Chapter 29: Welcome to Beacon

The fortress was usually quiet. There was little activity outside of the marching of guards and the occasional transport taking Huntsmen and Huntresses to missions or airfields. It bored Ruby to death. She thanked the gods that Grimm were occasionally creeping along the outskirts, ready to be killed. If they were not, she probably would have lost her mind. Though going completely insane did sound a little fun.

This was different, though. As Ruby had been hunting around the rear of the fortress for stray Grimm, she heard thundering marching, yelling, and transports taking off in every direction. Something was going down. Her curiosity got the better of her, and she hurried back.

When Ruby got back onto the fortress grounds, she realized that she had underestimated just how loud and busy things had actually gotten. Guards and soldiers were arming themselves with guns, clubs, and swords, the higher authorities barking orders as tanks and troop carriers roared out of garages.

"What on Remnant…" Ruby muttered to herself. She stayed out of the way, for once not wanting to draw attention to herself and instead watch the spectacle.

As Ruby observed Lord Ozpin's forces mobilizing, she saw two familiar faces: a Huntsman and Huntress that she had fought when she arrived. The man with long black hair was walking towards a garage, with the now bandaged-up short girl in the pink following nearby. She figured since they were technically the closest thing to people she knew besides Lord Ozpin, that she'd try picking their brains as to what was going on. She marched at a quick pace over in their direction. She purposefully walked in front of hurrying guards just to spitefully slow them down. One screamed when he saw her, which made her smile wickedly. She was glad to know her reputation proceeded her.

Ruby reached the entrance to a garage, housing a large, tank-like vehicle covered in guns and turrets. Nora and Ren were waiting next to the vehicle. Nora noticed her first, and apprehensively jumped back and reached for the hammer strapped to her back. Ren reached for his guns.

"Relax," Ruby huffed. "I've been…" Ruby paused, not wanting to say 'ordered' or even 'told', "…asked… not to bug you." The Huntsman and Huntress' stances and expressions did not change.

Ruby shrugged. "Anyway, what the hell is going on here?"

Ren was the one to answer, gruffly. "Distress signal from Haven Penitentiary. That location is important to Lord Ozpin, so we're going to defend it."

Ruby raised an eyebrow. "Sounds like fun," she snickered.

Ren narrowed his eyes. "You will be staying here. Haven is too important for a rogue element like you to be in the mix."

Ruby grinned. "Aw, now you're making me feel bad, handsome."

Even facetiously, Nora did not appreciate someone else hitting on her Ren. She stepped forward. "What did you say?"

Ruby's grin faded and she glared at Nora. "Cool it, girlie. Or would you like me to slash you again?"

Nora gulped and stepped back.

"Yeah, that's what I thought, bitch." Ruby turned her gaze back to Ren. "Well, have fun in Haven. Kill one for me, will ya?" With that she turned and walked away, her red cape bellowing behind her.

Nora grumbled. "I really don't like her."

Ren glared at the Reaper. For once, he and Nora agreed on something.


Emerald gripped at the bark, doing her best to hold on. She could see the commotion even from a distance. Her allies were laying low in their basement hideout, just in case any of the transports happened to pass by. She decided it was best for her to come down. Looking down and minding her footing, Emerald slowly descended the gnarled tree, careful of the weak branches and flaking bark. As soon as she felt her feet on the ground, she did a quick scan of the environment to make sure no one was around before sprinting back towards the crumbled house and their basement dwelling. She huffed as she jumped down the stairs and into the basement, where Cinder and Adam were practicing with their blades, Roman was packing supplies into a satchel, and Mercury was using what tools they had to tighten the bolts on his mechanical legs.

"Tons of activity at Beacon," Emerald reported. "They're moving out. Looks like our distraction at Haven is working."

"Good," Cinder said, never stopping in her duel with Adam. "All we can do is hope that they send as many people as possible."

Emerald sighed. "I just hope Haven's up for it."

"You know how many people are sent to Haven every day?" Mercury asked, grunting as he struggled with a bolt. "And only a small minority of them have actually died over the years? They'll be fine."

"There will still be casualties," Emerald said.

