The Atlas Central Rail Station was uncharacteristically empty for a Thursday morning. The platform, ordinarily packed to the rafters with commuters, held only a few dozen huntsman and huntresses from Atlas Academy. The emptiness amplified the unease radiating off of them. They shared nervous looks with one other and the empty rail lines, daring each other to disturb the quiet that had fallen over them.
"You look like you're trying to melt that pillar with a glare Aldon." One of them, a young woman with long hair the color of spun sugar whispered.
"I am." A tall boy with buzz cut answered.
"Trying for a new semblance?"
"Hoping to liven things up."
"By bringing the city block down on our ears?"
"Sure. A tragic accident would look great on a media profile. Think of all the sympathy merch we could sell."
"That's enough." Another girl, this one with black hair tied into a loose bun, hissed. "With our luck your depression humor is liable to be the first thing the new headmaster hears, then we'd really be up a creek."
"You know anything about the guy Nadja?" Aldon asked.
"Just that he's military, apparently a real hardass."
"Aren't they all."
"Comes with the territory."
"That's the truth, I bet they shove a stick way up there the same day they pin on your bars." The first girl said.
"Sasha." The second hissed again.
"Calm down Pepper." Aldon said, no longer trying to keep quiet. "The train's probably another twenty minutes away, if he hears us then his semblance must be astral projection."
"Besides," Nadja added, "not like we're saying anything new."
"Fine if we get on the shit list day one don't blame me."
"You have my express permission to make sure I never live any of this down if that happens." Sasha said.
"Oh don't worry about tha-"
The loud screech of train brakes cut off Pepper's latest lecture. The students who all had been sneaking glances at the four talking huntsmen snapped rigidly to attention. As the lone car came to a halt their expressions became masks of stone faced professionalism. The doors slid open and a man with dark hair stepped out. He had the long white coat of the Atlesian military on though he left it open enough to display a pair of revolvers that would be better described as miniature cannons. He measured the students with eyes the color of snow melt. He began to walk in front of the ranks of students, all separated into their teams.
What he was looking for was anyone's guess but several wilted from the scrutiny. He stopped in front of one group. Looked them up and down, nodded as if acknowledging a question nobody dared asked, and continued his inspection. Time dragged by before he came to Aldon's group. He paused meeting Aldon's glare with one of his own. After a moment he reached out and adjusted Aldon's tie, then continued wordlessly. This lasted for another ten minutes that felt like hours before at last he returned to the middle of the platform and stood at attention.
"My name is General Ironwood. You will address me as General, Headmaster, or Sir." He began. His deep voice boomed in the station though he barely raised it. "I understand that Headmaster Nordlund's abrupt retirement has left you all with many questions. Answers will come in time. First we must address unfortunate…shortfalls that have come with his exit. Atlas needs its Huntsman. While you as second and third years may feel unready, there is no better teacher than experience. You will all be receiving assignments this afternoon at 1400. I suggest you take the morning to prepare. Dismissed."
Two heartbeats passed before the students snapped salutes, spun on their heels, and filed out of the station. The anxiety hung with the crowd as they came to the surface. While citizens went about their days wholly unconcerned and unaware of what had closed the station for a full hour, the students marched with lethal seriousness. All except for Sasha who was positively dancing with excitement.
"Can you believe it?" she asked. "A real assignment already? I figured we'd be scrubbing Atlas Academy with our toothbrushes."
"I know." Nadja agreed. "Plus he's easy on the eyes. Maybe the military has got more going for it than we reckoned."
"Tall dark and pissed off your type?" Aldon asked.
"No, you stormy types are boring. He's got something though. A real sense of authority to back it up."
"Uh huh."
"Can you all at least try to be serious?" Pepper interjected.
"What? I am serious." Nadja said.
"Ugh, we're going on a mission in three hours and all you can think about is how hot the new Headmaster is."
"That's not all. Did you see his coat?"
"What about it?" Aldon asked.
"It had a star."
"So he's a general."
"Just one." Sasha said, nodding at Nadja.
"So?"
"So he's barely a general. Probably just got the promotion if I had to guess." Sasha said.
"Nadja?" Aldon asked.
