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Chapter 141:The Spear
It was chaos and horror in the way that only war and brutal, bloody violence could be.
"THIN THEM OUT BEFORE THEY GET TO US, BREAK THEIR RANKS!" Carmesi roared sprinting to the head of the newly redefined battle lines and slamming the palms of his hands into the snow as he unleashed his Semblance, he forced the eruption of blades and jagged spears of solidified, bloody crimson Aura to the very furthest reaches of his reach and rather than a single sustained assault he instead launched brief bouts of stabbing and slashing waves. Each attack filled the air with pained yowling and sharply silenced yelps as dozens of Sabyrs at a time were felled by blades that tore through their underbellies and skulls. Despite continuing his Semblance-based assault until his vision swam Carmesi was not content with that alone and instead reared back and readied Retribution; shifting the larger of his two weapons into its' shotgun form and opening fire with a steady barrage of booming reports which tore monstrous winged forms from the night sky with their bodies dissipating into nothingness before they could fall.
And yet Carmesi was under no illusions that it would be enough.
The standard model Cyber-Grimm, their numbers having been thinned by Team MARS and Zirconia to a degree that the Komodo Dragon would likely be able to admit to himself was impressive once the immediate danger subsided had taken up firing positions in the snow, powerful clawed limbs anchoring them in place as their antenna-mounted machine guns unleashed screaming, sawing salvos of bullets into the coming tide of monsters whilst the searing beams of their primary weapons burned through the ranks of the Creatures of Grimm until the individual monsters within the horde, moving with an intelligence beyond their usual single-minded ferocity began to evade and rearrange themselves into distinct formations.
At which point the Cyber-Grimm changed their tactics.
The standard models began to turn their primary weapons skyward, splitting their focus and firing their laser cannons in short, controlled bursts to pick off individual flying Grimm whilst the monsters on the ground were attacked by the Man-Eaters; their segmented and slithering forms darting forward with terrifying swiftness and a stealthiness which saw them seem to slip away from the eyes' ability to detect and simply reappear in the midst of the gnashing teeth and claws; their grasping tongues, claws and laser cutters allowing them to drag down larger Grimm such as Ursa as they lumbered amidst the horde. It was a brief victory and the tide of battle quickly changed again however as the Man-Eaters were proven to be simply too few in number and despite their horrific capabilities simply unsuited to such a direct conflict; Carmesi watched with a building panic which he forced his mind to process as a much more useful fury as the Cyber-Grimm intended for assassination and hostage-taking were trampled beneath a wave of bodies or overwhelmed and torn apart in other ways.
Leaving the burly reptilian to look elsewhere for answers, with motion behind him giving him an idea of where he might find them.
"If any of you can still fight, now would be the time for an alliance!" he barked, though his words were quickly undercut by the sounds of pain and misery which escaped the various Hunters he had been sent to capture as they sobbed and clutched at their injuries or else dragged their bloodied and battered selves through the snow towards one another; a sight Carmesi had seen one more than occasion where a Hunter or other foe had been left in ruins after facing in him an enemy that they had been utterly unprepared for. Carmesi also found himself swallowing thickly as unbidden emotions he had thought long suppressed and forgotten welled up within, they were so young and fought so bravely for their own misguided ideals that he couldn't help admire the students a little; he had witnessed their progression from wide-eyed and naive First Year students to their current state and upon realising just how much of himself, of what he might have been in them the Komodo Dragon Faunus nearly vomited at the sight of them so badly broken.
His mother had crawled towards him with her dying breaths after his family had been attacked by bandits and left for the Grimm in much the same way they sought one another out now.
Zirconia, the cause of this entire crisis and the young woman whose retrieval undoubtedly mattered the most to Damascus Nero could barely stand, her Cybernetic limbs having been mangled and twisted to the point where they were little more than sparking masses of dead weight and yet still, through sheer willpower alone she had hobbled and dragged herself towards Athena-Jade Slate. The Bear Faunus herself had been left in a sorry state through a combination of her previous injuries and the violent attentions of Gestalt-Prime, her ribs broken to such an extent that every breath she took was an agonised, wheezing death-rattle which saw blood spatter into the snow as she was half-dragged and half-carried onwards towards were the Mouse Faunus with the impressive swordsmanship now lay.
Stygian Blue's weapon lay in the snow a short distance away from his body, still in the grasp of a hand that had been cast aside by the Man-Eaters when his arm had been cut away mid-forearm; bone and muscle sheared neatly and cauterised by lasers. The dark-skinned young seemed to be conscious but unaware, convulsing slightly as he clutched at the burned stump of the limb and letting out pained, pitiable whimpers whilst electric blue eyes stared into the distance but saw nothing.
Astra Mars and Regalia Russet, both of whom had fought Carmesi himself were alive and aware, positioned at either side of the Mouse Faunus who was clearly beyond reach at the moment and had likely gone into shock; the two of them were bloodied with Regalia's goggles having ripped away, both her top lip and her left eyebrow split open and a ragged gash spanning from her left cheekbone horizontally across the bridge of her nose which was clearly deep enough that her nose had been badly broken by the blow as well. Astra's wounds were more messy and yet less severe, the result of being beaten to a pulp by bare fists and as such it was Astra who rose first, glaring hatefully at Carmesi with the single sea-green eye that they could open fully and striding forwards with Buckshot Ares at the ready.
They broke into a sprint and Carmesi, stunned by the audacity of the student barely managed to raise his guard as the Deer Faunus attacked; with Astra driving a foot painfully into his right knee to send him toppling and following up by raking the blade of one his weapons across Carmesi's face. The older Faunus's Aura held but rippled and wavered enough for him to feel the Atlesian steel scrap against the rough and craggy scales that covered parts of his face and slip onto weather-beaten skin where it drew a thin trickle of blood.
And then Astra was attacking the Grimm.
The tide of monsters was drawing dangerously close, so close in fact that Carmesi could make out individual Creatures of Grimm a split second before they were obliterated by the high-calibre mini-guns slung under each of the Deer Faunus's arms, the cacophony matched only by the wordless yell of unrestrained rage that escaped Astra. Carmesi watched in silence for a moment, both recovering from the blow he had received and taken aback by the ferocity; his efforts to ready his weapon and continue firing into the oncoming horde were once again halted as he reflexively moved aside when a harpoon pierced the demolished husk of a nearby Cyber-Grimm and began dragging it back through the snow.
"What're you doing?" Carmesi demanded, turning to see that Regalia Russet had already pulled more Cyber-Grimm that had fallen in battle into a loose formation around herself and her huddled and bloodied friends.
"Building a barricade" she spat the words out, wiping blood from her face before prying armour panels away from the husk of a Cyber-Grimm and continuing absently as she began reaching into the things' mechanical innards "We're not leaving AJ, Stitch and Zirconia without any cover; I can get these lasers and guns working manually and give us more weapons, give us a chance"
"Clever" Carmesi grunted, begrudgingly respecting the effort and the notion behind it as he noted that it would make surviving this ordeal and having at least some of the escapees alive to present to Nero when all was said and done much easier.
