Into the Fire

There is no definitive date for releases, especially after chapter 5 which im still working on plotline for. Be patient and constructive criticism is encouraged!

After the fall of Beacon, life was never the same. After the fall of Beacon the Valean People's Army (VPA), the new face of Vale's armed forces declared martial law. The Atlas Grand Fleet (AGF) under the command of General James Ironwood overstepped its boundaries and began continental bombing runs on the remainder of Beacon's ruins and high Grimm concentrations across Sanus.

The Vale Council in anger of Atlas' bombings along with the civilian and some military casualties involved, and their own ambition, declared war on Atlas. Any remaining huntsman of Beacon were enlisted to the VPA's growing army.

Vacuo and Mistral refused to join in the conflict. Ozpin miraculously still alive after the fall, attempted to rally forces. The huntsmen he rallies are few, among those he gathers are Ruby Rose, Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Yang Xiao Long, and Sun Wukong. Weiss Schnee was taken by Jacques Schnee back to Atlas to serve in their specialist army.

Pyrrha narrowly surviving Cinder, was killed by Jaune not too long after. Driven by grief for his deeds Jaune quickly rose through ranks, and became one of Vale's deadliest. Ren was driven into a hatred of all of Atlesian peoples after Nora Valkyrie was gunned down by SDC soldiers.

Yang was narrowly saved by Blake from Adam's attempt to kill her. Blake Belladonna had gone missing afterwards and assumed KIA.

The ex-Headmaster Ozpin, now titled General Ozpin decided it in the VPA's best interests to send for Mistrali reinforcements, which he hopes will come to Vale's aid. The others were to serve in the defense of Vale against Atlesian offensive efforts.

Ozpin himself was left in charge of many of Vale's operations due to Atlas assassinations of the majority of Vale's council. Ozpin sends Qrow Branwen and Glynda Goodwitch along with 100 of Vale's finest to retake Beacon Territory back from the Grimm and White Fang.


Jaune along with Ruby trudged down the long path across Sanus that would eventually lead to a port which in turn would bring them to Anima and in turn, Mistral. He had been broken over his killing of Pyrrha. They served together for a time, until that one mission.

They were surrounded by Atlesian soldiers, their aura's were low but they cut every last one of the soldiers down, killed all of them. He sensed movement behind him and instinctively swung Crocea Mors behind him expecting to hit Atlesian combat armour. Instead the blade slid right across Pyrrha's throat. It penetrated her aura, it being so low already, blood gushed out like a broken faucet.

He remembered so clearly now, she looked into his eyes bleeding out in his arms, her last words being that she loved him. He always blamed himself for her death… it was his fault after all.

He never told anyone the true story, said she died in combat saving him. Much easier to accept than the truth. Now he was on a mission for Ozpin, the general refused to give them an airship for worries of being intercepted. The still young Ruby Rose, now 18 was with him. All of his old 'friends' besides her including himself were 20 by now.

Jaune was truly famed in the VPA, his kill count unimaginable. He wore much stronger armour now. Titanium plating could be seen covering his entire sword arm while his shield arm only guarded by thick cloth. The shiny titanium covered his torso in a scale like pattern. His pants were more flexible, a lighter reinforced aluminum metal along with resistant cloth. His combat boots could be seen as normal, but one could see the top of a flask inside the boot.

Along with Crocea Mors, Jaune carried a dust pistol on his right thigh. Forced to compensate for his lack of a ranged weapon he also carried a machine gun attached to his bag for good measure. Oh how he wanted to keep Pyrrha's weapons, but he had respectively sent them back to any family she had left in Mistral. He did finally find his semblance as well, that was a positive.

Ruby hadn't changed too much and still wore a combat skirt. However her usual hyperness gone, and her silver eyes that of iron. She had killed… she hated it, but war was war and she had no choice. Yet even as her personality had changed, she still had a soft spot. From time to time her heart opened up, to find nobody there.

Ruby glanced over to Jaune, she felt bad for the boy, he had so much sadness and hatred. He was no longer the Jaune she once knew, possibly a part of the old him was inside there somewhere. Or it had been killed along with Pyrrha.

Ruby also realized that she too was no longer her younger self. She had changed as well.

