Kuo Kuana, The Lucky Angler
October 27th, 1835 Local Time, 2552
Once it was clear that there was no more White Fang hiding in the area, the Marines and Menagerie's Guards made efforts to start cleaning up the aftermath of the fight. Journalists and curious citizens still needed to be kept away from the crime scene to prevent contamination, but for the most part, the threat to everyone's safety was gone.
Well, mostly everyone.
Ben hadn't known Private First Class Kowalski all that well, but he had fought alongside the Helljumper on numerous occasions during the UNSC's time on Remnant. Kowalski had never made a fuss or caused any problems on or off the battlefield, and he had performed his duties without question or failure. In his final moments of life, he had played a crucial part in assisting Ben during his fight against Adam and Vermillion and had died as all Helljumpers should, on the field of battle, inspiring fear in their enemies and courage in their allies.
And now he's dead, all because of that terrorist bastard. Ben thought. The fight had ended some time ago, but his blood still boiled with rage, not to mention Vermillion's toxins. But the pain of the venom was nothing compared to the sense of failure that washed over him as he retrieved Kowalski's Dog Tags and placed them in one of his chest pouches, alongside the Dog Tags of Kerry, Kilo, and Wilson.
"Rest easy brother, you were a damn good soldier." Ben softly spoke. He wasn't any good at eulogies, but there were certainly worse things that could have been said. A pair of Marines arrived to place Kowalski's remains in a body bag without a word, and Ben had the dubious honor of marking Kowalski as KIA on Onyx Team's unit roster.
Seven men left… Ben thought with a hint of remorse. With the Helljumper's tags in hand, he was free to report to Jorge for a new assignment.
He found the Elder Spartan standing on the pavement outside, speaking to one of the hostages with his helmet off. Ben vaguely recalled that her name was Mary Oobleck from the briefing that they had been given on the Pelican, which had been only a little over an hour and a half ago, but it still felt like an eternity had passed since then. Mary seemed to be somewhat shaken up, which wasn't much of a surprise considering what she had gone through.
"-take your time ma'am, but if you remember anything else, just let one of the Marines know and we'll take care of it." Jorge said. His voice was surprisingly warm and gentle, carrying a strong sense of reassurance in every word.
Mary nodded firmly. "Okay, I will! I'm sorry I don't know much about them, I didn't even know the White Fang attacked people in Menagerie!"
Jorge scowled. "It seems like there's no limit to what these bastards will do to get what they want."
When Ben approached the two of them to get Jorge's attention, Mary looked at him with an expression of weariness and maybe even 2fear as Jorge turned to face him.
I doubt she's ever seen this much blood before in her entire life, let alone this kind of fighting. Ben realized. The civilian quickly made her excuses and left, shooting him one last wary glance before she disappeared into the crowd of Guards and Journalists surrounding the Lucky Angler.
"Sergeant, why haven't you gotten those wounds dressed yet?" Jorge asked with what seemed like a bit of exasperation. "We've set up a dressing station just down the street, I'm sure the Corpsman could spare a moment for you."
"These are just papercuts Sir, the undersuit took the worst of it." Ben replied. "Trust me, they look a lot worse than they actually are."
Jorge nodded. "I see. Still, better to not let them get infected. As soon as you've got Kowalski's tags, get yourself down to Triage."
"Way ahead of you, Lieutenant." Ben replied.
Before he could carry out his next orders, however, Jorge spoke up again. "And Sergeant… I'm sorry about leaving you alone back there with those two Specialists. I tried to warn you that Vermillion was heading after you, but I don't think you heard it."
Ben momentarily thought back to the battle, he did vaguely recall hearing Jorge's voice at some point during his fight with Adam. But Ben had been so preoccupied with the fight that he hadn't even realized that Jorge had been talking to him, not helped by the fact that his Neural Augmentations were probably severely hampering his ability to focus at the time.
"No problem at all Sir, you got the hostages out while I kept em' busy, the mission was a success." Ben said without a hint of hostility. "It might not have been our original plan, but it still worked out in the end, and that's what matters."
Jorge gave him a firm nod. "Spoken like a true Spartan. Now go, and see if the Corpsman has any antivenom."
