As Ironwood observed the written report, he raised his head back up to face Pietro.
"And you're certain that all of this is accurate?" The General asked.
"Correct. The initial small scale prototype of Project Gjallarhorn was an absolute success. Based on those findings that you now see, I'm certain that we will be able to move on toward constructing the actual machine without any worries or doubts." Pietro claimed as he leaned back in his chair out of exhaustion and drowsiness.
"Good. Your efforts will not go unnoticed, Pietro." Ironwood stated with a grateful expression on his face.
"I'd advise that you get plenty of rest, because tomorrow is going to be a big day for all of us." Ironwood added as Pietro nodded before proceeding to turn and leave the room.
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Hovering right above the surface of the icy water, Evan looked down to see his ironclad reflection as he flew through the air.
"Wow! The water out here is crystal clear! Reminds me of the oceans back on Planet Fujo." Evan contemplated in his mind.
Raising his head up, the young Saiyan could begin to see a large landmass entering past the horizon. Situated in between two large cliff sides was a sizable city. Protruding out from the port of the city were multiple bridges that connected to a landing dock built above the water's surface, alongside a large military base constructed on top of a lone island close to the shoreline of the city itself. Next to the shore was a collection of what looked to be military barracks. Pressing the button on his helmet, Evan heard radio static fill the speakers installed into his headpiece.
"Hello, do you copy? This Evan Anderson reporting in from Atlas. I repeat do you copy?" Evan questioned aloud.
"We read you loud and clear. Please make your way toward the front of the military base. Cordovin and her men will be there to inform you of all relevant information including your obligations while you're stationed here in Argus." A male voice replied back from the speakers.
"Understood." Evan said as he released the button on his helmet.
Flying high into the air, Evan channeled his Ki and shot forth at amazing speeds, now easily able to close the distance and rapidly approach the land ahead.
As Evan brought himself down at the front gates, he noticed three figures awaiting him. The two on either end included two tall men wearing white and blue uniforms with a tall collar. With how their hats were positioned, along with the sun being directly overhead in the sky, Evan couldn't get a good look at their eyes or their hair color. On the other hand, the figure in the middle was a short older female with silver hair and brown eyes wearing a white and gray uniform.
"Hello there." Evan stated with a friendly smile.
As her neutral expression faded to a more irritated one, she raised an eyebrow toward the teen.
"Is that any way to properly introduce yourself to your commanding officer?" The woman questioned Evan, causing the Saiyan's jovial expression to change to a more bewildered one.
"She's got the attitude of a Saiyan Elite…Is this what I'm going to be dealing with for the foreseeable future? Maybe I'm just jumping to conclusions…" Evan thought to himself as he shook his head.
Pressing the button on the left side of the helmet, Evan pulled the headpiece off as he gave a firm salute to her.
"Evan Anderson, reporting for duty." Evan stated as he kept his salute going.
"Better." Caroline said with a nod.
"It's good to have you here. Argus has heard quite a bit about your exploits over in Atlas. I'm not at all surprised that an Atlesian student was capable of doing such things. I find the other Huntsmen Academies to be…lacking when it comes to properly instilling the right lessons into their pupils." The Specialist elaborated.
"I was just fighting to protect my home." Evan claimed.
"And such patriotism for your homeland is part of what separates Atlas from the rest of the kingdoms." Cordovin said with a proud smile as she approached the teen.
"Now, moving forward, you are to address me as either ma'am or sir. One of my subordinates will take your belongings to your living quarters." Cordovin continued as one of the male soldiers stepped forward and held out his arm.
Taking the cumbersome and large suitcase off his back, Evan gave the item to the tall man, who then proceeded to march off with it down the long bridge and toward the city itself.
"As for you, I want you to go out and scout the surrounding area for any Grimm. The areas you will assigned to explore will be on your scroll already." Cordovin stated with a calm demeanor.
"Wait…You want me to start right now?" Evan questioned.
