Chapter 12: The Fall
May 13, 2682; 1200 Hours
Remnant, Vytal Festival Arena
Ivan sat in his seat at the final round of the Vytal Festival. It featured one member of each surviving team, facing off against a random opponent. There were sixteen remaining combatants, Yang being one of them. He watched as the Blonde funneled onto the barren, metallic arena with the fifteen other Huntsmen-in-training, separating into two groups of eight. Pyrrha was down there as well, along with Sun and Mercury. "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the final round of the Vytal Festival Tournament!" Professor Port announced over the loudspeakers, causing the entire stadium to erupt into cheers. "Let's see who will be fighting in the first match!" Oobleck announced.
Ivan watched the slot machine-like rotating selection of pictures on the viewscreen, seeing Yang's picture appear on the left-most column. After a few more moments of waiting, she was matched up against Mercury. Blake applauded rather cheerily for her girlfriend, Ruby giving a rather similar response as well. Weiss simply clapped and kept her posture rather proper. Winter had decided to join her sister at the Tournament, leaving Ivan on the end next to Winter and a set of empty seats.
As the fourteen other Huntsmen filed out of the arena, leaving only Yang and Mercury on the platform, Port started counting down from three. Once he reached "one", Yang rushed forth, sending a flurry of punches at Mercury. Mercury was rather successful at blocking or dodging any attack coming his way, but he seemed unable to land a truly devastating hit that he was known for. Ivan had seen Mercury fight on multiple occasions, but something just seemed off. Yang continued to press her advantage, making use of Mercury's… blatant errors and misjudgments. "This is hardly even a match." Winter commented.
"You're right…" Ivan said, reaching up to his Neural Implant to ensure that he had a chip inserted. He quickly sent a signal to the implant to start recording sensory data. "Something's wrong."
"What do you mean?" Winter asked, looking to the uniformed SPARTAN.
"Look at how many openings that he's giving her." Ivan said, gesturing to the battle taking place. "I've seen that kid fight, hell I even fought him once. He's only ever made mistakes like this against me and Pyrrha. He's letting her win."
"Why would he do that?" Winter asked, looking to the SPARTAN for answers. His suspicions were confirmed when he saw Mercury give an early celebration, followed by Yang's bone-shattering, semblance-fueled punch into his gut, knocking his Aura completely down and winning her the match.
Mercury slowly moved himself up from his prone position, resting on one knee as Yang suppressed her fiery Semblance. Ivan saw her say something to him, which was completely overshadowed by the cheers of the stadium around him. When Yang turned to begin walking towards the stands, Ivan saw Yang wheel around and sent a slug into Mercury's leg. He collapsed to the ground in a heap, grasping at the morbidly twisted limb and screaming out in pain. Yang quickly responded by shouting something down at the wounded Mercury, her words drowned out by the collective screams of the crowd.
The entire stadium, including Team RWBY, gasped in surprise as they found Mercury lying on the floor of the stadium with a broken leg. His Tibia was snapped at a twenty degree angle, the bone making a slight bump in his slacks. "What the hell?" Ivan asked, looking down at the scene before him. Ivan was even more surprised when a group of eight Atlesian Knights and two Atlesian soldiers came rushing from somewhere, surrounding the brawler with their weapons aimed at her. They began barking orders at her to stand down.
"Yang!" Blake shouted, standing upright. Ivan made the mistake of looking to his right when he heard Blake shout out. He saw footage on one of the holographic screens; clearly showing Yang attacking Mercury, for no reason whatsoever, once the match was already concluded.
Ivan saw all of the cameras shut down and watched as Emerald rushed over to her fallen partner. "Jesus…" Ivan muttered, looking around, seeing all of the screens showing the exact same footage before they finally shut down too.
"Good lord… why would Yang do that?" Winter asked, looking to the SPARTAN.
Ivan nodded, watching the Atlesian Knights lead Yang out of the arena. He stood up, motioning for the rest of Team RWBY to follow him. "She wouldn't, not without good reason." He said. "Let's go."
"But-" Blake tried, only to have Ivan hold out a hand. "We'll get Yang, just follow me."
Ivan quickly led the team out of the commotion of the stadium, Blake being the first to speak up as they made their way towards the stairs. "What's going on, Ivan?"
