3,135I know there was some surprise at this story ending so soon and I thought I should explain why. Basically, with the advantage of meta knowledge you should be able to tell that Team JCKP have (unknowingly) foiled a whole lot more plans than just Cinder killing Amber and Pyrrha. They've prevented the exposure of Penny that led to protests and the framing in Atlas. They've prevented the fall of Beacon that led Ironwood to become paranoid and close up his borders. They've prevented the death of Ozpin, which lets him establish order in Vale and keep Pyrrha and Team RWBY trained to become the true heroes they should be.
Basically, Jaune and his team have pretty much saved Remnant and thrown Salem and her plans back decades, and they don't realise it. Because they don't care. They don't see themselves as the main characters – that is Team RWBY still. Team JCKP were just "doing their job" and are proud of that. I wanted this story to represent the idea of professional soldiers, in that they go in, do a job, then leave, and they don't expect any great reward or recognition because they were doing their duty. All they want is to be able to come back alive to their home and their loved ones, which they have.
Cover Art: Mystery White Flame
Chapter 45
Jaune Arc, leader of Team Jackpot, smiled as he watched the first years duking it out in Captain Schnee's latest training-slash-torture method. A battle royale. He sat at the perimeter of it, tasked with holding that small section to make sure none of the fighting spilled out, and to step in if anyone was injured. His team, along with many other second year students, were at other strategic points.
It looked to be a messy affair, though there were some clear examples pulling ahead of the pack. There was a team of four who were fighting together and showing incredible personal skill, but the other more dangerous grouping was three teams that had decided to ally up in the middle of all this, and were mowing through the competition as a twelve-man squad. They would have to turn on one another at the end, but the fact they could come to an agreement in a situation like this spoke well of whomever organised it.
And it was both amusing and nostalgic to see younger teams being put through assessments just as brutally designed as their own. Not that theirs had stopped. Team JCKP were in a rare instance where they were being forced to sleep in the shitty dorms after they'd failed to surpass the frankly horrific assessment test Captain Ebi had cooked up. The absolute bastard of a man had really outdone himself this time, forcing Team JCKP to both discover and intervene in a staged assassination plot against the visiting Headmaster Ozpin.
They had failed, only managing to discover the plot by the time the Ace-Ops "murdered" him. Meanwhile, their peers had gotten assessments half as tough, but such was the life of future Specialists. They were expected to be better, to achieve more, and they might have to protect General Ironwood in that way ion the future.
Shaking his head, Jaune stepped into the battle to help out a young girl who was limping on a twisted ankle. Her opponent was supporting her, showing good team spirit as she handed the girl off to him. Both of them were a little wide-eyed and starstruck when they saw his face.
"Y-You're Jaune Arc!" gasped one of them. "You're the youngest person to ever earn the Valiant Star!"
He still hadn't gotten used to that and laughed awkwardly, just about fighting down a blush as he took the girl, who looked like she was being held by a celebrity. "Technically, I'm not the youngest. Penny is younger than me-" By over ten years. Technially, Penny was between four and five years old now. "And then Neon."
"But you were there in Beacon! You led Beacon's students against the enemy!"
He had, and he still couldn't quite understand why that had made him and his teams legends in Atlas. Most people weren't aware of their secret operations as Warden, of their stopping of Roman Torchwick and the ending of the White Fang threat toward Beacon. General Ironwood had seen fit to fill them in on the results of the interrogation of Emerald Sustrai and Mercury Black and revealed a treasure trove of information on how Beacon was meant to come under attack by White Fang and Grimm in addition to the Atlas mechs, and how Roman had been meant to take over an Atlesian flagship and turn it on the city as well.
It was shocking to know that things would have been ten times worse if not for them planting some bombs in a tunnel, and that it could have cost Atlas and Vale their alliance. His team had accomplished more than any of them had realised, but Ironwood had told them that was often the nature of Specialist work. You went in, solved problems, then got to find out just how bad things would have been without you.
Most of the time you didn't even get rewarded for it, as your operations were typically confidential, but their intervention in Beacon had enabled them to be awarded the Valiant Star. More than that, he and Penny had received the Vale Cross – the highest honour that could be given by the Valean nation to those not of its kingdom. It had been awarded by Headmaster Ozpin, who had pushed for it on behalf of them protecting his school.
"C-Can I have your autograph?" asked the injured girl.
"You know, I'm just a student like you. I went through the same assessments as you, and I struggled with the same subjects. I'm nothing special."
"There are lessons about what you and your partner did!"
