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Bandit Camp
Galtrax watched as the group of arrogant humans argued back and forth about power, and while he would never admit it outload, the Cinder girl had some considerable power he had also faced down the Psykers of the False Emperor. He was currently contemplating the Consequences of simple squishing the heads of these humans and dealing with the problem himself, but he stayed his hand, not out of fear of any retaliation, but out of shear curiosity as to the end goal of this pathetic group of children.
During Galtrax's mental ruminations the weather had seemed to change, clouds growing dark and the wind picking up. He realised it was the power of one of these so call maidens, he had seen worse, "you call this power?" he spoke for the first time, startling everyone present.
Vernal seemed to anger at his remark, "you doubt my strength?" Galtrax uncrossed his arms and stepped forward, shoving Watts as he passed. "Oh, you miss understand me child, I don't doubt your strength, I'm simply saying that it pales to true strength, I have seen a single man tear apart Hives with a thought, while your power simply makes the wind blow a bit harder."
Vernal made to charge the Marine and was held back by Ravens hand on her arm and a shake of her head. Galtrax sufficiently satisfied by the fear he sowed amongst the mortal stepped back returning to his own thoughts, tuning out the drabble emanating from the masked woman.
In short order Galtrax found the two women to be properly cowed and joining with the little group of mortals he had been told to escort. That thought made him growl audibly, the idea that a mortal would order him around was appalling, had the dark gods not ordered it so he would have crushed Salem the moment he saw her and taken over this planet himself.
Mistral
Rick knelt before the Invictus Strider, offering prayers to the Omnissiah in hopes of good fortune in the battles to come. Rick never used to be a very religious man, but after seeing what Corius could do with just a few words and cants in Binary he started to believe.
Rick looked over to see Corius anointing the Invictus himself, not that he didn't rrust his new tech-priest to do it, more that he wanted to make sure that the machine spirit within the ancient machine was as appeased as possible for the awaited battle. All around him the Skitarii went about pre-battle rites, anointing sacred oils to weapons, canting appeasements to machine spirits.
Still, more patrols were sent out, their numbers doubled as the unknown date of the attack seemed imminent in the next few days. The felling of the city was anxious, people staying within their homes and only leaving for jobs and even then, only the bravest souls chose to do so. The market was deserted, stalls abandoned as small squads of Skitarii supported local police patrols. The City was poised, awaiting the first strike, when hell on earth will be unleashed and might of the Mechanicus tested once again.
Corius digested even more reports coming from all over the world, the Skitarii in Vacuo reporting that they had not seen a Grimm of any kind for the last two days, while Atlas had only seen a small hand full in the same time frame. This was his count down to battle, he knew it would be soon and he knew he would be ready for anything Salem or the White Fang could throw at them.
Corius spent the remainder of the day in strategic meetings with the two Alpha-primus, and the Alphas from the squads, the Noosphere allowing a much greater flow of information as plans were formed and discarded as each Skitarii added their thoughts into the flow. Everything from efficacy rates of squads to the overall effectiveness of each cohort.
It was as the final plans were finalised and last orders where given out that Corius received a message from Qrow, "Come to Haven, Lionheart has news about the Spring maiden, going to meet him now." Corius paused a moment, from what he had heard the last time Qrow spoke with the Mistral headmaster he had been against going after the Maiden. Even though he was now more machine than man, the human part of him that still existed felt as though a trigger had just been pulled.
Corius sent a message back that just said "Acknowledged", and then he made his way to the Invictus. He found Rick at the mighty war machines feet, "Rick, Ozpin and the others are meeting with Lionheart at this very moment." Rick nodded "I presume we are going then?" rick asked.
Corius shook his head, "Not us, I am I wish for you to remain here sho- "Corius froze mid-sentence. Rick looked on concerned, a wave of warning pulsed through the Noosphere as the Infiltrators sent out to scout for the expected hoard reported a massive gathering of Grimm, estimated to be larger than what over ran Vale was making its way to Mistral. Corius turned full to Rick, "It has started, the Grimm are on their way here now, House Silver the Mechanicus request your full assistance in repelling these foul creatures."
Rick Smiled, "Corius, it would be my genuine pleasure, House Silver answers this call for aid." Corius nodded and rick was off, climbing up to enter the cockpit of the Knight. All around Skitarii moved with organised chaos as squads were given orders, Dunecrawlers and Battle servitors awakened for battle, their machine spirits willing and eager to serve the Omnissiah will.
