I'm not dead! I just was writing something really big! Sorry about my absence from writing here, but now I'm back with a brand new Halo/RWBY crossover! I know the 'Chief and Cortana find Remnant' story has been told before by others, but I got inspired to try and tell it from my own imagination. As for continuing this and my other story, RWBY: A New Breed of SPARTAN, I plan to work on both stories simultaneously. The reason I usually take so long to update is that I like to re-read my work constantly so I know it's good and makes sense before I publish it. If you like this story, or know of way I can improve it, let me know! Tips, praise and criticism are always appreciated!
March 2554 (UNSC Standard Calendar)
Aboard wrecked Charon-class light frigate UNSC Forward unto Dawn
Adrift in Interstellar Space, location unknown
Two years after the Battle of Installation 00
For what had to have been the seven hundred trillionth time, Cortana pulsed the passive scanners.
Nothing. Not even a tiny meteor. Just empty space.
Cortana explosively sighed. A very rare reaction for her, considering that an artificial intelligence such as herself had no need to simulate such a reaction. But it did not change the fact that she was indeed frustrated.
She accessed the exterior cameras that were still functioning and checked the space outside, and confirmed what the sensors were reporting: the ragged rear section of the UNSC frigate known as the Forward unto Dawn drifted alone in interstellar space.
The Dawn was part of a strike force that was sent from Earth through an ancient Forerunner portal discovered in the Kenyan wilderness. It led to the massive Forerunner installation known as the Ark. The mission was a successful one, in which the combined forces of humanity and their former enemies, the saurian alien beings known as the Sangheili, managed to stop the leaders of the alien conglomerate known as the Covenant from activating the Halo Array, a massive super weapon capable of extinguishing all sentient life in the galaxy.
Once the Covenant threat was squelched, the mixed alliance of humans and aliens were forced to battle the parasitic menace known as the Flood. A desperate plan was formed, and a partially finished Halo construct was activated to eradicate the Flood once and for all. The Dawn prepared to flee through the portal as the Halo fired, but the resulting detonation shook the installation to pieces, causing debris to heavily damage the Ark. The portal, no longer capable of sustaining itself, collapsed just as the Dawn began to pass through. The front half of the frigate managed to survive the transition, completing the jump to Earth.
The rear half of the Dawn, however, was sent on a different path altogether. The damaged vessel was flung somewhere into the endless void of space, far away from Earth or the Ark, unable to navigate or call out for help. The momentum from the portal collapse kept the ship hurtling through space, unable to slow down. The only thing that Cortana could tell for certain, using the limited scanning equipment still functional aboard the Dawn, was that the ship was not in Slipspace. The wrecked frigate was in an unknown region of space, with no star systems or planets in sight.
With no way to return to UNSC-controlled space, Cortana had dropped an emergency beacon, hoping that, by some random chance, the UNSC would be able to track them here. Wherever here was.
But now two years had passed. Cortana was desperate for something to occupy her mind. Without any major functions to perform, the AI could do nothing but think. But for someone who could perform trillions of calculations per second, thinking proved to be useless in occupying her processing power. Cortana was faced with a problem that she had previously thought was impossible for an AI to experience: boredom.
Sighing again, she retuned her attention to the remaining systems aboard the Dawn. There was plenty of power to keep the scanners and sensors operational. But as long as one particular system was still operational, Cortana didn't care about the rest of the ship malfunctioning.
That system was Cryogenic Suspension Control. When the Dawn was severed by the collapsing portal, only two living beings were aboard the vessel. These two brave souls were responsible for triggering the Halo's activation, saving the galaxy. One, the Sangheili warrior known as the Arbiter, was stationed on the bridge of the Dawn, and therefore made it through the portal and returned safely to Earth.
The other was still in the rear hanger. When the portal deactivated, the brave soul had managed to survive the transition, and was now stranded aboard the wrecked Dawn. Rather than wait for an improbable rescue, he decided to enter cryogenic suspension, freezing himself until the UNSC could perform a salvage mission. This courageous hero had been humanity's savior, a warrior of immense bravado and skill.
Most of the human race only knew him by his military title: Master Chief Petty Officer SPARTAN-117. But to the people who knew him the best, he was known as John.
A holographic pedestal warmed next to John's cryo pod. Cortana's hologram materialized as she gazed through the pod's tiny viewport. Even through the frost buildup, she could see her ghostly blue reflection in the soldier's golden visor. She reached out a holographic hand to "touch" the glass.
