Headmaster Ozpin

Beacon Academy

Ozpin sat at his desk, half-moon spectacles reflecting the light streaming in from his window. In front of him was a sheet of paper, innocent looking, though the words it contained changed and rearranged many of Ozpin's plans.

The Mountain Glenn Explosions Report

Not a very creative title, but the forensics experts weren't hired for their naming skills.

Ozpin skimmed the report, skipping past the stuff he already knew.

Examination of Debris

Ozpin hummed, finally getting to the interesting bit.

Under the debris mentioned in Section IV, Part A, the digging team excavated a large system of tunnels that lead to a collapsed cavern, filled with large blocks of easily removed concrete.

The removal was made easy by the fact that Grimm had evacuated the area en masse. There was a debilitating pungent smell that permeated the area, requiring heavy duty gas masks to allow full motor control.

Inside the collapsed cavern, we found two slightly decomposed bodies of Basilisks surrounded almost completely decomposed bodies of Major Ursi and Major Beowolves.

Further analysis of the bodies revealed countless blade marks on the hide of the basilisks. This eliminates the possibility of a Dust related accident.

One of the basilisks had a large hole in its head, possibly created by a large spear of some kind, though the hole was too wide to be created by a hand held spear.

The other basilisk had most of its head blown off, though we found a long strip of metal inside the neck area. We have enclosed that sample in Box 2B.

The remains of the head of the second basilisk was found splattered on debris behind it, possibly the cavern wall. The head seemed to have been smashed into the wall at high speed, possible due to the explosion.

Next, there was evidence of a series of large explosions in the middle of the circle formed by decomposing bodies, which was possibly the explosion that brought the building down and killed the Grimm.

We found scattered human remains at the sight, along with more curious scraps of metal. The twisted piece of metal we reported a few days ago seems to be part of some sword. Beyond that, there was no way of finding any identification marks on the sword.

Based on this evidence, there is consensus that this was carried out by trained individuals. What their intention was is not known, though no terrorist groups have stepped forward to take credit.

Based on the amount of explosive used, this may have been a plot to destabilize the area above the tunnels in order to attract Grimm. If this was the case, then they failed in their mission as they didn't manage to destabilize anything of note.

The report continued on, but Ozpin had read enough. He opened Box 2B and unsealed the two packages of interest inside.

The first contained the spike found buried inside the Basilisk's neck. Ozpin set it aside, and then opened the second package.

This contained the other pieces of metal found near the explosion site. Unlike the remains of the sword, this was made of many different types of metals, layered together in curious patterns. Channels were gouged out inside the metal, and there were small holes that seemed like they were supposed to hold something.

The description of the piece mentioned that 'the horrible smell' seemed to get stronger near the glove, and that they had to cleanse the whole piece thoroughly to get rid of it.

Ozpin turned it over, trying to figure out its use. Nothing sprang to his mind immediately and he put it down to examine later.

He then turned his attention to the most promising piece: the sword, or at least the remains of it.

Ozpin turned the long ruined piece over, looking all over it. There were many indentations along the length, each one looking like something had exploded inside.

Explosives in a sword? No, anything powerful would damage the sword and the user. Dust? Probably set off when the aura dissipated upon the death of the user. Interesting.

Plenty of people imbedded their weapons with Dust, it was incredibly useful in battle, after all.

The location of the holes and the metal put around the holes themselves was incredibly curious. Ozpin had never seen such a thing before.

He tapped on the blade, creating a slightly higher pitched noise than was expected. Hollow?

Ozpin dug around inside his desk, finding a Burn Crystal used for cutting metal in factories. He cut the blade down the middle lengthwise, the metal peeling away.

Nothing. There was nothing inside, no mechanisms, no Dust, nothing. Ozpin sighed and put the metal back. It was possible there was more to the sword, but it was unlikely it still was left in one piece, given that the search had turned up nothing.

A broken sword, a dangerous chemical, a large explosion that killed the people who set it off, death of two Basilisks and many other Grimm, and a collapsed network of Grimm tunnels. This will be quite fun.

Jaune Arc

A Month Later

Jaune was currently trying not to go crazy.

He had a terrible headache that threatened to split his mind right open and his current situation wasn't helping.

He almost wished he was in a Promethean's body, but that would mean either dealing with the criminal masses, Roman, or Cinder. There also was the fact that Raven would probably enlist him to go and kill more Grimm, or something worse. She had done that twice already, though they were smaller targets than the Basilisks had been.

Raven had not seemed to realize that he had technically died back in the hole and had just assumed he had planned it all out.

Furthermore, Jaune also realized that she thought his Promethean guise was just a sham, an illusion, not a different body. He had been relieved at that, no one knew about the clones yet, and that was good.

