"Sir, my strategy is one against ten, my tactics are ten against one." - The Duke of Wellington.
Well mannered and controlled bars were very hard to come across. Especially when they are also clubs and casinos. So being in one that serves as all three is an entirely new experience for Jaune. Normally he would imagine his mentor had everything under control and that nothing was going to go wrong. Well tonight was not turning out that way at all. Jaune found himself behind a barricade made of various tables and tables while dust rounds flew overhead or were stopped by thick oak wood. His back was firmly pressed against a roulette table and his legs were sprawled out in front of him. Somewhere between his ears going numb and his arms and legs becoming jelly out of nerves, he had found cover and had done his best to not get minced by the criminal force attempting to assault his position.
Jaune's eyes peeked behind him to see the open doors of the establishment and beyond. Out in the dark of night were green and white lights flashing in sequence. The sirens of Mistral's Police and SWAT. They held the road all around the Midnight Slot House and were prepared for the stragglers that the assorted contractors could not wrangle themselves. Said contractors were six Huntsmen and one very scared Student.
A crash was heard next to Jaune. Well, more felt than heard actually. The young man's head snapped to the side and his eyes took in the new obstacle. One of the six Huntsmen was laying limply on the ground in a pile of shattered furniture. Jaune dared hope that the strong individual would stand and get back into the fight, but they simply stayed down. They didn't move a muscle. For some reason, Jaune felt himself move. He felt his weak legs carry his body in a short sprint. While his sillouette was low and his movement was swift, his heart knew nothing of that and beat like his life was in immediate danger.
It took less than three seconds to cover the distance, though in battle that feels like years. Jaune's hands snaked out and slid under the downed woman as he dove to her. On his knees, with said knees straddling one of her legs, Jaune lifted his ally over his shoulders and gripped her leg and arm in his right hand. His left hand snagged her weapon as he rose to his feet. Her weapon was an odd mixture of a sub machine-gun and a hatchet. So in the heat of combat, Jaune found the grip natural in his grip. Yelling out that he needed cover fire was hard. He had no idea if his remaining allies would hear him over the sounds of small-scale warfare, but he could hope.
Qrow had taught him all of this, from the forms of his movement under fire, to the carry he was using, even the call outs he was screaming. He needed to be ready for this, sink or swim he went where Qrow went. There were times where tripping over the curb or having a bird shit on him due to the old drunk's semblance was annoying, but in combat Jaune was glad he had his teacher around. The man was downright impossible to take down, a fact the Mistral crime rings were becoming very aware of.
Jaune ran with every ounce of his being from cover to cover. He ran into the occasional thug hiding in said cover, but he would fire haphasardly in their direction using the Huntress' weapon to scare them back before sprinting on. Most times all you needed when dealing with the enemy was time, something you could buy with a second or two of suppressing fire towards their position. Never before in his life did he think he would be on the verge of being shot, stabbed, bludgeoned, and shitting himself all at once. But with a motivation born of pure fear and determination to live, he ran right out the front door.
Black boots slammed down on asphalt as Jaune pushed on to the barricade set up several meters from the curb. As he leaped over the barrier he felt hands all over him. Some relieved pressure from his shoulders as they took the casualty from him. Others dragged him down lightly. Jaune panted as he finally dared to look up. The police officer he locked eyes with was speaking to him. After a few seconds, when his adrenaline died down a little, Jaune heard a few words.
"Good job kid, are you hit? Are you okay?" The short man asked while looking him over.
"I-I'm fine. Just catching my breath." Jaune said louder than he probably normally would.
His eyes looked past the Officer and found the Huntress again. She was being lifted on a litter into an armored SWAT van. She was moving very slightly. Jaune almost cried out in anguish, but stopped when he saw the medic at the head of the litter start laughing. She had been talking, she had said a joke. The slight movements were her lungs inhaling and exhaling. Jaune started laughing almost hysterically. What had he gotten into? How could he laugh at a time like this? She could have been dead or dying! But for some reason, as he stood Jaune chuckled before moving towards the barrier once more.
Hands slapped his back as he strode to the concrete road barrier seperating him from safety and combat. The encouragement from the brave officers made him leap the obstacle with more gusto than before. He ripped Crocea Mors out of the sheathe and expanded his shield as he picked up his speed. The hammering in his heart had returned, but was steady. He ran back into the fray and felt hard slams against his shield as rounds were stopped or deflected. Glancing around his shield, he saw the whole field. Well, the entire dancefloor and breezeway that the battle was taking place on.