"Already on it." She answered, flipping out her scroll.
"Try to relax Pepper." Aldon said. "We wont know what we're doing until we get our assignment. Best thing we can do to prepare is stay loose."
"Whatever."
"Ooer." Sasha said looking over Nadja's shoulder.
"What is it?"
"He's new alright." Nadja began. "Just plucked from Ace Ops."
"Not surprising. First place I'd look for a new Headmaster."
"Sure but still Ace Ops are supposed to be more…public. Ironwood here's mostly undocumented."
"Must of been new there too." Sasha said.
"Climbing the ladder fast then?"
"No he was there for a while if the transfer history is anything to go by."
"A Ghost then?" Pepper asked.
"General Ghostwood."
"Sasha this is serious. If Ironwood was a Ghost that means whatever he did in Ace Ops isn't anything that Atlas wants people knowing."
"You know what that means?" Nadja asked.
"Dig." Aldon answered.
"For the love of- Aldon I expect this from Nadja and Sasha but you should know better."
"I'm curious."
"Curious? Is that all?"
"Curious and cautious. The more we know about our new Headmaster the more we know what to expect from him and what he'll be expecting of us."
"Hmm, I don't like it."
"I didn't ask you to."
"Good because this is all so-"
The chirp of Aldon's scroll cut her off. He looked down to see the face of Professor Ulver on the display. Their tactics instructor and head of the Second Years was calling him directly. He shared a look with Pepper before taking a deep breath and accepting the call.
"Aldon, you're wanted at the Headmaster's office." Ulver said.
"Understood."
The call ended. Eveyone shared another look. Nadja began swiping feverishly on her scroll. Sasha went back to dancing with excitement. Pepper went a few shades paler with fear. Aldon pocketed his scroll and did his best to keep the anxiety out of his expression.
Half an hour later they were gathered outside Ironwood's new office. Sasha had managed to calm down enough to get back to her closest facsimile of military discipline. Nadja had been unable to find anything in her digging. The dead end had only made Pepper and Aldon's moods worse. None of them knew what to expect, but all imagined it was nothing good. After a painful few minutes the doors opened revealing their Headmaster sitting at his desk looking at them all expectantly.
They filed in and stood at attention. The General rose, here in his office he seemed to have gained a few inches in height. He towered over the four of them as he repeated his inspection, this time stopping before each of them. Again, he adjusted Aldon's tie.
"At ease." He said. The four of them let out a breath but couldn't quite relax. "I can see you're nervous. That's understandable. What could the new Headmaster want with us already?"
Aldon nodded.
"Don't worry, you're not in trouble if that's what you're thinking."
Pepper gained some color back in her face.
"I've been over your team's file. It's an interesting read. You're the only faunas team leader Aldon. Not just in your year but in the whole academy. Did you know that?"
Aldon nodded again. This fact wasn't something he could exactly fail to notice. Faunas weren't exactly numerous at Atlas Academy, and to be the only one leading a team marked him doubly. The attention sat uncomfortably with him now more than it ever had.
"You're from Mantle."
"Yes Sir."
"Do you miss it?"
"Often."
"Often?"
"Often, Sir."
"Do you visit?"
"Never have the time, Sir. We're busy training, Sir."
"Indeed. Out of all the teams in your year, yours has the highest marks. Highest marks and longest discipline record."
Aldon shot Sasha a glance despite himself.
"Don't worry. Like I said, you're not in trouble." Ironwood walked to the window overlooking the Academy grounds. "Reading your file reminded me of a Colonel I once knew. He told me more times than I could count that he'd sooner have a platoon of brig rats than an army of people who towed the line when it came down to it. Do you have any idea why that was?"
"Sir no sir." Aldon answered.
"Because, brig rats don't have any problem figuring out…creative solutions. I'm going to expect that from you and your team. As huntsmen we're often called to take care of things that we're never trained to handle. Grimm don't play by any book. While discilpline and training do a world of good in preparing us for them, there are times when you have to be willing to go further than anyone would dare ask to get the job done. Can I count on you to do that?"
"Sir, yes Sir."
