Beacon's Soldier

General Ironwood was a man of action. If confronted with overwhelming numbers of an enemy force he could beat them back. If faced with a force superior to his own technology, he would outlast them. However, for all his bravado and charisma he was never one to be able to fight an enemy that hid in the shadows. Something that his Grandfather had a problem with as well. The white Fang were one of those enemies. Cowards who struck at any who opposed them. Be it human, or their own kind. He despised that. Fighting an enemy face to face was honorable and formed friendships that lasted centuries. Many a soldier and hunter alike felt the same. Bonds forged in fire were the strongest after all. Even more so for those bonds formed between bitter enemies.

Yet the White Fang were not honorable soldiers of nations fighting for their families and kingdoms. They were murderers whose blind ambition for 'justice' left millions homeless and an unknown about dead. But James was not a blind officer. Those in command did not have that luxury. The white Fang were themselves a pawn in a larger picture. But what could he do? He, the leader of the largest coalition force seen by man, left to do nothing save hunt down roaming gangs and halt the advance of Grimm. All he could do was fight and wait for Qrow's signal.

Qrow. Without Ozpin to rang him in Qrow was a loose cannon. Despite his ability to blend and sneak through any situation he was as subtle as himself. The last message he had received from Qrow was one that did not brood well with the old soldier. The king is missing and our champion is gone. That was moments before martial law was declared and he was given the power over the entire city. But without communication to his soldiers he was a general without an army. All he could try to do was save as many as he could. It seemed hopeless.

That was until his soldiers suddenly started to form themselves into loose fitted ranks. Scores of soldiers both of Atlas and Vale, suddenly and deliberately started to fight side by side. He didn't understand it. Organizing such a stand without clear lines of communication should have been impossible. But it happened. Right in front of him.

From what he found out, his soldiers rallied behind the soldiers of Vale who in turn rallied behind a student of all people. Said student led a small squad of soldiers to form a firing line which caused other soldiers to rally to them increasing their numbers to the point where the amount of fire was breathtaking.

Thousands were saved in this sudden move of leadership. When James learned of the name of the individual he couldn't help but laugh at the irony of it. Another Arc leading his solders to victory. If his ego wasn't already shot, he would have felt threatened by the show of competent leadership.

Following the fall of Beacon James had wanted to use that boy as the poster boy of unity to keep the kingdoms unified. But… that was until he learned that the girl that they chose to be their champion to act as a symbol of hope, peace and protection, Pyrrha Nikos, was the partner of the boy. Jaune rallied his men and those of Vale because of their failure to protect the kingdoms form the darkness. His bravery was exposed by the price of something that would have broken lesser men.

For that reason and to a lesser extent the failure of establishing communication to civilian bandwidths he chose to forego using another form the same team as a symbol. Well he tried anyway. Some of his more creative soldiers made a poster, something old and flashy, resembling an old war propaganda poster than anything else as a thank you to the young man.

Not that he could see it. Qrow made sure of that when he took his nieces and the remains of the boy's team to Patch. He hadn't heard anything involving them in over a month. But at least he knew where they were. There were dozens of other students who never made it to the rally point. He knew that most of them were dead but without bodies. Well it was easier to tell the parents of Pyrrha Nikos that she was turned to ash.

James rubbed his head in frustration. His table was full. In one corner he had Grimm gnawing at the defenses, in another he had a mass exodus that was still undergoing, behind him he had missing students from all four kingdoms and to top it all off he had the White Fang killing everything that did not bear their banners.

Any lesser commander would have folded and returned home to replenish his forces. But he wasn't a lesser leader. The people of Vale, of Atlas, His brothers and sisters needed him. And nothing. Not the commands of those at home or the concerns of his officers would sway him. He would hold the line even if it meant his death. He knew that if he stayed that his men would follow him to hell if he asked. He may only have one warship combat ready, but he needed to show the people that he would never retreat without blood spilt.

"General Ironwood, Sir. Patrols are reporting another rise in activity in the residential sector." A lieutenant called out from his station.

"Grimm?" He asked, observing as the tech whose right eye was covered by a bandage turned back to the screen.

