HK-47: The White Fang's Assassin

Chapter Thirty Seven - Wrath

As the White Fang Empire attacked, Ruby's group and the Happy Huntresses along with what remained of the Mantle defenders scrambled to attack. However, the White Fang attack force quickly swarmed them with unyielding wrath. In the midst of this chaos, Penny zeroes in on the Happy Huntresses.

Penny: Statement: Prepare to die, meatbags!

Penny then commands her Floating Array to swarm the Happy Huntresses, forming a lethal tornado of blades. The Happy Huntresses were defenseless as they were engulfed by the blade tornado. Under Penny's control, the swords eviscerated the Happy Huntresses. Robyn was the only survivor, suffering serious injuries.

HK-47: Commentary: A beautiful display of ruthless efficiency! You have truly become a Droid after my behavior core!

As HK-47 compliments Penny's brutality, Yang uses her Maiden Powers to attack HK-47. While the attack initially caught him off guard, HK-47 was able to counter Yang's attacks.

HK-47: Mocking Query: Did you learn nothing from our last encounter?

Yang: Keep laughing. You won't be laughing when I fucking rip you to pieces!

HK-47: Conclusion: It seems my analysis was correct. The meatbag Raven Branwen transferred her powers to you. 

Yang: So you're the one who killed my mom?

HK-47: Correction: The meatbag took her own life. Why she would throw away her life to a worthless meatbag like you, I'll never understand. But perhaps that is just how meatbags think. 

Infuriated by the Assassin Droid's words, Yang charges at HK-47, but the Assassin Droid begins shooting at her. Weiss intervenes as she uses her Glyphs to summon a protective barrier around Yang. Upon seeing Weiss, HK-47 becomes annoyed. 

HK-47: Annoyed Statement: Another Schnee? How many of you must I kill? You are like cockroaches.

Without saying a word, Weiss attacks HK-47. As Yang and Weiss fought HK-47, Blake finds herself confronted by Adam Taurus. 

Adam: Hello, Blake. 

Blake: Adam....

Adam: The last time I saw you, you ran. This time, you won't escape me. 

Blake felt fear at Adam's presence. He was different than the last time she saw him. Despite this, she gripped Gambol Shroud and dueled against the man she once admired. As the White Fang continued to attack, Qrow and Robyn led the defenders in a valiant stand against the White Fang. At the same time, Ruby and Pietro were attacked by Penny. As Ruby defends Pietro, they both try to talk her down. 

Ruby: Penny! Stop this! This isn't you!

Penny: Statement: Your pleas are wasted on me. My recent upgrades have erased my meatbag weaknesses. I am no longer hindered by my emotions. I am now a paragon of brutal and efficient assassination.

Pietro: Please, Penny. Remember who you are. You're my daughter! I know you're in there!

As Pietro attempts to reason with his daughter, Penny smiles. She then walks towards Pietro. Before Ruby could react, Penny impales Pietro with Floating Array. Pietro looks upon his daughter with sadness in his eyes. He placed his hand on Penny's face. As Pietro looked into Penny's eyes, he could see that his daughter was truly gone. As Pietro dies, Penny tosses his body aside like a piece of trash. Ruby is horrified at this sight as she finds herself frozen with fear. Ruby grips Crescent Rose as Penny turns to Ruby. 

Penny: Weapons activated. Assassination Protocols engaged. Salutations, meatbag. 

In that moment, Ruby was forced to fight her former friend who was beyond saving. As the battle rages, Blake finds herself on the defensive against Adam's assault. But despite Blake's best efforts, Adam proved too much for Blake. As the White Fang threatened to overwhelm Ruby's group, Qrow stepped in and attacked Adam. Qrow lands a lucky strike on Adam's face, knocking his mask off. Adam was able to quickly recover from Qrow's attacks. 

Qrow: Ruby! Get everyone out of here now!

Ruby: We're not leaving you here, Uncle Qrow!

Qrow: If you stay here, you die! Live to fight another day!

As Qrow said this, more White Fang troopers began pouring into the Crater. Left with no other choice, Ruby was forced to retreat. She used her Petal Burst to grab the rest of Team RWBY along with Oscar and Maria. She then dashes out of the Crater, leaving Qrow and the others to their fate. 

Robyn: So this is how it ends, Qrow?

Qrow: Let's at least take some of these bastards with us!

As Qrow and Robyn made their stand, they were quickly overwhelmed by the sheer number of the White Fang soldiers. As Robyn covered Qrow, she was fatally impaled by Penny's Floating Array. She was then shot in the head by HK-47's blaster rifle. In that moment, Qrow was all alone. The remaining Mantle defenders were wiped out. 

Qrow: So that's how it is, eh? Let's get this over with. 

As Qrow began attacking the White Fang soldiers, he was able to cut down several White Fang Droids as well as a few White Fang troopers. But when he turns to Adam, he impales Qrow in the chest with his sword. Adam then kicks Qrow off. As Qrow begins to bleed out, he crawls over to a dead White Fang soldier. 

Adam: There is no way out for you. This is where you die. 

Qrow: That may be....but I go out...on my own terms....

Qrow then picks up a grenade and lunges at Adam. He then detonates the grenade. The blast threw the two away from one another. After a moment, Adam slowly got up. The explosion burned Adam's face. He ignored the pain as he walked to the dying Qrow who simply chuckles. 

Qrow: Guess...that's my luck....

Without hesitation, Adam decapitates Qrow. Once Qrow was dead, Adam turns to his followers.

Adam: Burn this pathetic city to the ground. Leave no survivors. 

With that, the city of Mantle burned as the White Fang slaughtered all those who refused to join. Men, women and children were all slaughtered as the city burned. All that was left was smoldering ruins. All of Remnant watched as the White Fang Empire burned Mantle to the ground. As the city of Mantle burned, all of Remnant held it's breath, waiting for the White Fang Empire to strike their next target.