"Something's not right." Ivan responded. "Yang's a bit hotheaded, but not enough to attack a defenseless person. I think something's wrong."
"What happened?" Ruby asked, still oblivious to the situation.
"I think Yang saw Mercury attacking her. It could just be combat stress, but Yang's been through worse than a monitored tournament fight." Ivan responded as he descended the steps, catching sight of the Atlesian Knights and soldiers that were escorting the blonde.
"Yang!" Blake exclaimed, prompting the Blonde to turn and face the Faunus. As she turned, one of the Atlesian Knights grabbed her by the arm and wrenched her forward.
"Let me go!" Yang demanded, yanking her arm away.
"Stand down." Ivan said, stepping forward. The two Atlesian Soldiers saw him, and his rank pins, and suddenly became much less sure of themselves. "Where are you taking her?"
"S-She'll be taken to the Academy while the Tournament Board conducts an investigation." The Soldier responded.
"She needs a military escort for that?!" Blake said.
"She attacked a defenseless student, kid." The Atlesian Sergeant responded. "General Ironwood's orders."
Ivan saw Blake's hands ball up into fists. He held out a hand. "Blake…" He said, looking to her. He directed his attention over to Yang. "Yang, go with them for now. We'll meet up with you at the dorm."
"We can bring her back to Beacon ourselves!" Weiss said, staring at the Atlesians.
"There's nothing we can do, not without making this an even bigger mess." Ivan said, calmly.
"Can't you order them to stand down?" Yang pleaded.
"He's not our commander." The Atlesian soldier responded. "As much as I enjoy listening to this… we're going now."
"Give it some time, Yang." Ivan said, allowing the Atlesians to leave. "I'll do what I can."
As the Soldiers and Androids walked out of the stadium, onto a landing pad, Blake turned to Ivan, staring daggers into him. "How could you just let them walk away?!" Blake demanded. "Does this team mean that little to you?!"
Ivan's face hardened, his expression becoming completely stoic and indifferent. "What was I supposed to do?" Ivan asked, his voice level and calm. "Draw my sidearm and start making demands of the armed soldiers of a foreign power?"
Blake gritted her teeth together. "You could have done something!" She shouted, catching a few glances from people passing by.
"And I intend to do something." Ivan said. "But I represent the UNSC here on Remnant… as much as I'd like to get Yang back here right now, there's nothing I can do without making everything worse." He sighed. "You all take an airship back to Beacon…"
"But-" Weiss tried.
"No!" Ivan said. "I'm not letting the three of you get in trouble for what I'm doing."
"You're a part of our team, Ivan." Ruby said. "We're all in this together! Right?" Everyone in Team RWBY, even Winter, nodded.
Ivan sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Fine…" He looked to Winter. "Winter… Come with me, I'm reporting this to HIGHCOM."
Winter nodded, allowing Ivan to continue. "You three are coming with me too." Ivan said, looking to the rest of Team RWBY.
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May 13, 2682; 1301 Hours
Ivan stepped out of the Airship in downtown Vale, mere blocks from Firebase India. Ruby, Weiss, Winter, and Blake followed closely behind, wondering why Ivan had led them downtown. "Ivan!" Weiss asked, falling in step behind him. "Where are we going?"
"UNSC Central Command for all operations on Remnant." Ivan responded. "I need to check something."
"We're allowed inside?" Blake asked, looking at the approaching concrete-metal walls and gun turrets, which were deactivated.
"Under my supervision." Ivan responded, stepping up to the two Marines on guard duty.
"Colonel!" The Sergeant saluted, standing at attention.
"At ease!" Ivan said, waving his gesture off. "I need access to the base, they're with me."
"Yes sir." The Sergeant said, pressing a few keys after Ivan flashed his ID. "Welcome to Firebase India."
A pair of metallic doors opened up, allowing the four inside. Once inside, Ruby, Weiss, and Blake's mouth hung ajar as they saw, for the first time, the full breadth of the UNSC's CENTCOM facility. A group of ODSTs in their black armor were running cadence around the edge of the massive courtyard. A pair of HRUNTING/YGGDRASIL Mantis Mechs stomped around a loading pad, carrying large crates. And a large group of Marines were being drilled by an instructor. A few of them, much to Blake's surprise, had Faunus features.
"The UNSC has Faunus Marines?" Blake asked, amazed.
