Salem's Castle
October 7th, 1808 Atlas time, 2552 UNSC military Calendar
Doctor Watts had managed to put together a surprisingly decent laboratory, given the isolated location that he now worked at. Salem was surprisingly cooperative in getting what he needed, but he'd quickly realized that she had a limit to her patience and that there were some things too trivial to ask for. Still, he got the impression that his efforts were appreciated, and genuinely wanted, which was more than he'd ever had at Atlas.
She'd also begun to ask for his input on her latest Grimm creations, mostly in terms of their overall design and purpose. He was still a bit uncomfortable around the creatures, even though Salem had them on a tight metaphorical leash. He chalked it up to all of the disturbing things that he had discovered while trying to think of ways to kill them.
At least I didn't end up like Merlot. Watts thought, as he inspected the latest Grimm Salem had brought to his lab. Although Salem's attention was drawn to some of the knick-knacks that he had on some of the tables, failed projects and half-finished designs that he still needed to work on.
"So, Doctor, be honest, what do you think?" She asked without looking, the exact inflection of her tone hard to discern, which was fairly normal.
It was some sort of large lizard, with obvious avian inspiration in the legs and talons. In many ways, it resembled a wingless, armored dragon. The most notable offensive weapon that it possessed was a sort of mace-like structure built into its tail, which could likely deliver a critical blow if used correctly. The beast's head was the most notable part, with over a dozen eyes dotted around the head, surrounded by a heavy bone-mask. Concealed within the back of its head, a small orange bulb was buried into the beast's flesh, although Watts imagined that as it grew the strange bulb would be covered by more bone plating.
"The armor pattern is impressive, if I didn't know any better, I would assume it was a bit of a burden on the beast." Watts commented, knowing full well that speed was one of Grimm's best abilities. "Although the gaps on the belly and the base of the tail could use some attention."
Salem hummed. "I thought about that, but the purpose it serves negates its need for protection on its belly. If it is struck in such a vulnerable position, it has already failed."
Watts frowned, he couldn't piece together the purpose of the creature, and he hated not knowing things. "So, an ambush predator?"
Salem picked up one of the objects, a failed attempt on his part to create an improved hard light emitter. "In a manner of speaking, it's an infiltrator. The crystal in its head serves as a way of rendering radio technology useless, leaving it with an easy target."
Watts nodded. "Eliminate them while they can't call for help, that's certainly an effective strategy."
Salem frowned, and placed the object back where she had found it. "Yes, that's what I thought as well. But something unexpected had happened..."
Another Grimm floated into the room, one of the jellyfish-like Seers, a utility that Salem had made him very familiar with. And yet, every time she used one, it seemed to gain some new ability.
"One of these new Grimm had an unexpected encounter with the aliens in Atlas." Salem said, evidently displeased.
The surface of the Seer's dome shimmered, revealing a snowy tundra that gently bobbed along with the Grimm's head. The Grimm was stalking past some deep and large footprints, two notable traits that made him instantly interested.
"Ah... androids, I understand your interest now-" Watts began, but Salem waved her hand.
"Don't let your arrogance undermine your perception, Arthur." Salem said, silencing him quickly. "Use your eyes, not your mouth, and watch what happened."
Watts watched as the Grimm crested a small hill, revealing that it was actually overlooking a small pit. Inside was a vehicle, some kind of lightly armored snowmobile, and standing beside it was the same heavily-armored human that he'd seen fight the Geist in Menagerie. The passengers of the vehicle panicked as soon as they saw the Grimm, somewhat amusingly, but it also spoke to their lack of experience with the creatures.
"If they aren't used to fighting Grimm, I wonder what it is they do fight." Watts commented, as the Grimm steadied itself for a pounce.
"Other humans, no doubt." Salem dismissed, although Watt's attention was focused on the impossible speed with which the armored human reacted to the pouncing Grimm, which slammed somewhat unceremoniously into the snowmobile.
"How can he move that fast? Maybe a Semblance, or Aura manipulation? " Watts asked, somewhat surprised.
"They don't have auras, they don't even know what they are." Salem said, shooting down his theory immediately.