Ben gave him a firm salute before departing for the dressing station. It wasn't a long walk, and when he arrived, he found only a handful of wounded people, only one of which was a member of the White Fang. The rest of the terrorists were lined up on the other side of the street, all in uniform black bags.
Ben wasn't surprised that most of the Faunus Warriors had been willing to fight to the death, but he had expected more than just one of them to willingly surrender. He saw Meadows and Nathan were hard at work administering blood plasma to the lone wounded terrorist, although judging by how shallow their breathing was and the vast amount of hastily-dressed wounds across their chest, their efforts were likely in vain.
The lives of your enemy are forfeit, you will kill them without mercy or second thought! You will never spare any of those miserable bastards, and you will never take a single alien prisoner! Chief Mendez's ruthless instructions echoed throughout Ben's mind.
"I'm just saying, I've never seen anyone move that fast before." Nathan said, although he didn't pause from his work as he spoke. "I've shot Elites, Angry Brutes, hell, even Drones, and none of them move that fast!"
"Hey, at least you hit the fucking target." Meadows replied. "I came this goddamn close to blowing that guy's head off, but that bitch got in the way!"
"Sergeant, let me hold that." Ben said as he knelt down next to Meadows. He noticed that the Helljumper's hands were shaking somewhat, likely unintentionally on his part.
"Sure thing Ben." Meadows said. He passed over the bag of life-saving fluids, which Ben held as he had been trained. "Hey, you fought that bitch with the spear, right?"
"I did." Ben answered. "Has the search turned up anything yet?"
Meadows shook his head. "I don't know to be honest, but I think we'd have heard about it by now if it did."
"I told the Lieutenant that I should be out looking for those bastards, you know, since I've got the Semblance that lets me find shit." Nathan said. "But no, apparently I'm needed here."
Ben fixed Nathan with a gaze of disapproval that was discernible even though his visor was still polarized. "If Jorge wants you here, there's a reason."
"That's what I said!" Meadows added. "But back onto what I was saying, did she seem any faster than the rest of those guys to you?"
Ben thought it over for a moment and remembered that Vermillion had indeed demonstrated some impressive speed while he had been fighting her. While she was nowhere near as fast as he was, given his augmentations and armor, she had been considerably quicker with her strikes and reactions than just about anyone else that Ben had fought on Remnant.
"That could be her Semblance, or at least a part of it." Ben suggested.
Meadows groaned with irritation. "Son of a bitch… these guys are throwing around magical superpowers, and we can't even make a half-decent Aura shield!"
"Hey now, we're getting better." Nathan argued. "Kids on this planet learn how to use this stuff over the course of a decade, we aren't going to do the same in a matter of weeks."
"We shouldn't be relying on Auras in battle." Ben said. "They're a useful backup, but you should never completely trust something that has the potential to fail you."
Nathan scoffed. "Easy for you to say, you've got a suit of armor that weighs more than half the squad put together, not to mention a shield!"
That is a fair point. Ben realized. He was about to say as much, but Meadows spoke up first.
"Yeah, but he's always the first to wade into the most dangerous positions." Meadows pointed out. "Admit it Nathan, if you or I got caught up in a fight with Vermillion at close range, they'd be putting us in bags too."
Nathan's gaze drifted down to the wounded man whom they were still trying to treat. "Yeah… I guess you're right."
There was an awkward silence as they continued their work, but before long, the wounded terrorist passed on.
"Son of a bitch..." Meadows let out a hefty sigh. "Sorry about that Ben, I thought we might've had a chance there."
"Not everyone makes it." Ben brushed off the comment. "Where's the Corpsman, shouldn't he have been doing this?"
Meadows pointed across the improvised triage center. "Right over there, he's working on stitching up one of the hostages, they got a few cuts on one of the windows. I volunteered to look after this guy with Nathan, I took a course on combat lifesaving back in training."
"Fat lot of good that did." Nathan bitterly said.
"Hey! We did what we-" Meadows protested, but Nathan cut him off.
"I ain't blaming you Meadows, it's this fucking planet!" He said, his voice rich with exhaustion. "We're just getting picked off one-by-one! Who's next? Me? Liz?"
