"You, Miss Nikos, have choice to make." Pyrrha looked form Ozpin to the camber in front of her and back to Jaune. What decision? There was no decision, the people of Vale needed her help, that was her decision. And it was the only one.

She wiped her eye and stepped into the pod. And with a dull clang the mechanical door closed.

With a loud clang the Elevator doors opened under Pyrrhas Power before she stepped into it

"I won't let you do this." That was what he had tried to say before she had kissed him.

"She is to powerful." ... "You will just get in the way."

She knew she didn't stand much of a chance, the woman had beaten Ozpin singlehandedly.

She had stolen the maidens powers and grown to be a threat of immense power.

Her chances were slim, nearly nonexistent.

"The CCT-Tower cannot fall." ... "The Pyrrha Nikos I know would never back don form a challenge."

She knew she had to fight, no matter the consequences. She was the only one near enough with even the slightest chance of defeating her.

Either she managed to defeat the woman or she would at last manage to stall her for some time.

Maybe Qrow and Glynda would arrive and manage to finish what she started.

The CCT-Tower could not fall, whatever the woman planned could not be allowed to come to fruition.

It would certainly spell death for the entirety of Vale and all who live within it.

Pyrrha could still see Jaunes face filled with fear and worry as she pushed the buttons of the locker that imprisoned him.

She hoped she would see him again.

The Atlesian Lieutenant fired another volley from his weapon before he jumped out of the way of the charging Beowolf. Windows shattered and concert crumbled from the walls as the Grimm crashed into the building that seconds before had been directly behind the Soldier who was now taking his chance and jumped on the back of the dazed creature.

He reached its shoulder just as it was about to move again, but three charged shots from his assault rifle burned holes into its head that even a Grimm couldn't survive.

The Lieutenant jumped off before the beast could start to fade and surveyed the area.

No Grimm in sight, but his partner, one of Vales Militia, was still lying lifeless on the ground.

The Sensors on the inside of his Helmet indicated no life sign. Which was no surprise, the man's blood had splattered over half of the Atlesians Amor and Uniform when the attack from the second Grimm had taken him down.

The Soldier walked over and grabbed the others man ammunition belt and dotages before pressing the release button of his Visor and closing his eyes.

He was young. How many more people had to die this night?

All around him the fight for Beacon was raging, Ironwood was building a solid safe zone near the fallen cruiser, using said ships surviving weapons and resources as a basis to draw from while getting his hands on as many airships as he could to evacuate the civilians and students.

Despite their efforts the Grimm were clawing at the city and killing uncounted people in every corner of the streets that they couldn't protect with their low manpower and resources.

The Virus that had turned their mechs against them had nearly devastated them.

And as far as he knew the battle for the CCT-Tower and the School was still raging.

Still, there was no way to duck for cover and wait for all of it to blow over now.

He had just stepped into another side street as he heard the sound of a nearby fight.

Methodically fast he moved forward, crossed the corner and aimed.

His Visor showed him a Ursa and a young blond student who was fighting with anger against the taller beast.

The Grimm had its back turned and in a matter of moments the Soldier had his gun trained on its knee.

The Dust based explosive rounds tore through its leg and crippled it enough to make it fall so that the boy could simply take a step back and put an end to it.

After another lookout for more beasts in the proximity the Atlesian moved forward, inspecting the boy thought his Visor.

He was blond with blue eyes and the exact same cloth and weaponry as Miss Goodwitch had described as she had given them his mission and the last known coordinates of his scroll.

He was also certainly not an adult, but after seeing him fight that rarely mattered.

Alone from studying him while walking towards him he could read that despite having only scratches here and there the young man was in pain.

The anger with which he fought, the nervousness of his eyes, the way he was hunched over and starring at the vanishing Grimm.

He had seen that all before.

"Hey." The Lieutenant approached carefully, the young man only now taking notice of him.

"Are you Jaune Arche, student at Beacon Academy?" he asked while lowering his gun, the student only nodded.

"We... I am here to take you to the Safe-Zone, Miss Goodwitch send me."

The young man remained silent and turned his head towards the direction of the CCT-Tower.

"She is going up there." He said almost too exhausted for the Soldier to hear.

"Yes, Miss Goodwitch and Mr Qrow are on their way to the Tower, they got your message. Don't worry."

Only now, up close could the Soldier confirm what he already had guessed. Some of the Tears on his face hadn't even dried yet.

"Are you alright? Can you walk?" His Visor told him that there was something that looked like it could be a wound on his leg that had been obscured by the Grimms body only Moments before.

The student turned towards him and nodded again.

The Soldier came another step closer and was about to warn him but the young man put his foot forward to sudden and ended up falling because of the unexpected pain.

Just as the Atlesian arrived by his side and tried to help him up a white light emitted from above Beacon and the CCT-Tower itself.

What new witchcraft was this now?

Alskdfjöaksdjfök

"She kissed me." The Lieutenant barely avoided letting out a sharp breath as he heard Jaune Arche speak again.

