Chapter 2: Getting acquainted

Soell System, Installation 04
Alpha Base
September 19; 2552

Jaune was awkwardly looking around in the Pelican as it approached Alpha Base. He felt as if the whole mess was his fault. He was the one who led them into the cave, after all. The fact that all the Marines they saved stared at them wasn't helping. Then again, they just saved their lives. If the situation was as problematic as it sounded, maybe he and his friends could make a difference. After all, they basically slaughtered the Covenant they fought today.

He felt the landing, and the bay opened, revealing an obligatory landing zone. It was in a mesa, and Jaune could see a number of alien structures along the walls, just like the ones the Marines hid in. According to Foehammer, there were also deep cave systems here, making it a good base of operation. Among the busy soldiers, and supply crates, were a couple of still burning, purple wrecks. If the Spirits they saw were anything to go by, the wrecks where the remains of Covenant vehicles.

On the landing zone, his friends were already waiting for them. The four jumped out of the Pelican, followed by the Marines, who instantly went to work inside the base.

"Yang!" Ruby yelled, and hugged her sister. "And? Did it go well?"

"Yeah. Nothing big. A couple of Grunts and three Jackals. And how was your little trip?"

"Weiss nearly killed Chief." Ruby said, and a lot of heads turned toward the heiress.

"Ruby just worded it poorly." She tried to defend herself.

"Ladies and Gentleman!" A male voice was heard from the Base itself. They saw a Marine approaching them. He had a cigar in his mouth, and a dark skin tone. "Welcome at Alpha Base. Our trusty home sweet home." He said and took the cigar out of his mouth. "You must be these 'Superheroes' the Marines were talking about."

Half of the teens blushed from the compliment. They had only saved some Marines from a couple of aliens, and were already held high. Blake guessed from the sentence that the moral of the troops must be pretty low.

"Hello. Nice to be here. I think." Ruby said.

The Marine shook Ruby's hand. I'm Sergeant Avery Junior Johnson. I'm leading the Marines here, and I must say that you kids came in the best possible moment." He gestured to a door. "Come in. Major Silva and Lieutnant McKay want to have a word with you."

The eight nodded and followed Avery inside the Base. There were a couple of Marines standing here and there, most of which were working on securing supplies.

Eventually, they walked past a group of four soldiers, all wearing black, heavy-looking combat suits. Even their faces would be covered by helmets, if it wasn't for the transparent visor.

"What's with the black guys?" Nora asked, causing everyone to facepalm, and her to receive some weirded out looks.

Luckily, it seemed like Johnson didn't care. "They are ODSTs. Orbital Drop Shock Troopers. Whenever something needs to get done, they are dropped in from orbit to clear out the area, capture some building or whatever they need to do. They are the ones that took this Base from the Covies."

"So… They are, like, elite troops or somethin'?" Yang asked. As they walked past the ODSTs, they looked after the kids. It felt like they were some sort of rare species. For Blake, that was the truth.

"Yeah. Best of the best. "hen Spartans aren't available." They stopped at a door. "Little warning: Don't mention the Chief too much around Major Silva. He isn't too fond of Spartans."

"Uhm, okay. We'll remember that." Pyrrha said.

The man guarding the door nodded, and let them in. The room was brightly lit, thanks to the blue lights in the wall and ceiling. A woman stood in the corner and tapped around on some kind of pad. She looked up, and put the pad on a makeshift table next to her. "Lieutnant McKay." She shook everyone's hand.

"And I'm Major Antonio Silva." The man, sitting on a crate, introduced himself. "I lead the ODST here. I've heard a lot about you. Appearently you are as good as one of those damn Spartans." It wasn't hard to guess that he was part of the ODSTs, considering that he was wearing their armor.

Ruby rubbed the back of her head. "I wouldn't go that far."

"Okay. I need your names, please." McKay wanted to know, and took her pad again.

Everyone introduced themselves, and McKay put the information into a databank. While she was tipping, Johnson leaned against a wall.

"Done. You are now officialy registered." The woman looked at the kids. "Cortana said you came here from another dimension?"

Blake shrugged. "Yeah. Seems like it."

"And where you come from, people have magic?" Johnson asked.

"It's not magic." Pyrrha explained. "Aura is a manifestation of our soul. We can use it in battle, as some sort of armor. It absorbs hits, and heals small wounds. When trained right, it can be used in other ways as well. However, once it's depleted, we are just as vulnerable as anyone else."