Were there? Good lord, that was embarrassing. They must have been first-year curriculum for him to have missed them. Flynt could never know, or his already inflated ego would skyrocket. It was bad enough he went clubbing with his medal, and that he used it as his primary pick-up line. The last thing they needed was him posing outside classes to pick up first years.
"Let's get your ankle sorted out and then we can talk autographs."
He hefted the girl up, ignoring the way she squealed, and carried her over to the section set aside for the injured. Injuries were light in assessments, little more than cuts, bruises and twisted and pulled muscles. Penny was there, her hair having grown – or been synthesised – longer, coming down her back in a ponytail. She'd updated her wardrobe to be more flowing as well, giving her a mature look.
She'd taken to exposing a bit more skin as well, more confident in herself and her cybernetic body, and she'd already been asked out by two boys in their year, but she said she had her eyes on someone else. Ciel would laugh at him whenever he commented on it and tell him he'd understand when Penny wanted him to. Neon and Flynt had taken to mocking him over it as well.
"Jaune…" Penny's voice sounded deeper too. Not artificially so, but more from how relaxed she was. It was strange to think she'd been so naïve and at times inhuman only a year and a bit ago. Pietro Polendina often said her time with their team had humanised her more than any number of simulations could. "Who is this? Don't tell me you've kidnapped a first year."
"Har-har. I think she has a twisted ankle."
"Y-You're Penny!" whispered the girl. "P-Penny Polendina! A-And Jaune Arc. This is the best day ever!"
"Let's see if you say that after I play with your ankle a little," smiled Penny, erecting a folding bed out for him to lay the girl down onto. "This assessment of Captain Schnee's is unusually brutal. I can't remember the last time we were pitted against our own allies."
"You can."
Penny's memory was perfect after all. She rolled her eyes.
"It's called hyperbole, Jaune. Do look it up." Her smile was teasing. "And I do seem to remember that assessment going very poorly for us indeed since 90% of our year teamed up against us because they assumed us receiving those medals meant we were the greatest threat."
"Yeah, that was a particularly embarrassing massacre. I think I got knocked out in the first 80 seconds."
In fairness, he'd been jumped by sixteen people at once, and no amount of specialist programme training would help you there. Captain Ebi had laughed himself hoarse when he saw the footage. Since then, their classmates had realised the medals didn't automatically make them gods among men and had eased off.
"C-Can I have your autograph too, Miss Penny?"
Penny chuckled and tweaked the girl's nose. "You may, and I'll have Jaune write you one too, but you should relax for now. That ankle is going to need some rest. I'll write you a note excusing you from combat classes."
"You can do that!?"
"Penny is a licensed medical officer and is even working on her surgeon's license," Jaune said, proudly. Penny smiled. "She's pretty damn amazing. What about you? I never got your name. Has your team decided on allocations of roles yet?"
"Um. I'm Sammy." The girl smiled. "And I'm the team's engineer. I… I didn't really know anything before, and I'm not the smartest so being a medic was a bit scary."
"Being an engineer is no less so. Remember that. You may have to defuse bombs or hotwire a vehicle in a live-fire situation. Your team will be relying on you."
"What Jaune means is that you should take your studies seriously," said Penny, interrupting him with a pinch to his leg. He supposed the average student wouldn't have to do those things. It was just his team, and par for the course when it came to their insane assessment tests. "You never know when you will be asked to stand up, take control of an allied school and lead them against dangerous terrorists. It's better to be prepared."
"I will be! I'll work hard!"
"Good girl," said Penny, petting her head. "Jaune, shouldn't you be getting back to your post?"
"I'm being dismissed already?"
"This is my medical tent. If you are here, I shall assume you need a blood test. I have a needle around here somewhere—"
Jaune fled with Penny's laughter behind him.
/-/
"Mr Arc."
Jaune saluted. "Headmaster Ozpin. A pleasure to see you, sir."
"Believe me, Mr Arc, it is a pleasure to be here and to see you well." The old looked just the same as Jaune had seen him last. "I feel I should apologise for getting assassinated on you like that. I didn't mean to cost you your quarters."
"It was our failure, sir. And Captain Ebi's cruelty. What brings you to Atlas?"
The man smiled wider. "Why, I'm here to discuss our new transfer initiative with James. You know that Team RWBY have asked to transfer to Atlas for the third year, correct?"
"Yeah. Ruby told me they'll do one year here and then finish and graduate back in Beacon."
