Down The Rabbit Hole

by grlm

[AU] [OC] After the Battle of Earth the UNSC and Separatist forces go on the offensive carrying out the war for another three years. Corporal Ashton Dommer, an ODST, is deployed with the rest of the First Recon Battalion in preparation for the invasion of Balaho. Something goes wrong mid-drop and he finds himself in a strange new world.

10. Act 1, Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or Halo they are respectively owned by Rooster Teeth and 343 Industries

(Text / Speech)

(Flashbacks / Author Notes / Video Recordings)

(Thoughts)

Chapter 10: All Fall Down

Sergeant Ashton Dommer, July 19th -, Atlas, Remnant

"Son of a bitch!" Ashton yelled as plasma fire raked the piece of rubble he was taking cover behind.

"We got another Phantom inbound!" Garcia yelled out, Firing his BR55.

"JAUNE! GET ON THE DAMN SRS AND TAKE OUT THE DOOR GUNNER!" Ashton yelled, The Grunt on the door gun really had it out for him, Ashton was pinned down tight.

"O-on it!" Jaune stammered as he slide from cover to cover before taking up the rifle, He did just as Ashton had shown him and held his breath right before pulling the trigger. The bullet left the barrel with a loud CRACK and then BOOM, It sailed through the air and slammed right into the Grunt's chest and sending the creature flying back into the troop bay.

"Now we're talking!" Ashton exclaimed as he popped out of cover and fired a burst of fire from his XM395 as the troop doors opened, Two jackals fell out dead.

"Chieftain!" An ODST yelled as the Brute dropped to the ground, Hamer in tow.

"Light him up, Marines!" Ashton yelled, He fired the remaining rounds in his magazine.

An ODST with a SAW was closest to the Brute and was the first to fall, She had given it her all, Firing full automatic as the creature charged her but was crushed under the hammer into a bloody mess.

"Fucker!" Garcia yelled, The Marines began concentrating their fire more densely on the Chieftain. While they weren't breaking his shields yet, The impact from all the rounds was causing the creature to start to stumble.

The Chieftain realising it's mistake of staying out in the open too long took a mad dash forward, Straight towards Jaune.

"Jaune heads up!" Ashton yelled as he tossed a grenade directly at his position, The Chieftain jumped into the air and prepared to bring it's hammer down on Jaune.

Jaune paused only for a moment to process the information, He dived out of the way as the grenade hit the ground at his feet with a clink. The Chieftain's hammer slammed down into the ground, The force of the gravity blast barely missing him, Along with the ensuing explosion from the grenade sent Jaune flying into a nearby wall.

The Chieftain was hurled back, It's shields had broken and there was shrapnel embedded in it's face as the explosion tore off it's helmet. It let out a roar of pain as it writhed on the ground, The hot metal stuck in it's face.

"On your feet," Ashton ordered the other Marines. "Garcia check Jaune, The rest of you, Mop up."

With that the Marines spread out, Putting two bullets into any of the Covenant that were still alive after the firefight. The Phantom had broken off after two ODSTs fired a set of rockets at it. Ashton walked over to the Chieftain, Still writhing in it's pain.

"Dumb shit…" Ashton muttered as he took out his machete.

"Go… Ahead… Human… I've… Earned… My… Place…"

"Yeah yeah, Earned your place on the path to the great journey, Heard it before." Ashton cut the creature off as he kicked it in the head, It began to speak again but Ashton brought his machete down it's throat before it could continue. He took off his helmet and watched as it began coughing up blood before finally dying.

"Ashton!" Garcia called out his name, Causing Ashton to turn around.

"Yeah!?"

"Get over here!"

Ashton walked over at a casual place, Garcia had taken Jaune's helmet off and his eyes were closed.

"He's not… You know…?"

"No, He's alive, Shielding saved him, Just unconscious."

"Good, Best not to move him, Main force should begin their attack within in the hour so we'll hold here. Monitor him for me, Alright?"

"Roger." Garcia said as he shifted Jaune into a more comfortable position.

Ashton took off to place down a beacon that would mark their position once the main attack force entered the area, They were going to need to resupply their ammo and MEDEVAC their wounded. After they took out the Scarab, Ashton, Jaune, Garcia, and the two other ODSTs began falling back away from the Spire. As they moved they came across two other groups of ODSTs and stuck together. For the remainder of the night they were engaged in firefight after firefight, Sustaining few casualties thankfully.

As Ashton climbed up the rubble that was the side of a low building he couldn't help but think how the girls were doing. "Definitely having a better time than I am right about now." He settled on that thought as he got up to the roof. He stared out as the sun was rising up, Only confirming to him in the light how war torn the city was. From how Weiss described the place to him before he left this was such a nicer place. The Covenant would pay for the things they had done, He already despised them for what they did to his world, But even more innocent people were dying now from other worlds.

Ashton spit in disgust as he placed down the beacon. "Well, Whatever they're doing… I should see them soon enough." Ashton made one final thought before heading back down to get to ground level.

Weiss Schnee, July 19th -, UNSC Cerberus in High Orbit over Remnant

Weiss stormed into the barracks room where they were all staying, Her fury clearly evident on her face. Her teammates were there as well as Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora.

"So she finally talked to you I guess?" Blake asked

"Yes!" Weiss exclaimed. "When did she go faffing on about all that crap where we can't talk to Ashton to all of you!?"

"A little after you left to shower…" Blake said flatly.

"Well! UGH!" She threw her arms into the air.

"Well… I guess there goes the plan of heading down to the surface." Ren said.

"Ashton and Jaune should be fine." Pyrrha said. "Both of them are capable warriors."

"Jaune? Capable?" Yang said as she stifled her laughter.

"Believe it or not, Yang. Jaune can handle himself, Going through that procedure and the small training in shooting Ashton gave him has only made him better." Pyrrha said annoyed.

"Right, Right, Whatever." Yang said waving her off. "Moving on, We need to think of what we're going to do."

"Well…" Ruby said. "I think we need to do what the lady asked us to do, She did make a good point… And if we disobey she'll lock us up."

"I don't care what she says, We're going!" Weiss yelled, It quickly became apparent to everyone how strongly she felt on this.

"Er… Weiss, I want to get down there just as bad as you do but uh… We need our weapons." Yang cut in.

"I might be able to help with that." A familiar voice called from the doorway.

"Sun!" Ruby exclaimed, They hadn't seen him for a while.

"Sup, Red." He said as he let himself in. "So you guys are really planning on going down there?"

"Yes." Weiss said firmly. "Now more than ever."

