Notice:

There will be no updates from 13th – 19th June inclusive of both days. I'm away at an expo and stuck going out with clients pretty much every night. Going to be exhausted, overworked and drunk or hungover whenever I'm not. I'll be back 20th June to write as normal.


Cover Art: Curbizzle

Chapter 29


"Warchief! Warchief!" General Ironwood tapped his com system angrily and snarled. "Warchief isn't responding!" he shouted to Clover. The leader of the Ace-Ops grimaced and looked back to the school. "No," Ironwood said, "You stay here – I will check. Keep an eye on the Bulwark. We're still not sure who has control of it."

"Yes sir."

The school building was dimly lit when he rushed in, the backup generators Winter had gone to check on still functioning even though the city itself was cast in darkness. Students were fortifying locations, not really knowing why or what from but doing as they were told. Good. There wasn't much of an opportunity to explain the war, and it wouldn't be a good idea anyway to let the knowledge of Salem, Gods and alternate universes be known.

It was on the way to the control room they'd set up that something changed. The lights blinked off suddenly with a loud Ka-Chunk that could be heard through the walls, like a heavy switch being flicked. Ironwood was cast into near-darkness but for the moonlight streaming through the windows, and while it was enough to see by here, there were corridors far away from windows that would be pitch black. He flicked to a new channel.

"Winter. Report!"

"Reporting, sir."

"Warchief has gone silent, and we've lost all power. Are you at the generators?"

"Negative, sir, I am locating Team RWBY on prior orders. My team was left at the generators – channel 145-Alpha."

Ironwood quickly scrolled to that and sent the call. "Generator team. Report."

"Generator team reporting, General." The man on the line recognised his voice. He sounded panicked. "The backup generator is still active, sir."

"What? We've lost all power upper floors. Are you sure?"

"Fully functional, sir, and we have every entrance guarded. If lights are deactivated, it's because someone turned them off, sir."

"Can you turn them back on?"

"Negative, sir. The generator doesn't have a control panel beyond turning it off and on again. Control of the school's systems must be remote."

Remote control. That was something Ozpin ought to have. It was the same as with Atlas, with the headmaster and key members of staff having control over the school's systems in case of an emergency. Ozpin and Glynda wouldn't abuse that now however, which meant someone else was. Headmaster-? No, Ozpin had changed the codes and closed all backdoor access, and whatever knowledge from an alternate world he had shouldn't have involved hacking one of the most secure systems on Remnant. Far more likely, and worrying, was the prospect of someone having infiltrated Ozpin's office.

"Ozpin!"

"If that's you, James, then no this isn't me!" Ozpin's voice was followed by furious tapping of a keyboard and the recognisable, angry tone of a computer refusing to comply. Ozpin cursed angrily. "I'm locked out my own system!"

"Do you think this is the work of Headmaster? You told me you closed the backdoors!"

"I did. It can't be him. The moment the main power went and we switched to backup, all systems non-priority were cut. That includes online connections to the outside world. There's no connection he could hack into this from. This is coming from the network itself. Whoever is doing it is inside the school. I've lost control of lights, doors, alarm systems – everything!" He slammed his hands down loudly on his desk. "I-I can't fight it back, James. I've lost control of the whole school!"

"Could it be Agent?"

"No, it's not him. I'll keep work on this here. Please see to the defence."

The call ended and Ironwood grimaced. Don't expect power anytime soon, Ozpin's anger seemed to say. Very well. It was a problem by any means to continue like this, but he didn't really have a choice. Activating his scroll in torch mode, Ironwood strapped it to his chest and ran on, taking two more corridors and bumping into some confused students along the route. They backed away and let him past, and he took the staircase up to the floor where the control room had been set up in a disused student dorm.

Ironwood's mad dash slowed to a walk as the light from his torch slowly illuminated the single body laid outside the door. The soldier's blood was staining the carpet red. The man had died, by the looks of it, to a single stab wound in his chest. Not exactly telling since most of the iterations used their family sword. No, that wasn't quite right. It was telling that the soldier had been stabbed in the chest with no other injuries, and with no bullet holes in the nearby walls nor casings on the ground, which implied he'd seen the aggressor coming and hadn't opened fire.

Either he'd been in total and utter shock – unlikely, as they were well-trained – or they hadn't thought the person approaching was a threat. They'd trusted their killer. General Ironwood grimaced and slammed his hand on the door panel. It pushed inward, the wooden door bumping against the foot of another dead soldier laid out flat on the ground. The harsh glare of numerous computer screens lit him up in artificial blue light. Each and every one of them was bright blue, a dreaded screen for any computer user, with white lines of text written across.

