6 Years Old

I remember a time when life was a bit more quiet, more dull. I went to school, spend time with friends and had a very loving family. The village I grew up in was small and was on the outskirts of Atlas and Vale and wasn't the richest when it came to money but the only thing that gave us any kind of value was the abundance and variety of dust underneath our village. The Schnee Dust Company took notice of this long ago and established a facility to mine, refine and ship the dust extracted from the earth. The facility damaged the land severely but most people didn't seem to care as they were employed by the company and in turn was able to feed their families. Besides the land being damaged the other problem that arose from the facility being created was discrimination against our own people. My village originally was very open minded and valued equality for all but after Schnee's company came in the Faunus that resided in the village began to be singled out. They were given the most dangerous jobs in the company but was paid the least on top of that I even remember seeing posters that prioritized the human workers over the Faunus. I hated it, I had friends that were Faunus and for me to see this as a kid, it made me want to cry. They were here long before the company ever showed up so I couldn't understand on why so many of our own people would turn against our fellow neighbors, luckily though not everyone felt the same as the company and some including my family tried to maintain the peace. Unfortunately their efforts would go in vein as a very radical group of Faunus heard of the injustices being done to their brothers and sisters and decided to take action, the group was called the White Fang. In a flash the situation in my village turned from the battle for equality through peaceful means to a war zone. Shipments would get hijacked, convoys would get bombed and human workers would get attacked for simply being human. The company didn't take to kindly to these attacks and in response sent in their knights and soldiers to handle the situation. It was chaos, anybody who was smart left before things would escalate while the rest had no choice but to hope that this conflict would pass over. I remember going to school with my Faunus friends together but I also remember seeing some of their families being gunned down by the soldiers as they tried to fight against them and quickly enough they no longer thought that we could be friends anymore. I felt alone whenever I left my home and I felt scarred whenever I stayed inside, unfortunately things would get worse as one day the White Fang made their move and a large contingent pushed into my village and attempted to take it over. My family along with others tried to hide but the White Fang made it clear that they wanted to remove any humans that lived in the village and hunted us down eventually they found us and gathered us. Wanting to send a message to the world the terrorists executed us one by one, my family tried to save me they tried to shield me but that only delayed the inevitable and if anything I was forced to witness their deaths in front of me, the White Fang terrorists was about to execute me as well when out of luck a group of soldiers were able to arrive in time and eliminated the the White Fang that was around me. These soldiers didn't looked like the ones that were with the company, their armor wasn't as colorful and they didn't wear the Schnee's company logo on their chest these soldiers were from Atlas. In a matter of hours the White Fang that attacked my village either retreated or were killed by these soldiers, they never stood a chance. I find out later on that the soldiers that saved us were called Vanguards and that not a lot of us had survived the onslaught and that the remaining survivors as well as the dead were evacuated to the Vanguards' massive air ship, Unyielding Flame. When I arrived at the ship I felt scared and alone once again not knowing on where to go I decided to stay by my dead parents side, once I found them. The personnel in the ship had to process the corpses brought aboard and soon enough I was pulled away from them and was given to one of the Vanguards to watch over me. I didn't take it well at first but the Vanguard I was assigned to was very patient and waited for me to calm down before he decided to talk to me. I find out that the Vanguards' name was Master Sergeant Gerald Hunter and that he was one of many soldiers assigned to watch over the surviving members from my village. Through Hunter I was able to learn everything on what had happened to my village, from the cause of the civil unrest to the White Fang's invasion. For awhile I was under his supervision, while with him I always wondered if Hunter was a father, if he was he never told me, he took very good care of me feeding me, keeping me clean and making sure I still received some form of education. For the first time in a long time I was able to feel safe once again. I eventually learn that the Vanguards were looking for the survivors families through out the land so they can drop them off but they weren't able to find mine. This would've been problem for me had I was not given an offer by Hunter to be adopted to him, if I accepted I would stay with him on the ship and would be given a new life. I didn't even give it a second thought, I happily accepted his offer immediately and from then on I was now Hunter's child.

