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The flight to Atlas wasn't exactly eventful, much to the relief of Geo and Mega. Too used to things going haywire whenever we travel, it's actually kinda nice, Geo thought, looking out the window at the vast snowy and mountainous terrain. He had spent the past few hours researching all he could about the world: the Grimm, the Dust, the Human and Faunus relations, etc. The stuff that Mega probably would've missed (he totally did).
And he was very glad he did, now fully aware what he signed himself up for. Huntsmen and Huntresses are insane. I can't believe that regular people here are just able to use abilities similar to BattleCards and Wave Changing. He shook his head before opening his Scroll and pulling up the notes app. 'Hey Mega,' he typed to his partner who had decided to inhabit the device following Ozpin's warning of people possibly being scared of the alien.
'Hey, kid, what's up?'
'Just bored, honestly. Bored and nervous,' Geo paused to think. 'I mean, we're pretty much forced to go through actual training. We're used to life and death, but we've always just winged it and came out on top from sheer luck.'
'Lighten up. Only way we're gonna get through all this is if we're confident. No time for doubt. We can worry about all that shit once we're in and on our way to getting home.' Geo could almost hear the gruff voice of his alien partner as he read the response. Closing the notes app, he took another peek out the window next to him. He was greeted with the sight of the floating island of Atlas.
The pictures did not do the city justice. It was closer to the architecture of his home, skyscrapers catching his eye immediately.
"We will be landing shortly. Please return to your seats," the intercom announced. "Welcome to Atlas."
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Atlas academy was huge. The massive central building towered over the rest of the nearby buildings. It also felt like it was the keystone holding the island together.
"This place is awesome!" an orange haired cat faunus shouted. She was dressed in a blue tank top with a light overcoat, a blue skirt and a pair of rollerskates. The girl looked absolutely starstruck by the view, "I can't wait to brag to all my friends from Mistral." The faunus quickly pulled her Scroll out to take some photos.
Geo's own Scroll buzzed, must be Mega.
'Don't just stand there, say hi!'
The brunette sighed, tucking the device back in his pocket. "Hey, you also a new student?" Geo asked, mentally kicking himself for the obvious question. The girl looked at him with a knowing smirk.
"Yeah, what gave it away?" she teased, spinning on her rollerskates to face him, her tail swayed, being used as a counter balance..
"Not sure, maybe the squeal over the view?" Geo joked back, extending his hand. "Geo, by the way."
"Neon," the brightly colored girl shook his hand. "Nice gauntlet you got there, can't wait to see what you're capable of."
Before he could respond, a woman's voice rang through the PA system, "All incoming students, please make your way to the auditorium. There are signs leading to it from the bullhead docks."
"Guess that's our sign to get a move on," Geo said, adjusting his backpack that Ozpin had given him.
"Probably a good idea," Neon agreed, "Though, I have an old friend that said he'd be here. Haven't seen him in ages. He should be here any moment…" she looked around before her eyes landed on something, or rather, someone. "Flynt! Hey, over here!"
The darker skinned boy, Flynt, smiled back. He wore an outfit that pretty much screamed jazz musician; the vest over a long white button down, the blue tie, shades, striped pants and a fedora to tie it all together. He walked over to them, pushing through the crowd heading towards the auditorium. "Hey, Neon!" he said, hugging the faunus girl. He turned towards Geo. "Sup, I'm Flynt-"
"He already knows that!"
"-Nice to meet you," he finished, ignoring Neon.
"I'm Geo, hope we've got an interesting few years ahead of us," Geo smiled, earning one back.
"Alright, let's go!" the excitable redhead shouted, leading the charge.
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The auditorium was packed with students, and Geo couldn't help but think that there was no way that everyone here would remain enrolled. It didn't seem feasible.
"Excuse us, but are these seats taken?" a darker skinned girl with blue eyes and a beret asked. She held a neutral, almost stern look that matched her very militaristic outfit. A very curious ginger girl in a short green dress was behind her, looking around with a wide smile.
"Ah, no, not at all. Feel free," Geo responded, scooching over to allow for more room for the two newcomers. The brunette nodded her thanks as she got the orange haired girl's attention and sat down. Geo offered his hand, "My name's Geo, by the way."
"Ciel Soleil," she introduced herself, shaking his hand as she did. "And this is Penny Polendina-"
"It is sensational to meet you, Geo! Please say hello to the AI in your device for me!"
"My wuh?" Geo was caught off guard. How did she know about Mega? "Uh, sure, why not?" he shrugged, not caring enough to question the eccentric girl.
"Forgive her, she's… sheltered," Ciel sighed.
"No worries," Geo replied before getting the attention of the two next to him. "These two are Ciel and Penny."
"Oh my gosh, I love your beret!" Neon complimented, "I'm Neon, and the trumpet wielding guy is Flynt."
"Hey," the only other man in the group said, offering a lazy salute. "And I'll have you know it's a perfectly serviceable weapon-" Flynt was cut off by a woman with white hair and a commanding presence walked onto the stage.
