The door to the simulator hissed as Jaune exited the machine, a sigh escaping him.
He'd just finished his third run of the night, and while he knew he was doing better and better, this run hadn't been a new personal best, due to him stumbling into a pillar in the last section and falling over, something that cost him almost a minute to recover from.
He was mentally kicking himself for it but paused halfway as his eyes landed on a figure sitting outside of the simulator next to his. "Oh, hey Blake!"
The girl didn't jump in surprise like last time, which was an improvement! But also probably because she was sitting next to the simulator he'd been using and was expecting him to leave it at some point. That did raise the question, however… "So, what are you doing here?"
The girl met his eyes and Jaune got the feeling she was thinking about something before she blinked and glanced at the simulator she was sitting in front of. "I'm waiting for the simulator to reset. I think I've mostly worked through the issues I was having, but getting some more practice in can't hurt."
Jaune finished tapping at the screen of his simulator, setting the machine on its reset cycle, and landed on his butt next to Blake with a thud, letting his Aura take the brunt of the impact to spare his tailbone. "That's good news! I haven't seen you practising on the simulators since that day at the library so I thought you might have fixed the issue, and I'm glad to hear that I was right."
She smiled at that, nodding softly, and they fell into a comfortable silence for a little while, the sounds of their simulators resetting the only noise in the building during the evening hours.
After a time, however, Blake looked his way. "How are you faring with your issues with piloting?"
Jaune took the fact that she was initiating more conversation as a good thing, smiling at the quiet girl. "I am doing a little better, but it still feels so awkward. I think I'm missing something, cause I just can't wrap my head around it to make it feel as smooth as Ren made it look during the initiation."
Blake nodded, and he almost felt like she could relate. And maybe she could? She was having issues with her Aura Piloting as well, which was the whole reason she was here right now, but surely Beacon hadn't let two cheaters into their school in the same year, right?
… Right?
"Would you like some help?"
Jaune bursts out laughing at that, which seemed to shock Blake, a look of confusion on her face. He quieted himself down after a moment, shaking his head. "Sorry, sorry. It's just… I feel like I'm going to owe all of JSBYRR a million favours at this rate."
Blake cocked her head to the side, clearly thinking before she hummed. "Huh, everyone is helping you somehow, except me and Ren."
Jaune nodded at that, letting out a chuckle. "Yeah, and I'm super lucky they are. Oh, but also, Ren already gave me a huge amount of help on the first day, so he counts on that list as well."
Blake actually let out a small snort of laughter at that, which put a smile on his face. "Is it a Semblance thing? Does it make people want to help you?"
Jaune shook his head, his forehead creasing as he thought about that. "No, I actually haven't unlocked my Semblance yet. And man, that sounds like a really bad Semblance… Unless you were like, a spy or something. Y'know, Infiltrating a secret base and making all the guards help you do it, stuff like that."
Blake smirked at that, rolling her eyes. "Well… Potentially good-for-a-spy Semblance or not, would you like some advice?"
Jaune felt his entire body sag at that, and he sent a grateful look her way, his hands coming together in a prayer pose. "Yes, please. I would really appreciate it."
Blake nodded, humming. She was silent for a moment, seemingly thinking of how she could help him. Eventually, she spoke up. "Could you explain to me what the issue is that you're having, exactly? And what you've been doing with your Aura."
Jaune paused, thinking. It was hard to find the right words, but he wanted to make her helping him as easy as possible. "I guess… I'm pumping my Aura through the Ark, and using it to tell the limbs how to move. The problem is that it feels clunky and slow."
He sighed, his chin coming to rest on his hand as he remembered how Ren had moved during the initiation. "Ren's movements were smooth. Hell, I never thought a giant humanoid machine could look so graceful, but when I try it, it feels like I'm puppeting something with rusted joints."
Blake's forehead got wrinkled as it creased, and she was clearly thinking over his words. Eventually, she nodded. "I think that might be the issue, to be honest. Instead of instructing your Aura to move, like a puppet on strings, the better way to do it is to just… move it, like a limb. Hmm, it's hard to explain."
