The Shadow of Fire
Chapter 11: B.A.D.N's activation
Weiss could finally say that she was truly happy.
The heiress was surrounded by her friends, her true friends, best friends, all enjoying their own meals that the Beacon staff had happily and quickly prepared for each team on this Christmas morning. Milk and tuna spread on pieces of toast for Blake, a pile of pancakes for Yang that rivaled Nora's usual piles, the heiress own coffee and scrambled eggs with a few hash browns, and for Ruby... Well… That was a new thing.
Ruby had gone up with Weiss last in their team to revive their meals; Yang and Blake already sped off towards their table to eat. While they walked along the massive array of tables of food, Weiss found that Ruby seemed to be acting strange, not picking any of her past favorite meals. Before she could ask why she was avoiding all the sugar filled foods, Ruby dragged Weiss over to one of the lunch directors, asking one of the weirdest questions that the heiress had ever heard.
"Do you have any raw meat? I didn't each much last night and I'm kind of hungry for more than breakfast." Ruby asked the man before her, who raised an eyebrow in response. However, once Ruby showed him the ears and tail, he allowed it. After all, raw meat was a main part of a wolfs diet.
Weiss, at first, thought that Ruby was kidding and it was some sort of private joke with Yang and Blake, but that became less and less likely as they sat down on the table.
"Ruby? Where's your chocolate cookies?" Yang asked, raising an eyebrow at the meat.
"Not hungry for that." Ruby said simply, picking up a heavy duty fork. The young girl stabbed a small piece of meat, cattle by the looks of it, and popped a piece into her mouth. The trio of girls stared at the youngest teen, mouths agape at the sight that they hadn't seen before in real life.
"Erm, darling?" Weiss asked, gagging slightly at the sight.
"Whiohja dooe neadsh weishsk?" Ruby asked, chewing the meat with her new teeth, easily cutting through the meats fat.
"We don't speak carnivore." Blake commented, laughing slightly at the situation.
Ruby swallowed her meat, licking her lips quickly a few times to get every last piece. "Sorry, I meant to say, "what do you need Weiss-y."" The girl said simply, grinning like a maniac at her girlfriend.
"You sure you don't want any coffee or cookies? I saw some brownies up there." Weiss suggested, there was no way she was kissing Ruby until she bleached her mouth first.
"Naw, I'm good." Ruby said, eating another piece. "Want some?" Ruby asked, holding out another clean fork to her girlfriend.
"I... I'll pass." Weiss said, clutching her coffee cup. "Good with coffee, thank you."
"I'll try a bite." Blake said, taking the extended fork for herself. "I mean, it can't be that bad, can it?" Blake said, picking up a tiny piece no bigger than her thumb. The duo of regular girls, Yang counting somewhat, watched as the piece disappeared in the girls jaw, chewing it quietly before swallowing the raw meat.
"Not bad. A bit chunky but overall, not bad." Blake stated, placing her fork down on her own plate.
"If Yang starts eating raw meat, I'm leaving." Weiss said, slightly sliding away from the carnivorous pair. The group of girls exchanged a happy laugh, all smiling at the random situations that they all got into sometimes.
Weiss took a sip of her coffee, recalling random facts about her life at Beacon. Meeting Ruby, the Emerald Forest, classes with her friends, the Vale parade, and everything else that filled her with warmth like the coffee.
Weiss's ears suddenly felt the sharp hiss of air being bent, something that you don't hear every day.
"Do you all hear th-" Weiss managed to make out before the wall exploded behind them, sending everyone in the cafeteria either flying in the air or down to the ground. Weiss found herself upside down on a table, her white dress torn in a few places. The heiress sat up slowly, eyes flying to the source of the explosion.
A 14 foot hole in the wall greeted the heiress, fire burning the brick and wood that use to keep the wall, well, not broken. Weiss could easily spot the source of the explosion, and she knew that this wasn't going to be an easy day.
A trio of massive grey and white aircraft were flying towards Beacon, seemingly exact replicas of the ones that Beacon and the surrounding schools used as transport. Obviously they had been converted into military aircraft, and were combat ready.