"Well then it's real simple on how to get your weapons back, But you're gonna have to do it right before it's time for you to leave."

"How're we getting them back?" Yang asked.

"Stealing them of course!" He said with a grin.

"It always comes back to stealing with you…" Blake said.

"Hey, Don't be like that. Do you want your weapons back or not?"

"It'd be nice." Yang said.

"Good, Here's what you're gonna do. A few minutes before it's time to leave, One of you will distract the guards at the armory, Then I'll you know… Knock them out, Then you'll grab your weapons and make a run for the ship thingys before anyone notices what's happened."

"That's a little risky…" Ruby said doubtfully.

"So crazy it might work?" Sun pushed.

"Crazy that it might get us locked up, Or shot more likely." Ren said.

"It's our best option though." Weiss said.

"So we're going through with this then?" Sun asked enthusiastically.

"I guess." Yang responded.

"Great!" He paused as if remembering something. "Oh yeah, When I heard you guys were in the market for getting your weapons back I offered Nep to come with, But he didn't wanna, Go figure, So I won't be coming with you guys down there. Alright?"

"Right." Weiss said as she quietly sighed with a bit of relief. "Let's get ready to do this."

"Well, We're gonna have to act soon." Ruby said. "I checked before she talked to us, First wave of their assault is leaving in ten minutes."

"To the armory then." Sun said, The small group followed after him as he left.

After wasting two minutes walking through the halls of the ship, Sun stopped at a corner. As they peaked around they could see that it was guarded by two Marines, Each had an MA5 rifle in their hands and they were in full combat gear.

"Okay," Sun paused. "So distractions?"

"We could all rush them?" Ruby said.

"No, Too obvious."

"Oh please, Leave this to me." Yang said as she stood up from the little huddle.

Yang walked around the corner and began approaching the two Marines. When one of them told her to stop where she was she laughed playfully and kept approaching. She swung her hips as she walked before stopping in front of the Marine.

"Hey, What are you boys doing out here all by your lonesome?" She asked with a giggle as she leaned in close.

"None of your business, Girlie. Why don't you run on back where you came from."

"Awww, That's no way to treat a lady." Yang said as she started to run her fingers up his chest armor.

"Yeah man, You gotta treat a girl nice." The other Marine said as he put his arm around Yang.

"Stop thinking with your dick, Jared." The first Marine said, As he did this Yang threw a thumbs up behind her back, Sun took the signal and came running around the corner. Yang quickly threw the second Marines arm off of her and punched the one in front of her in the face, By the time the second one reacted Sun was on top of him and knocked him out with a flurry of blows.

"Both of you were wrong." Yang commented as she stuck her tongue out at the two unconscious Marines.

"In we go, Looks like it needs a hand scan." Sun said as he picked up the first Marine's arm and placed it down onto the scanner.

The door slid open with a hiss and the rest of the teens made their way down the hall quickly and into the armory room where their weapons were being held. They found each of their weapons laid out on a table among racks of various UNSC firearms.

"We only have so much time before someone will realise these guys are unconscious, We need to be fast." Blake said as she picked up Gambol Shroud.

"Agreed." Weiss while sheathing Myrtenaster.

"You guys good?" Sun asked.

"Fantastic," Ruby said. "Thanks for the help." Her mood had improved significantly when she got Crescent Rose back.

"Good, I'm bugging out, Gotta keep an eye on Nep, Good luck you guys." He said as he took off out of the room.

"We should be moving too, Like Blake said, We don't have much time." Ren motioned towards the door as he said this.

The group of teens, Armed with their weapons once again, Made their way through the halls of the ship as fast as they could. The first wave of Pelicans and other aircraft would be leaving very shortly. Eventually they burst through a door into the hangar which was frantic with activity as all the final preflight checks were being performed. The thundering whine of engines filled the air as Marine and Navy personnel which would be participating in the attack.

"There!" Ruby yelled pointing out a Pelican which still had room in the troop bay. They pushed past flight crew as fast as they could getting a few harsh yells and the occasional swing thrown in their direction as they boarded the aircraft just before the ramp closed. Nora was the last one in, Doing a sort of roll and slide as she barely made it, Giggling the entire time.

"We… Made it…" Weiss panted, Out of breath from all the sprinting.

"We sure did!" Ruby exclaimed, Perfectly fine.

"What the fuck is this all about?" A rough voice, Which sounded familiar roared from behind them.

The group of teens turned around to be faced with a reminder that they were still onboard a combat aircraft filled with Marines. Standing at the head of the group of fifteen or so Marines was the hispanic man who was wearing a green hat instead of a helmet when they first met the UNSC… Right after Ashton was shot.

"Er…" Ruby began to say.

"Shut your fuckin' mouth kid, I recognize your dumb asses…" He muttered. "Those fuckin' kids we found when we retrieved that ODST, That's who y'all are, Am I right?"

Ruby nodded in response. "Y-yes." She stammered quickly.

"Well just what the fuck do you think you're doing on my flight, Girly?" The man, Although shorter than average still posed an imposing figure. Especially to Ruby since she wasn't very tall in the first place either. "Well? Care to answer me any day now, Sunshine?"

"We're just headed the same place as you." Weiss finally cut in, The man turned his head violently in her direction.

"Did I speak to you?" He demanded. "Did I?"

"No." Weiss said, She looked towards the floor, This man's attitude was a bit much.

"Damn straight, But since you're so keen on answering questions which weren't meant for ya' let's continue shall we?" He paused as he dropped the cigar that had been in his mouth the floor and stomped it out with his boot. "Now what gives y'all fuckers a right to be jumping on my flight?" He demanded.

"We're just… Headed down there as well…" Yang repeated what Weiss said.

"We got a bunch of fuckin' comedians here don't we?" He let out a loud fake laugh to show his lack of amusement. "One of y'all fuckers pick right now, Who's answering the goddamn questions?"

They all looked back to Weiss again for some reason. She thought a moment before answering. "Me… I guess."

"You guess? Good e-fucking-nough for me, So then humor me girly, Why the fuck have you all just hopped on my flight down to your godforsaken planet?"

Weiss took a deep breath before speaking again. "We hopped onto your flight because we need to get down to the planet, Someone's down there that is… Very dear to all of us."

"Good, Was that so fuckin' hard?" The man prodded. "Not like I can stop you fuckin' kiddies anyway, We're already on our way down."

"Hmmph!" Weiss said as she crossed her arms.

Sergeant Ashton Dommer, July 19th -, Atlas, Remnant

As Ashton stared up at the dawn sky, With it's orange tint, He forgot where he was for a few moments. Forgot he was in another world, On a planet being invaded and destroyed by the Covenant.