Jaune couldn't help but frown at that. "Isn't that what I'm doing? Moving my Aura to make the Ark move?"
Blake raised her hand and made a so-so gesture. "Kinda, but the distinction matters. The way you're doing it creates a level of separation between you and your Ark. The slowness you're feeling is likely because your Aura has to take in your instructions and then perform them, making the mech move. It's like lag on a CCT call."
Blake paused as the machine behind her let out a 'clunk' and the loud 'beep beep!' noise that signalled the end of the reset cycle, but stayed sitting down. Jaune nodded in gratitude as she continued her explanation instead of going right back to her training.
"The way I do it, and the way most people do it, I think, is to really immerse yourself in your Aura. You have to kind of mentally sync with your Ark, move it like you would your own body, without literally moving your own body. It can be tricky, but it makes everything more responsive, and smoother. Gives you better tactical feedback, too."
Standing up, she dusted off her pants and opened the door to her simulator, sending him a small smile. "Give it a try in your next go around the simulator, see if it feels any easier. You've been doing it the hard way so far, which is admirable, but this way is just better in every way once you can get it down pat."
Jaune nodded, sending Blake a smile as she ducked into her simulator, her hand coming to rest on the handle to close the door. "I'll give it a shot. Thank you, Blake, really. This means a lot to me. I'll owe you one for the advice, even if it doesn't work out straight away."
Blake just gave him a sharp nod at that. "I'll have to think of something for you to pay me back with, then."
Jaune couldn't help but appreciate the quick, albeit blunt, acceptance of him owing her, and smiled as she shut the door to her simulator, starting up her next run in the training program. He was left in relative silence for a few minutes as his simulator reset, and he thought about Blake's advice.
Could it really be that simple? Was he really making it that much harder on himself? He could believe it, to be honest. He had literally no prior training with Aura or Arks before coming to Beacon, so the fact that he had made any progress at all was miraculous. For him to have somehow stumbled onto the perfect way to use his Aura in an Ark without help would have just been ridiculous.
He grinned to himself as he eventually heard his simulator finish its reset cycle, and quickly hopped in, determined to do better this time. He'd put Blake's advice to good use, and then he'd absolutely smash his old time out of the water.
'That might be a bit dramatic, but they do always say you should shoot for the moon… Or maybe I shouldn't, seeing as something broke it already.'
The starting buzzer of the training course had gone off two minutes ago, but Jaune still hadn't moved yet.
Well, he had, but only because he had accidentally used the way he'd been trying to move before to move, instead of the way Blake suggested. She'd made it sound so easy, but it was hard to visualise, let alone perform.
Closing his eyes, he let all of his muscles relax as he focused on his Aura. He tried his best to not move it like he had before, but instead to just… move his body while immersed in his Aura.
It was hard, to keep the focus necessary to plunge himself into the process like he was, but he could also kinda feel it… Working. Whereas before, it felt like he was moving the Ark through a series of commands when he tried to lift his arm into the air…
The Ark shifted so smoothly, and with such feedback to Jaune's senses, that he jolted out of his focus, surprised at its ease. He glanced down at his arm and saw that it was still by his side as well, causing a grin to split his face.
He'd done it! Kind of! Now he just needed to make it something he could keep up at all times…
He knew that the 'completion time' of this run would be absolute trash, but he didn't care, spending what felt like the next hour of his time practising with Blake's way of moving his Aura.
And after that hour was complete, he reckoned he felt confident enough to give it a go on the course itself.
The simulated Ark trudged through the first hallway of the training course, the first few being a single, direct path up to the first obstacle of the course, the Maze.
And Jaune felt energised.
He could feel the footfalls of the Ark, feel as the shoulders sometimes bumped up against the walls if Jaune let himself sway too far in either direction while walking. Felt the grip the Ark's hands had around their sword and shield.
