RWBY: The Dark Hunter
Chapter 20
"Downfall"
[June 10th, 2558]
[Atlesian warship Axiom, Command Bridge]
[6:31 PM]
"What the hell happened!? Give me a status report!" Captain Harris, a middle aged Hispanic male who possessed rigid facial features, black combed hair, and lemon yellow eyes, barked as the ship beneath them trembled and glided towards the ground.
A crewman roared back "Primary generators went offline! Engines offline! Weapons and shields offline!"
"Captain we're losing altitude!" another yelled.
"I noticed Cale, bring backup generators online and fire the emergency booster engines!"
"Aye Captain!"
The crewmen leaped into action, bringing the two auxiliary generators online as well as diverting non-essential power to the emergency boosters, Harris noticed the lights dimmed and the large holographic tactical display in front of flickered as the electrical systems readjusted themselves with the new power distribution settings. Beneath the airship, an array of external vents opens up each revealing a booster drive hidden inside the hull only for moments later to ignite and generate enough thrust to slow the ship's descent and eventually bringing the vessel back into an appropriate altitude.
"We're leveling out now" a crewman reports.
"Good" Harris sighed rubbing the back of his head after that hair raising moment, his voice was now calm and collected "I need a sitrep on our current situation, have personnel on high alert and get me a channel to Ironwood."
The crew got to work once again, alerting all crewmembers and working up on a more detailed diagnostics of the ship's crippled systems. The ambient red light came on over the captain's head signaling that they had to use minimal power to keep the ship afloat via the emergency thrusters until they can return to a repair dock.
Then finally a report came "Sir, there's no external damage to the hull but it appears the attack came from inside the generator room."
"How's that possible?" Harris wondered "That room was sealed tight and under constant guard- send a team down there to control the situation and talk with security."
"They're already on their way; I even gave the order to lockdown the hangar until further notice."
The captain glared at him "Lockdown? You mean this came from the inside?"
"I believe so Sir, there was no other vessel in the vicinity and our sensors would've detected movement on the ground."
Harris finally quickly realized ". . . Then the attacker is among our ranks . . ."
Then without warning a crewman alerted them "Sir! There's reports of shots fired near the brig, two teams are not responding to our calls."
"The brig? That's too close to Deimos- I want Saber Platoon down there stat, we can't risking having that freak running freely among the ship."
He then turns to the entire crew "And I want a full sweep of the ship! Use the crew roster to find anyone that doesn't belong here, either detain or eliminate the stowaways if you come across them."
"Sir Yes Sir!" the bridge crew roared.
As the men under his command began to coordinate with the on board troops and security personnel, another bridge member reports "Sir, I'm getting no response from communications."
"What do you mean no response?" the captain asked as he ventured over to the crewman.
"I mean they're not responding to our requests at all."
"Get me a visual in there."
"Aye Captain."
Harris returns to the centralized holoboard as the crewman brought up one of the security monitors that resided inside the communications center, in an instant they found that every single resident technician and officer inside was either dead or on the verge of it. Standing among the bodies was a lone short girl with a pink umbrella twirling over her shoulder and a wide mischievous grin across her face as she looked up into the camera, straight back at Harris himself.
The captain growled under his breath "Dammit" then he quickly gave his next order "I want two platoons to move in and retake communications; we need a channel to Ironwood as soon as possible."
"Aye Captain!" a security officer responded.
[Axiom's Brig]
The alarms sounded off throughout the ship, troopers from every corner relentlessly search for the supposed stowaways that were disguised as one of their own. But only few had thought about checking the brig which was supposed to be one of the more secure parts of the entire vessel, and it was best to investigate quickly.
Inside behind the locked doors, Vince and Thorne were gearing up for close quarters combat, checking their rifles one last time and ensuring their knives were close at hand when they would need it. Deimos however only needed to take out his UNSC issued rifle and small arms from the duffel bag Vince carried around since they came aboard.
After latching the M6C and M7s onto his magnetic strips and works the charging bolt on his rifle he asks without looking at the troopers "What's the status of the ship?"
Thorne was the one to answer "Shields and weapons are offline; they're relying on reserve power to stay in the air though we have charges on the secondary generators ready to blow on your call."
"Good, let's not keep the captain waiting."
The SPARTAN and accompanying troopers walked their way over to the locked bulkhead doors previously made so by Vince to ensure they weren't interrupted during their preparations. Deimos gave a subtle nod to Vince who then lifted the temporary lockdown causing the hatch to release a sharp loud hiss of pressurized air and slide open, quickly revealing a dozen or so guards who were preparing to breach.
Most of the troopers quickly raised their rifles training them on the SPARTAN and collaborators, only a few of them however gazed up at Deimos' towering stature and shook with anxiety and fear. Deimos in turn only gazed down upon them, finding a mixture of confidence, heroism, and fear in their facial expressions. Both sides stood feet from one another with rifles trained on each other, save for the sociopath whose rifle only hanged in one hand, but neither would pull the trigger as they anticipated each other's course of action.
"Surrender yourself Deimos! Or we will use lethal force!" a soldier barked.
The augmented super soldier only glared back at the one who made the demand and replied "You'll burn before you get the chance" and in one swift motion he brought his rifle up into his two hands and opened fire sending armor piercing rounds flying into the crowd of Atlesian soldiers.
Five out of the dozen soldiers were quickly torn down by gunfire but the others were quick to react and dive behind cover using the struts that protruded from either side of the corridor, Vince and Thorne took cover as well behind the door while Deimos held his position firing away in rapid automatic bursts. Almost immediately finding cover the troopers began returning fire sending dust rounds slapping against the SPARTAN's energy shielding to moderate effect while his collaborators did what they could to not get shot in the firefight.
The platoon sergeant ducked back down behind cover just in time to avoid a bullet that struck a little too close for comfort and radioed in with the bridge "Command, this is Saber-1! Deimos is free and two of the stowaways are with him, we're pinned down and need immediate support over!"
Shortly after Captain Harris' voice responded "Acknowledged Saber-1, hold them there as long as you can I'm sending Quake and Ocelot platoon to reinforce your position. How copy?"
The sergeant pulls himself out of cover and lands a decent burst of accurate rounds on his target "Copy loud and clear Command! We'll hold-CAAGH!" he cried as he took a 7.62mm round to his right shoulder, knocking him to the ground.
"Saber-1 come in, Saber-1 do you read!? Respond that's an order!"
The sergeant tries to get himself back on his feet but during this painstaking progress he could hear his men cry out in pain as they take on fire and become gunned down by the merciless band. Even in one instance he watched his lance corporal suddenly become engulfed in a pillar of white hot flames, no outcry of utter vaporization could be heard over the deafening roar of the fire, and nothing remained of the corporal's body, just ash and embers carried away in the air. The sergeant finally got up onto his knees by the time he looks up and finds that the rest of his men are now dead or critically wounded with Vince and Thorne mopping them up with gunshots to the head, while Deimos himself walked over to him in a calm fashion and stopped feet in front of him.
