"So it begins"

AN: Here is the next chapter, Helms Deep prepares for 'modern warfare' with a mix of monsters and hybrid beasts with guns and dust staffs.

Hope you guys enjoy what happens in this one.

In the land of Mordor, Salem sat at her seat in the meeting room, next to the mercury pool. With so many of her generals out of country, she was alone in the room. She was sitting in front of a chessboard, her side being all black pieces, and the other side being all white.

The white pieces appeared to be in a disadvantage against hers, she has one white knight piece in a corner and the other set up to fail. All of her other pieces are set in place to take the board and win the game, "It's fun when the plans come to fruition…"

Just as she let go of her bishop, she saw a white rook move towards one of the knights, all on its own. She squinted for a second but her attention was drawn off the board when she saw the pool of mercury start to move. Four towers of liquid metal started to grow to different sizes and shapes, taking the form of Rourke, Radcliffe, Jadis and Saruman.

"Well, well…" She stood up from her chair and walked towards the pool with a happy grin, "I am eager to hear your reports, my friends."

Saruman stepped forward first, "I am pleased to report that the force of my finest Uruk Hai are on their way to Theoden's little stronghold. Mistral will fall within the next 48 hours."

Rourke couldn't help but chuckle, "You lead with that?" He moved a bit closer to Salem as he spoke, "I am proud to say, the force that we've gathered in Mantel has reached prime status. I have already given the order to move towards Minas Tirith. The only thing standing in our way is the City of Aletsch."

"Not much of a city," Jadis remarked.

"No, but it is the key position that will gain us the front door to the Mountain-city," Rourke said with more gusto, "Soon enough the so called 'government' of Atlas will be nothing more than a distant memory."

"I'm sure some of those forces you are commanding are from my supply," Saruman stated, "Try not to take all the credit of the hard work some of us went through thus far."

"Your 'hard labor' was done on the backs of Goblins, Lionheart, not on your own," Rourke rolled his eyes; normaly he wouldn't let such a 'little' man get to him. But Saruman was the kind that he felt needed to be put in his place, "When you start fighting on the front lines like the rest of us, then I'll give you credit."

"Boys, boys." Jadis said as she raised her hands between them, "You're both good at your jobs, no point in comparing yourselves." She then turned to the other knight in the meeting, whom was being surprisingly quiet, "Is there anything you would like to add, Radcliffe?"

"I have been… having some setbacks…" It was clear that he was having a hard time admitting this.

"Vacuo giving you too much trouble?" Jadis asked with a curious tone, "I could send Jackie to aid you."

"Not with Vacuo, particularly… there is a group of hunters, five of them…" Radcliffe spoke as if he was thinking of what to say while saying it.

"Same five from Fornost?" Rourke asked with a confused look.

"Yes… They haven't made any major damages to my campaign, but they have knocked out a few of my commanders I was planning on using against Vacuo." Radcliffe almost admired them, "Their leader… he's something else…"

"How so?" Salem asked, she started to become curious herself.

"Not sure, something… familiar." He finished with a nagging feeling deep in the back of his head.

"If they become more of a nuisance, you WILL ask the others for aid, no acceptations, General." Salem said with a very serious tone.

"Yes, your grace." Radcliffe said with a bow of his head.

Salem turned to her chess board and moved one of her rooks to the left a few squares, "We must always be vigilant; let our enemy gain the upper, even a little, and she'll use it as a motivational drive to win. No more mistakes, from any of you!"

"Yes, your grace." All four said in unison.

It was midday for Helms Deep; King Theoden ordered all his commanders and generals to prepare the fortress for battle. Jaune was in the communication tower with Cardin, he called Jaune up after hearing he came back.

"How long have you been broadcasting?" Jaune asked as Cardin stood up from his chair in the radio room.

"Since we landed. Just three letters, 'SOS'," Cardin said with a bit of bitterness in his voice, "So far no reply. I sent it in all directions, all kingdoms, even Menagerie just in case they had anything to spare."

"Still too soon to lose hope, Cardin," Jaune said with a serious tone as he looked out the window.

Cardin shook his head, "I'm more worried if we'll ever get out of here at all…"

Jaune quietly agreed; he exited the room and went down the elevator to the main keep to see the King as he oversaw the fortifications.

Theoden made his way to the main gate of the keep; he was giving orders to his commanders as he walked. Jaune wasn't too far behind him and heard his orders; "I want every adult and strong child capable of fighting given a weapon and armor by nightfall. Give children basic in handling rifles and spears, but none of them will stand in the front of this."

Theoden walked out the front gate as he passed by the soldiers that were bracing the main gate with steel plates. The king looked out at the wall from the gate, "We will cover the causeway and the gate from above with what turrets and heavy weapons we have leftover."

Jaune, Grun, Sun and Cardin walked up behind the King and gave their inputs on what to do for fortifications. "I saw that there were some weapons from the vehicles we wont be needing for this, we could line four Bushmaster chain guns along the wall."

Cardin nodded in agreement, "With just four, there's plenty of space between for rifleman and grenadiers to set up firing positions."

Jaune liked that they were optimistic, but this was still a losing battle. Advanced weapons don't always wing in battle, and these beasts don't care if they die, so long as they fulfill their mission.

"No enemy has ever made it's way thought he main gate in Mistral history, or set foot inside the keep." Theoden stated with pride.

"No disrespect, your grace," Grun spoke up, "but these monsters we will be facing aren't just Grimm… These are Uruk Hai, they were made for the purpose of war, and they have the strength and skill to prove that."

