Sory for no update last Saturday but I finally got in for my appointment and was in no state after to write, then was on heavy painkillers Sunday. I'm back, alive, and feeling a little better both physically and mentally. Also spent yesterday evening driving my nephew around to look at new cars after his accident lol. He's such a spoon. Told me he'd called a new insurance company to insure the new car he's buying.

Uh. No. Your old insurance still covers you on a new car. My lord, he tried to pay for car insurance twice.


Cover Art: Mystery White Flame

Chapter 40


Beacon's medical bay was crowded though, thankfully, not everyone in there was injured. It had become something of a rallying point for the students still at Beacon, and they were guarding the few wounded students there. Jaune counted maybe twenty people on their feet, and six wounded on the beds. Penny was dealing with them when he arrived, and he slid over to her while Coco explained to her team the news he'd given her.

"How are they?"

"Stable," said Penny, offering him a pleased smile. "None of them were truly in a critical condition but now they are even less so. Are you unhurt?"

"A few scratches but nothing serious. Neo found me."

Penny's eyes grew wider, and she looked him up and down, performing a scan of some sort. He was grateful she didn't question his word on being injured. She knew he wouldn't hide an injury that she could easily treat. "You were able to escape her, then? How?"

"I used the rampaging robots against her. They targeted us both."

"Then whatever has hacked into them is not recognising her as an ally. Strange. I wonder if she has been cut off by the ones who did this, or if she is here acting independently of their orders. It would make sense to have her be registered as an ally to the machines otherwise."

That was a good point. He'd lean more toward the latter idea, that Neo had disobeyed whatever her orders were to come here and try and kill him. She seemed the type. There wasn't much way to make use of that however, as the real huntress was already in Beacon and doing whatever it was she planned to. It wasn't like having Neo running around was going to harm her.

"I got a message out to Winter," said Jaune. "But she couldn't hear me. I'm hoping she assumes something is wrong and sends someone to check. What's the plan on this end?"

"There's no plan. They're holding up here and hoping for either a rescue, or that the person behind this gets what they want and leaves. There's no real leadership here and they've decided the safest option is just to hide."

That was it?

Jaune ran a hand down his face and looked about the room. It was a good decision to agree upon a rallying point so they could take care of their wounded and gather their scattered teams, but the whole point was to surely make use of that in some way. They had to be rallying for a purpose. There were twenty people here, and it would only take one team to guard the medical bay. That left sixteen – essentially four teams' worth of students – who could be working together to try and push the White Fang out.

If it's even the White Fang anymore. We haven't seen hide nor hair of them since the train crash, and there haven't been any sighted here either…

It didn't matter. Beacon was under attack and there might yet be more people hurt, confused, or lost in its halls. There were upper year students here, including Coco Adel herself. They should have had the training or the professionalism to take control, and while setting a point like this was a good start, there was more that could be done.

"Are these people safe to leave?" he asked Penny.

"Yes. They will be fine."

"Good. Back me up." Jaune strode toward where Coco was talking with one of her teammates and another guy, who looked to be in his last year of Beacon. They were arguing over something, but Jaune cut in by clearing his throat. "Ahem." They turned to regard him. "Good work on gathering everyone here. Penny says the injured will be fine on their own now. I wanted to discuss the next step of the plan."

The guy blinked at him. "What plan?"

"That's the main issue," said Jaune. "There's no plan. We need to make one. Immediately. We have twenty people here, but four should stay to guard the wounded. That leaves us sixteen, along with anyone else we find in Beacon. What efforts have you made to reach out to others that might be holed up in their dorms or classrooms?"

"Ahhh…" Coco grimaced. "I've been holding the main entrance like you saw…"

It was a good enough excuse. Jaune turned to the guy. "And you? Who are you, again?"

"Brass. And we've been gathering and holding here," he said. "What can we do? Comms are down outside the school, and going outside will get us shot to ribbons. Best we can do is hold up and wait for someone on Amity to notice."

All true.

