Fort Beacon

Southeast wall

03:21 hours

The VAF soldier is half asleep as he guards his post. It's the same night as every other night at Fort Beacon; quiet. The last reported sightings of any Feds in this part of Viktor Speeder was weeks ago, and even the locals have stopped curiously watching the base from a distance.

"Hey Carl, you see anything?" his friend asks through the radio.

"Negative, bro," Carl replies.

"This is bullshit," his friend, Az, says. "They don't need this many guards out at night. Viktor Speeder's good as dead, let us get some sleep."

"You mean you get sleep while I keep freezing my ass off out here, right?" Carl retorts. There's an awkward few minutes of silence.

"Az?" he asks. Still no reply. "You there, Az? This thing working?"

Curious, he turns around and takes out his binoculars, eyeing the watchtower that Az is stationed in.

"I swear to God, Az, if you nodded off again I'm not saving your-" he starts to say as he peers through the binoculars.

He stops when he sees blood covering the walls of the watchtower.

A second arrow impales Carl's head, and his body falls off the raised platform.

"Alright, that's the last one," Mercury reports as Cinder reloads her crossbow. "Seriously, how do you do that? We're like two hundred feet out."

"Humans are predictable," Cinder replies. "Just gotta wait for them to stop moving, and it's no challenge at all.

"Apparently. So are we doing this?" Mercury asks, and picks up a Carl Gustav recoilless rifle.

"Yes, now's the time." Cinder turns to Emerald. "Get on comms, tell everyone to move in after the explosion."

"Got it," Emerald replies, and switches on her radio.

Cinder waves her arm forward, and a row of Federation soldiers slowly advance the base. They all wear grey Flame Resistance Organizational Gear (FROG) and light black body armor. Their balaclavas have red skulls on them; a tradeoff of camouflage for intimidation. They are armed with Ak-12s and Saiga-12 shotguns.

"Cinder," someone on the radio says.

"Yeah, Alpha?" Cinder replies.

"Do what you want in there, but Blake is mine," Alpha growls. "And we pull out when I say we pull out."

"Solid copy, Alpha."

"Good. Out."

"Fuckin' psycho," Mercury says.

"Don't let him hear that. You'll regret it."

"Whatever. We doing this or what?" The soldiers have taken up positions about a dozen feet from the walls. With all the guards dead, they advanced on the base uncontested thus far. Their advanced training could allow them to breach and infiltrate most of the base completely undetected, but this mission isn't just about destroying a military compound.

"Yeah," Cinder replies, then goes to her radio. "Alpha, Roman, my unit is in position."

"Yep, same here," Roman replies.

"Very well," Alpha says. "All units fire on my command."

Ozpin's Office

BOOM!

"What the hell!?" Port shouts as the ground shakes. He draws his FAL as Glynda and Ozpin stand up from their desks.

"That's not good," Glynda says, and picks up a handheld radio. "Towers, what's going on?" No answer, only several more explosions, followed by shouting outside, then sporadic gunfire. Ozpin calmly reaches underneath his desk and pulls out his SR-25 stored underneath, then walks up to the window behind his desk.

His office, from the second story of the command center of the base, gives a perfect view of most of the base, only this view isn't so perfect. There are several holes in the wall of Fort Beacon, and shadowy figures are pouring in, muzzle flashes marking their paths, going straight for the barracks, communications center, armory, and any other key buildings. His soldiers scramble out of buildings, many half dressed and some unarmed, in an attempt to join the fight, but the intruders cut many down immediately.

"What the hell?" Glynda barks into the radio. "All units, all frequencies, report in immediately and take up defensive positions!"

"Where's Ironwood?" Ozpin asks calmly. He smashes out the window and takes aim.

"On his way here, hopefully," Glynda replies. Ozpin quickly unloads his magazine at random targets, then steps back from the window just as a handful of bullets strike the ceiling of the office.

"Port, take over," Ozpin orders. Port immediately runs to the window and starts spraying bullets. "Glynda?"

"A handful of COs are reporting in," she replies. "Looks like they're coming in from all sides. None of the guards on the perimeter are responding."

"Any of the Hunters?"

"RPG!" Port shouts, and dives behind Ozpin's desk. Ozpin and Glynda are barely able to get to the floor before the rocket strikes directly below the office, tearing half the wall away and sending chunks of drywall and metal into the air.

"Neg-" Glynda starts, then coughs after inhaling the dust. "Negative. No Hunters. All of RWBY and JNPR are on base, though."

Ozpin takes a knee and catches his breath. He looks out of the gaping hole in the wall. The intruders have already made substantial progress, and have taken control of the garages, where the base's vehicles are stored. He sees many beams of fire shooting out of many intruders; flamethrowers.

"Give me that," Ozpin says, reaching out. Glynda tosses him the radio. "All units, this is General Ozpin. Grab a weapon and regroup with anyone you can find. Do not let them scatter us. Abandon the west wing of the base and take up defensive positions at the commissary and administrative buildings. Make sure they don't gain control of the armory, communications center, or command center. Use your knowledge of the base to your advantage; set up kill zones accordingly. Await further orders. Out." He tosses the radio back to Glynda.