Once again, McKay wrote the information down on her pad. "And what the Marines told us? What's the deal with the rose pedals? And the glyphs?"

"Oh, that's semblance." Jaune said. "Everyone has a special power within."

"Yeah. I can turn into rose pedals, and run super fast." Ruby pointed out, proud of herself.

"Okay then." Silva spoke up. "Please tell us your Semblance. We don't want any surprises on the battlefield."

"Alright. I can use different glyphs, and summon. But the latter still needs a lot of work." Weiss explained, and felt a bit disappointed about the latter. She wanted to be able to use it, but no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't get it done.

"What do you mean with summon?" Silva asked Weiss.

"I can summon fallen foes to fight on my side. It is very hard to do though, and requires a lot of work."

"I can leave shadow clones behind, so that I can get away, or confuse enemies." Blake explained.

"Shadow Clones, huh?" McKay muttered. "ONI would probably like to take a look at you."

Blake looked around confused. What the hell was ONI?

"I can absorb hits and get stronger." Yang told them. "And if someone cuts my hair, he'll die." The last sentence was in such a serious tone, that it looked like it actually made the soldiers uncomfortable.

"Yeah. But her ability also activates when she's angry." Ruby added. "Or what we like to call it: Yangry."

"So, it is like a temper tantrum?" Johnson commented and pulled out a new cigar from somewhere. No one was really sure where he got it from.

"Exactly. Although, I don't like calling it that."

Silva turned towards the other four. "And JNPR? What's your power?"

"Oh, I don't know my semblance yet." Jaune said, slightly embarassed.

"Don't worry Jaune. You'll find out eventually." Pyrrha comforted him, and put a hand on his shoulder. "By the way, I have control over polarity."

"I can channel and produce electricity into my muscles." Nora explained, and nodded to an portable generator standing in the corner. "Want me to demonstrate?"

The three soldiers looked at each other. "Maybe later."

"I can conceal emotions." Ren added shortly.

"Is there any way we could use Semblances too?" Silva asked intrigued.

"Possibly. Let me try." Pyrrha said and stepped in front of Johnson. She put one hand on his chest, and closed her eyes. "For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I release your soul, and by my shoulder protect thee." Pyrrha stepped back, and looked at Johnson shocked.

"What is it?" He asked.

"Y- You have no soul."

Everyone looked at Johnson. "Is that an insult?"

"No. It's just…. Everyone has a soul. Humans, Faunus, animals." Pyrrha said.

"Maybe it is only like that in your world." McKay suggested. "If it really is another dimension, it's entirely possible that some physical rules are different there."

"It's possible, I suppose. Afterall, the fuel we use at home only works in the atmosphere." Weiss explained. Pyrrha now realized why Milò didn't work earlier.

"And what is this Dust?" McKay asked.

"Basically crystals, which come in different forms, with different effects. Fire, Wind, Electricity, and much more." Ruby said.

"That's unfortunate." Silva muttered. "Something like that could have turned the tides."

"I don't know. If we can get it to ONI, or the UNSC, maybe they can figure out a way to make it work."

The ODST nodded.

"So, you mentioned something called 'Faunus'" McKay pointed out. "What are they?"

"Right. Blake?" Yang said, and looked at her partner. Blake's eyes widened. She knew what Yang wanted. "Come on, Blakey. You don't have to be ashamed. They won't see you as someone else. Hell, they don't even know what a Faunus is."

Blake sighed. She knew that Yang was right. Even if she would keep it a secret for now, they would find out eventually. Thus, she slowly reached to her bow, and took it off. They saw the jaw of the three commanders dropping.

"Holy Shit." Johnson said.

"So, Faunus are cat people?" McKay asked, still in disbelief.

"Some are." Blake explained, and reattached the bow. "In general, Faunus are humans with animal features. But only one at a time. Cat ears, monkey tails, bull horns, claws, scales. Stuff like that." Blake stopped for a moment, to think about things she might forgot to mention. Sure, there was the whole deal with the White Fang, but she didn't want to mention her past as a terrorist to a couple of soldiers. "And night vision. That might be useful."

"Night vision?" McKay muttered and pressed something on her pad.

"That's… interesting." Silva muttered.

"And how did you learn to fight like that?" McKay wanted to know.

"In a combat school, and later huntsmen academies." Yang explained.

"Or in the wild." Nora added.

"But why? You are just seventeen-" Silva said, but was interrupted by Ruby.

"Actually, I'm only fifteen."

He scoffed. "Even worse."

