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Chapter 11: Field Trip

Three weeks had passed since the sparring match between members of Team MARZ and WULF intended to settle their grievances and to some extent the endeavour had been a success, the rest of the first year students' first month had passed largely without incident and a sense of normalcy and routine had been established.

Team MARZ had continued to develop and grow into a more functional team as they overcame the hurdles that had initially hampered them with Astra steadily finding their footing and become more confident and capable in their role as leader of the team, the quick thinking, ingenuity and determination that had led them to victory during initiation finding a new outlet as they used the skills of each of their friends and team-mates to cover the weaknesses of others, leading to Team MARZ routinely tutoring one another on problem subjects outside of class as well as pushing themselves above and beyond what was expected or required in terms of physical training and conditioning though despite the fact that this had left them with so little free time that they had barely left the campus grounds they still managed to find time to become a small part of the academies' social scene, largely associating with Team WULF as well as being on good terms with their fellow first year students and second years such as Team BASL.

For Athena-Jade the constant and almost excessive training was no issue at all, the Bear Faunus often being the one to push Astra further which they responded to in kind, the pair managing to turn Athena's formerly one-sided and belligerent rivalry into a positive as the two of them drove each other to work harder in a stubborn refusal to be outdone, there were still issues to work through and days where Athena's patience wore thin of course but overall her life at Breaktide Academy had improved vastly, her nightmares were far less common now, she was thriving in her classes and despite the lingering tension between herself and Diabla being solved by the two of them simply avoiding one another as much as possible she was surrounded by friends, including her partner.

Zirconia was as hard for her team-mates to read as always, though what was now a complete certainty was the fact that she saw Team MARZ as hers and would fight for her team, she was still insular and private, preferring her own company and rarely being the one to initiate conversation however she had allowed herself to open up to her friends a little, each of them being pleasantly surprised at the wit and bitingly dry and sarcastic humour that lay beneath her cool demeanour.

For Regalia Breaktide Academy was now everything she had wanted it to be and the Racoon Faunus felt as she had prior to initiation, that she was exactly where she was supposed to be. She had proven beyond any possible doubt that she was more than simply a useful Semblance and as well as being among the top students in every practical subject the first years studied the former nomad, entirely lacking in formal education though she was had managed to grasp the basics of studying the way those born in the Kingdoms did, even if she did fear that it would eventually bore her to insanity.

Such concerns were far from the forefront of her mind however as the Bull-head transport that Team MARZ were seated in touched down, the dull thud of landing gear meeting hard ground sending a small jolt through the craft.

"Okay let's go, we were on the last transport we're gonna be late" Athena urged, the pale and broad shouldered girl already hastily unfastening the safety harness currently locked over her torso and trying to make it towards the rear hatch of the transport as quickly as possible whilst also trying her best not to unintentionally elbow Zirconia who sat beside her in the cramped confines of the cargo hold.

"Relax" Astra laughed, unfastening their own harness and shuffling around the edge of the cargo hold to the control panel which would open the rear hatch of the transport and allow a ramp to descend "The Professors know we're here they're not gonna start without us. Regalia you need a hand with that?"

"I've got it" the Raccoon Faunus chirped happily, tail swishing animatedly behind her as she began unfastening Clunker, the jetbike taking up the entire central space of the cargo hold between the seats being the both the reason that Team MARZ's flight had been so cramped and also that they had been aboard the last transport alone whilst other teams had flown in pairs and Team VNTA, much to the jealousy of their peers had been allowed to ride in the Pearl, personal transport of Ruby and Penny Rose, the Professors who would be overseeing the days' field trip.

"Athena is right" Zirconia said simply "We don't want to keep people waiting"

"Okay, let's go" Astra nodded, waiting until their partner had brought the Dust powered engine of Clunker into life, the jetbike rising to hover a few inches above the metallic floor as the reverberating echo of its' snarling engines faded away. The rear hatch of the transport opened and a ramp lowered to the ground, allowing Team MARZ to step outside with Regalia bringing up the rear and guiding her jetbike with its' handlebars as she walked beside it.

Giving Team MARZ, with the exception of Regalia their first look at Yongheng Plains.

The weather had cooled over the intervening weeks and whilst the island Kingdom of Menagerie was still far warmer than those native to Vale and, to a much greater extent Atlas were accustomed to it was not quite the inhospitable and intolerable scorching that it had been, a difference made more noticeable by the refreshingly cool breeze in the air which rippled through the native fauna like a wave. The ground of the plains was not, as was the case with much of the wasteland between settlements covered with a brick-red dust and instead was fertile enough to produce long grass, reaching almost waist height in some places; a deeper and darker green shade of green than one might expect and swaying in the breeze almost formlessly whilst growing in odd patterns that seemed almost entirely random but in truth likely followed the flow of some unseen and underground source of water. There were other plants to be seen as well, large and untamed bushes and creeping weeds of various species that were nominally native to several different Kingdoms and climates across Remnant yet had all somehow adapted to survive in the wasteland, knowing that this was not the work of the Spring Maiden gave credence to what Astra had learned from Wolfram and every native of Menagerie knew intimately; that whatever Salem had wrought upon this island in her century long reign had changed the things that grew here in some fundamental way and made them hardier and more aggressive. The plains stretched out as far as the eye could see, following the small swell of hills and dips of crevices and ravines both naturally formed and those left by warfare whilst the view was obscured in some places by trees; their rising forms a rare oddity on Menagerie and further proof of the change to the local ecosystem as the spindly and ivy-draped things reached far higher into the sky than they should have at such a relatively young age.

The second and undoubtedly more important thing that Team MARZ saw however was that their classmates were waiting for them, gathered around Professors Ruby and Penny Rose, the former leaning casually against Crescent Rose whose spiked shaft had been planted into the ground.

"And now that everyone's here we can get this started" the Grimm Studies Professor observed, smile tugging at her lips as she watched Team MARZ arrive, hurrying into place and trying to go undetected despite the eyes on them and the jetbike that Ruby had allowed them to bring with them.

"Sensational" Penny beamed as she took over "Salutation class! Today's lesson has been described as a field trip, however the assignment you are being given is one of serious importance and I expect you all to act and conduct yourselves accordingly. Both Professor Rose and I will be remaining here at the landing zone and will be able to respond to any incidents should you find yourselves overwhelmed however your abilities to work and react to any evolving situations on your own initiative are being evaluated; it would be for the best if each of you treated this as a precursor to your first official mission as your performances today will have some bearing on which Hunters you find yourselves shadowing"

"That being said we do have every confidence in your abilities, if we didn't you wouldn't be here" Ruby stepped in once again, sensing a small ripple of concern pass through the students at her wife's words as Penny spoke to them with the open frankness that she offered to the older students whom she usually trained as part of elective class.

"Indeed" Penny nodded, sensing what Ruby trying to convey with her intervention whilst also producing a small folder of photographs and diagrams "As I'm sure all of you are aware the plant life of Menagerie is different to that found on the rest of Remnant, Nurse Kintsugi has asked us to retrieve samples of several weeds and flowers that she believes she can use as the basis of a new, safer treatment for several kinds of Grimm venom; also there are botanists and biologists who would like to study the samples you find. Each team is to take one set of paperwork and search the surrounding areas for as many of the specified subjects as they can"

"By surrounding area" Ruby gave a wide grin as she gestured with her arms "We do mean all of it"

"That's not fair, Team MARZ brought a bike!" someone called out which Penny responded to by raising a hand to silence them.

