Chapter 20: Alliances and Adversaries

Leonardo Lionheart set his Scroll down on the small wooden desk. He breathed heavily, his heart beating quickly in his chest. He sighed and leaned on his arm, his palm pressed into his bearded cheek. He was frightened. He knew the dangers of what he was doing. His life, as well as the lives of everyone he had tried to keep safe, were at risk. But in order to eliminate a risk, a risk had to be taken. Lord Ozpin would either kill all of them or some of them, and while Lionheart hated both options, it was clear which one he had to choose.

On his right and left stood Hazel Rainart and Tyrian Callows, respectively. Hazel, a massive, burly, hairy man stood with his arms crossed and his gaze down. Tyrian, a thin, but muscular man with a thin head and a dark ponytail, stood on the other side, his scorpion-like Faunus tail twitching in the shadows.

As Lionheart and the others sat in thought, there was a knock at the door; a familiar knock, firm and rhythmic. Lionheart could tell who it was without even having to look up.

"Come in," he said.

The dark wood door opened, and his ally limped in. Though he had healed since his arrest, he would likely never lose the the limp for as long as he lived. The man twitched his bushy mustache as he made his way to Lionheart's desk.

"I take it you contacted the Vale group?" Dr. Watts asked.

Lionheart nodded in reply.

"And how, may I ask, are they faring?" the doctor asked, pulling up a red chair and shakily sitting down.

"Not good," Lionheart replied, sighing. "Not good at all. That lovely Neopolitan girl is dead, and the base was destroyed." He leaned back in his soft chair. "Apparently Lord Ozpin has begun production of robotic humanoids capable of infiltration and assassination. Their main goal is to stop that production."

"Sounds difficult," Watts replied, rubbing his knee. "What part do they want us to play in it?"

Lionheart lowered his head to lock eyes with his friend. "Call in the inner circle. We've got important things to discuss."


Watts reclined into the chair, gently rubbing his trembling, sore leg. When Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren had arrested him, the former had shattered almost every part of his legs with her hammer before he was arrested and sent to die in Haven Penitentiary. Fortunately for him, Lionheart kept him alive, and as time passed and his body began to gradually heal, he eventually worked his way up to Lionheart's secret right-hand and most trusted ally. He was grateful that he had not perished before he could have been of use, especially with the communication issues that the Resistance had in his absence.

Sitting in the chair across from him was another ally: a white-haired, elderly man with an eyepatch slung over his right eye. His hair was frazzled and wild, and he gripped the chair's armrests with a real right hand and a prosthetic left.

Standing nearby, next to the now-shut door, was a tall, tanned woman in a short top that revealed her midriff, tight red shorts, and long thigh-high black boots. She brushed her pretty red hair from her face, revealing her bright eyes. Next to her was her partner, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face. He was muscular, with a spiky mohawk and matching goatee. He wore a silver chest plate and green hood.

Lionheart leaned forward on his desk, crossing his fingers in front of him. He cleared his throat, then spoke. "We made contact with the Vale branch."

There were sighs of relief, and the woman cheered quietly.

Lionheart sighed again. "Unfortunately, they're not doing well. But they have a plan, a plan to cripple Beacon Laboratory. And we here at Haven have a very important role to play in it."

"Finally," the man with the mohawk muttered. "We get to do something."

"Easy, Mr. Celadon," Hazel said in his calm but deep voice.

Lionheart adjusted himself in his seat. "In order to strike Beacon Laboratory, there needs to be a diversion. Something to draw Lord Ozpin's forces away from Beacon Fortress and somewhere else. As you've probably guessed, that somewhere else is going to be here. The revolt is going to begin."

The old man scratched his bearded chin with his prosthetic arm. "I see," he said. "How much time do we have to prepare?"

