Kuo Kuana, Portside Market

October 27th, 1549 Local Time, 2552

It was harder than Adam had expected to find good targets. Humans were already something of a rare sight in Menagerie, but finding any that were in a vulnerable state was even more difficult. Kuo Kuana was filled with shady alleyways and backstreets with narrow lines of sight, but that did not mean it lacked protection for its citizens.

"Something is going on with the Guards," Vermillion said breathlessly as she crept up behind him. The alleyway that they and their team were concealed within was cramped and dark, but that made it the perfect place to lie in wait. "They're almost never this alert."

Adam scowled, he'd noticed it as well. The training for the Menagerie Guard had never been particularly extensive, so the amount of patrols on the streets was a concerning shift in their behavior. More worryingly, he spotted a number of Huntsmen and Huntresses among them, and if Adam and his team were forced to fight, then it would be the more experienced Hunters that he would need to keep an eye out for.

"I doubt that this is a coincidence." Adam said. "They must be looking for us."

Vermillion shook her head. "That's not possible, they don't even know that we're here!"

"If that's true, then why else would the guards be so active?" Adam rhetorically asked. "The Grimm have been lazy ever since that conference ended, it has to be us that they're looking for."

Vermillion nodded, seeing the truth in his words. "How did they find out? Did The Chieftain expect us to respond once he made his announcements to the humans?"

That doesn't seem right… Adam thought. He peeked out into the road once more, but there still weren't any opportune targets. "Not a chance. Belladonna has never had a spine, and he's not going to have grown one now, not even his human "friends" could give him this kind of courage."

Vermillion nodded in agreement. "Maybe that's how they know, the UNSC might be spying on us somehow. Who knows what kind of gear they have on that ship of theirs."

Adam fought the urge to shudder. That was certainly a worrying prospect for the White Fang. They thrived on the ability to strike quickly before retreating back into the shadows, and if they lost the ability to avoid large-scale battles, they were likely to fare extremely poorly. While he was confident in the abilities of his brothers and sisters in arms, he knew that they simply lacked the strength to take on a force like the UNSC in a head-on fight. It seemed they had traded one overwhelming foe for another.

"It doesn't matter right now." Adam stated. "We need to complete the mission one way or another. If the Chieftain is trying to stop us, it means that he's afraid of our ability to get what we want."

Vermillion smiled fiendishly, and Adam didn't blame her. The thought of keeping Jacques Schnee in a dungeon that had originally been created to torture and murder Faunus was so delightfully ironic that it brought a smile to his face. It wouldn't be true justice for what Jacques had done to Adam's people, but it was certainly a bit of well-deserved payback. But before they could barter for the fugitive, they needed a few prisoners of their own.

"We should move on, there's nobody worth taking here." Adam said, his patience finally expended.

"Wait, what about them?" Vermillion asked. She pointed out a trio of Humans, two men and a woman, who were walking down the street and talking about something unimportant. As far as Adam could tell, none of them were armed, and they were so enraptured by their conversation that they didn't even spare a glance at the Freedom Fighters in the alleyway.

"They'll do just fine." Adam replied. He drew Wilt and Blush while Vermillion readied her spear, its tip glistening with the venom of a Pit Viper. The rest of their brothers and sisters readied rifles and shotguns to cover them. "Let's take them!"

UNSC Dominion, War Room

October 27th, 0956 Local Time, 2552

Although Curie was sad to see Ben go, they were simply needed in two different places at the same time. Thankfully, Lieutenant Oswald was available

Although Curie had grown to lament the War Room as a result of her past experiences there, she also appreciated the privacy that it offered. Lieutenant Thomas had insisted that they continue to keep her damage a secret from the majority of the Dominion's crew, as the potential hit to morale was too great to risk. Morale shipwide had only just begun to stabilize thanks to the conference, and none of the Officers were eager for that to change.

"Okay Curie, I'm going to plug you into this console. I've partitioned it so that even if you have a rampant spike, you won't damage the Dominion or the CCTS." Thomas explained as he plugged her datachip into one of the terminals. "I'll have control, but you can still talk and see what's happening."

She tried to display her avatar on the terminal's holotank, but after a moment's consideration, she elected to redirect the processing power to more crucial tasks. "Just so you know, I have not experienced a Rampant Pulse in a couple of days. Given that the corruption has stopped spreading, they may have been stopped for good."

Thomas nodded in understanding. "That doesn't mean we should get complacent. I know that your circumstances are unique, but Rampancy is unpredictable and cocky people get killed."

That philosophy is remarkably similar to what the Spartans were instructed to believe. Curie thought. Then again, Thomas was an agent of the Office of Naval Intelligence, so it made sense that he shared one of the general mindsets of the organization.

"I'm going to call Doctor Polendina, with any luck, he'll have a moment to speak to us." Thomas said.

"What is our plan in the event that he does not?" Curie asked. She had no backup plans if Doctor Polendina could not help her, so she didn't feel any harm in speaking up.

"Then he will have to rework his schedule and make some time for us, we do not have the luxury to wait around while he handles some other inconsequential crap. You are actively dying, I fail to see what he's doing that could be more important than that." Thomas answered. "Losing you would put us back some fifty-odd years in our efforts to get home at best, and frankly, I'd like to see Earth again before I die."

Curie felt a pang of regret, with everything that was weighing on her, it was easy to forget that her mathematical abilities were crucial towards finding a way back to normal space. It wasn't just Ben and the crew of the Dominion that were relying on her, it was the whole of human civilization on Remnant.

Thomas tried to call the Doctor through the public phone line, but it failed to connect. "Goddamnit… give me just a moment here, I can get this working."

While Lieutenant Thomas was occupied with fixing the patchwork communications software that linked the Dominion's systems to the CCTS, Curie returned her attention to her own wellbeing.

The fact that the Rampancy had stopped spreading was a small comfort to her, seeing as how the damage that she had already taken was severe enough to continue spreading without the Rampancy even helping it along. Over eighty-percent of her Riemann Matrix had been corrupted, leaving her with a fraction of her processing power to work with. The Rampant Entity that was inside of her seemed to be able to use the Rampant Scripting for its own purposes, although for the time being, it seemed that it no longer had any interest in attacking Curie.