"Indeed. We used to run them a lot but the frequency died down mostly due to inconvenience, but also in no small part to nationalistic competition. Students were too proud of their home kingdom to want to go to another, often assuming the other school would be substandard in some way. It was a shame too, because even if a school did have a lesser record, the ability to learn new things and experience another school's curriculum far outweighed it. But since the alliance between Vale and Atlas has strengthened, there's been a lot of interest in placements back and forth."
"It's not just Team RWBY, then?"
"Not at all. Team CFVY have expressed interest in spending their fourth year in Atlas, though only half of it. They'll come back to finish and graduate in Beacon. There are other teams, too. Miss Nikos will be staying in Beacon as she has other responsibilities I must help her with, but we have at least five teams who have signed up to transfer next year. Better yet, James tells me there are a couple who are interested in spending a year in Beacon as well."
"Well you did win the Vytal Festival, and Team RWBY made the finals as well. It's one thing to say it was just Pyrrha Nikos who won it, but another Valean first year team making it to the final alongside her was kind of insane."
Vale had the reputation of creating the strongest individual fighters, whereas Atlas seemed to be enjoying their reputation as making more professional teams. Usually not as strong in combat, but well-rounded and capable of keeping their cool in dangerous situations.
It only made sense therefore to combine those aspects. Let the skilled Valean teams come to Atlas to learn the art of administration, organisation and strategy. And let the professional team from Atlas travel to Vale and have a chance to improve their combat skills both with the regular combat classes and easy access to a Grimm-infested forest.
"It sounds like it'd be a good system. There's a lot both schools can learn from one another."
"I fully agree," said Ozpin. "I am especially pleased to see Team RWBY taking advantage of it. They truly do have incredible potential, but it seems a waste to use it all in Beacon. There's much that is taught in Atlas that we don't cover. I am most excited to see what they can pick up here."
"Probably a deep hatred for our assessment tests."
Ozpin's eyes twinkled. "I expect so, Mr Arc. I expect so. I hope you will look after them when they arrive. There's bound to be an adjustment period. I'd also like to extend an invitation to you and your team to study in Beacon for 6 months in your final year. Fully paid—"
"There's no need, sir."
Ozpin's smile fell.
"General Ironwood has already suggested we should apply for that."
It blossomed anew. "He has? James didn't tell me." Ozpin laughed. "Well, that's wonderful news. I'll look forward to teaching you all to be the best you can be. And it'll be good for our teams, younger as well, to see what a spell in Atlas can earn them."
"Will this initiative come to involve the other schools as well?"
"In time, I hope. I sincerely do. Every kingdom is unique and while I think a year in every school would be too disruptive, I would love to see our kingdoms so cooperative that it becomes commonplace for a team to spend at least one year abroad. Such deals will require strong alliances and stronger communications, so I am hopeful that our arrangement with Atlas will serve as an inspiration to the other academies."
It sounded good, it really did. Students being sent across the world, learning from one another, working together, becoming more and more rounded, and also the simple fact that it'd mean more alliances and more sharing between the kingdoms. They all had a common enemy after all, and working together against it just made sense.
It was a shame that Mistral's headmaster was so against the idea, and Jaune had heard from Captain Ebi that many in Mistral were taking a dim view on him for his obstinance. There were talks of replacing him, and the man wasn't giving the kingdom much reason to keep him. There had been rumours of Atlas officials speaking to the Mistral Council about that, but those were surely nothing more rumours.
"I have to go speak with James to formalise the placements," said Ozpin. "Thank you again for your hard work in Beacon, Mr Arc."
Jaune laughed. "Sir, you've thanked me and my team a hundred times already."
"And I will thank you one hundred times more. Beacon may well have fallen without your intervention, and I will not forget that for a thousand years."
"I'm not sure you'll around in a thousand years, sir."
Ozpin smiled. "I hope you are right on that one, Mr Arc. And perhaps I shall allow myself to hope it will be so. Good day and thank you one more time. I look forward to your fourth year when I can help mould you into the best huntsman you can be."
Jaune saluted the man as he left, and walked away with a happy smile on his face.
It'd be good to see Ruby and her teammates next year.
Even better to see how they handled their assessment tests. He fully expected sweat, blood and furious cursing.
/-/
Their "lesser" dorm was not unlike Beacon's, and honestly quite nice. But it wasn't their pods and the four of them deeply mourned their air-conditioned rooms, especially now that summer was approaching and the school was becoming obnoxiously warm. Jaune idled about as he waited for his team, flicking through pictures on his scroll. Some were of Ruby and her team, sent from Vale, but most were of Team JCKP, often including Ciel hanging on his arm.
