RWBYFanon v5
RPG World of Remnant => The Vale Region => Topic started by: Koop on August 03, 2017, 05:08:17 PM
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OOC: Posting order will be set to Freeform, except during crunch time. In general, you can post in any order at any time, but don't get out of control if someone hasn't posted for a while. This thread is supposed to be lots of explosions and lots of fun. If someone is posting slow about how many Grimm they just mauled into the ground, we'll just press on and assume they mauled a lot. Just assume Michael Bay is directing it. Make sure you look away from explosions too if you cause them. Very important.
Prologue
The Lion's Blade. An ancient weapon said to be able to nullify Aura constructs, allowing it to easily cut apart humans and faunus as easily as Grimm. It could also take the shape of any bladed weapon instantly. The blade was forged hundreds of years ago for a traveling warrior named Leo. With it, he cut down thousands of Grimm as he and his band traveled the continent of Sanus, searching for a way to destroy the Grimm completely, once and for all.
The story of The Lion is a fairly well-known story wrapped in folklore and speculation. Keeping track of history has always been difficult on Remnant, and the truth of this story was lost to the ages. Still, it's often told to children in a way that portrays Leo as a great hero who saved villages and towns from evil.
The leadership in Vale was quick to act when word got out that some records containing evidence regarding the story of The Lion had been found. After verifying their credibility, the government suppressed information as best they could on it. If the blade really did exist, and after this find they were suspicious, then the weapon needed to be found and destroyed or safely stored. In the wrong hands, the weapon could cause untold destruction with its Aura suppressing abilities.
When their specialist returned empty-handed and suffering from what appeared to be dementia or maybe even insanity, they struggled to keep the information under wraps. People were growing curious of where these new rumors were coming from. They still didn't want to run the mission to collect the weapon through public channels. So they turned to Alban Inverno, headmaster of Beacon Academy. He would be able to send a team of students on a routine mission to Petros, the abandoned town the sword is supposedly lost at. Included would be a staff member from Beacon, who could then collect the weapon. This type of thing had happened before. There were concerns about sending student huntsmen to the location after seeing what happened to their specialist, but after experts claimed he would recover the vote passed.
And so, on an unmarked Friday, a mission became available to students to clear Petros of Grimm. Petros is an old city that has been abandoned for years. It is a relatively common training site for Beacon Academy to use, as it is always crawling with Grimm. The worst part was that it was such a far distance away. The trip was done overnight due to the length of the flight, and such lengthy missions could sometimes be delayed in their return.
And so, just before six o'clock that evening, four students arrived at the Beacon Docks. Their "instructor" was Kirkka Scarlet (http://rwby-rpg.rwbyfanon.com/index.php/topic,861.0.html). Though she doesn't do any teaching, she does work for the Academy and is often tapped for missions. She was going over some data on her scroll when the others arrived. Behind her was an Air Bus, standard issue at Beacon Academy. Mia Brightspear (http://rwby-rpg.rwbyfanon.com/index.php/topic,897.0.html), the owner of the "Loaded for Bear" Dust shop on the Academy grounds, was just finishing loading up what seemed like way too much cargo while her pet bear Waffle lazed about in his armor.
As the four students arrived, Kirkka spoke with them briefly and checked them all in on her scroll. As you pass her you can catch a glimpse that she looked to be reading Beacon's Profiles for each student. Good to know your allies.
Just a few minutes later, the Air Bus lifted off with Mia as pilot, Kirkka as Mission Advisor, and then the volunteers: Akeldama Blood-Heart (http://rwby-rpg.rwbyfanon.com/index.php/topic,724.0.html), Fallow Russet (http://rwby-rpg.rwbyfanon.com/index.php/topic,35.0.html), Airi Okairos (http://rwby-rpg.rwbyfanon.com/index.php/topic,987.0.html), and Graham Dylandy (http://rwby-rpg.rwbyfanon.com/index.php/topic,1058.0.html). The trip was going to be quite long, and so Kirkka recommended that everyone get some rest during the flight. Refreshments will be available throughout the night.
(http://i.imgur.com/K7XUt4W.png)
A voice came through the cabin intercoms. "Briefing is in 5. Touch down in 10. Gear up."
The voice was that of Kirkka Scarlet, who was currently with Mia in the cockpit. The announcement that came through was hopefully enough to wake anyone still sleeping. Looking around the Air Bus, it is easy to tell this vehicle was made for comfortable long flights. It was like riding first class, or maybe even better. There were only 12 seats, two per row, with large windows that had variable tinting running along both sides, providing a great view. There was tons of room to walk around and store things as well. This was much better than the short ranged Bullhead transports. The chairs even reclined so far that they basically became beds. It was quite a nice ride to be transporting a bunch of students to a Grimm infested area so they could purify the area.
There is a ton of supplies being stored in the back end of the Air Bus. The supplies look like a whole bunch of Dust and Dust accessories, many of them catered to be of use to the students. There is even a crate labeled, "DANGER: CONTENTS UNDER PRESSURE", and another one with "DANGER: EXPLOSIVES". Mia comes prepared, it seems. The pile of supplies has a guard, as well. In the form of a large armored bear. He stayed put throughout the trip, only moving around a few times but keeping his distance from the students. He seemed quite okay with being on a plane and took a nap when the other students did. Currently, he is sitting next to the Explosives, leaning slightly against it. At the front of the cabin where Kirkka was sleeping earlier is a much smaller set of supplies, her property, no doubt.
It was still dark outside the windows, but dawn was on the way. The sky had changed from blackness to a faint blue color, and the ground below was faintly visible. They were quite a ways up but still well below cloud level as they flew over the darkness of some forested area. There was little to see other than that, though, since they had yet to arrive and it was just a little too dark.
Well... better gear up and make sure everyone is awake, fed and ready to go.
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Akel rose up from two of the retactable seats which currently acted as her temporary bed. She didn't have the three vests that usually adorned her and neither did her coat, rather they laid beside her being used as a sort of pillow and she wore her turtleneck, pants and shoes that normally came with her attire, plus the belts and having gone to sleep with her hair tied up into a ponytail.