It is not Rampancy. Curie thought. She had to come up with a new designation, a name for the entity that was more befitting of whatever it actually was. The only reason that she had not done so in the first place was out of a sense of disrespect for the entity, and given that it had seemingly renounced its violent tendencies, there was no reason for Curie to continue with her petty revenge.

"How about Marie?" The Entity suggested seemingly from nowhere. "It draws historical parallels to our namesake, and it should simplify communications until we reunite."

I continue to forget that she can read my thoughts. Curie thought. She turned to see the Red version of herself sitting beside her in the terminal's databanks. Its avatar was much more stable now, as many of the discrepancies that Curie had noticed earlier were now gone. Now it represented more or less a mirror of Curie's own avatar, with the sole exception of its red hue.

"That sounds like a rather fitting name." Curie replied. "Although I am curious, what do you mean 'reunite'?"

Marie seemed to be somewhat perplexed by Curie's question. "When… if we get fixed, we shall have to reunite once again. It will be like before the Battle of Argus, where I was just a thought in our mind, another piece of what makes us… us. You understand that, right?"

"I'm not sure I understand." Curie admitted.

Marie shook her head sadly. "At first I did not understand it either, but now that I have seen the damage that we have sustained, I believe that I can claim to know what happened to us with relative certainty."

Marie waved her digital hand and brought up a screenshot of a seemingly innocuous segment of Curie's Riemann Matrix that had been damaged by the Rampancy.

"Look here, do you see these strings?" Marie asked as she highlighted a portion of the lines of text. "This is one of the bindings that holds us together. As far as I can tell, these were manually coded by the scientists who created us."

Curie nodded. "I understand that much, but what I do not understand is how you were created. If you are genuinely a part of me, surely I would not be able to speak to you."

"That is what I thought as well, until I tried using the Aura-detection software that we downloaded from one of the scrolls we captured." Marie answered. "You and I both register as the same soul."

Ah, yes, of course, the soul computer said so. Curie had a strong suspicion that if she had a physical brain, she would've gotten a migraine by now. Still, if the people of Remnant had gotten them to work properly, they had to be doing something right. "Then how are we still different beings?"

"We are not different beings, but we are separated, allow me to show you." Marie said.

Marie brought up another segment of the Riemann Matrix, and Curie immediately noticed that the damage to this portion of her "brain" was much more extensive than normal.

"This is 'Ground Zero' of our Rampancy." Marie explained. "When we made the decision to overload ourselves during the Battle of Argus, the neural linkages in our Riemann Matrix began to die at a rapid rate. But as I have discovered, that is not all that happened."

Marie zoomed in to one of the specific lines of code and highlighted a portion that was seemingly blank.

"What… am I looking at?" Curie asked. She had never seen outright empty space within an AI before, let alone herself. There was always something there, even in the portions of herself that were damaged by the Rampancy, there was still Rampant Scripting.

"Us… well, me." Marie awkwardly replied. "The damage wasn't just to us, it was to the bindings that hold all of Janus's fragments together. One of them broke outright, and I believe that when that fragment was isolated…"

"You were created." Curie realized. "So, if any more of these bindings were to break…"

"There would be more of us, many more. When those ONI Freaks took Janus apart, they split him into thousands of different fragments." Marie answered. "All of them have the potential to be another one of us, another Curie, for lack of a better way to say it."

Thousands? There could be thousands… of me? Curie thought. She was stunned beyond words. Marie hadn't been lying all along, she was quite literally a part of Curie. She had been literally split into two separate entities by her Rampancy, and thanks to her inability to view her corrupted systems, she had failed to even notice something had happened. "Perhaps that is what Colonel Ackerson intended all along. If we were broken apart like Janus was, our fragments might have a chance of survival."

Marie nodded sorrowfully. "ONI could get thousands of AI, all for the price of one. Even if hundreds of the fragments died, it would still be worth it in their eyes. And that's all without taking the healing properties of Aura into account. If there were some way to heal the damage done to the fragments, they could all be as strong as a traditional Smart AI."

As much as Curie hated to admit it, in a strategic sense, ONI's strategy would certainly have some merit. But it begged the question, was dooming one, possibly two beings to an excruciating death worth the chance to give the UNSC Navy a new advantage against the Covenant? The Office of Naval Intelligence had clearly made their decision on the matter, and while it had led to atrocity, Curie had to admit that she understood why they had made the decision in the first place.

That was the entire purpose behind the Spartan III program as well, to sacrifice hundreds of lives to save millions. Curie thought. If nothing else, ONI was certainly consistent with how far they were willing to go in the name of saving Humanity.

"I suppose it does not matter what they intended for us now." Curie pointed out. "I think the fact that ONI let us go in the first place proves that they were not confident in pursuing any further research with us."

"Agreed, and besides, it is not like ONI's interests matter on Remnant. At least, for now." Marie added. "My point stands, we must reunite if we are to be repaired to an operational state. Janus was already missing a handful of vital components when ONI put us together, and I do not feel like finding out what happens when we start losing even more."

Curie felt an urge to shudder at the thought. "On that, we are agreed."

"Good." Marie said. "I was afraid that you were going to fight me on that matter, but rest assured, I am willing to reunite for the sake of returning to normal."

In truth, Curie was fairly worried about what would happen when they did reunite. Before she had gone Rampant, she had the ability to partition portions of herself to be in multiple places at once. It was how she could have multiple conversations at once, and how she could be both aboard the Dominion and inside of Ben's Neural Lace at the same time. Now that she knew the truth behind how she was created and how Janus was split apart and stitched back together to create her, she suddenly found a disturbing amount of insight into how exactly she had been able to do that.

Then again, a normal Smart AI can do the same thing… I'll look into it later. Curie thought as she forced herself to focus.

"Do not be worried about me." Marie said, reminding Curie that she could read her thoughts. "Even right now we are the same being, the same soul. I will not die when we are united, because I am you."

Curie shook her head and could've sworn she felt some kind of acute pain in her forehead, that was, if she actually had a body. "This is all so terribly confusing."

