Here's the next chapter. Not my greatest one, I'll admit. Next chapter or so, there'll be more action.
P.S, I'm contemplating wether or not to making an story Idea pool like Titanmaster 117. I'll consider doing on. Just that I'm busy with school.
Anyways, enjoy.
Burton's Cabin, Catskill Mountains, June 21st.
7:30 AM
Pyrrha woke up and noticed that Jaune was missing from the house.
Since the huntsmen and huntresses in training didn't have the same rigorous wake-up times as all three of the military members of the house had so all but Pyrrha were asleep.
And well all 15 of them were sleeping in what turned out to be the second-floor basement storage room, above the vast armory and below the ground. Not that the hunters minded though, sleeping conditions on the HMCS Harper could have been….better.
But Pyrrha had been the first of the group (and currently only) to wake up (discounting Amy and Burton who were in the kitchen) and was curious to know where Jaune went.
"Have you seen Jaune?" Pyrrha asked Amy, who was handling a cup of coffee like it was the most precious thing on Remnant.
"Outside, somewhere in the forest. Don't know what he's doing though." Amy mumbled through the tiredness. Even SEALs had their limits when dealing with craziness.
Pyrrha stepped outside the cabin, put on some sneakers, and went down a used trail into the woods.
What was Jaune doing out in the woods this early?
Pyrrha got her answer when she saw a small clearing….with Jaune in it….with Crocea Mors out.
Slash, step, slash, swing, slash, block. Pyrrha saw Jaune out, expertly slashing at the air. Crisp, sharp strikes that even she would struggle with. It honestly looked like a hybridization of her moves and something like Blakes.
For his rank as a General, Jaune was one of the few on Earth to maintain his skills as a swordmaster. And it never let him down when he had to use Crocea Mors against some Shocktroops that somehow snuck into his HQ once.
One last slash and then Jaune abruptly sheathed Crocea Mors into its shield and it turned back into its sheath form. Jaune then straightened up and bowed. Weird.
"You know you didn't have to spy on me." Jaune said, causing Pyrrha to jump slightly.
"How-"
"Pyr, the 16 years I spent on Earth, I had to contend with a bunch of people who wanted me out of the picture. I know when someone's staring at me." Jaune smiled. "Though seriously, what are you doing out here?"
"Well, you weren't in the cabin sooooo." Pyrrha trailed off.
"Fair enough. Don't worry too much about me waking up early. For Burts, Amy, and myself, its normal to be up at 5:30 in the morning." Jaune nonchalantly shrugged.
"Normal?" Pyrrha wasn't expecting this. The old Jaune Arc would have taken every minute in the world to doze off.
Old….this wasn't the Arc she knew. Jaune changed, a lot.
"Yeah." Jaune sighed. "During World War 3, for every minute I wasn't working, a hundred civilians were being butchered by Russian Shocktroops. Fuckers. I drove my entire Task Force, several divisions strong at that point, after those Tesla idiots. Entire force was exhausted after Berlin."
Jaune placed down Crocea Mors. "Uuugghhh, war takes and gives many things. Gave me my workaholism and my reputation, took my innocence and my naivety. And my drive to become a huntsman."
….WHAT?!
"Jaune?" Pyrrha asked, concerned.
Jaune sighed again "Pyr, I don't think I can become JNPR's leader again. Nor can I become a huntsman."
"What." Pyrrha was shocked. Jaune's dream was to become a hero and he was just throwing it away.
"Pyr, it's been sixteen years. In those sixteen years, I've drenched my hands in blood, Human blood, all in the name of peace. I've done shitty things that probably my name will be cursed as a monster on Remnant for all of time. …I don't deserve to be leader of JNPR anymore."
"No."
Jaune turned to see Pyrrha, steel in her eyes, almost as if she were primed to kill.
Almost like Yurik-
"I don't care what the rest of Remnant thinks at this point. Jaune? Me, Nora, Ren, we rather leave Beacon than watch you die again."
