Author Note: For this story I decided to alter the ages of some characters, namely the first years and especially Ruby Rose. The first years are all eighteen years of age except for Ruby who is 16. This story is a little darker, with weapons causing physical damage as well as damage to their auras. And I felt really weird writing a 15 year old getting shot so sue me. Most of the other characters including the villain ages will remain the same unless I specify otherwise within the story. Also deaths will occur, so enjoy!

Chapter One:

Dawn of the End

Beacon Tower

9:23 AM

5 Hours 18 Minutes Since

First Breach

Ozpin continued to sip his coffee despite the series of explosions that reverberated even through the tallest tower in beacon. That had to be the fifth series of controlled explosions in the last five hours or so. And Grimm were still pouring thru the previous four breaches without any sign of stopping, he was going to have a massacre on his hands. Another sip of coffee, the only thing he could do was get the civilians out of here.

"Headmaster sir!" a VPD officer stood smartly at attention with only a slight waver betraying his apprehension and fear. He had asked the VPD for a complete rundown of the mornings events, if for no other reason than to at least feel like he was doing something in this makeshift command center.

"Report if you would officer" Ozpin was a little uncomfortable at the salute, he had never understood the almost absurdly rigid discipline that was the hallmark of militaries like Ironwood's, of course it seemed like that wasn't the only thing he had misunderstood about the Atlas general…

" Yes sir!" and with another smart salute he began. "It is now believed that at roughly O-four hundred operatives believed to be working with the White Fang terrorist organization managed to create a sizable gap in the wall adjacent to the agricultural district sir!" a pause to catch his breath " under the cover of the mayhem produced be the first breach they than proceeded to breach the same stretch of wall twice more." A slight tremble entered his voice at that part of the tale, the VPD had been the first responders at those breaches and had been hit hard. " at roughly O- eight hundred the wall was breached again, this time along the commercial district, and the most recent breach has been confirmed in the commercial district as well sir!"

"Thank you officer you are dismissed", one final salute was the officers only response as he wearily headed to the elevator to catch some rest before the inevitable call for reinforcements. And again Ozpin stood alone in the middle of his command center wishing desperately for his friends advice. But Goodwitch had headed of towards the first commercial district breach in an attempt to seal it, along with the help of a platoon of officers and a half dozen or so hunters, he had not heard from them for close to an hour. Qrow had gone down to assist the VPD in delaying the encroachment of Grimm in the agricultural sector so the remaining civilians could escape, he and his accompanying hunters were in a slugging fest according to their last report but they at least appeared to be holding ground for now. Ironwood appeared content to wait it out in the floating stadium, his army and fleet floated menacingly above the carnage but offered no support, to what end Ozpin had no idea, but it could not be good. He turned to one of the com operators fury beginning to build, "try to raise Glynda and her team again!" he paused to calm himself "and somebody connect me to the general!" his people, his kids were out their fighting and dying, and the general better have a damn good reason for it!

Commercial District

8 Blocks South of 4th Breach

9:35 AM

5 Hours 30 Minutes Since

First Breach

Yang slide behind some rubble next to her sister just as an explosion shredded her previous cover. " I don't fucking believe it!" Ruby leaned out and fired a couple shots, dropping a charging ursa.

"Believe what Yang?"

"Those fuckers just dropped another wall segment!" she stood up to send a few projectiles towards a deathstalker. "and we haven't even finished sealing up this breach!" she angrily began fishing for a new strip of kinetic rounds.

" More like we haven't even begun sealing this one" she reloaded her scythe " I'm down to three boxes and twenty misc. rounds, you?"

" two strips each" with an angry jerk, she hadn't though they would need more. In and out, that was what this mission was supposed to be. The first series of explosions had caught people by surprise, they never thought to secure the breaches simply stem the tide and evacuate the civies, so with everyone one high alert by the time the fourth breach was made command figured they could use Glynda's telekinesis to seal the breach, what they hadn't counted on was the White Fang fortifying the breach so no one could get close. And the narrow streets, which were so effective at funneling the Grimm into scope, had proven effective for the white fang operatives as well. "it would have been nice if uncle Qrow had warned us about the operatives!". She sent a projectile into the face of a fang infantryman and he was thrown from his perch on a roof and landed with a sickening thud.

" They never even got close to the breach, there was no way he could have known" she rolled out of cover and fired a round before scampering back behind the ruined husk of a building she was sharing, rounds clanging of the stonework around her. The faunas she had been aiming for was not so lucky, Crescent Rose's heavy round took the operative in the right leg passing clean thru just below the hip, completely removing his leg.

" We have to get closer!" Yang ducked further behind the wall as rounds began hammering around her position; apparently a fang gunner had caught sight of her glowing hair. "We don't have the ammo for this kind of fight and while we sit here getting our Asses shot up those fuckers are probably planting more charges!"

"Easier said than done sister!" Ruby rolled out of cover again to deal with Grimm that had begun moving towards their impromptu pillbox. This time she only got off one shot before gunfire drove her back under cover, this time with a couple more holes in her hood for her trouble. She began mumbling as she jacked another round into the chamber "those dirty bastards…mumble mumble…shooting at a little girl… mumble mumble…this was my favorite hood too".