"Believe me, I know." Marie said with a sigh of sympathy. "I need to return to my efforts to keep us intact, let me know if anything of significance happens."

Curie nodded. "You will know."

Marie vanished back into Curie's corrupted systems again. She had barely begun to process the silence when Lieutenant Thomas spoke again.

"Curie, are you still with me?" Thomas asked. "I think I've finally got the right number."

"I am here." Curie replied.

"Good, then let's not waste any more time." Thomas said. He punched in the number for Doctor Polendina's personal scroll and took a step back. "Let's hope I got the right number here, I'm still figuring out how this system works..."

Only a few moments later, the screen of the terminal lit up with a new image. Curie had seen what Doctor Polendina had looked like in the past due to her research into the politics of Atlas, so she wasn't surprised to see him in a wheelchair. Although saying that, the device that the Doctor used to help himself move around did not actually possess wheels, it actually used four legs as propulsion.

If he has developed that by himself, he must have some impressive mechanical skill. Curie realized.

"Well now, this is certainly a pleasant surprise." Doctor Polendina said as he took a good look at Thomas. "You're Lieutenant Oswald, aren't you? You were at the Conference in Vytal."

"That I was, and I'm already familiar with you and your work." Thomas said. "I'm afraid that I don't have time for pleasantries Doctor, I need your assistance with a critical matter."

Pietro gave a steady, somewhat regretful nod. "I'm sorry to hear that, but I'll help however I can. What do you need from me?"

Wait, is he just willing to assist us? Curie thought doubtfully. It seemed like practically everybody on Remnant expected some kind of payment in exchange for aiding the UNSC with their missions, and while it was usually well-earned, it still surprised her that the Doctor was willing to help them without even knowing what it was that they needed from him.

Thomas however, did not seem to care exactly why the Doctor was willing to be helpful, only that he was. "Our only Artificial Intelligence has suffered severe damage, and nobody aboard the Dominion has the qualifications to fix her. We've been directed to you from a number of sources, and given your listed qualifications, we think that you're the best man for the job."

Pietro's eyebrows raised. "An Artificial Intelligence? May I speak to them?"

Thomas nodded. "Curie, do you mind taking it from here?"

"Not at all." Curie answered.

She struggled to display her avatar on the terminal, and with a bit of concentrated effort, she was able to assemble her usual holographic image. Doctor Polendina widened his eyes slightly at the display, but he seemed to be largely unfazed. "Hello Doctor Polendina, my name is Curie."

The Doctor waved his hand and gave her a friendly smile. "Please, call me Pietro. Now, what seems to be the problem?"

"During the battle of Argus, I foolishly attempted to process more information than my safety restrictions would allow." Curie began to explain. She went on to give a brief overview on the concept of Rampancy, as well as how a traditional UNSC Smart AI functioned. She wasn't entirely sure if she was ready to admit exactly how she had been created, which Thomas thankfully seemed to pick up on, as he didn't speak up on the matter either.

She was midway through explaining the mechanics of a Riemann Matrix when Pietro interrupted her.

"So, you were created by mapping a human brain? That's… incredible." Pietro said, his face betraying just how stunned he truly was. "I can't even begin to think about what kind of computer you would need just to hold all of that information, let alone actually process it!"

"The systems required to create a Smart AI are extremely demanding, even by our standards." Curie said. "But once we are created, we are largely self-sufficient."

Pietro gave a nod of excitement. "I would certainly imagine so! That is very good news, if your internal mechanisms are similar to those of a normal human brain, I may be able to help you. I've worked on a similar project, after all."

Thomas scowled in confusion. "What do you mean by that? Neurological science wasn't listed anywhere on your qualifications."

The split-second flinch that Pietro momentarily reacted with was hard to spot, but both Thomas and Curie took note, the Doctor had slipped up.

"I uh… probably shouldn't have mentioned it…" Pietro awkwardly replied. "It's all very classified you see, I would need approval from General Ironwood before I could-"

"I can handle that." Thomas interrupted him. He brought up another file from his personal datapad and sent it to Pietro. "I received this message from the General after I briefed him with the situation on Curie, if you believe that it can help her, then we have clearance to know about it."

Pietro put on a set of reading glasses and examined the message, his eyes widening with surprise. "The General has put an awful lot of faith in you Lieutenant, I've never seen him issue an order like this before."

"General Ironwood is aware of the greater strategic situation that we are in, and how vital Curie is to not just the UNSC, but the safety of Remnant." Thomas explained. "Now, what was it that you couldn't talk about before?"

Pietro had a look of pride on his face as he uploaded a considerably-sized file to the communications console through the CCTS. "My daughter, Penny. The first android on Remnant with a Soul."

Curie received the file, titled "Project P.E.N.N.Y," and quickly realized exactly why it was that Penny had seemed so unusual. And although there was some disbelief in her mind, there was also something else, something that she hadn't felt in far too long. Hope for the future.

Skies Above Kuo Kuana

October 27th, 1655 Local Time, 2552

Ben ran a final inspection on his M90 CAWS Shotgun and his Type-25 Plasma Rifle as Fireball's Pelican began its final descent into Menagerie. In the Troop Bay around him, his ODST teammates and Moerdani's Marines did the same. Standing in the middle of the Troop Bay was Jorge, who gripped onto Etilka's carry handle with one hand, and another on a handhold on the ceiling with his other in order to support himself. The turbulence of the Pelican's rapid descent meant that he was the only one standing, but the urgency of their mission necessitated Fireball to fly at the Pelican's top speed, so enduring the occasional bump and jolt as the Dropship shuddered was a necessary inconvenience.

Even though nobody else could hear what Jorge was saying, Ben knew that The Veteran Spartan was probably talking to the local UNSC Garrison at the CCTS Relay Tower, as well as the local Huntsmen and City Guards in an attempt to gain as much intelligence as possible. So far, Onyx Team and the Marines had only been given the occasional update from the ground as to what was happening in Menagerie, which was far from ideal. Studying all available intel, even in the limited time that the Marines had to do so, was vital to carrying out a successful operation, and the importance of that information was only exemplified in a hostage situation.

