The day when Beacon was laid in ruins, everyone there, both living and deceased, crossed a line to the point of no return. A line in which one could never return to once crossed. Jaune Arc crossed a line that day and never recovered from it. After returning home from Beacon to recover from the Fall, Arc returned Crocea Mors and his armor to his family members before leaving once again onto a new path. Scarred by the events of the Fall, he instantly joined, not Atlas, but the Valean Marine Corps, wanting to get revenge on the White Fang and whoever else the Kingdom had been attacked by. He cut all of his ties to Beacon Academy, Team JNPR, and RWBY. There wasn't much left there to remember in his mind. Only pain now. It was several years after constant battles against the White Fang, Atlas, and unknown forces did Jaune became a leader again, this time being a Special Operations unit instead.
His team was a squad of four including himself. One of them was a relaxed easy going sniper by the name of Charles "Charlie" Hathcock. He was at least twenty four years of age, had brown hair, slightly tanned skin, and green eyes. He was geared in the basic uniform with the sleeves rolled up past his elbows, a kevlar vest with a ammo rig, knee pads on his legs, a small combat backpack on his back, and a olive-drab baseball cap that said "Remember Beacon Academy" on the front. The man had a rough background with his abusive father and managed to join the Corps without letting his father know of his actions. The Corps allowed him to be more relaxed and still be able to do something that didn't involve getting beaten for one mistake. He made it through selection and passed the advanced training and earned his spot in the VMCSOC unit.
The next member was a rather quiet machine gunner named Alan "Al" Schmid. He was a small man, twenty six years of age with black hair and black skin and had glasses over his blue eyes. He wore the basic combat uniform unchanged with the vest, knee and elbow pads, a heavy pack on his back, and the helmet on his head. At first, he seemed more of the scholarly person than a machine gunner for the VMC. However after seeing him screaming a loud battle cry and blasting away hordes of enemy combatants, Jaune changed his opinion about him. Because of his understanding of heavy weapons and his skills, Alan aced the advanced training and earn his spot as a VMCSOC Operative.
The third member member was twenty-six year old Dave "Tiger" Polanski. He was a tiger Faunus with cat-like eyes, a hidden tail, and tiger ears under his black hair. He wore the basic combat uniform with the vest, knee pads, a radio pack on his back, and had a bush cap on his head. Dave came from a poor family somewhere in Menagerie. He managed to secure citizenship in Vale and joined the VMC to earn money to be able to support his family at home. Because of experience involving radio equipment and stealth, he earned a spot on the VMCSOC unit.
Then of course was Jaune "John" Arc himself. He had greatly changed in the past ten years of being in the VMC. No longer was he the adorkable idiot everyone remembers from Beacon Academy. He is now the stern, cold-hearted leader of the VMCSOC unit who only cared about his own men and the idea that Pyrrha Nikos is still alive somewhere. He simply couldn't accept that Pyrrha was dead, instead convincing himself that Cinder had teleported her instead for capture. In fact, right before he left Beacon behind him, he made a vow that he would save her one way or another. To make up for his failure of being strong.
Jaune was now a rough looking man with cold blue eyes, a military haircut so trimmed down his blond hair was now darker in color, and chiseled features. He wore the VMC combat pants and a short sleeved version of the shirt under his vest, knee pads on his legs, a holster on his right thigh for a fifty caliber pistol, a small combat backpack consisting of a Camelback and storage space, a shemagh around his neck, and a simple small earpiece on his right side. He was clearly not the Knight that he once dreamed about becoming until the Fall of Beacon.
Over the past ten years, Cinder has gone underground, waiting to strike again. However, when Jaune became a VMCSOC Unit Leader when he turned twenty-four, his unit was immediately assigned to all Cinder-related missions by the Commandant and Agency of Vytal Director Troy "Marine Recon" Nikos, Pyrrha's father. Jaune believed the reason his unit is tasked with these missions is so he can redeem himself to Commandant Nikos for failing to save his daughter as well as a chance to rescue her. So that was why his entire unit was waiting inside the AOV Headquarters Briefing Room in their Basic Combat Uniforms (BCU) for their new assignment.
Currently the squad was relaxing all over the place, trying to be less tense before the briefing. Charlie was currently sitting in one chair with his head slumped and ballcap pulled down trying to get in a light nap. His legs were up and using another chair as a footrest nearby. Al was currently reading a book silently in another chair, keeping mostly to himself for right now. Tiger was keeping himself occupied by working on some radio puzzle book which trained him in tracking frequencies and pinpointing them out in the field. As for "John", he currently was reading entries from his log book about the unit's past missions. At least that was until four familiar and unwelcome faces entered the room with Commandant Nikos.
