Chapter 28
The Teamwork between Ruby and Oscar suffered after Ruby went into Oscar's mind. The two had a growing divide that started to affect their combat. After facing those emotions, and having them heightened, they were able to overcome themselves. The Jedi masters arrived in Argus and learned everything the knights knew.
Nihil and Requiem had spent the night transferring the different Miasmas to weakened vials that had the appearance of streetlights. There were countless amounts of streetlights in Argus that were dead and needed to be replaced. It was the perfect cover. No one really cared, and no one expected what would come in a few days. Nihil and Requiem got a few others, those who were under them, and gave each of them uniforms.
Nihil found everyone that they would need to have all the permits needed to do something like that. It was a small group, and she created a specialized miasma, a silvery-gray colored miasma that she called "Velare", but Requiem simply called the Miasma of obedience. She rolled her eyes when Requiem tried to change the name. She made a few vials of it. Enough for each person that they would need to push through the permits.
She had to be there for every one of those. This was a more delicate miasma that she created, basing it on her own feelings toward Salem. The other miasmas they were going to set up around the city would be less delicate. Of course, she would have to be in the city to activate the full potential of each cloud. She was going to conduct the death of Argus from the top of the cliffside. Once she got all of the people, she got all the signatures that they needed. Nihil had everything that they needed in her hand, and she was marching to Requiem now, a massive smile on her face. She was going to win the bet.
Nihil was walking toward Requiem's workspace when she saw Salem. Nihil dropped and bowed at Salem. Salem put a hand on Nihil's shoulder.
"I was hoping you'd be on your way now. I want a report." Salem said.
"Everything is on schedule Lady Salem." Nihil said.
"Good. If you and Requiem are successful in your missions, you'll find yourselves seats on the dark council, Darth Nihil." Salem said.
"That would be the greatest honor, Lady Salem." Nihil said.
"We don't need to personally kill the Jedi or the Mandalorians in Argus. Our forces have already started moving to Atlas. Argus was simply a distraction for the Jedi. Atlas is the true target. But if you can kill the Jedi or the Mandalorians, we will benefit. We simply need you two to take out that Dish so we can get our troops through unseen." Salem reminded Nihil.
"I understand, Lady Salem." Nihil explained.
"This may seem rather simple. Your artistic touch may not be satisfied. I hope that doesn't get in the way, for your sake." Salem said.
"I live to serve you." Nihil said. Salem put her hand on Nihil's cheek.
"I know you do." Salem said. Salem walked away from Nihil. Nihil smiled.
"I've impressed her." Nihil said.
Nihil entered Requiem's workspace. It was a forge and gunsmithing space. Requiem took off his shirt in the heat as he was making a new weapon. He created many weapons for the Sith. Nihil watched as he was forming the metal for the blade. There were his other creations hanging on the wall. All melee weapons he made also had a gun as part of the weapon. Requiem didn't acknowledge Nihil watching him, but she knew he knew she was there. It was getting hot in the room. She smiled as she took off her cloak and put it on his table.
"Take that off my desk." Requiem said.
"Finally speaking to me, Siggy?" Nihil said.
"I prefer silence as I work." Requiem said. The sound of the hammer hitting the superheated metal rang in the room.
"Silence, you say? Do you just not hear the dinging anymore?" Nihil asked.
"No." Requiem said.
"I got the paper." Nihil said. She couldn't see his face, but she could tell he didn't like hearing he lost the bet.
"Come on, you know you want to complain I won." Nihil egged Requiem on. He put the metal back into the forge. He turned around and looked at Nihil. He was covered in soot and sweat. He held out his hand, and she handed over her scythe. He was going to do upgrades for it, for free. If she lost the bet, it would have cost double.
"You got all my specs for it, right?" Nihil asked.
"Every detail." Requiem said. Nihil put her hand on Requiem's chest and brought it back.
"Too hot." Nihil said. Her attempt to fluster him was thwarted.
"Was there anything else you needed?" Requiem asked.
"Salem talked to you, right? Mission objective update." Nihil said without any of her flair.
"Just a distraction. Getting the troops to Atlas, great reward." Requiem gave the bullet points.
"You know then, good." Nihil said.
"Are you going to leave?" Requiem said.
"Why do you want me to go? Will it embarrass you if someone watches you work?" Nihil said.
"We have work to do." Requiem said.
"We have some time before that all has to get done. It's getting so hot in here." Nihil said, grabbing at her robes. She looked to see if Requiem was having a reaction.
"It has to be hot in here. You don't have to be in here." Requiem said.
"What would it take for you to crack? I'll do it." Nihil said. "Maybe giving you a peek…"
"If you're done, you can leave." Requiem said.
"Fine!" Nihil said. Requiem shook his head after she left. He didn't get why she teased him so relentlessly for all these years. He didn't understand her. He didn't think she understood him either. But they worked well together… when he wasn't infuriated at her. He was sure there were no feelings between them. He hammered away.
He looked at her scythe and knew what to do. It would be simple to add on, actually. All because she told him how the Miasma worked. He moved over to the gunsmithing table. He had everything he needed to give her the upgrades. Now, if she would be smart with them.
Kaiser stood at the top of the dish. He looked down on Argus. He knew that Umbra… Rosa was down there. Her betrayal hurt. Blake was just his student. Rosa… he thought they were friends. He trusted her! But she didn't even come to talk to him about anything. Maybe he could have helped her with her doubts about the Sith. He was left alone.
Yes, Kaiser had Valum, but she was broken too, by Rosa. She had lost everything that night too. They were fueled by revenge. But it wasn't the same. Valum was different from Umbra. Yes, she didn't get on his nerves have as much, but she was robotic with him. He didn't understand that he could have missed those fights.
But Kaiser should have known better. The world doesn't want him to have friends.
It wants him to have enemies.
So, that's what he was left with. Enemies. He couldn't trust anyone. Not Valum. Not any other Sith. Not Rosa.
Kaiser thought about Sun. He shouldn't have been thinking about the words of a Jedi, but he saw what Sun was getting put through. That confession…
Sun was a Jedi. He couldn't trust the Jedi. They failed to save him.