Warchief sat slumped against the terminals as if he were seated, one hand weakly clutching his sword and the other clutching an object to his stomach. His chest had been riddled with bullets, staining his Atlas uniform dark red.

General swore angrily and knelt before him, checking first his pulse – none – and then clenching his fist tight. Warchief hadn't been a combat iteration by his own admission and wouldn't have stood much of a chance against a strong opponent. He'd been shot, rather than stabbed. Had Null made it into the school already? Surely not. They had the entire perimeter under lockdown.

Ironwood pulled Warchief's hand down, flipping the object Warchief was holding onto over. It might have been evidence, proof of who killed him or something else Warchief thought to grip onto in his dying moments. Or, as the object turned over and revealed red digital numbers ticking down the last few seconds, it might be a nasty surprise left for whomever came to check on him. General Ironwood had only the time to throw his hands and his aura up as the explosive went off, bathing him and the room in red-hot fire.

/-/

Null watched the students and soldiers patrolling the outside of the school and wished not for the first time that his Semblance wasn't so limiting. Masses of well-trained people had always been his weakness, more so than singularly powerful huntsmen. Chivalric Arms had made use of such tactics extensively against him, but back then he'd always had the option to escape. Not so now. Cinder wanted into Beacon, to kill the maiden and take her power, then kill all the other iterations and claim this war for herself.

In truth, he wasn't sure it would work like that. The Gods had been clear this war would be won by Salem or Ozma, and that their prize would be in the victory itself. If Cinder won for Salem, this world would be destroyed and surely her along with it, whereas if she switched sides and granted a win for Ozma and Ironwood, well, they might promise her rewards, but they might also just kill or imprison her for everything she'd done. None of that mattered to him of course. Cinder was his anchor by decision of the Gods, but he'd have as soon killed her as look at her for what she'd tried to do to his sister. If she wanted to win and then suffer for it, so be it. It didn't much matter which side won. So long as he was the last remaining champion, he would be returned to his world with his wish.

Mom. Dad. Everyone. I'll save you this time. I promise.

"I don't see an easy way in." Ashari said. "Even if the White Fang attack now, the chaos they cause won't amount to much with both Atlas and the student body on the defence. They'll be cut down far too quickly."

"We need only a momentary distraction." Cinder snapped.

It wouldn't even be that in Null's mind. He agreed with Ashari here – the White Fang would be slaughtered en masse, and they trapped out in the open before they could reach the school building. The spotlights shining down were casting their light over the Emerald Forest, brightly illuminating the front row of trees and ensuring any one of them would be silhouetted the nanosecond they showed themselves. He wouldn't be surprised if there were snipers or heavy weapons teams ready to reduce them to dust the second they stepped out.

It's not so unlike the time we attacked Beacon, he thought. Except Cinder was better prepared because of the virus turning Atlas' robots against themselves.

It looked like they'd removed all those robots this time. Someone had obviously experienced the same in their world and warned Ironwood to get rid of them. There wasn't a Knight or Paladin unit in sight, only ranks of white-armoured soldiers and huntsmen-in-training.

"Do either of you know an alternative way in?" Cinder asked.

"I never studied here." Null said.

"I was just a student." Ashari added. The one-armed man didn't look nearly as bothered by his disability as he ought to. Then again, he'd been calm no matter the situation, from the very beginning there hadn't been a shred of fear in him. "If there is a secret route, I wasn't trusted or important enough to be shown it."

Suddenly, the bright spotlights covering the forest winked out. It wasn't one by one either, but a sudden cascade of darkness, both without and within the school. The numerous lights in windows turned dark and the students and soldiers all turned to look at the building in shock. What little light there was by the moon was enough to see by, but not enough to see into the forest.

"This is it!" Adam announced, rising to a standing position. "The darkness will favour my men."

"Which is all a little convenient for my tastes." Ashari said quickly. "How are we sure this isn't a trap?"

"They're as confused as we are." Cinder pointed out.

A moment later, an explosion ripped through an upper floor of the school, blossoming out brightly into the night sky and causing everyone to spin to look. Soldiers shouted and some began to run back, while up in the sky one airship opened fire with a might boom, splashing a burst of dust across the hull of another. Seconds later, the other three opened fire on the one that had shot first. Fire rained down and people scattered for cover.