The black titanium-clad soldier then kneels down to the sergeant's level and drew his magnum in hand; he asks "Do you think you and your crew still have control over the ship?"
The Atlesian clenched his teeth "You won't take the Axiom, there's too many of us to handle. Even for you."
"Hmm . . . you're right about one thing, trooper, I won't take the ship, because I intend to see it burn to the ground" Deimos then aimed the magnum at the sergeant's forehead and fired.
With the sudden final crack of gunfire the sergeant's body slumps onto the floor prompting the executioner to stand back up and holster is M6C in favor of his MA5D, Vince and Thorne finished up with the last survivor and met back up with the super soldier who proceeded further down the halls.
Vince reports as the three walked side by side "There's an armory not too far ahead, heavy security and soldiers are probably being armed there as we speak."
"We'll deal with them accordingly, but our main priority is the command bridge."
Thorne adds "Good opportunity to stock up on munitions and perhaps some heavier armor."
"My thought exactly" Vince remarked.
[7:02 PM, Beacon Academy, Infirmary]
It wasn't a full day and yet SPARTAN Farley found himself in a medical bed for the second time, it was embarrassing at first but the weapons specialist could live with that knowing that he saved a life on the second occasion. Speaking of said life, Ruby sat close by as the soldier rested peacefully waiting for him to soon wake up from his sleep.
She sat there silently staring at his face, the ruggedness and etched scratches on his skin told her he had more than his fair share of heavy combat over the years. It made her thought about how life was like off of Remnant, for the UEG and this 'Covenant' BB mentioned, and she was soon fascinated by the idea of traveling through the stars, being able to see entire planets without a telescope, it was certainly awe inspiring.
After some time she hears the entry door open and close behind her and heavy metallic footsteps quickly followed, it wasn't long till she heard Sandra's voice speak behind her "How's he doing?"
Ruby didn't bother to turn to look at her "He's doing fine . . ."
"Mm."
She hears the SPARTAN grab a chair from a nearby bed and drag it over to where it was positioned next to the huntress, she then sat down next to her and pulls her helmet off for the first time revealing her short cut brown hair, blue eyes, and tanned skin, and sets the helmet aside before she took in a deep breath and exhaled.
Rose gave only a glance to her before turning back to Farley "You look pretty."
The SPARTAN grinned lightly "Thanks . . . I wasn't trying to look my best. Everyone's in the dining hall, you should go and get something to eat as well."
"No, I'll be fine" the huntress answered calmly.
Sandra didn't argue and left it at that, the two continued to stare at Farley for some time until finally Ruby wondered "What is like to be out there?"
The soldier turned towards young Rose "Out where?"
"Off Remnant, in the stars."
"Oh . . . well it's a big place to be. We never know what's going to be around the corner."
"Have you been to many planets?"
"Only a few, Reach, Earth, New Harmony and a place only known as The Ark."
Rose finally turned her eyes to her "The Ark? What kind of planet is that?"
"It wasn't a planet at all; it was a massive installation that resided outside our galaxy's border."
"Wait- how's that possible?"
"I have no clue; story has it an ancient civilization that lived in the galaxy long ago created the Ark in order to build a defensive array of weapons that could keep them safe from harm."
"So if they were protected by the Ark what happened to them?"
"I'm not sure myself . . . they were a powerful race to reckoned with for sure though."
That left Ruby puzzled, wondering what could have existed long before anything, and then she had to ask "What were they called?"
Sandra took a moment to remember, she had the answer "They were known as the Forerunners. And they lived around a hundred thousand years ago . . . before they vanished into history."
The huntress couldn't believe what she heard, her jaw now ajar as she tried to comprehend the amount of time has passed since these fabled ancients had reigned undisputed in all the known galaxy. She was amazed and afraid imagining the power they must've wielded in their prime.
"So what happened to them?"
"I wouldn't know . . . one moment they were the guardians of the galaxy and the next, gone."
It was then when Farley began to stir from his sleep, giving low raspy mumblings and groans before soon enough his eyes began to open.
Ruby quickly turned her attention to the waking SPARTAN and greeted him as he sat up in his bed "Hi Farley."
The weapons specialist gave an acknowledging nod to her before Sandra states "You did a good job back there at the warehouse."
He only grinned lightly at that and started to climb out of bed, placing his armored feet on the ground and stretch his arms and back. Afterwards he finds his helmet laying on the small table sitting next to the bed and picks it up before sliding it over his head where it fit comfortably.
"Glad to see you're doing fine Farley, figured you would still be in bed for . . . maybe two more hours" Sandra remarked as she stood up from her seat.
She only received a subtle hiss from the specialist when Ruby had to ask "That armor really saved us, I've never seen anything like it before."
Sandra elaborates "Its power armor if you ever heard of it."
"Power armor? What's the difference between that and standard body armor?"
"Traditional body armor is what you see on the Atlesian troops, power armor is on a more sophisticated level and could compete with most infantry and some vehicles while keeping the wearer inside relatively unharmed under heavy fire."
"So what makes yours special?"
"Simply put, the MJOLNIR [GEN2] is a successor to our previous models, the dense titanium alloy plating gives us unmatched durability while the bodysuit underneath grants us our superhuman abilities you've probably seen during your fights with Deimos, which unfortunately makes him all the more difficult to handle."
"Is there ways to beat it?"
"Well . . . we could always use overwhelming brute force to incapacitate Deimos, but that would likely come at a cost. The alloy plating can shake off small caliber rounds without a scratch but armor piercing rounds from a standard issue rifle should crack it and the shields can take a beating before breaking which wouldn't be complicated with concentrated fire."
Ruby then pulled out the armor restraint she earned from one of her belt pouches "We still have these."
"That's probably our best chance at capturing him, just one of us has to place it on his armor and he'll be helpless, but that means getting close to him."
"I can handle it."
"Let's hope on it."
[7:04 PM, Axiom's armory]
"FALL BACK! FALL BACK!" a trooper cried as he ran from cover to a secondary defensive position.
Armor piercing and dust-based rounds zipped back and forth in short automatic bursts, but only outcries of pain were heard from one side of the vicious close-quarter firefight. Desperately defending the armory entrance are three squads of Atlesian troopers, using what cover they can and firing back while not trying to get hit themselves. On the other end Deimos, Vince, and Thorne were slowly advancing, the SPARTAN who steadily marched in the open firing off accurate bursts that normally found their targets and the accompanying troopers who moved from cover to cover firing away to keep the enemy pinned down.