As he spoke, he watched the fight continue, although his attention was diverted. "That just raises more questions, especially since that suit must be quite the burden."
"That is why I wanted your input, Arthur." Salem said, taking great deliberation with her words.
He thought for a moment, watching as the armored soldier took an apparently damaging shot at the Grimm with a notably fast-firing weapon. "He's the same one from Menagerie, it's entirely possible he's a unique case."
Salem raised an eyebrow. "Lionheart said they had a little over a thousand people on board, who's to say that this isn't just the armor that a whole squad wears?"
"We would have seen more by now, concentrating your best forces has too many advantages to ignore. Go back to the beginning, and listen closely." Watts instructed, and was somewhat surprised that she listened, although he suspected she was just humoring him.
Rewatching the start of the encounter, Watts distinctly made out two different voices, yet neither of the vehicle's passengers opened their mouths to speak.
"He, or she, talks to themselves." Watts pointed out.
"No... to someone within him...maybe within the armor?" Salem guessed. "Their communication equipment was broken, so it's unlikely that someone else was talking to them from far away..."
"An A.I, perhaps, within a suit of powered armor?" Watts guessed, scratching his chin. "For all I know, they could have developed fully sentient A.I's, with unmatched computational capabilities."
Salem frowned. "What does that mean for our plans?"
"It means they may have some unforeseen capabilities, especially on the software front," Watts said, somewhat frustrated. "It's no matter, I beat James, I'll beat these aliens as well. Besides, even the most advanced A.I. has drawbacks to it, it's simply a matter of finding and exploiting them."
"I hope so, Watts. Prove that you still have a degree of worth to me." Salem instructed, leaving a chill to run down his spine as she left.
The Dominion, Starboard Hangar
October 7th, 1812 Atlas time, 2552 UNSC military Calendar
The "Pelican" that the UNSC soldiers had picked her up in was far larger than Winter had realized from the news, over twice the size of Atlas's Manta-type Airships. The interior however, was around the same size, although far more streamlined and utilitarian. There was no sort of decoration or novelty present throughout the whole ship, and the only markings that decorated it possessed obvious military purpose.
A strictly military vehicle, somewhat crude, but built for efficiency. Winter thought, somewhat envious, as her own airship had its fair share of reliability issues. Although I suppose it's certainly possible that this vehicle has those problems as well.
The trip had taken a decent degree of time, and Winter had long since memorized the sights of the cabin around her, which left her with time to think. While a small part of her was excited at being one of the first people from Remnant to ever visit outer space, most of her mind was focused on her little sister. Staying silent was critical to Ironwood's plans, and she would abide by her orders, but she did not have to like doing it.
She'll pull through when she hears the news, she's a lot stronger than she realizes. Winter thought, trying to reassure herself. In truth, she was also worried about the rest of her family, although there was far less that she could do to help them. Whitley is going to take it the hardest.
She was startled by an electronic beep that sounded throughout the cabin, followed by a voice. "Hey, Specialist, we're approaching the Dominion right now. If you wanted to have a look, now's the time."
Winter's curiosity quickly won out, she could certainly afford to take a look. After a somewhat embarrassing moment of trying to figure out the door controls, she joined the Pelican's pilot, a woman by the name of "Fireball", and her co-pilot, in the cockpit. There was a space beside the two seats where she could stand, and look out the front window of the spacecraft.
"I doubt she's gonna be as impressive to you as it was to those civies, given some of those crazy airships you have." Fireball said, giving Winter a friendly nod. "I'll admit it, they're cool as hell."
Winter noticed that Fireball's idle comment implied something that she had not known. "What do you mean? Who else have you brought aboard?"
"Oh, you didn't know?" Fireball replied, surprise evident in her voice. "Ah hell, guess the cats out of the bag now, I should watch my damn mouth."
"Yes, you should." Her co-pilot responded, his melancholy voice implying this wasn't the only time that his partner talked too much, but Fireball ignored his comment.
"Anyway, we launched a rescue op on one of those mines, managed to bust a few civies out, and we took the place down in good order." Fireball explained.
That didn't answer her question. "I was aware of that, but, why bring Civilians to your ship?"
"Treat the injured, which was just about everyone, especially the one guy we took prisoner." Fireball commented, a bit glumly. "But talking like that's no fun, I enjoyed the bit where we got to fight those Grimm things."
"You enjoyed fighting Grimm?" Winter asked, somewhat confused.
"Sure did, always love a good turkey-shoot. We haven't had one of those in a long while." Fireball happily confirmed. "Remember Beta Eridani?"
"Sure do." Her co-pilot replied with a chuckle. "Grunts as far as the eye could see... and a surplus of ammo."
"Heh, that was fun." Fireball responded, turning her attention to the spacecraft's controls. "She'll be coming in to view right around now, look for her running lights."
The Pelican briefly turned, and Winter was met with one of the most oddly beautiful yet terrifying sights that she had ever seen. The UNSC Dominion was absolutely gargantuan, a black behemoth easily twelve times the size of a mainline Atlesian Airship, if one accounted for its monolithic height. The whole ship resembled a giant gun, with a pair of large engine assemblies stretching off of either side of the ship's stern, and a pair of short "wings" that stemmed from the ships central assembly.
Winter's facial expression must have given away her awe, because Fireball gave a brief chuckle. "I take it back, apparently the ol' Dom still makes a hell of an impression."
"Fireball..." her co-pilot chastised, apparently taking a different context from her statement.
Fireball chuckled. "Alright, fine, I'll keep it professional around the lady."
Winter was somewhat embarrassed, she should have been able to contain her emotions better than that. "Yes, well... it certainly exceeded my expectations."
Fireball gave a barely noticeable grin under her helmet. "Oh yeah, she's big alright, but they get a hell of a lot bigger back home."
"It's absolutely goliath, why not just build multiple smaller ships and spread them out?" Winter asked. "Surely putting all your eggs in one basket like that is far too large a risk."
"Well, maybe get a look at a few Covie ships first. I guarantee you'll change your tune real fast." Fireball pointed out. "Believe it or not, that's what this ship is for, it's one of the smaller ones we have."
"I will reserve my judgement, although... I hope that I never get the chance to see one of these Covenant warships." Winter replied.
"So do I ma'am, so do I." Fireball's co-pilot added, before making a few motions with the controls, which Fireball seemed to echo with her own movements.
Fireball turned on some kind of communications system, bringing a video screen in the front seat online. The video screen displayed a man in a naval uniform, whom Winter recognized as one of the UNSC's commanding officers, Lieutenant Commander Bradford.
Second in command, I believe. Winter thought, as the UNSC had been rather vague about their ranking structure.
"Dominion, this is Fireball, requesting permission to dock, HVI aboard." Fireball said, which seemed to be a fairly hands-off experience.
It seems their communication systems aren't just better, they're easier to use. Winter noted, bitterly recalling how difficult it was to call for support on a standard-issue earpiece.
"Dominion to Fireball, you are cleared for approach. Proceed at speed one-seven-five, starboard docking clamp, automatic approach. Board is green, call the ball, over?"
"Roger that Dominion, I have the ball, beginning approach." Fireball replied.
The Pelican flew under the front "wing" structure of the warship, being retrieved into the ship by a large pneumatic clamp. After being cycled through an airlock, the Pelican was carried via a large overhead rail into the hangar, revealing to Winter many models of vehicle that she hadn't seen before.
Winter kept her expression disciplined, but Fireball picked up on what she was looking at. "They sure are beautiful, aren't they? Especially those Interceptor models of the Sabres, magnificent ships. Of course, I wouldn't trade Marin here for any of them."
In a rugged, brutish sort of way, I suppose. Winter silently responded, noticing how the various air and space vehicles had little in the way of decor, presenting a utilitarian and efficient appearance, much like the Pelican. "Marin?"
"Well, you're standing in her, so I figured you would have noticed." Fireball said, giving a thumbs-up to a passing crewmember through the window, who was waving others out of the path of the slowly moving spacecraft.
"The paint on the back of the troop-bay got scratched, so one of the "Marines" signs now says "Marin", and she decided to keep it." Her co-pilot explained.