The door to the office flies open, and Port and Ozpin aim their rifles at Ironwood holding an M4.

"I tried contacting the outside, but they jammed me," Ironwood says without skipping a beat. "Killed a few on my way here. They're Spectres."

"Alright, a challenge!" Port shouts, reloading his rifle.

"How are the lines holding?" Ozpin asks as they exit the office. Soldiers are running back and forth frantically, some carrying boxes of ammunition and .50 cal machine guns. A handful already have fresh wounds covered by hastily prepared bandages, but keep moving; no one is resting tonight.

"As well as they could, but this won't be easy. Looked like they were putting the most pressure on the east wing."

"That's where the Hunter barracks are," Glynda says.

"Of course," Ozpin says. "James, give Glynda that rifle, we have to get to the communications building and call in reinforcements. They're hardwired and won't be jammed."

Ironwood tosses Glynda the rifle and takes out his personal sidearm, a Taurus Judge, which he quickly reloads.

"And where the hell are my Hunters?"

RWBY Barracks

"What's going on out there!?" Ruby asks Penny as she puts quickly loads Crescent Rose. Penny stares intensely at the wall.

"I count twelve heat signatures in the immediate vicinity of the northwest wall of the barracks."

"Can you hit them?" Ruby asks. Penny runs to Ruby's bunk, picks up the PLR-16, aims at the wall, and fires.

"Yes," she replies.

"Ok," Ruby says. "Cover me, I'm changing into my-"

BOOM!

The back wall of the barracks, where the AURA are stored, is blown to splinters, and three soldiers in red and black masks run in. Penny and Ruby quickly take them down. The AURA lockers remain intact, but tipped over and covered in debris.

"Ok, change of plan," Ruby says. She puts Crescent Rose in its sling and grabs one of the AK rifles and her radio. Another enemy soldier peaks inside the hole in the wall, and Ruby sprays bullets at him. He ducks back behind the wall, Penny shoots a bullet at the wall, and his body falls over. "You ever see these guys, Penny?" Ruby asks, eyeing the blood soaked balaclava of one of the fallen Faunus.

"They're Spectres," Penny replies. "Come on, this way," she says as she runs out the door of the barracks. Ruby is close behind.

"Wait!" Ruby says as they dart across the street to another barracks. It's been awhile since she's had to run for her life without AURA, and she takes a mental note to conserve her energy. They take cover behind the wall of the barracks. "What are Spectres?"

"The Federation's most elite military unit," Penny replies. "They are taken from pools of experienced special forces and given performance enhancing drugs that heighten their Faunus strengths. Extremely dangerous."

"Yeah, I noticed," Ruby says. A squad of VAF soldiers burst out of one of the barracks, guns blazing, and quickly engage a group of Spectres. "Come on, let's help!"

"No, we need to find the chain of command. Ironwood is here, right?"

"Yeah, but-"

"I think I detected him, this way," Penny says, then takes off running. Ruby looks back at the VAF soldiers, who are already trying to fall back. She gulps, suppresses the Spectres as well as she can, and takes off after Penny.

Firing Range

"Weiss!?" Blake shouts into her radio. She can barely hear anything over the gunfire. She, Yang, and about a platoon of grunts have dug in at the shooting range, with two HMGs and three snipers pinning down Spectre movement in this section of the base, but under constant heavy fire. "Weiss, do you copy!? Where are you?"

"Yes, I'm here," Weiss responds. "I'm near the depot. Me and JNPR Squad were able to fall back with some Paladins. Where are you? Have you contacted Ruby yet?"

"We're at the firing range, and no, not yet."

"Shit. What the hell happened!?"

"Yang, behind you!" Blake shouts, just as the scent of several Faunus behind a wall is replaced by an explosion, and a hole is blasted straight from the outside. Blake is able to shoot two of the invaders, but a third pounces on her and onto the ground. Blake immediately finds herself outmatched, and the Spectre snarls at her behind his red mask, squeezing his hands around her throat, cutting off blood circulation completely. Blake immediately starts to black out, but is saved by a VAF grunt's gunshot, and the Spectre corpse falls on top of her as she coughs uncontrollably.

"Cover that hole!" Yang shouts, opening fire with her LMG on the breach as several grunts reposition one of the machine guns towards the hole. "Blake, you good?"

"I'm good," she replies, rolling the body off her. "We're in trouble, these are Spectres. A lot of them. I knew I smelled something bad a while ago, but I didn't expect this."

"Yang, come in!" Yang's radio shouts.

"Ruby!" Yang shouts back. "Ruby, where the hell are you?"

"With Penny, we're trying to find Ironwood. Penny is tracking her to the mess hall."

"Penny?"

"Shit, that's right. I'll tell you later. Have you seen Weiss?"