King Theoden looked to the wolf Faunus with a very serious look, "I have fought my share of monsters in my day, Mr. Grauel. I am aware that one must never take any of these creatures so lightly."

Theoden passed Grun; the group followed him up to the top of the keep as he spoke aloud, "They will break on this fortress like water on rock, like the hoards before them. That army can destroy a dozen villages and burn a thousand farms, but all can be rebuilt as our people survive and out last them behind these walls."

Jaune couldn't argue with his logic but he wasn't facing facts, "They aren't here to simply overthrow the kingdom, your grace, they are coming to wipe out its people!"

Theoden stopped in his tracks and turned to face Jaune, he walked up to him and gripped his shoulder, "WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE ME DO?!" he whispered sharply. "Look around you, these soldier's courage hangs by a thread… IF this is to be the end of Mistral, I will make it an end for all of Remnant to remember."

"We still have time to get everyone onto the shuttles and fly out of here," Jaune stated with a bit of optimism.

"There's only one hour of flight time in all of the fleet." Theoden thought of the same thing too, he didn't realize their lack of fuel until he learned of the army that is marching on them. "And even if we fill the shuttles with only children and elderly, even on full tanks, they would only reach the coast of Sanus before they run out of fuel…"

Jaune made a mental note, even if they fight, then maybe there's a chance for the children and elders to get out of this before it becomes a full on slaughter. Theoden turned away but was stopped again when Jaune asked, "Why not send messenger ships? Send out some kind of aid for help!"

"And who would come, Commander?" Theoden asked with a skeptical tone, "You're already here, so I imagine there isn't much else Vale could spare for us… Vacuo has never been one to send troops to aid anyone, why would they start now?"

"Atlas could answer," Jaune stated.

"ATLAS?!" Theoden hissed, "Where was Atlas when the southern lands burned? Where was Atlas when our enemies started surrounding us? Where was A-" Theoden stopped himself from rambling out loud in front of his men, he took a deep breath and finished what he had to say, "No, Commander Arc… We're on our own…"

Theoden walked away and made his way back up to the command center, Jaune turned to Cardin, "Order the crew of the flight deck to fuel as many as those shuttles as they can."

"You want to run?" Sun asked in confusion.

"No, but we can give some of the people a chance to live after this." Jaune stated, Cardin agreed and quickly made his way to the airfield.

Jaune looked to Grun and didn't even have to ask, whatever was coming for them, they were going to stand their ground together.

Ren and Nora sat on a high rise, just talking and sitting together. Ren looked up at the sky at how it began to turn grey, and the birds in the air were flying by in fear of something coming their way. "This reminds me too much of when Kuroyuri fell… similar atmosphere."

Nora looked up at it and recognized it too; "Yeah… calm before the storm is always the worst feeling."

"We should just leave…" Ren said out loud, "Escort everyone out of the fortress and just run."

"Where would we go?" Nora asked, "The best chance we have is if we stay together, Ren." She looked at him to see he began to get tense, the sudden reminder of his hometown's destruction began to bring light some of the pain he tried to lock away. Nora held his arm and wrapped hers around it, "I'm sure Jaune knows what he's doing…"

Ren couldn't help but grip his hands tightly on his knees, "I hope you're right…"

Treebeard had been walking for hours; Weiss was sitting near the top of his head shoulder branches, while Blake was a bit lower, in eye level with their Ent companion. Treebeard thought about asking, but didn't think it was worth the conversation. But since they have time to spend, he might as well ask.

"Ms. Belladonna, I have a question if you don't mind?" He looks at her ears; she let them be shown after she gave Weiss her bow to tie her hair up.

Blake could tell what he was looking at, but she was curious to what he had to ask, "Go ahead."

"I've seen as many Faunus as I have seen humans, in my day," Treebeard said "I could tell that your bow was covering your ears before. Why is that?"

"I do it so that I can pass as human in public," Blake said with a bit of shame in her voice.

Weiss remembered when she first learned of her ears, how Blake used her bow to hide among the humans. To Weiss, she felt it was unnecessary and dumb to hide what you are. But with the way people treated Faunus then, more so now, she understood why Blake wanted to continue to hide when around unfriendly humans.

"Does any other Faunus hide their animal features like you?" Treebeard asked in a curious tone. He never walked among the populace of the world, so this was all new information to him.

Blake thought of Ilia, but other than her, nobody came to mind, "A friend of mine, but all she ever did was try to keep her skin from changing color. Aside from her I haven't seen any other…"

"Why do you hide what you are?" Treebeard asked.

"Because humanity these days doesn't except us… some do…" She looks to Weiss, but then looks down, "but a lot of them hate us." Blake had a bit of frustration in her tone, "Especially after their involvement in the Battle of the Five Armies…"

Treebeard can understand her frustration, "So you choose to hide from them."

Blake started to feel offended, she looked at Treebeard in his big yellow eye, "You hide from them too, don't you? In this forest, surrounded by the trees."

Treebeard started to chuckle, as best he can in his raspy voice, "We do not hide, Ms. Belladonna… We prefer to live in the center of the forest instead of the outskirts, because the land is more fertile for our roots." Treebeard pointed down at the soil and dug his hand into it to show them. The dirt was very soft and wet, the perfect type for trees to bury their roots into.

Treebeard let the dirt fall and looked to Blake with an honest look, "We accept what we are because there is nothing that will change it. After all, we are trees." He said as he continued down the path he was on before, "But we can also walk, talk, think… and we accept what we are."