"Negative sir. White Fang." The tech said, his eyes never leaving the screen.

"Any idea what they're doing?"

"None sir. We have no forces in that area. But the reports are saying that there is a huge exchange in gunfire. Orders sir?"

Ironwood's eyes narrowed at that. White Fang did not just open fire willingly. If they encountered Grimm they ran. If they encountered his forces they used explosives and stealth to fight. The only time they used guns were when the they were engaged by something else using stealth. "Get eyes on the fight. I want to know the Hunter who is doing this."

"Yes sir."

"Sir… How do we know it is a hunter?" another tech asked out.

"…" James did not answer. Instead he pulled out a black bow. 'Ozpin trusted her.' He thought to himself. 'I'm not Ozpin,' he continued, his eyes narrowed. He turned to his men. "Get my ship ready, along with a squad."

The two guards snapped to attention before moving to complete their orders.

Blake panted as she sliced the last gun in two, scaring the horned faunas that was holding it into stumbling back on his rear. Blake glared at the grunt before kicking him out cold. She wiped her brow as she looked at the carnage she inflicted on the small encampment of White Fang soldiers. Most of them were out cold. However, war was never won without deaths. Said deaths were not caused by her but by friendly fire. Black bowed her head in mourning. They may have been her enemies but they were once her family as well.

Her eyes moved over to where a small computer was set up. She typed in a few commands before smirking. While it was true that most orders were issued by paper. A modern army needed to have an up to date ledger of where their forces were. She hoped that this one was up to date. If she knew where Adam was going than maybe she could stop him before he hurt any more innocents. When the file came up her eyes narrowed in concentration.

After a few minutes she shut down the computer, her mask of indifference hiding her emotions. That didn't last long. With a howl of rage, she fired her weapons into the mainframe. Sparks and smoke began to bellow out of the machine.

'Damn.' She thought. She turned to look at the still unconscious soldiers that she once led. It was a shame. She knew that if the Grimm came then they would be slaughtered. But that was their choice. Adam was a fool if he thought he could use the Grimm as a way to forward his agenda. She took a kneel by one of the white fang she knocked out, and removed his mask. There staring back at her was a youthful face of another random Faunus.

Her mouth grew tight as she stared at the young girl who now slept. She looked no older than Ruby's age. Maybe even younger. Blake hatred towards her former mentor and friend grew. Damn him. How many children were sent to their deaths by his vision, how many had she and her team sent to their doom on the train? In her state of mind, she did not hear the footsteps until she felt the barrel of a pistol press against her skull.

Her blood ran cold and her breath hitched. "Don't Run Belladonna…" Came the cold calculating voice.

"W-what do you want?" She asked, cringing when her voice stuttered.

"I'll ask the questions here miss Belladonna. Now, first off. Why did you abandon your team?"

Blake's eyelids drooped. "Because it was the only way to keep them safe…" She whispered.

"Somehow I don't think that will stop him Blake."

Blake's eyes grew wide as her heart began to beat faster. She felt the gun pull away from her head. "You ran away just like you did with the White Fang… Not that I can blame you. Seeing all that death and destruction would have broken anyone." She felt the presence circle her. "But you? Ozpin mentioned that you were a runner. Fit your fighting style. But we both know there is more to you." Slowly the white dress uniform of General Ironwood entered her vision. Blake refused to look up. Out of shame or pride she didn't know.

"I- I failed them…" came her soft retort.

He scoffed. "If I ran away every time I failed my troops Atlas would be gone." She looked up at him, her eyes burning with hatred. "Ah there it is…" he said to himself. "Tell me Blake. Who do you hate more? Me or Adam?"

In an instant Blake's anger was replaced by that of shock. "H-how?"

"Did you honestly think that Ozpin would have let you enter his school had he not known your true intentions or background? It was his school. He knew every nook and cranny of that place." The General sighed. "The only thing he didn't know was the other students coming from the other three kingdoms. That was my job." He glanced around at the wrecked garage.

He looked back at her. "Did you know that Jaune Arc's transcripts were forged?"

Blake's eyes opened in surprise. "W-what?"

