Chapter 4: Escape from Oxford

Beacon Academy

Ozpin was sitting at his desk looking over the new first year teams from his computer. So far, this year has been going well. Unlike last year, nobody died during the initiation and the new first year teams look very promising. Hopefully things keep going in the right direction, especially with the Vytal festival coming up. He took a sip of his coffee and continued reading the files.

"Miss Rose is very skilled, but she is still young and has much to learn. But I know she'll be an excellent Huntress." He took another sip and looked at another profile. "Oh Mr. Arc, did you really think those transcripts would slip past me? I'm not that old you know? But your heart is in the right place and you have shown remarkable leadership abilities. Continue to show improvement, and I'll sweep this situation under the rug. Perhaps Miss Nikos can help refine your skills?" The familiar sound of heels clicking brought him out of his thoughts as he noticed Professor Goodwitch hurriedly approached his desk.

"Professor, Chief Redford is on the line and wishes to speak to you." Ozpin simply nodded while pulling his scroll out.

"Hello Chief, to what do I owe the pleasure?" He calmly said

"Bad news I'm afraid. We got a distress call on an emergency frequency from Oxford saying the town is overrun with Grimm." Ozpin furrowed his brow. Oxford was sizeable town that rarely had problems with Grimm, at least before the SDC took over. A lot of controversy followed the takeover and it didn't help that the town was primarily a Faunus settlement. The SDC claimed the takeover was perfectly legal, while many Faunus, especially the White Fang claimed that they were using the town to exploit cheap labor. This led to lots of tension and mistrust, which in turn attracted the Grimm to Oxford. But none of that matters now. Ozpins priority has, and always will be the protection of Vale's citizens.

"How bad is it?" He asked Redford.

"It's bad. Civilian casualties are severe and the survivors are holed up in the town hall surrounded by the Grimm." Ozpins had a stern look upon his face. "I can spare bullheads to transport the civilians, but they won't have any protection. My men are spread thin enough as it is."

"You don't even have to ask my friend." Ozpin smiled knowing exactly what Redford was about to ask.

"Thanks Oz, I owe you one. The bullheads will be ready in 5 minutes and can reach Oxford in 15."

"Think nothing of it Redford. I'll have a bullhead ready shortly to escort yours. In the meantime, radio Oxford that help is on the way." Redford thanked Ozpin one last time before hanging up. Ozpin had to think about who to send. He couldn't afford to send any of the teachers. All the third and fourth year students were out doing field work and this was not a situation for first year students. "Ah, I know." Ozpin thought as he dialed a number on his scroll.

Team CFVY's room

Coco Adel sat in her room bored as fuck. Her team's next class wasn't for another hour and half so they had time to kill. Fox decided to use his free time to take a nap, Yatsu was busy meditating and Velvet occupied herself with a book. Coco gave up on watching TV and was playing games on her scroll just to pass the time. She was brought out of her mindless button mashing when her scroll started to ring. Looking at the caller ID, she was surprised to see that Professor Ozpin was calling.

"Hello?"

"Miss Adel, I need you and your team at the airship docks in 5 minutes ready to leave."

"Whoa, what's the hurry professor?" Coco asked caught off guard by the urgency.

"We have an emergency situation and time is of the essence. Your weapons are already on board the bullhead. Now do make haste to the docks."

"Right away professor!" Coco ended the call, then turned to face Fox's bed to swiftly kick him out of it. He landed on the floor face first before shooting up trying to figure out what happened.

"Alright team, we have 5 minutes to get to the docks."

"Why the hurry?" Velvet asked.

"That was Ozpin, we just got assigned a mission and time is critical. Considering our weapons are already waiting for us, it must be serious. Besides I'm bored and don't feel like sitting here waiting to go to a boring class." Her team quickly got up from what they were doing and exited the room to head towards the docks.

True to his word, their weapons were already on board the bullhead where the pilot was waving them aboard.

"Do you know what is this mission about?" Coco asked the pilot.

"The town of Oxford has been overrun with Grimm and the survivors are taking refuge in their town hall. We are going to be providing security while bullheads evacuate the town. Are there any other questions?" Coco shook her head no to him. The mission was very straightforward.

"Hang tight, we will be arriving in 15 minutes."