Blake didn't get his point, "I don't need to accept what I am! I am a Faunus!" Blake was starting to get frustrated.

Treebeard stopped walking and looked right at Blake in the eye, "And yet you choose to hide your ears when around strangers… You cannot accept what you are if you continue to hide what you are from humanity, by choice… How can they possibly accept you for what you are if you cannot accept yourself when around them?"

Blake was silent. She didn't know what to say to that. Weiss was surprised that a tree would have so much wisdom; were it not for the fact of being a tree, she'd recommend him to be a good councilor. Blake remained to be silent with nothing to say.

Treebeard started to feel he went too far, "Mmm… Forgive my forwardness, Ms. Belladonna. But I have lived in this world for a long time and it is hard to understand the way the outside world is at times."

Blake shakes her head, "No, I think you're right…"

Treebeard stopped walking, "Ahhh, we are here." They looked ahead to see an open area with a few stones set in a circle. "Something is about to happen that hasn't happened for a century… 'Entmoot'."

"What is that?" Weiss asked with a bit of fear in his tone.

"'Tis a gathering," Treebeard said with a proud smile, as best can be seen under the green leaves that acted as his beard.

Weiss and Blake looked around at the tree line and saw some of the trees moving, walking in their direction. Weiss turned around to see some of the trees 'waking up' and walking up behind Treebeard.

Treebeard began to grin under his beard, "Beech. Oak. Chestnut. Ash. Good, good, good. Many have come."

As the trees surrounded the trio, some of them looked at Weiss and Blake with peculiar eyes. "Why are they staring at us?" Weiss asked in fear.

"Maybe they think you look weird," Blake smirked.

"You're not that far off."

Blake and Weiss look down to see Vernal down below, standing right by the feet of the Ents, "Most of these old barks haven seen humans or Faunus in centuries… besides Maidens of course."

"Lady Vernal, I'm glad you've come," Treebeard said as he placed Weiss and Blake on the ground, "Now is the time we decide whether or not the Ents will march in this war."

Vernal motioned for Weiss and Blake to follow her, "Come on, this is between the trees. I've put together a little picnic while we wait."

The two followed her from between the feet of the Ents, Weiss followed right beside Vernal, "Thank god, I'm starving."

Blake couldn't help but smirk, but before she followed she looked up at Treebeard. He motioned for her to go as he began to speak Entish with his kind.

In Helms Deep, soldiers began moving the civilians into the deeper sections of the fortress. One stood on top of a truck and shouted, "Any and all able bodied people between the age 15 and 60, please report to the armory to be given a weapon and armor for the coming siege. Please, we need all the people we can use against this."

As Jaune helped coordinate the defenses, Pyrrha helped guide her people within the fortress. Eowyn walked up to her, "I want to help."

Pyrrha looked at her cousin, "We need you inside the caves with our people."

"I can fight, you know I can," Eowyn said with a frustrated tone.

"That is why you will be our last line of defense…" Pyrrha tried her best not to get angry with Eowyn but she had no choice but to turn her away.

"That's not the only reason… I am to be the last survivor of the royal family. I know it wasn't your idea, it was Uncle's." Eowyn said with a contempt voice.

Pyrrha looked at Eowyn sharply, "If it were up to me, I'd give you my own weapon so that we could fight together… but it isn't."

Eowyn could see the conflict within her, and all she was doing was making it harder. Eowyn wrapped her arms around the girl she grew to love as a sister, she whispered, "Just make sure that you survive this… I can't lose you again…"

Pyrrha gripped her sister tight as she whispered back, "You wont."

As they let go, Eowyn followed the civilians into the cave and helped the elderly walk into the caverns behind the fortress.

As the civilians settled in, hundreds of men, women and teens said their possible farewells to their families as they walked back out of the cave to volunteer for the defense. If one listened hard enough, they could almost hear the sobs of mothers, fathers and children as the volunteers walked out of the cave.

Ren stood outside the barracks, he saw the volunteers walking in to get their armor and weapons. He began to grip his hands tightly, "That does it!"

"Ren, no!" Nora ran up to him to try to stop him, "Jaune is doing what he thinks is right to save everyone."

"What he is doing is suicide, and HE KNOWS IT!" Ren shouts as he moves past Nora and continues on.

As Ren walked in he saw Jaune handing out unloaded rifles to some of the men, some of them no older than 16. Ren cut though the line and stopped Jaune form handing another rifle, "What the hell are you doing?"

"I'm getting our people ready for a fight," Jaune answered with a confused look, "What's wrong?"

"Your giving guns to kids, you think there isn't something wrong with that?"

"We don't have the men to defend this fortress without them."

"Two thousand can't stand up to 20, you know that!"

"We have the fortress, the weapons, we have hunters! We have a chance!"

"Chance or not, it's suicide to say, WE SHOULD HAVE JUST RAN!" Ren shouted at the top of his lungs. "If the people in my village had run instead of fought, a lot more could have lived."

"Don't make this about Kuroyuri!" Jaune spat back, "And besides if it wasn't for the people fighting that Grimm, you wouldn't have made it out of the village alive with Nora."

"Stop pretending that you're doing this for them… I see the same eyes on you that I saw at the Spire…" Ren gripped his hands and spoke frankly, "You are trying to get yourself killed!"

Those words echoed in the room; little did Ren know that Pyrrha walked in behind him as he continued.

"You were trying to redeem yourself then, you still are now… I don't see why anymore," Ren walked up to Jaune and grabbed his shoulders. "WE forgave you… SHE forgave you… Ruby FORGAVE YOU! Why can't you?!"