"Psycho." Garcia called out, Snapping Ashton out of his fantasy.

"Yo?"

"Got another squad just came in, One of 'em wants to talk to ya."

"The hell they want to talk to me for?" Ashton asked as he brought his head in Garcia's direction.

"Well, Sergeant. You're the one in charge here, Duh." Garcia joked.

"Right, Right. Got it." Ashton muttered as he got up and followed Garcia. "So how's the kid doing?" Ashton asked as they walked.

"Jauney boy? He's doing fine. Came to a couple minutes ago, Having him take it easy."

"Good shit." Ashton said as they slid down a bit of rubble to get back on ground level.

Garcia walked Ashton over to a tired looking group of ODSTs.

"This is your guy, Boys." Garcia said before leaving with a nod towards Ashton.

One of them got up and shook Ashton's hand. "So you're the Sergeant in charge here then?"

"Basically, Yeah. How can I help you?"

"Gunnery Sergeant Marcus Dekane. We were part of a platoon tasked with assaulting a Covenant observation post in this sector." The man said as he produced an image of a map.

"Alright?" Ashton asked. "Well where's the rest of your platoon."

"Dead." Gunnery Sergeant Dekane said coldly.

"My apologies…"

"Don't be sorry, You didn't know. Fuckin' LT walked us right into an ambush anyway."

"You serious?"

"Yeah, His exact words were. 'Bypassing an ambush is exactly what the ambushers expect us to do.'. The fuckin' boot son of a bitch got most of the platoon killed in the first five minutes before he froze up and took a Carbine round to the head from a Jackal."

"Damn…" Ashton muttered. "So how can we help? We don't got much left in the way of people ourselves. We're currently waiting for the first wave to hit for resupply and MEDEVAC."

"That's exactly why we're here, Sergeant. I got one man in critical condition, He's gonna need to be on that MEDEVAC, If it's not too much trouble I'm gonna leave him and one of my men with you."

"Not a problem at all, Gunny. Why wont you and the rest of your men be staying?" Ashton asked as the two man walked side by side.

"I'm gonna try and hook us up with another unit from our company that shouldn't be too far from here, Good luck Marine."

"You too." Ashton said as Dekane took what was left of his unit and began off down the street. Ashton then looked down to the two remaining ODSTs on the ground. "And you are?" He asked the one that was conscious.

"Lance Corporal Takashi Maeda." He grunted trying to stand up.

"Don't strain yourself Marine, I'm gonna take your Gunny's word for it that the fighting was pretty bad… So what's wrong with your buddy here, Maeda?"

"He's got a nasty plasma burn and he keeps going in and out of consciousness, I'm not sure he'll make it." Maeda said as he let himself sink back down.

"He'll be fine Marine." Ashton said as he patted the ODST on the shoulder. "We'll be getting that MEDEVAC in about fifteen minutes, So sit tight. You got any questions you come to me or Garcia, Aye?"

"Understood, Sergeant." Maeda said as Ashton began walking away.

Ashton walked around the corner of the low building and went inside to where Garcia had moved Jaune, He was sitting there, Propped against a wall and fiddling with the armor on his wrist.

"How ya feelin', Jauney boy?" Ashton asked as he tapped on the wall next to him to announce his presence.

"I been better, Ash." Jaune said as he rubbed the back of his head. "Been better…"

"Well I got some good news, Jaune. You're on the first bird outta here, You're going back to Cerberus."

"What?"

"MEDEVAC, You ain't in a fighting shape anymore, Jauney boy."

"Are you coming too?"

"Hell no, I ain't done down here. So you get a little time alone with all your buddies alright?" Ashton said as he plopped himself down next to Jaune. "So make the most of it, Alright?"

"What do you mean?"

"What do I mean? Jaune… We don't have much time left. A few more days and this entire thing is gonna be over, And the odds aren't with us. So… If there's anything you been putting off doing." Ashton paused as he took out his machete and observed it. "I'd do it soon." He finished with a weak smile.

"But we did good last night, We killed so many of the-"

"How many guys did we lose last night though, Jaune?"

"A couple."

"More than a couple, Jaune. We can't afford losses like the Covenant have. You haven't seen the size of the ship they have, The have much more troops than we have. We feel every loss more than they do, And although you may consider the events of last night a success, I'd call that a very minor victory if not a loss."

"Ashton…" Jaune paused. "Where is all this coming from?"

"Jaune, Most of us are never going to see our homes again, You understand that? Some of us because it's impossible, They no longer exist, And some of us because well… I don't think we'll ever be leaving your world. Over one hundred and fifty ODSTs entered this city last night, Jaune. For most of them this is the last place they ever saw."

"I still don't see where this is coming from, Ashton."

"I think I'm coming to reality is all, Jaune… I mean think of how many times I went toe to toe with Death and came out alright, But eventually my number's gonna get picked…"

"Come on, Ash. That's not the you I know, Don't think like that." Jaune said as he placed a hand on Ashton's shoulder. "You're supposed to be the strong one, You know that? I'm the one who should be saying things like what you're saying."

"I'm just saying Jaune… Make the most of it when you get back up there, Give everyone my regards… I think I'm gonna get in a nap."

"I don't blame you, I'll keep a watch in here." Jaune said as he leaned over and picked up his rifle.

"Thanks…" Ashton muttered as he closed his eyes.

Weiss Schnee, July 19th -, Atlas, Remnant

"Whoa…" Ruby's jaw dropped as the ramp on the Pelican came down.

The Marines inside pushed past the group of teens. "Try not to get in the fucking way…" One muttered.

"Rude…" Weiss muttered back as soon as the Marine was out of earshot.

The group of teens made their way off the aircraft, They were in the middle of all the hustle of a UNSC FOB. Men and women were running around transporting ammunition and supplies, Combat teams were being dispatched or resupplied via Pelican or Warthog, A pair of Scorpion tanks took off through the main entrance after being filled with ammunition.

"Oh my god, What is that thing?" Yang asked in awe as a Mark IX Armor Defense System stomped it's way past them. Painted on the side of it's cockpit were the words 'Strainja Dainja'.

"So Ashton's been hiding a few toys from us then?" Blake asked.

"It would appear so." Pyrrha agreed.

"Speaking of Ashton, We need to work on finding him and Jaune." Weiss said. "So… Ideas?"

"You mean you hadn't thought of anything? After you know… Going against that woman and dragging all of us down here?" Ren asked in disbelief.