"She's with JNPR near command."

"Alright, good. Shit!"

"Ruby!?"

"I'm good, I'm good. I gotta go, we ran into more of them. Can you get to the mess hall?"

"Affirmative."

"Ok, we regroup there. Tell Weiss, I gotta start shooting now. Out."

Yang switches frequencies.

"Weiss, I got made contact with Ruby. We're regrouping at the mess hall. Bring JNPR while you're at it."

"Say again? The mess hall? What's there?" Weiss replies.

"I don't know, Ruby said to regroup there."

"I'll see what I can do, we're not very close to it." There's a pause. "Pyrrha says we can blast our way to communications, where everyone else is falling back to. We can make a break for it from there."

"Roger, out."

"What's the plan?" Blake asks.

"We'll meet Weiss and Ruby at the mess hall."

"Mess hall? You sure we can make it from here without AURA?"

"Do we have a choice?"

"Good point. C'mon."

The two Hunters approach the entrance to the firing range. A .50 cal is propped on top of a munitions crate in front of the entrance, manned by a grunt with a red soaked bandage covering half his face. They can see Spectres darting from between buildings, and even rooftops, down range.

"Ok, listen up!" Yang shouts to the grunts. "We can't hold this place any longer! Grab what you can and get ready to move to the mess hall!"

Mess Hall, south wall

"Clear, come on," Penny says, and runs into the building's kitchen through a hole in the wall. Ruby kills the last Spectre pursuing them, then follows her.

"Wait," Ruby says, leaning against the wall. "Please, Penny, wait. I need to catch my breath. I haven't ran this much since Signal."

"Of course, but not long," Penny replies. "I'll scout ahead."

Penny slowly approaches the kitchen entrance and peaks around the corner. A group of Spectres have taken control of this section of the mess hall, but only barely, and are having trouble returning incoming fire from deeper inside the building. After two more of them are killed, the leader orders the rest to abandon the building, and they quickly leave.

"Hey Penny," Ruby says. "How do you know Ironwood is here?"

"I tracked him using GPS."

"Yeah, I figured something like that, but how? Does he have a transponder on him or something?"

"Come on, it's clear and we shouldn't wait," Penny replies, and moves further into the kitchen. Ruby follows.

"This is strange," Penny says as they slowly walk behind one of the countertops, which are lined with smashed dishes and spent bullet casings. "My sensors are tracking Ironwood very close, should be right around-"

"Here?" Roman interjects, kicking open the freezer door and shooting his SPAS-12, the slug knocking Penny to the floor. Ruby drops to the floor next to her.

"PENNY!" she shouts, but Penny instantly sits up.

"I'm fine, see?" Penny says, tapping her chest. "Armor plating beneath the skin, remember?"

"Ah, and Red too, perfect!" Roman taunts. "I was hoping for a rematch after you shot down my fucking rocket!"

"Yeah, I hoped you liked that," Ruby shouts back. She springs up and opens fire with her rifle, but after five bullets it clicks empty. She drops back down, unslings Crescent Rose, and starts to make her way back along the counter, but Neo walks through the same hole they went through and shoots at her with her REX revolver, causing Ruby to duck back down. Penny covers her with the PLR.

"I'll flank them!" Penny tell Ruby, then jumps straight into the air, through the ceiling, and disappears.

"Come on out, Red," Roman says, firing another shotgun shell into the counter. "I wanna get back to the attack on the base. Quite fun, huh?"

"You'll never get away with this!" Ruby shouts. She attempts to stand back up, but Roman shoots again. He starts walking towards the counter. "You'll never get away with Vale!"

"Oh, please, enough with the idealism," Roman gloats. "You're not the good guys, and aren't gonna somehow pull a victory out of this. Vale's just gonna burn."

"So are you supposed to be the good guys then?" Ruby asks. She fires a round through the counter, which strikes Roman's AURA-protected leg. He keeps advancing.

"Of course not. Don't you get it, Red? There aren't any good guys or bad guys in war! There aren't any patriots or terrorists or freedom fighters! There's just people doing and taking what they want!"

Ruby attempts to move farther from Roman down the counter, but Neo jumps on top of another counter top and shoots at her, completely pinning her.

"That's what makes you and me different, Red. You let them use you to their advantage, while you get nothing out of it. Me? I know what I'm getting into, and I know that I'll survive. 'Cause you know what they say. If you can't beat 'em…"

Penny bursts through the ceiling directly over Neo and lands on top of her. She grabs her with one arm around the waist and tosses her against the wall like she weighs nothing.

"Neo!" Roman exclaims, looking over. Ruby vaults over the counter, aims, and fires. The bullet goes through Roman's right hand, freeing his grip and knocking his shotgun halfway across the room as he screams out in pain.

"You're wrong," Ruby says dryly, loading another round into Crescent Rose as she slowly walks up to the wounded Roman. "No one is using me. No one is using any of my comrades. We aren't here for money or power. We're here because we believe in a cause far more powerful than anything you can buy."

