Tales from Shade Academy (IC)

[Dodgeson]

"It's gonna be a scorcher so don't forget your sunblock and watch out for those Medusa!" The weather report had come over the tanoy whilst you were waiting at the Oasis skyport for the arrival of the airships that would carry you all to your new home in Shade and it wasn't joking around even long time Vacuoans (Vacuites?) were feeling it and many had started to shed clothes even before they air conditioned terminal.

To make matters worse the trio of airships that eventually landed outside definitely looked like they had seen better days with peeling paint work and obvious patch jobs using parts from other crafts. Despite their appearance however once all the students have boarded and all the luggage has been loaded (not on to the same ship you notice) they do manage to take to takeoff again with only the slightest splutter and start. Once in the air the walls of Oasis quickly starts to fade in to the distance and the unforgiving sands below begins to stretch out in all directions.

The trip itself threatens to become dangerously boring for an airborne metal container filled with heavily armed super-powered teenagers (they even made you turn your scrolls off, something about the equipment) when a blue figure appears in the midst of the crowded cabin, swathed in a thick smoke its impossible to make anything out about the silhouette.

"Hey kids!" The figure speaks with a woman's voice "What do you mean they can't see me? That doesn't matter, they can hear me right?" she asks someone out of shot before quickly turning back to the camera. "You guys can hear me can't you?"

A general murmur of agreement rolls through the first years prompting the figure to continue.

"Sweet. Anyway if you're here that means you've made it through to the final stage of our approvals process, you see I was huntress like many of you will hopefully one day become and if I learned anything it's that out there in the field it's not transcripts or sparring records that matter." She stops for a second, reaching out of shot for a tube from which she inhales, shuddering. "The only thing that really matters is the element of surprise. So surprise!"

With that the entire floor of the cabin swings open on hinges sending you all plummeting towards the ground below.

((Landing strategy time boys and girls! Best one gets a hero point))

[metakirb]

During the flight, Estran had been happily sitting and brushing her tail, making sure the heat wasn't doing anything to the amazing fluffiness that it was, and glancing around, wondering who'd be easiest to pull a trick on, or rather who'd be most fun. She didn't pull much attention away from the brushing when the figure began to speak.

As such, it took her even more by surprise when the floor vanished under her.

Estran started to spin as she fell towards the ground, faster and faster, until just before she hit the ground, uncurling, landing tail first, springing off the tail into a frontflip, and landing on her feet, as if she'd just taken part in an acrobatics competition, accompanied by a fanfare of cheering, and even some fireworks.

Of course, that was only what everyone else saw.

In actuality, the girl had used her semblance to create the illusion of a perfect landing. As the floor fell away, she'd panicked a little, scrambling for her weapons, the two claws that used to belong to her mother, and fired a huge burst of lightning directly below her to slow her fall, landing far less gracefully, but then, nobody would ever know that.

[Quellian-dyrae]

"Gahhh...this is so stupid!" Jason muttered irritably as he regarded the handful of sweat he had just wiped from his brow as he waited testily in line to get into the terminal with its sweet, sweet air conditioning. "I've got flipping dragons for fists. It is beyond nonsense that I am not completely immune to heat and fire in all its forms."

--

Jason eyed the planes askance as he walked aboard. "Seriously, guys, we need to get a handle on the whole wings bit."

"But, you know, if we were able to fly ourselves, it'd be all right under the sun and stuff, but the plane probably has air conditioning!"

"...Debatably."

--

"Loud and clear," Jason chimed in when the...what, teacher? Headmistress, maybe? Whatever, when she asked if they could hear her. He nodded along with her little speech, listening intently, and then was suddenly falling from a very high place towards a very hard ground.

...

...

Awesome.

"Heh, a valiant effort. Unfortunately for it, it entirely failed to consider our access to wings. A mere drop from a plane is hardly enough to threaten dragons, even if we are attached to a squishy mortal like you."

"AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!"

"Oh shut up Bashe! Jason simply needs to extend our wings and we casually glide to perfect safety. We are in absolutely no danger. One simple flap of the wings and this entire futile attempt at threatening us is rendered immediately void."

"AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!"

"...Okay, seriously? Why are you still screaming, he just has to...unfurl...the...Jason, the wings?"

Jason Ardors was wearing a fierce, wolfish smile. He thrust his arms behind him, angling himself head-first towards the ground in a dive, only falling faster as he streamlined his form.

"Jason? The- Jason! Jason, the wings! Jason, you fool, OPEN THE WINGS!"

"AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!"

