Disclaimer: Transformers Prime and the Monster Hunter franchise do not belong to me. I only own the storyline and my OCs.

Normal: "..."

Machine Speaking: "..."

Flashback/Others Talking Over a Comlink: "..."

Important Points/ Significant: "..."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The claw-like object was revealed to be a black shard of bone, most likely a fang or a horn. Regardless, it was definitely the bone of a Mutant or an Elder Dragon.

Jack could tell, because of the glowing blue markings on the bone. These were sure indicators that there was power in the bone.

Normally, when a monster is killed, it's power is stored in its densest parts, such as its scales, claws and horns. There is a chance that the power would form a gem within the beast, however rare that was.

The power would then stay in the parts until a hunter uses it, where the power amplifies the hunter's attacks, or when time erases it forever.

Like a charged battery, the monster energy inside their parts does not just disappear. However, also like a battery, monster energy can dissipate in time, with only the strongest of monsters able to resist the effect. The stronger the monster, the greater its affinity with the elements, thus, the greater the ability to hold onto its power, even when deceased.

The bone looked to be from a mutant, with how it practically glowed with light. Jack couldn't tell which species it came from, but at least Miko would be ecstatic.

"This. Is. SO TOTALLY AWESOME! It isn't from a Lao-Shen-Long, but it GLOWS."

Jack asked her what she was going to do with the bone.

"I think I'm gonna make a longsword with this. It looks like it should have the lightning element in it, and maybe a water affinity." She suddenly stood up, closing and clutching her box to her chest.

"Well, I'm going to go find out what this is. Have fun with your swords!"

She bounded off towards her room, where a flamethrower, and a full chemistry set where surely waiting.

Jack decided to follow her example, packing up his blades, and toting the box back to his room.

After going inside, Jack went to a medium sized worktable with a screen and a pad for delicate objects and put down the box, grabbing a pair of work gloves in the process. He opened the box back up, and put on his gloves.

Jack lifted the blades out of the box, and set them down on the pad. He would store them with the rest of his materials until he could find a proper binding agent, and find someone to forge the blades.

Jack had seen ancient hunter weapons before, which were made of an amalgamation of metal and monster parts. They would be less sturdy and reliable because of their metal parts, and would require sharpening, which damaged the monster parts. In order for this waste of resources to stop, E.L.D.E.R decided that all weapons and armor must be made from either pure monster parts, or from pure inorganic materials.

It is because of this that Jack had to wait to craft his blades, or find someone else to do it. In ancient times, one would have used metal to stick the parts together, but not anymore. The crafter of the failed blades used a high-grade binder to meld the Elder Dragon horns together. Jack only had access to low-grade binder, which would not work on the blades.

The amount of power that is stored within a piece of material determines how powerful a piece of equipment is, but it also increases the strain on any weak points. Low-grade binder would work on the least powerful of monsters, able to handle the power levels, but would start to crack when being used to stick parts of higher power together. This is because the elemental discharge and exchange between the various parts would destroy the binding at a molecular level, effectively vaporizing it.

This is also very dangerous for the wielder. In a best case scenario, the weapon would just fall apart, leaving you vulnerable to monster attacks. In a worst case scenario, the conflicting energies in the weapon would vaporize the welder. Metal is a very good conductor, which is why this didn't happen in ancient times.

Not to mention, Jack didn't have the neccessary expertise needed to craft with Elder Dragon material. He would need to go to a master technician in order to even have a chance at forging it.

Jack sighed, putting the box near the door. It was impossible for him to achieve right now. The funds that master technicians charge for forging was exorbitant at best. He would never afford it with the rewards he gained from newbie missions.

He wrapped up the blades with a large piece of canvas, making sure not to cut himself. He opened his closet, walked in and put the blades with the other materials. He took off his gloves and tossed them on the worktable, closet door closing behind him.

Jack slid onto the bed, star-fishing on the mattress. He looked out of his window, which was right over a Class-1A containment zone, brightly colored fish swimming in the large pool. He looked up, able to see the large clear dome that made up the ceiling of the entire base. He seemed to recall someone saying that it was an Elder Dragon scale shed, though it would have to be huge to shed so much skin.

The sun was beaming down from the dome, and his arm-screen said it was noon. It would soon be time for lunch in the living area.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Jack walked back into the recruit living area, toting his, now only filled with packing peanuts, box.

The living area was already crammed with people, all lining up in front of food dispensers. At lunchtime, they would become activated, and a recruit would just have to scan their fingerprint to receive their meal, varying from person to person. This way, all recruits can stay healthy with no confusion as to which menu they were following.

Jack lined up behind some older recruits, looking for his friends. He spotted Aalexi lounging on a couch, already eating her meal. Miko was eating with another recruit Jack didn't know, waving her arms around, almost falling over in her enthusiasm.

