A/N: Hey all, sorry for the late update! College midterm exams and all. I'm going to split the Fall of Beacon stuff into three parts, this being the first. This lets me spend time doing the important thing of studying and schoolwork for my classes!

I got a large number of PMs, and a review, telling my of a screw-up in the last chapter, and I really do appreciate you all telling me! The gist of it was that I originally had a different plan for the tournament, and then rewrote it and forgot to remove/change a small portion of the team matchups. I somehow skimmed over it in my quick reread of the document before posting it. So I thank you all for letting me know about it!

Like always, I would love to hear any and all thoughts, criticisms, and feelings of the story and post. Seriously, those reviews and messages are what let me know what people are liking and not liking. As an author, I'm biased to a certain way of thinking :P

Aran watched the video playing out with horror and anger.

Her hands were wrapped around Mercury's throat. The editing to the video that must have been taken by another drone in the area was quite good, and she would have been fooled had she not been one of the people in it. Before long, her video self's mouth opened and spewed white light at Mercury, her grip releasing the boy as what she assumed to be real, undoctored footage began to take place. Once more, the would-be assassin was begging for Aran to stop what she did as he dug furrows into his flesh, the white substance leaking from his eyes and mouth until he was covered by the cocoon once more.

"Aran Vinland, is a monster." Cinder's voiceover continued. "This footage comes from the office of Beacon's headmaster himself. I don't know about you, but if our supposed protectors are capable of this, then what else are they hiding? What else have they done?"

The Viera sensed more than heard the second bullet that was fired in her direction. She rolled out of the way, ignoring the sharp pain in her hip as she did so. Moments later, the ground shattered where she had been. Unlike before, she was able to spot her assailant perched on the Colosseum's canopy.

A tall thin figure, rather dapper in clothing choice except for a Grimm mask not unlike those worn by the White Fang.

"The decision is yours." Cinder's voice stated, signaling the end of her broadcast, punctuated by an explosion high above the the Amity Colosseum.

Aran glanced up, eyes widening as she saw one of General Ironwood's ships blast apart. Then another, and another. More screams of terror followed all around her, making her understand exactly what Cinder's plan was.

Fear, terror, negative emotions in general attracted Grimm. And in that short amount of time, the woman had caused more than Aran had thought possible. Her point was proven when klaxons began to sound.

"Alert! Alert! Grimm invasion in progress! Seek shelter and wait for local authorities to handle the situation! Alert! Alert! Grimm invasion in progress!"

Whatever her plans for her assailant, they were gone now, Aran decided as she stood up with Pyrrha's help. She ignored the klaxon as her linkshell came life.

"Aran, are you okay?" Qrow's voice asked. Moments later, Roman asked the same thing.

"I'm fine. Get me a sitrep, Qrow."

"On it. Ozpin's hunkering down in the Academy, getting any students to safety that he can. I think he's gonna have a problem though; most of them want to help fight. I'll get back to you when I know more."

Then, Roman.

"Great. Right, while he does that, Neo's been sending me messages about Bullheads heading this way. She's counted at least nine, and they all have White Fang emblems. I can-"

"Stay in the dorm, Torchwick. If Taurus is among them, he's going to make you one of his priorities."

"Yada yada, you make it sound like I don't know how to defend myself. Whatever. Yes mother, I'll stay in my room like a good little boy. But more of Ironwood's ships are going down, I'm getting live feed from Neo. And the Grimm have reached Vale's walls. Got a plan?"

Aran pursed her lips in thought, until she felt the ground beneath her rumble. She wasn't the only one, based off of the relative silence that began to take hold in the arena. After a few tense moments, another rumble was felt, this one powerful enough to send some people off balance.

"Aran, get everyone off Amity!" Qrow demanded. "Surface-to-air missiles are taking out Amity's Dust crystal, the entire thing is going to come down!"

"That won't work, there are too many people and not enough transports or time. Qrow, if they're desperate enough to take down Amity near Vale, they want total destruction of the Kingdom. The CCT needs to be defended at all costs to ensure communication remains stable. I don't care what you have to do, but make sure Ironwood defends it."

Beside her, Pyrrha seemed to frown before lifting her hand up to her own linkpearl.

"How deep is the ocean below the Cliffs?" the Mistrali champion asked. Qrow and Aran understood immediately.

"Deep enough. Torchwick?"