She takes aim, the tip of Crescent Rose's muzzle brake inches from Roman's forehead.

"And you can bet your fucking ass that we're ready to die if it means others can survive. That's what makes us different. Asshole."

Roman frowns, then grins.

"Alright, go ahead," he says.

BANG!

Ruby's eyes go wide. She didn't pull the trigger. It feels like someone just bashed a hole through her spine, then drilled a hole all the way through her torso. She drops Crescent Rose and slowly touches her hands to her stomach as Roman's smile slowly grows. She feels a liquid seep through her combat gloves. She looks down.

Blood.

Lots of it.

In Ruby's mind, she knows exactly what's happening; she's been shot, either by Neo or a Spectre. Bullet went all the way through her normal body armor and absorbed by Roman's AURA. Considering there's no pain, she's probably going into shock. Yes, definitely shock. It feels like an eternity since she was shot. Tunnel vision is setting in, and she's starting to lose her balance.

"Nice shot," Roman says. Ruby slowly twists her body around to see the shooter. It feels like every movement takes a century to complete. The bullets of the ensuing battle outside are almost completely muffled, and she can only hear her blood drip, drip, dripping out of her body and onto the floor.

Ruby's eyes widen and her body goes numb when she turns around.

Penny slowly lowers the PLR, barrel still smoking. Her hands are shaking wildly, and her mouth is agape. Neo stands next to her, arms crossed, smiling.

"Ruby…" Penny whispers. "I-I don't-"

"Yeah, shit's gonna get weird for you after that one," Roman says, picking up the sniper rifle. "You, on the other hand, Red...It's just gonna get worse from here on out."

Ruby turns around, and the last thing she sees before she blacks out is the stock of Crescent Rose slamming into her face.

Mess Hall, north wall

"This it?" Blake asks as she, Yang, and the survivors from the firing range secure their position along the wall of the building.

"How many other mess halls are there on the base?" Yang asks.

"I mean shouldn't Ruby be here?"

A group of Spectres appear, several commandeering a VAF humvee, barrelling straight towards them.

"Fuck, light it up!" Yang shouts. The VAF grunts take up positions and exchange fire with the Faunus. One fires a LAW and destroys the humvee, but more Spectres appear.

"There's too many, we gotta go inside!" Blake shouts as she ejects an empty magazine.

"We'll split up to find Ruby!" Yang shouts back. "You go through, I'll go behind." Without waiting for a response, Yang jumps up and darts behind the corner of the building.

"Covering fire, protect the Hunters!" one of the grunts shout. Those taking cover at the moment quickly stand up and spray led on the ever approaching Spectres. One of the Faunus shoots his flamethrower into the air, the ignited napalm arcing and landing directly in front of the VAF force, stunning many and causing Blake to drop her rifle.

"Fucking go!" a grunt shouts at Blake, who dives through a broken window.

The condition of the inside of the mess hall isn't surprising; chairs and tables are smashed and overturned, blood, bullet casings, and several VAF corpses litter the floor. In the middle of the room stands Alpha, clade in AURA and his mask, sword in hand, over a wounded VAF grunt trying to crawl away, blood trailing behind. Blake's eyes widen, and she uncontrollably releases a distress scent. Alpha looks up and smiles.

"Adam!" Blake thinks. She quickly takes out Gambol Shroud.

"Hello, B," Adam says. "I told you we'd meet again. It's destiny."

"Fuck you," Blake murmurs. Adam laughs, then his smile fades.

"This isn't how it was supposed to be, B," he says. "This was supposed to be our time. The flames of revolution are finally being fanned, and we can finally claim justice for the crimes of humanity, everything they've done to us, everything they've put us through-"

"And what about our crimes!?" Blake shouts, raising her pistol and walking towards Adam. Adam plants his boot on the grunt to stop him from moving.

"What crimes, B? Our self defense against the humans? The way we wage war the same way humans do?"

"I saw in Vale. I saw what you did. You didn't let any civilians escape. Then you razed the city. You use child soldiers. Do you even realize how fucked up what you're doing is?"

"Oh, B, didn't I teach you anything? Any worthy cause is worth the sacrifice. And this, the freedom of our species, is the ultimate cause. How could you not see it!?"

"I don't want freedom at the cost of another species!"

"Humans don't deserve to live alongside us!"

Adam thrusts the sword into the grunt, who cries out, then stops breathing. Blake screams in rage, then leaps on all fours at Adam, clearing the room in a single bound. Adam takes out a Serbu Super-Shorty and fires at the mid-air Blake, clipping her in the shoulder. Blake falls next to Adam, then rolls to a stop against an overturned table.

"Oh, B," Adam says, approaching Blake, who quickly sits up, ignoring the stinging fire in her shoulder blade. "What happened to that little girl that would do anything for what she believed in?"