"Is that a problem?" Cordovin inquired.
"No, it's just…I thought that-" Evan began to say.
"Well I think that the Skyward Savior shouldn't have any trouble with such a minute task. You were sent here to exterminate this new threat, and I won't put the city, or its residents, in any further peril so long as you are now present and capable." Caroline interjected as she stepped forward even closer, looking Evan dead in the eye.
"Don't expect things to be easy around here. The proud Atlas soldiers stationed here are the only ones for miles who are at the ready and able to defend against the forces of Grimm at a moment's notice. I run a tight ship, and I refuse to have anyone fall behind and potentially bring Argus to ruin, especially not after what happened to Beacon Academy. Do I make myself clear?" Cordovin continued with much vigor in her voice.
Composing himself, Evan gave a firm, "Yes, ma'am."
"Excellent. I wouldn't worry about the mission too much. I don't have you positioned out there for too long." Cordovin claimed.
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Flying through the air, Evan was exhausted. Searching through the various mountainsides for over eight hours straight, the teen had an irritated expression across his face, although you wouldn't be able to see it through his helmet.
None of the Grimm that he had encountered were of any difficulty. Primarily just Griffons, Nevermores, and the rare pack of Beowolves, Evan took them all down with ease. While the work itself wasn't hard, it just felt so tedious and lonely with the only things to keep him company were his own thoughts, the sounds of nature, and the roars of Grimm.
"I should've had Pietro install a music player into this thing if I knew that I was going to be doing nothing but this everyday." Evan thought to himself.
The surrounding environment that the Saiyan explored was filled with snow capped forests, hills, and mountains. At this point in the day, the sun was beginning to set into the horizon. Recently, Evan received a message on his scroll, informing him to return back to base and await tomorrow's missions.
"Missions…as in plural…I hope that it's not more of this…When Ironwood sent me here, I figured I'd be doing something a little more intense. So far, I don't see how they couldn't have sent some soldiers or airships out to go and do what I've done today. Makes me feel a little expendable…" Evan thought to himself as he flew back toward the city.
Leaving the wilderness, Evan noticed how the other side of Argus had a massive wall built from one cliff side to the other, preventing any Grimm from entering the city. As Evan landed down in the city streets, he proceeded to walk down a sloped road and watched as a small tram slowly continued on its way downhill. While the teen did so, he noticed numerous people looking at him in awe. Turning toward them, he gave them a little wave as he decide to continued walking.
Soon enough, a small boy with black hair and blue eyes rushed up to him, standing in his path. Stopping in front of the kid, Evan tilted his head down to look at the excitable child.
"A-Are y-you really the Skyward Savior?" The boy questioned hesitantly.
"Uhh…Yeah." Evan replied back with a slightly confused tone.
Instantly, the kid's eyes shined with even more happiness and excitement.
"Wow! I'm such a fan! My friend Billy told me that you fought a whole army's worth of Grimm back in Atlas. Is that really true?" The boy inquired further, causing Evan to relax.
"Yep. I took them all down with my own two hands." Evan said as he turned his right palm toward the sky and produced a small Ki blast in his hand, which caused the shadowy streets to be filled with light.
"Woooaaahhh…" The child added as he looked on in awe. Suddenly a young girl with red hair and green eyes ran up from the sidewalk to look at the glowing orb as well.
Dissipating the attack, Evan stepped back to look at both of them.
"See Abby, I told you that he could shoot lasers!" The boy exclaimed as he turned toward her.
Giving the boy a slight scowl, she continued looking at Evan in amazement.
"Is that your semblance?" The girl asked.
"Yep. Took me a long time to get strong enough to use it like this." Evan lied confidently.
"Awesome. When I grow up, I'm going to be just as strong as you!" The girl claimed.
"Nuh uh! I'm going to be the strongest!" The boy argued back.
"Fat chance! I'm older than you, so I'll always be stronger!" The girl pointed out.