It was like Blake had said. The tactile feedback the new way he was using his Aura gave him was off the charts compared to the way he was doing it before. It genuinely felt like he was one with the Ark… Which ironically made it even easier to keep the process going, like a feedback loop.
It was revolutionary!
For him, at least. Blake had pretty much confirmed that this was how most people were taught how to pilot an Arc, which meant that she was likely wondering why he wasn't, which meant another hole in his cover as a regular, albeit underperforming, student at Beacon.
At this point, should he just come clean to his team? Weiss and Ren were already aware that he hadn't gotten into Beacon legitimately, and Blake already knew about his struggles with even the basics of Aura piloting, so she probably suspected it as well…
That was 50% of the team. 60% if you didn't count him. And maybe more if Yang had noticed his lack of combat skills and put it together, or if Ruby had realised he knew almost nothing about weapon maintenance in class together…
God, he was bad at secrets, wasn't he?
His thoughts were interrupted as his Ark faceplanted into a wall in front of him, the tactical feedback of his Aura shocking him as he made to clutch his nose from the dull sense of pain, even without it having been hurt in reality.
That was something to keep in mind. Pilots using the better way of piloting felt a modicum of pain from the tactile feedback when their Aura spread throughout the Ark took a hit. Shaking his head, he refocused, realizing that he had finished with the first hallway, and was up to the maze.
Luckily, it didn't change during each replay of the aura training course, and with the number of times he'd gone through it, he knew the maze better than the back of his hand. Positioning himself at the entrance, he faced the end and started running.
'Left. Right. Right. Left. Left. Right. Right. Right. Right. Left. Left. Left. Left. Right. Right. Right.'
The Ark's feet pounded against the simulated floor with even steps as he ran through the maze, clearing it quickly and exiting into the next section, a large open room with floating targets moving slowly around it.
This was the big test of the new system.
He hefted the Ark's sword and shield up, he kept himself moving at the same running speed as he'd gone through the maze with, rearing his arm back as he approached the first target. As he got near it, he swung, and a grin broke out over his face as the Ark skidded to a stop, the target shattering behind him.
"Yes! It works!"
Everything felt so clear this way. How had he ever tried to pilot using the other way? It was the difference between moving while sleep-deprived, and moving after a good night's sleep… Just completely incomparable.
He pumped the Ark's legs, getting back up to its running speed as his sword flashed out once, twice, three more times, the sound of shattering targets echoing behind him as he reached the end of the room and crossed through the doorway.
While unfamiliar with the new system of piloting, he'd been through this room enough to know what to expect. Darting to the side to dodge a pillar that shot out of the floor beneath his Ark's feet felt easier than ever, the pillar letting out a dull 'thud' as it hit the roof of the room, sounding almost disappointed as it missed him entirely.
Jaune just laughed, cackling the whole way through the room as he bobbed and weaved, dodged and ducked around pillars, making it to the other end of the room.
It was all so much easier! 'God, I don't just owe Blake one favour for this, I owe her like, twenty!'
Jaune stepped out of the simulator with a goofy ass grin on his face, even as the absolutely abysmal completion message flashed behind him.
"[Beacon Aura Pilot Training Subroutine V1.7.3.] has been finished. Time of Completion: 1 Hour, 12 Minutes, 23 Seconds. Completion Rank [E-] has been granted."
Blake, who was leaning on her simulator, a book in her hands, glanced at him as he turned the simulator off for the night. She noticed the smile on his face, and a small smirk grew on her own.
"I take it the new way worked well?"
Jaune ignored her words and ran up to her, wrapping his arms around her in a hug, causing her to let out a surprised gasp as he spun her in a circle, her feet completely off the floor. "That was ridiculously easier. Thank you so much, Blake."
Jaune let her go a moment later, not wanting to make her uncomfortable, placing her on the ground softly. "Seriously! It felt like I was seeing clearly for the first time. Like I'd been trying to run underwater before and was only now trying it on the surface. Blake, it was amazing!"
