Chapter 122: Counterattack

(Big Flying Whale)

Qrow felt a sense of déjà vu that evening, finding himself next to Ozpin, surrounded by a cohort of Huntsmen and Huntresses. Granted they were a bit on the younger side but that didn't mean they were any less deadly than their peers. It felt good to have the man in charge again and a fighting force they could work with. Having such a crew on his side made all those months of putting up with them actually worth it.

Winter spoke up to grab his attention. "I called Glynda. She's on her way. She just needs to deal with a few problems with Professor Peach. You can imagine her surprise when I told her that Ozpin was back."

Naturally she'd be surprised though he wished he could've seen her reaction at least. It's not every day you get to see the wicked witch of Beacon all panicked and confused.

"Hey if you told anyone that people they thought died came back to life, they'd naturally be surprised."

Ozpin calmly forced an attentive cough to gather everyone's attention. "Thank you all for coming everyone. I know that you have a lot of questions for me, but I would prefer if you hold them until later. Because right now, time is of the essence. While I congratulate you on defeating the White Fang and recovering the Relic of Knowledge, I'm afraid the war we face is still far from over."

"No duh." Coco mumbled to herself just soft enough not to be heard. But she forgot that she was in the company of Huntsmen. Warriors who trained their senses to the peak of their abilities.

"Despite your recent victory against Salem and her forces, they have not yet lost their momentum. As a matter of fact… they are here in Vale as we speak." He gestured over to Winter who continued for him.

"We've recently discovered that one of Salem's top lieutenants has infiltrated and implanted himself as one of Atlas' top hierarchy." She displayed the mustached man's face on the giant holo screen for all to see. "Arthur Watts. A scientist under the SDC's employ and the current… Headmaster of Atlas Academy."

"Headmaster!?" Weiss choked.

"That is correct." Her elder sister nodded back. "We do not know of his intentions here in Vale but we suspect that he is also after the Relic." Well duh. Not really much of a surprise there. Why else would he put himself out here?

"So are we to take him out?" Blake asked from the side.

Qrow chuckled. "As much as I want to whack one of Salem's piece off the board, that might be a lot harder than you think. This guy will probably have personal guards up his sleeves and he's no pushover in a fight either. But more importantly, he's a politician. At least to the eyes of the world." He looked around noting the kid's confused faces. "It means we can't kill him. Not out right at least."

"Why not?" Sun inquired. "We can take him out by surprise. If all of us rush in and hit him together, he'll be knocked out like a light before anyone knows what happens."

"Like the enthusiasm kid, but like I said: He's a politician." Qrow repeated. "Relationship between Vale and Atlas is on thin ice right now which is pretty delicate. If Atlas finds out that one of their high chairmen was murdered under Vale's protection it'll give them the excuse to invade. Then we'll be ¾ of the way back to the age of the Great War, which, spoiler alert, didn't end well for a lot of people. So as much as we want to, nobody is to touch him."

"Geez. Talk about your immunity card." The monkey prince groaned. "So what's the plan?"

"The plan…" Ozpin answered. "… at the moment is to recover the Relics so that they may be secured and kept out of enemy hands. But I'm afraid it's not that simple."

"Nothing ever is." Ren groaned internally.

"During Ms. Autumn's comatose period, I was afraid that the one who stole her powers would return and unlock the vault. So in return I relocated to Relic to a safer location." That made sense. If the thief already had the key to the safe, why put the treasure in the same place?

"And that place would be…?"

"A ruined fortress at the northern edge of the Emerald Forest."

"Great!" Qrow clasped his hands together. "Then let's go over there and get it."

Sadly Ozpin didn't mirror his enthusiasm. "I wish it was that easy old friend. But I didn't leave it there unguarded. I had several security measures placed there along with defenses and a strong ancient door that can withstand even the most powerful weapons Atlas has to throw. At least for a good while."

"I don't suppose you have the key to it?" Oobleck asked.

"I do." That was a relief. "It's just that it's not with me at the moment." And the moment was gone. "I believe you're all familiar with my cane stick."

"Your cane?" Nora questioned. "You mean that old weird walking stick thing? That's the key?"

