"Haven's a long way to go" Ruby said. "I know, but it's the only way we have." Jaune replied. "And you're sure you want to come along" Rudby questioned. "The journey will be perilous, and whether we will find answers at the end is entirely uncertain" Ren chimed in. "But we wouldn't be here if we weren't up for it" Nora said bravely. "Then let's get started" Ruby said as the four of them walked off into the brave unknown.
5 Years later…
The dropship shook as it flew through the stormy airspace over occupied Vale. The burning ends of cigarettes illuminated some soldiers faces as they tensely waited for orders. For LCpl Jaune Ark, this was his first combat jump, and he was getting the shakes. Combined with his chronic airsickness, airborne training leading up to this operation have been hell. But this jump was different, they were jumping into a grim occupied city. "Offensive airborne operations have been successful in small scale raids and snatch and grabs, but an operation this big has never been attempted." Jaune remembers Lt Caslo telling the platoon during the pre-jump briefing. Suddenly, everyone was bathed in a dim red light as Caslo stood up. "Get ready!" Caslo yelled, muffled by the loud drone of the engines. Cigarettes were put out as everyone grabbed their static lines. Jaune quickly choked down a bit of puke as he pulled his static line out of his web harness and got ready to stand up. "Stand up!" Caslo yelled as the 24 men of 3rd Platoon, 24th Airborne Battalion the "Iron Dragons" stood up all simultaneously and got their bearings. "Hook up!" Caslo yelled, Jaune reached up for the guide wire and hooked his static line onto it. The light changed to green, "GO!" screamed everyone collectively as, one-by-one, they started jumping. As each man in front of him jumped, Jaune began walking forward until he was looking straight out the door. What Jaune saw, he won't forget till the day he dies, thousands upon thousands of men floating down into the dark Vale city streets. The whole city seemed to still be burning from the pre-offensive artillery barrage. As soon as Jaune froze in the doorway though, he got a firm kick in the ass from the guy behind him, and then as soon as he knew he was out the door, he started counting. "One-one thousand, two one-thousand, three one-thousand, four one-thousand". Until Jaune felt a sharp yank, and all the energy of him falling was transferred straight to his crotch, a sign of a good chute opening, Jaune opened his eyes and began looking for a good landing sight. He saw one almost immediately, an intersection almost completely surrounded by burnt-out cars. he started banking towards it as he was only about 150 meters from the ground, As soon as he landed, Jaune detached his chute and pulled his rifle out, as it was only a matter of time before something found him. "Damn" Jaune said, as a large Beowulf rounded the corner at full tilt sprint. Without even thinking, Jaune aimed and fired his entire 30 round magazine of Armor Piercing 6.8 SPC bullets at the beast nearly turning its head into hamburger as it slowly evaporated. "It's just one of the days" Jaune said as he ran off towards his platoon's rendezvous point.