Jaune's cobalt eyes scanned the terrain around them for threats. Those eyes were not the old friendly and nervous eyes, they were stern, cold, calculating and fearless. Fearless, a quality he always wished to have but came at a cost.

There was a rustle of bushes to the side of them. An Ursa stomped out of them shaking Ruby from her thoughts. It was silenced however, the moment it revealed itself as Jaune ripped Crocea Mors from it's sheathe, throwing the blade. The steel made contact, implanting itself in the Ursa's skull. The beast began to disintegrate as Jaune tore the sword from the Ursa. Grimm were being commonly drawn to Vale's negative attitude in the past years. The old Jaune would only dream of doing such a thing… so easily. The thing that made Ruby worry, he looked bored doing it.

The day drew to a close and the two set up separate tents along with a small fire. Every hour went by, neither saying a word. Ruby had taken the liberty of setting up motion sensors around the perimeter of the camp, so they both could sleep. Not that either would get much either way. Both tossed and turned, neither finding comfort in the padding of their sleeping bags. Ruby nibbled on a ration bar for a bit, while Jaune finally seemed to turn in. Maybe they would get some sleep.

The engines of Valean B-3 Airships roared for all ears to hear. The B-3 was a massive Vale Airship and could go toe to toe with an Atlesian Airship if need be. The three airships moved in formation away from the city of Vale to the ruined estate of Beacon Academy. Qrow could see the silhouette of the old CCT along with the Grimm dragon frozen there, which was his niece's doing.

His mission: accompany 100 VPA soldiers along with Goodwich to Beacon ruins in a desperate attempt to regain it from the Grimm. If they could manage to get the CCT back online, there may be a way to diplomatically end the war between Vale and Atlas. Any couriers were commonly shot down. In the wake of being at war with an technologically advanced nation like Atlas, Vale had to modernize its offensive measures. Therefore the B-3 Airship.

The only difficult thing about the situation was the Griffons and Nevermores, thankfully they were ready for such an attack. Radar picked up the figures of Grimm flying towards them. The B-3's manned heavy dust cannons began to target figures and fire. Grimm fell out of the sky in loads. Why couldn't we have these things at the fall of Beacon? Qrow asked himself, if so the whole situation could've been avoided. Of course, it was the White Fang that really caused the fall, along with the Fall Maiden. One could not count out Roman Torchwick as well, the criminal was claimed deceased by Ruby.

After the fall and before the war, when it was believed Ozpin was dead. Vale and Atlas both moved to crush any sign of the White Fang, that had been one of the events that led to the war. Atlas' extreme tactics led to Vale's declaration of war. Ozpin always tried to avoid conflict, but when they dug him up, ol Ozzy back from the dead, war was upon them. There was no stopping it.

The airships cleared a small area to drop troops inside Beacon. Qrow dropped with the first squad of Valean soldiers, the boys were mere recruits. Qrow directed an estimated 15 men, ordering them to take defensive positions. The men took cover behind rubble preparing for the horde of Grimm that was to come.

Qrow glanced to his right, seeing another B-3 land with Glynda hop off. The roar of Grimm resounded across the campus as many Beowulf leaped out of the darkness. A light rain had begun to fall from the sky. The Valean soldiers in their greenish brown attire fired rounds into the Grimm with a fury. This was the location where it all went wrong and it was their duty to take it back.

Qrow himself leapt into the horde of black and white, his weapon in its scythe form. With one sweeping blow he tore threw multiple Beowulf. There was a screech as more Griffons and Nevermores entered the battle. Qrow only hoped that the airships could cover them.

He could see her, Pyrrha stood before him. She looked perfect. Jaune tried to move but was held still, he reached his left hand up to touch her face. Then her friendly smile slowly turned into a frown. Her eyes began to tear up, his right arm drew Crocea Mors, he couldn't stop it. "Jaune… Why?" Her voice now ghastly uttered.

Blood began to spew from her throat, Crocea Mors' blade tinted crimson. She fell to her knees, still staring into his eyes, emerald piercing sapphire. Then something he never expected happened, something he had never seen before.