"My cane." He insisted on the name. "And yes. It is a key. Why else would I have it with me at all times? But right now it is in Beacon."

"Which is currently occupied by an army of Grimm." Winter added grimly. "Getting inside will be… tricky."

"Agreed." Oobleck nodded back puffing his chest upward. "We'll have to come up with a strategy to infiltrate the school without alerting the monsters and the army. I don't suppose any of us would know of a secret entrance to the school?"

"Glynda oversaw security of the school." Ozpin reminded them. And that woman was nothing if not thorough in her search. The reason why Beacon had stood so long without any Grimm incident was because of the strong perimeter defenses that she herself designed. If there was any weakness to it only a mastermind would be able to find it. "I assure you that she left nothing to chance."

"Then we're stuck out here." Qrow groaned. "Great… just great."

"Yes. Her perfect defenses appears to be our own undoing at this point."

The gang grumbled together as the teachers tossed suggestions around like a hot potato. Beacon was perfect. After all it was built over the ruins of a fortress during the Great War. Even Atlas' armies couldn't breach it. Not without a huge body count at least.

"Why don't we just attack it head on?" Arslan put her two lien in. "A two pronged attack. One group causes a distraction kicking Grimm butt all day long while the other smaller team goes in and grabs the key. They go in and we bug out."

Winter gave the lion lady a slow applause. It's not every day you get to see another Huntress with a military mindset. "An orthodox strategy. And it would work… if you could count the collateral damage that might ensue." Arslan looked back, puzzled. "I already told you that Beacon is currently occupied by a large army of Grimm. They number in the hundreds if not thousands."

"So what? We've taken on an army before and we kicked butt."

Qrow scoffed at them. "Yeah but you also remember how many people died too?" The gang flinched. "I know that our victory in Mistral is still fresh for you guys but don't let it go to your heads. You have to take into account every possible disasters. If we start attacking Beacon head on it'll spook the Grimm and if you haven't noticed – there's a lot of negative mood hanging around the kingdom. That much concentration of Grimm will spread attacking towns and even the capitol city itself. The folks in Vale just got some measure of peace back and even if they got a good defense on, a whole lot of people are still gonna die. And that's not a risk anyone should take. Not if they could help it."

The kids agreed on that sentiment. Like it or not, a fight breaking out in school will most likely attract even more Grimm. They were supposed to protect people from the Grimm not drag them to their front doors.

"Now unless any of you guys have an actual plan that won't cause a massacre, I'd rather you keep your mouth shut."

They did so. Not a lot of them were familiar with Beacon anyway.

But just as Ozpin was about to speak up, all eyes turned towards his fellow Professor who hesitantly had his hand raised.

"Peter?"

"I uh…" The round Huntsman scratched his mustached shyly as he spoke. "I might know a way."

(Town dorm)

"Bleeeghh!" Yang blurt out loud what felt like a whole tank of air. After traversing through the town's sewers crossing through its multiple hallways and repeatedly almost falling into waste, they finally managed to get out of there climbing the first pair of ladders they could find. "Oh god. That was… the worst… thing… ever!"

"Oh the smell!" Ruby chimed in rubbing her nose repeatedly as if it would get the stench out. "It's on my clothes! It's bad. Really really bad!"

"Speak for yourself!" Velvet argued, holding a hurl inside. "Whatever you're smelling is twice worse for me."

The blonde bomber breathed in the fresh air, trying to forget that traumatizing experience. "I… am never… going to whine to dad… about toilet duties… ever… again!"

"Oh come now." Pyrrha cooed to them though not exactly disagreeing either. "It wasn't… that bad."

"Easy for you to say. You didn't get puked on by a pipe full of… ugh… god knows what."

"Hey, at least we got in. Right?" Jaune quickly went quiet when they shot a glare at him. "I'm just saying that we managed to sneak into town without getting caught. I call that a win. Besides I'm used to the sewers. I played there when I was a kid."

"I don't really know if your childhood is messed up or just plain weird." Yang thought. "Maybe both. Where the heck are we anyway?"

"I… don't know."

"Really? I thought you were used to the sewers."

"When I was a kid." He countered. "A lot of thing's changed since I went there. I… guess they must've built this place when I was gone. It looks like we're in some kind of… storage room?"

