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Chapter 24: Head To Head

The transport craft touched down on solid ground with a deep and metallic clunking sound that came with a sense of finality that offered no reassurance and instead set anxious, yet excited nerves on edge and heightened the senses of the young, would be Hunters aboard; the silence within the aircraft reaching an almost profound level even despite the vibrations of Dust engines that were steadily winding down to and rhythmic, idling tremor rumbling through the Atlesian steel hull.

The time had come and the first year students were about to see what Professor Altan had planned for them.

It had felt like almost no time and all and yet somehow like an eternity all at once, however three weeks had passed and Team MARZ, like their peers had spent that time deeply focused on their training and studies to such an extent that any thoughts regarding grand conspiracies, the Grimm smugglers and their remaining backers or any other element of Port Alistair's criminal underground were discarded by necessity; something which Astra had commented offhandedly on more than one occasion was likely, at least partially the point of the, still unrevealed head to head training exercise.

All that was known for certain was that they, along with their fellow team leaders had taken the matter of preparing themselves as seriously as their teachers' demeanour had suggested that they should; with the Deer Faunus implementing a training regimen that had quickly lost the unanimous popularity that it had been received with as even Athena-Jade, in her endless quest to live up to the benchmark she felt that her family had set for her had declared that Astra was becoming excessive; the training had also been conducted in as much secrecy as possible in an effort to maintain an element of surprise and thus an advantage over any of their classmates that they might have to content with. The leader of Team MARZ had also shown something of a burgeoning underhanded streak when they had suggested that the team should spy on their classmates as much as possible, an opinion that Regalia had almost jokingly compared to several spy movies until realising that her partner was serious whilst Athena had stated outright that she had the idea distasteful and unbecoming, only for the Bear Faunus to be shocked upon broaching the subject with her parents and older brother, all of whom had informed her that intelligence gathering was a vital part of the life of a Hunter and that such practices were common at events such as the bi-yearly Vytal Tournament; it had been Zirconia who had surprised her team-mates the most however, Grasshopper Faunus, mysterious as always had sided with Astra without hesitation and simply answered that Professor Altan had implicitly condoned such actions in her initial announcement.

The time for such debates had long since passed however and as the rear hatch of the Bull-Head slid open a wave of warm, dry air washed into the metallic confines, along with harsh daylight that the keen eyes of Faunus took a few moments to adjust to after over an hour within the dimmed interior of their transport, lit only by a few overhead strobes that flickered with every worrying jolt; it was however still preferable to the lashing and torrential rains that had plagued most of Menagerie a few weeks prior but mercifully abated during the intervening time.

"How do we always end up on the last transport?" Astra demanded as they made out the gathered forms of their classmates in the distance.

"Probably something to do with how long you spend on your hair" Athena noted with a playfully exaggerated shrug as she followed her team leaders' example and hastily began making her way out of the aircraft with Zirconia and Regalia, who had not been allowed to bring Clunker on this excursion close behind.

"Okay firstly I set an alarm specifically to account for that" the Deer Faunus huffed in faux offence "And secondly not all of us can pass a bedhead off as our actual look"

"I have plenty of things to say back to that but you don't have the vocabulary to deal with them" Athena retorted as the four of them strolled towards were Professor Altan was clearly awaiting their arrival along with that of any other remaining students so she could begin to explain how the day would proceed.

"Heh, guys….you uh, you might wanna look dead ahead and then up" the stunned, wavering note to Regalia's voice was enough for her entire team to come to a halt and do as the Racoon Faunus instructed, each of them standing in slack-jawed fun at the sight that greeted them.

"Woah" Astra breathed out simply.

"Well, whatever Professor Altan has planned for us promises to be….interesting" Zirconia rasped, mismatched eyes narrowing in quiet contemplation of countless possibilities as she regarded what she saw.

"That's an Atlas airship….it must have been brought down during the war" Athena explained, eyes wide "It's in really good condition, you'd think someone would have picked it clean"

"So much steel" Regalia mouthed out as she tried to calculate just how long the resources the vessel represented would be able to keep Clan Aiktishaf in good stead if they were ever allowed or otherwise able to take them. The ship was truly huge, one of the larger Atlesian warships of its' time and boasting a total surface area that equated roughly to a small town and whilst its' hull was battered and weathered it was, as Athena had noted in remarkable condition; the were a litany of wounds carved into its' exterior, each casting aspersions as to how the ship had been ripped from the air and significant damage to its' lower reaches which had also resulted in the loss of its' massive aft nacelles yet the overall structure and integrity of the ships' form remained intact. A cordon of barbed-wire tipped fences had been set up to prevent the unwelcome from venturing within more than a quarter mile of the wrecked hulk in any direction and this perimeter possessed a single entrance in the form of a wide, archway large enough for trucks to pas through, flanked by a pair of armed soldiers and it was this entrance that Professor Altan had instructed the first year students to gather in front of.

"Now that everyone is present and assembled" the Combat Instructors' voice, booming and authoritative as always barked out almost the moment Team MARZ joined the huddle of bodies; allowing Astra just enough time to pick out Wolfram in the small crowd and offer a small, nervous wave of acknowledgement which Athena-Jade had half a mind to tease them for but found herself stopped by the baleful, loathing gaze of Diabla Fuego falling on her from where the Mantle-born student stood, some distance away from her team-mates and making no effort to interact with anyone.

"What the hell is her problem" the ivory haired and powerfully built Faunus hissed through clenched teeth.

"Her own problem, not yours" Zirconia answered as though it were the most obvious thing in the world, with any further discussion being cut off by Professor Altan speaking again; addressing Teams MARZ, WULF, LEMN, NUGT and the other first years as a whole.

"Welcome to the annual head to head training event, a tradition that I personally modified from Haven Academies' way of doing things" Arslan declared, chest puffing out in obvious pride at the academy she had been taught at "As I stated some weeks ago, this activity is usually held closer to the end of the academic year where it serves as a chance to see how much you have learned by taking the lessons of the initiation and turning them on their head; rather than working together you will be seeking to defeat one another. This year, due to unforeseen and unfortunate circumstances we will be conducting the event early, however this is an opportunity to teach; yes Greenback?"

"An opportunity to teach what?" Laser asked, frowning with obvious concern and hand still raised "'cos I don't wanna question your wisdom too much but it sounds like this is a lesson in fighting other Hunters"

"Your concern is noted and a sign of moral character" Arslan nodded, defiance in her expression almost daring anyone present to question her assessment of the slum-raised Vaccuan "However it is more broadly speaking a lesson in how to conduct oneself in a battle with serious, real world consequences when the opponent is not a Creature of Grimm….Hunters do not have a monopoly on arms, skill at combat or the use of Aura and Semblances. There are also, thankfully rare as they may be, instances where one might have to face a criminal who was once a Hunter but has since abandoned their oaths to protect the Kingdoms-"

"Well shit" someone in the crowd mouthed out, the sentiment being echoed.

"Indeed" Arslan allowed herself a small grin as her feral yellow eyes roamed across her students before she quickly refocused herself "Now, no more distractions. Onto the matter at hand; as you can all no doubt see there is an airship behind me-"

"Atlesian Eisenbauch-Falke variant heavy cruiser; manufactured in the Lower Eisenstadt Zweite topside dockyards" the interruption came, unexpectedly from Diabla who glared and shuffled uncomfortably as she found all eyes on her, as though she had not entirely intended to recite the information she had given aloud.

"I don't know the specifics in such great detail" Arslan said simply "The point is this; the interior of this vessel has been cleared of any Grimm which means that your only opponents will be each other. The test will involve two teams entering the vessel at a time and enacting a pre-planned scenario, with the attacking team taking on the role of Hunters whilst the defenders will play the part of saboteurs, criminals or terrorists in a hostage situation-"

"What the fuck?" Wolfram Ironside's voice was filled with open disgust at such a notion.

"Enough! Ironside you will have to learn that there is more to the life of a Hunter than simply rampaging through the Creatures of Grimm, you will need a variety of skills in order to save lives and that includes the ability to think like your enemy! Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes professor" Wolfram ground out through clenched teeth, stormy grey eyes furious; though the anger faded away somewhat as Astra gave him a reassuring thumbs up to show their silent support.

