From The Halls of Beacon to the Shore of Atlas

by alpahsierra

What happens when a United States Marine Corps sniper finds himself in the Emerald Forest during Beacon's initiation? Pandemonium most certainly. A different path to the war between Humanity and the Grimm? Now that will remain to be seen.

25. Chapter 21

From the Halls of Beacon to the Shores of Atlas

Inside the transport, the hunters sat in silence, the quiet only broken by the sound of metal meeting metal as Jäger systematically disassembled and reassembled each of his weapons. Finally, the silence was broken by Jaune and Ruby.

"How can you be so calm," they asked at the same time, then looked at each other before Ruby continued.

"I know you killed Mercury, Jäger, I saw the body. But then here you sit, calm as can be as if nothing happened. I just want to know how you can do it. I already know why; Mercury was working with the people who arranged this and tried to get Pyrrha to kill Penny." Hearing this Pyrrha let out a strangled sob. "But I want to know how."

Jäger stood, towering over the girl. "Because it is easy and I am used to it." Jaune opened his mouth, indignation written across his face, but Jäger raised a hand to forestall him. "I killed my first man at 18. With this gun in fact." He patted the pistol at his side. "Three men broke into my family's house early one morning, and my father was out of town on business. They meant harm to me and my family so I acted accordingly. They left in body bags, and I didn't." He shrugged. "After I joined the military it became a fact of life. 9 months out of the year I was in place were people were trying to kill me with such regularity that it became boring. When you spend as much of your adult life as I have staring death in the face and living to tell the tale, speeding others on their way to death no longer has the same meaning as it once did. Death and I are old friends, and while I will go to my grave without regrets, I will not go quietly." He eyed the rest of the airship. "That is something all of you need to recognize. You will come close to death tonight, and you will send others to death. But you must not hesitate. Grimm are easy, you all are used to that, but you cannot hesitate if you are fighting White Fang. If you falter, remember this. They are the ones who released the Grimm into this city, and they are the ones who summoned them here. They are nothing more than Grimm in human form. Kill them as if they were Grimm and more of you will live tonight."

Blake stood. "You are no better than them if you think that!"

He turned to face the bristling cat Faunus. "I did not bring creatures that require years of specialized training into a city filled with civilians. They are terrorists, nothing more, nothing less. And as such I will grant them the mercy that they deserve, the mercy of a swift death." He sighed. "You all are simultaneously repulsed and intrigued by me, I can see it in your eyes. Repulsed by the fact that I kill so easily and without remorse, and intrigued by the same. What it comes down to is this. Weak men sleep safely in their beds knowing that rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf. I am the rough man. I will wreck no end of havoc on those who threaten the weak and the innocent, and when you decided to become hunters you chose the same. Time to face your choice." He looked out the window. "Three minutes to touch down. Everyone arm up and check your weapons. We are going to hit them as hard and fast as we can." He looked around the room, silently categorizing each hunter in the room. "Our primary objective is securing Beacon and clearing it of Grimm. With that in mind, I want the primarily ranged fighters to stay towards the back and provide overwatch. Your job is to eliminate threats to the others before they get to the others. Everybody else, your job is to push forward and clear the initial courtyard of Grimm before setting up in defensive positions. If we can hold the LZ we can eventually get reinforcements." He turned. "Jaune, Pyrrha, you two are with me. Stay on my six and keep your heads on a swivel. Ruby…" as he started to speak, she suddenly turned and sprinted for the ramp, launching herself off the back end of the airship. He sighed. "Well then." His eyes sharpened as he glanced around again. "Blake, Weiss, Nora and Ren, go find Yang and get back to the LZ. Everyone else, same groups as before." He glared across the airship. "I do not give a fuck what you think of me. I am going to do my damnedest to keep all of you alive, and if you do what I say, that will make things so much easier." The ship shuddered. "Landing sequence initiated. Lock and load, it's gonna be a hot one."

—Line Break—

At the Bullhead landing zone, the single craft slowly came to a stop before lowering the ramp. The instant the ramp touched down, Jäger came charging down, MCX firing in bursts as he moved from cover to cover. Behind him, the assembled hunters followed, dust rounds arcing across the courtyards as they moved to take up positions. "Jaune, Pyrrha, on me. We need to get to Ozpin." As the three began sweeping through Beacon, clearing out any Grimm they came across, Jäger spoke into the microphone resting on his collar. "M249. Immediate deployment. 10 yards ahead current location." He turned to Pyrrha and Jaune. "Stay here." He moved forward, weapons at the ready as a small locker slammed into the ground in front of him. Letting his MCX fall against his chest carrier, he hefted the machine gun in his right hand while he slipped two belts of ammunition into his carrier. "Let's go," was all he said as he slammed the locker shut.