Weiss jumped up from her position, racing over to her teammates who at this point had cleared themselves out of the rubble that was the cafeteria.
"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!" Yang shouted, another missile flying across the sky, crashing into the central plaza of Beacon, destroying several statues of heroes and Grimm.
"We are under attack! We got to get back to our dorm and get our weapons!" Blake yelled back, students racing around the room in panic. The upper class students, ones that had been apart of Beacon for a long time, were already jumping out of the hole in the wall, anyone with a long ranged weapon firing at the approaching ships while the others helped up injured students.
Weiss and the rest of Team RWBY raced down the hallway of the west wing, hell bent on returning to stop whatever attackers these people were.
"Attention students and staff! We are under attack! Repeat! We are under attack! All teachers report to the main tower! All Aura users, report to Beacon entrance! Students are advised to prepare for ground and air warfare! I repeat, we are under attack!" Headmaster Ozpin's voice echoed throughout the hallways, sending students and teachers alike in several directions, all ready for combat. The team ran in the dorm room, quickly grabbing their weapons before racing out of the room towards the battle.
As the group reached the end of the west wing, another missile crashed into the wall beside them, causing the ceiling to cave in down on them. Weiss dove forward and avoided the burning stone and wood while the rest of the team dived backwards.
"Ruby!" Weiss shouted out! "Are you all okay?!"
"We're fine! Can you find a way around?!" Blake's voice shouted back, Ruby's yelling along with Yang's echoed in the background as more and more missiles slammed into different sectors of Beacon.
Weiss frantically looked around, attempting to find any escape to the others. "No! It's blocked completely!" Weiss shouted back, an idea coming to her. "Go to the main courtyard! Find JNPR! I'll find the exit and meet you there!" Weiss replied over the harsh flames.
"Got it!" Yang yelled back. "Stay safe Weiss!" Ruby called out afterwards as the sounds of footsteps echoed throughout the hall.
Weiss turned around to run to the nearest ext before colliding with a wall of mass. The heiress fell to the floor as she groaned in pain, slowly looking up the source of her pain.
Before her stood a tall figure with a black scythe, his features obscured by his black cloak, however Weiss could feel his eyes glaring deep into her soul.
"You! I saw you at the docks!" Weiss hissed out, backing away slowly, trying to distance herself from the strange individual.
The figure simple pointed out a nearby window with the end of the scythe, a group of students orchestrating an attack outside. Weiss looked in the direction, spotting the group. When Weiss looked back to ask another question, the man was gone, just as he had before at the docks. Weiss felt a tingly feeling in her head, as if she was trying to remember something but couldn't. Weiss couldn't tell why, but she suddenly felt the need to run outside. Quickly.
Weiss jumped out of the nearest window, landing on one of her Glyphs before running towards the east entrance, where one of the ships was heading towards. For some reason, she felt that she needed to head there, someone was there of great importance.
Weiss arrived to the battle of all battles. The closest ship, labeled "The Key of Oblivion," was flying closest to the school; its hanger bay was open with several air ships flying out, similar to the ones at the docks. A large group of easily four to five teams of Hunters and Huntresses were firing weapons at the newly arriving airships, several crashing into the stone ground nearby. Weiss felt a tug in her heart, realizing that enemy or not, these were people that they were shooting down, not machines.
Weiss recalled her statement as one of the burning ships that had crashed moments ago cargo bay opened up, several grey and red androids jumping out of the wreck. Several hand-to-hand fighters raced towards the new enemies, slicing and punching the robotic drones. Weiss knew that whoever was orchestrating this attack, they were ready for a long fight.
"Send a few teams to the west entrance, Darien! They haven't a clue that there are androids on board these ships!" Professor Ports loud voice shouted out, causing Weiss to run in that direction. That must be who she was looking for.
"Professor Port!" Weiss yelled out over the sounds of gunfire and explosions. "I'm here! Where do you need me?!" Weiss asked on impulse, not knowing why she asked at all.
"Miss Schnee! How good to see you my dear!" Port said to the younger Huntress, firing a shot from his Blunderaxe, taking out an android just before it could fire at a student. "Are your teammates okay?" Port asked, his eyebrows scrunching together.