Her emerald eyes slowly began to turn lighter, until they became silver. Her very form changed before his eyes. Then before him on her knees bleeding out, was a girl in red, just younger than him, Ruby. Her bloody figure collapsed to the ground Crocea Mors gone from his hand and appearing in her chest-

"NOOOOO!" He awoke screaming in terror, his usually quiet figure gone. Never, would he let a friend die in such a manner. Let alone by his own hand, but why Ruby? She had never appeared in his dreams much before. Jaune looked at himself drenched in sweat, he most assuredly had awoken Ruby.

There was a shadow that moved outside his tent, "J-Jaune are you alright." Asked Ruby. Jaune coughed, "U-Uh, yes. I apologize for waking you Ruby." His voice returned to a cold tone.

Ruby just sighed, "If… If you want to talk about anything. Please, just ask. We had better pack up and get moving." Jaune muttered in agreement stepping out of the tent. He was rather well toned, hard training after Pyrrha's death really did pay off. Ruby couldn't help but steal a glance at his bare upper body. Ptff, old wishes, childish stuff. Jaune pulled on his armor, Ruby was already dressed.

After rolling up their tents and smothering the ashes of their fire, they once again began their trek across Sanus. A sign along the path told them it wouldn't be too far before they reached a small village, Kine's Watch.

Kine's watch soon appeared over the horizon the stone tower in the center of the village gave off no signs of life. The palisade gates were open and they could sense the scent of smoke in the air. Jaune and Ruby both deployed their respective weapons. It was clear that the town was void of life.

Everything was quiet as they entered, too quiet. Blood stained the street, some bodies littered the sidewalk. Jaune poked a body with Crocea Mors, "The Grimm didn't do this… These are bullet wounds. That can't be… there haven't been Atlas attacks out this way for some time!" Ruby took another good look around, "Let's split up, see if we can find anything useful." The knight nodded in agreement and began to walk off in a separate direction.

Jaune treaded carefully through a side street, sword still drawn. Then a gunshot rang out, Ruby had found something! Before he could move a cold hand clasped his shoulder. He whipped around prepared to strike, wait… what was that doing here!

Heavy dust shells pounded an oncoming horde of Nevermores attempting to attack one of the airships. Glynda herself was deflecting horde after horde of beowulf on the ground, occasionally glancing up to see the battle above.

Qrow had just finished cutting down a small tide of creeps when he spotted something unexpected. A trio of soldiers were continuously firing at Grimm and making progress. However, the soldiers seconds later all 'blew up' meaning exploded. Qrow rushed over to their last position to see a figure standing there leaning on a green cane.

The man wore a smug grin and gave Qrow a wave. Who was this man? "Greetings! My name is Cyan Kane, genius, gentleman and criminal mastermind extraordinaire! I take it you must be the famed Qrow Branwen! This is exciting." Qrow only scowled. The man's attire consisted of a purple suit with a plain white undershirt. His hair color was an emerald green color and he had a matching eye color.

"Ah, yes of course you would likely not know me in these parts. However you do know my brother, Roman Torchwick?" Cyan asked. Qrow slowly nodded. Cyan continued, "Well, lesser-half brother, but we trained together and all that fun." He twirled his cane in his hand, expressing his similarity to Torchwick.

"It would seem that little brother bit off more than he could chew, I wouldn't say the same for the beast that killed him though." Cyan laughed madly. Was this man insane? The answer, yeah probably.

"Well, as fun as this one sided chat has been, I can't let you clear these ruins of the Grimm." He bowed, "By the Queen's command!" Qrow brought up his sword as Cyan fired his cane. Qrow avoided the projectiles and slashed at the criminal.

Cyan blocked with ease, wielding his cane around in different positions targeting Qrow's legs and feet. The two traded blows, neither gaining any true ground. Qrow charged with aura enhancing his speed at an attempt to thrust his blade into Cyan's chest. To Qrow's surprise he phased right through his opponent.

"Hahaha, SURPRISE birdy!" Cyan taunted. He was slightly transparent in his aura phased form. The effect was short as Cyan became solid once again.

It must be Cyan's semblance, to phase through a strike. Qrow wasted no time as he sent a kick behind him, catching Cyan in the back. The man's aura flared a bright greenish-blue. Heh, cyan.

The newcomer stumbled backwards then tripped on a rock almost falling on his ass (rather unfortunate). However Cyan recovered and adjusted something on his cane.