—Line Break—

Jaune, Pyrrha, Jäger and Ozpin rode down the elevator to the vault in near silence, broken only by the quiet clinking of Jäger's equipment. Halfway down, he turned to Ozpin.

"I'm prepping the charges the minute we get to the bottom."

Ozpin frowned lightly. "I really don't think that that is necessary James."

Jäger glared at him. "We are about to get into a fight with someone who has partial Maiden abilities, and you have to work on the transfer. Arc is by no means capable enough to fight her, and Pyrrha will be indisposed. I want every possible advantage that could tip the scales in my favor. I'm arming the charges. The detonator will be tied to your heartbeat as well as a distance sensor. If either one trips, the charges will detonate and the vault will collapse, hopefully trapping her beneath the rubble."

Ozpin raised an eyebrow, causing Jäger sighed. "Yes, I know its unlikely, especially given that she would have full capabilities, but I can hope."

Jaune spoke up from where he stood behind Pyrrha as the doors opened and they began hurrying down the corridor. "What is this place? Why are we here?"

It was Pyrrha who answered. "It's…a type of vault."

The blond knight looked betrayed. "You've been here before? What would the school need to hide?"

"It's not what needed to be hid you idiot, but what needed to be protected. Now shut your mouth, you are witnessing things you cannot being to understand," Jäger snarled. He turned to Ozpin. "I'm starting the charges." With that he moved over to a panel on the side of the room and began keying in an authorization code.

Finally seeing the Aura transfer machine, Jaune stopped in his tracks, gazing wide-eyed at the strange contraption and the comatose girl inside.

"What? Who?"

Pyrrha tried to explain. "Jaune..."

Ozpin interrupted. "Pyrrha! Get to the pods!"

Pyrrha looked at Jaune, then ran to the second pod.

"Mister Arc, if you'd like to help, you can stand guard here."

Jaune uncertainly looked at the two, then turned around and got into a guarding stance.

"What do we do now?"

Ozpinbegan on the machine's hologram keyboard. "We, do nothing."

"That's not entirely correct Ozpin," Jäger called. "I'm trying to make sure we survive, you are setting up the transfer, Jaune is trying to look like he is useful." He turned to Pyrrha. "But he is right. You have a decision to make Pyrrha, and it will change who we continue to do things." To underscore his words, the second pod cracked open. "We can still evacuate Amber out of here using the escape route, and at this point, I'd give myself even odds against Cinder." His scroll beeped and he looked at it. "Who is currently inbound." He looked up and locked eyes on Pyrrha. "It's your choice and no one else's."

Pyrrha looked at the pod, then at Jaune, then back to Jäger, hesitating. Her expression changed from uncertainty to sadness, and she wiped a tear from her eye, before looking back to Jaune. She then climbed into the pod without a word, which closed over her.

—Line Break—

In the Beacon courtyard, the students stand prepared to fight the Atlesian Paladin that was charging toward them. As it ran, electricity arced across it and it suddenly powered down, collapsing and sliding to a stop in front of them.

Sun stood first. "Hm. That went better than expected."

Weiss doubled over, exhaustedly leaning on Myrtenaster to keep herself standing.

Yang came sprinting into the courtyard followed by Ren and Nora. "Weiss! You're okay! Have you heard from Ruby?"

Weiss shook her head.

"What about Blake?"

"She went after an Alpha..." She said as she pointed in the direction that Blake ran, "and some members of the White Fang."

"You look for Ruby. I'll meet up with Blake."

Ren spoke up. "Nora, you go with Yang, I'll stay with Weiss. Jäger was right, we can't risk splitting up."

Yang scowled at the mention of the Marine, but hurried off in the direction that Weiss pointed with Nora following closely behind. Weiss weakly gave a thumbs up.

—Line Break—

Ozpin stood before the control panel. "Are you ready?"

From inside the pod, Pyrrha looked at him and slowly nodded.

Ozpin looked almost sick with himself, as the enormity of what he was about to do began to hit him. "I... I need to hear you say it."

"Yes," was all she said as she laid her head back.

Ozpin nodded. "Thank you, Miss Nikos."