"Team MARZ used the tools at their disposal effectively" the counter was met with some grumbling but ultimately accepted whilst Team MARZ themselves awkwardly tried to avoid eye contact with their classmates.

"By surrounding area" the copper-haired android continued "Professor Rose means to say that the farmland belonging to the nearest settlement is over fifty miles away however you will not need to travel that far; the plains themselves extend less than half of that distance and you will not find what you're looking for in the wastelands. Are there any questions?"

"Should we be expecting to fight Grimm?" someone whom Team MARZ were not well acquainted with enquired, earning themselves amused chuckles and derisive laughter from those native to Menagerie.

"You're training to be a Hunter and you're outside of the walls, you should always be expecting Grimm you idiot!" Wolfram Ironside called out, the gruff bark of an answer sending another round of laughter through the students until they saw the stern expressions on the Professors' faces.

"You're correct but the attitude wasn't needed" Ruby said bluntly "Any other questions"

"Yeah" a member of Team VNTA raised their hand "If the plants here are so different what about the animals, do we have to worry about them?"

"A fair question" Penny answered, pre-empting any more snickering from those born on Menagerie "Whilst it's unlikely that you will encounter any wildlife dangerous enough to seriously harm you here you should take precautions and remain alert at all times, in case of attacks from Grimm or other sources"

"Now, you've got ten hours until we leave" Ruby's voice became commanding "Your mission starts….now!"

"Okay AJ" Astra's face morphed into a rictus-grin of a nervous smile as they turned to the Bear Faunus "Now you can panic"

"You think we'll find what we're looking for?" Athena asked, worry filling her blue eyes as she surveyed the most open space she could remember seeing outside of the Atlesian tundra "This goes on forever"

"We will overcome" Zirconia answered quietly as she strode passed her team-mates to collect the information they would all need.

"Uh yeah, of course we will; you've got me" Regalia chuckled, tapping the side of her head to indicate her Semblance.

"Oh damn" Astra laughed as comprehension dawned on them "You know the wastelands, you've got a jetbike and your Semblance….we really are cheating here"

"Heh, not what the Professors said" the taller Faunus shrugged, wearing a confident smile whilst leaning forward and adding in a conspiratorial whisper "They were wrong about one thing though….the wildlife out here"

"It's dangerous?" Athena asked, Regalia nodded slowly and gave her team-mates a stern look

"Stay away from the pigeons" Astra's only answer to that was hysterical laughter.


"A ten hour shift as glorified vegetable pickers….am I the only one getting the feeling that we've been stitched up and that the professors are taking bets on which one of us calls it out first?" Wolfram Ironside grumbled in annoyance as he kicked a small rock aside and made only a passing effort to see if any plants or possibly some kind of mushroom had grown beneath it. Team WULF had, like their classmates continued to grow as a team though privately to its' leader it felt as though their initially impressive, almost meteoric rise had begun to slow almost to the point of a stagnant plateau and Wolfram found himself wondering what he and his team could do in order to meet the high standards he consistently demanded of himself, even if he would never voice such concerns directly; in his mind such things were simply not spoken about after all.

Despite Wolfram's concerns however the team showed great promise and for the most part its' members had already formed strong bonds and come to rely on one another with Diabla Fuego being the sole exception.

In the weeks since her fight with Athena-Jade Slate the Mantle born Huntress had been almost subdued, though such terms were relative as even whilst silent she managed to exude an almost palpable annoyance, as if every ounce of her being were gritted like clenched teeth. There had been no more outbursts or confrontations and in truth the young woman seemed content to spend almost the entirety of her free time studying or in the gym with seemingly no room for anything else in her life, the anger Wolfram had towards his team-mate had faded away and now he found himself mildly concerned for her yet struggled to find the words or even the justification to discuss it with her; Diabla rarely spoke to anyone and when she did it was it short and direct bursts with hints of scorn or irritation, her partner being the only person whom she regularly treated to more than a few sentences at a time yet despite this her classwork and assignments were exemplary. In short Diabla was simply so entirely self-reliant and asocial that Wolfram worried whether she even considered herself a part of Team WULF at all.

Her partner, Laser Greenback was the opposite in some regards; incessantly talkative to the point that it frequently drove Wolfram to despair, a sneaking opportunist who seemed to delight in finding an underhanded and indirect method of solving a problem even when it would be more efficient to simply rely on hard, honest work and most damnable to the leader of Team WULF he was still a habitual thief of anything and everything left unattended yet at the same time he would freely share his spoils with the rest of the team without prompting. With Laser's chattiness being the carefully maintained misdirection that it was Wolfram still only knew the roughest outlines of the Vaccuans' life in the hellish confines of the Overspill, which was still more than he knew about Diabla but had managed to glean, or at least make an educated guess that whilst Laser's parents had either died, been killed or simply vanished at some point in his early childhood he had been raised and cared for as well as possible by some kind of community and such experiences had clearly shaped the way he viewed the world. Wolfram realising that he couldn't simply beat the kleptomaniac tendencies out of his weedy and skulking team-mate had tried an approach more diplomatic than he had ever expected of himself, managing to sign Laser up to a monthly stipend available to students with financial problems whilst at the same time finding excuses to eat the free food of the mess hall or cover Laser's share when the team ate out without ever stating it outright. In return for this kindness Laser had proven himself to be the glue that bound Team WULF, the only person Diabla routinely spoke to, such good friends with Ursinia despite their differences that the pair were jokingly described as a double act by their peers and someone Wolfram was happy to consider a friend; even if he didn't say it out loud.

Wolfram's own partner, towering Scorpion Faunus Ursinia Red had easily and readily found herself fulfilling the voice of reason and common sense within Team WULF which Wolfram found himself immensely grateful for as she was able to fill the gaps that he could begrudgingly admit he had in his abilities as a leader, her kindness and temperament well suited to balance to demanding bluntness Wolfram wielded.

Though this was not to say she would tolerate nonsense, as her next words proved

"Partner ya best quit your bellyaching 'cos I don't intend to listen to it all day" she drawled, using the stinger of her tail to carefully readjust her cowboy hat whilst her massive, gold-bladed sword named The Adventurer was unsheathed from across her back and rested against her shoulder in a one-handed grip.

"She's right, work or go back to campus" Diabla almost snarled through clenched teeth, being spared from Wolfram's ire as when he turned to retort he found the brown-skinned young woman crouched low to the ground, already dirty and deep in concentration as she examined a small weed and compared it to the plants that they were supposed to be recovering, sweat already trickling down her face as Menagerie heat continued to punish her.

"Okay fine" Wolfram sighed, entire body sagging with the gesture "If anyone sees anything give me a shout and I'll use my Semblance….it wasn't supposed to be a shovel but it'll work"

"Darlin' if using a blade made of solid air to dig up weeds isn't the most on brand thing I've ever heard you say then I'll be darned; I'll bet you've used that there axe to slice bread before as well" Ursinia chuckled, Wolfram's only response being another shrug and non-committal grunt. Team WULF continued to work a while longer, roughly an hour and a half passing as the continued to trudge along the vast open plains in search of the various plants they had been instructed to find with very little success until their classmates and professors were out of view and they reached a dip in the ground, a long furrow whose width gave it the appearance of being shallow despite its' banks being steep enough that only Ursinia's head peeked above them and offered some shade and respite to the rest of the team; at first glance the trench had the appearance of a long dried out riverbed yet such a conclusion seemed wrong somehow and it was Laser, giddy with excitement who offered an alternative.