Ruby and her team had finished their daily missions. They were returning back to the house. Ruby was enjoying her time with Rosa and Oscar. It wasn't exactly the same as before. It was better now. She and Oscar understood each other on a deeper level now. Rosa had been talking about adding honey to a bread recipe she wanted to make.
"We used to live close to a beekeeper. We'd get honey as a little thank you. Aunt Em planted a lot of flowers around the house to get bees to pollinate the other crops. They'd give us some fresh honeycomb too." Oscar said.
"What flowers did you plant?" Rosa asked.
"I bet Zinnia, sunflower, lavender, or catmint. That's what dad always planted." Ruby said. Oscar looked back at Ruby surprised.
"I didn't know your dad had a garden." Oscar said.
"Oh, yeah, he did have that." Rosa said. "You'd like it on Patch, Oscar. It seems more your speed than these big cities."
Ruby smiled, then thought about Tai. She hadn't called him in a while. She slowed down.
"Hey guys, I'm going to call my dad. You don't have to wait up for me." Ruby said.
"Oh, yeah. Don't worry. Yang's probably going to look for you though." Rosa said.
Ruby went and sat down on a bench. She called Tai. It took a bit for him to pick up, but he did.
"Hi, Ruby." Tai said. Ruby smiled hearing her dad's voice. She didn't realize how much she missed him. She knew she missed him, but still, it was more than she thought she could.
"Hey, Dad. Just wanted to keep you updated on everything." Ruby said. Tai let out a chuckle that let Ruby know everything was going to be alright.
"You can call whenever Ruby," Tai said.
"Thanks, Dad."
"We made it to Argus. We're going to get the green light to go to Atlas soon." Ruby said. Tai let out a whistle.
"That's about as far as you could be away from Home." Tai said.
"Yeah. We've already seen so much of the world, but we still have to see more. It hasn't been fun the entire way. But it hasn't been bad either. Rosa's come back to us. And we have someone new, Oscar Pine…" Ruby said.
"Slow down Ruby." Tai said. "You said Rosa's back? That's amazing. She's always welcome here."
"Don't forget Oscar. He's a Jedi Knight too. He's also got Ozpin in his head." Ruby said.
"Qrow was telling me about that. Said he's a good kid." Tai said.
"He is. He's a great friend." Ruby said with a smile.
Ren was walking the streets of Argus with Nora. They were looking for the restaurant that Pyrrha had told them to go to. They passed by people working on streetlamps. It was odd that there were so many of them that they've passed by already today. He stopped and looked at the maintenance men.
"Is there a special occasion happening soon? I've seen so many of you guys working today." Ren said. The first turned back, surprised that someone would ask them something.
"We're just told where to go kid. We don't put too much thought into it." The second worker said.
"Just wondering. We don't want to miss anything." Ren said. Nora gave a quick look at Ren. She smiled, wrapping her arm around Ren.
"Sorry to bother you." Nora said. They went further toward where they were going.
"What was it?" Nora asked after they were far out of earshot.
"I don't know. Something felt off. I think I saw parts for a weapon in the toolbox, but I didn't get a good enough look." Ren said.
"Do you think it's the Sith?" Nora asked.
"I'm not sure. I could be wrong." Ren said. But he doubted that for some reason. They found the restaurant and went in. Teams RRWBY and JNPOR were having some traditional Argus food. Pyrrha was helping anyone who didn't know what they were ordering.
"Lamb?" Rosa asked.
"It's meat. Lamb has a distinct, rich, and slightly gamey flavor. The potatoes that come with it are great." Pyrrha said. A waiter was coming by with a basket of bread, and a dish of olive oil. Pyrrha thanked the waiter and grabbed the bread.
"What's the olive oil for?" Rosa asked.
"Dipping the bread in." Pyrrha did just that.
"Don't mind if I do." Oscar said. He followed Pyrrha's lead. "Argus food is a top five around the world."
"What else is better?" Pyrrha asked.
"Aunt Em's soups with freshly grown vegetables have to be number one." Oscar said.
Ren and Nora had their seats.
"I don't want to alarm anyone. This is just a feeling I have right now. But on the way here, we noticed city maintenance workers changing the streetlights. I don't know why, but I got a bad feeling." Ren said.
"I've noticed there's a few of them today." Yang said.
"So did Uncle Qrow. He said he was going to check on that." Ruby said.
"He hasn't gotten back to us yet." Jaune said.
"It could be nothing." Ren said.
"But it probably isn't. How's the calamari?" Weiss asked Pyrrha.
"Good." Rosa looked up.
"Calamari? That's too far." Rosa said. Pyrrha looked over at her confused.
"What?" Pyrrha asked.
"There's a sentient species called the Mon Calamari. I knew a few of them." Rosa said.
"Calamari is just squid." Pyrrha said.
"Then why not call it that?" Rosa asked.
"I don't know. Are there any names of species you see on the menu?" Pyrrha asked.
"Thankfully no." Rosa said.
Everyone ordered when the waiter came back. Everyone got food and enjoyed it.
"If Ren is right, we have to worry about the remaining Sith that we know we're here." Weiss said.
"What could they be doing with the lights?" Blake asked.
"If it's the Sith we should expect them to have some sort of plan that for that." Oscar said.
"We can't remove the lights. That takes special equipment." Jaune said.
"We could always just cut the lamp post down." Ruby said.
"Not really. We don't want to do a lot of damage." Rosa said.
"We could take down some though. Even just the damaged part that got replaced. We wouldn't need that many." Ruby said.
"It's public property. We can't just go destroying it. We'd need evidence beforehand." Weiss said. Ruby sighed.
"You're right." Ruby said.
Qrow found one of the crews working on the lights. He watched them take down the old streetlights and start to replace them. He decided that his semblance should start to work for him. He walked by the street that the crew was working on. He watched as they started to pick up the new streetlamp, which looked different from the one they took out. He had to be casual about this.
Qrow walked by the crew. They still had the different streetlights in their hands. As he walked by the streetlight slipped out of their hands and almost crashed down on the ground.
"Careful!" The second shouted at the first.
"You got to be careful too. These things use hot gases to power the lights. You ought to give us some space." The first shouted at Qrow.