Jaune had nothing to say, not that he was angry or shocked, just because there were no words that came to him to use. Ren let go of Jaune and realized how much damage he had done to the morality of the men and women around him.

Jaune looked at the faces of the soldiers, "Don't you people have positions to get to?"

Just then everyone started moving and continuing what they were doing before. Ren left the room with Nora right behind him.

Jaune walked over to one of the benches and sat down. Pyrrha walked up to him and sat down beside him. "Are you really trying to kill yourself?" She didn't believe her own question, but she felt that it needed to be asked.

Jaune gripped the bench with his hands as his head looked down, "I didn't think I was… but now…" He quickly thought about the whole argument all over again and realized out it must have sounded from Ren's perspective. "I was giving guns to kids… no younger than when Ruby first started… What kind of man does that?"

Pyrrha put her arm over his shoulder and held him tightly, "Someone who is trying to protect these people… protect my people." She then pulls his right arm off the bench and pulled it over her shoulders as she hugged his body, "And that's enough for me."

Nora followed Ren as he left the barracks as he made his way to the main gate. The doors weren't fully sealed, so he was allowed to exit the gate and let him stand on the causeway. He stood there, thinking deeply about the situation.

Nora walked up to the gate, one of the guards asked if there was something wrong and she told them it was personal. She walked slowly up to Ren and stood beside him, she looked up at him to see he had his eyes closed and was breathing heavily, like he was meditating.

"What are you doing out here?" Nora asked with a bit of worry in her voice.

Ren took a deep breath, "I needed a place to breath air that didn't smell like burning dust exhaust. Why doesn't he just suck in his pride and run… our people would have a better chance…"

Nora looked to him, "Jaune has pride, like every other person I've met, but he isn't stupid. If he thinks our people have a better chance at surviving by staying, then it's worth a try."

Ren gripped his hands, "But how!?" He looked at Nora with a slightly agitated look, "How can he know that it's the better choice?"

Nora turned towards him and looked up at him in the eye, "Two years ago, we set out to reclaim what we lost, our school, our home, our family. We asked Jaune to lead us, even though he thought he was the last person who should lead. But we still followed him, not because we knew something he didn't, or because he knew what needed to happen to win."

Ren's grip on his hands loosened as he started to understand the point she was making.

Nora continued, "We followed him because we had something the world was sorely lacking faith. We had faith that Jaune would be able to lead us, and our faith was proven right. We had faith in him then, and we should have faith in him now. Underneath that gruff, scarred warrior is our dorky fearless leader."

Ren couldn't help but smirk at her bluntness at the end. He then held his arms out as Nora wrapped hers around his body, not too tight this time, "There are times you surprise me."

Right then he realized how much of a jerk he was for calling Jaune out in front of everyone, and now he needs to apologize.

Meanwhile in the main hall, King Theoden was standing by a window that looked over most of the wall below. He saw several teenaged kids holding rifles and wearing some armor plates that were too big for them.

It broke his heart to see children being asked to fight in war, it also reminded him of what his granduncle Themistocles' stories of the first Great War. And now he was seeing it happen again before his eyes.

Robin walked up behind Theoden and stood at attention, "Your grace, as you ordered, every able bodied man, woman and teenager has been given a weapon and stationed in adequate positions for the defense."

Theoden said nothing; he simply looked out the window at his orders being carried out. He then broke the silence, "Who am I, Colonel Loxely?"

Robin didn't understand the question, "Your grace?"

"Who am I?" He asked again.

"You are our King, sire," Robin replied with a calm tone.

Theoden turned around to face Robin, "Do you trust me to be your king?"

"Yes, your grace," Robin said with a serious look, "And I know for a fact, that every soldier out there would follow you to whatever end."

Theoden smiled at the praise, and then held his hand out to Robin, "Promise me one thing…"

Robin took his hand, "Anything."

"Ensure that my family survives this battle, Pyrrha and Eowyn," he didn't speak to him as a king, he spoke to him as an Uncle that loved his nieces. Robin could see it in his eyes, and he accepted the promise.

At the Entmoot; Treebeard was still speaking, or 'groaning', in his Entish speech. He and the other Ents have been speaking for hours; the sun was setting over the tree line.

Weiss, Blake and Vernal were sitting under a large Oak tree, eating some of the fruits and vegetables that Vernal brought with her.

Weiss started to groan, "This has been going on for four hours."

"They must have decided something by now," Blake spoke with slight optimism.

Treebeard stopped speaking in Entish and turned towards the girls, "Decided? No… we have only just finished saying… 'hello'."

Weiss just gripped her hands out of frustration, "HELLO?! Why does it take so long just to say one word?!"

"Entish is a very slow speech, Ms. Schnee. It takes a long time to say what needs to be said, so one must learn to be patient when speaking," Treebeard said with a bit of pride in his tone.

"Then why don't you just speak in common tongue? You're speaking pretty quickly in that," Blake stated.

Treebeard nodded his head, "Yes you are right, it is much faster… but I am one of the few in this circle that can speak, let alone understand, common tongue."

Both girls couldn't help but slam their hands on their foreheads. To their annoyance, Vernal started laughing. "What's so funny?" Blake asked with a bit of frustration.

"I could have told you that two hours ago…" Vernal said with a few chuckles.

Weiss gripped her hands tightly, "And you decided to tell us now, because?"

"I wanted to see the looks on your faces," Vernal chuckled again.