"Well… No…"

"Why don't we ask one of these people, They seem nice." Nora said as she began to skip over to a group of people in armor different from the regular Marines and ODSTs they had seen. Before any of them could stop Nora after realising who those people were it was too late. "Hello!" Nora exclaimed to the first one, A man with a shaved head, He was sitting on top of a crate with a shotgun in his hand, He gave Nora a strange look before recognizing her and letting out a hysterical laugh.

"Hey! Guys look, It's one of those fuckin' kids we saved." He said between laughs, Eventually he looked where the confused Nora was looking back at her friends and broke out into more laughter. "It's all of them!"

The one next to him, A woman with short hair and a rifle at her feet was less amused. "Cut it, Mitchell." She said as she went back to tending her armor.

"Uhm…" Nora continued to pester them "So… Could you help us find our friend."

The one with the shotgun almost died laughing again. "Your friend!? Who's your friend!?"

"Oh, Our friend is Ashton, He's really nice… But he can be scary, So he's nice in a scary way? Anyway, We're looking for him and were wondering if you'd seen him, Because you know he works for the same people as you and he is already down here, So we were just wondering is all." Nora blabbed on and on.

The Spartan with the Shotgun that went by the name Mitchell continued to die of laughter and fell off the crate he was sitting on. "Wait wait wait, You mean that ODST guy that was dying when we had to save all of you? You're looking for him?" He continued to laugh, It was getting obnoxious, Even to his fellow Spartans.

Pyrrha came running over and grabbed Nora. "I am so sorry for her."

"Don't be." A third Spartan said as he kicked the one named Mitchell on the floor. "Shut your fucking trap."

Pyrrha took a step back as this third Spartan was wearing his helmet she wasn't sure if he was talking to her or the one on the floor for a moment.

"Not you." The Spartan reassured her by kicking Mitchell again. "This fucknut." After finally getting Mitchell to be quiet the third Spartan took off his helmet, He had blue eyes and dark blonde hair, His face had a scar running down his left cheek and although he was clearly young he appeared aged. "I'm Chief Petty Officer Daniel Mochano, How can I help you?"

"Well, As she said, We're looking for our friends, Ashton and Jaune." Pyrrha paused. "They were put down here last night and we were given permission to come down here so we could help them." Pyrrha looked away as she said the last part, She didn't like lying, Mochano didn't seem to notice though, Or if he did he didn't show it.

"Hmm, Well any idea what unit they were with?" He asked.

Pyrrha's head perked up. "Weiss should know, Hold on." She turned around. "Weiss! What unit thing were Ashton and Jaune in?" Pyrrha called out.

Weiss came over. "I remember Ashton telling me he was in the… First Recon something something, Can't remember the entire title."

The female Spartan covered her lips when hearing this and let out an audible. "Oooh."

"What's so bad?" Weiss asked.

"Nothing." The female Spartan paused. "It's just that…. From the casualty reports we got…"

"First Recon was hit pretty bad." Mochano cut in. "From what we heard their drop was a mess, They were scattered all over the city. Finding your friends could be a bit challenging."

"First Recon got fucked up." Mitchell said from the floor, He was met with another kick to the chest from Mochano.

.

"What my buddy is trying to say." Mochano cut in after seeing the looks of horror on Weiss and Pyrrha's faces. "If we were gonna be able to find your friends I'm gonna need a unit a bit more specific since they're so scattered. Got a squad number? Platoon? Hell, Even a Company would give you a general area to search in."

"No... " Weiss said. "Don't know anything like that, All I remember was he mentioned First Recon."

"Wait!" Pyrrha suddenly exclaimed. "Weiss! They're in that thing where they've got those special suits, Remember?"

"Oh yeah!"

"Special sui- Are you guys talking about the ODST GEN 2 program?" Moochano asked.

"Yes! That's what it's called!" Weiss said, She had gotten a bit excited.

The female Spartan typed something into a datapad she had before looking over to Mochano. "How long until the Commander gets down here?"

"She's delayed. She'll be down with the second wave."

"We can transport them then, We got time, I know where to find them."

"Of course you do, Ella." Mochano muttered. "Alright, So do you kids wanna know where to find your buddies or what?"

"Yes, Please." Pyrrha and Weiss said together.

"Then tell your friends to follow us, We can drive you there, But you should be on your toes. Map says they're in grid G7 and that's a pretty bad part of town…" Mochano said as he motioned for them to follow. Pyrrha told the others to come with them while Weiss followed close behind him.

"So how're we getting to them?" She asked.

"Driving of course. Hope you like bumpy rides."

"Bump- Oh…" Weiss said as the Spartan patted the hood of a Warthog.

"Oh I've seen this before!" Ruby exclaimed from behind Weiss causing her to jump. "One of these was in that video we saw, It had a machinegun on it that was all like 'BRRRRRRRRRT ATATATATATATATATATATA'!"

"Not this one." Mochano said, The tone of his voice didn't show whether he found Ruby's interpretation of the LAAG's sound humorous or annoying. "This is a transport version, Meant for carrying personnel."

"Oh." Ruby said.

"So load in." Mochano reassured the group of teens who did not seem too keen on getting into the UNSC vehicle. "It's perfectly safe, I'm a certified combat driver… And by that I mean I have a bit of experience driving this thing under the worst possible conditions, So get in."

The teens piled into the back of the truck one by one while the other two Spartans got in front, Ella sitting in the passenger seat, Mochano driving, Mitchell hanging off the roll cage on Ella's side.

"So what's these guys to you kids anyway?" Mochano asked.

"Well, The one named Jaune was a friend of ours before all this happened." Ruby said as she leaned forward.

"He lead the team Nora, Pyrrha, and I were on." Ren said as he pointed out the two girls.

"No shit? They made a guy from your world into an ODST?"

"Yeah… It's kind of hard to believe…" Pyrrha said.

"He must be pretty brave."

The teens looked at eachother, Processing the the words Jaune and brave being put together for a moment and each making their own conclusions.

"I guess…" Ruby said.

"He is." Pyrrha defended him. "He's brave, And a good leader."

"I'll take your word for it then." Mochano said as he turned down a road, They passed several burnt out cars, Bodies strewn about, The Warthog drove over one with a crunch causing several of them to grimace.

"And the other?" Ella asked.

"Ashton's… Different…" Yang said.

"Oh?"

"Long story."

"We got time… It's a car ride."

"Well…"

Private First Class Jaune Arc, July 19th -, Atlas, Remnant

Jaune sat opposite of Ashton, Watching him sleep. Ashton was a strange guy to Jaune, But he respected him and appreciated his friendship. Which was why it concerned him to see Ashton in his current state, The guy had been transported to another world, Stabbed, Beaten, Shot up. Yet he was still headstrong and had what seemed like an unbreakable fighting spirit.

