AN: I do not own RWBY. Assume the same disclaimer for every chapter.

EDIT [30-04-2016] More personality has been added to my OC.

Atlas is at the top of the world when it comes to military, this is attributed to their presence on top of all things technology. However, what few realize is that the average solider is the cog that makes the Atlas machine run flawlessly.

My eyes flew open and the grey ceiling of the orphanage greeted its tenant. My blue colored eyes moved from the celling to the many hundred beds inhabited by the other children of the biggest orphanage in the kingdom of Atlas. Located in the center of Atlas city it drew poor and unfortunate souls seeking an education. It only demanded that the tenant when he/she came of age entered the Atlesian army. Now to some this was a curse, however to the ones who saw the military parades and saw heroes it was a promise of a great life to come.

I was one of these kids who came looking for a better life. At the age of 16, I was ready to move on to a new chapter in my life.

I moved down from my top bunk and examined my surroundings, in the bottom bunk my friend Copper slept, his red hair barely clearing the blanket. I slowly moved my way to the locker where I inside found my clothes. A black shirt, blue jeans and black socks, provided by the orphanage and laid off from the older children.

When I slipped my black shirt above my head, I heard a noise of something only considered half living. As I turned, I saw the zombie who had once been Copper slowly stumble out of his bed. I watched the comedic display of a half-asleep teen trying to wrangle himself out of his blanket.

"You need any help?" I asked with a smirk. The sleeping teenage zombie turned towards me and out of it a sound not far from a growl sounded.

"Yalgs"

"I take it that that means yes?"

Instead of saying anything, the zombie just wiggled and I walked up to him to untie his body from its pitiful prison. As the boy, I knew as Copper, emerged from his not so eternal slumber. He stared at me and said in a hushed voice. "How are you up this early?"

I threw his blanket onto his bed and made his bed according to regulations.

"It is an important day today. I wouldn't want to be late." I answered to my bemused friend.

Before he could answer he was interrupted by the cook of the orphanage entering the hall, he arrived exactly as the clocked ticked over to a new hour, a testament to the punctuality of the Atlesian military.

"Alright you rascals breakfast is in five minutes, if you are late you are on cleaning duty."

Copper took of immediately, running for the mess hall. Before he could leave the sleeping hall, I stopped him with a quick shout. "Copper! We have to be on our best behavior." He turned around grudgingly and waited for me to join him at the door. "It is initiation day! There will be officers from the army here." I said as I opened the door outwards to the main corridor. The sleeping halls of the orphanage had a simple layout. A Corridor ran down the middle between the two sleeping halls, one for the girls and one for the boys. The ends of the corridors had stairs down into the communal parts of the orphanage. The compact design was required in the city. The rest of the world was controlled by the Grimm and expansions where expensive, so land prices in the city were astronomical.

We went down the stairs to the mess hall. In front of the door, an officer of the Atlesian military reprimanded a pair of orphans. I smirked at their stupidity, disobeying rules on initiation day was a sure fire way to lose credit with the officers.

I pushed open the doors to the main hall, Copper followed behind me. The mess hall was a huge room with an arced roof. On the walls, there were heraldries of the main branches of military, the blue rifle of the infantry, the red saber of the marines, the yellow pistol of the military police, and lastly the wings of the navy. The hall was furnished with a raised podium in the end of the hall and four tables spanned the entire length of the hall. Windows substituted the chandeliers hanging from the roof with the light of the rising sun.

The door did not have time to close before the other children of the orphanage entered the mess hall. I grabbed a plate of gruel from the servers and took a seat close to the podium, Copper followed suit and sat down on the other side of the table. The room soon filled with the noisy chatter of children.

"You heard that the Schnee heiress has been accepted into Beacon academy?" Copper asked me starting up the conversation. Of course I knew, who had not heard that the heiress to the biggest company in Atlas had forsaken her homeland, and joined Beacon over Atlas academy? "I have heard. No wonder the White Fang is gaining ground when the top of our society slouches around at sup par academies." Before I could continue my tirade against the nobles of Atlas, I was stopped by the leader of the orphanage calling for our attention from the podium.

The leader was a skeletal man, his stature nothing compared to the gardener who in his free time taught wrestling to the interested, or the behemoth of a woman that took care of the basic education. However, he still filled the room with his commanding aura and voice.

