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Cover Art: Mystery White Flame

Chapter 41


There was something comforting about being in a huge pack of people. They felt unstoppable as they made their way through Beacon's corridors, like some gang strutting down the street of a quant city while mothers closed their windows in fear. Of course, there was no fear in their enemies. Some of the Knight-Units, the ones that were the size of a human, had made their way into the school. They would turn and open fire on them whenever they were seen, but this was no disorganised mob.

The machines never stood a chance.

"Keep moving!" yelled Brass. "Kill them and move on! Let's clear our school out!"

They'd cut down some twenty units by now; a small drop in the ocean by all accounts, but it was a good start, and many of them were still outside. Jaune and Penny moved in the centre of the pack, content to let the older students have all the fun while they kept their eyes open for Neo or the huntress from before.

This was all well and good, but those two still had to be dealt with, and he worried this group might struggle. They shouldn't lose per se. Even if the huntress was a pro, it wasn't like she could fight off this many people at once, but she could still cause a lot of damage. Kill a lot of people. And that was if she wasn't planting a bomb or something in Ozpin's office. Maybe this was to be the White Fang's last "screw you". An explosion to rock Beacon that they could take away as some kind of moral victory after being beaten back so thoroughly.

We're going to have to check the headmaster's office…

It was an unwelcome though but maybe she wouldn't be up there anymore. Some time had passed. They couldn't very well hold their ground at the base of the elevator when an enemy might be above, however. One of the first things Atlas taught was that had to make sure no one was behind your lines, or that the Grimm couldn't flank you.

On the bright side, no one said they'd have to do that on their own. He could involve Brass and a few other older students, bring them up with him and have a decent force against Neo or whomever else was waiting.

They made good time, overwhelming any units they found and even finding one or two extra Beacon students along the way. One set was Team CRDL, a set of first years like them, holding out in a classroom with one of their members bleeding.

"Thanks for the save. We heard the announcement but didn't dare bring Sky out there," said Cardin, looking furious and covered from head to toe in sweat and some dried blood, likely from his teammate. "Bastards caught him in the side before we even knew what was going on."

"We have the infirmary, and the way back to it has been cleared. Get your teammate there and then swing back to the main entrance," ordered Brass. "We're going to hold up there until help arrives. Can you handle that?"

"Yeah, we can handle it." Cardin knelt and picked up his teammate. "Come on, Sky. We're getting you out of here." He paused, spotting Jaune. "By the way, that pink-haired bitch found us about twenty minutes ago. Stuck her head in, looked about ready to kill, but backed off once she realised who she was looking for wasn't with us." He nodded. "Be careful. I got the feeling she'll fight until the end, no matter what that might be."

Brass sighed and looked at Jaune. "What the hell did you do to piss her off that much?"

"Killed her friend," he replied. The man gaped at him. Jaune supposed that, to the average student, the idea of killing a person would be shocking. In all fairness, it was arguable whether it could be said Jaune or his team directly killed Roman at all, but it didn't much matter. Neo saw it that way. "At least we were responsible for his death. Enough that Neo wants us – me, especially – dead."

"How dangerous is she?"

"It should probably be assumed she's as good as a professional huntress, and she can disguise herself as anyone."

"Then how-?"

"She's mute. Make someone talk, even if it's just to make a sound, and you'll know it's not her. She shouldn't go after any of you, though. It's me she wants." He gestured to Penny. "Or us. And as long as we're all together like this, she shouldn't try anything."

Easier to wait until he was alone after and then murder him in his sleep.

"I don't like the idea of relying on what a dangerous criminal shouldn't do, especially if she's been driven mad with grief."

"I won't be taking any chances," said Jaune. "And you should all have that idea, too. If she attacks us, then she's not going to be someone we can just arrest and tie up. She's going to be fighting for keeps, and you'd best do the same." He watched the older man's face twist unhappily. "If it makes it any easier, it'll be self-defence."

"It's still killing a person."

Probably. Jaune wasn't sure if his own blasé attitude toward it was a sign that Atlas had changed him, or if it wasn't just adrenaline and fear. Probably the latter. Atlas had never really drilled in the idea of harming people, and this was more the primal urge to survive. Neo was going to kill him if he didn't kill her first, and he rather liked being alive.

He didn't even count Roman and all those White Fang's deaths as being his. It had been horrific to see their broken bodies, but they were the ones who crashed the train. They were the ones who weren't supposed to be down there. They'd been the ones to try and drive a train filled with explosives and chased by Grimm into a populated city centre.