He saw two Huntsmen firing on an entire line of criminals from behind a tipped over slot machine. They were taking heavy fire, but were dishing out precise shots that were dropping the enemy slowly one by one. But persitance was only good if you had a plan to drive the enemy back. Ahead of them and to the side, a large Huntsman Jaune remembered from the mission brief as Horace, was fighting in close quarters with two colorful maniacs. The maniacs were the Cistro cousins. They were notorious enforcers for the BlackJack Mafia, dressed in expensive sports jerseys and sweat pants, they looked like amatures. They fought like the exact opposite. Their brutal style was simplistic, but very rehearsed and impactful.
Having almost time to react, Jaune dove behind a pile of stone that used to be a decorative pillar. He was surprised to find he wasn't alone. To his right was a SWAT operative. His helmet was a mess, ripped and the kevlar strands wildly sticking out from the smooth surface of the top. His smile was forced but yet his eyes spoke of true ease.
"It was just a graze! Bastards clipped me when I fell back with Hostages!" The Operative yelled.
"Could have killed you! Are you okay?" Jaune yelled back while looking the man over like the medics outside did for him.
"Fine as the day I graduated the Academy!" Came back the joking response.
"I'm going to find my Teacher! Fall back to the entrance!" Jaune instructed.
A shake of the head was all the man returned, and before Jaune could even think to stop him, the man lifted his riot shield and loaded a magazine into his pistol. Jaune cursed and leaped out of cover behind the death-wish with body armor. He took a hunched postition directly behind his new battle-buddy, with his hands working his equipment back onto his waist. They moved slowly but steadily forward, bullets and thrown projectiles deflecting off of the large body-shield made from dust lined plexi-glass. Jaune grabbed shells from the bandolier of his friend and loaded them into his vanguard's three slots.
Slipping his knife from it's sheathe and preparing for possible confrontation, Jaune grabbed the weaving of the Operative's body armor from behind. They were closing on Horace an his foes. The rounds aimed at them stopped as they neared, the thugs firing would not dare take the chance of hitting the Cistros. Jaune tapped the Operative's shoulder twice, signalling for them to halt. Taking a knee, Jaune's partner kept the shield out front, rested on the ground.
"Hold still!" Jaune yelled into the ear of the Oooperative.
With a nod, he stayed put. Jaune watched one of the Cistro cousins through the shield as he flanked Horace and ducked under a swing from the Glaive the Huntsman wielded. Jaune counted the paces until he was sure that he Cistro was close enough. Taking a few crouch-steps backwards, Jaune cursed.
"Please don't die, please don't die!" He pleaded with himself.
Running forth, he leaped up and planted his foot on the Operative's shoulder before using it as a springboard. Jaune flew up over the shield and tucked his legs up halfway to his chest. Flying ungracefully through the air, Jaune threw his arms out wide and desperately. Through blind luck, they wrapped around a jersey-clad torso. His whole weight, and the massive momentum of Jaune's flight, had both of them slammed to the ground.
Hands and knees flew up at Jaune but were flattened out as he came down on the Cistro. They slid on the dancefloor for a few meters before coming to a halt. A hard jab rocked Jaune in the eye, but being very used to that, Jaune swept the arm to the side and gripped the wrist, pinning it to the floor. The other fist swung up, but Jaune moved forward. He quickly straddled his enemy, and stabbed down with his combat knife. It's tip stabbed straight into the shoulder of the man beneath him, but slid up and to the floor, imbedding itself slightly into the tile floor. Aura did things like that.
Struggling under his weight, Jaune knew the criminal was close to worming away. A thought sprung to his mind. Employing a technique he learned many years ago when dealing with his younger siblings, Jaune stopped the efforts of the Cistro. He let his spit dangle down in a thick glob from his lips threatingly over the criminals eyes. The look of suprise and disgust that Jaune saw flow over the man's features was precisely what he wanted. In the second that the man hesiated, Jaune took action. Still gripping the wrist Jaune had pinned, he swung his body down next to it so his back rested on the floor, before sliding the criminal's arm up and down between his legs.
The Cistro Cousin yelped in suprise and pain as Jaune's feet slid over his chest and jaw before locking in place. Now trapped in an armbar, the enforcer screamed as Jaune locked his grip on the wrist down like a vice, before arching his back and pulling with both arms. Thank the forces above for Taiyang teaching him hand-to-hand forms and manuvers. They pulled at each other, but Jaune had the upper hand and the superior position. After a few moments of struggling and screaming, a sickening crunch sounded as Jaune broke both Aura and bone.