"Not long," Lionheart responded. "They want to hit it soon. According to them, Beacon Laboratory had begun producing robotic humanoids capable of infiltration, assassination, and mass destruction. Additionally, in one of the more gruesome details they shared, the laboratory has also been mechanically and biologically modifying corpses to move and act as foot soldiers."

"Oobleck, no doubt," the old man said, gripping both of his hands into fists. "All the time I knew him, he had a fascination with the deceased. He was working on something called Project Deadwind, which was designed to do exactly what you just described."

"Sick fuck," Tyrian muttered.

Hazel motioned towards the man. "Please, Dr. Merlot, go on. Any information you can give us would be most helpful."

The aged doctor nodded. "While I never saw him make much progress on it, he did develop something called the LOCK system. It's like a microchip, and it theoretically could have used a chemical output to stimulate brain activity. Not enough to form conscious thought, memory, or personality, but just enough to move a body. However, there were so many issues that he never got it to work while I was there. The neural networks that could be affected were very specific, and the bodies would have required tons of various serums and steroids, as well as gallons upon gallons of an artificial blood that didn't work in most bodies."

"Then he must have figured out how to get past or work with those limitations," Watts replied. "He probably had help from Goodwitch with the mechanical aspects."

Lionheart leaned back slightly. "I think it'd be a good idea to let the Vale branch know about this when we have the chance."

The woman cleared her throat and stepped forward. "Well, I'm more worried about those robots. What's the deal on those?"

Tyrian shrugged. "They said something about it being disguised as a little girl. It was able to fake its way into the base before attacking and firebombing the whole place."

"The P.E.N.N.Y. Project," Watts said. He put his hand on his chin. "It was the brainchild of Pietro Polendina and Glynda Goodwitch. Polendina was executed shortly after I escaped, and I figured without him, they'd never be able to do anything with the project. I'm disturbed that they made so much progress."

"They likely got help from General Ironwood and the Schnee Dust Company," Dr. Merlot explained. "Ironwood's weapons division probably chipped in a fair deal, and the SDC specializes in energy propellant."

"Sounds terrifying," the woman said, putting her hands on her hips.

"Indeed, Ms. Esclados," Hazel said. "On top of it, we don't even know if the one that attacked the Vale branch was destroyed. It used itself as a firebomb, but the group said they didn't find its remains in the wreckage."

Carmine Esclados sighed and shook her head. Bertilak Celadon huffed and did the same.

"What about Salem?" Watts asked.

There was an uncomfortably long pause before Lionheart replied. "They said that her condition has worsened. They're not sure how much time she has left."

There was another moment of silence as the group took in the information. While not all of them in that room had personal connections to Salem or even knew her too well, everyone understood what she meant to the Resistance.

"Well, it sounds like we're thoroughly fucked," Bertilak growled, his frown growing larger.

"My thoughts exactly," Tyrian echoed.

Watts scowled at the two, but tried to ignore them. "So, Leonardo," he said, "what's the plan?"

Lionheart leaned forward again, his face serious and stoic. "We need to find a way to convince Lord Ozpin that the Vale branch is here. Not just hint at it or spread rumors, but make him believe completely that the Resistance is here. When we begin the revolt, we'll get the children, sick, and elderly out first so that they won't be in the line of fire when Lord Ozpin's forces arrive. And we should expect everything to be thrown at us: guards, soldiers, Huntsmen, Huntresses, everything. When they arrive, we need to keep them here for as long as we can, and try to prevent any communication between them and Beacon."

"I can work on a hack," Watts said.

"Would we even be able to stand against an army like that?" Bertilak asked.

"With all the people Lord Ozpin's sent here, who are all angry and ready to fight?" Lionheart replied. "Yes. It will not be without heavy losses, but we should outnumber them."

"Key word being 'should'," Tyrian snapped.

Hazel stepped in. "While we're liberating everyone and taking down Lord Ozpin's forces, the Vale Branch will infiltrate Beacon Laboratory and destroy it, ending or at the very least slowing the production of the robots and corpses. That's why its imperative that there is no communication between the forces here and Beacon Fortress; if the forces get called back to Beacon, then the Vale branch is in serious danger."

