"FROM THIS DAY ON YOU ARE NO LONGER PUKES! YOU ARE FULL FLEDGED MARINES FOR THE ATLESIAN MILITARY! YOU HAVE THE HONOR AND THE PRIVILEDGE TO SERVE THIS GREAT NATION AND-"
Jaune tuned out Sergeant Striders speech, opting instead to close his eyes and feign sleep where he stood.
"Keep doing that and we'll get sent back to basic Lance Corporal."someone whispered to his right, without turning his head he looked to glare at his battle-buddy and fellow Graduate, "Fuck of Squints.' he muttered.
"Aren't we all friends here?" he whispered back, "come on man, after this we're no longer privates, we'll be Helljumpers in no time."
"I'll be a Helljumper, remember, they only take the best."
"Then why will you be a helljumper?"
"PLATOON! ATTEN-HUT!"
Instantly Jaune and Squints jumped to attention alongside the eighty other graduates.
"DISMISSED!"
"AYE SIR!" they shouted, taking a step back. Before doing an about face and stepping off.
"We're graduated!" One Private shouted, making the rest cheer.
"Hell yeah! Group hug in the showers tonight!" Squints shouted, earning a hearty laugh and couple of punches.
"Bravo Squad! On me!" Jaune shouted, making eight men run over to him, "alright, we all got a ten day leave to go home and see family before we get sent off to our duty station, during these ten days i do NOT want to hear about any of you getting arrested, getting drunk, or getting into fights!"
"What if we get into a drunken fight while getting arrested?" Squints asked.
"Then i'll personally plant my boot in your ass squints." one of the other guy's piped up, making the group laugh.
"Now, other then that, all of you have a nice leave; dismissed."
"See ya Lance Corporal!" the all shouted as they took off running, all except squints.
"You going home Jaune?" he asked as Jaune started walking towards the barracks.
"No," Jaune said, "i'm staying in a hotel not too far from base until it's time for us to ship off."
"Come on boss, you're not going to try and talk to your old man? What happens when shit happens on the battlefield?"
"Then he gets a letter from Atlas." Jaune muttered, "doubt he'd care."
Squints rolled his eyes, "well don't worry brother." Squints said, throwing his arm over his shoulders, "i'll cry for fifteen seconds for you."
Jaune chuckled and pushed him off, "don't lie to me."
"Okay, okay, sorry, i'd only cry for like five seconds before looting your wallet."
"You're a credit to your country squints.'
Squints laughed and nudged him, "next stop Helljumpers!"
WVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWV
Two years later.
Jaune dove into a ransacked building, several other soldiers were huddled against the walls, taking cover from mortars and gunfire, "who's in charge here!?" he shouted to one of the cowering men.
"You are Sarge!" one of them shouted back, "Everyone else is either dead or missing!"
"Do you know the position of Charlie?" he asked as he crawled his way over to a radioman who was frantically trying to hail anyone.
"Charlie's fucked! Damn Fangs hit them hard about four blocks back, no survivors! Any word on Alpha!?"
"We still have a platoon up and fighting," jaune said, slowly getting to a crouch, "they've got city hall barricaded, holding that position, civilians are in the basement."
"Well at least we got that shit going for us." another grumbled,
Jaune nodded grimly as he crawled to the radioman, "what do you have?"
"I've been trying to secure a line to command." the radioman said shakily, "it's been hard but I think i got through the radio jam," he pulled the receiver off the pack and handed it to him, "you're in charge Sarge, get us some goddamn-" he was cut off as a dust round tore through the back of his head.
"Fuck!" Jaune cried, bringing his rifle up and gunning down the squad of three fang soldiers attempting to assault his position, "someone cover this damn window!" he snarled, making four guys run over. Jaune knelt down and checked on the radioman, "dead…" he growled, his hands shaking as he grabbed the receiver and brought it to his mouth.
"THIS IS SERGEANT ARC WITH THE 482ND HELLJUMPER BATTALION! WE NEED IMMEDIATE EVAC! CIVILIANS AND VIP IN CUSTODY, MULTIPLE HOSTILES CLOSING IN OUR OUR POSITION!"
"JAUNE!" Squints shouted, running over to the sergeant. He looked up at squints, whose glasses were crooked and cracked, his armor caked in a slurry combination of mud, ice, and blood, his rifle clutched in his hands, "we got Fang coming in to the right! They have armor!"
"Grab Robin, Echo and Fritz! Get them to-"
"They're dead!" Squints interrupted him, "all of Bravo is fucked!"
Jaune looked down, looking at the radio that was transmitting, but not receiving anything from their superiors, "Grab their heavy weapons," he said grimly, "grab whoever is still alive and take down their armor before it can get any closer."
"Got it boss," Squints said, turning to carry out his orders until Jaune grabbed his arm.
"We may not get out of this alive Squints." Jaune said, looking his friend dead in the eye, "there's no word from command and we got enemies coming in from all sides…"
"What do you suggest, Sarge?" he asked.
Jaune hesitated, "hold this position," he muttered, "keep those civilians alive until the last damn charge. Whatever else happens tonight, we don't lose a single fucking civilian."
