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I am making no money from this.

Chapter 50: Bon Voyage

It was finally upon them. It was Friday morning and classes had been cancelled for the day as the considerable number of students scheduled to leave Halo academy were crowding around the campuses' airship terminal, the buzz of conversation punctuated by the pervasive sound of the idling engines of the commercial aircraft seemed to be audible manifestations of the anticipation in the air; the gathered students were those that had proven themselves to be the best their academy had to offer and now they were eager to prove it to the frozen Kingdom of Atlas and Remnant as a whole when the Vytal Tournament came.

"What is taking so long?" Diamond muttered as she surreptitiously pulled Arctus's arm around her a little tighter to fend off the chill in the autumn air. The pair of them and Eagle were sat at a bench waiting for permission to board with the majority of the other students, Felix however was absent, he and the other students who were taking a vehicle aboard had been allowed onto the ship early to complete the necessary additional paperwork and checks before take off, a point which Arctus mentioned

"Searching the cars" he shrugged "Uncle Whitley says it takes so long to get his cars through security when he's flying back to Atlas it would probably be faster to just by a new car every time he has to do business abroad"

"Or he could just get a cab like everyone else" Diamond shook her her head in disbelief at the idea, she new Arctus's family were wealthy but what she knew of his uncle made it seem as though he actively enjoyed flaunting his inexhaustible amount of Lien

"Maybe we should have just kept our bags here then" Eagle noted, Felix had at least been kind enough to allow his team-mates to throw their luggage into the back of the Killer-Bee to save them carrying it for hours.

"They're gonna get scanned either way, may as well get it all done at once" Arctus reasoned while gently pulling Diamond a little closer as he realised she was cold and suppressing a yawn, he suffered from fewer nightmares now and Neptune had prescribed him a bottle of sleeping pills in case returning to Atlas triggered them again, but it was still far too early to be loitering around waiting for people in his opinion.

"True" Eagle replied while turning some of her attention to Sentinel, the droid chirping animatedly as if excited at the prospect of roaming relatively free for hours on end; the rest however was focused on firing questions like at Arctus at an almost comically fast pace

"Have you ever been to any of the big weapon museums in Atlas? I wanted to visit over the summer but other stuff came up, what about the Dust mines? You must have seen those in person right? Or the Bio-domes where all the food is produced-"

"Those are strictly off limits to the public" a new, but familiar voice informed her causing the three members of Team FADE to turn and come face to face with Qrow Branwen, the old man stroking his silvery grey beard and returning to the charade of frailty as he leaned on his scythe as if it were a cane "Hey"

"Hey, how are you? How've you been? Are you looking for Felix and Corey?" Eagle spoke animatedly as a smile stretched across her face as Qrow leaned down to grasp one of Sentinels' pincer like appendages, effectively 'shaking hands' with the robot

"I'm fine, I came to see my family off and that includes you….although if you happen to know where the other two are?"

"Felix is on the ship with his car and Corvid is uh….somewhere" she gestured around at the mass of students

"Well I'll try and catch her before she gets onboard, you ready for Atlas?"

"I think we've got as good of a chance as anyone else in the tournament" Eagle beamed

"There's more than the tournament in Atlas" Qrow noted, not needing to point out the returning to Atlas would most likely mean another meeting with Antonia Arc for Eagle

"I'll be okay" she nodded "Thanks for asking though….it's almost a shame we're gonna be away for so long, I won't be able to visit"

"Don't worry about this dusty old bird I'll be fine, I've got Ruby, Penny and the twins practically around the corner and Patch isn't that far if I wanna catch up with Tai, Yang and Blake" he spread his arms for a hug, clearly unsure of what Eagles' reaction would be but equally clearly pleased when Eagle accepted the gesture and wrapped an arm around his shoulders "Besides I might just find myself in that glorified icebox of a Kingdom at some point anyway" his eyes twinkled with something akin to mischief

"Really?" Eagle asked, taking care not to look in Arctus's direction lest she start giggling at the way he bristled at the slight to his home

"Yeah" Qrow leaned close "And I've been digging through some family records….I might be able to help you out with your Semblance problem" Eagle's mouth hung open and her deep crimson eyes widened in silent shock, before she could find words a voice from the boarding ramp of the ship called out and the crowd of students began moving in a unified direction like a receding tide of bodies, Qrow merely winked

"I think I see Corey's team over there, stay safe and call me any time Eagle" a moment later he had vanished into the crowd.

