Another Monday. Another chapter.

Individual System

Jaune Arc was going through the harshest trial of his young life.

His stomach twisted as his body threatened to betray him. Every second was a new nightmare, but Jaune refused to give up! Deep breaths, he reminded himself. Deep breaths. He could do this. Focus. He just needed to focus.

"I believe in you, Yellow John!"

"Come on, kid! We're almost there!"

"It would be unsightly if you were to fail here after all your training."

Focusing would be so much easier if everyone around him could just shut up!

Jaune glared at the other people in the ship who, despite their encouraging words, were sitting as far away from him as possible. All of them looked at him as if he were a grenade about to go off. Jaune had a feeling Winter would be standing on her seat if she didn't care so much about being all proper. Red and Blue, who cared far less about protocol, were doing just that.

Jerks. The lot of them.

Didn't they know motion sickness was a fairly common problem?

The ship chose that moment to lurch to the side, turbulence of some sort, causing Jaune's stomach to move in ways stomachs should never do. The boy's hands flew to his mouth as his face gained a greenish hue. The contents of his stomach threatened to surge from his mouth, but he refused to let something so humiliating happen.

Don't throw up. Don't throw up! Don't throw up!

"Shit, he's going to blow!"

"Open the door!"

"We're over a thousand feet up, you moron!"

"I'm not saying we jump! I'm saying we open the door and hold him over the edge while he does his business."

"Not it!"

"What? No! Why do I have to be the one who holds him? It was my idea!"

"Exactly. Your idea. You do it."

"Can't Specialist Schnee just summon a Grimm to do it?"

"I will not have you use my summons for your inane ideas! Now, as your superior officer, I command you two to stand in front of me."

Super jerks.

"Damn it, how long until we reach Fort Grey?"

"One hour."

Jaune whimpered.

It was going to be a long flight.

xXx

Many complications and cries and screams later, the ship landed. All its passengers rushed out with haunted looks on their faces, eager to get away from the stench, much to the confusion of the small welcoming delegation that had been waiting for them.

"Damn," Red said. "If I ever see time dilated vomit a-"

"I believe," Winter interrupted, meaningfully clearing her throat, "that it would be for the best if we all forgot the past two hours."

Just about everyone present nodded fervently at that. Jaune would have nodded as well if he wasn't so busy drinking a bottle of water to clean his mouth of any… leftovers.

"Good," Winter said as she schooled her face into a mask of neutrality and proceeded to introduce herself to the bewildered welcoming delegation. Once that was done, she turned to her men. "Soldiers, escort the scientists to their new work stations and help the droids move the equipment. Lieutenants John and John, you are in charge."

The soldiers were quick to follow her commands, leaving Jaune and Winter alone in the landing pad.

"Are you well?" Winter asked, still maintaining a prudent distance from him.

"Mostly, yeah," Jaune said, making a mental note to wash his mouth as soon as possible. "Just… motion sickness... It's actually more common than you'd think."

Winter said nothing. She just stared at him with a perfectly neutral face. It was the type of expression that had to be practiced because no one could be so naturally good at expressing nothing.

"So," Jaune said, eager to change the subject. "This is Fort Grey? It's... big."

A few days ago, General Ironwood had informed him the project was going to temporarily move to a military base away from the city to run some tests. Now, here they were. Fort Grey was far larger than any building in Atlas and was surrounded by high, sturdy-looking walls. Most Grimm would have a hard time getting past them, and Jaune could see several turrets mounted on the walls to combat flight-capable Grimm.

Most of Fort Grey's area was taken up by two large hangars, many runways, and several landing pads, resulting in a sizable amount of open space. The base's actual buildings—all of them painted in classic Atlas gray—were not that large by comparison. They had nowhere near the number of floors the buildings in Atlas had, and Jaune was willing to bet Fort Grey also had nowhere near the number of basements Atlas Academy had.

All in all, Fort Grey felt roomy. Monochrome, but roomy.

"Fort Grey was one of the first military bases constructed after the founding of the Kingdom of Atlas. The council of the time wanted to make a strong visual statement to display the kingdom's power."

"They also build it right between Mantle and Atlas."

"That they did," Winter nodded. "Atlas was a young kingdom back then and had not yet gained the loyalty of all its territories. As a consequence, it feared not just the other kingdoms, but the threat of Mantle rising up against it. Fort Grey was made to serve as a deterrent. How necessary that deterrent was is up for debate as Mantle never once gave Atlas cause to doubt them."