"Gee. What gave it away? Was it the mop and the brooms or the large sign over there saying 'Storage Room'?" She thumbed at the said sign with her tone dripping with sarcasm.

"Well as long as we're in the town, I'm fine with that." Ruby chirped as she reached for the only door they could use. "Come on. If we stumble on anyone we'll just tell them that we're the sewer patrol."

"Please. No more sewers." Yang shivered. "I'll give you a million lien if I don't have to see another end of the toilet for the rest of my life."

"Oh relax Yang. The worst is over. I bet you it's smooth sailing from here on." But just as she reached out, the door suddenly swung open catching the gang by surprise. They hardly had a chance to get into a battle stance when he gawked.

"What the?" The owner of the voice recoiled looking rather startled. He was a tall man with a military hairdo wearing a scratched armor with a bird emblem embedded at the chest plate. "Who the heck are you?"

Oh crap!

"Oh hey!" Yang said suddenly doing the worst live one-woman performance ever. "This isn't the bathroom. We must've taken a wrong turn somewhere. Ahehe… hehe…" Smooth girl. Real smooth.

The man scowled, already looking suspicious. He would've yelled for help until he noted Jaune's face at the back. "You! Jauney boy? Is that you?"

Jauney Boy?

Jaune blinked, realization dawning on him. "Cardin?"

Ah…

Well double crap.

(The Flying Whale)

"Fort-what-now?"

Peter groaned, rubbing the side of his head in embarrassment. "It's called Fort Port." The name rang out loud but it didn't really quite sink in with the group. It sounded too… comical to actually be a thing. Like something out of a spinoff series of an actual show. "I built it during my early years teaching at Beacon. It served as my… well… my fort."

"And you're saying that this place can get us into… Beacon?" Qrow asked, eye twitching slightly.

"Absolutely. I built it at the crevice of the hill between Emerald Forest and the school library. It served as my uh… training ground so that I wouldn't get rusty. There's even a natural rock formation that I use as an obstacle course."

"And you've kept it hidden? From Glynda? This whole time?" Ozpin asked also in disbelief. There was little that would escape that woman, especially something as needless as a Fort. "How?"

"Secrecy and camouflage!" He declared with almost prideful bombardment. "And a little sleight of hand trick. It's nothing much. I take a few planks of wood here and there from various construction work, a loose brick from the old wall emplacements and a few scraps of plastic from the trash bin. Nothing that would jeopardize the school itself of course."

"So you're the one who's been stealing construction supplies?" The Headmaster's face lit with realization. It all made sense now. The missing supplies from various departments, the budget for construction work changing overnight.

"I'd prefer to call it: Procurement of resources." He countered, which didn't really sit well with the team. "But yes I did steal."

"I don't know." Qrow shrugged. "Sounds too farfetched – and you've told some farfetched stories before."

"Heresy! It's real and I can show it to you!" He announced proudly, pumping his chest with pride.

"I'm just having a hard time believing that a 'grown' man like you would have a fort of your own."

"Ha! Age might've made me old but in this body beats the heart of a child."

Qrow choked a laugh. "Like I said… grown man."

"Not now Qrow." Ozpin interjected. "Peter has been a loyal and honest individual. If he believes he can get us into the school, then I trust him."

"Fine. But how do we know this place is still standing? The Grimm have been combing through the school for months now. That place is probably wrecked."

Peter scoffed. "Ha! If you know how to build a fort like I do then you always know to keep it well hidden. It's how I keep you folks and the Grimm away. You can't find something you can't see. That's pretty much Fort Construction 101. But… there is one fault." He cringed. "When I built the fort, I had the entrance narrowed down – to constrict intruders into a kill zone. There's no way around it. I would suggest that we have a small team infiltrate rather than all of us. Any volunteers?"

"One moment." Ren spoke up. "No offense to this plan and all but you do realize that we will be looking or a single cane in the wreckage of an entire school. A school that the Grimm have spent the last few months tearing down brick by brick. I don't want to sound like a pun book but that would be the same as looking for a needle in a haystack."

