AN: Bastion. Action. START

"I... Sir?"
"I did not stutter Jaune. You will do this or you will be dead." Ludo stated coolly as Jaune froze. He didn't hear that. He could not have heard that right. He was just told that Ruby and his team would die?
"Sir there is a mistake."
"There is no mistake Mister Arc. You made the choice now your team will pay the consequences."
"That's not fair!" Jaune shouted as Ludo sighed.

"Mister Arc life is not fair you do know this fact?"
"I did this! Kill me!"
"Jaune?"
"Ruby this is not your fault!"
"I agree with you Mister Arc. It is your fault. You destroyed the dust. The fault is your own." Ludo claimed his voice low and curt, Jaune felt the tension in his mouth as his fell open.

"But sir! I can't let my team die!"
"Then I would suggest that you get busy Mister Arc. Two days, that is all you have. Bring back every last ounce of dust that you lost or else your team will die." Ludo said as Jaune jerked his head, Ruby look about to cry. Her silver eyes shimmering as her mechanical one whirled. Venk had a tight grimace on his face and Mika hummed... Like she had no care in the world and her imminent death was of mo more issue to her than a day of rain or an arena fight.

"Sir, what if I can't do this?"
"Then your team dies. And I doubt that you will last long here without them."
"This is not fair!"
"Life is not fair Jaune. Now get moving I've said all I need to say. Two days, I want every last ounce of dust back here. I don't care how you do it I don't care where the dust is from just bring it to me soon. That is all..." "Boss... what's the plan?" Kage asked as soon as teak ARKM stood outside of the headmaster's office. "I... I don't know."
"Jaune?" Ruby's voice snapped Jaune out of his reality as she saw Ruby, the most valuable person in his life, her sole silver eye blinking as her bionic one whirred out of her skull. Zooming in on him as she had a look of fear on her face. "Jaune, we are going to be alright right? You have a plan?" Ruby said her voice creaking as her collar winked.

"I... of course I do!" Jaune said his voice low and pained, a grimace flashed across his face. Making his scars bend as Ruby let her shoulders sag.
"Great! I know you can get us out of this!" Ruby said her voice bright but she knew, she knew Jaune had no plans. He had made a mistake. A big mistake and this time it was not just his own ass on the frying pan. He put his whole team at risk and if he did not find a way out of this soon they would be the ones to pay the price.

"Boss, we need a plan, sooner the better. I don't like having my life on more of a timer than it usually is." Kage said his eyes looked at his winking collar.
"I don't want to die without my armor, I really need to die with that on me."
"I won't let you die."
"How? You plan on getting these collars off of us?"
"No! Well, I will get them off of all of us. Don't worry but I'm going to get that dust back, every last drop I swear on my name as an Arc that I will save you all!"
"You really want to lose your family name over this? Jaune I'm not going to lie. I'm probably going to die. We are all probably going to die, so don't do that whole swear as an Arc thing unless you have a legit plan to get us out of this mess." "Don't say that! Venke!"
"It's Kage."
"Kage! Believe in Jaune! He is our leader!"
"Yeah, Kage! You need to believe in the ~Boss man~!"

"I don't need the only one of us who is not in danger here Mika."
"What? My head might explode!"
"You are an immortal! What does that matter to you if you lose your head?!"
"Hey! Just cause I'm a bit harder to put down is no reason for me to want to have my head blown off!"
The girl said frowned her shimmering green eyes boring into her partners, and love interests brown one. Her hands resting on her hips, using her assortment of furs as a cushion.

"Mika? You said you are immortal, what do you really mean?"

"Simple Ruby ~Boss man~! I can't be killed! I am quite literally immortal! You can not put me in the ground!"
"Mika no one is really immortal, you do know that right?"
"Oh, Ruby! You are so cute! That's why you are my friend!" The girls said wrapping Ruby in a hug. Her pale snow colored arms snaking over to Ruby wrapping over her shoulders and pulling her into a hug.