Corius left the area, intending to reach the Academy along side Ozpin and the others, he left a feed from AP-001 and AP-002 running in a subroutine. He reached the schools courtyard as the sounds of battle started to emanate from the walls of the city, the two Airships visible above the rest of the city.
Corius was about to open the main doors of the school when a bullhead appeared and out of it dropped twenty white fang soldiers. Sending a quick order to the Skitarii within the city proper to converge on his location he turned to face the new threat.
More Faunus in Fang masks appeared from around the school grounds, it occurred to Corius in that moment, the White fang were not invading, they where already in the city. In his arrogance he had failed to even contemplate that reality.
He didn't wait for any scathing remarks or demands of surrender, Corius turned and fired four Faunus simply disappearing in a flash, while another was hit with burning phosphor, his screams carrying on until his vocal cords melted from the heat.
Fire poured into Corius, rounds reflecting off of his shield, or stopping dead dropping to the ground. A few managed to get past the defence, his armour absorbing the damage. In the next moment Skitarii rangers entered the fray, though outnumbered their disciplined fire turned the tide to stalemate the fire-fight.
Corius left the Skitarii to deal with the Fang, he went back to the doors and pushed them open. The sight that greeted him was one of chaos. The students and Huntsmen were fighting off the forces of Salem, and from the looks of things it was an even fight. He changed that, stepping fully into the hall Corius turned his Vox casters up to maximum and then let out a Binary screech.
Every single person in the room screamed in pain and covered their ears as the sound shattered windows. "you have all made a mistake in attacking this place, surrender now and you shall have a quick death." Corius offered this one mercy, fully aware that they would deny it wholly. He received glares from the five aggressors in front of him, a shout from Cinder broke the silence permeating the room. "Raven, bring them here."
Raven nodded and slashed her sword through the air, opening another portal. What stepped through sent shivers down every un-augmented human's spine. Corius let out a very human growl, "Heretics", the two Chaos Marines took in their surroundings with calm grace and then focused in on Corius. "Time to die Tech-Priest" one taunted as they both brought up their bolters.
Corius dodged to the side as a line of bolter fire went through the space previously occupied. "you shall perish here and now Hereteks, I shall banish you back to the hell you call home." Corius fired at the lead Marine. It dodged the devastating energies and charged the Magos.
Corius met its charge while still firing at its partner marine, the two warriors met in the middle of the hall, power sword meeting power axe. The baleful energies sparking at the contact. The second marine entered combat stabbing his combat blade into Corius side. Corius fired of two shots from his Serpentina into each marine's face, causing them to back off, the blade slipping from Corius' side.
The entire exchange lasted seconds and the rest of the room looked on frozen at the display of skill and ferocity of the attacks. Corius' voice called out, "take care of them, ill deal with these two." Corius' eyes flashed from Green to red as he activated an overclock routine, to Corius the world seemed to slow as he started processing information faster than even Astartes could see the world.
The Chaos marines could tell that the Magos had done something to himself, one remain to the front of Corius, the other attempted to get around the Magos as Corius resumed his barrage of shots. The three combatants moved faster than before, the numerous servo arms and Mechadendrite of Corius intercepting and parrying attacks while his Serpentina continued to fire off shots.
An Armoured hand ripped a tentacled limb from Corius' body as a claw sunk into the elbow joint of the offending hand. The lower arm was wrenched from the body in a spray of sparks, the mechanical limb spurting oil like fluids from the ruined end. The power sword ripped into Corius body as another servo arm was torn from his body. The wounded Marine retreated, Corius pursued him with more shots from the serpentine, one hitting the marine directly in the helm. The fight was interrupted as a bright white glow encompassed the room.
Mistral Walls
Rick poured fire from his Battle cannon into the false knight before him, as he revved his chainsword and charged the abomination, parrying the clumsy block and driving the sword through the creature's head.
The Skitarii fought in eerie silence, no war cries rang out from sore throats, no screams of agony as claws rent armour. Only cold Mechanical logic flowed through the ranks of cyborg soldiers. The sky was rent asunder as the Reliquiae and The Lilly filled the air with firepower, point defence turrets turning Nevermore and Griffins into meaty chunks that rained down to the battlefield below. The Grimm corpses' dissipating leaving behind only broken Skitarii and the brutal melee.
Dunecrawlers fired into concentrated masses of Grimm, sending bodies flying, limbs smacking into those that escaped the bombardment. Ruststalkers rent limbs from bodies, heads rolled as they weaved in and out of the hoard, their infiltrator brethren unleashing the neurostatic aura sending Grimm into a crazed frenzy causing most to flee while others turned on the beasts beside them.