He pressed a few more buttons on the screen, and Amber's pod raised up. Inside, she began glowing orange, and her eyelids lightly fluttered. The orange glow traveled along the pipes connecting the two pods - first up to the ceiling, then down to Pyrrha's pod. An orange glow surrounded Pyrrha, who began screaming out in agony.

Jaune spun around in horror. "Pyrrha!"

He ran over to Pyrrha's pod, looking back and forth at each pod, panicking as he tried to understand what was going on. Ozpin looked away.

"I'm... so sorry."

Suddenly, an arrow arced down the corridor and pierced the glass of Amber's pod, burying the head into her in the chest. Amber gasped, and her eyes flared open, before slowly closing again, while the machine began beeping an alarm. Ozpin and Jaune turned around to see Cinder standing halfway down the corridor from them, an obsidian bow in her hand. She lowered the bow, a tiny smirk creeping across her face. As Amber struggled to breathe, Jäger spun out around the corner he had been concealed by, M249 spitting fire down the corridor. Panicked, Cinder dodged backwards, rolling under the stream of lead. Behind him, Amber's body went limp as her heart finally gave out. The green flames that lit the torches throughout the vault suddenly were suddenly snuffed out. As the orange glow of Amber's semblance and aura faded from Pyrrha, the Spartan frantically beat her fists against the glass of her pod. The glow burst out of Amber, shattering the glass in its way, and flew down the corridor to Cinder. The murderer glowed and began floating, gaining long trails of flame around her eyes, while the orange energy swirled around her. Jäger was forced to cease fire as, not realizing what they were facing, Jaune raised his sword and charged towards Cinder.

Ozpin could only yell at Jaune, who ignored his warning. "Stay back!"

Callously, Cinder cast a large fireball at Jaune, who blocked it with his shield but was blasted backwards, landing on his back before Pyrrha's pod.

Seeing her partner in true danger, Pyrrha used her Semblance to rip the pod's door off its hinges, and threw it at Cinder, to no avail. Slowly, the new Fall maiden descended to the ground. Even as she touched down, Pyrrha called her weapons to her using her semblance and charged the woman. She was stopped short by Ozpin.

"Take Jaune and get out of here! Find Glynda! Ironwood! Qrow! Bring them here right away! The tower cannot fall!"

Pyrrha still failed to truly realize the enormity of the situation. "But I can help."

Jäger stalked forward to stand next to Ozpin, efficiently stripping weapons from his harness. "You'll only get in the way." He handed her his guns. "Put these in the locker outside the doors. Ozpin and I will deal with this upstart." In front of him, Cinder's lips pulled back in a snarl of rage at the casual dismissal.

Pyrrha hesitated for a moment but obeyed Ozpin, grabbing Jaune with her free hand and running away. As she ran, Cinder finished her descent to the floor and watched them leave, while the glow, the swirling energy, and the flames around her eyes all disappeared. She turned her attention back to Ozpin and Jäger, her eyes still glowing for a moment.

As Pyrrha ran she heard Cinder behind her. "This whole time... right beneath our feet. She was right about you. Such arrogance."

—Line Break—

Out front of Beacon Tower, Jaune and Pyrrha sprint out the front door.

Jaune was panicking. "Okay, I think I have Glynda's number." He walked away, looking at his Scroll. "Oh, where is it?"

Behind him, Pyrrha turned and silently stared at Beacon Tower. Jaune's voice soon broke her concentration.

"Pyrrha? What was all of that?"

She turned to look at him, but had barely opened her mouth before she was interrupted by a body flying out of the elevator to land on the steps of the tower, followed by a massive explosion from beneath their feet. As they ran to the body and found Jäger unconscious, Cinder used her fire to fly up through the elevator shaft. The two teens stared at the tower in surprise.

"But... Ozpin..." was all Jaune could say.

Pyrrha's voice hardened. "There's no time." She shook her head, then looked at Jaune. "Go. Get to Vale and call for help."

Jaune was visibly confused. "Huh? What are you gonna do?"

She turned her head to stare up at the top of Beacon Tower. Seeing where she was looking, Jaune realized what she planned.

"No... no, Pyrrha, you can't. You saw how powerful she is! Pyrrha, I won't let you do-" She silenced him with a kiss, before pulling away, smiling sadly.

"I'm sorry." Jaune then found himself propelled backwards into an empty locker, which she slammed shut with her semblance.

