Abillioncats — Roleplayer Guild

She could smell it. She could almost taste it, but somehow Esther could tell Oswald was annoyed. Ceasing her side to side rocking, she looked at Oswald with a wild stare. Straightening up, she watched and waited as Oswald laid out his equipment neatly for her to inspect. Honestly, Esther was impressed by what Oswald had decided to bring. However. she didn't show even the slightest microexpression of her approval. Walking over to Oswald's side she leaned her head in close until she was centimeters from the boy's ear. With the sweetest and softest of voices, Esther errily began to whisper to him.

"Mr. Connoly. You didn't bid me good morning. That hurts my feelings."
With a swift sweep of her leg, Esther disorganized and scattered Oswald's belongings.
"I don't like having my feelings hurt. Would you kindly whisper me good morning? That'll make me feel a lot better. It'll also help me feel better if you would pick up all your stuff for me. My foot seems to have slipped and made a little boo-boo. Could you do that for me? Pretty please with sugar on top?"

Cobalt frowned at their teachers disrespectful and rude treatment of both  his teammates. This was not going to he a good first mission at all. He straightened up and laid out all of his equipment. It was almost identical to Oswald except for the 27 Smasher and it's special rounds. He looked Esther in the eyes and gathered his thoughts. He may end up regretting this.

"First of all, I do not appreciate your blatant disrespect of both my teammates and myself. I would tolerate your treatment if you were only questioning my leadership skills and my quote on quote brownosing. What I will not tolerate is your unprofessional screaming and your immature taunting of a student who has done nothing to offend you." Cobalt took a breath and waited a second.

"Second, if you are going to fail us I can do nothing to prevent such actions. The only thing I could do is submit my completely honest report to Professor Ozpin of how my team and I were berated and insulted for minor mistakes after showing up EARLY. And I know exactly where all of my team members are. Emerald Felicia and Oswald Connoly are present, while Diamond Frost is at the requisitions office acquiring miscellaneous supplies for herself. She has ten minutes to arrive before she can be considered late." Cobalt finished his speech and backed away to his spot next to Oswald. He then turned towards Emerald.

"Emerald! Tell me, do you know what a safety switch is and what it's purpose on a firearm is? I would ask our instructor about its various uses such as preventing accidental discharge of weaponry outside of battle, but she clearly doesn't have knowledge of such things. And disregard her command of talking to plant life. That's stupid." Cobalt smiled and noticed he was shaking. Whether it was out of fear or rage, not even he knew. He turned towards Diamond as she arrived. He nodded and checked his watch.

"It would appears as if Diamond has arrived with five minutes to spare. Good job. Are there any other problems that need to be addressed Ms.Vanhomrigh?" Cobalt wiped his smirk off of his face and tilted his head as if he was curious.

During Cobalt's little revenge tirade against Ms. Vanhomrigh, Oswald set about putting his equipment back into some semblance of order. As he finished, he looked over to their tormentor and answered her request softly. "Good morning, ma'am."

Esther's eyes snapped to and locked onto Diamond as the girl arrived, but at the moment she decided to ignore her and Cobalt. She wasn't yet done with Oswald.
"I'm sorry, I'm hard of hearing. You didn't whisper loudly enough. Could you please say that again?"
Sweeping her leg across Oswald's gear once more, she scattered the items before taking a few steps so that she stood in front of him and looked him dead in the eyes.
"Your armor. Put it back on."

"Aye, ma'am." Effortlessly replying, Oswald bent down and started putting his armor back on, a process that took perhaps two to three minutes. Securing the straps was a pain in the ass.

Esther clicked her tongue repeatedly and slowly shook her head as she wagged her finger at Oswald. As if she were a parent showing her disapproval of her child.
"No, no, no. You didn't say 'Good morning, ma'am' again. I want you to whisper it as loudly as you can to me. Scream as quietly as you can to me. I'm hard of hearing after all."
A sharp white-gloved finger pointed at the ground without looking away from Oswald.
"Your armor. Take it off."

Again cocking an eyebrow at the woman giving him a series of asinine orders, Oswald nodded and began taking off his armor. As he finished, he stood straight and made his best effort to 'scream as quietly as he could.' "Good morning, ma'am!"

Esther pointed at Oswald's chest.
"On. Faster. Whisper louder."
Pointing at the ground twice, she continued without giving any clear orders.
"Off. Faster. Scream quieter."
Touching her pointer finger and thumb together, she made the symbol of 'OK'
"Don't stop until I say."
Straightening up, Esther placed her arms behind her as she stood waiting. Watching. Observing.

A small smile nearly crossed Oswald's face as he realized what she was doing. Almost, since his cheeks were firmly secured in place by his teeth, a tactic he'd learned years before. "Good morning, ma'am." Armor on. Armor off. "Good morning, ma'am." Armor on. "Good morning, ma'am." Armor off. "Good morning, ma'am." Armor on. "Good morning ma'am." Armor off. "Good morning, ma'am." Armor on. "Good morning, ma'am." Armor off. "Good morning, ma'am." Armor on. "Good morning ma'am." Armor off. "Good morning ma'am." Each attempt, Oswald carefully rationed extra time for himself, but even his endurance was limited. Determined not to lose to this drill instructor from hell, Oswald refused to allow even a grimace cross his face as his arms began to burn from the repeated movements, and his shoulders cried in protest at the continuous abuse at the hands of his deceptively heavy brigandine.

For a few minutes, Esther stood stock still. Saying nothing, doing nothing. Nothing in her expression changed. She was as a stone statue as she watched Oswald complete his inane and laborious task without protest. Without question. Without complaint. Even the most skilled and experienced profiler would be hard-pressed to ascertain any information on what ran through Esther's mind. No one could even imagine what she was thinking.

Suddenly breaking out of her rigid stance, Esther turned to Diamond next and gave her the biggest and warmest smile. With the happiest and brighest expression thought to be impossible coming from a woman like Esther, she clapped her hands together once and cordially greeted Diamond. 

"Ms. Frost! How nice of you to join us! My, my, what a filthy mouth you have!"
Placing one hand on her hip and leaning over to wag her finger in Diamond's face as if playfully reprimanding a naughty kid, there was something....wrong about her smile. Something alien about the way she was acting.
"Don't make me have to wash out that pretty little mouth of yours with soap! Soap tastes bad! And theatrics?"
Esther leaned back and placed a hand on her chest as if sincerely insulted.
"Uh! What ever do you mean by theatrics? I have no idea with what you're talking about!"
Eyes growing wide, a look of pure interest graced her features as she saw Diamond's hat.
"My! What a lovely hat! Wherever did you get that? You absolutely must tell me! Wow, it's positively stylish!"
Reaching for Diamond's hat, she stopped inches from it and withdrew her hand. Beautifully smiling from ear to ear, she winked and with her hands acted as if she were tightening the knot on a bow.
"You know what, Ms. Frost? You're alright in my book. I'm going to leave you alone." She put both her hands up and motioned as if to tell Diamond to 'stay right there, just as you are'.

Like the flip of a coin, her disturbing change in personality reverted right back to how students normally saw her. Her eyes shaded by the brim of her cover, she folded her hands behind her back as she ominously finished with Diamond. Leaving her with the words, "Your teammates will pay for your mistakes."
Turning her head ever so slightly, Esther glared at the back of Emerald's head.
"THE TREE CAN'T HEAR YOU, MS. FELICIA! THAT'S NOT SCREAMING, MS. FELICIA! I WANT THAT TREE'S ANCESTORS TO HEAR WHAT YOU HAVE TO TELL IT, MS. FELICIA! SHOW THAT TREE YOUR WEAPONS MS. FELICIAAAAA! SHOW IT WHY YOU'RE A DIPSH*T MS. FELICIAAAA!!!"
Long before this point, a crowd of students too curious for their own good had gathered. They kept a good distance away to avoid being caught in Esther's cruel and unusual web of punishment, but they were watching. Whispers were being passed back and forth, suggesting possibilities as to what was occuring before their eyes.

Moving with a speed that made her appear as if she were a blur, Esther practically lunged at Cobalt and was right on top of him. His neck was next on the line, and she fully intended to let him have it. Getting right in the boy's face and pressing the brim of her cover hard against his forehead, if words could kill, her words practically radiated with a lethality that threatened to viciously murder every student that dared to even insult her eyesight by existing in her peripheral vision.

"FIRST of all, I don't give a damn what in the hell you appreciate or not, Mr. Chideta. If you even begin to think any of your worthless friends and classmates deserve a single iota of anything even closely resembling respect, you are woefully mistaken. I don't give a rat's ass what you tolerate or not. YOU are a f*cking freshman at MY academy. You have done NOTHING to contribute to society. You have NOT graduated as a Hunter and are still a Hunter-in-training, and as such you will be treated thusly and as necessarily how I see fit. I, graduated from this fine institution many years ago. I, have served many sucessful years as a fearsome Huntress. I, have done something worthy of recognition. I, have earned my respect here as part of Beacon's faculty. You, on the other hand are nothing. The dirt beneath my boot has earned more than your sorry sh*t-for-brains twig ass."

With two fingers up that she lovingly decided to slowly bring closer until her hand smushed against his face, she continued.

"SECONDLY, should you decide to make the choice and fail your team from their mission and display your buttocks to the rest of the student body as the incompetent leader I know in my bones that you are, then you MAKE your report to Headmaster Ozpin. HE knows who I am. HE knows MY reputation here as an extremely successful Huntress and teacher. EVERY single Hunter and Huntress that survived my training and graduated from this Academy went on to become prosperous Huntsmen. But no, you go right on ahead! Oh, no! You do what you will. If you consider the mistakes that you and your comrades-in-arms to be so trivial, to be so meaningless, then I weep for the future leaders of Huntsmen. Ask yourself this, Mr. Chideta. Say you're in the field of battle. You allow Ms. Frost to separate from the team to retrieve supples. Then what, you ask? She never. Returns. Alive. YOU sent her to her death. HER blood is on your hands and what can you do about that? Nothing. As a leader, you must accept the consequences of your actions and live with your 'trivial mistakes' for the rest of your lives. YOU explain to her loved ones why she isn't coming home. YOU live with that burden. Oh, congratulations for arriving early! At LEAST you're all punctual, right?

But, Ms. Felicia arrived earlier than you. She was captured by enemies waiting for your team's arrival. She's taken away to some undisclosed location, tortured for information, and when she cracks? Oh, and she'll crack, I can FEEL it. She's killed. Her body discarded to be desecrated in ways your young and pathetic little mind couldn't even BEGIN to comprehend. But no, it's okay that the team didn't all arrive together, right? THAT'S fine, no, no, no it's okay. You can explain that to Ms. Felicia's family later, oh no big deal! F*CK you being insulted. F*CK you unable to take being berated. Congratulations on being able to keep track of your comrades when they're all here. Oh no, let's take a moment to clap it up!"

