...I... honestly need a cup of coffee.
Because that's soldiering!
Chapter 16: New Foes to Be Confounded
Beacon Campus Grounds
Back when he was on Earth, and was known as Richard Sharpe, Jaune would always say that the British Royal Navy was the most powerful at that time.
In Remnant, he would take his word back...
...begrudgingly.
At the moment, the former officer stared in amazement at the Atlesian Airfleet.
Military Bullheads and various crafts of the sort soared through the air like flies as they provided escort to the large vessels.
If the Admiralty ever saw this, they would piss themselves. He was sure of it.
"Impressed?"
Jaune turned to the source of the voice who turned out to be Pyrrha.
He let out a breath that he didn't know he was holding and nodded "Aye. From where I come from, the British Navy was the one who had the title of the most poweful navy of the world."
He turned back to the ships "But looking at this, to say that this was a whole new level would be an understatement."
"It is overwhelming for someone like you." replied his partner.
The Rifleman smirked "Well, navy out of the way, shall we head to the library? I heard Ren said that he'll be there with Nora. Might myself to some research as well."
Pyrrha smiled before nodding "We shall."
Beacon Library
"Yang Xiao Long! Prepare your kingdom for battle!"
"Bring it on!"
Jaune raised an eyebrow at team RWBY's anticts as he read his book about the mineral's of Remnant. He was currently being disturbed by the voices of Ruby and Yang.
"I still wonder how the librarian hasn't shushed them yet." deadpanned Jaune.
Pyrrha murmurred something, but her partner suprisingly didn't hear it.
Jaune decided to ignore the noise and continued his reading.
At the moment, fire dust isn't going to cut it... I need something much powerful... more punch... Let's see if I can remember...
Currently, he was trying to find the right mix of chemicals to create a better propellant.
This of course was the gun powder, that he was used to back in Earth.
If he did the math correctly, then gun powder will without a doubt, outclass fire dust immedietly in terms of propellant and power.
Ah here we are! Sulfur, charcoal and... oh potassium nitrate.
That last ingredient might be hard to find given how rarely has anyone dared to use such substances in Vale.
Nonetheless, give him a few years and he might be rich from all the money he'll make with it.
"NO! MY FEARLESS SOLDIERS!" went the Red Reaper.
"Eh most of them were androids anyway..." replied Yang.
"Goodbye my friends, you will be avenged!"
The two continued their banter to the point Jaune was starting to get distracted.
Pyrrha raised an eyebrow when he slammed his head into the table due to annoyance.
"Jaune are yo-"
"Pyrrha, be my second."
"What?!"
"I can't take it anymore..."
The Rifleman then stood up as he approached RWBY's table, with Pyrrha right behind him.
Upon arriving, he cleared his throat "Ladies, while I enjoy tactics being utilized in any form, I can't help but be disturbed, so of you would kindly keep it down. That would be-"
"Trap card." Yang flatly interrupted.
"I HATE THIS GAME OF EMOTIONS WE PLAY!" cried the Heiress.
"Stay strong Weiss! We'll make it through this together!" cried Ruby as she ran into Weiss' lap.
"Shut up! Don't touch me!" She sobbed as she hugged the Reaper.
"...can I speak now?"
Yang finally noticed him "Oh hey Di-"
"Jaune."
"Jaune. What's up?"
"Mind toning it down? Trying to read here..."
"Hmm..." thought Yang "...sure, but you gotta beat us in a game of Remnant: The Game."
...fuck it.
"Fine. If I win, I also get that bottle of whatever you hide below your bed."
"Wha- How did you know about that?"
"I grew up in the slums back in my old life, alcohol is something I'd know about a lot."
The Pun Dragon muttered before agreeing "Bring it on Dick."
"Jaune."
"If you lose, that will stick."
...
A few moves and manouvers later, Jaune finally declared "After the final seige of Mistral and the Fall of Haven, my troops have claimed victory for the Kingdom of Vale."
RWBY minus B couldn't help but stare and reorganoze their thoughts to finally register that Jaune "Sharpe" Arc beat them all on his own.
"Good, the silence part of the bargain is in effect, good. I shall leave you to your devices ladies."
He was greeted by his partner who had a small smirk "I guess you didn't need a second."
The Arc chuckled.
"Sup losers."
"Hey Sun!" greeted Ruby who had overcomed her shock.
"Ruby, Yang, Blake, Ice Queen."
"Hey!"
"Psst. Oi."
"Sorry Jaune!" called out Ruby.
"That's Jaune?" asked the monkey Faunus.
"Oh right! We forgot to tell you about Sun." said Pyrrha.
"Who is he?" asked Jaune.
"Well, while you went of to fight Torcwick, Sun dropped by and helped us out round up the last of the White Fang." explained Ren.
Jaune nodded "Wait, wasn't he the Faunus stowaway?"
"Details! Details! Not to important!" interjected Sun "What is important is that I haven't introduced you to my friend Neptune!"
