Welcome to Ch 43 of TPA

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you have wonderful time.

He was in a cave.

Figures. He couldn't have some nice, fluffy vision to lighten his mood, right? Jaune sighed and looked around, trying to figure out what event he was seeing. He had plenty of memories involving caves, tunnels and other such underground structures - but surprisingly none of them were funny.

Lets see… rocky walls, dark, and damp…there is some rubble up ahead…

He hummed, turning to look at his other self. Judging by the dark circles under the eyes, and pale skin, he must have been very tired, hungry, or sick.

Or all three at the same time.

Surprisingly, he didn't look too beaten up, only some bruises. Judging by his height, Eclipse in hand, and the HIDE armor - it had to be something recent.

Now, where was I recently that involved me almost dying in a cave?

He strained his memory, trying to recall. This corridor, or rather its floor… it was even, either polished intentionally, or simply by constant usage. It didn't looked like a mine, but neither was it some random cave somewhere in the Wilds. He could see some rubble up ahead…

And then it came to him. Spring Valley.

Jaune clenched his teeth and closed his eyes, but he could still see this scene as if he was there again. He wasn't even particularly angry when he saw his way out blocked. He was simply too tired for this.

And then he noticed a metallic glint. It was a door, hidden in shadow, something their group missed when they marched inside. It was not locked, and upon entering Jaune realized it was storage of some kind. Many different tools like shovels, pickaxes, buckets and so on sat in neat rows. After a few moments of looking around he walked, and examined the rubble closer. It was loose, and there was a sizable hole at the top. With some of the tools he found in the storage room, he could probably expand it enough to squeeze through. Instead, he just pushed his scroll with a message he recorded, and a canteen with the remaining purification agent through it, and ran back the way he came.

It was a stupid decision. Ori was heavily wounded, even assuming he was still alive, there were no telling if he could walk. The older man resolved himself to stay behind and buy Jaune at least some time to escape so that he can tell the others what happened there.

Sure, he included everything he thought important in his message, but it was not the same. If he died, Ori's resolve would be in vain. The best, course of action would be to retreat. But, while rummaging through storage, Jaune found a map of the main caves. Very detailed, but that wasn't what caught his eye. It was a few words at the top, written in bold, red letters.

"EMERGENCY ESCAPE ROUTE"

Jaune stared at it for a few moments, trying to memorize it. Thankfully, it wasn't too complicated. Then he ran back. A stupid, naive action, that allowed him to accomplish nothing except almost losing his life.

Soon the scene blurred, and another vision appeared. All familiar situations, and there was an easily recognizable pattern. Each showed him a time when he tried act like a damn hero.

And got nothing but new scars for it.

Jaune slowly opened his eyes, and looked over his team. They were all quiet, lost in thought. Probably still thinking over the things that were said when they parted ways with RWBY. Jaune sighed and leaned back in his set. He might have been a bit harsh on the young girl. And some part of him, a pretty big one, wanted to stay with her. It was not like Atlas needed their help.

And he was very close to breaking, especially when he saw the look in Ruby eyes, as if his words physically hurt her. But he knew he had to stick by his choice. Because he finally understood what all those visions meant, and this last set only confirmed it.

He claimed he gave up on being a Hero. That he understood how stupid this dream was. But he still had tendency to follow the small voice in his head that told him to do things simply because 'it's right'. Well, it was time to kill the voice for good. Then, and only then, he would be able to achieve true balance.

"We are closing in. Hold tight kids, lZ is hot." The pilot's voice sounded in Jaune's earpeace. He nodded, even though man couldn't see, and readied Eclipse. He looked over his team. Each of them checked their weapons, and gave him nods, determined looks on their faces. Jaune allowed a small smile to appear on his lips. No matter what kind of doubts they might have had, they were ready and focused on the mission. He really found himself a good team.

Soon, the familiar sound of automatic gunfire reached Jaune's ears, interrupted from time to time by the sound of explosions. He grit his teeth. Atlas soldiers were professionals, they knew how to deal with Ghouls. The fact they resorted to using explosives meant that either there were so many of them they had to thin their numbers, or something bigger and nastier showed up.

Please don't be a Warper, please don't be a Warper… Jaune pleaded in his mind. Because if one of those things showed up, he was taking his team the hell out of there. Unless Atlas had some high-yield Dust bomb on hand, he was not coming close to it.

A few moments later, they could clearly see their target. A few concentrate buildings surrounded by a short wall. One of them was hugging the side of a medium sized hill. From what he could see, it had no doors and there was a big hole in it's wall. And through that hole a near endless stream of black shapes were pouring out.

"That… is a lot of Ghouls…" Pyrrha pointed out, shooting him a worried look. "Do they really expect you to kill all of them on your own?"

Jaune shook his head.

"No. At least I hope not. With that many, it would take hours for me alone to clean up. Considering we are here to…" an ear-piercing scream interrupted him. Jaune winced. They were still pretty far away, but the sound wave still hurt. He could only imagine how bad it was for the soldiers on the ground.

They landed soon after, in a small camp located behind Atlas' forces.

"Jaune Arc?" An older man greeted them as soon as they left the bullhead.

