A/N: I own nothing, and I never hope to, that would be way to much work. RWBY and Titanfall belong to their license holders. Hows it going guys? thanks for the positive reviews, I hope to keep the quality up. hope you enjoy.

Ruby was leaning over a still waking Weiss when Steele walked out of the shower, whistle in hand. Everyone except Weiss in school uniform, the shrill whistle startling Weiss out of bed. "Good morning team RWBY!" the good drawn out as she hopped from the bed.

"What in the world is wrong with you?" Wiess protested from the floor. Steele had to take a moment to process what just happened, he never got the chance.

"Now that you're awake we can officially begin our first order of business."

"excuse me?" confusion evident in Weiss's voice.

"Decorating!" Yang and Blake stood to the side of the room, Yang's out burst drawing attention to the pile of random stuff in her hands.

"What?"

"we still have to unpack" Blake's suitcase fell open as she spoke. "…and clean."

Steele had a chuckle at Weiss's expense, her expression of being completely unimpressed improving his mood greatly. "Ruby, I appreciate enthusiastic leadership as much as the next guy, but don't you think that's a little much?" Ruby's second blast from the whistle her only response.

It wasn't quick work, between Yang's posters, Wiess's paintings and dust stockpile, Blakes books, and the desks the whole thing took them nearly an hour before everything was done. Steele's only contribution being a small digital display that he put up on one of the desks, displaying a cycle of banners and photos that he collected during his time with the ACEs. During the decorating he went down to the armory to recover Justice from his locker, it turned out there we no rules about not having weapons during the day as long as he wore the uniform.

He took a single mag pouch and a holster for his 2020, no point in bringing tons of mags when they refilled and no reason to bring the smart guns without the AWS. When he got back to the room he was surprised by the absolute mess that had been made of it, the curtain over the window had been cut in half and the beds had been piled into the center of the room. He took one look at the whole thing. "this isn't going to work, at all."

Blake was much more conserved with her observation of. "It is a bit cramped."

"Maybe we should ditch some of our stuff." Steele figured that was the best way to do it if they wanted to avoid bunks.

Ruby promptly shattered that thought. "Or we could ditch the beds… and replace them with bunk beds!"

"that seems incredibly dangerous" Weiss's protest fell on deaf ears.

"And super awesome!" Yang seemed to be on board with the idea, as did Blake.

"It does seem efficient."

"Fuck it, I did bunks on ships for years, if it aint broke don't fix it." he had more time in bunks than actual beds by this point, however long this was going to last wouldn't make a difference.

There was a distinct level of discomfort if not outright panic in Weiss's voice as she realized that this was going to happen. "well, we should put it to a vote!"

"I think we just did." Amusement plain in Ruby's tone as the team moved towards the beds. They had to drill into the ceiling to create anchor points for Ruby's bed where it was hung above Weiss's bed, while Blake and Yang went with a pile books under each corner as stabilizers. Steele's bed went above Yang and Blake's as it was the only stack that could be safely added too, a makeshift ladder constructed from a pair of bookshelves ran up the outside of the bunks.

"Objective complete! Now our next order of business is… classes." The enthusiasm in Ruby's voice faded as she fell onto her bunk. "Now we have a few classes together this morning, at nine we have…"

Weiss cut her off. "did you say nine! Its 8:55 you dunce!"

"uhh…. TO CLASS!"

It was a mad sprint following Ruby to whichever class they were supposed to be at, sprinting between locations with no real idea of where he was supposed to be or what he was doing was normal for Steele, in a way it was nice, something familiar to him. Their first class was an introduction to history with a Doctor Oobleck, a highly energetic man with green hair and an ever-present coffee mug.

Steele ended up taking more notes than he anticipated, names, places, materials, ideas, dozens of things that he would need to ask his team about to get him up to speed. After history they had combat classes with Professor Goodwitch, again a simple introduction class where he ended up taking dozens of notes on specifics of Aura and Semblance use. Before lunch they split up for electives, his had been selected for him, Aura studies and training, Dust manipulation, Chemistry, Vehicle mechanics, and Gunsmithing were all on his weekly schedule. Today his morning block was filled in with Dust manipulation, where he was finally able to get some answers.

Dust seemed to be unique to this reality, a special material that came in many forms, powders and crystals of various sizes, as well as carrying an elemental affinity; Earth, Air, Water, Fire, Light, Dark, Void, Space, Time, and various others. On this topic he was able to take much more detailed notes, ideas on how to improve or modify his weapons and equipment; he drew up rough plans for an A-wall projector, a tick variant, and explosive rounds for Justice.

