“Control, this is Flight Eight-One-Three requesting permission to land on runway Four-Five.”
“Flight Eight-One-Three, you are clear to land on runway Four-Five. Be advised, there are work crews attempting to remove the snow drifts piling up on the sides of the runway. Don’t let your wings hit them.”
“Confirmed Control, thanks for the warning. Flight Eight-One-Three turning final runway Four-Five.”
Daniel sat in the rear seat of the fighter jet, watching as the pilot banked and turned, bringing the snowy runway directly in front of them. He flicked a few switches, and Daniel heard the mechanical whir of the landing gear and flaps being lowered. The pilot increased their descent, and Daniel reflexively braced himself, holding his backpack between his knees even tighter. There hadn’t been anything in the way of cargo space on the fighter, and he’d been forced to hold it there for the entirety of the four hour flight.
Daniel felt a light jolt as the jet made contact with the runway. The pilot applied the brakes, and within seconds, they were rolling down the runway at a walking pace. Following the control tower’s suggestion, the pilot steered clear of the snow drifts, even drifting off the dotted lines to avoid both the drifts and the workers. Several minutes of taxiing followed before they reached a designated parking space. As the pilot began shutting off the engine, Daniel pulled off the helmet he’d been given, and opened up his backpack to grab the wool cap. He shoved it over his hair and unbuckled his harness at the pilot’s direction. Finally, the canopy was unlocked, and slowly began to rise.
The moment the canopy was cracked, the lukewarm air created by Daniel and the pilot’s body heat was whisked away and replaced by the bone chilling winds of the northern kingdom. Daniel grabbed the open front of Nick’s jacket, and began frantically buttoning the buttons in an effort to block the cold air.
As the ground crews pushed a metal ladder over towards the parked jet, Daniel felt he should say something to the pilot who had just given him a ride. He leaned forward and reached around the ejection seat and tapped on the pilot’s shoulder. The seat prevented Daniel from seeing the man’s face, but his helmet turned, and Daniel knew that he was paying attention.
“Um, thanks for the, ah, ride,” Daniel stammered off. The fuselage came up to just below his neck, and his neck and face were already beginning to feel numb from the blisteringly cold wind.
The back of the man’s helmet bobbed up and down. “You’re welcome kid. Kind of odd flying a kid from Vale to Atlas, but nice to have an easy run for once.”
“Yeah, you fly, really good.” Daniel added.
“Well its not like I had six pedals to deal with,” the pilot said with a bit of a laugh. “Besides, Atlas made most of their conventional planes with standardized controls so simple, a monkey could fly it; if they had the keycard of course.
Daniel was about to continue the conversation, but it was at that moment the ladder clanged against the hull of the fighter, signaling it was time to get off. The pilot didn’t hesitate to leave, pausing only to grab the special keycard from the ignition system before standing up on his seat and swinging his legs over the side. Practically sliding down the ladder, he stretched his back and handed the keycard to one of the technicians before catching a ride on a service vehicle and driving off into the depths of the base. In the time it had taken the man to disappear, Daniel had only managed to learn the technicians wanted him to leave his helmet on the seat. Standing up awkwardly, Daniel shouldered his backpack and did as the technicians asked. He smirked slightly at the cartoonish image of a flaming ninja on the side of the helmet, then threw himself over the side of the fighter and onto the ladder; albeit with much less grace.
“Welcome Mr. Grigio,” one of the technicians said to Daniel. General Ironwood is waiting for you in the hangar. If you will follow me, I can direct you to him.”
“N-not much of a fan of the c-cold either then, eh?” Daniel asked, hugging his chest. What little protection the cockpit of the fighter had given him was now gone, and even with both his school outfit and Nick’s jacket, his entire body was freezing! Only the coldest of days in Vale got to these temperatures, and Daniel always made sure to stay in his basement room; which was much less drafty than the rest of the house.
The technician eyed Daniel with a look that stated he did not care for the joke. Instead, he turned around sharply and strode towards the hangar at a brisk pace. Daniel shoved his backpack over his shoulder and ran to catch up. Even once he was following right behind the technician, Daniel had to nearly jog just to keep up with him.
As they entered the hangar, Daniel began to get an even better appreciation of the sheer size of the hangar. Along with the handful of fighters, there was a massive multi-engined bomber being worked on by an army of technicians. As Daniel followed the technician underneath the wing of the bomber, Daniel didn’t even have to duck his head under the engines. He gaped in astonishment as one technician stood up in the engine well to clean the turbines.
“You like what you see?”
