5 minutes later...
Red Hood slowly opens her eyes to see a semi-lighted ceiling, she lies there for a few seconds before sluggishly getting up onto her two high heels and brushing up some dust off her red jacket.
Red Hood: "Is this the afterlife?"
Red Hood looks down at her arm and pinches herself to see if she isn't dead. She felt the jolt of pain the moment she pinched her forearm and was in shock that she was much alive and well.
Red Hood: "Okay, I am 100% alive, now where am I?"
She glances around to see where she is currently even with the small lighting coming from a broken window located on the right-hand side of the room she could make it out that she was in a barracks of some sort as bed sheets were on the floor and other items were abruptly dropped by the bed's sides.
Red Hood: "They must have left in a rush?"
Red Hood notices her personal belongings, Wolf Bane and her cassette player lying on one of the beds alongside with few full clips of magazines, she slowly paces towards her belongs not worried about anything, and starts grabbing her belongings with a glance at the magazines she sees they were much different than the usual ones but doesn't seem to care and proceed to place them away not knowing what she has wishes in the past was inbuilt, but doesn't seem to pay any mind to it before placing her cassette player into its compartment. She casually walks towards the door and places her hand on the handle before pushing it forward.
The moment she opened the door she could smell small traces of smoke in the air of the dark corridor, Red Hood peaked her head out of the doorway and looked both ways to see one way was too dark to see anything and the other was slightly lit up by she assumes fire cause from the smoke she smells coming from that direction. But what caught her attention were the bodies and guns lying on the floor lifelessly close by She began to place the pieces together and figured out that this was a military base of some faction that she didn't know of. They were stealthy and stepped out of the room having her sniper at the ready in case someone wanted to give her a warm welcome surprise, she started to walk steadily towards the fire while keeping herself on her toes. With each step, she felt the corridor warmer and the light brighter as she got a good view of the burning crashed transport vehicle.
They examine the bodies since she has enough light to see them. The sight of mangled bodies and the smell of blood slightly put Red Hood off as she had never seen this amount of carnage against the Reptures. She continued searching until she came across the intact body of an armoured soldier and noticed that their helmet lens was still glowing even though the other's lens wasn't, curiosity took control, so she kneeled to the soldier and placed her two fingers on the armour soldier's neck and was shocked to know that this one was alive.
Moments later Jaune's POV:
I open my eyes to see an open grass field with no signs of war or destruction, I continue to look around till I notice a cabin that was built on a hill and recognize it was my family home. Before I could run for it I felt the world around me shake as a strange voice called out for me to wake up, the voice grew louder as the ground began to shake more violently before everything went dark.
I slowly opened my eyes again only to see a blurred red figure, as my vision focused properly I was greeted by someone who looked like they don't belong in our world, her outfit was very exposing and didn't have any form of protection and her chest looked like it could pop out at any given moment and her looks were beyond beautiful than any women on sera or those adult magazines but what stuck out was her metallic horns...Thank god I wore a helmet.
???: "Pheew, I thought you would never wake up there. I am surprised, you are quite light with that gear of yours."
A.N: For reference, place her in the corridor with all her belongings; this is not my art.
"Who are you?... Where is my squad?"
I sluggishly grabbed onto my lancer that was placed right beside me and tried to get up but felt pain all over my body causing me to grunt a bit before getting back up on my own feet. I saw the stranger stand back up and towering over me, I was 5'11 she had got to be 6'9 or 7'2. I am doing my best not to look straight towards her chest as I can hear her softly cough to gain my attention.
???: "I'm Red Hood, a former member of Goddess Squad, and-."
"I never heard of that squad before"
Red Hood: "Seriously? Have you never heard of us before?..."
I could see her glimpsing at one of the Locust's corpses staring it down for a moment before looking at me seriously. I could tell she could have something to say regarding the Locust corpse.
Red Hood: "Well shit....you know a place called the ark?"
"I haven't heard of that as well."
Red Hood: "What is this world name?"
"We are on Sera"
I watch her take a few steps away planting the barrel of her gun onto the ground and contesting about something, seeing her lean her head back and exhale before she looks down at me and has a smug-like grin on her face I think I'm in danger.
Red Hood: "I guess, I am stuck with you until I figure out something. And I didn't catch your name soldier boy~."
NO POV:
Red Hood leans towards Jaune using her free hand as support by placing it on the wall that he is standing in front of, Jaune has a clear view of her cleavages but keeps his wits as he quickly straightens his back and looks straight forward and speaks formally.
Jaune: "Private Jaune Courtmen, new Member of the Laughing Dogs squad!"
Red Hood: "Oh? What a cute name you got there Mr Jaune~ After we get out of this place alive I want to get a proper look at what you look like without that helmet of yours, Deal?"
Jaune is very hesitant at first cause one of his lessons was to keep his helmet on at all times but in his current position he is, he doesn't have a choice, He agrees.
