For clarification purposes only.
() - Loudspeakers
[] - Comms
{} - Covenant comms

And just to address two issues you may or may not have about this fic. 1: yes, the Faunus do replace the Sangheili entirely. President Angel originally (before giving the idea to me) said both species would co-exist as equals, but I decided against this for my own reasons. 2: although Dust cannot leave Remnant's atmosphere, let's just say it is able to in this fic. Just for the sake of including it.

I know it took me almost a whole year to actually finish and release this. Well thing is, I've been pretty busy. I nibbled back to this every now and then, but not extensively. I hope you enjoy what's here.

— Home Field Advantage —

(Alert! Incoming Covenant boarding craft!)

"This sucks. I gotta use a regular BR..." Ruby said as she picked up a BR55 rifle as marines ran by.

Qrow picked up a large portable chain gun placement and looked her way. "Its better than nothing, kid! Now, come on. We got intruders to deal with!" He shouted as he followed behind the marines. Ruby sighed.

[WEISS: Ruby, I found Crescent Rose, you forgot it in the Armoury, you dunce!]

"Oh, whoops! Thanks, Weiss. I'll be sure to pick it up later." She replied to the A.I.

Ruby later followed Qrow and the marines as well. She went through a door, saw large windows that gave a beautiful view of Earth as well as the Home Fleet which engaged the Covenant fleet. She watched as UNSC ships were quickly destroyed by the Covenant's battlecruisers. She then witnessed one of the Covenant's boarding craft latch onto the Beacon, and prepared herself to face a familiar enemy.

[QROW: Hey, Haven. How are you looking over there, huh?]

[HAVEN DEFENSE COORDINATOR: Stand-by...they're latched! Check your targets and watch the crossfires! They're in standard formation: little bastards up front, big ones in back. Good luck, Beacon!]

(All hands report to battle stations! This is not a drill! I repeat, this is not a drill! Also don't forget to stock up on Dust ammo at your nearest Armoury!)

As the Covenant boarding craft latched onto the station's hull, weapons fire is heard from behind the doorway where everyone in the area was facing. Both bullet and plasma fire is heard as well as grenade explosions.

Qrow sipped his flask before he placed down the MG he was holding. "I'll need an open lane on that bulkhead, marines. But once that door opens, let 'em have it!" He said to the marines as they cocked their weapons and faced towards the sealed bulkhead.

Ruby stood beside Qrow as they prepared. Branwen looked his right to the Spartan beside him.

"Hey, if you gotta worry, worry." He said before looking back towards the door.

She looked back, holding her Battle Rifle. "I'm not worried." She replied.

As the blast doors blew open, a group of six Unggoy had come out of the smoke with two Faunus following behind them, immediately taking cover but already attacked by Qrow with the MG. The Faunus poked out of their cover to fire back. The marines opened fire as well on the Covenant intruders.

Two other Faunus had attacked the UNSC personnel from above the blast doors. Primarily aiming at Qrow's MG which their plasma rifles eventually destroyed as he took cover with Ruby.

"Any ideas?" He asked the Spartan.

"Uh, I'm thinking!" She replied.

As the two Faunus continued to attack from above, one of them had a line of thought that other Faunus never thought of before.

"Hey, can I ask you something?"

"What is it?"

"We look just like the humans. You ever wonder why we are never ordered to disguise as them for stealth operations?"

"Well I'm not sure they thought of it, but you have a tail. And I have horns. Humans don't have those."

"Yeah, but-" They were interrupted and killed by a group of Marines who came from where they came from. The squad leader looked down at Qrow and Ruby, signalling them.

Ruby took notice and saw a single remaining Faunus near the destroyed blast doors. "Now I have one." She said before she quickly sped towards the Faunus.

As he noticed her running towards him, he continuously fired his plasma rifles at her, hoping to halt her but only took down her shields. In a last ditch effort, the Faunus threw down his plasma rifle and drew his holstered Energy Sword, and charged back at her.

Noticing the Faunus was now armed with a dangerous weapon, she placed the BR on her back and as the Faunus swung the sword at her, she slid on her knees past the warrior, quickly turning around as his back was exposed and pulled the two M6C Magnums from her hips, firing until the warrior's shields went down and allowed Qrow and the other marines to finish him off with their BRs.

As the Faunus fell to the ground, full of bullet holes, the marines ran by Ruby as they went to clear out the next room from Covenant troops.

"Nice work, kiddo. Go on, my men and I got this." He said to the Spartan who nodded and took off to retrieve Crescent Rose.

(Boarders in Habitat Alpha!)

