Codename White Knight
Chapter 2
Rebirth
A few hours after the Battle of Beacon…
Pyrrha, Weiss and the Entirety of Team JNPR are aboard one of Ironwood's few surviving airships, the Cruiser Sacrifice. They are gathered in the med bay where Jaune is lying completely flat on a surgical table.
His legs, arms, and part of his face wrapped in bandages. There is a breathing tube down his throat. There's also a bandage where the rebar skewered him, a neck brace around his neck, and finally a cast around his head to prevent bleeding in his cracked skull.
"Spine broken, neck broken, a punctured kidney, depressed cheekbone, a fractured skull and legs and arms so badly broken his bones might as well be splinters" The ships Doctor says shaking her head. "I have no idea how this kid is still alive" she continues.
"It's his semblance, and his will to live" Winter Schnee replies as she walks in. "He has plenty to live for" the Elder Schnee sister says as she walks into the medbay, heels clicking against the deck.
Weiss walks up to her sister. "Where the hell were you?! We were all fighting for our lives, Grimm everywhere, even our own machines turned on us, where were you?!" She yells right into her older sister's face.
Winter sighs, as if she was expecting this reaction. "Trying to save what was left of the fleet. When the Knights turned on us, one of our own flagships was firing on us and General Ironwood being shot out of the sky. It was absolute pandemonium. Every crew had to fight for their very lives against our own forces, on top of the Grimm" she says, fists clenched.
She scowls in rage as she continues "As bad as it was groundside, it was just as bad in the air. I'll never forget all the screaming, crying and panic as ship after ship was overwhelmed, dropped out of the sky, and fell silent" Winter says, eerily calm as she elaborates "You had to have seen the blood, the scrap when you came in… Sacrifice was lucky as we managed to fight off everything somehow. But so many were dead or dying, we had to throw our dead and wounded overboard to save ourselves" Winter says.
"212 ships were here yesterday. Today? Only 37 are still in the air, and most of them have lost at least half their crews. Some of those ships had crews of 2000! Men and Woman, Human and Faunus alike" Winter says as she starts to tear up.
Team JNPR can only look on in shock and horror as the normally composed commander and second to James Ironwood slaps her little face and screams "How many do you think died? How many were left behind in Vale because they were unreachable and we didn't have enough ships to evacuate them? How many Weiss? HOW MANY?!" as she starts sobbing.
Weiss replies crying too "Thousands". "That's right Weiss, thousands and thousands. It wasn't an attack, but a goddamned massacre. You aren't the only one who lost friends" Winter says.
"I wasn't unscathed either" Winter says, loosening her corset, and opening it up too reveal some very bloody bandages on her stomach. "Three Spiked Dust rounds straight to my abdomen" she says. Weiss gasps in shock.
"Winter, I am so sorry" Weiss says "There is nothing to apologize for" Winter replies, composing herself and re-tying her corset... "Come on Weiss, we have a lot to discuss, plus I'd really like you by my side right now" "Of Course" Weiss replies still crying.
Nora blinks"... Well that was a thing" she says, even too shocked for her normal Noraisms. "You know it's gotten bad when not even the Schnee sisters can hold it together" Ren says. "It's almost like the world as we know it ended" Pyrrha replies deadpan. They all immediately start laughing.
"Yeah, but seriously where do we go from here? I mean Beacons gone, Vale is gone, and Jaune is… Like this" Nora states, the normally all over the place says, pointing to their barely alive leader. "Well we're heading straight to Atlas now, we should be there in a couple hours, they'll be able to do something, I think" Ren says.
"In the meantime I'm seeing if I can find somewhere to sleep, I've never been as tired as I am now" Nora says. "That is the most sensible statement I've heard you say" Ren says. "Yeah yeah well end of the world you know?" Nora replies with a yawn and walks out of the med-bay. Ren follows her a few minutes later without a word. Pyrrha of course stays by Jaune's side, her hands on his left hand.
"Please wake up Jaune, if you can take on Cinder by yourself you can beat this" Pyrrha says to his battered, unconscious form. "Please… I'll never live with myself if you don't…" she then lies on his chest, and bawls.
James Ironwood watches from his Command chair aboard the Sacrifice, and frowns. He pulls the glove off his right hand, revealing the shining chrome underneath. "Things will never be the same again for you Mr. Arc, and I'm sorry. I hope Gabe and Joan understand wherever they are…" He says as he clenches his fist.
A few hours later...