"Yes sir! They got separated from me and I'm supposed to meet up with them soon, but I felt that you needed me for some reason!" Weiss shouted as another airship slammed into a statue nearby.
"I have a plan, and you will now play the lead role!" Port yelled, firing another shot. "See that tower over there?" Port asked, pointing his finger at one of the massive towers located around Beacon, this one positioned just a few feet below Ozpin's personal office.
"What about it?" Weiss asked, another missile slammed into the Emerald Forest, several trees falling down nearby.
"Damn these Kinetic missiles!" Port shouted out at The Key of Oblivion. "We need to get to that tower! I need you to go for me! Look for Luna, she controls the defense grid around Beacon! She must have been powered off when this happened!" Port explained to the Schnee heiress. "Activate the grid, bring Luna to me, and we may have a fight in chance!"
"Understood sir!" Weiss shouted back, clutching her rapier in hand.
"Excellent! Meet me in the main court yard by the main entrance! I'll gather your team up!" Port shouted back. "Nathaniel! Concentrate fire on those engines! Try and cause an explosion to thin out these drones!"
Weiss raced off towards her target, dodging several plummeting Bulkheads as they were shot down. Weiss dove under a nearby wood and brass bench just as one crashed into a fountain nearby, shattering a statue of Headmaster Ozpin. The surviving android crew jumped out of the hanger door, changing their hands and fists into sharpened blades. One of the drones spotted Weiss, its body shuttered before running in her direction. Just before it would have reached the bench, Weiss spun underneath it, kicking upwards with all her force. The bench lifted off the ground, taking flight momentarily before crashing down directly on top of the android. The drone's body twitched wildly, electricity emerging from gaps in its armor as the internal wiring came undone from the impact. Weiss walked over in a leisured pace before spearing the drones head with Myrtenaster, all color fading from the drone almost immediately. The remainder of drones at this time had split up, half heading into the entrance to Ozpin's tower and the remaining four stayed to contain and kill Weiss. Weiss raced forward with all her might, bringing Myrtenaster down in a wild series of arcs and stabs, cutting down two of the four drones. Weiss jumped up in the air, spinning wildly before activating a Glyph behind her feet, sending her forward at an incredible speed. Weiss slashed forward, cutting one of the drones in half at the waist before her momentum carried her towards the last drone, which she promptly speared in the chest. Weiss twisted Myrtenaster within the drones armor, and with a violent twitch, the drone went silent.
Weiss raced toward Ozpin's tower, planning on killing the drones before they could find Luna or Ozpin. As she was within ten feet of the doors, the crack of a sniper echoed around her. Weiss activated a wide Glyph, catching the sniper round just before it would have entered her neck, which would have most defiantly killed her. Weiss kept the Glyph up, ready to block any and all attacks from whoever fire that shot. A colossal shadow covered Weiss, causing her to look up in the sky. What appeared to be the flagship in the battle, the largest one of the three, had closed its distance between itself and Beacon. Along the exterior of the craft, in bold red letters said, "The Liberator." Up on the main deck of the ship stood a figure in all back clothing with a Santa hat, along with a white trench coat. The figure was holding a sniper of some sort, picking off random students that were fleeing the battlefield. Weiss glared upward with all the hate in her being.
It was Saturn.
Weiss hissed at the man in the distance, holding Myrtenaster's handle in a death grip. Weiss spun the Dust Chamber on Myrtenaster before spinning on her heel in a complete circle. Myrtenaster's blade turned a light blue color, and it looked as if it was on fire, a brilliant blue fire that is. Weiss pointed Myrtenaster right at Saturn, deactivating the Glyph before firing Myrtenaster, the blue fire turning into a beam of energy, flying right at Saturn.
Saturn dove out the way just before the beam of energy slammed into the deck, blowing off part of the railing that he was positioned at. Saturn gave a growl that died off in the wind, firing a few shots back at Weiss.
Weiss did a triple back flip, dodging the rounds fired at her. Weiss rolled to her right, brining up a Glyph to deflect anymore gunfire before racing into the tower. She could wait just a little longer for revenge.
