The Knights of Grimm - Act 5 - The Oncoming Shadow

Chapter 12 - Kingdom Divided

Jacques

Snow floated in the air, yet the building felt colder than the Kingdom itself.

He held a small tumbler of whiskey in one hand, a cunning smirk hidden behind his white moustache. He held his other hand behind his back as he looked down on Mantle from the balcony of the Schnee Manor. He could see the columns of smoke rise high into the sky, and bullets firing off in multiple directions. But nothing pleased him more than the sight of the Resistance Fighters being knocked out of the sky by his defences.

His eyes then focused on the Drift of Wandering Star as it made his approach, but his smirk did not fade. He silently turned to his computer and sent a command before he approached his chessboard and knocked down one pawn of the enemy team.

"And so the game begins..."

Weiss

Her large blue eyes stared through the window of the Airship that left the hanger of the Drift of Wandering Star. Fires burned in multiple districts, and gunfire was everywhere. Anti-Air defences relentlessly shot up at the sky around them as they came in. The flak rounds exploded in the air, causing major turbulence. But Weiss didn't even flinch. She just stared at the place that was once her home. She held onto the bar above her head to steady herself, then she exhaled, feeling her hand slightly tremor.

Yang gently squeezed her shoulder. "Hey... you alright?" Yang inquired.

"I don't know how to answer that question..." Weiss sighed, answering as honestly as she could. "Six years ago I ran away from this place... six years after my father took away my rightful heirdom to the Schnee Dust Company and gave it to my damn brother. I never wanted to come back here... and until now, I didn't. But now that I'm back... I can barely recognise it anymore." Weiss explained. Blake stood next to her and softly smiled at her.

"Well, you're not alone this time. We've got your back, Weiss." Blake promised.

"She's right. Team R.W.B.Y's not gonna leave your side for a second... I promise." Ruby smiled, which warmed Weiss' heart. The airship shook once again. The team looked to the other Airships that descended towards Mantle, dodging incoming flak rounds. They saw Mantle's Resistance in the sky as well. Fighter jets and other airships all roared across the sky, blasting their cannons at the enemy Acolytes of Lien ships. One jet shot the enemy dogfighter out of the sky, ripping its wing apart with bullets. Fire belched from its wounds as it spun out of control and crashed into the tundra dunes of snow outside of the city.

From above, they could already see the Grimm clawing at Mantle's walls, natural stragglers unlike the spawning Oncoming Shadow variants. They then heard the voice of Admiral Darren Ortega come through the speakers of their airships. In the many other descending Airships were the rest of their team, alongside reinforcements for the Resistance.

"This is Admiral Ortega. That S.D.C Facility holding the border is lined with Anti-Air Cannons, they're knocking the Resistance Fighters out of the sky before they can even do any damage to our enemy. Removing this facility from the picture is our top priority. Speak with Robyn Hill, help her take the place down." Ortega commanded to all forces.

Ruby stared through the window and gasped as the Anti-Air Cannons fired, and one of those cannons emerged from the centre of the facility. The huge turret extended from its transforming body, and it swivelled around. The many Artillery Turrets repeatedly shot bullets and missiles up towards the Resistance fighters in the sky, blowing them apart one by one.

"Gods! There's so many! Argh!" a pilot screamed through the universal comm link. They watched as her Bullhead exploded, knocked out of the sky by the turrets. More and more emerged from the facility.