Back at Oxford

"Copy that, we'll make our way to the rooftop and hold out until they arrive." Greg responded to the VPD over the radio. John was listening to Greg's call to Vale as if a large weight has been lifted of his shoulders. He still couldn't believe that they were going to make it out alive. Luck must have been in their favor. He looks over his shoulder and sees Alex, Ivan and Nick going around and administering medical attention to the townsfolk. John smiled with approval and knew he had to buys those boys a drink when they got out of here.

"Alright keep pressure on his chest, while I wrap this gauze around him." Alex instructed the bear Faunus. He unraveled the gauze with ease and began wrapping it over the sterilized pad over the man's chest. According to the man's sister, a beowolf slashed him across the chest right before an SDC trooper drew it away from them. Fortunately, it didn't cut too deep and he was still breathing. "Okay, your brother is going to be fine. I've stopped the bleeding, but he is going to need to get to a hospital ASAP." She thanked Alex before going back to comforting her brother. Alex looked in his pack and noticed he used up almost his entire first aid trauma kit. While Greg radioed for help, he noticed at least half of the buildings occupants were tending wounds and injuries, most likely caused by the Grimm. Immediately he, Ivan and Nick went to work. The injuries ranged from broken bones, head injuries such as concussions and severe hemorrhaging. The first lessons they teach in combat first aid is to stabilize the patient. Your main goal was to stop the bleeding and start the breathing. In a sense, you're not trying to "fix" them and make them well, you're literally patching them up enough to not die. From there you get them out of the fight so they can get actual medical assistance. A quick glance of the room showed that everyone with injuries, were in somewhat better condition. They were currently being cared for by the other Faunus, who eagerly assisted Alex and his squad in treating the injuries.

"Good news everyone. Vale is sending a rescue team to get us out of here. ETA 15 minutes out." Greg addressed the room. A wave of cheerful murmurs and whispering swept the room among the towns people. "With that being said, we need to start making our way to the rooftop."

"Now hold on, who put you people in charge and why should I listen to you?" Greg looked over to see Heinrich with his arms crossed and glaring at him. Right as he was about to retort, both Alex and John put a hand on his shoulder and stepped forward to confront Heinrich.

"I did, and I'm glad I did. Unlike you, their helping with our situation instead of cowering in an office like a sniveling weasel!" John said proudly while Heinrich's right eye was starting to twitch in frustration.

"How dare you speak to me like that you dirty animal! Why I should *hagrrrhegh*, SLAM!" A powerful grip on his throat stopped him from finishing his sentence and a sudden pain in his back let him know he was slammed into a wall. He regained his focus only to be looking Alex in the eye while he maintained a death grip on his neck. Henrich struggled to get free but Alex's grip was firm and not going to budge.

"Heinrich, I can speak for everyone in here and I say we are sick of your shit. You've done nothing to help, you bitch about things more than my cousin, and your not so subtle racism towards these people is starting to piss me and my friends off." His tone was firm and got the point across without yelling in anger, yet also calm and very nonchalant. Everyone in the roomed watched the scene with great enthusiasm. Their collective thoughts about a human standing up for them and that same human bringing down a high ranking SDC employee off his pedestal brought a smile to their faces. "Now unless you're planning on being useful in the next few minutes, you can kindly shut your fucking mouth and stay out of everyone's way or I'll make you useful. I'm thinking a meat-shield to keep the Grimm off us would work, or I can just shoot you. What do you say?" Heinrich didn't know if he was serious or not, but one look into his eyes and it was clear Alex wasn't joking. His gaze was solid and bore straight into your soul. Having most of his face covered only added to his intimidating demeanor and Heinrich didn't feel like taking a chance. He simply nodded before Alex released his grip and slumped to the floor trying to catch his breath.

"I need to buy you boys drinks and cigars after this." John leaned over to whisper to Greg who was watching the situation with mild interest. He knew Alex had an interesting way of dealing with people he didn't like. A combination of sarcastic mocking and low-key threats to their lives was his specialty. It's like pointing a gun at someone and telling them you're going to kill them while smiling at the same time. And it wasn't a psychotic sadistic smile either, it was just a friendly casual smile. Would Alex have actually killed someone like that? Probably not, he was a good guy and never had to go past threats. He looked up to see Alex helping Heinrich to his feet and dusting off his suit in an exaggerated-mocking gesture.