John looked up and instantly sent a hardened glare at Team RWBY. He purposefully slammed his logbook shut loudly with one hand, getting the attention of his entire squad. Charlie let out a sigh before sitting up in his seat correctly, adjusting his ballcap. Al simply put his book aside and turned to his leader respectfully. Tiger instantly glared daggers at Blake, obviously having heard or meet her before.
"Oh great. Looks like they sent fresh meat to work with us grunts." Charlie cracked, earning a chuckle from Al. Yang Xiao Long heard this joke and walked over to him. The blonde brawler had a robotic arm for her right arm and was a bit more conservative with her style. She wore a yellow leather jacket, a pair of jeans, boots, and had Ember Cecilia on her wrists.
"Ah. Look at the widdle jarhead who think he is all tough. Too bad, he isn't a big bad huntress like us." Yang taunted back, earning a grimace from Charlie and Al. The unit either was working with other military units or VMC units, never Hunters and Huntresses due to conflicting matters. Huntsmen were always bragged about in the media and that made them more of celebrities instead of heroes or true fighters. Meanwhile Valean Marines fought tooth and limb to protect Vytal and often paid the price for defending the kingdom. Yet they were never talked about or praised for their sacrifices in the line of duty because they were mere grunts and not considered important by the media.
"Hmph. We have to work with the celebrities now? John. Please tell me we don't have to work with them." Al requested, earning a glare from Weiss. The Ice Queen of Beacon Academy now had gained some mass into her chest but she was still more or less the same besides the increase of height. She wore her secondary outfit and had her Myrtenaster on her belt.
"Mind telling us what the issue with working with us is, sir?" Weiss asked with forced politeness, causing Charlie to glare back at her.
"Yeah. I'll tell you what the problem is." Charlie started, starting to make an imitation of a mock girlish voice. "'Oh my god. How can you just kill your fellow man or Faunus like that?' Or 'Why would you torture that White Fang for information?' Look. You Huntresses have no idea how Special Operations works. Nor do you guys understand the hardships we 'grunts' go through and end up being the unsung heroes for it."
"Charlie. Stow that shit away." John ordered, earning an instant response from the sniper.
"Yes, sir!" He replied, sitting down back with the squad. Meanwhile, Tiger turned around away from Blake, not bothering to even speak to her. Ruby walked up to John and offered her hand out to him.
"Sorry about that, sir. I really hope that my team doesn't offend you. I'm Ru-" Ruby started out until John cut her off.
"Ruby Rose. Former prodigy of Beacon Academy. Youngest student ever to be accepted into Beacon Academy. Leader of her own team called RWBY with a W instead of a U. Survived the Fall of Beacon ten years ago. Reunited her team in order to track those responsible for it and to assist the people. Became an instant celebrity over night. Used a Scythe-Rifle combo weapon based off your Uncle Qrow." John replied, having remembered this as well as reading her file recently. Ruby was taken back in surprise, clearly shocked at the flow of information John let loose. The woman never expected him to know so much about her. The only other person who would know this would be Jaune but he had been listed as missing by the media and his family.
"Um...Yeah. That's exactly who I am..." Ruby trailed off, still childish even as a grown woman. John stood up and calmly shook her hand, his rough, calloused hand slightly rough on Ruby's somewhat delicate hand. As he dropped the handshake, the Master Sergeant walked back over to his unit and introduced them one by one.
"Alright. The relaxed dude with the ballcap is Corporal Charlie, our squad sniper." Charlie gave a mock salute to Team RWBY before turning back in his seat. "The bookworm is Private First Class Al, our Heavy Weapons Expert." Al waved slightly, not interested at all. "The tiger Faunus over there is Lance Corporal Tiger, the Radio specialist." Tiger simply remained silent through this. "Finally I'm Master Sergeant John, Squad Leader of this group of misfits."
Ruby thought his name sounded similar to Jaune's name but he looked nothing like Jaune. No way would Jaune ever be this cold or rough. He was an aspiring Hunter gone missing, not a Special Operations Leader who was most likely cruel and ruthless to his enemies. At this point, the VMCSOC unit sat down in the chairs as Commandant Nikos stepped up to the podium in front of the room. The Commandant looked more tired and older ever since the Fall of Beacon. However his attitude never faltered even if his daughter was a victim of the Fall.
