Feedback from an inbound transmission echoed through a room. Said room was cloaked in darkness, save for the crimson of monitor’s light.Rays of light lit up the swirling particles in the sterilised environment. The light reflected off the metallic surfaces, shimmering with the completion of each transmission. Within this darkness, a light squeak came through. The particles dispersed, disrupted by the sudden movement within the otherwise still room.“It’s me.”Inaudible chatter from the speaker echoed into the room. Equally vague gestures and small noises followed. Before the reply could be broadcasted into the room, the delicate outline of a finger touched against the control panel. The static that rang through the speaker muted itself, with all sound now redirected into her earpiece.“I see. The threat is neutralized then...that’s good enough. But tell me more about her.”A lengthy silence followed, broken up by occasional “umm”s and “ahh”s as she pivoted between the array of darkened control panels.“Where do you want to meet? I can entrust someone to look after the ship, no worries. It’s still on lockdown anyway.”The room fell silent once more, though for a considerably shorter period of time. She weaved her way through the narrow corridor of displays, lightly sliding the palm of her hands over a sensor.“Alright then. Expect my arrival in 40 minutes.”The dimly lit chamber lost what remaining light it had.An archaic, mechanical clunk accompanied it.In place of the faint red glow, a fierce white light shone down onto the steel floor panels. A short countdown began. She positioned herself under this halo of light and casually put on the uniform placed within the darkness. A striking set of overalls was loosely put on before a vacuum tidied up the fitment. Slotting her flight helmet over her head, she lightly tucked her long black hair into the helmet.As she clipped it into place, a sustained feedback played through the speakers.[End of transmission][Entry sequence initialized]In almost perfect synchrony, the monitors in the empty chamber flickered. The white light was shut off and the floor panel dropped away. Rather than a graceful descent into a cockpit, the sensation was perhaps better described as being sucked into a jet engine. It was a short, violent journey that landed her inside an even more cramped surrounding.[Pilot Entry Detected- Semi Automatic Mode: Disabled][Code name: Dust Monarch][LDS Initializing][Refueling completed][Stabilization status: all green]A holographic checklist began scrolling up on the bottom right of her visor. The uninterrupted stream of orange text spelt nothing but good news.“Welcome back, master.”The monotone robotic voice gave her its greeting, as if to affirm its operational status.“Good day to you too, Alex. So...you ready to do this?”“You know the answer to that question, master. Must you opt for redundancy at this point?”“It’s called procedures, I hate doing it as well, but even I have to have some standards at least.”As the banter continued, the opaque black surroundings of the cockpit lit up.“Primary and Secondary weapons selected….main engine primed, we’re set to go. Ignition, Alex, whenever you’re ready!”From her surroundings, mechanical arms extended out. Panel by panel, the exterior of a fighter jet was riveted into the airframe.“Hmm…using the Skipper’s exterior design might throw them off. I doubt they’d expect one right after they shot the last one down.”“The fact that UCAV Skipper was shot down only means that you need to take your rivals more seriously, master.”“Hey, fighting with a handicap is more fun. Makes me wonder how long I can keep up with this game though. But anything for moving the clock forwards, I guess. Alright…engines full power!!”With the aircraft finally assembled, the “hanger” doors slid open, revealing the baby blue expanse of sky below. Glimmers of light reflected off the narrow confines of the launch tube. Flashes of electricity sparked between the rails, rapidly building up a charge. The empty expanse behind the craft was lit in a bright orange glow. Particles of uncombusted Dust were fired through the exhaust chamber, driven by the extreme force of the jet engine reaching full power.“Flight Unit Alpha Papillion, LAUNCH!!”A flash of neon blue burst out from beneath the cockpit. A blaze of orange lit up the space behind said cockpit. The G-force readout spiked upwards. In a split second, Dust Monarch found herself ejected from her fortress. Arching across the sky at extreme altitude, her trademark orange scorched across the sky, inbound for its target.“Next stop, Legion airspace, Mistral Kingdom!”---It was another clear, hot day in the Vacuo deserts.Thundering sounds of airship engines roared through the sky.The air reeked of Dust. The sky’s blue was blotted out by the industrial grey of battlecruisers. Motors whirled away, bringing broadsides to bear on a singular point in the distance. Shaped like a spider, every step it took to traverse the barren wasteland caused the sand dunes to shift.