"Well, our home world is overrun by monsters called the Creatures of Grimm." Jaune said.

"Grimm?" Johnson asked. "Can't be worse than the Covenant."

"Well, they don't have Spaceship. Or guns." Ruby pointed out. "So, yeah, not as bad."

"And what are they?" Silva asked, slowly getting bored of the conversation, now that the tactical applications of the teens were discussed.

"Creatures of Darkness. They have roamed Remnant since the dawn of time. All they live for is killing. Human, Faunus. This led to our entire civilization getting confined in four kingdoms. Vale, Vacuo, Mistral and Atlas. And then there's Menagerie, the Island of the Faunus. Of course, there are villages all over the world, but they often disappear over night. Destroyed by Grimm or Bandits." Pyrrha explained.

"That sounds bad. No wonder you kids are fighters." Johnson said and took a deep breath from his cigar.

"It gets worse. The older a Grimm gets, the more intelligent and stronger it becomes. And they are attracted to negative emotions." Ren added.

"So, if one were to cause a panic, it would attract them?" McKay asked.

"Exactly."

The Lieutnant let out a deep breath. "Okay. That was everything. Bailey. Come in."

The door behind them opened, and Bailey, the sniper Ruby met this morning, stepped in. "Ruby." He said, and smiled. Ruby smiled back, and waved.

"Corporal Bailey. I think you've already met our new allies?" Silva asked.

"Hell yeah. They and the Chief saved our asses out there." When he mentioned the Chief, Silva growled quietly.

"And you've got the data I send you?" McKay asked, and put her pad to the side.

Bailey nodded. "Of course. All on the Datapad."

"Great. And don't forget. This information is secret. No one who wasn't on this ring is allowed to know it. "

"Yeah, Yeah. I know the drill."

"Corporal. You will show them around the Base, and equip them. And show them how to use Scorpions and Banshees." Avery commanded.

The sniper saluted. "Aye, aye, Sir!"

"Alright. Get moving." Johnson shouted.


Bailey led the Teams out of the room, and they made their way to the armory. Along the way, they saw soldiers carrying crates, weapons, and sometimes wounded.

Luckily, it didn't take long to reach the room. It was also well lit, with makeshift shelves full of weapons, and crates filled with ammo and grenades.

As soon as they entered, Ruby erupted in pedals, and speeded from one shelf to the other. "OH MY GOSH! THIS HAS NEEDLES STICKING OUT! AND THIS ONE SHOOTS SHOTGUN SHELLS!"

"What's wrong with her?" Bailey asked, watching the huntress amused.

"She's a big weapon nerd." Yang answered, and smiled.

"Okay then. Let's hope she doesn't get a orgasm. The Sergeant wants all of you to pick a weapon."

"Uhm, we already have weapons." Nora pointed out and activated Magnhild.

Bailey nodded. "Sure. But in case your weapons get destroyed in battle, or you are unable to use them through other means, it's better to have a replacement. It'd be best if you take one similiar to your normal weapon."

Yang clapped her hands together and walked to a long weapon leaning against a wall. "I take that this is a Shotgun?"

"Yes. The good old M90."

"Nice." Yang said and picked it up. It was pretty straight forward. The shells came into the little opening at the top, and the trigger released them again, only this time, into an alien.

Now everyone looked for a weapon of choice.

Weiss decided to keep her Assault Rifle, since she had some experience with it.

Ruby, of course, took a sniper rifle, staying true to her favorite weapon type.

Blake decided to take an SMG with a silencer, since it would be extremely efficient with her comabt style. It even had a little scope attached to it.

Jaune already had his Magnum, and thus only searched for some extra ammo.

Nora took a couple grenades, and then chose a rocket launcher.

"No." Bailey said, and took the SPNKR from her. "A Rocket Launcher isn't a good weapon to carry around all the time."

"What? You know that Rockets blow stuff up, right?" Nora defended her choice.

"Sure, but the weapon itself is heavy, and the rockets aren't lightweight either."

"I think you underestimate my strength."

"I know you're strong. But they are also pretty big, so you can't just take many with you. Maybe four, or six. Not a good amount of Ammo for an engagement." The Corporal put the SPNKR back into the shelf.

Nora thought about the points he brought up. He definitely had a point there. She sighed, and decided to take a Battle Rifle.

Pyrrha took a DMR, since it seemed similiar enough to her Milò.

Ren took an SMG too, and put some more ammo in Stormflower.