Blake rolled her eyes and looked back up at Treebeard, "We can't just stand around speaking a sentence that lasts a day. We need to get out there and HELP! Our friends need us!"

Treebeard started to feel a bit annoyed, "Don't be hasty."

"We are running out of time, Treebeard. Please…" Weiss almost pleaded with the old tree. He could see the worry on her face, and felt they were right. So he turned back to the others and continued the meeting, but this time at a faster pace.

Jaune and Pyrrha were asked to check on different battlements. After inspecting one of the turret placements, Jaune saw a teen boy holding his rifle wrong. He looked to be 19 or so, he had green eyes, black hair and he looked more nervous than a rookie on his first day for basic training.

When he turned towards Jaune, he motioned for him to come over to him. Jaune was sitting on the wide stairs that lead up to the keep, luckily it was wide enough for him to sit there without getting in the way. As he walked up, Jaune had a good look at his rifle, HK416, Mistral standard issue for their riflemen; it had a laser dot sight with a bayonet attachment.

"You scared?" Jaune asked. The teen nodded, Jaune held out his hands, "Let me see your rifle."

After receiving it, Jaune held to his shoulder, "What's your name?"

"Oscar Pine, sir," He said with a nervous tone.

Jaune looked down the scope and was pleased to see he was using 'laser dot' sights, he looked at Oscar, "You ever held one of these before?"

"No, never had a reason to before now," Oscar replied truthfully.

"What are you really?" Jaune asked.

"Farmer," Oscar answered.

Jaune then realized who he was talking to, "Oh, I remember you… you showed up with your sister about your home village being attacked."

"My cousin, actually," Oscar corrected, he then made a small smile, "I'm also happy to say my aunt managed to make it here too when King Theoden ordered the evacuations."

Jaune smiled back, "That's good to hear. It always helps to have someone or something worth fighting for when you go into battle."

Oscar's smile faded when he spoke, "Is it ok if I asked you a question, Commander?"

Jaune raised an eyebrow, "Sure."

"I heard from some of the men that we wont survive this…" Oscar sat down beside Jaune, "I want to fight… But I don't want to die…"

Jaune lowered the rifle onto his lap, "That's what every soldier thinks before the battle starts, and when they go into the fight with that kind of attitude, they end up dying anyway. At least, that's what my sister Carol would often say to me."

Jaune then stood up and motioned for Oscar to stand up too, "Show me how you hold this."

Oscar took the rifle, but he held it awkwardly, it almost made Jaune laugh. "No, no… First you hold the rifle to your dominant shoulder, make sure there is no space between them, or else you'll bruise your shoulder worse than if it was on it."

Oscar held it as he was told, Jaune continued, "Look thought the sight, see the laser dot?"

"Yes."

"You want to make sure that dot is on the crosshair at the end of the rifle, that's how you know where your shot will go."

Jaune then pointed at his hand, "When you shoot, make sure you squeeze the trigger, don't pull it or you'll fail your shot. You need to be 'surprised' when you fire for it to hit where you want it to go."

"Where did you learn all this stuff?" Oscar asked with a bit of a smile, but it went away when Jaune looked at him, "Sir."

Jaune chuckled, "I may not fight with rifles, but my sister made sure I knew how to use them if I need to. Now, when you're reloading, make sure the magazine is pointed down the barrel, not back at you. And pull back on the charging handle to allow the next bullet into the chamber for your next volley."

Oscar pulled the magazine out and put it back in, and then pulled back on the charging handle, it took him a second to pull on it but he managed to pull it open. As it opened it ejected an unused bullet that was already in the chamber, Jaune caught it as it flew out. Oscar let the handle go and loaded the new bullet.

"Not bad, do you know how to shoot?" Jaune asked as he put the bullet into a magazine from Oscar's belt and puts it in his back pocket.

Oscar noticed what he did but let it go to answer, "No. Never was much of a hunter."

"Well, when this is over, and you want to learn, I can recommend you for Beacon." Jaune said with a smile, he then pointed at the sight as he explained a method Carol taught him, "When aiming at a moving target, you want to 'lead' the target as it moves, keep the dot ahead of it; when you think you have him, squeeze until you fire."

"Where's the best place to shoot these things?" Oscar asked as he lowered the rifle, "You've fought these things before, right?"

"A few times, they like to act like humans… most of the time." He then pointed at his neck and armpit, "Aim for these parts of the body, and I guarantee you that it'll go down. From a rifle like yours; it should take them down with no more than three bullets, in either place."

Oscar nodded in understanding, Jaune then put his hand on his shoulder, "When it starts, don't think about the enemy out there, think about your family in the caves… Think about the need to protect them, let it drive you to fight as hard as you can."

Oscar nodded, and as Jaune turned to leave, he called out, "Sir, you put that magazine in my pocket… why?"

Jaune turned back, "Best to have one in reserve, in case of emergencies." Oscar smiled a 'thank you' and walked away to his post. What Jaune didn't tell him was that he put a bit of his aura into the bullets, enough to make them armor piercing, that way Oscar has a better chance of making it out of this.

Jaune went back to the barracks to put on his armor and load his magazines. After five minutes of suiting up, he turns around to go get Joyuse from the hook behind him and found it in Ren's hand.

Ren hands the sword to him, "I've trusted this far, and you have proven to me more than once that you are worthy of your leadership…" Jaune took the sword as he smiled, Ren then held his hand up to Jaune, "I'm sorry… I didn't mean what I said…"

Jaune took his hand and grabbed his forearm, as Ren did to his, "There is nothing to forgive, Gēgē." The last word Jaune said was in Ren's native language, it means 'brother'. Pyrrha finished arming up too, seeing her boyfriend and best friend make up warmed her heart.
"Damn it, they said they adjusted it!"

