RWBY: Destiny of Remnant

by UGX7

In the wake of the fall Team RNJR sets out to bring Cinder Fall to justice while the new Fall Maiden overlooks her master's plan in Haven City. Meanwhile Weiss tries to help a friend, Yang struggles with the loss of her arm, and Blake deals with guilt over the White Fang. Meanwhile someone from Cinder's past returns and Salem's newest pawn rises. Arkos, WhiteRose, SunnyBees, Renora

75. Salem Strikes Part IV, Friend and Enemy

Check out the new one-shot prequel to this fic by Cosmic Fiction! The Relics of Remnant!

Dedicated to the memory of Stan Lee, 1922-2018, and Stephen Hillenburg, 1961-2018. As well to a long time family friend who passed away at the age of 85, and a distant cousin who tragically took his own life. May they all find peace in a better place.

Soundtrack: Forest Battle by Steve Jablonsky from Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Soundtrack

Rescue and Finale by Alan Silvestri from The Mummy Returns Soundtrack

Chapter 74: Salem Strikes Part IV, Friends and Enemies

The headquarters of the Schnee Dust Company was one of the few buildings that could truly dominate the city skyline of Atlas, since it was more than a hundred and fifty stories high. It stood along with the sights of the daunting Atlas's military headquarters, the fortress-like Atlas Academy and the shining Atlesian citadel where the Council conducted daily governing business. Its white and blue façade was easily distinguished among the many buildings that occupy the cityscape of the capital, and if that wasn't enough a huge holographic version of the Schnee emblem shone upon the building's front.

It was from this place that Willow Jacques Schnee controlled his multi-billion business empire.

Schnee was currently seated at his desk, made from flawless white marble and transparent glass, in his personal office, clothed in his usual finest formal suit of white with silver-grey buttons. His workplace was rather impressive to say the least, with a ceiling that stretched high towards the roof of the building and tall wide glass wall windows that provided an unobstructed view overlooking the cityscape. A huge and complicated-looking crystal chandelier surrounded by a number of smaller ones hung from the ceiling, and the floor of the office was covered with square white tiles stamped with the Schnee family emblem. A huge blue carpet with inlaid intricate patterns, handwoven by the finest carpet-makers in Mistral, ran the entire length of the room from his desk towards the huge oaken doors that formed the entrance to the office.

Willow steepled his fingers as he scrutinized the many reports, statistics, and various other visual information populating the vast holographic display that was being projected from his desk's built-in holographic system. Every few minutes fresh updates would ping for his attention, and with an irritated swipe of his fingers the Schnee patriarch muted the display's notifications as he concentrated on the current matters at hand.

Despite the hard-won reclamation of Beacon Academy and the splintering of the White Fang, the Atlas Council had agreed to step up the security and defenses of the Kingdom to ensure that the massive Atlesian military forces were more than prepared to take any action necessary to preserve the continued safety of the northern Kingdom. With that came the new orders that were issued to all major companies in Atlas, including the S.D.C. and Omniscient Industries, to increase the production of Atlas technologies and Dust supplies significantly.

While the company's shareholders had aired their grievances to Willow in the latest meeting session, he had managed to use all of his negotiating skills appease them for the time being by saying that it was an order from the highest available authority in the Atlas Kingdom. On the bright side though, at least the public relations campaign that the S.D.C. had put in place such as giving Faunus workers equal job opportunities, better working conditions and better pay had yielded positive results, and according to public feedback so far the civic masses were relatively supportive.

While his work life could be stressful, monotonous, draining, challenging…and whatever else the day wished to throw at him, Willow had resolved that he would meet it to the best of his efforts as he did every single day since he had taken on the post of the SDC's president.

However the calm and silence of his office was broken when a Kingdom-wide alert had been issued, and the Schnee patriarch realized that something catastrophic had happened. His worst fears were proven true when an emergency broadcast from the CCT Tower announced that Grimm attacks were apparently happening all about the Kingdom, intruding into the various major towns and cities which were near to and far away from the capital.

Schnee's eyes widened in shock as he watched a live feed on his desk's holographic screen showing images of Mantle City under attack from what looked like dark-colored versions of his company's Atlesian Knights. They were apparently called Grimm Knights, and if he could the Schnee father would have sued for the blatant plagiarism. Hordes of Grimm of numerous types also attacked the borders of the capital, and were being fought off by the Huntsmen and Huntresses from Atlas Academy and supported by the Atlesian military forces, law enforcement officers and anyone else trained with a weapon.

Additional attacks were also happening in places like Margarite Harbor, Aszod City, North Point, Solitarius…the list went on. To make matters worse, several military bases scattered around the Solitas continent were also under heavy attack as well. CCT Traffic had increased constantly and drastically and military activity had heightened severely. A glance at the wide open windows behind his desk showed battleships and airships of the Atlesian military taking off from the military headquarters' landing pads, accompanied by squadrons of smaller gunships and Atlas Eagles.

A new beeping transmission appeared on the holographic screen, and Willow stabbed down on the button to receive it. The face of the family's loyal butler Klein Sieben appeared, a look of dread evident on his face as he said, "Have you seen what's happening?"

"If you mean these attacks happening all over the Kingdom, then yes I have." Willow replied, too overwhelmed to bother scolding Klein for his breach of proper butler protocol.

He winced visibly as he saw another video feed showing a sizable explosion erupt into the air somewhere in Mantle City, while Grimm ran amuck throughout the streets after innocent civilians despite the best efforts of law-enforcement officers as well as the Huntsmen and Huntresses.

"This is beyond dreadful…" Klein lamented.

"Indeed it is…" Willow agreed, not paying attention to his butler as he was deep in thought regarding the newest crisis. He could hear the hurried footsteps of the S.D.C. staff, attendants, assistants, doormen, security guards and many other company staff just beyond the doors of his office, and had no doubt that they would possibly be glued to the huge holographic screens throughout the building which were displaying the same emergency broadcast message throughout the Kingdom.

After much thought, the Schnee father took a deep breath as he made a decision, "Klein, get the rest of the mansion staff to the secure bunker, and send out our private security force to make sure nothing approaches our home."

Klein didn't argue, and he merely nodded as Willow opened up another window on his holographic screen and typed something into his desk's built-in computer system.

"Master Schnee, what are you doing? You need to get to an emergency shelter right now!"

"Not until every single one of the S.D.C.'s company staff has been evacuated. As for what I'm doing...I'm fighting back. I'm logging into the company-wide communications system across the Kingdom." Willow elaborated as he took over the public address system in every S.D.C. facility in the Kingdom of Atlas. He cleared his throat, pressed the transmission button and started speaking in a calm voice, "Attention all S.D.C. employees, this is your president, Willow Jacques Schnee, speaking. I'm issuing a general alert for immediate evacuation. Our Kingdom is currently under attack, and the Atlas military has been mobilized to defend us. I want all S.D.C. facilities to go into lockdown immediately, and if the metropolitan areas your S.D.C. branch resides in is under attack, then send out three-fifths of your security forces to combat this disaster before it gets any worse. For all facilities in the other towns and cities not currently under attack, all personnel are to evacuate to the safety of their subterranean bunkers while their security forces are to board their company airships and head towards the defense of the nearest civic locations. All Atlesian Knights that are functional and armed are to be deployed right away to support the company security forces in repelling the Grimm. These are priority orders and any facility or personnel that do not comply with them will answer to me personally. Oum's speed, everyone."

Willow Schnee took a deep breath as he ended the transmission and sat back down in his chair. The speech had seemingly taken a lot out of the aging man. He only prayed that Weiss and Winter were both safe at the moment.

"Are you all right, sir?" Klein's holographic images inquired, concerned.

"My company's shareholders and the board of directors might not take kindly to what I just did." Willow answered glumly after using two fingers of his right hand to pinch his temples.

"Oh to hell with them. They can say whatever they want, but the safety and welfare of your employees must always come first." The Schnee family butler told his employer, "Good show, sir! You did what was right, and that's what counts. Madame Gwyneth would be very proud of you, and I know your two daughters will be as well."

The president of the S.D.C. offered a rare smile before replying, "Thank you, Klein. Now go, get everyone in the mansion to the bunker and see to your own protection."

"And yours too as well, sir." Klein nodded and ended the transmission, and once his holographic image vanished Willow Schnee looked over to one of his most prized possessions in his office, something that even on days when he felt cold and cynical it always made him stop and think. It was a portrait picture of himself, his late wife and their two beautiful daughters. It reminded him of how lucky he was to have Gwyneth as his wife, and of the two children he had that were worth more than all the lien he could earn in the world of Remnant. He could only hope that he would make the Schnee bloodline of Atlas proud, and honor them appropriately while making up for his own past failures.

Before he could do anything he got another transmission, one from Alexandra Maximilius, head of the Atlesian Council. He quickly answered the call and an image of the woman his own age appeared on his desk.

"Willow, I take it you've noticed what's happening?" She asked.

"Of course I have, I just sent my company's security forces out across the Kingdom to help fight back. I'm about to leave for the building's shelter." He told her.

"Good work," She said, nodding approvingly, "My own company is doing something similar. Ironwood and Maple are overseeing the effort to push back and I'm making sure the capital is defended and that all my fellow councilmembers are safe."

"I'm safe as I can be. My top guards are outside my office right now, ready to escort me to safety." Willow assured her.

"Good."

The eldest Schnee sighed and said "How did this happen? A widespread attack like this must have been in the works for months."

"We'll find out, and make those responsible pay." Maximilius assured him, "Now get going, I hope to see you once this is over."

---

Admiral Nemo hadn't bothered to count the pirates she had defeated thus far. Be it they were simply knocked unconscious or dead, it made no difference to her as long as they were out of the fight. Her ornate sword was stained with the blood of pirates and her grandfather's pistol was smoking after she had emptied two rounds into a pirate's face and kicked him into the oceans. The rest of the pirates' latest boarding party she had just met were bleeding to death several meters behind her as she ran down the shaking and blood-stained hallways with an entourage of combat engineers and Atlesian troopers from the 212th Assault Battalion accompanying her.

They rounded a corner and saw a squad of armored troopers manning a pair of portable heavy machine-gun turrets behind an erected barricade hosing down the hallway with fusillades of armor-piercing rounds, killing any pirate who couldn't get to cover or were foolish enough to charge down the long major corridor. Other troops were adding to the gunfight by firing their assault rifles and tossing a grenade whenever they were able, while covering for their comrades to reload with fresh ammunition.

Seeing that they didn't need assistance and overhearing that the main carrier decks were under attack, Nemo turned and sprinted down another hallway while changing a fresh magazine into her pistol. Bursting out into another major intersection with armored windows providing a view out onto the raging sea-based battlefield, she fought her fuming anger down even as she surveyed the heavily damaged sections of Margarite Harbor especially on its sea-facing side.

It was, without a doubt, probably one of the worst pirates she had ever witnessed in her entire naval career.

Buildings both near and away from the waterfront burned, with firefighters from the fire departments in both trucks and boats doing their best to fight the blazes down with intense water sprays while the Atlesian naval forces, military forces, police officers, Huntsmen and Huntresses around the city did their level best to protect the terrified civilians from the Grimm beasts and the invading pirates.

Nemo saw a roaring Sea Feilong smash its body into a tall office building flanking the canal, ripping a huge gash out of its side and sending dangerous rains of broken glass and broken beams smashing down onto the streets below, while another expelled a bright bot of yellow lightning to destroy a bridge that hung over the waterway which civilians were hurriedly fleeing over. The normally well-made structure, unable to withstand the damage that was wrought upon it, collapsed in a deafening crash of breaking metal and shattering concrete, sending the broken sections with civilians and vehicles falling into the waters as the Sea Feilongs went further into the city to wreak further havoc.

While a small number of gunships and airships had managed to lift off to provide some much-needed air support, the Atlas Eagles on board the Nautilus II hadn't stood a chance, being shot down by the anti-aircraft guns on the pirate ships the moment they took off, either exploding in mid-air into fireballs or falling into the sea trailing bits of flaming wreckage. The number of aircraft squadrons in the air weren't enough to combat the amount of Grimm or retain control of the skies, and she can't send the order for the remaining airships, fighters and interceptors to take off since they would be also shot down.

The massive twin-barreled anti-ship cannon emplacements of the outer defense ring, along with the additional artillery cannons and missile batteries of the inner defense ring, were firing non-stop into the invading Grimm hordes and pirate ships even as several of those turrets were hit in return and blew up in scorching explosions. Many of those cannon emplacements furthest away from Margarite Harbor were already reduced to flaming wreckage, taken out of action by salvoes of enemy missile and cannon fire. While the accompanying machine-gun and anti-air turrets were still functional, they were only chipping away at the huge swarms of seaborne Grimm heading into Margarite Harbor.

"Damn it all." Nemo muttered as she slammed a fist into the wall next to her in fuming anger. The situation was getting worse by the second, but at least her executive officer Blanc was doing a good job of punishing the Grimm and the pirate ships with the Nautilus II's arsenal while coordinating the beleaguered Atlas naval fleet to form a proper counterattack. Her second-in-command would go far in his career, of that Nemo was sure as she checked that her pistol was fully functional before she dashed out into the warzone of the upper decks to rejoin the fighting men and women under her command.

The ship was in complete pandemonium, as a massive gunfight had broken out across the entire length of the main landing bays between the boarding parties of pirates and the defending squads Atlesian troopers of the 212th Assault Battalion. In the nearby hangar bays, other squads were doing their best to stop additional pirates from boarding Nautilus II, with individual troopers cutting away their grappling hooks while their comrades provided covering fire for them. Makeshift barricades were erected across the landing bay, with many Atlesian troopers exchanging gunfire with the assorted pirate scum who were hiding among the stacks of equipment and empty airships at the far end of the landing bays.

Here and there were armored troopers locked in forceful sword fights against human and Faunus pirates wielding various close-range weapons.

"Go help them!" Nemo barked at the troopers who saluted and ran off, before gesturing for the combat engineers to start working on the computer consoles at a control room nearby which controls the hangar bay defenses, "You three, get those defenses back online asap!"

A young naval officer at the barricade a short distance away from Nemo stood up quickly to fire her assault rifle at the pirates, but an enemy round grazed her shoulder and spun her around, crashing to the deck plates in a cry of pain. A trooper from the 212th fired a spray of bullets from his rifle and pulled her back into cover, just as Nemo ran over and quickly gave her a cursory check. The enemy bullet had cut past the shoulder of the female officer, whose name Nemo remembered was Shelia, leaving behind a blood-stained scrape on her uniform.

"A minor wound, but a medic should take a look at it. Stay still," Nemo instructed the officer while the 212th trooper beside them hollered for medic, "Keep pressure on that wound, and don't move around too much."

"Thanks, Admiral. We're taking a beating, but with you around I guess we'll make the pirates pay." The female naval officer spoke through gritted teeth, trying to beat down her pain.

"We will push them back, mark my words." Nemo told her before standing up and taking aim at the pirates who were hiding behind stacks of supplies and equipment. She pulled the trigger twice, scoring a pair of lucky hits on a pair of unlucky pirates.

All the while the four triple-barreled Main Railgun Turrets on the Nautilus II's forecastle fired as quickly as they could, while torrents of laserfire, missiles and shells vomited from the many other turrets and guns of the battle cruiser into the sides of the pirate ships, savaging their hulls and blasting chunks off their ship structures with every passing moment. It wasn't long before the attacking pirate ships were beginning to show signs of severe damage, with black smoke rising from the smoldering holes.

Not far away from the Nautilus II, the Dauntless and Vengeance were also fighting back with everything they had, be it engaging the other pirate ships or reducing the amount of sea-based Grimm in the vicinity. Cannons roared, laserfire whined and machine-gun turrets blazed unceasingly, hurling hails of ordnance in the direction of the enemy as they fought like valiant knights protecting their queen. The Endurance, on the other hand, maneuvered itself with its support craft over the main harbor gates of Margarite, its guns and cannons supporting the army forces and remaining anti-ship cannon emplacements as they sought to keep more Grimm from entering the severely damaged city.

The same could not be said of the Redoubtable, as its wrecked hull was broken in several places, and a Grimm Kraken was hauling itself onto the forecastle and destroying the remaining functional turrets as they blazed futilely at the huge Grimm creature. Frigates and gunboats chipped away at its black skin with machine guns and cannons, while naval officers and troops rescued as many military personnel as they could from the blazing wreck while fighting off any Grimm that tried to attack them.

After making sure that Sheila had received proper medical attention, Nemo made her way across the landing bays with a number of heavily armed troopers in tow while dispatching as many pirates as she could. Running beside and behind her, her entourage of Atlesian troops blasted or cut apart any remaining pirates she missed, covering her back as best they could.

