I didn't say it last chapter, but it was asked, so I'll explain it here. Why did I feel the need to have Ruby get a tooth knocked out? It's to show you (as I've said before) the differences between this society and canon Remnant. Here, you don't train until your aura is in the red like in normal Beacon. You train and fight until you can't keep fighting – because that's how combat with the Grimm will be. It's also to show that things like missing teeth, or nasty bruises, or even full on broken noses, aren't a big thing here. They're considered an everyday part of training, as opposed to training "accidents" like they would be otherwise.

Again, I could just have characters tell you things are bad, but I feel that showing it makes it better. It drives the point home. Ruby gets her tooth knocked out in training, and she doesn't care because it's not the first time that's happened. Ruby has grown up a child soldier here. Pain is a part of life for her.

Chapter 4

Things hadn't so much as improved as Jaune had gotten used to them. It was the same as when he first joined the Engineering Corps and went from a military academy to a barracks, and he supposed it was probably the same when he first went to school and stopped living at home with his mom and dad. Human resilience had long been touted as one of the primary reasons they, as a species, were still around. It was always mentioned on the news or on propaganda, not that the news wasn't propaganda – everything was. Still, it was propaganda against monsters, so no one complained too much about it.

The resilience of the people, the resilience of the spirit, the resilience of Vale. Jaune wondered if it wasn't said so often as a means of shaming those who weren't feeling so resilient into compliance. Don't complain about your conditions – be more resilient. What are you being miserable for? Be more resilient like your neighbours. Don't let the war effort down. Don't disappoint your ancestors. Don't be a part of the problem. Upset at being beaten to a pulp every training session? Grow some balls, figure out how to use your aura or just get good, scrub.

Jaune was yet to get good on the level of a huntsman or huntress, but he'd learned to stop complaining and roll with the punches. It was Ruby today who was giving them, and at least she was less biting about it than Velvet. The words, anyway. Ruby's little fists, reinforced with aura, were painful. He ducked under one and jabbed under her elbow, caught her chin and knocked her back. Stepping after her, he swung for her left cheek, only to catch her forearm raised to block. Ruby rolled her left arm over and around his, pinned it against her side and locked him in place, then smashed her right palm into his mouth. There was an audible crack in his jaw. Ruby let go of him and he staggered back, his hands held up for a timeout.

"Is it broken?" asked Ruby.

It hurt enough to feel like it, but Jaune shook his head. The pain felt like it was out of place or dislocated, but he was able to pull it back with a nasty sound ringing between his ears. The pain went away almost immediately. "I think it was just dislodged. You've a nasty hook."

"Yang's would have torn your head off."

He wasn't sure that was an exaggeration. Everyone was sparring as usual, and yet again Yang was being allocated against some of the best in their year group. It wasn't unusual for her fights to end in injury, which was why she had the rare rule of being told to stop when someone's aura broke. No one else did. Lieutenant-General Goodwitch was very clear that the Grimm wouldn't stop just because your aura did, so you were to keep fighting until either she said you were done, or you could no longer move.

"I'm good to keep going," said Jaune, bringing his fists back up. Ruby mimicked him, and soon they were at it again. Any pause longer than half a minute tended to draw the XO like a hawk to a fieldmouse, and Jaune had no intention of being the subject of her ire when he was already flagging well behind everyone else.

Aura had become no easier to control and he was beginning to think it never would. Sun had tried to help him outside hours with some old exercises from when he'd first been taught to use it, but they'd been trained since they were eleven and it showed. Everything he knew was slow and steady, like mastering an art, and it took more time than Jaune had. Even the Lieutenant-General knew that which was why she'd run with Scarlatina's suggestion and continued to put him through what she called "do or die training." He'd either learn to use his aura instinctively, or he'd die. The problem would be solved either way.