Meadows looked down at the dead terrorist before him and muttered a response. "I don't know man…"
Ben recognized that there wasn't much that he could do to help out anymore, so he made his excuses and made his way to the Corpsman to get his wounds treated. While the medic was stitching up his cuts and administering a powerful antitoxin to cure the venom in his blood, he couldn't help but think about Nathan's question. While there wasn't much rational reason behind it, the four sets of dog tags in Ben's chest pouch proved that Remnant was far from a hospitable planet.
Losses or not, we're far from helpless! Again, he thought of Chief Mendez's words, and felt a sense of satisfaction at the knowledge that no matter how hard the White Fang had managed to hit the UNSC, they'd hit back tenfold.
Kuo Kuana, White Fang Headquarters, Infirmary
October 27th, 1835 Local Time, 2552
Vermillion couldn't remember a time that she had ever felt so exhausted. She and Adam had barely managed to evade the patrols of the Huntsmen and Guards that followed them into the sewers, and even if they had ended up being discovered, Vermillion would've honestly been tempted to surrender. She certainly hadn't been in any shape to fight, and neither had Adam. By the time that they had gotten to the getaway vehicle, Adam had been forced to carry her the rest of the way.
Her worst injury had been given to her by one of the UNSC snipers, who had managed to completely obliterate what was left of her Aura and practically tore her left arm off with a single shot. The skin on the limb had been all but gone, and the muscles and tissue were dangling loosely from the bone, which was exposed in more than one place. Were it not for the tourniquet that Adam had affixed to her arm, or the overdose of stolen Atlesian Medicine that he had given her, she would have probably either bled out or gone into shock from the injury.
Vermillion was no stranger to fighting. She had been shot, burned, kicked, stabbed, slashed, and bitten before, so the pain wasn't new. But whatever the UNSC was using for ammunition was a far cry from anything she had seen before. It sure as hell wasn't Dust, that much was certain, it hit much harder and hurt a lot more than a traditional bullet.
Even through the painkillers and the delirium, she could still feel a faint tingling sensation around the stump where her arm had been. The Medics had tried their hardest to save the limb, but if the damage from the powerful UNSC bullet wasn't enough to destroy it, escaping through a disease-infested sewer of all things certainly was. It wasn't the first time that a Human had taken something important from her, and in all likelihood, it would not be the last.
Adam had fared better in that he hadn't lost any parts of his body, but he had still earned himself a spot in the Infirmary next to her. One of the irritating habits of the UNSC's ammunition was a tendency to partially shatter when it hit the defensive barriers that Aura put up, which created splinters and fragments of molten metal, many of which had punched holes into Adam's clothes and skin. While he hadn't been outright maimed as Vermillion had, the wounds had quickly gotten infected thanks to his boneheaded escape route, and he was already looking particularly green.
I guess it wasn't too stupid if we managed to escape with our lives. Vermillion thought, before looking down at where her arm had once been. No, it was stupid.
"Adam." Sienna Khan said, announcing her arrival. Vermillion and Adam straightened up as best as they could, but Vermillion found it hard to stay balanced properly with only one arm.
"My Lady, we-" Vermillion began, but Sienna raised a hand to stop her from speaking.
"Save your breath, Vermillion, you'll need your strength." Sienna softly said. "I'm here to talk to Adam, not you."
Vermillion firmly shook her head in spite of the delirium, she had no interest in being pitied. "The defeat… is my responsibility too."
Despite her protests, Sienna fixed her with a pitiful look and shook her head. "You already paid far too much for this defeat. Now get some rest, that's an order."
Vermillion slackened her posture and did as she was told while Sienna walked over to Adam.
"Lady Khan, the UNSC-" Adam began, but Sienna interrupted him.
"You don't need to brief me, the local news has already done that." Sienna sternly said. "The UNSC has come out of this as heroes, and Ghira has seized the opportunity to demonize us even further."
Adam let out a growl of frustration. "To hell with the Chieftain, who cares what he says?!"
"Right now Adam, it seems like everybody cares about what the Chieftain is saying." Sienna answered with a snarl of frustration. "He was making himself look good on television while you were sitting on your laurels and disregarding my orders!"
"I followed your orders to the letter!" Adam protested. "The UNSC never sent a negotiator, they were only interested in a fight!"