"Now!" Adam roared. He slashed his sword forward and the White Fang poured from the treeline. The faunus with their perfect night vision had no trouble with the gloom and charged the lines of soldiers and students.

"This is too convenient!" Ashari shouted over the noise of stampeding feet and the first salvo of shots fired.

"It's the perfect distraction." Cinder was already on her feet and moving. Null sprinted after her, along with Emerald and Adam, and behind them Ashari.

"We weren't the ones to make the distraction!" Ashari shouted at them. "They're luring us in!"

He was probably right. Null was a man used to having to make his own plans and act on them. Experience had taught him that when something looked too good to be true, it probably was. And yet, did that matter? He had to kill every other champion just as they had to kill him. If this were a trap then it was someone who wanted them all in one place so they could kill their rivals and claim the wish.

Ultimately, their goals were the same as his.

/-/

Ruby's head jerked up as the explosion sounded a floor above them. Not directly above, but close enough to be heard. Winter Schnee twisted on her heel to look in the direction of it, having arrived mere moments ago to make sure they were safe, and mere moments before all the lights went off, leaving them to navigate by torchlight from their scrolls. Except for Blake, who could see perfectly and was acting as lookout for them.

"What was that?" Yang asked.

"Nothing good." Winter said. "And nothing you four should get involved in. Nor you, Revolutionary. As difficult as it may sound, it's best you all stay away from combat."

"We've already been told that." Ruby said. Hearing it twice didn't make it any less frustrating.

"I can understand your-" The words were cut off by gunfire outside. Automatic fire, single-shot, Ruby could place the sounds as machine gun fire and handguns, with the occasional sharp crack of a sniper rifle. Familiar sounds. Familiar for Winter too, who rushed to the window and peered out. "White Fang," she spat. Revolutionary twitched unhappily. "That must be Adam come for his iteration. It's an all-out attack." She touched a finger to her ear. "General. General Ironwood, sir, this is Specialist Winter Schnee. Sir?"

Ruby looked to Weiss nervously. No response from General Ironwood wasn't a good sign, especially not now. The silence ticked on, and Winter changed channels. "Headmaster Ozpin, are you there? This is Winter- ah, thank goodness. We've lost contact with both Warchief and General Ironwood." There was chatter back that Ruby couldn't pick out. "I'm currently with Team RWBY defending them. Stay? Very well. What of the lights? You've lost control? Of everything?" Winter looked up to a corner of the corridor suddenly. "Does that include the security cameras?"

Ruby blanched and looked up. There, in the corner of the corridor, a red light was lit up on a camera focused directly on them. The answer to Winter's fears was obvious when she hissed and pointed at it. Blake was quick to react and place a shot through the lens, destroying it.

"We've been located." Winter told Ozpin and them at the same time. "We'll relocate now. I advise you contact Team JNPR and have them do the same, sir, for they've undoubtedly been found as well. Is there an area we can meet them at? Yes sir. Understood. We're on our way."

The woman's hand came away from her ear and Ruby was quick to speak. "What did he say?"

"The school's systems have been usurped and are under the control of another. That includes camera systems, lights, doors and defence systems. Luckily, they're not using those to open fire on the students and soldiers outside. Unluckily, we've almost certainly been found. Ozpin wants us to meet in his tower."

"What of Team JNPR?" Blake asked.

"Magnis is with them along with Nicholas. They're about as well-protected as they can be. General Ironwood is not responding, and neither is Warchief. Both are to be considered MIA. My main priority is getting you five to safety. We should-"

Winter was interrupted as a buzzing sound nearby was followed by metallic shutters coming down to close the corridor behind them – in the direction of the headmaster's tower. The metal blast doors, designed to trap and segment off Grimm in the case of an emergency, locked and sealed down, preventing them from taking that route. Ruby backed away from the door even if it, itself, was harmless. It was more the threat of the person taking control of Beacon's systems who had closed it.

Winter was already running the opposite way. "Hurry! Before they can trap us!"

That was no fear with Ruby around. A quick flare of her Semblance had her overtaking Winter and Weiss both and blurring through the next doorway. The moment Ruby flew through in a blur of red petals, the shutter slammed down, cutting her off from the rest of her team.

Realisation struck much too late. She was the one they wanted because of her connection to Knight, and she'd just gone and run ahead of everyone like an idiot.

"Ruby!" Yang's voice, and the sound of her fists, came through the shutter. "Damn it! Are you okay?"

