Defense Down

"This… This is an assault!" The CCTS tower being meant they couldn't call for reinforcements, and the bridge being destroyed cut off any chance of escape on foot. It only took the Special Operative in charge of the base a moment to piece things together in her head. Turning around, she began giving out orders.

"I want all of our ground forces to move to Island A2. Don't let them touch those airships!" The people sitting in front of their screens nodded. "Yes, Mam!" Immediately they began sending down the orders through the chain of command. With that done, the Special Operative went over to a nearby wall with a panel on it.

Pushing a singular button, she activated the voice comms to the entire base. "This is Special Operative Caroline Cordovin! Raise all alarms and prepare for battle! Show the fools who are trying to stifle us the might of Atlas and its Military!" Her words were heard loud and clear by everyone, and they even were heard by citizens on the mainland.

If the lightning hadn't alerted the people of Argus, that most certainly did. "Well, now I have something to look forward to during this." Rushing from both islands A1 and A2, many Atlas Soldiers were running to deal with the intruders. "Form a line! The enemy will go for the aircrafts next! Well, be here to meet them when they arrive!"

Orders were being given down as the bridge leading to the aircraft ports was completely blocked off by Atlas Military Soldiers. As they all stood there, locked in their positions, they were quiet. Aside from the alarms going off and the slight shuffling of footsteps, no one made a sound. Footsteps echoed out from in front of them as a singular figure came into view.

"Is that… A member of the White Fang? Don't tell me they did this." With one soldier saying that their enemy seemed to be clear. "But there's just one of him." Shen was standing on the bridge all alone without any reinforcements or allies' insight. "It doesn't matter. We have our orders. Open fire!" Despite everyone's doubts, the officer in charge gave the order.

Over a hundred barrels were aimed directly at Shen before firing. Blue flashes of light lit up the bridge and the surrounding sky like fireworks. Piercing Shen's body dozens of times over, he didn't seem to move, but small holes tore into him. The firing continued for five seconds straight before stopping.

"That seemed a bit overkill. Where is the rest of the enemy? There's no way that guy came here alone." Taking their attention off Shen, who was most certainly dead, everyone began scanning the rest of the bridge. However, before their gazes could even move a few inches, they heard a voice. "So you all really cant kill me."

Their heads looked back onto Shen, who was still standing. Despite having holes in his body, no one saw flesh or inners but instead just blue light. Electricity crackled from each hole as they closed up in sync. He looked no different from before without even his clothes being ruffled. "How… How the hell is he still alive? Is it a hologram?"

Confusion enveloped the Atlas Soldiers as fear also began to rise. "Hold steady! Prepare to fire!" Having to take control of the situation, the Atlas Officer yelled at his men. Preparing his arm to signal another attack, he suddenly saw a flash of light. A trail akin to that of lightning flew right past the side of his head.

Before he could say another word, he felt something pierce through his chest as his entire body was lifted off the ground. "Agh…" Spitting out blood, he could barely turn his head around. The Atlas Soldiers who were staring at Shen just a second ago did the same in utter shock. Shen's hand had gone straight through the Atlas Officer's chest and in his hand was his heart.

"I'm afraid none of you will be firing your guns again." Crushing the Atlas Officer's heart in his hand, he pulled his arm out of his chest, letting the body fall to the ground. None of them had seen him move, and just like that, their Officer was dead. The thought that could have been them caused their hearts to grow cold.

Their hands trembled as one soldier who had fallen back in shock grit and teeth and prepared to aim at Shen. Glancing at him, Shen smirked. Once again, his body transformed into lightning, appearing behind that Atlas Soldier. With a quick blow to the head, their body slammed in the ground, cracking it, dying on impact.

"Ahh!" Finally, someone let out a scream which broke the soldier's remaining will. They began spreading out immediately, running in different directions. However, at that point, it was just a game of chase. Like a chain, Shen's body transformed from lightning as he began appearing one Atlas Soldier at a time.

With one swift move, not even utilizing Gae Bolg, which he had left behind, he killed them and moved to the next. Over one hundred soldiers were on the bridge that night leading to the island which housed the airships. And in less than five minutes, Shen killed every last one of them. Calling it a gruesome sight would be putting it lightly.

