Massacre at Minas Ithil

AN: The name says it all. Hopefully what happens won't be too graphic for your liking.

I would like to give a GREAT thanks to both my Beta-Readers/Partners Nightengale4698 and Breakawayfan!

Thank you all for your patience in these two weeks.

Now, on to the story!

On the island of Patch, there stood a house in a forest. The same house that Ruby and Yang have lived in since they were born. It had been two days since the party, and while most stayed in Vale, Ruby and Yang went back home.

At the time, Yang was at the sparring field practicing her new ankle guns. She was using some of the same moves she often did, but this time she was able to use her feet as more of an offense than defense. She even managed to blast some of the dummies to pieces with her new weapons.

Meanwhile, Ruby was in her room trying out all her mother's jewelry: necklaces, bracelets and even a few earrings. Luckily her ears were already pierced so they were able to fit on her ear.

When she was about to pull out another necklace to try on, she accidently pulled the box off the dresser it was sitting on. The box fell and hit the ground. "Oh, crap!"

She lowered down fast to pick it up; she inspected the box to find that its wood wasn't too damaged. Then she noticed something on the inside. The fall must have knocked open a small compartment inside the box.

She fully opened the compartment and a small, gold banded, black-jeweled ring fell out and landed in her hand. "Huh… I don't remember Mom wearing this one…"

The jewel was small and looked fairly old. She held it out and imagined it on her hand, but then she felt that it wouldn't look good on her. "But it did belong to Mom…" She looked back into the jewelry box and saw a spare silver chain. She grabbed it and put it through the ring, she then put the now ring-necklace on and looked in the mirror. "Huh, that's not bad, actually."

What Ruby didn't notice while looking in the mirror, was that at the center of the jewel, there grew a dim green glow. It wasn't bright enough to be noticed, but it was enough to be seen if looked for.

Several hundred miles away, a barren wasteland of black dunes and razor sharp rocks could be seen. For miles there were crystals the size of trees protruding out of the ground. The sky was dark with a blood red fog over the horizon. The black kingdom of Mordor was still as potent in darkness as ever.

In the distance could be seen a 1,400-meter tall tower with two curved spikes on top with a flaming oval between them; the oval vaguely looked like an eye of some kind. The tower looked very similar to Cinder Fall's Spire fortress, but was much larger and scarier by design. Unlike the Spire, this fortress appeared to be made of rock, black steel and sculpted obsidian.

At one of the top floors of the tower, there was a room with a large pool of silver mercury. Next to the pool stood a long table with several chairs, with one at the end that was much larger than the others and had more decorations on it than the others. The decorations consisted of jewels that protruded from the sides and a large eye that looked similar to the top of the tower was carved on the 'head' of the chair.

There were five figures standing in the room, and although they looked different from one another, their skin was all pale white and their eyes were glowing blood red. Two of them looked like large men, while the other three looked like women of varying height.

One of these figures was looking out the window with a pout on her face. Her cloak was pink and when she spoke, razor sharp teeth could be seen behind her lips.

"Ugh… When are we going to DO something?! It's been TWO years…" She said with a childish tone.

One of the other women, this one with a lighter blue cloak on, walked up to the one in pink and rested her hand on her shoulder, "Calm down Jackie. We've been waiting patiently for our revenge for centuries. I think you can afford to wait a little while longer."

Jackie pulled her shoulder out of the other woman's grasp, "Speak for yourself, Jadis… you were the first of us…"

One of the men looked to Jackie with a disappointed glare, "Why do you complain like a child?" The man who spoke looked to be about 6ft 8in, his body had a strong build with large muscle tone. He wore a set of black armor with a white stripes running down the arms.

The other man answered the first's question, "She's always been like that, Rourke. Unlikely to change…" The second man wore armor similar to Rourke's except it had an orange stripe down the arms. His height appeared to be the same as the other, however his body build was slightly slimmer, albeit with strong muscle tone on his arms.

The third woman gave a sarcastic smirk at the second man's comment, "At least she's eager to spill a little blood. Unlike you, Radcliffe; all you'd rather do is sit up in your precious tower and experiment all day." This woman appeared to have talons on her fingers and dressed in a dark purple cloak. Her cloak's sleeves resembled the feathers of a bird.

"Huh, that's cute coming from someone who barely lasted a minute against their kingdom's Star Knight. Really, Zyra, you should have known better." Rourke said with an arrogant smile.

Zyra looked to Rourke with an annoyed glare, "That bastard took me by surprise! And let's not forget that for all your bravado and sexism, you got YOUR ass handed to you by a Maiden! How does that irony taste?"

Radcliffe couldn't help but add more to the argument, "Oh, like poisoning the forests was the brightest idea you could think of… if anything, you practically asked them to come after you."

Jackie started to laugh like a child, "Ha, even I know that's dumb!"

Zyra started to get irritated and opened her hands wide to reveal all her talons; they began to drip green liquid, "How about I poison YOU instead, nimrod!"

Rourke was the first to grab his sword and almost unsheathed it, "Try it, birdbrain!"

Suddenly a waist high wall of ice appeared between the two before they could fight. They both looked to the source of the ice and saw Jadis with her hand up, "ENOUGH! Now is not the time for fighting like petty juveniles!"

Radcliffe realized how foolish they were behaving and saw how despicable it was, he then walked up to Rourke and rested his hand on his shoulder, "I am willing to concur. Stand down, brother."

Rourke looked to Radcliffe and starts to relax, "As you wish." He then pushes his sword back into its sheath and lets go of the handle.

The Nazgul… All were once people whom fought for the light but succumbed to their temptations and personal desires.

