Hey guys, Green here! Juuuuuust wanna let you guys know that, yes, the next chapter of the main story is still in the works - just been difficult to write (or focus on writing, even). Either way, Mister Ghost-G339 has managed to finish the second chapter of 1st Remnant, so hopefully that'll sate your appetite for more B312 (at least for now). Either way, I'll let the author of this story have his few words before we begin!
And the Story Continues...
Chapter Two: The Lost and The Damned
/-\ Ruby Rose - en route to Reavia /-\
"So? What do you have in store for us that required all of us to come to Reavia?" Weiss sarcastically asked with a raised brow as she looked across from me, Blake and Yang rode behind us in our transport Hog's back seats. Of course, I knew what was happening, right down to what was happening in Mistral, but the Major made it clear: unless they held a rank and serial number, it was need to know until ordered otherwise, but that could change very soon.
"Well, we do have that mission Ozpin assigned us but Foley decided that there'll be a secondary task alongside it since we'll be in-country at the site where it started. So the UNSC will hold the briefing for both and deploy us to the AO." I paused. "Unfortunately, the Major has that down as classified for you three unless certain circumstances are met. Don't worry, the guy we're going to see is a part of it all." I understood their confused looks - I rarely kept secrets with them - but what could I do against my superior?
Blake sighed then spoke on comms, "Let me guess, ONI's just being their usual self?" My Sister's giggle filtered across the radio at her partner's comment.
Weiss decided to retort, "Hmph! Can you expect anything less of them? I mean they're the same guys that made Ruby the gigantic armored super-soldier that she is today!" the rest of us couldn't help but laugh up a storm.
I decided to join in on the fun, "Well to quote a really old Earth movie, 'I'm Bad and that's good, because there's no-one I'd rather be than me!' At least I think it went like that. Point is, right here, right now, there's nothing in this life on Earth or Remnant I'd rather want to be than a badass Grim Reaper that has killed practically hundreds of thousands of alien fucks that threaten humanity. And more to it, there's no one I'd rather have at my side in all of this, than my girls of Team RWBY!"
"OORAH!" Even though they couldn't see it from under my helmet, I had a genuine smile stitched to my face the rest of the trip.
The drive wasn't that bad, a few spots of small fry Grimm here and there, all dealt with by the girls' rifles. After another ten minutes, Reavia's outer defensive perimeter came into view, along with the newly built automated base turrets armed with various attachments like the Flame Mortar, my only gripe being how these turrets remind me of my training days and those damn stun rounds that pelted me when I screwed up. Minutes later we stopped at the front gate. I flashed my military ID card to the marine guard, then we were off. The outer civilian district had continued to progress day after day, with its citizens moving from tent shelters to proper houses and even some storefronts opening up to bring commerce to Reavia. From the corner of my eye, I noticed Weiss was taking in the sights and all its people, I guess she was just happy her fellow Atlesians were thriving here. Although the apparent ratio of Faunus to humans was obvious, civilian humans were still present. Next up were the Military district gates for the northern entrance; again flashing my ID and getting a salute in return.
We finally reached our stop at the First Battalion Headquarters administration building, a two-story office building painted army green on the outside.
"So… I don't remember this building being here before. What's it for?" Yang began by asking.
I pondered how best to explain it while walking, "Basically, Command has decided to officially organize all the collective Marine recruits, which is well over one thousand by the way, into the newly formed and named First Remnant Marine Battalion. This here is its command building where the officers and support staff work. Its commander, who you might meet, is Major Lebedjev, an old-school Russian. Right now the Battalion can be broken down to three combat companies and two in support, but Major Foley has seen fit for this place to house another brand new unit as well."
Blake smirked with a chuckle, "Oh, and I'm to assume that's us."
"Heh, basically… but not quite," I could feel their questioning gazes in the back of my head as I lead them, "See you guys are my team, but only as Huntresses. You're not officially enlisted personnel of the UNSC, no registration under the UNSC military payroll, no neural implants for IFF marking and shit. No name, rank, or serial numbers either, Foley told me that unless those requirements are met I can't tell you what's been going on or what's coming ahead of time. So he's asking for you guys to enlist, then he'll legitimize the First Remnant Shook Troopers as a proper ODST company, and you'll have a clearance level then, but I wanted you guys to hear about it first and take time to think on your choices."
Weiss stroked her chin, humming. "I suppose I shouldn't be as surprised as I am, with what we've accomplished. It's just… things have changed so much in only a couple of days." She said. "Our tenure at Beacon has been cut a little over three years short and now we're being offered positions in an extraplanetary military."
I glanced back at her, raising an eyebrow. "Is that a bad thing?"
She shook her head. "No! Gods no, it's just…" She sighed. "...a little jarring, okay?"