"Now, the specifics of the mission are as follows" Arslan's voice became even more commanding "There are three objectives overall, the mock hostages, a bomb and an extraction point. The hostages, in this case denoted by markers rather than living assistants are located in one of the ships' cargo holds and the aim of the defending team, playing the part of criminals is to prevent the rescue of the hostages as well as planting the bomb in the area where they believe it will be the most effective, prime and detonate it whilst also ensuring their own safety; in this regard they will have the advantage as they know where the bomb is whilst the attacking team does not. For the attacking team the objective is to free the hostages from the cargo hold and take them to the extraction point, a beacon planted on the upper hull of the airship, here the attacking team has the advantage in that they are not strictly required to prevent the bomb from detonating….However if it should detonate before the hostages are saved this will naturally reflect on your results. Does everyone understand?" There were a few moments of silence as several dozen teens reflected on the information that they had just been given and took it on board, suddenly appreciating just how serious their duties as Hunters could be in a way that for many of them even their first training mission had not quite demonstrated. After the silence had lingered for several moments Arslan clearly felt that her point had been made and gestured to the soldiers flanking her, the pair quickly plating a pair of devices akin to small flagpoles into the ground, allowing an impressively large hard-light screen to flicker into life between.

"Naturally the event is being monitored, both for my own ability to assess you performance and for the further education of your fellow students" the Combat Instructor paused, almost for effect with a thoughtful look upon her face before announcing "The first two teams will have twenty minutes to plan, with the attacking team having a further allowance in order for them to move into position….the first teams to undertake the exercise are as follows; in the defending position and playing the part of hostage takers are….Team WULF!" there was a murmur amongst the crowd, with several students glancing worriedly between Wolfram and Professor Altan as though they expected another outburst, although ultimately despite collectively wearing sour expressions at the idea Team WULF nodded in silence and prepared to move out.

"And in the attacking position, playing the part of Hunters on a rescue mission…." there was a moment where Astra knew, with every fibre of his being what Arslan's next words would be yet still hoped, desperately that they were wrong, that every thought they had entertained about this entire exercise being conducted to teach Team MARZ in particular a lesson had been nonsense; however the Deer Faunus was quickly left cursing their own arrogance, hubris and lucky guesses in short order.

"Team MARZ"


"I don't like this, not one fucking bit" every syllable was bitten out with scathing venom as Wolfram Ironside glared up at the massive form of the airship whose shadow Team WULF now stood in, Ursinia and Laser nodding in agreement with his opinion whilst Diabla stood close by yet clearly separate with her arms folded across her chest and an expression that none of her team-mates, for that was what they were even in such a strained and dysfunctional condition cared to try and interpret upon her scarred face.

"Likewise….leaves a rotten taste in mouth playing the villain, it don't sit right with me at all" Ursinia murmured, the leather of the gauntlet covering her right hand and forearm creaking as her fingers twitched and drummed at empty air at her side whilst her chitinous and segmented tail arced and curled behind her head, the tip of its' stinger gently nudging her hat forwards so that its' brim covered her face whilst the emblem adorning it gleamed in the sunlight.

"Y'know, after living in the Overspill I always thought that blowing up an Atlas warship would feel at least a little bit cathartic….turns out I was wrong" Laser managed to maintain the illusion of unbothered joking for a moment longer before a sound of disgruntled annoyance escaped him; the exercise required somebody to play the villain and the explosive that Team WULF would be planting was, upon closer inspection just as fake as the hostages that they would be preventing the rescue of yet still the entire situation rankled at his sensibilities, inscrutable to those raised with the luxuries of safety and security as they might be. Brushing his spidery mass of jarringly yellow hair aside and lowering his curved visor with its' angular edges and opaque, neon green surface over his eyes the Vaccuan began to use various methods and settings to search the downed warship and compare its' layout to that of the, admittedly ramshackle and repurposed hulks that made up the shanty towns he hailed from; beside him Wolfram simply ran his hands through hair and considered his options before shooting a glare in Diabla's direction.

"Can I count on you today?

"My own grades depend on all of our success" she pointed out, which Wolfram took to mean that he could even if the scowl never left her face as she spoke. The last three weeks had been tense between Team WULF, with every conversation threatening to be the catalyst for some enormous argument and whilst Diabla had, at least in theory remained in the teams' dorm as Wolfram had refused to banish her from it no matter how angry he might be where his wayward team-mate actually slept most nights was a mystery that he no intention of tackling; the situation was also clearly difficult for Laser whose desire to try once again to make amends with his partner without appearing to be lacking in resolve was plain to see, a situation Wolfram privately lamented having no idea how to tackle.

Right now however there were other, more immediate and important matters to adress; the young warrior glanced up at the downed warship once more and allowed himself to take in just how vast the thing truly was, whilst almost wishing that what he could see of the sky above it would darken and fill with clouds as a bright and sunny day was simply unsuitable for a backdrop to what needed to be done.

"We're gonna have to split up" he intoned, trying his best to organise his thoughts in a way that might rival his opposite number, no matter how much he disliked the idea of plotting against Astra.

"Two objectives" Ursinia nodded "Fake bomb, fake hostages"

"So who takes what?" Laser asked, musing to himself for a moment "And where are we putting the bomb? Throwing it in with the hostages is way too risky….maybe right up on the evacuation point, catch 'em as they try to leave?"

"Varmint….remind me never to really get you angry" Ursinia drawled out, trying to find some thin sliver of humour in the situation whilst Wolfram strained and focused his mind to the point of a snarl of annoyance escaping him.

"No" he finally shook his head "You're right about not putting the bomb with the hostages….we've gotta survive the blast as well and I'm not sure how Professor Altan would react to us pulling a stunt like that. The top of the hull probably won't work either….Astra is smart, they'll think of something like that. The professor wants us to think like a criminal, so if a criminal wanted to do the most amount of damage to a warship like this where would the plant a bomb?"

"Most likely either the Dust generators in the main engine room, the command bridge of the ammunition deposits….of the three the first would be the safest bet were the ship still in the air as it lacks the multiple layers of protection afforded to the other two" all eyes turned to Diabla who had once again spoken up, tone gruff and fiery orange eyes looking anywhere but at her team as she braced herself for a deluge of questions which simply did not come; though in truth she could not quite bring herself to be thankful for that fact as it likely meant that her team-mates had truly given up all attachment to her completely.

"I can take the bomb to the main engine room" Laser offered

"No" Wolfram said again, shaking his head as something approaching a solid form emerged from the mists and fog of his cluttered thoughts "Diabla, take the bomb; plant it in the main engine room and then get out. You can handle that on your own"

"Understood" Diabla said simply, sensing no hidden insult in Wolfram's words, only a statement of belief in her abilities that in his mind was equal to fact.

"Okay" Laser chimed in, filled with sudden enthusiasm "Where you need to be is right where-"

"I know where the engines on an Atlas warship are" Diabla ground out irritably before stalking away from her partners' attempt at some kind of reconciliation before it could crack her resolve, quickly taking the pseudo demolition charge and marching towards the warship. Laser stared after her with a lost expression until Wolfram in a move that was likely more a case of single-mindedness than any rare bout of insight interrupted.

"Laser, Ursinia I know you two aren't partners but you work well together. Laser you've got plenty of tricks up your sleeve and Ursinia, you're a powerhouse….I want the two of you to set up where the hostages are in the cargo hold, Laser plant traps if you've got 'em; if I know Astra they'll have something cool planned so you need to stall whoever comes for the hostages for as long as possible"

"And where're you gonna be partner?" Ursinia asked

"Like I said, Astra plans….they're really good at it" Wolfram noted, pausing as he saw his team-mates expressions and realised that he was getting close to gushing about the Deer Faunus even as the situation between them remained awkward and undefined.

