"People follow leaders by choice. Without trust, at best you get compliance."
-Jesse Lyn Stoner
Chapter Eight: Reconnaissance, Part 2
Lavender huffed out a cloud of mist, staring through her scope.
Overwatch was growing increasingly dull by the moment. Nothing was happening in the small ravaged town, besides the contractors going through the buildings, dragging out disembowelled bodies. Vomit climbed its way up her throat, threatening to come out and spew all around her. She forcefully swallowed it back down and turned her rifle away from the bodies. Watching everyone else walk through the town, just ignoring all the dead? Her constant glances downwards proved she didn't possess such a skill.
She lowered her rifle from her face, blowing out a puff of air. Doing another overall scan, there was absolutely nothing happening, besides a few Contractors picking through some debris. Maybe scoping through possible sniper positions again would be interesting.
Propping up her rifle, she glassed over a distant treeline, sweeping over the outcroppings of rock. She nearly didn't catch the flash in the bush on the first time, only spotting it the second time passing over.
"What the heck?" she muttered, bringing her scope up to her eye again, squinting to make out the glint. It looked like a vaguely human shaped green lump, the distinct shape of a rifle in front of the person.
"Shit," raising her hand up to her radio, she needed to call it in. But her hand didn't even get to press the transit button before a bullet slammed into her head.
Head snapping back, her Aura flared up as she fell flat on her backside. Laying there for a second, stars swam around in her vision. She grabbed her face with her hand, bringing it away to find no blood. Aura was an awesome thing for sure. Rolling onto her front, she centred her rifle on the bushes she had seen. She shook away the stars, squeezing off a shot at the camouflaged sniper, watching in grim satisfaction as the sniper jerked away. He scrambled away from his hide, bullets sparking off his Aura.
She winced when an explosion ripped into the street below her. Peering down at the streets, three white cloaked individuals appeared out of nowhere, fast approaching her section. Quickly bringing her rifle up, she squeezed off a shot into each of them, driving them to scurry like ants to the nearest piece of cover. Lavender swung her rifle around to another cluster of attackers, who were firing on another LAV. Search, shoot, repeat. She was so absorbed in the cycle she nearly didn't notice the footsteps behind her.
"If you needed me just call me on the radio pl- ah!" she swung around to not one of her sectionmates, but a terrifying scorpion faunus tiptoeing towards her. Raising her rifle, she didn't even get a shot off before the faunus was on her.
Yelping as she was knocked back on the ground. A blade swerved down towards her face, she twisted out of the way at the last moment, the blade still catching on her shoulder. Wincing as a huge chunk of her Aura just vanished, she rolled away. Whipping out her sidearm as she sat up, she shot the scorpion faunus two times in the chest. He merely laughed heartily and flipped away to the opposite side of the room. Her rifle laid in the middle of the room, ripped off its sling.
Lavender carefully got up, keeping her pistol pointed at him the entire time, "Who the hell are you? Why are you attacking me?"
"Always why this, and always why that. Nevermind that, it isn't of any interest to you madam sniper," the faunus bowed dramatically in front of her, his scorpion following along. "What is of interest to you, is that as my job here, you will not be leaving here alive."
Her grip tightened around her pistol. So this was it? Not if she got off a radio call, then they would make sure this crazy asshole would die as well. Her hand casually rose up to her radio, but a voice rang out from the stairwell, it was Jaune, "Lav? You there? We're getting the fuck out of here. Lav, we're getting the fuck out, let's go-"
The scorpion faunus grinned abruptly, dashing towards her in a flash. She yelped, shooting only once before he had his arm wrapped around her neck, bringing her around to face the doorway.
"Get the hell out of here Jaune this craz- MMFHP!" she shouted, before Tyrian muffled her mouth with his mouth, quietly cackling next to her ear.
And there he was, Jaune, standing in the doorway with his rifle raised, and his sword strapped to his backpack. Of course it was Jaune, her knight in shining armour to come and rescue her.
She hated it.
She hated having to be rescued.
But she certainly didn't have much choice in the matter now.