"DIVING DRAGON SWING!" Jason yelled out at the top of his lungs, thrusting his hands forward as he came within bare hundreds of feet of the ground, the two dragons extending out at his will. Both of the sinuous dragons wrapped tightly around a couple conveniently-located and rapidly-approaching trees, catching them and contacting suddenly to pull Jason around and send him arcing back up into the sky, the stress of his falling momentum being converted into torque taken fully by the invulnerable Aura-forged dragons...and the poor trees they were wrapped around, which shattered into broken shards as Jason rocketed past them and back into the air.

He flipped four times, on the ascent, the dragons spiraling around him so fast that they became immediately thankful that they technically didn't have functioning stomachs or digestive systems, before reaching the apex of his swing and coming down towards the earth feet first. In just the instant before impact, Jason finally unfurled his wings, a powerful flap sending a cloud of sand billowing out around him as he touched down with a slender smirk on his face.

"...Nailed it."

"You...idiot!"

"I WANNA GO AGAIN!"

[5ColouredWalker]

Nigel sat happy in the heated plane, in full winter gear no less. How he wasn't a puddle was beyond anyone's guess, but it had long since passed the 'WTF?' quota for the group.
Of course, so had the smells for him, Nigel had taken out his nose plugs for all of three minutes before putting them back in, the scent of so many teens becoming almost overwhelming.

So, now, while listening to the head mistress, Nigel was quite happily leaning against a wall, considering who he'd like to end up with.
"Sur-N-Ahhh!"
And with that, all his calm was gone as the floor went out from under him.


Nigel had a perfectly good landing strategy, short to medium length falls he could just tank, this was a long fall. Those he had a vague plan for.

This showed when in his first moments, Nigel tried to activate his shield while holding it above him, sending out bursts of plasma as the gasses dissipated before they could be locked in place, sending up clouds of orange in loud bursts. Finally, after 9 panic filled seconds, the shield took, and like a parachute unfurling his descent suddenly slowed massively, the orange colored plasma shield holding in place by the might of both his arm's strain. It was a minor hit to his aura, just enough to piss him off as he looked to the desert sands bellow... He was moving around like a top in the wind, but at least they weren't coming too fast.
"Yea... No this could have been done better." Harsh memories were pushed aside automatically, now wasn't the place to be a Grimm magnet. "Salvaging, I could just wait... Yea, lets do that."

The remained of Nigel's descent was slow, up until maybe 75ft up, where Nigel deactivated his shield, and dropped like a stone, in just over a second he slammed into the ground sending up a cloud of sand which glew with an internal orange light as Nigel's legs were forced into a crouch from the shock, a minor shock he was well used to, and then jumped shield first into the open.

Surveying his suroundings, Nigel quickly withdrew Bezrel and removed his nose plugs, looking around for anything that could be recognized to be something other than sand.
"Ok... Hellooooo? Anyone with a clue or some instructions?!"

[Grim ranger]

The trip towards Shade academy had began pleasantly enough in Sky's opinion, no matter how many other students transferring to the place from abroad might have claimed the contrary. Dressed as always in his blue and gray hunting attire with only his collar somewhat undone in response to almost oppressive heat, the Atlesian transfer student was calmly leafing through SDC magazine concerning the different varieties of dust, apparently quite unbothered. He did not feel like giving up his body armor just because of slight sweating, and there was decorum to keep: just because one could possibly get away with lax dress code around Vacuo did not mean he should lower his standards.

Yes, although he was no longer headed for Atlas (a definite plus in his eyes), he could still not afford himself to grow lax. When it came to hunting monsters and preserving the kingdoms, discipline and conduct were just as important as merely getting results. It was not only due to the fact it had been drilled into his head back at Atlas that he thought that way either: undisciplined and easily distracted Huntsmen tended not to last long out in the field... And of course working with others was so much easier when everyone involved were trained professionals capable of co-ordinating effectively.

Besides, he would not be caught dead photographed without his shirt on. He was rather sure he would never hear the end of it... Especially when it came to couple of clean scars running over his chest. They served as clear examples of benefits of body armor.

Shaking his head and folding the magazine again as he shook himself out of his thoughts, Sky turned to look at the surprise announcement, his arms folded over his chest in patient manner. It seemed that one of the Shade faculty members had decided to shed some light to their current situation, although not in abundance: the short talk consisted of naught but couple of sentences with barely enough to give them briefest of possible warnings that something was about to occur.

And then, the floor vanished from underneath their feet, sending Sky and his fellow students hurtling towards the ground below with no prior warning. Over the sudden rushing wind, it was still possible to hear some surprised yells and panicking shrieks, but the youngest child of Vyse family did not particularly pay attention to them. Oh, he might have yelped out somewhat himself, but it was exactly in situations such as this where his ingrained training from Atlas came in rather useful.

