Jaune fidgeted beside Ruby as their teams waited for the Master Chief to show up at the airship docks.
"So...this guy is...a teacher?" Jaune asked.
"Now he is," Yang said, leaning against Blake, who attempted to shrug her off.
"Where did he come from though?"
"The sky, if he's to be believed." Weiss sniffed. Glaring at the forest.
"Wow...a real life SPACEMAN!" Nora exclaimed, "do you think he's got like, lasers and aliens and-"
"Calm down Nora," Yang said in amusement, "so far he's only good at barking out orders."
"Yeah, he's big time military." Ruby chortled, "he even gave Weiss a 'stern reprimand' in the middle of the mission."
No way." Jaune laughed, "I don't think anyone could reprimand the Ice Queen."
"Well he did." Blake said, "The Master Chief is a soldier, he's good at following orders and giving orders. "
"Doesn't mean he's a good soldier." Weiss quipped. "For all we know he's some logistics paper pusher."
"I can assure you i'm not." Chief's stoic voice said. Making Weiss jump and turn around, the seven foot tall behemoth was looking down at all of them, barely seen behind him was Glynda Goodwitch, her arms crossed in front of her chest, glaring at them all and Making them shift uncomfortably. "At ease." he told them, "team RWBY, Team JNPR, today we will be acquiring the cargo from the down ship UNSC Forward Unto Dawn, cargo will not only include arms and ammunition, but uniforms, food, fuel, and cryo pods, locations of high value cargo will be transferred to your Scrolls; make sure all weapons are prepped, loaded and ready, Mark?"
They all looked at him in confusion, "Mark?" Ruby asked.
Chief closed his eyes and sighed internally as a bullhead came in for a landing, "everyone understand?" he asked. Not attempting to explain.
They all nodded awkwardly, "why is Professor Goodwitch coming along?" Jaune asked hesitantly.
"To make sure The Master Chief doesn't turn out to be a rogue huntsmen while out with you all." Professor Goodwitch said, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose.
"Any more questions?" he asked, everyone shook their head no.
"Good, now get on the Bullhead." Chief said, counting off their numbers until he was sure eight were aboard, then he climbed on himself with Glynda following behind.
"Well that was painfully awkward." Cortana said in his helmet.
"I forgot who I was working with." he muttered, "It won't happen again."
"I highly doubt it." she said, going quiet as Pyrrha walked up to him.
"um...Master Chief?" she asked. Making him look down at her.
"Yes Ms. Nikos?" he asked.
"I just wanted to know...what was that about back there?" she asked, "when you said Mark."
Chief looked over to where the others stood, all were watching closely, "mark." he started, "is a code word that is used to get a confirmation on the orders just dispatched, or a confirmation on whether or not you're ready for a maneuver that has just been decided. the code word to answer this is 'sync'."
"Sync?" Jaune questioned.
"Microwave." Nora said with a cackle.
"Nora, it's not a competition." Ren said.
"But if it was, i totally would have won."
"Why would you need code words to say "do you got it? Yeah'." Yang asked.
"Shorten the phrase, save time." Chief said, walking past them to peer into the cockpit, "how far are we to the drop point?"
"About fifteen minutes out." The pilot shouted, "it's getting kind of late, Grimm will be out in droves."
"We'll try to be quick, if you can't provide an evac we'll stay in the ship."
"Sounds good Chief." she said, "You got a radio?"
"Frequency 3, channel 6." he said.
"Great, you need me i'll be on that channel, callsign is Echo 419."
Chief stiffened at that, "Echo 419." he asked.
"Yep," she said with a grin, "Foehammer."
"I'm hit! Mayday! Mayday! Airfoil structure has been shot to hell! I can't hold her! I can't hold her!"
"Chief?" Glynda asked, shaking Chief from his memories.
"Yes?" he muttered, slowly standing up straight.
"Are you alright?"
"Fine." he said, "good to be working with you Foehammer." he said, walking back into the main hold, his left hand clenched in a fist.
"So Chief." Yang started as Chief stopped at the back of the bullhead, "what kind of battles have you seen?"
"Classified." he said, turning around to look at them.
"Oh come on, you can't tell us anything about the 'war' that you were in?" Weiss asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Classified, means classified Ms. Schnee." he said.
"ETA 5 minutes!" Foehammer shouted.
"Get your weapons ready, i'll be first on the field, team RWBY follow up, we don't know how many Grimm will be in the area so be on watch, JNPR support us, mark." he bit back a curse as he said the word out of habit.
"Sync." Ruby piped up hesitantly.
"Sync." Yang said with a grin.
"Automatic dishwasher."
"NORA!" they all shouted.
Chief smiled slightly as the bay doors opened.
"Green light Chief! Go! Go! Go!"
Chief instantly jumped out of the bullhead, crashing through tree limbs and trunks and landing on the hard packed dirt a hundred yards from the Forward Unto Dawn.Team RWBY landing a few paces behind him, Professor Goodwitch coming down with team JNPR "Rose, Schnee, flank to the southwest, Belladonna, Xiao-Long, southeast, i'll go down the center with Arc and Nikos, Valkyrie stay put and be ready to use that grenade launcher, Ren keep her covered, we move quickly and quietly until we get to the objective, they're will possibly be hostiles other then the Grimm, if we encounter said hostiles then you will wait on my command before engaging. Mark?"