/ - /
"Oh shit," Jaune swore, pressing himself against the doorframe. The faunus kept shifting his head around, keeping Jaune unable to get a clean shot on his head.
The scorpion faunus started shaking, before bursting out into laughter behind Lavender, "Oh my! I might get some entertainment from this little jaunt anyway, you seem just like the most interesting character, Jaune Arc."
His mouth gaped open, "How do you know my name?"
"Oh it's very easy! You have a sword attached to your pack and it just so happens to have the Arc emblem on it. It's very recognizable, even when you painted over it. Now I do wonder just what an Arc is doing with a PMC in the middle of nowhere? Maybe he got disgraced and thrown out!" the faunus cackled, his stinger waving in front of Lavender. "Also your friend here just shouted your name, so it wasn't that hard to put together."
Eye's wide, Lavender was still struggling against the Faunus' grip, squirming around and edging her hand to somewhere on her leg. Tyrian slapped her hand away from her knife with his stinger, "Not so fast girl, we can't have you ruining our fun, can we?"
Jaune reached up to his radio. Whoever this was, he doubted he could stand up to a 25mm cannon, "Razz, this is Jaune. I need reinforcements at the bell tower, there's this crazy fuck holding Lavender hostage."
To his dismay, all he got back was static. The faunus' face split into a grin, seeing his look of despair, "Well I think the Sabyr Brigade are proving useful with all their new technology that we bought for them- oh! I shouldn't have said their name should I?" the faunus cackled, all while keeping his blade pressed against Lavender's neck. "Well it's too late is it?"
"W-who the hell are you?" he asked, shifting his aim to the small part of his face that was still visible. "What do you want with this town?"
The faunus stroked his chin with his free hand in almost a mocking manner, before cackling again like a madman, "That doesn't matter to you, does it? I suppose it won't matter if I tell my name to someone who'll be dead soon anyway. I am Tyrian Callows, the servant to my Goddess. What I want with this town is no concern of yours, or mine in fact! I was just told by my Goddess to tag along with this merry band of bandits and help them with any troubles they have. And oh my! This certainly proved to be more than interesting now."
Tyrian exuded confidence, or was it just him being a clear psychopath? Either way, the faunus certainly wasn't a pushover, but maybe he wasn't as good as he was propping himself up to be. He just needed him to poke his head out a little more…
"If you're so intent on fighting me, don't you think it would be more interesting if you fought both at us at once? Since you're sure that you can beat us in a fight," Jaune said, trying to keep his voice level and breathing steady. Outside an explosion wracked the tower, shaking its foundation and throwing dust up in the air.
Tyrian stared at him in wonder, and started bending over in laughter, still holding Lavender in a chokehold in front of him, "Oh you think I'm that stupid? I may be what others call crazy, which I assure you I believe I am! Why all you heroes go and fight me, underestimating me so much that you believe I can fall for such a simple trick! Do you think so low of me that I can be so easily tricked? Is that it, my dear Jaune?" Tyrian grinned behind Lavender, his tail shaking in amusement.
His head was in plain view now, wide open for a burst, tail far away from Lavender, Jaune could expect that her probably low Aura could take a little slice from Tyrian's blades. He just hoped that she caught the look he sent at her. So Jaune squeezed his trigger, pointing his rifle directly at Tyrian's face.
The scorpion faunus cried out in pain, pulling back to cover his face with his hands. Lavender fell out of his grasp, and scrambled to pick up her rifle. Tyrian spun around in a blur, his previous pain merely a mask he'd put on. His stinger swooping down at the unaware Lavender, and his hands glowing a strange purple. Jaune opened his mouth to shout a warning, his bullets pinging harmlessly off the fixated Tyrian. But it was too late, Tyrian's hand hit her side first, and then his stinger.
Lavender howled, the stinger going right through her vest and Aura. Her scramble morphed into a crawl as she slid right next to his feet.