But now he was giving Jaune this talk about he he was coming to terms with reality, That things were looking bleak. If Ashton was questioning the point of fighting, Jaune thought, It really does have to be bad.

Jaune was about to get up when an ODST walked in.

"Er, Excuse me?" He asked.

Jaune looked up realising the ODST was talking to him. "Yeah?"

"Uhm… I'm Lance Corporal Maeda."

"Yeah?"

"Uhm… I'm looking for Sergeant… Sergeant…"

"Dommer?"

"Yes, Him! He told me if I had any questions to come ask him."

Jaune pointed to the sleeping Ashton across the room. "There he is… But I wouldn't wake him."

"Why?"

"He can be a bit cranky when he wakes up."

"This is kind of importa-" Maeda was cut off as an explosion suddenly rocked the ground. "Son of a bitch what was that?!"

"Hey, Ash!" Jaune started to call out before he saw that Ashton was already up and moving, He forgot things like this weren't new to him. Ashton was already halfway out the door by the time Jaune got his helmet on.

The ground shook again as another plasma mortar impacted nearby, Someone was screaming for a corpsman. Jaune looked around as another one of the blue balls of flaming death impacted the ground, He saw two men get caught in the blast as they were instantly vaporized. Jaune was about to open his mouth when he suddenly felt something drag him to the ground.

"Keep your head down, Idiot." Ashton muttered as another plasma mortar impacted. "There may not be shrapnel but the heat'll still fuck you up."

"Ash, The hell's going on?" Jaune asked.

"From the intensity of the barrage, We can expect an attack on our position soon, So get ready." Ashton said as he peaked up over the edge of the low wall they were behind.

"Sergeant!" Maeda yelled as he slid into the same piece of cover as them.

"What do you need, Lance Corporal?" Ashton asked without looking away.

"Well… I guess it's not relevant anymore, I was gonna ask about that MEDEVAC."

"Consider it as a hot extract as of now, Marine." Ashton said as he pulled his head down.

"We got incoming." Jaune pointed out an incoming Spirit dropship.

"Right, Get ready." Ashton switched to his comms. "Garcy, You reading me?"

"Gotcha." Garcia responded over the comm.

"Spirit inbound."

"I seen 'em, We don't have anymore rockets."

"Understood, Keep your head down then, We'll have to weather the infantry attack." Ashton said as he cut his comms.

As the explosions from the incoming plasma mortars ceased the Spirit did one final pass overhead before coming to a halt, The two doors on each side dropped down as all 30 of the occupants jumped out.

Ashton leaned up over the low wall again and began firing his rifle, Nailing a grunt in the chest. The impact from the shot sent the creature spinning before it's lifeless body hit the ground. A SAW gunner opened up from the second floor, Slowly the rest of the ODSTs began firing their weapons and the Covenant were engulfed in a hail of gunfire.

Jaune stood up and fired his MA5K at a pair of Jackals but was forced back down when his shots only hit their shields and they returned fire. Ashton yelled at him as the needles raked the wall behind them.

"Head down, Dumbass!" Ashton then went back to firing, He nailed one of the Jackals in it's leg which caused it to fall over. It's comrade dropped the needler in it's hand and began dragging the wounded Jackal around the corner.

Garcia's voice came over the comm. "Inbound, Two Phantoms"

"Roger that." Ashton said as he cut down another Grunt. "What's the status on that MEDEVAC?"

"Three mikes." Garcia responded. "I'll direct them in, Gonna need you to cool the LZ down a bit."

"Rog, Me and the kid are on it." Ashton responded before shutting off his comm. "Alright, Jaune up and at 'em." Ashton pounded on Jaune's helmet with his fist to get his attention.

"Got it." Jaune said, He stood up and ran over to a support pillar, When he got there he fired a burst from his MA5K and took out a Grunt.

"Sergeant!" Maeda yelled out suddenly, Ashton had forgotten the young Marine was there for a moment, Smoke was coming out of his MA5C's barrel show Ashton he had just recently fired a burst. "Orders!?"

"On me, Marine. Let's go!" Ashton yelled as he fired a few shots while running across the yard.

The three of them, Ashton, Jaune, and Maeda kept bounding across the yard, Providing covering fire or shifting position, Until they got into an adjacent building. A dead Brute lay at the entrance. They took cover inside as the Pelican for the MEDEVAC came in.

"Finally!" Ashton yelled. "Maeda, Get your wounded man in there we'll cover you."

The ODSTs provided covering fire and mopped up any Covenant in sight as a few of them loaded the wounded into the Pelican. After his rifle ran out of ammo Ashton switched to his pistol instead of reloading, He walked out into the open with Jaune.

"This is your ride, Jauney boy." Ashton said as he pushed him towards the aircraft.

"Come on, Ash. Don't make me-" Jaune was cut off as a plasma bolt seared past their heads, Jaune ducked down, Ashton remained standing.

"See? Even THEY want you to go." Ashton said as he casually fired a few shots in the direction the bolt came from. "This ain't the place to be arguing Jaune get o-" Ashton himself was cut off as the Pelican suddenly rocked violently.

"We're hit." The pilot's voice crackled in over the Comm. The aircraft lifted up into the air, they could all see the smoke coming out of the left engine. "I'm losing her."

Ashton pushed Jaune to the ground before throwing himself down. "Watch it!" The Pelican came back towards the ground, It's nose skimming the concrete for a minute before lifting up and flying just above Ashton and Jaune.

"Get her out of here." Garcia's voice crackled in.

"Trying, I just lost hydraulics." The pilot said calmly as she tried to keep control of the situation. "Gonna try to bring her down gentl-" The pilot was cut off as a plasma mortar impacted the aircraft.

"Wraith!" Ashton yelled out as the vehicle came in to view, It was flanked by two others.

The Pelican jerked a bit before slamming right into one of the nearby buildings in a fireball.

"Oh God…" Jaune said as the explosion rocked the ground, The blast from threw Jaune, Ashton, and Maeda back.

"GOD DAMMIT!" Ashton yelled he grabbed at a nearby M7S and picked it up firing at a few Jackals as the fell back.

One of the Wraiths fired another plasma mortar as the turret gunner opened up causing Ashton to get into cover, Jaune and Maeda quickly followed suit.

"How're we gonna take those out, Sarge?" Maeda asked.

As if some divine force was watching to answer Maeda's question one of the Wraith's suddenly went up in a purple fireball. Maeda looked to Ashton with his jaw hanging down.