It was finally his turn, after the people in front of him made their selections. Jack scanned his finger, and the screen flickered to the food choices. It was more of a calorie based selection than anything else, with three options: Prep, Expedition, and Diet. Checking his arm-screen, Jack made sure that he had a training session scheduled, before choosing the Diet option.

The machine whirred, and a compartment opened to reveal a paper bag. Jack took the bag and walked away to find a seat. Aalexi seemed to be exuding a dark aura, keeping everyone away, Vince was nowhere to be found and he didn't exactly fancy a face full of crumbs, courtesy of Miko. He decided to just sit on a smaller couch away from everyone. He didn't mind, it gave him more time to plan out his equipment designs anyway.

Jack didn't know many people, and preferred being alone most of the time. He sat down and opened his bag. In it he found a grilled chicken burger, a packaged salad and a bottle of water. He started eating, watching everyone go about their business.

There were several upperclassmen near him, and he accidentally overheard some snippets of their conversation.

"Hey, ... department are you going?"

"...hoping for Wyvern, but ... good too."

"...want to ... guard duty?"

He didn't hear much more after that. They seemed to be talking about the different divisions of E.L.D.E.R. Wyvern is the containment division, while one could only be a guard at Hydra, the science division, or at Leviathan, the Armada division.

After finishing his lunch, Jack picked up the bag with his trash in it, and went over to the disposer. The dispensers only used biodegradable items, so the disposer would directly dump the trash into a composter.

He then went back to his room. After washing his hands, he picked up the delivery box still sitting by his door. There was a return station currently at the living area, and it was where Jack and the others were meant to drop the boxes off. They would then be cycled back through the delivery system, and hit even more people in the face.

After tossing the box onto the trailer, Jack looked back at his screen, checking his schedule again. It seemed that he had an hour to digest before having to go to Elemental Defense and Counterattack training, where you basically had to dodge laserbeams and shoot paintballs at the person shooting you with laser beams. It's harder than it sounds. Each session usually had about seven to eight recruits, and only one person dodges lasers at a time. Guess what everyone else was doing.

Jack decided to go back to his room and watch some more documentaries about Elder Dragons. They were fascinating creatures, all in possession of the power to shake the continents. The fact that even these powerful beasts were not immune to the virus is a matter of great concern.

Entering his room, Jack plopped down on his chair and turned on the screen attached to his worktable, flipping to a video about Lunastra, Teostra and their hypothetical offspring.

When it was ten minutes till training, Jack got up and straightened his uniform. Walking out the door, he thought about the world of monsters, and how lucky he was to be a part of it.

-.-.-.-. timeskip -.-.-.-

It was now two weeks from when Jack had taken his placement test. The team selections were about to be posted on a screen in the recruit area screen. The private scores and evaluations would be broadcasted to their individual arm-screens.

When Jack came back from a training session, all of the year 04 recruits were crowding around the three enormous screens in the recruit lobby, while older recruits looked on with mirth.

Some were whining about their team members while others were bragging about them. They were usually talking about each other. There was some commotion from some of the recruits, but Jack didn't know what that was about.

Jack decided to wait out the crowd, opting instead to sit on a couch and view his scores and evaluation.

His screen flickered on, and a notification popped up stating that his scores were in.

Jack clicked on the notification, and it took him directly to his record page.

Bypassing his training records, Jack directly jumped to the placement test scores.

Student 57 of T04, Enigma Insight, has performed sufficiently. He lacks the brute strength of his comrades but uses the flexibility of his weapons to inflict large amounts of damage. Needs to work on evasive maneuvers, and requires at least a Mid-rank weapon to maximize potential.

Jack skimmed over the actual scores, noting how he had almost full marks in most of the categories, and went right to the 'Suggested Improvements' section.

Student 57 is to report to defensive maneuver courses as soon as possible.

Jack groaned, more work for him. He kept reading.

Is to be issued flying wyvern blades by the end of the week.

Jack was surprised at this one. Flying wyverns weren't rare in the slightest, though their bodies were tough enough that smithys would charge more than usual to make weapons from their bodies. He continued reading.

Permanent secondary long-range weapons required. Weapon pickup at briefing room 238-B.

Jack nodded with understanding at this last one. Though not his specialty, Jack was good enough with long ranged weapons to use them in place of his blades. Also, because he doesn't have the training to resist monster attacks, loosing the flexibility of his dual blades meant that he would most likely have to fall back.

He decided right then, that he was not going to accept that. He wanted to be able to continue drawing the monster's attention from his team, even if his primary weapons were taken. He would need to be able to effectively block the monster's attacks, which wouldn't be possible with normal long ranged guns. He would need both hands free to wield his blades, and the extra weight of even a light bow-gun was not something he could afford. Jack pushed his thoughts away for later.

