Take 'em down, take 'em down!

Jaune! Heads up!

Ren, keep that barrier up! Nora, fire in the hole!

Die you bastards! Die! Die! Die!

Sorry! Sorry! She's actually really sweet when you get to know her! Sorry!

…

…

Jaune, we're not going to leave you behind!

Pyrrha, if you find the princess in the other hangar, you can't wait for me. Nora and Ren are counting on you to get them and the princess out. You can fly a ship, I can't!

That's why if I find her, we are coming back for you. This is not up for discussion.

You're damn right it's not up for discussion! I gave you an order! So stop wasting time and get moving!

…

…

Going somewhere you two?

You! I know for a fact you're not Ozpin, so just who the hell are you?

Oh good for you. You're not as dumb as you look. Guess I should give you a complementary prize. How does a lesson in sky diving sound?

…You wouldn't!

Oh Mr. Arc. You underestimate me. Don't take it personally, just think of it as you get to die with your queen. And, you get to be reunited with your folks. By the way, nice disguise. Oh and before I forget, when you get to hell, say hi to that witch for me.

My Lady, try to hold on to something!

…

…

My Lady! Hold! On! Don't! Let- NO! NOOOO!

Jaune's eyes jumped open as he gasped for breath. His eyes quickly scanned in every direction, searching for a source of light. But only darkness surrounded him.

He couldn't breathe. Something heavy was holding him down, and no matter how much Jaune squirmed he couldn't escape. He could move his arms, but that was the extent of his movement.

Jaune thought about screaming for help. He was starting to panic, a rare occurrence from Jaune, when he realized he'd run out of air in minutes.

"Come on dad! Give me strength!" Jaune groaned. He tried with all his might to lift the huge metal mesh holding him down. The area around him was now lit from his aura surrounding him, engulfing him in his semblance. But even with his inherited 'Holy Armor', Jaune didn't have the strength to move the mass. Only lift it up slightly.

"No. Oh God no. Come on!" He tried again with all his might, though he kept coming up with the same result.

It was hopeless. The only thing he was managing to do was exhaust himself. It was becoming hard to breath, and Jaune's eye lids were becoming incredibly heavy. All he wanted now was sleep.

Maybe its better I should die. I'm a liar. I'm a coward for not admitting the truth. I failed my queen. I failed Beacon. I failed my team…

Jaune's eyes flew open. His team could've survived the crash. They could be trapped, or injured. They may need him.

"No! I'm not dying here!" Jaune's aura filled his pocket of open space with blinding light. He tried pushing the mass up again, putting all his strength into it. He could see his hands and arms becoming enveloped in the pure, solid energy. And he could hear the clinking of armor as he started feeling heavier. He felt invincible.

"Hang on guys!"

Jaune let out a battle cry. He felt the mash of metal lifting up, and he could move his legs again. So he kept pushing up. His strength felt limitless.

WWWWWWWW

Nora hopped and leaped around the aircraft wreckage and destroyed foliage of whatever woods they had crashed in. She knew about the large piece of shrapnel in her right shoulder, her broken wrist, and the large hole in her left cheek. But to her they were all manageable injuries for later. For now, she was more concerned for her allies at the moment.

She honestly didn't need them. She knew she could manage on her own. She could easily heal these injures and head back to the city in less then, maybe a few hours? They couldn't be too far from Vale after all. But…

Okay, maybe she needed them. She'd be awfully lonely without her allies. Plus she'd just get assigned to some new team, having to go through the same tedious and pointless process of learning about new people and having to tolerate them. She already had team. A good team, that she'd already taken the time to know.

There was Ren, the only person she would admit that she'd feel sad if he died. He was something special; To this day she doesn't know why she helped him years ago, or why she cares about how he's feeling and what he thinks, or even why he even stays around her. Ren avoided violence if he could, while Nora relished in it.

Pyrrha she may miss for a time if she's dead. Pyrrha was reliable in combat, amusing to watch hide her affections for the commander, and she had courage. See Nora couldn't stand cowards, so to have a teammate that promised her if she ever decided to kill Jaune because she got bored of having him as a leader she'd break every bone in Nora's body, that amused Nora and gave her a new respect for her teammate.

And as for Jaune, he…well...she didn't really care for. If he died, oh well. Besides strategy, he's only a decent fighter at best in Nora's eyes. Though he does have courage, and is trustworthy. Not bad, but not worth long lamenting over.

"AAAHHHHHGGG!"

The sound of heavy metal and that loud screaming stopped Nora in her tracks and her thoughts. When she turned in the sound's direction, she could see a mass of trees and part of their aircraft's wing being lifted up by a bright light. When Nora's eyes adjusted to light, she could make out a tall figure in old time knight armor.

The knight lifted the mass up, throwing it off of him. He walked forward some, then started to stumble. He collapsed on the ground and the light faded away, revealing the commander.