Daniel and the technician turned as one to see General Ironwood striding towards the massive plane. The technician immediately snapped off a salute to the General, which Daniel followed up with a small wave, still shocked at the sheer size of the machine.
“Atlesian AB-15,” General Ironwood rattled off. It’s the largest purpose built bomber in the Atlesian military. We use it to take out packs of Grimm heading towards kingdoms. Each of its bombs can wipe out an entire bed of Death Stalkers.”
“Sir, permission to return the Captain’s ignition card to the quartermaster?” the technician interrupted, clearly wanting to be rid of escorting a teenager around the airfield.
“Of course Lieutenant,” General Ironwood said immediately, “I can escort Daniel from here.”
The technician saluted General Ironwood, which the General returned in kind, then turned smartly and strode off underneath the bomber towards a doorway built into the hangar. General Ironwood watched him for a moment before turning back to Daniel. “Well then Daniel, I hope you had a good flight to Atlas.”
Daniel nodded. “It was pretty cool. I mean, I’ve never flown before, so I don’t have much to go off of, but it was kind of awesome. I kind of wish I’d been able to see Atlas from above though. The clouds were too bad until we got to the airport.”
“Quite a shame,” General Ironwood said. “While I must admit Beacon is by far the best looking of the academies, Atlas is a close runner up. Hopefully a ground tour will suffice.”
Daniel frowned, noticing something the General had said. Sorry, but did you say that you’d be escorting me?”
“Of course Daniel,” General Ironwood answered. “I’ve cleared my schedule for the entire day. I intend to show you everything Atlas has to offer.”
“So tell me Daniel, what do you think of the school?”
Daniel and General Ironwood were walking down a snow covered sidewalk, having just finished a several tour of Atlas. They were now walking towards a large gray snow-covered administration building, where Daniel assumed the tour would end at General Ironwood’s office, and Daniel would be shown to a room where he’d spend the night and return tomorrow morning.
“Well sir, it’s definitely different from Beacon,” Daniel admitted, watching a line of men and women in gray sweatpants and tank tops running through the snow. “You definitely stress PT more than Beacon. We’re just encouraged to stay fit, and have to pass a test every other semester. Also doesn’t seem to be a lot of people out of uniform here.”
General Ironwood followed Daniel’s gaze, and smiled. “Well, that is how things are done at Atlas as well, but only for the upperclassmen. A student’s first two years are primarily spent increasing their strength to the levels we deem necessary for Huntsmen and military personnel. Furthermore, we stress wearing a uniform more than what you might see at Beacon. Anyone out of uniform is generally a civilian, and we allow very few onto Atlas grounds.”
Daniel frowned as something in General Ironwood’s explanation made him realize something. “Sir, General Ironwood? I’ve got a question. What exactly would happen to me if I transferred? Class has already started, so it’s not exactly like I could join a team. Teams won’t be created for another two semesters, right?”
General Ironwood nodded, impressed by Daniel’s forethought. “Excellent question Daniel. Don’t worry, we made sure to have a solution before extending our offer. At Atlas, part of the curriculum for our senior teams is for them to act as instructors for the younger students. This assignment can take several forms, usually as a teaching assistant or drill instructor. In your case, you will be assigned to shadow one of the top teams this year.”
Daniel blinked in surprise, not expecting the answer he had been given. “Really sir? Wow, um, is your top team really best suited to watching over just one guy? I’m not trying to be rude, but it seems like it’d be better to pair me off with someone closer to my level.”
“Not necessarily Daniel,” General Ironwood replied. “Unlike other academies, it is mandatory for students complete a minimum of four years at a primary combat school before their application can be submitted. Due to your age making this course of action impossible, the board of directors have allowed an exception, providing you train with the team selected. These four will give you the best chance to succeed once you enter Atlas as a first year.”
Daniel blinked. “Oh,” he said, slightly disheartened. He hadn’t considered the fact that his lack of formal training could put him in a tough position for General Ironwood to accommodate. “Well, thanks for making an exception for me. I’m sorry if it made things difficult.”
General Ironwood laid a hand on Daniel’s shoulder and opened the door to the administration building. A wave of hot air blasted from the open door, washing over them both as they stepped into the atrium beyond the door. The heat warmed them both to the core, making Daniel take off his cap and stuff it in one of the duster’s pockets
“Don’t worry Daniel. Even if you had gone through Signal before entering Beacon, I would still place you with this team. The procedure to give you an Aura has never been tested before, for obvious reasons. The team I am assigning you to shadow will watch for complications, as well as assisting you with living life with an Aura.”