The lunch break gave him some time to get his head around some of his notes and get ahead on his homework. Ruby was doing something to his scroll while they ate, he had collected it from Dr. Oobleck before their first class and had given it to Ruby so she could set it up for him. Blake and Weiss were helping him fill in the holes in his knowledge, which only confused him more. Yang was tossing grapes at Nora from JNPR who was catching them in her mouth, Steele had a feeling that their dorm neighbors would become a close group of friends quickly.

For the afternoon, the team would be spilt up until their final class, he had Aura studies and Gunsmithing before the team would reconvene for Grimm studies as their final class for the day. Aura studies was what he was looking forward to the most, he knew his way around a firearm, dust was just another tool at the end of the day, and history was useless in a firefight, but Aura… the key to powers and abilities that were beyond even a Pilot.

The class was highly informative, a quick recap of what Aura was and how it interacted with the user from what would have been learned by the other students in previous years was more than enough. Enhanced speed, strength, regeneration, and reflexes, Aura created a shield around one's body that could protect you from harm and regenerated on its own. Aura wasn't all benefits though, if your Aura broke or was depleted, it could exhaust you and it interacted with Dust in strange ways at times, it could kill you if you used it recklessly. Steele wasn't concerned about exhaustion or depletion, Pilot training kept you in a constant state of exhaustion at times and he had spent his entire life until now without Aura, he knew how to fight without anything except his mind and body.

Gunsmithing on the other hand was a complete surprise to him, when he thought gunsmithing he thought about gas system ratios and ballistic profiling; here though, they learned how to make their own unique firearms and melee weapons, which were often one and the same. They got right into it, the classroom being a fully stocked workshop. Today was just simple stuff for anyone who didn't come from a combat school where students made their own weapons, this was the first class that Steele didn't feel out of place. There was a selection of Dusts and parts available to them, they were expected to provide their own supplies after the first project.

He decided that his introductory project would be a hard light bayonet for Justice; as much as he wasn't a fan of the Flatline, Justice was a weapon that he was familiar with and had belonged to his mentor, now it was his and he figured that he should use it as his base for a truly personal weapon. The 301 was new and modified, but still a line production rifle, same with the rest of his weapons, Justice was the only one he had an attachment to; in time he would probably modify the rest to bring them in line with his style and preferred combat methods.

He went with a cylinder design with a projector at the front that he could insert into Justice's grip if he drilled a hole into the front. By the end of the class he had the case assembled and a small projector array half completed, he would finish the projector during his next class tomorrow morning and then start working on the power supply.

He met up with team RWBY in Professor Port's classroom for Grimm studies. Steele immediately lost his focus as Port started going off on some self aggrandizing tale of so called heroism, Steele went back to his notes from previous classes and his blueprints for the bayonet, spotting and correcting what he thought was a issue with the power supply. As the class went on, he noticed that he wasn't the only one unable to concentrate on Port, Ruby was busy hyperactively switching between drawing, sleeping, and picking her nose. While Yang and Blake egged Ruby on, Wiess was growing steadily more frustrated with her antics.

It wasn't until Wiess threw her hand up with a declaration of "I do, sir!" that Steele started focusing on the class again. Port was standing in front of the diagrams of various Grimm that stood at the back wall of the classroom.

"Well then, Lets find out… come forward and face your opponent." He pointed at a cage to the side of the room that Steele hadn't noticed until this moment, a pair of red eyes indicating the presence of a Grimm inside.

She left to change into her combat outfit, her standard white dress. Facing the cage with her sword drawn as the rest of Team RWBY cheered her on with shouts of.

"Go Wiess"

"fight well"

"Yeah, represent Team RWBY"

Steele let her focus, subtly reading Justice as a precaution instead of cheering her on. it seemed to be a good idea when Wiess snapped at Ruby. "Ruby, I'm trying to focus."

Ruby's apology unnoticed by Weiss, as she squared off with the Borbatusk that had been released from the cage. She took a swipe at it as she dodged its charge, sliding to the side as her strike was deflected off its armor plates. Ruby kept shouting advice through the fight, Steele debating telling her to dial it back but figured that they needed to sort it out them selves. Weiss decided to go for a frontal strike, a tactical error judging by her sword getting stuck in its tusks. The Borbatusk shook its head, disarming her and separating her from her weapon. She rolled out of its way, letting it stun itself when it crashed against the desks. She sprinted pass it towards her weapon, Ruby shouted something about going for its underside. This did not go over well.