The third rule of Atlesian huntsmen (one that they had been rigorously trained in) came in particularly useful in moments such as this: 'Don't panic. You probably don't have the clearance for it'.

Reaching out with his hand as he spun about in the air, Sky quickly located his slingbag before it could drop too far from his person, a slight exertion of his Semblance causing space around his hand to warp as the bag was deposited to it. Holding onto his belongings for dear life, the young huntsman in training stuck his feet towards the ever-nearing ground, forcibly re-orienting himself to rigid position one might usually assume when dropping into water feet-first. His hair and longcoat flaring in the harsh wind of freefall, Sky once more used his Semblance... And was suddenly merely a step above the ground, his momentum completely halted. He had learned to do that particular trick out of necessity, and it was a good thing that he had too: altering location but not the velocity of rapidly falling person still did not end well for person in question under most circumstances.

Stepping the last step down as if he was exciting an elevator, Sky sighed to himself irritably as his hair and coat once more settled after the sudden drop. The test had been even somewhat clever, but his Semblance had practically handed him the solution on silver platter. Now he likely looked all sorts of ruffled, though... and that was tiresome.

Looking around, Sky slung his slingbag over his shoulder before making his way towards the nearest concentration of his fellow students, keeping an eye out for any particularly potentially hazardous landings. His power could be used to save such problem cases, and though such might not have exactly been the point of the exercise, he did not feel like leaving anyone to die if they were simply too surprised to think their way out of the situation... And besides, he had not been specifically ordered NOT to help other students.

[Dorni]

From where she lounged against the corner bulkhead, Coale opened her eyes and swiveled her brown-furred ears forward when the... instructor? When the instructor started to talk. She'd been quite enjoying the moment of relaxation - between 'work' and classes she wasn't going to get many once the semester started. One ear twitched.

Still, what did this woman want? Coale knew they weren't about to arrive from Watching the landscape roll by. Probably a welcome messa-

Just like that, the floor opened and she was falling.

Well, time to get to work.

Coale eyed the ship above and the ground below, judging the distance.

I guess I have a little time yet.

Coale twisted in the air, faced down, tucked in her ears and spread her arms and legs wide to slow her fall. She tilted her arms, guiding her fall away from the knot of students toward an open patch of sand. In a little bit she was going to need the extra room, but for now she just enjoyed the fall. The warm sun on her back, the wind on her face, the excitement. The crystal on her necklace, which she hadn't had the chance to tuck into her shirt, caught the light and spun in a kaleidoscope of colors.

The moment didn't last. Coale Looked under the ground, and, satisfied the it was solid enough for her landing, reached over her shoulder and drew the massive sword strapped to her back. She tucked her feet and rolled until she was pointed feet-down and transformed the blade back to its true form - that of a Mortar. Coale deftly turned it upside down and stood on the biped mounted near the end of the tube while holding onto the base plate.

With the ground almost upon her, Coale fired. One shot directly downward, the recoil countering the lion's share of her momentum. A bare moment later, a second shot aimed slightly backward took the rest while also pushing her forward, over the explosion below her.

Coale swung the great weapon back up behind her, transforming it back to a blade and holding it in one hand. She hit the ground with both feat, bending her knees to absorb the remaining shock. Her free hand came forward to catch her in a third point of balance while the other kept the blade snapped up and behind her. Her head snapped up, eyes scanning for hidden dangers while her ears swiveled back and forth like radar dishes, oblivious to the blossoming explosion behind her.

Coale allowed herself a satisfied smile for the textbook landing.

Time to get to work.

[Molemanking]

Even for a native of Vacuo, this heat was particularly oppressive. And while some students began stripping as much clothing as decency would dictate, the dapper young gentleman known as Slater Royal merely dabbed at his forehead with a handkerchief as he hummed quietly to himself. 'One must be willing to make sacrifices in the world of sophistication.' That was one of the first lessons his mentor had taught him and he wasn't about to let her down. Before he could wonder down memory lane any longer, a faculty member appeared before them and began her introductory speech. Unfortunately, Slater was prepared for a long eloquent presentation of the academy's expectations and an affirmation of the faculty's faith in the new students abilities. What actually happened was a quick warning before the floor suddenly gave out from under him.