"Yeah, I get that…" I said, stopping the team in front of the door I'd been leading them towards. "It was pretty jarring for me too when I found this place - Remnant, I mean." I said. "But, well, who's to say being a Huntress is the be-all, end-all of everything? If you guys enlist, you could have an entire galaxy ahead of you."
"And all the Covenant that hide and fester out there..." Blake said, dryly.
I barked a laugh, "Hah! Well, they'll probably shit themselves if they found out you guys were up there. But in all seriousness." my tone changed to match the topic, "I would really like it if you'd join, it's no secret that down at my core, I'm not a Huntress. I'm a Soldier - a Spartan of the UNSC; have been all my life. If command says: 'Jump!', I scream back 'How high, Sir?!' And if the Spirit and Road were to weigh anchor tomorrow, heading for deep space, unless ordered otherwise I would have to go with them. Leaving you guys behind…" My lips tugged into a dejected smirk as those last four words left a bad taste in my mouth.
Yang suddenly grinned, her lilac eyes showing more confidence than I'd ever seen since coming back to Remnant. "Oh, you're not getting rid of me that easily! Wherever you go, I'll be there, Sis! I'm all in!" she remarked with an enthusiastically loud voice before punching her fists together.
However Weiss and Blake seemed to be processing their thoughts, they both shared a look and nodded. "While it does have some merits to it, would it be alright for us to think about it a little?" Weiss answered.
I shrugged, "It's your future, you have to choose what's best." I twisted around to face the door and punched in the access code. "Hmm, two-four-one-ten, and bingo!" As the door unlocked and slid open, our ears were assaulted by the jarring music of Heavy Metal playing on a nearby portable speaker, and from the sounds of it, the Chorus was playing. Something about some ancient and forgotten war… or battle, I really couldn't tell.
Zulus attack!
Fight back to back!
Show them no mercy and-
-Fire at will!
Kill or be killed!
Facing, awaitin-
I chuckled, "God I love neural implants!" I mumbled after stopping the music. We started taking in what this room was like: to my left was a dividing wall, ahead lined against the wall were two large welded mesh cages with even wire mesh ceilings. My guess was they were about three meters wide and two meters long head-on, at the back off-center to the right of the door were three more cages; the left-hand one was empty. On the other hand, the one to the far right corner had been occupied with gear and personal items laying on the three shelf levels that lined all the cages, the middle cage only had a large canine floor pillow that, from my Spartan height, I could see was currently in use. To my direct right was a single cage and beyond that stood Armor and Weapons racks tucked in the corner. Besides the canine, the only other occupant was a Marine with his back to us, his back hunched over the central work-table in the room doing weapon maintenance on a couple of rifles. Finally noticing that his music was switched off, he turned in our direction giving my teammates a once over before locking eyes with me. Slightly widening his eyes, he straightened out to attention and threw a salute my way.
"Officer, On Deck!" He shouted as I returned the salute.
I rolled my eyes at his actions, before ordering him to stand down, "At ease,", causing him to fall back into a relaxed posture with his hands behind his back.
I walked up to him, turning to Weiss, Blake, and Yang then put a hand on his shoulder. "Girls, meet our FNG; Gunnery Sergeant Charles Henderson: our new teammate for the foreseeable future."
He jokingly made a comment, "Heh, hey. So you three are the wannabe Helljumpers from Beacon, eh? Nice armor… heard it was locally made. Not bad, but not UNSC grade, really." Team _WBY started to shift uncomfortably at his gaze. "Whatever… So yeah, I'm joining you guys as your Demolitions expert and your new adjutant drill instructor."
"Instructor?! Wait, Ruby, please don't tell me we're in for even more intensive training than we do every morning?!" Weiss pleaded in horror, only to be shocked by a shit-eating grin shared by both Chuck and myself.
I waved my hand at them, "Don't worry, don't worry. That's for another day," My teammates aren't convinced, "Ahem, isn't there another member you should introduce, Gunny?" He looked up to me with a raised eyebrow but quickly shifted to a smirk when he got what I meant, whistling as his only response. Out came the dog, coming to check on the apparent new faces he didn't know, panting his tongue and wagging his tail, his eyes darting from face to face.
The reactions from my team could not be anything but fucking hilarious! Yang looked like she had seen a happy surprise, but was suddenly focused on the fact that Blake had climbed onto her back and shoulders for dear life in fright! Weiss jumped a little, and took a step back, a little unsure of how to proceed. Covering my mouth to hide the laugh attack I was having from the scene before me, Henderson knelt down to pet his canine partner.
"Ladies, this is Cerberus, our fireteam's own military working dog. Just like me, he's on the team as well. He's well trained as a detection dog and attack dog for combat duties."
Blake's ears flattened and she looked scared. "Attack dog?!" I heard her whisper.