"She grew up," Blake replies, then quickly aims Gambol Shroud. She's only able to fire off two shouts, which Adam quickly deflects with his sword, then kicks the gun out of her hand. Blake attempts to stand up, and Adam slaps her across her cheek, bringing her to her knees. Adam swiftly kicks her stomach, dropping her body to the floor.

"Shame," Adam murmurs, then kicks Blake again, releasing a groan from her and rolling her onto her back. Blake pictures Adam's wild eyes staring daggers at her. "I was actually considering giving you one last chance to join me as I make my blood soaked mark on the world, because that's all I've ever really wanted. I wanted you, B. But now, it's obvious that your mind is too infested with human filth to be saved, and you're more human that Faunus. You know what that means?"

Blake attempts to draw her knife, but Adam slams his boot down on her hand, releasing her grip, then kicks the blade away.

"I will make sure then when I'm done with this world, everything and everyone you love is destroyed, and then I'll make sure you die."

"BLAKE!" Yang shouts from the entrance of the mess hall. Adam looks over and smiles.

"And I know exactly where to start," Adam sneers.

"Yang, no!" Blake shouts, then immediately screams as Adam drives his blade into her ribcage.

Yang blinks, and her eyes are red.

"YOU FUCK!" she shouts and charges Adam, firing Ember as she goes. The shells do nothing to Adam's AURA, and she doesn't bother to aim for this head, but she keeps running.

When Ember clicks empty, she drops it, unslings Celica from her back and uses that.

Adam continues to hold his ground, this AURA rapidly repairing the damage.

Yang keeps charging.

When Celica stops firing, she drops it, takes out her FN 57 and knife, and runs as fast as she can, teeth gritted, red eyes furrowed.

When she reaches Adam, she fires her pistol, which Adam sidesteps. She stabs with her knife. Adam sidesteps again.

Then raises his sword…

...And swings down.

Yang's knife clatters on the floor, the hand still firmly gripping it.

Yang blinks, and her eyes are purple again. She can't move. She can barely register what's happening. She can only stare at the stream of blood pouring from where her forearm used to be.

Adam pushes Yang over, who puts up no resistance, and just lays on the floor, staring at nothing. Adam raises his sword once again.

"No!" Blake shouts, and tosses a flashbang into Adam's line of sight while quickly shielding her own.

The grenade goes off and immediately blinds and deafens Adam. He patiently waits for the wall of white to fade from his eyes, and instead of seeing Yang, he only sees a pool of blood. He turns to the mess hall entrance, and sees Blake leading Yang out of the building, both trickling blood behind them. He starts to go after them, but stops himself.

"That's enough pain for tonight," he thinks. "This is just the beginning for her."

Communications Center

The door of the building is opened by a grunt, and Glynda, Port, and Ironwood file through, followed by Ozpin as he empties the rest of his magazine.

"Sitrep!" Ozpin shouts above the machine gun fire as he reloads.

"General," Oobleck says, approaching him. "It's chaos out there."

"No shit, where do you think we came from?" Port says.

"No, I mean in the border," Oobleck says. "Outposts throughout Viktor Speeder, Oak Whiskey, Hunter Breach, and many more countries are reporting massive attacks along the frontlines.

"What? That's impossible, the Federation pulled too many assets for the invasion of Vale," Ironwood says. "Where did they get the manpower for such an offensive?"

"From what I can tell, it's not just the Feds. Many former neutral paramilitary groups and mercenaries are turning on Coalition forces. Most of the VAF in Viktor Speeder is scattered. Command is redrawing frontlines, and so far we're deep inside enemy territory."

"Will we get reinforcements?" Ozpin asks. "What about Fort Athena? They're the only base left in this country besides us."

"They got hit just as hard as us. Spectres too. We're on our own, same as them."

"Sir!" a grunt shouts from the entrance. "Hunters are here!"

"About damn time," Port says.

"Glynda, James, stay here with Oobleck," Ozpin orders. "Make sense of this mess."

"Yes, Sir," Glynda says as Ozpin and Port storm out into battle.

The dug in VAF soldiers surrounding the communications building, armed with everything from TOW missile launchers and Mk 19 grenade launchers, provide covering fire for the Hunters shooting from the tops of their Paladins. The Spectres, without armor support, can make no advancement on the heavy human weaponry, the VAF firing on the buildings of their own base to deny the enemy cover.

"Sitrep!" Ozpin shouts as the Paladins roll to a stop and the Hunters jump down. "Weiss, where's your squad?"

"I've made contact with them, Sir," Weiss replies, reloading her G36. Her body armor is ripped to shreds, and her body is covered in dark bruises, but other than that she remains unscathed. JNPR Squad members are in similar conditions. "We are regrouping at the mess hall. I was planning on gathering some supplies and vehicles from here and pushing our way there, to retake it."

"Do what you have to, Weiss. Jaune, your squad ready to go back out there?"

"Always, Sir," Jaune replies. His chest is beating hard, and his eyes cast worry, but he says it with confidence. From behind, Pyrrha smiles at him.

