Standing on a frozen hill, the Ace Ops looked to the sky as the cold winds brushed against them.

"Where is he?" Harriet questioned as she squinted her eyes to try and find Evan.

Closing his eyes, Vine started to mediate.

"He's close." Vine added.

Almost on cue, in the distance, a red and blue blur appeared beyond the horizon. Flying fast in the sky, Evan quickly landed, creating a small crater and causing some snow to get briefly tossed up into the air.

Standing in his warm metal suit, Evan rolled his shoulders back and started to stretch his arms out.

"I owe you all the favors, Pietro." Evan thought to himself.

"Hey guys, sorry to keep you all waiting. I had to go and suit up before I left Atlas." Evan stated as he took off his helmet to reveal his golden, Super Saiyan hair.

"Dude, you look awesome!" Marrow exclaimed.

"Heh, thanks man! Pietro made it for me recently, and I thought that today would be a good opportunity to use it." Evan stated.

"On a similar note, why exactly did you bring us out here? The fact that you're all Super Saiyan along with the fact that you decided to bring the suit out doesn't evoke good things. Is there another huge horde of Grimm coming?" Harriet questioned.

"That can't be it, the only Grimm even nearby is a small pack of Beowolves…about a mile or two in that direction." Clover replied as he pointed northwest.

"Well today, I want you guys to do some field training. Me going Super Saiyan is more so just personal training. I'm trying to see how long I can maintain the form without doing anything physically taxing to a significant degree. Trying to push my current limits and all that…" Evan explained as he put the helmet back on.

"Which leaves you all wondering why I brought you out here. You see, I want you all to take on that Beowolf pack, using only your Ki training. Just your hands, feet, and Ki blasts will serve as your methods of destruction, no weapons or semblances for this fight…" Evan continued, causing the Ace Ops to step back in surprise and shock at what he had just said.

"You serious? I'm not sure we're on that level?" Marrow said aloud.

"I'd say we are more than prepared for this task." Vine added.

"What makes you so sure?" Clover asked as he turned toward him.

"We have been training for a few weeks at this point…Maybe we actually can do it." Harriet pointed out.

"Well if the kid is so confident in us, then let's not let him down!" Elm exclaimed.

"Thanks Elm…Oh, it seems like we've got company." Evan said as he saw the group of Grimm rush down a nearby hill and sprint toward them.

"Alright, now remember everything I taught you and give 'em hell!" Evan yelled out enthusiastically.

As the first Beowolf dashed forward and tried to slash at Marrow, the young soldier instinctively reached for his weapon, only to stop himself midway and had to leap back in shock to avoid the strike.

Collecting himself, Marrow pulled his arm back as his fist made contact with the Beowolf, causing the beast's head to come clean off.

"Holy shit! Did I just…" Marrow exclaimed as he looked at his hand, not believing at what he had just done.

Elm, surprised at what just happened, soon had a large grin on her face as she grabbed the nearest Beowolf and lifted it into the air with ease. Smashing it into the ground, she proceeded to spin the creature around like an Olympic hammer thrower, quickly tossing the remains of the beast down the hill and into the rest of the horde like a cannonball. Flying into the air, alongside Vine, the two fired out a couple of Ki blasts, wiping out a good chunk of the pack.

Speeding down the hill, Harriet jumped into the air and delivered a devastating kick to one of the Beowolves, killing it instantly. As two more Beowolves approached her, Clover and Marrow both shot out a Ki blast, eviscerating the twin beasts into nothing. As the last few monsters were destroyed and turned to dust the group looked to each other in excitement.

"Did you see what I did to that thing? My hands cut through its neck like it was paper!" Marrow shouted out.

"Yeah! But how about when I supplexed that Beowolf and chucked right back into the pack?"

"I'd say it would've been easier if you just started off the Ki blasts though." Harriet suggested.

"Sorry. I was just so caught up in the moment!" Elm said as she scratched the back of her head out of slight embarrassment.

Hearing the sound of clapping, the Ace Ops turned to Evan congratulating them.

"See, I knew you guys could do it." Evan stated.

"I guess so. Still, I never thought that we would reach your level so quickly." Clover replied back, which caused Evan to tilt his head to the side.

"You thought that…Oh, no…I'd say I'm quite a few heads and shoulders above you all currently. Taking out Grimm is pretty simple for me, but this is still a solid milestone for you all. You all have come far from where we first started, that's for certain. You're all getting used to using Ki in combat, and that's without using your weapons and semblances." Evan elaborated.

"Is that the next step in our training? Vine questioned.

"Nope. I got something special prepared, but it's going to require more practice with using Ki blasts before I can help properly teach it to you guys." Evan said aloud.

"I look forward to it, Evan. You planning on riding back with us, or are you just flying home?" Clover asked.

"Sure, I don't see why not." Evan replied.

/-/

As the Ace Ops waited in the training room, Harriet impatiently tapped her foot as she stared at Vine.

"Alright…this is it…Double…or…Nothing!" Harriet declared.

"I…think you have a problem." Marrow hesitantly added.

"The only problem I have is that this guy has gotten lucky for too long. No one can just guess stuff like that so many times in a row. He's going to slip up, and that day is today! So come on, what are today's lucky numbers?" Harriet questioned.

"Evan will be here in about three minutes." Vine stated.

And just like that, Evan arrived, without his armor on, almost three minutes on the dot. Her jaw to the floor, she frustratedly rushed up to Evan.