Jaune was horrified. "Hey! Wait! Stop, stop! Pyrrha, please don't do this!"

Despite his begging, she slowly input the code into the locker, sending it away from Beacon. Stelling herself, she began walking towards the entrance, only to stop short as Jäger's hand wrapped around her ankle.

"You're not going anywhere," came the growling voice, as he stood up and stalked towards his locker.

"Who's going to fight her then? You?"

"Now is not the time to get sarcastic with me Nikos. She kicked my ass and has presumably killed Ozpin. Even if the charges went off." He snorted in dark amusement. "This time I'll be taking her seriously. "His neck cracked as he twisted to look at her. "And I've fought through worse." He slammed the locker shut. "Now, what are the chances you will actually leave if I tell you to?"

"None."

He sighed. "Fantastic. Then here's what's going to happen. I installed an emergency ascent system onto the elevator, but it's slow. You are going to use your semblance to speed things up. Once we hit the top of the tower, I'm out the doors first. Stay out of my line of fire. And let's hope I'm still as lucky as I was in Iraq and Syria."

—Line Break—

Atop the tower, Ozpin's office filled with smoke as Cinder flew up the elevator shaft and walked to the window. As if sensing her presence, the Dragon climbed up to the top, peering at her through the window, and screeches.

"Shhhh," she whispered. "This is your home now."

The Dragon stared at her and uttered a shorter, quieter screech. The new Maiden backed away from the window and held her hand out to the side, focusing on her newfound powers to create a small fireball in her palm. Behind her, the elevator being screeching, causing her to turn around as the fireball dissipated. A few moments later, the sparks came to a stop and the elevator dinged.

—Line Break—

Before the Elevator reaches the top

Inside the elevator, Jäger was muttering to himself.

"Smoke and flash? Ninebanger? Breach charge? Or a flash and frag?"

Pyrrha paused and let the emergency ascent take over. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm trying to decide how to enter the office. Probably a flash and frag. Cut her visibility and balance, then follow that up with a high explosive."

Before he could reach for the equipment, the elevator dinged and the doors opened. Pyrrha didn't hesitate to send her spear flying toward Cinder, who contemptuously dodged it by casually leaning to her right with a smirk on her face.

The spear was immediately followed by Pyrrha's shield, backed by Pyrrha herself, as Jäger's flashbang sailed into the room. Cinder put her arms up, blocking the shield and throwing it aside. While Cinder hovered in the air with the Fall Maiden powers, Pyrrha called her weapons back to her with her polarity, staring down her opponent. Cinder gained a fiery glow around her eyes and went attack Pyrrha, only to be interrupted as Jäger's flashbang finally detonated. He charged into the room through the maelstrom of sound and light, face locked in a rictus of rage as he partially activated his semblance to control the recoil of the M249. Cinder threw her arms and legs out to the sides even before she could see and hear again, forming a fiery shield around her that melted lead rounds before they could impact her. Small burns appeared across her body, but no rounds succeeded in landing the killing blow that Jäger hoped for.

Six small fireballs formed in a circle behind Cinder, and she sent another streak of fire toward Pyrrha, who dove to avoid it. Sweeping her hand to the right, she directed the fire towards Jäger, only to find a cloud of billowing smoke. Snarling, she turned again to Pyrrha, sending a stream of fire the young redhead's way. This time, Pyrrha blocked it with her shield, leaping forwards toward Cinder, powering through the flame. As the fire stops, she spun out from behind her shield, slashing at Cinder's arm with her spear. The blow did not land, as Cinder caught the blade and pulled, turning Pyrrha around. Quickly attacking, Cinder slammed her palm into Pyrrha's stomach, blasted her away.

As Pyrrha smashed into a wall and fell to her hands and knees, a locker slammed through one of the office windows to bury itself into the floor of the office. Jäger burst from the smoke, flame jetting from the barrel of his machine gun as he fired continuously at the unworthy Fall Maiden. As Pyrrha stood back up, her faced hardened as she watched Jäger weave about, as his gun continually spat death. Then the room was filled with silence as the gun clicked empty. Smirking once again, Cinder propelled herself forward with flames jetting from her hands. Before she could attempt to slam into the Marine, Pyrrha leapt into the air above her and wrapped an arm around Cinder's. As Cinder slowed to a stop, Pyrrha positioned her feet on the wall behind her and pushed off, flipping herself over Cinder. The combined momentum allowed the Spartan to flip over and toss Cinder across the floor.