"Only by two months!" The boy exclaimed.
"Doesn't change that I'm older." The girl proclaimed.
Stepping out into the street were two adults. One was a tall woman with black hair and green eyes wearing a blue dress. The other was a short man with brown hair and blue eyes wearing a white suit.
"Now now, you two. I'm sure that the soldier's had a long day." The woman said aloud.
"Indeed. Plus if we don't head home, we won't have time for dinner." The man stated.
As the mother walked along with the children onto the sidewalk and down the street, the father stayed behind and approached Evan.
"I wanted to thank you for deciding to come and help out our little town. We don't get many new faces around here, especially not one so bound in metal." The man continued with a kind expression.
"I just do what I can." Evan claimed.
Taking off the helmet, Evan continued to look at the man.
"Oh my! That's one nasty case of bed head!" The man exclaimed.
"Actually, this is how my hair normally is." Evan replied back.
"Is that so? Well…To each their own, I suppose." The man said aloud.
Turning his head back toward the street, he and Evan saw the mother bring the two children into a nearby brown house.
"Sorry to cut this short, but I really must go. I have to start preparing dinner. Thank you again! Keep up the good work! The man added as he waved Evan goodbye and walked down the street toward the house.
Walking down the road, Evan looked at the various houses, all of which were practically side by side with each other. Each home's roof was decorated with its own unique clump of snow.
One by one, the lamps that littered the sidewalk came to life as Evan continued on. Feeling the exhaustion beginning to creep further into his muscles, Evan carried on regardless. As the suburban area made way to a more open district, Evan spotted something that made his heart stop for a moment.
Ignoring the cries of pain his brain and body were making, he rushed into the courtyard. Soon, Evan approached and stared at a silver statue of none other than Pyrrha Nikos with the statue holding a silver version of her shield in its hands and a silver gun on its back.
Standing motionless, Evan let the winter breeze blow at his face, not wishing to let the moment pass.
Gazing at the statue, Evan felt his heart twist in his chest. Down near the base of the statue was plaque that read:
IN HONOR OF PYRRHA NIKOS, ONE OF MANY STUDENTS WHO FOUGHT VALIANTLY AT THE FALL OF BEACON
Looking on, Evan was reminded once again of his past failures.
"First it was Toma. I wasn't able to stop him from sacrificing himself in order to save my own skin. Then it was Penny. I wasn't strong enough, not where it counted at least, to get through the tournament, and so Penny saw me struggling and thought it would be better if she was the one to advance through into the finals. Then it was Pyrrha. If I had been more powerful, my body wouldn't have given out on me, and maybe I would have been able to save her." Evan contemplated to himself.
Struggling both physically and mentally to lift his head up and look into the eyes of the statue, Evan felt uneasy, despite knowing that the statue obviously wasn't alive.
"I'm really trying my best to follow in all of your footsteps. To be a better warrior, a better friend, and a better huntsman. Wherever you all are now, just know that I refuse to let what happened in Vale to ever happen again. No one should be forced to so quickly lose those they care about." Evan declared in his mind.
"I'll do whatever it takes in order to become someone truly deserving of praise…Someone who has actually earned the title of a hero. I know that I've done so much evil in the past, but I'll fight on in order to wipe those sins away. The people here are all counting on me to keep them safe. Sure, anyone in the military could have been sent to go on that mission earlier, but Ironwood and Cordovin entrusted me with that task." Evan continued on.
"I'm a Saiyan warrior, and it's going to take more than a couple of missions to keep me down! I'll push my body to its limits before I keel over and give up! I can do this!" Evan exclaimed in his mind as he raised a fist into the air with a determined look as the sun finally set into the horizon.
"Whatever it takes…" Evan declared to himself.
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Hello! Thank you as always for reading. I'm interested to hear your thoughts on the chapter and the story so far. The next chapter should be released sometime on the weekend of the fourth/ fifth of November. I have some important stuff coming up, so I apologize for the wait.
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