"Welcome to Atlas Academy. I am Specialist Winter Schnee," the woman spoke. "While you all have been invited to the academy on paper, that does not mean you all will be staying for long. Many of you will be leaving after tomorrow," the students in the crowd gasped, but did not heckle. "General Ironwood will brief you on the initiation."
Winter stepped back from the stage as the man, presumably General Ironwood, stepped forward. "As Specialist Schnee has explained, there will be an initiation," the curtains behind the General and Winter opened up, revealing a large screen. There was a rotating image of an abandoned town on the display.
"This is a live fire exercise," he continued, "The area you will be inserted into is an abandoned town on the fringe of Mantle. The scenario we are presenting you with is one you may face in future missions. The town was recently used by insurgents as a hideout, with an insider from the military planting terminals containing vital information in regards to the insurgents plans."
"Once on the ground, your goal is to locate any of these terminals," the screen behind him highlighted around 10 locations. "You will be supplied with thumb drives, which you will need to obtain the data from one of these terminals. Each terminal will only be able to be accessed once. Once the information is downloaded to your drive, make your way to the extraction point. I must stress, this is not a combat test," he paused to look around at the students. "Thank you. I wish you all the best of luck."
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"So, an extraction mission. Not exactly what I had in mind, but I guess it makes sense with the whole militaristic side of this place," Geo said to the recently formed group he found himself in.
"I'm sure it can't be that bad. The General didn't say anything about where we'd be deployed, so we might want to exchange Scroll numbers in case we can't choose where we get inserted," Flynt said, pulling out his Scroll as they walked towards the cafeteria.
"A sensational idea, Flynt!" Penny exclaimed, pulling her Scroll from… somewhere. Geo wasn't really sure where it came from.
"I agree, we may end up halfway across the town from each other. Our best chances are to clear a building together and extract as a group," Ciel commented.
"More friends, the better chance we have," Geo was taken aback as Penny suddenly appeared in front of him with the biggest smile on her face.
"We're friends?"
Geo wasn't sure how else to respond. He looked over to Ciel, who gave him a slightly worried expression. Looking back at the redhead in front of him, he gulped before saying, "Yeah, of course."
"SENSATIONAL! I have never had this many friends before! Thank you, Friend Geo!" Penny exclaimed, turning into the highest form of child-like innocence.
"You don't have to call me 'Friend Geo', Penny, just Geo is fine."
"Understood, Just Geo!" she replied, brimming with happiness.
"I… y'know what, sure, that works," he mumbled to himself. A hand fell on his shoulder as Neon gave him a pitying look.
"At least it won't be a boring four years, right?"
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"The students seem to be confident this year," Winter spoke as she approached the General in his office.
"Hm. They seem to be a promising bunch, especially with Penny and Ms. Soleil in the mix," Ironwood responded, looking over the mass of students walking around his campus.
"Sir, if I may," Winter started, continuing only when Ironwood motioned for her to continue, "Does it truly seem wise to let Penny out into this group? I understand having Soleil with her, however the addition of that Stelar boy that Ozpin sent us…" she trailed off, unsure how to continue.
"Given the circumstances, and the fact Ozpin's boy has already befriended, or at least has become acquainted with, both Penny and Ms. Soleil in this short time, I believe it's beneficial to the experiment," he explained.
Soleil wasn't a bad choice for Penny, but there is only so much the android could learn from a girl raised in the military. The introduction of someone who, from what Ozpin had explained, was beyond familiar with advanced technology like artificial lifeforms was like striking platinum in a Dust mine. It was the perfect opportunity.
"I see, I suppose it helps that the boy has that being- Omega-Xis, was it?- accompanying him. I do hope this ends as well as we intend," Winter spoke, now standing next to the General, joining him in overlooking the school.
"Let us hope they do not fail the initiation. I am slightly banking on Ciel being a smart and adaptive soldier in the making. Perhaps Ms. Katt and Mr. Coal will be good additions to Penny's experience."
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The following morning was a tad intense for Geo's liking, being woken up by a siren and given 45 minutes to gather by the bullhead docks.
Geo rolled himself out of bed, throwing on the provided uniform of white pants, black boots, and a white and gray overcoat. Thankfully, Mega's gauntlet form was able to manifest over the coat's sleeve. He paused to make sure his pendant was still in place on his neck.
"Looking snazzy, kid," Mega's gruff voice pulled Geo from his daze as he finished getting dressed. "This little test will be easy. Just gotta knock out any fools that get in our way."
Geo shook his head at his long time partner's antics. "General Ironwood said it wasn't a combat test. I doubt there will be much fighting, more scurrying for an unused terminal."
"Didn't realize I was talking to Captain Buzzkill here, but if that's what your gut says, I'll listen," Mega conceded before returning to his digital home inside the Scroll.
Geo opened the door to the hallway. He noticed that Flynt and Penny were already ready and waiting for the rest to show up.