Jadis was the first Maiden to fall to darkness; she caused a blizzard in Mantle that lasted eight months, earning herself the name of "Winter Witch". Zyra was the second and was considered the most deadly, she poisoned the forests of Western Sanus and almost destroyed the kingdom of Vacuo; history labels her as the "Spring Harpy". The third maiden, Jacqueline, was the most malicious and bloodthirsty of the group, she was given the name "Summer Banshee" due to her habit of screeching at her victims until their ears bled or slitting their throats. She attempted to put her self in a high political position before her darkness was discovered.

The two men were once Star Knights whom forsaken their vows in the hope for personal gain. Rourke Numenor was a knight born into a time of civil war and was considered a warmonger. He was known as the "Black Knight of Mantle" back when the old kingdom was still in power. Radcliffe Smith was the smartest of his generation and almost succeeded in conquering Vacuo. He was known as the "Black knight of Vacuo".

Just then, the doors to enter the room slowly swung open. The hinges creaked as the doors unveiled the dark figure that entered. Salem herself entered first, followed by her cohorts Dr. Watts, Hazel, Tyrian and Locus.

The moment all five of them saw Salem, they kneeled and all spoke in unison, "Your grace."

Salem raised her hand as her minions entered behind her, "Please, my friends, take your seats."

All the Nazgul sit in the seats at the table along with the rest of Salem's followers. While both the men sat at on Salem's left of the table, the three women sat on the opposite side.

Salem was the last to sit down, with all eyes on her, "I have sensed something I haven't felt in… a long time."

Radcliffe was the first to speak, "What is it, milady?"

"My father's last gift before his untimely passing, the Ring of Darkness, has awakened… After 85 years, it has reached out to me." Salem says with a slight voice of joy.

Jadis felt eager to please her queen, "Then what are your orders, your grace? Are we to seek it out and return it to your power?"

Salem smiles at her top general, "Not just yet…" She then stands up and waves her hand over the mercury pool. The pool starts to ripple and form solid three-dimensional shapes. At the same time, the eye at the top of the tower began to turn. The mercury pool changed until it took the form of a castle that stood only a few miles from the natural barriers of Mordor. "Thanks to Locus' information, the hidden fortress of Minas Ithil has been located."

Rourke smirked, "Say the word and your army will decimate that castle."

Salem smiles, "I appreciate your forwardness, Rourke, but we cannot be too hasty yet. The moment we open the Black Gate for our army to march through, Atlas will be aware of our current status."

Rourke then realize his stupidity and leaned back in his chair in embracement. Jackie started to chuckle under her breath, "Dummy."

Rourke started to grip his hand on the table tight, but was stopped when a thin layer of ice formed over his part of the table. The two looked to Jadis as she gave them both a glare.

Salem smiled and spoke, "Now, now, Jacqueline. Rourke wasn't wrong on what we must do, but we cannot use that method so soon."

Jadis then sat up as she asked, "Then what method should we use, your grace?"

Salem looked to Jadis with a smile, "In this day and age, the world sees you five as nothing but legends and myths of times long past… I believe you should remind them why you were given your titles. You five will go to Minas Ithil, alone… and take that fortress for our own purposes."

Locus hesitated ask, so he lifted his arm first. Salem looked to him and allowed him to voice is opinion, "Forgive me, ma'am… but five people can't take a fortress of that scale on their own…"

Rourke started to smile and then turned to Locus with a malevolent glare. "I don't think you know us, metal man."

Locus responded to Rourke's boast rather difficultly. He was tempted to point his pistol at Rourke's smug face, but was stopped by Salem when she raised her hand to him, "Locus, I want you to go to Mistral, tell our informant that the time is almost upon us."

Locus nodded his head to the dark queen. Salem then turned to her other 'friends'. "Dr. Watts and Hazel, I want you to look for Sienna Khan and tell him to prepare his forces. When the war begins, I want the White Fang to be ready for their role in it."

Watts and Hazel nodded to the queen's order without question. "I certainly hope the Fang is prepared for this scale of war, we all know how it turned out last time." Hazel said a rather disappointed look in his eyes.

"From what I hear, Khan has done great work with our 'control bands'… and when the war begins, they may just be ready for a real siege." Watts said with a rather optimistic voice.

Zyra then raised her hand to get her queen's attention, "What will our orders be once the fortress is taken, your grace?"

Salem first looked to the two Black Knights. First to Rourke, "Rourke, you will organize our forces here, I want them ready by the end of the month." Rourke bowed his head in acknowledgement.

Jackie snickered as she spoke, "Have fun babysitting."

Rourke growled as he spoke, "I could cut you open like the balloon you are if Salem didn't have a mission for you."

Jackie's response to his threat was rather juvenile: she simply stuck her tongue out like a child teasing their sibling. Her attention was brought back to business after Jadis elbowed her.

"Radcliffe, you will go to the ancient fortress of Fornost. I want you to begin preparations for Vale's theater of war." Radcliffe bowed his head. "Tyrian, you will go with him. But first… I need you to find a little green friend who may know where to find my father's ring."

Tyrian then smiled and let out a sinister chuckle, "As you wish, my queen…" He said as he bowed, then he turned to Radcliffe with an excited grin, "And it would be an honor to work with the Butcher of Carn Dûm."

Radcliffe simply huffed, "Just don't get in my way."

Salem then turned to her three Dark Maidens, "Once you are finished with the fortress, I want you three to return. By that time I will have a new assignment for you" She asks with a devious smile, to which she was met with theirs.

All five stood from their seasts and bowed to their queen one last time before leaving. "Zyra. Come here."

Zyra stopped and turned back to her queen. She walked up to her and kneeled before her, "Yes, your grace?"

Salem looked to Zyra with a smile, "I want you to leave some survivors… dead men can tell no tales…"

"And you want them to spread the fear. Understood." Zyra finished her queen's sentence with a smile.

"Also, I want you to send them a message…" Salem then pulled a small dagger out from her sleave and handed it to Zyra, "Make sure they get it."

Zyra bowed her head, "It will be done."

