Author's Note: This chapter and the next are the ones that the cover art draws from. It's also the first good look into The Pantheon's motivations in a while.
Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or its associated characters. The characters in this writing so far are mostly original characters, but I make no claim over the existing characters.
Chapter 24
The Pantheon
Almost two days later we were finally back at our hidden camp in Atlas. Gideon had been dropped in a cell equipped with robust aura dampeners, and the interrogation team was preparing to get to work as soon as he woke from the artificial coma we had placed him in to keep him under control for the flight back. In the mean time, I was keeping myself busy by examining his armor.
It was an incredibly advanced piece of equipment, making my AEGIS 3 look like a suit of AEGIS 2 by comparison. From what I could tell, the servos that controlled the movements of the suit were hooked up to a computer that ran predictive algorithms to guess the user's intended movements, allowing the armor to actually increase their dexterity instead of hampering it like any other suit of armor did. The armor was sized for Gideon, but fortunately we were of roughly equivalent mass, though I was a bit taller and skinnier, so there was enough material available for me to work on resizing it to fit me. The armor had also been designed with a bit of tolerances to allow for shifts in operator size over time, but at my six foot three to his five foot ten I was pushing the limits of those tolerances, and some bits of the scaled armor around the torso and joints were stretched thin over the semi-elastic material that replaced the kevlar padding of my armor.
I doubted that anyone in Mistral had been able to design this armor, though the operating system was clearly modeled off of an Earth designed system if the English displays were anything to go by. I had to hack into that system to disable the booby traps that had been built into the armor before I could wear it safely. I guessed Gary or whoever had helped create the armor had been paranoid about it falling into enemy hands. Fortunately the armor had been programmed to read a thumb print instead of a password to access the OS, so I had been able to get in by just using Gideon's limp hand until I could rewrite those sections of the code.
Presumably Gary had been more concerned about being able to access the armor's systems after the operator was injured than complete security. He had likely been counting on the computer's English operating system to prevent tampering. Unfortunately for him, I was one of the only people on Remnant who could read the language. I ended up deleting significant sections of the operating system's security measures, allowing anyone to use the armor. I retained the lock on the operating system however, and replaced the thumb print with a randomly generated password. LIWI and I had both committed the password to memory, in case I received another knock to the head.
The armor's magical enhancements were impressively robust when compared to what I had managed to scrape together to retrofit my own. The new armor had the same protective enchantments, meaning it was lighter and stronger than any other AEGIS suit, but it also featured minor elemental protection runes, allowing the user to resist fire, electricity, and even deep cold. The feather fall system was fully functional in this armor, but it lacked the spider step that I had built into mine, so I still had work to do to get it fully operational.
One thing I had never considered for my own armor was the hard light shield he had built into the left forearm. It produced a flat hexagonal shield when the user activated a button built into the palm of the left glove, and from testing it could sustain an impressive amount of gunfire before shattering. Evelynn had put in an order for some hard light crystals to be shipped out to our position, but for now I only had the handful that it had been loaded with to use for testing.
-/-
At the moment, LIWI and I sat together in the Bullhead, doors closed against the potentially prying eyes of Team FRIL while I walked him through the technical aspects of the armor.
"This armor's ingress and egress system is different from mine." I showed him, pointing to where the armor unlatched as an entire unit instead of micro latches at each joint. I demonstrated how the entire back of the armor split, allowing the user to step into and out of the armor.
"This kind of a system is difficult to produce, and makes the armor a bit more expensive, but it's definitely superior for quickly getting it on and off."
LIWI reached over to grab one of the sides of the armor, clicking it shut to see how it worked.
"It looks a lot easier than your old suit." He remarked, "I remember it taking you forever to get that armor on when we were getting ready for a mission." I shrugged, then pointed to where the ballistic fabric was stretched far enough that there was a noticeable gap between two armored scale plates.
"Well, this suit will be a lot better once we get the extra armor paneling from the old suit integrated into the stretch points. Then we just need to repaint it in Atlesian colors and we're good to go."
My scroll beeped with an incoming message, and I turned to grab it off of a nearby jumpseat. It showed a message from the fake identity I had built for Evelynn to keep Gary off of our trail.
"Important update, need to speak in person, wrap it up." The message read. Curious, I stood and moved to see what was going on.
"Want to come?" I asked LIWI, and he nodded, snapping back into his belt form and landing into my outstretched hand.
I clipped him on and opened the door, trudging through the thick snow back to where the rest of Team SGGE was gathered around the campfire. Team FRIL and the intelligence analysts had done a decent job of robusting the camp while we had been back in Argus. We now had a sort of stone brick stove, and small raised platforms to keep our tents above the snow. As I arrived I saw Lieutenant Lilac tapping away at a small terminal as she decoded an update document.
The intelligence team and I had developed a system where information could be passed to our camp by posting hidden messages inside of news articles. The system was relatively complicated, involving the number of letters and the starting characters of specific words, but it worked well enough to pass simple updates and orders to us without alerting Gary's network of bots that undoubtedly trolled through Atlesian cyberspace looking for us.