Ashton depolarized his visor so Maeda could see his face. "If you honestly think I did that…" Ashton said sarcastically as a second Wraith exploded. "Right, I'm moving up, Gonna finish off the infantry." Ashton said calmly as he picked up a magazine for the M7S and reloaded, He ran off over a pile of rubble after the group of Jackals that fell back.

"Should we… Follow him?" Maeda asked.

"No." Garcia suddenly said as he slid into cover beside them. "He's just blowing off steam, Focus on the last Wrai-" Garcia was cut off as the final Wraith was suddenly caught and encased in ice. "The fuck…?"

"Oh I think that answers who was taking them out…" Jaune said in a bit of disbelief.

They watched as a Spartan suddenly umped on top of the stuck Wraith, They shot the Grunt manning the turret mounted plasma gun in the face with a pistol before punching the drivers hatch open and killing the driver.

"Spartans can do that!?" Maeda exclaimed.

"No…" Jaune said as he took off his helmet. "But I know who can."

Jaune watched in a bit of disbelief as he watched a few of his friends come around the corner, He slumped over and wiped the sweat off of his forehead. They were being escorted by three Spartans in grey armor. Nora was the first to spot him, Suddenly jumping up and running over as fast as she could. She practically squeezed the life out of him. Then Pyrrha, Then Ruby.

"What… Are…. You…. Doing here…." Jaune was able to cough out as he choked on the lack of air.

"To find you two of course!" Ruby exclaimed.

"That's great but… Didn't Ash tell you guys to stay up there?"

"He did." Yang let a big smile cross her face. "Never said we were gonna listen."

"I'll take it this is one of your friends then." Mochano said.

"Yes." Blake said. "This is one of them."

Mochano looked Jaune over before sticking out his large armored hand to help him up. "I'll take it I can leave them with you then PFC?"

"Yes, Uhm… Sir." Jaune said as he stared into the blue visor.

"Right then, Good luck to you all. Mako team, Let's move." He said motioning to the other Spartans to follow him.

"Who was that?" Jaune whispered as the Spartans took off at a brisk pace.

"One of the big metal men that helped us find you guys!" Nora exclaimed.

"Called Spartans missy." Garcia said, Nora looked at him and cocked her head sideways.

"Wait…" Weiss suddenly spoke up. "Where's Ashton?" She quickly looked over to Jaune for an answer, The concern and worry on her face was clear.

"He's fine." Jaune reassured her. "He literally just ran off, You guys taking out those tanks gave him the opportunity to."

"Where did he go?" Weiss pressed Jaune for more answers, She was starting to sound a bit aggressive.

"That way." Jaune pointed in the direction he ran off in. "He went to go finish off a squad of Jackals that was retreating, He should be back in a minu-" Jaune stopped as Weiss was already halfway over the pile of rubble.

"And there she goes." Yang sighed.

"What's up with her suddenly?"

"Ready?" Yang asked. "That lady that basically owns you guys told us not to talk to you, So Weiss practically took it upon herself to basically start a crusade against her.

"Why?"

"Meh, She's crazy." Yang said, Blake punched her in the rib. "I mean, She's just… Weiss."

"Lance Corporal." Garcia said to Maeda.

"Yeah?"

"After her, Just make sure the girl doesn't poke her eye out." Garcia said unamused.

"On it," Maeda said as he picked up his rifle and took off after Weiss who had finally climbed over the rubble.

Weiss Schnee, July 19th -, Atlas, Remnant

"Guess who's back, Bitches!" Weiss could hear Ashton yell from around the corner, She heard a muffled burst of gunfire and some laughter.

"Well at least he's back to norma- Or as close to it as he can be." Weiss cut herself off mid sentence as she came around the corner, She was met with Ashton, Who had his back to her, Holding a Jackal by it's neck up against a wall. Several dead ones lay at his feet.

The Jackal in Ashton's grasp was struggling violently to be free, But it was no use. Ashton held his machete up to the Jackals throat and pressed down lightly, Not enough to kill the creature but just enough to start drawing some blood. The creature let out a yelp of pain as he did this, It's struggling became more frantic. Weiss thought about opening her mouth to let Ashton know she was there, But she decided against it as she would probably startle him and end up causing him to do something stupid.

"Yeah you like that, Don't ya' bitch?" Ashton laughed as he finally killed the creature after having his fun with it and let it's body drop to the ground. "Now for the trophy."

Suddenly Lance Corporal Maeda came up and walked in front of Weiss. She took a step back, Startled, As he had come out of seemingly nowhere. She had not been aware someone was following her.

"Sergeant?" Maeda called out.

Ashton looked up and over at the young Marine, He could not see Weiss as she was behind him. "What?" He asked as he held up his machete into the air.

"Just what are you doing, Sergeant? Doesn't the Cole Protocol prohibit th-" Maeda started to say before Ashton cut him off.

"First of all, Lance Corporal." Ashton began. "Cole Protocol shouldn't matter in this case, We have no UEG worlds we'll be returning to. Secondly, I do this all the time, It's not like I'll be taking anything back to the ship." Ashton grunted as he continued with his handiwork.

"Regardless, Sergeant. There is something back at our little outpost you should come see, Some more people just came in and they-" Maeda was cut off again, But not by Ashton. It was another barrage of plasma mortars.

Ashton was on his feet in seconds as the mortars began slamming down. "On me Lance Corpora-" He stopped as he began dragging he Marine and Weiss came into view. "The… Fuck? He shook his helmeted head and began running for cover, Dismissing it off as he was seeing things.

"Wait!" Weiss yelled running after them.

"Where are we going, Sergeant?" Maeda asked.

"Getting us into artillery safe cover, A place where there's a low chance of those Covvie guns from having the firing arc to hit us!" Ashton yelled, A plasma mortar hit not to far in front of him and caused his shielding to flare up.

"Ashton!" Weiss finally yelled, She grabbed at his arm and he spun around. He finally realised he wasn't so tired that he was seeing things and that she was actually there.

"Weiss!?" He yelled, He looked up and saw that another barrage of plasma mortars was about to hit. "Fuck it!" He yelled as he tackled her into a nearby hole, Maeda dived in after them.

One of the plasma mortars impacted one of the nearby buildings above and there was a violent shaking as rubble fell down, Some of it covered and filled in parts of the hole. Ashton sat up slowly after a minute and shook his head, The M7S he had taken with him lay a few feet away. Not much light was shining through what remained of the opening nearby. Then Ashton took notice of the girl on the floor next to him.