He noticed the amused smile on her face as he ranted, and for a moment he could have sworn that her cheeks were bright red, but shook his head. It was probably just a trick of the light, as it wasn't there when he blinked. "Right, I know I told you I owed you one, but this might just be the thing that saves my butt one day, so…"
Glancing down at the book in her hands, he reached into his pants pocket and pulled out his wallet, grabbing a few cards of Lien. Blake raised an eyebrow at him for that, and he could tell that she was about to refuse the money, but he interrupted her.
"Three or four books or something, whatever kind. I'll buy them for you."
The way her eyes widened at that, a shocked but interested look growing on her face, he knew that he had figured out the perfect way to pay her back for her help. Now it was just up to him to practice what she'd taught him and master it before their first mission, whenever that was.
He was a little surprised it hadn't already happened, but Grimm sightings were relatively rare, and older students had the priority for them, meaning that first years only got sent out for special assignments, or when there were too many for just the older students to take care of.
Whatever the case, the time without a mission had been a blessing, giving him the time to get his feet under him. He dreaded to think of how a mission would have gone if he'd been given one during his first few days…
Refocusing, he could tell that Blake already had a few ideas. She pushed off the Simulator and moved towards the door of the facility, motioning for him to follow. "Come with me, Tukson's store is usually still open this late in the evening, and I'm pretty sure he has the next books in… A few of the series I've been reading."
Jaune noticed how vague she was being about the series, but just nodded, smiling as she jogged after the girl, headed towards the bullheads.
Weiss tapped a pointer to the whiteboard, pointing to a diagram she had drawn for Arc.
"To answer your question, the reason there are a bunch of different colours that Dust comes in is due to their elemental energy, and whether they are one of the main elements or a mixture of two or more of the main four."
She smiled to herself as Arc scribbled that down in his notebook. Even if the act was less about having what she taught him written in his book and more about reinforcing the memory of the knowledge for him in his mind, it made her happy that he was taking the lesson seriously, as low-level as it was for her.
"Right, so, the main four are Fire, Water, Lighting, and Wind, right?"
Weiss hummed at his question. "Yes, those are the 'main four' types of Dust. Everything else is a combination of two or more of these four, including seemingly common types like Gravity Dust, which is a combination of Fire and Lighting Dust."
Arc tapped his pencil to the desk for a moment, before nodding and writing in his notebook again. "I think I got it now. Should I study the list of combinations and have them memorized by next time?"
That caused Weiss to smile even brighter, even as an alarm on her scroll went on. Pulling it out and silencing the alarm, she nodded. "Yes, that would be good enough 'homework' for you. Good thinking, Arc."
She instinctively glanced around the room at that, some sort of in-built Schnee pride making her worried that people had heard her give a genuine compliment to the boy she complained so much about, but the only other person in the room at this point was Blake, and she was nose-deep in a new book she'd recently acquired.
Weiss had, unfortunately, recognised the series she was reading due to her mother's collection back at the Schnee manor, and had since excised the memory as best as she could.
What her teammate, or her mother, read in their spare time was none of her business, even if just thinking about the contents of said books made her face glow bright red and her hands itch to send them flying with her Glyphs.
She was pulled from her thoughts as Arc stood up from his seat, closing his notebook. "That was the alarm for us to switch, right? Do you want to sit in the 'student' seat now? Or stay standing?"
Weiss pouted at the small grin on his face at the question, and strode over to her bed, grabbing the Survival Class textbook from her bag and returning to the so-called 'student seat' and sitting down in it with a huff.
Arc, in a seemingly miraculous moment of perceptiveness, didn't continue his taunting and further, and instead glanced down at the book she'd grabbed. He darted over to his bed after that and grabbed a small notepad from under his pillow, the pages marked with sticky notes and folded corners.
Standing next to the whiteboard, he frowned at it for a moment, before shaking his head and looking back at her. "Was there anything in particular you want me to focus on for today? Or in general for the future?"
