Another day, another chapter. Nearing the finish line with this story soon, but still got some distance to go. Firstly, review response time! Noob6; pretty much, yeah. It just made sense to me that if a pro-Faunus group existed there would be a polar opposite of it. Drakefire; we might see Winston's squad, or at the very least a mention of them. Trouble for me is finding characters from Overwatch to fit into a team name. And OutlastTheDark; he's not a monkey...he's a SCIENTIST! And yeah, Talon is pretty much going to fuck with everyone. Now, on with the show!

00000000

Chapter 19- Calm Before The Storm

"What do you mean she's gone?!" Weiss exclaimed, her arms stretched out either side of her. Yang had ran in only seconds ago babbling on about how Ruby had just disappeared.

"I mean she's just gone! She's taken most of her stuff and just left!" Yang repeated for what felt like the a thousandth time already.

"What about her Scroll?" Blake asked, stepping forward slightly. "If she's taken it, we could track it possibly."

"No, I saw it lying on the bed." Yang sighed, placing her hands in her face as she sat down. "This is all my fault. If I hadn't left her alone..."

"She would have just left some other time." Weiss argued, reassuringly squeezing Yang's shoulder. "Besides, this is Ruby we're talking about. She'll be fine."

"I'm not so sure Weiss," Yang commented, turning to face the Heiress with a sad look. "You didn't see what she was like..."

As the three remaining members of Team RWBY stood in silence, Yang's scroll suddenly began to buzz, causing the Blonde Brawler to take it out gaze at the screen.

"Unidentified call…?" Yang mumbled, turning to the rest of her Team.

"Can't hurt to answer it, right?" Blake suggested, shrugging her shoulders innocently.

Yang sighed as she accepted the call, holding the device to her face. "Hello? Who is this?"

"Yang?! Is that you?" a high pitch voice replied. A voice Yang recognised immediately.

"Ruby! We've been worried sick about you! Where are you?!" Yang asked, feeling as though a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Who had found her? Who's Scroll was she using?

"There's no time to explain!" Ruby's voice replied, crackling a great deal. Wherever she was she had a poor signal, that was for sure. "Listen, Reaper is planning something big! He's building something with Talon."

Blake shivered subconsciously as she heard that name again. Amongst the White Fang, aside from Atlas the biggest threat to an operative was Talon. They used guerilla warfare just like the White Fang, and were responsible for a large number of operative deaths too. She'd encountered them just once, and it was an experience she wasn't going to forget.

"Talon? Are you certain?" Weiss asked, leaning closer to Yang in case she had just misheard the red hooded Huntress.

"Positive. Listen, you have to warn Ozpin before it's too late. He's the reason Reaper is attacking Beacon!"

"What you're saying makes no sense." Yang replied, shaking her head in disbelief. "What do you mean-"

"Listen, I don't have much time left! I have to go, just hurry!" Ruby's voice interrupted, only to go silent seconds later, replaced by white noise.

"Ruby? Ruby?!" Yang shouted before looking at the Scroll, to see that the signal had been terminated.

"Why would Reaper work with Talon, he's an indiscriminate killer." Blake asked, her eyebrows tilted in confusion. Something seemed off about this whole situation.

"No idea," Yang replied, turning her Scroll off and placing it back in her pocket. "But if Ruby's right, we need to find Ozpin and ask a few questions..."

00000000

"You think they got the message?" Soldier 76 asked, turning to face Ruby as he caught the Scroll from the red hooded Huntress.

"I hope so..." Ruby sighed, quickly loading a fresh magazine into Crescent Rose as Soldier 76 did the same with Helix Strike.

"We can't afford to hope." Soldier 76 stated, strapping Helix Strike to his back as he then checked the pistol holstered on his hip worked properly. "With Reaper, there is no second chance. You face him again, high chance you'll die."

"Which is why I've got to hope..." Ruby muttered back, moving away from the vigilante who only shook his head in disappointment.