It was a fair approach in his mind. He'd be dead against the Grimm anyway like this, so he stomached the abuse and pushed on. In a way, all this brutality was their way of saying they were trying their best. It would have been a lot easier to just leave him with hopeless exercises and then send him out on a mission to die and wash their hands of him. If the XO was taking time out her busy day to order people to beat him up, it was because she cared enough to do so, and wanted to shape him into something at least tangentially close to a huntsman. He respected that. He was grateful for that, and the bruises, and the pain, and the frequent trip to the infirmary. Anything less would get him killed.

By the end of training, he was sore and bruised and bleeding from his nose, lip and with a nasty cut through his left eyebrow where Ruby's knuckle had caught him. He panted, stepped back and bowed to Ruby, who bowed back, drenched so heavily with sweat that her tank top was clinging to her skin and her black sports bra was showing through. She only had a black eye to her name, a frankly miraculous shot he'd snuck around her guard at a moment when she'd split his lip and caught her left eye. Ruby's aura had held, but she'd still taken a bruise for it.

"Cadet Rose," said their XO, as Jaune and Ruby snapped to attention and saluted. "How is his progress? Has his aura manifested?"

"He's alive, ma'am," said Ruby, in what had to be the frankest assessment that she could, if she wanted, have killed him. Jaune didn't doubt it. "I think he would have gone down in one hit if his aura wasn't at least dampening my hits."

"I see. Arc, your arm." Jaune held it out immediately, and Lieutenant-General Goodwitch held her scroll against it. The device beeped once and she drew it back. "You're at 16%. You've been using your aura subconsciously. Good work."

There was no smile on her face, no sign of her being impressed, but she had praised him and he knew that meant she believed he had deserved it. Anything less, and she would not have said a word. That was just the kind of person she was.

"Thank you, ma'am. And thank you for the training."

"It's not perfect, Cadet. I'll make that clear. Ideally, aura should protect you from everything until it is fully depleted, and then you take the full damage. Yours seems to dampen everything, removing what I imagine is a percentage of the force and letting the rest through. That may make your aura more economic – it will last longer – but it comes at the expense of your health."

"Will that be of use in the field, ma'am?"

"You'll be used in the field whether you have aura or not, but if you are asking if you will be valuable then I would say that depends on you. If you can push through the pain and avoid serious injuries then you might be able to last longer than most other huntsmen. Succumb to it or take a critical wound early because your aura couldn't dampen it enough, and you'll be a liability."

Jaune nodded. "Any advice, ma'am?"

"Learn where you can and cannot afford to take injuries and prioritise defending those areas. Sacrifice everything else." So, basically, cover his vitals and grit his teeth against the rest. That was about what he expected. "While I'm sure the researchers would love to run tests on exactly what percentage of hits your aura protects you against, it would break you to find the accurate number, and it wouldn't be any use anyway if this can't be replicated. You'll just have to make do. The two of you are dismissed."

Jaune and Ruby saluted again and waited until the XO had fully left before letting it fall. Jaune gasped for air, while Ruby giggled and slapped his arm. She'd had her gap tooth fixed by the dentists after Yang dragged her there kicking and screaming. Apparently, Ruby had been determined she could put up with it just fine and didn't need false teeth, but Yang would have nothing of it. He was a little surprised Vale cared enough to cater to such things when they weren't going to be living with full sets of teeth for long, but it apparently wasn't expensive in materials and the morale of the students was more important. The same reasons they ignored the flagrant rule breaking, drinking and taking of drugs. Not to mention the rules against sexual relations that were so blatantly ignored that Jaune wondered why they existed in the first place. He figured it was paying lip service to some old-fashioned rules that kept the people in charge happy.

They had a one hour slot after morning training for rest and brunch. The motto at Beacon seemed to be to eat little and often, presumably because they needed the fuel – or to refill after some people were driven to throwing up by the training. Beacon's food was good, and he found himself pleasantly surprised by it. They had week-old vegetables, chunky potatoes and plant-based meat alternatives rich in protein. Ruby excitedly told him that they even got real meat once a month.

"Real meat?"

"Real meat," confirmed Ruby, nodding. "You ever tried it?"

