CBLT: Huntsmen in Training

Chapter 2: Danger and Respect

With the general's final words, every student drops their bags and equipping themselves with ammunition clips of all shapes and sizes; slapped into weapons, holstered onto their sides, while holsters are wrapped around their bodies over their daily clothing, and weapons sheathed to be deployed at heartbeat.

Cobalt threw off his coat for a mere moment to strap a double pistol chest holster, the black straps contrasting against the white collared shirt covered by a metallic shine dark blue vest. Removing a pair of twin semi-automatic pistols from his bags, one colored silver and the other black quickly disappeared into the holsters between his chest and arms. His coat thrown back on, he exited the building with confidence.

Several students boarded the spacious drop ship holds, roughly ten students per ship, before long the doors slide close with a heavy thunk and the roaring engines of the VTOL aircraft muffled. The ships took to the overcast skies coming into formation heading towards the blanket white wasteland outside the city.

As students calm their jumping nerves, distractions settling in once more. The pilot of each aircraft calling out to their passengers to finally check the debriefing video.

Cobalt pulled the silver object from his pocket, taking a deep breath, he begins the video. A woman in purple dress uniform of an officer takes over the screen.

"My greetings freshmen, I am specialist operative Moranda Thas, you'll be seeing more of me later but onto your mission. You are currently being transported to complex set of dust mines outside the city, deep within the core of mines you will find a chamber once used as a center of operations from within the mines itself. You are to descend the tunnels to this chamber where you will find several deactivated atlesian knight droids. Your goal is this, you will reactivate the droids and escort them to the surface camp where they can be transported to safety. As huntsmen and huntresses our primary objective is to ensure the safety of civilians, the atlesian knights will serve as substitutes for this mission. Their weapons have been disabled but they will respond to vocal commands to whoever reactivates them."

"Consider other students your allies in all cases, we expect at least one knight for every two students, however you won't be receiving any assistance from us during this operation, live or die is up to you. But personally, I hope every one of you succeeds and makes it back, unharmed" The video suddenly ends leaving students to contemplate their assignment.

'I guess their pushing so much risk so we know what's at stake, still, it's pretty harsh' Cobalt thought.

"Everyone back there ready? Sixty seconds to drop time" the pilot called out.

A nervous student raises his concerns "drop time? Do you mean... we aren't landing?"

"Nope, aim for the tunnels, drop time!" the pilot signaled, the heavy metal doors thrust open to welcome freezing winds to bite at their skin. Down below a mountain stood against a field of white snow covering everything until the edge of the city walls in the distance. Several, tens of tunnels carved into the mountain at various points as if someone dropped active drills face down onto it. Most likely to assist future freshmen.

"Harsh" cobalt said under his breath, stepping up the edge of the vehicle he jumps. The gust of air flowing past him trying its hardest to freeze him to his core but inhibited by a sheen of white energy covering his body, his aura would protect him. He quickly joins the collection of diving students but just as suddenly he disappears into the mountain by diving headfirst into an exposed tunnel.

The rounded tunnel sinks into the mountain with frightening capacity, slowly but surely it begins to curve. With that change, cobalt abruptly twists his body around midair as the white sheen of his aura collects around his hand, a palm strike onto the tunnel itself sends him spirally. Planned, he swiftly plants his feet onto the surroundings now sliding down the tunnel as if on a snowboard flowing with every twist and turn. An exit into standard tunnels slows him down to a crawl he jumps out into the varied network of proper mining tunnels.

'Easy enough' a steady silence taking over 'I guess its calmer here than I initially thou-' his thoughts interrupted by the ground and walls shaking around him as a dark creature bursts out from the wall itself. Long black segmented bodies covered with white plating and claws at each, a grimm known as Centinel lunges at cobalt in a blink. A gunshot disintegrates the grimm into black ash, cobalt standing tall with the silver pistol in hand.

"Guess not" he utters sarcastically as the ground and walls quake once more and a swarm of centinels burst out and give chase to cobalt now speeding away from them on foot. Gunshot after shot knocking down the total count of the swallowing swarm only to be replaced just as fast as they die. They have numbers but cobalt is easily outrunning them, another quake in the walls as a figure is sent flying out from the nearby wall and into cobalt knocking them both to the ground.

A slender girl dressed in warm maroon leggings, white turtleneck sweater, black boots and a silver exoskeleton padded with rib-like plating's covered her left arm and hand. Long black hair tied into a ponytail. Cobalt took one quickly look at her, she was carrying a long maroon colored rifle of sorts but there was little time to think about it now.

"Run" cobalt told her.

"What?" she asks rubbing her head from the impact.

"Run!" cobalt said urgently breaking out into a full sprint down the tunnel, the girl looking behind to the swallowing darkness of the swarm. Rushing towards her with teeth gnashing, she planted her feet, a white metal line emerged from the rocky surface below. Within a second the teeth about to rip her throat disappears as she zooms down the tunnel along the line on the ground, the sound of metallic grinding can be heard. Catching up with cobalt, she opts to continuing her the rail beneath her feet to move.

An entrance up ahead reveals itself to them, a large chamber with multiple mine cart tracks leading down several more tunnels in the distance, it was a junction between several mining lines. Looking carefully, cobalt's eyes invert their colors turning his entire eye black in color.

"Collapse the exit!" he yelled to her.

"But there could be other students behind us!"

"There isn't, collapse it!!" he yelled once more, taking shots at the archways wooden support beams. The girl faced forward taking aim, the rifle hummed to life as electricity bounced between the teeth of the double stacked barrels, with a single shot, a blue trail left in its wake, the archway broke and the stone above falls. Their hearts pounding the two drop and skid into the chamber, the rubble blocking the path behind them as the slams and scratching of the centinels are heard behind it.

The both stop, now breathing heavily, cobalt arched over. The girl collects herself and looks to him, sheathing her weapon she brings her feet together and hand to her head saluting him.

"Pleasure to meet you sir, I am Bianca Carbine" bianca stated to him with a clear and precise voice.

Cobalt blinked a few times in confusion, "sir? Its cobalt" he responded plainly.

"I know, Cobalt Frost, among the top five of Sanctum, your combat skill is well known, I'm happy to fight alongside you and hope we are chosen as teammates" she stated.

Cobalt couldn't help but stare at her with a blank expression, her stance in saluting him unwavering during the few seconds of silence, finally responding to her highly respectable greeting to him, "no."