[color=gray][b]Vacuan Desert, Midday[/b][hr][/color]

The air within the airship was hot, stuffy, and reeked of humanity as the large group of perspective Shade students huddle next to each other in the cramped vehicle. The only light present within was scorching rays that came in through the windows, and for those who looked out, nothing but wasteland was present to greet them for as far the eye could see. Almost as oppressive as the heat was the slight thrum of anticipation that hung over all of them, especially as they saw the small group of older students whisper and converse among themselves near the front of the ship. This uneasy, murmuring silence would continue to fill the room until a sudden outburst rang through the hull.

"By the gods, this is taking forever!"One of the third years, a tall, rough-looking Faunus with silver hair and tail complained as he looked out one of the windows, fiddling with a rather hi-tech looking gauntlet as his foot drummed u a constant beat upon the metal floor of the airship with his impatient tapping.

"Kid, calm down. We haven't been flying for that long." One of the pilots said in response without looking back, massaging the bridge of his nose before turning back to address the hold of students as a whole. "Might be a bit longer than we expected tho. Got a call from the group ahead of us, looks like the testing area is a little bit too hot for us to land there. We'll just keep cruising by it and you'll have to walk over." The silver-haired youth let out a curse, glancing over the rookies in the hold with a clear sense of disdain. 

"We'd probably be able to land just fine if we didn't have to play babysitter for these fucking greenhorns." The complaint got a bit of a chuckle out of the other third years, though one merely clicked his tongue, walking up to his fellow student with a flamboyant swagger. 

"Oh come on Wolfy, no need to get your tail in a bunch like that." With dark hair, crimson eyes, and a suit that seemed more for some kind of masquerade ball then the battlefield, he made for a rather odd- fit for the more weathered looking Shade students. One that wasn't [artcularly well-liked either, if the expressions on the others were anything to go by, especially the Faunus boy, who actually seemed to bare his teeth a bit when he was called 'Wolfy'. "Easy there, I'[m just saying. We should make are juniors feel more welcome, no? We were all first years at one point, so no need to treat them as a burden like that, right?"

With a twirl, the dark haired 3rd year gave a smile and a wave to the assembled students, walking up to take a position in front of them all, almost like a teacher of sorts.

"With that said, I'll go ahead and introduce myself and start things off. My name is Noir of Team NOIR, a pleasure to meet you all. I would introduce my other team members, but sadly, no one else on my team was interested in this venture. A pity, truly, to be separated from them, no matter how brief." Placing his hand over his heart, Noir seemed to wilt at the thought but quickly sprung back up to gesture towards the group of prospective students, a grin back on his face. "But enough about me, would any of you like to introduce ourselves? Perhaps you have some questions about Shade Academy? Anyone? Anyone at all? Don't be shy, we won't bite. . . well, most of us anyway. Not sure about Silme over there."

Noir turned to give a small wave to the impatient silver-haired youth, whose only response was a prompt "Fuck off!" before he went back to looking out the window. The other third years were more willing to introduce themselves, giving their own names and team names, though this felt more due to Noir's constant prodding than any desire among them to ease the mood for their Juniors.

"Are you fucking blind or something? We're flying past the zone?!?!" The one doing the shouting was a young man with short silver-white hair, a similarly colored tail sweeping side to side in an agitated manner, and fierce amber eyes currently focused on a flustered, but resolute pilot. T

"I-I'm sorry kid, but that LZ is filled with way too many Grimm to risk a landing right there. I'm redirecting us to another spot nearby that'll hopefully-" A bang from the youth's fist hitting the ship's ceiling silenced the pilot, flinching slightly but holding his ground. "Look, If you got a death wish, that's on you, but don't drag me into it."

The youth eyes narrowed but didn't say anything more, instead choosing to leave the pilots to their own devices. As he strode away to the drop doors, however, his gaze flittered across the gather prospects before him.

"Ochre, Opal, Carobelle, and . . . uh," He snapped his fingers a few times as he ran through some sort of mental checklist trying to remember the list the headmaster had given him. "Carrie, no. . . Cherry-no that's not it either uhh . . . Cer- Yeah, Cerry! You four are present, right?" As he waited for the lot of them to reply, the silver-haired fauns rather conspicuously began to put on the strange gauntlets that had hung by his hip this entire time. Sleek and smooth, with a white-gunmetal finish to them that was only broken by the bandoleer of dust vials that encircled the wrists. If one focused closely on them, they might just be able to make out the symbol o the Schnee dust company within the dim-lighting of the airship cabin, though it appeared to have been savagely defaced by a number of gouges in the metal's surface.