Squints nodded, "good knowing you Sergeant." he said with a grin, running out, "DOMINO SQUAD, VECTOR SQUAD ON ME! WE'RE TAKING OUT THOSE TANKS!"
Jaune took a deep breath and went back to the down radio man, pulling the radio off his back and pulling it on himself, "anyone who isn't dead follow me to city hall! We need to keep those civilians safe! COME ON YOU APES YOU WANNA LIVE FOREVER!?*"
Jaune woke up to his alarm clock, he groaned as he rubbed his eyes and sat up, looking down at his scarred hands, then up and around his hospital room, he took a deep breath and stood up, rolling his shoulders as he did.
"Staff Sergeant Arc?" a disembodied voice asked.
"Morning Church." Jaune said as he started his morning workout, sparing a glance to his scroll where a small holographic projection of a soldier stood, glowing a faint blue.
"You know, when most soldiers get six weeks medical leave, they usually sleep and relax, not work out for four out of those six weeks. Seriously how were you back up and running after only two weeks R&R."
"Hate being off my feet." Jaune said, reaching up and grabbing the pull up bar above him, lifting himself up.
"Grenade shrapnel to your chest, stab wound in your shoulder and leg, dislocated knee, laceration spreading from the left corner of your mouth down to your shoulder, and carpal tunnel. You're like a fucking tank man."
"Thanks." Jaune said with a smirk.
"Well, your crazy stubbornness aside, General Ironwood wants to talk to you."
"What about?" Jaune asked.
"Not entirely sure." Church said, "he doesn't usually talk to me beyond giving me commands, and he definitely doesn't explain shit to me, so…"
"Right…" he sighed, "alright, let me shower and get changed."
"Got it, i'll let him know you're coming." with that, church winked out of existence while Jaune walked into the bathroom, taking off his shirt as he did so, he looked at the scars on his chest, some were independent from the rest, but lower down towards his hip, was what looked like a spiderweb of scar tissue, showing almost exactly where the grenade had gone off. His left shoulder had a stab wound about two to three inches wide, and the scar on his chin made it look like he was frowning. He ran a hand through his stubbly hair before he turned around and stepped into the shower, "can't go see the general smelling like ass." he muttered.
"Yeah, i agree with you there." Church said, reappearing, "and he's given you ten minutes to get showered, dressed, and downstairs, a military vehicle will be there to take you to Command."
"Remind me again why you stick around with me?"
"Well...i mean...you remind me of some idiots i used to hang around, plus you're actually one of the few soldiers who talk to me so…"
"Gee, i feel so special." Jaune muttered.
"Hey, most people I just give them their orders, then leave them locked in their rooms for thirty minutes after they are needed, at least with you, I let you get there on time."
"Touche." Jaune said, stepping out of the shower and drying off, "don't you have anything else to do?" he asked, "run numbers, verify troop movements...open a door?"
"Yeah i wish, since a certain defunct military project got completely shut down, i've been downgraded to messenger boy, which i'm not complaining about, but give me more messages then two a day! I go stir crazy man!"
"Maybe on my next mission you can come along." Jaune said, putting on his mottled gray and brown BDU uniform. Looking at the black band with a flaming skull on the left sleeve, marking him as a Helljumper, "After classes at least."
"I don't know, I don't think you'll be going to class after this meeting, might actually be going out to the front."
Jaune grunted, "that's the problem with Atlas." he muttered, "academy and Military are joint operated, which means i'm writing reports on the Faunus Civil War, while simultaneously being used as cannon fodder against the White Fang."
"Well, maybe if you didn't bitch so much and hadn't thrown up in the bullhead on your first mission, you wouldn't be cannon fodder."
"Were you looking in the personnel files again?"
"Maybe a little...so seven sisters huh?"
"Un-fucking-believable." Jaune grumbled as he finished buttoning up his blouse and going into one of the drawers and pulled out a torn section of scarf, it was made of silk and almost pure white except for the blood that stained it, slowly he folded it up and put it in his breast pocket before walking out the door.
"Don't get mad at me," Church said, his voice now coming from Jaune's pocket "it's the irongoats fault for leaving everything double encrypted, shits easy to break into."
Jaune rolled his eyes."what's the ETA on that vehicle?" Jaune asked as he stepped into the elevator.
"About four minutes, you'll be waiting 2.33 minutes for it to pull up to the curve." Church was silent as the lift slowly moved down, "you know...NCO's ranked Sergeant and above are allowed to have personal AI's."
"I know i said you could tag along on my next assignment, but I doubt they'd let you."
"Oh come on man, we're like...fucking compatible and shit!"
"You're also a valuable asset that could possibly have secrets from Project Freelancer still rattling around in your memory banks." Jaun pointed out.
"Still, it wouldn't hurt to ask Irongoat." Church muttered.
Jaune smirked as he stepped out of the elevator.
"Staff Sergeant Arc!" one of the younger nurses said in surprise as he walked up to the reception desk. "Going somewhere already?"
"That i am Nurse Blossom." Jaune said, leaning against the desk.