"Weiss?" He asked softly through his helmet, He had tackled her pretty hard to get her out of the way in time. But sure enough she began to stir and slowly sat up. She looked over to him and he depolarized his visor. "Are you… Okay?"

Weiss responded by suddenly throwing herself forward and hugging him as hard as she could. "I'm just glad you are." She said as she continued to squeeze him.

He pushed her off of him as he took his helmet off. "Damn… You know I thought I was seeing things for a second, That the exhaustion was getting to me." He smirked. "But I'm glad to see yo-" Suddenly Ashton caught himself as the realization dawned on him, His face went cold. "Wait a sec…" He faced Weiss. "What the hell are you doing down here?"

"Well… You see…" Weiss started.

"I specifically told you to stay up on the ship, Where you'd be safe! Now you're down here and I have to save you from plasma mortar barrages!" He exclaimed. "You've done the exact opposite of what I asked of you, Weiss! I didn't just do it with your safety in mind, I did it for my peace of mind!"

"But you just said you're happy to see me!"

"Well of course I'm happy to see you! But I didn't want to see you down here! Weiss this is one of the most dangerous places you could have possibly come, I would been back on the ship in a few hou-" Ashton was suddenly cut off as Weiss got in his face.

"Shut up." She said as her face turned bright red, She hesitated only for a moment before leaning in and kissing him.

"That came out of left field." Ashton said surprised as he pushed her off of him.

"Shut up, Let me enjoy it." She kissed him again.

"If I'm interrupting anything…" Maeda's voice suddenly cut in, The two of them immediately broke off of eachother.

"N-no, Lance Corporal, Everything's fine, What's our situation?" Ashton asked the younger Marine.

"Well, Sarge. It don't look like we're getting out the way we came in." Maeda said as he got up, He walked over to what was left of the opening. "Unless of course we dig our way out."

"No time for that." Ashton said as he walked over to the M7S on the floor and picked it up. "We'll have to find another way out."

Suddenly Ashton could hear his communications going off, He quickly slid his helmet on. "Psycho? You there, Man?" Garcia's voice crackled in.

"Yeah, I hear you." Ashton responded. "What's up?"

"Where you at, Man?" Garcia asked. "We just took another barrage from some plasma mortars, Getting kinda worried since you didn't come back yet. By the way, Those kiddies of yours? They're down here… All of them. Minus that one white haired one, She ran off after you. If she's not with you she may have gotten caught up in the shelling…" Garcia's voice trailed off.

"Got her with me, Maeda too." Ashton responded.

"Good, Where you at?"

"Shelling started so we took cover inside a hole, We seem to be inside some kind of sewer system at the moment." Ashton said.

"Okay? You coming back or what?"

"Negative, Not at the moment. Shelling blew some debris over the top so the way we came in is blocked."

"Damn, Should we come dig you out?"

"Nah, Seems like any old sewer system, We'll go a few blocks up, Find a way out and link back up with you."

"Roger that." Garcia said as he cut his comms, Ashton did the same.

"Coming, Weiss?" He called out to the young girl sitting on the floor, Him and Maeda were already starting to make their way down one of the pathways.

"Huh?" She said as she looked over at him, Her face turned bright red. "Oh, Of course." She said as she got up and ran over to join them.

"So…" Maeda paused. "How exactly are we gonna get out of here?"

"Shouldn't be too hard." Ashton dismissed him. "I mean all we gotta do is either find another breach or look for an access hatch, Shouldn't be too complicated." He said as they walked along one of the metal pathways, Some water was flowing beneath them.

"Starting to get a bit dark." Maeda said.

"Rog, Put on your VISR." Ashton said to Maeda, Both ODSTs did. They also turned on the flashlights on their weapons to help Weiss see. The three of them kept following the pathway for a while, The water rushing nearby. Every so often they would hear a faint thud or boom from above and the tunnel would shake a bit.

"What's going on?" Weiss asked.

"There's a big Covenant spire here in Atlas, My guess is they're taking it down… Which they should, The whole reason we're here is to stop the communications block in the region, Spire was definitely contributing to it."

"What's a spire?" Weiss asked.

"Big Covenant forward command post, Really tall. Acts as a teleporter too, So it can teleport down reinforcements, It really needs to be taken out." Ashton said as another explosion sounded, Bigger this time, The tunnel shook again.

"Sergeant." Maeda suddenly said.

"Mhmm?"

"I got movement, Twelve o'clock." Maeda said as he raised his MA5.

Ashton moved up to where Maeda was and took up a position next to him, Weiss was behind the two of them watching the inky blackness behind them with a hand on her weapon Myrtenaster. Ashton watched the motion tracker in his bottom left and at first didn't see anything. But upon a closer inspection he saw what Maeda was talking about. There were the faintest dots of movement showing up on the tracker, But they were also indicating that whatever they were picking up was above them, Which was impossible, The space between the ceiling and the street above was too thick for the tracker to be detecting that, And there wasn't a second level or anything above them. So it only left one explanation in Ashton's eyes.

"Buggers…" Ashton muttered as one of the insect like aliens crawled into view on the ceiling.

"Fire?" Maeda asked.

"No… Wait… Hold your fire." Ashton said as another one crawled into view in front of them.

"Why?"

"I'm getting a lot more than two on my motion tracker, You?"

"Same." Maeda responded. "Still doesn't give us a reason not to waste the two we can see."

"Shine a light on them first." Ashton said skeptically.

Maeda raised his MA5 with it's flashlight on and aimed it at the two Buggers they could see, Both of which reacted and let out a shriek causing Weiss to turn around.

"What was tha-" Upon seeing the large insect like aliens she almost let out a shriek but Ashton covered her mouth. Maeda fired a quick burst and put both of them down, The insects exploded into bits and pieces from the impacts of the shots.

"See nothin to it." Maeda said as he lowered his rifle, Suddenly the contacts on their motion trackers started converging on their position.

"What were those things!?" Weiss finally asked.

"Buggers, Another alien that's part of the Covenant, Keep an eye out they travel in swarms." Ashton said calmly as he began sweeping the ceiling with his M7S looking for any sign of movement. The contacts on their motion trackers kept converging closer and closer.

"Almost on top of us." Maeda said as he continued sweeping the ceiling.

"Some got behind us." Ashton responded as he turned around, Some of the contacts on their motion trackers had gone around them and were approaching from the rear.

"Ten meters out, Closing fast."

"Rog, Prepare for contact. Weiss, We may have to do something tricky, You might have to throw up an ice wall or something so keep it ready."

"Got it." She responded.

"Five meters." Maeda said.

