Chapter 35: War Never Changes

Location: Beacon Academy, Vale Year: Unknown

I was watching the TV, viewing the tournament, until I was caught off-guard when I saw that Penny was fighting against Pyrrha. I knew Penny was an android, which are made of metal, and Pyrrha, who controls polarity, including metal. After the fight though, it hit me like charging Deathclaw and it even took Ralphie off-guard.

Ralphie beeped in terror and despair as we witnessed Penny being torn apart by Pyrrha, but it looks like Pyrrha was unstable, as she collapses to the ground onto her knees, crying, and I knew she wasn't to blame. In fact, Ralphie knew as well, and we both knew it was all a setup. I lowered my head, sighed, then all of a sudden, a broadcast from Cinder came up.

"This is not a tragedy. This is not an accident. This is what happens when you hand over your trust. Your safety. Your children. To men who claim to be our guardians. But are, in reality... nothing more than men. Our Academies' Headmasters wield more power than most armies and one was audacious enough to control both. They cling to this power in the name of peace, and yet, what do we have here? One nation's attempt at a synthetic army, mercilessly torn apart by another's star pupil. What need would Atlas have for a soldier disguised as an innocent little girl? I don't think the Grimm can tell the difference. And what, I ask you, is Ozpin teaching his students? First a dismemberment, now this? Huntsmen and Huntresses should carry themselves with honor and mercy. Yet I have witnessed either. Perhaps Ozpin as though defeating Atlas in the tournament would help forget his colossal failure to protect Vale when the Grimm invaded it's streets. Or perhaps, this was his message to the tyrannical dictator that has occupied an unsuspecting Kingdom with armed forces. Honestly? I haven't the slightest clue as to who is right and who is wrong. But I know that the existence of peace is fragile and the leaders of our kingdoms conduct their business with iron gloves. as someone who hails from Mistral, I can assure you; the situation there is... equally undesirable. Our kingdoms are at the brink of war. Yet we, the citizens, are left in the dark. So I asked you... when the first shots are fired... who do you think you can trust?"

The broadcast ended, with me staring at the screen. Then I sighed, and replied, "War never changes." I then heard gunfire being erupted and saw that the Grimm were invading, along with the White Fang.

I then stood up, took out my 'A Light Shining in Darkness' and Jingwei's Shocksword, but still sheathed.

Ralphie began to beep in sorrow, still fazed by his crush being killed, and in a questioning tone as well to me as I began to walk to the door. I simply said, "Come on, Ralph. We got a war to fight." as I cocked my gun and went through the door, with Ralphie following behind.

Then the sirens erupted, noting that the war has begun, then a voice blurted out, "Alert. Incoming Grimm attack. Threat Level: Nine. Please seek shelter in a calm and orderly manner."

I switched to my 'YCS/186' and my power armor, then blasted off to the coliseum. I then noticed the lockers blasting off to the same area and landed on top of a Nevermore. I then landed, then looked towards them all. Team JNPR, Ruby, and Team CFVY, along with others.

Ruby began to tear up and said, "P-Penny's-"

I walked over to her, put my hand on her shoulder, and said, "I know. we'll make sure we'll avenge her death. One way or another. Cinder will pay. All of them will pay."

Ruby looked up to me with an expression of shock and replied, "C-Cinder?"

"She was behind it all. She's the puppet master, the one who pulled the strings." I replied.

Ruby nodded, knowing what I meant, until the the Nevermore slowly woke up and screetched at us. Then something happened to me. A surge of energy started to flow through my veins and somehow, a giant figure, made out of my own Aura, appeared and grabbed onto the Nevermore's neck. I then recognise it, or him in this case.

"LIBERTY PRIME IS ONLINE. ALL SYSTEMS NOMINAL. WEAPONS HOT. MISSION: THE DESTRUCTION OF ANY AND ALL CHINESE COMMUNISTS."

It was Liberty Prime, made out of my own Aura. Then LP crushed the Nevermore's head and tossed it aside.