Ivan nodded. "Yep… A few Faunus just graduated from ODST Drop School too."
"What is that?!" Ruby asked, pointing to the Mantis. "And why is it so awesome?!"
"It's a Mantis." Ivan responded. "They're a bit like Paladins, but much more… economical."
"And that?" Ruby asked, pointing to a massive, irregularly-shaped VTOL with four massive jet propulsion engines, missile tubes on the back, and sported a massive amount of autocannons and pulse laser cannons.
"The Condor Gunship." Ivan responded. "Stupidly expensive and stupidly awesome."
Ivan stepped up to the main door of the central building, which had a ramp leading underground. He flashed his ID at a small scanner, then leveling his eye against a small scanner, which beeped after a moment. He motioned for Team RWBY to follow behind him as he walked through the wide hallway.
The internals of the normal UNSC Firebase is almost like a UNSC ship. Its walls are dull gray, the occasional light providing just enough luminescence. The occasional Marine was walking through the hallways, giving the SPARTAN-in-uniform a quick salute as they walked. Ivan continued to lead the way through the winding subterranean passages of the military installation, eventually coming upon the Command Information Center.
Much to the SPARTAN's surprise, Admiral Bishop was not present. In his place at the head of a large holographic projection table was a man wearing a perfectly-tailored black suit, white undershirt, and black tie. He had glowing, almost robotic blue eyes, cleanly cut blonde hair, and wore a small pin on the lapel of his coat. The pin was a pyramid, a perfect circle placed in the center. The hairs on the back of Ivan's neck stood on end, seeing the ONI agent taking Bishop's place. The ONI Spook turned to face the SPARTAN, giving him a rather inquisitive look. Ivan recognized him as ONI Agent Gavin Thorne, the agent initially in command of his recon mission on Remnant almost a year ago. "SPARTAN Chesnokov, welcome back to Firebase India. I see you've brought company."
"Sir!" Ivan said, saluting. Thorne quickly waved the gesture off.
"A pleasure to meet Team RWBY." Thorne said, nodding his head. "You appear to be missing your Y, however."
"Have you been watching the tournament?" Winter asked, standing almost at attention.
"I don't believe I know who you are." Thorne began. He approached Winter, eventually coming close enough for Winter to realize that his eyes were indeed robotic. The irises of his eyes seemed to rotate as they focused and adjusted to his movements. "ONI Field Agent Thorne." The Agent said, giving a nod.
"Specialist Winter Schnee, Atlesian Military." Winter responded.
Thorne snapped his fingers, pointing. "That's where I've seen you before! You're Ironwood's shadow! Now… for your question: of course I've been watching the Tournament, it's hard not to on Remnant."
"Then you know what happened today." Winter stated.
"Of course." Thorne said, nodding. "Even if I didn't, I wouldn't expect a SPARTAN, Team RWBY, and an Atlesian Specialist to come in simply for a courtesy call. Now, I take it your visit has something to do with Miss Xiao Long's recent… apprehension by Atlas' soldiers?"
"It does." Ivan responded, pulling a chip from the back of his head, handing it over to Thorne. "ONI's been collecting records on Semblances, correct?"
"That's correct, Colonel." Thorne affirmed. "I take it you want access to these files?"
"What do you mean 'gathering records on Semblances?" Ruby asked, drawing Thorne's attention.
"Simply keeping records on Semblances." Thorne stated, matter-of-factly. "Beyond that, I'm afraid it's classified." As Thorne spoke, he tapped a few commands into the holographic interface on the table. "Merlin, I want you to upload all data regarding Semblances to a storage drive for the Colonel, my authorization."
"Aye sir." The familiar synthesized voice said, his image appearing on the table. "Great to see all of you again."
"What do you believe actually happened at the Tournament, Colonel?" Thorne asked, looking to the SPARTAN.
"Something here seems… familiar." Ivan answered. "Some of the Atlesian Solders that were present during Torchwick's apprehension reported visual distortions and hallucinations in the caverns while pursuing a hostile. I believe this is connected somehow."
"You don't think this was simply an accident?" Thorne asked.
"I know Yang well, sir." Ivan responded. "If she can handle a Covenant attack without breaking down, she can handle a monitored fight. Ozpin and Qrow have both mentioned a wider plan at play here, and I think this is playing into it somehow."