It was kind of sad. Mantle surrendered to Atlas because it wanted to avoid another war, but that had not stopped Atlas from being paranoid.

Atlas had been a young kingdom in an unstable era. People liked to pretend the end of the Great War had ushered in a time of peace and prosperity for all of Remnant, and while that was not entirely inaccurate, there had been a lot of growing pains along the way. Jaune could understand why Atlas had tried to secure its position.

Still, could Atlas have done literally anything other than pointing literal and metaphorical cannons at Mantle as one of its first acts as a kingdom?

Talk about rude.

"If this base is so important, why are there so few people around?" Jaune asked, looking left and right. As big as the base was, he didn't see that many people in it. Considering all the equipment and people they had brought in the ships, Jaune had expected a sizeable welcoming delegation instead of the four or so people that had been there when they landed. It almost seemed like they had the base to themselves.

"There are not many people around because this base is not that important."

Jaune blinked

"Huh?"

"Think," Winter said. "Fort Grey was created decades ago for a purpose that is not at all relevant in modern times. Many natural barriers surround this part of Solitas, so it isn't particularly useful in defending the Kingdom against the Grimm either. In fact, had Dust not been found near Fort Grey a little over a decade and a half ago, this base would be downright useless to Atlas."

Jaune nodded as he absorbed the information. Fort Grey had been created as a weapon against Mantle. For that purpose, its location was strategically sound. However, a war with Mantle was not even remotely a concern in modern times. The only war that mattered to humanity was the war against the Grimm. Atlas' main concern was defending its territories from the Grimm and expanding its borders through killing Grimm.

Fort Grey was simply unsuited for that purpose.

"Beyond that, Fort Grey is currently operating at minimum capacity as per General Ironwood's orders," Winter added. "IXA is to remain a secret for now. We cannot risk any information leaking out. The fewer eyes around, the better."

So General Ironwood had picked a base that operated with a small staff, then he had removed even more members from that staff. While Jaune had known the IXA project was a big deal, General Ironwood casually arranging for them to have an entire military base almost to themselves really put in perspective how important this was.

It was kind of intimidating.

Cool, but intimidating.

"I understand, but… Did we really need to come all the way here?"

Jaune had to ask. He appreciated the change of scenery, but he didn't see how moving all their equipment to this place helped. The lab back in Atlas had a seemingly unending supply of droids for him to break, and Winter could summon hordes of Grimm for the tests. Literal hordes. Sure, Winter insisted they weren't actually Grimm, but the difference was academic as far as Jaune was concerned.

Whether the monsters Winter summoned were made of inky darkness or crystalline ice didn't matter nearly as much as their fangs and claws.

"There are several reasons why it was necessary to move the tests here. Now that we have left Atlas, IXA will finally be tested against Grimm." Jaune opened his mouth to point out IXA had technically already been tested against Grimm, but Winter beat him to it. "You may think you already know what it is like to face Grimm, but it would be for the best if you dispelled that foolish notion from your mind."

Winter held her hand out. A snowy white glyph appeared on her palm, and a tiny Nevermore rose from it.

"My summons may take the shape of Grimm, but they lack any will of their own. Everything they do is controlled by my thoughts, conscious or otherwise. When you fight against them, it is my will guiding their actions. The summons may be stronger than the average Grimm, but you would be a fool to consider them the same."

Winter's hand closed, shattering the tiny Nevermore in a thousand pieces.

"The Grimm are creatures of anonymity. They do not require sleep. They have no need for food or water. They do not seek out mates." Cold blue eyes narrowed. "The only thing they want to do is kill us."

Jaune gulped.

"There is nothing else to them. Their entire existence is driven by the singular desire to see every one of us dead. They will destroy towns and raze villages. They will kill young and old alike. If they had the power to do so, they would already be laying waste to our kingdoms. That is what the Grimm are. No matter how many of my summons you fight, they will all be missing that single-minded desire to end you. It is not something I can replicate. You will only experience it when fighting real Grimm."

"Oh," Jaune said, suddenly feeling rather small.

It wasn't as though Jaune hadn't known about the creatures of Grimm. Everyone knew about them, not just Huntsmen. Grimm were a constant in bedtime stories, history classes, and mass media. They were also a frequent subject of debate during election times.

Yet Winter's words gave him pause. Hearing the way she described the Grimm, the utter finality in her voice. It made them feel more real.

More dangerous.

