More than half a year ago the kingdom of Vale suffered what was correctly considered by many at the time to be one of the worst terrorist attacks in the kingdom's history; The Breach. On that day a terrorist organization known as The White Fang ran a train into the massive wall that protected the city of Vale and damaged it enough that the Grimm were able to enter the city for the first time in modern history. But what would have resulted in a catastrophic death toll was severely curtailed by the swift and heroic actions of the students and professors of Beacon Academy in conjunction with the decisive deployment of Atlas troops by visiting General James Ironwood. Together in a wondrous display of interkingdom cooperation, they were able to drive the Grimm back, seal the Breach, and capture many of the terrorists behind the attack including Roman Torchwick who had planned and led the robberies that provided the White Fang the supplies they needed to pull off the dastardly deed.

However, not all the leaders of that terrorist cell were captured, and among those still loose was the White Fang Major Adam Taurus who was believed to be the mastermind behind the attack. In addition, it was still a complete mystery what exactly the attack was supposed to accomplish besides senseless death. A second mystery was how did Adam Taurus who was a vocal Fuanus Supremacist end up working alongside Roman Torchwick who was a human and was known to be casually racist towards Faunus, and a third final mystery was how and when all of this started in the first place. The Vale Branch of the White Fang had existed for years causing problems for the Kingdom but never anything coming even remotely close to the Breach, no one could have ever imagined that the group would or even have the ability to escalate things so quickly and for seemingly no reason.

These three mysteries led some investigators to theorize that there was a third party involved. Someone who had somehow convinced Adam to work with Torchwick despite their irrevocable differences and provided the White Fang the means and possibly the desire to escalate. But they had no solid proof of the existence of such a third party, they struggled to even compile a list of possible suspects even with the help of General James Ironwood and Headmaster Ozpin of Beacon. Despite the insurmountable odds against them, they approached the council with Ironwood's support and recommended that the Vytal Festival be Postponed if not outright Canceled.

Their request was denied but that wasn't a surprise.

There wasn't any reason to believe that the terrorist's plans went beyond the Breach, after all, the only reason why it had happened that day was that the operation had been discovered. Had the terrorists not been found out then it was completely reasonable to assume that they would have struck during the Vytal Festival. In other words, the White Fang's plot had already come to fruition and been thwarted leaving nothing to fear and no real reason to cancel the Festival especially when it was celebrating the very same interkingdom unity that had saved the day. Thus the issue was settled and while some concessions had been made, such as appointing General Ironwood to handle the event's security and the addition of extra forces, the show would go on.

And it did so without issue, from the opening ceremony to the tournament which was the main event, and everything in between. Sure there were incidents but nothing beyond what normally happens when large groups of people gather for a competitive event. Those who had argued for a delay or cancellation of the tournament breathed a sigh of relief as time passed by and the tournament progressed toward the finals; They were slowly coming to believe that they were wrong and it was a happy process. Soon the finals would be over, a winner would be revealed, the ending ceremony would commence, and then everyone would go home safe and sound. In the future people might look back at the Breach and wonder what could have been but what was all because there was nothing to fear, people of the future would judge those who wanted to cancel the Festival as being paranoid and that was fine… they were happy to be proven wrong.

Reality had a sick twisted sense of humor.

-4 Hours Before the Present-

Hidden deep within the Forever Fall was a camp that served as a base of operations for the Vale Branch of the White Fang. It was founded just after the failure of the Breach but it was something that Adam, their leader, had planned for a while now, a place they could temporarily retreat to if he ever came to the conclusion that it was not worth continuing the "Collaboration," with Cinder Fall. Back then he would have never imagined that he would use it as a part of an ongoing partnership with the human but she and whoever her employer was had held up their end of the bargain which he respected. More importantly, their goals seemed to run parallel to his own, so when Adam approached them to renegotiate the deal… Cinder was more than happy to agree to his new demands.

Sitting down and looking around the camp, it left almost weird to think how threadbare it used to be. Back then it was just old patchwork tents and whatever else they could spare from their main operations, which meant that their equipment and Dust were all suboptimal and they had no real vehicles besides some trucks and jeeps. Now the tents were livable, their equipment was up to par, and they had real transports including dropships. Back then the troops were weary and some had even foolishly attempted to flee but now they were excited and had every right to be. Before they were uncertain about the future but now they were eagerly looking forward to whatever came next and now they were about to enact a plan that would make the Breach look like a prank in comparison

"Major, the troops have been loaded into the transports and are ready to begin the operation on your orders."