Instinctively, he grabbed at his bright blue top hat before it could fly from his head. With one hand tightly gripping the brim of his hat, the other quickly drew the shortsword that was sheathed at his side. Squeezing a small trigger along the hilt caused a small *popping* sound as the blade suddenly shot upward, revealing thin wires between the segmented blades, before lodging into the side of the airship he had just fallen from. While he could no doubt pull himself back aboard the vessel, he assumed that would be frowned upon by the staff. And as his mentor said, 'first impressions are everything.' Scanning the area for anything he could latch onto, his eyes fell upon a rather large spire-like rock jutting out of the sand. With a flick of his wrist, the whip-blade dislodged from the airship's hull as he kicked off into the air. Rocketing towards the ground, Slater waited until he was almost 15ft from impact before throwing out his whip-blade once more. Catching the very tip, the blade began reeling the blue suited teenager in as he swung towards the rock at the same time. Circling the length of stone formation, Slater merely kicked up a cloud of sand as he skidded to a stop at the base. With another flick of his wrist, the blade once more dislodged before reforming into a shortsword with a series of small *clanking* sounds.

After spending a few seconds to dust himself, Slater watched the other students make their descent and helped any that seemed alittle over their head.

[Dudeons]

Verden was hanging out in the middle of the crowd of students, casually conversing with others. He had removed his jacket due to the heat outside and had it draped over his left shoulder while his staff was in his other hand. When the lady's introduction speech began, Verden listened with half-hearted interest, expecting typical academic egotism. Then the floor wasn't there.

"Ah nuts."

Verden plummets through the sky along with other students, wrapping his jacket around his waist and keeping a firm grip on his cap. He activates his aura, looking down at the environment below. Noticing a rock spire off to the side, he fires a few shots from his quarterstaff in the opposite direction to propel himself near it. Near the top of the spire, he releases his grip, allowing the staff to hit the spire as he flies over it. He grips the middle of the staff with both hands as he passes, causing the staff to collide into the spire and allowing it to stop his momentum. Then he pulls the staff back into one hand and jumps off the spire. He activates his Semblance, vanishing from sight as he lands and starts looking around to analyze the situation.

[Amaril]

Arthur held his seat in silence, watching the dunes go by far below out the window and wishing the ship was air conditioned. When everyone had first boarded, he'd dithered over where to place himself, scanning the other students and looking for people to talk to, but to his dismay, he hadn't been able to get up the courage to approach anyone. The others all seemed so at home, excited to be on their way without a care for whether they'd end up failing out of their classes, or getting singled out as the loser and shunned...

Or being eaten by monsters. That can happen too.

Arthur tried to push those worries away, wishing he'd been allowed to leave his scroll on so he could put on his headphones. He tugged at the collar of his t-shirt, profoundly thankful at least that he'd managed to fit his coat in his suitcase instead of having to wear it.

The hologram of the woman Arthur assumed was their teacher drew his attention; he nodded automatically when she asked if everyone could hear her, before realizing she probably wouldn't see him. The sense of unease hit him as soon as she started her address. He'd never been sure whether it was a side effect of his Semblance or just his own instincts, but one thing he'd always been good at was anticipating when something bad was about to happen. As such, he was a little more prepared than the others when the floor fell out from underneath them, with enough time for his first thought to be yeah, there we go, before the more obvious AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

His training took over as he fell, informing him that this wasn't a good position to be in. He had a landing strategy, of course, but it relied on there being tall objects nearby, buildings or some such--he'd developed it for urban missions, assuming that out in the desert, there wouldn't be anything high enough for him to fall from that he'd need to take precautions. None of his equipment would be any great help for surviving being dropped straight from an airship above sand dunes. Guess I'll just have to improvise...

Angling his body to direct his fall, Arthur aimed himself at the closest of the carry-on suitcases that had been dropped along with his fellow students. Catching up to it, he spun Calesvol around and fired a shot downward to reduce his speed before jumping up off the bag, pushing himself back up into the air and buying time to redirect himself toward the next suitcase with another shot, and repeat the process. It was a clumsy solution, and he was still going fast enough that his impact on the ground rattled his teeth and kicked up a cloud of sand, but at least he was alive.

"Sheesh," he said as he got back to his feet. "Talk about an unsafe learning environment..."

[Dodgeson]

((Too close to call so I'm going with the obvious cop out. Everybody gets a hero point! Some of you are going to need it))

Having just scattered her students to the four winds the hologram winks out of existence and the figure switches to the external speakers mounted on each of the airships.

"So here's how this works kids! You're about a day/day and a half from Shade as the crow flies! If you make it, great! We're gonna have a barbecue! If you don't, well we have a forwarding address for your luggage."

As she talks the cannons on the outside of the ship appear to swivel in random directions before each firing a single glowing payload with a BANG!

"And those are supplies, have fun kids!"

@Nicole
No dangers, hidden or otherwise, make themselves immediately known to her sharp Faunus senses. Just the sound of several students hitting the sand some more gracefully than others before they all begin to scatter, one in particular was more bombastic than the others shouting something about dragons as he plummeted towards the ground like a particularly acrobatic rock. That's not important right now though as one of the aforementioned supply drops sails through the sky over your head, firing Caladbolg has given you a pretty good head for arcs and you're fairly certain that it's going to come down somewhere nearby.

