"This is the final week before the Vytal festival, and arguably the most important in a huntsman's training career, as it is his first true training mission." Ozpin said as he addressed the assembled first years in the auditorium.

"You all will be embarking on a mission of your choice with your team from one of these options around you," he gestured to the holo boards scattered around the room.

"Each team will be accompanied by a fully trained huntsman or huntress on their mission. This will be graded, but as long as you listen to your huntsman guide and do your best I am sure you will pass with flying colors." After finishing this and handing the mic over to Glynda, Ozpin began to move over to address the second years as he waited for Glynda to explain some of the nuances and rules.

Team RWBY mulled over some of the options open to them on one of the holo boards, with Ruby reading out loud:

"Search and Destroy, hmm that sounds fun, but it's just one dude, so maybe not."

Yang grabbed Ruby's shoulders and spun her around, "That's the bounty board dummy, these of the mission options."

Ruby scratched the back of her head anxiously, "Yeah, uh, I knew that. Totally."

Weiss huffed, "Yeah right. Anyway, I think we should do one of those recon missions on the outskirts of Vale, or even in the dead zone, it looks interesting and we could gather plenty of intel on Grimm movements or possible White Fang bases, after all that seems to be the pattern of what your little excursions are, Blake." Ruby punched Weiss on the arm.

"I told you to stop being mean to her and razing her about that, not everyone's past is perfect."

Yang had already grabbed the mission card and was walking out the auditorium to turn it in so the other 3 girls had to catch up.

Walking out of the auditorium, the four almost ran into Blue team as they crossed the doorway with team RWBY walking through it. The situation quickly turned sour, everyone avoiding everyone else's gaze, still uncomfortable after what transpired the day before, except Ruby, who spoke up as if nothing was wrong.

"Hi, did you guys get a mission as well? Oh, is it in the dead zone?"

John centered his gaze on Ruby. "No and, no. Ozpin wants us in his office, he wants to talk about a mission, but there are special circumstances for us, since we are new arrivals."

"Oh," Ruby said, "And I almost forgot."

She walked over to Linda.

"I'm sorry about what happened to your parents, I know how you feel, I lost my mom not too long ago, and I know this doesn't begin to cover it but, I hope this makes you feel better."

Ruby holds out a small box, it is a dark brown with some colored dots scattered over it, which read "M&M'S". (Trademarked by Mars and Murries, I don't want to get sued). Linda held up the box and inspected it as candies rattled around inside.

"Um, Thanks?"

Ruby smiled.

"You're welcome."

She walked off with the rest of her team.

As Team RWBY walked off, Yang pulled her sister aside.

"Did you just give her candy because her parents died when she was six in a terrorist attack? Seriously, Ruby, sometimes think first before you do something, I think it is best if we just give them some space for the time being."

—

"What are these things?" Linda asks, showing the box to Kelly.

Fred pressed the button for Ozpin's office in the elevator as they hopped on. the elevator car started moving as the Spartan sisters thoroughly inspected the box and eventually popped it open and peered inside.

John took a look and said "I think it is some sort of Remnant desert food. I saw a giant empty bag with the same symbol on it in team RWBY's trash."

Kelly popped one in her mouth and after a moment sighed in amazement.

"Aaaaah, that's good. It's like that one time we found those granola bars with chocolate chips in them but better, and without the granola."

John took a couple and tosses them in his mouth.

"Mmm, those are good, Deja would probably flip if she saw us though."

He imitated a robotic voice:

"You are not having proper caloric intake regarding your daily needs and following through with your diet that is scheduled for today."

All four let out a slight chuckle, the Spartan equivalent of a hearty laugh as the elevator dinged.

Linda tried to shove the candy in a pocket before realizing there are none in her uniform.

"Damn uniform skirt— thing."

So she reached over and shoved the box into Fred's front pants pocket as they all stood at attention and walked off the elevator.

—

Blue Team walked in on Ozpin, who was already engaged in another conversation with the man Ruby and Yang called Uncle Qrow, and the one who had challenged Linda on the rooftop. Qrow was yelling something with his arms spread wide.

"You want me to do what? When I said I'd help with this— thing that you do, this is not what I meant."

Ozpin turned to talk to Blue Team as they entered the room, "You requested us, sir— Professor."

"Yes," he said, "I wanted to ask you if you had found out anything about that piece of gear I gave you, and to give you a training mission that is suited to your abilities and knowledge."

John turned his palm up, a signal Spartans use to ask each other for permission, and each member of his team gave a slight nod.

"Professor, we did figure out what it is, but before we tell you, we would like your word that unless we choose to disclose it, the information never goes beyond this room."

Ozpin nodded, "You have my attention, and before you worry about him," he pointed at Qrow, "he can be trusted, and is one of my most capable assistants, please continue."

John hesitated before moving on. "It is part of our gear, a suit of armor designed to make us more powerful and protect us, since having an active aura would not be advisable for us. However it is very hard to operate, and someone who is not fully trained would probably kill themself within thirty seconds of putting it on. And if someone were to survive and operate it correctly they could be a great threat to everyone."