"Oh shit this is a crash site, something big came down here….it's been moved but whoever did it might not have got everything, especially with the way the plants grow here. Wolfram come on start digging; if it came down nose first and we find anything salvageable from a cockpit buried we'll be rich"

"Not today" Wolfram answered in open exasperation, unwilling to waste their time and effort on a likely fruitless endeavour whilst close by Diabla let out a grunt that could have been of annoyance or exertion as she tore a weed out of the ground with a single sharp tug.

"Come on, you really wanna spend all day weeding and not getting anything useful out of it?" Laser's nasally, reedy voice whined "Besides you said we'd go back to Hammerfall Canyon and collect all the stuff that the Academy left behind there to sell, still waiting-"

"Laser if you don't think the antivenom that Nurse Kintsugi is planning on brewing is useful then why don't you try and wrangle the next Deathstalker we find?" Ursinia countered, tone sickly sweet yet bordering on menacing before she spread her arms wide and sighed "Besides you can't just enjoy a day out of class for what it is?"

"You're enjoying this?" even Diabla paused, her gruff and broad voice openly confused

"I'm with her" Wolfram snorted "Sorry Ursinia but how boring does your life have to be to think this is fun?"

"Boring enough to get me a sword called The Adventurer and sign up to fight some gosh darn monsters because it was my only ticket off of the farm" Ursinia's answer was testy and at the same time filled with a sense of uncertainty "That sounds really bad don't it….do y'all think I'm a blow-hard?"

"What?" Wolfram cocked his head, genuinely taken aback by his partners' question as he had never harboured any such opinions about Ursinia and frankly couldn't imagine why anybody would however before the Faunus could answer a low, sibilant hiss reached his ears.

"Grimm" Diabla muttered, rising from the ground into a wide and crouched stance as she deployed Peace and Quiet, the faintest fiery glow of her Aura beginning to shine from within her revealing that she was preparing to use her Semblance and being whatever battle came with an all out offensive.

"King-Taijitu heading our way, just the one but it's a big one" Laser announced, the single curved and angular lens of vivid green that formed his visor proving itself to be more than a fashion statement as is increased his range of vision to something more comparable to the average Faunus and even as he spoke Permadeath found its' way to his hands.

"Well, I said Deathstalker but this'll do the trick if you still think making medicine's a waste of time varmint" Ursinia noted, examining The Adventurer as she did so with a mildly quizzical look whilst she debated whether to open the hostilities with her sword or grenade launcher.

"Okay, keep what we've dug up already safe, get ready and keep your eyes open for more Grimm" Wolfram snapped as he readied Berserker, voice dropping as he positioned himself beside his partner and added "We'll finish that conversation later"

Ursinia nodded and privately Wolfram cursed, he was the leader of a team of Hunters; discussing peoples' feelings was not what he had signed up for.


"I feel a need, a need for- Aww NUTS!" Regalia's hasty yell echoed out through the plains loud enough to send birds flapping and squawking out of the few thin and dessicated trees in sight and the subject of her exclamation turned their malevolent, blood red gaze towards her.

Team MARZ had found the task required of them by Professors Ruby and Penny Rose almost laughably easy and it was the Raccoon Faunus herself who had made their rapid progress possible through the use of both Clunker and her Semblance. Astra had reasoned that the four of them would be best served by heading further afield than their classmates so that they could claim their spoils without the possibility of having to argue with another team over who had found something first or who was entitled to what and with that in mind they had, instructed Regalia to scout ahead as far as was practical, her Semblance picking out several flowers, weeds and other plants amongst the winding alleys of long, dark glass that were blown aside by the passage of her jetbike. Regalia had fired Apex Scavenger one-handed into the face of more than one lurking Creature of Grimm already, cutting the monsters down without even slowing or leaving her vehicle before planting a marker for the rest of Team MARZ to find whilst in the distance behind her Astra, Athena and Zirconia took turns at both digging up what the nomadic scout had found, cataloguing it and providing cover for Regalia in case the Racoon Faunus encountered any larger problems.

The lone, gargantuan Ursa that had reared up on its' hindlimbs directly in front of her for instance.

Reaching for her weapon once again Regalia gripped the long, angled and chopper styled handlebars of Clunker with her free hand and frantically tried to veer out of the path of the Creature of Grimm yet as the Ursa came lumbering towards here it seemed that it was too late and that a collision was inevitable, leaving a sense of sinking dread clutching at the Faunus's stomach as she realised that the jetbike she had only recently repaired was once again about to take heavy damage.

Then her team-mates intervened.

It must have been Athena-Jade's turn to provide cover fire as before the charging Ursa could barrel into the front of Clunker a series of the iconic glyphs of the Schnee family appeared between them, starting at the level that Regalia's jetbike hovered at and angled slightly upwards to form the beginnings of an impromptu ramp which Regalia surged onto by gripping her handlebars and through sheer force pulling her vehicle into something akin to a wheelie whilst powering forwards. Her stomach lurched as she crested the ramp and time seemed to slow to a crawl, a confident smirk etched itself onto her features as she levelled the barrel of Apex Scavenger and prepared to fire into the skull of the Grimm as she soared over it only for the opportunity to be taken away as first sized fireball collided with the torso of the monster, clearly the work of some Dust combination employed by Zirconia and an instant later a maelstrom of gunfire all-but sawed the beast in half at the waist as Astra opened fire with Buckshot Ares.

Regalia saw the Ursa fade away before her mind was literally and forcibly jolted back to more immediate matters as Clunker fell towards the ground, propulsion and stabilisation systems bringing it skidding to an unceremonious halt at its' usual travelling height before it could collide with the hard ground, she suffered no injuries but as Regalia silenced Clunker's engine and climbed off of the jetbike she noted with a wince that her pride was as bruised as the point where her tail met her back.

"Heh" she shrugged, deciding that there was nothing to be done and taking a moment to raise her goggles and take several steadying breaths whilst stretching legs that had become mildly numb and more wobbly that she would like to admit before seeking out whatever it was that her Semblance of 'Look-See' had directed her to this particular patch of the plains to find, it was here crouched at the edge of an oddly winding limb of long grass which reached out into the blasted earth like a crooked finger that the rest of Team MARZ found her.

"You okay?" Astra's first words were cautious, they hadn't seen Regalia take any injuries during the brief encounter with the Ursa but such things were trivial when compared to the weight of leadership.

"I'm great" Regalia peered up from the grass and gave a winning smile "I found something"

"Excellent, let me see and I'll catalogue it so we can tell the professors what we've collected" Zirconia urged gently, readying a clipboard and the various diagrams and photographs that they had been given as references at which point Regalia's smile became mildly guilty and she wrung her hands

"Heh, I'm pretty sure that these aren't on the list….but they are the good stuff though, I haven't had this in years" as she spoke she returned her focus to her prize which her team-mates soon found was a small weed not entirely unlike a dandelion in appearance save for its' head being the kind of vibrant shade that nature produced exclusively as a warning which the Racoon Faunus examined with obvious glee as she uprooted it entirely

"You're gonna eat that?" Athena asked in mild disbelief, certain that nothing which grew in the wastelands could be healthy.

