It had been approximately two years since Number 9 had first arrived on Remnant and he had gained a decent amount of information, two of which intrigued him the most. Firstly, dust not only was compatible with kaiju biology but it also enhanced a kaiju's uni-organ, giving even the weakest kaiju elemental based capabilities. Secondly, the female human he had absorbed had a specific phenotypical trait which appeared as silver colored irises, this trait inexplicably made the organism more effective at killing grimm, and if used enough can give the organism the ability to produce beams of light which could petrify, and in smaller cases, disintegrate grimm. He had ample time to develop his skill with this adaptation as grimm seemed to be attracted to the cave in which he formed his base of operations. On top of his own training, the female was already experienced with the adaptation's utilization luckily for him.
On top of his new discoveries, he had also molted twice, resulting in his strength increasing to levels that matched his power during his fight with Isao Shinomiya. This had also resulted in the production of two copies of himself, which he designated Beta and Gamma.
He was observing the chemical makeup of a dust crystal when he received a synaptic message from Beta.
'Ground level vanguard, in place." Beta communicated, relaying that his force of kaiju was in position to attack the city.
About a year ago, Number 9 had discovered a large city known as Vale that sat close to the mountain range he was residing in, he had deemed it a good target for his first test. He chose Vale as opposed to a smaller village for a few reasons. Firstly, it held a vital communications tower which, if destroyed, would cut off long range communications globally, which would leave vale weakened and would allow him to properly experiment without Vale's allies coming to its rescue. Secondly, it held a site known as Beacon academy, which trained young humans to be huntsmen, if destroyed, it would result in the production of new huntsmen in the area slowing to a halt. Finally, Beacon held two things he desired which he learned of from the female, something known as the "Fall Maiden," and the "Crown of Choice." Each held supposedly immense power, power which he desired.
But he knew he would have to wait for that power, he knew that the force he was sending would be stopped, he was simply sending it to test Vale's defense capabilities, similar to what he had done to Tachikawa base.
'Underground level vanguard, in place." Gamma communicated, notifying Number 9 that the other half of the vanguard was in place in an underground abandoned tunnel that ran beneath the city.
"Copy Beta, advance." Number 9 commanded, sending forth the wave of fire dust infused ant kaiju upon the city's defensive walls.
It was midday in the city of Vale, people were going through their days, civilians gathered at restaurants and cafes as huntsmen and students patrolled the streets. The sentries stationed on the wall were eating, lazing about as the bullheads patrolled the sky, looking for any ground activity. Then, along the wall and city outskirts, the ground began to shake.
"Alert! Alert!" One of the sentry's radios rang out, transmitting the voice of a bullhead pilot. "There's a large horde of massive grimm heading straight for the wall! I've never seen anything like them! We need defenses on high alert, NOW!"
One of the sentries sprang from his eat and slammed down a button that sounded an alarm across the whole city.
"Emergency, grimm attack, all citizens please get to shelter, all certified huntsmen to the defensive wall. I repeat, grimm attack, all citizens please get to shelter, all certified huntsmen to the defensive wall." An automated voice rang out alongside the siren. Citizens ran to any building they could fit inside to hide in and huntsmen ran to the city perimeter as the rumbling got closer.
Headmaster Ozpin of Beacon Academy looked out to the city as sirens rang, he took a sip of his coffee and stared at the shaking tree line outside of Vale's walls. He was confused, why would she be attacking now of all times?
The guards and huntsmen on the wall had readied their weapons aiming towards the tree line as bullheads took pot shots at the incoming grimm. Then a lance of fire came from the forest and hit a bullhead dead on, bringing it down. This only intensified the growing fear in the hearts of the defenders, and that fear soon reached a breaking point when they saw what breached the tree line. Because what was barreling towards the wall was not a grimm, it was shaped like an ant, was bigger than an ursa major, had an array of dust crystals coming out of its shell, and most terrifyingly it wasn't pure black, it was a dark brown color with veins of red energy visible from under the shell.
"OPEN FIRE!" One of the sentries yelled, every person followed the command and opened fire on the insectoid monster which had nearly closed in on the wall.
Bullheads opened fire into the forest but were quickly forced into evasive maneuvers by the lances of fire coming from the monsters.
Just as the first of the massive ants went down, the tide was already upon the wall, causing the sentries and huntsmen to fire desperately downwards as the supporting bullheads evaded the fire.
Copy Beta stood just behind the tree line, its torso sticking out of the head of the act kaiju it had absorbed itself into. "Ground level vanguard attack is underway." It communicated to Number 9.
"Good," Number 9 responded, "observations?" Number 9 questioned the copy.
"Their standard firearms utilize fire dust detonations like that of conventional firearms and gunpowder, they are just as effective as them as well." Copy Beta began to list off, "They have some energy-based weapons that are more effective at bringing down smaller kaiju but are low in quantity. Huntsmen have unique weapons similar to high ranking defense force officers but are estimated to be about half as strong, estimations say they could take out a small number of weak kaiju on their own, no visible semblances have been observed."
"I see," Number 9 replied, processing the information, "continue the attack, Beta, look for any potential semblances that could be beneficial."
"Acknowledged," Beta replied, cutting off the synaptic link.
"Copy Gamma," Number 9 switched links to the underground ambush leader.
"Listening," Copy Gamma replied. Gamma had undergone a similar process to Beta, fusing its body with a larger ant kaiju, the only difference between the two being that Beta's force had been infused with fire dust, and Gamma's force had been infused with gravity dust.
"Begin underground attack, be on the look out for the target." Number 9 commanded.
"Acknowledged, commencing underground assault." Gamma responded, commanding its forces to the surface.
Alongside testing Vale's defensive capabilities, Number 9 had also found a desirable target to fuse with in the memories of the woman known as Summer Rose. A woman by the name of Glynda Goodwitch, who possessed a semblance which allowed her to move matter with her mind. If found, her semblance could prove useful in his later experiments, all he needed to do was draw her out, and he had predicted that this attack would be perfect for drawing her out.
Glynda was cursing herself both verbally and mentally, of course the transport from Beacon to Vale was late, of course she needed to help every citizen she came across, and of course she had to look for her riding crop for 15 minutes. But that didn't matter, because she was almost to the city center, she was halfway to the wall, she was almost there. Then the ground began to shake, then split, then explode from beneath her! She jumped back regaining her footing just in time to see what caused the detonation. What she saw shook her to her core.
It was no grim, it was large, larger than a deathstalker, it had insectoid features like that of an ant, and was colored a sickly beige with veins of purple flowing around its form. Black gravity dust crystals grew around its exoskeleton, forming ridges of armor. As the massive ant fully emerged from the ground, a large amount of smaller ant monsters emerged, forming a wave of monstrous bulk that surrounded her.
As she readied her riding crop she was stopped by a sickly crackling noise as the skull of the biggest ant began to grow something that looked like a cancerous growth out of its head. The growth then took the shape of something that looked humanoid at first, but upon it fully forming was obviously not. It was a similar shade of sickly purple tinted beige as the ant, with three black crystal forming on each shoulder, its head looked like a mushroom and it had a maw of too human looking teeth that formed a sickly grin. Two beady eyes stared right at her, and upon further inspection, Glynda saw that they were a purple tinted silver color. Then it did something that shook her even further… It spoke.
"Ah, how fortunate," The monster spoke, pointing a finger at her, "you're right in the open."
Nobody got you the way I do~