"HOLY SHIT!"

Jaune felt his mech lurch beneath his butt as his Aura pumped through it, sending him stumbling backwards, away from the Grimm. He'd thought he'd be prepared to see one for the first time, but…

His stumbling was stopped with an ear-splitting 'CLANG', Jaune's entire mech coming to a halt, his Aura sending physical feedback into his real body that his partner, whoever they were, had stepped up next to him, putting their mech's hand on his back.

"Please, stay calm. It is remarkably lifelike, yes, but remember, this is just a simulation."

Jaune could have sworn that there was a pulse of grey through his vision at that, and he felt himself calming immediately, his brain already refocusing back on the Grimm, realising that it was a Leviathan.

He glanced over to his left in the simulated cockpit, noticing for the first time that he had a camera into his new partner's Mech. He'd kinda been hoping for Weiss, if only because she was a friendly face, but it hadn't turned out to be her.

The guy had long black hair with a single strip of pink in it and was dressed in a green, black and pink jumpsuit, a dagger attached to both his arm and hip. The bottom left corner of the video feed said 'LIE REN' in bold white letters, giving Jaune a pretty good idea of his name.

"Thanks. The name's Jaune, nice to meet you."

Ren nodded sharply before his mech stepped forward, and he met Jaune's eyes through the feed. "Likewise. You seem to have an issue with your Aura Integration, friend. Perhaps there is damage to your simulator? Figure out a workaround and come help me in a moment."

Jaune felt a shiver down his spine at the boy's words, somehow getting the feeling that Ren knew more than he was saying. He half remembered Miss Goodwitch saying something about their fights being recorded, so… was he looking out for him?

Whatever. If Ren had figured him out and still covered for him, he would have to make it up to the boy somehow later. For now, he had to figure out how the fuck to pilot an Ark, even a simulated one.

He'd piloted exactly one Mech in his entire life before, a dingy little 4-legged transport thing that his family owned to help them move soil and take in the harvest when the family farm finally, and literally, bore fruit for the year.

That hadn't used his Aura, however. Instead, it had used a couple of levers and a few pedals at his feet… which meant that all of his relevant experience was less than useless, and his new friend was fighting alone.

'Wonderful…'

Closing his eyes, he reached for the warmth that Weiss had unlocked within him, feeling the energy coursing around his whole body. If he focused, he could kind of make it look like a humanoid shape…

His focus slipped as the ground shuddered, and the mental image he was trying to conjure to help him visualise his mech walking and moving shattered. Looking out of his mech's camera, he saw Ren in the middle of fighting the Grimm.

Jaune couldn't help but be amazed as the hulking mass of (simulated) metal moved with so much grace, weaving through the Leviathan's attempts at attacking. The standard frame for Arks was a blocky and bulky humanoid shape, covered in weapons and sitting at about 45 meters tall if Jaune remembered correctly.

Still, Ren piloted all 45 meters of metal with the speed and accuracy of a trained fighter, each dodge being accompanied by a stab from mech-sized daggers, and even from this distance, he could see the resemblance to the ones on Ren's person.

Ruby had been right about people training with smaller versions of their weapons before getting into a mech, it seemed. Wait, that made him wonder… He wrangled his Aura again, focusing on the image of the mech moving its head down, and barked with laughter as he felt his mental visualization moving slowly, the mech's camera moving to match.

"Haha, yes! I think I figured it out!"

He was glad that his shout of joy didn't distract Ren, who finished stabbing the Leviathan in the gut one more time before darting back to stand next to Jaune, his eyes flicking up to the camera.

"You figured out your workaround, then? Good. How well can you move?"

The look that Ren was giving him cemented the idea that he knew Jaune was brand-spanking new, and Jaune felt even more indebted to the boy. "I think I could move the legs just by myself. Might not be able to move and attack, though, unless it's a kick."

Ren paused for a moment, before nodding. "Alright. Got any ideas? You know the limits of your workaround better than I do."

Jaune took a deep breath as he tried to think. What could he do with only his legs? What cou- Wait that's it! The memory of him and his sisters using the farm mech to stomp on a wolf that had been attacking one of their sheep sprung to his mind.

Grinning, Jaune turned to the camera. "Do you have any way of immobilizing the Grimm with its head on the floor?"

Ren took a second to consider Jaune's words before nodding. "Yes, I believe I can do that. Tell me when you're ready."

With that, Ren darted back into the fight again. Their whole conversation had only taken long enough for the Leviathan to have barely recovered from being almost gutted by Ren's daggers.

It was back on its feet now, however, and to Jaune's dismay, he saw the tell-tale sparks of its lightning breath starting to coalesce in its mouth. Just… Slower than the one that Miss Goodwitch had fought earlier.

Had they nerfed the Leviathan for this test? 'Damn, with how good Ren seems to be at piloting his mech, does he even need my help to kill it?'

The answer, truthfully, was probably not. Jaune watched Ren's mech sprinting up to the Leviathan, seemingly not even worried about the lightning breath. With a flash of movement, he ducked, before shooting upwards, stabbing both of the mech's daggers into the bottom jaw of the Leviathan's mouth, causing it to snap shut.

