Chapter One

There was a brief silence as Jaune and his team stacked up on the front door of the old Vacuan village of Alif. The small desert village was ultimately unremarkable in the eyes of Remnant, just one of thousands of small villages that littered the ever-spanning deserts of Vacuo. What made this particular village so interesting was its affiliation with the known terrorist group known as the White Fang. A once peaceful Faunus civil rights group the White Fang now deals in more nefarious purposes. Such as the subjugation, or elimination depending on who you ask, of the human species. This particular village was reportedly housing one Afeaa Green otherwise known as "The Snake."

Jaune Arc is a lieutenant in the in the Vale Royal Army, most specifically a member of their anti-terrorist task force. Commissioning at the age of seventeen Jaune in the officer program Jaune showed a high proficiency to large and small group tactics. He was then given a chance to become an infantry officer, which he succeeded at, and then later was selected to join Vale's special forces community. The training Jaune went through was similar to a living hell long runs, swims, and hikes followed by a seemingly endless amount of weapons and hand-to-hand training, along with small and large group tactics with the purpose of preparing the soldiers to handle any situation anyone could throw at them. The training lasted from sun up and wasn't finished simply when the sun decided to call it quits. No, the men and women of the Valian Anti-Terror Task Force, or VATF for short, trained extensively at night to become accustomed to fighting in such conditions. The members joked that they could fight better at night then some faunus could, and for the most part it was true as the only members that could perform better at night then the humans in the VATF were the faunus with the same level of training. Jaune prided himself on being a leader that these men and women from all walks of life could look up to in the hellish training fields where they were turned into weapons. After eighteen long months however the training was done and Jaune graduated VATF school and was sent to join the actual unit itself.

After another two months of training with the actual VATF unit Jaune was deployed to the Vacuan desert to hunt the extremist members of the White Fang. Upon arriving at the forward operating base or FOB in Vacuan territory Jaune received his first taste of actual fighting.

The Bullhead touched down on the tarmac and the members began shuffling out of the rear of the aircraft. Now usually the highest-ranking members are off the bird last to take count of all the packs, or troops, that get off the bullhead. Jaune was special in this regard because of one specific thing, he had the most terrible motion sickness while riding in bullheads. While medication existed to help elevate some of the symptoms Jaune refused to take it simply saying, "It makes me groggy and takes me out of commission for at least half the day." With the VATF's need to be ready at a moments notice it couldn't have one of its officers out of commission for that long. So, a general rule came about the Jaune would be the first person off the bullhead as soon as it landed and would begin to set up a security perimeter for the rest of the members to fall in to, but only if they were in a combat zone.

So as the bullhead touched down and Jaune ran out, trying desperately not to lose his breakfast all over the ground, and began setting up the security perimeter. As more soldiers began unloading from the bullhead they began to create a crescent moon shape made out of people, while also making sure to stay out of the line of fire from the bullheads heavy machine- guns place on the front of the craft. With only the remaining officers on board the shuttle they were beginning their decent when a rocket from a shoulder fired anti-armor dust propelled rocket launcher or SAD-R streamed through the air and connected into the side of the off-loading bullhead. The rocket tore into the metal of the aircraft and exploded once it penetrated the crafts armored hull. The following explosion of fire and chunks of metal shredded the remaining officers on board as well as the pilot and his crew member.

For a split second Jaune laid on the ground looking back at the burn wreckage of the bullhead that contained his commanding officers and friends. Fear grabbed ahold of Jaune's mind but was quickly disregarded by an overwhelming anger that seemed to burn inside his very soul.

"CONTACT!"

Screamed one of the soldiers on the west side of the perimeter. Jaune quickly snapped into action and began barking orders at the men and women now under his charge to engage the hostiles and put those motherfuckers into the dirt. The remaining soldiers wasted no time and began taking up positions on a berm on the west side of the FOB. No sooner did they take up their positions then a hail of dust propelled rounds started biting the dirt in front of their position. The VATF wasted no time in getting a read on the enemy's location they were roughly six hundred meters away from the FOB on a particularly high sand dune. Seeing this Jaune would have to rip someone a new asshole later, who places a FOB on low terrain where they can be ambushed from? Despite the nonexistent mental workings of whoever set up shop here Jaune still had a job to do, people to keep safe, and revenge to take, after all no one kills his friends and lives to regret it.