"Mika! Stop that! I can't breathe!"
"Oh, Ruby! One day you'll understand! But really I can't die. I don't know you two are getting out of this mess but I'll be sure to come to your funeral!" Mika said smiling before jumping over to Jaune. Pulling him into her mouth as she began to whisper into her leaders and friends ear.

"I don't care much about me or Ruby, but if you let Kage get killed I don't care who you are. You will never make it back to Beacon unless I ship you ther in little, tiny! Boxes! Ok?" Mika asked her face turning into a sickly sweet smile that made Jaune shiver as a cool hand gripped his spine. The girl twirling away making a blatant show of her green battle ax that hung loosely on her side as she did.

Jaune felt his fist ball up, he needed to fix this and he needed to do it soon.

"So I'm guessing that there is no plan to get the dust, is there?" Kage asked sitting on his bed, with a frown. He was taking his impending death much better than most. Wearing nothing more than a slightly worse frown that the one he usually wore

The boy saw with his twin bolts pistols on his legs as Jaune sighed. "I do have a plan! I just need to think about it."
"Think about or think of?"
"Both! Either! What do you want Kage?!"
"To keep my head on my shoulders. Also, do not have to worry about my last meal requests. I am thinking fries."
"Oh! How about lamb chops!"
"Lamb chops? That's a good idea actually." Kage said nodding to her friend as she laid on her back. Her long silver hair falling to the dull floor of ARKM's dorm as Jaune rubbed his head.

This was bad, very, very bad. The dust loss was worse than even he expected! Twenty-one tons of dust went up on that mission. Tons! Not pounds tons! How the hell was he supposed to get that much dust back!? He was granted full access to Bastion's air transports, making his travel easier. Jaune was given a free pass to skip all classes until he sorted out his situation. Not that it mattered. Even if he went to classes he was still knee deep in this. This might be it, Jaune might have finally bit of more than he could chew...

How could he get twenty tons of dust?! How would he find the damn thing!? The dust from the train was a result of years of mining! Long years of mining dust! He could not hope to get some naturally... He needed to find refined dust in large quantities, that was not only of Bastion grade use but able to be transported to the school.

In short, Jaune was about to die. If he didn't die during the attempt he would kill himself after the failure. Jaune would not go back to Beacon without Ruby. And he truly did not want to be alive when Mika decided to ship him back in little boxes. He didn't want to see the face of his team. "Juniper." Jaune thought shaking his head, he had forgotten the name... to him team ARKM was his new team. Bastion despite the sheer insanity, and pain that it brought him felt less like a prison and more like a strange, bloody, home.

A terrifying, deadly and brutal home but Jaune would be lying to himself if he said he did not make friends in Bastion. And he would be double lying if he said that his friends in Bastion were much more of friends than anyone in Beacon. Jaune felt his hand grip into tight balls, tears threatening to fall from his eyes. This was not how this was supposed to be! He was supposed to go to Beacon, be a hero! Not have to go through the hell of Bastion! Not have to find out that people that were literal! Literal thieves and murderers meant more to him than people he called friend.

People he thought of as his family. Jaune did not want to admit it, he really, did not want to admit it but he was a joke in Beacon. He was a loser. His team kept him alive and Pyrrha. Bless Pyrrha, the love of his life who was probably miserable thinking him as dead kept him alive. If she had not saved his ass in initiation he would be a messy stain on the side of a tree right now. But even then, even now Jaune heard it. A dark sickly nagging voice that whispered in his ear. He didn't like it, he didn't want to listen to the voice but it was whispering into his ear. Telling him things that he did not need to hear.
It spoke in whispers telling him that he was a zero.

Was, in Beacon, he was nothing but in Bastion? He was something, he was a leader. A true leader, not just a bumbling fool desperate to stick close to his friends to stay alive. No, now Jaune could fight. He could stand on his own two feet. He didn't need his team to live. Even if he knew that without them he would probably be dead before long he could fight without them. He was strong for once.