With a swift riposte Nemo removed the gun-wielding hand from a charging Faunus pirate and jammed her pistol into his chest as he screamed in shock, pulling the trigger twice to blast a pair of fatal holes in him. She kicked the corpse away and ducked into an adjacent corridor, while a couple of elite troopers moved past her and poured assault rifle fire into the remaining pirates. Looking up at the ceiling, she saw that the corridor's number was one that she can use to flank the pirates, and so started down that route with another few soldiers following her. However, Nemo felt her feet stop abruptly in their tracks when her eyes saw a terrible sight just round the corner.

A young ensign named Armin Rosen, who had just recently joined her crew was pinned to the steel wall of the carrier battle cruiser's corridor through all four limbs and his neck, the latter via a dangerously sharp shuriken that had cut him deep enough to draw blood which leaked from all his wound. The deck floor underneath him had a steadily spreading pool of blood which came from other wounds on his body. The disturbing sight was enough to make her blood boil when she further saw a sadistic pirate laughing at the suffering young man as he tried to steal some of Armin's personal possessions. The pirate was too occupied with his looting that he didn't notice Nemo coming right behind him, and died gurgling on his own blood when the Atlesian admiral's sword suddenly erupted through his neck.

As the other Atlesian troopers secured the area , Nemo lowered her sword and holstered her pistol, before carefully pulling out the shuriken cutting into Rosen's ankles and wrists, "Armin, are you all right? Eyes on me, ensign Rosen…that's an order from your admiral!"

"Yes…admiral…" The injured ensign said weakly as she helped him off the wall and laid him down carefully on the deck.

Swearing under her breath as she saw the severity of the wounds he had suffered, Nemo tapped her personal communicator and shouted, "I require a medic at corridor E-54 on the double! Any medic in the vicinity respond immediately! Get over here now!" She looked back to Armin who vomited a bit of blood, "Hang on Ensign Rosen…you'll be all right. The medic is on the way."

She moved to rip out the shuriken embedded in his right wrist, only for an elite Atlesian trooper to clamp his gauntlet around her arm and when she glared at him the Atlesian sergeant shook his helmeted head and explained, "The enemy's weapons have cut through his wrists, and there's a possibility his arteries are damaged. If you remove them he will probably bleed out faster." Knowing the sergeant had a point, Nemo removed her blood-splattered hands and winced as she noticed the spurting blood from Aarmin's wounds have landed on her usually pristine uniform. Since it was already dirtied by smoke, ashes and the blood of pirates, she realized that it doesn't matter if her admiral uniform was covered with more blood, but she won't stand to see any more of her loyal crew die.

Nemo looked back down and saw what looked like black veins extending outwards from the wounds in Armin's limbs and neck, and felt herself cover her mouth in disgust as she watched the poison presumably covering the shuriken's sharp points seeping through her crewmate's wounds which were barely protected by faintly glowing aura. She looked around quickly as she tapped her communicator again and shouted, "Medic! Get over here now, damn it!"

"Here, admiral!" A middle-aged man with dark brown hair and the emblem of a medic on his shoulder plates ran down the hallway hurriedly, his first-aid kit in one gauntlet and pistol in the other. She recognized him as Marcoh as he quickly saluted her and knelt down beside the poisoned Armin, opening his first-aid kit and began pulling out various medical supplies, while hearing her speak.

"Where have you been?!"

"My apologies, Admiral…it's bloody insane out there!" Marcoh said, "I was treating a couple of serious cases nearby, and after stabilizing them I made my way here as fast as I could."

Pulling out two medical syringes containing blue fluids from his first-aid kit, he stabbed them into Armin's open chest after cutting his uniform open with the aid of another Atlesian elite trooper, "Good gods…I saw this young man fighting off pirates not ten minutes ago, and the way he fought off these scumbags would have made you proud."

Nemo simply nodded as she leaned in close as Medic Marcoh began using his healing Semblance on him, "Armin Rosen, who did this to you? I'll personally make them pay." She had a feeling that she might already know who was responsible, but she needed to confirm her suspicions as quite a few pirates used shurikens as their weapon of choice.

"Fe-male… pira-te… the captain…" The dark-skinned ensign rasped out through the pain.

Nemo's face hardened at his reply. She knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Lizbetha did this to him since poison-tipped shurikens were her signature weapon. Looking at Armin who was clearly fighting for his life with the poisons ravaging his body, she vowed that she would make the sea witch pay with her life.

"Can you save him?" Nemo asked Marcoh curtly. The medic cleaned away most of the blood covering Armin's wounds and scanned him for any remaining toxins with his handheld medical scanner.

"I've stopped the poison from the enemy weapons from reaching his vital organs, but I need to evac him to an advanced medical facility to operate further on him. I've stabilized his condition for the moment, but without proper treatment his life's still in danger." They both looked up at the ceiling when another explosion rocked the battle cruiser, and the ground shook a little beneath their feet.

"I understand, Marcoh. Just do what you can, keep tending to him, and most importantly keep him alive." She ordered and the medic grunted an affirmative before returning to his medical duties. Turning around to give orders to the Atlesian troopers standing guard around them, Nemo caught sight of Armin's wallet that the pirate has nearly taken. She examined the photo within, one that depicted the young man's attractive girlfriend whom he was engaged to, and another of his family. She knelt back down and tucked the wallet into his uniform pocket, and whispered, "Hang on as hard as you can, Armin. You can make it out of this, so don't give up the fight. Don't let me down."

He nodded weakly before she stood up once more and gave a series of quick orders, the Atlesian troopers snapping to attention and following her once more after leaving a pair of guards to watch over Marcoh and Armin. Coming out of the next adjacent corridor which led back to another hangar bay containing a fierce firefight, Nemo drew her pistol and sword as she charged back into the fray, firing every bullet in the chamber of her pistol into the crowds of attacking pirates which were climbing through the destroyed hangar bay blast doors, killing some of them. Troops beside her and up on the gantries and walkways above added their firepower to hers, blowing most of them down while heavily armored troopers planted their feet and leveled their rotary blaster cannons at the remaining boarding party, their rapid rate of fire decimating the survivors and finishing off those too foolhardy to retreat.

She stopped when she heard a blast, and looked back to see a section of wall near the front of the bridge had exploded from a direct hit from a cannon and a boarding party of pirates were climbing through the broken, flaming hole, but the sounds of guns going off from inside and the sight of some pirates getting shot reassured her. She hoped Blanc and everyone else on the bridge would be all right.

It was easy to see where Lizbetha was in the huge fight that had occupied the entirety of Nautilus II's top deck, as she was often leading from the front and protected by her chosen bodyguards, and so Nemo spotted her soon enough. Lizbetha was near the bow section of the battle cruiser, fighting with her fellow pirates who had boarded the battleship, and was seemingly cutting through groups of brave soldiers like a scythe through wheat.

Lizbetha paused briefly to take in the sight of her hated enemy's ship being overrun, ignoring the fact that her own ship was being repeatedly fired upon by the close-range weapons of the Nautilus II while the main Railgun Turrets were concentrating their fire on her allies' ships. Armored troopers of the 212th Assault Battalion and armed naval personnel were scattered across the deck, doing their best to fend off the boarding pirates while making sure the Railgun Turrets were not destroyed.

Nemo snarled as she rushed forward with a couple of her elite troopers alongside her, swinging out her sword left and right to take down a few stray pirates while her own bodyguards made sure no pirate would exploit her unprotected back. Nemo's focus became solely on her adversary despite the fierce battle raging all around her, and she dispatched any pirate that came charging at her with her sword and pistol as she made her way inexorably towards Lizbetha.

As she made her way past the gantries underneath the secondary automated twin cannons which were hurling thunderbolts of firepower at the pirate ships, Nemo saw the many multi-barreled gatling guns harrying the human and Faunus pirates which were trying to cross the distance between the ships to reinforce their captain. Squads of Atlesian soldiers from the 212th Assault Battalion returned fire in disciplined fusillades, thinning the pirates' reinforcements while trying to cut away the harpoons and grappling hooks latched to the armor plates of the Nautilus II. So far they were doing an admirable job of protecting the vessel's main guns that were blitzing up the pirate ships, despite their slowly thinning numbers as Lizbetha's crew kept charging them repeatedly, taking down a few more brave troopers each time.

Nemo leapt into the fray along with her elite troopers, taking out as many pirates as she could along the way. She shot a cutlass-wielding pirate in the face with her pistol, removed another's legs at the knees, and clashed blades with yet another before opening his throat with the edge of her sword. Stepping past the gurgling pirate, she saw another boarding party of pirates pointing wildly in her direction and shouting among themselves. It wasn't long before she had a stampede of pirates running towards her, despite the brave efforts of her bodyguards to whittle down their numbers.

Quickly giving a series of terse orders to her bodyguards to scatter, she turned and ran towards one of the presently inactive twin gatling gun emplacements with the pirates hot on her heels. Firing her pistol back at her pursuers blindly as she ran, Nemo mentally counted down the seconds that the automated turret would resume firing as she stood right in front of reloading turret's smoking barrels. When the first group of hollering pirates spilled onto the front of the gun emplacement, she immediately leaped across to another gantry and rolled while hearing the roaring sounds of the automated turret opening fire along with screams of pain. She rolled to a stop and looked up, seeing that the pirates at the front were completely obliterated by the sheer power of the gatling guns' remorseless salvoes and being reduced to massive spurts of blood and jagged strips of flesh, body parts clattering onto the deck.

Nemo, now covered in spattered gore, shuddered momentarily at the horrible sight she had just witnessed but forced herself to stay calm and remain focused on the current situation. Seeing the horrible fate of their fellow pirates, the remaining pursuers quickly retreated back the way they came only to find themselves cornered by squads of troopers from the 212th, and were quickly eliminated in short order.

Nemo wiped the blood off her face with the back of her gloved hand and made her way to the ladder leading to the bow of her ship. When she was near the top, she heard a scream and ducked just in time to see an Atlesian trooper falling past her with a shuriken embedded in his throat. Turning back and climbing the rest of the way, Nemo rose up to see Lizbetha who had just finished killing a brave trooper of the 212th while multiple stabs of her sword. A number of other groaning and bleeding Atlesian soldiers had collapsed around her boots, poison-tipped shuriken protruding out of their broken faceplates, damaged chest plates and throats.

"Lizbetha!" Nemo shouted as she pointed her sword at the pirate captain.

Said pirate glared at the Atlesian admiral and snarled a single word, "Nemo."

The deck of the Nautilus II as more shells slammed into its damaged armor and the force of its unleashed broadsides, but the two women ignored it as they charged at each other, their blades clashed with a sharp clang.

"What's the meaning of this attack?!" Nemo demanded to know as she slashed and cut at her opponent, "What do you hope to gain from this other than massive losses to your ships and meager rewards?"

"A crippled Atlesian navy, for one." Lizbetha sneered as she parried Nemo's blow, and tried to stab the admiral with a knife she pulled from her belt which Nemo narrowly avoided, "Secondly, to reduce your ship a sunken wreck and put your head on a pike!"

She feinted left and then swung diagonally, managing to cut Nemo's pistol-wielding arm through the sleeve of her uniform. The female admiral grunted in pain as she kicked Lizbetha in the shin and then punched her in the face, knocking her adversary onto her back. Before Nemo could follow up with another attack, Lizbetha struck back by throwing shuriken stars right at her which Nemo managed to deflect a few with her sword. While the majority of them didn't cut her one managed to penetrate her guard and pin Nemo's arm onto the armored crate behind her.

Nemo quickly ripped herself free from the crate, tearing her sleeve from her uniform in the process. She let out a growl of anger as she covered the long, bleeding cut Lizbetha had scored on her arm with her other hand, watching as the faint glow of aura which signified her body healing itself. Nemo looked back up just in time to see her opponent had already recovered and threw another trio of shuriken at her, which the Atlesian admiral narrowly deflected with her sword before leaping towards the pirate captain, who blocked the sword strike meant for her neck.

Exchanging a few more rapid blows with each other, Nemo grunted as Lizbetha slammed downwards with her sword, letting the weight of her weapon drag a line of sparks down the cutting edge of both blades. Nemo, despite being hurt, responded well by riding out the impact and shoved her pistol at Lizbetha's face. The female pirate quickly twitched her head aside as the pistol discharged, the bullets flying past her head harmlessly. She drove an elbow into Nemo's torso, knocking her a step backward before whacking her in the face with the flat surface of her sword.

As they fought on, Lizbetha's ship continued firing at the Nautilus II, scoring several hits at point blank range and received more ruinous wounds in return. One of the major blasts from the pirate ship inflicted a powerful blow very near where the two women dueled, showering them with bits of hot shrapnel wreckage, fragments of shattered armor plates and blobs of oily fire.

The abrupt explosion threw them both off balance, knocking them apart and flinging both of them a small distance from each other. As the explosion cleared, a ragged hole which was torn in the bow of the Atlesian battleship was clearly seen with pipes that were torn asunder blowing out scalding bursts of white steam.

Nemo pushed herself up once more, and while her heart sorrowed at the sight of the damage wrought to her ship she took careful notice of the jagged edge of the damaged pipes, especially the one that was pointing towards her. A flash of inspiration came to her mind, and then she knew what she had to do defeat Lizbetha.

With this in mind she shot towards Lizbetha, their swords meeting yet again but this time Nemo attacked with weaker blows than she would have otherwise.

"Tiring out?" Lizbetha sneered as she struck back, driving Nemo back towards the opposite side, "Too bad, I was hoping for a better fight than this!"

She swung hard, hammering against Nemo's sword and knocking it out of her hands before she hit Nemo again with a backhanded blow that knocked the Atlesian admiral to the deck.

"Prepare for a burial at sea, Admiral!" Lizbetha declared as she hauled back her sword for a decapitating strike, but Nemo whipped out her grandfather's pistol and fired it three times in quick succession; two hitting the pirate captain's thighs and the third bullet hitting her in the stomach. All three rounds were armor-piercing, and Lizbetha's eyes widened as she saw blood seep out of her wounds. She screamed out in pain and her sword dropped from her hands before Nemo dived forward and grabbed her hated enemy by the shoulders, driving her towards the damaged hole created by the pirates' cannonfire.

Lizbetha snarled and spat at Nemo, struggling to gain the upper hand but Nemo shoved her pistol into the pirate queen's stomach and pulled the trigger, blasting another hole through her abdomen as she continued to shove her adversary backwards. As Lizbetha's strength faltered Nemo seized her chance and with a great heave, she slammed her opponent down onto the broken pipe where she was impaled completely through the stomach, "That's for my ship!"

Lizbetha screamed out in horrible pain as the searing hot pipe burned her insides, the steam erupting into her body and cooking her alive. Her limbs flailed helplessly as she struggled. Nemo staggered away to pick up Lizbetha's own sword and returned to her dying enemy.

Bringing up her enemy's sword in a two-handed grip since her pistol was now empty, Nemo shouted heatedly as she aimed Lizbetha's sword at its owner's neck, "And this…is for my crew!"

She whipped it across with the last of her strength, and the sword went sailing down towards Lizbetha where it finished her off through decapitation, sending the female pirate's severed head bouncing and tumbling bloodily across the deck plates until it was impaled on a piece of jagged metal. Slumping down to the flaming bow deck in exhaustion, Nemo couldn't help but appreciate the irony that she had dealt Lizbetha the fate her enemy was planning to give to her.

All of a sudden, another Sea Feilong rose out of the whipping sea waves in front of her, roaring loudly at the admiral with its maw wide open and its yellow eyes glaring right at her. Nemo glared defiantly back as she struggled to her feet once more, pointing her gun at the draconic Grimm and shouted, "Do your worst!"

Inwardly she told herself that at least she could take some solace in the fact that she had avenged every Atlesian naval officer and soldier who had died at Lizbetha's hands.

Before the admiral could do anything or the serpent-like dragon Grimm could let loose its crackling bolt of lightning to obliterate her, the huge beast was hit full-on by a massive triple railgun blast and reduced to a fading shadow of itself by the Main Railgun Turrets of the Nautilus II.

Nemo heaved a sigh of relief, collapsing against the crate as she heard armored boots running across the deck towards her. She raised her disheveled head to see assault rifle-wielding form of a 212th captain extending down a gauntleted hand towards her, while the rest of his squad were pouring round after round into the pirates attempting to avenge their recently deceased captain.

