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Chapter 53: Battle for Beacon
"PENNY!" Ruby screamed as she knelt over her girlfriend, tears streaming down her face "Penny stay with me please!" Penny managed to raise her head to look at at the younger girl, her green eyes seeming dull a viscous clear blue liquid leaking from her various injuries
"Arc reactor d-d-dam-damaged, power f-f-failure imminent, system c-c-critical-al" her voice sounded less human, a mechanical edge to her words
"No, Penny you can't die!" the mechanical girl reached up to cup Ruby's cheek, showers of sparks accompanying the movement
"I'm sorry Ruby" Penny's voice came out in a pained whisper, some of the light returning to her eyes as she forced what little power she had left to make her voice co-operate "I'm beyond repair, I'm dying but you made me feel like I was truly alive, thank you so much for making me believe I was real….I love you Ruby" her hand limply fell from the smaller girl's cheek and her eyes dimmed as she expended the last of her energy
"No! No! No! Penny you can't" Ruby wept bitterly shaking her lifeless body, until Squish skidded to a halt next to her
"Valkyrie get over here now!" the reptilian ordered as he crouched down and ripped the sword piercing Penny's chest free and began tearing away at her body
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO HER?" Ruby screamed
"Getting to her power supply so Nora can use her Semblance" Squish hissed frantically as his hands sifted through masses of severed wires "VALKYRIE DO I SOUND LIKE I'M JOKING GET THE FUCK OVER HERE!"
"What do I need to do?" the redhead asked, clearly panicked
"However much electricity you've got stored, grab here and here and run it through her, do not let go!" Nora nodded and did as instructed, brow furrowing and eyes glowing as she forced as much power as she could into Penny
"We have a problem here!" Gangrel's voiced roared out making Ruby snap to attention and she that the world around her was a nightmare made of fire and screams, Gangrel was currently was leaping over the partition separating competing Hunters from the crowd to save civilians from a pair of Atlesian Knights that had begun firing into them, slowly rising to her feet on shaky legs she looked around; the Atlesian robots had turned on the public and were slowly being put down by the living element of the Atlesian military fighting alongside the professors and students
"Ruby….Ruby I'm so sorry" she turned to face the speaker, Pyrrha was pale and trembling, tears streaming down her own cheeks, in a fluid movement Ruby grasped once of Penny's swords and closed the distance between them only to be stopped by Qrow who appeared seemingly from nowhere and Jaune who rushed as if to tackle her
"Ruby, it won't bring her back" her uncle said simply "I know it hurts, but Pyrrha didn't do this and whatever your planning right now isn't what Penny would want"
"Qrow" Pyrrha's voice shook "Take me to Beacon, I'll-I'll do what it you need me to"
"Pyrrha what are you talking about?" Jaune asked
"Are you sure?" Qrow demanded, Pyrrha nodded
"If you're going then I'm coming with you" the blonde insisted
"Fine, Ruby stay safe" Qrow sighed before grabbing both of them and rushing from the stadium, Ruby turned back to where Squish and Nora knelt over Penny, the reptilian looking up and meeting Ruby's eyes, his sorrow evident
"I'm sorry, Nora just can't generate enough power for long enough" anything else he wished to add was cut off by the sound of an engine overhead a Bull-Head came into view it's hatches open
"You!" Squish spat, before anyone could intervene Emerald Sustrai had run into the stadium and used the blades of her weapons to hook herself onto the craft, retracting the chains she pulled herself inside as the Bull-Head sped off into the night.
"ALL HUNTSMEN ON ME!" General Ironwood bellowed as he strode into the stadium flanked by Weiss and Winter, walking past Ruby he picked Penny's body up and clutched her close
"Where are you going with her!" she demanded
"Returning her to her father" the General forced out "Penny was like a niece to me, she will be given an Atlesian Military funeral"
"Ruby" Weiss took Ruby's hand in hers "We need you, we need every Hunter available to fight" Ruby looked to the sky and saw the Grimm approaching
"Oh I'll fight" her voice shook with grief and rage "I'LL KILL THEM ALL" she shot from the stadium in a shower of rose petals, Weiss turned to her sister
"I'm going after her" without waiting for a reply she drew Myrtenaster and launched herself to the roof of the stadium with her glyphs before disappearing over the edge
"Fuck!" Gangrel spat as he teleported into the centre of the stadium, making to go after Weiss until Winter stopped him
"We need everyone here, Weiss is capable of looking after herself" she turned to Ironwood "Status report sir?"
