When Jaune entered the room, he was surprised to see not that many students cared about what just transpired. It was almost like this was an everyday occurrence. Still, he wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. He silently went back to his eat where Nikolai and Olivia were still looking though their papers.

Once he sat down, Nikolai nudged him. "First day and you already had a breakdown. Ten out of ten dude."

"Will you shut up for once?" Jaune growled. The tone in his voice was enough for the purple shirted boy to stop teasing him. The two older students looked at each other and then back at him. Olivia had a sympathetic look on her face and Nick had an apologetic, but decided to let him simmer down a bit.

A few minutes passed of the blonde operator breathing deeply, with the scribbles and muttering of the other students occasionally ringing out. A couple of students got up and went up to Miss Nyx for her to sign off on the missions. Some left after that, while others stayed for the training portion.

When the older students next to Jaune saw that he had calmed down some more, they tried to grab his attention. The first to speak to him was Nikolai.

"You good?" He asked. The knight just nodded his head. "All right. Look, I'm sorry."

"It's fine," He answered.

"Hey, stop being a wimp," Olivia teased. "You're not the first one to breakdown all right?" While Jaune didn't answer, his body perked up a little bit.

"Yeah, ask anyone here," Nikolai butted in. "They'll tell you a time they did something similar." Nikolai shifted uncomfortably and took a deep breath, like he was preeping himself. "In fact I'll start off." Jaune turned and faced the boy to see that he wasn't joking. Nick cleared his throat and began to explain his embarrassing story.

"It was right after my second mission as an operator. I was tired, angry because I actually failed, crazy I know." This caused a little snicker from the blonde. "Anyway, when I turned in the report, Miss Nyx read it and lectured me about what I did wrong. I didn't want to hear any of it, so I yelled at her and actually shoved her."

The blonde finally stopped looking at his paper and turned to Nick, a surprised look in his eyes. Nikolai just chuckled.

"I know right? Anyway, when that happened, you better believe the headmistress didn't take it sitting down. She actually grabbed my ear and lectured me like a mother. She then kneed me because I tried to fight back." Jaune flinched at that last comment. That seemed a bit… much. Then again, she also let her students fight in the broad daylight so it shouldn't be that much of a surprise.

Olivia decided to comment, "There was also the time I nearly cried from the stress of doing homework and operator reports. I was really struggling that day and just got in the fetal position once I saw my next mission. " Jaune just let out a wry chuckle. "Despite that, Miss Nyx tried her best to make sure I was okay." Nikolai gave him a small punch in the shoulder, which caused the boy to rub his arm.

"This job is hard Jaune," He explained. "There are going to be times when it just gets the better of us."

"It's whether or not we get back up and fight on," The blonde said. Olivia gave him a pat on the shoulder.

"Exactly." Jaune turned to face his friends.

"Thanks, both of you."

They answered back by just smiling. He needed this. Getting the lecture from Nyx was rough, but needed. These two just made him feel little better. After that emotional moment the three of them decided to get back to work. Jaune continued to prick his mind about why Nyx chose that guardsmen duty for him.

He thought that working with a team would be better for him, but she chose to have him work with two other people. Was it really a three-person job? Was one of the brothers sick?

What about the actual job? Did the village really distrust Shade that much that they hate to have a lot of huntsmen patrol their town? How would they react to him being there? These were questions he wanted to ask Miss Nyx, but he would feel uncomfortable doing so.

After that little incident, he felt it would be very awkward to ask those questions, at least not without apologizing to her. He doesn't need to have the whole class hear him when he does that. So, he decided to stick around until they had to move so he could talk with Miss Nyx privately again.

About a half hour of sitting and waiting passed. The questions continued to echo in Jaune's mind, so it order to try and keep his head clear, he took out his journal and logged down everything since his last report. To the sides he wrote little tips that Nick, Olivia, and Nyx had given him.

Olivia turned in her report and said goodbye to Nick and Jaune. She said she had to meet Wallace for something and left the two alone. Nick was sticking around since he said he didn't have enough time to train by himself.

