During the final exercise of the Ghost training program, Luke was ambushed by a beowolf that bit his arm off. This wouldn't be too much of a problem in normal life since he could always get a prosthetic limb but in the Atleasian army, having a prosthetic limb disqualified him from serving. Luke ended up being shattered because all he wanted to do was become a Ghost along with his best friend Dalton. He was still allowed to graduate Ghost academy since he wasn't evacuated until the exercise was completed but was medically discharged immediately after graduation. They were completing some paperwork when Dalton noticed Luke inhaling sharply and not breathing.
"Hey Luke, what's going on up there?" Dalton asked, but upon not receiving an answer he shouted, "Luke? SNAP OUT OF IT GHOST!" upon hearing this Luke immediately exhaled and looked at Dalton right in the eye and said,
"D, tell me something that doesn't involve you shouting at me in front of the pretty nurse," the nurse at the desk flushed red and Luke continued, "and yes, what do you want?" to which Dalton responded with,
"You've had this blank look on your face and you weren't breathing."
In Luke's mind, he was going over alternatives to the military since he could now no longer serve. He was thinking, 'I could become a hunter, I heard that game meat goes for a pretty price on the mar- wait… Hunters… Becoming a hunter isn't a bad idea. Help people and fight grimm in small teams. I heard that Beacon is accepting more student for their second semest-' He never got to finish the thought after Dalton interrupted him again.
"See, there you are doing it again. What are you thinking man?" and Luke responded with a question of his own,
"How do you feel about becoming a hunter?"
Dalton asked, "Of men or animal?" Luke sighed and replied,
"A hunter that goes out and hunts grimm and help people. y'know the ones that come out of that school Beacon." Dalton simply said,
"Oh those guys. Okay, if you want to be a hunter then I'll come with you" Luke just smiled and finished his paperwork and when he turned it in he gave a subtle wink to the nurse when, "Come on Luke, stop flirting and start walking." Dalton said, putting on his shit eating grin.
They proceeded to head to the workshops when they noticed General Ironwood approaching them. They both shut up and started to brush dust off of their uniforms in a panicked state when Ironwood finally got to them, amused at their panic. They saluted and Ironwood returned it and started speaking,
"A little birdie came and told me that you two planned on leaving and becoming a hunter… Is it true?"
Dalton started saying, "Well sir it's just that..." Ironwood cut them off and calmly stated,
"I'm not mad at you two. As you both know I run a combat school here as well and have connections with the other headmasters." He continued, "While i could have you two come to the one I run, I decided that you only deserve the best since Ghost training is above that we teach here anyways. Both of you have been granted access to Beacon for the second semester, courtesy of Headmaster Ozpin. Your dropship leaves next week at the same day as today at 0730, make me proud Ghosts. Dismissed." and with that he walked off leaving two very stunned Ghosts in his wake.
"Well… I guess that we better get that arm of yours picked up." Dalton remarked. Luke had requested his prosthetic arm to function as a normal arm but made a request to have it act as a dagger akin to the one that the Knight-130 has so that he could work better in hand to hand combat.
"You mean we need to that oversized peashooter of yours and just so happen to pick up my arm on the way?" Luke teased, but Dalton instantly countered with,
"Peashooter? Your sniper rifle fires fifteen millimeter bullets, my grenade launcher shoots sixty millimeter grenades. Which one's the peashooter? Besides, I'm telling you sometimes a combat knife isn't enough, the axe will help make a bigger wound." They were arguing about the practicality of having a battleaxe embedded within the stock of the grenade launcher that Dalton carried.
"Ugh, fine it's your funeral." Luke finally resigned.
Time skip to the day they leave for Beacon
Luke and Dalton awoke at 0515 and was preparing to do the morning calisthenics and exercises. They already packed all of their belongings the day before so all they could do was kill time waiting for the dropship. By 0630 they completed the exercises and was getting dressed and joking around. When they was finished getting dressed Luke said,
"Hey D, you really going to wear a combat kit to Beacon? You know that there is no need to wear the armor all the time." Dalton replied,
"You saw the photos of the guys from the first semester, they're all dressed in armour. Besides, you're kitted out in a ghillie suit but just ripped the foliage off. Beacon is on a cliff and the Emerald Forest is all red. Not much green."
Luke said confidently, "I'm a scout sniper, this makes it easier to disappear to at a moments notice. Besides, it's called the Emerald Forest for a reason, and what colours are emeralds? Green. You're thinking of Forever Fall Dalton." Dalton just said,
"Fifteen lien on the Emerald Forest being red." Luke replied,
"Prepare to become poorer by fifteen lien." The duo continued on like this for nearly an hour until it was time to head to the dropship.
They left their barracks and set off for the dropship, noticing a severe lack of Ghosts from their company. They made it to the landing pads when they saw why. All of the Ghosts in their company was lined up as a honour guard for their departure. They both brushed off any lint and straightened out their clothes before proceeding. They walked through the honour guard and was greeted by General Ironwood and Headmaster Ozpin himself. They saluted Ironwood and watched him leave as the ramp slowly started closing and took their seats once the ramp closed.
"So you two wish to become hunters, is that correct?" Ozpin asked. "Sir that would mean the world to us." They both responded. Ozpin gave them a smile and said, "Well okay. I would say welcome to Beacon but we are still in Atlas, so when the time is right, I will properly greet you."