"Guys, I've got some good news, some bad news and some very bad news!" Winston suddenly bellowed, jumping down from his perch in front of the two warriors.

"What's the good news?" Ruby asked, acting almost as if the conversation with Soldier 76 hadn't happened.

"The good news is I've finally figured out what Reaper and Talon have been building." Winston replied, stopping a few feet in front of Ruby. "The bad news is they're building a bomb."

"A bomb?! Are you serious?!" Ruby shouted in shock. This was a lot worse then she thought it was.

"Unfortunately I am." Winston replied, readjusting the glasses on the bridge of his nose slightly.

"Think you can disarm it?" Soldier 76 asked, acting far more calmer then Ruby was.

"I should be able to, yes." Winston replied, turning around to type a few commands on the console behind him.

"I hate to ask, but what's the 'very bad news'?" Ruby asked, holding her arm up like a child in class.

In response, Winston merely pressed a button on the console behind him, which lit up in seconds. A video feed popped up immediately, Ruby spotting Beacon far off in the distance. Five Bullheads suddenly came into view, all of them headed for Beacon. The camera feed zoomed in as it traced one of the Bullheads, a large number of armoured men and women becoming visible in seconds.

"Talon..." Ruby whispered, clutching Crescent Rose tightly as she then saw standing front and centre in the Bullhead one in a black coat and a white skull shaped mask. Reaper. "Is this live?"

"Yes, Reaper's made his move." Winston replied, hurriedly switching the monitor off and turning to face the pair. "We need to move, now!"

"Agreed." Soldier 76 nodded, turning to face Ruby and Winston. "We need to get going, now!"

Winston nodded as he quickly grabbed Lunar Storm alongside three small devices, handing two of the devices to Soldier 76 and Ruby. "Here, we'll be able to communicate with one another with these. Save us the trouble of using Scroll's."

"Okay..." Ruby muttered, quickly plugging the device into her ear and wincing slightly when she heard a high pitch whine on the other end.

"Come on, let's get moving." Soldier 76 ordered, rushing out the room followed by both Ruby and Winston.

But before he went any further, Winston turned around and sighed as he let a sad smile creep onto his face. "I'm gonna miss this place..."

With that, Winston left the room and followed the Soldier and the Huntress, leaving Overwatch for the final time…

00000000

"Are you certain about this Miss Xiao Long?" Ozpin asked, propping his hands on his chin as he leaned on the table.

"Yes, Ruby said that Reaper was planning something with Talon." Yang repeated. Weiss and Blake were there to back her up if need be, but had so far stayed silent. "And she also said that Reaper was here for you."

Ozpin sighed as he slowly stood up from his chair, turning around to face the window that overlooked the school ground. Students were milling around down below, minding their own business. After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, Ozpin turned again to face the three Huntresses.

"Tell me, how much do you know of Overwatch's closure?" Ozpin asked, causing the three Huntresses to turn and face one another in slight confusion.

"We know that one of its critics was assassinated by the Shimada and that Overwatch was believed to have orchestrated the assassination." Blake responded, her own eyes narrowed in slight confusion. Just where was Ozpin going with this?

"That is only a fraction of the truth I'm afraid." Ozpin replied, taking a seat at his desk once more. "Some rumours claim that Beacon masqueraded the entire event to discredit Overwatch. I can confirm that these rumours are indeed false."

The three Huntresses narrowed their eyes once again, still unsure at what Ozpin was getting at.

"And I can also confirm that Overwatch was innocent."

"What?" Weiss asked, stepping forward slightly in slight shock. "What are you talking about?"

"The entire assassination was orchestrated by an outside source." Ozpin clarified, causing the three Huntresses to stare at one another in shock. "Who it was, I do not know."

That last part was a lie, he knew exactly who was responsible for Overwatch's shut down. But he didn't need to add any more worries to these three's thoughts.