At the end of the hallway was an elevator. Unlike the ornate elevator in Beacon that went to Professor Ozpin’s office, the one here was gray, and functional. It was no different from what you’d see in an office building. General Ironwood pressed the call button, and the doors slid open, showing an equally bland interior. They entered, and General Ironwoood held his left thumb to the button for the ground floor. The button flashed, and a keypad slid out underneath the rows of buttons. General Ironwood shifted slightly, blocking Daniel’s view of the keypad, and began typing in a long and complex code. When he was finished, a light shined from the top floor button, landing on the General’s eye. Abruptly, the elevator car shifted backwards, seeming to move from one track to another. It then began descending; slowly at first, but quickly began to pick up speed.
“In fact, how about we go take a look at our Aural research facility right now?” General Ironwood offered.
“Raise your arms please,” the security guard ordered.
Daniel immediately complied, lifting his arms to be perpendicular to the rest of his body. As the security guard raised a wand and waved it over Daniel’s body, his eyes shot once more over to the other two security guards with rifles resting across their shoulders. He’d already turned over everything in his pants pockets, but there was still enough metal on him somewhere to trip the metal detectors. As the wand drifted over the pockets of Nick’s coat, Daniel was suddenly very relieved that he hadn’t asked Lunare for his coat. The sheer amount of weaponry his friend had undoubtedly placed within his coat could easily have put him in some serious hot water.
The security guard paused over a few areas on the duster, but apart for a couple of coins and a multitool, he didn’t find anything of interest.
“You’re clear sir,” the guard told Daniel as he hung the wand on his belt. For security purposes, I have to ask you to leave your coat and hat here. You can retrieve them, along with your scroll and wallet once you leave the secure area.
Relieved Nick hadn’t left anything bad in his pockets, Daniel shrugged the duster off of his shoulders and handed the coat and wool cap to the security guard, who laid it on a table next to his wallet and scroll. They were then waved through the checkpoint, and free to enter the facility.
“You take security pretty seriously here,” Daniel said once they were clear of the checkpoint and the guard’s ears.
General Ironwood nodded, but his face had turned very serious the moment they had stepped out of the elevator. “Atlas is more than just a Huntsmen Academy. It’s also the headquarters for the largest military force on Remnant, and the leading researchers of Dust and Aura. There are hundreds of things that could happen if the wrong person got their hands on what we have. So yes Daniel, we do take security very seriously.”
Beyond the security checkpoint was a long corridor with doors at regular intervals leading off to different rooms. General Ironwood placed a hand on Daniel’s shoulder once more, guiding him down the corridor, seeming to focus on the doors off in the distance.
“So, what exactly is this place?” Daniel asked. “It sounded like we’re going to see how I could get an Aura, so I guess this is a research area?”
General Ironwood considered Daniel’s question before answering very slowly. “That is close, but not quite,” he admitted, “I can’t go into too much detail due to security, so lets just say this is a location where research Atlas conducts is sent once it is deemed high security; so it is both a research area, as well as a location safe from people who would be very interested in state secrets. Very few people are aware of its existence. It goes without saying, but if you breathe so much as a word about anything you see here without my permission, you will be locked up for a very long time.” The hand tightened on Daniel’s shoulder, making Daniel wince at the unexpectedly powerful force. “Do I make myself clear?”
“Y-yes sir,” Daniel said through gritted teeth. “Not a word.”
The pressure was relieved, but the hand remained on Daniel’s shoulder. “That’s good to hear Daniel,” General Ironwood said. “I apologize for being so severe Daniel, but we can’t take risks, not when there are people who would kill to get in here.”
They stopped at a door, and General Ironwood typed in another code. The lock clicked off, and General Ironwood opened the door. Inside was a large lab with several Humans and Faunus working on what looked like bits of electronics and machinery. A few of them looked up when General Ironwood and Daniel entered, but most stayed focused on their work.
“This Daniel, is where we moved the Aura research project once it began making significant breakthroughs,” General Ironwood said in a hushed tone. “We gathered the greatest scientists in the field of Aura studies to expand on our breakthroughs. In fact, here comes one of them now.”
One of the scientists, a female Faunus with deer ears poking out of her brown hair, had left the computer station she was manning and was striding towards them, still looking at a tablet in her hand. It wasn’t until she arrived in front of General Ironwood and Daniel that she looked up from her work.
“General Ironwood, I didn’t know we were expecting you,” she said. “If I had known, I would’ve had a report written of our progress this week. There have been some new developments that I am sure you would be most interested in.”