She couldn't help the small giggle that escaped her at how awkward he looked in the role of a 'teacher' and a smile slipped onto her face as she opened the Survival Class textbook, pointing at the table of contents.
"I would like to be at least 2 subjects in front of the rest of the class regarding the textbook courses we'll be following. Does that sound feasible?"
Arc looked like he was about to say yes, but he paused, his forehead creasing slightly. "You know, I haven't actually checked the textbook yet. Let me see."
He hummed as he walked over to stand next to her, and scooped the textbook up from her desk. Skimming over the table of contents, he nodded to himself a few times, before smiling at her and giving the textbook back. "Yeah, I think we can do that fine. Did you wanna go over the first bit about edible and non-edible plants again?"
She nodded at that and saw him glance at the whiteboard again, before seemingly ignoring it and grabbing another chair, plopping it down next to her own and sitting down. She didn't know why he wasn't using the whiteboard, it was such an excellent tool for teaching, but he was the teacher in this instance, even if the thought of being taught by such a country bumpkin still stung her pride a little.
He leaned into her and pointed at the first few paragraphs, skimming over them until he reached the section of the book that had a list similar to the one he had recited by heart during class.
He said something, but she was uncharacteristically distracted by the sudden realization that came from how close he was sitting to her. Arc was tall. He had almost two whole heads on her in height. She didn't know why the fact sprung to the forefront of her mind, but she- ah!
She recoiled in shock as his hand touched her shoulder. "You alright, Weiss?"
Her face was red, embarrassed at how her mind had wandered, and about what it had wandered towards, she slammed her hands on the desk. "YES! I, ahem, I am fine, thank you Arc. Please, continue."
Arc luckily seemed to assume she was just frustrated or something and didn't push any further, but Weiss could see Blake staring at her out of the corner of her eyes, a small smirk on the other girl's face.
Sending her a short glare that promised death if Blake said anything, she refocused on Arc's lecture about the specific traits of a plant to look out for when foraging for food, which then went on a tangent about how to forage for food effectively, which then went into another tangent about how foraging wasn't always the best way to get food, and how hunting animals for meat was also important…
And even though he was so distractable by his own knowledge, it all seemed to flow just well enough for Weiss to keep it straight in her mind what he was talking about.
She nodded along to his lecture as her notebook steadily filled with knowledge she would likely be going back over once or twice more before she went to bed, to make sure it stuck. All in all… She was remarkably surprised at how adept a teacher Arc was…
For a country bumpkin, that was.
The next week and a bit felt like it went by in a blur.
Jaune was busy almost 24/7, his schedule full to bursting, and the way he slept like a log during the night seemed to reflect that. With his physical conditioning getting slightly better with every morning he spent in Miss Goodwitch's class, it got a little easier, but his body still felt at least a little sore at all times.
His soreness was helped a little by the fact that his weirdness with his Aura turned out to be more consistent than he thought, the super-protective glowy bits showing up when he got super focused or engaged in a fight…
He didn't know if it was a good thing it was happening, especially since no one else seemed to be having it happen to their Aura, but the only person to mention it was Cardin during their spars, where he loudly proclaimed that Jaune's 'Bullshit Aura Tricks' wouldn't save him from losing.
And to be fair Cardin was right, and Jaune had gotten rather used to being thrown bodily out of the ring by the other boy. He didn't know if it was a good thing that he'd gotten proficient at skipping across the ground at high speed while getting hurt the least amount possible, but hey, every skill would be useful somewhere, surely.
What didn't help the soreness was the sparring sessions he participated in with Yang every day or so during the week, the girl seemingly finding quite a bit of entertainment from traumatising him into having fighting skills.
His nose was genuinely the most sore part of his body at all times, having been punched by Yang of all people over 100 times during the week. Still, every session felt like an improvement, or at least an improvement from the nothing he had to begin with, skill-wise.
His practice with the new system of Aura Piloting stayed strong as well, and his new ability to practice with the sword and shield during the Aura training course meant that he was able to multitask during the course, practising both Piloting and his swordsmanship.