Nora made her way to Jaune. When she reached him, she started examining him and assessing. He seemed unfocused and bordered on passing out, though she noted the lack of injures on him.

"Commander. I must say, that was quite impressive. I guess you're not as useless as I've always made you out to be. I've never seen your aura like that before. In fact, it was able to take the form of physical armor and seems to have dramatically healed you. How fascinating."

Jaune only let out moan in response. He kept trying to stand, but repeatedly kept stumbling over himself. Nora gave him a few tries to stand on his own, but on his third failed attempt she let him put his arm around her shoulder and she helped steady him.

"Thanks." He wheezed. "I think I'm alright now." Nora without second thought released Jaune, and to her surprise he could stand just fine now, and seemed to be coming to his senses too. He took no time to rest, and was already trying to hurry Nora along to help find the others.

Later Nora remembered another thing she like about Jaune. For what's it worth, he certainly is determined.

"Um, Nora? You do realize you've got something in your shoulder, and an angry looking hole in your cheek? And, that they're both bleeding heavily?"

"Yes commander. I do realize this." Nora continued searching the wreckage for possible signs of the others, ignoring the commander's mindless jabber.

"You uh, wanna heal them?" Jaune pressed further.

Nora looked behind her to see her commander with a brow raised and a concerned look. They stared each other down for a moment.

When she noted Jaune wasn't kidding, Nora rolled her eyes and started working on her injuries (if only to shut him up). She used her semblance to make the tissue in her cheek regrow, and her broken wrist to reform. Both wounds glowed pink as they were being manipulated.

After both injuries had healed, she went to work on her shoulder. She manipulated her shoulder muscle to stretch and tense, making her shoulder look super muscular. The metal was forced out, and the muscle instantly started to regrew. Once healed, Nora's arm returned to it's normal state.

She looked back at her commander with a scowl. "There. Now may we continue to search for Ren and Dame Nikos?" she said rather irritated.

Jaune nodded, and they both started moving on again. Though before they could get much farther, both knights stopped dead in their tracks when they heard something. It sounded...like a moan.

Both knights then started frantically searching for the source of the noise, and it wasn't long before Jaune found him under some chunks of tree nearby.

"Oh my God. Nora! Get over here, now!"

Nora immediately stopped her searching and rushed over to Jaune. He was kneeling down by a hole filled with tree and wreckage, with a look of sheer panic plastered on his face. And she saw the cause of his panic herself, she did something she's never done in her entire life.

She screamed.

WWWWWWWW

There lie Ren. He was a bloody heap. No noticeable broken bones, but he was covered in a variety of different colored bruises and multiple lacerations that were bleeding badly. Blood was leaking out of his mouth and nose, he looked to have a dent in his skull, and his eyes were starting to look distant.

This was bad. Jaune knew he was lucky, having been in the back of the aircraft when it was shot down. He was thrown out just before the crash along with Nora. He was lucky none of the wreckage had crushed him, exploded, or stabbed him. Hell, there's a million things that could and should have happened to him that didn't.

Meanwhile, Ren and Pyrrha were in the cockpit of the drop ship. They were still in the aircraft when it crashed, and though Jaune hadn't seen the remains of the cockpit yet, he figured that's were they would've found both of them.

Evidently, that was not the case for Ren.

At some point he must have been ejected from his seat, going through the front windshield, and was crushed by the runaway severed cockpit (shown by a long trail in front of the main wreckage). He should've been crushed and killed instantly.

But no. He was saved by his aura. Saved to die slowly and painfully.

"Nora!" Jaune shouted at the shell shocked teen. She was visibly shaking, and too stunned to move. Her eyes had shrunk to the size of marbles. "Nora! Nora snap out of it!"

She wouldn't move. She only stood there. Jaune had gotten to his feet, shaking Nora by her shoulders to try and snap her out of this trance. But it seemed to do nothing. Jaune even tried slapping her across the face (though for all other circumstances would NEVER recommended). He wasn't trying to hit her too hard, but in the rush of the moment he was able to leave a mark.

That had seemed to do the trick, making her jump back into reality. She didn't acknowledge Juane or the red mark he'd left on her cheek, she just ran to Ren's side, dragging him out of his nest of metal and bark. Once he was out, Nora lifted him onto her shoulders and started carrying him out of the crash zone and into the edge of the woods. Jaune followed, even offering to help.

"Commander." Nora tried to sound like her normal gruff self, but her voice was coming out choked and cracking. And... were those tears forming? "Go find Nikos."

"Nora, I can help. Plus there could be Grimm in these woods. I-"

Nora turned on her heels, facing Jaune.

"JUST GO!" She shouted, before turned around and continuing on her way again. Pink energy already starting to flow into Ren.

Jaune watched them for moment, before turning to follow the crash path left by the severed cockpit.