"Already on it. I'm utilizing a few of my people to get some boats ready, but they'll need some form of protection from Grimm in the sea."

"I'll handle protection detail." Aran stated.

"Uh… you got some way to - you know what? Nevermind. You just keep doing what you do that defies all forms of logic and science."

Qrow gave a rough agreement just as another voice was heard over the rising din of panic on the Colosseum. Overhead and in the distance, the thundering of cannons began to make themselves known. If Aran listened closely, she would be able to hear the deathrattles of both Grimm and Man, carrying from the city's defenses below.

"Aran!" Came the voice again, recognized this time as King Braylor. Aran turned immediately, seeing the man jump into the arena followed closely by Arget. Both men glanced at the wound in Aran's hip before returning their attention to the woman proper. Behind her, Aran could hear Y'Shtola and Ryne approaching with hurried steps. Then, Braylor spoke again.

"The instructors are guiding everyone they can to Bullheads to get them out of here, with help from some of the Kingsguard. Reisa's chasing after your assailant, but we have a bigger problem. The stadium is coming down."

Aran quickly shook her head.

"Bad idea, Braylor. With Ironwood's air superiority being challenged by the Grimm and White Fang, he can't defend the transports. Even with Vale's defenses, it wouldn't be enough."

The King raised an eyebrow.

"How much do you know about Vale's defenses?"

"I know enough." She answered with a shrug. Y'Shtola was immediately on Aran, moving to heal the wound in her hip. The Viera let her, moving to stand without Pyrrha's support.

The King frowned and looked up, crossing his arms.

"Then what do you suggest?"

"Move everyone we can to the upper layer of the facility, and we try to land it in the ocean. Torchwick is already preparing ships to disembark civilians once we go down."

Braylor ran a hand along his beard before nodding.

"We'll do it your way, but we'll need some way to protect the ships still. Water-borne Grimm are sure to be swarming the waters, and Vale doesn't possess a powerful Navy. The most it can do is protect the port; the rest is out on border patrol."

Beside Aran, Y'Shtola looked up from her Curing of Aran's wound.

"Simple enough. Aran's practically a fish underwater."

Braylor blinked, then shook his head. "Just get it done, then." His attention moved from Aran and Y'Shtola to Pyrrha. "As for you, your parents are helping the Kingsguard and instructors near the upper docking area. You're not Valean, and a student to boot. It would-"

"Be best if you let me help." Pyrrha interrupted, eyes narrowed. "My parents are a powerful Huntsman and Huntress in their own right."

Braylor frowned. "That they may be, but you are not licensed."

Arget coughed next to Braylor, getting the King's attention. The Captain held up his scroll and gave the students a wry smile.

"There seems to be a problem with the system, Braylor. These four students seem to be registered as fully fledged Huntresses, outside of our ability to command during times of emergency. That said, I'm confident they'll do their best to help."

Before the King could respond, the Warrior glanced at Y'Shtola.

"What are the chances of creating a barrier fit to block Light aether?" Aran asked, causing Y'Shtola to frown.

"Over how large of an area?" When Aran didn't respond, her eyes narrowed. "How large, lover?"

"The entire facility. Use this." Even as Y'Shtola crossed her arms, Aran reached into a pouch and withdrew a glowing gold crystal. Beside her, Ardbert smiled.

"Aran, that's Ardbert's crystal! How did… when did…" Aran's only answer was a smirk, before another tremor was felt causing them all to stumble. There was no time for Aran to explain Hydaelyn's timely gift, given to her shortly after she awoke from her troubled dream. With it came a warning.

Remember the Phoenix.

Aran sprung into action and tossed her lover the crystal before beginning to run out of the arena and towards the lower docks. Apparently, Arget had somehow communicated for everyone to be relocated to the upper level, rendering her trip to be relatively undisturbed. The few stragglers she did encounter shied away from her in fear, though she paid little attention to it.

Ignoring the looks of adoration and idolized joy in Eorzea had given her enough experience to ignore these looks just as easily. In record time, she found herself standing on the edge of the lower dock, overlooking Vale as Amity slowly began to drift towards the ocean.