In the middle of nowhere, there stood a pearl white fortress of Minas Ithil. The outer walls were 50 ft. high and 15 ft. thick of concrete and steal rebar. The main gate was made of 8 inches of steel; it stood 20 ft. tall and 15 ft. wide.

The main tower was 80 ft. tall and could see over the whole fortress and beyond. It looked very similar to Atlas' CCT tower, however it was slightly shorter. Behind the whole fortress was a massive wall of mountains, spanning as far as the eye can see in both directions. Its height reached beyond that of the tower, and pierced the clouds above.

Behind the fortress, a small section of the mountain began to open up, allowing a Bullhead shuttle to land in a small hanger bay. The shuttle was all white, with a Sky Knights of Atlas symbol on its side.

As the shuttle landed, it's main door opened and allowed it's only passenger to disembark. One of the guards spotted the orange haired passenger as she walked out. "Hey, look."

The other guard look to see her as well, "Whoa, the android? What is she doing here?"

"No idea, I wasn't expecting a Sky Knight to come here." The other guard said with a shocked voice.

Penny walked up to three men, the base commander and two more guards. The base commander saluted right before Penny returned the salute.

"Major Polendina! If I knew you were coming, I'd have set up a formal greeting." The colonel said with a bit of disapointment in his voice.

Penny smiled as she lowered her hand, "I appreciate that, Colonel Bowie. Unfortunately I wasn't aware of my destination until I was already over the ocean."

The Colonel nodded in understanding, then he rasied his hand for Penny to follow, "Well in any case, let me show you around. Let you see how things are run here in the middle of nowhere."

Penny followed the colonel without protest, as they walked out of the docking bay; they go to the outer catwalks to see the whole fortress. Penny now had an open view of the titanic mountains that were behind the fortress. She obviously saw them on her flight in, but to see them up close was incredible. "I've seen natural barriers before, but that is impressive."

"Yeah, those are the Spiral Mountains, really the only thing worth seeing in this forsaken place. Past it is the ashen wasteland of Mordor." Bowie said with a bit of bitterness in his voice when he mentioned the wastelands.

Penny knew of Mordor, but not too much. "Mordor… I've heard stories, most of them bedtime stories meant to scare the kids. Others…"

Bowie finished her sentence, "Supposedly true. I heard an old record of them taking people and turning them into creatures that resemble Grimm, but were worse than them."

Penny was then confused, "What could possibly be worse than Grimm?"

Bowie turned back to her and looked her in the eye. "According to the old accounts, they were called 'Orcs,' or something, and supposedly they enjoyed causing pain to their victims."

Penny's body then made a sudden shift for a split second at the thought of some one enjoying hurting people. She quickly adjusted her posture and shook her head back to reality.

Bowie looked at Penny with a bit of a confused look in his eyes. "Are you alright, Major?"

Penny looked to the colonel with a nervous smile, "Forgive me, I had a sudden power surge through my spinal structure."

"Oh, had a shiver, huh? Didn't know robots could get those." Bowie was genuinely surprised to learn that a robot could get scared.

Penny then stands up straight as she explains, "My body was designed to be the mechanical equivalent to that of a human in their 20s. And my mind is made to act like a normal brain would... although the amount of information I have is still "limited"..." This topic often made her feel uncomfortable, so she quickly changed the subject, "Shall we continue to your command center?"

"Yes, right this way." Col. Bowie said as he led her to his office, just above the main command center in the central tower.

Bowie led Penny to the main tower complex of the fortress. As they walked in they took an elevator straight up to the top floor that holds both the main command center and the commanding officer's office. As they walk out of the elevator, Penny gets a glimpse at the command center.

The room was very wide, slightly bigger than Ozpin's office at Beacon. In the center of the room was a large holographic table that was projecting a geographical map of the area, within a 300-mile radius.

Bowie led Penny into his office. As she walked in, she spotted two musket pistols mounted on the wall. His desk was made of metal and had three holographic screens projecting. Aside from a few flags, there was a small-scale model of the Fortress City of Minas Tirith as decoration on his desk.

The fortress city was large, while the city took up the bulk of the model, on the top of the mountainside was Atlas Academy's CCT tower. Penny remembered seeing the city for the first time. The tower took the term "skyscraper" to a whole new level.

Penny smiled at the model, "Minas Tirith... I was stationed there for a few weeks... have you been there?"

As Bowie walked around his desk, he looked to where she was looking and smiled back, "Once, after my basic training. The view from the top of Atlas' tower is one to remember"

Penny then walked to the front of the desk and stood up straight with her arms behind her waist. "So, is everything in order here, colonel?"

Colonel Bowie sat down in his chair, did a quick check over the reports he got from all the other officers in the base. "Yes, ma'am. Our last supply shipment came in last week. The mech parts we wanted are in use; ammunition is being used as well, although there's no need for it out here. As for my troops, the food and water we received should hold us out for a long while."

Penny smiled at the news, "Good to hear." Penny then looks out the window and sees the view of the rather scorched land outside the walls. She then sees the stairway up along the walls, outside the perimeter. At the top of the stairway she could see the cave that was the bane of this post. "I imagine it's hard to live here. Especially with 'Cirith Ungol' nearby."

Bowie couldn't help but flinch at the name of that terrible cave. "That place is nothing more than a maze of caverns that are impossible to navigate without a thread. After what I heard about the disappearances in the past, I ordered that labyrinth to be a 'No man's land.' Not even a watch."

Penny turned back to the colonel, "Well, I'm glad to know that you're keeping it off limits as instructed. I always hate hearing of MIAs."

Bowie stood up form his desk and walked over to his coffee maker to poor himself a cup. "As do I. Is there anything else I can help you with while you're here, Major?"

"Well, I am currently following up on a report of an "All Black" Bullhead flying in this sector. I have reason to believe that the owner of the plane was an accessory to the Battle of the Five Armies."