Despite having the high ground, the White Fang members were surprisingly easy targets. While numbering in at a measly ten men the White Fang members were actually easy targets, taking next to no cover and actually standing on top of a sand dune while taking shots at Jaune and his soldiers, the guy should basically stand there with a sign that says "shoot me." Not wanting to waste an opportunity the machine-gunners in the VATF quickly set up and created an iron curtain of inter lapping machine-gun fire and proceeded to shred the extremists with 7.62mm rounds. The actual engagement took less than ten minutes but already costed the VATF some of its best officers. Not one to believe a counterattack wouldn't come from the White Fang or worse the Grimm Jaune set up his men and women in strategic points all along the FOB's perimeter. Jaune then began to look for the other residents of the FOB, surprisingly he found no one in the first couple shacks he searched. Fearing something was wrong Jaune ordered his soldiers to join him and sweep the area in search of any of its living inhabitants. As Jaune began to move through the FOB with his team, clearing every shack he came across, he heard a over his radio that one of his men had found someone and that Jaune wasn't going to like it.

Jaune hurried over to where the call came from and came across a four-man team holding a man prisoner, his head in the dirt with a rifle pointed at the back of his head.

"I'm not with them I swear, I'm an innocent man you cannot do this."

The prisoner yelled.

"Shut the fuck up! We'll do whatever we want unless you start giving us some answers."

The man holding the rifle to the mans head was Samuel Winchester, a large man with short brown hair and a nasty temper. Samuel Winchester was the oldest son of James Winchester, a very wealthy former Colonel of the Valian Army. Colonel Winchester made his fortune alongside Jacques Schnee's father in law in the dust game but not as miners but as transporters along with security of the mines and vessels that transported the goods. While not as wealthy as the Schnees the Winchester family was far from poor often being considered one of the top ten richest families in Remnant. Samuel was a spitting image of his father in appearance alone, where James was calm Sam was rough, where James was tactful Sam…was less so. Often regarded as a troublemaker Samuel Winchester was actually one of the most genuine people Jaune had ever known. The man's temper came from the fact that he didn't suffer fools, the man made it a point that those he didn't deal with people that couldn't do their jobs. And Jaune agreed with him, after all if you couldn't perform your job to near perfect levels everyday twenty-four seven you had no place being in the VATF. Samuel Winchester also just so happened to be one of Jaune's best friends the two went together like Twinkies and fat people, both men's drive to succeed bordered on inhuman. They would constantly talk about how to improve in the way they did things, from shooting to clearing rooms, to eating ramen the two were a match made in tactical heaven. The thing Jaune liked most about Samuel however was his unwavering devotion to the faunus and their plight. The man believed with every fiber of his being that there was no difference between humans and faunus and anyone who argued that would soon be dealing with a very large, very angry special forces soldier. Now don't get him wrong he hated the White Fang but not because they were faunus, he hated them because they felt the need to take out their frustrations on innocent people and damage the work the previous White Fang had in their moves for equality.

"I swear I have nothing to do with the White Fang I promise."

The prisoner yelled again.

"Who said anything about the White Fang dickhead?"

Answered an irritated Winchester.

"They have taken over this area, anyone who goes against their wishes disappears."

Jaune and Samuel look at each other, and without words communicated their battle strategy.

"Sir do you know who we are?"

Jaune asked the terrified man, who was now being grabbed by Samuel by the back of his neck.

"Were the motherfuckers that the Kingdoms send in to take care of trash like you and your White Fang buddies."

Sam growled into the ear of the man, his hot breath pressing on the now shaking man's face.

"I swear I have nothing to do with them."

The man pleaded tears beginning to form in the corners of his eyes.

"Bullshit!"

Screamed Sam.