"I can confirm that my lady." Vermillion interrupted, despite Sienna's prior orders. "We were waiting for them to open dialogue, but it seems they weren't interested in talking things out."
Sienna shook her head. "Dammit all, we should have seen this coming! They aren't diplomats, they're soldiers, of course, they would take the violent route! They probably never even considered negotiations as soon as we took hostages!"
"That sounds like their problem, not ours." Adam said, only to earn a slap upside the head from Vermillion.
"Idiot!" Sienna shouted. "Eleven of our own are dead, and Vermillion lost one of her arms! This is far more than 'their problem'!"
Adam seemed to be surprised by Sienna's outburst, but to Vermillion's surprise, he didn't respond with any kind of anger or malice. Instead, he kept a level head and replied with a humble tone. "Then how do you think that we should have responded, my Lady?"
Strange, I wouldn't have expected him to manage his temper. Vermillion thought.
"At the very least, I would have preferred that more than three of you survived!" Sienna answered.
Vermillion noted a crucial detail in what she said. "Three, my lady?"
Sienna turned and looked at her with that goddamn pitiful expression again. Vermillion would have protested, but Sienna Khan was her superior, and that meant that Vermillion had no justification to complain about how she was treated.
"One of your subordinates was captured by the UNSC." Sienna explained. "As grateful as I am to hear that someone else has survived this disaster of a mission, I fear that they might give the UNSC information about our operations."
Adam froze in shock. "You think that one of our own would betray us like that?"
"I believe that it would be unwise to underestimate the UNSC's ability to extract information from their prisoners." Sienna answered. "We'll be moving the Headquarters for the time being, this place is far too exposed anyway."
Vermillion would've protested the decision, but sadly Sienna was completely right, it was too risky to stay at the old prison. The only reason that they had occupied it in the first place was that the SDC had no hope of striking them within the borders of Menagerie, but the UNSC had no such issue, as they had Ghira's backing. It would probably take a couple of days to move all of the people and material out of the Base, at the very least.
"And what about us, my Lady?" Adam asked. "We can help."
"Neither of you are in any shape to fight, but as soon as you're ready, I need you back in the field to oversee our efforts to move." Sienna answered.
Vermillion stuck her head up to interject. "What about me?"
"You?" Sienna asked, before letting out an uncomfortable sigh. "Alright, I have an idea for how to get you back into fighting shape, but you're not going to like it."
Faced with the possibility of lying in bed for the rest of her life, Vermillion saw no worse alternative. "Whatever it is, I'll do it."
"There's an estranged Atlesian scientist who does some work on the Black Market, and he owes me a favor." Sienna explained. "I'll contact him and secure his assistance, with any luck, he'll be able to make you a new arm."
Vermillion fought the urge to gag, if he was from Atlas, he was almost certainly a human, not to mention an especially irritating one. Still, if it got her back in the field…
"Whatever it takes, My Lady."
Sienna gave her nod of respect before turning back to Adam. "Report to me as soon as the Doctors clear you for duty, until then, I have work to do."
UNSC Dominion, Bridge
October 27th, 1454 Local Time, 2552
If there was one massive weakness that the UNSC suffered from, it was the inability to be in more than one place at a time. While the Dominion's crew continued their laborious efforts to establish a Forward Operating Base on the Island of Vytal, the ship itself needed to stay above the Island for the easy transportation of personnel and equipment. While the Dropships carried aboard the ship could still deliver Marines anywhere on Remnant, they were slightly slower than the frigate, and it had been this lack of speed that had resulted in the White Fang having enough time to secure hostages before they could be intercepted.
If only I had a proper battlegroup here, we could sort out every goddamn problem on this planet in a week. Richard thought as he read the final mission report on the Kuo Kuana Hostage Crisis, retroactively named "Operation Whiplash" by Lieutenant Chen for the sake of recordkeeping. Another win, another closed-casket funeral for a hero. Another Enemy for us to fight...
There was, however, good news to be found elsewhere on Remnant. Lieutenant Thomas and Curie had found a potential lead towards getting Curie fixed and back to normal. As much as Richard would've loved to read the sprawling report on the topic that the ONI Officer had prepared, he simply didn't have the time, as the developing situation in Menagerie still needed to be addressed, not to mention the obvious importance of finding and killing Salem. Instead, he gave Thomas and Curie carte blanche to solve the issue however they saw fit, using whatever resources were needed.
