Well, well, well. This is the story y'all voted for, and here it is. Helljumper.

More information in the bottom AN.

Enjoy.

[Prologue]

Beta: Engineer1869

Jason Arc's PoV

Ansel.

It was a sleepy little town, way out in the middle of what was formerly the Valean countryside. I had grown up here, free from the worries and threats of the outside world. It always seemed as though this place were just… separated from it all. Sectioned off from the world at large, impervious to the problems that raged around us.

That was until Atlas attacked.

The world as I knew it was turned upside down. The once sleepy village of Ansel was descended upon by a swarm of soldiers representing Vale, here to take every man and woman capable of fighting. I was among the number that they conscripted.

To say that they trained me at all would be generous. In truth, they did what they could with such little time. We had our Auras unlocked and were taught how to shoot and reload our rifles, and that's about it. Before any of us had a chance to figure out which way was up in this new world that had thrown us to the wolves, we were dropped into the middle of a warzone.

I can still remember clearly the absolute terror that showed plain as day on all my friends' faces. Young and old alike – none of us were soldiers. Not really. That didn't stop me, though. This wasn't going to be where I died. I still had a life to live – things I wanted to do, places I wanted to go. And so, I fought. I gave it everything I had, not giving up even when we were so outclassed that it seemed pointless.

I was captured during my first battle.

The Atlesian War of Unification, as it would later be dubbed, was a short, but bloody affair. While calling the former Kingdom of Vale weak would make you a liar, it utterly failed to stand up to Atlas in any incredibly significant way. Vale crumbled within six months, with Vacuo and Mistral following suit not long after.

To say I was loyal to Atlas wouldn't be completely true, but I was among the few who was offered the chance to join a new program they were developing: the Helljumpers. Allegedly, it was a more elite band of soldiers. While it wasn't the mythical HUNTER program that I'd heard whispers of, it was still an opportunity that had presented itself to me.

Without hesitation, I signed on to join the first generation of Helljumpers.

After training, I took a role in the reserves, returning to my home. I settled down, and life was good. I had a loving wife, and more children than I could count on one hand. Life seemed perfect, here in our own little world.

It didn't last.

For the second time in my life, the sleepy little haven that was Ansel came under siege. This time, by Atlas soldiers. They had come, again to take all those who could fight against a new, unknown threat. A threat they had called the Grimm.

I spent years away from my family, fighting these creatures of darkness. Time and time again, I was dropped from Airships to help break a siege, to secure a VIP, or even to help evacuate civilians. It was a harsh time – a time that always left me wondering after my family, only able to hope that they all were safe back home.

Atlas had begun spreading this HUNTER program far and wide, searching for every last child with a Semblance. For lack of a better term, I'd simply call them magic. They claim that it's some sort of extension of one's Aura, helping the wielder become some kind of great and powerful soldier capable of things the rest of us could only dream of.

As of now, all of my children were deemed to not be eligible for the HUNTER program, with my only son, Jaune, left to be tested. I didn't see a point in it, if none of his siblings have a Semblance, how would he? Regardless, Atlas insisted that on a child's eighth birthday, they are tested.

I was lucky. My name was drawn from the lottery system, and I was allowed to spend a week on leave. Like most of my friends and compatriots, I went home.

Ansel.

Even now, it seemed completely impervious and uncaring to the outside world and the fights that raged in it. The Grimm, Atlas, Helljumpers, and HUNTERS. They were all just stories that they heard about, but never saw. It was serene.

I returned home, greeted by a swarm of happy children, crying and jumping at me. Children I hadn't seen in years but missed greatly. Behind them, my loving wife smiling wide, tears starting to well up in her eyes, too.

The first day was a rush of questions. Questions about where I was, what I was doing, and if I was a hero. I watered down the horrors of war, telling my family what I could without striking the fear of god into them.

The second day was calm. I spent as much of it as I could with my family – simply wanting nothing more than to see my kids happy and smiling.

The third day dawned.

[-/-]

Fire. Chaos. Death.

"Jaune. We've got to go. Now." I called out to the terrified boy.

"B-but…" He managed to get out, cowering in fear behind one of the chairs outside our family home.

As soon as the Grimm arrived, I armed myself with the weapons I had stashed in the house. While hardly an armory, it was enough to give me some minor degree of safety.

I shot a glance back over my shoulder, barely catching sight of a Nevermore as it started to race down towards the two of us.

I spun, unholstering the pistol that was at my hip, and firing off three rounds into the creature, sending it tumbling end over end out of the sky. Behind me, Jaune yelped with each bullet fired.

I don't have time for this. I thought to myself, turning and storming over to my son. "Stay close to me, alright?" I tried, grabbing him by the arm to pull him up to his feet.

"I'm scared…" He voiced, looking incredibly small.

I nodded, looking back over the burning town of Ansel. "So am I, son." I looked back to him. "But I've got to be brave, same as you. Just stay close to me, and it'll all be okay."

He didn't respond, only going so far as to nod a few times.

I didn't waste any more time. I turned and started jogging off towards the forest. While it hurt like all hell to abandon this place, to leave without knowing the fate of the rest of my family, to try and find out would be to doom myself and my son to an early grave.

I offered a glance over my shoulder, seeing that Jaune was trying his best to keep up with me, but was clearly starting to slow. Behind him, a gristly blackened form came into view. An Ursa. To call it a bear wouldn't be completely true, nor inaccurate. It at the least had the shape of one.