"Sync." They chorused.
"Refrigerator."
"Nora please." Ren said in exasperation as Chief took off down the middle, Glynda, Pyrrha and Jaune behind him.
"Arc, what kind of ranged weapons do you have?" chief asked as they ran.
"I don't have ranged weapons." he said as he jumped over a downed tree.
"What?"
"He's dead set on using his sword and shield." Pyrrha mumbled.
"We're coming up on the clearing." chief muttered, turning on his radio, which should be connected with their scrolls, "I'm picking up heat signatures, a lot of them, does anyone have eyes on the clearing?"
"I do!" Ruby said quickly, "looks like White Fang...they're trying to cut into the ship, and they're fighting off Grimm."
Chief slowed down and found a downed tree for cover, Pyrrha and Jaune did the same, he looked around the tree and confirmed what Ruby saw, "Everyone pick your targets, Rose, can you take out the one cutting into the hull?"
"Take out?" she asked.
"Yes, can you kill him?"
"I...uh…"
"I have the shot." Pyrrha said into her scroll, looking at Chief with concern, "Do you really want me to kill him?"
"They're enemy combatants." Chief said in way of explanation, ignoring Glynda's shocked glare, "everyone pick your targets, attempt to take them out in one shot, Valkyrie, when the shots go off, give them a salvo from your launcher, see if you can't thin those Grimm out," he looked to Jaune, "Arc, when the shots go off, me and you will move in. take care of the Grimm and any Stragglers still standing, Mark?"
"Sync." the chorused, albeit hesitantly.
"Nikos, when you're ready, take the shot." Chief said, readying his rifle.
Pyrrha let out a shaky breath as she drew a bead on the soldier cutting through the hull, she took a deep breath and squeezed the trigger. The bullet flew out the muzzle and soared through the air, slamming into the base of the White Fang soldiers head, making it explode in a pink mist.
"Weapons free.' Chief commanded firing several shots into the now confused White fang soldiers as several grenades streaked over his head, leaving a pink smoke in the air as they slammed into the ground, killing a large percentage of the Grimm, "Arc, follow me, the rest of you continue firing!" Chief said, vaulting over the trunk and engaging the Grimm. Jaune charged forward as well, swinging his arm in a large arc and cutting through a beowulf.
"On your right." Chief warned.
"I see him!" Jaune responded, slamming his shield into the beowulf charging at him and stabbing it through the neck, he turned around, ready to bring his sword down once more, only to stop as a white fang grunt appeared in front of him, the Faunus looked terrified, looking at Jaune with fear in his eyes as he clutched his bloody arm, Jaune hesitantly turned away from him, intent on facing the grimm once more, only to find there were no Grimm left.
"Arc behind you!" Chief shouted making Jaune turn and raise his Shield, stopping the knife from the white fang grunt.
"For the white fang!" he shrieked as he pulled the knife out and went to stab at Jaune again, only to be thrown to the side by a bullet from Chief's sidearm,slamming into his head and splattering Jaune's shield and face with blood.
Chief walked forward, "what was that Arc?" Chief asked.
"I...I...he was injured...i...didn't know he had a weapon." Jaune stuttered. Looking at the corpse in horror and shock.
"Next time there may not be someone watching your back." chief said, walking towards the Dawn as the others came running into the clearing. "Never hesitate."
"Jaune are you alright?" Pyrrha asked worriedly, looking at the blood covering her teammate, "what happened?"
"he...i...i thought he was surrendering…" Jaune mumbled, still shocked, "I thought he was surrendering…"
Chief looked at the remaining white fang soldiers, four in all, all of them injured, whether by a bullet from one of the teams, or from one of the Grimm, all of them looked at him in fear, some of them slowly reaching for weapons, chief brought his gun up, "don't even think about it." he said. Making the white fang raise their hands up in surrender, "Rose, you and the others get these soldiers secure, make sure they don't have any weapons."
"On it." Ruby mumbled out, walking over with Weiss, Chief looked at the two teams that had been placed under their command, most of them looked slightly haunted, but none more so than Jaune and Pyrrha.
"Chief…" Cortana said quietly in his ear, "They're only children…"
"I know Cortana...i know…" he muttered, turning his radio to frequency 3 "Echo 419, come in, over.'
"Reading you loud and clear chief," the response came in.
"Gonna need transportation for four prisoners, all in varying degrees of injury."
"Ten-four, be in bound in fifteen mikes, be advised, Atlesian specialists are enroute to provide EOD assistance as well as to escort the terrorists."
"Copy that Foehammer." Chief said, turning around to look at them all, "Rose, you and your team keep those prisoners secure, Arc, set a perimeter, make sure no more surprise are heading towards us." he looked over to Jaune, who was still in shock. He walked over and put a hand on Jaune's shoulder, "hey." he said strongly. Making the boy look at him, "we're still in an active warzone; we need to make sure we don't get attacked with our pants down, stow it away, and do your job."
