Jaune was right; he had needed as much rest as he could get because despite Tirpitz's calm demeanor. She was a slave driver when it came to training. For the next seven days, before the sun had even risen above the horizon. She marched into his room and either flipped him out of bed or found some other way to get him up. His least favorite was the bucket of ice water. Once he was up she forced marched him out on deck all the while barking orders to go faster.

Once out on deck she ran him ragged. Push ups, sit ups, planks, running, jogging, any exercise that she could think of until he collapsed and needed to drag his lifeless body from one end of the ship to the other. After a short break came combat training.

At least that's what she called it. For the first two days it was actually more "Here's how to hold your sword." and "I want you to block this.". She expected him to understand how to copy any of the techniques she used the first time she showed them. If he couldn't learn from that one demonstration then he learned when they sparred.

He had learned early on how to block most of Tirpitz's blows after the sharkhead bows that held her gun turrets had bitten into him and let loose a full salvo. That memory would stay with him a long time. Those things were terrifying! Luckily the layout of his turrets made it easy to block. The thick turret armor making for good shields in melee.

After the first day she had instructed him on how to use his floatplanes. They weren't that useful outside of scouting but they did have the option to carry bombs for strikes against enemy ships. Once he was confident enough in controlling all four of his planes at once Tirpitz had called in both Sims and Enterprise to make it a three on one fight. Needless to say he got annihilated time and time again.

From the next six days there was only the occasional one on one fight to be had. But there were a few bright spots in all his combat training. While he never won, he was lasting longer and longer. Going from a few minutes to nearly thirty minutes. Admittedly his survival was mostly due to his armor of sixteen inches. Three inches more than Tirpitz making him the most heavily armored out of all of them.

He learned how to dodge Sims' torpedoes and how to dodge some of Enterprise's dive bombers. Once those things were launched it was a right pain to maneuver around them but he was blessed with an excellent AA battery.

Tirpitz gave him the most trouble at close range with her superior skill and experience. Enterprise was overall the most annoying since she could sit back well beyond the range of his guns and still hammer him. And Sims, well fighting her always brought up a memory worth smiling over. At least he thought so. She might not be happy about it but it made him happy. So it was worth it.

It had happened during one of his combat lessons. Sims had gotten a little too close to him and with Tirpitz too far away to help and Enterprise's planes heading back. No one could help her. So with a rather sadistic and gleeful smile Jaune had latched onto her wrist and threw her like a skipping stone.

Of course he had suffered greatly from various random pranks carried out by the vexed destroyer but it had been worth it.

Today however was different. There was no training today. In fact his three teachers had called a temporary halt to his training now that they were so close to Vale. They would have arrived sooner but they had been progressing at a rather leisurely pace. With no intentions of increasing their speed anytime soon. That was of course until Jaune had expressed his desire to buy some new clothes.

Don't get him wrong, he liked his uniform. It even felt like a part of his identity now but he missed his blue jeans and hoodie. His three companions had jumped at the idea of a shopping trip. All of them were eager to try some of the food he lamented about while eating a lunch of military rations. And all of them seemed to have the idea that he was the one that was going to pay for it all despite the fact he was flat broke. Whatever he would just ask his uncle to foot the bill in exchange for a few days work at his club.

"Hey Montana, how long till we get to Vale?" Jaune sighed before responding.

"Sims for the one hundredth time my name is Jaune. And we should be there around nightfall if we keep this speed up."

"Why can't we go faster then and be there before nightfall?" Sims asked, clearly unhappy with his answer.

"Because I have a stop to make and they're only open at night. Plus I don't really have any desire to be arrested." This time it was Enterprise that spoke up.

"What do you mean arrested Jaune? You haven't mentioned doing anything wrong outside of your transcripts and that hardly seems like an arrestable offense." Jaune let out another sigh before answering.

"I sometimes forget how little you guys know about Remnant but if you run away from a combat school with your aura unlocked there is a high likelihood that you'll be labeled as a criminal. The only reason why my status is up for debate is how influential my family is. If they arrest me there could be… Problems."

"I didn't realize they took something like that so seriously." She really seemed to mean it if the expression on her face was anything to go by.

"Honestly it's more so they can forcibly conscript you into the army than actually stopping you from hurting people. But there are a few examples of people who run away to become criminals for profit." A certain bowler hat loving thief came to mind when one thought about this group.

"I see." was all she had to say in response. For the next few hours they sailed in compatible silence. Each of them wore their rigging rather than manifesting their ships. Far too much attention would be on them to do anything if they showed up at the docks like that.

Warships that outgunned anything Atlas had tended to draw attention. Just Jaune and Tirpitz alone outgunned the standard formations of Atlas warships. Sims herself matched the firepower of the newest standard size capital ship with her five, five inch guns.

Only Enterprise would really struggle against Atlas warships but she could always ram her dive bombers equipped with 500 pound bombs into their airships so she wasn't defenseless.

An hour later Vale came into sight and sure enough night had fallen. Once they reached the docks the three female Kansen followed Jaune through the quiet city streets gradually making their way to the less savory parts of town. Soon they came to a large brick building guarded by a man in a very nice suit and wearing red tinted shades. Loud music blared from within the building and through the high up windows neon lights could be seen flashing.

As they approached the entrance the guard seemed to recognize Jaune if the way he stepped aside and looked at him funny were any indication. Preceding inside they were greeted with the sight of a very busy and very crowded club. The girls, after recovering from their surprise, had to rush to catch up to Jaune as he made his way to the bar. It was Sims who spoke up first.

"I didn't know you wanted to go to a club, Jaune. If you had told me I would have put on a different dress." Jaune could hear the smirk on her face and made the adult decision to ignore her. Instead choosing to focus on the man behind the bar who looked to be torn between shocked and happy to see him.

"Hey Uncle Hei, we need a place to stay for a while. Do you think you could help us out?"