I'm back bitches, and in more ways then one! Things have finally sorted themselves out back home and I'm back to my usual self. Also, Happy St Georges Day! So, just gonna do review responses from the last chapter before we get started. OutlastTheDark; glad you liked the chapter man, and bonus points if you spotted the 'Recall' references in the chapter. Drakefire; I ran through the calculations, and I have determined that there is a 99.99% chance that a version of WoW exists in Remnant. That's repeating of course. And well spotted! Now, on with the show!

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Chapter 21- You're the Bomb!

"The Great Hall should just be up ahead!" Blake shouted, pointing out in front of her. True to what she said, the doors leading to the Great Hall were in front of them, stained by both scorch marks and fresh blood. Winston skidded to a halt in front of the door, motioning for the Students to stop as well.

"All right, any idea how many Talon agents made it through?" Winston asked in a hushed tone, not wanting to risk Talon potentially hearing them.

"I counted at least twenty, but I've no idea about the other quadrants of Beacon that got hit." Blake responded, her hand tightening around Gambol Shroud's grip.

"Guys," one of the Students beckoned in a hushed tone, standing near a shattered window. "over here!"

Winston and some of the other Students slowly moved forward to the opposite side of the window, which the Student was motioning inside the building. Winston slowly leaned forward and observed the inside of the structure, taking in every detail. A large number of Talon operatives were gathered in the Great Hall, the majority clustered around a large device. Many more were walking around, planting their weapon barrels against the back of seemingly dead Students necks and firing, ensuring they were indeed dead. Winston let out a low growl at the debauchery he was witnessing, his hands clenching into fists. A Talon agent turned in their direction, Winston quickly ducking his head away from the window and lying against the wall. The sound of someone approaching slowly was heard, followed by the sound of a weapon's safety being turned off. Winston held his breath as the footsteps became louder and louder. What followed next was a long and uncomfortable silence as Winston awaited the inevitable.

"Must be my nerves acting up..." the Talon operative muttered, quickly lowering the weapon and retreating back to his colleagues, causing Winston to sigh in relief.

He quickly motioned for the group to head back to the main door where the other Students were waiting for them.

"How many?" Weiss asked in a hushed tone, her head zipping back and forth between Winston and the main door.

"I counted at least forty, all clustered up in the centre of the Hall." Winston sighed, rubbing the back of his head slowly.

"We'll never take on that many by ourselves!" Weiss hissed in response, pointing at the door with Myrtenaster as she spoke. "There's only ten of us, and we've all faced more then enough for one day!"

"You're right, we can't take all of them in a head on assault." Winston agreed, before a large grin spread across his face. "But I don't intend to."

"You have a plan?" Yang asked, her hand planted on her hip which was tilted to one side.

"The foundations of a plan, yes." Winston nodded, his eyes narrowed in concentration as he mulled over his options.

"The foundations of a plan isn't an actual plan." Weiss retorted, earning a few nods of agreement from some of the more sceptical students.

"Well it's better then no plan at all." Winston argued, earning more nods of agreement.

"What's your plan?" Blake finally asked, wishing to be done with the deliberation. The longer they spent arguing the more time Talon had to do whatever they were here for.

"I'll cause a distraction, the rest of you charge in when you see my signal." Winston quickly explained, turning around to clamber up the walls of the Great Hall.

"What's the signal?" Yang asked, her hands spread out as she narrowed her eyes.

"You'll know it when you see it." Winston replied, continuing up the walls until he was out of sight.

The Students looked around at one another in confusion, some of them shrugging their shoulders. Blake slowly made her way to the shattered window the others had been using to spy on the Talon forces, descending into a kneeling position as she slowly craned her head through the gap, the other students following suite.

"All right, the boss is in. Stand guard and make sure no one gets in!" one of the Talon officers barked, earning a large number of 'yes sirs' in response.

The Talon operatives were soon surrounding the device, their Rifles and Pistols trained on every possible opening. The sound of something heavy clattering above them caused all the agents to crane their weapons up in response, all of them turning around slowly as they tried to distinguish where the noise came from.