Catlike, Cinder landed on her front and slid, pushing off the floor to get back on her feet. Her smirk became slightly more concerned at the sight that greeted her. As Pyrrha charged forward, shield at the ready, Jäger hefted a MG3 out of the locker, filling the room with the sound of ripping canvas as the modern remaking of Hitler's buzzsaw spat death. The sound disappeared as Pyrrha smashed her shield into Cinder's abdomen, sending her stumbling backwards. Taking the opportunity, Pyrrha struck, hitting Cinder's right hand with the blunt end of her spear, then slashing Cinder's left hand with the spear's blade. She continued the attack, spinning around and slashing across Cinder's abdomen and legs.

Pyrrha spun around to attack again, but Cinder backflipped, kicking Pyrrha up and away. Quickly righting herself, she flipped her spear in her grip, cocked it back, and then threw it toward Cinder while firing the gun mechanism. With a clear line of sight, Jäger opened fire again, trying to force Cinder into the path of the spear. Six fireballs appeared around Cinder again, only to dissipate when she backhanded the spear away. Pyrrha's shield then flew toward her, only to also be hit away.

Following her shield, Pyrrha launched herself toward Cinder and tackled her. Jäger swore as he was forced to fire into the ceiling, rather than risk hitting the girl. The two fought in mid-air until gravity reclaimed dominance and slammed the two into the ground. When the dust settled, Pyrrha had Cinder in a choke hold, and Cinder was barely managing to hold Pyrrha's spear away from her neck. As Jäger tried to find an angle so he could fire on Cinder without hitting Pyrrha, the Dragon flew away, and Cinder's eyes began glowing. Three heads snapped up upon hearing a loud screech coming from outside. Cinder smirked, while Jäger's face hardened and Pyrrha went white with fear. As she set her focus on the Dragon that was flying toward the tower, Cinder finally snapped the spear's melted blade into pieces. Right as the Dragon slammed its wing into the roof of Ozpin's office, Cinder's elbow smashed into Pyrrha's abdomen. The room filled with a green glow as the windows shattered, launching Pyrrha and Jäger across the room. Giant cogs and debris came crashing down into the office, and the CCT's transmitter fell to the ground outside, to smash into pieces.

—Line Break—

Inside the ruins of the Beacon cafeteria, two ideologies clashed as Blake fought her former mentor. "This could've been our day! Can't you see that!?"

Blake shook her head. "I never wanted this! I wanted equality! I wanted peace!" Her attacks were blocked by Taurus who sheathed his sword.

"What you want is impossible!" he backhanded Blake to the ground. "But I understand because all I want is you, Blake." Gambol Shroud was kicked out of her hand before she could fire at the bull faunus. "And as I set out upon this world and deliver the justice mankind so greatly deserves, I will make it my mission to destroy everything you love."

From outside the ruins came Yang's voice. "Blake!"

Yang's voice drew their attention to one of the broken windows. The blonde brawler came into view, still searching for her teammate. "Blake! Where are you!?"

Adam looked at Blake and saw her terrified expression, before returning his gaze to Yang.

"Starting with her." Adam drew his sword and stabbed down into Blake's stomach. Her shriek caught Yang's attention, who turned in time to see Adam stand upright, pulling his sword from Blake's body.

Yang's semblance partially activated. "Get away from her!"

Blake reached towards Adam, begging. "No... please..."

Adam sheathed his sword, smiling. Yang screamed, her eyes turning red and a burst of flame erupting from her as her rage finally activated her semblance fully. She leapt at Adam, drawing her fist back with tears in her eyes. Adam executed a lightning fast quick draw, activating his semblance as his sword cut through the air towards Yang. As she flew through the air past the bull faunus, the lower half of her right arm separated from her. Adam slowly walked toward Yang's unconscious body and swung his sword out to the side, casting blood from its blade. Before he could kill the unconscious Xiao-Long, Nora arrived. Not bothering to announce her appearance, Adam was caught completely by surprise when Magnhild slammed into his side, simultaneously firing the 40mm grenade inside. The blow completely eliminated his aura and sent him flying out of the cafeteria faster than Yang had earlier in the year during the food fight. Without a word, Nora helped Blake up, grabbed Yang and sprinted off towards the LZ.