Then LP spoke, "THREAT NEUTRALIZED. AWAITING ORDERS."

I was about to answer, but Pyrrha began, "Ruby, I-I'm so sorry."

"Me too, but it wasn't your fault." Ruby replied.

"Indeed. It was Cinder." I replied. But then I looked towards Penny, who laid there, while Ralphie beeped in sorrow. I walked over to Penny's body, knelt down, and closed her eyes with the palm of my hand.

I then stood up, turned to them, and saw that Jaune was giving Pyrrha her weapons.

I then continued, "But now... now is not the time for grieving. Now is the time to avenge our fallen friends. We must fight back! Now is the time to show them what for! Now is the time to show them what we say to those who took everything away from us! It is time to go to war! Are you with me?!"

Everyone cheered with 'yeahs' and such.

But then a flock of Grimm Griffins showed up, and I yelled out, "Liberty Prime! Neutralize all hostile creatures, ASAP!"

"ACKNOWLEDGE. ENGAGING AGGRESSORS." LP replied as he began fired his laser eye.

I tossed my Scroll to Ruby and said, "Ruby! Use my Scroll to bring in your Cresent Rose!"

She nodded and did so. After that, she tosses back my Scroll and her locker landed at our location. As she run towards it, a Grimm Griffin landed on top of it, roaring at her, but been shot off by Port and Oobleck.

Port then began, "Students. I think it would be best for you to leave."

I argued, "Fuck no! We are here to fight a war, Professor and Doc."

Then Oobleck shouted to me, "Mr. Vaughn! This day will surely go down in Remnant's history. I prefer it if my students could live to tell about it."

"Fine, they can go..." as I pointed to my friends, then continued, "... But I'm staying, right LP?"

Port and Oobleck looked up at Liberty Prime, who said, "AGREED. THIS IS OUR FIGHT AS WELL. WE FINISH IT... TONIGHT!"

Then they looked to me, as I'm summoning an army of Brotherhood of Steel, and I said, "We, the Brotherhood of Steel, does not back down from war."

I was about to follow my friends and comrades as LP climbs out of the coliseum, but stopped and said, "And don't worry, I'm unkillable."

As we continued to run, we saw an Alpha Beowolf fighting against Ironwood, and I managed to summon up a Alpha Deathclaw, and yelled out, "Deathclaw! Tear that Alpha to shreds!"

All the others are baffled from this as they saw the Alpha Deathclaw went charging in head-on at the Alpha Beowolf. As the Beowolf was about to swipe at Ironwood, the Deathclaw rammed into the Beowolf. As they stared at each other down, and roared at each other, they began to fight. But it wasn't long for the Deathclaw to come out victorious, as it let out a victory roar.

Even Ironwood was surprised and didn't know what to think of. We all ran to him and I said, "Don't worry. That's an Alpha Deathclaw I summoned. He's on our side."

Ironwood nodded and I then summoned up a pack of Deathclaws to follow the Alpha, so they can tear up any more Grimm, a couple squads of American GIs (From Operation:Anchorage), NCR infantry and rangers, the Enclave, and Brotherhood of Steel Paladins, Knights and the like.

I then summoned up a cluster of BOS, NCR, Enclave, and US Vertibirds to go along. I then said, "And here, I summoned up some reinforcments for you, Ironwood. The American GIs, NCR, the Enclave, and the Brotherhood of Steel. They'll help you out."

Again, Ironwood was baffled from this, but then said, "Thank you, Edward. They will help us greatly."

"Good. Now what is the situation, General?" I then asked.

"Grimm are crawling all over the city. The White Fang has invaded Beacon and to make matters worse, some vagabond has seized one of my ships. Until we regain command, the skies are out of our control." Ironwood stated.

Hmm, maybe I can help with that." I replied as I summoned up bunch of Stingray fighters and the Boomers' B-29 Superfortress.