"Admiral! You did it!" He informed her as he pulled her up, "You killed Captain Lizbetha, one of the most wanted pirates in the Atlesian seas!" She nodded weakly in reply, as they watched the carrier battleship's railgun turret turned over to resume firing at the other Sea Feilongs.

"So I have…" Nemo coughed as she glanced back at the headless body impaled on the steam-gushing pipe, "I take it that managed to put some fear into her crew?"

"It did. Some of those pirate scum are already retreating like the cowards they are." The captain confirmed as he removed something from his belt and passed it to Nemo, "Oh…admiral, I found this on my way up. I'm sure you will be needing it."

Nemo felt a faint smile come to her lips as he presented her with the sword that was not only a relic of her family but also a symbol of her office in the Atlesian naval forces, "Thank you," She then attached Lizbetha's sword to her belt and drew her own sword once more before accepting a fresh pistol from another Atlesian trooper, "I guess it's time we show them just how grave of a mistake this attack was."

---

Meanwhile on Pier D, Captain Silvers witnessed Lizbetha's death through his telescope built into his robotic hand. It transformed back into a hand as he lowered it slowly from his eyes after watching Nemo recover from her ordeal and was narrowly rescued from being completely obliterated by the lightning bolt of a Grimm Sea Feilong. He knew she was a tough bitch, but the partially-cybernetic pirate didn't think she would actually kill Lizbetha in such a brutal fashion. From what he knew of her, she struck him as one who's more likely to sit on the bridge of a warship and blow her enemies to kingdom come than to get up close and personal with them.

Whatever the case, Nemo's actions were enough to make the old pirate experience a particular feeling he hadn't felt in some time: excitement. The admiral might be his enemy, but that didn't mean he didn't respect her skills in terms of commanding her ship and her tenacity in battle.

"Now that's what I call a proper woman of the sea." He mused to himself before he took up his radio from his belt and spoke, "How's the raid on the warehouses and bank going?"

"Smooth sailing, captain!" Came the reply from his first mate, a man named Arrow, "The guards left to help the navy fight us off and the rest of the staff have already fled to shelters, so all we have to do is just make some lovely big bangs and whatever's in the warehouses and vaults are as good as ours!"

"Very good. Arrow…tell the boys not to take more than they can carry, and form another group to take as much supplies as possible. Me and the rear guard will cover your return to the ship." Silvers informed his first mate who acknowledged his orders quickly before he shut off the radio.

"Freeze!" A voice shouted. Silvers remained still, but he wasn't surprised or intimidated. From what he could see his crew were busy fighting the bulk of the Atlesian naval forces, as well as the 212th Assault Battalion, and apparently with him on his own it made sense that these fools would try to arrest him. He sighed and rolled his eyes, knowing how exactly it would end.

"Turn around! Hands where I can see them!" The same voice ordered. Silvers did so, turning about slowly to face a quartet of Atlesian soldiers from the 21st Naval Marines, judging from their insignia displayed on their shoulder plates.

"It's…it's Captain Jonathan Silvers of the Bloody Hook!" A soldier with the markings of a corporal of the small group whispered.

"Aye, that I am." Silvers confirmed casually, "A beautiful day for a war, isn't it?"

"You're under arrest for a plethora of crimes, including this attack! Order your men to lay down their weapons and surrender immediately, or else we will execute you here and now!" The lieutenant who was the clear leader of the group demanded.

"Hmm…I don't think so, lad." Silvers replied with a smirk as his robotic hand transformed there and then, spreading open to reveal a circular energy barrel that shot out a powerful blast of crackling energy that sent the lieutenant flying off the ground and landing several meters away in a twitching, groaning heap. The other soldiers immediately opened fire, but Silvers ducked under their shots before he whipped out his cutlass and stabbed forward, ramming it through the torso of one of the soldiers and then throwing him at another of his fellow corporals. He dodged aside as the last soldier with the markings of a sergeant shot at him, before disemboweling him with a horizontal sweep of his cutlass.

Silvers grinned as his robotic arm began forming back to its normal configuration, only for the ring and middle fingers to expand while blades came out of those ports which formed a large pair of scissors which he used to cut off the head of the remaining soldier's assault rifle before he could shoot it off.

"Oh, you lot didn't know? I decided to take advantage of my handicap." Silvers remarked darkly before he leaned back to avoid being skull-bashed by the remaining armored corporal, and then shot him a few times with his flintlock pistol. Adding insult to injury, he delivered a few quick kicks into the soldier's torso with his robotic leg with surprisingly agile moves for a man his age which broke some ribs before finishing the corporal off with a brutal slash across the throat that left him twitching in a growing pool of red blood.

"Tch. They just don't train soldiers like they used to." Silvers sighed theatrically as he cleaned his cutlass sword with a piece of cloth from his coat pocket and slowly walked away, shaking his head in disappointment.

He then heard the recovered lieutenant letting out a furious roar as he charged at the aged captain and firing his rifle wildly. Silvers managed to evade the shots, and as the lieutenant got close while bringing up his rifle to slam the butt right into the pirate leader's face, he simply grabbed the military officer by the arms and with a great heave he tossed the lieutenant over the edge of the dock and into the Grimm-infested waters below. He chuckled darkly at the brief look of shock the lieutenant gave him while flying through the air, and mentally filed it away for a good laugh at another time.

He looked down, allowing a smirk to form on his scarred face as he saw the lieutenant surface and spluttering seawater from his mouth before he felt something wrap itself around his torso. He barely had time to scream before he was hauled down below the sea waves by a Kraken, its tentacles wrapping around his body and squeezing tightly. The Kraken's latest victim surfaced once more, screaming and struggling for a few seconds before he went under and never resurfaced again. The only sign of his death was a few seconds of bubbles coming from his dying breaths underwater.

Silvers laughed before looking out to the sight of Margarite City under siege, "Oh yes, a very good day indeed." He smirked to himself.

Suddenly, a huge explosion caught his attention. Silvers pivoted around to see Stephenson's ship being completely destroyed by the combined firepower of the Nautilus II, Dauntless, and Vengeance. Debris of various materials and body parts went flying into the air, and there was a loud groan as the mast snapped at the base and fell over, crushing the last few survivors who had managed to jump off their stricken ship before it was completely destroyed.

"Then again, nobody ever said this would be easy…" Silvers muttered to himself before ordering the men still aboard his ship to rescue any survivors from Stephenson's crew. That way, even if he lost some members of his crew he would inevitably gain new ones in the form of grateful survivors from Stephenson's now destroyed and sinking ship.

In addition, he wouldn't need to share the spoils he took from the warehouses and bank vaults with other gangs, which meant a bigger cut of such spoils for his own crew. Checking his old watch on his organic arm, Silvers mentally took note of the time. It would soon be time to leave, but he wouldn't mind blasting a few more holes in Nemo's ship as payback for what she had done to his a number of years ago.

After all, he had his own reputation as a pirate captain as well to consider.

---

Mavis, for her part, had been allowing the Sea Feilongs under her control attack and even devour soldiers from the Atlesian naval forces and 212th Assault Battalion since they were fair game as warriors. However, she did make sure that as many of the fleeing civilians were spared as much as possible.

She stood upon the head of the largest Sea Feilong, watching as the Claw Hammers and Broadbills battled with the Atlesian military forces. Bullets fired from their assault rifles kept bouncing off the armored bodies of the crustacean Grimm, and only heavy weapons such as grenades, high-explosive shells and rockets were capable of killing them.

While conflict raged all over the docks and shipyards of Margarite Harbor, Mavis could see that the Atlesian military forces were throwing everything at the invading pirates and Grimm hordes. She was actually impressed when she witnessed an elite soldier from the 212th managed to flip a snapping Claw Hammer over and unloaded an entire magazine from his assault rifle into its vulnerable belly, killing it instantly. He then went on to kill another by firing a grenade into the face of another one, blowing it to pieces while other troopers added their firepower to the hail of bullets and shells flying towards the aquatic Grimm.

"They might actually win this…" Mavis murmured quietly to herself as she kept watch on the unfolding battle. She hadn't seen any civilians since most of them had probably evacuated to shelters by now, so that was a relief. If they had still been around, their fear would no doubt bring the Grimm to them.

And since striking fear into the people of Atlas was a main objective, they were succeeding quite well in that regard. The fear was palpable, as was the anger emanating from the battling naval forces who were furious over the surprise attack or angered by the deaths of their companions. Whatever the case, the pirates and Grimm hordes were hitting all the right buttons and Mavis couldn't deny that the Grimm part of herself was enjoying it enormously, much to her guilt.

She held on tightly as the Sea Feilong slithered through one of the major canals, paying no mind to the stray blasts that went by as the battle raged on. Since the anti-ship cannon emplacements of that area were all either destroyed or damaged enough to be knocked offline, she wasn't in any danger of being blasted off her chosen mount at the moment. In addition, there were little to no military presence there as well since they were all diverted to areas where the pirates and Grimm were attacking in large numbers instead. As the Sea Feilong passed through the canal, Mavis looked down and saw multiple bodies belonging to Atlesian police officers, soldiers, and even a few pirates which were left behind as the battle moved into the inner precincts of Margarite Harbor.

She turned her head quickly when she suddenly heard the screaming sounds of a woman and her children from not that far away, and with a mental gesture she made the Sea Feilong swim further up the canal where she witnessed a horrible sight happening before her red eyes.

A human family had been trapped in one of the buildings by the canal and were just now trying to make a run for the nearby shelter, only to find themselves ambushed by a small group of four pirates. The father had been firmly knocked out by a club to the head so now he lay unconscious on the debris-strewn ground, while the mother and her three children, two girls and a boy, were backed up against a wall underneath a bridge in fear as the pirates cornered them.

"She's a pretty number." A female Faunus pirate mentioned as she banished her sword threateningly.

"I'll say, let's have some fun with her." Another shady-looking male pirate cackled, lust in his red eyes.

"What about the kids?" The largest pirate of the group asked gruffly, carrying an old rifle in his hands.

"Kill 'em, knock 'em out, throw 'em in the water, make them watch…I don't give a damn as long as we get us some lovin' from this bitch." The despicable female pirate laughed, smirking as the cowering woman held her children even closer to her, trying to shield them from the horror that was currently happening to them, and it was about to get worse.

Mavis could see the trio of fearful children who were shuddering and crying in terror as their tearful mother dreaded what was about to happen to her and her children. The least she could do was to shield them with her body when the end came.

The young Grimm hybrid flashed back to that fateful day she and her family were out sailing and were attacked by Stephenson's pirates. The woman's face echoed that of her mother's when the ill-reputed pirate and his crew approached them at that time in the past.

She remembered her mother's screams when Stephenson's men…

Her eyes snapped wide open and her fists clenched angrily.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Mavis shouted as the Sea Feilong rose its head up from the canal, seawater cascading down it's head and long neck as it gripped onto the side of the seaway with its front claws and revealing her presence to everyone there.

The mother's jaw dropped in both horror and awe at the sight of what looked like a teenage girl riding a Grimm, and the terrified kids who managed to take a peek were blown away.

The pirates were surprised as well, but since they knew of the young Grimm Commander they weren't all that shocked to see her along with the Grimm creatures under her control. However, the sight of a snarling Sea Feilong wasn't as easy to dismiss.

"We're pirates kid, this is kinda what we do." The fourth pirate said boldly.

"Aye. Don't pretend you didn't know what working with us would entail." The female pirate added.

"Now get outta here and have your beasts eat some sailors or something! I need me some pussy! The largest of the pirates declared as he lunged at the Atlesian woman, forcing the children out of her hands and knocking them onto the ground, bawling.

The mother screamed as he backhanded her and gripped her shirt, and was about to rip it open when the Sea Feilong Mavis was standing on top of brought its massive head down, opened its mouth wide and promptly snatched him up in its huge jaws.

The draconic Grimm's head rose once more, now with the upper body of the screaming pirate in its mouth, pointlessly struggling to get himself out before it chomped down on him, ending his life.

"What the holy hell?" One of the remaining pirates cried as he lifted up his gun and fired off a shot which bounced harmlessly off the hardened skin layers of the Sea Feilong only for another one to come up from the canal beside him and snap its neck outwards swiftly, crushing his entire body instantly as it devoured him.

"We've been double-crossed! Run for it!" The female pirate shouted as she backed away, watching as the Sea Feilong Mavis was riding on lifted its head up so the corpse of the pirate could go down easier.

They began to run for their lives, but Mavis' eyes shone red as she muttered, "You're not getting away."

The second Sea Feilong lunged forward and grabbed the Faunus pirate as he tried to get inside one of the nearby half-demolished buildings. It yanked him off his feet and into the air, where he began kicking and screaming until it threw him up into the air and snatched him out as he came down, jaws coming together down on him with a sickening crunch.

The female pirate tried to make her escape, but the tail of the first Sea Feilong slammed into the wall under the bridge, cutting off her escape. She turned around and tried to run past the cowering woman and her kids, only to come face-to-face with Mavis and the Grimm under her command.

"Y-you can't do this! You're on our side!" The pirate shouted, panic clear in her voice.

"Am I?" Mavis asked as her eyes began glowing brighter. The second Sea Feilong lifted its neck around, separating the pirate from the frightened family, surrounding her like a python.

"No, no…no!" The pirate screamed before the second Sea Feilong bit onto her legs and lifted her into the air. Her arms flailed as she screamed in excruciating pain, only for the Sea Feilong Mavis was currently riding on to lurch forward and bite down on her upper body.

The two imposing Grimm creatures snarled as they fought over the dying pirate, almost playing 'tug-o-war' over her before her body was ripped in half by them.

"So nice of you two to learn about sharing," Mavis quipped to herself as her beasts devoured the would-be rapist and murderer, red blood spattering the canal sides as they did so.

She looked down at the petrified family who were trembling with terror at the sheer brutality in which she had ordered the Sea Feilongs to kill those pirates, and now that they were gone the very same Grimm creatures were eager to help themselves to more food, but Mavis soothed them to the best of her abilities and so they held back for the moment and snarled quietly.

"There's a shelter in the next street," Mavis pointed before the shaking mother could say anything, "Take your husband and your children there and you'll be safe. This didn't happen, and you never saw me. Do you understand me?"

"Y-y-yes…" The woman managed to say before asking, "Who are you? Why did you save us?"

Mavis looked away and answered, "I might walk among monsters, but I'm not one. Not yet anyway."

With that, Mavis led the Sea Feilongs away back into the canal, leaving a recovering family alone and, for the moment, safe.

---

Fort Valor had been rendered a devastated wreck by the Tyrant and the hordes of Grimm that had been attracted by the sudden swell of fear and despair generated by the soldiers and staff. While the normal Grimm weren't hard to get rid of, the Tyrant was a different story altogether.

It seemed that no matter what the remaining Atlesian military forces tried to attack the Elder Grimm with, it seemed to shrug off the bullets, shells and missiles impacting on it and emerging either annoyed or more enraged than ever.

A lone Atlesian soldier hid behind an overturned armored personnel carrier, and was busy blasting away at a Beowolf with his pistol when all of a sudden a severed leg landed not too far away from him, the blood dotting the ground around it as it rolled and came to rest on the snow.

The soldier looked up to see the Tyrant, just a few dozen meters away as it finished devouring a few more unlucky troopers. A couple of rockets slammed into its side, and it roared out before swinging its tail into the source of the blasts which turned out to be an automated missile launcher from one of the remaining buildings. The crack of the whip-like tail smashed into the offending missile launcher, severely damaging it and causing that section of the building to collapse.

He let loose every swear word he knew as he watched the Tyrant continue its rampage. He didn't know what to do, he didn't know what it was he was facing other than that it was some unknown Grimm abomination, and because of that limited knowledge he and his comrades didn't stand any chance of killing it unless they blew the whole base to hell and just prayed that it was enough to kill this thing.

The soldier kicked against something metallic and he looked to his side, seeing that a small crate of munitions was knocked over from a nearby overturned truck. With an idea quickly forming in his mind, he quickly detached the ascension cable from his belt and snagged it on the crate of explosives and dragged it over to him.

This was a long shot and a rather desperate ploy, but if it worked…

Taking his chance once he saw it, the soldier raced out from behind cover towards the feet of the Tyrant, crate and cable in hand, hoping that he was a small enough target that the huge beast wouldn't take notice of him if he didn't shoot it, and was sufficiently distracted by other Atlesian military personnel.

Whether by luck or by the fact the Grimm beast was too distracted, he managed to make it close to the Tyrant and jump onto its left foot just as the limb began lifting up. He hung onto it and managed to stay on as it stomped down again, crushing a crashed Atlesian Eagle completely.