Mercury paused. "We've all sacrificed," he said. "It's just the way things are."

Cinder and Adam broke apart, Adam returning his sword to its sheath and giving Cinder a small bow.

"We should make any final preparations," Cinder said. She looked to Roman. "What have we got?"

Roman shrugged. "Not much. I've packed some ammo and Dust, a little bit of water and some bandages. I want to keep our load light so we have enough space to carry anything we steal."

"It'll have to do," Cinder said. She sighed. "We're going to head to Beacon soon and wait on the outskirts. We can't do anything until the Crown shows up. We'll leave just before sunset."


The weapons tent was a large one. Inside sat two long tables, covered in guns, ammunition, Dust crystals, swords, axes, maces, and spears. More weapons leaned against the walls of the tent, and a box of grenades sat in the corner. It typically could fit about a dozen or so people inside. Nearly double that were huddled inside, careful not to bump into anything and attempting to give each other room. All were members of the White Fang.

"Amitola will never betray her," the man with bat wings said. "She's been loyal since even before the first coup."

"Yeah, we won't even try reaching her," a spider Faunus said, putting her hand on her waist.

"What about the new recruits?" the man with scales said.

The girl with antlers shook her head. "No. They were just liberated. They've never known combat, and even if they did, it wouldn't be right." There were murmurs of agreement among the crowd.

"Well we need more people in on this," a man with a snake tail said. "A little less than two dozen of us ain't gonna cut it. Remember, we'd have to deal with not only High Leader Belladonna and the loyalists, but the Golden Monkey's brought in bounty hunters as well."

"What are you all up to in here?" a voice came. Heads turned to see Perry, a high-ranking member, standing at the front of the tent. Hand started to reach towards weapons.

"Perry," the man with sideburns said, "We…"

"Save it," Perry interrupted, walking further into the tent, his dog-like ears swaying with each step. "I know what you're all up to. A coup, is that it? Remove High Leader Belladonna from her role like she did to Adam Taurus before her?"

A woman with insect wings on her back lifted up a dagger. "We'll make sure you won't get the chance to tell her about it."

Perry pushed the glasses that rested on top of his mask into place. "Tell her? Now, why would I do that?" he asked condescendingly. "No. I know about your plans, and I'm in. And not just me. More are thinking the same thing: the cook, the armorer, the medic, the night watchmen."

There were murmurs among the crowd. More allies were a good thing, but some were still skeptical.

"We have more allies here than you would think," Perry said. "You just need to know who they are. Once you know who they are, you can start planning. Once you've planned, then you can strike."

"Yeah, the hard part is just knowing who's for the coup and who's a loyalist," the girl with antlers said. "You say the wrong thing to the wrong person, and everything is lost."

Perry shifted his body, showing off his left arm. On his off-white White Fang uniform, there was a reddish smear on his sleeve, near his shoulder.

"This is sap from the trees that grow around here," Perry said. "It's common, and likely to get on our uniforms. But if we see it smeared on the left shoulder, like this, we'll know who's with us… and who's against us."

The chatter picked up again. An identifier would be useful. The revolutionists were beginning to see that they had greater numbers than they had ever thought.

The man with the sideburns nodded. "Soon," he said, "we'll take back the White Fang."


The sun was beginning to dip into the western horizon as the sky morphed into a gradient of light grey to dark black. Though some of the cloud cover, there were the faint images of stars.

In the bushes near Beacon Fortress, close to the laboratory portion, Cinder, Emerald, Mercury, Roman, and Adam waited. Each of them barely dared to breathe. They were ready to pounce at any moment, yet were afraid for their lives. Two armed guards stood beside a door to the laboratory; a large, cylindrical, tower like building connected to the rest of the towers and halls of Beacon Fortress. The door was smaller than Beacon's main entrance, simple and rectangular. It was not fancy and threatening like the doors of the fortress proper, it was plain and ordinary. But that did not take away from its threat, or the threat of what lied within.

"Where are they?" Mercury finally had the courage to whisper.

"Any second now…" Cinder murmured.

"They aren't just going to charge in," Emerald whispered to Mercury. "Even with less manpower, Beacon Fortress is still prepared for attack. They're probably going to do a surprise attack."