"An excellent deduction Mr. Ren." Ozpin knew that as well. "And if we are to find that needle, we will need a magnet. Which is why I will be going with the infiltration team. I know that school better than most and I have a… certain bond with my cane. If it is still there, I know we can find it. A single team should be more than sufficient to deal with anything we encounter inside. It will be dangerous to be sure."

"If that's how it's gonna be, then I volunteer." Arslan stated ignoring her partner's plea. "It'll be a good experience."

"Me too." Qrow added. "Knowing that Watts is here, I wouldn't be surprised if he'll try something to stop us."

The Headmaster raised his hand in decline. "No Qrow. I will need you to run another mission for me. Should we be discovered by Watts or any of Salem's lackeys, we will need to be quick before they find us. I need you to secure the location of the Relic. Once we have the key, we will meet with you, grab the Relic and be off."

"And what will the rest of us be doing?"

"We need to find a way to mitigate the damage to the city." Winter suggested meeting with several approval from the Beacon staff. "If we're going to strike at Beacon itself, we need to make sure that the citizens aren't caught in the crossfire. We need some way of keeping the Grimm contained… or have the people relocate to a safer location."

"That's gonna be difficult." Blake motioned. "People have just begun to resettle back into Vale. Telling them to move again is just gonna irritate them. And they'll hate us for doing it."

"Don't you worry your pretty little tail on that, little lady." But then Sun rose to the challenge much to everyone's surprise. "Why don't you leave that part to me and my team? We're used to getting people mad at us."

"We are?" Neptune darted to his teammates who reacted the same as he did.

"Trust me. If there's anyone here who can get a bunch of people out of their homes and into safety, it's us. We just need to get into the city."

(Huntsman barracks)

Ok… calm down Yang. This situation is still doable. They might've just ran into the worst possible guy but they can still salvage this.

She hastily began running simulations in her head. All of them included knocking the poor bully down into submission. They'll have to dive their way through the sewers again. She hated the idea of wading through the filth of this town but considering the circumstances, it was worth it. She gave an eye signal to Pyrrha who immediately understood the plan. Their hands slowly reached for their weapons while everyone else gawked at one another. They can't act too hastily or the guy will call the guards and the whole town will know that two of the most wanted people in all of Remnant are here. They'll be drowned in Huntsmen and Huntresses in a matter of seconds.

"Hey Cardin!" Another voice outside the door called out. Damn it. There was more than one of them. That was gonna make things a lot harder. "Something wrong over there?"

The boy in question sharpened his eyes at them. For a moment there Yang really thought he'd squeal.

"No. Just rats." He answered finally earning a confused look from Jaune and the others. "Call the janitor, will ya? Tell him that the manhole here is loose."

"What? Why should I do that?"

"Because I said so. Now go!"

The owner of that voice backed away. "Ok ok. I'm going. Sheesh. No need to be cranky."

He waited for a minute for the door on the opposite end to close before entering the storage room. "What the hell are you doing here!?" He directed that question to Jaune who backed away, a sense of deja-vu of his school days coming back to him.

"Would you believe me if I told you we were just passing by?" The blonde knight smiled weakly.

Cardin grunted back annoyingly. "Do you have any idea how many people want your head on a platter right now? A whole lot! You and your girlfriend here have the biggest bounties in the whole world."

"Girlfriend?" Ruby doped backward. "Is he… talking about me?"

Yang chuckled, enjoying the sight of her sister's blush. "You know anyone else who got a bounty on their heads?"

"Are you gonna turn us in?"

Cardin snorted back sound like he was just insulted. "Look. This is the worst place you can possibly be right now. You're practically at the hangout of all the Huntsmen in town. If they find out you're here they'll be all over you guys like flies on a dung heap."

"Eww…"

"That doesn't really answer my ques…"

"No I ain't turning you in!" The man shouted thumbing Jaune on his armor. "If I did, I wouldn't be talking with you at all. I'm not like those idiots going after money." A commotion outside stated that there wasn't a lot of time left. "Look, this isn't the best place to talk and right now you've picked the worst timing to show your face around here. The Atlas army is coming to provide extra security for the town. They'll be walking all over this place in a few hours."

"We noticed." Velvet said. "They're kind of hard to miss."