"Please Jaune," the auburn haired nurse said with girlish giggle, "It's Rebecca."
"Right, Rebecca...um...do i have to sign anything so i can go?"
"Mmm...no, everything seems to be signed and approved by General Ironwood, so you should be alright."
"Thank you," he said, starting to stand up straight.
"You take care out there Staff Sergeant Arc," Rebecca said, putting her hand atop his.
Jaune gave her a smile, "always am ma'am," he said, gently pulling his hand out of her grasp and walking out the hospital, carefully fitting his cover on his head.
"She's kinda cute," Church piped up, "why don't you ask for her number? You still got seventy-four seconds before the Jeep gets here."
"Think i'm good Church." Jaune said. "She's not my type."
"Oh come on, sweet, down home girl who can fix you up after every fight, how is that not your type?"
"She's too...sweet."
"Oh you're one of those guy's huh?" Church asked in amusement.
"Up yours." Jaune growled.
"Would she be your type if she wore a studded collar?"
"Shut up."
"In the springtime? Early month of May."
"Church-"
"I'm just sayin', she might do it for a soldier into whips in chains.
"I'm going to delete your programming."
"Good luck finding my back up bitch...jeeps here."
Jaune grimaced as the jeep came in for a stop and a young private jumped out, fresh faced and bright eyed he stood at parade rest as Jaune walked up to the jeep, "morning Staff Sergeant!" he sounded off, looking straight ahead as Jaune basically ignored him and got into the jeep, "right…" the private muttered as he got into the driver's seat, "I just wanted to say Staff Sergeant, it's such an honor to meet you, i heard that you did some pretty impressive things out in Terra Vista-"
"Private," Jaune cut the young private off during his ramblings as he put an earpiece in, "one. Breathe, two. Shut up."
"R-right…I just...wanted to thank you-" he started again.
"Private Jones, is it?" he asked, making the private stop again, "i'm not a hero, i'm an idiot who lost his entire platoon and then some, there's no reason you should be praising me, now shut up and drive."
The private bit his lip and started driving ,"that's not what i heard…" he muttered.
"A little harsh with the kid weren't you?" Church asked through Jaune's earpiece
Jaune didn't really say anything, just looked ahead as the jeep hummed down the street, "Never get tired of seeing this city." Jaune mumbled.
"Yeah." Jones said hesitantly, "I remember when i first saw it...we came over the northern mountains and it was just...amazing."
"Atlesian native huh?" Jaune asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah, lived in a small mountain town, spent all my time just...shooting beowulf's and actual wolves to keep our herd safe...got good at it so i signed up for the military."
Jaune smiled, "admirable." he said as they pulled onto Atlas Academy grounds.
"Why'd you join Staff Sergeant?" he asked.
"Eh, wanted to do good in the world," Jaune said, "dad wouldn't train me as a Hunter, and Beacon wouldn't accept me, so Hello Atlas Military."
Jones nodded, "right, well, here we are sergeant." Jones said as he pulled up to the main tower.
"Thanks Jones." Jaune said, stepping out, "have a good day."
"Yes Staff Sergeant, thank you." Jones said, driving off.
"Seriously," Church said, ""you were acting like a dick to the kid."
You know I put the earpiece in so I could listen to music."
"Fuck you man, i want someone to talk to."
Jaune rolled his eyes as he walked into the building, he could feel several pairs of eyes on him as he walked through the marble lobby. Several other soldiers and students greeted him as he went past.
"Morning Staff Sergeant."
"Good morning Staff Sergeant."
Morning Staff Sergeant Arc."
Jaune, for his part, simply nodded to most of them, giving a half assed mumbled "morning'' in greeting.
"You know, you were a much better people person back before your last assignment."
"That was before I got blown up." Jaune said as he climbed the stairs, wincing as some of his wounds twinged.
"I'll give you that one but still."
"Well, well, well. "A familiar voice called out, making jaune stop and turn around, smiling as he looked down at a petite red haired Fox Faunus, her hair in a pixie cut and her green eyes sparkling with mischief, the fox ears atop her head perked up and alert, "If it isn't my favorite Helljumper."
"Senior Airman Rhodey." Jaune said, walking up to her and shaking her hand, ""thought you got killed back at Terra Vista."
"Come on Arc, you should know I can't die." she said with a crooked grin, which slowly fell, her ears drooping slightly with her smile, "heard what happened at the Town Square...i'm sorry Jaune."
He gave a tired sigh, "we did what we had to." he said, "I just wish it hadn't of cost so much."
"Still, promotion, that's big right?" she asked, trying to change the subject.
"Oh yeah, Staff Sgt. Jaune Arc, Easy Company, First Platoon. " he snorted, "that's what we need, another Arc in charge."
"That's exactly what we need." she said as the two started walking up the stairs once more, "I heard the reports, you held the square and evacuated over sixty civilians while in the middle of a firefight, then held that same square for three days."