He may be a bit cranky, but he knows what he's doing, I trust him to see this done right. Richard thought.
"Commander, you have two incoming transmissions." Ensign Gillespie shouted from the Operations console. "One is from General Ironwood, the other is from Chieftain Belladonna."
"Put them both on the main monitor." Richard instructed. Having the two of them call at the same time was actually something of a convenience.
After a few moments of delay, both the Atlesian General and the Chieftain of Menagerie appeared on-screen, both of whom shifted their posture as they noticed the other's presence.
"General. I... wasn't expecting to see you here." Ghira said, betraying no emotion.
"Likewise, Chieftain." Ironwood replied in an equally emotionless manner.
"I needed to speak to both of you regarding the White Fang situation, so I decided that there was no sense repeating myself." Richard explained.
Ghira scowled. "I don't see what business Atlas has in Menagerie, to be frank."
Ironwood narrowed his eyebrows at the challenge. "The White Fang doesn't care about borders, except for when they can use them to escape justice. Menagerie is a perfect example of this."
Oh, this is going to be fun… Richard thought. Both of his closest allies on Remnant, and they wanted to tear the other's head off. "The General has a point. The White Fang has never shied away from attacking Atlas or its people on their own soil, and it's only reasonable to keep him up to date on the White Fang's recent actions."
Richard was still feeling the sting of Ozpin's revelation that perhaps losses could have been avoided at Argus, had certain bits of information been shared with the UNSC. He was not about to repeat the Ancient Wizard's mistake by depriving General Ironwood of much-needed strategic information regarding his enemies. Atlas has been at war with the White Fang for years now, and it's our duty to ensure that our allies are equipped with the latest intelligence that we have on our enemies plans
Ghira didn't seem entirely convinced, but he relented nonetheless, allowing Richard to bring General Ironwood up to speed on everything that had happened in Kuo Kuana. When Richard finished his report, Ironwood shook his head dutifully and sadly. "I wish I had words of reassurance for you Commander, but I don't. The White Fang is ruthless and relentless, you cannot negotiate with them, and they will strike again if we give them the opportunity."
Even though the Chieftain remained silent, Richard could tell just by the shift in his posture that he took issue with that claim. He filed away a mental note to discuss it further with Ghira in private. "Have you attempted to open the door to a ceasefire with the White Fang in the past?"
"Numerous times. Every time, my diplomats were sent home in states of dismemberment, if they were sent home at all." Ironwood reaffirmed with a sorrowful glare. "They're barbarians who respond only to violence, it's as simple as that."
"It wasn't always like that." Ghira coldly replied. "Perhaps if it weren't for the actions of the Schnee Dust Company, the White Fang would never have devolved into violence and terror."
Ironwood's expression was stony, betraying nothing. "Nobody knew for sure what the Schnee Dust Company was doing, at least until the UNSC came along and destroyed it."
And we'd do it again. Richard thought. There was just something inherently satisfying about hearing the SDC's name be referenced in a past-tense, a reminder of how badly the slaving bastards had been crushed.
"Perhaps if Atlas wasn't so blinded by profits, they would've been able to see what was happening beneath their own city!" Ghira argued.
"Enough!" Richard interrupted the fight before the argument could spiral even more out of hand. "What's done is done. Nobody can rewrite the past, so let's start focusing on the present threat, the White Fang."
"They need to be stopped." Ironwood simply stated.
"On that General, we can agree." Ghira replied. "Menagerie has never had a terrorist attack like this happen on its doorstep before, and it cannot happen again. My people are scared, the Grimm are already getting bolder on the frontier. Unlike the other kingdoms, we don't have walls to hide behind."
At Ghira's mention of the Grimm Activity in Menagerie, Richard brought up a strategic map of the continent on his datapad. The UNSC had been monitoring Grimm movements by satellite for every Kingdom and Nation on Remnant for weeks now, and just a quick glance at the border regions of civilization in Menagerie made it clear just how badly things could potentially get. He was also aware that Salem was likely making moves behind the scenes, maneuvering the Grimm to put pressure on the people of Menagerie.