3 minutes later... Red Hood's POV:
I was following Jaune as he paced through the corridor since he had a flashlight it would make sense he would be in front, I find it quite cute how he acts; it does remind me a little bit of Snow for his energetic nature and Saintess 'innocence'. But the main question that still stuck with me was how I got here, I continued to ponder it until I heard Jaune call for me.
Jaune: "You're are not from around this place are you Red Hood?"
"You could said it like that."
Jaune: "How did you get here?"
"You could say *flirty tone* someone has plugged my red ass in my other life~."
Jaune stopped in his track as he turned to look at me while I was grinning like a mad bitch. Even with that little helmet of his, I know that he was flustering like a bright tomato, I would like to play around with him a bit more but I do want to get out of this place, it does give me the creeps.
"Relax, I was only joking with you Jaune. But in my other life, the factor of that part wasn't a joke. The last thing I remember was following a Nikke named Rapi, I probably met my end and ended up in a barrack-.
Jaune: " What a Nikke?"
"....A Nikke is a female human between 18 and 30 volunteers who gave up their entire life to become a Non-human soldier so they can fight in a war against a sentient machine called, Raptures. Early in the war, Nikke's were seen as goddesses among the people and soldiers.
Jaune: "It seems great that people see you as heroes instead of fascist pigs..."
"Why would people see you like that? They should be proud that you are fighting for them."
Jaune: "Before I joined the Cog, our government used the Hammer of Dawn to glass cities that weren't Cog cities in hopes of stopping the Locust from overwhelming us during the early days of the Emergences Day, my father was among the millions who have vanished from the strikes."
"I'm sorry for your loss, Jaune, I didn't know."
Jaune: "It's not your fault, I already accepted the terms that my father is gone...I am just doing my part to fill in his place
{I felt bad for bringing up something that could brandish his old mental wound, I am going to change the subject before things get depressing.}
"I'm surprised you don't seem to freak out about knowing I am not a full human?"
Jaune: "As long you are not pointing a gun at me, I don't care, even what you say about yourself being a living weapon, you are just a normal girl to me even though your outfit is...how do I put this, quite erotic?"
{Shouldn't have pulled the pin off this grenade soldier boy~} "Oh? is there something wrong with my outfit?"
Jaune: "N-no it just, it quite unorthodox to see a combatant wearing something quite exposing instead of proper armour."
"Is someone getting flustered?~"
I close in the space between us while keeping a smug face plastered giving this boy a clear view of my cleavage hoping to get a good reaction out of him, but my fun was short-lived, Jaune just made a quick 180 and proceeded to quickly pace further down the corridor till we reached the same room I came out from. I watched Jaune sluggishly sweep the room and go to the wall that had the broken window and peaks out for a bit looking out for something seeing the rain had gotten worse, he moved his head away from the window and turned his attention to me while I just strolled in the room.
Jaune: "Who wants to go first?"
No POV Again:
Red Hood took a few steps away from the window before starting to dash towards the broken window and leaping through it, breaking the remaining glass and flying a couple of meters before doing a tactical landing on the wet concrete floor facing Jaune. Waiting for him to hop or climb out of the window, she saw his Lancer being tossed out first and landed a few steps away from Red Hood before Jaune was seen trying to copy her way but landed face first onto the ground making an audible oof noise upon impact. Red Hood softly shook her head before picking up Jaune's gun then casually walked up to the downed Gear stopping in front of him and watching him slowly get back onto his two feet, at the same time retrieving his Lancer from Red Hood's hand, Red Hood notices one of the Lens on Jaune helmet viewport was badly cracked she tries to ask him if he was okay, he hurries past her ignoring what she said and begins to head towards the front entrance's courtyard not wanting to waste any more time in hopes his squad was alive. After a moment Red Hood begins to follow right behind him while having her Wolf Bane ready.
After 10 seconds of constant running, Jaune was close to reaching the front entrance courtyard hoping his team were okay. When he turned the corner to face the courtyard, his heart sank, the bodies of both Locusts were scattered around what was left of his squad. Red Hood slowly walks up to stand silently to see the carnage from what she could assume was Jaune's team's final stand against the lizard-looking people.
Jaune: "No.."
Jaune approaches the bodies of his squadmates not caring that he could be picked off by snipers or ambushed by a Locust faking being dead. He notices the remains of a female Gear who was mutilated and beaten badly, Jaune recognises the body is Becky. He continued to search for survivors while his hopes slowly died out with each second, he came across another body that had its guts mauled by something and an arm clinging onto blood-covered GZ18 Markza, Jaune knew that both remains were Gust and Buck. Jaune frantically looks around for Commander as he continues to search for them through the bodies of the Locust he suddenly hears someone calling out for him.
Jaune: "Commander Alex where are you!"
Alex: "Behind you rookie.."