The one that always made him smile the most was a picture taken from the audience of him and his team being awarded their medals, and then another of the camera-person turning to the side to see his mother sobbing in pride beside them. His father had texted him that after he'd invited his family to attend the ceremony.
His sisters had been rightly shocked to see their little brother in military dress uniform, and then even more shocked to see he was receiving not one but two medals of honour. Amber and Lavender now idolised their big brother and kept telling everyone at their school that they were related to a war hero.
Never mind the fact there hadn't been a war…
The door opened and closed as Flynt returned, their last member. An immediate silence fell over the room as Team JCKP set down what they had been doing and sat cross-legged in a circle on the floor, as if they were about to start some dark ritual. And, in a way, they were. This was a sacred ritual of Team Jackpot.
"Assessments are in two weeks," Neon whispered. "This is our chance to reclaim our rightful dorms. I shouldn't need to tell you all that we shall succeed, or we shall die trying."
"Our lives for our beds!" intoned Flynt, Neon and Jaune as one.
"How goes information gathering?"
"I was unable to hack Captain Ebi's terminal but have broken into Elm Ederne's," said Penny. "I shall inform her that password1234 is not adequate security once this is over. I sent an email to Captain Ebi with a keylogger installed, which will hopefully provide us his password in the coming days."
"Excellent work!" praised Neon.
Left unsaid was that breaking into a commanding officer's computer was grounds for them to be expelled and criminally charged. It was left unsaid because they all knew Clover would be more impressed they'd managed it than upset they had. He'd retaliate by making his next assessment twice as tough, but they'd burn that bridge when they got to it.
You couldn't lose your luxury dorms if you didn't have them.
"I've bribed an older student manning the armoury with the promise of a date for him to expedite any requests we have for additional equipment," said Flynt.
"Nice work!" said Neon. "But who would want to date you?"
Flynt smiled.
Neon did not smile. "You didn't…"
"Don't make any plans this Saturday, Neon," he said, smiling like a madman. "You've pulled."
"You son of a bitch. Please tell me he's at least mildly interesting."
"I hear he has a rocking stamp collection."
"Bastard," hissed Neon. "But fine. Live by the luxury dorm, die by the luxury dorm. We'll sneak out some explosives from the armoury last minute, so Captain Ebi doesn't get notice in time to switch up his plans like the last time. Jaune, did you complete your mission?"
"There are four first year teams ready to become our loyal servants and run distraction or jobs for us in exchange for one-on-one training with Team JCKP. If we need them, they're ours, and they'll do just about anything we ask up to and including faking injuries in front of Clover and the Ace-Ops and starting a brawl in a corridor to keep them occupied."
Neon drummed her fingers together. "Excellent. It's all coming together."
"Are we sure this is a good idea?" asked Penny. "The assessment isn't technically for two weeks."
Neon scowled. "Captain Ebi broke the rules and started our last assessment one week early to teach us that we must always be at high alert, and never take anything for granted. I say we teach them that they can't take us for granted either."
"Sounds good to me," said Flynt. "Fuck 'em."
Jaune sighed but added his hand to the centre of the ring.
Penny eventually did the same.
/-/
"So," said General Ironwood, sat behind his desk, hands steepled. "Let me see if I have this correct. Team JCKP hacked the Ace-Ops' timetable, sent fake emails to suggest there was a meeting with myself, then caused a brawl among the first years to keep the Ace-Ops busy. Meanwhile, they broke into Captain Ebi's quarters and set up numerous explosive devices loaded with… am I reading this correct. Oil and feathers?"
Captain Ebi, currently sat with feathers stuck all over his body, grunted.
"I see. And then while the Ace-Ops were under the assumption they were under attack, Team JCKP activated a second trap which resulted in every member being incapacitated by bombs filled with cooking oil, flour, cake-glitter and spices, which caused the team to be overcome with sneezing fits that allowed Team JCKP to incapacitate and then cuff each of them, essentially arresting the Ace-Ops while they were too stunned to react. Is that correct?"
The Ace-Ops shifted nervously. "Yes sir."
Ironwood sighed. "Team JCKP. Why?"
Jaune stood. "Sir, we had received intel that suggested Captain Ebi of the Ace-Ops was conducting an operation aimed at harming a team of students currently within Atlas."
"That team being you."
"Yes sir."
"And that operation being your assessment."
"Yes sir." Jaune saluted. "My team and I decided to take Captain Ebi's prior lessons about readiness to heart, and to ensure we were ready for this assessment."
"Two weeks in advance?"
"Yes sir. We identified the threat and removed it early, before it could have time to create a plan that would have inconvenienced our team."