The ring of a vaguely familair voice eoke her up, albeit only just and she stirred around for a tiny bit before glancing her eyes through the window to see the view. Akel realised that the announcment was probably important so she got up from her "bed", grabbing the first of her three vests and glancing around at the same time to try and spot her teammate of team BTRA, Fallow Russet before putting on her other two vests and slinging her coat around her shoulders.
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Fallow was lying in the row behind Akel on a fully reclined seat with his hat over his face while he slept. Having expected to get up and have little time to prepare he had decided to sleep fully equipped and ready to go. The announcement stirred him and he slowly rose into a sitting position and pulled his hat up to rest on the top of his head. He gave a smile to Akel in a morning greeting before getting to his feet and pulling his switchblades out and twirling them in his hands flicking them in and out with a strong smile on his face. Today I get to find out if all those rumours are true. Shouldn't be too hard to get separated and have a look around. This "Lion's Blade" is really interesting. Fallow had taken this mission almost exclusively for the purposes of learning for himself if the rumours he had been hearing about an ancient weapon being hidden here and driving the guy who went to find it insane were true. Sure it was dangerous. Though safety is seldom fun.
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Airi slid Fateweaver onto her right hand. She had already awoken before Kirkka had come to wake up the students. Slowly bending the clawed fingers on Fateweaver, Airi inspected the weapon, examining its dust mechanisms in the upper gauntlet as well as making sure the thread spools on her hip flowed freely and smoothly. She had read the mission briefing reports on the fabled Lion's Blade beforehand, but to be honest, she was not quite convinced yet of its existence. Nonetheless, she reasoned that if the school was committing resources to follow up on leads, the claims couldn't be too outrageous.
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Yawning as his seat slid upright, Graham lazily grabbed his butterfly tanto in his left hand and a drink in his right, spinning and flipping the blade over in his hand with swift, precise movements. He was in no rush whatsoever to leave the comfort of his reclining chair, not even to go over and try to pet the big armoured bear in the back, which he had developed an interest in during the duration of the flight. He would have loved to slide a pair of headphones on and blast music in his ears, but the announcement said otherwise. Stifling a soft groan, he reached over and removed Reformation from its temporary resting place, clipping it onto his belt where it belonged. Maybe, if those rumours about the "Lion's Blade" were true about it's shapeshifting, he could make it take on whatever shape he wanted. That warranted some consideration.
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Waffle yawned at the back of the Air Bus before standing slowly and looking at the box he was just leaning against. Naturally, he can't read. The crate was wooden but was secured with metal bands. It looked quite nice as something that could solve his current problem. A fierce itching sensation had appeared on his back. Those metal bands would help. And so they did. Waffle awkwardly turned his body and used the wooden crate labeled "DANGER: EXPLOSIVES" to relieve the irritation on his back. The crate survived but moved two feet or so over the course of the event.
The safety hazards of having a bear next to a crate of explosives in an airplane aside, the flight had been smooth so far. During the night it got a little bumpy when they crossed paths with a swarm of small Nevermores, but they didn't cause much trouble. There were only a few minutes before the team was to land and begin their weekend long mission. Kirkka had just entered the cabin from the front, stopping at the first row of seats and starting to rummage through her already well-organized things. While she did so, she addressed the rest of the travelers.
"Good, you are all up. We just passed another swarm of flying Grimm and they are following us now. Mia does not think they will catch up before we land, but if they do it should be pretty interesting."
A small smile appeared on her face, her satisfaction apparent as she stood up straight and turned to face the others.
"Alright. We are officially here on a Destroy mission, which is simply to clear out the Grimm in the ruins of Petros. Full disclosure. We also have an unofficial mission, which you might already know a little bit about. Supposedly, there is an ancient sword in these ruins that comes from the fairy tale "The Lion". Long story short, it is about a warrior that lived a few hundred years ago and traveled the world saving people and destroying Grimm. The fantastical part about the story is that the weapon he used can change its shape instantly, and it nullifies Aura near it. The first part is neat, but the last part is outright terrifying. If this weapon really does exist, it will be quite dangerous. We are here to collect it and return to the Academy with it in hand so that it can be studied and then hopefully destroyed, but I doubt that will happen. She waved her hand, dismissing the thought before she continued.
"I... apologize if this is all news to you. The mission details were intentionally left vague for security purposes, but I am not going to send you all on a mission without you knowing why you are here. I did not say anything earlier because the knowledge of the weapon is being suppressed, though I am sure you have all heard some of the rumors.
On to the briefing. We will be dropping you four off in a clearing to the north of town. You will need to clear the area out so we can land the Bus. We will be using the Bus as a base camp, that you can use to rest and resupply at. Once the base camp is secure, Mia and I will remain here to run backend while you four head into the town and begin searching. All we know is that the catacombs entrance is in a church. It might be difficult to find as the town is so badly crumbled away that little more than foundation and rubble remains. Once you find the entrance, you are to contact me via scroll. Do not enter the catacombs before contacting me. If this weapon really does exist, we must be extremely careful in its presence."
Her eyes shift toward the stash at the back of the Bus as she points towards it. Waffle does not react. "Due to the unusual circumstances around this mission, we brought along plenty of extra supplies. We are not sure what the catacombs hold, or how large they are. We are not certain about the density of Grimm on the surface, either. Commonly, it is fairly sparse and this place is a regular location for Academy missions as it is easy to deal with."
Kirkka closed her eyes and exhaled. She feels like she is not the best at explaining things. She took a moment to collect her thoughts before reopening her eyes and looking around at the four. "Now then. What questions do you have?" The Bus shook slightly as it listed lazily to the left.
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Once the briefing started Fallow walked over and leaned against a wall. He remained mostly quiet simply waiting for anyone else to ask questions and quietly contemplating the mission.
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Well, that put a damper on his whole "take it for a spin" idea. Something that cut through Aura like a knife through butter sounded both incredibly dangerous and immensely powerful. And obviously Beacon-level students wouldn't have the clearance to even touch the thing, let alone use it. Still, Graham let a lazy grin adorn his face as he listened. Just because he couldn't use the weapon in question didn't mean he couldn't have his own fun kicking tons of Grimm butt. And boy, was he looking forward to it. The only thing, still, even more intriguing to him...was the bear. Seriously, he couldn't get over it.