"Uh huh" Regalia nodded "Wanna try?"

"I think I'll pass"

"So your Semblance just found you some snacks?" Astra mouthed, somewhat incredulously.

"Well I've been here before, just not for a long time" Regalia reminded them "My clan have traded with the farming settlement that the professors mentioned, we passed through the plains so I knew that there was some acid-root here somewhere….you guys sure you don't wanna try it?"

"It's called acid-root and you're eating it?" Zirconia's quiet rasp was deadpan and disbelieving whilst Astra's brow furrowed as something mischievous shone in their sea-green eyes which instantly put Athena on edge.

"What're you thinking?" the Bear Faunus asked, bracing herself for her leaders' answer.

"I think we're already well on our way to having this assignment finished and I think the professors gave us more time than we need anyway" the Deer Faunus mused before turning to their partner "That farming settlement….wanna go see it again?"

"YES!" Regalia gasped without hesitation before reality halted her enthusiasm "But there's four of us….I might be able to get there and back on time but there's no way you guys can do it on foot" Astra paused as they sought an answer to the problem before them and both Athena and Zirconia seemed ready to intervene and act as a voice of reason only to be halted by the smile on Regalia's face, upon seeing it the pair shared a glance and silently agreed that they would reason this divergence away and that they were indeed already ahead of schedule after only a few hours, they had earned a break.

"There's gotta be away around this" Astra noted "Don't worry, I'll think of something" hearing this Zirconia turned to Athena, brushing her sweeping fringe of raven black spikes aside and fixing the Bear Faunus with a mismatched stare as she spoke.

"Do they think that reassures us?"


The King-Taijitu or perhaps more accurately Team WULF's fight against it had, almost entirely predictably drawn more Grimm to their location and the four First Year students had found their efforts to collect plant to be used by Nurse Kintsugi hampered by a steady stream of incursions from the monsters over the course of several hours.

Which Wolfram noted as he hacked away at obsidian flesh with the axe component of Berserker, was still preferable to the conversation it served as a distraction from.

It was still a struggle to keep the old, familiar red haze from setting in and allowing Wolfram to fight in a heedless, vindicated frenzy against the Creatures of Grimm yet Wolfram cursed at himself in his mind and forced himself to remember that he had a team to consider now and no matter how capable they might be he needed to be ready to protect them and so, even as his the flat edge of his shield smashed into the ribs of another scrawny and emaciated Beowolf a moment before his axe tore into its' skull he kept the electric, enthralling rage that coursed through him in check.

There were a little over a dozen of the lupine horrors remaining of the pack that had come bounding into the long trench that Team WULF had been working in and of that number four were snapping and snarling at Wolfram himself. There was no true Alpha leading the pack to be found, yet one of the quartet of monsters the armoured warrior faced off against seemed to be the more dominant of the group and let out a howl which was quickly followed by a primal and guttural snarl which Wolfram echoed as the pair charged at each other, the promised titanic clash being replaced with something almost anticlimactic as the Grimm pounced and the Hunter ducked low, passing beneath its' claws and ripping into its' gut and flank to leave nothing but smoke and shattered, fading fragments remaining. Blood thundered in Wolfram's ears and the edges of his vision began to blur as his self control wavered at exact moment the remaining trio of Beowolves came lunging at him; with a wordless yell he extended his shield arm and unleashed his Semblance from his fingertips as he surged into motion, whooshing, freezing air solidified into a single razor sharp plain that cleaved the lead Grimm in half and its' companions were dispatched seconds later as he first buried his axe in the chest of the first before carrying his momentum into a spin that evaded an oncoming attack and brought the shield component of Berserker smashing into a lupine skull with enough force to shatter it as Wolfram came to a halt in a crouch, shield extended.

Just in time to see that Laser was outnumbered.

The smallest member of Team WULF was by no means weak or incapable and should have had no real problems dealing with the trio of Beowolves that he had found himself weaving between and even in this half-crazed state fuelled by the thrill of battle Wolfram could easily surmise what had happened. Laser, after growing bored of the days' drudgery had shifted Permadeath from its' machine gun form back into its' katana mode and simply allowed several of the Creatures of Grimm to draw close enough to attack him so that he might practice his swordplay and engage them with his usual overblown, almost slapstick antics; Wolfram could certainly empathise with his team-mates' boredom but had no intention of allowing this fight to go on for longer than it needed to and risk drawing more and more Creatures of Grimm until Team WULF were too overwhelmed to complete their actual objective in the plains.

"Time to be the leader" he muttered as he prepared to shift Berserker into its' combined hand-cannon form and simply braced himself as he glanced at the customary wrappings already in place around his left forearm, knowing that discharging the weapon would hurt as it always did; before he could do so however his partners' voice sounded out to him.

"Wolfram, keep your arm their partner!" before Wolfram could move at all or question her intentions a tremor passed though his arm and the sound of something thudding and clanging against metal filled the air as Ursinia closed the distance between them and simply leapt onto Wolfram's shield, using his still outstretched arm as a spring board to throw herself into the air.

"GET CLEAR VARMINT!" the Scorpion Faunus's usual term of address for Laser caught the Vaccuans' attention just in time to watch as she reached the apex of her leap and shifted The Adventurer into its' grenade launching pistol form, acting on pure instinct alone Laser rushed out to grab one of the Beowolves accosting him and hurled it into Ursinia's path, where it was promptly blown to smithereens by a grenade. The remaining pair of Grimm yowled and thrashed only to be silenced as Laser promptly shredded one with a blinding flurry of movement from his sword that severed the things' body in no fewer than a dozen places whilst the other fell to Ursinia who came crashing down on it with her golden oversized broadsword once at the ready, its' blade piercing the Grimm's skull and exiting its' back whilst her stinger lashed out and struck it in the face for good measure.

Wolfram would freely admit he was impressed however there was a more important matter at hand.

"Where's Diabla?" his snapped demand was quickly answered by the whooshing sound of a jet of flames and he turned to see the remaining half of the pack of Beowolves, over half a dozen Grimm being consumed by fire that his team-mate had unleashed in carefully measured bursts, felling the monsters that had attempted to flank Team WULF. One of their number came charging through the flames, its' own form ablaze yet its' attempt at a final charge was denied as Diabla unsheathed the Gravity Dust fuelled, ultrasonic blade of Quiet and decapitated the monster in a single slash before turning to her team leader and answering his question.

"Giving your partner an opening so she could cover mine, her weapon has more range" there was something in that answer that Wolfram didn't care for, not quite an accusation or an attempt to directly undermine him but definitely a challenge that he fully intended to call out but was prevented from doing so by his team-mates' unwitting intervention

"Thanks, I absolutely had that though" Laser laughed

"Darlin' when you said cover me I didn't think you were gonna use a flamethrower when we're surrounded by plants we're supposed to be picking"

"Is anything on fire?" Diabla gestured around her to showcase her point.