An Atlesian sergeant pops out of cover to fire a single round at the approaching SPARTAN, the dust round collided with his armored chest and finally broke what was left of his shields leaving his body exposed to incoming fire, but Deimos returned the favor and fired a quick burst of projectiles in which two of them tore through the trooper's chest. Dust rounds now slammed into the titanium alloy armor and bodysuit, most of which deflected off or stopped entirely leaving only dinks and shallow scratches while a few made some damaging effect but only on a miniscule effect.
Then a lieutenant barked "Focus fire!" prompting the remaining troops to turn their aim and open fire upon the SPARTAN who was quickly forced to halt and hold position.
While his armor was capable of shrugging off the incoming fire he realizes that his aura was beginning to drain, feeling such energy wither under the endless barrage of dust projectiles, and eventually his assault rifle was shot out of his hands forcing him to throw up his arms in a 'X' form deflecting further incoming rounds, his body staggered as each round made their mark.
Vince ducks behind cover as a bullet struck across the strut he hid behind, he then looks to see the seven foot sociopath taking immense fire and calls to him "Dammit find cover!"
But Deimos didn't heed his warning instead his anger began to fester inside him, becoming ever more annoyed by the unrelenting attack by the troopers until a round slammed hard into his left knee causing to fall into a last stance.
Quickly enough his anger bubbled over its point causing the SPARTAN to stand and let out a guttural roar "RRAAAAAAGH!" as a scorching pillar of searing flames rocketed from his two hands.
The sudden rush of fire immediately vaporized those that stood meters from him, Vince and Thorne managed to survive simply by staying behind him, and those that were standing beyond the vaporization point were still engulfed in flames and began to panic as they tried to extinguish themselves, only a few of the remaining troopers were only received singed uniforms and heat flashes when they ducked behind cover just in time.
Vince and Thorne appeared from cover, seeing smoldering corpses and standing men flailing about trying to put out the fires, and quickly placed merciful shots into the panicking men sparing them from a slow agonizing death. However they were now hesitant to move ahead now without Deimos' word, he simply glances back at where his rifle laid, damaged beyond repair, and instead drew his dual M7s from his thighs before advancing again. Those that survived the flames quickly rose out of cover once more to resume their attacks, forcing Vince and Thorne to take cover while Deimos engaged them with lethal precision bursts from his two automatic weapons sending 5mm Full Metal Jacket rounds ripping through their body armor into their bodies. In several exchanges of rounds the last of the troopers were dead save for the lieutenant who hid behind a strut with his rifle close to his chest, he draws a deep breath and exhales knowing this would be the end and in a split second he jumps out of cover and fires off an accurate burst of five rounds that hammered the SPARTAN's chest sending him stepping back a few steps from recoil before Vince and Thorne moved up and fired upon the lieutenant. The loyal trooper's armor managed to defeat two of the incoming rounds until it was breached and the lieutenant cut down in moments from more accurate fire.
Deimos took a moment to allow his shields to recharge and his aura to gain strength once again, the three proceeded down the hall to where they found the armory the troopers were desperately defending, the bulkhead hatch was sealed tight with only a keypad visible off to the side.
"Think we can get through that?" Vince wondered.
Thorne grinned as he sets his rifle aside and started working on the pad "Give me a minute, I got this."
"Be quick about it, we don't have all day" Deimos growled.
"Alright alright calm down . . . I said I got this."
The SPARTAN was tempted to shoot him but he refrains himself and allows the soldier to do his work, knowing if the Vince and Thorne were able to better equip themselves then it would liken their chances of success. Soon enough Thorne makes it through the security measures and the door unlocks itself however Deimos and Vince readied themselves, suspecting there will be troopers to handle inside the armory. The internal door mechanism shoots out a hiss of air before the hatch began to slide open, the two brought their weapons to bare and surely enough a white bolt of energized dust shoots out striking the SPARTAN across his shielded helmet causing him to stagger while Vince fired a shot back to the origin of the first shot, the bolt slammed into something and he was greeted with a pained shriek followed up by a heavy thud as a soldier collapsed onto the ground.
Vince waited for another moment thinking there wasn't just one soldier, but no one else fired their weapons, he then signals Thorne to move in. His partner acknowledged the notion and braces his rifle against his shoulder before taking careful steps into the room, checking corners to ensure it wasn't a trap. Vince looks over his shoulder to see Deimos had already recovered and now stood there looking further down the corridor.
He then shifts his glare to the soldier "Take only what you need."
Vince nodded in compliance and follows his friend into the armory while the SPARTAN simply stood watch.
[7:38 PM, Dorm Rooms]
Team RWBY were in their dorm room doing what they normally do, Ruby and Yang playing a board game in the latter's bed with Zwei lying next to the former, Blake reading one of her romance novels, and Weiss who simply sat in her bunk watching the two sisters play. Sandra and Farley were also present after being invited by Rose, currently Sandra leaned against the wall next to the window gazing out into the orange evening sky while Farley stayed near his own wall near the door merely watching Belladonna, more specifically the book she held in her hands. Everyone was fairly silent for the most part but it was clear in all of their minds that they needed to talk about something, they were just waiting for the first one to talk.
Sandra kept gazing up high, seeing the stars becoming ever brighter as the sun slowly made its descent into the horizon but among the bright lights she could easily make out some familiar patterns that could be seen from few of the outer colony world suggesting that the distance between Remnant and the nearest UEG world to be quite a few lightyears apart, perhaps a little more. Though it bothered her knowing the remnant factions of the old Covenant or even the rising threat of Promethean Forerunners could possibly find this planet as easily as they did. The thought of such an invasion would be catastrophic, the Atlesian military would stand no chance at all and the hunters and huntresses will be hunted down and overwhelmed no matter how skilled they are. Remnant would fall in a month given. So it pleases her knowing the UNSC found it first.
She eventually turns around and begins watching Yang and Ruby play their little game though it wasn't very long till she noticed something familiar lying on the desk in the corner, a SRS-99 Series-5 Anti-Materiel rifle.
She was prompted to ask "Where did you get that?"
The girls all looked up at Sandra and followed her glare to the rifle, Yang curtly responded "From Deimos."
The SPARTAN walked over and took the weapon into her hands, the first and obvious thing she noticed was the missing ORACLE-N optical scope attachment. She looks around the room with the scope nowhere to be found so she returns to the rifle itself, it appeared to be in perfect condition but only found one round in the box magazine when she slid it out.
"Where's the scope?"
"Under my blankets" Ruby answered.
"Why?"
". . . Reasons."