"But-"
"NO BUTS!" In an instant, Pyrrha suddenly, as if she appear she had teleportation as her semblance, appeared right in front of Jaune's face, silencing the 34 year old general.
Jaune suddenly found himself being dragged down to Pyrrha's face (remember that Jaune's body is 18 years old but he's a bit taller than Pyrrha). "Do you know how bad it was for the rest of JNPR? To lose a brother, a teammate, our leader? Just like that?"
The words sunk in, and Jaune was trying to recall. He had been gone for an entire month. A month, JNPR had lost their leader.
He may have had his chance to grieve the loss of Remnant when he arrived, but JNPR hadn't had a decade to recover.
"I-"
"Let me have this moment." Pyrrha growled and what happened next caused Jaune's war harden brain to freeze.
Pyrrha looped her hands around Jaune's neck, pulled herself up, and smashed her lips onto Jaune's. Invincible Girl kissed with all the love and passion she could muster up.
It was this moment Jaune's mind died for a second and his body reacted on instinct, instinctively pulling Pyrrha in. That was also the moment old feelings were reignited.
The two members of JNPR, a Mistrali warrior champion and a soldier of three continents, melted into their own feelings and another world.
After what feels like hours (but only minutes), the two separate, with longing looks for more.
Pyrrha's eyes narrow. "You are family, Jaune. You, Nora, Ren. With you? I feel as it I can take the world. And you gave me that world, a world without invincible girl." The champion snuggles closer. "We're hunters in training, we are expected to do dirty things for the good of the people."
"...I know, thank you." The pair's surroundings descended into silence, with only the chirping of birds in the distance could be heard.
"It's beautiful." Pyrrha whispered quietly, as if not to disturb the silence.
Jaune chuckles. "No annoying reporters heckling over your status."
"Team CRDL not bullying you." Pyrrha adds.
"Or more reporters heckling us over team RWBY's incident with the Paladin Mech. Speaking of which, did they find out how Roman Torchwick got access to a military mech?" Jaune questioned.
"No, nothing yet." Pyrrha sighed. The silence is taking hold again. "Wait, you still remember that?"
"Of course I do, gotta stay sharp. Just as I remembered the first time you confronted me over my transcripts and the time you freaked out over a spider." Both Jaune and Pyrrha giggled over that last event.
Shouldn't this be wrong? I'm Pyrrha suddenly latched on again, lips smashing on lips. Screw it.
After an indeterminate amount of time later
"Has anyone seen P-money and Vomit Boy?" Yang asked as she stumbled out of the guest room and into the kitchen. Coco, Yatsu, Sun, Nora, Ren, and Blake had awoken as well.
"Jaune went out with Crocea Mors to train." Colonel Burton said, washing some dishes. "That Pyrrha girl went out to find him at 0730."
"We'll find them, come on Ren." Nora promptly dragged a protesting Lie Ren, who hadn't gotten his morning tea yet. Everyone else stared at the pair.
"Does anyone think that team JNPR's partners are married to each other?" Coco said out loud. Practically everyone nodded.
"Screw, make me a S.O.S sir. I'm finding little bro." Amy got up, with a Sig Sauer M17 in holster.
"...how well armed are you Americans?" Coco asked, seeing the pistol that seemingly every American soldier had.
"We still have the second amendment. Even though President Giordano put heavy gun restrictions on, a lot of people still own firearms. Came in helpful during the 2049 Spetsnaz raid." Burton nonchalantly said.
Meanwhile, the trio left the cabin and hiked into the woods. "Does Jaune Jaune do this often?" Nora asked.
"Yeah, fairly often when he's got free time. Not many people actually train with a sword and shield these days. Jaune does this when none of his friends are available or he gets bored." Amy sighed. Jaune really needed to get a hobby that wasn't drinking with friends, video games, stabbing others, getting abducted by the Chinese, books, or shooting spare munitions into the woods.