"Good. Port, gather a strike team and when the Hunters make their advance, hit the barracks with the TOWs. That won't leave the Spectres much room to breath, so we-"

"Holy shit, look!" Nora shouts from atop a Paladin, pointing into no man's land.

"Hunters! Covering fire!" a grunt shouts. Weiss jumps next to Nora, and gasps.

Under the streaks of bullets and fire, Blake carries a half-conscious and amputated Yang over her shoulders towards the building.

"Get them the fuck over here!" Port shouts, raising his rifle. The VAF forces fire bullets in all directions as several medics bring stretchers out to the Hunters. When they reach them, Blake quickly collapses, and the medics drag their bodies onto the stretchers and run back

"Oh my God," Pyrrha says when the medics set the stretchers down. Both Hunters are drenched in blood and sweat. A steady stream of blood runs from Blake's waist and Yang's arm. Blake is the only one barely conscious. Weiss rushes to her.

"Blake!" she says. "Can you hear me? Say something, please!"

Blake turns her head to the side and her arm out, weaving through the bodies of medics tending to her and Yang's wounds, and touches Yang's hand.

"I'm sorry," Blake whispers.

Ozpin shoves his way to Blake and kneels down next to her.

"What happened?" he asks through clenched teeth.

"Adam...the Alpha is here."

"Who is that? Did he do that to Yang?"

"Sir," a medic says. "We need room to work. Ask questions later." Ozpin reluctantly gets up and stands back, and the medics continue their work, applying bandages to the Hunters' wounds and inserting IVs to replace the spilled blood.

"Weiss, contact Ruby. Now," Ozpin orders. Weiss nods.

"Ruby, come in now. We've regrouped with Ozpin. Are you still at the mess hall?"

There's a brief pause. Ozpin doesn't even notice the bullets flying around him anymore.

"Ruby, this is Weiss. Do you read me? Ruby, are you there? Respond."

"General Ironwood!" someone in the distance shouts.

"Woah, the fuck?" a grunt says.

"What is it?" Ozpin asks.

"Someone not in a Fed uniform is rushing us unarmed. Should we fire?" Ozpin looks from behind the Paladin. Indeed, someone is running full sprint at them. She's wearing unmarked gear.

"Stop now!" Ozpin shouts.

"General Ironwood, it's me!" the woman shouts back.

"Identify yourself!" Ozpin shouts, raising his weapon. The woman doesn't slow down.

"Please don't shoot!" the woman says, raising her hands, still running.

"Who are you?" Ozpin asks. The woman remains silent until she's within a dozen feet from the barricades of the VAF.

"I'm Penny Blackwell of the Vale Armed Forces. I need to find General Ironwood," Penny replies.

"Blackwell?" Ozpin repeats. Suddenly, Penny's back erupts in sparks as several bullets slam into her. She doesn't even stagger forward from the impacts.

"Did...were you just shot!?" Jaune asks.

"Yes. Please, I'm begging you, where's Ironwood."

"Get behind cover," Ozpin says. Penny walks to the soldiers, two more bullets striking her. As she gets closer, Ozpin can see the look of dread on her face.

"Who are you? How did you get here?" Ozpin asks.

"I...I need to speak to-"

"You will speak to me. What are you doing here?"

"I...was with Ruby-"

"What!?" Port interjects. "She knew you were here!?"

"Keep talking," Ozpin says.

"W-when the attack started we...I thought we should find Ironwood because he said...I don't know, but when I got to where I thought he was, he wasn't and...please, you have to believe me, it wasn't my fault!"

"What's not your fault, the attack?"

"No, what happened to Ruby."

"What the fuck are you saying?" Weiss says.

"I-oh God, I shot her. I don't know why, I didn't want to, I just shot her."

"YOU FUCKING WHAT?" Weiss shouts, and aims her rifle. Ozpin sticks her arm out.

"Stand down, Hunter," he says, then turns to Penny. "You, where's Ruby now? Dead?"

"No, Roman and Cinder's got her. They're gonna take her back. Look, I swear, I don't-"

"Cinder?" Ozpin repeats. "As in Cinder Fall?"

"Y-yes. Please, don't kill me. I don't want to die. I don't want Ruby to die."

"Port, detain her."

"Yes, Sir," Port replies.

Ozpin turns to the Hunters.

"Hunters!" he shouts. "Reload your weapons. We're going hunting."

Garage 05

Ozpin pushes open the door of the garage, now empty due to evacuating VAF soldiers, and Pyrrha quickly moves inside, Ozpin close behind. They quickly move through the room.

"Clear," Pyrrha says.

"Clear," Ozpin repeats.

"Where did they go, Sir?" Pyrrha asks. "As soon as we started to push, it's like they gave up. This was one of the first buildings they took, now they leave it without a fight."

"Make no mistake, Pyrrha," Ozpin says. "The Spectres aren't fools. Their strategy, and this attack as a whole, is all part of their plan. We could be falling into a trap, we could be letting them fall back and gear up for another assault, we could be stretching our defenses for them to attack the command center or armory. We won't know until it happens."