Lilac looked up as I approached, waving politely and turning the terminal to face me so I could read what she had decoded.
"Thanatos in custody. Inbound flight."
I studied it for a moment, desperately wishing there was more context. As I thought about the implications, I spotted Evelynn emerging from the command tent. She waved me over, so I bid goodbye to the lieutenant and headed over.
"They caught Thanatos?" I asked, "What happened?" She made a helpless gesture with her hands.
"I don't have any details yet." She replied, "But I want this camp secure when they get here, we don't know what condition he or the team that caught him is in. Get everyone geared up and ready to go in case of trouble." I nodded firmly.
"On it" I confirmed, already running through a mental checklist of everything I needed to take care of.
-/-
A few hours later, I stood with the rest of Team SGGE in my new suit of armor. I had managed to finish splicing the extra armor panels onto the suit and give it a quick paint job. The left arm also had a hastily painted Atlesian Army symbol and "SGGE" stenciled on the shoulder. Major Fin took one look at me and snorted derisively.
"Really sergeant?" He asked, "If you insist on wearing that clunky armor you could at least make sure your Atlesian colors are well upkept, you look ridiculous."
His snide uppercrust accent always managed to get under my skin in the worst ways, but I bit my tongue to avoid giving him any ammunition to bring a case against me.
Captain Stone emerged from the cave where the interrogation team had previously been attempting to question Gideon Roth, escorting them out and into the Bullhead with the two pilots for their own safety. They hadn't made much progress with Gideon, who had been answering their questions with riddles given in a mix of English and Spanish just to mess with them. I had sat and listened for a while, and I was pretty confident that at one point he had resorted to just telling them that their mothers were fat in as many languages as he could.
I rolled my shoulders, still trying to provide the onboard computer with training data on how the way I moved was different to Gideon. It kept trying to halt my strides slightly shorter than I wanted it to, and occasionally when I reached for something the glove would close before I had fully extended my arm.
This is kind of boring.
LIWI spoke from my waist, and I clicked the external speakers of my helmet off to respond.
"It won't be for long. They'll be here soon, then we can find out what happened." Captain Stone returned, pulling Major Fin aside for a short hushed discussion. Just as they were wrapping up I heard the distinctive whine of aircraft engines in the distance. They sounded different from the Bullhead we had been riding in, and I cocked my head as I tried to determine what could be causing the difference.
A minute later I had my answer as a different type of aircraft roared overhead, turning in a lazy circle to pass back over the camp in preparation for a vertical landing as the pilots killed their forward velocity. This aircraft was noticeably larger, with fatter wings and wider but stubbier engines at the tips. It also had several missile pods slung under the wing in addition to the typical twenty millimeter cannon that was mounted under the chin. I studied the aircraft, noting how it behaved. It seemed roughly equivalent in maneuverability to the handling I had seen Lieutenants Sky and Cloud perform. Likely the engines were more advanced, allowing enough thrust to offset the increased mass. The new aircraft came in for a landing, engines whining loudly enough that I had to click down the sensitivity of my helmet's headphones to protect my ears. The aircraft set down, and five people stepped out.
I recognized all of them from Gary's memories. Cole Wesner, Thanatos, was a close friend of Gary's, the other four were all members of the Atlesian Ace Operatives, Clover Ebi, Vine Zeki, Elm Ederne, and Winter Schnee. They all looked quite a bit worse for wear, but Cole was by far the worst off. He was covered in bruises, and had significant swelling over his right eye, as well as dried blood around his face that indicated he had likely broken his nose and cut his lip. He wore aura draining cuffs, but Vine and Elm both kept a tight grip on each of his arms regardless. As he exited the aircraft he looked around, his eyes lighting up as he recognized me wearing Gideon's modified armor.
"Hey Grayson," he said conspiratorially, "You gettin' it done?" He winked with his uninjured left eye, then let himself be led away into the cave to be locked into the holding cell we had prepared for him.
Heads swiveled to look at me as Cole disappeared into the cave, and I shrugged my shoulders awkwardly, uncomfortable with the attention.
"We, uhh, used to be friends apparently, before the head trauma." I explained, drawing a raised eyebrow from Clover and a devious look from Major Fin. The rest of Team SGGE knew enough to take it in stride, but Winter looked askance at me, like she was trying to remember something. Clover looked thoughtful for a moment, then held up a finger like he had an idea.
"You know, you being friends with him actually seems like a bit of a lucky break" he remarked with a wide grin, "I'll bet you could get him talking, maybe we could actually get something useful out of these guys." Captain Stone looked like she was actually considering allowing it, dashing any hopes I had of staying out of the spotlight and resuming work on my new suit of armor.
"Maybe," she said thoughtfully, "How did you capture Thanatos anyways?"
