Well.
This certainly blew up more than I expected.
Welcome one and all, and thanks so much for the support on the last chapter. I'm a little shocked, to be honest. I suppose this story struck a nerve. Once again though, my sincerest thanks for the support on this fic so far. This is my first story to garner such interest, and it means a lot to me.
This part of the author's note will just serve as a note about schedules for new chapters being posted- namely, there isn't much of one at all, beyond the fact that I plan to rotate between my three ongoing stories. The order will look something like one chapter for Relic's Repentance, then Red Remnants, then Flickering Beacon. Sorry that I can't commit to a solid schedule, but the truth of the matter is that I'm a college student taking a lot of classes who writes these stories for fun alongside the very early stages of an original story. I love writing, but moments where I have both the time and energy are few and far between. Thanks for your patience.
But, you didn't come here to hear me blather. Without further ado, on to the main course.
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Traveling over the open ocean wasn't good for anyone's nerves.
Propelling a warship from Atlas to the Grimmlands wasn't exactly a hop, skip, and a jump away. The trip would take three or four days, and in the interim everyone did their best to cut the tension. Most of the Atlesian Liberation Army weren't exactly eager to bring a civil war to their home country, but they accepted it with the same grim determination that had borne them through the assault on Salem's palace. The Hunters weren't much better- many weren't even from Atlas, and were only following along because they knew Atlas would brand them as criminals, and likely try to off them if given the chance. The rescue mission to the Dust had done some to raise spirits, but the prevailing sentiment amongst the Loyalist army was a desperate defiance. In some ways, that was good- few of these warriors were liable to turn and run. Still, that was just the silver lining. There were hushed whispers and bitter laughs cut short whenever Jaune drew close. It was clear that most of the ALA believed that this would be their final stand.
In all fairness, Jaune found it hard to fault them. They were somewhat outnumbered, but that wasn't the main issue. The main issue was logistics. Assuming they could keep good supply lines open, which was already uncertain, they'd still have a very limited time before they were running on fumes. Jacques would want the battle to become a siege, because that was a fight the Loyalists would lose. A prolonged conflict in the army's current state was a death sentence.
They needed a decisive strike that would immediately disorient the defenders so that the Loyalists could gain ground and overwhelm isolated Schnee units. Admittedly, it was a risky plan, but the other commanders had agreed that killing Jacques was their best bet to end the war quickly, and speed was of the utmost importance here. Besides the supply issue, the longer this fight drew on, the worse the damage would be to Atlas when it emerged from the other side.
That was all well and good, but it still didn't address the main issue.
There would be no winning this war if the troops didn't believe it could be won.
/-/
Jaune barreled forward towards the Atlesian Hunter holding a grand zweihander. The speed caught the man off guard, and his counterattack was quick but just slightly off-course. Jaune deflected it off of Crocea Mors as he dropped something to the floor. The Atlesian was too well trained to take his eyes off his opponent, which meant he was caught entirely off guard when the flashbang went off right in front of him. The effects were diminished without direct eye contact, but Jaune knew from experience that at this range, the soldier would still be blinded for a few seconds. He took the opportunity to get beside the man, cleave his blade across the enemy's armor, and grab at his sword. Blind and working on instinct, the hunter still had enough presence of mind to hold tight to his blade, but Jaune's grip forced the man's arm back, preventing any block or counterattack. Jaune slashed across the chest again and again, and then kicked out at his opponent's knee. The soldier stumbled and Jaune took the opportunity to slam into him and knock him prone. With that, Jaune plunged his blade down, and a loud beep sounded throughout the room.
Jaune turned a corner in the blocky halls of the adaptive training arena in the center of the Faith in Technology. He spotted a fresh opponent trading shots with Ruby and wasted no time, pouncing towards the woman in a captain's uniform. She turned to face him, landing a few rounds from her submachinegun before he closed the distance and shunted her backwards with a thrust of his blade. The woman flicked a long knife free of its' sheathe, and Jaune quickly had to reposition his blade to block the stab racing for his heart. His offhand drew another special surprise from his left holster. He brought a sawn-off shotgun to bear at point blank range and emptied both barrels into the captain's gut. She staggered backwards with a gasp, and he took the opportunity to whip her with the grip of the shotgun and send her toppling. Reversing his grip on Crocea Mors, he stabbed down into her prone body. Another beep sounded, and the captain swore. Jaune turned again, and saw Marrow's opponent ducking for cover. He dropped his blade and whipped out his pistol from the right holster, landing three clean shots on the man's arm and torso as he retreated. He made to move towards Velvet and finish the last enemy, but before he could, he heard the boom of Crescent Rose, and a horn sounded. The match was over.
Not a bad showing. His teammates had each kept their opponents on their toes, and the Atlesians had done well considering both his team's experience, and his own bag of tricks. Were there more time and resources, he'd have liked train the entire army, or at least the Hunters, on the simple utility offered by backup weapons and grenades. Unfortunately, their armory and time were both far too limited to make that feasible. Still, he trusted his soldiers. They'd beaten Salem- they could take Jacques' mercenaries and traitors.
This had been but one of Jaune's many training exercises that their little strike team had gone through in preparation for their upcoming mission- the assassination of Jacques Schnee. Pietro had been as good as his word, and they were ready to infiltrate SDC comms and track Jacques' position at the push of a button. For now, they'd held off activating the code. It'd be no use to them if Atlas purged the virus from their system before they arrived, and showing their hand too early would give Jacques advance warning of their arrival. For the time being, Jaune's unit had focused on their part of the plan- the practical. Across various matches, they'd sparred with most every willing hunter in the fleet in preparation for the raid.
Jaune extended his hand again to the Atlesian captain as she rose from the floor, and the woman rose to her feet on her own, then shook it. She removed her helmet, revealing caramel skin, cyan eyes, and two bone-white cow's horns on her scalp. Captain Holsteyr was her title, and she was the woman in charge of the Faith in Technology, the biggest warship Atlas had ever built. "That was some damn good fighting sir. If I didn't know any better I'd have guessed you graduated from Atlas Academy."
"Nope. Vale born and Beacon bred, all the way, Captain."
The woman smirked and shook her head. "Permission to speak candidly sir?"
"Permission granted."
"Don't be getting overconfident, but you're one of the better fighters I've seen. I heard the reports about the tower fight, but seeing it up close- you're better at fighting other people than most of the soldiers in my command. Hell, most hunters I've met too. You got your license less than a year ago, and you didn't even finish your time at Beacon. How'd you do it?"