"See Heinrich? I'm glad we can come to an understanding. Now why don't you just sit in the corner and let the grown-ups handle things?" Alex said in a deceivingly friendly tone towards the man. Without so much as a glance, Heinrich left the area to get out of the Russians way.

"So, should we start making our way to rooftops?" Ivan asked ignoring the incident with Heinrich.

"Right. Greg, you and Nick head up first to make sure the roof is clear and keep watch of the perimeter, I have a feeling we haven't seen the last of the Grimm. Ivan you're with me in helping the wounded up, while providing security from the rear. Also, when everyone is up top, I want you to blow this main staircase. It'll cut off second floor access from any Grimm that try to come in." Everyone nodded and immediately began to move. Greg and Nick moved up the stairs that led to the roof access while the Faunus followed them. Alex, Ivan and John were staying back helping carry the severely wounded. One by one the Faunus made their way up the stairs where they eagerly awaited rescue. Soon it was only Alex, Ivan and John down below who were setting up explosives on the staircase. The stairs were primarily made of wood and was only wide enough for three people so it wouldn't take much to destroy them. One brick of explosives at the most.

"You sure there's no other way to reach the second floor besides these stairs?" Ivan asked John while finishing setting up the explosives.

"Trust me, I lived in this town all my life and know this place inside and out. This is the only way to the second floor and the roof." John explained to the Russians.

"One way up or down? Talk about a fire hazard." Alex joked. John chuckled while Ivan was finishing setting up the explosives. He had never seen an explosive that resembled clay in his life. It came in the shape of a brick wrapped in film-like plastic that Ivan just casually cut away at with his knife. Alex and Ivan explained that the explosive was very stable and could only be trigged with the blasting caps inserted. Once all the explosives were in place, the three got to safe distance before Ivan activated the detonator.

"Fire in the hole!" *click* KA-BOOM! The explosion shook the building and was felt from the rooftops. The townsfolk were caught off guard by the blast while Nick and Greg barely reacted to it.

"Well there's no going back now." Alex said admiring Ivan's handiwork.

Meanwhile

The alpha beowolf patiently watched the humans enter the large building, being let in by other's like their kind. Ever since its first contact with these men, the alpha has been studying them intently. They stayed close to each other, always scanning around them for threats and kept in a formation to provide support for each other. Even their outfits were an enigma to it. A couple times while watching them, it lost track of them for moment when they stood still, seemingly blending into the background. For an alpha or any experienced Grimm, it wouldn't deceive them for long, but the lesser kind could easily be fooled. They didn't dress, fight or act like the humans it fought before. But now they were cornered in the building, with the rest of the pitiful townspeople. Time for them to die. The alpha took in its breath and let out an ear-piercing howl, signaling its brethren to attack.

"Fuck, that can't be good." Nick said reacting to the howl. The Faunus on the rooftop showed visible signs of distress as well.

"Looks like we're going to have company." Greg said to Nick. The rooftop was rather spacious with many air condition units and ventilation shafts to use as cover and hide behind. They had a good view of the town and could see anything coming for them from any direction.

"You guys hear that?" Alex asked, coming up from below with Ivan and Greenwood.

"The explosion or that howl? Because we heard both" Nick responded.

"Okay, we have 10 minutes before our evac arrives and this area is about to become hot. Our main priority is to keep these people safe and out of harm's way. Fortunately, the Grimm are only animals, so we're not going to have to worry about being shot at. With that being said, we still need to be careful." Everyone nodded in agreement as Alex continued. "Ivan, take the front side of the building. That's going to be the obvious place to break into and where they'll most likely storm so setup your bipod and keep the suppression on them." Ivan nodded as Alex continued. "Nick, me and you are going to be running interference for the other sides of the buildings. Ivan can hold the front side by himself, while we hold the sides and back each other up. Oh, and get an RPG ready, I'll feel like we're going to need it."

"Sure thing boss." Nick responded while unslinging one of the RPGs and getting it ready to fire.

"Greg, climb on top of that AC unit to get a better view. You're going to be watching our six, but keep your head on a swivel and radio us if you see something." Alex then turned to Greenwood. "And John, make everyone keeps their heads down and out of the line of fire.

"Don't worry about us kid." John said while smiling.