She sets the rifle down and makes her way over to Ruby's bunk bed before she begins digging through the blankets until she found the scope in one piece, for a moment she pondered on why Rose would have it in her bed but she didn't bother to ask her about it. Instead she returns to the desk and slides the scope onto the rail mount locking the attachment in place. Ruby then glanced up to see the rifle wielding SPARTAN, both the armor and the weapon shared the same rugged design philosophy commonly used by the UNSC armed forces very much unlike the warriors of Remnant who custom build their own weapons to fit their own individual styles like her and her scythe. It made her wonder if the men and women of the UNSC are just like their weapons, mass produced and eerily similar with no distinction among them, just seeing Sandra made her look formal with no personality.
Sandra sets the rifle aside and leans her back against the wall next to the desk, Farley eventually came over and kneeled down next to Blake who continued to read her novel. Soon enough her amber eyes shifted from the words to him, finding that he was merely reading the back cover of the book where the summary and reviews from renown critics are written, and resumes reading.
"So what exactly are we doing?" the female SPARTAN questioned, feeling the need to get something done rather than sitting around.
"What can we do?" Yang replied "We just have to wait till Deimos tries something again."
"And when he does?"
"Then we go to work."
"That doesn't seem very effective if you ask me."
Weiss asks "What would you do?"
She sighs in frustration "I don't know . . ."
Everyone felt the soldier's impatience, knowing every minute they wasted just lounging around meant that Deimos could be getting stronger with his new powers, Yang then came up with a suggestion "How about we go train?"
This caught SPARTANs' attention so she continues "We'll just do some exercises and maybe show you what we had planned for Deimos."
Sandra felt this was better than nothing, it also provides her and Farley a chance to possibly learn from the huntresses, "Alright, that sounds like a good idea."
Blake closes her book and begins to stand up from her bed "I'll go get the others."
As everyone got up and started heading for the door Yang turns and notices Ruby hadn't gotten up "What's the matter Sis? Don't you wanna come?"
Rose shook her head "No . . . I think I'm going to go talk to Mom for a bit."
"Alright . . . want me to come with you?"
"Don't worry about me Yang" her little sister answered with a small grin.
Long gave a caring smile accompanied by a nod "Just be safe" and left with the others, as she enters the hallway Sandra came next to her and states "I thought her mother died."
"She did . . . but Ruby still goes to her from time to time."
"It's risky to go alone."
"She'll be fine."
[7:26 PM, Axiom's Command Bridge]
"Dammit! Cutlass Platoon and Nomad Squad fall back to tertiary defensive positions! Link up with Excelsior Platoon and shore up your defenses near the communications center, we have to buy the breaching teams more time to bypass the lockdown!" Harris roared after learning about the takeover of the ship's armory and the fall of two more squads of his own men.
The lieutenant on the other side responded, heavy gunfire intertwined with his own voice, "Acknowledged Axiom Actual! Falling back to Excelsior and- CUAGGH!"
"Lieutenant? Lieutenant!? DAMMIT!" the captain bellowed slamming his fist down on the console before him.
He quickly turns to a crewmember and demands "What's the status of Galileo's progress?"
"They're almost done cutting through Captain, they'll be breaching in two minutes."
"Good, the moment they retake communications I want a direct line to Ironwood ASAP."
"Aye Captain."
Another terminal operator reports "Captain! Nomad and Cutlass has made it to their positons, but Nomad is down to two men."
Harris growled to himself "Argh . . . bring Romeo Squad up from the medical bay and reinforce their positons."
"Aye Captain."
Deimos and his team of collaborators were slowly gaining more control of the ship with each passing minute through either blood or subterfuge and Harris could feel his grip slowly loosening around it. He couldn't figure out what they could possible want from this ordeal.
[Near the Communications Center]
"They're dug in pretty good!" Thorne barked as he tried to stay behind cover with dust-powered projectiles pouring down their way from the defending troopers.
Across from on the other side of the corridor, Vince takes a moment to come out of cover and fire a single bolt that slammed into the chest of a soldier, knocking the man out flat but he was able to get back up on his feet afterwards and resume fighting.
"I don't know what you're talking about! I can hit them just fine!"
"Ah well good for you Vince! It's nice to know you're still a jackass!"
Deimos simply blocked out the bickering and poked his head out for a quick look finding a total of fourteen men positioned ahead of him, the defenders managed to set up a pair of large metallic barricades right next to each other as a sort of fortification to reinforce their hold on the sector of the ship. These troopers were more organized than the random pockets of squads he encountered along the way, perhaps the fact that these men had more time to prepare themselves unlike the others. Nonetheless he intends to blow right through them just like the rest, only this time it's going to take a little more effort.
He reaches into one of his pouches and produced an M9 Fragmentation Grenade from it, they were well away from the outer hull so the explosion won't likely cause an atmospheric breach and depressurize the entire deck. With a press of the button he appears out of cover and hurls the device over to the blockade, the grenade itself bounced on the floor and rested itself right against the foot of the left barricade where it detonates sending a blast wave that rocked the Atlesian defenses and shrapnel ricocheting off the walls, only one man was injured by the flying debris but the others continued to lay down suppressive fire.
Deimos had hoped the grenade would've done more damage but he'll take what results he gets, now he had to find a way to handle the rest of them. But his moment to think was short lived when he heard Vince shout something out but he missed it, he looks again to find four robotic soldiers rushing to aid their organic counterparts, each standing at an accurate six and a half feet tall, white sleek armor covering the arms, legs, chest, and head but left the midsection, neck, joints exposed, and they're most notable feature was the 'Y' shaped visor each shared.
"AKs inbound!" Thorne yelled just as he spotted them too.
The Knights simultaneously leaped over the barricades and began taking the initiative leading a counter assault, each expertly keeping the attackers pinned down for the most part. Thorne and Vince tried to squeeze off a few rounds but they either missed their target or the round merely smacked into the well armored parts of the Knights' bodies causing them to only stagger.
Deimos holsters his SMGs and quickly orders his men "Lay down your weapons!"
Thorne glared back at the SPARTAN "What!?"
"Just do it!" he roared just moments before his body faded into thin air.
Vince and Thorne glanced at one another, feeling uneasy about what they were told but they had little choice but to trust the sociopath that just vanished out of view, then they reluctantly tossed their rifles aside and threw their hands up with Vince barking "Cease fire! We give!"
The troopers halted their attack and began marching forward with their weapons trained on the two infiltrators, however a squad kept their weapons forward regardless of the two knowing Deimos was still in play. Two troopers began restraining the hostiles while the four knights continued forward, checking behind each strut for a SPARTAN ready for a fight but to everyone's disturbing surprise he was nowhere to be found.
"Search results: Negative" one of the knights reported in a low mechanical and masculine tone.
The platoon captain wasn't buying it "That can't be, he was just here, search again."
"Acknowledged."
But as the bots turned to resume their search, the platoon captain was swiftly lifted up in the air and just as quickly brought down onto an invisible knee with his back breaking in a loud snap before the now limp body being thrown towards the two closest troopers who were knocked down without even knowing what had just happened.