"The simple answers would be hard work and necessity. The less simple ones would take too long. I might be young, but I've been fighting Salem's pawns for years. I had to learn fast to stay alive."
The woman gave a hesitant nod. The conversation died out quickly, but just as she was about to leave, Jaune remembered the other reason he'd scheduled this spar. "Wait- Captain. I had a question for you."
Holsteyr turned back, stone-faced.
"I wanted to know about Atlas' special forces units- whether or not we'd have to go up against them hunting Jacques. I'm not clear on what happened to the Specialists or the rest of the Ace Ops."
Holsteyr raised an eyebrow. "A bit late to be asking that question now. Plans are mostly finalized, and we're three days out from the kingdom."
Jaune didn't respond, and the woman relented. "The Ace Ops are a nonfactor. Marrow is on our side, and the rest are confirmed KIA. Clover died trying to protect Ironwood from Tyrian Callows. Vine and Elm were captured after a prolonged fight, and executed by Jacques himself. Harriet was found dead surrounded by several squads' worth of SDC corpses."
Jaune remembered, and shame washed over him. He hadn't been the most present at the time- what with Penny's death and the fall of the city, the loss of the Ace Ops had slipped into the background. He'd barely known them at all, and back then they'd had a suicide mission to plan anyways. He'd really forgotten about their deaths.
Jaune had a feeling he knew why Marrow was so eager to volunteer for this mission.
He collected himself. "And the Specialists?"
Holsteyr shrugged at him. "Not a problem unless you've got a time machine in your pocket. The Specialists were disbanded about a decade ago."
Jaune stifled his surprise as best he could. "Really? I wasn't aware."
The captain shrugged. "They didn't last long to begin with. Last straw was a botched mission cleaning up after a Dr. Merlot."
So team November was well and truly gone. It had been a fool's hope anyways- even when he'd fought alongside them, they'd barely been able to beat back Tyrian Callows in Merlot's abandoned lab. Without him there, November hadn't stood a chance. Jaune clenched his teeth and pushed on. "I see. Sorry for wasting your time captain."
"Not at all. I'm happy to help, and at least we got a good spar in."
"That we did. Shame it was such a quick one."
"Is that a challenge?"
"Maybe."
She placed a hand on her hip. "Don't write checks you can't cash."
"Interesting. I seem to remember it was I that beat you, captain."
She smirked. "No idea what you're talking about, sir."
Ruby waited off to the side as Jaune chatted with Holsteyr. What she heard did not set her mind at ease. Sure, they'd never been the closest friends with the Ace Ops, but had Jaune truly just forgotten about their deaths? They'd run missions together multiple times, and for the whole trip to the Grimmlands Marrow had been deathly quiet and barely talked to anyone. Ruby had been a bit scared to approach him. She felt like that should have been hard for Jaune to miss. It wouldn't have bothered her as much if he hadn't been so attentive to Ruby's own well-being as of late. He'd been there for her all the way.
And what was with the focus on the Specialists? She'd never even heard of the group. Jaune didn't seem the type to research special forces units in his free time, and if he was the type, why hadn't he known about their dissolution? Beyond that, there was something else. The same odd confidence he'd had at the Dust was present, but it went deeper than that. He had a level of calm, projected a sense of control. Had she really missed that much of his growth? She remembered Jaune as tense, his emotions running just below the surface, threatening to lash out at any moment. She remembered a fighter who was the weakest of them all bar Oscar, and compensated with brute force and desperation.
She'd seen how he carved through Grimm at the Dust. Obviously he still had the capacity for brute force, but during that fight it hadn't felt like force was his strategy- just a means to an end. He used brute force to break down his enemies after he caught them off guard.
On one hand, that was reassuring. It meant Jaune had mellowed out, grown both stronger and wiser for his experiences.
On the other hand, it confused her deeply. Scarcely two weeks ago they'd struck at Salem's tower, and that Jaune seemed markedly different to the one in front of her. That Jaune had been primal, brutish by comparison. He used no gun or bomb, merely a sword, shield, and hatred. The one before her now landed shots with ease, fought like a veteran, and had unquestionably dominated his opponent in a duel with other Hunters, enough so that he'd had the time to finish off Ruby and Marrow's targets for them.
Ruby was shocked to find that it scared her.
She had been scared for Jaune before- that was nothing new. Learning that he'd faked his way into Beacon was a shock, and for a while after she found out she'd babied him- both for his safety, and, if she were honest, because it felt nice to protect someone else instead of being babied herself. After Pyrrha... after Pyrrha, Jaune'd been lost in his own head, and though he'd started to come out of it by the time they got to Atlas, the fall of Atlas had brought it right back to the fore.
She wasn't used to being scared of Jaune, however.
His reflexes were faster than she remembered. He used grenades and sidearms, and struck each and every blow decisively. His aim had remained solid, and this wasn't the first time in their training matches that he'd bested his foe well before the rest of them. He put his opponents off balance and then used their momentary weakness to utterly crush them. It was still brutal, but it was a much more purposeful brutality. Jaune used to be aggressive because he was angry. Now it felt like he was aggressive because it was effective.
That still wasn't the full depth of it. Those things bothered her, yeah. They were weird, and concerning, but there was something else, something bigger, on the tip of her tongue.
Ruby's thoughts drifted back to his team. Her team. Their friends. Ruby crushed her emotions down as she tried to think. It had been two weeks, and those two weeks felt like infinity. When she fell asleep, she still saw the frozen, smiling faces in the caskets. She felt like every other night she woke in a cold sweat imagining Yang and Blake and Weiss reaching out to her for help as they were struck by the killing blow, and she was always too slow to save them.
The cruelest dream hadn't been a nightmare- it had been a normal day with her team back at Beacon. Weiss was harping on about some project as Blake buried herself in a book, and then Yang cracked a pun so terrible that laughter shook Ruby awake. There, in her dark, pristine quarters, she'd remembered what had happened. She tried to cling on to the laughs and smiling faces, but they all drifted back to Yang's last smile as her insides spilled onto dark stone tiles.
She didn't know how long she'd cried for that night.
With that, Ruby finally figured out what was bothering her the most.
Jaune was fine.