"As dangerous as the White Fang is, the Grimm have to be our priority." Richard stated. "Chieftain, I suggest getting your Huntsmen on the frontline and have them do what they can to pick off the smaller targets. I can start sending strike craft to neutralize any particularly hard targets, and if things look to be getting worse, I'll start sending in Marines."
"What about the Dominion?" Ironwood pointed out. "When your ship was working in conjunction with our forces, we were able to destroy one of the largest Grimm forces in history outside of Atlas, not to mention what you were able to do in Argus."
Richard took a deep breath and sighed. "Most of my munitions are irreplaceable right now, and it's going to be years before that changes. My Engineers have also told me that it's going to be a matter of months to fix the bumps and scrapes that we got in Argus, seeing as there isn't a drydock on Remnant big enough to hold the Dominion."
Ironwood seemed to recognize the issue more so than Ghira, as he slackened his posture enough to show the tiniest bit of concern. "Are you still combat-capable?"
"Oh, certainly." Richard replied. "But make no mistake, deploying the Dominion is a last resort option. It's not just our only modern warship on Remnant, it's our only starship as a species. As much as I'd love to solve all of our problems with a few well-placed cruise missiles, I'd rather have them in our back pocket, just in case something even worse shows up in the future."
Ghira shook his head sadly. "You make some excellent points. So that answers how we'll handle the Grimm, but we still have the White Fang to deal with."
"You would need to find them first." Ironwood stated. "The White Fang are experts at Guerilla Warfare, and they won't come looking for a straight fight."
"We're no strangers to fighting Insurgents, General. Leave the intelligence front to us." Richard replied. "We'll start looking for any kind of White Fang position, weapons caches, bases, anything where we can find the enemy. Once we've found them, I'll send strike teams to destroy them."
Search and Destroy, the premier of counterinsurgency strategies. It was simple and well-tested throughout history, but that didn't mean success was any guarantee. Famous examples like the Vietnam War or the Rainforest Wars, not to mention the Insurrection, proved how such tactics were not without their historical failures. Rough terrain, poor logistics, bad tactics, and good old-fashioned human error had resulted in some of the most legendary military disasters in history.
"You'll need a base of operations." Ironwood pointed out. "I could task one of our Cruisers for the job, and maybe even a few units of Specialists, since it seems like Argus is safe again."
"You want to send Atlesian Forces… to Menagerie?" Ghira asked, his voice rich with incredulity. "Absolutely not. Putting aside the fact that Atlas stood by and watched as my people were enslaved, I couldn't even guarantee that they wouldn't be attacked by any of the local Huntsmen!"
Richard shook his head in frustration, of course that was going to be a problem. Ghira certainly had a point, Atlas had a well-earned reputation in Menagerie, and that was very likely to cause issues between any of their forces and Menagerie's citizens.
"Chieftain, with all due respect, I can't keep throwing my men into pitched battles without support." Richard firmly stated. "I would strongly advise you to at least reconsider your decision."
Ghira took a deep breath. "Commander, it was your forces that discovered exactly what the Schnee Dust Company was doing. You should know better than anyone why I can't let Atlas send military forces within Menagerie's borders."
"Oh, far be it from me to defend the Schnee Dust Company. I would argue that the White Fang's response to the SDC's crimes wasn't only justified, it was nothing short of heroic. When nobody else was doing a thing to help those people in the Mines, the White Fang stood up and actually did something" Richard stated. "But you and I both know that hands are bloody on both sides of this fight here, Chieftain. The White Fang are far from vigilantes, just today they kidnapped three innocent humans, and the trail of innocent bodies that they've left behind speaks for itself."
Ghira crossed his arms. "That doesn't excuse Atlas' crimes against the Faunus."
"You're right, it doesn't." Richard replied. "But the Schnee Dust Company is gone, the criminals behind what happened to your people are either facing trial or dead. Whether you or your people like it, your war is over!"
Ghira didn't respond, and General Ironwood remained silent, listening as Richard argued with the man that he considered to be his closest ally on Remnant.
"Face it Chieftain, if you ever want to see true equality and peace between Humans and the Faunus, the White Fang cannot continue to exist." Richard said. "And if you ask me, this seems like a perfect chance to show the people of Menagerie that Atlas is worth trusting."