"Fan out, check for hostiles and remember to watch your six!" the officer shouted, motioning for the force to fan out. The operatives nodded in response, all but six of them moving away from a large device situated in the centre of the room.

"What is that?" Yang asked in a hushed tone, dipping her head low when a Talon operative aimed his sights in their direction before moving on.

"I don't know..." Blake responded, watching for any sign of Winston.

The six clustered around the device scanned the area ahead of them, the officer in the centre of the small cluster. A loud bang echoed across the room, causing all the operatives to turn and face the direction of the noise. All then proceeded to fire at the area, causing a large amount of debris from the ceiling to fall down, causing dust to fly everywhere. As the dust settled, the Talon operatives loaded fresh ammo clips into their weapon as they observed the hole they had just made.

"Get a light up there and see what we-"

The officer was interrupted as the large hulking figure that was Winston dropped from the shadows right on top of him, the force in which he hit the ground knocking him out cold. With the element of surprise still on his side, he then proceeded to grab one by the ankle and throw him towards some of the Talon operatives clustered around the pile of debris, knocking over five of them, followed quickly by grabbing one by the face and smashing it down onto the ground. One of the operatives had managed to recover from the shock and had now began to fire at Winston, the bullets either being absorbed by his Aura or bouncing off of his armour. Shielding his face, Winston leapt forward and grasped the Rifle in his hands, forcing it towards more of the operatives who were quickly felled by the barrage of bullets. As the other two began to fire at him, Winston threw the operative he held in his grasp towards the final two, who managed to duck beneath their comrade. As the operatives attempted to recover from their evasive action, Winston rolled between the two operatives before turning around to face the two, where he grasped hold of the back of their heads before slamming them together, causing both operatives to grunt in pain as they spun around before falling over.

"That was the signal!" Winston then shouted, using his hands to cover his face as the remaining operatives began to encroach on his position.

The Students nodded towards one another before charging through both the shattered window and the door, yelling indecipherable war-crys as the Talon operatives turned swiftly at the new arrivals, caught completely off guard.

"I knew I heard something!" the Talon operative who had nearly discovered the group shouted before Weiss summoned a flame glyph beneath him, causing him to stagger back in surprise before being sent flying into the air by the following explosion.

Yang ducked beneath Rifle fire as she charged towards one of the operatives, unleashing a blast from Ember Celica which hit an operative in the chest, causing him to fly backwards towards another pair, causing a minor domino effect to occur. Blake fired Gambol Shroud's ribbon at a retreating operative, the bladed ribbon piercing the wall right in front of the operative. As the stunned operative followed the ribbon's length, Blake charged forward, hitting the operative with the butt of the weapon, causing the operative to stagger back from the blow. As the operative recovered from the punch, Blake danced around him, wrapping the ribbon around his neck and pulling him over her shoulder before proceeding to hit him again in the face.

As the Students slowly began to turn the tide in their favour, Winston turned to face the device they had been guarding so defiantly. Grasping hold of the cover plate, he used every ounce of strength in him to pull it free, tossing the now bent plate away where it hit a Talon operative on the head, knocking him out cold. As Winston turned to face the device, he gasped in pure shock and horror.

"Oh no..." Winston stammered, blinking rapidly to ensure he wasn't just seeing things.

The last of the Talon operatives finally fell to the onslaught of Students, some of them laughing as they began kicking the operative, who was flailing around on the floor like an upturned turtle. As the Students began to celebrate their victory, Blake noticed the distraught Winston, causing her to frown slightly.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Blake finally asked, approaching the Gorilla Faunus. Had he been hurt? Was his equipment damaged?

"It was a decoy..." Winston finally murmured, causing Blake to narrow her eyes in confusion. "A Red Herring..."

Blake finally looked at the device before Winston, which was nothing but an empty metal shell.

"A Red Herring for what?" Blake asked, kneeling down next to the Faunus, who slowly turned to face her with sad eyes.