Jaune swallowed slightly, "yes sir.' he muttered, raising his sword, "Pyrrha, Nora, Ren, lets go."
They went off as Ruby walked over, "chief?" she asked hesitantly.
"Yes Rose?" he asked, scanning the sky for avian Grimm.
"Why...why did we have to kill them?" she asked.
"You didn't kill them." Chief said, "from the looks of it, you and your team, as well as Arcs, shot to injure, only Nikos killed."
"But why give us that order?" Yang asked.
"They're terrorists," he said, "as well as enemy combatants-"
"They're misguided." blake said, barely containing her anger, "they didn't know what they were doing."
"Are you saying the one who nearly planted a knife in Arcs back didn't know what they were doing?" Chief asked, making Blake look away, "do you think these Faunus would have stood down if we had come running in? Or do you think they would have fought to the last man?" he looked to the sky as two bullheads came in for a landing. "I don't have the luxury of hesitance, of probing them to see what they do, the equipment in this ship can do devastatingly terrible in the wrong hands."
"And what is on the ship?" Weiss asked with narrowed eyes.
"You'll see." he said as the bullhead doors opened and several atlesian troops, four of them in heavier armor then the rest, exited the ships,
"These the prisoners?" one asked.
"Yes," chief said.
"We'll take it from here then," he said, nodding to Ruby and her team as they helped the Fang up and escorted them to the bullhead.
"Master Chief?" another asked, removing his bulky helmet to reveal a younger man, several scars going through his right eye, which had been replaced by a red bionic eye, his other was a deep blue, "Specialist Mendez," he said, "me and my team are here to get rid of some ordnance you guys got."
"Good to be working with you Mendez." he said, getting on the comms, "Arc, return to the ship, on the double time."
"Alright." Jaune's reply came.
"Cortana, see if you can't open that door." Chief said, walking towards the Dawn.
"On it Chief…" Cortana said as Glynda started to walk towards him, "incoming angry blonde."
"I see her." Chief said, turning towards her, "Yes ma'am?" he asked.
"What were you thinking?" she whispered fiercely as she got to him, "giving them that kind of order?"
"I was under the impression they were used to this kind of mission." Chief said, continuing to walk towards the dawn, Glynda hot on his trail.
"They are first year students, they've never had to deal with something like this." Glynda said, "they're children-"
"Who are in training to fight monsters and subjects of ill-repute." Chief said, looking at the door that was straining to open, now refusing to because of the cuts made by the white fang. "If you didn't think they could handled it, you should've suggested another team."
"We're not in the business of murdering." Glynda snapped.
"Neither am I." Chief said, putting his rifle on his back and wrenching the door open, "I'm a soldier, Professor Goodwitch, these...white fang terrorists were too; if we didn't shoot to kill, then we would have taken casualties and that's not something I'll allow, now if you'll excuse me, we still have a mission to accomplish."
Glynda glared at him for a little while longer, before stepping back and motioning for team RWBY and JNPR, who had been standing back to watch their fight, forward.
"We'll head to the armory first." chief said, "from there I'll escort Specialist mendez to the warheads while the rest of you start to pack all weapons and munitions into crates for transport. Mark."
"Sync."
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Chief watched as the teams slowly sorted through the weapons, packing them into weapons crates carefully, he almost laughed as he saw Ruby's eyes light up when she found the sniper rifles.
"Chief." Mendez called, walking up to him with a smile, "where the hell did you come from? This kind of ordnance is...I've never seen anything like it."
"Oh really?"
"I don't think we have anything close to the yield these things are theoretically going to be giving, I almost want to set a few off just to satisfy my curiosity."
"Not a smart idea," Cortana said, "unless you have a testing site."
"We have one in atlas but i doubt we'll be able to transport these there." Mendez muttered, "i'm probably correct in assuming you want these dismantled and destroyed without destroying the ship right?"
"Right." chief said.
"Well, there's quite a bit of ordnance, and not all of it i'm sure we know how to dismantle, but if there's a will right?"
"Right, get to it Mendez."
"Yes sir." he said, promptly marching off.
Chief checked the time on his HUD, "It's late," chief said, 'we won't be able to transport all of this tonight."
"I say we lock down the ship, get the teams to sleep, and start up again in the morning."
"I agree." Glynda said, appearing from behind Chief, "is there some place they can bed down? Or will they have to settle for benches?"
Chief ignored the hostility in her words and nodded, "Troops quarters are still intact." he stepped forward, "that's enough for tonight." he called, making them all stop, "we'll pick this up for tomorrow, Rose, Arc, pick out who you want to stand watch tonight, if the Fang already had a team here, there's no question that they'll send another one."
"Yes sir." Ruby mumbled, turning to talk to her team.
"I'll take first watch." jaune said instantly,
"Are you sure?" Pyrrha asked worriedly.
"Positive." jaune mumbled, walking towards the entrance.