Weiss got serious, walking up to him and staring the dog down, "So you're telling me this mangy, drooling…" Cerberus pulled a Shepherd head tilt, weakening her defences. "M-mutt… is going to live with us forever!" Weiss' speech devolved into baby talk as she began to fondle and massage the dog's muzzle, this only caused the creature to thump its tail even more.
"Please keep that thing away from my belongings..." was all Blake got out as she climbed off Yang.
Chuck got up from his crouching position while Weiss continued to play with Cerberus, putting one finger up, he remarks, "Ah, speaking of belongings, these cages are yours now." Thumbing towards the cages. "Pick one and set up shop with your gear, equipment, and decorative knick-knacks of your choosing like I have."
Yang started to get excited, "We get to decorate these lockers however we want? That's so cool!" She bolted to the back wall and checked out the cage next to the one Cerberus was borrowing, "I call dibs here!" excluding Henderson, we just giggled at her antics.
Clearing his throat, our new teammate spoke, "Ahem, I know you guys aren't proper military, not yet anyway, but moving forward… It goes without saying that formally, I'd like to be addressed as 'Gunnery Sergeant' until such time I deem it that I can trust you with my life and then consider you as a fellow peer. Am I understood, you three?"
The girls all replied in their own way, Weiss with a rehearsed regal posture, but the smirk she held showed how much she had grown from that first day I saw her with that 'Rich-Girl' air about her, "Of course, Gunnery Sergeant Henderson. That seems reasonable."
Blake with her signature muted, and unreadable face, "Yes, Gunnery Sergeant."
"Yeah, sure, no problem." Yang casually replied.
Chuck about-faced and went back to cleaning his weapons, I turned with him and leaned on the table. Looking over them, I noticed the oddities of these guns, besides the M7S that he just put back together, what they all had in common was how vintage they were: one looked like an enhanced AR-15 platform though I couldn't ascertain the age just by looking at it, next was what seemed to be a pump-action of some kind with a newer pistol grip and collapsing stock identical to the AR-15 model, though from looking at its huge bore, I'd say it takes forty-millimeter grenades instead of shotgun ammunition. Last on the table was a bolt-action Sniper rifle that I swore I had seen before when researching twenty-first-century guns back at Camp Currahee but I couldn't remember what it was called.
Blake took notice as well after inspecting what I assumed was her cage now, next to Yang's but along the dividing wall. "These don't look like standard UNSC gunpowder weapons, are these custom guns you had built? And what's with this Sniper? I thought you said you were a demolitions expert…" Blake asked while picking up the sniper, getting a bit of a feel for it.
"That's actually from my collection of old military-built guns from the twenty-first century, while the pump-action China Lake and an assault rifle that I call my NV4 are actually custom per se. If you'd look in my cage, you'd see a few guns from the past that have significance with my bloodline or are a personal favourite of mine, that one there is an Arctic Warfare rifle."
Then it finally clicked! "Of course!" I exclaimed, "Accuracy International's Arctic Warfare series of Sharpshooter Rifles! The same ones that held the record for longest confirmed sniper kill at twenty-five-hundred meters within the first decade of that century! Is that the Magnum line, chambered in .338 Lapua?" My gun geekiness started to leak through, causing Yang to giggle.
"Indeed, ma'am, as well as a folding stock and as you might have noticed from the fatter barrel; an integral suppressor barrel. So, Belladonna was it?" She nodded, "How's that Rifle feel in your hands?" She raised an eyebrow.
She went on to reply, then question him, "Good actually. Wait, are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?"
He merely shrugged, "Spartans are great snipers, obviously, but our CO over here?" Gesturing to me, "She can't be in the back all the time, so a backup shooter is required. Should you enlist, your sniping skills with an SRS and that AWM there will be worked on so you can replace the role your former sniper filled, of course, it's more a case of mission parameters. Some missions will just need your DMR, others a sniper, that goes for you too Miss Xiao Long." She perked up with eyebrows raised and pointed to herself, "Spartan Ruby and I talked it over, and depending on the mission, you'll be our heavy weapons specialist; handling stuff like the M6 Spartan Laser or the M41 Rocket Launcher."
"Think you can handle the job, Sis?" I asked while tilting my head.
"I mean, I guess I'll give it a try if Ruby wants me to." she replied passively.
Soon after, all our mobile devices chimed with a text saying to report to the briefing room. "Well team, seems our first mission with our new little brother is starting, now let's kick ass like always!"
"Oorah!"
A few doors and hallways away, we were in a secured briefing room that even made us leave our scrolls in a container by the door. In minutes we were about to start our briefing but Henderson thought it wise to be 'social' to the Second Lieutenant ONISEC Marine present, "Maxine… you really gonna give me the silent treatment after not seeing me for eighteen months?" He pleaded with a mock pout. The rest of the team was sitting in swivel chairs watching this unfold amusingly. Wait! What is our team name now? Henderson is Military and probably won't settle on a weird word made out of our initials.
