[Chapter 1]

Beta: Engineer1869

Jaune Arc's PoV


I wasn't prepared.

Sure, just like everyone else in my generation, I had been put through basic training. I had my Aura unlocked, I was taught to shoot a gun, and to follow orders without question.

Hell, I wasn't even the bottom of the barrel. While nothing exceptional to write home about, I tested well enough to be considered for the Helljumper program. Think specialists that focus entirely on encircled combat.

Despite that, though, I was sent home as a reservist. Something about not needing me at that moment. I knew better. This wasn't a war we were winning by any stretch of the imagination. Constantly losing ground to these infernal Grimm. Atlas needed every last soldier they could get on the front lines – I shouldn't have been an exception.

Yet, I was, thanks to the General.

General James Ironwood, or as I better knew him, Uncle Ironwood. He was the man in charge of Atlas' armed forces. What exactly his job was wasn't completely clear to me. He didn't command forces directly, but rather he commanded the generals, or something like that. All I really knew was that he was as high up the food chain as it went.

He was incredibly stubborn and bullheaded – always convinced that his way was the right way, and that there was no other path. It was a wonder that with as brash as he is, he's maintained his role as the General of all the armed forces of Atlas.

Or, it would be if I didn't know the truth.

Glynda Goodwitch, better known to me as Aunt Goodwitch. The woman was rather impressive – stern enough to make even Ironwood cower in fear, yet more than capable of being gentle and caring as well. In truth, it was a strange oxymoron sort of thing.

With her at his side, Ironwood proved to be more levelheaded and calmer than he naturally was. Not to mention, they were happy. They made me who I am today.

It was because of them that I was only now being shipped off to enlist properly.

The draft paper had been personally hand delivered to me by Ironwood. Despite trying not to show it, the poor man looked like he hated what he was about to do. He hated the thought of sending me into danger, which I might not come back. His composure never broke but truthfully, I think he took it harder than I did, viewing it as personal failure.

Now, here I was. Sat in a Bullhead that was packed to the brim with replacement Helljumpers. Each and every one of us was a replacement for someone who had died in the field. For all we knew, we could be forming entirely new teams of just us replacements.

It was no secret that this was a dangerous line of work. It was far riskier than being your average grunt. Where they were digging trenches in the streets and fields, we were dropped miles deep behind Grimm territory and told to complete our objective above all else.

I leaned back against the wall of the Bullhead and closed my eyes, drumming my fingers lightly against my knee. I was nervous, not a trait unique to me. I'm sure each of us in the Bullhead was the same way. None of us knew if we'd even be able to go home again, if we'd see our families again.

The Bullhead touched down, and we all rose. It was mechanical, each of us resigned to what was coming. If the veterans and the first picks for this program were dead, what chance did we stand? We filed out into the compound, the afternoon sun beating down on us like a hammer against red hot steel.

Stood on a crate that gave him enough height to look over those of us was a stout and rather rotund man. "Good Afternoon, men." He called out from behind his bushy gray mustache. "I am Colonel Port. Welcome to Patch." He paused ever so briefly, looking over each of us for a moment. "Each of you are some of Atlas' best and brightest. Those who tested well above average and have qualified yourselves for the prestigious Helljumper program."

He cleared his throat, not noting that most of his captive audience weren't particularly listening.

After a few minutes of him giving what was probably supposed to be a rousing speech, and some halfhearted clapping from us, he got to business. "Now, as I'm sure you are all aware, you are to function as members of a team. When I call your name, please step up to the front."

After a few moments, my name was called. "Jaune Arc, Cardin Winchester, and Sun Wukong." The three of us in question all pushed through the thinned crowd towards the front to stand just in front of Port.

The first man, Cardin I'd assume, was immense. He stood a fair bit taller than me, and looked to be all muscle. He had burnt orange hair that was swept up in a style I didn't quite recognize, but generally chose to ignore. He had a self-assured smile on his lips as he rocked back on his heels, arms crossed over his chest.

The second man was Sun Wukong, presumably. I well could've gotten them mixed up. Sun looked far more approachable to me. He was slim, and right around my height as best I could tell. Like me, he had blond hair that looked like it hadn't been brushed since he was a kid. He had an easy-going grin and offered Cardin and I a wave as he approached. The other thing that stood out about him was a long monkey's tail, blond as his hair.

"I introduce you to your commanding officer, Qrow Branwen." Port said, sweeping a hand wide. The three of us tracked his motion to our new commander.