"Understood." Qrow said. There was something definitely wrong with them. If he could get his hands on whatever they were installing, he'd be able to figure out what they were planning.
Nix returned to the Emir hideout with one of the new streetlamps. She put the bulb on a table across from Jasper.
"Found this." Nix said.
"A simple streetlight?" Jasper asked.
"It's made to look like that. But here is the real meat behind this." Nix twists the end of the bulb and pulls out a vial of gas. She went over and handed it to Jasper.
"I've tested the glass. They were going to light the streetlights and heat these. If anything, worse than a small firework went off around this… boom. The gas is activated and spreads rapidly." Nix said.
"Like that Sith's Miasmas." Jasper said.
"Exactly like her Miasmas. I think they're planning something. Have you heard anything more about those underwater Grimm that got the alliance so concerned a week ago or so?" Nix asked.
"They've only found the regular types of Grimm out there." Jasper said.
"I really don't like this." Nix said.
"Maybe they aren't prepared yet." Jasper said.
"They're about to attack. I know it. Sienna was always better at seeing the future than me." Nix said.
"Don't worry." Jasper said.
"Only you can see my worry." Nix said.
Rosa was in the living room. She wasn't ready for bed yet. Yang found her and sat next to her.
"You good, Rosa?" Yang asked.
"Yeah." Rosa said. "Do you have this sense of dread? I can't explain why it's here, but it feels like something's trying to warn me."
"Yeah. I think we all feel it." Yang said.
"Good. I'm not the only one." Rosa said. "Yang… thank you for being there for me."
"Of course. Any time in particular?" Yang wrapped her arm around Rosa.
"Menagerie." Rosa said. Yang didn't say anything. She squeezed Rosa's shoulder.
"That far back, huh? Is this the mythical 3 AM thoughts you're having now?" Yang asked.
"I was so mad back then… I think a lot of that anger was for myself." Rosa said.
"You found yourself, Rosa." Yang said.
"Thanks." Rosa said. She leaned into Yang's shoulder. "When Ruby and Oscar were fighting Luctus, I tried getting into that dome. I couldn't. The guilt became crushing. I physically couldn't handle it. I couldn't have done anything to help Ruby or Oscar. I know I'm not useless, but it gets really hard not to think so."
"Is there anything we can do to make you not think you're useless?" Yang asked.
"Just… stay by my side." Rosa said.
"I think we can do that." Yang said.
Requiem and Nihil stood at the top of the hill. Nihil looked down at the city. She turned around to look at Requiem.
"Are you ready?" Nihil asked.
"I am." Requiem said. He raised his hand and a group of Manticore Grimm rose up further down the road. They began to dive down into the streets. The first step of the attack was complete. Now they just needed to wait until someone would send out the signal. This dish reached every city between Atlas and Mistral. It didn't even need to be a large transmission.
Requiem moved his eyes toward the dish. Unlike when they attacked it before, this time there were people there. They attacked the dish that day to keep it from exploding ahead of schedule.
Nihil waited with glee for the explosion. It arrived soon after. With the second helping of the explosive gel, the dish was completely destroyed. Nihil got up and watched as all throughout the city, her Miasmas were being broken and covering the streets. There were massive clouds of color that flooded the streets. Nihil turned to Requiem.
"The Leviathan is on the move." Requiem said.
It was the middle of the day. Thankfully, no one had decided to take missions today. The knights all left the house. There were Grimm in the air, thankfully not overcharged. But they were still strong Grimm. They all heard the explosion. They turned on their lightsabers as they left the house. They saw massive clouds of what they knew was Miasma filling the streets. Jaune makes sure the doors are closed.
One of the Manticore Grimm landed in front of the Jedi. It let out a screech. The Jedi knew how to take this one down.
The masters left their accommodations and saw the massive clouds of gas. Kit Fisto created a large enough force bubble to cover them from the rushing greenish-yellow cloud coming their way.
"Argus is under attack." Mace said.
Cordovin was getting reports flooding in from around the city. Eyewitnesses reported seeing a group of Grimm arriving, then the dish being blown up and now massive gas clouds covering the city. She ordered everyone to get on protective equipment immediately. She needed to get to the Colossus. Quinlan Vos was there.
"We need to figure out how to get those gases out of the city." Cordovin said.
"Are we able to get to the third fleet? I heard the general over them has a power that would be able to deal with this." Quinlan Vos said.
"The dish is gone. It knocked out a lot of our equipment. Unless you have another way of getting in contact with them, we're stuck." Cordovin said.
"I might." Quinlan Vos took out his commlink. He grabbed a mask and left, going toward the ships.
Nix and Jasper got their men ready.
"Make sure you lock your helmets. We can't let any of these gases to get in. We need to expect overcharged Grimm and lots of them. There may be Sith as well." Nix called out.
"We can't expect much of the city defenses are going to hold up. We may be on our own. Defend the city at al costs." Jasper said. They quickly left the building and saw the Grimm in the sky.
A seer Grimm floated behind Nihil and Requiem. Salem watched the battle unfold.
"Magnificent, no? Nihil, what do each of the miasmas do?" Salem asked.
"I used five of them to make it easier to handle. The red one you see is what I call Despair's Embrace. It produces a fear effect on the minds of all those who breathe it in while I have it activated. The gases also weaken the auras of all who touch it, especially since it clings to clothes. The best part is the end, Lady Salem! The hallucinations of doom twist the mind, so the sufferers believe that see their own death play out in front of them!" Nihil explained. She raised her hand and activated the different red clouds that she could see.
"And the other ones?" Salem asked.
"Lament's Veil is that silvery-blue one. The victim begins to feel an overwhelming sadness which drains their willpower to fight. It also causes memory loss if the victim gets prolonged exposure, which should be about ten minutes in the fog. And the best part is that Aura regeneration is completely halted while caught in the cloud." Nihil said while activating the cloud.
"Do all of them have three abilities?" Requiem asked.