Mercury reached into Roman's satchel and pulled out a small bottle of water. He carefully opened it and began drinking.

Suddenly, a shout came from over at the Fortress door. It was a cry of rebellion.

"For Crown and country!" a lone woman's voice called. It was immediately followed by the deafening boom of an explosion only a couple hundred feet away. A ball of fire lit the growing night, making everyone jump and Mercury choke on his water. There were shouts, and Cinder peeked out from the bushes. They had sent in a suicide bomber. She had rushed the outer wall and saw men and women pour from the trees and bushes around the Fortress, firing guns and lobbing grenades. Swordsmen and melee fighters held back, preparing to rush in. Sure enough, all of Beacon's attention immediately went towards their breached wall. Alarms sounded. Soldiers and guards ran over and began firing. On both sides, people began to fall. The battle had begun.

"There's something going on over there!" one of the laboratory guards said in a female voice.

"I'll go help," the other guard, a deep-voiced man, said. "You stay here where its safe. Make sure no one gets in."

"Be careful," the woman said.

The man gave a nod and rushed away, headed towards the fight. As soon as he had gotten far enough away, Cinder saw no better time. She motioned to her allies as she strung her bow and readied an arrow, and then stood up suddenly from the bush and fired at the guard. She only had time to raise her gun before the arrow struck her right below the collarbone, throwing her off her feet and slamming into the wall. She screamed loudly as she hit, clutching the arrow.

Cinder and her group rushed forward, swarming the door. Roman pushed ahead, pulling a large Fire Dust crystal out of his bag and pushing it into the open end. He pointed it at the door handle. He paused.

"You might all want to step back. And probably cover your ears." There were some aside glances, but his allies obeyed. Roman winced as he pulled the trigger. A blast of fire erupted loudly from the cane, blowing the door handle and lock off. Roman was knocked backwards by the blast, but Adam caught him.

"Rebel scum…" the wounded guard groaned.

"Yep, that's us," Mercury spat before raising his leg and kicking her head, his metal prosthetic slamming into her cheek. The force wrenched her neck, and there was an audible snap before she slumped over. Cinder retrieved her arrow from the body and, making sure no one heard them, motioned for her team to move in.

The hall was dimly lit inside, with a set of stairs at the end. Cinder gave the go-aead, and the group began running down the hall, minding the heaviness of their footfalls and the volume of their breathing. Alarms sounded in the distance. Cinder assumed the laboratory was on some sort of lockdown.

As they hurried up the stairs, they reached another floor with two large doorways on either side, and a large doorway at the end. Signs hung beside the doors, with the two side doors reading "Robotics" and "Research and Development", and the one at the end reading "Manufacturing".

"One of these, I'm guessing?" Adam said in a hushed tone.

"Probably all of them," Cinder said. "Emerald and Mercury, you take Robotics. Roman, Adam and I will look into Research and Development. Then we'll all meet at Manufacturing. Grab everything you can, because I'll bet the firebombs we need are in Manufacturing."

Emerald and Mercury nodded, then ran together into the Robotics lab. Cinder hurried forward to Research and Development with Adam and Roman in tow. Adam hurried ahead and peeked inside. Then he stepped in.

"Hey!" a voice shouted. A guard, who had been hidden by a shelf, raised his gun. Adam pulled out his sword and ran forward. He preemptively dodged, allowing a shot from the guard to miss. He rushed ahead, slashing at the guard. The man cried out as Adam cut off his hand with a swift, precise strike, then stabbed forward into the man's chest. The man grunted and fell limp, and Adam pulled his blade out and resheathed it.

"That was close," Roman said. He hurried inside, checking for more guards, and then went over to a shelf.

"Anything useful?" Cinder asked in a hushed yell.

"Not really," Roman said. He gagged. "You do not want to see what's on here. There are body parts in jars and shit."

Cinder hesitated, wanting to take his word on it, but stepped forward to see he was right. Hands, feet, hearts, brains, and even what looked like a fetus were contained within jars of sickly yellow, alongside anatomical models and charts. A series of human skulls in several sizes lined an upper shelf, and lower shelves contained books and manuals. Bottles of differently-colored liquid and metal instruments like saws and syringes were littered about. Next to the shelf, towards the center of the room, was a long metal table that was covered in blood and bits of cloth.