"Sir, I say we take this terrorist piece of crap and tie him up outside the FOB, let him sit there and wail until he draws in some pretty hungry grimm."

Jaune pretended to think about this for a couple of seconds, he wasn't going to actually feed this man to the grimm, that would be inhumane, that is unless they found out that this man was actually White Fang. Then who knows what might happen.

"I'm telling the truth, why would I lie to you?"

"Maybe because you're sitting in an empty Valian FOB that's supposed to be filled with Valian soldiers."

Sam said to the frightened man, who was trying to find a way to get the two men in front of him to believe what he was saying was the truth.

"My friend does bring up a very good point."

Stated Jaune matter-of-factly.

"This area is supposed to be filled with logistical soldiers from Vale, except we can't seem to find anyone around here who fits that description."

"So, you can see why my friend and I are a little skeptical about anything you have to say."

"Not to mention a few of our friends were on that bullhead that got a rocket shot into it."

The big Winchester stated while standing over the man looking ready to rip his head off.

It was true Jaune was feeling this exact same way, but right now he needed answers. The pain of loss could come later. Jaune then looked around the room the three other soldiers standing there listening to the interrogation looked downtrodden at Samuels words. The young officer then remembered his training and knew his dead friends would want him to complete the mission before anything else. So, with that in mind Jaune pushed his dead friends into the back of his mind and focused on the task at hand.

"Look I want to help you I really do, but if you don't tell me what happened to the people stationed here I'm going to leave this room with the rest of my men, and leave you to the mercy of my colossal friend here."

Jaune said nonchalantly waving his hand over towards Samuel.

"I... I don't know what happened to them."

The man said unconvincingly, refusing to look either Jaune or the much bigger Samuel in the eye or even their general direction.

"That's a shame."

"Alright everyone out, Sam come get me when you're done and make sure you get everything out of him."

As Jaune said this the rest of the men in the room began walking out of the shack. As they passed the into the domain of the outside world they each looked back at the prisoner. One with a worried look on his face, another with down right hatred in his eyes, and the last one with a look of amusement showing off his face like he was going to enjoy listening to the man scream as Samuel tortured the information out of him.

Jaune himself was set to leave the room when the prisoner sang out,

"Please don't leave I'll tell you what you want to know."

The man crumpled onto the ground sobbing like a child as Jaune and Sam exchanged looks and pressed their advantage.

"Tell me why everyone is gone."

Jaune said in a voice that let it be known it wasn't a request.

"The White Fang attacked two nights ago. The came in at night and rounded everyone up and took them away. Some they executed to make sure the others remained docile."

Jaune and Sam exchanged another look and motioned for the man to continue.

"I was hired to be a cook here have served food here in the mess hall for the last two months. In my pocket are my identification."

Sam reached down and fished a scroll out of the man's pocket, sure enough it gave his picture as well as his occupation and a list of other details about the man.

"I hid underneath the mess shack there is a small compartment that only a few people knew about you wouldn't be able to see it if you didn't know it was there."

"Where is it?"

Asked Jaune.

"In the mess hall, in the pantry on the left side of the kitchen area, a set of floor boards are not nailed down and can be removed if you take the boxes off the right side of the floor."

"Fireteam Alpha."

Stated Jaune into his radio.

"This is Alpha, go sir."

"I've got an errand for you to run real quick."

Jaune then informed Alpha about the secret compartment and where to find it in the kitchen area.

Sure, enough after about five minutes Alpha came back over the radio and said,

"Sir we found what you were looking for it's exactly where you said it would be."

"My thanks Alpha, how's the area looking outside?"

"We had a few small grimm walk through but nothing to serious, we took them out with some well-aimed shots to the head."

"Suppressors?"

"Of course, sir, what do you think we are amateurs?"

Jaune's mouth moved into a lopsided smirk.

"Of course, not how could I be so foolish."

"When you two are done flirting we have a prisoner who still needs interrogating"

Stated Sam in a non-serious tone.

After that Jaune told Alpha to report back to the perimeter and resume their defense. He then placed his attention back to the man sitting in front of him.