@Jason
As the mixture of sand and wooden shrapnel from your landing settles around you, you don't have to feel too bad about destroying a cluster perfectly innocent cluster of brittle white trees during your plummet towards the ground you definitely saw another cluster of way better looking trees so these were probably on their way out anyway. And score! You see one of the packages crashing down from one of the airships in the distance.

@Arthur
Whilst your landing may have not been textbook and certainly cost some of your future classmates their overnight bag you're alive and unharmed and that's the important thing. Over what sounds like fireworks and an ecstatic crowd you hear something plummet to the ground nearby and you definitely see the large plume of sand that it kicks up, as the incongruous sounds of celebration die down you could almost swear that you hear a bizarre cackling from the direction of the dust plume.

@Estran
As far as anyone is concerned you just executed a perfect 10, stuck the landing and everything. Unfortunately nobody was there to see it, at least that's what it looked like at first. Appearing around the young Faunus from beneath the sand are two legged creatures adorned with the familiar red and white markings of the creatures of Grimm. More and more of the creatures quickly surround her with a chorus of strange cackling laughs, even one of their number being crushed by a falling crate with a flashing light attached to one side doesn't seem to deter them as they draw closer

Estran: 12
Creep x12: 8

Estran's up!

@Nigel
The young Faunus's call goes unanswered bar the piercing cry of the Nevermores that begin to circle above him in the sky and whilst the there was very little around him that could be recognised as something other than sand other than perhaps the occasional hardy shrub that clings to life in the desert a particular large pile of sand nearby potentially offers a better view of his surrounds. Even better a crate slams in to the top of it, burying itself in to the large dune, its path scattering the black birds as it does.

@Slater
Slater's instincts served him well, had he decided to attempt to renter the airship the Headmistress would have simply called for a barrel roll to hurl back out and in to the air. As it stands the other students seemed to handily themselves admirable before they charged off on their own. A shame really as they miss the valuable supply crate that lands on a nearby dune in their haste to prove themselves. Well maybe not everybody as a short stocky boy calls out...

@Verdan
Although his landing was sufficient to let him walk away unharmed from his abrupt exit from the plane, Verdan's choice of landing spot left something to be desired as he narrowly avoids falling in to a hole concealed by a concentration of brush at the base of the spire and if that wasn't enough to prove that maybe it wasn't his day he had yet another narrow escape as a large crate plummet from the heavens right in to the hole, its flashing light brief illuminating the its smooch edges with each flash.

@Sky
Whilst he may not agree with the philosophy of Atlas the training had clearly stood Sky in good stead, that and having semblance that allowed him to casually ignore physics anyway. The other students around him seemed equally at home in free fall enough so that many of them were already away as they hit ground one in particular seemed there one second and gone the next and a good thing too as something plummeted to the ground almost right on top of where he had been only to seemingly vanish itself if not for the intermittent flashing of light revealing some kind of hole or crevasse in the ground.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Jason watched the ships fly off, keeping track of the direction they were moving in, for a few moments before nodding to himself and starting for the supply cache. His wings beat with every stride, and while they were not powerful enough to keep him in the air for prolonged periods, they launched him rapidly across the open sands.

[5ColouredWalker]

Nigel

Nigel's eyes widen.
A day's marc-
Nevermores-
Nigel's hand begins instinctively seeking his mask, but after a tense second it stops, and he draws his axe, with a quick flick, it becomes a rifle, and another flick chooses a setting.
Looking to the skies, Nigel does the one thing they couldn't have done. He begins picking off the small Nevermore's circling above, lances of orange light streaming from his position into the flock above.

---

*Presuming no major incident*
Nigel takes his eyes away from the birds, looking down to survey the dead ones around his position.
"Good."
Pulling his hoody up over his eyes, Nigel takes his personal Scroll out and begins opening his navigation software, looking to get at the very least better directions than 'Don't Get Lost' on his way to the academy. With a deliberate sneeze, Nigel ejects his nose plugs and begins walking to the scent of hot metal and scattered sand that indicates where the fallen supply box landed.

Spoiler: Action Notes

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Nigel has a +9 to hit base, and can get a +11. Damage is 6 and Max Range is 1400ft, if these are small Nevermores, he shouldn't have much trouble scattering them or at least frying some of them before they retreat out of range.

Also, I can take 10 on perception while stressed, can smell out to a range of 100ft/-1, and my scent is as accurate as my eyes. Blinded as I am to cover my head is no issue, and I should be ok unless I wonder into any burrowed Grim.