Team FADE were unaware that they were being watched. The arrival of Qrow Branwen had piqued all of the Shadow Cadre's interest and both Onyx and Carcharodon had hands firmly clamped on Raffia's shoulders, the Axolotl's bloodlust and martial pride demanding a rematch of the battle that had seen them captured by Atlas. Carcharodon while he knew the older man was far more experienced privately he considered the idea of testing his skills against Qrow again at some time in the future something to look forward to; but not now

"What did you hear?" he hissed, while he and Onyx were ensuring that Raffia didn't draw his swords and charge into battle screaming for vengeance Hellion had been instructed to learn what she could. She'd slunk as close as she dared risk, while she hadn't faced Qrow in combat yet her transfer from New Vale's prison to being held at Halo Academy seemed to have been orchestrated by the grizzled veteran, marking him out as someone with a lot of power and resources at his disposal.

"Eagle is his daughter" she mouthed out slowly, stunned by the revelation and frankly a little afraid

"So he came to speak with his family" Carcharodon grunted "As long as he won't present a problem for us….we have enough to worry about in Atlas"

"He may not present a problem for you" the Dragonfly Faunus muttered irritably, stroking Marauder who was perched on her arm in a subconscious effort to calm herself; Onyx flashed her a knowing smirk while Raffia and Carcharodon were too distracted to notice, the Axolotl Faunus by his own seething anger and the Shark by the arrival of an easily recognisable first year student

"Hey guys" Shine greeted them "I just wanted to catch you before you left and say goodbye y'know"

"Kinda leaving it late if you wanna get some more training in" Onyx chuckled as he loomed over the younger student

"I just wanted to say thanks man" Shine shrugged, looking away for a moment before meeting Carcharodon's seemingly bottomless black eyes "Look I was desperate to get better….I was seriously considering some stuff I shouldn't even have been thinking about, so thanks man it really means a lot" Carcharodon nodded in understanding before tilting his head almost imperceptibly and silently conveying a message to Onyx; the Puma Faunus's fist lashed out aimed square between Shine's eyes but struck only air as his Semblance teleported him just out of reach in a burst of light

"Good to see you've improved enough to keep your guard up" Carcharodon rasped, chuckling slightly at his students' shocked expression

"Yeah well, still wish Team SNST was getting on that ship" Shine laughed after composing himself,

"Well there will always be more tournaments where you can prove that you know how to pretend to fight" Carcharodon rasped out as Team GORE collectively turned and made their way towards the ship, seeing that they would be among the last to board; he offered some parting words over his shoulder as he made to leave

"Just don't use my absence as an excuse to get lazy. I expect you to have continued to improve when I return" Shine nodded in understanding and as Team GORE were out of earshot Onyx murmured in the Shark Faunus's ear

"I wasn't aware we were coming back?"

Felix grumbled and cursed under his breath as he rummaged through the messy and hastily packed contents of his suitcase. The process of having the Killer-Bee searched and registered before it could be admitted into Atlas and the requisite paperwork that entailed had been an experience he never wished to repeat; trying to ignore Quartz Murus's laughter as she sat on her motorcycle and watched events as the unfolded had been bad enough but trying to explain to the crew member who spoke bureaucracy as if it were their native language had been infuriating, they seemed to find it impossible to believe that the additional luggage he was carrying was simply his friends belongings and not some conspiracy to smuggle contraband into the Kingdom and their reaction to the 'upgrade' he'd installed into the muscle car while restoring it over the summer had been comical at first but quickly became aggravating as it became apparent that they were considering having him detained. Eventually through a combination of luck, charm and sheer persistence he had managed to have his car and belongings admitted onto the ship after a thorough inspection; now that they were in the air and had been for almost half an hour the Lion Faunus had another problem to deal with before he rejoined his friends, he couldn't find his book.

"Where is it for Oum's sake" he muttered as he considered emptying out the contents of the case, he had left packing until the last possible moment and the case had bulged under the strain of its' contents almost bursting free but the book he had been reading had purposefully been packed at the top of the pile for easy retrieval, now that his bags had been searched the book was seemingly absent

"Oh for the love of fucking….I swear if they swiped it" he continued to mutter before finally giving into temptation and simply upending the case and promptly finding what he was looking for, the novel for some reason having been with his textbooks

"Jackpot….Now I've just gotta deal with all this sh-"

"I see you and Nyanza have the same approach to packing, is that a Patch thing?" a familiar voice asked and Felix whipped around to find Helios stood nearby

"Probably" he grinned "We don't get out much, what about you do you ever actually unpack?"

"Only because Olivine shouts if she trips over my bags" he admitted with a shrug and Felix burst out laughing at the mental image of the miniscule Huntress berating Helios

"So how come you're down here, Nikosi tribe give you a car you didn't tell us about?"