"CCT is down, Atlas military channels have been blocked and our mechanised assets have been turned against us. Grimm have been sighted inside the walls, as have the White Fang. The Walls are being assaulted and airborne Grimm have already bypassed them"
"Orders sir?" Winter snapped to attention Ironwood thought for a moment
"Take your ship and take down the Friedenswatcher" the Special Operative heard the order, realised instantly that she was being tasked with the impossible and gave a curt nod
"Understood sir"
"What about us?" Gangrel growled gesturing to the assembled students
"The Atlesian Military, the professors and myself will get civilians to safe zones and provide relief to the forces at the walls, the Grimm will only be able to break through in a handful of places, I want any students willing to sweep the city for survivors and hold their position until evac, nobody will fault you if you choose to save yourselves"
"Who's willing?" Gangrel roared, every student assembled let out a cheer
"Agent Slate" Ironwood called after him, throwing a case of signal flares over "Distribute these among your peers so we can find you and good hunting soldier"
Pyrrha felt numb as she descended into the depths of Beacon, Qrow and Jaune either side of her as the elevator reached the vault she strode forwards
"What on Remnant is this place?" Jaune asked
"No time for the guided tour kid" Qrow growled, his nerves evident, eventually the trio reached the life support machines where Ozpin was already waiting
"I see you've made your choice Miss Nikos"
"I have" she turned to face Jaune "Jaune, if this works I may not be the same person afterwards….I just want you to know that I love you" she pulled him into a passionate kiss before turning to Ozpin "I'm ready"
"Qrow, mister Arc. Stand guard" Qrow grabbed Jaune by the shoulder and pulled him back as Pyrrha clambered into the empty machine, her breath quickening as she was sealed in
"I cannot tell you how this will feel, so I apologise for any discomfort" Ozpin told her as he began the Aura transfer; Pyrrha instantly felt a huge pressure on her chest forcing the air from her lungs a tingling sensation crept though her body intensifying into a burning, forcing a scream from her
"Pyrrha!" Jaune turned to and made to run towards her, she saw Qrow grab him; when both of their backs were turned she saw a third figure, clad in a crimson dress with golden fire billowing from her hands and right eye as she raised an ornate bow and fired a blazing arrow. The power coursing through Pyrrha instantly vanished
"It's mine" the woman laughed as golden light burst from the adjacent pod rushing towards her, Cinder's other eye began to glow as she began to levitate a nexus of golden power forming around her, she looked on in horror as Jaune attempted to charge her, only to be flung back
"Jaune no!" she tore the machine encasing her asunder with her Semblance and made to rush forwards only to be halted by Ozpin
"No" his voice was stern "Qrow take Miss Nikos and Mister Arc and get them to safety!"
"Oz I-"
"Now Qrow!" the grizzled Hunter nodded before grabbing the two students and pulling them along Cinder watched them leave before turning to face the headmaster
"I would have spared the children they have nothing to offer me" she cackled "I would have flayed Qrow alive for the trouble he's caused my mistress over the years though" Ozpin readied his cane and removed his glasses, his whole body glowing with the poisonous green light of his Aura
"Your ego has run away with you child, I sent the others away not to protect them but so that I can fight unrestrained"
Neo leapt from building to building casually dispatching any creature of Grimm that neared her, unable to shake of the feeling of dread gnawing at the back of her mind; she'd thought Roman would have been able to convince the White Fang to use the chaos to their advantage and had searched everywhere she expected him to raid, there had been no trace of him at the Dust stores, nor at the bank or any of the high end fashion retailers he frequented so she had made her way to the prison and found it in flames. Frowning she made her away along the route they would have had to have taken from the prison to their getaway freighter, which was a thought that made Neo smirk to herself, Roman did have a love of the dramatic. Eventually she saw something that made her heart stop and leapt from the rooftop she was currently occupying down to the blood soaked figure sprawled on the ground. It was him.