Adam Taurus arose from his seat and glanced over at his lieutenant and the man winced under his dismissive gaze, Good. Then the bull Faunus first adjusted his dark coat, then his mask, and then grabbed his sword before saying anything to his lieutenant, "Have all comms ready to broadcast."

"Sir?"

"I have something I wish to say to the troops, now carry out the order I gave you."

"Sir! Yes, Sir!"

Adam watched as the man ran off to fulfill his orders and for a moment his thoughts wandered over to his previous lieutenant, a mountain of a man that had sadly died during the Breach. The two of them weren't close, Adam didn't even know his previous lieutenant's real name but preferred him all the same. That man had been a mountain of muscles who intimidated others and obeyed without question which in Adam's opinion were the ideal qualities for a subordinate. But this new guy wasn't scary enough to silence recruits and had the bad habit of thinking when he should have been obeying, I'll make sure that he doesn't come back from this mission but, should I do it myself or send him to die? Adam mulled it over for a few seconds before deciding, I'll let the humans handle him. That way I can spare some time for some personal fun.

The lieutenant came back and with a salute said, "Sir, the comms are ready for you!"

Adam did not even look at the man before answering, "You're dismissed."

"Sir!"

Adam then pulled out his scroll and linked it to the comms as he walked up to the transport he would be riding in. "Attention Brothers and Sisters of the White Fang, I am Major Adm Taurus and I want to be the first of many to congratulate you on the great deed you are about to perform." He paused in anticipation of excited and confused murmurs and was quickly vindicated and he spoke again once it calmed down, "It has taken a lot of work to get to this point and we had to ally ourselves with some less than savory characters. We even experienced a crushing failure at the Breach, one that was so complete that our enemies had thought that we were through. They were of course wrong and do you know why?"

"Because they suck!" Tyrian shouted.

Adam smiled and paused to give others a chance to answer, and indeed there were many who couldn't help but shout out their opinions. Of course, they were all wrong with Tyrian being the only exception, the real answer wasn't something that could be reached with reasoning. It was too fundamental and instinctual for logic to comprehend but yet it was also something that was universally known. The problem is that most people just didn't want to accept the truth, and that was something that Adam hoped to rectify with this operation.

"The truth is that we are just better, Faunus are just better than Humans." He let the words sink in for a second before continuing, "When was the last time you've heard of a human with perfect night vision? Never! That is not something that humans can do but it is a trait that many Faunus share and it's just the tip of the iceberg. We are taught to be ashamed of our animal traits but those same traits are what make us stand out, animal teeth are better, claws are better, eyes are better, ears are better, tails are better, fins are better, and this is a list that could go on for an eternity because; We. Are. Better… and they know that."

"Faunus rule and Humans drool!" Tyrian started chanting which quickly caught on and soon became a thunderous roar.

Adam took a moment to really soak in the atmosphere, I've dreamed of this moment for so long. "Humans do drool and that's why they tried so hard for so long to put us in chains, to keep us in cages, to strip us of any dignity… because they are afraid of us and they are right to fear us. We Faunus were the ones to tip the scales during the Great War, we were the ones that went out and expanded the kingdoms' borders with settlements that humans would then steal credit for. We were the ones who made Menagerie into a livable place and we were the ones who won the Faunus Rights war! We are Better and tonight we will remind them of that! Tonight Beacon falls and when it does, humans will be reminded of just how soft and weak they as a species really are!"

-3 Hours Before the Present-

Neopolitan looked up into the sky and saw eight Atlesian Airships, they had been brought to Vale by General Ironwood to help provide security for the Vytal Festival. So far none of the eight ships present had been needed but that was both something that would soon change and something that was not her problem. Her problem was that one of the only people in the world whom she cared about was being held prisoner inside one of those airships, her partner in life and crime, Roman Torchwick. He had been arrested just after the Breach and ever since then, Ironwood had been keeping the man on one of his ships to try and get information out of him.