Jaune looks at the crash Raven to see the Commander resting his back on it while clutching onto his side with his helmet and Boltok rested by his side. Jaune hurries to the Commander's side while Red Hood tails him she glances at the bodies of Jaune's squad and does not utter a word before glancing at Jaune and his leader.
Jaune: "Can you get up sir?."
Alex: "You think I can walk like this *Coughs*"
Alex moved his blood-covered hand away from his waist to show Jaune that bits of his guts were exposed and were bleeding a lot before placing his hand back on the wound to prevent his guts from escaping, Jaune was close to running off to find some first aid for treating Alex's wound but was stopped by Alex.
Alex: "There is no point, I'm not going to make it by the time you come back...or evac arrives, face it, I'm a goner."
Jaune: "Don't say that sir, we can make it."
Alex knows the Rookie was naive to face the fact that his internals was fucked and he was bleeding out very badly only thing he could do was to delay it, he glances over to Red Hood and notices how she is much different to anyone he met and was suspicious about her as she wasn't a COG and her looks including her height didn't much a Stranded.
Alex: "Who is she?"
Red Hood: "His 'Girlfriend'."
Jaune: "N-no! She just an acquaintance!"
Alex chuckled senselessly seeing that out of the male members of the squad, the rookie bagged a beautiful lady who stood a couple of steps away from himself and Jaune. His laughter was short as he began to cough up a handful amount of blood onto his upper pants before resting his back on the crash Raven.
Alex: "...I have one last order for you Rookie...before I kick the bucket"
Alex used his blood-covered hand to grab the Boltok by the barrel and handed it to Jaune then placing his hand back onto his exposed wound and utilised his other hand to grab onto his helmet
Alex: "Place your cheap helmet away and give me your hands ..."
Jaune places the Boltok down on its side before reaching for his helmet and slowly taking it off, after fully taking the helmet off and placing it by his side and placing his hands in front of his Commander, Red Hood gets a good view of the young man's face with a fine cut chestnut brown hair, she notices tears are threatening to fall from the corner of his eyes as Alex slowly places his helmet in his hands; tears begin to stream down Jaune face. He knew what would happen next.
Alex: "Congratulations on your field promotion, you're the Commander....of this squad...., now.. go....win this war for...us...Jaune."
Upon Alex uttering his final words his hands give out and slowly flopping onto the ground as his head slumps forward lifelessly. she watches him stay there for a moment, putting on the helmet, bringing out his snub pistol, and then placing it on his fallen comrade's lap before he silently grabs the Boltok and holsters it on his side. Jaune takes a dog tag of some sort from his fallen Commander's corpse before he gets up and goes to the remains of his squad most of their tags. Even though he had only known them for a week, he viewed them as his second family on the frontlines. Red Hood bows slightly to pay her respect to the fallen before she turns around and quietly approaches Jaune hearing him talking to someone while having his finger on the side of his helmet.
Jaune: "Are you there Control..."
Control: "This is control what is your situation, Commander Alex-."
Jaune: "It Jaune, Control.."
Control: "Jaune? Why are you on Alex comms and where is Commander Alex?"
Jaune: "We got ambushed...I...I'm the only one left, Commander Alex promoted me to Commander before he bled out."
Control: "Sorry for what happened to your squad Pri- Commander Jaune, a King Raven is en route to your location, ETA 10 minutes just stay put till it arrives."
Jaune: "Understood...Over and out."
Jaune moved his hand away from the helmet side and let it fall to his side freely and stood there not saying a word but just staring at the ground as the rain started to pour heavily onto the both of them; she marched up to Jaune softly takes his hand and takes him under a watch tower catwalk that can provide them with a small shelter from the rain till it calms down. Red Hood looks down at the Gears as he slowly sits down on the semi-dried ground, placing his lancer next to him and silently remaining there, Red Hood paces in front of Jaune before she crouches down to his eye level slowly placing her Bane Wolf onto the ground before raises her hand to each side of Jaune's helmet before she gently takes off, seeing him was on the verge of tears but doing his best not to cry.
Jaune didn't want to cry because he didn't want to alert the Locusts to their position but he also couldn't let Red Hood see him being like this, he was meant to be a soldier, who didn't shed a single tear for the fallen or coward in fear from the enemy, he wanted to be like his father who got sent off to fight the early days of E-day and disappear like every other soul from the Hammer of Dawn counterstrikes.
Red Hood: " Look at me, soldier boy."
Jaune glimpses up to look at Red Hood and sees her expression filled with sympathy and sorrow instead of her flirty and confident self; before speaking a single word, he suddenly gets yanked from his spot and pulled into a warm embrace by her. He could feel the slight warmth from her body even though her skin was cold the warmth was still there, but what made him feel slightly awkward and embarrassed was getting a face full of Red Hood cleavage. (A.N: Lucky fuck.)
Jaune: (Muffled) "W-what are you doing-"
Red Hood: "Your fallen comrades don't want you to mourn for their death, let be the shoulder for you to cry on."