Penny immediately caught Bowie's attention when she mentioned the battle; he lost a few friends that were officers in that skirmish. "A black bullhead? I don't think I've heard of something like that before."

Penny then lowered her head in disappointment, "That's unfortunate... when Ironwood told me it was here I was hoping we had him."

"Who is it exactly is the owner?" Bowie asked after taking a sip from his coffee.

Penny then gave the colonel a serious look as she replied, "He is a black armored mercenary. The only alias he is known by is "Locus"."

Bowie had never heard that name before. He used to think he knew all the names of the major players in the mercenary business. "What else can you tell me about this 'Locus'?"

Penny then looked rather annoyed, "Not much really... he's a rogue... there's very little we know about him. Aside from Pyrrha Nikos' mention of him, there is no other record."

"I see. If I see any sign of a black Bullhead in the area, I'll send for you immediately." Bowie said with a very serious voice.

Before Penny could say anything, a soldier walks in and salutes the two officers, "Colonel, Major."

Bowie turned to his subordinate, "What is it, Sergeant?"

The soldier looked to the colonel with a concerned look on his face, "We've spotted an unknown Bullhead two clicks from the base. It appears to have landed in the black sand lands."

"Affiliation?" Penny asked with worry in her voice.

"Unknown." The Sergeant replied.

Bowie started to feel uneasy; he stood up from his desk and started walking towards the exit, "Try to hail the ship. Ask them why they are out here."

The sergeant backed up to let the colonel and the major through, "We've already tried, sir. So far, no response."

They reached the main Command Center and pulled up a holographic projection of the base; they then zoomed in where the ship was detected.

Bowie had an unnerving feeling that something bad was coming, "Tell the front guard to be ready for anything. If it's White Fang, you have permission to terminate on sight."

Penny then walks to the window to see if her enhanced eyes could see the ship. Before she could get a clear look, her vision was hazed. When she reverted her eyes back to normal, she saw that it was snowing. "Colonel... is it normal for it to be snowing at this time of year?"

Bowie snapped his head up to see what Penny was talking about and was confused beyond belief, "What the hell?" Bowie then pressed a button on the intercom, "Ensign Verde, would you mind telling me why it's suddenly snowing outside?"

"I don't understand... Colonel, that cold front came out of nowhere!" the ensign said on the radio.

Colonel Bowie started to get frustrated, "What do you mean a cold front? It's the middle of August! We shouldn't be getting cold fronts!"

Penny could hear the nervousness in the ensign's voice, "It's almost as if it appeared right over us out of thin air."

The view outside became harder and harder to see, even for Penny. "Colonel, it's getting worse out there. A second ago I couldn't see past 4 miles, now I can't see any father than the main wall."

Bowie started to get even more frustrated at the situation; unknown ship appearing, sudden snow storm out of nowhere, "What the hell is going on?!" He then stepped away from the console and looked to Penny, "Major, come with me."

Bowie led Penny back to the elevator and then pressed the button that floor that had some of the highest catwalks. Once they reached the floor, they stepped outside to see how things were looking, only to be blinded by a sudden flurry of snow. Just then, an ear-piercing shriek rips through the nippy air.

Once the shrieking stopped, he looked to the cloudy sky, "What the hell was that?!"

Penny tried to identify the sound to possible Grimm types, she ran a sound analysis on all known creatures that can shriek but found no matches could be found in her database, "I don't know... but whatever it is, it's not a Grimm."

One of the sergeants ran up to Colonel Bowie on the catwalk. "Tell our men to take up arms and be ready for combat. If it's a fight they want, then we'll give it to them."

Penny quickly turned to Bowie, "What are this base's defensive capabilities?"

Bowie gave her a serious glare, "Our gates are made to withstand a full force attack from a pack of Goliaths; we have over 1,000 soldiers strong, two dozen mechs and tanks to use. Whatever's coming, we can take it."

They both then hear a loud bang against the main gate. They look to see a small dent in the Gate, about the size of a fist. A few more dents were made on the door right before the gate smashes to the floor.

In the wake of the dust from the door crash, two large men in black armor walk in through the arch and draw their swords. Several Atlas soldiers moved in on them and were cut down within two minutes.

Bowie's jaw dropped to the floor with complete fear, "Those gates were 8 inches of steel."

Penny focused her eyes down on the two attackers, "I only see two men...?"

Ensign Verde contacted Bowie through the radio, "Major, Colonel, whatever is attacking the base is not White Fang! I repeat, not White Fang!"

A few officers spoke on the radio, "This is Sargent Azule on the wall, there's something in the air. It's small and fast."

"Sergeant Braun reporting. One of my men reported seeing a humanoid figure walking through the storm."

Something wasn't adding up for Penny; sure, they were large men, but they were too powerful, even with Aura. Penny then changed her eyesight to false color to see the kind of radiation they were emitting. "I am detecting something... some kind of radiation I've never seen on a person before... and it's coming from the them."

Bowie looked to Penny with confusion, "What radiation are we talking about here?"

Penny was having a hard time making sense of it herself, "It's similar to what we find on Grimm, but these reading are more... intense. And they've never come from people before…"

"This is Lieutenant Krasnyy, squads 3 and 6, form up on the intruders!" shouted one of the officers on the radio.

14 Troopers form a circle around both men with their rifles pointed at them. Rourke turns to Radcliffe with a half smile, "Do you want to go first?"

Radcliffe smiled back, "If you insist."

In the state of fear and confusion the troopers were in, one of the random soldiers shouted at the others, "FIRE AT WILL!"

The soldiers fired at Radcliffe, who simply swung his sword in front of himself and knocked the bullets aside before hacking into the men's bodies and flinging others away with telekinetic force. He then swung his blade, cutting soldiers down with ease. Some even tried to use their weapons to block his sword but failed when the sword cut through the rifle like a knife through butter.