"I-I'm okay!"

"Rose!" Winter called through. "Keep moving to reach Ozpin. Don't stop for anyone, stay in your Semblance as much as you can, and whatever happens – flee. Run away if anyone challenges you. You must preserve your life!"

"R-Right." Ruby nodded hesitantly. "What about you?"

"We'll be fine." Weiss shouted through. "We'll go through a dorm window and jump down."

Right. The corridor was blocked off, but the dorms on either side would still have windows, and it wasn't like those were connected to blast doors. They'd be fine – just separated for a while. For long enough for someone to find and try to kill me, Ruby thought unhappily. This felt all too much like a trap. What else can I do? It'd take ages to break through these doors. I'm safest when I keep moving.

"I'll meet you there!" she called to them. "Stay safe until then."

Meanwhile, she'd try the same.

/-/

Cigarette smoke curled lazily through the cold air as Fate's fingers flew over the keyboard. The program he'd created did much of the work in keeping Ozpin and Atlas out, allowing him to flick through cameras, activate doors and seal off areas at will. A quick click had a floodlight outside turning on suddenly bright enough to stun White Fang and Atlas alike. The gunfire stopped momentarily, conveniently allowing Cinder's group entrance to the lower levels of the school. They would find the doors unlocked and the cameras there switched off.

"Come on in," he whispered to himself, rolling the cigarette between his teeth. "And bring Ashari and Null with you. Hm. Let's see, Magnis guarding my team. Helpful. Ruby on her own, Revolutionary with the rest of them."

It had been a while since he'd flexed his skills as a programmer and computer coder on, or beyond, the level of Arthur Watts. It was… well, he couldn't remember how long ago it was he bothered to learn it. All he could remember was the reason – that he'd thought he might be able to break down Watts' virus, take control of the robots himself and set them against Cinder and the White Fang to save everyone.

He'd managed the former, less so the latter. Cinder killing Pyrrha just didn't involve them, so while he'd made the defence of Beacon significantly easier, Pyrrha still died. He'd taken his life soon after to reset, and aside from a few other cases of needing to crack through a system or more easily fake his transcripts by hacking into Beacon, he hadn't had much use for the skillset. That was how a lot of the things he knew were.

Learn mechanics to hotwire a Bullhead and fire missiles into Cinder's room and kill her. Experience a world where Tyrian was sent instead, and noticed Ruby with silver eyes and killed her, literally sacrificing the dying girl to Salem. Learn to use a sniper rifle to take Cinder and Tyrian both out and then see what happened when Salem sent Hazel and Watts instead. The sad reality of time travel, or looping in his case, was that you couldn't just make a single change and reap the benefits like most people assumed. If you did something different, so would the enemy in response. Things weren't so static as to move one chess piece another way and then instantly win. Your opponent would instead look at your move, plot a new plan and everything changed.

It was an arms race in a way. Learn a skill, use it, see how the consequences fell and then try to learn a new skill to counter the worst of that. First aid, surgery, battlefield medicine, poison, explosives, engineering, mechanics, hacking, piloting, marksmanship, genetic engineering. There wasn't much he hadn't tried at one point or another. Funny to imagine they might all come to the fore now and grant him a wish to escape his hell.

It was sad in a way. Sad because it suggested he couldn't possibly win without divine interference, and when that same interference was likely the `Fate` he'd realised kept dragging him to Beacon. Obviously, Fate was one or both of the Gods playing with his life for their sick amusement. It infuriated him to have to rely on them now to escape it, but if it meant Team JWBY surviving Beacon, he would do whatever he had to.

Ruby is taking that corridor. If I shut off the path ahead, I push her closer to Cinder's group. Problem is, if Ozpin loses all his people early then it'll unbalance the sides. Ideally, I want them all to kill one another and for me to take out the last one remaining.

Once that happened, it wouldn't even matter if he was found out as Ozpin and his side needed an iteration. They'd have to let him be their sole one for the sake of this world, this whole universe, and then he could aid them to victory and claim his prize. They would hate him, true, but he would give them their win and he would disappear from their world soon after. A quick click let Ruby through the path ahead, ensuring her survival for now. She had no idea how, less than a corridor away, Ashari, Null, Cinder, Adam and Emerald were trekking through the building.

A light flashed as the program warned him Ozpin was tyring to crack through it again. Cute. To give the immortal credit, he'd probably get through in an hour or so. The program wasn't foolproof. It only needed to buy him time. As the light from the screen flashed over Null's face, it grew a sickly smile.