Any sense of hope that those facing the tide of Grimm might have managed to muster was further assaulted by a trumpeting, groaning bellow that came from a point overhead and was soon revealed to have been issued from a single, gigantic monster as the things' outline became visible in the snow-filled darkness; its' silhouette illuminated by the glow of its' beady eyes, a towering streamlined mass of muscle adorned with a single javelin-like protrusion of solid bone which grew from its' skulls.
"FOCUS YOUR FIRE ON-
"NO!" Gestalt-Prime snarled, cutting Carmesi's orders off as they strode forth. The Alpha Cyber-Grimm had been playing their part in the battle against the tide of Grimm, likely picking off monsters trying to outflank them them Carmesi could not be fully sure; there intent was certain now however as they rushed to the head of the defensive lines and first unleashed their main weapon in a crimson firestorm which far surpassed anything the standard Cyber-Grimm could produce to unmake a hundred or Grimm in the blink of an eye.
From there Gestalt-Prime unfurled their wings and took the sky.
"It was sent for me!" they roared "THEN IT SHALL FACE ME!"
Carmesi simply aimed his shotgun and fired, not allowing himself to consider anything outside of his immediate objective and the fact that the Creatures of Grimm were steadily growing closer until Astra's voice reached his ears and caused him to turn slightly, seeing that tears welled in the Deer Faunus's one good eye and their expression was murderous in a way Carmesi found oddly reminiscent of himself.
"My team are hurt because of you. You're gonna die Carmesi and I need you to know that; because if it looks like we're not gonna make it out or if one of my teams goes down I'm gonna forget about the Grimm and make sure killing you is the last thing I do"
"Then I hope your partner can make that barricade" the Komodo Dragon Faunus answered bluntly before continuing to shoot the oncoming horde.
From Pantheon's perspective the battle was progressing more than acceptably despite the losses they were taking, a war of attrition whose outcome the Grimm General was already certain of and a prelude to their goals in the tundra.
Their prey had made no effort to flee, perhaps sensing the futility of such an attempt and instead had largely gathered themselves into the closest approximation of a defensive position their limited numbers could provide, going so far as to use the carcasses of their own culled allies to build a defensive whilst sending forth a preliminary attack in the form of the slithering monsters with their cutting limbs and tongues which crushed and strangled; it was Pantheon's mind a poor and feeble of the human preys' customary approach to fending off threats and to see it employed by something posturing as a Creature of Grimm was mildly insulting. The enemies' initial counterattack had been overwhelmed however, the slithering machine-things which had torn bloody paths through Pantheon's war-host had been laid low and Pantheon amused themselves with the knowledge that the gathered Hunters could be torn apart at a moments' notice as their current efforts to defend themselves had failed to take into account the threat currently working its' way into position beneath their feet.
Gestalt-Prime entering the fray directly shifted Pantheon's attention however.
The Grimm General had been viewing the ongoing battle through the eyes of their various minions in the tundra and more than a hundred pairs of eyes were lost in moments as their would-be usurper unleashed their might and in the next instant took to the sky, unleashing a roaring challenge of a war cry before tearing Manticore and Chimera Grimm from the sky as they surged towards the Spear, the enormous Narwhal Grimm which served as the focal point of Pantheon's attack.
Just as Pantheon had known they would.
The two monstrous forces met with an impact which sent a visible shock-wave rippling through the snow and a booming thunderclap of force. Pantheon watching with satisfaction through the eyes of other Creatures of Grimm as Gestalt-Prime sought to rip into the skull of the Spear only for the titanic mass of muscle and bone to weave around the blow with unnatural speed and use the bony protrusion growing from its' face to slam Gestalt-Prime to the ground and immediately press the advantage by rearing itself up and then slamming its' entire weight downwards; with Pantheon feeling the moment the spear drove into a body that was both flesh and metal distantly, removed by degrees.
Allowing themselves to turn their attention elsewhere for a moment the Grimm General saw that Pantheon had merely been the first to charge and that many of their twisted creations, more automata for human prey to puppet than true Grimm were following in their wake; breaking ranks to rocket forwards and meet the coming ride of claws and fangs head on or else surge up into the thinning ranks of Pantheon's winged Grimm and further ravage them before firing their weapons down into Grimm below, all whilst allowing the Hunters to continue with whatever plans they were concocting.
Movement from below the Spear redirected Pantheon's attention a moment later however and the Grimm General was suddenly grateful for the distance with which they currently felt and perceived the events they were witnessing as tons of snow were flash-boiled and evaporated into a superheated steam which burned the Narwhal Grimm's obsidian flesh until the underside of its' muscular neck were peeling away and bone carapace was visibly warped by the heat. The Spear tried to rear back and yet was unable to do so, reduced to ineffective thrashing and deafening, braying screams of frustration until the steam cleared to reveal its' source; Gestalt-Prime with their claws sunk into the solid ground beneath the compacted snow and their propulsion system ignited and firing into its' powdery surface.
The beady eyes of the Narwhal Grimm locked onto their foe and through them Pantheon could sense that behind their visor Gestalt-Prime's lone optic was boring directly through the Spear as though they could see their true adversary through the connections of the Hive-Mind and were issuing a challenge and statement directly to them; that challenge coming as the Alpha Cyber-Grimm maintained their hold on the larger monsters' horn which had pierced Gestalt-Prime's chest partially but done little of consequence and used the Spears' own thrashing against it by simply releasing their claws from the hard ground and allowing themselves to be hurled up into the air as the Spear reared its' head back and then, at the peak of their arc fully taking flight in a way which allowed Gestalt-Prime to flip end over end and drag the Spear from the ground before slamming it down belly-first.
The impact could be felt for miles and ribs of the Spear were shattered under its' own titanic weight.
Refusing to beaten however and determined to see their work at least give a good showing before it was inevitably laid low and the next stage of the plan put into effect Pantheon sent impulses to the Spear which saw it rise up once again, powering through the pain as it let out a trumpeting war cry and coiled the entirety of its' muscular mass, clawed flippers finding purchase in the snow before it fired itself like an enormous living rocket directly at Gestalt-Prime who could not avoid the incoming blow fast enough despite being airborne.
It was noteworthy that even being impaled did not stop the hybrid Alpha.
Pantheon watched as Gestalt-Prime closed the armour portions around their jaw, sealing their mouth to keep from screaming out and thrashed as the implement for which the Spear had been named burst from their back, damaging the moving components of their main weapon and leaving their right wing sagging in a way which suggested that the limb might be similarly ineffective if it were converted to its' axe form. The Narwhal Grimm was not content with this however as its' rocketing charge tore a trench into the snow it lowered its' head and prepared to use the high-speed motion to further damage its' foe, widening the wound that Gestalt-Prime had been left with.
Being halted by an interference of the most agonising kind.