"Okay let's get back to work. Sooner we get this done with the sooner I can get a shower" Wolfram silenced what could easily become and argument before it could start "Laser, Diabla go search up ahead, Ursinia we'll pick up where we left off here" there were nods of agreement all round and a moment later Team WULF had split up into two pairs, leading to several minutes of working in silence as Wolfram tried to search for a tactful yet still direct way to say what needed to be said despite his natural inclinations to leave well enough alone when it came to personal matters.

"Wolfie you're really not as sneaky as you like to think ya are, if you've got something to say then speak up" Ursinia drawled, rolling her eyes as she gave her partner a small smile.

"I don't sneak….and only my Mum calls me that" Wolfram bristled slightly before letting out a sigh and deciding that the matter could be avoided no longer "Look, I don't like being in peoples' personal lives, I really don't and I want to be able to trust my team enough to either handle a problem or tell me that it's something that they need my help with; you seemed bothered earlier….you wanna talk about it?"

"Oh….that" Ursinia chuckled "Don't worry about it, it's stupid"

"Yeah well it's stupid enough to make things awkward, so spill" Ursinia gave Wolfram a bemused look at that, one that suggested she might argue with him only for it to falter slightly and her to look away

"I just….I dunno I feel like I'm a poser compared to the rest of y'all sometimes"

"Excuse me?" Wolfram looked galled by the mere suggestion "We met because you shot a grenade at an Alpha Beowolf, poser my ass"

"That's not what I mean" the dark skinned woman sighed "Look I'm from the middle of nowhere, a tiny little village between New Vale and Vaccuo that's so small it's not even on a lot of maps. Where I grew up nothing happens, the people that are born there live and die there and have done for generations, the only people with any stories to tell are retired Hunters looking for a quiet life guarding the most boring place on Remnant; my parents are great we're not struggling, they support me and the farm's doing well…. But I became a Hunter and left home because the idea of staying there was like a nightmare for me-"

"And?" Wolfram demanded, certain that he was missing something "You've seen Stalwart, you know that my home turf isn't any better"

"Yeah but it feels different, your Dad was a Hunter, you've got something driving you even if you don't talk about it" it was Wolfram's turn to look away now and Ursinia quickly continued before things could become strange "It feels like everyone else does as well….I mean Diabla's clearly got a lot going on, Laser makes perfect sense when you think about it, then there's Team MARZ….it feels like everyone else trying to be a Hunter has something that they're trying to do, some kinda grand purpose and I just couldn't stand the idea of a boring life. That make sense to you?"

"Yeah but I still think your dumb as fuck" Wolfram snorted, halting whatever indignant reply his partner intended to give him and continuing "Seriously who cares? The people we save as Hunters won't….You think anyone ever gets rescued from the Grimm and then judges the person rescuing 'em for not being tragic enough?"

"That's honestly….about what I expected you'd say" Ursinia managed a smile "Y'know you're alright, not so big and scary"

"Sure" Wolfram grunted before bracing themselves and preparing to discuss their feelings and motivations more than they were used to "Besides, I'd probably try and be a Hunter anyway….feeling closer to my Dad, feeling like I'm getting even every time I rip into a Grimm is great, I don't have words for it but that's not all it's about. This is Menagerie, every Mistrali on this island came here to be an adventurer or explorer and only built settlements when they ran out of steam, It was Mistralis that first settled on Solitas, it's just what we do so trust me I get it….Getting off your ass and making change happen is the only way anything worth talking about gets done and doing anything else is just boring"

"That" Ursinia drawled the word out slowly as she considered what would follow it "Was almost inspirational"

"Great" Wolfram ground out, still uncomfortable with the idea of sharing "Now can I inspire you to help me get this assignment done 'cos I'm getting hungry?"

Ursinia's response to that was one that few people could have gotten away with.


"I think I'm gonna be sick" the words escaped Athena-Jade as she sank to her knees and covered her mouth with her hands, dry heaving several times before regaining some semblance of composure.

"That was….not my preferred way to travel" Zirconia admitted, mismatched eyes casting a baleful and mistrusting stare towards the still idling form of Clunker whilst Astra leaned against the jetbike, almost doubling over it in manic laughter as the Grasshopper Faunus regained her footing; cybernetic limbs proving themselves to be no prevention for disoriented dizziness.

Whilst Athena and Zirconia had ultimately agreed with Astra's plan to visit the nearby farming settlement owing to how much it clearly meant to Regalia the pair were still undeniably the more studious half of Team MARZ and had implored the Raccoon Faunus to use her Semblance, if possible to search for any nearby plants that would count towards their assignment and Astra, both wanting to see their team succeed in all of their endeavours and also understanding the importance of the work they had been asked to undertake had seconded that motion; this had caused delays however as Team MARZ had been forced to collectively halt at semi-regular intervals and whilst Astra had been as good as their words and provided a solution to Clunker's lack of seating it seemed that the Deer Faunus had taken no small measure of retribution whilst doing so. In order for the four of them to get the advantage of the jetbikes' speed Astra had ridden behind Regalia whilst the Raccoon Faunus herself had deployed the harpoon attachment of Apex Scavenger which Athena had held onto firmly whilst Zirconia clung to her for dear life in turn whilst the Bear Faunus conjured one of her glyphs for the two of them to balance precariously on and effectively be towed.

Which was in Athena's mind a truly nauseating experience which even rivalled the driving of her Uncle Whitley.

"Everyone okay, everyone still alive?" Astra asked, making no effort to mask their laughter as they strolled passed Athena and popped the collar of their jacket whilst the Bear Faunus dragged herself to her feet.

"You suck, you suck so bad" Athena replied, stomach taking one final turn and forcing her to pause before she added "The suckiest"

"Come on guys, let's just find what we're looking for so we can get moving" Regalia urged, voice more insistent than her team-mates were used to as the reality of being so close to something that she wanted and, she had realised during the trip served as a sort of symbolic link between her identity as a nomad of Clan Aiktishaf and her current reality of training to be a Hunter within the Kingdom of Menagerie. The currently highly driven Faunus was crouched with her worn and faded leather jacket hanging open and obscuring her form as she carefully but hurriedly began examining one of the several tufts of sparse and tough weeds that had erupted from the cracked and desolate ground, the furthest reaches of what could rightly be called the plain some distance behind them and Astra casually strolled over to her; a mildly annoyed frown crossing their features as they noticed the state the dust and dirt had left their sneakers in before resting a hand of their partners' shoulder.

"Hey, relax….we'll get there and we'll get back on time, trust me" with that Astra turned to Athena and Zirconia "You heard her, let's find what the Professors need and get moving-"

"Wait" Zirconia raised a hand to caution her team-mates, digitigrade mechanical legs shifting as the stabilisation systems in place of feet made a stream of minute adjustments in response to something the rest of Team MARZ were yet to detect "Does anybody else feel that?"

"Feel….oh" Regalia whispered, purple eyes widening in surprise as she placed a hand flat against the ground and felt a low, thrumming tremor reverberate along her arm; seeing this and sensing that whatever situation was about to unfold would require both decisive action and at the same time more information Astra turned to Athena

"AJ, can you use a glyph to get a vantage point and see what's coming?"

