Oh my gosh this chapter is long. But you get TWO mission scenes, starting with a bit of Yang. So yeah! Enjoy!
Part I
The Lost Child
August 24, 1361 KE (Remnant Calendar) / Remnant
The Bullhead rattled against high winds as it flew through the air over the island of Patch. Yang gripped the straps that were holding her to her seat as hard as she could. This wasn't the first time she had flown in a Bullhead, or the first time she had experienced turbulence as bad as this, but this was the first time she would be dropped into the middle of the forest with the task of killing her first Grimm.
At twelve years old, she was right on track to graduating with everyone else. Signal had certain milestones to reach as you aged, and her next one would be to kill a beowolf or two. Most huntsmen trainees would kill their first Grimm around the age of twelve, and Yang was no exception.
That didn't stop her nerves from bubbling up through her stomach. She looked out through the open side door and the closest window to see trees fly by beneath her. Vale's natural landscape really was a beautiful place, so long as you were out of reach of the Grimm.
Her head turned back to the rest of the group from Signal that would be earning this achievement alongside her. About a dozen or so students filled the seats next to, and opposite her. At the door opposite the open hatch, which was tightly closed, stood her uncle Qrow, who would be chaperoning them, and keeping them safe should any accidents happen.
The pilot spoke through the intercom into each occupant's ear pieces, standard for large group huntsman operations. "Alright, we're almost over the drop site. Prepare to jump. As soon as you exit the aircraft, we will return to Signal, refuel, and come back out to pick you up in about an hour and a half. Good luck, kids!" Qrow gave the pilot a thumbs up through the open door leading into the cockpit.
The trees below them passed by slower as the Bullhead decreased it's velocity. Coming to a complete stop over a grassy clearing in the center of miles and miles of dense trees. The Bullhead dropped to a hover about twenty feet above the ground.
"Grab your packs, and be sure to activate your Aura as you land. You can't fight the Grimm with busted ankles." Qrow yelled over the sounds of the engine.
Yang was the closest to the open door, so she unlatched her seatbelt, and jumped out first. She felt the warm embrace of her Aura around her feet as she landed on the soft grass. Her shotgun gauntlets were brought up a half a second later. Lilac eyes scanned the surrounding forests for any movement as the rest of her team made their way safely off the Bullhead.
Qrow was the last to land, he spoke once the sound of the Bullhead dissipated in the distance. "Okay, I'm sure you all realized how badly I don't want to be here, so let's get this done quickly and go home. Each of you will pick a direction and travel out about a hundred feet. We'll make a perimeter around this clearing and fend off any Grimm that comes near." He gestured to the forests surrounding them. Some of the students were confused at his first statement, his dour attitude hadn't changed much from the norm. Yang could tell he was grouchier than normal, however, and so did a few other students who knew him really well.
"Each of you only needs to kill one Grimm, just to get a feel for it. Once you've got your kill, call it out and return to this clearing. Everyone else who has not yet gotten a kill will then come closer to the center of the clearing, and tighten the perimeter. This will go on until each one of you has a kill, and afterwards, you can all move back to your original spots, and take down as many Grimm as you please, until the Bullhead returns. Am I understood?" He watched the group as he got a dozen half hearted hums of acknowledgement and nodding heads.
"Good, let's get to it." It only took them a minute or so to figure out who would go where. She had picked the direction from which the Bullhead came. She thought it would be the most likely spot for a Grimm to show up as it would have followed the sound of the engines.
Each student, some Yang's friends, some not, made their way about a hundred feet underneath the shadowy canopy of the tall trees. It was hot out, and humid, which was doing horrors to her hair, she silently thanked whatever deity out there for the shade.
Yang remained vigilant, her eyes moved left to right and left again as she looked far into the forest for any signs of Grimm: fast movement, glowing red eyes, white bony growths, anything that would mean a Grimm was nearby.
After about ten minutes, Yang had seen nothing. She let out a deep sigh as she continued her now less than exhilarating watch into the forest. Before she stood in her fighting stance ready for anything, but now she leaned all her weight on one leg and put her hand on her hip. If this was really going to take an hour and a half then she could at least be comfortable.
She heard the sounds of gunfire and roars coming from the other side of the perimeter, the exact opposite direction from the one Yang had chosen. She pouted a bit once the combat died down and the sounds of cheerful laughter erupted from that same direction. A group message was sent to each of their scrolls: tighten the perimeter.
Yang walked backwards, her eyes still on the forest, about ten or twelve feet before she stopped. Typically, Grimm would trickle in slowly at the beginning, but once combat had really begun they would start pouring in. She hoped that would happen soon.
Another ten minutes had gone by, and only one other person, somewhere to her left, had gotten a kill. She sighed as she moved backwards again and still didn't see any movement.
After another ten minutes, she was starting to get bored. Her watch shifted from where the Grimm would come among the trees to anything and everything that caught her eye. The leaves swaying in the trees above. The ants crawling across the dirt at her feet holding little bits of fallen leaves and nuts and such things. She even took to studying the bark on a nearby tree, noting the seemingly random texture and the varied colors of the tree trunk.
A loud snapping noise brought her attention back to the forest in front of her. She watched as a Beowulf bounded towards her at breakneck speeds. She barely had time to jump out of the way as the beast headbutted the tree she was standing in front of.
She rolled a safe distance away and shot to her feet in time for the Grimm to resume its pursuit. This time, she was ready.
She planted her back foot into the ground and twisted her body with all her might as her fist connected with the monster's snout. It gave a high pitched yelp as its body compressed around her outstretched arm. The Beowulf was launched backwards as she followed through with the punch, knocking down a few smaller saplings as it rolled across the forest floor.
Yang didn't wait for it to regain its senses and charged the struggling beast. She jumped and put all her weight behind another punch to the Beowulf's nose as she fell past it. This time, with a discharge of Ember Celica. She landed with a roll, killing off the rest of her momentum.
She pivoted on her knee as she watched the Beowolf swat at its busted nose as if in pain. A black, tar-like substance dripped from its wound and evaporated into heavy black smoke on the ground.
The Grimm roared in anger, and charged at her again. Yang rolled under its head-level swipe, and fired Ember Celica at its back, blowing away chunks of ivory spikes and bone plating.
The Grimm's angry cries only grew in volume. This one must be an alpha or something. Nothing younger would be able to withstand attacks like that.
Yang sprinted to the side, and the Grimm watched her as she went. She didn't care, she wasn't trying to reach its side anyway.
She jumped, kicked off a boulder, then higher up a tree trunk, and, climbing ten feet in the air, she rained dust slugs down on the Beowolf's face. It tried to block with its forearms, but they were soon blown apart under her high-explosive onslaught.