Vine and Elm emerged from the cave, having secured Cole in his cell, and offered their insight.
"He showed up in Atlas and started causing trouble, claiming that he was getting revenge for us 'kidnapping his friends.'" Elm said irritatedly, "So we kicked his ass. He put a lot of people in the hospital before we got there though."
Vine placed a calming hand on her shoulder.
"He seemed to have purpose to his violence, though it was clearly meant to appear senseless."
I leaned over to whisper to Captain Stone.
"That seems suspicious, if I were on their side there's no way I would let one of my top fighters go to Atlas just to cause chaos, it doesn't make any sense." She thought for a moment, then nodded.
"I'm with Operative Clover on this one." She told me, "I think you should talk to him, try to get him to tell you something useful that he might not tell the rest of us." She offered me a fist bump, and I returned it, then reluctantly headed inside the cave to ask some questions.
-/-
Cole sat on the ground, cross legged, leaning against the back wall with his hands behind his head. I looked to where the small metal stool and cot lay neglected in the corner, then back at him.
"Do you have something against chairs?" I asked him in English.
"Knowing you?" He replied in Atlesian, "It would probably break the second I sat on it."
I removed my helmet, then crossed my arms and leaned up against the opposite wall to study him. He appeared relaxed, and almost friendly. He also was choosing to speak in Atlesian, meaning he wanted anybody listening to us to be able to understand him.
"Fine," I responded in the same language as him, "Then how about Atlas, what's your problem with them?"
He shrugged.
"You already know what my problem with them is."
I gestured to my head, tapping a finger against the spot where I had been shot all those months ago.
"Brain damage, remember?" I asked, "Why don't you spell it out for me."
He brought his hands forwards, folding them under his chin.
"Oh right." He said smugly. "Brain damage, I forgot. Hey how did it go infiltrating the One Oh Seventh? I figure we all did a pretty good job making sure none of them were alive, but your cover can't have held up forever without you putting in at least some effort."
I tensed, wondering who actually was listening to us. I had to get him off the topic of how I had originally joined Atlas. I went to speak, but he cut me off.
"Joining Team SGGE was a great plan by the way. I wouldn't have thought of it, but I'm glad you managed to convince Gary to let you go back in when we came to extract you at the hospital."
I held up a hand.
"Who is this for? Huh?" I asked pointedly, my posture stiffening. "If you're trying to play up our former friendship to the people outside then I'm sorry to say they're not going to fall for it just because you act all buddy buddy." An idea hit me, and I leaned back into the wall, presenting an air of relaxation to match his own. I had gotten Logan to speak to me by convincing him that rescue wouldn't be coming for him, eroding his confidence. The same trick might work here as well.
"You know Gary won't find you right?" I asked him. "I helped consult on our cyber strategy, there isn't a single device in this entire camp that could alert him." He performed a small sarcastic golf clap.
"'Former?'" He asked, "Wow you're doing a great job selling it man, you almost had me convinced. And lets be real, if you consulted on cyber security then it's only a matter of time before Gary finds the marker you installed. I won't be here long."
"Is that right?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. "Then how come I've had Logan locked up here for weeks now without so much as an unexpected ping on my system? If he could find us then you wouldn't have gotten your ass kicked trying to prove how tough you were in Atlas."
He shrugged, folding his arms behind his head again.
"Well, we had to wait for you to gather enough huntsmen up for it to be worth our time. But you were taking too long to get anything done, so I figured I'd help speed it along."
I grunted noncommittally, wanting to keep digging at him to try and get him to break character.
"Are you sure?" I asked, "Because the way I hear it you got knocked around pretty easily when the Ace Ops showed up, which makes sense for someone who isn't even strong enough to get into a fight without taking that strength from someone else." I shrugged, giving him my best 'I'll humor you' look. "But hey, go ahead and tell whatever story you need to feel better about yourself."
He chuckled.
"Did you even read the report?" He asked,
"You do realize I took on a police precinct and two operatives before Ace Ops even showed up right? And I wouldn't even need my semblance to beat Team SGGE, you guys suck." I hadn't seen any such report, but from what I knew of Cole, that wasn't surprising.
I shrugged again, determined to keep trying to undermine his confidence.
"Eh, big whoop, I killed one of your huntsmen and wiped out an entire camp of your soldiers, and I didn't even need a semblance to do it." I held up a finger as if an idea had struck me. "Oh yeah, and I kicked Logan's ass, plus trounced Gideon, back to back."
Cole held up a matching finger, then counted out his points on the rest of his hand.
"One, 'Eh, big whoop' you took out a bunch of unarmed civilians and a fat huntsman. Which, by the way, how lazy do you have to be to be a fat huntsman?" He counted his next point. "Second, it took eight of you to beat Logan, and I know for a fact you didn't contribute to that fight. You're wearing power armor." He held up a third finger. "Third, I watched the footage of your fight with Gideon, all I saw was you fly through a window, then jump right back out. You didn't do shit, and your boss had to keep you from falling to your death. Fourth, and finally, you only won that fight because an Ace Operative got killed trying to save your collective asses."
