The flight from Vale to Atlas was uneventful. Apart from a minor reroute due to weather, nothing happened out of the ordinary. For several hours Team LSTRDLN experienced a rare moment where there was nothing to do. No Grimm to fight, no homework to complete, they weren't even allowed to retrieve their weapons from their bags to clean them. The flight became something of a short vacation for the team. A vacation that was interrupted when it was time to get their luggage.
The moment the doors opened Lunare dashed into the terminal. He had been at the door from the moment they came to a stop. His experience had been less of a vacation than it had for his teammates. Something had seemed to be bothering him the whole flight, and only seemed to worsen as they neared Atlas. The rest of his team went through customs expecting him to show up any moment. He didn't. In fact, they might have missed him entirely had Schatten not needed to tie his boots
Schatten hated to travel. These days the Faunus were scrutinized more than ever before. Customs agents saw a White Fang member behind every tail, and Atlas was one of the worst about it. While security let the rest of team LSTRDLN through, Schatten was pulled aside and subjected to a thorough strip search. As soon as they were done, they shoved Schatten through the checkpoint, his boots and coat in his arms. Grumbling, he stormed over to a row of chairs set near a window. He dropped his backpack into the seat next to him and laced his boots up. When he finished he leaned back against the glass and closed his eyes. As much as he tried he couldn't blame the agents, not totally at any rate. There weren't many things he hated more than what the White Fang was doing to the Faunus. They couldn't come out on top from their war with mankind. It was only a matter of time before they were wiped out, but not before setting Faunus rights back a century.
The sound of crates crashing against the tarmac pulled Schatten from his musings. Lunare was arguing by the airship with several men down on the tarmac. With one hand he gestured at the three men, the other tucked away in his jacket. Right where he kept Nieh Mehr.
Schatten swore under his breath and went to find his team. They were in a loose circle, talking amongst themselves. They looked up as Schatten approached and beckoned him to come closer.
"Guys, I found Lunare," Schatten said when he arrived.
"Did he get stopped at security again?" Ryler asked. "I thought the guy back in Vale would have a heart attack when he had Lunare empty his pockets."
"He didn't get through security," Schatten said. "He never left the tarmac."
Dakota broke from the group and went over to the window where Schatten had tied his shoes. Moments later the metal detector wailed as he forced his way onto the other side of the checkpoint. No security man could stop Dakota, or the other five members of Team LSTRDLN that followed. They gave chase, but keeping up was impossible. The six students were soon on the tarmac and sprinting toward their leader, who by now had Nieh Mehr out and truly looked like he was about to open fire.
"And another thing, if there's so much as one scratch on her surface I'll have you buffing them out for hours!" Lunare said. He raised his weapon, and Schatten activated his jump jets to reach his friend before he could fire. He raised Nieh Mehr away from the unfortunate baggage handlers, though no shots came out.
"What the hell are you doing Lunare, you trying to get us arrested?" Schatten asked.
"Ah Schatten, good you're here. Your claws are better suited to opening crates anyways," Lunare said. He seemed oblivious to the exclamation his friend had made and made a gesture toward Scrametal's crate. The crate had an arrow pointed the direction was supposed to be the top, along with a line of text in case the arrow needed further explaining. Both the arrow and the text were upside down.
"Lunare, Scrapmetal has titanium limbs and a body like a tank," Schatten said. "I don't think it's hurt."
"It is not the body I fear for, but the arc cannon," Lunare said. "If you look closely, you may notice how she was handled."
"dun, epis, siut," Lewis read aloud. "That's a wacky way to say this side up Lunare,"
"Don't be an idiot Lewis," Dakota said, "you'll put these dumbasses out of a job."
The handlers bristled with anger. "You all need to leave immediately," one of them said, eager to change the subject. "You can submit a complaint with the airline if your baggage was damaged."
Shatten caught Lunare lowering Nieh Mehr in the handler's direction and pushed it back up. "Dakota, Nick, open her up," he said. He fished a key from Lunare's coat pocket and tossed it their way. Dakota caught it in midair and unlocked a padlock on one side.
"You can't do that, it's against regulation!" the handler protested.