The already damaged underside of the Spear was all but eviscerated by blades that appeared from nowhere, erupting from the ground and forcing Pantheon to turn their focus away from their hated enemy and seek out the source of the assault. Amidst the ongoing chaos and carnage they found that the eldest of the Hunters, the burly man with facial hair and reptilian scales had used their Semblance and turned the Spear's own momentum against it by creating a bed of Aura-made spikes for it to slide across. Deciding that such an action could not go unpunished the Narwhal Grimm thrashed its' horn and worried Gestalt-Prime as a dog might worry a chew toy before throwing the damaged Alpha Cyber-Grimm aside with a swing of its' skull; the backswing being used to sweep at the Komodo Dragon Faunus who answered it by creating more of their Aura spikes which came rushing up from the ground in the opposite direction. The Faunus managed to leap up onto one of their own creations and over the Spear before the Grimm collided with their Semblance and further gouged and tore at its' own skin and bone whilst ploughing through the obstruction.
Before the Spear could fully turn to give chase and launch itself at the Reptilian Faunus who was moving to give aid to Gestalt-Prime it was attacked once again, this time letting out trumpeting groans of pain as searing lances of light and heat punched into the armour of its' left flank and ignited the viscous oils which ran from between armour plates to soak its' hulking mass.
Within the Hive-Mind Pantheon let out a snarl of annoyance as they turned their sights towards the rest of the Hunters whom they had overlooked, finding that they had used dead and destroyed Cyber-Grimm to not only make a paltry attempt at defensive wall like those around human settlements but also to fit it with defensive guns which they were now firing into the Spear and any Creature of Grimm which drew close. In response Pantheon decided to show the Hunters the true hopelessness of their situation and unleash the burrowing, tunnelling Creatures that had been kept in reserve upon them. Even through the distance of the Hive Mind the Grimm General could whet their appetite on the wave of terror that emanated from them as the ground began to explode and collapse in on itself and fresh waves of monsters began to pour out into the snow.
In their mind the outcome was a foregone conclusion and so Pantheon turned their focus back to the upstart Gestalt-Prime.
"ASTRA WHAT DO WE DO?" Regalia yelled out, words both raised in volume in her fear and slurred by the severity of the injury to her face and particularly her nose; where the claws of a Cyber-Grimm had cleaved through cartilage entirely.
"HOLD 'EM BACK, JUST HOLD 'EM BACK!" the Deer Faunus screamed, voice hoarse and cracking as they sought to raise it above the sound of their own weapons; fear threatening to wash over them completely as the situation became impossible to overcome.
Grimm had erupted from the snow, bursting into the ranks of the Cyber-Grimm to attack them from below and behind which in turn made it easier for the bulk of the coming horde to close the distance and drag them down; each Cyber-Grimm that had charged forward being reduced to a sinking and doomed island amidst a sea of teeth, claws and stingers. More immediately terrifying to the Hunters however was the fact that the emerging monsters were making short work of their impromptu defences.
The wall of broken Cyber-Grimm husks was broken in two place as a King-Taijitu tore its' way from the snow and loomed over its' prey with fangs bared, only for its' heads to be utterly shredded as Astra opened fire upon them.
On the opposite side of their makeshift barricades Regalia used Apex Scavenger in its' melee form to keep Creatures of Grim at bay, swinging with the pickaxe head of her weapon and stabbing with the harpoon tip at its' base in order to pierce the skulls of the first Deathstalkers to begin scrabbling over the piled husks, struggling to avoid their claws and stingers in the cramped confines. More of the arachnid horrors were rapidly approaching in a wave that was more than the Racoon Faunus could hope defend against though movement beside her offered a momentary reprieve.
"I've got 'em, don't worry" Zirconia managed to rasp out through gritted teeth as she crawled and dragged herself through the snow, her legs too damaged to support her and hoisted herself up onto the edge of wall of ruined Cyber-Grimm and fired Sunriser Cain, the pistol announcing that it was loaded with Hard-Light Dust as it discharged and creating a barrier which kept the Deathstalkers at bay. It took the scorpion Grimm only a few moments to tear the barrier apart, too focused on their goal to burrow beneath or scuttle around it however they were moments which Zirconia used well; hauling herself into a position from which she could control the laser weapons that Regalia rigged into something useful and open fire on the Deathstalkers.
The Grimm horde responded with a ranged attack of its' own in the form of an Infinipede, the enormous centipede Grimm with its' segmented body, arrowhead-shaped skull and oversized mandibles erupting from the snow and coiling its' body with arc of crackling, coruscating lightning travelling along the length of its' armoured bone carapace before reaching its' mandibles before a bolt of lightning was fired directly at Team MARS's crude shelter.
An already destroyed Cyber-Grimm was reduced to twisted ruin as its' weapon was struck and obliterated. Regalia managed to drag Zirconia from her position and get the two of them out of the immediate blast, though this left an opening in their defences which Creatures of Grimm quickly rushed to exploit.
Being halted by a wall of shimmering glyphs.
"Can't, hold 'em….for long" every syllable was dragged painfully from Athena-Jade as the Bear Faunus used what littler Aura she could muster to force a barrier into existence without ever leaving her position hunched over Stygian's mauled form whilst clutching at her own broken ribs and visibly pained by every breath she took.
The glyphs began to crack and give way in a matter of seconds though the tide of Grimm was once again stayed, at least in that particular part of the falling defences as a familiar spinning blade cleaved through multiple monsters at once whilst more still were cut down by thin beams of crimson light as Gestalt-Prime took to the air, avoiding the Spear for long enough to unleash their shoulder mounted weapons in the place of their damaged cannon.
"YOU DON'T GET TO DIE HERE, YOU'RE NO USE TO US DEAD!" Carmesi roared as his machete returned to his hand "LIVE! FOR THE BRIGHT NEW TOMORROW!"
With that the Komodo Dragon Faunus turned away and rushed back into battle against the enormous Narwhal Grimm before it could impale him; the assistance he and Gestalt-Prime could offer being limited by their own struggles.
It was enough of a respite however for Astra's mind to begin working, thoughts clearing through the fog of war and beginning to form a plan.
"Regalia I've got an idea!" they called out frantically "I'll cover you, I just need you to use your Semblance and tell me what you see!"
"You got it!" the Racoon Faunus panted out, wiping blood from her split eyebrow away from her face once more and hastily scurrying to the edge of the wall of broken Cyber-Grimm and activating Look-See; her Semblance reduced to short bursts, each gazing in a different direction before she was forced to refocus her attention and avoid the coming monsters. She had the answers her partner wanted however; she had given her Semblance a simple but vague request and she called out Astra to tell them the answer if had given her
"I can see a web, or lakes under the snow-"
"IT'S NOT LAKES!" Astra called back "IT'S THE TUNNELS THE GRIMM MADE….I NEED GRAVITY DUST!"
"Here!" It was Athena-Jade who called out, the Bear Faunus digging through the pockets of Stygian's coat which she still wore and then helping herself to whatever Dust she could find on her partners' person with a certainty that the Mouse Faunus would hardly complain even if he were more aware of the situation. It took a few moments and the Creatures of Grimm had already begun to close in even more in that time but eventually Athena managed to gather up a few handful of the Dust Astra needed and hand it to them.