"You know me so well siggy. Torment's Breath is that greenish-black swamp-looking cloud. The Victim begins by feeling extreme pain in their muscles and joints, almost like something is trying to tear them apart. Then is starts to sap their stamina which then I intake. And if in there for too long, the victim becomes completely paralyzed. Which often leads an excruciatingly painful death from either the first effect finally tearing your inside apart, or if they're lucky, a Grimm coming down and killing them." Nihil said.
"You must tell me how you came up with that later." Salem said.
"Thank you, Lady Salem. The fourth cloud is Blightstorm, that sickly greenish-yellow cloud with those black dots. I still don't fully understand why that one lets out a low hum, but onto the effects. The gas is corrosive which is why they were placed over the defensive weapons the city had. That was Siggy's… Requiem's idea Lady Salem. This one is able to amp the Grimm inside of it, not as much as the other Miasma we are going to use on Leviathan, but still, it makes them harder to kill. It's also highly toxic unless you breathe pure methane or something similar." Nihil explained. Requiem was thankful that Nihil gave him the credit.
"It was only possible because she revealed to me what each of them did." Requiem said. Nihil didn't exactly know what to do with Requiem had just said.
"The last one is Widow's Caress. That dark purple cloud with some gold likes to find itself on people as it were. The mist binds itself to the victim's aura, making it extremely painful for the victim to use their aura at all. If they still activate their aura and semblance through all the pain, the tendrils can harden and lash out at the victim. If the cloud lingers long enough, the victim's aura will have become brittle and easily broken." Nihil explained the last cloud type. She had both of her hands in the air, almost conducting a symphony in the clouds.
"This is what can come from chaos. This beautiful display here proves that you are worthy to be a Darth." Salem said.
"We've got the first responders. It looks like there are a few groups down there. The alliance troops, including many clones, Hunters, and many powerful Jedi." Requiem explained.
"And Requiem shows what order can do. That is why you two are together. You find order and chaos." Salem said. There was a loud noise in the bay. Nihil looked over, and saw a massive robot stand up.
"What is that?" Nihil asked.
"I don't know. Did it come from underwater?" Requiem asked. Salem looked at the giant robot.
"Interesting. They hid that well." Salem said.
Maria looked out at the gases covering the sky. She felt the danger coming from all of them. Maria raised her hand and gathered force energy. She released it and created a massive hole in one of the clouds. Three Grimm quickly found her. They looked similar to panthers, but she was able to recognize they were far more dangerous. These were Vornskr Grimm, one of the Grimm created to specifically counter Jedi, because the Vornskr themselves used the force to hunt.
She felt Saphron, Terra, and Adrian in the house still. The others had to leave, so she had to protect them. She smirked as the Grimm looked at her. One let out a snarl and rushed at her. Maria jumped forward and took out her lightsaber. She abandoned her cane on the ground. The Vornskr stopped and looked for her in the air. That was one thing she couldn't do, hide from them. She landed on a wooden gate. She jumped backward and landed on the ground, next to one of the Grimm.
"You can't hit a little old lady. How embarrassing?" Maria said. She was hoping around, trying to get the Grimm away from the house. She needed the three to look at her, so she became as good a target as she could be. Her Ataru was legendary, and she had not lost her skill, much, in her old age. They weren't able to keep up with her. As she jumped and flipping back and forth, she landed some light hits on them. She landed and immediately had to jump again. There was a fourth one now.
Maria landed on the back of the Grimm and grabbed its tail. She leaned to the side as another Grimm jumped passed her. She quickly brought her lightsaber into the Grimm she was standing on quickly.
"Did that anger you?" Maria asked. She had their attention now. She ran down an alleyway. The three were fast and chasing her. She had a massive smile on her face. She hadn't gotten to do this in so long. She slid as one of the Grimm launched itself forward swiping at her. She got on the back of the Grimm and quickly cut off the head of the second Vornskr.
"That can't be all, can it?" Maria said. She saw a red cloud coming toward her. She saw one of the local police getting trapped in the red cloud and him screaming. She felt the fear radiating off him.
"Red is fear." Maria said.
Nix was on the back of one of the Manticore Grimm, holding onto its fur. She took out her lightsaber. The black blade was brought around, slicing off the tail. She brought her lightsaber back around and drove the lightsaber in the head of the Grimm.
Unlike other black blades, those made by Mandalorians were far more stable, with only some loss of handling. The blade was powered by emotion. Their ancestors were inspired by the infamous dark saber that belonged to the Clan Vizsla.
Nix let go of the dying Grimm and pulled out her heavy blaster. She found a Nevermore in the air and shot it as she flew. The blaster tore the Nevermore apart. She found a tall building that had some Griffon Grimm. She landed on the back of one of the Grimm and quickly blew off the head. She jumped toward another Grimm, and brought her lightsaber up, decapitating another Grimm. Jasper landed on the other side of the roof. He brought up his blaster that was in the sniper mode.
"Clan Instinct." Jasper said. He fired and completely destroyed a Grimm's head. A second Grimm collapsed. He ran to another Grimm. It made a swipe at him. He put away his blaster and took out a vibroblade. He fired his cable. It wrapped around the neck of one of the Grimm, then he jumped up before retracting it. He went flying and landed on the back of the Grimm. He slammed the Vibroblade into the Grimm, severing the spine of the Grimm. He left the vibroblade in the Grimm, as it wasn't his, but tossed to him by one of his men. He brought out his gun and switched it to a fourth gun mode. It became a shotgun he called Clan fury. He fired the shotgun into the body of the Grimm that tried to slash at him. He jumped back, and the cable went taut again, ripping off the head of the Grimm he was on.
"What an entrance." Nix said.
"I had to match your style." Jasper said. The giant robot in the bay brought its arm around and took out a large group of Grimm. It also created enough wind that the Miasma by the bay was removed.
Quinlan Vos got to one of the republic ships and looked for any of them that had an astromech droid. He found one soon enough and went to the droid.
"I need you to contact Mistral and the Third Fleet. Tell them Argus is under attack, comms are down, Grimm are everywhere, and there's a mysterious gas that's affecting everyone. Reports have come in that all the defensive weapons are down! We expect Sith to soon attack the city. Hurry!" Quinlan Vos saw the tiny dish rise from the dome of the droid.
"If you can also send the message to Atlas." Quinlan added before turning back.