I cocked my head, doing my best not to let him phase me as he poked at my own insecurities.
"Uh huh," I said condescendingly. "That's right, I brought superior firepower to a fight, and it worked. Good tactical analysis, you want a cookie?"
He laughed, clearly unfazed. Insulting him wasn't working, so I decided to change tactics.
"You watched the fight with Gideon?" I asked, "So you heard him begging Evelynn not to kill him when she brought him in?" I shook my head ruefully as I spun my lie. "I gotta say, I've seen soldiers cry before, but that was just pathetic to watch." Cole tried to speak, but this time I cut him off. "Oh and Logan? Yeah he was all high and mighty, shooting lasers and blasting music. But at the end of the day once his aura broke he was all too ready to surrender."
Cole stood up, advancing towards the bars of his cell.
"That's bullshit and you know it."
I remained expressionless, pressing the advantage now that I had found a weakness to press against.
"Really?" I asked, "Because I was there, and you weren't. Remind me, what you were doing two days ago while your supposed 'good friend' was having his face rearranged?"
He squeezed and released his fists repeatedly as he stared at me.
"Dealing with this bullshit logistical nightmare of a war that you've kept going." He spat in English, reverting back to his native language. "And yeah," he continued, "I screwed up. I should have been there with him, but if you weren't a traitorous bastard then he wouldn't have even been in that situation. Why can't you just get it Grayson?"
I joined him in speaking English, standing up off the wall to match his energy.
"Get what?" I asked loudly, "Get the idea behind starting a war that is killing tens of thousands of people on both sides? Get destroying an entire city because I think I know best? I Get 'it' perfectly. Maybe you're the one who doesn't understand."
"You just can't see the bigger picture!" He nearly shouted, pointing an aggressive knife hand at me. "Thousands will die so that millions will live! I've seen where this goes, I'm the only one of us who has seen it! Beacon falls, Haven falls, and Atlas literally falls! How many people do you think are in Atlas?"
I placed my hands on my hips, staring him down.
"Thirty one million, four hundred and sixty two thousand, three hundred and twelve." He recited, continuing his rant. "Give or take a couple thousand at any given time, with another thirty eight million, seven hundred and ninety two thousand, six hundred and eight people in Mantle. At maximum? Half of those people escape when Atlas falls. And beyond that, the man in charge, Ironwood, was willing to detonate a dust nuke over Mantle and sacrifice all those people, and it wouldn't even have mattered."
Cole began pacing back and forth in his cell, I let him keep speaking.
"We can't have Ironwood in charge because he'll screw it up. We can't have the Vytal treaty in effect because then two countries can't even field a military to fight back against the Grimm. We have to change the world before the plot even begins."
I raised an eyebrow at him as he finally fell silent.
"You done?" I asked, "Because I fail to see where in that rant you were given the right to pick and choose who dies." He turned on his heel to face me.
"That's exactly what gives me the right to pick and choose who dies." He said firmly, "I know what happens. We looked at it, all of us, and we couldn't come up with a solution that didn't involve this. Hell, even you helped plan it out."
His words brought up hazy memories from Gary. I saw the three of us, Gary, Cole, and myself, all sitting around endless piles of maps and reports, trying to find a better solution. We couldn't, and the three of us had decided that a war was necessary to save the world. Now though, I had a new perspective. I had seen what it was actually like to fight and die for orders given on a battlefield. It wasn't just a concept to me, it was real, and I couldn't stomach the thought of justifying it.
"Maybe I did," I told him quietly, "But that just proves that I'm right, and you're wrong. Because I've seen what this war is doing, and I know that it's wrong. You can't play God, nobody can."
"If anyone can, it's me, Grayson." He kicked the metal stool across the cell to emphasize his point, it clattered against the wall, then fell undamaged to the cold floor. "You know? The guy who was literally chosen to come to this world to fix all this shit? That's why I chose Gary to come with me, because he would get it. That's why I picked all of them! I knew they'd work with me, I knew they wouldn't betray me, and if anybody could find a better way without starting a war then it would be them. But we couldn't. So this is where we are. Why don't you get that? Gary does!" He had grown louder as his rant progressed, but fell suddenly silent as he realized what he had said.
"Chose?" I asked, homing in on the word. "What the hell do you mean you 'chose' them to come with you?" He didn't respond, instead lying on the cot in the cell with his hands behind his head.
-/-
I left the cave feeling like I had more questions than when I had entered. The overall plan Cole had laid out made sense, the only real way to defeat Atlas would be to convince the people that they didn't want to fight. Beyond that, his motivation seemed genuine. I usually tried to avoid thinking about how I was theoretically living in a fictional world, but the interrogation had brought some unpleasant concepts to the forefront. If Cole really did have knowledge of the future from watching a show then wouldn't it be irresponsible not to act on it? If General Ironwood really would sacrifice the citizens of Mantle for a tactical victory then wouldn't it be right to remove him?