"At the cost of the entire Helljumper Corps." Jaune muttered, "seven divisions went in, and one guy came out; thousands slaughtered by the white fang and the subsequent Grimm incursion…"
"You did what you had to Jaune." she interrupted, "we had our orders, and we knew the risks...we just didn't know resistance would be that strong…"
Jaune stayed silent as they stopped at General Ironwoods door, "this is my stop." he said mutely.
"Mine too," she said, giving him a half-smile as she punched his arm, "guess we're working together huh?"
"Guess so," Jaune said, offering a ghost of a smile that looked more like a grimace as the door opened.
"Staff Sergeant Arc, Senior Airman Rhodes, step on in." General Ironwood called, making the two soldiers walk in and stand at attention, "at ease soldiers." Ironwood said, standing and walking up to them, "let me first congratulate you two for your bravery at Terra Vista, not many could have done what you two did."
"Thank you sir." they said together.
"Now, i have a special assignment for you two." he said, "but before i say what it is, i'm going to warn you, this job could be potentially dangerous, you're about to learn classified information that will remain classified under threat of death, there is also a chance that you two will be targeted by enemies trying to find out this information, and you both know how the Fang gets information. Should you choose to accept this your ranks will be raised to Gunnery sergeant and Master sergeant respectively as well as temporarily given Specialist status until the mission is complete, but if you want to walk out that door, no one will fault you."
"All do respect sir," Rhodey started, "I didn't become a pilot because of my good looks, anything the Fang or anyone else can throw at me I can take it."
"I survived the town square sir," Jaune said, "I can survive anything."
"I'm glad to hear that." Ironwood said, "Alpha."
"Yes sir," Church asked, appearing on the Generals desk.
"Tell Dr. Polendina we're ready for him."
"On it."
"This next bit may shock you," Ironwood said as a side door opened and two young girls were ushered in alongside a portly looking scientist with gray hair slicked back and a pointed goatee. His green tinted goggles covered his eyes, "this is Penny Polendina," he said, gesturing to the petite redhead at his side, "she is the first synthetic life form to be able to produce aura."
Jaune's eyes widened at that, "she's a robot?" he asked.
"Android," the Scientist corrected.
"Android, robot, both are powered by batteries." Rhodey muttered.
"Penny has a mind of her own," the Scientist said sharply "she is completely independent from any control, able to make her own decisions, feel emotions, even eat!"
"Tin can with a heart of gold then." Jaune said, making the scientist bristle.
"At ease Gunnery Sergeant." Ironwood said warningly, "as of now, she's your responsibility, you two will be escorting her to Vale for the 40th Vytal festival alongside Specialist In Training Ciel."
Jaune and Rhodey tensed at that, "bit young for a SIT aren't you?" Jaune asked.
"Accepted into their accelerated program at seventeen." Ciel said with a superior air about her, "Set to graduate from Atlas Academy one year early."
"You three will be making sure Ms. Polendina doesn't fall into enemy hands." Ironwood said, "she's a very valuable person." he walked to his desk, "should anything happen to her, you two, as well as Specialist Ciel will be held responsible." he sat down and leaned back, "now, as you two will be entering the Vytal tournament, your Aura will be unlocked, this will also give you the option to be a specialist either through promotion, or upon graduating from the academy."
"What will we have in the way of weapons?" Juane asked, "or am i going in with the usual hard light rifle and machete?"
"No, you two will be allowed to choose any armaments from the armory and will also be allowed to customize and create your own weapons, you'll even be able to change your combat uniforms, now, you four will be heading out in one weeks time, you will be staying alongside each other in one of the dorm rooms."
"Better than the barracks," Jaune muttered.
"Now, are there any questions?" Ironwood asked.
"I have one sir," Jaune said, stepping forward, "I'd like to request an AI."
Ironwood raised an eyebrow, "is that so?"
"Yes sir, and if I have to fill in a request for it, I will."
"This wouldn't happen to have anything to do with Alpha's daily disappearances now would it?"
"Truthfully, yes, Alpha, or Church as he likes to be called, has been visiting me in the hospital since i got back from Terra Vista, he's the one who originally suggested that i ask for an AI.'
"Is that so."
Church popped up on Ironwoods desk, "Come on General Ironwood, I'm bored! I went from running a seven megaton air Cruiser, to handing messages out twice a day, maybe three if I'm lucky, put me back in the field with Gunnery Sergeant Arc."
Ironwood hesitated, "Very well," he conceded, "but remember Alpha, you will be answering to Gunnery Sergeant Arc, any dereliction of duty will get you deleted."
"Yes sir." Church said.
"Gunnery Sergeant Arc, if you go down to the Armory, they'll get you fitted for a portable terminal for Alpha."
"Yes sir."
"Now," he said, looking at all of them, "congratulations team PARC, i'm sure you four will do great in Vytal, you're all dismissed. Take this time to build up your team."
The four teens slowly filed out of the room, leaving Ironwood and Polendina alone.
"Are you sure those two are the best you have?" Dr. Polendina asked.
"They're the best, battle tested, battle hardened, both made the rank of Sergeant in their second year in the military, both joined at fifteen,and proved themselves capable at terra vista...the last of the Helljumper Corps."