And that was precisely what scared her, more than any of his new skills or personality quirks. He'd cried when he visited her in the medbay, and at the funeral, but beyond that she'd caught scarcely a stray tear, harsh word, or self-pitying remark from him. He had been kind, and comforting, and understanding. He'd barely cried, or yelled, or reminisced. He'd been there for her when she needed him, never once taking a moment to himself.
Jaune wasn't grieving. At all. That was terrifying. In Ruby's mind, that meant one of two things- that he was suffering in silence, behind closed doors, or that he'd been bottling up his grief entirely and refusing to let it affect him. Ruby liked to think she knew a thing or two about grief, and Jaune's level of calm was unnatural. He seemed scarcely shaken by his loss, and she knew for a fact it would come back to bite him if he didn't address it. He was setting himself up for a breakdown. That couldn't happen. Atlas needed him in command, but more than that, she couldn't let him fall apart. He was her friend. Her first friend at Beacon, one of her best friends in the world, and currently, her last friend left alive.
That still left the question of what to do about it. For now, Jaune seemed to be doing ok, but that could change at any moment. If she left it unchecked, she'd have no idea when he'd finally succumb to his pain, but if she confronted him and botched it, he could turn into an emotional wreck in the middle of leading a war.
Still, better he might have a meltdown now than guarantee one in the future. Ruby resolved to bring it up with him the next time they had a moment.
Jaune, conversation concluded, headed her way with Velvet and Marrow in tow. As they approached, she tried to shift her mind to happier topics. She was getting along well with Velvet, and though Marrow was still quiet and reserved, he had reason to be, and it wasn't getting in the way of his combat effectiveness. The team was impromptu, but they were all highly skilled. It could certainly work.
"Something on your mind Ruby?"
Jaune jarred her out of her thoughts. "What?"
"You looked a little lost in your own head there. You ok?"
Ruby spluttered out a response. "Yeah- well, no, but... actually, there's something I wanted to talk to you about."
"Can it wait till tonight? We arrive in Atlas tomorrow, and I've got a speech to survive in about twenty minutes."
Ruby composed herself. "Yeah, sure."
"Cool. I promise we'll come back to it Rubes. For now though..."
Jaune strode to the door. "...duty calls."
/-/
Jaune wasn't literally going on stage in front of everyone in the fleet, but he felt he could be forgiven for feeling like it. In the pristine, compact auditorium of the Faith in Technology, rows upon rows of soldiers were packed in like sardines- most of the ship's crew had turned out for the event. Worse, there were cameras pointed at the stage from all around the room, meaning he'd be broadcast out to the rest of the fleet as well. He'd thought long and hard about what to say to the brave souls under his command on their last peaceful night- writing, rewriting and editing his notes in between dozens of meetings and spars. In the end, he'd settled on something simple, and more than a little inspired by commanders of the past. He'd run it past Marrow, and the guy'd given him the go ahead. Now all that was left was to give it his best shot.
Jaune took a deep breath as he stepped out onto the stage, and walked towards the podium.
The room was eerily quiet. Scarcely a soul moved in the ranks of scarred white armor. Even the Hunters and students in their little cluster near the front were still. He reached the podium, set down his papers with a rustle, took another deep breath, and tapped the microphone.
The feedback echoed throughout the room, and fighting back a wince, Jaune paused for the noise to die away, clamped his hands on the edge of the podium, and started to talk.
"Ladies and Gentlemen. We'll be arriving in Atlas tomorrow, likely in the early afternoon. I know that my command style isn't quite what most of you are used to, but I still ought to say a few words. I'll keep it brief."
"By tomorrow night, we will have made contact with the enemy. We will bring war to Atlas once more. I take no pleasure in the act, but as it stands, my hand has been forced. Jacques is waltzing the kingdom to its' demise, keeping Atlas citizens in the mines under threat of violence from his traitorous army that killed your commanders and friends for crimes no greater than loyalty and a sense of morality. Soon, we will return to avenge them."
"I cannot offer you a fair deal. A fair deal would see the return of your homes, your livelihoods, your friends and family taken from you so unjustly. Instead, I have little to offer but blood, sweat, and tears. I cannot lie to you and say that this war will be easy. I cannot lie to you and say it will be bloodless. But I can offer you one piece of knowledge: Jacques is afraid of us."
A few in the crowd murmured at that, but Jaune drowned them out as he continued.
"He commands more ships than we, more soldiers than we, and yet it is he who cowers behind his walls. And I, for one, believe he is right to be afraid."
"For when I look over those in front of me, I see survivors. Those who through force of indomitable will managed to do the impossible and kill the unkillable. Jacques fears us because he knows, deep down in his mind, that he cannot break us."
"Look around at yourselves, your comrades, brothers and sisters in arms. Together, we strode into the jaws of hell and out the other side. We waded through oceans of elder Grimm, endured storms made of Nevermore, slew dragons and monsters forged from our worst nightmares, and when the sun rose over the ashen wastes, we were the ones who stood victorious."
"Now look at Jacques- a vulture striking his own countrymen in his thirst for power, shackling the innocent and forcing them into the deepest mines of Mantle, underequipped and scarcely protected, as the city works itself to an early grave."
"Look at his army- mercenaries and turncoats, those too greedy or weak to stand up for their brothers when the world stands on the brink. Sure, Jacques may have manpower, but his men have no loyalty, no spirit, no drive. This is his bulwark against the best and brightest of our world? Those of us who tamed the Grimmlands themselves? They cannot compare to what I see before me. Though they stand in gleaming white, it reveals them for what they really are- toy soldiers. Untested, ineffective, and prone to break at the mildest push."
"This is what is arrayed against us? A rookie army of fools and cowards, scarcely one competent leader between them? How can they hope to defeat us? No, my friends, Jacques is scared because he sees the writing on the wall. He hears the tolling of the bell, and knows that we are the reaper come to call."
"Jacques is all that holds them together. He will live just long enough to see his pitiable empire crumble around him before the swift hand of justice grants him the mercy of death, and from the ashes of his follies a new kingdom will rise, a nation of the resilient and resourceful, to safeguard the light of humanity from the dark. And one day, in the far future, your descendants will look back on this fight as the finest hour of mankind- where, against the odds, the heroes toppled the mad king and ushered in a new era of prosperity. They will live in a world where the Grimm are but mindless fodder, and they are able to sleep soundly without the fear of monsters in the night."
"This war will be hard fought. I have no doubt that new names will need to be added to the halls of heroes at the end of it. I cannot promise you safety, or wealth, or the return of so much that has been lost. But I can certainly promise you one thing that Jacques does not have: Hope."