"Well, it's a pretty name, for a pretty ship." Fireball countered as the Pelican gave a harsh lurch, before coming to a stop. "We're clamped, give the system a minute to run its inspections. and we'll be all set."
"I understand." Winter said, trying to keep her comments strictly professional.
As Fireball had promised, the rear hatch of the dropship popped open after around a minute. Taking a large step out of the dropship and onto the deck, she noticed that most of the crew had their attention fixed on her.
"Hey, you all have work to do, get to it!" Fireball yelled from behind her, snapping the crew out of their curiosity.
Does she outrank them, or is she just highly respected? Winter wondered, aware that she no doubt was making a mockery of the UNSC's customs with her every move.
Fireball dismounted her Pelican, joined by her co-pilot. "I'm afraid this is where we part ways. The XO said that he's got a guide or two for you, and they should be here any minute."
"Specialist Schnee!" A voice called out from further down the deck, although Winter couldn't yet make out the source.
"That would be them, catch you at dinner!" Fireball said, returning her attention to her spacecraft.
Winter turned to face the speaker, and saw a man and a woman approaching her, wearing what looked like lightly armored black jumpsuits. Both of them had exceptionally unusual weapons holstered on their hips, which, combined with their outfits and the way they carried themselves, gave Winter the impression that they were some kind of special forces.
"I presume you are my escort?" Winter asked, giving each of them a quiet inspection.
"That's us." The man responded. "I'm Sergeant Meadows, and this is Corporal Sato. We'll be acting as your guides around the Dominion."
Winter nodded. "Where to first?"
"The Commander wanted to speak with you as soon as you came aboard, so we'll be taking you up to the Bridge." Meadows answered.
"Lead the way." Winter replied, letting the two foreign soldiers take the lead.
Much like Atlas's airships, grey steel corridors dominated the general aesthetic of the Dominion's interior. Structural supports and bulkheads dotted the ship seemingly randomly, although Winter speculated there was a method to their seemingly mad placement. She managed to pick out several unique facilities and rooms, such as a gym, a mess hall, and a unisex bathroom.
"You share bathrooms?" Winter asked, somewhat surprised.
"Oh yeah, and the showers are open too." Yu replied nonchalantly. "That won't be a problem, will it?"
Before she could even begin to muster a response to the Marine's rather egregious question, her partner spoke up. "The Commander has assigned you one of the quarters meant for a Marine officer, and that has a private bathroom. He figured you might not be as... open, about that sort of thing."
Winter paused for a moment before responding. "Well... yes, Your Commander would be entirely correct."
Yu laughed, and Meadows gave a brief chuckle at her expense. "We're just used to it because space is at a premium aboard these things, more toilets means less missiles, and so on."
"I..." Winter began, before stopping herself and forcing herself to be diplomatic. "Well yes, I suppose that does make sense. As long as you all aren't bothered by it, I see no issue."
She didn't elicit another response from them until they arrived at a pair of Marines standing guard outside of a room labeled "Bridge".
"Hey there Meadows, is this the Atlas Spook?" One of the Marines asked, with a degree of hostility.
"Keep it professional, Corporal." Meadows bluntly chastised with a wave of the hand. "The Commander wanted to speak with her."
The Marine gave a short nod, although judging by the Marine's expression, this was far from something he wanted to do. "Go right on through, Sergeant."
Well, at least they can do their jobs, even if their discipline needs a little work. Winter critically thought, as the Marine opened the door to the bridge.
Winter's gut reaction was surprise, the bridge of the Dominion was not entirely dissimilar to the bridge of an Atlesian Airship, although quite a bit larger. It also evidently had a much larger staff, as Winter was able to pick out upwards of twenty people operating different stations or assisting those who were. For a few awkward moments of silence, she had the attention of most of the bridge staff.
"As you were." A stern voice boomed throughout the bridge, before one of the officers around a large holographic table approached her. Winter recognized him immediately, Commander Richard Miller. "Specialist Winter."
He offered his hand out to shake, which she accepted. "Commander Miller."