I ran my hands over my face as I exited the cave, running them all the way back over my head until they tugged at my scalp before releasing them to stare up into the sky. My thoughts were interrupted by Sergeant Green and Lieutenant Lilac.
"That seemed productive." Randall remarked dryly. I shot him a look out of the corner of my eye without turning my head back away from the sky. They both sat at the edge of the cave, presumably assigned to listen to and record the interrogation. Lilac was furiously trying to scribble notes on a pad with a pencil.
"What was that last bit about?" She asked without looking up from her work. "I didn't recognize the language, and I had to study Mistrali at Atlas Academy." I finally gave up on being alone with my thoughts, turning and sitting on an empty box.
"It's a code language" I lied, "I know some of it though, enough to get by with people who speak it fluently." Randall raised an eyebrow, implying that he knew I was lying, but wasn't inclined to call me on it in front of Team FRIL.
"I'm more interested in all that stuff at the beginning about you working with them." He said neutrally. "He spun quite the story there."
I frowned, irritated. Cole might have genuinely managed to cause me a problem with that gambit, especially since Major Fin would inevitably find out about it.
"Yeah" I said as nonchalantly as I could manage. "He's just trying to stir up trouble, he knew you guys would be out here listening." Green nodded.
"I figured."
Lilac continued scribbling notes, finally wrapping up and tucking the notepad and pencil away in a pocket of her armor. Captain Stone approached, looking relaxed despite the chaotic morning. She nodded to the three of us and I nodded back. She sauntered past into the cave entrance, and Randall looked at me, confused by her nonchalant attitude.
Who was that? One of the Ace Operatives? LIWI asked. I didn't see them get off the aircraft with the rest of them.
Now it was my turn to be confused.
"What do you mean?" I whispered to LIWI, conscious of the fact that Lilac didn't know about him. "That was Evelynn."
Uhhh, I'm pretty sure Evelynn doesn't have green hair and red eyes.
"Oh shit" I blurted, and jumped up off the box, slamming my helmet on as I rushed into the cave after her. Curious, Sergeant Green and Lieutenant Lilac followed me inside. "I really hope you're right about this" I whispered to LIWI as I ran after Evelynn. I am, she had bright green hair and red eyes, and she definitely wasn't Evelynn. I rounded the last corner to the cell that held Cole, seeing Evelynn fiddling with the door. She looked up, surprised as I entered at a sprint.
"Grayson?" She asked, "is everything alright?" I punched her in the face, hard, using the momentum of my run and the strength of my powered armor to send her flying backwards.
"What the hell!" Green shouted from behind me. Evelynn flew away from me, green aura rippling around her face as it blocked the damage of my punch.
"Blast her!" I shouted in English to LIWI, pointing my other hand at her in a finger gun. A thin green ray of magic sprung from my index finger, slamming into Evelynn as she hit the wall behind her. Green aura rippled again, this time more strained by the amount of damage it needed to block.
"Grayson, back off!" Sergeant Green shouted again, wrapping an arm around my neck and trying to haul me backwards.
"It's not her!" I shouted back, "Look at her aura!" I reached a hand out, unable to aim properly, but able to direct lightning as LIWI surged again to blast electricity out from my palm to catch Evelynn as she tried to roll out of the way. Her aura flashed emerald green again, and I felt Randall's arm loosen as he tried to piece together what was happening. Evelynn lay still on the ground after the last lightning blast, slumped over next to a table she had been trying to take cover behind.
"Wait," I said to myself, a realization hitting me suddenly. "Her aura shouldn't even be up. There should be a draining field active in this entire cave."
I looked at the door of Cole's cell to my left, just in time to see it swing open lazily as he gave it an experimental push. He stepped out of the cell, cracking his neck and flashing his royal purple aura as a grin spread over his face. "Thanks Grayson" he said cheerfully, "But I'm gonna have to head out now."
Sergeant Green released me, reaching for his sword, and I dropped my hand to the holster on my thigh, bringing my revolver up to shoot Cole in the face. Before I could get the pistol on target an invisible kick hit my wrist, knocking the weapon out of my grip.
Why didn't you stop her? LIWI shouted frantically.
"I can't see her!" I shouted back, "Talk to me!" I ducked, sensing that an attacker would next try to strike my head to knock me off balance. I was rewarded with a glancing blow to the back of my helmet that scraped off at enough of an angle to avoid dealing any real damage.
She's on your right, just threw a roundhouse kick, she's going to punch you now! LIWI reported, speaking so rapidly I could barely distinguish his words.
I brought my arms up into a guard, catching her hit on the forearm, then striking out with a leg sweep in her approximate direction. The image of Evelynn still lay on the floor, but my ankle collided with the calf of my invisible opponent hard enough to trip them up. To my left Sergeant Green had engaged Cole and was pressing him back with a flurry of sword strikes. Every time Cole tried to reach out and grab hold of the sergeant to drain his power Green would either lash out with his sword or twist just barely out of the way to avoid being touched.