Jaune stopped, and loosened his vice-grip on the podium as he looked out over the crowd. He swallowed. Someone started applauding. From there, it spread like wildfire, and the regimented lines of soldiers broke into cheers, pumping fists in the air and bellowing out their anger, sorrow, and fear. Somewhere in the storm of voices, the vented hurt and hatred coalesced into something altogether different- a determination, but not one borne of desperation. It was the noise of thousands of people united behind a purpose and an ideal. The sound of the flames of belief catching in the tinder of weary regiments hungry for meaning and hope. The chanting built to a deafening cacophony as they stomped their feet into spotless white tile.
Jaune breathed out, and smiled.
Outside, a flock of seagulls turned towards the strange white shapes floating over the water, and spared a moment of primitive curiosity for the faint dull roar that could be heard emanating from deep within the belly of each and every one.
/-/
When Jaune exited the room, he found his little strike team making their way towards him. Marrow caught him first. "Way to go general Arc!"
Jaune looked to Marrow in shock. "What? I'm not a general. I don't even have a rank."
"Jaune, you're a general in all but name now. You're the one people are looking to for the final say on battleplans, everyone else builds their schedule around yours, and I get the slightest inclination the troops might like you."
"It wasn't that special Marrow."
Ruby cut in. "Jaune, you got a near unanimous standing ovation."
"Well-"
She cut him off. "From every ship in the fleet."
"Hey-"
"Some of the officers are currently tossing around the idea of actually promoting you."
Jaune paused and blinked twice before continuing. "Wait, really? All I did was give a stupid speech."
Marrow snorted. "Yeah, a stupid speech that lit a fire under the ass of everyone here and got them to stop moping around waiting for the reaper. It's not just that either. You've adapted surprisingly well to command for some upstart out of Beacon. The Dust rescue went off without a hitch. Actually, come to think of it, are you sure you aren't Atlesian?"
"Positive."
"You could've fooled me. I didn't think you had a nationalist bone in your body."
Jaune smiled. "I don't."
Marrow raised an eyebrow.
"That, in there? That wasn't nationalist rhetoric. My goal wasn't to whip them into a frenzy. I just wanted to give them hope. They seemed to think this war was a foregone conclusion, but it's really not. Jacques does have numbers, but our troops are far more disciplined and experienced. He should be afraid. He's not prepared to go toe to toe with someone who can actually fight back."
Marrow grinned and shook his head. "Like I said, could've fooled me. I knew it was a good speech, but I didn't peg you as a good speaker."
Jaune scratched his head and looked off to the side with a grin. "I guess I picked up a thing or two on our travels."
"Yeah, and damn fast to boot. When I met you the first time, you could barely stay out of your own head long enough to hold a conversation."
"Hey, I wasn't that bad." Jaune protested- weakly.
Marrow rolled his eyes. "You don't have to go into full blown denial, Jaune. I met you like, two months ago. Yes, you really were that bad."
"You really were." Ruby said.
"Yep." Velvet agreed.
Velvet shrunk into herself a little as Jaune turned to her, the girl as awkward as ever, but that didn't stop her from continuing. "I only ever met you at Beacon, and even back then all you could talk about was doubt, training, and whatever mission you were assigned to."
Jaune winced, but they weren't wrong. He'd been so single-minded back then, and only the passage of time had let him realize how insufferable that must have been for everyone. After Pyrrha's death, he buried himself in training and fighting, because to take a break felt like spitting on her memory. He knew now how stupid that had been. Pyrrha wouldn't have appreciated his efforts much if he got himself killed by turning up to battle exhausted. It was a matter of luck and his teammates' skill that let him survive his own stupidity.
"Yeah, come to think of it, it was pretty terrible." Jaune conceded.
His team shuffled on their feet, unsure of what to say. Ruby collected herself first. "Jaune- I hope you know that I care about you, but... it hasn't been that long since you started getting better. You were that stuck in your ways during the tower assault."
Jaune's fist clenched as he realized his mistake. "Yeah. Yeah, I guess I was. It's just... it feels like so long ago, even though I know it's only been a couple weeks."
If Marrow caught the hesitation, he didn't voice it. The man's smile faded, and he stared pointedly at the gleaming tile floor. "I... I think I know what you mean. It hasn't even been a month, but it's been the longest few weeks of my life. I still see them when I close my eyes."
Something pattered onto the floor. It was a sight Jaune had never expected to see- Marrow was crying.
Marrow's words came out hoarse and thin, like the rustling of reeds in the wind. "I just- it happened so fast. One night Clover was ordering us a pizza as we waited for project Amity to launch, and the next morning the army was fighting itself in the streets. I wasn't even there when Clover died- he'd arrived at work early to talk over some last minute security changes with the general. The rest of us got jumped. Harriet got away, but Elm, Vine, and I got captured. Winter was the only reason we weren't killed on the spot. She ordered them to take us alive. Then Jacques showed up, and he was going to execute us anyways, and Winter- she cut me free and launched me out of the plaza. Jacques didn't even wait to hear her talk- he just ordered her shot on the spot. Winter was good, but not good enough to take on three squads at once. Or maybe she just couldn't bring herself to really fight her dad. I don't know. I just- I was afraid and tired and low on aura and if I charged back in I just would've died with her. So... I ran. And Elm and Vine died. Two days later they found Harriet's body. I'm the last one left. Like you I suppose."
Velvet slouched and clung to herself, and soon words spilled from her between shaky breaths, like the very core of her being had been rattled. "Me- me too. We were in Vacuo when it fell. We were searching the sewers because someone reported a rogue Grimm in the city. Then the sandstorm kicked up, and sand just started pouring into the tunnels. I made it to the ladder and climbed out, but I was barely fast enough. Coco was right behind me, but the sand just kept coming and coming. I grabbed onto her wrist, but it had already piled up around her waist and I couldn't see Yatsu and Fox anywhere. I-I watched her get buried alive. I pulled and pulled, but more of it just kept falling and falling, and before I knew it I was half buried, and she was under the sand and I couldn't pull her out and-"
Velvet broke down entirely into sobs. Jaune hadn't seen the Ace Ops die, but he'd seen the fall of Vacuo. Cinder and Omaira hadn't gotten their hands on the Relic of Destruction, but the tenuous alliance between the two maidens had proven enough to summon the worst sandstorm in written history, burying Vacuo alive. Most of the people had ended up surviving.