Jaune remained silently for a moment seeming hesitant at first, but tears began to overwhelm him before he slowly accepted her offer and started to weep over the passing of all of his fallen comrades, Red Hood felt Jaune's arms cling to her waist but she understood how Jaune felt, she had seen this far too many times among the humans soldiers during her time in the field of battle against the raptures during the early days of the invasion. She felt bad but the only thing she could do was comfort him, she didn't mind doing it after all this was her duty as a Nikke and proud member of the Goddess Squad, to bring hope to humanity and Jaune.
Red Hood: "Come on Jaune, let me help you give your comrades a proper burial."
10 minutes later:... Delta squad:
As the Raven traversed through the storming skies the rain was pouring heavily upon the chassis within the King Raven passenger compartment were 4 men waiting to arrive at the drop set and rescue the survivors, Marcus Fenix, Dominic Santiago, Damon Baird, and Augustus Cole.
Baird: "I can't believe we were the ones to be sent to rescue a squad, how are we sure if they are still alive Marcus and what makes this squad more important?."
Marcus: "Anya got transmission 13 minutes ago from the squad that was sent to investigate an outpost fort that went dark, this squad was one of the special ops that was assigned.
Cole: "Can't think negatively all the time Baird we got fellow gears to save!"
Baird: "Yeah, the only thing we are going to find is bodies of dead Gears and grubs."
Dom ignored the argument as he focused on a weathered old photo of him and his beloved wife with the King Raven interior lighting, hoping to have her back into his arms once more but his expression grew sour. He suddenly snapped out of his trances as he felt someone on his left shaking his shoulder, Dom glanced over his shoulder to see the hand belonging to Marcus.
Marcus: "You doing okay Dom?"
Dom slowly placed the photo into one of his pockets before grabbing his Lancer and straightening his posture.
Dom: "Yeah, I will be okay Marcus."
Cole: "Hey Dom, can you make our little Baird stop being a sad puppy."
Baird: "Shut up Cole."
Dom quietly chuckles before quickly thinking of getting Baird to shut up until they arrive.
Dom: "Tell you what Baird let's make a bet, if we find one alive survivor there, you pay me 20 bucks."
Baird: "If not, you are doing toilet duty for a week, with a toothbrush.
Dom: "You're on."
Dom nods his head to agree with the terms before easing up a bit and glancing out of the viewport of the doors to see the rain strangely clear up as the sun pierces the clouds onto the outpost where the communications from the squad came from, Dom was puzzled about it the unusual weather but he snaps his attention to the speakers to hear the pilot speaking to the team.
Pilot: "I got eyes on the LZ, Seargent, but you may want to see this. The Storm is letting up."
Marcus glances at his team as they except for Dom do the same seeing they are slightly confused as well, he slowly gets up and paces towards the door before grabbing onto the handle and pulling it to the side, letting the cold fresh air flow into the compartment he glances at the LZ seeing the sunlight beams over the two figures stood in front of four dirt mounds with four guns placed upwards in front each mound. Marcus stood by the door entrance waiting for the King Raven to land, as the King Raven flew around before fully landing on an open spot.
Marcus: "Let go Delta squad."
After giving the order Marcus dismounted the King Raven before the others slowly followed behind him, they glanced at the locust's remains ranging from wretches to boomers before they lay their eyes on the tall red figure that stood by a gear side while having their arms around them seem not paying any attention to the team. Marcus turns his head to look at Dom and sees him gesture for him to do it as the others are watching their surroundings for surprise attacks, Marcus shakes his head before turning his head back to the pair and pacing his way towards them from the sound of his footsteps and the clattering of his armour got both of pair attention making them turn to look at him.
Marcus: "I assume you were the one who called for a cab?"
Jaune: "Yes sir."
Marcus: "What's your name, kid"
Jaune: "Jaune, sir."
Marcus turns his gaze at Red Hood questioning who she is and her origins as she looks different from anyone he has met before, Red Hood can see Marcus' scar on his cheek while his sharp gaze reminds her of someone she used to know in her past, Scarlet.
Marcus: " Is there something on my face Ma'am"
Red Hood: "Hm? Oh, no your face is okay; I just spaced out briefly. I guess you and your buddies are the evac crew my 'boyfriend' called in?"
Red Hood grinned a bit as she felt a light jab on her right arm she knew it was Jaune cause he was embarrassed about it and she could see Dom who stood behind Marcus was laughing his ass off while others kept an eye out. Jaune slowly turns around to the graves of his fallen comrades again as he mumbles a few words before he salutes to the makeshift graves and takes his leave quietly heading towards King Raven, Marcus sees Jaune walk past him clinging onto his new helmet and his lancer before seeing Red Hood followed by Jaune side. Marcus glanced at the graves before tailing the pair alongside Dom and the others.
As each member took their seat in the King Raven, Red Hood saw how there weren't many seats for all of them as there was one seat left, she and Jaune were the only ones who were not seated.