Another trooper raised his rifle and quickly fire a shot towards the origin of the attack, the bolt slams into a solid object causing the seven foot SPARTAN to flicker into view long enough for everyone to see him reach his hand for the combat knife before turning back to full invisibility. Deimos was standing right in the middle of the group.
One trooper barked "Get back!" just seconds before the next trooper was struck down by a heavy fist and seconds later another being impaled through the abdomen.
The standing soldiers quickly turned their aim on the cloaked attacker and opened fire but rather than seeing bolts slam into their target the shots simply flew past one another, indicating that Deimos had repositioned himself elsewhere before anyone could've known.
"Where is he!?" one cried out as he frantically looked left and right.
The others quickly done the same, looking in every direction for signs of movement. Everyone was deathly silent, even Vince and Thorne who couldn't determine where their ally will strike next, until one of the knights was quickly torn in two from the midsection. All eyes turned to see the severed knight collapse onto the ground just seconds before Deimos revealed himself wielding his combat knife in his right hand and his M6C magnum in his left.
"TAKE HIM DOWN!" a trooper roared before opening fire sending bolts hurling towards the SPARTAN.
But in mere moments the super soldier began weaving through the gunfire, firing back six rounds where each found their own marks sending men falling to the ground in anguish, and instantly break down another knight by catching it's legs in a low swing of his right, toppling it onto the floor, and crush the head underneath his boot. The first shot landed against his shielded shoulder before Deimos turned his attention towards the others and quickly darted for the nearest trooper, he quickly closes the gap and effortlessly dislocates the man's right arm and end it with a gunshot fired through the underside of his chin.
Another trooper made a clean hit against the sociopath's helmet but the round simply deflected into another direction, he then immediately gained the attacker's attention prompting Deimos to raise his gun and empty the last five rounds into the soldier's chest before slitting the throat of yet another man who attempted to tackle the SPARTAN. The last two knights holstered their rifles in favor of the three foot straight blades built into their forearms, bringing them into combat ready status, and rushed Deimos using a tag-team effort to overwhelm him.
The first of two lunges at its target with the intent of running its blade through his armored chest but Deimos ducks off to the side before grabbing its arm and tear it clean from its socket in one good pull. The knight retaliates by swiping its remaining arm across the SPARTAN's neck however he had already ducked below the blade and launched his own fist smashing into the bot's midsection, shattering the fine components and severing it in half. The other knight attempts to make a low swing for the legs but Deimos' reflexes forced him to dive over the blade, now finding himself behind the android, and drive his own knife into the back of the AK's head where the central brain connected with the spinal cord causing the machine to spasm uncontrollably before shutting down with a dying 'whir.'
Only three of the troopers remained now all terrified by Deimos' ferocity as he tosses the dormant knight aside and began walking towards them. Then in one final act of defiance the three took aim and opened fire sending one last volley, in response the SPARTAN immediately broke into a sprint ducking and weaving through the gunfire until he reached the nearest soldier, going into a power slide and cleaved his knife through the man's right arm. The trooper cried out in agony as his arm and rifle collapsed onto the floor, grasping his open wound with his only hand till he fell to his knees, but Deimos kept on the assault dashing for his next target. The second soldier managed to land a shot on the SPARTAN's chest but it didn't matter when he pounced onto the soldier and plunge the knife into his throat before leaping towards the last trooper. The last man standing was immediately met with a gut-wrenching blow to the stomach causing him to keel over onto the ground before which Deimos then planted his right foot on the man's neck and crushed it under his weight, finishing the last of the defense force.
Vince and Thorne were stunned and now had new respect for their ally, Deimos finally returns to them and breaks the restraints off their wrists prompting them to pick up their weapons once more and move on with the mission.
"The hell was that?" Thorne whispered to his comrade.
"No clue . . . I-I'm still processing what just happened" Vince replied as he looked down at the dead they passed.
The three reached the door to the communication center, it was nearly cut through by the atlesians before they arrived, and the SPARTAN gave three hard pounds against the metal frame only to receive a lighter response from the other side signaling that Neo was still fine.
"We're almost there, keep moving" Deimos remarks just as he resumed walking towards the bridge.
Vince and Thorne had no choice but to carry on.
[Sixteen minutes later]
Upon walking through a seemingly endless labyrinth of corridors and elevator lifts, Deimos and company finally manages to reach a T-shaped intersection with the off branching corridor leading to the bridge itself. They all expected the command center to be guarded but to what degree they didn't know.
They were approaching the intersection when Deimos threw up a right handed fist signaling the others to halt and slowly crept to the edge of the wall where he peaks around to see a long empty corridor before him, approximately twenty to twenty two meters long, and the entrance to the bridge on the far end. The reinforced hatch itself has been fortified to an extent by six standing troopers all positioned behind another one of those portable barriers with four in the crouched position and two standing behind them.
Almost immediately they spotted the SPARTAN's dark helmet and opened fire sending a flurry of rounds zipping down range nearly striking him just before he ducked his head back.
"You two, other side" he orders motioning his head to the other side of the intersection.
The two soldiers had done what was asked, they rushed through the gunfire and reached the other side of the corridor across from Deimos, almost immediately Vince fires a shot back at the defender only for the round to slam into the side of the barrier before he was forced to duck behind cover when a burst of rounds came flying his way.
"They're pretty dug in deep!" he called.
"So I've noticed" he answered as he tried to take another peek and be quickly met with another volley of dust projectiles, he then glanced at Thorne and then to his rifle "Let me see that."
Thorne briefly glared at his rifle before he gives it a toss sending it across the open intersection and letting Deimos catch it. The SPARTAN gave the weapon a quick lookover, the black and white trim finish covering a majority of the weapon, the lack of a stock and the overall blocky design, the traditional conventional layout was present with the magazine placed in front of the trigger, and the weight of 5.3 kilograms, roughly three pounds heavier than the MA5D which weighed only 4.1 kilograms when fully loaded.
After ensuring the safety was flicked off he glances around the corner again only revealing his head, after a quick look he then reveals himself fully before taking aim and fire a single bolt down range, the round slammed into the upper chest of one of the crouching soldiers where the hardened metal alloy took most of the damage while the wearer was merely knocked onto his back. Surely enough the soldier got back up with only bruises and fired back along with the rest of the squad forcing the SPARTAN to return to cover before he was caught in the barrage.
It occurred in Deimos' mind that the Atlesians' body armor was more developed to stop dust-based projectiles and attacks but it was practically useless against solid armor piercing slugs fired from nearly all UNSC armaments given their penetrating value. Of course on the other end of the spectrum, Titanium-A is highly resilient to dust firearms though there were a few exceptions to that such as the arm-mounted heavy auto and plasma cannons found on the Paladins that could easily defeat the armor of a SPARTAN and high powered rifles such as Ruby's Crescent Rose when a round tore through his lower body during their first engagement.