Knowing that he had maybe a few more seconds of life left, the soldier worked quickly by wrapping the cable around the beast's ankle and secured it the best he could. However, as he tightened the cable he suddenly realized that the monstrous Grimm creature wasn't moving.

As large spatters of drool dripped from above him, the Atlesian soldier looked up fearfully to see the blazing red eye from the right side of the vast creature's head staring down at him.

It was then the trooper knew what true fear was.

Despite his military training and willpower, he screamed like a frightened child.

Snorting and snarling the Tyrant rose its left leg up and kicked, sending the soldier and the crate of munitions flying towards an open vehicle garage. He slammed painfully into a vehicle, feeling the cracking of bones in various places of his body as he came to a halt. He groaned in excruciating pain, but as he turned his head and looked out of his shattered helmet, his blood chilled instantly when what he had landed next to.

Several storage tanks of fuel.

He weakly turned his head to see the Tyrant glaring at him from outside, and then it opened its mouth wide to reveal a light that grew brighter and brighter by the second, a light that soon took the shape of fire.

The fire within its mouth soon grew out of control until roaring flames were pouring from the creature's mouth, and then…

It unleashed its attack that Salem had witnessed during some of its trials, and she had personally dubbed it the Inferno Plasma Heat Blast. Unlike the Grimm Wyvern which used a similar fire-breath attack, the Tyrant couldn't do this very often as it needed to absorb damage over time, damage such as rocket or laser blasts to fuel its own attack.

That's what gave it the power to the Inferno Plasma Heat Blast which rocketed into the vehicle garage, directly at the soldier who was instantly reduced to ashes by the blast before he could scream. The situation was made even worse as the munitions and the fuel storage tanks went up together, obliterating the garage and nearby buildings as the fires and explosions rapidly spread.

Command staff, medics, cadets and soldiers who were hiding inside the buildings for cover or to regroup themselves didn't stand a chance as the inferno raced outwards, engulfing them and causing any additional explosive ammunition to go off as well. Those in the upper levels tried to jump out to escape the inferno, only for them to meet their unlucky ends at the gnashing teeth and claws of the Grimm.

A female support staff was grabbed by the claws of a Nevermore and screamed shrilly as it tried to fly off with her only for the Tyrant to leap up and ate the woman whole, along with the talons of the Nevermore before slamming the bird Grimm down heavily onto the burning buildings as a way of establishing dominance.

The fires and explosions kept going, and the remaining personnel were dying and burning and even if they escaped the burning buildings they were met with a horrible warzone.

The Tyrant was about to let out another roar, when a laser blast hit it directly in the eye, making it howl out in pain. Its head, now with an injured eye, jerked around to see a heavily-armored sergeant standing atop the roof of the ruined command center, armed with a powerful prototype laser cannon which was smoking and pointing it right at the beast, as if daring the Elder Grimm to get him.

The Tyrant accepted that challenge and charged forward, crushing all in its path as the sergeant kept firing at it relentlessly, but the massive Grimm creature used the bone-like armor on its head to protect itself, causing most of the laser blasts hitting it to bounce off. It crashed its head down onto the roof and then lifted it back up, this time with the sergeant and his smashed laser cannon now encased within its bloody maw.

Not done with its latest victim yet, the Tyrant began to chew as it broke the sergeant's body apart, snapping his limbs and crushing many of his bones before it swallowed him whole, giving its latest victim a slow and painful death within its stomach.

Now, uninterrupted, the Tyrant let out its loudest roar yet, one that signified its triumph.

---

The men and women stationed at Borealis Base were not having an easy time in the slightest. A single enemy agent had wiped out more than half of their forces in a startlingly short amount of time.

Wagner, despite being somewhat rusty in terms of his combat skills, had decided to personally join the battle against this particular intruder after the corpse of one of the sergeants under his command with his face bloodied and broken was smashed through the reinforced windows of the base's Command Center.

Broken and bleeding bodies were scattered all over, while laser burns, bullet holes and other kinds of collateral damage caused by the attacker and the base defender's efforts to deal with him were seen everywhere. Flames burned fiercely from crashed vehicles and destroyed sections of buildings, and thick black smoke reached into the slate-grey skies.

Wagner stood with the bulk of his forces, having surrounded the hangar where the Son of Salem was currently cornered. He had lost quite a number of the troops under his command, but he would personally make sure that attacker paid for it, if nothing else, either riddled with bullets or blown to bits with explosives.

"We have him surrounded! He can't get out without us knowing!" Wagner declared loudly, eager to execute the bastard for what he had done. However he still had military protocol to follow, much to his chagrin.

"What do we do, Captain? Blow the hangar up?" A female soldier asked.

"No," Wagner refuted, "Blast the whole thing! Riddle it with bullets, grenades, lasers and Dust fire, then we'll see how this son of a bitch feels!"

The Atlesian soldiers were unsure but they still followed his orders, opening fire into the hangar. For fifteen continuous seconds ammunition of all kinds poured into the hangar, ripping holes clean through its reinforced walls. Sparks flew, tools fell, metal sheets disintegrated, debris fell in from the ceiling and every part of the hangar's exterior was hammered by hails of bullets, lasers and shells.

"Cease fire, cease fire!" Wagner shouted, causing everyone to stop blasting the battered building. Coils of grey smoke slowly rose from the barrels of various guns and laser cannons, spent from the several furious heated moments of non-stop firing.

For a few brief moments near-silence reigned, the only sounds were the howling snow winds and the echoes of the Grimm attack on the nearby town.

"Carol," Wagner looked to one of the surviving sergeants, who had already alid a fresh magazine into her assault rifle while she was glancing at a group of several different types of birds watching them from their perching spots atop the perimeter fence, "Take a squad inside and check if the enemy is eliminated. If he's still alive, bring him to me. If he's dead, then we'll regroup and head for Borea town to save the civilians there."

"Understood, Captain." Carol nodded as she gestured to four other soldiers carrying an array of laser rifles and assault rifles to follow her inside of the half-destroyed hangar. They approached it cautiously as if it was a dangerous enemy stronghold, carefully moving about in organized patterns with each armed trooper covering his or her comrades. Around the periphery of the hangar more armed and armored troopers kept their own weapons pointed unwaveringly at the damaged building, ready to pump out more rounds if the enemy soldier so much as poked his head out.

One of Carol's men kicked open the side door of the hangar and took a cautious look inside while his partner covered him with the laser rifle he was carrying. After several seconds had passed, he turned back and gave the all-clear signal, stating that nothing was in sight. Carol nodded but she wasn't taking any chances, so she took out a cylindrical flashbang grenade and tossed it inside where it lived up to its name, the bright white light bursting through the many holes on the walls of the partially-wrecked building.

Immediately before the effects of the flashbang grenade faded the five soldiers charged into the hangar, covering each other as they pointed their weapons outwards in all possible directions. They quickly looked about everywhere, seeing broken crates of useless machine parts, a battered-looking Bullhead that had seen better days and a broken-down armored personnel carrier that had been reduced to scrap metal by the firepower of the assembled troops outside. But no sign of the assailant.

"No sign of enemy on first level." Carol reported curtly, "Checking the above now." With a few quick gestures of her gauntleted fingers the rest of her squad quickly pounded up the ladders that led to the second level while she stayed to guard the entrance, looking about carefully.

That's when the jagged side of a broken pipe came down from above, impaling Carol through the shoulder. It pierced her heart and came out from her thighs, killing the female sergeant instantly and leaving her a standing corpse. The four remaining troopers looked up to see the Son of Salem standing on the catwalk above the entrance on the second level above it, having thrown the thin pipe like a javelin.

They opened fire right away, but the Son jumped towards them, grabbing onto a chain to help him reach the second level platform where he grabbed the nearest soldier, a corporal, and used him as a human shield, letting his comrades kill him themselves.

He yanked the chain free from the pulley system and used it like a whip, wrapping it around the chest of another trooper, knocking him down off the platform and onto the hard, cold concrete below. The remaining soldiers were on the retractable catwalk between the two sides of the hangar's upper level, blasting away at the Son before he raced forward, keeping himself low so as not to get shot.

He slipped nimbly under them, grabbed their arms and promptly broke them before flinging them over the catwalk and down onto the battered and dented Bullhead below. Both troopers broke their necks with the jarring impact in which their bodies hit the airship and then fell further to the ground below. The last one was trying to crawl towards the exit, and was trying to warn his other comrades outside when the Son picked up a discarded rifle and put two rounds through the back of his broken helmet.

When a rocket slammed into the top of the hangar, blowing it wide open to the outside world the Son knew it was time to stop hiding. He jumped down onto the Bullhead and leapt again onto the floor where he tucked and rolled away from the barrage of gunfire and laser blasts aimed at him, managed to reclaim the chain as he did so.

He saw a relatively-unscathed snow jeep parked off to the far side of the hangar and swiftly made his way over to it, expertly dodging bullets and scorching lasers along the way. Punching the window open, he let himself in and slammed one of his daggers into the ignition, jump-starting the car.

The Son drove it towards the entrance, where the car was shot apart by the troops outside as he raced past Carol's impaled corpse. He ducked down, keeping his sword and guns at the ready as well as the long length of chain wrapped around his left arm.

The soldiers of Borealis base kept on shooting, causing the engine of the snow jeep to catch fire. They ran out of the way as it powered on towards them, and that was when the Son jumped out of the jeep, letting it roll and crash into a storage shed.

He used Chaos Edge to remove the legs of an unfortunate corporal before mercy killing him with a swift stab to the head before swinging out and decapitating another Atlesian sergeant. He dropped down and body-slammed into a private, sheathing Chaos Edge as he again used the unfortunate trooper as a bulletproof shield to avoid being shot to pieces by the Atlesians' heavy weapon fire.

He came to a stop next to another corpse after tossing the limbless one at two other troopers, grabbing its pistols. The Son then jumped up and unleashed a hailstorm of bullets, taking down six more soldiers with shots to vital areas of their bodies like their heads and chests.

"Son of a bitch! Bastard!" Wagner screamed angrily as he ran towards the Son who looked at the enraged older captain with an emotionless gaze hidden by a mask. The Atlesian captain unloaded his heavy shotgun at the Son, slamming round after round into the armored warrior as he hollered obscenities.

The Son managed to sidestep or dodge the blasts as he sprinted forward to meet Wagner head on, and once he crashed into the captain the armored warrior tore the shotgun from Wagner's hands and used it to blow off the head of a soldier who was trying to drive a combat knife into his back in a sneak attack.

Wagner snarled as he felt the Son clamp the fingers of his gauntlet on his neck, unsheathing his backup combat knife and driving it into the crack between the thick armor plates his opponent was wearing on his shoulders. The undead warrior was seemingly stunned as he stumbled back a step and released Wagner. However, it was only a ruse so the Son could remove the chain from his left arm and toss it up to wrap around Wagner's neck and closing it tight.

The Son then spun the grunting Wagner around, using him as a shield against the remaining soldiers.

"Shoot him! Shoot him now, dammit!" Wanger gasped out.

"But…but we'll hit you, sir!" A female corporal shouted.

"Just do your duty and kill this thing! That's an order!" Wagner shouted before the Son tossed the chain up into the air, over the nearest loading crane next to them. With a hard shove he pushed the captain down, skipped over and grabbed the chain to haul Wagner upwards, hanging him in one fierce motion.

Wagner managed to give one last scream before the chain links around his neck tightened quickly, cutting off his air supply instantly.

The Son retreated as the soldiers opened fire again, the chain tight in his gauntlet before he ensnared it on a nearby safety sign sticking out of the ground before he dived for cover while firing the stolen pistols. He then exchanged fierce gunfire with the other troopers before disappearing behind the base's command center.

One soldier managed to blast the chain free, allowing Wagner to fall to the snow-covered ground but by then it was already too late.

"He's dead!" A female military support officer cried out as the remaining forces regrouped, now panicking and unsure of what to do now that their commanding officer was killed.

"What the hell is that thing?!"

"Not human that's for sure, probably not Faunus either!"

"A killer robot?"

"More like a demon!"

"Everyone stay calm!" A female lieutenant barked, but it was clear she was frightened herself, "We're clearly outmatched! Whatever this is, we can't stop it alone! We must retreat to Borea and help the civilians there, then once that's over we call General Ironwood himself for help. Maybe have him carpet bomb this whole damn base to kill this fu-" She stopped when she saw a couple of grenades land behind the group. "Scatter!"

They all ran or jumped for it, just as the explosives went off. More grenades came at them, exploding and taking out more of the soldiers who couldn't seek cover in time. They only stopped coming when the mysterious intruder clad in red and black returned, opening fire on them with a different type of gun in each hand.

The Atlesian lieutenant opened fire, but deep down she knew it was a futile effort.

None of them would survive the wrath of this…thing.

---

Not too far away, the town of Borea was not faring well at all without the troops from Borealis Base. While most of the citizens were already evacuated to the shelter, there were still some civilians that haven't been able to reach the protective shelter in time. Despite their best efforts, the police and few patrol soldiers weren't enough to defeat the hordes of Grimm creatures assailing the town.

A scout from Borealis Base stood in the doorway and cautiously looked outside, with a group of frightened civilians hiding behind the walls of the building, waiting for him to lead them to the shelter. "I don't understand," He muttered to himself as he looked at the grey skies, "The others should've been here by now! Where the hell are they?!"

He looked back at the civilians back in the building; about twenty-three men, women and children or varying ages and skin colors. There were even a few Faunus among their number, since the Grimm don't discriminate their prey. A few of the older adults were armed with guns, but it wouldn't be enough to fend off the Grimm on the way to the shelter while protecting the other civilians, and the scout doubted they had any marksmanship training. And the fearful aura about the town was making his job of protecting the civilians harder, since their fear and distress were attracting the Grimm and making them frenzied.

The local Huntsmen and Huntresses were already outside fighting the worst of it, keeping the Grimm away from the shelter to the best of their abilities but it was tough going since the Grimm hordes outnumber them by a significant margin. Up to five or so minutes ago, the scout had backup in the form of one of the local police officers who unfortunately was now serving as a Saber's meal after it bit into his neck, leaving the group under-protected and in a hazardous situation.

He gripped his rifle carefully, having reloaded it after blowing away that very same Saber when it had made a roaring charge towards them. Looking outside again he could see the Griffons soaring through the air along with a few Nevermore, and groups of Beowolves, Ursas, Creeps and Hellhounds rampaging throughout the major streets of the town.

Pressing one gauntleted hand to his helmet, the scout opened his communications channel and spoke into it, "This is Borealis Scout Seven, requesting immediate assistance from anybody. I have twenty-three civilians, including children, with me in the apartment building towards the edge of the town. The police officer assigned to help me has been killed and I cannot make it to the shelter while protecting so many people. Please, for the love of Oum, get me some backup!"

There were few moments of static before a female voice broke through, "We read you and copy, Scout Seven, but we're being overrun by the Grimm and there's still no sign of your comrades from the base! We'll send help asap, but for now just…wait a minute, hold on…something coming towards the town on the radar…no, multiple things…I don't believe what I'm seeing…but you have incoming company!" The voice of the police dispatcher became increasingly stressed and shocked as she continued speaking, until she was abruptly cut off by static.

Just then, the ground began to shake and the entire building was shuddering with the tremors.

"Uh, what is that?" A grey-haired woman closest to the scout asked fearfully.

"Oi! You there!" The voice of a police officer outside caught their attention, and he was waving frantically at them, "Get out of there! Get out now!"

"It's now or never! Everyone, stick together and don't scatter! We're going to head straight for the shelter!" The scout shouted as he led the civilians out of the apartment complex in a mad dash, just as the left side of the building was torn open by the sharp tusk of a Goliath. The scout saw the massive Elephant Grimm out of the corner of his eye as he ran like hell, and all he could say was, "Fuck!"

The Goliath reared up on its hind legs and brought its massive weight down, causing yet another tremor that coursed through the surrounding area, knocking most of the group down and even those who managed to stay on their feet nearly tumbled over. Grunts and cries were heard as the civilians found themselves hitting the icy hard ground and only a few tried to get up as the urge to run overcame them.

The scout rushed to the back to get between the civilians and the mammoth Grimm, "Go go go!" He shouted as he shoved civilians to their feet while opening fire on it. The police officer joined in with his service pistol but they were merely an inconvenience to the Goliath at the most. The elephant-like Grimm trumpeted menacingly as it shook its head from their shots and lashed out at them both with its long trunk, sending the police officer flying away while the scout was knocked sprawling onto his back with his rifle knocked out of his hands.