Red Hood: "You take it Jaune."
Jaune: "What about you Red-"
Red Hood: "I got a good idea, trust me."
Jaune was uncertain for a bit but he took the seat next to Cole, before he could ask Red Hood what her idea was, she just flopped onto his lap as Jaune let out an audible oof noise.
Red Hood: "Hold up."
She fiddled around a bit to get comfortable on Jaune's lap, everyone on board looked at Jaune seeing his face as red as a tomato as she was grinding on the poor gear lap. Once Red Hood found a comfortable spot to be in she leaned her back up against Jaune, Dom glanced at Baird with a smug smile, and to Baird's dismay, he knew what Dom would say.
Dom: "Looks like someone owes me 20 bucks."
Baird: "Fine, take my money asshole."
Dom looks at Baird smugly as he watches Baird go through his pockets before grabbing two ten-dollar notes Marcus snatches the money out of Baird's hand and places it into his pocket.
Marcus: "I will be taking that."
Dom: "Damn"
Delta squad and the other two start to feel the King Raven initiate its ascension in the air, leaving the ruined outpost behind and flying among the clouds.
9 minutes later:
On the way back to the city everyone in the passenger compartment remains quiet, Cole senses the awkwardness in the air among the group, and he quickly decides to break the silence.
Cole: "Lovely weather we're having miss?"
Red Hood: "Just call me Red Hood."
Cole: "Nice to meet you Red, I'm Augustus Cole, but my friends call me Cole"
Cole offers his hand to shake Red Hood's hand, She smiles happily before she accepts the handshake Jaune slowly snaps out of it and turns to look at Cole with a surprised look as he recognises the name.
Jaune: "You're the Thrash-ball Star Cole Train?"
Cole: "That right baby."
Jaune: "I'm your huge fan sir!"
Cole: "If I had a pen on me right now, I would have given you an autograph but have this."
Cole handed Jaune an autograph signed playing card of himself and happily chuckled, seeing the saddened gear cheered up to meet their favourite icon Thrash-ball player and receiving something made his day, in the corner of Cole's eyes he could see Baird grimace daggers at Red Hood as his grip tightened on his Lancer not showing any form of trust towards her. Red Hood notices his hostility and plans to have fun with this.
Red Hood: "Hey Jaune"
Jaune: "Y-yeah?-!"
Jaune wasn't able to finish his sentence Red Hood leaned her head back and gave him a peck on the cheek as she turned to look at Baird and grinned at him seeing he was fuming up, Jaune.EXE had stopped working trying to process what happened, Cole's whistle and cheered the lad on as he was full support of those two despite they aren't in a relationship yet, this caused Baird fuse goes off as a tick mark could be seen on his head.
Baird: "OKAY! Enough with the lovely dove bull crap!"
Red Hood: "Awww does the little man want some of my affections~."
The other two watch this unfold Dom ponders if he should stop this or let it happen as for Marcus, he doesn't seem to care what is going on as he just stares at the two with a stern look.
Dom: "...Should we stop this before it could get out of hand, Marcus?"
Marcus: "It would be best to let it play out."
Dom seemed concerned about it but agreed as he watched Red Hood teasing Baird while she leaned more onto Jaune and she used him like a pillow to rest on.
Baird: "Sorry for being an elephant but who are you really 'Red Hood'? You don't look like a UIR soldier, Stranded or a Cog."
Red Hood: "To all your questions in one go, I'm not from this world."
Everyone except Jaune gave her a confused look before Dom started to speak, wanting to clarify something.
Dom: "Mean like you're from space."
Red Hood: "Nope, more like a different dimension."
Dom: "Is that place much better than ours, you know peaceful and not worry about things bursting out of the ground?"
Red Hood: "Nope, you lot have it better than the folks from my world, they were forced to live in a giant underground bunker called The Ark as our foes were giant sentient machines that killed indiscriminately and only weapons like mine can put them down fully."
Dom felt bad for questioning it as he would apologise for it the King Raven began to bounce around a bit as sirens fadely roared into the air as Pilot spoke to the team through the intercom.
Pilot: "I am getting multiple SOS calls coming from the medical centre sir!"
Marcus: "Get us close to the Hospital pilot!"
Pilot: "The air space is hot but I will try sir!"
Red Hood slowly gets up from her 'comfortable' seat having her Wolf Bane ready as she paces towards the door not before kicking that bitch off its hinges seeing a section of the city was under attack, she took a long deep breath and calmly exhales as she remembers the old days with Goddess squad. She turned her head to look over her shoulder and spoke calmly and confidently.
Red Hood: "Make sure you boys protect my cute Commander for me."
After saying her piece she leapt out of King Raven, Jaune quickly got out of his seat trying to 'save her' but he staggered out of the King Raven's accidentally by tripping on his own Lancer. The last thing Delta squad could hear was him saying oh shit before a 'manly' scream fades in.