"Yeah well, too bad," Dakota said. He tossed the key to Nick who used it on a similar padlock on the other side. They stepped backwards as the box collapsed out from itself. Scrapmetal sat upside down, intact and unharmed. The knees were in on the body and had lifted the body high enough to protect the cannon.
"It's okay Lunare, see?" Schatten said. "No harm done."
Lunare stowed Nieh Mehr and examined his prized ride. "I'll have to run a complete diagnostic on the system, does anyone by chance have an aux cord on hand?"
"Y'all might consider doing that later," Nick said. "I think we might be having company."
From the terminal poured security guards. All had weapons, and all were charging the group.
"Get us out of here Lunare," Schatten demanded.
"Nah, let 'em come," Dakota said while removing Reaper's Reach from his bag. "I could use a warmup before we go hunting."
"Dakota!" Tiberius admonished while Lunare crawled into the driver's seat. "We are fighting for Atlas, not against them."
Dakota grumbled, but lowered his weapons.
Scrapmetal's massive engine roared to life as Lunare started the engine. The legs unfolded and dug into the ground. In one swift motion the vehicle lifted itself up on one pair of legs and rolled right-side up. Team LSTRDLN clambered into and onboard while their leader revved the engines. The handlers yelled for them to stop, but Lunare gave them a rude gesture that Dakota and Schatten repeated. Scrapmetal roared and sped through the rows of airships, headed for the fence.
Unfortunately for Team LSTRDLN, escaping the authorities in Atlas proved impossible. Despite Lunare's best efforts to elude pursuit they were quickly cornered outside the airport and arrested. Anticipating a long interrogation and an even longer prison sentence, they shattered Schatten's expectations by releasing him soon after. Having a teammate with Schnee lawyers on call had its benefits at times.
Even though they'd been freed, they had lost valuable time. Instead of a couple hours to arrive at the briefing they burst in to the briefing room two minutes late. The room was packed with Huntsmen teams. All were from Atlas, all were in uniform, and all turned to watch team LSTRDLN's entrance. Most of the seats were already taken, leaving scattered spots the only available spots. A brief glance amongst themselves and team LSTRDLN split up. Schatten found himself squashed next to Lunare near the back in the only pair of free seats next to each other. He shifted in the hard folding chair to get comfortable, and he felt a sharp jab in his side.
"You're late," a voice said behind him.
Schatten turned to face his accuser, and saw that they all held the same irritated expression. Before he could investigate further, a hush fell over the room. Schatten turned back around and saw that an older student had taken to the podium. He waited until the room had completely quieted before speaking.
"Now that we've all arrived, we can begin the briefing. As you all may have noticed the unfamiliar faces. We have a team from Beacon Academy on special assignment from their headmaster. I've been assured of their capabilities and trust they'll perform at the levels expected of them. Now; on to the sector assignments."
As the student talked on Schatten studied his face. There was something familiar about him. He had definitely seen the face before. Its reappearance gave no further clues, except for a feeling of dislike toward him. Whenever they had met, it had not been a friendly encounter.
"That, is Greeve Cobel. We fought on the highway," Lunare whispered.
The memory flooded back to Schatten and he started in his seat. "That's him?" he asked. "Then that means,"
"Stage right. Behind the panther and the man in yellow."
Schatten followed Lunare's instructions and saw a flash of red hair sticking out between the shoulders of the two Huntsmen. It had been over six months and the hair was a different cut, but Schatten recognized his friend like he'd left yesterday.
"Do you think the others see him?" Schatten asked.
"Dakota and Tiberius have already recognized the speaker, it's only logical they know he's here. They might not have seen him however, he stepped behind shortly after we arrived."
"He's seen us then. Why'd he hide?"
Lunare didn't have a chance to speak before Greeve Cobel raised his voice and spoke directly to the duo. "Is there something you would like to add to the discussion, Mister," he petered off, recognition dawning on his face.
"Lunare Nacht sir," Lunare answered. "My teammate and I were wondering why the plan of attack calls for an oh seven thirty insertion. It would be better to enter earlier in the morning when certain Grimm, are moving between patrolling and resting. The Beowolf for instance would be a prime target at this hour."