It had been a month and everyone had moved past both his kidnapping and the explosion in Mountain Glenn. Ozpin had yet to contact him with the details of his trip to Atlas, and Jaune taken the time to prepare for the trip. He had, under the guise of packing all his tools, managed to pack away a Prometheus I along with the other C that he had kept as a backup. He stowed them inside crates along with life support systems and their weapons.

He had labeled everything with warning stickers, the better to avoid any potential mishaps. After all his preparations, there still was more time to wait, and that put him between a rock and a hard place.

The rock was going out as a Promethean which he didn't feel like doing anytime soon. The hard place however was the situation he found himself in. He knew that he would have to be social when he had accepted being a student, but this was ridiculous!

The 'this' in particular was going shopping for the school dance that was coming up. He had tried to back off and announce he was planning on not attending, but Yang had threatened torture in no uncertain words, and Jaune didn't want to get on the other side of those fists anytime soon.

So Jaune was now sitting next to Ren looking as if he wanted to end his life. The girls scampered around, trying out different clothes and talking the whole time.

Ruby and Blake were the only ones who seemed to be in the same mindset as Jaune, judging by their longing glances at the door, but Yang and Weiss were there to stop any attempts at mutiny.

Jaune pulled out his scroll, trying to think of something to do either now or in the future. Hoping that something would come up that would allow him to get out of this hell he was in, something anything.

Ping

Jaune opened the notification, reading the message.

Jaune, please meet me in my office as soon as possible to discuss the details of your trip to Atlas.

Jaune grinned widely and set his scroll away.

"Hey guys, I really hate to have to go, but Ozpin wants to meet, and we can't leave him hanging, so I'll just skedaddle that way…" Jaune scampered out before anyone could say anything.

Headmaster Ozpin's Office

Jaune was sat in his usual chair in front of Ozpin's desk, waiting for the man to finish what he was doing on his computer.

"Jaune, you are still interested in going to Atlas, is that correct?" Ozpin glanced up from his screen.

Jaune nodded in the affirmative. Of course he wanted to, this was Atlas! The technology capital of Remnant! Other than his lab, no other place on Remnant was so technologically advanced.

"Good. We have made arrangements for the trip. You shall be leaving next week, have your stuff ready. Your team will be going with you, here are the files with all the information you need. Do you have any questions?"

"Shouldn't I ask my team for consent? Seeing as how I have the privilege of accepting or declining the mission?"

"Jaune, you are the team leader. You are the one who makes the decision for his team. In the future when you are on missions deep in Grimm territories, you must have complete faith that your team members do exactly what you say. They must learn to follow your decisions without hesitation, and that is developed not in life or death situations, but in events such as this."

Jaune could see the logic in that and simply nodded. He knew his team trusted him, and that they wouldn't question him taking them to Atlas on such short notice.

"What will be our mission sir? I wouldn't be taking my entire team there just for me to pal around with the scientists there."

"All the details are in the folders. I'm sorry Mr. Arc, but my free time here is at an end. If you have any questions, please contact Glynda and she will help you. You are excused."

Jaune nodded and walked out of the office, back to the team room to wait for his teammates to get back from their shopping trip.

He skimmed the details on the walk back, eyes stopping at the length and start date of the mission.

Indefinite length? What are they expecting us to do?

The start date however was more concerning. It was next week which meant…

Oh no. Nora is not going to be happy.

Jaune Arc

Team JNPR's Room

Jaune had been right. Nora was not happy.

"Fearless Leader! You should've told us that before I bought this expensive dress! The man at the counter even told me no returns, and I waved him off and now I can't even wear it and it's a waste!" Nora wailed, clutching his hoodie in grief.

"Nora, calm down. There will still be reasons to wear it in the future, it's not a waste!" Jaune tried to calm her down, desperate. "Hey, how about I make Alfred make double pancakes for you every day until we leave, how about that?"

Nora looked up at him, eyes shimmering. "You… you would do that?"

"Yes Nora, I would. I'll even foot the bill for the extra batter. Now will you cheer up?"

Nora nodded and let go of him, heading back to sit on her bed.

"Jaune, is this true? Are we going on a mission as a team to Atlas?" Pyrrha spoke, voice hopeful.

"You're not going to start bawling that we missed the dance, are you?"

Pyrrha shot him a glare and he decided to stop teasing.

"Yes, Pyrrha. We are going on a mission to Atlas, as team JNPR and we are going to represent Beacon. Now let's read the details of the mission shall we?"

They all opened their folders and started reading.

Objective: To assist in finding and neutralizing Grimm threats around key Atlas research base.

Your missions will carry you into the Badlands at the foot of the Mantle mountain range, where you will be tasked with tasks comprising of infiltration, sabotage, and testing of Atlas weapons. You will be under the direct command of Major Ashe, who will provide you with specific details of your quarters as well as individual missions. Any and all resources will be provided, including but not limited to: food, medical support, transport, clothes, Dust, and weapon repairs.

