1,347I don't own anything related to the RWBY franchise
Chapter 24 - Soldiering On
Author's Note:
Roger means 'message received clearly' in Military radio jargon, but it can also mean 'yes or understood.'
With the completion of Glynda's Combat class came lunch, followed by third period's History with Professor Oobleck, which was a class that forced Jaune to open an audio recording App on his scroll in order to keep up with the overwhelming amount of information that the man imparted with every single minute that passed.
Needless to say, all of the members of Platoon Number One immediately followed Jaune's lead, allowing them to take cliff notes, confident that the information that they weren't able to write down would be available later (at half speed).
Fourth period was, as per usual, Dust Engineering with Professor Aria, which was a class that Jaune was eager to attend, because it had the tools and materials required for him to work on his arsenal (as well as a chance to put together a trick or two for Officer 101)...
After speed running his way through Professor Aria's assignment of the day, Jaune was joined by Penny and Ruby, who pulled out the schematics that she was putting together for him, a technical description of a sword, a shield, and a sophisticated looking pair of boots. Some of the objects in these schematics were simply prototypes, while others were of more immediate concern, but they all had one thing in common.
They all had Jaune hugging the stuffing out of Ruby Rose in his rapidly escalating excitement, leaving Ruby squirming in response to his overwhelming praise.
Jaune simply couldn't help himself. It was all just so impressive. Ruby Rose created a weapons system that could make use of a form of ammunition that she only just learned existed….
To understand the mechanism behind the sword Ruby just finished designing, one had to know a little bit about a seldom studied branch of science called chemistry… and more specifically, about an exceptionally rare form of matter…
Plasma (not blood plasma, but plasma energy) is almost never spoken about on Remnant, and yet ironically, it's the most common form of matter throughout the entire universe.
The following is a quick and dirty explanation of the four states of matter using an easily identifiable element:
-water in its solid form is ice
-when ice melts into its liquid form it's called… you guessed it… water
-when water evaporates into its gas form it's called water-vapor
-when water-vapor gas is superheated in the extreme, it can achieve its final form called plasma.
Under normal circumstances, Plasma is created when incredible amounts of heat is applied to a gas, a process that strips the atoms comprising the gas of their electrons, which creates a perfectly balanced mixture of free electrons and positive ions.
Now, while almost no one on Remnant knows or cares to learn about the science that makes Plasma possible, they'd sure as hell recognize the effect that it has on its surroundings…
For example… Stars are made almost entirely of plasma… and closer to home, lightning is also made of plasma… Plasma is a delivery system for astronomical amounts of both heat and energy…
And this next part was the best part, so far as Jaune was concerned. With the use of his Semblance, Jaune didn't NEED extreme amounts of energy to tear apart the atoms present in a gas and create plasma. If he wanted to, he could create plasma above the palm of his hand right there in the middle of Aria's Dust Lab, simply by tearing apart the nitrogen gas present in the air… except doing so wouldn't accomplish anything at all… Room temperature plasma is merely an energetic form of gas… It's only after you apply heat during the mass creation of plasma that things start getting really, REALLY interesting.
And that was exactly what Jaune wanted his new sword to accomplish. He wanted to condense large amounts of newly created plasma matter against a yellow Dust fueled heating element contained within his sword, and then he wanted to unleash the explosion of energy this process would create as a devastating attack.
But why, you may ask. Why would Jaune NEED to utilize plasma energy when his monomolecular sword edge can cut through basically anything as if it's made of dandelion fluff?
The answer to that question was simple… and yet kind of nefarious… Jaune wanted to be able to do massive damage to a Hunter's aura-shielding every single time that his weapon made the slightest amount of contact with it. Aura-shields block even monomolecular edged weapons as if they're as blunt as baseball bats because they don't adhere to physical reality. On the other hand, heat is one of the oldest and most reliable ways of tearing aura-barriers to shreds… Fire or heat is HARD for a Hunter's aura-barrier to block because aura doesn't usually prevent air from reaching your body, and air carries heat. Likewise, burning plasma can press in on an aura shield like a mixture of heat, light and electricity, torching the Hunter within.
Long explanation short, Jaune was capable of arming his weapons with some of the most powerful ammunition that the universe has to offer, and he planned on using it within both the blade and the hilt of his sword. A hilt that he planned on turning into a pistol. A pistol that would fire magnetic-vacuum rounds full of white-hot plasma energy...
Hell yeah!
After two hours spent huddled up with Ruby creating a 3-D rendering that Penny could fabricate using a mixture of carbon nanotubes (a theoretical material that was both light and nearly unbreakable, as well as a pet project of Jaune's) and unobtanium metal, the hypothetical last bell of the day chimed throughout Beacon's halls, and it was officially time for the freshman class to attend the (technically optional) Officer 101 class.
As instructed during the Friday class the week before, Platoon Number One quickly gathered their mission gear from Housing Arrangement number Seven, marched towards the series of defunct VTOL hangers that had been retrofitted to contain the class's Training Exercises, and then formed up at Parade Rest with the first people to arrive.
Platoon Number One followed orders as quickly and efficiently as possible, as was expected from a Platoon of First Lieutenants following the orders of a Captain.
They were in the minority…
Quite a few of the other Platoons were waltzing up to the warehouse in dribs and drabs, before standing around like civilians and smirking at those students who were standing at rest.
Once again, Jaune was quite grateful that his Platoon was so cooperative and excellent, but then, he also had the benefit of taking classes with his Platoon, which meant that he had much more involvement with their daily lives. It was a leg-up that no other Platoon Captain in the school could lay claim to, but then, it also made it vital that Jaune learn exactly when to back off, when to give the members of his Platoon the space that they needed.