He had power! He had skills, he had training, he had the weapons! The weapons?! Of my God! Jaune wanted to beat his head in over his weapons! Back in Beacon, he thought he could survive with just a sword and shield!? Why!? How could he!? The moment he got his plasma pistol, the moment he had some variety!? Things jumped! He gained his weapons, he gained the skills hell he even gained his own semblance! He had grown in Bastion. He had changed in Bastion. In over a month he had grown into more of a hunter than a year!

A year in Beacon! He had finally started to live! To thrive! He had finally been what he wanted! He was competent, confident and finally walking on his own! Even if it hurt like hell. Even if he wanted nothing more to go home to see Pyrrha! To kiss her lips and hug her close, he would not have grown like this in Beacon. He as much as he hated Bastion he needed it. Bastion made him grow. Even if it cost those around him. Jaune looked at Ruby, her head hung low. Her sole real eye looking close to tears, her bionic one. The rough intrusive looking thing that took the place of her right eye whirred out of her skull.
Jaune ground his teeth. Ruby didn't need Bastion.

She was strong, powerful! She was a true huntress! She had done nothing but suffer since she got here. She was suffering because of him and Jaune was not going to let her keep doing it. Not anymore. He was going to get that dust back.

The life of his best friend would not be lost because of him. He was not going back to Beacon a loser. He had already left as one and Jaune would be damned. On his word as an Arc if he came back as one. He needed to fix this, and the only way to fix it was to start to act. And to do that he needed to call on his friends.

"What do you mean you can't help me?!" Jaune shouted as a mouse faunus in a white hood sighed to him.

"My lord I am truly sorry but I can not help you with this. The Fang can be of no use for you in your trying time."
"Why not?! I'm your lord!"
"I know! I know my lord, please! Forgive me insolence but we simply lack the recourses to help you!"
"Lack the resources? What do you mean by that?" Jaune asked already frowning as the mouse faunus with brown hair sighed.
"My lord most of our people are no longer in Bastion."
"Then where are they?"
"They are either on missions, spread thing or they have been relocated with the regular Death Korps."
"What about the ones here!? They have to be able to help!"
"I am also sorry about that my lord. With Erebus dead and the recent attack on our church, we are more fractured than ever. I do not know when we will be able to stand on our own feet again but when we do the moment we are able we will come to you. All you need to do is ask."

The mouse said bowing to Jaune as he let out a low groan.

"So! It looks like you three are up shit creek without a paddle! Sucks to be you!"
WHAP!
"OW! Stop that woman!" Zach hissed as his partner wracked him over the head with one of her massive drills. Hino's kind brown eyes bore into the back of Zach's head. The massive brown drills knocking his head forward as he growled at her.
"OI! Watch your damn hands! Don't need you knocking me around! That's what fucking Grimm are for!"

"Then don't be so rude! I apologize for him Jaune. Again." Hino said bowing to Jaune shooting a pointed glare at Zach who rolled his eyes in dismissal.
"Yeah, yeah it's all my fucking fault. Figures. So! Blondie just how the hell are you pulling your ass out of this cluster fuck? You got a plan or are you just winging it?" The boy asked his deep black eyes that remained Jaune of Raven feathers asked. His hands stuffing his mouth with pieces of fried fish. Downing the meat as Jaune sighed. Shaking his head poking around his mashed potatoes wishing he had an answer that he could be proud of.

"I... I don't know yet."
"You don't know yet? You don't get a lot of time man! You got what a day? At max to find out a dam solution! How are you going to do that? '
"I don't know!"
"Well now is one helluva time to figure it out! You don't got a lot of time before you three are all dead. Don't know what the fuck I'm going to do if the only one of you shits I have to talk to is the bloody psychopath! How can I hold a conversation with that?!"
Zach asked pointing to Mika who was bust devour a plate of seafood. Lobster, clams, and shrimp. Inhaling the buffet with a zeal that would put Nora with syrup to shame.

"Only her? Why? Mika is going to die too."
"Can't die Jaune. She's immortal. She's perfectly fine." Hino said cutting her pork chop with a fork and knife. Slicing it apart with dignity. Taking her meat to her rich full lips that got Jaune's gaze more than once, her perfect brown skin making him flush as she ate.
"Immortal? Why do you keep calling her that? Mika is not immortal."

