Writing sure is a doozy. I'm an amateur writer so feel free to give me criticism and correct me on anything that I get wrong or mix up. I'm also starting this from Volume 4 of RWBY, thanks!

Steve felt like he was thrown on top of an active plasma grenade. Attempting to stifle his scream of pain to no avail, he instead made it sound like he was set on fire and stabbed in the neck multiple times. A garbled mess of a scream transmitted over his helmet comms, and mixed with the voices of the people he was assigned to lead. His issued "Dumb" AI, Barca, threw out a few messages about incoming hostiles, his injuries, and what to try doing.

Time felt like it had slowed.

"Oh god, I need some help over here!" Yep, that was definitely Jim. A farm boy from Earth, and the youngest out of the whole squad at 20. Pretty innocent kid, he was the squad's designated medic. No one even knew how he managed to get approved as an ODST, but he acted like a complete newbie when first introduced into the squad. The fact that he was a boot was worrying for some people, but he quickly proved that he deserved the role when he jumped into the crossfire of a battle they fought previously and dragged out two marines from a different squad, managing to treat and evacuate them both.

He was sadly not suited towards violence, which surprised or irked the whole squad as he preferred to hide behind the other ODSTs and set up tiny triage centers. During the whole operation, Steve swore he only saw Jim fire his SMG once, and that was when he was cornered by one of those small grunt things. God bless his soul, as he was about to get torn apart by a bunch of Brutes. "Chances of successful evacuation: 75%"

"What the- SARGE!" undoubtedly came from Phillip. One of the more experienced members of the squad, he was the grease monkey of the group. He was born on Mars, and was a mechanic before enlisting. You could always rely on him to jury rig or muster up something useful for the situation. A noise maker to distract and prep a group of brutes for an ambush, and he could even modify most of the equipment and gear given to him to an extent.

Wasn't a great shot though, could barely hit the narrow side of a barn with all of the heavy gear he had on him. Turning his back to look at Steve get shot down turned out to be a bad idea, as it left him open to the Elite that rounded the corner with an energy sword. "Chances of successful evacuation: 50%"

"Damn it, get away from me!" The normally down to earth and calm voice of Bob came out as panicked mess. The heavy weapons specialist of the group, he waved around his M41 SPNKr like it was nothing. It was like it was an extension of his hand or something, and most of the things he shot at were with good reason, like an office building to collapse some rubble on top of a Covenant envoy. He carried as much rockets as he could in his pack and kept it loaded 24/7, but he'd always run out during an operation and Steve would have to request more and more rockets from Requisitions up top. Req became so accustomed to these orders that every single comm talk went like, "Staff Sergeant Steve to Requisitions, requesting-" "Requesting M41 Spanker rockets, yeah yeah, anything else, Uniform squad?"

There was also the fact that Bob wrote the word "SPANKER" on the interchangable barrel of his launcher, which made for great lines such as, "Prepare for a spanking!" and "I just spanked that group of Elites!" Not much of a trigger discipline though, always had to be told to be careful when near a group of civilians. Being surrounded by grunts, he held up his rocket launcher with one hand and held a grenade in the other, going out with a bang was seemingly the only acceptable way to die to him. "Chances of successful evacuation: 25%"

All of this, because of a horrible decision made by Steve. His whole squad doomed to die in the middle of New Mombasa all because he decided to drag them into saving Kilo and Whiskey squad's asses instead of focusing on making it to evac. If they didn't die here, the glassing of the city surely would kill them instead.

"Listen up boys, all we have to do is make it to evac. We've managed to trudge through that scuffle at the center and we're not that far from evac." Trudging through the rubble on the road, Steve sighed. The operation was a failure and a glassing was in order, their job here was done and it was time to evacuate.

"I'm tired boss, when do you think we'll get some R&R?"

"Not right now, Bob, they're about to glass the place, if we don't make it out of here we're screwed. Also, can you hand me a spare grenade? I used mine up in that last skirmish."

"Sure thing boss. Found this on one of those Spec Ops Elites, looks pretty normal though." Unlatching a grenade from his hip, Bob tossed a grenade over to Steve, who barely managed to catch it.

"Thank you, Bob." Attaching the grenade to his lower back, Steve looked back towards the rest of the squad, counting all 24 members before looking at Barca's laid out directions on his HUD.