The folders contained maps and such of the area around the base and details about the Grimm that surrounded it. The base was surrounded on three sides by large hills, and the ocean was the fourth side. Sentry outposts on the hills gave them advantage of sight, and the hills and ocean gave them protection from large scale attacks.

Overall, it would be very tough for any Grimm or White Fang to infiltrate the base, but from what Jaune had read in the report, they hadn't stopped trying countless times. Once, a small group had managed to steal an experimental airship from the maintenance yard, but were shot down before they could even leave the base.

Jaune took his scroll out while everyone finished reading. He turned on his secure channels and messaged Raven about the mission. He only had to wait a minute for her reply.

Raven: An Atlas military base? You're going to have almost free reign of the lab, yes?

Jaune: Yep, pretty much. I'll be monitored a bit more in the first couple of days, but soon they'll likely let me work in peace.

Raven: Keep in contact. Try to hook up to Atlas's CCT network as early as possible, we'll need to talk. I have a plan for Atlas.

Jaune: Something other than killing Grimm all over Vale? Finally.

Raven: Yes, something other than that. As soon as you're alone in Atlas, contact me.

Jaune: Kk, will do.

Jaune exited the chat and pocketed the scroll. Something told him Raven really did have a plan in place and it was something that would be incredibly dangerous.

That's just how Raven is I guess.

Jaune hadn't known her for long, but he knew he trusted her to watch for him. They had had a couple of conversations about the state of the world, the Faunus, and the increased rate of Grimm attacks. She had seemed intelligent and well informed, always having something to contribute. Those conversations along with the extermination missions they had gone on together, he thought he knew her pretty well.

She was in some ways very similar to him. She had the ability to focus on one objective singularly, committing all her concentration to achieving that goal. She had strong opinions, but was willing to discuss and change them. He enjoyed her company, and it seemed she enjoyed his.

Jaune knew that whatever plan she had cooked up; it wouldn't be something he would be opposed to. He might complain and moan and try to say it was too dangerous, but he wouldn't back out.

And that realization surprised him. He had only known her for a month, but trusted her on the same level as Goodwitch, someone who had been helping him in many ways for almost a year.

If Raven has been planning this Atlas mission for some time as I think she has, this will be an interesting trip for sure.

Jaune Arc

A Week Later

Saber Base, Atlas

Jaune wasn't feeling too well as he stepped off the Bullhead that had brought them all here. He had tried his best to sleep, meditate, distract himself, but all his attempts to distract himself from the constant and unrelenting waves of nausea had only saved him from the worst of it.

Every time he had opened his mouth during the flight, it had seemed as if his stomach was trying to escape. His aura had been useless as usual, doing nothing to help him feel better.

Pyrrha had tried to help, rubbing his back when the turbulence got really bad and he appreciated that. The flight had taken up most of a day, and Jaune's will to live had lessened with each passing mile.

Jaune moved to the back of the Bullhead to oversee the unloading of his cargo. Boxes upon boxes were unloaded, each only undergoing very basic scans to satisfy protocols. He had lined the boxes that contained everything to do with Prometheans with lead. He had made cuts and thinned the lead to make the sensor think that there is just Dust and materials inside.

It worked and Jaune watched the boxes being loaded into grey and white trucks to be driven to their quarters. Moving back around the front of the Bullhead, he watched a small convoy of three jeeps drive up to them.

They were made of grey metal with white Atlas insignias on the sides, along with some snowy camouflage designs. Inside the first and the last jeeps sat four Atlesian soldiers. They were covered in full-body armor, with a visored helmet that only showed their mouths. They each carried a standard issue rifle by the looks of it.

In the middle jeep there were only two soldiers. One was a normal soldier, but the other was an older grey haired woman with a ferocious look on her face. She was wearing grey fatigues and a greyish white hat.

That was a common theme in Atlas, it seemed. From their military to their cities that Jaune had looked at while in the air, everything was shades of grey and white. It made sense, this was a mountainous land that was covered year round in snow. It didn't bother Jaune that much though he could tell the rest of his team were put off slightly by the sheer lack of color.

The convoy rolled up to them and Jaune stood as straight as he could. The woman stepped out of the jeep and faced them.

"You must be the Beacon students." The woman's tone was not cold, though it wasn't warm either. It seemed neutral and controlled. "Team JNPR, I am Major Ashe, your new commander. I trust you read your briefings for your overall mission here. If not, you're out of luck as there is no time for any dilly-dallying while we let you do what you should have done before landing."

His team couldn't do anything but nod.

"Good. Now, get into the jeeps, we need to settle you in into your new quarters."

They all dutifully climbed in into different jeeps and looked around at the base on the drive through.

Jaune kept an eye out for security systems, places where patrols moved, and places where there was an unusual concentration of guards. Each and everything would be a barrier to him when he had to go out as a Promethean. Any stranger inside a heavily guarded military base would be shot on first sight, no questions asked. He didn't want to fight the entire base on his own for obvious reasons.

They finally pulled up to their quarters, a square, tall, unsurprisingly grey building. They were accompanied by a soldier to their rooms, their marked personal bags already inside.

The room was smaller than their dorm at Beacon and not very cozy. It had one window that looked out to the bleak grey and white world outside, snow already starting to collect on the roads outside as a storm moved in.

The weather was something that had surprised Jaune. The sky seemed to be grey and cloudy a solid hundred percent of the time, and the report had told him that the snow came and went with no real pattern.

Seems like weather is one thing humans can never seem to predict well, no matter where in the universe they are.

"Well guys, here we are. Time to make this feel like home!" Nora exclaimed, already putting up posters she had brought with her.

"Nora, I don't think it's a good idea to put up AchieveMen posters up in military quarters." Pyrrha's sensible voice spoke up, the girl already finishing up unpacking.

"Why not? It's not like they'll care." Nora waved a hand at the tall girl, already moving to her next poster.

No one said anything more, knowing Nora wouldn't back down from putting her favorite posters up, even though they clashed violently with the grey walls.

When they were almost done unpacking and getting used to their new room, someone knocked on the door and a folder was slid in through the bottom.

Jaune walked over and picked it up, opening it to read the contents. Upon reading the contents his face fell.

"You have got to be kidding me. Really, today? We just got here!" Jaune exclaimed.

His team looked curiously at him as he threw the folder onto the ground.

"What happened Jaune? What's in the folder?" Pyrrha asked curiously, crouching down to retrieve the papers.

"A mission. Ashe assigned us to a Grimm extermination mission on our own. We have to get to the airpads in 30 minutes, full gear." He rubbed his face, trying not to yell. He knew that they all were tired from the flight and were not going to be able to fight at full capacity.

"Jaune, we'll be fine, don't worry. We're not that tired and I'm sure they won't send us on anything too dangerous." Pyrrha laid a hand on his shoulder.

He smiled at her. She was right, they wouldn't give them anything too dangerous, especially since they were just 1st years. Right?

Jaune wished he could go back and strangle himself for daring to hope.

They all stood before Major Ashe who was reading them the details of their current mission.

"You four are tasked with infiltrating and destroying a Giant Nevermore nest on Peak Strom, 50 kilometers due east of here. You will be dropped off at Camp 3, the highest camp on the mountain to acclimatize. From there you will follow the trail up to the Giant Nevermore nest we shall mark on your maps."

We're going mountain climbing? We're going mountain climbing and fighting at least two adult Giant Nevermore? And here I was thinking they would be merciful.

"Any questions?"

"Yes actually Major Ashe, what is the rating on the Nevermore?" Please don't be Majors or higher, please don't be Majors of higher, please don't be…

"The two adult Nevermore are Majors, borderline Ultras, and we have no intel on the juvenile Nevermore." Ashe's voice contained no emotion, as if fighting heavily armored Grimm on a mountain was something she did for breakfast.

"If there are no more questions, report to Airpad 4 for your ride out. Good luck Team JNPR."

They glumly nodded and walked out. Even Nora seemed a little tired after hearing their mission. This was completely alien territory to them, they had never fought in a mountainous setting or against adult Nevermore before. They knew the theory, but the practical application of the theory was something entirely different.

Jaune tuned the world out trying to come up with a plan that would work. He knew that he had to make the Nevermore stay near the ground somehow, otherwise it would just pepper them with its razor sharp feathers from a distance.

They would have to either sneak up and hope to pummel it into the ground, or attempt to pierce the ridiculously thick hide on its back to ground it. Killing it outright was not possible due to the aforementioned hide, and so the only option was to ground it and just keep nickel and diming it until it died.

Pyrrha was the only one among them who could hit a flying target and cause enough damage to stun it. Ren's pistols were good as distractions and for sustained damage and not ideal against a flying Nevermore. Nora's grenades had the potential to miss, and Jaune knew he wouldn't be able to hit the Nevermore with his railgun at that distance.

He discussed the plan forming in his head with his team, taking their inputs and altering the plan to suit it.

"T-minus 2 minutes until drop. JNPR, get ready." The pilot's voice crackled over the Bullhead's intercom.

They were going to be airdropped in, allowing them to get a birds-eye view of the mountain before they landed at the camp. They got in position, putting on parachutes. The drop was too high for them to rely on aura alone.

