[jjb2158]

It was a brisk morning at Beacon. Here and there, a few students were seen walking around as they enjoyed their weekend off. For some, a weekend meant sleeping in. For others, it was a time to get their studies done or catch up on classwork. However, for others still, a weekend meant working at a part-time job to make a little extra Lien to spend. This, however, was not the case for Oberon. Walking purposefully through the Academy, the burly teacher nodded his head in acknowledgement to a group of third year students who were in his Advanced Crisis Strategy Training class. Now those are a promising group of students... he thought as he made his way down the cliff side towards the entrance of the Emerald Forest. Hopefully this batch of first years will be just as promising he mused, taking a sip from his canteen filled with his morning coffee. A morning like this would've been best spent in bed with his wife or at work in the forge, crafting new weapons or fixing old ones. However, that wouldn't be the case and Oberon had accepted the fact.

Reaching the entrance of the Emerald forest, Oberon pulled out his Scroll to review the team going on their first initiation. He had arrived early just so that he could do just that.
Starting with the appointed leader of the team, Oberon began to look over Conner Dracovic's profile. Normal grading for his academics with a tendency to be unrefined in his fighting styles. Has a rather deadly semblance and all-around variety in range with his weapons. Not bad... he thought, chuckling lightly to himself.
Moving on from Conner, Oberon pulled up Avali Glass's profile. Nothing unique or out of the ordinary. Lived with her uncle until entering the Academy, huh? She might just be yet another student who was orphaned because of the Grimm. Cracking his neck and scratching his chin through his scruffy beard, there was nothing too special aside that most things pointed to her being a long range type of fighter.
From there, he pulled up Fiona Roseheart's profile next. Interesting weapons... he thought with a small smile. Seems to be a speed-based fighter. Aside from that, she scored above average also on her tests, so nothing to out of the ordinary here either.
Last, he moved on to Rackley Winchester's profile. A sniper, huh? Seems like he will be the big gun of the team... he thought, raising an eyebrow at his weapon. ...Though his close combat skills seem to be rather lacking.

Chuckling to himself, Oberon looked at the time before putting his Scroll away. It was about fifteen minutes until the team should be here. Knowing how many first year students are, he knew that most, if not all of them, would be here early so as to set a good example. Regardless of what happens, he had eaten a hearty breakfast prior and had a nice big canteen full of coffee. Lighting a cigar to top it all off, Oberon took a big puff and blew the smoke out into the cold morning air and continued to wait patiently for the others arrival.

[Dead_Proxy21]

Conner woke up earlier than normal to prep his gear, even going as far as to keep his mask off and hood down. He walked in a marching pace as he was taught by his father to make your steps count to conserve stamina, even so much as to make a cadence. Down the path he saw the professor and kept his pace, only stopping when he got 3 feet away. "Morning Professor. Is this where we meet up for our mission briefing?"

[savannahs1]

Avali fell out of bed that morning, hitting the floor with a loud thud and losing a few feathers from her wings in the process. She groaned and changed her clothes before grabbing what she needed, making sure her wings didn't look like a couple of feathered abominations sticking out of her back, and heading off to where she was supposed to go, getting horribly lost in the process and just barely managing to get there on time through a combination of wandering aimlessly and hauling some serious booty.

[Marticus]

Fiona started her day the way she always did: rolling out of bed looking like a zombie, eating breakfast like a particularly angry zombie, glaring at people to get out of her way while going to the coffee machine, drinking said coffee, singing as loud as possible while showering despite her inability to sing, drinking more of said coffee, getting her gear on and setting up her "ass kicking playlist", putting the last of said coffee into a travel flask, and finally skating out the door and down the path to where she was instructed to meet with a Professor Something and a group of other people to do something cool. And, when she finally did arrive at the rendezvous point, she wasn't even the last to arrive. "Hello all!".

[jjb2158]

I'm going to be late he thought, running past a few other students. It wasn't that he had overslept that was going to make Rackley late. Nor was it going to be that he spent too much time eating breakfast. Rather, it was simply due to the fact that he was so nervous that he couldn't bring himself to leave his room in the morning, much less eat a hearty breakfast. And so, with a piece of toast in his mouth and a bottle of water in his hand, Rackley continued to eat and make his way to where he was told to meet up with the others on his team as well as the professor who would be giving them their first mission. Slowing down to finish his toast and to go down the cliff side towards the entrance of the Emerald Forest, Rackley made his slow descent to the forest floor, his breath coming out at a steady pace.

Reaching the bottom, Rackley slowed down to a quick walk as he went through his mental checklist of things to bring. Weapon? Check. Ammo? Check. First aid kit? Check. Food rations for a day? Check... Finishing with a few odds and ends, he continued until he spotted four people standing in front of the entrance to the forest. Great...I am the last one after all... he thought, his eyes looking down and his shoulders slumped in dismay. Need to make a good impression... he thought as he walked up to the others. "G-g-g-good M-m-morning..." he stuttered, his voice feeling shaky. "I'm s-s-sor-ry that I'm late..." he mumbled, keeping his eyes down to avoid the weird looks he was probably getting.


The quiet morning was interrupted by the footsteps of the first student. "Good morning Conner" Oberon replied, remembering the student's face to what he saw on his Scroll earlier. Activating his semblance, Oberon "pinned" Conner, the student glowing a light orange to Oberon's eye sight. Before he could continue saying anything, the other two students had arrived. "Good morning to you as well, Fiona" he said, "pinning" the two girls that had arrived and giving Avali and nod with his head. "Avali. Glad you could make it. Now, only one mor..." Before he could finish his sentence, he caught a glimpse of the last student making his way towards the others. "...more student, who is here now. Good. Good morning Rackley, glad you decided to join us finally" he said, a slight smile crossing his face as he "pinned" the last student as well.