"... What's a glassing?" Jim's question came out a lot more scared and wimpy than usual, probably because of the whole "We're screwed if we don't get out" part.

"H- How do you not know what a glassing is? You're an ODST, for crying out loud! Bah, it's best you didn't know kid, come on, we're less than a mile away." The naivety of Jim never ceased to amaze the squad, most of them looking at each other with clearly worried looks, before resuming their tasks of observing their surroundings.

"Sarge, I think I'm hearing some screaming coming from that office building over there."

"Office building? Wait, Kilo squad said they needed help over there a while ago, didn't Whiskey come over to help them?"

"I'm not sure Sarge, but from the sound of it, either Kilo didn't get the help they needed or both squads are getting shit on."

"Damn, alright Uniform squad, converge on that office building over there. Make it snappy, we gotta save those Kilos. Barca, watch our backs."

"Affirmative, Staff Sergeant. I will provide tactical information and suggestions, keeping the best course of action and objective in mind."

"Thank you, Barca. Alright Uniform squad, let's move!"

Apparently Whiskey squad did actually manage to make it over to help Kilo, but a large group of Elites trailed them and Kilo squad was wiped almost instantly. The screams came from Whiskey squad's last members being torn apart and shot up, and that's where Uniform Squad came in, us. We came in guns blazing, but it didn't take long before we started to take casualties.

Barca could only do so much, his tactical advice was followed for the most part and actually managed to keep the whole squad intact and alive for the first few minutes of engagement. Even for an AI designed to dish out tactical information, it's very hard to handle a whole Covenant Company bringing the hammer down on a measly 24 men, even if they're all ODSTs.

"I would not recommend attempting to evacuate that wounded marine, Staff Sergeant. The best course of action would be to-"

"Quiet Barca, there's no way I'm just going to let a fellow marine get disemboweled by these Covenant bastards!"

"... Affirmative, Staff Sergeant. The best course of action to save that marine would be to take cover behind that pillar, as the rest of the Covenant force is still caught off guard and focusing on the rest of Uniform squad. Warning, my scanners detect an Elite using active camouflag-"

Steve didn't know why he moved right at that moment. The reason he was selected to be the leader of Uniform squad was because of his marginally better than most tactical decisions, or at least that was what he was told. 5 years in the UNSC hardens your mind, but it can only go so far before you start making stupid decisions.

Of course, this didn't go for people like Spartans, but Steve knew he'd never be one, not by a long shot. It wasn't even the duration of the operation that tore into his head, it was the amount of things that had happened to their squad and the civilians unlucky enough to be caught in the crossfire. Something just cracks in your head when you stumble upon two parents that were blown up trying to shield their children from a grenade, especially when their attempts don't even work in the end.

"Hang on, marin- AGH, GODDAMNIT!"

A few spikes punched through Steve's BDU from behind, causing him to fall to the floor a third of the way to the injured marine. Pushing back the pain, he lifted up his M7S with his right hand and fired a few bursts at some Elites that were pushing forward towards the rest of his squad before it was yanked out of his hand by an invisible force, who proceeded to force its hand past Steve's outstretched hand and punch him in the visor, knocking him out cold.

"- is dead, and so are the vets!"

"Staff Sergeant's AI just told us to get outta here, let's book it towards evac!"

"Staff Sergeant, please awaken."

Hearing the voices of a few hiding members of his squad and Barca brought Steve out of his unconscious state. Observing his surroundings, Steve was surrounded by Elites, although they were not directly focused on him, and instead looking over the battlefield. His M7S was still next to him, although using it now would probably get him killed.

Arching his head to the right, Steve saw that the wounded marine he was trying to evacuate at the start of the battle was mutilated badly, although his death seemed not to be in vain as he managed to somehow stab an unsuspecting Elite to death with his combat knife before being cut apart with an energy sword.

"Staff Sergeant, I am glad to see that you are awake. You are wounded and unable to move, would you like for me to send out a distress call to any other UNSC forces in the immediate vicinity in hopes of saving you?"

"Negative. Listen, once I die, tell the rest of the evaccing UNSC guys to avoid this area, there are too many hostiles here for any of our guys still down here to handle."