"Hey squirt" Roman managed to gasp out, blood trickling from his lips "We got fucked over, should have seen it coming" he gave several hacking, sickeningly wet coughs and Neo knew he didn't have long; reaching to his neck she ripped the Aura dampening collar he was wearing apart with her bare hands
"That's not gonna buy me enough time" the redhead told her "Hey, don't look at me like that I'm not being negative I'm being realistic" and there it was, the reason Neo had fallen in love with Roman; he was the only person she never needed to struggle to make understand her, no texts, no pointing and sign language, he could read everything she wanted to say to him from her face alone and had been able to since the day he met her; he'd beaten her bloody for trying to steal his wallet, then taken pity on her and offered to train her, he'd stuck with her even when the rest of the world was terrified of her and not once did he acknowledge the fact that her childish crush on him had grown into admiration and love. And now he was dying
"Don't sit there crying over me Neo for Oum's sake it's a waste of both of our time" he reached out and found where his hat had landed after falling from his head and placed the accessory on Neo, it was a little too large for her head, tilting to the side and obscuring one of her eyes Neo leaned down and kissed him, tasting his blood on her lips
"Neo I want you to promise me something" Roman's voice was barely audible now Neo could tell he had only moments "I know what you're going to do when I'm gone and I know I can't stop you, but when you're finished with the Fang just stop. Go somewhere warm and spend your life on a beach eating ice-cream you bought with other people's money….Oum knows you're good enough at stealing now" Neo smiled weakly and nodded tears falling thick and fast down her face
"Remember what I taught you Neo" Roman looked her in the eye and spoke his last "Lie, cheat, steal and survive" with that his head fell back, eyes lifeless. Neo shook with silent sobs which gave way to shaking with unquenchable grief and rage as she rose to her feet and readied her weapon; catching sight of her reflection in a broken window she saw that the iris of her eyes had turned white as was the case when she felt any negative emotion in the extreme, she honestly doubted that she'd see them any other colour again; what she did know for certain was that White Fang would die tonight.
"We've got hostiles on our tail!" the pilot of the Atlesian Bull-Head called back as the craft shook "And they're not Grimm!"
"How many?" Gangrel snarled
"Three Raubvogel Bull-Head variants"
"Fuck" the Bear-Faunus spat, looking at the Hunters that he had assumed command of, his own team and Team CFVY alongside Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren of Team JNPR "Okay this is going to be nasty, drop the hatch, Coco, Velvet rotate and keep firing on one of them, Nora blast the second one out of the sky, I'm taking the third….Missy if I don't come back you're in charge"
"Aye captain" Nora gave him a salute and a bright smile as she readied her Grenade launcher. The rear hatch was lowered and Gangrel leapt from the Bull-Head and triggered his Semblance, reappearing on the hull of one the enemy fighters he drew his swords and began hacking his way into the cockpit
"Could really have used Penny for this" he lamented to himself as he remembered his last time hanging onto the outside of an aircraft; without much resistance he managed to make his way inside the cockpit of the craft and hack through the automatons piloting it, before grabbing the steering and causing the Bull-Head to veer harshly to the right towards another of his attackers as he climbed back out of the cockpit and teleported back onto his own craft
"Well that's two down" his words were punctuated with the sound of an explosion behind them "What's taking so long with the third?"
"The pilot's not bad" Coco growled as she struggled to follow the Bull-head's evasive manoeuvres
"Nora, cook them" the redhead fired three grenades from Magnhild, the blasts tearing the rear of her target asunder sending it spiralling out of control
"Boop"
"Ah fuck we've got more incoming!" Coco called out before opening fire on a flock of Griffins, unable to stop the inevitable as one of them impacted with the right turbine and engine
"Everyone hold on!" the pilot called back to them as he used what control of the craft he had left to avoid buildings the landing was a controlled crash and the came to a screeching halt in the street
"Everybody out!" Gangrel shouted, leaping from the downed Bullhead he took stock of his surroundings before pointing to a store that seemed to be in tact "Everyone get in there, Squish pick the lock so we don't have to take the door off!" his partner ran forwards, opening the door with in seconds and closing it as the last of them were inside
"Okay, so now what?" Velvet asked "Are we going to send up a flare and wait for evac?" the Bear-Faunus shook his head
"Not yet, Artemis, Nora I want you on the roof, Nora take shots at anything that approaches, Artemis use your Semblance and check for any survivors, Rover you'll be the one going to pick them up, Squish I want you to go back to our Bull-Head and get on the radio, as soon as Winter gets military channels open again you send flares up, you got a weapon?" Gangrel motioned to the pilot
"Yeah" he pulled out a small side arm
"You're covering Squish, Coco break a window and set up, Yatsu you're covering Coco; Fox, Ren, Velvet you're with me, we're going to put some distance between ourselves and here and give the Grimm hell we'll make our way to a different extraction point if we can't make it back to you; don't wait for us"
"Sounds like a plan" Fox smirked readying his blades
"Hey" Coco pulled Velvet into a tight hug "I know you're a bad ass now but you be careful out there" she planted a soft kiss on the Rabbit Faunus' forehead, Velvet cupped her cheeks and kissed her lips
"Don't worry, I'm coming back you can still show me off to your family" Coco smirked
"I'll hold you to that, Fox!"