Ruby had walked up a flight of stairs and went through a door that led to a hangar bay with a Pelican docked. She saw a few marines attempting to hold off more Faunus and Unggoy troops. She went over to a marine who was still wearing their Dress Uniform, being tended by medics.

"How long has your men been holding them off for?" She asked the marine who was identified as a Sergeant.

"I don't know how long, Chief, but those uglies probably got an entire regiment's worth of troops in that boarder craft. I'm serious! Look at it! Its small!" He responded as he had a plasma burn on his leg.

She looked over the crates they used as cover; she saw several Faunus, one of them wearing white armour, and were flanked by a large group of Unggoy. The marines below were largely outnumbered and looked like they continue to hold off the intruders.

"If you're gonna do something about those Covies, Chief, I'd do it now." The Sergeant said to her.

(Boarders in the Barracks!)

She looked over the crates again. "Well I did pick up this sword from a Faunus earlier..." She said as she drew the Energy Sword from her hip.

"Then go and use it, Chief." He ordered.

"Kill the filth!" The Faunus Ultra ordered the others and Unggoy as the marines began to retreat from the hangar.

However before they could reach the marines, Ruby landed in front of them, Energy Sword drawn as the Unggoy held up their weapons but were shaking. She then charged them, quickly dispatching the Faunus' cannon fodder and then going after them.

She impaled one of the Faunus in the chest while the other punched her visor, causing her to step back and losing the sword which was still lodged in the Faunus' chest.

"You killed my brother!" The Faunus let go of her plasma rifle, drawing her own Energy Sword as well and attempted to impale her as she did to her brother.

She continuously swung her sword at the Spartan who kept dodging each of the swings until being backed up against a crate. The enraged Faunus grinned.

"The High Leaders will reward me well for this!" She lunged the sword towards the Spartan's stomach, however was countered by Ruby who grabbed the hilt.

Both of them struggled to take control of the blade; Ruby making sure she wouldn't enter her stomach and the Faunus making sure she would die. The Ultra near the boarder craft's exit point took notice and ordered the rest of the Unggoy and remaining Faunus to move deeper into the station.

To prevent the Covenant troops from overrunning the Beacon, the Spartan quickly reacted and had upper cut the Faunus who fell back as their jaw was shattered due to the sheer force of the Spartan's fist. She looked over to the Ultra, who was grinning as the troops took off. Ruby picked up both Energy Swords as the Ultra also dual-wielded swords.

Meanwhile on the Haven...

After thirty minutes of trying to quell the invaders, the personnel and crew of Haven Station were pushed back to important areas of the station, holding off almost endless waves of Covenant troops.

"Last mag!" A marine cried out.

(Keep the Covenant from the command bridge!)

{FAUNUS COMMANDER: Anti-matter charge has been armed! Abandon all given orders and retreat to your boarder craft!}

Hearing their commander on the Covenant comms, all of the Covenant troops on the Haven stopped firing at the UNSC crew and retreated before the station would explode with numerous craft already having ejected their entry points.

[WEISS: Haven, what's your situation, over?]

[HAVEN DEFENSE COORDINATOR: I don't believe it! They're retreating, we've won!]

A few seconds later, a single explosion rocked the entire station, causing other internal systems to explode as well. In a quick flash, the Haven exploded with its debris spreading throughout the battle cluster and some debris making direct contact with several UNSC ships, destroying them.

Back on the Beacon.

The Energy Swords locked in together as both Ruby and the Faunus General intently stared into each other's eyes. The Spartan knocked the Wolf Faunus back, as if making her recoil from their clashed swords. She smirked inside of her helmet as they prepare themselves again.

The Ultra charged, swinging the sword from her right and quickly switched sides in an attempt to outwit the Spartan. However, she was able to catch on and just barely dodged the blade as it nicked her arm, taking her shields down to 80%. She backed off a bit from the Faunus, still holding onto her guard.

"What's wrong, demon? Scared?" She taunted, chuckling away.

Ruby stood up, both of her energy swords still drawn. "Scared?" She said as she quickly charged the Faunus, using her speed and dashed side by side.

Unable to react as quick to her attack as most Faunus, the Ultra was power-punched in the face, breaking and shattering her jaw, instantly killing her as her dead body fell to the ground. The marines who were still nearby witnessed the Spartan's speed and the incredible feat, before taking off and leaving the area.

"I'm a Spartan! I'm never scared!" She said to the dead body.

"Hey, check it out! The Haven's already driven off its boarders!" A voice was heard, but Ruby could not find where it came from.

Hearing the sound of distant explosions as the Beacon took on the shockwave caused by the Haven's destruction, the Spartan looked to the window and saw the Haven burst into flames. She looked at the explosion from within her helmet and had one thought.

"Now I'm worried."