"On it" the pale young woman nodded, creating a series of the glowing circular platforms in a steeply ascending stairway and leaping swiftly from one to the next until she was several dozen feet in the air with a vast open expanse stretching out before her and the faintest indistinct shape of the settlement they were making their way towards in the distance; turning and searching for the source of the trembling vibrations she scanned the horizon until finally she saw something that utterly beggared belief.

It was certainly not a Grimm.

"Uh, Regalia you're from Menagerie right….I think maybe you should come and take a look at this" almost an instant later Regalia was beside her, the taller, leaner and darker Faunus leaping up onto the glyph Athena was perched on with her long lions' tail of grey-brown hair swinging behind her dramatically and a wild glee visible in her eyes for the brief moment before she lowered her goggles once again and turned her gaze towards what Athena had seen.

To say that the roving vehicle was massive barely did the thing justice, the monstrosity of steel was of an entirely different order of magnitude.

What Athena-Jade could tell even from a cursory glance was that the thing had once been a product of the Kingdom of Mantle, an ancient machine older than the Kingdom of Atlas itself. Prior to the Great War when the icy Kingdom had interests and territories within the desert Kingdoms' domain it had attended to those interests and crossed the Grimm filled dunes with the use of enormous crawlers; vast and angular machines capable of acting as a mobile base of operations and home for moderate communities of Dust prospectors, miners and all the accoutrements that they would need, propelled by enormous engines that belched clouds of choking smog and carried forward on tracks that could cross the desert as easily as they did the freezing tundra of Solitas. Whilst the vast majority of these roaming fortress-machines had been lost to time, either destroyed outright in the war, felled by Grimm as their resources dwindled and lost in the wilderness or either seized by Vaccuo or recalled to Mantle and dismantled for parts to feed the war effort some of the few that survived had been claimed by the nomadic clans of the Vaccuan wasteland and it was clear to see that this was one such example.

After generations of modifications and hasty, impromptu repair the crawler was now more akin to architecture than a vehicle, vast sections of its' outer hull having been stripped away to allow for ramshackle turrets and emplacements to replace destroyed weapons systems, much of its' hull being given over to a series of greenhouses which amounted to a small farm whilst behind the thing were a series of over a dozen trailers each larger than a house that the thing towed, each with similar modifications whilst the entire assembly had a series of walkways, rigging handrails and most unbelievable of all, articulated and flexible bridges constructed around its' exterior which allowed its' inhabitants to scurry from one part of the mobile settlement to the next. Clan markings, flags and banners in lurid, clashing colours covered every surface that had not been removed so that the steel could be cannibalised and, in a testament of just how much the crawler had endured the remaining power that its' ancient and battered engines could produce was assisted by the fact that it was being towed, a flock of over a dozen outriders on jetbikes similar in design to Clunker ridden by men and women carrying pole-arms whose tips sparked with Dust protecting an even larger mass of what appeared to be mechanical beasts of burden, old automatons possibly even older than Poly-Tech who currently presided over the field of robotics in Remnant as a whole. Finally, whilst the crawlers' hull had once been largely parallelogram in shape with its' command deck and control room housed within its' upper forward edge much of that was now an open space; there were still terminals and control terminals to be seen but it had been expanded upon with a makeshift prow and several crows' nests which much of the rigging and pathways of scrap metal bolted onto the machine seemed to lead to.

The squeal of unbridled joy that escaped Regalia at the sight of the thing made it clear that she recognised this mechanical behemoth.

"What is it?" Astra called up to the two of them whilst Zirconia simply leaped up onto one of Athena's glyphs with a single powerful bound.

"It's he Aiktishaf!" Regalia explained in utter delight, continuing without needed to be asked for clarification "I'm from Clan Aiktishaf, that's the Aiktishaf-"

"Was it named after you or-"

"Nobody remembers any more" Regalia cut Athena's question off "The Aiktishaf was old even before the Great War, besides it's not important; what's important is that it's here! My clan are right here and I had no idea, I thought I wouldn't be able to see them until the end of the school year" something hung in the air at that statement, an unspoken tension where it seemed that someone might have to deliver cruel news to the Raccoon Faunus until Astra, straightening their posture to their full height and daring anyone to defy them decided that they would not allow that.

"Well, it sounds like you're people are closer than the settlement you wanted to go to" they shrugged "So if you had to pick one I'm guessing you'd wanna see your people again?"

"Uh huh!" Regalia nodded with such fervent enthusiasm that she almost fell off of the glyph

"Then let's go" Astra beamed "We can grab the rest of what we need on the way back, nobody else is coming out this far so we're not competing with anybody" Regalia was on the ground and sprinting towards Clunker in the blink of an eye and Astra couldn't help but grin at her boundless upbeat energy until Athena and Zirconia landed in a crouch nearby as the Bear Faunus allowed her glyphs to fade away.

"I don't wanna hurt her feelings" Athena began quietly "But-"

"Nah, no buts" Astra shook their head "She's worked as hard as the rest of us and if it was the ship our brothers were on then you know you wouldn't let anyone talk you out of going"

"I mean I get your point but-"

"Still no buts" Astra shook their head again as they cut Athena off "This is happening, we'll go meet Regalia's folks, quick visit and then finish up….what's the worst that can happen"

It was perhaps for the best that Regalia called out to her team-mates, urging them to hurry up before Athena could give an honest answer to Astra's hypothetical question.


The sound of Penny's Scroll vibrating seemed uncomfortably loud in the open expanse of the Yongheng Plains and the copper haired woman cast her eyes furtively around her surroundings, ensuring that none of the first year students were still in sight and that the crews of the trio of Bull-head transports which had carried them from the academy were looking elsewhere before she surreptitiously plucked the device from her pocket and opened it to reveal a message from her son, Tai Jaune Rose with several images attached.

"Y'know you don't have to be sneaky with your Scroll like the kids do in class when they think we can't see 'em" Ruby's bemused words announced her presence and Penny's wife materialised behind her in a shower of petals as she used her Semblance to cross the distance between them, arms encircling Penny's waist as she rested her chin on the androids' shoulder and planted a brief kiss on her cheek.

"Affirmative" Penny smiled faintly "But I'll continue, we should always try and set a good example-"

"By showing them how to not get caught?" Ruby winked with her remaining eye and chuckled as she pulled Penny a little closer, the pilots were all pre-occupied and there were no students around which gave the pair at least a modicum of privacy

"The message was from TJ, it was….extenuating circumstances" Penny grinned as she held the Scroll at an angle easier for Ruby to see whilst lacing the fingers of free hand through her wife's.

"Looks like Summer gave him an earful about not calling" Ruby noted; Summer Pyrrha Rose, TJ's twin and the daughter who looked remarkably like a leaner and more athletic Penny save for her silver eyes and hair that was worn much longer and often tied back had continued her career as a professional athlete away from the island of Menagerie as she had been signed and drafted to a team within the Atlesian league for a season had made an effort to call home and speak with her parents on a regular basis whilst Tai Jaune had understandably yet regrettably been preoccupied due to attending college within the icy Kingdom and far more sporadic with their efforts; it seemed that his sister had indeed make her displeasure at the state of affairs known and Penny and Ruby's son had sent them a message several paragraphs long detailing which began with an apology along with several selfies taken on campus and around the Atlesian Capital of Eisenstadt Prime which showed that he was flourishing and making friends.