"I've had rat a few times," said Jaune, shrugging. His sister had caught it, and they'd cooked it over a fire. It had tasted dire. "And one of my squads caught a bird once, but it tasted of metal." On account of the bullet that had taken it down. "Neither were very good. What do you get here?"

"Chicken."

Chicken? Damn. He whistled, imagining it. Obviously, he knew about all the different kinds of meats that people used to eat – he'd been taught about it in school – but it was always hard to imagine whole fields being reserved for animals to just wander about and eat grass in. You could grow so many crops in that space, especially if you farmed them vertically. Not to mention crops didn't need to be fed in food that people could be eating like livestock would. It just wasn't efficient.

The same went for fish, which used to be abundant in the waters and rivers of Vale, but which had been driven away and destroyed by the Grimm. By all accounts, Grimm did not need to eat, and yet they ruthlessly hunted animals to extinction – but only in areas close to humans. He knew from records that animals were allowed to flourish in areas away from inhabitation, which only went to show this was a siege. It had been ten years since the last fishing vessels had been sunk, forced to roam ever further for catches until they touched the deep ocean and were ripped beneath the waves by gargantuan Grimm patrolling the waters. His parents had eaten fish, and his mom had always told him it wasn't that special. He knew it was because she hadn't wanted to make them jealous.

"When's the next meat ration? I'd love to try some."

"Two weeks. The last was just before you arrived."

"I just missed it?" Jaune groaned. "Just my luck." He picked up the plastic tray at the counter and followed Ruby, picking up a bowl of oats mixed with water, and then sprinkled with various nutritional powders and some vitamin mix. Probably some performance-enhancers as well, but you could never tell when it was all mixed together. They carried it over to a crowded table, then shimmied in next to Ren on one side and Yang on the other.

"Was wondering where you two were," said Yang. "Not getting up to anything untoward with my sister, were you?"

"Goodwitch held us back."

"Ugh." Yang's teasing grin vanished. Fun and their XO did not fit in the same sentence. "Not in trouble, are you?"

"Nah," said Ruby. "She just wanted to see how Jaune was doing. His aura is always on passively and dampens every hit he takes, apparently. Not sure how much. Maybe half the hit goes through, half is blocked."

"Better than none being blocked," said Ren.

"True." Jaune dug into his oatmeal and slurped it off the plastic spoon. It was thick, warm and not as bad as the food bars he was used to having in the field. Not as good as the MRE he'd been gifted by Beacon, however. "What's everyone up to? I don't see Blake around." He winced as a foot caught his under the table. Nora was twitching her head side to side. "Uhhh…"

"Guys, it's fine." Yang laughed weakly and turned to him. "Manticore Squad were sent on a mission. A Bullhead went down in contested land. They need to clear the area so some engineers can pick it apart."

A shame a team of huntsmen hadn't been sent with his squad when they were doing the same, but their area was meant to be safe. It wasn't, which meant that wherever Manticore Squad had been sent was probably a hotspot. It wasn't like Vale could just surrender a full aircraft, though. Those didn't grow on trees.

"I'm worried, obviously," continued Yang, "but it's not like I'm going to bite your heads off if you mention it." She flicked her finger toward Nora, miming flicking food. No one ever would on account of how hungry they were. "I'm not that bad. Not sure where you got it on your head that I am."

"Hm. I wonder," said Ren. "Could it have been that time Ruby was sent on an assessment alone and you nearly tore off your own arm in worry? I asked if you were okay and you decked me."

"Ruby is my sister. And you startled me."

"I was sat next to you!"

"And Ruby is right here," drawled said girl. "And I was totally fine. Yang is a worrywart," she told Jaune. "I mean, it's almost like I'm a huntress or something. Imagine being expected to go out alone. I had my gasmask on and everything."

"I just don't like it when the squad is broken up," said Yang. "Doesn't feel right for one or some of us to be sent out and the rest stay back. Stick together, fight together-" Yang held her fist out over the table.

