AN: So, you may be wondering "Yo, why does this knucklehead have two RWBY/Fallout Crossovers at once?" Well, good question! RWBY: New Remnant is my own story written by me and me alone. TOW4A is co-written by shadowstorm17 and myself. Shadowstorm17 is the primary author - it is his story I'm writing, his plot and his idea(s). I'm just writing it up because I'm better at dialogue and details, as well as combat scenes, according to Shadowstorm. I can honestly say that I have no update plan for this right now, as it depends on both my work, my motivation, and the ability for Shadow and I to hammer out chapters, plots, and characters.

Seventy-five years ago, the War of Colors came to an end with the use of an atomic bomb upon the city of Mantle, in the kingdom now called Atlas. This new weapon used a technique never seen before on Remnant: the splitting of an atom. Unlike Dust, which was plentiful but dangerous to mine and use, atomic splitting and later atomic fusion allowed for near-infinite energy with very little risk to those involved in its production. That was seventy-five years ago, and today the world runs on the power of the atom…

"Oppression is Regression!"

"Faunus aren't animals!"

"We deserve equal rights too!"

This was so cool! Here he was, little ol' Sun outta Vacuo, taking part in an organized protest! Now, most people may not really think that's all impressive or anything, but back home in Vacuo this wouldn't be happening. Either the people protesting would be armed and beating up the people they don't like, or the people being protested would've beat down the protestors. But here? In Mistral? There was order! Controlled chaos is the only thing Sun could call this, as protestors stretched from one end of the main city boulevard to the other, from sidewalk to sidewalk. Granted, they weren't in the wealthier part of the city, but this was still one of the main market districts in Mistral. The protest would certainly be visible on the news tonight.

…

The protest was planned to last a good six hours before the faunus and their human allies were going to disperse back home. This would pretty much shut down the entire market region of Mistral, forcing people to pay attention without hurting anyone. That was the idea, at least from what Sun had been told when he signed up. So, what had gone wrong? Why had the White Fang managers of the rally started breaking windows, wrecking cars, and otherwise causing chaos? And where had all the human allies gone?

"FILTHY ANIMALS GET OUTTA MY SHOP!"

"Let me go damnit!"

"Hurry, run before the- AUK!"

Sun had had enough. Using skills earned from years on the rough streets on Vacuo, he stepped in to protect a group of humans that were just trying to get away from the rioters. Spinning his staff rapidly, Sun knocked a few of the violent protestors back.

"Why the hell would you help these bastards?!"

"Back off. They're just trying to leave. Let them."

"Traitor!"

This was no longer awesome.

James Ironwood was many things.

"The situation in Mistral is getting more and more unstable. If things keep up at the rate they have been, there could be serious Grimm threats to the entire kingdom."

A General. A Huntsman.

"Shade Academy reports an increase in Grimm activity due to the protests, riots, and terrorism. They're also reporting a slight increase in faunus immigration."

A Headmaster. A Teacher.

"Mantle is losing productivity! My company is already beginning to lose business to fusion as it is, we cannot sustain lost productivity!"

But he was NOT a diplomat.

"Jacques, I don't give a damn about your company! You had your chance to jump to nuclear energy, you chose not to! That is entirely on you. N-"

"Yes, I am well aware. But that doesn't change the fact that if my company goes under, Mantle will be left with far fewer jobs – as will Atlas as a nation. You need me to employ people. So what are you going to do about it?"

"I was getting to that, Jacques. My military is planning something big. A way to solve all of our problems at once, and even create a fallback should the worst of the worst come to pass. But we need financial backing and a lot of it, along with support in the form of Dust, weapons, and general supplies. If you work with my agent, perhaps we can come to a mutually beneficial agreement?"

"And who is your agent? What is this agreement? What are you planning?"

At this, a woman in her mid-fifties who had been sitting with the General leaned forward. Her dark red eyes flashed with the inner light of a natural business woman and manager, framed in pale green hair over a mocha skin tone. A slight smirk rested upon her face, the only hint at her age being the slight wrinkles around her eyes and the corners of her mouth.