As her arc turned down, she positioned herself to land on the Grimm itself. She brought her feet up and landed on its face, further shattering its bone mask. She stumbled off of the uneven landing and turned to watch the beaten and battered Grimm rise onto its rear legs, pitch black ichor leaking out of every limb on its body.
It roared in frustration one last time before Yang fired her gauntlet. Its head exploded into black liquid and smoke, and the beast fell backwards. Quickly dissolving into nothing as its remains fluttered off in the wind.
Yang let out a cheer as the world slowed back down to its normal speed, her adrenaline wearing off quickly. She turned and saw Qrow and several others clapping and congratulating her on killing such a large Grimm. Some were jealous, but most were as happy as she was.
She made her way to the group and received a pat on the back from her uncle. "Good job, Firecracker. I thought I'd have to step in for a minute there."
"Yeah, maybe to clean it up after I killed it." Yang laughed as Qrow frowned and flicked her in the nose. She moved over to a few of her friends to discuss each other's kills, and how exciting it was to kill them.
She and the other students sat cross legged in the center of the meadow as the rest of the students got their kills. Once it was down to the last few kids, Qrow had stepped in to secure the perimeter where they couldn't; it would be unfair to force a single person to watch three hundred sixty degrees of forest when there were eleven other capable students and a full-fledged huntsman chilling on the grass fifty feet away.
They all watched and cheered encouragement for the last student as she killed her first Grimm. She fought head to head with an Ursa Minor, and managed to come out on top after she managed to get underneath it and impale it through its head with her mecha-shift halberd.
It was quiet afterwards. It seemed the Grimm had realized they all did what they came here to do, and opted to give them almost an hour's rest before the Bullhead returned.
Yang sat on the grass, pulling up little clumps and letting them float away with the breeze when one of the students, a faunus, shot to her feet, and told everyone to be quiet. Qrow brandished his weapon a moment later, and each student followed soon after.
Their group stood in a circle facing outwards into the forests. Watching and listening for any Grimm that might try their luck at attacking the group.
For a long while nothing happened, at least, nothing happened that Yang had noticed. Upon asking her, the faunus student said she still heard the monster breaking twigs and knocking over loose rocks somewhere in the distance. Even though Yang didn't hear it, she focused on the woods as if she did. The Grimm were a very serious threat, even more so when you could see or hear it.
Yang's eyes jerked to the right as she saw the slightest movement in the corner of her vision. When she focused on where it had come from, everything was still again. That didn't stop her from calling it out. The fact the faunus was also looking at the same place as her helped prove there was a Grimm stalking them from that direction.
A low huffing noise had Yang bringing her gauntlets up in preparation for a fight. Now she, a human, was hearing it. Either the Grimm was getting reckless, or it was close. There would be a fight either way.
Yang turned around when she heard the sound of footsteps crunching through dried foliage and saw the Grimm, a juvenile Beowolf, they had been on the watch for. Everyone turned their weapons on the beast, but lowered them a bit when Qrow spoke.
"No, eight of you, keep your eyes on the forest, watch for any more. You four, take down the Grimm, and quickly. Any prolonged fight will attract more." Qrow said. She was not among the four assigned to kill the Grimm, but she wouldn't complain about it when, on the other side of the clearing, two more juvenile Beowolves breached the treeline.
"Alright, never mind. It's open season, kids. Be safe and have fun." Qrow said. Each student broke off into groups of four and attacked each Beowolf simultaneously. Yang had chosen the biggest of the three. She, and two others, switched off taking pot shots at the beast while the fourth used a longer ranged weapon to fire at it from afar. All in all the three Grimm were disposed of in less than a minute. Yang thought she could have taken all three by herself and come out unscathed. The fact there were twelve students at or around her skill level, along with one of the strongest huntsmen in Vale was just overkill.
Silence befell the forest around them again as soon as the last smoke hissed away and dissolved in the wind. Yang sometimes wondered where the smoke went after the Grimm had died. Does it go into the ground? Does it make more Grimm? Does it pollute the air around the dead Grimm? She hoped whatever it was wasn't too bad.
A long time had passed before Qrow announced the Bullhead would be arriving within ten minutes. Each student packed their things into their small bags and stood at the ready to leave once it appeared. No one wanted to be in Grimm infested forests for longer than they needed to.
Yang thought she heard the sounds of a Bullhead in the distance over the silent forest until the forests weren't silent any more. A long roar of a Grimm drowned out the noise of the engine before she could confirm that it was an engine. Again, each student dropped to their fighting stance, ready for when the next Grimm would show it's ugly face.
They were all eager to kill Grimm, at least, until Qrow dashed it. "Get back into the circle, that wasn't an ordinary Beowolf."
"What was it, then?" Yang asked as her eyes scanned the forest again.
"I'm not sure, but I think it was a Goliath." He said.
"A Goliath!? How is one of those even out here? Wouldn't someone have killed it by now since it's so close to Signal?" One of her classmates said.
"Apparently not. Whatever it is, we can't fight it. It will only attract more Grimm. We'll stay here, try and suppress our emotions, and wait until the Bullhead arrives. It can't be far off now." Qrow sheathed his weapon and motioned for the rest of them to do the same. She remembered in one of her classes that it was easier to avoid detection from a Grimm when you were relaxed, and brandishing a weapon was typically not a relaxing thing for anyone, especially huntsmen and huntresses in training.
They all focused on their breathing, and gave each other calming gestures as the sounds of the Bullhead's engines grew louder and louder. Every so often they would hear the sounds of the Goliath's roar again, and each student would double their efforts to calm themselves afterwards. Yang didn't believe they would fight it, but even the idea of something as giant as a Goliath anywhere close to her would give her goosebumps on her best day.
Soon enough the sounds of the Goliath's footsteps were heard just as easily as the Bullhead engines. Yang squinted her eyes to where the Bullhead would be coming from, hoping to see it. She let out a sigh of relief when she saw a bright glimmer off of the Bullhead's windscreen.
"It's okay, guys. The Bullhead is almost here." She said. Only a few of the students around her dropped their shoulders in relief.
The forest, once filled with the sounds of chirping birds and lazily waving leaves, now seemed silent beyond the low rumble of the Bullhead and the heavy, drumming footsteps of the Goliath.
"If it makes you feel any better," Qrow said, "this one's not a big one." Yang looked at her uncle for confirmation, an incredulous expression on her face. This is what a little one sounds like? She didn't want to experience what a big one could do.
