Oops. I said yesterday it was the coronation and a few people pointed out that's next week. My bad. Yesterday was a bank holiday and I had it in my head that the bank holiday in May is for the coronation – which it is, but there was also one yesterday unrelated to it. I don't really follow the royals or all that lol. I just take advantage of the bank holidays.

Still a bit sick but feeling better. Got a doctor's appointment tomorrow anyway.

Chapter 14

Jaune's fingers played with the new insignia sewn onto his left breast. It repeated on each shoulder and again on his back – a large black shield with a golden edge, and inside the axe of Vale in the same gold, surrounded by laurel leaves. It was the mark of a huntsman. He didn't feel like he'd earned it. All of a month in Beacon and he was already being promoted and sent out as a proper huntsman, and his squad weren't much better. They hadn't completed their first year. This was like handing fresh recruits a gun and telling them to conquer a city. It was going to be a bloodbath.

And yet they stayed silent.

They all understood what the game was about – probably more than most at this point – and a lot of the soldiers and logistical teams on the transports were taking comfort from their presence, as if they alone would be able to ward off any Grimm that might come near them. Jaune's thumb found its way under the corner where the stitching hadn't quite pinned it down and he teased at it, pulling until he heard a small tear and then forcing himself to stop. Ripping it off wouldn't change anything.

They were out here, they had their mission, and Vale was relying on them. There could be no failure, and he would be cast aside if he could not perform. Yang would almost have to make that decision, whether or not she wanted to, because someone who lost their nerve wasn't just useless – they were a burden. He could drag his whole squad down if he didn't shape up.

"Huntsmen." A man easily twice their age, with the rankings of a Captain on his breast, snapped a salute before them. He stood with on hand on a bar to keep himself steady as the aircraft crossed out over the ocean toward Mistral. "We've finalised our initial plans and I've been instructed to relay them to you."

He was a higher rank than they. Jaune felt the need to salute back, drilled into him in basic, but they'd been reminded at least ten times already today that huntsmen were beyond rank, and that they should get used to being saluted to, not the other way around. Yang cleared her throat and waved for the man to continue. She looked troubled, tense, and he couldn't blame her. If it was hard for them then it was ten times worse for her being in nominal command of all this. Jaune wished he could do something to lighten that load, as he was sure Ruby and the others did, but none of them had any command experience. They'd just get in the way.

"We're planning a quick entry and landing with minimal reconnaissance," said the officer. "This would normally be unwise but we're not welcome here and we feel speed may be of more use to us than a few loops in the air to draw the enemy's attention. Once we've landed, infantry will fan out to secure a perimeter and begin deploying mesh fencing and barbed wire anywhere the existing wall structures do not cover. At the same time, two squads will enter down into the mines with radio equipment and flashlights and ensure there aren't any surprises waiting down there. Engineering teams will take that time to unload and prepare their mining equipment."

Wouldn't it be better if they went down into the mines first? Yang didn't speak up, so Jaune kept his thoughts to himself. Hearing no complaint, the man continued.

"Ten minutes after the team has entered the mines, assuming no contact with the enemy, the miners will be sent down with engineers to begin harvesting dust. Given the heavily contested area we're entering, I told them to throw aside all caution and go as loud as they want. Is that acceptable?"

You're the commanding officer, thought Jaune.

"We can work around it," said Yang, nodding slowly. "Good work, captain. I trust you have an evacuation plan as well?"

"Yes ma'am." He nodded. "In the event of Grimm attack an alarm will be rung and all miners and labourers know that is time to drop all tools. Any dust gathered will be rushed back to the transports as quickly as possible, while infantry do their best to delay the advance." Delay. Not defeat. Not hold back. This man knew his role. "We will buy time for the main shuttle's retreat and then try to secure our own on the smaller vessels. As I understand it, you're to stay with the dust at all times?"

"That is correct. We will be forced to leave with the main shuttle and abandon you if it takes off early. Our orders are to get that dust back to Vale however we can, and to accept no other conclusion. Even if it means dragging our bodies back there with handfuls of the stuff."

"I see." The man swallowed. "Ma'am, I understand this may be classified but may I ask what it is the dust is intended for?"

"You may not," said Yang. "It is classified as you suspect."

Oddly enough, that seemed to relieve him. "That's good. I was worried for a moment mine and my men's lives were being thrown away just to feed the industry."

"I can assure you this is a cause far grander than that, Captain."

"That's a relief." He saluted again. "In that case, I will see to my men. Remnant Invicta."

"Remnant Invicta," they echoed.

