JULI and STRQ would be sent to compete again in the 31st Vytal Festival Tournament in their third year. Half of JULI, which included in June and Uruclay, would find themselves wanting to go to Atlas more than they wanted to go to Vacuo. Uruclay's reason, however, was that he was more interested in the Atlesian air forces than he was anything else. Uruclay was highly interested in ships, air and navy. In battle strategy classes, he excelled in the navigation of ships and war strategies. His own teachers would tell you that he was more comfortable with ships than he was people, which would make anyone think he was from Atlas instead of Vale. Another way he showed his skills was by taking part in weekend tournaments of Remnant: The Game. When he could pick the Atlas side, he was near unbeatable using the kingdoms military. These tournaments and his grades had gotten the attention of an Atlas Specialist, Album Nix, and she planned to contact him when he would attend the Vytal Festival Tournament.
JULI would've had the same procedure heading to Atlas as they did Vacuo, but Album had requested that the team be flown in sooner than usual to meet with Uruclay. JULI was only told that someone had wanted them to see Atlas sooner, so they were being brought to Atlas early. Summer was disappointed that she wouldn't be there for June's birthday, but she was able to get over it for the time being. The whole team was excited about being in Atlas, with Ino having a little excitement about getting something STRQ didn't. The city was truly unique, most notably was the fact that Atlas itself was a floating island powered by dust. Uruclay had immediately wanted to see about visiting the Atlesian airfield, but after an hour of settling in to their new dorm, Uruclay had been told a Specialist had wanted him in their office. His scroll was provided the location and he was told to be there ASAP. The rest of JULI didn't question it, the only one being Levi who asked where he had to go. He told him and he let him off. After about a half-a-mile walk, Uruclay had reached Album's office. She would've usually been more angry with her subordinates not listening to the "ASAP" part of her message, but Uruclay wasn't a subordinate. He did, however, stand attention in her presence and showed the same attention and respect as though he was a subordinate. "No need for the formalities," Album had started, "take a seat." Uruclay listened, and had taken a seat opposite of her. "To clear up any questions about your early arrival," she continued, "I was the one who requested that you would come here. I am well aware of Team JULI's skill in combat, and it is impressive. However, you were the tipping point for my decesion to get JULI here early." Uruclay could hide his emotions easily, Levi commenting that his poker face was used in more things than just poker, but he was curious by what she meant. "I'm sorry, but could you clarify what that means," Uruclay had asked. She answered, "What I'm saying, is that your grades in naval and air navigation had gotten my attention, and now it has gotten the attention of the General." Even Uruclay had slight examples of surprise on his face. He never thought that he be noticed by the Atlesian Military, it was partly the reason he became a Huntsmen instead. Album noticed his shock and curiosity, and went on, "In that light, we're willing to provide a position in the Atlas military to allow your strategy skills to grow. This will require more discussion, but for now I'll let you settle in and we'll resume this in two days. You're dismissed." Uruclay had stood up, saluted and walked back to the dorm. He was very happy about this, but he tried not to think about it too much, so it wouldn't be distracting for the next couple of days.
The next day, JULI decided to head into the main city to see what Atlas was like. Although they were there only a half week sooner than contesting teams would be arriving, there were still some parts of the festival being prepared because they were meant for the tournament. Uruclay wanted to visit the airfields and see if any tours were being provided for ships. Levi would usually be the one to go with him, but he didn't like forcing Levi to do this sort of stuff. Levi wasn't too interested in the weapon or technological part of his job, reasoning that if something got the job done, it was good enough. Surprisingly, June had agreed to go with him. It wasn't a secret between them that they were the two who cared more for weapons, but they also weren't a common pair even on the same team. June was interested in the ships, though, as she found interest in the Atlas tech for being very advanced. It turns out that tours were provided for older ships that were put out of commission. The tour was basic, and although Uruclay found it interesting, he still had some disappointment that he couldn't look at the more advanced airships that were being used in the current fleet. June had kept to herself what she thought of the tour. As much as the two had some shared interests, she almost never expressed her own feelings to anyone. The only person that he could guess she opened up to is Summer, but that was still a guess on his part. The pair met up with Levi and Ino, who expressed they had a great time visiting an amusement park set up for the festival. JULI would spend the rest of the day exploring Atlas, finishing the day by finding a place to eat. After that, they went back to the dorms to rest.