"The rest of you get to bed, cortana should have sent you the directions to the troops quarters, if you feel the need to shower, locker rooms should be close by."
Everyone slowly filed out, "Ms. Goodwitch." he said, turning to the teacher, "you can take the Captains quarters."
'And where will you be sleeping?" Goodwitch asked.
"Nowhere, I'm not sleeping." he said, walking away from her and towards the direction that Jaune went. Leaving Glynda staring after him in shock.
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"What a hard ass." yang muttered as she collapsed on one of the bunks in the troops quarters, her, Nora and Weiss were all sitting on a respective bunk, waiting for their friends to get done showering.
"Yeah." Nora agreed, attempting to bounce on the mattresses, but found them too hard and stiff, "and what was with those orders? 'Shoot to kill'."
"He shouldn't have asked that." Weiss muttered, "especially of Ruby."
"And did you see Pyrrha's face?" Yang asked, "she's the one who took the shot, that's not-" she stopped as Pyrrha walked in, Ren and Blake right behind her.
"Hey P-money." Yang said gently, "how you holding up?"
"I'm...fine." she said, attempting to smile.
"No you're not." Blake said quietly, "you killed today...your first kill, that's not something you just...shrug off.'
Pyrrha sighed and sat down, "I was following orders…"
"That doesn't make it better Pyr.' Nora said.
"It was wrong of him to ask you to do that." Weiss muttered, "and to think, he was going to have ruby take the shot first."
"Perhaps he believed we've done this before?" Ren asked, slightly uncertain.
"Done what? Murder?"
"Been in a firefight actually." Cortana's voice said, making all of them jump as Cortana's Avatar appeared before them for the first time, making them back up, "we were under the impression you've done missions like this before;obviously we were misinformed."
"What would make you think we have ever done anything remotely like that?!" Weiss exclaimed, "we're Huntsmen and Huntresses! Not Murderers."
"So you're telling me a Huntsman has never had to fight with rogues?" Cortana asked, "Never had to take on a terrorist organization that was shooting to kill? I'm sorry, but with the information i've been given by Ozpin and yourselves, i have a very hard time Believing that." she looked at them, "your line of work is protecting the everyday average civilian from Grimm and people who wish to do them harm, bandits, terrorists, or maybe even an everyday joe with a gun. And yet you aren't prepared, or even in the belief that you may have to take a life one day? That is extremely arrogant."
"Well we didn't think we'd have to deal with anything like that this soon…" Yang started lamely.
"To be unprepared is to throw caution to the wind." Cortana said, "had this been a larger contingent of troops, then i doubt you would have been able to simply injure all of them, and if they had Aura, then you would have been hard pressed to pull your punches."
"He didn't have to act like it was nothing though." Blake said.
"The Master Chief has been going on missions since he was fourteen." Cortana said, "he's been fighting in a war against an alien species for most of his life, and has also fought against Insurrectionists at the same time. To him, killing IS nothing, it's a means to an end, a by product of the mission."
"Since he was fourteen?" Pyrrha asked in disbelief.
Cortana nodded, "he was a Spartan." she said, 'the best of the best, and the only one known to survive the war. So I believe it's in your best interest to trust him, at least to the end of this mission." with that she disappeared, leaving the teens to think about what she said.
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Jaune sat outside, sullenly staring at the grass, the vision of the white fang soldiers shocked face still going through his mind.
"I thought he was surrendering." he muttered as a growl alerted him to the presence of an approaching beowulf. He looked at the sniper rifle and battle rifle Chief had left out for him, he shook his head and drew his blade, walking down the slope towards the beowulf, expanding his shield and slamming it into the pouncing wolf's bone mask, shattering it, with a powerful swipe he tore a gash open on it's chest, and with another he sliced it clean in half from groin to head, he continued to bring his sword down on the slowly decaying body, letting out labored grunts as he did.
"Letting out some steam?" chief's calm voice asked, making Jaune turn around and quickly swing at the hulking Spartan, who caught the blade easily.
"Someones no longer hesitating." he said, throwing the blade to the side.
"What are you doing out here?" Jaune muttered, walking past Chief.
"Thought i'd check up on you." Chief said, following the young huntsman in training, "you looked stunned after that firefight."
Jaune looked away from him, "i'm fine…" he muttered.
"No your not." Chief said, "I can see your hands shaking, this your first combat op?"
"No." Jaune said quickly, "It's...it's the first one against humans though…"
"Was it the killing?" Chief asked.
Jaune shook his head, "I knew...that one day we would have to kill...I…" he bit his lips, "I...i thought he was surrendering…i really did...i saw the terror, and the fear in his eyes and I assumed he was surrendering….then he...he tried to…" he shook his head, "I made a decision, and it almost got me killed, what if Pyrrha had been with me? What if Nora or Ren had been? What would have happened to them? What if you hadn't been there? I'd be...i'd be dead right now…" he looked down, "all because I was an idiot."
