Chapter 5
Jaune panted as he and Pyrrha practically flew into Avanti with Yatsuhashi. Their fellow students had done a remarkable job of keeping the Grimm off of them, but the short trip had left his legs shaking from the sudden exertion. He noted with a little envy that Pyrrha herself seemed unphased by the running.
Just outside the entrance, Baylee's team was laying down covering fire, while Nora, Ren, and CYAN had positioned themselves in a line snaking back to the crash site. He and Pyrrha were just a few steps into the building, taking in their surroundings. On the town centre's white tiled floor was a maze of barriers, weapons and ammunition. Manning the makeshift defences were a haphazardly armed group of people, from security to police and even the odd civilian. Some were already approaching him, one of whom was a man nearing his forties, wearing a white button-up shirt with a black tie and suspenders. He was cradling a shotgun with a drum magazine and had a belt of grenades slung over his shoulder. Jaune privately wondered if he should be worried about a potentially gung-ho wannabe vigilante.
"Set him down," Shotgun Man said. Jaune and Pyrrha obliged, lowering Yatsuhashi to the floor. A couple of people in dark blue uniforms quickly descended on the unconscious second-year. Shotgun Man continued to address them. "What're your names?"
"Jaune and Pyrrha," he said, pointing with his thumb to indicate his teammate. "Team JNPR, Beacon Academy. We were meant to land on the roof, but…"
"Yeah. We saw," said Shotgun Man. "Detective Heyman. VPD. Looks like you've still got some people out there."
Jaune nodded. He was at least a little comforted to learn the man before him was an officer and not just any regular citizen.
"We've got six more. All wounded," he said. "I've got the other teams covering us, so we can carry them all back here. Do you have any doctors?"
"We've got some EMTs who were on call before everything went to hell," said Detective Heyman, gesturing to the pair who were looking over Yatsuhashi. "They've helped us set up a triage point on the third floor. It's not much, but it's better than nothing."
"Right," said Jaune. "I'm going back out there."
"Those VTOLs of yours coming back?"
Jaune grimaced and shook his head. Pitcher Flight had officially received the order to withdraw to prevent themselves and their escorts from being overwhelmed. In time, Atlas and Vale would be able to launch a large enough of an air contingent to beat back the flying threats. But as a QRF, their numbers had been limited. He and the other teams had been explicitly deployed to buy time for a proper mobilisation. The detective appeared to understand, if reluctantly.
"Okay. We've got some shooters on the upper floors who can help keep the Grimm off you. Once you're all in, we're gonna think up a proper strategy."
"Sounds good," said Jaune. By then, the EMTs had transferred Yatsuhashi to another stretcher, leaving him and Pyrrha free to carry theirs back to the crash site. He gestured to his teammate, and they moved to the entrance. Seeing that their immediate front was clear, thanks to BEIJ, they began their sprint back to 1-1.
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By the time they got Coco, the last crash victim, into Avanti, Jaune's legs were ready to turn to jelly. CFVY's leader had refused the stretcher, leaving him to support her on his shoulder as they half-walked, half-hobbled their way to (relative) safety.
"We're done!" he said into his scroll. "JNPR and CYAN! Fall back to the centre!"
"Roger. CYAN falling back."
Conrad's team made their way in, followed closely by Ren, Nora, and Pyrrha. The barricade began sliding shut as BEIJ backed their way into Avanti. Baylee was the last one in, firing her hand cannon all the way. They kept shooting until the steel walls came back up. Coco gave him a grunt of thanks, then retracted her arm from his shoulder to stand on her own, leaning heavily on her left leg.
"Nice work, kid."
Jaune turned to see who'd spoken to him. Detective Heyman was still there, shotgun pointed downwards and finger off the trigger now that there weren't any Grimm in their immediate vicinity. Next to him was a similarly dressed officer, sporting a beard and hefting a long and cumbersome anti-material rifle.
Bearded Sniper called out to him again.
"You in charge of your pals here?"
Jaune shook his head and pointed to Coco. With all the running, he hadn't had time to verify with Watch Master if he should relinquish his command over the Strike Team back to her. Bearded Sniper raised a brow, probably at her clearly wounded state. Coco stared back with a slight upward tilt of her head, and he nodded.
"Alright. Huddle up and we'll give you a briefing."