"How long until the messages get to their destinations?" The droid beeped that the message to Mistral was sent.
Ahsa Kael received an urgent transmission from Argus, but not through the normal communications. It was sent from a droid and had to be interpreted by one of the droids on her ship that picked up the transmission. She looked over the message and understood why this unorthodox method was used.
"Dammit. Send a message to Alliance command. We have a report that Argus is under attack!" Asha shouted out.
She still needed to keep some of the ships over Mistral itself. She was going to have to split her fleet. She needed to be at Argus because of the gas attack there. Things were moving around now.
"Make sure we have another dust charge! We need to get to Argus quickly and help with a gas attack." Asha said. She turned to the droid that brought her the message. She knelt down and put her hand on its head.
"Good job. Send a message back that we're on our way." Asha said in a calm voice.
"Argus is under heavy Grimm attack. The report said they were expecting Sith forces. We have to hold Argus. Mistral depends on Argus as heavily as Atlas does." Saying that wouldn't have been possible for her even just a few months ago. She wasn't sure she would have been able to say it even a few weeks ago. But Winter Schnee had proven herself to be… more than she thought. She didn't like how much control Atlas had in Argus. She didn't like Atlas's snobbery, but if Winter could rise above that and not only defend Mistral but continue to protect Menagerie… She knew when to admit she was wrong. Mostly because it was so rare.
Requiem watched as Nihil continued to use her semblance to activate and manipulate the clouds in the city. He looked at her intently and discovered she was wearing a headphone. He realized she was listening to music. He looked and realized she was using the music to coordinate everything.
She turned to him after she caught him staring.
"What?" Nihil asked.
"What's the song?" Requiem asked. Nihil started to blush. She turned around.
"You probably never heard of it." Nihil said.
He felt the people in the city. He heard their screams. The pain they were feeling. It was giving him power. He felt the Grimm that he was controlling with his semblance. Yes, there were some very skilled fighters down there killing multiple of the Grimm. Most of them were the Mandalorians, but he could feel the majority of the Grimm were doing fine.
"How much longer until the troops are clear?" Requiem asked.
"We still need more time. The Leviathan hasn't even arrived yet." Salem said through the seer.
Ruby was standing on the back of another Manticore Grimm, Crescent Rose jammed into the back of the Grimm. It tried to get her off, but she shot the tail off, so it was just trying to throw her off now. She was in the air, and she looked around. Almost the entire city was covered in the gases. She saw Mandalorians flying around taking out numerous Grimm. She still hadn't seen Sith forces which concerned her. They must have been here earlier, but they weren't here now. She was high in the air now. The Manticore let out a roar and dove down fast. She had to grip Cresent Rose tightly to avoid falling.
The Manticore landed on top of a building at high speeds. Ruby felt all the pressure and almost let go of Cresent Rose. She was in the air, hanging onto her weapon. She slid down until she hooked her finger on the trigger, firing into the Manticore. It let out a roar. Ruby grabbed one of her lightsabers and threw it into the head of the Manticore. It stopped moving. She landed on its back and took out her lightsaber. She spun Cresent Rose around and took off the head of the Manticore. It faded away. She looked around and saw three Beowolves running after a civilian. They were running toward one of the clouds. She aimed and fired, taking out the lead Beowolf.
The others didn't stop. She made two more quick shots and took them out.
"Jaune! We've got civilians out on the street. Some of them are moving toward the clouds." Ruby said into her commlink. They had enough range for within the city, but not much else.
"I know. Ren and Nora have been trying to get the Civilians to safety. See if you can find a mask so you don't breathe in this stuff." Jaune said.
"I've got myself stuck on top of one of the buildings so the clouds aren't reaching me." Ruby said.
"Good. Try to stay out of the area. These things are terribly affecting people down here. Avoid the one that looks like a swamp no matter what! It's toxic and people are dying in it." Jaune said.
"Got it." Ruby said. She heard Oscar's voice.
"We found out what the purple and gold one does. It saps out your aura. We need someway of getting these gases out of here." Oscar said. Ruby looked around for the Sith. They couldn't be in the city. There were no spots high enough. They had to be somewhere where they could at the battle going on. She spun around the building and saw a few spots where they could be. She reached into her dress pocket and pulled out one of her other scopes. It had a longer zoom. She swiftly changed the scopes and looked at it again.
She saw Mandalorians on a lot of the rooftops with snipers. She saw the Leader and another Mandalorian with a lightsaber finishing off the Grimm from that roof. She looked toward the top of the cliff… and found them.
Nihil and Requiem were there. She also saw a Grimm next to them… She looked at the Grimm again and saw… Salem's face.
"I found them. I think Salem's using a Grimm to watch this fight." Ruby said over the comms.
"Where are they?" Rosa asked.
"The cliff opposite from where the Dish was. I see Nihil and Requiem. I got one shot at this. Probably can't get the Sith… but I can take out the Grimm." Ruby said.
"Do it!" Oscar shouted. He grunted as he was slammed against a wall.
"Oscar, you okay?" Ruby asked.
"Don't worry about me. Kill that Grimm so the bitch can spy on us." Oscar said.
"Oscar! Language!" Yang yelled.
"Comm discipline please." Pyrrha said.
"If you got the shot, take it." Jaune said.
"Got it. It's going to take a few seconds…" Ruby said. She focused only on the shot. She delved deep into the force to take away all other distractions. She saw what would have happened if she shot at the Sith. They would have felt it beforehand and blocked the shot. She turned to the Grimm. She did all the calculations she needed to do in her head. She wasn't the smartest person, but when it came to this, something in her just clicked.
She may also be using a lot of the force in this.
She had to readjust her aim. If she fired now, the bullet would drop. She looked at the ticks on her scope and readjusted her aim.
"Going for the kill." Ruby said. She took a deep breath. The bullet flew out. She brought down the scope to see if the bullet landed. She looked at the Grimm. Suddenly, she saw Salem's eyes moved to look directly at her.
"Ruby Rose. You lost me Umbra." She heard in her mind.
The bullet landed, and the Grimm exploded.
Requiem and Nihil turned to see the seer was gone.