Finally, Nigel is immune to extreme heat, so the closest thing he should have to making a save outside of combat is vs exhaustion/dehydration from marching. Speed 1 means he'll also be 12-18 hours out, assuming I decide not to use my Leaping 3 as well which would cut down time dramatically at the cost of making myself very visible... That said, I probably will use it until it gets me into trouble.

[metakirb]

The girl takes her combat stance, electricity begining to crackle over the tips of her claws.

Yeah, I guess the fireworks would attract you guys, huh?

The sparks begin to increase in size, before Estran thrusts one claw forward, unleashing a torrent of lightning at the closest Creep, before it jumps from one to the next.

Spoiler: ZZZZAP!

Show

[Chain Lighting] Damage 8 (Area:Cone, Selective)
DC18 Dodge DC19/23 Toughness

[Grim ranger]

Dusting his coat somewhat and giving the departing airship a rueful look, Sky slowly sighed to himself. "So this is what they call "tough love" parenting, huh?" he muttered absently to himself as he went on to focus his attention on the most interesting phenomenon in his immediate vicinity: the fallen supply crate.

Bending space into impossible shape with his power, Sky took two short steps, first carrying him to the edge of the hole in the ground while the second sent him straight down and next to the crashed supply crate. The supplies would definitely be necessary if he would want to make the trip to Shade academy without overt discomfort, considering he did not fancy the idea of exhausting his Aura reserves by attempting to teleport the entire way. Losing the protection of one's aura in middle of Vacuo outback was definitely among worse possible decisions a huntsman in training could ever make.

Pausing before trying to open the crate, the blue-clad student went on to open his scroll, attempting to see if he could pinpoint his location. Surely CCTS reached even this hole in the ground? Directions were a must before he would go on to commit to any course of action.

[Dudeons]

Verden stumbles as he narrowly avoids the hole, thankful that he didn't fall in as the crate does exactly that. He takes the time to adjust his cap before hopping down after the crate. Aftewards, he looks over the crate for some kind of mechanism to open it.

[Amaril]

Arthur spent a moment silently fuming up at the ships before the sense in what they were doing became clearer. Dangerous as a test like this might have been, they'd all known they'd be facing danger when they agreed to come to Shade. And whoever was on the hologram was right--on a real mission, you wouldn't always have warning before things went bad.

He was about to run to find the thing that had just landed, assuming it was one of the supply packages, but the laughter made him stall. Is that one of the others? He didn't see how it could be dangerous, but judging by the whole surprise deathtrap thing the school had going, it seemed like they were supposed to expect danger around every corner. Arthur's hand went to Calesvol's hilt as he headed towards the drop site, his ears straining for another sign of what he might find.

Spoiler: Action

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Perception: (1d20+5)[19]

[Molemanking]

After making a mental note of which direction the airships were flying, Slater sauntered up to the supply crate to retrieve his provisions. However, he let out a surprised gasp as he open the container to find a hefty drab backpack. Futilely searching the crate for any other option, the well-dressed young man sight to himself as he slung the offending knapsack over his shoulders. As he started to turn towards the possible direction of Shade Academy, he noticed the stocky gentleman shooting into the air. "Excuse me, sir? May I inquire as to why you are antagonizing the Grimm circling above? I believe adding a murder of Nevermores will not aid us in this situation."

[Dorni]

Coale took off at a run to the supply drop's landing site. She'd need to figure out what she had to work with before she decided.

First, check supplies and see what I have to work with. Second, make a plan.

Coale activated her semblance and once again Looked down from the sky. A few of the other students still seemed to be off on their own where they'd landed, but a knot of students was gathering near the middle of the drop zone. Made sense. They were in hostile territory and there was safety in numbers. Joining up with them would probably be the safe option. If all of them were even half competent they should have no trouble reaching the school. The hologram hadn't forbid them from working together.

But convoys were only as fast as their slowest member. They'd almost certainly be the last to arrive. Coale couldn't be the last to arrive. If she went it alone she'd make better time and beat them there, but travelling alone meant more risks.

Did it really? With her Semblance she could scout safely and avoid all but the most determined Grim, and she could probably leave those in the dust by riding on Caladbolg. She'd run out of ammo if she tried riding the weapon all the way to Shade, but she could easily leave a few Grim behind. Still didn't help her at night though; if she couldn't finish the journey quickly there'd be no one to keep watch while she slept. She'd be helpless to any wandering Grim. She needed to know how far away the school really was.

I can't trust the hologram. She put us in this situation to see how we'd adapt. Lying about the distance would just be one more situation for us to adapt to.

She couldn't trust the hologram, but maybe she could verify. Coale Looked higher, her second set of eyes racing up into the sky until it was a mile in the air above her. Once more, Coale took in the landscape below and scoured the horizon for signs of the school, starting with the direction the airships were travelling.