Ghira was silent for what felt like an eternity before he finally gave his answer on the matter. "...I'll need to think this over, discuss it with some of the more prominent citizens of Menagerie. I can't promise you that they'll be willing to give Atlas a chance, but maybe with you vouching on their behalf, that might change."
"That's all I ask." Richard said.
"Regardless of what your people decide Chieftain, I wish you the best in your campaign against the White Fang." Ironwood interjected. "I've lost a lot of good men over the years to them, and I pray to whatever God watches over us that your people don't suffer the same fate."
Ghira quietly nodded, before he closed his end of the call without further word. Now, the only person still on-screen was General Ironwood.
"Richard, about that… other matter." Ironwood prompted. It didn't take a genius to figure out what he was referring to.
"We're still looking, I have half the satellites I would've liked for a job like this, but we're making good progress." Richard replied. "Our search gets narrower by the hour, our target doesn't have too many more places to hide."
Ironwood nodded in understanding. "Call me or the Headmaster if you have anything to report… and for all of our sakes, I wish you the best of luck. Good hunting."
Richard looked back to the Grimm Activity map on his datapad and softly shook his head. "We're going to need it."
UNSC Dominion, War Room
October 27th, 1505 Local Time, 2552
Somewhere in the back of Curie's mind, she had somehow always known that there was some kind of grand secret that was hidden from the Cross Continental Transmit System. It was simply foolish to keep your most sensitive information in a place where it could be accessed by electronic intrusion. But, as was so often the case with Remnant, her expectations had been utterly dashed.
Project Penny… The girl that Ruby had introduced to Curie and Ben was actually an Atlesian-made android, explaining exactly what had seemed so unusual about her.
Just by giving the Atlesian Data a cursory sweep, Curie could tell that Penny was by far the greatest scientific marvel that Remnant had created. The technology behind Penny's construction was practically centuries ahead of everything around her. From the synthetic skin that served to create a generally convincing disguise, the sensors built into her eyes and ears, and the way to the array of unusually powerful laser weaponry that was built into her body, Penny was leagues ahead of practically every contemporary technology that Atlas operated.
But the most impressive thing about Penny was that she could generate an Aura, indicating the presence of a soul. But before Curie could go down the rabbit hole of how exactly an artificial soul was created, Doctor Polendina clarified his statement further.
"Well, I brought Penny to life by giving her a part of my Aura. With that, she became her own soul."
While Curie was downright awestruck at the information she had been presented with, Lieutenant Thomas was less than pleased. "You have got to be kidding me! I've been tearing Atlas up by the goddamn floorboards looking for someone who knew even the first thing about a Smart AI, and not one goddamn person thought to point me to you?!"
Pietro seemed to be somewhat confused. "I'm not sure if you understand Lieutenant, Penny isn't an AI."
Thomas looked as if he had been physically struck across the face by the Doctor's words. "What?"
"The only thing artificial about Penny is her body, she doesn't have any programming." Pietro explained. "I guess the best thing I could compare her to is what Curie has. When Penny's Soul was created, she formed a similar structure to a human brain all on her own."
Thomas blinked blankly at what Pietro was saying, and Curie definitely empathized with his disbelief. She was still trying to wrap her head around the concept of an Aura, so what Doctor Polendina was saying was more than a little hard to understand.
"So… you just… created life?" Thomas asked. "How?"
"It's just like I said, my Semblance lets me break off parts of my Aura. In order to create Penny, I had to part with a big piece of my Aura for good." Pietro explained. "But I'd do it again in a heartbeat, I couldn't be more proud of her."
"You gave up a portion… of your soul?" Curie asked. Such a scientifically baseless question felt wrong to ask, but she had long since given up on applying conventional science to the field of studying Aura and its related aspects.
"Well, not quite. I'm not sure if anybody can do that." Pietro answered. "An Aura is just the physical manifestation of someone's soul. You can have a soul without an Aura, but you can't have an Aura without a soul."
"Hold on a moment." Thomas said. "I… could use a moment to think this all through, if you don't mind."
Pietro nodded. "Go right ahead, Lieutenant. That should give me and Curie here some time to figure out exactly what the problem is."