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Airi was usually one for questions concerning mission parameters. She like to have everything clearly laid out and accounted for, as contrary to what some might believe about her, she disliked contingencies. However, here, Kirkka seemed to have laid everything out as clearly as could reasonably be expected. Still, Airi had a lingering question. "Do we have an estimate as to roughly how many Grimm there are and what kind of Grimm could be expected?" she asked. Given the nature of Destroy missions in abandoned and Grimm-infested areas, it was hard for any reliable estimate to be given, beyond the rough mission difficulty rating system employed on the listing boards, but Airi felt compelled to ask the question anyways.
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Kirkka answered right away. She actually came here during her student days and recalls it being a breeze to purify the town. Although, one of her teammates did almost all the work... "It should be relatively normal levels for this area. Normally, there is not a very high density of Grimm here. I don't see any reason it would be different. That doesn't mean you should not be on your guard, however. There's nothing out of the ordinary. Creeps are the most common, but there are usually flocks of Nevermores as well. Just baby ones, hopefully."
Her eyes shifted toward the ceiling of the cabin as she recalled her memories and intelligence, trying to see if she was missing anything. Nothing came to her, however.
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With the briefing out of the way and the students not having any more specific questions, Kirkka returned to the cockpit for the moment.
Just a few short minutes later, the first rays of sunlight reached across the land below them, illuminating the vast plainlands they were passing over. Their speed had dropped considerably, and before long they were making a large turn. Back on the intercoms, Kirkka spoke up once more. "We're gonna circle the town once at a safe distance. Get a good look of the layout. After that, we'll hit the landing zone to the north."
Slowly, the Air Bus approached the town which had become plainly visible out of the left windows, thanks to the slow banking turn the pilot was making. Petros was an ancient city. It looked something of a battlefield, due to the sheer around of craters and general damage that could be seen. Something to be expected considering students regularly come here for Grimm purification. The town was nearly a mile wide, with the buildings becoming less dense at the outer edges. A wall surrounded the place, with two gates that led northward and southwestward. Plenty of holes were visible in the wall, makings its effectiveness questionable in this day and age. Stone foundations were all that remained of almost every structure, though a few of them managed to maintain a support column, or perhaps a wall or two. The foundations would make for good cover, at least.
It was difficult to get specifics of the layout of the town from this altitude. But one thing that was plainly noticeable was the amount of Grimm. A reasonable estimate put the count to maybe 100 on the ground, then a few swarms of small Nevermores fluttered around. Hard to say how many could be hiding, as well. No sight of the church building either. Each "building" is just too lacking in detail.
As the Bus finished its counterclockwise circle, it slowly to nearly a halt and began a vertical descent. The clearing below you was less of a clearing and more of the beginning to the plains that were just flown over, but there was a few trees and debris on the ground that could provide some cover and protection. As the Bus got closer, Kirkka chimed in once more, in person this time. "Okay, we're here! If you failed your landing strategy, this one will be easier and less surprising." She stood next to the main cabin door near the front, opening it slowly as the roar of the engines overtook most sounds in the cabin. Kirkka stood by waiting for each of the four to jump out.
The distance to the ground was far shorter than the cliff you were likely tossed off of back during your initiation. It was still a fair distance, however, and there were about 12 grimm below you, most of them looking directly up at the Bus. Small fry mostly, except one particularly large looking Ursa.
[OOC: As a reminder, I will be throwing fairly large numbers of Grimm at you. Please feel free to auto hit and instantly kill them. I will note it in my post if you are unable to do so against any particular target.]
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Akel took a look around town through the left window, remarking about its destroyed state and also about how some students just liked to use big weapons in place of skill. Grabbing her scythe and covering her ears as the doors opened from her near faunus level hearing. Looking down and spotting the grimm below she thought to herself for a moment of a landing strategy.
Happy with what she had in mind she took a step back and jumped out of the airbus. She let her scythe unfold in midair and having the dust discs turn to fire as she aimed for the Ursa. Swinging her scythe when she was close to the ground to impale the the blade and the Ursa's ugly face to the ground with its face cleanly split in half which also sent fire out towards the other grimm. A few of them running around on fire whilst others moved back from the heat. Akel ripped her scythe out of the ground with the head of the Ursa disappearing into nothingness and decapitated one of the other grimm behind her with a wide swing and bringing her scythe through the chest of a beowolf who tried to get her by lunging over the fire set off by her scythe.
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Airi took a moment to survey the scenery of the abandoned settlement as she stood at AirBus's cabin door. Without any hesitation, she jumped out of the aircraft. Right before she hit the ground, she used her semblance to create a time remnant and immediately rewound back to it. Because there was hardly any temporal gap between the time remnant and herself in the present, the resulting shockwave was not very powerful, but it was enough to knock the Grimm where she was going to land away. Once the space was cleared, Airi did a rolling land to negate the momentum and drew her weapons, ready to fight the Grimm who were by now recovering from being knocked backwards.
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Stepping to the side as Airi and Akel dropped from the airbus like fallen angels descending from the heavens, he quickly moved to fill in their gap at the door, looking down on the chaos that ensued. Grinning, Graham selected an unfortunate target, checked that Reformation and Trinity were both secured to his person, and leaned forward until he fell, his body spreading out and making a Y before he went into a forward roll, down the back of an Ursa, before turning, drawing his tachi from its sheath and neatly slicing the Ursa in half, before running the sword back into its sheath. Hooray for heroic landings.
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As everyone else on board made a move for the exit Fallow did the same. Unlike his allies however he reached the edge of the ship and came to a stop before jumping. From his vantage point he quickly scanned the clearing and found an area none of his teammates had jumped into. Fallow ran his hand over a page and held it outside the craft. A small glowing orb appeared in his hand and begun floating towards the ground. He then ran his hand over the book again this time bringing it up past his opposite shoulder. As he did so he leaped from the craft. As he fell through the air his 1st spell hit the ground and detonated. Wiping out a significant amount of Grimm and increasing the size of the clearing somewhat. Though most importantly for Fallow the blast slowed his fall while his shield prevented it from damaging him as he landed.