"Die together," said Sun, Ren, Nora and Ruby, holding their fists to hers.

Jaune echoed it quickly, if only a second later. He liked the idea of it – especially given his failure to follow it on his last few squads. Being the sole survivor wasn't something to be proud or happy about. It just meant you had to live with the memories, the questions and the doubts. He didn't blame Yang wanting to die with her sister than live without her, even if they were only sisters because they grew up in the same vat-farm.

"How are you feeling with your enhancers?" asked Sun once they got back to eating. Jaune shrugged, mouth filled with food. He'd been for his full roster of PEDs a few days back and hadn't yet noticed much in the way of improvement. Not that he'd expected to just grow muscles or bulk up overnight or anything; they'd injected him with steroids, not literal balloons in his arms, but he didn't feel all that much stronger or more capable and said so.

"Give it time," said Ren. "It's subtle. Safer that way. You'll get better faster, not just get better all of a sudden without any work. Again, we've had these for years, so you're playing catch up."

"Feels like that's all I'm doing to be honest. Catching up."

"Yes, but on the bright side the CO's will be keeping that in mind when they look at our squad for missions. With Manticore getting one yesterday, we're probably due one today but nothing has come through yet."

"I'd wondered about that," said Nora. "Was going to say but didn't want to jinx us."

"Same," giggled Ruby.

"They're not going to send us out when they don't know if Jaune will crumple to a stiff breeze or not," said Yang.

"Yes, but they could send us out without Jaune," Ren pointed out. "And they haven't. I think they want to keep us together in the hopes we'll help him catch up. It's not a bad thing. I'd much rather have time off missions if I'm being honest."

The others agreed, and Jaune didn't blame them. No one liked having a job to do, especially not if it meant going outside the arcology. The engineer corps rarely went out – their work was often in repairing key fortifications or outposts, which was technically outside the arcology walls, but only in the sense they were literally at the foot of said walls. It was as safe as you could humanly be while not being in the arcology. Whenever they were sent out, it was like a pall was cast over the regiment. He couldn't even imagine how bad it must be when huntsmen were sent out, seeing as they were prioritised for the worst and most dangerous conditions.

"ATTENTION!" shouted a familiar voice. "COMMANDING OFFICER IS PRESENT!"

Chairs scraped and tables groaned as everyone quickly scrambled to their feet, Jaune included, and turned to face the door, saluting before they could even see who it was. General Ozpin himself stood alongside Lieutenant-General Goodwitch, and within ten seconds every single person in the cafeteria – serving staff included – were stood rigidly at attention. The only one who wasn't was a single person behind the counter, who flicked off all the ovens and cooking equipment so nothing would burn, then stood at attention after that was done. General Ozpin waited patiently for that to happen.

"Thank you," said General Ozpin. He didn't say at ease so everyone remained rigid. "I am sorry to interrupt your rest and mealtime, but I have an announcement that cannot wait."

He removed his glasses, stored them, and Lieutenant-General Goodwitch did the same. Ozpin then adjusted his cane, picked it up and held it under his arm, as he, too, saluted. It was not required for a CO to do so, and the fact he did was lost on no one. It was not a good omen.

"As of ten-hundred hours, two hours ago, the Kingdom of Atlas has officially fallen."

Jaune couldn't breathe. He couldn't see. The world seemed to swell and turn dark, and the walls closed in. He couldn't have heard that right. He couldn't have. An agitated ripple spread through the cafeteria. There was no stopping it. For once, Lieutenant-General Goodwitch did not order them to be quiet. Instead, she held her salute and offered what little she could, standing perfectly still as an example. It was General Ozpin who quietly shushed them, more akin to a grandfather than a commanding officer.

"Quiet please," he requested. "Please, I understand." He waited for them to still again. "The Kingdom of Atlas came under concentrated attack the likes of which have not been seen since the destruction of Mistral. The arcology was breached at midnight, and evacuations began at zero-one-hundred hours. Atlas' military, along with Atlas Academy, held the line bravely so that key personnel and equipment could be evacuated."