As Jaune ruminated on his role as the Captain, and how his status as a friend/brother/lover to a few of his Lieutenants complicated his relationship with his Platoon, Goodwitch and several other Beacon Professors arrived on the scene, leading a large gathering of foreign exchange students, including squads SSSN and CEMN, and all seven of the Arc family sisters.
At exactly the same time, Oetger and Shaw marched out of the Training Simulation building, and observed the trainwreck that was the freshmen class.
"Those Beacon trainees that are NOT standing at parade rest, are losing marks for this class along with their Captains," Shaw barked out in a drill Sergeant's voice. "Your actions reflect on the discipline of your leadership, which is why you will answer to your Captains when you fail to perform, and your Captains will answer to their Mentors."
All around the staging area, Captains could be seen giving their Platoon members the stink eye for making them look bad. Personally, Jaune thought these Captains were missing the entire point.
"As we explained last Friday, today we will begin a series of Training Exercises with the intention of teaching you how to lead normal soldiers in a combat setting," Oetger explained with a gesture towards the warehouse's massive garage-bay doors. "If any of you take a hit that would incapacitate a non-aura using fighter, your scroll will release a red holographic light, and your participation in the simulation will come to an end..."
"But… WHY," Cardin asked, in an ever so slightly more respectful voice than the week before and with his body at parade rest. "Why are we handicapping ourselves like this?"
After nodding her head at Cardin's question, Shaw marched in front of the newly lined up class, and then panned her eyes across their number as if weighing their worth in her mind. Then, when she spoke, it was in a very slow, very cool tone of voice… "You, as Hunter trainees, judge each other harshly based on your abilities, Semblances and strength… but most of you COMPLETELY DISREGARD the worth of anyone that does NOT have the abilities that you have… You see non-aura using soldiers as fearful, weak, and not worthy of your notice…"
"And you're wrong," Oetger snapped in a voice that brooked no argument.
"The percentage of humans and faunus that can unlock and manipulate their aura in a meaningful way is less than fifteen percent of the global population," Shaw continued as if Oetger never spoke at all. "The rest of humanity must make do with the passive aura that resides within their bodies while living in an EXTREMELY dangerous world. Living on Remnant without the use of aura abilities is SCARY ladies and gentlemen, and those people that seek to defend their fellow man without the use of aura are extraordinarily BRAVE…"
"Normal, non-aura using soldiers make up ninety percent of the fighting force in opposition to the Grimm, and every single one of these soldiers is expected to undergo an aura unlocking… 'procedure'.. upon completion of their basic training," Oetger continued where Shaw left off. "This procedure has a completely atrocious success rate at less than one percent, is potentially lethal to those people taking part in it, and it's painful enough that it would be considered torture if the people performing it weren't doing so voluntarily… Every single soldier is expected to complete this procedure ONCE… Most soldiers complete it once a YEAR without exception…"
"Most soldiers will never unlock the use of their aura because they simply don't have a spiritual constitution that allows them to do so… and yet they submit themselves to this extremely dangerous procedure again and again and again, because THAT is how dedicated they are to doing their part," Shaw abruptly yelled out. "I cannot stress this next part enough. The normal rank and file of the big three militaries are extremely brave and capable! What they ARE NOT, is cannon fodder to be disposed of by aura-using Officers who DO NOT UNDERSTAND!"
Very suddenly, Oetger and Shaw paused in their back and forth, leaving an oppressive silence in their wake. A moment made even more intense, when Shaw started walking down the line of students, staring into their eyes one after another.
"Over the course of these simulations, you will all learn what it feels like to be as fragile as a normal soldier," Oetger explained, as her partner continued skull-fucking everyone with her eyes. "You will learn the painful consequences of irresponsible leadership, you will feel fear every time you expose yourself to danger… You will come to UNDERSTAND exactly what it takes to preserve the lives of your soldiers, to prioritize plans that decrease risk while maximizing surprise, speed, and violence of action…"
"We're going to teach you how to LEAD, both in combat and out," Shaw concluded with a feral looking smile upon her face.
"Now… Who wants to go first," Oetger enthused with a wide, warm and charming smile and a pair of arms extended wide at her sides.
Silence… crickets… a sage-brush rolled by, which was weird because Beacon was nowhere near a desert.
It was clear right from the get-go that no one wanted to go first.
Jaune raised his hand.
"Ahhh, yes, Captain FREEMAN," Oetger immediately purred, as if she'd been waiting for him to make a move. "I was impressed with you BEFORE I saw footage of your actions back in Croftlan and had Ozpin fill me in about your life… but now… unfortunately for both you and your Platoon, I've officially become… a FAN…"
Jaune did NOT like where this was heading.
"Captain Freeman here, has worked within the ranks of the Atlesian Military as a researcher and tech-developer… As such, he's familiar with military doctrine, he knows the responsibilities of rank, he knows tac-com, he knows CQC, he knows what he's doing… He OUTCLASSES each - and - every - one of you…" Oetger explained with a sinister smile upon her face. "Today. I will have Captain Freeman perform a mission that I would NEVER ask of a Platoon out in the field... I'm going to stack the odds against him, I'm going to have his Platoon attempt to occupy an entrenched enemy position, when the enemy has superior numbers and KNOWS that they're coming…"
Jaune was forced to keep himself from wincing for several different reasons during Oetger's rather sadistic explanation, but mostly it was because of the mission orders that she was giving him. Military doctrine would always avoid attempting the objective that was being demanded of him, because fighting forces that are holding entrenched positions have several advantages over anyone that attacks them, including but not limited to, cover, concealment, the high-ground, access to superior firepower, and pre-selected fields of fire. The attackers, on the other hand, tend to find themselves exposed while moving, and unable to bring their weapons to bear as they desperately seek out cover.