'Most' was still far from all of them.
Jaune stepped over and wrapped Marrow and Velvet in a hug. Admittedly, he was never the best with sentimentality, but it seemed to help. Velvet leaned in, and Marrow tensed, but slowly relaxed his muscles. Ruby, fighting back tears of her own, thudded into the group from behind, and there they stood for a good few minutes, huddled in their shared sorrow. When they broke off, Velvet took a deep, shaky breath and shot off a weak smile. Marrow simply nodded to Jaune, and Ruby fidgeted awkwardly.
"Thank you, Jaune." Ruby said. "I think we needed that."
Jaune smiled wide and waved it off. "It's nothing."
"Don't sell yourself short, man." Marrow came.
Marrow stared to the floor. "Alright. I might as well ask, since I can't feel much worse than I already do. What does that make us?"
Jaune frowned. "What do you mean?"
Velvet spoke next. "The four of us. I think what Marrow, uh, wants to ask is- well, are we a team or not?"
Ah. Right. That. "If you're all up for it, then yeah. I'd be honored."
Ruby nodded immediately, but Velvet and Marrow hesitated.
Jaune winced. "I'm sorry. Did I say something wrong?"
Marrow side-eyed him, then snorted. "No. It's just- hard to move on. Still, I guess we don't really have any other options. Plus, I don't think the rest of them would want me to mope around while there's still work to do."
Vel smiled. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure Coco would kick my ass if I gave up now."
Ruby giggled.
"So, boss. What's out name?" Marrow asked.
"What?"
"Our team name. Every Hunter team's got one."
"Ah. Good question."
Jaune had never had reason to ask Ozpin about team naming, and right about now he wished he had. What names did their initials even make? AAVR? JARS?
Ah, Screw it.
"Actually, I was thinking about something a bit unconventional. Something new. To pay our respects to the dead, and signify that we won't repeat the mistakes of the past."
They all looked to him with curiosity.
"Team Phoenix."
They stayed silent. Marrow tapped his chin with his pointer finger, then nodded. Velvet gave a quick, curt nod, and Ruby followed suit with an inscrutable smile.
"It's settled then. Team Phoenix. We'll have our first mission together tomorrow. But for now, let's relax some. Enjoy the moment."
The team agreed, and conversation moved on to lighter topics. There was plenty of reminiscing about older, simpler times, and though the pain of so many lost friends did not vanish, it faded into the background. Jaune liked to imagine they were watching over this conversation. Heck, knowing what he knew about the afterlife, he'd bet on it. He wondered if his friends up there knew what had happened when he took Salem's deal, or if they'd get to find out from him.
He still had no idea what to do about that. Revealing his secret to the whole world would be a good way to get himself institutionalized, and as for Marrow and Velvet, he'd really not known them very well. They'd be able to accept his personality changes. Ruby, though? He felt Ruby deserved to know, but more than that, he didn't know if he could keep her from figuring it out. Ruby had known him well before he'd left, and she was bound to notice the changes eventually. He'd been able to get away with being Jaune Ashari-Schnee in the other world because when he arrived, he was a completely unknown factor. Jaune Ashari had the luxury of only revealing as much of his past as he wanted to. But Ruby already knew Jaune Arc. Had known him for years. Jaune Ashari-Schnee was a fundamentally different person, and though Ruby was still a little socially awkward, she was far from blind. He'd have to be careful around her, or she'd start to get suspicious.
After a while Marrow and Velvet made their exits, and as Jaune made his goodbyes, he found Ruby still beside him. It had been so long since he stood beside Ruby, this Ruby, that he'd begun to forget things. This Ruby was taller, leaner, older than the other had ever been, and the same went for the Huntress-in-training he'd often remembered her as. Still, some things never changed. They all had the same laugh, and the same twinkle in their eyes. It was nostalgic, but a little painful. For the most part, she was the same old Ruby, and he was not the same old Jaune. He was older, but beyond that he was more jaded, more veteran, and looser with his morals. Jaune might once have refused to ally with Raven, for instance. They had made pretty fast friends considering he knew that she'd abandoned her daughter and refused to actually help fight the enemy threatening all of existence. Still, he couldn't say he truly regretted it. Raven was fucked up, but she had been a good friend, who had saved Jaune's life more than once and been instrumental to the fall of Salem. He wondered if Ruby would've accepted that compromise. He had a feeling that she'd never have given Raven a chance. It went against her principles.
Ruby nudged him, jolting him out of his thoughts.
"Hey, Jaune..." She trailed off.
Taking a deep breath, and tense as could be, she continued. "Are you ok?"
Jaune was taken aback. "Uh, yeah. Why do you ask? Is something wrong?"
Ruby's eyes darted to the side. "Yes- well, no, but- arghh. Can you stop that?"
"Stop what?"
Ruby stared him in the face. "Redirecting the conversation! Every time I ask you if you're doing ok you deflect and ask about me instead."
"Maybe that's because I care about you?"
Ruby pouted. "I know that! I care about you too, but that still doesn't answer my question!"
Jaune smiled. "Actually, it kind of does. I said yeah. I'm doing okay, but clearly something's upsetting you."
She frowned. "Yeah! You are."
Jaune recoiled slightly. "What?"
"You keep insisting that you're ok, but you're not! You can't be. It's not been two weeks since- since the tower, and you're trying to act like you've already moved past it all. I know you haven't. I haven't! They-they were our friends. Ever since the funeral you've been burying yourself in work, and you're not taking any time to rest. To come to terms with losing them! I know you have to be hurting in there, and I can't just sit by and let you ignore your feelings, because then it's just gonna blow up in your face later!"
Jaune felt a pang of guilt at that, and then a n edge of panic. The truth was that he'd long since moved on from the loss of his friends. But Ruby didn't know that. To her, he must've looked like he was refusing to acknowledge what had been lost. "I'm sorry Ruby. I didn't realize it was upsetting you so much. I've been taking time to think about them. It's just been in my free time, alone. I've found that it works best for me."
Ruby's eyes narrowed. "I don't want you to apologize to me, I want you to take care of yourself. And what free time? You've been ridiculously busy. The only reason we even have the chance to talk right now is because you decided you cleared your schedule to get a good night's sleep before the first battle."
"I know I've been busy, Ruby, but I promise you I'm not just letting it fester. I think about it before I go to bed every night. I haven't forgotten."