"The timing would fit…" Thorne nodded, humming. "As Grimm attacks are amplified by negative Human emotion, something like this would and has served to increase attacks on Vale's walls."
"Who would plan something like this, just to have Grimm attack Vale's walls?" Ruby wondered aloud.
"The White Fang?" Blake questioned.
"They're a likely candidate, but based on their lack of recent operations in the Kingdom, it's a bit shaky at best." Thorne said, watching the lines of code dance across the holographic interface on the table.
Everyone's attention was grabbed by Merlin's avatar re-appearing on the table. "I think I've found a few Semblances that would play into this, SPARTAN." Merlin began. "There are two Semblances that have been confirmed as 'sensory modifiers', allowing the user to actively alter another's perception of the world. One is known as 'Hallucination', while the other is referred to as 'Illusory Glass'. I'll transfer all relevant data over to a drive for you."
"Well… this is an interesting development." Thorne commented, rubbing his chin. He stood upright, pulling the chip out. "Colonel, you're cleared to bring this information to whomever you deem necessary."
"Aye, sir." Ivan nodded.
XXXXX
May 13, 2682; 1321 Hours
Remnant, Beacon Academy (Team RWBY Dorm)
"I'm sorry, Miss Xiao Long, but we're left with no choice." Ironwood explained, being the only one in the dorm standing.
"But he attacked me!" Yang defended herself.
"Video footage and millions of viewers suggests otherwise." Ironwood responded.
"But Yang would never do that!" Weiss defended her teammate, Ruby voicing her agreement.
Ironwood sighed. "You all seem like good students, and the staff here at Beacon are aware that none of you would lash out as you did… under normal circumstances. What I believe, and what I hope this to be is nothing more than the result of stress and adrenaline. When you're out on the battlefield, your judgement can become clouded in an instant."
Ironwood found himself cut off as Ivan spoke up. "That's what I had originally considered at first, General." Ivan interjected. "If it weren't for all of Team RWBY making it through the Covenant attack with their composure intact." He glanced over to Yang. "Yang, while you had your back turned to Mercury, did you experience any visual or auditory hallucinations?"
"Yeah!" Yang declared. "I heard a really weird humming when I saw Mercury lunge at me, and it looked like everything else was out of focus for a second! I thought it was adrenaline…"
"What are you saying, Colonel?" Ironwood asked, looking to Ivan.
Ivan reached into his uniform's jacket, producing a datapad with the storage drive Merlin had prepared for him. He had also added the debriefing records of the Atlesian Soldiers present in the Caverns all those months ago. "It sounds rather similar to what your men experienced in the caverns, General." Ivan handed the datapad over to Ironwood, who took it and scanned it over.
Ironwood hummed. Truth be told, he had long forgotten about that debrief. Now, he was rather glad he had shared it with the UNSC. "I think you may be right, Colonel." Ironwood nodded, looking up from the datapad. "You think someone intentionally manipulated the outcome of the fight?"
"After hearing Yang confirm it, I can safely say so." Ivan nodded. "And the fact she gave you that answer with no prompts from me… well, I'd say it at least warrants an investigation."
Ironwood chuckled. "I'd heard that your 'ONI' was thorough." He handed the tablet back to the SPARTAN, looking to him. "Alright… I'll stall the Tournament Board for as long as I can. See what you can dig up."
Ivan glanced over to Yang, seeing a grateful look on her face. He'd set this right. After all, he had a new team to look after now.
XXXXX
May 14, 2682; 0800 Hours
Remnant, Vale (Industrial Sector)
Sunday morning, Mercury's endlessly irritating alarm woke him. He slowly sat up, cracking his back in the process. He looked down at his leg, content to find that his cybernetics tinkering had repaired much of the damage, other than the superficial scratches. For the most part, it was just a bit scuffed around the impact point. Looking around, he noticed that Emerald and Cinder were nowhere to be found. He started going about his normal morning routines, throwing on his normal black-gray vest and slacks, strapping his boots to his feet, and getting prepared for the busy day ahead of him, all of which would be spent sitting around in this warehouse.
Mercury felt his Scroll buzz, notifying him of a news story that was recently published by the Vale News Network. For the most part, it was outlining the increased attacks on Vale's walls by Grimm, and the UNSC's attempts to repel the attacks. The article featured an image of a full squad of ODSTs manning a defensive position, gunning down Beowolves with UNSC MG emplacements. He sighed contently, happy to know that the plan was still going swimmingly.