"I have already identified what my current problem is." Curie said.
She explained how even though her Rampancy had stopped spreading, it had left irreparable damage to the artificial bindings that were holding her together. The corrupted data that filled her systems were still a problem, but it wasn't her immediate priority.
"Hmmm." Pietro hummed aloud once Curie had finished her explanation. "Have you had your Aura activated yet?"
"I am afraid not." Curie replied. "At the time, I was concerned about possible negative side-effects."
Pietro shook his head softly. "I'm afraid it wouldn't have mattered even if you did. Like I said, Aura is the physical manifestation of the soul, and since you're purely digital and don't have any kind of physical form, you wouldn't be able to use your Aura."
Well, that's going to be a problem… Curie thought as she looked at her holographic hands in newfound frustration. "How do you know?"
"Well, some of the symptoms of your Rampancy sound just like the problems that Penny had when she was first created." Pietro explained. "Once we fixed a few hiccups throughout her body that were stopping her Aura from working properly, all of her problems disappeared."
"So if we wanted to fix Curie…" Thomas interjected back into the conversation. "We would need a robot body for her to live in? And then we could activate her Aura?"
Pietro nodded. "That's how we were able to get Penny working. Of course, there's any number of things that could go wrong here. Your soul could reject your new body, or your body might reject your soul-"
"Do you have another option?" Thomas interrupted him.
Pietro sadly shook his head. "I wish I did Lieutenant, there's nothing I'd like more than to offer you a perfect solution, I just don't have one."
Thomas laughed. "Are you kidding me, Doctor? This is the best news I've heard all week!"
"I agree wholeheartedly." Curie happily added. "If you would be willing to assist us further Doctor, I may yet survive this."
Pietro awkwardly scratched the back of his head. "Well, I would certainly like to, but I'll need General Ironwood's approval before I can-"
"You'll get it." Thomas interrupted him again. "I'll put together a security detail, we'll head for Atlas tonight. If you don't have any room in your schedule for the next few days, you'll need to make some."
"...Well, if he trusts you enough to give you full clearance to the Atlas Military Records, I'm sure he'll be okay with it." Pietro said. "I'll be in my workshop for the next couple of days, stop by anytime, and I'll see about getting Curie fixed up."
"...What, that's it?" Thomas asked somewhat incredulously. "Do you just have a spare robot body lying around or something?"
"In a way, I guess so." Pietro answered. "I've been working with Penny on her Mark Two Body, so we should be able to use that. But I'll need her help to get it working for Curie."
Thomas seemed to be just as tired of the ridiculous answers as Curie was, as he didn't even ask why Pietro needed Penny's help. "I'll have a Dropship routed over to pick her up and bring her to Atlas, it'll be a lot faster than any airship. Just make sure to let her know we're coming."
Pietro smiled. "That's mighty kind of you. If that was all, I should probably get started, I have a lot of work to do before you get here."
"Of course, Doctor. We'll see you then." Thomas said.
The call ended, and in the privacy of the War Room, Thomas let out a hefty sigh.
"Here's some advice Curie, don't ever go into the intelligence field on this planet." He said. "There just isn't enough Ibuprofen in the world for the two of us."
Curie gave him a nod of sympathy. "At least we have a solution, even if it is dangerous and unconventional."
"Well, that's more than I'd have for you in UNSC space." Thomas said. "Come on, we've got some work to do ourselves before we can get moving."
Author's Note: To everyone unhappy with the previous chapter, I completely understand where you're coming from. The effects and strengths offered by Aura were the biggest factor of RWBY's world that I was wary of even before I started writing this story. While for the most part, I like to think that I've done a half-decent job stitching the worlds of Halo and RWBY together, but some mistakes are simply inevitable.
While I don't agree with every criticism that has been levied against me and my work in recent memory, I appreciate all of the feedback that I have been given. Of course, there were certainly some faults in the previous chapter. I have made some minor alterations to the ending segment of the previous chapter, as well as added some extra context into what I already had planned for this chapter.
Of course, I encourage anyone with further comment or criticism to either privately message me or leave a review, I am always open to making changes for the sake of a better story.
And as a final reminder for any guest reviewers, although I cannot respond in private messages, know that I do read everything that you send me and I appreciate your feedback.