time I'm not sure what would have been gained by dragging either out.
The outdoor training area at Breaktide feels like sci-fi bullshit, but considering that the training we saw at Atlas in Vol.07 was like and the VR training simulations from the RWBY Justice League movie I think I'm more than justified….Especially when this fic is about 30 years post canon.
So the training scenario is basically a rescue mission of people who've already drawn the attention of the Grimm….It's a different set up definitely, but still foreshadowing.
AJ is smart, she could fly closer or jump from glyphs but anything that prompts Lancers to start harpooning something with an already damaged fuel tank is too dangerous.
We saw the problems Stygian's Semblance runs into against hard-light and projections back in Neo Vale.
That was a very slick take down and oddly something that feels like an inversion of Cinder of all people, instead of it being a "Take away the power they have" it was "Take one of your problems and make it a tool against your other problems".
Most importantly though, it served to show that Team MARS are at least beginning to fight like a working and functional team.
The tonal shift between the training and the real thing would be great if it was animated.
Once again we get to see both the difference in fighting the way Hunters are trained to and what Zirconia is doing now, much more militaristic and not at all what she's used or suited to and also the danger posed by Grimm when they have an intelligence behind them….Waves of cannon fodder to waste your ammo until the main attack gets into position.
Nice to see Zirconia evolving her move-set a little bit though.
"That's the whole point isn't it, no more relying on Hunters and waiting to be saved like little kids" as far as Nero's people go this guy is definitely one of the good ones, somebody who joined with honest, decent intentions.
Team NUGT continue to be really easy to dislike.
Electrifying the razor wire was just dirty but also brilliant.
Gestalt-Prime is a dick, really waited until the last possible moment when it looked the wall was going to be charged through to put in an appearance….What an appearance it was though, aerial assault, one-shots a Goliath and gets followed out by two Shrouds and Aefen's people and let's be honest, they were devout enough to let themselves get eaten by Grimm before can you imagine what they're like now they get to fight alongside Gestalt-Prime?
Switching to Pantheon's position was fun and also important, it shows without question that they know where Gestalt-Prime is now and it shows that they're more fully aware of what the other sentient Grimm and the Cyber-Grimm are actually capable of.
Also a good way to show the limitations that Pantheon has in controlling the other Grimm, they can't body-snatch something like an individual Beowolf….It'd be like trying to run Windows 11 on a cassette player.
Remember that in their current body Gestalt-Prime is seven feet tall, they're Yatsuhashi sized now….Imagine Yatsu with wings just absolutely hammering Goliath one after another, and I mean the big ones we got in Vol.2 and 3 of the show, not the scaled down Megoliath from Atlas.
Pantheon was absolutely a spiteful bitch about it, but getting rib of one of those Shrouds will probably save some trouble later.
And now the modified Alpha Beowolf, whatever it's been turned into is waiting somewhere just out of view.
And after a scene of them working together we get Team MARS in a more relaxed setting, which helps to make the backstory and context that got worked in there somewhat more natural.
Astra will absolutely hype up their girl up at all times, it is rude to not be distracted by abs that good.
Stitch does not study well.
See, the bickering over who's gonna deal with the dishes leads smoothly into a joking comment about Astra's dad which then makes the talk about other peoples' family less out of place.
I gave some talk about Regalia's Dad because we've never actually mentioned him, so yeah her old man is a member of another one of the nomad tribes and they don't know each other….That's possibly not even uncommon with the Aiktishaf, there might even be kids born both in the tribe and in Port Alistair now after the tribe were outside the city for a few months between Vol.03 and 04 who don't know one of their parents because they're half Aiktishaf.
Now Stygian's situation is fucked lol, so vaguely Game of Thrones shit.
Regalia worrying that people thought she was a Hunter groupie made me chuckle.
So Stygian has or had half-siblings that don't acknowledge him in Pikesreach and he doesn't know that his Dad's dead yet, killed by the Man-Eater Cyber-Grimm at Carmesi's command.
And Aefen continues to give off monster-fucker vibes and is grabbed for it promptly because Gestalt-Prime don't play that shit.
Gestalt-Prime was, let's be honest, terrifying here with the way that they casually laid out how minor of a setback killing Aefen might actually be to them and how they killed Albion because they know that there's nothing Aefen can really do about it; who is she going to tell?
But now we get to see what exactly it is that Aefen and Gestalt-Prime are working on behind closed doors that they don't want Nero to know about….Body horror, that's what.
You can almost see the good intent Aefen Cruor, formerly Doctor Shirley Aefen had once upon a time...She saw that Grimm are undeniably stronger than the average human or Faunus, she saw sealed or classified stuff about Project Fracture and things like Cinder's Grimm parasite and wondered "What if we could use it, Grimm tissue might be the cure for cancer" and she was censured.
Gestalt-Prime sees merging humans into Grimm, not the other way around as a potential way to improve upon their original plan from First Year; which was to remove the need for Grimm to keep humans around as a species.
The current end result has been an absolute gore-fest with some fungal, last of us flavouring that will absolutely build up to something horrifying.
But remember….Nero knew, or at least had an idea of what his underlings goals were even before he recruited them; if he really wanted to stop them he wouldn't have given them resources.
Okay the last scene, this woman has showed up a few times and it's been obvious from the beginning who she really was.
The whole scene would have flowed more smoothly if I'd just used her name but A) I wanted to have that ending moment and B) I didn't actually have a name for Stygian's Mum picked out until I wrote it.
So let's be clear about it, Stitch's Mum fucked a married Hunter and that's where Stygian came from; when Stygian ran off the wife of said Hunter, who was also a Hunter herself tried use that as pretext to have her executed. Stitch's Mum was spared, likely by Stitch's Dad….But as punishment they basically used tattoos to brand her head so everyone knows she's on thin ice; because Pikesreach is a fucked up place.
Also, if you didn't catch it….That Huntress with the robe and the bad-ass weapon that Zirconia had to use the Man-eater Cyber-Grimm to deal with in Chapter 110; that was the wife, that was Stygian's stepmother.
So the people of Pikesreach know that some of their people are vanishing but they're not doing anything about it at this point, there's nothing they really can do….So given that her people have already left her behind when they ran from Grimm once before, yeah Cornflower was right to get the hell out of there asap.
Interesting but perfectly sensible point to mention that once she got out of Pikesreach she didn't actually know where to go because she hasn't seen an up to date map in probably over a decade at least, she knows Port Alistair exists but probably isn't certain about anywhere else.
Enjoy some mild emotional distress from Cornflower Blue knowing that her son is alive….But thinking he's in a different Kingdom still and promptly setting off in the wrong direction.
Thank you to MajorBrony for their review on the last chapter:
See the Joker knows he has problems, but I don't think he thinks of himself as evil...It's more that he believes morals as a concept are a lie; that's why he's so determined to make Batman break his code and why does things like "One Bad day" his whole thing is that the world is a joke and he's the only one who gets the punchline.
Yeah, AJ definitely needed that.
The date was cute and those people were dicks...But also, Hunters just carrying weapons around everywhere would probably raise eyebrows; do you really need to bring a shotgun to the zoo?
I believe in the rule of threes and Zirconia has only had her first confrontation with AJ.
Yeah Nugget is a dick and he deserves something...What's coming is gonna be a little much though.
No spoilers, but remember Aefen has her plans; but do does Nero.
As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review.