Key personnel and equipment. Not citizens. Never citizens. Every arcology was a delicate balancing act, and an influx of refugees from another kingdom would tip that balance and send it cascading into a death spiral. As horrible as it sounded, and it was horrible, Vale could only survive if it let all those people die. Be resilient. Accept their sacrifice. Honour it. Don't cry, don't feel bad, and don't ask if we could do more. Just grit your teeth and weather the storm.

Dare to dream of a day when this might all be over.

"Vale will be responsible for closing off the route of their evacuation," continued the General. "Already, huntsmen are being sent to cover their retreat and prevent any Grimm pursuing into Valean land. As such, that means none will be available to guard the point of their arrival. A lesser, though no less certain, prospect. Beacon has therefore volunteered-" Or, more likely been ordered, "-to meet with the evacuees and protect them as they are thoroughly tested and processed. They are expected to arrive in one hour. Orders will be sent to your scrolls. Be ready to move out immediately." He saluted once more. "Remnant Invicta."

"Remnant Invicta," chorused the crowded cadets.

/-/

Jaune had heard stories and seen videos of Atlas. He'd imagined what it might be like to live there. Atlas was the most advanced of the arcologies and was said to have the strongest and most well-equipped military on Remnant. It was a bastion – the bastion – and everyone had probably thought at one point or another that it might be the last arcology left standing, when all the rest eventually fell.

He was sure the Atlesian citizens had thought that as well.

Jaune found himself airlifted out to a stretch of land off the side of the Vale arcology where the military usually set up camp. It was as well-protected as anywhere outside the walls could be, which was to say it could be abandoned in a hurry if things got dicey. The cliff looked out over the water, which had once been free domain until Salem well and truly decided to scale up her aquatic Grimm. Anything that roamed out past the shallows now inevitably died within seconds, and shoals of black fish the size of your hand often patrolled the coastlines tearing asunder anyone foolish enough to step in, or any animal that fell into the water.

It was inevitable, therefore, that Atlas did not come by sea. Instead, the refugees were airlifted in. The air, the last remnant of space that humanity could fight for. It didn't belong to them and it didn't belong to Salem, and battle raged as it always did. Jaune stood and watched in awe as more fighters than he had ever seen at any one time whizzed over his head, darting out the arcology and streaming northward.

"There hasn't been an aerial presence like that for decades," said Sun. The faunus was waiting beside him, Phoenix Squad having been given clear instructions that they were to be made present for the escort of several VIP members. Yang had asked Lieutenant-General Goodwitch why they were being trusted with important people, to which the Lieutenant-General had replied that anyone and everyone more capable was being directed to fight back the Grimm.

That was slightly terrifying. When Mistral fell, Salem had let the survivors flee. Why not? They'd been more mouths for the other arcologies to feed, putting even more strain on already limited resources. It was odd that this hadn't gone the same way – and odd that Salem had gone all-out to attack Atlas in the first place. He was sure smarter people than he would be looking into that, finding the reasons, and acting on them. All he needed to do was follow orders.

It was fourteen hundred hours now, and still daytime, which meant it was harder to see the signs of combat if they were there. Had it been night, he was sure the distant sky would be lit up. There had been no official news of the fall of Atlas disseminated to the general population, and they had strict orders to stay silent on that. The news would need to be formulated in such a way as to honour Atlas, but also avoid absolute panic. Perhaps they wanted some of these VIPs to speak on national television and wax about the brave defence of Atlas' arcology, and how the retrieval of valuable supplies would help Vale's thrive. He didn't envy the state-television channel having to come up with a positive spin for this one.

"The fact they're sending so many fighters out must mean whatever is being brought from Atlas is more than worth saving," continued Sun, one hand above his visor as he gazed out into the distance. The motion looked a little odd with his helmet and face mask, but sometimes the visors didn't fully block out the sun as they were supposed to. It was a pain when they fogged up, too.