"Hit her again!" I called out to LIWI, extending my palm for another blast of lightning. A force gripped my wrist, forcing my palm upwards and sending the lightning to dissipate harmlessly into the stone ceiling.
Gun!
LIWI shouted a split second before I felt a bullet slam into the chest plate of my armor. The armor caught the bullet easily, but it still had enough force to knock me off guard for a moment. Two more bullets hit the armor as I pulled back, reaching for the sword at my waist and slashing outwards with it as I drew it from its sheath. My strike connected with something, and I saw a dark green revolver go spinning away to the corner of the room. Her illusion flickered slightly as she was startled by the strike, and I saw the person attacking me.
She was probably no older than sixteen, with mint green hair and red eyes wide in surprise. I recognized her, Emerald Sustrai. I had vague memories of taking her in and training her as Gary, but didn't remember the extent of my relationship with her as Grayson. She wore a suit of black and green combat armor that bore the same handiwork as mine and Gary's. A moment later her illusion snapped back into place in my mind as she was gone.
She's running!
LIWI called out, so I pursued, leaving the other two huntsmen to fight Cole.
Emerald sprinted through the winding tunnels towards where Gideon's cell was located. I heard a gunshot, then came around the corner to his cell to see the girl standing in front of Gideon's cell, placing some sort of device on the lock to his cell. The aura suppressor attached to the ceiling had an obvious bullet hole in the casing and appeared to be offline.
I transformed my sword to its rifle form, firing at her as I continued running. A moment later the device on the lock detonated, and the door swung open. Gideon stepped out as the girl kept running, sprinting forwards and tackling me to the ground. He was too close to me for me to effectively use either the rifle or sword forms of my weapon, so I let it slip from my palm and focused on grappling with the aggressive huntsman. Any huntsman had increased bone and muscle density as a byproduct of their aura's physical enhancement, which meant that with the armor I wore we were of roughly equal weight and strength. He came in low with a classic wrestler's leg takedown, and I was forced to fall backwards, bringing my arms down to wrap around him, trying to prevent him from taking a front mount position.
We fell together, and LIWI began surging magical strength through my muscles to help me keep up with his aura enhanced abilities. I landed on my back, splaying my legs out to the side then wrapping them around his waist to place him in my guard. Sensing that he couldn't overpower my guard easily with me in armor he reared back and smashed his fist into the faceplate of my helmet, slamming my head backwards into the ground.
I couldn't gain enough leverage to throw a good punch from my position, so instead I reached up to take hold of his neck, mentally urging LIWI to blast him. Fire erupted from my palm, scorching him and causing him to reflexively pull back. With my other hand I reached into my gear bag and pulled out my pair of aura blocking cuffs. He reached up with both hands, taking control of the arm that gripped his neck and pulling it down, forcing it to my waist and helping to give him control over my posture. I let him have the wrist, reaching down and snapping one cuff around his wrist before he realized I had them. I watched his red aura dissipate immediately, then released the cuffs and extended my hand out for a knife hand chop. I swung it in an arc, able to use my hips to power the chop in a way I could not have with a jab. The blow stuck him in the jaw, and more magic surged from my hand, blasting him backwards and off of me.
I released my guard as he was knocked away, allowing him to tumble through the air and crash painfully into the wall of the cave. I scrambled after him, grabbing his cuffed wrist and dragging it behind his back before he recovered his bearings. I pressed a knee into his back, and LIWI surged magic outwards, causing ice to grow around his legs to pin him to the ground. I reached out and grabbed his other wrist as he tried to use it to leverage himself up from the ground. I dragged his wrists together, cuffing him behind his back, then reached up and slammed his head into the ground, further disorienting him.
That was a lot of magic at once, I've got a lot of excess building up again. LIWI warned me. I needed to be more cautious with my use of magic, I had already learned the hard way what would happen if I didn't.
I stood, moving to pursue the girl running through the cave, when an invisible force gripped me, paralyzing me inside of my armor.
"Hi Grayson" I heard Logan's familiar voice from behind me, "I think it's time for round two." He used his semblance to lift me up, turning me slowly around to face him. I tried to reach for my knife, but couldn't even move my arms as my armor locked me in place. To his right, Emerald breathed heavily, her arms on her knees as she tried to catch her breath.
"Actually" she gasped, raising a hand to gain Logan's attention. "Gary said to 'please not hurt Grayson.'" Logan looked at her irritatedly as she dashed his plans for revenge.
"Seriously?" He asked indignantly. She nodded solemnly. "Damnit, fine!." He waved a hand and the cuffs on Gideon unlatched themselves, rising up and clicking themselves around my wrists instead as my armor forced my arms together. With the flick of a finger I flew sideways through the open door of the cell, crashing into the wall painfully and dropping to the floor. I reached out to try and aim a spell but his semblance reasserted itself over my armor and slammed my arms to the ground, immobilizing me.