"But the way they were reacting to Penny-"
"They're soldiers," Ironwood dismissed, "they may have a warped sense of humor and a skewed thought on Artificial intelligence, but they're soldiers nonetheless, if I order them to treat Penny as a real girl, then they will do so."
"I'm still not comfortable with this...what if we waited for another year or two…"
"Then it'd be two years too long, she's ready, Dr. Polendina."
"If you say so...general."
WVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWV
The newly formed team PARC walked in silence along the sidewalk leading towards the armory.
"So…" Penny started, "you two are soldiers?"
"He's the soldier boy," Rhodey said with a smirk, "I actually work for a living."
"Oh yeah, sitting up in the sky, thousands of miles from the action." Jaune said, "what a job.'
"You're just jealous we got a kick ass recruitment movie."
"Up yours Chair Force."
"So...you two aren't friends?" Penny asked in confusion.
"Oh we're best of friends." Rhodey said with a grin.
"But, you two are insulting each other."
"You'll realize that that's just how we roll." Jaune said as they walked into the armory.
"OH! You're 'kidding' with each other, right?" she asked in excitement.
"If that'll help you sleep at night then sure tin can." Rhodey said, "so Jaune, what will you be using for Vytal? Chain sword? Exploding mace? Fire lance?"
"Or i could just take my usual hardlight rifle and give it every attachment i can put on it." Jaune said as they walked up to the quartermaster.
"Gunny, Tops." the quartermaster greeted, he was seven foot tall Bull Faunus, dressed in the Winter fatigues of Atlas. His massive horns were protruding from his temples, coming to a deadly point eight inches above his head, making him look taller then he was, "just got the orders to deck you two out." he said, "names Master Gunnery Sergeant Jora, and i'll be your armorer for this evening." he stepped out from behind the desk and walked down the hallway pulling a key card out as he did. "follow me to the Specialists weapons room."
"Really?" Ciel asked, raising an eyebrow, "I thought they were enlisted students, not Specialists-in-Training."
"According to General Ironwood, they're as good as Specialists on this assignment." Jora said as they walked up to a steel plated door, he swiped his card on the terminal beside the door. It slid open and revealed a large room full of weapons, both standard issue and student made.
"Welcome to Atlas Specialist Armory." Jora said.
"Holy mother of shit." Jaune muttered, looking at all the weapons, "some of these attachments aren't even available for enlisted."
"Yeah, we got anything and everything you need." he said with a grin, "and we have a forge in the back if you want to make your weapon, though it'll have to be quick, you only have two weeks."
Jaune instantly went for a medium range hardlight rifle, he stripped it down and put it back together, "Charon Industries HL Medium Range Rifle type 43." Jora said approvingly, "next step in the standard issue armaments for Atlesian Military, though rearmament doesn't happen for another year, this one is a vast improvement over the type 32, doesn't overheat with the new inhibitor chip, and has a slightly better range then the older model, hard light rounds also pack a bigger punch, can almost put a hole in the T-35 tank."
"What kind of attachments can i get for this?" he asked, lying it down on the table while Rhodey went over to some old school SMG's.
"Hmm…' Jora hummed, a light shining in his eyes as he walked over to a wall and started pulling down attachments, "Hybrid scope, holographic scope, grenade launcher, flame thrower, laser sight, couple of blade attachments including a chainsaw, which ones do you choose?"
"As many as I can," he said, picking up the grenade launcher and attached it to the bottom of the rifle, then grabbed one of the bayonet blades
"That's not gonna-" Jora started, but stopped when he saw how Jaune attached the blade onto the bottom of the grenade launcher, with room between them for him to safely hold and reload. "Huh...not bad…"
Jaune then grabbed the hybrid scope and added it on top of the rifle before grabbing the flame thrower and putting it on the side of the gun.
"Kid, you're crazy." Jora said.
"If I'm going up against hunters in training ranging from first year teams all the way to fourth year teams, I'm gonna need every advantage I can get; Grunts going up against Hunters isn't exactly a scenario they gave us in basic."
Jora laughed, "true, but sometimes bigger isn't always better, why not just stick with the grenade launcher and the blade?"
"Will the flamethrower interfere with the rest of the weapon?"
"Yes, could overload the powercell."
Jaune sighed and pulled the flamethrower off, "what do you got in forms of melee weapons?" he asked, "the blade on the gun will help, but i'm gonna need a weapon for last resort."
"We have a wide selection of melee weapons, machete, swords, Axes, hammers, what are you usually using."
"Machete, but I doubt I'm proficient in it's use to combat these hunters…"
"Then you'll be needing a Brute's weapon." Jora said with a grin, pulling a hammer out of the selection and holding it out to Jaune, it was a hammer with a wide blade mirroring the hammer face, elegantly simple, wrapped in simple leather, "it's made of CPM REX 76, highest grade of metal you can get now a days, virtually unbreakable, and mind numbingly simple to use...technically it's a two handed weapon, and weights about eighty five pounds."
Jaune took it and grinned ,"man, this is light!" he said, swinging it around easily, "doesn't feel like eighty five pounds."