"Ladies and Gravestone Squad, we are working together on a joint operation." Instantly he received groans from Gravestone about this mission, not liking the partnership already. "Suck it up, Marines. I don't like it as much as you do, but the Council wanted one team of Huntresses on this one as well."
"Commandant Nikos, with all due respect, you hardly ever listen to the Council's orders." John inputted, earning nods of agreement from his subordinates.
"Yeah. Normally they would never have heard of this if the Council hadn't told the media first about it. Now everyone is expecting Team RWBY to be the heroes." Troy replied, earning groans of displeasure.
"Monty Oum. Will those pricks ever let the Marines get their praise at all?" Tiger demanded, shaking his head in disgust. Blake frowned at this, not pleased by his statement.
"Hey. At least people will realize Faunus can save lives and be heroes." Blake replied, earning a harsh laugh from Tiger.
"Oh spare me the crap, sister. The VMC is made up of humans and Faunus working together to defend the Kingdom and we hardly get any recognition for our sacrifices. It's all because of you Hunters and Huntresses that we are not even known widely about or even thanked for our service." Tiger pointed out, his fangs visible in his mouth. Blake leaned back in surprise at this news, never once hearing about such a thing before. "Yeah. Surprised aren't ya?"
"Can it, Lance Corporal. No more arguing." John silenced him instantly. He turned his head to the Commandant and nodded his head. "Continue, sir."
"As I was saying. This is a joint-operation. We have some information that Cinder is hiding out in the last place anyone would hide out in. The buried city of Sahara." This caused some concerned mumbling from both teams. Everyone had heard the story involving the disaster of Sahara. The entire city was struck by a massive sandstorm and everyone there, except for the elitists who fled, was stranded. In response, the 33rd VMC "Damned" Battalion under the last Head Chairman, Kurtz, went in to rescue the survivors and instantly were branded as deserters and traitors to Vale without warning. Since then, no one but Troy Nikos knew what happened there, all of it buried under the sand and lies.
"I don't see why they would hide out there. That place has been ruined for years since that VMC Battalion destroyed it." Weiss commented, earning a glare from Troy.
"That's because the place has been abandoned for over two decades, Miss Schnee. It makes perfect sense that they would be based in Sahara. No way was that sandstorm that wiped out the city natural. Even the world's brightest meteorologists were through off by its sheer size. It might be caused by supernatural causes." Al brought up, earning a nod from the Commandant.
"That's correct, PFC. It's the perfect hideout for them. Secluded, uncharted and no one has desire to return to it. Until now that is." The commandant continued, turning on a holoprojector. It lit up, revealing a 3D map the area of Sahara. "Both Teams will be dropped outside of the sandstorm wall tomorrow at 1000 Hours before making their way through the storm. The storm would ruin a Cheyanne's engine so you will have to walk through it. Once you're inside, locate and capture or kill Cinder Fall. If you find her boss there, then kill the head at once. That way there will be no repeat of the Fall of Beacon."
That moment, Blake chose to raise her hand and ask him a question. "Sir. What if we find any members of the White Fang or maybe anyone fighting for Cinder and her allies? Do we capture them as well?"
"Negative. Any White Fang members in the city are to be exterminated with extreme prejudice. Leave no hostiles alive in those ruins." The Commandant informed them, making Team RWBY horrified by this order. Gravestone, on the other hand, cheered and grunted at this. Blake was also horrified by this and started to sputter out her objections.
"Wait! We can't do that! They may be hostiles but they are still people! You can't just kill them!" Blake protested, earning vicious glares from Gravestone Squad. John got up and walked in front of the Cat Faunus, his cold eyes locked into hers.
"They joined sides with the ones responsible for killing many innocent people and the Fall of Beacon Academy. They are not people, but monsters that think they are people. They will not hesitate to kill us if they see us in Sahara so I expect you to kill them before they kill you. Just because you believe in mercy doesn't mean these fuckers deserve any." John coldly told her, venom leaking from his voice. She instantly realized this man had a huge grudge against the White Fang and Cinder so there was no arguing with him. Out of the corner of her eyes, she noticed Tiger smirk at her shock and made a neck slash motion with his hand. John got out of her face and turned to Commandant Nikos. "Gravestone will be ready for tomorrow's mission. We need to gear up and get ready."
"Very well." Troy replied, walking over to place a hand on John's shoulder. "Team RWBY, you will listen to this man and follow his every order once you are in the ruins of Sahara. He has more combat experience than all four of you combined. Stick to him and you might live longer. Isn't that right, Master Sergeant 'John' Arc?"
