Carolina tried to stall. "What exactly do you want to know?"

Ozpin turned to Goodwitch. "Glynda, could you give our guests and I a little privacy?"

Goodwitch knew that Ozpin was trying to make them open up. Maybe if someone they feared left, they would be more open. She nodded and made her way to the elevators, the Reds and Blues parting for her.

Once the elevator doors closed, Ozpin said, "I mean you have a story that fits your current predicament. Shipwrecked survivors stranded in an unknown country, its just that I have a very extensive network of cameras, and not one captured footage of an unknown ship of unknown design crashing down near the abandoned dead zone that is Mountain Glen."

Wash said, "It could be a malfunction."

Ozpin smirked, and replied, "That's exactly what I thought as well. And I noticed a brilliant white flash of light from Mountain Glen, then shortly afterwards, you were fleeing into the forest with a…. f*ckton of monsters on your tail."

Grif sighed.

Carolina growled. "What do you want?"

Ozpin said simply, "I want to know who you are. I can guarantee that nothing you say will leave this room. If you want, I can even keep your story a secret from Ms. Goodwitch."

"Then why would you want to know?"

"I merely want to determine your motivation. Why you want to be huntsman, and where you really are from. I'm a man of my word. If you want to enter my school, I want to know why you are here."

Carolina looked to Wash, and the mental conversation that happened went something like this.

C: Should we?

W: He won't believe us.

C: But should we?

W: Screw it.

T: I'll screw Carolina! Bow Chicka-

W: What the f*ck! Tucker, how did you!?

C: Alright.

T: What, awesome!

C: No! No! I meant, we tell him the truth!

T: Oh. Less awesome.

Cheeks burning red, Carolina looked back at Ozpin, took a deep breath, and plunged in. "We're a group of space marines from the United Nations Space Command. We helped end a civil war that was created by an evil corporation to kill off every single colonist, lost one of our best friends in the process, and then activated an unknown alien artifact that transported us here."

To his credit, Ozpin's face didn't change. They could literally see the calculation behind the man's eyes.

"Very well. I believe you."

That shocked the Reds and Blues.

"Y-you do?" asked Carolina.

"Yes. There was no hesitation in your story, your comrades didn't seem to react except for the part about losing a close friend, at which many of them slumped. The situation seems serious and you have shown that you are not one for senseless humor or dilly-dallying. Taking all of this into account, I have reason to believe you."

The man reminded the freelancers of Director Church, with his instant observation and analysis. They would have to be careful around him, but could tell that he was not like the Director in that he fought to protect his school and his people, not for his own selfish reasons. They could not explain it, but they had a feeling that this man would not turn on them.

"Now, from what Miss Scarlatina told me, you seemed to be rather touchy over certain subjects, would you care to explain? Oh, and could you remove your helmets?"

Carolina reached up, and twisted her helmet off. As the helmet cleared her face, Ozpin's eyes widened slightly.

"What?" asked Carolina.

"Your face. You look very similar to a local celebrity, but no matter. I suppose its no stranger than your comrade sounding similar to me."

The rest of the Reds and Blues removed their helmets, and there were no more surprises.

"Now, the story, if you would please."

Carolina sighed. "First of all, the artifact that sent us here changed all of our ages back to seventeen. I used to be thirty-four years old, now I'm half my age."

Ozpin seemed to absorb this information, and then nodded and motion for her to continue.

Carolina said, "We were all affiliated with a group called Project: Freelancer. It was a group created before our great war, and was meant to protect humanity, but sadly, it went astray."

"Excuse me Miss Carolina, but what is this Great War you speak of?"

"Humanity was at war with a group of aliens. Long story short, humanity was almost driven to extinction."

"I see."

Wash added, "Unfortunately, before the war began, there was a large conflict between the central government, the UEG, and a large group of terrorists named the Insurrectionists. Project Freelancer was created to deal with them."

Ozpin nodded, "We have our own civil war going on, well, at least secretly. A group named the White Fang has risen up, and has begun attacking and looting shops. They started out as a group of peaceful activists, but turned violent."

Wash said, "That's not too far removed from the Insurrectionists story. They originally wanted independence, but they were the central government's source of food, and them gaining independence would cripple the rest of the inner colonies."

Carolina took up the rest of the story, "A few of us were selected and asked to join Project: Freelancer. We thought we were doing the right thing."

Ozpin asked, "What of the others? They said they were also affiliated with Project Freelancer."

Tucker said, "Those two are agents. Like, people who are actually good at stuff. We were the worst soldiers-"

"Are the worst soldiers"

"Thank you Simmons, but yeah, the worst soldiers in existence. We became "Simulation Troopers" which meant we were put into a capture the flag environment and told to kill each other to get the flags."

Simmons spoke up next, "Freelancer was going to conduct field tests on us. Some agents would be sent in and we would essentially be used as target practice."