"For the real threat..." Winston finally replied, getting up quickly as he beckoned for the Students to leave immediately.

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"Sir, the payloads been uncovered, they know it's a fake." one of the Talon operatives informed Reaper, who slowly turned to face the operative.

"Took them long enough." Reaper calmly replied, moving forward at a calm pace, followed by his chosen few operatives. "We will have plenty of time."

The operative simply nodded in response as Reaper continued to lead the way, the other operatives scanning the small corridor as they surrounded the group carrying the box like device. Soon the corridor began to open up more as the group fund themselves in a large circular room with multiple levels made up by steel barricades and metal grating. In the centre of the room was a large pillar like device, a metal fence surrounding the pillar to stop anyone from outside coming into contact with the pillar, which was arcing off large amounts of electricity, giving the room a blue hue.

"This is it. This is the generator." Reaper murmured, turning around to face the gathered operatives. "Start planting the charges."

The Talon operatives nodded and turned to face the ones carrying the crate, who slowly lowered the crate onto the ground. After typing a few commands on the control panel locking the box, it opened with an audible hiss, revealing a large number of small but volatile charges. The Talon operatives then began handing the small explosives to their fellows, who then began clamping the devices to the walls.

"Place four charges on each level, spread them apart at an even distance." Reaper ordered, gesturing to the levels above him. The ones carrying the explosives nodded and went to complete their assigned task, leaving a large number of operatives unassigned. "The rest of you fan out and secure the area, leave no corner unchecked."

The Talon operatives all nodded in response, many ascending the stairways to check the upper levels whilst five went back through the tunnel to ensure no one had followed them. Reaper then grunted to himself as he cracked his knuckles, turning around to face the generator's control panel, overlooking the many buttons and control dials.

"Let's notch things up a level shall we..." Reaper muttered to himself, laughing without humour as he began to turn multiple dials, turning to face the generator as it began to shoot out large arcs of electricity, red lights flashing up on its surface.

If the explosives wouldn't overload the generator then this surely would. As far as he was concerned, Talon was expendable. The Soldiers with him now were just members of a faceless army, easily replaced. When the generator detonated either due to the explosives or the shear amount of energy being pumped into it Beacon would be consumed. All except Ozpin's office. He had done the maths, and if he was correct the explosion would topple the tower. Ozpin would be wounded when his office crashed, but alive nonetheless. And Reaper would be safe and sound, in no small part due to his Semblance. And then he would finish what he had started so many years ago…

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"Jack! Are you there?!" Winston's voice shouted through the earpiece, causing Soldier 76 to stop in his tracks as he began to reply.

"Yeah I'm here, what's the situation?" Soldier 76 calmly replied. Winston sounded desperate, whatever he was calling for it wasn't good.

"The bomb was a dud! The device was just an empty shell!" Winston then stated, causing Soldier 76 to sigh slightly.

"Are you serious?!" Ruby's high pitched voice suddenly interrupted, causing Soldier 76 to wince slightly as her voice pierced his eardrums.

"Unfortunately so," Winston solemnly replied. "Jack, we need to get the Students out of here! Talon have finally fallen back but I need your help."

"No can do," Soldier 76 quickly replied, holding Helix Strike up slightly as he scanned the corridor before him. "I think I know where Talon have taken the bomb."

"What are you talking about?" Winston asked, only to gasp slightly seconds later. "The passageway you found!"

"Yeah, I think the parties that attacked Beacon directly were a distraction for the real bomb." Soldier 76 confirmed, slowly moving forward.

"Do you have any idea where that passageway leads?" Winston then asked, causing Soldier 76 to scan the corridor quickly. His eyes stopped dead when he spotted a small metal panel that listed multiple safety warnings as well the name of the area he was approaching.

"Looks like they plan to hit the generator." Soldier 76 replied, scanning the ceiling which had multiple wires running along it, feeding power to the rest of the Academy.

"The generator? I can get there! I'm not that far away!" Ruby's voice once again interrupted.