Pausing, Esther looked around at the growing crowd of students and loudly clapped. Throwing up her hands she egged on the other students, yet no one dared to clap or say a thing. Getting right back in Cobalt's face, she put up three fingers to press against his eyes.

"But did you know where they were the night before? Did you know what they were doing then? Did you know what equipment they decided to bring to this mission? Did you know that Ms. Frost decided to take a quick smoke break that I know she f*cking took because the smell of acrid cigarette smoke clings to everything before she came here? Your lack of accountability is terrifying to me, Mr. Chideta. Truly terrifying. Do you think that 'flies' in the field? Not knowing or caring about the most 'trivial' things could be the end of it. Is Mr. Connoly having his fingernails ripped off? How are Ms. Frost's joints taking to recovering from nails being driven into them? Huh? Mr. Chidetaaaaaa...?"

She refused to stop, going on for a few more minutes.

"Oh, how about that student's head that Ms. Felicia accidently blew off because the poor boy couldn't possibly have known her weapons were loaded. He couldn't have possibly known that her safety selector had just slightly clicked off of 'Safe' and that her flailing causing a mechanical malfunction negliently firing a powerful Dust Round to give the boy's brain box a nice little hug, right? No, it's okay for her to run around with her weapons like they were toys. Machines don't ever break down or malfunction! Accidents and mistakes are never made! No! Sure! It's okay, Ms. Felicia! ALWAYS run around with loaded weapons because you're ALWAYS certain how much ammo you have in them! You're ALWAYS certain that the safety is on! It's okay, Aura will protect all of the unknowing and innocent bystanders that happen to be in her line of fire! Oh, but wait..."

She placed a gloved hand over her lips and looked around, gasping.

"That's not how Aura works now is it? It's not really an always-on passive ability, is it? But surely you know that, Mr. Chideta! You're an expert on Aura and its protective abilities and how it works!"

She patted his chest with the back of her white gloved hand as if to congratulate him.
She spoke with such an knowing passion and fever it came to anyone as a surprise that appeared so serene and calm. Only the manic look in her eyes gave way to how she truly felt inside. A moment of silence. Esther's eyes dug, clawed, pierced, snarled, snapped, bit, chewed, and ravaged Cobalt's eyes. Her gaze was a weapon in and of itself.

"Finally, Mr. Chideta. In my eyes, you are NOT the leader of this team. Not even close. You haven't done anything to earn the respect of your teammates. You have done nothing to prove that you are worthy to the be the first f*cking letter of your team name. You have to be better than Mr. Connoly, Ms. Frost, and Ms. Felicia combined. You have to be resolute. You have to be confident. You have to be sure in your decisions and actions. But everything I had the infinite pleasure in witnessing today screams and cries otherwise. As a result? You? Do not rate to give any one of your team mates a single command or order. Not in my presence. I give the orders here. Not your sorry bitch pussy ass. Because when sacks of excrement like you are in positions of leadership and power?"

Esther stopped and turned to lock eyes with Oswald and Diamond. Something in her eyes seemed...sad. They were knowing in their gaze and almost...loving.

"Innocent lives are lost."

Turning back to Chideta, she ended her conversation with him.
"If you don't think your team can take it. Leave. Sign up for an easier and safer mission. Become someone else's problem. I'll keep my perfect track record. Mission ranks don't mean jack sh*t anyways. Harden the f*ck up."

Whirling on the spot, Esther stalked over to Emerald and leaned into her feline faunus ears. 
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, MS. FELICIA?! THAT'S NOT SCREAMING MS. FELICIA. I DON'T HEAR YOUR VOICE BREAKING, MS. FELICIAAAAAAA. I DON'T SEE BLOOD DRIPPING OUT OF YOUR MOUTH, MS. FELICIAAAAAA. I ALSO DIDN'T. FUCKING. CLEAR YOU. MISS. FELICIAAAAAA. LOCK YOUR WEAPONS OPEN, MS. FELICIAAAAAA!!"

Making a 'knife' hand, Esther shoved it against Emerald's cheek and forced the points of her fingers against it over and over. Looking over at Diamond, Esther gave her the sickest, sweeter-than-honey smile ever.

"TELL YOUR TEAM IF THEY THINK THEY CAN HACK MY MISSION, ROOM #30B AT 0945 MS. FELICIA! TELL THE TREE WHEN AND WHERE, MS. FELICIA!" Esther stood in front of her and grabbed the cheeks on Emerald's face. Pinching them and shaking the poor girl's head hard as she did.

The entire time, Oswald stood and watched. Watched as Esther berated his teammates. Watched as she screamed and insulted them, silently. He wanted to do so many things, but he knew she would win if he did. All he had to do was stand there, keep his armor on, and wait until she turned around to yell at him once more. They'd all survive it, that was for sure, but whether they'd be up for the stress of a mission afterwards...he'd have to see. 

As she turned around to look at him, rather than an appreciative look, or one of understanding, all Oswald allowed her to see was the empty look he gave when he was focused on more important things. He would not budge to her. He would win this test of fortitude.

Tears threatened to fall from Emerald's face, but somehow she stopped herself from crying. She wasn't going to fall apart, not while Miss Vanhomrigh was there. Instead she did as she was told, she locked her weapons open. She didn't need to even look at them to do it. 

Then Esther shoved her hand against her cheek and started to scream some more. Despite how close she was yelling against her ear, Emerald had a hard time hearing anything but her own heartbeat. She got the message nonetheless. 

"...ROOM #30B AT 0945!" She shouted, directing her attention towards the tree despite Esther blocking her view of it. 

Diamond's aura flared up dangerously and Esther crept closer to her hat, her eyes narrowing. She didn't know whether that was what stopped the bastard teacher form hell or if she never intended to go through with whatever it was she was doing, but it didn't matter - offense bloody taken!

She was trembling, her fists clenched as the goddamn woman started taking out whatever grievances she had with her on her teammates. The thief didn't know how was it that Vandemon knew exactly what buttons to push to wind up her nerves, but she was doing it flawlessly, regardless of whether she studied her files or if she was acting beyond asshood on instinct.

When she mentioned the previous mission, there was just a sliver of real emotion in her expression. At that moment, Diamond finally figured out what she was doing. It didn't make her like the teacher any better, but her shadow that has been creeping behind Esther without Diamond even realizing returned to its original shape.

At least they seemed to agree on one thing, not that Diamond would ever say something like that to Cobalt's face. Unlike Esther, she had class - even when telling someone they were human garbage. Any sympathy the teacher might have gained though was gone with her renewed assault on Emerald.

Diamond could stomach words. In through one ear, out through the other. But when Vanhomrigh got physical, all bets were off. Diamond's hands flown to those that were shaking Emmy by the head, prying them off of the cat faunus. She mimicked the sick smile perfectly as she spoke.

"That's far enough. I think I see what you're doing. Hell I might even approve of your point. But I will not let you stomp on the closest thing I have to a family. Strike me down, have me expelled, I don't care!" her expression turned more stern, rage apparent form it and the faint underlying growl in Diamond's tone, "But lay another finger on them and you will hurt. Maybe not now. But I'll be there. Always close to you. Watching. Breathing down your neck. And when you think I'm gone-" she snapped her fingers, making an audible click and leaving the sentence unfinished as she let go of the teacher's hands.

Cobalt looked at Esther in the eyes throughout her entire tirade. This was quite the overreaction, this was most certainly not war time. Unfortunately she was completely right, as of right now he had no control over "his" team. He simply stood there and took her verbal abuse, feeling her hands smush into his face over and over again.

She left him alone and went over to Emerald to begin yelling at her again. At this point Cobalt wanted to throttle Esther so much.  He kept an impassive look on his face and watched Emerald scream at a tree for absolutely no reason. This was such a insane way of doing things, she was making everyone do the most pointless tasks. 

Cobalt walked over to Diamond, Esther, and Emerald and nodded in agreement with Diamond. "Hands off. You want to shake, hit, or hurt someone than hit me. It's like you said, I'm to be held accountable for my team's actions."  He stood there and waited for a reaction. Meanwhile his mind was racing as he thought about the current situation. As he saw it, this entire situation was unsavable. But maybe they could tough out their mission and never have to see this b*tch again.

Esther smiled slightly, looking at her hands and flexing her fingers after Diamond pried her hands off of Emerald's cheeks. It was enough to know that she got a reaction out of Diamond. Esther had won there and it pleased her immensely to no end. Again choosing to ignore Cobalt and Diamond's words Esther leaned forward and once again invaded Emerald's personal space. Only this time, she wasn't pressing the hard black brim of her cover against the faunus girl's forehead. Her facial expression softened and twisted into one of deep sympathy as she clucked her tongue.

"How precious. isn't it just so sweet how much your team mates care for you Ms. Felicia?"
Lightly brushing aside some stray hairs from Emerald's face, she quietly made some shushing noises. It may have been a little unnerving to witness Esther's apparently skill of swapping personalities with the blink of an eye.
"You must be the team's precious little babe. Poor dear."

As this was going on, Oswald slowly turned towards Ms. Vanhomrigh, with a stunned and somewhat disgusted look on his face, making a motion with his hands as if to say "What in the fuck?"

Esther's eyes flicked upward to lock onto Oswald as the fire was cranked up once more.
"I CAN'T HEAR YOU SCREAM QUIETLY, MR. CONNOLY~! WHY AREN'T YOU DONNING AND DOFFING YOUR ARMOR FASTER, MR. CONNOLY~!"
Looking back to Emerald she gave her a motherly and warm smile as she continued.
"Tell me, dearest girl. You aren't afraid of me, are you?"

Sighing internally as the near-psychotic professor went back to tormenting Emerald, Oswald went back to his asinine task. Donning. And Doffing. And quietly screaming, or loudly whispering, OR WHAT EVEN WAS HE DOING AT THIS POINT.

Emerald almost looked confused, Esther wasn't screaming at her anymore. Somehow that didn't really make her feel any better. "...y-yes!" She didn't have any reason not to be honest. 

Esther smiled and even chuckled.
"At least you're an honest girl. There, there...Now I didn't make you want to cry, did I?"

Emerald shook her head. "Y-You got close..." Her voice was raspy from all the yelling.

"Ohh...Just close? Do you still want to cry? If you do then it's okay. You can cry for me and let it out. I promise you I won't make fun of you anymore or make you do anything else if you cry for me. I'm a woman of my word." Gingerly, her fingers cupped Emerald's cheek in a kind gesture.

Emerald looked suprised. "R-Really?"

Esther smiled and nodded once, her voice soft and soothing.
"Really."

It seemed like Esther was giving her permission to cry, Emerald didn't know what to make of it. She didn't need much encouragement to do so, considering well...everything. 

Esther looked into the chambers of Emerald's weapons and assured they were cleared of any dust rounds. Looking back into Emerald's eyes, she continued.
"Clear. You can go ahead and relax. Holster your weapons."

She was still smiling, her voice sugary-sweet.