"Good old helljumper strength." He said with a laugh. "Anything else you'll be needing?"
"Other than my armor so I can customize and upgrade as well as my AI's portable Terminal, I'm good."
"My apprentice should be bringing that terminal soon, as well as your armor." he turned around, "so what about you Tops? Will you be needing anything?"
She shook her head, showing the two Baretta 93R's that she had been fiddling with, "found my selection," she said, "three round bursts with extended thirty round mags and can shift to two daggers on a dime."
"You know how to use those little lady?" Jora asked.
"Of course," she said with a grin, twirling the guns in her fingers, "Been shooting since I was five, but there is something i have in mind to give me an edge, but it can wait until i can hammer out the details,
Just let me know when you're ready." he said with a grin, before turning to Ciel and Penny, "you two going to be needing anything?"
"No sir, we're just waiting on our comrades." Penny said cheerfully.
"Mhmm, and what about you?" he asked Ciel.
"Same," Ciel said, checking her watch, "you two better hurry up! We only have ten minutes until combat practice."
"Combat practice?" Jaune asked as he loaded the gun and slung it on his back, "why the hell do we have combat practice?"
"Because we need to be able to work together as a team, and i want to assess your combat skills."
"He's a Helljumper with a pension for jumping into the middle of active battle zones," Rhodey said, "And I'm a trigger happy pilot who loves a good fight, I think we'll be fine."
"You two have never fought one on one with hunters before." Ciel said patiently, "you two have also never used your new weapons, you will need some time to get better acquainted."
"Listen here-" Rhodey started.
"She's Right Rhodey," Jaune said "we'll need to practice daily up until we actually get into the arena if we want to be even close to being ready for a fight."
"Well I'm not entirely done with my armaments," Rhodey muttered as Jora's apprentice came running in pushing a cart with Jaunes Armor, "what about you Gunny?"
"I just want to customize my armor," he said, Picking up the portable terminal, it looked like a datapad mounted on a bracer, he strapped it on and turned it on, smirking when he saw Church's avatar flash over the screen. "as of right now that won't really change much, if anything I want to see if I can train with that axe-hammer."
"I can help you with that!" Penny said excitedly.
Jaune looked wary as he looked at Rhodey, "if i die, make sure to feed Church."
"Got it Gunny." Rhodey said with a grin as she pulled out her scroll.
Jaune picked up the axe-hammer and weighed it in his hand, then nodded to Penny, "Let's get one of the instructors to unlock my aura and head to the sparring room."
WVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWV
Jaune walked into the sparring room, his blouse was off and folded carefully on a nearby bench, a Fusion 1911 Hardlight sidearm strapped to his belt;he was spinning the axe absentmindedly as he walked around the room, it was a large circle, about a hundred yards in diameter, with holographic panels surrounding it, about fifteen feet up was bullet proof glass that housed the viewing stands.
"Salutations Friend Jaune!" Penny said excitedly, walking in from the other entrance, still dressed in her usual attire.
"Just Jaune is fine." Jaune said, "gunny if you want to get familiar.
"I'll try to remember that." she said peppily.
"So you gonna get changed Tin Can? Hate to mess up that pretty dress."
"I'll be fine 'gunny'." she said, giving a small giggle at having used the title.
"Right,' Jaune muttered, hefting the axe once more and looking at her, "you can choose the setting and scenario if you want."
"Hmm...i think it'll be fun to do Forever Falls! I hear it's very pretty there!"
Jaune said nothing, just kind of rolled his eyes as the Android made her choice and the holographic panels fired up, giving the backdrop and skyline of Forever falls, the floor opened up and a forest floor was lifted up with trees and brush colored a deep red.
"How do you usually fight 'gunny'?" she asked.
"I'm used to the standard formations from basic." he said, "establishing a perimeter, fire superiority strength in numbers...but this will be different.'
"How would you like to proceed?" she asked.
"Church." Jaune called, making the AI wink into existence next to his head.
"Yeah Gunny?"Church drawled.
"Analyse the fight, start building a work out regime that will be able to train me in fighting a huntsmen."
"Copy that boss, you also want me to try and give you some advanced warnings?"
"No, lets see how well i do on my own." Jaune said.
"Not very well I imagine." Church said, winking out of existence.
"Whenever you're ready Penny." Jaune said, getting into a ready stance.
Penny smiled as swords started to appear behind her, floating around her in mid-air.
"Oh that's not fair." Jaune muttered as they all stabbed towards him, following Penny's hand movements. He quickly rolled to the side and drew his side arm, shooting off four red hot rounds at her head. Her blades quickly deflected them and slashed towards him, he raised the axe and swung harshly,knocking two away and dodging the last one, he fired off four more rounds before the gun locked down to recharge, he charged forward,using his the hammer side of his weapon to slam her blades out of his way as he went. Only to fall back as three of the blades transformed, shooting beams of green hard light at him, "Shit." he grunted as several slammed into his chest, knocking him over a downed tree.
"Hey boss," Church said, in front of the downed soldier, "you're getting fucked up."
"Anything else you want to put in?" he asked.