"No! I need you to stay here and help!" Winston shouted back, followed by the sound of Ruby groaning loudly.

"But-"

"No 'buts'!" Winston interrupted, followed quickly by Ruby grunting in annoyance. "Jack, if you can find the bomb I can guide you through the disarming process, but you have to get there fast."

"No problem, I'll stay in touch and inform you when I find it." Soldier 76 replied, edging closer towards the generator room.

"Solid copy, and be careful. High chance Reaper is there."

"Roger that, over and out." Soldier 76 replied, turning his earpiece off as he held Helix Strike up slightly, moving quickly through the corridor.

As he continued through the tunnel, he froze as he heard footsteps rapidly approaching. He should have known. Talon were no doubt back tracking, making sure they weren't followed. He could take them easily, but no doubt the noise caused by the fighting would alert them all to his presence, leaving him in a situation he didn't want to be in. Scanning the corridor for any sign of an exit, his eyes landed upon a metal grating connected to a vent. He looked back and forth between the grating and the passageway, the footsteps becoming louder.

He jumped up and grasped hold of the grating, lifting it up quietly before slipping in through the gap and closing it behind him. The vent was surprisingly spacious and appeared to be strong enough to take his weight. He watched through the grating as five Talon operatives filed past him, oblivious to his presence. As the operatives soon went out of sight and sound, Soldier 76 proceeded to crawl through the vent, looking for a potential opening to clamber out of.

The vent soon traversed upwards, causing Soldier 76 to instead clamber up the vent shaft. After a few minutes of clambering up, he found the vent finally stopped, a metal grating blocking his path. Slowly pushing the grating open, Soldier 76 clambered out of the vent, gently landing on a metal platform overlooking the rest of the room. Looking around, he saw multiple other levels, all of them crawling with Talon operatives. He turned to his left at the sound of someone climbing up the stairway. He quickly charged forward, grasping hold of the hand rail and launching himself feet first into a Talon operative, who fell back with an audible grunt into a crowd of other operatives.

Before the operatives could recover, Soldier 76 drew Helix Strike, firing burst rounds at the downed terrorists, killing them all before they could even defend themselves. Soldier 76 then rolled forward as the other operatives became aware of his presence, making their way to his location. Soldier 76 broke cover a few times as he fired burst rounds at the approaching terrorists, but quickly knew he would soon be outnumbered. And so he retreated to the shadows.

"Fan out!" one of the operatives ordered, slowly moving forward as the other remaining operatives began to encroach on the platform.

Soldier 76 watched from the shadows as the Talon operatives began to spread out, covering both the top walkway and the one he was currently on. He counted at least fifteen operatives. More then enough to take him combined. But he wasn't going to give them that chance.

An operative approached his hiding place, his back turned to him. Big mistake. Soldier 76 grasped hold of the operative from behind and pulled him into the shadows, wrapping his right arm around his neck whilst his left arm locked around his arm. The operative let out a strangled noise as he attempted to claw at his arm, but he could not find a grip on the leather sleeve. After a few futile seconds of struggling, Soldier 76 tightened his grip considerably, a wet snap following shortly after. Soldier 76 then proceeded to gently lower the limp body onto the floor, making sure to keep him out of the light. One down, fourteen to go.

Soldier 76 then subtly made his way around the complex, changing cover when he was confident no one was watching. In less then a minute the Talon operatives on his level were all dead. Now to move onto the top level. He slowly made his way up the stairs, crouching low as he rolled into cover. He had his eyes on five operatives, all of them now on high alert after losing contact with so many operatives in such a short time.

Soldier 76 waited as one of the operatives backed up towards him, oblivious to his presence. Soldier 76 then moved forward to take him out like he had the others. As he moved forward however, the flooring beneath him creaked beneath his weight. Soldier 76 froze as he looked down before looking up to face the operative. The operative was now highly alert, slowly turning to glance behind him. Then with lightning fast speed he spun around to deliver a roundhouse kick in his direction. He was fast, but not fast enough.