"Yes. Poor boy didn't even have his Aura unlocked and Ozpin let him in. Not that I can't see why. A fighter like him is rare." His eyes grew cold. "However, fighters like you are a dime a dozen. Thinking that they know what's best. That they know how to lead. I was just like you. So full of myself that I could never see the bigger picture. Only for it to hit me in the face." He tore off his sleeve of his arm showing his metal arm to her. "This is the price for not following your leader Blake. I abandoned my team to get revenge. To seek out justice. And this is what it got me. My team either dead or hating me and my body a mix of machine and flesh."

She couldn't move. She knew what she was saying but she couldn't do anything. "W-why?"

"My partner was killed. I left my team and went after the grimm that did it. I was ambushed. The rest of my team came in after me. Only me and my teammates partner left. You are trying to do the same thing. Not realizing that the more you hurt these sorry sacks of shit the more Grimm you are leading to the city. You want to get revenge? Don't abandon your team. Don't let him divide and conquer." He said as his eyes bore into hers. "Something I have yet to learn myself.

She lowered her head to avoid his piercing gaze. "You mentioned Jaune… why?"

James's eyes lost their heat. "do you know what happened in the hours after that flash of light?"

Blake shook her head. The only thing she remembered doing was escaping from the airship after it landed and off loaded the wounded.

The general pulled out a sheet of paper and unfolded it. "A couple of my soldiers made this as a thank you… What do you see?"

Blake took the paper and examined it. Her eyes furrowed in confusion. It looked like an average war poster. She paused. 'No t-that can't be right. ' she thought. The cat eared faunas looked back up to the general before back to the sheet of paper. She was seeing it right. There in the middle of the paper was a figure with golden blond hair holding a sword and shield towards a horde of grimm. Behind him were soldiers of Atlas, and Vale as well as other hunters. Below the entire thing were the words: Death or Victory. Confused, Blake looked up.

James took the paper back and refused to look her in the eye. "Ozpin knew that Jaune wasn't the best fighter. But whatever he saw in Jaune proved to be correct. Arc's way of leadership proved to be without a doubt the only thing that kept so many people alive. And instead of returning home like ordered he stayed with his team and opted to watch over your teammates. Miss Schnee excluded." He looked her in the eyes. "I'm not going to stop you from going about your vendetta. But you must choose to either ignore your team and risk them further or find them and fight alongside them."

He was about to continue but was stopped when one of his aids ran up to him with a letter in hand. James took the letter and ripped out the note. A few moments later he let out a huff of air clearly irritated. "How long ago?" he whispered.

"It arrived by crow thirty minutes ago sir." The aid replied in a hushed tone.

Blake's ears twitched. 'Crow? that's a strange way of communication.' She thought with narrowed eyes.

Ironwood blinked a few times before handing the aid the letter. "Alright send this through to Winter. Tell her to get it to her sister."

Blake's eyes opened in concern. "What's wrong?"

James's sighed before speaking. "Apparently your leader is just like a younger version of me as well. She's gone after the person responsible for what happened."

AN: hello my friends! I am back from my vacation in Europe and let me tell you something. I like the empty spaces of Montana a lot more than the crowds of people in London and Paris. Beautiful cities but not my cup of joe.

So this is my last one for this arc. I thought about it a lot and just couldn't do much for her. I mean I can't exactly have Juane suddenly show up in Vale and be a badass... Well... you know what I mean. So I decided to have the ever patriotic and egotistical General of white be the "Jaune of this story." Why? Well as I said on other sites I see Jaune becoming a mix between Qrow and General Ironwood. From what we seen in this show Jaune is tactical. His skill may not be the best but he is smart. As clueless as he is. Losing Pyrrha will cause a shift in his head. He'll become more cold, protective and violent. (General Ironwood) But at the same time he will continue to grow as a friend and leader and become the anchor for his friends (Qrow). Since I can see Jaune becoming more tactical and strategic in his dealings with everyone he surrounds himself with who better than the good general to be the voice of reason for an ex-rebel who runs at thee first sign of trouble.

It was fun writing this. So like always leave a like and or review and I will see you later.