"Come on Sis! Mom and Gran-poppy were harassing me for weeks over any news about you since you refused to call them, not that it would matter now since we're trapped here!" Charles raved on a little more, only to be socked in the gut but His sister.
All that came back was a cold, unemotionally response, "Annoying. Can't you read the room, Stupid? You've got a briefing about to start." Charles only coughed a couple of times before getting up.
He just scoffed, "Hmph, Fine! But next we get some mutual free time, we are gonna have a little talk about your self-enforced radio silence." he moves to sit down with the rest of us.
Major Foley finally arrived with a young-looking officer, ONI's all-seeing eye emblazoned on her black uniform. "Lieutenant Commander." He greeted, nodding to me. "Gunnery Sergeant, Team RWBY."
I snapped a salute, as did Henderson. "Major, sir."
He nodded. "I'll… keep this brief." He said. "Our OP here, designation Blackbird, is two-fold. The public will hear about part of it, so remember to keep it clean. We'll start with the part they won't know about, first: deep recon into potentially hostile territory." He nodded to the officer. "Ensign?"
She nodded. "Spirit and Odinsdottir's sats did a sweep of the area. Looks like we're in luck - wherever those IFV wrecks came from probably wasn't glassed or blown into orbit by the carrier's reactor going wildcat. That said, whoever sent them there did a phenomenal job of covering their tracks - and have a cloaking device to boot."
"A cloaking device?" I interrupted. "Like the ones the Covvies used on Reach?"
"Negative; more primitive, or jury-rigged - we can't tell which." She said, snapping her fingers. The conference table lit up with a projection, displaying a half-glassed forest surrounding a mountain. "Either way, orbital recon gets real fuzzy around this area - about seventy miles from ground zero. Add in the fact that this mountain is supposed to be an active volcano - and that no one has come back from the area around it in about two hundred years - and we're hedging our bets on this being the origin of the IFVs."
I nodded. "Threat assessment?"
"Unknown." Foley said. "RoE is to avoid contact at all costs - we need to find out what we're dealing with, but everything will go smoother if they don't know we were even there."
"Understandable. Estimated mission duration?"
"Also unknown. It will likely not be shorter than a week, but we can't have you gone longer than a month." I nodded in understanding. "Now, onto the secondary objective… Ensign?"
The projection changed, showing a copy of Jaune's student file from Beacon. I had to suppress my reaction to seeing his face again, but looking at my teammates showed a range of emotions. Ranging from Weiss who recoiled slightly out of shock. To Yang and Blake, who took on a downcast expression and sighed softly, and I swear I could hear Yang curse under her breath. What stung even harder was the red letters at the bottom of the hologram, once again reminding us that we lost someone dear to us recently; K. I. A.
"As Team RWBY is well aware, Jaune Arc was killed in action during the opening stages of contact with the Covenant in this sector by a Spartan-class warrior designated: The Persian. What has come to our attention recently is that his body was forcibly left behind due to the circumstances being too dangerous for proper retrieval. This is also on top of the fact that Major Foley has been made aware that Mr. Arc was unofficially drafted by a UNSC officer during the first invasion, making him just as much one of us as he was a Valerian citizen, as such once you're finished gathering intel from the primary objective in the AO, you are to move and recover the remains of Mr. Arc to be brought home for a proper burial with full honors by the UNSC." The Ensign's mood never changed the whole way, a calm, passive seriousness.
Foley spoke up again, "This is the only part the public will be privy to, as far as they are concerned, our mission is solely to find the body of a fallen warrior-in-arms." Foley's gaze wandered over Weiss, Blake, and Yang. "that goes double for you, don't bugger this up, no matter who you trust; Parents or loved ones. Do not break security protocols!" all three barely reigned in the visible gulps.
"Yes, Sir." they replied in unison.
Henderson lazily raised his arm, "Ma'am? What are the mission status codes?"
"The Prowords for communication are themed to the characters of some twenty-first-century film called How To Train Your Dragon. Don't blame us, blame Serina's odd sense of humor!" The Ensign replied, throwing a confused dejected smirk on her face. Alice's avatar suddenly replaced the school file of Jaune.
"Ohh, I'm so telling her you said that!" the AI teased.
Foley was unamused, "That's enough, Alice."
Alice threw a salute his way, "Yes, Major!" She winked out.
The projection changes again, with a list of names and their meaning if said on the radio;
Hiccup: Infil Complete
Astrid: Passed Phase Line Alpha
Ruffnut: Passed Phase Line Bravo
Snotlout: Arrive at Target
Fishlegs: Jackpot, Intel Secure
Tuffnut: Asset Rook Recovered
Gobber: LZ Secure
Stoick: Exfil Complete
I nodded in agreement, "What are the loadout requirements?" I added.