Putting the thought aside for now he turns his focus back on the defending troopers, obviously the rifle just won't satisfy his needs so he tosses it back over to Thorne and in exchange brought one of his M7s to bear. With a flick of his thumb he throws the safety off and darts out of cover towards the defending troopers with his weapon braced against his shoulder firing off small pinpoint bursts of fire, his two subordinates then followed him in as well doing what they can to keep up.
In the first few seconds of the assault one trooper was shot down by a combo of ballistic and dust-powered gunfire and never got back up and the SPARTAN's shields was already depleted once the first spray of concentrated fire had struck against his body. Vince and Thorne made good use of Deimos as cover as they stayed behind him and offered him fire support when he began to slow down under withering fire.
However in the midst of the fight the two standing troopers ceased firing and glanced at one another, knowing the time has come they nodded to one another and took a step back before turning their weapons on the unsuspecting troopers who continued to hold the SPARTAN back. One soldier heard the distinct cocking of a rifle and turned his head to find their former compatriots aiming down at them just seconds before they open fired, gunning the remaining three men down like animals without a second thought in a swift and violent display of cruelty.
Deimos eventually slowed to a halt and lowered his weapon as he approached the two traitorous men who then gave a quick nod of acknowledgment, Vince finally caught up and asked "Hell Grey, what took you so long enough to do that?"
The soldier he was referring to, Grey, grinned showing his canine teeth and answered "Eh I was starting to enjoy these guys' company. But I suppose Lucky got tired of them."
The other trooper cackled under his breath just as Deimos approached the door and asked "Can you get it open?"
"Yeah, it just needs the right code" Grey answered as he stepped over to the keypad and began punching in an eight digit numerical code.
After putting in the last digit the keypad gave a warring warble that indicated the code was invalid "What?" the soldier muttered before he quickly puts in the code again only for the same response to occur.
He glances back at everyone, the three other men and the SPARTAN all staring at him though it was Deimos' glare that unsettled him, he tries again this time saying the numbers out loud so that everyone could hear. But the code was yet invalid.
"Is something the matter?" he asks, his annoyed tone made the faunus shudder for a moment.
"They must've changed the code, it'll be a while before I can figure it out."
"A whileis something we don't have. Time to move to alternative means."
The sociopathic super soldier stepped forth, holstering his SMG, and planted his right hand against the door "Once these doors open, I want the captain alive."
[Command Bridge]
Harris and the standing bridge crew stood ready for the inevitable breach, some were racked with nervous anxiety when the gunfire fell silent but others showed adamant spirit as they trained their officer-issued sidearms towards the door where the infiltrators will be coming through.
Shortly later they began to notice the center of the hatch began to glow with an orange hue, the glowing grew brighter until the point where the metal began to show signs of warping and melting. Then in an instant the hatch was blown clean out of its housing allowing four armed soldiers to move in and systematically execute the crew who put up little fight with their pistols. The brief but furious firefight only lasted moments before it was Harris who was left standing when Thorne blasted the captain's weapon out of his hand. Harris glared menacingly towards the armed men, each had their rifles trained on him and fingers on the triggers, but then he shifted his eyes to the central figure that finally walked through the hole he had blasted through.
Deimos was silent until he came to a stop a few feet in front of the captain with his arms crossed across his chest, "Oh Captain My Captain . . . I would say that it's a pleasure to finally meet you, but then I'd be lying."
"That makes the two of us . . ." the captain snapped back.
"Hmph . . . Do you know why I'm here?"
"I have the faintest idea."
"I came to deliver a message."
"Consider your message received" Harris answered, referring to the total amount of men the SPARTAN had slaughtered to get here.
"That was just the preamble. I need to deliver my message to General Ironwood and Headmaster Ozpin at Beacon Academy, I believe you were going to make your report to them anyways."
The captain didn't like where this was going "I was . . . but then you and your band of marauders deprived me of the ability to communicate with the outside world."
"Allow me to rectify that problem" he replies before he taps on his helmet's comlink and orders "Neo, bring it back up."
Almost instantly Harris hears the positive chiming of the communications array connecting with relays across the world and primarily the Cross Continental Transmit Tower at Beacon Academy, he turns around to see the holoboard display that the connection was successful and now standing by for orders.
"Better get to it."
[Headmaster's Chambers, Beacon Academy]
"It's been three days since we last saw Deimos and it's becoming very hard to determine what he'll do next or when" Ironwood states with concern heard in his voice.
"I understand General, but in order to avoid a kingdom-wide hysteria we have to ensure that things are calm as possible. Sending more troops to patrol the streets is something he wants" Ozpin replied relaxing in his chair, his usual calm posture and voice kept the conversation from getting out of hand.
"And what if he attacks? What if he made some old man's house a target and blows it up hurting dozens of others in the process? We're looking at a hysterical scenario either way, I prefer to have it with minimal civilian casualties if you don't mind."
"I want to save lives as well James, but we'll be creating more chaos and paranoia than there has to be. And you said it yourself the night of the attack on this Academy 'He is definitely military so he'll stay strict to orders' and unless his orders are to harass the elderly for their wallets, we have nothing to worry about."
"I know what I said, but it's the fact that he's working with the White Fang that frightens me. Giving those extremists with a devastating tool can cause a lot of damage. He'll become a full blown terrorist targeting innocents at a whim."
The Headmaster then gives a worrisome sigh "I know . . . I just wish there was another way . . ."
Then as if by cue, an icon on Ozpin's terminal blinked accompanied by a joyful chime catching the twos attention "I wonder who this could be?" the professor wondered just before he pressed the answer key.
Immediately afterwards a green life size hologram appeared in front of the desk next to the general, taking the shape of a Hispanic sporting a traditional Atlesian naval uniform signifying his rank as captain. The hologram looked worried and disappointed with his eyes staring into the Headmaster's.
"Captain Harris? You have something to report?" James asked.
The captain's voice crackled, a typical outcome when using holographic communications "I do General, I . . . um I regret to inform you that the Axiom has been boarded and is now considered captured by the enemy. We stood no chance . . ."
"Captured? How could someone capture a warship?"
In response, the seven foot armored behemoth known as Deimos appeared behind Harris, his helmet looked down upon Ozpin who sat straight up in his chair while Ironwood took a step back clenching his fists.
"It takes a little more effort than one would think General" Deimos answered seemingly unamused by the question.
Ozpin adjusted his glasses before standing up "Deimos, I could've guessed you were part of it. What's the pleasure this time might I ask?"
"I've only come to deliver a message on behalf of my new employer."
"So when did the dog become an errand boy?"