"Stop telling me what to do!" As Weiss shouted at Ruby, Steele decided that he didn't need to keep Justice ready; if you could treat your teammates like that, you could get eaten for all he cared. She timed the activation of a pair of glyphs that knocked the Borbatusk onto its back and allowed her to make an aerial strike into its unprotected underside.

The professor let out an excited exclamation. "Bravo, Bravo, it appears we are indeed in the presence of a true Huntress in training. I am afraid that is all the time we have for today, be sure to cover the assigned readings, and stay vigilant. Class dismissed."

There was a general rumble through the class as Weiss stormed out, Ruby followed her out while Yang and Blake shared a look. Steele broke off from Blake and Yang with a short explanation that he was going to the gym to get some evening training in. He had done his run in the morning, so he would do weights now to round out his day. He didn't bother changing as he would just put his uniform into the laundry when he was done. The gym was well stocked with machines, free-weights, treadmills, medicine balls, mats, ropes, and even an indoor climbing wall, by the end of the week he should have a rudimentary movement course set up for the school as well if XR had the plans drawn up by the end of the night.

He set up a bar at his normal deadlift of 100kg, it only took him a single lift to draw attention to something he had noticed during his run, it was too easy. He thought it might have been the AWS helping him in the morning, but now he was in the school uniform and what was normally a good weight for him was now far too light. It wasn't until he doubled the weight where he started to feel it, honestly he probably could have put another 100kg on top of what he was lifting and still be fine, but he wasn't going to push it yet.

He had just finished with his deadlifts and was moving under a bar to start his bench, when a blue haired Faunus girl leaned over him. "so, you're that first year everyone is talking about, space man commando dude lost beyond all belief. I can tell, I don't know anyone who would workout in the school uniform if they had anything else to wear. I don't recognize you, so you're a first year, no first years have a bench like that except for the blondie on your team. I saw her this morning on the bench, only person I've seen lift more than 150 at your level."

Steele ignored her, he was in the middle of a set, she could wait until he finished the set at the very least. She kept talking anyway. "so, you do know what you're doing under a bar, I mean you're an alien no matter how much you don't look it. look, I wanted to see you for my self. Not even here a full day and you have the whole school talking behind your back, wanted to let you know there are some wild rumors about you; giant robots, crazy armor, ruthless killer, I'm sure there isn't anything to them but I would want to know."

He got out from under the bar and started cleaning up, he needed to see XR about the course. "all true, the name is Steele. Lieutenant Forrest Steele, Frontier Militia SRS Marauder Corps, formerly of the Angel City Elite. Giant robot, yup, crazy armor, check, ruthless killer, I prefer relentless freedom fighter. You didn't come over just to let me know about some rumors, what's your game?"

She pulled back slightly, caught off guard by his directness. "My semblance lets me get a feel for people, lets me sense how they feel, and makes them more open to talking to me. I like people, and you feel like a whole lot of supressed negativity; and you're an alien, can't pass up an opportunity to talk to an alien, right? If you ever want to talk here is my contact info, hit me up some time." She left as quickly as she had shown up, her tall fox or wolf ears- he had never seen either before, so he was guessing- disappearing from view only a moment before her tail.

He looked down at the note she had passed him, fully aware that he hadn't caught her name in the brief meeting. the note was a nothing more than a number and the name 'Luna', it would have to do. He still wasn't exactly sure what had happened there, but now he had one more contact… maybe. Weiss and Ruby were nowhere to be seen when he got back to the room, not too surprising considering he had been gone for less than an hour. He changed into his jumpsuit and threw his uniform in the laundry on his way out.

XR had outdone himself, the blueprint for a gauntlet that would allow for both those that had never ran a wall and veteran Pilots alike to test themselves. There were three rings, each containing a gauntlet. The inner ring was the most mechanically complicated of the three, yet also the simplest, there were no traps, targets, or pitfalls, it simply required one to use complex movement techniques to complete it. the middle ring was a more traditional gauntlet, a single solid path ran through it as the longest route, some cliffs and sheer walls made for additional terrain and paths, a few pits, some low walls, and a couple of bars at chest height added a decent amount of mobility options and mechanical interaction with the course. The outer ring was the true challenge, no solid paths, arc traps, thermite dispensers, moving obstacles, the works. There was no way to be killed on the course, but failure would hurt horribly. It was perfect, he sent the design to his scroll and then to Ozpin. There was nothing he would hold back when teaching these people, just as he was taught.