Tyrian posed, bowing dramatically in front of him, "Is that proof enough of my abilities Jaune? Or will you require further demost-"
He was cut off by a hail of bullets. Jaune slammed down on the trigger, keeping the rifle centred square on Tyrian. Tyrian covered himself with his wrist blades, most rounds pinging harmlessly off the hardened metal. Jaune's rifle clicked dry, and Tyrian lowered his blades to reveal a terrifying smile. The psychopath launched into Jaune, pushing him back into the railing behind him. Tyrians held a blade at Jaune's throat, bizarre giggling coming from him.
Tyrian leaned to look at Jaune, casually tearing his rifle out of his hands, and breaking its sling as he discarded it in a corner. "Is that enough demonstration of my ability Jaune? You do very much interest me, but no. My Goddess told me to follow this Sabyr Brigade, and they told me to kill everyone I see," Tyrian cackled into his hand, looking off behind Jaune like he was trying to recall something. "Of course I could disregard those orders for now, and bring you to them. But dear Jaune, you interest me, not your little friend next to us. Maybe after I deal wi-"
Tyrian was knocked aside with a loud crack, stumbling next to Jaune. He quickly reached behind him to his backpack, and in a practiced movement, detached the sheath and pulled out Crocea Mors. Lavender propped herself off, her rifle still smoking. She winced, grabbing her stinger wound with one hand and keeping her rifle trained on Tyrian with the other.
Jaune backed up to Lavender, shield transformed and in front of him, "You okay Lav?"
"Yeah, about as good as I'll be. It's just a flesh wound, I'll be fine for now."
"Alright, we're getting the fuck out of here. Start going down the staircase, I'll delay as long as possible."
Lavender shook her head, her face already growing pale, "No way I'm leaving you to fight this asshole alone, we'll go together."
Jaune gritted his teeth. Lavender could be so frustrating at the worst times, "This isn't time to argue Lav, you're injured. Get out of he- fuck!" Tyrian latched onto his shield out of nowhere, shoving his wide eyes straight into his face. Jaune instinctively jabbed his sword towards Tyrian, which passed through thin air the next second. Where the hell did he go?
"Jaune behind you!" cried out Lavender from the stairs, raising her rifle in a lost attempt to help him.
He twisted around as fast as he could, to be met with a blade to the face. Jaune crashed back on the opposite wall, raising his shield to block the next strike. He lunged forward, bringing his sword down onto Tyrian's crazed eyes.
Tyrian ducked out of the way in an instant, tossing him flying over to Lavender with a kick.
Jaune's entire body throbbed already. How the hell did someone do so much in so little time? Hacking up a glob of blood, Jaune wiped his face and stood back up to see Tyrian posed dramatically on the railing, hands planted on his hips and a sardonic grin stretched across his face.
"I suppose that might be enough. How will you get out of here Jaune? That's a long flight on stairs that I can attack you all the way down. There's no escaping this, Arc," Tyrian spat the last word with disdain. "Maybe this will be fun, I get to play with two of you, and there isn't any way of escaping from this. Heh, perfect!"
Lavender shuffled next to him, weakly aiming her rifle at the poised faunus, "What the hell are we going to do here Jaune? I really don't want to die here. It sure does look like it though..."
His eyes darted around the bell tower. A platform at the top, and a spiral staircase leading straight down to the bottom. There was no way they could get down all the way, not without being killed by Tyrian, who stood mockingly on the railings, illuminated by the stream of light emanating from the window.
The windows.
They were dotted all around the walls, letting in light in the tower. Backing up, he bumped into a window sill behind him.
"I need you to follow along with this..." he whispered to Lavender. Moving his shield arm to grasp a tear gas grenade attached to his vest, he turned to Tyrian, who was still standing smugly on the railing. "Well Tyrian, I think you're right. All that's left is for us to fight."
"You've accepted your fate then? Well, that's a surprise, usually, at this point they're begging for mercy," Tyrian stroked his chin mindfully, before continuing. "Maybe that's why you're interesting, but it still won't make you not dead."
He pulled the pin on the tear gas grenade, moving his shield arm slowly outward again. He would have to move fast, Tyrian was certainly no slouch and would catch them in an instant.