Through it all Invictus Strider blasted away scores of the dark creatures, battle cannon unleashing hell upon them while chainsword turned lesser creatures into a fine black mist. It was not enough, the hoard was always coming, for every Beowulf torn apart by radioactive fire another took its place. The front line of Skitarii fell back behind the walls, compatriots covering them from the ramparts.
The two airships rotated parallel to the walls and rotated along their axis, the main cannons along their flanks coming to bare on the hoard. The Rangers and vanguard fired into the amassed Grimm until the very last moment when the order to take cover was sent. The Cannons Fired and then night turned to day as the rounds detonated in the hoard.
Haven
The light dissipated, revealing an unconscious Ruby and Cinder clutching her arm in pain. It was also this moment that Corius' overclocking wore out, his body and mind strained under the power. Heat vented from his body as his mind shut down and reset to recover, normally this could be done quickly with little harm, but with the threat of the Astartes Corius was vulnerable to the Heretics attacks without impunity.
The Iron Warrior approached Corius, raising his sword high and stabbing down. The blade pierced the Eradication ray, the weapon now a sparking and useless wreck. The Marine ripped the sword out and then brought it down once again, this time into what passed as Corius torso.
Corius eyes came back online at that moment, Green augments staring up into the baleful eyes of the traitor Astartes. "this is where you die, Loyalist dog" the marine ripped the sword out the side of Corius.
Unseen by the Marine a Mechadendrite snaked its way around the back of the Traitor. Corius glared up at the servant of chaos, "if it is so then you shall join me in oblivion Traitor." The Mechadendrite struck, driving into the power pack of the corrupted power armour, the foul engine that gave power to the Marine's armour faded and died.
The Traitor grunted as the armours full weight became apparent, even the strength of the Traitor struggled to stand in full Mk IV armour. The Traitor fell to a knee as he tried to become used to the weight. At the same time Corius was struggling to his feet as the overloads effects wore off and his self-repair protocols came online, repairing critical systems and the damage to his internal workings.
Corius stood on only slightly working legs, he collected his Omnissian Axe offering prayers to the Machine Spirit within. Gripping the axe with failing hands he brought it to bear, "it is you who dies here Heritek, may your soul be damned for eternity." Corius swung with all his remaining strength. The Chaos marine tried to rise, one arm rising to block the strike. It failed as the power field surrounding the axe passed through the arm and bit into the Astartes neck and separated his head from his body.
Corius collapsed to his knees as the damage to his body finally took its toll, he preyed for strength, tried to will has failing body to rise. He looked up around him, he saw that three of the enemy faction had vanished, perhaps retreating. He saw Weiss Schnee on the ground bleeding out, he saw the hole in the wall that showed the fire fight going on outside.
Even with out the three that had gone, Corius' allies were still being pressed. It was mainly due to the two powerhouses engaging Ozpin and Qrow. The one-armed Iron warrior and the large man, who seemed to have implanted raw Dust into his arms.
Even missing an arm, the Wounded Traitor was more than a match for Qrow who was doing his best to avoid the rapid strikes from the combat blade being wielded by the giant man. Qrow back pedalled and once again fired off shots from his weapon, they had no effect on the marine.
The marine charged Qrow, ignoring the incoming fire completely, Qrow transformed his sword into its scythe form and tried to meet the charge. The scythe gave Qrow more reach, reach he tried to use as the marine came into range of the blade. Qrow aimed his attack high hoping to decapitate the monster, faster than Qrow could change the angle of his strike, the marine ducked under the blade and brought down his Knife.
The two fighters paused momentarily, before Qrow's weapon dropped to the ground, his hands still gripping the shaft. Qrow stared in shock at the stumps that were once his hands, and then he let out a scream.
The scream drew the attention of every combatant in the room. Ruby looked on in horror as her uncle collapsed to his knees before the Silver clad giant. Ruby blocked another strike from Emerald and pushed the girl away before firing off shots in the direction of the Marine.
The marine withstood the barrage of sniper rounds with little care, the rounds opened only small impact craters. The marine holstered his blade, and drew a bolt pistol from his hip, aiming the weapon right at Ruby. Corius knew that the young girls Aura would not withstand the impact of the round.
Corius resolved himself to watch yet another Hunter be killed in the defence of this planet. The Marine pulled the trigger and at the exact same moment a lance of Arc energy slammed into the marine, throwing his aim off at the last moment. The bolt round flew past Ruby by scant centimetres and detonated in the wall behind her.