Foley cleared his throat a little, "Since this a long-range recon patrol, air traffic is restricted to ISR drones, meaning no resupplies; you'll pack what you need in terms of food and ammunition in a UGV-12 Stomper, along with sleeping and observation gear. Now for the sake of simplicity, you three ladies," referring to _WBY, "Will be outfitted with gunpowder rifles, not your UNSC Dust weapons. Gunnery Sergeant, you are to keep it to bare necessities for EXO charges, I do believe you know what that means?"
"Yes Sir! Two Satchels, six bricks of C12 P-EXO, two breaching charges, four M8 SLAMs, four trip-wire 'Bouncing Bettys', and a roll of Thermite cord." My attraction to explosions had me curious as to how good of a Demoman our new Gunny was.
Weiss spoke up for the first time in the meeting, "Will we have transport for this or are we to proceed on foot?"
"To keep things light and stealthy, you'll only get the 'pack horse' dropped with you." The Ensign responded.
"Sir?" I asked, "What's the RoE for non-alien threats? Banditry has been escalating-" Yang's face immediately soured at the mention of bandits, "-and there might be a few trying to loot the former battlefield."
"Engage at your own discretion, Spartan. If they turn out to be more than curious civilians, all hostile combatants must be eliminated with lethal force to avoid them finding out there's more than dead Covenant in those woods." That seemed to put my team on edge with Weiss's expression being the worst. Henderson however, being a veteran, didn't seem to care.
"One more thing, Sir." I chimed in again, "Given this is a new Fireteam in a new ODST Company, what's our official designated callsign?"
"Ensign?" Foley cocked an eyebrow, he held a face that almost felt like he was testing her.
She nodded in acknowledgement "In honor of its Commander, the initial team of the First Remnant Shock Troopers will be named Fireteam Reaper, Reaper Actual will be the Lieutenant Commander of course." The room suddenly felt brighter, from the corner of my eye I saw Yang's proud smile pulsating my way, "2IC will be Gunnery Sergeant Henderson as Reaper-two, Schnee as Reaper-three, Belladonna - Reaper-four, and Xiao Long as Reaper-five"
Foley decided to wrap things up, "Before I dismiss you, I would also like to add that due to the nature of your insertion, you three FNGs will be given new EVA-rated Shock Trooper BDUs. freshly forged and designed to Spartan Ruby's specified parameters in terms of your Aura and Faunus compatibility." Blake smiled approvingly. "If there are no other questions, you are dismissed, meet with Echo-914's Condor: The Space Whale on the tarmac at 23:40 hours, wheels up in ten after that." Foley moved to leave with the Ensign close behind him.
"Rise!" Second Lieutenant Maxine Henderson called out across the room, with Her Brother and I shooting up to attention, the girls, however - due to their lack of military etiquette - lagged behind us by a few seconds.
The Officers filed out the room, with their Marine escort closing the door behind them.
Once the Spooks and ONISEC Marine left, we relaxed our posture, "Well…" Our new NCO started off casually, "A parafoil HALO insertion at thirty-thousand feet in the air, huh? Haven't done that since my ODST drills back at Camp Jupiter on Reach! That'll be fun! Like Navy SEALs fun. You did many in-atmo jumps, Boss-lady?" He asked me.
"Boss-lady?" I coughed once, then spoke out loud. "Even if I may or may not have, there would be too much black ink on my files to recount them."
He just barks a laugh, "Hah! Don't I know it! I got a couple of those kinda files on myself." He said, glancing towards the door. "Hey, it's about dinnertime, whaddaya guys say we get some chow before we go over our armour?"
Suddenly, Yang's stomach growled as loud as a lion's, making us all look at her. "Well…" She started, face beet red. "I uhh… think you know my answer."
We all laughed, following Henderson to the mess hall...
Later we were back in the Kennel, joyfully coined by me much to Blake's expense. Henderson went into his cage to retrieve his gear while I unveiled the new EVA armour for the girls. Team _WBY had already stored their Dust-based rifles in their personal racks by my own cage locker, just opposite the windows - the only natural light source in the room.
First of the four was Henderson's. Like the rest, his suit as a whole had the standard black armoured plates and multi-grey toned camo pattern for the BDU save for the colour and graffiti choices on each. The helmet was the ODST-HS variant with reinforcements, a flashlight was attached to the upper-left side and a deep garnet red stripe painted on top. Pauldrons were a CQB on the left with the same garnet-coloured stripe, and a standard pauldron on the left with basic medical info stamped on it.
The cuirass, solely the breastplate was grey but what he had graffitied as his emblem was interesting; painted on it was a ghostly, brutish style Centurion helmet coloured black, a black officer crest facing head-on was mounted above it. The ancient helmet had an armoured faceplate with an ethereal white hue - it seemed to be broken if the jagged cut off from below the nose was any indication and the area around the eye holes were painted red like they were marred with blood. The rest of the torso had ammo pouches for forty-millimeter grenades and five-five-six PMAGs for his NV4. the thighs had been reinforced with black NxRA plates, with a tactical soft case and two pistol mag pouches strapped to the left side.