The next day had come, but Uruclay had already needed to discuss with Album. He told the rest of JULI that this would happen the day Album told him, so they weren't worrying where he would be. Levi and Ino expressed that they thought a day of meetings and discussing would be boring, but June only nodded and patted him on the back for getting new opportunities. Although he told none of them that he was partly the reason from being there early, he always felt that June knew everything. He started to head to Album's office when he got the report, and this time he walked a little faster knowing what it was for. He found that June left the same time he did and ran into her before he got to Album's office. He asked where June was going, curious by the small amount of luggage she had. She told him she was going to Mantle to see the kingdoms old capital, adding that she be back the day STRQ would arrive in Atlas. He said stay safe, and went on to meet with Album. It didn't take the full day, but they negotiated a deal. Album had told him that he could join the military when he wanted, but that if it was before he graduated they would need to bring it up with current headmasters. Uruclay decided that he would finish his studies at Beacon first before joining. Album expressed some disappointment, but still needed to check something. She had arranged a battle simulation between Uruclay and an Atlas student. This student, however, had shown the most skill out of his class in airship and naval strategies. The student would also have the upper hand at the beginning of the simulation. Album, escorted by two androids, brought Uruclay to the simulation arena. He met with the student and they both shook hands before the simulation start. Album explained the situation and conditions that would take place, "The battle will be between two equal fleets fighting above the northern ocean of Anima, with a rock spire formation in the ocean providing the only cover. Uruclay, you will be facing Drake Lex. The two of you have equal grades and show similar capabilities on air and naval strategies. However, Drake will have a home field advantage, to say. The airships being used are new, experimental ships not yet to be used in the Atlasian air fleet, and Drake has been giving proper training on how they work. Uruclay, the General has high expectations of you and hopes that you'll be able to adapt fast enough to take on Drake. For the win conditions, each side will have a flagship. If this ship is taken down, be it an enemy or Grimm attack, the commander will be eliminated and lose. Now head to your stations!"
Uruclay was always confident in his abilities, but he was truly worried about this engagement. This would be equally as important to him as getting into Beacon with a similar entrance exam, if the entrance exam had let teachers fight against the students and could hide the artifacts. The point being was that he was at a disadvantage. Drake and Uruclay had been sat opposite of each other, but they were separated by a wall to prevent cheating. Each side had a holographic board. Although he didn't have the knowledge Drake did about his fleet, the two had 8 minutes to figure out beginning strategies and, for Uruclay, to see if he could learn anything about his ships before the start of the simulation. Drake, however, was very confident in his abilities. Although he wasn't usually cocky, the fact that his opponent had no idea what his ships could do had made him cocky. The battle was started and Drake had began by putting his flagship and its escorts into formation. The flagship would stay behind the main offensive force slowly following them. The reason that he didn't keep the flagship deep behind defense was that it possessed a very powerful anti-capital ship weapon. It was a dust powered laser that was capable of slicing entire fleets in half. A single use of the laser, however, would put the flagship out of commission for a time, so it was to be used as a last resort or if it was guaranteed to wipe out a fleet. There was a dedicated radar ship apart of the fleet as well, that would provide a location update of the enemy fleet every 30 seconds. When Drake had his first look at Uruclay's formation, he was surprised to see that it was very sporadic and unorganized. He was disappointed. He had heard that Uruclay was a brilliant tactician, so he started to look down on him for his organization or lack thereof. It would take another minute-and-a-half until the two fleets would meet head-to-head. This seemed to be the case until the next radar update, which showed that Uruclay was slowly retreating. Drake was still cautious, though, and had his faster ships take point to also