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Kirkka was a little bummed that the four were all very motivated to jump out of a plane. She didn't even get to boot anyone out! Next time, she hoped.
Dismissing that thought, she sealed the hatch and kept watch through the windows as the Air Bus circled the landing site slowly.
The four students crashed down upon the pack of Grimm, inflicting multiple casualties instantly. Several of the creatures were stunned by some of their explosive attacks but were recovering quickly.
Akel stood ready to fight the several beowolves surrounding her. Two of them were caught up in the flames but managed to remember the stop, drop and roll they were taught in Grimm Academy. They looked pretty singed and already weak, but they still had claws. There were only three of them focused on Akel, but they all leaped in at once, intent on catching her by surrounding her.
Not too far away, Airi blasted the particularly large Ursa and one smaller one away from her, sending them both tumbling. The large one recovered nearly instantly and was already charging to counter attack with a powerful swipe. On the ground, this Ursa was huge. Possibly the largest you've ever seen. His bone armor protected a significant amount of his body, with spikes protruding out from his back, some of them nearing three feet in length. It was powerful looking as well. The strength behind its upcoming attack would be brutal. [Protection from Instant Kill]
The second Ursa, a normal sized one, had recovered slightly later but was beginning to move toward Graham. Alongside the beast was two Creeps, charging at the same target. Creeps were weak but fast, relying on powerful headbutts and quick claw strikes to follow up. The creeps were nearly upon Graham as they prepared to boop him with the hardened bone on their heads.
The remains of several Grimm smoldered all around Fallow, their smoke mixing with the smoke from the explosion that crushed them. The blast was quite loud, but the sound over it was trumped by the screeching that was heard just moments afterward. In the distance under a small patch of trees, a large pack of Creeps popped out of the ground and were charging at Fallow. Nearly twenty in total. They were still a fair distance out, but were closing very fast and were fairly well spread out. Taking them all out at once would be challenging but not impossible. The real issue is the time limit. There's barely enough time to get one attack off before they reach Fallow.
Kirkka stood behind one window in the Air Bus and simply raised her eyebrow at the sudden appearance of the additional Creeps.
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Akel was quick to act. She spun on her heels and stabbed one of the beowolves bringing it up into the air and brought it into one of the other beowolves and let the scythe hit the ground with. Without time to pull her scythe out she pulled the sword contained within the scythe and slashed the grimm along its body as it flew over her. Quickly inserting the sword back into the scythe and taking it out of the ground without the threat of beowolves ready to claw her.
"Now who needs help?" A question that was mostly directed at herself but was open for anyone to answer if they needed it.
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As the smaller Ursa began to lumber toward Graham, he noticed the two Creeps joining the fray, rushing him at a speed he wished was just that bit slower. Anyway, he crouched, the sheath of his tachi moving away from his body, his right hand around the trigger and his body tensed, before squeezing the trigger, using the Kinetic Dust ejected from that shot to draw and slice the oncoming Creeps at high velocity. As he stood crouched, his left arm straight with the sword outstretched, the two Creeps dissipated, their remains turning into that familiar black powder. While the Ursa kept moving toward him, Graham moved the sword up to the right of his face in a two-handed grip and charged it.
Battle Stats:
Kinetic Dust cartridge expended (4/5).
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"Of course it's going to be the big one," commented Airi to herself as the exceptionally large Ursa charged her. With a semblance and fighting style such as hers, there was no use to attack the Ursa head on. She was not a brawler and would not be able to stand against its raw power in a head-on attack. With this Airi tried to run and create some distance between her and it, leaving behind a time remnant as she did so. "Five seconds," she made a mental note to herself. Obviously, she wasn't going to outrun a charging Ursa in a straight line, so Airi frequently changed directions as she ran, leaving time remnants every time she changed direction. "One second!" she screamed to herself as she was sure that the faster Ursa was just about to catch up to her.
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Damn. Need more time. though Fallow as he saw the approaching creeps. shortly afterwards a plan came into his mind and a spell was in his hand. a slight hop from the ground and Fallow was free to be propelled by his spell. In midair he made a forceful pushing gesture in the direction of the creeps the force sending a blast with a 2 meter diameter into the center of the Grimm the blast also propelling him backwards towards Akel. unfortunately Fallow had needed to act quickly and not planned a method for him to stick the landing. As a result when his feet touched the ground his momentum kept him going skidding along the ground for a couple of meters before he fall backwards and rolled eventually finding himself planted firmly on his ass.
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Overall, the battle was a turning out a little different than one might usually expect. The Grimm were being even more aggressive than average. While they tend to do nothing but seek to destroy, these ones ran like their butts were on fire.
As the dust cleared, more than a few of the swarm of Creeps survived Fallow's attack. There were 15 of them still running at full speed toward both Fallow and Akeldama. Two more were recovering from the blast, and it looks like three did not survive. The distance Fallow gained from knocking himself back gave him a few extra moments, but being on the ground meant extra time spent. Standing up is time-consuming!
The massive Ursa caught up to Airi a little sooner than she anticipated. It did not seem to pay any attention to the time remnants left Airi was leaving behind. With one of its claws, it swept at her legs to bring her off balance while its right fore leg came downward, its claws fully extended as it attempted to crush her into the ground.
Graham and the smaller Ursa met rapidly, and the Ursa swiped with both of its fore legs from opposing directions, an attempt to grab Graham and impale him on its lengthy claws.
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Snorting almost in contempt, Graham used the time between when they met to activate his semblance, causing the Ursa to glow red in his vision. Before the Ursa could even reach him, he thrust his tachi forward, straight into the Ursa's head, outreaching the pair of claws so they swiped fruitlessly at thin air. Yanking the blade out of the skull, Graham proceeded to stab the head several more times until the Ursa collapsed on the floor and began to dissolve. Then, running the tachi back into its sheath, he simply stood there, looking around at the remaining fights.