"I'm getting up on the roof" he said simply, clearing his throat and hoping that the sudden heat in his cheeks was not too visible "I think they'll send someone to take the extraction point early on, if they get to the hostages there's a chance that you'll basically be caught in the middle, so I'm gonna make sure that doesn't happen by dealing with whoever comes"

"Makes sense" Laser mused "I don't like us splitting up like this….bad things happen to people who wander through wrecks on their own, but it makes sense" Wolfram and Ursinia shared a look, neither partner entirely sure of what to make of the blonde teens' sudden superstition.

"So we're in agreement then?" Ursinia asked, stinger of her tail rattling faintly in apprehension "Shall we tell Professor Altan we're set up?"

"Yeah" Wolfram nodded, forcing his feeling aside and focusing solely on the task before him "Let's go bomb an airship".


"So….any ideas how we're gonna do this?" it was Regalia's voice that broke Astra out of their funk.

Team MARZ had been ushered beyond the boundary of high chain-link fences which kept any wandering travellers from straying to close to the downed warship in which Breaktide Academy conducted its' yearly training exercises alongside Team WULF though the shock and disbelief that the two teams shared had prevented any words from passing between them. Whilst Wolfram had led his team towards their destination, shooting one last meaningful look in Astra's direction Astra had allowed themselves and thus their team as a whole to be ushered by one of the soldiers acting as security into a small building elsewhere along the perimeter of the site.

If Astra had been paying more attention to their immediate surroundings they might have noted that the building was some sort of office or control room, though footage of any happenings in and around the airship itself had been hidden from views as the many screens and monitors had been disabled; instead Team MARZ had been brought here and sat at small a table in the centre of the unfeasibly small space where they were surrounded by countless logbooks and other paperwork in need of filing in one of the many nearby cabinets along with locked weapons and ammunition stores in case of emergency and much more readily available medical and communications equipment. The surroundings held no mystery or intrigue to any of Team MARZ, all of whom were accustomed to the sight of such things due to their various upbringings to some degree or another and as such Astra had found their mind wandering away from the task they had been set and instead towards the fact that they would be competing against Wolfram, Wolfram whom things were still uncertain with after their first attempt at a date and whose competitive streak rivalled their own.

In truth Regalia's interruption was almost welcome as it prevented the Deer Faunus's thoughts from spiralling into the depressing.

"I….I'm working on it" they managed to breathe out, popping their collar before allowing their hands to drift up to the point where antler met flesh and massage gently before fiddling idly with the tips of their dyed red Mohawk yet none of these familiar tics and rituals brought any sense of comfort and Astra's voice held none of the swaggering bravado they usually tried to conduct themselves with and instead the uncertainties and insecurities that lay beneath were laid bare for their friends to see.

"Hey….I trust you, we all do. This is what you do best" it was Athena-Jade's voice that caused Athena to look up from where they were sat and see the Bear Faunus looking down at them from their admittedly unimpressive height with her blue eyes glistening with determination and a smile that dimpled her cheeks plastered across her face as she carefully applied a band-aid decorated with a cartoonish design across the bridge of her nose, one of her own often teased pre-battle rituals. The words were enough to light a fire in Astra's belly and bring some of the usual light and life back to the Deer Faunus's sea green eyes, less for what was said and more for the fact that it was Athena, who had once doubted them so harshly who had said it.

Yet still their worries would not relent.

"Yeah….but it's Wolfram" Astra admitted "And I don't just 'cos me and him….y'know….look, he's good, all of Team WULF are but he knows me, I think he might be able to guess at least some of whatever I plan"

"Then we need a plan that's outside of your usual approach" Zirconia noted in a rasping murmur, what little of her face could be seen between her ebony locks and cloak like garment forming a mask of concentration "Or perhaps we could plan around his plans"

"Heh, I mean, if you wanted to do something really unexpected and go in all guns blazing, or sneak through the ships' exhausts I'm right there with you" Regalia offered a weak smile "But AJ's right, you can do this….we can all do this. Wolfram's not so bad"

"Okay, let me think" Astra massaged the sides of their head again mind racing as they formulated the merest ghosts of ideas, only to discard them moments later, with new ideas being formed seconds after that which the leader of Team MARZ gave more consideration to, ultimately disregarding them upon noting that they were too obvious and that their opponents would be able to counter them, yet still using elements of them as the basis for their own counter-measures.

"I don't want to rush you Astra, but our time is limited" Zirconia's voice was softer than even its' usual barely audible and cultured tones yet that did not stop Regalia from shooting her an annoyed look, however before any words could be exchanged between them Astra let out a slow, shaky breath.

"Okay, whatever Wolfram's plan is he still needs someone to plant that bomb….AJ, how well do you know Atlas ships?"

"Reasonably well" the Bear Faunus answered "My Dad didn't let on his personal warship when he was with the Specialists but I've been on a few over the years-"

"Okay, good enough" Astra nodded "I want you to try and figure out where he'd plant the bomb for maximum damage and then go and take out whoever he sent to do it; I would have asked Regalia to go with you but we might need her Semblance somewhere else. Your Semblance is versatile, you've got this-"

"Alone?" Zirconia demanded, concern for partner showing through the mask of calm aloofness that no longer convinced any of her friends as the Grasshopper Faunus recalled Professor Altan's statements about this exercise not being governed by tournament rules or any standards of fair conduct at all.

"It's okay" Athena-Jade reassured her with a gentle pat on the upper arm from one of the smaller girls' larger, sharp-nailed hands.

"The rest of us are gonna go for the hostages all at once"

"All guns blazing" Regalia repeated with an excited smile.

"Are you sure that's wise?" Zirconia asked, not wanting to openly undermine her team leader yet still feeling compelled to question their reasoning.

"I think so" Astra answered, conceding that there were at least some doubts "I think Wolfram will expect us to split up more and try and do something complicated….As good of a leader as he is I think he'll keep as many of his team near the cargo hold where the hostages are as possible. If we go running straight at 'em then we have the element of surprise just because he won't expect us trying to use his own brute force tactics against him, and besides he's only got one Faunus on his team-"

"Yeah but Laser's visor can make up for that" Regalia pointed out

"True, but with the time and resources we've got I think this is gonna have to be what we go with….one person goes for the bombs, the rest of us hit hard and fast, get the hostages and get out"

"Okay" Athena made a show of stretching and flexing her sizeable muscles and bouncing on the balls of her feet "Are we ready?"

"Unless anyone has doubts?" Astra arched an eyebrow, expecting Zirconia to voice her concerns again yet the quietest and most reserved member of the team instead simply turned to her partner.

"Good luck"

"You too Hops" Athena-Jade flashed a toothy smile in Astra's direction "Hey Astra, Regalia; take care of my partner for me….she's cooler than both of you"

"Dweeb" Regalia snorted, taking no offence whilst none was received in turn at her joking comment. Seeing that the four of them were ready Astra rose to their feet and rolled their neck until the joint gave a satisfying pop whilst trying to force some of the confidence they projected outwards to remain within the for just a moment longer as they, unknowingly and unintentionally mirrored Wolfram's inflection and delivery with their next words.

"Okay Team MARZ….let's go raid an airship"


The cargo hold had been pitch black when Laser and Ursinia had arrived though fortunately such things were little limitation to either the keen eyes of a Faunus or the specialised visor that Laser wore, a device which made scurrying through the perilous mazes of the Vaccuan Overspill a less terrifying prospect.

A slight surprise had come when the pair had seen exactly what the objective markers that would denote their hostages were, neither student had said so out loud but had been expecting something resembling the kind of dummy used in crash-testing vehicles or used by older students who had begun medical training courses however they had instead been confronted with roughly two dozen life sized cardboard cut-outs, black silhouettes with no discerning features and overall humanoid appearances which featured a small transponder with a rhythmically flashing green light to indicate that the faux-hostage was still deemed to be alive for the sake of the exercise whilst each cut-out was in turn mounted on a small, circular robot of some description which featured a plethora of scuttling limbs and responded to simple voice commands, earning the things the nickname 'Bug-Roombas' which Laser had given them. From there a further surprise had come with the realisation that the cargo hold they had been tasked with defending was not in fact a single, open room and was instead capable of being partitioned into several smaller areas through the use of a series of sliding blast doors; Laser noted that any similar blast doors found within the ships of the Vaccuan Overspill had long since been taken and likely used as part of the shanty towns' meagre defences, however their presence within the vessel made sense considering the amount of Dust and potentially volatile mixtures of the mineral that had once been stored aboard it.