"You made a mistake." Chief said, putting a hand on his shoulder, "So has every great leader that has ever been, you survived it, so you can either continue to bitch and moan about it, or you can learn from it.' he turned around and started walking back to the ship, "and also find a good ranged weapon, doesn't do you any good to get into a firefight when you don't have any fire."
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Chief walked into one of the ships dressing rooms, looking at several stacks of uniforms that no longer had owners.
"Chief?" Cortana asked, appearing in front of him.
"Do we have a storage unit Cortana?" he asked, looking down at the Marine BDU that still held Sergeant Johnson's name and rank, "For my Armor."
"Yes, there should be one...why?"
"When we get back to Beacon, i think it would be wise to retire the armor...until i'm needed for a mission."
"And i'm guessing you'll be wearing a dress uniform or BDU's while on post?"
"That's right."
"Well, i do believe your dress uniform is still in the plastic in Johnson's old Locker."
"Why is it in there?" he asked in confusion.
"He was going to make sure you wore it to the end of the war party he was planning." Cortana said in amusement, "he was dead set on seeing you in it.
Chief cracked a smile before nodding, "then it's settled." he picked up Johnson's bdu and carefully cut the last part of his name off, leaving 'John', he then tore off the sergeant major patches, sorting through the others until he found a pair fitting his rank.
"I recommend you wear that tomorrow."
"Excuse me?" Chief asked, "we're still in a combat situation, should the fang show up-"
"I'm not saying step out there in just your skivvies Chief, but the teams are unsettled by you, to them you're a machine, and if we're going to be staying here for a while longer, then we're going to have to put them at ease."
Chief hesitated, then shook his head, "maybe when we get back to Beacon, but for now i can't afford to let my combat effectiveness drop to put them at ease."
Cortana rolled her eyes, "It's your decision Chief." she said, winking out of existence.
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Ruby couldn't sleep, her jumbled thoughts just seemed to keep her from actually reaching that dream world she so desperately wanted to get to. So with a sigh she sat up and got out of her bunk, walking quietly out of the barracks and down the cold steel hallways, looking into the different rooms as she did, she stopped as she looked into a room where the EOD specialists were working, most were asleep, except for Mendez, who sat by a fairly large missile, slowly shearing wires, his armor was abandoned at his side, leaving him in combat pants and a tight white shirt,a pair of dark tinted goggles covered his eyes.
Ruby slowly backed away, intent on walking on until the man looked up, "oh, hey." he greeted, pulling the goggles up, "thought everyone was asleep."
"I...couldn't sleep." ruby said sheepishly.
"Same." he said, leaning back, "this ordnance has really peaked my curiosity...makes me sad to dismantle them."
"Why?"
"Because I like explosives." he said with a shrug, "something about the simplistic beauty of them...how a bit of wiring, some Comp-C and a detonator can create something so…" he trailed off, then smiled ruefully, "but you don't want to listen to me talk about bombs."
Ruby put her hands behind her back, "A-actually i think it's pretty cool that your so passionate about something." she said shyly, "i-it's like me with weapons."
"Like weapons do you?" he asked with a grin.
Ruby nodded vigorously, her eyes lighting up, "I just love the complex machinery and physics that go into making our weapons! I mean just take my own weapon for example! It mechashifts from a scythe to a high impact sniper rifle!"
"Really?" he asked, very impressed, "how'd you incorporate the shooting mechanism?"
"Could you two nerds pipe down!" one of the EOD guys groaned, turning over, "trying to sleep."
"Sorry." Ruby squeaked out while Mendez rolled his eyes, putting his wrench down.
"How about we go on a walk." Mendez suggested quietly, standing up and walking towards her, "I could use a break and I'm sure you need to take your mind of whatever it is you're thinking of."
"I'd like that." she said slowly stepping back into the hallway, the two started walking down the hallway,
"So...how'd you get that eye?"
"Oh man, i thought it was such a good idea at the time…"
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Glynda woke up to laughter just outside her quarters, "who on earth... " She grumbled as she stood and went to the door, hitting the button to open it up, her eyes narrowed when she found Ruby Rose with one of the Specialists, talking and laughing quietly beside one of the ships view ports, which revealed a starry sky, the two sat across from each other. Legs barely brushing each other.
"So then we took off running." Mendez chuckled, "and the Sergeant was chasing after us, slipping and sliding on the cream!"
"I can't believe you made a whipped cream bomb." Ruby giggled.
"Ms. Rose." Glynda said sternly, making the young girl jump slightly in her seat, "aren't you supposed to be asleep?"
"um...I couldn't sleep?" she said nervously.
"Be that as it may you shouldn't be lounging about in these halls!" Glynda checked her watch, "and it's five in the morning!"
"It was my fault ma'am." Mendez said, standing up at attention, "I suggested we go for a walk to get her mind off things, I guess we lost track of time."
She narrowed her eyes at them, "get back to the Barracks Ms. Rose, and you get back to your Squad Specialist Mendez."
"Yes ma'am." Mendez said and the two quickly left.
Glynda ran a frustrated hand through her hair and turned around to walk back into her quarters, "Children." she said in exasperation.