But Torchwick refused to talk, he rejected any deal offered to him and soon proved to have a near-supernatural resistance to any and all means of advanced interrogation available in Vale. In the end, it was decided to simply let the man be but this was not Ironwood surrendering. Once the Festival ended, the ship holding Torchwick was instructed to immediately return to Atlas. When they arrived he would be prosecuted to the full extent of the law and would most likely be given a life sentence in a maximum security prison. However, if he voluntarily gave up information before then, his sentence would be dramatically reduced and even negotiated.

Most would have taken the deal but Torchwick remained silent out of fear of Cinder and loyalty to his partner in life and crime Neopolitan. And that was a loyalty that Neo was determined to see rewarded, so despite her personal misgivings towards Cinder, she served the bitch faithfully in her partner's stead. Now that service was nearly at an end, all that remained was one final job that Neo strongly suspected was a suicide mission.

First, Neo would sneak aboard the Airship serving as Ironwood's command center which also doubled as the place he was holding Torchwick and the Lost Boys as prisoners. Then she would make her way to the brig where they are being held and wait for the signal before freeing them all. Then they would take over the ship which shouldn't be too difficult since most of the soldiers, all of the knights, and any specialists would be on the ground leaving noncombatants aboard. Afterward, they would part ways with the Lost Boys who would join the fight on the ground while she and Torchwick stayed onboard and made sure that the rest of the fleet couldn't interfere. And when it was all over they would take the fastest ship onboard and spend the rest of their life running… or join up with Cinder to see this ride to the end.

Neo hated this plan with a passion. For starters, the entire plan depended wholly on herself and her ability to sneak aboard an Atlas Airship that doubled as a command center and temporary prison. Sure, she had a Semblance that made infiltration easy but physical illusions could only fool so many systems of security. What was she supposed to do if someone asked her for a password? She couldn't talk! She couldn't create auditory illusions! All she could do is trust what Cinder said about a virus messing with the systems but how could she trust the bitch who was also responsible for the mess that Torchwick was in right now? Neo's hands balled themselves into fists as she forced her anger onto the back burner to focus on the present, there was a reason why she was out here.

There was a certain person that she had spent the entire festival stalking and studying, a person who was integral to the plan. It was an Atlesian officer by the name of Martha Bluegrass who was currently serving aboard Ironwood's personal Airship Blue-2 which was also where Torchwick was being held. This officer was a cold logical woman who preferred quiet solitude, she had few friends and held no interest in making more which made her a perfect prison warden. More importantly, it meant that no one aboard Blue-2 knew Martha well enough to notice if something was wrong with her or if she suddenly started to act a little differently.

However, Martha did have a weakness; A sister whom she loved dearly and whom she had an ugly argument with just before she departed for Vale. And thanks to the virus, Cinder had been able to peek into Martha's private logs. She found out that the woman had desperately hoped that her sister and parents would be at the Vytal Festival so she could apologize for the things she had said. All it took was one fake email and Martha, with permission from her captain, left the safety of her post and arrived in Amity completely unaware that she was walking into a trap.

Once Neo spotted her prey, she got to work; First, she created an illusion of Martha's sister and had that fake walk into the woman's field of vision while waving at her, motioning to her to come closer.

Martha quickly spotted the illusion, "Julia?" She asked surprised and a little hopeful. Martha kept talking as she walked closer, "I- I got your email and I know that you said you were coming but I- I wasn't… sure it was true. I'm not saying that I thought you were lying, it's just that the last time I saw you I… said things. Things that I shouldn't have and I'm so-!?"

The illusion of Julia closed the gap and pulled Martha into a hug, meanwhile Neo prepared for the second step by creating two more illusions.

After a few seconds, the illusion of Julia let go of Martha and took her by hand. In the back of Martha's head, there was a voice that was whispering that there was something seriously wrong here. It pointed out Julia's bizarre lack of body heat but its pleas went unheard, Martha was too happy to notice something like body heat or how oddly quiet Juila was being.

"Where are you taking me, Julia"? Martha asked after a few steps.

The illusion said nothing, it was incapable of saying anything, so instead, it pointed up ahead at two more illusions waiting for them.

