Defeating Cinder wasn't exactly easy, but it wasn't like I used all of my trump cards. For example, I hadn't pulled out my Eighth Metal sword. But even so, half of my reserves had been used up in this whole scuffle. Defending against magical fire of that magnitude isn't exactly easy.
«Cortana, I need a picture of what's going on around here. - I said to the AI and soon a holographic screen appeared in front of me and I could see everything that was going on around me in an area of about four hundred metres. I could see some of the Grimm, so I decided to do some more 'training'. I concentrated on my magic and saw through the screen as a small stone spike pierced the head of Beowulf, who just wasn't expecting an attack from below. I didn't stop there and concentrated already on my sense of the ground to tear the Grimm apart with stone spikes in the next moment. All the Grimm within the radius of my sensitivity started to die a very quick and not so pretty death.
***
«Hmm. - Crow didn't know what to say as the Grimm he was about to attack was torn apart by the earth tentacles. And there were several of them here, and they all died a very unpleasant death.
«Those are the new ones, aren't they? - Glinda said, fixing her glasses. - Pyrrha, how are you feeling? - she asked one of the academy students they met as they ran up to the communications tower.
«I'll live. - The pale girl with black eyes smiled forcefully. - How is Tony? - She was obviously more interested in that question than her own health.
«If you mean that light show they did with that hot lady, I don't know. They fell off somewhere in the city... although the Earthbound Manifestation is clearly his, so he should be fine. - said the red-eyed man.
«Ozpin, where are you..." the blonde muttered. Under the tower they could see traces of the battle and there they found his cane, but... there was no body.
«You know perfectly well where he is. - Crow spoke. - Let's go back to the evacuation site, there's nothing more to do here.
***
«The hunters have been evacuated and the academy is empty for the moment. The perpetrators are still unknown, but the ones who took control of the Atlas ship are Roman Torchwick and his accomplice Neopolitan. Both are now in their cells in some sort of stone wrapping. - spoke a man in an Atlassian uniform standing in front of the general.
«How many personnel survived? - General Ironwood asked an important question. If the loss of android knights is unpleasant because of their cost, but it is far from critical, but the human losses are very painful for the general. There aren't very many people left.
«There are seven hundred and fifty-three survivors. Half of them have minor bruises, but nothing serious. Twenty-three are in serious condition. Ten people are dead. - reported the man.
«Have you predicted how many would have survived a full-blown shipwreck? - The general decided to ask an important question. He was more than glad that everything turned out to be small losses, but even so it was something that should not have happened. Even though they had brought three warships with them, there weren't too many people on board, at least not military ones. Mostly service personnel. The most disgusting thing is that they could be hacked, the latest defence systems were hacked by a thief and his accomplice!
«... Not much. - the man replied with a gulp. - No one expected them to be fired upon by their own, so the casualties would have been considerable. Very. - He emphasised the last point.
«I'll have to thank this Tony. - the general said slowly. He didn't know who this guy was, he couldn't even find any record of him or anyone else in his company. Let the paranoid inside him want to be outraged, but he suppressed the feeling with logic. They had helped, a hell of a lot, and kept casualties to a minimum. Also, he'd seen the battle in the sky and that firepower was what Ozpin was talking about. The power of the maidens of Autumn. However, he had known about the maidens for a long time and he had the maiden of Winter under his protection and if he was able to fight on par with her, then he was a very good hunter. Plus, according to eyewitnesses, he was able to collect Penny, who is already being examined by her creator and father at the same time.
***
«Wussy..." the platinum blonde muttered quietly to herself, adjusting the blanket over her co-commander's body. After that strange white light spewed from Ruby's eyes, she immediately lost consciousness. Weiss still berated herself for being scared the moment she saw Yang... and her hand. While she was staring at the injured Yang, Shinoa was fighting the red-haired psycho and even winning! She didn't want to admit it, but that girl with the scythe was a very good fighter... a very good fighter even. And why all the weirdness and trouble from slash girls?!
It was a blessing that Blake came to her senses faster and went over to help Yang, which she soon did. Her aura would keep her from dying from the bleeding, but it was still necessary to help. And now Ruby was lying in a private room at Vale Hospital, with Yang lying next to her behind a curtain.
What had happened was a terrible tragedy for all of Vale and her father had already called her with the express desire to take her away from here, as the environment was ambiguous. Weiss resisted it as best she could, but... Beacon would be out of commission for a long time yet.
«Where are my girls? My babies?! - she heard someone enter the room. The "someone" was a tall, blue-eyed, blond man with dishevelled hair.
«W-who are you..." she wanted to ask, but before she could blink her eyes the man was beside her friend's bed.
«Oh, my little ruby..." he closed his eyes, making sure one of his daughters was okay, and then walked over to the other.
«Um, I should probably go..." she popped out of the room and ran into her concerned sister. - Winter!
«Weiss, don't raise your voice. - The girl said sternly than made Weiss lower her head, but the next second she felt a strong hug. - I was worried about you. Are you all right? Are you hurt?
«N-no, I'm not. - She shook her head and timidly took her long braid of hair in her hand.
«Good. - Winter nodded and relaxed a little.
«Oh, turns out you're not as heartless a bitch as I thought you were. - The annoying voice said, and Winter frowned a little, but answered without turning around:
«Crow go where you're going.
«I am going... I need to move my nieces back home. - he said a little more favourably. And went straight into the girls' room.
«What can you say about those strangers? - Her older sister asked after she and Weiss had moved away from the wards.
«You mean Shinoa? - The Shnee heiress furrowed her eyebrows slightly.