"That would be me, Mr. Schnee. Garnet Clarus, Director of the Vault Project. This project could very well save the world – and at the very least, it will make a lot of people very wealthy. You could be part of this, Mr. Schnee, and if you are… well, at the best you'll be able to save your company. At the worst, well, the world will never forget the Schnee name…"

"I… I'm listening."

When the War of Colors tore apart the Four Kingdoms, his people had fought bravely alongside Vale and Vacuo. His people had bled and died for the Kingdoms. They had risked everything for the Kingdoms. They had placed themselves into the line of fire, for the Kingdoms. For their troubles, they had been given an entire continent, even if it was a small one.

"We should have known it was too good to be true."

Menagerie. The name alone rubbing salt into the wounded pride of his people. The generous gift that his people had been forced to make do with, unwanted by anyone and unvisited by most. Except for the northern coast, the entire continent was a vast, barren desert in which only the hardiest of creatures could survive, and even they only just. It was not a gift. It was a prison.

But it could become a garden if only his people could only gain access to the technology to do so.

"A Garden of Eden Creation Kit, huh? Fits the bill quite nicely."

Built by the Schnee Dust Company in direct collusion with the Vault Project and Atlas' finest minds, the GECK was created for the sole purpose of restoring a damaged ecosystem and kickstarting life should the world come to an end in nuclear fire. If this couldn't make Menagerie a habitable continent for his people, the Faunus would need to find a new homeland to call their own. The desert was simply too unforgiving and ruthless for any sane people to call it home.

But first, to get one.

The Schnee Dust Company ran a large laboratory complex in Vale, north of the city. Security was high, but Vale had a very minor White Fang presence, so it wasn't as high as in Atlas or Mistral. And as planned and predicted, the facility fell with ease to the Fang's elite soldiers. They didn't even get a distress signal out before the entire lab was under Fang control.

"Start looking for the GECK! We only need one of them, so don't bother trying to move more."

"Understood, Sir!"

Adam chuckled darkly as he carefully wiped blood off his sword. This operation had gone flawlessly, and nobody would find anything to trace back to the faunus, let alone to Menagerie or the White Fang.

…

"…related news, shed hair left behind at the Schnee Labs in Vale confirm that the attack, which left eighty-nine scientists and forty-seven guards dead, was in fact the work of faunus. It is unknown at this time if these faunus were working with Menagerie, the White Fang, or were an independent group entirely. What is known is…"

Another day, another dinner. That was the life of a wealthy, famous, and talented daughter of the CEO of the Schnee Dust Company. Being the heiress to said company only furthered the need for a solid public image and a lot of publicly shown dinners, shows, and interviews. She couldn't be seen as anything less than perfect, after all.

But that didn't mean she was actually perfect, of course. While Weiss should have been socializing with guests, discussing trends, or making connections with powerful businessmen and women, she was instead staring out the window at the mostly frozen fountain where she had trained with her sister early that week. Had it really only been a week? It felt like longer honestly. But she hadn't forgotten Winter's statement: she would improve. She needed to improve.

So engrossed in her thoughts was Weiss, that she didn't notice her father nearby, or the woman in the red dress that approached him.

"Ah, Garnet, my friend, to what do I owe the surprise? Ah, just let me send my daughter off t-"

"That won't be necessary, Jacques. In fact, I'm rather curious to meet the famed heiress to your company."

Weiss blinked, noticing that she now had two sets of very different and yet very similar eyes upon her. Both held the same predatory glint of someone expecting something, but one set of eyes was deep red in color, while the other set was pale blue. Neither looked overly friendly, but that was to be expected – nobody here cared much about Weiss, after all.

"It is a pleasure to meet you Ms…?"

"Clarus. Garnet Clarus. And the pleasure is all mine."