Long explanation short, if two forces of the same size clash with each other, the force that has an entrenched position will almost always repulse or straight up destroy the attackers.
And yet, stealing custody of an entrenched position was exactly what Oetger was demanding of Jaune, and against superior numbers at that… Whether or not the female Officer actually expected him to achieve the objective was unknown, but she did seem to think he'd make a fight of it, so that's exactly what he'd do…
"Platoon Number Four, I expect you to take part in this next exercise," Oetger announced while pointing at the highest ranked Platoon to arrive late and fail to stand at parade rest. "I also want an extra squad to take part on Platoon number Four's side. Does anyone care to volunteer?"
"Squad CRIS volunteers to help Platoon Number Four," Cardin immediately called out, with an unmistakably bloodthirsty quality to his voice. Cardin expected to help Platoon Four destroy Jaune's Platoon, and the boy/man was looking forward to it.
"Good. Very good," Oetger mused with a smile for Cardin that didn't reach her eyes. "Officer Shaw, if you would be so kind, please take Platoon Number Four to the East side emplacement, provide them with the haptic gear they'll be wearing, and then help them settle in…"
With a salute and a smile, Shaw turned towards Platoon Number Four and squad CRIS, ordered them to fall in, and then marched them into the warehouse.
When next Oetger turned to Jaune and his platoon, she arched her eyebrows at him. "Do you require anything?"
"Of course," Jaune immediately responded. "My Platoon needs to don their equipment, and if possible I'd like the information required to give them a proper mission briefing."
"No to the briefing, other than the fact that your objective is to the East, yes to the preparation time, and there's a locker room just inside the garage-bay doors," Oetger replied. "Inside, you will find a set of electrodes that you will affix to your torso, head and limbs. These electrodes will communicate to me through your scrolls when you've taken damage."
"I've arranged for some armor and equipment," Jaune admitted, while gesturing to the duffel-bags sitting just behind everyone's feet. "I assume my Platoon will be allowed to use the tools and ammunition that I've provided?"
"If you're capable of carrying it for days and days on end, then you can use it," Oetger allowed with a sly little smile. "That's a standard rule in most of Remnant's militaries by the way," she added with a meaningful look at the rest of the class.
With a nod of acceptance, Jaune turned towards his Platoon, raised his right hand up next to his temple heel forward, waved his hand forward and backward two times, and then started moving through the garage-bay doors without ever looking back.
With the understanding that Jaune's hand-sign meant the words 'column forward' Pyrrha immediately led her squad in a line as they moved to follow their Captain, and Ruby did the exact same thing behind them.
For several seconds in a row, Oetger allowed the first year class to digest the completely silent coordination being displayed by Platoon Number One, as they marched into the building with their bags in their hands... Then she loudly clapped her hands together, startling the hell out of several people, and drew in a very deep breath. "The rest of us will now be heading upstairs, where a series of hologram projectors built into the floor will simulate what looks like a bird's eye view of the simulation below. I will be giving commentary as the simulation progresses, which you can ignore if you want, but I will be testing you on those things that I say."
Within the confines of the warehouse door was a locker room. Within this locker room was Platoon Number One, where they were slipping their bodies into a series of combat skin-suits, duty belt and belaying harnesses, discreet little piton-guns attached to their hips (pitons are spikes with a loop that you hammer into a wall or cliff face for purchase), and drop leg packs for extra ammunition. Even though everyone knew exactly why they were wearing the combat gear, they still found the situation surreal enough that the women kept glancing back and forth at each other. Nora especially, with the sleek but visible Yellow-Dust battery affixed to her back, and the drop pack full of extra Dust-grenades attached to her thigh, looked like she was prepared to raise all hell.
The men, on the other hand, were sitting near the entry of the room, getting changed behind a fan shaped divider that was waiting for them upon their arrival. Even though Jaune wasn't currently allowed to use his reactive armor, he was wearing his black and metal-plate foundation suit as per usual, because it served all of the same functions as the armor that everyone else was wearing. He was also wearing the same belaying harness and spike-piton guns, as well as a series of pouches upon his belt and the same drop-pack affixed to his thigh. He was ready to go, with all the tricks and tech that a military squad leader would have out in the field.
Ren LOVED his combat suit… A fact that Jaune caught on to when the boy looked down at his forearms, torso and legs and then cracked a very rare, full-faced smile.
When the women called out that they were modest, Jaune and Ren pulled aside the divider, Ren sidled down the bench lining the wall until he was sitting next to Nora, and then everyone looked up at Jaune where he was standing near the door. Then they all caught a small, clear, plastic bag that he threw in their direction and looked down at what it contained. The bags contained small earpieces with attached mics so that they could all communicate with each other out in the field.
"Under normal circumstances, the next few minutes would be when you all receive a situation report regarding the objective we need to capture, what enemies we'll face when we get there, and what weaponry they'll have available," Jaune began with an unconcerned smile for his extremely capable Platoon. "Instead, we're expected to go in blind and then figure out what we're facing for ourselves. For that reason, we'll all be assuming the roles that we spoke of earlier this week... Ruby and Pyrrha, under normal circumstances you two would stick with your squad as their leaders, but since our Platoon has less members than even a squad would have in a normal military, you will also be acting as the scouts. I do NOT want you engaging any hostiles that you find on our way to the objective. Feed me the information I need, and then let the rest of the Platoon handle the enemy."