Finally, the time came when everyone that was sticking around was getting restless and ready for action. The headmistress signed off on one more mission and gathered the remaining student's attention.

"All right everyone," she started. "If you are still debating on a mission, make sure you get it to me by Friday. I want to start sending you all on your missions this weekend. Am I understood?" A resounding "Yes Ma'am" was heard from the young adults. "Good. Now then, head to training room one-fifty-seven. we'll be focusing on working in close quarters with other people today for combat training today. Please try not to take each other heads off."

"I promise nothing!" Nikolai yelled as he left the room. One by one the student body left the room as the headmistress collected her papers. When it was just the two of them, Jaune hoistened his backpack up and cleared his throat.

"Yes Mr. Arc?" she said as she continued to gather her papers. Her tone was a lot more professional compared to the previous times he's talked with her. It was a little conflicting to say the least.

"I wanted to apologize," he stated. The head mistress puts some papers in a folder and looked her student in the eye. Jaune wouldn't falter. "What I did was unprofessional, especially in front of everyone, and I'm sorry for that. I truly-"

"Apology accepted." Her cheerful tone threw Jaune off guard. Instead of the glare of a teacher and student, it was the normal friendly approachable look she held. Jaune tried to pen his mouth, confused about how she could just change her mood that quickly.

"Mr. Arc, I never hold a grudge against my students. Especially when they have a stressful moment." She set the paper down and leaned against the table. "This profession isn't easy, so of course there are going to be times when we express emotions in an unhealthy way."

"Yeah, I got that from the stories Olivia and Nikolai told me." The headmistress laughed.

"Then I guess you've heard that whole spiel then." She taps the desk a couple of times and picks up the folder. "Now then, before we head to the training room, have you chosen your mission yet?" Jaune cocked his head to the side.

"I thought you chose for me?" Miss Nyx scratched her cheek and sighed.

"I did, but you were right. I did kind of force it on you. So, I'll give you the choice. Will you take the mission I assigned for you, or one of the ones you picked up?"

The blonde looked down at the piece of paper in his hands. His first Operator mission and he was given a choice between them. His first mission would be his first impression on not himself, but whoever he was working with he had to make this work.

However, his gut instinct was to trust his headmistress. She chose something out for him. From what Olivia told, she seemed to always choose what she thought would help her students out the best. Jaune walked forward and handed the mission report for Hultav.

"I'll take the one you suggested," he answered. The blue haired women smiled and signed her name off on it.

"Very well. You'll deploy this Saturday at noon. Be at the bullhead landings a half hour earlier, understood?"

Jaune nodded, "Yes ma'am."

"Good." She handed the piece of paper back to Jaune who was a little confused. "I let my students keep the papers so they can study it." Jaune looked back and forth on the paper, and from what he read, he got all of his info.

"I read all of it I think I can remember most of it." Nyx placed a hand on the paper but moved it back to him.

"You'd be surprised what you can learn from what little information these papers give you. Keep it. You don't have to do anything with it, just keep it on you all right?"

"Miss Nyx really I-"

"Don't argue with me, this is final." The tone shift was masterfully done. She knew just what to say to make the student shut up. He swallowed the fear he was tasting and nodded his head. Nyx then smiled and patted the boy on the shoulder. "Good. Besides, you have to be the one who gives it to the huntsmen you are working with. Now, will you join us at the training room?" Jaune shook his head.

"I can't, I have to entertain my sisters." Nyx stuttered in place for a second. That was news.

"Your sisters?" She echoed. "Do I need to call Shade security?"

"No!" Jaune shook his head and hands in front of him. "No, it's fine. In fact, I'm having them stay in my dorm." The headmistress had an unreadable expression on her face, However, a few seconds pass and she just shrugs.

"All right then. If you do ever need anything, don't hesitate to contact me or, preferably, a teacher." With that, Nyx does a little bow. "You have a great rest of your day Mr. Arc." She then leaves the room, leaving the boy all alone. Jaune takes out his scroll to look at the time. It was about two-twenty. He was still full from breakfast, and as much as he wanted to talk with his sisters, he felt like he could do something a little more productive with his time.