"Well, if that's all you wanted with my-"

"It is not. Ms. Schnee, if I may have a word with you, I have recently been given the honor of expanding the Vault Project into Vale. Since you are planning to attend Beacon Academy soon, I was wondering if you had done any research on the Kingdom."

"Of course I have. I would be a fool not to research the kingdom I will be spending the next four years of my life in, after all."

"Very good then! Perhaps you have a suggestion or two as to where I could place a Vault? I'm afraid I'm not very familiar with Vale yet, so a little hint would be… beneficial to me."

"Oh. Well… outside the city itself, the only truly safe places would be Beacon Academy, due to the Hunters that train there, and Patch, a small island off the mainland. I would personally recommend Patch."

"Oh? And why is that?"

"Well, besides being near Signal Academy, the island is a mostly forested place with few large towns. It would be fairly easy to get a lot of people from the towns into a Vault without needing to worry about panicked civilians from the mainland or serious traffic during transport. The island doesn't have any large or dangerous Grimm – just Beowolves and the rare Ursa Minor – and lacks any bridges to the mainland. Should the worst happen, bandits, scavengers, and desperate masses would be unable to reach Patch, unable to threaten any Vaults located on the island, and the Grimm would be too weak to do anything until long after the panic has died down. Honestly, it's the safest place to build a Vault in Vale."

"Interesting… very interesting indeed. Well, I was already planning to build one there for all the same reasons and a few more besides, Ms. Schnee, but those extra reasons wouldn't have been known to you. I can say that you know what you're talking about, and few could argue against that logic. I do hope we get to meet again, it was a pleasure."

Seventy-nine years after the War of Colors, a GECK was activated on the continent known as Menagerie. The hope had been that the GECK would render the continent habitable – instead, it only served to cause more damage, temporarily redirecting air currents southward, across the desert, where rain fell to no effect on the barren landscape. This lead to severe drought in the formerly habitable northern coastline that housed most of the Faunus population of Menagerie and killed off much of the already limited farmland. As the desert expanded rapidly northward and the food supply failed, the government of Menagerie begged the right to colonize the southern regions of Anima, which belonged to Mistral.

Mistral refused to allow the Faunus to settle on Anima. Within twenty-four hours of the refusal, Menagerie began colonizing the region anyway, and Mistral officially deployed military forces to expel them. Faunus across Mistral, and beyond in Atlas, turned against their governments and demanded equal rights and standing to humans. The Faunus Rights Revolution had begun.

Blake looked around the busy dock, so full of life and energy, so very different from her last memories of home. Kuo Kuana had been dusty, barren, and mostly empty when she had gotten onto the ship, leaving her mother behind to manage the remaining evacuation as her father fought Mistral for the right of Faunus to lay claim to the southern regions of Anima. She wanted to be there with him, fighting for her people, but he and her mother had begged – literally begged – Blake to go to Vale instead. Vale was far from any centers of conflict, and Blake had the skills to enter into Beacon, to be a huntress and protect people that way instead. Her parents were adamant that she do so.

"So, I guess this is home then…"

Looking around, the city was certainly impressive. Massive skyscrapers upwards on one hundred stories tall speared the clouds like glimmering monuments to wealth and power. The docks blocked much of the lower buildings, but the smoke rising from countless thousands of chimneys and stacks could be seen drifting into the cloudy sky. A constant background noise of cars, trucks, trains, and people could be heard no matter where in the vast city one went, and the occasional gunshot pinged through the seedier parts of town.

All this and more the Blake and her fellow faunus saw as they arrived at what they hoped would be their new home. Many had travelled to Vacuo, most had traveled to Vale, all seeking a better life. Most of them had no plan beyond finding a home and a job, but Blake at least knew she would be travelling to Beacon. The semester would start in a month or so, and her parents had arranged housing until Beacon started. With a sigh, Blake began her trip to the apartment she would call home until the rest of her life began at Beacon.