Ozpin pondered the information, and Qrow took a sip of his drink and gave an "are you serious?" look to the team.

Ozpin laced his fingers on his desk.

"I had hoped you would tell me a little more detail, but very well. Here is your assignment: I want you to recover your equipment as fast as you can, as it sounds like a major threat, while also patrolling the city and protecting people arriving here for the festival. After you have recovered your equipment, you can train for the Vytal festival tournament, that is if you want to compete, or take some bounties from the wall downstairs. Either way, I don't want you sitting around doing nothing after you get your property back."

"Understood sir," John replied, "But in the auditorium, you said that each team would be accompanied by a fully trained huntsman. Are we going to have one as our commanding officer?"

Qrow sighed. "That's my job, I guess, but I don't want to be a babysitter. So don't get in my way."

"Yes, Qrow will be guiding you in this endeavor, I want a trusted eye on you four." Ozpin explained.

Fred spoke up from behind John: "Professor, no offense, but your trusted eye appears to be drunk." He pointed to Qrow who appeared to be chugging the remains of his hip flask.

Ozpin took a swig of his coffee. "Yes, I suppose he is, but that is his usual state. You will find him more than capable despite this." He faced the Spartans.

"I expect you want to go get prepared. And I have other matters to attend to; running a huntsman academy and a festival at the same time is not easy. Qrow will meet you tomorrow morning in Storehouse B on the third floor in the east wing. You can use that as your base of operations."

Blue Team saluted and headed out the way they had come.

Qrow turned to Ozpin.

"Wow, they seem just like Atlas kids, no fun an-"

"They may be strange, but I will not have you insulting my students." Ozpin said sharply.

AN:Sorry for the long wait, my winter break has been busy and I haven't had much chance to write, but I will try to be more consistent in the future

Also for any of you wondering if the Spartans are out of character, I am trying to base personalities off the ones from the book Silent Storm that came out fairly recently and takes place when the Spartans are 15, so yeah.

Here are review responses:

Doomsayigfae: Thanks for the feedback, I'll try to work on updating and fixing things for you guys.

Guest 1: I will try to avoid too many cliches unless they benefit the story, but please tell me if you have idea or what you would like to see.

Night Hunter 533: (I think I already addressed this in an Author's Note, but just in case) This story takes place very soon after Sam died at the beginning of the Human-Covenant War, with the RWBY timeline a little more flexible but starting around vol 1-2

1740: Thanks, I will try to keep this going for as long as I can.

Guest 2: This was definitely one of the more thought provoking reviews, but yeah, I'm starting to agree with you on the Aura thing Maybe I'll try to add in semblances but not have aura in some way, idk. To answer your other question, no, there were no AIs with them.

Guest 3: I would honestly rather have armor than Aura, since it really defines the Spartans, but yes, after thinking it through, Remnant weapons are inferior to UNSC stuff.

Ferox Pretorius: Thank you for the feedback and advice, those were very helpful and I will try to use it.

Guest 4: Ozpin may be underestimating them because they are so young, but he is smart too, so we will see how this plays out.

InfinityGamer104: Do not worry, I have plans to continue this for a while, and thank you for your support.

Guest 5: Well, the new chapter is out so, you should be able to find out

Guest 6: I think the rationalization ties into the Halo aspect, and this works out with some of the later parts of the story.

Guest 7: Do not worry, the armor is a factor, as well as the shock about the militaristic Spartans trying to blend in with the casual Huntsman and Huntresses

Psihopatul: Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed

Guest 8: This is made up, I have taken some stuff from the lore for the backstory inspiration. We don't have an official background regarding Linda, however a new comic series featuring Linda comes out I think this January and hopefully we get more info then.

Red October 700: I'm glad you're enjoying it, but writing Spartans can be hard, because you have to think, "Would they know about this thing or custom or slang?" and that they only really act casual when only other Spartans are in the room.

Guest 9: The Halo universe is definitely much harsher than Remnant, even though both contain almost constant fighting

Daniel: Don't worry, there will be more to fights than just Spartans dominating, and part of their dominance at the start is because no one expects much out of them and are unprepared.

ComparedDread12: Yes, it does weigh half a ton, but for the purposes of this story, since Remnant's gravity is about 3/4g Qrow would be pulling 700-750 pounds and not the full 1000.

Guest 10: I'll try to be better about that, and am open to suggestions on how to improve.

Spartan-140: I am doing my best for personalities, as I said above I am trying to base them off the versions of themselves in the canon novel Silent Storm when they were fifteen and about a year after this story takes place.

Editor's Note: Hey guys! Thanks again for reading. I hope you all had a great holiday season and are staying warm (or cool if you're in the southern hemisphere). Your continued support is probably one of my favorite presents I've gotten this season. Y'all are great! Take care of yourself as school starts up again. Thanks again!