"Affirmative, Staff Sergeant. It has been a pleasure serving with you and Uniform Squad, and I apologize that I was unable to keep you alive."

"No worries Barca, just keep the rest of the squad alive."

"Affirmative, Staff Sergeant, I will now instruct the remaining members of Unifor-"

"This one lives."

A harsh hand seized Steve by the neck, its vice grip causing him to gasp for air until it slightly lessened, probably due to Steve's very vocal attempts to get air. Attempting to reach for his SMG to shoot at whatever was manhandling him failed, as it was quickly kicked away.

Steve blinked a few times and found that he was face to face with an Elite, clad in brownish grey armor and a face mask with glowing eyepieces. Damn, he had been briefed before deployment to watch out for these kinds of Elites. The Covenant's own Spec Ops, complete with Active Camouflage tech. Of course, you can't really watch out for something that can become near invisible at a moment's notice unless you've got an AI on lookout or have really keen senses. The fact that Barca wasn't able to catch this thing until the last second must've meant that it was real good at its job.

English speaking Elites were uncommon but not unheard of, generally the ones taught are meant to act as translators or interrogators, this Elite probably fitting more of an 'I'll kill you after I force the last bit of useful information out of you." role.

Directing his eyes down to the two weapons attached to the Elite's thighs, Steve saw that it carrying a Spiker, seemingly modified to fit an Elite instead of a Brute, and an energy sword. Looking at the rest of the Elite's group, he pieced together the puzzle and realized that this Elite was the one who shot him in the back, knocked him out, and probably killed the marine that took out that other Elite.

"Yes… This one is very much alive."

Eyeing the Elite suspiciously, Steve was contemplating whether to try going for his boot knife and stabbing the Elite a few times before it started to speak again."

"The men under your command have fallen, and without much of a struggle on our side. Tell me, how does it feel?"

Before Steve could respond, Barca chimed in, "Staff Sergeant, I would not advise retorting, unless you would prefer a quick death. This Elite seems to be in particular, very volatile, and would most likely snap your neck at any provocations."

Steve shook his head, "My men fought valiantly and with courage, there is no doubting that. Yours flee or panic when our Spartans, demons as your kind call them, enter the mix."

Upon hearing this, the Elite immediately threw Steve to the ground, knocking a bit of the wind out of him before turning around and walking back, shouting something to its followers, paired with a hand signal, who then aimed their weapons at Steve.

"There goes my chance at surviving." Steve thought, chiding himself before yanking the grenade he got from Bob out from behind his back and pulling the pin, attempting to throw it towards the firing squad. The Elites fired, and Steve closed his eyes, ready to go one circle deeper into hell.

"-ergeant, please awaken."

Regaining his senses after hearing Barca, Steve blinked a few more times before analyzing his surroundings. He was in a forest slouched up against a huge mossy tree, quite beautiful actually, with the tall trees and green scenery. Not the time to appreciate nature though, Steve was severely confused. First he was fighting in New Mombasa, got his whole squad killed, tried suicide bombing a group of Elites after a talk gone wrong, and then got transported to a nature reserve?

"Barca, where am I?" Checking his person, Steve saw that he had his M7S attached to his thigh and the rest of his equipment still with him, apart from the grenade that he used trying to bomb the Elites that were about to shoot him.

"I'm afraid that I would not know, Staff Sergeant. I have tried accessing the UNSC network to no avail and searched for any signal nearby, UNSC or not, and have not found anything. I have also analyzed the landscape and surroundings in the time you were unconscious, and there seems to be some kind of energy nearby, one unknown to my database."

Attempting to get up, Steve sharply inhaled as the spikes still embedded in his lower back dug in. Reaching his hand behind his back, Steve grabbed a hold of each spike, and one by one tore each of them out. It was basic first aid to leave things stuck in you in case they hit an artery and were stopping the bleeding, but they were impeding his ability to move, and he needed to know where he was.

"Do you require instructions on how to treat your injuries, Staff Sergeant?"

"I'm fine, Barca. Warn me if this unknown energy gets too close for comfort, alright?"

"Affirmative, Staff Sergeant."

Taking his rucksack off of his back, he took out a standard issue field aid kit and applied some ointment to ward off any infections before wrapping himself in bandages, deciding to save the small biofoam canister and morphine for more serious injuries.