Grimm Rot wasn't expected this close to Vale – but all these people coming from Atlas could very well have it, and they would all be put into quarantine for testing. As such, they needed to protect themselves and halt the spread. Cottoning on to the fact Sun was trying to get him to talk – probably to help ease his nerves – Jaune joined in. "It's probably Atlas' growth vats. They can make more designer huntsmen babies this way."

"I mean, sure, there'll be those, but the Grimm must have gone out their way to take down Atlas. It's the strongest arcology."

"It was."

"Yeah." Sun grimaced. "And now we're going out our way to rescue them. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad we're helping, but doesn't it make you curious what we're expending so much effort for?"

"Of course it does. I'm sure we'll be informed in time."

Sun scoffed. "What, us? The boots on the ground? Yeah, right. Sometimes I think they wouldn't inform us of our own orders if they weren't afraid we'd make some up." He laughed, and Jaune joined in. It felt good to laugh at a time like this. Comforting. "Mark my words, Jaune, there's something more to this. No warnings of an attack, Atlas suddenly dead, us deploying everything we have to get hold of them-"

The comms in their helmets crackled to life. "All squads stand ready. Expected arrival T-minus two minutes. Landing may be warm."

Jaune could just make out a white airship approaching. Approaching, and losing altitude. It was gliding now, smoke billowing from the engine on one wing, and the nose angled upward to try and catch every bit of lift it could.

"Warm, she says," said Sun. "I'd hate to see what the Lieutenant-General calls a hot landing. Probably people riding on the backs of Grimm as the moon crashes into Remnant and the skies turn red with blood."

There was a stretch of non-forested land outside of the arcology's walls that was burnt back every few months. The grass was scorched by flamethrowers and any vegetation killed, creating a space several hundred metres long where any Grimm would have no cover. It was that open ground that the airship aimed itself for – or rather, gave up on pretending it could limp past.

The pilot brought it down over the treetops and snapped a few off along the way, then deployed its landing gears. Those snapped off the second they touched down. The thing struck the earth and carved up a mighty furrow, spraying soil up like a fountain in every direction, and then skidding along in what could not have been a comfortable experience for those on board. It carved its way for well over a hundred and fifty metres, and then came to a halting stop, its nose buried in soil up to its windows.

"Phoenix Squadron," ordered Lieutenant-General Goodwitch. "Secure those VIPs now and get them to isolation. Everyone else, form a perimeter. Weapons hot. Open fire on immediate sight of Grimm."

Jaune was already moving after the first sentence, and he was quickly overtaken by Ruby and Yang. They slowed down to maintain squad cohesion however, and the squad of six approached with weapons drawn. You could never tell what you'd find with Grimm Rot existing. They stacked by the entrance, with Yang holding them back until at least half the perimeter had been founded. She nodded, and Jaune pulled out a dust-cutter and got to work on carving the door open. And here I thought my engineering background wouldn't be important anymore. Guess it makes a little more sense why they wanted out squad handling this. That and the fact that they might be the most disposable with him on the team, in the hopefully unlikely event that everyone on board was infected with the rot.

Jaune finished carving a rectangular hole and then hooked his fingers into the handle and pulled, stepping aside as it smashed down. The cut edges stayed cherry hot for a few seconds, but soon they were moving into the cockpit. Ren was quick to climb over and check the two pilots, first tilting their heads back to check their masks, and then touching his fingers to the flight suits over their throats.

"Alive," he reported, holding his hand with thumbs up. "Must have been knocked out by the impact. I can get these two out alone if you want to push on."

"Do that," said Yang. "The rest of us stack up. Remember, these people are on our side until proven otherwise. Let's be nice about it." Guns down, basically. Down, but not away. Jaune angled his SMG to the floor along with the others, keeping it at forty-five degrees so it could be brought up in a single motion.

Yang moved to the next door and touched the pad, and the door opened. It looked like the interior was a lot less banged up than the exterior. They moved through what appeared to be a storage hold, in which many glass tubes stood strapped against the walls and padded with so much protection and insulation that they'd somehow not shattered in the crash. One had a crack running up the front, however. The glass could surely be replaced without issue, otherwise they'd just lost one future huntsman per year.