The scout looked up as the Goliath approached him, instinctively drawing his backup pistol and his last grenade. It appeared to be younger than most Goliaths judging by the smaller tusks at its front and white, bony protrusions on the back of its body in addition to the lack of wounds and battle scars, but it was still at least the size of a transport truck. It was also probably alone since it was young and impatient compared to the rest of its species.

But this one would be more than enough to kill him. Determined to make sure that his death would buy the civilians enough time to make their escape, the scout took careful shots with his pistol at the Goliath, and made sure that he had his grenade close to his chest when the end came.

The Goliath let out a bellowing roar and reared up again, ready to crush the scout with its forelegs. The trooper tried to roll out of the way, but found that his hip was injured too badly to roll. He then realized that the recent trunk lash must have broken it. He looked over to see the civilians, a mother hugging her son to her body as the Grimm roared out again, turning in their direction as it sensed their fear and distress, ready to kill and devour them.

The huge Grimm lifted up one of its front feet, ready to stamp the scout to a spreading bloodied stain on the road, when a series of rockets slammed into its side, causing it to roar loudly as it lost its balance and collapsed over onto its side.

The very surprised scout looked up, and saw a type of airship he didn't recognize flying low to the ground come by him and hovered as its VTOL engines changed direction. His eyes widened even further behind the damaged faceplate of his helmet when he saw the emblem painted on the retractable side doors of the aforementioned airship.

"I…I don't believe it." He muttered in disbelief.

The White Fang had come to their rescue.

The retractable doors or the airship opened, and there stood one of the major figures of the White Fang, a woman who had once been the representative to Menagerie and the leader of the White Fang chapter there; Sienna Khan, who was now the second-in-command of Razor's reformed White Fang.

She was a Tiger Faunus, with tiger ears coming out of her head which was covered with raven-colored, wild chin-length hair, with rings piercing both her human Faunus ears while a small red jewel occupied the center of her forehead. Her eyes were a fiery orange, and her skin was an alluring brown but her arms were bare despite the cold and decorated with numerous tattoos in the form of tiger stripes. She wore a form-fitting black dress with yellowish-green accents highlighting the rims, with two splits on the side of the thighs revealing long white pants that met shin-length black boots. The dress left her shoulders and arms exposed as well as two diamond-shaped keyholes, a small one in the front that gave a small view of her cleavage while the one on the back was larger and exposed most of her back. Over the dress she wore a grey waist cincher with red rims and a black and gold belt over it, as well as a red cape with red accents covering her back and giving her some warmth in the cold Atlesian weather. Covering her right arm was a black, elbow-length fingerless glove, and wrapped around the glove and ending at the wrist was her personal weapon, a chain whip with Dust-powered blades.

The scout wasn't usually attracted to Faunus women, but right now Sienna Khan was the most beautiful sight he had ever seen.

"White Fang!" Sienna shouted, "Protect these people! Drive the Grimm away from the town!"

She jumped down from the hovering airship, closely followed by Kane, Selena, Morgan, Kong, Russell, a Bat Faunus named Yuma as well as a dozen other Faunus from the old White Fang who had joined Razor's new chapter.

"Looks like we got here just in time, Sienna." Yuma mentioned.

"It's a good thing we decided to rest in Atlas last night before heading back to base." Kane stated as he shot down a Beowolf with his rifle, blowing its neck open.

The scout struggled to get up, and was helped to his feet by Russell. "On your feet, soldier." The Polar Bear Faunus said as he helped the human steady himself, "Are you all right?"

"Better than I was a minute ago! I never thought I'd be so happy to see the White Fang." The injured scout declared.

"We get that a lot." Kane deadpanned.

"Hopefully our image is improving enough to make that statement go away." Sienna remarked as she surveyed the town, while Kong finished off the injured Goliath by punching its head in with his gauntlets.

"Yeah! Take That! And some of this! And this! Want some more! No? Too bad!" The Gorilla Faunus shouted as he finished the huge Grimm creature off, watching as it dissolved away.

"Uh, I think you killed it." Selena called to Kong.

"I betcha I coulda killed him without the rockets weakening him." Kong boasted with a grin.

"Maybe," Selena said with a chuckle.

"Enough chatter! We need to save as many people in this village as possible," Sienna commanded, "Kane and Yuma, I want you two to launch aerial assaults on the Grimm. Selena, Morgan and you three," she gestured to a trio of masked White Fang troops, "help this scout escort these civilians to shelter. Kong, Russel, and everyone else, with me. We'll help as many people as we can no matter whether they are human or Faunus, and kill off as many Grimm as possible. Understood?"

"Yes, Ma'am!" They all answered.

"Good, move out!" Sienna ordered.

As Sienna led Russel, Kong, and the others into the town towards the bulk of the Grimm forces, Russel came up alongside her and said, "I still can't get used to the idea of Sienna Khan protecting humans."

Sienna smirked and responded with, "Well, everyone can change."

With the grace of a tiger, Sienna leapt into the fray of battle even as the people of Borea town and the Grimm fought each other. The bladed end of her whip stabbed directly into a Beowolf's chest and the fire Dust within ignited, obliterating it instantly. She whipped it around, slamming the blade across the flank of a Boarbatusk before she ducked under the clawed swipe of another Beowolf. She then balanced herself on her left leg and hand while she kicked the beast in the face before pouncing up and tearing it in half with her chain whip. As she came down she slammed it outwards again, the Dust-powered blade blowing off the head of an Ursa.

As a Saber charged her from behind, Sienna's ears twitched, warned her, and so as it leapt up and tried to bring its poisoned claws down on her back she whipped around and slashed off its foreleg. The attacking Saber fell to the ground, roaring in pain before she spun quickly once more, slicing apart another Saber.

She watched as the rest of her group went to work on the Grimm, reinforcing areas around the shelter and helping the local Hunters and police force fend the Grimm off as well as rescuing the people who couldn't defend themselves. Smirking as her ears twitched again, signaling that another Grimm was moving to attack her from behind, she pivoted about and ran to it head on, jumping up and kicking it in the face before her chain whip lobbed its head off.

"I'd expect Tiger Grimm to be far more deadly." She mused to herself before she ran back into the heat of battle, decapitating another Beowolf. Whipping the chain around wildly, she disengaged one of the connected blades at the end of the chain and sent it flying into the chest of an Ursa. The Bear Grimm growled in what looked like confusion at the blade stabbed in its chest, and Sienna smirked as it went off, blowing the Ursa apart.

Sienna shot out her chain again, wrapping around a piece of flaming shrapnel and whipping it out to become part of her weapon, which used to great effect as she dashed about, spinning the chain wildly and clobbering Grimm of all kinds with it before it went sailing into the air where it tore through the right wing of a Griffon, sending it falling to the ground.

Sienna took out another Dust blade from her belt and attached it to the chain, just in time as the Griffon crashed down right in front of her, roaring furiously. She simply slammed the new blade, now powered by an ice Dust vial, into the Grimm's chest and turning it into a frozen statue, which she then shattered with a powerful slam of her whip. Spinning ice spikes were sent flying outwards into the Grimm that were charging at her, obliterating many of them.

Her skills at killing Grimm, coupled with additional reinforcements from the White Fang, renewed the courage of the remaining local police, as many of them charged back into battle, blowing away or cutting down as many Grimm as possible.

Sienna climbed up a building to look around and see what else she could do, and saw some human children trapped atop a water tower, calling for help while a horde of Beowolves prowled around the bottom of the tower, searching for a way to climb upwards as the ladder obviously couldn't take their weight.

"Never saw myself as this kind of hero." Sienna whispered to herself, wondering what the her old self would have to say to her now. Her former persona was so filled with anger for humanity that it had blinded her to certain truths.

As she began killing more Grimm by the second along with the White Fang troops under her command, Sienna wondered how Razor's group was doing.

---

Some forty miles away back at the town of Nashville, Flynt Coal looked up in surprise to see a White Fang Bullhead blow away a pack of Beowolves that had been charging towards Team FNKI, who had been doing well against the Grimm monsters but were close to being overrun.

"I don't believe our luck!" Neon cheered, jumping up with her nunchaku-wielding hands in the air.

"I can't either, but what are they doing in Atlas?" Katrina wondered aloud as the doors of the hovering airship opened up to reveal Razor.

The large Warthog Faunus jumped off the airship, followed by his adopted daughter Piper, as well as Teresa, Cash, Darla, and many other White Fang Faunus who had escaped capture and wanted to redeem themselves.

"I suppose you kids need some help?" Razor's deep voice asked.

"Man do we ever! The local cops are on the other side of town with a couple of patrol soldiers, trying to fend off a bulk of this horde, and there are Goliaths coming right at us just a couple of streets away." Flynt told the large Faunus, who turned to see where the smartly-attired trumpet player was pointing. Sure enough, the large Grimm could be seen approaching the town, the ground trembling as a sign of their imminent arrival.

"Want me to shoot them from above, boss?" Thayer Scarlatina called from the cockpit.

"No, take some of our group and go help the cops and soldiers, it sounds like they could use some help. We'll work with this team and take down those Goliaths." Razor told his faithful pilot.

"You got it!" Thayer replied as eight of the White Fang troops climbed back into the airship and he took off towards the other side of town.

"My name's Flynt Coal by the way, this is my partner Neon, and my teammates Katrina and Iggy. Together, we're Team FNKI." The trumpeter Huntsman mentioned with a tweak to his dark fedora.

"A pleasure to meet you." Razor said while shaking Flynt's hand, before glancing at Neon, "We've heard of you by the way Katt, even back when Adam was in charge it was a big deal for a Faunus to get accepted into Atlas Academy."

"Nice to know!" Neon quipped as Piper approached her, "Hi there, what's your name?"

"She's Piper." Teresa answered as she got ready for a brawl, since the Grimm were still making their way closer to them, "I'm Teresa by the way, and that's Darla and dog-boy there is named Cash."

"Uh, couldn't she just tell me that?" Neon asked, looking to Piper who shook her head and pointed to her throat while opening her mouth.

"Ah…Piper's a mute. Old injury." Razor elaborated for the Mouse Faunus.

"Oh, sorry." Neon apologized to Piper who made a 'don't worry about it' gesture with her hands.

"Now that we got the introductions outta the way, how about we get back to killing those ugly monsters?" Iggy suggested as he reloaded his guitar, ready to start playing a blazing tune while firing his weapon.

"It would be our pleasure!" Cash replied eagerly as he whipped out a gun.

"So, um…Mr. Razor?" Katrina began, "If you don't mind me asking, what exactly are you doing here? Not that I'm complaining about the rescue, but the White Fang's appearance seems rather sudden."

"My second-in-command and I were leading a strike team to take out a Red Fang cell we found a trail to in the nearby mountains a couple days ago. We were heading back to our home base when this catastrophe began and decided to help whoever we can." Razor explained, "My second, Sienna Khan, is helping the town of Borea as we speak."

"Sienna Khan?" Flynt asked.

"Yes, I did." Razor answered.

"Not to sound ungrateful, but some of the people in Atlas might not be…receptive to her presence." Flynt carefully mentioned, "She might want to keep herself scarce because some people still harbor grudges for the White Fang."

Razor thought for a moment before he replied with, "Okay, I guess just to be on the safe side I'll inform her to leave Borea town before reinforcements from the Atlesian military arrive. Thanks for the warning."

"And Borea's gotten hit too? Man, this is insane…" Flynt commented.

The Razorback Boar Faunus responded with, "Can't argue with that, the enemy is obviously making some kind of move against the Kingdom of Atlas."

"Then let's do our best to make sure it fails!" Neon declared as Team FNKI and the members from the White Fang walked out towards the approaching Grimm, as the incoming Goliaths were joined by other kinds of Grimm beasts.

Piper looked at Flynt's trumpet, Katrina's violin, as well as Iggy's guitar before a grin spread over her face, which Neon easily noticed. "What is it?" She asked as Piper got out her own weapon, and played a little melody on it, amplified by her Semblance.

"Piper's Semblance is to manipulate, cancel out, and create soundwaves. Her weapon contains the pieces of many different musical instruments." Razor answered before his mind pieced together what Piper was doing, "And I think she's eager to work with a musical team, which yours appear to be by the looks of it."

Flynt smiled and said, "Well, we do love to perform."

The new leader of the White Fang smirked and shook his head, saying, "Just what she needed, a band."

As the Goliaths and other assorted Grimm approached them, Iggy was the first to launch his own attack by playing a harsh theme on his guitar as he opened fire, blasting away some Beowolves. Katrina assisted him by playing a more harmonious melody on her violin and sending crackling energy arcs at the Grimm creatures, some of which hit the Goliaths' legs but didn't seem to do much damage while others like Beowolves, Tarantula Widows, Hellhounds, Creeps and such were cut apart by the violet energy arcs.

"Teresa, start spinning." Razor ordered, and the Tasmanian Devil Faunus activated her Semblance and began to spin around wildly, quickly becoming a mini-tornado of black, white and brown while firing off bullets that went sailing into the charging Grimm swarms.

As the Grimm got closer, Piper and Flynt ran ahead with the latter activating his Killer Quartet Semblance and blowing a fiery, sound-powered blast out of all four trumpets that slammed heavily into the Grimm and set most of them alight, while Piper created a massive, deafening sound blast that sent quite a number of Grimm flying so Iggy and Cash could pick them off. The Goliaths covered their ears with their long flaps and tried to withstand the devastating sound barrage, something Flynt quickly picked up on.

"The sounds hurt them! Cut off their ears, and that'll break their defenses!" Flynt shouted before he and his three clones let out more sound blasts with their trumpets while Neon, keeping up with the harmony of her team's performances, zoomed about the place kicking aside various Grimm creatures and smashing her Dust-powered nunchaku sticks into them as well.

Razor nodded and crouched down before he leapt into the air and came down upon the still spinning Teresa, who sent him flying into the air and towards the recovering Goliaths. He landed on the head of the closest one, making it come to a sudden halt as it realized someone was standing on top of it. The Grimm creature's trunk rose up and tried to swat the large Faunus away, but Razor simply plunged his chainsaw sword into the head of the massive beast as hard as he could, forcing his spinning weapon through the armored masked face and sawing downwards.

The Goliath roared out in pain as its ears flapped open, allowing them to be shot to pieces by Iggy as he rocked out. It swerved from side to side, trying to shake Razor off but the leader of the White Fang hung on and continued his bloody work, shards of white bone flying into the air around him.

Darla, who was gliding through the air, landed on one of the smaller Goliaths and opened fire on the larger specimens surrounding her. One of the bigger Goliaths roared in anger as it pulled back, leaned down and charged once more. She saw the danger coming and immediately jumped off the smaller Goliath as the bigger one smashed its sharp tusks through the smaller one, skewering it quickly in an attempt to kill Darla, who now hung onto the open ear of the furious Goliath.

"Thought you things were supposed to be smart!" The Flying Squirrel Faunus mocked as she held on for dear life, while the increasingly angry Goliath thrashed about.

Razor narrowly leapt clear of the Goliath he was riding on which crashed into a nearby building and landed onto its side, looking down at Darla, "Need any help?"

"Relax, I got this!" She called back as she was shaken this way and that by the roaring Goliath. Razor shrugged but nodded as he then jumped over to the next Goliath and set about taking it down.

"I think she needs help!" Neon shouted over to Flynt as she pointed to Darla's predicament.

"Go for it girl!" Flynt said as he changed out his fire Dust vial for a gravity one. Neon skated towards the elephant Grimm, clobbering a few Beowolves along the way before Flynt blew his trumpet and sent the Cat Faunus flying into the air and landing atop the beast's head, while the Grimm caught up in the gravity blast were sent flying and blasted apart by Katrina, Iggy, Cash and other White Fang members.

"Hey, are you okay?" Neon inquired, "Name's Darla right?"

"Yeah, but I'm okay…Whoa!" Darla cried as she nearly fell off, only for Neon to catch her arm.

"Now you are." The raver-themed Huntress said as she helped Darla onto the back of the Goliath, "Now let's teach this thing a lesson!" With that Neon began slamming her glowing nunchaku sticks into the Goliath's head, causing it to growl in anger. Darla shrugged and began unloading her gun into the beast's back while also stabbing it as well.

Down below, Flynt, Katrina, Iggy, and Piper all fought together using the combined forces of Dust, bullets, and destructive music to destroy Grimm, but when Piper noticed Katrina playing a particular song she grabbed her shoulder to get her attention, a bright but frantic little theme sounding off around her.

"Yes, what is it? I'm a bit busy!" Katrina cried as Piper energetically gestured to their respective instruments.

"What's she tryin' to say?" Iggy wondered.