"Ahhh," he whispered, looking down as two men entered the school building from an alternate route. Both were suited, older men, and the one in charge twirled his cane in hand. "There you are. I knew you two wouldn't be able to resist." Almost as he said it, Headmaster caught the cane and launched it up, throwing it into the camera watching them and destroying it. "And of course he knows." Fate chuckled. "Knowledgeable bastard. Let's see how you do against Magnis and Team JNPR, shall we."

Fate picked up his scroll and dialled. It was answered moments later, and Pyrrha sounded alarmed. "Fate? Is that you? Where are you?"

"B-Bad news." He forced the stammer. "Headmaster and Xiong are in the building. I just – gah – I just saw them first floor, east wing. You have to- oh shit!"

Fate fired his handgun up in the air, then tossed the scroll down and shot it. The thing flicked away, exploding into so many sparks. If he knew Pyrrha, he knew she wouldn't be able to leave him in trouble. The thought brought a frown to his face, wiping the smug smile away.

It's not my Pyrrha, he reminded himself. None of them are.

/-/

"This is a disaster…"

Ozpin tried for the umpteenth time to enact a full system reset of the school, only to be thwarted as administrator control was taken out his hands yet again. There was power – the computer wouldn't have worked without it – but whoever was in control had usurped almost everything. In other worlds, that was normally thanks to a virus placed on the CCT by Cinder, or so he'd been told, but the incident had never happened, and he'd taken extra steps to have Ironwood's men look it over. It was, and had been, clean only three days ago.

There's no hacker version of Mr Arc that I'm aware of…

His intercom buzzed. "Sir, this is Winter Schnee."

"I hear you," he called, still typing away. "I've no control yet and still haven't heard from James. How are Team RWBY?"

"We've been separated from Miss Rose, sir."

Ozpin's head jerked violently to the side. "What!?"

"The corridors were shut down via emergency shutters. Miss Rose ran through, and the door closed behind her. We're talking an alternate route out the windows and have instructed her to head to your office alone."

Alone in a school infiltrated by their enemies and currently turned into a warzone. Worse, the battle between Knight and Grimm raged on, and if Ruby died then it would end in Salem's favour. There was just no way for them to win against the unending tide of Grimm the man could summon. "Find her, Winter!" he ordered. "Find her quickly and protect her! If she dies, we are ruined!"

"Yes sir. We'll do our best."

Their best might not be good enough. Ozpin tried one last time to reset the code, then growled and pushed away from the screen. It was hopeless. Whoever was in control was far better than he at this. Worse, they were splitting their attention several ways at once, cornering Ruby, separating the teams and casting the defence outside into chaos. It seemed like they were trying to bring all the iterations and anchors together, likely to take them out in one fell swoop. Given the fall of the defence systems outside, it was inevitable Cinder and hers were in, which meant Null and Ashari needed to be dealt with as well. Damn it all. The time for clever planning was over and done with it, seemed. If violence was the only solution, he would respond in kind.

"I have orders for you…"

A shadow appeared from the corner of the room. The man moved quickly and smoothly, each motion measure and graceful. His mask reflected the light as he strode to the desk and regarded Ozpin silently.

"Agent. Find Miss Rose. Protect her. If you see any other anchors, protect them as well."

"And if I see other iterations?" the masked man asked coldly. "At a time like this, it will be hard to pick friend from foe."

"I trust your judgement in the matter, Agent. If you believe it necessary, kill them."

Agent inclined his head but didn't say a word. While he might not be as overwhelmingly powerful as Salem's own summoned champion, Ozpin had never been one for brute force where subtlety could suffice. Their allies might not know which side the man was on, but then neither did their enemies, and it was always best to have someone who could move freely.

"For the good of Vale." Agent whispered.

"For the good of Remnant." Ozpin countered. "We will win this war."


Yep, Agent belongs to Ozpin. I know Oobleck was the most obvious one but that was more of a red herring. Oobleck was Jaune's mentor and superior in Kingdom's Service, but Ozpin was the one the Jaune of that story most connected with toward the end, especially since both had a `for the betterment of the city` mentality, whereas Oobleck was more of a self-sacrificing sort. Here, Ozpin chose to keep Agent secret as an ace in the hole. You might be able to retroactively understand some of his actions now, not least of all his ease skulking around Beacon, following Jaune and Fate to the party, etc.


Next Chapter: 11th June

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