"Children, Attention!" He started opening up for his speech. "Today our oldest generation will leave us. They are leaving for a new life filled with glory and honor." He turned and motioned an officer standing beside the scene forward. The officer wore a parade uniform, which was a long white overcoat with a grey west. His tie was colored yellow, connecting him to the military police. "This is Lieutenant General Baxter." The leader introduced the officer. "He is the commanding officer at your boot camp."

The General replaced the leader at the podium and pulled a scroll out of his inner pocket. "On this list I have the names of future soldiers of the kingdom." He said as he brought attention to the scroll. "Soldiers that will stand between the common folk and the chaos that lies outside as well as inside the cities. Soldiers that will ensure that no threat will come to the common folk whether it is from the Grimm or men like Roman Torchwick."

I felt pride fill my chest. Atlas would not back down against anyone, and I would be out there pushing the line against the tendrils of chaos. My time had arrived, and I would change to world as a part in the machine that was Atlas. Moreover, one day I would be the one at the wheel moving the world in a better direction.

"To join the defenders of the weak is: Azul Wolfgang, Burgundy Smiths…" Lieutenant General Baxter continued. He moved down the list of names. "Cobalt Early." As my names was called I got up from my bench. Copper followed shortly after and we made our way through the tables filled with children not yet of age. We exited the mess hall through a door behind the podium that lead directly outside where a bullhead was waiting to take us to boot camp.

The bullhead had seats down the length of it, and when we entered, we were directed to our seats by the same officer who had yelled at the orphans earlier. He, unlike the Lieutenant General, wore a fully plated combat uniform. Plating covered most of his upper body and the bottom of his legs, and below it, he wore the standard black combat suit. His face was covered by a full faced helmet, only revealing his mouth. Blue markings on his helmet and plating connected him to the infantry.

After a short while the Lieutenant General joined us. He immediately went to the front of the bullhead and began talking to the pilot. With a short grunt the blue marked officer called attention to himself. "I am Sergeant Romanoff, and I will be instructor in martial arts and your trainer." He stepped over to one of the handles hanging from the ceiling and ordered us to fasten our seatbelts.

The ride to the boot camp took the bullhead through the mountains. As we flew past the mountains bordering Atlas, I spied Atlas academy on the top of the highest mountain. It towered over Atlas city, and with its white exterior and glimmering towers, it displayed the importance of hunters in our society. What would my life have been like if I had not been an orphan? Could I have been sitting in a classroom at Atlas academy? I dwelled on the thought but I was interrupted by Copper. "A lien for your thoughts." He asked.

"I was thinking on what it would be like to be a huntsman." I answered. Copper leaned backwards into his restrains. "I don't think you would be a huntsman. No offence Cobalt, but hunters seem freer than you do. Not as bound by orders and rules you know?" I considered his words. Was I to bound by order? Could I achieve more if I followed in the freedom of the hunters? No matter, I was on my way into the army and not the huntsmen academy.

We landed on a pad elevated slightly above the base. The base was a collection of square white and grey buildings. A middle street ran unimpeded through the camp. The ends of this road had huge gates that went through the outer wall. Two buildings dominated the center of the encampment. Scattered around them in a rigid pattern were smaller building presumably the barracks.

Our group of recruits were delegated a barrack in the outskirts of the encampment. I entered and found sleeping arrangements not unlike that of the orphanage. The flight to the camp had taken most of the day, so we made ready for sleep. I went over to a locker in the back of the room here I deposited my clothes. The locker contained the standard equipment for a soldier. A black combat suits, plating, a helmet, a rifle, a sword and a pistol. I undressed down to my underwear and deposited my clothes in the locker. The coldness of the air beckoning me to find a comfortable bed to sleep in.

I grabbed a top bunk and directed Copper to the one below me. The blanket kept the cold air of the mountain base out, and I drew comfort in difference in temperature between my face and the rest of my body. "Good night." Copper murmured as I made myself comfortable. I returned his greeting, and descended into the sweet embrace of sleep. As the last slip of consciousness left me, I laid down my plan for tomorrow. I would push harder than I have ever done and improve myself to the best of my abilities.