Ruby looked down to the side and bit her lip. "You promise?"
Jaune forced himself to breathe evenly.
"You promise me you're not just saying that to make me feel better? I- we've been through so much, and I don't want to watch you fall apart. I don't want to lose you."
Jaune could hear the unspoken words: I can't lose you too.
Jaune swore internally, and chose the lesser of two evils.
"I promise."
Some part of him wanted Ruby to call him out. He wasn't technically lying, but he was sure as hell stretching the truth.
It didn't happen.
Ruby wanted to believe him, but Jaune knew there was more to it than Ruby's trusting nature. There were many things that Jaune Ashari had over Jaune Arc, but there were a few new skills which were certainly useful, but he doubted he'd ever be truly proud of. For example: Jaune Ashari was a much better liar.
Ruby smiled, the faintest hint of a shimmer in her eyes. It wrenched at Jaune's heart, but he kept up the front. He had to. He wasn't ready to explain himself to Ruby. He'd left this world behind. Salem's spell had spit him back out soon enough to set things right, but it didn't change the fact that he'd selfishly thrown it all away on the slightest chance that he and he alone might get to live a better life in a world that didn't belong to him, while his own still needed saving.
Beyond that, how was he supposed to broach the topic? Where would he even start his story? He couldn't just insert a detailed account of a decade in another world into a casual conversation.
Oh yeah, by the way, I left for ten years, got married to Weiss' sister, adopted Emerald and Vernal, uncovered the lost history of our planet, discovered a looming apocalypse due to magic shortage, killed Salem, saved your parents and your uncle, and did it all with minimal casualties without a single kingdom falling apart. Oh, also I killed Oscar and Ozpin killed Weiss' mom. Does that cover it?
Thinking of it like that made the notion seem ridiculous. No, he needed more time. He wasn't prepared for that conversation yet.
Until then, he'd just have to keep on lying.
/-/
Jaune was woken from his slumber by a heavy knock on the door. He yawned, stretched, and climbed out of bed, throwing on a uniform. He could tidy it up in a minute after he dealt with the visitor. He was in a bit of a poor mood to be honest, and not too miffed about grooming at the moment. Ruby's words still weighed on him, and being woken up early wasn't helping.
The knocking came again as he slipped on his shirt, and then intensified as he threw his white Atlesian jacket over it. "Hang on, hang on." He grumbled.
He opened the door, and any thought of sleep fled his mind. Marrow stood on the other side of the door, face grim.
"What is it?"
Marrow started walking, and waved for Jaune to follow. Jaune nearly stumbled as he exited the room, and was about to ask the question again when Marrow interrupted.
"We passed into radar range of Atlas a twelve hours ago. We definitely haven't gone unnoticed, because we've got six warships headed our way. Mostly smaller ones, but enough to score a kill or two if things go sideways. Our scanners don't reach as far as Atlas proper, so we only detected them ten minutes ago. ETA is 45 minutes. We're holding a last-minute meeting to confirm details of our response plan."
Jaune normally would have sighed at the notion of another meeting, but not here. Not now. Today would be the first day in which he asked the men and women of Atlas to commit fratricide. Their enemies may have been traitors, but though he kept his face neutral, Jaune found that the thought didn't make him feel much better. This war shouldn't need to happen. Atlas should be reaching out to aid the beleaguered kingdoms, not tearing into itself because of one man's insatiable greed. Unfortunately, there was nothing else to be done. Jacques had gone full dictator- there would be no calm, reasonable resolution to this conflict. One of them had to die. For the sake of everyone depending on him, Jaune was going to make damn sure he was the one left standing at the end.
The meeting passed in a blur. It seemed like everyone wanted his say on everything all at once, and Jaune scarcely finished each line of reasoning before the next demanded his attention. Jaune submerged himself fully in the rush. He was distantly aware that this meeting should be tiring, but shock and adrenaline kept him from really feeling it, and he plowed through with purpose.
Adrenaline and shock propelled him forward, but they were soon to be aided by paranoia. Ruby noticed it first. She still seemed uncomfortable in the room- she'd lead a small team of elite Hunter prodigies, but that didn't mean she slotted neatly into the hierarchy and logistics of a real war. Still, here her insight proved invaluable.
Her question had seemed innocuous enough at first. "Why are they so spread out?"
Jaune paused to consider it. Why indeed? Jaune did not claim to be a naval genius, but even his lackluster knowledge of tactics found the positioning of the oncoming ships odd. There were six enemy vessels on the radar, closing fast. That was to be expected. What was not expected was their method of approach. The ships were spread out into a wide crescent approaching the Loyalist fleet. Common sense would dictate that, in a situation where you are forced to attack when outnumbered and outgunned, you would want to retain as much unit cohesion as possible. He'd admit that a diversionary attack might have merit, but spreading your entire fleet out wasn't a diversion, it was just breaking it into isolated pockets. Jacques had to know they were outnumbered here, and Jaune would bet their scanners could detect the unique signature of the Faith in Technology. She was one of their biggest assets here- the largest warship in the Atlesian skyfleet, and equipped with the largest railgun ever built- the Blizzard cannon. Jaune had seen a prototype used to fire on Salem's tower in the other timeline, and it had devastating effect on target. Add to that the fact that of the remaining six ships, half were cruisers, you had a relatively small fleet, but one that still possessed an impressive amount of firepower.
Jaune looked at their own scanner readouts. The inbound fleet appeared to be two destroyers and four corvettes. It should be laughable. The enemy fleet was out of position, massively outgunned, assaulting a numerically superior and experienced foe that knew they were coming. They had no chance in a straight up fight. The best they could hope for would be massed fire to bring one of the Loyalist ships down with them.
And Jacques had to know that too.
Jaune's time with Winter had let him peer a little more into how Jacques Schnee ticked. In the other timeline he'd been a much happier, less tyrannical man by the end, but although he was never easy to read, there was one immutable constant throughout all of his decisions in both timelines. The man was never wasteful. He took every chance to cut corners, minimize loss, and maximize efficiency. Throwing a piddling armada at them that could be better used in conjunction with Atlas' other warships went against everything Jaune knew about the man. It just wasn't making sense.
Jaune drifted back to reality as the conversation died out, and expectant faces turned to him. The Schnee fleet was ten minutes out and closing.
"Alright. If that's all, then everyone get to your stations and be ready. I have the utmost confidence in all of you. If we can handle the Grimmlands, we can handle this. Don't underestimate them, but don't underestimate yourselves either. Dismissed."