"Aren't you about to become a huntsman?" Brass didn't respond. "Do you think you're going to be able to wait for your teachers to come and tell you what to do when you're out in the field and your team is in danger? Aren't you all training to become huntsmen?" asked Jaune, looking to the rest. They shuffled nervously. "Beacon is under attack. You know the lay of the land. Our enemy does not. There are almost certainly more people here who don't know where you are. This school has an announcement or PA system, correct? Why hasn't anyone tried to get to it and tell everyone where to meet?"

Coco and Brass exchanged looks as if suggesting it was the other's responsibility. Jaune felt it ought to have been just about everyone's. People lost their minds in a panic situation, true, and he didn't blame them not coming up with a better plan on the spot, but they'd had time to collect their thoughts and think in the medical bay, so there was no justification for why they hadn't used that. He and Penny had already sent a call out from the CCT. In a matter of seconds, they'd come up with a plan to help.

And he wasn't special. He wasn't some genius like Ciel, or a living computer like Penny. If he could think of using the PA Systems, then these two could have. They were the ones who lived here, for crying out loud.

I'm going to have to take charge…

"All right. Listen up." Jaune turned to the crowd at large. "Our primary goals are thus: we need to contact every student still in Beacon and gather them into a central area. We then need to reclaim the school itself and push any attackers back outside. Where are the controls for the PA system located?"

"Uh. There's one in the headmaster's office and one in the deputy's. That's Miss Goodwitch."

They'd seen the huntress making for Ozpin's, so that was out. "Right. I'm going to take myself, Penny, Brass and Coco, and we're going to make our way to Miss Goodwitch's office, break in and activate the system. I want the rest of you – minus four to guard the wounded – to make your way to the auditorium and secure it. We're going to direct everyone in Beacon there so that we can properly assess out numbers."

"Who put you in charge?" asked a man in armour with short orange-brown hair. "You're not even from Beacon!"

"I'm the one who fought his way to the CCT and sent a distress message to Amity through this blockade while you all sat in here panicking," said Jaune. "And I have less than six month's education under my belt. You're welcome." The man grimaced, but it was nothing compared to the older students, who had been so badly upstaged. "I'm also the partner of the girl who has been saving the lives of your wounded, and I'm the only one here with a plan right now. A bad plan is better than no plan at all. And can anyone say this is a bad plan? Does anyone have a better one?"

Their silence was telling.

"No? Good. Then I'm taking control. Pick out the four who will stay and guard here. Coco. Brass. You're with me."

"Ah." Coco cleared her throat. "Actually, Brass would be better with his team at the auditorium, but Velvet would be useful with us. If that's okay?"

You're older and stronger than me, thought Jaune, and yet you're asking me if this is okay…

"That's fine. Coco and Velvet, then. Brass, can I trust you to take charge of everyone else and secure the auditorium?"

The man nodded. He looked annoyed, but it felt like it was more at himself for being showed up. At least he was using that energy. "Yeah. I can do that. No problem." He cleared his throat. "Team ONYX, you guys stay. You've always been good at holding at defence. The rest of us will head down and destroy any robot in our path."

"Good." Jaune clapped his hands. "Let's move, people. We've a school to reclaim!"

/-/

The four of them moved down the corridors at a good clip. The biggest machines couldn't really get in, and while two had in the main entranceway, that was because of the larger doors, and even then, they'd broken them. There was no real chance of the Paladins getting in here, but there certainly was of Neo waiting around every corner.

"So," said Coco. "Kinda embarrassing to be told off by a first year, not gonna lie."

"I'm sure you'd have decided on something eventually."

"Yeah, no. Thanks for being diplomatic and all but the only thing I could think of was keeping my own team safe. We've been taught a lot, but never how to handle a situation like this. How have you guys? Does Atlas regularly invade its own school, take you hostage, and make you sort it out?"

"No. But, if we did wake up kidnapped and were told it was a training regime, then I feel like most of the school would fully believe that. It sounds like the kind of thing Winter or General Ironwood would cook up to make us miserable."