The Bullhead arrived first, its downward thrust stirring up small twigs, leaves, and clumps of dirt as it approached the ground slowly. Qrow quickly gestured for them to board the aircraft, telling them to ignore securing their bags into the ship as they did before their flight out here. What mattered was all of them getting out safely.
Yang was about to board the Bullhead last when a powerful shake and a more powerful roar threatened to burst her eardrums. She turned and saw the massive Grimm towering over the treeline. The Goliath had come.
The monster was at least twenty feet tall, if not more, and sported a thick, pale white bone mask with two massive curved tusks jutting out of its face. A row of long, white bone spikes protruded from its spine, and its legs were covered in scratched and chipped bone plating, no doubt serving to protect it from the strikes of the shorter humans it had no doubt trampled in the past. Its trunk swung violently in front of it, as if challenging them to fight.
Qrow produced his weapon immediately, and motioned for all of them to strap themselves into the Bullhead. "Hurry up, and sit down! I'll keep it distracted while you get into the air. I'll follow you once you're free." Just as Qrow finished, the Goliath began its charge. Creating large holes in the ground where its massive feet struck the dirt.
Qrow was on it in a second. He jumped through the air, avoiding the swipes of its trunk and the swings of its tusks, and sliced the beast across its side. He landed in a sprint to avoid any retaliatory kicks from its hind legs.
The beast turned, it picked up a rock with its trunk and flung it towards the small man. Qrow dodged it with ease, and fired pot shots at the beast's face. He turned and ran, leading the creature further into the woods.
Yang watched, her face twisted in concern, as her uncle disappeared into the forest. One of the pilots gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "It's okay, Yang. I've worked with him for years at Signal, if anyone can get out of this, it's him." He turned, and made his way back to the cockpit. The engines roar became louder and louder as it powered up, launching more dust and debris around the grassy clearing.
After a minute, the Bullhead was off the ground, and rising above the forest canopy. They turned, and moved in the direction Qrow had taken the Goliath, making sure they were well out of reach of the Grimm in case it appeared out of nowhere.
It wasn't hard to find them. Their battle had left a long trail of broken trees for them to follow. Qrow was busy avoiding the beast's massive feet as he sliced its underbelly with his sword. He only gave the approaching Bullhead a glance before he turned his attention back to the rampaging elephant.
He ran from underneath it and used a nearby tree to launch himself on top of the beast. He gripped its back spikes and used his sword to keep its trunk away as the Bullhead attempted to get near enough for Qrow to jump on.
Yang caught a good glimpse at the angry Grimm as it tried desperately to get the human off of its back, taking deep gashes on its trunk for the effort. They were about twenty feet away from the Goliath by the time Qrow had jumped. He pushed so much Aura into his legs that even Yang could see the dull red glow that left a trail from where he jumped from the Goliath, to halfway to the Bullhead.
Yang unlatched her seatbelt and ran to the door, hand outstretched to catch her uncle, she knew he wouldn't make it otherwise.
His hand hit hers with a loud slap. They both gripped each other's wrist as Yang pulled him up with all her strength. He made it fully in the Bullhead's passenger bay when Yang activated her Semblance and hauled him in with artificial strength.
As soon as the pilot confirmed Qrow was safe inside the aircraft, they shot away at high speeds, deftly avoiding the tree trunks and rocks the Goliath had lobbed towards them in an effort to bring them down.
Qrow and Yang fell to the floor as the Bullhead accelerated. The door shut with a hard thud behind them as they climbed to their feet.
"Are you okay?" Yang said, eyes wide with fear.
"Of course I am, that little baby was nothing." Qrow said, breaths coming out heavy as he gripped to a handle attached to the ceiling.
"I don't know, you looked like you were about to cry when I saw you riding that thing." Yang's fear turned to jest once she saw her uncle was alright.
"I was not! Maybe next time you distract the giant monster while I get a nice cozy ride in the Bullhead." Qrow poked her in the cheek, eliciting a giggle from Yang.
"I won't need to distract it, I would've killed it." Yang poked at his stomach in return, making him jerk to the side. She wouldn't tell anybody, because that would ruin his reputation, but Yang thought it was funny that the strongest huntsman and Vale, and probably the world, was extremely ticklish.
"Hey, stop it! I'm sure you would, Firecracker. Go sit down and rest, it's a long ride back home." Yang did as Qrow said, and tightened her seat belt around her without making a noise.
Her eyes rose to meet her uncle again. "We're pretty lucky to have gotten away from that Goliath, aren't we?"
Her uncle looked back at her, his mirth now replaced with a blank expression. "Yeah, we sure are lucky."
Yang turned back towards the nearby window, the same one she had been looking out of during their flight here, and watched as the forest below them zoomed by.
Her own happiness was replaced by solemn recollection as she realized what Grimm they had been killing. Most of the Grimm they saw were Beowolves. She remembered playing with Ruby long ago with her Beowolf toys. They would pretend they were powerful huntresses killing the evil Grimm and saving the day for a town filled with a bunch of Ruby's other dolls.
A soft sigh escaped her lips, capturing the attention of her friend beside her. "Hey, Yang, what's up?"
Yang turned her head to look at her. "Hey, Savannah. The usual. You know how it is." Yang said.
"Thinking about Ruby again? You wanna talk about it?" Savannah said. Her cream blonde hair fell to one side of her face. Blocking the sun's rays streaming through the window from reaching her dark brown eyes.
"Yeah. She and I used to play with her Beowolf dolls when we were younger. Some of the Beowolves we killed today looked a lot like the ones we had at home." Yang wiped some moisture from her eyes as she recalled the fond memory.
"We used to set up our pillows to act as a little battlefield and have one of my old doll houses be a castle the Grimm were guarding. We would pretend to kill all the Grimm and save the people inside. Then cheer as everybody got home safe." Yang sniffed as Savannah put one comforting hand on her shoulder.
"After she left, we were going to donate her toys to charity. Dad says it's what she would have wanted. But, I kept one of those Beowolf toys. It's still in my room, sitting on my nightstand next to my bed. It helps me remember her. The good parts, at least."
"Yang, I've been there for you ever since Ruby died." Yang's breath hitched at that. She should have known she didn't like it when people said she was dead. She carried on without apologizing.
"I want you to know I'm proud of you for being so strong. It's amazing seeing you get back up every time something knocks you down. I don't know when it'll happen, but the pain will go away, and you'll be left with good memories. I remember my cousin that way, and I know that he wasn't as close to me like you were to Ruby, but, I guess my point is, you're not alone, Yang." Savannah said, squeezing her shoulder reassuringly.