Ursinia and Laser, as was often noted by their peers were something of an odd pair whose fast friendship despite their apparent lack of any real common ground was as impressive as it was entertaining, yet despite this the two of them had come to an understanding regarding their strategy relatively quickly and with very little in the way of discussion required.

The hostages, such as they were had been moved into a smaller area of the hold which had been hastily closed off, Ursinia's initial attempts to simply move the blast doors through sheer, brute force alone had been ineffective however Laser, with his seemingly infinite supply of tools and tricks and managed to discern that despite the lack of lighting in the area and its' outwardly derelict state there was still enough power running through the warship to operate the doors; this had been done to prevent any potential losses as, even in their assumed roles as the villains of the scenario the pair needed to secure their cargo and the idea of using one of their number as leverage against any of Team MARZ who came for them once had been broached precisely once before both Laser and Ursinia had agreed that it was beyond what they were willing to consider. With the faceless facsimiles of people locked away the next step had been to form a defensible position, something which Laser had taken charge of through a series of logical deductions regarding which direction the rescue mission would most likely arrive from and the implementation of yet more of his endless supply of tricks, both as countermeasures in of themselves and as ways to use what remained of the ship itself to his advantage.

To Ursinia it was fascinating and terrifying in equal measure and she watched him work with rapt attention.

"Darlin'….I don't mean to pry but perhaps you're just a little too good at playing the bad egg" the Scorpion Faunus drawled, hoping that the observation came across as merely playful rather than insulting or somehow insensitive "We had everything in apple pie order even before you started causing gas leaks on purpose….maybe pull in your horns"

"It's fine, it's fine….I've got a spare respirator if you need one" Laser murmured absently, not looking up from where he had removed several of the panels from the nearest wall and was currently elbow deep in wires and cables which he was hurriedly connecting to a scroll which Ursinia noted with some concern was not the Academy issued device which he had taken the time and effort to dismantle so that he could apply a translucent and acid green casing to, simply so that it would match the stock of his weapon.

"And what about Team MARZ" Ursinia placed her hands on her hips and looked down sternly "Varmint I wanna pass the little test of Professor Altan's as much as you do but there's things I just won't abide, maybe I am just a naive country girl but I'm not gonna use poison gas, mission be damned….those are our friends"

"I know, I know" Laser's nasal tone took on a strained edge as he noted how clearly disturbed his friend was and the wiry and skulking teen halted his efforts to rewire part of the ships' innards for a moment and turned to face Ursinia and give her his full attention.

"Look, being back in a ship like this….the Overspill is nasty place, Vaccuo is a nasty place, especially when you're from the Overspill, 'cos nobody ever wants you in the city walls. I fight dirty okay, I fight to win because there's no rematches where I come from and this place is similar enough to home that some old habits are coming back….But believe me when I say I'm not going to poison our friends"

"Okay, I believe-"

"I'm gonna set 'em on fire"

"Varmint what in tarnation is wrong with you?" Ursinia demanded in utter, abject horror at the lengths her supposed friend was willing to go; the Scorpion Faunus would knew and understood that the Vaccuan had some less respectable tendencies but would never have expected such open ruthlessness from one of her team-mates, silently hoping that even Diabla in her single-minded drive and hostility would have wavered at this.

"It's only meant to shock 'em and buy us a few seconds….Put the element of surprise back on our side since the rules for this basically mean they're supposed to get the drop on us" the words fell from Laser's mouth at a machine-gun pace as he attempted to justify himself

"I set the trip wires up and I've got smoke bombs, but if I set them off too early it gives our whole game plan away so I cracked open some of the pipes to fill the corridor in front of us with mist, that'll limit their visibility a little and then I can add the smoke bombs to it when Team MARZ get here; the problem is that the mist is flammable….But don't worry I've got the extractor vents working, so basically whoever comes looking for us is gonna have a really uncomfortable few seconds even with their Aura up"

"You really are something nasty….lower than a snakes' belly" Ursinia sighed, shaking her head in disdain but taking a few moments to contemplate exactly what it was that she was now party to and finding it, with Laser's explanation to be more palatable than she had first assumed, though it was still an approach she would never choose for herself.

"But I can set with this" she continued, a thought occurring to her as she did so "But if you've already got that working what're you doing now?"

"Trying to get into the cameras" Laser answered nonchalantly as though it were the most obvious thing in the world "Whatever cameras Professor Altan is using to monitor this are on their own circuit, the ship must have had its' own internal security at some point and I'm trying to reroute the feeds from whatever control room they went to before back to my scroll and actually get some….there we go"

"What is it?" Ursinia's rural tone was suddenly filled with apprehension as her hand jerked unconsciously towards the Adventurer, which she realised would once again have to be kept in its' golden bladed great-sword form she had found herself in yet another situation where the use of grenades could best be described as unwise.

"Managed to get an image from one of-" Laser's words trailed off and they leapt away from where they were working, Permadeath appearing in his hands in its' machine-gun form "The image was piss-poor but we've incoming, multiple targets in the corridors ahead, we've got less than a minute"

"Well then, let's get a wiggle on" Ursinia unsheathed her sword slowly and quietly, her words lowering to match the muffled sound; silence reigned for several seconds which each felt as though they stretched out and lasted an age until finally the sound of muffled, cautious footsteps, each clearly made with a deliberate effort to reduce its' noise as much as possible reached the two of them, culminating in a much heavier, clumsier scuffling.

"Damn it, what the hell did I just fall-" the voice of Astra Mars announced the arrival of the Deer Faunus and their team-mates, filling with indignation as they added "Is that a fucking trip-wire? Damn it, that's gotta be from Laser"

"Then it would be reasonable to assume that this mist was also his idea" Zirconia Shadowmoon surmised, echoes of her rasping voice carrying from somewhere around a corner and out of view. Ursinia turned to Laser upon hearing the Grasshopper Faunus just in time to watch him give her a thumbs up before pressing a button on a small detonator like device he held in one of his hands, the Scorpion Faunus turned her focus back to where the sounds of Team MARZ's approach were coming from and witnessed the hazy mist issuing from several ruptured pipes being bolstered by a thick, black smoke which began directly ahead of Laser and herself at the entrance of the cargo hold that they were defending and spread through the corridors until it reached the incoming attackers, leaving them blind and coughing.

Yet still they came.

"Here we go" Laser chuckled, his voice barely audible above the sound of thundering footsteps that were now much louder and much more urgent, echoing against the metallic floor as their attackers came rushing at them through the smog yet Ursinia still heard something in his tone, a callous calmness that made her thankful for the sleepy village she hailed from and that she had never set foot in whatever nightmare had raised and produced her team-mate. A moment later the merest suggestion of shapes could be seen in the darkness, outlines of bodies rushing ever close and without Hesitation Laser raised Permadeath and fired.

Promptly setting the air of fire as a storm of Fire Dust bullets ignited the mist he had filled the corridors with.

"Holy shit!" Astra's voice was filled with shock and panic despite the extractors already working to suck the smoke and flames away from the corridor, yet before the inferno or chemically made darkness could subside the Deer Faunus gave their position away as they deployed Buckshot Ares in its' shield form, Laser's eyes shining with chaotic glee beneath his visor as the rosy-tinted hard-light barrier that Astra could employ flickered into existence and served only as a beacon to draw the Vaccuan teens' fire.

Precisely as Astra had expected.

"Ah crap" Laser gasped as the harpoon of Apex Scavenger ripped through the darkness and embedded itself in his open jacket, seeing what would happen Ursinia came rushing towards him in order to seize the cable before it could be retracted yet Laser already knew that it was too late and instead simply shifted Permadeath into its' katana form with one of his customary, if entirely unnecessary flourishes before the inevitable happened and he was unceremoniously dragged into the consequences of his own actions.