The door to the outside opened, letting in blast of freezing air that whipped around the cockpit. Nora jumped first, arms splayed out, letting out a big whoop. Ren nodded at him and jumped next, falling much more gracefully than Nora had.

"Hey, my treat when we get out of this, eh?" Jaune said as Pyrrha walked to the edge.

"I'll hold you to it." Pyrrha smiled at him and jumped, falling face first to catch up with the other two. Jaune took one last glance around at the cockpit, steeled himself, and jumped into the icy void.

The view was spectacular. Clouds covered the land, with only the peaks of the mountains poking through the dense layer. The sun shone off them, creating dazzling islands of light in the grey-white ocean of clouds.

Jaune turned and angled himself downwards, wind whipping his hair. He had supplied his team with polarized sunglasses, each containing a basic HUD. They would protect their eyes from the air during the descent and harmfully bright light from the reflections off the snow. They also displayed their auras and relative position of the other three pairs of glasses as long as they were close by.

He reached his teammates and they all turned to accommodate him into their circle. They fell as a group, having done this many times before at Beacon. Hunters received training to act as shock troopers and drop in behind Grimm lines, and part of that was how to drop in as a team.

Jaune motioned, making a slash through the air and tracing four and a half circles with his index finger. The other three gave him the thumbs up and followed him, angling to the left 45 degrees.

The broke through the cloud layer, any moisture quickly pulled off by the speed of their descent. Jaune counted down from five and made a fist, moving it up and down. He saw the three arrange themselves in a staggered row behind him. Nora was off to his left with Pyrrha to his right. Ren was far behind him.

He counted down from ten next and then shook his fist from side to side, indicating the start of the parachute deployment process. A small lead parachute snaked out, slowing him down. The ground got closer underneath him, the terrain hard and unforgiving. Unlike the Emerald Forest, there were no trees here to break his fall in case he wasn't slow enough.

The second parachute deployed, slowing him down to a sufficiently slow speed. Ren fell past him, his second parachute deploying as he passed. He hit the ground and rolled, his twin green guns pointing in every direction making sure the area was clear of Grimm.

Ren, Pyrrha, and Jaune landed after him, struggling out of their parachute harnesses. Ren and taken his off before landing and it lay 30 feet away in a pile that he was now gathering up.

"Perfect! That was textbook, well done everyone!" Jaune exclaimed as he stuffed the chutes back in the bag.

It really had been perfect, there were no hard landings, no broken bones, no tangling of parachutes.

They finished gathering up their parachutes and Jaune led them in the direction of the camp. They intended to rest for a bit there, stocking up on Wind crystals to aid in breathing at high altitudes as well as Scorch crystals to keep them warm. Many teams assigned at least one person to be their designated Dust expert, Jaune was JNPR's as Weiss was RWBY's.

They left the camp two hours later. It was now about 3 in the afternoon, and they intended to utilize the remaining daylight hours to get to the top of the mountain and slay the beast, retreating by nighttime if they couldn't accomplish it.

The trekked up the mountain, already used to strenuous exercise in their time at Beacon. Their aura bolstered them, providing energy and strength. The picked their way across the rocky slope, taking care to not slip.

They continued on for two hours in silence, not daring to disturb the still air in fear of provoking an attack. The territory they were in was undoubtedly the Nevermore's as there were no Grimm to be seen around.

No Grimm means they all must be scared of the stupid bird, which means it's really really big. Whoo.

They made their way towards the glacier the Nevermore had made its nest in. Unlike normal animals, Grimm didn't mind harsh conditions like the cold. There were Grimm near active volcanos, Grimm at the bottom of the ocean, Grimm in the frozen wasteland of the North.

Ren signaled a halt when they got within a hundred meters of the base of the glacier and stopped under a small overhang.

"Scout, go." Jaune whispered as quietly as he could.

Ren nodded and moved off quietly. They sat in silence, getting ready for the fight ahead of them. This one would be their biggest yet, not just in terms of power but in terms of setting. They had never fought on the side of a mountain at such altitudes before, always on comparatively level ground in the Emerald Forest and its surrounding areas.

Ren came back about five minutes later.

"One Giant Nevermore is at the nest, there are about 4 juveniles in the nest, about the size of normal Nevermores."

That's a lucky break. Fighting both Nevermore at the same time would have been incredibly difficult.

The report was short and to the point. Jaune nodded, considering his options. They could either attack head on, killing the 5 Grimm before the other Giant Nevermore came, or they could wait to ambush the second when it came in.

"We're attacking now. Plan A-F." Jaune had named each scenario differently based on what they were to do. This plan was an Attack plan, and involved Ren and Pyrrha to Flank the enemy.

The three nodded at him, faces set in a resolute manner. As Jaune followed them out, he couldn't help but feel immensely proud of his team. They all had come far in the months since initiation. Nora had gotten more focused during battle, absolute concentration falling over her. Ren had gotten better at working as a support and Pyrrha had become more of a team player.

