Destiny No More

Chapter 102

James stood firm in the center of his command room. The Vanguard, despite there being currently ongoing operations, had fallen completely silent as the mountains outside Vale rumbled. He had known that this was a possibility, he had been wanted of it by Pyrrha, but he had hoped that it wouldn't happen. The kind of negativity that had been present before was missing, there was no Vytal Festival for Salem's forces to exploit. That kind of global negativity hadn't been seen since the Great War, but whatever the threshold was, it seemed that they had tipped over the balance. The outright war taking place in Vale, the citizens being driven from their homes into safety shelters would have been pouring with negativity, but they would have also no doubt been fuming from Atlas' past actions. The tension between Mistral, Vale and Atlas had been building for months. All thanks to him.

James felt his Semblance surge in an attempt to clear his mind of doubt, and while such fears may have been founded, they would only risk his judgment moving forward. He squashed Mettle before it could take hold. He couldn't afford to compromise himself, not after everything that had happened because of that very Semblance. The people of Vale had seen him as an enemy, and they hadn't been wrong. Now was his chance to prove to them all that he could still help them.

"Captain White!" The General snapped, attempting to draw the attention of his lead communications officer. When she didn't immediately turn, he tried again. "Captain White!"

The woman turned from the viewport and the dragon that was currently climbing out of the mountains. "S-sir?"

"Have the remaining ships form up and move over the water, column formation, tell them to stay on our port side. After that, get me a line to Colonel Aurelian and get a transport to Specialist Schnee, she will take charge of the formation." The General didn't wait for any response before turning towards his helmsman. "Set our bearing for a hundred-and-ninety, full speed. Once we are within engagement range, adjust heading to two-seventy and make sure it can follow us."

The man, a young soldier from Argus that had only just hit his first full year in the military, swallowed heavily and nodded. "H-heading one-ninety sir."

There was no shift in feeling as the Vanguard began to move forward, the inertial dampeners preventing the shaking of the engines from vibrating the entire airship.

"Captain Hursley, cancel all standing fire orders!"

"Already on it sir, loading up the one-fifties with HEAT. Crew will need about ten minutes to complete the swap." The Captain, a veteran that had served alongside the General for a decade, relayed another set of orders through the desk scroll he had been holding when the mountain opened.

Watching the Grimm finally leap into the air and take flight, Ironwood tried to gauge how much time they would have. "They have five minutes. Helmsman, cut speed to seventy-five percent, adjust heading fifteen degrees. Captain Hursley, hit it with something, I don't care what but get its attention on us now!"

"Sir, Colonel Aurelian is on the line." Captain White relayed.

Ironwood gestured for her to patch him through, the screen of his personal command flicking to display a grainy video feed of the Colonel.

"James, tell me you've got a plan."

"The semblance of one, yes, but it will require me to pull my fleet away from Vale." Ironwood looked back over to Captain White, getting a nod in return. "Specialist Schnee is enroute to the fleet, if the grimm doesn't follow us..."

"I've got a few units of anti-aircraft guns available, specially designed to get through heavy armor. I'll start dispersing them across the city." Why Mistral had need of such weapons went unsaid, but James chose to ignore it. If The main battery of the Vanguard couldn't take it down, then James doubted smaller guns would have much luck, but it was better than nothing. It would also make sure the skies were clear for the Bullheads he left behind to run air support missions.