"Yes, I am! I can't be killed! Not permanently at least." Mika said in between stuffing her mouth with seafood. The slim girl swallowing her platter nearly whole! Before washing her meal down with a tall glass of water making her burp!
"I'm immortal Jaune! You can't put me down!"
"Mika. You can't be immortal. You know that."
"But I am."
"She is."
"She is."
"Really Jaune, you can shoot, stab and bomb her she doesn't die. Trust me it's been tried before, to great extent." Zach said munching down on his meat as Jaune groaned reaching the end of his rope as he bit down.
"Enough! Why the hell do you keep saying that she is immortal?! She is not immortal! She's just a girl like the rest of us!"
"I'm a guy."
"Reall!? Kage?! Is now the time to nitpick!?"
"I might be dead in two day's so yes boss. I will nitpick ask much as I god damn well please!"
"Kage! Jaune! Don't fight! Please." Ruby eeped out not looking up her mountain of cookies untouched. Ruby not eating cookies... this was bad. Jaune knew this was going wrong. One day into the search he had no more dust than when he first started off.

He had tried the faunus they were scattered. The vast majority of them not in Bastion. The other trying to rebuild thier shattered church. Who the hell attacks a church anyway!? The few faunus able to help were not of much use. They offered Jaune the dust from thier weapons. Saying that to help the prophet was worth any sacrifice. Jaune denied thier dust. Unless he knew it was going to be enough. No one else needed to die because of him.
"She's a disease Jaune. She's a plague you can't just kill her." Hino said as Jaune rubbed his face. This was going to be pointless...

Pain.
Whack! Jaune face exploded in pain as a fist collided with it.
"You are not paying attention!" A voice barked as Jaune grit his teeth. Growling as he planted his feet taking a defensive stance, pointing his sword forward as-
Fisht! A crimson blade flashed down as Jaune held the blade. Rolling with the force of the weapon. Letting it carry him down as be broke off! Pushing back, swing back at his enemy. Making them back up to avoid losing an eye. His hand flashed down drawing his plasma pistol firing the weapon. Wincing as a second sun came from his had. Hie opponent ducked under the attack. Moving inot his guar planted the sharp end of his sword into his gut.
Jaune grunted feeling his aura flare up as his fist swung out. The power fist cackling in the light as Jaune backhanded his enemy. They ducked their head at the last second before slashing thier blade down. Knocking the sword from his hands. It clattered loudly to the floor before a red blade flashed up resting at his neck, pausing right before it sliced his neck apart.
"Yield," Adam said glaring at his sparring partner, and technical apprentice a human named Jaune.
"Yield," Adam said pressing his blade to Jaune's throat as the boy sighed. His guard dropping as he accepted his loss.
"I yield," Jaune admitted as Adam nodded. Withdrawing Wilt with a flourish. Placing the blade back in its sheath ending thier spar before a frown came over his face.
"Jaune you are not focused, what is wrong?" Adam asked taking a curious tone as his apprentice sighed.
"I'm lost, Adam. I don't know what to do anymore." Jaune admitted as Adam nodded.
"I see, sit then. Stay a while and tell me what is wrong. I have heard bits and pieces from others but I never like to act on rumors. Talk and I will listen." Adam said walking back to the end of the sparing room. A room only for Adam.
The man had offered Jaune a one on one spar in the past, after his rescue. Jaune had never really taken him up but in this desperate times, he needed all the advice that he could get. Criminal or not.

"Sit. I will make some tea." Adam said grabbing a small kettle and burner. Taking them over to an area where a small table with two mats laid.
Jaune nodded walking over to the table sitting down next to Adam as he poured them both a cup of tea.
"Much better. Now tell me Jaune what is wrong?"
"I might have got my team killed." "Might? Did you or did you not get them killed?"
"I have done all but get them killed."
"So they live?"
"For the moment," Jaune said taking a sip of his tea as Adam nodded.
"That is good then. That means you can still do something about this."
"What am I going to do? I need twenty tons of dust! Do you know how hard that is to get!?"
"I... I have some idea how hard that might be to acquire." Adam said a small grin on his lips as Jaune groaned.