"Brace." Ashton said, All three of them tensed up, The beams of light on the end of Ashton and Maeda's guns sweeping around the entire tunnel. Still nothing, The contacts kept closing in closer and closer until the trackers said they were right on top of them.

"The hell?" Maeda asked as he lowered his rifle. "Right on us?"

"Don't ease up, Lance Corporal." Ashton said coldly, He was still on edge.

"Sergeant, Are you reading this? They're right on us? Because I got nothing."

"Same." Ashton said, He was a bit confused until the realisation dawned on him, He screamed out for Maeda to move as soon as he heard the buzzing of wings but it was too late. Three Buggers came out of an electrical maintenance shaft above them and dropped down on Maeda slashing at him with their razor sharp clawed hands.

"OH GOD!" The Marine screamed out as they began tearing him apart, Ashton fired a few quick bursts into the Buggers that were on him but more started to come out of the vent, These ones were brandishing plasma pistols.

"Son of a bitch!" Ashton yelled as he fired the rest of the magazine, He started to move forward to grab Maeda when a wall of ice shot up in front of him. "Weiss!?" He yelled as he turned around, The terror was clear on her face. "What the hell was that?"

"I… I panicked, You said to keep it ready to go so I did… And…"

Ashton took off his helmet and turned off his comm as the only thing he was hearing was Maeda's screams of pain as they tore him apart on the other side of the ice wall. The result of her actions suddenly dawned on Weiss and she covered her mouth with one hand.

"Let's go, We need to move…"

"Ashton… I had no intention of getting him…"

"Let's move, Weiss… Nothing we can do…" He sighed. "They're hive minded, They'll all be after us soon enough, We need to get moving."

The pair made their way through the tunnels of the Atlas sewer system in another direction, Ashton constantly keeping an eye on his motion tracker for movement. Everytime he detected something close they would take cover inside little maintenance areas or behind corners until the Buggers would pass.

"Ashton…" Weiss said as they hid inside a maintenance room while a particularly large group flew by.

"Yeah?"

"Are we getting out of here."

"I'd hope we're going the right direction." He said with a grin.

"No I mean, Are we going to get out of here… They just tore him apart… And then I got hi-"

Ashton cut her off. "You couldn't help it… You panicked." Ashton reassured her. "It's just a saving grace I didn't know him all that well. He just lost a buddy too, So at least he's together with him. Alright?"

Weiss only looked down. "But still…"

"It's not your fault, People die in wars Weiss, Horrible deaths like that." Ashton leaned over and kissed her on top of the head. "You can't dwell on it, He's just another faceless casualty as of now… Let's move." Ashton said as he leaned his head out the door.

The two started walked up one of the tunnels again when there was a sudden loud and violent explosion, Larger than any of the previous ones. The entire tunnel was shaking and the two of them lost their balance. While they were on the floor, Ashton's motion tracker suddenly picked up a massive amount of contacts headed right for them.

"Ah crap, Here they come." Ashton said as he got into a prone position on the floor, Weiss got ready to make another ice wall if she had to.

A massive swarm of Buggers was flying down the tunnel towards them, They were sticking towards the ceiling and flying as fast as they could. Ashton fired a few bursts and nailed a few of them, Their insect like bodies exploding from the shots. Ashton was about to yell for Weiss to put up an ice wall when the Buggers simply flew right over them. They weren't interested in fighting it seemed, No they were running… From what, Ashton had no idea but he wasn't about to argue.

"What was that about?" Weiss asked.

"No idea, But looks like they're headed for a way out, Let's go." Ashton said as he took off after the swarm at a jogging pace, Weiss was close behind him.

Eventually after following after the swarm of Buggers they found a blown apart access hatch that led to the surface, Ashton climbed out first and turned around to help Weiss out. A patrol of Marines was nearby and one of the Warthogs they had with them was firing at the Buggers as the flew off to wherever they were going. After Ashton confirmed their location with one of the Marines him and Weiss walked several blocks over back to where the others should have been.

"Yo, Psycho!" Garcia called out from a low rooftop, He was watching them approach up the street through a pair of micro binoculars. Ashton responded with an exhausted wave.

When Ashton and Weiss got over to where the main defences were set up Ruby practically squeezed the life out of him. "You're okay!" She squealed.

"Of course, Why wouldn't I be?"

"We were starting to get worried." Yang said as she joined in on the bear hugging.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, You were gone for quite a bit." Ruby said. "Long enough that they took down this giant thing that Garcia showed us in the distance. There were a lot of aircraft flying overhead and then they dropped bombs on it, And then these missiles flew out of nowhere like WHOOSH and it toppled over." Ruby went on and on, Ashton finally took notice of the giant black and purple smoke cloud in the background sky.

"Ah. Good to see the spire's down." He said as he pushed the two of them off of him. "I'm also glad to see you, But I swear I told you guys to stay on the ship."

"Weiss's fault." They both said pointing to her.

"Why you…" She said.

"No one's fault." Ashton laughed. "She already explained to me." Ashton pointed to Weiss.

"About scary Navy lady and how we can't talk to you?"

"What?"

"They can explain later." Garcia said. "Here's our extract." As he said this a Pelican began to land nearby.

"We're leaving?"

"Mhmm."

"Good, I need a hot fucking shower and a nap after today. Possibly in reverse order." Ashton chuckled as he made his way onto the aircraft, The remaining ODSTs, As well as team RWBY and JNPR got onboard as well.

"Comms blackout is over, Been that way since the spire came down so the fight really swayed once we could start calling in CAS."

"Oh I could tell, Damn tunnel shook every time a bomb hit." Ashton said. "But good, At least we can chalk this up to a victory."

The Pelican lurched up into the sky, The rear hatch remained down while they were in atmosphere. They flew along between the skyscrapers and other buildings, It was actually a relatively peaceful flight. No AA or Banshees, The UNSC had pretty much mopped up the Covenant force in Atlas… Of course Atlas was still a wrecked warzone, But at least it was a victory. Ashton closed his eyes and prepared to catch some shut eye during the flight.

"Oh my God…" Blake's voice made his eyes snap awake. "What… Is that…" Ashton looked where she was pointing and saw the massive spacecraft descend through the clouds towards the ground. It was absolutely colossal, Everyone inside the Pelican watched in horror as some kind of red beam powered up beneath it.

"Cover your eyes!" Ashton yelled as the Covenant ship began glassing the area where the spire had been, Killing the UNSC personnel in that area and beginning the destruction of the planet.

This was the beginning of the end.

A/N: Well Happy New Year, Boy this story has come along way. We've finally made it to double digits in terms of chapters, So yay. Thanks for all the support as I write this, Until next time, Enjoy.