Only for the Deer Faunus to pull back to the centre of their impromptu defences and give their friends an apologetic look.
"Cover Stitch as much as you can….I'm sorry, this is probably gonna hurt, or at least be rough"
"What're you doing?" Zirconia demanded whilst Regalia merely nodded in acceptance before helping Athena-Jade brace Stygian, who stirred from his haze with a pained yell as they were forced to move his severed arm. Astra gave no answer and instead focused their Semblance, once again forming their towering Aura construct which was once again subjected to the ranged attacks of monsters; it was too late for the Creatures of Grimm however as Astra reared their Semblance-self's glowing foot and drove it down onto the Gravity Dust. The mass of glossy, shimmering black crystal was forced through the snow and into the hard ground where it detonated under the forces it was subjected to; creating a wave of concussive force which rippled out into the tunnels the burrowing Grimm had made and began to collapse them and form a maze of sinkholes within which dozens, if not hundreds of monsters were quickly buried and left thrashing atop one another as they struggled to free themselves.
The fight was far from over and yet, as they saw their team-mates begin firing every weapon at their disposal into the prone and trapped Creatures of Grimm Astra allowed themselves a small, fleeting sense of victory for at least managing to even the odds somewhat.
Things did not seem so completely hopeless and there was a chance that they might live long enough to see help arrive.
The Spear had forced Gestalt-Prime and Carmesi to keep almost all of their focus on it, despite the fact that the Hunters whose capture was their true objective were at the risk of being overrun and butchered by lesser monsters at any moment.
It was a situation Carmesi loathed.
"We're not doing enough damage!" he boomed out, readying his shotgun and opening fire once again regardless of the truth of that statement. He took care to aim at the eyes of the towering Narwhal Grimm yet it did little as the monster merely shook its' head and thrashed as though it were trying to dislodge particularly stubborn flies that pestered it, each blast of Retribution chipping and cracking thick bone armour and yet having no real or discernable effect.
Until the Spear turned fully towards him.
Carmesi stood steadfast and defiant with his weapons held at the ready whilst the Creature of Grimm let out another of its' haunting groans, splaying its' forelimbs wide and lowering its' body until it was a single, straight column of muscle and armour. Carmesi's eyes narrowed suspiciously as a change was wrought on the hulking mass, the oils and ooze which had seeped from its' carapace and soaked its' body began froth and fizz, a sizzling, popping layer of obsidian foam which lathered the thing and let of a stench of burning and rotting meat and almost succeeded in making the rogue Hunter gag and retch as it assaulted his sensitive nostrils. The Spear used Carmesi's moment of distraction to lunge forward, its' muscles contracting and firing in an instant to launch the massive thing bodily at him; with his instinct saving him Carmesi leapt and rolled aside with enough time spare to sink his weapons into the snow and plant his palms to engage his Semblance.
It was there that he realised what the Grimm had changed about itself.
Where before Carmesi's Semblance had speared up into the underbelly of the beast and used its' own momentum to rip at it there was now a painful and disorienting wave of mental feedback, much like those Zirconia had claimed to experience whenever her own Semblance of Phantasmagoria was broken from the outside. Blinking spots from their vision the burly reptilian man realised that the Spear had passed over the spikes and blades of solid crimson Aura unharmed, but moreover that his Semblance had been broken and negated entirely.
Where before the seeping fluids that leaked from the Narwhal Grimm had been a lubricant, greasing its' bulky form to allow it to charge more rapidly; now the foaming, reeking substance coating it was corrosive and likely toxic to some degree, an effect which continued to allow it to move through its' surroundings with ease simply by reducing them to a warped and steaming slurry judging by the trail of destruction the Spear had left in its' wake.
Carmesi also quickly realised that the Spear was turning itself around to charge again, more like an irate bull in its' mannerisms than anything else.
Gestalt-Prime gave no war-cry or verbal warning, the armour panels encasing their maw locking their mouth shut and preventing them from speaking yet still Carmesi heard their descent as they fell upon the larger Grimm, a rushing of air like an incoming missile as the Alpha Cyber-Grimm dove at their foe and transformed their wings into axe-tipped arms which encased their existing limbs mid-dive, their right arm visibly weaker and less stable than the length in the wake of being speared through the chest and shoulder previously.
"WAIT, DON'T!" Carmesi yelled, unwilling to aid the sentient monster with designs of its' own simply on principle but also being painfully aware of what their chances of victory were against the current masses of Grimm arrayed against them. It was too later however, Gestalt-Prime reached the Spear and the Narwhal Grimm launched itself in a corkscrewing motion which saw the smaller monster dragged along until they were eventually pulled under the Spear and into the churning, frothing soup of meltwater and corrosive foam; the hybrid Alpha being left in a crumpled heap in the wake of the larger Grimm with their armoured exterior visibly warped and twisted by the weight it had been crushed under, degrading in several places under the effect of the Spear's fluids and their movements reduced to erratic spasms punctuated by sparks as that same substance found its' way into internal workings.
More importantly to Carmesi however the Narwhal Grimm was still rushing towards him.
Once again he used his Semblance to create a rising platform of spikes on which to perch himself, firing his shotgun into the skull of the oncoming monster until the last moment. He leapt from the still growing monolith of solid Aura just as the Spear came crashing through it yet this time the Grimm followed its' initial attack up and the Komodo Dragon Faunus found himself unable to react fast enough. The Grimm sunk its' broad, clawed flippers into the ground and used their boneless form to pivot at an unnatural angle, bringing its' entire hindquarters and the tail that resembled fused rear limbs, replete with masses of armoured and spiked bone swinging around with a wave of snow and slush flung into the air.
The result was the Carmesi was blinded a moment before he was struck by an appendage larger than himself and sent hurtling through the air. His Aura rippled and his entire body was numbed by a wave of pain too vast to be processed as bones cracked and fractured even through the protections of his Aura, with the entire ordeal underscored by the secondary impact of his body tearing a trench into the snow as he met the ground several dozen feet away.
Snarling and the scraping of bone and chitin against one another jarred his senses back into focus.
"BACK!" He roared, dragging himself into a crouch and unleashing his Semblance in as wide an area as he could manage; gutting and skewering Creatures of Grimm even as his Aura continued to flicker and falter around him and his entire body burned and muscles screamed in protest to his efforts to move and grasp dropped his weapons. Vindication and Retribution found their way to his hands just in time for the rogue Hunter to begin hacking and slashing at the first of the monsters to reach him by leaping over the still-fading corpses of their kin.
It was a fight he was doomed to lose but Carmesi could do nothing but fight and struggle.