Lionheart stood up slowly, looking over his allies. "We need to let everyone know what's happening. Start training and planning. Drills, practices, preparations… everything we can do until Vale gives us the go ahead. We're risking a lot here. Let's hope it works."


Gunfire.

Jaune stopped sharpening his sword and looked up, attempting to listen closer. Pyrrha, who was putting on her armored boots, did the same. The room was quiet for a moment, but both Jaune and Pyrrha jumped when Nora burst in loudly.

"Did you hear that?" she practically yelled.

Jaune winced and held up his hand, waving it down to signal to Nora to be quiet. While Nora usually did not react well to people telling her to shut up, she realized that they were all trying to listen and decided to obey. As the room quieted again, Ren noiselessly walked in, his face now covered by a new, black mask with a forest green trim. He listened with them.

It was faint and echoed, but the sound came again. It sounded like a gun firing in the distance, along with the slightest hint of yelling. Suddenly, a loud alarm sounded, startling Jaune, Pyrrha, and Nora simultaneously.

"Intruder alert," the monotone, robotic voice said over an unseen intercom system. "Intruder alert."

Jaune and Pyrrha shot glances at each other as Jaune picked up his sword and Pyrrha grabbed her spear and shield. Nora and Ren wasted no time, with Nora readying her hammer and Ren pulling out one of his guns as they began running towards the door. Jaune and Pyrrha leapt to their feet and followed them out the door and down the grey hallway towards a now louder sound of yelling and gunfire.

"An intruder?" Pyrrha said over the blaring alarm and repetitive warnings. "Who would be stupid enough to break into Beacon Fortress?"

Jaune pulled his shield off of his belt as he ran. "Don't know. But Lord Ozpin is the priority. Whoever it is, do not let them reach his chambers."

The yelling and screaming got louder as the Huntsmen and Huntresses approached, along with what sounded like metallic rattling. Suddenly and without warning, the yelling and shooting silenced, and all that was left was the blaring alarm.

Ren, Nora, Jaune, and Pyrrha rounded a corner, the hallway spitting them out into the grand hall in front of Lord Ozpin's quarters. His giant, dark brown doors were sealed shut, and the alarm system was not present, leaving the alarm only a faint screeching in the distance. The grand hall was lined with statues of Lord Ozpin, each representing a feat he had achieved or a location he ruled. Lanterns of green flame were situated on the walls, casting a green hue on the whole room. Aside from the lanterns and light from adjoining hallways, the hall was extremely dark, and faded to black along the columns and ceiling.

As the Huntsmen and Huntresses skidded to a halt, they saw the disturbing scene at the far end. The dark walls, along with the marble floor, was stained with red blood, still running down into the cracks. There were pieces of guard armor, as well as pieces of guards, scatted about gruesomely on the floor. Standing in the middle of the carnage, her hood and scythe as red as the blood around her, was the Reaper, situated in a battle stance and grinning. In one fist she gripped her stained weapon, and in the other she gripped a rusted metal chain, which ran down onto the floor and was attached to a spiked metal collar, wrapped tightly around the neck of a dirty, armless, blond girl with a piece of bloody purple fabric wrapped over her eyes.

"You!" Pyrrha yelled, pointing her spear at the Reaper.

Jaune held up his sword and shield, though he recoiled a bit when he saw Yang. "Ugh… and she's got that… thing with her."

Yang would have been insulted if she could even comprehend what was happening. All she heard was loud noises, and she was tired and afraid.

Ruby smiled, and pulled the hood off of her head. She stood straight as she whipped her dark hair out of her face and, with her black sleeve, wiped her brow. She put her fist (the one holding Yang's chain) on her hip as she looked down the long hall.