That was when he remembered he promised Octavia and Roy about their little grenade experiment. If he doesn't help them with that, he'll never hear the end of it. So he unlocked his scroll, opened up his contacts and searched for the group chat.

He found it and sent a chat to the other two people in the chat saying he wants to meet up as soon as they can. He told them to meet him in the weapon maintenance room and apologized for not letting them know about his class today.

With the chat sent, he pocketed his scroll and headed straight to Shade's smithy.

Somewhere in Vacuo:

"So, when do we attack boss?" A goon asked a familiar face. The man wore a desert panama hat with brown leather armor. He wore beige loose pants and brown shoes. On the breast of his armor was a knife sheath with a combat knife in it. His face was a little scruffy from a couple of weeks of not shaving.

The man didn't answer as he looked down at his scroll. The pictures of the blonde with three girls was plastered on the screen. The man took a deep breath and faced his friend.

"Not now," He said. "I'm still having trouble controlling those two huntsmen. Their wills are stronger than I thought." The goon shuffled nervously.

"Should we drug them again?" The leader slammed his fist in the wall as he turned around to face the goon.

"No you idiot! We can't have them overdosing!"

"R-right, I'm sorry!" The boss took a deep breath and looked back at the picture.

"Still, we need to plan this out. We have to separate them from their brother. We can't cause a commotion in the middle of town." The man's grip tightened around his scroll. "I'm going to rip his head off and stick it on a pike!"

Seeing his boss in one of his moods was the goon's signal to leave. As he closed the door behind him he just took a deep sigh. Another thug walked up to him and nodded his head towards the door.

"Eric raging again?" he asked. The goon just nodded his head. This caused the thug to sigh. They followed Eric after leaving Junkrat's group because they didn't like the direction the mousey bandit was headed. They didn't need to destroy Shade, they just needed to kill that blonde bastard.

Still, their current boss was losing it. His impatience was driving him, and everyone else, insane. They were slowly realizing why he wasn't second-in-command back in Junkrat's crew. Still it's not like they could blame him.

Despite kidnapping the two huntsmen, he hasn't been able to control them like he did those Shade girls, even with the drugs. Not only that, they had no idea when to spring their plan into action. They could march into Shade right now and try their luck, but not only would they have to deal with Blondie, but the rest of Shade as well.

The stall owner that they "persuaded" to help them said the blonde had left earlier that morning, and brought his sisters back. The thing was, they brought their suitcases and bags with them, so they assumed that he's letting them bunk with him.

So, that means a less likely chance that they can get them out in the open, it put a hindrance on their plans. Still, Eric was a patient man. They just need one opportunity. One clear way, and he would risk it. They just hoped it would come soon.

In the desert:

A loud ruckus could be heard as music, cheering, and the occasional explosion went off. The Tior and Junker bandits were celebrating their raid. This was the first step into taking down Shade. Julian was keeping the drinks going with some help from his friends and Tior's crew. One of Tior's lieutenants kept the music rocking, and a couple of totally not drunk bandits started a makeshift fighting ring.

As this was going down however, in a large building away from the music, the drinks, and the fights sat a forlorn looking Junkrat staring at the window. He watched as the crowds bobbed their heads up and down to the beat and sighed.

"We should be down there enjoying ourselves," He told the other two leaders in the room.

"Like it or not J.R., we need to plan after that success," Adam explained. The pyromaniac growled and faced him and his second-in-command, still with a sour look on his face.

"I get that, it just isn't fair." Adam chuckled at the immature leader.

"Welcome to leading my friend." He lifted his cane and tapped on the table. Junkrat got the message, stood up from his chair, and walked over to the war table. "Now then, word of our raid is going around already."

"That was fast," Roadhog snorted. Adam nodded.

"Indeed. Then again, we attacked a Schnee caravan, so we were bound to turn some heads anyway." Tior motioned over the entire map. "Right now we sent out a notice to Vacuo. Every village will be on high alert, they'll be adding more huntsmen and maybe even operators out."

"Operators?" Roadhog repeated. "Not good."

"Roadie's right," Junkrat agreed. "Those bastards can get away with a lot more shite than regular huntsmen."