The City of Vale looked similar enough to an angry beehive, Aran mused to herself. All around the city's outer defenses, it was clear that Grimm had gathered in untold numbers. Flashes indicated cannons on the outer walls firing non-stop in irregular intervals. Atlesian ships swarmed the air around Vale, with a few stationed off towards the CCT. Among them, Aran noticed, was Ironwood's flagship. Along with the Atlesian ships, hordes of Grimm flee through the air. Below, in the city proper, it easy to spot where some of Ironwood's destroyed navy had landed.

Beacon itself looked to be mostly untouched by the Grimm with the exception of the Nevermores and Gryphons that saturated the air, but clearly something else was going on if the flashes of gunfire were anything to go by. A number of Bullheads marked with the White Fang's emblem made it clear that they were attacking the academy.

A quick glance down showed that Amity had moved far enough over the ocean for Aran's needs. Nodding, she reached once more into her pouch and pulled free her staff, clutching it close as she took a deep breath. She readied herself, gathering aether beneath her feet in the all-too familiar way of the Dragoons, before pushing off, launching herself several meters up, and then straight down.

"What the hell is happening out there?" Alisaie asked.

Their Bullhead, an older stolen Valean model, was nearing Vale when an alert reached the Bullhead warning them to stay away. Only moments later, the shadow of the Amity Colosseum in the distance began to move, tilting slightly. In the pilot's seat, Emet-Selch leaned forward with a frown.

"Vale is under seige. You can feel the aether of the gathered Grimm from here." He glanced at his passengers and sighed. "Well, maybe you can't. But they're there. Aran is on the Colosseum, but the aetheryte keeping it airborne is faltering."

The Ascian leaned back and crossed his arms.

"And now she jumped off."

"What?!" The twins asked in unison.

Emet-Selch pointed to a speck in the air, falling much faster than it should have.

"Aran jumped off. Into the ocean."

"But that would kill her at that height!" Alphinaud exclaimed, earning a smile from the Ascian.

"Relax. Foolhardy as Azem has always been, she has never been suicidal. Trust in her to have a plan, and she will always deliver. Such has been my millennia of experience with her."

When the speck that was Aran was around halfway between the ocean and Amity, it began to slow its descent and glow brightly.

"What is she doing?" Alisaie asked, earning a contemplative hum from Emet-Selch. The Ascian snapped his fingers as he figured it out.

"Creation magicks combined with repelling fields! Brilliant execution as well. Color me impressed, I wasn't even aware her current body was capable of creation magicks. Though, the amount of Light aether suffusing the spell could be dangerous, even with the amount of unaspected aether being drawn from the aetheryte at the Colosseum's base."

The twins looked at him like he was insane.

"She's just glowing. How can you tell that from here?" Alphinaud asked, earning a shrug from the Ascian.

"Patience. All shall become clear in but a moment."

True to his word, it did in a most spectacular fashion. Five transparent rings began to form beneath Amity, spaced evenly between the facility and the ocean and in a cone-like fashion with each lower ring smaller than tbe one above. Between each ring, interwoven threads connected each one to its adjacent counterpart, before a sixth ring on the water's surface became visible. The rings quickly went from transparent to tangible, becoming almost crystalline in appearance with white-webbed cracks running throughout the spell. It was then that the interwoven threads revealed twelve designs woven into their net, each one signifying one of The Twelve.

"By the gods…" Alphinaud whispered. "That is… incredible. G'raha Tia would be most impressed to see this."

Emet-Selch scoffed. "He had better be when he hears of this. Aran's drained every bit of aether contained in that aetheryte and some of her own besides. Time to see if her creation will bear fruit."

Arthur Watts watched from a rooftop in Vale as Aran's creation took shape. The rail rifle he used to shoot Aran sat on the edge, a landed Bullhead behind him roaring to life.

"What in the… what is that?"

He leaned forward on the edge, entranced as a luminescent barrier formed over the upper portion of Amity just as the facility began to fall in earnest. Watts wasn't sure what to expect from the smooth crystalline contraption, but it wasn't what he witnessed.

Amity made contact with the first ring, which seemed to expand slightly as it wrapped around the facility and halted its downward plunge for a brief moment. Then it shattered, sending the crystal fragments to catch on the net below before being absorbed into the next ring. When Amity fell once more, it was noticeably slower. When it came into contact with the next ring, it held Amity for nearly a minute longer than the first before it too shattered. Once more, Amity's descent was even slower. The trend continued, until Amity fell upon the final ring resting on top if the ocean. The net flared outward beneath the water, sending waves to crash into the cliff before it seemed to split into an untold number of microfilaments, creating a crystalline barrier beneath the surface of the water. The ring around Amity expanded slowly, allowing the Colosseum to slip further into the water until it came to a rest, water lapping only a few feet from the upper edges of the upper level as the luminescent barrier disappeared. The ring, he noticed, prevented Amity from falling on to its side.