The SPARTAN gave a short gruff pointing at the Headmaster "I'm no errand boy- you know how much damage I can cause."
"We're aware, yes, but that won't stop us from hunting you down and make you answer for your crimes against the people of Remnant."
"It may be some time before that day comes but let's not get carried away."
"Of course, the message."
The SPARTAN situated himself "Dear Headmaster Ozpin of Beacon Academy, you may have already realized that there's a force moving against you. Plotting to tear down everything you ever hoped to protect and love, wipe away what you call history and begin an era anew. Seeking to consume the light and plunge this world into the darkness.
How much longer will you stay within your walls, in your chair, before you come to realize that everything you have is built on a false hope?
How desperate will you be to hold onto faith when those walls come crumbling down and the fragile alliance of kingdoms becomes shattered like glass?
What will your hunters and huntresses hope to accomplish when the world they once knew is gone forever?
A day of reckoning is coming Headmaster, and soon all of the world will kneel in one stroke of a blow. I can assure you that this revolution will never fade away into history and the world will never be the same.
I hope you're ready Ozpin, because this will be the fall of your hopes and dreams. And nothing will stop it."
Ironwood stepped forward "Make the threats all you want Deimos, if you're trying to scare us you're doing it poorly."
"It wasn't threat, it was a warning for what is to come and I will become instrumental in my employer's efforts to bring everything down upon your heads."
"Is that all?" Ozpin asked not showing any sign of fear or concern.
"Not quite" he replied before taking a step towards the Captain and place his right hand on the man's shoulder "This man would also like deliver a message . . . was there anything you want to say anyone? Perhaps to your family?"
Harris' lips quivered as he gave a shaky sigh and closed his eyes "Aria . . . I'm sorry I won't be there when our baby boy is born. I- I just want you to know that no matter what happens that I still love you very much . . . and I wish that I can be there when you need me the most. I just hope that despite all odds that our boy can grow up and be happy . . ."
The General and Headmaster quickly noticed Deimos slowly pulling away and draw his M6C to the back of Harris' head "I love you two very much . . . and nothing will change that. Tell Kyle that . . . tell him that I'm proud to be his father . . . and how much it hurts me knowing I won't see him . . . I'm sorry."
In a pull of a trigger a gunshot rings out and suddenly Harris' body became limp before it toppled over onto the ground lifeless, the SPARTAN afterwards holstered his weapon and stepped over the body before standing directly in front of Ozpin's desk "Don't think I haven't forgotten about those children, I'll be coming for them and the SPARTANs you're harboring and I will see to it that they burn" he then turns to the General "Oh and you might want to send search and rescue, I doubt any survivors will last long in the forests alone with no help."
Following that comment the hologram disperses leaving the two men alone at last.
[Axiom, Command Bridge]
The sociopath turns to the four men standing behind, each couldn't believe he committed cold-blooded murder "Head back to the hangar, and blow the charges."
"W-what about you?" Thorne asked.
"I'm going for a walk, I'll meet you all at our repositioned headquarters."
The troopers knew this wasn't exactly part of the plan, but who were they to argue with a SPARTAN? One by one the men left silently while Deimos took a moment for himself.
He looks down at the corpse of what was once Captain Harris, a father whose wife has yet to give birth to their child, he felt conflicted inside knowing he shouldn't have done it despite his cruel ways. He lets out a frustrated sigh and pulls out the flip lighter, looking down upon the initials he began to hate himself for what he just did.
"I'm sorry . . ." he spoke, no one else being around to hear, before he gently tucks the lighter away and began heading off the bridge.
[Twenty six minutes later]
It wasn't long before he felt the floor shake beneath as the secondary charges detonates and destroys the backup generators causing the ship to lose all remaining power and start to fall out of the air. Fortunately he wasn't too far from the nearest series of lifeboats and began sprinting towards them.
Four minutes of nonstop running later and the soldier finally came to the portside of the vessel where there should be lifeboats standing by, but upon closer inspection he finds that all pods have been launched leaving empty launch chambers with the hatch wide open, that was all he needed. After climbing through the hatch he steps onto the bottom of the chamber then he props his right foot against the step behind him and after counting himself to three he breaks out in a sudden burst of speed before he dives out of the chamber, off the burning Axiom, and into a freefall state with the forest floor little over two hundred meters below.
The SPARTAN swept his arms back and kept his legs tight as he angled himself away from the falling ship in order to put some distance between himself and the inevitable blast. The forest floor was coming up fast and in one smooth motion he flips himself right side up and activates his shoulder-mounted thrusters to activate and decelerate his fall before coming to a relatively rough landing on the ground. After making the successful landing he turns around to watch the Axiom slowly go down in flames with multiple hull breaches littered along the outer hull, all with fire and smoke spewing out as a sign of catastrophic systems failures, and eventually the once proud ship of the Atlesian Navy came crashing down nose first, the bow suffered immense damage as it dragged itself across the surface, the large pieces of metal that was previously wielded on were forcibly torn off as the hull tried to compensate for the impact it made that shook the ship. Finally the ship grinded to a full halt and one last explosion roared through the air as one of the primary engines went critical and destroyed itself along with a good portion of the ship.
He watched the flames engulf the ship for a few more minutes before he turns and begins heading north back towards the city of Vale, the dense foliage around denied him a chance to be evacuated by air but he couldn't care, this was what he wanted. Knowing Grimm and Atlesian Search and Rescue would soon overrun this place he made pace and made his way out of area.
[9:27 PM, twenty-two miles outside the city]
The lone SPARTAN now walks alone through the dark forests that surrounded him, his pace was slowed and it was now more of a casual walk than a steady march. He hasn't heard or seen anything ever since the destruction of the Axiom but he didn't mind, it gave him time to think about himself so far. He rarely ever does this sort of thing but after executing Captain Harris he felt it was necessary.
Harris was a young man who still had much to hope for like his wife and unborn child who will never be able to see his father because of the SPARTAN's cold actions. Deimos felt conflicted feeling he should've given the man a chance to live but he had to remain strict to his ways to show his enemies he wasn't about to back down anytime soon. He couldn't keep his mind off the wife and child, two people that will probably take years to recover from this, something he himself hasn't been able to do in decades.
In fact he was once in Harris' position when he was about his age, only the family didn't lose a loving father . . . it the direct opposite.
Deimos was once Adam Gale, a young prominent officer working for the New Mombasa Police Department during the mid-years of the Human-Covenant War as an undercover agent routing out drug cartels, arms dealers, and chop shops. Taking his side in life was his fiancé Daniela Juno, a gorgeous woman whom he fell in love with after he had graduated from the Academy.