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The next morning the ship was woken up by a loud alarm, making everyone stumble out of their bunks, grabbing their weapons as Chief ran through, "Who triggered the alarm?" he demanded.
"Weiss was on the last shift." Jaune said blearily, pulling his sword out as they ran towards the entrance a second before it practically exploded and Weiss they all shielded their eyes except for Chief, who raised his rifle, ready to pull the trigger as Weiss stumbled down the hall.
"White fang." she said breathlessly, leaning against the wall, trying to dust some soot off her combat skirt.
"Valkyrie," Chief started, only for Nora to run forward and started firing round after round out the entrance. "Everyone, grab what you can and get it to the vehicle bay, we'll get as much out as we can, Schnee, what's their numbers look like?"
"It's like a small army." Weiss said, "they have Aura, heavy weapons...I-I think i saw an Atlesian paladin."
Chief grimaced as Glynda walked forward, "if there's that many we may not get all the supplies back to beacon." she said.
Chief nodded, then turned on his radio, "Arc, Rose, there's a vehicle in the bay, get supplies in there, provisions take priority, Xiao-Long, I want you and Belladonna to get out through one of the other service hatches, hit their flank and use hit and run tactics to keep them confused, Nikos, get to the top of the ship, sniper position, Ren, Valkyrie, hold this entrance, Schnee help them, Mark."
"Sync." they chorused as Chief switched to another frequency, "Echo 419, come in."
"This is Echo 419, what do ya got Chief?"
"We're getting hit hard, need air support and immediate Evac stat."
Roger that Chief, on my way.
Chief started striding through the ship as Mendez and his men ran out. "Chief!" Mendez shouted, "what's going on?"
"White Fang," Chief said, "too many to hold off effectively for long."
"Shit...we're not done with that ordnance."
"What's left?"
"Three bunker-busters, and four Air-to-air missiles."
"Cortana," chief called, making the woman appear.
"Yeah chief?"
"What's the status of the ships defenses?"
"Down, and we don't have enough power to get them back online, and the main hatch is damaged, so it won't close…soon as we leave they'll be able to get at whatever we leave behind."
Chief sighed, "mendez, can you rig those missiles to blow on a remote detonator?"
Mendez slowly started to grin, "give me fifteen minutes."
"You have ten." Chief said as the EOD guys took off running once more.
"We're blowing the Dawn?" Cortana asked worriedly, "but chief-"
"It's just a ship cortana." Chief said, "and it's carrying tech and ordnance that these terrorists will use...we have no choice…"
"I hope you know what you're doing."
"So do I." Chief said, getting back on his radio. "Everyone get ready, once the bullheads are here we'll get what we can loaded up, rations take priority, anything left will be destroyed along with the ship, Mark?"
"Sync."
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Adam taurus glared at the decrepit frigate in front of him as his white fang soldiers assaulted the entrance, "I want what's in that ship." he growled out, "and i want whoever's in there dead."
"We're encountering a lot of resistance." his lieutenant said, "those damn grenades are-" he stopped as one exploded nearby, most of the White Fang ducked down at the explosion, "they're causing a problem." he finished, glaring at the ship as he heard a far off cackle.
"Is there another way in?"
"Any openings in the hull are full of debris, so far, the only way in is that entrance."
"Then we need to take it soon before-" he stopped as they were suddenly assaulted from the back by shotgun blasts and hand gun fire. "Take cover!" Adam shouted as they all rolled out of the way, Adam's eyes scanned the tree line, trying to find where the shots came from.
"They're over there!" one of the grunts shouted a split second before a dust round tore through his shoulder, sending him to the ground with a cry of pain.
"Sniper!" the lieutenant shouted, tackling Adam to the ground as another round slammed into the ground, narrowly missing the bull faunus.
"Find out where those shots are coming from!" Adam snarled as another part of their group was hit by the same shotgun blasts from before, "and find whoevers attacking us from the woods and kill them! Send in the paladin!"
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Chief ran into the vehicle bay, almost bowling over Jaune as he did.
"By Oum!" Jaune yelped as he weaved around Chief, "you almost gave me a heart attack!"
"How's load up coming?" Chief asked, walking further into the bay, Jaune following.
"We got all the provisions as well as most of the weaponry." Jaune said, "we also found another vehicle that we loaded up, engines shot, but Ruby's working on it now."
Chief looked over to where another Warthog sat, a troop carrier, the back stacked high with crates of ammo; and sticking out underneath the tusks were the booted feet of Ruby.
"Almost...got it!" Ruby shouted confidently as she crawled out and jumped into the driver's seat, hitting a button and making it splutter to life.
"Good job Rose." Chief said, walking over, "do you know how to drive?"
"A little." she said sheepishly, "kinda used to take dads truck out when I could, usually when he wasn't home and-"
"All I need to know is if you can drive." he said, cutting her off.
"Yes I can." she mumbled.
"Then you're driving that transport." he said, looking to Jaune, "how do you feel driving?"
"I feel good." Jaune said.