All three turned to see Nora struggling to put her Mithril shirt back on after having some of the rings adjusted. She gets it on but she doesn't look comfortable. Jaune and Ren give her a look of 'are you ok?', to which she responds, "It's a little tight across the chest…"

Just then they heard a proximity alarm go off, Pyrrha recognized this one in particular, "That's not a hostile alarm, it's friendlies…"

Everyone rushed out of the barracks to see what was going on. As they got outside they heard the soldiers give orders to open the main gate, from there they saw several military armored personnel carriers and minor armored vehicles. All of which were pained with the Sky Knights of Vacuo on the sides of the trucks.

The head truck stopped just outside the main entrance to the fortress embedded in the mountainside. Out of the passenger side came a familiar and welcomed friend. John Smith, the Star Knight of Vacuo, had arrived.

From the seat behind him came out a woman; she had brown hair in a ponytail and brown eyes. She was wearing a dark purple leather jacket, purple scarf, blue jeans and boots. She didn't seem like someone from the military, yet she seemed confident enough to feel she belonged there.

John stood at attention and bowed his head to King Theoden who had arrived to the scene with pure shock on his face, "How did you know to come here?"

John smiled, "We received your distress beacon all the way to Menagerie. Menagerie seemed safe without us, and the Head Chieftain agreed. As for why we all came; in the last war, Vacuo faced destruction, but King Leonidas and his Brave 300 saved our people."

Jaune and the others arrived to see John, they was overjoyed to see the arrival of reinforcements. John continued, "We've come to honor that debt."

Jaune ran up to John and hugged him, John quickly return the hug, Jaune let go, "You always seem to know when to show up to save our asses, huh?"

"You get yourselves into trouble too often for me to pass it up," John replied with a smirk, he then turned to his troops and motioned for them to unload from the trucks, "We are here to stand and fight for Mistral."

"As am I."

Jaune turned to the woman John brought with him, "Forgive me, but, who are you?"

She looked to Jaune for a second then realized, "Oh, yeah. Because of the war, you never had a chance to meet me." She held out her hand and shook hands with Jaune, "Hello, I'm Megara, I'm the new Fall Maiden."

Jaune and Pyrrha both were surprised by her arrival, not that they didn't expect to meet the new Maiden to hold the power of Fall, but that it would be under these circumstances.

Theoden began to smile, he started to feel hope, "We can do it… we can win…" He then turned to Jaune and John, "Commander Arc, coordinate with Commander Smith and integrate the Sky Knights with our defense."

Both stood at attention, Jaune bowed while replying, "Yes, your grace."

Now that the Sky Knights of Vacuo have arrived, the force they brought with them is 3,000 strong. Adding to the 3.5 thousand that were already there and the few hundred volunteers, the defense force reached 7 thousand fighters, four Huntsmen teams, two Star Knights and a Fall Maiden.

Jaune coordinated with all the commanders to arrange the defense properly, with what they have to work with. The Vacuo knights were assigned to man the Deeping Wall, command the Bushmaster Turrets and the mortars set up behind the wall. John will be helping defend the wall as well.

The mountainside behind the fortress was honeycombed with tunnels and cave openings along the side of the mountain. The cave openings would be set up as posts for snipers and reserve fighters, they would help out in the fight however they could from their position. Some would even use rockets on larger Grimm that may try to breach the Wall.

All the Mistral and volunteers were stationed in the main keep, manning the turrets and standing at standby for any possible close quarters battle that may be coming. Some have even been stationed at the main gate in case the enemy tries to breach the door.

Megara was set up in the main keep, but if she saw that the Wall needed her she would go down to aid the fight. She has limited experience in combat, but with her newly granted Maiden abilities she feels confident that she can handle this fight. Jaune gave her Weiss' Myrtenaster for extra power and a last line of defense if she ran out of power with her abilities.

They divided the teams to where they felt they were needed most; Teams JNPR, GMBL and SSSN will be posted on the Deeping Wall. Their priority would be to help the Vacuo Knights keep the Uruks and Grimm off the wall. Team CRDL would be stationed in the Main Keep; they did well proving themselves as good defenders when helping the Mistral civilians before JNPR arrived in the capital.

And in the event that the defense doesn't hold up, Jaune asked Cardin to organize the civilian pilots and ferry captains to refuel their aircraft with all they have left. The civilians were placed next to the air-pad that way they can reach the planes at a moments notice.

Jaune asked Grun, John, Sun and Cardin to meet him at the causeway to the main gate to give one last look over the fortress. Jaune had Blake's Gamble Shroud strapped to his back; he was planning on using it in the fight in the event he needed an extra gun or extra blade. That and he wanted to make sure it wouldn't be lost in the chaos of the battle. He may not be able to use it to it's peak capabilities like Blake, but he'll do what he can with it.

"It's a solid defense," Jaune said as he looked to the others for their input, "Not perfect, but it's strong."

"I've been though my fair share of sieges," John stated, "Worked with less and made it out, but never against odds like these. I think our chances are high."

"I'll be a long, long night. But it'll be a night that will be spoken for years," Sun said while stretching his arms over his head, "Stories, songs, maybe a few movies…"

"I just hope we live long enough to tell those stories," Cardin said with a slightly nervous tone.

Jaune notices that Grun hasn't said anything, "What do you think, Grun?"