«Yes and her. - Nodded her older sister. - Two girls in iron armour, a girl with red hair named Rias, a girl with a scythe. - Here the sister's gaze became a little accusing, as if she had too many acquaintances with the scythe. - And Tony, who managed to get us back in control of the ship and capture two dangerous criminals.
«I... don't know much. I've seen him briefly, Ruby's known him longer. - found something to say to Weiss.
«I see. - her sister said, and then she stopped talking.
«Do you... do you suspect them of something? - She had the courage to ask her sister.
«Classified information. - Winter said without blinking an eye, but hesitated a moment and continued. - ... No, they helped, and the general wants to thank them. Shinoa doesn't say anything and only smiles, saying that she's waiting for "Administrator-kun", that goes for the others as well.
***
«And how are you? - I ask Rias and the others after getting rid of the Grimm in the neighbourhood. I even tested my sword on them and it cuts through them like butter, which is to say very well. No matter how hard they try to defend themselves, it slices through their flesh and their bone armour as if they weren't even there. Behind me levitated the stone ball that Cinder was imprisoned in.
«All right, it was an interesting experience. All those battle robots and Grimm. There were even a couple of strong ones. - Shinoa said without changing her face, though you could tell by the tone of her voice that she was holding back a smile. We were now on the edge of the evacuation zone at Bikon, and there were Atlas soldiers not far from us. Still, I had cleared the area of Grimm, so there shouldn't be any more problems, and Cortana had returned control of the ships to the General.
«It was like hunting for strays... a huge number of strays. - Rias said and fixed her hair with an elegant movement. - It was very good training, I was almost caught off guard a couple of times. - she said, as if she didn't want to admit it.- I saw you fly up into the air with a panicked look on your face when the Grimm snuck up on you. - Shinoa said with her hand over her mouth, and she probably couldn't keep a smirk off her face right now.
«Hey! It was nothing like that. - The princess of the Demon Clan said proudly, not the least bit embarrassed... almost.
«Who's blushing? - The violet-haired one continued, and Rias's cheeks flushed red. - Besides, if you'd seen how proud she was of herself when she helped people, it felt like she could collect it in buckets.
«Shinoa! - Rias turned around with anger on her pretty face, her clenched fists and the redness around her neck telling her that she wasn't going to stop blushing.
«What about me? I'm nothing. - She went "unacknowledged," as if she hadn't said anything of the sort, and as if she were a good girl.
«Hermione, I see you're back to doing what you love to do-reading. - I said to the brown-haired girl, who still hadn't decided to take off her armour, but had taken the top off and exposed her head. In her hands she had a scroll, the local analogue of telephones, and there she was obviously counting something interesting.
«Mm-hmm. - Nodded the girl. - I'm trying to reduce the chance of hysterics. - She glanced at me and returned her attention to the scroll.
«Erina. - I sat down next to the girl, who also did not take off her armour completely and followed the example of the sorceress. - Are you sure you're okay?
«Except for the fact that it's like I was in a horror film and had a hand in killing those Grimm... and saw... m-m-many things. - she hesitated for a moment. - Then it's okay.
«We didn't get to know each other properly in the beginning, we were thrown right into the fire, so to speak. - I said, looking round at the girls.
«Do you like what you see? - Shinoa asked without changing her face, sitting on a piece of what used to be a concrete part of the Academy. And she was sitting in such a way that her skirt barely covered her seat and if there was a breeze, anyone would have noticed her panties.
«Shame..." Granger whispered quietly, her lips tightening.
«'Your actions often remind me of Akeno, I think it would be dangerous for you two to date. - Rias shook her head, even though she had a soft smile on her face. - We seem to have accomplished the mission. - The demoness said in between.
«That's true, but it lasts for two days... so it won't be possible to return so quickly. - I said, looking round the "team". - We'll need to find a place to stay for those two days, and talk, get to know each other better.
«Sir. - a man in an Atlas uniform approached us. - General Ironwood asks you to come up to the ship to talk. - he said with the utmost politeness. And he kept squinting at the levitating piece of rock, at least that's how it looked from the outside.
«General Ironwood? - Shinoa tilted her head.
«An important person. - said, looking at her and she nodded seriously... which looked hilarious. - Yes, of course, if we're asked, why not talk. You don't mind, do you? - I glanced at my companions.
«I'll get the administrator-kun. - The first to speak was a girl with a magical scythe in which sat an ancient vampire who thought himself, if not a god, then somewhere close. Though, as far as I can tell, he's asleep right now.
«So am I. - Hermione took a timid step. She felt weird about the man in uniform and demoted herself against him. Something like he's an adult and should know better.
«Hm. - Erina's coming with us too, since she doesn't want to be alone.
«Tony-kun, are you sure we need to talk to someone... like a general? - I decided to ask Gremory, who probably didn't realise but relied on my decisions. Perhaps the realisation that she's here alone in the world, in the sense that her friends and family are left in another, has that effect on her.
«Why not? - I shrugged. - We haven't done anything wrong anyway.
«Don't worry about it. And from myself I will add that I am very grateful to you. if not for you, my brother on the ship could have died. - sincerely said this officer, or whatever the military ranks are.
«Then it's settled. And yes, there's a prisoner. - I pointed to a hovering earth balloon. - Tell the general she's the one who fought me in the sky. - I said and the man nodded gravely and went to relay the information. We headed for the bullhead, that is, the flying transport.
«We can fly to this ship on our own. - said Shinoa, who probably enjoyed flying on my back.
«It's not proper. Better not to make people even more nervous. - I made my point when we were already seated in the vehicle. The pilot was a little nervous about the hovering piece of rock next to the flying vehicle, but I assured him that everything would be fine and he just nodded with a wry smile.
***
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