Seeing John lying in his pod brought Cortana's focus back to her main objective. There had to be a way to get John and herself rescued, other than wait for someone to chance upon their distress beacon. She set herself to work, desperately poring over every circuit in the wrecked ship, trying to find a solution. It was likely a waste of time, the AI told herself. Luckily, time was something that she had in abundance.
The AI managed to lose herself in the systems of the Dawn, working for what seemed like hours, until a pinging sensor caught her attention.
Cortana investigated the pinging system. It was the passive scanners. They had picked up something outside the ship. In interstellar space.
Cortana felt a flutter race through her subroutines, a feeling of hope. Had a UNSC vessel finally found them? She activated the scanners again, trying to obtain more data on the object.
The system beeped as data flowed in. The object was massive, much too large to be even the largest human or Covenant ship. In fact, if the data streams were reporting correctly, it seemed to be…
"A planet." Cortana said aloud. Her hologram pulsed a riot of colors as she processed the information.
The scan finished. One of the few remaining external cameras popped on and displayed what the scans had discovered. Cortana gasped. She ran the scans again. Double, triple, quadruple checked every scrap of data there was to check. There was no denying it.
It was indeed a planet. Not only that, it was a habitable planet. In a previously unknown system. That, had until just moments ago, been completely invisible to the Dawn's sensors.
The sensors pinged again and a projection of the entire system materialized on the monitor. The planet was only half the size of Earth, but all scans indicated that it was fully habitable, with a nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere, enormous quantities of water, and scans for flora and fauna that were completely off the charts. A mild yellow sun blazed in the center of the system. A small, fractured moon orbited the planet. Two medium-sized gas giants completed the system.
Cortana's mind strained as she took in all of the data. This was impossible. There was no possible way they had just chanced upon a habitable star system. Even after drifting for two years, the wrecked Dawn could not have traveled to another star system in that time in her condition. The ship did not even have any power to propel itself anywhere. The vessel was still moving on the momentum it had gained from the portal's collapse. The chances that the Dawn somehow managed to propel itself to another star system were so virtually remote, Cortana had considered it a waste of time to even attempt to calculate it.
But even all of those considerations still paled in comparison to one huge fact: why did this system just happen to appear out of empty space? Why hadn't any of the ship's sensors detected this sooner?
Cortana suddenly did not have time to even ponder those questions, as new data streamed in from the ship's tattered systems; the Dawn, somehow, was being pulled into the gravity well of the habitable planet.
The sound of groaning metal echoed throughout the Dawn, as the remains of the ship began to be warped by the planet's gravity.
Cortana quickly calculated how long it would take for the Dawn to be pulled into the planet's atmosphere. At the ship's current velocity, the Dawn would begin reentry in approximately four hours. After that…
Even if the Forward unto Dawn was still a fully functional and intact vessel, reentry into a planet's atmosphere would be tricky at best. Human warships were built in zero gravity, and were not meant for planetary insertion. In its current broken state, the Dawn stood zero chance of surviving the heat of reentry. The majority of the vessel would burn up in the atmosphere.
Cortana plotted the velocity and trajectory of the Dawn in a flight path on the system map. A line representing the Dawn arced through space and terminated on the planet's surface.
Cortana scanned the region. It appeared to be a heavily forested area. Even if the Dawn managed to survive reentry into the atmosphere, the remaining pieces of ship would be obliterated upon impact.
This left Cortana with only one choice. If she and the Master Chief were going to survive, then they needed to get off this ship first.
Emerald Forest, Beacon Academy
Kingdom of Vale, Continent of Vytal,
World of Remnant
Ruby Rose lay on her back and gazed up at the evening sky. The setting sun turned the scene into a riot of colors. The sky was aflame with hues of orange and indigo.
She smiled as she looked at the picturesque backdrop. After spending the whole day hunting Grimm with her teammates, it felt good to relax.
"Ruby!" A familiar voice brought the young huntress back to her senses. She sat up and looked to see her partner, Weiss, standing in front of her, her hands poised on her hips.
"What's up, Weiss?" Ruby chirped, getting up and brushing dust off of her combat skirt.
Weiss scoffed. "What's up? The rest of us are setting up camp, while you slack off and daydream!"
Ruby winced at her partner's tone as she picked up Crescent Rose from the ground. "Sorry, Weiss! I was just taking a break. I mean, we've been fighting Grimm all day…"
Weiss rolled her eyes. "Well, can you at least go get some firewood? Blake is getting some dinner, and Yang is setting up out tents."
Ruby smiled and deployed Crescent Rose into its full scythe form. "Sure thing! I'll be back in a flash!"