"Yes boss" the blind fighter grinned
"Don't get yourself killed, I picked you as my partner for a reason"
"Anyone else want to have a moment before we go?" Gangrel laughed, earning himself a glare and a hand gesture from Velvet
"I do Nora" said timidly as she stepped towards Ren "I know we're not 'together' together but-"
"Stop" Ren whispered holding a hand to her lips before leaning down to kiss her "Yes we are, I'm sorry it took me so long to realise that this is how we should be but I promise you Nora I'm coming back and I'll make up for the time I wasted" with that he softly booped her nose
"About fucking time!" Squish exclaimed "And Gang, seriously I'm not gonna cry or anything but don't do anything stupid out there"
"No promises" the Bear-Faunus laughed as he made to leave
"Ma'am we can't take many more hits like that!" one of the crew called to her, as the command bridge of the Schweigen shook under the assault of the Friedenswatcher
"Return fire, all batteries are to target their main shield generator" the battle in the sky had been hard fought and her ship was barely holding together after a prolonged dogfight with the much larger Atlesian flagship, her crew made to comply; the Schweigen passing over the larger vessel once more, the night sky between them lit by a series of flashes as missiles, laser cannon and photon accelerators were discharged
"Ma'am their shields are down" her first mate called "but we're not going to stay in the sky for much longer"
"Understood" Winter nodded curtly before grasping a microphone and speaking, her voice sounding throughout the ship "All crew members are to make their way to escape pods, regroup on the ground. First mate Skye will be in command, make your way towards and extraction point assist any civilians you come across"
"You're giving me command?" her first mate asked nervously "Captain Schnee, Winter, don't do this"
"Matte" Winter cupped her first mates' chin "I have no intention on going down with the ship but I cannot in good conscience make this gambit with my crew still aboard; when, not if, when I return to Atlas I will personally petition for you to be placed under my command or be promoted and given your own vessel, whichever you prefer"
"It would be an honour and a privilege to serve with you again Captain Schnee" Matte Skye saluted and left the bridge, Winter sat and observed the terminal integrated into the captains seat, transferring all functions to her terminal she brought the ship out of range of the Friedenswatcher's guns and waited until all escape pods had been deployed
"Switch to single pilot, voice command mode"
"Acknowledged" a computerised voice replied, a hologram flickering into existence displaying a young woman, similar to the AI the ran the CCT
"Set a collision course for the Friedenswatcher, prepare to overload all engines" Winter smirked as she thought of her first mate "Ready the main cannon"
"Acknowledged" the AI repeated Winter nodded to herself before flinging a glyph forwards like a buzz saw, she'd have to thank Weiss for that trick it wasn't something she'd ever thought of trying until her sister had done it in the Vytal Tournament. Stepping through the shattered main window of her ship she made her way out onto the hull and watched as she neared the Atlesian Flagship
"I loved this ship" she sighed mournfully before leaping from the vessel that had been her home, she readied a summoning glyph as she fell and landed on a glowing white Nevermore, drawing her cutlass she rode the spectral beast through the night sky tearing through Grimm as she passed them.
