-= Remnant - Beacon Cliffs =-
Jaune stared over Beacon's cliffs silently, Lho hanging from his lips lazily, he'd just gotten off the radio with Jaks, they were confused, to say the least, the only thing keeping them from fighting their way to him being his orders.
The blond took another long drag and did his best to relax again, even if he knew that wasn't going to be happening any time soon.
There was still a lot of work to be done here to make it safe, not just for them but for the entire throne damned planet.
Wind buffeted against Jaune, pushing hard at his face and flinging the almost finished Ilo from his mouth, The blond watched at two grey bullheads with Beacon's emblem embezzled on the sides flew by him.
With that, Jaune resealed his mask and walked to the landing pads, by the time he'd gotten there, most if not all of Beacon's non-hunter security force had already been dismissed, leaving only Jaune, his team, a pile of exceedingly dangerous Imperial equipment, and Professor Oobleck.
As the blond lieutenant approached, he caught the attention of the Professor, who was now talking on the phone, the man's eyes were on him like glue, not moving even as he spoke with whoever was on the other end, no doubt Ozpin.
Jaune ignored him, instead electing to get the status of his team, without a word, The blond approached the remainder of Phoenix squad.
"What's the situation on your end?" Jaune asked in high gothic, it was his only way of speaking privately with Ozpin's eyes everywhere
"Better than we thought," Jaks responded simply "We stripped the Valk of anything and everything of use, munitions, and gear, everything else is just a slag heap by now, as for the door gunner, he's stable and in the green, I've got him sedated for now, but he'll be fine with us."
"Good, we'll need every hand we can get," The blond smiled, "In the meantime, we've been set up in an old abandoned maintenance building, I want this gear secured and the building locked down, no one but us in or out, understood?"
The maintenance building was almost as old as the school was, and hadn't been touched in about as long, a moderately sized two-story concrete building built into the cliff face and a good walk from beacon propper, it was the easiest to secure and defend.
Phoenix squad all threw up lazy salutes before getting to work, Jaune pitching in as well, the work went fast, Jaks stayed with the gear and helped load the landing pad's pushcarts, while Aeris pushed the carts back and forth, and Jaune and Val unloaded and secured the gear into their new home.
A few students had followed Aeris as she moved through the campus, no doubt sparking their curiosity, but they were always immediately halted at the door to the maintenance building by either Jaune or Val.
As soon as the final pieces of gear were secured, and Aeris was left to keep their new home secured, Jaune and Val returned to the landing pad, the both of them immediately grabbing either side of the stretcher and ferrying the injured guardsman to their new base of operations, Jaks following along with them.
With everything secured, all heads accounted for, and an uncomfortable crowd of students hovering around their new home, Jaune ordered the building to be reinforced with the resources they had at their disposal, all the windows on the first floor were sealed with sheets of metal found within, welded to the window frames with the tools they'd taken from the Valk.
The front door, which was also coincidentally the only door that wasn't already blocked off, was guarded at all times, Aeris usually being the one to volunteer, though that was only a temporary solution untill they got the Base up and running and could install proper cogitator locks.
As for the second floor, Jaune elected for more natural light, the two windows on either side of the front face of the building were smashed out and replaced with the Heavy Bolters from the Valk and reinforced with whatever they could find, mostly sandbags and whatever metal sheets they had left.
From the outside, the building looked like any other hab they'd ever occupied, the only thing missing was the imperial iconography, but Jaune had a plan for that already.
The blond watched out the small space between sandbags though one of the second-floor windows, the crowd they had attracted had grown, thankfully the VPD had been stopped at the tram station, but that didn't stop the small army of curious students as they milled around his new base, taking pictures and videos where they could.
Jaune recognized a few faces in the crowd even with the sun beginning to set, Cardin being the one that elicited the most reaction from him, that is if wanting to mount the Heavy Bolter and put him down for good was a reaction.
The blond turned from his perch, the room was lit by a combination of Imperial survival lights and the fluorescent bulbs in the ceiling, the hum of the lights reminding him of their old Guard barracks.
Behind him, he could see Val setting up cots, in the newly designated bunk area, Jaks had just finished settling in the door gunner in her section of the room, all of her medical equipment and gear now set up and ready to go.
Jaune pulled himself from the window and walked over to Val, giving her a hand and unpacking some of the survival bedding they'd had in the cargo hold. As he finished dropping the final blanket, he turned to Val, and put his arm around her, she jumped for a moment, but quickly leaned into him, her eyes glancing to where she'd last seen Jaks, but she was no longer there.