"I think I understand…" Flynt watched Piper's gestures carefully before looking to his teammates, "Katrina, that theme you were just playing…it's one we all practiced, right?"

"Yes," She confirmed with a nod.

"Piper, do you know it too?" Flynt asked and the Mouse Faunus nodded eagerly, a positive tune sounding off from her Semblance and her instrument. "Okay, we all play it together now, and knock those Grimm dead!" Team FNKI's leader commanded as he ducked under a Beowolf's vicious slash attack and kicked it in the head, causing the Grimm to tumble backwards and Cash quickly shot it.

"So, it's a single unified sound attack." Katrina surmised as Piper nodded, "Ah, I understand it now!"

"Let's do it!" Iggy cheered enthusiastically.

The three members of Team FNKI swiftly united with Piper and began to play the agreed song, which was further amplified by Piper's Semblance. Soon, a powerful attack that was aided by Iggy's guitar blasts, Katrina's violin energy arcs, and Flynt's Dust-enhanced trumpet blasts pounded overwhelmingly into the Grimm hordes and even managed to do severe damage to the remaining Goliaths as Razor, Neon, and Darla attacked them, with Piper's Semblance creating a wonderful theme to go along with the battle.

Within mere moments the main streets of Nashville were mostly cleared of Grimm, much to the surprise and shock of the police officers and few remaining patrol soldiers of the Atlesian military. The surviving Grimm creatures which were not taken out by the combined music attack were easily put down by their renewed counterattack.

"That's a wrap guys! Woohoo!" Neon cheered as she kept wailing on the Grimm she was currently on, which did its best to cover its ears while the Cat Faunus was cutting into the ear flaps with the blades of her skates.

Razor laughed and commented, "A Grimm killing orchestra. Nothing surprises me anymore."

---

Anastasia laughed wickedly as she jumped down from the Grimm Knight's arms and stop the large, high-rise marquee of a movie theater, looking down upon Mantle City as the Grimm and killer robot attacks continued.

"Look at them run! Master was right, this does feel satisfying!" She said joyfully to no one in particular. One of the many things Salem had instilled into her disciples was the appreciation for chaos and the things it wrought such as fear.

Just then, one of the Nevermore flying overhead suddenly exploded with a piercing death cry. Anastasia looked up in surprise as the red visor of the Grimm Knight lit up in warning as it lowered itself next to her, and it projected a hologram of multiple military airships led by a trio of Atlesian battlecruisers approaching Mantle City.

"Order acknowledged." The Grimm Knight answered robotically and blasted off to join the rest of the black armored killing machines. However, something unexpected happened as Anastasia watched in the form of a squadron of those robots exploded in mid-air, their collision with seemingly nothing shattering the image of the clear street in front of them to reveal a medium-sized sturdy bridge that had been concealed by an image Semblance.

"What?!" She cried as the image fell away like broken glass to reveal a somewhat familiar petite girl armed with an umbrella, having a brown, white and pink color scheme to her. And she was smiling at Salem's maiden candidate for whatever reason Anastasia couldn't decipher.

"I don't believe it…" Anastasia felt her chiffon-colored eyes widen as she saw the partner of the late Roman Torchwick, "Neopolitan!"

Neo looked up, vaguely recognizing Anastasia from her time spent in Cinder's outfit during the rare trips to Salem's castle. The quiet girl leapt out of the way of the purple energy arcs sent at her from Anastasia's chakrams.

Neo grimaced as she crouched on the arches of the bridge's support beams, giving Anastasia a look that dared her to try and catch her.

After the defeat of Adam's White Fang faction, Neo had used her Semblance to remain hidden and sneak aboard an Atlesian airship where she remained hidden until the same it arrived in the Kingdom itself. Once it had landed she made off, deciding to give the land of the rich and powerful a shot for a while.

True enough her skills had proven quite useful, having made quite the fortune from stealing riches, artifacts and treasures from the rich fools of Atlas who didn't really deserve such things or had gotten them through various distasteful methods themselves. Some of those items she kept for herself, but others she discreetly returned them to the rightful owners, like returning some long-lost relics of Faunus heritage to the people of Menagerie. For the right price, of course.

While she had initially operated from one of Roman's safehouses in Atlas, Neo had eventually worked her way up to living the high life for the past few months, enjoying a decent apartment in the nice parts of Mantle City with her rewards and claims, but she wasn't about to let something like the current sudden Grimm Knight attack happen to the innocent people of this city.

Anastasia grinned evilly at Neo, saying, "You've been giving us the slip for far too long, you little criminal! I'll be rewarded for sure once I deliver you to Mistress Salem! Got anything to say about that you wretched mute?!"

The Neo she was looking at didn't move, but the one who suddenly came out of nowhere did, slamming her fist right into Anastasia's face and sending the latter flying backwards for a couple of meters. Salem's Spring Maiden candidate snarled as she looked up to see a glaring Neo as the illusion fell away.

"You bloody people need to learn when to shut up." Neo spat.

Anastasia snarled as she jumped up and brought her chakrams down on Neo, but they were blocked by Neo's estoc, which she drew out from her umbrella. The two women began fighting fiercely, slamming their weapons against each other as rapidly as possible, the blades of their weapons clashing again and again in a chorus of ringing steel.

As both of them fought fiercely they could hear the roars of Grimm from all around them as Griffons, Vampires and Nevermore were blasted away by the airships of the Atlesian military forces or soldiers with powerful long-range weapons. At the far end of the main streets of Mantle City, a number of fighter-transports landed and deposited teams of Hunters-in-training, row upon row of upgraded Atlesian Knights, and heavily armed soldiers from their passenger compartments. Behind them, more Atlesian dropships deployed tanks and armored personnel carriers to provide additional firepower, and they poured into the town through the major thoroughfares to save the people of Mantle City.

Areas which had large concentrations of Grimm hordes and Grimm Knights were targeted with large quantities of bullets, shells and missiles from various Atlesian troops, while the smaller groups were quickly eliminated either by teams of Hunters or squads of Atlas soldiers. Above the besieged town, squadrons of aircraft including bullheads, medical ships, Atlas Eagles, and gunships flew out of the three battlecruisers like angry bees from a hive while its cannons and missile batteries rained death on the aerial Grimm swarms.

Neo smirked at Anastasia, and that was all she needed to set the woman off. The dark blonde woman screamed furiously and began lashing out with her chakrams with such violent force that it was fast enough to force Neo to quickly jump back or risked getting cut or sliced apart.

The would-be Spring Maiden jumped over Neo and landed a kick on Neo's right shoulder blade, knocking the petite woman down to the ground under the bridge. Neo rolled out of the way just in time to avoid getting a purple energy arc shooting from one of Anastasia's chakrams slamming into her body. She leaped back up, quickly deflecting another few energy arcs with her estoc before getting hit by the last one.

There was a loud crackling sound, and half-pink-half brown-haired assassin was sent tumbling down the street by the energy arc's impact. Anastasia chuckled in contempt as she approached the smaller woman, shooting Neo a smirk of her own.

"Game over, you little freak."

She raised up and then sliced down with both her chakrams, aiming to slash Neo on the latter's chest and neck, but all she hit was another seemingly solid image that shattered like a brittle glass statue, sending shattered pieces of the illusion bouncing and scattering.

"Ugh! Another damn trick of hers!" Anastasia groaned in annoyance just as she heard rapid footsteps sprinting towards her. She spun around just as Neo came up behind her, striking with a series of powerful kicks that knocked the blonde a couple of steps back before dodging her chakrams easily. After knocking aside her opponent's latest strikes, Neo did a couple of somersaults to put some distance between them before spinning her umbrella and resting it across her shoulders with a smirk ready on her face.

"All right, I'll so enjoy beating your bloody smirk off your face!" Anastasia pointed her chakrams at Neo and charged forwards, parrying a swing of Neo's estoc and then whirled around to face her. She avoided another kick from Neo, but received another punch in the face when she didn't manage to block it with her weapon. Growling furiously at the cockily smiling girl, Anastasia lashed out again with a number of rapid slashes which Neo sidestepped or backflipped to avoid while looking out for any sharp jabs from Neo's hidden blade in her umbrella.

Shouting in fury, Anastasia clashed with Neo again as the invading forces of Grimm and Grimm Knights were aggressively fought back by Atlas's own forces.

---

Norvik hadn't had this much fun since the White Fang outpost in the deserts of Vacuo.

Granted the two situations were completely different, but the principle was the same; strike fear into the hearts of everyone here, kill them in the worst ways possible, and savor every single second of their agony.

As he lifted his head up from the eviscerated body he had been devouring, Norvik savored the symphony of screams, shouts, roars, gunfire and explosions that filled the air. All around Camp Independence, hordes of Grimm creatures were being obliterated by a wide variety of methods, and the soldiers who met their ends or were severely injured by facing the Grimm were dealt injuries and death in similarly diverse fashions.

The Grimm Chimera Commander watched as a trio of Hellhounds had cornered a couple of injured Atlesian soldiers inside of a patrol truck, the Grimm creatures were foaming at the mouth as they tried to claw their way through the cracking windows, while another soldier who hadn't been quick enough to take shelter in the snow jeep parked next to it was completely disemboweled with his blood dashed everywhere.

It wasn't long before the Hellhounds smashed their way in, and soon the vehicle was now shaking wildly on its suspension as blood splattered on the windows accompanied by anguished screaming.

Atlesian Knights were smashed out of the smoke-filled sky by Nevermore, Griffons and Vampires which dove down to attack the heavy tanks, armored personnel carriers and Paladins lumbering out of their respective hangars despite the near-endless fusillades of anti-aircraft fire firing from various turret positions throughout Camp Independence.

All the while, other, more common Grimm creatures followed their instincts and attacked every living thing in sight by biting, slashing, mauling and ripping apart as many soldiers and other personnel as possible while being shot and cut down by rifles and blades.

Norvik let out a beastly roar before laughing in a demented and severely distorted way, seeing that he wasn't using a human throat anymore. This kind of carnage was what he always had in mind! What he had desired for so long! Leading the Grimm hordes and decimating the so-called 'heroic' and 'infallible' warriors of Atlas. It was about time someone taught those high-and-mighty Atlesians a harsh lesson.

"Dreams do come true!" He rumbled to himself before the dying roars of the Grimm creatures caught his attention not far off, and his head turned in that direction despite the chaos throughout the base.

Smashing aside an overturned armored personnel carrier, the insane murderer in a Grimm Chimera body climbed up the nearby half-caved in hangar to get a better view on the source of the retaliation. Looking down at the huge concrete parade square below, Norvik saw several squads of heavily armed Atlesian soldiers firing at the encroaching Grimm hordes from behind improvised barricades while fresh reinforcements ran out from the main command center building carrying heavy weapons.

His glowing eyes soon picked out the officer in charge of the counterattack, and it was unmistakably the figure of Colonel Chamberlain dressed in his immaculate uniform. Despite being protected by a small group of three Specialists, the colonel was fighting at the frontline as well, blasting away at every Grimm in sight with incendiary rounds exiting from his heavy assault rifle. Any Grimm creature that faced him was put down almost immediately, and Chamberlain ducked underneath the slashing claws of a huge Alpha Beowolf before removing its head from its shoulders with his collapsible laser sword. Half a dozen Paladin-290s, upgraded with additional armor and weapons, were set evenly spaced apart while they decimated every single Grimm creature out of existence with barrages of heavy blaster and missile fire.

Under his commendable leadership, the military forces of Camp Independence were slowly but surely turning the tide against the attacking Grimm beasts.

"No, no, no. That just won't do!" Norvik declared to himself as he watched the reinforcements blast away every single Grimm in sight, with the Paladins brought down a number of Goliaths and Ursas. A couple more tanks rolled in from the vehicle repair bays adjacent to the command center, the business end of their turrets firing explosive shells that blew craters among the incoming Grimm and flinging disappearing Grimm bodies and debris into the air.

The possessed Grimm Chimera leapt off the building and landed on top of one of the Paladins, knocking it over as Norvik's claws dug deeply into the cockpit as he roared loudly to frighten the soldiers. The battlesuit's limbs tried to push itself upright as the operator struggled with his controls, but Norvik slammed one clawed arm through the cockpit's protective cover and pulped the operator's helmet-covered head before he could scream.

Seeing that a more dangerous target had presented itself, many of the soldiers began to concentrate their gunfire on the massive misshapen Grimm Chimera. Chamberlain stood his ground, pointing his sword at Norvik and shouted, "Kill him!"

Everyone immediately opened fire, including the heavy cannon turrets mounted on buildings and tanks, blasting non-stop into Norvik's flank and chipping away at his thick bone armor plates. Thick viscous ichor spattered the square's frozen concrete surface as the Grimm Chimera howled in pain before jumping off the half-crushed Paladin and running for cover, doing his best to avoid getting blasted by the missiles and laser cannon fire of the Paladins by putting as much wrecked debris and Grimm between him and the slowly regrouping troops.

"Norvik the Hunter!" Chamberlain shouted fiercely, "Come and face us!"

"So, my reputation precedes me! It's so good that I am remembered." Norvik's bestial voice came as he prowled around the destroyed wrecks of military vehicles and aircraft which had crashed around the area, even going behind the burned-out shells of various hangars and secondary buildings to cleverly keep out of sight. The other Grimm were also keeping their distance warily, menacing growls and hisses echoing out of the thick smoke that wreathed the far side of the square.

"A reputation of pure evil like that deserves a painful death." Chamberlain spat angrily in return, "I read your file, and I know what your father did to you and your brother, but it doesn't excuse a thing! I also know what you did to all those innocent people, those students you murdered long ago, those Faunus you killed out in the abandoned desert base, as well as the valorous soldiers you have killed today."

"I know, my resume is truly impressive. And I love making it longer!" The voice that was less a man's and more of an unholy combination of various inhuman noises came again, "But I'm surprised you know of my father and I take it you're not a fan of my work?"

"Only a completely deranged mind would admire you. I, on the other hand, am going to do everything in my power to finish what Ozpin started! We are going to hunt you down like the beast you are and exterminate you!" The Atlesian colonel declared passionately, while the squads of armored soldiers toting heavy weapons kept them aimed at the swirling grey smoke at the other end of the square.

"Oh yes! This is the kind of challenge I've been waiting for!" Norvik shouted as the red eyes appeared from within the shadows of a crashed bullhead.

"All Paladins and tank crews, prepare to fire on my order." Chamberlain whispered to his communicator pickup before shouting daringly, "Enough talk! Come and get us, you filth!"

"With pleasure!" The Grimm Chimera Commander agreed as his eyes shone bright red, quickly summoning more Grimm to his current location, "Hope you don't mind, but I don't want to make it too easy for you!" It wasn't long before Grimm creatures of every possible variant encountered by the Atlesian military forces were rushing out of the swathes of smoke, eager to feast on the flesh of the soldiers.

"All troops, fire at will!" Chamberlain shouted again and his troops promptly opened fire on the incoming hordes of snarling, hissing, howling and roaring Grimm. The first few waves of assorted Grimm went down almost immediately under the hailstorm of bullets, tank shells, laser blasts and missiles while the others charged mindlessly over the rapidly vanishing corpses of their kin. The brave colonel pulled the trigger of his assault rifle repeatedly, bringing down as many Grimm as he could, but for every beast he shot two more appeared to take its place, and yet more were swarming through the broken perimeter walls.

A Griffon smashed its spine-covered tail into the turret of a nearby tank, ripping the thick armor plates open and tore a screaming operator from its interior while his companions fired their pistols at it. There was an ear-splitting crash as another unfortunate Paladin was smashed by a massive Beringel before the other battlesuits blew the beast apart, only for Norvik to jump on the back of one and disrupting its overall balance as his mighty claws easily ripped its metal frame open to expose the battlesuit's pilot, whose head was sharply ripped off by the beast's crushing jaws.

"Concentrate your fire! Don't spray and pray!" Chamberlain aimed and fired the last few incendiary rounds in his assault rifle, the soldiers around him doing the same thing while others continued to keep the onrushing Grimm hordes at a safe distance.

A female trooper unloaded her shotgun rounds into Norvik's side while her cohorts emptied entire magazines of armor-piercing rounds into the Chimera Grimm, but somehow he seemed to be ignoring the blasts hitting his entire body while he tore apart a tank with his sharp claws while ripping the screaming driver in half, spattering blood everywhere.

Discarding his empty assault rifle, Chamberlain drew his service pistol and walked forward, firing repeatedly at the Grimm abomination's head as he did so. With the remaining Paladins and tanks focused on stemming the surging tide of Grimm swarming into Camp Independence, he knew that what he was doing was merely distracting his enemy for a few precious seconds.