The top of Cyan's cane detached from the rest and was launched at Qrow who deflected it back to Cyan, who caught it. In his left hand Cyan had the stick part of his cane and in his right, the top part of his cane which was a hidden blade concealed inside.

Qrow charged once again, Cyan did not even strike him. The criminal simply either deflected Qrow's attacks or phased through them. Qrow stopped striking, breathing heavily getting nowhere.

"Interesting semblance Mr. Kane." Qrow grumbled. Cyan bowed in reply. "You cannot take out the airships though, even if you defeat me, you wont stop Goodwich."

Cyan rolled his emerald green eyes, "Oh cocky Qrow! You are so non-observant! Take a look at your airships."

Cyan was right, Qrow hadn't noticed before but the airships had appeared to of taken heavy damage, smoke flowing from their hulls. The damage was not done by Grimm however, it appeared to of been done by heavy dust cannon fire from hidden ground emplacements.

A squadron of bullheads swooped down from a flaming B-3, one hovered behind Qrow. Then Branwen saw his options and decided to hop onto the bullhead, he could see Goodwitch boarding another.

It had to of been a trap of some sort. Somebody did not want Beacon to be taken back. Ozpin was not going to be happy, he wanted, no… he needed that academy back. The plan just went south, and his niece (Ruby) and the Arc boy were in probable danger. Things just got real serious.

The cold metal hand clasped his shoulder. The metal hand of an outdated atlesian knight 200, the Atlas military developed the AK-225 to combat Grimm and humans alike.

Jaune wasted no time and hand to hand combat not being something he was weak in. He grabbed the hand on his shoulder and flipped the robot over his back, slamming it onto the ground with shattering force.

Now realizing his surroundings he found that he was surrounded by AK-200s. They had full auto dust rifles to bear. A silent capture of him had failed and they now prepared to open fire.

Jaune then activated his semblance with a cold smile. Gold and white aura surrounding him on all sides. The mechs opened fire. 10 robots with full automatic weapons firing at him and… having no effect. Once the dust rounds reached his aura they simply stopped.

Finally all of the AK-200s ran out of ammunition, it was his turn. With a battle cry, Jaune released his aura creating a shockwave. If the dust rounds being flung back at the knights didn't destroy them, the aura shockwave surely did.

Jaune took a deep breath, it was hard to control his semblance, he was confident in smaller uses of it. Now he had to find Ruby, she would of surely came after hearing the gunfire.

Those damn mechs must of got the jump on her. Luckily, he was an excellent tracker.

Darkness clouded Ruby's vision. Her head hurt, bad. She felt around for her weapon, but her search came up empty.

All she remembered was walking through an alley then being grabbed and disarmed by and atlesian knight 200. A shot was fired in her face at point blank range to knock her out, well… that and being cracked in the head by a metal arm.

Her vision cleared up slightly. She was alone in a dark room, blank concrete walls surrounded her with a single steel door.

The oddest thing about what happened to her was the atlesian knight 200s. Those models were outdated when Cinder's virus took control of them at the fall of Beacon. So the question was, why were there atlesian knight 200s in action? Let alone in Valean controlled territory.

Then there was Jaune. What had happened to him? Was he attacked too? Hopefully he was alright. If he wasn't taken, he may be able to get to her.

Also, who was behind the control of the atlesian knights? So many questions, no answers.

Ruby was startled as she heard the steel door move. She backed up against the wall and prepared to use her semblance. The moment the door opened, Ruby launched to it at incredible speed.

This was to no prevail as an AK-200 caught her and slammed her into the ground. The another proceeded to help pick her up and drag her out of the room and down a cold dim hallway. Whoever was controlling the mech's knew her semblance well enough to prepare a counter measure.

They dragged her into a much nicer room, furnished with lush couches and a fireplace, along with other devices. The figure that stood before her, truly was the last person she expected to see. He was supposed to be dead, no, she saw him die.

However, despite all odds, standing in all his glory, cocky grin, white suit and all, was one Roman Torchwick. "R-Roman?" She asked unsure.

The ginger haired criminal leaned forward on his cane with a big smile, "Hey Red, long time, no see!"

YANG DID NEVER LOSE HER ARM, I want this to be known for the future. Jaune has a semblance! Ruby is a person! I think, maybe still a cookie monster! Who knows…...

Please bear with me!