act as scouts. It would now be two-and-a-half-minutes until the two fleets would engage. The next radar pulse would reveal something unique. There was a signal that identified as one of Uruclay's ships hovering very close to the water. It was a fast ship that would engage Drake's fleet very soon, and Drake assumed that it was supposed to be a scout. He started to think Uruclay more of a fool to think that simply going lower was going to mask him from radar. Instead of immediately getting rid of it when it was within range, he decided that he would let it be unless it tried something or got within range to see. He did this to trick Uruclay into thinking that lower altitude did mask the radar. Drake had thought highly of Atlas technology, commenting that the new, improved radars were capable of detecting aura, which made it possible to determine the difference between Grimm and airships. With that, there was a group of Grimm staying near Drakes fleet. He planned only to engage if the flock of Grimm attacked, but he wasn't able to tell what the Grimm were exactly until they got within sight. With the next radar pulse, his trick had worked. Uruclay had lowered his fleets altitude to hide himself and was slowing down. To go with it, Drake had slowed down his fleet to make him think that he had lost him. In the next 40 seconds, the two fleets would engage. The next radar pulse would be the last. When it happened, Drake had taken out the scout that Uruclay sent under him. Then, 40 seconds had gone by. As soon as Drake was in sight of Uruclay's fleet, he began to charge the flagships laser to quickly end the fight. However, the laser wouldn't charge because something had hit him from behind. The "Grimm" that were behind him had turned out to smaller airships that had all human occupants taken out, and they were armed with single-use, anti ship missiles. They weren't able to take out the flagship, but they disabled the ships laser and its ability to move fast. Drake was too distracted and figured out last second that Uruclay's flagship had charged its main weapon. The ship had fired and took out half of his fleet. Drake, still in shock that he knew how to use the ships laser, responded by sending the rest of his offensive force after Uruclay, but it was a sloppy counterattack and Uruclay had expected the rash planning. They flew too close to the rock formation, and Uruclay revealed his other trap. He planted mines that would start a rock slide on the formation when they blew, and he pulled the trigger. The debris had taken most of the airships out, with the little remaining being easy pickings for Uruclay's fleet. Then, Uruclay had sent his counterattack and had swiftly taken out all ships that were defending Drakes flagship. Defeat was imminent, and the results were clear. Out of the 7 escorts, flagship, and smaller airships that made up the fleets, Uruclay had only lost one escort and less than a handful of small airships. Drake, however, had lost everything.
After that simulation, Album saw Uruclay's ability. She was very impressed, and his plan perfect. Although Drake thought that Uruclay wouldn't be able to learn much in the 8 minute prep, Uruclay learned everything he could about the radar ship. He found out how it was able to distinct between Grimm and airships. He thought that automated airships would be too obvious, but he decided that sending a few ships would work. Then, he spent the beginning 30 seconds of the match researching his escorts. After seeing the first pulse, he found that Drakes flagship was staying close to his offensive force. This got him thinking, and he soon realized the flagship had an offensive function. He organized his fleet to resemble Drakes, but started his plan to attack him from behind. His use of the lower altitude scout was to get a view on Drake's fleet, thinking that he would let the scout get close to try and fool him. He was right, and one thing had led to another and he had won. Album had seen his skill, and she and Uruclay agreed on something that benefited both of them in the long run. Uruclay would still attend Beacon and complete this studies there, but, after he graduates, he will move to Atlas to begin basic military and strategy training that would allow him to become a commander. Album had no doubts that he would pass the training, reasoning that he didn't need it, but he needed to do this if he wasn't going to transfer to Atlas Academy. Uruclay was happy the rest of the festival, excited that he had a plan for the future. Ironically, he was very lazy when it came to planning for his own future, which made Levi and his parents very confused and surprised when he would tell them what would happen...