"So this is Remnant?" The woman asked quietly.
Jaune nodded before placing a kiss on her now helmetless head, right between her sandy blond ears, "This is Remnant."
"Is your family here?"
Jaune grimaced, with all of the hustle and bustle of the past few hours, he'd completely forgotten about getting in contact with them, "Yes, and I've got no doubt you'll meet them soon, they'll love you"
Val smiled, and hugged Jaune before giving him a peck on the lips and sitting down on her cot, "I'm glad, I just hope, since we're really here, we can have some time to ourselves."
Jaune smiled and sat across from her, taking her hands in his, "Of course we can, we just have a couple of things we need to sort out first."
"I'll hold you to that," Val said with a grin.
"I expect you too."
-= Remnant - Headmaster Ozpin's Office =-
Ozpin watched his computer screen in silence as crimson and black-clad soldiers turned the old maintenance building into a variable fortress, huge barrels poked between sandbags in the second-floor windows, none of his cameras within the building were still functional, either having fallen into disrepair or smashed out by Jaune and his team.
Jaune was an interesting matter, what could have possibly caused such a dramatic change? He said he'd been gone for over a year and a half, but that couldn't be right, by his records he'd only been gone a quarter of that time at most.
And his team, they were an enigma as well, even their faces had yet to be revealed from behind their strange masks.
That's not to mention their equipment, it looked to be simple, but highly functional, black armor and gear over a deep red jumpsuit, their weapons were large and blocky, thick cables instead of magazines, and large heavy looking weapons that glowed blue with destructive energy.
Nothing they had with them matched anything that'd ever been seen on Remnant, Even the double-headed eagle that was plastered on everything they had was an enigma, was this a new faction? Or the even less likely scenario, had it just stayed in the shadows for so long not even he knew of them?
Only time would tell, and Ozpin hated waiting.
-= Remnant - Outside Maintinance Building =-
Blake watched from a tree as the new arrivals made themselves at home in Beacon's maintenance building, the black and red-clad people setting up fortifications and heavy weapons as if it were a Sunday chore.
Even more interesting was that she hadn't seen a single one of their faces. Any time one of them was visible, they were armed for war.
Blake's suspicion only increased over time, they'd finished most if not all of their reinforcement and a majority of the crowd they had attracted had disappeared at the setting of the sun.
But not her, she needed answers, she needed to know who or what these people were. She needed to know if they were a threat.
The brunette knew she should have left with everyone else, her mind telling her they were not worth the time it would take to watch them, but her gut kept her rooted to the tree branch, something about them just elicited such a raw feeling of curiosity that couldn't just be brushed off.
She watched for what felt like hours, her enhanced vision giving her a clear view of the building even after the sun had disappeared below the horizon.
Blake glanced at her scroll, four hours, four hours had passed and she had learned nothing. The Faunus women let out a disappointed sigh just before the front door of the building opened with an audible creak.
In a snap, Blake's eyes were on the now open door, the person guarding the door entering as another excited to take her place.
A shift change, that was good to know, the brunette woman settling in once again at the prospect of new information.
The front door to the building remained open, and the person that had taken the last guards place pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter.
"Why don't you come down from that tree and have a smoke with me?"
Blake jumped, how the hell did he see her? She was wearing all black hidden behind tree cover, and far enough away to where it shouldn't have been possible for him to see her.
Without much choice, Blake jumped from the tree and meet with the masked man.
"Do you even smoke? I can't remember." The man said with a light chuckle, his empty hand rubbing the back of his helmet.
"No, thank you."
"How about a cup of tea? We did just put the kettle on."
Blake stared blankly at the man for a moment before nodding her head, it was no doubt dangerous for her to accept the invitation, but the prospect of learning more information swayed her.
Curiosity killed the cat after all.
The man motioned for her to enter, and with a moment of hesitation, she did so, rubbing shoulders with another black and red-clad individual as they exited the building, no doubt to return to their post.
The man took the lead once again, taking her through the almost barren first floor and up to the much more interesting second floor.
The first thing Blake noticed was that two pairs of eyes were on her, not masks, but eyes. The first she noticed was an absolute monster of a woman, dressed in just a crimson jumpsuit with a blocky pistol on her hip. In her hands was a large syringe, inserted into an IV bag, which in turn was attached to the unconscious body of a man on a stretcher.