The revelation of his identity shook Team RWBY to its foundation at the realization that the cold-hearted man was actually Jaune Arc. Ruby suddenly looked more carefully and noted that he did have the same eye color as before, only more dulled instead of bright. She could vaguely make out the resemblance to her original friend and concluded it was really him. Suddenly tears came out of her eyes when she realized that Jaune had changed after all. Just not in a way she was expecting.
"Jaune...Is that really you?" Ruby asked with a shaky breath and tears running down her eyes. Instead of returning the tears or even saying hello, he sternly nodded his head to her once. Then he turned to Gravestone and made a circular motion with his right hand before pointing his hand at the door. The squad got out of their seats and made their way out the door, barely glaring at the team of Huntresses. John followed after them, giving a salute to the Commandant before he left. "That...That really was him...Oh my Oum...He...He really has taken her death the worse."
"Actually he is currently in denial of my daughter's death, Miss Rose." Commandant Nikos admitted, picking up a coffee mug off a nearby table. He walked over to a full coffee pot and poured some into it. "He has it in his mind that Pyrrha wasn't killed but teleported elsewhere by Cinder. Hell, even his own men believe this to be true to the point they would gladly go into hell with him to save her. He blames himself for her death, Miss Rose. Something I'm sure you blamed yourself on as well."
"Well yeah. But that was because I accepted it and witnessed it first-hand. Cinder incinerated Pyrrha up on the tower!" Ruby exclaimed, the now long haired woman walking over to Commandant Nikos. "Look. You have to pair us with another team if Jaune is mentally unstab-"
"Enough!" Commandant Nikos exclaimed, slamming the pot back into the coffee machine. He was clearly pissed since his ears were pointed back and his canines showing. "Master Sergeant Arc may be wrong about Pyrrha but he is not unstable if he has served ten years in combat without trouble. He needs this mission to help him with closure and acceptance. So killing Cinder Fall would help him. Is that clear, Miss Rose?"
Ruby looked up nervously at the Commandant, somewhat terrified of his outburst. She shakily nodded her head and led her team out of the room. Once they left the room, Ruby shivered, pulling her red cloak closer to herself. Yang put a hand on her shoulder and looked at her. "If you need me to, I will beat some sense into Jaune to get him to let Pyrrha go."
"No, Yang. He will not be letting go of his false hope so don't start any more trouble." Ruby replied, continuing down the hall with her team. "The Commandant said that 'John' is not unstable. That and he has more combat experience in this field of work."
Weiss, being the one who still disliked Jaune, huffed at this statement in disbelief. "Please. As if that failure could be better than one fully trained Hunter."
"Looks can be deceiving, Weiss." Blake warned her, stretching her arm for a moment. "They all had their Aura unlocked anyway so they must have some experience to take down Hunters before."
While Huntresses and Hunters were famous for their use of Aura and Semblance, the VMC basic requirements had everyone in the Corps with their Aura unlocked for defense purposes and were trained in combating Aura users as well as the normal threatens. Some Marines even used their own Semblance to assist in fights as well as making them support units. VMCSOC Operatives all had Aura unlocked and had discovered their Semblance during selection or prior to selection. This allowed for a more tactical over dangerous opponents a unit would face.
As Team RWBY left the building, Gravestone Squad was creating a checklist and getting their gear together. They were each bringing two weapons with them, one primary along with a secondary. Charlie was bringing an Assault Rifle along with a sniper rifle due to his MOS in the squad. Al packed up a Squad Automatic Weapon along with a .45 Caliber Pistol. Tiger was armed with a silenced Assault Rifle and a shotgun in case of emergency close encounters. The last one to grab his weapons was John who picked up his Assault Rifle and .50 Caliber Pistol. As he was about to close his locker, his eyes rested on Pyrrha's headdress, the only thing he kept as a reminder to never give up his personal mission. "Don't worry, Pyrrha. I'm coming for you."
With that, he picked up her headdress and placed it into his pack before shutting the locker.
Marinerecon presents...
THE LINE
Okay. I got the inspiration for this story after watching the last episode of RWBY Volume 3 and remembered one of my old X-Box 360 games, Spec Ops: The Line. In my mind, Jaune, instead of moving on and being a Hunter, would deny Pyrrha's death and join the military instead in order to be stronger after failing to save Pyrrha. Pyrrha's "disappearance" would make him more cold and unemotional person to others except to the men in his unit. So this is inspired by Spec Ops: The Line in a way. Anyway, this is only the first chapter of the story which I call The Line.