Adam sighed. "I know. That's why we have to be careful with our next move. We can't have any one of our guys walk into town, not without making sure someone won't report us." Junkrat scratched his head.

"So we're not recruiting now?" Adam smiled at the fellow leader.

"I never said that." He lifted his dragon cane and pointed it to a cave structure about one hundred miles south of where they were stationed. Around the structure was a red circle with the word "Avoid" written in large bold letters. Junkrat and Roadhog leaned over to get a better look. They tried to remember where that area was compared to their old base. Junkrat stiffened when he realized who it was while Roadhog… mostly stayed the same.

"Tior, you can't be serious." The smile on the bandit's face answered the pyromaniacs question. "We can't recruit her!"

"If we want to start expanding, we need her help. Especially once we start hitting her routes." Junkrat pointed at his masked friend.

"Roadie back me up here!" The giant man sighed and nodded his head.

"The idiot's right," He said. Junkrat laughed and pointed at Adam. However he turned back to his friend.

"Wait, him or me?" The bodyguard pointed at Jukrat which caused him to repeat his actions. "Ah hah!"

Adam put up his hands. "Just hear me out. If you still disagree I'll scrap the idea." The two junkers looked at each other. Roadhog nodded while Junkrat sighed. The flaming boy motioned for the red haired bandit to continue. "Thank you." Adam does a little bow and motioned across the map.

"Like I said, due to the Schnee raid, word is going to get around that not only are bandits getting more aggressive…" The red head pointed at himself and Junkrat. "But they're also teaming up. Chances are they know one tribe couldn't pull off something this successful, this cleanly, against the SDC."

"I'd argue, but I know you're right," Junkrat commented. Adam rolled his eyes.

"Anyway, that word will also spread to the other bandits. Why bother focusing on people leaning on the fence when we can just convince those who already oppose the kingdoms?"

"Just because we all hate Shade doesn't mean our ideas align mate. Especially not that bitch's."

"She's insane," Roadhog added.

"I get it. She's not exactly in it for freedom, but like it or not, it's better for all of us to deal with Shade together, instead of a free-for-all like we've been doing. Once Shade is rubble, we'll have enough power to bury her six feet down." He slammed his fist on the table to add emphasis to his point. "The same goes for everyone in the alliance."

"Including us." Adam looked at the two junkers. They had unimpressed looks on their faces.

"I won't lie, maybe when Shade burns, this partnership is over. Maybe we'll stick together and start a new government or just stay as business partners. It doesn't matter, at least not right now. Now, we have to focus on building, then we can worry about what comes after."

"All right I get!" Junkrat said. He sighed as he wiped his face with his mechanical hand. "It's just why her? Why don't we focus on someone else?" Adam quirked an eyebrow.

"Such as?"

"Them," Roadhog claimed as he pointed at the map. Halfway across the desert was a little shantytown. Legend has it that that place is haunted. Any random fool who found the place never left alive, despite some talk of being treasure there.

"The Ghosts? Why them?"

"We've had a few deals with them in the past," Junkrat said as he kicked his foot and pegleg up. "The drongos had a lotta good information for sale. We had a lotta food they needed at the time. If we get them with us, a mutt wouldn't be able to shit without us knowing."

Adam rubbed his thick beard. He had to admit they had a point. Still, it was a days worth of travelling to there, and another on the way back. They had to lay low after the raid, but they also had to ask while the fire was still hot. Otherwise the bridge will burn before they even cross it.

They had the supplies to make the trip and back, they had to make sure they got the Ghosts to help them otherwise that was not only a waste of supplies and a trip, but a chance that whoever they send won't be coming back. Still… the risk just might be worth it.

"Okay then," Adam said. "You've convinced me." Junkrat flashes a manic grin at the redheaded bandit. "Now, all that's left for us is to plan it out." The pyromaniacs grin turned sour as he groaned. "Then we'll go and celebrate with the boys."

"Now your cooking with gas!" Junkrat laughed while Adam and Roadhog just shook their heads. "Right, lets get to it then, shall we?"

To be continued.

Beta: TheShadowOfZama