Qrow was a tall man as well – funny how that describes the whole team. Unlike Cardin, though, he was rather slim. His hair was shaggy and dark black that had only a few streaks of grey starting to show through. Unlike the three of us who were in civilian clothes, he was dressed in a military uniform. Like everything from Atlas, it was pristine white all the way around. On it, he was adorned with a plethora of ribbons and even a few medals. He was quite the distinguished man, it seemed.

He took a moment to survey each of us with a critical eye, nodding subtly to himself. "Right. Well, like old Pete there said, the name's Qrow." He saw each of us snap to a salute, and rolled his eyes, waving a hand dismissively. "Cut that out." None of us moved, and he sighed. "At ease." The three of us relaxed. "Like I was saying, no need for that shit. No saluting me, no calling me sir, none of it. Far as I'm concerned, we're equals. Got it?"

I nodded, as did Sun.

Cardin sneered, offering only a slight glare at Sun. "Not sure I'd call us equal."

Before Cardin had a chance to breathe, he found a pistol put against his head. "We're all equals here. I won't stand for you pissing about because your new bunkmate is a Faunus. We've got bigger problems." Qrow growled out. "Am I understood?"

Cardin looked like he'd had the shit scared out of him, and I can't say I blamed him. He nodded timidly. "Yeah… Loud and clear."

Qrow nodded, pulling the pistol away from Cardin's head and holstering it again. "Now that we've settled that, let's go. Doubt you're wanting to stand in the heat all day." He said, turning on a heel and walking deeper into the base. Cardin kept to himself, ahead of the two of us.

Sun and I shared a glance. He shrugged, pushing forward. "Well, that was quite the show, yeah?" He asked, not sounding dissuaded at all.

I fell into step next to him. "That's one way of putting it." I hummed for a moment. "Oh, the name's Jaune, by the way." I said, holding a hand out to the monkey Faunus.

Sun grinned, offering a firm handshake in return. "Sun. Nice to meet ya'."

In front of us, Cardin scoffed. "Making friends with the animal already." He muttered.

"Listen, man. I don't know what your problem is, but like Qrow said. Put it aside – we've got more important shit to do than fight amongst ourselves." Sun said.

Cardin hummed. "Maybe you're right." He glared back over his shoulder at Sun. "But I'm watching you." He looked over to me. "I'd keep my distance, bud. Never know what they're gonna do."

"Do I hear a problem back there?" Qrow called over his shoulder.

"Nope, all's well back here." I called out in response. That seemed to be enough for Qrow as he didn't ask again.

The rest of the walk was quiet. The three of us followed behind Qrow to our bunks.

It was a small room that had four beds spread out evenly across the back wall. There was one in the right corner that was clearly lived in, and belonged to Qrow. "Right, well, this is home for the time being. Settle in, get comfortable, whatever else." He pulled out his scroll and glanced down at the time. "I've got a meeting with the higherups." He looked between the three of us. "Now, play nice, kids. I'll be back soon."

Qrow slipped out of the room, and Cardin instantly went for the bed in the other corner, staking his claim as such. I ended up between Cardin and Sun, considering that would probably be bad juju to have them right next to each other.

I sat on the edge of my bed and glanced over to my two new teammates. "So, considering we're a team now, might be that we want to get to know each other a bit?"

Sun nodded, leaning back on his pillow, head resting against the wall. "Sounds good to me." He glanced over to Cardin. "You in, buddy?"

He nodded, keeping an eye on Sun all the while.

"Right. Well, I guess I'm first then." I said, chewing on the inside of my cheek as I thought for a moment. "My name's Jaune Arc, as I'm sure you know already. I'm nothing special, really. Grew up in the capital with my Aunt and Uncle." I racked my brain for a moment. "I'm your local medic, so if you need something patched up just say."

Sun nodded thoughtfully. "Awesome. Well, then I'm up. Name's Sun Wukong. As you've both seen by now, I'm a monkey Faunus." He swished his tail in the air next to his head for emphasis. "I'm a street rat. Never knew my family, or if I even had one. Taught me to be quick on my feet and quiet when I need to be." He shrugged. "As for me, I'm a marksman. Accurate at up to five hundred yards, give or take a little."

Cardin glanced between the two of us. "Cardin Winchester. Doesn't really matter where I grew up, just that I did. I was an enlisted soldier before this. Had been since I was fifteen." He cracked his neck. "I'm demolitions, if you've got to know. Need something blown up? I'm your guy."