"Bloody hell. What do they do to make you this hardcore?"

"They threaten to take our beds away," said Penny.

"They make you sleep on the floor!?"

Not quite, though, to hear Neon and Flynt go on, it was much worse. Jaune hid a smile as Penny unintentionally painted a far worse picture of Atlas than existed, all without realising it. Jaune wasn't actually sure whether other teams from Atlas would have taken control as he had. Ciel would have, but there was more going on with her than met the eye, and his own team were in specialist training, so they had an edge over most in their year. Not necessarily in combat, but in live training exercises and assessments.

This wasn't so different from the time they'd been dumped in a quarry, or when they were sent into the snowy wastelands of Atlas with a faulty signalling device. Both those times had taught him the value of coming up with a plan quick, rather than leaving things as they were.

"I guess I was just lucky today. Don't worry about it. Besides, you're the ones who know the way Beacon is laid out. I'll get lost if I try and take control. How far from the headmaster's office is Glynda's?"

"You mean, how far away is it from that woman, right? Far enough. We won't need to be in the same areas so we should be good."

Coco had her minigun out all the same. A very dangerous weapon to use in a school like this. Sure, every student probably had a gun of some sort, and aura, but there was a difference between tanking a three-round burst from an AR and tanking a 300-round burst from a minigun. He could only assume she was told by the teachers to only ever fire in small bursts during training, because she could chew through a person's aura with that thing.

Right now, he was glad to have her there with him.

They crossed a few more halls before arriving at a door marked with G. Goodwitch on a bronze plaque. Velvet tried the door, only for the handle to rattle. "It's locked."

"Back up," said Coco, reading her weapon. "I'll apologise to her later."

A quick spool and a burst of under a second was enough to deal with the door. Coco angled her shots at the hinges, not only punching through the wood but mangling those small metal things beyond repair. The door fell inward with a loud crash. Inside, the teacher's desk had been spared, but her back wall now had quite a bit of damage.

Velvet hopped through and ran over to the desk, then looked over it until she found what she was after. "It's here. What message should I relay? Is there a chance telling them where we're gathering could end badly?"

"I don't think they are here to kill students," said Penny.

"Don't tell them why we're gathering," said Jaune. "Keep that part out of the broadcast. We might as well not mention our real plan."

Velvet nodded and pushed the button. Jaune heard the crackle of the speakers, and her voice through that overwhelmed her normal one, creating a bit of an echo. The broadcast played out over Beacon regardless.

"Attention everyone. This is Velvet Scarlatina. All students are gathering at the auditorium to protect one another. Make your way there and help us. We have a medic if you have injured, and the medical bay is under our control. Don't go outside. You'll be shot on. Make your way to the auditorium instead and meet us there. We'll be safe."

They had her repeat the message a few times while Coco looked around the room and Jaune and Penny stepped outside to check the hall. Hopefully, this would boost their numbers a little. Give them something to work with. That huntress was undoubtedly strong, but quality didn't mean everything. Enough people would bring her down, and they'd give Neo pause as well. Hopefully, anyway.

"Penny, do you think you'd be able to hack into Beacon's systems?"

His partner hummed. "I might be able to. For what, exactly?"

"I'm wondering if Beacon has a dedicated security room with camera access."

"It might, but comms are down for us as well as everyone else. I would not be able to relay the information I found to anyone in the field."

"Ah. You're right." That was one idea out the window, but better to have and discard than not have at all. "We're going to have to stick together then" He poked his head back in the office. "Do a final call and then we'll head down to the auditorium ourselves and see what kind of numbers we have."

Velvet held her hands up, thumb up, then began another announcement. Coco came out the room and said, "What after that? We go on the attack?"

"It'll depend on our numbers and what state everyone is in. A lot of people might have been in their dorms when this started. They could be unarmed."

"My team could probably escort them to the lockers," she offered. "We can't launch them since it requires contact from our scrolls and it's all blocked, but we could still open them and arm everyone. We could then meet back up with you wherever we're needed."