"It's going to get loud and confusing up here so use your radios to keep in contact with each other. Everyone know where they're going?" The group gave an affirmative nod then headed to their positions. Ivan set up the bipod for his machine gun on the ledge overlooking the front of the building. It would keep his weapon stable while firing down the street below. Greg climbed to the top of the most central AC unit, giving him an excellent view. He switched over the magnifier for his scope, allowing him to engage at longer ranges with his high-powered rifle. Using the additional magnification, he did a 360 sweep of the area only to see nothing. Alex and Nick stayed on opposite sides off the building keeping watch, but were ready to run anywhere else to provide covering fire. Nick's RPG was strapped on him and ready to fire, while Alex made sure his under barrel grenade launcher was ready as well. John kept low with the other Faunus, giving words of encouragement to keep their spirits up. Heinrich just sat in the corner, not saying anything since his "conversation" with Alex. The Faunus civilians were taking cover behind the maze of ventilation shafts that were concentrated near Greg's position. Once again everything was quiet. Not a single sound could be heard.

"Here they come!" Ivan shouted. Three dozen beowolfs charged up the road at full speed, only to run into a wall of machine gun fire. They were bunched up close and stacked behind each other, making easy targets for Ivan. The one's in the front were cut down with ease, while the one's following them tripped over their fallen comrades and met the same fate. It wasn't long before the road was littered with beowolf carcasses, which slowed down the Grimm's initial attack, but showed no sign of letting up. Thanks to Ivan's SCORPION system for his machine gun, he could fire over 550 rounds on them without worrying about reloading. He looked up to see more Grimm approaching. This time alongside the beowolfs, there were ursai and borbatusk's charging his position. Ivan aim his weapon at the charging Grimm, ready for wave two. Meanwhile Alex was on his right flank fighting against a wave of more beowolfs and ursai.

"Nick give Alex a hand, I'll watch your side!" Greg radioed to Nick.

"On my way!" Nick hurriedly crossed the rooftop over to Alex who maintained a controlled rate of fire against the Grimm. He concentrated fire on the closest one, then snapped over to another one drawing closer. Nick looked over to Alex, who nodded at him before he continued firing. "Looks like you could use a hand buddy!"

"Focus on the right side of the street, I'll take the left!" With Nick here, Alex had smaller field of fire to watch over, which meant a smaller chance of the Grimm reaching the building. Both were quickly taking down the Grimm with well-placed shots to chest and head areas. The beowolfs were fast but went down easily, while the ursai were tougher but slower and easier targets.

Meanwhile Greg kept a close watch on the rear and left sides of the building, while supporting the rest of the squad with sniper fire. He would take two shots down Ivan's lane, then move to Alex and Nick's before looking over the unguarded sides and repeating the process. Greg looked down at the townsfolk, who kept their heads low and were doing their best to protect their ears from the noise. He knew their weapons were loud, but he and the rest of the squad were used to it, unlike everyone else. It was worse for the Faunus with enhanced hearing thanks to their extra ears. It was a blessing and a curse at the same time.

Despite the onslaught of Ivan's machine gun and taking many casualties, the Grimm managed to reach the doors of the building. The borbatusks were attempting to breach the door using their spin attack like a battering ram. Ivan didn't think it was possible for a boar to spin in an almost cartoonish way, but he and his squad were dead men protecting animal people from demon animals, so he didn't think too hard about it. He instead reached into a side pouch and pulled out an incendiary grenade. These weren't the thermite variety used to destroy vehicles or equipment, the one's he had were pressurized with white phosphorus and designed to be used against personnel. While it was very frowned upon to actually use against people, they were useful in clearing out fighting positions due to the fact it lingers in the area, causing extreme burning and suffocation. So long as you had a reason, they were perfectly legal despite what everyone says. Ivan pulled the pin and dropped the grenade down below towards the Grimm at the door and with a loud *pop* the grenade exploded, releasing the deadly chemicals amongst the Grimm. He looked down to see the Grimm running sporadically and screaming in pain as the white phosphorus did its job, before they collapsed and died from the extreme burning sensation.