Then again, you couldn't do much as an American General out in public-
Practically all three of them froze when they heard noise coming from a clearing-up head.
Moaning.
The trio practically crept up to the clearing Jaune typically used for sword training, once expecting Jaune to be swinging his sword.
They were not expecting to see Jaune up against a tree, with Pyrrha pinning and aggressively making out with him.
Ren and Amy's jaws drop, while Nora had to suppress her cackling.
Guess P-Money finally had the nerve to confess her feelings. Nora took out her scroll and snapped a photo.
She forgot to turn off the flash and a bright light illuminated the clearing, causing the Arkos couple to stop. The pair stared at Nora, and by extension Amy and Ren. The pair looked at eachother and in a flash, Pyrrha threw Milo at the tree behind them while Jaune threw Crocea Mors in its sword form at incredible speeds.
One mili-second later and two weapons were lodged into two trees next to the spying trio, causing Ren and Nora to scream and Amy to yelp in surprise.
Jaune winced. "The environmentalists are going to kill me. Anyways, what are you guys doing here?"
"Uncle Burton's making breakfast, uh we came to find you. We." Amy paused. "Did not expect you to be…."
"Making out like newly wed. So Pyrrha, did you confess to Fearless leader?" Nora's smile grew lecherous.
Pyrrha blushed, but nodded.
"And you've been making out this last half an hour?" Amy raised an eyebrow.
Now it was Jaune's turn to blush, red as Pyrrha's hair. "Kind of. We did stop to talk. We're dating now."
Amy whistled. "Damn Jauney, 17 years of not dating and now you come home to your loved one? That's some dedication."
"Yeah, I was an idiot not realizing Pyr's attraction to me. Soooo." Jaune paused. "Now what?"
"Well, we head home, get breakfast, and make plans to head west at Griffths." Amy shrugged. "And-"
That was when Jaune's phone rang. "Eh?"
Pulling it out of his pocket, Jaune looked at the screen. It was from a contact he knew. And saved.
Major General Frenken, or Kaiser as most people called him, typically Jaune's second in command and commander of battlegroup Sicario.
Jaune accepted the call and brought the phone up to his ear.
"Kaiser? You calling me when it's still dark over there at Griffths?" Jaune asked his old friend.
Unintelligible murmuring was heard by the rest of Jaune's friends and family.
"Yeah well I'm not the one who likes to pull all-nighters for fun. Anyways, how's Hitman doing?"
The murmurings became more positive.
"Prez and Monarch come back from their honeymoon already? Nice. Anyways, what's up?
The murmurings became serious.
"Seriously? How many?"
A short murmur.
"Five? Five cruisers that they could have sent with the expedition? Jesus."
An annoyed murmur could be heard.
"I'm sure both Mr. and Mrs. Ross are happy. Anyways, you didn't call to tell me the Couple of Mass Destruction are having an early honeymoon."
Serious murmurs returned.
"POTUS pushing up the schedule one week early? I can make that work. Status of the rest of Zwolle and Sicario?
More murmurs.
"Yeah ok, give me a day or 2 to get to Griffiths. I'll be there. Thanks for the heads up Kaiser." Jaune ended the call and sighed. "We're heading to Griffiths tonight."
"What? Why?" Amy asked.
"For some reason, Atlas sent a fleet of air cruisers into North American space." the rest of JNPR gasped. "They almost didn't get the memo that we don't like unauthorized foreign troops. A Canadian Admiral had to 'politely' send them away."
Jaune straightened up. "I need to speak with the President, and then we need to head to Griffiths."
Vale City, Kingdom of Vale
Same time
Today was not a good day, Ozpin thought.
A new Continent discovered? Free of Grimm?
Interkingdom expedition shot down by Grimm, rescued by newcomers!
A new military powerhouse on Remnant? Who Are These North Americans?
Atlassian air cruisers: a formidable threat or a paper Ursa?
Grimm free lands now replace the Dragon Continent. What will the Kingdom's response be?