Pyrrha is startled awake by the doctor. "We've arrived at our destination miss Nikos, please move away from my patient" she says. "Of course" she replies. Two EMT's pick up Jaune and quickly transfer him to a stretcher. "Status?" One EMT asks "Stable" is the doctors' reply. They quickly cart him out of the Medbay and out of the Sacrifice.
It's a bright morning and Jaune is being carted into a shining white building made of several "leaning" triangular buildings forming together in a half-shell like formation. "This doesn't look like any hospital I've ever seen". Pyrrha says. "That's because it isn't. Welcome to Archangel Point, the most advanced Medical care facility and Medical R&D centre not just in Atlas, but in all of Remnant". General Ironwood says with his hands behind his back, head held high.
"Mr. Arc will get the best care that is currently possible here" Ironwood says proudly. "That's awesome and all, but I have a question…" Nora says. "Yes Ms. Valkyrie?" "Oh you're making me sound so professional, thatisawesome. But anyway, what does R&D mean?" Both Ren and Pyrrha smack their foreheads in exasperation. "It means Research and Development Ms. Valkyrie", Ironwood says. "Eee! Thank you for answering my question General Ironwood sir!" Nora says, practically bouncing in place.
"No problem, the more talented youth such as you, Ren, Ms. Nikos and Mr. Arc know the better. Especially now" Ironwood replies. "Come on, Winter will show you around, Weiss Schnee?"
"Yes sir?" she replies. "I request for you to speak to me in private" Ironwood says to the Younger Schnee heiress. "Uh yes General, lead the way!" Weiss replies, clearly excited and shocked that the Supreme Commander of the Atlas Military Force would request her presence.
Inside Archangel Point, Surgical Ward, audience room…
Winter leads the way as Jaune is rushed into surgery. Pyrrha, Nora and Ren are lead to a large theatre-like area, with dozens of seats surrounding a circular dome housing a large surgical room. "Sit, I hope you enjoy the show" Winter says as she smiles knowingly. Jaune is lying on a table, when a team of surgeons, lead in by a black haired, slightly portly man with green eyes approaches Jaune. His bandages have been removed, showing just how bad the damage he suffered is.
Several bones are actually peeking out the skin of his legs, there's a bullet-sized hole where his stomach is. His left eye is gone, and his right cheekbone is pulverized. Muscle is exposed on his right side of his forehead, downwards ending at his lip and chin.
And his arms are blackened and necrotic. The lead Doctor speaks and it echoes through speakers in the theatre above the dome.
"Doctor Gerald Polendtina log #1562… Patient is Jaune Alistair Arc, son of Gabriel Raphael Arc and Joan Delilah Arc. Age is 17 years old. Student of Beacon Academy. The team leader of JNPR.
Injuries are extremely extensive. Extensive facial damage, broken neck and spine broken in 3 places. All his limbs broken and infected beyond repair. Amputation is required. Right eye has been pulverized, and had to be removed.
Minimum conditions are met. The Crusader project will now proceed"
"Crusader project? What is that?" Pyrrha says Winter looks straight at her, her one visible pale blue eye through her bangs. "Jaune is being remade into a warrior that is sorely needed in this world right now. He'll become the hero he always wanted to be, but this will be his price of admission" Winter replies calmly. No one says another word, and the procedure begins…
A day later…
(Jaune POV)
Jaune Arc finally awakens from what seemed a terrible nightmare. He sees Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren sitting where he was sleeping, all of them sleeping by his side. "Thank Oum, it was all just a scary crazy dream, probably hit my head on something" Jaune thinks to himself. But as his vision clears, he looks down, to see shining metal arms.
"What the hell is this?!" He yells as he jumps out of the bed, scaring everyone else awake. Jaune looks down to see himself dressed in a white hospital gown, and the same metallic shine on his legs and feet. He looks down the gown… "Oh thank Oum that's still there".
"Jaune!" Pyrrha says relieved as she hugs him, crying. It all comes back to him. Beacon, Vale, the Grimm, his battle on top of the tower, his fall… suddenly it all made sense. "Good to see you up and about, you gave us a real scare Jaune" Ren says smiling. "Yeah and your new limbs and face are AWESOME!" Nora yells in excitement. "I've had to stop her three times from smashing her limbs with Maghild so far".
At this Jaune starts laughing his ass off, as do Ren and Pyrrha. "Ha-ha-ah, hoo, wait did you say my new face?!" Jaune says. "Hand him the mirror Nora" Pyrrha orders. "No problem!" Nora says as she hands him a small circled hand mirror. "Wait what the Hell?!" Jaune exclaims completely stunned.