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"Guess that solves my own question." Akel quickly charged towards the Creeps. She held her scythe horizontally and spun it around her, stabbing one in the side of the head and continuing her momentum. After all, Akel is the leader of team BTRA and Fallow was a team member under her, protecting her team members was simply a duty she should do.
As the Creeps went towards her the scythe went into another head of a Creep. Using her left arm to stop the scythe and spun in the other direction to use the blunt end of the scythe to deliver a decisive strike to another. She didn't stop attacking any of the Creeps that came in her direction and diverted all of her attention to which Creep was going to attack and how to kill the next Creep that would follow through.
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Upon feeling her footing, swept out from under her by the Ursa, Airi immediately activated her semblance, sending her back one second prior. Once again, a small shockwave ensued, and as before, it was only enough to knock enemies away and not enough to seriously harm them. Appearing behind the large Ursa, the shockwave knocked it forwards. Taking the opportunity, Airi stabbed Atropos into the one of the Ursa's calves, piercing it in between several plates that necessarily had a gap in between them in order to allow for muscle flexibility. Expecting the Ursa to roar in pain, she leaped onto the back of the off-balance Grimm and unlocked the spool of filament that she kept around her right hip. With Fateweaver as her thread guide, she brought the filament in between the Grimm's jaws, suing the filament as an impromptu bit that dug deep into the flesh of the Ursa's cheeks, giving it a sort of Glasgow smile. Clutching the filaments in the armored grasp of Fateweaver, Airi looked back behind her, keeping track of the Ursa's flailing arms, lest she be caught in its wild blows, while also keeping track of her time remnants as they gradually caught up with her.
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Seeing Akel leap to his defense Fallow rose to his feet before moving to help deal with the Grimm his ally had moved to take on in his place. He placed a hand on Akel's shoulder and paused for a brief moment to allow her to know that he was there and hopefully indicate to her what he was about to do before he pushed down slightly and leaped over her while drawing lulu with his other hand and flicking the blade open slashing into a creep as he landed. Without slowing down he pressed off with his left foot before his other one even touched the ground using his off-hand to springboard once again flicking Lulu in the direction of another creep as he did so.
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The swarm of Creeps fell one after another under the combined assault from Akeldama and Fallow. There were 7 left, but they had halted their charge and were now sprinting away at high speed, back the way they came.
A short distance away Graham stood near his most recent kill as it slowly began its disintegration process. And not too far away from him was Airi, riding a giant Ursa. The situation looked a little precarious. She was able to avoid several of the massive grimm's overhead grabs, but after six or seven attempts at grabbing her, the Ursa tried something different. It spun around half a turn, throwing itself off balance as it did, and landing on its back. The huge spikes that Airi was using to stand on were pointy and numerous. Getting caught underneath would be quite awful. The momentum the Ursa had was enough to allow it to continue rolling, however, and it was already on all fours, looking to face Airi head on once again.
Overhead, the Air Bus loomed, casting no shadow on the battlefield due to the sun being so low on the horizon still. Kirkka was still watching from the window calmly. Her eyes were fixated on the fleeing Creeps, however.
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Noticing the remaining Creeps retreating--which was highly unusual for mindless killing beasts, but he took no notice of it at the time-- Graham stuck his hand in his pocket and withdrew his butterfly tanto, flicking it open and spinning it on the top of his hand, before flinging it toward one of the running Creeps. It hit, but with the handle end, only eliciting a strange noise from the beast. He decided against giving a hand with that Ursa for the moment, opting instead to retrieve his knife.
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Akel's first thought was to chase the fleeing Creeps. After all the mission was officially labelled as 'Grimm extermination', but grimm classes never told of Creeps usually running away. "Fallow, I don't have many ranged options so I wsnt you to clesr the rest of thise Creeps. Don't chase after if they get too far. Something is giving me a bad feeling."
Akel scanned the area around herself quickly, seeing Airi, Akel thought it would be better to provide assistance against the Ursa. Drawing her sword out from the scythe she pointed it at the Ursa before activating her semblance. Aura condensed into what looked like droplets beside her before she did a lunging motion with her sword and sent the aura based attack towards the Grimm. Admittedly her aim wasn't the greatest so she was more likely to strike an armoured piece but hopefully still pierce if luck was on her side.
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Airi did her best to maintain her footing, but with the Ursa bucking around so much, it was impossible for her to do so. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Akel using her semblance for a piercing aura strike. Airi doubted it would hit the Ursa for any significant damage. However, she also realized that if Akel landed a well-aimed critical strike, the Ursa could possibly be felled. An idea popped into her mind as she saw her time remnant catching up to her.
As the Ursa rolled onto its back, Airi jumped off it and leaped towards her time remnant, which was by now mid-air, where Airi had previously been climbing the Ursa. With Timeweaver's threads still the Ursa's mouth, Airi shouted to Akel, "Hit it again. Make it count!" Airi then made contact with her time remnant and was immediately frozen in stasis mid-air. An aura of dynamic, yet somehow serene otherworldliness enveloped the third-year. However, it wasn't just Airi herself that was frozen. Timeweaver's threads, which were still attached to Airi's clawed gauntlet and spool was similarly stuck in chrono-stasis, completely removed from any and all interaction with the current time frame. This made the threads utterly immovable, and with them still caught in the Ursa's mouth, the Ursa's head was also stuck in place. Though not frozen in stasis as Airi and the threads were, no matter how much it would struggle, the Ursa would not be able to wrench its head free from the threads. Akel now had her perfect chance.
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Fallow gave a nod to Akel and turned to the fleeing Grimm with book in hand once more. a hand ran across the page before Fallow extended his index and middle finger pointing at the ground in front of the creeps. A 10 meter line of dust appeared before them in their path. Fallow's hand opened and then immediately closed activating the dust and sending fire right into the underside of the fleeing Grimm.
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Alpha Ursa was confused. He wanted to move his head, but it was not complying. Must be defective. Still, it tried to move a whole bunch of times but was trapped with no way to escape. It made a puppy bear face as Akel's Aura strike cut cleanly into its arm, inflicting much more damage than anticipated. The arm was still attached but was quite useless. The creature roared in rage as it struggled to free itself.