Jaune rose and made his way to the doors. The rest of Team Phoenix dispersed haphazardly, none of them of particular use in an airship battle. Jaune let them leave, and found the woman he was looking for just before she slipped out of the room.
"Holsteyr!"
The captain turned to them.
"Let's walk and talk. I've got an idea on how to even the odds here."
"By your, tone, I'm guessing I'm not going to like it."
"I want us to take out their flagship immediately."
She raised an eyebrow. "I thought that was evident. It's their largest ship and it's holding the center."
Jaune mulled over his next words. "I know. I was wondering if we might use a little... overkill. Break out some of the special-issue shells."
"Overkill? Oh, don't tell me you want to fire off Blizzard to kill one destroyer. We've only got three shells left."
"Not Blizzard, no. Just a little extra expenditure of normal armor-piercing munitions. If nothing else, it'll send a signal."
She pursed her lips before answering. "Alright Arc. You'll get your overkill. I just hope you can foot the bill. Anti-ship dust shells aren't cheap."
He rolled his eyes with a slight smirk. "You can't charge your commander for using your weapons."
"Nope. But I might be able to charge a civilian who blows a few thousand lien in munitions on a fireworks show."
"That's a joke."
Holsteyr turned to her console and pored over the ship's diagnostics.
Jaune's smirk faltered an inch. "Hey. That's a joke, right?"
Holsteyr was unreadable. "No promises are made. You might wanna strap yourself in. Contact is imminent."
True to Holsteyr's word, six dirty white slivers snaked their way through the skies towards the Loyalist fleet.
/-/
It wasn't long before the chatter on the bridge trailed off. A tangible silence hung over the room, tension split only by a single voice. A weapons officer at the front of the room, reporting the distance to target rapidly decreasing.
Jaune had the presence of mind to issue firing clearance. "All units, clear to engage once enemy is within range."
Jaune noticed something odd about the enemy ships as they drew closer. The range was still too far for a good visual, but he could swear that the ships approaching the fleet were- scorched to high hell. A couple looked worse off than their own ships. The flagship's nose looked almost crumpled. Most of the main weapons emplacements were warped, on absent entirely. A glance at the other ships told a similar story- each bore terrible scars, and he couldn't believe some of them were even airworthy. It only fed his paranoia. Something was deeply wrong here.
The weapons officer spoke up again. "Enemy flagship is in range."
Jaune didn't hesitate for a moment. "Fire."
The ship shuddered slightly as two dozen lasers, railguns, and good old fashioned cannons sang.
The barrage slammed home into the advancing warship. The enemy ship's engines went to maximum burn, even as chunks were gouged from its already marred hull. Remarkably, the ship endured the first salvo. One engine sputtered sparks, fire was catching in at least three places, and Jaune could see cracks in the blackened prow, but it plowed onward. There was a tense quarter-minute as their weapons recharged, and then a second wall of fire streaked over the ocean. Jaune's nerves relaxed a fraction as a round tore through the flagship's gut. The brilliant blue light of the engines began to fade, and the airship began to glide gently down to the ocean's surface. Jaune turned to observe the rest of the battle-
A second sun bloomed over the open ocean.
The shockwave nearly knocked Jaune from his feet, and as he steadied himself he saw a horrendous ball of smoke and embers rising from where the enemy flagship had just sat. That blast had been monumental- they'd felt it from miles away. There was no way a little destroyer should go off like that. He'd never seen an explosion that large, except for-
No. No, no, Jacques you didn't.
He knew exactly what that explosion reminded him of. During Jaune Ashari's assault on Salem's tower, the witch had set off a massive Dust vein in an attempt to decimate the Hunters attacking her. He'd never forgotten the cloud of ash and cinders that detonation produced, and though the size of the ship's explosion wasn't nearly comparable, the smoke in front of him looked nearly identical. That ship had been filled to the brim with raw Dust. It had been a bomb waiting to go off.
Jacques had turned these vessels into suicide bombs.
Jaune fumbled for his radio earpiece. "All units, maintain distance from the SDC ships. They may be IEDs. I repeat, assume that every enemy vessel is a bomb. Engage from a safe distance."
For a few seconds, there was a tense silence, before an unfamiliar voice squawked into his ear. "This is Captain Blanc of the Scalpel. Our ship has taken serious damage from enemy fire. Our weapons are limited and engines are not responding. We cannot make it to a safe distance."
Jaune swore. The Scalpel was the smallest ship that had survived Salem's tower- it wasn't nearly as durable as the larger ships. If the enemy got close enough, the blast would surely atomize the wounded vessel. He turned to Holsteyr. "Captain, fire the Blizzard at the enemy ship on the northern flank. We can't let the Scalpel go down."
Holsteyr nodded solemnly, and the Faith in Technology angled northeast. The nose of the ship was aligned perfectly with the form of an Atlesian corvette with a few weapons still intact, rocketing towards the Scalpel. The hairs on Jaune's arms stood up. The room started to hum. A gargantuan barrel in the prow of the Faith opened wide, and began to glow a brilliant, blinding cyan. The electromagnets in the nose of the ship began to build up a murderous charge. Off to the south, three more SDC ships went up in fireballs, shaking the very skies. A ball of energy built up in front of the Faith's barrel, slowly swelling until it nearly obscured the front of the vessel. The ball of energy oscillated once, and then discharged with a resounding crack. Moving faster than Jaune could see, a spike flew from the front of the vessel and punched clean through the center of the little SDC corvette, nearly ripping the thing in half before another monumental blast shook the fleet. Mere seconds later, another explosion echoed over the water, and then it was finally silent. Clouds of ash swirled in the once-serene sky. Visibility was poor, and Jaune couldn't spot the Scalpel through the haze.
Jaune dared to try the radio. "Scalpel, report."
Please. Please tell me I wasn't too late.
Nothing. "Scalpel, report." He tried again.
Silence. "I repeat, Scalpel, please respond."
There was no response.
Until a good five seconds later, when static gave way to a voice. "Captain Blanc, reporting in. You got em just in the nick of time general. Excuse us for the slow reply, that explosion had us all a little rattled."
Jaune barked out a laugh into the radio, and tears of relief streamed down his face.
It was at that moment that Ruby burst into the room. "What's with the massive explosions?!"
Her voice softened immediately when she saw Jaune's face. "Jaune? Is everything ok?"