"Tell me something, Ms. Felicia. Do you have a family waiting for you somewhere? Do you miss them? I mean, it must be so scary and new to be here at Beacon and away from home. In such a foreign place with mean people like me yelling at you to do things you don't want to do."

Straightening up, she folded her arms behind her back at a sort of 'parade rest' position, which was her typical stance.

"So, if you feel like crying and saying you miss your mommy and daddy, go right ahead. I won't do anything. I really don't want to have to yell and scream any more."

Her body language didn't seem to betray any dishonesty. Her posture slackened ever so slightly, softening to where she didn't exactly 'loom' ominously and aggressively over anyone.

Did, did she want her to cry? As much as Emerald wanted too, she was sure of one thing, she didn't want to give her the satisfaction. 

"I uh...I think I'm okay for now...thanks for the offer." 

Leaning forward and pressing the brim of her cover against Emerald's forehead once more. She stood there silently as she stared into the girl's eyes and searched them. Looking for...something.

Squinting for some odd reason, Esther straightened back up and resumed her normal rigid posture that exhuded constant aggression.

"I said holster your weapons, Ms. Felicia."

"Y-Yes Ma'am!" Emerald did what she was told, holstering her weapons as quickly as she dared.

She pointed a finger at Oswald and barked a command at him.
"YOU!"
Snapping her fingers, she simply said..
"Stop!"

And Oswald, thankfully, stopped. Letting out a long breath, he looked at Ms. Vanhomrigh expectantly.

"Did I fucking say you can look at me? Head and eyes forward, dipshit!"

Responding dutifully, Oswald locked his head, and eyes, directly forward.

Turning back to Emerald, Esther gave her a little assignment.

"Ms. Felicia. There are five universal gun safety rules. I want you to find out what they are on your own. I want you to memorize them. Once you have committed all five to heart, I want you to teach your team leader what they are until he knows it by heart. After you are certain that you both have those five rules forever engrained into your little gray brains, I want the two of you to recite them to me at some point in the future. Any day, any time. Secondly, after the completion of your mission pass or fail, I want you to print off your class schedule and personally deliver it to me at my class. I will be sending a request to Headmaster Ozpin to reschedule you into Professor Iderson's and my own class at Practice. Do I make myself clear? Do you understand me?"

Did... that actually work? Diamond blinked in surprise. Apparently different teachers required different handling. She wasn't going to argue with it though. Stepping a pace back, she kept her eyes pointed to the teacher, wondering whether cupping anyone's cheek should clarify as violating her condition of no touching.

When she all but ordered someone to sign up for her class - which was supposed to be the decision of the student - she wanted to clock her. Something else interested her though, and she leaned against the yelling tree, waiting for how the team would react to it.

Emerald nodded slowly. "I understand, yes Miss Vanhomrigh." Emerald was certainly not in any mood to argue, and her demands we're all that unreasonable to Emmy. She hadn't picked Practice as a class because she hadn't believed it was necessary, but apparently it was. 

Throwing her arms up in the air, Diamond sighed. "I am on a team pf p*s." she exclaimed, shooting Emerald a look, "No offense... But can ONE of you stand your ground? Good grief you don't HAVE TO listen to her, it's YOUR elective!" Waving her arm, she gave up.

Still ignoring Diamond and Cobalt, Esther let Diamond say her piece without comment or reaction. Instead, she snapped her fingers a second time and pointed over to Oswald, giving Emerald her last command. "Move. Stand over there and be quiet."

Emerald did so, moving over towards Oswald. She was more than happy to get away from Esther for a while. 

Smoothing the front of her coat out and tugging on her white gloves, she briefly examined the front of her outfit before once again folding her hands behind her back and turning to Diamond.

"Now why don't you tell your team how you really feel, Ms. Frost?"
Adjusting her cover to sit just a centimeter more centered and a millimeter tighter on her head, she continued.

"If you even think for a moment that your empty threats begin to faze me, then you should truly think of dropping out of Beacon and becoming a two-bit comedian, Ms. Frost. Even if by some snowball's chance in Hell you were able to bring harm to me and even possibly end my life, you'd only be doing me a favor Ms. Frost. However, I must thank you."

Esther said no more and gave no explanation as to why she suddenly thanked Diamond. But by her tone of voice, it was inclined that Esther was thanking her for essentially losing. For breaking. Diamond had reacted and reacted with anger. From Diamond's words, it made it clear to Esther how best to get at her. Diamond handed Esther the ammunition she needed to hurt her, and in turn Esther hoped that Diamond realized she gave a complete stranger this advantage and worked to cover it. Turning to Cobalt, she sighed boredly.

Slipping out her Scroll to check the time, she locked it and pocketed it before looking back up at the team leader.

"You new Beacon students are always a chuckle. Who do you think you are giving me, a faculty member of Beacon, an order? Like I said before, you're nothing but a cockroach to me. Do understand, Mr. Chideta. That I, a complete stranger to you and your team, was able to wrest control of your team and command them in a way that you never could. I am done with you all. This is your chance to walk away and sign your team up for a different mission or to grow some balls and take my mission."

Taking long and powerful strides, Esther stood in front of Oswald but continued to speak to Cobalt.
"I don't feel like repeating myself so you'll have to rely on the information that Ms. Felicia has. If you arrive late or at the wrong room, the blame is to her for failing to memorize basic information and to you all for failing to memorize it yourselves when you heard it. Leaving on Ms. Felicia with that critical knowledge."
Leaning in, Esther stared into Oswald's eyes once more.
"Hmm. I must ask."
Shaking her head, still speaking loudly and clearly for all to hear.
"Why are you not this team's leader, Mr. Connoly? You are far more worthy in my own opinion. You wouldn't let this team fall apart, would you? You would train and teach them well and keep them in line, wouldn't you?"
Did Esther honestly mean what she said was the question. Or was it another test to get under Cobalt's skin?

"When people follow me, they tend to die." Staring directly into her eyes defiantly, Oswald dared Esther to challenge him.

"And you can't take that, can you. Hmm? Mr. Connoly?"

Slowly exhaling, Oswald closed his eyes for a few moments before speaking. "What did it feel like the first time you killed someone with your own two hands? Did it kill you inside? Did you tell yourself the same things I did? That it was better that way? Did you believe yourself? Or is this part of your retribution? Slaving away to teach children how to fight?"

A few tense moments passed as Esther remained silent and still.
"You want to know what it felt like for me, to kill someone with my own hands? Is that right, Mr. Connoly?"

Oswald only cocked an eyebrow in response. "I'm not a fan of mind games, ma'am. I asked what I asked. Last week wasn't my first experience, but it's been a long while. I've been wondering, and you seemed the perfect person to ask. Did it kill you inside? Because I couldn't tell, I died with the greater half of my team."

"Hmm. Sad. I love games. A mouthy little fucker, aren't you? Oho, and I seem like the perfect person to ask. Is that so? Well, I'll tell you Mr. Connoly. How it felt for me. Wet. It felt wet, Mr. Connoly. My uniform was soiled. I had to do a lot of laundry some days. Pity, really."

Straightening up, Esther walked past them. Heels of her boots clacking loudly regardless of the surface she walked on. "You are all dismissed." As she left the Beacon Commons to vanish elsewhere, she exploded on the congregation of random students that had gathered. "GET THE FUCK BACK TO CLASS BEFORE I SHOVE MY BOOT SO FAR UP YOUR ASSHOLES YOU CAN TASTE WHAT I SHINE THEM WITH!" and like cockroaches they all scattered. Shortly after, Esther had gone. Off to do whatever it was she did.

After Esther was out of earshot, Oswald turned to his team mates. "You all remember where she wanted us to go, right? Room 30, 0945." His face was stony, with hints of anger bubbling underneath the surface. "Just to piss that bitch off, let's show up at different times. But not late, of course, no, not late."

Emerald didn't say anything, she just stood where she was, a blank expresion on her face. 

Cobalt nodded and looked at his hands. He had punctured his skin with his nails. Annoying. What was more annoying was just how right Esther had been and how much it had bothered him. He wiped his hands on his jacket, it was dark enough to hide the blood, and looked at everyone. "I'm going to go get something to drink." Cobalt walked off to find a vending machine and to think on Esther's words.

Teh thug looked Esther in the eyes as she spoke to her, her expression not changing one bit. She made it a point to always be honest with somebody when they were a bother, something she was sure Cobalt knew by now. And if Esther thought the only way to make her hurt was through physical harm, she was welcome to be oblivious. She kept watching the teacher's aide until she left.

"Room 30B, are you trying to have us yelled at some more?" Diamond rolled her eyes at Oswald. Why don't you rather put your armor on and off a couple more hundred times since you apparently love it so much. she thought bitterly. If she didn't expect one thing it would be the muscle man of the 'team' - she was having trouble calling this group of four that any longer - to just stand and watch one of them being for all intents and purposes assaulted. Even the gangs took care of their own. GANGS! Street mobsters who half the time stabbed each other in the back bonded together like no army could when someone from the outside hurt one of thir own. The honorable hunters apparently not so much.

Her frown only deepened as Cobalt walked off. "Sure. Leave alone. Prove her point some more. What a douche." she growled under her breath. "You know what?" She continued out loud, "I'll bite, and sign up for that jarhead's class. Because if this is the kind of teamwork and aid I can expect when I'm in a pinch, I'm gonna need all the practice I can get just to make it out alive. Going to fill up the paperwork right away before I change my mind." Her eyes ticked to Emerald, "You coming too, or are you afraid of handing the forms over too early and violating orders?"

"My apologies for forgetting the fucking B." Grabbing his gear, Oswald got himself back into a prepared state and stopped in front of Diamond. Whispering very quietly, he leaned in to his team mate. "You all lost. You gave her reactions because you can't control yourselves. I won. Don't underestimate me, Diamond, because you'll regret it. I don't know about you, but I was just trying to bear it. You think I like putting on a hundred fucking pounds of gear a few dozen times? I did it because not listening would have only made it worse."

As he spoke, Oswald's voice slowly grew louder, and tendrils of a deep black aura began radiating a few inches off of his body. "YOU didn't have to go into that fucking cave, Diamond. You want to look at me like I'm letting you all down, fine, but you didn't have to go into that FUCKING CAVE." Walking away from her, he moved over to Emerald and laid a hand on her shoulder as his Aura calmed itself. "Ya did good, kid. Ya did good."

Diamond’s own aura flared as Oswald leaned too close for comfort, surrounding the duo with what could easily be called their collective negativity from its looks. If Diamond’s blood wasn’t approaching the boiling point, she might even wonder at the similarity. As it stood though, she had to fight the urge to start yelling. She couldn’t remember a time when it was so hard to keep her composure, and that wasn’t a good omen.