Saturn hissed down at the escaping girl, running back into the main control room of the ship. Each one was programmed to have one person on board, the rest of the crew were machines and A.I. Saturn ran over to a computer console, grinning wickedly in the process.
He would have his revenge on this Schnee.
Weiss stumbled up the steps to the control tower, climbing and running so much at once wasn't good for anyone, and Weiss was no exception.
The heiress paused at a small door, going into a coughing fit. Taking a few deep breaths, Weiss stumbled forward as distant explosions echoed around her. At this point, the white haired teen had two choices. She could either proceed directly up the tower to find and activate Luna and the defenses, or take the door and find Ozpin and the other professors. She knew that several drones had entered in before her, and she didn't know how prepared the professors were for active combat.
Weiss's decision was made instantly as the door to her side exploded into bits of metal and wood, one of the drones limp bodies laid sprung out on the floor before her. Weiss peaked into the broken entrance, several professors standing behind Ozpin, who was popping his knuckles.
"That sure brings back memories of my youth." Ozpin commented on the destroyed drone, signaling all of the other professors down the stairs. "Miss Schnee, where exactly are you off to?" Ozpin asked, an explosion rocking the building.
"Professor Port asked me to get to the defense tower and find Luna, he wants me to go to the main court yard after, you should head their too sir." Weiss explained to the headmaster.
"Very well. I will allow it. Make haste, Miss Schnee. We may save Beacon yet." Ozpin said before descending down the stairwell, leaving Weiss alone.
"Alright Weiss, just a little bit further. You've got this." Weiss mumbled to herself, jogging up the steps at an increased, yet calm rate. She couldn't afford to be tired at this point.
Weiss reached the top of the tower; a balcony with a steel door at the end greeted her with open arms. Finally, Beacon will now have a fighting chance.
A sharp hiss echoed in Weiss's ears, prompting her to race forward with her Glyphs. A kinetic missile, fired from Saturn's flagship, slammed into a section of the lower stairwell, sending brick and rubble in all directions. Weiss bolted forward, the steel doors opening automatically as she dived into the room, another missile slamming into the ground behind her.
"Hello." A hollow but feminine voice greeted Weiss.
Weiss turned to face a large computer, an image of a woman resembling professor Goodwitch appeared before her, however she was lacking the glasses that the real Goodwitch wore.
"H-hello... Are you Luna?" Weiss asked, another barrage of kinetic missiles shook the tower.
"I am B.A.D.N. The Beacon Automated Defense Network, but you may call me Luna." The woman said, giving a slight smile at the panicked heiress. A loud explosion shook the control room itself. "What was that?" Luna asked.
"Beacons being attacked! Can you activate the defenses!" Weiss asked the woman, screams coming from the outside.
"Sure, but can you please explain what's happening so I can get a better understanding of the situat-"
"A damn airship is right outside this room! Shoot it down!" Weiss shouted, losing her composure, something that wasn't common unless Ruby the Dunce was involved.
"Fine." Luna said in a hurt tone. "All turret towers are activating."
Along the roof tops of nearly every building of Beacon, small sections of the brick and steel began to fold together into large, block shaped squares. Luna snapped her fingers on the screen and all of the blocks elongated, transforming into what appeared to be the main cannon of a M.A.C Cannon, ones commonly used by the four Kingdoms Military. Each individual one turned to face their own targets, some focusing on the smaller Bulkheads, while other began aiming at the larger trio of crafts.
"Target locked!" Luna stated, looking at Weiss for orders on when to fire, each cannon charging up a blast of energy.
The Liberator
Beacon Academy Airspace
Saturn sat up in his control room, firing kinetic missile after missile upon random building that made up Beacon. If he was being honest with himself, he did feel a tad guilty about the whole thing. After all, these Hunters and Huntresses hadn't done anything to him, just those blasted RWBY girls.
Then again, it was just a tad.
Pushing the thoughts from his mind, he glanced out the window, spotting one of the many cannons targeting his ship.
"Oh no you don't." Saturn said to himself, jamming his thumb down on one of the many buttons on the panel before him. Outside of the ship, a dark blue Aura began to cover the exterior, sparkling as weapons fire from the students on the ground was repelled off of the ship, doing no damage whatsoever.
