Forged Destiny [Book 5: Ch. 1; Book 9: Ch. 1, Ch. 5, Ch. 9]

The taller walls around Vale could be seen above Beacon's, but the Academy itself didn't need such grand fortifications, being in itself a bastion of defence against the Grimm.

—Forged Destiny [Book 5: Ch. 1]



Luckily, the walls around Beacon were as thick as those on the main city and connected to them – with an extra wall cutting across to form a barrier between the city itself and the academy. We didn't have any catapults sadly – even if the war with Mistral had prompted their construction, the Treaty would have made equipping a Hero school with them pointless – but what we had instead was a number of towers being built along the walls.

—Forged Destiny [Book 9: Ch. 1]



"You want to go up against that many Grimm? We defend the walls. That's our job. And we'll do it until the world comes crashing down. Harghhh!" The speaker stabbed his spear into the sky, a motion echoed by all the other Soldier Caste members on Beacon's walls, who cheered, rattled their weapons and chanted `victory` over and over.

I knew they were only doing it to keep their spirits up in an overwhelming situation. I wasn't afraid to admit their bravado helped me as well. I felt just a little stronger.

The Heroes were inside the gates now and those were being drawn shut with an audible groan and a slam. From our position on walls higher than most of the city, we could see the general populace being slowly dispersed through the streets, led by people dressed in red toward what I assumed were areas designated by the refugees.

—Forged Destiny [Book 9: Ch. 5]



The defenders on the walls watched the Grimm approach with surprising calm. The parapet allowed for people to stand five deep in ranks and had been extended like the ones within Beacon, with wooden platforms doubling the width of the standing area. Rather than use that space to fit siege weaponry, it was instead packed with more Heroes.

[...]

The outside of the wall, from the stone itself all the way back to the second barricade, was reduced to a charred vista of black grass and writhing bodies, some Grimm still alive but crippled beyond belief.

[...]

"I was kept on standby in case aerial Grimm approached," Weiss said. "I wasn't on the walls, but they've constructed some wooden towers far behind them. Had Nevermore been used, my job was to encase their wings in ice to slow them down or make them drop out the sky."

"You got to fight Grimm?" Yang groaned. "Lucky!"

"I didn't get to fight anything. It was a land-based assault. I barely even got a good view of that, either. The tower was shorter than the wall."

—Forged Destiny [Book 9: Ch. 9]