"Salutations, Just Geo!" the redhead greeted with a smile and a salute. Geo gave her a lazy salute back with a "Morning". Flynt smirked at the interaction.
"Looks like we're just waiting on the other girls to show up. Still got," Flynt checked his watch, "15 ish minutes before we gotta be at the docks. Knowing Neon, she might be cutting it close-"
"What was that, my dear friend?" the brightly colored cat faunus said, all too sweetly. Flynt felt a cold sweat fall down his neck.
"N-nothing, Neon. Just saying how you're the best! Right, Geo?" the boy practically begged Geo for a save.
"Yeah, totally," Geo said, very convincingly.
"Traitor!" Flynt yelled as he was dragged off by Neon towards the docks, leaving Penny and Geo to wait for Ciel. They sat in a bit of an awkward silence until Penny decided to pipe up.
"How was your rest, Just Geo?" she asked, a slight nervous tone in her voice. Geo wasn't sure what to make of that so he just responded.
"It was alright. I also made sure to say hi to Mega for you," Geo pulled up his Scroll, showing the face of his partner.
"Sup. Heard you noticed me yesterday. I'm Mega," the alien introduced himself from the device. "Surprised you managed that, then again, you don't exactly seem like a normal person… You certainly don't feel like a normal person to me."
Penny visibly recoiled at that statement. "N-not at all! I am a perfectly normal human just like Geo! 100 percent combat ready, as well!" she practically shouted before calming down. Geo and Mega shared a look. "It is a pleasure to meet a fellow- I mean, an AI such as yourself!" Penny said, elated at the thought of just speaking to Mega. The little slip up didn't get missed by Geo, but he figured it wasn't a big enough deal to mention.
"I'm not exactly an AI, but it's close enough, so we'll roll with it. I'm sure we'll have more opportunities to talk," Mega's gruff voice spoke through the Scroll. "Keep the kid out of trouble and we'll be the best of friends."
"I will do my best Mr. Mega!" Penny smiled widely. Geo put his Scroll back into his pocket as he noticed Ciel walking over to them. He and Penny greeted her.
"Good morning to you as well," the beret wearing girl responded, her face as stern as ever. "I do believe we should make our way over to the docks. Being late isn't something I'd like to have on my record, let alone on the first day."
Geo didn't need to be told twice. Maybe she's not always this serious?
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It was a good thing Flynt had the idea of exchanging Scroll numbers, as Geo was now under heavy fire from a team of snipers and needed backup. The snipers were defending one of the buildings by the coordinates of a terminal. Geo at least had the brains to call his new friends and let them know he was pinned down by Site 7. The closest one to him was Ciel, who had the fun job of dodging sniper fire.
The building he had secured didn't have the terminal, but it did provide cover from his attackers. "I thought this wasn't a combat test!" he shouted out as Ciel made it through the door.
"I do not believe they understood that fact," she gritted out, having tanked a few shots on her Aura. "We need a way to secure a terminal. Issue is the locations they gave us aren't pin-point accurate. There are at least 3 buildings here that could have it."
"Considering these are computers we're trying to find, I might have an idea," Geo said, sliding his Visualizer on. He was greeted with a wild view of scrambled Wave Roads. Through the tangled mess, he did notice multiple roads leading to a building a block away. "I may have a lead!" he yelled to Ciel. "It's gotta be in the building on the corner. I can see the EM wave output coming from it."
"I'm trusting you on this one, Geo. I have no idea how you can see that," she reeled her head back as a sniper round flew through the window she was peeking out of. "But you'll have to explain to me after we get out of this mess. We need a way to distract those snipers if we want a chance to grab that data."
Geo thought for a minute before bringing his gauntlet up to his chest. "Mega, anyway you can create a nice disruption to cover us as we rush between buildings?"
"I think if I manifest and occasionally peek through windows, I can draw their attention. You'll have to book it once you hear gunfire."
"You're the best, Mega," Geo thanked his partner.
"You're damn right I am, kid," Mega said, manifesting soon after. "Time to stretch my legs," the alien ignored Geo pointing out he didn't have legs.
"Ciel, I got an idea. We've gotta get to the door closest to the next building over," he relayed Mega's idea over to her.
"Alright, we pretty much have one shot before they catch on," Geo steeled his nerves. "Let's hope it pays off."
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If you told Flynt that he'd be dealing with two cute, but very insane, redheads at the same time, he would've never had left home on that bullhead to Atlas.
If you had also told him that he'd be carried by the frailer looking redhead, he'd tell you to go fuck yourself.
"Just Geo is roughly one kilometer away! Please hang on, Friend Flynt!"
Neon was skating past them as they ran, laughing maniacally as they dodged oncoming rounds.
Seriously, fuck whoever decided this was an okay idea for a test.
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And that's a wrap. I tried my best to make this chapter somewhere along the lines of 2-3k words. Future chapters will hopefully fall at around 3-4k if I can push myself to do it.
Finals are coming up, but all my classes are dumb easy right now.
See ya guys.