"Is that, Mom and Dad?!" Martha could hardly believe her eyes, her family was here and they were smiling at her despite what had happened, it was like a dream. "I don't understand… The things I said about them, about our brother… how can they look at me and smile like that?" Martha looked at the illusion of Julia in the eyes and searched for answers and found nothing but a smile, in the back of her head a red flag was raised but it went unheeded; Martha wanted this to be real.

Meanwhile, Neo watched from the shadows while keeping an eye on her Aura levels. The trap was ready, she just needed to get the officer to follow the illusions into a nearby private area that had been reserved ahead of time. Then she could take this woman out, take her place aboard Blue-2, free Torchwick, and get the hell out of this mess.

The illusionary family pulled Martha in for another hug and led her inside the private area, "Okay, why are we here?" She asked quickly, noticing the weird absence of anyone else including staff, "Why haven't any of you said anything? What's going on?" That voice in the back of her head was screaming but she desperately wanted to believe that this was really happening. "Guys if this is a joke then it isn't funny."

The illusions just stood in front of Martha silently staring as Neo snuck up from behind with a drawn blade.

"Please, say something! Say anything! Do you want me to apologize? Is that it? Fine! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry for what I said, for what I did to Ro-!" The illusions vanished before Martha's eyes leaving her standing there dumbfounded and when she finally spoke all she could say was; "W-what?! J-Julia? Mom? Dad? Where did you all go?!"

Martha's mind was trying to comprehend what had just happened and for a moment wondered if it was all one big hallucination. Had she been Huntsman trained then her first instincts would have been to call up her Aura for protection and to amplify her senses, but she wasn't and she had never faced a Semblance like this before. By the time the suspicion that this was all some kind of trap had crossed her mind, it was already too late.

A hand suddenly covered her mouth followed by a sharp pain. The last thing Martha saw was a long thin blade protruding from her chest and her last thought was of her family and the realization that they would never receive her apology.

Twenty minutes later, Neo left the private area disguised as Martha and walked to the Bullhead docks. Another 30 minutes later, she arrived at the landing bay of Blue-2, and with Martha's pass along with aid from the virus, made her way over to the brig. She silently took up Martha's post and waited for the signal while planning how she would take out the other guards and how hard she should hug her other half once she freed him.

No one suspected a thing.

-The Present-

Cinder Fall was experiencing a bizarre swirl of contradicting emotions that she had only felt once before, and that was when she accepted Salem's job offer. Right now she was scared, excited, hopeful, sad, happy, angry, worried, confident, shy, impatient, hesitating, and just a little horny… she wasn't quite sure what to make of that last one but it wasn't something that she was about to deny. And to be completely honest, it was only natural that she would feel this way on what would undeniably become the most important day of her life. It was more than just important, everything in Cinder's life had been leading up to this day and its result would determine her entire future or if she even had one.

Everything she had done up to now was all in service to this goal. Every trial she had endured served to strengthen her even when she was ignorant of the greater picture. The alliances she had forged and broken, the pawns she had moved and sacrificed, the enemies she made and overcome, the plans she had created and then reworked, all of her victories and defeats, and everything in-between, all of it was for this one goal.

Power.

Not financial power, not political power, not cultural power, or anything else that most fools think of when they talk about power. What she was after was the true power and the freedom that came when nothing and no one could hurt her let alone stop her. That is what she wanted, that was what she was owed, that was why she sold her soul to the devil, and that is what she would claim tonight or die in the process. There would be no redos, no second chances, and no one to save her if she failed; All she could do was trust in herself, and in the Chaos that her plan would bring on all of Vale. The Chaos would cover her tracks, open a window of opportunity, and most importantly force Ozpin into a course of action that would backfire on him spectacularly.

But will he take the bait? Cinder thought to herself as she quietly roamed through a corridor within Beacon that was devoid of people and was seemingly being used as some sort of storage area. It was a strange sight but it made sense, Beacon was a big place filled with rooms, hallways, stairs, elevators, and not enough people to really appreciate them all. It was only natural for some of those spaces to be repurposed, this was of course by design, Ozpin

loved to hide things in plain sight. Most of the hidden rooms within Beacon were merely places that had been forgotten about, backrooms were so rarely trodden that even ghosts had difficulty remembering that they existed.