His machete slashed the neck of a Sabyr and his broad, spiked cleaver of a blade tore through a lumbering Ursa even as its' weight barrelled into him. Crashing through the shattering remains of an Ursa he slammed a booted heel into the mandibles of a Deathstalker, stunning it enough to evade its' pincers and pulling his leg away just in time to dodge its' stinger before hacking into the skull of the Scorpion Grimm until it died. From there he became a whirlwind of destruction, ripping and tearing at the Creatures of Grimm with both of his weapons until he fought at the centre of a swirling haze of darkness, taking several small blows from the monsters until his Aura was a constantly visible, fluctuating crimson light at the heart of it all.
It was a Sabyr which finally took him to the ground.
The feline monster managed to pounce on his back and though Carmesi he managed to roll over and grapple with the thing it was too little too late, his strength was at the verge of being sapped entirely and his hands were filled with the task of holding the overlong fangs of the Grimm at bay which left him unable to fend of its' swiping claws as they struck his face.
Crimson filled his vision as his Aura shattered and in the same moment his vision was altered irrevocably as his left eye was slashed.
The sound of Carmesi's agonised roar filled the air, mercifully serving as an alert to the few remaining Cyber-Grimm in the battle. They had been keyed to the Komodo Dragon Faunus and upon seeing his predicament they acted without direct orders and opened fire, their lasers and machine-guns tearing through the swarming monsters around him even as Carmesi himself launched himself to his feet; still holding the fangs of the Sabyr and propelled by the crazed and inhuman strength of the truly desperate.
His flank was filled first with an icy coldness and then bands of fiery, indescribable pain as the Sabyr lashed out again and tore a bloody wound into his side; the pain forcing Carmesi to release the Grimm which then reared back and snarled in preparation for a final, fatal blow.
Only for a Dust-filled round to rip through its' skull before it could move.
"We both have to make it out of here Carmesi!" Zirconia announced, already shooting at another Grimm from the sunken remains of the Hunters makeshift bunker "I won't be coming back with you, but somebody should tell my Dad that I made it out of here alive"
Carmesi, half delirious and suddenly light-headed as he looked down and saw the extent of his injuries with his limited vision could only let out a weary and incredulous laugh in response to that before he sank to his knees, weapons clattering from his grasp and blood staining the snow as he struggled to muster up some last, untapped reserve of righteous fury he could channel into strength and willpower.
He found none, but the fiery red glow of Astra Mars's Semblance as the Deer Faunus charged into the ongoing struggle between the Spear and Gestalt-Prime assured him that the fight was not yet lost.
Even if securing a true victory seemed impossible now.
"We have visual" the clipped, clear and deliberately detached and impersonal voice of one of the Megalodon's bridge crew declared; the announcement being in no way a satisfactory warning for the sight that followed a moment later.
Nero, still at the heart of their operation had, at least for the most part managed to conduct the various stages of his grand plan in a way which allowed him to be distant from the most violent and messy aspects of it and keep his hands and, to an extent his conscience clean. When Gestalt-Prime had first been collected on Menagerie, a task which had necessitated a degree of destruction he had been in Neo Vale, conversely when Neo Vale had fallen he had been on Menagerie; with every other violent or heinous act being similarly kept at arms' length until the attack on Jidhir Town less than two days ago where the former Chairman had once again managed to distance himself from the majority of the fighting until the last moment where he had appeared almost as a saviour to his followers by bringing the Megalodon into the battle.
Any hope that he might appear the same way here was quickly shot down by what he saw.
The sky was streaked with crimson light as laser weapons lanced and tore through the darkness, Cyber-Grimm unleashing their primary weapons on the Creatures of Grimm in a display that was interspersed with blooming fireballs whenever the tide of monsters managed to claim another of the dwindling Cyber-Grimm in retaliation whilst at the centre of it all battle of titanic proportions raged on between a single enormous Creature of Grimm which Nero, not being a Hunter found that he could not readily identify and the much more recognisable form of Astra Mars using their Semblance whilst Gestalt Prime added what little they could, streaking through the air and weaving around the ongoing fight to take opportunistic shots with their secondary weapons; everything about their behaviour suggesting that they had once again been badly damaged.
The thought that the Alpha Cyber-Grimm might not be as durable or capable as his plans required them to be made Nero balk for a moment before he mastered himself.
He had sent Carmesi into the tundra to find Zirconia and Team MARS and here they were, with at least one of them still visibly fighting.
"Contact Mister Hueso" he ordered, enforcing a strict calmness of his voice and taking care to ensure he did not stammer despite the carnage unfolding before his eyes.
"Aye sir" the answer was hushed, none of the bridge crew wanting to breach the silence that had settled over the space as those who had experienced battle in their previous lives and those who were new to it shared similar thoughts and emotions. In short order however Carmesi's voice filled the bridge, every syllable a pained wheeze forced through gritted teeth.
"You're taking your time Mister Nero" the Komodo Dragon Faunus noted, the sound of his shotgun booming interrupting the conversation and being followed by a pained hiss "Damn it I forgot how much this thing kicks without Aura"
"Without Aura?" Nero demanded, formality being forgotten immediately "Carmesi what's your status"
"Blind in one eye, if the eye's still there….I haven't checked. Got a chunk ripped out of me as well. Getting cold, that's not a good sign Mister Nero" the former Chairman listened to the sound of the younger man's wheezing coughs as some exertion taxed him with a sense of dread "Injured Mister Nero….Everyone's fucking injured here"
"Zirconia-"
"Your girl is still alive" Carmesi cut off the panicked gasp and Nero felt something unclench its' vice-grip on his heart just a little "She isn't going anywhere….Maybe not going with us either, we're running out of Cyber-Grimm here and her team might be able to force the issue"
"We'll see about that" Nero answered calmly before turning his attention briefly towards one of his crew "Aim and fire on both the Grimm and the Hunter fighting it"
There was a single nod of confirmation and then Nero watched in real time as missiles and laser fire streaked through the night sky to blast chunks of bone and flesh from the towering Narwhal Grimm and also strike Astra Mars's Semblance, blowing the fiery red Aura construct apart and sending the Deer Faunus falling back into the snow with an explosion that was heard through the ongoing transmission to Carmesi.
"What the hell was that?" the burly reptilian demanded.
"That was me simplifying matters considerably" Nero answered bluntly "We will be in range to deal with that Grimm directly in moments. In the meantime I will have additional Cyber-Grimm deployed to your location, you are to see to it that Zirconia and her former team-mates are collected and brought aboard"
"Understood" Carmesi huffed out "I suggest you get those reinforcements here immediately Mister Nero….I'm pretty sure those kids will figure your plan out and they'll still try something stupid-"
"Even injured?"
"Even injured….Take a look at their position" hearing the faint amusement in Carmesi's voice Nero gave a simple gesture to another of his crew which saw the image on the main viewscreen adjust and refocus to display the makeshift barricade that the severely wounded Hunters had made from felled Cyber-Grimm; a pixillated image of Zirconia fighting amongst her former friends despite her cybernetic legs being in ruins enough to leave Nero struggling to keep his composure.