The man turned on his heel and marched out, and the metal door slid shut behind him. The moment he was gone Yang sagged, head lolling down with her chin against her chest. "Fuck me," she said with a heavy sigh. "Looks like everyone knows this is a suicide mission, eh? That's fun."

"We're not idiots in infantry," said Jaune. "We tended to know when we were being sent out on something we were expected to come back from. Most of us figured we'd die being told to defend something so more important people can retreat. That's just how it goes." He hesitated, then asked, "Why let them send a team down into the mines? Wouldn't it be better for us to do that?"

"Normally I'd say yes but there's as like to be shit up top as well," said Yang. "I don't want us stuck underground if the main ship comes under attack. Better… Ugh." Yang sighed again. "Better that ten men die in the mines than a hundred die up on top. Man, that sounds harsh when I say it like that."

"But we know what you mean," said Ren, reaching out to grip her shoulder pads. "It's the sound tactical decision. Us being the only huntsmen team here…" He paused, as if to correct himself over them being huntsmen at all, but then decided against it. "With us being the only ones, it makes sense to keep us roughly central. We can better react in any direction then. Plus, our main focus should be the main shuttle and any dust that is brought up."

"Yeah," said Nora. "Even if we only mine a single barrel, Vale needs it. And if every mine gets a couple of barrels out, well, maybe that'll be enough."

Jaune doubted every mine would make it. He was sure they did too. The grand strategy here was based around as many baskets with as few eggs in each as possible. It was a perfectly sound plan but it didn't inspire much confidence when you were one of those many baskets. A single team of cadets masquerading as huntsmen and a hundred infantrymen with a few bits of support equipment weren't going to hold back a proper assault, nor even a middling one. This felt like less a question of if the mine would fall again, but when, and whether they'd be able to get out before it did.

"How long as it been now?" asked Ruby.

"Four hours," said Yang. "Why?"

"Lieutenant-General Goodwitch will have made it to the Grand Wall by now…"

Jaune's throat tightened. He looked aside and down, face scrunching up, and he knew his wasn't the only such reaction. By now, she'd probably reached her objective and completed the mission. That woman wasn't one who would stop to sightsee or let the Grimm hold her back. Jaune's hands clenched, the fabric of his combat gloves creaking ominously in the hangar.

"Remnant Invicta," whispered Yang.

"Remnant Invicta," they whispered back, a hushed eulogy.

/-/

The mine was overgrown with vegetation and almost entirely reclaimed by the forests around it. The walls were covered with thick moss and the few buildings that remained had become zones full of wildlife. That alone was surprising because Jaune wasn't used to seeing so many animals alive and well. Grimm hunted them in Vale to push them away from the arcology and deprive them of a food source, but Salem had evidently decided that it no longer mattered here. Deer dashed out the ruined walls when they landed, and birds took flight. A squirrel chattered angrily at Jaune from a tree that had grown over the wall to his left, threatening him with a nut it held in its tiny paws before darting over the wall and down the tree's trunk on the other side.

It was almost peaceful.

But that didn't last.

Men and women fanned out hurriedly, and flamethrowers were taken to vegetation to clear them away from the main mining complex. There wasn't much smoke thankfully, but it was hard to imagine their landing had gone completely unnoticed. Maybe Salem will be too focused on the mines in Vale, though. Maybe we'll just face a few straggling Grimm. It was possible. The mines closest to the arcology were bound to be the hottest, while Mistral had been given up long ago. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad.

Or maybe he was just trying to convince himself of that.

"Cormack!" shouted the captain. "Get your team into that mine now! Everyone else, close those walls! I want barbed wire, Grimm traps and any obstacles you can make. Hurry! Your lives damn well depend on it!"

One man saluted and he and a group of others attached flashlights to their helmets and weapons before entering the still-burning entranceway to the mine. Meanwhile, engineers and laborers were wheeling out big vehicles and industrial mining equipment and parking them by the entrance, along with metal drums poised on wooden pallets, and the forklifts to move them. The main shuttle opened up its side to extend a ramp to the ground for easy loading and access.

Phoenix Squadron made their way up the metal steps to the top of the mine structure, where a lookout tower still stood, overgrown and rusted as it was. A couple of birds squawked and flew away when Yang entered first, and soon they were all stood looking over the encroaching forest. It was quiet. Jaune didn't want to say too quiet because that felt like it might invite an immediate change. Besides, there was more than enough noise from their side to mask any the forest might have made.

"Feels wrong to sit around while everyone else works," said Nora.

"We need to be ready and rested at all times," said Yang.

"I know. I know. I'm just saying."