Ozpin's countenance didn't change, but inwardly, he was seething and disgusted by the actions Freelancer had done.

Carolina said, "Then a massive war between the United Nations Space Command, the military arm of our government, began with a group of aliens."

Wondering how the rest of the military acted, Ozpin asked how the war had started.

"The aliens fired first, declaring us an affront to their religion. We were outnumbered, outgunned, and they massacred everyone. It didn't matter if you were male or female, reports have shown several enemy soldiers eating live children. It wasn't so much of a war as a genocide."

"And where was Freelancer during the war?"

Carolina and Washington both looked ashamed and looked down.

"Our director told us that the Insurrectionists were the bigger threat. We were directed away from the front lines and used to conduct raids against the supposed Insurrectionists."

Ozpin asked, "I take it your director was the man who was responsible for your actions."

Wash knew that Ozpin was testing their integrity, and responded with, "He directed us and manipulated us to do our actions, but we know that the consequences of what we've done should fall to us. That's why we're trying to make things better."

"So how did your Director act?"

He could immediately sense a wave of hostility and anger rise. Interestingly enough, everyone looked to Carolina to explain.

She appeared extremely guilty, but her comrades had no anger directed to her. "The Director created something called the leaderboard. Our agents were given point values for successful missions, and our rank soon became the only thing that mattered. I'm...ashamed to say that I was the Number One agent for some time because I let that rank become the only thing that mattered. Soon divisions among our ranks rose up, and the entire project collapsed. Every other freelancer agent is dead. Including some very close friends."

Carolina teared up at this point, and Wash took over.

"The Director was using us for his own means. He was trying to recreate the love of his life as an AI, or artificial intelligence. He became obsessed, and used my friends and family to achieve his own goal. We were tools to him, disposable tools. In the end, his own agents were no more important to him than the simulation troopers. We were all pawns, pieces in his twisted game."

Wash's voice began to rise in intensity and anger. The other people in the group didn't contradict anything he said.

"He may have been working to bring his love back, but at the cost of all of us. He created an artificial intelligence modeled after himself. Then he tortured it."

"Excuse me, but 'modeled' after himself? I fail to follow."

"UNSC AI are made by digitizing human brains. They essentially become a clone of their maker. But what he did to this AI, what he did to me, to Carolina, to the Reds and Blues, is unforgivable. He fragmented the AI, presenting unsolvable problems to several of its core functions."

Wash looked over to Carolina, and Carolina nodded. Suddenly, a small figure in glowing green armor appeared in front of them. After Church's fragmentation, Tucker asked the Reds and Blues as well as the Freelancers if they required any of the fragments. He gave Carolina Delta, in honor of York, and gave Wash Theta, in honor of North. None of the Reds and Blues needed the AI, and the freelancers were reluctant to take the fragments.

"Hello. My name is Delta."

Carolina explained, "Delta is the logic function of the Alpha AI. To fragment the AI, he presented the AI with an unsolvable problem. The Alpha would become obsessed with the problem, and the only way to save itself from insanity would be to sever that function from itself."

Wash took over again. "That man got everyone I know killed. He implanted an AI that went insane inside my head. He implanted two AI inside Carolina and almost fried her brain. He was willing to sacrifice his own daughter to achieve his means."

Ozpin asked, "His own daughter? How so?"

"He made her the leader of the agents, made her into an obsessed soldier. He's the reason her entire team died, and she had to fight the person she loved. It's because of him, that she was thrown off a cliff and spent seven years trying to get revenge. The reason Carolina is the way she is today, is because of the Director. Because. Of. Her. Father."

Suddenly, in Ozpin's mind, it all made sense. Carolina was harboring feelings of guilt over her past actions, and felt that the blame and consequences her father should have received were now hers to bear. She felt that she had to bear all of it on her own, when she was as much of a victim as the others. Ozpin was horrified inwardly that a man would go so far to hurt his own daughter. This group of people had been through horrors that even full-fledged huntsmen would have had trouble with. His respect for them had grown, and now he only needed one more thing.

"Why are you here?"

All ten of the spacemen/women looked at him.

"We know we can't make our past actions go away. But maybe, we can make thing good enough."

That settled it. These people were determined to atone for their sins. They were good people, they just had a bloody past. He thought of Blake Belladonna, a faunus who was going to be attending the school who had left the White Fang for similar reasons.

"I have made my decision. You all seem like good people, and are genuinely sorry for what you have done. I will allow you to enter the initiation. However, I'm interested in what happened after Freelancer. What did I hear about a civil war?"

Tucker spoke up. "You know that story about a crashed ship? Yeah, we were in a ship after we brought Freelancer down, and somehow the ship crashed."

Maybe it was just Ozpin's imagination, but Simmons looked a little bit guilty.