Pyrrha and Ruby nodded their understanding with determined expressions upon their faces.
After casting a glance at Weiss and Penny, Jaune saw that the two women already knew what he was about to say, but he said it anyway. "Penny, Weiss, you two are the long distance damage dealers, so when we find an appropriate location, I'll be asking you both to find high-ground and operate from there. Until that time comes, you will move up either with the squad leaders or in the center of your squads."
Next, Jaune looked at Blake and Ren, nodding at the two of them when they glanced at each other. "Gambol Shroud and Stormflower, your mechashifting weapons, contain a machine gun and a pair of automatic pistols, which make you two the best suited to firing on the move. This is important because for the most part, we ARE NOT going to be melee fighting the other Platoon. While moving as the vanguard, I need the two of you to focus on laying down a near constant stream of suppressing fire even while you move from cover to cover.
Finally, Jaune looked at Yang and Nora, and then grinned at Nora's look of mad enthusiasm. "As we discussed, you two will be moving in the rear where you'll watch our back while we move, and you'll be focusing on demolition and terrain alteration when we arrive at our objective."
With Yang and Nora's nod, Jaune drew in a deep breath, as he dredged up the enemy's Semblance in his mind. "Platoon Number Four's Captain, Midna Knight, has the ability to create an oily-black smoke screen around herself that is invisible to her teammates, which we can assume means that the enemy emplacement will be completely shrouded in darkness. When the time comes, I will expect an appropriate fire distribution from all of you, which means you will aim for the stretch of the enemy fortification that is directly parallel to your location. If you're on the right hand side of our formation, you will fire into the right side of the enemy emplacement even if you KNOW that there's enemy fire originating from another location. It is imperative that we keep the enemy, ALL of the enemy, ducking for cover, not just the enemy that is currently firing at us…. Does anyone know about Squad CRIS and their Semblances?"
"Cardin's Semblance is some kind of power release ability that happens when he hits his target," Ren supplied with a thoughtful expression on his face.
"Yeah," Nora added as her partner's explanation halted. "When he hit the floor of the combat class with that mace of his, it dug a massive trench in the ground and sent debris flying everywhere."
None of Cardin's other teammates have fought in the combat class yet, but Platoon number four carry rifle-swords, Sky Lark has a rifle-hatchet, Irene Stone has a rifle-machete, and Russel Thrush uses twin pistol-daggers," Ruby added as if knowing all of the enemies' weapons was normal, which for her… it was.
"While under normal circumstances, the fact that nobody on the enemy team carries automatic weapons would mean we can move with more confidence, we still don't know what weapons will be waiting for them within their emplacement," Jaune cautioned. "Either way, we've run out of time, so we'll speak more on the move. On your way out the door, hold out your weapons so that I can sharpen them."
Just a few seconds after Jaune finished aura sharpening everyone's blades into a monomolecular edge, the ten minute timer that they were given to prepare beeped at them, and everyone immediately started moving deeper into the warehouse. Then Jaune was jogging backwards in front of his Platoon as they approached the fiery wreckage that was supposed to have been a city, and he was imparting a few last second directions… "The first two ruined buildings that we're about to pass is our LD (Line of Departure) at which point we're going to form into a column, our scouts will move from building to building, sticking to the high-ground wherever possible, and the rest of us will follow along. If the column is forced to break apart, I want Red squad (Ruby's team) to strafe right, while Blue Squad (Pyrrha's team) strafes to the left. If that happens, I'll move where I'm needed most. If I get hit by something, Penny will take charge, because she knows even more about military doctrine than I do."
A series of quietly imparted Roger confirmations were fed to Jaune's earpiece, as everyone within his Platoon slipped into their roles, and a smile of enjoyment slipped onto Jaune's face.
This was just as fun as he thought it'd be…
Less than ten seconds later, Platoon number one jogged past the intersection where two completely destroyed buildings met, Jaune said the words, "scouts out," in a quiet but assertive voice, and the two women immediately dashed ahead. Within just a single second of their departure, Pyrrha and Ruby disappeared up into the ruins surrounding them, where they made use of the short-range piton (grapple) guns attached to their waists to clip themselves to the various destroyed walls they were scaling. These two women had BY FAR the most dangerous role of anyone in the Platoon, but Ruby could move faster than a Dust round and she would recognize the sound when she heard it, and Pyrrha was… Pyrrha.
Truth be told, under normal circumstances, Jaune would've had the rest of his Platoon aura dashing through the rubble just like his scouts were, but the fact that ANY damage that they took would theoretically 'kill' them, meant that they needed to stick to cover wherever possible. This simulation was supposed to represent a VERY dangerous environment, after all…
Not even five seconds later, Jaune's caution was already being justified.
"Fifteen meters in front of the Platoon, on your right hand side, three robotic Beowulf's are preparing to spring out from behind a red-brick wall," Ruby whispered in an urgent sounding voice."
"Excellent scouting and perfect target designation," Jaune encouraged as he pointed to the ruined wall that the Platoon was running towards, and then continued speaking into the comms. "I don't want to use Dust rounds and give away our positions to the enemy. Instead, we're going to cut down all the Grimm that we encounter on the way to the objective. Ren, sneak to the right of the brick wall there, and prepare to attack the Grimm from behind. Blake, waltz right into the ambush and then make use of your Semblance to move behind their attack. Weiss, place a sticking Glyph at the enemy's feet immediately after they finish their ambush. Everyone else, stay in column and keep an eye out for enemy reinforcements."