Jaune had also grown immensely. He was now as good at combat as many in his class, holding his own in straight combat. When his Dust and gadgets were factored in, he was able to beat the others half the time.

He had become an excellent leader as well, confidently issuing orders and creating plans of attack that factored in everyone's strengths and weaknesses. JNPR had consistently scored first in the strategy category during team matchups in combat class.

Now Jaune was just hoping his plethora of plans accounted for everything that could happen during the battle. If there was something he'd missed, things could end badly for the entire team.

Clearing his mind of the doubt, he focused on the area around him. It looked much the same as the rest of the mountain, rocky and grey, a little steeper than at the camp. Cresting a small ridge, Jaune got his first direct look at the nest.

It was absolutely massive, about 50 feet in radius. Its entirety was black, from its wings to its feet. The distinctive white and red armor plating covered its face and beak as well its underside. Its wings had partial protection along the bones. Each individual plate looked thick and hard to penetrate, like all Grimm of this size.

It was created in a depression in the rock itself, the entire thing lined with large branches and tree trunks carried up from the base of the mountain.

The Giant Nevermore sat in the middle, wings stretched out over the nest. It seemed to be dozing, which was perfect. Jaune pulled his sword out, aiming. He motioned at Pyrrha to go to the other left side of the nest and aim her spear at the Grimm's eyelid in order to hopefully try and keep it shut.

He motioned to Nora next to go to the right side of the nest, telling her to fire a grenade the Grimm's ear in an attempt to deafen it. Ren was send to the far side of the nest to confuse the Grimm even further.

Jaune raised his hand, three fingers raised. Then two. Then one. Then none, and his fist came down. Nora fired her grenade, the explosion echoing off the side of the mountain. The Grimm woke with a jerk, only to have the grenade hit the back of its head. Its head bent forward and Pyrrha's spear sank into the corner of its eyelid, pinning it in place temporarily.

It roared as Ren's guns fired into the base of its neck, the quiet boy standing atop the Giant Nevermore's back. Jaune aimed at the now exposed juveniles and fired the railgun at the first to react. The explosive round caught the Nevermore under its outstretched wing, tearing the whole thing off and slamming it into its parent.

The massive Nevermore jumped into the air, trying to shake Ren off. It arched its back and beat its wings, the massive muscles in its back tensing and relaxing. Ren's footing stumbled as the area under him pulsed. He fell, but managed to roll away as one of the juveniles shot a barrage of razor sharp feathers at him.

"Nora, take care of the chicks!" Jaune yelled at the orange-haired girl.

"Yes sir, Fearless Leader!" She saluted, happy that silence wasn't a priority anymore. Turning her grenade launcher back into its hammer form, she lunged at the four Nevermore that were now hovering above their nest.

She smashed into the first one and slammed the Grimm to the ground in one hit. It was twice her size but that didn't bother her; her strength was something legendary.

"Ren! Keep on the big bad's tail, try to make it turn around constantly. Pyrrha, the eyes!" Jaune yelled orders, finishing up the reload on his railgun.

He didn't even look to see if his orders were being followed, he trusted the two to carry them out. Ozpin indeed had been right, as usual.

Taking careful aim, he fired the penetrating round at the Nevermore's eye but a last second movement of the head meant it only managed to graze off the beak and fly off the mountain.

Jaune cursed, and deactivated the railgun. It wouldn't do if he ran out of ammo for it on the first Nevermore.

Nora had already dispatched the Nevermore he had shot the wing off, and now was dancing between the four healthy Grimm, on the defensive for the time being. She had it under control.

Pyrrha and Ren were making their actual target circle round and round, beak gnashing furiously. Whenever it tried to leap, Pyrrha slammed her shield into the back of the giant beast's head, dizzying it enough for it to drop. The highest it had managed to go was 20 feet above ground, and that was perfect.

Jaune activated the Scorch Dust in his sword, heating the blade. He dashed forwards, slicing at one of the smaller Nevermore that came close. It squawked at him as he ran by, not bothering to give chase.

Jaune used his aura to propel him into the air and onto the Giant Nevermore's wing. He plunged the blade through a section of the wing, slicing through the tendons with slight difficulty. The wing flapped and Jaune let himself be thrown into the air.

The Nevermore turned to look at him and he threw a smoke grenade into its eye. The grenade spewed acrid smoke as it bounced off the large orb, causing the Nevermore to reflexively shut its eye and snap at the air with its beak. This surprise move hit Pyrrha and sent her flying back over a ridge.

Jaune decided to worry about her later and used his aura to speed up his fall onto the beast, sword outstretched. He landed on the bird-like Grimm's back, sinking the blade deep into its back.