Bowie shouted into the radio, "Krasnyy, GET OUT OF THERE NOW!" His warning failed to reach Krasnyy in time before he was decapitated by one of the soldiers.

Penny shouted into the radio after seeing more troops get killed, "Paladin Corp.; arm up and engage at will!"

After cutting down a few soldiers, Rourke could hear heavy machinery moving their way. He looks to see the mechs as they walk towards them, "One thing certainly hasn't changed: Mantle still likes to use expensive toys."

"And we will have just as much fun destroying them." Radcliffe said after decapitating the last soldier in the courtyard.

Rourke then charges as they open fire, "Pathetic." He then slashes one Paladin in half at the waist and then stabs a second. His inertia of stabbing the second forced it to fall on it's back, with him on top.

Radcliffe raises his right hand and lifts one of the 8 inch steel doors into the air. Using his sword as a control stick, he then flung the door at one of the Paladins crashing it into the wall behind with relative ease.

Radcliffe smiled at his easy attack, "And this is supposed to be the most powerful Kingdom in Remnant? Vacuo put up a better fight than this!"

Radcliffe lifted some of the broken pieces of the Paladins and threw them at the main tower, the explosions echoed through the tower and hitting multiple rooms. Some of the explosions even reached the armory, causing a chain reaction of explosions that killed dozens of men who were nowhere near the battle.

As the battle continued below, riflemen were lining up along the wall preparing to fire on the two attackers. Then one of the soldiers looks up when he hears the loud screech again. Then he was stabbed by six talons to the body and was pushed to the ground onto his back. "Mind if I drop in?" Zyra said with a devious smile.

The Harpy then got up and started slashing several soldiers in a row; her talons were dripping in different colors of liquid, each being a different kind of poison. Whenever she scratched or stabbed a soldier, their skin started to change color where she slashed them; some had blood coming out of their eyes and nose, while others started to foam at the mouth. One soldier even started vomiting copious amounts of blood.

Along the opposite wall, several soldiers switched their sniper scopes to Thermal mode to try and see through the snowstorm. However, just as they were about to try looking for their adversaries, a loud screech rang out from their right. All of the men dropped their weapons and began holding their ears, and one of them could be seen with blood dripping between his fingers.

One of the other men looked up and saw a woman in a pink kimono hovering above them, her eyes glowing red and a wide grin spreading across her face, the scars along her cheeks making it even wider.

"Did you like the song, boys?" Jackie teased before holding her arms out and growing eight-inch claws from her fingertips. The Banshee lowered herself towards the troops getting ready to swing her claws at anyone in front of her, "Allow me to show you boys why I used to be called, 'Jackie the Ripper'!"

The men barely had time to anticipate her movements before the woman was upon them, slicing their throats open like a knife through butter.

Penny saw the bloodbath along the walls, "Squads on the walls and in the courtyard, fall back to the main complex! NOW!"

Bowie then pressed typed in a code into his code that activated the emergency evacuation alarm for the whole base, "All troops, head to the hanger bay, prepare for evacuation!" Officers, soldiers, technicians, mechanics; everyone that was still alive were making their way to the hanger bay before it was too late.

Meanwhile, some of the Paladins that tried to run from Rourke and Radcliffe, but were halted when their legs were covered in a layer of ice, freezing their feet to the ground.

Rourke and Radcliffe turned to see Jadis walk between them and up to one of the Paladins.

The pilot started to hyperventilate. He tried desperately to climb out of his seat but then it started to frost inside the cockpit he couldn't get out. Then he quickly froze solid, and his breathing stopped dead.

Outside, Jadis was holding onto the Paladin with her left hand, "No matter their advancements, they're still weaklings underneath."

Rourke looked up to the main tower and was quite impressed by their architecture. But that wouldn't stop them from continuing their mission, "Looks like they're hiding in the main structure."

Zyra jumped off from the wall she was on and landed next to Jadis, "They could be heading to the airships."

Jadis gave a rather annoyed look, "If they get away, Salem will be displeased with our work. There can be NO survivors!"

Zyra spoke up, "Actually, her grace wants survivors. Survivors can spread the fear of our power, and she wants me to send them a message."

Jackie then dropped in, "Then this will be even more fun!"

Jadis rolled her eyes at Jackie's immaturity, "Very well…"

Meanwhile, Bowie and Penny have been ordering troops to defensive positions inside the base; barricades built on stairways, small turrets mounted down hallways. But they already knew that wouldn't be enough.

Penny looked to the terrified troops around her, "We need to escape with the ships."

"I know, but there aren't enough bullheads in the hanger bay for all of us. And with that storm we may never get away." Colonel Bowies said as he loaded his rifle. Penny started to get worried. Bowie was right, not everyone was getting out of this alive.

Before Bowie could respond, Verde walked up to them both, "We're down to less than 200 troops, Colonel... If we keep them bottle necked, we could hold for about 20 minutes. But right now they haven't tried anything."

Bowie looked to Penny, hoping she had something up her cybernetic sleeve, "It's your show now, Major. What are your orders?"

Penny starts to look around, even if ALL the ships were full, more than half would still be left behind. "I... I don't know... not everyone is getting away..."

Ensign Verde pulled out his scroll and did the math, "We can at least get the wounded out... and most of the younger members of our unit. While the rest of us could buy them some time... They could also warn Atlas of what's coming..."

Penny felt that it was a good plan, but these were Bowie's men, it was his call, "Colonel?"

Bowie finished loading his rifle and charged it, "We'll hold the line while you and the pilots head to the launch bay. Atlas needs to know what happened here and be prepared for it."

Bowie then started pressing buttons on the wall console, activating the internal defenses to help the troops inside. Penny walked up behind him, "You could come with us..."

Bowie frowned at the thought of leaving his men behind, "This is my base... I'm not about to leave it when it needs me the most. Verde, go with the major and gather all the wounded and as many young soldiers to the hanger bay as you can." Bowie and a few other heavy Troopers held their weapons at the ready, "We'll escort you."