"Yes. How is the situation?"

"You saw it form above. We have a lot of Ghouls here, and at least two Wraiths inside the building. We have no idea where they came from, there is no way so many would fit inside the building. Unless someone messed up and gave us the plan for the wrong facility."

His expression suggested he didn't excluded this possibility at all.

"Do we have a plan?" Asked Jaune following him to a small tent.

"We have confirmation that targets Master and Hawk are inside, we spotted them entering about half an hour before, and again just five minutes ago. Although they are trapped, and we can take our time clearing out Harrowed before moving in and capturing them. Those Ghouls just keep coming, and the longer we stay here, the higher chance we get overrun by Grimm. We already had a few encounters, nothing too bad yet, but I'm not taking any chances."

He sighed and shook his head.

"We have no choice but go wild. If those plans are correct, this hill is actually an artificial one. Someone figured that if they hid the building under some earth, it would make it harder for Grimm to smell the people inside. And yes, I know Grimm don't work that way, but this structure was built almost a hundred years ago." He added when Jaune opened his mouth to speak.

"Got it. So, what's the plan then? I suppose we will be making our own entrance since the main one is blocked?"

"Correct." The Atlesian officer pulled out a large sheet of paper that had to be the plan of the building they would be assaulting.

"There should be an air vent here. It might be sealed, but it's nothing a few small explosives won't fix. You will move in and try to secure our targets. Unfortunately, we have no idea where exactly they might be hiding, so you will have to search the whole building. Fortunately for you, it was first built as a storage facility. Not many rooms in there, so it shouldn't take you too long."

Jaune nodded.

"We will be going in alone?"

"I'll give you one team as backup. I would love to send more, but we need people out here to keep those monsters at bay. Reinforcements from Vale are on the way, as soon as they get here we will try to break through inside."

"Understood. When do we begin?"

"Ghouls seem to come in waves, there is about ten minutes break every thirty minutes or so. I want you to go in when this wave ends. This give you…" he checked his wristwatch and hummed, "about twenty minutes to rest."

Jaune just nodded, and left the tent. Twenty minutes wasn't much, but maybe they will be able to grab something to eat.

Ruby slumped against the wall panting. This was the third wave of Grimm in the last fifteen minutes, and by far the biggest one. They were holding off somehow, and so far they hadn't lost anyone. But how long would that last?

It would be so much easier if JNPR stayed with us…

She shook her head. They were gone, and there was no point in thinking about it too much.

She had people to protect.

She glanced towards the landing pads, and the group of ragged people gathered there, waiting for transport ships to come back. The evacuation was going well, and for a moment Ruby even hoped they might be done before next the wave of Grimm hit. But then, a large group of tired, hungry and wounded people showed up. Apparently, they were prisoners captured by the White Fang, and managed to escape only because Faunus terrorist abandoned theit camp - and them - when Grimm started to come close.

The fact that over half of them were Faunus themselves somehow made it even worse. Didn't the White Fang claim that they fought for a better future for all Faunus? She shook her head. Jaune was right, they didn't care about people.

She shook her head again. Just thinking about Jaune made her angry. She knew that stopping the leaders of White Fang was important, she wasn't a kid. But was it really alright to abandon people in front of her just to do so? Was it really ok to think about them just as numbers?

She didn't think so.

It wasn't like she was telling Jaune to not go. From what she heard, Atlesian soldiers had those two bad guys surrounded in some old building, and just needed help getting inside. Couldn't Jaune stay with them until the evacuation was over? Then they could all go and help the Atlesian soldiers together.

Plus, he was always talking about being professional. Wasn't abandoning the job like that very unprofessional?

"Stupid Jaune." She mumbled.

"You still moping about that?" Said Weiss, sitting next to her partner.

Ruby sighed. "I'm just angry. How could he abandoned them… and us like that. Would it kill him to wait a bit longer?"

"Who knows. Like he said, those two people, Hawk and Master, are dangerous. Stopping them is important. And since the soldiers encountered Harrowed, it makes sense that Jaune, as a Witcher, would go there."

Ruby slumped. Did she make a mistake? She knew she got emotional at the end, shouting out things she didn't really think. She looked down at her hands, slowly flexing her fingers. Sometimes, she could still feel Rias' blood on them. It wasn't as bad as the first week, but sometimes she spent far more time washing her hands than she needed to.

"But..." Weiss continued. "there is no guarantee that him going there will change anything. He is just one person. It might be that his presence will end up crucial to their success. It might be that he will help, ending up being an important factor in victory, but not a necessary one. Or it might turn out that his help will not matter at all, because they will receive reinforcements from somewhere else." Weiss sighed and smiled at her. "It's impossible to know what will happen. All we can do is take into account all the information we have and act based on that."

Ruby considered her words for a moment and sighed.

"But I didn't consider it all. I just got emotional." She hugged her knees, and rested her head on them. "I said some awful things to him. I didn't really mean them, I just got… I don't know. It wasn't anger, not really…" She glanced at her partner. "Do you think I made a mistake?"

Weiss shrugged.