"And we found ourselves in the middle of a civil war between two groups named the Feds and the New Republic of Chorus. Long story short, we were split up and ended up on different sides. We reunited, and found out that the whole war was the result of some company trying to kill off everyone to get the leftover alien tech on the planet."

Wash added his two cents to the pot. "Carolina and Epsilon, the memory fragment of the Alpha, the AI created by the Director, decided that they wanted to try to wash some of the blood of their hands, and found out that some leftover tech of Project Freelancer had been used by some mercenaries, and decided to try and stop them. They didn't want to involve the rest of us, and then found out that we were drawn in by the corporation, Charon Industries to hasten the civil war. We were supposed to be divided and put on each side, and hopefully our combat experience would result in a lot more deaths on both sides. Fortunately, Carolina and Epsilon managed to help us escape."

Carolina finished the story. "We managed to get a message out to both sides and prevent what would have been a bloody battle. The two sides united, and we managed to end the war. It resulted in the two mercenaries that Charon had hired attempting to activate an alien machine that would kill all sentient life on the planet. Together, we stopped them, broke the enemy's forces, and transmitted an SOS to the UNSC. Unfortunately, the chairman of Charon Industries brought his ship and attacked us first. The Reds and Blues boarded his ship while we were trapped on the ground, under assault by a large number of mechs. We would have died, were it not for the Reds and Blues. They shut down the mechs from the ship, but were attacked and cornered. Epsilon deconstructed himself, basically fragmenting himself again to help save the Reds and Blues."

"And Epsilon was the being you called Church, correct?"

"Yes."

"Very well. That answers all of my questions. You are free to go. Initiation begins tomorrow, and all prospective students spend the night in Beacon's ballroom. You are welcome to your Beacon, I just ask that an upperclassman accompanies you so you don't get lost."

"That's fine."

"Of course." Ozpin turned to his desk, activated the intercom, and said, "Would Velvet Scarlatina come to my office? Thank you."

The Reds and Blues turned to leave, heading down the elevator. It was a tight fit, but less crowded than the first time. As they piled out of the cramped elevator, they saw Velvet walking towards them.

"Hello. So, how did it go?" Velvet asked.

"Good. We're entering the Initiation tomorrow." Carolina said.

"That's great. You'll do well, I can tell."

"Thanks." said Tucker. For some odd reason, the rest of the Reds and Blues could tell that he was distracted. But what was he… oh. A girl in a beret, chocolate brown outfit, and sunglasses walked forward. This was bad.

"Oh hey Coco. I was just talking with my friends here. They're going through initiation tomorrow."

"That's cool. Though the armor is a bit tacky. Doesn't really look that good."

"Y'know who looks good? You." said Tucker, in what he believed was a suave and smooth voice.

"Excuse me?" Coco's eyebrows drew together. "Are you trying to hit on me?"

Wash stepped in between them. "Now, let's stop before things get too-"

"Well, I got a sword, and I know how to use it." said Tucker.

"That is it!" Coco exclaimed. She pushed Wash out of the way, and was about to punch Tucker, until Carolina caught her fist, pushed her back, and got in between them.

"That's enough. Both of you, stop this right now, before you do something you regret. Tucker, I don't want to piss off and entire school of elite fighters. You, I don't know who you are, but I will not have you hurting my teammates. And while I'm sure you're skilled, I don't think you can punch through titanium composite that's been made to stop bullets."

Coco glared at her. "You stay out of this. He insulted and try to hit on me."

"I'm not saying that he's going to get away with it. As his team leader, I will be the one dealing with him."

"Ooh. A catfight, bring outside!" said Tucker.

Carolina whirled around, and immediately unleashed a hurricane of violence that shocked everyone who wasn't a red or blue or freelancer.

Coco had thought that these freshmen were nothing but talk, with armor and hidden faces.

Velvet knew Tucker was some form of a pervert, and wasn't too surprised with what had happened up until now. She knew Carolina was fast, but what happened next seemed unreal.

The Reds and Blues knew what was going to happen, and weren't surprised in any form.

Carolina accessed her speed upgrade, temporarily boosting her reaction and movement so that it was on par with that of a Spartan. She brought her right knee up, thudding into Tucker's crotch, actually lifting him several inches into the air. Her hands shot to his throat, snatching him before smashing her helmeted head into his, releasing her grip on his neck simultaneously. Meanwhile, her foot had hooked around his right leg, and the combination of her last three actions resulted in him sprawled on the floor. The entire sequence of events occurred in less than two seconds.

Tucker groaned in pain after laying stunned for several seconds. "Ugh, forget Tex. I think you're scarier."

Grif laughed, "Ha! I'm not the only guy who's gotten punched in the nuts! Suck it Blue!"

"Don't do that again Tucker. Control yourself, or I WILL castrate you."

Carolina turned to Velvet.

"Sorry about that Velvet." However, after seeing the shocked looks on both of the Beacon students, she was confused.

"What?"