Cinder picked herself up and dusted herself off, swaying a little as she returned for her feet; it seemed the old fool Ozpin still had a lot of fight left in him considering his uppercut had thrown her from the vault into Beacon's mess hall
"I will give you this old man" she spat as Ozpin himself hovered into view from the hole Cinder's entry had made "You will die tonight but this fight will be one that gives hope and inspiration to your followers, I will enjoy crushing that hope" Ozpin's feet reached the floor of the hall and he chose not too respond with words simply smiling and making a 'come' motion with his hand. Cinder let loose a furious scream and threw her swords forward, the crystalline blades shattering and forming a multitude of sharpened fragments which sailed through the space Ozpin had been occupying, the man himself however had vanished Cinder's only warning was a trace of green light in her peripheral vision before his palm strike connected with her cheek throwing her backwards though the wall rolling into Beacon's courtyard, a trail of brick and glass behind her Ozpin strode through the hole left in the wall
"I will destroy you!" Cinder screamed only for Ozpin to vanish again, reappearing in front of her, his cane colliding with her stomach forcing the air from her before his weapon caught her under the chin, pitching her over Ozpin with enough force to crater the ground as she landed
"DIE OLD MAN!" Cinder launched a jet of white hot flames from her right hand as she summoned the fragments of her weapon back to her with her left, when the flames stopped Ozpin remained unharmed, arm raised nonchalantly and an orb of flickering green light enveloping him; with a grimace Cinder charged again swords at the ready, the flagstones beneath her feet being reduced to magma, her blades and Ozpin's cane collided as the pair traded blows in a display that were there anyone to see it would have passed on into the realm of myths, each blow countered causing an explosion and blinding flash
"Now it ends!" Cinder roared as she brought her two swords down, Ozpin held his cane out with both hands, her blades shattered as they connected, the headmaster then swung his weapon in a wide arc clubbing Cinder around the face before landing a palm strike on her chest with enough force to throw her back several feet, she burned through solid rock as she forced herself to a stop
"ENOUGH!" a wave of sheer power burst from her body staggering Ozpin as she summoned the fragments of swords to her once again through Ozpin, the old man dropped his knees as the crystals burst from his chest, the blade stained with blood as it reformed in her hand, Cinder rose into the air eyes blazing as she tapped into the powers of the Fall Maiden and sent a blast of golden light towards her opponent; when the dust settled she stalked into the gaping crater her attack had carved into the courtyard flipping Ozpin's limp and bloody body over and vanishing her swords
"I'm going to kill you with my own two hands you old fool" she reached down and made to break the headmaster's neck, she didn't hear the bone snap but his body faded from view without a trace leaving Cinder alone in the courtyard
"He's gone" she whispered to herself "OZPIN IS DEAD!" and with that final outpouring of emotion the mountains around Beacon shook, with a scream that shook the Kingdom the largest Grimm in living memory burst forth, the Dragon took to the air on great leathery wings spewing the primordial darkness of Grimm spawning pools as it went, Cinder took to the air ascending to Beacon's tower an insane smile on her face; this was one of her mistresses great creations it was monstrous, it was terrifying, it was awe inspiring, it was beautiful.
Authors Notes:
So let's summarise:
Penny's last words….This is normally where I say "I'm not crying you're crying" but fuck it, we're both crying.
Also Penny is powered by an "Arc Reactor" remember when I said back in Vol.1 that Jaune's second oldest sister is called Antonia Arc and it was a reference.
Squish is a conspiracy theorist who knew about rumours of Atlesian super soldier with an Aura back in the second chapter, it was literally the first thing he spoke about when we met him.
Also it seemed weird to me in canon that they never had Nora at least try to use her Semblance to do something.
Yeah, Ruby was about to go OFF on Pyrrha.
So Merc & Em are gone for now.
Roman's last words….Did you die a little inside when you read them in that context.
Gangrel's comment about Penny, callback to Chapter fourteen.
Renora, to quote the esteemed Miss Valkyrie "THIS IS HAPPENING"
Before Matte Skye worked on that boat they were Winter's first mate.
Winter is an OG.
Ozpin is an OG who uppercuts people through several ceilings.
The Dragon is an airborne mobile spawning pool, you get why it's a scary mother fucker now?
Thank you to Drake187 for their review on the last chapter:
It only gets more intense in the next chapter my friend.
Penny is no longer with us.
We will see how the Bees fare next chapter.
Best girl? Why would Reese Chloris be upset about Roman dying?
As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review.