"You'll have your reinforcements soon" he managed to force himself to answer before ending the transmission and turning his attention towards his crew "Send word to the launch bays, every available Cyber-Grimm. I want them in the air now-"
"Um….Sir?" a worried voice interjected.
"What is is?" Nero demanded hotly, traces of the accent he had sought to mask rising to the fore.
"We have incoming"
"WHAT!"
"A single small craft is approaching rapidly from the south, from Atlesian airspace. It's uh….It's being followed by several warships which are also scrambling fighters" Nero's underling offered their answer nervously, clearly taken aback by his sudden loss of composure and furious outburst. Nero himself blinked his quartz-coloured eyes and rubbed at his temples, trying to process what he had just been told until a simple conclusions presented themselves.
"The Slate girl managed to get a message to her family. Damn it!" he took a deep breath in a futile attempt to steady himself "Deploy Cyber-Grimm, recover Carmesi, Gestalt-Prime, Zirconia and as many of the other Hunters as possible….How many Cyber-Grimm do we have available for immediate deployment?"
"Not enough Mister Nero, sir"
The answer was roughly what Damascus had expected but still infuriating to hear.
Pantheon sensed that the moment to deliver their message would come soon enough.
Whilst it was not yet upon their forces and devouring what remained of the war-host the enormous Cyber-Grimm vessel that Gestalt-Prime's human handler and master had created could be seen in the air with crimson pinpricks of light marking the places where freshly made Cyber-Grimm were being disgorged into the night sky. Pantheon watching it through the eyes of their remaining Grimm in the tundra even as they were thinned out and cut down by each successive volley of shots from the colossal machine-things' ranged weapons with a sense of satisfaction.
Thus far the plan had gone well, the chaos and violence their horde had inflicted had been met with a welling of the fear, grief and rage on which the Creatures of Grimm fed; enough so that new Grimm would be drawn to the place in the coming days and weeks and a Spawning Pit may well take root if efforts were not made by the Kingdoms to prevent it and the arrival of the Megalodon had seemingly put an end to whatever alliance of convenience had been forged between Gestalt-Prime and their allies and the Hunters that the upstart Grimm had been savaging upon the war-hosts' arrival.
Better still, despite the efforts of the flying Grimm-ship the Spear was not yet dead.
Urged on by Pantheon's will the Narwhal Grimm dragged itself back into a more upright position with a pained, groaning bellow and lurched back towards its' foes after being thoroughly ravaged by enemy fire; its' bone and muscle so thoroughly pummelled by rockets and lasers that gaping holes could be seen through the things' entirety, yet they were already in the process of slowly sealing themselves as the oils and sludge which leaked from the Spear once again changed its' properties and became a tar-like, hardening resin which filled the holes and took the place of missing tissue.
Before this process could fully take hold Gestalt-Prime came hurtling into view and back on the offensive. Everything about the Alpha Cyber-Grimm was a sorry state, the ragged holes and wounds in their own flesh not being healed so rapidly and their metallic exterior sparking and corroded whilst their left wing once again sagged and shuddered as though any sharp turn in the air might break the limb away entirely and despite it all the hybrid Alpha was undetermined and relentless. Lasers' mounted above their shoulders took aim and fired at the eyes of the Spear, narrowly missing the right eye of the Narwhal Grimm but burning a trail of blackened bone along the left side of its' skull which reduced its' left eye to ruin; the Spear let out a cry of pain and fury before charging with the speed and power Gestalt-Prime had clearly come to accept and prepared a countermeasure for.
Pantheon watched from within the psychic plane of the Hive-Mind with murderous anger as their enemy braced their clawed feet and legs to simply accept the oncoming charge and land on the sloping, streamlined skull of the Spear, wrapping their powerful tail around the middle of its' horn and then flying away at full speed and flexing their tail sharply.
Breaking the horn of the Narwhal Grimm away entirely.
It was at this point that Pantheon considered a change in tactics, perhaps allowing the remaining Grimm in the tundra to switch targets; the lesser Grimm using weight of numbers to overwhelm Gestalt-Prime whilst the Spear simply barrelled its' way through the defences of the Hunters with its' raw mass. The Grimm General was forced to dismiss the idea however as a fresh volley of laser-fire, accompanied by the roaring cacophony and chainsaw-on-metal shrieking of the new Cyber-Grimm as they drew closer.
Promptly followed by a new, less expected challenge.
Rockets filled with Ice Dust struck the Spear from the opposite side at it was then, as the much smaller aircraft responsible for the assault soared overhead that Pantheon realised that the Hunters' had their own reinforcements. New Hunters leapt from the aircraft even as it spun and whipped through the air to avoid flying monsters and it was then that Pantheon realised that several of them were familiar; opponents that the Grimm General had faced whilst in the service of Salem.
It was then that they knew it was over.
The Spear was the first to fall; frozen in place by Ice Dust projectiles the Narwhal Grimm was unable to free itself before a pale-skinned Bear Faunus with a beard soared overhead on a summoned Nevermore construct and began creating layered glyphs directly above the neck of the immobile beast. A second Hunter, a woman with red eyes, light brown skin and silver hair hauled herself from the back of the glowing phantom-Grimm and onto the glyphs before using her own Semblance to completely disregard physics; walking along the edges of the glowing surfaces to perch herself on the underside of the bottom glyph and ready her glaive in a two handed grip.
Diamond leap downwards and decapitated the Spear with a single strike before Arctus swooped through the air and caught her on his summoned Nevermore.
Close by there was an explosion of acrid smoke whose sound echoed unnaturally rang out as Gangrel Slate appeared in the snow, an oversized hand-cannon held at the ready in his mechanical left hand whilst his right was used to pluck the limp and dazed form of Astra Mars out of the snow; the weapon and the older Faunus's amber eyes fixed firmly on Gestalt-Prime as he led the rescued student towards safety.
Elsewhere in the snow the Cyber-Grimm had tried to carry out their orders, one of them retrieving the bloodied and barely conscious form of Carmesi Hueso from the crimson-stained snow he had fallen in whilst more still made to advance on the escaped Hunters so that they might be retrieved; this was halted when Weiss and Winter Schnee landed close by on their own conjured, phantom-Grimm and simultaneously went on the attack and the defensive. The younger of sisters leaping into the midst of the students' ruined attempt at defences whilst summoning up a domed wall of interlocking glyphs comprised of so many layers that anything short of an all-out assault by the Megalodon itself would fall short whilst the elder sister leapt from one glyph of her own making to the next with sword and dagger in hand to dismantle the Cyber-Grimm with a precision which suggested that she had meticulously studied their designs to seek out every possible weakness in them.
In moments the Cyber-Grimm were pushed into a retreat whilst the Megalodon loomed closer, the Hunters had been secured and the last of the Creatures of the Grimm were the only foe left to be fought and so it was here that Pantheon made their move. Normally no single Creature of Grimm, particularly anything so commonplace and unimportant as those which had made up the bulk of the war-host could ever hope to be a vessel for the whole weight of the Grimm General's presence, however as they caught sight of Gestalt-Prime trying to escape Pantheon reached forward through the Hive-Mind and into each of the remaining Grimm in the tundra so that they could act directly through them for at least a few moments.