—Line Break—

Atop Beacon tower, the building looked like a bomb had gone off in Ozpin's office. Trying to recover Pyrrha crawled towards her shield, while Cinder watched on from her position levitating off the floor with flame jetting from her feet. Jäger staggered to his feet off to the side and opened fire once again on the maiden, who snarled and turned to engage him. Looking for a way to distract Cinder, Pyrrha noticed Ozpin's collapsed metal desk and used her polarity to throw it at the corrupt Maiden, knocking her to the floor. Not wasting anytime, she grabbed her shield and rolled across the floor, sitting up on her knees and holding the shield up. With a burst of flame, Cinder threw the now bullet riddled desk off of herself and levitated back into the air.

Pyrrha and Jäger dodged out of the way of two streams of fire that Cinder sent their way and the Spartan attempted to block a third with her shield. She was sent tumbling away when the force was too much, while the heat caused the floor to ignite, forming a wall of flames that separated the combatants from each other. From behind the wall of flame, Pyrrha threw her shield at Cinder, who confidently backhanded it away. Her confindence turned to worry when looked up to see a multitude of the giant cogs floating in the air around her. Using her polarity, Pyrrha summoned her shield to knock Cinder's feet from beneath her and then slammed a cog down on Cinder's abdomen to pin her to the floor. Calling her shield back onto her arm, she then slammed the rest of the cogs together into a pile on top of Cinder. Just as Jäger stepped near the opposite side of the pile of metal, the pile detonated, slamming a cog into him and pinning his unconscious body underneath its weight against one of the remining walls.

—Line Break—

Coming back to consciousness, Jäger struggled to move, pinned as he was beneath the giant cog. Steeling himself, he placed his hands on the cog and strained to move it. Letting his anger fuel him, he let out a roar of the motto of his men. "Death before Dishonor!" With that animalistic shout, Jäger threw the off the cog that had been pinning him, sending it tumbling off the tower. Time slowed to a crawl.

Pyrrha on her knees, arrow through the calf, utterly exhausted, weapons lost or broken.

Cinder, standing above her with arrow drawn back and aimed at her heart.

Ruby, kneeling on the edge, dust and cloak still fluttering around her from her landing.

Jäger reacted instantaneously. Just as Cinder released, his arm came forward, sending the axe that he did not remember drawing hurtling towards her followed by a roar of pure rage. The arrow flashed across the distance and buried itself into Pyrrha's chest. Ruby, seeing this, let out an agonized cry of, "Pyrrha!" Silver light flowed from her eyes as she was surrounded by an ethereal glow. As the world went to greyscale, the axe sliced into the side of Cinder's face, taking her right ear and part of her cheek with it. Her incredulous scream was drowned by the Dragon's roar as Ruby collapsed onto the broken floor of Ozpin's office. Utilizing her powers, Cinder soared off, trailing blood.

Jäger sprinted over to Pyrrha's still form. She had slumped onto her side after being hit, and laid there, gasping for breath.

"Come on, come on, come on," Jäger muttered as he ripped his medkit open. Drawing his Ka-Bar, he sliced the arrow off half an inch above the skin, and immediately covered the wound with a chest seal. Then, as he prepped a decompression needle, he hit the emergency transmit on his Scroll, automatically connecting to all scrolls in the area that could take a call.

"This is Kristiansen. I need a CasEvac from the top of Beacon tower immediately. I have two down, one unconscious, borderline comatose, and another severely wounded." He plunged the needle into Pyrrha's thoracic cavity and opened the valve. This allowed the built up pressure to escape before he closed the valve, sealing the wound for the time being

Ironwood's voice crackled over his scroll. "Jäger, this is the general. Say again?"

"I need a Casualty Evacuation fucking yesterday! Subject is severely wounded, if she doesn't have surgery within 25 minutes, she will to die."

"I've got a Bullhead 3 minutes out."

"Tell those pilots to fucking hurry. And have an ICU Crash Cart ready on the pad, with a surgeon team prepped and ready to go for emergency surgery. Subject took an arrow to the chest, is currently suffering from a punctured aorta and sucking chest wound. I've managed to seal the wound, but her BP is dropping fast. She's at 60/40, and has lost a lot of blood. I'm going to have to start an emergency transfusion soon." He drew a steadying breath. "I'm not fuckin screwing around here Ironwood, we have barely 20 minutes until she dies. If we are lucky."

"Who is it?"

"Pyrrha Nikos."

Jaune's anguished wail could be heard all the way at the top of the Tower.

Jäger slapped himself to not lose focus, the crack audible over the call. "I'll do what I can, but I'm not a medic. Get a team ready and a vehicle here, and make it fuckin quick. Kristiansen out."