He smiled at her, and a palpable wave of exhaustion came crashing back into him. Running a war was hard work. He had no idea how Ironwood had managed it. Still, he grinned at Ruby, and reached out to ruffle her hair. "Yeah. Everything is fine Ruby. Thank the gods."
That wasn't exactly true, but it was close enough. Jacques' gambit had been terrifying, and it had nearly cost the lives of an entire ship's crew.
Still, something ate at him.
Jacques Schnee was never wasteful.
This had been a terrifying experience, sure, but it hadn't even come close to destroying the Loyalist fleet. Jaune wouldn't put turning ships into bombs past the man, but Jacques wouldn't do so lightly. Jacques would only make a play like this if he was confident that it would work.
Had he given the man too much respect? Had Jacques truly lost his cold, calculating mind and gone completely insane? It didn't seem possible. If killing his children hadn't done that already, Jaune doubted the Loyalists' return would push him over the brink. There was something more going on.
Jaune shook the thoughts aside. For now, he needed to rest. They hadn't expected the naval skirmish, and they'd still be arriving in Atlas in just a few hours now. He needed to be ready to fight. Jaune made his excuses, gave Ruby a hug, and headed back to his quarters, but not before shooting Pietro Polendina a message. Atlas definitely knew they were coming now, so the time for subtlety was past. At the click of a button, Pietro's code, adapted from Watts' own, began to worm its way into the bowels of the SDC's secure communications. It would take a little time for the program to find the high-priority messages, and to sort them properly. Once it had, they'd be left with neat, organized data that their analysts would use to point them straight to Jacques' location.
Seven Atlas warships soared onward through the smoke wrought of their traitorous siblings, and bore down on their home with weapons at the ready.
/-/
Nobody wanted to be the one to break the news. Eventually, an unfortunate corporal was chosen for the task, and the man looked like he'd been handed a death sentence. When the hefty door slid aside, he swallowed, hesitated, and then tentatively stepped into the room. The lights were out, except for the lamp at the small white desk in the corner. The rest of the room was immaculate, but the desk was a haphazard mess of strewn papers, mountains of reports and folders, and coffee stains. Sitting at the desk was Jacques Schnee. Jacques Schnee was also currently pointing a revolver at the unfortunate corporal.
"Why are you here?" Jacques sneered.
"The fleet runaways- they're back."
"I know. I sent a detachment out to deal with them. We may lose those vessels, but if we can put down this rogue army in one fell swoop it's a sacrifice we'll have to make."
"No, sir, the-the fleet was destroyed. They've all dropped off of scans."
Jacques tapped his chin with the barrel of the revolver. "Have they now? Pray tell, how? I sent six vessels out to take down one errant battleship, and they failed at that simple task? Did they disobey their spacing orders?"
"No sir, not from what we can tell. IFF reports and the last automated messages from the fleet indicate that they were properly spaced."
"Then what are you saying? The Faith is a fine vessel, but I refuse to believe it can hold off six ships attacking from different vectors at once, and then kill all of them before they can close to short-range when all six are moving at full burn."
"That's the thing- reports from the ships are fragmentary. Positional data is intact, as are damage reports, but there's been corruption of multiple threat analysis reports. A few did get through however. They reported signatures that suggest that at least 13 ships were present in the area."
The barrel of Jacques' gun froze on his chin. He leaned forward and lowered it to point lazily at the corporal. "You mean to tell me that our radar scans missed six entire enemy vessels once the were well inside scanner range."
The corporal had no response. Jacques grit his teeth, and his finger tensed on the trigger, before he collected himself and deposited his weapon on the desk. "I suppose you wouldn't know. You're not a technician. Send someone from the main scanner arrays in here at once. Heads will roll for this."
"Yes sir!" The corporal hadn't left a room faster in his life. He'd made it out, but by that look on Jacques' face, that just meant that some poor technician wouldn't. The corporal wasn't blind. The blood had long since been cleaned, but it was hard to miss the bullet holes matching a large caliber revolver that pockmarked the wall by the door.
/-/
I do want to say, we'll definitely still be having action scenes where Jaune is in the fray himself- just, not this time. Unfortunately, even Jaune Ashari-Schnee cannot stab a warship to death. I've been really enjoying writing this story recently- thank you all so much for the support. It's good for my ego, :).
And now for something new- responding to some reviews!
ReadYesyes- Coeur's Q&A states he's ok with people taking something or using material from his stories as long as it's credited. That said, I've sent him PMs, and if he asks me to take this story down, that's what'll happen. I don't expect it to happen- Coeur, at least to my knowledge, has been mostly chill with fanworks about his stories- but ultimately I'm not going to fight him over it if he requests a discontinuation. I respect the guy.
On to the rest of your message- yeah, Jaune is acting different. He is still rattled by his seeing his friends dead again, but he's long since come to terms with losing them and had time to develop a healthier method of grieving.
As for Whitley- he is, unfortunately, no longer with us. I mentioned it in the bit about the Atlas coup, and in Relic itself Winter and Whitley are both killed by Jacques. The only Schnee confirmed alive is Jacques himself.
And as for your ideas about the story going forwards- something something, no spoilers.
Sixsamchaos- I'm not familiar with the game, but it sounds interesting. I'll put it on the list for after I finally recover from Total War Warhammer 3 and Project Zomboid. And Ultrakill. And the Darktide Beta. I've realized that I'm addicted to too many games. I fear that if I ever bought Factorio, I'd vanish off the face of the Earth for a good two years.
fahriuchiha- Yep, there are a few other familiar faces joining the crew that weren't, to my knowledge, explicitly KIA. As for the rest of CFVY and the Ace Ops- yeah. They won't be along for this ride.
Dethcat- You know, when I first saw your review, I was tempted to say no outright, but then again, I did just make Jaune do a pretty militaristic speech about saving the world, so... I can't say you're 100% wrong. Somehow I don't quite see Jaune Ashari-Schnee desiring a personal empire though- he doesn't want to be a king. He wants to help people, yes, but more than that he wants to make up for his mistake of leaving in the first place.
Iwr1918- I remember Jaune saying something about possibly having been interested in Ruby, but I don't believe they ever actually started a relationship- they were too busy fighting Salem. Now? I daresay Jaune is quite different to who he was ten years ago, and was also happily married with kids two weeks ago.
hirshja- Yep. I like to think Ruby gave him a bit of a wake-up call this chapter though.