“Go ahead and keep thinking that. So you seen a few oppressed people. That is the fucking reality of the god awful world we live in, time to let that sink in! Do you know how shitty things were years ago, war and everything? The difference between you and I is that while you stand by hoping stuff doesn’t get any worse, I try to do something about it. And I’ll be damned if I apologize for that.” she finished, turning on her heel and walking off to get the paperwork she wanted. She needed a few moments to calm down, lest she’d do something she’d actually regret.

Ignoring Diamond, Oswald turned to Emerald and shrugged. "Left those folks in the mine everything we had for that mission. Killed the Grimm, took care of the guards and that Rice bastard. I took action when it mattered. Diamond...no, forget it. Her and I will have that chat later."

Emerald looked up at Oswald, her face was a bit puffy but to her credit she had yet to start crying. "Thanks Oswald...but um, I think we should probably all arrive at the same time...I don't want to be yelled at again." The cat Faunus shivered.

"Agreed. Let's catch up to Diamond and try to find Cobalt."

"Do you think Cobalt has a chance to be..." Emerald didn't finish that sentence.

"Cobalt has the chance to be a lot of things. It depends on him what he becomes. Now let's go, Em. Don't wanna keep her waiting any longer."

"Kay." Emerald started followng after Diamond, but not before making sure Oswald was following. Diamond had looked pretty upset, though it was hard to blame her after what they'd just been through. 

Cobalt headed to Room 30 and saw Emerald and Oswald on the way there. He walked up beside them and waved, he didn't feel like talking right now. After a quick text to Diamond to try and get there at the same time as them, Cobalt began thinking over his position as leader of the team and whether or not he could do it. He glanced at Oswald and Emerald and shook his head. Oswald would be a good leader but he didn't have the... willingness. Meanwhile Emerald didn't have the mindset nor the intelligence unfortunately. It was harsh but true.

Filling the papers didn't take long, and Diamond shown up not even half a minute after everyone else, with five minutes to spare. Truth to be told, she thought about switching this period to different class already - gym was hardly even challenging as her body could outdo almost everyone in her class, and with her new spellwork, Practice class sounded like something she would need a great deal more. She just lacked the push to get herself to submit the paperwork. Well, at least the earlier exchange was good for something.

Listing that as the official reason for requesting the transfer, she dumped one copy into the mailbox at the door of the headmaster's office and took the other with her to give to the screeching harpy. She realized that would probably only mean she would then hand it to Inderson, but she wanted to see how the demon instructor would react.

Room #30B


Esther stood behind her desk, her cover removed and neatly set in front of her with her hands folded behind her back as was her usual posture. On the wall behind her was a large holographic screen that appeared to display a report of some sort. Namely, a report detailing the finer points of Team CODE's upcoming mission. Her rifle was unslung from her back and set against the wall just behind her desk, a few feet away from her. There was clearly no magazine inserted, the chamber was locked open, and a sharper eye could see the safety selector was switched to 'SAFE'. Moving ever so slightly, she could feel Team CODE's presense just outside of her door. Slipping out her Scroll to check the time, the faintest smirk tugged at the corners of her lips. "All early, I see. All present and accounted for." She thought to her self as she pocketed her Scroll and leaned her head from side to side to pop a few tense joints in her neck. Smoothing the front of her coat, she made minor adjustments to her uniform before projecting her voice towards the classroom entrance.

"Enter!"
She beckoned to Team CODE.

Cobalt stepped forwards after making sure all of his gear and his uniform was neat and orderly. He looked over his team quickly and nodded in approval. They looked acceptable, hopefully Esther would be in a better mood. He straightened his posture and began to speak. "Team CODE reporting for duty ma'am!" Cobalt noticed that Esther's rifle was unloaded, he squinted and saw the safety on. That made him somewhat angry but he quickly hid it. "What are your orders ma'am?" He looked at Esther with a neutral gaze and awaited orders. He subtly signalled for everyone else to straighten up as well.

Esther stood stock still. She didn't move. She didn't make a sound. She had to combat every urge to fly screaming across the room to bite Cobalt's head off. She forced down the contents of her stomach as it turned and churled. Every fiber in her being felt horribly offended and cried bloody murder. The sight of Cobalt. The words that fell out from his mouth like diarrehea. It took every bit of her self-control and bearing to not allow any part of her to betray a single eye twitch. A single curl of the lip into a viper-like sneer. Tensing her jaw she fought to not grind her teeth. How dare he make a mockery. Parodying the military with his actions and speech. Her blood raged through her veins burning molten hot and roared in her ears. But, just as quickly as her terrible mood came, she reined herself in. To anyone else eying her, it would just appear as if she stood oddly silent. As if disinterested. Staring at Cobalt with cold, dead, and bored eyes. 

Turning on her heels in a sharp and crisp about face, she looked up at the displayed screen projected onto the wall behind her. Looking over her shoulder, she quietly but clearly instructed Team CODE.
"Sit down. Shut up. Take out your Scrolls. We'll begin the mission briefing once you all have done so."
Raising a white gloved hand to potentially silence the one troublesome member of Team CODE...
"...And before you make any smart ass remark, Ms. Frost. We'll be continuing the briefing even if you decide to be a little snot and act out like a spoiled child."
Motioning with her hands, Esther rearranged the holographic screens to organize them for easier reading.
"Also...Mr. Chideta? You're not in the military here at Beacon. You're a student. You haven't even graduated and truly earned the title of 'Hunter'. Do not disrespect the actual women and men fighting out there, in uniform. Or did you hope to win favor with me by acting how you think I want you to act? Say what you think I want to hear?"
Looking over her shoulder, she shot a heart-stopping glare at him. Squinting slightly.
"Don't answer that. I'm not in the mood for lame excuses."
Head and eyes looking forward, she briefly skimmed over the reorganized information. Breezing through multiple pages before satisfied with her shuffling of holographic panels.

Following behind Cobalt and sitting down as ordered, Oswald swallowed quietly and began to rethink his position on their professor's stability. Maybe she was a little batshit crazy?

Emerald sat down as she was told, pulling out her Scroll as she did. She was starting to wonder if she should be keeping track of how many times Cobalt made an ass of himself. 

Diamond nearly choked when Esther said they were not in the military. That was a beautiful irony. Despite everything though she sat down and patiently waited. Truth to be told she wished somebody had delivered actual information on their first mission. Perhaps this time around they would know what they're stepping into for real - unless an agricultural corporate criminal shown up this time.

Cobalt narrowed his eyes and sat down. This was quite annoying. All he wanted was to not get yelled at and everything he did caused him to get yelled at. This woman is completely insane! Cobalt took a deep breath and counted to five in his head.

Grabbing at the air in front of her, she 'collected' the report she compiled with the motion of her hands. Throwing the same hand behind her towards the four seated Huntsman-to-be, a notification/download link was sent to their Scrolls. "As vaguely detailed the mission summary, a pack of Grimm have been detected in the western farmlands that is responsible for a majority of Vale's food production." Esther pointed at a map and the holographic image in front of her zoomed into an encircled zone. "Surrounding the border of this large tract of land is an unmanned and automated weapon system that doubles as the surveillance for the area." Swiping to the side at the air with her right hand, the panel shifted to what appeared to be a video feed pointed outwards into a dense forest. "Observe this short video clip of one of the many automated turrets."

Hands folded behind her back, Esther stood silently as she watched the footage for probably the millionth time. In the video, the camera mounted into the turret panned periodically from side to side. Nothing appeared out of the ordinary. All was still. All was quiet. In the last remaining seconds, a large object fell from the sky and smashed directly onto the eye of the turret knocking it out of alignment and pointing its gaze down at the ground. From the audio that played, sounds of electrical crackling and twisting metal was heard before the feed was cut. Reaching out with her hand, Esther opened up a multi-display holo-panel of other similar but different clips. In none of the footage is it ever clearly heard or seen what attacked the defense system.

"Make no mistake, your priority is not the maintenance or repair of this defense system. As Hunters-in-training, your priority is the safety of the masses. The well-being of the people. Obviously, it is unclear what had attacked the border. However, immediately after these synchronized attacks Grimm sighting reports escalated. Correlating the two, one can safely assume that the Grimm were responsible for the security breaches at the border." Swiping at the air rapidly, Esther scrolled through multiple images of the automated turrets that had been damaged. Each turret was the same, their cameras were destroyed. Their internals ripped out, disabling them. "Judging from the few sightings by the local townspeople and their descriptions, it is assumed that the type of Grimm chiefly responsible are Grievers." Swiping at the air, a panel displaying blurred images of the named Grimm popped up. Clearly, the photos were taken by brave souls, presumably Hunters in the midst of combat. In one of the corners of the panels was an artist's rendition of the Griever. Esther paused, sighing heavily and her eyes briefly fell to the ground. Turning round to face Team CODE, her tone became slightly more serious and grave. "Team Codex. Grievers, though they may only be officially classified in the 'Klein' category, under NO circumstances are you to underestimate them. Grievers are known to be masters of stealth. They are highly intelligent and they are some of the cruelest Grimm currently known to us. It is assumed that they are nocturnal, primarily active at night. Which is why you will all be doing this mission during the brightest hours of the day. Your job is to locate where the Grimm have made their nest while they are asleep and exterminate them. Once the Grimm have been routed and the area returns to its normal state of security, your mission will be considered successfully completed. After your extraction and return to Beacon, a maintenance team will be 
launched to restore the defensive border."

Turning back around towards the enlargened holo-panels on the wall, she swiped yet again. This time the display showed small residential areas. The neighboring small town. Population: Appx. 600. "Potential civilian casualties are projected to be minimal-to-none. The town is located some distance away from the farmlands, approximately 15 kilometers or 9 miles away. That is where your team will be inserting so get ready for a little walk with all of your equipment. I shouldn't have to mention it, but understand what could happen should you allow too many of those Grimm to survive. It goes without saying that if the townspeople die, are harmed, or incapacited in any way that the consequences could be dire. A mere 600 people dead could mean a projected 60,000 to 100,000 lives lost to famine. Potentially higher than even that."

A swipe of the hand, a picture of massive towers with two 'arms' stretching outward. It didn't take an expert to see that these towers were responsible for the planting, fertilization, and watering of the crops. A second picture showed the vehicles that drove on predetermined paths across the land to harvest. Esther hated the redundancy of some parts of mission briefings and reports, but she pressed on. "These are the machines responsible for 90% of crop production. The other 10% being the actual farmers and maintenance workers themselves to ensure everything functions as they should. It should go without saying, but if you allow the Grimm to discover their importance to us and they are damaged..." Esther paused, whether on purpose for dramatic effect or not, no one could say. "Every harvester or tower down, are more mouths that will starve. So don't think this is some Sunday stroll on the farm, play-acting as Old MacDonald."