"No, they wouldn't part with any of the pickup trucks, or the dirt bikes we use to draw Grimm away….as much fun as that would probably be" he admitted with a smile which Felix took note of before the redhead continued "I needed some peace and quiet, Nyanza was repacking his bags at four o'clock this morning and I have a headache….and I really don't appreciate the view, I'm not a fan of heights" Felix nodded in understanding, coming from where he did Helios's aversion to being this far from the ground made sense. Thinking for a moment Felix chewed his lip before making a decision

"I mean I'd offer to let you sleep on the back seat but it's covered in bags 'cos there's not enough room in the trunk; you can have the passengers seat though and I'll wake you up when we get closer to Atlas….it's a long flight"

"You don't mind me being alone in you car?" Helios raised an eyebrow, well aware of Felix's attachment to the Killer-Bee

"I was gonna stay and hang out with you, but I mean sure if-"

"No, stay!….please" Helios answered quickly, cheeks colouring a little

"Will do man" Felix assured him, returning to his suitcase to hide his own face reddening "The door's open, I'll be with you in a sec" he continued to repack his belongings as Helios climbed into the car and made himself comfortable, this time at least making an effort at tidiness before joining the redhead in the front of the car. Stealing a glance over at Helios who was clearly struggling to keep his eyes open, obviously more tired than he had let on, Felix noticed that besides his golden armour his well muscled and tattooed arms were bare as usual

"Hey Heely?"

"Mmm?"

"You've never been to Atlas before have you?"

"No why?"

"Just let know when you get cold man I'll turn the heating on….and you might wanna pick a coat up"

"I'll be fine" Helios assured him, Felix sighed but chose not to argue and simply placed the keys in the ignition in preparation for the Mistralis' inevitable shivering and chattering teeth. After typing a quick text to Arctus to let the rest of Team FADE know why he hadn't found them yet only to realise he couldn't send it while on the airship he searched through the various playlists on his Scroll and turned the volume down before starting the music

"Hey Heely what do you think Atlas Academy is like? I've never actually seen a picture of it….Helios?" when no answer came Felix turned and saw that Helios's eyes were closed and his breathing was slow and regular, he'd fallen asleep. The Lion Faunus kept his gaze on him for longer than was strictly necessary, taking in the details of Helios's face before stopping himself and shaking his head and muttering under his breath

"Get your shit together man" Helios was undeniably attractive and Felix had taken Corvid's advice to heart, if an opportunity to progress their friendship into something more presented itself he would take it; however watching him while he slept was just creepy, regardless of whose car he had fallen asleep in. With that in mind Felix adjusted himself, getting comfortable in car seats was always a source of contention for Faunus with tail; he then opened his book and continued reading from where he had left off he night before, glad that he was away from the rest of the students as he knew exactly how much Corvid would tease him if she saw that he'd borrowed Blake's copy of Ninjas of Love.

Arctus followed Diamond as she led him by the hand through the corridors of the ship; they had offered Eagle to join them but the blonde had declined, having missed breakfast before the flight she had opted find the ships' canteen. The two searched for a quiet spot, the overpowering noise and contagious energy of the students gathered in the main passenger area of the relatively luxurious passenger ship quickly becoming tiresome; eventually they settled on perching themselves on a window which afforded them a breathtaking view of everything they passed over, currently the ship was above open waters disturbed only by freight ships that travelled them, New Vale's boundaries, the jagged mountains where Team FADE had taken their first mission and the continent as a whole behind them. Diamond glanced at the bass guitar Arctus had given her, currently propped up against the wall as she hadn't wanted to throw it or Lex Talionis in Felix's car with the rest of her luggage, preferring to keep some of her most important belongings where she could see them, as she debated playing the instrument for a while she felt Arctus's arms wrap around her waist and the Bear Faunus nuzzle into her from behind

"What's up big guy?"

"Nothing" he assured her with a contented sigh "You know what this reminds me of?"

"What?"

"The first time we met" Diamond thought back to over a year ago, remembering that she and Arctus had indeed spent their first flight to Halo Academy relaxing together by a window much as they were now, though the events that had preceded would have suggested that their relationship would be anything but romantic

"You mean after I choked you out?"

"Yeah after I woke you up because you were sleeping on the floor of an airship terminal" Arctus laughed, Diamond laced her fingers through his and leaned back, making herself comfortable against his chest

"How long til we get to Atlas?" she asked, her voice a somewhat sleepy murmur

"Hours until we're into Atlesian airspace, the we've gotta get to Atlas Academy itself which is outside of the cities"

"You know anything about it?" Diamond was expecting to hear that he did not, the Kingdom of Atlas being as secretive as it was keeping their academy's location a secret seemed fitting

"My Aunt Winter's the head, I've got a rough idea of where it is just based on how long it takes her to get to different cities….it's a couple of hours flight away from the capital"

"Oh so we'll pass your place on the way?" Diamond grinned

"Well we'll pass the mountain Eisenstadt Prime is built inside of and under"

"And you live on top of….like a supervillain" she nudged him playfully as she repeated one of Felix's preferred ways to describe his cousins home. Arctus merely rolled his eyes, an expression he had most likely picked up from Diamond herself.