We need to get help! LIWI cried into my mind.
"I know," I replied quietly, not projecting my voice through the external speakers of my helmet. "As soon as they're out of sight I can call Captain Stone." Logan reached down to help Gideon to his feet, brushing him off and checking him for injuries. His jaw was dislocated from the magic force that had boosted my knife hand chop, but that would only barely slow him down. He tried to speak, pointing towards me, but it was unintelligible.
"We don't have time right now." The girl spoke up, "We need to get Mister Wesner and leave! He's fighting two huntsmen right now!" Logan looked to her in surprise, then practically hauled Gideon away by the shoulder, storming out of the cave to find where Cole was fighting. As soon as they left line of sight the pressure on my armor released, and I ripped the scroll off my belt, overriding the cyber protocols and calling Captain Stone's scroll directly.
"The prisoners are loose!" I shouted as her scroll clicked on, "They're headed for the cave entrance, Green and Lilac are engaged but they won't last long!" Stone grunted on the other end of the line, and I heard a commotion followed by her shouting angrily.
"Understood" she called back, "But we're busy out here, figure something out." I heard the sounds of metal crashing on metal, then a second later the line went dead.
I jumped up, fishing the key for the cuffs out of my belt and rushing out of the cell past the broken door and giving chase down the tunnels. I collected my weapons off the floor as I went. Soon I came upon where Cole had been fighting Green and Lilac, but found no sign of them other than the table that stood near the cell being broken in half. I kept running, heading for the entrance to the cave. As I emerged I was met with a concerning sight. Every member of Team SGGE, Team FRIL, and all four Ace Operatives were engaged in a desperate fight with seven huntsmen. Six of the huntsmen were the people from Earth that Gary had been brought with, with Emerald being the last.
Hackett, codenamed Kratos and the official leader of the Wings of Freedom, towered over Captain Stone and even Operative Elm at just over nine feet tall as he swung a large axe in a menacing circle, driving both hammer wielding opponents backwards. His head was shaved bald, but he had a bright red beard trimmed into a square shape. Stone dashed in under his swing, smashing her hammer into his knee and shattering his aura. As his aura broke, his skin took on a metallic sheen, the effect spreading outwards from the point of impact in a second. His skin remained the same color, but now seemed to reflect light at angles that were more akin to polished steel. Elm followed up a moment later, leaping over Stone and slamming her own hammer directly into Hackett's head. The hammer blow knocked him backwards, but seemed to cause him no damage beyond physical pain as he roared and struck back.
Kratos was considered the god of strength and the divine right to rule, which Hackett proved as he charged back into his fight with the two hammer wielding huntsmen. Captain Stone and specialist Elm were the two strongest members of their respective teams, but he forced them both backwards as they fought. Stone crashed Silver Reforged into his knee, but he simply braced himself and absorbed the heavy blow, then lashed out with his axe, striking Elm before she could follow up on the opening Captain Stone had created.
Thomas Hall, codenamed Hermes, a fresh faced man wearing a black leather jacket with a golden dragon stitched onto it, was fighting alongside Yalsin Moreno, codenamed Athena. The telekinetic woman was the same one who had ambushed the convoy that was meant to rescue Lieutenant David Amber. She had one hand held outwards, and I could see gunfire from Lieutenant Rivers deflecting off of the invisible telekinetic shield she was projecting. Thomas dashed out from behind the shield, moving almost as fast as Harriet used to, though he emanated flames instead of lightning.
He struck Rivers with a dozen blows in under a second, knocking the hapless sniper off his feet to go tumbling in the deep snow as his gray aura strained itself to keep him safe. Thomas moved to rejoin Yalsin in the shield, but the hook from Operative Clover's fishing line wrapped itself around his ankle as he ran, tripping him up and sending him skidding through the snow. As Clover and Vine tried to follow up however, Yaslin raised her other hand, gripping them with her telekinesis and attempting to throw them backwards. The operative's aura flashed as their souls fought off her grip, but Clover was still thrown partially backwards, leaving him out of position to support Vine's attack.
Sergeant Green still fought Cole in a one on one duel, with Green now on the defensive more and more as he was running out of breath and Cole had managed to refill his aura from somewhere. Gideon was fighting against Lieutenant Lilac, but both were being exceptionally careful not to shatter his aura, as neither wanted him to have a meltdown while surrounded by their allies. Instead she tried to grapple the Earthborn huntsman, but he struck out with a punch that sent her bouncing away from him as an opaque pink field flashed around her instead of the normal translucent aura shield. She tumbled to a halt in the snow, regaining her footing in a heartbeat and dashing back in, this time hooking a climbing cable to one of her climbing picks and spinning it low to her side like a lasso.