"Shit. Where'd that shot come from?" Nihil asked.
"Found her. I'm sending Grimm to her now." Requiem said.
The building that Ruby was on was quickly covered with Grimm. She found a few Lancer Grimm were circling her. She spun Cresent Rose in the air and sliced off the head of the first lancer. She fired moving off the roof.
"Weiss! Need some help here!" Ruby shouted.
"What? Ruby!" Weiss shouted into her comm. She was below them and summoned a Manticore and hoped on it. She forced it to climb. There was a horde of Grimm following Ruby. Weiss opened her eyes wide and Ruby spun in the air. She grabbed onto the summon. The summon stopped climbing in the air and rushed toward another rooftop. Ruby got on.
"Thanks for the save." Ruby said.
"Are you stupid? You could have gotten yourself killed!" Weiss yelled at her.
"I knew you were near. I trusted my partner completely." Ruby said. She quickly took off the scope and put it in her pocket.
"I'll just go iron sights for now." Ruby said.
"What?" Weiss yelled. Ruby started firing. She watched as the Grimm started to die as she shot them.
"We got a bunch following us. I really wouldn't land." Ruby said.
"Just keep killing them." Weiss said.
"Planning on it." Ruby continued to fire. More Grimm were being taken down.
"We got a group of Mandalorians on ahead of us. Maybe they can help get rid of some Grimm." Weiss said.
"Good idea." Ruby fired again. The magazine was empty. She held on tight as they descended a bit. She quickly swapped out magazines. The Grimm were still chasing her, but the Mandalorians seemed to catch on very quickly. The Grimm following her were attacked from both sides, losing many members.
Shaak Ti split from the other masters. They each took a section of the city. They needed to save the civilians first, which is what they focused on. She found a squad of clones firing at a Grimm in the greenish-yellow cloud. The Grimm were stronger and taking more shots. She saw a Nexu Grimm rushing at the clones. She raised her hand and sent out a force push against the Nexu. It was flung in the air, slamming against a building many feet back.
"Are the civilians alright?" Shaak Ti asked.
"They are General." One of the clones said.
"This cloud seems to be strengthening the Grimm." Shaak Ti said. One of the clone troopers rummaged through a kit and found a breathing mask.
"General, here." He tossed Shaak Ti the mask. She quickly put it on. That was one less worry for her now. Shaak Ti's force push created a massive hole in the cloud. The Nexu Grimm came running at Shaak Ti again. She raised her lightsaber and used the force to drag the Nexu Grimm onto her lightsaber.
"We've got to hold the city especially if Sith forces arrive." Shaak Ti said.
Oscar was being surrounded by Grimm. He had both his lightsaber and his cane out, taking deep breaths from one of the breathing masks the clones had given out. He found himself in the blue cloud. He felt the miasma moving, looking for his mouth or nose which were covered up by the mask. He was fortunate, as one of the hunters in the city didn't have a mask. Oscar felt the dread and sadness come over him completely.
He felt sweat fall down his face as more and more Grimm were coming toward him. Ozpin was helping him but Oscar was staying in control.
"I can help you if you let me have control." Ozpin said.
"I can handle this." Oscar said. An Ursa tried to strike at Oscar from behind, but he brought up the cane and blocked the strike. Before Oscar could finish the Grimm a creep Grimm jumped at him. He had to avoid the Grimm. Oscar gathered force energy into himself and let out a force repulse. The Grimm were thrown back and hit everything around them. He saw the Ursa Grimm and rushed forward. He plunged his lightsaber into the Grimm and brought it up, slicing the Grimm in half. He turned back and swung his cane into that same creep Grimm. The weaker Grimm faded away.
Oscar saw more Grimm coming his way.
"You need to find the others." Ozpin said.
"They're all doing something far more important." Oscar said. He brought his lightsaber down to cut a Beowolf in half. He raised his hand, sending another Grimm into the air. Oscar was taking out a good amount of the Grimm. He heard the sounds of a jet pack coming toward him. He brought his lightsaber up killing another Grimm when he turned around to see a Mandalorian with a large build and a shotgun killing the Grimm he landed on. He raised a pistol up and took down more of the Grimm.
"Kid! Where are the other Jedi?" He asked.
"I don't know!" Oscar shouted.
"Nix Khan spotted something happening in the water. The giant robot there is dealing with a large group of Grimm." The Mandalorian said. He brought the pistol down and raised his wrist. He fired a wrist rocket at an oncoming charging Ursa.
"Should we be worried?" Oscar asked.
"The Robot's taking the groups of Grimm easily. But she picked up on something massive coming toward us." The Mandalorian said. Oscar put away his cane and took out his commlink.
"Guys, we got a massive Grimm coming for the water." Oscar said. There was a Boarbatusk Grimm that was rushing Oscar. He had to sidestep it as it slammed into the ground. Oscar jumped and brought his lightsaber down into the head of the Boarbatusk. He felt sweat dripping down his face now.
"We hear you." Kit Fisto called back. Oscar let out a sigh. A Nevermore dove down at Oscar. The Mandalorian turned around and fired into the Nevermore's head three times. The Nevermore collapsed into a building.
"They're never-ending." Oscar said.
"Here take a gun." The Mandalorian handed Oscar a blaster.
"I don't have any ammo." Oscar said.
"You just need to make sure the gun doesn't overheat." The Mandalorian said.
The last of the underwater transports was moving toward Atlas. The Sith troops aboard the vessel were able to move out of Mistral. The mission was simple. Join with the other forces in Atlas in preparation for the siege. They knew that once they were in Atlas, they had a mission that would end with the destruction of Atlas. They didn't know how that would be achieved, but they knew that if Salem ordered it, it was possible. So they all knew that Atlas had only a limited amount of time left before it was brought down.
Argus was being attacked for them. For their movement. No living troops were going to attack the city. They didn't need to. Darth Kaiser had told them their leaders that Argus was not a prize that Salem wanted. She wasn't here to simply get small victories. She was here for the whole sabacc pot. They were going to have to be careful about timing. If Argus went smoother than even they thought, they could have the relic the traitor stole. But if they got to Atlas, the war would be over the two relics and the maiden.