Spoiler: Actions

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Checking the supply drop for what supplies are contained. See OOC spoiler for Semblance use.

[Dodgeson]

@Jason & Nicoale
Channeling her semblance and casting her vision skyward and with a clear sky it was easy for Nicole to make out the outpost of Shade in the distance indeed in the direction that the airships are currently traveling, her keen eye makes it to be 85 miles in a straight line from her current position. Between her and the school lies a vast expanse of rolling sand dunes only broken up by the occasional outcrop of rocks or fragile trees desperately clinging on to life and even what looks to be a few small settlements scattered about the place, though from her current vantage point it's hard to tell whether they are actually inhabited or not.

Back to more immediate concerns, chasing the same supply drop Jason and Nicoale arrive at where the crate landed down pretty much at the same time. A small oasis surrounded by defiant greenery and far healthier looking trees with the rate itself slap-bang in the middle of the water. Unfortunately for the two somebody appears to have beaten them there, the figure currently has their back to them as he tries to bust open the crate but it's clear to see that he's huge easily a foot taller than Jason with an equally large iron club slung over his back.

@Arthur & Estran
Arthur arrives just in time to see a fox Fanus reduce a trio of Creeps to ash with lightning from her claw-sheathed hands, although whilst impressive this still leaves her heavily outnumbered by the beasts. With his appearance however four of the beasts break off from the main pack lunging at him one after the other whilst the remaining five encircle the girl and try to attack from all angles.

Estran make a DC19 Toughness Save
Arthur make 3 DC19 Toughness Saves

Estran and Arthur are up!

@Nigel & Slater
Slater's words turn out to be much wiser than he probably hoped they would be as though rifle manages to thin the number of Nevermore he was not able to deal with them entirely before the remaining three swooped towards the pair, cawing loudly with murderous intent in their glowing red eyes.

Slater:26
Nigel:19
Nevermore x3:14

Nigel & Slater are up!

@Sky & Verdan
The crate appears solidly built, it would have to be to survive being fired out of a cannon but finding a seam and pulling hard enough seems sufficient to get to the goods inside, food and water enough to last several people a couple of days along with sleeping bags and fire lightning equipment.

The hole was indeed not deep enough to interfere with CCT transmissions and a quick glance of ScrollMap^tm will give Sky his bearings towards the school.

((The real question here is whether Verdan's still invisible oh and incidentally could the pair of you make me Perception checks?))

[Quellian-dyrae]

Jason gave Nicaole an upnod as he saw her, before heading over to the oasis. "Hey, careful man! You open that up in the water, it'll damage the supplies," he warned. He had no reason to assume the guy wasn't another student. "Here, let me see if I can get it out of there," he said, sending Bashe and Ryuu extending down to wrap around the crate and try to pull it onto dry land.

Spoiler

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Jason's got a baseline Strength of 4, so he can lift up to 800 pounds easy enough, and drag a fair bit more.

[Amaril]

Arthur was already sliding down the side of the dune toward the fight when the creeps rushed him. Throwing his weight to the side and twisting out of their way, he spun around to face them again and skidded to a halt. "Hey!" he called to the girl without looking. "I'll be with you in a second! Hang on!" An instant's focus, and Calesvol leaped into his hand with the sound and force of a gunshot, the blade whistling toward the neck of the closest Grimm as it came around for another attack.

Spoiler: Action

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Sword strike on the closest Creep: (1d20+8)[10]

[5ColouredWalker]

Nigel frowns slightly, travelling by air is a great way to mess up scents and he dislikes being snuck up upon.
That said, his reply is punctuated by further pulses from his rifle.
"Nevermore's act as markers, whoever they follow will end up chased by Grimm."

Nigel keeps firing as they dive, eventually his weapon shifts to an automatic mode, sending bolts of plasma into the air, then the Nevermore's are among them.

---

Spoiler: If Slater leaves any for me

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Rolling away from the Nevermore's Nigel rises into a firing stance and fires on the remaining Nevermores.

Spoiler: Attacks

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Bezrel in Tommygun Mode, using Multiattack and spreading among the three.
Hit:
Nevermore 1: (1d20+5)[23]
Nevermore 2: (1d20+5)[17]
Nevermore 3: (1d20+5)[21]
Save DC: 4+15=19

Add +2 to the rolls if there's only two left, Add +4 and +2 to the DC if there's only one left because in that instance I'll be using beam mode.

[Dorni]

A day away my foot. Her ears drooped. This was going to be an endurance test, not a sprint.

Coale waved back at Jason. No need to be rude and wearing a gi suggested he knew how to handle himself. She was about to call out but stopped when he extended a pair of energy snakes from his hands. That wasn't something you saw every day.