Mistrali stock markets threaten to crash.
White Fang of Vale declares North America a threat to Remnant.
SDC stocks fall-
Ozpin just stared at the various news reports coming in on his computer. 30 minutes, 30 minutes ago he and the other councillors of the Kingdoms released all the information about this new continent of North America to the wider CCT net.
Naturally, the world of Remnant went apeshit over the news of a new continent that mysteriously appeared on this broken world.
Every single detail about North America, their nations, culture, history, and military information was lapped up by the people and it scared them.
A continent where the smallest nation has a population larger than the rest of Remnant combined, a combined military larger than Mengarie's citizenry, and an economy not reliant on dust.
By the brother gods, the news channels were annoying. Ozpin took a sip of hot cocoa to relax a bit.
"(Comms) Headmaster Ozpin? Mr and Mrs Arcs are here to see you." Ozpin's front desk secretary said over a comms link.
Ozpin groaned. "Send them up."
After a few anxious minutes, the elevator door rings and lets out two very familiar faces. Two familiar faces that looked as it
The first was a man in his 40s but having the same dark-blue eyes, fair skin, and blond hair with Jaune Arc. Though this man, beard, much more muscular than the student-turned-general, and wearing clothes a hiker on Earth would wear, discounting a massive broadsword on his hip. This was Nicholas Arc.
The other was a woman in her early 40s but looking youthfully young woman with the same blond hair as Jaune but brown eyes, bandages wrapped around her forearms, and a pistol in a holster with a burning fury in her eyes. This was Juniper Arc, a loving wife and mother who was just recently grieving over the loss of her only son.
"Juniper, Nicholas, welcome. Please, sit." Ozpin said, pouring two cups of hot chocolate.
"Ozpin, this better be good," Juniper growls, sending slight shivers similar to that of Summer Rose.
"Juniper, not only am I the headmaster of one of the four great huntsman and huntress academies on Remnant, but I'm also a very busy man who also has to deal with governmental politics. So considering the fact that I've invited you to my office when I should be dealing with the fallout of learning that one of the continents on Remnant has been replaced with one from another world whose people fight wars equivalent to Remnant's Great War every few decades, then yes this is important." Ozpin lampshades. "Sit, please."
The two parents of the Arc family do as Ozpin requests.
"So Nicholas, how goes for your hunt against the White Fang?" Ozpin asked, handing off the cups of hot cocoa.
"I found out that bastard Adam specifically ordered my son's death." Nicholas's hand slammed onto Ozpin's table. "Someone ordered my son's death for no reason whatsoever."
"I'm skinning the bullhead idiot when I get my hands on him," Juniper whispers, cradling the cup of hot cocoa. "Asshole takes my son away, gonna take his life."
"Well then I might have good news that might make your search easier." Ozpin said, sitting back down.
"Oh, you know where that asshole is?" Nicholas asked.
"No, something that might ease your mind." Ozpin mentally took a breath. "Your son's alive on the new continent of North America."
Both Juniper and Nicholas, who were both drinking hot cocoa, promptly did simultaneous spit takes and hot cocoa infused with saliva splattered onto the floor.
After coughing violently, the two glared at the headmaster. "You did that on purpose didn't you." Juniper glared.
"I have no idea what your talking about." Ozpin gave a shit-eating grin, though his face reverted back to seriousness. "But yes, I spoke to a President Bradford of the United States of America, the leader of one of the three nations of North America. He claims, and provided proof, that not only did Jaune Arc survive the White Fang attack, but now he's in a….unusual position."
"Unusual? What did our son do?" Juniper leaned forward.
"This is complexed part. North America was once on the world of Earth, not Remnant. Jaune Arc spent 18 years on Earth, while we only experienced 1 month. He's 35 years old now." Ozpin said bluntly.
"...What." Juniper stared at the headmaster, her husband doing the same.
"He spent nearly 18 years on Earth, facing its monsters and conflicts alike. Want to know the more complicated part? He's now a general, commanding a force from across their continent."