Jaune pushed his Aura visualization to start walking towards them as Ren flipped his mech onto the back of the Leviathan's neck, pinning its head to the ground with its intense weight, but Jaune could see it trying to lift its head.

The visualization changed to a jog. Then a run.

Something still felt really uncomfortable about piloting the mech, but he was able to push past it for the moment. His whole being was focused on just two things, the feet of his mech, and the head of the Grimm.

"Going for it now! Pin it as hard as you can!"

Jaune almost felt pity for the Grimm as Ren used his daggers as leverage to slam its head into the ground again.

"Ready!"

It was surprisingly easy to make his mech jump, requiring only a small adjustment to the gait he had adopted to move forward. He felt his nausea spike as he became airborne, but nowhere near as strongly as it had before. This time he had Aura, by the time he was falling again, it was completely gone.

"HELL YEAH!"

The legs of his mech came together as he fell directly towards the Grimm's head, performing what Jaune could only describe as the worst curb stomping anything would ever receive. He barely even felt whatever resistance the Grimm's skull gave, physics doing its job and splattering the Grimm's head under his feet.

'THUD'

He hit the ground beneath the already-evaporating Grimm and stumbled slightly, but before he could fall over entirely, Ren's mech once again caught him. "That was very effective. Good plan."

As he stabilized the mech, Jaune couldn't help but laugh, shaking his head. "Thanks for letting me even give it a try! I can tell that you probably could have just killed it yourself."

Ren frowned but noticeably didn't argue against his words. "In any case, we've completed the assessment, and you have shown that you can fight, even with the… Issues, your machine is having."

Jaune just nodded, gulping slightly. "Right, yeah, the machine is totally a little busted up. Aura just wouldn't flow like it's supposed to, you know? Hahaha…Haha…Ha…."

There was a soft smirk on Ren's face as a buzzer went off in both of their ears. "Partners Jaune Arc and Lie Ren have completed their assessment. Shutting down simulation. Stay seated and await your professor's instructions."

His vision went black almost immediately after, and there was a pulling feeling over his entire body.

His eyes opened suddenly to see that he was inside the simulator once again.

Taking the gloves off slowly, he let himself take a few deep breaths. He'd done it. He'd actually done it. Well, he simulated doing it at least, but he'd really killed a Grimm! He wasn't able to keep the grin off his face as he bounced slightly in his chair, waiting for Miss Goodwitch to start talking.

Only a few minutes later, the doors to the simulator opened, and Miss Goodwitch's voice carried over the room. "Congratulations to all of you, we didn't have a single ejection in this class. That's quite rare, you should all be proud of yourselves. Now, step out of your simulators."

Jaune exited the simulator, having to duck slightly under the door's lintel. Sometimes being tall had its downsides, but he preferred it to being super short. A flash of red in his memory made him snicker to himself at that, but he quickly refocused on Goodwitch.

He gulped as he realized that she was looking directly at him, so he just smiled at her, waving weakly and hoping that the sheer shakiness of his smile didn't make her suspicious of anything. God, it was hard to act friendly to people who could expel him if they found him out.

She didn't stay focused on him, however, turning to the class as a whole. "You all did rather wonderfully, I have to admit. I only did a cursory glance at most of the pairings, but they seem to be working well so far."

Looking down at the tablet in her hands, Jaune spotted a small glow of purple on her glasses as they were adjusted, and he couldn't help a tiny snort at how insane that was to him. To use something as special as a Semblance to hold your glasses on your face.

Luckily, she didn't seem to hear him, but a couple of the people around him looked at him like he was weird… Was he weird? He didn't feel weird, but how many normal people even thought about faking their way into Beacon, let alone getting accepted somehow?

He pushed that out of his mind for the moment, not wanting to admit that he just might be weird.

Miss Goodwitch continued, tapping at the tablet. "The staff will need some time to properly go over the footage, to allocate your Fireteams best. I assume everyone is familiar with the Fireteam System?"

Jaune wasn't, but he also wasn't about to paint an even larger target on his back by putting his hand up and saying so. Luckily, he didn't have to, as a familiar voice spoke up from nearby.

"A fireteam is a squad of 6 Pilots, made up of 3 Partnerships. Partners are expected to work together on almost every mission, with entire Fireteams only being called together for a battle against a tougher-than-usual Grimm, but they are still considered a team."

Weiss then glanced in his direction, and he suddenly realized that she had spoken up for his benefit. 'Gods, I already owe her for unlocking my Aura, and now this as well. I gotta figure something good out to pay her back later…'

Miss Goodwitch just nodded towards Weiss. "That is correct, Miss Schnee. Your fireteams will be your training partners and teammates throughout your time at Beacon, and if you wish, beyond."

Continuing, she paced back and forth, glancing over the students. "While the staff convenes to discuss your Fireteams, you will have the afternoon off. Go explore the campus, or familiarise yourself with Vale, but return to the Amphitheater at 7:30 pm. The Simulators will also be available for those of you who are not quite satisfied with their performance and will continue to be at all times during the school year."

She wasn't looking at him, but Jaune felt like those words were directed at him.

"Wait, Weiss!"