Coco was in the right zone now and making plans. All she'd needed was a nudge. "Good plan. We'll go with that. We should try and secure the main school building first and also the entrance hall again. I'd say you shouldn't be afraid to break into other lockers and steal any dust or ammunition they have."

"Beacon's own storage is in the same area. We'll break into there. How long should it be taking your guys in Amity to react to this?"

"I'd hope they'd be reacting right now, but I can't be sure."

/-/

"We've lost full contact with Beacon," said Ironwood, whispering into Ozpin's ear.

Ozpin closed his eyes. "How?"

"We don't know. Signal is down, but one of mine was able to access the CCT and connect a call out. No voice or volume. Winter reported that they hung up and called her at least ten times in quick succession. She believes it a request for aid. I've given her a shuttle to get to Beacon."

"How long ago was that?"

"Several minutes. Winter needed to report it to me, gather a team, and then find a pilot. I expect she's en route right now, but, like Beacon, we've lost contact with her. The sabotage at the CCT, Ozpin. This must be it."

Ozpin cursed under his breath and pushed himself to his feet. Beside him, Glynda tensed, and he placed a hand upon her shoulder. "I'm leaving you in charge here, Glynda. See to Amity and try to avoid causing a panic if at all possible."

"Do you expect an attack here?" she asked.

"It seems to me that would have already happened if it was going to., but I won't take any chances. James, will you be leaving enough of a force here?"

Ironwood nodded. "I'll be leaving the majority of my men here. We have tens of thousands of civilians here. The students trapped in Beacon ought to be able of looking after themselves. If they can't, then Remnant has bigger problems."

"James!" snapped Glynda. "That's unfair!"

"Real life is unfair, Glynda. You know that. It's our job to teach them to be adaptable, so that they can look after themselves." James offered a hand to support Ozpin, but he shook it off. He was old, but not dead yet. Once they were a short distance from the box, James said, "Could they be after her?"

"It is entirely possible, but getting to her won't be so easy. I had the vault sealed, and they'll need to break into the systems in my office to open it. That will take time." Ozpin chuckled. "We're actually somewhat fortunate, I suppose. I'd considered inviting Miss Nikos to accept the power today or tomorrow but thought better of it. Had I, then the door would have been wide open for them to sweep in and kill Amber."

They moved out the stadium together, hearing the cheers and the applause behind them. Ironwood's personal shuttle was already waiting, with several soldiers in the back. One of them helped Ozpin in and sat him down, and soon the ramp was rising.

Ozpin just hoped there would be something of Beacon left to return to.

/-/

Eighty.

There were eighty people who had gathered in the auditorium. It was the first time since this started that Jaune felt some degree of confidence. Almost all of them were Beacon students. The transfers, even those knocked out of the tournament, were at Amity, whereas the locals were the ones who would actually bother to stay in their dorms. That was good, since it meant they'd know the area the best.

Brass was already sorting people out, separating the few injured and also those who hadn't been able to get weapons before coming. Like Coco, he'd just needed a direction, and now he was a proper huntsman.

"We've got unarmed off to the right and injured in the back – none are critical," he said.

Jaune nodded. "Coco agreed her team would escort them to the weapons lockers, and then crack open Beacon's armoury. They're going to resupply there and then converge on the main entrance to fight the big robots out."

Brass grinned. "Nice! That leaves us with about fifty. You think that'll be enough?"

"I'm sure it will be." Jaune moved onto the stage with the older man and Coco and raised his voice. "Hey! Listen! Hey!" There was too much chatter, so Brass placed a hand on his shoulder and mimed for quiet.

Raising one hand, he snapped his fingers.

A soundwave boomed out, rustling Jaune's clothing and making everyone flinch.

Huh. Neat Semblance.

"Thanks," he said, then took the chance. "Okay, everyone. Here's the situation. Beacon is locked off from the rest of Vale and the CCT has been hacked. Atlesian machines have also been hacked and are roaming outside. The biggest and most dangerous cannot get in. My partner and I already broke into the CCT and sent a distress call out, so help should be on its way."