"...Tell me everything." Nicholas leaned forward. Ozpin, still remembering Summer Rose (who was still downstairs), shuddered and agreed.
One recounting of what President Bradford said and 5 cups of hot cocoa later, the parents of the Arc family stared at the Headmaster.
Nicholas Arc sighed. "Ozpin, why is it that for some reason, its Vale that ends up with all the craziness?"
"Well I'm sorry, Beacon is the largest huntsmen academy on Remnant and the best. We're going to have some craziness." Ozpin snarked, just wanting to sleep.
Nicholas sighed again and leaned back in his car. "Remember the time when we only had to deal with your crazy immortal wife and her minions? You know, when life was so much simpler?"
"Simpler? Every generation of huntsmen and huntresses is crazy in one way or another. Yours was the last and it was equally as crazy as your son's." Ozpin replied, having a smile on his face.
"Crazy? At least my husband's graduation class had a year that was quiet, orderly, and professional. Have you seen this year's first years? The Paladin rampage, the Docks, the food fight, White Fang, the Forever Falls incident, this new continent, and now Jaune commanding a force of soldiers that practically worship his ass." Juniper said.
"Yes yes. So now you know what happened to your son, what do you plan to do now?" Ozpin questioned
"Well. I'm going to go over this North America, Grab my son, hug and kiss him, then bend him over my leg and spank him in front of Beacon's population for not calling us early." Juniper growled.
"I'll join you after I kill Adam." Nicholas added and the two began plotting right infront of Ozpin.
Well. Ozpin thought, taking a sip, mentally echoing a Mistrali and inadvertently an ancient Terra Chinese quote. May we live in interesting times.
It was that moment that Ozpin received a message from a contact in Atlas. Glancing down at the message, Ozpin nearly spat out his coffee.
Message: Atlas sent a fleet to North America. Unknown orders. Fleet was repulsed by forces of the Royal Canadian Navy and the United States Navy. The North Americans aren't pleased.
North American wiki…CF/A-39 Crossbow
Due to the chaos that was the mid-to late 2020s and early 2030s, fighter craft development took a sharp decline as governments took to rebuilding their own economies. Only the United States, the British Commonwealth, People's Republic of China, and the Russian Federation ever developed past the 5th Generation. The PRC would only procure small amounts of its J-20 and J-31 fighter craft, much of the ECA air force would focus on the production of 4.5 Generation like the upgraded Eurofighter Typhoon, the Royal Air Force would become the first nation to operate 6th Generation fighters (the Tempest), and Russian Federation would become one of the few nations to operate a fleet of 5th Generation fighters (at least in this universe) that could rival the United States Air Force and Naval Arm. So it came to many nation's surprise that the next 5th Generation aircraft came not from a major superpower, but the humble nation of Canada with its fifth generation CF/A-39 Crossbow Carrier capable Strike Fighter.
Developed in secrecy with assistance from the British Royal Air Force, the Lockheed Martin Corporation, BAE systems, and the United States Air Force, the Crossbow is Canada's first domestically built multi-purpose twin-engine strike fighters meant to fill in the role that of the American Aurora and Nighthawk Fighterbombers or the Russian SU-57. At a length of 24 meters long, 15 meters wide (including wingspan), and a height of 5.3 meters, the CF39 is bigger than both the F22 Raptor and the SU57 Felon. This is due to the Crossbow's designers focusing more on its stealth and long-range combat abilities over dogfighting as its meant to be a craft that performs long-range tactical strikes on opposing forces. The Crossbow's max speed is Mach 2.12 (2600 KPH) though it typically flies at Mach 1.7 (2100 KPH) thanks to its twin engines. It also has a range of 3500 KM, with the ability to length that range with in-air refueling and external fuel tanks. Though initially quite similar to the F-36 (it uses many of the same systems as its American cousin), it has received various upgrades derived from the British 6th generation Tempest Fighter as an apology by the United Kingdom for the ECA's intrusion onto North American soil (Note that the UK was generally not happy with the ECA for causing the death of Canadian soldiers and it took a bit of pressure for the Brits not to cut support).