It had been about six months since Jaune had arrived at Beacon. Forging his transcripts… may not have been the best idea, but it worked out in the end! Cardin stopped being a prick, even going so far as to start apologizing to people he had wronged, Pyrrha was training him in the art of the sword, Ren and Nora hadn't held a grudge over his lies – though they hadn't been overjoyed to learn the truth either – and everything was working out at long last! Yes, everything was going swell for the young Arc, and there was nothing that could get him down today. Jaune had even taken care of all his homework for the upcoming week, so he had free time while Pyrrha was watching the news on her scroll.

It was almost impossible to hear, but at the same time impossible to miss. Quiet, but so utterly horrified and broken that nobody who had even thought they heard it could ignore it. A single little statement from Pyrrha, somewhere between a gasp and a sob.

"No…"

"Pyrrha, what's wr-"

Pyrrha didn't answer, instead just turning her scroll onto speaker.

"… confirmed. Mistral is gone. By the gods… it's… gone. The entire city… Nuclear strikes confirmed. Origin unknown… I need to get out of here! Don't you Lisa me, I need to get home!"

The dorm room was dead silent for a full three seconds. Then pandemonium rippled outward through not just the JNPR dorm, but the entire academy. Panicking students, teachers trying to bring about order, and through it all Jaune and his team were all but dragged to the Beacon docks by their resident champion. Upon arriving at the docks, Jaune was surprised to see team RWBY, CFVY, Professor Peach, and Professor Ozpin waiting for them. Before Jaune could stop to ask what was going on, he was bundled into a bullhead with the others, minus Ozpin.

"Take care of them, Peach. They'll need it."

Professor Peach only nodded before the high-speed bullhead lifted off the ground at Beacon and rushed away from the Academy, a shell-shocked Jaune staring behind him as Professor Ozpin simply watched for a moment before turning and walking back to his Academy with a clear purpose and intent.

Yang was holding a sobbing Ruby as the city rushed below them. Even from nearly a mile above the city the panic and chaos could be heard as everyone tried to rush home at once. The sheer negativity had resulted in a massive Grimm invasion already, less than half an hour after the first bombs had landed in Mistral, and Vale's outer districts were burning. Blake looked to be in a state of horrified shock, while Weiss seemed to have entered a borderline cationic state, only muttering "this can't be real" over and over again as the bullhead shook. Professor Peach was flying, dodging other aircraft and flying Grimm as the vehicle sped towards Patch.

As the bullhead reached the ocean, Yang looked out one of the downward windows used to judge if a landing is safe or not. She regretted the choice instantly as she saw massive oceanic Grimm attacking ships and the edges of the city, drowning countless thousands of lives even as she watched. Despite the horror of it all, Yang couldn't take her eyes away from the nightmare below.

"Y-yang? What's gonna happen to all the people?"

Turns out she could take her eyes away from the nightmare after all. Yang never could deny her little sister, the only one she'd ever have.

"They… I… They'll be fine. They have Beacon, they have Ozpin. He can keep them safe! He's strong, after all!"

Yang could only hold Ruby tighter as she started to cry again, knowing that even she couldn't lie well enough to convince Ruby that this was going to end well for anyone involved. The bullhead shook from the force of its own speed through the air, and then began to shift into hover and landing mode. They had arrived at Patch, but why was beyond Yang entirely. Maybe Ozpin just wanted them to be as far away as possible? But then why Patch? Why not keep them at Beacon, which wouldn't be a major target?

As Yang carried Ruby out of the bullhead, she received her answer in the form of her father rushing forward and grabbing Ruby even as Summer, her step-mother, pulled her forward.

"We need to get into the Vault immediately, hurry hurry!"