Tyrian leaned forward and squinted his eyes, "And just what do you think your doi-"
Jaune lobbed the tear gas grenade at Tyrian with a curse. He grabbed Lavender by the arm and pulled her along and dove headfirst out the window behind him.
It was a short fall to the bottom luckily. Crocea Mors clattered on the ground next to him, which he promptly snatched up. He hauled himself up, using his shield to prop himself up. Lavender was still on the ground groaning, writhing around on the concrete ground.
"Lav, get up. We need to go," Jaune hoisted up her curled up form as gently as he could, and darted down the alleyway before him. He kept trying doors until he found one unlocked. Opening it, he threw himself and Lavender in, shutting it frantically behind him.
The patter of footsteps outside. Jaune stayed stock still, holding a hand on Lavender's mouth, silently urging her silently to stay quiet.
"Well I think you're here somewhere Jaune, it's only a matter of time before I find you~" came the voice of Tyrian. Thankfully, the footsteps faded away, but Jaune waited a solid ten seconds before daring to speak again.
Jaune started taking off Lavender's vest, "Did you only get you in the side?"
"Y-yeah, my aura is still up somehow. I'm not sure how he got past it," Lavender tenderly touched her side, bringing her gloved hand away to find it smudged in blood. "Thanks for the save, I was sure I was going to die there."
"Don't start talking about dying Lav," he quickly ripped out a dressing out of Lavender's medkit, wrapping it around the nasty puncture in her side. "We're going to make a run for the rally point, and hopefully get extracted there. Do you think you can walk?"
Lavender sat up, propping herself up on her hand, looking down at the bandaged wound, "Think so, hurts like a bitch though."
"As Moss would say, suck it up," he elicited a snicker from Lavender, which turned into a coughing fit. "Lav, you sure you're okay?"
She shoved on her vest again, gingerly hoisting herself up with a grunt, "Good enough Jaune, I'm not completely useless right now. My rifle still works and aiming isn't an issue."
He looked her up and down. Face already paling, her uniform and vest were bloodstained and ragged. She stood up unsteadily, hair loose and already caked in dirt and blood. Her helmet must have gone missing somewhere in the fight, but Jaune didn't care too much for it, "Hope you're right, for both of us." he peered out the window, the alley was empty, "Let's go."
Jaune pushed open the door, Crocea Mors in hand, he glanced left and right, making sure the alleyway really was clear, before stepping out onto it.
The trampled snow crunched beneath his feet as he and Lavender made their way down the small alley. Jaune came to the end of the alley and signalled for Lavender to stop. He cocked his head to listen for the sounds of battle. They were on the right track to the rally point, they just needed to cross the street. Two cars in the middle of the road, they were burnt out and abandoned, but would give ample concealment for them.
"Alright, we're going to bound together to those cars and cross the street, got it?" he asked without looking behind him.
"Yeah, got it," came her shaky voice.
"Moving," he said quietly, dashing across the open ground as fast as he could. Quickly coming to a stop behind the first car, he waited for Lavender to stop behind him, before hearing her grunt behind him. Swinging around, he expected Tyrian to somehow be behind him again, only to see Lavender laid on the ground, clutching her side in pain.
"Fuck! It hurts so much..." she whimpered in the snow, shivering with a scrunched up face.. "So cold..."
He darted over to her, swearing profusely as he dragged her behind the car. Quickly checking the Aura gauge attached to her vest, he found it to be dangerously low. It was at a point that absolutely anything would go through, and certainly couldn't do anything to keep her warm either. Taking off his scarf, he wrapped it quickly around her, what little it would do.
"What happened?" he asked, checking her wound again. He glanced around them. In the middle of the street, they were exposed from just about every angle. They needed to get out of there quick, lest they be discovered.
Lavender's face was red at the cheeks, but a pale white everywhere else, "I- I don't know. I just sort of collapsed. Might be my leg, or just Aura, because now everything's really cold. Sorry for screwing up..." she mumbled the last part.