Three simple words and the student's appearance alone could tell more than words.

And if his story started like this, he was not sure if he wanted to hear the end of it.

They continued to stagger forward, with the Soldier supporting the young Huntsman so that he didn't have to strain his wounded leg to much.

"And then she pushed me away."

On the other hand, sometimes talking was all that was left to dull the pain, he knew that much from experience.

They walked on further, and even thought the sector was announced as mostly clear on the short distance com-network, he had still his hand on the trigger and the gun beside him at all times.

"She pushed me directly into the locker, and shot it away with me."

Once again only the unsteady sound of their feet and their just as unsteady breath could be heard as the student fell into silence for a few more moments before speaking again.

"She had no chance to win. And went to fight anyway."

He squinted. The more the other man was telling, the more he didn't like it.

But he was the only one that could listen, and had heard bad stories before.

Still, even if one had been burned multiple times, only a fool would want to get burned again.

"I... I just wish she hadn't..."

Whatever the student had wanted to say was interrupted by the loud screech of a flying Grimm that was diving for them from the night sky.

Strong hands pulled Jaune out of the way of the attack and onto the ground, only moments after the Griffon had barely missed them gunfire echoed in the streets as the Soldier opened fire.

The ammunition tore holes into the beast's body, but its speed and mobility made aiming almost impossible which meant that most of the shots never hit anything vital.

In a quick decision the Atlesian jumped up and walked directly towards the beast, focusing it on him with his salvo-fire.

He narrowly managed to avoid another diving attack with a roll to the side, braced himself as the wind from its wings nearly pushed him down and turned around again to take another shot.

This time he waited and aimed.

As the Grimm was in the middle of another dive, he took his shot.

The hit was spot on and the creature fell out of the sky without as much as moving.

As the Griffon changed flight under a last tremor the Lieutenant took a step back and was only slightly surprised to see that the young Huntsman had stepped into the path of the attack, sword and shield ready.

"It's taken care of, don't worry." The Soldier said before the monster crashed into the ground some twenty meters away from them.

The young man turned staggering around and nodded as he saw that the corpse was vanishing.

"Now, let's get the hell out of here before some more of those things show up. The Safe zone shouldn't be far."

The Soldier stepped forward and once again put a hand under Jaunes Arm to support him.

The moon was shining down upon them, throwing the shadows of uncounted monsters upon them and in the distance the sound of battle was still raging.

This night was far from over.

"...and tell Ironwood the student Miss Goodwitch was sending us out for is secure. But he is in no condition for a formal report." The other Soldier only nodded and walked off through the tight crowd towards the centre of the evacuation zone.

The Lieutenant himself blew over the small bowl of hot military grade soup in his hands that they were giving out to as many civilians and refuges as they could as he walked into the direct opposite direction.

A full stomach was a battle half won they said, but still the other half needed to be fought.

He approached the young Jaune Arche with care. The boy was sitting in a small alley on a just as small staircase hunched over from a mix of exhaustion and shock. Close enough to be save, but also distant enough to have his peace, the Soldier had chosen this place carefully.

The Atlesian knelt beside the young man who didn't even seem to notice him as his eyes stared on into nothing, hunting answers for questions that would certainly begin with 'if' many times.

Only as the smell of the fresh soup finally made its way to his nose did he notice that something had changed.

"I know, it is not the best kind of food one could wish for, but I can guarantee that it tastes quiet acceptable." The Soldier held the soup in front of him but the young man didn't take it, he only looked at it with an unreadable expression.

"You need to eat something. If you want to fight you need to be in shape, if you want to be in shape you need to eat." He pushed the bowl closer towards him and gave him a small reassuring node as the boy looked towards him.

The Lieutenant sighed inwardly over his small victory as he finally took the soup and slowly began to eat.

He fell silent as the young Huntsman emptied his bowl and looked at the uncounted numbers of civilians that passed by and began to overcrowd the place.

Every other few minutes the howling engines of another transport ship started to evacuate another group of civilians, always under protection of at last one or two Atlesian Gunships.

The Safe-zone was only narrowly avoiding falling into chaos, most Soldiers and still standing Huntsmans were positioned on the outside of the zone, holding Grimm at bay, while the civilian crowds inside said zone had trouble staying calm.

Ironwood had patrols walking the perimeter, against flying Grimm and to combat the fear and worries, while also announcing successful evacuations and calling for boarding's of the next transport and report other news and hope spots to combat the treats of yet another panic and the attraction of even more Grimm with them.

The Safe-zone wasn't impregnable but by focusing almost all their power and resources here, they at last stood a chance to get as many civilians out of vale as they could.

He pressed the button to release his Visor and moved his hands over his strained eyes just as the student managed to finish his soup.

With a quick nod he took the bowl out of the young man's hand and put it beside himself.

"Can I call you Jaune?" as expected the mention of his first name drew at last part of his attention as the student looked up and only now seemed to notice that the man opposite to him had grown a face.