To Ursinia it looked like something from a horror film or the kind of scary story often told around campfires.

"Laser?" she called out, even less willing to simply fire a grenade now; one moment her friend had been stood before her and the next her had been snatched into the darkness where all that could be heard was an indistinct scuffling, punctuated by the unmistakable sound of flesh against flesh and grunts of pain which finally, after only a few seconds culminated in Laser being hurled back from the darkness and striking the blast door that the hostages had been hidden behind with an almighty clang before dropping to the floor in clear pain.

"Okay" Astra's voice was loud, clear and authoritative as they strode into view with Regalia and Zirconia flanking them, their emergence from the smoke being admittedly impressive and dramatic in its' own way "The trip-wire I would have let slide, that's a bit of harmless fun….the shit you just pulled, I'm breaking your nose for that"

"And ruin my charm and modelling career?" Laser sneered as he sprung to his feet and retrieved his sword, the biting and sarcastic comment clearly had some effect on Astra as the Deer Faunus took a deep breath and hopefully, at least in the mind of Ursinia Red, remembered that this was still a training exercise.

"So I'm guessing we need to get through that door you're blocking" Astra noted "Which means we can shoot back without risking the hostages….why didn't you just cut the power cables to the door once you'd moved them, we wouldn't be able to get to them?"

"Because….I honestly didn't think of that" Laser admitted, mouth hanging open at the simplicity of the solution that had managed to utterly evade him.

"Okay, enough jaw wobbling" Ursinia chuckled, allowing herself to relax a little even as she brandished the Adventurer "We're here now, we know what we've all gotta do….let's dance"

"Come and get my two left feet in your jaw" Astra grinned savagely before turning to their team-mates and nodding.

With that the training exercise started in earnest.


Learning that there was still power flowing through the ravaged hulk of the Atlesian vessel had been a surprise for Athena-Jade and not a particularly pleasant one, she had grimaced upon realising that the use of Mould Breaker in its' ranged form had been almost entirely ruled out by this development as before she had only had to worry about any possible structural weaknesses within the old and wasted ship whereas now any discharge of her laser cannon ran the risk of striking some live internal component that had not been properly maintained and causing an explosive chain reaction.

"I forgot how big these things really are" the Bear Faunus murmured to herself, voice strained slightly by exertion as she made her way onward through the vast and labyrinthine depths of the ruined warship; the explanation she had given to her friends previously had been truthful and she had, over the course of her childhood spent a small amount of time aboard the airships manufactured for her native Kingdoms' sizeable military owing to her relation to members of said militaries upper echelons though such instances were far less numerous than Athena feared Astra may have assumed. She was the only one of her siblings who had never ventured upon her fathers' ship as Gangrel Slate had once been the head of the Specialist division and such visits would have been considered catastrophic breaches of protocol and security, yet her brother Arctus had been assigned to the ship as part of a mandated punishment during his own time as a student whilst Coral had been brought aboard the Gespenst when she was rescued from the circumstances that had led to her adoption; in his time as a teacher at Atlas Academy however the elder Bear Faunus had been far more accommodating and Athena had managed to venture aboard a handful of military vessels, though none even remotely as massive as the heavy cruiser whose corridors she currently prowled. Her cousin, Specialist Corvid Xiao Long did not need her own airship as part of her day to day operations and though her Aunt Winter, General and Captain of the flagship had allowed her aboard on a handful of occasions she had been closely monitored to prevent her from wandering off and causing any trouble.

Though she had still managed to acquire a working knowledge of the general layout common to all such ships and was currently putting it to good use.

It was slow going however and taxing as Athena-Jade, in a bout of something she would be sure to describe as inspired genius when she discussed the training exercise with her team-mates later on, thought of a way to slightly speed up her task whilst at the same time masking the sound of her approach as, due to spending her childhood living in Schnee Manor which was entirely too large for the family that resided in it she understood well how far sound could travel through a largely empty space; rather than cross almost half the length of the quarter mile long vessel and make her way through several decks without the use of any of its' many elevators on foot she had simply created a series of glyphs and leapt from one to the next, forming a floating pathway that she could travel almost silently along. After an amount of time that she was too focused on her task to properly measure and with her head pounding and a deep weariness setting into her limbs after the prolonged use of her Semblance Athena found her first, definite proof that Astra's logic had been sound and that Wolfram had indeed sent one of more members of Team WULF into the bowels of warship that had once been its' main engine room in their role as the enemy within the scenario that Professor Altan had crafted.

The lights had been turned on.

"Seriously?" the snowy haired teen whispered upon catching sight of the flickering glow in the distance and making her way towards it as hastily as she dared; as she did so she considered that it was entirely possible that the lights had in fact been left running by whoever had cleared the warship of Grimm and ensured that it was largely safe enough to be used for the training exercise though she quickly shook her head and dismissed the idea, that the entire ship was in the midst of a blackout with even its' emergency lightning disabled despite it having power yet the exact place she expected to find an opponent was illuminated was a coincidence would be too inconceivable a thing. Within a few short moments she reached an entrance to the massive main engine room and hopped down from the last of her glyphs so that she could press herself as flush against the wall as possible and peer inwards without being seen. Pale, sapphire blue eyes adjusted quickly to the change in light and she saw that the cause of the warships' fate had likely been some massive and cascading internal failure as the entirety of the once likely immaculate space ahead of her was a twisted and blackened ruin, power was clearly being provided by some unseen backup generators elsewhere within the ship as the ruination of the engine room was almost total, walls had been ripped away in explosions and ravaged and scattered remains of machinery and other equipment lay strewn across the blackened floor which on closer inspection Athena saw boasted several holes where it had buckled under the punishment and collapsed, seemingly through several decks if the yawning darkness were any indication.

However Athena's gaze was quickly drawn towards a lone figure knelt in the centre of the engine room.

The air forcefully left her lungs and she found herself swallowing a thick lump that had suddenly appeared in her throat as she recognised the unmistakable form of Diabla Fuego ahead of her and realised that the belligerent young woman whose anger she was still no closer to understanding was in the middle of trying to prime whatever faux-explosive Team WULF had been given.

Diabla's back was turned so she had not seen and hopefully not heard Athena's approach, a fact aided by the steady stream of coarse invective that escaped the Mantle-born girls' lips as she struggled with a clunky and cumbersome device roughly twice the size of her own head which, from what Athena could gather through context clues was operated with an analogue system that Diabla was not entirely familiar with and that this confusion was likely why the lights had been turned on and was also the only thing that had prevented her from completing one of Team WULF's already. Athena swallowed again and fought the urge to curse under her own breath as she realised that would have to fight Diabla again, only this time the conflict would be conducted without Zirconia by her side, without the oversight of a Professor and with none of the usual rules, stipulations or limits placed upon students in effect and the Bear Faunus was honest enough, at least within the privacy of her own thoughts to admit that the prospect scared her.

"Okay….what would Astra do?" she whispered to herself, her words no louder than a hushed breath and going unheard by Diabla who was simply too far away and distracted; the answer to her hypothetical question was one that she felt did her no favours as, no matter how outwardly gung-ho and cavalier her team leader might seem Athena understood well that Astra's own insecurities and concerns were a key factor in the hastily made and often excellently executed plans which she simply did not know how to replicate. From there she considered what Regalia might do and found that whilst she and the Racoon Faunus often shared a preference for the direct approach to solving problems it was unlikely to be applicable here, not only was fighting Diabla a worrying prospect in its' own right but the fact she still had the key to Team WULF's victory in her hands was a serious problem. Finally Athena thought of her own partner.

"Something really, really cool" she answered her own question with a toothy grin, entirely convinced that Zirconia would likely have already solved the problem with a dramatic entrance and no more than a handful of words, yet from there the Bear Faunus began to develop the basis of an idea, memories of Zirconia's penchant for leaping into the fray from above, often times landing on the shaft of Athena's hammer and springing forwards with a devastating assault coalescing and reshaping themselves into something usable.

Athena was in motion before she even realised it.

Using another of her glyphs she rocketed through the entrance of the engine room at a little above ground level, surging towards where Diabla was still knelt until she was mere feet away from colliding with her back and then using another, angled glyph to fire herself upwards and diagonally to the right. The sensation of movement behind her caused Diabla to leap to her feet with a frenzied, spinning backhanded strike that struck nothing but air yet still allowed her to brace herself and drop into a ready stance as Peace and Quiet unfurled around her fists and forearms in their armoured gauntlet mode. Athena-Jade used a third glyph to halt her flight and rebound herself downwards, drawing and unfurling Mould Breaker in its' hammer form with the Eco-Dust powered thruster mounted in its' head powering up with an ominous green glow which served as Diabla's only warning before she was struck in the chest; the head of Athena's weapon smashed into the taller girls' armoured torso and lifted her from her feet, sending her sailing through the air and crashing into an already ruined wall with a painful sounding and metallic impact yet Athena wasted no time on surveying the situation and instead simply used her momentum to kick the bomb that her opponent had been handling with all of her might. The device was launched into the air and Athena, frantic and almost euphoric with adrenaline and the thought of success used a serious of glyphs to bounce and guide the path of bomb until in finally fell into one of the holes in the ground, a series of echoing crashes giving an idea of just how far it had travelled.

Any sense of victory was stolen by a deafening boom and metallic shrapnel flying out in all directions as Diabla used her own Semblance, named Overachiever to smash her way out of the debris she had been buried under with a single, explosive punch.

"Rich kid" the words left her mouth in a low, guttural snarl made all the more fierce by the way her chest and shoulders heaved with each ragged breath and the fiery, volcanic light that had shone from her balled fists like twin suns and travelled in fiery veins along her arms and neck to shine from her eyes, making her fury something terrifying to behold.

"It's over, the bomb's gone, it isn't primed and you don't have a remote detonator. I saw you trying to set it up. You've lost, let this go" Athena tried desperately to force some sense of control or authority into her voice as she twirled her hammer and adjusted her sense, bracing herself as she knew that in reality her chances of Diabla heeding her advice were non-existent.

"I can get the bomb back as soon as I'm done with you" Diabla's fury abated just enough to give her broad, distinctly working class accent an amused, mocking edge as though the idea of being beaten so easily was genuinely funny to her.

"If you beat me" Athena once again tried to convey a sense of surety.

"Oh I've been waiting for a chance to beat you properly" Diabla answered, the anger and vitriol returning to her voice which rose with each word until it was a wavering, barely controlled roar "The rich kid who has handed everything and thinks she's too good for Atlas? I'm gonna break you apart! I'll show 'em, I'll show 'em what I'm capable of!"

A moment later Diabla was hurtling towards Athena like meteor.


The battle within the cargo hold of the heavily damaged heavy cruiser was fast paced, fought with exactly the kind of relentless and unwavering need for victory that Professor Altan had insisted on from her students and reached a new level of intensity and ferocity with almost every blow that was exchanged.

If Team MARZ had ever believed that having one more of their own number present than Team WULF did would grant them a clear and direct path to victory then they had been quickly disabused of that notion.

Regalia had found herself fighting with Ursinia, the tall and impossibly strong farm-raised Scorpion Faunus proving herself more than capable of standing against the strength, resilience and at times brutal tenacity that the Racoon Faunus had learned by necessity in the wastelands of Menagerie; though it was far from being due to a lack of effort on the former nomads' part, as was proven when the adventurer and Apex Scavenger clashed against one another with a ringing impact that sent tremors through the hands of both combatants.

"We should spar more often honey" Ursinia grunted out, tail trembling with the strain her entire body was under "It's rare I get to rough-house with someone who isn't a namby-pamby, it's almost like being back on the farm"

"Uh huh" Regalia ground out through clenched teeth, having no spare energy to give to the task of witty banter in the form of quotes from movies with cult followings as she shifted her weight and grip on her weapon, hooking one of the spikes of her pickaxe-tipped quarterstaff behind the blade of her opponents' golden sword and slowly, with immense effort that would no doubt leave her sore for days began to force Ursinia's weapon downwards until its' blade was facing the floor at which point Regalia swiftly lashed out, wincing to herself and offering the briefest of apologetic glances as she drove the flat edge of her weapons' harpoon tip, which largely resembled the head of a jack-hammer directly into Ursinia's cheek and set the taller and broader girl staggering sideways and clutching her cheek.

"I just want you to know, it's nothing personal" Regalia intoned quietly into Ursinia's ear, genuinely uncomfortable at the position she had been forced into by the lesson even as she pressed the advantage and all but leapt onto the Scorpion Faunus's back, using a booted foot to trap Ursinia's tail against the metal floor whilst lowering Apex Scavenger over her head and pulling it back against her neck to force her into submission.

"Darlin', do not touch my tail" Ursinia choked out as she struggled against the painful, suffocating hold that Regalia had her in, vision beginning to blur, head pounding and with her knees on the verge of buckling until she managed to seize Regalia's forearms and, using all of her fading strength throw the Racoon Faunus overhead to send her crashing face-first into a wall with a reverberating crash that she struggled to recover from, though eventually she managed to drag herself to her feet, using Apex Scavenger as a crutch

"You could have taken me out" she noted, an obvious question going unsaid

"I wasn't raised to kick people while they're down" Ursinia adjusted her hat which had been knocked askew in the scuffle and was partially obscuring her vision as she and the Racoon Faunus began to circle one another again, in doing so however she missed the tiny flicker of motion that saw her opponents' weapon transform into its' pistol gripped and short barrelled shotgun form.

"I was raised in the wasteland" she said simply before firing.

Laser Greenback was self aware and honest enough about his own abilities and limitations to appreciate that even lasting as long as he had in a no holds barred fight with Astra Mars and Zirconia Shadowmoon must surely have counted as some kind of minor miracle. Good fortune had been rare in his life and when presented with it he had been taught to seize it with both hands and not let go, by any means necessary.

Which was why he was currently employing manoeuvrers just as dirty and unfitting for a Hunter as the earlier ploy with the flammable gas had been.

"Sorry, not sorry….Okay kinda sorry" he gave a wide and manic grin as he flung himself under a wide and pirouetting swing of Zirconia's weapon which left his hair standing on end due to the contrails of Lightning crackling in its' wake and, once low to the ground kicked out a joint on one the Grasshopper Faunus's cybernetic legs that he supposed was analogous to an ankle; at which point he activated the climbing gear hidden in the soles of his footwear, with the result being a screeching and grinding of rent metal as sharp claw-like implements bit into Atlesian steel, sending Zirconia toppling.

"You will be sorry" Zirconia's tone was more menacing than he could remember hearing it, though that might not have been the best metric to judge by given how reserved she tended to be however there was no time to contemplate such things as the downed and hobbled Faunus shifted the rotating cylinders of her weapon, prompting its' synthetic and computerised voice to ring out.

'Hard-Light! Gravity!'

"Oh crap!" Laser released his climbing gear and rolled aside just in time to narrowly avoid a spear of condensed, translucent teal and semi-solid light that tore through the space he had occupied only a moment before. Returning to his feet he readied Permadeath in its' katana form once again and prepared to rush at Zirconia and deliver a particularly unsporting blow as she struggled to stand on a leg that was visibly damaged, before he could do so however his visor gave him a proximity warning which sent him weaving aside with a panicked yelp just in time to avoid having the strength of his Aura tested by Astra's blades as Buckshot Ares passed by him with a woosh of displaced air.

"Trust me, you're lucky this isn't Athena hitting you" Astra declared with a smile that radiated all the Deer Faunus's usual cocky affectations before springing forwards and continuing their assault, giving Laser no time or space to defend or prepare himself as he landed a crescent kick and spinning hook kick to the side of his opponents' skull in quick succession before delivering a front kick to Laser's chest that sent him skidding backwards, gasping and sucking in painful lungfuls of air.

"Are you okay?" Astra asked Zirconia quietly, receiving an answer in the form of a nod as she adjusted her weight in an effort to stop the feedback from her damaged limb from becoming to unpleasant; thus satisfied the leader of Team MARZ turned his attention back to Laser and, in a decidedly uncharitable assessment of the boys' opportunistic and calculating mindset decided to make an offer.

"Hand over the hostages or I turn your torso into a pair of crocs" they sneered, not quite recognising the sudden venom in their own voice as they deployed and aimed their mini-guns directly at Laser, only to see that he had used Astra's minute period of distraction where he had checked on Astra in order to fish out another of his many tricks from his jackets' countless hidden pockets. Brow furrowing Astra decided that they could not risk whatever Laser was about to try and opened fire only to be caught by surprise when the Vaccuan hurled a sizeable chunk of Magnetic and Gravity Dust crystal fixed to a detonator into the path of the gunfire, causing the bullets to be sucked and dragged off course and into a swirling vortex of distorted air which lasted only a few moments before dissipating and leaving the spent ammunition clattering to the ground.

By which time Laser was on the attack.

Astra shifted Buckshot Ares into shield form and was instantly forced onto the defensive as Laser closed the distance and swung his katana at their neck with a series of attacks whose overblown flourishes were clearly intended to disguise just how proficient a swordsman the often underestimated member of Team WULF truly was. Were it not for the hard-light emitters fitted to their shields granting them better defensive capabilities and Astra's own skill they would have been cut to shreds in mere moments and were instead forced into a frantic and exhausting stalemate were every successful block or parry was paid for with a painful kick to the knee or attempted to gouge one of their eyes; which Astra was forced to hope that Laser would have at least relented on if it had been successful.

'Gravity, gravity' the sound of Sunriser Cain announcing a new Dust selection failed to adequate warning and before he could properly dodge Zirconia aimed low with her weapon in its' long-barrelled pistol form and shot the underhanded sneak in the leg with a round that was effectively supercharged, it was clear retaliation and Laser was thrown into a graceless somersault before Astra used the flat of one their shields and slapped across the cargo hold, landing in a crumpled heap.

He quickly realised that he needed a plan.

Ursinia and Regalia were still locked in combat, the Scorpion Faunus unable to overpower the nomad as easily as first hoped and Laser felt positively reaffirmed in his belief that his ability to last this long against his current opponents was a result of luck rather than skill, however as he rose to his feet and stood on legs that wobbled beneath him slightly an idea occurred to him; it was a risk but still provided better chances of success than simply being beaten to a pulp and relied on something other than his abilities as a fighter, something that he could do better than Astra and certainly better than Zirconia.

His ability to talk people into doing what he wanted

"It's a shame that all this isn't gonna help you anyway" he flashed a wide smile, privately glad for his visor as its' presence aided his poker face "You didn't see the drone I sent out? That's how I saw you"

"What difference does it make?" Zirconia challenged as she and Astra readied themselves for another onslaught.

"Pretty simple, it was carrying my other scroll; the one I used to hack into the ship and lock the doors….Unless you think you can blow upon a blast door before we can blow open the rest of the ship" Laser waited with baited breath, hoping that one of them would fall for the ruse and that Regalia would remain too distracted to use her Semblance and possibly prove that he was lying and that the scroll that had been used to access the ships' systems was on his person.

"Do you believe him?" Zirconia asked, the slightest hint of worry slipping into her tone and though it remained unseen beneath her faded and trailing scarf a frown of uncertainty marred her features.

"It seems like something he'd do" Astra noted, trying to guess if the Vaccuan was lying and if not, where exactly he had sent his drone; an answer that came to him remarkably quickly "Zirconia, Regalia cover me! He's sent his drone towards our extraction point, he's trying to force us to waste time running backwards and forwards"

Privately Laser once again found himself wishing that he'd thought of the suggestion being made.

Things became a frenetic burst of movement once again as Zirconia and Regalia both turned and fired their weapons on the member of Team WULF that the other was engaged with, forcing the pair onto the defensive for just long enough for Astra to turn and sprint out of the cargo hold at full speed whilst Zirconia created a temporary barrier with a swing of her weapon, boosted with Ice and Hard-Light Dust only for it to be sundered a moment later by Ursinia driving her shoulder into it with all the force she could muster.

"Now y'all should know better and just nail Laser to the counter whenever he starts telling tall tales" the Scorpion Faunus laughed.

"I'll admit, I honestly didn't know if I could pull that lie off" the fast talking blonde admitted as he fell into place beside his team-mate. Realising that they and Astra along with them had been suckered Zirconia and Regalia shared a concerned glance.

"This tips the odds out of our favour" Zirconia noted pointedly "And we don't have the time to fall back and regroup"

"Guess you'll just have to rely on good ol' fashioned hard work then" Ursinia chuckled, adjusting her stance and clutching her sword in both hands. Regalia for her part glanced from Ursinia to Laser, both of whom she considered to be good friends and had no desire to be fighting, the situation demanded it however and as she shifted Apex Scavenger into its' melee form once more she brandished the weapon at her friends, promising herself that she would buy them food to make up for this whole ordeal whilst outwardly exuding her usual warm, yet rugged charisma, purple eyes twinkling as she spoke.

"I'm not trapped in here with you….you're trapped in here with me" and with that the two pairs of Hunters, none of whom had their partner besides them charged once again, treating the situation with a degree of realism and seriousness that would please Arslan Altan.


For Wolfram Ironside knowing that his team-mates were likely fighting within the bowels of the ruined warship he stood atop the dusty and corroded hull of and yet being unable to abandon his post to join them was hard, in hindsight he found himself wondering if he should not have perhaps delegated the task of covering the extraction point to Ursinia instead.

Whist he did not consider himself to be vain in the least the young man could appreciate that he most likely looked suitably dramatic and imposing in that moment, a lone warrior standing atop a ruined behemoth of Atlesian steel, wolf-tail of smoky blue-grey hair blowing in the wind along with the twin-tails of his sleeveless Mistrali styled jacket whilst his weapons, armour and spiked studs adorning the collar fastened over his gorget all gleamed in the sunlight and almost certainly cut an imposing enough figure to feature in any of the tales of heroism told to impressionable children yet in that moment Wolfram could not bring himself to care.

In the extended solitude and a stillness that was neither calm not peaceful yet offered no distractions Wolfram had allowed his mind to wander inwards and into the realm of often loathed and rarely practised self reflection as he allowed his distaste at the role he had been forced into and the idea behind this training mission in general to lead him in the direction of notions he usually refused to entertain; wondering what his late father would think if he could see his only son now, lurking at the periphery of a battle leading uncomfortably quickly to more general and just as impossible to answer questions about what could have been, would Wolfram have still been the same person if he had not had his father taken from him so young, would they see eye to eye, would his father be proud of the man he had become.

A low growl of annoyance escaped Wolfram and his stormy grey eyes narrowed as he forced such unproductive ideas to the back of his mind.

"Come on, how long does it take to blow some shit up?" he grumbled, booted foot tapping against corroded metal in irritable impatience whilst he twirled the axe component of Berserker in one hand, growing steadily more frustrated with every moment that passed until finally; after an amount of time he was unwilling to consider a noise close by reached his ears and sent him springing into eager, near-frenzied action as he realised that it was coming from one a nearby access hatch which led down into the interior of the ship, the creaking groan of stiff and seized mechanisms being forced into motion announcing that someone was coming and that one way or another Wolfram would soon be free to abandon the insulting charade that had been forced onto him.

It was also a chance to properly test the modification he had made to his weapon.

Without hesitation he combined his sword and shield into their oversized hand-cannon form, only this time the transformation was slightly different as a series of new components hidden within the shield unfurled in a manner similar to something he had seen implemented on Ranger Altan's weapon; forming a bracer and series of support struts which enclosed his already bandaged left forearm.

And then he fired.

Metal was blown apart and twisted debris sent scattering in all directions including high into the air yet Wolfram felt none of the familiar, bone-deep and throbbing ache that had previously come with the weapons' booming reports and so, with a savage smile opened fire again on the same spot in an effort to ensure that whoever had sought to approach him was sent scurrying and fleeing for safety. A moment later he realised that he had not been as successful as he had initially thought, he could indeed faintly hear the sound of footsteps below even through the echoing blast of his own attack but those footsteps were rushing in entirely in the wrong direction and were in fact heading straight towards him.