The entirety of his right side of his face is now covered by metal plate, stretching from the top of his forehead to his chin and ending around his nose, lips, and right ear. It all seems to be held on by small clamps on his chin, hairline, bridge of his nose and around his jawline. His eye looks real but on closer inspection you can tell its mechanical, like Penny's accept a bright blue that doesn't quite match his left eye.
Jaune stumbles to a wall, utterly speechless. "I guess this is what I get trying to take her one on one, but still…" he thinks to himself. "Jaune, jaune?" Pyrrha asks. "How-""your face was badly damaged and your eye crushed, and no skin grafts were on-hand" Pyrrha replies.
Jaune tries to look away. But Pyrrha turns his head towards hers, and looks deeply into his eyes. "It doesn't matter what your face looks like, your still Jaune Arc right?" She asks.
"Yeah but-" "But nothing, as long as you're still the Jaune I know and love, yes love, then it doesn't matter to me what your face looks like" Pyrrha says pulling him in for a deep kiss to the cheers of Nora, and an approving nod from Ren.
(End of POV)
"I apologize for interrupting the reunion, but General Ironwood and Specialist Schnee would like to speak to you, and before you even ask, a change of clothes is available to you all" an Brown-skinned Atlas cadet says to them. "Thanks" is Jaune's reply.
5 minutes later…
Jaune, Pyrrha, Ren and Nora all walk into Ironwood's archangel office, a desk, Bookcase, computer on the desk and some chairs overlooking a clear sky view on one of the top floors of Archangel Point. "So quaint, so peaceful, for now anyway" Ironwood remarks as Jaune, Pyrrha, Ren and Nora walk in. Jaune is dressed in a simple white tee, Blue jeans, and white combat boots. Ren is dressed in something similar with the exception of looking more like his standard martial robes, complete with a blue belt and blue slacks and black sandals. Nora is wearing white top and black pants, but opted to keep her boots and fingerless gloves. Pyrrha choose not to change at all, holding onto her Armor.
"I'm glad your all here, please have a seat, there is much to talk about and little time to do so" Ironwood says to them. The black and grey-haired Supreme Commander of the Atlas Military sits in his chair. "As you are all well-aware, the situation for all of Remnant is in Crisis" Ironwood says.
"With Vale and Beacon's fall, the CCT went with it reducing this top of the line military-grade software…" Ironwood says, picking up his Laptop, and tearing it in two. "Into a 2000 lien paperweight". "And that is far from the worst of it. Scrolls and any other Net devices are useless. Luckily the backup towers and phone lines are allowing Radio and Morse code communication, but that's it"
"All non-piloted mechanized units are now out of commission. This woman, This Cinder Fall made one helluva first strike against us. But you know that all too well, don't you Mr. Arc?" Ironwood asks.
"Yeah…" "Still, despite this and the tensions between us and Mistral at a very high watermark, all is not lost" Ironwood continues. "But we need your help Jaune, not just you, but your entire team". "Your team was ranked 1st overall in first years for beacon tying with Team RWBY, not too shabby".
"I know you are from Mistral Pyrrha, everyone does. We need someone like you to calm the rising tide" Ironwood says to her. "The last thing we need right now is an Atlas-Mistral war" Pyrrha blanches at the thought of it. War attracts Grimm, and there are currently A LOT of very strong ones just across Mistral's border in Vale. The reality of the situation is not lost on her.
"And you Jaune are you aware of the maidens?" Ironwood asks. "Yeah, that woman who died… She was the Fall Maiden wasn't she? I mean Cinder referred to herself as the 'New' Fall Maiden, so…" "Correct Jaune, very observant of you" Ironwood says to him.
"That's not all though… she claimed my power was that of a 'Maiden Knight' and that I was supposed to safeguard the maidens, but I was too angry and insulted to even listen. Pretty much from the moment I hit that tower, I fought… I fought…" Jaune tries to describe his experience, but is at a loss.
"Like you were possessed?" Ironwood inquires. "Yeah, I was me, but I wasn't fighting like me. Pulling off moves I'd never tried before. I was utterly blinded in rage, with power flooding my whole body. I felt no pain; right up until the Lightning hit us both". Ironwood looks at Winter, she nods. "And then she blew me off the tower and you know the rest, if I didn't believe in the maidens before, I do now" Jaune says with finality.
"Then it's as we suspected, you are indeed a Maiden Knight, just like your Dad Gabriel" Ironwood says as he gets off his seat and starts wandering the room. "We made the right call in saving you, because right now a Maiden Knight is exactly what we need to stop Cinder and her ilk" Ironwood says.