"Adam I really need help! I don't know how I can get that dust!"
"Have you looked?" Jaune almost shot him.
"Of course I have looked!"
"Where?"
"Everywhere!?"
"If you looked everywhere you would have already found the dust." "Not everywhere!"
"Then why complain? You are nowhere near down with your search."
"You know what I mean!"
"Do I?"
"Adam!"
"Fine, fine but Jaune this is not so bad."
"Not so bad? My best friend, my team! Might die because of me! Do you know what that feels like?!"
"Yes. I have led men into battle before. I have made bad decisions that have lead good men to thier deaths. I know what it is like to have the burden of command thrust upon me. It is a heavyweight."
"I know! And people keep not helping me!"
"You should not shy away from help. We all need assistance."
"I'm looking for it"!
"Are you? If you looked at this problem with a clean head you would see the obvious solution." "Adam I have tried! Honestly! I don't know what to do! I need to save my friends! I will do anything for them!"
"That is good. Knowing that you put the lives of your men before that of your own has alleviated any fears I might have had of sparing with you?"
"Wait, you were afraid of me? You could kill me in a minute."
"Ten seconds but who's counting?"
"Apparently you are."
"I am just being honest. I am speaking of character. Most humans I know do not have much to speak of."
"Hey! Not all humans are like that!"
"I can see that. You, Uzepi and that teammate of yours seem like good humans. But my time in Bastion has shown me the more... the eccentric side of my brothers and sisters."

"You mean the batshit crazy faunus right?"
"I was looking for a nicer way to say that but yet. There are some individuals here that I would have put down at first sight. Even if Ludo is doing this for his own gains the fact that he is attempting to rehabilitate is a testament to either his moral character or his arrogance."

"It could be both?"
"It could very well be... Jaune tell me you are given access to the Bastion air transports right?"
"Yeah. I can go almost anywhere so long as I get the dust why?"
"Well, I might just know where you can acquire some dust."
"What?! Where!? Tell me!"
"Calm down my friend. I will give you the coordinates. You can do what you will when you get there. Although I do suggest you hurry. You don't want to miss your train."

"Jaune! I don't think we should be here!" The worried voice of Kiara said over the Bullhead com system as Jaune grimaced. He along with ARKM had followed Adam's coordinates to Atlas and while Jaune was hopeful, it was over two hours in and still nothing.
"Why not?" Jaune shouted to be heard over the roar of the engines and the howl of the wind.
"We are in Atlas!"
"I know that! What's the problem?"
"Jaune! We are in Atlas!"
"You already said that! Why is that a problem?"
"Because we are in legit Atlas! We are not in some damn port town! We are in the official territory! If we are spotted by a patrol it will be bad! Bastion does not exist! We can't let the world know about us!"
Kiara said making a fair amount of sense. Ludo was already pissed off with him enough he did not need blowing the lid off Bastion to add to his transgressions. "Dammit! Wait for twenty then head back ok?"
"You got it!" Kiara said as Jaune frowned. He failed. This was the last day he would breathe. Tomorrow Kage and Ruby died. Thier heads would pop and he would take his gun and-
"Don't," Ruby said quietly taking his hand in hers. Wrapping her fingers around his as she slid next to him.
"After we die don't commit suicide."
"Ruby..."
"No, don't you Ruby me Jaune Arc. Don't commit suicide."
"I can't-
"Promise me!" Ruby shouted making Jaune flinch. Ruby almost never shouted not at him.
"Ruby."
"Say it! Say on your word! I! Jaune Arc will not commit suicide! Promise me!" "Fine! I won't commit suicide!"
"Say as an Arc!"
"Fine! I Jaune Arc will not commit suicide!" Jaune yelled as he looked to Mika who gave him her usual enigmatic grin that Jaune could make neither heads nor tails out of as she sat silently.
"Boss, we got a situation," Kage said as a loud train horn was heard?
"The hell is that?" Jaune asked walking over to a window where a train? Bearing the Schnee family logo was blaring through the snow as-
"Bullets!" Ruby shouted as Jaune saw. There was fighting going on. The train was under attack!
"Kiara! Take us down!"
"What?!"
"Just do it! I'll take responsibility!"
"Um ok! If you say so!"
"Boss, what's the plan?"
"One last good deed before I die. Let's make this count ok?" Jaune asked as the ships back door opened exposing team ARKM to the howling wind as team ARKM made thier last drop.