Weiss watched the young huntress shoot off in a burst of rose petals. "Dolt," she said under her breath, a smile tugging at her lips as she turned back towards the camp.
A few moments later, the four girls began to return to their campsite, each of their individual chores complete.
Yang sighed as she sat upon one of the rocks she had placed around the neatly dug fire pit. She extended her arms above her head, stretching them until they made a satisfying pop. "Man, I'm famished!" the blonde brawler exclaimed. "I hope you had a good hunt, Blake. I feel like I could eat an entire Ursa."
Blake walked up, a smug smile perched on her lips. She walked with a bit of a swagger as she dropped her catch on the ground next to the fire pit: four immensely plump fish from the nearby stream, each one as long as her arm.
Yang gazed at the fish with hungry eyes. "Well, fish works just as good. Nice work, Blakey." She threw in a wink.
Blake rolled her eyes. She sat on a rock herself and began to gut her catch.
Weiss showed up next. "I set up some proximity glyphs around our perimeter. If anything, Grimm or otherwise, comes upon our camp, the glyphs will let us know."
"Alright! Nice work, Ice Queen," Yang said. She looked around, noticing that someone was still missing. "Hey, where's Ruby?"
Before Weiss could respond, the crackling of branches caused the three girls to look up. At the edge of the clearing where the camp was positioned, a thick tree tumbled towards the earth, hitting the ground with a massive thud. A red blur buzzed around the fallen trunk, the sound of sharpened metal biting through wood filling the air.
After the dust settled, Ruby stood proudly next to a large pile of neatly cut wood. "Firewood's here!" she chirped, sheathing Crescent Rose behind her back.
Ruby's three teammates looked on with the same deadpan expression. The shook their heads and returned to their tasks.
Ruby shrugged and started to build up wood in the fire pit. A spark of Burn Dust from the tip of Weiss' rapier ignited the tinder, and soon a cozy fire was blazing in the center of camp.
The evening progressed without incident. The four girls ate their fill of fish, cooked over the fire on a spit. After their meal, Blake set up their sleeping bags while Yang cleaned their cookware. Ruby took this time to resume what she was doing earlier: gazing up at the sky.
Twilight was now in full effect. The last rays of fiery sunlight lit the edge of the world in an orange glow. The rest of the sky was a deep cloudless purple, save the ghostly white luminesce of the broken moon and the thousands of pinpricks of twinkling stars.
Ruby felt a presence next to her as she looked to see her partner sit down on a rock next to her. Weiss glanced up at the sky. "This is the second time today I've caught you staring out into space. Is there something wrong, Ruby?"
Ruby smiled and shook her head. "Oh, no, nothing like that. I just like to look at the sky sometimes. It helps me relax. And it makes me think."
Weiss furrowed her brow at Ruby's response. "What do you mean?"
Ruby sighed and returned her gaze to the stars. "I always wonder if there is something else out there. I mean, our planet can't be the only one with life, can it? What if there are other planets with humans, just like us?"
Weiss sat and contemplated Ruby's musings. "I suppose it's possible," she finally replied. "But personally, I think it's a waste of time to think about it. We have too many problems on our own planet to ponder what could exist elsewhere in the universe. With the Grimm still a major threat and people like Torchwick that are only interested in power, I think we should focus on the issues here on Remnant before we look to explore other planets."
Ruby frowned a bit, but conceded to Weiss' point with a sigh. "I suppose you're right." The young huntress returned her silver eyes to the starry expanse above. "Still, you can't deny the view."
Weiss had to agree, as she joined Ruby in looking up at the stars. A particularly bright one stood out upon the velvet black of space.
A moment later, Weiss frowned. The star appeared to get brighter. She nudged her partner. "Do you see that star? It looks like it's getting…bigger."
Ruby looked and saw it as well. "Huh, that's weird." She strained her vision, trying to get a better view. She started to frown. "Uh, Weiss? I don't think that star is getting bigger. I think it's getting closer."
There was no denying it now. Whatever this was, it was growing closer and brighter by the second. And by the way it was moving, it looked as though it was heading straight for the Emerald Forest.
A rustle in the bushes brought Ruby and Weiss' attentions back to earth, as Yang and Blake emerged from the brush. "We were just wondering where you two went off to," Yang said. "What's up?"
"There's something coming this way!" Ruby exclaimed, pointing at the approaching light, now appearing to move even faster towards the forest. Yang and Blake gazed up at the unknown object, worry creasing their faces.
Within moments, the object roared over the girls' location in the forest, a flaming mass trailing debris the size of large boulders.