Next was Weiss's new set. Her helmet had a comlink antenna attachment and a white stripe, continuing down both of her standard pauldrons. The torso's stark breastplate displayed her Huntress emblem front and center, flanked by pouches on either side for her fifteen-millimeter dust vials to keep Myrtenaster fed. Magazine pouches were just below that, but what drew Weiss's attention was the lack of an armoured skirt dropping from the waist.
With Blake as our new sniper, I had hers made to the Sharpshooter variant. The helmet, like her non-sealed one, was modified to accommodate her Faunus ears, the unusual bump partially hidden by a fold-down optic attachment. A sniper pauldron was strapped to the left side and like the others, a standard pauldron on the right. Unlike the others, though, the only variation of colour contrasting the all-black armor was her Huntress Emblem on the torso. Surrounding it were six SMG ammo pouches and four full-sized sniper magazine pouches. The back of the belt had six small pouches and six more on the left thigh for Gambol Shroud.
Yang's armour had also diverged from its Remnant cousin; like the rest, it was colour coded with her signature golden yellow, stripes going down the middle of the helmet and pauldrons with a fully painted breastplate, the Huntress emblem proudly in the center. The suit overall was a bit less bulky than its counterpart save for the cuirass and black NxRA thigh plates. The Pauldrons were both CQB, and as for storage, six magazine pouches on the front and two larger pouches on either side of the belt which were normally meant for SAW gunners would now hold Ember Celica's belts. Like some CQB wearing ODST, two shotgun shell holder straps were wrapped around the right shin for more of her Dust shells to be stored.
Henderson had grabbed his armoured rucksack, a rifle bag, some electronics from the cage as well as his forty-millimeter pump gun and Assault Rifle. Placing them all on the worktable where Cerberus was laying, panting, and wagging at the hustle in the room. After packing most of the electronics, including ignition fuses and detonation clapper, he left the tac-pad alone while moving to seal up the AWM in the rifle bag then left the M7S from before laying on top of it.
Finishing up, he started to tend to his NV4; excluding the angled foregrip under the barrel, the gun lacked rail attachments - attachments that were now being applied - producing a rectangular suppressor with a toothy strike plate, he slid it down the muzzle and locked it into place. Next were two electronic devices being tightened on the barrel rail mounts at the twelve and three o'clock positions, most likely an IR laser slash strobe module and a smart-link targeting computer respectively. The scope he mounted was familiar, akin to the rifles of the twenty-second century, a four-times Scout Hybrid Optic with a canted ELO reflex for close range. As he continued to tinker with the rifle, working the charging handle, the bolt release button then dry-firing the mag-less gun, I started explaining the three new suits to my team.
"Now girls," I started, "foregoing the obvious reasons as to why you need new suits for this Op; since day one of the First Remnant Marines, the armourers and logistics personnel have been scratching their head on how to integrate Faunus traits and Aura users into the Marine battle armour for them." I lightly knocked on the breastplate of Yang's displayed armour.
"After I gave them my reports of your locally made BDUs and the Aura repelling compositions that keep the protective plates above one's Aura, we went over the designs, figuring out how certain traits can be overcome with slight modifications without redesigning the whole BDU." I said then gestured to the three suits.
"So basically, they've come up with these prototypes for you to test then they'll use that study to work on armor and EVA BDUs for the regular Marines in the First. The plates are made of the UNSC proprietary titanium and kevlar composition but now it has the extra component of Aura repelling composites. The Armoury Engineers said they tested some first batch pieces of this new armour up against Remnant-made ablative plates and a control sample of regular titanium armour, they said both this and the control did slightly better than the locally made stuff, but only slightly - like a couple more foot-pounds of sheer strength than the Remnant plates."
"Simply put," Blake interrupted, "We're the guinea pigs for new gear to be tested then distributed to the whole military." she asked while cocking an eyebrow.
"Look at it this way," Henderson said behind us, we turn only for _WBY to be a little shocked to see he had since stripped off his on-base BDU, down to his boxers, and was halfway done slipping into his bodyglove, "You testing this armour will help potentially save lives of the roughly one-point-two thousand Faunus Marines of the Battalion. Because we were able to develop Faunus compatible armor and EVA suits that are comfortable even for a Ram Faunus! Besides, SF Operators like us usually get the cool new stuff first anyway."
Even with shades of pink dusting her cheeks, Weiss still managed to speak, "Ahem, y-yes, while that might be true, could you not talk so seriously while p-practically half-naked! Hurry up and finish!" she stammered out.