"Excellent. I'm going to send your team to a nearby village, Fallwich. There have been reports of grimm and we're spread too thin to send more experienced huntsmen to investigate. From what the townsfolk have said this is a matter that I expect will require creativity. Don't dissapoint me. Dismissed."
The four of them snapped salutes, spun on their heels, and filed out.
Sitting outside on the grounds the four of them reeled from the meeting. Nadja was back to diggin, still finding nothing. Sasha was pouring over their weapons, tinkering away to juice whatever she could from them. Pepper for her part sat silently next to Aldon. She looked to him, her violet eyes filled with fear. He let out a sigh and ran a hand through the stubble on his head.
"It's going to be ok." He said.
"Is it?"
"Yes."
"This is our first real assignment."
"I know."
"And we're going to town with a bad omen for a name."
"I know."
"We're not ready."
"Yes we are."
"How?"
"Because we have to be."
"How we holding up?" a new voice cut in from across the snowy grounds. Professor Ulver walked towards them with a steaming mug in one hand, a leather tool wrap pinned to his side with the other. His wolfish ears perked and fangs bared in a fake smile.
"You know then?" Pepper asked.
"Of course, I'm the one who recommended you."
"You what?" Nadja yelped.
"Of course I did. You're the best in your class after all."
"Best in our class? What good are grades when we've got fucking toothpicks to fight grimm with?" Sasha asked.
"Language."
"Fuck off Pepper."
"Sasha." Aldon sighed. "Shut up for like a minute. Please."
Sasha shook her head and went back to tinkering, muttering darkly under her breath.
"Not great then I take it." Ulver said.
"No. We're all on edge. You know anything about what's going on in Fallwitch?"
"Just that it's bad."
"That's helpful."
"Sasha." Aldon repeated.
"General Ironwood asked that I keep the details scarce. Said that he wanted the best measure of your abilities he could get."
"Best measure of our abilities? What for?"
"He didn't say, but if I had to guess he has his eyes on your team for a certain tournament at a certain academy that's going to be happening in a few months."
"Really?" Nadja asked, looking up from her scroll for the first time since they had left Ironwood's office.
"Really. With our resources as spread thin as they are we can't send as many teams as we would like to to compete. So, we're going for quality over quantity."
"As if we ever don't."
"Ha, Ironwood would love to hear that." Ulver sat down on the bench across from Aldon. "So what do you think of our new Headmaster?"
"I don't know yet." He said after a long pause. "He acts like he's still in the military, which he is, but I worry he's going to try and turn us all into his tin soldiers. Well more than we already are."
"Good thing to be worried about." Ulver nodded sagely. "There's been a lot of whispers that Ironwood's appointment here is the first step towards finally turning the Academy into a real bonified military training center. No more pretense of independence."
"Shit." Sasha said.
"Yep." Ulver agreed. "So do me a favor. If Ironwood starts saying anything about you joining, anything at all, let me know. You're all young hunstmen with the rest of your lives ahead of you, and the world needs people like you. The whole world, not just Atlas. The military has a hard time seeing that."
"Sure thing." Aldon said.
"Good. Now," Ulver began, rising, "Let's see what we can do about that toothpick problem.
"What?" Sasha asked perking up.
"I can't have my best students going off half cocked can I? How would that make me look? Come on, I've had something in the works at the armory to replace your training sabers for a while now anyway."
The armory was a large angular building carved out of a solid plateau of granite. Its halls radiated warmth from the forges, making it a popular place to sneak into and hang out. Students were always being chased out by armorer's assistants, chided that this was not a playground. Despite that, a playground was exactly how everyone saw it. At its center was a deep pit, dug far enough that rumor had it the occasional tremors from the floating city were bomb tests in the Academy Armory. It served as the test range for all new huntsman weapons, so there was at least some credibility.
Aldon and his team stood in the pit now with Professor Ulver, waiting for him to unveil his surprise. He had dodged all their questions expertly and now was building the suspense like a carnival barker. He dramatically twirled the training sabers they had brought with them. The weapons were simple things, basic blades that transformed into rifles with a flick. Made for reliability more than anything, all first years were given them until they made their own weapons at the end of their second year. It was a practice that held over from the Academy's military roots. Military roots and potential future, Aldon thought to himself.