He would honestly kill for a heavy laser cannon right about now, but something else presented itself when a nearby trooper knelt and aimed his portable missile launcher. An idea came to Chamberlain's mind, and he shouted for the soldier to give him the heavy weapon. He shouldered the missile launcher, waited for the weapon's targeting computer to achieve a target lock, and pulled the trigger.

"Bwaugh!" Norvik cried as he was forced off the tank when a series of missiles impacted onto his shoulders and chest, spraying chips of bone white armor everywhere. He slammed the battlesuit down onto the snowy ground and quickly retreated, the larger Grimm creatures covering him like a tide of living shields to protect the Grimm Commander by soaking up the troops' firepower.

"Don't let him get away!" Chamberlain ordered before he turned around and blasted a charging Beowolf through its eyes with his pistol, before using his sword to remove both arms from another one that tried to slash him with its well-developed claws.

"We'll catch him si-" A trooper began before Norvik dashed out again and snagged the soldier with his spiked tail, dragging him away as he screamed for help, and cutting down another group of soldiers with his claws as he sprinted off and leaving them bleeding and writhing in excruciating pain.

Startled, Chamberlain regained his composure as his remaining squads kept firing in Norvik's general direction, only for a trio of Griffons to drop down among the squads of Atlesian soldiers and began killing them, crushing a couple of them under their clawed feet while swinging their claws about, doing serious damage to them before they were blasted to oblivion.

All the while, the colonel could hear the mocking laughter of Norvik the Hunter as he launched out of the shadows, reaching out for him when a young female trooper pushed him out of the way. She shrieked in agony as the Chimera Grimm's jaws clacked shut around her legs, blood flowing from her wounds as she was dragged screaming away behind a wrecked tank.

"No!" Chamberlain cried as he gave chase with the others, shooting away at the the abomination as it ran off, leaving the young female soldier dead with her stomach ripped open and right leg bitten clean off, leaving behind a gory scene that would haunt everyone there to their dying days. There was a heaving sound behind Chamberlain as one of the other troopers abruptly threw up his stomach's contents when he saw exactly what happened to his comrade, while a sergeant shouted for them to get back to the frontlines to continue killing the Grimm creatures that had invaded Camp Independence.

Chamberlain let out a scream of fury as he unloaded the remaining bullets in his pistol into a Boarbatusk nearby, still hearing the monstrous laugh of Norvik the Hunter echoing around him. He knew that he might not be able to save his subordinates, but he could still avenge their deaths by killing Norvik. He turned and ran towards the nearest armory, and saw a trooper carrying a plasma repeater cannon running in his direction alongside the rest of his squad to defend the military base.

"You there!" Chamberlain barked and the heavy weapon trooper's helmet snapped in his direction and he slowed, saluting awkwardly with one gauntlet, "What's your name, soldier?"

"C-Corporal Piers, sir!" He said, "How can I be of service?"

"You can start by giving me that plasma repeater cannon." Chamberlain said, and the trooper quickly obeyed.

"Sir…that weapon packs a hell of a punch, you sure about this?" Piers watched as his superior slung the portable power pack over his shoulders and switched the power to its highest setting.

"Corporal Piers, I know the exact specifications and operational limits of every single weapon manufactured by the Kingdom of Atlas, modern or otherwise." Chamberlain growled back, "Now get going. I have unfinished business to attend to."

The tone of his voice brooked no argument, so the corporal could only watch as his superior sprinted off again, blasting any Grimm unfortunate enough to cross his path with azure plasma bursts, vaporizing them into fine ash.

---

"Interesting." Sherizawa murmured to himself as he held the seemingly innocuous bullet in his armored hand, examining it carefully as it gave off a faint silver sheen, "So these are the Silver Bullets that have been preventing the Grimm from disintegrating. Mistress Salem did mention these were apparently the cause of such disturbances."

The battle throughout Europa base still raged on, but he was more preoccupied with his discovery of an enemy's advantage against his benefactor. One round was missing from the armored box, so that would explain why he had seen one of the Geists frozen in place and unmoving like a statue. He glanced over to another small box containing several rounds of silver bullets and remarked to himself, "I shall have to analyze these, and perhaps find a way to counteract them."

As he placed the lone silver bullet within with the others and secured the small box, a lone security guard entered the doorway leading into the weapon lab. Aiming his rifle at the armored scientist, he shouted, "Freeze!"

In response Sherizawa's left arm shot up and fired an energy blast at the guard without even looking at him, sending him flying back out of the lab and into the reinforced steel walls opposite, knocking him out instantly.

"Pathetic security. Undertrained and understaffed. My homeland's hubris will always come back to haunt them." Sherizawa mused as he walked out of the weapons lab. As he passed by the unconscious guard, he grabbed him by the leg, an dragged him on towards his true target, while eight Grimm Knights marched robotically in front and behind him.

Prior to discovering the small side lab where the silver bullets had been stored for research purposes, he and his Grimm Knights had converged on the main vault door, which led to the rest of the facility where the true technological treasures were.

The current head of the facility, Dr. Albert Rhiel, whom Sherizawa had met on multiple occasions throughout his scientific career, was held up behind the main vault with the bulk of the remaining staff and security forces, and all of the other entrances were completely sealed off by the lockdown protocols which he had to admit were well designed and constructed. The blast doors were made of six-foot reinforced titanium plating and protected by multiple ceiling and wall-mounted machine gun, autocannon and laser turrets which panned across the corridors leading to the main vault.

That way even if they managed blast through, which Sherizawa and his Grimm Knights had thus far failed to, they would be in for a rather nasty barrage.

Good thing they had hostages.

Sherizawa returned to the main corridor in front of the vault door, seeing the scorch marks from the failed attempts by the Grimm Knights to blow their way through. He tossed the unconscious guard over with the rest of the hostages that lined the debris-strewn hallway, forty or so scientists, assistants, security personnel and other employees who were all on their knees with their hands behind their heads, as the Grimm Knights aimed their powerful arm-mounted weapons at their heads.

"Dr. Rhiel!" Sherizawa called, "I know you can hear me via the security systems! I would like to speak with you."

There was a pause, before the stern voice of an old man reverberated throughout the hallway, "Whatever you want, Toma Sherizawa, you're not getting it from me." His voice sounded both tired and disappointed at the same time, "I once thought you a prodigy, a shining example of Atlas's brightest minds that could one day create new technologies to benefit the Kingdom. Now look at you."

"Yes, right now I'm standing on top of the situation with forty-one hostages and an army of loyal robotic warriors that have outclassed those Atlesian Knight-130s made by the Schnees in every way, and clad in a suit of bonding body armor far more advanced than Atlas's clunky machines." Sherizawa retorted.

There was another moment of silence before the older man's voice came again, "What do you want, Sherizawa? What's this about, invading this weapons facility and killing fellow scientists?"

"I simply wish to appropriate that prototype pulse spectral array cannon that you have within the storage vaults of this weapons facility, the one scheduled to be fitted onto Ironwood's Resolute next week. The rest of the technologies and weaponry you have been working on here are interesting but currently irrelevant to me." Sherizawa stated calmly.

"And how the hell did you know about that prototype? Its existence is supposed to be highly classified!" Rhiel's voice came from the hidden speakers all around the hallway, "Come to think of it, how did you and your robots know the exact coordinates to get past the base's perimeter sensors without setting off any of the exterior alarms?"

"Do you think everyone else in Atlas is as loyal as you are, Rhiel? Allegiances in this world are as fluid as water in a river, and all it takes are the right words whispered to willing ears to make people change their minds." Salem's technology scientist chuckled as he spread his gauntleted hands nonchalantly, "As for your second question, let's just say the security defenses for this military base has more holes in it than a fishing net."

Rhiel's growl came over the hidden speakers again, "You're not getting it Toma! I don't fully understand whatever forces you've joined up with, but I know that if they get this prototype cannon the damage they'll cause will be devastating!"

"It would indeed if we are planning to use it for a full-scale assault, and while that is a possibility we currently want to use it for defense purposes for the time being." Sherizawa answered somewhat truthfully, "Now, if you let me have the cannon and its accompanying data, we shall take my leave and do no more harm. But if you refuse to comply then I shall be forced to take extreme measures, and execute all forty-one of these hostages, one by one every minute. And should you not comply once those forty-one minutes are up, I will be forced to put my considerable hacking skills to the test and open up your vault myself. By that point in time help will have no doubt arrived, but my upgraded Grimm Knights and the Geists outside are more than enough to hold off whatever Ironwood sends to your aid."

The scientist then grabbed a female scientist who was in her thirties, and held her up at arms length as he faced where he supposed the hidden video cameras would be. A long, thin blade ejected from the forearm of the Atlas armor he wore and was brought close to her neck. The amoral scientist pressed it against her trembling skin enough to draw blood once he bypassed her aura, and the female scientist was whimpering in terror as she fought not to scream.

"Fifty seconds before I kill this woman, Rhiel." Sherizawa said calmly as he ignored her quiet, but terrified sobs as the blade dug deeper into her neck.

In the vault's security booth, an elderly male scientist with brown skin, wild hair, a large white moustache which gave him an overall rather messy appearance gripped tightly on the sides of the console as he witnessed the life of another colleague hanging in the balance. While the majority of the base's personnel had evacuated into the secure underground shelter in the deepest part of the Europa base when the alarms were activated, the ones working at the upper levels didn't have enough time to make it there before the main vault doors sealed and were remorseless killed by the invading Grimm Knights.

Eventually he threw himself back on his seat and slammed a fist on a nearby computer console, grunting in frustration as he watched the situation worsened. Around Rhiel, a number of other Atlesian scientists, security guards and soldiers watched in silence, although many of them with either looks of shock or antipathy in their faces. Being the highest-ranking non-military staff on site, he could see them slowly turn their heads to look at him, wondering what he would do next.

Despite the fact he had a duty to protect his staff already within the base's inner shelter, Rhiel knew he also need to protect the personnel who were at Sherizawa's mercy. So slowly and deliberately he looked to the highest-ranking soldier standing beside him and whispered, "Is any help coming for us?"

"Yes sir, but they…they'll only be here in forty-five minutes or so. Sentinel Base, Fort Valor, Camp Independence, and other military bases have been attacked. Reinforcements have been dispatched from the military headquarters, but with Nevermore flocks and Lancer swarms appearing in various spots around Kingdom airspace, they estimate it will take them approximately forty-five minutes to arrive if they can fight their way through." The lieutenant-commander said grimly, shaking his helmet-covered head, "We're on our own for the time being."

"Damn it to hell…" Rhiel muttered before he turned back to the P.A. system's pickup and spoke into it once more, "Sherizawa, do I have your honest word that if I allow you to take the cannon and all data pertaining to it, and only that, you will spare the lives of all those people, as well as the rest of us within the shelter?"

"Of course." Sherizawa answered calmly as he paused torturing his latest victim, "Despite our differences, I still respect your scientific achievements. And while I have allied myself with an organization that many would describe as unsavory and have done many things you would call barbarous including what I have just threatened you with, I am still a man of my word. No harm shall come to any of you, should you simply give me what I require from your vault."

Rhiel was silent for a few moments, before he took a deep breath and said, "Very well, and you have mine that you will get the prototype cannon." He clicked off the P.A. system and turned to the lieutenant-commander beside him, "Deactivate the automated defenses, shut down the Atlesian Knights and open the vault door that houses the prototype. Let that son of a bitch in."

"Sir, with all due respect, we can't…" The lieutenant-commander began before Rhiel cut him off with a dismissive wave of his hand as he lowered his head a tiny fraction. Out of the corner of his grey eyes, the scientist could see the other security personnel reach for their sidearms, knowing that he would probably lose his life if the head security officer gave the order.

"The cannon can be reclaimed or recreated, Lieutenant-Commander Grayson. Those lives outside the shelter's doors can't. I might come to hate myself for this decision, but I would never forgive myself if I let those innocent people who had worked with me for years die. Now open the damn doors!" Rhiel ordered firmly.

Grayson hung his head for a moment before turning to the other security officers and soldiers and said, "You heard him, open the vault door."

Sherizawa looked at the closed blast door of the main vault, narrowing his eyes a little as he wondered if Rhiel had accepted his offer. While he relished teaching them a sharp lesson in his own unique way, as long as he got the prototype cannon for Salem he didn't really care whether Europa base was still standing when he left.

He smiled when he heard several loud clanks as the locking bolts of the vault doors retracted into their housings, and the thick blast door slid horizontally to admit him into the depths of the weapons facility. He made an innocent gesture, and a couple of Grimm Knights marched through the open vault doors to ascertain whether the vault's defenses have been deactivated. When the Grimm Knights' scanners confirmed that the visible defense turrets all remained silent and offline, he shoved the whimpering woman back towards the other hostages.

"Now, was that so hard?" He commented as he strode into the vault while speaking to his wrist communicator, "Bring in the airship for extraction."

---

The Atlesian city of Hephaestus was a sprawling metropolis located twenty kilometers away from Fort Valor, and was the third most heavily fortified cities aside from Mantle City and the capital. Not only did it occupy a strategically important route leading to the capital, the mountains that surround it were plentiful in Dust deposits and raw minerals which resulted in a large number of mines and raw material-processing factories built near them in order to tap into such abundant resources. In addition, the city was home to the site of many massive military-industrial facilities such as weapon and vehicle factories as well as airship and battle cruiser shipyards that kept the powerful Atlas military well-supplied and well-armed enough to engage any of the Kingdom's enemies.

Being of considerable importance to the Kingdom, Hephaestus City was anything but defenseless. The city was protected by tall, thick titanium-reinforced walls that could easily withstand several weeks of siege should one occur, and was also heavily protected by an immense arsenal of automated defense weapons on its immense ramparts. Anti-air cannons and missile launchers pointed at the sky, while multi-barreled cannon batteries, gatling gun turrets and cannon emplacements occupied the tops and various strong points of the walls. Adding to those already formidable defenses were thousands of highly-trained soldiers, hundreds of tanks and other vehicles, squadrons of fighter-transports, Atlesian Eagles and airships, plus the sizable fleet of six battle cruisers that patrolled the cloudy skies above the city. Such incredible military might would be more than enough to effortlessly devastate an invading enemy army and reduce them to shattered wrecks and corpses within mere minutes.

The city had weathered terrible battles of the Great Wars in Remnant's history, successfully turned back multiple Grimm incursions with exceedingly small losses, and was considered to be near-impenetrable by the other Kingdoms, which lent credence that no one ever successfully got past the daunting defenses of Hephaestus City.

That was until it was hit by a massive Grimm attack that completely decimated Fort Valor and was now other Grimm hordes were laying siege to the city.

Every single functioning turret and manned weapon on the walls of Hephaestus City was firing ceaselessly, pouring massive amounts of bullets, shells, laser blasts, and missiles into the attacking Grimm hordes that inched closer from the air and ground with every second. The ravening beasts somehow managed to completely demolish Fort Valor and successfully made their way through the passage between the mountains before spilling out onto the wide snow plains in front of the city like an oil slick on water.

All along the ramparts of the walls, soldiers and Atlesian Knights opened fire, adding firepower to that of tanks embedded at certain sections of the walls. Assault rifles and plasma cannons battered out unending streams of tracer-guided rounds and plasma blasts into the incoming Grimm, while missiles, artillery shells and battle cannon rounds tore huge gaps in the onrushing tide of creatures in sudden bursts of snow, dirt and shredded Grimm bodies. Squadrons of Atlesian Eagles deployed devastating payloads while being covered by airships and battle cruisers from the aerial Grimm swarms, clusters of high-explosive bombs and missiles wiping out huge swathes of Grimm beasts on the snow plains with each consecutive flyover.

Yet the Grimm still came, heedless of their own demise even as they were consumed by overwhelming firestorms of munitions.

"The First and Second Defense Lines have been overrun! All remaining troops are to withdraw and regroup at the Final Defense Line!" A female command staff officer relayed through her communication console urgently, "I repeat, all remaining troops withdraw to the Final Defense Line immediately!"

Even deep within the highly-secure command bunker codenamed Iron Bastion located underneath the main military complex, Base Commander Major Marius could feel the tremors of the battle raging just outside the city's walls. Around him a number of personnel manned a variety of scanning and tactical consoles, reading whatever was on the glowing blue screens. The hundreds of hologram screens occupying the far wall of the command bunker were filled with high-resolution video feeds of the battle taking place in the airspace above, on the walls, and beyond the walls, and what they were currently showing to him don't paint a pretty picture at all.

