Chapter 3: Networking
He had shut down, more or less, in the interlude between taking out his frustration on his scroll, and the present. Still, it was unlikely that much more than five minutes had passed since regaining consciousness in the rocket locker. Jaune stared blankly at the broken pieces of his scroll, in disbelief for a short time. The shattered glass was… somehow beautiful, glowing with a shimmering amber color. It was the same color as her tiara. But it wasn't. Jaune looked up, around, not at anything specifically, but it was a useful exercise to start absorbing some of his surroundings. As he had noticed before, Vale was different now.
The shimmering, amber colored glass fragments were not the symbolic show of solidarity from some greater being that Jaune hoped, it was the reflection from the fires burning in the city's abandoned buildings. But the distressed condition of Vale itself drew immediate parallels to the empty, sinking feeling that he felt inside. Much like his scroll, Jaune was shattered. He had no idea what was happening at the CCT Tower. There was no doubt that Weiss would help, but the hardest part was not knowing anything.
"You've got… to do… something" he declared to himself. "You are the leader of your team, and right now, your team needs you. Your friends need you. Why don't you get up, off of the ground, and go help them… help… someone. Anyone. What kind of leader shuts down before the fight is finished? What kind of leader just leaves his team to fend for themselves when there's something he can do to help them?"
"Jaune…? Holy crap. It is you. Where'd you come from?" The voice was familiar, and given the presence of the rocket locker, somehow appropriate. Jaune swung his head around, blinking rapidly, as if trying to erase what he was seeing from existence. "Well, at least I can check 'unseeing things' off of the list of my possible semblances", Jaune thought to himself.
"Cardin? Man this is… weird… I was just thinking about you." Jaune was only half-lying. "I, uh, just came from Beacon." Without an actual plan, he said the first thing that came to mind, recalling Professor Ozpin's last words to him. He needed to find Glynda, General Ironwood and Crow. That would be how he could try to help. It honored the last thing Pyrrha asked him to do as well. He owed her that at the very least, if he had any chance of helping her. "I need to find Professor Goodwitch. Have you seen her?"
"Yeah, she's... You okay buddy? You look like you saw a ghost. Are you hurt?" Cardin asked, genuinely. Jaune wondered if this was a hallucination, or if Cardin took a really hard hit to the head. It had to be one or the other.
"I'm good. Really. Thanks." Jaune finally had a reason to put on a strong facade, so he rose to his feet, facing Cardin. "But my team's in big trouble, and right now, I just need to know where Glynda is."
"Right. She's here, in Vale. Just a few blocks from here. We've been trying to set up a safe-zone after everything that happened today." Who was this person, and what had they done with Cardin Winchester, Jaune wondered. "You still look pale, Jaune. If you're going to find Glynda, I'm coming with you. Let's go… there's too many Grimm around to stay isolated like this."
Cardin was right. As soon as they moved from the locker crash site, Jaune started to see Grimm, in large packs, roaming the city. Vale wasn't heavily damaged, but the signs of recent conflict were everywhere. Fires burned in some isolated areas. The ash of slain Grimm blew like a dust storm through the streets. There were… bodies. Mostly cybernetic, but some human. Jaune felt a chill run through his body. He'd seen... actual death today. He thought back to Penny. Her death was no accident, but it certainly wasn't murder. How could anyone have known?
Then there was the young woman that Professor Ozpin tried to save, or so Jaune assumed. He'd witnessed her death by the hands of some kind of flying witch lady. Jaune had seen her around Beacon for several weeks leading up to the beginning of the Vytal Festival Tournament, but never had any reason to engage in casual conversation, much less believe her to be a murderer… or a flying witch lady. He had seen most of the matches, too. Her team was exceptionally skilled, but not ruthless.
He shook his head, as if that would purge the thoughts from his mind. Turning his focus back to Cardin, Jaune understood why he was being so un-Cardin-like. Whether they were friends or enemies, right now they were partners. The world was against them, or so it seemed. He felt bad for immediately assuming the worst about Cardin when they first met. Before they had even run a block or so, Jaune decided that he'd made a mistake.
"Thank You, Cardin. I-I'd probably still be back there in the street if you didn't come along and snap me out of it." It was at this point that Jaune noticed the dents in Cardin's armor. His perpetually perfect hairstyle had become wet, probably from perspiration, and hung freely on all sides of his head. "I gotta say, you look like you've been through some... stuff. Are you alright?"
"I've seen a lot of things today, man." Cardin groaned. "Robot uprisings, a half cyborg guy, giant Grimm dragons, and I think maybe a civil war too."
Jaune didn't know whether to question Cardin's sanity, or his own. "You're gonna have to explain some of that to me. A-actually. All of it."
Cardin obliged, "It's only about another block to the HQ. So you get the abridged version. First of all, lemme say It's been a long night, and I'm exhausted, but I'm almost positive I watched one of Atlas' capital ships shoot two others out of the sky. And those robot soldiers from Atlas? Yeah, they turned on us about a half hour after that weird broadcast in the middle of the Tournament fight. Turned on us, then started shooting at us." Cardin paused to catch his breath... or maybe to contemplate something that he didn't know how to say. Jaune had… several questions.