"Hey there," she said in her usual, disturbingly chipper voice. "Any of you fuckers know where I can find Lord Ozpin?"

Ren took a step forward, pulling out his other gun. "You will not lay a finger on our god," he growled.

"Yeah!" Nora called. 'Tell 'er, Ren!"

To all of the Huntsman and Huntresses' surprise, Ruby lowered her scythe. She held it straight vertically in her fist like a staff, pointing the blade to the side.

"Don't worry, weirdo," she chuckled sinisterly. "I'm not gonna hurt him. I just want to have a teeny, tiny little word with him."

"Like we'd believe you!" Pyrrha said, readying to charge.

Ruby's toothy grin slowly shrunk, her lips closing into a small, evil smile. She stared at the Huntsmen and Huntresses with her silver gaze, then slowly took a few steps over to one of the columns to her left. Steadily and almost silently, she wrapped Yang's chain around one of the metal lantern holders, pulling it tight around the support. She raised her scythe as she walked back to the center of the bloody mess.

"So that's how it is, then," she said in a menacing tone.

Jaune pointed his sword at her. "Ruby Rose, you are under arrest for innumerable crimes against Lord Ozpin, including but not limited to threat to his property and person."

"Look, handsome," Ruby teased, running her free hand sensually down her hip and thigh, "I'm gonna give you one last chance to let me through."

Pyrrha stepped up next to Jaune as Nora and Ren held up their weapons. "You'll need to go through all of us," she warned.

Ruby's small smile flashed back into her wide grin. "I was hoping you'd say that," she said. She gripped her scythe handle in both fists, then began charging down the hall towards them, her boots thundering loudly on the floor.

Jaune began charging as well, his shield forward and his sword ready. Pyrrha copied his stance as she charged after him, her spear ready to be either thrown or swung. Nora ran forward as well, holding her hammer behind her, ready to swing. Ren held his arms behind him and charged forward, arcing his back down and keeping his footsteps light.

The connection came in the center of the hall, when all five fighters clashed. The first blow came as Ruby whirled her scythe blade into Jaune's shield with a loud metallic clang. It scraped off and over towards Pyrrha, who blocked with her shield, and took the opportunity to stab her spear at Ruby's face. Ruby tilted her head, allowing the blade to pass by as she spun around, her long red cape flowing behind her and taking up much of Jaune and Pyrrha's view.

Ren slid down towards the ground and across the floor, aiming his guns at Ruby. Just before he pulled the triggers, Ruby faced him and began spinning her scythe as fast as she possibly could in front of her. Ren fired several shots, and there were sounds of cracking and ricocheting as the bullets were hit away. Just as Ren fired his last shot, Ruby felt a stinging, hot pain. She winced and glanced to her shoulder. There was a gash in the fabric, and the skin beneath was red and bleeding. One of the bullets had gotten through.

As Ruby was distracted, Ren readied his weapons and charged at her, ready to stab into her. However, as he raised his blade, Nora suddenly stepped in front of him. Ren skidded to a halt.

"Nora! What the hell are you doing?!" he yelled.

Nora giggled and raised her hammer, swinging it at Ruby. Ren's shouting had gotten Ruby's attention, and she turned her head to identify the threat, but was too late to dodge it. Instead, she held her scythe handle in front of her like a shield and braced for impact.

The hammer slammed into the scythe, slamming Ruby away. Ruby even felt her feet leave the ground as the painful impact shook her violently and sent her skidding across the hall. She landed on her feet at first, but lost her balance and tumbled, doing her best to keep her weapon's blades away from her. She rolled on the ground, then stuck out her arms and pushed herself up while still moving. She stood with her weapon raised, preparing to charge back in.

However, Jaune charged first, sliding across the smooth floor with his shield up. Ruby held her scythe's handle up again as the two pieces of equipment clashed, clanging loudly. The impact was not enough to push her back this time, so Ruby put pressure on the shield.