But the average troop didn't know that. Most Sith didn't know that. They saw this war as the final war against the Alliance. If the alliance fell, so too would the Jedi. Everyone knew that whoever won in Atlas would have the upper hand. And the Sith had a vested interest in holding that had.
As the ship moved along, a massive shadow overtook the vessel. Many of the troops went over to the viewing ports on the ship and saw the massive Grimm going passed each other. It stopped and looked at the vessel. The deathly red glowing eye that stared into the viewing ports scared many of the troops. They knew that if it wanted, it could kill them all in an instant. Only the fact that Salem had total control over the Grimm gave them any hope of survival.
The Grimm brought up a clawed finger that almost touched the vessel. The claw would have punctured any shielding the ship had. Some of the Sith troops took deep breaths, hoping that they weren't going to meet their deaths in this situation.
The Grimm lost interest in the vessel and swam toward the city of Argus. The shadow soon passed over them.
Ahsa was pushing her forces hard for this. They were moving as fast as they could but every minute she knew more and more people would die in Argus. She had to save the city.
She hadn't gotten any more notifications about the attack. Her forces got the dust cannon loaded. They were going to go in as fast as they could. Argus must stand. She can't let the Sith take over another city in her homeland. She had to stop them.
Asha sent out recon ships ahead of them. They were able to transfer over images of Argus. The city had gas clouds covering so much. There were five colors of the clouds. The air was filled with Grimm, and Mandalorians flying around, killing Grimm. She also saw Jedi Knight Weiss Schnee flying on a Manticore Grimm summon with her leader Jedi Knight Ruby Rose on the back firing at the Grimm that were chasing them.
They saw Colossus up and running, fighting both the Grimm in the air and in the sea. She watched the footage as the ships engaged in dog fights with the flying Grimm.
"Do we have a light missile?" Asha asked.
"We have two left." One of her officers replied.
"That will have to do. When we get in range, fire the first light missile. Then launch the dust cannon. Fire the second missile closer toward the ground." Asha ordered.
"Yes, General." Her officer called back to her.
The fleet was almost there. They were so close to defeating the enemy.
Yang found another civilian, this one dead. She swore as it looked like this one was poisoned. The cloud was around her now and the mask she was given was keeping her alive. The gas seemed not to care about much besides metal. The street lamps were falling to the ground, the benches were eroding, but not any of the wood and brink of any home. Her lightsaber was safe because of her aura.
There was a Beringel that she saw at the end of the street. Yang stood up from the body and raised her hand. A massive wall of fire went rushing at the Beringel. It ran toward the oncoming fire.
Instead of it getting injured, it kept running though.
"Damn. It must be charged." Yang said. She quickly shot at it as it was coming toward her, but it shrugged off the strikes. Yang had to roll out of the way of the Grimm as it brought its fists down and left a massive hole in the ground. Yang stood up and sent a force push at the Beringel. It was pushed back, but not too far. Yang took out her lightsaber and rushed in.
She slid under a wild strike from the Beringel and stood up behind it. She brought up her lightsaber, slicing into the Beringel's back. It turned around and slammed its fist into Yang. She flew back, losing track of her lightsaber. She punched the air behind her to change her direction. She felt the glowing fire start to burn within. She kept firing behind her to start picking up speed.
She saw the Beringel standing next to her lightsaber. She knew what she had to do.
She jumped and landed on a stone wall. She pushed off, breaking the stone wall in the process. The Beringel stood up, ready to take the hit. Yang twisted herself and grabbed her lightsaber, skidding passed the Beringel. It spun around as she turned her lightsaber on again. She rushed forward, jumping in the air to avoid a stone the Beringel grabbed, and gathered the energy she had captured. She knew her eyes were burning red now.
She spun in the air and brought her lightsaber down. The Beringel jumped back as Yang slammed into the ground, causing pieces of rock to shoot up. She raised her hand and gathered all those shards of stone. She brought them toward the Beringel. It kept moving backward taking hundreds of small hits. She could see many of the stones stuck in the Beringel. She jumped and brought her lightsaber down. The Beringel still had its arms up to protect it. But Yang disarmed him. She brought her fist back and released all the energy she stored up as she punched into the Beringel's stomach. She left a massive hole. She brought her fist back and quickly brought her lightsaber up.
"One down." Yang said as she took the lightsaber out of the Beringel.
She turned around and saw more Grimm gathering. She felt the Beringel fade away behind her.
"Many more to go."
Blake found herself fighting in an intersection, defending one of the safehouses in the city. The dark purple cloud had come down and wrapped itself around her. She couldn't use her aura or semblance without feeling a lot of pain. She had already been fighting for half an hour here. She didn't know for sure if the people were safe or not. She was buying them as much time as possible. But that left her dealing with so many Grimm that she was starting to wonder if she could handle the fight.
Sweat and blood covered her. The Grimm were able to get some good hits in. She needed a break. This miasma was starting to dig into her. She had to get away soon. She brought her lightsaber up and killed another Grimm, but her movements were becoming more rigid. She couldn't stay in here.
She decided that she was going to take the Grimm with her as she moved away. The miasma was still clinging to her as she moved. The Grimm followed after her. She brought up her commlink.
"I've held off the Grimm for as long as I could. I've got a lot of them on me. The purple miasma is restricting my movements. Be careful." Blake said.
"Where are you now?" Rosa asked.
"By the safehouse at the intersection." Blake replied. She felt Rosa's presence. It was moving closer to her. She saw Rosa surrounded by a ball of wind she had created. Blake smiled.
"I see you." Rosa said. She landed and let out the ball of air she created. The miasma no longer had a hold on her, and it was like she could breathe again. She turned around at the Grimm.
"We've already killed so many of these things." Blake said as she took out her blaster pistol and fired into the oncoming Grimm. Rosa raised her hand and sent a massive fireball at the Grimm. It exploded… and caused a chain reaction of smaller explosions moving up the cloud until it burst out of the top, leaving a massive explosion that killed many Grimm. Rosa and Blake looked at the sight around them. The Miasma was gone at least that cloud.
"That could have been very dangerous." Rosa said.