"There you go. Now you got some Stingray fighters, Vertibirds, and the one, the only B-29 Superfortress Bomber." I replied as the listed aircraft flew overhead, preparing for a bunch of dogfights.

Again, Ironwood was baffled, then asked, "You really ARE the Protector. Being able to use magic and all that."

Everyone else is confused and Ruby asked, "Protector?"

Ironwood replied, "I'll explain later, but right now, I'm-"

But then Ironwood was interrupted by a few Deathclaws roaring and shreding a Ursa to pieces.

Ironwood continued, "I'm going to take the skies back, thanks to your help, Edward." as he looked towards me.

As Ironwood walked to his dropship, Jaune asked out, "What should we do?"

Ironwood stopped, turned towards us, and said,"You have two choices: defend your kingdom and your school... or save yourselves. No one will fault you if you leave."

I spoke out to Ironwood, "We're not here to run, we're here to fight to the end. Someone had declared war on us and we intend to finish it."

Ironwood nodded and turned back to his dropship and ordered his men, along with allies I made, "Let's move out!"

He boarded his ship and it took off, leaving us behind, but then somehow it was shot down.

But then, all of the Atlas androids turned on us and I summoned up an army of robots. Sentry Bots, Assaultrons, and such, and I order, "Neutralize the threat."

Then a Sentry Bot replied, "ACKNOWLEDGE."

Then the Sentry Bots and others engaged.

Ruby yelled out to the others Huntsmen and Huntresses, "You go and leave. Me and Edward got this."

The others nodded and then Ruby and I proceeded back to the arena. As we arrived back, Ruby went up to one of the lockers and activated it. Then she hold onto it and blasted off.

'She's crazy... like me.' I thought to myself as I launched with my jet pack and gone after her.

I then noticed that we were heading to the ship that Torchwick was on, and then Ruby leapt off into the ship, and I landed beside her.

XXXXXX

'3rd POV...'

Blake and Weiss were fighting off against the hacked Atlas Androids and the White Fang members until unknown soldiers made out of blue Aura showed up, some of them were familiar(I'm talking about the American Power Armored GIs from the DLC Operation:Anchorage).

A soldier with winterized combat armor and weilding an assualt rifle said to them, "Don't worry, we're on your side. You should thank Edward for that."

"Edward?!" both Blake and Weiss replied. Then aircraft flew overhead and dropships started to drop off soldiers, joining the fight.

"Yep!" replied the American GI, until they saw a Bullhead crashing down, but an Alpha Beowolf jumped out, and roared. It then charged at them.

"Oh no..." Blake said.

Then all of a sudden, an Alpha Deathclaw charged in out of nowhere and fought against the Alpha Beowolf. And the rest of the Deathclaws fought against the the other Beowolves.

"Huh, the Deathclaws have perfect timing." an Enclave X0-1 soldier said.

Weiss and Blake stared in shock as they heard the name 'Deathclaw'.

Then an NCR soldier said, "I'm just glad they're on our side for exchange."

A BOS T-45b Knight replied, "Amen to that!"

Then out of nowhere, the Crimson Dragoons (from Operation:Anchorage) showed up and went up to them, speaking in English, but with their accent, "We help you, Americans."

Blake turned to the American GI and asked, "Who are they?"

"They're the Crimson Dragoons, from China. I guess they're on our side this time." the GI replied.

Weiss then said, "We should split up."

Blake nodded and the American GIs, half of the Brotherhood, and the NCR went with Weiss and the Crimson Dragoons, Enclave and the other half of the Brotherhood went with Blake.

XXXXXX

'3rd POV...'

"Whoa." Mercury said.

Cinder, Emerald, and Mercury were watching the whole scene as they witness unknown enemies made out of blue Aura started to show up and started to assist Atlas and the Huntsmen and Huntresses. Then a large plane with a picture of a woman wearing a blue jumpsuit with the number 34 flew overhead and bombed an area.

They were all in shock, and Emerald suggested, "It may be Edward. His Aura is blue, after all."