The crowd in front of the screens had thinned, so Jack decided to go and take a look at his team. As he got closer, Jack noticed something about some of the teams. They were short one member, and had a 'supervisor' in their place. Judging by their identification numbers, the supervisors were official hunters at least four years older than them.

Jack moved closer to the screen searching for his identification number. Miko interrupted him before he could do so, dragging an exasperated Vince along with her.

"Dude, we are all on the same TEAM! HOW AWESOME IS THAT!", she yelled right into his ear.

Jack felt kind of bad for Vince. He was probably there when Miko found out the news, and will most likely have to see a nurse about hearing issues. He heard Vince mumble out a "terrific" before noticing something peculiar.

"So, who's our missing teammate?" Miko started to bounce on her feet. That didn't bode well for his general well being.

"Only one of the most AWESOME hunters in the universe! He's one of only twenty Class-S hunters, and is half your dad's age!" Jack frowned slightly at that comment. "No offense, your dad's amazing." He retained his stoic look. "Now he is going to be acting as OUR SUPERVISOR!" She squealed in excitement. "I heard that he can slay an Elder by himself! Did you know he's got a pair of halk named Vulcan and Helios? I've only seen them in pictures and they are HUGE. Like, twice the size of your average halk huge. I think he said that they were found in an Elder's cave. Do you think it was the same one he defeated? This is so COOL! I think he also uses a scythe that has a detachable blade. I've never seen-"

Jack took a step back, head spinning from Miko's enthusiasm.

"Wait," She looked at him, unimpressed. Vince had removed himself early on in Miko's rambling. "-so who IS he exactly?" She gaped at him. "You never said his name," Jack quickly added.

"How could you not know him?" Miko asked incredulously, "He is literally the poster boy of E.L.D.E.R." She then waved her hand, gesturing to the screen they were standing in front of. "You might as well look for yourself."

He stepped closer to the screen, searching for his ID. He saw the numbers sitting next to the ID, '001-Rs02." Slightly underneath the number, was the code-name: Silver Siren.

From what Jack knew of the Silver Siren, he was a sixteen-year-old prodigy. Not many knew where he came from, and the few that did were sworn to secrecy. He was surprised that someone who was a legitimate Class-S hunter would volunteer to supervise and train a bunch of rowdy recruits. He certainly would not want to be around the equivalent of four Mikos every day.

Anyway, back to the matter at hand. "Where's Aalexi? She should be here as well." Jack asked while looking around for her. Miko shrugged, saying "I heard she was reassigned to an official post in Hydra. Lucky, we won't get official positions until graduation." Then she looked up and smiled. "At least we get a cool new mentor."

Before Miko had the chance to say anything else, the intercom buzzed.

"All supervisors to year T04 students are to meet their teams in the headquarters main hall. All year T04 recruits assigned supervisors are to head to the main hall immediately."

Miko immediately grabbed Jack's arm and pulled him towards the elevator shafts. The hallway was crowded with people, though it wasn't as bad as Jack was expecting. Somewhere along the way, Vince had made the mistake of coming too close to Miko, and was now being dragged alongside Jack.

They squeezed into an elevator, someone hitting the button for the third level. After the elevator doors closed, and started descending, Jack could feel someone's elbow jammed into his stomach, and someone else slammed into his back. Somewhere behind him, Jack could hear Vince shouting, over the noisy racket of other people screaming at each other, for someone to get their hand out of his face. The elevator stopped moving, and the doors opened to let a flood of hyper teenagers pour out. They all began to rush to the headquarters' dome, competing to see who could reach the doors first.

The supervisors, who were already there, watched on in amusement behind the headquarter's dome. Until they realized the young recruits weren't stopping. The recruits almost ripped the doors of of their hinges, with some supervisors having to literally dive out of the way.

Miko, who had somehow retained her grip on both Jack and Vince, came flying through the door along with at least 100 other people. As she ran towards the startled mentors, Jack and Vince managed to right themselves. Vince, however, managed to right himself in the wrong direction, tripping all three of them. They all fell in a pile on the well-polished floor, sliding towards a flight of stairs.

They came to a stop, and Jack's head stopped spinning enough for him to tell that a pair of white and silver boots were in front of them. His eyes moved upwards, settling on a concerned face looking at them.

The stranger had bright white chest-length hair, and shockingly gold eyes. He was wearing a customized off-mission uniform that marked him as one of the elite. There was a silver rathalos symbol in the middle of his chest, replacing the recruit cross symbol Jack was wearing.

Looking up at the face of Silver Siren, Jack could hear the small, 'oh no', Miko squeaked. They were so doomed.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

How was it? There won't be too many OCs, in case you are wondering. I need to fill in the personnel gap somehow, and TFP does not give a lot to work with. I probably won't be killing anyone off. Yet.