"I'll let you know when we get near it" he assured her, eyes narrowing a fraction as the sound of someone approaching reached his ears, a few moments later Diamond heard it as well; a furious tirade filled with threats that seemed comical in their anatomical inaccuracy in a somewhat reedy and instantly recognisable voice

"Oh for Oum's sake" Arctus sighed as Raffia Dirge came into view, being almost dragged by Onyx Ursabane whose meaty paw of a hand was clamped on his shoulder while the larger Faunus wore an expression that was equal parts amusement and exhaustion; blood on Raffia's knuckles and staining his lips despite his Semblance having already healed whatever minor injury he'd sustained making it clear what had happened; Arctus was momentarily concerned but he knew that Felix was still in the car and Eagle seemed to be immune to Raffia antagonistic moods due to her friendship with Hellion.

"Oh look someone else whose teeth will make fine jewellery" the Axolotl Faunus spat as he caught sight of Arctus

"I thought it was a left arm he owed you? Or have you been fucked up so many times you're losing track? Just give it a rest dude it's getting old" Diamond snorted and rolled her eyes. Raffia, furious at the casual dismissal reached for his swords

"Enough" Onyx grumbled as both Arctus and Diamond rose to their feet, hand reaching for their own weapons "Enough for today, we start shooting in here and someone is gonna have a long way down and just enough time to realise that they're an idiot" realising the truth of his words they all released their grasp on their weapons, Raffia only begrudgingly so and Arctus's eyes widened as the realisation of why the pair of swords he had arrived at Halo Academy carrying in place of his own weapon were familiar, they had once belonged to Atlesian Specialist Kafsi Asteri.

"Still a long way to Atlas" Onyx noted as he peered out of the window that Arctus and Diamond had been seated at "I would much rather be making this journey by sea….maybe hit a few traders on the way"

"Then it'd take us days" Arctus pointed out, deciding to ignore the comment about raiding other ships "But I get why you might wanna have some more time considering what you're coming to Atlas for"

"What do you know?" Raffia spat, giving the Bear Faunus a calculating glare as if deciding whether or not to silence him there and then.

"I know that you're working with Atlas in exchange for your freedom and I know who you're up against….I've seen some of what they're willing to do to people" Arctus visibly shuddered and his voice dropped to barely above a whisper "Yeah, I'd be scared too"

"Scared?" Onyx growled, greenish yellow eyes narrowing "Facing those sons of whores is the part I'm looking forward to"

"We've seen more of what they're capable of than you ever will, we're just not cowards" Raffia added, Onyx continued as if he hadn't spoken

"My Father was one of the first to die when they turned on us, they impaled him and held his body up on a spear for us to see, one of them decapitated our captain, Mizu….she was Carcharodon's sister. I watched Aka go down fighting, she was a Piranha Faunus, those teeth gave their fighters some scars as a reminder of the day they double crossed us. Sol and Garnet weren't so lucky, they never saw it coming. Over thirty of us died that night"

"And Atlas want to use you as bait?" Diamond sounded appalled "Surely they can find another way?"

"We wouldn't have it any other way!" Onyx snarled, uncharacteristically angry "They answer for what they did and they answer to us, we won't have our justice handed over to people who never cared whether we lived or died to begin with!"

"This is the end point" Raffia murmured, in juxtaposition he was uncharacteristically quiet "Everything we've done since, the stealing weapons, the kidnapping, selling out souls to the Atlesians….all of it led to this, to our chance at revenge"

"Which begs the question" Onyx sighed "Carcharodon thinks that some of our people might still be out their, hiding on Anima but we've had no signs of anything. If this is what everything has led to; what happens after we kill the Cult of Taurus?" neither Arctus or Diamond had an answer for him.

Carcharodon and Hellion were in the main passenger area of the airship, having remained after Raffia's short lived scuffle with an older student. The Shark Faunus skulked around the periphery of the various groups of students, too many thoughts in his head for him to remain still and too many people and too much noise around him to be able to clear his head and meditate, the idea of integrating himself with those students around him was thoroughly unappealing which left him prowling back towards his team-mate. Hellion was still seated near a large window at the prow of the airship which gave a panoramic view of the ocean beneath them and the steely grey skies filled with falling snow which partially obscured the landmass in the distance; the Dragonfly Faunus had initially being using her Semblance to project her consciousness into the minds of various seagulls and revel in the feeling of flight until they reached an altitude that left the birds out of reach, Hellion could send an animal under her thrall great distances but they needed to be close for the initial contact. Currently she was stroking Marauder, the raptor seeming distinctly miffed at not being the target of her Semblance if the way he was almost pouting was any indication; Carcharodon saw that Hellion seemed somewhat distracted and followed her gaze

"Of course" he rasped out shaking his head as he neared her "Will you just go and talk to her you cretin, this is just pathetic"