Jaune and the other leaders called for their teams to do as instructed. Coco was the only one left from CFVY, as Yatsuhashi and Fox were still out, and Velvet had been sent to whoever was in charge of treating the crash survivors.
"I'm Detective Burns. Some of you have already met Detective Heyman, here. We're from the VPD and have been heading the defence of this town centre ever since Armageddon decided to pay us a visit."
"What's the situation here?" asked Coco.
"Floors five through seven have been completely locked down after Clucky McScreechums crashed on the roof," said Detective Heyman. "Automated defences are working overtime, and anyone who can handle a gun's either guarding entry points or shooting at the suckers trying to get through those entry points."
Even as Coco nodded, Jaune saw her sucking in a breath as one of her hands twitched to what he guessed was a bruise or cut hidden by her clothes. "Those barricades can't hold forever."
"Agreed," said Detective Burns. "And the Nevermore's still smoking up top. We won't be able to land any reinforcements here for a while. Those VTOLs that got you here bought us a little breathing room. But now that they're gone, the Grimm are gonna focus back on us."
"We'll help you hold the centre until we can get some more transports and men in here," Coco said. "If the barricades fall, we can keep the Grimm bottled up on the ground floor. We can also have a…team…on…"
Noah and Conrad caught their senior as she faltered in the middle of talking and lost her balance.
"Looks like the adrenaline's worn off," said the former. "I didn't have time to check over her properly. She needs medical, now."
"Bullshit," hissed Coco, even as her paling face twisted in pain. "I can still fight."
"Not like this, you can't," said Detective Heyman, who waved over a couple of bystanders that proceeded to place Coco on the stretcher Jaune and Pyrrha had used earlier. Coco scowled at them and gave her black case one final frustrated thump with her fist. Only then did it occur to Jaune that it must have been her weapon, damaged in the crash. Its breakdown appeared to be the final straw, and with a final curse, she let herself be laid on the stretcher.
Before they could start moving her to the upper floors, she called out to Jaune, and he moved next to her. For all her tenacity just a few seconds ago, she was struggling to keep her eyes open. It looked like she was finally listening to her rattled body.
"Tell HQ I'm taking a nap," she grunted. "Until I'm up…you're in charge."
Even though Jaune had technically been leading the others since 1-1 had gone down, the verbal acknowledgement was the final push that brought the reality of the situation crashing down on him. He was in command. He was responsible now. The development was exhilarating in the worst way possible. He nodded.
"Yeah. I got it. Get some rest, now."
He rejoined the group, as Coco was carried to the upper levels.
"Your friend had the right idea," said Detective Burns. "Right now, the only thing keeping us safe are those barricades. The big ones we need to worry about are the main entrances for the east and west. If they go down, things are gonna get real complicated for all of us."
To punctuate his observation, a series of 'thunks' reverberated in their ears. It was the sound of Grimm ramming, punching, and clawing at the metal barriers. Their attempts were quickly followed by a volley of gunfire from the defendants overlooking the streets from the upper floors, as well as the town centre's automated turrets. Some of the students, including Jaune himself, fidgeted with their weapons. Whether they were nervous or just itching to kill something, he couldn't say.
"I need a group on the fourth floor to cover me while I snipe and look out for anything curious enough to come through the top floors. Detective Heyman and the remaining teams will stay here and keep the Grimm outta triage. Any questions?"
"You know how to use that?" said Baylee, referring to the anti-material rifle. It was more a genuine query than an accusation. Jaune couldn't fault her for her question. Police officers in Vale were seldom seen carrying anything bigger than a pistol. With how much firepower the two Detectives were holding between them, he had to admit he was curious, if not also a little wary of their choice in arsenal. Detective Burns nodded.
"Yeah. I used to be a Marine Scout Sniper and took a course with the VFF."
"VFF?"
"Vacuo Foreign Forces."
Jaune had heard of the Vacuo Marksmen. While it might not have a military anywhere near as big as Atlas or even Vale, the desert-based Kingdom was known to produce some of the finest sharpshooters in all of Remnant.
"And Detective Heyman here was a tanker in the Army. Don't hold it against him, he didn't know any better."
"Shove it, crayon muncher," scoffed Detective Heyman.
"So, don't worry about us," continued Detective Burns. "We can handle ourselves."
Seeing that the other students were unanimously satisfied with the answer, Jaune nodded.