"Let's see, according to Mercury's map there should be a door right here behind this stack of boxes." Cinder looked up from her scroll and examined the stack in front of her, she could see what appeared to be a door frame hidden behind the cardboard. She then raised her hand and released a quick burst of intense heat that turned the entire stack to ash without setting fire to anything else and revealing the door. "This should lead into an office and after that, I should be fairly close."

Cinder's target was a corridor but it wasn't like the others, this one was special, this one could only be accessed through an elevator in Ozpin's office. That corridor was the reason why she spent months posing as a Haven student visiting Beacon, it was so she could map out this entire Academy to find a room whose existence would not be found in any floor plan. But she just couldn't walk straight there, the room, the corridor, and the elevator shaft were on a separate power grid and network, Ozpin would notice if she did that and it would ruin everything. He had to be the one to open the door, he had to be the one to lead her there which meant she had to be in a position to follow him. There was no room for error nor would there be a second chance, she either succeeded here or she was as good as dead.

Cinder used her scroll to check up on the now-starting match between Pyrrha and Penny, so far the fight seemed rather even which surprised her. I would have thought that Penny's robotic nature would have made her an easy fight for Pyrrha, is she not aware of that or is she holding back out of some kind of misplaced sense of fairness? She shrugged before pressing a button on the scroll changing to that of Ozpin's personal viewing box, he along with Glynda and Ironwood were closely watching the fight. The one they choose to be the next Fall Maiden is most likely going to be either Pyrrha or Penny and I'd rather they choose Pyrrha, her semblance is a poor match for my own.

She then switched back to the map and walked into the office, there were cameras and security sensors around but they were of no concern to her. The virus that she had uploaded into Beacon and Ironwood's networks several months ago had given her complete control of those systems, right now the cameras were looping footage, and the sensors had been recalibrated into uselessness. For all intents and purposes, she was a phantom… as long as you ignored the pile of ash she left behind in the corridor, Fuck! Why did I do that? I could have just moved the boxes, I'm more than strong enough. It would have been easy!

She shook her head in disappointment over her lack of self-control and foresight but didn't reflect on it. Instead, she pressed forwards until she reached her destination, a wall that was now the only thing between her and the elevator shaft… A desire to try and break through arose within her, it would be a trivially easy thing for her to accomplish. All I would have to do is place my hand on this wall and activate my Semblance. After that, I could… Cinder closed her eyes and sighed, "After that, I would get caught by any security that Oz placed inside there and the Fall Maiden will be forever outside of my grasp… patience, I need to be patient."

Cinder then pulled out her scroll and sent a message to everyone else asking if they were ready. As she waited for their response she pulled out her scroll and began to watch the still-ongoing match between Pyrrha and Penny. And as she did, she kept a finger hovering over the detonator for the bombs planted around Amity.

After what felt like hours but in reality were mere minutes, she got confirmations from everyone except Mercury and Emerald. Looks like I can't rely on those two. Oh well, they won't do anything to oppose me as long as they have those rings on them and who knows, maybe the chaos will serve as a wake-up call for them both. Though I should still punish them, perhaps Salem can lend me the use of a Grimm pit… I'll figure it out when I get there. For now, let's start a war.

She pressed the detonator and the bombs went off.

It was truly astounding just how quickly a situation could change, just a minute ago Tock was sitting in her VIP booth having a good time with her crew while cheering on a friend. Now she and her crew were standing around completely bewildered by the hell unfolding before them. Never in her wildest dreams would she have expected explosions to suddenly rip through different parts of Amity Stadium with enough force to shake the flying colosseum. Never would she have imagined that the TVs, projectors, and even speakers would be hijacked to deliver a message by some woman who Tock and everyone else present was going to rightfully assume was behind this attack.

"What is that woman talking about?" Cecco asked no one in particular as he listened out of morbid curiosity. "Something about some kind of conspiracy?"

"Who cares what that bitch is talking about?" Turley angrily replied, "What matters is what we are going to do about it!?"

"And what can we do?" Asked Mason who was looking out at the stands filled with terrified civilians trying to run for their lives, There were bombs in the stands… why? When? How!? How did they do this right under our noses?! "This is going to be worse than the Breach."

"We can kick her ass!" Turley insisted out of anger rather than confidence.

Cecco looked his friend right in the eyes and asked, "Can we?"