Weiss had been walking for a few minutes before she heard Arc's voice calling out to her. She ignored the looks some of their new classmates were giving her as she, the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, turned and waited for him, some random student.

Arc panted ever so slightly as he stopped in front of her but seemed otherwise fine. But with the astronomically large pool of Aura she had touched while activating it for him, how could a simple jog ever hope to tire him out?

Not that she expected him to be very proficient with it. The fact that he hadn't flunked out during the fight with the simulated Grimm was encouraging, however. If nothing else, he could learn quickly.

Which was good, because now that the school saw them as friends due to her willingness to even speak to him, she couldn't have him making a fool out of himself, or her. "Hello, Arc. Congratulations on passing your test. I am impressed that you adjusted so quickly to your Aura."

She had made sure that no one was close enough to hear her say that before she had spoken, but made no attempt to whisper. Arc seemingly hadn't checked their surroundings, however, as the panic that grew on his face clearly showed.

Sighing, she put a hand on her hip and cocked it out to the side. "Don't worry, there's no one listening in. Now, I was curious how someone without Aura had gotten into Beacon, care to enlighten me?"

"I would like to know, as well."

Weiss let out a rather undignified squeal as a voice spoke up beside her, Arc mirroring it with a yell of his own as they both jumped in shock, turning to face… a black-and-pink-haired boy.

Arc reacted first, falling to his knees and clutching his heart and he faced the ground. "Oh my god, Ren. You scared the Dust out of me. I thought you were a professor for a moment."

Weiss looked the boy up and down, before calming her heartbeat, raising her chin at the boy again. "I presume that you are Arc's partner, then? How well did he disguise his inexperience with his Aura?"

The boy, Ren, just cocked his head to the side. "He was trying to disguise it?"

Arc let out a pathetic whine at that, and seemingly let himself fall completely onto the ground, spreading out in a starfish position. "Ugh… Thanks, Ren. I would have preferred a 'he did great' but I'm glad my partner has my back."

Ren just nodded, but Weiss spotted the small smile on his face. "Of course, partner. While you may not have exactly who I had been hoping to be partnered with, I look forward to working together for the next few years."

He crouched down and held a hand out towards Arc, who lifted an arm and shook the boy's hand. "Likewise, I guess."

Arc pushed himself off of the ground after that, his dramatics seemingly over, and turned to Weiss. "And before I forget, to address your question, would you mind if I kept that to myself for the moment? It's not something I'm comfortably sharing."

She gave him an unimpressed look, crossing her arms. "Quite the thanks I am getting for saving your continued enrollment here, Arc."

He at least had the decency to wince at that, before raising a hand towards her. "Alright, you make a good point. How about I promise to tell you later? Would that be alright?"

Weiss might not have properly socialized much as a child, but she could tell that she wasn't going to get the information out of Arc without an argument, and getting into an argument on day one of her time at Beacon was a no-go.

"Fine, I'll have to accept that. But you will tell me at some point. Now, I have to go find someone named 'Yang' so I can yell at her for sprinting right at the Leviathan without making a plan with me."

She wasn't expecting Arc to start laughing at that, slapping one of his knees. "Oh, you're never going to believe this, but guess who Yang's sister is…"

Glynda frowned as she looked over the video feed of the Lie-Arc partnerships' fight, the pair being the last ones in her exhaustingly long list of students.

Lie Ren was quite good, his agile style of fighting pairing well with his Semblance's ability to muffle and calm all emotions, throwing off one of the Grimm's primary senses. But when she instead looked at Jaune Arc…

"He seemed to lack any sort of the prerequisite knowledge about piloting Arks, despite what his transcripts say. And his movements within the mech… It's as if he had only just had his Aura unlocked."

Ozpin hummed at that, drumming his fingers on his desk. He had that infuriating look on his face that seemed to say 'I know something but won't be telling you' that he got sometimes, but Glynda was a professional, so she moved on.

"Honestly, I would strongly suggest we revoke his enrollment. Someone was clearly either mistaken about his records or they were falsified. The boy has absolutely no skill as a pilot."

A sigh escapes Ozpin as he leans back in his chair. "A sensible suggestion, backed by solid foresight and experience with people who are in over their heads."

Glynda recognised that tone, and couldn't help the frustration that leaked into her tone. "If there is a 'but' coming I swea-"

Ozpin's glare was clear, and her mouth snapped shut. "But, I have seen both the footage and the boy himself. I believe that there is potential there… And a not insignificant amount of it. Put Lie-Arc and… These 2 partnerships together, and I think you will be surprised by how much they will all push each other forward."

Glynda looked down at the sheets of papers Ozpin had stacked together, preferring paper to the more modern tablets, before sighing. "Alright. But I truly hope you know what you're doing, sir. I won't accept it if this boy dies an avoidable death because of this decision."

Ozpin sighed as Glynda left the room, drumming his fingers along the desk again after the doors to the elevator shut behind her. "Trust me, I do not want him to die any more than you do, Glynda. But certain things must be nurtured when the opportunity finally arises…"

Just BTW, the Ao3 version of this story has digital art that I did for the characters and chapters! Check it out!