Requiem saw the explosion and put a hand on Nihil's shoulder to steady her as she stumbled back.
"Those jackasses destroyed one of my works." Nihil said.
"Focus on yourself right now." Requiem said. Nihil turned to Requiem.
"Where's the Leviathan?" Nihil asked.
"It's almost here." Requiem said. Nihil looked at him, then outside the city. He saw the ships of the third fleet arrive. They sent out one of those new missiles. Requiem grabbed Nihil and brought them to the ground. The light went out killing many of the Grimm that were in the air.
They fired the dust cannon, and a massive shard of wind dust slammed into the center of the city. Nihil stood up and looked at the scene and saw all of her beautiful Miasma clouds being mixed together and taken out of the city.
"Mother fucker. She just ruined them all." Nihil said.
"What?" Requiem said.
"The Miasmas don't mix. That's why I had to be here. To stop them from mixing. They only counteract each other. They're each a careful balance of me. But this! No, it's not me. It's something dead." Nihil said.
"What are they… Get down!" Requiem, once more, grabbed Nihil, and once more thrown her to the ground. He held her tighter than he had the first time. They just had to stay a little bit longer. They just needed to give the Leviathan the charge and then they could leave.
"Please stop throwing me to the ground." Nihil asked.
"The tattoo is it…" Requiem started.
"Should be fine. We weren't in the range of the missile." Nihil opened up the front of her robes and saw the tattoo still there. Requiem let go of her when he checked. She looked up and saw him flustered.
"What?" Nihil said. Then she realized. A devious smirk came to her face. "See something you like?"
"Why did you get it on your front? Everyone chooses back." Requiem said.
"Everyone? I'm sure they wouldn't offer it if it was only on the back. Come on, you act like you've never seen this before." Nihil said. "I could show you if you want." Requiem was better now.
"No. That won't be needed." Requiem said.
"Damn. I was so close too." Nihil said.
"Close to what?" Requiem said.
"Making you crack." Nihil said. She got up and looked out at the battle. There were far fewer Grimm now.
Ruby and Weiss had to land as the two light missiles were fired. Ruby realized that the light missiles had the same power as her eyes.
"How's that possible?" Ruby asked. Weiss covered her eyes to stop the flash.
"I don't know. Are you going to be okay now?" Weiss asked.
"Yeah. Thanks for saving me. How many do I owe you now?" Ruby asked.
"We don't have time to do the math." Weiss said. Ruby felt a smile cross her lips.
"You mean you don't want to do the math to see how many you owe me." Ruby said. Weiss rolled her eyes.
"Whatever you say, fearless leader." Weiss said.
"I think I see Master Windu." Ruby said.
"Good. Wait don't…" Weiss turned around and saw Ruby jump off the building. "Two more seconds. She couldn't wait two more seconds? I would have given her a ride down."
Ruby used the force to break her fall. It was going a lot faster than she wanted. She didn't know how Master Windu did it just a few days ago. His head shot up seeing her falling and doing her best to break her fall. He used the force to help her those last few feet. She would have lived either way, but now she wasn't going to be injured.
"Ruby, what are you doing?" Mace asked.
"I was coming to back you up master." Ruby said.
"You ought to be more careful. It looks like we've got most of the Grimm already. Though there do seem to be more Grimm." Mace said.
"There's also Sith. Up there." Ruby pointed to the cliff top.
"You saw them?" Mace asked.
"Two of them. The gas clouds were from the woman. Raven Branwen said her name's Nihil. The man fought Winter and called himself Requiem. I think he's got some control over the Grimm." Ruby said.
"They have been the only Sith we've found." Mace said.
"Which means they're probably it." Ruby said.
The ground started to shake. The Jedi turned to the bay as a massive Grimm arose from the water. It let out a roar that shook the entire city. Its hand reached out and crushed one of the snub fighters in the air.
"What the hell is that thing?" Asha asked.
"That is a Leviathan! The largest we've ever seen!" One of her officers yelled out.
It turned to the Colossus next to it. The Leviathan brought its fist around and slammed it into the Colossus. It brought its tail around, destroying many buildings with its tail. There were Mandalorians in the sky who were hit by the wave the Grimm made. Some were hit by the tail and instantly killed.
Requiem held out his hand to Nihil. She handed him a vial of the Grimm amp. Requiem summoned multiple flying Grimm and handed one the vial. They flew toward the Leviathan. The Grimm were getting shot at, and some of them died. But they were getting close to the Leviathan. The one with the Grimm amp finally got to the Levithan and dropped the vial. It hit the Leviathan. The miasma covered the Leviathan. There were red vein-like lines that came over the Leviathan. It let out another roar. It was more powerful than before.
"Mission complete. Let's go back." Nihil said.
"Yes." Requiem said. He stepped back as Nihil opened a portal. They left Argus behind to deal with the Leviathan.
Cordovin piloted the Colossus, but she was struggling to stop the Levithan Grimm. It was a lot stronger than it should have been. She brought the arm of the Colossus into the chest of the Levithan, and it moved. It grabbed a hold of the Colossus. It looked into the glass, into Cordovin's soul. It was angry, and it wanted blood.
Author's Notes: The Battle is just the heroes fighting the Grimm? Yes! Levithan is here, and stronger than ever. Is next chapter going to have a Kaiju fight? I mean, if you count Colossus as a Kaiju, then yes.
The short Argus arc is almost over. Then the last arc, the Atlas arc, of Veil of Darkness. This globe-trotting story will end in Argus. Probably the only reason we haven't been to Vacuo in this story is because we've only seen like, 20 minutes of stuff in Vacuo, and I bet a ton of the stuff we've actually seen is going to get retconned. That is if Volume 10 ever actually happens. I know Viz bought the franchise… but I did notice that they aren't selling any merch that goes beyond Volume 3. I'm wondering if we're going to get a reboot, like Ice Queendom was a soft reboot.
Nihil and Requiem were both originally going to die here, but I like them too much, and I've got too much lore for them to just die like Vespera and Luctus. (Though Luctus has come the closest to killing Ruby and Oscar. And second closest to killing a Main Character besides Vanus/Cinder.)
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-DragonZlayerx12