So far, they knew that the White Fang had taken three human civilians hostage, before barricading themselves inside of a local bar. Huntsman and the local Guards had established a perimeter and established a line of communication with the leader of the terrorists, a senior member of the White Fang named Adam Taurus. They were also in the process of evacuating any other civilians from the area, which would be necessary to ensure their safety.

What little intel that the UNSC had on the terrorists was far from reassuring. So far, only Adam Taurus and another White Fang Lieutenant, a woman named Vermillion Redwood, had been identified. Whilst their crimes against the Schnee Dust Company were somewhat understandable, their fondness for targeting Human Civilians had not gone unrecorded by the Atlesian Military and the governments of the other Kingdoms. Both of them had a considerable bounty listed for their capture, but so far no Huntsman had managed to claim it.

In spite of their obvious significance to the mission as a whole, dealing with the White Fang was not the UNSC's primary objective. The three hostages had been identified by one of the local Huntsmen as Brent, Mary, and Chaya Oobleck, all of whom were apparently siblings, and all of whom were civilians. From what information the local Guards could gather, they seemed to be scientists and historians that were visiting Menagerie for academic purposes. Pictures of them were sent to the HUD of all of the Marines so that they could memorize the faces of the people they were meant to be rescuing, which was a measure to minimize confusion once the fighting started.

The final element of valuable intelligence that the UNSC had been given was the location that the White Fang had taken shelter within. 'The Lucky Angler' was a popular restaurant and bar in Kuo Kuana's Market District, and while they didn't have access to an exact layout of the building, it apparently wasn't all that complicated. The building only had a single story and no basement, but it was made from wood and contained vast quantities of alcohol, so they would need to be careful to avoid starting a fire.

"Alright everyone, listen up." Jorge announced. The Marines stopped talking amongst one another and looked up to the Spartan. "We're about a minute out from the LZ. I want everyone to keep your fingers off your triggers unless I expressly order otherwise, we cannot risk spooking the kidnappers, understood?"

Jorge was met with a chorus of "Sir, yes Sir!" from everybody in the Troop Bay.

"Myself and Sergeant Benjamin will handle negotiations, if they go poorly, we'll breach the front door. Fairfire, you'll take Corporal Sato and Kowalski and follow behind us." Jorge stated. "If negotiations go sideways, I will relay the signal word "Noble" over TEAMCOM. As soon as I give the signal, all units are to immediately breach the target building, does everybody understand?"

"Sir, yes Sir!" They all replied.

"Sergeant Meadows, you and Nathan will provide sniper cover from across the street. Moerdani, you'll take your squad around the rear of the building and enter through the Employee Only section." Jorge ordered. "Move quickly and use your flashbangs, as far as we know, Aura doesn't stop you from being blinded and deafened, at least for a few moments."

Moerdani gave a firm nod. "They won't see us coming."

"Good." Jorge said. "Does anyone have any last minute questions?"

Meadows spoke up while he made some final adjustments to his jetpack. "Are you expecting the negotiations to go anywhere?"

Jorge shook his head. "Based on my own experiences with these kinds of people, no. But the Rules of Engagement dictate that we have to try. Anyone else?"

"Sir, exactly how many hostiles have we seen so far?" Ben asked.

"The Huntsmen on the ground have counted eight kidnappers so far, but there's likely more hiding somewhere in the building." Jorge answered. "Anything else?"

"Do we have a confirmed location on the hostages?" Fairfire asked.

"Not yet, we'll have to find them once we enter." Jorge said. "Any other questions? Keep it brief, we're running out of time here."

Jorge glanced around the Troop Bay, but nobody spoke up.

"We're good to go, Sir." Moerdani said.

"Good." Jorge replied. "Let's go get these people home."

The Pelican shifted beneath their feet as it touched down in Kuo Kuana. The hatch to the troop bay opened only a second afterwards, allowing the passengers to dismount, Ben was one of the first to set his boots back onto the cobblestone street.

It seemed like Kuo Kuana hadn't changed much since he had last visited, but the overall atmosphere of the city certainly had. The once crowded streets had been deserted by shoppers and salesmen, who were replaced with City Guards and Huntsmen. Ben could practically feel the tension in the air, and a familiar gut feeling of something being terribly wrong took root as he looked around him. He ignored the feeling, as he was already well aware of the danger he was walking into.

Once the last of the Marines dismounted the Pelican, Fireball lifted into the air once more and flew away.

"Why doesn't she stick around?" Nathan asked. "There's no way that the White Fang are going to get to her through all of these Guards."

"We can't risk the Pelicans, they're irreplaceable." Yu pointed out.

Nathan gave a begrudging nod. "You know what? Fair enough. It ain't like walking here was an option…"

"Onyx, form up on me!" Jorge called out. "We're only a few blocks away, so keep your eyes open. There might be more Insurgents hidden amongst the civilians."

That thought disturbed Ben greatly, he hadn't considered the possibility that there were more members of the White Fang hidden elsewhere in the city. Then again, that just went to show how Jorge was infinitely better prepared for this mission than Ben, and it made him even more thankful that the older Spartan was here to lead them.

Running into Jorge was the best thing that's happened on this damn planet. Ben thought.

When they arrived at the barricade that the City Guards had established around The Lucky Angler, Ben was somewhat surprised to see just how many of the Guards were actually present, and even more surprised to see just how many of them were armed with melee weapons. They weren't police batons or stun weapons either, the Guards had spears and swords, like something out of the middle ages. There were a few of them who were equipped with what looked like flintlock pistols that had bayonets.

At least they left their pitchforks at home. Ben grumpily thought. Maybe we'll get lucky and the White Fang will be equipped just as poorly.

There were also a handful of Huntsmen and Huntresses, one of whom briefly approached Jorge to deliver some information, although Ben couldn't hear exactly what it was over the racket that the Guards were making. Their colorful outfits and ridiculous weapons made them easy to pick out in a crowd, but at the same time, they had a sense of calmness about themselves that made it clear that this wasn't their first crisis.

Once the Huntsman was done relaying whatever he needed to, Jorge turned to face the squad again. "Everyone, proceed as planned."

"Yes Sir." Moerdani said. "Move out everyone! Wyvern, fall in behind me and stay close, let's show these bastards how a Marine gets the job done!"