As soon as Jaune finished speaking, Blake sprinted past Jaune with Ren at her back. At exactly the same time, Weiss leapt up to Jaune's side so that she'd be within the best range to use her Semblance when they arrived.
The following events took place in less than ten seconds:
-After running up to the red-brick wall at Blake's side, Ren blurred to the right down a rubble-strewn alleyway
-After waiting just a single moment, Blake jogged directly into the ambush as if she had no idea it even existed
-The three Beowolf robots attacked Blake all at once, their metallic claws flashing down towards her face, neck, and chest
-With a bright flash of light, Blake's body instantly disappeared, only to appear directly behind the robots, along with a newly arriving Ren
-Weiss created the sticking Glyph below the Beowolves' newly planted feet, sticking them to the ground for three seconds (the max length of time that her Glyph could remain in effect)
-Blake and Ren cut the Beowulf robots into several different pieces with ultra-efficient swings of their monomolecular weapons
-Blake and Ren returned to their spot in the Platoon's column formation as it moved past the ambush site
Exterminating a measly three training Beowolves is easy, yes, certainly, but the most important aspect of their most recent attack was the fact that they managed to do so SILENTLY, and they used very little aura in its completion.
"Perfectly executed," Jaune whispered through the comms. "Let's keep it up."
Up on the second level of the training exercises warehouse, a very happy looking Oetger and Shaw jogged just five meters behind Platoon Number One, with the rest of the freshman class, Goodwitch, Port, Oobleck and the foreign exchange students jogging behind them and listening to their commentary. It was a distinctly disorienting pastime for everyone involved to say the very least, as the floor below them currently looked transparent like glass, giving them all an unobstructed view of the ruined cityscape below, and the simulated mission that Platoon Number One was carrying out.
And it really did look like a legitimate Platoon of Hunter Officers, what amounted to a special forces group, carrying out a mission, rather than a loose gathering of trainees trying to work together…
"Using comms devices that he supplied himself, Captain freeman has a pair of scouts locating and relaying where the hostile elements are, highly mobile vanguard fighters luring out the enemies that they contact, long range support fighters in the center hindering enemy movement, and the rest of his Platoon watching their backs," Oetger pointed out as she gestured down at the fighting below. "What's more, Platoon Number One isn't stopping, they aren't bunching up, they aren't bumping into each other like a bunch of GRIMM-POCKED amateurs."
Even as Oetger said all that, Platoon Number One eliminated another two robotic Beowolves by luring them into a kill zone between two flatbed trucks, where everyone in the column got a chance to slice a bladed weapon through the beasts, with the exception of Nora, who's weapon would give away their position. Then they were moving on with very little lost time, and no injuries whatsoever.
"You sound like you think Arc's Platoon will win against Platoon Four and Cardin's squad," Melenie Malachite suddenly pointed out as she pointed into the distance, and the emplacement on the hill. "How is that the slightest bit possible?"
After checking out the four machine gun batteries set in the wall of Platoon Four's elevated emplacement, the unobtanium bunker walls that they were crouched behind, the black fog drifting in front of the walls, and the fact that there was no cover whatsoever anywhere on the approach, most of the foreign students smiled in amusement.
Sun Wukong looked slightly conflicted.
The Arc sisters looked thoughtful.
Glynda Goodwitch watched her Platoon perform with a calm sense of self-assurance that caused several people to give her a double take.
"What I think," Oetger drawled with a meaningful look in the direction of the Arc sisters, "is that we're about to see a hell of a show,"
"Twenty meters ahead, the ruins come to an end at the base of a hill, at the top of which is the enemy emplacement," Pyrrha explained as Platoon carefully 'sliced the pie' around the corner of a building (carefully turned the corner both wide and slow) and then continued moving down a garbage strewn lane.
"The hill approach is approximately twenty meters long, and there's no cover whatsoever on the approach," Ruby added just a single moment later. "What's worse is that I can see four Red Dust batteries, on the leading corner of the fortifications. Think smaller versions of Croftlan's machine guns."
Ruby, Pyrrha, return to the formation to lead your squads through basic fire and movement tactics," Jaune ordered, even as he gestured Yang and Nora forward with a few hand signs. Then, when the two women were jogging at his side with expectant looks upon their faces, he nodded his head that now was the time.
"As we discussed, ladies," Jaune announced while gesturing towards the ruins that they were passing. "Use every scrap of yellow Dust in that new battery of yours, Nora, explore the limits of your Semblance, and then on my mark, get it done... Yang, when the time comes, help Nora aim to maximize her effectiveness, and prevent her from becoming a target as she works."
"Got it/Roger Roger," Yang and Nora enthused before they both dashed out into the ruins.
"Weiss, Penny, you're switching roles with Pyrrha and Ruby," Jaune continued as the two women moved up to jog at his side. "Find a high-ground position where you can maximize the effectiveness of your Semblances, and then wait for my signal to attack. Penny, focus on the machine guns, Weiss, until we close on the enemy fortification, focus on safeguarding us from enemy fire."
With twin nods, Weiss and Penny aura leapt up and away, their movement even quieter than Pyrrha and Ruby's because neither of them had any need for the piton guns.
A few moments later, Jaune arrived at the last row of destroyed buildings at the base of the hill, where he hand signed for the Platoon to move into a skirmish line formation (a one person thick line of fighters moving like a wave parallel to the enemy), and then huddle within whatever cover they could find. A few seconds later, when he was peering over a ruined brick wall towards the enemy fortification, he was nodding his head in understanding.