A loud whimpering came from the man Jaune just incapacitated and so did the panicked scream from said man's cousin. Glancing up, Jaune saw the other enforcer breaking away from Horace to come aid his family member. But turning his back on an expeirenced Hunstman was a mistake. Horace switched his Glaive into it's revolving rifle form and sent three rounds into the back of the remaining cousin, knocking him forward and face down on the floor. Jaune almost let go as he saw the enemy begin to rise, still set on him. But right as an axe kick was prepped and racing towards his face, a barrage of rounds struck the maniac from the side. Aura held, then buckled as four well-placed shots struck his head, arms, and side.
Staggering back, the enforcer winced away from the shots and looked for cover. But before he could attempt a retreat, the blunt haft of a Mecha-Shift Glaive slammed over the back of his head with enough force to knock him out cold. As the thug struck the floor next to Jaune and his restrained opponment, a familiar shield slammed down next to him. The Operative reached a hand out to give Jaune something as he blocked the now returning enemy fire. Jaune snatched the handcuffs and quickly clasped it to the wrist he held before reaching and clasping the other. The whimpering man did nothing to stop him. Picking up his knife, Jaune took position behind his aly once more.
Now unimpeded by the Aura-enhanced foes at their feet, they moved forward. Hands gripped Jaune's back. Looking over his shoulder Jaune saw Horace hunched down to his rear, a wicked smile on his face. Soon, the two Huntsmen from before ran up and joined Horace in creating a battering ram of Aura-fueled flesh and weaponry. With a utteral battle cry mixing with that of his friends, Jaune and the crew ran forth with reckless abandon. The shield slammed into and through the wall of furniture and rubble that the firing line of Mafia members had been using. In a flurry of action, they all split apart and assaulted the enemy from within their own ranks. Confused and anguished yells sounded out as criminal after criminal were struck to the ground or thrown through the air.
Jaune's scabbard slammed down on a woman's shoulder, cracking bone and leaving her floored. Several rounds impacted Jaune's chest and arms before halting as the marksman was nailed by pistol rounds from the Operatives pistol. Horace swept several men and women away with large swirling strikes from his Glaive. Jaune spied a familiar scythe swathing destruction to his left while gunfire barked all around him. Gone was the panic and uncertainty. Jaune only felt a cold ease, even though his whole body felt like it was on fire. His arm came up and with a thrust of his wrist, a blast of fire erupted from the mechanism under his vambrace. An angry thug with a baton was sent flying backwards into three of his friends, knocking them all down and leaving the man with a large charred spot on his dress shirt.
As soon as it had started, the battle halted. Cries of defeat and surrender were coming from the fifty or so men and women they had just assaulted. Jaune stood with his knife and scabbard in hand. The pants of his heavy breathing were suddenly loud and Jaune found himself suprisingly exhausted. Once more his knees felt weak and he fell to one knee. A large hand gripped the shoulder of his nice vest and kept him from falling to his side.
"Aura does a lot for a man, but it doesn't improve stamina. Keep your breaths deep boy, catch yourself." Horace said with a serious expression.
The seasoned man scanned the room. Seemingly satisfied, he retrieved a device from his pocket before clicking a button. By the time it took Jaune to stand on his own and put his weapons away, Police by the dozens flooded in and began the process of capturing the Mafia. In one fell swoop, the entire building was swept and the stragglers were caught trying to escape through the side and rear exits. Soon enough Qrow came walking up, Harbinger resting in it's collapsed form on his lower back.
"You okay kid? Still got all your limbs and teeth?" The dusty drunkard asked with a tinge of genuine concern.
"I-I think... I think I... I don't even know what I think Qrow." Jaune said finally feeling the exhaustion take over his mind.
Saying he felt horrible was a start. But even worse was the slurry of different emotions and thoughts racing through his head.
"Yeah, it's like that sometimes Jaune. Sometimes it is like nothing too, and those times are even harder." Qrow said grabbing a chair from the makeshift barricade and setting it down for Jaune.
Finding a chair for himself, Qrow sat beside his trainee and took a swig from his flask. soon enough Jaune lit a ciggarette and began to feel somewhat calm again. Three whole weeks of working with the Police under temporary contract had them here, toppling an entire crime cyndicate with organized assault. Jaune did nothing for most of it, simply scouting activity with Qrow for many days before returning to their rented room and doing makeshift study sessions on tactics, combat, and team operations.