"Please, just call me Richard." He responded, with a politeness that she hadn't expected, but also a hint of doubt. "I apologize, but we'll have to keep introductions short, we have a lot to do."
Winter paused, and said the words she had been rehearsing in her mind since she had left Atlas. "My orders from the General stand, assist in the war effort to the best of my ability, and protect the lives of Atlesian civilians."
Regardless of how I might feel about it. Winter thought, no small amount of bitterness inside of her.
His expression didn't change. "That's good, we're going to need your assistance, although I'm sure there will be time to show you around the ship in the future. Your career speaks for itself, and, although I have my reservations, I think we'll work well together."
Winter nodded, it made sense they knew about her history. Ironwood had given them access to her personnel file, as a way of boosting their confidence in her.
"Where do we start?"
"Straight to it, good, follow me." Richard thought for a moment, before turning back towards the rest of the bridge.
The UNSC Commander led her and the two Marines following her to the large table in the center of the bridge, which displayed a holographic representation of some kind of open surface quarry. Two more Officers stood around it, one of which was Lieutenant Commander Bradford, looking at the hologram with mixed expressions.
"Lieutenant Gage, return to your station, we'll be doing this more subtly." Richard instructed, although Winter didn't understand the context, she did notice the man's shoulders slump slightly in relief.
"Aye Sir." He said, leaving the table with just the five of them.
"Specialist Schnee... may I call you Winter? That name carries some... uncomfortable baggage right now." Richard asked.
Winter was slightly annoyed, she had hoped that her family name wouldn't be a substantial issue, but she should have figured that it would cause problems. Still, he had bothered to ask her, so perhaps he would be willing to oblige her on such a minor matter. "If you insist, Commander, although I was hoping that I could show your crew that there's more to the Schnee name than my father's crimes."
Richard nodded. "I understand, Specialist Schnee it is. Now, as I was saying, this is Lieutenant Commander Bradford. He serves as the second in command of the Dominion."
"I've heard of him, although not much, no offense." Winter answered, quickly realizing her comments may come across as rude.
"None taken, there's nothing wrong with keeping a low-profile." The older officer commented. "And I've already been thoroughly briefed on you, Specialist Schnee."
"Good, now with introductions out of the way, let's get you brought up to speed." Richard said, pressing a series of buttons on the edge of the table, bringing up a pair of moving blue symbols across the map. "We have a developing situation on the ground, two of our recon pickets have completed their assessment of a mine that we have designated as "Point Hindenburg"."
Richard opened his mouth as if to continue, but was interrupted by something in his earpiece. "Bradford, would you kindly bring her up to speed? I will return momentarily."
"Aye Sir, take your time." Bradford replied, a hint of exhaustion in his voice.
"Is something wrong?" Winter asked, hoping to gain some insight into what else the UNSC might be up to.
"Nothing that concerns us." Bradford answered. Winter was unable to discern if the dismissiveness in his voice was genuine or not, as Bradford returned his attention to the holotable almost immediately.
The Executive Officer made several gestures in the air above the holotable, with the holographic light reacting to his touch, bringing up a pair of unit rosters, each containing three people. "Right now, our force on the ground consists of two teams, Onyx and Echo. Each has three Marines, although our Spartan is leading Onyx team, so keep that in mind while I go over this."
"Hold on, what's a Spartan?" Winter asked, trying to gain whatever information she could.
Bradford paused for a moment, before retrieving an electronic tablet from the table. "We had Curie make a sort of welcome brief for you." He made a few gestures on the device before handing it over. "Inside you'll find general information on most UNSC protocols, at least the ones that matter to you, as well as a description of a few general topics. Spartans are one of them, though you may find it a little more vague than some of the others, but at the very least you'll have an idea of their combat effectiveness."
Winter skimmed through the first section a bit before turning her attention back to the table. "I will make sure to read it once I have been shown my quarters."
He nodded, turning back to the table and moving the map slightly to highlight one of the icons. "Right now, they're closing in on Point Hindenburg on Lyn... armed snowmobiles. We'll get you better briefed on our equipment and tactics later, but right now I need your input on our enemy."