As the rain continued to pour down, bodies littered the ground, drenched in the blood of dozens of others. Moving his gaze from the corpses under his feet, Shen's eyes were cold. Taking his time, he began walking towards the Airships location, phasing straight through the gate. Looking around, he saw there were no more Soldiers in the area.

But one thing did catch his eye, and that was oil tanks lining one of the walls. 'Well, if the Just Cause series taught me anything.' His eyes flashed with mischievous intent as back on the main base island Caroline looked tense. Looking at one of the men stationed at a control panel, she asked. "We still can't get in contact with anyone from the A2 bridge?"

The man shook his head. "No, we had heard the officer in charge gave the order to fire. But after that, all got is static and silence." Caroline clenched her fist, looking back out of the window in front of her. It was pitch black outside, and the rain didn't help either. Thanks to Shen blowing it up, the lights on the bridge had been cut out completely.

There were around three hundred personnel at this base. Around half of them were Soldiers, while the rest were miscellaneous such as maintenance, pilots, etc. By all means, that had sent the bulk of their offensive force forward. However, now they were getting no response which could only mean one thing.

Their total visibility was limited to their HQ building. "Dammit!" As if synced to her hand slamming against the window. It seemed like in the pitch black of night. The sun had appeared. The clouds turned orange, and the entire sky was lit up. An explosion went off that engulfed the entire island holding the airships.

Followed by the first were multiple chain reactions leading to even more explosions occurring. A shockwave of pure pressure and sound flew in every direction as Caroline's eyes lit up. When the shockwave reached their HQ, every glass window shattered as the ground shook. It was as if a typhoon and earthquake had hit them simultaneously as everyone was knocked backwards.

"Oh my god!"

"What the hell is happening over there!"

"Is it a Grimm attack?"

Watching from the edge of Atlas, thousands of citizens had gathered. The commotion had gotten their attention, and when originally they saw nothing, they were blinded. Although not as intense, the shockwave caused for a strong breeze to wash over them. Just like that, one of the islands that acted as one of Argus's main defenses against Grimm was destroyed.

"Everyone, please move back!" The Police eventually arrived on the scene, telling Citizens to move away from the city's edge. They couldn't do anything at this point due to the bridge being destroyed, so they focused on public order. "Excuse me." Moving through the crowd, a red-haired girl that everyone recognized appeared.

One of the Police Officer's had his eyes widen as he spotted her. "Your Pyrrha Nikos!" Pyrrha was wearing her Huntsman outfit. Having both Miló and Akoúo̱ her shield and weapon in hand, she looked towards the officer. "What's going on? What happened?" Listening to her question, the Police Officer shook his head.

"We're not sure. The bridge leading to the Atlas Military base was suddenly blown up, and now this. We cant contact them or reach them at all and were receiving alarms left and right." Pyrrha frowned as she looked towards the large collum of smoke rising into the air from the previous explosion. Gripping her shield tight, she turned and looked towards the destroyed bridge.

"Sorry about this." The officer was confused when he heard her apologize. "What?" Without giving an answer, Pyrrha ran past the perimeter the Police had made towards the broken bridge. "Wait! What are you doing!" The Police Officer called out as people saw Pyrrha running towards the bridge.

Taking a deep breath, her running speed increased as she approached the part of the bridge that was broken. Reeling back her arm, she threw her shield across the gap before jumping herself. Her jump cleared half of the gap as she utilized her semblance in the next instance. A black aura surrounded her shield as it froze in mid-air, acting as a platform as she landed on it and jumped again with full strength.

Flying back to her hand, she grabbed her shield and landed on the other side, clearing a fifty-meter jump. Everyone watching was surprised but began cheering as well. Everyone knew who Pyrrha was as she was the pride of Argus and its Academy. Ignoring the voices behind her, Pyrrha had a serious look on her face as she ran ahead straight towards the Atlas Military's HQ.