And then he was caught entirely by surprise.

A barrage of Dust fuelled rounds ripped upwards through the hull of the warship, causing Wolfram's Aura to ripple around his legs and waist as he was struck before a series of small explosions managed to loosed the corroded metal panel that he was standing on enough to force him to leap aside before it could collapse and send him plummeting downwards yet the moment he did so a streak of fiery red leapt up out of the whole, forearm mounted weapons reconfiguring themselves into curved forward shields with blades extended out beyond the reach of the figures fists as they landed and braced themselves.

Only for the two team leaders to come to a halt as the recognised one another.

"Damn it" Astra almost whined "I don't wanna do this man"

"No...me neither" Wolfram admitted, yet even as he spoke he shifted his weapons back to their axe and shield form in preparation for what now seemed unavoidable.

"So Diabla has bomb" Astra noted, not wanting to voice their sudden concerns about what that might mean for Athena and instead focusing on things closer to their immediate control "I was hoping that she might be the one up here"

"You think you'd have an easier time beating her?" Wolfram asked, raising a single eyebrow in question to which Astra replied with a pouting expression that held far less of its usual playfulness.

"I said I don't want to do this….not that I can't" the Deer Faunus set their jaw and shoulder, clearly trying to convince themselves of the truth of their words "You haven't beaten me yet"

"Yet….But that confidence looks good on you" Wolfram flashed what he hoped was a winning, possibly flirtatious smile; wanting to convey that his friendship and whatever else he might come to have with the individual opposite him meant far more than the outcome of this training exercise yet lacking the words to do so.

"So" Astra tried to force their own swirling emotions down and focus, yet was far from as successful as they had hoped "No hard feelings right?"

"None" Wolfram assured them, punctuating the promise with a gesture that in his mind was worth more and setting his weapon down on the ground, indicating that he had no plan to use Berserker to fight and at the same time free himself of its' cumbersome weight. Seeing the display for what it was Astra responded in kind and collapsed Buckshot Ares into their highly compact dormant form.

"And hey" Wolfram continued, smile widening even as his heart hammered in the chest with the brazenness of his next words "I'll make this up to you afterwards, another try at a date?"

"You're still sure you're gonna win, you think I'm a pushover?" Astra shifted their stance, every muscle coiled in preparation for a burst of explosive power which Wolfram saw and mirrored.

"Not at all" he answered earnestly "I think this is gonna be fun and you're gonna make me work for it….but I am gonna win Astra"

With that the two team leaders lunged at each other.

Author's Notes:

And so begins the mid-season finale of Vol.02
I hope it's as much of a spectacle to read as it feels like it's gonna be because I have honestly been looking forward to writing this chapter and the next two for a while.
I mentioned last chapter that there might be a break in my posting, I'm changing my weekly writing schedule for the mid-season finale in order to hopefully give myself a buffer to plan further ahead so there's only one week of delay where I take a break, because frankly I need one.

But anyway, let's summarise shall we?:
I really like these kind of openings, I don't know why or how to put it into words.
Astra is showing more and more of that heavy-handed and slightly mean streak in their approach….although, getting intel on your opponents prior to matches is a Vytal Tournament tradition.
In my head the reveal of the downed warship felt like something from Star Wars.
Of all the people to question the morality in what is basically an exercise in hunting Hunters, did you think it would be Laser?
Arslan is practical as ever with her reasoning.
Diabla knowing the ship model makes sense, she was planning to attend Atlas and was a cadet/ward of the military.
I told you that people who read/watch MHA would recognise the training exercise, it's pretty heavily based on the one from the first day of class in season one, where the students were working in pairs.
Of course it's Team MARZ vs Team WULF, surely you knew that's how this was gonna go.
I like the idea that none of Team WULF, as bad-ass as they all are like the idea of even pretending to be the villain of the story.
Yay for more Diabla related drama, although Laser was right last chapter; there is no way Wolfram is gonna have her kicked off the team, he'd see that as a failure on his part.
Laser is one of those people who feels like a waking contradiction because they absolutely have some sort of moral code, but you can never quite figure out the particulars of it.
Astra and Wolfram are rubbing off on each other, except in Wolfram's case that's probably a more positive thing because he's actually starting to use his team-mates abilities to full effect rather than seeing them as basically background characters in his story.
When Team MARZ were planning I don't know why the idea of them doing it in the gatehouse of the factory I work in came from, but that's what the place is based on.
AJ's band-aids, I'd honestly forgot to mention that she does that so I wanted to put the mental image back in everyone's head.
AJ and Zirconia are gonna be the slowest, most infuriatingly oblivious burn and then I'm gonna throw plot twists at you all; you have been warned.
Astra and Wolfram trying to plan around each other was fun to write as well.
The target markers are a mix of the Vol.01 shadow people and that one scene from Home Alone.
"I'm gonna set 'em on fire"….Is quite possibly the most on brand and most unsettling thing that he could have said there.
Brief outlines on the cameras, Laser is just playing Alien Isolation now.
I know Team MARZ are the heroes of this story, but Astra's hard-light shields going online and Regalia using her harpoon gun to drag Laser in had a distinct "Darth Vader at the end of Rogue One" feel.
I actually realised as I was writing this that in FADE: Legacy AJ was the only Slate kid that was never on the Gespenst.
Aunt Winter absolutely does not let her nieces and nephews wander around her ship unsupervised.
Using her glyphs to go full Prince of Persia.
AJ is absolutely a little bit scared of Diabla, I feel like most of the First Years are to some extent; Wolfram is aggressive and cocky but he's at least someone you can socialise with and get to know, Diabla is just relentlessly angry.
AJ wondering what each of her team would do and admitting that they outclass her in certain regards is definitely progression for her character considering she outright expected a leadership position at the start of the story.
A nice early advantage for Athena, she got the bomb out of Diabla's hands….now the problem is Diabla herself.
"I'll show 'em what I'm capable of!" ah, so close to a tragic backstory reveal.
Yes, Regalia just quoted Captain America the Winter Soldier whilst putting a friend in a choke-hold.
Oh he's gonna pay for that stunt on Zirconia's legs….But at the same time, the trick with the bullet-catching Dust was great.
The lie Laser told serves the in universe purpose of getting one of Team MARZ to leave, thus putting the two teams in the cargo hold on a more even footing, in the meta however it serves the purpose of getting Astra to where I need them to be.
Of all of Regalia's movie quotes, that one might just be one of my favourites.
Ah, so Wolfram is actually capable of deep thoughts and introspection he just chooses not to….probably because he has some repressed issues to unpack.
I've been mentioning upgrades to Berserker since the first training mission and this is what he's done, he's made a support system so he can actually fire the weapon effectively without hurting himself….I'm sure there's no symbolism there lol.
I feel like it's important that the two of them admit out loud, to themselves as much as each other that they don't want to be doing this.
Oh all that cockiness from Wolfram, honey you're not handsome enough to get away with that….Astra likes you, but they've got their own issues and pride and insecurities are near the top of that list.

Thank you to SumoSnipe, Funlander and MajorBrony95 for their reviews on the last chapter.
Happy, unhappy, literally any emotion at all….Arslan will feed her students into the crucible for any reason.
Carmesi has a definite religious zeal and we'll get more into him and his deal next volume.
The Tyrian comparison is probably the closest one of the canon villains...although I wouldn't say that it's an especially accurate one.
You're pretty on the mark with the comment about the Hell-Hound.
You have no idea how cunning Zirconia can be….But I'm gonna enjoy showing you.
Don't worry, there's more feels to come.
Not a mistake as such, we'll get into Diabla's backstory very soon.
Merlot is dead in this timeline, his work was mentioned off-handedly in the Downward Spiral and Ozymandias Eldritch made another off-handed comment in FADE: Legacy revealing that he'd actually found him and killed him.

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