The four huntresses stared in awe, their mouths hanging open.
"What is that?" Weiss cried. "A meteor?
The mass sailed overhead until it landed in the forest a few kilometers from Team RWBY's campsite. A massive explosion rocked the forest, flame and smoke erupting into the sky. The four girls shielded themselves from the blast.
Ruby snapped out her state of shock, falling into her practiced demeanor of team leader. She stepped into action. "Blake, get your scroll and contact Beacon. Professor Ozpin is going to want to know what's happening. The rest of you, ready your weapons. We're going to investigate this."
Yang hesitated. "Ruby, we don't know what that thing was! Don't you think it would be safer to wait for the proper authorities to arrive?"
Ruby shook her head. "There's no time, Yang! We are the only Hunter team in the forest right now! We need to try to contain the situation before backup can get here!"
Yang stopped to think about this, and decided that Ruby was right. She nodded, deploying her gauntlets in their combat form. "Alright, Rubes. Lead the way. I'm right behind you."
Ruby smiled and turned to Weiss. She unsheathed her rapier and held it at the ready, nodding at Ruby with smile.
Blake ran back from the camp, sheathing Gambol Shroud on her back. "I called Professor Ozpin. He's sending Team JNPR and Professor Goodwitch to help us."
Ruby nodded. "Okay, then! Let's go!"
Team RWBY plunged into the forest, heading towards the area where the mysterious object landed. Flaming debris continued to rain down upon the forest. Unbeknownst to the four girls, one particularly large mass looked like it was moving with purpose. About the size of a Bullhead dropship, this huge piece belched smoke as it flew towards the moving huntresses.
45 minutes earlier…
Cortana checked over the remaining systems as the Dawn continued to plummet into the mysterious planet's atmosphere. The ship's exterior heated up from the force of reentry, flaming debris beginning to peel off and disintegrate in its wake.
A status report flashed on one of the screens in front of Cortana. The automated drones she had sent to the armory were reporting that their programmed tasks were complete. A Pelican dropship had been loaded with various infantry weapons, ammunition and various other supplies, and now sat ready for takeoff in the rear hangar bay.
Satisfied, Cortana turned her attention to the last loose end: the cryo pod in front of her. The systems indicated that the thawing process was minutes away from finishing. Cortana input the last few commands, preparing to rouse John from his icy nap.
Gases flowed from the cracks in the cryo pod as the thawing process completed. A moment passed, then John began to stir beneath the Plexiglas shell.
"Wake up, Chief." Cortana spoke softly. "I need you."
John groaned as he woke from cryosleep. After a brief moment of confusion, he quickly came to his senses. He put his arm forward, his armored palm striking the glass cover in front of him with a solid thud.
"Easy there, Chief!" a voice cried in his helmet's speaker. John looked through the cyro pod's viewport to see Cortana looking at him from the holographic pedestal. "You've been out for a while."
Cortana worked to bring the Chief's MJOLNIR armor systems back online. John's HUD flickered on inside his helmet, showing his shield systems and motion trackers were fully operational.
John groaned again as he continued to recover from the cold ache of cryo. "Where are we?"
"We're still aboard the Dawn. However, we have a problem. I'll get you up to speed in a second, but first I need you to pull the manual release inside the cyro pod."
John looked around the pod, looking for the handle. He found it above his head, just above the top lip of the pod. He reached up with a gauntleted hand and pulled the handle. The locking bolts opened with a heavy clank, and the front shell of the pod burst open with a hydraulic hiss. The remaining cryo gasses billowed out in a white cloud.
John stepped out of the pod and proceeded to stretch fully for the first time. Muscles and tendons popped and creaked as they were extended and loosened. John moved to the pedestal where Cortana waited.
"Just like old times, huh?" The AI said as her hologram pulsed blue.
John nodded. "Ready to get back to work?"
Cortana smiled, another unnecessary function, but one that was completely genuine. "I thought you'd never ask."
The AI transferred herself to the data chip installed in the pedestal. A moment later, the transfer was complete. John removed the chip and inserted it into the slot in the back of his helmet. There was a sharp stab of pain, a cold feeling of liquid mercury, and then Cortana flooded his mind.
John turned around and retrieved his assault rifle from next to the cyro pod. "How long was I out?" he asked, as he ejected and re-inserted the ammo clip and readied the rifle.
A small window popped open on John's HUD and Cortana's face appeared. "Two years, 1 month, 5 days, to be exact." Her face creased in worry. John could tell something was wrong. "I'm…still not sure how this has happened, but we have found a planet."
John frowned. "A planet? How is that possible?"
