"…initial counting reported fifty-six dead and forty-three injured. Among the casualties were thirteen shil'vati security personnel and four human militiamen from the 7th Terran Militia. With the search and recovery operation still ongoing however, number of deaths and injuries may continue to rise. Initial investigation determined that no less than seven individuals, all human, managed to infiltrate the convention hall armed with outdated human made ballistics weaponry and armor. It is still unclear as to who these attackers were and whether or not they are tied to any known terrorist group. Authori-" The holo-news babbled away, his mind barely registering the facts that were being presented.
It would be a lie to say that he was all that concerned with the attack that was all over the news. Well normally he would, since an attack like that usually caused the authorities to pull tighter security in the city, check points, more patrols, and so on. Things that generally made his life a bit more tedious with the traffic that it was going to cause among many other hassles that were sure to come. But given his current situation, Jaune was too occupied to care that much. He sat in a holding room, wrists cuffed and with two shil'vati officers standing guard, one by the door that leads to the main lobby and another right next to him. The room itself was spartan, three rows of blue metal chairs, and a TV mounted on the far corner of the room. He called it TV out of habit but it's actually referred to as a holo-screen.
He was alone with the two shil'vati officers, he could feel them staring at him which he attempts to ignore. By the Brothers, he wasn't brave enough to make his grave anymore deeper by confronting the guards with their staring and risk causing more trouble for himself. Luckily or unluckily, a third shil'vati entered the room, holding a data-slate. For all of their faults and bigotry, Jaune must admit that their uniforms do look good with the shil'vati police force sporting a dominant black color scheme with blue linings and shoulder paddings, it accentuated their physique as much as the authority they held over humans. This newly arrived shil'vati sported several stripes on her shoulders, probably suggesting a higher rank or something. The way she brought herself said so.
Jaune breathed deeply as he was escorted into the interrogation room. Still cuffed, he found himself in a stereotypical interrogation room complete with white walls, dim lights, a metal table and chair, along with a one-way window on one walls. He stared at his cuffed hands as he wonders whether he would experience the good cop bad cop bit. That or he would be harassed by the shil'vati officer that was interrogating him. Next to enter was the shil'vati with the striped shoulders who took the seat across Jaune. The officer hovering by him earlier had also entered, walked then stood by the corner next to the first shil'vati. Jaune stared at them. He watched as his interrogator tapped away at her data-slate and began listing off his offenses.
"Jaune Arc, age twenty, college dropout, formerly pursuing a degree in Imperium history-"
"Human history." Jaune corrected. "I dropped out the moment the curriculum was changed, many of us did." He added causing the officer next to the interrogator to narrow her eyes at him.
"What a shame, I can see you being a strapping young history teacher. I'm sure that you would've been popular with the students between your blond hair and your pretty looks." The interrogator commented in a flat tone as she tapped on her omni-pad.
"Offenses, three counts of assault of military personnel, and possession of illegal arms." She continued before meeting his confused expression with a raised brow.
"What illegal arms?" Jaune asked, confused as he had not owned any firearm.
"We confiscated your sword and…your retractable shield. I must admit, a sheath that can be deployed as a shield is rather an interesting design. Neither I nor my colleagues has ever seen such a thing be it in our weapons selection or that of the humans.
"Those aren't illegal. I have the permit for them and they are a family heirloom, which according to your law, is widely accepted as means to preserve one's heritage." Jaune frowned.
"Be that is it may, they are still proper weapons, your sword in particular is quite sharp and almost as sharp as our own blades. And your permit expired an hour earlier so technically you are now in possession of an illegal weapon." She said.
Jaune gritted his teeth behind closed lips.
"Fine. Sure. What's my time?" He asked, tired and frankly done with all the bullshit that he is facing.
The shil'vti regarded him for a moment, Jaune failing to read her expression.
"Quite brave aren't you Mister Arc? Then again, no less from someone who directly attacked three of his sister marines. While granted that they were on shore-leave and thus weren't armed as they usually are, the fact that you were able to take them down is quite the feat for humans." She said.
"They're no sisters of mine. I've told the other gal that had first questioned me earlier. I saw the three of them attempting to take advantage of an intoxicated yet very unwilling man in an alley. I confronted them, tried to stop them through diplomatic means. But given how your kind just outright invaded us without any warning, I wasn't surprised when they resorted to violence when I attempted to stop them." He explained in defense of himself.
He was on his way back to his apartment that night after his shift at a convenience store and had chanced upon a drunk man being heckled and eventually, dragged into a dark alley next to a busy bar by three shil'vati women. It was an odd sight for him given that culturally, men are the dominant gender in human society, apparently a great oddity in its own in the wider galactic scene. There was a morbid, dark and sickening joke somewhere in that situation with three women taking sexual advantage of a man, at least back before Earth was invaded. Now though, with your average shil'vati being six foot tall with some reaching up to seven foot tall, and on average are stronger than any human man or woman, it was a danger that unfortunately is quite real especially how your average shil'vati woman thinking with her womanhood was just as common as your regular human man thinking with his manhood. Seeing what was transpiring, he rushed to help the man, his old instincts to help anyone in need kicking in.
Too bad that in this world, at this time, being a hero for humanity is bad. He is seriously having a major case of home sickness, sort of.
"You don't have proof of that. You don't even have this man, who you allegedly saved from the three marines you so thoroughly knocked out, to stand here as your witness." The interrogator replied.
Son of a- Jaune caught himself cuss internally.
"You have got to be shitting on me. There were multiple witnesses within our vicinity!" He yelled angrily causing the second officer to draw out her stun baton only to be stopped by the interrogator.
"Again, none came forward when we started looking for them." She replied.