He sheathed Crocea Mors, clipping it to his belt. Draping one of her arms over his shoulders, he lifted her up and started moving the both of them to the next car, "Don't say sorry, just start helping me move you."
"T-Thanks," she murmured, limping along weakly.
He stopped at the next car, gently setting down Lavender in the snow. Pulling out his sidearm, he made a quick scan around. There were a few unfortunate Contractors besides him, riddled with bullets, they thankfully at least weren't part of his platoon. It was all cle-
Three men wandered into the intersection just behind the car, chatting casually, and dressed in unfamiliar uniforms, complete with snow white cloaks that blended in perfectly with the snow filled town. Ducking down behind the car, he hoped like hell they hadn't spotted him. Lavender looked up to him surprised, opening her mouth in a question, before Jaune raised a finger to his lip. There was no way they could take those three guys, especially with Lavender being low on Aura.
He leaned into her ear, "Play dead, three guys coming up." shifting her into place a little better, he slumped down next to her in what he thought was a believable pose. Lavender would help sell the image, with her bloodstained clothes and a ragged hole in her vest.
The snow made it painfully obvious as the men started walking past them. His breath caught as the footsteps stopped right next to them. He prayed to the Gods that they would buy it.
"Poor bastards, eh?"
"Not my problem Ivers, these guys decided to be heroes and paid the price," came another voice.
Ivers responded, "Pah, these assholes just get in the way of our raids anyways. That Tyrian fellow did a bunch of our job for us, and for free. I swear that dude just loves killing for the sake of killing."
A third, gruffer voice broke in, "That's because he does. Guy shows up, has access to practically an infinite amount of lien, and tells us that he'll pay us to raid villages. Pretty sure there's something going on there."
"Aren't we supposed to be sweeping the village for stragglers?" said the second voice.
The gruff voice responded, "All of those Striker Group guys are all together in that forest. This is just to make sure they're all gone over there like they're supposed to, Hal."
Something poked his side, Jaune had to draw on every bit of self control he had to not react.
"Bet this dude and his girlfriend over there were ambushed by that Tyrian asshole. Look at that shit on her vest, no way that's a bullet. Shit was ripped open by something, and only a few of us here use swords," Ivers snorted.
"Whatever, let's get going before the Lieutenant gets up all in our asses for not doing our jobs. Guy comes up and defects to us, brand fucking new and decides that he gets to tell us what to do. Asshole." The gruff voice spat something out, before walking away in the snow.
Ivers laughed harshly, "Whatever you say Chief."
The sounds of footsteps faded away into the background noise of battle. Jaune waited an extra ten seconds before opening his eyes. He sat up, bringing his pistol to bear and scanning the street in front of him. All empty fortunately for them.
"Lav, you still with me?" he whispered, keeping his eyes pointed straight ahead as he got up.
Lavender groaned, "Barely, it's so damn cold." she hugged herself, shaking ever so slightly.
Jaune lifted her up, bracing her against him. Lavender's rifle twisted and turned, slung on her back. His sidearm clasped in his right hand, they both limped towards the alleyway on the other side of the street.
"I really don't feel that good right now Jaune..." moaned Lavender, hacking up another glob of blood.
He patted her on the back, trudging past yet another mauled body, so disfigured that he couldn't even tell what gender they were, "We're close Lav, just hold on a little more."
They walked for what must have been an eternity before they finally reached the edge of the town. In front of them were a few white cloaked clothed bandits, firing at the hidden forces while in cover. There was no way to get past them undetected, the best option was to just run across an open space and hope no bullets would hit them. Jaune didn't particularly like the idea, especially with Lavender's Aura dangerously low. He searched desperately for another route, a way he could get Lavender safely across.
His thoughts were interrupted by the sudden crack of a twig behind him, even with the gunfight ahead of him, his headset picked out the sound among the cacophony and amplified it for him. Jaune spun around, firing two shots at the enemy before he even saw him.
A familiar face, and a familiar scorpion tail, not even ten feet away.