"White Fang shielding system, gotta love it." Saturn said to himself, tapping a few more buttons on the console, reversing all engines to get the ship out of there. Sure, shielding works on some weapons fire. But several cannons? No way it could withstand those highly powered energy rounds, at least from this distance. Besides, the ships kinetic strikes could travel any distance and still be equally effective as it would have been just a few feet away. The cannons would just put in a few dents into it if the ship were to distance itself just a half a mile away.
B.A.D.N
Beacon Control Tower
Weiss stood still for a few seconds, which to the heiress felt like hours, waiting for Luna to open fire.
"Luna! Shoot them down!" Weiss yelled at the A.I, she didn't have time to wait anymore, for all she knew, Ruby could be hurt, possibly dead. Weiss had to find her soon, and she wouldn't let a computer be the cause of her demise.
"Not until you apologize." Luna stated boldly, crossing her arms on the screen. "Otherwise I'll just deactivate the system and go into lockdown." She threatened; she was truly a clone of Goodwitch, a cold and calculated exterior as well as interior.
"Luna! Students are dying!" Weiss pleaded to the machine.
"And more... And more... And more... And mo-"
"Luna, I'm sorry for being rude to you. But we need you to fire those cannons!" Weiss begged the artificial intelligence.
Luna gave a bright smile, nodding at the Schnee heiress. "Firing Mass Accelerated Capsule cannons." Luna said happily.
A sharp hiss emitted from each cannon, all the built up energy collected onto a large black sphere within each individual cannon. At the exact same second, the vast array of cannons fired their collected energy simultaneously, the beams of pure energy soaring across the sky like a rail gun. Each cannons blast collided with their targets, a multitude of Bulkheads were torn in half, the burning and smoldering wreckage soared across the morning sky. Saturn's flagship exited the battlefield at remarkable speed for a cruiser that size, however it didn't escape unscathed. Several energy blasts connected with the shielding, causing a brief engine failure before the ship regained its thrust, propelling it within the best possible distance from the cannons. Of the remaining two cruisers, one labeled "Holy Dawn of Truth," was already too far for the cannons to target, leaving the airship safe from attack by Beacons anti-air defenses. However, The Key of Oblivion wasn't as lucky as the other duo of cruisers. The Key of Oblivion had yet to activate its shielding system, and as the M.A.C cannons fired upon it, the shots were clean and deadly. The ships hanger was obliterated, several Bullheads escaping the explosion just in time as the remaining air units were destroyed, resulting in a chain reaction of detonations within the smoldering heap that was the ships hanger. Other cannons nearby fired rounds into the ships main engines, causing more and more detonations to erupt like a volcano within the metallic aircraft. Just before its defeat, the cruiser attempted to flee the battlefield, banking right to escape over the Emerald Forest. However, a trio of cannons posted upon the main armory of the school fired three shots at the bridge and control room of the ship, effectively putting it out of commission as its burning wreckage began to fall down into the Emerald Forest.
"One of three cruisers destroyed Miss Weiss Melody Schnee. All life signals from the downed aircraft have gone offline on my thermals." Luna stated, locking eyes with Weiss. "I can do more on the ground than confined here in this cold computer unit. My memory and data chip is plugged into the main data pad just under my screen. Please retrieve me and we can be well on our way to Professor Port, whom I am assuming we are going to next, if we are to follow standard safety protocol." Luna finished, gesturing to the location under the massive computer screen.
Weiss ran forward, slowly pulling the data chip from the computer before pocketing the device. Weiss turned and looked out the window, catching a flash of red in the middle of a crowd of drones and students alike.
"Ruby, don't you worry, I'm coming."
A/N: Well that was fun to write, hope it was a good battle chapter for you all to read. More to come soon but I want to ask one thing.
Due to the increased liking of Faunus Ruby, do you all want a few One-shots of Faunus Ruby and her misadventures? I am up for the idea of it but I want your opinion. Leave a review regarding the idea or send me a PM. Thanks so much. Maybe around 3 to 4 reviews suggesting it, so not that hard for you guys to do.
See you all soon.
Next Chapter: The Prototype