As the call disconnected, he feverishly went to work. Drawing a length of rubber tubing and two hollow needles from his kit, he created a makeshift IV line, with himself as the source. Gently, he rolled Pyrrha onto her back, careful to not exacerbate her wound any further. Then, he inserted one needle into the vein at her elbow, watching as the tube filled with blood. Carefully, so as not to spill what was inside, he turned the other needle, placing the point against his own vein.

"Here goes nothing." He looked at her still form, knowing that she was still alive from the slight rise and fall of her chest as she labored to breath. "This better work." Without another second of hesitation, he plunged the needle into his own arm, noting with satisfaction that the flow immediately reversed, sending blood into the wounded Spartan.

He looked down at his scroll, noting the time. Five minutes had passed since she had been wounded.

Something moved behind him, and he whirled around on his knees, pistol up and ready. It was Qrow.

"What happened?"

Jäger shook his head. "She tried to fight a Maiden. Did a damn good job of it too, before she got an arrow to the calf. Can't fight if you can't stand. I was doing what I could, but I could only go so hard, since my weapons and semblance are dangerous to everyone, doubly so because she didn't understand what staying out of my line of fire meant. Then your niece arrived and did something to Cinder and the Dragon. Cinder fled, and the fact that she was here, with full Maiden powers means that Ozpin is either dead or missing."

Qrow cursed. "What about the charges?"

"I'm mostly sure they detonated, at least partially." He looked down, making sure Pyrrha was still breathing. "I got my ass kicked Qrow. I was the first line between Ozpin and Amber. Somehow, she launched an arrow that went right through the pod to take Amber in the chest. Pyrrha busted out of the chamber and I ordered her and Jaune to flee."

–Line Break–

Flashback

"James. You need to go as well. This is an enemy beyond even you."

Jäger looked back at Ozpin. "I already gave my weapons to Jaune and Pyrrha." He unsheathed his axes and turned back to the new Maiden. "But I haven't had a chance to cut loose recently, and this bitch is asking for a beat down." His aura sprang to life around him as he activated his Semblance. "The charges are prepped Ozpin." He smiled. "If I fail, it's up to you," he said in an animalistic growl. Ozpin paled, recognizing what the voice meant. "It's time to show this upstart why my people were feared for centuries."

Holding his axes out to each side, Jäger stalked towards Cinder's hovering form. From the blades, crimson aura visibly flowed, dripping off like blood, while the deep blue ran from the handles like water.

Cinder cocked her head to the side as she hovered in the middle of the walkway. "Your aura… it's such an interesting color." She landed on the ground. "But I must ask. Why do you resist us so? I know you are the one who has given Roman so much trouble." Her smile turned especially dangerous. "And what's more, you didn't even try to hide that it was you who injured me at the ball."

Jäger visibly attempted to restrain himself, his aura slightly diminishing. "I have neither patience nor mercy for terrorists," he ground out. The muscles in his neck flared. "It was my job to kill them for most of my life." His body suddenly relaxed, causing his aura to burn even brighter. In the gloom of the vault his eyes took on a shining quality, reflecting the deep blue of his aura. "You're simply going to be next." Without another word, he charged, axes whirling. Cinder's response was simple but not nearly as effective as she expected. Raising one hand she lazily fired a blast of fire at the Marine. Her indifference nearly cost her. Under the influence of instincts honed on the battlefield that combined viciously with the ancestral memory of the thousands of berserkers before him, Jäger had dove to the ground and rolled. His blades sang through the air as moved in a two pronged attack; the left blade cutting up at her armpit, while the right tore sideways towards her neck. Had the blows landed, the Fall Maiden would have been reduced to a decapitated and dismembered corpse. However, the blades halted as she used her newfound powers to grab the axes, reaching across her body to grab each of the offending blades. Towering over her, with a look of utter madness and bloodlust in his eyes, Jäger roared, using more and more of his strength in an effort to kill this upstart who dared challenge his power.

Then one of the axe blades shattered. The loss of resistance sent Jäger off balance, leaving him open for Cinder's counterattack. Her off hand flashed beneath his arms and launched a fireball into his stomach. The flame sent Jäger tumbling back to land near where he had started. Growling with rage, he switched his remaining axe to his right hand and drew his KA-BAR with his left as he prepared to charge again.