"What's your name sir?"

Jaune asked with a much less threatening voice than he was using before.

"Wukong. Jai Wukong."

The now named man said.

Upon a closer inspection of the man Jaune could see a bright yellow tail protruding from the man's backside.

'How the hell did I miss that?' Thought Jaune as he stared at the monkey faunus.

"Alright Jai, do you know where they were taken?"

Jai looked around and tried to rack his brain about where they could possibly be.

"I overheard some of the men talking about a White Fang stronghold about forty miles from here."

"Name?"

Asked Sam much less angry than before.

"I already gave you my name."

"Not yours the name of the stronghold. Do you know what its name is it'll make it easier to find its exact location if we know the strongholds name."

"Oh."

Jai said, a little embarrassed that he misread the question.

"Its ok, we're sorry we had to treat you the way we did but you have to understand what just happened to us before we found you."

Jaune said to the now slightly less embarrassed man.

"Umm, I'm trying to recall the name of the place hold on, Aloof, A leaf…Alif. Alif that's it the name of the stronghold the men were talking about was called Alif."

"Can you spell it?"

"A L I F."

"Alright I'm going to go get ahold of our RO (Radio Operator) and have them ask central if they've heard of this Alif place."

Central as Sam was referring to was the central command post in the capital of Vacuo. It was home to a conglomeration of people from all around the kingdom who soul task was to offer aid to the forces in the Vacuan combat theatre.

"Alright, make it quick though we need to inform them of what has happened and see if we can get some airborne reinforcements."

"Will do sir."

With a mock two finger salute Samuel was out of the door and on his way to meet with the radio operator.

"Let's get you something to eat, yeah?"

Jaune said to the monkey faunus as he undid his flexicuffs.

"That sounds fantastic."

Jai said as he flashed the army officer a bright toothy smile.

As the two walked to the mess hall Jai began to talk about his family most specifically his son who just got accepted into Shade Huntsman academy. He began to tell Jaune how proud he was of his son, that Jaune found out was named Sun, Sun Wukong. Jai went on to explain how the boy was a bit of a troublemaker, always stealing things but in his heart, he was a good boy who just wanted to do good in the world.

Jaune could relate to the younger Wukong in that regard all he wanted to do was help those around him. There was a time even when Jaune wanted to become a Huntsman like his ancestors before him, but found his calling in soldering instead. Who knows maybe if he survives long enough he'll try his hand at becoming a huntsman who knows.

As the two sat down to eat Jai continued to talk and made it clear he didn't take the prisoner thing to seriously, in his words 'If I were you its what I would have done.' The two men shared a laugh at that.

Not soon after Samuel came running into the mess hall and informed Jaune that they reached central and that they wanted to speak with him.

As Jaune took the radio he informed central of the situation and requested the means to go on the offensive and retrieve Vale's people. The request was accepted and Jaune was informed of an airborne wing that would send a few of their attack bullheads over for support. Jaune thanked the man and was about to tell his soldiers the good news when another voice came over the radio. It belonged to one James Ironwood, general and headmaster of Atlas' Huntsman academy.

"Lt Arc this is General James Ironwood of Atlas."

"Sir, its an honor what can I do for you?"

"We have intelligence that suggests that a high-profile target is in the village of Alif. His name is Afeaa Green but is more commonly known as "The Snake."

"And let me guess you want this man captured am I right sir?"

"That or killed personally I don't care which. This man is responsible for some of the White Fangs more atrocious acts and it would bring me great pleasure to see him put on trial for his crimes, that or see him in a body bag works just as well."

"Well sir we aim to please but I won't sit here and tell you that we'll take him alive for sure as you know anything can happen out there."

"I'm aware just do what you can but if he is there I expect either of the two options to occur."

"Of course, sir if he's there we'll get him."

"I'm sure you will I'll leave the planning to you Lt Arc, Ironwood out."

Jaune handed the radio back to Samuel and had a grin on his face that was threatening to tear it in half.

"What's got you so giddy?"

Asked Samuel.

"My friend, the VATF is going hunting."