Nick lobbed a frag grenade that rolled towards a group of borbatusks that weren't paying attention as it exploded below them, sending deadly shrapnel into their exposed underside. Meanwhile Alex fired a round from his grenade launcher, breaking up a group of ursai. He looked down at his watch to see only five more minutes before the rescue team arrives. A roar in the distance caused him to look back up, only to witness the largest scorpion he had ever seen smash through a house and move towards them. Both he and Nick went wide eyed at the beast.

"That thing's bigger than a fucking house!" Nick exclaimed.

"Uhh Nick, do you mind?"

"Way ahead of you man." Nick replied, already placing the RPG on his shoulder, while taking a quick look over his shoulder to make sure everyone was clear of the back blast. Never in his life would he ever consider he'd have to use an RPG against a giant scorpion. He used them against tanks, armored vehicles and buildings, but a giant insect was new one. The deathstalker never knew what hit it. The rocket shot out of the tube at such a high velocity that it hit its target before the beast could even react. Alex and Nick watched as the deathstalker went limp and collapsed on the ground. You could tell where the rocket hit by its face…or lack of face. The rocket made a nice clean hole that broke through the exoskeleton before exploding inside the thing.

"Nice shot Nick." Alex complimented to his squad mate.

"You were right, we were going to need it." He replied while tossing aside the empty tube.

Greg was still sniping at any Grimm that tried to flank the building with deadly accuracy. He saw Ivan was still holding his ground, while Alex and Nick just took down a deathstalker with ease. However, on the left side of the building, he saw beowolfs were climbing the damaged CCT tower, howling like crazy and the whole tower was shaking violently. He stood up to get a better of the ground and noticed four ursai down by the base. Two of them were pushing the tower towards the building, while the other two pulled it towards them, like they were trying to knock it down. He noticed the height of the tower and the distance from the building before it dawned on him.

"Alex, I need you here now! They're knocking down that tower to make a ladder!" Greg shouted over the radio. Alex did not hesitate to make his way to the other side of the building to stop what they were doing. He had to admit it was a clever plan, especially for animals. Greg jumped down from his elevated position and ran towards Alex to assist him and get a better view of the ground. Both of them fired at the ursai attacking the tower in the hopes of stopping it from getting knocked down. The ursai quickly fell to their shots but the tower was still crawling with Grimm and more were on the way to knock down the tower. Looking down near the base of the tower, Alex noticed a number of crates with that snowflake emblem on them. But what really got his attention was the large orange warning label the read "EXPLOSIVE" on them. He quickly fired his grenade launcher at the large pile of crates that were conveniently next to the support beams furthest away from the building. The resulting explosion from the dust crates obliterated the rear support beams, causing to tower to wobble and fall backwards away from them. The Grimm that climbed the tower were crushed beneath its weight while Alex and Greg picked off any stragglers.

"Pretty convenient that those explosive crates were there to knock the tower down the other way. I thought that shit only happened in cheesy action films." Greg remarked while shooting an ursa in the head.

"I'm not complaining, nor am I going to question it." Alex said as he capped another beowolf, unaware it was the alpha beowolf.

"That wolf you just killed looked bigger than the rest. It also had more bones sticking out of it." Greg said also unaware that Alex just killed the alpha beowolf.

"Hey it does. Maybe it's a pack leader or something? Oh well it's dead now, so who cares?" Alex responded nonchalantly. Many of the Grimm started to fall back, seeing the alpha and many of their kin killed off by the Russians. Without the alpha's leadership, their attack fell apart and were being picked off by the defenders.

"Are they retreating?" Ivan asked

"Fuck it, I'm not complaining." Nick responded.

"Guys look over there!" John said pointing towards the horizon. Greg pulled up his rifle to look through the magnifier and saw four large VTOL aircraft heading towards them.

"That must be our ride out of here!" Greg said with excitement.

"Quick, throw a smoke signal grenade to get their attention." Alex said. Greg reached into a pouch to retrieve the smoke canister. He pulled the pin and tossed it towards the center of the roof, which rapidly created a cloud of bright purple smoke to draw the attention of the bullheads.

Team CFVY

"This place is a mess, I hope we're not too late." Velvet said while looking out the side of the bullhead. They rendezvoused with the VPD bullheads shortly after they left Beacon and made it to Oxford without running into any trouble.

"Look over there!" Yatsu got everyone's attention pointing towards the purple smoke coming from the roof of a large building.

"That must them, bring us down!" Coco told the pilot.