Doing another about-face, Esther stared up at the panels displayed for all to see and more for the students looking down at their Scrolls browsing.
"Numbers of Grimm are unknown. It is suspected that they are looking for a new place to call home. It's your job to show them the door."
Turning and walking around her desk, Esther stopped a few feet short of the team of Hunters-to-be.
"Simply put, this is a Search-and-Destroy. I, myself, will be your reinforcement should you find yourselves in a situation that you cannot get out of."
Returning to her desk, she opened a drawer and pulled out a black case. Opening the case, she revealed four small devices. Three had a disk like shape, the fourth a strange twisted form.
"These will be your headsets to communicate with one another without the use of your Scrolls. In addition to providing you with a method of comms, there is a small camera installed within them. Now, that is not to give you some 'cool' footage to upload onto whatever social media sites you all browse nowadays. Instead, the camera will be able to keep track of how many Grimm you exterminate. To motivate you all to do well at your jobs, I will be providing a mission bonus. 10 Lien for each confirmed Griever kill. Finally, as you all move to the airdocks, there will be four crates waiting for you under guard. In those crates are replacement parts and supplies for the automated turrets. If in your mission you find yourself across a damaged turret, you can attempt basic field repairs to restore the defensive line. They may become useful to you in your mission, should you find yourself overwhelmed. Be mindful of their contents, however. They contain volatile Dust as their power supplies and ammunition. They're also not very light, but you'll be happy to know they come with manuals." Was it possible? Could it be? Did Esther make a very miniscule off-hand joke? Catching her breath and sighing heavily once more. She locked eyes with each member of team Code, as her expression...softened?

"I'll say this again. Your focus is just to kill as many Grimm as you possibly can and come back alive. If you can't fix a turret or two, that's not a problem. Located on the headsets you'll be issued is a small red button. If you find yourself in a bad situation that you do not think you can handle, do NOT hesitate to hit that emergency beacon. I will not think less of you. I will not berate you. Hit that button, and I will come."

Expression hardening back to normal, she bellowed out with her voice echoing throughout the room.
"Are there any questions!"

Oswald's eyes narrowed given the exact details of their mission. Grabbing the headsets, he gently tossed one to each of his team mates. Great...we have to protect more people. At least this time it's JUST Grimm. No stupid infighting. Just stupid Grimm and some stupid turrets and...some freaking crops. That should be easy. Easier.

Cobalt nodded and committed all the directions to memory. There would be no misunderstanding of the directions, this was very important. He began plotting out how the mission would go in his head and began making contingency plans. He should be able to repair the turrets, but only to 50 to 70 percent efficiency. The targeting systems would cause him trouble.

As she waited for any comments, questions, and concerns Esther took out her Scroll and brought up some information. Pressing a finger on the screen, she swiped upwards towards Cobalt. She sent him two informational links. One was titled "11 Leadership Principles", the other titled "14 Leadership Traits". "Mr. Chideta. I highly advise you read over that information and commit it to heart. I understand that the position of team leader was forced upon you unwillingly, but somewhere down the line you made the decision to keep it. If you want to leave behind a successful legacy as one my best students as a team leader, you'll do good to study those."

Cobalt took out his Scroll and did a quick glance at the link entitled 11 Leadership Principles. He bookmarked both links and set a mental reminder to check these later. He looked at Esther and studied her closely. This woman was most certainly insane, of that he was sure. But could any Hunter or Huntress really claim otherwise? Cobalt nodded quietly and looked at Emerald, Diamond, and Oswald. There were many things left to be sorted out.

"If we find evidence the defenses were not downed by the Grimm? It wouldn't be the first time we ran into one of us being the reason for the trouble." Diamond asked, not really liking the idea and hoping that won't be the case, but they didn't really see what it was that took out the turret's optics.

Emerald listened to the details of the mission carefully, her ears flicking occasionally whenever she heard something that surprised her. If she was honest, hearing about how important the success of the mission was made her a little nervous, people could die if they failed! 

She took a quick breath, all they had to do was kill all the Grimm, she didn't have to worry about anything else. She didn't even think about the defense turrets, as she didn't know the first thing about fixing one of those. 

Oswald visibly deflated as Diamond asked the question that he'd purposefully avoided. This wasn't supposed to be another mission like last week's. Kill the Grimm. That was their job. Maybe fix some turrets if they could figure out the manual. If somebody was responsible for destroying these turrets, their talk would be long, slow, and painful.

Esther looked to Diamond and appeared slightly annoyed. Then again, when did she ever not look annoyed?
"Need I say again, Ms. Frost? Your primary objective is solely the extermination of any and all Grimm. If you happen across evidence that suggest foul play at someone else's hands, properly document the information for your mission debriefing."
Slipping out her Scroll, Esther checked the time.
"The bird will be here shortly. As a final note, to access the prohibited areas outside of the farmlands you'll need special authorization to pass an electrified fence. When you arrive at the town, your point of contact will be a gentleman by the name of Mr. Davis. He will direct you and grant your Scrolls a temporary code to unlock the perimeter fence. If there are no further questions then Ms. Felicia and Mr. Chideta are dismissed to the airdocks. Ms. Frost and Mr. Connoly, you shall remain here for now. "
Pocketing her Scroll, Esther turned around as the holographic panel on the back wall flickered off. Standing with her back facing the young Huntsmen, she addressed Cobalt with a few parting words.
"The flight to the town will take the better part of a half hour. During that time Mr. Chideta, I strongly recommend you have a conversation with yourself and your teammates. Ask yourself, do you know your teammates' strengths? Do you know their weaknesses? What they can and cannot do? Talk to your comrades. Get to know them. Because when the heat is on.."
Esther glanced down at the emblem she wore on her breast.
"They're all you have."
Remaining with her back turned to them all, she said nothing further. Absently examining her golden badge in the light, she wiped off little flecks of dirt and smudges with her white-gloved fingers.

Cobalt nodded and got up. He looked at Emerald with a curious gaze and motioned for her to follow. "Lets go. We can pick up something to drink on our way to the bird." Cobalt was thirsty and he didn't know how long Esther would be talking with Diamond and Oswald. He walked out of the room and waited outside the door for Emerald.

"Uh, okay." Emerald followed after Cobalt, she idly wondered what Esther was going to talk about with Diamond and Oswald. She decided it was none of her business and could honesty use something to drink, her throat still felt dry and scratchy from yelling at an innocent tree. 

Glancing over her shoulder, she waited to hear the sound of the classroom door shutting behind Emerald and Cobalt. Squinting slightly, she waited an additional 30 seconds or so before quietly sighing and walking up to her desk. Removing her white gloves and neatly setting them beside her cover, she turned to sort of sit/lean against its edge facing Diamond and Oswald. Rubbing at her eyes, she turned her head and neck to pop a few tense joints with an audible 'crack'. Unbuttoning the top few buttons on her coat, she reached a bare hand into an inner pocket and pulled out a metal tin and lighter. Opening the tin, she slipped out a long cigarette before closing it and setting it aside. With a flick of her thumb, she clicked the lighter open and ignited it. Filter end of the cigarette already between her lips, she lit the other non-filter end and took a short puff before flicking the lighter shut with her wrist. Cold eyes looking up at Oswald and Diamond, she continued to lean back against the desk in momentary silence. Taking a long, slow drag she exhaled a thick stream of smoke away from the two young Huntsmen. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity she spoke in a tone completely different than what she had been speaking in.

"Diamond. What do you smoke? You need one of mine? You have a lighter at least, right? Or do you need a light too?"
Eyes flitting over to Oswald, she removed the cigarette between her lips with her right index and middle finger and dismissively waved with it in hand.
"Oh, and don't worry. I fucked with the smoke detectors in this room. No alarms will be set off."
Returning the cigarette to her lips, she took another crackling drag before continuing.
"Wouldn't be the first time, certainly won't be the last."
Itching her eyebrow, she smirked.
"I've been written up by Ozpin before, so.."
She didn't finish her sentence. Instead she just shrugged and continued to take drags off of her cigarette.

Raising an eyebrow at Ms. Vanhomrigh's odd behavior, Oswald looked around for a moment. 

"Relax, meathead. This isn't some sort of test. Don't be so serious all the time. You'll wear yourself out needlessly."
Exhale, stream of smoke.

"People not acting seriously is what nearly ruined our last mission. So, forgive me. You read the debrief, I'm sure." While he was less on edge than he had been with Diamond, there was a cold anger to Oswald's words as he spoke. 

Esther again sighed, pointing at Oswald a few times with her cigarette hand.
"I read enough. Enough to know that I needed to do this for you two. Y'know, no one would ever think to teach you...'kids'...this. Probably because most of the other faculty members are idiots, but that's besides the point...."
Pulling out her Scroll and setting it on the table, she tapped on the screen a few times and the holographic panel behind her flickered back on. This time, it displayed the former team's members. It was the report from their last week's mission. As her cigarette smoldered shorter and shorter in her hand, she looked over her shoulder at the images and text that was displayed clear as day.
"...After your last mission, you lost two team members correct?"
Turning her head to look Oswald and Diamond in their eyes, alternating between them.
"Has anyone thought to ask you two if you were okay? Has anyone offered to talk to you both about how you were coping?"

At the mention of their last mission, Oswald's Aura reacted, a small mass of ethereal tendrils appearing in his hand and worming their way around his gauntleted arm. "Only one person asked. And she only saw the state I was in because I'm an idiot." 

"Camels. But no, thank you. I'm trying to get rid of that habit, actually. It wouldn't be good to get into a foul mood in the middle of a mission because I wanted a puff but couldn't get one." Diamond shook her head, not sure what to make of this situation. It cleared soon enough though, as for the first time the teacher spoke what was actually on her mind. Wonders never cease.

She stayed quiet as Oswald spoke, figuring out he needed this more than she did. Waiting her turn, she sighed and shook her head again. "I've seen enough of the dark in the world to grow... resilient." she said uneasily, "Far worse then what we saw a week ago. I was over it on Monday. I don't know whether that means that I am stronger or just more awful person, but there's no need for concern of my mental health." she shared, fairly certain her picture just sank even lower in Oswald's mind, but it was how she was. And frankly, she thought for herself, I'd need a month long talk with an actual therapist to get over all of that.

Esther quietly leaned there, looking between the two of them as her cigarette was nearing the end of its life. Streams of smoke slowly burning off of its cherry. Opening the metal tin that sat beside her, she snuffed out her first cigarette in it and slipped out a second one. She made a little knowing grunt noise, in response to Diamond. "Hm. Suit yourself. Better person than I am for wanting to quit." Lighting up her second one, she locked eye contact with Diamond. "Resilient, maybe. But not impervious. You can lie to me and everyone else you ever talk to, but you can't lie to yourself like that Diamond. In all my years serving as a Huntress and even here at Beacon, I have never met anyone that didn't need a little help when it came to loss of life. Loss of friends, of family, of loved ones. The reason I'm doing this for you two is because I know. I know that you can't bottle up how you truly feel and tell yourself that everything will be okay because it won't. It'll eat away at your mind, at your spirit. Until finally there's nothing left. When Beacon students are expected to follow a high tempo schedule of classes, training, and mission deployments you have to be at tip-top condition. Mind, body, and spirit. So I'm talking to you two privately, not as your teacher but as a concerned party. The other faculty members here probably feel the same way, yet I doubt any of them would take the time to sit down with you all and sincerely ask 'Are you okay? Do you need someone to talk to?'