Gestalt-prime was tackled to the ground, their attempts to retreat cut short by the weight of an Ursa hammering in to their back.
And then that Ursa, along with every other Creature of Grimm present began to speak.
"Usurper. Weakling. Coward. Slave" the sneering taunts came from a dozen inhuman maws at once and echoed through the snow and darkness, the unnatural sound bringing everything to a halt.
"You-" Gestalt-Prime's retort was cur short as the Ursa pinning them in place flipped the Alpha Cyber-Grimm onto their back and in response Gestalt-prime tore it in half with a single well-placed strike only for the other Grimm to continue speaking.
"You did not win here today lapdog. Nor will you or the humans you serve, like an obedient pet ever truly win" Pantheon sneered through the Grimm "Scurry away and lick your wounds, but as you do know that the real war is coming, a war you will not survive….If you truly wish for yourself and your abominations to be the future of the Grimm then you will have to challenge me head on. Coward"
With that final insult the feeble, animal minds of the Creatures of Grimm were overloaded and their bodies collapsed in a cascading eruption of fading smoke; leaving Pantheon with no presence in that particular stretch of the tundra and so the Grimm General reached back into the wider Hive-Mind, taking a few moments to ensure that their ravenous hordes across Remnant were as they should be before returning to their own physical body and rising from their living throne to stride into the depths of their seafloor fortress.
There was work to be done.
"What just happened?" Athena-Jade's question, given in wheezing, shivering gasps as she sank into the nearest makeshift wall of snow, twisted steel and broken, frozen earth that had been shattered by emerging Grimm; keeping Heartbreaker in her hands in its' laser cannon form and turning the weapon skyward so that she was prepared in the event that the Cyber-Grimm in the air unleashed some unknown final gambit.
The Creatures of Grimm had spoken, en masse and sharing a single voice in a display that rivalled the first time she had heard Gestalt-prime speak in terms of sheer strangeness though it was clear that whatever had been done to the monsters to enable such a feat had eventually destroy them. Now the battle, if it was to continue at all was between her team-mates and her family members who had come to her rescue as they had promised and the Cyber-Grimm, many of which were hovering in the air in loose formation whilst others which were too damaged to fly away skulked and dragged themselves through the snow.
The young woman remained on guard, diligently watching the skies until she felt a body crash into her own and realised the was being hugged by her mother.
"Hey, hey I'm okay Mum….Just, easy on the ribs" Athena breathed out, allowing her weapon to fall to the ground and wrapping her arms around Weiss's shoulders before pulling back and giving her a weak smile which only served to highlight just how much blood had stained her sharp teeth and trickled down her chin in thin trails and spatters. Weiss met her daughters' eyes, almost identical to her own and visibly fought the urge to let out a sob at the sight of Athena-Jade so badly harmed.
"I should have gotten here sooner. I should have found a way to-"
"Mum, it's okay. I'm gonna be okay….We just need to get my team out of here, they need doctors" Athena's voice wavered at that as her eyes roved across the small and enclosed area that her team-mates were congregating to see that Stygian was somewhat more alert than he had been and that awareness of his surroundings and condition was causing him nothing but pain, close by was Zirconia who regarded the scene around her with an expression of grim resolve that barely masked her obvious fear. Regalia was the most mobile of them all, though her face was a bloody ruin that would likely take some degree of surgery to repair and as a small opening in the glyphs appeared the Racoon Faunus limped and staggered forwards to throw her arms around a similarly bloodied Astra, whom Athena realised was being led by her father.
"Dad, Dad!" Athena dragged herself forwards, swaying with pain and exhaustion as the adrenaline left her until both of her parents were holding her upright.
"I'm sure I've told you to work on your blocking, more than once" the older Bear Faunus noted with a tired smile as he wrapped an arm around his daughter and pulled her into a gentle hug; Athena laughed in response only for the bands of pain which ripped through her chest to sharply refocus her mind.
"What do we do now, we can't take down the Megalodon?" she asked with evident worry, gesturing up at the sky where the domed protective glyphs that her mother were being flanked by a pair of summoned, winged Grimm; with her brother and his wife riding atop a glowing Nevermore whilst her Aunt Winter had taken to the air on a conjured Griffon. Facing them were a small swarm of Cyber-Grimm at the head of which the heavily damaged but defiant and enraged form of Gestalt-prime could be seen.
"It….Will certainly be a challenge to overcome" Weiss noted, nose wrinkling in visible disgust as she regarded the Grimm-ship; placing an arm in front of Athena as though she could protect her daughter from the thing so easily whilst at the same time Gangrel regarded the Megalodon and the Cyber-Grimm, particularly Gestalt-prime with open loathing.
"Oh it'll go down. Or it'll back off, depends how smart its' crew are" Athena looked up at her father, ready to contest that assertion until she heard her Aunt let out a shrill whistle in the air above them which signalled both herself and Arctus moving their constructs out of the way.
And then a volley of incoming laser-fire and missiles set the sky ablaze.
Athena-Jade instinctively ducked her head, though she found that after fighting the Cyber-Grimm for so long she was not the only one to do so and that each of her team-mates had reacted in much the same way; taking cover or protecting one another as much as possible until they realised exactly what was happening.
"We have reinforcements" Weiss assured them all proudly.
"Winter has four destroyer class warships moving into position as we speak and fighters scrambling, more en route and footage of that….thing is being sent to the Mantle Freeholds authorities, they're not gonna harbour that"
It was with wide-eyed disbelief and a wondrous sense of relief that Athena watched Gestalt-prime disengaged the armour around their jaw and let out a final, fierce scream before turning away and flying back towards the Megalodon which in turn began to fall back before it could be fired on again.
Nero's forces were retreating, it was over and they had won.
That sense of giddiness quickly fell away, replaced by a dread and despair which felt as though the ground was once again collapsing under her as her mothers' glyphs vanished and her Aunt, General Winter Schnee herself landed close by and began to stride towards them.
Specifically towards Zirconia, with a sword still in her hand.
"Aunt Winter, no! Wait! You can't!" Athena struggled free of her parents and all but hurled herself at her aunt, arms locking around the older woman's arm and shoulder to pin the and her weapon to her body. An event Winter acknowledged with a slow intake of breath through her nose.
"Athena I am being overly tolerant and understanding given the situation. Explain"
"You can't take Zirconia. You can't-"
"She is a wanted terrorist-"
"She's the only reason any of us got out!" Athena screamed back "She's the only reason I didn't die Jidhir Town and she can help us! Please, you can't-"
"AJ" Zirconia rasped out, voice cracking into a pained whimper "It's over. We knew this was coming, let it happen"
"No!"