“Umbral Grimm Blackwidow in range! All missiles primed and ready to launch!”A navigator announced from the main ship.“All units, open fire!”One after another, dozens upon dozens of launch tubes opened up. For a split second, the very sky these cruisers flew in was lit up in the missile fuel’s orange glow. Barrage after barrage, several hundred tons’ worth of high explosives were guided towards their target in the horizon.The contrails alone smeared the sky with a translucent white veil.Beyond the horizon, the projectiles rained down onto the Grimm. In the sequence of detonations that followed, the weapon’s immense explosive energy punched down on the Grimm like an iron fist.However.Despite the extreme temperatures, despite the volume of fire, it only managed to slow Blackwidow’s advance. Flakes of the white armor were thrown into the air, but the Grimm’s actual body was completely undamaged.Observing from an altitude beyond the reach of Grimm, a plane bearing the Legion’s insignia circled around at cruising speed. It provided the armada with a bird’s eye view of their battle against the Umbral.It was also thanks to this spotting craft that the scale of this aggressor could be truly appreciated. Even with a full salvo from the entirety of the armada, the missile’s impact points had barely covered the center of its body.“Forget the missiles then. Load AP rounds. If possible, All main guns, take aim. We only have to hold out for another minute before Lord Helen arrives.”“Yes, sir!”“AP rounds loaded, ready to fire!”“Target range acquired!”One after the other, the officers positioned within the Combat Information Center gave their confirmation.“FIRE!”With the command issued, the crew braced themselves for the shockwaves from the cannon’s firing. Plumes of smoke poured out of the airships’ barrels. Within the twenty ship fleet, the five capital ships that served as the backbone of the fleet’s firepower opened fire. Volley after volley, a rain of 380mm shells were lobbed skywards. With the cannons elevated well above 45 degrees, they opened fire at a range of 10 kilometers.Though this was a defensive fleet, they were still trained in anti-ship combat. They had no specific armement or tactic to take on the Grimm. But, against the immense strength of an Umbral Grimm, any and every tactic will be taken into consideration to bring it down.In this case, plunging fire.In giving the shells a much higher ballistic arc, it would in theory flatten the unnatural slope of any Grimm or enemy ship’s armor.The crew understood this, and could only hope that the unknown that was the Umbral Grimm’s armor was within their weapon’s penetration range.The Combat Information Center waited in silence for the live feed from the spotter craft to reveal the result of this effort. Strike after strike, the weight of the projectiles as they impacted could be seen in Blackwidow’s lurching movements.Screeching and twisting in agony, the Umbral’s advance was slowed once more. The initial shots punctured its armor but failed to penetrate any further. The remaining shots were still in the air, but would soon drive a hole through the weakened bone plating.With a chilling screech, an intense burst of yellow light rushed forward. The attack scythed across the sand dunes, covering an area up to several hundred meters in altitude. Covering the several kilometers in a blink of an eye, the laser attack hit its mark.The ships caught in the attack flickered in the yellow light. At the altitude of the attack, the lower hulls of the ships bore the brunt of the impact. Such a place was normally home to ammunition belts, fighter hangars with a range of munitions, and Dust supplies.As soon as the flickering beam had cleaved its way through the ships, the inevitable happened.“Unit 3 through 16 are gone, sir! That monster is now on to us!”“Damn it! At this rate, we’ll --”“Report, sir! Friendly signal, approaching at high speed!”Diving down from above, a streak of crimson blasted toward the Umbral.The Blackwidow screeched in agony some seconds later.Echoing through the entire desert, it withered and collapsed after being pierced by the supersonic projectile. Its weakened armor was completely crushed by the impact, with the weapon piercing through the sternum of the Grimm.Black with red highlights, its markings bore a different appearance compared to one of the Legion general’s recently destroyed weapons. Its long, streamlined form was undoubtedly that of a spear. Its golden tip, protruding out from the corpse, began to pulse.In a blinding flash, the sand on which the Umbral lay was violently uprooted. The scarlet pillar of fire ascended into the sky, the fire spreading itself into burning in the manner of a cross.Watching from a safe distance, Helen tightened her grip on her weapon. Identical in every way to the one that had just exploded- from its intricate markings to the alien etchings on the golden tip, it was undoubtedly the very same spear.Her previously all black armor glinted hints of purple under the intense desert sun.