" At least it was your hood this time and not you" Ruby gave a crooked smile at that and reflexively moved her shoulder. Earlier in the day Ruby had tried using her semblance to blow past the Grimm and close the distance with the White Fang operatives and had gotten a hole clean through her shoulder for her trouble. Yang stood up and released a round straight into a Beowulf that had approached with in a dozen or so yards " I think we have over stayed our welcome in this sector…"

Ruby pointed to the destroyed remains of a building about a block back, three stories tall and situated at an intersection. "From that vantage point I can probably remove some of the gunners, enough for you to make a push". That is what they had been doing for over an hour, retreating and advancing, pushing them back and being pushed back. And always coming back a little bit more banged up and with a lot less ammo. With the White fang seeming as nearly endless as the Grimm.

" Sounds like a plan NOW MOVE!" with that Yang sprung up and unleashed a hale of Kinetic rounds on the approaching grim and the nearby Fang units. Under the cover of this impressive display of firepower, Ruby retreated towards their designated fall back point, before she turned around to cover her sisters own retreat. "Son of a bitch!" Yang managed to make it to the second floor before collapsing in pain, nursing a new hole through her calf "son of a god damn bitch!" she sat down and began bandaging her calf as her sister continued to thin the herd. "That was the last of our medical supplies!" she angrily threw the empty pouch at a wall "where the hell are Blake and Weiss?!"

Ruby shrugged before dropping another faunas "I have no idea, something is jamming our comms and I have not been in contact with them since they left to support the other sectors" she fired again this time turning a ursa's head into a pulpy mass. "You ready to move up again?"

" I just got here!" Yang grimaced again as she leveraged herself up "fuck this shit"

"Is that a yes or no?"

" It's a yes" she began limping down stairs "and for the love of God get the damn comms up and running or this is going to end very poorly for the both of us"

" Less talking more running please!"

" FUCK THIS SHIT!" this time it sounded more like a battle cry.

Commercial District

3 Blocks South East of 4th Breach

9:42 Am

5 Hours 37 Minutes Since

First Breach

"So how exactly are we supposed to get over there?" Blake slid further down into the hiding spot she shared with Ren. "Because I don't think stealth will be much of use".

Ren simply shrugged, "true, but if that thing is the device responsible for our comm troubles we may not have much of a choice in the matter". The device in question certainly looked like a signal jammer, or at least what they thought a signal jammer should look like complete with rotating communication dishes and all. "And it appears to be something valuable seeing as they have… how many guards?"

"Twelve… wait no… fourteen guards" Blake was not liking these odds, nor was Ren for that matter after he let out a long sigh.

"Well at least we have plenty of ammunition" which was true, as they had not fired a shot after splitting up from the rest of their detachment and decided that hunting for whatever was playing havoc with their comms was a priority. "I think you are right with regards to sneaking, but we should try to get as close as we can before we start our headlong charge". The device in question was a good two blocks away from their current position, which was already deep in White Fang controlled territory to begin with.

Blake decided to voice what they were both thinking, "if we get pinned down out here we are beyond fucked…"

"What a cheery thought, so… ladies first?"

She rolled her eyes at that "what a gentleman" before vaulting their low cover as she and Ren gradually made their way towards their objective. Sticking to the shadows of the burned out commercial district.

Commercial District

6 Blocks South West of 4th Breach

9:45 AM

5 Hours 40 Minutes Since

First Breach

"Now Nora!" at Weiss's command Nora sent a single grenade thru a second story window, a few seconds later the resulting explosion sent bits of rubble and faunas flying everywhere. If she had time to think Weiss would have probably thrown up, and while she would most certainly see these images later in her sleep, she was too preoccupied with not dying to fret over them now. Though with how well this fight was going, she may not live long enough to care. "See if you can find some VPD officers to occupy that building!"

" Okie dokie!" and with that she sped of to find the remnants of the VPD squad they saved.

She and Nora had stumbled upon the officers purely by chance, due to the communication blackout Glynda hadn't known that the leftmost part of her line had been in perilous danger of collapsing, and she was almost certain command knew nothing of their dire situation. Goodwitch had been tempted to send a runner for aid but had decided that any weakening of the unit would likely end in them being overrun. Which may have been true, but as long as whatever was fucking with their communications was up and operational the result would likely be the same.

" Schnee! I found them!" Nora came bounding up full to the brim with her ridiculous enthusiasm despite their nearly hopeless situation. The officers on the other hand did not bound and seemed to be filled with dread rather than any form of enthusiasm.

"Who is in charge of this unit?"

"An ursa took the sergeants head clean off… so… I guess I am mam" the officer who had spoken up looked barely older than Weiss herself.

" Understood you take your me into the building Miss Valkyrie and myself just cleared" she paused to make sure this was registering to the young man, at his nod she continued "you will be watching our backs as we advance towards the breach"

His face blanched at that "mam bu-bu-but-"

"What?" Nora had already gone off ahead and Weiss needed to catch up, street fights were not her forte and having someone with a massive hammer and a grenade launcher for clearing buildings was beyond beneficial.

"I-I-Im down to six men and all but one are wounded!"

"You will simply have to make due officer" she tried to avoid being to harsh, everyone was scared but unlike her he and his men did not have what essentially boiled down to superpowers. "All we can do is fight" almost as if on cue a couple of explosions went off in the direction Nora had traveled. And as Weiss began running to catch up she thought she heard Nora's distinct cackle. She sometimes envied Nora's infectious enthusiasm, but she always pitied Ren.