Ren meanwhile was still shooting and cutting at the back of the bird, ducking under its tail as he tried to pierce the rock hard scales on the Grimm's black feet.

Jaune saw Pyrrha's distance from him decrease on his HUD and felt relieved. She was merely thrown far, not off the mountain itself and was now coming back.

He twisted the blade and held on for dear life, feeling a strong case of déjà vu. The Grimm stopped suddenly and then bent its head forward. Jaune used a Shock Crystal to zap the Grimm but it barely reacted. It leaped into the air, flapping its wings violently rising into the air.

CAW CAW CAW, the beast's screech echoed off the mountain as the bird rose higher. It stopped when it was about a hundred feet off the ground and then turned, pulling its wings in close. It reached the top of the arc of its flight and then fell backwards down to Earth, Jaune hanging onto his sword lest he fall and lose it.

As the ground rushed towards him, he thought up a plan and leaped sideways off the Nevermore's back leaving the sword embedded in the flesh.

The Grimm squawked victoriously as it right itself and pulled out of the dive. Jaune landed on the ground, his aura cushioning his fall. Ren and Pyrrha rushed over to him as he got up, a small Jaune-shaped indentation in the ground below him.

"Jaune, where's your sword?" Pyrrha called out worriedly. "I might be able to get it back if you tell me where you saw it last."

"It's stuck in the Nevermore's back, but don't worry, I have a plan." With that Jaune closed his eyes and concentrated. He cast his aura out as a thin pulse, searching for resonance. Dust crystals were the only thing apart from the user's own body that aura resonated well with. Jaune ignored the large feedback the Dust in his pouches gave off and focused on the feedback from where the Nevermore was hovering, staring at them.

He sent out another pulse in that direction, now being able to tell the difference between the types of Dust in the blade and hilt. He had loaded the railgun before deactivating it, and so he set the Shock Crystal to charge the railgun. He next activated a Water crystal to force fill the wound with water, pushing some deep into the Grimm's body.

He then sent a large spike of concentrated aura into a Scorch Crystal that instantly vaporized all the water that surrounded the blade, creating a superheated ball of steam which was just yearning to expand.

Pop!

Jaune opened his eyes and gasped for air, the immense amount of aura he had just spent rushing to him. He stumbled and was caught by Pyrrha almost immediately. He looked up at the Nevermore, feeling his strength return by the second.

It was flailing in the air, trying to recover from the large gaping steaming hot wound it had just received. As it spun in the air trying to lessen the pain from the unseen attacker, Jaune caught a glimpse of a large crater on its back and grimaced. Steam explosions were violent and not pretty.

"Hey Pyrrha, my sword is still in its back, hear the edge of that crater on its back. Could you be so kind as to dislodge it and slice it to the side?"

Pyrrha nodded and raised her hand, a black glow forming around her hands as she concentrated on the sword. Jaune waited patiently, watching the Grimm get more and more agitated.

After 10 seconds, the Nevermore's lower body went limp and it struggled to stay upright, its legs a deadweight swinging below it.

Pyrrha opened her eyes, snatching the sword out of the air and handing it to Jaune. The Nevermore struggled away from them, wings laboriously beating the air. Jaune grabbed his sword and activated the railgun.

He aimed at the Nevermore's wound on the Nevermore's retreating backside and squeezed the trigger, the penetrative round flying through the wound and up into the Nevermore's head. It stopped midflap and its limp dissolving body fell from sight.

"That was well done, everyone, well done. Now we need to lay a trap for the other one, it should be here any minute now." Jaune was going to continue when something struck him as he looked at his HUD.

"Hey guys, what about Nora? She done?" Jaune looked towards Ren.

"Yeah, she's dealing with the last juvenile now. The fight took her over the ridge over there." Ren pointed up the mountain. Yep, Nora was almost at the glacier by now, based on the distance reading on his HUD.

"She knows that she shouldn't disturb the area around the glacier, right?" Jaune looked worriedly at the two. All three faces frantically looked towards the other two in desperate hope that they could assure the group that Nora had indeed remembered the instruction and that she would follow it. No such assurance came and the mood sank lower.

"I think we should worry about the second Nevermore. Jaune, do you have any ideas?"

"Yeah, I think that- "A screech interrupted him as the Nevermore in question flew into view, at a distance for the time being. "Just do the same thing, Pyrrha you take the front, Ren the-"

BOOM

The explosion had occurred behind him and Jaune's fists tightened as he saw the corpse of the young Nevermore fly above them, a chunk missing from its side. Nora bounded up to them, humming a merry tune.

"Hey guys, what's up? You missed a Nevermore by the way. He's heading here so we can get him together!" Nora twirled her hammer in anticipation. Jaune put his face in his hands.