I skidded to a halt as the creature started rushing forward, intent on turning the two of us into a stain on the forest floor. I brought my rifle up to my shoulder and took aim down sights, squeezing off three rounds in quick succession.

Jaune screamed and threw himself to the floor, hands over his head in a vain attempt to protect himself.

The Ursa took the bullets in stride and kept on with its charge, hardly seeming phased by the rounds as they dug into the black mass of a body.

I fired off another three rounds, each of which embedded themselves in the creature's head. It stumbled only slightly before powering onward. What the hell is this thing made of? I had to wonder. Normally, minor Ursa would keel over dead after a shot like that.

As it grew closer, I noticed something. It had something dangling off its neck. What it was, I couldn't exactly say, but it wasn't part of the creature.

I dropped the rifle and ripped the short sword from its sheath at my hip. The Ursa came crashing into me, ignoring the cowering Jaune who had scrambled away when he realized he was in the path of the beast.

It's got to be an Alpha. Fantastic. I thought darkly as it brought one of its massive paws to bear against my unarmored chest. If not for Aura, I'd have been eviscerated on the spot, though that didn't stop me feeling the rush of pain.

I grit my teeth and brought the sword around, trying desperately to get it through the creature's neck. It brought the other paw to bear, slamming it down on my shoulder to rip a significant hole in my Aura.

The blade found its mark, slipping into the black flesh of the Ursa's neck. I wasted no time in ripping the blade across, effectively severing the head off the beast, leaving it to crumple to the ground, inert and dead.

I took a moment to catch my breath, gritting my teeth through the pain that the creature had caused me.

As was normal for the Grimm, its body dissipated into a black smoke. The only thing it left behind was a small totem hanging off a black cord. The totem was carved into the shape of some sort of serpent with wings that had curled in on itself, jaws open wide like it were going to bite something.

I shook my head, pocketing the strange item. If nothing else, I'm sure command would be interested in it.

I scanned the area, finding that Jaune had crawled away, and was now trying to hide himself rather poorly in some bushes.

I didn't waste any time. I pulled my son out of his hiding spot. He was wide eyed and a little scratched up but looked to be mostly unharmed. Coming from the direction of the village, I could hear something akin to a howl and several branches crunching as more creatures of darkness started to rush into the forest after us.

"Hop on, son." I said, crouching down with my back to him. He didn't hesitate, wrapping his arms around my neck and holding on for dear life. I heaved myself up to my feet and got comfortable with his legs sitting on my arms. It didn't leave me in the best way to fight, but I could properly start running at the least.

I wasn't about to wait around for the Grimm to find us. I sheathed the sword and snagged my dropped rifle as I broke into a sprint through the forest. Jaune, normally so happy and carefree would've been laughing and shouting for me to go faster. Now, he was shaking like a leaf, face buried into the back of my neck.

Behind us, I could hear the Grimm still. They were slowly gaining on us.

I can't outrun them, not through this thick of vegetation. I thought to myself. After the number that Ursa did on me, I'm not even sure I'd be able to fight them off either.

I swallowed nervously, sparing a glance back over my shoulder as we got into a clearing. I couldn't yet see the Grimm. My gaze traced to the form of my son, gripping on to me for dear life.

I pursed my lips, slowing to a complete stop at the edge of the clearing.

"Jaune, I'm going to put you down now." I warned him, crouching down to let him off. The boy reluctantly let go, looking up at me, the fear more than evident in his eyes.

There was another howl, and it was closing in on our position. I sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Listen, son. You've got to keep going. Keep running that direction." I paused for a brief moment, racking my brain.

There was another town nearby. It was a fair bit bigger – even had small walls around it. They might have a detachment of soldiers there to protect the place. Glynda will be there, too. She'll take care of him and get word out.

"There's a town not far from here, just a little way through the forest." I explained slowly, glancing up towards the other side of the clearing. The Grimm weren't here yet. I pursed my lips, looking back to my son. "When you get there, ask for Ms. Goodwitch. "

Jaune frowned. "Where will you be?"

I bit down on my tongue. "I'll be right behind you, son. You should just get a head start…" I looked up, noting the first of the Grimm starting to prowl into the small clearing. "Now, go. Don't look back – don't wait for me. Just keep running." I managed a small smile, coming up to my feet once again. "I'll be right behind you. Promise."

Jaune nodded, not looking too sure, but he knew better than to argue with me.

I watched as he disappeared into the forest. I could only hope that I hadn't doomed him to die alone in there, mauled to death by Grimm, or lost and confused.

I let out a long sigh, turning to face the Grimm that were gathering in greater number at the other edge of the clearing.

I shouldered my rifle. "Here we go. Feet first into Hell."

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to Helljumper.

For anyone who's new here, this is not your typical RWBYverse. This story is taking a lot of inspiration from Halo, most notably Halo 3 ODST. Everything will be in the first person, but we will have multiple PoVs throughout the story, focusing on our team of main characters. Next time this is published, we'll be seeing from Jaune's PoV sometime in the future.

For those who are curious, this is about the length that the chapters will be. For the most part, no greater than 3k words. The story, once in full swing, will be published on the same time frame as Criminally Good was.

And of course, we now have a wonderful Beta for this story. Good guy Engineer has been a great help thus far, helping me expand the world and make it all that much deeper and more fleshed out rather than just a loose collection of ideas.

Last thing, I won't be responding to reviews this time around. While a great thing and fun in CG, it's definitely inflated the story's word count by a solid 50k words. Sorry, friends.

Next Chapter: Coming Soon

Till next time, this is Valres signing off.