Looking back behind her at the details of Oswald's and Diamond's previous mission displayed on the holographic panels, she continued.

"I can take countless days and nights gathering as much information as possible. Compile the most detailed reports anyone has ever seen, yet you will never truly and fully be prepared for the situations that may arise out there in the field. When there are so many variables and uncertainties, it is absolutely lethal to go out with emotional baggage that may hinder you. It'll slow you down. It'll make you second guess yourself. Out there?" She pointed at the holographic panels with her cigarette hand. "Out there, seconds can mean life or death. If it's the latter, then that's just more pain and suffering you'll have to carry with you."
Taking another long drag, she exhaled another billowing cloud of smoke. A slight haze had filled the classroom by this point but Esther didn't show the slightest inkling of caring.
"I ask you both again because I am concerned for your wellbeing. Are you two okay? Do you need someone to talk to? I am here, right now, for you both if you decide you need to get a few things off of your chest."
She fell silent for a few seconds, straightening up as she sat on the edge of her desk. A thought crossed her mind. Pointing at the two of them, she asked another question.
"When was the last time you two talked to one another about what had happened?"

While Esther was talking, every time she mentioned death or the mission, the shadowy tendrils crawled further up his arm, slowly overtaking his torso. It took until now for Oswald to even notice the phenomenon, and after a few moments of slow breathing, his Aura reined itself in, fading to invisibility once more. "I'm not really sure we talked about it. I know Diamond doesn't want to talk about it. I can't help but think about what happened, though. How he looked, laying there on the ground."

Standing up and turning away from the girls, Oswald continued. "I knew there wasn't anything that could be done. He was bleeding, internally and externally. All I did was speed it up, but...there was so much death. It's been a long time since I saw that much death. It nearly killed me last time. Made me into....something different. Colder. Angrier. Made me realize just what kind of world we truly live in. The Grimm aren't the only threat, and that fact makes me...it makes me realize why sometimes...the hardest things to do are the best things to do."

Turning around, Oswald looked Esther in the eyes, his own brimming with emotion and determination. "The only thing I regret is that we killed some of those Faunus in the crossfire. And that we couldn't save them all." Again, the tendrils began to appear from his Aura, only this time they seemed calm. Rather than a warning of imminent danger, it was a beacon of intent.

Placing her elbow on her thigh and leaning her cheek against her fist, cigarette between her lips Esther was quite as she digested Oswald's words. 
She had a dull sheen to her eyes as she maintained eye contact with Oswald. Pointing one finger up, she posed a question to him.
"Did you save at least one life?"

"Saved plenty. Diamond made sure the heartless bastard responsible for the operation got brought in, too. I think, what, four or five of the guards in total survived? A lot more of the-"
Esther put up a hand and cut him off.
"I asked a simple question, Oswald. It's just a 'Yes, ma'am' or 'No, ma'am'. Did you save at least one innocent life?"

Sighing, Oswald nodded in the affirmative. "Yes, ma'am."

Opening her hands and exposing her palms to him, she made a face.
"Then you did your job as a Hunter. That's one life that is allowed to continue on. That is one life that you're responsible for rescuing. Take solace in that."
Inhale, exhale. Another stream of smoke.
"As Huntsmen, we all need to come to realize that we are in a constant state of war. Like you said, our enemies are not always terrifying monsters and beasts hiding out in caves and forests waiting to come rip out our throats. Our war is on multiple fronts and you already seem to know this. An unfortunate ugly truth to war is that innocent lives will be lost. People whether good or bad will die and there will be nothing any one of us can do about it. We're only human and faunus, we're not Gods. Now, I say this not to comfort you. It's not to sugar-coat and sweeten what I'm saying to you to help you feel better about yourself. I'm simply stating the truth. The cold, hard facts. I say all this to cement this into your mind."
She tapped against the side of her head.
"So that you can learn acceptance. The sooner you can learn acceptance, the faster your heart can heal. Cry your tears. Shake your fist at the skies. Beat at the ground until your knuckles bleed and the skin peels off. Pray to your fallen, and move on. Life is fleeting and short, Oswald. Do you have any right to let the detestable face of this world wither your spirit? Do you have any right to let it get you down and depress you to where you can no longer enjoy your own life and be happy? In my opinion that is the biggest insult that you can spit in the eyes of the dead. Don your armor. Brandish your sword and shield. Hold your head up high with a smile on your face as you cut down those demons and carry with you a legacy. Take all of that loss you've seen and carry it with you on that legacy towards the future. A better, brighter future for all."
She smirked, removing the cigarette from her lips.
"Do you think after all I've seen and done that I'm an unhappy person?"
She wagged a finger at him.
"Don't answer that. I'll tell you. I think I'm a very happy person. I enjoy what I do here at Beacon and enjoy the life I lead."
Returning the cigarette to her lips, she continued.
"I wake up in the morning and go through a routine. I come here to Beacon and I have the pleasure of instructing many bright and promising young Huntsmen. As a bonus, I get to enjoy crushing the spirits of some of your peers for my own amusement. At the end of the day, satisfied with another productive day, I go home and shower. I change into more comfortable clothes and I go out at night to my favorite bar to enjoy a couple of hard drinks. Properly liquored up, I then walk my happy ass home and hit the sack. Sleeping well at night, knowing that I'm doing the absolute best I can to help make future Huntsmen smarter, stronger, faster, and harder. Just as you have and many others like you, I've seen my fair share of death. But the thing is, none of us are alone in this. We all have brothers and sisters just like us going through the same things we're experiencing. So don't carry your burdens by yourself and let it weaken you. Take it all in and let it grow you and make you a better man. Don't get hung up on one nasty first mission. You have thousands ahead of you in the years to come."

Sitting down, Oswald nodded at Esther, his head lowered in thought as the tendrils once again disappeared.

As Esther spoke, all she succeeded in was making Diamond feel like she described, whereas before she was fine. Bravo, Teach. It was easier said then done though. What, like she could open up to everyone about what she has been doing up until now? No thanks, she'd rather stay miserable and outside of jail. And her logic was fine for someone who got to the academy because they wanted to be hunters. She didn't. But there was not much more left for her to do if she wanted to stay clean from now on. Sinking into her seat, she kept silent, ready to be dismissed.

Esther looked at the two of them, having nothing further to really say. At that precise moment, her Scroll chimed. Glancing down at it, she clucked her tongue. 
"If neither of you have anything else to say either to myself or each other, you are both dismissed. The bird is here. Take my words to heart if you so choose. Just remember that my door is always open and my Scroll is always on by my side."
Waving at them lazily, she took another drag of her cigarette.
"It should go without saying, but what was discussed here will remain confidential. If either of you break this..."
Her eyes looked over to her rifle, DSTR. Smirking, she took another drag and exhaled.
"Well. It should go without saying."
Finishing off her cigarette she got off of her desk and turned around to pick up her things. Returning her metal tin and lighter to her inner pocket and slipping on her white gloves. Buttoning up her longcoat, she remained with her back turned to the two as she straightened herself back up. 

Getting up, Diamond waited until Oswald left before fishing the class swap paperwork from her pocket and setting it on Esther's table. Looking at the teacher, she took a breath. "Don't think this means I suddenly approve of your methods. Frankly I think this is how totalitarian regimes start. Figure of authority. Pointless orders. Uniforms. And before you know it, the monarchy is back, there are banners everywhere and someone is taking up arms to kill every person that looks a tiny bit like an animal. I've had enough of that mentality while I lived in Atlas." she frowned as she shared her honest opinion.

"But unfortunately you are right about safety. And I almost froze myself in a pool the first day after surgery and frankly I am winging the spellwork through instincts, so I need that class, desperately. So whether I like it or not, I'll be seeing you, Teach." she smirked, turning on her heel and walking out.

Eying the packet of papers, Esther picked them up and began leafing through them. 
Smirking to herself, she opened up her Scroll and began to submit her approval for one Ms. Diamond Frost's class transfer to Ozpin.

Meanwhile, Oswald made his way to the airdocks to join Emerald and Cobalt. "Yo."

Standing at the docks as Esther had mentioned was a lone armed guard in equipment unlike any standard Atlesian soldier would wear. Next to him were four neatly stacked crates with bright orange triangular stickers that declared WARNING: CONTENTS CONTAIN VOLATILE EXPLOSIVE MATERIALS!

Tilting his head upon their arrival, the man slightly raised the muzzle of his rifle to indicate an increased state of alertness. Releasing his firing hand from the grip of his rifle, a small holographic panel popped up on his forearm. Looking at the display and up at the faces of Cobalt, Oswald, and Emerald the guard then turned away from them and placed a hand to the side of his head. It sounded like the man was speaking, but only an unintelligible electronic sounding garble could be heard. After contacting...someone, off in the distance an airship designed drastically different from common Atlesian vehicles could be seen barreling straight towards Beacon's airdocks. Within seconds the airship pulled up to the edge of the docks and hit the brakes, nearly crashing into another bird and practically pushing it out of its way. Strong gusts of wind being kicked up from its hard 'parking'. Hovering in the air with its side shown to Team CODE, it carefully rotated on the spot to expose its tail end to the team of Hunters. Slowly, a gate lowered and dropped to provide a ramp to allow the on and offloading of passengers and other things. Looking into the belly of the airship, two other similarly geared soldiers could be seen manning machine guns on the vehicle's left and right sides. The lone guard turned to face the team and simply nodded in the direction of the vehicle, silently ushering them to begin the onloading process.

They all got on board. Oswald was a bit surprised at the sheer....insanity of their transport, but he didn't say a word.

As the four team members boarded the airship, the first soldier tapped their shoulders as they passed by him. Counting them for one reason or another. With all four accounted for, the man grabbed the crates which were locked together and dragged them into the belly of the ship. The two gunners within cleared and locked down their machine guns, working to assist the first soldier. One seated Emerald and Diamond to one side, the other seated Oswald and Cobalt together on the other side. Grabbing their bags of gear and equipment, the two tossed them to the center and began to work on harnessing the Beacon Huntsmen into their seats. The first soldier gathered their things at the center of the ship onto a large metal platform, tossing a net harness over them. Locking them down and tightly securing them. On a small patch located on the front and back of the man's body armor, his callsign was apparently 'STOVE TOP'. The callsign of the soldier seating the two males was 'CARNAL SIN', the soldier seating the females was 'SKI MASK'. Stove Top had finished with his task of locking down their gear. Walking down to the tail end, he palmed a button and began to close up the ramp. The co-pilot tossed four packs back from the cockpit which Carnal Sin and Ski Mask nabbed and set in the laps of the four Huntsmen after making sure their harnesses were snug. Carnal Sin and Ski Mask returned to their machine guns just as Stove Top had finished raising the ramp about halfway up. Plodding up to the cockpit, Stove Top peered his head in. Over the roar of the bird's engines, Stove Top declared with an electronic-sounding voice "FOUR PAX, ALL PRESENT AND ACCOUNTED FOR. SPIN HER UP!" To which the pilot and co-pilot nodded and gave the thumbs-up.