Yang looked up to look into her eyes, a silent message of appreciation was sent between her and Savannah, one that didn't need to be conveyed with words. Her attention was caught by her uncle, who was slowly nodding his head, as if agreeing with Savannah.
Yang let out a short laugh, one mixed with joy and sadness as she wiped the last of her tears away. "Thanks. You don't know how lucky I feel to have you as a friend." She said.
"Don't mention it, Yang. I'll always be here when you need me." Yang brought her arm up to hug her friend. They sat there for a few minutes, enjoying each other's warmth.
Yang thought about her words. Especially her insistence on saying Ruby was dead. She had scolded Savannah before, she let her know that Ruby wasn't really dead, she was missing. She knew Savannah had her best interest in mind when she told her she needed to move on. But something wouldn't let her.
Every time she considered the idea that Ruby might actually be dead, she would have this strange feeling in the back of her mind. Like a silent whisper telling her she was alive, out there, somewhere.
One time, about a year ago, she had actually tried to tell herself her sister was dead after a particularly hard day. She woke up five minutes later with a bloody nose and a pounding headache. Her father said it was because she was overwhelmed with emotion, and must have passed out once her anger, sadness, and grief overloaded her semblance. She didn't think so, she hadn't remembered her semblance activating. The only thing she recalled was a stabbing sensation in the back of her mind, and then blackness. The bloody nose might have been from her falling, but she wasn't fully convinced of that either. Her body refused to believe her sister was dead, and so her mind had given up trying.
Her sister was out there, she had to be. She would find her. As soon as she was a full fledged huntress, she would scour Remnant looking for her. Nothing would stop her from reuniting with her sister, absolutely nothing.
January 1, 2545 (Military Calendar) / Onyx, Zeta Doradus system
The bulkhead of the pelican dropship insulated Ruby and Zwei from the sounds of the great thunderstorm outside. Ruby watched the rain and occasional bolt of lightning through the pelican bay window. She tapped a tune on her armored leg, incapable of calming her nerves before their final mission.
Ambrose had said this would be their last training exercise before graduation. He had been rather vague on the details. Probably to keep our focus on the mission itself, and not looking forward to any ceremony afterwards.
Ruby turned to look at Zwei just as a nearby lightning bolt illuminated his helmeted face. They both wore their SPI armor. In the years since they were given the armor, they had to have it refitted for their growing frames, and Ruby's was adjusted more than most.
She stood up and stretched her stiff muscles awake, her six foot eight inch frame appeared two inches taller due to her armor. Ruby had realized a while ago that her growth had begun around the time their diets had changed. They must have been spiking the food with some sort of growth hormones and other such things to make them grow abnormally tall, and Ruby was an abnormal of the abnormal. She easily stood several inches taller than most of her peers, not even Zwei was as tall as her. She didn't tease him about it though. He had been taller for a while, and she had a feeling he wasn't as okay about losing the height contest as he let on.
She sat back down with a short huff as she watched Zwei watch her. They looked at each other for several seconds, trying to guess what the other was thinking.
"The mission?" Ruby guessed, opting for the most obvious choice.
"Nope. I was thinking about our time here at Camp Currahee, our childhoods before that, and what the future might be like." He turned his head, probably looking at the floor in front of him, she couldn't tell through the opaque visor.
"Okay, Aristotle." Ruby giggled.
"I'm serious. I told you what my life was like before coming here. I don't think you've ever mentioned what your life was like, or, not a lot of it at least." He tilted his head inquisitively at her. Ruby did the same, more for trying to remember her childhood rather than asking a question.
"Well, I don't remember much. It was a long time ago." Ruby said. She snapped her fingers and pointed in the air when something came to her mind.
"Oh! I remember! This one time, me and this other girl were playing… I think it was my room, with these little toy monsters. She had brought her doll house over, and I set up my blankets and pillows to make a sort of dynamic landscape for our little heroes to fight the monsters with." As Ruby spoke, Zwei stayed silent, listening intently to her story.
"We had all these other little toys set up to act as townspeople who were trapped by the monsters. We, ever the heroic duo, defeated the monsters, and saved the townspeople. I think her dad walked in once he heard us cheering and laughing at our victory, and yelled at us to be quieter. I don't remember much besides that." Ruby said. Zwei nodded across from her, and made a small gesture, asking if there was anything else.
"I think the girl I was playing with was actually my sister, but, from what I remember, she didn't look anything like me. She had blonde hair, and I have dark red hair. We must have been really good friends, and I just imagined she was my sister because I thought it would be fun. I don't really remember her name. It started with a 'Y' I think." Ruby put one finger to the side of her head as she felt her eyes cross in an effort to remember. Nothing else came to mind.
"Sounds like you had a pretty good childhood. A lot better than mine." Zwei said.
"I don't think that matters anymore. What does matter is where we are right now, and right now, we have a mission to complete." Ruby stood again, and made her way to the door connecting the troop bay with the cockpit. She rattled her knuckles against it a few times, and yelled to the crew beyond.
"Hey, pilot! How long until our drop point?" Ruby yelled as loud as she could so she could be heard through her helmet, the closed steel door, and the thunderstorm outside.
"You know, you could have just spoken to us through your comm link." The pilot said through her helmet speakers. Ruby said nothing. She felt heat creep up in her face as she realized: yes, she could have done that. But it hadn't crossed her mind. She just wanted to move away from the foggy memories of her past, and making a fool of herself, apparently, was the best option.
"The drop zone is two klicks out, be prepared to drop in forty." The pilot said. A few years ago, she might have been confused; forty what? Miles? Years? Elephants? Her time at Camp Currahee, along with the several other missions she had planned and successfully completed, had clued her in on the jargon of several different military professions. She was entirely engrossed in the culture of the UNSC, and she didn't know what she would be without it.
Ruby hurried back to her seat, and produced her Sniper Rifle, and M6C magnum. Both sported a red powder coating with white rose decals on either side. They were decorated in order to match her own armor's color, and her personal rose emblem, which she had designed herself. She also grabbed a simple parachute, similar to the one Zwei and her used on their first day. She handed one to Zwei as soon as she secured her own.
"Artemis and Rose Thorn are secured." She said. They were the names of her sniper and magnum respectively. "And your weapons Zwei?"
"I'm not naming my weapons." He said without looking at her.
"Oh, come on! Each weapon needs a name. If you don't name them, I will." She said.
"You can name them whatever you want. I'll call them by what they are. An Assault Rifle and a Magnum." He patted his sidearm on his side as he spoke.
"That's so boring. You need to have a little creativity in your life. It'll be good for you."
"What I need is for us to get on with the mission and stay focused." He moved to the bay door that was shielding them from the elements, and waited for it to open.