“Not to worry Doctor,” General Ironwood said. “This is more of a social visit than anything. Doctor Azaleas, this is Daniel Grigio, the boy you were so interested in. Daniel, this is Doctor Azaleas. She was the one that first suggested that she and her team could use their developments to give you an Aura.”
Doctor Azaleas transferred her tablet to her left hand, and stuck her right hand out towards Daniel. “Pleasure to meet you Daniel. My team and I look forward to working with you on Aura research.”
Daniel accepted her handshake. “Uh, same here,” he said, not having the heart yet to tell her that despite everything that he had seen, he still was unsure if he wanted to leave Beacon.
“Doctor, where is your team’s leader?” General Ironwood asked, “I was hoping to introduce Daniel to him.”
“He left half an hour ago to work on project Penny,” Doctor Azalea answered. “You could take Daniel to see him, but I don’t know if he would appreciate being disturbed. You know how he is,” she added apologetically.
“No, that particular, project, isn’t ready to be unveiled to anyone without proper clearance,” General Ironwood said, while looking towards Doctor Azalea with a look of displeasure. “Tell me, has he not been spending an excessive time working on that project? I don’t want him becoming distracted from the primary reasons Atlas has devoted the resources it has to Aura research.”
“Well sir, she is his daughter,” Doctor Azalea commented. General Ironwood shot her a withering glare, and she backed up under its intensity. “Purely from the standpoint of the project being his brain child,” she added hastily.”
“Yes, from a creator’s standpoint,” General Ironwood murmured. Daniel, we’d better get going. You had an extremely long flight to Atlas, only to walk around Atlas for several hours. You must be exhausted.”
“Well, kind of,” Daniel admitted. “But I also want to see how I’m getting an Aura.”
“That’s still classified information,” General Ironwood replied, as he took Daniel by the shoulder and guided him away from Doctor Azalea. “When you transfer to Atlas, you will be fully briefed on the procedure.”
Daniel turned around to say goodbye to Dr. Azalea, but all he got was a glimpse of her nervous face before General Ironwood closed the door to the lab. The lock reengaged behind them, sealing the lab up once more. It wasn’t until the click of the lock finished echoing through the corridor that General Ironwood let out a breath of air.
“Doctor Azalea is one of the most passionate members of her team,” General Ironwood said bluntly as they walked back towards the elevator. “Her passion for Aura research often leads to her talking about sensitive material. If she wasn’t the only one competent enough to do what she does, I would have had her replaced months ago. As it is, she’s already on probation.”
Daniel winced at General Ironwood’s blunt answer. “That sounds, really harsh. You sure that’s really necessary? I mean, all I know about Project Penny is that your leader is like, super invested in it.”
“I wish it weren’t. But there are some side projects the scientists in that room are conducting, that toe a very morally gray line. I have to ask you once again not to breathe a word about what you saw, including project names. Leaking sensitive information without a superior’s consent is grounds for court martial.”
“You got it sir,” Daniel said as he picked his stuff up from the security table, putting his wallet and scroll in his pocket while choosing to fold Nick’s duster over his arm.
General Ironwood called the elevator back down, then smiled slightly. “I certainly hope you enjoyed your tour of Atlas, Daniel,” he said.
“Sure did. Kind of wish we could’ve stayed in Aura research a bit longer, but I guess I get why we had to leave.”
They rode in the elevator in silence, waiting patiently for the car to move onto the normal track. As the doors opened and they stepped, a female voice called out from the end of the corridor.
“There you are General Ironwood. Greeve asked me to bring team GREY’s after action reports for analysis. There were several patterns we noticed during our patrol that he wanted me to point out, since I was the one who noticed the Grimm in the first-”
Daniel looked over in surprise, wondering why she had abruptly stopped. The girl, who had been steadily walking towards them before stopping, was a few years older than Daniel with emerald eyes and long red hair put into a French braid. Like everyone Daniel had seen at Atlas who wasn’t training, she a light gray tunic over gray pants and black boots. Unlike everyone else, who regarded the red haired teenager in a Beacon uniform with mild curiosity, she stared at Daniel with a look of pure shock.
General Ironwood ignored the girl’s shocked expression, and took the files she held in her hand. “Thank you Ms. Scope, I hope there won’t be any complications in the wargames due to your patterns.”
Unable to find her voice, all the girl could do was nod her head in agreement.
“Daniel, this is Rojoe Scope from team GREY. I believe you two met?”
ns 15.158.61.20da2