As they walked to the hanger bay, Bowie spoke through the radio, "Soldiers of Atlas... this is Colonel Bowie speaking... I ultimately regret to inform you that not everyone is leaving, I've ordered that all the wounded an every soldier younger that 20 to the shuttle bay for evacuation. We have held this base for almost 100 years, what is attacking us is what we been defending against. And right now these survivors are the only chance for Atlas to know what is going on here... As my final order as the colonel of Minas Ithil, I order you to hold the line as long as you can, buy these people time with your lives... I'm sorry, gentlemen, but this is it... Over and out."

In one of the corridors of the tower, a squad of soldiers and heavies were in defensive positions. The lights started to flicker in the hallway, some sparked until they died while others broke as if they were under pressure.

They could hear something creaking at the end of the hallway, as if it was something metal being bend open. Then they saw a two pairs of red eyes burning bright at the end of the hallway.

"OPEN FIRE!" one of the soldiers shouted.

The hallway flickered with gunfire. Heavy troopers were firing their machine guns at the 'man' (Rourke) while some of the infantry were shooting at what appeared to be a 'woman' (Jackie).

Rourke moved fast, ripping a large plate off the wall next to him and used it as a makeshift shield from the gunfire. He would then slowly walk forward with Jackie behind him. Once they were both close enough to the troopers, Jackie jumped on his shoulder and unleashed a screech that forced all the men to cover their ears.

Rourke then threw the dented plate at one of the heavy troopers, crushing him on impact. Rourke then swung his sword at the riflemen in front of them, slaughtering them without mercy.

When those in the back regained their composer to fight again, Jackie ran up to them and slashed their throats open like water balloons.

Right when they reached the next block, a large door came down to stop them. Jackie looked at the door and smile, "Easy." She then took in a large breath and then whaled a powerful sonic wave, blasting the large door down.

They slaughtered every soldier through 4 blocks of hallways. Once the troopers in this hallway were dealt with in a block, they continued on to the hanger bay.

Penny was helping some of the wounded onto the ship when she could hear the gunfire and the screaming resonating in the hallways. Bowie and his troops backed away form the door and sealed it. Then he blasted the controls to force it to lock itself.

Ensgin Verde looked over the planes they had to use, "There are 8 bullheads, that means we can save at least 80 peole, including pilots."

"You need to hurry, they're almost here." Bowie said when he pulled up the cameras that were still active. He could see a man and a woman carving through a hall way of troops, while on the opposite side of the base another man and woman are blasting through. The woman was blasting doors down with the shockwaves of her voice. And the third woman was all alone, but everytime he had a camera on her, the lense froze over and the feed was lost.

Then they head a loud bang on one of the doors, then they could see the same shaped dent in the door that was made at the front gate. The loud bang continued until the door was knocked out of the wall, allowing large enough for the near-7 ft. man and his siren friend through.

"FIRE!" Bowie ordered as he and his men engaged the intruders.

Some of the troopers with melee weapons charged at the woman while the man was being shot at. They failed to realize that she was much faster than she looked, and quickly wiped the floor with them. She first let out a short screech to catch them off guard, then she slashed at their limbs or going directly for the kill. There were even some that she killed with her own razor sharp teeth.

Rourke charged at the heavy troopers, the bullets flying at him barely making a dent in his armor, and he was running at them at top speed. He first swung his sword and cut one of the heavy troopers in half at the waist, then swung again and decapitated him for good measure. Then he swung at the second; cutting diagonaly, the trooper tried to block with his large weapon, but the word cut through it with no sign of slowing down.

Penny had enough of the chaos, she set the last wounded down and charged at the two dark figures.

She drew her blades and swung at both of them. Jackie ducked quickly before the blades cut her in half. While Rourke lifted his sword up to block all seven in a row, he was surprised to find himself having a hard time blocking her attack.

He resorted to using his strength to push her back away form him. Jackie swung her claws; she was looking to maim her and slow her down, but when her claw scratched Penny's skin, nothing came out. Penny quickly kicked her away, which made Jackie confused.

Jackie stood back up with confusion on her face, "You should be covered in blood already, what are you?!"

Penny didn't feel the need to respond, using Jackie's confusion to her advantage, she was able to get her when her guard was down and knock her to the back wall.

Rourke then swung his blade at her, only for him to be blocked by two floating blades that halted his sword. He looked closely and saw the near invisible strings at the ends of the swords, "They're on strings… Of course." He then realized who they were fighting, "So… This is the Atlas Android Locus mentioned a while back… Now THIS is an achievement I can be proud of. Too bad we have to destroy it."

Jackie rolled her eyes, "Android or not, I'M GOING TO TEAR HER APART!"

Both Jackie and Rourke ran at Penny on either side, and Penny's speed proved to be enough to block them both. She used her blades as a shield form behind while she used aggressively in front. She switched form left to right, attacking them both, blocking them both, the troops that weren't already on the bullheads were surprised she was doing so well. Bowie couldn't help but smile, "And that's why she's a Sky Knight."

Bowie then noticed that he could see his breath; he turned to see that there was a trail of ice leading up to the control room of the hanger bay. He ran up there to find a woman standing over the shattered remains of frozen corpses. She was laying her hand on the console, freezing it over.

Bowie pulled out his rifle and put in a grenade in the grenade launcher attachment, "Ice this!"

He fired; the grenade flew through the air and went off when it hit the woman in the back. The explosion knocked her through the window and onto the floor below.

Bowie ran into the center and found that his grenade damaged some of the console. But luckily the main door control was still usable. He set it so that all hanger bay doors were to open, allowing all the planes to leave at once, "Major, GO NOW!"

Penny looked up to Bowie and then to the main doors. She pushed both Radcliffe and Jackie back against the wall, hard and then ran towards her bullhead. She then found herself stuck; she looked down to find ice forming at her feet. She looked to where the ice was coming from saw that it originated from a woman's hand that laid on the ground while she was on one knee.