"I will do my best to answer any of your questions." Winter stated, ignoring her own thoughts on the matter, she had orders to follow. She also had orders to capture the whole ship in the event that UNSC turned hostile towards Atlas itself, but she was beginning to realize just how unfeasible that would truly be.
Well, let's just hope it doesn't come to that. Winter thought, burying her personal concerns on the matter along with her emotions.
"Good." Bradford simply responded, bringing up another set of icons, this time red markers, dotted across the utility facilities of the quarry. "Mid-range reconnaissance and satellite imagery states show us that the SDC has around a dozen Mercenaries as a garrison, as well as a large-caliber stationary cannon, which seems to be autonomously controlled."
As soon as he brought up a holographic representation of the stationary-gun, Winter recognized it. "That is a beam-turret, rated to target and destroy stronger, well-armored Grimm. You are correct, they function without an operator."
"A beam turret? So it's an energy weapon?" Bradford asked, seemingly surprised.
"Yes, the vast majority of Atlesian weaponry is energy-based." Winter stated, equally surprised. "Haven't you fought the Schnee Dust Company Security Forces? I figured you would have known that."
Bradford nodded. "We have, although most of them were armed with ballistic weaponry, not lasers. This could be a problem, if it's targeting capabilities are anything like our laser weaponry, it could likely track our forces with little effort."
Winter nodded, and with an insignificant amount of thought, she had developed a solution based on her own knowledge of the weapons. "The turrets have a two-hundred and seventy degree firing arc. If your vehicles approached from the rear, the gun couldn't target them."
Bradford seemed doubtful, a hint of distrust in his expression. "Why would it not have a fully-rotating turret?"
Winter fought the urge to question the man's intelligence. "These weapons are designed to be mounted on top of the outer wall of a Kingdom, not defend some rural quarry. They're intended to operate as a large defensive ring, and they would have no need to shoot at what they're meant to protect."
"That... makes more sense. But why would they deploy this kind of weapon if it can't even do its job properly?" Bradford asked.
"To save money on defense." Winter answered, annoyed at how easily she had recognized her father's line of thinking. "You said that this mine is guarded by twelve people, that's not even close to enough to properly defend it. They're likely moving out of this mine, or moving in, but I can't say for certain."
Bradford looked at her for a moment, clearly thinking it over, before pressing and holding a button on the table. "Onyx, Echo, this is Dominion. Alter your approach to assault from the rear of the stationary gun. Apparently it's an energy weapon, and it's turret only rotates two-hundred and seventy degrees, you can avoid getting hit if you go around to the rear."
Both recon units gave brief confirmations, which came from small speakers on the table itself. Bradford released the button, before returning his attention to Winter. "We encountered a similar weapon at Point Wilhelm, the other mine we attacked. I can't believe we didn't recognize the similarities..."
Winter gave a slight smirk, it seemed they were willing to admit when they were wrong. "I was under the impression your own information was adequate. I believe you said as much to the General when he offered our assistance. Was that arrogance or simply a lie?"
Bradford seemed slightly annoyed, but barely altered his expression. "Give us a little credit, we're still new around here. Everything we've learned about your planet suggests that it's purpose-built to spit on everything that we've learned."
Winter frowned at his statement, it was more than a little insulting. "I'm sure that Remnant can't be that strange-"
"Your moon makes a mockery of Newton's first law, your south pole has a bizarre magnetic field that's only active half of the time, and you literally live in a flying city." Bradford listed. "And let's not even talk about the Grimm..."
"Wait, the Grimm." Winter interjected, her focus suddenly shifting back towards the map, as she read the unit roster and looked at the holographic projection of the UNSC's snowmobiles. Her reaffirmed knowledge only bolstered her realization. "You do realize that the Grimm will leave your soldiers badly outnumbered when the battle attracts them, right? Do you have a plan for that?"
"The Marines can handle themselves." Bradford said, although he didn't sound certain. "Any of the larger Grimm won't stand up to the heavy guns on their vehicles, and Echo team has a rocket launcher team."
"And will all of that stack up to upwards to fifty-plus Grimm?" Winter asked, slightly inflating the numbers to get the point across. As much as she didn't like the UNSC, she did not want them to get ripped apart by Grimm.