"O-of course we can. We just need a bit of help but there are plenty of people who will help us." Turley was trying his best to sound confident but the truth was that he really wasn't sure, I thought we were ready for this. We shared the info we had, caught the bad guys, and even beefed up security for this event. And yet… none of it mattered.

"What do you think Tock?" Mason asked while glancing at his captain who so far hadn't said or done anything but silently watched and listened to the woman on the TV screen.

Tock was frustrated, no, that wasn't the right word. What she was feeling right now was something that she could not describe or comprehend but she knew that dwelling on this feeling would take her to a dark place. So instead she forced herself to focus on anything else and settled on trying to figure out who that talking woman was, and then it hit her. "Haven't we seen this wifie afore?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Cecco asked, wondering why Tock was focused on that instead of the madness around them.

Mason looked at the same screen as Tock and after a few seconds realized that he had seen that woman before and recently, "Her makeup and the way she styles her hair are different but, doesn't she look like one of the competitors from Haven?"

Turley racked his memories, "I think you're right. Who were her teammates again?"

"Mercury 'n' Emerald," Tock answered with a growl. "They twa hae bin getting freendly wi' JNPR 'n' RWBY... Tis na wonder we ne'er fun th' ringleaders; They've bin 'ere th' hail time!" A dark desire began to well up in her heart and the hearts of her crewmates; They would make sure justice was delivered.

*THUD* *TINK* *TINK* *CAW*

People began to scream as Tock's scroll began to ring but she didn't answer, she was too busy looking at the source of the noise and the reason why people were screaming. There was a Giant Nevermore trying to break through the Hardlight Shield protecting the stadium so it could descend on prey beneath it and the Grimm wasn't alone. In the air behind it were a murder of Nevermores of varying sizes and a flock of Griffons circling around the dome eagerly awaiting the collapse of the final wall so that the killing could begin.

"I don't understand," Cecco said looking up in horror. "How did they get past the warning systems or the fleet?"

"She turned thaim aff." There was no way for Tock to know that for sure but there was no other explanation that could even begin to make sense.

"What are we going to do?"

Tock glanced at her still-ringing scroll and saw that the caller was Ozpin, It must be important. "Ye guys hulp wi' evacuations while ah tak' this ca'. Ah will fill ye in afterward."

"And then what?" Asked Mason.

"A'm gaun hunting," Tock answered with a voice devoid of any emotions besides frozen unrelenting fury.

For a second her crew stood there worried that she might do something rash and wondering if they should or even could talk her out of it. But her eyes were burning with a dark intent that they had never seen before; It would be impossible to talk her out of this. But maybe instead they could talk some sense into her, keep her from going off alone into a fight she couldn't win or a wild goose chase that accomplished nothing but keep her away from those who needed her.

"You should head down to the arena first, make sure that the Grimm can't attack anyone else," Mason suggested.

"Yeah, meanwhile we'll get a Bullhead to pick you up and head to Beacon!" Cecco added.

Turley concluded with, "I bet you 100 Lien that's where the real fight is going to be! So don't you dare waste your energy here, we need you, Vale needs you, and Jaune is absolutely going to need you too!"

Tock looked to the sky and saw what appeared to be cracks forming in the Hardlight barrier separating the Grimm from those still in the arena. Her gaze then shifted to the arena and she saw that both Pyrrha and Penny had chosen to stand their ground, to distract the Grimm so that others could escape. Tock then glanced to the stands and saw that there were still civilians in the area but she also saw the rest of Team JNPR and other Huntsmen-In-Training moving to the arena to aid Pyrrha and Penny… Tock sighed, her job was clear. As much as she would have liked to find and skin those responsible, there was no way she could just abandon people just to satisfy her selfish desires. Besides, I could use a little bit of help to run these little fuckers down.

Tock walked up to the window of the VIP booth they were in and broke it, "Soonds guid tae me. Juist be sure tae watch yer ain backs sin i'l be raisin' mair deils than a kin lig tae bail ye oot." Before her crew could answer she jumped through the broken window and made a beeline for the arena. Just you wait you bitch!