Henderson's eyebrows shot up before dropping only one, "Seriously? Oh, right! You girls still got civilian brains floating in those heads. You do realize that there are female Marines in the Corps? Add to the fact that I'm not a virgin, whatever you got underneath isn't an unfamiliar sight to me. I mean, Spartans aren't known for not hiding whatever assets they have while in the Barracks." Three jaws proceeded to slam down to the floor. They turned back to me, eyes holding unspoken questions.
I shrugged, "He's not wrong, and due to conserving space, the showers on UNSC Warships don't really leave a lot to the imagination…" I smirked, throwing a teasing wink Weiss's way. This seemed to overload her thought process; I'd imagine the image of my naked, muscular body glistening under running water was too much for her, as the shades of pink on the cheeks immediately spread till she was a full red tomato-faced girl, for a moment I thought I saw steam leaking from her ears.
"I… Ah, agguh, ah… Um." Was all she could force out as she twitched a little. Henderson took notice, striding forward curiously before proceeding to click his fingers to no avail.
"Hello? Click, Hello in there. Click-click Ground Control to Major Tom!" She finally shook it off then huffed angrily.
Gritting her teeth, she hissed, "You Perverted Oaf!" Weiss pushed past everyone and started to take down pieces of her armor from the rack. Blake and Yang followed suit, meanwhile, Henderson had gone back into his cage and retrieved three clip-on curtains for the girls' own cages.
"Thank you, past me, for having the insight of getting these!" _WBY retreated to their respective cages to hang the curtains and change into their bodygloves and armor. "Belladonna, your weapons are on the table next to mine. Better to carry something bigger than a DMR for this one!"
"Yes, Gunnery Sergeant." she chirped back from her hiding place.
After sealing off the bodyglove, Henderson started applying the rest of his BDU. Clipping the helmet to his belt but leaving his rucksack off, he doubled back to his cage again while the girls emerged from theirs, Yang fiddling with the gauntlets which had been altered to attach Ember Celica to them. Blake moved to the table to get the SMG and bagged Sniper Rifle, but not before giving Cerberus a stink eye that he only head-tilted in confusion to, then swapped his attention to Yang stroking his furry back which he thanked her for by making a low rumbling noise and licked her cheek. Bringing a black duffel bag of some sort this time from his cage, Henderson reached for the tac-pad he left on the table.
Yang got curious, "What's in there?" She asked.
"Well, the bag itself is for Cerberus here for when we jump, see the neck hole? He'll be nice and snug as we plummet down. Inside it though is his 'work clothes' and other military dog gear for him." He replied, not looking up from the tac-pad, from my point of view, he was opening up a comm-link to the motor pool. A Human Marine's face came on screen, "Corporal Peña, I need a UGV Stomper prepped with the three-three-eight MMG Remote turret mount and loaded from the supply depot then routed to the Armoury to meet us for Operation Blackbird."
The Corporal's voice came back in a Spanish accent through the device, "Ay-firm, Gunny. But ONI Officer Ensign Davis already took care of the first part. Your non-combative equipment and four ODST packs, including one for Sierra-B312, were loaded. The Stomper is parked outside the Armoury as we speak." Henderson nodded.
"Understood, transfer control to this device, transmitting authentication codes, now." He said while punching a string of letters and numbers.
"Received." the Corporal replied, "She's all yours, Gunnery Sergeant."
Henderson nodded again, stashing the tac-pad in his soft case on his thigh. "That should make things ship-shape on my end, Ma'am."
"Okay, then Fireteam Reaper." I remarked jokingly. "Let's get some guns and ammo!"
After getting back in the Transport 'Hog from before, we took the short drive to the Armoury, the sun had already fallen by now, giving way to the darkness of the night, only being contested by the light pollution of Reavia. Weiss seemed to not have recovered completely from before and was avoiding any eye contact with me, so much so that she chose to ride backseat with Blake and Yang. Henderson was upfront with me, holding on to Cerberus and his leash while the dog snuggled in his lap.
Pulling up to the Armoury, we parked along the Stomper, the UGV-12 Stompers were an attempt made on Reach by the UNSC to apply lessons learned from the past at force multipliers without risking human lives but without breaking the UN and UEG's laws on combat droids. Beside us was a green four-tonne six-wheeled unmanned ground vehicle, a three-three-eight medium machine gun was mounted in an RCWS, just in front of the rear engine block. Below the gun under a military cargo net was our extra gear in the hold; about a month's worth of MREs, Jerry cans of water, sleeping bags, a folded tripod spotting scope, and long-range listening equipment with other electronics were packed as our observation gear. Four armoured rucksacks, two lining the sidewall on each side, were prepped for my team and I as mentioned before.