Jaune was only supposed to be obseverving this fight, and helping the wounded, but then again it was only supposed to be a small skirmish that lasted maybe a minute or two. They hadn't expected to breach into a well fortified and organized defense. Huntsmen and a small team of highly disciplined SWAT are a force to be reckoned with no doubt, but against a force that had itself rooted down and well armed they were less efficient. Part of the charm of Huntsmen and Huntresses was the fact they were experts in counter-guerilla combat tactics. What they came across and had to bring down tonight was a force more properly handled by an Army, those who were specialised for force against force battles.
Jaune asked Qrow how this went south so fast. The reply was a shrug and a simple guess.
"It could have been several things, maybe it was a mole in the Police, or maybe they had a scout tell them we were organizing for something big. Who knows, all that matters is that they are all fucked beyond recognition now. We evened the scales tonight kid. And to be honest, I got worried for you when we came in. The lights flipped on and we had no time at all to react before the entire room lit up like a college dorm party. I scrambled just as much as everyone else, but you did good. Great even. It took a few minutes before I was comfortable enough to leave you behind, but i'm glad it turned out alright."
Jaune had no idea what to say to that. A mixture of pride and hesitation swirled before a third feeling swam up from his stomach to his mouth. Turning to his side and leaning out of his chair, Jaune hurled a small flow of vomit onto the floor. Having not eaten before all of this, there wasn't much but water and some acidic fluids. Laughter drew Jaune's attention back to his mentor. Qrow was smiling and holding out a palm to the side expectantly. Soon enough a Huntress that was at the front of the battle with Qrow earlier walked over and slapped a few lien into Qrow's clutches with a groan and a frown.
"Dammit boy! You were supposed to make him look stupid, not right!" She said before flipping Qrow off playfully as she stalked away.
"I guess you were just unlucky tonight!" Qrow barked at her back. He received a nice fuck off in return.
"I can't beleive I actually helped." Jaune said quietly as he leaned back in his chair, lighting another cig. He honestly didn't think he was remotely ready for anything on this scale.
"This is something that second or third year Beacon students do. Granted they come in as the cleanup crew or handle the stragglers like the Police, but they are involved in operations at this scale to get them ready for major tasks in their fourth year. So managing to keep pace with some of us, even just a little like you did, is not a small thing. Tai did a damn good job. All the extra pushing we did with you showed through tonight."
The night ended soon after. Five Huntsmen, one Huntress, and one Student walked out after giving an after-action report into the early morning dawn. Camera crews and police investigators swarmed them and they almost had to have Officers pull them away. Jaune heard yelling about the camera footage from the security system inside. Another shout was asking if they had difficulty with the Grimm. A swathe of random questions assaulted their ears. Eventually Qrow just held his hands up and clapped them together before slowly extending them straight out and spreading his arms. The civilians on either side of his arms were gently moved aside as Qrow, followed by the rest of the team, made their way to the designated checkpoint within the Police perimeter.
Jaune managed to find a seat on the bumber of a squad car. Laughter and stories from the Huntsmen he found himself with filled the air as they wound themselves down from the conflict. Soon enough a snap of fingers in front of Jaune's face woke him from his haze. Looking up Jaune saw a familiar sight. The Huntress he carried out earlier stood in front of him. Her mid-back length green hair was tied up in a messy bun an her eyes seemed to disect Jaune.
"So... Qrow brought a lackey along. Then he decides to risk himself to drag my ass out of the fire? Are you stupid, or brave?" She asked with a frown.
"I didn't know what else to do. I had to do something, right?" Jaune asked back with a sheepish smile. His hand rose to scratch the back of his neck.
With a huff, she shook her head and let out a small laugh. The squad car creaked as she sat next to Jaune. Gone was the scowl and stiff posture, replaced by a relaxed and eased persona.
"Well, the name is Nguyen. And I think I need to thank you for saving my ass a hassle." Nguyen said nudging Jaune's side.
"If anything you should thank Qrow. He taught me everything I did tonight. Well... he taught me most of it." Jaune responded, deflecting the attention.
"Well it wasn't that old man that scooped me up under fire. So thanks kid. And don't worry if i'm okay or not. I got low on Aura in there and let my guard down against those stupid cousins."
"They wont be hurting anyone anymore. They are headed to jail and maybe they wont ever get out." Horace said walking up. "Thanks to the kid anyway."
Nguyen's eyes widened and she chuckled.
"Jaune! We have to go!" Qrow said skidding into the conversation. His eyes were playfully wild and his smirk was devious.
"What did you do Qrow?" Jaune asked, leaping to his feet.