His fists clenched tightly on the surface of the holographic table as his steel-grey eyes focused on the tactical map showing the entire city and its immediate surroundings besieged by endless hordes of Grimm. A huge swarm of red dots representing Grimm were steadily making their way closer towards the great walls of the city, while even more red dots indicated an equally large amount of airborne Grimm currently engaging the airships, fighter-transports and battle cruisers which had been assigned to guard the metropolis. Inversely, the remaining blue dots on the hologram representing the military forces were currently concentrated on the walls and in the airspace above Hephaestus City, throwing everything they have at the invading hordes while the population of Hephaestus evacuated to their assigned shelters which would ensure their safety.

The first wave of Grimm had come out of nowhere, and it was only due the outlying sensor towers that the military forces of Hephaestus were alerted to their presence and so quickly scrambled to meet the oncoming Grimm. Despite the early warning, the few outposts just a couple of kilometers outside of the Atlesian city were completely overwhelmed in a matter of minutes by the Grimm, and so Marius had issued an order for the remaining troops to evacuate back to the fortified city before they closed all of the walls' entrances.

While the city's wall defenses and considerable army were said to be second only to those of the Kingdom's capital Atlas City, Marius was beginning to dread the possibility that the Grimm had more bodies to hurl at the walls than the Atlesian troops manning the walls had bullets. He didn't need to be a tactician to know that once the wall defenses and defending troops were completely depleted of ammunition, the Grimm beasts would be able to climb or break through the walls and then assault the vulnerable interior of Hephaestus.

The heavy blast doors of the command bunker hissed open and the armored form of Captain Raine strode through briskly, making her way to Major Marius and ignoring the salutes given by the bunker's staff. The Atlesian captain was fully clad in thick armor plates and her helmet's visor was open, her dark brown eyes met Marius's grey ones when he looked up from the holographic table.

"Major, we're holding for now but things are steadily going sideways out there," Raine reported as she came to the other side of the table, disregarding military protocol due to the circumstances, "What's the ETA on our reinforcements?"

"General Ironwood told me that they're on their way, captain." Marius replied before returning his gaze to the hologram generated above the table. He swore underneath his breath when he noticed that a few more blue dots had vanished from the airspace, signifying the elimination of more fighter-transports by the Grimm, "We just need to hold on for a while longer and make sure those monsters don't break through the walls."

"Major, with all due respect, we're outnumbered, both on the walls and in the air." Raine pointed her gauntlet's fingers at the slowly turning hologram in front of them, "By the time reinforcements get here they'll probably be backing up a graveyard once those walls are breached!"

"Hephaestus is built to withstand a siege, Captain." Marius growled as he turned his head to shout an order for the anti-air cannons to target an incoming flock of Nevermore, "There are several hundred thousand civilians in this city; men, women and children, humans and Faunus. I'd sooner put a bullet through my head than allowing those beasts to break through our fortifications and kill them all. We will continue to hold these walls, or die trying." He glared at the Atlesian captain and added, "Unless you have a better suggestion?"

"Evacuation." Raine mentioned carefully, "We have enough transport airships at the main airship terminal to get approximately ninety percent of Hephaestus' population to the capital safely. The reserve squadrons of Atlesian Eagles and fighter-transports can cover their escape while we delay the Grimm as much as we can."

"And what happens to the remaining ten percent, Captain?" Marius jabbed an accusing finger at her, "Are you going to tell me to put a rifle in their hands, show them where the trigger is, and point them to the frontlines? We've already deployed several civilian guard brigades to help reinforce the deteriorating walls, and we're just barely holding the line against what looks to be possibly the largest Grimm invasion in this city's history!"

"Better ninety percent than zero." The Atlesian captain argued quietly.

The commander picked up his coffee mug on the console and angrily flung it at the nearest wall instead of in his captain's direction, shattering the cup and spattering stale coffee everywhere, while his command staff wisely kept their distance and focused their attentions on their console screens instead since they all had really intriguing things to read on those glowing screens.

The two looked at each other intently across the holographic table, their expressions waging another war all on their own as they stared each other down for several seconds.

Marius eventually took a breath to calm himself, marshaling his anger under control before speaking again, "You think I haven't thought of that? Even if we mount a mass evacuation now, there'd be no way for those airships to take off safely since the airspace is so densely occupied with Grimm at the moment. Those 'reserve squadrons' you mentioned are kept where they are because I need them to buy some breathing space for those hard-pressed troops outside manning those walls!"

Knowing that Marius had raised a tactically sound point, Raine changed tack, "Then what about calling in reinforcements from the nearby military bases? Surely they would be able to get here in less time to provide military assistance than those from Camp Independence."

"Bases Sentinel, Aszod and Borealis are also under attack, and don't get me started on Fort Valor." Marius hung his head for a moment, "The last one is more or less completely wiped out. If the Grimm can make it through the mountain passage and onto our front door, it's a safe bet that Fort Valor isn't standing around anymore."

"I see. So we continue to hold on and hope for the best?" The female captain said in a small, even voice almost devoid of emotion, "How many hours do we need to buy before our relief arrives?"

"One, maybe two hours." Marius eventually growled out after consulting with the holographic table's EVA unit, "I've already pulled back the majority of our forces within the walls, and focusing the city's defenses on preventing the Grimm from either gaining a foothold in the air or on the ground."

"I pray that you're right, Major." Raine's voice tinged with what felt like apprehension, "Nevertheless, I shall do my best to make sure the Grimm don't get past the walls."

Suddenly, alarms wailed throughout the command bunker with the lights switching from red to blue with several 'Warning' words flashing up on every visible monitor and holographic screen. Command staff chattered urgently among themselves as a section of Hephaestus' walls was highlighted in glaring red on the table's hologram, and Marius barked, "What the hell just happened? EVA, give me an updated sit-rep!"

The table's EVA AI unit promptly reported, "Catastrophic damage sustained to wall defenses F1 through F10. Wall Section F's anti-air cannons and gatling gun turrets are heavily damaged and functioning at forty-five percent efficiency. Artillery cannon emplacements F20 and F22 offline. Significant casualties sustained among 19th and 21st Atlesian Marines at Section F as well. Immediate action required."

Marius slammed his fist hard onto the holographic table which caused the shimmering hologram to blink out for a brief second before refocusing again, "Damn! Captain, I need Athena Company to reinforce the 19th and 21st Atlesian Marines at Section F. You need to plug that hole in the defense wall before the Grimm exploit it. I'll get the 21st Armored Division and 45th Infantry Division to support you, go!"

Raine saluted as she lowered her visor, before sprinting for the opening blast doors of the bunker while rattling out rapid-fire orders to the sergeants under her command. Marius turned back to the hologram and was about to give the order for the automated defenses on the other wall sections to focus their firepower at the massing hordes of Grimm that were converging on the weakened part of Hephaestus City's defenses when a junior staff officer shouted loudly, "Contact! I have an unknown contact!"

"Where is it?" Marius demanded as he glared at the slowly revolving hologram on the table's surface.

"It's coming in from the west at a steady speed!" The junior officer shouted again, "Dear gods, I've never seen such a huge contact!"

"What is it?" The Atlesian major barked, "Someone get me a visual image!"

"Unknown, sir!" Someone else responded, "I'm still trying to capture a live video feed from our sensors!"

"Is it one of ours? Is it Grimm?" Marius asked again, his voice rising slightly.

"Unknown, sir! We're trying our best!" The staff bent over his scanning console answered.

"Well find out, damn it!" The Base Commander snapped when the largest hologram screen within the command bunker switched over to a live video feed overlooking the Grimm-besieged walls of Hephaestus City. What he saw made his eyes widen and his jaw drop, while everyone else in the command center stopped whatever they were doing when they saw what had appeared in the sky above their city. They didn't know what it was or whether it was there to save them or not, but the sheer size and majesty of the unknown contact was enough to render anyone speechless because it was definitely something that wasn't seen every day.

"By the Four Gods..." Marius whispered, "What is that thing?"

No one could give him an answer.

---

The Indomitable Bastion came over the mountains like an airborne colossus, its cloaking systems deactivating as the powerful vessel revealed itself to the sorely-pressed defenders of Hephaestus. While the Atlesians built massive airships and battle cruisers like the Resolute, Spirit of Winter and Nautilus II, the flagship of the Winter Templars Knight Legion looked like a gigantic aerial fortress possessing enough firepower to destroy entire enemy fleets and break towns apart. Weapon clusters protruded from the ship's bulk, forged from white marble stone and gilded metal. Vast, massive cannons extended from reinforced sections of the ship's spine. Tiers upon tiers of weapon batteries and launch bays marched down the flagship's flanks. Within its fiery heart was contained the entire might of a Knight Legion and their support staff, and even alone the mighty airship of the Remnant Knight Order was a magnificent sight that could easily bring a city to total surrender.

The many weapons crowning the gargantuan warship of the Winter Templars smoothly tracked the masses of Grimm outside Hephaestus City and opened fire as one thunderous voice. Whole swathes of Grimm were cut down by the sheer firepower unleashed by the massive ship. Spherical explosions carpeted the snow plains outside the city, throwing Grimm beasts into the air. Wave after wave of bullets, shells, lasers, plasma blasts, missiles and other unidentifiable yet incredibly destructive weaponry slammed heavily into the black tide of Grimm, reducing them to ashes within seconds. Over the cover of endless weapons fire from its armaments, gunships and transport airships launched from The Indomitable Bastion, a swarm of white-and-grey specks spreading outwards from its open launch bays carrying their lethal cargo of heavy assault tanks, armored personnel carriers, and a variety of other assault transports.

The Grimm in the sky and on the ground were caught off-guard by the sudden attack, and while a significant number of them changed targets from the Atlesian troops to engage the Winter Templar's flagship the majority of those were speedily blasted apart by enfilading fire anti-air turrets and missile batteries. Those beasts that managed to get close found themselves unable to penetrate its multi-layered beehive barrier shields, and were also eliminated in short order. The Indomitable Bastion fired again, ripping huge chunks out of the flying Grimm swarms and the teeming ground-based Grimm hordes. Fresh clouds of roaring fire added to those already glowing among the vast snow plains, and the explosions seemed endless. The flagship's guns roared repeatedly, fire pouring into the living landscape of Grimm without pause. More explosions carpeted the embattled grounds outside the city, and soon groups of craters pockmarked the recently cleared areas as the Grimm were systematically annihilated.

Driving a wedge directly into the invading Grimm, the roaring flight of Winter Templars' gunships and transport airships chewed up the icy ground with their assault cannons and gatling guns while others let loose salvos of missiles which punched smoking holes in the Grimm swarms and sending various body parts of various Grimm flying through the air along with thick chunks of ice and dirt. Once the immediate area was cleared of Grimm, heavy aerial transports bearing the gleaming emblems of the Winter Templars brought themselves in and settled several meters above the scorched frozen ground amidst hot blasts billowing from their engines, their twin cannons and turrets smoking from incessantly blasting away the swarms of Grimm. The ramps dropped open to deploy squads of heavily armed Winter Templars, all of them were carrying incredible esoteric weaponry that would probably make soldiers of the Atlesian military green with envy. The Winter Templars formed smoothly into phalanx formations and charged alongside their armor, the voices of battle and yelled oaths escaping their helmets as they brought swift death to the momentarily disoriented Grimm hordes.

At the very forefront of was a monstrous, hulking colossus of a tank, having been personally deployed by the flagship itself, hovering above in the chilly air like a lord of the skies to protect the city. The giant tank was a white and grey titanium-armored mobile fortress of the Winter Templars, raking the howling and screeching Grimm with sustained fire from its numerous weapon arrays in all directions. Its armor-plated hull was adorned with litanies and passages from old tomes from within Tintagel and scenes of glorious victories won by the Winter Templars in ages past. Every inch of its surface was inscribed with silver filigree and marble fixtures, while banners depicting the emblem of the Winter Templars fluttered from atop its armored chassis. Through the freezing mists and the exhaust-fumed fog of battle the given name of the massive tank could just be seen beneath the splatters of melting white snow. Etched onto the sides of the armored fighting vehicle in the form of a crossed-sword bearing shield was the magnificent name of Determinatus.

It was a name honored throughout the Winter Templars Knight Legion thanks to its celebrated achievements, in addition to serving as the personal vehicle of the Knight of Air, the Legion's Knight Castellan. And now, it was assigned to be Cold Steel's mobile command platform for the duration of the conflict as the Knight Castellan was presently in command of The Indomitable Bastion in the battle-choked skies above Hephaestus. The Knight Champion stood with his armored boots braced apart in the primary turret behind the Determinatus' twin cannons, leveling his huge longsword, Justicier, with one gauntleted hand at the thick masses of Grimm arrayed in front of the Winter Templars' armor vehicles and warriors while shouting loudly, "Forward! For the Vale King and Remnant!" The other Remnant Knights clad in silver-white armor were only too happy to answer his resounding battle-cry.

Barely a couple of minutes had passed, but the sheer efficiency of the Knight Legion was that the wide space cleared by their gunships and transport airships on the western side of Hephaestus City was already crowded with gleaming heavy armor and columns of warriors amongst their newly arrived craft. And high above the freshly deployed army, The Indomitable Bastion moved with unhurried grace and brutality like a mighty king of war walking his domain, cloaked in the gold and red of endless booming destruction, the flashing light of its many guns and cannons the glitter of jewels on his gilded crown.

It was a spectacular sight none of the inhabitants of Hephaestus would ever forget.

---

The Nuckelavee was monstrous.

The Nuckelavee was relentless.

The Nuckelavee was merciless.

The residents of Solitarius found that out the hard way, as it lifted a screaming man up with its long arms, its sharp claws digging deep into his body and pulling his limbs in separate directions, making him feel incredible pain before it tore him apart and feasted on his flesh.

Shrieking people were trampled under the hooves of its lower equine body, regardless of age, gender or race. No one was spared, and the Elder Grimm fed greedily on the corpses of those it murdered. Even those who somehow managed to fight back lasted only scant seconds longer, their lives snuffed out once their weapons were torn from their hands and broken apart.

A retired Huntsman lay dying, his right eye swollen shut from the slash across it, his torso badly cut by the Nuckelavee's sharp claws, and his right leg had been bitten by its horse head. He laid under the shelter of an outdoor shack, watching as out of control fires spread across the mining town, and saw all those who fled were easily picked off by the lesser Grimm.

He had shot as many as he could, before his bayonet-tipped rifle was ruined by a Beowolf that he had just barely managed to kill. Groaning in pain from his many wounds, he watched as a nearby burning building collapsed, only for some of its flaming debris to be grabbed by the Nuckelavee and flung at the fleeing villagers, crushing some unfortunates and burning some while spreading the fire onto other people and buildings.

The Huntsman let out a scream of anger and woe, knowing that there was no escaping this. None of the population of Solitarius would survive this attack. A call had been sent out, but there was no reply. Would his home forgotten as just another backwoods town wiped out by Grimm?

He felt tears brim at his eyes as he watched a teenage boy armed with a scythe try to sever the legs of the Nuckelavee, only to be crushed under its feet. The boy's face had been a mask of fury and sadness, screaming for revenge over the death of his family, which must have been very recent given the circumstances.

Despair over the death of a loved one drives all men, no matter the age, to madness.

The injured Huntsman turned his head away from the grisly sight, and spotted birds flying about the town. Not Nevermore, but doves, crows, some sparrows…

It was a very peculiar sight, as most animals fled the moment an attack like this happened. But then again, he had seen such things happen before during a Grimm attack in his younger years.

He looked back to the rampaging Nuckelavee and with a great heave, forced himself up as he grabbed a steel shovel that had been laying in the shack, and took out his scroll and set it to record before placing it on a nearby stack of processed metallic ore, so there would be some evidence of what happened to the town if the authorities managed to find it.

He would not die without a fight. His home would not be forgotten. As long as there was still life in him, he would do his best to make the Elder Grimm pay.

As the bleeding Huntsman walked over slowly, he spotted a white dove landing on the fence next to the shack, and it might have been a trick of the light, but he could swear he saw tears in the eyes on the bird's small head when it was looking directly at the dead teenager.

Returning his attention to the Nuckelavee, the Huntsman limped towards the Elder Grimm, ready to go out fighting.

The dove, who was actually Samantha in bird form, watched in silence and anguish as the old Huntsman fought to the last.

To Be Continued...

This chapter was co-written by Relentless Crusader.

Sorry about the delay, but both of us had a lot of stuff going on in our personal lives to attend to, but we will keep writing this story until it's over. I promise you that, I won't pull a Valve and abandon you guys.

If you liked this story fave, follow, and review. Some feedback on what's good and what's not would be appreciated, thanks for everything guys.