Standing up with a grunt, Steve tried his helmet comms, only to receive static.

"Alright Barca, where should I-"

"I'm just saying, there's more members of Juniper in the team than Ruby," Hearing the voice of another person, Steve rolled into a bush instinctively, unholstering his M7S before scanning in the direction of the person talking.

A ginger girl, black vest jacket, pink shirt, and a heart with a line through it cut into her white top. On her back… A grenade launcher!? This girl couldn't be younger than 18, why the hell would she need to carry around a grenade launcher?

As for the person next to her, at least a head taller than her and sporting almost butt length hair, this guy reminded Steve of old Chinese garb from the history books. Looking over the male, he had two guns strapped to his thighs and a black backpack, and also couldn't be younger than 18. What is it with kids in this area packing grenade launchers and bayonet pistols?

Steve wasn't even sure what the guy was packing. They look like they come from the 1911 family, old line of pretty reliable handguns back in the 21st century up until we managed to get cushy in space. Except these ones have god damn collapsible blades on the bottom.

Shaking his head, Steve decided to keep listening in on their conversation in hopes of getting out some info out of where he was.

Motioning with her hands, the girl obviously wanted to sway her companion into agreeing with her, "It just makes sense to go with THAT one."

The male scratched his head, "But Junior isn't a color."

Stopping, the girl groaned, seeming fed up and leaned backwards a bit, before holding her head in her hands, "Ugh, how can I be more CLEAR?"

Alright, this conversation was getting nowhere and giving nothing. Looking to the right of the green garbed male, Steve observed a blonde, who seemed a tiny bit taller than the green male. Plate armor, or at least the chest plate, spaulders, and rerebraces parts. Jeans, two belts with some pouches attached, and seemed unarmed, what a relief. Could never be too sure though.

"Barca, scan that blonde over yonder, the one with the chestplate and jeans."

"Affirmative, Staff Sergeant."

Focusing back on the ginger and the green clothed male, Steve listened in on their conversation again.

Holding her right hand out, the girl pointed at something, "One, two, three! That's more than one."

The male held his hand out as well, but didn't point at anything, "But we're helping Ruby with her objective, wouldn't that make her the leader?"

That's a bit of useful information, they had a leader named Ruby. Before the two could keep arguing, the Blonde interrupted, "Guys."

"The blonde male is not armed, Staff Sergeant, apart from a few miscellaneous items in his pouches there is nothing of danger to you."

Nodding, Steve proceeded to observe the trio again.

Crouched down behind a fallen tree, the blonde was waiting for something, perhaps their leader was out scouting, as she didn't seem to be with them at the moment. "We need to focus."

Focus on what?

The blonde turned back to look over the tree, "Also, Junior is way cooler."

"Exactly!" Putting her hands on her hips, the girl seemed satisfied that someone else agreed with her.

Defeated, the green male held his hands up for a second in an attempt to argue back, before giving up and sighing.

The only information Steve got from the whole conversation was that they were deciding on a name for their group, either Junior or Ranger. Steve was personally rooting for Ranger, although the grenade launcher girl would probably destroy any aspect of "Ranger" with her personality.

"Warning, Seismic activity detected nearby, prepare for slight rumbling."

Bracing himself, Steve moved closer to the blonde to see what was causing the noise.

The blonde looked at the shaking rocks and back over the tree, "It's here."

Before Steve could question anything further, he saw something red fly out of a tree, rose petals? A red cloak? No, a girl? A girl with a rifle? What the hell was she firing at, and how the hell is she up that high?

"Warning, Seismic activity and energy linked to-" Before Barca could finish his sentence, a large mass of boulders and rocks somehow connected together, forming a vaguely human like appearance burst out from the trees, chasing the red girl who was firing at it.

Must be the leader of the group, Ruby, was it? The trio quickly ran down to assist the girl while Steve was busy gawking at the sight.

What could a bunch of kids, albeit armed and one packing a grenade launcher, do against a huge as hell rock monster? Especially one that big? All Steve had on himself was his M7S and the rest of his kit, barring any explosives, but there had to be some kind of weakness on that thing. He'd just have to rely on Barca for the strategy and keeping all of them alive. Steve sure as hell knew that he didn't want to die by a sentient rock after all of the things he's been through.