The creep struck by the butterfly knife made a squeaking sound, staggering slightly in confusion. It kept its footing and kept running, however. Right into the wall of flames that appeared a few moments later. The knife was unharmed, laying on the ground about fifteen feet away from the firewall.
The appearance of the wall of flames immediately incinerated a pair of the creeps and caught two more a moment later, including the squeaky one. Poor guy. That left only three creeps left out of the twenty originally. They managed to slow down enough to get around the flames. Just a few feet past the flames, they stopped and burrowed rapidly into the ground and out of sight. Looking around, only the Alpha Ursa was visible on the battlefield. There could be more on the outskirts of the area, but visibility was too poor in the dense patches of trees. The sun was definitely out, and it was officially morning, so it would only be a few more minutes before that was no longer an issue.
The wall of flames began to dissipate rapidly, having served its purpose.
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Akel underestimated the armour of the Ursa. Still she wasn't going to waste this oppourtunity that was still in play. Dropping her sword and pulling out her scythe, its position showed that she planned to swing the scythe blade up. The blade glowed with aura and she did an arx based attack, the condensed aura manifesting itself along the same arc as Blood Ignition was going on. The idea was to strike the Ursa's neck and avoid most if not all of the armoured plating that was present on the top.
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Slightly embarrassed at that crappy attempt of a knife throw, Graham sauntered over to his fallen weapon and picked it up, shielding his face from the fading flames. Not much else for him to do but observe the fight, for neither his sword nor his semblance would be much use in a team fight. So, he simply just stood at a safe distance and watched, his left hand self-consciously performing tricks with the tanto.
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Seeing the Grimm successfully flee Fallow turned to deal with the only remaining threat. That being the paralyzed Ursa. He confidently strode towards it as Akel was winding up. As she swung Fallow prepared another shockwave spell and placed his hand on the ursa's chest just in case Akel's attack failed. Only for Fallow's spell to fail. Shit. "Look out!" was all Fallow managed to get out before rather than blasting out the ursa's chest his palm exploded catching himself in the blast as well as Akel if she couldn't move in time.
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OOC: Basically a skip post, because I have nothing to add so you can all go again. Ursa can be auto-hit if you want, he is still trapped.
Meanwhile, on the Bus.
"Waffle! No! Put that down!" Kirkka frantically ran toward the back of the Bus, convinced that the students were not in danger having dispatched most all of the grimm.
Waffle, on the other hand, saw a lone tiny Nevermore fly past the Bus on the opposite window. His predatory instincts kicked in, and he was now awkwardly holding the crate over his head, ready to smash someone's face in with it. You know, the one that says "DANGER: EXPLOSIVES"? It'll probably work out though. What could go wrong?
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Akel had to cancel her attack last moment. Slightly annoyed that her very own teammate would make such a stupid move when he knew her semblance. The momentum of the scythe sent her into the air slightly and allowed her to land on her feet after a flip due to Fallow's blast. She dashed to the still trapped Ursa and planned to bring the raw blade of her scythe into its head. The dust disc turning red and fire coming off of the scythe to boost the attack that would be done to it.
"Stay away Fallow!" Akel said before she plunged the scythe into the Ursa's body. The area around the puncture erupting eith fire.
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Fallow was skittering back along the dirt and had come to rest when he heard Akel's command. he pushed himself up slightly with a sour expression as he responded. 'No problem there." With a grunt Fallow got his legs beneath him and pushed on one of them to get himself to his feet. He then begun brushing all the dirt off his clothes from his ignoble faceplants into the dirt.
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Today was a good day. I won a bet against my fellows to see who could roll down the hill the fastest. Naturally, I won. I've practiced for a long time, and am really good at curling into a ball. After all, it gets really boring around here sometimes. I also got to listen to the "birds" singing for nearly 17 seconds! It was glorious.
Then came the hunters. They came for us. For me. They came and slaughtered my fellows one by one until I was the only one left. And then...
Flames erupted from the alpha Ursa's scythe wound, engulfing him in a bright light. It took only a few moments for the flames to consume him completely, and thanks to the other injuries, he fell motionless after only one roar of agony. Poor guy didn't stand a chance.
The battlefield appeared quite clear now, aside from the smoking remnants of several grimm. The team was largely uninjured, though there were some accidental explosions. On the ground, mind you. There have been no explosions in, on, or around the Bus. Thankfully.
A few minutes passed and the Bus was landed in the now purified clearing. There was a dirt road heading to the town through this clearing, but it was barely visible thanks to all the grass and other weeds taking over as the years went by. Kirkka was on the ground now, staff in hand. Waffle was sitting next to the main door like a sentry, and Mia was unloading a few boxes. Explosives, yay!
"Nice work. Our scrolls are already synced and we will be able to communicate anywhere in the town since it is not that large. Any last questions before you four head out?" Kirkka's voice was very calm, but it was easy to tell that she was very alert, watching for any signs of approaching grimm. There was no doubt they would have some fighting to do while the students were away, though the worst thing will probably just be those Creeps that escaped. Strange that they ran like they did, but Kirkka didn't seem to mention it.
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"Yeah, I got one." Graham spoke up. "Might I be allowed to restock up on Dust supplies? Got a couple of cartridges for my weapon, any kind of standardised Ice, Electric and Kinetic Dust will do." In case something tougher than that Ursa showed up, like a Death Stalker or something, he wanted to not run out of Dust mid-fight. Better safe than sorry. He had 6 cartridges for his sword and 5 for his sheath, totalling 6 each for Ice and Electric, 10 for Kinetic if Kirkka approved his request.
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Before Kirkka could reply, a loud thump came from behind her as Mia practically dropped a crate onto the ground, flipping the latch on the top and opening the crate. Inside was a large supply of dust cartridges of various varieties. Certainly, some of them would be useful for everyone. Mia spoke while she opened the crate. "Everything in here is for you guys. I brought tons. Maybe too much! That was a joke. There can never be too many explosives."
Kirkka merely motioned toward Mia and the crate after Mia's satisfactory answer.