Turning 'round, Stove Top walked to the tail and grabbed onto a metal bar, choosing to remain standing for the time being. The roar of the engines grow more ferocious and loud as they spun up before finally lurching forward and blasting off with a grand sense of urgency. Stove Top amazingly barely budged as the airship rocketed forward as if he was used to it all by now. Peering out the back of the bird, they could all see Beacon Academy's glorious image rapidly growing smaller and smaller until it was out of sight. Once having been in the air for a few minutes, the two gunners grabbed the charging handles of their machine guns and racked them back twice. In unison, they both declared "HALF-LOAD! FULL-LOAD!"

As Carnal Sin and Ski Mask hooked themselves in, Stove Top walked over and sat down next to Cobalt. Harnessing himself in, the three soldiers then returned to their eerie silence. None of them speaking to the Huntsmen for some time as their flight toward their mission began. 

"OK, not that I mind the first class service - as long as there's no orange juice in a champagne glass - but I wonder just what kind of a ride is this going to be if we need to be nailed into the seats-" Diamond whispered to Emerald in wonder, and then the aircraft lurching forward gave her the answer. "Didn't know it was this urgent."

"I like to think of it like a roller coaster, one that's heavily armored and armed to the teeth!" Emerald chirped, clearly enjoying the ride more than she should have. She certainly didn't have any issues with flying, but given her semblance that wasn't too suprising. 

Cobalt began reviewing his Scroll and looking at the links that Esther had sent him. He might not be leadership material, but he would do the best he could for sure. Cobalt closed his Scroll and looked up. "I believe that this would be a good time for a discussion regarding our combat abilities. We can start with our individual Semblances. I'll start." Cobalt stopped for a moment to ponder how to explain. "I can slow down my perception of time, allowing me to make fast decisions on the level of a supercomputer. Or at least close to one."

"I can control air." Emerald briefly wondered if there was anyone who didn't know what her semblance was at this point. She also wondered if perhaps they should have discussed their ablities with each other sooner since apparently not everyone on the team was up to speed on them. "So if we were gonna crash or something we could jump out and I'd slow our fall." 

"I believe the 'good time' to ask that was a day after you showed up. But you've mostly already seen what I bring to the table." Diamond shrugged, turning her shadow into her trusted cane to demonstrate. "What you don't know is that I can use the shadows not only as a weapon, but also as a levitating platform. It's rather tiring though. I fugure half an hour of continuous use before I need to take a breather." she shared, trying not to think of the airship crashing despite what the pilot was doing to it.

"I teleport, with a few damning restrictions. My Semblance is a bit hard to explain. If there is a living creature above some arbitrary size-about the size of a small bird" Oswald said, a free hand traveling to his side for a moment, "-within fifty feet of me, I can teleport onto any point on a hollow foor-foot sphere from it. Technically, I can appear on top of Grimm, but the limitations on massive creatures get more technical, to the point that I don't truly understand them. My Semblance is best for closing distances to protect or attack, obviously. As long as one of you stays about fifty feet from me, I could rush into a horde of Grimm and pull out in the nick of time, without having to worry."

Chuckling, Oswald continued. "I don't really plan to do that, of course, but it's a card we have to play. I lack much in the terms of ranged attacks, but at close quarters I'm practically a living glacier. Attrition fighting is my style. While tournament rules have people removed from combat as their Aura diminishes, my hometown trained us well past that limit. It's why I wear actual armor, for when my Aura breaks and an Ursa tries to get in a swipe at my arm, or some jackass tries to cut my stomach open."

Stove Top looked at each student as they talked, appearing to understand what they were talking about. 
Looking back towards the two gunners, Stove Top called out to them to grab their attention. 
One of them nodded and banged on a surface to get the attention of the pilots. 
The co-pilot poked his head out of the cockpit and looked around. 
The gunner jabbed a thumb in the direction of Stove Top and Stove Top posed a question. 
The co pilot shrugged and put up his hands.
Stove Top jabbed a thumb in Diamond's direction.
They all then seemed to burst out in electronic garbling laughter. 

Wot. "Wh-what? What the..." Oswald looked between the other members of his team, worry and what may just have been terror on his face. 

Stove Top pointed at each of the team members, looking back to shoot off some line at his comrades in his techno-speak tongue.
Every so often, they would all turn to stare at the Hunter/Huntress that appeared to be the subject at the time.
Sometimes, they knowingly and slowly nodded. Possibly out of approval?
Other times, they didn't take whatever was said seriously and seemed to joke and laugh amongst one another.
An inside joke was already formulated as they all made a 'telephone' gesture with their hands and tipped it back with their heads as if drinking something.
One of the Gunners seemed especially interested in Emerald, and waved at her to get her attention. 

Emerald, who out of everyone present had the best hearing, looked bewildered. As she watched the crew members she noticed one waving at her, so she waved back. They all seemed to speak robot, and that was pretty odd. She also noticed them making a telephone gesture and that reminded her of the headset she'd been given, so she decided to put it on. 

Stove Top stood up and walked in front of Emerald, crouching down to adjust her headset for a more proper fit.
Once they were on correctly, Stove Top gave her a thumbs up. 
Bringing up his forearm, he looked at her and tapped on a button. 
Repeating this process over and over.
Static.
Garble.
"-llo..."
"He-..."
"T...es...t.."
"Test. Test. Test. Radio check. Can you hear me clearly?"
Finally, Emerald would be able to understand them. 
Stove Top's voice was far more clear and could be easily understood by her now, though it still sounded like it was being pushed through some electronic filter.

"Yes...I can understand you now." Emerald thought this was pretty weird, but interesting all the same. "Guys, put on your headsets."

Cocking his head to the side, Oswald nonetheless complied, putting his headset on. 

Stove Top laughed and threw up his hands. Turning back to the gunners, he explained to them. "Carnal! 'Ski! UHF Frequency 89.99! We still had our cryptographic communications on!"
Carnal, the gunner who had waved at Emerald angrily bashed his fist against his machine gun. Tapping on a button on his forearm just like Stove Top, his voice came into clarity. "Are you fucking serious?! So did they not understand a word we said just now?"
Ski Mask tapped on his forearm and could be heard sighing. "Calm down Carnal, I'm sure the kitty girl wouldn't want to talk to you anyways. Creeper."
Carnal whirled as best he could and shook his fist at Ski. "What?! It was just a question!"
Ski: "Sure, it was."

Cobalt put on his headset and listened to them rant about something. It appeared as if it had something to do with Emerald. "Right. Have you really been talking to us the entire time?" Cobalt blushed as he realized he probably looked really stupid just then.

Stove Top dismissively waved at Cobalt. "Yeah, but it's not a problem. We should've figured when none of you commented when Carnal made that mimosa...erm...'joke'...that our encrypted comms were still on. We thought that maybe Vanessa would've already had you put 'em on, but it's all cool." Standing up, Stove walked over to Cobalt and pulled up another holographic panel on his forearm display. Reading it, he pulled something off of his equipment. "You're...Cobalt Chideta, right? Team leader for Hunter Team Codex?"

"Yes sir, that would be me. Do you need to give me something?" Cobalt asked Stove Top.

"Yup. Here." Palming something hard against Cobalt's chest, Stove Top handed him a live grenade.

Cobalt gasped and covered it up with his own body as much as he could. Time slowed for him as he looked at the grenade. 

As Cobalt slowed down the perception of time, the other crew members/soldiers could be seen in rowdy postures.

Time went back to normal for him as Cobalt tilted head in confusion.What the hell was going on?

All of the soldiers were laughing. Carnal held his sides. Ski leaned up against his machine gun. Stove was literally rolling on the ground. 
"Fuckin' Captain Atlas over here!" Carnal joked.
"He. Thought. It. Was. LIVE." Ski said inbetween desperate gasps of air. 
Stove got up and quickly cleared his throat, regaining his composure somewhat.
"A-alright boss, you're a good man for that reaction but..."
He pointed a finger at the markings on the grenade.
SMOKE, BLUE SIGNAL MARKER
"It's a smoke grenade, boss." He patted Cobalt's shoulder.
"GOT 'EM!" Carnal slapped his knee, still laughing.
"Boy, that was good. That'll never get old." Ski sighed, content.

Cobalt laughed nervously as he looked at the grenade. "I would've figured it out." He said more for his own dignity than anything else. He held the grenade out to Carnal to give it back.

Emerald was desperately trying not to laugh.

Stove took the grenade and pushed it back towards his chest.
"Listen, Vanessa instructed me to give you one of these. It's just so you can give us a visual indicator of your location once your team has completed your mission. Here, it's got three safeties on it."
He pointed a finger at a little metal pin. "Twist this and pull it out. That's safety one."
He pointed at something that looked like a paper clip. "This is safety two. Just sweep it off of the spool."
Finally, he pointed at the main spool. "Lastly, just pull this part off and toss it. You can contact us using the emergency beacon on your headsets by hitting that little red button. We'll open up our communications channels and you'll be able to talk to us directly. Well, Duck Beard and Gorilla Grunt anyways. Just let us know you're done with your mission and pop this smoke grenade. It'll help us get to you faster so you can get the Hell out of Dodge."
Carnal chimed in, "MAKE LIKE A BABY AND HEAD OUT, KNOW WHAT I MEAN?!"

Oswald couldn't suppress a laugh at Carnal's joke, nearly doubling over for a moment. 
"Hell, yeah! Got one!" Carnal did a stupid little jig/dance.
"Shut the fuck up, Carnal!" Ski shook his head
"What?" Carnal shrugged.

Emerald had to giggle now, had to. These guys were such dorks.

"HEY! HEY! HEY!" Carnal pointed at Emerald rapidly.
Ski groaned, "Damn it, why'd you have to encourage him.."
"GOT ANOTHER ONE!" Carnal did a different stupid jig/dance
"I need something to throw at you." Ski looked around his machine gun for something loose, only to find none.
"Oh, right! Hey, kitty girl! You have any siblings?" Carnal excitedly asked.

Emerald shook her head. "Sadly no, I'm an only child as far as I know." 

Cobalt began chuckling too at the whole situation. That was a pretty good prank. "Now that I've gotten over the shock, that was funny." Cobalt memorized the directions for the grenade and put it in his backpack.

"Agh, damn it! Wait.." Carnal exclaimed, dismayed.
"Don't." Ski pointlessly said, trying to stop him.
"How old are you?" Carnal asked, ignoring his friend.
"CARNAL!" Both Stove and Ski threw something at him.