The next was a petite woman, a pair of sandy blond ears peaking from her head, her eyes never left Blake as she stirred the contents of a steaming pot of what was no doubt their dinner.
"Blake, this is Jaks and Valmir," The man motioned to them, "Jaks is our resident doc, and Val here is our chef,"
Blake could hear Jaks let out a soft chuckle as the blond woman threw a bowl at the still masked man, a cute pout on her face.
"Wait, I never told you my name," Blake said, her mind clicking a little later than she'd have liked, she reached for her weapon, but found it was no longer there.
"Aeris downstairs will watch your weapon till you leave, for safety reasons obviously, as for that little tidbit of information, we'll get to that, but first have a seat." The man stated nonchalantly as he took a seat beside Val.
Blake cursed herself for letting herself get into such a dangerous situation before sitting on the bunk across from both Val and the still masked man.
"Now Blake, there's no need for the bow here." The masked man said motioning to her head.
It seemed these people had her right where they wanted her, without a word, she removed the bow and pushed it into her pocket.
"See Val, no need to be nervous, Remnant's got a lot of abhumans." The masked man said as he put his arm around the blond woman's shoulder.
"Stop messing with her Jaune, just get to the point,"
Blake's eyes narrowed "Did you just say Jaune? As in Jaune Arc?"
The masked man let out a deep sigh before looking to Val and speaking with a tone of mock offense "Why'd you have to ruin the surprise?"
"Because you're scaring her half to death!" The woman said before returning to stir the pot of food.
"Jaune?" Blake asked, her eyes still narrow but mind racing, she swore she could hear her heart beating a mile a minute.
The masked man reached for his face and removed the mask and helmet, revealing a pair of yellow blond hair and a set of ocean blue eyes.
"Heya Blake, long time no see."
The brunette woman's mind ground to a halt, sitting here, right in front of her, dressed in strange clothes and armed with even more strange weapons, was Jaune Arc. The same Jaune Arc that had died not four months ago on a mission both JNPR and RWBY had embarked on.
"What, cat got your tongue?" Jaune said with a chuckle, earning him a jab to the side from the woman beside him.
"You're supposed to be dead," Blake whispered to herself, her eyes drinking in Jaune's features "How are you alive? Who are these people? Why didn't you come back?"
Jaune held up a gloved hand to silence the brunette, "Those are a lot of questions with very complex answers, but I'll do my best."
"First of all, I did die, second of all, this is Phoenix squad and I am their Lieutenant, and thirdly of all, I couldn't, I tried for over a year, but there was no conceivable way I could return untill now, and even then it was more of a happy accident than anything else."
Blake tried to soak up as much information as he could, Jaune had somehow simplified a complex question all while giving up as little information as humanly possible, she'd say she was impressed if he hadn't just done it to her.
The blond placed a cigarette in his mouth, lit it, and took a long drag, "I know those aren't the answers you'd have liked, but I just needed you to get out of that tree and stop stalking my men."
"You only brought me in here to make me leave? What the hell are you talking about, does anyone else know you're even alive?" Blake said with a raised voice, the sound of heavy footfalls behind her tipping her off to the fact that the monster of a woman Jaks was now stationed directly behind her.
"Ozpin knows, but he was the first," Jaune said before taking another drag, "I plan on filling in the rest of JNPR and RWBY tonight as well."
Blake paused, "So you revealed yourself to me knowing I'd immediately tell everyone else?"
Jaune smiled, "Bingo, That's five Thrones Jaks!"
The large woman scoffed and handed Jaune the 'Thrones' as Jaune had called them, Blake had never heard of such a currency, especially with the fact that the Lien was Remnant's standard.
Jaune stood up from the cot, cigarette hanging lazily from his mouth before motioning for Blake to follow him.
The blond showed her to the door, handed her Gambold Shrowd, and placed a hand on her shoulder, "It's good to see you, Blake, Bring everyone here and I'll fill you in on as many details as you want."
Without a word, Blake broke off into a full sprint towards Beacon's grounds, her gut filled with a mix of emotions she couldn't quite place, and the knowledge that she probably wouldn't be getting much sleep tonight.
A few moments later and she was lightly panting in front of her dorm, she could hear Ruby and Yang arguing about something on the other side.
Blake opened the door and was met with three sets of eyes on her.
"Well look who's arrived from her midnight rendezvous with Sun the hunk!" Yang exclaimed, jumping to her feet and dropping Ruby to the floor before bolting to her side.