Dom: "Do we... go get him?"
Cole: "He will be fine...I think."
Red Hood was free-falling toward the firefight located far off the main location one of many firefights going on, she closed her eyes for a moment remembering the same moment she was in with Snow White during their assault on the space elevator. She wished to relive that moment with her squad again, but she understood that what she was asking for was impossible, that didn't stop her from reliving that moment, she aimed her Wolf Bane at the locust horde and started blasting away, with each shot leaves destruction upon her foe she was using her special ability to demolish the Locust ranks.
In a state of confusion and disarray, the Locust attack forces began to retreat due to sustaining massive casualties from the first barrages, she swiftly landed on a building and dashed towards the ledge of the building to see the soldiers that wore the same armour as Jaune looked at her with awe as if an angel heed their calls for help and had joined the fray. She couldn't help but smile seeing that people looked at her with newfound hope many of them cheered for her, She gave them a two-finger salute before she started to tail the soldiers as they began their counteroffences, feeling her old roots kicking in as the soldiers began to give chase to the retreating Locust forces.
30 seconds after the fall:
Jaune continued to scream til making a 'soft' landing on a pile of full trash bags as an audible oof was heard, he lay there for a moment before slowly getting up from his improvised crash mat while being slightly covered in rubbish. Seeing that he isn't close to Red Hood but located in an alleyway, he glances down to see rats quickly flee from their buffets into a place where they can hide.
Jaune: "Okay Jaune, you're separated from Red Hood and in the middle of a warzone, what Commander do in this situation."
He tries to reach for his Lancer that would be located on his back but he cannot feel anything there, he realises that he left it on the King Raven as he fell out of it, so he quickly goes for his Boltok that was holstered in by his right thigh and check the cylinder to see how much bullets were in it.
Jaune: "6 shots...okay, that should be fine til I can find a new gun-."
He suddenly heard sounds of grunts and soft hisses coming from behind him, he sharply turned to see nothing was standing there but the noise came from that direction. He wants to run the other way but his guts are telling him to investigate the noises knowing that it could be a group of locust attack squad or a Boomer squad, he quickly makes his way towards the noise to investigate it and hopes he will survive. Pacing slowly around the corner of the alleyway he could see eight Locusts gathering a group of humans of various ages, gender and status together and escorting them somewhere. He finds it strange, he knows that they will kill any human, young or old without any mercy but capturing wasn't normal behaviour for them and he going to get to the bottom of this. He quietly approaches a large garbage box as it is the closest one to the grubs group, he silently peeks out of his spot to see he has an element of surprise on them but he has one issue, there were eight of them and he only got six shots.
He quickly thinks about how to save the civilians without becoming punctuated cheese. he glanced around the place and saw how there were conveniently placed explosive barrels by the way they were heading. He waited for the right moment to come as the 3 locusts in front were standing right next to them, he quickly got out of cover and took aim at the barrels this caught the Locust that stood by the prisoner's sides before they could bear arms Jaune pulled the trigger forgetting that a boltok had a much powerful kick then a snub, causing him to fall onto his ass from the recoil, this made the Locust chuckle at Jaune misfortunate but they didn't realise the bullet struck the barrels that were next to the three Locusts, causing an explosion killing the locust at the front while the walls of a building that was next to the barrels to collapsed onto other 3 locust crushing them in progress, the smoke from the debris gave the hostages enough time to make a run for cover as Jaune aimed down sights again but he wasn't able to see where the locust was but decided to take a shot at it and fire into the smoke. That fucker made a Rango shot, his bullet ricocheted off a badly damaged trash bin before it ricocheted again off a drainage pipe and popped the 2 Locust heads as their lifeless bodies flop onto the ground.
As the smoke settles the civilians peek their heads out of cover to see a single Gear take down a group of eight Locust with ease with a Boltok, they watch him slowly get up with his gun in hand and check for any more stragglers before turning his attention to the civilian.
Jaune: "You guys can come out now."
They were hesitant at that moment knowing there was a chance of them dying from a surprise attack but the child of the group got out of their mother's grip and rushed over to the Gear with hope in their eyes knowing that they were saved. Jaune watched the kid dashing towards him and started to cling to his leg while looking at him seeming not to be bothered by the small of trash on his gear a bit.
Child: "Thank you for saving us, mister!"
Jaune: "I'm just doing my duty kid."
Jaune felt slightly awkward about this interaction but he didn't want to come off rude to the kid more civilians began to come out of hiding and slowly approached Jaune as the mother of the child rushed toward the kid and pried them off Jaune's leg before returning with the group.
Adult Male: "Are you going to get us to safety, sir?"
Elder Civilian: "What are we going to do?"