"He looks like he's doing sensational, they both are" Penny murmured "I'm glad that they're living their lives and finding happiness by becoming who they want to be….even if their lives are completely different to ours"

"Mmm" Ruby hummed quietly before finding words "I know what you mean, it would have been nice to see the twins join the academy but they've never wanted to be Hunters and honestly, I think I'm more happy that we live in a Remnant that they don't have to be; they're Silver Eyed Warriors who were never forced be warriors….It's a sign that we won, that we built a better Remnant"

"But it would be nice if they still lived on Menagerie"

"It would" Ruby admitted with a laugh "But I think every parent has that moment, remember how emotional my Dad got when I moved to Atlas with you after the first war?….Oh, have you heard from Nickel, I'm sure she'll want to know how the twins are doing?"

"Not recently but I'm sure she'll contact us when she and Jade return to Menagerie" Ruby nodded at that, Nickel Polendina was the most recent addition to the Rose family despite the fact that Ruby and Penny's children considered her something of an older sibling; a later model of Atlesian android and more importantly the current Spring Maiden who had been adopted into the family she had been sent to destroy whilst her partner Jade boasted a history that was more outlandish still, hailing from a different iteration of Remnant entirely; her presence being the product of one of the many oddities of Salem's second war.

"I am happy for her" Penny pursed her lips "But she has a tendency to be irresponsible, the settlement she and Jade were supposed to be working on is falling behind schedule; these 'dates' that the two of them keep taking tend to become vacations"

"I know" Ruby sighed "But I think we've just gotta let her have this, it took her a long time to find her feet and make any kind of life for herself after the war; this is the first time she's ever had anything like this and we both know how she'll react if we try ordering her around….But you're right and I would honestly feel a little better about being out here in the wasteland with the first years if I knew that she could just fly over"

"You think that the students might be at risk?" Penny's voice hardened and her Scroll vanished in the blink of an eye as her hands flew to the pair of swords hanging from her hips, the weapons being styled after those that had been integrated into the androids' original body.

"Not directly" Ruby began, gently placing her hands on Penny's upper arms in an attempt to soothe and calm her "But there's definitely something going on Menagerie, maybe something bigger"

"You're talking about the missing Hunters whose bodies were found?" Penny asked quietly, knowing that the matter had troubled her wife since it had first been uncovered and whilst there had been no progress in any kind of finding out exactly what had happened Ruby was currently largely powerless to act.

"Those Hunters, the people they were with" Ruby's expression darkened and her mechanical eye whirred faintly "They were killed by Grimm, we know that much because it's the only thing consistent with their injuries….But they were buried, people don't bury people in the wasteland to pay respects they do it to hide evidence; so who buried them?"

"You think that the missing Hunters were involved in something illegal?" Penny asked carefully, not wanting to question Ruby's intuitions but still hesitant to accommodate the idea of their profession being dragged through the mud in such a way.

"It wouldn't be the first time that one of us has made bad choices and then there's the case that Team FADE and their friends are working on for Qrow" Ruby's frown deepened "Someone tried to smuggle a Grimm into Neo Vale by ship, so far they've had no leads and can't trace the container or who had it smuggled aboard but that ship came from Menagerie"

"You're right" Penny nodded "Something is certainly going on but we don't know what….but we'll respond to it when it becomes an immediate threat, right now our duty is the safety and the education of our students" Ruby let out a slow breath, forcing herself to accept the reality of the situation despite how much the sense of powerlessness over something that could possibly have ramifications across Menagerie after spending so many years at the forefront of such intrigue and finally she allowed herself a small, playful smirk before checking how much time the two of them had left before students had been instructed to return

"Well we've probably got at least a couple of hours until any of the teams finish their assignments" she purred in Penny's ear "We could sneak off somewhere if you wanted to?"

Penny had always loved how entirely human she was despite her nature as an android, yet in that moment she wished that she was not capable of blushing so profusely.


Team MARZ hurtled forwards at speeds that could generously be described as daring, though most people would have chosen an adjective closer to simply insane.

"You think maybe you should fit a stereo on this thing?" Astra called out to Regalia whilst clinging to their partner as though their life depended on it although their words were almost lost beneath the howling of the wind as the jetbike powered onwards toward the immense form of the Aiktishaf which was now close enough that the low rumble of its' movement was a constant mechanical, thunderous chugging; keen Faunus eyesight allowing any of Team MARZ who cared to to pick out lights and movement within each section of the enormous crawler where parts of its' hull had been removed and the almost insignificantly small shapes of people flitting between the Aiktishaf itself and the train of oversized carriages that trailed behind it.

"Heh, wouldn't work" Regalia replied and whilst Astra couldn't currently see her face they could tell that she was smirking before she added "Wouldn't be able to hear anything over the main thruster!" with that the Racoon Faunus pushed her beloved vehicle even further beyond what its' constituent parts' should have made possible and Astra let out a sound somewhere between a cheer and a wail of terror as the open expanse all around them became and indistinct blur and their body was subjected to the sudden force of immense acceleration. The Deer Faunus did not have the stomach to release their white-knuckled grip on Regalia so that they might sign to Athena-Jade and Zirconia however they did crane their neck around as far as they could to see that the Bear Faunus was still, once again effectively surfing several inches above the ground on a resolutely maintained glyph whilst Zirconia clung to the Bear Faunus with a wide eyed expression plastered across what could be seen of her face which made it clear that nothing in her obviously sheltered upbringing had prepared her for something like this.

"You guys okay back there?" Astra called out and whilst Athena's actual response went unheard beneath the cacophony of noise her expression conveyed perfectly that were she not holding onto the harpoon component of Apex Scavenger with both hands she would have given her team leader several hand gestures that were frowned upon in polite society.

Astra's only response was laughter.

"Think maybe you could slow down a little?" they asked, tapping Regalia to get her attention "If you do then you can call your Mum and let her know we're coming?"

"It'll be fine" Regalia answered calmly despite the adrenaline coursing through her that had turned her into a jittery mass of hyperactive eagerness filled with a single-minded purpose.

"Clunker has short range radar and a transponder, someone on the Aiktishaf must've known we were coming or that we were out in wasteland before we even saw it" the Racoon Faunus continued, utterly missing Astra's meaning "See, look they've already spotted us!" at that Astra was forced to strain their eyes, their sight whilst greater than human was still not as far reaching as what their partners goggles afforded them however it was clear that she was correct as the Deer Faunus saw that several of the minute and scampering figures on the hull, rigging and countless makeshift walkways and perches of the colossal crawler and its' land-train had come to a halt and were now frantically waving, either with flags or with their arms although after witnessing this for only a few moments Astra felt a sinking, lurching feeling in their gut that was nothing to do with Regalia's driving.

And then the shadow fell over them.

"REGALIA WE'VE GOT INCOMING!" the Deer Faunus called out, realising with sudden panic that they would be unable to effectively deploy Buckshot Ares in their shield form. As Regalia heard her partners' warning she slowed Clunker enough that the roaring of the jetbike was lessened and the source of her peoples' now obvious worry became clear; the air was filled with a low buzzing drone that came from countless sources at once that had been lost beneath all of the other sounds vying for prominence however with nothing to mask it the sound was both deafening and ominous.