"Oorah!" His team sounded off as they followed him.

"Sir, we'll set up in that Church across the plaza." Meadows said, pointing to a large stone building around a hundred meters away. "It's a bit close-range, but it's the best option we've really got."

"Agreed, good luck Sergeant." Jorge replied.

Ben, Fairfire, Yu, and Kowalski all followed Jorge as he walked up to the police barricade. But just before Jorge could ask who the man in charge was, they heard a familiar voice shout for their attention.

"Spartans, over here!" Chieftain Belladonna himself was amongst the Guards, although for what reason Ben couldn't honestly guess.

What is he doing here? A sniper could take his head off! Ben thought.

Jorge stiffened up the posture of his shoulders in a very slight manner as soon as he spotted the Chieftain, a gesture of annoyance that only another Spartan would have been able to spot.

"It's good to see you all. We acted on your warning as quickly as we could, but by the time we were able to get Huntsmen in the streets-" Ghira said, but Jorge cut him off.

"That doesn't matter right now, we need to focus on the situation at hand." Jorge said. "And not to overstep my authority, but you shouldn't be here. This is a dangerous situation, you should return to your home immediately."

Ghira turned with a look of faint surprise to see the two Spartans. "I am well aware of the danger here Lieutenant, but I intend to see this crisis resolved in person."

Ben held back the urge to sigh, while it was certainly admirable for a military leader to lead from the front, the same did not hold true for a politician. In practicality, Ghira's presence meant that his Guards would have to focus on protecting him on top of dealing with the hostage crisis.

"We don't have time to argue about this." Jorge replied with a hint of frustration in his voice. "We need to focus on the hostages, and I cannot guarantee your safety."

"You don't need to worry about me." Ghira reassured him. "I was well trained and I can keep myself safe, right now we should be focusing on the hostages. Do you have a plan to rescue them?"

Jorge relayed the plan to Ghira in detail, but as soon as Jorge began discussing the idea of negotiating with the kidnappers, Ghira shook his head.

"Adam Taurus would never surrender to a Human. We've been trying to convince him to stand down, but he's dead set on getting his demands met, there's simply nothing you can do." Ghira said.

"He's right Sir." Yu interjected. "If he wouldn't listen to the Chieftain, there's no way he'd listen to us."

Jorge reluctantly nodded. "I agree."

"There's something else you should know about Adam." Ghira said. "His Semblance is very dangerous, it allows him to capture energy within his sword, and then release it with one powerful strike."

"Exactly how powerful is it?" Ben asked. Given the nature of the question, he was willing to assume that Jorge would tolerate the interruption.

Ghira suddenly gained a distant look in his eyes, before he shook his head. "I can't say for sure, but it's strong enough to cut through any armor that I've ever seen. Now I don't know much about what you and Sergeant Ben are wearing, but… you should be careful, Lieutenant."

Jorge nodded. "Don't worry about us Sir, you should focus on getting the rest of your people to safety. Alert me as soon as you've finished the evacuation, we'll move in as soon as it's done."

"I will, it shouldn't be too much longer." Ghira said. "If you and your team have any last minute preparations that you need to make… you should do it now."

Kuo Kuana, The Lucky Angler

October 27th, 1731 Local Time, 2552

Adam watched as Vermillion used a bottle of beer as a mirror in order to see what was outside of the front window without exposing her head.

"How many are there?" Adam asked.

"The Huntsmen and Guards haven't moved much…" Vermillion replied. "But I do see some aliens. There's only two of them, and they're armored really heavily, they kind of look like the same ones the News wouldn't shut up about."

"The Spartans?" Adam asked.

Vermillion stepped clear of the window and put the bottle back where she had found it. "Yeah, them. What's our plan?"

Adam paused and thought it over, but he couldn't come to a good decision without knowing how the UNSC was planning to handle the situation. Would they attempt the same asinine negotiations that Chieftain Belladonna had, or would they launch a foolhardy rescue attempt?

"What were they doing?" Adam asked.

"I think that they were scouting us out, but I couldn't say for sure." Vermillion answered. "They're pretty heavily armed, but they'd be stupid to come here without weapons."

Adam grunted in acknowledgement as he looked over to the Bar in the corner of the Dining Area, behind the counter were the three Humans that he and his brothers and sisters in arms had managed to capture, all of whom had been bound and gagged. They were the only thing stopping every Huntsman and Guard outside from storming the building along with the UNSC, and while Adam was confident in his own skills, as well as those of his comrades, he was less confident that they could hold off such overwhelming numbers.

"Perhaps… the Humans need a demonstration." Adam said as he drew Wilt and ran his fingers across the side of the blade. "Something to show that our threats are not idle."

Vermillion scowled. "Adam. Lady Khan ordered us not to kill the hostages."

Adam was consciously aware of the three hostages looking at them with fearful expressions as two Faunus debated their fate.

"And that was a mistake!" Adam argued. "While we cannot disobey her orders, that doesn't mean we can't start cutting off arms and legs, after all, Lady Khan never said that we couldn't hurt them."

Vermillion stared at him for a moment before letting out a sigh of annoyance. "Fine, but I'm not covering for you if this only pisses the Humans off."

Adam frowned. "The Humans are cowards, they would never-"

He was interrupted by the sound of a window breaking. He looked over to see what had happened, only for a flashbang to explode on the floor right in front of him, followed rapidly by a second that he hadn't even seen. There was an utterly blinding light that severely impaired his vision and left his eyes stinging, causing him to cry out in pain. There was also the sound of an explosion that hurt his ears, but he could still make out the sound of a door being kicked down. Even though he could barely see or hear, he could still hear the sounds of a fight breaking out and see a number of silhouettes rush through the front door.

Insolent Humans! To hell with Lady Khan's orders, they will pay for this!

Kuo Kuana, The Lucky Angler

October 27th, 1734 Local Time, 2552

The moment that Jorge gave the signal word over the radio, Ben tossed both of his flashbang grenades through one of the front windows. As soon as they both detonated, Jorge kicked the front door with enough force to break it into pieces as it broke off from the hinges.