"I'm always focused. When have you ever not seen me focused?" Ruby moved beside him, doing the same.
"Never. At least, not during the mission. But you goofing off before a mission doesn't fill me with too much confidence. I feel like you're not taking this seriously." He said.
"I take every mission we go on seriously. I just don't want a stick up my butt like all the other Spartans. Not that you have a stick up your butt or anything." She added, embarrassed at the implication.
"Nice. Whatever, just get your head in the game before it's too late." He said.
The troop bay was filled with a flashing red light as the hatch before them slowly opened. Letting in stray droplets from the storm. The pilot spoke to them through their helmet comms.
"Here we are, you two. We're 25,000 feet above the base, just as you asked. I'm not sure what makes you so adamant about jumping from this height?" The pilot said.
"It's simple. We don't want them to know we're coming. That's why I scheduled this during a thunderstorm: to hide our approach." Ruby spoke into her helmet comm. Zwei heard her just as well as the pilot did.
"Well, I'm glad I had to fly this junk bucket through a raging thunderstorm just because you wanted the element of surprise. Next time, call someone else to be your taxi service." Ruby winced a little at the pilot's words.
"Thank you for flying us all the way out here through a thunderstorm! I really appreciate it." Ruby said, probably a little too late.
"Yeah, whatever."
Satisfied the pilot wasn't angry at her, she gave Zwei a peace sign and leaned backwards out of the pelican bay and felt the tug of gravity take her downwards at high speeds through the haze of dark storm clouds. Her motion tracker indicated Zwei had followed her not a second later.
They both plummeted at terminal velocity through the occasional bolt of lightning that left Ruby wide eyed at the awesome show of nature. It was jumps like these that made her proud to be a Spartan. No one else got to fly by lightning as it struck.
After several seconds of freefall, the lights of the base became visible through the lowest layers of the storm. The compound was massive, easily three times the size of the base they infiltrated on their first mission, and filled to the brim with hostiles. Intelligence had told them there was a contingent of 100 rebel soldiers; personnel who were only meant to simulate rebel soldiers, but rebel soldiers all the same, at least for the exercise.
Ruby steered herself to a nearby cliff face that overlooked the compound. Ensuring she made as little noise as possible, and kept her silhouette against the sky as small as possible, she pulled the cord on her parachute at the last second. Her legs jerked in front of her as she decelerated close to the ground. Had she not been wearing the SPI armor, it wouldn't have been enough.
Her legs bent as she landed. The dirt underneath her compacting under her weight. The parachute landed a second later, somehow squeezing it's way past the trees she had landed beside. She quickly discarded the parachute, not bothering to gather it since this storm would only last for a few more minutes at this intensity, and settled her mind, focusing intently on the task at hand.
She heard a dull thump about a hundred feet to her right. "How was your landing?" Ruby asked.
"A little harder than I would have liked, but I'll live." Zwei answered.
"Good. We'll make our way south. Double time, we want as much of this storm as cover as we can get." She said.
She started running a moment after Zwei did. Following her visor's compass, she covered the quarter mile between them and the base in a little over two minutes. Fast, but not so fast she would tire herself out before the mission truly began.
They both stopped at the cliff face overlooking the compound. Past the cover of the clouds, they could clearly see the base, and all the personnel still active late at night. Ruby produced her rifle from her back, and got a good look at their target through its scope.
"Look at all those busy little bees. Looks like we have our work cut out for us." Ruby said as she scanned the base left and right.
"This looks like well over a hundred tangos. The intel was wrong." Zwei said. He must have been using his visor's zoom capability. Nowhere near the zoom of her scope, but it would do for the time being.
"You can't always rely on intel, Zwei. things can change between recon and the actual mission. Looks like that's happened here." She said.
They both were silent as they counted. She stopped once she broke into the 120s.
"Over 120 hostiles." She said.
"I count at least 155." Zwei said. She whistled at that. This would be much harder than they had anticipated.
"You've got enough ammo, right, Ruby?" He said.
"Of course. When have I ever under packed for a fun little trip like this." She said.
"Glad to hear it. Let's get to work." They both backed off from the side of the cliff, and prepared their gear for the stealth mission to come. She attached silencers to her side arm and sniper rifle. Due to the nature of the operation, it being close quarters, she loaded her rifle with subsonic rounds, allowing the silencer to actually work somewhat decently. She wouldn't be using the rifle until after things went south, however. The M6C would work perfectly fine until then.
She watched Zwei do the same to his weapons. When they felt they were good and silent, they identified a good path down the cliff, and slowly made their way towards the compound.
"Remind me again, what's the objective here?" Zwei said after a few minutes of silence as they snuck down the cliff face.
"Nothing too fancy. We're here to eliminate as many hostiles as possible before we are eliminated. Kind of like a suicide op. My guess is we're being scored based off of our performance, and not upon completing an objective. I can't imagine killing them all would count as a perfect score. To do that I think we'd have to kill them all with a bit of style." She said as she carefully placed her feet where she hoped would be solid ground.
"Style?" Zwei asked as he walked behind her, probably doing the same thing.
"Yeah, style. I think we should take them all out without being spotted. What do you think?"
"Either that, or take them out within a certain span of time."
"Heh, why not both?"
"Both is good. Let's do both."
"Copy that. We'll enter the compound quietly and split up. Take out any guards you see, and make sure to hide the bodies as best you can. Slow and steady wins the race." Ruby said as they reached the bottom of the cliff. The walls of the compound were a good forty feet from their location. Plenty of space for a guard on the wall to see any intruders and either shoot them, or alert the rest of the base. They weren't ordinary intruders, however.
They both fizzled out of existence as their active camouflage engaged. Ruby could only see Zwei's IFF tag identifying him as a friendly, and nothing else. They both stalked towards the wall. Careful not to make any sound as they moved. A single twig could put their whole mission in jeopardy.
They reached the base of the wall before long. They checked their gear one last time before scaling it. Twelve feet separated them from their targets. Ruby grunted as she lifted Zwei up and over the wall. He hauled her up afterwards with very little effort. Despite their size difference, he was much stronger than her.
Ruby brought her pistol up to scan the immediate vicinity. "All clear. Make your way clockwise around the wall, take out as many guards as you can. I'll move counterclockwise." Ruby whispered over their comms.
"Copy that. Be careful out there." Zwei said.
"You too." She moved her feet with a practiced grace as she made her way down the length of the wall. Her eyes moved from the people mulling about within the compound, and the other guards stationed on the buildings. She would have to make sure no one was watching when she eliminated a guard.