"What do we do if the team in the mine goes dark?" asked Ren. "How many of us are going in?"

"Two at most," said Yang. "But with soldiers to reinforce." Then, breaking a little, she asked, "Does that sound about right?"

"That sounds fine," said Ren, calmly. "We've never questioned your orders before, Yang."

"Yeah, well, feel free to question them if they're bad because I could use the help. We've no faunus for night vision so I'm thinking teamwork; you and Nora will be best. Ruby is more suited out here, and Jaune's aura is still spotty."

"Plus he's been a cadet all of one month," Ruby pointed out.

"Yeah. True." Nora elbowed him gently. "How you holding up, champ?"

"I'm fine," Jaune lied. He wasn't sure anyone believed him. "I'll be fine," he tried, instead. "But I might not be as useful down there as any of you. The best I can do is act as a distraction and hope my aura holds out. I don't have a tenth the training you lot do."

"Don't take any unnecessary risks then," said Yang. "Act like infantry if that helps you. That's what you're most used to. Let the rest of us take any Grimm in melee and just focus on placing your shots – or better yet, get that dust on the ship so we have a way out. For now, though, let's move around and be seen. Ruby, you can stay up here and be lookout with your rifle. The rest of us will split up and walk a slow perimeter. Four points like a compass, got it?"

They saluted, "Yes ma'am."

"Ugh. Don't you all fucking start."

/-/

The encampment was becoming more and more like a fortification as the hours ticked by. Huge tracts of barbed wire had been expanded out from the perimeter wall a good eighty feet – and it was barbed wire designed specifically for Grimm, too. It was thick stuff with wickedly hooked and serrated barbs and a tendency to "snap together" when pulled out the ground it was staked onto, causing it to reel back into the target and entangle them even further, shredding them to pieces. The arcology liked passive methods of Grimm disposal like that because someone could be sent to collect it again after for re-use. This stuff was used abundantly outside the arcology, and Jaune had been tasked both with setting it up and bringing it back down again after.

The former was so much easier than the latter. The stuff was kept compressed in loops and could be sort of "thrown out" and left to expand on its own, only needing you to come along and drive some stakes down to keep it in place and make the Grimm pull on it even harder. Getting it back into a neat roll after it had become a tangled mess killing a Grimm was… well, it wasn't fun, but then neither was the Grimm getting to them, so most engineers were happy with the arrangement.

The walls that had been put up where the old walls had broken down were much less favoured, by engineering, infantry, or anyone really. They consisted of a metal bracket stabbed into the ground and then a spiked chain fence that could be slotted into the top. Sandbags, rocks, or other weights would then be set on the base and finally a current would be run through the thing. It was fatal to any human who touched it, or any who came too close, but painfully irrelevant to most Grimm. It did a good enough job of slowing them down – which was better than nothing – but that was all it did. If you were lucky, it's take out a limb or burn one badly, or have it writhing on the ground for a minute or two.

The assumption was always that you'd need to use that minute to save your life, because the fence wouldn't. But, then, what else could they do? Solid walls of rock hadn't stood up to Grimm dedicated to breaking them down, and entire arcologies had fallen. If there was such a thing as a barrier that could keep Grimm out then they'd have built it and retreated behind it generations ago.

The mine was alive with the sound of heavy drilling and vehicles now. Several barrels had already been filled with dust crystals, and more was being shipped onto the shuttle as the pallets were filled up. Jaune wished they had a target they could reach and then leave after, but the reality of it was that they were to keep going until the Grimm attacked, and only then pull out. Vale would have them drill all night if they could get away with it.

Jaune doubted that they could. The sounds would travel and they weren't being subtle now. Occasionally, the ground would shake as the miners used explosives to open up new veins, or as they dug recklessly and threatened a total collapse. Any lost miners would be considered worthwhile for the dust they would bring back. They were lucky there hadn't been any accidents yet, though most of that was due to this place being well-constructed back in the day. They'd only just started mining by the looks of things, so a lot of dust veins were out in the open and just waiting to be dug out the walls.

If this were a mine in Vale then he was sure they wouldn't have found so much, nor gotten this far without being molested. Atlas, he was less sure of. It had fallen like Mistral but only recently, and the army that destroyed it was presumably somewhere halfway between Atlas and Vale already, so any teams sent that way were in for hell.

Jaune's helmet headset crackled to life.

"Ruby here. Spotting movement in the trees on west side. No visual."

Damn it all to hell.

"Noted," said Yang. "Ren, Nora, converge on that location. Jaune, take the east side and keep an eye out. This could be a distraction."