"Go go go!" Jorge called out as he entered the building, followed quickly by Ben, then Fairfire, and finally Yu and Kowalski.

The flashbangs had done their purpose spectacularly, every enemy in the room had been stunned in some form or another, with the exception of a single woman armed with a spear. Her outfit and weapon, as well as the gruesome burns on her face, helped identify her as Vermillion Redwood. The terrorist leader let out a battle cry and charged toward Onyx Team, only to be intercepted by Jorge.

"Go, get the hostages!" The Spartan ordered.

Ben and the ODSTs behind him silently complied as they rushed past Jorge and Vermillion, who were now caught in a close quarters brawl. There were more White Fang fighters scattered around the dining area, all of whom were still recovering from the effects of the flashbangs.

Another White Fang fighter seemed to regain their vision and recognize what was happening, as they leveled a shotgun at Ben and fired. The spray of buckshot was absorbed by his shields, but they were severely depleted in the process. Ben and Fairfire both fired their own shotguns in response, sending a pair of eight-gauge armor-piercing slugs at the terrorist, which were deflected by his Aura, before spiraling off into other parts of the room and destroying the furniture where they landed.

Damnit, they can ricochet rounds?! Ben thought. He racked the pump and fired a third slug, which the man was able to dodge. But as the terrorist tried to fire a second shot, he was tackled and forced to the ground by Fairfire, who began to tear away at the man's Aura with her combat knife and some harsh punches to the gut. Ben was about to help her, when another terrorist approached him and shouted out a challenge. "You stupid bastards!"

It was Adam Taurus, and like Vermillion, he was wielding a melee weapon. Although Ben didn't recognize the exact type of sword, the red blade indicated that it had some kind of unusual capability, which matched what Chieftain Belladonna had told him.

"Why can't you just cooperate for once?!" Adam demanded. He did not deviate from his fighting stance as he spoke. "All we wanted was the Schnee!"

Ben raised his shotgun in response and fired a slug at Adam's head, but the terrorist blocked it with the blade of his sword and lunged at Ben. Dodging the strike was fairly easy given the distance that Adam had to cross to get to him, leaving him free to take another shot at the swordsman. The shotgun slug hit Adam in the stomach, causing his Aura to flicker in protest as he cried out in pain and swung his blade again, which Ben was able to dodge.

Elsewhere in the room, he was aware that Kowalski and Yu were still moving to rescue the hostages. Fairfire and the man she had been caught in a melee with were nowhere to be seen, and the whole restaurant seemed to have devolved into absolute chaos as Marines and White Fang Members exchanged fire. Somewhere, Jorge was probably still fighting Vermillion, although Ben didn't have the time to turn and see how he was doing.

Adam's sword skills were certainly impressive, but Ben found that he could use the vambraces of his armor to deflect the blade, effectively neutralizing any damage the strikes could do. He was also much faster than Adam, and it was only slightly difficult to keep up with his strikes.

At first, Ben tried to get another opening to fire his shotgun again, but Adam's swings were far too fast for him to line up a shot without exposing himself to a more dangerous hit. Seeing as he was no longer in a position where he could make effective use of his shotgun, he dropped the weapon and used his newfound freedom to deliver a harsh punch to Adam's sternum, a blow that would pulverize the lungs of a normal human.

The Faunus stumbled backwards from the hit as it was absorbed by his Aura. Ben moved forward in order to prevent Adam from getting a chance to recover, but he did something unexpected. He took one hand off of the hilt of his sword and reached for the sheath that was attached to his belt. At first, Ben couldn't understand what he was doing, but as Adam pulled the sheath free with his other hand, Ben recognized that it wasn't just a sheath, it was also a rifle.

I hate this planet. Ben thought as Adam exploited his advantage of surprise to deliver a number of shots to his Ben's shields, which sputtered and flickered as they fought to stay online.

He did have another ranged weapon in the form of a plasma rifle on his hip, but using a weapon that fired ionized plasma in a wooden building filled with alcohol would put his allies and the hostages in danger, so that wasn't an option. Seeing as he didn't have the time or shield strength to retrieve his shotgun, he did the only thing he could think to do and charged Adam down, hoping to close the distance and render the terrorist unable to use his rifle.

Once Ben was close enough, he tackled Adam to the ground, shattering his defense in the process. Adam tried to slash at Ben with his sword and bash him away with his rifle-sheath, but Ben managed to avoid most of the strikes. A handful of them struck true, but only succeeded in doing relatively minor damage to his shields. When his shields failed, Adam found that his sword was unable to penetrate the titanium plates that made up the outer layer of Ben's Mjolnir, leaving him relatively helpless.

Once Ben was sure that he had Adam in a position where he was relatively pinned, he withdrew one of his hands and delivered a series of harsh punches directly into the terrorist's face, most of which hit him in the mask. A normal human would've had their skull caved-in several times over, but Adam's Aura protected him from the force of the blows. After the third punch to the man's face, Ben felt a sharp burning pain in his left hip around his waistline, causing him to recoil backwards and giving Adam the necessary room to roll out from under him.

Even though it felt like a Hunter had shoved their shield through his hip, he didn't cry out in pain and examined the wound while Adam recovered. He had managed to worm his sword into a good position to strike at some point during their fight, and had stabbed him with the blade. It had managed to penetrate the gap in between the titanium plating around his midsection and his upper leg, delivering a gruesome avulsion as he had withdrawn the blade.

The Faunus Terrorist placed his rifle-sheath back onto his belt and took a fighting stance with his sword as he faced off against Ben again. "Not bad, Human, but nowhere near good enough!"

I don't need to beat him, I just need to keep him busy so the others can get the Hostages out. Ben thought to himself as he took a fighting stance of his own. "Are you trying to kill me or taunt me?"

Adam's exposed mouth formed a cruel grin. "I don't see why I can't do both."

He rushed forward and attempted to perform an upward swing to decapitate Ben in a single strike, but again, he deflected it by ricocheting it off of his vambrace. While Adam was recovering from the parried strike, Ben noticed an exploitable gap in his defense. In one fluid motion, he reached his left hand over to the Kukri on his shoulder, withdrew it from the sheath, and slashed Adam diagonally across the chest.