"Roger that!"

The rooftop

"Everyone up, it's time to leave!" Alex addressed to the civilians, who were all too eager to finally get away from this place. Greg and Ivan were waving their hands to direct the bullheads where to land, while Nick kept watch for Grimm. Even though most of the Grimm fell back, there were still stragglers trying to get them, which were easily disposed of. John and the able-bodied Faunus were helping everyone get aboard the medical bullheads, while the fourth bullhead lowered to offload its passengers to defend the landing zone. Coco scanned the rooftop taking in the sight of the Faunus civilians and one angry looking SDC employee boarding the bullheads, but stopped when she spotted four armed individuals in camouflaged combat gear. One of them looked her way, then started to walk up to her followed by his companions.

"And who might you four be?" Alex addressed to the new arrivals. He looked them over with mild interest and curiosity. "They're young, teenagers most likely. Yet something is different about them, they're defiantly not normal. Two males and two females. Both males have visible weapons. The dark-skinned one has a pair of bladed gauntlets, while the tall samurai has a giant sword. Yeesh, I thought Ivan was big, and is that other kid blind? I don't see any weapons on the females except for the ammunition belt on the one who looks like she should be in fashion. The rabbit girl is hanging back and looks uncomfortable. I wonder what's in that box? You know both of those girls are pretty cute…*mental slap*. Dammit Alex, don't be creepy. Oh shit, I think the chick with sunglasses said something." Alex broke away from his thoughts to pay attention to what the girl was saying. "I'm sorry what was that?" The girl lowered her sunglasses and gave Alex a quizzical look.

"I said we're your ride out of here. What happened, did you like what you saw and got distracted?" Coco put her hand on her hip and playfully smiled at him. Alex didn't expect her to be so…forward. Thankfully he kept his calm, cool, composure up around her.

"Nah, I'm actually starting to go deaf and just didn't hear you the first time." He replied in a neutral tone. Technically he wasn't lying.

"Whatever you say." She said in a sarcastic tone while putting her hands up.

"Hey Alex, if you're done flirting can we go now?" Nick said loud enough for both the squad and Team CFVY to hear, which got a round of chuckles from everyone except Alex who just rolled his eyes. The group of 8 finished their laughs and jumped into the last bullhead, finally saying goodbye to Oxford. Alex looked over to the other bullheads and saw John, as well as Carmen and Marigold waving thanks at him. He simply waved back before he felt someone tapping his shoulder. It was that girl with the sunglasses smiling at him.

"How about a proper introduction? I'm Coco Adel." She confidently stated while holding her hand out.

"Alex Volkov." He responded as he reached to shake her hand. One leader to another; One warrior to another.

"That's an interesting name, I'm guessing your not from around here?"

"No, we're not." Alex said in his most casual tone. "So where are we going?" He asked trying to change the subject.

"Those bullheads are going to the hospital, we on the other hand are heading back to Beacon. We need to let Ozpin know the mission was a success. By the way were you guys the one's who called for help and defended the town?"

"Yes we were, not sure how long we could've lasted if you guys didn't show." Alex replied

"Well I'm sure Ozpin would like to thank you guys for helping out. Just sit tight and we'll be at Beacon shortly." Alex looked to the rest of his squad who merely shrugged at him. None of them knew what the hell she was talking about, but were too tired and hungry to care.

"All right, to Beacon then."

A/N:

I have a lot of respect for fan fiction writers. Writing is fucking hard and time consuming. You don't get paid to do this, yet you still do it for entertainment purposes. No one is making you do this, you just do it because you like it. Its also nice knowing that people out there share your same creative outlook on a fandom. You'll always have those guys with degrees in literature who'll over analyze your writing or hardcore fanboys/girls who didn't like one tiny detail about a character you wrote about. Don't take it so personnel, keep writing and take advice from the good criticism. And if someone is being a total fag, there's this cool trick called ignoring them because your on a computer. Right click, delete, block user, done.

Anyways the next chapter is going to cross into cannon timeline, so it'll be a little while before it's posted while I work mostly on the character interaction without completely fucking it away or breaking the story line.

Thanks for reading and as always, criticism, advice to improve writing skills and suggestions on where to go are much appreciated. Or if you want to just let me know I suck, I'll appreciate the feedback.