"Ok, this has gone on for too long! You two are in cahoots, I'm sure of it. I bet you're splitting the money and laughing about it behind my back! So where is it? Where are you keeping that communicator of yours?!" Harriet claimed as she examined Evan while walking around him.

"What are you talking about?" Evan inquired.

"Don't play dumb with me!" Harriet said as she pointed an accusatory finger at him.

"Since you've been arriving a couple of minutes late to most of our recent training sessions, I've been doing a wager with Vine regarding when you'll show up. But he gets it right every single time! That's why I think you're working with him." Harriet continued.

"I've told her that I sensed you…" Vine tried to say before Harriet stepped forward.

"And I told you that's ridiculous! You can't sense…Hey, wait! What are you doing?" Harriet questioned as Evan moved closer to Vine.

"Hold on, did you say that you can sense me…You're not pulling my leg? Like you can sense Ki?" Evan asked, as a look of astonishment covered his face.

"Yes. But can't you do so as well? I figured that was going to be one of the next techniques that you would teach us." Vine stated.

"No. I've never been able to do that. Sensing Ki is a pretty rare skill to have. No one in Frieza's army could even accomplish something like that. How long have you been able to do this?" Evan explained.

"About two weeks." Vine said aloud.

"So that's how you've been doing it. I can't believe that you're a dirty cheater. You've been playing me from the very start. Oh, you better fork over all of that lien I gave you or I swear." Harriet declared.

"I suppose the game is over. I was always planning on giving it back, once you decided to actually listen to me and learn how to do it yourself." Vine replied as he reached into his pocket and pulled out all of the Lien that Harriet had wagered and handed it to her.

"Do…Do you think that you could teach me how to do it?" Evan questioned.

"I can try and teach all of you, if you so desire." Vine replied.

"Would you look at that…The master has become the student. I should've brought my scroll to record this…" Elm said with a smile on her face as she and the other Ace Ops walked toward him.

"Now then, in order to sense Ki, you can't rely on just your eyes. Use all of your senses, your entire body, to feel the Ki of those around you. Try feeling Evan's Ki if you can, since he has the largest Ki out of all of us." Vine explained.

As they sat on the floor, the Ace Ops and Evan tensed up as they continued to concentrate. As Evan felt the slight vibrations in the ground, the air blowing against his skin, the muffled voices of soldiers in the background, the young Saiyan began to feel a large presence practically on top of him. Looking upward, he saw no one there, but Evan soon realized what it was.

"It's me. So this is my Ki…Interesting…What about the other Ace Ops, how is it in comparison to them?" Evan thought to himself.

Concentrating even further, he could begin to feel the Ki of the other Ace Ops around him, which were significantly smaller than his own. Beyond that, he couldn't sense much past the room itself. Everything felt…blurry past that point.

"Oh wow…Evan…Your Ki is massive…" Clover said.

"That's a bit of an understatement…" Elm added.

"That's probably just from me being in Super Saiyan right now. I can't really feel the Ki of the people outside the room. Vine, can you reach that far?" Evan responded back.

"Yes, and I can say for certain that all of our Ki has been increased much further beyond the average soldier." Vine stated.

"I mean I figured as much from when we took down those Grimm earlier, but that's good to hear regardless. I think this Ki sense stuff is working, I'm picking you all up, but it's kind of hard to see…It's like a radio signal coming in and out. I don't know how else to describe it." Marrow said.

"Same over here." Harriet added.

"I imagine it'll just take time to practice this new skill before you all can really use it to its full potential. Until then, I'd suggest we continue our training. You said that you wanted to continue practicing Ki blasts? Is that right, Evan?" Vine questioned.

"Yep. Let's get back on our feet and we'll get started." Evan declared.

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As General Ironwood sat in his office, he began to be lost in thought.

"With Ozpin's next host still a mystery and global communications down, I need to take initiative if I'm to protect the people of Remnant. Evan has certainly helped to raise morale and has provided comfort to both Atlas and its people. In addition, he's been working with the Ace Ops and Winter to get all of them up to his level, which will allow us to stop Grimm from amassing across the continent and threatening our borders. However, I fear that Salem's next move is imminent. I hope that Winter's intel on Mistral will shed some light on what exactly Salem is planning." Ironwood thought to himself as he took a sip of coffee from his cup.

"Regardless, if I'm to deal with this threat, I need those that I can trust with absolute certainty. People that know the truth behind everything: The Relics, the Maidens, Salem, all of it. Ozpin had his inner circle of allies…perhaps it's time to create my own as well. I should make sure to keep the number of people to a small tight-knit group. With his newfound strength, Evan should certainly be included. He's definitely someone who could be capable of destroying Salem, so he should be made aware of what's going on. By extension, the Ace Ops should be involved as well. Winter is currently the best candidate to take on the Maiden's powers, and since the Winter Maiden is tied to the Staff of Creation's vault, she needs to know the whole story as well. And with Pietro now back to work, I'll have to inform him as well if I'm to get the projects that I have in mind up and running." James contemplated.

"Once Winter returns, I'll make sure to inform them all about the real war that's being waged, and what they must do in order to help in the fight." Ironwood thought to himself as he pulled out another file. A file marked CONFIDENTIAL on its cover. After flipping it over, Ironwood looked at the name of the file:

Project Gjallarhorn

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Here's another chapter done! Next chapter should be up sometime next weekend. Leave a review if you like.

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