"It's only ten-thirty Yang, that hardly counts as midnight." Weiss corrected, her eyes still combing the textbook in front of her.
"I wasn't with Sun, Jaune's alive," Blake stated simply, and just like that the room became completely silent.
"I expected something like this from Yang, not you," Weiss stated, the textbook in front of her now closed as she stared at blake with bearly veiled anger.
Blake let out a heavy sigh, "I'm serious, I saw him with my own eyes, I came because he told me to get you all."
"Why couldn't he get us himself?" Yang asked seriously.
"Because he's with Beacon's new arrivals."
"You mean the criminals in the Maintinace building?" Weiss asked, her tone carrying a hint of hope that Blake was bearly able to pick up on, "What in the world would Jaune be doing with a bunch of no good criminals?"
Before the Faunus woman could respond, Ruby was in front of her, the young leader's weapon in hand with a fire in her eyes she'd not seen in months.
"No, I think he's their leader."
Ruby relaxed, but only slightly, Yang was still processing the information bomb that had just been dropped on her, and Weiss was on her feet and out the door faster than she'd ever seen.
The reaper following close behind her, followed by Yang shortly after, Blake exited the dorm behind them, shut the door, and quickly knocked on JNPR's, a groggy Nora answering after a moment as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "What's up?"
"Jaune's alive."
-= Remnant - Maintenance Building =-
Jaune returned to the second floor after having finished his Lho and sitting down on the cot he'd claimed conveniently right beside Val's.
"Did you have to mess with her so much?" Val asked as she absentmindedly added another can of soup rations to the pot.
The blond sighed before removing his vest, placing it beside the hellgun and pack leaned up against his cot, "She's not used to the Jaune you are, I was a completely different person before the Emperor, bless his light, brought me to the Ultima Segmentum, I need her to think I'm the same Jaune she knew before."
Val lifted her spoon, watching as the thick Ministorum approved soup dripped back into the pot, "It's just strange to think we're on your home planet, it's so," She paused, "Peacefull, almost freakishly so."
"Yeah, compared to the places we've been this place is about as peaceful as it gets," Jaune said as he unhooked the various armor pieces from his person, "But it has its own dangers, ones that we can't underestimate."
"The Grimm, you described them as almost lesser daemons?" Jaks asked before scooping some soup from the pot and eating it.
"Not just the Grimm, but the people, just because we're away from the Imperium doesn't mean we won't have to deal with Heretics, daemons, even lesser ones, don't just appear from thin air," Jaune said, stashing the rest of his gear by his cot and joining them by the pot, mess kit in hand.
A crackle of static followed by the voice of Aeris came over the radio "Lieutenant, I've got a group of teenaged girls at the door, looks like the ones you sent for."
Jaune got up from his seat by the port and approached the radio, ", Right on time, bring them in, and you can keep guard from up here, Chow is ready,"
With that, Jaune returned to his place, listening as a small crowds' worth of footsteps came closer and closer.
As soon as they reached the top of the stairs, Jaune turned from the pot, his eyes roving over the shocked faces of his former friends all crowded around the doorway and dressed in their sleepwear.
"Hey guys, want some soup?"
Ruby took a step forward, her eyes shimmering with tears, "Is that really you?"
"Real as the day I was-"
Jaune was interrupted as a blur of white flew from the crowd and slammed into him, arms wrapped around his torso and tears soaking his jumpsuit as one Weiss Schnee embraced the blond man, throwing away her dignity.
The white-haired woman was sobbing hysterically now, face buried in his chest, the next thing he knew he was being embraced from all sides, trapped and unable to move, he accepted his fate.
"I'm sorry" Weiss whispered into Jaune's chest, the blond barely being able to hear it over the sound of both team RWBY and NP crying, "I'm so so sorry."
Jaune sighed, "We have a lot to talk about."
A/N
Yeah, there may or may not have been some spicy stuff that went on between both Weiss and Jaune before he 'died', I may be a die-hard Lancaster shipper, but that won't stop me from indulging in the utter cutefest that is White Knight from time to time, but you'll get a little more insight on it next chapter.
As for the length of this chapter, It's a little longer than what I'd normally post, but nowhere near as long as the last update, you can expect longer chapters in the future, and I'm shooting for a weekly update schedule of every Wednesday, but I felt like this was a good place to end it.
As always, leave a review and tell me what you thought, I crave the attention and they motivate me to get chapters written out faster than I normally would.
I look forward to seeing all your thoughts, and I'll see you in the next chapter!