There were relieved nods and excited chatter. People exchanged high-fives, and a little of the panic suffusing the room seemed to dissipate. Jaune let that sink in for a moment, as people let out the breaths they'd been holding and otherwise calmed down.

"Now, that's not to say we should sit around and do nothing," said Jaune. "We have confirmation on at least two dangerous huntresses who have infiltrated Beacon. One is Neopolitan, who you probably know from the news. Pink hair as her most defining feature. Right now, she wants me dead." He carried on before they could ask why. "The other is a huntress with long black hair and, from my own experience, a Semblance that lets her create weapons from glass, and also some control or ability over fire. It might be dust related. Favours swords and bows and can fight dual-wield if needs be. Coco Adel and I tracked her breaking into the headmaster's office."

"Here's how this is going to work," he continued. "Team CFVY will be taking the unarmed among you to the armouries to get you re-stocked from your weapon lockers. We don't expect much of a challenge that way but keep your heads down around any windows. After you have armed yourselves, you're going to loop around and claim the main entrance of the school. Blockade it on the inside, but don't push out. Our goal is to reclaim Beacon itself, not the grounds outside. We'll let our reinforcements from Amity deal with that mess."

There were several laughs. Humour usually helped in situations like this, and while Jaune didn't consider himself a very funny man, the bar for comedy was pretty low when everyone was on edge. A fart joke would have probably had them in stitches.

"The rest of us are going to travel from here, to the east, and loop through the corridors around the central spire and building. Then, when Coco and the rest storm the entrance, we're going to support them and cut the enemy off from both sides. The idea is that we'll be making sure no nasty surprises have snuck into Beacon, and we'll clear them out if they have, then we join with Coco's group and plug the gap. Make sure no more can get in."

A hand was raised. "What about the two huntresses…?"

"We take them down if we see them or they attack us!" said Brass, smacking his fist into his hand. "But that's not our primary job. Our job is taking our school back from these stupid tin cans. Because we're huntsmen and huntresses, damn it, and if we can't defend our own freaking school then what good are we!?"

The crowd cheered. Men and women raised their voices in anger. No one disagreed. They'd been caught flat-footed, and they'd been made fools of, but they were still people who chose to come here. The weakest of them, the most cowardly of them, would still be a person who knowingly embraced a career in which they'd be risking their lives against monsters. They had fought and killed said monsters, so finding a single person in Beacon to truly call afraid would be difficult. They'd just been lost, shocked, and confused by the suddenness of it all.

"Let's do this!" shouted Coco, fist raised. "All of you that want to grab a weapon and get to the ass-kicking with me! If you have a Semblance that can substitute, let one of my teammates know. The rest of you keep your aura up but let us handle any action. Jaune, Brass." She grinned maniacally. "If we beat your asses to the main hall, you're both paying for a shopping trip for my team."

"Dream on, Adel. The day you get there before me carrying that hunk of junk you call a handbag is the day I retire to an old folk's home." He turned back to the audience. "Let's go, people! It's time to take back our school!"

The crowd roared.

They'd forgotten him, and taken charge, but Jaune found he didn't mind at all. He hooked back up with Penny, who offered him a proud smile. "You were amazing," she said. "You took charge and made them act."

"I just gave them a nudge. They'd have figured it out eventually."

There was a click and a long, squeaking sound as the PA Systems activated again. Everyone in the hall paused, wondering if it might be a teacher having returned or anything. Instead, they heard silence, lasting several seconds, and then the sound of breathing. It ended a moment later, clicking off.

"Probably a bug of some kind," shouted Coco. "Let's focus on our jobs, people!"

Jaune wasn't so sure.

It looked like Neo had tracked down Glynda's office after hearing the PA, trying to find him. He looked to Penny, and she nodded, having much the same thoughts. They'd have to keep their eyes open, but Neo would be foolish to attack him while he was in a group of some fifty people. There was just no telling how little she valued her own life right now.


Next Chapter: 5th August

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