"She's busy" Hellion huffed, jade eyes narrowing as she glowered at Carcharodon before turning her attention back to where it had been, on Eagle Arc. The Blonde had returned to the passenger area with the machine she treated like a pet trailing behind her carrying a tray stacked with an impressive amount of snacks which she had made considerable headway in devouring while at the same time playing one of the half a dozen or so arcade games scattered around the edge of the room; there was also an air hockey table situated as far away from the window as feasibly possible which caused Hellion to lament the absence of a pool table though she could see the obvious reason why, she'd picked the game up as a child and played whenever her people had visited an outlying fishing village on the coast of Anima. After a while Eagle stepped away from the game with an annoyed sigh and patted Sentinel's boxy cranium

"Now she isn't busy. Show some backbone" Carcharodon taunted

"Fine" Hellion huffed stalking away from him with her wings fluttering in agitation, as she drew near Marauder launched himself from her arm and soared over to where Eagle stood, perching on the barrel of Sentinel's mini-gun and eliciting several confused bleeps from the droid which Eagle in turn giggled at

"Did your game not go well?" Hellion asked, flashing her a bright smile

"I ran out of coins" Eagle shrugged "Honestly I was just distracting myself, I've got too much on my mind I can't do anything about"

"Talking about it might help?" Hellion offered, the implication that she would be happy to listen being understood.

"It's just personal stuff, thinking about what my Semblance might be and how I can figure it out, thinking about what I'm gonna say to my Mum when we next meet in person 'cos we didn't leave on good terms last time and I'm sure that me tutoring you is gonna go over badly-"

"I'm sorry" Hellion's head sunk, their decision to kidnap Antonia Arc had only ever been an act of desperation and now it seemed that it was going to cause problem that Hellion supposed she deserved for her part in it

"Don't worry about" Eagle assured her "I'm just nervous about everything, what's Atlas gonna be like? I've only really seen a few parts of the capital and I've never lived this far away from family, even at Halo I can go and see my Grandparents whenever I want; I know I've got Team FADE with me but I've never really been alone like this….I'm gonna be away from almost everyone for the rest of the year" Hellion listened to Eagle's somewhat disjointed rambling and realised that she was liable to work herself into a panic if left to her own devices, Hellion refused to let that happen

"Come with me" she said, calmly taking Eagle by the hand and leading her out of the passenger area and along corridors which she assumed housed cabins for flights anyone who wished to sleep through their flight; unfortunately they were locked and Hellion continued to lead Eagle by the hand in search of a secluded area, privately hoping that they did not run into Onyx and Raffia

"Okay, this will do" she sighed as she sat cross legged on the ground in an unremarkable stretch of corridor, silently bidding Eagle to do the same

"What are we doing?" she asked nonplussed, freckled cheeks reddening as she seemed to realise that Hellion was still holding her hand before following suit and sitting beside her

"I'm going help you calm yourself" Hellion answered "You're teaching me to read, so I'm going to teach you to meditate"

"I um….are you sure this gonna work? I mean I've never tried it before and?"

"Unless you're one of those people who doesn't want it to work?" Hellion raised an eyebrow, she'd met more than a few mainlanders who mistrusted anything other than their science

"No no, let's give it a try" Eagle chirped, cheeks darkening further still.

"Then close your eyes and take a slow breath through your mouth" Eagle did so "Hold it….now breathe out through your nose, breathe in again and empty your mind of all thoughts" Hellion watched as Eagle took several more slow deep breaths, brow furrowing

"You're thinking about your thoughts aren't you?" Hellion laughed softly as she realised why the girl sat beside her seemed to be struggling, frankly she thought Eagle looked adorable when she was concentrating like this; a sudden temptation to lean forward and kiss her lips came unbidden into Hellion's mind and was swiftly dismissed. Instead she merely watched as Eagle followed her instructions, a sense of pride taking over her as she finally relaxed, a truly serene look upon her face. The Dragonfly Faunus was hesitant to speak lest she inadvertently break Eagle's meditative state.

A moment later a klaxon blared throughout the ship as something collided with its' shields.

Felix and Helios had leapt out of the Killer-Bee the moment the alarms had started, the muscle car jerking in place as the vessel shuddered under an assault, each vehicle within the hold was secured in place with clamps connected to their wheels. The pair of them had sprinted up several stairwells, grasping onto railings in case of another impact, reaching the deck which housed the main area for passengers towards the prow they drew their weapons and frantically ran towards where they assumed their team-mates would be

"What is hitting us this hard this high up?" Helios demanded as she ship lurched once more, Felix skidded to a halt as he caught sight of something out of the nearest window and his jaw dropped as the answer to Helios's question became apparent; a flock of at least two dozen Nevermore, some of the largest he had ever seen, each with bodies larger than the a Bull-Head transport and truly massive wingspans. The creatures of Grimm were attacking the airship with unfettered fury and while the jagged quills they could fire from their bodies were little match for the shielding of the vessel the Grimm themselves had enough mass to cause the ship to jump every time they dove and lunged at it with their talons extended