Watts was speechless for a few moments, until he grabbed his rifle and shuffled on board the Bullhead. In the cockpit, he noticed Cinder staring at what just happened with controlled rage.

"I suppose we should thank Salem for warning us not to attack her directly," Watts stated idly as he took a seat next to the failure of a Fall Maiden. "Oh, wait. Someone tried."

Cinder's eyes lit up with yellow flame as she glared at Watts.

"Maybe if you hadn't missed-"

"Missed?" Watts interrupted. "I did no such thing. The most unlikely event came to pass: just as I fired, someone must have thrown a magnet into the air. A magnet! The slight pull from the magnetic field caused my shot to deviate. She should be headless right now! Do you understand what kind of luck it takes for someone to have that kind timing? And who the hell throws around magnets?"

Cinder blinked, her flames extinguishing. "A magnet, you say?"

"The only thing it could have been."

"Or maybe… it was Nikos. Your rifle has a scope, does it not?"

Watts nodded in confirmation.

"But I positioned myself specifically so that it wouldn't glint off of the sun for Aran."

"But not Nikos. She could have seen it at the last moment and redirected it as best she could. Regardless, we're moving on to Beacon."

Watts nodded, fuming silently as he realized the child next to him had withheld information that damaged his plan. Likely to try and one-up him. Infuriatingly, it had worked.

Neither of them noticed the presence of Reisa tucked away in the rear of the Bullhead, watching them silently as the figure flipped a knife between its fingers.

Aran twisted in the water as she cut at the tentacle-like appendage that tried to skewer her. A swift returning strike removed the tentacle from the giant Kraken Grimm that had fallen on her nearly the instant she had entered the water. She aimed for the last of its eyes and fired a Heated Slug Shot, smiling as the creature finally had the common courtesy to die.

Her victory was short lived however. Instinctively, she swam to the side with a boost from her armor, narrowly avoiding a shark-like Grimm. Growling, she twisted once more to avoid a second one, swinging Memory in an arc to catch the first one as it turned around. A dull crunch was heard as the gunblade sheared through teeth and bone, before a Gauss Round ensured the beast's death.

She braced her feet on the disintegrating corpse and flipped off towards the second one, plunging her smaller blade into its right eye. Like the first, it stopped dead in the water as it too began to disintegrate.

She glanced around, looking for any further Grimm. When she found none, she nodded to herself and began to swim upwards, slipping through a narrow seam in the crystalline net.

She had created it for two purposes. The first was to help stabilize the ring that held Amity upright, but the primary reason was the protection the net provided. Sea Grimm large enough to pose a threat to any rescue craft would be unable to fit through it, and any Grimm that would find a way through would be mentally deterred by a layered repelling spell. Even Aran could feel its effects, subtly telling her to get away from the crystalline structure.

But it would only last for a few hours at most, perhaps until midnight if she was lucky. Which was why it was imperative that the rescue craft she could see ferrying people that were on Amity back to Vale or Beacon keep doing as they were.

She reached a hand up to her linkpearl.

"Torchwick, your boats are safe. Start sending the rest, we need the people off of Amity as soon as possible."

Silence reigned for a few moments as she swam upwards, until finally Torchwick responded with a small amount of awe.

"Yeah, safe. What the hell was that you did? That was… there's no way that actually happened. Seriously, what in the actual f-"

"Yeah, we get it. It was amazing and defies all belief, moving on Torchwick." Qrow interrupted. "For the record, everyone saw it was you that did it, Aran. Hope you weren't planning on trying to go incognito anytime soon."

"Erm… yeah. Neo recorded all of it. Who knows what she's gonna do with it, but I imagine you're gonna have a great time in the future. So uh, Beacon's under attack by Taurus, and he somehow got more of those Paladin suits. I thought I destroyed all of them with my parting gift, but clearly I was wrong. There's a few Beacon teams that are trying to hold the White Fang back with the instructors, but it seems all of these fellows have been trained extensively in how to use their Aura. They're primarily targeting the Academy proper and the CCT, though Taurus hasn't made his appearance yet."