"I believe we have some catching up to do Jaune~"
He snatched up Lavender, tossing her on his back as he ran straight into the open, and right into the line of fire.
Rounds flew past him, cannon rounds streaked past his face, bullet bit into his Aura. He ignored it all as he sprinted in the field, Lavender on his back, and the sound of footsteps behind him. Eventually, the footsteps faded away rather dramatically, right after a cannon round shot past his face. Jaune broke through the brush in front of him, to find himself immediately accosted by his sectionmates.
"Holy fuck Jaune!" yelled Finch, turning to him from his scroll. "What the hell happened?"
He gently set Lavender on the ground, checking her pulse. She was still alive thankfully, "No time, where's the medic?"
Jay appeared from behind a LAV, carrying a box of ammunition, his face gaped open in surprise, "Where the hell have yo-"
"No time, where's the medic?" Jaune interrupted, gesturing to Lavender curled up form.
Jay turned back immediately, sprinting towards a LAV hanging back, "Medic! We got injured here!"
He looked back towards the village. A firing line of encroaching Sabyr Brigade bandits, Jaune picked out one figure among the throng of white clad bandits. It was Tyrian, staring pointedly at Jaune in the distance. He ignored all the bullets whizzing past him, standing tall, all the while staring right at Jaune.
He snatched Lavender's rifle off her, and swung it to Tyrian, shooting wildly in his direction.
Tyrian spun off, flipping off from where he was standing, disappearing into the village.
"Oi! Where's the injured?" Jaune spun around to see their platoon medic, Grey, running towards them. He pointed towards Lavender wordlessly, letting Grey go to work.
Relieved, Jaune crawled into a firing position next to Finch, lying prone in the snow. Aim, squeeze, bang. This went on for ages. Jay went cyclic on his machinegun, Finch let off rounds with his rifle, and everything just started to mesh together for Jaune.
The coarse sound of Bullhead engines emerged from above him. Jaune lifted his head up in awe as he watched rockets rain down on the bandits in front of them. A small pocket of them started running back into the village, only to be cut down with a missile exploding right in the midst of them. The remaining bandits started falling back, melting away into the village under constant fire. The two Snakeheads streaked past in the air, taking turns shooting rockets at the helpless bandits below.
Behind him, Bullheads descended into the forest, their ramps opening to spew out fresh Contractors, securing the immediate landing zone around the aircraft.
Jay patted his shoulder, "Time to go Jaune."
He quickly lifted himself up, running back into the welcoming cargo bay of the Bullhead. LAVs backed up into the Bullheads, their cannons firing the whole way. Beaten up Contractors poured into the cargo bay, their worn and depleted faces tired from the firefight. Several stretchers were carried aboard, each bearing their own wounded Contractor whose Aura broke. A tinge of guilt swam to the front of his mind after see Lavender being carried on one.
The cargo door closed, and the Bullhead lifted off. Jaune took off his helmet with a sigh. It would be a long flight ahead of him.
/ - /
Jaune walked off the ramp, his helmet dangling off his hand, Lavender's rifle in the other.
The wounded were being wheeled off to the base hospital, doctors rushing the gurneys along the pathways, yelling at bystanders to get the hell out of the way.
Wandering over to a nearby wall, he leaned against it with his head in his hands. God, that was such a clusterfuck. Lavender nearly killed, several others wounded. For what? He sure as hell didn't know. Looking up from his hands, Vi was storming towards him, a violent expression painted on her face.
"What the fuck happened to my sister Arc?" she slammed him against the wall, one hand poised to choke him out.
"Vi, what the fuck are you doing?" yelled Thistle, running towards the two of them.
She pressed him harder into the wall, "What, the, fuck, happened."
Razz walked over, tossing off his helmet. His bearded face hid any emotion he had, "Marron, let Arc down."
Vi glanced over her shoulder, before releasing him from her grasp, "Explain."