"What does this have to do with Reaper?" Yang asked, shaking her head slightly. Ozpin let out a sigh at this, it was time to tell the truth about Reaper it seemed.

"The man you know as Reaper was once a student at both Overwatch and Beacon." Ozpin responded. "His name was Gabriel Reyes, and he was a prodigy in the making. But he was obsessed with finding out the truth about Overwatch's shut down."

The three Huntresses looked at one another in shock. They had done some research on Gabriel Reyes, and he was a minor suspect, but the revelation was still shocking nonetheless.

"After years of research, he came to the conclusion that Beacon was indeed responsible." Ozpin continued, shaking his head in disappointment. "He began attacking Beacon students as an act of revenge, destroying Beacon's legacy just as he claimed we had destroyed Overwatch's."

"What happened?" Weiss then asked, though she wasn't sure she wanted to know. Clearly he was unsuccessful or Beacon wouldn't be here right now.

"Some of his own Team turned against him in the end, and it seemingly ended there." Ozpin replied, looking up to face the Huntresses. "They all seemingly died when they fought at a Dust Refinement factory, an explosion of unknown origin consuming the facility and all in it. I thought he had died, but apparently I was wrong."

"So the Reaper is what? Gabriel Reyes reborn?" Yang asked incredulously. None of this was making any sense to her.

"In a way, yes." Ozpin calmly replied, causing the Blonde Brawler to look at him in confusion. "However, what matters now is that we find out just what Reaper is planning. Thanks to your sister, we know that he has aligned himself with Talon to build a device. We just need to figure out what this device is and-"

The sound of an explosion suddenly echoed across the room, followed by the sounds of people screaming. All four occupants turned at the noise, quickly dashing to the window. Outside, smoke was slowly starting to rise as students were running in every direction away from the blast. Then another explosion occurred, this one far bigger then the last, claiming more lives. The origin of the explosions was soon made clear as five Bullheads came into view, firing rockets at the scattered crowds. The Bullheads then split off in multiple directions, with one of them staying in the courtyard. The sliding doors either side opened, revealing men in armour that quickly descended on ropes from the Bullhead to the ground, quickly picking off many more students.

"Oh no..." Weiss murmured, her hand going to her mouth as she watched silently. "Talon is here already?!"

"Of course, most of the students won't be carrying weapons at this time of day." Ozpin whispered, watching as more members of Talon descended, quickly swarming inside the school. "You have to go down there and help where you can! They have the advantage, and if we don't do something they'll press that advantage!"

"What about you?" Blake asked, stepping forward slightly. They surely couldn't leave him behind could they?

"Believe me when I say this, my office will no doubt become the most dangerous place in this school." Ozpin replied, turning to face the Faunus with a steadfast look. "And it will stay that way as long as I'm here. Now go!"

The three Huntresses nodded as they turned around and headed to the lift, quickly pressing the down button. The doors slid shut seconds later, leaving Ozpin alone in his office. He turned around once again and watched as more members of Talon arrived, firing indiscriminately at the students.

"Checkmate, Reaper. Checkmate..."

00000000

Reaper grinned sadistically to himself as he watched from his Bullhead the chaos Talon was causing. Convincing them to work for him proved difficult at first, but a quick change of leadership quickly convinced them that working for him was in their best interests. Any dissenters had been silenced, and so now he comfortably sat as the head of Talon, one of the largest Terrorist organisations in Remnant. Amélie would have loved it. A shame that Reinhardt and John disagreed with him, they would have made steadfast allies. Reaper watched as the Bullheads then began to split off in separate directions.

Four of them would attack the main school, acting as a distraction to divert their attention. The Bullhead Reaper occupied would then go to another passageway that had been...leaked to say the least. Reaper motioned for the Pilot to lower the Bullhead, to which the Pilot nodded in response. The Bullhead slowly approached the ground, the sliding doors opening as Reaper and the Talon operatives jumped out, quickly scanning the area before nodding to the remaining operatives inside. The remaining operatives then filed out, carrying between them a large box like device with multiple wirings protruding from it.