"Of course, there are other factors involved in moving the project to Fort Grey" Winter added, hands folded behind her. "There is a difference between a fight under controlled circumstances and a real battle. For the project to move forward, IXA must show results under a variety of circumstances. That is why field-testing exists."

More like that was the main reason why they were doing this. Winter hadn't needed to say all that stuff about Grimm. IXA was not the one that needed to experience a Grimm's overwhelming urge to end humanity, because IXA wouldn't be able to feel that. It was a suit. The scientists who looked over his test results also wouldn't feel that.

The only one who needed to be ready to face that was him. Winter's words had been for his benefit. She wanted him to be ready to face the Grimm.

Jaune felt a warm feeling spreading across his chest.

"Does that mean we will go looking for Grimm?" Jaune asked. The notion was neither appealing nor unappealing to Jaune. It was just something he knew he was going to have to do eventually.

After all, being a Huntsman was mostly about going out of one's way to hunt monsters.

"Negative. We have already located a pack around this area. Even as we speak, soldiers are monitoring its movements. It is not too far away from the base, but we need to wait until the equipment we brought is properly set up. Doctor Polendina will not be able to collect data otherwise."

Waiting for the equipment to be set up was something that would take a couple of days at least. Jaune had seen all the different machines they had loaded on the ship. It was surprising it had been able to fly with all that weight on, but gravity Dust was amazing that way.

"In the meantime, we shall continue your training."

Jaune blinked. "We'll be sparring?"

Weird. He hadn't seen any wooden swords inside the ship. Then again, he had been distracted by trying not to throw up.

"There is no need for those at the moment. Second Lieutenants John and John will be helping you with your marksmanship. Meanwhile, I will be helping you get acclimated to snowy areas. It would not do for the test to suffer because you lacked the necessary experience to fight in the snow."

All that sounded good, but there was something about the way she said it that set Jaune's teeth on edge.

"Eh, ma'am? When you say you'll help me get 'acclimated to snowy areas' what exactly does that mean?" Jaune asked nervously.

Winter's smile was neither kind nor warm.

xXx

Jaune huffed and puffed, but unlike in a certain fairy tale featuring three pigs and a wolf, no house was blown away.

"You're starting to slow down. Remember, you still need to complete five more laps! Slowing down will only lengthen the exercise."

"I know!" Jaune gasped out as he ran through the snow. His lungs felt like they were about to fall out of his mouth, a feeling Jaune had become all too familiar with ever since meeting Winter.

It wasn't that Jaune lacked experience with snow. He may not look like much, but Jaune Arc was a veteran of several snowball fights who had successfully taken down many snow forts and was the mastermind behind Operation Twin Break, a plan had successfully netted his team the win in the Annual Arc Family Snowball Fight of 76. That whole ordeal had gotten so out of hand Marie Arc had ended up grounding the entire Arc family for a month afterward. Even her husband.

Arcs did not mess around during snow season.

However, there was a difference between playing in his—admittedly large—backyard after a snow and running through the snowy fields of the middle of nowhere. While the inside of Fort Grey was well-taken care of and surprisingly snow free, no one really bothered to clean all the snow that accumulated outside the walls except for that which fell in front of the gates. Thus, Jaune was stuck running laps outside the base where the snow level was much closer to his waist than to his knees.

Apparently, there had been a snowstorm just a few days ago which meant there was more snow around the base than there would otherwise be. Fortuitous, Winter had called it, which Jaune knew was a fancy way of saying lucky.

Jaune did not feel lucky.

Jaune felt tired.

The snow wasn't hard. It wasn't slippery like ice or particularly hard-packed, not yet at least. It was cold, but nothing he couldn't handle. The Atlas-issued gray jumpsuit and boots he wore did a fantastic job at keeping his body warm. His Aura took care of the rest. Running through the snow wasn't actually all that hard.

For the first few minutes at least.

As Jaune was finishing his first lap, he realized just how draining forcing his way through the deceptively soft snow was. Putting a little more effort than he otherwise would to break the harder upper crust. Having to raise his feet more than usual with each movement. Using his arms to steady himself. The slight resistance the snow offered each time he moved his legs. It wasn't any one problem that made the task arduous.

It was all of them combined.

Now, one would think Jaune's laps would get easier after the first. After all, once his body had made a path through the snow, it was just a matter of following his own footsteps. That made sense, right?

Wrong.

Winter had forbidden him from taking the same path twice which meant each of his laps around Fort Grey had to be a little bigger (and thus harder and longer) than the one before it. Jaune's body might as well be a snow plow. A fleshy, tired snow plow that felt it was being worked way too hard. His gray clothes were already painted white by the snow. Even his hair and eyebrows were starting to look more Schnee-like with each step.