There was yet more storage beyond, and that was all covered by tarps or sealed in crates and couldn't be discerned easily. They walked slowly through the centre of it, Jaune and Ruby scanning left and right just in case anyone was hidden among them. The sound of their helmets filtering out the air left their breath heavy and harsh in the quiet, a constant kshhh-kuhhh… that repeated over and over.

They were near the back of the aircraft now. There wasn't much room for passengers left, and it was becoming increasingly clear that the reason this aircraft had been given the chance to pull ahead was because its inanimate cargo was more important than the living passengers in the very few cargo transports that would be coming behind. People could be replaced. Equipment like this could not be.

The next door opened to the passenger section at last. It was small, little more than two rows of seats, but on those seats were four people, slumped and unconscious. Jaune hoped they were unconscious. They also weren't wearing masks.

"Damn it all," grumbled Nora. "We're going to have blood tests after this."

"We were going to have that anyway," said Ruby. "Wishful thinking to believe otherwise."

"A girl can dream."

"Check them," ordered Yang.

Jaune moved to the shortest of the presumed VIPs, a girl with brilliant white hair spilling down the sides of her head. He tilted her head up with a gloved hand under her chin and winced at the blood that had dried over her lips. Luckily, it appeared to just be a nosebleed because he couldn't find anything else, and she was still breathing.

"Alive," he reported.

"Alive here," said Sun."

"Alive," said Ruby.

"Deceased." Nora let the last man's head fall, his chin bouncing against his chest. "That's a bummer. No visible cause of death. Might have been a heart attack."

Yang touched her hand to the side of her helmet. "Phoenix Squad reporting in. Three out of four VIPs found alive. Oldest male is deceased. Two pilots found alive. All unconscious. Requesting permission to extract."

"Permission granted, Phoenix Squad," replied Lieutenant-General Goodwitch. "Secure surviving VIPs and leave deceased behind. Exit through rear of aircraft. You will need to carry the VIPs back to a testing station on foot. Aerial battle has intensified and Grimm have been seen pushing through the Great Wall in high numbers. We have no vehicles to spare that aren't being redirected to battle."

Shit. Maybe Sun was more right than he knew to say something was up. This was far beyond a simple attack if the Grimm were mounting an organised offensive. What was so important that they'd try so hard to hunt Altas' survivors down? Had they done something to piss the Queen of the Grimm up that badly?

"Understood, XO," replied Yang. "Be advised, VIPs are not wearing helmets or masks. Pilots are wearing standard-issue protection."

"Copy that. Keep your own on."

"Roger. Phoenix Squad out." Yang dropped her hand and said, "You heard the lady. We've got two adults and one child-" Yang took another look at the girl Jaune was before and snorted, "Scratch that. Two adults and one Ruby-sized adult."

"Hey!" cried Ruby.

"Sun and Ruby to the lightest of the big ones, and me and Nora to the other. Jaune, can you handle the midget?"

"I have her."

He unbuckled the girl's crosshatch harness and shimmied her forward on the seat, then slid his hands under her knees to pick her up. He would have carried her over his shoulder, but if she had a head injury then having her dangle upside down over his back was a sure way to make it worse. The girl was wearing a white outfit that didn't quite look like a military uniform. It consisted of grey pants too tight-fitting to be any good in combat, a pale blue shirt and a white coat.

On her left breast, just by her pocket, was a small white placard that read; "Weiss Schnee. Schnee R&D." They were researchers, then. Scientists. That explained a little more about all the cargo on the aircraft but left even more questions as to what they might have discovered to make them so valuable. It could have been anything, from a weapon to how to make more growth vats, to a way to grow food more effectively. Anything that increased humanity's odds would be reason to welcome them to Vale, and reason enough for them to be on the Grimm's shit list.