Grun crossed his arms, "I know a guy who fell of a five story building, the people inside on every floor as he passed by heard him say 'so far so good'." Everyone starts to chuckle a bit. "Blitz wore a cast for a week after that."

Jaune could feel a bit of a chill run down his back, so did Grun and John, "Lets head in. We have a long night ahead of us."

The moonlight lit the whole fortress; they could hear the thunder of a storm that was coming their way. All the soldiers were in their positions, just standing there, waiting for the coming battle.

Cardin looked out from the Keep and looked out beyond the fortress and saw the army of Uruks and feral Grimm marching their way though the night. They were still a few miles from the fortress, but the sight of them from his perch was enough to make him sweat bullets.

Along the Deeping Wall, Nora and Ren were standing together; they started to hear the loud stomps of the Uruks, marching in formation. Nora began to groan in frustration, "You couldn't have picked a better spot?"

Ren turned to her; despite her age, she still remains to be the shortest of the group. From where Ren looked, the ramparts of the castle wall stood a few inches taller than Nora. "It's not my fault the ramparts are taller than you." Nora rolled her eyes.

Jaune and Pyrrha walked along the wall and made it to the center to meet up with Ren and Nora. Nora looked at Jaune, "Well, whatever luck saved you earlier, lets it hopes it lasts the night."

Jaune nodded in agreement, Pyrrha could see the fear on his face and took his hand. Ren turned to him, "Your friends are with you, through and through."

"Lets hope they last the night," Macht said with a skeptical tone. All four hunters looked to him and Jaune replied, "Thanks for the vote of confidence."

The storm thundered loudly above them, it quickly began to rain. Neptune looked up and exclaimed, "Damn it… not now…" he then put his goggles over his eyes, and held his rifle at the ready.

"Forget your umbrella suit?" Scarlet asked jokingly.

Neptune rolled his eyes, "Shut up."

The Uruks and Grimm marched closer to the fortress. Their stomps began to resonate in the ground, echoing thought the caves and tunnels in the mountain behind the fortress. Alpha stood on a tall rock and howled at the top of his lungs, ordering the army to continue forward.

John walked along the wall, speaking into his radio to his men, "Stand strong with your brothers and sisters beside you. Giving into fear is what they want and we will not let them get their satisfaction."

Alpha howled loudly, ordering the army to halt their advance and stand at the ready. The feral Grimm that followed them thus far stayed back as well, following the hybrid creature as their own leader.

The anticipation of the coming fight began to weigh heavily on the soldiers. Tens of thousands of monsters, standing at attention outside their perimeter, waiting for something, while all the soldiers in the fortress stood there, some were already quaking in their armor out of pure fear of the sight. The creatures began to growl and grunt, they were hungry, they were angry and they were ready to slaughter on command.

Nora jumped a few times to try to see over the rampart but had no luck, "What's happening out there?"

"Should I describe it to you?" Macht asked, he then looked at her with a smirk, "Or should Ren put you on his shoulders?"

Nora gave a sarcastic smile, "Ha. Ha. Ha…" followed by her sticking her tongue out at him.

Alpha howled again, this time the other Uruks gave out their own individual war cries. Howls from wolf like Uruks, 'caw's from bird types, and a few roars from the other variants. As they chanted, they slammed their feat on the ground like loud drums.

Jaune drew Joyuse from it's sheath; he could tell that this was a means to scare the defenders, so he ignored it and stood strong for those around him. Pyrrha held her weapons at the ready as well, she saw John do it too with his broadsword 'Freedom's Will'.

Mistral soldiers pointed their weapons down at the field and had their fingers on the triggers. Whatever was about to happen, they were waiting with fear until it came.

The stomping of their feet and war cries began to become faster paced and louder. The noise became loud enough for those in the caves to hear it echo muffled sounds of the monsters baring their teeth outside.

One of the Mistral soldiers sneezed while accidently shooting his rifle; the bullet flew and hit an Uruk in the neck. Jaune put his hand on the radio, "HOLD YOUR FIRE!"

The Uruk fell to the ground dead; seeing this, all the Uruks around the dead one began to growl even more angrily and bloodthirsty than before. Alpha let out one more howl, this time with orders that meant 'leave no survivors'.

The army then charged full sprint at the fortress, with no real formation to be seen, just a hoard of monsters charging forward. Even the feral Grimm charged along with them, acting without a care at all into this battle.

"So it begins," Theoden says under his breath.

John turns on the radio channel that connects to only the Vacuo Knights, "Riflemen, at the ready."

Along the wall, all the Sky Knights that were posted closest to the front held their weapons out and aimed down the field. Some of them were quaking in their hands, but they stood tall and prepared for what came next.

Jaune spoke into the radio, "Friendly reminder; aim for their necks and/or armpits, their armor is weakest in those placements."

John then gave the order, "UNLEASH HELL!" All the Sky Knights began opening fire with their automatic rifles; the turret emplacements began firing as well. While the riflemen were going for individual targets, the turrets try to spread their shots like a single stream sprinkler, trying to disperse the front lines as best they can.

Nora climbed up a bit on the rampart to see what was going on, "Come on, how are we doing already?"

The front line of the Uruks did sustain some damage, but it did not slow down those behind them. They didn't care if any of their fellow beasts went down, they just charged forward like a hoard of rats.

Theoden looked to Robin, "Lets join in on this fight, shall we?"

"Yes sir," Robin said with a smirk, "All soldiers, engage!"

The Keep began opening fire on the hoard as well. Like the wall's attempts, it did not slow down the advancing enemies.