"Like I said, I don't think it was matter of right and wrong. What I do know however, is that I would be very concerned if you made any other decision. My team leader is this annoying, slightly naive girl, that will try and save everyone, even if she knows it's not possible." She patted Ruby's shoulder, and got up. "Don't be too hard on yourself. This..." she made vague gesture with her hand "is something new to all of us. Just follow your heart. I'm sure we will do just fine."

Ruby smiled and nodded. She watched the heiress walk away. After a moment she got up, straightened her dress, and slapped her cheeks.

Alright, Ruby Rose is back in action.

She sprinted towards the landing platforms, checking on the refugees. Most of them were weak and tired, some needed help getting on the aircraft. She paused and grabbed one of them, a lizard faunus. It was a bit awkward, since he was almost twice as big as she, but he didn't protest when she helped him to his feet and walked him towards the bullhead.

"3...2..1…" The explosion wasn't the biggest Jaune ever heard, but it still made his ears ring. Ignoring it, he jumped in the hole that just opened, his team following close by. The room was dark, a hole in the ceiling they just blew up was their only source of light. But it was enough for Jaune's Elixir-enhanced vision. He quickly looked around, and noticing the room was empty, save for some rubble and broken furniture, he relaxed.

"Clear." He announced, moving forward. Six Atlas soldiers jumped inside, their guns at the ready.

"So, what's next, Spec?" Asked the point man, a big man named Stevens. Jaune sighed. He wasn't sure how he felt about being temporarily appointed as an Atlassian Specialist and leader of this group. He was certain every one of the six soldiers were much more experienced than him, and he really would prefer one of them taking command.

"We move in. Me and Pyrrha at the front, Nora behind us. Ren, you take rear guard. If we encounter Ghouls, shoot to disable, if you can. Aim for the legs. If it's a Wraith, retreat, and if possible give me cover fire."

"Got it."

They quickly fell in formation, sweeping the upper floor. It didn't take them long, there were only four large rooms there, all of them empty. In the last, they found two elevators - both operational, and a staircase. With a nod, they moved to the later, descending carefully.

The second floor was a bit larger, consisting of two corridors crossing in the center, and several doors on each. Jaune left Pyrrha and two soldiers at cross section, and started sweeping rooms. It quickly turned out this floor had living quarters. Each room had two beds, a small desk, and separate restroom. They were empty too.

It was on the third floor where they encountered the first enemy. Two ghouls spotted them as soon as they left the staircase. Both black beast snarled and charged at them. They didn't made it far. Atlesian soldiers calmly took aim, accurate shots from their rifles piercing Harrowed legs and shoulders. This floor was almost as big as two previous ones combined, but the layout was simple too. Two corridors forming a T. two large rooms on either side, and two smaller ones at the end. They split in two groups, and on Jaune's signal, burst into both rooms at the same time.

The first thing he noticed was the smell - an unmistakable combination of chemicals that screamed laboratory. The second was rows of large glass tubes, and some strange, greenish substance covering floor. Jaune shuddered. This looked very similar to the one hideout they busted when they were chasing Master in Atlas.

"What the hell are those?" Asked one of the Atlas soldiers.

"Nothing good." Jaune answered."Report to HQ to be careful with any assault. There might be a lot of Wraiths hiding here."

They spread out, searching the room. All the tubes were empty, and they didn't find much there. The second room was much the same. One of remaining rooms was a bedroom, the other a small office. Both were empty. After making sure there were no nasty surprises waiting hidden somewhere, Jaune left two soldiers to check the office for any useful information, and moved with remaining to next floor.

It was the same size, and it was one big room, filled with the same incubators. The floor was still wet from whatever liquid filled them, and a strange odor filled air.

"Let's move out. Try to not breath too hard." He commanded, as he hurried to the doors they could see on opposite end.

They moved down stairs quickly, and paused in front of the doors. This was it. If Master and Hawk were still in this building, they had to be hiding somewhere on this floor. Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Jaune kicked the doors open and ran inside. The corridor, two doors on each side, and one in front of him. Again the split in two groups, kicking the side doors open at the same time. Both rooms were empty and apparently unused.

Behind the front doors was another short corridor, and another set of two doors at sides and one in front of them. The side rooms contained some cleaning equipment, laboratory glassware, Dust and so on. They stacked at the front door. If the plans they received were correct - behind those doors was last room on this floor. Jaune took a deep breath, checked if his team was ready and hurtled inside.

The room was big, and pristine clear. There were six incubators there, three on each side. They were bigger, and looked to be much more advanced models than what they saw before. There were six dark figure standing in a row in front of them. They kinda reminded him of Headhunters, with their mantis-like arms, and triangular heads, but they were bigger, and bulkier. Insect-like carapace covered they bodies.

But Jaune barely noticed all of that. Almost all of his attention was focused on a single person.

"Welcome." Said Master with a warm smile, spreading his arms wide. "Now, please be good children and die."

Six monsters roared and charged ahead.

And here it is. Jaune finally comes face to face with Master. What will the outcome be? Will he be able to get his revenge? Will he achieve his balance?

And what will he have to sacrifice to do so?

Find out in next chapter.

As side note, this chapter was supposed to be much longer, but, you know, christmas. A lot of other things to do.

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See you all next week.