WWWWWWWW

Darkness surrounded her. Though some light was making its way through cracks in the metal shell and the broken windshield, she didn't notice. It was hard to concentrate, and her head felt strangely heavy. She couldn't move. She felt very disoriented.

Slowly she could make out the smell of blood. And she could also make out a sound too. The sound of something dripping to the floor.

No. Wait. Not the floor. The ceiling?

That's when she noticed her limp arms have been stuck hanging in the air. She was hanging upside down, still stuck in her seat.

Jaune... Ren... Nora... I'm so sorry...

I didn't mean... to get us... shot down... I tried... my best...

Why... am I... always... a screw up...

WWWWWWWW

He found the cockpit far from the crash site. It was turned upside down, parked in front of a large half smashed tree. Somehow it had stayed relatively intact, but it seemed to have been crushed into a ball like shape. Jaune almost didn't want to look in, fearful he may find a similarly shaped Pyrrha.

"Pyrrha! Pyrrha are you in there?" he called into the crumpled mass.

His only response was the dying chirps of crickets retreating with the night, and the early birds singing to welcome the new morning light. Jaune had no choice. He stuck his head through the turned over windshield to take a look inside, already scared his fear had come true when the smell of blood started filling his nose.

As he looked in, Jaune's heart skipped a beat. He could make out a red haired shape slumped over in the center of the wreckage.

"Pyrrha! Hang on, I'll get you outta there."

Jaune crawled in through the windshield. Once inside, he could stand up in the metal sphere, but he had to duck his head quite a bit. Pyrrha was being held upside down, still strapped into her seat. She had some nasty looking bruises on her face, though mainly a large black eye. But what really alarmed Jaune the most, was a cut on the side of her head that was bleeding relentlessly.

He moved as fast, and gentle, as he could. He drew his sword, helped Pyrrha sit upright in his arms, and carefully cut the busted seat belt. Once free she slid down into his arms.

"Jaune..." Pyrrha mumbled. Her head was leaning on Jaune's shoulder, and her eyes were struggling to open. Not helping was the wind had picked up; bringing with it the first signs of spring. A looming storm.

"I'm here Pyrrha. You're going to be okay. I promise."

Jaune was carrying Pyrrha back to the crash site. Nora would be around there somewhere and she could heal Pyrrha. After that, Jaune wasn't sure what they'd do. They had no way to get in touch with anyone. They could always make their way back to the city, but Ozpin had warned him something was going to happen to Vale. He made it quite clear once Jaune got out of the city, to stay out. Then again, he was supposed to find a way out with princess Weiss...

"Jaune... What happened? Did you find her Highness?" Pyrrha said weakly.

Jaune didn't answer for a few minutes. He honestly didn't know how to tell her the truth. A running gag at this point.

"She fell." He answered shamefully. "Before you came in with the gunship, she fell out through that open hanger."

Jaune felt Pyrrha flinch in his arms and her breathing started becoming heavy. "God... I... I never saw her when I flew in. I...I..."

"Hey. Don't you dare blame yourself. It's my fault. You did what you thought was right and what I told you to do." Jaune felt the pain and guilt threatening to explode in his chest. It's still hard to accept that fact. To accept that moment the princess's grip slipped from him actually happened...

"I...I didn't find her in the other hangar. I got the ship ready... then Nora and Ren showed up and... and..."

"Pyrrha, it's okay. Just rest for now. We'll figure it all out later." Jaune soothed.

The two teens stayed in silence for some time, before Pyrrha decided to break the silence.

"Are the others...okay?" she asked.

Jaune nodded. "Ren's in bad shape, but I'm sure Nora will fix him up."

The scene of Nora upset and a practically dead Ren also played back in his head. The more he replayed the scene, the more Jaune wondered if he just told Pyrrha another huge lie.

"Hey Jaune..." She weakly spoke up again.

"Yes Pyrrha?"

"...Sorry... I got us shot down..."

Jaune glanced over to his teammate. She stared back with sad and teary eyes. Another rare sight among JNPR, a none upbeat Pyrrha.

He gave a light laugh. "Well, you did yell incoming missile. Plus the thing was a rental, so who cares?"

Pyhrra also gave a light laugh, and even started to beam one of her famous smiles. Though in seconds, the smile melted and tears rolled down her cheeks.

The two knights continued on their way in absolute silence after that.

Jaune followed around the edge of the crash site, looking for Nora. By the time he found her, he'd walked around to the other side of the site.

And found she wasn't alone...

Ren was slumped over on a nearby tree, Jaune not able to tell if he'd recovered. Meanwhile Nora was facing off with a tall woman. Jaune could tell the woman had light blonde hair, and he could see the purple inside of her cape.

As Jaune approached, his fears were confirmed.

"Mom, what are you doing here?"