Aran raised an eyebrow. "These fellows? Roman, are you outside of the dorms?"

"Eh, I was never great at listening to my mother."

"I grabbed him for help in destroying a couple of the Paladins. Jimmy's less than pleased with our tendency to blow the damn things up." Qrow added.

"Keep him safe, Qrow."

"Right. Safe. In a battlefield. Get over here and protect your prisoner yourself."

Aran ignored his comment as she neared the surface of the ocean, cresting the waves with a burst of aether and sending her several meters above the water to land on Amity's upper dock, where she found herself facing a number of awed civilians, Huntsmen, Huntresses, and Kingsguard. Of the latter, she only counted two pairs beyond Arget and Braylor.

She shook her hair to release the water that soaked it, thinking of what to say to the crowd that now stared at her. When she opened her mouth to speak, she stopped when she heard an approaching Bullhead over the distant thundering of cannons.

Turning, she aimed Memory at the incoming aircraft and prepared to overcharge it as it slowly came to a stop and turned to expose its lowered boarding ramp.

She wasn't expecting to see Alphinaud and Alisaie, both waving excitedly.

A couple of blinks was all it took to register that they were actually there. She lowered Memory and smiled as she sensed the approach of Y'Shtola and Ryne, followed closely by King Braylor, Pyrrha, and two individuals that Aran would later come to learn were Pyrrha's parents.

The Warrior turned to the King first, smiling inwardly as she noticed the enthusiastic wave Ryne gave to the twins.

"I believe we're needed at Beacon. The White Fang are making a push for the Academy and the CCT."

Braylor shook his head.

"She saves the lives of several thousand people by doing something from a fairy tale, and her next words are to continue her duty. You're something else Aran, you have my thanks. But I'm needed on the front lines, they've got a bit of a Goliath problem. And there's been a few tremors on the mainland as well, though my informants seem to think it's stronger towards Mount Glenn. My soldiers and my Guard are doing everything they can to hold the line."

Aran nodded.

"Then we can drop you off. Pyrrha?"

The Mistrali Champion nodded before glancing back at the two strangers. Both of them nodded

Then, they all began to board the Bullhead.

Once most of them were on board, Aran began to introduce the Elezen twins which were garnering strange looks.

"These two are Alphinaud and Alisaie Leveilleur, close friends of mine from Erza. Don't be dissuaded by their apparent youth, they've seen and done more than men and women twice their age have."

The first to greet them was Pyrrha, feeling as if she was already close with them due to her experiences from Aran's memories. Then, the introductions continued to the other two people of Remnant. When they finished, the twins dropped all attempts at professionalism as they embraced Aran, who returned the hug after a moment.

It took Aran clearing her throat rather aggressively to finally get them to back off enough for Aran to explain the current plight at Beacon. By the time she finished, the Bullhead was lowering itself near Vale's wall. Braylor and Arget both gave her a nod of respect before they rushed out of the Bullhead.

When they finally began to rise into the air once more, Aran cocked jer head towards the cockpit. This older model Bullhead had its cockpit and transport bay separated by a wall with a small door in the center.

"Who's piloting the ship?" Aran asked, causing the twins to glance at each other nervously.

"Well, you see…" Alphinaud began, only to be stopped by his sister's and Y'Shtola's bluntness when they spoke simultaneously.

"It's Emet-Selch."

Aran cocked her head.

"I think I misheard you both. Alphy, tell me the truth."

"Erm… it's Emet-Selch. But before you explode, perchance you would allow us to explain the circumstances that lead to such an occurrence?"

Aran shook her head.

"No need. We have bigger problems at the moment, and while Emet-Selch is firmly on my shit list, he's not the reason for this attack on Vale."

The twins blinked in surprise at Aran's response, only to see Y'Shtola smile and reach over to rub her lover's arm in reassurance.

In the back of the Bullhead, Ardbert nodded to himself.

She's in good hands, he thought to himself. His thoughts went to the conversation he had with Hydaelyn, in the same moment that she had blessed his crystal with aether.

My time is coming, Warrior of Light. Finally, I will serve the purpose for which I have waited for a century to fulfill. And once more we shall be united. No longer will that cursed Light haunt you. You need but survive what comes.