All Team JCKP had done was seal a tunnel that was already meant to be sealed.

Everything else had been on Roman's head.

"We should head for the main entrance hall now," said Brass. "Coco should have gotten her lot equipped. You think this is time enough for what huntress you saw to have buggered off?"

"It depends on what she wants in the headmaster's office. If she knows where to find whatever it is, then she should have been in and out a while ago." But when even they didn't know what it was, there was no way to guess. "We'll just need to chance it. Support can't be that far out, even but they'll have to deal with the mechs outside before they can come in."

"Can't Atlas just deactivate them?"

Penny answered that. "If someone has the programming skill to hack and take control of them all then they should also have the skill to prevent that from happening. It would take time to trawl through code and see what changed. The fastest approach would be to simply take some previously saved code and overwrite everything, but that would require the machines to be incapacitated and switched off first. Their code cannot be changed mid-combat. It would be a glaring weakness for enemies to exploit."

"…"

"And yes," said Penny, "I am aware of the irony in my statement given they have been hacked away from Atlas control and now cannot be brought back under it, but it is what it is. Most of them cannot fit through the doors. We should be safe."

"We'll make sure to avoid any direct lines of fire." Brass sighed and shouted out. "We're going to make a move for the main hall! Avoid windows and doors leading outside. Stick together and prepare for us to have to fight at least two of those big mechs!"

/-/

Jaune leaned out through the doorway with Brass and a few others. They'd made it to the main hall before Coco, at least it looked that way, but sure enough the two huge machines that had come in with the huntress were still plodding around. They were trapped inside now and seemed to be moving about without any real strategy. Whenever their red laser-light vision scanned their way, they would duck back around the corner and let the beams harmlessly scan the empty corridor beyond.

There were a lot of people squashed flat against the walls.

"They don't have the capacity to hear," said Penny, speaking loudly. "So, we can talk as loud as we want. Their detection is based on direct scanning, but they can also localise and identify where a threat came from if they are hit by an attack. Their system will triangulate the trajectory and map it out for them."

"The fact they're still here," said Brass. "Does that mean the huntress is as well?"

"Hard to say," said Jaune. "Maybe she got what she wanted and left, and she just abandoned them here."

"Does it matter?" asked another student. "We still need to clear them out."

"True." Jaune sighed. "You all need to be careful. You might have aura and you might all be good, but 6,000 rpm won't care. If you spend any amount of time under their direct fire, then they will rip you to shreds. Your aura will be torn apart in seconds."

"Is the firstie in charge now?" called someone.

"Listen to him!" ordered Brass. "He's Atlas, so he knows these things a damn sight better than we do. Carry on, Arc."

"Thank you. The Paladins primarily make use of miniguns, but they do have rocket pods. Despite those looking like they're homing, they're not. They fire on your last-known location, so moving out the way quickly will mean they miss."

Jaune continued rattling off their weapons. Technically speaking, he shouldn't have known much of this, but Warden had obviously filled them in on the classified details once it was clear the White Fang might try and use the prototype variant. They'd needed to know what they might end up going up against. These mass-produced models were technically inferior, much to his relief, but they operated a lot of the same weaponry, just less effectively.

It was a strange experience to have so many people listening intently to him, but they took it seriously. Atlas Command might be upset at him later for spilling so much, but he had a feeling General Ironwood would have his back, and Winter wouldn't let him get in trouble for saving all these people from being ripped to shreds. The diplomatic damage caused by a single death here would far outweigh any potential loss of military information.

"Our best bet is overwhelming force toward the cockpit. The scanners are located below and above it, but enough damage will destroy the computer systems that make use of that information. Taking out one or both legs will ground it, but they can still fire. Removing the arms will destroy the miniguns, which are their primary weapons."

"How armoured are they?" asked someone.

"Not as much as you'd think. These were made to be walking weapon platforms for use against Grimm, not people, so their main focus was on having as much firepower as possible and then just enough armour not to be taken down by small Grimm like Nevermore. The main idea was that they'd kill a lot of Grimm to protect any infantry stationed with them. If they were getting into melee with the Grimm, then they'd have failed because all the soldiers with them would be dead. They're 95% offence and 5% defence, so if anyone has any explosive weaponry, they should be pretty vulnerable to it."

There was a murmur among the students as weapons and Semblances were discussed. Sadly, no one had a literal rocket launcher to hand, but there were enough people with Semblances that could count as explosive, and one person who had a spear with an explosive dust charge on the end. Slowly, a plan formed. It was a bit messy, but they didn't have the luxury of working on something bigger.