Henderson let Cerberus get out first then jumped out, keeping the canine's leash wrapped around his hand. The dog seemed to know things were happening because every few moments or so he would look up expectantly for instructions. Instead, Henderson just pulled off his China Lake from his back, then he pulled back the Stomper's cargo net and slotted the grenade launcher under some bungee cords with the pack that was holding down the gear, he called Blake over and had her store the bagged up bolt-action sniper. Inside, the quartermaster, Sergeant MacLaren, was halfway through organizing the requisition order he got for our Op.
"Evening Ma'am, Gunnery Sergeant! Ladies. You here for some lovely UNSC hardware and ammo?" He smirked through his groomed dusty blonde beard, Henderson and I just nodded. "Righto then, we'll start with the Ammo!" MacLaren then procured a small pallet with our mags and ammo cans for resupply. "Let's see here, four cans of five-hundred round belts in three-three-eight Norma Magnum for the UGV, forty-millimeter grenades; HEDP, forty-mil buckshot, smokes and a few flares. Seven-six-two MA5B mags plus two cans of loose rounds, fourteen nine-point-five mags and three cans for the Battle Rifles, five-by-twenty-three caseless - one can and seven forty-eight round mags, five magazines of three-three-eight Lapua Magnum and one can of additional three-three-eight. You're really lucky that the Spirit had some old Marksman rifles in that caliber, Gunny, and you had your own mags for that bolt-action of yours! But go easy, okay? Those old Lapua rounds are all we got till the factory backlog eases and I can request more."
Henderson smirked, "Tell me something I don't know! I mean if someone were to take a real good look at us and see the hodge-podge we UNSC folk are, it would shock them! Army stragglers wearing M52-Alphas and MA37s, Marines in a criss-cross of Harvest and Reach variants of the M52-Bravos, and don't even get me started on the ground vehicles! Worse still, with the Spirit's arrival, I've seen Helljumpers in armour my late father wore! But how about you get to the part where I get my ammo and explosives…" His voice held a hint of sarcasm.
MacLaren responded in kind, "Ah yes, five-five-six, another caliber the UNSC doesn't normally use anymore. Yeah, it's on the pallet; Mags and two cans. You three Boots!" Pointing at the girls, "Pocket your mags then load up the ammo cans in the Stomper outside!" He ordered.
"Yes, Sergeant." they said without hesitation, immediately complying with his orders.
"Now Chuck, hand over your rucksack and I'll getcha your bloody explosives." the Sergeant grumbled, Henderson then stripped his pack and handed it to him. He left to get the vault locked explosives in the back but not before shouting back, "Ma'am, there's suppressed guns on the rack behind you for you and your team!" I turned to find he was correct, two suppressed BR55s, an MA5B with its own suppressor, and an M6C/SOCOM with two spare mags. I holstered the pistol and mags than the MA5 before passing out the Battle Rifles to Yang and Weiss.
Henderson got his pack back while trading sarcastic verbal challenges between MacLaren and him. Then we finished loading up the Stomper and were off. Usually I don't go for the fucking tedious bullshit like this since Ops don't last this long, but since we'd be gone for nearly a month with no aerial resupplies, I just swallowed my gripes and stayed quiet till we were airborne.
AND DONE! Whew! Two months and 7k+ plus words! Better than chapter one! That took forever and didn't have Betas the first time around. Reminders that Chapter one will be updated too.
So… Weiss Goes nuclear… heh! Whiterose "Spartan-style" confirmed? Maybe… it's up to the Bossman Green!
Some may ask why the call-outs to the 20th, 21st and a hint of early 22nd Century from Henderson, Basically, Like his buddy in Ch.1 called him out on, He's into the "Ancient" culture of the classics! And as an Hetero Otaku… Faunus' fathers should be wary of their 18yo's!
Now! Next, you see Fireteam Reaper! Will be in the main story! Chapter 45 exactly…
Also a special thanks to the Betas of Green's Discord, you're a rowdy bunch of bastards, but I still think you're awesome.
AND I GOT REVIEWS!
ThunderBladeN
I've always wondered about the assorted Marines on Remnant, but never actually thought we'd get a story on it. Ghost did an excellent job penning this chapter, and I look forward to more.
Cheers Mate! But hang on tight as there's more cool stuff planned!
Now… I'm going to sleep for a month as I have, for the last three weeks, been trying to pump out the last of this chapter while also tending to the litter of Puppies my female Cocker Spaniel gave birth to; Two girls, three boys. They're so cute now they can walk!
Hooroo Lads!
GreenTheRyno said - "I may not be a dog person, but even I can appreciate those puppy pics you've been sharing on the Discord. Either way, this chapter does put Team RWBY a bit ahead of the main story - I'll be picking up where Ghost left of in a couple chapters. Then we'll get a tiny bit of a timeskip (ish) while RWBY (plus Henderson and Cerberus) do their thing.
So yeah, hope y'all enjoyed, and I'll see ya either in an omake, the main story, oooooor maybe BRWL if the gods will it."