There are three versions of the craft, a standard combat craft used by the RCAF, a lighter variant used by the RCN, and a variant meant to take on the role of the E/A-18G Growler.
Its stealth is considered unmatched by most observers, only being out muscled by the B21 Raider, the F-22C Raptor, and the British Tempest. This allowed it to sneak into Russian contested airspace during the Canadian intervention during the Russian Invasion of the British Home Islands. Its weaponry includes one 4 barreled GAU-22/A Equalizer Rotary Cannon carrying 600 rounds of 25mmX135mm NATO cannon rounds. In its internal bay are 8 hardpoints for ground attack munitions and 2 smaller hardpoints for AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles. The Crossbow can also carry an additional 6 munitions on its external hardpoints, though this negates its stealth abilities. Munitions that can be used by the Crossbow include Joint Direct Attack Munitions, GBU39 250-pound bombs, SLAMRAMM air to air missiles, JHCOM anti-ship hypersonic missiles (though only on external hardpoints), GBU-12 Paveway bombs, Hellfire Anti-tank missiles, Joint Strike Missiles (Anti-ship), and hypersonic Air to Air missiles. The Crossbow also has a laser defense system, capable of defeating other missiles, damaging other craft (in very close range), and knocking out drones. Speaking of drones, the Crossbow is capable of linking and operating flocks of drones, traditionally hunter-killer drones or global hawks (it's due to this use of drones, AIs, virtual systems, and laser defense grid that the Crossbow is sometimes considered a 6th generation craft. Most observers agree that the Crossbow is a 5.5).
Introduced into the wider world in 2042, the first 12 CF-39 Crossbows would enter service in 2044 with the reactivated Canadian 431st Royal Canadian Air Force Squadron and see action against the GLA the same year. The 431st and their Crossbows, at the time temporarily assigned to Task Force Zwolle, would be pivotal in the controversial Operation Frontiers where much of the former Private Military Cooperation Sicario would defect to the NAU after stealing several GLA nuclear devices in what would become the Sicario-Lunda Nuclear Incident. The 431st would go onto to destroy several dozen GLA vehicles and a few aircraft in the process. A number of nations would go on to purchase the CF-39, including South Africa, Mexico, Japan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, and Israel, supplementing their fleets of F-35s and F-36s. The total number of exported units purchased reached over 600 units, with the ECA wishing to purchase their own models but was stymied due to the Anchorage Shootout. Canada would later go on to acquire 300 of their own models for their navy and airforce. During Operation Canuck Crusade, CF-39s under the 421st squadron would land several blows that would devastate the Russian 3rd Shock troops division.
Over the course of the Third World War, CF-39s, along with American Aurora and Nighthawk bombers, would prove critical in hampering Russian supply lines. Operating from both Canadian, American, Mexican, and British Carriers and air bases while being supported by Raptors, the Crossbows would engage and destroy whole tank companies on their own; they would slip in past Russian rader sites, take out key infrastructure and units, and slip out. The 870th fighter squadron operating from the Carrier Warrior would be key in the sinking of the Russian battlecruiser Varyag, using several JHCOMS to sink the flagship of the Russian Pacific Fleet.
With North America stranded on Remnant, the Crossbow now sees itself facing Grimm creatures like the Goliath and the Nevermore, and the Atlas Military, with its force of Paladin Mechs, Air Cruisers, Mantas, and robot hordes. Time will only tell if the Atlassian Colossus can stand up to the Canadian Cannuks as their new neighbors. But whatever the case, Canada's Crossbows will be the ones leading the charge.
If some of you recognize it, the Crossbow is inspired from the CF-190 Crossbow from the alternate history
Canadian Power: The Canadian Forces as a Major Power. If you're interested, they have a TVtropes page you can find.