After stepping out of his small makeshift bedroom, he heard the faint sound of footfalls outside. "Looks like they're back." he thought to himself, plopping down in a chair and kicking his feet up on an empty spool that he was using for a table. Much to his surprise, the footfalls stopped completely. Confused, he sat up straight and looked around. In a single moment, everything that could have gone wrong went wrong.
Every door on the warehouse's outer walls exploded inwards from a small C-12 breaching charge, platoons of UNSC Marines filing into the Warehouse with their weapons readied. "UNSC Marines; on the ground!" He heard one of them shout. As they moved to surround him, he noticed that they were wearing… different armor than usual. Their armor looked almost like a SPARTAN's, but lighter and more compact. Not being one to leave his enemies waiting, he sprang into action.
Three of the Marines to his direct front were struck in the chest by his explosive projectiles, knocking them back against the various walls and shipping containers scattered throughout the warehouse. "Open fire!" He heard one shout, followed by the steady rattling of UNSC Assault Rifles. Something was different about these weapons. They hit really hard. As they started whittling down his Aura, he spun around and fired his weapons in rapid succession. Almost all of the Marines had been knocked back, the energy shields of their armor absorbing most of the impacts, but Mercury felt a force unlike anything he had ever experienced slam into him from above, sending him to the floor.
As his vision slowly faded back into normalcy, he found himself pinned under a very familiar suit of black MJOLNIR Gen-2 powered armor, the barrel of an M6 SOCOM magnum pressed to his forehead. He recognized this armor, and the weapon… this was Ivan who had him pinned under a half-ton of armor and man.
Behind the SPARTAN was the familiar form of Winter Schnee, her rapier at her hip. Mercury looked up to the SPARTAN again, a feeling of dread welling up in his chest. "Quick healer, huh?" Ivan asked, rhetorically, pressing the magnum against Mercury's unprotected forehead.
As Mercury stared up at the SPARTAN, he watched as the armored behemoth glanced over to the wounded Marines. He saw, just for the briefest moment, a slight flicker of black energy around the SPARTAN's hands that disappeared just as fast as it had appeared. He wasn't sure if even Ivan saw it.
Ivan simply sighed, seeing a distinct lack of response from Mercury. "Winter, remove his boots."
Winter nodded, running over and yanking Mercury's footwear off. She let out the slightest hint of a gasp. "Good lord…" She muttered.
"What is it?" Ivan asked, not taking his eyes off of Mercury for even a moment.
"Both of his legs are bionic." Winter explained.
Ivan let out the darkest chuckle Mercury had ever heard from a soldier. "Explains a lot." He brought his weapon down to Mercury's shoulder, sending a round into soft tissue and earning a pained scream from the Huntsman. "Who do you know with a perception-altering Semblance?" Ivan asked, the barrel of his magnum returning to Mercury's forehead
"What the hell are you talking about?" Mercury asked, gritting his teeth.
"Who the fuck do you know!?" Ivan demanded, bringing the barrel right up to Mercury's eye.
"W-what?" Mercury tried. Ivan saw clear through Mercury's lie, bashing him across the cheek with his weapon.
"Talk." Ivan said.
"I don't know what you're talking about!" Mercury said, his voice wavering slightly.
"Really?" Ivan asked, applying further pressure to Mercury's midsection with his leg. "Then why did Yang see the same goddamn thing in the Arena as the Atlesians in the Caverns below Mountain Glenn?"
Mercury went wide-eyed, hearing the words from the SPARTAN. He stammered for a few moments, finally forming a coherent sentence. "I-I don't know what you're talking about!" He said.
Ivan sighed, lowering his magnum and putting another round through Mercury's other shoulder. Ivan heard a sickening squelch, which caused Winter to wince, as Mercury's shoulder joint was shattered. Mercury let out a shout of agony as his appendage was bent in an improper way by Ivan's free hand. "One more chance." Ivan threatened.
"Or what?" Mercury said through clenched teeth. "You'll kill me? Then you'll never get what you want!"
"That…" Ivan began, pressing his magnum against Mercury's head, just above his nose. "Or ONI picks through your splattered brains for what we want. We get our answer either way, the only difference is whether you get to live or not."