They all looked at him hoping he could protect them from the locust horde, Jaune could see the desperation in the adults' and elders' eyes seeking his protection and guidance to safety, he felt the burden piling onto his shoulders as he was only one man and there were at least 19 civilians and half of them couldn't fight due to they were old or don't know how to wield a gun properly, Jaune knew that abandoning them wasn't an option. He slowly approaches one of the Locust corpses and takes their blood-covered HammerBurst cocking it before glancing over to the group.
Jaune: "Just stay close and keep your heads down, everything is going to be okay."
Jaune spoke quietly to the group and seeing them all nod in agreement, he began making his way past the group to head the other way that was blocked by debris keeping his temporary gun at the ready while keeping up a semi-speed pace to make sure that no one got left behind, the civilians began to follow behind him watching every corners and roofs for any ambushes or snipers. Unknowing to Jaune he was guiding lost love back home.
Jacinto Medical Centre:
Both sides sustained casualties as the Cog slightly struggled to hold the horde off as the Locust lay siege to the hospital. Still, with the help from the Delta squad, the Gears slowly pushed the Locust out of the facility and into the open streets, the firefight continued not long before Marcus led the counterattack with his squad and many Gears who could still fight and walk, the fight grew more tense as Cogs and Locust takes pot shots at and throwing bola grenades in attempts to smoke out the other side out. Dom was the furthest from the Cog forces picking off any advancing Locust horde, he glanced to his side and saw one of the Locusts that wielded a Lancer charge towards him, he realised the Locust was too close for him to shoot his Lancer, He quickly revved his Lancer chainsaw and got into a battle of strength as both Dom and the Locust interlocked their Lancer chainsaw against one and the other. Many sparks fly as metal clashes with metal, Dom is slowly losing the fight against the locust he can see the hideous creature grin with its lipless mouth as its chain blade closes in towards Dom.
Marcus: "Dom!"
Marcus quickly turns his attention to both the Locust and Dom before he can aim his Lancer at the Locust, a loud bang is heard before the head of the Locust pops into a red mist as the body falls to its side, Dom quickly takes cover by Marcus taking a moment to catch his breath. Marcus looks where that comes from to see a familiar red entity standing on a rooftop behind the locust line.
Dom: "Thanks for the save, Marcus."
Marcus: "Save that thanks for them."
Dom peeked out of cover seeing the same figure standing on one of the rooftops of the building, he glanced back to the Locust and could see more locust drones coming their way but something was off about them the looks on their faces had fear instead of having the usual hostile intent as if they were running away from something. The defenders could hear the sound of Lancer fire coming from behind their foes as war cried out the sound the gunfire as a whole company of Gears came into view with something that they never thought to have again, newfound hope, the Locust scrambles to split their forces up to fight in both fronts but groups were picked off by the red figure as the new Cog Reinforcements charge into the fray picking off any stragglers that try to close in the gaps of their line. Marcus saw the Cog he fought alongside begin to vault over their covers and join their fellow Cog in their counter-attack. Dom watched in amazement how their reinforcement fought much harder than the other gears as the red figure picked off the locust lines to make an opening for her newfound comrades to exploit and strike at the enemy's weak points.
After a good 5 minutes, the Cog managed to push back the last of the Locust attack force, Many medics began to carry the wounded defenders back to the hospital and Marcus watched many Gears cheer, and clap as Red Hood waved to them all with her free hand, she casually approaches Marcus and Dom with a grin on her face but it suddenly drops it as she notices Jaune wasn't with them or anywhere close by.
Red Hood: "Where is my Commander?"
Dom gave Marcus a 'should we tell her looked', Marcus glanced back at him and nudged his head to give him a go-ahead.
Dom: "He may have tried saving you from 'falling' out of the Raven but tripped on his lancer and... fell out of the Raven.."
Red Hood blankly stares at Dom with a shocked expression, Marcus can see her grip tighten around her gun as she seems to tighten slowly Marcus doesn't seem to be bothered about the tension that is in the air.
Jaune: "Hey Guys."
Red Hood and the other two turn their glances to see Jaune standing in front of 19 non-combatants while holding onto one of the Locust's firearms, Dom and Marcus were quite shocked that he survived the fall, Red Hood made a mad dashed towards him without saying another word to either Dom or Marcus, as they watched her fastly approach Jaune while the civilians slowly moved toward Jaunes side getting the hint of what going to happen next, and they were right on the money. They watch a 6'9 or 7'2 goddess fucking footy tackles Jaune to the ground with a loud audible and metallic clank could be heard they turn their heads to see Red Hood sitting on top of Jaune having her back turned to everyone.
Red Hood: "I heard that you tried to save me from falling out of that helicopter, is that true?~"
She slowly took his helmet off wanting to look at him in the eyes instead of his helmet's lifeless blue lens. Jaune felt very nervous not cause he smelled like literal trash but because Red Hood was sitting right on top of his crotch while being in an awkward position with people watching them.