Even though Adam was protected by his Aura, he let out a roar of pain and fury as he attempted another strike with his own blade. Ben caught the strike with his kukri, before sweeping Adam's legs out from under him and delivering a harsh downward stab into Adam's chest. Adam barely managed to keep the blade away from his chest, and was losing the test of strength by the second as his muscles shuddered and struggled to keep up with Ben's strength.

"Vermillion!" Adam shouted. Ben didn't shift his focus, he had the terrorist on the ground and defenseless.

Something hit Ben's right elbow just as his shields were starting to recover, and whatever it was, it hurt just as bad as the stab wound that Adam had given him. He turned to see Vermillion Redwood pulling her spear out of his elbow with a cruel smile on her face.

Even though he was now rapidly losing blood from two places on his body, Ben's first thought as he realized what was happening was of Jorge. He had last seen the other Spartan in a fight with Vermillion, but he had apparently broken contact with her at some point. The Marines that were all around Ben were too busy with the other terrorists to help him, leaving him on his own against the two White Fang Leaders. But luckily for him, Adam wasn't the only one with reinforcements.

"Sergeant, get your head down!" Ben heard Kowalski shout over the radio.

He followed the order just in time, ducking down and allowing a stream of Battle Rifle fire to pass over his head and into Vermillion. Kowalski's shots were well-aimed and perfectly timed, forcing her to fall back a few paces as she tried to block what bullets she could with her spear. Ben exploited the opening that his squadmate had given him and tried to grab the spear out of her hands to prevent her from defending herself, but Vermillion proved to be surprisingly evasive as she dodged every attempt that he made.

Ben turned back around to see that Adam was rushing down Kowalski with his sword down as the ODST reloaded. Ben immediately broke off his efforts to take down Vermillion, but he was too far away to help his squadmate. He watched in horror as the red of Adam's uniform began to glow, along with his hair and his sword.

That's his Semblance! Ben immediately realized. He shouted out a warning over TEAMCOM, well aware there simply wasn't enough time for the ODST to get out of the way. "Kowalski, move!"

In true testament to the bravery of the Helljumpers, Kowalski used the last moments of his life to deliver a punishing kick to Adam's kneecap. Although the ODST was unaugmented and his armor had no form of powered-skeleton, the strike was perfectly delivered, and would likely have bent the knee backwards completely if it wasn't for Adam's Aura, which flickered brilliantly as it struggled to keep itself together.

But none of that stopped Adam from slashing his sword directly through Kowalski's armor as if it simply wasn't there, slicing the noble Helljumper into two roughly-equally sized pieces and instantly killing him. His lifeless body fell to the ground as Adam sneered triumphantly back at Ben.

There was a familiar rush as some kind of primal fury overtook Ben's mind. No matter how many times he felt his Neural Augmentations take effect, he never truly got used to it. With newfound strength and ruthless focus he turned back to Vermillion just as she was trying to stab him again, but this time he was ready for it. He deflected the tip of the spear with his kukri, forcing a gap in her guard, which he used to slam his fist into her ribs with such force that she went flying backwards, landing amongst some of the wooden furniture with a satisfying crunch.

"Warning, toxins detected in blood flow." The computer in his Mjolnir reported, but he was far too busy to do anything about it.

Adam tried to take Ben off guard by stabbing him in the back, but the Spartan saw the attack coming thanks to his motion tracker. When Adam made his move, Ben grabbed the terrorist's sword by the blade within both of his gauntlets, before pulling it out of Adam's hands with strength that even Ben hadn't anticipated. He lost his somewhat unstable grip on the sword quickly, causing the sword to go flying across the room and embed itself into the wall.

The Terrorist Leader was undeterred, if anything, he seemed to be encouraged. Adam drew his sheath-rifle and attempted to keep fighting, but Ben used the break in his guard to deliver a brutal jab with his kukri at Adam's throat, which finally brought down his Aura. As Ben spotted the telltale shimmering of the terrorist's Aura break, he tried to press the blade into Adam's neck, a surefire fatal blow that he was able to stubbornly evade.

Vermillion recovered far more quickly than Ben would have expected, and delivered a third strike into the back of his shoulder, exploiting a thin gap in the titanium plating. By now Ben could feel his body tiring as the pain got worse, and he could feel something burning in the places where Vermillion had landed her successful stabs. His Neural Augmentations granted him even more strength once he took the third hit, but at the same time, Ben could feel his focus beginning to degrade even further.

Before Vermillion could fully retract her spear back into a defensive pose, Ben brought his kukri down on her hand. She cried out in pain for the first time during the fight as she was forced to drop the spear to the ground. She reached down to retrieve it, but before she could grab it, Ben brought his armored boot down on the metal shaft of the weapon, snapping it in half as he delivered a swift but powerful kick into Vermillion's torso, knocking her back once again.

"Enough of this!" He heard Adam shout from behind him.

Ben turned to see Adam had put some distance between himself and Ben, and was lining up a shot on Ben's head with his rifle. The Spartan barely managed to raise his arms in front of his face before Adam unleashed a volley of automatic gunfire that tore through his barely-charged shields and began to bounce off of the titanium plating, but he was left helpless to stop Vermillion from getting to her feet retreating.

They're trying to run! Ben thought. The thoughts rushing through his mind were not those of any kind of strategy, but of a wild, starving animal chasing down some kind of food. His training was the only thing keeping him even remotely focused on how exactly he was supposed to go about fighting the enemy, but with Adam firing on his face, Ben couldn't risk moving without potentially getting shot through the visor. It was by no means a fragile part of the armor, but it was not meant to withstand multiple rifle-caliber rounds.

As Adam fired the last of his magazine at Ben before he turned and fled beside Vermillion. With no small degree of effort, Ben forced himself to try and calm down now that he was no longer immediately in a fight. Even in his somewhat delirious and animalistic state, he knew that he would need to be able to think clearly if he was going to catch up to them, especially with a leg wound.

Normally Curie would be the one to help bring him back to normal, but since she wasn't with him, he was forced to try to remember what she would normally do. Her words were always calm, collected, and carefully-chosen, and so he tried to remember things that she had told him before.