He'd managed to get good enough using the way Blake suggested to earn himself a shiny [B] ranking in the course, and he wore it like a badge of honour, even if it was still technically below what a Beacon student should be getting.
Blake had still congratulated him on it, however, and over the week he'd taken her to Vale once or twice to get new books for her, a smile on his face every time as he repaid her for opening his eyes and likely saving his enrollment.
Paying Weiss and Ren back for much the same was still going slowly, as he did his best to figure out what he should do for the both of them. They were much harder to know what to get, while Blake's love of books was fairly clear.
Progress on Crocea Twos made good pace, with Ruby giving him a crash course on weapon engineering and working with Mecha-shift on the fly while he helped build the shield for the sword during Equipment Maintenance class.
She was quickly becoming Professor Mulberry's favourite student, as well, her knowledge and experience building over-the-top but effective weapons earning her a great deal of praise and being used as a 'good example', something Ruby clearly took great pride in.
Ruby had suggested he find a way to incorporate the shield into the sword when it turned into a rifle, and he was trying to make it so that the shield could attach to the bottom of the barrel and protect his core while firing, like a riot shield of sorts. Progress on that feature was slower due to his inexperience, but Ruby was a whizz with the tech and had the sword in its final stages by the end of the week.
He'd also made sure to spend time with Ren, and consequently, Nora, who took every opportunity of free time she had to come to visit Ren. He wasn't sure how those periods of free time consistently kept falling onto times when none of the girls were in the dorm, thus perpetuating their belief that Nora was a fake girl Ren made up to save face. Still, Jaune found it so funny he didn't want to bring it up and ruin the eventual reveal to the girls that Nora was real.
And it wasn't just him that made good progress over the week. Weiss took to his teaching of Survival Class information like a sponge took to the water, absorbing knowledge at a frankly terrifying pace. She had been right, he found her to be an excellent student. He'd also been right, in that she was a better one than he was, fondly remembering the scolding his mother would give him when he goofed off during the lectures.
Blake had quickly burned through the books he'd gotten for her, and when Yang had somehow found out that she was out of new material to read, dragged Blake out to Vale to hang out and go shopping together at least 4 times over the week. Well, 'dragged' was a really strong word. It was clear to everyone with eyes that as much as Blake complained, she actually seemed thrilled to be hanging out with the blonde.
Ruby had also been caught maniacally laughing to herself in the workshop late at night while using the plasma cutter to help her make… Something. But none of JSBYRR had been courageous enough to confront her about what, especially after Yang warned them what happened to the last person at Signal to threaten her ability to build stuff.
And while every day was packed to the brim with training, resting, and then more and more training of every kind, it all blurred together in their memories at the end of it, when Jaune and the rest of the first-years were surprised by an announcement.
They were being sent out of Beacon, on a proper mission.
"I am aware that it is half an hour early, but that is all we are doing for class today. I expect you to have read pages 23 to 47 by the start of the next class, and be able to tell me how the Human's General Lagune and Faunus' General Meral could have worked together to defend Fort Castle from the trio of Grimm that attacked it with less wasted resources."
Jaune, and likely most of the other students in their Tactics Class, internally groaned as Professor Greene dropped the extra reading on them. He heard a few people outwardly groan, and receive the woman's death glare as a result, but he wasn't stupid enough to be one of them.
"Oh, and before you all leave."
Jaune paused, turning back from packing up his stuff into his bag, at her words, and sat back down as she stayed quiet, clearly waiting for those who had been too eager to get out of there to sit back down as well.
After a moment of silence, her eyes scanning the crowd, she tapped away at her scroll for a second, bringing up what looked like a slideshow, the first page having the symbol of Vale on it.
"I wish to reiterate to you before I begin, that this is going to be exceptionally dangerous, and that anyone that I believe isn't taking it seriously enough will be barred from going until further notice."