"Great. If you have any questions about your guns, just ask one of the Marines or ODSTs. Another thing." He opened a box and threw a jacket to every member of the teams.

"What's that?" Weiss asked as she opened up the jacket. It had a camouflage pattern, and was colored green and brown.

"Combat uniform. Holds off bullets, and keeps you warm or cold, depending on the enviromnent. And here…" He took eight earpieces out of the box, and gave everyone one. "That are earpieces. You stick them in your ear, and you can speak and listen over the radio."

"Yeah… I'm not going to wear that uniform." Yang said. "We have our outfits to fit our combat style."

"If you wanna help us, you'll wear them." Bailey ordered. Some of them sighed and put it on. Luckily, the jacket include a magnetic point on the back to store a weapon.

Jaune felt something in a pocket of the jacket, and found a small pack, simply named 'Meal'. He knew that soldiers sometimes had packed, or canned, food with them on longer missions, and guessed that this was one such meal. He put the jacket under his armor.

Everyone tried to put the jacket on without runining their outifts. For some, that worked better than others. Bailey gave them a small knife, which Ruby, Blake, Pyrrha and Nora used to cut out a bit of the uniform, so that their own weapons could still be attached to their old places.

"Alright. You're all set. Now, let-" He was interrupted by his pad, and looked at the message. "Nevermind. Blake, Ruby, Jaune, Nora. You four are going to meet up with the Sergeant on the landing pad. The rest of you comes with me. We're gonna drive some tanks." Yang cheered and, after saying goodbye to Ruby, followed him. Nora frowned, and was rather sad that she didn't get to drive a tank.


The mentioned four followed order and went to the landing pad, where Johnson and one of the ODSTs waited for them.

"Kids. I want you to introduce you to Sergeant Parker. He's going to lead your mission."

"Mission?" Ruby asked.

"Yep. We're gonna rescue the Captain."

"What exactly happened here anyway?" Jaune asked. "I mean, it doesn't look like a full military base. And the captain is captured... Honestly, this all seems like a mess."

Parker stepped forward. "Well, to make it short, we fled from Reach, which got attacked by the Covenant. After the jump, we found ourselves in this system. Of course, the Covenant followed us, and attacked our ship, the Pillar of Autumn. While we evacuated, Captain Keyes and a small part of the Crew landed the Autumn on the ring, but got captured by the Covenant. And we're gonna rescue them."

There was a silence for a minute. The four teenagers had to comprehend this information. "Alright." Ruby finally spoke up. "Then let's rescue Keyes."


And Chapter 2. It's a bit short, I know, but the third one will make up for that.

If anyone wonders why there are SMGs, DMRs and BRs among the weapons: I don't think it was ever specified if the Pillar of Autumn carried them. But since it came from Reach, DMRs are to be expected. Since the BR entered service 2548, and quickly became a well received weapon among the UNSCDF, it's also likely that some of them were aboard the Pillar. And the SMG is somewhat of a standard weapon.

Also, I think it'd be good to mention the exact models of the weapons:

Ruby: SRS99C-S2 AM sniper rifle

Weiss: MA5B Assault Rifle

Blake: M7S SMG

Yang: M90 Shotgun

Jaune: M6D Magnum

Nora: BR55HB

Pyrrha: M392 DMR

Ren: M7 SMG

And now, to answer some questions raised in the reviews:

rocketmce: Yes, I know about the timespan. I have already thought of something. But of course, some of the characters will age. (Although four years isn't a big number.) It depends on the time they spend in things like cryosleep too.

Evinco: Yes, they'll play a part in this, but obviously not until they get to Earth. About the moral stuff, the Marines on the Halo are just relieved to have them here as help, and take everything they can.
However, morally speaking, I'd say that, due to the fact that they are from Remnant, are seventeen and have a choice, RWBY and JNPR are another thing than the Spartans.

TheFishKing: It depends on the type of flood. Of course, a hit by a powerful form will deplete Aura immensly, but an infection form will drain the aura over time while it is attached, and eventually break it, and infect the host. However, some of them can use their semblance to avoid infection through that method. For example, Yang can light her hair on fire, Nora can give out electric shocks and Ruby can burst into pedals, causing the infection form to loose it's grip. Spores can still infect them normally though.
After all, Aura is just like an energy shield from Halo.

Plasma Dragon 321: Well, there's 'RWBY: Fight for Reach' by Sniperz-X-Elite, or 'The Wormhole-Noble Red' by Zwill711, just to name two.

Halo belongs to 343 Industries and Microsoft; RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth.