Another day, another chapter. Had quite a tough week here at home so apologies if I seem a little disheartened in my intro. That said, I have decided against doing review responses this week. Hopefully I'll feel better soon once shit sorts itself out here at the 'home-front'. Now, on with the show.
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Chapter 20- The Grasping Talon
Beacon was in complete chaos. Talon had assaulted the school with a large force and had begun pushing further into Beacon. They had initially had the advantage of surprise, catching some of the Students off guard, but now the Students had begun fighting back, easily bottlenecking the assault force and forcing Talon to take a more defensive approach. Bodies of both Students and Talon operatives were littering the floor, staining the carpet's with their blood.
A Talon operative broke cover as he stepped forward to throw a grenade into the cluster of Students that had taken defensive positions at the other end. Seconds later, a round from a rifle hit the terrorist in the chest, causing them to grunt loudly as he fell to the floor dead, the unpinned grenade rolling out of his lifeless grip. The other operatives rushed away as panic enveloped them, the grenade detonating seconds later, most of the operatives being caught in the explosion or sent flying back.
"We need to keep pushing!" one of the higher ranking Talon operatives barked, pointing to the corridor before him. "It won't be long until law enforcement arrive, and the boss wants us in the building ASAP!"
"Yes sir." one of the operatives nodded, taking a few pot-shots from his cover before activating his headset radio. "What's the status of those riot shields?"
"Riot shields are en route, less then a minute away!" a voice on the other end replied, the sounds of gunfire hitting metal sounding nearby.
"Solid copy, over and out." the operative replied, earning a nod of acknowledgement from the higher ranking operative.
"All right boys, prepare to push on my mark!" the high ranking operative ordered, earning nods and shouts of acknowledgement in response.
On the other side of the corridor, the members of Team JNPR hid behind the makeshift barricades as they and a number of other Students took whatever shots they could at the terrorists. Most of the teachers were defending the more vulnerable quadrants of the school, leaving this sector to the Students to defend. They had done reasonably well too, forcing Talon to go on the defensive rather then a full on push as they had planned.
"Something doesn't seem right." Pyrrha stated as she loaded another round into Miló.
"What do you mean?" Jaune asked, being a solely melee combatant having forced him to act as an extra spot of cover for the other Students, holding his Shield out in front of him to block bullets.
"Talon knew the risks of attacking the school, which is why they've never done it in the past." Pyrrha stated as she quickly broke cover to fire a single round before ducking again, a faint grunt of pain from the other side following shortly after. "So what's changed? Why attack now when security in Vale is higher then average?"
"I don't mean to interrupt but I think we have bigger issues!" one of the Students shouted, pointing over the barricade.
When Pyrrha and Jaune followed the Students finger, they saw a small row of Talon operatives walking forward in unison, large metal shields acting as a barricade against the onslaught of bullets coming their way.
"Uh, think you can move them?" Jaune sheepishly asked, his mouth agape slightly as he turned to face Pyrrha.
"Maybe, but I could end up exposing myself." Pyrrha replied. If she used her Semblance right, she could effectively push back the incoming force. But the defensive manoeuvre could leave her exposed to other Talon operatives still in cover. She had seen some with what appeared to be tasers attached to their weapons, and she did not want to let herself get hit by them.
"Then we'll go with plan B." Jaune replied, turning to face Nora who had taken cover next to Ren on the other side. "Nora! Think you can hit behind them?"
"No problem Jaune!" Nora shouted back, giving the blonde knight a thumbs up.
Leaning out of her cover slightly, Nora aimed Magnhild in an upwards arc before firing the grenade launcher. The other Students watched as the volatile pink projectile flew over the Talon operatives before landing at least a metre behind them, detonating and sending the shield bearers flying forward with a chorus of panicked and surprised screams.
"Screw this! I'm getting the hell out of here!" one of the operatives still in cover shouted, quickly turning around to run, some of the others following suite.
"What the-" the high ranking operative stuttered as he watched the majority of the assault squad quickly make a break for the exit. "Shit, fall back!"
The Students began to cheer as the few remaining operatives quickly broke cover and ran for the exit, leaving the corridor in their dust.
"We did it!" Nora cheered as the Students began to advance forward quickly, Nora kicking one of the downed terrorists in the groin as she passed, causing him to wheeze in pain.
As the Students formed a new defensive perimeter in the corridor, Jaune's Scroll suddenly lit up as a caller made its way through. Jaune took the device out of his pocket and quickly activated it, Yang's caller ID becoming visible on the device.
"Vomit boy, how are things over at your end?" Yang's voice asked, gunfire echoing all around her. Judging from what it sounded like, they were engaging what sounded like a larger force.
"All clear this end, Talon has been pushed back." Jaune replied quickly, watching as some of the Students aimed their weapons at the Talon operatives still alive. "What's it like down at your end?"
The sound of a gunshot was heard, followed by a yell of pain before Jaune received his answer. "Some of their guys broke through over here, they were carrying some big device of some sort."
"Don't worry, we'll send help." Jaune replied, wincing slightly when he heard Yang yell in pain before another gunshot was heard, followed by yet another scream of pain before the Scroll went silent. "Okay, uh, Nora and Ren! Take some of these guys and help out at Yang's position, we'll stay here and make sure Talon doesn't try a retaliation!"
"On it." Ren nodded, quickly turning and running down the corridor, followed by Nora and a handful of Students.
"I hope they're not too late." Pyrrha murmured, the tip of Miló pointed at the chest of a Talon operative, who held his hands up in surrender in response.
"Me too." Jaune quietly replied, watching as Ren and Nora led the small force out of sight.
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Ruby sped through the streets of Vale towards Beacon Academy alongside Winston. Soldier 76 had opted to go a different way, preferring to traverse through the shadows instead. As expected, the entrance to Beacon had been cordoned off by Police as they rushed to assemble a large and competent strike force to take back Beacon. Easier said then done considering how badly the massacre at the Forever Falls had affected them.
"We'll never get through in time." Ruby whispered as she and Winston watched from a distance as law enforcement officers gestured for the public to back away from the scene.
"Not through that way," Winston quietly replied before he activated the headset to contact Soldier 76. "Jack, what about you? Where are you?"
"Making my way through, I'll be in touch." Soldier 76 replied before going silent, earning an annoyed growl from Winston.
"It's annoying when he does that..." Winston muttered before turning to face Ruby.
"So how are WE going to get up there?" Ruby asked, pointing to the top of the plateau Beacon rested on.
"About that, I might have an idea..." Winston replied, gesturing for Ruby to follow him.
Ruby complied, following Winston until the Faunus was sure they were out of sight. "So, gonna tell me that idea of yours?"
"Right," Winston replied, pushing his glasses up slightly as he rubbed his eyes. "Before I got involved in all of this, I was developing a thruster pack of sorts. When activated it will give a boost of speed, and if used correctly can act as a 'catapult' of sorts for when jumping."
"Sounds cool..." Ruby murmured as she looked Winston up and down. "Where is it?"
"I'm wearing it..." Winston replied, gesturing to his back. Ruby leaned forward slightly as she stared at the Faunus' back, where a strange device was connected to the back plating. "Just hop on my back and we'll be off."
"Err, okay." Ruby replied, complying with the Faunus and jumping onto his back as he started to turn multiple dials on his belt, the thruster pack humming to life slowly. "So did you ever test this thing?"
"Only once." Winston replied as he finished turning the dials and braced himself for a jump. "It blew up, but don't worry. I've done the calculations and I think the success chance has increased to a 32.33% chance of success. That's repeating of course."
"Wait, what?!" Ruby shouted, becoming increasingly nervous as the thruster pack hummed even louder. "Are you sure there isn't another way inside? Like a secret passageway or-"
Ruby was cut off as the device suddenly activated, the roar of the thruster packs engines being drowned out by Ruby's panicked screams as she clung onto Winston with an iron grip. Winston instead held his hands out as they rapidly approached the cliff face, bracing himself for the landing. Winston then grasped hold of the rocky outcropping, shuddering slightly as he landed. Winston looked around as he gazed down from his vantage point before looking up, the peak of the plateau still a distance away.
"Ha ha, it worked!" Winston laughed as he stole a glance at Ruby. "Now that wasn't so bad, was it?"
Ruby didn't reply immediately, her eyes wide with terror as her grip on the Faunus tightened. "H-how far are we?"
"Still quite a distance away." Winston replied as he looked up again. "But don't worry, a few more jumps and we'll be up in no time!"
Ruby only whimpered in response as the Faunus proceeded to activate the thruster pack again, propelling them closer to the top.
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Yang let out a primal yell as she punched yet another Talon operative in the face, his helmet cracking from the impact as he was sent flying backwards. Most of the Students that had been defending the area were already dead, allowing a number of operatives to break through, carrying a small device between them. They of course had tried to stop them, but Talon were focused on stopping them from achieving that goal. Out of the few Students that were defending the corridor, only Yang, Weiss, Blake and a few others were left.
"How many of these punks are there?!" Yang shouted as she fired a round from Ember Celica at a crowd of Talon operatives, the miniature explosive sending the terrorists flying in all directions. It was like they beat down one and another two take their place.
"I don't know, we just have to hold out long enough until Jaune's reinforcements arrive!" Blake replied, quickly taking cover behind a corner as she inserted a fresh clip into Gambol Shroud.
Yang simply growled in annoyance as she charged a Talon operative who was edging towards her, firing controlled bursts from his rifle. Yang ducked beneath the shots and proceeded to shoulder barge the terrorist, sending him flying towards the wall where he then left a visible crack before slumping down.
"More are coming!" Weiss suddenly shouted, quickly ducking down as bullets flew over her head.
Yang turned and saw another sizeable assault group quickly charge through, firing at Students as they made their way forward. Yang quickly leapt forward, ready to deliver a Dust fuelled punch right in the centre of the group. Then she felt a sharp stabbing pain hit her in the back of her thigh and pull her down mid leap. Turning around, she saw that the operative she had just shoulder barged had sat up and fired some sort of wired dart at her, their finger tightening on the trigger.
Yang then writhed in pain as an electrical current shot up through the wire and into her body. Yang then felt more sharp pains in her arms and stomach as three more operatives fired their tasers at her, completely immobilising her.
"Yang!" Blake shouted as she moved to break cover, but was stopped when more Talon operatives began to fire at her position. Weiss also attempted to make a dash for Yang, but was also stopped for the same reason.
Yang attempted to stand but the electricity arcing through her made the attempt seem futile. Yang looked up as two more operatives rushed forward, their rifles aimed at her head. Yang sent a glare their way as the two operatives stepped forward slowly, ready to execute.
"The cavalry has arrived!"
All present in the hallway turned rapidly as Nora came charging forward, Magnhild raised over her head as Jaune's promised reinforcements finally arrived. The two that had been ready to shoot Yang moved forward and fired their tasers at the hyper active Huntress. Nora staggered back at the initial impact, dropping Magnhild as the barbs hit her arms. As the electrical currents then began to surge through into her system, rather then crumple onto the floor, she began to tense up. The Talon operatives cocked their heads in surprise as Nora then began to laugh maniacally, wrapping the wires around her wrists and grasping hold of them. The two Talon operatives stepped back in surprise before looking at one another. One of them stepped further back as he quickly dropped the weapon, holding his hands up in mock surrender. His associate wasn't nearly as fast enough.
The Talon operative let out a scream of surprise as Nora swung around rapidly, causing the operative to collide with multiple other Talon operatives, including the ones holding down Yang. The Talon operatives grip then finally relinquished, where he was sent flying towards a wall where he landed with an audible grunt. A shelf that had been resting above him shook violently as he hit the wall, sending a vase that had been sat on the shelf toppling over and hitting his stomach, where he let out another pained grunt. Nora turned to face the last few operatives that were still standing, watching as they hurriedly began to back away before going into a full on sprint.
"What time do you call this?" Yang winced as she pulled the taser barbs out of her body, small droplets of blood forming where the spines had pierced flesh.
"Look, what matters is that they got here." Blake stated as she, Weiss and the few remaining Students gathered around Nora, Ren and the reinforcements. "Right now we need to-"
Blake stopped as the sounds of screams echoed around from the direction the Talon operatives had run in. The Students winced as they saw the hall light up, a primal roar and uncontrolled bursts of gunfire adding to the symphony of screams. Then two operatives rushed from behind the corner, one hurriedly sprinting whilst the other was firing at an unseen adversary. A Talon operative then screamed as he was sent flying towards one of the operatives, hitting him and being sent flying even further into the air. The one that had been fleeing staggered back as his allies were downed before he continued into his retreat. The sound of a Sniper Rifle going off soon followed as the operative then yelled in pain as he tumbled onto the floor, clutching his knee. The Students braced themselves for anything as the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps came closer. Seconds later, a heavily armoured Gorilla Faunus barrelled around the corner, skidding to a stop, followed by a certain Red Hooded Huntress.
"Ruby!" Yang shouted as she barged past the line of Students, making a beeline for Ruby who turned her way as she heard her name.
"Yang!" Ruby shouted back, dropping Crescent Rose on the floor as she charged her sister, gripping her in a tight hug that was returned. "Oh god Yang, I'm so sorry about what I said!"
"Just shut up Rube's!" Yang laughed, tears of joy beginning to drip down her face as she tightened her grip on Ruby. "Are you hurt? Where were you?"
"We can explain later." Winston interrupted, causing both Huntresses to turn and face the Faunus as he likewise faced the pair. "What's the situation here?"
"Talon managed to break through our lines." Blake replied, causing Winston to look up at her. "They were carrying some sort of device."
"What did it look like?" Winston asked, stepping forward slightly as he spoke.
"It was large and spherical. Do you know what it is?" Blake enquired, her eyes narrowed in worry.
"I think so, I just hope I'm wrong." Winston replied, scratching his head slowly. "In case I'm right, I'm going to need to get in there myself. I'm going to need to some help reaching it though, where are the Staff of this facility?"
"They're still fighting Talon forces, but last we heard they were starting to retreat." Weiss replied, waving Myrtenaster haphazardly. "If we wait, we can-"
"They'll take too long, that's exactly what Talon wants." Winston interrupted, sighing as he rubbed his brow. "Can any of you fight still?"
"Yeah, still have a bit of fire left in me..." Yang replied, cracking her knuckles loudly as Winston turned to face her. Weiss and Blake also nodded in response, alongside a small handful of Students. "Where we headed?"
"That depends, what would you say is the most central place in the school?" Winston asked, his eyes narrowed as he looked at the volunteers.
"That would be the Great Hall," Blake replied, gesturing behind her as she spoke. "It's not far, but we've had no contact with any Students in that area since the attack started."
"Then that's where Talon will be." Winston stated, before nodding towards the volunteers. "You lot with me, I'm going to need some back up. The rest of you stay here and make sure Talon don't try a retaliation."
The Students nodded as they split off into their respective groups, defence and assault. After picking up Crescent Rose off the floor, Ruby went to join the assault group, but was stopped when Winston held out his hand in front of her.
"Not you. Stay here and keep your ear open for Soldier 76." Winston replied, before leaning forward and speaking in a hushed whisper. "Besides, I think you've done more then enough."
"You're scared Yang will beat the snot out of you if I get put in any more danger, aren't you?" Ruby deadpanned, her eyebrow raised questioningly.
"That too." Winston admitted, nodding slightly in agreement.
"Fine, I'll stay here." Ruby sighed, turning away and joining the defence group. "Good luck guys!"
"We'll be fine Rube's, just stay safe!" Yang shouted back as she rushed to join the assault group, quickly disappearing out of sight.
Ruby smiled slightly as she then turned around and pointed Crescent Rose down the corridor, waiting for any Talon operative to show up.
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Soldier 76 grunted loudly as he clung onto the edge of the plateau Beacon sat upon. Hefting himself up seconds later, he let out a sigh of relief before drawing Helix Strike, pointing the rifle in all directions before sprinting forward. Police forces had cordoned off the main entrance for Beacon, forcing him to use alternate means to reach the Academy. After finding no other means to do so, he had opted instead to simply climb the cliff face, easier said then done. Soldier 76 continued forward, moving towards the main entrance of Beacon where he could rendezvous with Winston and-
Soldier 76 skidded to a halt upon seeing an opening in the wall ahead of him. He aimed Helix Strike down towards the opening, slowly approaching the entrance. What was a door doing here? Something wasn't right.
"Winston, what's your status?" Soldier 76 asked, activating his headset radio.
"I think I know where Talon have taken the bomb." Winston's voice replied, crackling slightly. "What about you?"
"I've found an entrance in the side of the school, I think Talon have used it to get inside." Soldier 76 replied, leaning forward slightly as he gazed down the tunnel.
"Are you sure? That would fit the reports, we saw five Bullheads yet the Students here claim they've only been hit by four boarding parties..." Winston stated, before grunting slightly. "I don't like this Jack, it all smells rotten to me."
"Agreed, I'm going in." Soldier 76 quickly replied, causing Winston to grunt in shock and confusion.
"What? You can't be serious! If Talon has been using that entrance, then there's a high chance Reaper was with them!"
"All the more reason to go in." Soldier 76 retorted, checking his ammo pouch for fresh rounds. "Look, I'm going in. We can't take the risk."
Soldier 76 could hear Winston sigh loudly as he contemplated what he had said. "All right Jack, but be careful."
"Copy that, over and out." Soldier 76 responded, turning the corner and heading straight into the darkened tunnel.
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That's that chapter finished, stayed tuned next week. Liked it? Feel free to review and constructive criticism is welcomed. Any questions? Either leave in your review or PM me and I'll answer next chapter for reviews and whenever possible for PM's.
Raging Archon out.