Penny tried to pull herself out but found that the ice was thick. Jadis started to walk slowly towards Penny, with malicious intent to kill her. But before she could reach Penny, someone tackled her to the ground. Penny looked to find Bowie, "GET OUT OF HERE!"

Penny slashed the ice off her feet with her blades. She was about to help Bowie with his fight, but then another security door was forced open. Then a large man and a feathered woman walked through, the stood at the ready to attack.

Penny couldn't fight them all, and if they're right there, they can't launch. Penny lined all her blades in a row, then in a circle and had them turn. She then charged up her 'blade-cannon' and fired at the new arrivals.

The initial blast knocked them both back out of the room, allowing the ships time to leave. Penny then ran for one of the closest planes and jumped on right as it was departing. She gave one last look to Bowie before they departed, "Thank you, colonel…" the ship's doors closed and they flew out of the hanger bay.

The other 7 ships left the hanger bay along with them. Zyra looked up and saw them leaving, she quickly got up and flew after them as fast as she could. "YOUR NOT GETTING AWAY THAT EASY!"

The 8 ships were flying through the snowstorm. Because of the storm, they were forced to fly slowly. Penny walked up to the cockpit, "How soon can you get us to Atlas?"

"We'll reach Mantle within the hour." The pilot said.

Penny started to relax, but then she heard a distress call on the radio. "MAYDAY! MAYDAY! This is Falcon-5 we're under attack by some kind of aviary creature! It damaged our starboard engine! WE'RE GOING DOWN AAAH—!" The transmission went to static.

Penny looked out the window and saw that another plane was being attacked; she zoomed in with her eyes to see that it was that feathered woman she fought back at the base. "They followed us!" Penny then grabbed the radio, "All wings, go high altitude at max thrust, I don't think it can fly that fast."

The remaining 6 planes turned upwards and maxed out their thrusters.

Zyra flew to the lead plane and latched on before they went to max speed. She crawled while stabbing the hull towards the front of the plane. Penny then gave the order for the planes to level out.

Penny left the cockpit to check on the passengers and wounded, to see how they were doing after that risky maneuver.

After following Penny's order, the pilot looked up to find the pail-faced woman with red eyes staring back at him. She then broke open the window and jumped in.

Penny heard the window break and climbed up the vertical plane to find out what was going on. What she found was Zyra stabbing the pilot with some kind of black blade. Zyra then backed off to the window, "Make sure the message is delivered, 'Major!'" She then jumped out of the window and flew back to Minas Ithil.

Penny quickly took the controls of the plane when the pilot fell out of his seat. She activated the temporary shield that replaces the window until a new one is put in. "Verde, get up here!"

Verde ran up, "What happened?"

"That bird woman stabbed him with something, take him to the back and treat his wound. I'll fly us back." Penny said as she sat in the pilot seat.

Meanwhile back at Minas Ithil, Bowie was against the wall, with a cold hand over his neck. He was beaten and bruised on his face, and when he was pulled off the wall and then slammed against it again. "If you think you saved anyone your wrong."

He quickly pulled out a knife from under his chest plate and stabs Jadis on her arm, the blade barely scratching her icy skin.

Jadis couldn't help but smile at his attempt to hurt her, "Pathetic toys…"

Bowie responded by stabbing her in the shoulder with his signature knife, only for the blade wound to release super cooled air and froze his hand solid.

And just before he could scream at the pain, his throat froze before he could even groan. He froze solid into a statue. Jadis then pulled him off the wall and then through him against it, shattering him into pieces. "Arrogant to the end." She then looked to see Rourke walk up to him, "No offense."

"None taken." Rourke then saw the cracked ice on her shoulder. Looking into the hole he could see the bone, "You okay?"

Jadis looked at the hole and smiled, "Huh, I almost forgot what it felt like..."

"What?" Rourke asked with curiosity.

"Pain... for so long my skin was so numb to the cold I had forgotten..." Jadis then waved her hand over her shoulder and formed ice over the wound, the ice then turned into the same colored skin we saw there before.

Zyra dropped in from the hanger bay door, all the other Nazgul looked to her. "Well?" Jadis asked.

"The message is enroute to Atlas." Zyra said with a proud smile.

"Then our work here is done." Radcliffe said as he sheathed his sword.

Jadis looked to both Rourke and Radcliffe, "We will report back to the queen."

"Try not to screw up your assignments boys." Jackie said with a playful smile.

Jadis walked over to the hanger bay door and looked at the view of the now empty fortress. Covered in both snow and blood. Rourke walked up to her, "I'm planning to convert this into our new base… But Minas Ithil doesn't sound right for our use the queen's war."

"How about, 'Minas Morgul'?" Jadis said as she looked at him.

Rourke made a big smile, "I like it."

Penny's flight was enroute to the city of Osgiliath, where both General Ironwood and General Numenor were currently located. It was also the closest base that could give their wounded immediate care.

The six planes landed on the landing pads with medical personnel running up to them with stretchers. Penny made sure the pilot of her shuttle was placed on a stretcher and carried off to the hospital.

General Ironwood and Numenor walked up to her with surprised looks on their faces. "Major Polendina, what happened?" General Faramir Numenor asked.

"Generals… we were attacked… Minas Ithil is… the fortress is lost." Penny was having a hard time speaking. All the chaos, all the carnage, it was almost too much for her processors to handle.

General Ironwood then spoke, "Take it easy… How bad was it? How large was the hoard?"

Penny found her composure and stood up straight. She did her best to sound professional, but some of her emotions still came out, "It wasn't a hoard sirs. It was just five."

"Five Grimm took a fortress?" General Numenor asked with complete disbelief.

"They weren't Grimm. They almost looked… Human." Penny said with a bit of fear in her voice.