Bradford frowned. "That's a lot more than I would've expected, are you certain that they'd encounter so many?"
"If the Mercenaries only have twelve soldiers, and you have six, that's eighteen people who will be under the stresses of combat, which would be like ringing a dinner bell." Winter explained.
Bradford nodded slowly. "I understand that, but are the numbers really stacked against us that badly?"
"Normally that's not much to worry about, eighteen people can't summon too many Grimm. But if they're the only people in the area, that means that they'll be the only thing the Grimm are going to focus on, so that's where they'll all go." Winter answered. "You may want to send reinforcements, or rethink your plan of attack."
Bradford paused, before reopening communications with the forces on the ground. "Onyx, Echo, this is Dominion. Give me a sitrep, over?"
The response took an extra moment this time. "Onyx here, we've linked up with Echo team and are proceeding as ordered. We've encountered several more Grimm, but they're barely slowing us down."
At least they have decent radio discipline. Winter thought. That's something we could work on back home, I'll have to make a note of it.
Bradford looked briefly up at the map, double-checked their positions, and responded. "Affirmative Onyx, we have reason to believe that an engagement could attract large numbers of Grimm, what's your ammo situation?"
"M41's are untouched, small arms and grenades are still good for a firefight, but not a prolonged engagement." The leader of the Onyx team reported. "The Sun's nearly set down here as well, so we'd be operating on night vision and headlights."
"Wait one." Bradford responded, before turning to Winter. "Would the enemy be equipped with night vision?"
"Almost certainly." Winter answered immediately. "Most attacks on the mines happen at night anyway, mostly because Faunus can see in the dark and we can't, so the White Fang uses that against us."
Bradford's expression betrayed curiosity, but he didn't raise his questions, instead speaking again to the Marines on the ground. "Dominion to Onyx, hold position and await reinforcement, we'll send down Charlie Platoon as reinforcements."
An entire platoon? The garrison would almost certainly surr- Winter thought, before realizing just how good of an idea she had just had. The Mercenaries her father would have hired would be far more interested in a lost paycheck and living, as opposed to dying in the line of duty and still not getting paid. That way, nobody would have to die, and the UNSC would still get the victory that they wanted. "If I may ask Sir, what's the strength of that unit?"
"Around thirty-six Marines, with heavy weapons and light artillery, we'll send ground vehicles for transportation with them. The Pelicans are far too precious to risk without an escort, so we'll send a pair of Interceptors to clear the path of any flying Grimm." Bradford answered, although he seemed somewhat reluctant to.
All that for twelve people in some backwater hole in the ground? Winter thought, before she realized the UNSC's tactics had some merit. Defeat in Detail was a well-studied aspect of warfare on Remnant, and was especially effective against human targets. "You would outnumber them three to one, and you could simply bombard them into submission. You may be able to convince them to surrender without a fight."
Bradford clearly had his doubts about the idea, but Winter pressed on, her stubbornness had won her debates in the past. "Your force is isolated and your Commander admitted that you aren't getting any friendly reinforcements. You need to avoid taking losses, and that means knowing when a battle is worth fighting."
"I'm not-" Bradford began, but was interrupted by Commander Richard, who returned to the bridge.
"-Going to turn down the opportunity, let's do it." Commander Richard said, interjecting into the conversation as he rejoined them at the holotable. "If we can capture the mine and the enemy forces without a fight, we will absolutely take that approach."
"Are you certain about this Sir? That's a potential twelve more hostiles aboard the Dominion, and we don't even know if they will give up!" Bradford asked.
"Your job is to carry out my orders, Lieutenant." Richard replied, somewhat harshly. "If you have concerns, I will gladly hear them in private."
"I... understand, Sir." Bradford said, his face betraying a hint of disappointment, although whether it was with himself or his superior officer remained to be seen.
Hmm, so they aren't without faults in their discipline. Winter thought, quietly and somewhat awkwardly standing beside them.
"Those twelve hostiles will join the Elite and the Specialist we captured in the Brig, and they haven't even tried to break out." Richard stated. "That being said, we'll be ready in the event they try something, either in the brig, or if they don't surrender."