Jaune hit the deck of the train boots first. His combat boots crunching the thick snow as he saw the scene. White Fang? Jaune thought he was done fighting the faunus as he saw several men and a woman or two in masks firing at guards in the blue of the SDC in cover. Jaune didn't hesitate losing a shot of plasma at the closes guard. He screamed. His chest exploded in a ball of blue fire. He fell off the train his body melting apart as-
"ARKM! Attack!" Jaune said as the rest of his team arrived behind them and they pounced.

They fight was less of a fight more of a cull. Jaune killed two more Fang with plasma fire. Not letting them get an advantage. Ruby sniped them from the back. Occasionally darting in to butcher them in close quarters. Kage demolished anyone of them who came to close with his pistols and Mika...

Well, she made the freezing night just a little bit warmer. Her flamethrower heating up the train as they four of the broke the attacks in less the five minutes. "Down!" Jaune hissed spriling into cover. Along the last desperate bullets from a terrorist as he sighed.
"Maybe the are my people?"
"Stop! I am god!" Jaune yelled as a wave of bullets crashed into his cover making him sigh.

"Heretic!" Jaune yelled as a crack! Fired and the man fell back a bowling ball said hole in his spine as Ruby killed him.

"ARKM! Report!" Jaune said as the team regrouped.
"Kage!"
"All dead boss. Unless they don't need thier heads and spines they are done for."
"Mika?"
"I chopped em up!"
"Good. Now let's-
"Thank you! We didn't know that we would have hunter support! Are you from Atlas?" A guard with brown skin with a name tag reading Solei said as Jaune looked to him. A man with navy blue hair and almond eyes stood before him as he sighed.
"Not exactly, but we are hunters. Why did the Fang attack you?"
"Same as always! We are transporting dust to Atlas! They thought we were an easy target! Not so much to you! You know my baby sister Ciel is also a huntress in training?"
"That's so cool!" Ruby said as-
"What what is this train carrying?"
"Dust why?" The man asked as a smile crept up on Jaunes face as-

"Boss? Boss? Oh fuck me, this won't end well!"

"Jaune. I won't lie I am impressed. Honestly and truly impressed." Ludo said looking at team ARKM a shocked look on his face. "Not only did you get us back every once of dust you somehow got more?"
"Yes sir, that we did."
"How? Where did this dust come from? And why is it so refined?"
"Is it that important sir? You got the dust and our deal is complete."
"I suppose it is. But Jaune I must ask, can you get more of this?" Ludo asked as-
"Boss... don't do-
"We can if needed to why?"
"Jaune! Dust this good can't be wasted! I want your team to get us more of this!"
"Will we be compensated for this?"
"Of course you will be! Who do you think I am? You are no longer a liability Jaune. You and your team are assets once again! And as the headmaster, I do personally wish that you will all stay as an asset."

AN: Step one Rob SDC.

Step two live.

Step three?
Profit! What can possibly go wrong?

Omake. Hero of Remnant. Short break.
"Well, no one tried to kill us today sir. That is always good."
"Yes, Ren any day when no one shoots at us is a good day," Jaune said drinking his mug of tea as he and Ren relaxed in his private quarters.
"What will we do when Pyrrha comes back sir?"
"When the inquisitor comes back we will treat her with the utmost respect."
"What about Sieena?"
"If they both come back we run."
"I see. Do you want to go out when we are in Patch?"
"Sure, I could say hit to Yang! maybe even get some good drinks...