The enemy had a 180-degree killing field, a quad of machine gun batteries, superior numbers, and an oily black fog concealing the fighters within…
But then, according to Jaune's scouts, Platoon Number Four's numbers were all contained within the emplacement, where they were merely waiting for his attack.
Jaune had no intention of being so accommodating.
Up on the second level of the warehouse, Oetger and Shaw pointed down towards the ruins at the base of the hill as they explained their interpretation of what they were looking at.
"Captain Freeman has called back his scouts to resume their squad leader roles, as his Platoon moves into a skirmish line in an attack position," Shaw listed off as if she was reading from a textbook.
"At the same time, the Platoon's long rangers are moving into overwatch positions, and the Platoon's engineers are moving to alter the landscape," Oetger added while gesturing at Weiss, Penny, Nora and Yang."
"Even if they ARE doing everything you've described, they aren't going to survive the machine guns," Dove Bronzewing pointed out, in a voice that contained a desperate variety of hope.
"Well that will have a lot to do with discipline, and which Platoon has more of it," Shaw pointed out with a smile.
"When non-aura using forces clash in battle, simple fire and movement tactics win the fight," Oetger quoted with extreme gravity in her voice. "Whenever an advancing force is stopped by fire, one unit must ALWAYS initiate return fire, while another unit initiates movement. While this idea sounds simple, important things are often simple and simple things are often hard. In battle, the natural thing for a combat unit to do is either rush their enemies in a wave or hunker down and fire a mass of bullets at them. Both of those outcomes are MISTAKES because one will get you shot, and the other will have you stuck in a standoff until you run out of ammunition."
"But, for that tactic to be possible, Platoon number One would need some variety of cover," Melenie pointed out as she gestured at the hill. "I know you said Arc has a team working to alter the playing field, but just how will the….
It was in that moment that Melenie's words trailed to a stop… Her question was in the middle of being answered…
With everyone in Platoon Number One in place within their assault position, Jaune gave the go ahead for Nora and Yang to move ahead with the 'plan.'
With a shiver of excitement, Nora depressed a brand new holographic button on her scroll, which caused the battery that she was wearing on her back to discharge a massive amount of yellow dust energy (electricity) directly into her body, supercharging the orangette via her Semblance in a way that had her eyes crackling with bright pink energy… Then the woman was giggling to herself as she easily lifted the burned out husk of a sedan-sized car up and over her head, and easily threw it over a nearby wall in the direction of their enemy.
Crash!...
The car slammed down on its side in the dirt about halfway up the hill, just moments before it was peppered with hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of Red Dust rounds from the four machine gun emplacements.
"Aim left and push for more distance," Yang suggested, as she peered through a hole in the wall, watching out for return enemy fire.
"Rrrrah," Nora yelled, as she hefted up and then threw a concrete highway divider to fly up and over the car, and crash down into the hill almost exactly where Yang had suggested.
"You are KILLING IT," Yang cheered, even as she hopped away from the wall, and yanked Nora to the North just moments before a stream of red Dust rounds pierced through the wall and slammed into the grass exactly where she'd been standing.
Without even pausing to think about the close call she'd just experienced, Nora threw a refrigerator, then a safe, then another car, then some more heavy junk, over and over, following the course directions that Yang provided her, and allowing the woman to pull her away from the stream of Red Dust rounds that were tracking her efforts across the ruins.
A stream of Dust rounds that was nowhere near as bad as it might have been, because Penny was hard at work harassing the gun emplacements.
After receiving the go ahead to act, Penny formed twelve of her laser-swords, levitated them up and away from her body to conceal her actual location, and then started sending ribbons of bright green aura energy down towards the left side gun emplacement. To be honest, Penny assumed at first that she would simply destroy the machine-guns one after another and be done with it, but as it turns out, someone on Platoon Number Four had a rather useful Semblance. Just a moment before her energy beams could converge on the left side gun emplacement, a bright blue barrier grew into place, shielding it from harm. Then, when Penny split up her beams to aim less power at multiple locations, a series of metal slats were dropped into place to protect them from harm.
For Penny, this outcome was a bit of a dilemma… Her aura beams were, unsurprisingly, fuelled by her aura, which meant that she couldn't simply continue firing them without achieving anything at all. At exactly the same time, the guns couldn't fire through the blue barrier that just protected the left side gun emplacement, nor could they fire through the protective metal slats. This meant that Penny was limiting the amount of Red Dust rounds that the enemy could fire at them, and that she needed to continue playing cat and mouse.
"Excellent work, Penny," Jaune enthused through the radio. "Save your energy for when the machine guns actually expose themselves, with a focus on the guns that are aiming at our advancing forces... When we get closer, I'll take out the guns myself."
With the hill spotted with big, bulky and solid junk of every shape imaginable, and the enemy gun emplacements hesitating to reveal themselves for longer than a few seconds at a time, Jaune hefted up his weapon and finally made the call…. "Blue Squad, cover fire, NOW, Red Squad begin advancing to the cover on the left about ten-meters up."
Along with his words, Jaune swung his rifle-shield up atop the pile of bricks that he was using as cover, and started firing Dust rounds up into the leftmost side of the black smoke screen. He panned his rifle-fire right and left within the span of the enemy emplacement that was within his realm of responsibility, he saw that Blue squad was doing the exact same thing along all of the other sections of wall, and that Red Squad, led by Ruby was sprinting up the hill towards a minivan a large metal tire-rim, and a boulder the size of a couch.