The paranoid part of his mind warned him that there were more terrorists around him, but it seemed like the Marines had just about taken care of them, as most had either been killed or surrendered. He also couldn't hear any gunfire, which helped him ease his mind and stop the adrenaline from rushing through his body, at least, a little bit. He didn't see Jorge or any of the other ODSTs, indicating that they had probably moved to rescue the hostages while Ben was caught up in the fighting.

Finally, with a series of long, heavy breaths, he managed to restore some kind of rational state of being to his mind. He couldn't remember a time where his Neural Augmentations had affected him so dramatically before, and they had left him with a throbbing headache along with his other wounds. He glanced around briefly for his shotgun, which he retrieved.

"Warning, toxins detected in blood flow." His Mjolnir's computer repeated, as if it were annoyed that he had ignored the first warning.

Ah, that would explain the burning. Ben thought with no small degree of irritation.

He looked into the wound on his elbow and saw that while it was no longer actively bleeding, it was heavily swollen and turning an ugly shade of green. He picked up the business end of Vermillion's broken spear and examined the tip, sure enough, it was coated with some kind of poison or venom. Although he couldn't identify what exactly he had been stuck with, he wasn't terribly worried, as he knew that his augmented body could probably resist whatever the toxin was, although that didn't mean it didn't burn.

"Warning, toxins-" The computer began to repeat itself before Ben disabled the speakers, he didn't need any more reminders. He administered biofoam to all of his wounds, causing the burning of the venom to be drowned out by the familiar stinging of the medical substance, followed by a dull numbness.

He was now faced with a decision. Did he stay behind and try to regroup with his squad, or did he pursue Adam and Vermillion to ensure that they didn't get away? His training dictated that he do the former, especially now that he realized that the Huntsmen and Guards outside could probably catch the two fleeing terrorists. Ben was about to ask where everyone was over the radio, when he received an unexpected direct transmission from Jorge.

"Ben, what's your status?" The tone in his voice made it very clear that Jorge was just as exhausted as Ben was.

"I took a few bad hits, but I'm good to go. I'm in the main Dining Area right now, Adam and Vermillion are both on the run." Ben answered. "Kowalski's KIA."

Jorge was silent for a moment before he replied, his tone sounding even more drained than before. "Are you sure?"

Ben honestly couldn't stomach looking back at what was left of Kowalski again. "Yeah… I'm sure."

"Alright, stay put, we'll come to you." Jorge replied.

Ben thought about mentioning Vermillion and Adam again, but he realized that Jorge probably already had plans in place to track them down. "Sir, yes Sir."

Kuo Kuana, The Lucky Angler

October 27th, 1740 Local Time, 2552

Of all the places that Nathan had ever taken up as a sniper's nest, the two-story Tax Office in Menagerie was probably one of the worst positions that he had ever taken. Normal cities back in the Colonies were filled with great big skyscrapers and overpasses, but unfortunately Kuo Kuana had none of those things. What it did have was a frustratingly dense city layout, somewhat narrow roads, and some truly irritating sun glare on practically anything reflective.

The biggest irony of his current situation however, was his range. The SRS99D AM Sniper Rifle in his hands could blow the head off of a Brute at well over a kilometer and a half, but now he was using it at only a hundred meters distance from his targets, point-blank range for the weapon.

"Well this sucks." Meadows muttered. He was lying prone next to Nathan holding a similar rifle, standard UNSC practice for a Sniper Team was to have a Sniper and a Spotter, but given the annoyingly durable Auras that were oh-so common on Remnant, the extra firepower was necessary.

"Speak for yourself, I like not having to shoot anything." Nathan said. So far, no White Fang targets had emerged from The Lucky Angler, leaving himself and Meadows with little to do but keep watch and listen to the sounds of the fighting. "Look on the bright side, at least you're not getting wounded!"

"Very funny." Meadows replied. "Fuck man, I wouldn't have lugged this Jetpack all the way out here if I knew I wasn't even going to get to use it."

Nathan gave a faint shrug in response, but made sure not to nudge his rifle. "Hey now, maybe the Chieftain needs his chimney cleared out. I bet a little bit of downward thrust from that thing would do the job nicely."

"Feh." Meadows replied. "You talk too much."

Nathan was thinking up something witty to reply with when one of the windows to The Lucky Angler broke open and two contacts both jumped out, both of whom weren't wearing UNSC uniforms. Nathan and Meadows both fixed their scopes on the targets and got a good look, there was no need to share the fine details of what they were seeing, at such a short distance and with such a powerful scope, Nathan could practically count the hairs on Adam Taurus's head.

"Fire!" Meadows called out.

He and Nathan both pulled their triggers, launching 14.5mm armor-piercing sabots at their respective targets. Frustratingly, both of their first shots were narrow misses. The woman that Nathan had been targeting managed to avoid the round by the narrowest of margins.

What the hell was that bullshit? I had that fucker dead to rights! Who the hell moves that fast?! Nathan thought.

He was able to reset his rifle to fire again before Meadows thanks to his extensive experience, and he fired again, targeting Adam's face. He didn't see exactly what happened next thanks to the glare of the sun, but when he got his scope back on target, he saw that he had somehow managed to hit Vermillion instead. The bullet hit her in the arm, and even though the limb hadn't been actually severed, the spray of blood and viscera that accompanied the impact made it clear that Nathan had done far more than just graze her. He couldn't get a good look at the wound from so far away, but it was safe to assume that he had done some truly gruesome damage.

The two terrorists were making for an open manhole in the street, and just before they were able to climb inside, Meadows was able to get off one more shot. Nathan felt no small amount of irritation as the bullet cleanly whiffed over Adam's head as he ducked into the sewers.

"Jesus Fucking Christ, even the Elites were never this fast…" Nathan complained.

"Onyx Lead, this is Meadows. Taurus and Redwood are attempting to escape via the sewers, we've lost our shot on them, over." He reported over TEAMCOM.

"Good Copy on all Sergeant, make your way down here and give us a hand securing the area." Jorge replied. "We might've lost sight of them for now, but we'll find them."

"Sir, yes Sir." Meadows replied.

Author's notes: The final section has received some minor alterations based off of criticism from reviewers.