"I don't know, and believe me, the lack of that data is maddening to me, but the sensors aren't lying. Unfortunately, that's not the worst news. The Dawn is caught in the gravity well of this planet. I estimate approximately 35 more minutes before the Dawn is pulled into the atmosphere and burns up upon reentry."
John processed this information. He was confused as to how the Dawn had managed to travel to another planet in her current state, but that speculation could wait. His and Cortana's survival were his top priority. "I assume you have a plan to get us off the ship before then?"
"Yes, I do. I've already prepped a Pelican. It's waiting for us in the hangar. Fortunately, there is good news. If the readings are correct, this planet is fully habitable. I'm even detecting a human presence on the planet, but it somehow feels… different."
John started toward the hangar. "Different? What do you mean?"
Cortana furrowed her brow. "I mean that whomever these humans are, they don't appear to be part of the UNSC. I'm reading signs of advanced technology, including ships and computer systems, but nothing matches any known human tech. It's like these humans have evolved separately from the rest of humanity. Like they are both advanced…and ancient at the same time."
John's mind raced as he processed Cortana's words. A colony of humanity that had evolved completely separately from the rest of the UNSC? And the fact that the Dawn had just happened to chance upon them? It didn't add up. It was almost like some sort of divine intervention had taken place. "Is it possible that this is Forerunner-related?" the Chief asked, ducking through a hatch as he continued to make his way to the hangar.
Cortana paused for a full 30 seconds until she finally answered, "I'd be lying if I said 'no'."
The Chief hastened his pace as he made it to the hanger. He quickly boarded the waiting Pelican and inserted Cortana into the ship's systems. A moment later, the ship pulsed to life. The engines whined and then roared to life. The hangar doors opened, revealing the black of space tinged with the yellow flames of reentry.
"Hang on!" Cortana cried, as she ignited the Pelican's thrusters. The ship exploded out of the hangar on a column of fire.
The Pelican rattled like a thing possessed as it sailed through the atmosphere. John looked to see the remaining wreckage of the Dawn, now fully engulfed in a ball of fire. There was no way that the ship would survive impact with the planet.
The Pelican's engines strained as the ship accelerated into the planet's atmosphere. The Chief now had his first look of the terrain below. He could see a large continent, mostly covered with vast forests and mountainous terrain. As the Pelican continued its descent, John could make out what appeared to be a large settlement. Bright lights from large buildings stood out in the night sky.
But before John could direct the Pelican toward this city, there was a explosion on the port side of the craft. John looked out of the side of the cockpit and saw the port engine engulfed in flame and smoke. "Cortana, what just happened?"
"The port engine blew! It must have been damaged. It couldn't take the strain of reentry." The Pelican began to fall faster, a trail of smoke billowing behind. "I can counter our fall with thrusters, but our landing is going to be rough!"
The Chief strapped himself into the pilot's seat as the dropship plummeted towards a lush green forest. John could see that the trees ended against a high bluff. Some sort of large structure stood atop the bluff, its tallest tower emitting an eerie green light.
Cortana controlled the Pelican as best she could, but the ground was coming up fast. She spied a clearing up ahead and aimed the craft for the opening.
"We're going to hit hard, John!" she cried out. "Hang on!"
The Pelican hit the earth with a massive crash. Its momentum carried it forward in a massive skid. A wing was shorn off by a tree as the craft carved a trench into the ground, finally coming to rest at the base of a large boulder. The bulk of the craft settled.
John shook his head to clear the disorientation from the crash. "Cortana!" he coughed, freeing himself from the pilot's seat.
"I'm here." Cortana's hologram flickered on the dashboard of the Pelican. "It looks like we're both okay, but this ship isn't going to be flying anytime soon."
A roaring sound passed overhead. John looked up through the Pelican's cracked viewport to see the remains of the Forward unto Dawn blaze through the sky in a smear of flame and smoke. A moment later the ground shook and a blinding flash rushed through the trees as the once powerful starship crashed into the forest. A towering inferno ignited in the forest.
John returned his attention to Cortana. "I saw a structure a few dozen klicks from here." The blue AI said. "I received more of those human signatures in that direction. It must be some form of settlement. We should head there. Yank me and load up."
John pulled Cortana's chip and re-inserted it into his helmet. He then went into the rear bay of the Pelican and noticed all of the supplies and weapons that Cortana had loaded into the ship before takeoff. He nodded approvingly.
"Chief, head up!" Cortana buzzed in his ear. "I'm reading four human signatures heading in our direction. Seems like the locals are coming to investigate."