Cinder nodded and said, "He is powerful."

Then they all saw a giant robot marching on through, firing lasers and tossing bombs, killing every White Fang and Grimm alike.

Cinder replied, "Very powerful, indeed."

XXXXXX

'Blake's POV...'

I was now leading a squad of Edward's allies that he summoned up, and came to a window. then I heard a familiar voice.

It was Adam.

"N-no..."

Then one of the Crimson Dragoons asked me, "What is it?"

After a brief moment of silence, I muttered out, "A-Adam?"

Adam replied, "Hello, my darling."

Then an Enclave X0-2 soldier shouted, "Let's get 'em!" as he crashes through the wall with his Plasma Caster, as he calls it, and charges in head-on.

XXXXX

'Liberty Prime's POV...'

I was eliminating every hostile threat until the earth itself shook.

I replied, "SCANNING..."

Then a nearby mountain blew up and revealed a dragon-like creature.

"HOSTILE THREAT LEVEL: RED. ALERT! SETTING THREAT AS PRIMARY TARGET. ENGAGING." I replied as I fired my laser and I began to battle against the Grimm Dragon.

XXXXXX

'Edward's POV...'

After we took out the last of the Grimm Griffins, Ruby and I witnesses a Grimm Dragon showing up out of nowhere and then began to battle against Liberty Prime.

"Oh great! A mother fucking dragon! Wonderful!" I yelled sarcastically.

Ruby said, "Well, at least Liberty Prime is kicking its butt, right?"

"Yeah, I guess so." I replied as I turned around, just to meet with a familiar foe, Neo. And the bitch winked at me again!

"You are a cocky bitch, aren't you!?" I yelled out.

XXXXXX

'Blake's POV...'

Half of the squad was down, but the ones who still stood was the Crimson Dragoons, since they're the masters of sword combat.

I was stepping back as Adam said to me, "Running away again? Is that what you've become my love? A coward?!"

I asked out, "Why are you doing this?!"

He answered, "You and I were going to change the world, remember? We were destined to light the fires of revolution!"

Then he unsheathed his sword and pointed to an innocent student, and said, "Consider this the spark."

Then one of the Crimson Dragoons charged with his sword drawn and clashed blades with Adam. The Crimson Dragoon said, "You have no Honor! You. Are. Pathetic!"

But Adam somehow knocked him out and I charged at Adam and clashed blades with him. I said to him, "I'm not running!"

Adam replied, "You will. But not, before you've suffered for your betrayal, my love."

XXXXXX

'Edward's POV...'

We were fighting against Neo and Roman on top of the airship and we were getting our asses kicked.

As we were on the ground, Roman said to us, "Little Red and Mister Courier... You two are just determined to be the heroes of Vale, aren't you?"

Before I was able to reply, I noticed that the B-29 was heading in our direction and I smiled. I grabbed Ruby and said, "Sorry we have to leave, but we need to be somewhere else."

Ruby asked me, "What are you-"

Then Ruby saw the plane that was coming towards us and she then immiedietly knew what I was going for.

I continued, "Have a 'blast', you two." And with that, me and Ruby jumped off.

XXXXXX

'3rd POV...'

Roman and Neo saw the Courier and Red jumping off and were confused. But then, they heard a buzzing sound getting louder. As they turned, they were met with a giant plane... dropping heavy bombs on to them.

Neo and Roman were shocked, and Roman replied, "Son of a Bi-" he was cut off as both him and Neo blew up into pieces.

XXXXXX

'Edward's POV...'

We landed on top of a building and witness the airship falling down in flames and saw that the B-29 fly on by us.

I then motion Ruby, "Come on, Ruby! We still have a war to win!"

Ruby nodded and her and I ran back to Beacon.

To be Continued...

(I was going to make a last chapter, but I'll have to cut it short here. I'll finish up on the next one, hopefully it will be the last chapter, but no gurantees. In any case, I hope you enjoy.)