Glynda was shouting something while Ironwood was frantically using his scroll to try to get in contact with his fleet and as for Ozpin… he just stood there, frozen as he stared out the window at the Grimm trying to break through the Hardlight Shield. It was almost funny, Ozpin was a man who had lived far far far too long and had bore witness to many tragedies and even masterminded a few himself, by all accounts he should have been numb to this sort of thing. But he wasn't, no matter who you are or how hard you try there were just some things that you never get used to, he could never get used to tragedies. They made him sick to his core and that led him to live a life dedicated to stopping and reversing tragedies.

"I've made a grievous mistake," Ozpin finally spoke.

"We have evacuations already underway, and we have Huntsmen in place to assist," Glynda reported.

Ironwood then added, "My fleet is in position to deploy Knights, Bullheads, and supporting fire. You just need to tell us where to go."

"Beacon. The battle will be at Beacon." Ozpin answered while attempting to call Tock with his scroll, She's not answering, I'll try a few more times. As for Qrow and Tai, they know what to do.

"Battle? What do you mean Battle?" Ironwood asked.

"We thought that the Breach was Salem's main plan of attack and we were probably right. But she has invested more into this plan than we initially thought," He pointed to the woman on the screen, "She's even sent at least one of her against to infiltrate an Academy." She hasn't been this bold in centuries.

Ironwood's mind filled with questions and contingency plans for the future but all of them hinged on answers that he just did not have at the moment, "Do you think this is an attack of opportunity or the start of something much bigger?"

"I think that's a question that can wait until after we've saved the day," Ozpin said with a smile meant to comfort but it wasn't a genuine smile. The truth of the matter was that he was furious at both Salem for the mass death she was about to cause and at himself for not doing enough to stop her. This would have never happened if I had simply canceled the Festival, I would have had to call in all the favors owed to me but it would have been worth it.

"And what about the Fall Maiden?" asked Glynda as she mentally mapped out the most efficient path back to Beacon.

Ozpin looked through the window of the VIP booth and saw Pyrrha and Penny getting ready to face the Grimm, he also saw many of their fellow trainees moving in to stand by the pair as others left to aid with evacuations. He even spotted Tock brute forcing her way down the stands to assist and most likely lead the defense, Anyone of those women would have made a fine Maiden but it would be wrong for me to ask them to leave the others and follow me. "We'll figure that out once we arrive back in Beacon."

"Alright then," Glynda then focused her Aura on strengthening her Semblance and used that power to tear a hole through the reinforced concrete that made the ceiling of the booth. She then walked over to a spot on the floor just beneath the hole she had made, "Stand next to me and hold on."

Ozpin stood next to her without question and wrapped an arm around her waist. As for Ironwood, he knew what was coming and knew that he wouldn't like it but knew that now wasn't the time for personal preference, so without complaints, he also stood by her and wrapped an arm around her waist, "I'm ready."

Glynda then breathed deeply before releasing tremendous telekinetic power that threatened to rip apart the ground they were standing on. Had she been less skilled or less experienced, then she might have shattered the floor beneath their feet but instead, she isolated the ground beneath their feet and raised it up into the air as a floating platform. "Here we go!" She then used her Semblance to steer the platform through the hole in the ceiling and flew straight to where the transports were being kept.

As they flew, they took the time to observe the devastation around them and made silent vows to do better.

The Four Major Huntsmen Academies while sharing the same goal and general curriculum had different ways of approaching it, they each had different things that they emphasized during training due to their kingdom's unique culture and circumstances. Atlas academy esteemed discipline, Shade promoted ingenuity, Haven had a rich Marital Arts History, and Beacon was famed for its solidarity. But all four Academies understood the importance of putting theory into practice and using repetition to turn mere knowledge of how to act in any given situation into well-honed instincts. Back at the Breach, the students of those Academies demonstrated those instincts with a rapid response that saved many lives, and now they were doing it again.

"Bring it on you oversized pigeons!" Nora loudly exclaimed while waving Magnhild in its hammer form at the Grimm still trying to break through and she wasn't alone.

"That's right! Keep your stupid eyes on us!" Shouted a student from Atlas.

"The only thing you assholes are going to eat is a knuckle sandwich!" Yet another student shouted.