"Sweet fucking Oum" Felix mouthed out before collecting himself "Come on we need to find the others!" Helios had already started moving before Felix had finished speaking. They bolted through the corridor spanning almost the entire length of the ship before finally coming to a halt again as they nearly collided with Arctus, Diamond, Onyx and Raffia who were congregated around a window watching events unfolding in the darkening sky around them. Onyx greeted them with an amused snort as he nodded towards the unsheathed weapons currently in their hands

"Planning on stepping outside? Bold choice" the Puma Faunus chuckled, Felix scowled unable to think of suitably witty retort and simply sheathed Hack and Slash over his back

"What are you doing just standing here?" Helios demanded "We need to find our teams!"

"Arctus, Diamond where's Eagle?" Felix asked as he withdrew his Scroll and bit back a curse upon realising that he still had no signal and would be unable to call his partner

"Dude calm down" Diamond tried to reassure them "Heely I know you don't like heights, deep breaths. Felix, Arctus says we don't have a problem"

"What?" the Lion Faunus demanded incredulously

"This is an Atlesian ship, the shield generator on this thing will take….I dunno maybe another hour or so of sustained beating from what's attacking us"

"Okay that's cool and all" Felix growled out, begrudgingly impressed despite the seriousness of the situation which had not lessened in his mind "But this is still a civilian airship. We've got no fighters or weapons to hit back and we're more than an hour away from landing so those Grimm have still got all the time they-"

"Fluffy" Arctus clamped a hand down on his shoulder and gave him an infuriatingly calm smile "Chill, we're in Atlesian airspace"

"Not to concern anyone too much" Raffia called over to them while peering out the window "But there's a big one out there that's looking directly at us" the gathered students peered out of the window and saw that the Axolotl Faunus was correct, a huge Grimm seemed to be regarding the specific window they were watching from with ill intent and they each felt a slight sense of unease at their inability to face the monster on their own terms despite the assurances it had no chance of breaching the shields of the ship, much less the hull; each of them still reflexively flinched when the Nevermore unleashed a flurry of its' feathers as projectiles, sharing sighs of relief when they were deflected away with nothing but a rippling in the air to indicate the shields presence

"It's coming straight at us" Helios noted, concern evident

"Hold onto to something!" Felix barked, bracing himself for the impact which never came; instead the rapidly darkening sky was set ablaze by an exploding missile and the Grimm was reduced to wisps of rapidly dispersing acrid smoke. Something shot passed their vantage point faster than they could make it out, Arctus pressed his snout like face against the window and let out a surprised gasp as the craft responsible for destroying the Nevermore doubled back in search of more prey, several others like it visible in the sky around the ship; these fighters were most assuredly not the typical Bull-Heads or any of the Atlesian variants.

"I didn't even know those were in service"

"Dude what are those?" Diamond asked as she watched the Grimm be obliterated with ruthless efficiency

"Commander Skye's new toys….My Dad says Matte's been bragging about these since the first prototype was tested" the craft were comprised of a single arrowhead shaped wing with a cockpit located towards the tip, a huge thruster mounted on each wing and another mounted on the rear of the craft, detracting from its' otherwise sleek profile but lending it an ominous aura as the green glow of its' Eco-Dust engines shone in the dark, the undersides of the wings were bristling with weapons which were currently being unleashed on the last remaining Grimm

"Holy shit" Felix breathed out, stunned by ease with which the attacking monsters had been dispatched

"Imagine if we'd managed to take one of those" Raffia whispered gleefully. A moment later the alarms which had been blaring the entire time came to an abrupt and jarring halt, replaced by a voice over the ships intercom

"This is your captain speaking, my apologies for the discomfort we had a slight altercation with some Grimm; nothing to be concerned about. We're currently on schedule to arrive at Atlas Academy in roughly ninety minutes and we will have an escort provided by the Kingdom for the remainder of the flight" the announcement ended with a slight crackling of static and the teenagers were left in stunned silence at how calm the pilot had been

"Definitely ex Hunter or military" Diamond noted, earning herself some nods of agreement before Helios spoke up

"I'm still going to look for the rest of my team, I'll see you all later" he'd made it no more than a few feet before Eagle and Hellion came into view, almost colliding with him; Sentinel trailing behind them

"Hey you guys!" Eagle chirped brightly "Did you say the size of those Grimm? What about those fighters? I've never seen anything like those before, that was so cool!"