The Rifleman turned towards the blur haired student who was scratching the back of his head "Aren't libraries supposed to be for reading?"
"THANK YOU!" exclaimed Ren, which caused Nora to wake up with a shout of "PANCAKES!"
The Arc just sighed "Well, it was a pleassure to meet you all, but I must go, I need some much needed research done."
"I'm going too." grumbled Blake as she stormed off.
Jaune raised an eyebrow before he took his books with him and left as well.
"Teenagers." stated Nora.
"But isn't Jaune a-" Ruby began before Pyrrha zipped up to her and covered her mouth.
"A person who has experiwnced a lot in his life and we respect him for that!" Interrupted the Champion.
JNPR's Dorms
"Well I'll be damnned, the internet can really have it all..." said Jaune as he searched the web about the various chemicals he'll need to make gun powder.
He was fortunate enough that Remnant, despite primarily using dust, still harvested materials such as sulfur and charcoal, and there were several mines in Mistral that also harvested Potassium nitrate.
The problem was that he'd need to be in Mistral personally to collect these materials as delivering these kinds of materials would be considered questionable if he was a student of Beacon.
Just as he was writting down the locations of these mines, he heard the door open and turned to see Pyrrha entering the dorm.
"Got tired of the noise too?" He joked.
The Champion shook her head "Just checking up on you, that's all."
"Well," he said as he closed his books "I just finished my research."
"What's it about?" asked the Spartan as she sat on her bed.
Jaune stood up and gave her his notes "Dust is amazing and all, but in terms of propellant for firearms, it's pretty shit."
Pyrrha skimmed through his notes "What exactly is this then?"
"A propellant that'll prove to be a better than Fire Dust. We call it Black Powder, or Gun Powder. If my math is correct," Jaune says as he looks at some of his notes "then this stuff can carry a bullet faster and more powerful than Fire Dust."
"Jaune this is amazing, I can imagine the want for stronger propellant for weapons."
"That's true, but the problem is getting my hands on the materials. I need to get some at Mistral."
"I see... you plan to head there soon?" inquired his partner.
Jaune simply nodded before he went to the door "Plan to go after this year, as for now, I'll be hitting the range."
Pyrrha nodded before heading into their bathroom.
As Jaune left his dorm, he saw RWBY minus B head over to their own door.
"Ladies." He greeted them as they passed by.
"Hi Jaune!" Ruby replied.
"Hey there Di- I mean Jaune!" Yang stuttered.
"Good evening Arc." stated Weiss flatly.
"How's Blake?" he asked.
"Well, we're about to find out." answered Ruby.
The Rifleman nodded before dismissing himself to head to the range.
However, he unfortunately, he forgot his scroll.
"Damn me." he sighed as he jogged back to their dorm.
After a brief exchange with his partner, he turned back to head over to the range. As he passed RWBY's dorm, he overheard Blake shout.
"And we may never be ready! Our enemies aren't just gonna sit around and wait for graduation day. They're out there, planning their next move, and no one knows what it is but it's coming, whether we're ready... or not."
Jaune knew what she meant.
Torchwick was still out there, and so was the White Fang. It also bugged him that he let Torchwick get away.
He placed his hand on the door knob.
"Okay... all in favor of becoming the youngest huntresses to single-handedly taking down a corrupt organization against the Kingdom of Vale... say aye." Ruby chirped.
"Yes! I love it when your feisty!" He heard Yang cheer.
"Well I suppose it could be fun..." pondered Weiss.
"None of you said aye..." pouted the Red Reaper.
"Wish granted." thought Jaune.
He turned the door knob and entered saying "Aye."
"Jaune?!" Team RWBY exclaimed.
"What? I wanted to get back at Torchwick for that backstabbing bastard he set upon me."
"Are you sure? The nurses did tell you to take it easy after that stab wound." said Yang.
Jaune deadpanned at her "That didn't stop the food fight at all didn't it?"
The Pun Dragon made a cheeky grin while scratching the back of her head.
"So, are ya gonna let me and my team help or what?"
Blake replied "I think we could indeed use your help."
Jaune nodded "Excellent, send me the details via scroll and we'll see each other soon."
Ruby nodded before waving him goodbye as he left.
As the Rifleman left the room, he noticed three odd students that didn't look like they came from Beacon.
He chose to ignore them as he passed by them, however...
"That lass... why do I get the feeling I've met her before..."
However, he knew that the range will not be open for long, so he decided to save that thought for a later date.
As for the lass, also known as Cinder (bitch) Fall, she recognized Jaune, however simply waved him off as someone who can't stand up against someone like her.
Why? Because she was destined to succeed at all costs.
Uh oh... Cinder Bitch Fall is now in Beacon...
Anyways, I'm proud to say that I already mapped out what I wanted to do for Season 2.
I'll go ahead and spoil you lot a bit so you can get hyped for the one chapter that isn't based off the main story.
(It'll involve the King's Colours and a whole lot of costumes.)
That shall be it for now, until then, keep marching on as that's soldiering...