I nodded. "Right, well, that's cool, then. We've got a medic, a marksman, and a demolitions expert. Wonder what it is Qrow specializes in? Think he's a CQC specialist or something like that?"

Sun shook his head. "Nah, I'd think those CQC guys are bigger, like Cardin. They'd also have scars or something. No, I'm gonna guess and say he's heavy weapons. Don't know what it is, but I think he'd be the guy to relish in carrying around a rocket launcher."

Cardin chuckled and shook his head. "An amusing thought, but I doubt it. I figure he's some sort of infiltration guy. Look at him – tall and lanky. Get him out of white and into some black, I imagine he'd vanish into the shadows easy."

Qrow came strolling into the room after around an hour of the three of us talking back and forth.

"Good, good. You're starting to get along." He said, coming to lean back against the wall next to the door.

Cardin turned his attention to Qrow. "What's the deal? We already got a mission?"

Qrow chuckled, nodding. "How'd you know?"

Cardin shrugged. "Only reason you'd need your uniform like that is if you're chatting with someone who's important. Those higherups don't give a damn about us unless they're sending us to fight somewhere."

Qrow nodded along with Cardin's logic. "Someone's a bit jaded, but no less wrong." He glanced over to the two of us who had yet to speak. "Well, I won't beat around it. We're going to Vale."

Vale was the second largest city in all of Atlas' empire. It was also currently under siege by the Grimm. It was an attack that we knew was coming, and had prepared for accordingly. Walls were reinforced, troops were funneled in, and ammo, weapons, and food were stockpiled. If what I'd heard was right, they even sent a few HUNTER teams in.

Despite the preparations, the walls eventually fell. Since then, it's been chaos in the city. The CCT was disrupted by a massive Nevermore that gave its life to destroy Vale's tower. Atlas evacuated civilians by the ship load all the way up until the walls were breached. Even then, its been estimated that another half million are trapped there.

Not to mention the soldiers that are still in there, too. Why Atlas hasn't just scorched the city is beyond me. They've done such things before – and each time they do, Ironwood blames himself for not being able to protect the people. It's evil, it's despicable, but it's necessary.

I frowned. "What's the objective?" That was the million Lien question. Why send a team of Helljumpers in? We were likely going to extracting a person of interest. Maybe one of the high-ranking politicians was stuck in there, or something.

"Right, well, we're going in to- "Qrow started, though was cut off.

A new woman, tall and imposing, appeared in the doorway. She had long white hair, and wore the uniform of the Atlas Intelligence Division. Everything I knew about AID was that they were rather secretive, and allegedly were behind the HUNTER program.

"We're extracting an asset." She said coolly, striding into the middle of the room to command our attention.

Qrow sighed. "Winter, this is my team. Do you particularly need to be here?"

She nodded. "I do. I was assigned to this team by AID, thus I am a member as well." She narrowed her eyes into thin slits at Qrow. "I'm also to ensure you don't say anything you shouldn't."

He shook his head, looking back to us. "Right, well then. Gents, this is Winter. She's been assigned to shadow our team by AID and assist us in our mission."

Cardin nodded. "Right. What exactly is this mission? I know we're extracting an asset. What are we looking for? Description, name, gender."

Winter shook her head. "Classified."

I saw Cardin's eye twitch slightly. "So, let me get this straight. We're being sent into a siege to pull out an asset that has a classified description? And you want us to find them in the middle of a massive battle?"

She inclined her head slightly. "I know what we are looking for, as does Qrow. So long as you do as you're ordered, it won't be an issue."

His eye definitely twitched this time. I understood his anger and frustration – this sounded like a death sentence as it was.

"Get some rest, gentlemen. We move at dawn." Winter said, turning on a heel and striding back out with that same arrogant purpose.

Cardin huffed. "Arrogant bitch." He muttered.

Qrow chuckled. "Watch what you say, kid." He stretched out on his bed, arms behind his head. "You're not wrong, though."

Sun hummed, laying down himself. "Not even a day in, and we're already moving." He laughed quietly. "Guess that's the life that we signed up for.


And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the start to Helljumpers.

Welcome to the new story starting properly. Strap in, there won't be a lot of down time from here on out. Regardless, welcome. I look forward to seeing what you all think of this story.

Next chapter, we see the drop into Vale from Qrow's PoV.

Next Chapter - Friday, October 4th

Till next time, this is Valres signing off.