"Everyone know their place?" asked Jaune. He received nods in return. "Okay. On three, then. One, two, three!"

Jaune sprinted around the doorway and in, along with most of the others. Red light flashed as the mechs turned to them and scanned them. Miniguns spooled. Jaune skidded behind some furniture as they opened up, shredding through the wood and upholstery with far too much ease. He lay flat on his back and let the hail of fire pass overhead.

The mech, not knowing if he was alive or dead, turned its attention on another target, opening fire on them, but that person ducked behind a stone pillar and then dashed to another doorway and out, robbing it again. As it was programmed, it abandoned its quarry and looked for a third target, and it would always prioritise those closest to it because, in a hypothetical situation with Grimm, the closer enemies were more of a threat to its human allies.

That was his cue to scramble back up and get a little closer. Kneeling, he brought his SMG up and aimed for the sensors, tracking them by the red lasers still coming out. The burst caught the edge of one, cracking the lens and dimming a single light. The rest of the shots missed. When the minigun fired, a student was clipped but manage to get through a doorway before their aura could be fully drained. The mech turned back, tracking the many shots it was taking, and turning its back to their entranceway.

"NOW!" yelled Brass.

Two students leapt out. One fired an arrow from a bow with a cannister of dust around the shaft. The heavy arrow flew poorly, but the mech was big enough to make for an easy target. The arrow hit and exploded on its back, making it stagger forward on bipedal legs. The other student rushed in, wielding her spear like a lance. She leapt, brought the spear up and stabbed it down into the ruined armour the arrow had opened up, smashing the weapon into exposed circuitry, then detonating it.

The explosion happened within the mech, but it was still deafening. Machinery and bits of metal sprayed out as the thing was popped from the inside out. The force of it made the other mech stagger, but it also sent many students to the ground.

"Focus the second!" shouted Jaune. "Don't stay still!"

Enough people were on their feet to heed his warning, but the second mech still sprayed fire into their ranks, forcing people to back out. They all knew that the second they were targeted, they had to get out the room or find cover to break line of sight. Dodging was useless, and tyring to tank it with aura would get them killed. The best they could do was draw fire and leave to reset the targeting system onto someone else.

Another arrow was fired but this time the remaining mech launched its rocket pods at the archer, forcing them to flee as explosions shook the corridor and shattered the windows. The thing stomped forward, crushing its defeated ally underfoot. Jaune broke from cover as it did, racing to its left and shooting at the joints. It turned to track him, its upper half rotating independent of its legs, which spread out to stabilise it.

"Penny!"

"On it!" His partner sent blades slamming into its left leg, and the wires holding them were manipulated to coil about the limb. Throwing another back into the wall opposite, she retracted them both, pulling the wire taut.

A human body might have been split apart trying to bridge the gap between a machine and a wall, but Penny's body was much stronger. As she reeled herself in, the mech's leg was ripped out from under it, spilling the thing onto its side and sending the spray of minigun fire into the ceiling.

"Now!" roared Brass.

The students fell upon it, stabbing and hacking at the cockpit with hammers, swords, spears, and even just the butts of their guns. They shattered the glass, opening up the cockpit where a pilot could have resided. Then two students opened fire inside, shooting the delicate machinery to pieces and causing the mech's arms to crash on down. A cheer spread from the people – which was around the time Coco arrived with her own people, all freshly armed.

"Did we miss all the fun?" she asked, looking over the downed mechs. "Damn shame. Fan out, people. Hold that entrance but don't draw any in." Coco jogged up to Jaune and Brass. "We faced a few smaller mechs on the way here but nothing too bad. You?"

"Same." Brass nodded to the elevator. "But we're gonna have to take this thing up and make sure that huntress isn't in the headmaster's office."

"My team will do it," she offered. "And these two can come with," she said, holding Jaune's shoulder and nodding to Penny. "You should stay down here in case anything goes wrong. Take command and all that."

"Hm. Yeah, fine. Be careful up there, though."

Team CFVY, Jaune and Penny squashed themselves into the elevator and clicked the button for the top floor. It was a tense ride, with weapons checked and some whispered instruction from Coco that her team would breach, and him and Penny were only to enter if they gave the all-clear. Jaune didn't like it, and a quick look with Penny confirmed they'd be going in at the first sound of violence.

That proved unnecessary.

"It's clear!" called Coco, having rushed in with her team. "But it's a real state in here…"

She wasn't wrong.