Before him, Cinder again began floating above the walkway. "As amusing as this has been, I tire of your stubbornness." With that, she launched herself down the corridor, slamming into the enraged Marine. Spinning, she launched him down the corridor to slam into the elevator doors, which opened at the sheer force of his impact. Even as he lay there groaning, the Marine glared hatefully at Cinder as she sauntered up to his slumped form and knelt next to him.

"So much anger and hate," she murmured as her hand stroked his face. "We could use someone like you, if only you'd agree to serve." He responded by shoving his KA-BAR into her thigh to the hilt. Screaming in pain and rage, the new Fall Maiden launched Jäger up the elevator shaft. His last conscious thought was to push himself off the side wall to land in the atrium before his world faded to black.

–Line Break–

Qrow whistled lowly. "By Oum. How are you alive?"

Jäger shrugged as he checked Pyrrha's still form. "Near as I can tell, when I let the Berserkrgang take over my aura reserves shoot through the roof. That somehow gives me a level of rapid healing which means I can continue fighting." He stood. "Bullhead is almost here. Help me pick her up. We have to keep her chest perfectly level, otherwise the wound will get worse." The Bullhead pulled up over the destroyed tower. Two medics jumped out and helped the Reaper and the Marine load the wounded Spartan into the VTOL. With her secured, Qrow jumped out to grab Ruby before closing the doors. The craft headed towards the evac zone as fast as possible. Jäger moved forwards towards the cockpit. "Is this craft shielded against an EMP?"

The pilot looked at him before turning back. "What is an EMP?"

"A large pulse of electromagnetic energy. It has the capability to fry all electronics within a certain range if they are unshielded."

"Given that electric dust is rather common, I should think we would be fine."

"Good. Has Beacon been evacuated?"

Qrow answered from the rear compartment. "All of the teams have been evacuated to Vale."

"How long to Vale?"

"Half a minute."

Jäger nodded and pulled out his scroll. Pressing a button, he immediately began speaking. "Undid Iridium. Niner, one, five, seven, niner, six, four."

A whirring sound came over the speaker followed by a mechanical voice. "Identity confirmed. Ready for orders."

"Detonation order."

"Please specify location."

"Location, Bravo Tango."

The whirring sound was heard again. "Location confirmed. Please specify yield."

"Yield, 160 kilotons."

More whirring. "Please confirm yield. Reauthorization required for yield over 100 kilotons."

"Yield, 160 kilotons. Authorization as follows. The color of the day is scarlet. The city of the day is Charleston. The word of the day is anthrax."

"Authorization confirmed. Yield confirmed. Caution, yield will destroy majority of Beacon. Immediate evacuation recommended. Please specify timer."

"Ninety second timer to begin on my mark. Mark." He turned back to the pilot as he hung up. "Shut the bullhead down the second we land and brace for impact."

A scant few seconds later the craft came to a low hover over a cleared courtyard in Vale, with emergency personnel moving among the refugees and hunters. As soon as it touched down medics ran on board, grabbing Pyrrha and rushing her for surgery. Right as Jäger exited, the horizon in the direction of Beacon lit up as if the sun had risen from the North instead of the East. A wall of sound rushed over the city like a freight train, screaming with primal fury. On its heels came a massive shockwave that shattered windows and threw dust across the city. In the sky, a pillar of fire, ash and smoke roiled ever higher, swelling upwards until the top poured over into the shape of a mushroom, stretching its ominous shadow across the entire city. Everyone around Jäger went silent in horror, not fully comprehending the destruction that had just been leveled upon their school, but recognizing the enormity of it. In this silence, a quiet voice rang out across the courtyard. "Today I am become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds."

A/N: And that's the end of Volume 3 folks. Now, to clear up how I ended things. Jäger did NOT just detonate a nuclear weapon in Beacon. The full explanation for what he did will appear in the next chapter, which will cover the scenes in Volume 3 that take place on Patch as well as the beginning of Volume 4, which will start following Jäger about two weeks prior to the episode beginning of Volume 4. Feel free to PM me for more info, not guarantees on whether or not y'all will get a straight answer though.

A/N2: For those of you who don't recognize it, Jäger's quote is taken from Dr. Oppenheimer, one of the men who spearheaded the development of the Atomic Bomb in the 1940's.

A/N3: Y'all have heard it enough, but I will apologize for the amount of time between chapters. College is not all its cracked up to be, and junior year is not an easy one. Thanks for sticking with the story, and I will do my best to have the next chapter out before Thanksgiving.