Qrow held up a small black rectangle, with cords dangling from it. It was a memory card of some sort, like a hard drive or... no, it was a hard drive. Dammit Qrow.
"I got footage for us to study! Cause that's what good teachers do!" Qrow said beaming.
Jaune, Horace, and Nguyen all let out groans as they facepalmed.
Taiyang sat happily in the early morning mist. He had yet to try out his new porch swing, and was enjoying the results of his toil. The local birds and wildlife on Patch were awake and alive with activity. Days like this were the best in Tai's opinion. When the girls were little, they would all come sit out on a blanket and enjoy a morning picnic and bask in the good times. As time went on they got more interested in training and going out to town. But even though that happened, Tai was happy that the changes in their lives were for good reasons and with good intentions.
A buzz in his cargo shorts pocket had Tai sighing and reaching for his scroll. A headline from the news app he used had him smiling.
Huntsmen and Police trample Mistralian Mafia.
Sliding his finger acoss the screen, Tai opened the article to see the results of his fellow Huntsmen's efforts. Within a second his smile turned to a frown. The front page image that was clearly a photograph of the original newspaper, was a sght to see. It was grainy, but clear enough to get a good look. A semi-overhead image showed a shield being held by a Mistralian SWAT operative, to his back was Tai's student. Behind him were two more men, two full Huntsmen. All were rushing and the still image clearly captured the snarling battle cries they were all bellowing. Red and gold streaks through the frame showed the trail of dust rounds flying over, at, and around the group.
Below the image, a caption read out.
Front to back: Sergeant Nei, Aiding Huntsman -in-training Jaune Arc, Huntsman Vereem Yun, Huntsman Dax Trindle.
Reading the article took Tai maybe ten minutes, but it had his heart leaping for joy and also sinking to his stomach. He was glad the situation was controlled the entire time, but was horrified at the amount of opposing force that Jaune had to face. Tai would have kept him away if he were there. And most certainly wouldn't have let him lead a charge against an overwhelming enmy position. Dammit Qrow.
"Why couldn't you have just let this all go easy Qrow? June is going to have words. Hopefully that is all she will be having. I really don't feel like losing my arm over this." Tai said to himself to fill the void.
The atmosphere was ruined now, or at least he no longer felt like sitting still. And breakfast was calling his name. But before he could even get to the kitchen, Tai heard a familiar voice call out from the dirt clearing in front of his house.
"Interesting news going around Xiao-Long."
"Why are you here Raven?" Tai asked annoyed, without giving her the respect of turning to face her.
"Certainly not for you." Raven responded with her hand rested on the hilt of her weapon.
"Get to the point, or leave."
"Qrow and June's son are in dangerous waters Taiyang. They are getting close to messing with things they don't understand and are not capable of handling. I am here to leave something for Qrow when that drunk fool comes back here to drop off the brat." Raven spat before tossing a heavy package down in the dirt in front of her.
"What could you possibly give that he would want from you?" Tai said, finally turning and crossing his arms.
The tension in the air was thick and almost suffocating. Slight shifts in stances and foot placement by both parties told of the natural fight or flight reflex they held around each other. The wind was the only thing making noise and Tai decided silence wasn't enough.
"I expect an answer seeing as you are on my property without an invite. Don't tell me all this time living as a savage has ruined the manners that we beat into you." Tai spat.
"Let's call it a lead. One that will get him away from Mistral and ensure that Ozpin and Salem dont play tug-of-war with Qrow and Arc's corpses. Things there are going to change. And you don't want your student there when they do. So take this advice not as a gift, but as a trade. I give this not as a gift, but I give it expecting you to in return fufill one wish." Raven said setting the ultimatum.
"And that would be?" Tai asked.
Raven turned and slasheda portal into existance. She turned back and met tai's eyes as she donned her mask.
"Keep Arc from Ozpin's control. If he has a fraction of the power his mother holds, he shouldn't have to die for it. We both know Ozpin takes powerful people and gets them killed in cold blood for his own gain. Goodbye Taiyang." Raven said as she entered her portal and dissapeared into the void.
The still air left Tai looking down at the package. the brown leather wrapping was crude but functional. With a sigh he opened it to see the contents. Tai saw it and his heart froze in his chest. It was a bad omen.
The leather bag was full of printings. Plastic cards that printed off every time a Huntsman or Huntress was announced KIA or MIA. There had to be hundreds of them here. Sat on top was a single one with a red marker circle written on it. It's date read out yesterday's numbers.
Tai shuddered. So many were dead. And seven were killed yesterday... In Mistral.
...