General Ironwood coughed into his hands. The cough sounded suspiciously like a laugh. "I see."
"Sir!" cried Harriet. "You can't let them get away with this! Our rooms are covered in glitter and I'm still sticky after three showers!"
"Specialist Bree. I could punish Team JCKP if that is what you wish, but punishment would require that information on why they are being punished should spread. That would mean your fellow Specialists learning what happened, and how you were incapacitated by four second-year students. Is that what you wish?"
Harriet balked. The ribbing among the student body was bad enough, but Jaune had heard that the specialists also loved to take the piss out of one another, and being bested by children would be something the Ace-Ops would never be allowed to forget. Never.
"Um. I… Uh…"
"We would prefer this be kept private, sir," said Vine Zeki, sighing in defeat.
"I thought so." General Ironwood didn't bother hiding his smile this time. "Well, I suppose that the only conclusion to this will be to say that Team JCKP have pre-emptively passed their assessment. Your luxury dorms will be reinstated for the next two months and two weeks."
Neon cheered.
"You realise this means war," threatened Captain Ebi. "Open, all-out war."
"No more pre-emptive assessments," ordered Ironwood. "Please keep your armed conflict to the assigned times. That goes for you as well, Ebi. You taught them a valuable lesson about never letting your guard down, and it appears they decided to teach it back to you all."
"Ungh. Yes sir."
"Good. Take this as a learning experience for all of you. The Ace-Ops should not have underestimated their protégés. Team JCKP, please do not bribe lower year teams into starting brawls. Also, you will be expected to clean the specialist quarters of any mess you have made – and no, you will not be bribing first year teams into that either."
Flynt's hand went down.
"Get out. All of you. I have better things to do than deal with such childish spats."
General Ironwood waited until they had all shuffled out before letting his façade fall and allowing himself a good chuckle. Beside him, Captain Schnee laughed as well. "They're certainly getting into the spirit of things, sir. Taking down the Ace-Ops, even in such a juvenile manner, is impressive."
"I'm well aware, Winter. The future looks bright. Beacon stands, our alliance with Vale has never been stronger, and our transfer programme with Beacon is already filling out on both sides. And the Specialists will be welcoming four new members in a couple of years' time. Not to mention the Penny Project has been a roaring success. Funding has already been approved for Pietro to extend the project. Penny may be an older sister soon."
"I have more good news, sir." Winter set down a computer tablet, upon which was an image of a girl with pink and white hair, captured entering an inn in what James could tell was Argus. "We have her tracked, sir. She's booked a ship to Atlas. We are ready to track each and every person who comes off and isolate them. Vale has pre-signed her extradition, allowing us to formally charge her in Atlas."
"Excellent work, Winter. I wondered when she would see fit to bring her vengeance here. Keep Team JCKP on Atlas until she is captured. I will not have some petty criminal causing harm to my students." His face hardened. "Not in my kingdom. The Grimm may come, as may crook and criminal alike, but Atlas will stand strong."
And the next generation would uphold it. James leaned back as Winter saluted and left, and pondered the Atlas of the future. It wouldn't surprise him if Jaune Arc were to sit in his desk one day, and lead his school. He took a deep breath and let it go, smiling in a way he hadn't for what felt like years. Contentment.
Atlas would be in good hands.
His eyes opened.
"But not yet. I'd best make sure there's an Atlas to hand off to them." He picked up his scroll. "Patch me through to Ozpin. Also, get Qrow Branwen on the line. Priority 1 and cut off the system. This is to be a private call."
Salem's plans had been foiled for now, but James wasn't one to take chances. The witch of a woman would come back in time, and it was best they be prepared for it. Nikos had become the fall maiden, and they had time now to search for the others. He would not agree to force the maidenhood upon Cadet Polendina or Katt, but he would support Ozpin in securing them to keep them safe.
The war was not yet over, and might not be in his lifetime, but he'd die before he let it wash into Atlas and threaten the people under his care.
I wanted to end it there, on a bit of an open ending. Team RWBY are still the main characters and will take the fight to Salem, and they'll be in an even better position to do so thanks to more training, Ozpin's guidance, and having Pyrrha alive. Salem still exists, but she was never Team JCKP's main enemy. Their enemy was the White Fang, their job to protect Vale and prevent the Paladin running rampant. And they did their job. Now they're back home in Atlas, enjoying their education and protecting Atlas.
Story End.
Next Story: 16th September. (Two Weeks)
I may move "in their wildest dreams" here, and release a new story tuesday instead. We'll see.
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