She slowed to a snail's crawl as she approached her first victim. A shorter man wearing a thick helmet and whistling a made up tune. Ruby cursed under her breath. I hope no one comes snooping when the whistling stops.
She didn't really have a choice. The guards on the walls were her primary target as they would be the ones most likely to sound the alarm if she or Zwei were spotted.
She moved the last few feet from her to her target, and placed the barrel of her sidearm a few inches from the back of his head. Getting shot this close would definitely leave a mark, but she needed to catch him when he fell, so he wouldn't make any noise.
A single pull of the trigger, and a soft pew sound later, and the man was unconscious. Ruby's hands came up to catch the man underneath his armpits, and she quickly moved him towards the edge of the wall and dumped him outside the compound. It would hopefully be a while before anyone would cover this part of the wall again, and by that time, they would hopefully all be dead.
"One tango down, you?" Ruby asked.
"I count three." Zwei answered.
"Show off."
"Get good." Ruby shut off her comms at that and shook her head. Now wasn't the time for an argument on who was better at what. I'm perfectly good enough at this, thank you very much.
She moved on from her 'kill' and repeated the process several times until she was almost to the completely opposite side of the compound. Each hostile she took out was just as silent and discreet as the last, and all were disposed of on the outside of the wall.
She noticed Zwei and she had turned down the same strip of wall where three different guards stood; two were close enough to either of them that they could take them out with relative ease, but the last one would surely notice both of his buddies being knocked out cold.
"We'll take out the closer guards simultaneously, then you silence the last one with your sidearm." Zwei said.
"Affirmative." Ruby said. This is going to be good.
She was inches away from her target by the time she sent a ping to Zwei. When she received one in return, she moved. He fell in the same way as the last half dozen guards did. Only this time, when she caught him, she quickly shifted her focus onto the man about a dozen meters away. She squinted one eye as she aimed her pistol, and fired. Three shots, three paint splatters, all center mass, and the man was down.
"All wall guards eliminated. Move into the compound itself." Ruby said. She hauled the man she was carrying off the wall, moved to do the same to the guard she shot, and then dropped down into the compound.
"Estimated remaining hostiles?" Ruby asked.
"I'd guess at least 120, at most 140." Zwei said.
"Copy that. Make your way into this building," She said as she highlighted one of the smaller buildings in the base, "take out all personnel inside as quietly as you can. I'll clear this building, and we'll carry on from there." Ruby said.
"Affirmative." Was all she got in return.
She started towards the building she was referring to. It was similar to the one she pointed out to Zwei, they probably served similar purposes too.
Her invisible head peaked through a first floor window to see three guards standing around a table with what looked like playing cards spread across it. These guys must like the classics.
The door next to the window was locked, evident by the unmoving knob. She forgot that door as soon as she realized it, and moved on to the next.
The next door's window had it's blinds closed, but the lights were on inside it, so someone had to have been occupying that space. She considered entering through there, but thought better of it when she imagined a dozen hostiles pointing their rifles back at her as soon as she opened the door. She didn't bother checking whether it was locked or not.
The final door appeared to enter a completely empty room. She wondered why a building like this would need three back doors. Must be because it's designed to hold a lot of people. They're probably fire exits or something. That didn't bode well for her. She needed to take out as many smaller groups as possible, preferably as small as groups of two, or one, that way she could take them out without having to worry about anyone slipping away and alerting the whole base to her presence.
The door's handle clicked softly as she turned it, and the door itself opened with a light squeak as she aimed her pistol into the following room. Just as she suspected, no one was home. She let out a sigh of relief as she closed the door behind her just as softly as she had opened it.
She moved to the next doorway leading into the hallway. She cast a shadow back into the room as she peaked her invisible head around the corner. The suits couldn't make them completely undetectable, after all.
The hallway was clear, not a single person in sight. She hurried to the closest doorway, and snuck inside. She saw a pair of rebels sleeping on different couches as she closed the door behind her. I like it when they sleep.
She could imagine herself silencing them with a knife, were this a real operation. Instead, she aimed her pistol at the nearest person, and quickly flicked to the second once she fired. They were out like a light, and not of their own volition this time.
The next room was similar to the last, empty, except for two people sleeping on separate couches. What a strange way to organize a barracks. They could at least have used cots. She didn't pay any extra mind as she took them out.
There were only two doors left in the hallway, and, if she remembered correctly, one of them was the room with the light on, probably full of people watching a sports broadcast or something.
But before that, she had another room to clear, the one with the people playing cards. She looked through the cracked open door, and saw a few people standing around what looked like a billiards table. Each one held a long stick, and a few were smoking. I hate to ruin the fun- oh, who am I kidding, of course I don't.
She wore a grin on her face as she burst through the room and flicked the barrel of her pistol to each person. Two shots to center mass each brought them down before they could react. She searched the corners of the room, and once she found it was empty of conscious souls besides her, she reloaded her weapon, and listened for anyone coming to investigate; this room hadn't been as quiet as the last.
She moved on once she heard the cheering coming from the final room. The door was completely closed this time; she wouldn't be able to peek.
A glance at her motion tracker indicated at least five people. Which meant there were most likely more in the room that were not moving.
She took a deep breath, letting her body grow loose as she prepared her senses to focus on the task at hand. Once she was satisfied and ready, she kicked the door down.
There were more than her motion tracker had picked up. At least eight bewildered faces watched as she moved her pistol to the only man holding a weapon and began firing. She wouldn't say she panicked when one of them moved to the fire alarm, but once they were all down in the span of a few seconds, their faces littered with shiny red paint, and she slowed her heart rate with her breathing, she wasn't so sure in that statement anymore. She let out a sigh of relief once the last man stopped moving.
She peeked her head out with wide eyes, and breathed another sigh of relief when she realized for certain that was the last room.
"Are you okay over there? Your heart rate spiked for a minute." Zwei said through her helmet speakers.
"Yep! No problem over here, only a really, really close call. Floor one of my building is clear. You?" She said. She was sure her voice didn't tremble once while she was talking.
"Excellent. I'm on my way to the second floor. What's your kill count?"
"I'm at twenty eight. You?"
"Thirty seven. Try and keep up." He added. She could hear his sly grin through her comms.
"Hey! I only have a magnum. Put them at five hundred yards and I'll be sitting pretty with a million kills by now." She said as she took the stairs up to the second floor two at a time.
"Maybe you should pack for the mission next time." He said.
"I haven't gotten to use my baby once during any of our missions. I want to break her in before we graduate." She turned her head around the corner as she reached the top of the stairs. This hallway, unlike the last, only had two doors. Hopefully, there won't be as many people in them this time.