"No that's about it, carry on." Church said winking out of existence as he jumped up, sending an over-powered shot at a worried looking Penny, who had been creeping up to the trunk to see if he was alright. The shot sent her flying back, crashing through two trees. Jaune rolled his shoulders as he climbed over the trunk, "you alright penny?" he asked, checking his terminal, his aura was half-way through the yellow, while hers was right at the end of the green. "Oh fuck." he muttered, diving out of the way as a single concentrated shot tore through the clearing, missing him by inches, within seconds he was surrounded by flying blades and green blasts of hardlight, all of which hit their mark accurately.
"And that's a match." Church said as the floor reset to its original setting, leaving jaune lying on the cold stone, "Man, you got fucked up."
"Thank you Church…" Jaune muttered.
"Are you uninjured?" Penny asked, walking up to him.
"I'm fine tin can just...sore…"
"Why do you call me Tin Can? " she asked curiously, leaning forward as Jaune sat up.
"It's...a nickname." he said, not wanting to piss off the android.
"A nickname?" she asked, then gasped, "like you and First Sergeant Rhodes have!"
He chuckled a little as he stood up, "Sort of, ours are pretty commonplace in the military, yours is...special."
"I like it very much! This is my first nickname ever!" she gushed.
Jaune cracked a smile, thinks and acts like a normal girl...a very sheltered, awkward girl but nonetheless… "Church, how'd I do?"
"You want the technical readout or my opinion?" Church asked.
"Opinion first, then technical readout," he said, picking up his axe and sliding it into a belt loop on his pants
"You got completely, unequivocally, and totally fucked up." Church said, "she played you like a virgin on prom night."
"Okay, now the technical."
"You got completely, unequivocally and totally fucked up."
"Church." Jaune said warningly.
"Fine. your reaction time was pretty good considering you were able to not only block and dodge most of the attacks coming at you; you also managed to get a couple of shots on her, but other then the one blast you got on her towards the end, you never truly went on the offensive, any attack was reactionary at best. My advice? Focus on balancing out offense and defense, otherwise we're going to have a fun time watching you get your ass beat, I'm already working on a training regime for both you and Tops, just gotta see her first sparring session to finalize it."
"Thanks Church." Jaune said.
"Anytime Gunny," Church said, disappearing from their view.
"So. shall we go again?" Penny asked excitedly.
"Oh please do!" Church said from the arena speakers, "I want to record this time around."
Jaune sighed, "Sure, why not."
WVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWV
Jaune collapsed onto his new bed as he walked into what was now his dorm room, in the bed beside him Rhodey sat cleaning her guns, "have fun?" she asked.
"Damn robots a powerhouse." he muttered, "barely got any hits in except for maybe three."
Rhodey laughed, "what do you expect of the tin can?" she asked, "probably has a better combat processor then most AK-130."
He shrugged, "you might be right." he said, slowly sitting up, "She went down to the chow hall."
Rhodey looked confused, "why?"
"Apparently 'Ciel's schedule said that we should be at the mess hall until eight' I told her i wasn't hungry and came up here."
"Yeah Ciel tried to tell me that it was mandatory that I go with her to the chow hall, i told her to shove it and came up here to clean my guns."
"You need to quit alienating these two," Jaune said, "we're going to be working with them for almost a year."
"Doesn't mean i have to like them." she muttered, "damn Specialist in training acts like she's better than sliced bread."
"Well Penny's not so bad," Jaune said, "she's like a little kid who's been kept inside all her life and then thrown into high school."
Rhodey shook her head, "still don't like it." she muttered, "before i forget, Jora transferred the armor modifications to your scroll like you asked, still don't know why you don't just stick with the standard issue stuff."
'Because fighting huntsmen requires a little more than 'standard issue'." Jaune said, pulling his scroll out and started flicking through the scroll.
"I've looked through most of them and think the 'Commander' helmet might be the best for you." Church said from the wrist module.
Jaune pulled it up, "hmm...any modifications that could be added?"
"Night vision for one, thermal, outside attachments would include a mounted helmet cam and a flashlight, what armor modifications are you thinking of?"
"EVA shoulder pauldron for the right arm, Commando for the left, and add a sapper chest rig to the chestplate." Jaune said, looking over everything. "Also see if we can't get some magnetic grips for the gauntlet and back plates, make carrying my weapons easier."
"You'll be looking like a goddamn tank with all that." Church said as he quickly made a small schematic for it, 'you seriously think you'll be needing all this?"
"I like to be prepared, Church." Jaune said, putting the tablet down, "all we need now is some paint to customize it and i'll be ready to go to war."
"Fuckin' helljumpers." church muttered.
"Hey Jaune," Rhodey started, "could i borrow Church for a few moments?"
"I don't know...he's entrusted to me…"
"Hey, i'm an AI, not a fucking puppy, what do ya need Rhodey?" Church asked.
"Got some schematics over here for my armor, want to give them a once over? Make sure everything's copesthetic?"
"Yeah sure." Church said, transfering from the terminal over to Rhodeys scroll, "now lets see what you got...hmm...wow...this...this is ambitious Tops…very ambitious...I like it."