As the foot neared his head, Soldier 76 grasped hold of his ankle and pulled it up, knocking the operative over on to his neck. Grasping hold of his leg with both hands, Soldier 76 then forced the leg down, the applied pressure snapping his neck. Soldier 76 then rolled away as the remaining four operatives began to fire at him. Soldier 76 charged an operative, quickly drawing his pistol and firing a round into his helmet, the visor cracking and seeping blood as the operative fell back.

One of the operatives charged from behind, attempting to hit Soldier 76 from behind with the butt of his Rifle, only for Soldier 76 to weave beneath the blow and behind him. Soldier 76 then grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and threw him towards the generator, the metal barricade stopping him from falling off the edge. As the operative recovered, Soldier 76 charged and delivered a kick to his stomach, causing him to topple over regardless. Soldier 76 watched with mild interest as the Talon operative came into contact with the generator, watching as the Talon operative shrieked in pain as his body slowly disintegrated.

Gunfire around him quickly brought him back to reality, causing him to roll backwards behind cover as the final two operatives closed in on him.

"Jack! I've got some bad news!" Winston's voice suddenly interrupted. "I've lost contact with Ruby, some of the Students said she ran off after our conversation. I think she's gone for the generator!"

"Kind of busy here Winston!" Soldier 76 seethed, breaking cover to fire a few rounds at the two Talon operatives with his pistol, both diving for cover.

"Have you found the bomb yet?" Winston asked, pausing slightly when he heard yet more gunfire.

"I think so, I found a few charges placed around the generator on one of the levels. Chances are they're on all of them." Soldier 76 responded as he quickly broke cover, charging to where one of the operatives were hidden, kneeing him in the gut before quickly grasping hold of him in a head lock before snapping his neck.

"Charges? Are you certain?" Winston asked, waiting on Soldier 76 as more gunfire resounded around him.

Soldier 76 charged the final Talon operative who was backing away rapidly from the vigilante, firing controlled bursts in a last ditch attempt to kill him. Soldier 76 ducked beneath the barrage of bullets before delivering a kick to his chest, knocking him off the edge where the operative screamed in horror, followed swiftly by a wet crunch as he landed on his head.

"Positive." Soldier 76 finally responded, quickly holstering his pistol.

"This might be easier then I thought then..." Winston murmured, silently deliberating on himself. "By any chance did they have a handle that was turned horizontally?"

"Yeah, though it looked like they were meant to be going vertically." Soldier 76 responded, stopping in his tracks. "Why?"

"Then this will be relatively simple." Winston casually replied, sounding far calmer then he had been earlier. "You have two options, either disarm them all manually or simply gain hold of the arming device."

"Sounds easy." Soldier 76 replied, sighing in slight relief. "Who has the trigger then?"

"Who do you think?!"

Soldier 76 turned rapidly at the voice, drawing his pistol yet again. As he scanned the area, he saw a black mist beginning to congregate a few feet from him. The mist then began to rise through the grated floor, rising higher as it began to take a corporeal form, before landing with a heavy thud. Soldier 76 tightened his grip on his pistol as the form took on more distinguishable features, until finally it took the form of Reaper.

"Jack, what's going on down there?!" Winston's voice asked, sounding once again panicked. "Jack, can you hear me?!"

"Sorry Winston..." Soldier 76 murmured, reaching for the earpiece with his free hand.

"Jack? Jac-"

Winston's voice cut off as Soldier 76 plucked the earpiece out of his ear, dropping it on the grated flooring, Reaper watching him inquisitively.

"At long last, the illustrious Soldier 76..." Reaper laughed maniacally, quickly drawing Death's Vice from his robes and aiming the Shotgun's at the vigilante. "I've been DYING to meet you..."

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Well shit, that just happened. As always, feel free to review and constructive criticism is welcomed. Any questions? Either leave in your reviews or PM me and I'll answer next chapter for reviews and whenever possible for PM's.

Raging Archon out.