The five of them carried the three people to the back of the aircraft, then out a still functioning door and onto the grass. Now, he could hear the battle raging in the distance. Their XO wasn't wrong to say it was intensifying, because that was a war taking place in the skies of the forests of Vale. He looked back in time to see a fighter streak down into the woods in a ball of flame, then explode.

"These people better be worth it!" shouted Yang. "Let's get moving. Hurry."

Jaune began to lope after the others, who were already slowed down by having to carry the others between them. The pilots, sadly, would have to be left behind. They'd surely be picked up by the other squads as they retreated, and their orders to get these people to safety took priority. As they jogged, he felt the girl in his arms bounce up and down, and the motion must have startled her, because she began to groan and slowly awaken. He considered administering a tranquiliser to put her under again but wasn't sure if she could handle that right now. Better to take the friendly approach. As Yang had said, these people were being welcomed to Vale – their rough landing notwithstanding.

"Miss Schnee, please stay calm," said Jaune, talking as loudly as he could. "You are being escorted to screening and eventual safety. Please cooperate and let me get you to safety. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

The girl's eyes blinked open. They were fuzzy, dizzy, and her lashes clung together over her baby blue eyes. They found his face, or perhaps she saw her own reflected in his visor. Her left hand gripped at his jacket desperately. "V…Vale," croaked the girl. "A… Are we…? Did we…?"

"You've made it to Vale but crash landed. I'm taking you to safety."

"O… Others…?"

"Two others survived. Both females. The man with you died." He realised how that might affect her a moment later, and added, "I'm sorry."

"I have…" The girl's face creased up with pain, but she forced herself to keep going. "I have information. Research. Must… It must be protected. She wants… She wants it. Wants us." Her fingers tightened on his collar and pulled his head close. "Do not leave us," she wheezed. "She will activate any sleeper agents she has to kill us. If you leave us… we will di-" Her head fell back, eyes rolling up and her hand slipping from his collar.

Jaune didn't dare speak, but he knew the words would have been caught by more than just him. He took a guess. "Command, report. Was that heard?"

"Loud and clear, Cadet," replied the XO. There was something in her voice he couldn't place. Something unusual, and just a little bit excited. "I am updating your orders. You are to stay with her through isolation and testing. Should anyone other than myself or General Ozpin make the attempt to separate her from you, or act in an unusual manner, you are authorised to take them down. Lethally, if needs be. The same will be relayed to your squad in relation to the other VIPs. We can never rule out the possibility of Grimm-rot among key personnel. Take care and question every order."

"Orders received," said Jaune. It looked like Nora was in for a longer isolation than she'd thought. Him too. "Arc out."

He let the static crackle out, and then looked down at the girl again. Unconscious now, and unlikely to wake up again, vulnerable and having fled Atlas, the strongest arcology, as it fell to the Grimm. And even then, for their aircraft to be targeted and brought down by the Grimm as they came under fire from Vale's air force. He didn't say anything, but he couldn't help but wonder.

Why does the Grimm Queen want you so badly…?

Gasp – Coeur just implied that veganism is dystopian.

Lol. Obviously, I'm not, but I do imagine that in a world like this where everything is so fucked up and space and resources are so limited, that animals would be a no-no unless they had value beyond their cost. Chickens in horrific egg-farms where they can barely move might be an example (as much as I hate that in real life and only buy free-range eggs) but nothing more space-intensive than that. Insects, on the other hand, might be a much more realistic source of protein.

It also means no pets. Absolute deal breaker for me. I could not live a life without having a dog. Alas, it makes sense that pets wouldn't be allowed in this kind of society. That's also reinforced with Salem having Grimm drive fish away and kill them en masse to destabilise local ecosystems and better deprive the arcologies of natural resources. Salem is a much more active and determined threat in this world. Not just, "lol, I'll send Tyrian – on his own - to disrupt them and try to steal the relic. Sure, I could send all four of my minions, or an army of Grimm, but I'm sure sending my people one at a time will work out fine."

Next Chapter: 6th December

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