"If the two of you would care to listen" Winter ground the words out with an air of finality "Having already been made aware of the fact that Shadowmoon, a terrorist wanted in connection with crimes in multiple Kingdoms and known associate of Damascus Nero has defected and is currently fleeing, in fear for her life I have taken measures and have an offer….Though do not be foolish enough to believe that there is really a choice in the matter"
"What's the offer?" Athena asked, loosening her grip on her Aunt only slightly and seeing in the corner of her eye that Astra and Regalia were preparing to do something if the situation devolved.
"Rather than be summarily executed, or taken into custody immediately I am offering protective custody on behalf of Atlas to Miss Shadowmoon" Winter declared bluntly, looking passed Athena to bore into the Grasshopper Faunus's mismatched eyes "You will be offered protection and shelter for the duration of the conflict against Damascus Nero and his allies, following which your actions during the campaign may see you granted some leniency in sentencing….This is of course dependant on your willingness to cooperate and offer information. This is the same deal Diamond's parents were offered in the first war against Salem-"
"Dude!" Diamond exclaimed from beside Arctus "Don't tell her that….Or at least don't leave out the part where my parents disappeared before anyone from Atlas could formally charge-"
"I'll do it" Zirconia breathed out, visibly sagging under the weight of the words "I can tell you what Damascus is planning and what he needs an Aura Transfer Machine for….But I don't know anything about those talking Grimm just now.
"I have my suspicions" Winter answered coldly before turning away and summoning the aircraft that would be their medical evac.
Author's Notes:
So, that's the finale battle of Vol.08 done.
Just one chapter left to wrap everything up.
I think we can tell some of what's gonna happen here and how Vol.09 is gonna go.
But anyway, let's summarise shall we?:
I wanted to create a sense of everyone fighting the Grimm being absolutely overwhelmed from the very start of this chapter.
The Man-Eaters charging the Grimm is a little bit like the Dothraki charging the White Walkers in the last season of Game of Thrones; you thought it was gonna be a fight and then you just watch the lights go out.
Yes, Team MARS and Zirconia were absolutely crying at this point; one of them is missing half an arm, literally everyone is injured….It's something Carmesi has absolutely seen before as well, he's been around the block a few times.
Let at him, finding a bit of humanity in there….The flashbacks to his families' death was a little harsh though.
Yeah Regalia's nose isn't just broken, those claws went all the way through cartilage midway through the bridge of her nose.
Astra is the champ for that one there.
The corpse-barricade was clever and just a show of how desperate things were.
Of course Gestalt-prime went straight for the Spear.
And yeah, Astra is the most pissed we've ever seen 'em.
Pantheon really did have nothing to worry about at the start.
"Hide behind a wall with guns on and let someone else come out and do the fighting" it really is the Kingdoms' strategy.
Okay so in my head that moment where the Spear literally dived down onto Gestalt-prime head-first only for them to flash-boil the snow and reveal that they were there holding onto its' horn….That was some peak anime bullshit.
Had to get rid of Gestalt-Prime's big gun early on, it's like getting shot by an airship.
Carmesi's Semblance was basically just making spike strips for the Grimm to run over at speed.
The Hunters got to feel like they were doing something for a moment before Pantheon said "Nah".
That attack from below was just nasty….Turned the fight into something like "Imperial Guard Vs Tyranids" in 40k.
"LIVE! FOR THE BRIGHT NEW TOMORROW!" admit it, it's kinda bad-ass.
That was a solid move from Astra, the Grimm start tunnelling so the answer is collapse the tunnels.
The Spear was never meant to be more than just a big beastie to draw attention in the crowd, but it had so have something for a special ability and I went with it being able to change the consistency and properties of the slime coating it.
Y'know when a dog or a pig rolls in mud….Yeah that's what the Spear did, except the mud was acid and Gestalt-Prime got dragged into it.
The Spear used tail whip, like a Lv.2 Rattata.
Carmesi losing his eye, especially the way it happened is almost a parallel to Stygian losing his arm last chapter; then I followed it up with him getting a gut shot just to be extra.
The Cyber-Grimm had to contribute something, other than mangling students….And Zirconia's "I won't be coming back with you, but somebody should tell my Dad that I made it out of here alive" felt earned.
Nero really has managed to avoid the worst of the consequences of his own actions.
My favourite descriptions for laser fights in the dark/space is actually from the novelisation of Star Wars Episode 3, the battle over Coruscant at the start.
Nero's plans require Gestalt-Prime to be hard to kill.
Wonder how much the average Hunter uses Aura to suppress recoil, the whole "Weapons are an extension of us" meeting "Aura is a manifestation of our soul".
"Injured Mister Nero….Everyone's fucking injured here" is made worse by the fact it's coming from Carmesi, because when has he ever given up?
Nero wants Zirconia back and Team MARS as leverage, that means that Astra has to get shot as well as the Spear.
Ha, bitch you thought you were the only ones with reinforcements and air support?
Pantheon was enjoying that whole fight.
Gestalt-prime breaking the Narwhal Grimm's horn off as a direct fuck you to Pantheon just felt right.
That idea of switching around who was fighting who would absolutely have worked for Pantheon as well.
Pantheon definitely knows at least a couple of the people who hopped out of that aircraft.
Arctus and Diamond team up moves are always an event, always action set-pieces.
Weiss is an absolute powerhouse when she goes mama bear mode, you could have dropped a building on those glyphs and it would have rolled off.
And Winter has absolutely studied the Cyber-Grimm designs, especially now she's had a chance to see them in person.
But this is what Pantheon has been building up to, literally this whole thing was to damage Gestalt-Prime, deplete Nero's forces a little and then issue a challenge so that they can draw Gestalt-Prime out to a fight on Pantheon's terms….Which leads into what they're gonna be doing next chapter.
Talkative Grimm are still a massive rarity, the list is literally Salem, Phobos, Pantheon, that one Cheetah Grimm that just repeated sounds and Gestalt-prime.
Is there anything crueller than needing a hug but being physically unable to receive one?
Athena-Jade started this story wearing band-aids as a fashion statement because she got her nose punched in so often, she's definitely been told about her blocking.
Those other airships are a little further behind, but just on the edge of weapons' range.
And now any ideas that Nero might have had about landing in the Mantle Freeholds are shot.
I don't think anybody else would have the gall to try and tackle Winter like that and I also don't think anybody else would actually survive trying.
Zirconia is in a similar position to redeemed Merc & Em, so she's getting a similar offer….Now, where might her protective custody have her end up?
Diamond does make a point though, it's a little disingenuous to say that Merc & Em ended the war and charges were dropped, they literally disappeared and Winter decided to let 'em go.
But also, Winter and the rest of the cabal had some notion that Pantheon, or something like Pantheon might exist before; now it's pretty much confirmed.
Thank you to MajorBrony95 for their review on the last chapter.
Glad you enjoyed then 'con.
All directions? Oh I can promise you there's still at least half a dozen directions from which shift has not yet been flung.
I think if you weren't already terrified of a Cyber-Grimm specifically designed to kill or capture Hunters and enemy leaders you're nuts.
Is it really convoluted when poly relationships are already a well established thing?
As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review.