"Yeah. And the moment they see these two, you can kiss your candy goodbye." The school bully brushed through the girls quickly grabbing rags from the cabinets. "Here. Put these on. Hide your faces and I'll lead you out of here."

Jaune stuttered back, a little confused. No surprise there. Yang was about as puzzled as he was. "Why are you helping us?"

"Do you want to get caught!? Stop asking stupid questions and follow me outside." He slammed the door behind him leaving the gang to look at one another wondering who that man was.

"What do we do?" Pyrrha asked, not really sure how to proceed. "Do we trust him?"

"Do we have a choice?" Velvet shrugged, already putting on her rags to hide her Faunus traits.

Yang questioned as well. "If we go out there, there's a good chance we might have to fight some strong Huntsmen and a few dozen guards. Maybe even the whole town too if they find out who you are. And if they capture us, it'll be the slammers for sure."

"We can always go through the sewers." Ruby suggested which the others froze over.

"A fight it is then."

(Flying Whale)

"Blake? Is that you honey?" Kali questioned out loud as her face scrambled around the screen of her daughter's scroll. "Ugh… this is why I hate technology. Nothing is ever the same whenever I open this thing. Ah! There! How's that?"

"Perfect mom. I can see you just fine. Sorry about leaving you guys so quickly."

"It's fine sweetie. Just seeing you well is more than what I could've hoped for. Though I admit I was kind of hoping our meeting to be more… pleasant and in a less dangerous time."

"We can only hope for that." She admitted. But in the times they were in, danger appears to be everywhere. "How's dad doing?"

"He's sleeping now. Thank goodness." The elder Belladonna answered with relief. "I just changed his bandages. His fever's finally broken. I think seeing you alive and well did him some good. Ilia is looking after him at the moment."

"That's good to hear. Just… hold on a little longer. Once I find Jaune, I'll bring him over and dad will be back on his feet in no time."

Kali's smile softened at the mention of the boy. Ever since Blake found out about her father's condition she's been obsessively stating of Jaune's miraculous cure. Though Kalie seemed a bit skeptical to it all.

"Blake. I understand how you feel but I don't think that's how semblances work."

"That's because you've never seen it before mom. Trust me. His powers are real. I've seen him heal old wounds with just a touch." Even bringing someone back from the dead. "Maybe he could even heal that limp dad has been hiding."

"If he can… then I'll be a believer." Kali shrugged. "Still… I'm not entirely convinced that there's a semblance that powerful."

"You'll believe it soon enough. Just watch over dad. Okay? I don't know what I'd do without you two."

"Oh please. You've done a swell of a job so far." The old cat waved it off casually. "You're a grown woman now. I think you're more than capable of handling by yourself." She paused in thought. "Though I could point out a few flaws in your love life."

"Not this again. Mom!"

"Just kidding honey. You know it's a parent's responsibility to embarrass their children. Especially in front of their friends." Of course she'd think that. "But honestly you have had strained relationships before."

Yeah. And she can already tell who she was directing that to. Sheesh even after death, Adam can't seem to catch a break.

"Look. I'll call you when I find him. For now, just keep out of sight."

"Alright sweetie. Just remember to visit too. Ghira would love to talk to you face to face again."

Blake quietly closed her scroll and made her way to the cargo bay doors. Preparations for the upcoming operation was being finalized. It was a strange feeling to see their airship suddenly become a base. For months it had been their home. A sanctuary against all the bad things out there. Heck even the teachers seemed to entertain the idea of moving in here permanently. But now it seems like war has caught up to them once more and they were going to be dragged into a fight-to-the-death against a powerful enemy.

"Hey, have any of you guys seen Jaune?" She asked Team CF_Y who were handling the new supply of Dust. "He and the others have been gone a while now and I need to speak with him."

"I wouldn't really know." Coco shrugged back. "Velvet's with them though but I haven't been able to reach them. They're probably out of range. The local com network doesn't extend outside town. But if he's with those girls I'm sure they'll be fine. They can handle anything." Oh if only they knew.

A/N: Sorry for the long hiatus my dear readers. I recently got commissioned to write a short story. It was pretty rad. Never knew something like this could happen before. Either way, regular updates will be back on track.