Or worse, an encirclement. The hours they'd gotten by without detection might not have been for that reason at all, but because the Grimm wanted to take their time getting into position. They hadn't always been like this, or so he'd read. Once upon a time they'd been wild and near mindless, and they still were when they fought, but before that, before battle was joined, they now moved as if controlled by a single person. A perfect hivemind controlled by queen who wasn't afraid to take her time. Jaune jogged up to the east wall and scaled it. Several soldiers saluted as he went by but he ignored them, looping a pair of binoculars from his waist and holding them to his visor.

The treeline was empty but he fixed the lenses past it, to the treetops. Grimm were big nowadays, designed to be durable, and as Ruby had said, they would shake the treetops when they moved, bumping into tree trunks and making the canopy shake. There was none of that to be seen. Jaune panned his vision left and right, breath held, but there was no movement. That was enough for him to lower the binoculars, but not to turn away. Just because there was none now didn't mean there would be none if he turned his back. The infantry, sensing his presence as a bad omen or maybe just reading his tension, double-checked their weapons and began to shuffle awkwardly. Some got back into position behind LMGs propped up over the lip of the wall, testing the belt-fed ammunition and kicking it aside so it wouldn't whip across their legs.

"Grimm sighted!" called Nora. "Ten plus."

"Do we order the retreat?" asked Ren.

There was no answer.

"Yang? Repeat."

"I'm thinking. Shit, I don't know. Fuck. Can we hold them?"

"Maybe," said Ren. "I don't know for sure. But there could be more."

"Our orders are to gather as much dust as possible. We know why. If we back out now and there isn't enough for Project Terminus then Vale falls. Everyone dies. Goodwitch was willing to walk to her death for this. We've got to do the same."

Silence. Silence and then a resigned, "Understood" from Ren.

Gunfire opened up on the other side of the camp. It was no surprise to Jaune but it made everyone around him jump and whip their heads back. "Eyes forward!" shouted Jaune, thinking of his own former sergeants and officers and how they talked. "The Grimm are being handled. Our job is to watch from the east."

They obeyed his orders nervously and he could tell they were afraid. Had he been like that? The question almost made him laugh. Of course, he had been – and he still was in a sense. That same fear that rooted them to the spot was working its way up his spine, and he was grateful for his mask and visor hiding his face from view. They wouldn't be able to see how afraid he was.

I wish Yang would have called the retreat, he thought, right at the same time as he thought about how she'd made the right decision not to. The "easy choice" wasn't always the best one, and their job was clear. As much dust as they were capable of; not as much as they felt comfortable with.

"Movement!" shouted a soldier. He raised his weapon and opened fire a nanosecond later, using his tracer rounds to indicate where he'd seen it. The light blazed toward the treetops to the east. They still weren't shaking but – ah, flying Grimm. Jaune swore and brought his own SMG up.

"Contact to the east!" he called into his headset. "Aerial Grimm."

He squeezed off a few shots, picking them as best he could. The one benefit of facing airborne Grimm was that they had to be less durable to take flight, so a few good shots to a wing could down them. Of course, they were no less dangerous on the ground but if that was a good distance away then it didn't matter.

Their fire pierced up and through the swarm of mosquito-like Grimm, each the length of his arm and about as thick. They were more piercing proboscis than body, bent awkwardly with a head too big to support itself and a shrunken thorax. Their wings shimmered pretty shades of blue and green as they buzzed through the air.

"Yang!" shouted Ruby. "Do I sound it?"

"No! We need more dust! Fuck, just help Jaune out. I'll reinforce."

The LMG had gotten its angle and was scything through the Grimm in the air, the gunner dragging it down in a line and separating several at once. It almost looked like they might hold them off entirely, but then the second wave came up behind them and muddied things even further. Those closest still had to be dealt with as they dive-bombed down with their sharp proboscises aimed at the defenders, and that meant those behind had an easier time closing the distance. Jaune cursed as they were engaged – and from there things went bad fast.

The insects buzzed down again and again, dive-bombing with such speed that those that missed struck the ground and died. Most didn't miss. The panicked soldiers held their ground and tried to fire, but had limited room atop the wall, making them ideal targets. The sharp needles pierced through armoured jackets, skin and muscle and out the back again, transfixing servicemen and ripping them off the wall entirely. Grimm and human, locked together, fell to the ground below with agonised screams. Those that managed to get out the way just found themselves attacked again and again, forced to play a game of keep-away with lethal consequences. The gunner on the LMG was pierced through the throat and pinned to the floor to die, and their best anti-air weapon went silent.