Raising an eyebrow at Carnal, Oswald turned to look at him. "Did...did you just ask that question?"

Cobalt also looked at Carnal with a weird expression. "We're all like... 17-18 max dude."

"I'm sixteen." Emerald cocked her head. "Why do you ask?"

Stove pointed a finger, "Give me one second. SKI!"
Ski laughed and unharnessed himself as he cleared and locked down his gun.
"Aye!"
Carnal froze up and looked at Stove and Ski worriedly. At least it looked like that. It was hard to tell with the exoskeleton body armor they all wore.
"Wh-wait, come on guys! What are you gonna do? I WAS JUST ASKIN-"
The two soldiers Stove and Ski stalked over to him and began to fuck with his harness.
"Carnal, you sicken me. Damned cradle robber." Ski spat out.
"H-HEY! HOLD ON!" Carnal cried out.
"Here we go. Alley oop!" Stove said.
"WH-WAIT, L-LET'S NOT DO ANYTHING RASH GUYS! COME ON, I WAS JUST KIDDING!"
Fighting with the soldier, the two of them managed to hogtie and wrap Carnal up in his own harness. Lifting him, they then dragged him towards the tail end of the ship. Kicking the button that released the tail end of the gate to lower it, Stove and Ski then tossed him out of the airship. Grabbing some straps at the last second, they then hooked him into some connection points on the ramp.

As the wind roared and hollared just as loudly as Carnal was, Stove yelled out to him.
"YOU STAY OUT HERE AND THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU SAID."
Closing up the gate slightly, it was quite an image seeing the soldier flail and flop about so dangerously outside the body of the airship.
Stove and Ski returned to their spots as if it was a common thing they did.
An angry female voice growled out at them from cockpit.
"What in the fuck did you just drop out of my ship?!"
Stove and Ski without skipping a beat just turned towards her and in unison said. "Carnal."
The female pilot then turned away.
"Oh. Okay." saying it almost pleasantly.

Emerald seemed even more confused than before, she looked towards where Carnal was flailing helpless outside the airship and then back to Oswald and the others. "Oswald...I don't understand the joke." 

Chuckling at what had just occurred, Oswald looked to Emerald and frowned. "That, uh....was only kind of a joke. He was hitting on you."

Emerald's pale face reddened a bit. "W-What!? But he's so...old! Bleh!" She stuck her tongue out for effect and then shook her head. "When he gets back in here tell him he can keep his cooties!" 

Cobalt observed Carnal getting thrown out with a worried expression. That didn't seem very safe. Funny, but very unsafe. "Is... is he going to be okay?" He asked Stove. Not as if he would object. He liked staying inside.

"A bit of fresh air never hurt anyone." Emerald decided to comment.

Exploding in a roaring laughter as Carnal was made into a kite, it took a minute for Diamond to stop giggling altogether. "That was awesome." she said with approval, wiping the joyous tears out of her eyes. "And hey, I'm 19. Thanks for making me feel like the team's old hag. Damn. Bet you that makes me look like a repeater. Fat chance of that, I never even went to school."

"I stopped learning academics at like...eight, so I wouldn't worry about looking bad in that light."

A deep, baritone voice could be heard coming from the cockpit. A soldier twice as large as the others peered from around the opening and bellowed out to them. 
"Stove! Ski! You knuckle heads reel Carnal back in. We're approaching the dropzone. Estimated time of arrival is ten mikes!"
Stove and Ski both nodded and gave a mock salute.
Standing up and walking over to the ramp, Stove lowered it as Ski grabbed onto the straps and began to haul him back in.
Carnal's shrieks, screams, and cries being heard louder and louder the more the ramp opened up.
"Ah, shut up already Carnal. You act like this is the first time we've done something like this." Ski boredly commented.
"THAT DOESN'T MAKE IT ANY BETTER!" Carnal screeched as he was pulled closer in.
Stove and Ski then knelt down and dragged his entangled ass back into the belly of the bird.
Closing the ramp, they freed him and all returned to their positions.
Carnal muttered and dusted himself off, readjusting himself as he stood in front of his machine gun.
Ski just snickered and shook his head.
Stove sat quietly as he mentally prepared for what was coming next.
Looking up at the four students, a thought occured to him.
"Ah, did Vanessa go over the jump procedures or have you all done this before?"

"Just to be sure, I'd go over it. I've never needed a landing strategy, but not everybody is a walking bag of muscles and stupidity. They've got stuff that'll actually suffer from landing at terminal velocity." 

"I don't think I need to worry about that sort of thing, I always land safely." 

Stove tapped on his helmet, "Ah...You all do realize how high up you'll be jumping, right?"

Emerald shrugged, "Doesn't matter to me." 

"She controls air and I'm laughably stupid. Like I said, you should probably go over it anyway, though."

Stove looked at Ski and Carnal. All three of them shrugged in unison.
Stove laughed and shook his head, turning back to the four.
"Man, you Hunters. You all are somethin' else."

"I have a good idea of how high we'll be falling considering the need for parachutes." Cobalt responded. He made sure he had his on properly and turned to the rest of the team. "Does everyone else here know how to use a parachute? Just checking."

"Don't need one either, but it sounds fun. How's it work?" Diamond shrugged. Entertainers were asking ungodly money for this, why wouldn't she try once for free?

A female voice called back to them.
"Five mikes to drop! Release cargo!"
Stove Top turned towards the cockpit and nodded.
"Release cargo, aye!"
Running up to the button that lowered the ramp, he hit it and ran over to the other end. Kneeling down he grabbed at a release latch that held the team's equipment on the metal platform.
"Cargo away!"
Ripping back the release latch, the metal platform slowly slid out the back to start its plummet back to the earth.

Leaving the ramp open, he kneeled in the center so that all four Hunters could hear him. Placing a finger on the side of his head, he adjusted how loudly his voice was artifically projected. "Alright, it's pretty simple! Make sure the packs are tightly secured on your backs! You're going to line up at the edge of the off ramp and wait for my go! When I give the green, you ALL jump at the same time! The packs will automatically detect the altitudes that you're at and deploy on their own! We've got it to where you and all of your gear will land in the middle of a park. The townspeople already know you're coming and have cleared the area!"

The female pilot turned and called out. "Stove Top, fuckin' hurry that shit up! Three mikes to drop!"
Stove gave her no response and continued at a faster pace. "The reason for this type of insertion is because of those Griever fuckers! They're really fucking smart and if they detect any incoming reinforcements they'll come up with some nasty fucking tricks. They plan ahead, you all understand me? That's why Vanessa ordered all of this for you four!" Reaching on his gear, he pulled off another smoke grenade to give to Cobalt. It was labeled as a red one. "If shit hits the fan and you need to call her in, hit that emergency beacon on your headsets and pop that red smoke!"
The pilot called back a third time. "Two mikes! Prepare to jump!"
Stove Top nodded and stood, over the howling roar of the winds he motioned for them to undo their harnesses and stand on line with him. "Alright! Everyone on line!"

Cobalt undid his harness quickly and stood on line with Stove Top. "This is the first time I've ever done this! Do they have an emergency release just in case?" He didn't want to go splat because he wasn't careful enough.

Stove Top hesitated. Turning around, he looked at Carnal and Ski. The three shared a 'look' before Stove turned back to face Cobalt. "Uhh...Normally, yes. The newer models do have an additional emergency rip cord. However...Vanessa ordered that we use these older models that didn't come with them. She said that your Auras would act as a cushion if needed!  Y-you'll be fine. Sure you will."

Despite Stove Top's lacking delivery, Oswald nodded as he undid his harness and stood up. "Relax, bossman, between the chute and your Aura, nothing's gonna go wrong."

Emerald got out of her harness and went straight up to the line. She looked eager to jump, and didn't bother with a parachute, that would just slow her down. "Don't worry, I can always slow your fall if your chute doesn't work...maybe!" 

"Just catch my hat if it decides to go on it's own!" Diamond grinned, before looking out of the lowered ramp. She had to admit that while it was better than diving into a pool, this would be still one of the craziest things she'd done so far. "And you know, minute and mile are perfectly good words instead of whatever the hell a mike is!"

Cobalt looked out the plane and paled at the massive height. "Oh god, I hate heights!" He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "Just tell me when!"

"Don't be a scaredy cat!" Emerald giggled. "It's only scary before you jump, you'll be fine! Then when it's all over you'll become addicted to the adrenaline rush and do it again!" 

A green light popped up along with a short blaring alarm.
Stove Top waved them all forward, "Go! Go! Go! And good luck on your mission!"

As Stove Top started yelling, Oswald raced forward to the edge of the ship and leapt off, entering the skydiving pose.

"Son of a b***h!!!" Cobalt ran forward and jumped out of the plane, screaming on his way down. He wanted to open his eyes, but had the feeling if he did he would throw up.

Rolling her eyes at her teammates' loud exit Diamond turned around, blown a kiss towards the female pilot, pushed her hat down with one hand and tipped on her heels, letting herself slowly fall over the edge of the ramp before vanishing from view.

With a squeal of delight Emerald dived off the ramp, flying headfirst out of the plane and down towards the earth far below. 

Looking down at his expected drop point, Oswald started humming casually. It'd only be a short while now before their chutes activated. Eventually, it did, and he slowly drifted to the ground, landing in the middle of a park.

As the chute unfolded, Diamond let out a surprised yelp. The deceleration was stronger than she expected. At least she was used to being in the air through her own abilities, but it still didn't feel great not to have any ground under her feet.

Landing with the grace of a brick, the thug shed the parachute, brushed some dirt off of her coat and went to look for the rest of the team.

Letting out a cackle, Emerald spread her arms out as if they were wings and glided above her teammates in circles, manipulating the air currents was child's play for her. She was tempted to glide around for a while and get a decent look at their surroundings. She decided to do so, at least until the rest of her team landed, free falling was too much fun to do otherwise. It made her wish she could truly fly. 

Cobalt screamed on his way down, fighting a giant Megaladeus was one thing, falling out of the sky was another. Hell, just being in the sky made him terrified. The parachute activated and Cobalt slowly drifted to the ground, whimpering the entire time.

Emerald glided down towards Cobalt, and once she came into his line of sight she smiled and waved. "Isn't this the best!?" 

"If I could open my eyes without throwing up I would so give you the evil eye!" Cobalt yelled as he finally hit the ground. He opened his eyes and gasped in awe. "Ground! How I've missed you so!" Cobalt took off his parachute and got up. He saw Diamond and walked over to her.

Noticing Diamond and Cobalt after removing his parachute, Oswald jogged over to the rest of his team and greeted them with a nod. "Wonder where our gear landed. We should probably get on that quick."

"I saw them land in that direction!" Emerald shouted, still slowly falling towards the ground. At the pace she was falling she might as well have been a leaf in the wind with how slow it was. Finally she landed softly on the ground before the team. "Boop!"
Abillioncats Member

Nyahahah you found me!

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