"You all are going to be teamed up with me for the coming mission. So I'm going to explain that, because just sitting around in this glorified flying toaster in silence is killing me." Pulling on his gauntlets to make sure they were on properly, the third year continued to make his way to the drop doors while speaking. While most of the prospects were looking somewhat confused, all of the third years were smirking to each other while grabbing onto their belongings. Two of them even seemed to be exchanging Lien. "Simply put, it's extermination with a twist. Something's gotten the Grimm in this area real riled up, and we're going in to clean em up. Hopefully, while that's happening, we can find out what's happening but that's a secondary objective. As our glorious headmaster always bashes into our heads, again and again, our duty is to the people and all that, blah blah blah." Silme's pantomime of the headmaster, complete with a mock salute and swaggering walk, drew a chuckle from some aboard the airship, particularly those among the third years.

"It's a simple mission with simple parameters: get in, wreck shop, maybe figure out the 'why' of it all while you do it. Now, if any of you greenhorns find yourself getting into something that you may find difficult to handle by yourselves. . . well, that's where us 3rd years come in." the youth was silent for a moment as if waiting for applause that never came. "That said, this is also a test and the six of us here are the ones handing out the grade. Whether you pass or fail depends on how we feel you handle yourselves. While we'll be sure not to let any of ya kick the bucket, don't expect us to babysit ya. If you can't deal with this kind of situation, or work with your fellow huntsman whether you've known them for 5 years or 5 seconds, then you're just not what Shade wants. We survive out here by working together and showing any creature or bandit we face out here why Shade isn't a place ya want to fuck with."

Seeming to be finished with his little speech, the Faunus continued making his way across the ship to the hangar bay doors, gauntlets whirring to life as he secured them in place. Brushing off his shoulders a bit, he glanced over his shoulder to cast an amber eye over those in his squad. 

"Ochre, while you guys are under my command, you'll be second in command. Let's see you put that name of yours to good use. Carobelle, if Ochre loses his nerve out there, you're the back-up. Hope that isn't asking too much of you. Cher-no, [i]Cerry[/i]. Try not to freeze up out there. . . and welcome to Vacuo. And finally, Opal . . . I'll admit, don't see much in ya at the moment, so try your best to prove me wrong. Oh, and as a word of advice to all of you when forming ur landing strategy, flying Grimm tend to be a good choice."

"Wait a minute, what do you me-" Was all the pilot was able to get out before the Faunus slammed his fist down on the bay door release. A fierce surge of wind blasted through the small space as the hangar doors on either side of the group slid open, muffling the myriad of curses the pilot was throwing at the young man as he turned his back towards the yawning sky. "See ya down there team. . . unless you wanna fail, that is."

And with little more than a grin and a hop, he was off. Hurtling down towards the sprawling Vacuan desert. A number of black figures polluted both the air and the land as the creatures of Grimm that had gathered swarmed over the sands, from the jackal-like Beowolves to the Garuda that patrolled the skies above. As the 4-winged Grimm saw the plummeting morsel heading there way, they were quick to fly close in on the lone Huntsman. However, as they got close, the Huntsman was quick to leap into action, flipping over in mid-air as a bright green glow emanated from the fingertips of his gauntlets. Before the Grimm could even get close, he unleashed a powerful cross slash, the wind-dust from his gauntlets unleashing it as a strong gust of buffeting winds that battered the encroaching Grimm away from him as he fell. 

Another swipe of his claws launched onto the back of one of the creatures, knocking it down to a lower elevation from the impact. Before the creature could attempt to right itself, the Faunus dart across its body, lashing out with two more powerful slashes to disable two of its 4 wings. Robbed of much of the thrust that allowed it to remain airborne, the Grimm bucked wildly in an attempt to dislodge the unwanted rider as it begun a jerky downward descent to the desert floor, tho to no avail as the Huntsman dug a clawed hand into the creatures back to ride out the bumpy ride. 

Back in the ship, most of the students were struggling to keep their belongings from getting sucked out the hold while a few of the third years were engaged in a shouting match with the pilot over what just happened. One of them, a dark-haired youth with crimson eyes and dressed in fancy attire, strolled over to the group as a hole hand in his pocket as he waved to the prospects. 

"Greetings all. My name's Noir and the mutt that just flew out the doors was Silme, as he forgot to mention." More than a few of the third years gave Noir a sharp glare at his declaration of Silme being a 'mutt', particularly the Faunus among them, but before any of them could get into it, another barrage of shouts from the pilots took their attention away from him. "If you were one of the names called, well, I suggest you hurry before the pilot decides to close the doors, as he definitely wasn't kidding about failing you if you don't follow his crazy little scheme. Unfortunate, truly, but such things can be common when you're a student at Shade. Life's tough and all that."

Noir gave a shrug before stepping away from the doors with a flourish as if inviting the four students named to take the plunge. 
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[sub][color=gray]First challenge: Execute your landing strategy using any attribute you feel is appropriate. Bonus points for style!(not really, but what is RWBY if not style over substance)[/color][/sub]