[]x[]x[]

[]x[]x[]

[OZPIN: Weiss, assessment?]

After clearing the second hangar bay and assisting marines to safety, Ruby finds stairs leading below decks towards the Armoury, where she would find Crescent Rose waiting for her as well as the Gunnery Sergeant.

[WEISS: Sir, if I may speak freely for a second. Those blabbering dolts probably brought bombs with them! If there is one on the Beacon then you know what happens to us! Ahem! We should probably do something about that.]

[OZPIN: Chief, locate that bomb and disarm it.]

"Ugh! Why can't Weiss just look through security cameras? It should be easy!" She responded to the two on comms.

[WEISS: Nice try, Ruby. You just can't slack off and be free. You got marines to save.]

— Priority Shift —

Later in the Armoury, Ruby goes through the Gunnie's crates to try and find Crescent Rose. While the Gunnie, himself, held off the incoming Covenant intruders.

"Hey, Chief! What's taking you so long?!" He shouted as he fired off another shell into an Unggoy.

She was looking through crates which all had no names or tags on them. She was annoyed at that.

"You should really put tags on these, Gunnie! I just opened a box of Dust and exploded!" She shouted back.

After firing another shot, he noticed she opened up a box of newly arrived Fire Dust. "Hey, did you just open up a new box of Dust?! I was saving that for Fury Friday!" He yelled.

"Its not my fault you don't tag these jack-in-the-boxes!"

[WEISS: Where are you, you ne'er-do-well?! This bomb is ticking and you're looking through boxes!]

"You said Crescent Rose was in the Armoury!"

[WEISS: Yes, I did, but isn't an excuse to spend so much time in it!]

Opening another Dust box, a pile of Ice Dust and spilling it all over the floor where she was crouched at. The Gunnie noticed the mess and decided to just go and help her so she didn't make another mess in his Armoury. However before being able to cross the open door, two Faunus approached, frantically firing their Plasma Rifles at a very quick rate, making contact with the Gunnie.

"Oh, come on, now! Are those weapons or flashlights?!" His final words before he took two more hits and collapsed to the ground, wounded and prepared to die.

The Spartan noticed and quickly ran up to the Gunnie, using herself as a shield while pulling the marine to safety inside of the Armoury, picking up his Magnum and using it to periodically fire at the Faunus to keep them at bay.

"Don't die on me now!" She said to the injured soldier.

He coughed. "No use now, Chief. These burns are really killing me." He replied.

Although she was no medic, she tried to see what she could do and really didn't want him to die as they both had good times together as friends. In a quick moment, Ruby remembered a time where they were messing around with Dust boxes, trying to balance them neatly on their hands without dropping them, though they were always interrupted by Qrow and Johnson.

"Chief. Keep the magnum. That way...you won't...forget..."

Looking up, the Spartan noticed two Faunus watching them with one of them sniffling and holding the other.

"I think I'm gonna cry..."

In a moment of anger, Ruby gently dropped the Gunnie's body and attacked the two Faunus with the magnum. Pinning the one who shot Gunnie on the ground, she too frantically unloaded the magnum's magazine into his chest until it clicked and was empty.

The Faunus who was crying attempted to defend himself from the furious Spartan and hid behind the group of Unggoy with them, using them as a shield of sorts, though he knew they wouldn't be much of a burden as Ruby was known to have slain armies of Covenant and still be able to fight.

Dispatching the Unggoy with ease, he could hear them screaming as plasma pistol shots are heard, firing as fast as he was firing his rifle earlier. Their screams halted when he saw the Spartan walk through the door, the cyan blood of Unggoy and plasma marks on her armour, he could hear her breathing from across the room.

"I-i guess there's no shame in dying without honour." He said as she drew both of her Energy Swords. He then had a change of heart.

"Never mind. I'll die with honour." He said, drawing both of his plasma rifles this time.

Making the first move, he began firing both rifles at the Spartan, causing damage to her shields but not taking them down completely. She flanked around the Faunus who kept his eyes on her at all times to prevent his own death. However, just like the Ultra, he was unable to react quickly to the Spartan's speed and found himself stabbed by both blades in the waist.

Weiss, being an A.I. and part of the Beacon, witnessed Ruby's fit of rage as she continued to observe the Spartan gently place the Gunnie's body on a table, covering him with blankets that she surprisingly found in one of the crates.

[WEISS: Ruby...we have a bomb to disarm.]

"I know, Weiss." She replied. She closed the Armoury doors, locking them shut and left.

Ruby comes up to a door where she could hear Pyrrha, Qrow and several other officers sounding to be engaged with Covenant troops and noticed she was near the gangway to the Believe in Destiny, a UNSC warship commanded by Nikos.