"Compromise us and I'm sure you'd get plenty of action with that rifle." He said. Ruby stopped for a moment, humming to herself as she considered the idea.
"Please don't actually compromise us." He said, after the pause went on longer than he must have been comfortable with.
"Oh, silly Zwei, I wouldn't dream of it." She said, now moving forward towards the first door, her magnum in her hand. She wouldn't actually do that, but it was still fun to make him squirm a little bit.
"If you do, I'm leading all of them to you. See how good you are against a hundred combatants with a four round magazine." Ruby considered that idea too, it might be a fun challenge.
"I think you underestimate my skills with a Sniper Rifle." Her foot hit the door near its handle. It swung open at great speeds. The two men sleeping inside were startled awake, and then rendered unconscious once more at the hands of Ruby's magnum.
"I think you underestimate your ego." He said. Ruby heard faint sounds of gunfire coming from his end. He must be getting just as much action as she was.
"That doesn't even make any sense." She said. She approached the last door at the end of the hallway. It was barely opened, similar to one of the previous rooms she cleared. She peeked inside and saw something that made her day.
Alone in the room, stood a single sniper overlooking the rest of the base. If anyone would have spotted them, it would have been her. She didn't notice her when she silently opened the door. Clearly, this woman was nowhere near the sniper she was.
Her rifle landed on the floor with a thud as she fell unconscious from two shots to her back. Ruby quickly spun, ensuring the rest of the room was empty. She then took a moment to survey the myriad gizmos and gadgets scattered across the room.
Jackpot! The room appeared to have an alarm system with wires running from the building to several different points on the base. Taking this out would give them that much more of an advantage against the rebels. She happily produced her knife and started cutting as many wires as she could. Luckily, none of the cut wires triggered the alarm. This doesn't seem like a good system if disabling it doesn't automatically raise the alarm.
"Zwei, I found a sniper's nest in the last room of my building, I've disabled the alarm system they would have used had they spotted us. Anything useful in your building?" She said.
"I'm currently in an armory, trying to scavenge for any worthwhile weaponry. None of this stuff is silenced, looks like we can only make due with the ammo that fits in our weapons if we still want to keep this op silent." He said. Ruby hummed, no alarms, and no ammo restocks. This will be easier than I thought.
She turned to make her way out of the building. She thought about shutting off the lights to make her less noticeable while in the building, but that would only arouse suspicion from those outside. She was surprised to realize no one had entered and found the bodies since she started clearing it.
"Do you think they are going easy on us?" Ruby asked.
"Yes."
"Or, do you think it's because of my tactical genius and planning skills that they can't help but fall against my military mind?"
"Nope, they're definitely going easy on us." He said with a matter-of-fact tone.
"Heh, jerk."
She made her way down to the first floor. She was about to exit the way she came and move onto another building, when a dull thud was followed by a blinding light and loud bang. Ruby instinctively dropped to the floor just as several stun rounds impacted the wall above her. It took her a second to regain her bearings, and another to realize her suit's active camo was now out of order, and would need time to recharge itself after that flashbang.
She looked up to see bright lights streaming in through the window. "Looks like we've been compromised." Ruby said over her helmet comm.
"I see that. You've got about three dozen tangos aiming right on your position, with several more moving in from the rest of the base. They must think I'm with you." Zwei said directly into her ears.
"That's fortunate for us." She said. Her head slowly rose from the floor as she tried to look out the window. It dropped back down again when she confirmed that, yes, there were at least three dozen rifles aimed directly on her position.
She slowly crawled to the door she entered the building from before a man's voice echoed over the compound.
"Excellent job you two. You've gotten further than any other pairs sent on this exercise. Clearly, you are surrounded. Come out, and we can discuss your performance and debrief you." The man said. She wasn't sure, but she thought that was Mendez speaking. She didn't move all the same. Not once in their training were their missions ended prematurely. It was either success or defeat, and defeat meant 'death'. There's no reason why they would stop that pattern now. Especially not for the very last mission before graduation.
She tried to contact Zwei and tell him not to move a muscle as this had to be a trap. But when she tried to connect through comms, nothing happened. It wasn't as if their comms were being jammed. Her suit would have told her if they were, she would have heard static or something. It was more like her comms were completely disabled from the inside. Like an equipment malfunction.
She heard a rifle go off from the other side of the base, and Zwei's location marker turned from a light blue arrow, to a red 'X', indicating he was neutralized.
Ruby took a deep breath. Okay. The mission is still going, I'm down a man, and I am currently surrounded. What to do next…
Still on the floor, she brought her rifle up to aim for the door leading into the hallway she was in, and slowly crawled backwards towards the stairs. The mission wasn't over. She still had some fight left in her. If they wanted to cheat, then she would too.
No one entered, and, once she got to the stairs, she sprinted up to the second floor. The roof would be a bad idea as there were other, taller buildings in the compound that a counter sniper could target her from.
She crawled to the end of the hallway. Avoiding any and all streams of light shining in through the windows. The alarm system room was just as she had left it. Sans one unconscious sniper. She must have woken up and removed herself from the battlefield.
She positioned herself in the window next to where the sniper had been. From here, she could see several teams preparing to enter her building and flush her out. They didn't appear to know where she was, and she hoped she could have kept it that way, but there were too many, they would spot her the moment she fired down on them. Better make this count.
Her Sniper Rifle barrel barely poked through the broken window. It would only be a matter of time before they spotted it, which meant she had to pick her targets fast.
She zeroed in on what looked to be an officer. Maybe it was Mendez, she couldn't really tell. As soon as his head was in her crosshairs, she fired without hesitation.
The man shot to the floor head first as the force of the bullet jerked him forward. Before anyone could react and return fire, she shifted towards the team that looked to be entering her building first. Six people wearing body armor and wielding SMGs stood nearest the front door to her building. Unfortunately for them, they were grouped up rather nicely.
Three pulls of the trigger, and three rebels fell to the ground. She ducked back into her sniper's nest and reloaded as fast as she could just as a barrage of stun rounds painted the room around her.
It seemed as if bullets were entering her room from every angle. She watched as a few trigger happy rebels continued firing, the stun rounds landing closer to her head than she would have liked
She observed the paint splatters, and, from the direction of the spray, she guessed she could get an angle on the trigger happy group above her. They must have been on the adjacent building, third storey. She watched as the last few rounds trickled in. If her math was correct, they were on the side of the building furthest from her.
She closed her eyes as she imagined the battlefield around her. It was as if a 3D model of the compound appeared in her head. So long as there were no others in that building, she should be able to take them out with a few well placed shots.