Jaune took a moment to glance at Winter out of the corner of his eye. The older woman was easily keeping pace with him. Unlike him, she was not waist-deep in snow. Winter somehow stood and ran on the snow without sinking even a single inch. Such things were apparently for lesser people.

Jaune wasn't sure if she was doing it by using her Semblance in some clever way or if the snow was just too intimidated by Winter.

It was probably the latter.

As the large gates of Fort Grey came into view, Jaune began to veer a little to the right for his next lap. Only four more laps and he'd be done. Four more laps. Each one larger than the one before it. Two months ago, doing something like this would have been unthinkable. Jaune would have collapsed without finishing a single lap. Even now, his muscles screamed in protest, but Jaune powered through. His Aura would have to keep him from feeling sore in the morning.

"Do we really need to do so many laps?" Jaune's mouth betrayed his true feelings. Winter had already explained why she was making him run in the snow, but knowing did not make the task any more pleasant.

"You already know why you are doing this," Winter chided him. Unlike him, she didn't sound even slightly winded. "All your fighting experience has been inside a lab. Whether you are a soldier, Specialist, or Huntsman, you will rarely fight on even floor. Only a tiny percentage of Remnant can be called urban."

Only about five if Jaune remembered his middle school classes right, and even then, he was pretty sure his father had once called that number inflated.

"During the field test, you will be wearing IXA. That suit makes you stronger and faster, but it does not confer you greater skill. It is better for you to get used to moving in snow now when there are no Grimm around than later when there will most certainly be."

Damn, when she put it like that this horrible exercise sounded way too reasonable and even considerate. Still…

"Isn't there a less…" Boring? Exhausting? Dreadful? "Monotone way of doing this?"

"Monotone? Well, you certainly look like it with all that white on."

Jaune blinked. That hadn't been Winter. He rubbed his eyes to clear some of the snow that had ended up on his eyelashes. Standing near the main gate and waving at them were Red and Blue.

"Second Lieutenants," Winter said, frowning. "I thought I left you in charge of helping out with the equipment."

"There were a few complications, ma'am," Blue said. Red decided to put it in simpler terms.

"The brains threw us out. Said we were big oafs that weren't fit to handle their delicate equipment and that the droids would be enough to handle the job."

"Even if we are in a secure location, Polendina should be aware of the importance of keeping the equipment and the scientists protected at all times," Winter said.

"Actually, he was the one doing most of the insulting," Blue replied, causing Winter to narrow her eyes.

"Was he now? It seems I need to have words with him."

Jaune winced. That was a conversation he wanted no part in. He wasn't sure who he pitied more. Winter was an intimidating person, attractive but intimidating. Intimidatingly attractive even. However, Doctor Polendina was Doctor Polendina. The man was the sort of person who always went at his own pace no matter what the rest of the world had to say about it.

"I will talk with Polendina to impress upon him the necessity of proper security. You two oversee Arc's laps in my absence."

"Yes, ma'am!" The two said as Winter walked into the base. Red then turned to Jaune with a smile on his face.

"So she has you running laps?" The question was rhetorical, so Jaune did not bother answering it. Instead, he tried to get his breathing under control, his hands resting on his knees. "Damn, you really are covered in snow. More White John than Yellow John, I'd say."

"Please don't."

Red laughed. "Shake that snow off then."

"For once, he has a point. You may have lots of Aura, but don't take it for granted."

Deciding they had a point, Jaune did as they asked, first by wildly running a hand through his hair then by shaking his body in a motion that could not be called anything other than dog-like.

"Much better," Blue said, nodding in Jaune's direction.

"Yeah well, I still have four more laps to do so don't expect it to last."

"Actually," Red said, his words almost leaping at the opening, "I have a better idea."

"I don't like where this is going."

"How about an alternative training method?"

Judging by the way Blue was shaking his head behind Red, Jaune had a feeling nothing good could come from this. Unfortunately, his mouth had always been a tad faster than his brain.

"Alternative training method?"

"A snowball fight!"

Jaune was pretty sure he had heard wrong.

"A snowball fight?"

Red nodded, puffing his chest. "Sure thing. The important thing is for you to get used to moving in the snow, right? A snowball fight would take care of that much faster than just running around in circles. Leaping. Aiming with uneven footing. Taking cover. Keeping an eye on the enemy. Snowball fights are great practice. It's not uncommon among soldiers when we get the opportunity, you know? Keeps the senses sharp."