{Link Complete.}
[Syncing Memory Files.]
[Syncing Program Files.]
[Syncing AI Systems.]
{AI Unit P.E.N.N.Y. Fully Scyned.}
/Execute: Vault Cryopod Activation Sequence/
[Vault Cryopod Activation Sequence Executed]
/Execute: Full Vault System Check/
[Executing Full Vault System Check]
/Notice: Full Vault System Check may take several minutes to an hour./
/Connect to CCT/
{Connecting…}
{Connecting…}
{Connected. CCT active.}

Penny still couldn't fully understand the situation. She had been in Atlas when the first bombs fell in Mistral, but then her emergency systems had shunted her mind and memories to a unit that was dormant on Patch, an island in Vale. She'd barely had time to boot up when suddenly her father and her guardian had both ordered her to enter Vault 111 and link up to the systems here. She had seen her bestest friend in the whole world for a few brief moments, but Ruby hadn't spoken to her. Blake told Penny it wasn't Ruby's fault, that Ruby was just so overwhelmed she wasn't fully processing the situation anymore, so Penny wasn't upset at Ruby. She was a little sad she hadn't been able to say hello to Ruby though.

But enough RAM on that! Penny had a job to do now, the Vault files had told her so. She needed to record events outside the Vault in order to determine the course of action it would follow. So Penny linked up to the raw datastream of the CCT and decided that visuals when possible would be optimal for this purpose.

…

Through thousands of cameras across all of Remnant, even Mistral, Penny watched chaos unfold to a degree she had never seen before. With entire cities in such a state of panic the Grimm were attacking in numbers never before recorded. So, Penny recorded those numbers, while trying to understand why this made her feel small and frail. Parts of Mistral were already blank spots, no cameras operating within them, so Penny tried other inputs. Sound was a terrifying one – the roars of the Grimm were interspersed with a far more potent sound, a rumble like thunder that would expand from a central point and then cut all feeds. It took Penny exactly 3.8175 seconds to realize that these were nuclear detonations occurring across the continent of Anima. She predicted very few survivors on that continent.

Penny's feeds then drew her attention to Atlas, where her father and her guardian were. Where she had been built. Where her first memories had taken place. It may have seemed foolish to assign it any special mention, but Penny did anyway. This made it all the more horrifying when Penny saw through a thousand eyes as a massive detonation ripped through the heart of her homeland. She watched, mute and unable to do anything to change it, as the shockwave sliced through the base of towers hundreds of stories tall, jerking them off their foundations and sending them toppling inward towards the explosion – right until the explosion caught them and shattered their structures as they were blown away from ground zero. Penny cut the feeds from Atlas, not even her directive could force her to watch that horror.

But none of her feeds had anything better. Penny's eyes in Vacuo watched from thousands of small towns and outposts in the desert as the few major settlements and cities vanished into orbs of light and heat, glassifying whatever sand wasn't simply blown away by the expanding shockwaves. The cameras of Vacuo soon went dim from the sand and the death, and Penny cut their feeds. She focused now on Vale, the only kingdom not to be struck yet. She watched as the Grimm attacked the city, as buildings collapsed due to the damage the Grimm were doing, as Beacon barely held the line against the endless shadows. And then suddenly light, blasting outward from the heart of the city, a great orb of fire and heat just like the one that had brought her home to an end.

And then the feeds cut, except for grainy images of Beacon being struck by the shockwave, of parts of the academy collapsing from the impact, of students sheltering behind slabs of rubble as the Grimm were swept away by the forces involved. And then that feed also ended, whatever source it had held lost to the powers unleashed by its own creators.

Penny could only wait for new feeds to be created, or for old ones to be restored. Until she knew what was going on outside the Vault she had been entrusted with, the Vault that contained her bestest friend in the world and the closest thing to family she had left, Penny could only wait.

It would be a very long wait.

And that's How it Ended. What a tragic story 'eh? Again, shadowstorm17 is the creator and primary plotter of this story. I just take the plot from basic bulletin points and turn it into a 2-3 thousand word chapter. Feel free to review, follow, maybe even a few favs hmm? But anyway, the story will truly begin in the next chapter.

I'll see you guys when I next update this, but I want to try and get another SubRemnant out if I can, or the next chapter of RWBY: New Remnant instead. Either way, we'll see how it goes tomorrow.

Cya~

~TRP