But Cardin didn't give him time, "I don't even know where the thing came from. But in the middle of fending off a robot army, this big… dragon Grimm just flies over us, headed towards Beacon. I don't even know how to explain this, but it pretty much crapped out more Grimm everywhere it went. Between me, Glynda, this other old guy and a handful of Atlas soldiers, we were getting pushed back."
The two rounded a corner, and walked into what looked like a small hospital. Jaune stopped to looked out the door after they had entered the building. Across from it, there was a park. It was at the very least a one block by two block sized open field where transport ships were unloading students, civilians and military units, presumably from Beacon. Cardin pulled Jaune back to him, and said with a very quiet voice, "The cyborg guy was with Glynda in the office earlier. Looks just like that General. Uh… Ironwood. Except like, half robot. Anyway, he's the one who saved us. Just showed up, took out a dozen or so of those robots, and started giving orders to everybody."
"Anyway, I'm sorry to do this to ya, Jaune, but I gotta go. The rest of my team is... still missing. I was out lookin for 'em when I found you. Glynda should be down the hall straight ahead there, first door on the left. She'll want to hear anything you can tell her about Beacon." The news about Cardin's team hit Jaune like a truck. He'd never given him any credit for being even a half decent leader, but the guy was going out on his own in a city full of Grimm to find his missing teammates.
Jaune offered his hand to Cardin, a sign of respect for his brother-in-arms. Cardin accepted, but then pulled Jaune close enough that he'd call it a borderline bro-hug. "I hope the rest of your team is OK. Whatever this is, we're gonna need everybody we can get."
"Cardin… I… Thanks for everything. I owe ya one. Good luck out there. And take care of yourself." Cardin just nodded, turning back towards the entrance. With that, the bully with a heart of gold went back out the door in the direction of the rocket locker.
The last few minutes had done more to redeem Cardin Winchester in Jaune's eyes than weeks of therapy ever could. His resolve was now unbreakable, and the objective was now clear and in sight. "Down the hall, first door on the left. Got it." Still out of breath, Jaune ordered his legs to carry him the last few yards to the door Cardin had specified. As it turned out, the door was already opened, and Professor Goodwitch was drawing borders on a map of the residential district of Vale. She must have sensed Jaune's presence… or just heard him panting at the doorway, because she turned her head to acknowledge his presence.
"Mr. Arc, I'm glad to see you've made it through the last few hours in one piece. If you haven't heard, this area is being designated as a safe zone. It is being patrolled by Atlesian Soldiers and any willing and able Huntsmen and Huntresses. If you're willing and able, I would suggest you head across the hall and sign up for the rotation. If you're up to it, there are also signups for search and rescue missions. They're not normally suitable for first year students, but considering the situation we're in, we'll take the manpower." Glynda always had a militaristic tone to her voice. She wasn't trying to act like anybody's mom. More like a drill sergeant.
Jaune hesitated only briefly, "Professor Ozpin sent me here. He told me to find you, General Ironwood and Crow. I'm supposed to bring you to the vault… or basement...up at Beacon."
Glynda was taken aback by the news. Not because of what she'd heard, but who she'd heard it from. "Mr. Arc. At the risk of sounding rude, why are YOU the one delivering this information?"
Jaune started, almost with a whimper "I've seen a lot of things happening tonight that I don't understand. But after my team, and the rest of the students made it back to Beacon from Amity, Professor Ozpin was just standing at the front door to the CCT Tower. He ducked back inside, and Pyrrha just followed him. I didn't know what was going on… so I went with them. The next thing I know, Pyrrha is getting into some kind of pod, and Ozpin started to turn on this big machine. There was this other girl too, but then another girl showed up and…" Realizing he'd been looking at the ground, Jaune looked at Glynda. Her eyes were wide, not sure how to react to what she was hearing. "The woman who showed up last… I think… no… she killed the girl in the left pod. That's when Ozpin told us to get out, and come find you."
She didn't even respond. Glynda ran right past Jaune into the hallway and towards the exit, tapping a number into her scroll as she moved. Jaune followed her through the entryway and onto the street. "Qrow! Where are you?" she shouted into her scroll.
Suddenly, Jaune was trembling again. He began to curse his physical well-being at that moment, until he realized that everyone and everything around him was shaking. Now there was a low rumble coming from off in the distance. It was difficult to tell from all of the echoing, but most of the people nearby were looking in the direction of Beacon Academy. The lights flickered in the streets, before shutting down for a few seconds.
When the power returned, Jaune looked to Glynda, who had now moved her scroll from her ear to her immediate line of sight. "Qrow? Hello? Can you hear me?" She returned the scroll to her ear briefly, "Damn!" This kind of desperate outburst was not something he had ever seen Glynda do. She was always so composed, in control. She turned back to Jaune, "I'm afraid we've lost the Cross Continental Transmit System."
The color drained from Jaune's face. He knew what was happening at the top of that tower, and what was at stake. If that tower was lost, Jaune feared he may lose something indescribably more dear to him.