As soon as Jaune felt the scythe press against his shield, he raised his sword and brought it down. Ruby, seeing the impending attack, broke away and slashed at Jaune's blade, knocking it away. Jaune began swinging his sword at Ruby, who turned and raised the small, dagger-like tip of her scythe handle like spear, and the two weapons began slashing at each other. Ruby would stab, and Jaune would hit the blade away. Jaune would swing, and Ruby would block.

As Jaune kept Ruby occupied, Ren ran to one of the columns and jumped up on top of one of the lantern holders, resting his feet on the metal arms. He raised his guns and tried to get a good shot. He probably would not have minded if he shot Jaune, but was not ready for the punishment that would come from that.

Pyrrha quickly threw her shield onto the strap on her back, and ran to the side of one of the halls. She held her spear out and raised it into the air. With her free hand, she raised her thumb and tried to project where she would throw it. She hoped that she would be able to throw it at just the right angle and at just the right time so that it would travel over Jaune's head and impale Ruby, but the two were moving so quickly that she was having trouble locking onto Ruby.

Nora, on the other hand, was not as patient as her peers. Yelling loudly as her only form of warning, Nora rushed in, preparing another swing like the one before. Jaune heard her charging footsteps and war cry and jumped out of the way, leaving an open path between Nora and her target. Nora smiled evilly when she saw Ruby in her sights, and swung her hammer hard.

However, Ruby had heard Nora's approach as well, and this time was ready for her. As Nora swung, Ruby leapt up into the air as high as she could, allowing the weapon to just barely miss her feet. Nora's smug grin faded when she realized that she had missed, but Ruby was not done. Ruby arced her scythe blade downwards, and swung it up in midair like a hook towards Nora. Nora yelped and jumped back as the blade pierced her pink combat shirt and began slicing up. Nora felt the blade slash her sensitive skin, and both the blade and the propulsion from her attempted dodge threw her back.

There was a loud tearing sound as Nora fell backwards onto her bottom, her hammer creating an ear-splitting ruckus as it crashed to the ground. Pieces of pink fabric fluttered into the air, and Nora gritted her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut in pain. She did not have to look at her injury, as she already knew it. She pressed her hand on it to confirm: it was a long, large gash running from the bottom of her ribcage up to her collarbone. It was stinging and bleeding profusely. If Nora had not jumped when she did, the injury would have certainly been fatal. She felt up the injury, glad that it was not too deep, and feeling the hot skin…

Wait.

Nora's eyes opened in surprise when she realized that the Reaper's slash had torn her shirt clean off, revealing her bare chest underneath. She saw Ruby regaining her balance while smirking, and Jaune and Pyrrha looking at her with strange expressions of concern and disgust on their faces. Nora squealed in embarrassment as she threw her arm up over her breasts, doing her best to cover them. She blushed, though it was paler than usual due to the blood loss. She briefly checked to see if Ren was staring, but he was not. Favoring the stinging gash, Nora gently stood up and grabbed her hammer before ducking into one of the dark hallways, both to treat her wound and to flee the embarrassment.

Ren took no notice of Nora's wardrobe malfunction nor her injury, but saw an opening to open fire on Ruby. Carefully aiming, Ren prepared to pull the triggers.

At the same time, Pyrrha noted her opening as well. Trying to focus again, she turned and aimed her spear, then threw it confidently through the air. It rose high above the statues, then arced down and began its lethal descent.

Ruby swung at Jaune, catching him off-guard. He rose his shield in time to block, but was pushed back. Ruby stepped forward to advance, and then heard gunfire. Her eyes widened slightly when she realized she had left herself open.

Suddenly, Pyrrha's spear dropped from above, on track to impale her head. As it grew nearer, it suddenly sparked and twisted in the air, changing direction slightly. The blade dropped next to Ruby's head, cutting a lock of her dark hair off as it skimmed her and planted itself into the ground. It took a moment for all parties to realize what happened, and they all came to the same conclusion about the same time: Pyrrha's spear and Ren's bullets had reached the same spot at almost the exact same time. The bullets struck the spear, blocking the shots and redirecting the blade just slightly off its course.