"Yang!" screamed Jaune, directly into his headset. "We're being massacred! Sound the retreat right fucking now or we're all dead!"

He held his breath, half-expecting a refusal, but then the alarm on the shuttle began to blare loudly. It would signal to the engineers and labourers to drop tools, grab what dust they could and flee back. Immediately, forklifts picked up pallets that weren't full and began racing them back to the aircraft, which ignited its engines and held in place.

Jaune cried out as a Grimm slammed into him. He stepped back, not dying – his aura had saved him – but the sheer force of the impact localised in that needle was agony. It caused the Grimm's proboscis and head to cave in from striking an immovable object, and the thing died against his chest. Another went for his head, his visor, but he got his arm up in time to bat it away. It scratched a line over the top of his helmet instead. Jaune raised his SMG one-handed, not even bothering to aim, and held the trigger down until it ran dry.

A hand grasped his leg, a choking man with his mask smashed open and blood on his lips. He was scrabbling with his other hand, holding his dog tags. He was trying to bite down but couldn't. Jaune swore and knelt, taking the man's tags when he opened his hand.

"I've got you." Snapping the capsule, he held his hand over the man's mouth, watching as his eyes glazed over in relief as the EX-Pill worked its magic.

He was gone within seconds.

Another Grimm slammed down on his unprotected back, dying against him but knocking Jaune flat over the dead soldier. He cursed and rolled, right off the wall and down a perilous drop to slam on his side in the dirt. As painful as that was, the bulk of the wall and the angle protected him from any more Grimm dive-bombing his position. He stayed on his back for the time it took to reload his weapon, and only then scrambled to his feet. The wall had been cleared of soldiers and now it was only those on the ground remaining. A second line. It wouldn't hold.

"Huntsman!" shouted a familiar voice. It was the Captain from before. He was waving his arm. "Go! Get the dust out! We'll cover you!"

They'd cover him-? They were the helpless ones here! Jaune gritted his teeth but nodded regardless, racing by. He unloaded his clip just to help as best he could, then threw the SMG around his back on its strap and pumped his arms, racing back to the shuttle. The labourers were dragging drums on now, screaming in fear. Many lay dead and a few Grimm were flitting about. Jaune jumped and caught one by its abdomen, then brought it down on the ground with a sickening crack.

"Jaune!" Ruby was there, rifle on her back, a combat knife in hand. She was covered in gore, but he doubted any of it was hers. "You made it! Yang went back for Ren and Nora. They got bogged down."

"Are they okay?"

"I don't know."

"Nora. Ren. We need to leave now!" Yang's voice played in their helmets. "Get out of there."

"Ren is stuck!" replied Nora, instantly. "Give us a few minutes."

"You don't have minutes. Our orders-"

"Fuck our orders, Yang, and fuck yours too! I'm not leaving him!"

There was a loud buzzing to signal someone turning their comms off entirely. Yang's angry cursing came through a moment later, followed by a hiss from Ruby. Nora had gone dark. It wasn't hard to figure out why.

"We can't just leave them," said Jaune.

"Yang will have our heads if we go back out there," Ruby replied.

"I'm not hearing a no."

Ruby laughed weakly. "Yeah, you're not, but if Yang asks then I totally tried to talk you out of this."

Oh, sure. Throw all the blame on him. That was fair. Jaune reloaded his SMG again and rushed to the western side of the compound with Ruby, where the Grimm had traded small, fragile flying bodies for great hulking masses of porcine fur and razor-sharp snouts, each of the Grimm twice as tall as a tank and about as wide.

I can't lose anyone else, thought Jaune. Not again. Not like Sun.

He refused to.

Having some fun at work today where a car has been driven and stopped and surrounded by 3 unmarked police cars right outside our office. Woman arrested, baby in back seat, like 10 police officers. During lunch hour. Staff are glued to the windows, and once the police took their vehicle off the main road to allow for traffic to continue, they've come piling into my office (my staff) to look out my window because it has a better angle. I'm getting live updates.

"They've taken her handcuffs off so she can hug the baby."

"They're handcuffing the other man."

"He's made a break for it! No, wait, he got, like, four steps before a policewoman tackled him."

Meanwhile me just writing away on this chapter during my lunch hour and shaking my head. I do find it funny (in a good way) that they're comfortable enough to just barge into my office and take over my window. It's frosted with the company logo though, so they're all claiming like tiny fragments of the company letters to look through because the rest isn't transparent.

Update: Rubber gloves are on and bags are being removed from the car. Looks like a drug runner.

Next Chapter: 16th May

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