Jaune: "Y-yeah but I tripped on my Lancer and fell out, landed on a pile of trash and-"
Before Jaune could fully explain what had happened, Red Hood placed her hands on the side of his face before she leaned in and kissed him, not caring for the hint of trash smell on him or be watched by everyone, but she wanted to give him a little reward for his efforts trying to save her even though she was fine. Still, she felt happy that what he said about seeing her as a normal girl was true. Jaune face flared up in red as he looked shocked trying to process everything while he got a feeling that he was going to die by 'friendly' fire from his fellow gears as he could see most of them giving him the death glare in the corner of his eye. this lasted for a few more seconds before Red Hood separated their lips from Jaune as she sat herself up on his Jaune hips and gave him a mischiefs grin.
Jaune quickly got his bearings after his brain finished processing what the fuck just happened not long after he heard Cole cheering him on as he and Baird just arrived at the scene.
Cole: "I could already hear the wedding bells ringing for the love birds!"
Cole claps his hand while howling in laughter as Red Hood swiftly gets off Jaunes and offers her hand to Jaune to help him back onto his feet, he slowly takes her hand as he is quickly yanked back up to his feet in one quick pull from Red Hood. Jaune quietly looked down in embarrassment knowing that Red Hood was enjoying this moment seeing him being like this. Both suddenly heard an outcry from a familiar voice behind them.
Dom: "Maria!"
Both Jaune and Red Hood turn their attention towards the source of the yell to see Dom embracing a lady named Maria, soft weeps are heard from them both as Maria and Dom start to embrace each other with warmth, love and longing missing being in each other arms. Jaune could see Maria slowly pull away from Dom and start to speak to him about what happened, both Jaune and Red Hood couldn't hear what they were saying but they saw Dom let go of his wife before he processed to run towards Jaune and gave the poor lad a big hug.
Dom: "Thank you for bringing my wife back home man!" I thought I had lost her forever!."
Jaune had two things to worry about, his bones going to break if people kept tackling him like this and the fact that he getting more attention could get him killed, he slowly gave Dom gentle pats on his back, a soft sniff from Dom could be heard Jaune knowing he was getting emotion about having someone they loved back in their life, they remained like this for a few seconds before Dom pulled away from Jaune getting his bearings and whip some tears off his face.
Dom: "I'm in your debt, Jaune, I won't forget what you have done today"
Jaune tries to protest but gets interrupted by a black King Raven flying by and begins to make it landing upon a clear opening, Red Hood wonders what it is but Marcus and the others know that King Raven belongs to the Chairman and his personnel guards.
Marcus: "This is about to be good."
Red Hood watches it land and sees the door swing open as soldiers in black armour hop out of it before a middle-aged military officer follows behind the two as they pace towards her before stopping a few feet away from her as the officer slowly steps in front of the guards.
????: "I assume you're the Goddess in Red the reports I got from Control,
Red Hood chuckled a bit before she answered the question.
Red Hood: "It would depend on who asking."
????: "I'm Chairman Prescott, acting leader of the Coalitions,"
Red Hood: "I'm guessing you're not here to get a good view of this hot bod, Chairman."
She gestured towards her body after making the sarcastic joke towards the Chairmen, everyone who was there got a good chuckle out as could tell she had pressed on some of his buttons but he did his best to mask his annoyance with his fake grateful/pleading expression that Red Hood ain't falling for.
Prescott: "I would have given you a medal for your heroic deeds but at the current time we are facing, this attack won't be the last more will come and attack this city, our species species depends on this city. I'm asking you to aid us and fight these monsters not for the sake of the Coalition but for the innocent and the young."
Red Hood glances around and sees the people watching observing this moment seeing what is going to be her choice, she knows he only wants her to fight for their cause, so they can have her capabilities and weapons. But she knew these people needed a light of hope and declining it would be against the reason she became a Nikke. She pretends to think very hard before snapping her finger which got Prescott's attention.
Red Hood: "I will aid you in your fight, but! Under 2 conditions."
Prescott rose a brow and asked.
Red Hood: "Condition one, I'm staying in my clothes, no offence to your armour or uniform but it doesn't suit me that well."
Prescott: "That can be arranged and what is your second condition?
Red Hood: "If I'm going to be a part of a squad I want soldier boy to be my commander and I will only receive orders from him~"
Red Hood wraps her arm around Jaune before pulling him towards her side, she smirks knowing that she has Prescott in a tight spot, he can't risk losing their ace card but at the same time, he can't risk letting her run freely without proper control. He bit the bullet and spoke again as he placed up his facade to cover his spite toward Red Hood.
Prescott: "From this day forth, Jaune you will be in command of our hero, I expect many great things from your reports."
Jaune already knew his fate was sealed after today and hoped to god that he going to live through all this and to the end of the war.
Jaune: "what did I get myself into."
Author: Sorry, for the wait troopers I got sidetracked with life and I have started to work on a few animation projects from one of the random skits I made, so yeah all projects are still green to work on.