Three Skitarii stood in the newly opened hole in the wall one wielding the freshly discharged Arc rifle. The two Vanguard armed with radium carbines moved forward, intent on engaging the Heretek. They split each moving to a different side, the marine stepped back to try and keep all three in view. The Arc rifle fired again, this time hitting the chest plate of the marine square on sending the Warrior stumbling from the blow.
The arc rifle fired again, stumbling the marine further. Radium rounds tore into the soft spots in the marine's armour, the radiation doing its work as the marine slowed as his strength was sapped. Even when so heavily wounded the Marine fought on, his fist lashing out and burying into the chest of one vanguard, the cyborg sputtering and dying with the fist imbedded in its chest.
The Marine threw the dead Skitarii at its partner, sending both to the ground. The Marine turned to the last Skitarii, who continued to fire bolts of energy at the Heretic Astartes. The Marine sprinted full tilt at the cyborg soldier, ignoring the lances of energy the Marine barrelled into the cyborg and sent it flying.
The Skiatrii rolled bodily across the ground, arc rifle flying away from the force. The Marine looked out across the courtyard and found the white fang either surrendering or dead, with a handful of Skitarii still standing. As one the Skitarii turned to the marine, search and destroy protocols taking over as a new threat emerged.
The massed fire hit the marine forcing him back into the building as the Skitarii pursued him. The Marine took in the sight that greeted him as he returned inside the building for cover, fire chasing him the entire way. What he saw was Yang standing atop a statue with the relic in hand, no sight of Raven or cinder to be seen. The Marine could see the hesitation in his 'Allies' as they realised their situation, even as a white Grimm flew above the group.
He activated his Vox "this is Volgror, Krerrax has been slain, the witch is no more." A voice spoke into the connection "acknowledged Brother, Retreat for now, we shall live to fight another day" the connection was severed and the marine broke cover, sprinting off into the distance, leaving the small group of his allies to their own devices.
Noticing their lack of allies Mercury and Hazel retreated, Hazel carrying an unconscious Emerald on his shoulder after her large-scale hallucination she imposed on everyone. None pursued them as they made their getaway. The sounds of combat could still be heard from the cities walls.
Corius, willed his body to move, and in response his limbs twitched slightly before he regained some control over them. Qrow had finally passed out from the shock, his wrists wrapped up by Ruby shortly after the enemy fled.
Finally standing once again Corius looked to the fight happening at the cities edges, what he saw was not good. The Grimm had pushed up to the walls and were in the process of scaling up them, Corius looked to the group before him. "while we ha#*" static issued forth from his Vox emitter, "secured victory here, the *#*mm are still assaulting the *#*#"
Mistral City
Invictus' War horn blared as it struck down another false knight. Over head the two Mechanicus Airships rained fire down onto the Grimm. In the Streets the Grimm hounded the Skitarii legions as they drove the civilians before them, staggered volleys of fire ensuring none of the black monsters got too close.
"AP-002, a flock of Griffins is trying to fly around to cut you off, fall back and close ranks with the centre." Rick ordered across the Noosphere. A single click was AP-002's acknowledgment, Rick watched on his knights tactical display as the right flank of his force tightened formation and retreated further into the City.
"Magos, we are being pushed into the city, we are evacuating as we go but at this rate there won't be any more city to retreat into soon" rick broadcast over the vox to Corius. "Invictus, we have achieved victory here at the academy, the enemy agents have either perished or fled and scans from orbit are showing no more incoming Grimm. What you face now is the last of this hoard." Corius' replied.
Rick grinned from within the Knight and stopped his stead backwards motion. Around him the remaining Skitarii and Dunecrawlers halted as they received the same information as rick. The rate of fire across the army dropped for a moment, Targets were prioritised and assigned and then as one the army of cyborgs fired.
Grimm evaporated under the renewed assault. Ruststalkers and infiltrators weaved into the mass of monsters tearing limb form limb anew. The ships above moved to the rear of the hoard, their combined firepower smashing the rear lines. Invictus' war horn roared in triumph as the Grimm were torn to pieces under the onslaught.
Haven
The sounds of renewed battle reached the ears of all at the school. "And that is how the Mechanicus wages war," Corius turned to the remaining and conscious members of the group. "The Grimm are being annihilated as we speak and the relic has been secured, now we must ensure it remains that way." Ozpin looked at Corius, "you have a plan then?" the reincarnated soul asked. Corius nodded as much as he was able "yes."
AN: Sorry for the massive delay, a combination of writers block, lack of motivation and having almost no free time, not sure when ill get the next chapter done, it will more than likely be after the new volume airs.