"Good, you'll be with me in the warthog, I'll be operating the gun." he said, turning on his radio, "Nikos, get down and come to the vehicle bay, Schnee, Valkyrie, Ren, fall back, but don't give too much ground, don't need to tip them off."
"Got it."
"Mendez, talk to me."
"We're ready down here Chief, those Fang Fuckers are gonna have a blast."
"Roger that, get you and your men up here on the double."
"Ten-four chief, we're moving."
Chief switched Frequencies, "Sierra-117 to Echo 419, Foehammer, you copy?"
I copy chief, Go ahead?"
"We have two vehicles ready for evac, what's your ETA?"
"ETA to the LZ is three Mikes, magnetic clamps ready to pick up your gear. There's a lot of Flak out there chief, you got a plan for that?"
"Definitely," he said, looking at the gatling gun, "Everyone, fall back to the vehicle bay, Xiao-Long, Belladonna, as soon as the bay doors open you two book it back, as soon as you're in we'll be gone."
"What about the Fang?" Yang asked, "they won't just let us leave."
"You let me worry about that," he said as he climbed onto the back of the warthog, Glynda getting into the passenger seat as the EOD troops came running in.
"Shot gun!" Mendez shouted, jumping into the seat beside beside Ruby, "hey Rose." he said with a grin.
"Hi." she said shyly as his men started climbing into the back, sitting haphazardly on the supplies.
"Incoming!" Weiss shouted as she and Ren ran in, Nora was still firing rounds into the hallway. Both of them jumped into the back of Chief's warthog while Nora dove onto Ruby's.
"Cortana, now!" Chief shouted, instantly the bay doors blasted open, "Arc, step on it."
With a roar, the warthog shot forward, flying out of the vehicle bay, as soon as Jaune cleared the entryway, Chief started firing, 12.7x99 mm rounds tearing into tree line, splintering wood and turning any unlucky white fang grunt who didn't get to cover into mush. "Stop in the center of the field!" Chief shouted to Jaune, who slammed on the brakes as they got there.
"RUN!" Yang shouted as they burst back into the clearing, the sound of trees shattering filled the air.
"Is that a…" Jaune stared as the treeline burst.
"PALADIN!" Mendez shouted, "Everyone down!"
"Nora take the gun!" Chief commanded, jumping off the warthog and running straight for the paladin, "Get to the warthogs!" he said to Yang and Blake "i'll take care of the Paladin."
"You'll what!" Weiss yelped as Chief ran forward, putting his rifle on the back, the paladin quickly zeroed in on him, firing it's weapons, Chief slid underneath the oncoming fire, his shield sparking and crackling as a few rounds bounced off of it, he rolled to his feet and jumping over a rocket, he punched down on the tail end of it, sending it careening into the sky, detonating harmlessly as he dove between the paladins legs, with a powerful jump he landed on it's back, with his fist curled he started punching the back armor as the paladin started spinning, trying to dislodge him, soon he shattered the armor plating, revealing the inner mechanisms, "this looks expensive." he muttered, pulling a grenade out.
"You think they have insurance?" Cortana asked in amusement.
"Probably not." he said, priming the grenade and shoving it into the opening before jumping off, he rolled across the field, landing a few feet from where Blake and yang had stopped to watch him. He stood up just as the Paladin exploded, sending shrapnel flying through the air, Blake and Yang flinched while Chief simply started running back to the warthog.
"Xiao-long! Belladonna! Move!" Chief shouted, and instantly the two started running once more.
"Chief, that was bad ass!" Yang cheered as they neared the warthog, ducking as dust rounds landed all around them, the white fang moving in;enraged that they had lost their paladin so easily.
Chief said nothing to acknowledge what Yang had said as he jumped onto the back of the warthog, Nora quick to let him take control of the turret "grab on to the warthogs!" Chief commanded the two girls, who instantly latched onto the sides.
"Incoming!" Mendez shouted as Foehammer flew down from the sky, gatling guns going off as she strafed the white fang position, two other bullheads hovered over the warthogs, with a buzz, the magnetic clamps took ahold of the two vehicles, slowly lifting off with Foehammer behind them.
"Well that was fun." Yang said cheerfully as she pulled herself into the back of the warthog, looking over the side as they flew away from the ship.
"Mendez," chief said into the comms, "blow it."
"Ten-four."
Within seconds an explosion ripped through the air, the shockwave making the bullheads swerve and pitch in an attempt to regain control.
"By the Brothers!" Mendez shouted, standing up in his seat to look back at the mushroom cloud forming from the explosion,his voice and expression full of uncontained glee, "and that was only with six!"
Chief looked back at the crater that was once the Forward Unto Dawn, a small ache creeping into his chest, "cortana…" he said quietly, "alert Ozpin, let him know we're returning, ETA 15 minutes, mission is complete, no casualties."
"On it."
Chief looked down at yang and the others, "good job," he said, "you all did a commendable work out there."
"It's what we do." yang said cockily, laughing when Blake nudged her good naturedly.
"That was awesome!" Nora exclaimed, throwing her hands into the air. "Did you guys see that explosion!? I couldn't do any better myself!"