The group then walked through the cover offered by the gardens around them as the Bullhead then took off, leaving Beacon in its shadow. A few students would accidentally stumble into the group as they attempted to find a safe haven amongst the tree's, but all were felled before they could get far. The Reaper then held up a closed fist as they approached a wall, the group stopping just feet away as Reaper stood still as a statue. Then the wall began to collapse before them, but not from an explosion, almost like a door opening. As the remainder of the wall disappeared beneath the floor, four figures strolled out. One was relatively short and carried a parasol and had an innocent smile that hid her vicious nature. There was also another girl, this one taller with a dark complexion and mint green hair. The only boy in the group was around the same height as the mint haired one, his hair a dull silver colour. Then the leader stepped forward, also female with black hair that covered the left side of her face and had amber eyes that commanded authority.

"I assume this entrance will work for you and your operatives?" Cinder asked, gesturing to the entrance behind her.

"More then enough, as long as it leads where you claim it does." Reaper replied, eyeing the woman known as Cinder suspiciously. He didn't entirely trust this woman, he would rather just kill her. But she had promised him Ozpin's head on a silver plater if she got something in return, and that was an offer he couldn't refuse.

"I assure you, the tunnel will lead you and your men to the generator that powers this complex." Cinder replied, laying her hand on her chest as she spoke.

"We'll see." Reaper murmured, nodding to one of the operatives next to him.

The operative nodded in response and quickly removed the backpack he had been wearing, taking a large black box out of it. He then proceeded to open the box which was revealed to be a control panel, a small eye like device also inside. With the flick of a switch, the device buzzed to life and darted down the tunnel, guided by the control panel. After a minute of silence, the operative turned to face Reaper and nodded, closing the device and stuffing it back in his bag.

"Now that you know I held up my end of the bargain, it's time you held up yours." Cinder responded, one of her eyebrows raised slightly.

"Very well then," the Reaper replied, holding his arms out either side of him in a welcoming manner. "Talon now belongs to your employer. We are at their disposal."

"Good." Cinder grinned, her eyes lighting up with delight. Salem would be pleased indeed to hear that not one, but two terrorist organisations were now at her disposal. "And I have your word your men are fine with this?"

"It doesn't matter what they think, as long as they obey." Reaper sneered, turning around to face the group behind him. "Get the payload moving, now!"

The Talon operatives all nodded in response as they moved inside the building, forming a protective shield around the ones carrying the device. As Cinder moved to walk away, she was stopped by Reaper who quickly held her in a vice like grip, his clawed gauntlets digging into her arm.

"No matter what goes down here today, let me make one thing clear to you." Reaper murmured, drawing closer to Cinder as his eyes began to glow violently. "Ozpin is MY kill. Try anything against him, and I'll kill you myself! Don't deny me this..."

With that, Reaper relinquished his grip and walked inside the building, the door closing behind him. Emerald, Mercury and Neopolitan all watched as Reaper vanished into the shadows before turning to face Cinder, who had a triumphant grin on her face.

"Well, looks like he's on our side for now." Emerald murmured, turning to walk next to Cinder.

"Yeah, big emphasis on the 'for now' part." Mercury agreed, Neopolitan nodding her head in conjunction.

"So, now what?" Emerald asked, raising her eyebrows questioningly.

"Now, we leave. We'll wait to see how successful Reaper and his goons are." Cinder replied, walking away from Beacon as she spoke, her accomplices following suite. "And depending on what happens, we'll see."

Emerald, Mercury and Neopolitan simply shrugged at one another before following Cinder, smoke rising ever higher from Beacon Academy.

00000000

Well, that's that. Find out what happens next time. Liked it? Feel free to leave a review and constructive criticism is welcomed. Any questions? Either PM me or leave in your review and I'll answer them next chapter for reviews and whenever possible for PM's.

Raging Archon out.