Ozpin's desk had been thrown over, his chair discarded, and every single one of his drawers had been pulled out the desk and thrown to the floor. There were papers and booklets everywhere, strewn all over the floor, and the back wall with its large clock gears had even been damaged for some reason. The largest gearwheel had been removed, leaving the rest to stay frozen helplessly, with only the first cog, no longer connected, clicking and turning.

It was obvious the huntress had been looking for something, but they had no way to know if she'd found what it was and left, or if she hadn't. Jaune stepped over no doubt important documents and peeked under the shell of the desk. There was nothing to be seen. Ozpin's computer terminal had been smashed, so unless that came after hacking into it, the suggestion was that the huntress hadn't been looking for information.

And if they have the ability to hack our mechs and close down the CCT then a school's database system really shouldn't be a challenge.

"Looks like we lucked out," said Yatsuhashi.

"Or we're unlucky," said Velvet. "We've let her escape."

"We might not have had much of a choice anyway," Jaune said. "The mechs were programmed to see her as friendly, so best case scenario she would have jumped out the window, used aura to lessen her fall, then escaped into the machines where we can't follow. The real question is what she wanted here, and whether she found it."

"It's not like we can know the answer to that," said Coco. "Only the headmaster will know for sure. And he's—"

A roar outside caught their attention. It wasn't animalistic or Grimm, but the roar of gunfire. As one, they rushed to the closest window and looked out. There, by the trees, the mechs were congregating and firing into the forest. Suddenly, a pure white Ursa came barrelling out and towards them, covering half the distance before being put down. That didn't stop three more rushing out, along with a flock of white Nevermore that would make targeting difficult.

"White Grimm?" said Coco. "But who-"

"It's the Schnee Semblance," said Penny, smiling brightly. "It must be Captain Winter and her squad! They've come at last!"

Finally. Jaune heaved a sigh of relief. It would take them time to make it to Beacon, if they even could at all, but having someone this close would mean news would make it back to Amity, and, from there, full reinforcements would come to clear out the mechs.

"We should go down and hold the main entrance for her," said Penny. "Let her know we are here."

Jaune nodded. "Yeah, I guess we should-"

The ground beneath them trembled.

"What was that!?" snapped Coco. "That was below us! Fuck, Brass! Down!" She hurried them toward the elevator. "Back down. We're done here!"

They rode the elevator back down in tense quiet, only for the door to open and for them to spill out into a hall in which everyone was fine. Brass was there, along with the other students. No dead bodies, no ruin, no debris from an explosion. It took the wind out their sails, and Coco stumbled over to the man.

"That wasn't you…?"

"It wasn't us," he confirmed. "It was below us."

"There isn't anything under us," said Yatsuhashi. "Beacon is built on solid ground foundations."

"Yeah, I thought so too, but that-" The ground shook again, and this time Jaune definitely heard a sound like groaning rock splintering under a bomb under their feet. Brass raised his eyebrows. "That says otherwise. That says there's something going on beneath our feet."

Jaune exchanged a look with Penny. Warden had given them detailed schematics of Beacon, but there hadn't been anything to suggest Beacon had a basement, even if it was just used as a small storage area. Their intel suggested it was on flat ground, like Yatsuhashi had said.

"This isn't any of our business," said Coco. "We have help already here, at the treeline, and more will be coming soon. We should just sit here and wait."

"Brass!" yelled a woman. She came running up clutching a bloody shoulder. "Brass! Fuck! She took Sammy!"

Brass swore. "Who? Who took her?"

"T-The one with the pink hair. The one you told us to keep an eye out for!" The woman groaned and fell to her knees, allowing Penny to treat her shoulder. It looked like a stab wound that had gone all the way through and out the back. "C-Came up on us in disguise. Black hair, green eyes. Didn't think anything of it, but she stabbed me and brained Sammy before she could react. Dragged her away."

"She wants me," said Jaune. "And she's got a hostage…"

"For fuck's sake." Coco swore. "We'll go get her back. You guys hang here and try to signal the Atlas forces outside."

"We're coming with," said Jaune. Coco looked ready to argue, so he said, "She has a hostage and I guarantee she'll threaten to kill them if she doesn't see me there. There's a reason she took someone alive, Coco."

"Damn it. Damn it all. Fine, but the second the hostage is out, my team is running in to curb stomp the bitch."

"Hah." Jaune smiled. "That's more than fine with me."


Next Chapter: 12th August

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