8 Years Old

I remember when they told me on what had happened to Hunter. I didn't understand at the time on why but I was always told that Vanguards were meant to be the best of the best they were given the harshest training and were made to be disciplined so they don't die so when I heard that Hunter's life was brutally taken away I was at a lost. Of course they tried to gloss over his death when they were telling me but after digging into the archives myself I didn't understand on how one of their best operatives could suffer such a terrible fate. I thought after being taken in by them my struggles were over that I was never going to experience the grief I felt in the past ever again but I was wrong. I grieved over his death for awhile then convinced myself that I was fine when deep down inside I knew something was still amiss. Through the will of Hunter I was able to stay aboard the ship and still be with them but I didn't want to see anybody so I spent most of time locked Hunter's room. It wasn't until when the Commanding Officer of this Vanguard unit Colonel Frank Becker pitied me enough to see me. He visited me whenever he could and helped me tried to get over this depression I sunk into. To which I think it worked, whenever he visited me he always talked about the Vanguards' virtues and the importance of being strong in order to survive I would try to ignore on what the old man was saying as I was not in the mood but sub consciously I believe I was actually listening and accepted on what he was saying, eventually I was able to overcome my depression and returned back to normal. I appreciated on the time that the Colonel had invested in me and as of result I found myself hanging around him more and more, trying to learn on how to be as great as him. The Colonel eventually tries to take me under his care but since the legal papers still labels me under Hunter's name it took awhile for word to pass up for my guardian to change but after waiting patiently Colonel Becker becomes my new care taker. Wanting to savoir every moment with my new care taker I tried my hardest to impress him, learning more about the world, politics, science and even taught myself the martial arts the Vanguards used to fight in close quarters. Seeing a lot of potential in me the Colonel authorized, secretly, an unethical experiment; to train a child to be a Vanguard. I was given another offer that could change my life and just like before I accepted the offer immediately, now I only hope history doesn't repeat itself and lose my new father.

10 Years Old

I remember when I finally completed the basic training phase of this project. I spent 2 painful years training to be the ultimate warrior, I was taught the warrior ethos, how to operate different types of weaponry, the means to survive out in the wild, and the importance of loyalty to your fellow brothers and sisters. This path was definitely not one for a child as I was broken and fell mortally ill but even though I was suffering, something in me kept pushing me forward and thanks to my tenacity I was able to survive those gruesome 2 years. Colonel Becker was happy to see me excelling in this project and had high hopes in me in completing the next phase. I will not fail him, I promised myself.

12 Years Old

I remember the second phase not being as hard as the first phase, probably because I was already hardened. If the first phase was to basically train me on how to be a warrior then the second phase was to teach me on how to do operations as I spent countless of hours doing simulated missions. This phase to me was very particularly easy and if anything fun, I learned more about on what the Vanguards actually do and as of result I just became more excited to pass phase two and to be released on the battlefield. My graduation was held in secret in the Colonel's quarters and the people who were all involved participated, I never felt so proud in my life these dedicated people put so much time and effort in me and in the end I was able to come out as young warrior ready to fight. The Colonel congratulated me and greeted me a happy birthday, I almost forgot it myself had he not reminded me. But anyways as a gift the Colonel gave me my own customized Vanguard Armor System as well as a mission, to eliminate the White Fang leadership that survived the attack on my village years ago. I thanked him for the wonderful gift then immediately sought out to eliminate these people for the Vanguards as well as for myself.

I remember being satisfied during the simulated missions whenever I accomplished the objective but now I feel very heavy inside. I didn't bring my personal problems to the colonel or anyone else, maybe this feeling will go away...

15 Years Old

I remember when following orders was just that. The person in charge would tell me on what to do and in my part I would execute them. But now I find myself questioning them in my head, thanks to the training I received I am so far unable to disobey any order given to me, for a soldier that's a good thing but there are orders I'm starting to believe that should not be followed. In the biggest mix up in Vanguards history, thanks to miscommunication I lead a squad to execute innocent civilians in the village of Black Marsh. I was told that the villagers were moved out and that everyone inside were all radical Faunus groups. We bombarded the little village with Unyielding Flame's weapon systems then we were sent down to clean up. I don't know on why I did on what I did, I should've seen the obvious clue that they were all innocent but disregarding that I ordered my squad to open fire. We were merciless and it sickens me to know that we followed those orders. Once we found out on what had actually happened the government did their best to cover it up, damn good job if you ask me. The media was able to televise this as an action done by the White Fang and since there were no survivors left no one could protest against that claim... except for those who had lived through the mission. I addressed my men under command and tried to lighten the mood but it did no good, they all retired from the program shortly after the mission and I haven't seen them since.

17 Years Old

I find myself questioning my loyalty once again, I had joined to impress Colonel Becker and to protect everyone in the land but the previous mission I had undertaken made me wonder on why we were helping them. For a while now I began to notice that the missions we were doing seemed pretty influenced by the Atlesian political affairs, that's not what were all about we're supposed to protect everyone indiscriminately. This feeling of doubt is getting stronger every day, I hope it fades away soon enough this feeling is starting to affect my progress as a Vanguard.

18 Years Old

Well it looks like everything is final, my retirement request was approved and my application to Beacon Academy was approved as well. I was honestly surprised when Colonel Becker approved my requests, I figured that since he invested so much effort in me I would've thought that no matter on what I say to him he'll reject my requests. He even went as far to contact a man named Ozpin to help further approve my application. I said my goodbyes to him but promised that it would not be final, once I get to the academy I'll make sure that my training doesn't go to waste. I hope I'm not too disconnected from the civilian world, it'd be pretty sad if I ended up being a loner.