"Eagle" Felix sighed "Never change"

Arctus, Diamond and Eagle stepped off of the ramp leading from the airship to the snow covered ground where the tracks of students to disembark before them were clearly visible, Sentinel trundled behind Eagle who wore an annoyed pout; Felix had to remain behind to complete yet more paperwork and she had wanted the four of them to get their first view of Atlas Academy together. The sound of powerful jet engines rapidly descending towards them caused them all to turn and Eagles' mild displeasure to be forgotten

"Oh my Oum they're even cooler up close!" she struggled to be heard over the sound of the approaching fighters, ten in total divided into two formations of five.

"Wait for it" Arctus grinned and was rewarded with a childlike gasp of excitement as the fighters neared the ground; they didn't land, they transformed. The wing mounted thrusters separated from the wings and began to reshape themselves, forming digitigrade legs with bulky armoured calves and relatively spindly upper legs attached to what could be interpreted as a mechanical waist piece located below the central thruster. The wings themselves folded up and over, resting almost flat along the sides of the machine as the weapons were repositioned to face forwards and the entire cockpit angled downwards; the entire top section of the full opened revealing a gargantuan weapons battery which unfolded and was attached to a many-jointed armature which gave it the appearance of the stinger of some monstrous robotic scorpion.

"THAT'S SO COOL!" Eagle exclaimed

"Dude….what on Remnant?" Diamond gasped

"The Baba-Jaeger, faster than a Bull-Head, more firepower than an Atlesian Paladin, remote piloting so you don't have the limitations of an AI but there's no risk to the pilot….only thing it doesn't have is a shield generator" Eagle looked fit to burst with sheer joy at the sight of the machines, Diamond merely eyed them suspiciously

"I'm not gonna lie they give the creeps, last time Atlas put this much faith in robots was the war against Salem"

"Fair" Arctus admitted, instantly sobered by the thought; suddenly the Baba-Jaegers seemed more than a little sinister

"Come on let's go see where we're gonna be living….and get out of the cold" Diamond took Arctus's hand in hers and the three students and droid hurried along the floodlit path from the Academies airship terminal towards the campus itself, realising that they would be among the last to arrive

"Whoa!" Eagle exclaimed as they entered the courtyard, thankfully they hadn't missed anything judging by the mass of students, the representatives from Halo, Haven and Shade Academies milling about, snow collecting on their shoulders and hair was anything to go by. Eagle's exclamation had been at the sight of the campus itself. Atlas Academy loomed over them grandiose and imposing, its' overall shape was that of an ancient castle with large turrets and ramparts and a single tower reaching into the sky. While the design was antique its' implementation was anything but, the entire academy was seemingly constructed of the highest quality Atlesian steel and finished with pristine, utilitarian white panelling; each of the turrets housed enough artillery to comfortably bring down an attacking warship. Arctus took the entirety of the campus in before lowering his eyes to ground level, at which point his face split into a toothy smile. Stood at the main entrance to the campus, framed between two flagpoles bearing the Atlesian flag were two women, one brown skinned and stern faced, clad in a pristine white variation of the military dress uniform which incorporated a skirt and a black beret upon her head at a slight angle, occasionally glancing at the watch she wore. The other wore a more decorative variation of the same uniform, incorporating countless medals and chevrons while an ornate curved sword hung at her hip, the left leg of her uniforms pants absent below the knee proudly displaying a tactical armoured boot that integrated itself into a state of the art cybernetic to replace the limb she had lost in the battle of Menagerie; the woman's hair was the purest white and her eyes were the same sparkling pale blue as those of her nephew

"That's my Aunt Winter" Arctus happily informed Diamond as he pointed to her. General Winter Schnee, head of Atlas Academy stepped forwards and spoke in a voice that carried across the courtyard

"Welcome to Atlas Academy"

Authors Notes:

The fiftieth chapter of the story and we end on out transition to a new Kingdom, that worked out surprisingly well.
For the remainder of Vol.4 we won't see too much of Atlas Academy but we're going to be spending Vol.5 and 6 here so we've got plenty of time to catch up.
Also I received some artwork of Eagle Arc from one of my readers, Funlander and I wanted to say thank you again, I love it.