The image of all the students waiting for the new headmaster came back into his head. It was all too easy to replace the Academy uniforms with Atlesian military ones. The differences were negligible to be honest. Just missing the blue sleeves really. All it would take to transform the school would be a word and a single wardrobe change.
"Right then." Ulver said, shaking Aldon from his daze. "Who wants to go first?"
"Oh come on, you know it has to be me." Sasha yelled.
"Ok, ok." Ulver chuckled. "Sasha I know you've been practicing with the spear and lance as much as you can. I figured it was time to make the change official."
Ulver rolled the leather wrap he had concealed all of their new weapons in a quarter turn. A gleaming emerald and silver spear lay there. He took it in one hand, twirling it to create a high whooshing noise. With a snap he stopped the spin and a jet of fire belched from the point. As their jaws dropped the professor smiled, grabbed the middle of the haft with his free hand, and twisted it snapping the spear into two short spears. He twirled them both then snapped them still once more sending twin jets of fire into the air. Sasha positively danced with joy.
"You don't need to spin them to do the fire trick, but the flair is always appreciated." Ulver tossed he two spears to Sash who caught them in midair. "Now, Nadja. I figured since you like to keep an Eye on things giving you some reach would be good."
He turned the wrap another quarter turn revealing a sapphire bow and quiver. He took an arrow from the quiver, notched it, and fired. The boulder he took aim at disappeared in a shower of gravel. Before they could take in the full impact of the display, he loosed another arrow. This one split into dozens of smaller projectiles which each impacted on the airborne gravel turning it into a cloud of electricity. Then he twisted the bow, disconnecting it into two scimitars which his twirled before chopping them into a nearby training dummy. The blades began to glow with a dim light. He connected them again and fired another arrow, this one glowed with that same light, and buried itself to the feathers in a steel plate down range.
"The arrows are all useful by themselves, but the blades can store a fraction of kinetic energy they deal for up to an hour. The next shot you fire dumps all of it. Neat trick right?'
"I'll say." Nadja whistled, taking her weapon.
"Pepper." Ulver said, already unraveling the wrap. "I figured you would appreciate flexibility more than anything."
The pair of amethyst axes seemed unimpressive after the flash of the previous two weapons. As if to further emphasize this Ulver threw them at the training dummy. They sank in with an unremarkable thud. He whistled and they came spinning back towards him. Catching them in midair he clapped them together, their handles extended transforming the two hand axes into a single large battle axe. He rushed the dummy and brought the weapon down onto its head, splitting it like firewood. Finally he separated it into halves again and with a twirl he transformed the hand axes into machine pistols, letting a storm of bullets pepper an adjacent dummy, shredding it into pulp.
"See." Ulver said handing the axes to Pepper. "Lots of options. That leaves your fearless leader. I figured you might want something that let you dictate the fight."
The leather was at last finally fully unraveled revealing a claymore and an undecorated shield. Ulver took the large blade and rested it on his shoulder, hefting the shield in his other hand. He whistled to Nadja who obliged him, firing an arrow which he caught with the shield, a ball of fire roared around him. When the inferno passed the shield's surface was unblemished. Ulver walked to a rock, and with a grunt sent the blade plunging deep into it. He buried the shield in the ground next to it and pulled a loose bead from near its grip. Freeing the sword from the stone, its blade spit open to reveal a gun barrel, a trigger popped from its handle. Ulver rested the leather hand wrap on the first quarter of the blade on the shield, inserted the bead that Aldon now realize was the start of an ammo belt into the gun's chamber and began to unleash a withering volley of fire down range. While the least flashy of the demonstrations Aldon could barely contain the excitement in his chest.
"I reckon you're strong enough you won't mind lugging this everywhere. And with your semblance this can turn pretty nasty real quick."
Aldon took the blade and the shield. They both weighed more than they looked like they should. It reassured him. Filled him with a confidence that he could rely on these solid lumps of iron in a way he never did the light training blades.
"Satisfied?" Ulver asked.
"Satisfied." They answered in unison.
"Good. Get to practicing. Your train leaves in an hour."
9