"Nora, didn't I tell you to not to set off any explosions near the glacier?"

"Maybe?"

"And you just set off an explosion. Near a glacier."

"Guys." Ren's quiet voice wasn't heard by the arguing pair.

"I got the Nevermore at least!"

"Nora, I swear I WILL tell Alfred and Ren to not make you any pancakes when we get back to Beacon if you keep this up."

"Guys!" Ren's voice finally got their attention. "That Nevermore just started flying away. Do you have any clue why?"

Jaune looked up in surprise. The Giant Nevermore indeed was flapping away now, curiously enough. Why was it doing that?

"Jaune, I think I found the answer." Pyrrha's voice was strained. "It's heading right towards us; we should start running."

Jaune turned once more to see a huge front of snow and ice coming down the mountain like a huge white blanket.

"No. Yeah. You're right. Let's go."

They all turned and ran down the mountain, hoping to escape the icy wrath that Nora had disturbed. They hopped from rock to rock, trying to keep the distance between them and the advancing front from becoming smaller.

No matter how fast they ran, no matter how much aura they put into their jumps, the front got closer and closer to them. Every time he leaped, he always looked behind him to see the wall inexorably getting closer.

At the rate they were running, the avalanche would soon overcome them all. No amount of aura and Scorch Dust would stop tons of frozen water from turning them into JNPR smoothie. But he had other tricks up his sleeves.

He pulled out his collection of Wind crystals and threw them up in the air, using little blasts of wind to keep them circulating around him. He added in a couple of Scorch crystals to the mix, the collection circulating around him.

He poured aura into the Wind crystals, launching his teammates forwards hundreds of feet. They would survive the fall and get onto their feet soon. Jaune stopped at a ridge, now fully concentrating on the crystals around him, feeling their power, the way they shaped reality, the way the interacted with his aura.

The world seemed to slow down as his adrenaline pumped and his focus got deeper. He used Scorch and Wind together to create a ball of hot gas around him, slowly increasing the size of the ball while keeping the pressure constant. The ball grew bigger the more aura he fed through the crystal. The good thing with air is that it doesn't require much energy to heat up and Jaune used this to his advantage, creating an almost 200-foot wide ball of hot air in the air above him.

His aura levels were dropping quickly; he was at almost 60% now. Once he had a large enough volume of heated gas, he used the wind crystals to shape it into a sheet that stretched 100 feet to either side and was 50 feet thick. Using the remaining air, he shaped a large wedge in front of him that was about 100 feet thick as well.

He braced himself, keeping his aura pumping through the Scorch Dust. By his calculations, the volume of gas contained enough energy to melt and even boil 300-400 kilograms of the snow and ice, which was not nearly enough.

The avalanche finally struck. He opened up the reservoirs of aura he had, every single drop of aura flooding through the Scorch crystals, keeping the air hot enough to melt and boil most of the mass that came through.

50% aura remaining. He needed to keep this up, he was managing to slow the progress of this part of the avalanche and that was all Jaune cared about.

40% aura remaining. Jaune's concentration wavered, but he managed to right himself before anything went wrong.

30% aura remaining. They must have gotten pretty far by now. Let's see if I can do the same of the pitiful amount of aura I have left.

Jaune stopped the flow of aura through the Scorch Dust and immediately used the Wind to shoot himself off the side of the mountain into open air. He kept the stream up, trying to stay in the air as long as possible.

25% remaining. Caution. Your aura reserves are now LOW.

Gee, thanks for telling me man, wouldn't have known 25% meant low, real helpful.

Jaune turned off his stream of aura all the same, letting gravity take complete control. Two Barrier Dust shields and his aura would have to suffice for the landing, he was bone tired. Land passed below him in a blur as his eyelids tried to close, the air streaming past keeping them open.

He flew for a few more seconds then slammed into the ground, carving a deep furrow in the rock. His barriers had broken and his aura had gone down to 21%.

He reached into a pouch and scrambled around for a syringe. Gripping the cylinder, he jabbed it into his mid-thigh, depressing the plunger. His back arched as the adrenaline flowed through his blood stream, the feeling not dissimilar to an electric shock. His muscles clenched and unclenched and he felt as if he was being pumped full of energy. Without his aura he wouldn't ever have attempted something like this as the risk of permanent damage, even death, was far too high.

But now with this benefit of aura, he had synthesized some adrenaline and stored it in syringes as an emergency boost for his body. Using it was dangerous, and would lead to problems once the surge of energy went away, but it was nothing his aura couldn't handle.

He climbed out of the impromptu ditch he found himself in and staggered his way down the mountain towards his teammates.


Obligatory AN: What'd you think of the chapter? Anything I can fix? Anything you especially liked? Please review and PM me with this stuff, I love to get them and it helps me write better. Thanks for reading!