"How about cameras, CCTV footage? Surely with how religious you are with monitoring us, you should have at least one camera pointed to watch a particular busy street."
"The two cameras in Faraday Street were out due to maintenance." She replied much to Jaune's anger.
"Bullshit." He replied, not believing the utter mess that he was facing.
The woman tapped away on her screen.
"Given the evidence against you that we have found, your offenses, your lack of evidence and or witnesses to support your claims, you are looking at a ten to fifteen year term in a high security detention center." She explained, setting down the data-slate.
Jaune scratched his chin as he heard his punishment for saving a man three nights ago. Apparently shil'vati law favors those who invaded and conquered Earth. Who knew!?
"But…" The interrogator leans forward, clasping her hands together and fixing him with a steel gaze that sent shivers down his spine.
Jaune was unnerved, scared even, but found unable to stray away from her black eyes, her golden pupils having the same stare as what a predator would give its cornered prey.
"In light of your…apparent skills in close combat, my superior in-charge of this district, and by relation your punishment, deemed it a waste of your skills should you be locked up. Thus, I come with an alternative straight from said superior. But make no mistake. There are quite a lot of those in the higher ups who want you to be locked away alongside your kin who continue to fight us." She said, her expression, ever so slightly forming a smug smirk much to Jaune's annoyance.
He was not exactly a good fighter, even when he was back home in Remnant. Sure, he had gone quite far from when he had started in terms of combat prowess but for sure he was not at the same level as Ren yet alone Qrow. There was a reason why he was sent to this world. And for Jaune, it was because he failed Remnant, and his friends. And most certainly, in a straight fight, he should've not had been able to defeat three well-trained, six foot tall, pure muscle, shil'vati marines. Granted of course, he did have the benefit of having his aura. Still, he saw it as just a fluke, but Jaune bit his tongue and avoided saying it out loud, at least not before knowing what was being offered.
Wordlessly she tapped on her data-slate before sliding it to him. Jaune took it and began reading. Then he did so again, and again. Then made a fourth pass just to make sure he was reading it correctly. He looked at the woman in front of him, idly tapping on the table, her eyes fixed on him while patiently waiting for his decision.
"Is this a prank?" He asked with a sigh.
She hummed. "No. We are not. You will find that we are actually very serious about this."
"You want me to fight for you, to join your army." He said, trying and failing to understand the situation he had gotten himself into.
"Join the Imperial Military to be specific. We won't be allowing you to join your local militia given your…shall we say…tendencies to cause harm to my sisters and the risk of you being radicalized. In the Imperial Military, you'd be watched, guarded, and trained to be a proper soldier and civilized citizen of the Imperium. Your skills will be honed and used for the betterment of the Imprium and our people."
Jaune's eye twitched. He dropped the data-slate showing no care for it before rubbing his face out of tiredness. He had been detained here for almost three days now and his cell wasn't exactly a five star hotel. He was tired of it all, tired of the crap he had to put through to somehow live an acceptable normal life in this strange world, tired of trying to remember his memories that save for a few bits and pieces, remain lost to him. He was tired of trying to find a way home, tired of the galaxy seemingly making him as the cosmic punch line. He was just tired.
"Do you normally scare and threaten people into signing up to your military? Or rather turn would be convicts into soldiers?" He asked just for the sake of asking a question.
She frowned before looking at the officer behind her. She nods at her, and she received a nod in return. The shil'vati officer then left the room leaving only Jaune and the interrogator.
Awesome. Alone time with the purple dinosaur. Way to go Jauney.
"Let me get this clear Mister Arc. Despite what you may think of us, there are worse people out there in the galaxy, worse people than the Imperium. WE are your species' best case scenario. Earth's integration into the Imperium has been overall fruitful and successful despite the minor bumps and hiccups. The fact that a majority of you humans now happily work alongside us, live beside us, some even starting a family with our men and women should be more than enough to tell you of the changing times." She stood up, towering over him with the light casting down an ominous shadow over him.
Jaune gulped in fear as the shil'vati woman walked around the table and stood next to him. Sure he was considerably taller than your average human man, he was 6'1 thus putting him at the same height as your average shil'vanti woman but his sitting height is lower than that of his interrogator.
"I am not forcing you to join our military. I am, as I said, giving you an alternative, an opportunity that allows you to grow instead of decaying in a cell. Understand that we don't normally do this. In the decade since we had first established our presence here, only two have been given this chance to redeem themselves. You, we intend to be the third one. Now, you have a choice. You can either stand trial for the assault of military personnel or join up and be a candidate for the Imperial Marines." She said.
Jaune frowns as he massaged his temple. What mess he got himself into.
"Fuck me." He said in a sigh.
Much to his horror, the shil'vati leaned down with her body inches away from his, her hand on the table as she fixes him with a smug smirk.
"Oh I'm more than happy to do that Mister Arc, but after you make your decision." She said.
Once upon a time, he had a simple life, with simple goals and a simple dream. Admittedly he made mistakes along the way, some minor, and some life changing ones. And it was times like these, when faced with the consequences of his actions, did Jaune Arc remember the drunken yet somewhat wise words of Qrow. Rather, he remembered that he used to remember Qrow's words. Now though he can barely remember who he was before he came popping into existence in the middle of a war zone.
He had half the mind of just going to prison just to spite these purple orcs. But he wasn't that dumb. He was dumb but not dead dumb. He glanced at the data-slate which states that he is required to complete five years of active military service for him to remain out of jail. There were other benefits that came with taking the military route that he had not bothered to think about. Resolving himself, he looked up at the shil'vati who was now openly eyeing his body.
Life…truly was just a shit show.