"You can't do that!" Mercury said, cold metal pressing deeper into his skin as a response.
"We can't?" Ivan asked, cocking an eyebrow beneath his helmet.
Mercury thought long and hard about his next words. He weighed the options in his head. Either he could fight Ivan and maybe get out from under him. But then Schnee would run him through with a sword. Or… he could tell a half-truth. "Neo!" Mercury said, still clenching his teeth. "The short girl on our team!"
"Where is she?" Ivan demanded.
"I don't know!" Mercury said. "She's probably back at Beacon with Cinder and Emerald!"
Ivan remained silent for a moment before finally placing the magnum back on his hip. "Very well… Mercury Black, you're under arrest for conspiring with a terrorist organization to bring harm to the Citizens of Vale, as well as attacking uniformed UNSC personnel." Ivan said, pulling a wicked-looking collar of sorts from his harness and slapping it around Mercury's neck. In an instant, Mercury felt that his Aura had disappeared completely. No longer was it slowly repairing the wounds in his shoulders. "And let's not forget these." Ivan said, removing his body weight from atop Mercury and standing over him. He drew his M6 again, putting four rounds into each of Mercury's cybernetic knee joints, almost completely severing the artificial limbs.
Ivan yanked Mercury up by his shirt, finding the Marines to be keeping their weapons trained on the young Huntsman. Winter looked to him in awe as he motioned for one of the Marines to restrain Mercury's hands. Ivan paid them little mind as he continued speaking. "You will be tried by two separate courts. But… you have something else to do first." As Ivan looked to Winter, he saw the Specialist to be giving him an almost terrified look.
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May 14, 2681; 1134 Hours
Remnant, Vale (Atlesian Flagship)
Ivan stepped off of the Pelican that carried him, Winter, four ONISEC Marines in their black SPI Gen-2 armor, and Mercury. The four Marines were tasked with either carrying Mercury or guarding him in the event he attempted an escape. He had killed six Marines and grievously wounded eight others, Ivan could clearly tell that these four were not happy about the young 'Huntsman' still drawing breath.
Ironwood stood in the flagship's hangar, watching the SPARTAN with a stunned look. Ivan was very thankful for Vale's cooperation with ONI in this investigation. They had gladly handed him the tracking code for the air ambulance that had supposedly carried him to a hospital. He doubted that he'd ever forget the looks on their faces when they realized the patient had never been admitted. "Marines!" Ivan ordered, stopping a few feet from Ironwood. With little ceremony, the two lead Marines threw Mercury's disabled body to the ground, the boy landing with a heavy thud.
"That was… quick." Ironwood observed, seeing the shredded cybernetic legs attached to Mercury's body.
"ONI will be forwarding their report from his interrogation to you soon." Ivan explained. "He's to be under your custody until his accomplice is apprehended and the investigation is concluded." Some part of Ivan regretted wasting the biofoam on Mercury's wounds, but he needed to be alive to be of any use. He, much to his conscience's dismay, hoped that ONI would rectify that soon. "ONISEC Marines will have his accomplice in custody within the hour."
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May 14, 2682; 1402 Hours
Ivan stood outside the Tournament Director's office, waiting for Yang to exit. It had only been about two hours since ONI Agents had kicked in the door to Mercury's dorm room, arrested Emerald, Neo, and Cinder, and had taken them to CENTCOM for questioning. Neo's apparent speech disability had made the interrogation rather difficult, but there was very little she could have done to prove her innocence regardless. Surprisingly enough, Cinder and Emerald had both passed through the interrogation with seemingly no connections to the plan. Even after running scans on their personal belongings, nothing out of the ordinary was discovered and they were left to walk free. As of right now, Mercury and Neo were onboard a UNSC Frigate bound for Reach for a trial before the UNSC Admiralty Board.
"I'm impressed, SPARTAN…" Ironwood said, walking up beside Ivan. "Do you believe that the other two on their team were truly free of connection?"
Ivan shrugged, glancing over to the General. "I doubt it… Emerald seemed devastated when she heard what happened. Even Cinder seemed surprised. I think they was alone in this one."
"Well, either way… I'm grateful for your help." Ironwood said, shaking Ivan's hand. "I'm glad that Team RWBY can still compete in the tournament… and send my apologies their way."