As the army got closer to the wall, Jaune turned around to behind the wall, "Mortars, let them have it!" He even gave Nora the go ahead to shoot some of her grenades over the side.

Several explosions impacted just a few feet away from the wall and hit a lot of the front line creatures, but they still did not falter. They charged forward with no delay and no sign of slowing down.

Nora jumped up and down a few times, "I bet I got at least 12, maybe more…"

As the army got closer to the wall, their 'Marksman' soldiers pulled out their rifles and began opening fire on the troops along the wall. Some of them were able to get lucky shots and knock people off the wall.

Just then the army met the wall, Jaune could see something being passed up between some of them and quickly realized what it was, "LADDERS!"

Nora grinned, "GOOD!" she then converted Manghild into its hammer form.

The ladders were set up near the base of the wall and were being turned upward, with a Marauder Uruk riding the ladder all the way to the top.

John put his hand on his radio, "All troops on the wall, reset for close quarters!"

Just then the Sky Knights that were in front backed off as some ladders came up in front of them, they extended the bladed end of their rifles while others put their ranged weapons around their back and drew their short swords.

The first creatures they fought were the Marauder Uruks that landed on the wall. They acted as berserkers, flailing their large bastard swords around, trying to hit anyone they could. One came down right over Nora, but she quickly slammed it in the chest with her hammer and blasted it off the wall.

More and more Marauders jumped off their ladders with dozens more Uruks climbing up the ladder behind them. John wasted no time engaging them with his men; these creatures fought like men but were no smarter than the average Grimm, dispatching them seemed somewhat easy.

Jaune didn't hesitate to open up his shield in this fight; these things were hard enough the first time, now they have the strength in quantity. He did mostly shield bashing, slamming his shield against their helmets, disorientating them, giving him an opening to stab though the chest with his glowing sword.

Pyrrha fought side by side with Ren as they were taking on two Marauders and other Uruks that were coming up the ladder next to them. To slow them down, Pyrrha fired her javelin at the ladder, knocking it back over and then used her polarity to pull the sword back to her and continued fighting.

Ren did a mix of slashing and shooting, not giving the Uruks a chance to react to his method. He even kicked a few off the wall hard enough that they ended up crashing into other Uruks that didn't even reach the wall yet.

As a Marauder knocked Neptune down when it came on his blind spot while he was shooting, it was quickly knocked off the wall hard by Nora's hammer. She then turned around to Macht who was flinging an Uruk off the side with his bladed whip. "Hey, Macht, 14 already!"

"I'm on 19, now," Macht said with a smirk.

"AH!" She groaned as she slammed her hammer down on another Uruk, "I'll have no whiplash punk out score me!" She then fired another grenade over the side, causing three ladders to fall over and hit the ground below.

Sun spun his staff around, hitting a few Uruks hard enough to force them to the ground. He switched to his shotgun-chucks and shot some of them down while only aggravating others by hitting their armor plates.

Neptune continued to shoot any Uruks that were still coming; he even shot down a ladder and killed four Uruks with his electric shots before they could jump off. He quickly converted his rifle into its trident form and electrified another ladder and zapped about six Uruks until they fell off. He may not be a fan of water, but right now it was helping him out by making the ladders wet and conductive.

Grun slashed his claws-gauntlets across some of their necks while jumping on the backs of others to stab them behind the head. He quickly saw a Marauder go for Leere when she wasn't looking, so he flung his blades forward on their chain, as it wrapped around a Marauder's neck, he pulled on it hard, "GET OVER HERE!" knocking it back on it's butt.

Leere moved too quickly for the Uruks around her to react as she would stabbed them in their eyes, slit their throats or stabbed them in the heart at the weak point in their armor. Blitz stood beside her, using his tonfas to bash some heads and knock some Uruks on their butts, giving the soldiers around them a chance to stab them or shoot them before they can get back up.

Sage wiped the floor with any Marauder that dared to cross blades with him, but he couldn't keep up if Scarlet wasn't watching his back. A Warlock Uruk with a lighting Dust started shooting at them, Sage blocked with his blade easily. Scarlet managed to hold it down by latching his grappling hook on it's staff and forcing it to the ground, Sage then ran at it and brought his sword down on it and ran it though the chest before the Uruk could react.

The snipers along the mountainside took shots any chance they could, keeping the heroes from getting too overwhelmed and/or keeping heavy Uruks from causing too much damage to the defenders. The mortar operators continued their barrage, although they were soon to be out of ammunition if the battle continues to go at this pace.

The Main keep continued firing on the Uruks from their high rise, as much as they want to help the wall, they must hold their position and hold their current post. Robin himself even fired a few dust arrows to try to relieve the pressure off the wall. Megara held her hands to the sky and cause some lighting strikes to come down on the central mass of the army, but it did nothing to quell their blood lust and rage to fight.

Jaune made his way to John, both fought back to back, keeping the Uruks off each other, as they talked, "Not so bad for the start!" he shouted over the metal clashing and growls.

"Yeah, I've dealt with worse beginings!" John said back with an optimistic smirk.

They try to fight a positive moment in all this chaos, but they both know the truth: this night has officially begun.

AN: Damn… I cannot tell you how long I've been waiting to publish this chapter.
Mostly because I've been very distracted this past month, a lot of personal drama really.

I'm going to do my best to keep up from here on out, but I make no promises, sorry.

I hope you guys liked this chapter, and I hope you liked my little refrences I put if you noticed them. Have a happy 4th of July, and have a good month.

Oh, I almost forgot, ARKOS!