"Let me see," Jaune said, jumping up and walking over.
"Not on your life Gunny." Rhodey said with a chuckle, pulling the scroll away from him, "this is going to be a surprise for the entire team."
Jaune rolled his eyes as the module started to beep, he smiled sadly and walked over to his pack.
"What's that?" Rhodey asked.
"It's 2000." he said, pulling two six packs out.
Rhodey slowly put her tablet down and stood up.
'I'll work on these schematics, give you two some privacy." Church said before the screen went dark.
Jaune popped the top off two of the bottles, handing one to Rhodey, "to our fallen brothers." Jaune said.
"To the dead." Rhodey replied, tapping the necks together before taking a swig, "can't believe it's only been six weeks since Terra Vista." she mumbled as Jaune leaned against the frame of the window.
Jaune nodded, "the last Hell Jump." he muttered, "sometimes, I think it was just a dream...that i'll wake up in the Barracks; Squints would be hitting me over the head with a pillow while Irons would be yelling at us to get up, because morning PT was about to start…" he shook his head, "Then i'd wake up in the hospital with my wounds aching, damn machines hooked up to me to keep me breathing…" he took another swig.
"Been hard on you Gunny." she said, "but it's not the end of the world."
"Just feels like it right?" he asked.
"Yeah...just feels like it."
The door opened, making both soldiers look over, hands on whatever weapons they had on them as Ciel and Penny walked in.
"What are you two doing?!" Ciel asked angrily as the two untensed.
"It's 2000 spec." Rhodey said as Jaune poured the last of his beer out of the dorm window and onto the cold ground below, "we're honoring the dead."
"Honoring the dead?" Penny asked.
"Yep," Rhodey confirmed, "every day around 2000 we pop the top off a couple of bottles of beer, drink'em, and pour the rest out for our buddies who didn't make it back, it's a tradition we started back on our first mission, and we haven't done it since this one was transferred to the hospital."
"This sounds very interesting!" Penny said.
"Well then here, join in." Jaune said, tossing a beer to the automaton, who giddily opened up.
"Now hold on a minute! This was NOT cleared with me!"
"Who died and made you leader?" Rhodey asked, crossing her arms.
"I'm the only one here who's been trying to become a Specialist for atlas, I've ran simulations and scenarios for years! Who else would be qualified?"
"What about the two people that have actual combat experience?" Rhodey asked, "Jaune has over twenty drops to his name, and I've flown more combat missions then the next sixteen pilots."
"Guy's, we don't need to fight," Jaune started.
"No, we need to have this discussion," Ciel said, "because, if we don't, then it'll be nothing but confusion when we go into a fight."
"I Nominate Jaune as team leader!" Penny called, raising her hand and making them all look at her in surprise.
"Why Jaune?" ciel asked in genuine surprise.
"He is very good at thinking on his feet, and with the Alpha AI he'll be able to process information faster." Penny said as she popped the top off her beer and took a drink, which resulted in a very loud burp.
"She's right," Rhodey admitted, "he also has experience in leading, his last deployment he was in charge of a platoon sized element."
"But...but…" Ciel started.
"I do believe the people have spoken," Rhodey said, popping a beer open and placing it in Ciel's hand, "so drink up."
Ciel looked at her, then over to Jaune, who simply shrugged, "they chose me...for some reason." he said.
She sighed, "fine then Gunnery Sergeant, it looks like you're our leader." she raised the drink in her hand and Jaune leaned forward and clanked them together, and together they took a gulp.
"Yeeeeaaaah!" Rhodey said, throwing an arm around Ciel's shoulders, "time to loosen up Soleil! Throw away that schedule!"
"I will do no such thing!" she said abruptly, "despite me not being leader of Team PARC, i will still be trying to keep us all on schedule and on task, commiting to a daily plan."
The two devolved into more petty squabbling while Jaune sighed and poured the last of his beer out once more.
"Congratulations Gunny." Penny said, still giggling at the use of his name, "I'm sure you'll do great."
"Yeah...why didn't you want to be team leader?"
"I haven't exactly been through much training." she confessed, "and I know you and Master Sergeant Rhodes are much more capable at leading then i would."
"Don't you have processors and computers that can help you?" Jaune asked.
"The only computer I have is my brain and the neural uplink to my weapons." she said with a smile.
Jaune looked surprised, but slowly nodded, "well then, i'll try to be a good leader.' he said as he stood up and walked over to his bed, pulling the silk scarf out of his pocket.
"What is that?" Penny asked, catching Rhodey and Ciel's attention.
"You still have that?" Rhodey asked, "why?"
"I said I'd give it back to her," Jaune said, putting the silk scarf under his pillow.
"And I'm sure sleeping with it under your pillow is to keep it protected." Ciel said, barely concealing her teasing grin.
"Yep." Jaune said, lying down on his back, 'everyone get to sleep."
"Is that an order?" Rhodey asked with a grin.
"It's a suggestion, that i'm going to follow up with a boot to your ass if you keep talking!"