So let's summarise:
We're leaving for Atlas, to quote the esteemed Miss Valkyrie "This is happening!"
Seriously I refuse to believe that Arctus isn't ridiculously strict with its' border control.
Also yeah Whitely has his Tony Stark/Playboy billionaire moments; he would definitely buy a new sports car whenever he had to leave Atlas and then give it away, just to save the time and paperwork involved in getting his own cars through customs.
Eagle's hyperactive babbling when she's excited or nervous, I feel like I haven't used it enough lately….also Eagle would totally nerd out over things like museums (Note to self for Eagle & Hellion dates later).
Qrow shaking hands with Sentinel, I didn't know I needed that until I wrote it.
Qrow and Eagle bonding, slowly and awkwardly but it's happening.
Arctus 'What did you just say about Atlas you little bitch?' Slate.
If you read the Downward Spiral then you know why Qrow would be around for the Vytal Tournament….yes, yes I'm bringing that back because it's always hilarious to write.
We're getting Eagle's Semblance.
Team GORE and Qrow, that's got potential to be an interesting relationship; on paper he's an enemy but he's never tried to kill them when he's had the chance to and actually got Hellion away from Rhodium Torchwick's reach.
Poor Hellion.
Shine was seriously considering buying Booster from Rhodey to give himself an edge.
Carcharodon teaching the most important lesson of all, constant vigilance.
"I wasn't aware that we were coming back" because really Team GORE have been so focused on revenge and just getting by that they don't really have any solid plans for a future.
Ah the upgrade Felix has in the trunk of the Killer-Bee….I promise we'll see that and the upgrade to Sentinel before the end of this volume.
Also let's not pretend that Atlas still isn't pretty racist and that Felix's car wasn't searched more thoroughly because he's a Faunus with an expensive looking car.
I can seriously imagine Helios just living out of suitcases because he owns so little that it's honestly that big of an issue to him.
Felix is totally gonna take Helios out on a date involving dirt bikes; the idea is in his head now.
Helios is still scared of heights.
Look at these two bumbling awkward hot gay messes.
Felix still reads the trashiest romance he can get his hands on.
Arctus and Diamond on the airship on the way to an Academy for the first time, cinematic parallels.
The "Schnee Manor is a supervillain castle built onto the top of a frozen mountain" thing is never gonna stop being funny.
I love that Raffia goes from "The berserker who just won't die" to "This fucking idiot again" the longer you have to deal with him.
Also callback to "You owe me a left arm"
"We start shooting in here and someone is gonna have a long way down and just enough time to realise that they're an idiot" Onyx has a way with words and we love him for it.
Yeah you read that right, Raffia has Kafsi's swords….which means he has the laser lance.
Little extra example of why the Cult of Taurus and the New White Fang are to be feared and some more context for why Team GORE hate them so much.
The original plan for Team GORE/The Shadow Cadre was to kill the Cult of Taurus, load up on weapons and look for any of their people that survived the betrayal on Anima; this is the first sign that things may change.
Giving Marauder enough of a personality to pout just turned that bird into a certified Disney companion.
For the passenger area of the ship I was thinking back to a ferry I went to the Isle of Wight on as a kid, it had arcade games and air hockey on board.
Also yeah, someone when definitely try an Aura powered trick shot and put a pool-ball through a window at high altitude.
Someone give Eagle a hug, she is feeling all of the things.
They held hands.
Carcharodon and Hellion both meditate, a sign that the Frost River tribe had some sort of spiritual leanings; Onyx out of the whole Shadow Cadre had the closest relationship with his Faunus parent and has the best grasp of technology, he probably doesn't meditate and Raffia probably can't sit still for that long.
You knew something was gonna happen, surely you knew.
"Bold choice" God damn it Onyx.
Air-plane mode is a bitch lol.
Commander Skye, Matte is the head of Winter's fleet and equal ranking to Gangrel.
It's been twenty years, you didn't really think Atlas doesn't have any new toys?
Eagle is precious.
Okay so Atlas's new fighter are basically a stealth fighter that has a gearwalk mode like a Macross jet, and a massive weapons battery on their back; basically a warship scale weapon on a fighter like what Penny's old Bull-Head had; also they're remote piloted because reasons….
The name Baba-Jaeger is from the old Russian folk-tale of Baba-Yaga and her house which moved on giant chicken legs and the German word for Hunter Jaeger.
Diamond has a point.
I'm sure you can guess from the description who the woman next to Winter was, you'll love why she's in the story.
Also, General mother fucking Schnee everyone.

Thank you to: SumoSnipe, Ferrous, Arkanes Shippou, Bulletproof Vanguard, TigerRose, FluffyFirefly, ShadowAlex2000, FleetOfWarships and Unstoppable Cyborg.
Car has feelings, he just drowns them.
I mean Diamond met Gangrel when Arctus was losing a bucketful of blood so maybe proper introductions are needed at some point lol.
Oh course we'll see Athena-Jade's reaction to Arctus being back in Atlas.
Surprisingly that wasn't actually foreshadowing.
Canon get to the first round of singles….and well, obviously it didn't go well for people.
Rhodium's backstory is honestly probably not that interesting, he's a kid from a poor area with the skills needed to make a name for himself through crime.
Yeah Felix and Corvid have got more of Yang's personality in them, I think Felix has some of Blake in there under the surface; he stopped Nyanza from getting picked on because of that same strong sense of right and wrong but I think a lot of Blake's personality was shaped by experiences she made sure her kids never had to go through.
Hey!….I make the puns here.
Yeah we're not gonna see much of Rhodium but I do have one little 'Cameo' in mind for him during the tournament.
Congrats on getting through your finals.
I hope I can convert you to my love of the tournament arc trope.
Pineapple pizza is of the devil

As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review.