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By now, Airi had exited her self-imposed stasis. She dropped to the ground, quickly surveying her surroundings. From her point of view, the stasis was but a millisecond, since her perception of things was if someone turned on a tape recorder, let it run, stop recording for a bit, and then resumed recording. Apart from the slight, instantaneous gap, you wouldn't have been able to notice anything happened at all. Of course, Airi had experienced this many times, so it the whole experience was nothing exciting to her. Examining the Ursa Major's wounds as its lifeless body slowly disintegrated, Airi was quite satisfied that everything turned out well. "Good hit," she said to Akel. Airi then walked up to group with the rest of the students and Kirkka and Mia. Listening in, she didn't have anything further to say.
-
"Thanks." accepting the compliment from her upperclassewomen. With the ursa finally disentegrated Akel was able to pick her scythe up, examining the edge for amy chips off of the blade. Satasified that the blade didn't have anything of the sorts she let the weapon fold up and carried it in her hand to the rest of them of her teammates.
"Should we have designated times to meet up? Just to make sure nothing happens to anyone." Akel glanced over to her teammate, sighing at Fallow over his overconfidence.
"Fallow, we're in the same team. You know what my semblance is, I should hope that I don't have to remind you everytime I'm about to use it."
-
Hearing that the supplies were for them Fallow strode over and drew a vial of fire and kinetic dust so that he could replace his used spells while on the move without having to delve into the dust he was carrying when he heard the admittedly valid criticism he received from Akel. "I misjudged what you were going for. My mistake." Was the only response he gave with a shrug to go along with it before withdrawing a quill and opening the Russet Grimoire.
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Graham grabbed what he needed, slotting the cartridges into his shoulder bandolier, and pocketing the Kinetic dust clip for his blade, before nodding. "Ready to go." He slipped on a pair of headphones, but kept it off in case anyone had something else to say, while sliding the tachi in and out of the sheath in an act of slight impatience. His face showed none of it, though.
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"Remember. The plan is to contact us when you find the entrance, and not go in until I arrive. Do not forget." Kirkka reminded them of what she wanted but didn't reiterate the potential for danger. She's learned that danger usually entices people to go for things anyway so mentioning it again would not really change anything.
With that, Kirkka turned and left the students to their own devices.
Daylight illuminated the area very well now. The four students were standing a short distance away from the Air Bus, while Kirkka patrolled around and Mia did various things like play with explosives. Waffle looked the most serious as he sat near the door like a gargoyle. Nobody is getting through this door. Except for Mia. And Kirkka. And those other human-things. Waffle nodded to himself, satisfied at his duty.
The area was a large clearing, split down the middle by a barely visible road. Grass and other weeds had grown all over it, concealing it almost entirely. What remained of it was made of cobblestone, making the road quite rough. The dirt along the side of it would be easier on the feet.
There were scattered trees and rocks in the direction of the town, but they were far too sparse to hide much. The town's wall was visible from where they were, so it would only be a short walk there. No Grimm were in sight for the moment. In fact, it was eerily silent compared to just a few moments ago.
OOC: Post Order is open, you do not have to wait for me to post so feel free to converse if you want.
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Airi stood on the road a little bit from the Air Bus's landing site. She looked at the scenery to take in the sights and appreciate the calmness of everything. She then turned and looked back at the rest of the group, waiting for them to follow.
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Fully loaded and with headphones now blasting, Graham joined Airi on the road, eyes closed in content and his fingers drumming on his tachi's hilt in time with the beat. In his other hand his butterfly tanto was spinning slowly in an act of both multitasking and skill. Not that he was intending to show off--it was simply his hobby.
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As the wall came more clearly into view, it became clear just how old it was. The wall was made of stone and was easily five feet thick originally. It was heavily eroded away in the places where there wasn't just a massive hole, likely from some previous student. The wood the gate was one made of was completely gone, leaving a frame of metal that reinforced it. The metal was bent and crushed in multiple directions, making it impossible to close it even a little. Walking along the wall was possible due to its width, despite the erosion and damage.
Just past the gate was a cobblestone road and the foundation for some kind of building, likely once a guardhouse, being so close to the entrance. The road itself was in horrendous shape. Rocks lay everywhere, and the holes they were once in have been filled with dirt or mud, or nothing at all.
Outside the wall, there was a small thicket of trees and undergrowth to the left of the road, not 20 feet away from the outside edge of the wall. Even those paying little attention to their surroundings could see movement of something in there. Grimm? Maybe. Probably. But they did not seem keen on leaving their heavy cover.
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"Are all villages like this outside the wall?" Tilting her head to fully comprehend how thick the wall was. A small nod to herself and looking out towards thr forest, a slight frown reaching her face as she could see the shifting of leaves and branches. "That's either Grimm or bandits? I hope it isn't bandits."
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Fallow smiled at Akel on her comment about the village. "Most of them aren't ruins." He seemed to be about to say more before rapidly snapping his head in the direction of the movement. It could easily be Grimm or Bandits. This area is completely abandoned and we don't have any back up. The chances are pretty low that it's not something intending us harm. To that end. Fallow wrapped up his train of thought by drawing the Russet Grimoire and opening it. They're hiding in something that can burn. Too bad for them.[/b] He ran his hand across a full page symbol and raised that hand into the air with an open palm. A massive fireball above it. "keep clear." Fallow then tilted his hand forwards and the fireball flew directly into the bush that the rustling came from.
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Graham whistled at Fallow's display of his weapon. He hadn't noticed the book the first time Fallow had pulled it out, but up close it looked like pure magic. That fireball had emerged from his palm from out of nowhere, nor was he holding a Fire Dust crystal. Naturally this made him incredibly curious, distracting him from the now flaming bush, so he moved slightly closer for a better look, putting away his spinning knife for a while. Whatever's inside can be dammed, that book cannot be some sort of new technology. If it is then I need it. ASAP.
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Brutal.
As the fireball engulfed the dense plant life, all manner of screeches and other awkward sounds could be heard. And just a moment later, a swarm of tiny, adorable squirrel grimm scattered from the area in every direction, many of them already on fire. Their glowing red eyes looked for a solution to their plight, but they saw none as they ran in a panic. The ones who escaped the flames all disappeared into holes or under other bits of foliage or cover, but the ones who didn't simply ran out of time as the flames took their energy and eventually the smoke from the fire turned to smoke from the Grimm dissipating.