Ivan smiled, shifting in his stance. "Will do, General…"
"Well… Best of luck to you, SPARTAN." Ironwood nodded, turning to leave.
"Best of luck to you too, sir." Ivan said, nodding. With that, Ivan ;eaned back against the metallic wall just in time to find a now-cleared Yang. Blake rushed over and embraced Yang, wrapping her in a hug, which the Blonde happily returned.
"Aww, thanks Blakey!" Yang said. Ruby quickly ran over and embraced her sister as well, almost knocking the wind out of Yang as she ran into her older sister, a trail of rose petals fluttering to the ground in her wake. After a few moments of love, Yang was able to look over to Ivan. "You know, Ivan… You're like a miracle worker." She said with a smile.
Ivan shrugged, returning the smile. "I do what I can. And it looks like you guys only have one more fight to go before you're the winners. And you'll be going up against Pyrrha."
"Really?!" Yang asked, happily. "Awesome!"
"Now, I think a bit of a break is in order." Weiss said. "We should all go back and get ready, I'd like to take everyone out to eat, my treat!"
"Sign me up." Yang said, sighing. "Here's hoping daddy didn't cut your card again, Weissy."
As everyone began filing out towards the landing pad, Ivan felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned, finding Winter standing behind him. "Ivan…" She began, her face steely and calm. "Can I talk with you?"
"Of course." Ivan said. He turned to the now-reunited Team RWBY. "Hey, I'll catch up!"
"Don't take too long!" Weiss called in response. "I don't think many restaurants would like having an armored SPARTAN asking to sit down and eat."
Ivan let out an amused sigh as he turned to Winter, who beckoned him to walk with her. As he walked, she tapped her fingers along her side, thinking of something to say. "Ivan… who are you?"
"What?" Ivan asked, cocking an eyebrow.
"Who are you?" Winter asked again. "I mean, really."
"I'm not sure I understand." Ivan said, confused.
"You… You changed when you arrested Mercury." Winter explained, sighing. "You went from a relaxed, normal man to a cold, calculating, and brutal… machine."
Ivan sighed, running a hand through his short hair. "I… How much do you know about the SPARTAN Program?"
"Only that it yields some of the most effective soldiers that I've ever seen… You especially, given your record." Winter answered.
"Well…" Ivan thought, choosing his next words carefully. The UNSC had declassified almost everything about the SPARTAN Program, including the augmentations that they received; but Remnant was still, for the most part, disconnected from the Waypoint Network. "The SPARTAN Program is somewhat… controversial."
"Controversial? How so?" Winter.
"Generation II and III SPARTANs were conscripted from a rather… young age." Ivan explained.
"How young?"
"Younger than Ruby." Ivan responded, choosing to leave out the actual age of six or seven. "The age varied from person to person and between the Program's different generations."
"Well… huntsmen are trained at a young age." Winter said.
"Yes, but Huntsmen did it voluntarily." Ivan explained. "SPARTAN IIs and IIIs were conscripted based on their genetics and mental acuity. You had no choice. Either you became a SPARTAN, or you washed out."
"Washed out?" Winter asked.
"SPARTAN Recruits, for the SPARTAN II Program, were given highly experimental biological and genetic augmentations. Of the seventy five recruits, thirty three survived with little complications and more were disfigured beyond repair or reduced to a vegetative state."
Ivan could see Winter's eyes go wide. "Did this happen to you? Did you go through this process?"
"I went through something similar." Ivan affirmed. "But the augmentation process has close to a one hundred percent success rate now."
"What augments do you have?" Winter asked, looking the SPARTAN up and down.
"I have upwards of twenty actual augments, but only a few of them actually help me in combat, the rest are passive." Ivan explained. "My bones were infused with carbide-ceramics, making them tougher than titanium; my nerve endings had hyperconducting fiber laced into them, boosting my reaction time by a power of ten; my occipital capillaries were reversed and submerged in cranial blood, giving me near-perfect vision out to six kilometers; I received a muscle density-enhancing procedure that gives me the strength to, under proper circumstances, flip a Warthog with one hand; and finally… I had almost all of my organs, including my thyroid gland replaced. The thyroid implant essentially balanced all of the other augments, making it easier for them to work in unison. It's the reason I'm so tall… along with the bone-lengthening and joint reinforcement."