[Grim ranger]

Satisfied with his efforts as the crate opened up to reveal the goods inside, Sky began to pack the essentials to his slingbag as he went on to think about the distance to be covered before reaching Shade. Luckily enough, it seemed that the ScrollMap worked just fine still, giving him a clear heading. Food, water, directions... It seemed that he was all set when it came to making it to Shade, really.

Still, the surprise test was a little bit annoying. The footslogging through sands of Vacuo under the merciless sun would be a true pain to get through too. He might have to loosen his coat some more before the day would be through.

Hoisting his stocked slingbag onto his shoulder, Sky used his semblance once more to end up back on the edge of the hole, looking around himself. Considering Grimm were likely to lurk nearby, there was plenty of reason to remain cautious.

[Dudeons]

Verden remains invisible on the edge of the hole, watching the other boy who investigates the crate. His choice of clothing stands out an awful lot in this environment. That coat must be miserable to wear. However, he seems to be able to teleport. Interesting. Verden hops into the hole, taking his jacket off of his waist and dumping some of the supplies into it. He ties the jacket into a bundle and slides it on one end of his staff, lifting it over his shoulder like a bindle. He hops out of the hole, landing about a foot behind Sky. He dismisses his Semblance as he lands, becoming visible once again.

"Hey there! What's your name?"

[Molemanking]

AS the Nevermores swooped down to attack the pair, Slater quickly shrugged off his backpack and moved to stand a few feet in front of Nigel. "Allow me, if you don't mind." Looking up the descending Grimm, the dapper boy took a sharp breath before releasing an ear-shattering scream at the creatures.

Spoiler: Aria of Night

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Slater will try to catch as many as possible in the blast. It is a 60ft Cone. DC 23 Dodge save

[metakirb]

Estran growls as the Creep manages to graze her with it's teeth, bringing a claw up into it, and unleashing another stream of lightning, that jumps to as many of it's friends as it can.

Spoiler: They better not go for the tail!

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[Chain Lighting](Area:Cone, Selective) On the closest creep, and then as many as i can hit
DC18 Dodge DC19/23 Cone Area Damage

[Dodgeson]

@Jason & Nicoale

"Hands off!" He growls, easily managing to keep the box where it is regardless of how good an idea that actually is. Turning around to face Jason the first thing that's immediately noticeable about him is the pair of tusks jutting out from his lower jaw that mark him out as a Faunus along with the crude approximation of a White Fang mask that covers the upper half of his face.

"I got here first and these aren't going to any human."

@Arthur & Estran
Lightning springs from Estran's gauntlets and leaps from Creep to Creep turning the quartet of Grimm that dared to try and attack her to charred lumps that quickly begin to fade away on the sand. Arthur's target suffers a similar fate, Calesvol cutting clean through the beast.

Grimm are not creatures known for their sense of fear or even largely for their self preservation so even with their pack decimated the three remaining Grimm continue to try and lock their jaws around Arthur to no avail, the young huntsman's reflexes more than a match for their own savagery.

Arthur & Estran are up!

@Nigel & Slater
Caught in Slater's scream the trio of airborne Grimm plummet to the ground and begin to discorporate almost immediately as they roll down the steep sides of the dune.

@Sky & Verdan
Verdan's introduction may have to wait, whilst he may have been hidden from sight when he went in to the hole to claim his supplies he was not hidden from the unnatural senses of the two large eight-legged Grimm covered in heavy white chitin that are now emerging from it. Seemingly aware that they have been spotted they pair of creatures rear up and hiss at the two hunters.

Verdan Starling: 21
Sky Vyse: 16
Weavers x2: 15

((They have +11 Initiative...))

Sky & Verdan are up!

[Dorni]

Some White Fang wannabe was not what Coale needed right now. Hiking that far through the desert without supplies would be a death march.

Coale stepped forward. Coale's ear's marked her as a fellow Faunus so he'd probably react better to her. Probably. Her ears also marked her in other ways that the White Fang had tried to kill her for twice before.

"But if you let the supplies get soaked they won't be going to anyone. At least get them out of the water."

[Amaril]

Arthur didn't slow down, even as the first Grimm's headless body dissolved into black smoke. Carried by the momentum of his first attack, he laid into the other monsters, more gunshots ringing through the air.

Spoiler: Action

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First, because I killed my first target, Takedown 2 triggers. I'll roll the next attack and one after that, in case I kill the second one too. I should've done this last round, but I forgot I had it

Sword strike: (1d20+8)[10]
Sword strike: (1d20+8)[26]

Then my attack for this round, with another extra Takedown attack if applicable.

Sword strike: (1d20+8)[28]
Sword strike: (1d20+8)[23]