"But Cinder said I was meant to protect the maidens, not fight them, did I make the wrong choice?" Jaune asks. "No, you didn't. From the very beginning with the first 4 maidens, the Wizard recruited a brave, strong man or woman to protect each maiden. As time passed, more Knights were recruited to lessen the load and better ensure each maidens safety. But some were also recruited to kill Maidens who became consumed by their power, or attained it through shady means and would turn on the people they are meant to protect and serve".
Ironwood continues "Cinder Fall is one such corrupt Maiden. As a Maiden Knight, it's your job to hunt her down and kill her by any means necessary before she can do anymore damage" Ironwood says with finality.
"No pressure, nope only the fate of the world at stake" Jaune replies sarcastically trying to hide the fear of facing that maniacal bitch in battle again.
"However you cannot do it alone, because this Rogue maiden has an entire army and likely very powerful backers besides just the White Fang" Ironwood states. "Winter if you would?" "Of course sir, listen up because I hate to repeat myself. We believe Cinder has been backed all along by Salem, an ancient witch and supposedly the mother of all Grimm" Winter states gravely.
"Salem craves nothing but the destruction of humanity. Cinder likely already realizes that she's just a pawn, which is why she built herself this army" Winter says. "We need every able-bodied Hunter, Huntress, and really anyone willing to fight against them so we can take them both down once and for all".
"This is now why Team JNPR is now Juniper Squadron of the Atlas Specialist Corps. Dismissed" Ironwood says. Jaune, Pyrrha, Ren and Nora are stunned. Jaune is thankful he was saved, but this was the cost wasn't it? The fact they were being conscripted through now no will of their own was also upsetting to them. They were being given the choice to make a real difference, to be saviours, heroes that would be remembered throughout history if they succeeded. But was this the only way to do it?
"What have I gotten everybody into?" Jaune thinks to himself. They all look at each other, and nod. They'll make the best of it. Remnant needs heroes, and if Atlas is so eager to want them, then Team JNPR will deliver, or die trying.
"Come with me please, I'll show you around, you will now be answering to me now after all" Winter replies. She walks out of the room, all of them following. "Jaune, catch!" Ironwood says as he tosses him a weapon, an assault rifle. But not just any assault rifle, a high-caliber fully-automatic that extends into a high-Cal Sniper Rifle. Valiant, his dad's weapon, was now in his hands.
Ironwood salutes him with a small smile "Good luck Soldiers". Jaune grins and nods.
A few minutes later…
"And this, Juniper Squad is where your weapons and equipment are, including, your new Armor!" Winter says to them. All 4 gape in awe. Right there, in the centre of the room, 4 lighted tubes reveal their weapons and new Armor. Nora squees in delight, and runs to her Armor.
Jaune's is stylized in a medieval Knight-like fashion with a knight helm, qgreaves and gauntlets and at the centre of the chest is the Arc Family crest. Pyrrha's is essentially her old Armor with superior improvements, such as a metal cuirass and extended neck guard. Much better Greaves and gauntlets and armored boots, topped off with a centurion-style helmet and all of it coated in bronze.
Ren's is a form-fitting suit with a second lightweight Armor piece over-top his chest on his arms and shoulders, and on his legs and feet. There are holsters for StormFlower, as well as several extra mags for his weapons. Finally, there's a shining metal headband with a pull down visor.
Nora's is very ornate, resembling the Valkyries of lore. Complete with a winged helmet, and some fur trim to compliment the form-fitting, heavily Armored set. It is coloured gray, pink and white just the way Nora prefers it.
They immediately suit up, and admire themselves for a second. Each has the Atlas military emblem as well as their ranks on their right shoulder. In Jaune and Pyrrha's case, their family emblems on the left shoulder, as well as Mistral's flag for Pyrrha.
Jaune's rank is Lieutenant, Pyrrha's is Sargent-Major, and both Ren and Nora are 1st Class Corporals.
Jaune clips Crocea Mors on his new belt, and throws Valiant over his shoulder, as well as taking some High Cal clips for Valiant. Pyrrha picks up Akouo and an upgraded version of Milo, with a higher caliber rifle mode. Ren holsters StormFlower and picks up more and a few magazines and puts them in his belt. Nora slings Maghild across her Back, as well as loading her belt with Grenades for her launcher and explosive charges.
"So… What's our first mission?" Jaune asks. Winter smiles. "I thought you never ask, Lieutenant Arc…"
End of Chapter 2
Hooboy this took a lot longer than I planned, but still. It's been a very long time since I put out a chapter this fast. As always, read and review if you feel like it. Constructive critiques are more than welcome. You guys rock! Love ya all.
GunMaster Out!