Jaune gasped as she dropped him down. He kept pressed firmly against the wall, as far away from Vi's twitching arm as possible, "After I went up the bell tower to go get her, I found her being held hostage by a scorpion faunus dude." he didn't miss Vi twitch, "I managed to get her free, but she was hit by his stinger. Somehow it went through her Aura, and she still had enough of it to keep going. From there, we had to jump out of the bell tower to get away. We ran through the village, and had to play dead to get past some patrols. After that, we made it to the platoon."
"Did you order her up there?" she yelled in his face. "Did you order her to go up in the bell tower?"
Razz roughly placed a hand on her shoulder, jerking her away from Jaune, "Vi, let him go. Don't make me send you to the brig to cool off."
"Yes," he whispered, looking down at the ground. "I sent her up there."
Vi let him down, eyes filled with fury, "You fucking sent her up there, with no support. You almost got her killed Arc! What the fuck! Where did that vaunted fucking tactical sense go? The trashcan? Just like your goddamn common sense? Not everyone is a fucking superhero like you Jaune, some people can't bullshit their way out of bad situations just like you. What if she got killed Jaune? This whole section would be grieving, and I would've lost a sister!" her voice became hoarse and high pitched, her eyes welling up with water.
"Yo, Vi. Calm down for a second," Thistle yanked her away to face him. "Give him a break, it's his first time out, it's all our first time out. Noone could have expected bandits that well trained."
"Give him a break…?" she whispered, staring right into Thistle's eyes. "Give him a fucking break? Yeah, he's new, you're fucking new Arc! If someone who actually knew what they were doing, they wouldn't have sent Lav up there all alone! If Alabaster got his head out of his ass, he would've given us someone who fucking knew what they were doing, fuck this." she growled, breaking away from Thistle's grasp, storming away. Several other Contractors wisely stepped out of her way, leaving her to stomp her way to wherever she was going.
"Vi, wait!" Jaune called out, moving to chase her until Razz caught his shoulder.
"Let her cool down for a bit. She's not in the right state of mind right now, with her sister in the ICU," he grunted, pulling Jaune back to the rest of the section. "I'll be honest with you, you screwed up with putting Lavender alone on the bell tower. I should have caught it, but I was distracted then."
Jaune leaned back onto the concrete wall, letting his helmet hang loosely off his hand, "So should I have kept her with us?"
"Yeah," Jaune flinched. "Marksmen are meant to augment the range of the dismounted element, they aren't snipers. Granted, you weren't taught anything about that, so if any consequences come down on you, it won't be as hard. Alabaster will probably take most of the shit if there is any. He's already invested too much into you to let you drop now."
"What does this mean for me? What about the section?"
"We push you guys even harder than before. Keep in mind it just wasn't you that fucked up here. Everyone is going to go through some intense training after this," Razz pulled out a cigarette, lighting it before continuing. "This isn't something I can exactly order away Arc. I could, but it wouldn't exactly help with anything. You've lost her confidence Jaune, you're going to have to earn it back. I'll try and help you along the way, but in the end, it'll be you that earns her confidence back."
Razz puffed out a cloud of smoke, "I'm going to go get cleaned up now. The debrief for this is going to be the Company Commander ripping into just about everyone. Seeya later, go get some rest for now." Razz waved goodbye, setting off to his quarters.
"Just so you know, I still trust you to not get us killed," said Jay, looking at Razz departing, avoiding his gaze.
Finch piped up, holding a black bag in one hand, "Me too. Everyone makes mistakes once in a while."
Jaune sighed, "Yeah, just not when it nearly gets someone killed."
"Yeah..." Jay looked down at his feet, avoiding Jaune's eyes. "I'm really sorry, but I did think Vi had a point."
"Dude, not cool," Finch elbowed Jay, rattling something in his black bag.
Jay still looked off at the Bullheads, voice coming out short and clipped, "Sorry, but you really have no experience besides training. I still trust you to do better next time."
Jaune slid down the wall behind him, laughing into his hands, "It's alright guys. I screwed up there, the first step is owning up to your mistake, or something."
"I'm really sorry J-"
"No really," he waved away Jay's concerns. "It's fine, I get it."