"Yes, Sir." They're silent as they move through the garage, the only light coming from the smoldering wreckage of a Paladin and a few flickering LED lights. "Um, Sir? Back at the communications center, did you say you knew Cinder?"

"Yes, the VAF is aware of Cinder Fall."

"Yes, but you reacted like you knew her personally, besides in a file. Have you fought her before?"

"...Yes. And before you ask, it's confidential. She's very dangerous, and has made a lot of enemies in the kingdoms, and she can't set a foot in Vale without risking getting shot by a lot of high up people."

"Including you?" Ozpin stops walking and turns to Pyrrha.

"Beyond my occupation, I don't consider myself a violent man," he says. "But let's just say if I ever see her again, the smart thing for her to do would be to walk away."

"Yes, Sir."

"Now go ahead and clear the rear entrance to the garage. I'll contact Ironwood and see what the status of Athena helicopters are."

"Yes, Sir." Pyrrha continues moving through the garage as Ozpin turns to his radio.

"Ironwood, this is Ozpin, come in."

"What's the ETA on Athena's Apaches?"

"About thirty minutes, they're coming in by the HCS Airwalker. It was coming this way doing a sweep of the border, and it was a lot faster. Quiet on your end?"

"Affirmative, we're preparing to move to the next garage, still not confrontation from the Spectres. Has the Airwalker-"

Ozpin drops his hand from the radio and raises his rifle when he sees Pyrrha's body drop.

"Pyrrha!" he shouts. Pyrrha rolls over, and he sees the end of an arrow sticking out of her clavicle.

"Pyrrha, what-"

He's interrupted by several muzzle flashes barely missing his face. He blindly returns fire and takes cover behind a pillar.

"So we finally meet again," a female voice calls out.

"...Agent Fall?" Ozpin replies.

"Correct, Agent Ozpin," Cinder replies, lighting up Ozpin's pillar. Without waiting for the shooting to stop, Ozpin leans out and returns fire. He can see Cinder's silhouette moving towards Pyrrha.

"I should've known this was your doing from the beginning," he says, ducking back to reload. "How did you even get this kind of support? No one on the planet trusts you that much anymore."

"Animals are stupid, and they aren't the only ones helping me anymore."

Ozpin peaks from behind the pillar, and he sees a second figure next to Cinder, who blasts the pillar with a shotgun, sending dust particles into Ozpin's face.

"Hey, nice suits!" Roman shouts. Ozpin aims and fires on Roman, his AURA absorbing the bullets. He quickly runs over to Pyrrha and picks her up, using her as a shield. "I think I'll add her to my collection, along with Red!"

"You bitch!" Ozpin shouts, and turns his aim to Cinder. Cinder takes out her crossbow and fires an explosive bolt at the pillar. Ozpin dives backwards as the pillar explodes. Ozpin sits up and attempts to aim through the smoke, but can only hear the footsteps moving away from him.

"So long, Agent Ozpin," Cinder calls out. "Good luck repairing your fort."

"Ozpin, this is Ironwood!" Ozpin's radio squawks. "We hear gunfire from your position-"

"Everyone move in on Garage Five now!" Ozpin shouts into his radio. He stands up and runs for the rear entrance.

When he runs outside, there are two grey humvees peeling away, towards a hole in the wall of the base. The two machine gunners turn to him and open fire. Ozpin shoots three bullets at the front tire of one of them and dives back inside the building, chunks of the wall being torn from the structure by the mighty .50 calibers. After a few seconds, he hears a crashing sound. He looks back outside, and the humvee he shot at crashed into the wall, and five Spectres are climbing out. He quickly takes them out in five shots, and runs to the hole in the wall. All that remains of the second humvee is a trail of dust.

"Fuck!" he shouts.

Spectre rally point Bravo

"What took you so long?" Adam asks Cinder as their humvee rolls to a halt. The surviving Spectres in this area are loading into two Mil Mi-26 helicopters, miles from Fort Beacon. No one was pursued. "I told you to pull out when I said."

"Had to make sure they got the message," Cinder replies. Roman pulls Pyrrha and Ruby out of the back seats and onto the ground. "You do your thing?"

"Not your concern."

"It is if we're going to work together."

"...Yeah, I got my thing."

"Good, then let's leave."

"Cinder," Emerald calls out as she and Mercury approach them. They arrived a few minutes ago, in their own transport.

"Load the prisoners into the chopper," Cinder orders.

"On it," Mercury says. He and Emerald pick up Ruby and start carrying her to one of the choppers.

"Neo," Roman says to the girl as she climbs out of the humvee. "Go with them and make sure she doesn't bleed out. I don't care as much about this one," he says, tapping Pyrrha's body with his foot. "But her, oh I'm gonna have fun with her." Neo nods and runs to catch up with Emerald and Mercury.

"That one's moving," Adam says, nodding to Pyrrha. She's reaching for her radio.