"Thank you sir." Luke said but then Dalton asked question on both of their minds, "Sir, is the Emerald Forest red or green?"
Ozpin gave them a bemused smile and said, "You'll see when you get there." and took a sip from his coffee mug.
The two Ghosts quickly fell asleep after their conversation with Ozpin, knowing that they won't get much information out of him until they get to Beacon. They woke up when the pilot stated that they left the protection of Atlas and will be heading to Vacuo to avoid flying over water for too long. That was when Luke spoke up,
"Sir, the stretch of land between Atlas and Vacuo is heavily infested with aerial grimm and nevermores." Ozpin stated,
"Tell me, we could fly over the ocean and reduce travel time but know that there are aquatic grimm that can shoot down our dropship along with nevermores. Or we could fly along this stretch of land and risk only nevermores. Our chance of being shot down is the same but tell me, would you rather be shot down over land or over water?"
This left the duo in silence while they contemplated being shot down over water or land. They both underwent aquatic survival training and knew that being on land was preferable to floating in the ocean. That was when the pilot came over the intercom and started saying,
"FLIR is picking up multiple contacts in front of us and there are no other flights scheduled for today. Strap in and prepare for evasive maneuvers."
The three lowered the restraint bars right as the dropship started banking west and dropping altitude to avoid the new contact. Being the eternal joker that he is, Dalton asked,
"Professor Ozpin. Just how exactly is your cup of coffee still full and not on the floor of the dropship?" When Ozpin replied, it was with a cheeky smile,
"Our history teacher Professor Oobleck gave me this coffee mug with a micro gyroscope installed to prevent spills as a gift."
The two Ghosts just sat there wondering how in Remnant can a gyroscope can fit in such a small space and hold so much? They saw Ozpin clearly drink out of the mug several times and they saw that the mug was still about two-thirds full. The pilot came over the intercom again and started speaking with a hint of worry laced in his voice,
"The contacts spotted us and are now moving towards us, it looks like a flight of six nevermores."
Dalton knew that the Atlas military had some of the best pilots in the world and that it would take massively overpowering sight if it were to shake up the pilot. They had to stay calm to help the troops in the back stay calm and that if the pilot was shaken up, it would be a very rough flight. The way the aircraft kept banking and jinking ment that that they were under heavy fire and since the projectiles were dumb, they couldn't use countermeasures. That was when they felt the dropship starting to dive towards the ground and couldn't raise the pilot on the intercom when Luke spoke up in a frustrated tone,
"To hell with this! I'm going up to check on the pilot!" His boots were fitted with magnetic soles so he could walk down to the cockpit with no problem. "The pilot's knocked out. Grab the chutes and prepare to jump. I'm going to level us off and jump with the pilot, when I give the word, jump. Got it?" He commanded, all traces of emotion gone and replaced with a calm confidence.
They responded with an affirmative, both with serious tones of warriors preparing to go into combat. Luke set the autopilot to fly in a straight line and shouted,
"JUMP! JUMP! JUMP!" and with that, they were out the door. He harnessed the pilot to his chest preparing for a tandem jump and leapt out of the door. He spotted the other two doing a flying X waiting for Luke to catch up so he dove towards the others so they could reduce their time in the air. He prayed to Oum that the riggers didn't fuck up and that the chute would operate as intended. He saw too many paratroopers fall to their deaths because the riggers messed up and their parachutes didn't open properly.
They all pulled their chutes about seventy-five meters above the ground and their descent slowed under the green canopies. They all dove to the ground and landed surprisingly close together. That was when they noticed the terrain they were on. It was all rocky hills and valleys, a paratrooper's worst nightmare. They happened to land in the one of the few patches of dirt where the ground wouldn't break their legs. The silence was broken when Dalton spoke up,
"Hey Luke, since when did you become team leader? Commanding a master sergeant and a headmaster at staff sergeant… you got some big brass ones man." he concluded by giving him a massive shit eating grin.
"Hey man, fuck you too." Luke responded with a smug smile of his own.
This all happened right in front of Ozpin who was enjoying the conversation playing out in front of him. While the two Ghosts were trading insults while pulling security, Ozpin pulled his scroll out and called for evac.
"Glynda, I'm with the boys and things have gotten rather exciting. We got shot down and we are at the location of where my scroll says I am. Send two bullheads, one gunship and one transport to get us out of here... and send Miss. Scarlatina as well, our pilot took a hit and is currently unconscious."
"Is that all Professor Ozpin? Should I send the rest of team CFVY as backup?" Goodwitch questioned as Ozpin finished
"No, the boys will be more than enough backup. The area we're at isn't suitable for a pickup, where should we go to be picked up?" Ozpin stated, Goodwitch responded,
"Keep heading south for eighteen kilometers and the hills should transition into plains. Go there and call me again so I can send the bullheads."
Ozpin gave his thanks and told the soon to be students of what was going to happen. Luke would scout ahead and call in any contacts to Dalton who was escorting Ozpin via radio and Ozpin would carry the pilot. Luke walked up to a bush and ripped some leaves off and tied them to his stripped ghillie suit. While doing so, he gave Dalton a 'I told you so' look and moved up ahead.