Red's words almost sounded reasonable, but the way he was practically bouncing in place gave away his true motives. Alternative training method his foot! Wasn't he just suggesting that because he wanted to play around?

"Red, that's a horrible idea," Blue said, shaking his head. "What do you think will happen when Specialist Schnee comes out and finds you playing around?"

"Oh, please!" Red snorted and waved a hand dismissively. "She's going to be talking to Polendina. That's like an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object. They'll be at it for hours."

"Be that as it may, d-orph!"

Blue's words were cut off by a snowball landing perfectly on the uncovered part of his face. Jaune couldn't see the man's eyes behind his helmet, but he was sure the soldier was glaring at his counterpart.

"Very funny, now-"

Another snowball cut him off.

"Oh, you're dead!"

And that was how Jaune found himself dragged into his first snowball fight in a long while. He would be lying if he said he didn't have fun. His muscles may still complain, but it wasn't as tiresome as just running.

Unfortunately for everyone involved, the answer to the irresistible force paradox did not include an argument that lasted several hours. Thus, barely half an hour after Winter had left, she returned to find Blue shoving a snowball into Red's mouth who held Jaune by the neck who had decided to forgo snowballs entirely and was trying to bite the older man's arm.

Winter cleared her throat.

Never before had three men separated so fast.

"Ma'am, I can explain. This is-"

"A snowball fight." Winter's voice was every bit as cold as her name. "I left you two in charge of Arc's training, and you decided to have… a snowball fight."

"There are actually several arguments in favor of-Ugh!" Red was cut off by a swift elbow to his ribs.

"Shut. Up." Blue hissed.

"No. I see Second Lieutenant John's point," Winter said to the surprise of everyone present. "There are certainly merits to his idea which I hadn't considered before."

"Wait, really?"

"Yes, the more I think about it, the more the idea appeals to me," Winter said, taking a few steps away from them. "In fact…"

A dozen crystalline Beowolves rose behind Winter.

"I think we should continue with this exercise."

Jaune found himself wishing he could go back to running laps.

xXx

Days later, Winter Schnee sat at the head of a table in a dark meeting room. In front of her floated a holographic display of the area. Sitting at the other end of the table and looking somewhat nervous was Jaune Arc.

"This is the place the Grimm are using as a lair," Winter said pointing to a spot in the map. It was only a few miles away from Fort Grey. "The two of us will set out tomorrow. However, you will be expected to do most of the fighting. I will only intervene if the circumstances demand it. Understood?"

Jaune quickly nodded. "Yes, ma'am!"

"According to our scouts, our opposition is expected to consist mostly of Ursa, but do not be surprised if we find other types of Grimm there. It is not uncommon for different species of Grimm to band together under the influence of a sufficiently strong leader. Do you have any questions?"

"Just one," Jaune said, raising his hand as if he were in a classroom. "That place." He pointed to the holographic display. "I'm not that good at reading maps but is that supposed to be a building?"

Winter nodded approvingly. "Indeed. Years ago, a research and development corporation tried to set up a branch there. Since Dust had been found near Fort Grey, it was predicted this area would experience rapid growth. The company in question planned to foster that growth."

"What happened?"

Winter frowned, making Jaune fear he had done something wrong. Still, she answered his question. "The lead developer and head of the company died. Without him, everything collapsed. The building was left abandoned in the middle of nowhere."

Left unsaid was that the SDC had a hand in said collapse. The company could have survived without its CEO, but the pressure the SDC applied to it following that tragic loss brought it to ruin.

Jacques Schnee was never one to waste an opportunity.

Due to her father's actions, the company's plan to turn the area into a new metropolis ended up going nowhere. Instead, the SDC got its hands on the mining rights, and only a small mining town was established near Fort Grey.

"What was the company's name?" Jaune asked. Winter closed her eyes and let the name roll from her lips.

"Merlot Industries."

AN:

If the show gets to have Fort Castle, I get to have Fort Grey. By the way, this is a completely unimportant detail, but I headcanon Fort Castle as being in Mistral.

Anyway, this is a bit of a transition chapter before we jump into the action. A bit of background info. A bit of the characters just being a little silly. I wanted to show the more informal side of Atlas. After all, Ironwood is the guy who thought FNKI was a perfectly fine name for a team. You know they all have a silly side. Not entirely happy with how the chapter came out, but oh well.

Till next time!