When her eyes opened again, the suppressive fire had stopped. She brought Artemis to her eye, and inched her way along the wall. Slowly, the adjacent building crept into view. She slowed down further once she saw the shoulders of one of the shooters. Judging from the portion of his posture she could see, he was aiming right at her.
She emptied all the air from her lungs, and leaned into view.
Two shots were fired at the same time. One splattered the wall next to Ruby's head, the other splattered across the man's face. He fell backwards with a silent scream.
Ruby took charge of the chaos and moved a little bit further into view. There were two other shooters currently watching their friend fall to the floor. Two more shots neutralized the two before another long silence overcame the base.
The building adjacent to her was now empty. No doubt there would be more to reinforce it once they realized their team was taken out. Which would be almost immediately. But the reinforcement wouldn't be, so she had some time to take a few more pot shots at the group in the courtyard below her.
Before she moved, she stopped and listened. There were faint footsteps coming from the hallway outside. She didn't think she would have heard them if she had been breathing.
She activated her active camouflage, and switched to her pistol. It's barrel was aimed right where the first poor soul would enter the room.
Before anybody entered, another flashbang was thrown through the open doorway. She scrunched her eyes shut as hard as she could, and hoped the suits audio sensors could protect her ears from most of the sound damage.
She opened one eye just as one of the men aimed his rifle at her. She panicked as she pulled the trigger. Just barely catching him underneath his armpit, but a kill shot all the same. The man fell with a thud. Ruby forced the other eye open as the rest trickled in.
They entered one by one, the doorway was too small for two or more, and each one fell as soon as they entered. Three more bodies started to make a small pile in the doorway just as her magnum clicked empty. If there had been one more infiltrator, she would have been toast.
She hurriedly reloaded her magnum. She stumbled once or twice trying to insert the magazine, but it was eventually reloaded all the same. No one had entered at that time, so she was safe for now.
She grabbed her rifle off her back and scooted over to the window again, all the while struggling to settle her breathing. A stressed sniper was a bad sniper.
One helmeted silver eye watched as two more teams entered the building. She aimed her rifle at the third before it could enter and fired. Three out of the four shots landed on their targets, and their team was reduced to half.
She ducked back down as the walls around her were covered with fresh paint again. This is going to get really old really fast.
She would have to suffer through it. In a real combat scenario, she couldn't just get bored and start running out in the open, guns blazing. That would be suicide. She had to take things slow. Think smart. And keep her emotions in check, even if she was completely surrounded, and outnumbered.
She spun on a dime just as another infiltration team entered the room. She missed her first shot, and the woman closest to her fired. She didn't watch the paint splatter across her leg as she fired her second shot, which hit dead center on the woman's torso. She fell with a grunt, as the artificial pain of the stun round lanced up her leg. She bit her lip as she held in the scream.
Her eyes were watery as she aimed her magnum at the next few rebels that entered the room. She was sure to be more accurate this time, and each one fell with a round to the head.
As soon as the coast was clear, she reloaded despite still having a half-full magazine. It wouldn't have been enough for the group that was to follow.
A rattling from her side caught her attention. She realized it was another flashbang - thrown from somewhere in the courtyard - and only just managed to close her eyes by the time it went off.
The last thing she saw were a quartet of black barrels aimed straight for her. She tried bringing her arm up, tried to take out as many as she could before she was neutralized, but everything went red, and then black before she could even line up the shot.
January 3, 2545 (Military Calendar) / Onyx, Zeta Doradus system
"Congratulations are in order. Each and everyone one of you has shown, for the past several years, dedication, courage, strength, and intelligence. All characteristics that make a Spartan, a Spartan." Lieutenant Commander Kurt Ambrose spoke into the microphone. He stood at a podium overlooking his three hundred Spartans of Beta Company. His eyes traveled from face to face. Each one as stoic and ruthless as the last. Pride filled his being at the sight of his Spartans, his soldiers, his family. They may not have thought the same, but he believed each and every soldier here was a part of his family.
"These attributes have guided you through many trials and tribulations. Many of which would have broken any normal man or woman. You have shown the ability to face adversity unlike any other. Truly, you all are one of a kind." Ambrose paused, watching for any reaction on the Spartan's faces. As usual, there were none.
"You are all special. And yet, you are also normal. There is something that separates you from the rest of your Spartan brothers and sisters. Something that binds you to the normal population."
"In my eyes, you are already Spartans. In my eyes, you are already great warriors, leaders, and teammates. In my eyes, you have already gone down in history as one of the greatest companies in UNSC history. Unfortunately, the rest of humanity doesn't see you through my eyes."
"They see you as the same as any other special forces group. Any of you are interchangeable for any valedictorian of any military academy. There is something you all lack. One final test you all must take. One final step… In becoming true Spartans."
"In the following week, you will be moved off planet to a UNSC medical facility. There you will be medically sedated and under a series of chemical augmentations. There, your bones will become unbreakable, your muscles will become stronger, your reaction time will decrease, and your vision will become extraordinary."
"Each one of you will evolve into something greater. Something amazing. To the rest of humanity, you will finally graduate… and become true Spartan IIIs."
My construction job is starting a little late because of the rain this morning. I've only got about twenty minutes before my boss gets here to take me to the job site. So lets get on with the review responses.
Helljumper206: I'm glad you thought so. I couldn't stop grinning the first time I thought of naming B312 Zwei. It just seemed perfect. We'll see how far they get in the war.
Cooldude: She mentions them this chapter. Hopefully you are satisfied with that.
yangn33: I'm happy you're so invested in my story! And I have since added B312 to the character tags by your advice.
StaryHaloinRWBY: I have a plan for that. Stay tuned to find out.
Rookie80: I'm glad you're liking the fic. I'll keep those characters in mind as the story progresses. I think there will be an opportunity for them to make an appearance.
CykaBlyatintensifies: They will be good friends, to say the least. And I like that idea of the wolf finding it's mate, it seems rather fitting.
bigbossHayden98: Thanks for liking the chapter. Like I said before, they will, at the very least, be really good friends. I haven't explored the extent of their relationship, however, and it might change in the future. And there was no Yang POV last time because you get a bunch of Yang POV this time.
LazyMan5503: Thanks for the review!
Samuel Warshaw: Thanks! I hope you enjoyed the chapter.
ZCWriter-344: Yep. Ruby might be good, but she's still got a lot to learn before she's as good as our boy Noble-6.
Let me know if you liked the review responses, or if I should just keep them to PMs.
Also, let me know how you liked this chapter. It was really long, and I want to know how engaging it was to read it. There's no point in having good grammar and stuff if the things you write aren't exciting in the first place.
Until next time.