"Impossible… that fortress was designed to take on a class 3 Grimm hoard for a week. Are you telling me that five people took it in one day?" General Ironwood asked.

"I know it's hard to believe. Which is why I can show you." Penny said as she raised up her hand and pointed her index finger out. There, a plug extended from the tip of her finger, which would allow her to access any computer system.

In the infirmary, the soldier who was stabbed by the Harpy began to stir on his cot. While the initial wound was cleaned and treated, the medics had no idea that the wound had a second purpose. One of the nurses came into the room to check and see how the soldier was recovering, only to receive the shock of her life. The soldier started to shudder and spasm, almost like he was suffering a seizure.

"Sir, please try to relax," the nurse said as she tried to calm the struggling patient down before turning her head to the door, "I need help here, now!"

Suddenly the soldier grabbed her arms and pushed her aside with surprising strength. The nurse looked up and saw something was wrong with the soldier's face. Just then, the soldier reached out for the surgery table next to his cot…

General Numenor brought Ironwood and Penny to his office, giving Penny access to a holo-player. There, she projected some of the video feeds she recorded of the incident.

After a few hours of watching them, she ended the projection.

"By the gods…" Faramir said with fear in his voice. "Were those who I thought they were?"

"The Nazgûl. Qrow said they came back, but I didn't want to believe him." Ironwood said with anger in his voice as he punched down on the table.

Ironwood then looked to Penny, "How many survivors?"

"39, plus pilots, and 5 surviving wounded. Some were fatally injured and died on the way here." Penny said.

"39… out of 1,000? What about Colonel Bowie?" General Numenor asked.

"He stayed behind so that we could get out in time. He gave his life to save us." Penny said as she lowered her head, she then remembered what they said before. "Generals, if I may… Who are these 'Nazgûl'?"

Both Ironwood and Faramir looked at each other and nodded in agreement, "Major, what I am about to tell you is something you need to keep to yourself." General Numenor said.

"Understood, sir." Penny said as she stood up straight.

"The Nazgûl used to be Maidens and Star Knights of generations long past. Some of them betrayed their sacred vows to protect the world and sought personal gain… while some fell to darkness because they liked it." Ironwood said with a bit of anger in his voice.

"And now they're back… Why? Why would they show themselves now? It's been 2 years since they were last mentioned." General Numenor asked with uncertainty.

Before either Ironwood or Penny could attempt at an answer, an officer barged in, "Generals! There's something going on at the hospital!"

The two Generals and Major reached the hospital and saw that there was some kind of commotion happening inside the ER. They walked in to find police standing there with their handguns drawn.

"Stay back, General! He's swinging that knife like a wild man!" An officer said as he aimed his gun down the hallway.

The three looked down the hallway to find a man wearing an Atlas pilot suit. He was covered in blood. Penny recognized his face, it was her pilot, but something was different. There were black roots coming up his face and into his eyes. And his eyes, they were blood red and glowing.

He was holding a surgical knife in his hand. He looked almost entranced, dazed, and light on his feet. His eyes wandered the hallway, and then he gazed at the two generals. "Lavor hauk nauk-avurned!"

(AN: Just a friendly note, I used the "Black Speech Translator" for those words. Tolkien accurate!)

He then charged at the crowd, forcing the police to react and fire on him. He was shot dead to the ground, ending the horror, for some.

Penny walked over to the dead body of her pilot, she rolled him over and found that the stab wound he suffered from that feathered woman had formed black roots all over his body.

"What could have done this?" Penny asked with horror in her voice.

"A Morgul blade…" Ironwood said as he knelt down to see for himself. "What did he say? I didn't recognize the language."

"I think I know." General Numenor said from a distance.

Penny and Ironwood looked to find Faramir standing at the doorway of an ER. When they reached the doorway, what they found was terrifying: doctors, nurses, guards, all of them dead on the ground, with the floor drenched in a large pool of their blood. And on the wall opposite from the door, there was large writing across it written in blood, "SHE HAS RETURNED"

"And now we know… They came back, because she is back." Ironwood said with as calm of a voice as he could muster.

Penny then began to feel that chill run down her synthetic spine again. "Why would she come back now, though?"

In a little house in Patch, Ruby walked into her living room and found her uncle sitting on the couch. He saw Ruby come in and waved her off, but when he looked down at the ring on a chain around her neck he spat out his whiskey.

Ruby backed up in shock. She'd never seen her uncle do a spit take before.

"Ruby… Where did you get that ring?"

DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUUUUN!

AN: Thank you all SO MUCH for being patient with me!

I know it has been hard to wait two whole weeks for a new chapter, but I promise you, the wait will be worth it.

I have based all five Nazgul off of some of the villains in the past:
Winter Witch: Jadis, also known as the White Witch from Narnia (Breakawayfan and I couldn't think of anyone better to take this position.)
Summer Banshee: Jackie, I based her on Jack the Ripper. (I once heard the theory that he was really a woman, so I felt it was a good tie in for the story.)
Spring Harpy: Zyra, from League of Legends. (She was Nightengale's suggestion, and when I looked her up, I felt that she fit perfectly.)
Mantel Knight: Rourke, from Atlantis the Lost Empire. (He was one of my favorite villains in Disney)
Vacuo Knight: Radcliffe, from Pocahontas. (Although I didn't consider him as an intelligent villain, he was very arrogant and self justified for his actions. Brakeawayfan and I felt he was perfect for the role.)

Also, Colonel Bowie was based off of James Bowie, one of the Texas officers who died at the Alamo. I chose him because I liked the name, and I felt that he would have fought just as hard to ensure his people's survival.

(On a side note, Paul Jordan, I would appreciate it if you stop filling up my reviews with the same question repeatedly. You did it in the last story, and I would like it if you don't do it in this one.)

Anyway, I hope I didn't scare you guys too much... ;)
And as always, ARKOS!