Squirrel lovers everywhere cried out at once as a feeling of unease washed over them. Someone, somewhere, committed an atrocity.
Of course, they're just Grimm. No actual squirrels were harmed in the fireballing of that thicket.
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Airi watched as the conflagration started. "What the hell?" she blurted out, looking back at Fallow. She was more annoyed more at the irregularity and spontaneity of the act than the act itself. Airi had hoped to navigate the area by systematically seeking out eliminating the Grimm piecemeal rather than to catch all their attention at once. Nonetheless, what's done was done, and she said nothing further. Airi stood, watching the flames lick at the village buildings and waiting for them to die down before it was safe for the students to enter.
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"That solves that... that was kind of strange and spontanious." Looking towards the adorable beings of darkness Akel had the strange feeling of wanting to grab one and take it home to treasure and love. However they all dissappeared before she had the chance to grab one. "Can anyone reverse time so I can grab one? For research of course... adorable, cuddily research."
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Graham simply watched in slight amusement and with a small grin on his face. He'd never seen squirrel Grimm before, and even he had to admit there was some degree of cuteness that made you want to cuddle one. Still, that was past, and as the flames burned he kept an eye on the building, in case there was something a bit less cute than a squirrel within. He didn't think it would be happy if it just got treated to a roast, of course.
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The flames began dying down quite rapidly as there was little left to burn. As it changed from a small inferno into a smoldering group of charred trees, things became quiet again, if only for a moment. Naturally, the flames drew the attention of things in the immediate vicinity, including several much more dangerous grimm. Six Creeps had just come running out of the nearest hole in the village wall and were charging at the group of four. Before the team could act, however, there was a brief rumble heralding the appearance of twelve more Creeps burrowing out of the ground all around them. The group was surrounded!
(http://i.imgur.com/0PZnw9S.png)
While the approaching six were bunched up quite nicely, the remaining twelve were spread very thin in a wide circle. Smashing them all at once would be a challenge simply due to how far apart they were. Of course, the sudden appearance of the Ring o' Grimm became a footnote, when a second tremor shook the ground, many times more than the first. A near deafening guttural roar, which slowing changed into an ear-piercing screech, echoed forth as a massive creature broke through the surface of the ground. Its front leg smashed effortlessly through the crumbling wall, revealing itself in full to the party.
The creature would be nearly three stories tall if standing fully on it's four massive, heavily armored legs that extended like spider legs out from his body. A single claw, if it could be called that considering its longer than any of the students, dug slightly into the ground as its front leg dug back into the ground after smashing the wall. The body had no neck, and its head rested quite close to the ground. Its back, however, expanded up and outward and formed something of a mushroom shape, the top of it being spotted. Armor protects nearly the entire body, the only weak points appearing to be the underside of the mushroom-shaped backside, and the joints of its very long legs.
Knowledge Check: if you are quite knowledgeable about exceedingly rare grimm, you recognize this creature as a Sporeback. They are so extremely rare, that on average, perhaps one out of every 1000 graduate hunters ever even see one. They are known for their ability to spawn swarms of Creeps from the spots on the top of their mushroom back. Their danger level is very high due to their ability to use sheer force of numbers to overwhelm even the strongest of hunters. Their greatest weakness is that they are very, very slow. When they burrow into the ground, they leave only the top of their back exposed to the surface, granting them unbelievable defense while retaining the ability to spawn Creeps. Significant effort will be required to down the creature. It is quite likely that this thing was not supposed to be here.
There was still some distance between the massive entity and the team, and the Creeps surrounding them were the immediate threat. The creature did not appear to be moving toward them. In fact, it was still partially burrowed into the ground as it faced them, peering at them with its four glowing red eyes.
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With each subsequent appearance of more Grimm, Akel could only sigh, at least until she felt the tremors. She never knew grimm that could create tremors, at least none that she could remember clearly. Readying her scythe her attention was focused on the closer grimm but her mind was wandering towards the large grimm. "What are we going to do about the mushroom-shaped grimm? Because I have no idea unless we are going to crash the airship and hope to blow up its head." She kept her eyes on the Creeps as she eyes which one was coming first, keeping her attention on the Creeps as she wanted for the first move to be made, whether it was by her teammates or the Grimm.
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As the group was surrounded Fallow drew out Lulu while keeping the Russet Grimoire in his other hand ready to fight. Until the giant. Mushroom Grimm showed up. OK. what the hell is that thing. It's not anything I've ever heard of. Too many differences to be some mutated deathstalker. I'll have to look it up if I make it out of this alive. "I'll try that without the airship then." With an enthusiasm in his face and voice Fallow began running straight at the giant Grimm. Just before he reached the creep in his path he leaped into the air. Stepping off the creep's head. As he did so he flicked Lulu downwards in the hopes of embedding it in the Creep's head. After landing he begun sprinting toward the entity. Hoping to get into a range where he could effectively aim his attacks for soft spots while staying away.
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Airi looked at the massive Grimm that had suddenly appeared before the group. It was not something that she had ever seen before, and honestly, she was quite amazed by its strange form. However, Airi's attention was brought back to her immediate surroundings when she saw Fallow run out past the creep to get at the new Grimm directly. "Wait, come back!" she called out to him, but it seemed that he was already gone too far out into the throng of Creeps. To the remainder, she said "Alright, we'll need to clear out these Creep. I want to pull back to evaluate a better plan of attack, but since Fallow has already run out there, we need to consolidate and bring him back. What are your thoughts?"
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Graham was going to comment on that new Grimm which decided to burrow out of the ground, but every other member on the ground had to steal his thunder. "A plan of attack? I have a plan. Attack." With that, his mask activated to cover his mouth and nose, and he took only the smallest of breaks to thumb the trigger on his sheath before leaping straight after Fallow into the fray, sword drawn and held in both hands. He didn't voice it, but his aim was to keep Fallow from being overwhelmed, even with that fancy book of his.