While at first, several Dust rounds began firing down at Ruby and Red squad as they aura dashed up the hill, soon enough several of the enemies stopped firing as they ducked back behind their cover. This was why an advancing force ALWAYS provided a constant stream of cover fire along the entire wall of the enemy's fortification. No enemy should ever feel safe to continue firing upon your forces… EVER… At exactly the same time, many of the Dust rounds that WERE fired at Red Squad were stopped in their tracks, as a scattered mass of Weiss's Glyph barriers rebounded them away.
Then, less than five seconds later, after Red squad dove behind the junkyard scrap that they'd chosen as cover, Jaune ordered them to begin unleashing cover fire of their own, he called for Blue Squad to begin hauling ass up the hill to the right, and he launched to his feet to lead the charge. By the time he left cover and started sprinting towards a destroyed hover-bike that was about eight meters up the hill, Blue Squad was moving to his right, Red squad was firing dust all along the enemy's line, a green beam of energy was slamming into a blue shield at the top of the hill, and a series of Glyph barriers were growing in rotation in front of their advancing forces.
It was a well-oiled machine, a thing of beauty.
Jaune was smiling like a loon.
Up on the second level of the warehouse, the foreign students were no longer snickering in amusement. Instead they were trying to keep up with the coordination of Platoon Number One's two attacking squads, as they took turns advancing up the hill.
"The Grimm won't duck away from cover-fire and will simply rush your numbers en masse… So why is the 'fire and movement' tactic so important to learn," Shaw asked the students that were gathered at her sides.
"So that we can hunt faunus scum," Dove Bronzewing responded with a look of utmost confidence upon his face.
"Fighting criminal organizations, both faunus or human is one possible answer," Shaw allowed while giving Dove the stink eye. "Can anyone think of another, less douchie response?"
"If we learn how to use cover-fire to achieve a safer ADVANCE, it'll also teach us why we should use it in RETREAT," Olive answered without ever looking away from the fighting below. "Cover-fire can harass, slow or even kill low level Grimm, which can help us retreat with less losses and far better organization."
"CORRECT," Shaw announced in an impressed sounding voice. "Do not fool yourselves, Hunters… A Grimm war is coming… and sooner or later, we WILL all need to retreat."
"How does cover-fire help with the final assault though," Melenie asked, her voice fully engaged for the very first time.
"It doesn't," Oetger replied as she gestured down at Platoon Number One's forces moving up to within ten meters of Platoon Number Four's fortification. "Final assaults require finesse, timing, and the resolve to take losses… But I don't think that's what Captain Freeman has in mind down there…"
With Oetger's words, everyone's eyes tracked back down into the simulation.
After crashing down behind a section of cement and rebar that Nora miraculously managed to throw within just ten meters of the enemy fortifications, Jaune crawled across the gravel-strewn earth towards the orangette's side where she was trying, and failing, to fire her grenade launcher into the enemy fortification. A series of very annoying blue barriers were forming in front of her shots, preventing her from hitting anyone at all despite the fact that she was carrying an AOE (Area Of Effect) weapon.
But that's why Jaune was here… They'd made arrangements for the final assault, and it was time for them to put them into effect.
After dropping a hand atop Nora's drop leg pack full of grenades, Jaune pulled out a specifically painted one and held it in his hands. This grenade was special, as in it was jam-packed full of Red Dust and nothing else. What that would normally mean was that it would leak flames instead of explode when it ruptured upon landing, because it was the black Dust that caused the initial explosion…. But that was fine, because Jaune didn't want this Dust to explode, at least not at first.
Over the next few seconds, Jaune handed the newly yellow glowing grenade to Nora, who loaded it into her weapon with a smile, aimed it high up above the enemy fortification, and then waited for his signal.
"You ready," Penny, Jaune asked through the comms.
"Send it up big brother," Penny replied with a smile in her voice.
Nodding his head, Jaune drew in another deep breath, and then gave the call. "Weiss, move up to the front line ASAP. Nora, FIRE and then follow me! Penny, FIRE and then follow Weiss! Everyone else, close on the enemy!"
With that much said, Jaune launched up from cover just in time to see Nora fire her grenade up high above the enemy emplacement, a green beam of aura energy split it open in the air, and a vaguely glowing red cloud of Dust to begin drifting straight down towards the fortification below.
Normally, Red Dust catches fire immediately after it's exposed to the air, and then it quickly disappears.
Well not this time… This time Jaune was preventing the Red Dust from making contact with the air by cocooning it within his aura. Thus, Jaune was allowing a cloud of unspent Red Dust to rain down upon the enemy… and if he was lucky, they wouldn't even notice…
"Retreat! Back! NOW," a woman's voice suddenly yelled out from within the fortification, causing Jaune to nod his respect even as he allowed the Red Dust to meet with the air, and then erupt into a blanket of billowing fire dropping down on them from above…. In the moments that followed, five red holograms filled the airspace above the newly revealed fortification wall (the black mist had retreated deeper into the emplacement). More importantly, the walls weren't being manned by anyone, so it was time to breach their defenses.
In the split seconds following Platoon Number Four's scrambling retreat from their defensive wall, Platoon Number One slid into place just outside of it, where they lay their weapons down atop it from outside and then began using it for cover. Then the members of Platoon Number Four, Sky Lark, Irene Stone, and Russel Thrush all sprouted angry red holograms one after another, as they were shot up, and it was time to sweep up the enemy's numbers. Platoon Number One needed to A) eliminate the people manning the machine guns, and B) they needed to take out Platoon Four's Captain.