"I'll let her," Roman says, watching the weak Hunter struggle to push down the button to talk. "Not like we'll be around for much longer. Let her get her last words through."

"Jaune," Pyrrha says weakly.

"Pyrrha!?" Jaune quickly replies. "Where are you!? Ozpin says you were captured!"

"Jaune, just remember," Pyrrha says. "Just keep moving forward."

"What are you talking about? Where are you? Please Pyrrha!"

"Alright, I'm bored," Roman says, leaning down and grabbing Pyrrha's hand, effortlessly prying her hand from the radio. "Let's get you loaded up and ready for some enhanced interrogation-"

With a sudden burst of energy, Pyrrha kicks Roman's legs out from under him, and he collapses on top of her. She grabs a grenade from his belt, between their bodies, and pulls the pin. She wraps her free arm around Roman, pinning him down. She grits her teeth and closes her eyes.

Roman shouts, "NOOOOOOOOO-"

BANG!

Roman's body is blown straight off of Pyrrha in a cloud of smoke, sparks and blood. Neo is the first to the bodies. Pyrrha is blown completely open, and Roman's AURA completely failed to absorb the explosion at point blank range. The entire chest portion of the armor is missing, replaced by Roman's blood and gore. The suit doesn't even bother to attempt repairs; it's like it knows when there's nothing to be done.

Neo falls to her knees next to Roman.

"Shame, he was useful," Cinder says. "Oh well, I'm sure the Fang will replace him by morning. Neo, there's a gas can in the back of the humvee. No point in bringing the bodies with us, and might as well let the VAF find one of their Hunters torched."

Neo stands up, stares at Cinder for a moment, then walks to the back of the humvee.

"Fucking idiot," Adam says. "She was a Mistral Marksman, she could've known something."

"We already have one of them," Cinder says. "And intelligence isn't what the prisoners are for. And besides…"

Cinder turns to face the direction where they came. As twilight begins and the sky starts to change colors, the smoke from Fort Beacon can be seen rising through the dark pink sky.

"...We did what we came here to do."

Hello again! Bet no one expected to see this story active again. Well, guess it's time to explain my whereabouts. If this is your first time reading through Fort Beacon, then you can skip this part and just pretend like I have a good history of consistently publishing new chapters and not disappearing off the face of the Earth every once in a while. But if you're an old reader (and thank you SO MUCH for sticking around), then keep reading:

You're probably wondering what happened after the last chapter, especially when it came out so soon after the previous chapter, and my little edit there made it sound like I was full of inspiration and motivation to keep writing. Well, long story short, let's just say my year got off to a rough start, and that motivation that I had back in December disappeared pretty much overnight. I spent the last semester of high school just kinda drifting through life, waiting for graduation, barely thinking about writing. I was just kinda depressed, just tired of everything, and didn't do much to force myself out of it (like writing). Not to mention I was stressing out on trying to make this chapter live up to the hype I've built up, plus dealing with the daunting realization that I'm no longer in school and have to deal with adult shit now.

Well, as of publishment of this chapter, I finished this chapter two days ago and I have to say, if anyone if dealing with the same kind of shit, and is refraining from writing on purpose, then stop it now. Don't overthink anything, don't spend half an hour staring at a blank page, just pop on some music (if that's your thing), write the first thing that makes sense, and don't stop until you don't know what to write anymore. After everything that's happened this year, writing this chapter has been a breath of fresh air. Writing finally feels like it did a year ago, when Fort Beacon was still young and I didn't think it could possibly end.

Now, you're all probably asking the same thing: What's next? Am I gonna disappear for another six months? Well, first of all, no, I definitely don't plan on that, not now that I have momentum. Will I continue with Fort Beacon? Yes, definitely, at least for another chapter or two. Long ago, I promised that I would reach a resolution with this story, and even during my little hiatus, I always intended to keep it. So yeah, please keep following, there's more to come here. But I don't want to keep pinned down by this story, I want to try something new to keep myself energized. I still have two RWBY fanfiction ideas in store, and I might even branch out to other tv shows/games (Anyone like The Walking Dead or Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul?). So to answer your question, what's next? I'm gonna be writing next. That's all I know for sure at the moment.

And one last thing: I had half a mind to just abandon this story, even if I ever ended up writing regularly again. It just felt like it's been too long, and everyone should've forgotten about it by now, and it's not worth the trouble trying to revive a dead story. But every once in a while, I'd check the traffic, and people are still reading it, and, honestly, that's where most of my motivation comes from: You. Even if I didn't want to write this story (which I do, don't get me wrong), then I knew I had to keep writing it for you guys, because I wouldn't forgive myself if I left you all in the dark. So, I'll say it again: THANK YOU. Thank you for reading, for reviewing, for making the RWBY community one to be proud of!

Alright, that's enough of an edit for one chapter, but don't worry, I'm sure I'll have another great edit in the next chapter when I post it next year (just kidding. Maybe. Nah, definitely kidding.)