Silent Arrival

Moving like the wind, Ren dodged each one of Raven's attacks perfectly. It was like he was glimpsing into the future, seeing her attacks before she even launched them. And that was semi-accurate in a way, Ren's Semblance allows him not only to mask his presence but also calm himself down into a state of perfect tranquility.

This evolved to the point he can also sense others' emotions and feelings. Sensing when his opponent's emotions spiked while also being hyper-focused, these two things together gave him some sense of when an opponent would attack.

Falling onto his back he just narrowly dodged Raven as she aimed for his head. Then springboarding using his hand he kicked towards her chest. Raven blocked with the blunt end of her blade, but the impact was enhanced by Ren's Aura. She was sent flying into the sky as Ren got back onto his feet and jumped into the air after her.

'He's taking advantage of the fact I can't use my full abilities this close to our forces. Clever but not clever enough.' Seeing him leaping towards her Raven raised her sword which immediately grew twice in length. Flame's erupted from the blade's edge as she swung down. A wave of fire engulfed the sky around her before coming crashing down towards Ren.

"Crap!" Putting up a cross guard he focused his Aura as the wave of fire crashed into him. He was sent hurtling out of the sky flying towards the ground creating a tremor on impact.

"Ren!" Jaden called out when he saw what happened, and his attention split for just a second. He heard the sound of something whistling through the air as he turned his attention back to Pyrrha. Her spear was heading straight for his head causing him to parry it just slightly to the side.

The spearhead grazed Jaune's cheek leaving a bleeding cut. Retracting her attack Pyrrha spun her spear and it began to morph into a one-handed sword, before attacking again. Sparks flew in the hundreds; Jaune and Pyrrha clashed over fifty times in a matter of seconds.

Slashing down at him the force from the attack caused Jaune's knees to buckle slightly. Staring up at Pyrrha he couldn't help but ask.

"How many times have we fought now? Yet I still don't get why you're fighting on their side. I researched you know, you were the Protector of Argus before it fell. You cared about people and their lives no matter who they were…" Jaune felt the pressure pushing down on him increase as he talked causing his words to wane.

"So- So why are you fighting against us? You know what Taella's forces will do if they breach Vacuo." Pyrrha's expression did not change by much, but a solemn look appeared in her eyes.

"You don't know what it's like, you haven't witnessed it, so you wouldn't understand." Breaking their clash she spun on her heel and kicked Jaune directly in the face, sending him flying back. He skated across the ground on his back before flipping back onto his feet and stopping himself with his sword.

"What are you talking about?" Pyrrha let out a silent yet deep breath as she narrowed her eyes.

"You've never seen the kind of power I was forced to bear witness to. The overwhelming force that doesn't care about your dreams, or aspirations, or petty morals. The kind of power that can wipe anything without prejudice from the face of Remnant…" Jaune went silent as Pyrrha spoke.

"True Power that destroys your home and burns everything you love to the ground in front of your eyes. Yet you have to accept the fact there's nothing you can do." Pyrrha looked into Jaune's eyes.

"You've seen the person who wields that power personally, haven't you?" An image of Shen's figure appeared in Jaune's head. It immediately sent a shiver down his spine, back then all he could do was sit and watch. The exact feeling Pyrrha had described.

"But still you didn't see the real him. His presence is a cruel reality, you can kill me, Raven, Taella. Every General and Commander he has under his control, you can get rid of his army and the noble's backing him, but it doesn't matter. He's something no Human or Faunus could ever defeat…

"That's why people see him and beings like Salem the Queen of Grimm as gods. It's why so many cities have already surrendered. You're fighting a meaningless battle against something you can never hope to defeat. That's when I had to face the unbendable truth."

"If I want to save people, then I need to make them see the same truth as I did. I need to show them what their futile resistance will leave them with. Once they see that, then at least I have a chance of being able to keep them alive. And if that means I have to kill every person on every battlefield to do it… Then so be it."

Pyrrha clenched his fist around her sword as she took a ready stance. Jaune could tell her words perfectly reflected how she felt, and he had no immediate response. He didn't have anything to say, and instead could only look at her with pity.

"It seems our viewpoints really are too different to a line. I refuse a world where people so cruel are considered gods, and I also refuse a world where surrendering ourselves to fate is our only option. I'm willing to fight against near-impossible odds then give up and let the people who are already gone die in vain…"

"Then you'll die a pointless death and join them." Transforming her sword back into its spear form Pyrrha's gaze went icy. That was when Jaune received a message from his earpiece.

[Commander is ready! Output is nearing a hundred percent and will be ready for use in the next ten minutes!]

The news caused his face to glow slightly as he glanced at Pyrrha before issuing an order.

"Tell all of our men to fall back to the ditches in front of the wall immediately!"

[Yes, Sir!]

The communication cut out but the order was soon put into effect. It was such a crazy shift the Dreadhorde Soldier didn't know what to do. All of the soldiers they were fighting were suddenly turning to run. Even Jaune himself quickly turned and began running as well. Pyrrha frowned before giving chase, not letting him go.

"Ren, Nora, it's time!" He opened communications with the two of them as they suddenly let out a relieved sigh.