That got the class's attention, even if she technically already had it. Jaune felt himself lean in slightly, intrigued about what she was about to tell them. Wait… Was she about to give them-
"A few days from now, either Thursday or Friday, depending on available slots… Fireteams will be assigned their first-ever missions. Sometime this week, you will work alongside your Fireteam, and hunt down a real Grimm."
The uproar from the class was intense.
Whispering and conversations echoed throughout the classroom, in all shades of emotion. From excitement to concern, to disbelief, to impatience to get out there, Jaune could hear snippets of dozens of conversations.
All of them were cut off in a single instant as Professor Greene shot her weapon's gun form upwards. Even if it was clearly a blank due to the lack of debris falling from the roof, the shot was loud and shocked the students out of their distraction.
"As I was saying. We only have the last half an hour of what would have been the rest of my class to inspect your equipment, so we must use this time wisely. Follow me, swiftly."
From the way that she immediately strode out of the room, it was clear she was serious about using all the time wisely, causing the student to hustle to pack up and chase after her, almost causing a blockage in the doorway.
Luckily, the girl who got their first, Pryhha Nikos -if Jaune remembered what Weiss called her correctly- somehow held a few students back with a raised palm, the straps of their bags shifting as if they were literally being held in place, and the blockage was avoided as everyone streamed through.
The walk was a quick, quiet affair, with everyone too excited and focused on keeping up with Professor Greene to chat with each other. However, Jaune could feel the general level of excitement growing and growing as it became clearer and clearer where they were heading.
The excitement came to a head when they turned a corner into a large hall and were greeted by Professor Mulberry, standing confidently in front of a giant metal door. The man had his arms crossed over his chest, but the smile on his face made the body language seem welcoming instead of upset.
"HELLO THERE, STUDENTS! I UNDERSTAND THAT PROFESSOR GREENE MAY HAVE BEEN VAGUE, BUT I BELIEVE YOU ALL KNOW WHY WE'RE HERE!"
Jaune could guess, and all of the other students were nodding their agreement as well. There was only one thing this could be for…
"SPLENDID! BEFORE I CAN RELEASE YOU UPON THEM, HOWEVER, I AM LEGALLY MANDATED TO GIVE A SMALL SPEECH!"
The man shuffled slightly as he pulled out a pamphlet plain and official looking enough to be from the Vale government, and flipped a few pages in, coughing into his hand as he scanned, seemingly trying to find where to start from.
When he found it, however, the volume of his voice dropped down and down, until it was comparable to a regular person. It made Jaune realize how the man's previous volume was a conscious choice, but it also highlighted the importance of the speech.
"Ah, here we are. Students of Beacon. Prospective Huntsmen and Huntresses. Today, you are given access to one of, if not the, greatest technological advancement in history. You are given access to the tools humanity has used for over a hundred years, to defend ourselves from the threat of the Grimm. The responsibility that accompanies this is vast, and any overstepping of boundaries will be potentially fatal to both yourself and the lives of the innocent. Keep this in mind, before you step foot in them."
The giant steel door behind him started to open as he spoke, the rumbling sounds of the door's mechanisms creating a thrilling undertone to the man's words.
"Your fighting styles. Your Aura levels. Your personal suggestions and preferences. All have been taken into account by our top-of-the-line engineers, and for the last 3 weeks that you've been here at Beacon, they have been hard at work."
The door opened enough to let light through, and it was blinding for a brief moment. Jaune had to raise a hand to protect his eyes, blinking as his vision cleared and his jaw dropped, even as Professor Mulberry kept talking.
"Congratulations, students. Congratulations, because as of now, you are truly the future Huntsmen and Huntresses of Beacon, of Vale, and of Remnant as a whole."
Jaune felt his heart rate skyrocket as he forced his jaw to close, and his mind made sense of what he was seeing. The doors had opened to reveal the first-year garages, and sitting in the bays, waiting for their pilots, waiting for them.
Were the giant, unmoving forms... Of their Arks.
Remember, the AO3 version of this story has pictures!