Jay and Finch stood there, awkwardly shuffling their feet in silence. Thistle opened his mouth like he was going to say something, then promptly shut it when he spotted something. Jaune looked up, and saw Captain Alabaster approaching them.
"Hey guys," said Alabaster, walking towards them. "I'll be quick, I need the bag of electronics you have Finch, need to send it over to the intel guys for analysis."
He stepped forward, taking the bag from Finch's hand, "Don't beat yourself up over whatever happened, we all messed up there in some way. I'm included in that." he added that with a pointed glance towards Jaune. "Anything else you need to tell me?"
Jaune nervously raised a hand, "I actually do."
"Alright, spill."
"When I was exfiling with Lavender, we had to play dead in front of some of the bandits. They said Tyrian, the guy who held her hostage, had just come in with an infinite amount of lien and told them to start raiding villages. Tyrian accidentally said that they're called Sabyr Brigade. That's all I have sir, hope that helps."
"Sabyr Brigade..." murmured Alabaster, turning away immediately. "Go get some rest for now and clean up. Intel is going to go fucking crazy." with that, the Captain set off, bag in hand.
Jay shifted around, eyes darting all over the place, "I'm going to go get cleaned up and rest a bit like the Captain said. Seeya guys."
"Think I'll go too, seeya Jaune," said Finch. Jay quickly walked off, chased by the noticeably shorter Finch. Only Thistle stayed next to him.
"Well that was a fucking shitshow," said Thistle, wiping something away from his face.
Jaune laughed coarsely, rubbing his foot idly into the gravel, "Tell me about it. Vi's angry at me, Lavender's in the hospital, and Jay is losing confidence in me. What next? I get kicked out like Beacon? Nowhere I can really go after this. Run off again and become a random gun-for-hire? Bet gramps would be really proud."
Thistle punched him in the shoulder, more of a tap than anything else, "Relax Jaune, Alabaster won't let anything happen to you. You're his pet project for this. Believe it or not, most people don't get overly angry at one fuck up. Own up to your mistake, and try your best to make sure it doesn't happen again."
"Nice words," snorted Jaune. "You want to take my position?"
Thistle chuckled, crossing his arms, "No way, you can have the responsibility for now. My dad was always insistent on hammering in leadership advice into my head. I wonder how Vi is doing right now." he looked off to the quarters.
"Probably hating my guts."
"You know, I'm probably the only one she'll listen to right now, besides Lavender. I'm going to try and track her down and comfort her or something. God knows she needs it. Seeya," Thistle gave him a quick two finger wave, before walking off to the barrack.
"Seeya," he said, returning the wave. "Jeez Jaune, you really fucked up."
With a heavy feeling in his stomach, he started walking towards the barracks. He'd follow Alabaster's advice and clean up. Hopefully, the debrief would take place tomorrow, and not have him sitting around getting chewed out by the Company Commander. Jaune greeted a few other Contractors he recognized on the way there, paying them no attention after. This was just all too similar to Beacon. Some of his friends turning against him, the yelling, the accusations, the hidden doubt. He fumbled with his keys as he entered into his shared room with Thistle.
Jaune sat down on his bed. It just felt all too familiar. It was just like Beacon all over again.
A single tear made its way down his face.
Ah yes, ending off with unresolved conflict, classic.
Will Jaune ever make up with Vi? Will a sentient Tophat resolve this conflict in one chapter just like the show or leave it to fester in the story?
Check back on the next episode of: I really wish I didn't put a deadline on this story so I can stop being so stressed thank you please.
Tyrian gets put in, along with a new enemy. Will they have a part in the story? Only time will te- lmao of course they will. What kind of writer adds in a scene that literally serves no purpose, introduces new characters, hints at stuff, and tosses them all away at the last moment to introduce a random new villain you're supposed to hate?
Heh, of course not me.
Right?
Anyways, remember to review, because it actually gives me a better indication of who's reading than just looking at the hits. Or maybe it's just to boost my self esteem, can't tell.
Yeet and Maneuver, Tophat out.