Logan was engaged in a fight with Winter Schnee, but she fortunately seemed to have almost no technology on her. Instead he fought her by using his semblance to manipulate parts of the aura dampening field projectors that he had clearly ripped out of the ceiling in the cave. Winter dodged under a piece of sparking circuit board, then flicked her wrist outwards to summon a glyph behind her, unleashing a flurry of small white birds against Logan. He blocked with his forearms, aura flashing as he tanked the hits.
I took in the fight in a moment, trying to judge where I would be most useful, when I realized that several combatants were missing. I spotted Captain Hill in a pistol shootout with Emerald near the aircraft, but I still hadn't found where Gary was. I searched frantically, scanning my surroundings as LIWI enhanced my senses, but could see no sign of him.
Suddenly Thomas, who had been fighting Vine and Clover, dashed away to punch Sergeant Green in the back, throwing him off balance long enough for Cole to get a grip on him and start draining his aura. Thomas darted back to the fight a moment later, and I raised my rifle and fired at Cole, causing his royal purple aura to flash brightly and breaking his hold on Green as he shielded himself.
I went to join the fight properly, but this time noticed Logan pausing from fighting Winter long enough to send Lilac's climbing hook into the sky before she could properly wrap it around Gideon's legs. I realized that the Earth huntsmen were coordinating their battle, despite none of them seeming to be speaking aloud except to those they were engaged in direct combat alongside. As I searched for Gary my brain pieced the two pieces of information together, and concluded that he must be invisible somewhere, coordinating the battle.
A moment later a quiet shout rang out from somewhere to my right, and a rubber slug caught Winter in the knee, causing her white aura to flash brightly and tripping her up as she tried to dodge a piece of cabling that Logan had sent at her. I looked to my right, seeing nothing between me and the ridgeline that extended outwards from the hill the cave was dug into. I searched a second longer, trying to imagine where I would set myself up to provide sniper fire and coordination. A moment later I had my answer.
"Captain Stone!" I shouted over the din of combat, using my armor's speakers to amplify my voice. "Hyperion, that ridgeline!" I pointed to the spot where the hill turned into an abrupt ten foot cliff. The captain responded by delivering a strike with her hammer into the back of Hackett's head, then vaulting over him and dashing towards me, leaving Elm to fight the invulnerable huntsman alone. As she ran, Captain Stone brought her hammer up into a javelin throw, aiming it at one of the trees on the ridgeline. The hammer sailed through the air and crashed into one of the trees, then she used her semblance to order it to slam into another tree. Snow fell from their branches in a rush, some of it halting a few feet above the ground to form the outline of Gary's head and shoulders as his invisibility failed to conceal it properly.
I took aim, and LIWI sent a burst of three rays of fire at the invisible huntsman. Two struck him, but the third went wide. A second later I felt a grip on the back of my armored collar and another on my arm as Captain Stone picked me up mid stride. She spun like an olympic hammer thrower, turning a full three hundred and sixty degrees mid stride to build momentum, then released to send me sailing up into the air to where Gary was standing up, trying to knock the snow free of his armor and cape.
I crashed into him, dislocating my arm as my shoulder plate hit his armored chest. We went tumbling through the snow, plowing a furrow through the almost foot deep powder as we slid. I slipped off of him, landing on my back in the cold snow and feeling a sharp pain as LIWI's healing magic forced my shoulder to pull itself back into its socket. A moment later Evelynn crashed into a tree next to me, delivering a powerful kick and knocking loose more snow. The snow fell with her, giving Gary a light dusting that highlighted where he was currently lying in the depression of snow he had created. His armor combined with his increased density left him too heavy to move in the snow without leaving a visible trail.
Evelynn recalled her hammer to her hand, swinging it downwards towards where Gary lay, but her blow was intercepted by two quiet gunshots that struck each of her hands, breaking her grip on her weapon and forcing her purple aura to flash brightly to protect her. The analytic portion of my brain noted that the shots were metallic slugs, not the rubber rounds he had used on Winter.
I rose up out of my own depression in the snow at the same time that he did, bringing my rifle up and dumping the remainder of my magazine into where I knew he had to be. Many of the rounds missed, but enough sparked off his armor that I could identify where he was. I released the rifle with one hand, raising my palm and shouting
"Blast him!" to LIWI. The magical belt obliged, and lighting surged through my palm once again, arcing against Gary's invisible armor. His invisibility dropped as he gave up on it to instead focus on defense, but I saw the lightning surge around his armor without penetrating into it to strike at him as it was redirected by elemental absorption runes placed at strategic points on his armor. He turned to fire at me, but only got a single shot off before Evelynn slammed into him in a tackle, carrying him off the ridge and down into the forest below, out of sight of the rest of the battle.
His shot hit my chest piece, but the magical reinforcements built into it coupled with the increased armor paneling I had added protected me adequately, and I was only slightly staggered by the impact. I took a glance over my shoulder to where the rest of the operatives were still locked in a fight, hoping they could win without us, then leapt off the ridge to join Evelynn.