Casting her eyes frantically around the Raccoon Faunus quickly found the source of the sawing assault on the air itself and was dismayed to see a swarm of animated darkness racing towards Team MARZ, a mass of vaguely insectoid bodies whose individual forms were hard to distinguish as the zigzagged through the air, leaping and flying around and over one another though even from this distance it was clear to see that the swarm of incoming horrors was led by a singular Alpha of some sort. What was also apparent and even more distressing was the angle of the Grimm's approach, the swarm came from the right and at both an angle and velocity which ensured that they would reach and intercept Clunker and its' passengers before either they could reach the Aiktishaf of Regalia's clan could truly mount any kind of counter-offensive.

Meaning that Team MARZ would have to charge through the Grimm.

Author's Notes:

Ah there we are, the back half of Vol.1 is actually underway now and we're actually fighting Grimm and doing real Hunter things again, character development and school stuff has its' place but this isn't a slice of life anime, sometimes we've gotta bring out the monsters.
Also, this is basically me doing a two parter episode (Remember when canon did those in Vol.1?) we'll be doing another one of those before we go into the climax of the volume, so think of them as a way to showcase the teams' improvements so that the learning curve doesn't seem so drastic.

But anyway, let's summarise shall we?:
So here we are, the obligatory First Year field trip; it was mentioned last chapter and I could have done another filler chapter leading up to it but honestly it wouldn't have added anything that wasn't covered in this recap.
We will see Team MARZ properly exploring Port Alistair soon, also I feel like making them that one team that's on the edge of the academy social life kinda makes sense.
I can't imagine Regalia enjoying taking notes.
AJ is always super eager to be the best in class, she's an Overachiever….which is funny considering that's also the name of Diabla's Semblance.
Being the team that flew in Ruby and Penny's personal ride is definitely bragging rights.
So Menagerie isn't completely barren, even if the space between settlements is called the wasteland.
Ruby and Penny both being Professor Rose must lead to some shenanigans with the students.
The whole point of this field trip isn't going to be a plot point later, it's literally just something I put in place of the tree sap since we're not in Vale and this field trip isn't happening in the Emerald Forest….Also I can't remember if they actually said what the sap was for in Vol.1?
Team MARZ being the only team to have a vehicle does seem a little bit like favouritism, but it's not their fault that nobody else who owns a bike or car thought to ask.
"You're training to be a Hunter and you're outside of the walls, you should always be expecting Grimm you idiot!" okay but did he lie though?
Menagerie pigeons are some death-world nonsense that should be nerfed in the next patch.
I feel like Wolfram's response to Diabla is that he's trying to convince himself that "If it's not broken don't fix it" applies here because he doesn't know where to start with her.
That's basically the missing pieces of Laser's backstory right there, his upbringing was an "It take a whole village to raise a child" kind of affair except the village in question was a shanty town full of some of the most desperate people on Remnant, made out a series of downed Atlesian warships that were routinely attacked by Grimm and occasionally shelled by Vaccuo.
I feel like students getting a monthly stipend is the only thing that makes sense, otherwise how did Ren and Nora, or honestly even Blake get by? Also I'm from the UK and old enough to remember when students could get £30 a week to cover expenses and that one of the first things that the conservatives did was scrap it.
Also yeah, Wolfram's a blunt son of a bitch who takes no prisoners but he's not heartless.
Ursinia just read him spectacularly, Wolfram is definitely a 'Sledgehammer to crack a nut' kind of guy.
I mean the farm girl has a point, calling your sword The Adventurer is either a statement or the most naive optimism you've ever heard.
Ursinia has given Laser the nickname varmint and he can learn to love it.
Nothing like starting the scene with a possible head on collision to keep things moving.
Nice save from AJ and some nice teamwork from Team MARZ as a whole.
"It's called acid-root and you're eating it?" look Zirconia is sheltered okay, she doesn't know any better….Also yeah, Regalia's Semblance doesn't always give her exactly what she wants or expected.
Of course Astra was the one to suggest sneaking off and doing something else since they were ahead with their work, come on remember how we first met them.
One Grimm always brings more.
Damn, Wolfram really is just a walking ball of repressed trauma and anger issues.
"Time to be the leader" right before getting ready to step in, see here's the difference between Astra and Wolfram, Astra works to make Team MARZ a cohesive unit where Wolfram's approach is more based around him being the real hero.
Ursinia was bad-ass and it was great.
Diabla….the most kills of the team, but also the only one crazy enough to use a flamethrower in that situation.
Oof, having to talk about feelings and having people use a 'Mum only' nickname, you'd think he was starting to go soft.
So that's Ursinia's deal, she literally does not have a tragic backstory to unlock she's just someone who wanted to do good in the world and live a more interesting life, so I suppose it makes sense that she's a little self conscious when she knows people whose siblings literally saved the world.
And once again, Wolfram makes a solid point.
There is no way that the child of Weiss Schnee was going to let her team completely slack off on an assignment.
Yeah, that method of moving all of Team MARZ is exactly as insane as it sounds and I feel like I should make it a more regular thing.
"Does anybody else feel that?" oh you thought it was gonna be more Grimm?
I did tell people that I based parts of Regalia's nomadic clan on the Jawas, here's the dune crawler; except this one also has a land-train behind it as a nod to the land-train mission that Team NEON were part of in Atlas during FADE: Legacy.
Yeah this thing is massive and all of its' individual trailers are joined by bridges, it's literally a moving village….which is also pulled along by robot pack-mules guarded by guys on jetbikes with Dust lances; because why the hell not.
And yeah, the crawler and the clan name are the same.
Astra is an idiot, he invoked Murphy.
Ruby and Penny talking about the kids is honestly always fun to write and the talk about them being Silver Eyed Warriors who have the option of not being fighters felt important; especially if you read FADE and know how the activated their powers.
I haven't forgotten about Nickel, but she's one of those characters that I have find ways to keep away from the main plot because it would add to many characters and also remove tension because no 'First Arc' villain is actually gonna be able to compete with her if she turns up.
And now we're back to the Hunters who went missing and were found, along with connecting to the idea of that attempt to smuggle Grimm that Team FADE, including Felix and AJ's brothers are investigating; because now we're entering the final third of the volume it's time to start moving pieces of the plot into place.
And that's why Clunker doesn't have a stereo.
"See look they already know we're coming"….they're literally waving warning flags at you Regalia.
And now we have a swarm of bug Grimm, I decided to delay giving them a proper description until next chapter, although I'll give you a hint….there's going to be a callback of sorts to AJ's "Bear on bear violence!" line from initiation.

Thank you to SumoSnipe, Funlander and MajorBrony95 for their reviews on the last chapter.
Oh Wolfram wishes he was Vincent Jones.
Don't worry about the Diabla situation, this is Team MARZ's story so if AJ loses to Diabla it's only so that there can be some motivation for a rematch later.
Yeah Wolfram isn't gonna let a sucker punch slide, it reflects badly on his abilities as a leader at that point.
Yeah, Astra had a learning experience.
Are you really a team if you don't have bunkbeds?
Yeah Arslan is not to be messed with but she's not actually gonna beat up a student, Coco would fire her for that.
No Diabla is not a long lost Schnee bastard.
We'll see Laser's Semblance in Vol.2...So out of the two teams that will only leave Astra with no Semblance.

As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review.