"Thing is this: General Ironwood probably wants a report from you and me later on, since you were in Beacon shortly before the Dragon arrived. It would help us greatly to know what you can tell us about the attack on the academy and what happened."

He waited a moment to let his words sink in before continuing.

"You could possibly be a great help to all of us, can you do that Jaune?"

He knew he was pulling more at the young man for his own good, but he needed a way past his defences of apathy and silence. He could see how his worries were eating at him, and the sooner he was able to talk about it the less he would feel the need to bottle it up.

And he knew how poisonous it could be to do so, he had seen grown man eat themselves from the inside out until they had been nearly hollow inside before they broke down.

And hollow things had a tendency to break into pieces.

"Where you at the Colosseum when the attack began?"

Once again a silent nod.

"How did you get to Beacon academy from there? Did you get aboard a transport in time?"

The Soldier pressed on with his questions, just pushing enough to demand attention, but soft spoken enough to make him feel in control.

"We all took a transport to Beacon." The words came out slowly and careful, like Jaune had only a small amount of words to spend.

"We?"

"Ruby, her Team, Nora and Ren, all the others of our colleges... we even met General Ironwood before he departed. He said we could either run and no one would blame us, or that we could stay and fight to protect the people."

The Atlesian hid a slight smile of respect for his commanding officer.

"And you decided to fight. What happened when you made it to beacon?"

"The Grimm..."

At that Jaunes silence was finally broken, he spoke on and told the Soldier about the fight that had ensued in short and exact sentences.

He told him about how they had beaten back many Grimm but were unable to completely clear out the area even after the Atlesian Mechs were taken care of.

When he told him about how he had rushed to Professor Ozpins side when his partner did the same he noticed his voice cracking again.

The name of his partner, the girl Pyrrha Nikos, seemed to be the crux of what was eating at him.

The way he talked just a tad bit longer about her and how he described the events in the catacombs of Beacon spoke volumes.

As he talked about how he had heard her scream in pain and was taken off guard just for a moment so that a arrow could kill the other girl in the strange machine, neither Jaune nor his listener could understand, the Soldier knew for certain that she had been the girl he talked about before.

Only the end to his story was sudden and abrupt.

"That was when she turned around and ran for the elevator without looking back."

The Soldier listened up and turned his head slightly in question.

"I think you left something out in the end."

Jaune only looked up and for the first time since he met him his face changed slightly to anger again.

"I am sure I told you everything you need to know." He nearly spat out.

"You misunderstand me." The Atlesian explained while slowly raising his hands in defence.

"Everything can be important, the smallest nuance, for me and for you. I don't try to fish for words to make you fall Jaune, I want to help you."

The Huntsman in teaching backed down as he saw the man's open face that had so far only done the best in his power to help him.

"We went outside and I said I would try to contact Miss Goodwitch, but we saw how the Woman used her powers to ascend the Tower and we knew that Ozpin had fallen.

Pyrrha said that there was no time, and it must have been then when she decided to go after her."

The boy blinked and searched for words as he tried to explain what had happened next.

"I... I said I would not let her do that... I wanted to tell her that I would stop her... like I ever could! ... but she simply kissed me. For the first time."

A tear was falling towards the ground as Jaune tried to speak on.

"...And when I was distracted she pushed me into one of the rocket-lockers and shot me away."

He sniffed and shook his head, angry at his own weakness before looking directly at the Soldier with a mix of anger and gut wrenching sadness.

"There, I told you! Are you happy now!?" the Lieutenant could feel he fear and anger in his voice but did his best to remain calm.

"You love her."

Jaune only nodded while he pushed both hands through his hair in helplessness.

The Soldier shook his head slightly, it was as he had thought, if not worse, and he didn't like what this man might have to life through if things went bad.

"I am even wondering if she kissed me just so she could easier get me away." He admitted worryingly.

The Atlesian shook his head once again and put a hand on Jaunes shoulder until the student looked up and faced him.

"I have seen Soldier who were shot, under fire and at the limit of their power cast their loved ones away. Simply because despite how strong they are, seeing their loved ones getting hurt was that one wound they knew they would not recover from.

And I have also seen Soldiers kiss their loved ones in dire circumstances. There has always been only one reason, and that was because they loved them."

This time the boys tears started to fall in earnest and as he collapsed more and more into himself the Soldier sat beside him and tried to hold him up, until finally hugging.

He might only be a shoulder to cry on, but as long as it meant that at last one human was able to appease a tiny part of his inner demons, he was protecting something.

And after all, that was his job.

Author Note: Basically I am not a big fan of either red shirts or easily defeat able mooks (might be the wrong show for hoping for the opposite, but whatever) so I was thinking about giving a normal soldier the spot light who tries to help Jaune to the best of his abilities while also trying to give some points to the rest of the soldier. (More to that later)

This will probably get up to 3 chapters if possible.

Also, this is my first story for this series, since i only recently got to watch, sorry for any inaccuracies if there are any.

As usual Reviews are always nice to see, be they a thumb up or criticism. Can only improve my mistakes if I get a bit (honest) criticism.