He served well with the NMPD and even earned a private commendation busting one of the notorious cartels that were responsible for dealing out a new experimental concoction that proved deadly even in minuscule doses. But eventually he was tasked with the investigation of handling police officers that were living on the other side of the law, this led him to a man named Jacob Yanze who dealt in extortion along with a handful of other officers that contributed to this illegal operation. Months of undercover work later and finally Adam was able to gather enough evidence that placed all of those involved under arrest, of course by the time Yanze realized who Adam really was it was too late when SWAT broke through the doors and began cleaning up the mess. Yanze and several key members in the ring were arrested while only a few managed to get away, afterwards Adam was given a promotion by the commissioner and a round of applause for his hard work and dedication.
A week later he was at home taking leave with his fiancé it was something they hadn't had for the longest time and they were overjoyed to have this time together, by this time Juno was already five weeks pregnant. This was everything he could ever want and then some.
However one night before going to bed the two heard the screech of a car coming to a halt soon followed up with their front door breaking down, Gale had grabbed his off-duty M6C and rushed downstairs to find the perpetrators to be the five corrupt cops that fled from the Yanze raid, all seeking revenge for ruining their lives. The ensuing clash was chaotic, with two of the corrupted dead by fatal gunshot wounds, the other three were pretty banged from a round of hand-to-hand, and Adam who had his fair share of scars and bruises. The three fled from the house but they proceeded to douse a portion of the house in gasoline and light it, engulfing the lower half of their two-story home in flames.
Believing the cops fled to avoid being caught, Adam ran back upstairs and grabbed his love before rushing back down and find that the doors were blocked off by flames, their only means of escape was through a window placed at the front of the house. Placing her life above his own he urged Daniela to climb through first so she could get to safety however before she could escape, a sound of gunfire cracked through the air and suddenly to Adam's horror a bullet had tore through her abdomen and spine killing the baby instantly. With the house burning and the dirty cops still lying in wait, he was forced to carry his gravely injured fiancé down to their basement and waited it out as long as they could. However in their final moments, Daniela lost her will to live and slowly passed away in Adam's arms much to his agony. He had lost everything in one night.
In the following morning among the ruins of their old home, firefighters were able to find him and his dead wife and child, Gale himself wailing to his heart's content grieving for his loss.
Two months afterwards and Adam was back on duty breaking down illegal operations as tasked, however during his time he took on a personal mission utilizing all resources he had at his disposal to locate the cops until he finally learned that they were trying to rebuild their organization out in an abandoned warehouse in the old city district. He pursued the corrupted officials and found them planning out their next move, he remained hidden and managed to bar all windows and doors denying them any chance to escape, then he took justice into his own hands.
He douses half of the building in gasoline and set it ablaze, the flames roared and the cops quickly learned what had happened now desperate to escape. However when they all ran to the nearest door they found it barred from the outside and through the small window they found Adam standing there staring back at them. The cops pleaded and begged for him to let them go but he didn't listen, instead he called the local fire department and told them of the warehouse fire. Eventually the begging turned into agonizing screams as he watched the cops burn before him, unable to escape and destined to die this way.
With his revenge completed, Adam fell to his knees and cried out loud into the night sky until police and firefighters arrived on scene, the flames were put out and the once proud member of the NMPD was arrested for murder in the first degree, arson, and destruction of private property. Adam was tried and found guilty on all accounts and sentenced for life at Recusant Prison and Correctional Facility on Mars. From there his sense of humanity devolved and every little part of who he was became washed away in the mental madness that ensued. That was until ONI found him.
Nineteen later and now SPARTAN Deimos found himself standing at the edge of a vast clearing in the middle of the forests, he had been walking for what seemed an eternity with his thoughts completely lost to him. Until he noticed movement in the distance, under the cover of the dark he found a color he quickly recognized, a red Ruby Rose.
'What is she doing out here?' he wondered, soon curiosity got the best of him and he began to follow utilizing his active camouflage to remain hidden.
He quickly catches up to her and maintained a twenty foot distance from her, staying among the trees and bushes while young Rose took the dirt path unbeknownst to his presence. The SPARTAN tried to understand what could possibly possess this girl to come out in the middle of the night alone in a forest bound to be thriving with Grimm, despite having seen none during his walk. His helmet's audio receptors could pick up the soft hymn of her voice as she strolled along, her voice seemed worried, sad even. This only pulled more on Deimos' intrigue.
[Seventeen minutes later]
After a period of stalking Deimos found himself near a cliffside overlooking the vast expanse of forests that reached beyond what the eye could see. Ruby continued walking onwards until she stopped near the edge of the cliff before a small stone that had writing engraved into it, the soldier stuck to the tree line and watched from a distance, there he could hear her voice:
"Hey Mom, it's been a while . . . School is going great and I'm making new friends every day. Speaking of friends you wouldn't believe who I met recently. Their name is Sandra and Farley and guess what? They're from space, isn't that pretty cool!?"
They call themselves SPARTANs which is a kind of super soldier if you want to get technical but . . . they lost two of their friends when trying to stop another SPARTAN named Deimos . . . which is why I came here to talk about . . .
This man's dangerous, he's been attacking people without cause and he even hurt some of my friends, Yang even, I don't know what he wants or why he's doing this but he says it was because of me that these people had to get hurt. He even said that he remembers me from somewhere but I don't remember anything about him. He says it's something about my eyes.
Do you know anything about him? . . . I really wish you were here to help me, you would've totally kicked his butt, but I guess this is something I have to do now. I'll learn what's going on and I'll get to the bottom of it, you can count on it . . . he wants to be feared but I'm not afraid of him, neither is my friends. We fought him before so we know what to expect . . .
This galaxy is a lot bigger than we knew . . . there's a lot more going on than we know, it sounds a little scary but maybe this is a good thing . . ."
She fell silent for a moment, looking up at the crackled moon before falling back to the stone in front of her "I should get going Mom . . . it's been great talking to you again . . . I love you."
Afterwards she slowly turns and begins to walk away back the way she came. Deimos watched her quietly leave the scene before he uncloaked himself and steps out from the trees, he didn't bother to tail her any further and was more interested in the stone she was talking to. He made his way over to the stone which turns out to be a gravestone with the engravings of a rose and the epitaph below it:
Summer Rose
Thus I kindly scatter . . .
That was it, Deimos had finally remembered. The silver eyes, the last name, the close resemblance of mother and daughter, he remembers everything now. Behind his LOCUS helmet his expression saddened, after being haunted with one bad memory he was reminded of another, but he didn't let it take hold.
"It's been a long time Summer . . . you're girl has grown quite a bit since I last saw her all those years ago" he spoke calmly, almost seemingly proud of something, but then that pride was dashed away "But I'm afraid I'm going to have to break the promise I made . . . my darling Rose . . ."
He gave the altar a moment of silence before he gave a calm nod and began to walk away, heading back to Vale where his master awaits him.
Please leave your thoughts and comments. Thank you.