Although Richard's statement carried a lot of information, she was mainly fixated on his comment about their prisoners. Fireball had mentioned they had taken a prisoner, although she hadn't mentioned it was someone who was properly trained to use their aura, maybe even a trained Huntsman who had lost their way.
"Aye Sir." Bradford said, before using his own earpiece to rapidly issue orders.
"Specialist, thank you for your assistance." Richard stated, redirecting her attention. "I hope that we can avoid a conflict today."
Winter's internal thoughts were barely affected by the man's words, if at all. "You won't be able to avoid them all."
"I know." Richard nodded, somewhat somberly. "And there will be losses, but we have to do something, we have a duty to humanity, and we can't just watch all of this happen."
Winter frowned at the gap in the man's logic. "You know the Faunus aren't human, right?"
The mood in the room shifted dramatically, she suddenly felt a dozen icy glares, all daring her to say it again. Richard was far more reserved, but she could still see from his own glare that her statement disturbed him deeply. "I believe, Specialist Schnee, that you will find we are far more familiar with atrocity and racial conflict then you may think."
"I did not mean to imply otherwise-" Winter responded, defending her idle inquiry.
He stopped her. "I understand that, but I don't think you understand exactly what kind of situation we're coming from here. Maybe I can enlighten you, to avoid any other misconceptions in the future."
Winter remained silent, somewhat curious as to what he had to say. She could also tell by his tone that she was about to get a rather brutal lesson in Earth's history.
Richard continued. "Insurrectionists and terrorists practice the same kind of slavery that you see here, and I know that Ironwood showed you everything that these Crooks have been doing. I've personally served on operations to put down Innies, from Eridanus to Luyten, and I don't intend to let these bastards escape a similar end to their crimes."
"And I understand that much." Winter stoically replied, the man's glare did not faze her. "Your moral stance is certainly admirable, but is it truly worth risking the lives of your men for a planet that doesn't even belong to you?"
Richard paused for a moment, either to calm himself down, or to consider his words. He didn't seem to miss how the bridge staff looked to him just as much as she was now. They had no doubt asked themselves the same question.
"Because I swore two oaths when I enlisted. I swore an oath of loyalty to my nation, and I swore an oath of loyalty to my species. Where we come from, we don't have the luxury of getting to fight amongst ourselves anymore."
"I'm... not sure I understand." Winter responded, unsure of how to answer. His point about his loyalties to humanity as a whole were fairly clear, and he clearly saw the Faunus as just more humans, which she saw no reason to push him on, despite his flat incorrectness. "How would you consider war to be a luxury?"
"It's not, war against other humans isn't either, it was a metaphor." Richard answered, somewhat dispassionately compared to his other statements. "But I'd take the Innies any day, over total human extinction..."
Winter's confusion only grew. In the background, Bradford continued coordinating the reinforcements, and the rest of the bridge crew returned their attention to their stations. "Extinction?"
Richard cocked his head in surprise, and his glare lightened considerably. "Did... did nobody tell you about the Covenant, about just how badly we're losing?"
"We... didn't get to that, Sir." Yu interrupted, somewhat startling her. The two Marines hadn't spoken so far, and she didn't expect them to while they were on the bridge.
Winter's confusion vanished as she connected the dots. Her knowledge on the Covenant went about as far as their name and brutality, she knew that the UNSC was at war with them, but she had no idea they were losing. "You're losing? All of this technology, these massive warships-"
"The Covenant makes it all look like toys." Richard finished grimly, fueling Winter's concerns even further. "That technological gap between your civilization and ours, multiply it tenfold and you might understand our enemy... Come with me. Sergeant, Corporal, you as well."
"Aye Sir." Meadows said, Winter had noticed his silence, and wasn't surprised that his response was brief.
As the Commander led them out of the bridge, Winter's confusion surfaced again. "Commander, where are we going?"
"The Brig, where I intend to introduce you firsthand to the face of the Covenant." Richard answered, his tone betraying nothing. "I hope you are prepared to be the first person on Remnant to ever see an alien, because I promise you, it will not be an experience you will forget easily."