Roman walked over to a large door, grunting as he pulled it open. As soon as he did, he yelled, loud enough to echo in the room and startle Adam and Cinder. He covered his mouth, and while Cinder thought it was him acknowledging he'd been too loud, she saw instead he was retching. She hurried over.

"Don't," Roman gagged. "You don't want to see this."

Cinder disregarded him and came beside him, Adam arriving a moment later. They looked into the door.

It was a freezer. Ice clung to the walls, and icicles hung from the ceiling and shelves. However, inside were bodies. Six hung from chains from the ceiling, and heads and limbs rested frozen on shelves. As soon as Cinder saw them, the smell hit her. She gagged.

"Oh my gods," she whimpered, her eyes darting between the horrific sight and the floor. There were two young men, a young woman, an older woman, and a foul, hunchbacked man all hanging from chains. The heads were frozen with faces of quiet pain, as were those on the shelves.

"Gods know what they've been doing in here." Roman groaned, slamming the door closed. He looked around and saw a shelf with Dust vials and bandages on it. He hurried over to it, and began putting them into his bag.

Cinder's stomach churned. There was no doubt this is where they had resurrected Neo. She knew Roman was thinking the same thing, but neither of them wanted to vocalize it. It was better for both of their sanities to just keep going.

"Cinder, come look at this," Adam said. Cinder turned to see Adam standing in the far corner of the room, in front of a strange device. As she approached, she saw it had a humanoid shape, and thought for a moment that it could be P.E.N.N.Y., but realized that it was not. It was a mess of wires and circuit boards, simply arranged in a humanoid shape. A screen was where the "face" would be, and speakers and strange mechanical trinkets were wrapped in the rest of the wiring. There was a handwritten note placed on top of some wires.

"Needs repair, storage not operating properly," Cinder read. "Voice activation. Juxtaposed Integer Neurological Network. Say the name."

"What do you think it is?" Adam asked.

"A computer of some sort," Cinder shrugged. "From the looks of it, I'd say it was some kind of prototype for P.E.N.N.Y."

"It says 'voice activated'," Adam said. "Do you think that's how you turn it on?"

"It would have turned on when I read its name, wouldn't it have?" Cinder asked.

"Maybe its somebody else's name," Adam suggested. "Maybe Lord Ozpin?"

"I have no clue if that's his real name or not, and it's clearly not 'Ozpin' or it would have turned on."

"Maybe its inventor?"

"Possibly," Cinder said. "Hell, it could even be the name of an organization or group, like the Huntsmen and Huntresses. It could be the name of a place like Signal, Beacon, or Haven. 'The name' gives us very little to go on. I say we leave it."

"We're scavenging for stuff we might need, right?" Adam asked. "Maybe it's got information."

"And maybe its a killer robot," Cinder replied, her brows furrowing.

"Then we've got it cornered," Adam rationalized. "Literally." He gave a quick, small smile, then turned and called over to Roman in a hushed yell. "Hey, Roman, do you know any names that would be significant to Lord Ozpin?"

"Not really," Roman replied, putting a vial of rubbing alcohol in the bag. "Try subordinates, maybe?"

"Can't say I know any," Adam replied.

As Adam and Roman were talking, Cinder, admittedly curious, stepped closer to the machine. She looked at the screen, seeing her face reflected in it.

"Salem?" she guessed aloud. Nothing happened.

Cinder inhaled deeply as she studied the screen, then looked back at the note, reading it again a few times in her head. "Needs repair, storage not operating properly. Voice activation. Juxtaposed Integer Neurological Network. Say the name." She studied the long name. It was the name of a machine, alright. Thinking about Lord Ozpin's machines made her think of P.E.N.N.Y. At least that one had a normal name, almost human.

Then Cinder got an idea. She glanced back at the note, and read it again. She took a deep breath, then looked back at the screen. As she stared at the machine, she spoke softly.

"J.I.N.N.?"