With all four students here and marked with his semblance, Oberon took a sip from his canteen and stood in front of the four. "Now that everyone is here, let us begin with the debriefing. My name is Professor Oberon Falcov and I am the Team Strategy teacher here at Beacon. You have all been selected to form a unit, a team, that works together to fulfill your missions as well as get a taste of what a Huntsman and Huntress will be facing out there in the world." Taking a puff from his cigar, Oberon blew the smoke out before continuing. "Today will be your first mission as Team Sapphire. Today's mission will be simple and easy, should each of you work together towards the same goal. However, should you choose to not work together, you will endanger, not only your own life, but the lives of your comrades." Taking another puff, he exhaled the smoke through his nostrils. "Your mission today is to search and destroy a Goliath Grimm that has been running rampant in the northern part of this forest. In its rampage, it has caused the other Grimm in the area to be more aggressive, so be prepared to fight a few packs while making your way to your target." Walking over to Conner, he handed the young lad a flare gun as well as a parchment of paper. "Here is a map of where the Goliath was last spotted earlier this morning. The flare gun will also be used should you need assistance or when you have completed your mission. Shoot the red flare if you are in danger and I will make sure that reinforcements are sent to lend you aid. Shoot the green flare if or when you've completed your mission and an airship will be sent to pick you up. Any questions?" Taking a sip from his canteen, Oberon arched one of his bushy eyebrows as he looked at the students.


Feeling his cheeks redden at Oberon's remark, Rackley kept his head down as the professor gave them their mission. So, a search and destroy mission, huh? Doesn't sound too bad he thought, glancing at the others on his team before looking back down. Hearing the teacher ask if anyone had any questions, Rackley simply shook his head to show that he had no questions or concerns. If there was any concerns, his only concern was that he would hold his team back or possibly cause them injury on their first mission. Gripping onto the pommels of both Washi and Taka, Rackley tried his best to not look nervous, though every part of him was afraid of what the others might think of him.

[Dead_Proxy21]

"Sir I do have a question. Is there a time limit for this mission?" Conner looked at the people who were in the team with him and gave them a good looking over to see what they can possibly do in the field. He knew that they would have personal introductions when they were in the forest.

[jjb2158]

Looking over at Conner, Oberon smiled through his rugged beard. "Good question, Conner. No, there is no time limit, though the longer you make me wait then the higher the possibility I may knock your grade down a bit for taking too long. This mission shouldn't take you longer than the end of today to finish." Taking a sip from his canteen, he looked at the others. "Any other questions?"

[Marticus]

"Uhh, yeah. Just one. How do we kill a Goliath? I thought they were, like, really really powerful and stuff? Complete ass kicking machines", Fiona nervously said as she started to slowly skate around the rest of her new teammates, looking them up and down. "I'm not saying that we aren't ass kicking machines, but aren't they supposed to be challenges for trained Huntsmen? Also, hey person". Fiona directed this last bit at Rackley, as he'd arrived after her general greeting.

[jjb2158]

"Ahhh, a very good question, Fiona." Oberon replied, a slight smile creasing across his face. "Were you being sent in to exterminate a full grown Goliath, then yes, this mission wouldn't have been given to a first year team as their initiation." Taking a puff from his cigar, he blew the smoke out into the air before continuing. "However, our sources tell us that this is actually not a full grown Goliath. Were it an adult, then we would probably be feeling its footsteps shaking the ground from where we're standing. The one out there..." he said, pointing towards the northern end of the forest, "...is an adolescent, standing roughly twenty to thirty feet, and no where near the size of an adult. That being said, though it'll still be difficult, you should be more than capable in taking down this Goliath, so long as you work together as a team and utilize each member's strength. As it stands, you should have enough strength and speed..." giving both Conner and Fiona a glance "...and firepower... he added, looking at Rackley and Avali, "...to be able to take this creature down. Now, any other questions?" he asked, looking at Rackley and Avali to see if they had anything to say.


Keeping his eyes down while the others asked their questions, Rackley continued to hold the pommel of his weapons while he waited for them to be approved to move out. Listening absentmindedly to the Professor talk, his attention was caught when he heard the professor talking about strength, speed and firepower. Looking up briefly, Rackley's eyes were locked with Oberon's as if the Professor knew something that no one else knew. Could he possibly know...? Rackley thought, his hands clenching his weapons even harder. I'm sure he knows about my weapon and fighting capabilities...he probably saw all of our profiles before coming here... he thought. Realizing that the Professor was asking for any other questions, Rackley simply shook his head and kept his eyes down again.

[Dead_Proxy21]

Conner looked at everyone in his team-to-be and saw that Rackley was gripping his weapons a little too hard. He walked to him and put his hand on his shoulder.

"Can I speak with you? It will only take a moment."

The way Conner spoke to Rackley sounded like a mix of a concerned friend and that of a superior officer concerned for the morale of his subordinates.

[jjb2158]

Flinching slightly at Conner's hand on his shoulder, Rackley turned and looked up at the other student. Taken aback by Conner's question, Rackley looked away and down at the ground as he nodded in acknowledgement to his inquiries. Perhaps he knows that I'm nervous? he thought, trying to calm himself down by taking a couple deep breaths.


Arching an eyebrow at Conner and Rackley, Oberon turned to the girls on the team and awaited a reply. No other questions? If that is the case, then you are all dismissed." Moving to the side so that the students could pass through the entrance into the Emerald Forest, Oberon took another sip from his canteen before proceeding to smoke his cigar.

OOC: Savannahs1 has been MIA since October. Not sure if they plan to come back, but wanted to at least give you guys a heads up.