"Good I don't think either of us could last much longer." Ren's aura was waning, that strike from Ravne had done a number on him and he was starting to get tired. Nora was still energetically fighting Taella but it was clear from the patches of frost on her body that she wasn't fairing well.

Both Ren and Nora did exactly what Jaune had, quickly turning around and running towards as well. Vacuo the city was further inland, but its walls and military were stationed miles outwards. This was so the wall could send out warnings ahead of time, and there was never any risk of civilians getting caught up in battles against Grimm.

The wall itself had multiple gates; they were retreating towards the northern one. Ditches were dug out ahead of time stretching across a large section of the wall. A perfect place for soldiers to hide in case something was about to happen.

"Something's wrong, why are they suddenly retreating?" Raven was talking to Pyrrha as the two of them suddenly stopped moving. Taella caught up to them but didn't give chase. Her 'sanity' or what was left of it had taken back control when she noticed what was going on. She didn't stop her forces from continuing their charge but held back herself.

Ren, Nora, and Jaune got closer to the wall before turning around and holding off the approaching soldiers. As they did so everyone heard the northern gate begin not open. It was a heavy metal gate and it opened extremely slowly, but as it did Taella's forces suddenly stopped moving.

What had been making all of that noise, was a large platform on tracks similar to that of tanks. It was nearly as wide as the twenty-meter gate and was twenty feet off the ground. And on top of that platform was a massive cannon, it's metal exterior covered in sand, yet the clear signs of powering being routed to it through the massive cables attached to its back.

[Command the DR-Cannon is ready to fire!]

When Jaune heard the communications he quickly grabbed the oval-like sheath on his back. It began to extend itself forming a large shield which he dug into the ground and crouched behind. Ren and Nora quickly got behind it as well. Raven and Taella didn't need any more warning signs as they quickly began combining their powers forming a barrier in front of them.

"With this, the war is over… Fire!" At his command, the Cannon hit its maximum output as a bright light appeared down its barrel. The AI in charge of aiming locked onto the largest group of enemies before firing.

A beam of pure energy was released and echoed out louder than thunder. It was only a brief usage but on impact, the soldiers who had been the target of the attack were engulfed in light. Their bodies, skeletons, and their very matter seemed to be erased from the world. And that was followed by an explosion that shook the ground for miles.

A massive cloud of sand was shot into the sky like a tsunami and a crater over a hundred meters across and dozens of feet deep was left in its wake. Everyone on both sides were shocked and frozen in place. Over seven thousand people were dead, just like that without any trace of them left.

Seeing this caused Jaune to clench his fist. They were enemies but it was still a large loss of life. And it wasn't over yet.

"Continue firing until they're wiped out…" Under his command, the DR-Cannon presumed once more before firing yet again. It was like hundreds of bombs going on in succession, Taella's forces didn't have a chance. Even when they began to run there was no hope of escape.

At the same time, a barrier of ice reinforced by magic surrounded Pyrrha, Taella, and Raven, protecting them from the aftermath of each explosion.

"It's impossible for them to have built this in Vacuo especially in the midst of us attacking them. It must have been shipped over from Atlas." Pyrrha nodded.

"I was wondering why they were stalling for a stalemate, this was why. They had finished powering their superweapon." With each shot, their forces were wiped out, and within a matter of minutes, the entire battlefield had been decimated and riddled with craters and charred sand.

[The enemy has been destroyed!] This was heard by every single person on Vacuo's side. It was a surprising result, but a welcome one. They all began to cheer and scream in joy. Their voices echoed out in loud booms.

"There's still one more enemy to take care of." Ren spoke while gazing over the shield towards the barrier Taella and Raven had set up. Jaune nodded as he sent in another order.

"Focus fire on that barrier, don't stop until it's destroyed. It doesn't matter if it damages the cannon."

[Yes, Sir!]

The DR-Cannon began to power up again as it turned its attention towards Pyrrha and the others. Behind the barrier, a grave look appeared on their faces.

"It doesn't matter how much I reinforce this shield with magic if that cannon hits us were done for." Taella was in a similar position, she may not show it but her powers were weakened at the moment. She had been fighting so much to get to this point and if she eased up just a little they would lose ground.

Without her powers at their max, the chances her or any of them, in general, would survive this shot were slim to none. She began to laugh to herself at the prospect that she might actually die. Raven and Pyrrha didn't find it nearly as amusing. They still had their joint goal to complete. Dying wasn't an option!

"Well, I didn't expect things to escalate so quickly.." Suddenly a voice echoed out everywhere and following it everyone watched something impossible happen. The sandstorm that had been raging for weeks or even months on end suddenly disappeared. The clouds in the sky scattered as if they were running from something.

It was as if the entire desert had suddenly gone silent as everyone looked up in shock. The dark brown clouds that had covered the sky were gone and the wind had stopped blowing entirely. There was a sudden silence that enveloped everything. Jaune, Pyrrha, Raven, Nora, Ren, and Taella all looked up at the sky and saw a figure standing in the air.

"It's a shame, I was starting to enjoy playing spectator." Shen looked down at the battlefield below him with a relaxed smile.