Chief settled against the gatling gun as the children started talking about the highlights of the mission, he mostly tuned them out until the bullheads came in for a landing at Beacon. Dropping the warthogs on the grassy field just shy of the landing pad before flying off.
"Good working with ya Chief, hope to do it again sometime."
"Thanks for the lift Foehammer, stay frosty." Chief responded as he jumped off of the warthog.
"Well, it looks like you all had a fun time." Ozpin said as he walked up to them, several other students walking over, "is this everything Master Chief?"
"Everything we could get out." Chief responded, "weapons, ammo, MRE's, couple of generators...everything else was destroyed."
"Yes, we saw, and felt, the explosion when you set it off." Ozpin said, taking a sip of his coffee. "I'd like to hear all that happened today...but not right now, right now you should all take some time to eat, rest, and relax. I will make time to hear what all of you have to say." with that he turned around, walking back towards the school.
"Good work today children." Glynda said, turning to the two teams while the other students started unloading the crates, "Despite the...complications, you all managed to pull through." she turned her gaze over to Master Chief, who was unloading his weapons, "that will be all for now." she dismissed them.
"How much you wanna bet she's gonna try and kick his ass?" Yang whispered to the group as they started walking back to the school.
"I got fifteen bucks she throws him across the school." Nora said.
"Ten says she can't lift him." Jaune muttered.
Glynda walked up to the chief. "Master Chief." she started.
"Yes Professor?" he asked as he put his weapons up.
"Professor Ozpin has assigned you a room in the Teachers Wing of the school, if you need directions-"
"Cortana's got it." Chief said, "there anything else?"
Glynda sighed, "I believe, that if we are to be working alongside each other, then we need to get rid of any animosity we feel towards each other."
"I feel no animosity towards you ma'am." he said, turning to her, he reached up and pulled his helmet off, strict blue eyes looking into stern green ones, "whatever differences we have can be settled at a later date, and until then I will be as courteous to you as your station demands, and i would hope you'd do the same."
Glynda stared at him for a while, until her eyes softened a bit, "that seems doable." she conceded, giving him a small smile, "have a good night Master Chief."
"Same to you Professor Goodwitch." he said, watching as the professor walked away, ushering a couple of curious students away with a stern glare. He put his helmet back on and turned back to the Warthogs, pleasantly surprised to find most of the cargo gone, slowly being carried to be stored in the Weaponsmith's classroom, all that was left was the few cases that held his uniforms
"You know, she's not too bad a person." Cortana said to chief as he got into the Warthog.
"I don't disagree." he said as he turned the warthog on and started driving towards the Teachers quarters, "but if she's going to be judging every move I make then it's going to be a long stay."
"Do you still think we can be found?" Cortana asked.
"Do we still have the beacon going?" Chief asked.
"No, that tower of there's doesn't have the proper range to send a beacon off world, if the Dawn was still in one piece we could've maybe rigged something, but you decided to blow it up."
"Is there a chance it was received beforehand?" Chief asked.
"Possible, but there's too many variables to say for certain chief.'
"Then we cross our fingers, and when a ship finds us, which they will eventually, we hitch a ride back."
"If you say so Chief, lets just hope our stint here is quieter than we usually have to deal with.
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Ozpin sat in his office, carefully reading the After Action Report that Chief had supplied him, the video feed from his helmet cam also supplied, "hmm…." he looked to Glynda, "well he certainly puts a new spin on things doesn't he?"
"A dangerous one." she said, "I mean...just ordering them to shoot to kill?"
"Ironwood would have ordered the same." he pointed out, "they will be huntsmen after all...and huntsmen do tend to run into human opponents."
"That doesn't mean they have to kill this early."
"While I agree Glynda you have to admit; there wasn't much choice." he stood up, slowly walking to the window and looking out, watching his students walk about the campus, "the white fang there would have definitely fought back, and they wouldn't have surrendered until after a lengthy fight, during which they could have easily called for backup while fending off our students from a fairly defensible position."
"It still doesn't sit right with me." Glynda muttered, "and now you want him to teach here."
"There's a chance he can teach us much, especially about those warthogs, they don't seem to run on dust."
"I doubt he would tell us anything about his technology." Glynda huffed, "he wouldn't even talk about prior battle experience with the children, much less his technology."
"I'm sure he'd be willing to talk with us once we start building trust, which is the next point i wanted to talk to you about." he turned back around and walked towards his old friend, "one of the classes I wish for him to take part of, is your combat class, it's obvious he utilizes fighting styles we've never seen before, so it would do good for the students to watch and learn."
Glynda hesitated, "if that's what you think is best Ozpin." she said carefully.
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Adam looked over the gaping crater that was once the Forward Unto Dawn, behind him, dozens of White Fang grunts were tending their injured and covering their dead with tarps, "How many did we lose Banesaw?" Adam asked quietly.
'Too many," the large man muttered, "barely a third survived the explosion, and most of them are injured…"
"Who was that man?"
"That's a good question…"
"Find out," Adam growled, "find out, and when you do, kill him."
"Huh...how do you kill a demon?"