'I hope I'll be able to make it in time to help before anything else happens' Her mind was full of worry and driving force as scenes began to play out at her destination. "Ugh…" Lying on the ground covered in shattered glass, Caroline struggled to sit up. "Awake? I wasn't expecting that explosion to do so much damage. Even your men were knocked out by it."

Looking up, her eyes landed on Shen, who had a smile on his face. He was sitting lazily where the window that was shattered used to be. "You… Your apart of the White Fang?" Recognizing his attire and mask, Shen nodded. "Yes, although I wasn't expecting it to be so easy. I mean, really, can you believe I did this all by myself."

His words seemed to shake Caroline as she stood up. "Impossible… There's no way you did all this alone. Atlas-" She was cut off as Shen hopped to his feet. "Well, luckily for me, you believe me or not isn't a factor here. If you didn't notice…." Holding up his hand, a Life Fiber attached to one of his fingers trailed its way to Caroline's neck.

Yanking on it, she had no way to resist and was pulled towards him. "Your life is literally in my hands." Grabbing at the Life Fiber, Caroline felt it tighten as it became hard to breathe. However, suddenly it began to loosen as Shen retracted the Life Fiber. " But it seems fortune is on your side. I already got what I wanted, and you and everyone else here really aren't worth killing."

He barely got any XP from those Atlas Soldiers. It was pretty pathetic to look at. "What? What were you after then…." Caroline questioned Shen, but in response, he just laughed. "Sorry, but I'm not about to monologue my entire plan out to you. You and the rest of Argus will see with a good time but until then-"

Frowning for a second, Shen looked up towards the metal sliding door leading to the room. A loud bang echoed from it as it dented in slightly. Within the same moment, yet another bang came from the door as it was sent flying. Raising his leg, Shen kicked it out of the way when it came in range, slamming into a nearby wall.

Shen's eyes widened for a moment before regaining their composure. He began changing the way he spoke as he said something. "Well, if it isn't the pride of Argus, the Invincible Girl herself. Although your a little late to the party as things are getting wrapped up here." Walking into the room was Pyrrha. She was panting and sweating, showing she ran full speed here.

Most of the people she came across were either unconscious or slightly injured. Every last person still awake mentioned they saw a flash of blue light near the control room, which is how she ended up here. Looking at Shen and she glanced at the surrounding unconscious Atlas Personel and Caroline. "Your the one responsible for all of this?"

Shen shrugged. "Depends if you believe in the concept of indirect cause." He said it in a joke-like tone as Pyrrha suddenly raised her arm. Originally resembling a normal short blade, her weapon began to unfold and extend its hilt, transforming into a javelin. Raising his hand, Shen saw her throw it directly at him without hesitation.

A black aura surrounded her javelin as it flew, utilizing her Semblance. In that same instance, just as Shen planned on deflecting it, something strange occurred. Almost like a glitch, Shen's hand turned into electricity before quickly shifting back. The sudden change caught him off guard as the Javeline pierced through his hand.

It stopped halfway through as Shen raised a brow. "Oh?" Raising his hand with the Javeline still in it, he looked at the wound before looking back at Pyrrha. "Well, that's interesting." Ignoring what Shen was saying, Pyrrha recalled her weapon. Flying out of Shen's hand, it returned to her as she rushed forward and prepared to attack.

In a matter of seconds, the wound on his hand began to heal at an incredible pace. Looking back up at Pyrrha, Shen held out his hand again but attacked first. A pulse of lightning fired straight out of his hand at a speed she couldn't react to. Slamming into her body, her Aura protected her from being electrocuted, but she was sent flying back, slamming onto the ground.

Shen watched as she quickly jumped back up, recovering herself with her eyes still focused on him. "I'm afraid we'll have to have our fight at another time. I still have things to do, and they can't wait. But trust me, I'm just as eager for it as you are." With that, Shen's body transformed, and the next second, in a flash of electricity, he was gone.

"Who was that…." Whispering to herself, she touched her chest where Shen had struck her. Despite her Aura blocking the attack, it hurt a lot, in fact. Keeping a straight, she shook her head. 'No point on dwelling on it for now.' Turning her attention to Caroline and the Atlas Personnel, she began tending to each one at a time.

'His voice did sound slightly familiar, though.'