Leaping over the wall, Jaune swiveled right and left, before turning to take care of the far right-side machine gun with his rifle-shield up and pointed out in front of his body. A decision that he didn't regret, when a shotgun mace stuck out from the machine gun bunker, and a Dust round slammed into his shield.
"Rrrrahhhh!" With a growl of maxed out anger, Cardin Winchester blurred free from within the bunker at the speed of a bullet, leapt to the left, swiveled to the right, and then started flying in towards Jaune with the mace raised for a strike.
Jaune squeezed his trigger, slamming a Dust round directly into Cardin's chest.
Cardin didn't slow despite the red hologram that sprouted from the scroll on his wrist. He didn't stop. His mace blurred down towards Jaune's head with all of his strength… Jaune raised his shield, he braced his feet, he bent his legs, he sped up his cognition of events, he locked his core muscles into place within what felt like a stasis field of his aura, he channeled enormous amounts of aura into his arms until his muscles were fully saturated, he prepared to deflect aside the very worst of the larger boy's Semblance powered blow…
Then a circular shield thrown like a frisbee slammed into the man's chin, painfully sending him off balance, a pearly white Glyph rebounded him backwards onto his back, a pair of laser-swords cut into the ground on either side of his neck, painfully pinning him in place, and a full clip of Dust rounds slammed into his crotch… In the end, Jaune didn't have to have the dramatic showdown that Cardin desired of him, because Pyrrha, Weiss, Penny and then Blake delivered road justice on his ass as they arrived within the enemy emplacement.
For the second time in just as many weeks, Cardin Winchester was left groaning in pain over taking a powerful blow to his balls, but this time he couldn't even roll into a ball because Penny's swords were still pinning him in place…
"Come along, Princess, we'll protect you," Weiss teased, as she gracefully floated to a landing on the man's left hand side.
"I had that under control," Jaune loudly announced, even as Penny landed on his right with a highly amused smile upon her face. "More importantly, don't get complacent now. We need to eliminate whatever gunners are remaining, Midna Knight and whoever is powering that barrier. Nora, it's carpet bombing time."
"Got it," Nora announced, as she started firing about a dozen grenades all over the base, and then onto the floor beneath and around the blue barriers. Almost all at once, her barrage of grenades caused a chain reaction of explosions that filled the bunkers and encircled the black mist. While under normal circumstances, Nora's attack wouldn't do enough damage to be a viable tactic, her attack WAS powerful enough to cause red holograms to sprout into place both in the bunkers and the black mist, ending the simulation…
When Officer 101 came to an end half an hour later, Jaune was held back by Officer's Shaw and Oetger, who both had contrite expressions upon their faces.
"It appears you realize how… unnecessary that was," Jaune pointed out with a small little sigh.
"We figured you could handle it," Oetger pointed out.
"The exercise isn't what he's referring to," Shaw interjected to her friend.
"You used me to fire up the class," Jaune pointed out in a deadpan drawl. "You made me the common enemy, the focus of all their efforts."
"Yup," Oetger agreed. "I really, truly, did… and I'd do it again, because the Grimm are coming, your classmates need someone to chase… and you could use the push."
After thinking about Oetger's words for several seconds, Jaune merely nodded his head and moved towards the door.
As she walked out of the Training Exercises building along with Emerald, Mercury, and an illusion cloaked Neopolitan (the mute woman was currently sporting black hair, blue eyes and a short spear instead of an umbrella), Cinder Fall found herself rethinking her opinion of one Jaune Arc…
The boy wasn't the smoothest fighter in the school, sure… but what he WAS, was a VERY effective battlefield leader and engineer, especially for his age and relative lack of experience.
Fine… Cinder would put more thought into making the boy disappear before the culmination of her plan…
Maybe she'd ask Emerald to… take an interest… in the boy.
On the way out of the Training Exercises building, Jaune suddenly received a text message on his scroll. A request from Penny that had him walking to a nearby park and sitting down atop a bench.
Soon enough, Penny was joining him, and sitting down flush to his side.
"You called me here now because you want me to stop attending Goodwitch's tutoring sessions now that we're lovers," Jaune guessed, as he gently curled a hand around Penny's ribs and she lay her head back against his shoulder.
"The opposite," Penny calmly responded. "I don't want to interfere with your networking. You're pulling all of these disparate people together as a harmonious whole at least partially because you're charming. I like the girls of the Platoon, they're my very first friends and they're important to me… but even more importantly…"
"A Grimm War is coming," Jaune quietly breathed out. "You know… I haven't been actively seducing anyone at all… with the exception of Goodwitch… who definitely had it coming…"
"I know that," Penny assured, while snuggling even tighter against Jaune's body. "But you DO care about them, and you ARE attracted to them, and unbeknownst to you… they've felt that much in your aura…"
"And your feelings," Jaune asked, a real desire for the truth in his voice.
"I love you, I want to protect you," Penny began, before turning to stare Jaune directly in the face and bite at her bottom lip… "I… I'm hot for you…"
"I… see," Jaune all but whispered in return. "Then I think we'll have to do something about that…"
"But first, Glynda's tutoring," Penny breathed directly into Jaune's ear, before nibbling on the lobe, straightening up to her feet, and then walking away with a little extra hip sway for his viewing pleasure…
"The books," Jaune murmured to himself as his body reminded him that he was a healthy teenaged man... "It's gotta be the books….
To Be Continued
Author's Note:
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