Ruby, for one of the first times ever, had felt a twinge of fear before she realized what happened, and again for one of the first times, she breathed a sigh of relief as she raised Crescent Rose for defense again. Few things ever stood a chance against her, so when something legitimately put her life in jeopardy, it was different and unexpected. Part of her liked it.

Ren yelled in fury when he realized that his attack had been thwarted, and Pyrrha huffed in frustration. Jaune raised his sword.

Ruby, still reeling from how close the attacks came to finishing her, smiled as her breathing quickened. She giggled, both in in sadistic glee and relief. She looked up at the Huntsmen and Huntress.

"Oh my gods," she said in between pants and giggles. "You almost got me there. That was really close!"

"We'll just have to get closer, then!" Jaune yelled, preparing to attack. Just as his legs started to move, there was a loud slam from behind him. He, Pyrrha, and Ren all looked behind them to see the giant doors open wide. Blackness was behind them, and in the doorway stood Lord Ozpin himself, his posture straight and firm and his gaze angry and bitter.

Jaune gasped, and did not know whether to bow or warn him to go back to his chambers. Her turned his head to look at Ruby. To his shock. she stood there, smiling and breathing heavily, but craning her neck to look at Lord Ozpin.

"My Lord!" Ren said, jumping from his perch and kneeling.

"My Lord!" Pyrrha said, turning towards him. "Sir, you are in danger!"

"Enough," Lord Ozpin commanded in a booming, sour voice. "Arc, lower your weapons."

Jaune hesitated with the Reaper right there, but obeyed. He lowered his sword and shield and prepared for Ruby to strike, but she did not.

"Ruby Rose," Lord Ozpin said, his loud, demanding voice echoing through the dark hall. "The Reaper. Why do you pollute my air with your breath?" he asked menacingly.

Ruby lowered her scythe and shrugged, not intimidated by him like his lackeys were. "I'm guessing you're asking why I'm here. Well, I told your pets that I just wanted to chat. Talk business."

"And why," Lord Ozpin demanded, the air growing cold and his eyes growing darker, "would I even think of entertaining that idea? Why would I not just make my Huntsmen and Huntresses execute you?"

Ren and Jaune looked to Ruby, clutching their respective weapons. Pyrrha approached and carefully picked up her spear, glaring at Ruby angrily.

"Well, first of all, they haven't done a very good job at that," Ruby said smugly. "And if your pack of freaks here can't even kill me, how are they gonna kill the Resistance?"

Lord Ozpin raised his angry eyebrow, but said nothing.

"Oh yeah," Ruby said, drawing out the words like it was pleasurable. "I know about your little feud with those weirdos. I also know that, while you're merciless, you're not stupid. Don't you want to at least hear my proposal before you try… and fail… to kill me?"

Few things would have pleased Lord Ozpin more at that point than to smite this brat that dared to defy him to his face. But she had a point: he was not stupid. He quickly thought to himself that there could be advantages to, at the very least, hearing her out before killing her.

"Come," Lord Ozpin commanded, waving his arm towards his chambers and turning to reenter them. "We will speak in private." Ruby obeyed and folded Crescent Rose up before skipping down the hall towards him.

"My Lord-" Ren began, attempting to warn his god of the dangers of being alone with the lunatic, but Lord Ozpin simply shot him a cold glare. Ren instantly backed down.

Ruby smiled as she skipped past Jaune and Pyrrha. She coyly turned her head and stuck her tongue out at them as she passed by. They both scowled at her, and made sure that they walked to the center of the hall to block any attempt at escape. However, they simply watched as Ruby followed Lord Ozpin into the shadows beyond the doors, which slowly closed behind them and loudly slammed shut.