There were a few impressed murmurs amongst the gathered students, and Greeve seemed surprised by the response. He had tried to trap Lunare into admitting he wasn't paying attention, when he had in fact been alert the entire time. He had no way of knowing that Lunare had only been listening passively, and barely knew anything about Beowolves in Vale much less in Atlas. He'd been drawing the early schematics of the arc cannon when Professor Port had lectured on them.
Greeve recovered and composed himself. "There's a full moon tonight, and the forest are dark at this hour. Most of you are still freshmen, it was decided the risk of ambush was too great. Now, if there aren't any other comments, we will continue."
The rest of the briefing progressed without hitch. The girl, Rojoe, handed out folders to the team leaders while Greeve gave each of them their assigned sectors. Lunare opened his to reveal reconnaissance photos of their sector, a map of the forest, and information about the Grimm they might expect. Schatten read over his shoulder as Lunare flipped through the pages. He tried to keep up with his leader's rapid pace but to no avail. He would get through the first sentence, a paragraph at most, before Lunare turned the page and he lost his place. Schatten gave up and listened as Greeve finished up the briefing
"Liftoff is at oh seven hundred," Greeve said. "Your teams are expected at the airships by six hundred. You have until then to prepare. Check your weapons, requisition ammunition from the quartermasters, and get some rest. Tomorrow is a big day for all of you. Dismissed!"
The students rose as one and began filing out of the briefing room. Schatten stood as well and saw that Greeve had left the podium but hadn't made a move to leave. Nor had the rest of his team, who were still standing to the side. He pointed this out to Lunare who nodded in response. "It seems a reunion is at hand," he remarked.
"Should we go over now?" Schatten asked.
"No, I believe we should wait," Lunare answered. "It would be better to regroup with the rest of our team, and I do have a question I wish to ask their leader."
An arm reached around Schatten's shoulder and he caught the distinct smell of fertilizer. The strong musky scent invaded his sensitive nostrils and he doubled over and gagged. "Ryler, I told you to stop doing that," he croaked.
"Schatten did you see? He's right up there!" Ryler said, unable to contain himself.
"We saw," Lunare said to his excited teammate. "Schatten and I were about to go and speak with his leader, if you and the others would like to join us."
Ryler blinked in surprise. "But Lunare," he said, "Daniel's his own leader. Team Dandelion!"
"Then we had best ensure he not forgotten that," Tiberius said, having arrived with the rest of the group. The room had cleared of most other teams, and Greeve was beginning to collect some of the visual aids he'd used during the briefing. He glanced up as the group approached, then did a double take when he saw their size.
"Oh good gods, you've multiplied?" he exclaimed, unable to stop himself.
"And a fair afternoon to you too Cobel," Lunare said. "Allow me to introduce team Lustered Lion. "I myself am their leader, Schatten and Tiberius you have already met, Ryler who is new to you, Dakota who was also at the highway, and lastly Lewis and Nick, new faces as well."
"A pleasure," Greeve said. "You're familiar with my team, so I don't need to name them."
Daniel, upon seeing his old friends approach had stepped behind the rest of team GREY. It was a futile gesture, as apart from Lunare the entirety of team LSTRDLN had their eyes on him.
"Hey Daniel," Lewis said. He had a beaming smile on his face. The grin went from one end to the other and used every single muscle the face had to offer.
Daniel shrunk back from the acknowledgement. He turned away and hugged himself, refusing to look up at his former teammates. In a small and quiet voice, he replied. "Hey Lewis. Hey guys."
Nick put a hand on Lewis' shoulder to restrain him from approaching. "You doing alright Daniel?"
Daniel gave Nick a look of surprise upon hearing his voice. He didn't reply to his former teammate, but instead gave a quick nod.
Much like the way Nick had with Lewis, Greeve placed his hand on Daniel's shoulder. "We need to leave the room I'm afraid. A class is scheduled. You understand of course."
"Of course," Lunare said. "We can certainly move outside, can't we?"
Greeve however had already begun escorting Daniel out of the room and didn't seem to hear them. His teammates offered looks of apology but followed their leader out the door. The enlarged team was left alone in the room, with nothing but their thoughts to occupy them.
"Just what the hell was that all about?" Tiberius demanded.
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