"Are there any side effects?" Winter asked.
"Not really, not anymore at least." Ivan explained. "Some people, this being an incredibly small percentage of the Human population, are incompatible with some of the augmentations, but we can usually detect that before the process even starts. As for side effects that exist today… the worst I ever got was a feeling of nausea and vertigo after the process was done."
"H-How long ago was this?" Winter asked.
"I'm twenty now so… three years ago." Ivan explained.
"I can't imagine anything like that…" Winter said. "Most of those just come naturally to a Huntsman or Huntress."
Ivan nodded. "We never had the luxury of having a natural shield generator, superhuman strength and speed, or a Semblance." Ivan explained. "We had to make do with being average, then the Covenant showed up."
"I've heard some of your soldiers talk about that. Are they the same as Covenant Storm?"
"Not exactly…" Ivan explained. "Covenant Storm is just a thorn in the UEG's side. They're essentially just children throwing a temper tantrum when compared to us. The Covenant threatened the very existence of the Human Species. Their fleets usually outnumbered ours 5:1, their technology was well beyond what we had, and they had one goal… the extermination of Humanity."
"Why?" Winter asked. "Aren't you on good terms with most of the species now?"
"We are now, but they were fooled by the now-extinct San'Shyuum, or Prophets." Ivan explained. "We were an affront to their gods… we were less than animals to them. Twenty seven billion humans murdered over the course of thirty years, dozens of Garden Worlds reduced to balls of crystalized silicate, and trillions of Credits worth of damage done to Earth. Humanity hid in the shadow of a giant, hoping that we didn't get stomped out of existence, even after the war."
"What happened?" Winter asked. "I thought that the UNSC was the largest military power in the Galaxy."
"We became the Giant." Ivan explained. "What I'm trying to say is… after everything that Humanity's been through, I've come to take my job very seriously. I took an oath to defend Humanity, and what Mercury did was an affront to everything the UNSC and UEG stands for. I enlisted in the UNSC looking to protect the species and the planets that we call home… I can still do that here, on Remnant. These Grimm have threatened you for almost four centuries, and you finally have a chance to stop fearing them. Mercury and his… kind don't want that." Ivan let out another sigh, thinking for a moment. "As for who I am… I'm just someone trying to do the right thing."
"And the bullets in his shoulders?" Winter asked, looking to the SPARTAN with a heavy concern in her eyes.
"I…" Ivan sighed. "Were you fighting a few months ago, against Storm?" He asked.
"I was, even if it was nothing compared to what Vale went through." Winter affirmed. "Atlas' walls held for the entire invasion. I know Vale wasn't so lucky."
"Would you say that they're a terrible enemy?" Ivan asked, earning a nod from Winter. "Well, the Program taught us to see people in three ways: as superiors, teammates, or enemies." As Winter kept full attention on his words, he continued. "If you're a superior, we follow you. If you're a teammate, we'd happily fight and die alongside you. And if you're an enemy… God help you."
"You saw Mercury as an enemy…" Winter managed, understanding dawning on her.
"I did…" Ivan nodded. "Having cooled down, I absolutely regret what I did to him. It was wrong. But… try to look at it from our perspective." Ivan looked over to Winter. "Mankind had two major enemies back when the SPARTAN-IV Program was created: Covenant Storm and the Insurrectionists. On one hand, you had a covenant of genocidal aliens that wanted nothing more than to destroy everything we've ever built. On the other, you have a group of terrorists known for setting off car bombs, targeting civilians, detonating dirty bombs in city centers, and torturing UNSC personnel. The Program doesn't exactly teach you mercy… it's not expected. The galaxy's a harsh and brutal place… so we're trained accordingly. What happened back there was my training taking over, plus a little bit of anger. If I could go back and do it differently, I definitely would. With that said, what I did back there was for my team."
Winter smiled, Ivan could tell that it was truly sincere. "I'm sorry if I was harsh… I just needed to know. You're a bit enigmatic." She looked over to him. "And I for one am very glad you're here, and I understand better than you might think."
Ivan smiled too. "Honestly… thanks for asking. It's nice having people treat me like I'm more than just the armor and the assignment." Ivan said, sighing. "We should probably catch up with them." Ivan said, gesturing to the looming image of Vale below them.
Winter smiled. "Probably a good idea… Weiss and her schedules."