To an ill-informed observer, the sight of these youth taunting literal soulless monsters hungry for flesh might seem bizarre if not outright foolish however, those observers could not be further from the truth. In reality, these Huntsmen-in-Training were performing a vital service, they were forcing the Grimm to focus on them instead of the scared civilians evacuating. They were able to succeed in this endeavor because while the Grimm were attracted to emotions, their animal-like minds made it very difficult for them to ignore noisy prey that was standing right in front of them like those students were. On top of that, the Grimm were also attracted to massive quantities of Aura, a quantity that would be impossible for even a handful of professional Huntsmen to generate. But a large group of Huntsmen-in-Training going out of their way to draw attention could very easily reach the level required and they did, right now these brave students were a beacon drawing monsters to themselves so that others could be left alone.

But the most important thing was that these were not mere children, they were the Huntsmen. While the Grimm tried to break through the Hardlight Shield the students were taking up positions, securing escape routes, and making plans.

"You want to use the rocket lockers to hit the Grimm from the back?" An Atlas student asked Jaune, "It could work but the timing that we'd need is incredible, impossible for most people"

Ruby was quick to answer, "Penny can do it."

"How can you be sure?"

"There is no time to explain, just trust me on this!"

"Okay, okay! I got a speedster on my time so I'll tell him to spread the word, meanwhile, you go tell Penny the plan and that the signal will be her taking a shot at them. Understood?"

Ruby nodded before disappearing in a flurry of petals.

"That's… weird," The Atlas student said to himself before setting off, I've seen plenty of speed Semblances before but none of them look anything like what Ruby has. Maybe I'll ask her about it once this is over assuming that we survive.

"Awright Jaune! Whit's th' situation 'ere?"

"The situation is that the shield is about to break and we'll be in the fight of our lives," There were plenty of other things that Jaune wanted to tell and ask Tock but all of that could wait.

In the meantime, Tock was surveying what would be the battlefield and it wasn't ideal. The Singles part of the tournament used a plain empty platform for those fights to highlight the fighter's skill. But right now that translated to a complete lack of defensive structures against flyings foes. She didn't think that these kids were in danger but the real fight was in Beacon and they could not afford to be worn down here.

"I know that look," Jaune said catching Tock's attention. "It's the same look my sister and mom always gave me whenever I was about to do something stupid."

"We shouldn't be making a staun 'ere." Tock said while looking at the Hardlight Shield, the cracks were widening and the whole structure was starting to flicker; The thing was about to go down.

"And we won't, we're just going to buy time… Tock, there is something that I want to tell you in case I-," He saw Penny raise into the air and take a shot at the Hardlight Shield. "That's the signal!" Without explanation, he pulled out his scroll and rapidly pressed a button on the side of the device five times and then held down the button on the fifth press.

"How come did ye-,'' Tock then noticed that almost all the other students had done the exact same thing. "Whit did ye a' juist dae?"

Jaune smiled, "We just called for an emergency delivery from our lockers."

"Yer lockers?" She heard a faint sound in the distance that was steadily growing louder, it sounded like a rocket.

"Our lockers are equipped with rockets and an advanced guidance system, in an emergency we can call them to our location for a supply drop. They should be here any second now."

Tock looked up to the sky just in time to see the lockers drop down and crash into the Grimm from behind shattering the Hardlight Shields in the process. The air then filled with the sound of gunfire and the death cries of Grimm caught in between the lockers, students, and the hard concrete that would kill any Grimm that couldn't escape. Even the giant Nevermore was quickly shredded to pieces, soon there was a cloud of dissipating black smoke created from the bodies of the fallen Grimm… but it wasn't over, more Grimm quickly arrived to replace the ones who had been destroyed.

But the students knew that would happen, they were ready and rushed forward to meet their new prey. This was how the Battle and the Fall of Beacon Began.

Author's Notes: In case you are wondering about Neo's illusions, the Book Roman Holiday reveals that she has the ability to create physical illusions. This ability is also confirmed within the series proper during vol 9… Neo is scary.

As for how Penny rose into the air, the answer is that Pyrrha used her Semblance to lift her. I originally intended to show that but it broke the flow of the chapter. There were a lot of things I wanted to show but had to regulate to the off-screen realm to avoid dragging this chapter out.

Also, I originally had this big fight planned but given what comes next, I figured that it would be better to save that until the next chapter which will start with everyone in Beacon. There will be plenty of fighting and I will do my best to give everyone some screen time, I won't be able to show off every fight in detail but it should still be exciting.