"Okay. Conrad. Take your team and cover Detective Burns. BEIJ and JNPR will help guard the ground floor here. My guys have the east, while Baylee takes the west entrance."
"Gotcha."
"Loud and clear."
This was it. After their initial disastrous attempt to reach the town centre, they were finally ready to fulfill their main objective. They would hold this position, which by itself was one of several that Vale desperately needed to keep the Grimm contained. Without them, the city would come that much closer to falling. He couldn't allow that. For all that was good in the world, they would hold.
He unsheathed his sword with a distinctive 'ring' and expanded his shield. In the dash back and forth from the crash site to Avanti, he'd been forced to stow away Crocea Mors. The blade glinted in the shopping centre's lights. It was dramatic and cheesy. But right now, after suffering the jarring incapacitation of CFVY, and finally set to make their stand, he figured they could all use a little theatrics.
"Alright. Let's do this."
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Codex Entry: The Paladin-Enforcer Debate
In 75 AGW, Atlas was ready to replace their aging M1A3 Sensha main battle tank. Looking for something that had both the firepower and durability to combat the Grimm, as well as the manoeuvrability to help the military adapt to asymmetric warfare, Atlas opened itself up to proposals. By 76 AGW, two 'finalists' had emerged.
On one side was the Schnee Dust Company's (SDC's) XM290 – a single-pilot Battlesuit standing at over five metres tall and equipped with a M80 Pulse Cannon for each arm, and a quartet of missile racks able to load a variety of warheads. Its hands are suitable for both melee and utility (e.g. construction), ensuring it will always be of use both on and off the battlefield. Able to reach running speeds upwards of sixty-five kilometres per hour, its thirty-seven tonne chassis also lets the XM290 literally throw its weight around with some of the largest Grimm in Remnant, as well as serve as an impromptu wrecking ball when the need arises.
Exoskeletons had been considered before by Atlas as an invaluable method of boosting the speed, strength, and durability of their troops. But they'd yet to implement such experimental technology in a widespread manner outside of the proving grounds. The XM290 was an unprecedented breakthrough that could ensure the safety of their men and women in the field by letting them deploy fewer and tougher personnel to the fight.
But the XM290 was far from perfect. The exuberant amount of parts and wiring required to emulate bipedal movement and retain dexterity necessitated an infuriating amount of maintenance. Breakdowns during combat simulations were frequent, and the cost of replacement components left much to be desired. Additionally, by the Square-Cube Law, the XM290 is an inherently inefficient design. Intimidating as its silhouette may be at first glance, upscaling the size and surface area of an object yields increasingly small dividends of strength, in exchange for larger energy requirements to enable that strength. Were it not for the incredible output of its Hoshino Reactor in powering its many servos and pistons, the XM290 would have struggled and failed to not collapse under its own weight. And it may very well do so anyways in a fight, where its legs would be prime targets for focused fire or sabotage.
Where the SDC's XM290 sought to revolutionise armoured warfare, Tacitus Defence Front's (TDF's) XM7 MBT has adopted the mentality of 'build on what you have'. Weighing in at a comparatively heavier forty-two tonnes, the XM7 improved on the M1 Sensha in nearly every conceivable way. Possessing reactive ceramite plating, a twin turbo engine, two M37A2 MMG (Medium Machine Guns), one M75 HMG (Heavy Machine Gun) and a 120mm M350A2 Smoothbore Cannon, it represents the pinnacle of modern mobile land weapon system platforms.
The XM7 provided a near antithetical choice to the XM290. While the latter acted as an imposing brawler that could dish out pain at close and point-blank range, the former was a pragmatist that wanted to win its fights before its opponents even knew what was happening. It does, however, still require the 'traditional' four-man crew layout (commander, driver, gunner, and loader). In this regard, the military has to continue spending more time and money training additional personnel. But many believe this to be a worthy trade-off in comparison to the XM290's numerous equipment headaches.
Competition between the two designs was fierce, with the SDC's financial backing of the XM290 swaying some in the military, while others firmly advocated for TDC's XM7 and its capacity to eschew more 'flashy' designs in favour of functionality.
In 77 AGW, to the frustration of many, Atlas elected to approve both proposals as the M290 Paladin Battlesuit and M7 Enforcer MBT. Supporters on either side were unsatisfied with the compromise, fearing that splitting resources to manufacture both would prevent their preferred design from reaching its full potential.